THE RELIGION AND CUSTOMS OP THE URAONS. 155 



couple before giving the pun ji. There is, however, a kind of promise made at the time of 

 marriage. When food is brought to the boy or girl, they pretend not to want to eat it. 

 Then their respective fathers-in-law come and cause them to eat, but no entreaty can 

 succeed until they put a sign with cow-dung or goat-dung on their forehead, meaning 

 that a punji of cows or goats will be given to them. If, as it happens sometimes, the 

 parents of the girl, in time of distress, have eaten up the punji of their child, the father 

 takes his daughter and puts her in the arms of the boy telling him : " This is all I can 

 give you. " 



When a boy is six or seven years old, it is time for him to become a member of the 

 dhwmkuru or common dormitory. The eldest boys catch hold of his left arm, and, with 

 burning cloth, burn out five deep marks on the lower part of his arm. This they do to 

 be recognised by the Uraons at their death, when they go into the other world. The 

 Uraon girls are similarly all tattoed in one particular way : three parallel vertical lines 

 are traced on the forehead, the extreme ones having the shape of a badly formed F. 

 Then two vertical parallel lines on both temples crossed by another line, forming a kind 

 of capital H, with one side protruding. Sometimes they add also one spot on the hollow 

 of the nose and one spot on the chin. 



Dhumkuria. — As the Uraons have not accommodation enough for their children to 

 sleep in the house, they have a common dormitory in which the boys sleep together. As 

 for the girls, they go and generally sleep in the house of an old widow who is not 

 such a fearful cerberus as not to be softened by kind attentions from the boys of the 

 dhwnkuria. The would-be vestals are then, as may be imagined, exposed to many dangers. 

 In villages in which they less respect themselves, the boys and girls sleep promiscuously 

 together in the same dormitory. The dhumkuria boys form a kind of association ; and they 

 pledge themselves to the greatest secrecy about what is going on in their dormitory. 

 Woe to the boy who dares to break that pledge. He would be most unmercifully beaten 

 and looked upon as an outcast. 



In order, they say, to make the boys hardy members of the tribe, they have a kind of 

 mutual training in which the eldest boys of the dhumkuria bully the younger ones, and 

 make them suffer all kinds of trouble and bodily punishments. There is, in fact, a regular 

 system of bullying. Uraon boys and girls are very tender-hearted and form strong 

 friendships. When two girls feel a great affection for each other they swear eternal 

 friendship and call each other by the sweet name of gui, my flower. This kind of friend- 

 ship is sealed by mutual presents. Among the boys the same custom exists, and they 

 call each other sar, phul, sangi or karamdar. 



When boys are about 12 years of age they divide into different classes. Those who 

 belong to a well-to-do family stay in the house of their parents and work with them and 

 for them. Those whose parents are not rich enough to feed them become either dhangar 

 or ghar damad, ghardijia. 



Dhangar. — A dhangar is a contract labourer. There are interesting ceremonies in 

 connection with the engagement of a dhangar. This is done at the end of January, in 

 Magh. When an Uraon farmer wishes to engage a young man as a dhangar he calls him 

 to his house at the feast of Magh. There are always some other people present besides 



