Population.
| Chief Towns. | Number of Houses. | ||
| Bikaner | 12,000 | ||
| Nohar | 2,500 | ||
| Bahaduran | 2,500 | ||
| Reni | 1,500 | ||
| Rajgarh | 3,000 | ||
| Churu | 3,000 | [198] | |
| Mahajan | 800 | ||
| Jethpur | 1,000 | ||
| Bidesar | 500 | ||
| Ratangarh | 1,000 | ||
| Desmukh | 1,000 | ||
| Senthal | 50 | ||
| 28,850 | |||
| 100 villages, each having 200 houses | 20,000 | ||
| 100 ” ” 150 ” | 15,000 | ||
| 200 ” ” 100 ” | 20,000 | ||
| 800 hamlets ” 30 each | 24,000 | ||
| Total number of houses | 107,850 | ||
Allowing five souls to each house, we have a total of 539,250 souls, giving an average of twenty-five to the square mile, which I cannot think exaggerated, and making the desert regions depending on Bikaner equal, in the density of population, the highlands of Scotland.[[2]]
Of this population, full three-fourths are the aboriginal Jats; the rest are their conquerors, descendants of Bika, including the Saraswat Brahmans,[[3]] Charans, Bards, and a few of the debased classes, whose numbers, conjointly, are not one-tenth of the Rajputs.
Jats.
Sarsūt, Saraswat Brāhman.—Sarsut (properly Sarasvati) Brahmans are found in considerable numbers throughout this tract. They aver that they were masters of the country prior to the Jat colonists. They are a peaceable, industrious race, and without a single prejudice of ‘the order’; they eat meat, smoke tobacco, cultivate the soil, and trade even in the sacred kine, notwithstanding their descent from Sringi Rishi, son of Brahma.
Charans.
Mālis, Nāis.—Malis, Nais, gardeners and barbers, are important members of every Rajput family, and to be found in all the villages, of which they are invariably the cooks.
Chuhras, Thoris.—Chuhras, Thoris, are actually castes of robbers:[[4]] the former, from the Lakhi Jungle; the latter, from Mewar. Most of the chieftains have a few in their pay, entertained for the most desperate services. The Bahaduran chief has expelled all his Rajputs, and retains only Chuhras and Thoris. The Chuhras are highly esteemed for fidelity, and the barriers and portals throughout this tract are in their custody. They enjoy a very singular perquisite, which would go far to prove their being the aborigines of the country; namely, a fee of four copper coins on every dead subject, when the funeral ceremonies are over.