Page:The People of India — a series of photographic illustrations, with descriptive letterpress, of the races and tribes of Hindustan Vol 7.djvu/265

 DHAIR. (400)

NDER one appellation or other the Dhair belongs to every village community; and, though an outcast according to the Hindoo faith, is indispensable to all; and in every Deccan village holds a respectable station as one of the barah balootay, or village council. The Dhair also is a wutundar, or hereditary occupant and office holder, and, in truth, is an eminently useful person. He is the protector of the village boundary, in regard to which all particulars are transmitted from father to son. In cases of boundary disputes his evidence is very valuable, and also true, for to give false evidence in respect to it would be to court death at the hands of the local divinities. He is also an authority in reference to sites of houses in villages, and in regard to the divisions of lands and the possessions of each hereditary holder, and can point out their boundaries. The Dhair is also the watchman, in a general sense, of the village and its crops. He has to go his rounds at night among the fields, and warn farmers of depredations whether by men or wild animals. He has to carry letters from one village to another, and it is his office to convey the collections made in the village or town to the head receiver of the district, which he does with celerity and faithfulness. He has to remove the carcasses of dead cattle from the village, and obtains the horns and skin as a perquisite. If a traveller arrives lie has to procure lodgings for him, and forage and firewood, for which he receives a gratuity; then one of the Dhairs has to carry the traveller's baggage, and act as guide to the next village. For these services the Dhairs receive rent free lands, of which they divide the produce, and they can cultivate lands if they please. They have also a right to a certain proportion of grain or other produce from all cultivators, and certain dues at village festivals, marriages, burials, or cremations, in the shape of money, shoes, a turban and waistcloth, &c. As a rule the Dhairs are very industrious. They and their women alone spin the finest thread which is used for the highest class muslins, which is produced from cotton treated in a peculiar manner, and spun in a close room kept lightly watered. In some instances they weave coarse cloth,