1844.] and on Gerard's Account of Kunawar. 181 



Gerard's observation. These are the Kohlis, Chumars, or Chamangs ; 

 and the mechanics subdivided into smiths and carpenters. The 

 Kohlis are so called by the people of the lower hills; in the plains by 

 the people about Rampoor they are called Chumars; and by them- 

 selves and by the Kunawarees, Chumangs. 



The Kohlis are regarded as out-casts ; and no Kauit will inter- 

 marry with them, or eat with them, or even allow them to cross his 

 threshold. They are in every way a distinct race in Kunawar, and 

 have a language of their own, essentially Hindi, although mixed with 

 some Arabic and Persian terms for which it may be difficult to ac- 

 count. To the southward, their language merges in that of the hill 

 tribes generally. A specimen of their vocabulary is given under the 

 heading " Language." It is not known whether they entered Kuna- 

 war as refugees, or have been left in it as a remnant ; but they are 

 most likely of the ancient Sudra stock of India. Their complex- 

 ion is usually darker than that of the Kauits, and some are said to 

 have woolly hair, as is the .case with the tribes of the Vindhya 

 hills. 



Family Polyandryism is established among the Kohlis. Some few 

 hold lands directly of the Government, and are otherwise on the same 

 footing as Kauits, except that they are the first pressed as porters, a 

 mode of rendering service to the chief usual in the Himalayas. They 

 are commonly labourers and weavers. There are some families of 

 Kohlis in almost every Kunawaree village; but they are not found 

 in the adjoining Bhotee districts. They are the musicians of the 

 villages. 



The smiths or lohars are called domaug in Kunawaree, and the 

 carpenters are termed oras. In the eyes of the Kauits, they are out- 

 casts equally with the Kohlis, neither do the artisans and Kohlis 

 intermarry or eat with one another. There are two or more families 

 of mechanics in each village. Polyandry is established. The language 

 is the Kunawaree of the district in which they reside. They are 

 pressed as labourers before the Kauits. 



In the Bhotee districts adjoining Kunawar, the same person is both 

 smith and carpenter, but he is usually styled smith or lok. He is 

 regarded as unclean by the Bhotee cultivators, and they do not eat or 

 intermarry with his family. His language is Bhotee, and Polyan- 



