_Kunjra_. [44]--A caste of greengrocers, who sell country vegetables
and fruit and are classed as Muhammadans. Mr. Crooke derives the
name from the Sanskrit _kunj_, 'a bower or arbour.' They numbered
about 1600 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911, principally in
the Jubbulpore Division. The customs of the Kunjras appear to combine
Hindu and Muhammadan rites in an indiscriminate medley. It is reported
that marriage is barred only between real brothers and sisters and
foster brothers and sisters, the latter rule being known as _Dudh
bachana_, or 'Observing the tie of the milk.' At their betrothal
presents are given to the parties, and after this a powder of henna
leaves is sent to the boy, who rubs it on his fingers and returns
it to the girl that she may do the same. As among the Hindus, the
bodies of the bridal couple are anointed with oil and turmeric at
their respective houses before the wedding. A marriage-shed is made
and the bridegroom goes to the bride's house wearing a cotton quilt
and riding on a bullock. The barber holds the umbrella over his
head and must be given a present before he will fold it, but the
wedding is performed by the Kazi according to the Nikah ceremony
by the repetition of verses from the Koran. The wedding is held at
four o'clock in the morning, and as a preliminary to it the bride
is presented with some money by the boy's father, which is known as
the Meher or dowry. On its conclusion a cup of sherbet is given to
the bridegroom, of which he drinks half and hands the remainder to
the bride. The gift of the Meher is considered to seal the marriage
contract. When a widow is married the Kazi is also employed, and he
simply recites the Kalama or Muhammadan profession of belief, and the
ceremony is completed by the distribution of dates to the elders of
the caste. Divorce is permitted and is known as _talaq_. The caste
observe the Muhammadan festivals, and have some favourite saints of
their own to whom they make offerings of _gulgula_ a kind of pudding,
with sacrifices of goats and fowls. Participation in these rites is
confined to members of the family. Children are named on the day of
their birth, the Muhammadan Kazi or a Hindu Brahman being employed
indifferently to select the name. If the parents lose one or more
children, in order to preserve the lives of those subsequently born,
they will allow the _choti_ or scalp-lock to grow on their heads in the
Hindu fashion, dedicating it to one of their Muhammadan saints. Others
will put a _hasli_ or silver circlet round the neck of the child
and add a ring to this every year; a strip of leather is sometimes
also tied round the neck. When the child reaches the age of twelve
years the scalp-lock is shaved, the leather band thrown into a river
and the silver necklet sold. Offerings are made to the saints and
a feast is given to the friends of the family. The dead are buried,
camphor and attar of roses being applied to the corpse. On the _Tija_
and _Chalisa_, or third and fortieth days after a death, a feast is
given to the caste-fellows, but no mourning is observed, neither
do the mourners bathe nor perform ceremonies of purification. On
the _Tija_ the Koran is also read and fried grain is distributed to
children. For the death of a child the ordinary feasts need not be
given, but prayers are offered for their souls with those of the other
dead once a year on the night of Shab-i-Barat or the fifteenth day
of the month Shaban, [45] which is observed as a vigil with prayer,
feasts and illuminations and offerings to the ancestors. Kunjra men
are usually clean-shaven with the exception of the beard, which is
allowed to grow long below the chin. Their women are not tattooed. In
the cities, Mr. Crooke remarks, [46] their women have an equivocal
reputation, as the better-looking girls who sit in the shops are said
to use considerable freedom of manners to attract customers. They are
also very quarrelsome and abusive when bargaining for the sale of their
wares or arguing with each other. This is so much the case that men
who become very abusive are said to be behaving like Kunjras; while
in Dacca Sir H. Risley states [47] that the word Kunjra has become a
term of abuse, so that the caste are ashamed to be known by it, and
call themselves Mewa-farosh, Sabzi-farosh or Bepari. When two women
are having an altercation, their husbands and other male relatives
are forbidden to interfere on pain of social degradation. The women
never sit on the ground, but on small wooden stools or _pirhis_. The
Kunjras belong chiefly to the north of the Province, and in the
south their place is taken by the Marars and Malis who carry their
own produce for sale to the markets. The Kunjras sell sugarcane,
potatoes, onions and all kinds of vegetables, and others deal in the
dried fruits imported by Kabuli merchants.