73 



Babby and very subject to elephantiasis, hernia cUid 

 hydrocele." 



Dr. Wise describes the women as " remarkable fur 

 their beauty, confinement within dark rooms giving- them 

 a light wheaten complexion. They are, however, squat, 

 becoming corpulent in adult life, and their features 

 though still handsome, inanimate. They are very shy, 

 but the fact that in former days their good looks exposed 

 them to the insults and outrages of licentious Muham- 

 madan officials is a sufficient excuse for their timidity. 

 Even now-a-days the recollection of past indignities 

 rouses the Sankhari to fury, and the greatest abuse that 

 can be cast at him is to call him a son of Abdul Razzaq 

 or of Raja Ram Das. The former was a zamindar of 

 Dacca ; the latter, the second son of Raja Raj Ballabh, 

 Divvan of Bengal. It is stated that they frequently broke 

 into houses and carried off the Sankhari eirls, beino- 

 shielded by their rank and influence from any punishment." 

 To the above Risley (ioc. cit.) adds the following- 

 information : 



" Sankharis marry their daughters as infants by the 

 ceremony in use among the highest castes. It is the 

 fashion for the bridegroom to ride in the marriage pro- 

 cession, while the bride, dressed in red, is carried in a 

 palanquin. Polygamy is permitted subject to the same 

 restrictions as are in force among Brahmans and Kay- 

 asths. Widows are not allowed to marry again, nor is 

 divorce recosfnized. 



Nearly all Sankharis belong to the Vaishnava sect, 

 and comparatively few Saktas are found among them. 

 Their principal festival is held on the last day of Bhadra 

 (August-September), when they give up work for five 

 days and worship Agastya Rishi, who, according to them 

 rid the world of a formidable demon called Sankha 

 Asura, by cutting him up with the semi-circular saw used 

 by shell-cutters. Others say that they revere Agastya, 

 because he was the guru or spiritual guide of their 

 ancestor Dhanapati Saudagar. Rice, sweetmeats and 

 fruit are oftered to him, and are afterwards partaken of 

 by the Brahmans who serve the caste as priests. These 

 Brahmans act also as priests for the Kayasths, and are 

 received on equal terms by other members of the sacred 

 order. They also observe the fliulaniatra and 



