Raja
of Boondi, commandant of the fortress of Tanagarh, was, like all
his class, devotion personified. [25] A parallel instance of the
tie of foster-kinship occurs in the case of the foster-brothers of
Conachar or Hector in _The Fair Maid of Perth_. Thus the position
of foster-brother of a Rajput was an honourable one, even though
the child might be illegitimate. Ahir women were often employed as
wet-nurses, because domestic service was a profession in which they
commonly engaged. Owing to the comparatively humble origin of a large
proportion of them they did not object to menial service, while the
purity of their caste made it possible to use them for the supply
of water and food. In Bengal the Uriya Ahirs were a common class of
servants in European houses.

The Gaolis or milkmen appear to form a distinct branch of the caste
with subcastes of their own. Among them are the Nandvans, common to
the Ahirs, the Malwi from Malwa and the Raghuvansi, called after the
Rajput clan of that name. The Ranyas take their designation from _ran_,
forest, like the Jhadia Rawats.

8. Exogamy.

The caste have exogamous sections, which are of the usual low-caste
type, with titular or totemistic names. Those of the Chhattisgarhi
Rawats are generally named after animals. A curious name among the
Mahakul Ahirs is Mathankata, or one who bit his mother's nipples. The
marriage of persons belonging to the same section and of first cousins
is prohibited. A man may marry his wife's younger sister while his
wife is living, but not her elder sister. The practice of exchanging
girls between families is permissible.

9. Marriage customs.

As a rule, girls may be married before or after puberty, but the
Golkars of Chanda insist on infant marriage, and fine the parents if
an unmarried girl becomes adolescent. On the other hand, the Kaonra
Ahirs of Mandla make a practice of not getting a girl married till
the signs of puberty have appeared. It is said that in Mandla if an
unmarried girl becomes pregnant by a man of the caste the _panchayat_
give her to him and fine him Rs. 20 or 30, which they appropriate
themselves, giving nothing to the father. If an Ahir girl is seduced
by an outsider, she is made over to him, and a fine of Rs. 40 or 50
is exacted from him if possible. This is paid to the girl's father,
who has to spend it on a penalty feast to the caste. Generally,
sexual offences within the community are leniently regarded. The
we