Bania, Umre.—This Hindu subcaste belongs to Damoh and Jubbulpore. They are perhaps the same as the Ummar Banias of the United Provinces, who reside in the Meerut, Agra and Kumaon Divisions. The name Umre is found as a subdivision of several castes in the Central Provinces, as the Telis and others, and is probably derived from some town or tract of country in northern or central India, but no identification has been made. Mr. Bhīmbhai Kirpārām states that in Gujarāt the Ummar Banias are also known as Bāgaria from the Bāgar or wild country, comprised in the Dongarpur and Pertābgarh States of Rājputāna, where considerable numbers of them are still settled. Their headquarters is at Sāgwāra, near Dongarpur.[1] In Damoh the Umre Banias formerly cultivated the al plant,[2] which yielded a well-known dye, and hence they lost caste, as in soaking the roots of the plant to extract the dye the numerous insects in them are necessarily destroyed. The Dosar subcaste[3] are a branch of the Umre, who allow widow-remarriage.
[1] Ibidem. p. 98.
[2] Merinda citrifolia, see art. Alia.
[3] See article.
Banjāra
List of Paragraphs
- [1. Historical notice of the caste.]
- [2. Banjāras derived from the Chārans or Bhāts.]
- [3. Chāran Ranjārans employed with the Mughal armies.]
- [4. Internal structure.]
- [5. Minor subcastes.]
- [6. Marriage: betrothal.]
- [7. Marriage.]
- [8. Widow remarriage.]
- [9. Birth and death.]
- [10. Religion: Banjāri Devi.]
- [11. Mīthu Bhūkia.]
- [12. Siva Bhāia.]
- [13. Worship of cattle.]
- [14. Connection with the Sikhs.]
- [15. Witchcraft.]
- [16. Human sacrifice.]
- [17. Admission of outsiders: kidnapped children and slaves.]
- [18. Dress.]
- [19. Social customs.]
- [20. The Nāik or headman. Banjāra dogs.]
- [21. Criminal tendencies of the caste.]
- [22. Their virtues.]