and the same rule applies to
the son of a Dhakar father by a Halba or Rawat woman, who also ranks in
the first place as a Surait. Descendants of a Dhakar father by a Muria
or other low-caste woman, however, always remain Suraits. The Puraits
and Suraits form endogamous groups, and the latter will accept cooked
food from the former. The more respectable Dhakars round Jagdalpur
are now tending, however, to call themselves Rajputs and refuse to
admit any one of mixed birth into their community.

One legend of their origin is that the first Dhakar was the offspring
of a Brahman cook of the Raja of Bastar with a Kosaria Rawat woman;
and though this is discredited by the Dhakars it is probably a fairly
correct version of the facts. An inferior branch of the caste exists
which is known as Chikrasar; it is related of them that their ancestors
once went out hunting and set the forest on fire as a method of driving
the game, as they occasionally do still. They came across the roasted
body of a dog in the forest and ate it without knowing what animal it
was. In the stomach, however, some cooked rice was found, and hence it
was known as a dog and they were branded as dog-eaters. As a penalty
the Raja imposed on them the duty of thatching a hut for him at the
Dasahra festival, which their descendants still perform. The other
Dhakars refuse to marry or eat with them, and it is clear from the
custom of thatching the Raja's hut that they are a primitive and
jungly branch of the caste.

2. Marriage.

If a girl becomes with child by a member of the caste she is made over
to him without a marriage, or to the man to whom she was previously
betrothed if he is still willing to take her. Neither is she expelled
if the same event occurs with a man of any higher caste, but if he
be of lower caste she is thrown out. Marriages are usually arranged
by the parents but an adult girl may choose her own husband, and she
is then wedded to him with abbreviated rites so that her family may
avoid the disgrace of her entering his house like a widow or kept
woman. Formerly a Dhakar might marry his granddaughter, but this is
no longer done. When the signs of puberty first appear in a girl she
is secluded and must not see or be seen by any man. They think that
the souls of dead ancestors are reborn in children, and if a child
refuses to suck they ask which of their ancestors he is and what
he wants, or they offer it some present such as a silver ban