Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v1.c17.s5.11

v1.c17.s5.11

Each race (sakha) has its Gotracharya,³ a genealogical creed, describing [82] the essential peculiarities, religious tenets, and pristine locale of the clan. Every Rajput should be able to repeat this; though it is now confined to the family priest or the genealogist. Many chiefs, in these degenerate days, would be astonished if asked to repeat their gotracharya, and would refer to the bard. It is a touchstone of affinities, and guardian of the laws of intermarriage. When the inhibited degrees of propinquity have been broken, it has been known to rectify the mistake, where, however, “ignorance was bliss.” ⁴