the hero Riminath as a
caste-fellow, while the Marathas are often Lingayats and the Telugu
division generally Vaishnavas." Before beginning work in the morning
the Darzi bows to his scissors or needle and prays to them for his
livelihood for that day.

The Darzi's occupation, Mr. Crooke remarks, is a poor one and held
rather in contempt. The village proverb runs, '_Darzi ka put jab tak
jita tab tak sita_,' 'The tailor's boy will do nothing but sew all his
life long.' Another somewhat more complimentary saying is, '_Tanak si
suiya tak tak kare aur lakh taka ko banj kare_,' or 'The tiny needle
goes _tuk tuk_, and makes merchandise worth a lakh of rupees.' The
Hindustani version of both proverbs is obviously intended to give the
sound of a needle passing through cloth, and it is possible that our
word 'tuck' has the same origin.

Dewar

1. General notice.

_Dewar._ [521]--(Derived from Devi, whom they worship, or from Diabar,
'One who lights a lamp,' because they always practise magic with
a lighted lamp.) A Dravidian caste of beggars and musicians. They
numbered about 2500 persons in 1911 and are residents of the
Chhattisgarh plain. The Dewars themselves trace their origin from a
Binjhia named Gopal Rai, who accompanied Raja Kalyan Sai of Ratanpur
on a visit to the Court of Delhi in Akbar's time. Gopal Rai was
a great wrestler, and while at Delhi he seized and held a _mast_
elephant belonging to the Emperor. When the latter heard of it he
ordered a wrestling match to be arranged between Gopal Rai and his
own champion wrestler. Gopal Rai defeated and killed his opponent,
and Kalyan Sai ordered him to compose a triumphal song and sing it in
honour of the occasion. He composed his song in favour of Devi Maha
Mai, or Devi the Great Mother, and the composition and recitation of
similar songs has ever since been the profession of his descendants
the Dewars. The caste is, as is shown by the names of its sections,
of mixed origin, and its members are the descendants of Gonds and
Kawars reinforced probably by persons who have been expelled from
their own caste and have become Dewars. They will still admit persons
of any caste except the very lowest.

2. Subdivisions.

The caste has two principal divisions according to locality, named
Raipuria and Ratanpuria, Raipur and Ratanpur having been formerly
the two principal towns of Chhattisgarh. Within these are several
other local subdivisions, _e.g._ N