of them came to be officers
or leaders. The very debased origin of the caste already mentioned
as given in the Padma Purana may be supposed as in other cases to be
an attempt on the part of the priestly chronicler to repress what he
considered to be unfounded claims to a rise in rank. But the Dhanuks,
not less than the other soldier castes, have advanced a pretension
to be Kshatriyas, those of Narsinghpur sometimes calling themselves
Dhankarai Rajputs, though this claim is of course in their case
a pure absurdity. It is not necessary to suppose that the Dhanuks
of the Central Provinces are the lineal descendants of the caste
whose genealogy is given in the Puranas; they may be a much more
recent offshoot from a main caste, formed in a precisely similar
manner from military service. [527] Mr. Crooke [528] surmises that
they belonged to the large impure caste of Basors or basket-makers,
who took to bow-making and thence to archery; and some connection
is traceable between the Dhanuks and Basors in Narsinghpur. Such a
separation must probably have occurred in comparatively recent times,
inasmuch as some recollection of it still remains. The fact that
Lodhis are the only caste besides Brahmans from whom the Dhanuks of
Narsinghpur will take food cooked without water may indicate that
they formed the militia of Lodhi chieftains in the Nerbudda valley,
a hypothesis which is highly probable on general grounds.

2. Marriage.

In the Central Provinces the Dhanuks have no subcastes. [529] The
names of their _gotras_ or family groups, though they themselves
cannot explain them, are apparently territorial: as Maragaiyan from
Maragaon, Benaikawar from Benaika village, Pangarya from Panagar,
Binjharia from Bindhya or Vindhya, Barodhaya from Barodha village, and
so on. Marriages within the same _gotra_ and between first cousins are
prohibited, and child-marriage is usual. The father of the boy always
takes the initiative in arranging a match, and if a man wants to find
a husband for his daughter he must ask the assistance of his relatives
to obtain a proposal, as it would be derogatory to move in the matter
himself. The contract for marriages is made at the boy's house and is
not inviolable. Before the departure of the bridegroom for the bride's
village, he stands at the entrance of the marriage-shed, and his mother
comes up and places her breast to his mouth and throws rice balls and
ashes over him. The former action signifies