Note 7 — KOLI

In the Central Provinces the tribe have the five subdivisions of Sūrajvansi, Malhār, Bhilaophod, Singāde, and the Muhammadan Kolis. The Sūrajvansi or ‘descendants of the sun’ claim to be Rājpūts. The Malhār or Pānbhari subtribe are named from their deity Malhāri Deo, while the alternative name of Pānbhari means water-carrier. The Bhilaophod extract the oil from bhilwa7 nuts like the Nāhals, and the Singāde (sing, horn, and gādna, to bury) are so called because when their buffaloes die they bury the horns in their compounds. As with several other castes in Burhānpur and Berār, a number of Kolis embraced Islām at the time of the Muhammadan domination and form a separate subcaste.