his daughter in marriage for a price, or, as it called by the natives themselves, sells his daughter, is despised by his fellow Bráhmans.
Thaks or Unions.—The difficulty of securing husbands for their daughters has led many Kulin families to form themselves into unions called tháks, and of these the one called Trikul Paribartta deserves notice. About two hundred years ago, three Kulin Bráhmans took an oath upon the sacred water of the Ganges only to intermarry among each other after their descendants had sufficiently increased. They have now multiplied to hundreds of families, and still keep the promise made by their ancestors. They seldom form connections out of their own union or thák, rarely marry more than one wife, and never give or receive money as the price of marriage.
Titles and Nomenclature of Rarhi Brahmans.—The Rárhi Bráhmans are divided into five septs or gotras, each of which bears the name of some pre-historic sage. These are—(1) the Bharadwáj, (2) Kásyap, (3) Sándilya, (4) Bátsya, and (5) Sábarna. Ballál Sen gave different titles (upádhís) to the various families of Bráhmans he classified. To one class he gave the title of Mukha, whose descendants are known as Mukhopádhyáyas or Mukharjis. The other great Bráhman families, the Bandopádhyáyas or Bánarjis, Chattopádhyáyas or Cháttarjis, and Gangopádhyáyas or Gángulis, have a similar origin. Other titles were subsequently given by Hindu Rájás and Muhammadan Governors, such as Rái, Chaudhri, Majumdár, Háldár, etc., which have in many cases superseded the original title or family name. Bráhmans of the same gotra cannot intermarry. A Mukharji cannot marry with a Mukharji, for all Mukharjis belong to same gotra or sept. The same applies to the Cháttarjis. With regard to Gángulis, however, it is different, as among them there are two gotras, the Beger Gánguli and Amáti Gánguli, and intermarriage between a Beger and an Amáti would be lawful.
The Vaidik Brahmans emigrated, according to tradition, from Orissa, before the arrival of the five Bráhmans from Oudh. They formed, therefore, the original priestly class of this part of the country; and, according to one account, it was in consequence of their refusal to act as sacrificial priests to King Adisur, on the ground of his not being a Bráhman, that that monarch brought down the five Bráhmans from Kanauj. The Vaidiks are divided into two classes, the Dákshinátyas, or first emigrants from Orissa, and the Páschátyas,
