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CHAP. III.

MARRIAGES.

-CONDITION OF WOMEN..

FUNERALS, &c.

THE Afghauns purchase their wives. The practice is recognised by the Mahometan law, and is followed in most parts of Asia, even among nations like the Chinese, where the Mussulman religion is unknown. The price varies among the Afghauns, according to the circumstances of the bridegroom. The effect of the practice is, that women, though generally well treated, are in some measure considered as property. A husband can divorce his wife without assigning any reason, but the wife cannot divorce her husband; she may sue for a divorce on good grounds before the Cauzy, but even this is little practised. If the husband dies before his wife, his relations receive the price that is paid for her, in case of a second marriage; but among the Afghauns, as among the Jews, it is thought incumbent on the brother of the deceased to marry his widow, and it is a mortal affront to the brother, for any other person to marry her without his consent. The widow,

against her will, and if she have children, it is thought most becoming to remain single.

The common age for marriage throughout the Afghaun country is twenty for the man, and fif teen or sixteen for the woman. Men unable to pay the price of a wife, are often unmarried till forty, and women are sometimes single till twenty-five. On the other hand, the rich sometimes marry before the age of puberty; people in towns also marry early, and the eastern Afghauns marry boys of fifteen to girls of twelve, and even earlier when they can afford the expense. The western Afghauns seldom marry till the man has attained his full strength, and till his beard is grown; and the Ghiljies have still later marriages. In all parts of the country, the age at which every individual marries, is regulated by his ability to purchase a wife, and to maintain a family. In general, men marry among their own tribe, but the Afghauns often take Taujik, and even Persian wives. These matches are not at all discreditable, but it is reckoned a mark of inferiority to give a daughter in marriage, and, consequently, the men of rank, and the whole of the Dooraunees, refuse their daughters to men of nation.

any other

In towns, men have no opportunities of seeing the women, and matches are generally made from considerations of expediency. When a

man has thought of a particular girl, he sends a female relation, or neighbour, to see her, and report on her: if he is pleased, the same lady sounds the girl's mother, and discovers whether her family are disposed to consent to the match: and if the result be favourable, she makes an offer in plain terms, and settles a day for a public proposal. On the appointed day, the father of the suitor goes, with a party of his male relations, to the girl's father: while a similar deputation of women waits on her mother, and makes the offer in form. The suitor sends a ring, a shawl, or some such present to his mistress, and his father begs the girl's father to accept his son for his servant; the girl's father answers Mobaurik baushud, “ May it be auspicious;" upon this, sweetmeats are brought in, of which both parties partake, after solemnly repeating the Fauteheh, or opening verse of the Koraun, and praying for a blessing on the couple the girl's father makes some trifling present to the lover, and from this time the parties are considered as affianced. A considerable time elapses before the marriage is celebrated. It is employed by the relations of the bride in preparing her dowry, which generally consists in articles of household furniture, carpets, plates, brazen and iron vessels, and personal ornaments. The bridegroom, in the mean time, is collecting

ceeds her dower, and in preparing a house, and whatever else is necessary for setting up a family. When the bridegroom is poor, these preparations sometimes occupy a year or two; but when he is rich, the period is not above two or three months. The ceremonies of the marriage are so exactly the same with those of the Persians*, that a short account of them here will suffice.

The marriage contract is drawn up by the Cauzy, and formally agreed to by the woman as well as by the man (the consent of relations being of no avail). The articles stipulate for a provision for the wife, in case of a divorce, or of her husband's death; and are signed by both parties, as well as by the Cauzy and competent witnesses. Soon after this, the bride and bridegroom dye their hands and feet with portions of the same henna (a plant used for this species of ornament by women and young men in most Asiatic countries). On the next night, the bride goes in procession to the house of her future husband, attended by a band of music and singers, by the relations of both, and by parties of the neighbours, wheeling in circles on horseback, firing their matchlocks, and flourishing their swords. When the bride reaches the house, she is presented to her husband, and the whole concludes with a wedding supper.

*See Franklin's Tour to Sheerauz.

A marriage is conducted in the same manner in the country; but, as the women there go unveiled, and there is less restraint in the intercourse between the sexes, the match generally originates in the attachment of the parties, and all the previous negociations are saved. It is even in the power of an enterprizing lover to obtain his mistress without the consent of her parents, by seizing an opportunity of cutting off a lock of her hair, snatching away her veil, or throwing a sheet over her, and proclaiming her his affianced wife. These proceedings, which are supposed to be done with the girl's connivance, would prevent any other suitor proposing to her, and would incline the parents to bestow her on the declared lover; but, as they would not exempt him from the necessity of paying some price, and, as they might be taken up as an affront by the relations, they are not often resorted to; and, when the consent of the parents cannot be obtained, the most common expedient is to elope with the girl. This is considered as an outrage to a family, equal to murdering one of its members, and is pursued with the same rancour, but the possession of the girl is secured. The fugitives take refuge in the lands of some other tribe, and are sure of the protection which the Afghaun customs afford to every guest, and still more to every suppliant.