A man must not marry in his own sept nor in the families of his
mothers and grandmothers. The union of first cousins is thus
prohibited, nor can girls be exchanged in marriage between two
families. A wife's sister may also not be married during the wife's
lifetime. The Muhammadan Bhils permit a man to marry his maternal
uncle's daughter, and though he cannot marry his wife's sister
he may keep her as a concubine. Marriages may be infant or adult,
but the former practice is becoming prevalent and girls are often
wedded before they are eleven. Matches are arranged by the parents
of the parties in consultation with the caste _panchayat_; but in
Bombay girls may select their own husbands, and they have also a
recognised custom of elopement at the Tosina fair in the month of the
Mahi Kantha. If a Bhil can persuade a girl to cross the river there
with him he may claim her as his wife; but if they are caught before
getting across he is liable to be punished by the bride's father. [334]
The betrothal and wedding ceremonies now follow the ordinary ritual of
the middle and lower castes in the Maratha country. [335] The bride
must be younger than the bridegroom except in the case of a widow. A
bride-price is paid which may vary from Rs. 9 to 20; in the case of
Muhammadan Bhils the bridegroom is said to give a dowry of Rs. 20 to
25. When the ovens are made with the sacred earth they roast some of
the large millet juari [336] for the family feast, calling this Juari
Mata or the grain goddess. Offerings of this are made to the family
gods, and it is partaken of only by the members of the bride's and
bridegroom's septs respectively at their houses. No outsider may even
see this food being eaten. The leavings of food, with the leaf-plates
on which it was eaten, are buried inside the house, as it is believed
that if they should fall into the hands of any outsider the death or
blindness of one of the family will ensue. When the bridegroom reaches
the bride's house he strikes the marriage-shed with a dagger or other
sharp instrument. A goat is killed and he steps in its blood as he
enters the shed. A day for the wedding is selected by the priest,
but it may also take place on any Sunday in the eight fine months. If
the wedding takes place on the eleventh day of Kartik, that is on
the expiration of the four rainy months when marriages are forbidden,
they make a little hut of eleven stalks of juari with their cobs in
the shape of a cone, and the bride and bridegroom walk round this. The
services of a Brahman are not required for such a wedding. Sometimes
the bridegroom is simply seated in a grain basket and the bride in
a winnowing-fan; then their hands are joined as the sun is half set,
and the marriage is completed. The bridegroom takes the basket and fan
home with him. On the return of the wedding couple, their _kankans_
or wristbands are taken off at Hanuman's temple. The Muhammadan Bhils
perform the same ceremonies as the Hindus, but at the end they call in
the Kazi or registrar, who repeats the Muhammadan prayers and records
the dowry agreed upon. The practice of the bridegroom serving for
his wife is in force among both classes of Bhils.