Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s3.2.3

c48.s3.2.3

In Rājputāna, the Brahma, or Birm Bhāṭs are treated as Gaur Brāhmaṇs, and in the east of Oudh, that sub-caste of Brāhman which is native to the locality, actually performs the duties of bard, and sometimes of genealogist. Again, the person of a Bhāṭ has always been considered inviolable, like that of Brāhman. On the other hand, a Brāhman is never known to drop his exogamous subdivision by Gōtra, whilst the Bhāṭ are subdivided according to Rājput custom. The inviolability of the Bhāṭ, too, may be attributed not only to the character of herald or privileged messenger or forerunner of Chiefs, but to the inexpiable guilt of destroying the only recognised authority upon pedigree, and the apprehension of the vengeance or reprisals that would infallibly follow such an outrage. It is true that the Bhaṭrāzu of the Telugu country are subdivided into the Brāhmanical gōtra, but this branch of the caste is an exotic, introduced, under the name of Māgadha, through Orissa and probably from Bihār, in the course of invasions of the Āndhra region from the north, and has not kept up either its traditions or its occupation amongst the once military Dravidian castes to which it was attached. On the other side, there is the fact that the Bhāṭ is a distinctively Rājput institution, and, except for the colonies in Telingāna and eastern Bengal, is only found where Rājput influence is supreme.