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The plural of caste names and a few common Hindustani words is formed by adding s in the English manner according to ordinary usage, though this is not, of course, the Hindustani plural.

NOTE. The rupee contains 16 annas, and an anna is of the same value as a penny. A pice is a quarter of an anna, or a farthing. Rs. 1-8 signifies one rupee and eight annas. A lakh is a hundred thousand, and a krore ten million.

PART II

ARTICLES ON CASTES AND TRIBES

VOL. III

GADARIA-KOSHTI

B

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notice.

Gadaria, Gādri. The occupational shepherd caste of 1. General northern India. The name is derived from the Hindi gadar and the Sanskrit gandhāra, a sheep, the Sanskrit name being taken from the country of Gandhāra or Kandahār, from which sheep were first brought. The three main shepherd castes all have functional names, that of the Dhangars or Maratha shepherds being derived from dhan, small stock, while the Kuramwārs or Telugu shepherds take their name like the Gadarias from kuruba, a sheep. These three castes are of similar nature and status, and differ only in language and local customs. In 1911 the Gadarias numbered 41,000 persons. They are found in the northern Districts, and appear to have been amongst the earliest settlers in the Nerbudda valley, for they have given their name to several villages, as Gadariakheda and Gadarwara.

divisions.

The Gadarias are a very mixed caste. They themselves 2. Subsay that their first ancestor was created by Mahadeo to tend his rams, and that he married three women who were fascinated by the sight of him shearing the sheep. These belonged to the Brahman, Dhimar and Barai castes respectively, and became the ancestors of the Nikhar, Dhengar and Barmaiyan subcastes of Gadarias. The Nikhar subcaste are the highest, their name meaning pure. Dhengar is probably, in reality, a corruption of Dhangar, the name of the Maratha shepherd 1 This article is based on information collected by Mr. Hira Lal in Jubbulpore, and the author in Mandla.

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