 The Bharwads have numerous subgroups known as "ataks" or "guls" (clans) whose main purpose is to determine eligibility for marriage.A constrained exogamy is practised between clans but endogamy exists between the two Saurashtrian divisions despite there being no other social constraints on mixing.The Saurashtra Bharwads also hold a higher status than those in the south and thus marriage between the two regional groups operates in one direction only