his _guru_
or preceptor or giving him a present. Among the Satnamis there is
also a particularly select class who follow the straitest sect of
the creed and are called _Jaharia_ from _jahar_, an essence. These
never sleep on a bed but always on the ground, and are said to wear
coarse uncoloured clothes and to eat no food but pulse or rice.

7. Customs of the Satnamis.

The social customs of the Satnamis resemble generally those of other
Chamars. They will admit into the community all except members of
"the impure castes, as Dhobis (washermen), Ghasias (grass-cutters) and
Mehtars (sweepers), whom they regard as inferior to themselves. Their
weddings must be celebrated only during the months of Magh (January),
Phagun (February), the light half of Chait (March) and Baisakh
(April). No betrothal ceremony can take place during the months
of Shrawan (August) and Pus (January). They always bury the dead,
laying the body with the face downwards, and spread clothes in the
grave above and below it, so that it may be warm and comfortable
during the last long sleep. They observe mourning for three days and
have their heads shaved on the third day with the exception of the
upper lip, which is never touched by the razor. The Satnamis as well
as the Kabirpanthis in Chhattisgarh abstain from spirituous liquor,
and ordinary Hindus who do not do so are known as Saktaha or Sakta
(a follower of Devi) in contradistinction to them. A Satnami is put
out of caste if he is beaten by a man of another caste, however high,
and if he is touched by a sweeper, Ghasia or Mahar. Their women wear
nose-rings, simply to show their contempt for the Hindu social order,
as this ornament was formerly forbidden to the lower castes. Under
native dynasties any violation of a rule of this kind would have been
severely punished by the executive Government, but in British India
the Chamar women can indulge their whim with impunity. It was also
a rule of the sect not to accept cooked food from the hands of any
other caste, whether Hindu or Muhammadan, but this has fallen into
abeyance since the famines. Another method by which the Satnamis
show their contempt for the Hindu religion is by throwing milk and
curds at each other in sport and trampling it under foot. This is
a parody of the Hindu celebration of the Janam-Ashtami or Krishna's
birthday, when vessels of milk and curds are broken over the heads of
the worshippers and caught and eaten by all castes i