Mr. Cumberlege gives four main divisions of the caste in Berar, the
Charans, Mathurias, Labhanas and Dharis. Of these the Charans are
by far the most numerous and important, and included all the famous
leaders of the caste mentioned above. The Charans are divided into
the five clans, Rathor, Panwar, Chauhan, Puri and Jadon or Burthia,
all of these being the names of leading Rajput clans; and as the
Charan bards themselves were probably Rajputs, the Banjaras, who
are descended from them, may claim the same lineage. Each clan or
sept is divided into a number of subsepts; thus among the Rathors
the principal subsept is the Bhurkia, called after the Bhika Rathor
already mentioned; and this is again split into four groups, Mersi,
Multasi, Dheda and Khamdar, named after his four sons. As a rule,
members of the same clan, Panwar, Rathor and so on, may not intermarry,
but Mr. Cumberlege states that a man belonging to the Banod or Bhurkia
subsepts of the Rathors must not take a wife from his own subsept,
but may marry any other Rathor girl. It seems probable that the same
rule may hold with the other subsepts, as it is most unlikely that
intermarriage should still be prohibited among so large a body as the
Rathor Charans have now become. It may be supposed therefore that the
division into subsepts took place when it became too inconvenient
to prohibit marriage throughout the whole body of the sept, as
has happened in other cases. The Mathuria Banjaras take their name
from Mathura or Muttra and appear to be Brahmans. "They wear the
sacred thread, [194] know the _Gayatri Mantra_, and to the present
day abstain from meat and liquor, subsisting entirely on grain and
vegetables. They always had a sufficiency of Charans and servants
(_Jangar_) in their villages to perform all necessary manual labour,
and would not themselves work for a remuneration otherwise than by
carrying grain, which was and still is their legitimate occupation;
but it was not considered undignified to cut wood and grass for the
household. Both Mathuria and Labhana men are fairer than the Charans;
they wear better jewellery and their loin-cloths have a silk border,
while those of the Charans are of rough, common cloth." The Mathurias
are sometimes known as Ahiwasi, and may be connected with the Ahiwasis
of the Hindustani Districts, who also drive pack-bullocks and call
themselves Brahmans. But it is naturally a sin for a Brahman to load
the sacred ox, and any one who does so is held to have derogated
from the priestly order. The Mathurias are divided according to
Mr. Cumberlege into four groups called Pande, Dube, Tiwari and Chaube,
all of which are common titles of Hindustani Brahmans and signify
a man learned in one, two, three and four Vedas respectively. It is
probable that these groups are exogamous, marrying with each other,
but this is not stated. The third division, the Labhanas, may derive
their name from _lavana_, salt, and probably devoted themselves more
especially to the carriage of this staple. They are said to be Rajputs,
and to be descended from Mota and Mola, the cowherds of Krishna. The
fourth subdivision are the Dharis or bards of the caste, who rank
below the others. According to their own story [195] their ancestor
was a member of the Bhat caste, who became a disciple of Nanak,
the Sikh apostle, and with him attended a feast given by the Mughal
Emperor Humayun. Here he ate the flesh of a cow or buffalo, and in
consequence became a Muhammadan and was circumcised. He was employed
as a musician at the Mughal court, and his sons joined the Charans and
became the bards of the Banjara caste. "The Dharis," Mr. Cumberlege
continues, "are both musicians and mendicants; they sing in praise
of their own and the Charan ancestors and of the old kings of Delhi;
while at certain seasons of the year they visit Charan hamlets, when
each family gives them a young bullock or a few rupees. They are
Muhammadans, but worship Sarasvati and at their marriages offer up
a he-goat to Gaji and Gandha, the two sons of the original Bhat, who
became a Muhammadan. At burials a Fakir is called to read the prayers."