The structure of the tribe is a very loose one, and though the
Bharias say that they are divided into subcastes, there are none
in reality. Members of all castes except the very lowest may become
Bharias, and one Bharia will recognise another as a fellow-tribesman
if he can show relationship to any person admitted to occupy that
position. But a division is in process of formation in Bilaspur
based on the practice of eating beef, from which some abstain,
and in consequence look down on the others who are addicted to it,
and call them Dhur Bharias, the term _dhur_ meaning cattle. The
abstainers from beef now refuse to marry with the others. The tribe
is divided into a number of exogamous groups, and the names of these
indicate the very heterogeneous elements of which it consists. Out of
fifty-one groups reported not less than fifteen or sixteen have names
derived from other castes or clans, showing almost certainly that such
groups were formed by a mixed marriage or the admission of a family of
outsiders. Such names are: Agaria, from the Agarias or iron-workers:
this clan worships Loha-Sur, the god of the Agarias; Ahirwar, or the
descendants of an Ahir: this clan worships the Ahir gods; Bamhania,
born of a Brahman ancestor; Binjhwar or Binjha, perhaps from the
tribe of that name; Chandel, from a Rajput clan; Dagdoha, a synonym
of Basor: persons of this sept hang a piece of bamboo and a curved
knife to the waist of the bride at their marriages; Dhurua, born of
a Dhurua Gond; Kuanpa, born of an Ahir subcaste of that name; Kurka,
of Korku parentage; Maravi, the name of a Gond clan; Rathor from a
Rajput clan; Samarba from a Chamar; and Yarkara, the name of a Gond
clan. These names sufficiently indicate the diverse elements of which
the tribe is made up. Other group names with meanings are: Gambhele,
or those who seclude their women in a separate house during the
menstrual period; Kaitha, from the _kaith_ tree (_Feronia elephantum_);
Karondiha, from the _karonda_ plant (_Carissa Carandas_); Magarha,
from _magar_ a crocodile: members of this group worship an image of
a crocodile made with flour and fried in oil; Sonwani, from _sona_
gold: members of this group perform the ceremony of readmission of
persons temporarily put out of caste by sprinkling on them a little
water in which gold has been dipped. Any person who does not know his
clan name calls himself a Chandel, and this group, though bearing the
name of a distinguished Rajput clan, is looked upon as the lowest. But
although the rule of exogamy in marriage is recognised, it is by no
means strictly adhered to, and many cases are known in which unions
have taken place between members of the same clan. So long as people
can recollect a relationship between themselves, they do not permit
their families to intermarry. But the memory of the Bharia does not
extend beyond the third generation.