_Manihar._ [194]--A small caste of pedlars and hawkers. In northern
India the Manihars are makers of glass bangles, and correspond to the
Kachera caste of the Central Provinces. Mr. Nesfield remarks [195]
that the special industry of the Manihars of the United Provinces is
the making of glass bangles or bracelets. These are an indispensable
adjunct to the domestic life of the Hindu woman; for the glass bangle
is not worn for personal ornament, but as the badge of the matrimonial
state, like the wedding-ring in Europe. But in the Central Provinces
glass bangles are made by the Kacheras and the Muhammadan Turkaris
or Sisgars, and the Manihars are petty hawkers of stationery and
articles for the toilet, such as miniature looking-glasses, boxes,
stockings, needles and thread, spangles, and imitation jewellery; and
Hindu Jogis and others who take to this occupation are accustomed to
give their caste as Manihar. In 1911 nearly 700 persons belonging to
the caste were returned from the northern Districts of the Central
Provinces. The Manihars are nominally Muhammadans, but they retain
many Hindu customs. At their weddings they erect a marriage-tent,
anoint the couple with oil and turmeric and make them wear a _kankan_
or wrist-band, to which is attached a small purse containing a little
mustard-seed and a silver ring. The mustard is intended to scare away
the evil spirits. When the marriage procession reaches the bride's
village it is met by her people, one of whom holds a bamboo in his
hands and bars the advance of the procession. The bridegroom's father
thereupon makes a present of a rupee to the village _panchayat_,
and his people are allowed to proceed. When the bridegroom reaches
the bride's house he finds her younger sister carrying a _kalas_
or pot of water on her head; he drops a rupee into it and enters the
house. The bride's sister then comes holding above her head a small
frame like a _tazia_ [196] with a cocoanut core hanging inside. She
raises the frame as high as she can to prevent the bridegroom from
plucking out the cocoanut core, which, however, he succeeds in doing
in the end. The girl applies powdered _mehndi_ or henna to the little
finger of the boy's right hand, in return for which she receives a
rupee and a piece of cloth. The Kazi then recites verses from the
Koran which the bridegroom repeats after him, and the bride does the
same in her turn. This is the Nikah or marriage proper, and before
it takes place the bridegroom's father must present a nose-ring to
the bride. The parents also fix the Meher or dowry, which, however,
is not a dowry proper, but a stipulation that if the bridegroom
should put away his wife after marriage he will pay her a certain
agreed sum. After the Nikah the bridegroom is given some spices,
which he grinds on a slab with a roller. He must do the grinding very
slowly and gently so as to make no noise, or it is believed that
the married life of the couple will be broken by quarrels. A widow
is permitted to marry the younger brother of her deceased husband,
but not his elder brother. The caste bury their dead with the head to
the north. The corpse is first bathed and wrapped in a new white sheet,
with another sheet over it, and is then laid on a cot or in a _janaza_
or coffin. While it is being carried to the cemetery the bearers are
changed every few steps, so that every man who accompanies the funeral
may carry the corpse for a short distance. When it is lowered into
the grave the sheet is taken off and given to a Fakir or beggar. When
the body is covered with earth the priest reads the funeral verses
at a distance of forty steps from the grave. Feasts are given to the
caste-fellows on the third, tenth, twentieth and fortieth days after
the death. The Manihars observe the Shabrat festival by distributing to
the caste-fellows _halua_ or a mixture of melted butter and flour. The
Shabrat is the middle night of the month Shaban, and Muhammad declared
that on this night God registers the actions which every man will
perform during the following year, and all those who are fated to die
and the children who are to be born. Like Hindu widows the Manihar
women break their bangles when their husband's corpse is removed to
the burial-ground. The Manihars eat flesh, but not beef or pork; and
they also abstain from alcoholic liquor. If a girl is seduced and made
pregnant before marriage either by a man of the caste or an outsider,
she remains in her father's house until her child has been born,
and may then be married either to her paramour or any other man of
the caste by the simple repetition of the Nikah or marriage verses,
omitting all other ceremonies. The Manihars will admit into their
community converted Hindus belonging even to the lowest castes.