THE SAORIAS OF THE RAJMAHAL HILLS. 55 



parents and by the village panch. When a case of this kind is indicated by the girl's 

 pregnancy or otherwise, a panchayat is called, and, on satisfactory proof, two pigs are 

 taken from the parties, also two fowls (not capons) . They are slaughtered and the blood 

 is sprinkled with water at all the houses in the village by the Banddri. Salt is then 

 brought by the Banddri and mixed with water in a leaf in the presence of the panchayat. 

 The Banddri then says, " If you two come together again you will die within five days 

 of the connection. You are henceforth separate. O Gosain, these two are henceforth 

 separate, if they come together again destroy them within five days." The salt is placed 

 in the leaf with the point of a sword, or knife, or with the claw of a tiger or leopard. 

 The offenders are made to drink the mixture by the Banddri. As the delinquents get 

 up to go the Banddri tears in two sal leaves, one for each offender, repeating the curse. 

 The delinquents then go different ways. The girl and her parents keep the offspring 

 of such a union, and the child is admitted into caste without any special ceremonies. 

 But until marriage he is not allowed to eat at pujahs performed by the village. After 

 marriage he is allowed to do so having feasted the village. In the case of a girl, she 

 takes her place with other women after marriage. In any case women are not allowed 

 to eat offerings made at pujahs. The husband of such a girl has, however, to feed the 

 village to wash away the stain as it were. 



A man having married the youngest sister in a family cannot marry any elder sister. 

 The prohibitions in this connection are very strictly observed. The elder sister, 

 in such a case, may not sit on or touch the bed or clothes of her younger sister's hus- 

 band, nor may she smoke his huka. There are punishments prescribed for these 

 offences. If a younger sister's husband and an elder sister come together, the man is fined 

 Rs. 20 and is outcasted ; the woman has her head shaved, and painted with saffron, 

 and lime, and she is taken all round the village by the Banddri and made a public 

 spectacle. The offenders are also told, " Go and die in the jungle or anywhere." Such 

 offenders having obtained property and a fresh household godling, are readmitted to 

 caste, after giving a feast to the village. The man's wife does not desert him in such 

 cases. The Rs. 20 wash away the sin so far as she is concerned. This money is spent 

 in a feast, and the liver of a pig is broiled and offered with patki iaddi (ddru) to the 

 ancestors of the offenders with these words : " Grant, O ancestors, that this sin be not 

 put to the account of the village, but to the account of the offenders themselves " ! The 

 liver and ddru are disposed of by the panchayat. 



There is nothing to prohibit a Saoria from marrying a woman of another caste. 

 This cannot be done according to custom, but when parties come together, they are 

 admitted to caste by means of the usual feast. When the man and woman die they are 

 not buried in the Paharia cemetery without payment of Re. 1 each to the village 

 headman. This sum is termed bewah koreh — bewah, offering at a pujah, and koreh, 

 together. The children of such unions are Saorias, and are subject to no fines and 

 ceremonies, and pay nothing to be buried in the village graveyard. In olden days it 

 was customary for Saorias to rush down into the plains and capture wives and cattle. 

 Occasionally there used to be reprisals on the part of the zamindars and their rayats. 

 There are many cases in which the descendants of Gualins are still alive. Boys, too, 



