The Sansias are divided into two groups, Kalkar and Malha; and
these two are further subdivided into eight and twelve sections
respectively. No one belonging to the Kalkar group may marry another
person of that group, but he may marry anybody belonging to any
section of the Malha group. Thus the two groups being exogamous the
sections do not serve any purpose, but it is possible that the rules
are really more complicated. In the Punjab their marriage ceremony is
peculiar, the bride being covered by a basket, on which the bridegroom
sits while the nuptial rites are being performed. [609] According to
Colonel Sleeman, after the arrangement of a match the caste committee
assemble to determine the price to be paid to the father of the girl,
which may amount to as much as Rs. 2000. When this is settled some
liquor is spilt on the ground in the name of Bhagwan or Vishnu, and
an elder pronounces that the two have become man and wife; a feast is
given to the caste, and the ceremony is concluded. After child-birth
a woman cannot wash herself for five days, but on the sixth she may
go to a stream and wash. Even on ordinary occasions a woman must
never wash herself inside the house, but must always go to a stream,
which rule does not apply to men. When the hair of a child begins to
grow it is all shaved except the scalp-lock, which is dedicated to
Bhagwan; and at ten or twelve years of age this lock is also shaved
off and a dinner is given to members of the caste. The last ceremony
is of the nature of a puberty-rite, and if children die prior to its
performance their bodies are buried, whereas after it they have a right
to cremation. After a body has been burnt the bones are buried on the
spot in an earthen vessel, over the mouth of which a large stone is
placed. Some pig's flesh is cooked and sweet cakes prepared, portions
of which are placed upon the stone; and the deceased is then called
upon, by reason of the usual ceremonies having been performed at his
death, to watch over his surviving relatives. If any Sansia happened to
commit a murder when engaged in a dacoity he was afterwards obliged to
make an offering for forgiveness, and to spend a rupee and a quarter
in liquor for the caste-fellows. If a dacoit had himself been killed
and his body abandoned, his clothes, with some new clothes, were put
upon a sleeping-cot, and his companions of the same caste carried it to
a convenient spot, where it was either burnt or buried in the ground.