ity which she is to bring to it.

3. Other customs.

Like the Mahars, the Balahis must not kill a dog or a cat under pain
of expulsion; but it is peculiar that in their case the bear is held
equally sacred, this being probably a residue of some totemistic
observance. The most binding form of oath which they can use is by
any one of these animals. The Balahis will admit any Hindu into the
community except a man of the very lowest castes, and also Gonds
and Korkus. The head and face of the neophyte are shaved clean, and
he is made to lie on the ground under a string-cot; a number of the
Balahis sit on this and wash themselves, letting the water drip from
their bodies on to the man below until he is well drenched; he then
gives a feast to the caste-fellows, and is considered to have become
a Balahi. It is reported also that they will receive back into the
community Balahi women who have lived with men of other castes and
even with Jains and Muhammadans. They will take food from members of
these religions and of any Hindu caste, except the most impure.

Balija

1. Origin and traditions.

_Balija, Balji, Gurusthulu, Naidu._--A large trading caste of the
Madras Presidency, where they number a million persons. In the Central
Provinces 1200 were enumerated in 1911, excluding 1500 Perikis,
who though really a subcaste and not a very exalted one of Balijas,
[111] claim to be a separate caste. They are mainly returned from
places where Madras troops have been stationed, as Nagpur, Jubbulpore
and Raipur. The caste are frequently known as Naidu, a corruption
of the Telugu word Nayakdu, a prince or leader. Their ancestors
are supposed to have been Nayaks or kings of Madura, Tanjore and
Vijayanagar. The traditional occupation of the caste appears to have
been to make bangles and pearl and coral ornaments, and they have
still a subcaste called Gazulu, or a bangle-seller. In Madras they
are said to be an offshoot of the great cultivating castes of Kamma
and Kapu and to be a mixed community recruited from these and other
Telugu castes. Another proof of their mixed descent may be inferred
from the fact that they will admit persons of other castes or the
descendants of mixed marriages into the community without much scruple
in Madras. [112] The name of Balija seems also to have been applied
to a mixed caste started by Basava, the founder of the Lingayat sect
of Sivites, these persons being known in Madras as Lin