nd now rank in the
position of village menials above their parent tribes. In the Central
Provinces the Dahaits have commonly been employed as village watchmen,
a post analogous to that of door-keeper or porter. The caste are also
known as Bhaldar or spearmen, and Kotwar or village watchmen.

2. Internal structure: totemism.

The subcastes returned from the Mandla District have already been
mentioned. In Bilaspur they have quite different ones, of which two,
Joharia and Pailagia, are derived from methods of greeting. Johar
is the salutation which a Rajput prince sends to a vassal or chief
of inferior rank, and Pailagi or 'I fall at your feet' is that with
which a member of a lower caste accosts a Brahman. How such names
came to be adopted as subcastes cannot be explained. The caste have
a number of exogamous groups named after plants and animals. Members
of the Bel, [489] Rusallo and Chheola [490] septs revere the trees
after which these septs are named. They will not cut or injure
the tree, and at the time of marriage they go and invite it to be
present at the ceremony. They offer to the tree the _maihar_ cake,
which is given only to the members of the family and the husbands
and children of daughters. Those belonging to the Nagotia sept [491]
will not kill a snake, and at the time of marriage they deposit the
_maihar_ cake at a snake-hole. Members of the Singh (lion) and Bagh
(tiger) septs will not kill a tiger, and at their weddings they draw
his image on a wall and offer the cake to it, being well aware that
if they approached the animal himself, he would probably repudiate
the relationship and might not be satisfied with the cake for his meal.

3. Marriage and other customs.

Prior to a marriage a bride-price, known as _sukh_ or _chari_,
and consisting of six rupees with some sugar, turmeric and sesamum
oil, must be paid by the parents of the bridegroom to those of the
bride; and in the absence of this they will decline to perform the
ceremony. At the wedding the couple go round the sacred post, and then
the bridegroom mingles the flames of two burning lamps and pierces the
nose of the image of a bullock made in flour. This rite is performed
by several castes, and is said to be in commemoration of Krishna's
having done so on different occasions. It is probably meant to excuse
or legitimise the real operation, which should properly be considered
as sinful in view of the sacred character of the animal.