The meenas who constitute almost half of the tribal population used to live on rocky elevations or in thick forests and their settlements were called mewasas. The cluster of their houses was also called a pal and was named after the gotra to which most of the inhabitants belonged. The meenas were settled in the villages of jaipur, sawai- madhopur and tonk districts. Of their two classes, the purana basi meenas are mostly agriculturists while the naya basis belong to the light-fingered fraternity which prior to independence was subjected to daily attendance at the nearest police station under the criminal tribes act.