The caste have a number of subdivisions, mainly of a territorial
nature. Among these are the Maratha Kasars; the Deshkar, who also
belong to the Maratha country; the Pardeshi or foreigners, the
Jhade or residents of the forest country of the Central Provinces,
and the Audhia or Ajudhiabasi who are immigrants from Oudh. Another
subdivision, the Bharewas, are of a distinctly lower status than the
body of the caste, and have non-Aryan customs, such as the eating of
pork. They make the heavy brass ornaments which the Gonds and other
tribes wear on their legs, and are probably an occupational offshoot
from one of these tribes. In Chanda some of the Bharewas serve as
grooms and are looked down upon by the others. They have totemistic
septs, named after animals and plants, some of which are Gond words;
and among them the bride goes to the bridegroom's house to be married,
which is a Gond custom. The Bharewas may more properly be considered as
a separate caste of lower status. As previously stated, the Maratha and
Deshkar subcastes of the Maratha country no longer make vessels, but
only keep them for sale. One subcaste, the Otaris, make vessels from
moulds, while the remainder cut and hammer into shape the imported
sheets of brass. Lastly comes a group comprising those members of
the caste who are of doubtful or illegitimate descent, and these are
known either as Takle ('Thrown out' in Marathi), Bidur, 'Bastard,'
or Laondi Bachcha, 'Issue of a kept wife.' In the Maratha country the
Kasars, as already seen, say that they all belong to one gotra, the
Ahihaya. They have, however, collections of families distinguished by
different surnames, and persons having the same surname are forbidden
to marry. In the northern Districts they have the usual collection
of exogamous septs, usually named after villages.