Note 112 — Volume II. (continued 2)

Bihishti.—(Usually derived from Persian bihisht, Sanskrit vasishtha, “Paradise;” but Major Temple points out112 that bihishti in Persian does not mean waterman, and suggests a derivation from the Sanskrit vish, to sprinkle.)—The Musalmân water-carrier class, also known as Saqqa, from the Arabic saqqi, “to give to drink.” The caste does not admit outsiders, and has a large number of exogamous sections, of which one hundred and twenty-six are returned in the lists of the last Census. Many of these are well-known Muhammadan sub-divisions, such as the Abbâsi, Bahlîmi, Bangash, Begi, Fârûqi, Ghori, Hanafi, Khurâsâni, Quraishi, Mughal, Pathân, Shaikh, Sadîqi, Sayyid, Turki, and Turkomân, to which none of the caste can have any real claim. Many are the names of Hindu tribes, as Bais, Banjâra, Bhatti, Chauhân, Gaur, Gûjar, Guâl, Jâdon, Janghâra, Jât, Katheriya, Mewâti, Mukeri, Panwâr, and Tomar. Others, again, are local, as Dilliwâl, Gangapâri, and Kanaujiya. These sections appear, however, to have little or no effect on marriage.