Note 6 — G

Occupation and social standing. 6. Making of confectionery is the special business of the caste, but some have taken to agriculture and a good many to money-lending and other mercantile business like Banyas. Their women, who often manage their shops, have in some places an equivocal reputation. But they enjoy a character for personal purity. Brâhmans will take water from their hands, and all Hindus, except the Sarwariya Brâhmans, will eat pûris or cakes of wheaten dough fried by them in melted butter. They nearly all indulge in spirits. They eat the flesh of goats and sheep, but more particularly that of animals which have been offered in sacrifice. They eat food cooked with butter (pakki), cooked by Brâhmans, Kshatriyas and all respectable Vaisyas excepting Kalwârs. Food cooked in water (kachchi) they will eat only when prepared by members of their own caste or by their priests. Only Chamârs and other menial castes will eat their leavings. The Achârwâla or preparer of pickles, jams, etc., is generally an independent Musalmân trader, not a Muhammadan Halwâi, as seems to be the case in Bengal.6 In the eastern parts of the Province the Hindu Halwâi often makes jams and condiments (chatni).