he calls out
"twenty."'

Chauhan

_Chauhan._ [471]--A small caste of village watchmen and labourers
in the Chhattisgarh Division. They are also known as Chandel by
outsiders. In 1911 the Chauhans numbered 7000 persons in the Raipur
and Bilaspur Districts, and the adjoining Feudatory States. The
caste claim themselves to be of Rajput origin, and say that their
ancestors came from Mainpuri, which is the home of the Chauhan clan of
Rajputs. A few of their section names are taken from those of Rajput
clans, but the majority are of a totemistic nature, being called
after animals and plants, as Nag the cobra, Neora the mongoose,
Kolhia the jackal, Kamal the lotus, Pat silk, Chanwar rice, Khanda
a sword, and so on. Members of each sept worship the object after
which it is named at the time of marriage, and if the tree or animal
itself is not readily available, they make a representation of it
in flour and pay their respects to that. Thus members of the Bedna
or sugarcane sept make a stick of flour and worship it. They will
not kill or eat their sept totem, but in some cases, as in that of
the Chanwar or rice sept, this rule is impossible of observance, so
the members of this sept content themselves with abstaining from a
single variety of rice, the kind called Nagkesar. Families who belong
to septs named after heroic ancestors make an image in flour of the
ancestral saint or hero and worship it. The caste employ Brahmans
for their marriage and other ceremonies, and will not take food from
any caste except Brahmans and their Bairagi _gurus_ or spiritual
preceptors. But their social position is very low, as none except
the most debased castes will take food or water from their hands, and
their hereditary calling of village watchman would not be practised
by any respectable caste. By outsiders they are considered little,
if at all, superior to the Pankas and Gandas, and the most probable
theory of their origin is that they are the descendants of irregular
alliances between immigrant Rajput adventurers and the women of the
country. Their social customs resemble those of other low castes in
Chhattisgarh. Before the bridegroom starts for a wedding, they have
a peculiar ceremony known as Naodori. Seven small earthen cups full
of water are placed on the boy's head, and then poured over him in
succession. A piece of new cloth is laid on his head, and afterwards
placed seven times in contact with the earth. During this ri