1865.] On the Boksas of Bijnour. 155 
the dominant tongue. It is evident that, if my supposition is correct, 
all the traditions which assign to the Boksas a Rajput origin are 
baseless, but precedent are not wanting of tribes, assuming traditions 
in accordance with the history of their new co-religionists. Indeed, 
such traditions sometimes arise even where the smaller tribe has 
not adopted the religion of those who surround it. This is the case 
of the Nilgiri Todas whose ancestors are now represented to have 
been the palanquin-bearers of Kunya-Swami, a Hindoo deity, though 
the Todas, far from being Hindoos, .seem to have no religious belieis 
or ceremonies whateyer. 
To the question, whence the Boksas came, and, if they are of 
Turanian origin, to which of the great tribes of that race are they 
nearly allied, the information at my disposal does not enable me to offer 
any definite answer. It may be, that they sprang from the same 
source as the Bheels, Gonds, Coles, and other so-called “ hill tribes” 
of Peninsular India, relics of the original Tamulian inhabitants of the 
country, still subsisting in the out-of-the-way corners into which they 
were driven by the Aryan influx. But it appears to be indicated by 
the fact of a series of analogous tribes oceupying segments of the 
Sub-Himalayan forest-belt from Assam to the Jumna, and seems on the 
whole more probable, that the Boksas are the furthest authors of the 
stock whence sprung the aborigines of the northern part of the 
_ Malayan peninsula. In any case, if they are really non-Aryan, the 
complete substitution of Hindustani for their original language, and 
the thorough assimilation of their faith and customs to those of the 
surrounding race may form insuperable obstacles to their true relation- 
ships ever being found out. Here, however, I shall leave this: subject 
to be discussed by those who are better qualified to handle it, in order 
to revert to less theoretical matters. 
The Boksas conform to the Hindoo religion in an ignorant, un- 
meaning way, and the usual rites of that faith are performed on the 
occasion of births, marriages, and deaths. Marriage, as among the Hin- 
doos, takes place at 8to 10 years, and at this ceremony the purohit receives 
afeeof about four annas. After a birth, he gets from four annas to one 
rupee four annas. The bodies of the dead are burned at the Ram- 
gunga, or other neighbouring large stream, and the phdl (ashes) are 
carried to Hurdwar, there to be consigned to Gunga ji, by a Brahmin 


