31 



in safeguarding the money in their possession. When visiting 

 fairs in the Native States they are very well treated by the authorities, 

 who make special arrangements to guard the animals from theft, 

 and often detail a sahukar with whom they can bank their money. 

 Having completed their purchases, which generally consist of first 

 class bullocks, 3 or 4 years' old, and the very best cow-buffaloes, they 

 rail them to the station nearest which they are likely to obtain a mar- 

 ket. On arrival at their destination they usually hold a small fair at a 

 convenient centre, notice being sent round to intending purchasers. 

 They seldom demand cash payments, but as all their customers 

 are known to them, they prefer to recover the price of their ani- 

 mals by 8 instalments paid at each succeeding harvest. Their 

 usual procedure is to make their sales before Har, recovering one 

 instalment in Har, one in Lohri and another in the following Har 

 in the next year. The purchaser pays one rupee as earnest- 

 money and executes a bond binding him to pay the instal- 

 ments as they fall due. No interest is charged, but the price 

 of the animal is enhanced so as to include interest charges. 

 Mr. de Montmorency calculates that the colonist of Lyallpur 

 buying from Aroras in instalments pays 12^ per cent, more 

 than he would if he bought from zamindars of his old district or 

 in a fair. Some district officers calculate that interest included in 

 the price is really much higher than this. The Hoshiarpur report - 

 considers the interest as high as 30 per cent. The zamindars sel- 

 dom default in their payments, otherwise they would be given no 

 more credit. Several district reports touch on the hardship 

 which these transactions involve to the zamindar, and the Deputy 

 Commissioner of Amritsar suggests that Co-operative Societies 

 should undertake immediate cash payments to the Aroras on behalf 

 of the individual members of the society, and so avoid the loss aris- 

 ing from the these credit transactions. 



A second class of Aroras from Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan 

 Bahawalpur and Sindh have the trade in high class Sindhi and 

 Dajal cattle in their hands. Their methods closely resemble 

 that of the Shahpur and Mianwali Aroras, but they are reported 

 to be even harsher in their dealings with the zamindars. 

 Owing to the paucity of fairs in this part of the country, these 

 Aroras make their purchases for export chiefly through agents 

 in the villages. ^ 



The business conducted by the Kashas, chiefly Gujars and 

 Kasais of the Hazara, Rawalpindi, Attock, Bannu and Peshawar 

 districts, is of a somewhat special nature. Their interest in high 

 class, animals is limited chiefly to cow-buffaloes, of which they 

 buy large quantities at the Jaithu, Amritsar, Ludhiana and other 



