The village watchmen.

The office of village watchman is an important one, and is usually
held by a member of the indigenous tribes. These formerly were the
chief criminals, and the village watchman, in return for his pay,
was expected to detect the crimes of his tribesmen and to make good
any losses of property caused by them. The sections of the tribes who
held this office have developed into special castes, as the Khangars,
Chadars and Chauhans of Chhattisgarh. These last are probably of
mixed descent from Rajputs and the higher castes of cultivators with
the indigenous tribes. The Dahaits were a caste of gatekeepers and
orderlies of native rulers who have now become village watchmen. The
Pankas are a section of the impure Ganda caste who have embraced the
doctrines of the Kabirpanthi sect and formed a separate caste. They
are now usually employed as village watchmen and are not regarded as
impure. Similarly those members of the Mahar servile caste who are
village watchmen tend to marry among themselves and form a superior
group to the others. The village watchman now receives a remuneration
fixed by Government and is practically a rural policeman, but in former
times he was a village menial and was maintained by the cultivators
in the same manner as the others.

28. The village priests. The gardening castes.

The village priests are another class of this group. The regular
village priest and astrologer, the Joshi or Parsai, is a Brahman, but
the occupation has developed a separate caste. The Joshi officiates
at weddings in the village, selects auspicious names for children
according to the constellations under which they were born, and points
out the auspicious moment or _mahurat_ for weddings, name-giving
and other ceremonies, and for the commencement of such agricultural
operations as sowing, reaping, and threshing. He is also sometimes
in charge of the village temple. He is supported by contributions of
grain from the villagers and often has a plot of land rent-free from
the proprietor. The social position of the Joshis is not very good,
and, though Brahmans, they are considered to rank somewhat below the
cultivating castes. The Gurao is another village priest, whose fortune
has been quite different. The caste acted as priests of the temples
of Siva and were also musicians and supplied leaf-plates. They were
village menials of the Maratha villages. But owing to the sanctity
of their calling, and the fact