Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India.djvu/276

BANT i.e., a boy belongs to his mother's, not to his father's bali. Children belonging to the same bali cannot marry, and the prohibition extends to certain allied (koodu) balis. Moreover, a man cannot marry his father's brother's daughter, though she belongs to a different bali. In a memorandum by Mr. M. Mundappa Bangera,* it is stated that "bali in aliya santāna families corresponds to gōtra of the Brāhmins governed by Hindu law, but differs in that it is derived from the mother's side, whereas gōtra is always derived from the father's side. A marriage between a boy and girl belonging to the same bali is considered incestuous, as falling within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity. It is not at all difficult to find out the bali to which a man or woman belongs, as one can scarcely be found who does not know one's own bali by rote. And the heads of caste, who preside at every wedding party, and who are also consulted by the elders of the boy or girl before an alliance is formed, are such experts in these matters that they decide at once without reference to any books or rules whether intermarriages between persons brought before them can be lawfully performed or not." As examples of balis among the Bants, the following may be cited:—