g
a subject; and it is understood as such by the people themselves,
who use it in contradistinction to a free hillman. Formerly, says a
tradition that runs through the whole tribe, Rajas and Parjas were
brothers, but the Rajas took to riding horses or, as the Barenja
Parjas put it, sitting still, and we became carriers of burdens and
Parjas. It is quite certain in fact that the term Parja is not a tribal
denomination, but a class denomination; and it may be fitly rendered
by the familiar epithet of ryot. There is no doubt, however, that by
far the greater number of these Parjas are akin to the Khonds of the
Ganjam Maliahs. They are thrifty, hardworking cultivators, undisturbed
by the intestinal broils which their cousins in the north engage in,
and they bear in their breasts an inalienable reverence for their soil,
the value of which they are rapidly becoming acquainted with. Their
ancient rights to these lands are acknowledged by colonists from among
the Aryans, and when a dispute arises about the boundaries of a field
possessed by recent arrivals a Parja is usually called in to point out
the ancient landmarks. Gadbas are also represented as indigenous from
the long lapse of years that they have been in the country, but they
are by no means of the patriarchal type that characterises the Parjas."

In Bastar the caste are also known as Dhurwa, which may be derived
from Dhur, the name applied to the body of Gonds as opposed to the
Raj-Gonds. In Bastar, Dhurwa now conveys the sense of a headman of a
village. The tribe have three divisions, Thakara or Tagara, Peng and
Mudara, of which only the first is found in Bastar. Thakara appears
to be a corruption of Thakur, a lord, and the two names point to the
conclusion that the Parjas were formerly dominant in this tract. They
themselves have a story, somewhat resembling the one quoted above
from Madras, to the effect that their ancestor was the elder brother
of the first Raja of Bastar when he lived in Madras, to the south
of Warangal. From there he had to flee on account of an invasion of
the Muhammadans, and was accompanied by the goddess Danteshwari,
the tutelary deity of the Rajas of Bastar. In accordance with the
command of the goddess the younger brother was considered as the
Raja and rode on a horse, while the elder went before him carrying
their baggage. At Bhadrachallam they met the Bhatras, and further
on the Halbas. The goddess followed them, guiding their steps, but