WAGES OF ARTISANS 179 



account of the manner in which the village artisans 

 are remunerated : * 



' When the grain is threshed, the artisans and 

 menials get their perquisites. The man who does 

 blacksmith's and carpenter's work gets in this way 

 25 seers of grain per plough at each harvest, this being 

 given in barley mixed with grain or peas (bejhar) at 

 the spring, and maize or juar millet at the autumn 

 harvest. The chamdr (leather-curer), in consideration 

 of repairing the well water- bag, providing leather 

 straps and whips, and helping clean the grain, 

 similarly gets 20 seers at each harvest per plough. 

 The washerman gets the same. Many give the same 

 amount of grain to the kahar or bhisti, who keeps their 

 houses supplied with water during the year ; but 

 among the lower classes of cultivators or field- 

 labourers the women of the family have to do this 

 work themselves. Similarly, the potter (kumhar), in 

 consideration of providing earthen pots during the 

 year, gets 10 seers of grain per plough per harvest. 

 The local priest (kherapat), who lights the Holi fire 

 and looks after the village ghosts, gets 2\ seers per 

 plough at each harvest. So, too, beggars, and the 

 wandering faqir or Jogi, in whose round the villages 

 lie, get a handful or two according to the piety or 

 generosity of the owner. The light grain and sweep- 

 ings of the threshing-floor are the chamdr's privilege 

 in consideration of the help he gives in threshing 

 and winnowing. The meat of dead cattle also falls to 

 him, but he does not get the skin. If an animal dies, 

 the hide goes to the owner, and the chamdr expects 

 10 or 12 seers, of course, as the fee for curing it. In 

 some cases he is expected to mend shoes for nothing. 

 This is much better than the rule in the eastern dis- 

 tricts, where the chamdr can claim the hide, and has 



* ' An Inquiry into the Economic Condition of the Agricultural 

 and Labouring Classes in the North-Western Provinces and Oudh,' 

 pp. 24, 25. 



12 — 2 



