Bais of Mainpuri. 4. The Bais of Bewar, in the Mainpuri District, are immigrants from Dundiya Khera, and as far back as 1391–92 A.D., in concert with the Râthaurs, they created such a disturbance here that it was found necessary to send out large bodies of Imperial troops to quell them. Deoli, their chief seat in Barnahal, is mentioned in the Târîkh-i-Mabârik Shâh as a very strong place, in the possession of infidels, and as having been attacked and destroyed in 1420 A.D. by Sultân Khizr Khân on his march from Koil to Etâwah.[31]
Sâlivâhana. 5. The tribal hero of the sept is Sâlivâhana. He appears to have been an historical character, and has been identified by General Cunningham[32] with Gotamiputra Satakarni of the Kanheri and Nâsik inscriptions. The tradition is thus told by a writer in the Oudh Gazetteer[33]:—“A son of the great world serpent was born under the roof of a potter of Mûngi Pâtan, which, by one account, is on the Narbada, and, by another, is on the Godâvari, in the Ahmadnagar District, and early showed, by his wit and strength, that he was destined to be a king. As a judge among his youthful companions, by what would now be considered a simple process of cross-examination, he excited the wonder of a people unaccustomed to law courts; and deserved and received the same kind of honour that was accorded to Daniel by the Jews of the Captivity after his successful investigation of the case of Susanna and the Elders. His amusement was to make clay figures of elephants, horses, and men-at-arms, and before he had well reached manhood, he led his fictile army to do battle with the great King Vikramaditya. When the hosts met, the clay of the young hero became living brass, and the weapons of his enemies fell harmless on the hard material. Vikramaditya fled and took refuge in a large temple of Siva, whither he was pursued by Sâlivâhana. At the mere sound of the boy’s voice the ponderous gates of the temple rolled back, and Vikramaditya acknowledged his conqueror with appropriate homage. A reasonable arrangement was made on the spot for the partition of the royal power, and on the elder king’s death, Sâlivâhana [[122]]became undisputed Râja of India. Later in life he conquered the Panjâb and died and was buried at Siâlkot.” This tradition of serpent origin is perpetuated in the tribal tradition that “no snake has or ever can destroy one of the family. They seem to take no precautions against the bite, except hanging a vessel of water over the head of the sufferer, with a small tube in the bottom, from which the water is poured on his head as long as he can bear it.”[34] The cobra is in fact the tribal totem.
Other Settlements of the Bais. 6. The Farrukhâbâd story is that the emigrants from Dundiya Khera were led by two brothers, Hansrâj and Bachrâj, that they were first subject to the aboriginal Bhyârs, but finally turned against them and established themselves in Sakatpur and Saurikh, and also in a few villages across the Isan Nadi.[35] In Budaun there are two sub-divisions, Chaudhari and Râê, so called from the two sons of their traditional leader, Dalîp Sinh, of Baiswâra. They dated their immigration in Basti only five or six generations before Dr. Buchanan wrote.[36] In Gorakhpur some call themselves Nâgbansi, and say that they are sprung from the nose of the mythical cow, Kâmdhenu, which belonged to the Rishi Vasishtha. The Ghâzipur branch claim descent from Baghel Râê, who came from Baiswâra fifteen generations ago, and colonized the jungle.[37] Their emigration into Rohilkhand is not placed earlier than the time of Akbar.
Sub-divisions of the Bais. 7. Numerous castes in the Faizâbâd and Gonda Districts, such as the Gandhariyas, the Naipuriyas, the Barwârs, and the Châhus, claim to have been originally Bais, while the equal lengths of their pedigrees show that they were established in these districts at about the beginning of the sixteenth century. There are, besides, numerous families of small landowners in the east of Râê Bareli, who call themselves Bharadih Bais, and whose want of any tradition of emigration and peculiar religion distinguish them from the pure Bais of the west. Another division is that of Bhîtariya and Bâhariya or “the outer” and “the inner” Bais.[38] “The Brâhmans of Sultânpur relate that Tilok Chand in his old age, like another king of distinguished wisdom, supported [[123]]the prodigious responsibility of an establishment of three hundred wives, and became the father of a family countless as the sands of the sea. The Princesses of Rîwa and Mainpuri, to whom he had originally been married, disgusted by an association in which the dignity of castes had not been respected, fled from his castle and gave rise to a distinction between the Bais from within (Bhîtariya) and the Bais from without (Bâhariya); those from without being the offspring of pure Râjput blood, while those from within were of contaminated lineage, and occupied a doubtful position in the castes system.” But the most important distinction is between the Tilokchandi Bais or the descendants of Tilok Chand, and Kath Bais, or “wooden” Bais. Of these Colonel MacAndrew writes[39]:—“These call themselves Tilokchandi Bais to distinguish them from the Kath Bais, who are supposed to be the offspring of the real Bais by women of inferior caste. The Tilokchandi Bais will neither eat nor intermarry with them. An instance of this was exemplified the other day when the proposal was made that the Bais should erect a bridge over the Sâi at Râê Bareli. The Tilokchandis proposed that the Kath Bais should subscribe. The latter at once expressed their willingness to do so, provided the Tilokchandis would acknowledge them to be Bais by eating with them. Nothing more was heard of the proposal that they should subscribe.” The Tilokchandi Bais according to Sir H. M. Elliot,[40] are sub-divided into four clans, Râo, Râwat, Naihatha, and Sainbansi, all of whom profess to derive their rights from the Gautam Râja of Argal. He says that beside the Tilokchandi, there are said to be no less than three hundred and sixty sub-divisions of the Bais, the descendants of as many wives of Sâlivâhana. Among these the most noted are the Tilsâri, Chak Bais, Nânwag, Bhanwag, Bach, Parsariya, Patsariya, Bijhoniya, Bhatkariya, Chanamiya, or Gargbans, but it may be doubted if these are really Bais.
Religion and social standing. 8. There is nothing peculiar about the religion of the Bais except their tribal worship of the snake, and their reverence for a clan goddess, Mathotê, who is worshipped at the Mathotepur fair, in the Sîtapur District. She became a Sati at the death of her consort. The ordinary Bais give their daughters in marriage, amongst others, to the Sengar, Bhadauriya, [[124]]Chauhân, Kachhwâha, Gautam, Parihâr, Dikhit and Gaharwâr Râjputs, and receive daughters in marriage from the Banâphar, Janwâr, Khîchar, Raghubansi, Raikwâr, Karchauli, and Gahlot. The Tilokchandi Bais ally themselves only with septs of the bluest blood. The Bais in Faizâbâd take brides from the Bachgoti, Bhâlê Sultân, Kalhans, and Kânhpuriya septs, and they give their daughters to the Gaharwâr, Bisen, Sombansi, Bhadauriya, Chauhân, and Kachhwâha septs. In Ballia they take wives from the Ujjaini, Haihobans, Kinwâr, Nikumbh, Sengar, Kausik, Râghubansi, Sûrajbansi, Bhrigubansi, Barhauliya, Gaharwâr, Gautam, Kâkan, Donwâr, Jâdon, Kachhwâha, Chauhân, Bisen, Nâgbansi, Sakarwâr, Baghel, Sombansi, Udmatiya, Solankhi, Chandel, Parihâr, and give brides to the Sirnet, Râjkumâr, Drigbansi, Maunas, Kachhwâha, and, in rare cases, to the Ujjaini. Their gotra is Bhâradwâja.
Distribution of the Bais Râjputs according to the Census of 1891.
| District. | Hindus. | Muhammadans. | Total. |
| Dehra Dûn | 1 | 48 | 49 |
| Sahâranpur | 185 | 65 | 250 |
| Muzaffarnagar | 109 | 250 | 359 |
| Meerut | 578 | … | 578 |
| Bulandshahr | 178 | 197 | 375 |
| Aligarh | 707 | 11 | 718 |
| Mathura | 231 | 16 | 247 |
| Agra | 1,022 | 4 | 1,026 |
| Farrukhâbâd | 6,688 | 10 | 6,698 |
| Mainpuri | 4,073 | 5 | 4,078 |
| Etâwah | 1,828 | 9 | 1,837 |
| Etah | 2,050 | 80 | 2,130 |
| Bareilly | 1,673 | 15 | 1,688 |
| Bijnor | 678 | … | 678 |
| Budâun | 8,301 | 212 | 8,513 |
| Morâdâbâd | 819 | 1 | 820[[125]] |
| Shâhjahânpur | 1,111 | 173 | 1,284 |
| Pilibhît | 315 | … | 315 |
| Cawnpur | 6,323 | 15 | 6,338 |
| Fatehpur | 7,495 | 672 | 8,167 |
| Bânda | 15,857 | 224 | 16,081 |
| Hamîrpur | 14,285 | 24 | 14,309 |
| Allahâbâd | 11,882 | 60 | 11,942 |
| Jhânsi | 703 | … | 703 |
| Jâlaun | 1,133 | 21 | 1,154 |
| Lalitpur | 1,097 | … | 1,097 |
| Benares | 11,225 | 125 | 11,350 |
| Mirzapur | 5,844 | … | 5,844 |
| Jaunpur | 13,863 | 258 | 14,121 |
| Ghâzipur | 6,329 | 375 | 6,704 |
| Ballia | 9,334 | 59 | 9,393 |
| Gorakhpur | 12,246 | 1,708 | 13,954 |
| Basti | 5,873 | 9,954 | 15,827 |
| Azamgarh | 24,730 | 2,091 | 26,821 |
| Tarâi | 47 | … | 47 |
| Lucknow | 3,898 | 23 | 3,921 |
| Unâo | 10,319 | 376 | 10,695 |
| Râê Bareli | 27,022 | 1,141 | 28,163 |
| Sîtapur | 3,887 | 309 | 4,196 |
| Hardoi | 4,408 | 90 | 4,498 |
| Kheri | 1,073 | 503 | 1,576 |
| Faizâbâd | 18,126 | 1,734 | 19,860 |
| Gonda | 55 | 146 | 201 |
| Bahrâich | 3,896 | 1,239 | 5,135[[126]] |
| Sultânpur | 6,447 | 2,514 | 8,961 |
| Partâbgarh | 8,339 | 560 | 8,899 |
| Bârabanki | 12,171 | 1,254 | 13,425 |
| Total | 278,454 | 26,571 | 305,025 |
Baiswâr.—A tribe found in the hill country of Mirzapur, whose origin is doubtful. Their own account is that they are Râjputs of the famous Bais stock of Dundiya Khera,[41] and that two brothers being condemned to death by the Râja escaped into Rîwa, where the Râja gave them estates. For the last eight or nine generations they have been migrating into Mirzapur. They admit that they are now endogamous, and have no connection with Baiswâra. Their tribal worship is conducted at a temple of Bhawâni, in Bardi, the south eastern division of Rîwa abutting on Mirzapur. It is very doubtful if they have really any Râjput blood. In appearance they are dark, and have much of the characteristic look of the Dravidian races by whom they are surrounded.
BAISWÂR.