ver in the same boat with a black Brahman
or a fair Chamar,' both being of evil omen." The latter description
would certainly apply to the Chamars of the Central Provinces outside
the Chhattisgarh Districts, but hardly to the caste as a whole within
that area. No satisfactory explanation has been offered of this
distinction of appearance of some groups of Chamars. It is possible
that the Chamars of certain localities may be the descendants of a
race from the north-west, conquered and enslaved by a later wave of
immigrants; or that their physical development may owe something to
adult marriage and a flesh diet, even though consisting largely of
carrion. It may be noticed that the sweepers, who eat the broken food
from the tables of the Europeans and wealthy natives, are sometimes
stronger and better built than the average Hindu. Similarly, the
Kasais or Muhammadan butchers are proverbially strong and lusty. But
no evidence is forthcoming in support of such conjectures, and the
problem is likely to remain insoluble.

"The Chamars," Sir H. Risley states, [446] "trace their own pedigree
to Ravi or Rai Das, the famous disciple of Ramanand at the end
of the fourteenth century, and whenever a Chamar is asked what
he is, he replies a Ravi Das. Another tradition current among them
alleges that their original ancestor was the youngest of four Brahman
brethren who went to bathe in a river and found a cow struggling in a
quicksand. They sent the youngest brother in to rescue the animal, but
before he could get to the spot it had been drowned. He was compelled,
therefore, by his brothers to remove the carcase, and after he had
done this they turned him out of their caste and gave him the name
of Chamar." Other legends are related by Mr. Crooke in his article
on the caste.

2. Endogamous divisions.

The Chamars are broken up into a number of endogamous subcastes. Of
these the largest now consists of the members of the Satnami sect
in Chhattisgarh, who do not intermarry with other Chamars. They
are described in the article on that sect. The other Chamars call
the Satnamis Jharia or 'jungly', which implies that they are the
oldest residents in Chhattisgarh. The Satnamis are all cultivators,
and have given up working in leather. The Chungias (from _chungi_,
a leaf-pipe) are a branch of the Satnamis who have taken to smoking,
a practice which is forbidden by the rules of the sect. In Chhattisgarh
those Chamars who still cure hi