1833.] of the Jdts of Bharatpur. 277 
“trivial and multiplied” details, and in sorrow or anger records his 
opinion of their absurdity. But the Hindd, alas! looks upon these 
very absurdities in a totally different light—he considers them as part 
and parcel of his religion, as forms which were in the first instance 
inculcated by his deities, and which the practice and veneration of 
ages has hallowed. We may lament that he should do so, but we 
ought not surely to condemn him without inquiry. It appears to me 
that some of these very ceremonies, of which so sweeping a condem- 
nation has been passed, are not only interesting and curious, but even 
valuable, inasmuch as they tend to throw light* upon the feelings and 
domestic genius of our subjects. 
The betrothal takes place in the following manner—a message is 
first sent by the father of the girl to the bridegroom’s father, intimat- 
ing that as alliances have formerly taken place between their families, 
and as Providence has kindly blessed him with a daughter, &c. he is 
anxious to bind the knots of amity closer than ever. Should the father 
of the boy approve of thesuggestion, he dispatches a Purohit or fa- 
mily priest to the lady’s father, both to measure the height of the 
girl and ascertain her personal appearance, &c. On the return of the 
Parohit to his employer, the height of the young lady is compared with 
that of the boy. Should it appear to be of the orthodox proportion, and 
the report made by the Parohit of her beauty be favourable, the genea- 
logies and affinity of the parties are then inquired into; and in the 
event of their not coming within thet prohibited degrees, the be- 
trothal is agreed to, and considered binding upon both parties. 
The betrothal having been adjusted, and the Tika or marriage 
present sent by the bride to the bridegroom, it remains for the Brah~ 
mans to select what they may be pleased to consider a ‘‘ fortunate hour” 
for the marriage. Regarding this important point, long and tiresome 
disputes are sometimes carried on between the astrologers of the two 
* “We cannot,” says the talented and discriminating Sir H. Stracuey, “study 
the genius of the people in its own sphere of action. We know little of their 
domestic life, their knowledge, conversation, amusements ; their trades and castes, 
or any of those national and individual characteristics which are essential to a 
complete knowledge of them.’’ Perhaps the acknowledged existence of this lament- 
able defect may excuse the attempt on my part to illustrate one of the most im- 
portant events in the life of a Hinda. 
+ The prohibited degrees among the Bharatpur Jats are the Gots or families 
of the boy’s paternal and maternal grand-fathers and grand-mothers. In this, 
as in many other points, they depart widely from the strictness of the Hinda system 
as promulgated in the “Institutes of Menu’,’”’ where prohibitions of the most ex- 
traordinary nature are enumerated, and directions for choosing a wife minutely laid 
down. 
