law
cocoanuts. The king himself gave only gold, and it is related of him
that he was accustomed to expend a maund and a quarter [248] weight
of gold in alms-giving before he washed himself and paid his morning
devotions. Therefore the Basdewas sing that he who gives early in the
morning acquires the merit of Karan; and their presence at this time
affords the requisite opportunity to anybody who may be desirous of
emulating the king. At the end of every couplet they cry 'Jai Ganga'
or 'Har Ganga,' invoking the Ganges.

The Harbolas have each a beat of a certain number of villages which
must not be infringed by the others. Their method is to ascertain the
name of some well-to-do person in the village. This done, they climb
a tree in the early morning before sunrise, and continue chanting
his praises in a loud voice until he is sufficiently flattered
by their eulogies or wearied by their importunity to throw down a
present of a few pice under the tree, which the Harbola, descending,
appropriates. The Basdewas of the northern Districts are now commonly
engaged in the trade of buying and selling buffaloes. They take the
young male calves from Saugor and Damoh to Chhattisgarh, and there
retail them at a profit for rice cultivation, driving them in large
herds along the road. For the capital which they have to borrow to
make their purchases, they are charged very high rates of interest. The
Basdewas have here a special veneration for the buffalo as the animal
from which they make their livelihood, and they object strongly to
the calves being taken to be tied out as baits for tiger, refusing,
it is said, to accept payment if the calf should be killed. Their
social status is not high, and none but the lowest castes will take
food from their hands. They eat flesh and drink liquor, but abstain
from pork, fowls and beef. Some of the caste have given up animal food.

Basor

List of Paragraphs

1. _Numbers and distribution._
2. _Caste traditions._
3. _Subdivisions._
4. _Marriage._
5. _Religion and social status._
6. _Occupation._

1. Numbers and distribution.

_Basor, [249] Bansphor, Dhulia, Burud._--The occupational caste of
bamboo-workers, the two first names being Hindi and the last the
term used in the Maratha Districts. The cognate Uriya caste is called
Kandra and the Telugu one Medara. The Basors numbered 53,000 persons
in the Central Provinces and Berar in 1911. Abou