Nanhê. For other senior relations they use a periphrasis, calling them "the son of so-and-so" or "the father of so-and-so."

16. A Brâhman is always consulted as to the most propitious day for beginning to plough, sow, or reap. Agricultural beliefs. The most important operation is the first ploughing after the first fall of rain. This is known as halaita lena. The time is fixed by the Pandit, who also names the member of the family who should drive it, and in which direction it should be worked. A shower is unlucky if it fall on the first day of the light half of Jeth (May-June), and at midnight on the fifth of Sâwan (July-August). These indicate a bad rainy season. Rain on the seventh of Sâwan is lucky, and thunder on the seventeenth of Jeth is considered propitious. Vegetables and other more valuable crops are protected from the Evil Eye by suspending a black pot in the field.

Food.

17. There is no special kind of food allowed to men and prohibited to women. When a person is initiated into any of the Vaishnava sects (quru-dakhsha len, gurumukh hona) he is obliged to abandon the use of one particular kind of food or fruit. Women do not eat with men, and young children, who are regarded as impure because they touch dirt and eat without regard to caste rules, are not allowed to enter the cooking place (chauka) of the adult males of the family. All the men eat together or apart as is found most convenient. At the commencement of meals offerings are made to the deities, and those who are strict and in a position to observe the religious rules, perform what is known as the raiswadeva yajya, which consists in casting a little of the food as an offering to the deities at the commencement of a meal. Others merely repeat the words Lijiye Thakurji Maharaj, "Be pleased Great Lord to accept our offering." The smoking of gánja is considered disreputable; against bhang and opium there is no prohibition; any one drinking spirits is excommunicated.

Salutation.

18. Elders, Brâhmans, and men of rank are entitled to a salute from all males. The salute to a Brâhman is the word Palagan; "I touch thy feet" to a Rajput Juhár or Mujra, and to others Rám! Rám! or the name of the particular deity worshipped by the person making the salute. Persons of rank are given the highest place at a feast or social meeting. If a superior and inferior happen to sit on the same cot,

GOLAPURAB; GOLI.

430

GOND; GONR.

the former sits at the head and the latter at the feet. They will eat kachchi roti or food cooked without ghi, with no one but a Sanâdh Brâhman, and they will eat pakki roti with no one lower than a barber.

19. The Golapûrabs are a purely agricultural caste, and are one of the most industrious peoples of the pro

Occupation.

vince, and the women are particularly noted

for their excellence in domestic work.

Distribution of the Golapúrabs according to the Census of 1591.

Goli. A caste shown at the last Census only to the number of 21 in the Muzaffarnagar District. As far as can be ascertained they are really only a sub-caste of Luniyas. The detailed Census Returns give only one section, Kaprahti.

Gond; Gonr.-Probably meaning an "inhabitant of Gauda" or Western Kosala; according to Mr. Hislop from the Telegu. Konda, "a hill." Dr. Oppert suggests that the names of tribes with the first syllable Ko or Go, such as the Kodulu, Konda, Gonda, Ganda, Kurava, etc., are derived from the Gauda Dravidian root Ko, Konda, etc., in the sense of "mountain." In the Census Returns under the name Gond two quite distinct classes of people seem to be mixed up, the true Gonds of the Central Indian hill country, and the Gonr of the Eastern Districts of these Provinces, who is usually classed with the fishing tribes of Kahâr and Mallâh and is a domestic servant, stone-cutter or grain-parcher. In the detailed Census Returns the sections of these two distinct tribes are inextricably mixed up together and defy analysis.

1 Original Inhabitants of Bharatavarsha, 13.