s only one well the Mahars and Hindus take water
from different sides of it. Mahar boys were not until recently
allowed to attend school with Hindu boys, and when they could not
be refused admission to Government schools, they were allotted a
small corner of the veranda and separately taught. When Dher boys
were first received into the Chanda High School a mutiny took place
and the school was boycotted for some time. The people say, '_Mahar
sarva jaticha bahar_' or 'The Mahar is outside all castes.' Having
a bad name, they are also given unwarrantably a bad character; and
'_Mahar jaticha_' is a phrase used for a man with no moral or kindly
feelings. But in theory at least, as conforming to Hinduism, they
were supposed to be better than Muhammadans and other unbelievers,
as shown by the following story from the Rasmala: [132] A Muhammadan
sovereign asked his Hindu minister which was the lowest caste. The
minister begged for leisure to consider his reply and, having obtained
it, went to where the Dhedas lived and said to them: "You have given
offence to the Padishah. It is his intention to deprive you of caste
and make you Muhammadans." The Dhedas, in the greatest terror, pushed
off in a body to the sovereign's palace, and standing at a respectful
distance shouted at the top of their lungs: "If we've offended your
majesty, punish us in some other way than that. Beat us, fine us, hang
us if you like, but don't make us Muhammadans." The Padishah smiled,
and turning to his minister who sat by him affecting to hear nothing,
said, 'So the lowest caste is that to which I belong.' But of course
this cannot be said to represent the general view of the position of
Muhammadans in Hindu eyes; they, like the English, are regarded as
distinguished foreigners, who, if they consented to be proselytised,
would probably in time become Brahmans or at least Rajputs. A repartee
of a Mahar to a Brahman abusing him is: The Brahman, '_Jare Maharya_'
or 'Avaunt, ye Mahar'; the Mahar, '_Kona diushi nein tumchi goburya_'
or 'Some day I shall carry cowdung cakes for you (at his funeral)';
as in the Maratha Districts the Mahar is commonly engaged for carrying
fuel to the funeral pyre. Under native rule the Mahar was subjected
to painful degradations. He might not spit on the ground lest a Hindu
should be polluted by touching it with his foot, but had to hang an
earthen pot round his neck to hold his spittle. [133] He was made to
drag a thorny branch