onpur,
and Patharia, from the hill country. The name Badnagrya is also
really territorial, being derived from the town of Badnagar, but
the members of the section connect it with the _bad_ or banyan tree,
the leaves of which they refrain from eating. Two other totemistic
gotras are the Baranga and Baignya, derived from the _barang_ plant
(_Kydia calycina_) and from the brinjal respectively. Some sections
have the names of Rajput septs, as Chauhan, Parihar and Panwar. This
curiously mixed list of family names appears to indicate that the
Bhoyars originate from a small band of Rajputs who must have settled
in the District about the fifteenth century as military colonists,
and taken their wives from the people of the country. They may have
subsequently been recruited by fresh bands of immigrants who have
preserved a slightly higher status. They have abandoned their old high
position, and now rank below the ordinary cultivating castes like
Kunbis and Kurmis who arrived later; while the caste has probably
in times past also been recruited to a considerable extent by the
admission of families of outsiders.

3. Marriage.

Marriage within the _kul_ or family group is forbidden, as also the
union of first cousins. Girls are usually married young, and sometimes
infants of one or two months are given in wedlock, while contracts
of betrothal are made for unborn children if they should be of the
proper sex, the mother's womb being touched with _kunku_ or red powder
to seal the agreement. A small _dej_ or price is usually paid for the
bride, amounting to Rs. 5 with 240 lbs. of grain, and 8 seers of _ghi_
and oil. At the betrothal the Joshi or astrologer is consulted to see
whether the names of the couple make an auspicious conjunction. He asks
for the names of the bride and bridegroom, and if these are found to be
inimical another set of names is given, and the experiment is continued
until a union is obtained which is astrologically auspicious. In order
to provide for this contingency some Bhoyars give their children ten
or twelve names at birth. If all the names fail, the Joshi invents new
ones of his own, and in some way brings about the auspicious union
to the satisfaction of both parties, who consider it no business
of theirs to pry into the Joshi's calculations or to question his
methods. After the marriage-shed is erected the family god must be
invoked to be present at the ceremony. He is asked to come and take
his se