2. _Functional character of the caste._
3. _Sub castes._
4. _Exogamous groups._
5. _Marriage rules. Betrothal_.
6. _The marriage-shed or pavillion._
7. _The marriage cakes_.
8. _Customs at the wedding_.
9. _Walking round the sacred post_.
10. _Other ceremonies_.
11. _Polygamy, widow-marriage and divorce_.
12. _Impurity of women_.
13. _Pregnancy rites_.
14. _Earth-eating._
15. _Customs at birth_.
16. _Treatment of mother and child_.
17. _Ceremonies after birth_.
18. _Suckling children_.
19. _Beliefs about twins_.
20. _Disposal of the dead_.
21. _Funeral rites_.
22. _Burning the dead_.
23. _Burial_.
24. _Return of the soul_.
25. _Mourning_.
26. _Shaving, and presents to Brahmans_.
27. _End of mourning_.
28. _Anniversaries of the dead_.
29. _Beliefs in the hereafter_.
30. _Religion. Village gods_.
31. _Sowing the Jawaras or gardens of Adonis_.
32. _Rites connected with the crops. Customs of cultivation_.
33. _Agricultural superstitions_.
34. _Houses_.
35. _Superstitions about houses_.
36. _Furniture._
37. _Clothes_.
38. _Women's clothes_.
39. _Bathing_.
40. _Food_.
41. _Caste feasts_.
42. _Hospitality_.
43. _Social customs. Tattooing_.
44. _Caste penalties_.
45. _The cultivating status_.
46. _Occupation_.
_Appendix. List of exogamous clans._

1. Numbers and derivation of name

_Kurmi_. [52]--The representative cultivating caste of Hindustan or
the country comprised roughly in the United Provinces, Bihar arid the
Central Provinces north of the Nerbudda. In 1911 the Kurmis numbered
about 300,000 persons in the Central Provinces, of whom half belonged
to the Chhattisgarh Division and a third to the Jubbulpore Division;
the Districts in which they were most numerous being Saugor, Damoh,
Jubbulpore, Hoshangabad, Raipur, Bilaspur and Drug. The name is
considered to be derived from the Sanskrit _krishi_, cultivation,
or from _kurma_, the tortoise incarnation of Vishnu, whether because
it is the totem of the caste or because, as suggested by one writer,
the Kurmi supports the population of India as the tortoise supports
the earth. It is true that many Kurmis say they belong to the Kashyap
_gotra_, Kashyap being the name of a Rishi, which seems to have been
derived from _kachhap_, the tortoise; but many other castes also