4. Occupation
The Nāhals were formerly a community of hill-robbers, ‘Nāhal, Bhīl, Koli’ being the phrase generally used in old documents to designate the marauding bands of the western Satpūra hills. The Rāja of Jītgarh and Mohkot in Nimār has a long account in his genealogy of a treacherous massacre of a whole tribe of Nāhals by his ancestor in Akbar’s time, in recognition of which the Jītgarh pargana was granted to the family. Mr. Kitts speaks of the Nāhals of Berār as having once been much addicted to cattle-lifting, and this propensity still exists in a minor degree in the Central Provinces, accentuated probably by the fact that a considerable number of Nāhals follow the occupation of graziers. Some of them are also village watchmen, and another special avocation of theirs is the collection of the oil of the marking-nut tree (Semecarpus anacardium). This is to some extent a dangerous trade, as the oil causes swellings on the body, besides staining the skin and leaving a peculiar odour. The workers wrap a fourfold layer of cloth round their fingers with ashes between each fold, while the rest of the body is also protected by cloth when gathering the nuts and pounding them to extract the oil. At the end of the day’s work powdered tamarind and ghī are rubbed on the whole body. The oil is a stimulant, and is given to women after delivery and to persons suffering from rheumatism.