The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India, Volume 3

by R. V. Russell

1. Strength of the caste.

Kalār, Kalwār.[1]—The occupational caste of distillers and sellers of fermented liquor. In 1911 the Kalārs numbered nearly 200,000 persons in the Central Provinces and Berār, or rather more than one per cent of the population; so they are a somewhat important caste numerically. The name is derived from the Sanskrit Kalyapāla, a distiller of liquor.