Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India.djvu/287

Rh this criminal class, and the methods employed in the performance of criminal acts, I would refer the reader to the accounts given by Mr. Paupa Rao * and Mr. W. Crooke. †  Bāvāji.— The Bāvājis are Bairāgi or Gosāyi beggars,who travel about the country. They are known by various names, e.g., Bairāgi, Sādu, etc.  Bāvuri.— The Bāvuris, or Bauris, are a low class of Oriya basket-makers, living in Ganjam, and are more familiarly known as Khodālo. They are a polluting class, living in separate quarters, and occupy a position lower than the Sāmantiyas, but higher than the Kondras,Dandāsis, and Haddis. They claim that palanquin (dhooly or dūli) bearing is their traditional occupation, and consequently call themselves Bōyi. "According to one story," Risley writes, ‡ "they were degraded for attempting to steal food from the banquet of the gods;another professes to trace them back to a mythical ancestor named Bāhak Rishi (the bearer of burdens), and tells how, while returning from a marriage procession, they sold the palanquin they had been hired to carry, got drunk on the proceeds, and assaulted their guru (religious preceptor), who cursed them for the sacrilege, and condemned them to rank thenceforward among the lowest castes of the community." The Bavuris are apparently divided into two endogamous sections, viz., Dulia and Khandi. The former regard themselves as superior to the latter, and prefer to be called Khodālo. Some of these have given up eating beef, call themselves Dasa Khodālos, and claim descent from one 