History of the Parsis : including their manners, customs, religion and present position : with coloured and other illustrations : in two volumes

176 * HISTORY OF THE PARSIS. [CHAP. IV.

as we have before stated, of both the betrothal and the marriage ceremony taking place while the bride and bridegroom are little more than infants.

Certain days in the year are supposed to be propitious for the ceremony, and that is the reason a number of marriages take place on the same day. Several days before the marriage, if the parties are rich, a succession of dinners and “‘natches” are given to friends, and many thousands of rupees are spent in this manner. It is also customary on such occasions for the parents and kinsmen of the bride and bridegroom to exchange presents of ornaments, rich dresses, or both. To the bride valuable ornaments are presented by her father-in-law. These practices are all very well among those who can afford to imcur the expense; but they are extremely injurious to the poorer classes, who often ruin themselves by attempting to imitate their richer neighbours. If their own means are insufficient to bear the expense which they wish to incur, the money-lender is resorted to, and a loan secured at so heavy a premium that the borrower is in consequence frequently embarrassed for the rest of his life.

On the wedding-day large parties are invited by the parents of the bride and bridegroom to witness the nuptial ceremony, which takes place in the evening, after the custom of the Hindus, and according to the promise given to the Rana of Sanjan by the