1. General notice.
Katia, Katwa, Katua.—An occupational caste of cotton-spinners and village watchmen belonging to the Satpūra Districts and the Nerbudda valley. In 1911 they numbered 41,000 persons and were returned mainly from the Hoshangābād, Seoni and Chhindwāra Districts. The caste is almost confined to the Central Provinces. The name is derived from the Hindi kātna, to spin thread, and the Katias are an occupational group probably recruited from the Mahārs and Koris. They have a tradition, Mr. Crooke states,[1] that they were originally Bais Rājpūts, whose ancestors, having been imprisoned for resistance to authority, were released on the promise that they would follow a woman’s occupation of spinning thread. In the Central Provinces they are sometimes called Renhta Rājpūts or Knights of the Spinning Wheel. The tradition of Rājpūt descent need not of course be taken seriously. The drudgery of spinning thread was naturally imposed on any widow in the household, and hence the saying, ‘It is always moving, like a widow’s spinning-wheel.’[2]