Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 2 of 7Thurston, Edgar
History
Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 2 of 7
Thurston, Edgar
Caste -- India, South; Ethnology -- India, South; India, South -- Social life and customs; Tribes -- India, South
Chitra Ghasi.--The Chitra Ghasis, for the following note on whom I
am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao, are a class of artisans, whose
name, meaning Ghasis who make artistic things, bears reference to
their occupation. They are employed in the manufacture of brass and
bell-metal jewelry, such as is largely worn by the tribes inhabiting
the Jeypore Agency tracts, and are generally found attached to Kond
and Savara villages. They are a polluting class, and their dwellings
are consequently situated at some distance from the huts of the
villagers. Their language is a corrupt form of Oriya.
Girls are usually married after puberty. A man can claim his paternal
aunt's daughter in marriage. When such a marriage is contemplated,
his parents take a little rice and a pot of liquor to the home of
the paternal aunt. If they are accepted, it is taken as a sign
that the match is agreed to, and the jholla tonka (bride-price)
of twelve rupees is paid. After some time has elapsed, the bride is
conducted to the home of her future husband, and the marriage is there
celebrated. A younger brother may marry the widow of an elder brother,
and, if such a woman contracts a marriage with some other man, her
second husband has to give a cow to the younger brother who has been
passed over. The dead are burnt, and death pollution is observed
for three days, during which the caste occupation is not carried
on. On the third day, the ashes are collected together, and a fowl
is killed. The ashes are then buried, or thrown into running water.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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