The bulk of these artisan and manufacturing castes tell stories showing
that their ancestors were Kayasths and Rajputs, but no importance
can be attached to such legends, which are obviously manufactured
by the family priests to minister to the harmless vanity of their
clients. To support their claim the Lakheras have divided themselves
like the Rajputs into the Surajvansi and Somvansi subcastes or those
who belong to the Solar and Lunar races. Other subdivisions are the
Marwari or those coming from Marwar in Rajputana, and the Tarkhera
or makers of the large earrings which low-caste women wear. These
consist of a circular piece of wood or fibre, nearly an inch across,
which is worked through a large hole in the lobe of the ear. It
is often the stalk of the _ambari_ fibre, and on the outer end is
fixed a slab decorated with little pieces of glass. The exogamous
sections of the Lakheras are generally named after animals, plants
and natural objects, and indicate that the caste is recruited from the
lower classes of the population. Their social customs resemble those
of the middle and lower Hindustani castes. Girls are married at an
early age when the parents can afford the expense of the ceremony,
but no penalty is incurred if the wedding is postponed for want of
means. The remarriage of widows and divorce are permitted. They eat
flesh, but not fowls or pork, and some of them drink liquor, while
others abstain. Rajputs and Banias will take water from them, but not
Brahmans. In Bombay, however, they are considered to rank above Kunbis.