pure, they would be quite useless in the
household. Several of these castes, as the Dhimars, Baris and others,
are derived from the primitive tribes. Sir H. Risley considered the
Baris of Bengal as probably an offshoot from the Bhuiya or Musahar
tribe: "He still associates with the Bhuiyas at times, and if the
demand for leaf-plates and cups is greater than he can cope with
himself, he gets them secretly made up by his ruder kinsfolk and
passes them off as his own production. Instances of this sort, in
which a non-Aryan or mixed group is promoted on grounds of necessity
or convenience to a higher status than their antecedents would
entitle them to claim, are not unknown in other castes, and must
have occurred frequently in outlying parts of the country, where
the Aryan settlements were scanty and imperfectly supplied with the
social apparatus demanded by the theory of ceremonial purity. Thus
the undoubtedly non-Aryan Bhuiyas have in parts of Chota Nagpur been
recognised as Jal-Acharani (able to give water to the higher castes)
and it may be conjectured that the Kahars themselves only attained this
privilege in virtue of their employment as palanquin-bearers." [67]
The fact that Brahmans will take water from these castes does not in
any way place them on a level with the cultivators; they remain menial
servants, ranking, if anything, below such castes as Lohar, Teli and
Kalar, from whom Brahmans will not take water; but these latter are,
as corporate bodies, more important and prosperous than the household
menial castes, because their occupation confers a greater dignity
and independence.

On the other hand, one or two of the village menials, such as the
Dhobi or washerman, are considered to some extent impure. This is
due to specially degrading incidents attaching to their occupation,
as in the case of the Dhobi, the washing of the clothes of women in
childbirth. [68] And the Sungaria subcaste of Kumhars, who keep pigs,
are not touched, because the impurity of the animal is necessarily
communicated to its owner's house and person. Still, in the village
society there is little real difference between the position of these
castes and those of the other village menials.

32. Origin of their status

The status of the village menial castes appears to be fixed by their
dependent position on the cultivators. The latter are their patrons and
superiors, to whom they look for a livelihood. Before the introduction
of a c