AGARIYA.
Appearance. 2. In appearance the Agariyas approximate very closely to allied Dravidian tribes, such as the Korwas, Parahiyas, etc., but they have a particularly [[2]]gaunt appearance and worn expression of countenance, which is undoubtedly the result of the severe occupation which they follow.
Tribal organization. 3. Those in Mirzâpur have seven exogamous septs all of totemistic origin. The Markâm is also a sept of the Mânjhis (q.v., paragraph 3). The word means “a tortoise,” which the members of this sept will neither kill nor eat. The Goirâr take their name from a tree so called, which the members of this sept will not cut. The Paraswân take their name from the palása tree (Butea frondosa), and members of this sept will not cut the tree or eat out of platters (dauna) made of its leaves. The Sanwân say that they take their name from san or hemp, which they will not sow or use. The Baragwâr are named from the bar tree (Ficus Indica), from the leaves of which they will not eat, and which they will not cut or climb.[5] Banjhakwâr, the name of the fifth sub-division, is said to be a corruption of Bengachwâr from beng, “a frog,” which the members of this sept will not kill or eat. The Gidhlê, which is also the name of a sept of the Bengal Orâons,[6] will not kill or even throw a stone at a vulture (Gidh). The Census returns give the chief sept as Bâjutheb, which was not recorded by the members of the tribe examined on the spot.
Tribal council. 4. They have a tribal council (panchâyat) at which all adult males attend. The meetings, in default of any specially urgent business, assemble when the members meet on the occasion of marriages or deaths. The members are summoned by the President of the council (mahto), who circulates a root of turmeric among them. The council deals with caste matters, such as adultery, fornication, and the like. The orders are enforced in the usual way (see Mânjhi, paragraph 9). The office of President is permanent and hereditary. If the incumbent happens to be a minor he can select another clansman to act for him until he becomes competent to fill the post.
Rules of exogamy. 5. The only rule of exogamy is that no one may marry within his sept (kuri). This obviously admits of very close marriage connections, but it is not supplemented by the usual formula which prohibits marriage in the [[3]]family of both the paternal and maternal uncles and paternal and maternal aunts. It is, in fact, admitted on all sides that a man may marry the daughter of his paternal uncle. It is essential that the bridegroom must not be engaged in any degrading labour, such as shoe-making or groom’s work. There is no restriction as to place of origin or family worship, but he must nominally conform to the tribal religion.
Traditions of origin. 6. The Mirzâpur Agariyas say that some five or six generations ago they emigrated from Rîwa, hearing that they could carry on their business in peace in British territory. Their first settlement was in the village of Khairahi in Pargana Dudhi. Their head-quarters in Rîwa are at the village of Rijaura; they do not make any pilgrimages to their original settlements or draw their priests or tribal officials from there.
Marriage. 7. The bride is purchased and her price by tribal custom is fixed at ten rupees. Polygamy is permitted, and an Agariya may have as many wives as he can afford to purchase and maintain. The senior wife (Jethi Mehrâru) is head of the household; she joins her husband in the family worship and she receives a degree of respect among the clansmen at marriages, etc., which is denied to the junior wives. If there are more wives than one they live in the same house, but in separate huts. Concubinage with women who are not members of the tribe and polyandry are prohibited. The women enjoy a considerable amount of liberty both before and after marriage. If an unmarried girl is detected in an intrigue with a clansman, her father can get her married to her lover on paying a tribal fine of ten rupees and providing a feast for the clansmen to the amount of one goat and the necessary quantity of rice. If she offends with a stranger she is permanently expelled.
Marriage ceremonies. 8. The age for marrying girls is between five and ten, and the parents are disgraced if they do not marry their daughters at an early age. The boy’s maternal uncle (mâmu) arranges the marriage.[7] There are no professional marriage brokers. The consent of the parents on both sides is essential, and the parties have no freedom of choice. When the preliminaries are arranged, the boy’s father sends to the girl’s [[4]]father ten rupees and two loin cloths (dhoti). This is the invariable rate whatever the means of the parties may be. None of this becomes the property of the bride and bridegroom, except one of the loin cloths which is given to the bride; but her father is expected to spend the cash received on the marriage feast. No physical defects are a bar to marriage, and if after marriage the bridegroom discovers any defect in the bride he must take her home. But this very seldom happens because the relatives on both sides take care to inspect the bride and bridegroom before the preliminaries are arranged. The betrothal consists in the approval of the bride by the boy’s maternal uncle and his acceptance of a dinner from the father of the girl. After this the wedding day is fixed. Their marriages usually take place in the light half of the month of Mâgh (January–February). Five days before the wedding day, the matmângar ceremony is performed in the usual way. On the marriage day the bridegroom comes with his procession to the house of the bride. They are put up in a place (Janwânsa) arranged for their reception. On that day it is not the custom for the father of the bride to entertain the party. Next morning the bridegroom comes with his friends to the bride’s house, and going into the inner chamber, where she is hiding, drags her out into the courtyard. This, and the rule of not entertaining the friends of the bridegroom before the marriage, are obvious survivals of marriage by capture. In the courtyard is fixed up a sort of pavilion (mânro), in the centre of which is planted a branch of the sâl tree (Shorea robusta). The sâl is the sacred tree of many of the Dravidian races, and its use at marriages seems to imply that tree marriage was the original custom. Round this the pair walk five times, and then the bride’s father makes a mark with turmeric on the foreheads of both, and warns them to live in unity. After this the clansmen are fed, and the bride is sent home with her husband. When she arrives at the door of her husband’s house his sister (nanad) bars the entrance, and will not admit the bride until the bridegroom gives her a couple of pice. After this the bridegroom’s father feeds his clansmen, who return home next day. Before they enter their new home there is a sort of confarreatio ceremony when the pair have to sit down outside and eat together. The essential part of this marriage ceremony, which is known as charhauwa, because the bride is offered (charhâna) to the bridegroom, is the payment of the bride price and the marking of the foreheads of the pair by the father of the bride. [[5]]
Divorce. 9. There is no real divorce: merely expulsion of the faithless wife from hearth and home. The only ground for expulsion is proof of the wife’s adultery to the satisfaction of the clansmen. In fact, it is understood that no proof short of her being caught in the act of adultery will be sufficient. If a woman is put away for adultery, she cannot be remarried in the tribe. Concubinage with strange women is forbidden. All the sons of all the wives rank and share equally. If a woman has a child by a man of another tribe, he is not received into the caste, cannot be married in the tribe, and the clansmen will not eat with him.