Hatkar, Hatgar.1—A small caste of Berar, numbering about 14,000 persons in 1911. They are found principally in the Pusad taluk of Yeotmal District, their villages being placed like a line of outposts along the Hyderabad border. The Hatkars are a branch of the Dhangar or shepherd caste, and in some localities they are considered as a subcaste of Dhangars. The derivation of the name Hatkar is obscure, but the Hatkars appear to be those Dhangars who first took to military service under Sivaji and hence became a distinct group. “Undisciplined, often unarmed, men of the Mawals or mountain valleys above the Ghauts who were called Mawallees, and of those below the mountains towards the sea, called Hetkurees, joined the young leader.”2 The Hatkars were thus the soldiers of the Konkan in Sivaji’s army. The Ain-i-Akbari states that the Hatkars were driven westward across the Wardha by the Gonds. At this time (A.D. 1600) they were holding the country round Basim by force of arms, and are described as a refractory and perfidious race.3 “The Hatkars of Berar are all Bargi or Bangi Dhangars, the shepherds with the spears. They say that formerly when going on any expedition they took only a blanket seven cubits long and a bear-spear. They would appear to have been all footmen. The Naiks or village headman of Basim were principally Hatkars. The duty of a Naik was to maintain order and stop robbery; but in time they became law-breakers and their men the dacoits of the country. Some of them were very powerful, and in 1818 Nowsaji Naik’s troops gave battle to the Nizam’s regular forces under Major Pitman before Umarkhar. He was beaten and sent to Hyderabad, where he died, and the power of the Naiks was broken by Major Sutherland. He hanged so many that the Naiks pronounce his name to this day with awe. To some of the Naiks he gave money and told them to settle down in certain villages. Others who also came, expecting money, were at once hanged.”4 But it would appear that only those leaders were hanged who did not come in before a certain fixed date.

The Hatkars are also called Bangi Dhangars, and in Berar rank above other Dhangars because they took to soldiering and obtained grants of land, just as the Marathas rank above the Kunbis. Another group have given up sheep-tending and keep cattle, which is a more respectable occupation on account of the sanctity of cattle, and these call themselves Gauli Hatkars. These Gauli Hatkars have given up drinking liquor and eating fowls. They will not touch or sell the milk of buffaloes and cows before sunset on Mondays, the day on which they worship Krishna. If any one is in need of milk on that day they will let him milk the animal himself, but will take no price for the milk. On a Monday also they will not give fire from their house to any member of a low caste, such as a Mahar. On the day of Diwali they worship their cows, tying a bunch of wool to the animal’s forehead and putting rice on it; they make a mud image of Govardhan, the mountain held up by Krishna as an umbrella to protect the people from the rain, and then let the cows trample it to pieces with their hoofs. If a bullock dies with the rope halter through its nose, the owner is put out of caste; this rule also obtains among the Ahirs and Gaulis, and is perhaps responsible for the objection felt in some localities to putting string through the nostrils of plough- and cart-bullocks, though it is the only means of obtaining any control over them.

Formerly the Hatkars burned the corpses only of men who died in battle or the chase or subsequently of their wounds, cremation being reserved for this honourable end. Others were buried sitting cross-legged, and a small piece of gold was placed in the mouth of the corpse. Now they either burn or bury the dead according to their means. Most of them at the time they were soldiers never allowed the hair on their face to be cut.

The Hatkars of Berar are said to be divided into three exogamous clans who apparently marry with each other, their names being Poli, Gurdi and Muski. In the Central Provinces they have a set of exogamous sections with titular names of a somewhat curious nature; among them are Hakkya, said to be so called because their ancestor was absent when his cow gave birth to a calf; Wakmar, one who left the Pangat or caste feast while his fellows were eating; and Polya, one who did not take off his turban at the feast.