Note 39 — G

The Gaurs of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh. 2. According to Sir H. M. Elliot39 they fall into three sub-divisions, the Bhat Gaur, Bâhman Gaur, and Chamar Gaur, names derived from some intercourse with Bhâts, Brâhmans, and Chamârs. “To these are sometimes added the Katheriya Gaur, descended from a Katheri, or carpenter. But it may be doubted if the Katheriya are really Gaurs. No argument, however, can be derived from the fact that daughters of Gaurs marry in Katheriya families, because the Chamar Gaur and Bâhman Gaur also intermarry.” The Katheriya really take their name from Katehar, the old name of Rohilkhand. “The Chamar Gaur, who are divided into Râja and Râê, rank the highest,” which is accounted for by the legend already given in the special article on that sept. In Farrukhâbâd40 they call themselves Râthauriya, and are said to have come from Shâhjahânpur under the brothers Sârhê and Bârhê. Each received a Chaurâsi or block of eighty-four villages. Bârhê’s descendants chiefly settled in the country now forming the Pargana of Shamsâbâd West, while Sârhê kept to the south in Shamsâbâd East and Bhojpur. The Etâwah branch say they came from Sûpar in the west as early as 650 A.D., having expelled the Meos, and they allege that their power was broken by the Banâphar heroes, Alha and Udal, early in the 12th century.41