________________
JULY, 1911.)
AN ENQUIRY INTO BIRTH AND MARRIAGE CUSTOMS
193
Evidence of Matriarobal Times. There is little evidence of this in the bills beyond the importance of the mother's brother in certain functions. Amongst the Rajput Zamindars wbo, as said before, are chiefly Khasias, when people bring an offer of marriage to a girl's father, he asks for a certain price, and a part of it is fixed there and then as Mama-Jholi, or the maternal uncle's share in the price of the bride. Later, at the time of the wedding, he too performs the Kanyd-dana or the giving away of the bride. This would seem to point to times when the mother's brother was the head of the family and the guardian of his sister's children. The Brahmaņs (later Aryan immigrants in the hills) do not have this custom. But allied with this question is the custom of cousin marriages. These are common-uay they are the role-among the Bhotias of this district. For these I have obtained direct, as well as some valuable indirect, evidence based on linguistic considerations. But before discussing these I shall describe a minor custom, viz., that of marrying one's sister's husband's sister.
Harsundarî
(f.)
Râmsingh = Ramsundart
(m.) (f.)
Harsingh
(m.)
(m.)
(.)
Kishensingh Kishengundari (m.) (8.)
(m.) (1) It Râmeingh marries Râmsundarl, her brother Harsingh usually marries her husband's sister, Harsundari. Tbis is the rule among the Bhotias, and is not unknown even amongst the Khas Rajputs and the Brühmaus of the rest of the distriot.
Thus Ramsingh's sister, and wife's brother's wife is tbe same person Harsundari-accordingly we find (as we would expect) these two relationships denoted by the same word, This word is:
In Chaudas Atd (for elder) Bhoolí (for younger) In Bians Potá Ringsha . In Johar Atd » Bhooli ,
In Almora Didi , Behn , Thus four different languages confirm the existence of this custom.
(2). It is interesting to look at this double relationship from the offspring's point of view. It would be seen from the diagram that Kishensingh's Kishenginchi. 1 mother's brother, father's sister's husband
od is the same person-Rämsingh. And we find these two entirely different relationships denoted by the same term :
By Bhotias of Bians Thangmi.
By Bhotias of Chaudas Thangmi. This term is not the same for the two relationships in Almora, but in Pargana Katyar of Almora even Rnjputs have the same word Máma for both mother's brother and father's sister's husband; or (3) Again,
father's sister, Kishensingh's mother's brother's wife,
is the same person--Ramsandari, and we find both these relations called by the same term :
In Chaudas Chini. Ia Bians Chỉni.
