1. Historical notice of the tribe.

Khairwār, Kharwār, Khaira, Khairwa.[1]—A primitive tribe of the Chota Nāgpur plateau and Bihār. Nearly 20,000 Khairwārs are now under the jurisdiction of the Central Provinces, of whom two-thirds belong to the recently acquired Sargūja State, and the remainder to the adjoining States and the Bilāspur District. A few hundred Khairwārs or Khairwas are also returned from the Damoh District in the Bundelkhand country. Colonel Dalton considers the Khairwārs to be closely connected with the Cheros. He relates that the Cheros, once dominant in Gorakhpur and Shāhābād, were expelled from these tracts many centuries ago by the Gorkhas and other tribes, and came into Palāmau. “It is said that the Palāmau population then consisted of Kharwārs, Gonds, Mārs, Korwas, Parheyas and Kisāns. Of these the Kharwārs were the people of most consideration. The Cheros conciliated them and allowed them to remain in peaceful possession of the hill tracts bordering on Sargūja; all the Cheros of note who assisted in the expedition obtained military service grants of land, which they still retain. It is popularly asserted that at the commencement of the Chero rule in Palāmau they numbered twelve thousand families and the Kharwārs eighteen thousand, and if an individual of one or the other is asked to what tribe he belongs, he will say not that he is a Chero or a Kharwār, but that he belongs to the twelve thousand or the eighteen thousand, as the case may be. Intermarriages between Chero and Kharwār families have taken place. A relative of the Palāmau Rāja married a sister of Manināth Singh, Rāja of Rāmgarh, and this is among themselves an admission of identity of origin, as both claiming to be Rājpūts they could not intermarry till it was proved to the satisfaction of the family priest that the parties belonged to the same class.... The Rājas of Rāmgarh and Jashpur are members of this tribe, who have nearly succeeded in obliterating their Turanian traits by successive intermarriages with Aryan families. The Jashpur Rāja is wedded to a lady of pure Rājpūt blood, and by liberal dowries has succeeded in obtaining a similar union for three of his daughters. It is a costly ambition, but there is no doubt that the liberal infusion of fresh blood greatly improves the Kharwār physique.”[2] This passage demonstrates the existence of a close connection between the Cheros and Khairwārs. Elsewhere Colonel Dalton connects the Santāls with the Khairwārs as follows:[3] “A wild goose coming from the great ocean alighted at Ahiri Pipri and there laid two eggs. From these two eggs a male and female were produced, who were the parents of the Santāl race. From Ahiri Pipri our (Santāl) ancestors migrated to Hara Dutti, and there they greatly increased and multiplied and were called Kharwār.” This also affords some reason for supposing that the Khairwārs are an offshoot of the Cheros and Santāls. Mr. Crooke remarks, “That in Mīrzāpur the people themselves derive their name either from their occupation as makers of catechu (khair) or on account of their emigration from some place called Khairāgarh, regarding which there is a great difference of opinion. If the Santāl tradition is to be accepted, Khairāgarh is the place of that name in the Hazāribāgh District; but the Mīrzāpur tradition seems to point to some locality in the south or west, in which case Khairāgarh may be identified with the most important of the Chhattīsgarh Feudatory States, or with the pargana of that name in the Allahābād District.”[4] According to their own traditions in Chota Nāgpur, Sir H. Risley states that,[5] “The Kharwārs declare their original seat to have been the fort of Rohtās, so called as having been the chosen abode of Rohitāswa, son of Harīschandra, of the family of the Sun. From this ancient house they also claim descent, calling themselves Sūrajvansis, and wearing the Janeo or caste thread distinguishing the Rājpūts. A less flattering tradition makes them out to be the offspring of a marriage between a Kshatriya man and a Bhar woman contracted in the days of King Ben, when distinctions of caste were abolished and men might marry whom they would.” A somewhat similar story of themselves is told by the tribe in the Bāmra State. Here they say that their original ancestors were the Sun and a daughter of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, who lived in the town of Sara. She was very beautiful and the Sun desired her, and began blowing into a conch-shell to express his passion. While the girl was gaping at the sight and sound, a drop of the spittle fell into her mouth and impregnated her. Subsequently a son was born from her arm and a daughter from her thigh, who were known as Bhujbalrai and Janghrai.[6] Bhujbalrai was given great strength by the Sun, and he fought with the people of the country, and became king of Rāthgarh. But in consequence of this he and his family grew proud, and Lakshmi determined to test them whether they were worthy of the riches she had given them. So she came in the guise of a beggar to the door, but was driven away without alms. On this she cursed them, and said that their descendants, the Khairwārs, should always be poor, and should eke out a scanty subsistence from the forests. And in consequence the Khairwārs have ever since been engaged in boiling wood for catechu. Mr. Hīra Lāl identifies the Rāthgarh of this story with the tract of Rāth in the north of the Raigarh State and the town of Sara, where Lakshmi’s daughter lived and her children were born, with Saria in Sārangarh.

2. Its origin.

On the information available as to the past history of the tribe it seems probable that the Khairwārs may, as suggested by Sir H. Risley, be an offshoot from some other group. The most probable derivation of the name seems to be from the khair or catechu tree (Acacia catechu); and it may be supposed that it was the adoption as a calling of the making of catechu which led to their differentiation. Mr. Crooke derives their name either from the khair tree or a place called Khairāgarh; but this latter name almost certainly means ‘The fort of the khair trees.’ The Khairwās or Khairwārs of the Kaimur hills, who are identified by Colonel Dalton and in the India Census of 1901 with the Khairwārs of Chota Nāgpur, are certainly named after the tree; they are generally recognised as being Gonds who have taken to the business of boiling catechu, and are hence distinguished, being a little looked down upon by other Gonds. Mr. Crooke describes them in Mīrzāpur as “Admittedly a compound of various jungle tribes who have taken to this special occupation; while according to another account they are the offspring of the Saharias or Saonrs, with whom their sept names are said to be identical.” He also identifies them with the Kathkāris of Bombay, whose name means ‘makers of katha or prepared catechu.’ The Khairwārs of Chota Nāgpur have everywhere a subdivision which makes catechu, this being known as Khairchūra in the Central Provinces, Khairi in Bengal and Khairaha in the United Provinces. This group is looked down upon by the other Khairwārs, who consider their occupation to be disreputable and do not marry with them. Possibly the preparation of catechu, like basket- and mat-making, is despised as being a profession practised by primitive dwellers in forests, and so those Khairwārs who have become more civilised are now anxious to disclaim it. Sir H. Risley has several times pointed out the indeterminate nature of the constitution of the Chota Nāgpur tribes, between several of whom intermarriage is common. And it seems certain that the tribes as we know them now must have been differentiated from one or more common stocks much in the same fashion as castes, though rather by the influence of local settlement than by differences of occupation, and at a much earlier date. And on the above facts it seems likely that the Khairwārs of Chota Nāgpur are an occupational offshoot of the Cheros and Santāls, as those of the Kaimur hills are of the Gonds and Savars.

3. Tribal subdivisions.

Colonel Dalton states that the tribe had four subdivisions, Bhogta, Mahto, Rāwat and Mānjhi. Of these Mahto simply means a village headman, and is used as a title by many castes and tribes; Rāwat is a term meaning chief, and is in common use as a title; and Mānjhi too is a title, being specially applied to boatmen, and also means a village headman among the Santāls. These divisions, too, afford some reason for considering the tribe to be a mixed group. Other occupational subtribes are recorded by Sir H. Risley, and are found in the Central Provinces, but these apparently have grown up since Colonel Dalton’s time.