Marriage between members of the same sept is prohibited and also the
union of first cousins. The preliminaries to a marriage commence with
the bali-dudna or arrangement of the match. The boy's father having
selected a suitable bride for his son sends two elders of the caste
to propose the match to her father, who as a matter of etiquette
invariably declines it, swearing with great oaths that he will not
allow his daughter to get married or that he will have a son-in-law
who will serve for her. The messengers depart, but return again and
again until the father's obduracy is overcome, which may take from six
months to two years, while from nine to twelve months is considered a
respectable period. When his consent is finally obtained the residents
of the girl's village are called to hear it, and the compact is sealed
with large potations of liquor. A ceremony of betrothal follows at
which the daij or dowry is arranged, this signifying among the Korkus
the compensation to be paid to the girl's father for the loss of her
services. It is computed by a curious system of symbolic higgling. The
women of the girl's party take two plates and place on them two
heaps containing respectively ten and fifty seeds of a sort used for
reckoning. The ten seeds on the first plate represent five rupees
for the panchayat and five cloths for the mother, brother, paternal
aunt and paternal and maternal uncles of the girl. The heap of fifty
seeds indicates that Rs. 50 must be paid to the girl's father. When
the plates are received by the boy's party they take away forty-five
of the seeds from the larger heap and return the plate, to indicate
that they will only pay five rupees to the girl's father. The women
add twenty-five seeds and send back the plate again. The men then take
away fifteen, thus advancing the bride-price to fifteen rupees. The
women again add twenty-five seeds and send back the plate, and the
men again take away twenty, and returning the remaining twenty which
are taken as the sum agreed upon, in addition to the five cloths
and five rupees for the panchayat. The total amount paid averages
about Rs. 60. Wealthy men sometimes refuse this payment or exchange a
bride for a bridegroom. The dowry should be paid before the wedding,
and in default of this the bridegroom's father is made not a little
uncomfortable at that festival. Should a betrothed girl die before
marriage, the dowry does not abate and the parents of the girl have
a right to stop her burial until it is paid. But if a father shows
himself hard to please and refuses eligible offers, or if a daughter
has fallen in love, as sometimes happens, she will leave her home
quietly some morning and betake herself to the house of the man of her
choice. If her young affections have not been engaged, she may select
of her own accord a protector whose circumstances and position make
him attractive, and preferably one whose mother is dead. Occasionally a
girl will install herself in the house of a man who does not want her,
and his position then is truly pitiable. He dare not turn her out as he
would be punished by the caste for his want of gallantry, and his only
course is to vacate his own house and leave her in possession. After
a time his relations represent to her that the man she wants has gone
on a journey and will not be back for a long time, and induce her to
return to the paternal abode. But such a case is very rare.