[Marriage.] 7. Chamârs show an increasing tendency to the adoption of infant marriage. The usual age to the east of the Province is between four and eight, and it is not uncommon in Ballia for little girls of three to be married. It is very seldom that a girl remains unmarried after the age of eight. There are no regular marriage brokers employed; the negotiations are conducted by a member of the family who is known as agua. As among other Hindu castes marriage is looked upon as a sacrament, and not based on contract. It is complete and binding once the prescribed ceremonies are gone through, and its validity does not depend on the express or implied consent of the parties. But no marriage is carried out without the consent of all the relations, even those who are distant, and the descent and family connections of both bride and bridegroom are carefully enquired into before the engagement is made. In Mirzapur the bride-price payable to her relations is two rupees and five sers of coarse sugar. In Ballia they deny that there is a bride-price; but it is admitted that, if the parents of the bride are very poor, the father of the bridegroom may give as much as four rupees to defray the marriage expenses. As has been said, both bride and bridegroom are carefully examined as to whether they are free from any physical defect, and, as a general rule, if such be subsequently ascertained, it would not be a valid ground for annulling the marriage. If the husband become a lunatic after marriage, the wife in Ballia would not be entitled to leave him, provided his relations continued to support her; and in the same way the husband of a mad wife is held bound to support her. Impotence or such mutilation as renders sexual intercourse impossible is valid grounds for dissolving the marriage. But, as a matter of fact, impotency, proved to the satisfaction of the council, is the only valid reason for a wife abandoning her husband. Divorce in the strict sense of the term is unknown; but a husband may turn his wife out of the house for proved infidelity, while she cannot leave him even if he be unfaithful to her, provided he gives her food and clothes. A woman, whose expulsion has been recognised by the council, can remarry by the sagâi or karâo form. The offspring of such informal marriages rank equally for purposes of inheritance with those of regularly-married virgin brides. As regards the offspring of illicit connections they follow the caste and tribe of the father unless the mother was a Musalmân, or of some tribe lower than a Chamâr in the social scale. Such people are known by the name of Suratwâl or Suratwâla. When a Chamâr takes a woman from a caste superior to his own, their children will be recognised as members of the caste; but if she be inferior to him, their children are considered illegitimate, and will not inherit. This is always the case when the woman is a Bhangi, Dom, Dhobi, Kûnchbandhua, or Musahar.