Table • ECO 1 >NOMIC S AND ] PATRII .INY 49 ] Hous< ^holds < and pop illation . in Pan< chwa& I ?y caste Caste No. of hhs. %of hhs. No. of resid. hhs. No of non-resid. hhs. Popn. -all vill. %of popn. Resid. popn. %of resid. popn. Non-resid. popn. HINDUS 232 85.3 221 11 1620 85.2 1385 86.8 235 Gaur Brahmins 6 2.2 6 0 36 1.9 27 1.7 9 Misar Brahmins 5 1.8 5 0 43 2.3 37 2.3 6 Charans* 14 5.1 13 1 74 3.9 63 3.9 11 Khatis- 8 2.9 8 0 62 3.3 53 33 9 (carpenter) Sonar- 1 0.4 1 0 5 0.3 5 0.3 0 (goldmith)Nai- 3 1.1 3 0 33 1.7 24 1.5 9 (barber) Jat- 134 49.5 134 0 1007 53.0 896 56.2 111 (cultivator) Daroga (retainers to 5 1.8 5 0 32 1.7 25 1.6 7 Rajputs/ Charans) Mina 8 2.9 7 1 48 2.5 34 2.1 14 (watchman) Balai- 43 15.8 34 9 256 13.4 199 12.5 57 (lea therworker) Naik- 3 1.1 3 0 18 0.9 16 1.0 2 (basketmaker and midwife) Other 2. 0.7 2 0 6 0.3 6 0.4 0 MUSLIMS 40 14.7 37 3 281 14.8 210 13.2 71 Pathan 27 9.9 25 2 189 9.9 139 8.7 50 Manihar- 3 1.1 3 0 24 1.3 19 1.2 5 (banglemaker) Kazi- 10 3.7 9 1 68 3.6 52 3.3 16 ALL 272 100 258 14 1901 100 1595 100 306- Note: hhs. = Households; resid. = resident; vill. = villagers; popn. = population * Charans are a caste peculiar to Gujarat and Rajasthan and their ranking is controversial. In Rajasthan, they were bards and 'litera tours', but also warriors and jagirdars, holders of land and power over men; the dependents of Rajputs, their equals and their teachers. There were no Rajputs in this village, though one of my original criteria in selecting a study village was the presence of Rajputs. On my initial visit and subsequently I was assured of this fact vis-a-vis Panchwas and introduced to the thakurs, who in life-style, the practice of female seclusion and various reference points they alluded to appeared as Rajputs. While other villagers insisted that Rajputs and Charans were all the same to them, the Charans, were not trying to pass themselves off as Rajputs, but indicating that they were as good as Rajputs if not ritually superior. •