The Kohlis have no subcastes. They are divided into the usual
exogamous groups or septs with the object of preventing marriages
between relations, and these have Marathi names of the territorial or
titular type. Among them may be mentioned Handifode (one who breaks a
cooking vessel), Sahre (from shahar, a town), Nagpure (from Nagpur),
Shende (from shend, cowdung), Parwate (from parwat, mountain), Hatwade
(an obstinate man), Mungus-mare (one who killed a mongoose), Pustode
(one who broke a bullock's tail), and so on. Marriage within the sept
is prohibited. A brother's daughter may be married to his sister's
son, but not vice versa. Girls are usually wedded before arriving
at adolescence, more especially as there is a great demand for
brides. Like other castes engaged in spade cultivation, the Kohlis
marry two or more wives when they can afford it, a wife being a
more willing servant than a hired labourer, apart from the other
advantages. If his wives do not get on together, the Kohli gives
them separate huts in his courtyard, where each lives and cooks her
meals for herself. He will also allot them separate tasks, assigning
to one the care of his household affairs, to another the watching of
his sugarcane plot, and so on. If he does this successfully the wives
are kept well at work and have not time to quarrel. It is said that
whenever a Kohli has a bountiful harvest he looks out for another
wife. This naturally leads to a scarcity of women and the payment of
a substantial bride-price. The recognised amount is Rs. 30, but this
is only formal, and from Rs. 50 to Rs. 150 may be given according
to the attractions of the girl, the largest sum being paid for a
woman of full age who can go and live with her husband at once. As a
consequence of this state of things poor men are sometimes unable to
get wives at all. Though they pay highly for their wives the Kohlis
are averse to extravagant expenditure on weddings, and all marriages
in a village are generally celebrated on the same day once a year,
the number of guests at each being thus necessarily restricted. The
officiating Brahman ascends the roof of a house and, after beating a
brass dish to warn the parties, repeats the marriage texts as the sun
goes down. At this moment all the couples place garlands of flowers
on each other's shoulders, each bridegroom ties the mangal-sutram
or necklace of black beads round his bride's neck, and the weddings
are completed. The bride's brother winds a thread round the marriage
crowns of the couple and is given two rupees for untying it. The
services of a Brahman are not indispensable, and an elder of the
caste may officiate as priest. Next day the barber and washerman
take the bridegroom and bride in their arms and dance, holding them,
to the accompaniment of music, while the women throw red rose-powder
over the couple. At their weddings the Kohlis make models in wood of
a Chamar's rampi or knife and khurpa or scraper, this custom perhaps
indicating some connection with the Chamars; or it may have arisen
simply on account of the important assistance rendered by the Chamar
to the cultivation of sugarcane, in supplying the mot or leather bag
for raising water from the well. After the wedding is over a string
of hemp from a cot is tied round the necks of the pair, and their
maternal uncles then run and offer it at the shrine of Marai Mata,
the goddess of cholera. Widows with any remains of youth or personal
attractions always marry again, the ceremony being held at midnight
according to the customary ritual of the Maratha Districts. [530]
Sometimes the husband does not attend at all, and the widow is united
to a sword or dagger as representing him. Otherwise the widow may
be conducted to her new husband's house by five other widows, and
in this case they halt at a stream by the way and the bangles and
beads are broken from off her neck and wrists. On account, perhaps,
of the utility of their wives, and the social temptations which beset
them from being continually abroad at work, the Kohlis are lenient to
conjugal offences, and a woman going wrong even with an outsider will
be taken back by her husband and only a trifling punishment imposed by
the caste. A Kohli can also keep a woman of any other caste, except
of those regarded as impure, without incurring any censure. Divorce
is very seldom resorted to and involves severe penalties to both
parties. As among the Panwars, a wife retains any property she may
bring to her husband and her wedding gifts at her own disposal,
this separate portion being known as khamora. The caste burn their
dead when they can afford it, placing the head of the corpse to the
north on the pyre. The bodies of those who have died from cholera
or smallpox are buried. Like the Panwars it is the custom of the
Kohlis on bathing after a funeral to have a meal of cakes and sugar
on the river-bank, a practice which is looked down on by orthodox
Hindus. After a month or so the deceased person is considered to be
united to the ancestors, and when he was the head of the family his
successor is inducted to the position by the presentation of a new
head-cloth and a silver bangle. The bereaved family are then formally
escorted to the weekly market and are considered to have resumed
their regular social relations. The Kohlis revere the ordinary Hindu
deities, and on the day of Dasahra they worship their axe, sickle and
ploughshare by washing them and making an offering of rice, flowers
and turmeric. The axe is no doubt included because it serves to cut
the wood for fencing the sugarcane garden.