ajput blood than the Kunbis,
but this is not always the case. The distinction between Kunbis
and Marathas is almost entirely social, the Marathas as a rule being
better off, and preferring even service as a constable or messenger to
husbandry." Exactly the same state of affairs prevails in the Central
Provinces and Berar, where the body of the caste are commonly known
as Maratha Kunbis. In Bombay the Marathas will take daughters from
the Kunbis in marriage for their sons, though they will not give
their daughters in return. But a Kunbi who has got on in the world
and become wealthy may by sufficient payment get his sons married into
Maratha families, and even be adopted as a member of the caste. [211]
In 1798 Colonel Tone, who commanded a regiment of the Peshwa's army,
wrote [212] of the Marathas: "The three great tribes which compose the
Maratha caste are the Kunbi or farmer, the Dhangar or shepherd, and the
Goala or cowherd; to this original cause may perhaps be ascribed that
great simplicity of manner which distinguishes the Maratha people."

It seems then most probable that, as already stated, the Maratha
caste was of purely military origin, constituted from the various
castes of Maharashtra who adopted military service, though some of
the leading families may have had Rajputs for their ancestors. Sir
D. Ibbetson thought that a similar relation existed in past times
between the Rajputs and Jats, the landed aristocracy of the Jat caste
being gradually admitted to Rajput rank. The Khandaits or swordsmen of
Orissa are a caste formed in the same manner from military service. In
the _Imperial Gazetteer_ Sir H. Risley suggests that the Maratha
people were of Scythian origin:

"The physical type of the people of this region accords fairly
well with this theory, while the arguments derived from language
and religion do not seem to conflict with it.... On this view the
wide-ranging forays of the Marathas, their guerilla methods of warfare,
their unscrupulous dealings with friend and foe, their genius for
intrigue and their consequent failure to build up an enduring dominion,
might well be regarded as inherited from their Scythian ancestors."

4. Exogamous clans

In the Central Provinces the Marathas are divided into 96 exogamous
clans, known as the Chhanava Kule, which marry with one another. During
the period when the Bhonsla family were rulers of Nagpur they
constituted a sort of inner circle, consisting of seven