II HALWAI 203 The real reason why the Halwai occupies a good position perhaps simply results from the necessity that other castes should be able to take cakes from him. Among the higher castes food cooked with water should not be eaten except at the hearth after this has been specially cleansed and spread with cowdung, and those who are to eat have bathed and otherwise purified themselves. But as the need continuously arises for travellers and others to take a meal abroad where they cannot cook it for themselves, sweetmeats and cakes made without water are permitted to be eaten in this way, and the Halwai, as the purveyor of these, has been given the position of a pure caste from whose hands a Brāhman can take water. In a similar manner, water may be taken from the hands of the Dhimar who is a household servant, the Kahār or palanquin-bearer, the Barai or betel-leaf seller, and the Bharbhūnja or rice-parcher, although some of these castes have a very low origin and occupy the humble position of menial servants. The Halwai's shop is one of the most familiar in an Indian bazar, and in towns a whole row of them may be seen together, this arrangement being doubtless adopted for the social convenience of the caste-fellows, though it might be expected to decrease the custom that they receive. His wares consist of trays full of white and yellow-coloured sweetmeats and cakes of flour and sugar, very unappetising to a European eye, though Hindu boys show no lack of appreciation of them. The Hindus are very fond of sweet things, which is perhaps a common trait of an uneducated palate. Hindu children will say that such sweets as chocolate almonds are too bitter, and their favourite drink, sherbet, is simply a mixture of sugar and water with some flavouring, and seems scarcely calculated to quench the thirst produced by an Indian hot weather. Similarly their tea is so sweetened with sugar and spices as to be distasteful to a European. The ingredients of a Halwai's sweets are wheat and gram-flour, milk and country sugar. Those called batashas consist merely of syrup of sugar boiled with a little flour, which is taken out in spoonfuls and allowed to cool. They are very easy to make and are commonly distributed to 1. Derivation and historical notice. schoolboys on any occasion of importance, and are some- Hatkar, Hatgar.2--A small caste of Berār, numbering about 14,000 persons in 1911. They are found principally in the Pusad taluk of Yeotmāl District, their villages being placed like a line of outposts along the Hyderābād border. The Hatkars are a branch of the Dhangar or shepherd caste, and in some localities they are considered as a subcaste of Dhangars. The derivation of the name Hatkar is obscure, but the Hatkars appear to be those Dhangars who first took to military service under Sivaji and hence became a 1 Buchanania latifolia. 2 Based principally on the account of the Hatkars on p. 200 of Sir A. Lyall's Berar Gazetteer, with some notes taken by Mr. Hira Lal in Buldāna. II GAULI HATKAR'S REVERENCE FOR CATTLE 205 distinct group. Gauli for cattle. The Hatkars are also called Bangi Dhangars, and in 2. The Berār rank above other Dhangars because they took to Hatkar's soldiering and obtained grants of land, just as the Marathas reverence rank above the Kunbis. Another group have given up sheep-tending and keep cattle, which is a more respectable occupation on account of the sanctity of cattle, and these call themselves Gauli Hatkars. These Gauli Hatkars have given up drinking liquor and eating fowls. They will not touch or sell the milk of buffaloes and cows before sunset on Mondays, the day on which they worship Krishna. 1 Colonel Meadows Taylor, Tara, p. 404. 2 Ain-i-Akbari, quoted in Berar Gazetteer, p. 200. 3 Berar Gazetteer. If |