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A glossary of the Punjab Tribes and Castes

Tribes and Castes starting with - H



Habiasi (हबियासी), a synonym of Kuka.

Hadi (हाड़ी), a general labourer who makes bricks, carries earth, Vegetables, etc., for hire, in Kangra. He resembles in some respects the Kumhar in the plains.

Hadwal (हडवाल), a numerous and powerful tribe in the territories of Kashmir and rivals of the Junhals.

Haiboke (हैबोके), a Kharral clan (agricultural) found in Montgomery.

Hajari (हजारी), see Hazara.

Hajauli (हजौली), the name by which a branch of the Ghumman Jats is known. It is of Rajput status, and is descended from Harpal and Ranpal, two of the three sons of Jodha. The third son, Sanpal, espoused twenty-two wives of various castes, and so the Hajaulis, who remained Rajputs, refused to intermarry with their children and they sank to Jat status.*

Hajjam (हज्जाम), a barber ; see Nai.

Hajuah (हजूयाह) (Rajputs), a branch of the Rajputs, apparently extinct, from whom the Ghumman, Hajuah, Khira, Tatli and Wains Jat tribes claim to be descended.

Hajra (हजरा), a Jat clan (agricultural) found in (Multan, probably Hijra or Hinjra).

Hakim (हकीम), a Jat clan (agricultural) found in Multan.

Hakla (हकला), a section of the Gujars. The Haklas of Gujrat boast origin even more exalted than the Gujars of Rajput blood, for they claim descent from Alexander the Great and give the following pedigree : —

Gang, grandson, held Khorisan.
Raja Jagdeo of Mathra, which his descendants ruled for 14 generations.
Raja Nand Pal††
Godan.+ Masu.+ Dhor.+ Dhol.
Raja Bhamana (from Godan).
Raja Sangana, ruler of Mathra and Narwarkot.
Raja Hik.
Raja Baru, founder of Barnali in 1009.
Grandson, dethroned by Muhammad of Ghor.

* Amin Chand's Hist. of the Sialkot Distt., pp. 45-6. This account of the Chaman (Ghumman) tribe adds that the genuine Bajoali (sic) Rajputs are still to be found in Riwalpindi and Jhelum.
Hsit. of Sialkot, pp. 21, 22. 24, 26 and 29. (? a misprint for Bajwa)
†† In Ludhiana the tradition is that Raja Garb of Mathra had two sons, Dara (whose descendants became Rajputs) and Nand Mahr, who settled in Guzerat and thus became the progenitor of the Gujars, by a woman of Gurerat, who bore him 19 sons.

Bāl — Hāli

As Rajputs the Haklas claim to "be Panwars, and derive their name from Raja Hik or Hikdar who overran 'hII India' and was king of Rajasthan. Raja Baru, however, held the Jatch Doab and Mathra, but Muhammadan Ghor deposed his son and grandson for aiding Khusrau Malik, last of the Ghaznavides.* Under the Sikhs the Haklas again rose to some power. Their chief, Chandu Ahmad Khan recovered Zaman Shah Abdali's guns from the Jhelum for Ranjit Singh and received a grant of Barnali and Bhago, with Ks. 25,000 a year. His grandson, Mihr Ali, sided with the British at Chilianwala.

Hal (हाल), a tribe of Jats which once held the tract now occupied by the Lillas in the Jhelum Thal, but now reduced to a few families. Extensive mounds west of Lilla village mark the site of their ancient settlement.

Halal-khor (हलाल-खोर), a term applied to a converted sweeper, Chuhra, or any other out caste who has embraced Islam and only eats what is permissible under its law. Properly, according to the Panjabi Dicty., p. 424, halal- khor, ' one who eats carrion.'

Halawat (हलावत), see Ahlawat.

Hali (हाली), the skinner and dresser of hides among the Gaddi tribes. He also makes shoes and weaves baskets of hill bamboo, and makes green leaf platters. Occasionally the Hali removes nightsoil. The Halis are the most numerous and important of the menial castes throughout Chamba and are chiefly employed in field labour, either as farm-servants to the higher castes or as tenants. They also weave pattu or woollen stuff. The following is a list of the Hali gots found in Kangra : —

The Halis are., or claim to be, endogamous,and would not at any rate give a daughter to a Badi (who was not a Hali), a Dhaugri, a Rihara or a Sippi. Marriage is both infant and adult. A man may espouse his wife's sister. Sexual license before marriage is not tolerated, even in the case of a ghar-juantru (the ghar-jawai or resident son-in-law of the plains). Halis follow the Gaddi wedding customs. The plaiting of the bride's hair before the bed rite is done by the bride's mother and is called khraru sir. That done after it is done by her mother-in-law and is called suhagan sir. Polygamy is allowed and so is divorce. A divorcee can remarry, but a widow may not espouse her husband's elder brother. Widow remarriage is celebrated by the women's putting a dori on the bride, and her husband's placing a bala in her nose.

* Yet the Haklas are said to have accompanied Muhammad of Ghor when he conquered Herat. (Is the Herat tract in the modern District of Gujrat meant ?) For a ballad composed by a mirasi of the Haklas See Indian Antiquary, 1908, p. 209.
Apparently a separate caste.
Hallan- Handali

Hallan (हल्लन), a Mahtam clan (agricultural) found in Montgomery.

Halwai (हलवाई), a confectioner, fr. halwa, a sweetmeat made of flour, ghi and sugar.

Hamandke (हमंदके), a Kharral clan (agricultural) found in Montgomery.

Hamar (हमर), a Jat clan (agricultural) found in Multan tahsil.

Hamara (हमारा), a Jat clan (agricultural) found in Multan.

Hamath (हमठ), a Jat clan (agricultural) found in Multan.

Hamdani (हमदानी), a Sayjid clan (agricultural) found in Montgomery and Amritsar.

Hamdi (हमदी), a Jat clan (agricultural) found in Multan.

Hamoka (हमोका), an agricultural clan found in Shahpur.

Hamsaya (हमसाया), a neighbour, a client : as applied to a clan on the Frontier the term implies clientship, subordination to a true Pathan clan, and, usually, Hindki origin.

Hamshirah (हमशीरह), a Jat clan (agricultural) found in Multan and in Bahawalpur.

Hanbali (हनबली), one of the four great schools of doctrine of the Sunni Muhammadans. Described by Mr. Maclagan as " followers of Ibn Hanbal (A. D. 780-885), chiefly confined to the neighbourhood of Baghdad and not found in the Punjab — at least none have been entered in our Census returns." The modern Ahl-i-Hadis follow, to some extent, the teachings of this school.

Hanbi (हनबी), a Jat tribe, which has one branch settled in the Gurchani and another in the Tibbi Lund country of tahsil Jampur in Dera Ghazi Khan, where for purposes of tribal organization they are reckoned as belonging to those tribes. The tribe has adopted Baloch manners, customs* and dress.

Handa (हन्दा), a Hindu Kamboh clan (agricultural) found in Montgomery.

Handa (हांडा), a Khatri got or section.

Handal (हंडल), a Jat clan (agricultural) found in Kapurthala, Amritsar and in Sialkot, where it claims solar Rajput origin, and descent from Ram Chandra. Handal, its eponym, lived in Ajudhia; and Sar, fifth in descent from him, being out casted migrated to the Amritsar district in the Punjab and his descendants married Jat wives and took to agriculture.

Handal (हनडाल), a tribe of Jats.

Handali (हनडाली), the third oldest sect of the Sikhs. The Handali were the followers of Bidhi Chand, son of Handal a Jat of the Manjha, who had been converted by Amar Das, the third Guru. Bidhi Chand was apparently a priest at Jandiala Guru, in Amritsar, who was abandoned by his followers on account of his union with a Muhammadan wife, and who then devised a creed of his own. He compiled a granth and a janm-sakhi, in which he endeavoured to exalt Handal to the rank of chief apostle and relegate Guru Nanak to a second place†† representing him

* Punjab Customary Law, XVI, p. ii.
Hindal was the Guru’s cook, but was appointed a masundi. Maclagan, § 97.
†† He assigns Nanak's birth to the month of Katik.

Haṇḍye — Hānsi

as a mere follower of Kabir. Bidhi Chand died in 1654 A. D. and was succeeded by Devi Das, his son by his Muhammadan wife. Under Muhammadan persecution the Handalis denied they were Sikhs of Nanak,* and subsequently Ranjit Singh deprived them of their lands. The Handalis are now called Niranjanis, or worshippers of God under the name of Niranjan, "The Bright." They reject all Hindu rites at weddings and funerals, paying no reverence to Brahmans. They have a special marriage rite of their own, and at funerals perform no kiria harm or phul.

Handye (हंडये), a Kamboh clan (agricultural) found in Amritsar.

Hanifia (हानिफिया), one of the great schools of doctrine of the Sunni Muhammadans. Mr. Maclagan described them as " followers of the Imam Abu Hanifa (A.D. 699-769), whose doctrines are distinguished by the latitude allowed to private judgment in the interpretation of the law. The greater part of the Sunnis of Northern India who belong to any school at all belong to this. The founder of the school is known to his followers as the Imam Azam or Great Imam, and our figures for Hanifis include those who have returned themselves as adherents of the Imam Azam."

Hanjan (हंजन), a Jat clan (agricultural) found in Multan.

Hanji (हन्जी), fern, -an, a boatman, a caste in Kashmir.

Hanjra (हंजरा), a Muhammadan Jat clan (agricultural) found in Montgomery (doubtless Hinjra).

Hanjrae (हन्जराए), a Jat clan (agricultural) found in Amritsar (doubtless Hinjra).

Hanni (हन्नी), a clan of the Kodai Karlanri Pathans, affiliated to the Mangal, but of Sayyid origin. With the Mangal they left their Karlanri home in Birmil, crossed the Sulaimans into the modern Bannu and settled in the valleys of the Kurram and Gambila rivers. They were expelled by the Bannuchi Pathans a century later. Raverty, however, makes "Honai" and Wardag sons of Kodai's sister and adopted by him, but he relates the story that a Sayyid, a pious Darvesh, Sayyid Muhammad, settled among the Karlarwai and other Pathans and took to wife a daughter from the Karlarnai and two other tribes. The Sayyid origin of the Hanni tribe appears undoubted.

Hanotrah (हनोतरह), a Brahman sept which ministers to the Malhi Jats.

Hans (हांस), a small Jat clan found in Jind, Ludhiana, Multan and Montgomery. In the latter District it has a Sidh, Baba Sulaiman, at Hans, to whom bridal pairs make offerings. The name appears to be connected with hane, a swan or goose.

Hansalah (हान्स्लाह), a Jat clan (agricultural) found in Multan.

Hansarah (हांसरह), a Jat clan (agricultural) found in Multan.

Hansi (हांसी), an Arain clan (agricultural) found in Amritsar.

* Maclagan (§ 97) says the gurus of the Niranjani actually took service with Ahmad Shah Abdali and thereby drew down on themselves terrible vengeance from Charat Singh as early as 1762, when he attacked Jandiala.
In these two latter districts it is classed both as Jat and Rajput (agricultural), but as Jat, alone, in Multan, and in Ludhiana.


Haqiqi (हकीकी), a sect doubtfully identified with the Ahl-i-Hadis ; but the term simply means "genuine" or " literal " and may refer to some other sect.

Haraike (हराइके), a sept of the Bhattis, found in Sialkot.

Harar (हरार) a Jat clan (agricultural) found in Multan.

Hardasia (हरदासिया), a small religious sect or order of faqirs.

Hargan (हरगन), a Rajput clan (agricultural) found in Shahpur.

Hari (हरी), a Jat clan (agricultural) found in Multan.

Hari (हरि), a tribe of Jats found in Jind. They have a jathera at Shadi Hari and out of a pond there cast seven handfuls of earth at the Dewali in his name.

Harchand (हरचंद), a sept of Rajputs found in Hoshiarpur. It ranks below the Dadwal.

Haripal (हरिपाल) — Harpail (हरपाइल) (the latter is the older form), one of the three tons of Dom or Dam, son or grandson of Jār and founder of the Haripal division of the Sheranni Pathans.

Harl (हारल), a Jat clan (agricultural) found in Shahpur (doubtless Harral).

Harni (हारनी), fem. Harniani, a highly criminal tribe, with a non-criminal minority, found in the Ludhiana, Jullundhar and Hoshiarpur districts. The Harnis of Ludhiana have a curious tradition of descent from one Najaf Khan,a Pathan, who was a friend of Shah Abdul Karim of Gilan. With his 8 sons Najaf Khan accompanied the saint in the army of Mahmud of Ghazni, receiving for his service lands at Mansuri near Delhi. The sons married Hindu Rajput wives and thus became Rajputs. Najaf Khan's descendants settled in various parts of India, those of his four younger sons in Bhatner, Uch, Dhodukot and Multan, whence in 1671 A.D. they migrated into Kapurthala. At Harnian Khera, their settlement in Bikaner, the Bhattis among the Harnis quarrelled with the Tur and Manddhar septs, and were driven out. But they were accompanied by those of their women who had married into other septs and whose children fled with them. Another version is that famine drove thorn from Bikaner.

However this may be, the Harnis became mercenaries of Rai Kalla Khan of Raikot and he gave them several villages in jagir. In return they ravaged his enemies' lands, but when the Rai's family declined the Harnis' villages were handed over to the Kapurthala chief by Ranjit Singh, and they themselves were soon banished from the State on charges of killing kine. This was in 1818 and in 1847 they made an unsuccessful petition to the British authorities to be reinstated in their land. They were then allotted some waste land near Jagraon in the Ludhiana district, but it was wholly inadequate for their support and the Harnis settled down to a life of crime, rapidly becoming expert burglars and daring thieves. Almost every form of theft is attributed to them, but they are peculiarly skilful in the form of burglary called tapa which consists in jumping on to the roof of a house and snatching the ornaments off its sleeping inmates. The Harnis of Kiri in Ludhiana, and two or three villages in Jullundur and Hoshiarpur are known as

Harni gots

Gaunimar* Harnis. Their women used to enter the houses of well-to-do people as servants, mistresses or even wives, and eventually plunder them in collusion with their male relatives, who obtained access to the house in the guise of faqirs.

In their own argot the Harnis call themselves Bahli. Various explanations of the name Harni are suggested : from heri, huntsman, from her a herd, and from har a road. Others say that Rai Kalla so nick-named them from harni, a 'doe,' because they were his huntsmen. Probably the word means thief.

The Harni gots are numerous, considering the smallness of their numbers. The Harni genealogies are reported to be kept by the family of Pir Shah Abdul Karim and all the information regarding them was obtained in 1881-82 from the late Pir Zahur-ui-Din of Delhi, his descendant.

  • Bhatti Sejpal.
  • Naru or Chhajle or Bhatti Lakhanpal.
  • Bhatti Bharipal or Rahmir.
  • Bhatti Rahmasurke.
  • Bhatti Rahdir.
  • Dhadda.
  • Bhanas.
  • Chauhan.
  • Walha or Bahli-f
  • Bhatti Phuski.
  • Sangri.
  • Nache.
  • Muri.
  • Jitang.
  • Tur.
  • Tur Shaikh-parhai.
  • Tur Dhoduke or Dhuddike.
  • Madahar.
  • Madahar Gujjar.
  • Pawanr.
  • Panwar Awan.
  • ? Ghunia or Ghumia.
  • Ladhar.
  • Fadhar,
  • Shadiwal.
  • Lathik.
  • Baki

The curious point about these gots is that the forebear of each is specified in the table of descent from Najaf Khan. All these gots are descended from his four younger sons. To these must be added the Gul and Pachenke gots found in Tappar and Kiri respectively. The superiority of the Bhatti got is recognised by placing several cloths over the corpse of one of its members on its journey to the grave : other Harnis have to be content with a single cloth.

By religion the Harnis are strict Muhammadans of the Qadiria and Hanifia sects, it is said, and frequent the shrines of Shahi Shah in Gagra, of Hassu Shah in Tappar, of Zahir Wali in Bodalwala, besides those of Shah Abdul Karim in Delhi, the Chishti shrine at Ajmer and that of Taimur Shah in Surat. The Harnis do not, however, refrain from liquor.

The male Harni averages 5 feet 7 inches in height, is well but not heavily built, wiry and perfectly healthy. In disposition the tribe is frank and out-spoken, and less secretive than other criminal tribes.

* Probably from gauni, the Harni word for road, and so meaning highwayman : or possibly from guni, ' theft.' The Harnis of Kiri are now well-behaved, having given up thieving and taken to cultivation. The Gaunimars are also said by their fellow Harm's to be so called because they slew one of their women, named Gauni, on account of her frailty. For this reason, and also because the Kiri Harni's committed offences through their women, the other Harnis have few dealings with Gaunimars and rarely intermarry with them— a story which is wholly incredible.
Cf. the Harni's' own name for themselves, Bahli,

From boyhood habits of endurance and activity are inculcated and a Harni man will walk 30 or 40 miles in a single night in carrying out a burglary.

Harpal (हरपाल), a branch of the Awans.


Harral (हर्रल), a Rajput tribe, which claims to be descended from the same ancestor, Rai Bhupa, as the Kharral, but by another son ; and to be Punwar Rajputs who came from Jaisalmer to Uch, and thence to Kamalia in the Montgomery district. Mr. Steedman said that in Jhang, where only they are found on the left bank of the Upper Chenab, tradition makes them a branch of the Ahirs, and that they are almost the worst thieves in the district, owning large flocks and herds which they pasture in the central steppes, and being bad cultivators.

Another account says they were originally Bhutta Jats settled at Matela, a village in Shahpur, whence they migrated under their Pir, Shah Daulat. As strict Muhammadans they employ no Brahmans and will not eat anything left by one who does not perform the daily nimaz, Marriage within the tribe is preferred, but is allowed with Bains, Gondal, Sindhan Jats, Lalis, Laks, Kharrals, etc. In Montgomery the Harral (Harl) are classed as a Jat (agricultural) tribe. They are all Muhammadans in this District.

Hasal (हासल), an agricultural clan found in Shahpur.

Hasam (हसाम), a Jat clan (agricultural) found in Multan.

Hasani (हसनी), see Sayyid.

Hasan Khel (हसन खेल), a well known sept of the Adam Khel Afridis, which with the Jawakki occupies the range between Kohat and Peshawar, from Akor, west of the Kohat Pass to the Khatak boundary. The Hasan Khel hold the southern border of the Peshawar district.

Hasnana (हस्नाना) a clan of the Sials.

Hassani (हस्सनी), a Baloch tribe of uncertain origin which once held a large part of the country now held by the Marris, by whom they wore all but destroyed. A fragment now forms a clan among the Khetrans near the Han Pass. Possibly Pathan by origin but more probably Khetran, the remaining Hassanis speak Balochi.

Hassanzai (हस्संजई), one of the three main sections of the Jaduni (Gaduos) in Hazara, settled in and round Dhamtaur and in the Mangal and Bagra tracts. The obsolete chieftainship of the Jaduns was vested in a family of this section.

Hatano (हतानो), an Arain clan (agricultural) found in Amritsar.

Hathar (हथार), a Jat clan (agricultural) found in Multan.

Hatikhel (हतिखेल). — The most numerous, orderly and wealthy clan of the Ahmadzai branch of the Wazir Pathans settled in Bannu. It, is divided into two main branches, the Kaimal and Idal, tho Kaimalkhel outnumbering the Idalkhel by four to one. The Kaimalkhel has three chief sections, Ali- or Khaidar Khel (with a Patolkhel sub-section mostly found in the hills), Musa and Pura Khels — all settled in the Marwat plain. The Idalkhel have four sections Bai, Bakkar, Isa and Kaimal (II) — also settled in the plain. The Sirkikhel is a small clan, now practically a


branch of the Hatikhel, with three main sections, Tohla, Bahla and Shuni, all settled in the Bannu Thai.

Hatiar (हतियार), a tribe of Jats found in Gujrat and so called because they used to practise female infanticide. They migrated from Shahpur to Gujrat in Akbar's time.

Hattar (हत्तार), an agricultural clan found in Shahpur.

Hattiari (हत्तियारी), a sept of the Bhattis, in Sialkot, descended from Bhoni, 7th in descent from Bhatti. One of Bhoni's descendants, Uai Danu, in whose family the custom of female infanticide prevailed, had a daughter who was rescued by a Brahman and kept by him for four years, but at last, thinking that her father would be certain to kill her, if he ever found her, he put her to death himself, and the sept has become known as Hattiari, lit. ‘one guilty of killing a cow ' or a Brahman.

Haule (हाऊले), a sept of Brahmans who migrated with the Mairs from Jummu and still receive small fees at weddings, etc., from the Chaudhrial of Chakwal. The weighman's business of that town is in their hands, but they are still recognised by other Brahmans as of that caste. Their name is ascribed to their former dread (haul) of forcible conversion to Islam.

Hazara (हजारा), a race usually but erroneously styled Pathan. They are almost certainly Mongol Tartars, and derive their name from hazara, the Persian equivalent of the Turki ming or "legion." Settled m their present abodes by Changiz Khan they hold the Paropamisus of the ancients, from Kabul and Ghazui to Herat and from Kandahar to Balkh. Owing to their strict rule of intermarriage they have retained their physical and physiognomic characteristics and are "as pure Mongols as when they settled over 600 years ago with their families, their flocks and their worldly possessions.” In the interior of their country they were almost wholly independent until subdued by the late Amir Abdur Rahman of Afghanistan. They do not give their name to the Hazara District of the North-West Frontier Province, nor apparently to the Chach-Hazara in the Attock tahsil.* The Hazaras are not settled in the Punjab, but are found in it as labourers and also enlist in Pioneer regiments. All are Shias by sect, and in consequence regarded as heretics by the Sunni Afghans. They are fully described in Bellew's Races of Afghanistan.


Hemraji (हेमराजी), an obscure Hindu sect found in Multan.

Hensi (हेंसी), Hesi (हेसी), a low caste of professional musicians and dancers found in Kullu and the Simla Hill States. Their women perform as dancing girls. They appear to be also called Beda (or the Bedas are a group of the Hesis). In Spiti the Hesi appears to be also called Hesir (see Chahzang) and Beta (in correctly Batia) and there they form a low caste, which is returned as Hindu, and which, like the Lohar, is excluded from social intercourse with the other classes. The Hesi is called ‘the 18th caste’ t or the odd caste which is not required, for no

* See Imperial Gazetteer, new ed. X, p. 115.
The l8th would apparently be the lowest caste or class. The expression reminds us of the 'eighteen elements of the State' referred to in the Chamba inscriptions; see the Archaeological Survey Rep. for 1902.03, pp. 251 and 263.


one will eat from his hands. Yet he too has his inferiors and professes not to eat from the hands of a Lohar, or from those of a Nath, the Kullu title for a Jogi. Ordinarily a beggar the Hesi some times engages in petty trade, and to call a transaction a Hesi's bargain is to imply that it is mean and paltry. In Lahul and Spiti the Hesi is the only class that owns no land, and a proverb says : ' The Beda no land and the dog no load.' The men play the pipes and kettle-drum and the women dance and sing, and play the tambourine.

Her (हेर), Aher (अहेर ), or Porawal (पोरवाल).,* the third of the group of Jat tribes which includes the Bhullar and Man also. Their home appears to lie north of the Sutlej and they are found in considerable numbers under the hills from Ambala in the east to Gujrat in the west, and throughout the whole upper valley of that river. There is a very old village called Her in the Nakodar tahsil of Jullundhar which is still held by Her Jats, who say that they have lived there for a thousand years; in other words for an indefinite period.

Heri (हेरी), see Aheri.

Hesi (हेसी), see Hensi.

Hesir (हेसिर), see Chahzang,


Hijra (हिजड़ा), (1) an important Jat clan, i.e. Hinjra : (2) a eunuch, also called khunsa, khoja, khusra, mukhannas, or, if a dancing eunuch dressed in woman's clothes, zankha. Formerly employed by chiefs and people of rank to act as custodians of their female apartments and known as khwaja-sara, nawaj or nazir, they are still found in Rajasthan in this capacity. In the Punjab the Hijra is usually a deradar, i.e., attached to a dera. He wears bangles on his wrists, and other feminine ornaments. If dressed in white, he wears no turban, but a shawl, and his hands are stained with henna. Hinjras affect the names of men, but talk among themselves like women. They visit people's houses when a son has been born to dance and play upon the flute, receiving in return certain dues in cash and cloth. In some villages they are found collected in chaukis f and, like singing-girls, are bidden to weddings. They act as bufoons and are skilful dancers. In a dera a chela succeeds his guru, his accession being celebrated by a feast to the other inmates of the dera. The hijras are all Muhammadans, and especially affect Shaikh Abdul Qadir Muhi-ud-Din Jilani. At the Muharram they make fuzlis. Hindus joining the fraternity become Muhammadans.

The eunuchs of the Punjab have divided the Province into regular beats from which birt or dues are collected. Panipat contains a typical Hijra fraternity. In that town they live in a pakka house in the street of the Muhammadan Baolis and, though retaining men's names, dress like women and call one another by such names masi. i.e ' mother's sister,' phuphi, ' aunt," and so on. The permanent residents of this abde only number 7 or 8, but

* As regards this name the following tale is told : —A Mirasi happened to meet some children of the Man, Bhullar and Her tribes pasturing cattle. Those of the two former tribes wore in charge of boys, those of the latter in charge of girls, and so he asked them which of their tribes was the chief. The boys answered ironically that the Porawa1, who had sent their cattle out in charge of girls, were chief. Owing to their custom of so doing the Her Jats were only regarded as half a tribe, and the ether two tribes refused to marry with them. The Dhariwal are also called Phor.
The chauki appears to be much the same as a ḍera.

an urs or anniversary is held at which a fairly large number collect. They also observe the Holi and Dasehra. But the largest gathering takes place on the occasion of a gadi nathini or succession to the office of headman, when some 200 assemble.

It is commonly asserted that no one has ever seen the funeral of a eunuch ; and the superstitious belief is that when about to die they disappear. They are, as a rule, long-lived, well-built, and, being so few, deaths among them cannot be frequent. Eunuchs dread a dead body, and when one of them dies none of them dare approach the corpse. All that they will do is to cry and weep like women, and it devolves by custom on their Badhi neighbours to wash the dead body and carry it to the graveyard As the eunuchs are looked upon as impure, the Badhis never admit that they serve as their coffin-bearers and the popular superstition is thus strengthened.

Eunuchs are admitted into the fraternity from all castes ; e. g., Sayyid, Shaikh, Gujar, Julaha, etc. One of them. Sahib Jan, a pious man, who died at the age of 100 in Mecca, was a Brahman. All are, or become, Muhammadans. They have a rite of initiation, which they term chadar urhna (donning the sheet;, but the proceedings are kept secret* None of the eunuchs now in Panipat are natives of the town. Two or three men of Panipat who became eunuchs had to go to Patiala for initiation and to earn a livelihood. It is admitted by the eunuchs that no person is born a hijra, and the common belief that children are so born seems to be wrong ; none can say that he has ever seen such a child. It appears to be a fact that eunuchs are permanently unsexed, and it was vauntingly asserted that, however rich their food may be, they are never ' intoxicated." They say : — " We are broken vessels and fit for nothing ; formerly we guarded the harems of kings — how could they admit us into the zanana if there was the least danger ? We go into the houses of all, and never has a eunuch looked upon a woman with a bad eye : we are like bullocks." How this is brought about may be guessed, but the eunuchs say they get recruits from the zanana or zankha class, who are impotent even before initiation. A meal known as Mir buchri ki khichri has to be eaten by every initiate, and its effect is supposed to render a man impotent for life. What the ingredients of this meal are no one knows, and the eunuchs themselves are reluctant even to mention its name, saying that it was a myth, and who would dare to administer such drugs now-a-days ?

Another institution in Panipat is the zanana mandli, which comprises some 25 or 30 persons and is a well-known class or circle in the town. It consists of adult and young men, who flirt and pretend to imitate the gait of women. They learn to dance and sing, and pass their days in indolence. They can be recognised by their mutak chāl (behaving like females). Each of them has a " husband." For some years past the zananas have celebrated the Holi as a carnival. They assume female names, by which they are called in their own circle. Most of them are beardless youth ; those who have beards shave them. Nāz nakhra (flirtation) becomes their second nature. There is no distinction between Hindu and Musalman in the mandli, but most of its members are the latter : they wear narrow paijamas and a cap. In Delhi also the zananas are a recognised class : they hire kothas or the upper storeys of shops like prostitutes. They are invited to wedding parties, where they dance and act as buffoons (nakkāl), and their fees are high. Their 'friends' are sakkās (watermen,), kunjrās (vegetable-men), and other low castes. The eunuchs speak of them tauntingly, and say that all the members of the zanāna-mandli are impotent men given to sodomy, though some of them are married and have children. " They are prostitutes," remarked a eunuch " if we acted like them, how could our jujmāns allow us to come near them ? They have deprived the prostitutes of their means of livelihood : we are not such."

Asked why they do not get more recruits from the zanānas, the eunuchs say that any such attempt is resented by the relations of the laundas (boys); but if a stranger boy comes and asks for admission they initiate him. It is alleged that the number of the zanānas is on the increase in Panipat.

A eunuch once initiated very seldom deserts the "brotherhood." If a chela goes away no other eunuch can keep him without repaying his guru the expenses of his initiation and keep. And if he goes to the Khojas the eunuchs are powerless. The Khojas are a separate class who live in villages. They are married men with families, but earn their livelihood by levying birt fees like eunuchs. They employ a eunuch to dance for them and play on the drum after him. If they cannot get a eunuch they get a boy of their own to dance.

The eunuchs in Panipat are fairly well off. Their house is full of furniture and necessaries, and they levy birt or charitable fees on certain occasions. At a wedding or the

* Probably for excellent reasons : see the next foot-note.
Eunuchs are undoubtedly made by mutilation. There is a custom of placing 5 pice under the foot of the boy who is to be operated on. Apparently this is done to prevent pain as a similar custom is believed to be followed at births.


birth of a son they go to the family concerned, dance at the house and sing, and receive Rs. l-4-0, or sometimes less. The zamindars do not acknowledge them as their kamins and they have no claims upon them ; but persons of the lower castes, such as Telis. Rains, Jhiwars, etc, dare not refuse them their foes, and every shopkeeper has to pay them one pice in the year. Eunuchs do not appear to be employed in mosques in the Punjab.*

Hindal (हिंदल), a Muhammadan tribe found in Montgomery (doubtless Handal).

Hindki (हिन्दकी), a generic term, half contemptuous, applied to all Muhammadans, who being of Hindu origin speak Hindko and have been converted to Islam in comparatively recent times. In Bannu the term usually denotes an Awan or Jat cultivator, but in a wider sense it includes all Muhammadans who talk Hindi, Panjabi or any dialect derived from them. The local proverbs are not complimentary to the Hindki. One says : —

(a) "If a Hindki cannot do you any harm, he will leave a bad smell as he leaves you." And again —
(b) " Though you duck a Hindki in the water he will come up with a dry seat (hence he is lucky)."
(c) " Get round a Pathan by coaxing; but wave a clod at a Hindki."
(d) " Though a Hindki be your right arm, cut it olf."

Hinduria (हिंदूरिया), a Hindu Rajput sept of the Ist grade found in Hoshiarpur.

Hindwal (हिंदवाल), a synonym of Hindki.

Hindwal (हिंदवाल), apparently a sub-tribe of Tanaolis in Hazara : but probably only a variant for Hindki.

Hindwanah (हिन्दवानाह), a Jat clan (agricultural) found in Multan.

Hinjra (हिन्जरा), Hinjrai (हिन्जराय), Hinjraon (हिन्जराओं)†† (or, incorrectly, Hijra), (1), an important Jat tribe, indigenous to the Gujranwala Bār. Once a pastoral tribe, perhaps of aboriginal extraction, they own 37 villages in Gujranwala which is their home, but have spread both east and west under the hills. They claim to be Saroha Rajputs by origin and say that their ancestor Hinjraon came from the neighbourhood of Hissar to the Hafizabad parqana in Gujranwala and founded a city called Uskhab, the ruins of which still exist. Their immediate ancestors were Mal and Dhol,§ and they say that half their clans still live in the Hissar country.

* The Persians in remote times were waited by eunuchs as we learn from Herodotus (lib. 6) and some attribute to them their invention. But Ammianus Marcelliuus (lib 14) ascribes it to Semiramis. In al-Islam the employment of such persons about the mosque is a bidaat or custom unknown in the time of the Prophet. It is said to have arisen from the following three considerations : that (i) these people are concentrated in their profession (ii) they must see and touch strange women at the shrines : and (ii) the shrines are harim or sacred, having adyta which are kept secret from the prying eyes of men and therefore, should be served by eunuchs. It is strange that the Roman Catholic Church as well as the Moslem mosque, should have admitted such an abomination. Though the principal of the mosque, or shaikh al-harim, is no longer a neuter... , his naib or deputy is a black eunuch, the chief of the agahaat, upon a pay of 5,000 piastres a month. From Burton's Pilgrimage to al-Madinah aud Mecca, Vol. I, p. 371, Burton goes on to describe the organisation of the attendants of the mosque at Medinah who are all eunuchs
Thorburn's Bannu, p. 245 note; pp. 240, 247, 250 and 254.
†† The original form of the word must have been Hinjrama : cf. Jagrama. now Jagrion grama, now graon.
§ Or Kaholia, according to the Hist, of Sialkot, p. 26.


(2) A clan of the Muhammadan Pachadas, found in Hissar* and also claiming descent from Saroha Rajputs. The Hinjras are also found in Shahpur, as an agricultural clan, and in Montgomery, in which latter District they are all Hindus.

Hir (हीर), a Muhammadan Jat clan (agricultural) found in Montgomery (doubtless Her).

Hiraj (हिराज), one of the principal clans of the Siyals.

Hirra (हिररा), a Khokhar clan (agricultural) found in Shahpur.

Hithari (हिथारी), the inhabitants of the Hithar.

Hlondukpa (हलोंदुक्पा) (fr. Hlo, ‘Bhutan'), a Buddhist sect, founded in the 15th century by N(g)a(k)uang Naragial : Ramsay, Dicty. of Western Tibet, p.83, See also under Drugpa.


Holi (होली), a Jat clan (agricultural) found in Multan.

Honoi (होनोई), see Hanoi.

Hondal (होंदल), a Jat tribe, found in Sialkot, where they claim Surajbansi Rajput origin and say that Sarb, their ancestor, migrated from Ajudhia to Amiritsar, whence his descendants came to Sialkot. They are governed by the chundavand rule of inheritance.

Hondi (होंडी), a Jat clan (agricultural) found in Multan.

Horah (होराह), a Jat clan (agricultural) found in Multan.

Hot (होत), one of the original main sections of the Baloch and very widespread. They still form a powerful tribe in Mekran and ruled at Dera Ismail Khan for 200 years. Part of the Khosa tribe and the Balachani Mazaris are said to be of Hot descent, and they are also found wherever Baloch have spread. In Montgomery tahsil they are classed as an agricultural clan, and are also found in Lyallpur.

Hotak (होतक), one of the two great divisions of the Gugiani Pathans.


Hubairian (हुबैरियन), one of the Sufi sects, founded by Khwaja Hubaira Basari, whose shrine is at Marasli in Turkey.

Huda (हुडा), Suda (सुडा), a Jat tribe found in the Rohtak and Sampla tahsils. It claims Chauhan Rajput origin and descent from one Sudal, who settled some 35 generations ago in Rewari (where the people interchange s and h),

Hujjhan (हुज्झान), an agricultural clan found in Shahpur.

Hural (हुरल), a Muhammadan Jat clan (agricultural) found in Montgomery (doubtless Harral).

Husaini (हुसैनी), a Sayyid clan (agricultural) found in Montgomery. See under Sayyid. For the Husaini Brahmans see under Brahman, supra.

  • Hindu Hinjraoa Pachadas are also said to be found, but not in Hisar.

End of H

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