Tribal organization. 19. As might have been expected from what has been already said, the ethnological classification of the Bhangis is not very easily fixed. The last Census classifies them under five main sub-castes: Bâlmîki, derived from the tribal saint whose legends have been already given; Dhânuk, which, though allied to the Bhangis, has been treated as a distinct tribe; Hela, Lâl Begi, and Patharphor, or “stone-breaker.” Of the word Hela more than one explanation has been given, of which none can be regarded as certain. We have given already the folk etymology, which makes it out to mean a person who saved his life by swimming (helna). Others say that hela means a “cry,” and that they were so called because they were town criers, a function which the Bhangi usually still discharges in Northern India. According to another theory, again, it is derived from hilna, in the sense of “to be domesticated”; others again derive it from hel, “a basket load,” or hel or hil, “filth, mud.” One list from Benares divides the caste into nine endogamous sub-castes,—Shaikh, Hela, [[271]]Lâl Begi, Ghâzipuri Râwat, who trace their origin from Ghâzipur, and take their name from the Sanskrit râja-dûta, or “royal messengers,” Hânri or Hâri, who appear to be so called because they pick up bones (Sanskrit, hadda) and other rubbish, Dhânuk, Bânsphor, and Dhê. Of these, according to the Benares account, the Lâl Begis have their head-quarters at Amritsar and Delhi; the Râwats at Agra, Mainpuri, Meerut, Ghâzipur, and Dînapur; the Shaikhs at Mirzapur and Delhi, and the Helas at Calcutta.
20. The detailed Census lists supply no less than thirteen hundred and fifty-nine sub-castes of Hindu and forty-seven of Muhammadan Bhangis. It is impossible with our existing knowledge to attempt anything approaching a complete analysis of this mass of names. Many, however, fall into two groups: first those connected by name at least with some tribe or occupational and well-known caste. Such are the Bâgri, Bais, Baiswâr, Bâlakchamariya, Bargûjar, Barwâr, Bhadauriya, Bisensob, Bundeliya, Chamariya, Chandela, Chauhân, Chhîpi, Dhelphor, Gadariya, Jâdon, Jâdubansi, Jaiswâr, Jogiya, Kachhwâha, Kâyasthbansi, Kinwâr, Sakarwâr, Tânk, Thâkur Bais and Turkiya. Others, again, clearly take their names from their places of origin, such as the Antarbedi, “those of the Duâb,” Bilkhariya, Banaudh, Baranwâr, Bhojpuri Râwat, Ghâzipuri Râwat, Jamâlpuriya, Jamunapâri, Janakpuri, Jaunpuri, Kânhpuriya, Katheriya, Manglauri, Mânikpuri, Mainpuri, Mathuriya, Mehtarânpuri, Mukundpuri, Multâni, Nânakpuri, Sayyidpuri, Sarwariya, and Ujjainwâl or Ujjainpuriya.
21. Of the more important local sub-castes, we find in Dehra Dûn, the Badlân and Nânakshâhi; in Sahâranpur, the Barlang, Chanahiya, Machal, and Tânk; in Muzaffarnagar, the Bhilaur, Deswâl, Gahlot, and Soda; in Bulandshahr, the Bachanwâr, Baiswâr, Bhadauriya, Bhagwatiya, Bhokar, Chandâliya, Chauhân, Chauhela, Chunâr, Dhakauliya, Garauthiya, Janghârê, Jasnubali, Nauratan, Nirbâni, Panwâri, Phûlpanwâr, Râthi, Rolapâl, Shaikhâwat, Tarkhariya, Turkiya, Ujjainpuriya, and Ujjainwâl; in Aligarh, the Chutelê, Kalawata, Kharautiya, Kothiya, Kausikiya, and Mathuriya; in Mathura, the Soda; in Mainpuri, the Pattharwâr; in Etah, the Churelê, Katheriya, Mathuriya, and Patthargoti; in Bareilly, the Bargûjar, Dankmardan, Janghârê, Katheriya, and Rajauriya; in Bijnor, the Gangwati; in Morâdâbâd, the Barchi, Bargûjar, Bhumiyân, Deswâli, Multâni, and Rajauriya; in Shâhjahânpur, the Katheriya; in Cawnpur, the Basor and Domar; in Fatehpur, the [[272]]Sûpa Bhagat; in Allahâbâd, the Bilkhariya; in Jhânsi, the Domar; in Ghâzipur, the Râwat; in Basti, the Audhiyâr, Desi, and Dom; in Lucknow, the Bânsphor; in Unâo, the Turaiha; and in Sultânpur, the Dom.
22. Of the Benares sweepers, Mr. Greeven writes:—“In Benares, only the Lâl Begi, Shaikh Mehtar, and Hela, with a few Râwats, are found. All sub-castes, including Lâl Begis, who acknowledge a Musalmân hero, claim to be Hindus, with the exception of the Shaikh Mehtars, who call themselves Muhammadans. These pretensions are, however, equally rejected by Hindus, who exclude them from temples, and by Musalmâns, who exclude them from mosques. The distinction between Lâl Begis and Shaikh Mehtars is purely religious, and an elaborate legend admitting the common origin has been invented to explain why Mazhabis, who are Lâl Begis converted to Nânakshâhi doctrines, do not object to eating with Shaikh Mehtars. Only Lâl Begis and Râwats eat food left by Europeans, but all eat food left either by Hindus or Musalmâns. The Shaikh Mehtars alone, as Musalmâns, circumcise, and reject pig’s flesh. Each sub-caste eats uncooked food with all the others, but cooked food alone (kachchi, pakki). Only Helas refuse to touch dogs. Shaikh Mehtars and Lâl Begis alone admit proselytes. No sweeper touches the corpse of any other caste, nor, within his caste, of any sub-caste, except his own. While to the west of Delhi they are willing and regard it as their function to sweep streets and burn corpses, in Benares they profess, on the authority of a legend, to abandon streets to Chamârs, corpses to Doms. In fact, sweepers by no means endorse the humble opinion entertained with respect to them; for they allude to castes, such as Kunbis and Chamârs, as petty (chhota); while a common anecdote is related to the effect that a Lâl Begi when asked whether Musalmâns could obtain salvation, replied—“I never heard of it, but perhaps they might slip in behind Lâl Beg.”
23. Further he goes on to say:—“Each sub-caste of sweepers is endogamous, but within each sub-caste are certain exogamous stirpes (gotra). Thus the Lâl Begis admit three exogamous stirpes—Kharaha, ‘hare’; Pattharâha, ‘stone’; and Chauhân.” These sections, it may be noted, are almost certainly totemistic. Thus the Kharaha section will not eat the hare; the Pattharâha will not eat out of stone vessels. We shall notice later on another explanation of this; in fact, as in the case of the Dhângars, each of these minor castes is constantly working out fresh explanations of their [[273]]totemistic sections, and this is probably the explanation why it is now so difficult to trace this form of tribal organisation among the castes of Upper India. Mr. Greeven adds that besides these sections a special section has been created by spiritual ministers (bâba), who proudly declare that, just as kingship is not confined to any special classes, so they have abandoned their section, but not their sub-caste. This special section, though recruited from three exogamous sub-divisions, is endogamous.
24. Another account of these Benares sections may be given. These are said to be Chauhân, who connect themselves with the Râjput sept of the same name; Chuhân, who are named from chûha, “a rat”; Kharaha, “a hare”; Patthara, “a stone”; Pathrauta, who profess to derive their name from a kind of vegetable known as pathri-kâ-sâg.
25. This, however, does not exhaust the tribal organisation of the sweepers of these provinces. Thus, in Kheri, they are reported to be divided into two endogamous groups, with various exogamous sections. In the first group are the Mehtar, Bhangi, Lâl Begi, Chaudhari, and Rangreta. The second group consists of the Hathîlê, Râwat, Domra, Dhabâê, and Bânsphor. Most of these names have been already discussed. But in connection with the Rangreta section Mr. Ibbetson’s remarks[147] may be quoted:—“The terms Mazhabi and Rangreta denote Chûhras who have become Sikhs. The Mazhabis take the pahul or formula of initiation, wear their hair long, and abstain from tobacco, and they apparently refuse to touch night-soil, though performing all the other offices hereditary to the Chûhra caste. Their great Guru is Tegh Bahâdur, whose mutilated body was brought back from Delhi by Chûhras, who were then and there admitted to the faith as a reward for their devotion. But though good Sikhs as far as religious observance is concerned, the taint of hereditary pollution is upon them; and Sikhs of other castes refuse to associate with them even in religious ceremonies. They often intermarry with the Lâl Begi or Hindu Chûhra. They make capital soldiers, and some of our regiments are wholly composed of Mazhabis. The Rangreta are a class of Mazhabi apparently found only in Ambâla, Ludhiâna, and the neighbourhood, who consider themselves socially superior to the rest. The origin of their superiority, I am informed, lies in the fact that [[274]]they were once notorious as highway robbers. But it appears that the Rangretas have very generally abandoned scavengering for leather work, and this would at once account for their rise in the social scale. In the hills Rangreta is often used as synonymous with Rangrez to denote the cotton dyer and stamper; and in Sirsa the Sikhs will often call any Chûhra whom they wish to please, Rangreta, and a rhyme is current, Rangreta, Guru ka beta, or “the Rangreta is the son of the Guru.”
26. Again, in Mirzapur, the Bhangis name seven endogamous sub-castes: Halâlkhora, who are said to be so called because they support themselves by honest labour and do not eat the leavings of others; Lâl Begi, Râwat, Domar, who are like Doms; Hinduaiya, who are supposed to be so called because they are Hindus and more precise in the observances of the faith than other Hindu sweepers; Kirtiya, who are said to have been originally Hindus and to have been converted (kirtiya) to Islâm.
27. In Lucknow, again, their endogamous sub-castes are given as Bânsphor, Hela, Râwat, Hâri, Dhânuk, Lâl Begi, Shaikh or Shaikhra, Chûhra, and Dom.
28. In Bareilly, the Bhangis are reported to have four exogamous sections,—Khariya, who are perhaps the same as the Kharaha of the Benares list, Dalwariya, Tânk Mardân, Singha.