like the Kayasths, claim to be descendants of
a child of Chandra Sena, a Kshatriya king and himself a son of Arjun,
one of the five Pandava brothers. Chandra Sena was slain by Parasurama,
the Brahman destroyer of the Kshatriyas, but the child was saved by a
Rishi, who promised that he should be brought up as a clerk. The boy
was named Somraj and was married to the daughter of Chitra Gupta, the
recorder of the dead. The caste thus claim Kshatriya origin. The name
Prabhu signifies 'lord,' but the Brahmans pretend that the real name
of the caste was Parbhu, meaning one of irregular birth. The Prabhus
say that Parbhu is a colloquial corruption used by the uneducated. The
_gotras_ of the Prabhus are eponymous, the names being the same as
those of Brahmans. In the Central Provinces many of them have the
surname of Chitnavis or Secretary. Child-marriage is in vogue and
widow-remarriage is forbidden. The wedding ceremony resembles that
of the Brahmans.

In his _Description of a Prabhu marriage_ [448] Rai Bahadur B.A. Gupte
shows how the old customs are being broken through among the educated
classes under the influence of modern ideas. Marriages are no longer
arranged without regard to the wishes of the couple, which are thus
ascertained: "The next step [449] is to find out the inclination of the
hero of the tale. His friends and equals do that easily enough. They
begin talking of the family and the girl, and are soon able to fathom
his mind. They leave on his desk all the photographs of the girls
offered and watch his movements. If he is sensible he quietly drops
or returns all the likenesses except the one he prefers, and keeps
this in his drawer. He dare not display it, for it is immodest to do
so. The news of the approval by the boy soon reaches the parents of the
girl." Similarly in her case: "The girl has no direct voice, but her
likes and dislikes are carefully fathomed through her girl friends. If
she says, 'Why is papa in such a hurry to get rid of me,' or turns
her face and goes away as soon as the proposed family is mentioned,
a sensible father drops the case and turns his attention to some other
boy. This is the direct result of higher education under British rule,
but among the masses the girl has absolutely no voice, and the boy has
very little unless he revolts and disobediently declines to accept a
girl already selected." Similarly the educated Prabhus are beginning
to dispense with the astrologer's calculations