Note 113 — B (continued 2)

Bâwariya.113—A hunting and criminal tribe practically found only in Muzaffarnagar and Mirzapur. Various explanations have been given of the name. Colonel Dalton would connect it with the Sanskrit barbara, varvara, which appears to be the Greek barbaros, and applied to any outcaste who cannot speak Sanskrit. Others take it to be another form of the Hindi bâola, bâora (Sanskrit, vâtûla, “inflamed with wind”). It is most probably derived from the Hindi banwar, “a creeper” (Sanskrit bhramara), in the sense of a noose made originally from some fibrous plant and used for trapping animals, which is one of the primary occupations of the tribe. The Bâwariyas in these provinces seem to fall into two branches—those resident in the Upper Duâb, who still retain some of their original customs and manners, and those to the east, who assert a more respectable origin, and have abandoned their original predatory life.