3. Dandsena Kalārs in Chhattīsgarh.
In Chhattīsgarh the principal division of the Kalārs is that of the Dandsenas or ‘Stick-carriers,’ and in explanation of the name they relate the following story: “A Kalār boy was formerly the Mahāprasād or bosom friend of the son of the Rājpūt king of Balod.[4] But the Rāja’s son fell in love with the Kalār boy’s sister and entertained evil intentions towards her. Then the Kalār boy went and complained to the Rāja, who was his Phūlbāba,[5] the father of his friend, saying, ‘A dog is always coming into my house and defiling it, what am I to do?’ The Rāja replied that he must kill the dog. Then the boy asked whether he would be punished for killing him, and the Rāja said, No. So the next day as the Rājpūt boy was entering his house to get at his sister, the Kalār boy killed him, though he was his dearest friend. Then the Rājpūts attacked the Kalārs, but they were led only by the queen, as the king had said that the Kalār boy might kill the dog. But the Rājpūts were being defeated and so the Rāja intervened, and the Kalārs then ceased fighting as the Rāja had broken his word. But they left Balod, saying that they would drink no more of its waters, which they have not done to this day.”[6] And the Kalārs are called Dandsena, because in this fight sticks were their only weapons.