Bansphor

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This article is an extract from

THE TRIBES and CASTES of BENGAL. By H.H. RISLEY, INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE, OFFICIER D'ACADÉMIE FRANÇAISE. Ethnographic Glossary. CALCUTTA: Printed at the Bengal Secretariat Press. 1891. .

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Bansphor

Baspurarui, Bansbakura, "bamboo-splitter," a subcaste of Patnis in Bengal ; a sub-caste of Doms in Behar who are mat and basket•makers and do not remove filth. They have nothing to do with funerals, and do not eat beef, offal, or other people's leavings. The Bansphors of Banka in Bhagalpur have a number of exogamous sections (Pangats), which have been entered in their proper places. Other Bansphors on the Nepal frontier regulate their marriages by local sections (dihs); while others in the town of Bhagalpur have neither pangat nor dih. Bansphors work with a peculiarly curved knife (kattar) , with a heavy back, which they regard as characteristic of their sub-caste, and which is used by them in their' domestic sacrifices.