Note 1 — G

Hâbûra.1—A vagrant thieving tribe found chiefly in the Central Ganges-Jumna Duâb. The derivation of the name is very uncertain. It possibly means a “bugaboo” (hawwa, which is probably through the Prakrit the representative of the Sanskrit bhûta “an evil spirit”), expressive of the fear in which they are held by their neighbours. Ethnologically the Hâbûras are no doubt very closely connected with the regular gypsy tribes of Sânsiya and Bhâtu; in fact there seems reason to believe that these have only become quite recently endogamous groups, and even now it is asserted that they occasionally marry. Though the Hâbûras are now in much a superior grade to the Beriyas, who live by prostituting their women, both the tribes have the same traditional connection with the old ruined city of Noh-khera to the north of Pargana Jalesar, in the Etah District, and many of the gangs who traverse that part of the country make their way to Noh-khera during the rainy season and there arrange marriages and other caste matters in a series of general tribal councils.