Uttam kheti, madhyam bān,
Kanisht chākri, bhīk nidān,
or ‘Cultivation is the best calling, trade is respectable, service is menial, and begging is degraded.’
46. Occupation
The Kurmi is the typical cultivator. He loves his land, and to lose it is to break the mainspring of his life. His land gives him a freedom and independence of character which is not found among the English farm-labourers. He is industrious and plodding, and inured to hardship. In some Districts the excellent tilth of the Kurmi’s fields well portrays the result of his persevering labour, which he does not grudge to the land because it is his own. His wife is in no way behind him; the proverb says, “Good is the caste of the Kurmin; with a hoe in her hand she goes to the fields and works with her husband.” The Chandnāhu Kurmi women are said to be more enterprising than the men, keeping them up to their work, and managing the business of the farm as well as the household.
Appendix
List of Exogamous Clans
Sections of the Chandnāhu subcaste:
| Chānwar bambar
| Fly fan. |
| Sandil
| Name of a Rishi. |
| Gaind
| Ball. |
| Sadāphal
| A fruit. |
| Sondeha
| Gold-bodied. |
| Sonkharchi
| Spender of gold. |
| Kathail
| Kath, wood, or kaththa, catechu.
|
| Kāshi
| Benares. The Desha Kurmis are all of this gotra. It may also be a corruption of Kachhap, tortoise.
|
| Dhorha
| Dhor, cattle.
|
| Sumer
| A mountain. |
| Chatur Midalia
| Chatur, clever.
|
| Bhāradwāj
| After the Rishi of that name; also a bird. |
| Kousil
| Name of a Rishi. |
| Ishwar
| God. |
| Samund Karkari
| A particle in an ocean. |
| Akālchuwa
| Akāl, famine.
|
| Padel
| Fallow. |
| Bāghmār
| Tiger-slayer. |
| Hardūba
| Green grass. |
| Kānsia
| Kāns, a kind of grass.
|
| Ghiu Sāgar
| Ocean of ghī |
| Dharam Dhurandar
| Most charitable. |
| Singnāha
| Singh, a lion.
|
| Chimangarhia
| Belonging to Chimangarh. |
| Khairagarhia
| Belonging to Khairagarh. |
| Gotam
| A Rishi. |
| Kāskyap
| A Rishi. |
| Pandariha
| From Pandaria, a village. |
| Paipakhār
| One who washes feet. |
| Bānhpakhār
| One who washes arms. |
| Chauria
| Chaurai, a vegetable. |
| Sānd Sathi
| Sānd, bullock.
|
| Singhi
| Singh, lion or horn.
|
| Agra—Chandan
| Sandalwood. |
| Tek Sanichar
| Saturday. |
| Karaiya
| Frying-pan. |
| Pukharia
| Pond. |
| Dhubinha
| Dhobi, a caste. |
| Pāwanbare
| Pāwan, air.
|
| Modganga
| Ganges. |
Sections of the Gabel subcaste: