Tribal organization. 2. Besides this, their sub-divisions, some of which are totemistic, point to a non-Aryan origin. The Khandit take their name from the sword (Khanda), which they hold in great respect. The Bansit respect the bamboo (bâns), from which they say the ancestor of this sept was produced. These, they say, are the two original septs, out of which the remaining five have been derived. The Chaudharis are said to be the offspring of a connection between a Kurmi man and a Baiswâr woman. The Bannait say they are so called because they were residents in the forest. The remaining three septs—Rautiha, Sohâgpuriha, and Piparaha—are said to take their names from three villages in which they settled in Bundelkhand, Revati, Sohâgpur, and Pipara. The Khandit is the most respectable sept, and the others by the rule of hypergamy pay to get wives from them. The septs are exogamous in theory, but apparently the rule is not certain. When one daughter has been married into a family other daughters are, if possible, married [[127]]into the same family, but this is not the case with sons. The tribal council (panchâyat) is presided over by a headman (mahto), who is of the Khandit sept. The offence of adultery is dealt with much less severely than that of eating with another caste. The tribal punishments are to give seven recitations of parts of the Bhâgavata, to bathe in the Ganges, or to undertake a pilgrimage to Benares, Prayâg, or Mathura. Polygamy is allowed, but monogamy is the rule. The head wife alone joins in family worship. Concubinage and polyandry are prohibited. The marriage age for boys or girls is ten or twelve. There is no purchasing of brides, but her relations have to give a dowry, and it is considered discreditable not to provide this to a suitable amount. Adultery in husband or wife, and eating or smoking with a strange caste, are grounds for divorce. A divorced woman cannot re-marry. Widow marriage in the sagâi form is allowed. The only ceremony is that with a recitation of the Satya Nârâyana the clothes of the pair are knotted together in the presence of the clansmen. Widow marriage outside the family is allowed only if the levir does not claim his sister-in-law under the usual restrictions. Adoption and succession are recognized under the usual local rules of Hindu law.
Domestic ceremonies, Birth and Marriage. 3. The mother after birth is attended for six days by the Chamâin midwife, and then for six days by the barber’s wife. On the twelfth day the usual ceremony of purification is performed. The husband is debarred from cohabitation with his wife for six months after birth. When the child is able to walk, the ear-boring ceremony is performed, and after that the child must eat according to caste rules. Marriages are arranged by the family priest (purohit) and barber. When the proposal is accepted the envoys get a feast (bhâji) in the house of the bride. The betrothal is confirmed by the ceremony of marking (tîka) the forehead of the bridegroom by the father or one of the male relatives of the bride. Next day her envoys (tilakahru) after being entertained return home. Five days before the wedding is the matmangar, which is performed in the usual way,[42] except that after worshipping the drum of the Chamâr, which is carried in the women’s procession, by marking it with red lead, the earth is dug by the oldest woman in the family, and carried by her and placed in the marriage shed. In the centre of the shed is fixed a branch of the sacred [[128]]cotton tree (semal), and near it the holy water vessel (kalsa) is placed on a mound formed of the sacred earth. The usual anointing of bride and bridegroom, which is started by the Pandit, follows. A day before the wedding is the mantri pûja. In a special room some lumps of cowdung are fixed on the wall, and in them some blades of the dûb grass, mango leaves, and a bit of yellow cloth are fastened. On these the bridegroom pours a little butter, and then the worship of the sword (kharag) is done. A relative of the bride holds the sword in both his hands, and the bridegroom’s mother marks it with a mixture of ground rice and turmeric. Then an earthen pot full of sesamum grain is broken with the handle of the sword, and the grain scattered: an emblem, it is said, of the manner in which the enemies of the bridegroom who may dare to interfere with his marriage are to be scattered abroad. The sword is then placed in the middle of the marriage shed, an obvious survival of marriage by capture. After this a goat is sacrificed to the sword. In the evening there is a general feast known as bhatwân. This consists of rice and pulse, and must include cakes made of the urad pulse (bara). Before the bridegroom starts for the bride’s house he is bathed by the barber, and the water thus used is collected in a vessel and taken to the bride’s house, where it is mixed with that in which the bride is bathed. As the bridegroom starts his mother does the usual wave ceremony (parachhan) over him. At the bride’s village they are met by her friends, led by the barber, who brings a yellow cloth, which he lays on the roof of the bridegroom’s litter. At the bride’s door the bridegroom sits in a square and worships Gauri and Ganesa, which concluded, his future father-in-law marks his forehead with curds and rice. After this, food (kalewa) is sent from the bride’s house for the bridegroom and the boys with him, and in return his father sends five articles of jewellery for the bride, and a sheet (sâri) for her and her mother. With this is sent the water in which the bridegroom has been bathed. The bride is bathed in this and dressed in the sheet and jewels. The bridegroom then comes to the marriage shed, where his father-in-law washes his feet, and seats him in the square (chauk) on his left hand, while the bride sits on her father’s right hand. The pair then worship the household gods, of whom images are made in dough, and both mark the water jar and the branch of the cotton tree with red lead. Their clothes are knotted together, and [[129]]they do the usual five revolutions round the cotton tree, while the bridegroom holds a winnowing fan (sûp) into which the bride’s brother pours a little parched rice each time as they go round. The bride sprinkles this grain on the ground out of the fan, and both retire into the retiring room (kohabar), the walls of which are decorated. There his mother-in-law takes off the bridegroom’s crown (maur) and gives him a present. Next day follows the confarreatio ceremony (khichari), which is done in the usual way. Next day the bridegroom takes home his bride, but before he starts his father goes and shakes down one of the poles of the marriage shed, for which he gets a present (mânro hilâi). On the fourth day after they return the ceremony ends by the barber’s wife taking the sacred jar (kalsa) and the festoons (bandanwâr) of the marriage shed, and throwing them into a neighbouring stream. On their return husband and wife offer a burnt sacrifice (homa) to the local gods (dih).
Death. 4. The dead are cremated in the standard Hindu form. After the cremation all the mourners touch fire with the eight parts of their bodies, and sit for an hour in silence with the chief mourner. Next morning the chief mourner goes to the pyre, collects the ashes, and throws them into an adjoining stream. They set up an earthen vessel on a pîpal tree through which water drops for the refreshment of the thirsty spirit. While in the state of impurity, the chief mourner is armed with a stick, pointed with iron, to enable him to keep off ghosts. Every day he lays out food for the ghost along the road to the cremation ground. On the tenth day he offers lumps of rice and milk, which he throws into a tank, and all the mourners shave. On the eleventh day the Mahâpâtra receives all the personal effects of the dead man, which he is supposed to pass on to the deceased in the land of the dead. On the twelfth day the chief mourner offers sixteen balls (pinda) to ancestors, and returning, feasts the Mahâpâtra and gives him a cow and a loin cloth. On the thirteenth day Brâhmans are fed. During the fortnight (pitri-paksha), sacred to the manes, in the month of Kuâr, the ground under the eaves of the house is plastered, and some water and a tooth brush stick is left out; and flowers and rice are scattered about for the use of the dead visitors. On the fifteenth day of Kuâr Brâhmans are feasted.
Religion. 5. They principally worship Devi through Brâhmans. The local gods (dih) they worship through the Baiga with sacrifices of pigs and goats. [[130]]
Superstitions. 6. Their superstitions are similar to those of the surrounding castes. They swear by touching their sons’ heads, the feet of a Brâhman, the tail of a cow, or by standing in running water. They believe in the Evil-eye, which is obviated by an Ojha blowing on some dust, and sprinkling it over the person attacked, and repeating appropriate spells (mantra).
Taboos. 7. Very few drink liquor: none eat beef or pork. They will not touch the wife of a younger brother or the wife of an elder brother-in-law. They will not eat the flesh of the lizard, alligator, snake, jackal, or rat. The women eat separate from the men.
Status. 8. They rank as respectable high caste Hindus. They are either landholders or tenants with occupancy rights. They dress and wear ornaments like ordinary Râjputs, and among the low tribes around them their claim to that rank is generally accepted.
Bâjgi.[43]—A tribe of musicians found in the lower ranges of the Hills. They are possibly akin to the Nats. The name of the tribe is derived from Hindi bajâna, “to play a musical instrument.” In Dehra Dûn they consider themselves indigenous to the district.
Marriage rules. 2. They have several exogamous gotras, and are not allowed to marry in their own gotra, or in the family of the maternal uncle, until at least two generations have passed since the last connection by marriage. A man may have as many wives as he can support. Widows of the tribe may be married in the karâo form. Marriages take place when the parties attain the age of puberty. The parents and guardians of the boy have to pay a bride price which varies from forty to fifty rupees, and the price rises according to the youth and beauty of the bride. If a marriage is annulled after consummation, and she marries another man she has to repay the bride price, or as much of it as the tribal council award as compensation to the first husband. Children by a karâo marriage rank equally for inheritance with the offspring of a regular marriage. It has been asserted that the rule of the levirate is so far relaxed that the widow can be claimed by the elder as well as by the younger brother [[131]]of her late husband; but this assertion is in such direct opposition to the practice current among allied tribes that it is probably incorrect.
Birth. 3. There are no ceremonies during pregnancy. The women act as midwives to their own people as well as to other castes; and they have no custom of adoption, initiation, or betrothal.