DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31218#0058
THE CASTE SYSTEM OF NORTHERN INDIA
kara nshis. These we may distinguish as subsidiary
gotras. Phe rule of gotra exogamy can now be stated
thus. There are eighteen groups, of which eight consist
of a gotra plus its subsidiary gotras, and no man belong-
ing to any one of these groups may marry a woman also
belonging to it. Every lawgiver insists on this rule,
which Brahmans universally observe, save the hill Brah-
man who neglects his gotra for his that, a local sub-
division.
As has been stated already, the gotra was an Aryan
institution; and this fact explains the
16. The gotra in Brahmanical story of the foundation of
othcr castes ‘Kshatriya’ gotras. A Kshatriya who be-
came a Brahman, as Visvamitra did, would
already belong to a Kshatriya gotra, and on founding a
Brahmanical family would naturally give to it his old
Kshatriya gotra name. None the less the gotras to be
found in non-Brahmanical castes at the present day can-
not be explained in this way. There are very few castes
that date back to Aryan times; possibly the gotras of a
few castes of good position, such as the Agarwal and
other respectable Vaisya groups, the Bhuinhar, Dhusar-
Bhargava, and Khattri, are as old as this, but the
‘gotras’ of most groups most certainly are not. The usual
explanation of their existence is that put forward by Mr.
Crooke : ‘as a caste rises in the social scale, a compliant
priest is always ready to discover an appropriate gotra
for the aspirant.’ No doubt a certain number of gotras,
especially those gotras with correct Brahmanical names
which are occasionally found in low castes, are new
‘creations’ of this kind : for instance, those of the Oj’ha
Lohar, or the Ivalwar, who possess but one gotra each
and that a Brahmanical gotra—the Kasyapa. But in
a great majority of cases, the explanation must be differ-
ent. Practically all castes have exogamous groups of
various kinds : and the commonest vernacular term for
these groups is as a matter of fact got or gotra. In other
words, the true meaning of the word gotra has been ex-
tended to cover the exogamous groups of such castes.
One or two particularly striking instances of this extended
44
kara nshis. These we may distinguish as subsidiary
gotras. Phe rule of gotra exogamy can now be stated
thus. There are eighteen groups, of which eight consist
of a gotra plus its subsidiary gotras, and no man belong-
ing to any one of these groups may marry a woman also
belonging to it. Every lawgiver insists on this rule,
which Brahmans universally observe, save the hill Brah-
man who neglects his gotra for his that, a local sub-
division.
As has been stated already, the gotra was an Aryan
institution; and this fact explains the
16. The gotra in Brahmanical story of the foundation of
othcr castes ‘Kshatriya’ gotras. A Kshatriya who be-
came a Brahman, as Visvamitra did, would
already belong to a Kshatriya gotra, and on founding a
Brahmanical family would naturally give to it his old
Kshatriya gotra name. None the less the gotras to be
found in non-Brahmanical castes at the present day can-
not be explained in this way. There are very few castes
that date back to Aryan times; possibly the gotras of a
few castes of good position, such as the Agarwal and
other respectable Vaisya groups, the Bhuinhar, Dhusar-
Bhargava, and Khattri, are as old as this, but the
‘gotras’ of most groups most certainly are not. The usual
explanation of their existence is that put forward by Mr.
Crooke : ‘as a caste rises in the social scale, a compliant
priest is always ready to discover an appropriate gotra
for the aspirant.’ No doubt a certain number of gotras,
especially those gotras with correct Brahmanical names
which are occasionally found in low castes, are new
‘creations’ of this kind : for instance, those of the Oj’ha
Lohar, or the Ivalwar, who possess but one gotra each
and that a Brahmanical gotra—the Kasyapa. But in
a great majority of cases, the explanation must be differ-
ent. Practically all castes have exogamous groups of
various kinds : and the commonest vernacular term for
these groups is as a matter of fact got or gotra. In other
words, the true meaning of the word gotra has been ex-
tended to cover the exogamous groups of such castes.
One or two particularly striking instances of this extended
44