Page:The People of India — a series of photographic illustrations, with descriptive letterpress, of the races and tribes of Hindustan Vol 3.djvu/20

 BHUDDHIKS. (113)

HE appellation Bhiuldliik is derived from a Sansciit term, signifying "to kill," and is applied to a class of men said to be of mixed Rajpoot descent, whose real profession, till lately, was gang robbery. They are also commonly called Sanseeas, and are found in the outer forest, under the Himalayas, but chiefly in the Oude territory. They trace their origin to the south of India. They range over the greater part of India, but the operations of the Department for Suppressing Dacoity have broken up the community. Their chief occupation formerly was gang robbery, in which their operations were remarkable for desperate audacity and the's kill of their combinations. It is very questionable whether the Bhuddhiks can ever be thoroughly reclaimed from their predatory occupation of dacoity, in which they take much pride, but a few ostensibly follow agriculture and engage in hunting. As a body they are migratory, and have no very settled habitations.

The men are constantly wandering over the country disguised as mendicants; they especially pretend to be Hindoo pilgrims from Hurdwar, as this at the gives great facility for the concealment of their weapons, and particularly their favourite one, the spear.

They profess to be Hindoos, but have an especial veneration for "Kalee," the destroyer. Their principal diet is game and also vegetable food, the same as other Hindoos. They are addicted to the use of intoxicating country liquors, and are very repulsive and gross in their food, eating, besides ordinary game, such animals as foxes, jackals, snakes, and lizards. Jackal meat is a favourite diet, and is said to fortify the frame against the inclemencies of the winter. Some live to between forty and fifty years of age; but the tribe is generally not long lived.