Birth ceremonies. 5. At a woman’s first pregnancy, in the seventh month, sweets (gul-gula) are placed in her lap, and then distributed to the caste people. Her parents at this time send her a present of sweetmeats and money.

Marriage ceremonies. 6. The marriage ceremonies are of the usual type; rich people use the ordinary charhauwa ritual; poor people take the bride to her husband’s house and marry her there by the dola form.

Death ceremonies. 7. These are carried out in the usual way. They get a Brâhman to perform the Srâddha ceremony. As in some of the menial tribes, if a Brâhman’s services cannot be secured the sister’s son of the deceased can take his place.

Ceremonial impurity. 8. The woman is impure for seven days after child-birth, and four days after menstruation. The chief mourner is impure for nine days, and is then purified by bathing and shaving.

Religion. 9. They are Hindus, not belonging to any particular sect, visiting no particular shrine, and worshipping no special saint. Their goddess is Devi, whom [[84]]they propitiate with an offering of goats. Their priests are Brâhmans of low social position. Their festivals are the Holi, the Janamashtami, on the eighth of the dark half of Bhâdon. They fast all day and eat at midnight. They observe the Diwâli, or feast of lamps, and the Shivrâtri, on the thirteenth of the dark half of Phâlgun, when they fast all day and night, and worship the idol of Siva. At the Karwa Chauth, in the early part of Kârttik, women worship the moon by pouring water on the ground from a pot (karwa).

Demonology and superstition. 10. Their demonology and superstitions do not differ materially from the beliefs of the allied tribes.

Social rules. 11. They will eat anything except beef, pork, the flesh of monkeys, fowls, crocodiles, snakes, lizards, jackals, rats, vermin and the leavings of other people. During the fifteen days in the month of Kuâr, sacred to the worship of the dead, they do not eat meat.

Occupation. 12. Arakhs say that their original occupation was service. They hold no zamîndâri, but cultivate and work as ordinary labourers. In some places they bear a somewhat equivocal reputation for petty thieving.

Distribution of the Arakhs according to the Census of 1891.

District.Sub-castes.
Chobdâr.Mal.Pârasrâmi.Others.Total.
Meerut 82 … … … 82
Bulandshahr 6 … … … 6
Mathura 170 … … … 170
Agra … … … 83 83
Farrukhâbâd 1 … 164 132 297
Mainpuri 80 … … … 80
Etâwah 31 … … … 31
Etah 10 … … … 10
Shâhjahânpur … … 19 1,913 1,932
Pilibhît … … 1 287 288
Cawnpur … 799 154 696 1,649
Fatehpur … 1,867 … 2,061 3,928
Bânda … 25,132 … 638 25,770[[85]]
Hamîrpur … 2,334 … 149 2,483
Allahâbâd … 2,071 … 432 2,503
Jhânsi … … … 8 8
Mirzapur … … … 1 1
Gorakhpur … … … 250 250
Basti … … … 3,539 3,539
Azamgarh … … … 24 24
Tarâi … … … 12 12
Lucknow … … 481 595 1,076
Unâo … … 1,733 624 2,357
Sîtapur … … 5,181 1,251 6,432
Hardoi … … 19,027 6,599 25,626
Kheri … … … 9 9
Gonda … … … 1,927 1,927
Partâbgarh … … … 1 1
Total 380 32,203 26,760 21,231 80,574