who came at a subsequent period. They are celebrated for their profound learning, which has secured for many of them the office of spiritual instructors to Rárhi Bráhmans. They do not fall within any of the classifications of Báhmans made by Ballál Sen, but long contact with the Rárhis has given rise to similar grades among themselves. Whether the Vaidik Bráhmans of the 24 Parganás really came from Orissa, or were only a branch of the first Bráhman stock which spread to Orissa, cannot now be ascertained.
Child Marriages.—The great social blot of the Vaidiks is the practice of child-betrothals, just as polygamy is the reproach of Rárhi Kulinism. Infants are formally betrothed when but two or three months old, in the presence of respectable witnesses. As soon as a daughter is born, the father immediately looks out for a male child belonging to a family equal in rank with himself. When he has succeeded in his search, and obtained the consent of its parents, he returns to his house, summons his relatives and neighbours to a feast, and solemnly affirms before them that his daughter is betrothed to such and such a man’s babe. Nothing will induce him to break the oath which he thus takes; and when the children arrive at the age of nine years, the marriage ceremony is performed according to the Sástras. In the case of the bridegroom dying before the ceremony, the girl is married to a man of lower family, but still a Vaidik Bráhman. This circumstance does not affect the rank of the father, but he, as well as every pure Vaidik, looks upon the unfortunate daughter as an outcast, and will not eat from her hands. Such girls are called Anupúrbás. The death of the girl, however, before the actual marriage, does not affect the position of the intended bridegroom. The Vaidiks are divided into the following five septs (gotras):—Kánnayan, Bátsya, Bharadwáj, Ghrita Kaushik, and Kásyap. The principal villages of the Vaidiks in the 24 Parganás are Rájpur, Majilpur, Jainagar, and Murágáchhá, to the south of Calcutta, and Bhátpárá, opposite Chinsurah, on the banks of the Húglí.
Other Brahmans.—I have reserved an account of the Bárendra Bráhmans for my Statistical Account of Rájsháhí, to which District they properly belong, and from which and the neighbouring Districts they have emigrated into the 24 Parganás. The Kanauj Bráhmans are recent immigrants from Northern India, and number very few in the 24 Parganás. Particulars regarding them will be found in my Statistical Account of Bardwán, where they have settled in
