2. Exogamous divisions.
The caste has twelve exogamous septs, though the list is probably not complete. These appear to be derived from the names of villages. Marriage is forbidden between the Bāghmār and Bāghcharia septs, the Marātha and Khatnāgar and Marālwati septs and the Sonwāni and Sonsonwāni septs. These septs are said to have been subdivided and to be still related. The names Bāghmār and Bāghcharia are both derived from the tiger; Sonnwāni is from Sona-pāni or gold-water, and the Sonsonwāni sept seems therefore to be the aristocratic branch or crême de la crême of the Sonwānis. The children of brothers and sisters may marry but not those of two sisters, because a man’s maternal aunt or mausi is considered as equivalent to his mother. A man may also marry his step-sister on the mother’s side, that is the daughter of his own mother by another husband either prior to or subsequent to his father, the step-sister being of a different sept. This relaxation may have been permitted on account of the small numbers of the caste and the consequent difficulty of arranging marriages.