2. Sept and subsept.
As already stated, the Daharias were originally a clan of Rājpūts, whose members must take wives or husbands from other clans. They have now become a caste and marry among themselves, but within the caste they still have exogamous groups or septs, several of which are named after Rājpūt clans as Bais, Chandel, Baghel, Bundela, Mainpuri Chauhān, Parihār, Rāthor and several others. Certain names are not of Rājpūt origin, and probably record the admission of outsiders into the caste. Like the Rājpūts, within the sept they have also subsepts, some of which are taken from the Brāhmans, as Parāsar, Bhāradwāj, Sāndilya, while others are nicknames, as Kachariha (one who does not care about a beating), Atariha, Hiyās and others. The divisions of the septs and subsepts are very confused, and seem to indicate that at different times various foreign elements have been received into the community, including Rājpūts of many different clans. According to rule, a man should not take a wife whose sept or subsept are the same as his own, but this is not adhered to; and in some cases the Daharias, on account of the paucity of their numbers and the difficulty of arranging matches, have been driven to permit the marriage of first cousins, which among proper Rājpūts is forbidden. They also practise hypergamy, as members of the Mainpuri Chauhān, Hiyās, Bisen, Surkhi and Bais septs or subsepts will take girls in marriage from families of other septs, but will not give their daughters to them. This practice leads to polygamy among the five higher septs, whose daughters are all married in their own circle, while in addition they receive girls from the other groups. Members of these latter also consider it an honour to marry a daughter into one of the higher septs, and are willing to pay a considerable price for such a distinction. It seems probable that the small Daraiha caste of Bilāspur are an inferior branch of the Daharias.