Note 71 — Glossary (continued 2)

Panchāl.—An indeterminate group of artisans engaged in any of the following five trades: Workers in iron, known as Manu; workers in copper or brass called Twashtik; workers in stone or Shilpik; workers in wood or Maya; and workers in gold and silver designated as Daivagnya.71 The caste appear to be of Telugu origin, and in Madras they are also known as Kammala. In the Central Provinces they were amalgamated with the Sunars in 1901, but in 1891 a total of 7000 were returned, belonging to the southern Districts; while 2700 members of the caste are shown in Berār. The name is variously derived, but the principal root is no doubt pānch or five. Captain Glasfurd writes it Panchyānun.72 In the Central Provinces the Panchāls appear generally to work in gold or brass, while in Berār they are blacksmiths. The gold-workers are an intelligent and fairly prosperous class, and devote themselves to engraving, inlaying, and making gold beads. They are usually hired by Sunārs and paid by the piece.73 They are intent on improving their social position and now claim to be Vishwa Brāhmans, presumably in virtue of their descent from Viswa Karma, the celestial architect. At the census they submitted a petition begging to be classified as Brāhmans, and to support their claim they employ members of their own caste to serve them as priests. But the majority of them permit the remarriage of widows, and do not wear the sacred thread. In other respects their customs resemble those of the Sunārs. The Berār Panchāls, on the other hand, appear to be a much lower group. Mr. Kitts describes74 them as a “wandering caste of smiths living in grass-mat huts and using as fuel the roots of thorn bushes, which they batter out of the ground with the back of a short-handled axe peculiar to themselves. The Berāri Panchals,” he continues, “who differ from the Dakhani division in the custom of shaving their heads and beards on the death of a parent, have been in the Provinces for some generations. They live in small pāls or tents, and move from place to place with buffaloes, donkeys, and occasionally ponies to carry their kit. The women of the Berāri division may be distinguished from those of the Dakhani Panchāls by their wearing their lugras or body-cloths tucked in at the back, in the fashion known as kasote.” It is no doubt from the desire to dissociate themselves from the wandering blacksmiths of Berār that the Panchāls of the Central Provinces desire to drop their caste name.