Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 2.djvu/227

Rh At the naming of an infant on the sixth day, the Dūdēkulas do not, like other Muhammadans, perform the aguigā ceremony, which consists of shaving the child's head, and sacrificing a he-goat. Children are circumcised before the tenth year. On such occasions the Muhammadans generally invite their friends, and distribute sweets and pān-supāri (betel leaf and areca nuts). The Dūdēkulas simply send for a barber, Hindu or Muhammadan, who performs the operation in the presence of a Khāzi, if one happens to be available. When a girl reaches puberty, the Dūdēkulas invite their friends to a feast. Other Muhammadans, on the contrary, keep the fact a secret. At the betrothal ceremony, when sweets and pān-supāri are taken by the future bridegroom and his party to the house of the girl whom he seeks in marriage, the female members of both families, and the girl herself, are present. This fact shows the absence of the Muhammadan gōsha system among Dūdēkulas. A Muhammadan wedding lasts over five or six days, whereas the ceremonies are, among the Dūdēkulas, completed within twenty-four hours. On the night preceding the nikka day, a pilau is prepared, and a feast is held at the bridegroom's house. On the following morning, when it is still dark, the bridegroom, accompanied by his relations, starts on horseback in procession, with beating of drums and letting off of fireworks. The procession arrives at the bride's house before sunrise. The Khāzi is sent for, and the mahr is settled. This is a nominal gift settled on the wife before marriage by the bridegroom. On the death of a husband, a widow has priority of claim on his property to the promised amount of the mahr. Two male witnesses are sent to the bride, to obtain her assent to the union, and to the amount of