jhas use the _kingri_ or lyre. Some of them also catch birds and
are therefore known as Moghia. Mr. Hislop [354] remarks of them:
"The Ojhas follow the two occupations of bard and fowler. They lead
a wandering life and when passing through villages they sing from
house to house the praises of their heroes, dancing with castanets in
their hands, bells at their ankles and long feathers of jungle birds
in their turbans. They sell live quails and the skins of a species
of Buceros named Dhan-chiria; these are used for making caps and for
hanging up in houses in order to secure wealth (_dhan_), while the
thigh-bones of the same bird when fastened round the waists of children
are deemed an infallible preservative against the assaults of devils
and other such calamities. Their wives tattoo the arms of Hindu and
Gond women. Among them there is a subdivision known as the Mana Ojhas,
who rank higher than the others. Laying claim to unusual sanctity,
they refuse to eat with any one, Gonds, Rajputs or even Brahmans, and
devote themselves to the manufacture of rings and bells which are in
request among their own race, and even of _lingas_ (phallic emblems)
and _nandis_ (bull images), which they sell to all ranks of the Hindu
community. Their wives are distinguished by wearing the cloth of the
upper part of the body over the right shoulder, whereas those of the
common Ojhas and of all the other Gonds wear it over the left."

Mr. Tawney wrote of the Ojhas as follows: [355] "The Ojha women do
not dance. It is only men who do so, and when thus engaged they put
on special attire and wear anklets with bells. The Ojhas like the
Gonds are divided into six or seven god _gots_ (classes or septs),
and those with the same number of gods cannot intermarry. They worship
at the same Deokhala (god's threshing-floor) as the Gonds, but being
regarded as an inferior caste they are not allowed so near the sacred
presence. Like the Gonds they incorporate the spirits of the dead with
the gods, but their manner of doing so is somewhat different, as they
make an image of brass to represent the soul of the deceased and keep
this with the household gods. As with the Gonds, if a household god
makes himself too objectionable he is quietly buried to keep him out
of mischief and a new god is introduced into the family. The latter
should properly bear the same name as his degraded predecessor, but
very often does not. The Ojhas are too poor to indulge in the luxury