Husbandmen

Of Husbandmen there were three classes with a strength of 218,522 (males 109,074, females 109,448 or 60.48 per cent of the Hindu population, Of these 44,191 (males 22,120, females 22,071) Were Agris; 159,336 (males 79,849,.female, 79,987) Kunbis; and 14,905 (males 7605, females 7390) Malis.

Agris.

AGRIS, literally gardeners,  chiefly found along creek banks in Alibag and Pen, are divided into Mithagris,.salt makers and tillers of salt rice land, and Dholagris, called so from beating the drum, dhol. The Dholagris eat from the Mithagris, but they do not intermarry. Among Mithagris the commonest surnames are Mhatre, Thakur, and More, and among Dholagris, Thakur, Mhatre, Kotval, and Patil. Their small size and dark colour, their love of liquor, and their belief in devs or un-Brahman gods are almost marked enough to make them rank as a local or early tribe. According to one of their stories they are the musicians of Ravan, the demon king of South India, who, in reward for good service, were settled by him in the Konkan. The late, or Aryan element, which they claim and which appears in some of their surnames, was, according to their story, introduced into the Konkan from Paithan in the Deccan, when the Deccan Was conquered by the Musalmans at the close of the thirteenth century. The men are dark and stout, with lively eyes, somewhat flat noses, round face, and black hair. They wear the top-knot, and moustache but no beard. They do not shave the head oftener than once a fortnight, and sometimes once a month. The women, though somewhat fairer, are like the men short, stout, and round faced. They speak incorrect Marathi, using several peculiar words and phrases. The establishment of schools, their contact with Brahmans and other correct speaking people, and their reading of sacred books, potnis have of late improved the Agris Marathi. Those who can read are held in much respect, and the cheapness of printed books fosters a taste for reading. They are active, intelligent, honest, hospitable, and cheerful workers, but dirty and much given to drinking and smoking. Some are makers of salt and a few are sailors, but most grew salt-land rice. No class of husbandmen in Kolaba have greater or even equal skill in salt-land tillage. Besides house work the women are always ready to help their husbands in the field, They do not move from they own villages in search of work, Their houses are generally thatched, with walls of mud or unbaked brick, and surrounded by a wattle fence. They have a cooking room and central room, one side of which is set apart for cattle, and the other kept as a sitting room. They own cows, buffaloes and oxen, but seldom have any servants. Of late several of them have taken to build better houses with tiled roofs and walls of baked brick. Their cooking vessels are generally of earth, and their water-pots of copper or brass.

They eat fish, and, when they have the opportunity, goats, sheep, wild hog, hare, deer, domestic fowls, and the iguana or ghorpad. They drink liquor, chiefly fermented palm-juice, the men often to excess, even the poorest spending from 3d. to 6d. (2-4 as.) on liquor in two or three days. The women also drink but not in the presence of the men. The liquor is chiefly country spirits distilled either from muhuda flowers or from cocoa or brab-palm juice. The recent increase in excise duties is said to have lessened the amount of drunkenness, but to have encouraged the use of European spirits which some of the Agris strengthen by adding coarse Eau-de-Cologne. In the morning they eat rice and nachani bread, and, at noon and night, rice and fish curry. The holiday fare used to be rice-flour balls, but of late they have begun to use cakes and balls of wheat flour, butter, and sugar. On marriage feasts each guest is given a couple of pulse cakes. They generally ear, from one large earthen platter round which the whole party sit. In some families the men and women cat together; in ethers the women eat after the men have done. They are habitual smokers, boys often beginning when they are four years old. Among the women smoking is confined to the middle-aged and old. On all occasions, whether mournful or merry, drinking is part of the ceremony and bargains or other matters of business are generally sealed by a draught of liquor.

Some of the women wear no bodice, but most of them wear a bodice with long sleeves that covers both the back and the bosom. They draw the end of the robe over the right shoulder and let it hang in front, sometimes tucking it into the waistband. Perhaps because they have so much wet and muddy walking, they wind the rest of the robe so tightly round the waist and thighs as to leave the greater part of the leg bare. Out of door men wear a cloth round the head, a waistcloth, and a jacket with two front pockets, in one of which they keep tobacco and leaf cigarettes, and in the other a flint, a piece of steel, and a mango stone filled with the fibre that surrounds the seed of the silk-cotton tree. In wet or cold went her both men and women draw a blanket over their heads. No change has been lately made in their dress. Most of their clothes are of plain cotton. Few have silk-bordered waistcloth's or robes and turbans with gold ends. Their boys go naked until they are five years old, after which they wear a loincloth about three inches broad and sometimes a small waistcloth, or, if their parents are well-to-do, a coat waistcloth and cap. After five, until she is married, a girl wears round her waist a. piece-of white or red cloth, two or three yards long, The men wear gold earrings and silver finger rings, and round the waist a stout twisted silver chain. The women gather their hair in a knob at the back of the head, and generally wind round it, a chain of soapnut rithe, and often look their hair tastefully with flowers. They wear gold ear and nose rings, and glass beads and silver chains round the neck. They wear silver rings round their arms and wrists, and bangles of green or black glass. Besides these ornaments a newly married girl wears a silver waistbelt, kamarpatta. Some well-to-do women have of late taken to wearing gold ornaments in their hair, like high caste Hindus. The women and elder children help the men in the fields and salt-pans. Several of them send their boys to school, but the boys are very early made use of as cattle and crop watchers.

Among. Agris, after the birth of a child, the first ceremony is the worship of Sati on the fifth day. It is performed by women either married or widows. The next ceremonies are those connected with marriage. Boys are generally married between twelve and twenty-five, and girls between eight and fifteen. When an Agri wishes to get his son married, he asks a friend or a relation to go to some family who have a daughter likely to make a suitable match. On reaching the girl's house, the messenger says why he has come and asks the girl's father whether he is willing to give his daughter in marriage. If the father agrees, liquor is brought and drunk. A Brahman priest is asked whether the stars are propitious; and, if the reply is favourable, preparations begin. The first observance is the dej ceremony when the boy sends the girl ten mans of rice and £4 (Rs. 40) in cash. [This sum varies according to the circumstances of the parties. It is never less than £4 (Rs. 40), but sometimes rises as high as £20 (Rs. 200).] In the evening of the marriage day the boy, accompanied by men and women relations and music, goes on horseback to the girl's house. He is received by the girl's father, the priest repeats verses and the boy and the girl are married. Betelnut and leaves are handed round, and money and uncooked food are distributed among Brahmans. In the night a feast is held when rice, pulse, one or two vegetables, and pulse cakes are served. Little or none of the food is eaten, as the guests pass the whole night in drinking and often become uproarious. [Liquor is often the heaviest item a an Agri'a marriage If the guests are not satisfied with the quantity drunk, they try to get the host or one of the guests into a scrape. One accuses him of a caste offence, another supports the accusation, and all declare him guilty and fine him from 2s. to £2 (Re. 1-Rs.20] Agris allow widow marriage, and, if well-to-do, practise polygamy. Some burn and others bury the dead; but burial is more common than burning. They do not carry the body to the grave, till all near relations within seven or eight miles have come. At their funerals the cost of liquor varies from 2s. to £1 (Re. 1 - Rs. 10). A death is not considered to cause impurity. The guests not only touch the chief mourner and his family, but eat with him during the ten days of mourning. On their return from the burial the mourners all dine at the deceased's house, and others who go to condole with the mourner during the ten days of mourning do not leave it without dining. In religion they are nominally Smarts and Bhagvats, but their death and other customs show that they were once Lingayats. They worship all Hindu gods, particularly Khandoba and Bhaircba, and in their bouses have gold and silver embossed plates of their gods and goddesses.

Their priests are Palshe Brahmans whom they greatly respect. In the time of their monthly sickness women are not considered impure, and they call a Lingayat priest to perform their death ceremonies and observe a special rite, mahebin, on the second of Magh Shudh (February-March). In other respects their social and religious customs do not differ from those of Kolaba Kunbis.

Of late they have become more careful observers of the rules of the Brahmanic religion. Formerly there were no temples in small villages, but of late several temples have been raised to Maruti and Devi. They now keep religious books in their houses and read them to their wives and children, or go to hear them read and explained by Brahmans. They have taken to chant verses in their temples, accompanied by music, and perform bhajan suplahas, that is loud public prayers, which last for seven days. They make pilgrimages to Pandgarpur, Nasik, Trimbak, and Benares, and in very way, show a marked increase in their attention to religions matters.

Every Agri village has its head or patil, who is generally chosen from the oldest, wealthiest, and most intelligent families. Meetings of the Agris of one village are called jamats, and, when the people of several villages come together, the assembly is called Kashi-got or Ganga-got. For the larger meetings invitations are sent in the name of patil or of some other respectable person, and the guests are told where the meeting is to be held and the reason for holding it. When all have come, earthen jars full of liquor are placed in the middle of the company. One among them fills a small conch-like shell [The point of the shell is tipped with brass. The drinker stretches himself back, till hit head is nearly parallel with the ground generally leans his neck on a bamboo rail. The liquor-server withdrawns his thumb from the point of the shell and lets the liquor pour into the drinker's mouth, till the shell is empty or till the drinker shakes his head, as a sign that he has had enough.] with liquor, and presents it to the patil or other leading guest, and then to the rest. When all have bad a draught the discussion begins, and while the discussion lasts liquor is handed round from time to time. After a draught, some mouthfuls of parched gram or peas are eaten. In this way as much as £2 (Rs. 20) worth of liquor is drunk. The accused, if found guilty, is generally fired from 2s. to £10 (Re. 1- Rs. 100). If he refuses to pay, he is put out of caste. The authority of caste has in no way declined. The Agris are a prosperous class. They have begun to take Government wood and ferry contracts. Several of them send their boys to school, and during the last ten or fifteen years they have risen steadily.

Kunbis.

KUNBIS are found over the whole district. They are considered pure shudras sprung from the feet of Brahma. They are dark and slightly made and speak Marathi. Most of them are husbandmen, and, as a class, are hardworking, orderly, contented, hospitable, and well-behaved. Their women are good managers and their houses are clean. Besides as husbandmen some serve as labourers, and others as household servants, messengers, and soldiers. Their women work in the fields or as labourers. They live in thatched square houses and own cattle. They eat rice, nachni, vari, pulse, fish, mutton, and fowls, and drink country liquor. In-doors the men wear a loincloth, and the women a robe and bodice. Out of doors the women's dress is the same as in-doors, but the men wear a waistcloth and blanket, and on great occasions a turban. They rise at five or six in the morning and go to bed at nine or ten at night. They breakfast at or before seven in the morning, dine at twelve, and sup at eight or nine at night. In the rainy season they sow the rice in beds and afterwards plant out the seedlings in ready ploughed fields. While the plants are growing the chief field work is weeding. In the fair season, after harvest and the thrashing are over, they gather brushwood to burn on their fields, mend the rice dams, get their took ready, fence and thatch their houses, and store fuel.

Among Kolaba Kunbis, when a child is born, the midwife beats a metal plate, tat, and the father runs to the nearest Brahman astrologer who tells him what name to give his child. Meanwhile the midwife. cuts the navel cord, and rubs both the child and the mother with turmeric and oil, bathes them in water that has been boiled and allowed to cool, and swathes the child in cloth bandages. A piece of cloth soaked in milk is put into the child's month, and it is laid beside its mother on the cot under which an iron or billhook is had to keep off evil spirits. The mother is fed on fine rice, butter, pepper, chicken soup, and warm water, but no salt. Elderly women drop in to ask how she is. If the child is a boy, they congratulate the mother; if it is a girl, they say the first daughter is bread and butter, pahili beti tup roti. If the child's aunt is present at the time of the delivery, she cowdungs the threshold of the room, places a packet of betelnut and leaves near it, and says, looking towards the child, 'This child is to to my son's wife.' In the evening the mother is again bathed, nim. juice is given her to drink, and, as in the morning, she is fed with rice, butter, pepper, and hot water. A lamp is kept burning during the night, and next morning, after rubbing them with turmeric and oil, both mother and child are bathed, the mother fumigated with carraway or til need and the child given a dose of castor oil. Then, after taking some nim juice, the mother has a meal of rice, butter, pepper, and some hot water to drink. At noon women neighbours and relations begin to drop in. As each woman comes she touches the soles of her feet, as it picking some dust off them, waves it round the child, and blows the dust partly into the air and partly on the ground. Then cracking the finger joints of both her hands, she takes her seat, and is given turmeric and red powder. On the third and the fourth days, nothing particular is done except that the mother is bathed in hot water. On the morning of the fifth day, a cocoanut, five pieces of cocoa kernel, five dry dates, five grains of pepper, dry ginger, poppy, cardamoms, cloves, nutmeg, betelnut and leave.-, catechu, scented and red powder, tooth powder, a coloured cord with a small parcel of red and scented powder, frankincense, and a small copper or brass image of Satvai are brought. Dishes of mutton and rice-flour balls are cooked, and relatives and friends are asked to a feast. The women guests bring with them, on a brass plate, about half a pound of rice, betelnut and leaves, and sometimes a cocoanut, and, placing the plate before the goddess, bow before her. Then the child's grandmother, or some other elderly woman, places a grind-stone in the lying-in room, and, on the grind-stone, sets a rice-flour image two or three inches long in form like a woman. Then she sprinkles red powder on the image, burns frankincense, offers fruit and cooked food, and, wrapping the child in a cloth, lays it before the goddess and prays her to accept the offerings, be kind to the child, and overlook any shortcoming in the worship. The mother then comes forward, bows before the image, and eats of all the dishes. The other women bow before the goddess, and, after eating, return to their homes.

When the women have gone, the men begin to drop in, and as they come, are seated on blankets and dinner is served. Alter dinner a pipe of tobacco is handed round, first to the patil, then to the olders, and last of all to the rest, except to the young boys who have to go out if they want to smoke Singing, smoking, and drinking go on till next morning when all go to their homes. Next day the mother and child are rubbed with cocoanut oil and bathed in warm water, and she goes back to her special dish of rice, butter pepper, and hot water. Then five unmarried girls are rubbed with red powder and turmeric, and their laps filled with wet piece of cocoanut, betelnut and leaves, and small balls of powdered ginger mixed with molasses. After the mother has prosnated herself five times before the girls, dinner is given to one or two women neighbours.

On the morning of the eighth day the mother and boy are bathed, and, after eating her usual special food, she is given betel-leaves and nuts to chew, and a dish of live coals is placed under her cot. Cocoa-kernel and dates are pounded together and mixed with molasses, and a little is given to the mother and the rest distributed among the neighbours. On the ninth day the mother is bathed with hot water. On the tenth day two or three women come and wash all the clothes and bedding, and in return are given breakfast. All the house walls and floors are fresh plastered with cowdung, and the five women are sprinkled with cow's urine. Then with the house-people they feast on bread, white onions, chatni, chillies, and a dish of shepu, Pimpinella anisum.

On the eleventh day preparations are made for the twelfth-day ceremony. Articles are laid in and the Brahman priest and guests are invited. On the morning of the-twelfth day the women of the house bathe the mother, and again purify the walls and floor of the house with a plaster of cowdung. They then make some cakes and cook dishes of rice, vegetables, and pulse. A goat is killed and its blood is gathered in a metal plate and mixed with spices and boiling water. This dish is called rakti. The bones and flesh are cooked in two separate pots, and the kilinq or liver, in the third- A girl goes to tell the neighbours that the feast is ready, and when a few women have come, the mother goes along with them to a spot outside the village and makes offerings to Satvai. On their return a bangle-seller puts green bangles round the mother's and black bangles round the midwife's wrists. Men guests have by this time begun to drop in, and, as they come, are seated on blankets spread on the veranda. The Brahman priest next arrives with his almanac, and he too takes his seat on the veranda. The women of the house tell the Brahman the day and hour at which the child was born, and he, spreading his almanac before him and counting his fingers, gives the child a name and tells his fortune. The child is dressed in a new frock and cap, soot is rubbed on his cheeks and eyelids, and he is set on his mother's lap, who sits on a low wooden stool, pat, facing the east. The priest is given about a pound of rice and split pulse, a little molasses, and betelnut and leaves. Then, from the roof of the sitting room, a bamboo cradle is hung and worshipped, turmeric and red powder are thrown over it, cooked food is offered, and a blanket spread in it, with some wet gram and betelnut and leaves in the corners, and a string tied in the middle. Then the mother sits near the cradle, and each of the women neighbours gives her red powder and turmeric, and generally presents the child with a frock, a cap, and a cocoanut. Then the child is dressed and put into the cradle, and as the women rock the cradle, they sing songs. The mother, lifting the child and turning it thrice round the cradle, says 'Take Harpal and give Gopal, take Govind and give Krishna, take Mahadev and give Ram, and take Bharat and give Shatrughna. The child is then laid in the cradle, and one of the women puts her mouth close to the child's ear and says, ' Take a handful of cooked pulse and come and amuse our Somaji patil. [The Marathi runs, 'Muth muth ghagrya ghya ,ani amchya Somaji Patlas khelvayas ya .] Then the mother's lap is filled with cocoanut, rice, glass beads, turmeric, pieces of cocoa-kernel and betelnut, and she is taken to bow to the family gods. A piece of thread is tied round the child's loins, and the guests are feasted. After they have done, they are given betelnut and leaves, wet pulse, and rice cakes. When the guests begin to leave, an old man and woman seat themselves in the doorway and refuse to let the women pass, till they mention their husband's name-[A Hindu wife never mentions her husband's name.] After some coquetting the boldest of the women repeats a couplet in which her husband's name occurs, when the rest, one by one, follow her lead.

On the thirteenth day the young mother begins to go about the house, washing, cooking, and cleaning. Except on the new moon and on the fifth day after the now moon, the child is bathed every other day as usual, care being taken that none of the coal is removed while the water is being heated, as this is believed to give the child itch. When two months old, to guard against liver disease, the mother gives the child tooth-powder mixed with cow's milk and liquor, draws a circle round its navel with black nut, and sprinkles ashes over it, while a sorcerer mutters a charm. To increase her supply of milk, the mother is given rice, butter, and split peas. When the child is three months old, to help it to hold up its head, the mother eats a cooked goat's head, and round the child's neck is hung a black thread with two black nuts, bajar batus, and an image of the goddess Satvai. To ward off the evil eye a black thread is tied round the child's waist, and copper rings are put on its feet, and the eyelids of both the child and the mother are touched with soot In the same month the mother and child, accompanied by female relations, go to visit the shrine of the goddess Satvai, when betelnut and loaves, turmeric, tooth-powder, soot, rice, dry cocoa-kernel and frankincense, and sometimes a goat, two cocoanuts, a robe and bodice are offered to the goddess and the goat is killed before her. Except the head and legs, khurmundi, which are placed behind the goddess, the body of the goat is taken away, cooked, presented to the goddess and eaten. The ministrant or pujari tells the goddess the reason of the offering, and, taking a pinch of ashes, rubs them over the brow of the child and its mother. After feasting on the flesh of the goat, and other dishes, they buy back the goat's head and legs from the ministrant at from 1½ d. to 6d. (1-4 as.) and go home. All the religious parts of this ceremony are performed by the temple priest, generally a Maratha or a Gurav by caste. The services of a Brahman are not required.

On reaching home the mother and child stand at the house-door, and a woman, coming from the house, waves a piece of bread and some water round them, and pours water over the mother's feet. When the child is four or five months old, it is bathed outside of the house, and when it is about a year old and begins to walk, its head is shaved, except a tuft on the crown, and the hair offered to the goddess Satvai. The barber gets a present of a handkerchief and sometimes a cap or a pair of scissors, and the mother gives a feast to a party of married women. Six months later, when the child begins to eat, the mother passes an old live fish three or four times round the child's face to stop the flow of saliva. When four years old the child begins to run about the streets and lanes, spins tops, and plays at marbles, bat and ball, and hide and seek. After about seven the child begins to be of use to his parents, taking the cattle to graze and bringing them homo in the evening. When ten years old he is branded on the hand as a cowherd. A few pellets of hare's dung are brought from a hill, pounded and set in four or five places about the boy's left wrist and burnt. The older men hold the child so as to keep him quiet, and when he can no longer bear the pain, the burning pellets are knocked off and the skin rubbed.

At sixteen the parents of the boy, if well-to-do, think of marrying him, or, as they say,' Tying a clog round his neck. The girl chosen for his wife is usually from eight to twelve years old. Among Kunbis it is not necessary that a girl should be married before she reaches womanhood, and among men though, if well-to-do, they may be married at sixteen, it often happens that in large or poor families the younger sons remain unmarried till well on in life. Some keep Kunbi, Marathi, Akarmashi or Sinde mistresses, and, after the people have been told, the child is admitted into caste. It is not uncommon for old men of forty or fifty and upwards to marry children of eight or ten. Before a marriage can be fixed, the parties must ascertain that the boy and girl are not of the same clan, or kul. They may bear the same surname, Vat the crest, or devak, must be different. After talking the matter over with his wife and fixing on some girl, the boy's father goes to a Brahman and asks him when he should set out to make his offer to the girl's parents. The Brahman generally names the next day as the lucky time, and the boy's father, taking some bread and vegetables in a piece of cloth, starts with a relation or two to the girl's house. When they reach the house he makes over the bundle to the women of the house. The guests are seated and asked to smoke a pipe of tobacco. In the evening when the men came home they talk the matter over, and, after some pressure, the girl's father agrees to give his daughter, and as a sign of agreement, the two fathers sup from the same pluto. Next morning the boy's father goes to the Brahman and tells him the boy's and girl's names, and fixes the next day for the sweet-rice feast, gulbhat. He sends word to the girl's father and goes to his own house. Immediately after the girl's father invites the boy's father to a feast at his house. At the same time they settle what presents each is to make to the other's child; that the boy's father should not bring more than five or six men to dine with him during marriage dinners; that the girl's father should be paid fifteen rupees as dowry, dej, a month before the marriage day; and, lastly that some of the women of his family should be present when the wedding clothes are bought.

Next day some of the relations, taking earrings, a robe and bodice, a piece of cocoa-kernel, dates, and betelnut and leaves, go to the girl's house and present them to the girl, placing the betel nut and leaves before the household gods. When the guests are seated, one of them asks the girl's father why the dinner is given. To this one of the leading guests, perhaps the patil, answers that the dinner is given because the host has given his daughter to So and So's son. Then, after the girl's father has been asked and answered that what the patil says is true, the boy's father is asked what ornaments he has agreed to give and he names them. When these and other points are thus openly settled they feast. Before leaving, the boy's father asks the girl's father to dine the next day at his house. When the girl's father and his relations arrive, the boy, dressed in his best, is presented to them. His grandmother is given a bodice, and betelnut and leaves are set before the household gods. Dinner is served and the marriage presents are named. When dinner is over the guests leave. From this time marriage preparations are pressed on. The boy's father pays the dowry in presence of two or-three witnesses, and the next day both men and women go to the market to buy clothes. When the priest fixes a lucky evening for the wedding, word is sent to the girl's parents; and the boy's father sends invitations to relations and friends and castefellows; neighbour are asked to help in making a booth. Except that an altar is built at the girl's house, the preparations at both the houses are the same. Musicians are called, and early in the morning of the wedding day, at the girl's house, the household hand-mill is cleaned and turmeric ground and made into fine powder. A piece of cloth is dipped in the turmeric and a few grains of rice, betelnut, and a turmeric root are put in the cloth and tied to the neck of the mill. Then a low wooden stool is set in the doorway, and round it five metal water-pots are arranged, and thread wound round them five times. A betelnut and a few grains of rice are placed in the girl's hands, and a metal water-pot filled with cold water is placed in the bridesmaid's hands, and the two go round the pots five times. The bridesmaid, or karavli, who walks behind the girl, pours a little water on a low wooden stool, and the girl, five times over, drops a few grains of rice on the water, and setting first her right foot and then her left on the stool, sits on it. Her head is then rubbed with oil and she is bathed. While this goes on the girl bathes a number of little children who stand in front of her, and the musicians play from time to time. When all the children have been bathed, the girl's mother comes forward, and sitting close to her daughter, is bathed. She is then presented with a robe and bodice, her arms are rubbed with turmeric, red powder is applied to her brow and a cocoanut and some rice are placed in her lap. The girl is dressed in a robe and green bodice, and her clothes are stained with turmeric, her brow daubed with red powder and rice, her chooks and the spot between the eyebrows marked with soot, and her lap filled with a cocoanut, five dry cocoa-kernels, five betelnuts, five turmeric roots, and some grains of wheat. After this a chaplet either of flowers or tinsel is tied round her brow and her head is covered with a blanket. Without letting the thread that encircles them touch the girl, four women stand with the water-pots in their hands and a fifth loosens one end of the thread and ties it to a post on one side of the doorway.

By this time, at the boy's house, the priest has come and the worship of a winnowing fan and Ganesh is performed, and the priest leaves with a present. A near relation of the boy, taking some turmeric and accompanied by music, goes to the girl's house, and, making over the turmeric to the people of the house, returns. Then the boy is seated on a low wooden stool like the girl, bathed and dressed. His brow is daubed with red powder and over it a few grains of rice are stuck. A tinsel chaplet is tied to his brow. The guests are now feasted and the boy is seated on a horse or in bullock cart, or on a man's shoulder, or he walks accompanied by men and women relations and friends with music to the boy's village temple, and from the temple, with about twice as many friends as he had promised to bring, goes to the boundary of the girl's village On reaching the boundary a lemon is waved round the boy's head and thrown away. One of the company, going to the girl's house, tells her father that the boy is come. Then the girl's near relations go to meet him, and the girl's brother and uncles refuse to let him pass the boundary. After a while they give in, betelnut and leaves are handed round, they embrace, and the boy and his party enter the village. They first go to the village temple and then, after bowing before the god, the bridegroom is led to the door of the girl's marriage hall. Here he is bathed and dressed in new clothes and seated near the outer wall of the house. The girl, who is richly dressed, has her lap filled with a handful of wheat and a cocoanut, and is seated on the boy's left. They are then made to stand facing each other, and a cloth is held between them. Behind the girl stands her sister with a lighted lamp in her hand, and behind the boy his brother with a lemon stuck on the point of a dagger. The Brahman repeats verses, mangalashtaks, the guests throw rice over the couple, and, at the end of the verses, the Brahman claps his hands, the musicians play, and the marriage is over. The priest is presented with a cocoanut, rice, and money, and retires. The boy and the girl are seated on the altar close to each other, the girl to the boy's left. The guests are feasted and they either stay over the night or go home. On the fourth day the procession goes back to the boy's house.

Kunbis allow their widows to marry. Polygamy is allowed and practised by these who have no family by the first wife, who have only daughters, or who need servants for field work. Most Kunbis have two wives, and from twenty to twenty-five per cent have more than two.

When she comes of age, a girl is seated in a room by herself for three days. On the fourth day she is bathed and word is sent to her parents, and in her lap are laid some grains of wheat and a betelnut. Relations are feasted and in the evening the girl is sent to sleep in a room by herself, and one of the boy's female relations shuts him into his wife's room.

When a Kunbi is on the point of death his son lays his father's head on his right knee, and drops water into his mouth, and, when he breathes his last, the women of the house weep. A small piece of gold is laid in the mouth, and, after an hour or two, friends and neighbours come. One of them goes to buy an earthen pot, cloth and bamboos, and if the deceased belongs to a family of Kunbis who burn their dead, [Among Kunbis the rich burn and the poor bury.] the village Mhar accompanies the funeral party to the burning ground. A neighbour cooks a handful of rice which one of the mourners carries with him to the burning ground. The corpse is brought out of the house and laid on the house steps with its feet towards the roadside. It is rubbed with turmeric and warm water is poured over it. It is then laid on the bier and covered from head to foot with a sheet. On the sheet is sprinkled red and scented powder and sweet basil leaves, and the chief mourner is given a piece of cloth to tie across his shoulder and chest. Then, holding an earthen jar with some live coal in his right hand, the chief mourner starts, and four near relations, lifting the bier, follow; when near the burning ground the foremost bearer touches a stone with the too of his right foot and orders the mourners behind to pick it up as the jivkhada or stone of life. This stone is considered the type of the dead man and is handed over to the chief mourner. At the same time the corpse-bearers change places, those in front coming behind and those behind going in front. On reaching the pool near the burning ground, the body is lowered and the pile made ready, any ornament that there is on the dead man's body being placed on the pile. The chief mourner bathes and brings a potful of water into which he drops some cocoanut milk. The deceased's sister's son puts a few drops of the water into the dead man's mouth, then the other mourners drop in a little, the chief mourner coming last. The chief mourner them lights the pile and beats his mouth with the open palm of his right hand. He next takes the water-pot, and, boring holes in it, walks three times round the pyre, when he dashes the pot on the ground and again beats his mouth. Then the kernel of the cocoanut is crushed and mixed with earth and each of the mourners, taking a piece, stands round and throws it on the pyre. Then they bathe, and, on their way home, take a draught of liquor and go back to the mourner's house. On reaching his house the chief mourner lays the stone of life, jivkhada, in some safe place in the roof where it remains for ten days. At the same time a lighted lamp is set in the house and all the mourners throw grains of rice over the lamp, and, except such as have come from long distances, return to their homes. Mean while neighbours come with bread, cooked rice, and vegetables, and serve them to the mourner, his family, and guests. In the evening, taking a shell and filling it with milk, the mourners sit watching whether ants or other insects come to drink. If any insect drinks they believe that it is the spirit of the dead man who come to show his friends that he has died contented. If no insect comes, or if an insect comes near and draws back, it is thought that the spirit, has some unfulfilled wish or care that keeps it from leaving the earth. They speak to it, calling upon it to drink quietly and go to heaven, and promising that they will see that all its wishes are carried out. This is repeated on two days.

On the third day the chief mourner and some other relations go to the burning ground and bathe, and offer rice balls to the dead. Then they bow to the offering and ask crows to come and eat. If the crows come and eat, it is believed that the soul is happy and has entered its new birth. If the crows refuse to eat, the mourners call on the dead to tell why he is unhappy and assure him that he has nothing to fear, and that they will take care of his family. If they do not succeed in getting the crows to eat, a figure of a crow is made, and, with it, the chief mourner touches the offering and the party go home. For ten days the house is in mourning. On the eleventh the house is cowdunged, and, on the twelfth and thirteenth, lice balls are offered and friends and relations feasted. A yearly feast is held on the death day when rice balls are offered to the crows.

Kunbis worship the ordinary Hindu gods. Bat the chief object of their worship are local or demon-gods whose displeasure they greatly fear and take every care to avoid They hold in high respect the Brahmans who are their priests. They keep all Hindu fasts and feasts. Social disputes are settled at meetings of the men of the caste, whose authority has not of late grown weaker.

Malis.

MALIS are returned as numbering 14,995 souls and as found over the whole district. Besides by the name of Malis, they are known as Pachkalshis, Sutars, and Marathas. They speak Marathi, are hardworking contented and well-behaved, and earn their living as husbandmen, gardeners, carpenters, and day labourers, and a few as writers. About fifty Malis are village headmen, but most are cultivators. They live in one-stoned houses with mud or brick walls and with thatched or tiled roofs. They have cattle and a few have servants. They live on rice, rice bread, vegetables, and fish. Their holiday dinners consist of pulse-bread, mutton, fowls, and liquor. They dress like Brahmans, Prabhus, or Kunbis, wearing a loincloth, a coarse blanket, and-a cap or a piece of cloth rolled round the head. On festive occasions they dress in silk-bordered waistcloths, turban, and coat, and the women in the full Maratha robe and bodice. The wives of husbandmen and gardeners help their husbands by selling vegetables, butter, and milk. They worship all the Hindu gods and their priests are ordinary Brahmans. They wear the sacred thread, and do not forbid widow marriage. They send their boys to school and are well-to-do.

Craftsmen.

Of Craftsmen there were twenty-two classes with a strength of 22,953 (males 11,699, females 11,254) or 6.35 per cent of the Hindu population. Of these 1466 (males 699, females 767) were Bangad Kasars; 361 (males 189, females 172) Beldars 1375 (735 males, 640 females) Buruds; 6248 (males 3215, females 3033) Chambhars; 18 (males 6, females 12) Jingars; 100 (all males) Kachhis; 830 (males 389, females 441) Kataris; 98 (males 61, females 37) Khatris; 27 (males 13, females 14) Koshtis; 3732 (males 1826, females 1906) Kumbhars; 328 (males 171, females 157) Lohars; 28 (males 19, females 9) Otaris; 11 (males 4, females 7) Panchals; 48 (males 23, females 25) Patharvats 6 (males 2, females 4) Rangaris; 43 (males 18, females 25) Raulis; 475 (males 242, females 233) Salis; 12 (males 9, females 8) Sangars: 1637 (males 856, females 781) Shimpis; 5229 (males 2689, females 2540) Sonars; 37 (males 15,females 22) Tambats; and 844 (males 418, females 426) Telis.

BANGAD KASARS are found over the whole district. They are dark, tall, and thin. They speak Marathi. They make lac bracelets and help women in putting on lac and glass bracelets. They do not keep any animals. They eat rice and rice bread and vegetables, but neither fish nor flesh, and they never drink liquor. Their holiday dishes are rice balls and wheat cakes, costing from 1s. to 1s. 6d. (8-12 as.) a head. On the fifth day after a birth the goddess Satvai is worshipped, and a feast is given to relations and friends. On the twelfth day the child is laid in the cradle and named. Girls are married between eight and ten, and boys between fifteen and twenty. They do not wear the sacred thread, and they allow widows to marry. They worship the ordinary Hindu gods, but their chief deities are Vithoba, Khandoba, Chandoba, and Chinai, Their priests are Brahmans, and their fasts and feasts are like those of high caste Hindus. Social disputes are settled at meetings of the men of the caste. Caste authority has not of late grown less. They send their boys to school and are a steady and prosperous class.

BELDARS or stone-masons are returned as found in Pen and Alibag. They are a well employed class. BURUDS or basket-makers' are returned as numbering 1375 souls and as found over the whole district. They are divided into Sankpals, Jats, Parvaris, and Tailangs. They are hardworking orderly people, and live by making bamboo baskets, mats, fans, and blinds, the women doing as much work as the men. They hold a very low position, Chambhara refusing to mend their shoes. As a class they are rather poor, though able to keep their families in fair comfort. They do not send their boys to school, neither do they take to new pursuits. CHAMBHARS are returned as found over the whole district, but especially in Mangaon and Mahad. They are leather-dressers and shoe and sandal makers. Very little leather is prepared in the district, almost all of it comes from Bombay and Poona. As a class Chambhars are fairly off. JINGARS or saddle-makers are returned as found in Pen, Roha, Mangaon, and Mahad. The decrease in the number of horse owners and the greater use of European harness, have greatly reduced the demand for native saddles. The Jingars have had to take to fresh employments, and now earn their living as coppersmiths, blacksmiths, bookbinders, umbrella menders, and painters. As a class they are badly off, scarcely any of them being in easy circumstances. KACHHIS are returned as numbering 100 souls and as found in Mangaon only. They are hardworking, sober, and orderly. Most of them are fruit-sellers. They eat fish and flesh and drink liquor. They worship the ordinary Hindu gods, and their priests are ordinary Brahmans, They have no headmen and settle social disputes at meetings of the men of the caste. They send their boys to school and are in easy circumstances. KATARIS or wood turners are returned as found only in Pen. None of them have taken to new employments, but they are a steady prosperous people. KHATRIS are found only in Alibag. They claim to be of Kshatriya descent and state that they were originally settled in Chaul, as silk weavers, but left it and went to Revdanda on account of a pestilence. Most of them have since come to Alibag. The men are short and spare, fair, and small-eyed. Their women are fair and short. They speak Marathi. They live in houses with walls of mud or brick and roofs of tile. They eat fish and flesh, and drink liquor. Both men and women dress like Maratha Brahmans. They were formerly silk weavers and dyers, and dealers in gold, silver, and silk lace. Every family has still one or two looms in working order, but they do not chiefly depend on weaving for their living. About twenty years ago, as they found silk weaving a declining trade, the Khatris took to pawn broking. The people who deal with them are generally families of some substance and the articles pledged are almost always redeemed. When they are not redeemed they are sold by the Khatris. They worship the ordinary Hindu gods, and their favourite household goddesses are Ashapuri, Mahalakshmi and Blsavani, and the god Khandoba. Their priests are Brahmans whom they treat with respect. Social disputes are settled by their headman, or mukadam, with the help of the men of the caste. Though not so gainful as it was twenty-five years ago, this pawnbroking is a thriving business, and the Khatris, as a class, are well-to-do and free from debt. They send their boys to school, and, on the whole, are prosperous and rising. KOSHTIS are found in Pen, Mangaon, and Mahad. They are the same as Salis, and, in their handlooms, weave both cotton and silk. Like the Salis they are depressed by the competition of European and Bombay machine-made goods. KUMBHARS or potters are returned as found over the whole district. They take to no new calling, and, on the whole, are rather a complaining and declining caste. LOHARS or blacksmiths are found in all large villages. They are steady and well employed, but suffer considerably from the competition of European hardware. OTARIS are returned as numbering twenty-eight souls and as found in Mahad only. PANCHALS are returned as numbering eleven souls and as found in Alibag only. They wear the sacred thread, do not eat fish or flesh, and drink no liquor. They do not eat from the hands of Brahmans. As a class they are poor. PATHARVATS are returned as numbering forty-eight souls and as found over the whole district. They speak Marathi and make hand-mills, grind-stones, and rolling pins, and also work as stonemasons and carvers. Their houses are like those of Kunbis. The men wear a waistcloth, jacket, and turban, and the women the Maratha robe and bodice. They are a poor people. RANGARIS are returned as numbering six and as found in Roha and Pen. RAULIS are returned as numbering forty-three and as found in Pen only. They are a dark people and look like low-caste Hindus. They weave cot and trouser tape, and, such as have turned Gosavis, beg, weaving as they move from door to door. They dress like Kunbis, and wear brass or horn rings in their ears. Their customs are like those of Kunbis. As a class they are poor. SALIS or weavers are returned as found in Alibag and Mangaon. Their houses, which in almost all oases are their own property, are better than those of most craftsmen except goldsmiths, and inside and about the doors, they are neat and clean. They are ranged along the roadside, seldom with any yard or enclosure, and generally raised on a plinth from four to six feet above the level of the road. The walls are of unburnt brick and the roofs tiled. Most of them have but one storey and contain three rooms. The entrance room is used as a workshop and has generally two or three handlooms; the second room has a store of silk goods and some tools; the third room is the dining room, in a corner of which the cooking is done. Behind the dining room is a back terrace, padvi, where the children have their early rice and butter, the women comb their hair, and in the rainy season the bathing water is warmed. A few houses have a separate sleeping room behind the dining room. As a rule the family sleeps on the floor, either in the working or dining room. Except low wooden stools or benches for the use of customers, and shelves and cupboards where they store silk and keep their stock of goods, the house is without furniture. There are no bedsteads and no chairs or tables. Except some brass and iron ladles, the cooking pots are of copper and worth from £5 to £8 (Rs. 50 -Rs. 80). The drinking vessels are of brass and worth from £1 to £1 10s. (Rs. 10 - Rs. 15). Some houses have a private well. Including the house, the property of a weaver's family varies in value from £60 to £160 (Rs. 600-Rs. 1600). Their every day food is rice, pulse, and vegetables, and, among the well-to-do, milk and clarified butter. They drink fermented palm-juice, take opium and bhang, and use tobacco both for smoking and as snuff. The men work from seven to twelve, when they dine and rest for an hour or so, and again go on till dark, when they visit the temple, and, coming back, sup about eight and soon after go to bed. They are quiet and independent. They suffer from the competition of European and Chinese goods. SANGARS are returned as numbering twelve and as found in Mangaon and Malad. They weave and sell blankets. At home the men wear a loincloth and out of doors a waistcloth, Jacket, and turban. Their women wear the ordinary Maratha robe and bodice. Both men and women weave blankets, and the men go about hawking them. They marry their girls whenever they can afford to do so, and bury their dead. They allow widow marriage. They have images of Khandoba, Bhairoba, and Mhasoba in their houses, worship the ordinary Hindu gods and employ both Brahmans and Jangams as priests. They keep the usual fasts and feasts, and settle social disputes at a meeting of. the men of the caste. They send their boys to school and are poor. SHIMPIS are returned as numbering 1637 and as found over the whole district. They are divided into Namdevs [The Namdevs are called from the saint Namdev who lived about the middle of the thirteenth century.] and Konkanis, who eat together but do not intermarry. They are dark, clean, orderly, sober and hardworking, and sew and trade in clothes. They sew the whole day and often till a late hear in the evening. Their women and children help them. They live in one-storied mud and built houses, with a front veranda where both men and women sit sewing. They eat fish and flesh and drink liquor. The men wear a waist cloth, coat, and Brahman turban, and the women the ordinary Maratha robe and bodice. Their family gods are Khandoba, Bhairoba, and the goddesses Ekvira and Bhavani of Kankeshvar. Their priests are Brahmans. The use of sewing machines has much reduced the demand for their work. They send their boys to school.

SONARS are returned as numbering 5229 and as found over the whole district. They are of middle height and rather slenderly made, brownish in colour, and have round well-featured faces. They speak Marathi. They are clean and patient, but unscrupulous and crafty. They make gold and silver ornaments. They cannot do fine work of set gems. They earn from 3d, to 2s, (annas 2-Re. l) a day. They generally live in one-storied mud and brick built houses, with tiled or thatched roofs, and a veranda outside for a shop. They eat fish and flesh and drink liquor. Their daily food consists of rice, pulse, vegetables, and fish, and their dress is like that of the Maratha Brahmans. On the fifth day after the birth of a child they worship the goddess Panchvi, and name the child on the twelfth day. They gird a boy with the sacred thread at the age of ten, and marry their boys between fifteen and twenty. Girls are married between nine and ten. They formerly allowed widow marriages. They claim to be Brahmans, calling themselves Daivadnya Brahmans, and asserting that they have sprung from God's mouth, mukhvasi and are higher than the Chitpavans or any other Brahmans. They generally employ men of their own caste as priests, but, on great occasions, seek the help of Konkanasth or Deshasth priests. They decide their social disputes at meetings of the men of the caste. They send their boys to school, and, on the whole, are well-to-do. TAMBATS or coppersmiths are returned as found in Mahad, Pen, and Alibag. They are divided into Mumbaikars, Deecanis, and Konkanis, who neither eat together nor intermarry. They eat fish and flesh and drink liquor. They wear the sacred thread and a silk waistcloth while dining. Their chief object of worship is the goddess Kalika. Though they have lost much of their former trade and income from the competition of European copper and brass sheets, they are on the whole a well-to-do class. TELIS or oilmen are returned as found in Alibag, Mangaon, and Mahad. They are said to have come from the Deccan, but they have no tradition as to the date or the cause of their coming. Though they are at present somewhat depressed, by the competition of kerosine oil, they are an active pushing people, and seem likely to succeed in other employments.