Probably these were once not allowed to hold land, but were afterwards admitted to do so.

The distinction between their position and that of the hereditary cultivators of the village community was perhaps the original basis of the different kinds of tenant-right recognised by our revenue law, though these now, of course, depend solely on length of tenure and other incidents, and make no distinction of castes.

The shepherd castes who tend sheep and goats (the Gadarias, Dhangars and Kuramwars) also fall into this group.

Little sanctity attached to these animals as compared with the cow, and the business of rearing them would be left to the labouring castes and non-Aryan tribes.

The names of all three castes denote their functional origin, Gadaria being from _gadar_, a sheep, Dhangar from _dhan_ or small-stock, the word signifying a flock of sheep or goats and also wealth; and Kuramwar from _kurri_, the Telugu word for sheep.