They do not now admit outsiders, but their family names show that at
one time they probably did so, and this laxity of feeling survives in
the toleration with which they readmit into caste a woman who has gone
wrong with an outsider. They eat flesh and fowls, and the Dholewars eat
pork, while as already stated they are fond of liquor. To have a shoe
thrown on his house by a caste-fellow is a serious degradation for a
Bhoyar, and he must break his earthen pots, clean his house and give
a feast. To be beaten with a shoe by a low caste like Mahar entails
shaving the moustaches and paying a heavy fine, which is spent on a
feast. The Bhoyars do not take food from any caste but Brahmans, but
no caste higher than Kunbis and Malis will take water from them. In
social status they rank somewhat below Kunbis. In appearance they are
well built, and often of a fair complexion. Unmarried girls generally
wear skirts instead of _saris_ or cloths folding between the legs;
they also must not wear toe-rings. Women of the Panwar subcaste wear
glass bangles on the left hand, and brass ones on the right. All
women are tattooed. They both burn and bury the dead, placing the
corpse on the pyre with its head to the south or west, and in Wardha
to the north. Here they have a peculiar custom as regards mourning,
which is observed only till the next Monday or Thursday whichever
falls first. Thus the period of mourning may extend from one to four
days. The Bhoyars are considered in Wardha to be more than ordinarily
timid, and also to be considerable simpletons, while they stand in much
awe of Government officials, and consider it a great misfortune to be
brought into a court of justice. Very few of them can read and write.