In the Central Provinces there are other divisions, as the Jat and
Multani Kanjars. They say they have two exogamous divisions, Kalkha and
Malha, and a member of either of these must take a wife from the other
division. Both the Kalkhas and Malhas are further divided into kuls
or sections, but the influence of these on marriage is not clear. At a
Kanjar marriage, Mr. Crooke states, the gadela or spade with which they
dig out the khas-khas grass and kill wolves or vermin, is placed in
the marriage pavilion during the ceremony. The bridegroom swears that
he will not drive away nor divorce his wife, and sometimes a mehar or
dowry is also fixed for the bride. The father-in-law usually, however,
remits a part or the whole of this subsequently, when the bridegroom
goes to take food at his house on festival occasions. Mr. Nesfield
states that the principal deity of the Kanjars is the man-god Mana,
who was not only the teacher and guide, but also the founder and
ancestor of the tribe. He is buried, as some Kanjars relate, at Kara
in the Allahabad District, not far from the Ganges and facing the old
city of Manikpur on the opposite bank. Mana is worshipped with special
ceremony in the rainy season, when the tribe is less migratory than in
the dry months of the year. On such occasions, if sufficient notice
is circulated, several encampments unite temporarily to pay honour
to their common ancestor. The worshippers collect near a tree under
which they sacrifice a pig, a goat, a sheep, or a fowl, and make an
offering of roasted flesh and spirituous liquor. Formerly, it is said,
they used to sacrifice a child, having first made it insensible with
fermented palm-juice or toddy. [326] They dance round the tree in
honour of Mana, and sing the customary songs in commemoration of his
wisdom and deeds of valour.