qually with sons. A
prostitute is regarded as the head of the family so far as her children
are concerned. Outsiders are freely admitted into the caste on giving
a feast to the community. In Saugor the women of the caste, known
as Berni, are the village dancing-girls, and are employed to give
performances in the cold weather, especially at the Holi festival,
where they dance the whole night through, fortified by continuous
potations of liquor. This dance is called _rai_, and is accompanied
by most obscene songs and gestures.

Bhaina

List of Paragraphs

1. _The tribe derived from the Baigas._
2. _Closely connected with the Kawars._
3. _Internal structure. Totemism._
4. _Marriage._
5. _Religious superstitions._
6. _Admission of outsiders and caste offences._
7. _Social customs._

1. The tribe derived from the Baigas.

_Bhaina._ [263]--A primitive tribe peculiar to the Central Provinces
and found principally in the Bilaspur District and the adjoining area,
that is, in the wild tract of forest country between the Satpura
range and the south of the Chota Nagpur plateau. In 1911 about 17,000
members of the tribe were returned. The tribe is of mixed descent and
appears to have been derived principally from the Baigas and Kawars,
having probably served as a city of refuge to persons expelled from
these and other tribes and the lower castes for irregular sexual
relations. Their connection with the Baigas is shown by the fact that
in Mandla the Baigas have two subdivisions, which are known as Rai
or Raj-Bhaina, and Kath, or catechu-making Bhaina. The name therefore
would appear to have originated with the Baiga tribe. A Bhaina is also
not infrequently found to be employed in the office of village priest
and magician, which goes by the name of Baiga in Bilaspur. And a Bhaina
has the same reputation as a Baiga for sorcery, it being said of him--

Mainhar ki manjh
Bhaina ki pang

or 'The magic of a Bhaina is as deadly as the powdered _mainhar_
fruit,' this fruit having the property of stupefying fish when thrown
into the water, so that they can easily be caught. This reputation
simply arises from the fact that in his capacity of village priest the
Bhaina performs the various magical devices which lay the ghosts of
the dead, protect the village against tigers, ensure the prosperity
of the crops and so on. But it is always the olde