| District. | Number. |
| Agra | 13 |
| Hamîrpur | 28 |
| Lalitpur | 22 |
| Total | 63 |
Barholiya, Barhauliya.—A Râjput sept, who are a branch of the Bhrigubansi stock, and the chief proprietors of Barhaul, in Benares, from the principal town of which Pargana they derive their name. They are said to have come from Rengarh, in Mârwâr, and were on their way to Jagannâth, when their chief, Narotham Râê, accepted service with the Seori or Chero Râja.[105] The head of the sept, in Bârabanki, where they are most numerous, is the Râja of Sûrajpur. There they are classed as a branch of the Bais stock.
Distribution of the Barholiya Râjputs according to the Census of 1891.
| District. | Number. |
| Jâlaun | 2 |
| Azamgarh | 104 |
| Lucknow | 19 |
| Râê Bareli | 199 |
| Sîtapur | 1 |
| Faizâbâd | 40 |
| Gonda | 22 |
| Bahrâich | 39 |
| Bârabanki | 2,316 |
| Total | 2,742 |
[[201]]
Bâri.[106]—A tribe of household servants to Hindus and makers of the leaf-platters used at Hindu feasts. The name of the caste is derived from the Hindi bâlna, or bârna, which means “to set a thing alight,” as one of their chief occupations is acting as torch-bearers. According to Mr. Nesfield, “they are an off-shoot from the semi-savage tribes known as Banmânush and Musahar. He still associates with them at times, and if the demand for plates and cups (owing to some temporary cause, such as a local fair or an unusual number of marriages) happens to become larger than he can at once supply, he gets them secretly made by his ruder kinsfolk, and retails them at a higher rate, passing them off as his own production.” That the origin of the caste is functional is very probable; but there is as yet no satisfactory evidence, such as that based on anthropometry, which would conclusively establish their connection with the jungle races; and if they are ultimately akin to the Musahar, the type must have been very considerably changed. The Bâri, in fact, looks very much like the ordinary Chamâr of the plains, and he has lost in a great measure the distinctive cast of features which characterises the Musahar.
Traditions of origin. 2. In the Eastern Districts the Bâris have a curiously naïve legend to account for their origin. “Once upon a time,” so the legend runs, “Parameswar was offering rice milk to the spirits of his ancestors. In the course of this duty the celebrant has to make a gift known as Vikraya dâna, which no one cares to accept. Parameswar offered the gift to some Brâhmans, who refused it. Then he made a man of clay, and blowing upon the image invested it with life. Parameswar asked the man whom he had created to accept the offering, and he agreed on condition that all men should drink with him and recognise his claim to caste. Parameswar then told him to bring water in a cup, and drank of it in the presence of all the castes. Ever since Hindus drink water from the hands of the Bâri, though he himself eats the leavings of many castes.” They say that this first ancestor of theirs was named Sundar on account of his personal beauty. According to the Oudh legend, when Bhagwân had created the world he took a survey of it and reflected that he had created all manner of men except the menial, who would consume the [[202]]leavings, which would otherwise be wasted. To remove this defect, he made a man of sand and called him Sundar. The caste derives its name from having been made of sand (bâlu bâru), a folk etymology which is probably at the bottom of the story. They say that the descendants of this Sundar lived at Ajudhya until the reign of Râja Dasaratha; after that they dispersed all over the country. The Purânic legend represents them as descended from a barber and a tobacconist girl. In Oudh they fix their head-quarters at Tulasipur, in the Kheri District.
Marriage rules. 3. The Census returns include no less than five hundred and three exogamous sections. Of these the most important locally are the Bilkhariya, who take their name from Bilkhar in Oudh, the Hinduiya and the Kariya in Ballia; the Kanaujiya, in Gorakhpur: the Desi and Sarwariya in Basti; the Dakkhinâha and Sarwariya in Râê Bareli; the Ghorcharha or “riders on horses,” and in Gonda and Bahrâich the Chauhân. Besides these, are the Donwâr, which is also the name of a sub-tribe of Bhuînhârs; the Mathuriya from Mathura; the Pattariha or makers of leaf-platters (pattar); the Râwat, and Sundar, whose name is that of their founder. To the east the rule of gotra exogamy appears to be reinforced by the condition that they do not intermarry with a family with whom previous relationship by marriage is established and admitted. In Mathura persons of the same gotra cannot intermarry, and the gotras of a man’s mother and grandmother are also barred. Marriage with two sisters is permitted. Sexual license before marriage is everywhere prohibited. Polyandry is nowhere recognized; and, while polygamy is allowed, it is restricted to cases when the first wife is barren or permanently disabled by disease. The actual marriage ceremony is of the usual low caste type. In the eastern districts, prior to the marriage, they have what is known as the panchmangari or timangari performed, as the name implies on the fifth or third day before the wedding, when the women bring clay from the village clay pit and lay it in the nuptial shed (mâro), where it is used for making the fireplace on which the food for the wedding feast is cooked. In the respectable form of marriage, called charhaua, where the bride is given away by her father, and the pair revolve round the sacred fire; there are in Oudh three stages—Barrachha or Barraksha, “fixing or holding of the bridegroom,” in which the father of the bride gives the boy a rupee as a sort of earnest money; the actual [[203]]betrothal known as “the cup” (katora), because the friends on both sides drink sharbat together. Then follows what is the binding part of the function—the rubbing of the parting of the bride’s hair with red lead, and the walking round the sacred fire.
Widow marriage. 4. From Mathura it is reported that the caste now prohibits widow marriage. This is not the case elsewhere. In the Benares Division widows marry by sagâi, and the levirate is recognised but not enforced; in Oudh, irregular connections of widows are allowed. It is not called marriage; she is merely said to “take her seat” (baith jâna) in the house of her paramour. She is not obliged to form such a connection unless she pleases, and the preference is given to the younger brother of the late husband; those widows who set up house with an outsider are known as Urhari, a term which seems usually to bear a contemptuous meaning.
Disposal of the dead. 5. The dead are cremated, but only those who are well off are careful about disposing of the ashes in the Ganges or Jumna.