The marriage ceremony in Berar [566] consists simply in a feast at
which the bride and bridegroom, dressed in new clothes, preside. Much
liquor is consumed and the dancing-girls of the tribe dance before
them, and the happy couple are considered duly married according to
Kolhati rites. Married women do not perform in public and are no less
moral and faithful than those of other castes, while those brought
up as dancing-girls do not marry at all. In Bilaspur weddings are
arranged through the headman of the village, who receives a fee for
his services, and the ceremony includes some of the ordinary Hindu
rites. Here a widow is compelled to marry her late husband's younger
brother on pain of exclusion from caste. People of almost any caste may
become Kolhatis. When an outsider is admitted he must have a sponsor
into whose clan he is adopted. A feast is given to the caste, and
the applicant catches the right little finger of his sponsor before
the assembly. Great numbers of Rajputs and Muhammadans join them, and
on the other hand a large proportion of the fair but frail Kolhatis
embrace the Muhammadan faith. [567]