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JANUARY 5, 1872.]
hand on some word in the Koran which may serve the purpose, or by getting somebody else to fix his hand at random on a passage or word in the Koran. Men and women assemble at that meeting. There appears to be no purdah whatsoever in Dardu land, and the women are remarkably chaste. The little imitation of purdah amongst the Ranis of Ghilgit was a mere fashion imported from, elsewhere. Till the child receives a name the
THE DARDS.
woman is declared impure for the seven days previous to the ceremony. In Ghilgit twentyseven days are allowed to elapse till the woman is declared pure. Then the bed and clothes are washed and the woman is restored to the company of her husband and the visits of her friends.
Men and women eat together everywhere in Dardu land. In Astor, raw milk alone cannot be drunk together with a woman, unless thereby it is ⚫ intended that she should be a sister by faith, and come within the prohibited degrees of relationship. When men drink of the same raw milk they thereby swear each other eternal friendship. In Ghilgit this custom does not exist, but it will at once be perceived that much of what has been noted above belongs to Musalman custom generally. When a son is born great rejoicings take place, and in Ghilgit a musket is fired off by the father whilst the "bâng" is being read.
(d)-MARRIAGE.
In Ghilgit marriage appears to be a more simple ceremony than in Chilás and Astor. The father of the boy goes to the father of the girl and presents him with a knife about 1 foot long, 4 yards of cloth, and a pumpkin filled with wine. If the father accepts the present the betrothal is arranged. It is generally the fashion that after the betrothal, which is named Shéir qatar wiye, balli piye, i.e."4 yards of cloth and a knife he has given, the pumpkin he has drunk," the marriage takes place. A betrothal is inviolable, and is only dissolved by death as far as the woman is concerned. The young man is at liberty to dissolve the contract. When the marriage day arrives, the men and women who are acquainted with the parties range themselves in rows at the house of the bride, the bridegroom, with her at his left, sitting together at the end of the row. The Mulla then reads the prayers, the ceremony is completed, and playing, dancing and drinking begin. It is considered the proper thing for the bridegroom's father, if he belongs to the true Shin race, to pay 12 tolas of gold of the value [at Ghilgit] of 15 Rupees Nanaksha
11
hi, (10 annas each), to the bride's father, who, however, generally returns it with the bride, in kind-dresses, ornaments, &c., &c. The 12 tolas are not always, or even generally taken in gold, but oftener inkind-clothes, provisions and ornaments. At Astor the ceremony seems to be a little more complicated. There the arrangements are managed by third parties,-an agent being appointed on either side. The father of the young man sends a present of a needle and three real (red) "múngs" called " lújum" in Chilâsi, which, if accepted, establishes the betrothal of the parties. Then the father of the bride demands pro formá 12 tolas, which in Astor and Chilâs are worth 24 Rupees of the value of ten annas each.
All real Shin people must pay this dowry for their wives in money, provisions, or in the clothes which the bride's father may require. The marriage takes place when the girl reaches puberty, or perhaps rather the age when she is considered fit to be married. It may be mentioned here in general terms that those features in the ceremony which remind one of Indian customs are undoubtedly of Indian origin, introduced into the country since the occupation of Astor by the Maharaja's troops. Ghilgit, which is further off, is less subject to such influences, and whatever it may have of civilization is indigenous, or more so than is the case at Astor, the roughness of whose manners is truly Chilâsi, whilst its apparent refinement in some things is a foreign importation. When the marriage ceremony commences the young man, accompanied by twelve of his friends and by musicians, sits in front of the girl's house. The mother of the girl brings out bread and ghi-cakes on plates, which she places before the bridegroom, round whom she goes three times caressing him and finally kissing his hand. The bridegroom then sends her back with a present of a few rupees or tolas in the emptied plates. Then, after some time, as the evening draws on, the agent of the father of the boy sends to say that it is time that the ceremony should commence. The mother of the bride then stands in the door-way of her house with a few other platefuls of cakes and bread, and the young man accompanied by his bridesman ("Shunérr" in Astori and "Shamaderr" in Ghilgiti,) enters the house. At his approach the girl, who also has her particular friend, the "Shaneroy" in Astori, and "Shamaderoy" in Ghilgiti, rises. The boy is seated at her right, but both in Astor
