Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 7, 1896.djvu/101

Rh

379. The Banjâras of the Deccan.—Reprint of a pamphlet by Mr. Cumberlege (12 pp.). A gipsy tribe. Their castes and divisions; dress; rites; religion. The following are some sub-headings:

Mathurias.—Marriage: Money paid to bride's father; groom's father gives a feast to bride's village. Betrothal takes place in early childhood, and after it the girl can marry no other than her betrothed. The boy and all adults who can, ride to the bride's hamlet; a feast takes place. Clothes of the pair knotted together, with money and rice in the knot. Walking round a curtain. The pair change seats. When the girl goes to her groom's hamlet she draws water, which is mixed with water drawn by one of his female relations; with this, food is cooked; the bride, hitherto considered of no caste at all, becomes one of her groom's caste.

Funeral: If a male die before the sacred thread has been put on, he is buried; if after, burnt. Unmarried girls buried, wives burnt.

Labânas.—Marriage: Women unclean three days after childbirth. Widows may not re-marry.

Funeral: Children below one year of age are buried; others burnt.

Chârans.—Professional dacoits.

Marriage: A certain chant recited, after which the groom's left arm is pierced with a red-hot needle. Partial exogamy.