1890.] P. N. Bose — Chhattisgar : notes on its tribes, sects and castes. 283 
When cremation is practised — as it is by those who are somewhat 
Hinduised — mounds ai’e sometimes raised over the ashes of the dead. 
These mounds usually point north-south, but sometimes east-we.st. 
Quantities of paddy are sometimes put on the mounds, as offerings to 
the spirits of the dead. 
Castes. — The Gonds, like the Hindus, are divided into castes, of 
which I have met with the following : — * 
1. Raj. 
2. Kureti. 
3. Khatalwar. 
4. Dhur. 
6. Koitor or Jharia. (Sometimes also called Ravanvamsi). 
6. Pardhan (including Patharia, and also Agaria?) 
The first three castes have conformed more or less to Hindu cus- 
toms, and count among their members a large number of well-to-do 
Gonds, such as the zamindars of Chauki and Sahuspur-Lohara. They take 
the holy thread, and, as, a rule, venerate Hindu gods. But they may 
be distinguished from the Hindus, by their worship of the Budha Deo, 
either openly or in secret. The plains Gonds belong almost exclusively 
to one or other of the first four classes. The hill Gonds belong almost 
quite as exclusively to the Koitor or Jharia class. 
Jharia literally means ‘ jungly ’ ; and Mr. Hislop observesf that the 
meaning of ‘ Koitor’ is “ evidently associated with the idea of a hill ” ; 
so that, the name of the fifth class would appear to signify simply Gonds 
who inhabit the jungle-clad hills. Those who settled in the plain 
country, and imitated the manners and customs of the Hindus, began to 
look down upon their brethren of the hills. Hence the former would 
have no social intercourse with the latter ; and thus two great classes 
would be naturally formed. A further subdivision of the plains Gonds 
is probably due to social and local causes. The Raj Gonds, for instance, 
claiming kinship with the royal families of Garha-Mandla, and Lanji, 
would naturally form a caste. 
The Dhur Gonds, who are very numerous in the plain country, occupy 
a lower status in society than those mentioned above. I suspect the 
* Mr. Hislop raentioji the following division into twelve and a half classes in 
imitation of the Hindns : Edj, Eaghnwal, Dadave, Katnlya, Fadal, Dhobi, Ojhyal, 
Thotydl, Koilabhutal, Koikopnl, Kolam, Madyal, and an inferior sort of Ptdal, as 
the half-caste. These divisions probably hold in the country about Chanda and Nag- 
pur. Katulya is probably identical with the Khatalwar of Chhattisgar. Padal is 
identical with Pardhan or Pathari ; Kureti and Dhur cannot be identified with any 
of the classes mentioned by Hislop, and appear to be peculiar to Chhattisgar. 
t Op. Cit. p. 14. 
