Volume 2 / Part 2 — Brāhman, Mālwi
Reading edition
Brāhman, Mālwi.—This is a local class of Brāhmans from Mālwa in Central India, who are found in the Hoshangābād and Betūl Districts. They are said to have been invited here by the Gond kings of Kherla in Betūl six or more centuries ago, and are probably of impure descent. Mālwa is north of the Nerbudda, and they should therefore properly belong to the Pānch-Gaur division, but they speak Marāthi and their customs resemble those of Marātha Brāhmans, who will take food cooked without water from them. The Mālwi Brāhmans usually belong to the Madhyandina branch of the Yajurvedi sect. They work as village accountants (patwāris) and village priests, and also cultivate land.
Notes in this chapter
Note 1 · Brāhman, Nāgar.—A class of Gujarāti Brāhmans found in the Nimār District. The name is said to be derived from the town of Vadnagar of GujarāNote 2 · The above stories seem to show that the Nāgar Brāhmans are partly of impure descent. In Gujarāt it is said that one section of them called BNote 3 · Formerly the Nāgar Brāhmans observed very strict rules about defilement when in the state called Nuven, that is, having bathed and purified