KHOLBAII
KHONDS
bers of these heretics have been sent uito the Caucasus and Siberia, whore many of tliem have been forced to enter the armies and the mines. See Dixon, Fj-ee Rus- s'm, chap. xxiv.
Kholbah (Arabic), a peculiar form of prayer used iu ]\[ciliammedan countries at the commencement of iiiiblic worship in the great mosques on Friday at noon. It was originally performed by the Projjhct himself, and by his successors up to A.D. 930, since which time special ministers are appointed for the purpose. The Kholbah is chiefly '• a confession of faith," and a general petition for the success of the Mohammedan religion. It is di- vided into two distinct parts, between ■which a consid- erable pause is observed, which the Mussulman regards as the most solemn and important part of his worship. The insertion of the sultan's name in this prayer has al- ways been considered one of his chief prerogatives. See Brande and Cox, Did. of Science, Literature, and Art, ii, 28-2.
Khonds. There are throughout India manifest traces of a rude primitive stock of people who occupied the country anterior to the Aryo-Scythian races, and there are still great divisions of the people bearing na- tional characteristics which distinguish them from the Hindus. The earliest knowledge we have of these peo- ])le is through the great epic poems of the Hindus, the Mahuhharata and the Ramayana, which describe the wars of the Aryans, as the invading race, with the ab- original inhabitants of these impenetrable forests. Suc- cessive wars of invaders, however, subdued, to a greater or less extent, some of these, and modified their views and usages ; but these, in tiun, affected the religion and manners of their conquerors.
Dicisions. — Some of these races have attached them- selves to Hindu society, and serve in a condition of degradation as Chandals or Mlechas, i. e. outcasts or pariahs. Thej' often hold offices of trust and responsi- bility in village communities, but, according to Hindu Lxw, they should live outside of villages, and own no j)roperty but dogs and asses. Their customs and insti- tutions are, however, everywhere tUfferent from those of the Hindus.
There are others of tliese aboriginal tribes who have not mingled with Hinduism at all, or only very partial- Iv. Among these are the A'ti^*- of Bengal and Eastern Nagpoor, the Khonds of Central India, the Bheels of the Yindhya Mountains, the Khaudesh IMalwah, etc., of Cen- tral India, and others in the south amid the forests of the Neilgherry Hills, in Guzerat, and other places (see Edinh. Review, April, 18(U). These preserve their own habits, even where Hinduism most presses them. They have no castes, their widows are allowed to remarry, they have no objection to any kind of flesh, and other- wise differ greatly from the Aryan peoples.
The least raised above their primitive condition are the Khonds of Orissa, who '• occupy a district about two hundred miles long by one himdred and seventy broad, in liampur, in the district of Gunjam" (Brace, p. 1-1:2), a tract of land back from the coast of the Bay of Bengal, where it trends eastward to Calcutta and southward to Madras, and embracing the plateaux of the Vindliya and other mountains.
Name. — They term themselves Knee, Kui, Koinga, Kivinr/u, but are known to Europeans by their Hindu name of Khorul or Kond. Their language is affiliated with the Uriya (Ooriya), but the dialects are many, and often "a Khond of one district has been found unable to hold communication with one of a neighboring tribe." The speech has " a peculiar pectoral enunciation." Eth- nologicaUy, all these tribes are Turanian or jMongolian.
Domestic Relations. — jMarriage may only take jilace without the tribe, but never with strangers, the tribes intermarrying. Boys often op- twelve year^ of age are married to girls of liftcen or sixteen, the arrangements being always made by the parents. The father of the bridegroom generally pays twenty or thirty '" hves" of cattle to the bride's father. The marriage rite itself is
very simple. The father of the bridegroom, with his family and friends, bears « quantity of rice and liquor in procession to the house of the parents of the girl. The priest takes it, and dashes the bowl down, and pours out a libation to the gods. The parents of the parties join hands, and declare the contract completed. An en- tertainment follows, with dancing and song. Late at night the married pair are carried out on the shoulders of their respective uncles, when, the burdens being sud- denly exchanged, the boy's uncle disappears, and the company assembled divides into two parties, who go through a mock conflict ; and thus the semblance of a forcible abduction, remains or indications of which are found so frequently in widely separated quarters, are preserved among the Khonds of Orissa (see M'Lennan's Primitive Marriage). The marriage contract is, how- ever, loosely held. If chikllcss, the wife may return to her father at any time, or, in any event, within six months of the marriage if the money given at her mar- riage be restored to her father. She cannot be forcibly retained, however, even if the money be not returned. If her withdrawal be voluntary she cannot contract an- other matrimonial alliance. A man maj' ally himself with another woman than his wife, with the wife's con- sent. Concubinage is not disgraceful, fathers of re- spectable families allowing their daughters to contract such marriages. An unmarried woman may become a mother without disgrace.