Divisions. 2. They are divided into two classes—Ûnch or “high,” and Nîch, or “low.” The former are those of pure blood; the latter, the descendants of a woman of another caste, taken as a concubine. These two classes are practically exogamous. Besides these they have no other exogamous sub-divisions, the only other restriction on marriage being that they do not receive brides from a family to which they have already given a daughter in marriage, at any rate until all recollection of the relationship has been lost.
Council. 3. A tribal council sits for the transaction of business connected with the caste. A chairman (sarpanch) is appointed for each meeting.
Marriage rules. 4. The marriage rules agree with those in force among high caste Hindus. The number of wives a man may have is restricted to two. If a girl is detected in immorality before marriage, she is permanently excommunicated, [[88]]and her parents are also put out of caste until they give a tribal feast. Some money is paid by the relations of the bride to those of the bridegroom; but there is no fixed price. A married woman can be turned out by her husband on proof of adultery. Only the children of the regularly married wives inherit their fathers’ estate.
Birth ceremonies. 5. In the fifth month of pregnancy the ceremony of Panchmâsa is celebrated on a day selected by a Brâhman. Friends are invited, and the relatives of the woman bring her presents of clothes and sweetmeats. The woman is seated inside a holy square marked out on the ground with flour by a Brâhman. The barber’s wife pares the nails of all the women present, and after colouring the soles of the woman’s feet with lac-dye (mahâwar) puts some red lead (sendur) in the parting (mâng) of her hair. Her mother, if she be alive, or if not, some senior woman of the family, fills her lap with rice and sweetmeats. She is then dressed in a new suit of clothes in the presence of the women and officiating Brâhman. On the next day the clothes are taken off and put away carefully for use when the sixth month (chhahmâsa) and seven months’ ceremony (satmâsa) are performed. At these ceremonies rice-milk is cooked, and the woman is fed with it. The caste men are feasted, Brâhmans fed and paid, and the whole day is spent in merry-making. The sweeper or Chamâr midwife attends the woman for three days after delivery; then her relatives and the wife of the barber nurse her for a month. On the third day after delivery the mother is bathed at a time fixed by the advice of a Brâhman. On the sixth day is the Chhathi, when the mother, dressed in the clothes she wore at the Panchmâsa ceremony already described, is seated in a sacred square made of flour by the Brâhman, and she, with her husband’s younger brother (dewar), is fed on choice food placed inside the square, at the four corners of which lighted lamps are placed. After this the relatives are feasted and the night is spent in merriment. During this ceremony some rude marks supposed to represent Chhathi or Shashti, the protectress of children, are made on the wall of the room (sobar) in which the woman was delivered; and near the figures is placed an earthen vessel full of water, covered with a saucer, on which a lamp is lighted. The mother and child are taken in there for the night and left there alone, these arrangements being supposed to be a protection against all kinds of demoniacal influence. The only [[89]]special rule about twins appears to be that it is unlucky to take any thing from their hands.
Adoption. 6. The ceremony of adoption of a boy who has not been initiated by the ear piercing ceremony (kanchhedan), is as follows:—The pair who are about to adopt a son sit on a wooden seat (patta) inside a sacred square (chauk) made by a Brâhman on a lucky day selected by him. The parents of the boy about to be adopted, or, in their absence, his nearest relatives, place him in the lap of the person adopting him. The Brâhman then worships an earthen water vessel (kalsa), drums are beaten, and alms distributed to the poor. The ceremony ends with a tribal feast.
Betrothal. 7. In the betrothal ceremony the father or other near relative of the girl visits the bridegroom and secretly presents him with some money. After this, on a day fixed by a Brâhman, the father of the girl sends by a Brâhman or barber some sweetmeats, clothes, rice, betel and money, and these are laid before the boy in the presence of his kinsfolk. The barber is then given a present and dismissed. The acceptance of these presents ratifies the engagement.
Marriage. 8. The actual marriage ceremony is of the normal type. It begins with the reception (agwâni) of the party of the bridegroom as they approach the house of the bride. At the door two women stand, each with a water pot (kalas) on her head. Sharbat mixed with bhang, known as mirchwân, is distributed, and the boy being seated on a stool (patta), the “door worship” (duâr-pûja), and the worship of Ganesa are performed. The boy is seated in a sacred square (chauk) made of flour by a Brâhman, and near him is placed a water vessel surmounted by a lighted lamp, while the Brâhman recites sacred verses. After this the father or other near relative of the bride makes a present of money, cattle, clothes, ornaments, etc., to the bridegroom. Then follows the bhanwar, or perambulation round the sacred fire, which is done in the usual way. Poor people, however, do not go through all this elaborate ritual. The father of the bride and his friends take her to the house of the bridegroom, where he goes through the ceremony of pânw-pûja or “the worshipping of the feet” of the bridegroom, and this is the binding observance. [[90]]
Death. 9. The dead are cremated in the ordinary way. If a person has died of drowning or other accident, cholera, poison, small-pox, or leprosy, the regular death ceremony (kriya karma) is not performed. In such cases the observance is known as Nârâyana bala. The corpse is at once consigned to the Ganges, and within a year a Mahâbrâhman is paid to make a representation of the deceased in gram flour, upon which the regular rites are performed. One Brâhman is fed at the end of each month, and six at the close of the sixth month. When the anniversary of the death comes round, twelve Brâhmans are feasted. The spirits of ancestors who have died childless are propitiated in the same way, and in some cases the relatives employ a Brâhman to go to Gaya and perform the regular srâddha.
Religion. 10. Their tribal deity is Devi. Once their children began to die, and they prayed to the goddess to save them; she heard their prayer, and since then she has been held in honour. If possible they make a pilgrimage to her shrine at Calcutta. Their family priests are Kanaujiya Brâhmans, who suffer no degradation by serving them.
Social rules. 11. They will eat with no one but a member of the caste, and object to touch none but a sweeper or Chamâr.