and in some
localities from a Lohar or Barhai. Dhimars are the highest caste which
will take food from them. In Mandla if a man does not attend the
meeting of the _panchayat_ when summoned for some special purpose,
he is fined. In Chanda a Teli beaten with a shoe by any other caste
has to have his head shaved and pay a rupee or two to the priest. In
Mandla the Telis have made it a rule that not less than four _puris_
or wheat-cakes fried in butter [669] must be given to each guest at
a caste-feast, besides rice and pulse. But if an offender is poor
only four or five men go to his feast, while if he is rich the whole
caste go.

12. The Rathor Telis

The Rathor Telis of Mandla hold a number of villages. They now call
themselves Rathor, and entirely disown the name of Teli. They say
that they came from the Maihar State near Panna, and that the title of
Mahto, from _mahat_, great, which is borne by the leading men of the
caste, was conferred on them by the Raja of Maihar. Another story is
that, as already related, they are debased Rathor Rajputs. Recently
they have given up eating fowls and drinking liquor. They are good
cultivators, borrowing among themselves at low interest and avoiding
debt, and their villages are generally prosperous.

13. Gujarati Telis of Nimar

Again, as has been seen, the Gujarati Telis of Burhanpur have taken to
trade, and some of them have become wealthy merchants and capitalists
from their dealings in cotton. The position of Telis in Burhanpur was
apparently one of peculiar degradation under Muhammadan rule. According
to local tradition they had to remove the corpses of dead elephants,
which no other caste would consent to do, and also to dig the graves
of Muhammadans. It is also said that even now a Hindu becomes impure
by passing under the eaves of a Teli's house, and that no dancing-girl
may dance before a Teli, and if she does so will incur a penalty of
Rs. 50 to her caste. The Telis, on the other hand, vigorously repudiate
these allegations, which no doubt are due partly to jealousy of their
present prosperity and consequent attempts to better their status. The
Telis allege that they were Modh Banias in Gujarat and when they came
to Burhanpur adopted the occupation of oil-pressing, which is also
countenanced by the Shastras for a Vaishya. They say that formerly
they did not permit widow-marriage, but when living under Muhammadan
rule they were constrained to get their widows