Bhagat or 'Saint,' and Panch, 'Arbitrator,' but neither
of these is generally used in the Central Provinces. Another name for
Saises is Thanwar, which means a person in charge of a stable or place
where a horse is kept. Grooms from Northern India are usually of the
Jaiswara division of Chamars, who take their name from the old town
of Jais in Oudh; but they drop the Chamar and give Jaiswara as their
caste. These men are thin and wiry and can run behind their horses for
long distances. The grooms indigenous to the Central Provinces are as a
rule promoted grass-cutters and are either of the Ghasia (grass-cutter)
or the Kori and Mahar (weaver) castes. They cannot usually run at
all well. It is believed that both the Jaiswaras and Mahars who work
as grooms have taken to marrying among themselves and tend to form
separate endogamous groups, because they consider themselves superior
to the remainder of the caste. A Sais will frequently refuse to tie
up a dog with a rope or lead him with one because he uses a rope for
leading his horses. This taboo is noticed by Sir B. Fuller as follows:
"Horses in India are led not by the bridle but by a thick cotton
leading-rope which is passed over the headstall, and such a rope is
carried by every Indian groom. I asked my groom one day to tie up with
his leading rope a dog that would not follow. He absolutely refused,
and I discovered that the rope was the fetish of his caste and was
formerly adored and propitiated in the course of an annual caste
festival. To touch a dog with it would have been sacrilege." [487]

_Saitwal_.--A subcaste of Jain Banias.

_Saiyad_.--One of the four Muhammadan tribes, which is supposed to
comprise the descendants of the Prophet.

_Sakadwipi_.--A tribe of Brahmans taking their name from Sakadwipa,
the country of the Sakas. The Sakas were a Central Asian tribe who
invaded India before the commencement of the Christian era, and
Sakadwipa is said to be the valley of the Kabul river.

_Sakarwal, Sikarwar_.--A clan of Rajputs whose name is said to be
derived from Fatehpur Sikri.

_Saksena_.--A subcaste of Kayasth, also called Sukhsena. A subcaste
of Bharbhunja and Kachhi.

_Saktaha_.--A synonym for Shakta, a worshipper of Devi in
Chhattisgarh. Saktaha practically means a person who eats flesh, as
opposed to a Kabirpanthi who abstains from it. A subcaste of Panka,
who are not Kabirpanthis.

_Sakum_.--A sept of Korku. (One who hides behind a teak tree.)

_S