of burning their deceased friends and therefore invariably bury them."

The customs of the Ojhas resemble those of the Gonds. They take the
bride to the bridegroom's house to be married, and a widow among
them is expected, though not obliged, to wed her late husband's
younger brother. They eat the flesh of fowls, pigs, and even oxen,
but abstain from that of monkeys, crocodiles and jackals. They will
not touch an ass, a cat or a dog, and consider it sinful to kill
animals which bark or bray.

They will take food from the hands of all except the most impure
castes, and will admit into the community any man who has taken an Ojha
woman to live with him, even though he be a sweeper, provided that he
will submit to the prescribed test of begging from the houses of five
Gonds and eating the leavings of food of the other Ojhas. They will
pardon the transgression of one of their women with an outsider of
any caste whatever, if she is able and willing to provide the usual
penalty feast. They have no _sutak_ or period of impurity after a
death, but merely take a mouthful of liquor and consider themselves
clean. In physical appearance the Ojhas resemble the Gonds but are
less robust. They rank below the Gonds and are considered as impure
by the Hindu castes. In 1865, an Ojha held a village in Hoshangabad
District which he had obtained as follows: [356] "He was singing
and dancing before Raja Raghuji, when the Raja said he would give a
rent-free village to any one who would pick up and chew a quid of
betel-leaf which he (the Raja) had had in his mouth and had spat
out. The Ojha did this and got the village."

The Maithil or Tirhut Brahmans who are especially learned in Tantric
magic are also sometimes known as Ojha, and a family bearing this
title were formerly in the service of the Gond kings of Mandla. They
do not now admit that they acted as augurs or soothsayers, but state
that their business was to pray continuously for the king's success
when he was engaged in any battle, and to sit outside the rooms of sick
persons repeating the sacred Gayatri verse for their recovery. This is
often repeated ten times, counting by a special method on the joints
of the fingers and is then known as _Jap_. When it is repeated a
larger number of times, as 54 or 108, a rosary is used.

Oraon

[_Authorities_: The most complete account of the Oraons is a
monograph entitled, _The Religion and Customs of the Oraons_, by
the late Rev.