of widowhood.[144] Not
every tribe is yet thus revolutionised. Among the Kasias of south-east
India the husband lives with the wife or visits her occasionally.

"Laws of rank and property follow the strictest maternal rule;
when a couple separate the children remain with the mother, the
son does not succeed his father, but a raja's neglected
offspring may become a common peasant or a labourer; the
sister's son succeeds to rank and is heir to the property."[145]

This may be taken as an extreme example of the conditions among the
unchanged tribes. The Garos tribe have an interesting marriage
custom.[146] The girl chooses her lover and invites him to follow
her; any advance made on his side is regarded as an insult to the
woman's clan, and has to be expiated by presents. This marriage is
very similar to the ceremony of capture, only the actors change parts;
it is here the bridegroom who runs away, and is conducted by force to
his future wife amidst the lamentations of his relations.

Even tribes that have adopted paternal descent preserve numerous
customs of the earlier system. The husband still remains in the wife's
home for a probationary period, working for her family.[147] Women
retain rights which are inconsistent with father-rule. The choice of
her lover often remains with the girl. If a girl fancies a young man,
all she has to do is to give him a kick on the leg at the tribal dance
of the _Karama_, and then the parents think it well to hasten on a
wedding. Among Ghasiyas in United Provinces a wife is permitted to
leave her husband if he intrigues with another woman, or if he become
insane, impotent, blind or leprous, while these bodily evils do not
allow him to put her away.[148] We find relics of the early freedom
enjoyed by women in the licence frequently permitted to girls before
marriage. Even after marriage adultery within the tribal rules is not
regarded as a serious offence. Divorce is often easy, at the wish of
either the woman or the man.[149] This is the case among the Santal
tribes, which are found in Western Bengal, Northern Orissa, Bhagulpur
and the Santal Parganas.[150] It seems probable that fraternal
polyandry must formerly have been practised.

Polyandry must have been common at one time in southern India. It will
be sufficient to give a few examples. The interesting Todas tribe of
the Nil'giri Hills practise fraternal polyandry. The husbands of the
women are usually real br