2. Internal structure: totemism.
The subcastes returned from the Mandla District have already been mentioned. In Bilāspur they have quite different ones, of which two, Joharia and Pailagia, are derived from methods of greeting. Johār is the salutation which a Rājpūt prince sends to a vassal or chief of inferior rank, and Pailagi or ‘I fall at your feet’ is that with which a member of a lower caste accosts a Brāhman. How such names came to be adopted as subcastes cannot be explained. The caste have a number of exogamous groups named after plants and animals. Members of the Bel,[3] Rusallo and Chheola[4] septs revere the trees after which these septs are named. They will not cut or injure the tree, and at the time of marriage they go and invite it to be present at the ceremony. They offer to the tree the maihar cake, which is given only to the members of the family and the husbands and children of daughters. Those belonging to the Nagotia sept[5] will not kill a snake, and at the time of marriage they deposit the maihar cake at a snake-hole. Members of the Singh (lion) and Bāgh (tiger) septs will not kill a tiger, and at their weddings they draw his image on a wall and offer the cake to it, being well aware that if they approached the animal himself, he would probably repudiate the relationship and might not be satisfied with the cake for his meal.