does not seem to involve any such sacrifice of insect life. The Lorhas
appear to be a mixed group, with a certain amount of Rajput blood in
them, perhaps an offshoot of the Kirars, with whose social customs
their own are said to be identical. According to another account, they
are a lower or illegitimate branch of the Lodha caste of cultivators,
of whose name their own is said to be a corruption. The Nimar Gujars
have a subcaste named Lorha, and the Lorhas of Hoshangabad may be
connected with these. They live in the Seoni and Harda tahsils of
Hoshangabad, the _san_-hemp crop being a favourite one in villages
adjoining the forests, because it is not subject to the depredations
of wild animals. Cultivators are often glad to sublet their fields
for the purpose of having a crop of hemp grown upon them, because
the stalks are left for manure and fertilise the ground. String and
sacking are also made from the hemp-fibre by vagrant and criminal
castes like the Banjaras and Bhamtas, who formerly required the bags
for carrying their goods and possessions about with them.

Mahar

List of Paragraphs

1. _General Notice._
2. _Length of residence in the Central Provinces._
3. _Legend of origin._
4. _Sub castes._
5. _Exogamous groups and marriage customs._
6. _Funeral rites._
7. _Childbirth._
8. _Names._
9. _Religion._
10. _Adoption of foreign religions._
11. _Superstitions._
12. _Social rules_.
13. _Social subjection_.
14. _Their position improving_.
15. _Occupation_.

1. General Notice.

_Mahar, Mehra, Dhed._--The impure caste of menials, labourers and
village watchmen of the Maratha country, corresponding to the Chamars
and Koris of northern India. They numbered nearly 1,200,000 persons in
the combined Province in 1911, and are most numerous in the Nagpur,
Bhandara, Chanda and Wardha Districts of the Central Provinces,
while considerable colonies are also found in Balaghat, Chhindwara
and Betul. Their distribution thus follows largely that of the
Marathi language and the castes speaking it. Berar contained 400,000,
distributed over the four Districts. In the whole Province this caste
is third in point of numerical strength. In India the Mahars number
about three million persons, of whom a half belong to Bombay. I am not
aware of any accepted derivation for the word Mahar, but the balance
of opinion seems to be that the native name