e position of the Saonts is altogether very curious, and though
they now speak no language but a rude Hindi, the evidence is, on
the whole, favourable to their being a remnant of the ancient Kol
aborigines of Sarguja, cut off from connection with those people by
successive inroads of other races or tribes. Their substitution of
a Hindi dialect for their own language seems to indicate that they
were first subjugated by Aryans. The Gond chiefs only count about
twenty-four generations in Sarguja, and they have all adopted the
Hindi language."

_Sanyasi_.--(A religious recluse.) Synonym for Gosain.

_Sao_.--(For _sahu_, a banker, a rich man.) A subcaste of Kalar and
Teli. An honorific title of Chhipa or Rangari. A sept of Gond.

_Saojin_.--(From _sao_, a banker.) Subcaste of Banjara.

_Saonr_.--Synonym of Savar.

_Saonta_.--Name by which the Santal tribe is known in Bilaspur. A
subcaste of Dhanwar.

_Sapera_.--(A snake-charmer.) Name of a clan of Nats, who exhibit
snakes. A section of Basor and Khatik.

_Saraf_.--(A money-changer and tester.) A synonym of Sunar.

_Saraia_ (Angler.) From _sarai_, a bamboo fishing-rod. Subcaste
of Dhimar.

_Sarangarhia_.--(From Sarangarh.) A subtribe of Gonds in Khairagarh. A
subcaste of Dewar.

_Saraogi_.--A name by which Jain laymen are known. Subcaste of Bania.

_Saras_.--(A large crane.) A section of Chamar.

_Saraswat_.--One of the five orders of Panch Gaur Brahmans inhabiting
the country of the river Saraswati. One of the ten orders of Gosains.

_Sarati_.--A sept of Gond and Pardhan.

_Sariyam_.--A subsept of the Dhurwa clan of Gonds in Betul, said to
be so called because the road to the place of the gods was swept by
their priests.

_Sarolia_ or _Sarwaria_.--(Inferior or mixed.) Subcaste of Agharia.

_Saroti_.--A sept of Pardhans said to be named after _sarra_, a whip,
because their priest once struck a man with a whip.

_Sarsatia_.--(From the Saraswati river.) Subcaste of Bahna.

_Satani_. [494]--A Telugu caste of priests and mendicants of which
900 persons were returned, principally from the Chanda District,
in 1911. In the Central Provinces, Ayawar, Satani and Dasari have
been taken as one caste, but elsewhere they are considered as
distinct. Ayawar is a term of respect analogous to the Hindustani
Maharaj, and is applied to the Satanis and other religious orders. The
Satanis and Dasaris are distinguished in Madras; Satani is stated [495]
to be a corruption of