Marriage within the sept is prohibited, but violations of this
rule are not infrequent. Outside the sept a man may marry any woman
except the sisters of his mother or stepmother. Where, as in some
localities, the septs have been forgotten, marriage is forbidden
between those relatives to whom the sacramental cakes are distributed
at a wedding. Among the Mundas, before a father sets out to seek a
bride for his son, he invites three or four relatives, and at midnight
taking a bottle of liquor pours a little over the household god as a
libation and drinks the rest with them. They go to the girl's village,
and addressing her father say that they have come to hunt. He asks
them in what jungle they wish to hunt, and they name the sarna or
sacred grove in which the bones of his ancestors are buried. If the
girl's father is satisfied with the match, he then agrees to it. A
bride-price of Rs. 10-8 is paid in the Central Provinces. Among the Hos
of Chota Nagpur so large a number of cattle was formerly demanded in
exchange for a bride that many girls were never married. Afterwards it
was reduced to ten head of cattle, and it was decided that one pair of
bullocks, one cow and seven rupees should be equivalent to ten head,
while for poor families Rs. 7 was to be the whole price. [547] Among
the Mundas of Raigarh the price is three or four bullocks, but poor
men may give Rs. 12 or Rs. 18 in substitution. Here weddings may
only be held in the three months of Aghan, Magh and Phagun, [548]
and preferably in Magh. Their marriage ceremony is very simple,
the bridegroom simply smearing vermilion on the bride's forehead,
after which water is poured over the heads of the pair. Two pots of
liquor are placed beside them during the ceremony. It is also a good
marriage if a girl of her own accord goes and lives in a man's house
and he shows his acceptance by dabbing vermilion on her. But her
offspring are of inferior status to those of a regular marriage. The
Kols of Jubbulpore and Mandla have adopted the regular Hindu ceremony.