_nazarana_, or pecuniary acknowledgement, perhaps only of half-a-crown on the chieftain’s birthday, or on the Rajput Saturnalia, the Holi. But all these petty causes for assimilation between the Rajput and the lawless Mer were overlooked, as well as the more powerful one which rendered his arms of no avail. Every door was hermetically sealed against him; wherever he looked he saw a foe—the magical change bewildered him; and when their Khan and his adherents were assailed while in fancied security, and cut off in a midnight attack, his self-confidence was annihilated—he saw a red-coat in every glen, and called aloud for mercy. =The Merwāra Battalion.=—A corps of these mountaineers, commanded by English officers, has since been formed, and I have no doubt may become useful.[4.26.15] Notwithstanding their lawless habits, they did not neglect agriculture and embanking, as described in the valley of Shera Nala, and a district has been formed in Merwara which in time may yield a lakh of rupees annually to the state. =Marriage Customs.=—Some of their customs are so curious, and so different from those of their lowland neighbours, that we may mention a few. Leaving their superstitions as regards omens and auguries, the most singular part of their habits, till we give a detailed sketch of the Minas hereafter, I will notice the peculiarity of their notions towards females. The Mer, following the customary law handed down from his rude ancestry, and existing long before the written law of Manu, has no objection to a widow as a wife. This contract is termed _nata_, and his civilized master levies a fine or fee of a rupee and a quarter for the licence, termed _kagli_. On such marriage the bridegroom must omit in the _maur_, or nuptial coronet, the graceful palmyra leaf, and substitute a small branch of the sacred pipal wreathed in his turban. Many of the forms are according to the common Hindu ritual. The _sat-phera_, or seven perambulations round the jars filled with grain, piled over each other—the _ganth-jora_, or uniting the garments—and the _hathleva_, or junction of hands of bride and bridegroom, are followed by the Mers. Even the northern clans, who are converts to Islam, return to their ancient habits on this occasion, and have a Brahman priest to officiate. I discovered, on inquiring into the habits of the Mers, that they are not the only race which did not refuse to wed a widow, and that both Brahmans and Rajputs have from ancient times been accustomed not to consider it derogatory [686].[4.26.16] Of the former, the sacerdotal class, the Nagda[4.26.17] Brahmans, established at this town long before the Guhilots obtained power in Mewar. Of the Rajputs, they are all of the most ancient tribes, now the allodial vassals or Bhumias of Rajputana, as the Chinana, Kharwar, Uten, Daya, names better known in the mystic page of the chronicle than now, though occasionally met with in the valleys of the Aravalli. But this practice, so little known,