a mixed functional
group closely connected with the Kacheras and Patwas; no distinction
being recognised between the Patwas and Lakheras in some localities
of the Central Provinces. Mr. Baillie gives the following notice of
them in the _Census Report of the North-Western Provinces_ (1891):
"The accounts given by members of the caste of their origin are very
various and sometimes ingenious. One story is that like the Patwas,
with whom they are connected, they were originally Kayasths. According
to another account they were made from the dirt washed from Parvati
before her marriage with Siva, being created by the god to make bangles
for his wife, and hence called Deobansi. Again, it is stated, they
were created by Krishna to make bangles for the Gopis or milkmaids. The
most elaborate account is that they were originally Yaduvansi Rajputs,
who assisted the Kurus to make a fort of lac, in which the Pandavas
were to be treacherously burned. For this traitorous conduct they
were degraded and compelled eternally to work in lac or glass."

2. Social customs

The bulk of these artisan and manufacturing castes tell stories showing
that their ancestors were Kayasths and Rajputs, but no importance
can be attached to such legends, which are obviously manufactured
by the family priests to minister to the harmless vanity of their
clients. To support their claim the Lakheras have divided themselves
like the Rajputs into the Surajvansi and Somvansi subcastes or those
who belong to the Solar and Lunar races. Other subdivisions are the
Marwari or those coming from Marwar in Rajputana, and the Tarkhera
or makers of the large earrings which low-caste women wear. These
consist of a circular piece of wood or fibre, nearly an inch across,
which is worked through a large hole in the lobe of the ear. It
is often the stalk of the _ambari_ fibre, and on the outer end is
fixed a slab decorated with little pieces of glass. The exogamous
sections of the Lakheras are generally named after animals, plants
and natural objects, and indicate that the caste is recruited from the
lower classes of the population. Their social customs resemble those
of the middle and lower Hindustani castes. Girls are married at an
early age when the parents can afford the expense of the ceremony,
but no penalty is incurred if the wedding is postponed for want of
means. The remarriage of widows and divorce are permitted. They eat
flesh, but not fowls or pork, and som