Each subcaste has a number of exogamous septs or clans which serve
as a table of affinities in regulating marriage. The vernacular
term for these is _kul_. Some of the septs are named after natural
objects or animals, others from titles or nicknames borne by the
reputed founder of the group, or from some other caste to which he
may have belonged, while others again are derived from the names
of villages which maybe taken to have been the original home of the
sept or clan. The following are some septs of the Tirole subcaste:
Kole, jackal; Wankhede, a village; Kadu, bitter; Jagthap, famous;
Kadam, a tree; Meghe, a cloud; Lohekari, a worker in iron; Ughde,
a child who has been exposed at birth; Shinde, a palm-tree; Hagre,
one who suffers from diarrhoea; Aglawe, an incendiary; Kalamkar,
a writer; Wani (Bania), a caste; Sutar, a carpenter, and so on,
A few of the groups of the Baone subcaste are:--Kantode, one with a
torn ear; Dokarmare, a killer of pigs; Lute, a plunderer; Titarmare,
a pigeon-killer; and of the Khedule: Patre, a leaf-plate; Ghoremare,
one who killed a horse; Bagmare, a tiger-slayer; Gadhe, a donkey;
Burade, one of the Burud or Basor caste; Naktode, one with a broken
nose, and so on. Each subcaste has a number of septs, a total of 66
being recorded for the Tiroles alone. The names of the septs confirm
the hypothesis arrived at from a scrutiny of the subcastes that
the Kunbis are largely recruited from the pre-Aryan or aboriginal
tribes. Conclusions as to the origin of the caste can better be
made in its home in Bombay, but it may be noted that in Canara,
according to the accomplished author of _A Naturalist on the Prowl_
[26] the Kunbi is quite a primitive forest-dweller, who only a few
years back lived by scattering his seed on patches of land burnt clear
of vegetation, collecting myrobalans and other fruits, and snaring
and trapping animals exactly like the Gonds and Baigas of the Central
Provinces. Similarly in Nasik it is stated that a large proportion
of the Kunbi caste are probably derived from the primitive tribes
[27]. Yet in the cultivated plains which he has so largely occupied,
he is reckoned the equal in rank of the Kurmi and other cultivating
castes of Hindustan, who in theory at any rate are of Aryan origin and
of so high a grade of social purity that Brahmans will take water from
them. The only reasonable explanation of this rise in status appears to
be that the Kunbi has taken possession of the land and has obtained the
rank which from time immemorial belongs to the hereditary cultivator
as a member and citizen of the village community. It is interesting
to note that the Wanjari Kunbis of Berar, who, being as already seen
Banjaras, are of Rajput descent at any rate, now strenuously disclaim
all connection with the Banjara caste and regard their reception into
the Kunbi community as a gain in status. At the same time the refusal
of the Maratha Brahmans to take water to drink from Kunbis may perhaps
have been due to the recognition of their non-Aryan origin. Most of
the Kunbis also eat fowls, which the cultivating castes of northern
India would not usually do.