man of the woods) or Musahar
(mouse-eater), a forest tribe, as suggested by Mr. Nesfield from
his observation of their mutual connection, should be questioned. The
making of leaf-plates is an avocation which may be considered naturally
to pertain to the tribes frequenting jungles from which the leaves are
gathered; and in the Central Provinces, though in the north the Nai
or barber ostensibly supplies the leaf-plates, probably buying the
leaves and getting them made up by Gonds and others, in the Maratha
Districts the Gond himself does so, and many Gonds make their living
by this trade. The people of the Maratha country are apparently less
strict than those of northern India, and do not object to eat off
plates avowedly the handiwork of Gonds. The fact that the Bari has
been raised to the position of a pure caste, so that Brahmans will take
water from his hands, is one among several instances of this elevation
of the rank of the serving castes for purposes of convenience. The
caste themselves have the following legend of their origin: Once upon
a time Parmeshwar [244] was offering rice milk to the spirits of his
ancestors. In the course of this ceremony the performer has to present
a gift known as Vikraya Dan, which cannot be accepted by others without
loss of position. Parmeshwar offered the gift to various Brahmans,
but they all refused it. So he made a man of clay, and blew upon the
image and gave it life, and the god then asked the man whom he had
created to accept the gift which the Brahmans had refused. This man,
who was the first Bari, agreed on condition that all men should drink
with him and recognise his purity of caste. Parmeshwar then told him
to bring water in a cup, and drank of it in the presence of all the
castes. And in consequence of this all the Hindus will take water
from the hands of a Bari. They also say that their first ancestor was
named Sundar on account of his personal beauty; but if so, he failed
to bequeath this quality to his descendants. The proper avocation
of the Baris is, as already stated, the manufacture of the leaf-cups
and plates used by all Hindus at festivals. In the Central Provinces
these are made from the large leaves of the _mahul_ creeper (_Bauhinia
Vahlii_), or from the _palas_ (_Butea frondosa_). The caste also act as
personal servants, handing round water, lighting and carrying torches
at marriages and other entertainments and on journeys, and performing
other functions. Som