1835.] Steve7iso7i's account of the P'/umsigars. 259 



asked of what cast they were ? they answered P'haji- 

 sigdrs. How do you get your livelihood ? By f/ffansi- 

 gdring. Are you not ashamed of your way of life ? 

 have you never followed any other trade ? No, this is 

 the same trade that our fathers followed ; if we don't 

 p''ha7isigd7\ how are we to live ? 



I fear that many gangs of these miscreants still exist ; 

 they have been for the most part hunted out of the Bri- 

 tish territory, but they are said to carry on an uninter- 

 rupted career in the JMzdms country, and in other inde- 

 pendent provinces. The forms of law have allowed ma- 

 ny to escape, or have obliged the magistrates to let 

 loose on their fellow-creatures beings who are a dis- 

 grace to the lowest order of the human race— in fact, 

 they are a race of vampires undeserving of the name of 

 man.* 



The Shiidgdrsldd is a tribe of jugglers and fortune- 

 tellers, who wander about the Dekkan, and, probably, 

 other parts of the country, where, however, they are 

 not known by this name, but generally, I believe, by 

 that of Gdrodi (juggler), which is the denomination of 

 the caste in the Vijndnesiodra Sdstra. The Karnataka 

 term of Shuigdrshld is derived from Skudgdr (a burn- 

 ing or burial-ground) and shid (proficient, ready) it be- 

 ing their habit to prowl about these places to collect cer- 

 tain pieces of human bone, with which they are suppos- 

 ed to work charms and incantations. The tribe is look- 

 ed upon with much awe and detestation, and the fear of 

 exciting the wrath of any of its members, generally se- 

 cures a ready compliance with their demands for charity. 

 On this, however, they do not place their only reliance, 



*In the Asiai'ic Researches, vol. xiii. p. 230, will bt) fo\ui;l an nm[)U- au I 

 detailed account of the P' hansigdrs, Thegs, Budfiel'S, &c. nil diilcreat 

 classes of gang robbers in India, furnished by Di'. Slieru-ood, Mr. J. Shake- 

 spear, &c. The former gentleman gives several siun ini.Mis of tho cant phra- 

 ses of the P'hansipdrs ; a sort of language teriued by tUciu P/:erascri-^-ib-df, 

 " the languao-e of despatch." 



