As already stated, the Daharias were originally a clan of Rajputs,
whose members must take wives or husbands from other clans. They
have now become a caste and marry among themselves, but within the
caste they still have exogamous groups or septs, several of which are
named after Rajput clans as Bais, Chandel, Baghel, Bundela, Mainpuri
Chauhan, Parihar, Rathor and several others. Certain names are not of
Rajput origin, and probably record the admission of outsiders into the
caste. Like the Rajputs, within the sept they have also subsepts, some
of which are taken from the Brahmans, as Parasar, Bharadwaj, Sandilya,
while others are nicknames, as Kachariha (one who does not care about
a beating), Atariha, Hiyas and others. The divisions of the septs and
subsepts are very confused, and seem to indicate that at different
times various foreign elements have been received into the community,
including Rajputs of many different clans. According to rule, a man
should not take a wife whose sept or subsept are the same as his own,
but this is not adhered to; and in some cases the Daharias, on account
of the paucity of their numbers and the difficulty of arranging
matches, have been driven to permit the marriage of first cousins,
which among proper Rajputs is forbidden. They also practise hypergamy,
as members of the Mainpuri Chauhan, Hiyas, Bisen, Surkhi and Bais septs
or subsepts will take girls in marriage from families of other septs,
but will not give their daughters to them. This practice leads to
polygamy among the five higher septs, whose daughters are all married
in their own circle, while in addition they receive girls from the
other groups. Members of these latter also consider it an honour to
marry a daughter into one of the higher septs, and are willing to pay
a considerable price for such a distinction. It seems probable that the
small Daraiha caste of Bilaspur are an inferior branch of the Daharias.