6. Occupation.
The Khangārs say that their ancestors were soldiers, but at present they are generally tenants, field-labourers and village watchmen. They were formerly noted thieves, and several proverbs remain in testimony to this. “The Khangār is strong only when he possesses a khunta (a pointed iron rod to break through the wall of a house).” ‘The Sunār and the Khangār only flourish together’; because the Sunār acts as a receiver of the property stolen by the Khangār. They are said to have had different ways of breaking into a house, those who got through the roof being called chhappartor, while others who dug through the side walls were known as khonpāphor. They have now, however, generally relinquished their criminal practices and settled down to live as respectable citizens.
[1] Compiled principally from a paper by Kanhyā Lāl, clerk in the Gazetteer Office.
[2] Carthamus tinctorius.
[3] In the Ethnographic Appendices to the India Census Report of 1901 a slightly different version of the story is given by Captain Luard. The Dāngis, it must be remembered, are a high caste ranking just below Rājpūts.