Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 6 of 7Thurston, Edgar
History
Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 6 of 7
Thurston, Edgar
Caste -- India, South; Ethnology -- India, South; India, South -- Social life and customs; Tribes -- India, South
his younger brother was almost of an age to take her to wife. She had
fixed her affections on a man of another village, and made up her mind
to have him and no one else. Her village people wanted compensation
in the shape of a buffalo, and also wanted her ornaments. The men of
the other village said no, they could not give a buffalo. Well, they
should give a pig at least--no, they had no pig. Then they must give
some equivalent. They would give one rupee. That was not enough--at
least three rupees. They were trying to carry the young woman off
by force to make her marry her brother-in-law, but were induced to
accept the rupee, and have the matter settled by their respective
Bissoyis. The young woman was most obstinate, and insisted on having
her own choice, and keeping her ornaments. Her village people had no
objection to her choice, provided the usual compensation was paid.
"In one far out-of-the-way village the marriage ceremony consists
in this. The bride's father is plied with liquor two or three times;
a feast is made in the bridegroom's house, to which the bride comes
with her father; and after the feast she remains in the man's house
as his wife. They know nothing of capture. In the Kolakotta valley,
below this village, a different custom prevails. The following is
an account of a Saora marriage as given by the Gomango of one of the
Kolakotta villages, and it may be taken as representative of the purest
Saora marriage ceremony. 'I wished to marry a certain girl, and, with
my brother and his son, went to her house. I carried a pot of liquor,
and arrow, and one brass bangle for the girl's mother. Arrived at
the house, I put the liquor and the arrow on the floor. I and the
two with me drank the liquor--no one else had any. The father of the
girl said 'Why have you brought the liquor?' I said 'Because I want
your daughter.' He said 'Bring a big pot of liquor, and we will talk
about it.' I took the arrow I brought with me, and stuck it in the
thatch of the roof just above the wall, took up the empty pot, and
went home with those who came with me. Four days afterwards, with the
same two and three others of my village, I went to the girl's father's
house with a big pot of liquor. About fifteen or twenty people of
the village were present. The father said he would not give the girl,
and, saying so, he smashed the pot of liquor, and, with those of his
village, beat us so that we ran back to our village. I was glad of the
beating, as I know by it I was pretty sure of success. About ten days
afterwards, ten or twenty of my village people went with me again,
carrying five pots of liquor, which we put in the girl's father's
house. I carried an arrow, which I stuck in the thatch beside the
first one. The father and the girl's nearest male relative each took
one of the arrows I had put in the thatch, and, holding them in their
left hands, drank some of the liquor. I now felt sure of success. I
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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