ga Balijas.

2. Marriage.

The Balijas have two main divisions, Desa or Kota, and Peta, the Desas
or Kotas being those who claim descent from the old Balija kings,
while the Petas are the trading Balijas, and are further subdivided
into groups like the Gazulu or bangle-sellers and the Periki or
salt-sellers. The subdivisions are not strictly endogamous. Every
family has a surname, and exogamous groups or _gotras_ also exist,
but these have generally been forgotten, and marriages are regulated
by the surnames, the only prohibition being that persons of the same
surname may not intermarry. Instances of such names are: Singiri,
Gudari, Jadal, Sangnad and Dasiri. In fact the rules of exogamy
are so loose that an instance is known of an uncle having married
his niece. Marriage is usually infant, and the ceremony lasts for
five days. On the first day the bride and bridegroom are seated on
a yoke in the _pandal_ or marriage pavilion, where the relatives
and guests assemble. The bridegroom puts a pair of silver rings
on the bride's toes and ties the _mangal-sutram_ or flat circular
piece of gold round her neck. On the next three days the bridegroom
and bride are made to sit on a plank or cot face to face with each
other and to throw flowers and play together for two hours in the
mornings and evenings. On the fourth day, at dead of night, they are
seated on a cot and the jewels and gifts for the bride are presented,
and she is then formally handed over to the bridegroom's family. In
Madras Mr. Thurston [113] states that on the last day of the marriage
ceremony a mock ploughing and sowing rite is held, and during this,
the sister of the bridegroom puts a cloth over the basket containing
earth, wherein seeds are to be sown by the bridegroom, and will not
allow him to go on with the ceremony till she has extracted a promise
that his first-born daughter shall marry her son. No bride-price is
paid, and the remarriage of widows is forbidden.

3. Occupation and social status.

The Balijas bury their dead in a sitting posture. In the Central
Provinces they are usually Lingayats and especially worship Gauri,
Siva's wife. Jangams serve them as priests. They usually eat flesh
and drink liquor, but in Chanda it is stated that both these practices
are forbidden. In the Central Provinces they are mainly cultivators,
but some of them still sell bangles and salt. Several of them are in
Government service and occupy a fairly hig