Note 33 — D.

Marriage rules. 6. The totemistic septs are exogamous, and in addition the children of the mother’s brother, the sister and father’s sister are barred. Polygamy is permitted only when the first wife is barren, and then the consent of the Chaudhari and clansmen is required. The marriage age is ten or twelve for boys and girls. The bride-price is two rupees, and is invariably fixed by caste custom. No physical defect subsequently ascertained can annul a marriage; but both parties are carefully examined by the relatives before the engagement is made. A man may divorce his wife if he discovers that she is a witch, and habitual adultery on the part of husband and wife justifies divorce with the leave of the council. Women who have been divorced can marry again, but the general feeling is against the practice, and it is not allowed in respectable families. The institution of the Bachelor Hall, described by Colonel Dalton among the Orâons,33 does not prevail among the Mirzapur Dhângars.