The following endogamous divisions of the caste have been reported:
Chaurasia, so called from the Chaurasi pargana of the Mirzapur
District; Panagaria from Panagar in Jubbulpore; Mahobia from Mahoba
in Hamirpur; Jaiswar from the town of Jais in the Rai Bareli District
of the United Provinces; Gangapari, coming from the further side of
the Ganges; and Pardeshi or Deshwari, foreigners. The above divisions
all have territorial names, and these show that a large proportion
of the caste have come from northern India, the different batches
of immigrants forming separate endogamous groups on their arrival
here. Other subcastes are the Dudh Barais, from _dudh_, milk;
the Kuman, said to be Kunbis who have adopted this occupation and
become Barais; the Jharia and Kosaria, the oldest or jungly Barais,
and those who live in Chhattisgarh; the Purania or old Barais; the
Kumhardhang, who are said to be the descendants of a potter on whose
wheel a betel-vine grew; and the Lahuri Sen, who are a subcaste formed
of the descendants of irregular unions. None of the other subcastes
will take food from these last, and the name is locally derived from
_lahuri_, lower, and _sen_ or _shreni_, class. The caste is also
divided into a large number of exogamous groups or septs which may
be classified according to their names as territorial, titular and
totemistic. Examples of territorial names are: Kanaujia of Kanauj,
Burhanpuria of Burhanpur, Chitoria of Chitor in Rajputana, Deobijha
the name of a village in Chhattisgarh, and Kharondiha from Kharond
or Kalahandi State. These names must apparently have been adopted at
random when a family either settled in one of these places or removed
from it to another part of the country. Examples of titular names
of groups are: Pandit (priest), Bhandari (store-keeper), Patharha
(hail-averter), Batkaphor (pot-breaker), Bhulya (the forgetful one),
Gujar (a caste), Gahoi (a caste), and so on. While the following are
totemistic groups: Katara (dagger), Kulha (jackal), Bandrele (monkey),
Chikhalkar (from _chikhal_, mud), Richharia (bear), and others. Where
the group is named after another caste it probably indicates that a
man of that caste became a Barai and founded a family; while the fact
that some groups are totemistic shows that a section of the caste
is recruited from the indigenous tribes. The large variety of names
discloses the diverse elements of which the caste is made up.