Note 121 — B (continued 2)

Beldâr.121—(One who works with the bel or mattock.)—A general term for the aggregate of low Hindu tribes who make their living by earth-work. But, besides these, there appears to be a real endogamous group of this name found chiefly in Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Basti, and Pilibhît. Mr. Risley122 describes under the same name a wandering Dravidian caste of earth-workers and navvies in Bihâr and Western Bengal, many of whom are employed in the coal mines of Râniganj and Barâkar. “Both men and women labour, the former digging the earth and the latter removing it in baskets carried on the head. The Beldârs regard this mode of carrying earth as distinctive of themselves, and will on no account carry earth in baskets slung from the shoulders.” Whatever may be the case in Bengal, in these provinces at least, the practice of carrying earth and other burdens on the head and not on the back or shoulders is habitual among all the castes who do this kind of labour.