mercenaries who take upon themselves, in return for the present and money gift, the sins of the deceased; and in fact the Goraits occupy a comparatively inferior position in the social scale.

In the tribal language of the Oraons, Goraits are known as Tūriyar or Tūris. No Gorait would, however, call himself a Tūri, and among Sadāns (non-aboriginals and_others who speak in Gaonwāri Hindi) the expression Turi* stands for quite a distinct class who are basket-weavers by profession. Near about Ranchi and in the eastern thānās, the expression Turi is rather loosely used by Sadāns indiscriminately for all basket-weaving castes; but most of these so-called Turis are found on questioning to be really Doms or Mirdhās or Bans Māhlis or Ghasis, and they all disclaim connection with Turis. It is only further to the west or to the south, in Gumla and Simdegā subdivisions and in scattered villages in thānās Tapkarā, Karrā, Lāpung, Bero, Mandar, Burmu, Kuru and Lohardaga that one comes across a class who are not only known to others as Turis but also describe themselves as Turis. Some men of this class whom I met at Birdā in thānā Karra and some others whom I met at Meromdega, thānā Kochedegā, Pargānā Biru, said that in their own language they called themselves Hör, which they said was also the Turi equivalent for man. Turis of the Lohardaga side do not, however, call themselves Hör; and Budhua Tūri of Sarango, who is, in the panchayet of the caste for Korambe Pargānā, the dewan, told me that the term Hor is, merely equivalent to the common noun man, and that the name by which Turis describe themselves is Huse't. Tūris of Birdā, on the other hand, told me that Huse't means split bamboo and cannot possibly be a caste name. Be that as it may, there is no doubt that the Turis of Lohardagā side as well as those of Birdā and Karra and of Gumlā and Biru form one endogamous group. Birsā Turi and Panruā Turi whom I met at Birdā (thānā Karra); Turis whom I met at Rood, a village

• "Turi" the Oraon equivalent for Gorait, is pronounced with the accent on the first syllable; the Sadan word Turi, and the word used by the basketweaving Turis themselves, has no such accent.

very close to Kuru on the thirty-third mile of the Ranchi-Lohardaga road, and Kanhai Turi of Borgaon (near A rmai) in Gumlā thānā all spoke of relationship with Bandhu Turi of Beyasi (thānā Mandar). The Birda men spoke also of relatives in Torpā and Lāpung thānās (at Tapkarā and Sarangloyā), the Rood men spoke of relatives in thānās Māndar, Bero (villages Chorea, Beyāsi, Mahuri, Kanjgi, Tero, Jhiko, Jamgain) as well as in Ghaghra and Bishunpur thānās (villages Sarango, Dewāki, Kasmār, Ichā, Kitā), while the Bargaon man spoke of his relatives in pargānās Palkot (villages Baghimā, Bangru, Kulukerā, Dongāpāni) and Biru (at Tamra near Simdega). Both near Kuru and Lohardaga and near Kochedega I found the Turis speaking of Orãons as "Jojo" and of Lohars as "Kōte'c".

I have not come across any Turis of this class or heard of any of them living east of a line running from Chorea in thānā Mandar south-east to Hasberā near thānā Karra and then south through Torpā, Kolebira and Bano thānās. West of this line Oraons are the predominating caste and Mundās are very few in number, except in thānās Kolebirā, Bassia and Bano; but the language which the Turis speak resembles Mundāri very closely. Thus, Birsa Turi and Panrua Tūri of Birdā in thānā Karra, whom Į met at their village outstill, translated

"I am going" by
"You are going" by
"He is going" by

"Ing seno'tānāing”
"Am seno'tānā"
"Inikō sentānā"

دو

and when I asked them how their language differed at all from Mundari, they could give me nothing more than that they would say "Kāe emtānā" (He does not give) where Mundās will say "Kāe omjādā "; and that Mundās will say "Kāji (word) while they would say "Kāthā". (I may here mention that em is the Santali equivalent for Mundāri om "to give" and that Katha is the Santāli equivalent for Kāji in Mundāri).

In the same area in which the Turis live is to be found another caste of basket-weavers, who call themselves Ors (the same name by which the Bans Mahlis of the Panch Pārgānās and of Jonha and Ranchi sojnetimes describe themselves). These

Örs disclaim all connection with the Turis, water touched by whom they would not drink. They call themselves Hindus, their principal god being Tanginath, and one of this caste, Dhanpat Or of Lohangdi near Silam, is reported to have employed a Brahmin priest on the occasion of his son's marriage. Oreyyās (baskets of a particular shape and make) are the only things that they would make out of bamboo, and it is on this account, they say, that they are called Ōrs; Turis make sups (winnowing fans), nachuās, but not oreyyas. These Ors have no knowledge of the Or Mahlis or Bans Mählis of the eastern part of the district; and they feel offended if they are called Mahlis, that term signifying Goraits in the area in which these western Ors are found.

Turis also disclaim all connection with these Ors of the west and would not drink water which an Or has touched. The only caste, they say, with whom they are in any way allied are the Raūsā Turis, members of which caste could be found at Dhourā Nawadi near Champi (thānā Lohardagā) and Patrātu near Sons (thānā Māndar). The Gāsā'k Turis, as the real Turis call themselves when distinguishing from Rausā Turis, take water from the latter; and Lengā Soma Turi of Bharno added that it was also possible for a Gāsā'k Tūri to have a wife from the Rausā Turi caste, but only by the balkatti form of marriage. I saw the basket-weavers at Patrātu near Sons; they said they had never heard of the name Rausā Turis, and that they call themselves Bans Māhlis, not Turis. They had relations, they said, at Dhourā Nawadi near Champi, but most of their castemen were to be found eastwards, at Umedandā, at Ranchi, at Tatisilway and further east. Chaitu Mahli of Ranchi (tola Hatmā) and Somra Mahli of Tatisilway, whom they mentioned as their relatives, said that they and these Patrātu relatives of theirs were the same caste as the Bans Mählis or Or Mahlis of the east. Chaitu knew of the basket-weaving Turis of Nagpur; Bans Māhlis could take water from these Nagpur Turis, and balkatti marriage between these Nagpur Turis and Bans Mählis would be permissible, though Chaitu Mahli could not quote any actual instance where this had taken place.

The possibility of balkatti marriage between two groups which do not ordinarily intermarry can, I believe, be generally regarded as good evidence of these two groups having originally formed one caste; and I think it would not be unjustifiable to hold that the basket-weaving Tūris of Nagpur and the Bans Mahlis or Or Mahlis of the eastern thānās are merely subcastes of what originally formed one caste. It is also possible (although there is not much positive evidence in support of this) that the Ors of the west are yet another subcaste who have come under the influence of Hinduism to a greater extent than the other subcastes. I would further hazard the suggestion that the name Or is not derived from the term Oreyya, as the Ors suggested (the converse is probably true the name Dreyyā being derived from Or), but that it is only a corruption of the expression Hor

or man.

Practically all the main groups of the Kharwar race call themselves by the expression which in their special dialect stands for "man"; thus, the Munda calls himself Hōrō, the Santal calls himself Hor, while the Larka Kol of Singhbhum calls himself a Ho. In the language of the Turis, Hor stands for "man"; the very same word is used for "man" by such of the Bans Mahlis of Tatisilway, Lapung (a village near Angarā in thānā Jonha) and some adjoining villages as have not yet forgotten their tribal language. Very probably the same word is used by their admitted relatives further to the east, in Bundu and Tamar, although I am not quite sure on this point.

The following are the names of Gotras (exogamous groups) that came to my notice among Turis, Or Mahlis of the eastern thanas, and the western Ors of Nagpur proper. Names of the things tabooed are also noted, where these could be ascertained:

Turis.

Or Mahlis or Bans
Mählis.

Örs of western thānās.

Ind alias Hasda'k (a fish, also Ind (a fish, also a mush- Hasda'k.

mushroom).

room).

Baghwa (tiger, also squirrel) | Baghwa (the tiger).

Tirki (eggs left over after the Dumri (the fig tree).

mother bird has hatched

some of the eggs).

Tura.

Soren (a fish, also a mixture of Piri.

Ras (the Ras festival of the Hindus).

Koya or Barwa (a wild animal).

rice and meat).

Sama (the sambhar deer).

Sondriyar (these men
cannot have their ears
bored by Sonārs or
goldsmiths).

I could get only four gotra names of Goraits. These are Bagh (tiger), Ind (a fish, also a mushroom), Kachhua (tortoise) and Kujur. The first two names appear also among Turis and ōrs; but I cannot say if this fact, or the fact that the name Mahli is shared in common by Goraits and by the ōr Māhlis or Bans Mahlis of the eastern thānās is sufficient to connect the Goraits with Turis, ōrs and Bans Māhlis. Ind appears as a gotra name among Asurs also; Kujurs are to be found among Õrāons and Kachhuas among Mundās. Similarly, Kerketa and Tirki appear as gotra names with Turis as well as with Oraons; and Hansdā'ks and So'rens are to be found both among Turis and among Mundās. Bandō (wild cat) appears as a gotra name both among Oraons and among Mundās; similarity of gotra names should not, therefore, be taken as any evidence of a common caste.

As for similarity of the name Mahli, this is shared by the Patars who are admittedly the same caste as Khanghar Mundās, and then there are the Mahli Mundās as well; and I am inclined to think that the term Mahli is not a real caste-name at all, but is merely a common name used by different castes,