Baiswâr.—A tribe found in the hill country of Mirzapur, whose origin is doubtful. Their own account is that they are Râjputs of the famous Bais stock of Dundiya Khera, [209] and that two brothers being condemned to death by the Râja escaped into Rîwa, where the Râja gave them estates. For the last eight or nine generations they have been migrating into Mirzapur. They admit that they are now endogamous, and have no connection with Baiswâra. Their tribal worship is conducted at a temple of Bhawâni, in Bardi, the south eastern division of Rîwa abutting on Mirzapur. It is very doubtful if they have really any Râjput blood. In appearance they are dark, and have much of the characteristic look of the Dravidian races by whom they are surrounded. [Tribal organization.] 2. Besides this, their sub-divisions, some of which are totemistic, point to a non-Aryan origin. The Khandit take their name from the sword (Khanda), which they hold in great respect. The Bansit respect the bamboo (bâns), from which they say the ancestor of this sept was produced. These, they say, are the two original septs, out of which the remaining five have been derived. The Chaudharis are said to be the offspring of a connection between a Kurmi man and a Baiswâr woman. The Bannait say they are so called because they were residents in the forest. The remaining three septs—Rautiha, Sohâgpuriha, and Piparaha—are said to take their names from three villages in which they settled in Bundelkhand, Revati, Sohâgpur, and Pipara. The Khandit is the most respectable sept, and the others by the rule of hypergamy pay to get wives from them. The septs are exogamous in theory, but apparently the rule is not certain. When one daughter has been married into a family other daughters are, if possible, married into the same family, but this is not the case with sons. The tribal council (panchâyat) is presided over by a headman (mahto), who is of the Khandit sept. The offence of adultery is dealt with much less severely than that of eating with another caste. The tribal punishments are to give seven recitations of parts of the Bhâgavata, to bathe in the Ganges, or to undertake a pilgrimage to Benares, Prayâg, or Mathura. Polygamy is allowed, but monogamy is the rule. The head wife alone joins in family worship. Concubinage and polyandry are prohibited. The marriage age for boys or girls is ten or twelve. There is no purchasing of brides, but her relations have to give a dowry, and it is considered discreditable not to provide this to a suitable amount. Adultery in husband or wife, and eating or smoking with a strange caste, are grounds for divorce. A divorced woman cannot re-marry. Widow marriage in the sagâi form is allowed. The only ceremony is that with a recitation of the Satya Nârâyana the clothes of the pair are knotted together in the presence of the clansmen. Widow marriage outside the family is allowed only if the levir does not claim his sister-in-law under the usual restrictions.