Cha]n]dála

The Cha]n]dáls, one of the most interesting races in Bengal, are more generally known as Nama-_súdra, or Changa. The derivation of the former name is uncertain, but it is probably the Sanskrit Namas, adoration, which is always used as a vocative when praying, or the Bengalí Námote, below, underneath. Changa again, in Sanskrit, signifies handsome, and was most likely used in irony by the early Hindus. The following synonyms are given by Amara Sinha, Plava (one who moves about), Mátanga (? elephant hunter), Janmagama (life-taker), Ni_shád-svapácha (dog-eater), Antevásí (one residing on the confines of a village), Divákirti, and Púkkasa.