Note 96 — Volume II. (continued 2)

Marriage. 6. A man may marry in any of the ten septs (the five last being regarded as only offshoots from the others), provided both parties are in possession of full caste rights. Among these people we have a distinct survival of marriage by capture in the sort of wrestling or struggle which takes place between the bride and bridegroom, before the latter during the marriage ceremony applies red lead to the parting of the hair of the former. This custom of applying red lead is an obvious survival of the original blood covenant when the bride was marked with blood drawn from the body of the bridegroom, and thus formally united to him. A man may have as many wives as he can afford to purchase with the bride-price and support. The senior wife is held in special respect and gets more jewelry and better clothes than her juniors. She alone represents the women of the family at social celebrations. This appears, as Dr. Westermarck remarks, to indicate a transition from monogamous to polygynous habits, and not vice versâ, as has often been suggested.96 If the family house is large the wives all live together; if not, in separate rooms grouped round the common courtyard.97 Another peculiarity among this tribe is the intense fear of the menstrual pollution.98 There are always two doors to the dwelling house, one of which is used only by women in this condition. While impure the woman is fed by her husband apart from the rest of the family, and whenever she has to go out she is obliged to creep out on her hands and knees so as to avoid polluting the house thatch by her touch. Concubinage and polyandry are both prohibited, and the latter is looked upon with such horror by them that it seems impossible to believe that it could ever have been a tribal institution.99 Women enjoy a considerable amount of liberty both before and after marriage. If an unmarried girl is detected in an intrigue with a clansman, the tribal council imposes a fine on her paramour and marries her to him. The fine consists of a goat, rice, and liquor. The marriage age for girls is from ten to twelve, and to delay the marriage of girls to a later period is considered unseemly. As the people put it, “the brotherhood jeer” (birâdari hansat). The marriage of a boy is arranged by his sister’s husband (bahnoi). It usually takes place by arrangement between the pair, but love matches are allowed and are not unusual. The bride-price consists of a sheet (orhna) valued at three rupees, five rupees in cash, and fifteen sers of liquor. The bride receives the sheet, and the money and the liquor are used in the marriage feast. This is the invariable rate and does not vary with the means of the parties. If after marriage it turns out that the bridegroom becomes mad, blind, leprous, or impotent, her relations will withhold the bride. In this case, if the husband have a younger brother, the marriage is annulled by the council, and the bride is again married to her brother-in-law by the less regular form used in the case of widows, i.e., by sagâi. On the other hand if after marriage any defects manifest themselves in the bride her husband is bound to accept her, and if before marriage the relations of the bride were aware of any defect in the bridegroom the marriage cannot be broken.