over them. The man fulfilling this office is known as the
Baikar, and after a wedding the bridal pair go to the Baikar's house
and he pours two jars full of water over their heads and bodies. They
go inside the house, and the bridegroom then comes out and gives the
wet clothes to the Baikar with a small present. This appears to be
a sort of purificatory ceremony at marriage.

_Sidi_.--Synonym of Siddi.

_Silpi_.--(A stone-mason.) Subcaste of Kammala.

_Sindhi_.--(Performers of dramas.) Subcaste of Madgi.

_Sindhupushkar_.--A subcaste of Brahmans in Khairagarh State, perhaps
the same as the Marwari Pushkama Brahmans. It is said that Sindhu
has the meaning of a lake.

_Singade_.--(From _singh_, horn, and _gadna_, to bury.) Subcaste of
Koli. The members of this group, when their buffaloes die, bury the
horns in their compound.

_Singar_.--(A fish.) A totemistic sept of Kawar. A section of Agharia.

_Singaria_.--Those who cultivate the _Singara_ nut. Subcaste of Dhimar.

_Singh_.--(A lion.) The usual suffix to the names of Rajputs, Sikhs
and castes which claim Rajput rank, such as Lodhis.

_Singh, Singhi_.--(Horn.) A totemistic sept of Dhanwar. A section of
Kurmi, and of Oswal and Maheshri Bania.

_Singhal_.--(Ceylon.) A section of Brahmans in Damoh.

_Singrore_.--Subcaste of Kunbi and Lodhi.

_Sikligar_, _Bardhia_, _Saiqalgar_. [502]--A small caste of armourers
and knife-grinders. The name Saiqalgar comes from the Arabic _saiqal_,
a polisher, and Bardhia is from _bardh_, the term for the edge of a
weapon. They number only about 450 persons in the Central Provinces
and Berar, and reside mainly in the large towns, as Jubbulpore
and Nagpur. The caste is partly Hindu and partly Muhammadan, but
very few members of it in the Central Provinces profess the latter
religion. In Bombay [503] the Muhammadan Sikligars are said to be
Ghisaris or tinkers who were forcibly converted by Aurangzeb. The
writer of the Belgaum Gazetteer [504] says that they are scarcely more
than Muhammadans in name, as they practically never go to the mosque,
keep Hindu gods in their houses, eschew beef, and observe no special
Muhammadan rites other than circumcision. The Hindu Sikligars claim
to be Rajputs and have Rajput sept names, and it is not unlikely
that in old times the armourer's calling should have been adopted
by the lower classes of Rajputs. The headquarters of the caste is in
Gwalior, where there is probably still some scope for th