The caste have also a large number of exogamous groups, the names of
which are usually derived from plants, animals, and natural objects. A
few may be given as examples out of fifty-seven recorded in the Central
Provinces, though this is far from representing the real total; all
the common animals have septs named after them, as the tiger, cobra,
tortoise, peacock, jackal, lizard, elephant, lark, scorpion, calf, and
so on; while more curious names are--Darpan, a mirror; Khanda Phari,
sword and shield; Undrimaria, a rat-killer; Aglavi, an incendiary;
Andhare, a blind man; Kutramaria, a dog-killer; Kodu Dudh, sour milk;
Khobragade, cocoanut-kernel; Bhajikhai, a vegetable eater, and so on.
A man must not marry in his own sept, but may take a wife from his
mother's or grandmother's. A sister's son may marry a brother's
daughter, but not vice versa. A girl who is seduced before marriage
by a man of her own caste or any higher one can be married as if
she were a widow, but if she has a child she must first get some
other family to take it off her hands. The custom of _Lamjhana_ or
serving for a wife is recognised, and the expectant bridegroom will
live with his father-in-law and work for him for a period varying
from one to five years. The marriage ceremony follows the customary
Hindustani or Maratha ritual [118] as the case may be. In Wardha the
right foot of the bridegroom and the left one of the bride are placed
together in a new basket, while they stand one on each side of the
threshold. They throw five handfuls of coloured rice over each other,
and each time, as he throws, the bridegroom presses his toe on the
bride's foot; at the end he catches the girl by the finger and the
marriage is complete. In the Central Provinces the Mohturia or caste
priest officiates at weddings, but in Berar, Mr. Kitts states [119]
the caste employ the Brahman Joshi or village priest. But as he will
not come to their house they hold the wedding on the day that one
takes place among the higher castes, and when the priest gives the
signal the dividing cloth (Antarpat) between the couple is withdrawn,
and the garments of the bride and bridegroom are knotted, while the
bystanders clap their hands and pelt the couple with coloured grain. As
the priest frequently takes up his position on the roof of the house
for a wedding it is easy for the Mahars to see him. In Mandla some
of the lower class of Brahmans will officiate at the weddings of
Mahars. In Chhindwara the Mahars seat the bride and bridegroom in
the frame of a loom for the ceremony, and they worship the hide of a
cow or bullock filled with water. They drink together ceremoniously,
a pot of liquor being placed on a folded cloth and all the guests
sitting round it in a circle. An elder man then lays a new piece
of cloth on the pot and worships it. He takes a cup of the liquor
himself and hands round a cupful to every person present.
In Mandla at a wedding the barber comes and cuts the bride's nails,
and the cuttings are rolled up in dough and placed in a little
earthen pot beside the marriage-post. The bridegroom's nails and hair
are similarly cut in his own house and placed in another vessel. A
month or two after the wedding the two little pots are taken out and
thrown into the Nerbudda. A wedding costs the bridegroom's party
about Rs. 40 or Rs. 50 and the bride's about Rs. 25. They have no
going-away ceremony, but the occasion of a girl's coming to maturity
is known as Bolawan. She is kept apart for six days and given new
clothes, and the caste-people are invited to a meal. When a woman's
husband dies the barber breaks her bangles, and her anklets are taken
off and given to him as his perquisite. Her brother-in-law or other
relative gives her a new white cloth, and she wears this at first,
and afterwards white or coloured clothes at her pleasure. Her hair
is not cut, and she may wear _patelas_ or flat metal bangles on the
forearm and armlets above the elbow, but not other ornaments. A widow
is under no obligation to marry her first husband's younger brother;
when she marries a stranger he usually pays a sum of about Rs. 30 to
her parents. When the price has been paid the couple exchange a ring
and a bangle respectively in token of the agreement. When the woman is
proceeding to her second husband's house, her old clothes, necklace
and bangles are thrown into a river or stream and she is given new
ones to wear. This is done to lay the first husband's spirit, which
may be supposed to hang about the clothes she wore as his wife, and
when they are thrown away or buried the exorcist mutters spells over
them in order to lay the spirit. No music is allowed at the marriage
of a widow except the crooked trumpet called _singara_. A bachelor
who marries a widow must first go through a mock ceremony with a
cotton-plant, a sword or a ring. Divorce must be effected before the
caste _panchayat_ or committee, and if a divorced woman marries again,
her first husband performs funeral and mourning ceremonies as if
she were dead. In Gujarat the practice is much more lax and "divorce
can be obtained almost to an indefinite extent. Before they finally
settle down to wedded life most couples have more than once changed
their partners." [120] But here also, before the change takes place,
there must be a formal divorce recognised by the caste.