Page:The People of India — a series of photographic illustrations, with descriptive letterpress, of the races and tribes of Hindustan Vol 7.djvu/53

 GOLAHS. (351)

HE Golahs are a low class caste or tribe of Hindoos, but by no means one of the outcast tribes; they are at least Sudras, ranking with ordinary cultivators. They are, however, exclusive, and do not intermarry with others. Among Hindoos any profession or particular occupation grows to be a separate caste, and the members of it do not mix with others. Thus the Golahs are professional salt makers, while they are also general cultivators; for it is only in the hottest weather that they can carry on their work as salt makers. Certain localities and descriptions of soil are much impregnated with salt. Sometimes, as the weather grows dry- and hot, a good deal is developed by efflorescence, and is then gathered up, but much is made in the following manner:—the salt earth is dug up, and put into large earthern jars, where it is diluted with water and well stirred; it is then left to settle, and as the mud descends, the brine is drawn off and emptied upon shallow pans made of concrete, where the water is allowed to evaporate; the salt is then scraped together, left to bleach and dry, and is fit for use. When the salt manufacture is on a larger scale, troughs are used instead of vessels, and the mud, as it settles, allows the brine to be drawn off at certain elevations one above another. The result is the same in both instances, the salt produced being at first a yellow colour, but becoming perfectly white and crystallized in minute crystals in the process of drying. Some of the salt thus made is very sweet and good, other kinds are harsh and bitter, but are used for cattle, or for pickles and other condiments.

In domestic customs and religion, the Golahs do not differ from the Jats or Goojurs in any remarkable degree. They worship the greater Hindoo divinities and Brahmins, but, like others of the lower Hindoo classes, they probably pay most reverence to the lower deities of the earliest Hindooism, or aboriginal belief which may be termed Fetishism. Their women are not secluded, and assist their families both in field labour and in salt making. Baskets of salt are shown in the Photograph, as also the strong hoe with which the salt earth is dug out. The