13. Physical appearance

“Physically,” Mr. Low states, “the Marār is rather a poor-looking creature, dark and undersized; but the women are often not bad looking, and dressed up in their best at a wedding, rattling their castanets and waving light-coloured silk handkerchiefs, give a very graceful dance. The caste are not as a rule celebrated for their cleanliness. A polite way of addressing a Marār is to call him Patel.”


[1] This article is based principally on Mr. Low’s description of the Marārs in the Bālāghāt District Gazetteer and on a paper by Major Sutherland, I.M.S.

[2] C.P. Census Report (1891), para. 180.

[3] Schröder, Prehistoric Antiquities, 121, quoted in Crooke’s Tribes and Castes, art. Māli.

[4] Punjab Census Report (1881), para. 483.

[5] Ibidem, para. 484.

[6] Bālāghāt District Gazetteer, para. 59.

[7] Mr. Napier’s Bhandara Settlement Report, quoted in article on Kohli.

[8] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Māli.

[9] Brief View of the Caste System, p. 15.

[10] La Cité antique, 21st ed., p. 181.

[11] The Antiquity of Oriental Carpets, Sir G. Birdwood (Society of Arts, 6th November 1908).

[12] The derivations of chaplet and rosary are taken from Ogilvy’s Dictionary.

[13] Bālāghāt District Gazetteer (C.E. Low), para. 59.

[14] Ibidem, loc. cit.

[15] Bālāghāt District Gazetteer, para. 59.

[16] Hindu Castes, vol. i. p. 327.

[17] Bālāghāt District Gazetteer, loc. cit.