130 
W. H. P. Driver —The Korkus. 
[No. 2, 
who work as cowherds for the Korkus, and have successfully grafted 
themselves on them, adopting their language, customs, and beliefs. These 
Nehals are the remnants of a once numerous tribe that inhabited the 
Gawalgart hills, but were broken up and nearly exterminated by Sindia’s 
soldiers. The Korkus, though otherwise mixing freely with the Nehals, 
will neither marry nor eat with them. These remarks of course only refer 
to the Korkus of Berar. 
The Korkus are divided into 124 “ Gots,” or Septs, as follows:— 
1 Busum ... thatch grass. 
1 Jambu ... a wild edible fruit tree. 
1 B&the ... do. 
1 Siloo ... do. 
1 Sewathi ... a small thorny creeper. 
1 Chilathi ... a large thorny creeper. 
1 Lota ... stalks of the Makai Jawari, &c. 
1 Athoa ... a wooden ladle made from Bethe wood. 
1 Kollia ... ashes. 
1 Kasda ... a ravine. 
1 Dhikar ... descendants of a woman who gave birth while out 
fishing on the banks of a river. 
1 Mawsi ... An ancient people who did not live in houses. 
Hijra ... Hermaphrodites. There seem to be a number of 
these, and they live by begging. 
A wealthy Korku may have several wives ; but a woman may not 
have more than one husband. They do not 
Marriage and Mar- marr y before the age of maturity. People of 
nage Customs. J \ 1 
the same Got are not allowed to mter-marry, 
and children belong to the Got of the father. Widows and divorcees 
are allowed to re-marry, and the younger brother is supposed to take 
his defunct elder brother’s wife. Divorce, or more properly separation, 
is very uncommon, and it is looked upon as very disgraceful for married 
people to separate under any circumstances. 
If a wife separates from her husband, and returns to her father, the 
money, if any was paid for her, is returned to her husband. If a wife 
leaves her husband to live with another man, the bereaved husband 
brings pressure on her, through the elders of the village, or public opinion, 
and tries to get her to return ; but no money compensation is ever sought 
or offered. Sometimes the aggrieved husband takes a bloody revenge, 
but this is not a common occurence. 
The price of a wife is Rs. 100 nominally ; but very few ever pay 
this price. More commonly the man serves his intended father-in-law for 
a term of years. The proper term is 12 years, but this is seldom or 
