The Kirs do not take food from any caste except the Dadharia Brahmans,
who are Marwaris, and act as their family priests. Brahmans and
other high castes will drink water brought in a brass vessel by
a Kir. The Kirs eat no meat except goats' flesh and fish, but
are much addicted to liquor, which is always conspicuous at their
feasts and festivals. They have a caste panchayat, which deals with
the ordinary offences. Temporary excommunication is removed by the
offender giving three feasts, on which an amount varying with his
social position and means must be expended. The first of these is
eaten on a river-bank, the second in a garden, and the third, which
confers complete readmission to caste intercourse, in the offender's
house. The Kirs live along river-banks, where they grow melons in the
sand and castor and vegetables in alluvial soil. They are considered
very skilful at raising these crops, and fully appreciate the use of
manure. For their own consumption they usually grow bajra and arhar,
being, like all Marwaris, very fond of bajra. The members of the
caste are easily distinguished by their dress, the men wearing a white
mirzai or short coat, a dhoti reaching to the knees, and a head-cloth
placed in a crooked position on the head, so as to leave the hair
of the scalp uncovered. They wear necklaces of black wooden beads,
besides the images of Bhairon and Devi. The women wear Jaipur chunris
or over-cloths and ghanghras or skirts. They have red lac bangles on
their wrists and arms above the elbow, and ornaments called ramjhul on
their legs. The women have a gait like that of men. The speech of the
Kirs sounds like Marwari, and they are peculiar in their preference
for riding on buffaloes.