Bhala.—(Spear.) One of the 72½ sections of Maheshri Bania.
Bhaldār.—(A spear-man.) A class of Dahāits, who have commonly been employed as village watchmen.
Bhale Sultān.—(Lords of the spear.) A clan of Rājpūts.
Bhāmti, Bhāmtia.—Synonyms of Bhāmta.
Bhanāre.—Named after the town of Bhandāra in the Central Provinces. Subcaste of Dhīmar.
Bhānd, Bhānr.[16]—A small caste of story-tellers and buffoons. The name is derived from the Sanskrit Bhānda, a jester, and the caste are also known as Naqqāl or actor. Only a trifling number of Bhānds are shown by the census as belonging to the Central Provinces. Mr. Crooke remarks: “The Bhānd is sometimes employed in the courts of Rājas and native gentlemen of rank, where he amuses the company at entertainments with buffoonery and a burlesque of European and native manners, much of which is of a very coarse nature. The Bhānd is quite separate from and of a lower professional rank than the Bahrūpia. The bulk of the caste are Muhammadans, but they have exogamous sections, some of which, as Kaithela (Kāyasth), Bamhaniya (Brāhman), Gujartha (Gūjar), Nonela (Lunia), and so on, are derived from those of Hindu castes, and indicate that the caste is a heterogeneous community recruited from different sources. There are two recognised endogamous subcastes—the Chenr, which seems to mean little (Hindi, Chenra), and the Kashmīri. The former trace their origin to the time of Tamarlane, who, on the death of his son, gave himself over to mourning for twelve years. Then one Sayyid Hasan, a courtier of the Emperor, composed a humorous poem in Arabic, which gained him the title of Bhānr. Sayyid Hasan is regarded as the founder of the caste. Though he was a Sayyid the present Bhānrs are either Shaikhs or Mughals; and the difference of faith, Sunni and Shiah, is a bar to intermarriage. The Kashmīri Bhānrs are said to be of quite recent origin, having been invited from Kashmīr by Nasīr-ud-Dīn Haidar, king of Oudh.” The Bhānds perform their marriages by the Nikāh form, in which a Kāzi officiates. In virtue of being Muhammadans they abstain from pork and liquor. Dr. Buchanan[17] quaintly described them as “Impudent fellows, who make long faces, squeak like pigs, bark like dogs, and perform many other ludicrous feats. They also dance and sing, mimicking and turning into ridicule the dancing boys and girls, on whom they likewise pass many jokes, and are employed on great occasions.” The Bhānd, in fact, seems to correspond very nearly to the court jester of the Middle Ages.
Bhandāri.—(A barber, also a cook in the Uriya country.) A synonym for Nai. A subcaste of Gondhali. A section of Oswāl Bania and Halba. Title of the deputies of the chief guru of the Satnāmi sect.
Bhangi.—(Hemp-smoker.) Synonym of Mehtar.
Bhānr.—Synonym of Bhānd, a story-teller.
Bhānwar.—(A bee, also honey.) A section of Gadaria and Kawar.