This ceremony is performed once a year, and the day after it each person who joins in it gives the officiating Brâhman a present of uncooked grain.
Exogamy. 4. Agarwâlas follow the strict rules of the Shâstras in regulating the prohibited degrees. “All the sections are strictly exogamous, but the rule of unilateral exogamy is supplemented by provisions forbidding marriage with certain classes of relations. Thus a man may not marry a woman, (a) belonging to his own gotra; (b) descended from his own paternal or maternal grandfather, great-grandfather or great-great-grandfather; (c) descended from his own paternal or maternal aunt; (d) belonging to the grand maternal family (nânihâl) of his own father or mother. He may marry the younger sister of his deceased wife, but not the elder sister, nor may he marry two sisters at the same time. As is usual in such cases, the classes of relations barred are not mutually exclusive. All the agnatic descendants of a man’s three nearest male ascendants are necessarily members of his own gotra, and, therefore, come under class (a) as well as class (b). Again, the paternal and maternal aunt and their descendants are included among the descendants of the paternal and maternal grandfathers, while some of the members of the nânihâl must also come under class (b). The gotra rule is undoubtedly the oldest, and it seems probable that the other prohibited classes may have been added from time to time as experience and the growing sense of the true nature of kinship demonstrated the incompleteness of the primitive rule of exogamy.”[15]
Birth ceremonies. 5. In these Provinces when the moment of delivery comes, it is the etiquette for the husband to go himself and call the Chamârin midwife. This is always so in case of the birth of a son; but if it is a girl he can either go himself or send a servant to fetch her. She comes and cuts the cord, which is not, as is the case with many other castes, buried in the delivery room. A fire (pasanghi) is kept burning near the mother to keep off evil spirits, and guns are fired to scare the [[20]]dreaded demon Jamhua. After the child is born the mother is given a dose of assafœtida and water, the bitterness and smell of which she is not under the circumstances supposed to be able to feel. The Chamârin remains three days in attendance, and during that time the mother is fed on fruits and not allowed to eat grain in any form. On the third day she is bathed and the Chamârin dismissed. After this she is fed on grain. On the sixth day is the Chamar Chhathiya when the women keep awake all night and have lamps burning. All the women take lamp-black from one of these lamps and mark their eyes with it to bring good luck, and a little is also put on the eyes of the baby. Within fifteen days of delivery when the Pandit fixes an auspicious time the mother is bathed. There is no twelfth day (barahi) ceremony. The astrological (râs) name is fixed by the Pandit; the ordinary name by the head of the family. The mother is again bathed on the fortieth day, and is then pure and can rejoin her family. If the family can afford it, after this the Pandit is sent for and there is a formal naming ceremony (nâma karma), but this is not absolutely necessary.
Marriage ceremonies. 6. There is no fixed age for marriage. The wealthier members of the tribe marry their daughters in infancy; poorer people keep them till they are grown up in default of a suitable match being arranged. The marriage follows the usual high caste form. When the horoscopes agree (râs barag) and the friends are satisfied, a Pandit is asked to fix a lucky day. No bride price is given or received. Then the boy’s father sends to the bride’s house a maund of curds, some sweets and two rupees in cash to clench the proposal. The curds are sent in an earthen pot smeared with yellow; some red cloth is put over the mouth and on this the money is placed. This constitutes the betrothal. When the marriage day approaches the boy’s father sends the bride some ornaments made of alloy (phûl), a silken tassel, some henna and pomegranates, some sweetmeats, toys and a sheet (sâri). The number of trays of presents should be at least eleven and not more than one hundred and twenty-five. The girl’s father keeps for the bride only the shawl, some sweets and flowers, and sends back the rest. Next day these flowers are tied in the bride’s hair. If the marriage takes place in a town she goes to a temple and worships, and there she meets her future mother-in-law for the first time. After this follows the anointing of the bride and bridegroom, [[21]]known as Tel-hardi. When the bridegroom reaches the house of the bride, he is seated on a wooden stool, and the women of the family take up the bride in their arms and revolve her in the air round the bridegroom. During this the bride sprinkles rice (achhat) over him.
This ceremony is known as Barhi phirâna. Then comes the Sakhran ceremony. Some curds are put in a bag and hung up. When all the whey has escaped, the remainder is mixed with the same quantity of milk and sugar, some cardamoms, pepper and perfume; this is first offered to the family god (kula-deva), the other godlings (deota), and to a Brâhman, and is then distributed in the form of a dinner (jeonâr). This is always given on the day the tilak ceremony is performed. The girl is brought into the marriage pavilion by a near relation (mân), generally her father’s son-in-law, and seated in her father’s lap. He puts her hand in his with some wheat dough and a gold ring. Then he does the Kanyâdân or solemn giving away of the bride to the bridegroom, while the priest reads the formula of surrender (sankalpa). Then a cloth is hung up, and behind it in secret the bridegroom puts five pinches of red-lead on the parting of the bride’s hair, and they march round the pavilion five times. The girls of the family tie the clothes of the pair in a knot. When this is over they are taken to the retiring room (kohabar) where they are escorted by the next-of-kin (mân) of the bride, who sprinkles a line of water on the ground as they proceed. There the bridegroom’s head-dress (sehra) is removed. It is not the custom for the bride to return at once with her husband; there is a separate gauna. This gauna must take place on one of the odd years first, third or fifth after the regular marriage.
Adoption. 7. In a recent[16] case it was held that according to the usage prevailing in Delhi and other towns in the North-Western Provinces among the sect of Agarwâlas who are Sarâogis, a sonless widow takes an absolute interest in the self-acquired property of her husband, has a right to adopt without permission from her husband or consent of his kinsmen, and may adopt a daughter’s son who on the adoption takes the place of a son begotten. It was questioned whether on such an adoption a widow is entitled to retain possession of the estate either as proprietor or as manager of her adopted son. [[22]]
Agarwâlas and Chamârs. 8. Between the Agarwâla, who is perhaps, in appearance, the best bred of the tribes grouped under the name of Banya, and the dark non-Aryan Chamâr, it is difficult to imagine any possible connection, but it is curious that there are legends which indicate this. Thus it is said that an Agarwâla once unwittingly married his daughter to a Chamâr. When after some time the parents of the bridegroom disclosed the fact, the Agarwâla murdered his son-in-law. He became a Bhût and began to trouble the clansmen, so they agreed that he should be worshipped at marriages. Hence, at their weddings they are said to fill a leather bag with dry fruits, to tie it up in the marriage shed, to light a lamp beneath it, and to worship it in the form of a deity called Ohur, which is supposed to save women from widowhood. A similar story is told at Partâbgarh:—“I have heard it alleged (and the story is current, I believe, in parts of the Panjab) that once upon a time a certain Râja had two daughters, named Chamu and Bamu. These married and each gave birth to a son, who in time grew up to be prodigies of strength (pahalwân). An elephant happened to die on the Râja’s premises, and being unwilling that the carcase should be cut up and disposed of piecemeal within the precincts of his abode, he sought for a man of sufficient strength to carry it forth whole and bury it. Chamu’s son undertook and successfully performed this marvellous feat. The son of Bamu, stirred no doubt by jealousy, professed to regard this act with horror and broke off all relations with his cousin and pronounced him an outcaste. Chamârs are asserted to be descendants of the latter and Banyas of the former, and hence the former in some parts, though admitting their moral degradation, have been known to assert that they are in reality possessed of a higher rank in the social scale than the latter.”[17] The story is worth repeating as an instance of some of the common legends regarding the original connection of castes. Why the Chamârs should have selected in the Agarwâla Banyas the most unlikely people with whom to assert relationship, it is very difficult to say. Agarwâlas are also said at marriages to mount the bridegroom secretly on an ass which is worshipped. If this be true, it is probably intended as a means of propitiating Sîtalâ mâi, the dreaded goddess of small-pox, whose vehicle is the ass. [[23]]
Religion. 9. Most of the Agarwâlas are Vaishnavas; some are Jainas or Sarâogis. At the last Census 269,000 declared themselves as Hindus, and 38,000 as Jainas. A small minority are Saivas or Sâktas, but in deference to tribal feeling they abstain from sacrificing animals and using meat or liquor. As Mr. Risley says[18]:—“Owing, perhaps, to this uniformity of practice in matters of diet, these differences of religious belief do not operate as a bar to intermarriage; and when a marriage takes place between persons of different religions, the standard Hindu ritual is used. When husband and wife belong to different sects, the wife is formally admitted into her husband’s sect and must in future have her own food cooked separately when staying at her father’s house.” Their tribal deity is Lakshmi. They venerate ancestors at the usual Srâddha. They worship snakes at the Nâgpanchami in addition to the special tribal worship described in para. 3. Among trees they venerate the pîpal, kadam, sami and babûl. Their priests are generally Gaur Brâhmans. Some of them profess to abstain from wearing certain kinds of dress and ornaments, as they say, under the orders of their family Sati.
Social rules. 10. As regards food, the use of the onion, garlic, carrot and turnip is forbidden. At the commencement of meals a small portion is thrown into the fire, and a little known as Gogrâs is given to the family cow. “All Pachhainiya and most Purabiya Agarwâlas wear the sacred thread. In Behâr they rank immediately below Brâhmans and Kâyasths, and the former can take water and certain kinds of sweetmeats from their hands. According to their own account they can take cooked food only from Brâhmans of the Gaur, Tailanga, Gujarâti and Sanâdh sub-castes; water and sweetmeats they can take from any Brâhmans, except the degraded classes of Ojha and Mahâbrâhman, from Râjputs, Bais Banyas, and Khatris (usually reckoned as Vaisyas), and from the superior members of the so-called mixed castes, from whose hands Brâhmans will take water. Some Agarwâlas, however, affect a still higher standard of ceremonial purity in the matter of cooked food, and carry their prejudices to such lengths that a mother-in-law will not eat food prepared by her daughter-in-law. All kinds of animal food are strictly prohibited, and the [[24]]members of the caste also abstain from jovanda rice which has been parboiled before husking. Jaina Agarwâlas will not eat after dark for fear of swallowing minute insects. Smoking is governed by the rules in force for water and sweetmeats. It is noticed that the Purohits of the caste will smoke out of the same huqqa as their clients.”[19]
Occupation. 11. The Agarwâlas are one of the most respectable and enterprising of the mercantile tribes in the Province. They are bankers, money-lenders and land-holders. These rights in land have generally been acquired through their mercantile business. It is a joke against them that the finery of the Agarwâla never wears out because it is taken so much care of. They are notorious for their dislike to horsemanship, and for the skill of their women in making vermicelli pastry and sweetmeats. The greatness of Agroha, their original settlement, is commemorated in the legend told by Dr. Buchanan[20] that when any firm failed in the city, each of the others contributed a brick and five rupees which formed a stock sufficient for the merchant to recommence trade with advantage.