6. Taboos as to food.

After a girl is married her own mother will not eat food cooked by her,

as no two Kharias will take food together unless they are of the same

sept. When a married daughter goes back to the house of her parents

she cooks her food separately, and does not enter their cook-room;

if she did all the earthen pots would be defiled and would have to be

thrown away. A similar taboo marks the relations of a woman towards

her husband's elder brother, who is known as Kura Sasur. She must

not enter his house nor sit on a cot or stool before him, nor touch

him, nor cook food for him. If she touches him a fine of a fowl with

liquor is imposed by the caste, and for his touching her a goat and

liquor. This idea may perhaps have been established as a check on the

custom of fraternal polyandry, when the idea of the eldest brother

taking the father's place as head of the joint family became prevalent.

The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India, Volume 3 · 第 471 / 625 题