What the exact polyandria of Tibet is, is uncertain. I am not prepared to deny its existence even in so extreme a form as that of one woman[134] being married to several husbands, all alive at once. Still, I think it more likely that either the circle of community was limited to certain degrees of relationships, or else that the multiplied husbands were successive, rather than simultaneous. Still, the facts of the Tibetan polyandria require further investigation.
One thing, only, is certain—viz., that as an ethnological criterion the practice is of no great value. Capable, as it has been shown to be, of modification in form, it is anything but limited to either Tibet, or the families allied to the Tibetan. It occurs in many parts of the world. It is a Malabar practice; where it is, probably, as truly Tibetan as in Tibet itself. But it is also Jewish, African, Siberian, and North American; so that nothing would more mislead us in the classification of the varieties of man than to mistake it for a phenomenon per se, and allow it to separate allied, or to connect distinct populations.
Necdum finitus Orestes.—There are several populations which, on fair grounds, have been believed to be in the same category with the Dhekra, i.e., which are Hindú in language and creed, though monosyllabic in blood. The Kudi, Batar, Kebrat, Pallah, Gangai, Maraha, Dhanak, Kichak, and Tharu, are oftener alluded to than described—though, doubtless, a better-informed investigator in such special matters than the present[135] writer could find several definite details concerning them. They seem chiefly referable to Behar and north-eastern Bengal. The Dhungers—in the same class—the husbandmen of South Behar, bring us down to the vicinity of the population next to be noticed; a population which is generally considered with reference to the nations, tribes, and families of Southern rather than Northern India.
The name of this family has already been mentioned. It is Tamulian; and the Tamulian physiognomy has been described. It has been seen to extend as far north as the Himalayas. If so, the nations already enumerated have been Tamulian; and no new class is now approaching. This may or may not be the case. Another change, however, is more undeniable. This is that of language. It is no longer referable to the Chinese type; since separate monosyllables have, more or less perfectly, become agglutinated into inflected forms, and the speech is as poly-syllabic as the other tongues of the world in general. As we approach the south this abandonment of the monosyllabic character increases, and from the Tamul language spoken between Pulicat and Cape Comorin, the term Tamulian—applicable in a general ethnological sense—is derived. Agglutinated (or agglutinate) is also a technical term. It means languages in the second stage of their[136] development; when words originally separate, such as adverbs of time, prepositions, and personal pronouns, have become permanently connected with the root, so as to form tenses, cases, and persons—the union of the two parts of an inflected word being still sufficiently recent and imperfect to leave their original separation and independence visible and manifest. When the incorporation or amalgamation, has become more complete; so complete, as in most cases to have obliterated all vestiges of an original independence; the agglutinate character has departed, the second stage of development has been passed, and the language is in the same class with those of Greece, Rome, and Germany, rather than in that of the tongues in question, and of many others.
To return, however, to the Tamulian family, meaning thereby a branch of the great Mongolian stock, speaking, either now or formerly, a language more or less allied to the Tamul of the Dekhan.
The first members of the class, as we proceed southwards from Behar, are certain hill-tribes of the Rajmahali Mountains—the Rajmahali mountaineers. Their Mongolian physiognomy is unequivocal;—a Mongolian physiognomy but conjoined with a dark skin. They have "broad faces, small eyes, and flattish or rather turned-up[137] noses. Their lips are thicker than those of the inhabitants of the plain."[35]
The flattened nose reminded the writer of the Negro, and the general character of the features of the Chinese or Malay; though it is added that the resemblance is in a great degree lost on closer inspection. At the same time it has been sufficiently recognized to have originated the hypothesis of a descent from one of those nations as a means of accounting for it.
With a slight tincture of Brahminic Hinduism, the Rajmahali mountaineers are Pagans. Bedo is one of their gods; doubtless the Potteang of the Kuki, and the Batho of the Bodo. Gosaik, too, is either the name of a god, or a holy epithet; this, also, being a mythological term current amongst many other tribes of India. Other elements in their imperfectly-known mythology deserve notice. Their priesthood contains both Demauns and Dewassis; the latter form being the Bodo Deoshi. As the names are alike, so are the functions. The Dewassi is an oracular seer. When he vouchsafes to give answers, his inspiration takes the form of frenzy—but he neither hurts nor speaks to any one. He makes signs for a cock, and for a hen's egg as well. The cock's head he wrenches off, and sucks the bleeding neck. The egg he eats. After this he seeks the[138] solitude of the wood or stream; and is fed by the deity. Sometimes he has ridden a snake; sometimes put his hands in the mouth of a tiger with impunity. Trees too large to move, or too thorny to touch, he places on the roofs of houses. He sees Bedo Gosaik in visions; and, in the sacrifices therein enjoined, red paint, rice, and pigeons make a part. From the touch of women he abstains; so he does from the taste of flesh. Either would make his prophecies false.
There are also certain sacrifices that the Maungy (chief?) of each village makes, and in which threads of red silk play a part.
One of their gods—an elemental one—is the god of rain, and the dangers of a drought are averted by praying to him. A ceremony called the Satane determines the chief who takes the office of invoker.