Of the use of the word Boy (a corruption of Boyi) for palanquin-bearer, numerous examples are quoted by Yule and Burnell. [131] Thus Carraccioli, in his life of Lord Clive, records that, in 1785, the Boys with Colonel Lawrence's palankeen, having struggled a little out of the time of march, were picked up by the Marattas. Writing in 1563, Barras states [132] that "there are men who carry the umbrella so dexterously to ward off the sun that, although their master trots on his horse, the sun does not touch any part of his body and such men are called Boi."
The insigne of the Besthas, as recorded at Conjeeveram, is a net. [133]
Besya (a prostitute).--Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as a sub-caste of Oriya Gunis. It is a form of the word Vesya.
Betta (hill).--A sub-division of Kurumba.
Bevina.--Bevina or Beva (nim or margosa: Melia Azadirachta) has been recorded as an exogamous sept of Kuruba, and a sub-division of Kadu Kurumba. The nim tree is held sacred by Hindus, and takes an important part in many of the ceremonials connected with the small-pox goddess and other village deities.
Bhag (tiger).--A sept of numerous classes in Vizagapatam, e.g., Bhumia, Bottada, Domb, Gadaba, Mattiya, Omanaito, Pentiya, and Rona. The equivalent Bhago occurs among some classes in Ganjam.
Bhagavatulu.--Recorded as play-actors in the Telugu country. Their name is derived from the fact that they perform stories and episodes from the Bhagavatam, one of the Puranas.
Bhande.--Recorded, in the Madras Census Report, 1901, as "a class of potters in the Ganjam Maliahs, a sub-division of Kumbharo. The name is derived from the Sanskrit bhanda, a pot."
Bharadwaja.--A Brahmanical gotra of Bhatrazus. Bharadwaja was a rishi, the son of Brihaspati, and preceptor of the Pandavas.
Bhatia.--Nearly four hundred members of this caste were returned at the Madras Census, 1901. It is recorded in the Bombay Gazetteer, that "the Bhatias claim to be Bhati Rajputs of the Yadav stock. As a class they are keen, vigorous, enterprising, thrifty, subtle and unscrupulous. Some of the richest men in Bombay started life without a penny. A large number of Bhatias are merchant traders and brokers, and within the last fifty years they have become a very wealthy and important class." Like the Nattukottai Chettis of Southern India, the Bhatias undertake sea voyages to distant countries, and they are to be found eastward as far as China.