The caste has numerous endogamous groups, varying in different
localities. The Phulmalis, who derive their name from their
occupation of growing and selling flowers (_phul_), usually rank as
the highest. The Ghase Malis are the only subcaste which will grow
and prepare turmeric in Wardha; but they will not sell milk or curds,
an occupation to which the Phulmalis, though the highest subcaste,
have no objection. In Chanda the Kosaria Malis, who take their name
from Kosala, the classical designation of the Chhattisgarh country,
are the sole growers of turmeric, while in Berar the Halde subcaste,
named after the plant, occupy the same position. The Kosaria or Kosre
subcaste abstain from liquor, and their women wear glass bangles only
on one hand and silver ones on the other. The objection entertained to
the cultivation of turmeric by Hindus generally is said to be based
on the fact that when the roots are boiled numbers of small insects
are necessarily destroyed; but the other Malis relate that one of the
ancestors of the caste had a calf called Hardulia, and one day he said
to his daughter, _Haldi paka_, or 'Cook turmeric.' But the daughter
thought that he said 'cook Hardulia,' so she killed and roasted the
calf, and in consequence of this her father was expelled from the
caste, and his descendants are the Ghase or Halde subcaste. Ever
since this happened the shape of a calf may be seen in the flower of
turmeric. This legend has, however, no real value and the meaning of
the superstition attaching to the plant is obscure. Though the growing
of turmeric is tabooed yet it is a sacred plant, and no Hindu girl, at
least in the Central Provinces, can be married without having turmeric
powder rubbed on her body. Mr. Gordon remarks in _Indian Folk-Tales_:
"I was once speaking to a Hindu gardener of the possibility of turmeric
and garlic being stolen from his garden. 'These two vegetables
are never stolen,' he replied, 'for we Hindus believe that he who
steals turmeric and garlic will appear with six fingers in the next
birth, and this deformity is always considered the birth-mark of a
thief.'" The Jire Malis are so named because they were formerly the
only subcaste who would grow cumin (_jira_), but this distinction
no longer exists as other Malis, except perhaps the Phulmalis, now
grow it. Other subcastes have territorial names, as Baone from Berar,
Jaipuria, Kanaujia, and so on. The caste have also exogamous septs or
_bargas_, with designations taken from villages, titles or nicknames
or inanimate objects.