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Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5277b37 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #50346 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50346) diff --git a/old/50346-0.txt b/old/50346-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index cdeeb6b..0000000 --- a/old/50346-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5716 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Women of India, by Otto Rothfeld - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Women of India - -Author: Otto Rothfeld - -Illustrator: M. V. Dhurandhar - -Release Date: October 30, 2015 [EBook #50346] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WOMEN OF INDIA *** - - - - -Produced by Julie Barkley and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - -[Illustration: A BOMBAY LADY] - - - - - WOMEN OF INDIA - - _BY_ - OTTO ROTHFELD, F.R.G.S., I.C.S. - - AUTHOR OF - ‘INDIAN DUST,’ ‘LIFE AND ITS PUPPETS’ - ‘WITH PEN AND RIFLE IN KISHTWAR’ - - _ILLUSTRATED BY_ - M.V. DHURANDHAR - - BOMBAY - D.B. TARAPOREVALA SONS & CO. - - _Printed in Great Britain - by Turnbull & Spears, Edinburgh_ - - DEDICATED - WITH THE DEVOTION OF A LIFETIME - TO THE KINDEST OF FRIENDS - MRS ARGYLL ROBERTSON - A CONSTANT WELL-WISHER OF - INDIAN WOMANHOOD - - - - -Contents - - - CHAP. PAGE - - I. AS THEY ARE 1 - - II. MARRIAGE IN INDIA 15 - - III. THE HINDU WOMAN IN MARRIAGE 31 - - IV. THE LADIES OF THE ARISTOCRACY 61 - - V. THE MIDDLE CLASSES 89 - - VI. THE WORKING AND ABORIGINAL CLASSES 127 - - VII. THE DANCING GIRL 149 - - VIII. WOMAN’S DRESS 175 - - IX. THE MOVING FINGER 197 - - - - -List of Illustrations - - - NO. FACING PAGE - - 1. A BOMBAY LADY _Frontispiece_ - - 2. A PATHARE PRABHU 7 - - 3. WATER-CARRIER FROM AHMEDABAD 8 - - 4. SWEEPER 10 - - 5. FISHER WOMAN OF SIND 19 - - 6. MUSSULMAN ARTISAN FROM KÁTHIAWÁD 23 - - 7. PATHAN WOMAN 26 - - 8. BORAH LADY FROM SURAT 30 - - 9. A BRAHMAN LADY GOING TO THE TEMPLE 37 - - 10. FROM JODHPUR 44 - - 11. A MILL-HAND 53 - - 12. A MAHAR WOMAN 60 - - 13. LADY FROM MEWÁR 69 - - 14. RAJPUT LADY FROM CUTCH 76 - - 15. MAHRATTI LADY 78 - - 16. NAIR LADY 83 - - 17. MUSSULMAN LADY OF NORTHERN INDIA 87 - - 18. FROM BURMAH 90 - - 19. LADY FROM MYSORE 94 - - 20. A SOUTHERN INDIAN TYPE 97 - - 21. BENGALI LADY 99 - - 22. A NÁGAR BEAUTY 101 - - 23. JAIN NUN 108 - - 24. BHATIA LADY 110 - - 25. KHOJA LADY IN BOMBAY 112 - - 26. MEMAN LADY WALKING 117 - - 27. PARSI FASHION 124 - - 28. DYER GIRL IN AHMEDABAD 129 - - 29. MUSSULMAN WEAVER 131 - - 30. CAMBAY TYPE 133 - - 31. THE MILKMAID 135 - - 32. A FISHWIFE OF BOMBAY 138 - - 33. TODA WOMAN IN THE NILGIRIES 140 - - 34. GOND WOMAN 142 - - 35. BHIL GIRL 145 - - 36. DANCER IN MIRZAPUR 154 - - 37. MUSSULMAN NAUTCH-GIRL 160 - - 38. DANCER FROM TANJORE 165 - - 39. NAIKIN IN KANARA 172 - - 40. GIPSY WOMAN 177 - - 41. A GURKHA’S WIFE 181 - - 42. A GLIMPSE AT A DOOR IN GUJARÁT 183 - - 43. A WIDOW IN THE DECCAN 186 - - 44. A WOMAN OF THE UNITED PROVINCES 188 - - 45. IN THE HAPPY VALLEY OF KASHMIR 208 - - 46. A DENIZEN OF THE WESTERN GHAUTS 213 - - 47. A WORKING WOMAN AT AJMERE 216 - - 48. BORN BESIDE THE SACRED RIVERS 220 - - - - -As they are - - “Oh hail! O bright great God, in the form of that brown-eyed - beautiful thing before me, that fills me with astonishment and - laughter and supreme delight.” - - _A Draught of the Blue._ PROFESSOR BAIN. - - - - -Chapter I - -AS THEY ARE - - -Others had written even before Vatsyana the Wise wrote his “Gospel -of Love.” At that time the power of the Yávans and the Sákas was -outstretched over the land. They were peoples that had come out of -Persia and Bactria and obscure Scythia, many of them men with the blood -of those Ionian soldiers who had marched with Alexander and settled -with Eastern wives under Eastern skies. The teachings of Gautama, the -Indian prince, they had made their own; and to the countries in which -they ruled they had brought the peace of Buddha and the temperate -fruitions of Greece. On all the great trade-routes were monasteries -of Buddhist monks and large caravanserais for merchants and pilgrims. -Even as far as the sands of Lopnor, far across the roof of the world, -and to the Gobi desert, where the Chinese land begins, the tribes that -gave rulers to India had set their posts and planted their colonies. -On cunningly-sealed wedges of wood they sent their royal orders to -the wardens of their frontiers and on palm-leaves from the Indian -coasts they inscribed the lore that gave the illumination of God to -settlements on the mountains and in the Central Asian deserts. In -the shrines or stupas that they raised to Buddha, the wise teacher, -they had dadoes and frescoes painted in tempera by some Titianus or -Heliodorus from the Hellenized Levant, adventurers of a fine Grecian -courage, who scattered their harmonious energies and their joy in -life over the Indian world. Along the trade-routes marched merchants’ -caravans, burdened with silks and rare spices, that found their way -from China to the Black Sea or the precarious ports on the Arabian -Coast. - -“Women,” wrote the professors of love, in that time of peace and -enjoyment, “can be divided into four classes. There is she who is -a pure lotus, and she who is fair as a picture, she whom they call -hag and witch, and she who can be likened only to the female of the -elephant.” Of her who is as a lotus they wrote: “Her face is pleasant, -like the full moon: her plump body is tender as the mustard flower: -her skin is fine and soft as the golden lotus, fair and undarkened. -Bright and beautiful are her eyes like those of the antelope, clear-cut -and healthful. Her breast is firm and full and uplifted, and her neck -shapely: her nose is straight and delightful. The scent of her body -is like a lily newly burst. She walks delicately like a swan and her -voice is low and musical as the note of the cuckoo, calling softly in -the summer day. She is clothed in clean white garments and she delights -in rich jewels and adornments. She is gracious and clever, pious and -respectful, a lover of God, a listener to the virtuous and the wise.” - -Of the manner of living of a virtuous woman it is further written by -Vatsyana the Wise: “A virtuous woman that hath affection to her husband -shall in all things act according to his wishes as if he were divine. -She shall keep the house well-cleansed and arrange flowers of every -kind in the different chambers and surround the house with a garden -and make the floor smooth and polished, so that all things be meet -and seemly. Above all she shall venerate the shrine of the Household -Deities. To the parents of her husband she shall behave as is meet and -proper, speaking to them in few words and softly, not laughing loud in -their presence, but being always quiet and respectful without self-will -and contradiction. She shall always consider in the kitchen what her -husband likes and dislikes and shall seek to please him. Always she -will sit down after him and rise before him: and when she hears his -footsteps as he returns home, she will get up and meet him and do -aught that he desires. If her husband do wrong, she shall not unduly -reproach him, but show him a slight displeasure and rebuke him in words -of fondness and affection. And when she goes to her husband when they -are alone, she will wear bright coloured garments and many jewels and -anklets and will perfume herself with sweet ointments and in her hair -place flowers.” - -Many generations have passed and other races--Hunas and Gujjars and -Mongols--have invaded India. And asceticism has squeezed the people in -its dry hand, and there has been war and bigotry and pestilence. Yet -even now the teachings are not quite forgotten. Many a one there still -is among the women of India, of whom it can with truth be said: “She is -even as a golden lotus.” - -Now, again, the sovereigns of India rule over many regions and send -their royal messages to the uttermost ends of the earth. Again the -great trade-routes pass through India and the merchandise of East and -of West meet in the harbours of Bombay and Calcutta. Castes and peoples -feel their way to a common nationality and a fresher spirit, and before -their eyes breaks the morning light of a new Renaissance. And in the -women of new India the old texts revive to a more vigorous flesh and -spirit. - -[Illustration: A PATHARE PRABHU] - -Stand of an evening on the Queen’s Road in Bombay, looking over the -wide curve of Back Bay, where the lights of the city fade away into -the distances of the sea and on the right the hill throws its contour -against the darkening sky. They pass here, brightly-clad, quietly -smiling, modestly distant, the women of India at their newest and -most modern, yet in essentials formed by the ancient rule. They are -discarding perhaps the habits of dark ages of misrule and superstition, -but they cling none the less to the spirit of old India--to those -principles hallowed at its best and freshest age. In their cars -the wives and children of rich merchants glide through the crowd. -On the back seat, in the shadow of the cabriolet top, a glimpse of -gold-brocade can be caught or the tone of a fair brown skin. Here a -Bhatia lady passes, come originally from the hot plains of the Cutch -Peninsula, the wife of a millionaire cotton-spinner or a financial -agent. Or there, in gracefully-draped mantle[1] and Paris-made shoes -and stockings, a Saraswat Brahman lady or a Pathare Prabhu, with that -lustrous pallor that is brought by the warm breezes from the sea, goes -on her way to her club to play tennis or drink afternoon tea. Seated in -open carriages or strolling along the pavement to taste the freshness -of the sea-breeze, are hundreds of Parsi girls, in dresses of every -hue, with the heavy velvet borders that they affect, gossiping, nodding -to their friends, laughing and chattering. Poorer women dart across -the street, pulling children after them through the busy traffic, and -carrying their youngest on their hip astride. A sweeper woman brushes -fallen leaves into the gutter. Through all the noise of motors and of -the trains that dash along the disfiguring railway, the sound of a bell -clanged at the temple door by a worshipper may be heard and, at sunset, -the call to prayer from the minaret of a mosque. Behind a high wall, -half-way down the fashionable drive, a red light rises against the -darkness from the flames which consume the city’s dead. - - [1] The _sari_ has throughout this book been rendered by - the English word “mantle,” though as an equivalent it is - misleading. For a description of the _sari_ as it is, see - Chapter VIII. - -Chiefly the notes that strike are of nature and sex. These women are -so thoroughly women, beyond and above all else. Except perhaps among -the Parsis, where English customs have been sometimes too closely -copied, there is no trace of the beings, women in age, but stunted -and warped and with the ignorance of children, that, seen in other -countries, create an uneasiness as at the touch of something unnatural -and perverse. Here are the clear brows and smiling faces of those -who _know_, to whom sex is a necessary part of life, and motherhood -a pride and duty. They dress and adorn themselves, because they are -women, with a husband to please and to govern. Their sex is frank and -admitted: as women they know their place in the world and as women -they seek a retiring modesty. Their very aloofness, their seclusion, -gives them half their charm: and they know it. Not for them, for -instance, the dismal methods of American schools, where mixed classes -and a common play-ground rub away all the attraction of the sexes and -make their growing pupils dully kin like brother and sister. In India -women are so much valued and attain half their power because they are -only occasionally seen and seldom met. It is the rarest flowers that -are sought at the peril of life itself. It is for the women who live -veiled and separated that men crave, captives of passion at a first -quick-taken glance. A wife who is not the familiar companion of every -walk or game, who is never seen through the long business hours--with -what delight the husband, unjaded by the constant sight of women in -street or office, seeks her at last in the inner apartments where she -waits with smiles and flowers! - -[Illustration: WATER-CARRIER FROM AHMEDABAD] - -How natural they are--true, that is, to the natural instincts and -purposes of women, not without womanly artifice--is most apparent -from a contrast. Their shyness, even their self-consciousness with -men, is of a woman’s nature. Their love of jewelry, their little -tricks of manner, why, the very way they stand are, after all, the -natural derivatives of womanhood. Of motherhood they have no shame: -they celebrate marriage and childbirth frankly with a fine candour. -Their garments drape them in soft flowing lines falling in downward -folds over the rounded contours of the body--draperies full of grace -and restful. In Europe women still adhere to a deformity brought in -by German barbarism in the dark ages. With curious appliances, they -distort and misshape the middle of their bodies from quite early -childhood till--the negation of all beauty--in place of a natural human -figure appear two disjunct parts joined, as it were, mechanically -by a tightened horizontal band. From their passive acceptance of -routine, women will bear traditional deformity, in spite of illness -and the constant weariness of nervous disorders. What is difficult to -understand is that--with all their wish to please--they can endure -its patent ugliness. Pleasing is the contrast of the Indian mantle, -gracefully draped over head and shoulders and falling in vertical folds -to the feet, and of the gaily-stitched and neat little fitting bodice -of the Hindu lady. Her head with its smooth hair, decked with simple -gold ornaments or fresh flowers, half covered by the silken veil, is -well poised and beautiful. - -She poses on it no twisted straws, dyed in metallic colours, no -fantastic covering, hung with pieces of dead bird. - -The step of the Indian woman walking is a thing of joy. It has in it -nothing of the mincing awkward shuffle or of the disgracious manly -stride. But at her best see her walking in the country villages, where -her frame is trained to a graceful poise by the constant carriage of -water-pots balanced on her head as she steps unshod down the dusty -lanes or the sloping banks of the river. - -[Illustration: SWEEPER] - -In the villages, indeed, it is round the well that woman’s life -circles. Where the dry plains stretch away westward from Ahmedabad -over land cast back by the sea, the walls of mud-built villages stand -square against the blank horizon, where they were raised against the -raids of Kathi or of Koli freebooters. Here in the hot spring months -from March to July, before the grey rains turn the land to a sticky -swamp, the sun from dawn to its setting beats savagely; on the sand. In -these little townships, high-walled, with iron-studded gates, the women -have to seek the well early. An hour before the day, before even the -false dawn throws its silver flicker over the sky, they come from every -quarter to the one great well which supplies the place. Oh! the early -morning chatter which wakes one from his sleep! Ropes and buckets -splash upon the water and pot rings against brass pot. They come in -scores, of every caste and age, merchants’ wives and pretty _noblesse_, -cultivators and labourers, old women, widows and mothers, and little -naked children--how frail and tender their lines!--hardly able to -stagger homewards under the load. With hurried prattle they talk of the -night and the coming day, of the prices of the bazaar and the scandal -of a wanton neighbour or the coming visit of a priest. The day dawns -and the full white orb of the sun, white living heat like molten metal, -rises suddenly into the level sky. The women finish drawing water as -best they can and turn home. They walk straight, those women, two -copper pots balancing easily on the head, another large pitcher lightly -held against the hip, easily moving as they talk and smile. No wonder -if a young man, idly, may sometimes stroll towards the well. For some -there are who looking on these women of Káthiawád passing, with golden -skins and full oval faces, must say to themselves, as said Solomon, -“How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights: this thy -stature is like to a palm-tree and thy breasts to clusters of grapes.” - -Next to the well, it is at the temple that the life of a woman centres. -For her every thought and act is moulded from childhood to the day -of death by the present reality of religion. Her childhood is an -adoration, marriage a sacrament, wifehood an oblation: in motherhood -she finds at once sacrifice and worship: while life and death alike -are a quest and a resignation. Life, as to herself she interprets it, -is not so much action as a response to divine ordinance, receptive -and submissive. She awaits love and may yield to joy: but she expects -them as a handmaiden, humbly, without striving and without insistence. -And the daily ritual in which her life of service finds its symbol is -the scattering of flowers upon the images of God, the singing of His -praises, and the circumambulation of His sacred shrine. At the temple -she makes her humble vows, for a husband’s kindness or the supreme gift -of childbirth. And there, from the fulness of her heart, she pours out -thanksgiving for the blessings of her state. And if at the end perhaps -she die childless and a widow, it is not singular if she leave her -wealth to the further endowment of the temple and the greater glory of -God Rama and his Sita, the divine pair of her worship. - -The heroism of Indian womanhood has found its loftiest expression in -the Rajput nobility, with the great Queens who have fought and been -slain in battle or self-immolated on the funeral pyre: its piety is -a transfiguration in the Brahman and the merchant class: and woman’s -love with its transcendent ecstasy burns like a glowing ember on the -hearth of every soul. But for devotion to labour, uninspired by any -ideal other than its mere fulfilment, one turns to the menial castes -that, from century to century, have lived closest to their own soil. -Thus on the stony uplands of the Deccan, the women of the untouchable -Mahars--descended probably from some once ruling race, long tragically -overthrown--labour without respite in the hard fields at their -husbands’ sides. But, furthermore, they bear and suckle children, cook -the family food and do the work of their poor household. Ceaseless -labour it is, done without bitterness, in a humble resignation. A rough -life, yet not without redemption! Their hardships are recognized and -their pleasures shared: they stand side by side with their menfolk, -comrades by their service. They hold themselves upright, not without -the pride of service, and to the eye that comprehends, they have even a -rough attraction, like a picture by Millet, in their sturdy strength, -earthy and fruitful. - -The book of Indian womanhood has many pages, and each page is -different, one from the other. Living in a wide continent, the speech -of one group of women is not as the speech of another. And in faith -they are not one, nor in blood nor habit. But though the leaves of the -book are of various type, yet they are all of one shape, bound in one -cloth and colour. For to all of them, above all else, is contentment -with their own womanhood, faith in religion and the natural hope of -love. An unremitting devotion and an unfailing tenderness, that is -the Indian woman’s service in the world; and it is her loving service -that has given its best to the land. India has had great preachers and -great thinkers, it has had and has brave soldiers. But more than the -men, more even than their best and bravest, it is the women who have -deserved well of the country. What they have won is the respect with -which all men behave to stranger women. It is a rule of Indian manners -that they should pass unnoticed and unremarked, even in the household -of a friend, and, except perhaps among the lowest ruffians, there is -none who would offend the modesty of a woman even by a gesture or an -unseemly recognition. They can pass in the midst of crowds, as nurses -pass in the most evil back-streets, without molestation or insult. For -the women of India have raised an ideal, lofty and selfless, for all -to behold: and they have come near its attainment. And with all its -self-sacrifice and abnegation, with all its unremitting service, the -ideal is not inhuman nor is it alien to the nature of womankind. It -allows for weaknesses, it is kind to faults, and it aspires frankly to -the joys of a fulfilment deserved by service. Not without reason did -the writers of old India liken the perfect woman of their land to a -lotus, in that she “is tender as a flower.” - - - - -Marriage in India - - “Thilke blissful lyf - That is betwixe an housband and his wyf: - And for to live under that holy bond - With which that first God man and womman bond. - ‘Non other lyf,’ sayde he, ‘is worth a bene: - For wedlock is so esy and so clene, - That in this world it is a paradys.’” - - _Marchantes Tale._ CHAUCER. - - - - -Chapter II - -MARRIAGE IN INDIA - - -In all countries, for a woman marriage has a significance not only -greater than but different in quality from the significance it has for -a man. It is not merely that to the man marriage is only one incident, -however far-reaching in its effects and values, among the recurrent -vicissitudes of life; while to the woman, even if it be so regarded, -it is at least the most conclusive of all incidents--that from which -depends not alone her own comfort but rather the fulfilment of her -whole being and function. A man’s life is made up of the intermittent -pursuit of many a quarry at the impulse of divergent passions, -projected from time to time in varying light upon the evenly-moving -background of the sub-conscious activities. He studies and his soul is -engrossed in the niceties of the arts or the subtleties of philosophy. -He finds satisfaction for his intellect and even his emotions in the -choice of the fitting phrase for a description. At another time he -rushes to sport, and, for many hours in the day and many days in the -month, finds pleasant fatigue and final occupation in stalking the stag -through the forest with its dry crackling leaves. In administration -he makes a career: and he may be busy day and night with problems of -finance, the just use of authority or the thousand questions of policy -in a developing civilization. Whatever his profession may be, his work -engages the greater portion of his life and all his highest and most -useful energies. A man’s pulse quickens its beat rapidly, and as easily -falls again to a slow extreme of indolence and indifference. He does -his best and finest work in the hours of rapid energy. It is then that -he fulfils those functions of creation and fruitful activity which -appertain to the male in the self-ordered organization of the world. -But among those his union with his mate is not the most important. -Rather it may be called the expenditure of a superfluous energy. -He needs his mate only in the moments of excited passion, when his -energies, unexhausted by duties that he counts more valuable, are at -their strongest. But as a companion he values the woman that is given -to him mainly in the hours of repose and leisure--those periods when -the over-stimulated mind and body sink to the level of an indolent -passivity. Companionship he seeks that his surroundings should be easy -and congenial, when his work is done and he is weary. Again, when a man -marries, he either has loved or will love other women and he knows in -his heart that the wife, who is to share and make his home, can be only -one, though perhaps the tenderest and sweetest, of his loving memories. -Herein, for the woman who gives him her love, is the irony. Only with -the man to whom all love is ashes and who can never kindle the fierce -flame of passion, can she expect the sole and exclusive possession to -which she is inclined by her own nature. From the man who can promise -her his only love, the gift is of little value and his love but the -thin shadow of a spectre. But she knows the man whose love is as a robe -of purple or a diadem of rubies cannot be for her alone, wholly hers. - -[Illustration: FISHER WOMAN OF SIND] - -To the woman, however, marriage is the incident of all incidents, that -one action to which all else in life--even the birth of her first -male-child--is subsidiary and subordinate. She goes to her mate, in -shyness and modesty, as to one who for the first time shall make -her truly woman. At his touch the whole world changes and the very -birds and flowers, the seas, the stars, and the heaven above, put -on a different colour and murmur a new music. In a moment the very -constitution of her body alters and her limbs take nobler curves and -her figure blooms to a new splendour. Her mind and emotions grow: and -the dark places which she had feared are seen to be sun-lit and lofty. -Marriage is to her more than an incident, however revolutionary. It -is rather the foundation of a new life, indeed a new life itself. For -her, henceforth, her whole existence is but the one fact of being -married. It is her career, her profession, her study, her joy, her -everything. She lives no longer in herself but rather as her man’s -wife. “Half-body,” the Sanscrit poets say, not untruly of the married -woman. - -In India, even more than in Europe, certainly more than in Northern -Europe, marriage is to a woman everything. In early childhood she -becomes aware, gradually and almost unconsciously, of the great central -facts of nature. She lives in a household in which, along with the -earning of daily bread, all talk freely of marriages and the birth -of children. When a brother or sister is born, she is not excluded, -and no one tells her tales of mysterious storks or cabbages. As she -grows older, she hears the stories of Sita, the divine wife, and of -Sakuntala, the loved princess: and the glowing winds of spring and the -burning sun help to bring her to a quick maturity. Around her she sees -her girl friends given in marriage to flower-crowned boy bridegrooms, -brought on gold-caparisoned horses with beating of drums and bursting -fire-works and much singing to the bridal bower and the sacred fire. -She learns of widowhood and the life-long austerities imposed on a -woman whose sin-haunted destiny drags her husband to the grave. In the -household prayers she sees that her father needs her mother at his side -for the due offering of oblations and the completion of the ritual. Of -a woman unmarried, not a widow, she never hears and the very notion can -hardly frame itself on the mirror of her mind. No wonder that, with her -earliest reflections, she bends her thoughts upon the husband that is -to come and to be her lord, to whom she will hold herself affianced by -the will of God through all the moving cycle of innumerable deaths and -existences. - -Matrimony in India, in nearly every case, is stamped by one of -two types, the marriage-contract of the Mussulmans, or the unions -sanctified in the vast and extremely complex social system that is -comprised under the general name of Hinduism. In theory, legally one -might say, marriage among the Mussulmans of India is a contract that -should in no way differ from that practised in other countries of -Islam. A man and a woman bind themselves or are bound by a voidable -contract which confers certain rights of maintenance and succession, -in consideration of mutual comfort and cherishing. The contract, but -not its sanction and consequences, can be repudiated at the man’s will -and, subject to certain intelligible limitations, at the claim of the -woman. In all cases proper and ample provision is and must be made -for the children. The woman who is divorced, or widowed, is in no way -prevented from entering upon a fresh contract with another husband, -rather she is encouraged and assisted so to do. Broadly speaking, -this is the legal position in every Mussulman marriage. No other -world-wide system has ever been so reasonable and so human. It is a -legislation passed through the mouth of its Founder for all followers -of the faith, as human beings bound in their relations to other men -and women only by justice, which is the ultimate morality of the -world. The interpretation of the Legislator’s act has varied slightly -in the jurisprudence of the “Four Pillars of the Faith,” the talented -authors of the four great law-schools of Islam. Among the Shiah sect -in Persia, also, the rulings have been somewhat modified and extended -in the judge-made law of the ecclesiastical courts: and contracts -for temporary marriages--marriages limited to a stated, sometimes a -short, period--have for example been recognized and ratified. But these -are all variations which show the more clearly how, in essence, the -matrimony of Islam is a thing of law, an agreement for certain purposes -and with certain consequences, between human beings regarded in their -capacity as agents in a very human world. That this should be so is, in -fact, a necessary consequence from the whole character of Islam. For -the very essence of Islam is its rationalism. God created the world -that He might be _known_. From the children of Adam He expects praise -and He exacts obedience and resignation. By His strength and will He -divides among them their shares of blissful or unkind environment. -But in the activities of human life, when they have satisfied the -requirements of prostration to the All-Powerful Creator, He leaves -them free to move as they will under the guidance of the highest human -morality--justice. In the verses that are concerned with the relations -between man and man, the Book of the Qor’an is as rational as the -ethics of Aristotle or the commentary of a student. Even the Persian -mystics, that were clad in wool, the children of the Tasawwuf--they who -represent Indo-Aryan mysticism outcropping from the level calculations -of the Semitic faith--sought, in the main, only to modify the attitude -of man to God. In place of obedience, with its scale of service and -reward, they set up a spiritual ecstasy of love, and in this love they -hoped to unite the human consciousness with the divine thought of -which it is a manifestation and in which it seeks absorption. But the -way with its four stages of ascent, by which they pointed the road to -final union with absolute Being, rarely traversed the ethics of human -action in the phenomenal world. With the commands of justice and with -the contracts which made possible and legitimate the companionship and -love of man and woman they never really sought to interfere. - -[Illustration: MUSSULMAN ARTISAN FROM KÁTHIAWÁD] - -This then is the plan, clear, reasonable, and humane. But in the -practice of India, it must be confessed, there have been many -deviations. They live after all, the Mussulmans of India, among a -population, of which they form but the seventh part, highly religious, -mystical, seeing in all things magic and the supernatural. In great -part they derive from the castes and tribes of Hindu India, converted -to the creed by conquest, interest, or persuasion. Large sections -still retain and are governed by the Hindu customary law of their -former tribe. The rich Mussulman merchants of Bombay, who traverse the -ocean like other Sindbads and seek their merchandise in the Eastern -Archipelagoes or in the new colonies of the African continent, peaceful -merchants of whom a large sect still perpetuates the doctrines of the -Shaik of the Mountain and reveres the memory, without the practice, of -the Assassins, follow in their domesticities and the laws of succession -rules whose significance depends from the mystic teachings of the Hindu -sages. In Gujarát the Mussulman nobility preserve with respect the -names and practices of the Rajput chiefs from whom they are descended. -They marry within families of cognate origin and transmit their estates -and dignities by a rule that is widely apart from the jurisprudence -of Islam. But that marriage is indefeasibly binding on a woman for -all time, even after death’s parting, so that the widowed wife may -never seek another husband--these are ideas whose ultimate basis is a -view of the world as a thing moved and deflected by magic and magical -interpositions. Yet these opinions of the surrounding Hindu population -have invaded the Mussulman household also. The proud families which -claim direct descent from the Prophet of Arabia have in practice -created an absolute prohibition of remarriage. And in many families -of temporal rank the same veto is observed, as having in it something -exclusive and patrician. Even among the common people, it is only the -first marriage which is known by the significant name of “gladness,” -while the corrector Arabic term has been degraded with a baser meaning -to the marriage of a widow. In practice, too, the wise provisions of -the law for dowries and the separate maintenance of a wife have been -neglected, while divorce is much discountenanced and the claims of an -ill-used or insufficiently-cherished wife to a decree are ignored or -even forgotten. Child-marriage has become the rule, and consent to a -life-long bond under a contract which has come to be regarded almost as -inviolable, is only too often given on behalf of the young girl by a -relation indifferent to all except wealth and position. - -Yet such is the radiance, so purifying the chemistry of reason that, -in spite of superstition, it continues to oxidize and revive the -body which it permeates. The inroads of Mongol tribes from Central -Asia--recent and bigoted converts--laid low the body politic of Islam. -For five dark centuries Mussulman culture was turned into a wilderness. -In India Islam has been further obscured, as has been shown, by the -encroaching customs and feelings of peoples who conceived life on an -incompatible and magical apprehension. Yet the word of rationalism -was never wholly silent, and the thought of human justice in a world -of causation persisted, however feebly, to sweeten and humanize the -relations of men and women in the fundamental contract of matrimony. -The Mussulman woman in her family wields great power and influence. She -is consulted and made much of to an extent rare in most countries. The -words of the Qor’an are a constant inspiration to her husband; and he -knows himself to be bound to cherish as best he can the woman who is -described in Scripture as a field which he should cultivate and as a -partner to whom he owes kindness and protection. Under this inspiration -he can hardly fail to estimate at its highest the value of womanhood; -for even in heaven his promised reward includes the pleasures of -beautiful and enchanting women. Thus has Omar Khayyam written in the -188th Rubaiyat:-- - - “They say there will be a paradise and fair women and black-eyed virgins, - And there, say they, will be pure wine and honey. - So if we adore our wine and our beloved, why, ’tis lawful - Since the end of all this business will be even thus.” - -The Mussulman religion idealizes above everything manliness and the -manly virtues; and it certainly does not undervalue the place of sex -in human life. Now, it is the virile man who yields most readily to -the sway of woman. His very vigour impels him to her side: and in the -reactions from enterprise and affairs he wishes to be soothed by her -companionship and delight. So it is true that the Mussulman woman in -India has seldom cause for complaint within her household. The day’s -labour done, husband and children gather in the inner apartments, where -she rules, and devote themselves to her comfort and entertainment. - -Where she suffers, if at all, is from the too rigid custom of the -_purdah_ or female seclusion. What in India distorted the modest -injunction of the Prophet that women should veil their faces before -strange men to the excessive and even fantastic _purdah_ system, is a -question still hotly debated by Indian reformers and publicists. - -[Illustration: PATHAN WOMAN] - -Hindus accuse the Mussulman population of introducing the system: -Mussulmans point to the more rational habit of other Islamic countries -and lay the charge to the door of the Rajput nobility. Whatever may -have been the original cause, the results are sometimes ludicrous and -injurious. Applied as it is in the houses of nobles and rich merchants, -the custom is sufficiently tolerable and even advantageous. The ladies -have gardens in which to exercise their limbs: they drive in screened -carriages to see the town or enjoy the country breezes; they have -liberty to visit at all hours the houses of their women friends and -profit by their conversation. They have light and air and reasonable -freedom. Like many other points of aristocratic ceremony, the practice -of seclusion is valued largely by the inconvenience it causes to -others. It needs little knowledge of feminine nature to appreciate the -pleasurable sense of dignity it causes the wealthy _purdah_ lady when, -at a visit, she sees all male servants and even the owner of the house -sent hurrying to hide in remote corners while she makes her stately -progress from her carriage to her friends’ apartments. On her travels -she notes with pride the tumult in the crowded station when sheets -are held across the platform to seclude her from stranger eyes as she -slowly strolls to her compartment. But to apply the same etiquette to -the middle and the poorer classes is little short of madness. Yet there -are many parts of India, where the Mussulman population, and especially -their womankind, insist with melancholy pride on these observances, -whatever their poverty and decay. There are found in little crumbling -mud-hovels, clinging to the base of ancient forts and palaces, women -who spend their useless lives crouched in a dark ill-smelling room, -where the light of day and the breath of energy and aspiration can -never reach them. They bear feeble children: fall sick of a decline or -internal ailments: and go out in premature senility like a candle in a -choked tunnel. Fortunately the sturdy Mussulman peasantry of the north -know nothing of these follies: nor in Káthiawád and Gujarát do the -Mussulman artisans, who are here pictured, ruin their homes by this -disastrous aping of an aristocracy. But even with this drawback--one -maintained, it must be remembered, mainly by the same feminine lust -for pride and precedence which in England keeps the clerk’s wife from -cooking a dinner--it is in general true that the rationalism of the -system has produced mutual respect and affection, together with much -courtesy and chivalry, between the sexes. - -The Afghan or Pathan woman is in many ways apart from her Mussulman -sister of the real India of the plains. Strong, virile, courageous, but -treacherous and illiterate, the Afghan tribes are still narrowly within -the pale of savagery. They are hillmen, living in secluded valleys -or rocky fastnesses, with the virtues of their kind, but far removed -from those urbane polities which in all languages and races have set -the type of civilization. In Islam the word for civilization is as -much derived from the word for “city,” “Medinah,” as in the languages -that trace their descent from the Latins. Of gentler qualities the -Afghans have no share. But they have strong passions, great thirst -for love, and the freeman’s respect for others’ freedom. The woman is -caressed and petted, loved with a passionate love, loaded with gifts, -and then--when old age breaks her vigour--too often cast aside with -the callous thoughtlessness of the savage. The men are jealous and she -lives always under the shadow of a knife, the long, thin, sharp-edged -knife of the Pathan, so quickly drawn across the throat at the first -whisper of dishonour. Herself passionate and hot-tempered, she too -blazes out in sudden rages, and the small dagger that she carries is -not unseldom used. Passion and excitement, quick pulsing heart-beats, -fiery love, splashing like scarlet flames upon the dusty background, -and then the slow neglected downward track of old age, that is the -Afghan woman’s life. - -Mostly she is chaste and clings to her own man, till the last bullet -catches him full in the chest and his life gurgles out with the -bubbling blood. But she can also love greatly and superbly, like the -fine full-blooded creature that she is. There was such a girl once, a -child merely, fifteen years old, who from the barred windows of her -father’s house at Kabul, saw a young English officer ride past on his -charger with the ill-fated expedition. She came of royal stock and her -father was a chieftain of rank in the Amir’s service. Yet she learnt -the officer’s name, who can say with how many precautions and terrors: -and found he was still unmarried. When the troops left, she crept forth -too, this child of fifteen, and turned her face from her father’s house -and her people to follow the man she had chosen. She found her way -across the mountains by the wind-bitten passes, with little food or -shelter, till she reached the deserts of Sind and the wide stretches -of the Indus. Not till then was she safe from the avenging dagger. -Then slowly she traced her road till she came to the port of Karachi. -And there, in the new cantonment, with its strange avenues and houses, -she found the man whom she had sought. He, happily, was rich and of -distinguished family. He heard her story and married the brave girl who -had dared so much for his love. Then he brought her to England and had -her taught and trained, and she found favour at Court, and their lives -were happy. - -Such the Afghan woman can be. The love which she gets--and -gives--echoes in the poetry of Lawrence Hope. - - “You are all that is lovely and light, - Aziza,--whom I adore, - And, waking after the night, - I am weary with dreams of you. - Every nerve in my heart is tense and sore - As I rise to another morning apart from you. - I would burn for a thousand days, - Aziza, whom I adore, - Be tortured, slain, in unheard of ways - If you pitied the pain I bore. - … - Give me your love for a day, - A night, an hour; - If the wages of sin are death, - I am willing to pay. - What is my life but a breath - Of passion burning away? - Away from an unplucked flower? - Oh! Aziza, whom I adore, - Aziza, my one delight, - Only one night--I will die before day, - And trouble your life no more.” - -[Illustration: BORAH LADY FROM SURAT] - - - - -The Hindu Woman in Marriage - - ἀλλ᾿ ἐννοεῖν χρὴ τοῦ το μὲν γυναῖχ᾿ ὅτι - ἒφυμεν ὡς πρὸς ἄνδρας οὐ μαχουμίνα - ἔ πει τα δ᾿ οὕνεκ᾿ ἀρχόμεσθ᾿ ἐκ κρεισσόνων - καὶ ταῦ τ᾿ ἀκούειν κἄτι τῶνδ᾿ ἀλγίονα. - - _Antigone_, ll. 61 _seq._ - - “But we must reflect first that we were born a woman, - Not such as to strive against men: and then that as - we are ruled by them that are the stronger, we must - obey in these things and in things yet sorer.” - - - - -Chapter III - -THE HINDU WOMAN IN MARRIAGE - - -Marriage under the Hindu system is by no means easy to describe as -in actual fact it is. The definitions and classifications given in -the legal textbooks or Scriptures of the Hindus are little better -than abstractions--deductions from assumed premises of a theological -kind, with only a slender tie to the actual life of Hindu societies. -The difficulties of practice arise from the vast complexities and -fluid conditions of the great masses of peoples and races, with -divergent levels of culture and inconsistent ideas, that compose the -aggregate which for convenience is distinguished from all others by the -collective name of Hinduism. For Hinduism is, of course, in no real -sense a church or creed. It has no definite tenets and no articles -of dogma. The acceptance of a certain social system, centring upon -the existence of hereditary priesthoods with divinely-given powers of -interposition and interpretation, is its final criterion. This system -and its practical consequences once accepted, the man is free to -believe and follow what creeds or philosophies he may please. - -Yet through it all there is a certain rather vague and elusive unity -of idea, a spirit, one might say, that in various forms penetrates -and transmutes the varying material of creed and caste, of blood and -race with which it is presented. In essence this is the spirit which -regards the whole world as an unreal dream, an illusory changing -scene of transformations, stretched over the realities of a higher -ultimate world of Divine unity. Laws and customs are based not on a -reasoned pursuit of the good as existent in this life; but upon the -means, magical or supernatural, of acquiring merit in a supposed -ultimate universe of timeless and permanent reality reached after -final severance from the circle of birth and death. It is a spirit -diametrically opposed to that Greek thought which placed before man -as his final and only aim happiness or the excellent performance of -function in the world we know. Hardly less is it opposed to the Semitic -creeds which project the purposes and rewards of virtue into a similar -world of similar perceptions and individualities conceived as existent -on a higher plane attainable after death. For the unifying spirit of -Hinduism, so far as it can be grasped as in any way _one_, rejects -the world altogether as a reality and places its virtues not in any -reasoned balance of human rights and duties, but in the observance of -rituals and austerities commended by the authority of a hierarchy. - -Hence marriage also, as far as it approaches the ideal, is based upon -considerations that are non-rational and belong rather to a mystical -or supernatural way of regarding life. Marriage to the Hindu thinker -and idealist has nothing to do, in its ultimate causes, with the -preferences of one man or one woman, nothing to do with the pursuit -of happiness in a palpitating finite and human life. He sees in it -no free union of two human wills, joined for their own contentment -in an isolated human relation. Rather it is the connection of two -incarnations of the world spirit during an unreal moment of illusory -existence. The proper husband and wife are recognized and selected -by magical arts exercised under the authority of the Sacred Books -by certain classes of the priesthood. They are joined under a right -conjunction of the stars, interpreted by an hereditary expert in the -magic art of astrology. Their marriage is sanctified by miraculous -rites and blessed and transformed by the repetition of mysterious -Sanskrit phrases. They enter their new state purified as by a -consecration. In a word, they deal with a sacrament, not with a human -contract. It is not the satisfaction of human feelings that is sought, -but the fulfilment of a ritual duty to the family, in its relation to -the Divine Spirit. - -This view of marriage, as an ordained sacrament, is manifested -throughout the actual ceremonies of the wedding, at least among the -castes that claim the higher ritual ranks. The bride and bridegroom -must belong to the same subdivision of the caste and yet must not be -related by a common descent from the same mythical founder of the -family. Before they can be betrothed, the horoscopes must be studied -by an hereditary astrologer to see that the proposed union does not -traverse any of the influences of the stars in their conjunctions. -Nowadays it is true that horoscopes have fallen somewhat into neglect -among the more “advanced.” These allege that the time is wrongly -found on any horologe except the old-fashioned water-clock and they -insinuate--what is no doubt often true--that the verdict of the -astrologer depends upon his emoluments. Thus even the most advanced of -Hindus, if they do without such advice, do so on the ostensible ground -that horoscopes are incorrectly delivered, not that in themselves they -are unreasonable. Again the marriage is made between children, so -that desire or personal preference shall not disturb the ordinances -of heaven. The ceremony can take place only in the auspicious months -when the constellations of Jupiter and Venus are in conjunction with -the sun. At the wedding symbolic presentments of the boy’s and girl’s -ancestors make more clear the significance of the wedding, as a mere -phase in a family existence, in which the individual is as nothing and -the race is all. When the moment approaches, the bride and bridegroom -sit, face to face or side by side before the objects of worship, their -right hands joined, a strand of red cotton round their necks, a cloth -drawn as a screen between their faces. The priests chant Sanskrit -verses, while the astrologer consults the water-clock, which is needed -to read the exact sacerdotal hour. Then when the moment has come and -the cloth is drawn, the pair turn round the sacred sacrificial fire, -and the seven steps are taken which make the marriage indissoluble -and eternal. The bridegroom turns to his wife and utters the sacred -verse, “Oh! bride! give your heart to my work, make your mind agreeable -to mine. May the God Brahaspati make you pleasing to me.” Then for -himself he swears not to transgress, whether for wealth or love. And -then they go out and look upon the Polar Star, that star which guided -the first Aryan wanderers across Asia. - -[Illustration: A BRAHMAN LADY GOING TO THE TEMPLE] - -A marriage of this kind, so solemn and so sacramental, cannot in the -lifetime of its partakers be severed or dissolved. Only the will of -God, executed by the cold scythe of Death, can grant a divorce. Until -death come, the pair is inevitably joined, to labour and pray together, -and to engender and bear the children who in time shall release -their parents’ souls from the purgatory of unfulfilled duties. The -Hindu theory is a deduction from two principles, one, the unreality -of individual appearance, the second, the unworthiness of sensuous -illusion. - -Marriage is a union of ephemeral beings for the sake of family and -community, and for the attainment of a worshipful elevation over -sense and the world of illusion. It is at once a consecration and -an initiation. The absence of that strong sexual passion which we -have clad in the jewelled veils of poetry and have baptized in the -romantic waters of love is not to the Brahman eye an impediment or a -disappointment. At the most the hope is for an ordered affection and a -disciplined devotion. - -But the facts of human nature cannot with impunity be ignored. Ideals -based on a non-natural order of things may inspire noble poetry: but -they must fail when they are applied to large bodies of men and women. -Contracts founded upon causes and effects that are traced by reason can -be applied without much hindrance and at any rate without hypocrisy by -all those who can recognize facts. But there are few who are worthy of -or can benefit by a sacrament. The Hindu spirit has created splendid -images and has embodied in literature the characters of Sita and of -Damyanti, the wife who is all devotion and sacrifice, nobly courageous, -nobly patient. But, by its very distance from actuality, it leads in -the practice of every day to great hypocrisy and unnecessary hardship. -The danger has been foreseen by the lawgivers themselves: and they -have not dared to apply their ideal, even in theory, to others than -the highest castes of the hierarchy. For the warrior, the cultivator, -and the menial classes they have allowed different practices and -divergent ideals. Even in the practice of those Brahmans, to whom the -system should apply in its entirety, considerable concessions have -been authorized. In the unauthorized acts of every day life there -are even greater deviations. In one sense, of course, it may be said -that the theory of the highest Hinduism in regard to marriage is one -and indivisible; but marriage is, after all, the concrete contact and -companionship of a living, feeling man and woman, and the application -of the theory an affair of national character. Race and climate and the -influences of history have played their part in the Indian Continent -at least as much as in other regions of equal area. Even in the -priestly Brahman caste, the Brahman of the Deccan is as different from -him of the Punjáb as an Italian Marchese could be from a Prussian Graf. -They come from different strains, they live in different surroundings: -and the one bond is a common social system with some common ideals -under which they have both obtained their power. - -In general, it may be said that the ideal has been humanized and -softened in all those parts of India in which Rajput or Mussulman -influences have at any time been powerful. In such regions, in Gujarát, -for instance, or in Káthiawád, the people have never taken kindly to -the mere negation of desire. A certain practical genius has always -turned their glance to the fruits of the earth and the pleasures of -the senses. Commerce brought them wealth and the desire for comfort; -from chivalry they learnt the lessons of gaiety and enjoyment. Among -them beauty is esteemed and desired; pleasure sought or demanded. From -a wife is expected charm and companionship, passion and pleasure. She -is treated as a human being, with the ordinary human capacities and -frailties; and she can exercise power and influence by her charms. She -may be loved as a woman; and she is often the object of jealousy; but -she is seldom deadened by that chilling respect which shrivels fresh -desire. - -In the arid, ascetic Deccan, on the other hand, the woman is more -commonly disregarded. There she lives in an atmosphere where -sensuousness is reproached, though it may be practised. A man indulges -passion, if he do so at all, as a thing shameful in itself and -abominable, with stealth and self-abasement, in the grossest and least -urbane manner. If he yield to a sexual desire, it is without esteem or -regard for the partner in his sin. Towards the wife of a consecrated -marriage he preserves an attitude, which may be irreproachable, but -must certainly be unflattering to her womanhood. In the light of -religion, she may be regarded as a partner in a mystic union: but in -the household she is often little better than a housekeeper, contemned, -neglected, and never warmed by the glow of desire nor wooed with those -attentions by which men seek to please. Between Gujarát and the Deccan, -it is again the contrast, only intensified, between France and England. -On the one hand, power and pleasure and the charm of life--with perhaps -jealousy and a certain sense of the possibilities of human frailty. On -the other, coldness, a real contempt, and that callous reliance on an -unswerving chastity, which some have been pleased to call respect--and -which is so annoying even to the plainest woman. - -Religion again effects a distinction. Those who adhere to the worship -of Shiva, the God of Destruction, the Lord of Death, the Master of -Ascetics, are apt to turn from the goods of this life to a final -absorption in an abstract oneness. But in Krishna, the very human -incarnation of God the Preserver, the inhabitants of the richer and -more fertile tracts of the continent have found a congenial saviour. -From the devotees of his creed he demands only love, a constant and -all-absorbing offering of the heart: and he bestows upon them in return -the free ease of the world through which they are passing on the way -to the love-laden groves of Paradise. While the followers of the -theology that centres upon Shankar see the universe as one, an abstract -God-in-himself, indivisible, unchanging, a pure spirit that alone _is_ -and has being, and define the aim of life as, after reiterated births -into further action, the final liberation from the senses by absorption -into this infinite and unqualified spirit, the worshippers of Krishna -adopt a teaching which admits an eternal dualism. Force and nature, -spirit and matter, are to them an everlasting pair, which can never be -finally united. So they tend readily to a view of life in which man -and the Deity, as he can know Him, are circumscribed by nature, and -in which man can find salvation in the love of all things. And in the -love of all things, if there be inward grace, the enjoyment of the -nature that God has granted to the world must be allowable. Freedom is -attained when the enjoyment is unconditioned and the soul is wholly -united to the spirit of all nature. It is only the conditions of life, -and the need for transcending the wants of the world in order to reach -that grace in which God is directly felt, which can impose restrictions -and prohibitions. So, naturally enough, the disciple of the gracious, -kind, and loving Krishna is more likely to demand love from the -companion of life than the ascetic votary of Shiva. The practical -meaning of marriage is again very different in the warrior caste, now -represented by the Rajput clans. Comparatively recent invaders of mixed -Scythian and Turkish or Hunnish tribes, they almost alone in India have -become what in Europe is meant by a gentry or an aristocracy. Feudal in -their concept of the state, cavaliers and men-at-arms, seeking in war -a profession, in the acquisition of landed estates their fulfilment, -and in sport their relaxation, they have brought to the brown monotony -of India the splendour of gallantry, chivalry, and romance. Exempted -even by priestly ordinance from the oppressive asceticism that is in -general obligatory to the Hindu mind, they have formed for themselves -a code of honour coloured by the legitimate hopes and enjoyments of a -warrior clan. In the traditions of their caste they still preserve the -memory of the bride’s choosing. The suitors sat assembled, each in his -own place, in the palace hall, with sword and shield to his hand. The -curtain was uplifted and the bride stepped round the hall, a garland -of flowers on her arm. Then when she reached the man whom she chose to -be her own prince and beloved husband, she slipped the garland on his -neck. Thus they became man and wife, and no one could deny their will. -That time is long since gone, and no bride has now such a choosing. -Yet to this day the heroines of all Indian plays and the great women -of Indian poetry are all of the Rajput class. Marriage is with them -even now a practice adapted to the aristocratic temper partly from the -earlier Brahman books and partly from the traditions of Central Asia, -tinged also by the fashions set by Mussulman emperors in the Courts at -Delhi. Polygamy is recognized as lawful and is practised by the Ruling -Chiefs and the richer of their cadets. The maid-servant may be the -concubine of her master and the dancing girl who enlivens the Courts is -often in private a mistress. But great is the power of the wife behind -the curtain, deep and warm-blooded the love she hopes to win, great -also her valorous devotion. And through the whole fabric runs a woof as -of old, half-faded brocade, a thread of chivalry and pure reverence and -protective delight. A strand of silk at the wrist may make the Rajput -gentleman at any moment the knight-errant of a lady whom he shall never -see, and for whom his honour shall yet be as a brother’s. - -But to the Rajput lady of a ruling house there is one special terror. -If death puts his finger on her husband, her life is too often -overwhelmed to an extent unnecessary and cruel. For herself remarriage -is forbidden: and a love-affair is often requited with secret poison by -her husband’s successors. For there are many who still hold that the -family honour can be stained indelibly by a woman’s lightness. Then -in her husband’s place may sit on the throne a rival’s son, who from -childhood has had his ears filled with bitterness. Her jointure may be -insufficient; even an administration is only too often unsympathetic -or unduly sparing of money; or the successor may by force or intrigue -attenuate the estate that was bequeathed. She finds interest no -doubt in the management of the lands that form her jointure, but her -seclusion places her largely in the hands of interested advisers. As -a rule, the downfall is more lamentable even than that of the Dowager -in Europe, except perhaps in Royal families. Suicide (_Sati_) on the -funeral pyre was in the past almost a release for the Rajput widow. -Among the smaller Rajput yeomanry, the case is better. Remarriage is -not unseldom allowed. At the worst, the wife has had no rival and -her own child succeeds; while, failing children, she finds with her -relatives the respect and kindness to women which is general in this -caste of manly gentlemen. - -[Illustration: FROM JODHPUR] - -Another group consists of the lower, but thoroughly Hinduized, working -castes. These run from the very low untouchable castes who are the -usual domestics of the European officer to the skilled artisan and -the cultivator. Their matrimonial regulations are a compromise (like -most compromises hardly “working”) between Brahman theory, economic -necessity, and obsolete primitive custom. They are influenced vaguely -by the usual ideals. Widow remarriage is however tolerated and -commonly practised, though somewhat looked down upon in the popular -regard. When the parties to the association are working men and women, -miserably poor for the most part, illiterate and unprogressive, it -follows naturally that the action of the system is conditioned mainly -by economics. Toil and labour, in field or factory or shop, is the -part of both, and the woman’s household work and the assistance of -the growing children are incentives to and conditions of the marriage. -They have no leisure for the finer sensibilities and, like the poor -in all countries, must have an eye ever open to the needs of food -and nutrition. Without much education and with little capacity for -refined emotion, it is not unnatural if there is sometimes disunion, -and if they seldom attain the heights. The husband in his cups may -occasionally beat his wife, or may have to sit with bowed head before -the storm of her boisterous abuse. Yet they compare favourably with -similar classes in other countries; and at the worst they shame the -terrors of European slums, the brutal wife-kickers and procurers who -lurk in the blind alleys of industrial life. It is true indeed that -the rapid growth of industrial labour in India also has adversely -affected the marriages of that class and that only too often an unhappy -union ends in elopement or prostitution. Generally, however, it may be -said that the Hindu husband even in this class seldom descends to the -grossness and cruelty so often found in the lower quarters of European -cities: while the wife forms and maintains a higher standard of womanly -conduct and devotion. An easier toleration marks their conjugal -relations and the Hindu character at its worst is commonly free from -the extremer modes of brutality. - -Among the aboriginal tribes, the Bhils for instance, marriage is still -in a very fluid condition. The actual form that in practice it takes -depends inevitably on the extent to which the tribe has succumbed to -Hindu or rather Brahman influence. As it becomes subjected to that -influence, and as in consequence it aims at raising its rank within -the Hindu social system by the aping of higher castes, so it the more -readily adopts the worst accretions to Hindu matrimony, child-marriage, -for instance, and large dowries. But in general it may be said that -marriage among such tribes is a free association between youthful -adults, promulgated by certain payments of money or service to the -bride’s parents and relieved, if barren or unhappy, by an almost -unrestricted right of divorce. Pre-nuptial chastity is hardly looked -for, and neither man nor girl is much blamed for an early slip. After -marriage chastity is the usual rule. The attitude is in practice not -very dissimilar from the reasonable and natural outlook of the Scottish -peasant; and, as in Scotland, the net result is a state of general -happiness, easy and equal companionship, and very remarkable mutual -trust. The woman has much weight in affairs and not unfrequently holds -the purse. As in the country districts of Scotland, prostitution is -unknown, and the cruel ruin of a woman who has loved too soon is -practically unheard of. Widows of course remarry, and there is much -homely love between husband and wife and parents and children. - -Another system still survives among the inhabitants of the southern -coast lands where the Arabian Sea beats against the palm groves of -Malabar. Here the tribes of the Nairs, formerly warlike and still -brave, headed by the ruling house of Travancore, maintain a marriage -system that dates from the earlier Dravidian culture which preceded -the Aryan invasions. Both among the Nairs--the noble class--and among -the priests, the Nambutiri Brahmans, an ecclesiastical and land-owning -aristocracy of peculiar sanctity, the customs of matriarchy prevail -in various degrees. Among the Nairs, for several centuries, the law -was of polyandry, pure and simple, the wife having several husbands -according to her own good pleasure. In late years the actual habit of -polyandry is to all intents defunct and only in very few cases, if -at all, could a Nair lady be found who consorts with more than one -husband. But succession is still traced through the female line and a -boy succeeds to his mother’s brother, not to his father. And in other -subtler ways the effects of polyandry are still manifest. Perhaps the -most curious survival is that the religious ceremonial of marriage--an -expensive and public rite--is performed at an early age with a man, -with whom the girl has no other connection than formal participation -in this ineffective sacrament. Much later comes what, in the European -sense, would be called the real marriage, with the husband whom she is -to cherish. This is a contract, entered into freely by both parties, -dissoluble at will. One of the elements of its popularity and success -is in this very freedom which has given the Nair ladies a position -enjoyed by few other Indian women. An attempt absurdly made to limit -this freedom by legislation, which gave an option to the parties -by an act of registration to introduce the usual disabilities of a -rigid matrimony, has proved an utter failure. An accompaniment of -the polyandrous or matriarchal system, which still prevails, is that -husband and wife do not live together. The Nair house is the abode of -a whole large family, based upon joint descent from a common female -ancestor. In the house or family mansion the apartments of the women -are together and are entirely separate from that part of the house in -which the men live. In this house the husband has no part or share; -but he comes to visit his wife in her apartment just as she goes -occasionally to visit him in the similar household in which, by his -descent on the mother’s side, he has a right to live. On the freedom -of choice exercised by a Nair lady in her mating there is little -restriction, save only the one that she must not choose a man of lower -station. - -The Nambutiri Brahmans, on the other hand, though they live among -the Nair tribes and are their priests, have gone no further than a -compromise between this system and the arrangements usually prevalent -among Brahmans. The results, like those of most compromises, have -been disastrous. Only the eldest son of a family marries. The rest, -when study of Scripture and the practice of ascetic simplicity -prove unsatisfying, seek consolation in indiscriminate seduction. -The immediate results of a theory so unnatural are polygamy, -burdensome dowries, marriages for wealth alone, and the seclusion and -bondage of women. In spite of the simplicity and candour of these -Brahmans--qualities which make them personally loveable even to -those who deplore their influence--their community has been gravely -injured by such marriages. Only the simplicity of their desires and the -earnest conservatism of their faith have made them tolerate a system so -unnatural and injurious. They bow with pious resignation to the will of -God, by which they mean the results of their own human folly. - -Bitter must the contrast be to the secluded and austere Nambutiri -ladies when they see their Nair neighbours at the annual winter -festival which commemorates the death of Kámdev, the Hindu God of Love. -Long before daybreak, every Nair girl of any position is out of bed -and goes with her girl friends to the nearest tank. Plunging into the -water together, they sing in unison the song which is sacred to the -God of human hearts. As they sing, they beat the water, with the left -hand held immediately under the surface and the right brought down -upon it in a sloping stroke, splashing and sounding deep. Stanza after -stanza, song after song they sing till the first light of dawn peeps -over the cocoa-nut palms. Then they go back to their homes to dress in -their best and enjoy their holy day. They darken their eyelids with -collyrium and make their lips red with betel leaf. In the gardens they -play on swings with their friends. Then they sit down in merriment and -enjoyment to the noon-day meal of arrowroot and molasses with ripe -yellow plantains and green cocoa-nuts. Afterwards they again sing and -dance, while all good husbands on this day of days visit their wives in -their family mansions and make themselves pleasant to the ladies of -the family and bring little presents and friendly good wishes. - -This system, strange though it appears to those who are familiar only -with Jewish and Teutonic customs, has been particularly successful in -securing the ends of every marriage--comfort, free development, and -the worthy upbringing of healthy children. In no class in India is -education better appreciated and more widely shared by the sexes. Every -Nair girl is sent to the village school, her education as much a matter -of course as her brothers’; while there are many who have matriculated -at the Madras University. At the same time, by the universal admission -of those who know them, there are few women in India who have greater -charm or exercise as valuable an influence on the manners and morals of -society. - -Marriage in Hindu India is, therefore, very various both in practice -and in theory according to the locality and the race or caste. -But regarded as a whole it presents, one may say, some common -characteristics. It is invariably a religious rite, sanctioned by -magical ceremony, really sacramental. Only in castes which allow -a widow to remarry is the second union divested of most of this -supernatural sanction, to become almost a free contract. Again -marriages are in general arranged by the parents or relations--with -the advice of priests and astrologers--while the husband and wife -are still children, either in real childhood or shortly after their -puberty. Further, in all the higher castes, and in lower castes as -they assume or usurp a higher position, widows are forbidden a further -marriage. Normally the idea of marriage in the classes in which Brahman -influence is most firm is accompanied by a certain ascetic thought, -which holds sensuousness and enjoyment to be something debasing and -earth-bound. The world of action being illusory and unreal, and each -action entailing its answering reaction, deliverance from illusive -appearances and absorption into the one final reality can be gained -only by passive withdrawal from activity. But all action springs from -desire: and the strongest and most attractive of desires is love. -Hence in marriage there should be no overpowering desires, none of -those impulses of emotion which keep the man bound during thousands -of incarnations to the idly-turning wheel of illusion. Only as a -deliverance from conflicting desire and as the means of continuing -family life is marriage in itself to be valued. Its happiness and -fruition are to be sought not in the tumults of passion but in the calm -and ordered affection of a disciplined and worshipful pair. From the -husband protection and self-restraint are due; from the wife to the -lord, whom heaven has given her, unflinching devotion, constant respect -and obedience, unwavering chastity. - -But in some castes and places the ideal has been altered largely -by feudalism and chivalry, by luxury and an appreciation of human -happiness, and by the influences of a kindly humanizing belief. There -we find love welcomed and pursued, and the beauteous wife elevated -like a substantiation of that Krishna-spirit in which man attains on -earth to the love which is unending. - -In general, Hindu marriage does undoubtedly, to a marked extent, reach -very closely to the purposes which it seeks. In general, it produces a -very real, if somewhat colourless, affection, an affection maintained -by common interests and the great bond of constant association. The -defects which it has are in the main the excrescences of a religious -system, such as are apt to grow wherever reason is displaced by -theological or supernatural commandment. When rationalism grows strong -enough to question the authority of priestly ordinance and tradition, -it will be possible without any very serious effort to prune them -safely from the sturdy trunk of Hindu life. - -[Illustration: A MILL-HAND] - -Child-marriage is, of course, that one of all its features which has -been most violently attacked. But it may be doubted whether those -who have attacked it have always had a clear understanding of its -significance. Real child-marriage--the wedding of children who have not -yet reached puberty--is after all nothing more than an indefeasible -betrothal. And in itself it is a logical and natural deduction -from a theory which postulates the selection of the bridal pair by -supernatural agency, working either through the divinations of an -astrologer or through the parents’ careful affection. Any element of -personal choice and free-will would be repugnant to the underlying -thoughts and must to a large extent be subversive of the social and -moral superstructure. Free-choice could be introduced generally only by -a substitution for Brahman regulation of something quite other--as the -warrior castes, for instance, extorted for themselves from a submissive -hierarchy a different scale of moral values. Moreover, in practice -child-marriage has some clear advantages. For it allows the wedded -pair to be brought up together, as children only, in their parents’ -houses, till in time they become habituated to each other’s company -and affection, while gradually they come to know and learn their place -in those large households to which their future lives belong. The -Hindu married couple can live in no independent isolation like the -European. Rather they will be but one unit of a great family household -managed on behalf of all by its eldest members. The real marriage, -the consummation of their growth to man and woman, comes much later, -after many years perhaps, when the parents at last give their consent -to the grown student and the healthy maiden who helps daily in the -household tasks. Rather it is not the child-marriage that is so much to -be deprecated as the marriage that succeeds, as in some castes it does, -too quickly upon puberty. For, by an unhappy ignorance, puberty is in -India only too often thought, as it was thought in the Europe of the -Renaissance, to be maturity; and the marriage thus concluded is at once -made real. - -In fact, in both cases what is needed is a little more scientific -knowledge and the embodiment of the knowledge in the Penal Code. Cases -occur only too frequently of the martyrdom of young brides, not so -much from cruelty, or even from uncontrolled passion, as from sheer -ignorance of scientific fact. It has become a superstition, supported -of course by the usual authority, that puberty means maturity, not -merely for love--which would be sufficiently misleading--but even for -child-bearing. Here it is that rational education must enter the field. -In a country in which knowledge is luckily not accounted shameful, it -is easy for education to explain that puberty is only the beginning of -a new period, and that love’s first blossoms must not be followed by -too early fruit. - -In this respect the practice of Hindu marriage unhappily does show a -fault of the most serious and terrible kind. If education has still -much to do, the state of the law most certainly requires improvement. -It is sometimes said that the Penal Law of India at present does -not give adequate protection to girls who, for various reasons, are -unmarried. But silence is usually kept about the far more serious fact -that it provides practically no protection to the married girl. In -her case the age of consent has actually been fixed at twelve; and no -child of more than twelve can claim protection from the law against -the brutality of the man to whom she has been married. Obviously the -limit of age for the protection of girls should be the same in all -cases, whether she be married or unmarried, whether she be the victim -of the man to whom she has been joined beside the sacred fire or of -one who owes her no special duty. It is the most obvious confusion of -thought which fails to see that the offence, if it is one, is exactly -the same, whether or not a mystical ritual has been first observed. The -_thug_ was no better than a common strangler because he first prayed -to Bhavani before he murdered. The offence is the same in all cases; -the punishment should, if anything, be more severe to the man who is -peculiarly bound in duty and in honour to cherish the woman he has made -his wife. The State is now prepared to protect against perversion a -class of women who, on an outside estimate, do not exceed one-hundredth -of the population and who _ex hypothesi_ are of a position and -character somewhat less than reputable. But the State denies its -protection to the other ninety-nine women of each hundred, the mothers -of the country, the honoured helpmates of its households. - -The harshness is made the greater by vices which, though forbidden, -have in practice become common. The sale of daughters is an offence -against which the sacred writings of the Hindus strongly and -consistently inveigh. Yet in only too many cases parents do little -else than sell their girls in marriage to the highest bidder. The sums -of money which they demand and which they use, not for the daughter’s -benefit, but for their own, are so large that they are forced to accept -a suitor of sufficient substance without regard to fitness or religious -sanction. Of the higher classes many nowadays revolt against such -conduct, which they recognize to be wicked and despicable. But in the -lower castes it is still general. The inner motive of such actions -is, of course, the ignorance, quite as much as the selfishness, of -the father. Too ignorant to comprehend that a human soul is an end in -itself and that a daughter is also a free human being, he looks on her -with besotted eye as a mere instrument of his own betterment. Hand in -hand with this evil, and dependent from it, is the terrible practice -of giving young brides to elderly husbands. In no other country could -the results be more disastrous or the girl-wife more unhappy. Vallabh, -the Gujaráti poet, has expressed that wretchedness in a beautiful song, -which has had some influence in abating this social evil. From it the -following lines are quoted, addressed to the Goddess Mother:-- - - “Goddess mother, old is the husband thou hast given me, - Mother, accursed is this coming to life of mine. Alas, what more can - I say? - Goddess mother, a little child am I and he a great lumbering, aged man, - My youth is like a blossom and my husband is a shrivelled mummy. - Mother, mine are just sixteen years and he has seen his eighty. - Goddess mother, of a winter’s night there is many a taste one feels, - But doltish is old age, and my husband is deaf and dumb. - Goddess mother, sportive am I and would like to play and I make my eyes - twinkle, - But, mother, he, he says, ‘I’ll beat you,’ and lifts his stick in his - hand. - Old is my husband, mother, what good can come out of age? - Goddess mother, on the festival all the girls are gaily dressed and - merry, - But my husband is tired and weak and ugly, and I bend my head in shame. - Mother, my hair is black and his head is all white or grey. - My youth is at its blooming and already my life is wrecked. - Goddess mother, why was I not strangled at birth, why was I not poisoned? - Yet if my husband die, it is my part to be true to death. - Nay, Goddess mother, with joined hands I pray at thy feet, - When I am born again, give me a husband that is young and strong.” - -But as long as society tolerates the acceptance of money by a bride’s -father, so long will there be parents to be tempted by gold to sanction -their children’s ruin. And even then there will persist a deeper -reason. For girls are all early married and widows may not marry a -second time. So, even against his will, an elderly man is forced, if he -wishes to have the legitimate and socially-sanctioned companionship of -a woman, to seek in marriage one of the young girls who alone are in -India available for a suitor. - -The prohibition of widow remarriage has also been bitterly attacked, -often by those Indians who, from education or environment, have been -affected by rationalism, sometimes by those who find a false pride -in the imitation of foreign custom. But the prohibition is not of -course universal. Those castes which have not yet set up a claim -to the higher ceremonial purities, are free to compound with human -desires by a second marriage, devoid of sacramental significance. It -is in the higher classes that the woman may have to pay for the pride -of caste by her individual austerities. Yet against the prohibition -of widow remarriage may be set the terrific wastage in Europe of -chaste and unmarried women. It has not at least entailed upon Indian -society that narrowing and unnatural education which Europe has seen -itself forced to accept, with all its consequent evils, and which is -perhaps inevitable if chastity is to be required as their highest and -sometimes their only virtue from women who are in every case condemned -to a lengthy and, in a vast number of unhappy cases, to a life-long -celibacy. In India a woman is at least allowed to _know_ and to be -natural; for an early marriage gives her in her ripening maturity the -fitting fulfilment of her womanhood. And, even at the worst conjunction -of destiny, the ideal of devotion crystallized in an unbroken widowhood -is, in itself, no ignoble aspiration. The unflinching veneration that -a son gives to his widowed mother is in India no small recompense for -her sacrifice to a sacred duty. Widowhood is recognized by all as a -state--divinely imposed--of austerity and atonement. But it has its own -quiet rewards in the family home, with its sense of duty done, like a -nun’s or a Sister of Mercy’s. It is harsh in those castes, which have -merely adopted a custom, when the inspiring ideal is not felt living -in their hearts, deep and intense. And it is also harsh in those cases -where the original thought has been warped by an exaggerated deduction -or where punishment is too rigorously exacted for illicit infringement -of the rule. At least in the case of the child-widow, betrothed indeed -by a sacrament, but never really wedded, some speedy relaxation of -the rule appears desirable: and it is probable that, with the decay -of faith and with the new scepticism about blessings conveyed by an -astrologer’s predictions, some such amendment will soon ensue. - -A deeper objection to the Hindu system is one which has been seldom, -if ever, expressed. Racially, the absence of that natural selection -which expresses itself in sexual desire, cannot but be detrimental. -It is perhaps vain to expect a vigorous childhood to be born from -unions in which healthy desire is replaced by the coldness of duty or -by an instinct that has not been transfigured by personal attraction -and selection. The difficulty is inherent in a system which bases -its selection upon the supernatural and rejects the natural call of -spirit to spirit and sense to sense. And yet it must be confessed, not -without shame, that a careful selection by parents, if it could be -trusted to be rational and disinterested, might be no more injurious -than the restricted and illusory choice, too often made in ignorance, -which so far seems to be the only substitute that civilization has -learnt to provide. In general, it may be said that the Hindu rules -of marriage are, in the ordinary sense of happiness, as conducive -to the happiness of the spouses as the fast transforming systems of -modern Europe, and that their happiness is less self-centred and more -altruistic. Romantic love is, after all, most commonly, even in Europe, -the short-lived flower of life in one sex and one class. Marriage -must everywhere be in practice limited and artificially restricted. -Economic conditions are very near the base of most marriages; and -even in the richer classes must be a main constituent of the bride’s -decision. Moreover, for the lasting purposes of marriage, affection -is no bad substitute for love--affection and the sense of destined -consecration. It may at least be asserted that, in general, among the -upper castes of India the mingled feeling of duty and devotion is as -strong as, and perhaps more stable than, in the corresponding sections -of English society. In many places, however, and in many castes, the -soft bloom of companionship and emotion is bruised by the brutality of -a first union with a partner before unknown and undesired. Nor can it -be denied that the gnostic asceticism, to which Indian idealism has -so often condescended, has killed, where it could, that joy in a free -humanity which alone can invest marriage with the flaming beauty of -love. When the value of love is considered as an inspiration to art and -chivalry and, indeed, to every creative activity, then the loss, thus -self-inflicted, will appear in all its gravity. It may well be that the -deathly slumber of the arts in modern India is to no small extent due -to spiritual conditions which exclude and condemn the love which is -profane, and is therefore alive and immortal. - -[Illustration: A MAHAR WOMAN] - - - - -The Ladies of the Aristocracy - - “Love in full life and length, not love ideal, - No, nor ideal beauty, that fine name, - But something better still, so very real - That the sweet model must have been the same. - - And oh! the loveliness at times we see - In momentary gliding, the soft grace, - The youth, the bloom, the beauty which agree, - In many a nameless being we retrace, - Whose course and home we know not nor shall know - Like the lost Pleiad seen no more below.” - - _Beppo._ LORD BYRON. - - - - -Chapter IV - -THE LADIES OF THE ARISTOCRACY - - -What exactly it is which constitutes an aristocracy, at any -given time or place, is not always easy to define. In Europe, in -general, aristocracies are based upon the survivals of feudal fiefs -or sometimes upon Court distinctions--but how greatly altered, -broadened, twisted, and transmuted! In India special considerations -have arisen to complicate the question. For all through Indian -society there run, on different curves, double classifications, -each traced by divergent forces. On the one hand, as in all human -societies--unhappily imperfect--lies the great universal distinction -which one calls rank, distinction of power, that is, and official -authority, with distinction of wealth as accompaniment or even as sole -qualification. On the other side lie the less natural--shall they -be called unnatural?--distinctions of a hierarchic classification, -peculiar to this continent and the Hindu faith. In this hierarchy, -the classification is not by power as tested and exercised in the -world, open and plain to all men, but by a claim to power over -supernatural forces, acquired by religious merit, not necessarily in -the individual life but perhaps in lives assumed to have occurred in -past transmigrations. But, as the saint spends in study and prayer -the hours during which conquerors are active with sword or sceptre, so -religious merit does not necessarily bring wealth or authority--with -which indeed it should be incompatible. Moreover, religious austerities -and abnegations spring from or produce a character, to which the vices -and virtues of a feudal aristocracy are alike opposed. So though -the Brahman is in the hierarchy of caste by universal recognition -infinitely the highest, so much indeed above all others as to be by -mystic ordinance “twice-born,” though he is ceremonially pure as purity -itself, though his life is sacred and his blessing a reward, his curse -a menace and a doom, yet in no actual sense can his caste be said to -form an aristocracy. A few there are among the caste who have risen to -royal state and rule lands as princes; but even in them the qualities -of human leadership are overwhelmed by the traditions of a scholar race -and a consecrated people. - -Actually, therefore, it may be said--if words are used in the usual -sense--that the aristocracy of India is composed of the Mussulman -nobility and of the second or Kshatriya class of Hindus, the ruling and -fighting houses of the land. And of these at once the most interesting -and the most important are the tribes known collectively under the name -of Rajputs, “sons of kings,” as the word would read in English. They -are, of all the people of India, the most gallant and picturesque. -Almost they are Indian chivalry itself. In India, the homes properly -speaking of the Rajput tribes are in Márwár, Mewár, and Káthiawád, in -the tracts, that is, which stretch from the centre of the Continent to -the sands of Sind and down to the base of the Peninsula, as well as in -the province that projects into the Ocean to the West. From the desert -of Bikanir and Jodhpur, where water has to be sought by shafts hundreds -of feet below the level of the scorching sand, to the forests and glens -and rocks of Mewár and to the fertile plains that roll across Gujarát -to the Arabian Sea, they rule or hold their lands on service tenures, -and hunt and shoot and make love and yearn for battle. Bikanir, -Jodhpur, Rutlam, Jamnagar, Baria, and how many other names there are -that in the Great War have made dear the Rajput clans! They have borne -the flag as fighting gentlemen to France and Flanders, to East Africa, -and the plains of the Tigris and Euphrates. The recital of their deeds -and glory is a task, alas! for other pens. Be it for these lines to -make something plain of the manner of their daily life at home. - -But first a few words must be written of their history. For without -some such knowledge, there can be no understanding either of India or -of the qualities for which the Rajput stands. Modern India, as it is -now known, came to shape in the nine hundred or thousand years that -passed from the day of Alexander to the Mussulman conquests. Before -that period there was an India, still reflected in the Scriptures and -in the living beliefs of the people, when Aryan immigrants furnished -rulers and priests to dark Dravidian masses, cousins of those who still -people the South Sea Archipelagoes, peoples who even now form the -staple of the Southern Indian population, those who speak Tamil and -Telugu and migrate as labourers not only to Ceylon but even to Fiji and -Jamaica and Trinidad. But after the division of Alexander’s Eastern -Empire, that vast half-obscure series of invasions began which changed -the face of the greater part of the Indian continent and altered all -the constituents of its population. From the Bactrian Empire and its -Hellenized inhabitants, came Menander with the Ionians--Yávans as they -are known in Indian history. From the Oxus valley and Central Asia -came the Scythian Sákas and the Kusháns. And all of these accepted -the Buddhist faith and ruled kingdoms and helped learning and founded -new families. Then, in the end of the fourth and throughout the fifth -centuries, this India already so transformed, was flooded by the -vaster, all transmuting hordes of Gujjars and White Huns. Each horde in -turn swept into its embrace something of its predecessors, each being -widely mixed and composite. So to the last in all those conquering -peoples--and the Huns were a people on the move and not an army--there -were elements of Greek and Turk, Avar and Mongol, and Persian and -Caucasian--all the elements in short that go also to make up Eastern -Europe and its nations. Those were the peoples from whom descend the -Kshatriya caste of modern India, these fine well-mannered fiery -sportsmanlike Rajputs, who are the pride of their country. They look -like any Hungarian nobleman or Georgian chief; and all the centuries -spent in enervating climates and an austere faith have not taken from -them their dash and passionate fervour. - -They are Kshatriyas now, it has been said, these Rajputs from -Central Asia. For from of old the classic, if academic, division of -the Indian peoples has been supposed to be in four great caste or -class abstractions, of which the second or warrior class is known as -Kshatriya. And in fact it was into this caste that the invaders were by -artful priests assumed to be adopted. The first hordes, from Bactria -and the Oxus, had become followers of Buddha, a casteless faith in -which the Brahman priesthood lost its privileges. But the later comers, -the Gujjars and Huns, with their adoration of fire and sun and moon, -were quickly persuaded to the Hindu system and the acceptance of the -Brahman priesthood. So they slew as they conquered and extirpated the -adherents of the reformed creed. And for reward they obtained the -rank of Kshatriya and genealogies of the true Aryan breed. Those who -were soldiers and founded states or formed the fighting men-at-arms -of the clan maintained the rank, and are the Rajputs of to-day. The -rest, as they settled down to trade or craftsmanship or as each by -the succeeding horde was engulfed, and, where it was not absorbed, -oppressed, brought to the multitudinous castes of upper India that -Rajput element which is still strongly marked by Scythian tribal names -and even by customs or appearance. It was a clan system, something -like the Highland clans. Just as Macdonalds or Camerons absorbed into -themselves earlier Picts or later broken septs, so did even the proud -Sesodias of Udepur, one must suppose, take into their tribe in the -first rush of conquest many converted Sákas or Kusháns, broken tribes, -it may be, who were useful recruits, or perhaps at times some powerful -leaders. As the Highlander going to Glasgow or the Lowlands, lost his -nobility and became artisan or weaver or tradesman, marrying with -the common people and shedding his pride and distinctions, so of the -Central Asian fighting tribes there were many who descended to the -common level of the working population. - -[Illustration: LADY FROM MEWÁR] - -Now the Rajput tribes for over a thousand years have been the kernel -of Indian aristocracy. They have lofty genealogies which trace their -trees to roots in mythology, to birth from fire or the personified -sun and moon. The god Krishna, a Kshatriya chief, indeed, of real -but hidden fact, mixed inextricably with the ancient concept of a -cloud-god, powerful in some forgotten Aryan home, has his place -as divine progenitor in many a family tradition. They have their -professional bards who sing the epics of their race and preserve the -records of their families and descent. For a thousand years they have -spent the lustres fighting, tumultuous, each chief with his following -against his neighbour, always divided, yet throughout in no mere lust -of acquisition but in the spirit of a sport, sought for its own sake, -governed by the rules of chivalry. Throughout Rajputana and Káthiawád, -their castles stand on every eminence. Thence they could sally forth -upon a foray, or in them, if the worst befell, sustain a brief siege. -Younger sons either went out to carve themselves a career and perhaps -a kingdom with the sword or received an appanage, half-independent, in -which they governed as vassal princes. The chief ruled with a power -absolute and arbitrary; but he had to rule as a father among his -children. The clan obeyed, as a child obeys his father; yet withal -there was always a curious feeling of equality. They were all of the -same blood, they felt, high or low, born to carry arms, all gentlemen; -and the chief was no better than his poorest brother, except that -God had given him as eldest of the older line the right of decision -in affairs. For their estates the clansmen paid by service, each -according to his fief serving in person or with subordinate horsemen -and men-at-arms. To this class belong the women who have been India’s -heroines, the women whose names survive in story, brave with the brave, -tender and true. Best known of all, perhaps too well-known again to -bear mention, are Padmini, the princess of Mewár, and her no less -courageous companions and maid-servants. For she was beautiful, of a -beauty so surpassing as to bring ruin to her own people. ’Alá-ud-din, -the great conqueror, heard of her fame and contrived to see her -features in a mirror. Then, having looked, he swore that she must be -yielded to his passion or, if not, that Chitor, the capital of Mewár, -should fall. Finally, when it was no longer possible to resist and -the impregnable fort was only too clearly pregnable by the enemy, -Padmini called the wives and daughters of the fighting men and told -them what was in her mind. In the vaults deep within the core of this -strange hill fortress, they piled wood and straw and built themselves -a vast pyre. Then with a farewell to the soldiers who were to charge -in one last sortie upon the enemy, the women went down the steps to -the supreme offering and laid themselves upon the logs of burning wood -and died. In this way the women of Chitor--without one to shrink or to -draw back--preserved for all time the memory of Rajput honour and the -exaltation of Rajput womanhood. - -Even to-day, without a doubt, there are within the _zanánas_ of Mewár -many women of a spirit no less sublime. The honour of the family, that -is a sacred flame which they feed in their hearts with ever renewed -fuel of self-sacrifice and devotion. That is a repute, which, even -when they sin, they seek to preserve intact; and they know only too -well that infraction of this law brings with it death. The women live, -with few exceptions, in the strictest seclusion, seeing no male person -except their husband and occasionally an uncle or a brother. But, in -despite of privacy, the fame of their conduct is whispered abroad and -their influence in affairs is only too often felt, even by Political -Agents and Residents. In a chief’s household, there may be two or three -wives, each with her separate establishment and her appanages. The -management of her estates alone demands a good deal of intelligence and -force of will. Handicapped as she is by being forced to converse with -her stewards through a curtain, behind which she remains invisible, it -is remarkable with what ability many a Rajput wife or widow controls -the administration of her funds, though sometimes unhappily she may -become the victim of fraud or specious appearances. The popular -estimation of the Rajput ladies’ talents is shown in the Gujaráti -proverb, “The clever woman’s children are fools, and the foolish -woman’s children are clever,” in which the former is the Rajput woman -with her impetuous and often imprudent sons, and the latter the cunning -Bania trader with his usually awkward and futile mother. - -Only experience can show how deep, and sometimes how perverted, is the -respect for family honour; how hard the duty imposed upon women to -preserve it above all things else at any cost. Some years ago, a young -Rajput gentleman in an access of insane rage murdered his stepmother -in her room. He had a sister, a girl of eighteen, still unmarried, who -was sitting beside the pair and saw the murder done before her eyes. -As it happened, a Government officer was near the place, got early -information, and by a forced ride through darkness over forest tracks -was able to reach the scene of the murder by midnight. He went at once -to the girl’s quarters and, while respecting the custom of purdah, -insisted upon speaking to her in person. The girl was still shaken -by the murder that she had witnessed, her nerves upset, her night -sleepless, her mind a vortex of cruel impressions. Under the skilful -questioning, she soon broke down, and--told the truth! She recounted -the facts as they had happened; and the facts were that her brother, -the head of the family, was a murderer. But thereafter the girl -remained unmarried, no Rajput of lineage, however poor, being found to -accept in marriage a Rajput maiden who by the mere truth had fixed in -the public eye a stain on the family name. - -Of Rajput wooings there is still many a romantic story to be told. In -one of the smaller states there had been some talk of marrying the -daughter of the house to a greater chief. The young lady, a girl of -about fifteen, exceptionally beautiful and graceful, well-educated, -a writer of excellent letters both in her own and in the English -language, managed to get hold of a photograph of the proposed -consort and incontinently fell in love with the pictured image. The -negotiations met with unexpected difficulties and the project all but -fell through. The young chief, who had not seen her, was indifferent -and accepted an offer from a more powerful state, where he married -the young princess, almost a child. This was so far from damping the -other lady, that it served only to inflame her further. The greater -the difficulty, the more determined she was to win the man whom she -now loved with a bitter passion. She wrote, she intrigued, she guided -the negotiations herself, she entreated and schemed and insisted. At -last she was successful, and the young chief came to wed her as his -second wife. Throughout the ceremony, he was indifferent, almost bored. -From his manner it was plain that he married only as a duty, because -he was a gentleman, bound to a promise which he may have thought -himself cheated into giving. But, the ceremony over, he went according -to custom to eat the first meal with his new wife and for the first -time to see her face and listen to her speech. In less than an hour -everything was changed. Fired by her immediate charms, he burst all -the bonds of etiquette and carried his bride off to his own tents. He -made her his queen and put her like a seal upon his heart. For the -child whom he had formerly married there was little thought, and the -new bride, who for so many years had loved him from his portrait with a -passionate eagerness, became the ruler as well as the loving servant of -her prince. - -The daily lives of these Rajput ladies of Mewár and Márwár may not -have many deep interests but they are by no means empty. Among the -greater chiefs, the woman’s life is the usual life of palaces, with -luxuries at command and with corresponding duties. There are servants -to order and affairs to manage. Most ladies read and hear recitations; -maid-servants sometimes sing; and children have to be cared for and -tended. Sewing is a common amusement in which most Rajput women are -expert. Occasionally a Rajput girl is heard of who, in the remoter -districts, goes out riding or even shooting, dressed sometimes as a -man, though seldom indeed can such amusements, in a caste which follows -the seclusion of women, be entertained after childhood. There are, -however, among advanced chiefs with modern ideas not a few instances -in which there is a tennis-court in the palace grounds for the ladies, -where the wives play together or with their husband and his nearest -relations. And there are some rare States where even the semblance of -seclusion is being discarded and the ladies drive abroad or shoot big -game in the jungle. - -These, however, are the liberties of the great. Among the lesser -nobility, where riches are usually wanting and position has to be -maintained by a stricter observance of traditional rule, the manner -of life is busier, with less need of pleasure-seeking. In such a -minor country-house, the wife will usually rise with the sun. If her -mother-in-law is alive, she goes first to her room and wishes her a -good morning. Then comes, what is in all such households a duty of -first importance, the care of the dairy-farm with its noble white cows. -The milk and whey is always distributed to servants and dependents by -the lady herself. That done, she has a bath and says a short prayer for -her husband, sees the children have their breakfast, and visits the -kitchen. The proudest nobleman’s wife would think shame of herself, -if she did not superintend the cooking and at need take a hand in the -baking of cakes and special delicacies. She sees to it that her husband -and all male guests--usually numerous--have their breakfast before she -herself eats her meal with her women. In that hot land, all sleep who -can in the middle of the day, and the Rajput woman is no exception. -When a couple of hours later she rises, she seeks for some amusement -for the afternoon. All Rajput ladies are brought up from childhood -to the strictest care of their persons and are taught even physical -exercises. Before they are married they have learnt every device by -which they can preserve or heighten their beauty and every art by -which to sharpen their husbands’ zest and devotion. For this purpose -there are many things they learn which in Europe would be disapproved. -But it is largely due to this care that they are faultlessly neat, -fair, and attractive, and that so often their beauty lasts to advanced -years. Thus in the quiet afternoon hours one of the frequent amusements -is to inspect and brush clothes. Ladies keep large wooden chests, -hasped and bolted with iron and often beautifully carved, very like -the bridal chests of the Italian Renaissance. In them are stored the -clothes in whose neatness and beauty they place their vanity. One by -one they are taken out by the maid-servants and dusted and shown to -the mistress and refolded and put back. It is a poor woman indeed who -does not have at least fifteen to twenty skirts, from the cheaper -cotton or red Turkey cloth to the richest silks and gold embroidery. -Mantles _(Saris)_ are at least as many and of bodices there may be -forty or fifty. The maid-servants who fold the clothes are a notable -institution. Rather household slaves than servants, born and bred in -the house, and almost of pure Rajput blood themselves, they are the -intimates of their mistress. One or two of them there will always be -who have been her affectionate companions since childhood and have, -on marriage, accompanied her to her new home. Such a girl is the -lady’s confidant and constant comrade, who looks to all her comforts, -rubs her down after her bath and does skilful massage, knows all her -secrets, brings her all rumours of the world, sleeps at her side in her -husband’s absence, and is her much cherished friend. Often, especially -in youth, the two spend their afternoons sewing together. Amongst the -Rajputs of Káthiawád, besides the pretty bodices that they often sew -themselves, it is the custom for girls to embroider fringed strips of -cloth for hanging across doors or squares to fasten upon walls for use -as ornament at marriages and festivals. Little pieces of glass or mica -are let into the embroidery and the patterns very much resemble those -still sewn by peasant women in Hungary, whither they were also brought -from the same tribal centres of Asia. Reading, visiting, chatting take -up the rest of the day till evening approaches. Then the Rajput woman -puts on her richer dresses and her jewelry and gets ready for dinner -and the night. - -[Illustration: RAJPUT LADY FROM CUTCH] - -The Rajput women of Káthiawád and Cutch deserve some special mention, -both for their beauty and their exceptional cleverness. Beautiful they -are above all other women of India except only in Kashmir, fair with -a rich fresh golden tint of skin, with full soft eyes, and with long -black hair. In their apparel they are particularly tasteful, and the -green hues that they specially affect set off their complexion at its -best under the Indian sky. Of their intelligence there is no doubt, and -throughout the Rajput country they are respected for their talents and -perhaps, shall we add, feared for their intrigue. Jealous and ambitious -to a fault, they are not ignorant even of the use of poison; and at -least it is a proverb that “She marries the land, not the man.” Gallant -and courageous they are, even in evil, and it is not so long ago that -the tale was told of a not-virtuous princess that night after night in -the dark hours saddled a riding camel with her own hands in the stable -and rode six miles out to join a lover, and before dawn, another six -miles back, unseen, unknown, with the threat of a dagger-thrust, if -discovered, always in her mind. But when well-beloved and cherished, -these Rajput women are charming companions and faithful, assiduous -helpmates. - -Besides the tribes who can claim to be Rajputs of authentic origin, -descended as was said from the Central Asian invaders who transformed -ancient India to its present type, it follows reasonably enough from -the constitution of the tribal entities and from the eternal facts -of power and sovereignty, that there are many others who put forward -a claim more or less substantiated to a similar recognition. Such are -the slightly later invaders of similar strains who came to India from -Scythia by a different road, the Jhadejas of Cutch and Káthiawád, for -instance, with their frequent marriages with Mussulmans. These have -at least a perfectly legitimate title to the name by a sort of cadet -copyhold. The hill Rajputs of the Himalayas, among whom for generations -survived the last indigenous school of Indian painting, can also fairly -put forward a claim based on historical descent. But in addition, -throughout Northern India, whenever by the fortune of circumstance a -new tribe, not yet included as a caste in the orthodox Hindu system, -has attained to princely power, the claim to true Rajput ancestry, -for a time overlaid and obscured by the dust-layers of adversity, is -propounded and defended. Minstrels in India are no less complacent -than genealogists and heralds in Europe; and a ruling chief can have -a mythical founder of his line disinterred from unknown records as -readily as can a British peer. Instances are many and notorious; but it -would be invidious to retail cases, where very often the tribe or its -ruling family are in every way worthy of inclusion. - -[Illustration: MAHRATTI LADY] - -Among the Hindu aristocracy not yet fully recognized as Rajput, perhaps -the most notable are the Mahrattas. Cultivators of the arid Deccan -highlands, their swift-raiding horsemen carved out many a principality -in the last three centuries. Several regiments of the Indian army -are recruited from these stern and hardy tribes, and the Mahratta has -fought steadily and well on the Euphrates and the Yser. Among the -ruling chiefs, the generosity, loyalty, and gallantry of H.H. the -Maharaja Scindia of Gwalior, in particular, have now become famous -throughout the world. - -Besides the ruling chiefs, the Mahratta tribes have a number of -families of lesser nobility, above the mass of poorer farmers and -peasants. Five of the tribes boast a purer birth and loftier ancestry; -while in all ninety-nine tribes or branches of the race are counted. -But in all tribes, far greater is the distinction between gentle and -simple than among the Rajput clans. The Rajput clans form a real -brotherhood in which, in many senses, each man is as good as another, -wealth and power being accidentals only upon the leading strain. Over -the whole social life is the tradition of the feudal fief and tenure, -where all hold as gentlemen by their soldiers’ service. Among the -Mahrattas there has never been this history of feudal aristocracy. -And even more perhaps, a certain democratic tendency and a certain -proneness to claim “rights” in the true democratic spirit, make it -natural for those who have attained nobility to distinguish themselves -by a haughtier aloofness. In many ways this tendency has affected -the Mahratta woman. It has introduced the _purdah_ or seclusion for -one thing among a people to whom it is not natural, first among the -nobility, and now to a modified degree among the richer or prouder -of the farmer class. Among the mass it hardly exists even in name. -More obvious still is the difference in appearance between the _lady_ -and the _woman_. The latter is like the generality of the Deccan -population--one sect of Brahmans alone excepted--dark, stunted, -hardly attractive. The former is fair, graceful, sometimes singularly -charming. Seen at her best (and there are now not a few who in the -disuse of seclusion in the more modern houses may be so seen) she -is intelligent if quiet, winning though a trifle austere, grave and -refined. The Mahratta lady lacks the open, ready smile and frank -feminine fascination of the Rajput, but she has her own severer appeal. -There is something in her always that is virginal. She goes through -life as if unconscious of evil or at least as one deliberately and -finely passing by with eyes unnoticing. Almost she reminds one of the -girl-student resolute upon her way to lectures. Or--shall we say?--in -her is something of the Florentine school, in the Rajput princess the -full rich bloom of Venice. - -But in the Peninsula where it narrows to a cape against Ceylon there -still survives an earlier segregated India, untouched, or almost so, -by Scythian immigration. It never knew those tribal communities, now -broken up and regrouped and again assimilated, which left behind as -their living memorial the strenuous organism of the Rajput clans. -In the south, where the green of the rice-fields gleams bright -like emerald, and traffic moves slowly upon great waterways, a -world survives, two thousand years old, fallen perhaps a little to -decrepitude, of indigenous Dravidians--caste-ridden, they, from the -first known times--and rarer immigrant Aryans. And in that world out -of the teeming millions of the Dravidian population, akin perhaps in -remote ages to the inhabitants of the South Seas, the nobility are the -Nairs. Aristocracy they can hardly perhaps be called with propriety, -since they themselves do not claim to rule as being best. Rather they -derive their nobility, by their own showing, from the fact that they -were deemed worthy by the Aryan priests, whom they acknowledge to be -the highest of mankind. The Nairs are a community, rather than a caste -or tribe, with powers of assimilation. A large infusion of Aryan blood, -obtained from the favours of the priesthood whom they venerate, has -given them a peculiar distinction from the Dravidian masses. - -In the “Relations of the Most Famous Kingdom in the World,” which was -published in the year of Grace 1611 by Master Johnson, this southern -nobility was abundantly described: “It is strange to see how ready -the souldiour of this country is at his weapons: they are all gentile -men and tearmed Naires. At seven years of age they are put to school -to learn the use of their weapons, where, to make them nimble and -active, their sinews and joints are stretched by skilful fellows and -anointed with the oyle sesamus. By this anointing they become so light -and nimble that they will wind and turn their bodies as if they had -no bones, casting them forward, backward, high and low, even to the -astonishment of the beholders. Their continual delight is in their -weapon, persuading themselves that no nation goeth beyond them in skill -and dexterity.” They are no longer warriors and the only soldiers of -Nair caste are the household brigade maintained by H.H. the Maharaja of -Travancore. But they are still brave, and in their play the sword and -buckler and the bow and arrow keep their place. - -Nowadays it is the women who have won the higher fame. Seldom in -any country can there have been a womanhood that has received such -universal eulogy. From the earliest histories of Malabar to the latest -writings of French tourists, the chorus, of praise has been a monody. -Old Duarte Barbosa, writing centuries ago his “Description of the -Coasts of East Africa and Malabar,” already clothed his impression -in admiring words. Most of all he notes that “they are very clean -and well-dressed women and they hold it a great honour to know how -to please men.” This careful cleanliness and a certain grave sort of -neatness are indeed recurrent in every description. The bath is to them -a very article of faith and they bathe not daily but, almost it might -be said, hourly. Beside each house is a large private tank or pond of -masonry with broad stone steps leading to the water, and there are few -moments in the hot daylight hours when it does not resound to a woman’s -laugh. They use the nuts of various saponaceous plants to free hair and -skin from the slightest impurity; and no robe, however slightly soiled, -is ever worn again till it is thoroughly cleaned by the washerwoman. -A scrupulous cleanliness and a fastidious neatness--a total impression -of almost hieratic purity--this exhales from the Nair woman like an -emanation. By their grave simplicity an English official was inspired -to a pretty compliment, as he toiled through some red-tape Census -Report with much talk of “excess of females” in the Nair population. -“They could never be accused,” he reported with mock indignation, “of -an ‘excess of females.’ The most beautiful women in India, if numerous, -could never be excessive.” - -[Illustration: NAIR LADY] - -The general picture of grave and simple purity is heightened by the -appearance of their houses, each aloof and separate with a certain -quiet dignity in its own grounds. A bathing tank and a garden, -these are the first conditions of every household; and the garden -is luxuriant with the great rough stems of the jack-fruit tree, the -graceful areca and cocoa-nut palms, and bright green, broad-leaved -banana plants. To the east is the gate, through the garden, to the -house, with a stile to cross and a gate-house or lodge at its side. -The house itself, with its large household all related through the -female line, has on the ground floor its kitchen and store-rooms, an -open courtyard, and a large dining-hall. And above, with two separate -staircases, lie on one side the women’s, on the other the apartments -of the men, segregated entirely one from another. In such houses with -all their numerous family-members, brothers and sisters and cousins -and aunts and children always growing up, a certain quiet discipline -and an instinctive order, from being a duty, becomes a constant habit. -Comfort and tranquillity, if they are to be had, exact self-effacing -restraint and gentle deference to others’ wishes and requirements. -Whatever is boisterous and impulsive, the self-assertive and the crude, -has had to be effaced and smoothed away, as pebbles shaken together -in a bag lose their sharp edges. The manners that result are quiet -and self-contained, a little solemn perhaps, as of people traversing -a cathedral, but sweetened by human charity and a pleasant touch of -worldly irony. - -The dress is simple in the extreme, a single white cloth that reaches -from the waist to the knee. This for long ages has been the sole -honoured dress of the Nair lady, above all fear as she is and above -reproach. That in all public places she should go boldly and unashamed, -with no self-conscious daring, but simply and modestly, with the -upper part of her body uncovered before all men, has been the law of -her community. Only jewelry she wears, a gold or silver chain, even -a gold belt about her waist, gold bosses in her ears, and a necklace -whose pendants are as the cobra’s hood upon her neck. Sometimes, -however, especially in these later days, and when she travels to other -provinces, she throws a cloth over her shoulders and bosom, with a -certain shyness, as of something coquettish and immodest. - -Amusements too are simple, but to their thinking plentiful and quietly -enjoyable. All girls are taught to read and write, and not a few are -highly educated. They are in general on the happiest terms with their -husbands, whom they do not see too much and whose affections are not -blunted by the daily usage of a common household and the dulling -minutiae of daily life. When, however, there is incompatibility, they -separate simply and naturally without unkindness to seek a better loved -mate. In leisure hours, swinging, two or three merry girls on the same -swing, is a favourite amusement, and singing and dancing are often -enjoyed, especially at the great autumn festival when the house is -filled with presents and each one gives every one else a yellow cloth -or a toy or an ornament. Prettiest of all their amusements, however, -and most symbolic of all that quiet, so sweetly singular life on the -backwaters of the south, is that of flower-decoration. In the early -morning the children of the large household go into the fields to -gather flowers and bring them back in armfuls. Then all sit down in -the courtyard, and with their gathered blossoms make bright decorative -patterns on the walls and floor. Best loved of all is a flower-carpet -over which they raise a booth, gaily festooned with other flowers. When -all is complete, the neighbours are asked to come in and admire; and -they compare it with their own in turn. But the finest flowers of all -are the sweet gravely tender women of Malabar. - -When he turns to the Mussulman aristocracy of India, the European -finds himself on ground more familiar, as it is more similar to the -landscape of his own social existence. These chiefs and nobles are the -descendants--in most part--of soldier adventurers who, as generals or -as governors under the Emperors of Delhi, or as rebels and fighters -for their own hand, achieved estates and even principalities. They -have no caste or tribe to distinguish them from their fellows, but owe -their position to their authority and landed interest. As sons of Adam, -they hold, all men are in essence equal, but Destiny has apportioned -sovereignty to one and to another beggary. They rise and fall, as in -Europe, too, heritages are wasted and fortunes won; and they rely upon -no mystic ordinance and no hieratic ceremonial for their prestige. The -frank acceptance of the world as it is, _facts_ alone one would say -having importance, makes the Mussulman gentleman and his family appear -figures fully human and comprehensible. Polygamy and the seclusion of -women alone cause disparities, superficial even these in many respects. - -[Illustration: MUSSULMAN LADY OF NORTHERN INDIA] - -The permission to marry up to four wives is in practice seldom -utilized. The commandment to treat all wives alike, with equal favour -and cherishing, in itself makes righteous polygamy by no means easy. -But a more actual obstacle is the natural jealousy of the woman and -her great influence. There are few Mussulman ladies whose husbands are -not just the least thing “henpecked.” And few of them will allow a -rival to enter the zanána without a struggle. Only in a few of the most -powerful courts is it prevalent to any conspicuous degree; and in such -royal households where it exists, it flies often in the face of Holy -Scripture no less than human sense and comfort. It is then a vice and -not an observance. Seclusion--the “purdah”--exists with a severity far -exceeding modern Turkey or even Egypt, and still more in excess of the -Prophet’s teaching; but it falls short of the unreasoning stringency -of the Rajput code. It is relaxed for one thing by the recognition in -each case of certain persons who stand “within the enclosure,” as it -is called, or in other words are free to meet the women of the house -unveiled. In this circle are included a large number of male relatives -and even, in a few cases, the husband’s most intimate friends, as well -as servants brought up from childhood within the family. Moreover, the -restriction becomes less oppressive when it is relieved by the wide -freedom to visit women-friends which is generally sanctioned. Veiled -though they drive through the streets and unseen, there are few things -which are not noted by the keen eyes behind the peep-holes in the -shrouding cloak. - -The Mussulman girl of the better class is in early childhood taught -to recite prayers and to read the Qor’an in Arabic, though without -understanding of the words she reads. As she grows older she is -usually taught more, and attains a fair knowledge of Urdu, while, if -she shows signs of greater capacity, she will often learn Persian as -well. To read simple books in Urdu and Persian is at least a common -accomplishment, and there are not a few who can themselves read or, at -least, understand the elegant odes of Hafiz. In household management -and the care of her children the Mussulman lady is able to find -incessant occupation, while there is no one who more appreciates the -pleasures of a garden with runnels of flowing water under a tropic -sky. She rises very early, and shortly after dawn she is to be found -among the roses in the walled garden. Chess and backgammon are frequent -amusements. In talismans, omens, charms and the evil eye she has -an unshakable belief, which survives every trial. And in her later -years she looks forward to the sacred pilgrimage to Mecca, with all -its difficulties and hardships, as the last and best employment of -a well-spent life. Something there is truly noble in that figure of -an old lady, veiled in white, facing, after a long life behind the -curtain, the crowded port, the steamer, and the desert Bedouins. But -sweetest picture of all in the womanhood of the Mussulman nobility is -the growing girl, not yet a woman, in coloured silk trousers, long -robe, or shirt of fine Dacca muslin, and velvet cap gold-embroidered, -as she sits cross-legged beneath a shady tree and recites aloud -from the silk-covered Qor’an that is open before her on its carved -sandalwood rest. - - - - -The Middle Classes - - “Things never changed since the time of the Gods, - The flowing of water, the way of love.” - - _Japanese Song._ LAFCADIO HEARN. - -[Illustration: FROM BURMAH] - - - - -Chapter V - -THE MIDDLE CLASSES - - -In a vast empire with a population of over three hundred millions, in -area a continent, with some thirty-five main languages and of dialects -none can say how many, with different religions and with cultures -divided from each other by centuries of progress, anything like an -adequate description of the middle-class woman would be a task beyond -human power, and its perusal beyond the patience of the most enduring -reader. Less difficult by far would it be to head a chapter “The middle -classes of Europe,” and, within its limits, after running from Greece -and Roumania to Spain and England, to scale the heights upon which, -like an inspiration, the womanhood of France sits enthroned. But there -are at least some essentials in which the womanhood of the Indian -middle classes becomes congruous, differing therein from the women of -other countries, Europe for instance, or America or China. Perhaps it -may be tried by the selection of a few types, with the aid of contrast -and analysis, in some way to express their essential atmosphere and -habit. - -Burmah must, one finds, go to the wall, not most certainly for any -fault of its own but because it lies so far apart from the total of -Indian life. For administration it is placed within the confines of -the Indian Empire, but with the Indian peoples its people has no lot -or part. To omit it seems almost a pity, so frankly independent are -its women and so fascinating--free above the women of most nations and -consonant to an unusual degree with ultimate human ideals. One sees -such a little Burmese lady sometimes, but how rarely, in India, the -wife perhaps of some English officer or of a high Burmese councillor, -so a picture may stand as reminder of smiling daintiness, like some -porcelain figurine glazed and tinted in the furnace of human freedom. - -In India proper, of the middle classes, the most important, and perhaps -the most enigmatic, figure is the Brahman’s. The class is certainly an -aristocracy in one, the etymological, sense. For it is as being best -that they hold power and the power that they hold is, even to this -day, most undeniable. Aristocracy--“rule of the best”--of those rather -who are admitted to be best--if this be indeed a meaning true to fact, -then the Brahmans should be included in or alone comprise that rank. -With many of them their very appearance, their gait and self-composure, -support the role. With steady untroubled eye, straight nose and -sensitive nostril, fair skin, “pride in their port” and self-restraint -in every gesture, they move through the mass of common men, as if -conscious of a higher mission. By the sacred thread across the shoulder -they proclaim themselves twice-born, once from a mortal womb and once -again at an auspicious hour in childhood by initiation to the sacred -mysteries. Calm and indifferent, serene with a careful precision -and habit of restraint, they incarnate in their manner something of -absolute repose, as if untouched by the mundane ebb and flow. Withal -they are not in any customary sense a nobility. Perhaps, it may be -said, they have transcended even nobility. In any case the proudest -noble must at times, and some must constantly, admit the ascendancy, -spiritual though it be, of these born preceptors. The greatest ruler -will eat food cooked by the poorest Brahman beggar; but no Brahman, -desperate with the pangs of destitution, would accept even a glass of -water from a monarch’s jug, the mere touch being a profanation to the -nutriment of sanctity. In Southern India, where the Brahman, immigrant -from Aryan races, was most successful in exploiting the indigenous -population by the means of religious awe, the Nair nobility are abject -in their recognition of this hierarchic superiority. In every word of -speech the Nair throws himself, as a clod of mud, before the Brahman’s -feet to be trampled and contemned. His house becomes, in speaking to -a Brahman, his poor dunghill and the Brahman’s house his palace; his -teeth are dirty in his speech, and the Brahman’s pearls; his sleep is a -mere falling into snores, and the Brahman’s an honourable slumber. - -But in ordinary speech, in Europe and no less in India, the concept -of nobility or aristocracy in its worldly relations implies other -qualities. A certain tinge of feudal tradition colours our thought; -and a nobleman is always conceived primarily as a fighter and a leader -of his own men in his own estate. Love of sport, a certain careless -gaiety, an eupeptic cheerfulness and a happy enjoyment, face to -face with a world in which nothing really matters, coupled with the -readiness to do the duties of his station and to die for honour, these -are qualities that make up the mental picture. - -It is not to such a class that the Brahman belongs. To life and the -pleasures of life, he stands as a pillar of negation. Not here and -now one conceives him beckoning, but in a reality transcending all -appearance in duty and existence. Privation is for him the highest rule -and participation in the world is at most an inexorable concession to -accidental forces. The Brahman’s life must, in semblance at least, be -one of constant abstention, rigidly guarded. The show of enjoyment and -the joy of healthy natural life must be repressed or at least veiled -discreetly. Between him and mere sensual humanity he has dug a gulf, -impassable. - -[Illustration: LADY FROM MYSORE] - -Of Brahmans only a few are by ordination priests. The majority fill the -professional classes, as administrators, clerks, astrologers, scholars, -physicians, lawyers, and the like. Some are money-lenders and not a -few are cultivators of the soil. There are even rare Brahman houses -which, in spite of religious prohibition, have usurped the thrones -of princes. But in all there exists not only a sense of solidarity -as being sanctified, but also this ideal of abstention, leading in -practice not unseldom to a grave and measured hypocrisy. As a whole -they are the professional class of India, they and the rival caste, -the Kayasthas or “scribes,” and maintain with admirable earnestness -the tastes and pursuits of an intellectual, idealizing, and temperate -order. Mental discipline, the suppression of the impulsive act, a habit -of restriction so incessant as to become almost instinctive, these they -have to a degree almost overwhelming. - -Among Rajput women one finds certainly the highest development of the -individual with the greatest charm and the fullest humanity, and it is -they, almost alone, who have achieved the heroic. But to India as a -whole the ordinary ideal of woman in her relation to social function is -represented by the more reticent figure of the Brahman. She is woman as -in his life the ordinary man would wish to find her, quiet, devoted, -managing and pious. - -Nowhere is the Brahman woman so true to the type presented in this -ideal as in the Madras Presidency and in the Bombay Deccan. And never -is she so true to herself as when she goes, sedately, to the temple. -In her hand she carries the brass tray on which she has put her humble -offerings of ochre powder and flowers with a wick burning beside -them; and she goes looking neither to the right nor to the left. She -rings the bell which summons the God’s attention to his worshipper -and walks the prescribed ceremonial steps round the idol with a grave -unquestioning dignity. And her whole life is one unceasing round of -service, in which humility is elevated by an ever-present sense of -Divine ordinance. To the lowly in heart she feels--almost one might say -she knows, so strongly does she feel--belongs the kingdom of heaven. -In service to find fulfilment, even happiness, that is her God-given -mission. She grinds corn and cooks, carries water and washes the -house, nurses her children, waits upon her family, as also she draws -ornamental patterns with white and red chalks upon her door-step, all -with a humble pride and joy in the singleness of her devotion. In -poorer houses, in the houses of far the greater number of her class, -she is at work all day from long before the first-dawning till at last -at night she falls into the deep slumbers of exhaustion. There are few -who keep servants, except for an occasional old woman who comes to help -with the rougher tasks. And in addition to the household labour, she -is forced, too early, to premature childbirth, and protracted nursing. -For charm and coquetry, for all the arts by which woman gladdens life -and creates a liberal society, she has, if she had the inclination, no -spare time or energy. She ages early, spent by exhausting labour and -the recurring burden of unregulated childbirth, unwarmed by joy, unlit -by passion. - -[Illustration: A SOUTHERN INDIAN TYPE] - -But the bare life of poverty and unending labour is illumined by a -spiritual exaltation. With the performance of their service the million -Saint Theresas of the Deccan are able to find within their hearts a -satisfying happiness. Like nuns, by an austere self-repression, they -avert their eyes from humanity and the human purposes of life; and when -they are forced to see, they persuade themselves to despise. They live -as it were in a spiritual cloister. But even in this world they are not -altogether without reward, though it comes late in life. The love and -devoted kindness of her sons, that is the one constant meed of service -upon which the woman counts. And there are few things more impressive -than an Indian son’s look when he turns to his mother or the tone in -which, even years after her death, he speaks of his childhood at her -side. And in old age when she in turn, with her husband, succeeds -to the management of the large joint family household, she finds a -peaceful joy in the ordering of their simple life and the caresses of -her clustering grandchildren. At the end, when death lays her to sleep -at last, she dies in the hope of an untroubled peace, as one who has -accomplished a lengthy service not without pain and effort. - -Such perhaps most truly are the women of India, as through a large -continent the greatest number of its inhabitants would like to see -them. Not for this world, they might say, is the labour; not for love -and enjoyment and greater power and finer emotions and self-development -and the glories of nature do they thirst. Of the fervours of youth and -the vivid joys of mere active BEING, of the fine harmonies between soul -and sense in expanding, self-perfecting human functions, of a humanity -that should be self-sufficient, free in the face of the eternal -universe and glad in the fight for mastery with obstructive matter, -they have not even a conception. To an Indian Antigone no chorus would -sing of human power and magnitude. Only the preacher would instruct in -humility and abnegation. - -Even the richest Brahman women of the South spend their leisure hours -in a manner that accords with the common ideal. Relieved of the more -exhausting house-work by the labour of the servants, they spend the -afternoon hours when they are at rest in the reading of the Purans, -those grosser Scriptures or, one might perhaps with truer comparison -say, those Hagiologies in which priests have deformed the too subtle -tenets of Hindu theosophy with the flesh of mythology. In the reciting -of these legends, and in lengthy prayers and ritual performance the -wealthy Brahman lady is content to find the entertainment of her -leisure. - -The same ideal of service and privation is to be found no less in -Bengal, sweetened however and softened like the more languid air. -There is something hard, even cruel perhaps, in the arid Deccan -plain with its burning dry winds and its stony hill-sides, and its -stern, thrifty, self-centred people. Its asceticism is harsh and -rough, the sour ferment as it were of crude souls in fear of a fierce -Deity, looking by abnegation to secure the grace that alone can give -salvation. The spirit is that, almost, of a Hindu Calvinism, savagely -abnegatory. A softer piety, as of some Italian nunnery among roses and -olive trees over the blue sea, inspires the womanhood of Bengal. They -have a devotion no less intense, their service and self-sacrifice is -no smaller; but they are filled also with the pity that assuages and -the love that makes things sweet. To be kind and tender in a world -which, with all its evil and pain, is pervaded by a loving and merciful -Providence, such is the spirit in which they render service. The large -houses of Bengal, embowered in trees, have a claustral peace as well as -labour. The lives of the women in them are coloured by the tender light -of pity and affection. Often in the warm nights under the star-strewn -sky, young girls creep to each other and whisper little gaieties. - -[Illustration: BENGALI LADY] - -In general, among the middle classes of Bengal, women practise a -seclusion that is, however, not too rigid. It is a seclusion like -that of classic Athens, not savagely jealous as it still is in many -Rajput houses. But with the renaissance that in the last fifty years -has so greatly altered life in this great province, many have learnt -to discard orthodoxy and with it the traditional restrictions. At -Benares, especially, many a Bengali lady can be seen walking openly to -the temples and the sacred river. Always she bears a perfect courtesy -and a rounded balanced dignity. Of the newer school, too many perhaps -have aspirations gleaned from the lighter English novels which they -eagerly read--dreams for whose passage the ivory gates of Hinduism -were never meant to open. But deep in the hearts of all--far deeper -than such fashions--are the images of Sita and Sakuntala. Some play -tennis and ride, some there are who return from English schools and the -smarter section of London society with the gossip of Ranelagh or the -bridge club and a wider taste for amusement. But there are none who -discard the tenderness and soft devotion of their native womanhood. -Nowhere in India have there been so many marriages between English -and Indian; nowhere have they been more successful. The number of -women really educated, appreciative of art and literature, a few even -themselves poets and writers, is out of all comparison large; and the -artistic rebirth in Bengal must to some extent have been shaped by the -influence of women’s grace on the social world. Without departing from -the prescribed fields of service and abnegation, they take their part -in every important movement--sometimes perhaps unwisely! But at times -they have brought untold benefit by their acts. So a few years ago did -the brave girl who by the sacrifice of her own life slew a great social -evil--the purchase of men at the price of ruinous dowries. It must -at least be conceded that the women of Bengal, descendant from mixed -races but long since truly Indian, have clothed the sacerdotal ideal in -vestment of soft and womanly grace. But there are other parts of India -where even the Brahman woman has diverged from this ideal, or--should -one not rather say?--has transfused into it the feelings and robust -sensuality of a more vigorous nature. Where the late conquerors from -the North have settled, where rich plains bear wheat and millet, and -fields are hedged with the milk-bush and the cactus, where the great -trees make the country seem like an English park, and the air bites -cold in the winter mornings when a skin of ice crackles on road-side -pools, where in the hot months the sun hangs like a disc of brass -over the panting earth, there the pulse beats stronger and a larger -nature sways the will. Women there have their claims as well as duties; -and from life they demand, besides the right to serve, a broader power -also and a rich fulfilment. They wish for love and to be loved, and -even in their service they aspire to govern. For their womanhood they -claim at least some freedom. The texts are still the same; but they are -commented by a bolder temperament. The distinction holds good perhaps -for all the women of real Hindustan--for the lusty graceful women of -Allahabad, for instance, and the upper Ganges Valley. - -[Illustration: A NÁGAR BEAUTY] - -But nowhere can this fine and active type be better studied than in -the Nágar caste of Káthiawád and Gujarát. The Nágar community came -to India with the last Scythian hordes; and almost at once, at the -great fire baptism of Ajmer, attained the rank of Brahmans. To this -day, so high do they hold themselves above all others, they hardly -trouble to use the title Brahman, but call themselves merely Nágar, -with a proud simplicity, as who would say, “I am the Prince.” For -centuries they have held the appointments of the State and been famous -as administrators. They are to be found in every rank and in every -department of the public services, clever, courteous, receptive, and -self-confident. Their pride has become a byword among other castes; and -their success has made them the mark of envy and dislike. But there -can be no question of the ability with which they have held their -position, nor of the keen, progressive intellect that guides their -interests and activities. They have an eager humanity, and a keen -understanding of worldly good and evil, and are above the hypocritical -renunciations and pessimistic sanctity of a priestly class. Literature -they hold in honour; and the creative instinct, which leads many of -them to administration as the career in which man expresses his active -will through the minds and morals of mankind, forces others of their -community to self-expression in thought and language. If renunciation -there be, it is here, not for a mere negation, in itself fruitless; -but to the end of a greater realization in the material given by -humanity. In this dynamic will, the women have a proportional share. -Ambitious and intellectual, they partake in the interests of their -families and encourage or advise their husbands and their children. -For the achievement of purpose they are ready for every sacrifice; but -the consciousness of larger interests ennobles the sacrifice as it -humanizes the purpose. They too serve, as every Hindu woman seeks to -serve, and the Nágar wife, like her sisters, will cook and wash and -stand aside before her man and wait upon his meals. But her devotion -is shaped by a less trammelled intellect, and she claims in return an -immediate recompense of love and attention. - -Very beautiful are the Nágar women, and their beauty is the theme of -countless songs and ballads. Fair with a rich golden vivid fairness, -like the colour of ripe wheat, with dark eyes in whose depth glows -a spark of passion and round which humour and laughter play, with -full petulant lips, figures finely rounded and firmly plump like -the quail, with, graceful movement and slender limb, the whole lit -up by intelligence and comprehension and a touch of conscious charm, -the Nágar woman presents a picture that remains unforgotten. Even -laborious study seems to have no power to rob her of her looks, and -the girl-graduate is fresh and graceful, as if she had never bent over -Euclid or deductive logic. One meets them so at times in Ahmedabad or -Baroda, in the houses of the highest officials, clever, well-read, -well-bred, with perfect manners and astounding beauty, like some memory -of the Italian Renaissance, taking no small part in the establishment -of an urbane and liberal society, and like the _donne_ of Boccacio they -return to their homes to serve and cherish their husbands. And of love -they can repeat the whole gamut. Indeed, the keynotes of this society, -with all its undertones of Hindu abnegation--as in Florence, too, -one imagines an undercurrent, not too discordant, from Savonarola’s -denunciations--are not unlike Italy in the great age. Women have -similar duties with a touch of the same implied seclusion; they have -the same intrigues and stolen pleasures, the same essentially natural -poise in life; they are now even beginning a similar application -to learning and poetry. And of love too they have no lesser lore -and experience than those ladies who, finely natural and fittingly -acquiescent in their sex, gladdened and made illustrious the Courts of -Mantua and Ferrara. - -Even more beautiful than the women in the Nágar caste are their -charming and delightful children. With the round oval of their faces, -the fair bloom of their skins, the growing intelligence that dances -in their eyes, they at once captivate all who look. In general up to -the age of eight or ten they remain naked (though an unfortunate new -fashion, imitated from customs made necessary by the cold grey skies -of England, tends to hamper their free beauty in ugly and unwholesome -clothes), and the light movement of frail gold-browned limbs in the -Indian air is sheer refreshment to the eye. Devotion, then, the Nágar -woman certainly stands for, devotion and the due and harmonious -fulfilment of the duties of her station. A woman she is always, fully -and truly womanly. But she is far above the mere privative of empty -abnegation. Beauty she knows and values, and she is not ignorant or -afraid of the power that kindly beauty can exercise in the affairs of -men. Learning she can recognize and honour; literature she assists; -even of art, she is not, like her sisters, much afraid. In Gujarát from -of old the dainty custom has remained by which on certain festivals, -the feast of lamps for instance, ladies of the highest classes meet in -the open streets of the residential quarters and chant choral songs -while they move round in a circle, beating time with their hands and -bending gracefully up and down. They sing of spring and flowers and the -sports of girl-friends in palace-gardens. But in the large industrial -cities which in the last generation have risen upon the older towns -with their restricted social circles, the publicity of the streets has -become inconvenient. The Nágar ladies in Ahmedabad, for instance, have -taken a leading part in transferring the old songs to larger concert -halls in clubs and similar places, and at the same time raising the -standard and artistic value of the performance. Those who have ever -heard such a concert must be grateful for a movement full at the same -time of beauty and colour and sweet sound along with modesty and -perfect taste. For a higher social life, with heightened enjoyments and -a rational freedom, for self-development and wider interests, yet well -within the limits that nature prescribes for woman, distinct from the -far other limits set to man by his divergent functions, for a life that -has in it something of Greece as well as the main ideals of Hinduism, -the Nágar woman, for all the illiberal asceticism of the Brahman -tradition, may emphatically stand. - -In the mercantile classes the same ideals persist, deflected however by -the incidents of their livelihood and to an even greater extent by a -profound difference in spiritual aspect. Of the Hindu trading classes -by far the most important and the most ubiquitous are the merchants -of Márwár, of Gujarát, and of Cutch. All follow one of two sects, the -Vaishnava or the Jain--the latter in essence a different religion, -originally indeed a protest against Hinduism but now little more than -a sect, another ripple, so to say, on the waters of national faith. -Both at any rate are protests against Brahman orthodoxy and the gnostic -philosophies of essential Hinduism. Numerically and in its effects, by -far the more important is Vaishnavism. In the form in which it has -been adopted by the trading classes, it is the belief that by love -alone can God be realized. It centres upon Krishna, that tender and -sportive figure, in whom the God Vishnu again came to earthly life, -and in whom are enshrined the memories of a once-living hero. On Him -mythology and popular song have lavished their softest endearments -and their most entrancing images. In His name have been composed the -voluptuous love-poems of many generations; and the dalliances of -Krishna with the milk-maids and His beloved Rádha are the constant -theme to which Indian passion turns for lyrical expression. They are -the familiar accompaniment in childhood as in age of the merchant’s -women-folk. In Vaishnavism such as this the devotee throws himself, as -a suppliant, on God’s grace and love alone. He acknowledges indeed his -innate incapacity to apprehend the Godhead, but he aspires at least -to feel something of His Glory in those ecstasies of self-abandonment -which can be likened on this earth only to the passionate love of -man and woman. In their prayers too they associate with the God that -consort Lakshmi or Rukhmini, who gives wealth and prosperity--the -benign divinity who with her lord preserves and maintains all living -things and in loving-kindness intercedes for all who seek by love -and submission to realize the Divine in the universe, be their sins -manifold as the sands upon the shore. - -In every land, of course, the pursuit of wealth as such must be -opposed to higher spiritual activities and loftier aspirations. For -the merchant the end must be the acquisition of riches for its own -sake. All other purposes are either means or incidents. He must treat -men and women as means and not as ends in themselves. He can have -for humanity none of that respect which is felt by him who, as equal -among equals, seeks as his end human perfection, or even by him who, -again one of many equals, works, as he thinks, by pain and self-denial -for the greater glory of God. Where acquisition is the supreme good, -all else must be subordinate. And the methods of acquisition are -really two-fold, either by careful saving and the starving of desire -to accumulate useless metal tokens which are the equivalents of -untasted pleasures, or by wilder speculation quickly to capture the -wealth which, exchanged, can buy luxury and material gratification. -Side by side, in the same class of men, the two methods can be seen. -Extravagant abstention and extravagant lavishness, a fulfilment that -is material or an abstention that is no less material, these in -all countries are the marks of the merchant class. But they can be -mitigated in their effect, as they were in the Italian Renaissance by -the almost superstitious devotion of all ranks to the newly-exhumed -classic ideal. In India this mitigation is given by the creed of -Krishna and of love. Materialized though it has to be when refracted -through the mind of man the acquisitive, it is still an influence, -nicely attuned to the receiver, for something finer and ennobling. What -there is of good, charity and spiritual significance in the merchant’s -life (and it is after all much) is mainly drawn from a faith which, -even when interpreted in a too material sense, could hardly be replaced -for its worshippers by any other _credo_. In modern Europe the -aristocratic ideal has for the richer merchant something of the same -significance and mitigating value. But for those outside the circle in -which this ideal can be operative there is no other thought to raise -and enlarge the spirit. - -It is not difficult to see how all these influences must react upon -the woman’s life. The effects are further complicated by the fact -that child-marriages are still the rule, and that only too often, in -a trading class, the young bride is sold by her parents for large -sums to an aged bridegroom. Among the larger number of the class, -probably, acquisition is sought by rigid economy. The young wife finds -herself stinted, therefore, of every comfort and even of the dresses -and ornaments that by nature every woman desires. The husband holds -the purse and makes almost all purchases himself. A few rupees only -can reach the wife, and for these she has to account. Even if her -husband is young, long hours in the shop, constant poring over account -books, and little exercise only too soon make him obese and feeble. -The only real interests are house-work, in which she has no final -voice, and frequent, often ill-natured, gossip. On the other hand, she -has this of advantage that her menfolk, weighing the world as they -do by its material fruits, ascribe to women the first place in their -pleasures. She is, therefore, in spite of all, able sometimes to -attain a real power that is discordant with her ostensible position. -The passion is for the sex in general, not for the individual woman; -for a mere satisfaction of sense, not for a spiritual individualized -love of the fitting mate. But a shrewd woman can play upon the passion -and make it serve her own purposes. And when the trader’s wife does -manage to attain such influence, she uses it unsparingly for her own -satisfaction. Many a comedy of manners is played, unseen, on the dark -stage of the merchant’s house. There are not a few husbands who, -whether from love of gain or from sheer terror of their wives, shut -their eyes complaisantly to divagations damaging to their honour. The -practice common to many money-lenders of keeping burly Mussulman, often -Afghan, servants in their households, is anything except an incentive -to female virtue. - -[Illustration: JAIN NUN] - -Among the merchants who follow the Jain religion, however, these -conditions apply with less force. Their life is simpler and the -imagination is unheated by the constant thought of loving ecstasy. -The Jain _sadhvis_, a class of nuns recruited both from the unmarried -and the widowed, bear a character that is far above reproach. With -shaven heads and in yellow garments, a little square of cloth usually -tied upon their lips to save them from inhaling the smallest insect, -they wander through the country, begging and singing hymns, nowhere to -remain above four days, leading a life of austerity for the glory of -the spirit. They are irreproachable like Sisters of Mercy, and like -Sisters of Mercy they can move safely among the roughest crowds, -protected by the respect of all. Something of their simple and humble -piety has penetrated to all ranks among the Jains; and the ladies of -the Jain millionaires of Ahmedabad, owners of large cotton factories -and masters of men and money, live their simple lives in the midst of -riches with purity and quiet modesty. - -Amongst the richest of the merchant class are the Bhatias, who -gain rather by daring speculation than by niggardly effort. On the -race-course, as in the exchange and cotton market, they are conspicuous -figures, with a certain pleasing _bonhomie_ and easy good-fellowship. -The Bhatia women play a part in the social life of modern India that -is hardly less conspicuous. Orthodox in the extreme, they are strict -followers not of the ascetic but of the more human sect. They are -able, therefore, to be strict in observance and orthodox in belief -without abdicating the rights and enjoyments of humanity. They attend -diligently to religious services and in the early hours of the -morning the ways that lead to the Krishna temple are thronged with -their carriages. To the High-priests, in whom they see the divinity -incarnate, they give an adoration that is almost boundless. But, with -all this, they claim from life the fulfilment of their humanity and -their womanhood. Moreover, they demand something of excitement and -palpitant emotion. A few there are who, like their menfolk, gamble, and -there is none who will deny herself the excitement of jewelry and fine -clothes, diaphanous fabrics half disclosing the limbs they cover. The -worst offshoot of their orthodoxy is the practice of infant marriage; -and there are few sections of the community in which young girls are -so often married to old men, the parents profiting by the bride-price. -As the remarriage of widows is forbidden, it follows necessarily that -in the Bhatia caste there is a number, quite excessive, of young -widows, in the first bloom of fresh maturity, often left with great -fortunes. Fortunately for society, these widows, so numerous are they -and the conditions of their marriage so manifestly unfair, have been -able collectively to repudiate the hardships that enmesh the orthodox -Brahman who has lost her husband. Among the Bhatias, there are few -shaven heads! Neat and well dressed, with pleasing face and figure, -perhaps too consciously demure, they strike an attractive note in the -complex harmonies of modern India. The system by which they are married -is hardly elevating and is opposed not only to the ideals but also to -the commandments of the sacred texts; but a commercial class cannot -get away from its own limitations. It is at least a great deal gained -that it should be alleviated by a sensible appreciation of life and joy -and by a degree of freedom which, though not of the highest and inmost -kind, is more humanizing and liberal than the negatives of material -self-denial. Self-control, control, that is, of and by the inner self -in harmony with ultimate nature, is no doubt the concomitant of the -highest liberty; but any liberty, even any licence, is better than the -denial of the actual living self. - -[Illustration: BHATIA LADY] - -In the rich province of Gujarát, the home of so large a proportion -of the merchants of India, there is a festival which embodies in its -observance much of the inner feeling of the Indian woman. During the -rains, for one waxing moon, the days are sacred to that Goddess, who -represents the all-pervading energy of nature, the spouse of Shiva, -the Great God, the ultimate Destroyer. During these days the maidens -of middle-class Gujarát worship the Goddess with an eye fixed upon the -attainment of the perfect husband. The little girls go in groups and -bathe and pray, and they make the vow that is the Vow of Life. They may -be as young as six or seven or eight, but year after year they renew -the vow till they are married. Throughout the day they have to sit in -a darkened room, reflecting upon the Goddess and upon the supreme boon -of a good husband, but at times resting their minds by nursery tales -or songs or innocent games with cards and dice. Then every morning -they bathe again in the pond or river, where rival groups of girls -make jokes upon each other and laugh and play. The many songs are the -most touching part of the whole festival. And these songs represent a -marriage of free choice, in which the girl chooses a husband from her -suitors. How different from the present practice! Year after year, -till they are married, they sing these songs. And who shall say how -far this dream of choice may remain to mould their actions, even after -the forced marriage that awaits them? The need of marriage at least, -its supreme value to a woman’s life, that is always before their eyes -from early childhood; and marriage is bound up with religion, with -the personal gifts of the divine and happy wife of the Greatest God. -But in the very songs, sanctioned by the goddess, the cry is always -for the chosen mate, the giver of love and happiness. Little wonder -if at times the grown girl, now become conscious, learns to know the -difference between the husband selected under social conventions by -her parents for his worldly circumstance and the man who, unsuitable -perhaps in wealth or temperament, is yet nature-chosen to be the mate -of her desires and the beloved of her heart. For the parents’ choice is -not always wise, and among sinful mankind there are not a few who will -sacrifice a daughter’s welfare to their own profit. - -[Illustration: KHOJA LADY IN BOMBAY] - -Of the Mussulman middle classes, the most conspicuous are the Bohras -and the Khojas. Both belong to different branches of the Shiah -sect, that sect which is to Islam what the Catholic Church is to -Christianity. Both also are the descendants of Hindu communities which -were converted in fairly recent times to the faith of salvation. Among -the Khojas, especially, many Hindu customs have survived, and their -law of succession in particular is not the law of the Qor’an but the -survival of Hindu tribal custom. At this moment, perhaps, theirs is -the most interesting of these communities, both because by their -practical talents they have obtained a place of political leading among -Indian Mussulmans and because they are--with the exception of a small -reforming branch--the religious followers of H.H. the Agha Khan, a -prince so nobly known by his loyal efforts in the War. - -The Khojas, “honourable gentlemen” as the name means, come in the main -from Gujarát and Bombay. But they are scattered now through all the -bigger trade centres of India--Calcutta, Nagpur, Sind and the Punjáb. -They have not, however, confined their enterprise to the Indian Empire, -but have made settlements in the East wherever the British flag gives -its subjects protection. They have crossed the mountain passes to Hanza -and Dardistan; they have sailed to Zanzibar and the Persian Gulf; -they have penetrated into Arabia; they maintain business connections -with Singapore, China and Japan, and even with England, America and -Australia. Many of the great commercial interests of India are in their -hands, and in business they bear an excellent reputation for integrity -and punctuality. Their representatives have an important place in the -Legislative Councils of Bombay and of the Government of India. In -social life, they are something of epicures, and their clubs are not -only hospitable but are well-managed and furnished. The best of food -and the best of wine will always be found at any entertainment given by -these generous and liberal merchants. They enjoy literature and still -more music and dancing; and they are among the most tasteful supporters -of those arts. Many among them have now forsaken commerce for the -liberal professions. - -The Khoja woman is hidden in seclusion behind the _purdah_. The few -that are to be seen are as a rule somewhat below the middle height and -are of a graceful, but not altogether healthy, slightness. They are -well educated and are good housekeepers, known for their neatness and -management. As Mussulmans they are of course married under a system of -free contract, but unfortunately for them Hindu tradition has been too -strong, and they suffer in practice from many of the disabilities of -their Hindu sisters. Remarriage after widowhood is in practice almost -unknown; and divorce is so discountenanced that its relief is seldom -sought. On the other hand, the ascetic idea is at least absent, and a -wife expects and a husband is prepared to give constant attention and -all possible comfort. They have a force of character which merits this -attention; and their features, with arched head and broad forehead, -strong chin, and large lustrous eyes, are the index of their character. - -Of other trading classes of Mussulmans, the Memans, also converts from -Hindu castes in Sind, Káthiawád and Cutch, deserve notice, if only for -their charity and piety. All Memans, women as well as men, hope to -perform the pilgrimage to Mecca and habitually visit the Chisti Shrine -at Ajmer. And for their large secret charities the women, no less than -the men, have a well-deserved reputation. - -Among the large body of middle-class Mussulmans of the usual Sunni -sects, those who claim to be descended from foreign invaders and -who are at least not directly traceable to any special wholesale -conversion, the position of women is on the whole satisfactory and -agreeable. Every family has its poor relations and dependants so -that, even when she is childless, the mistress of the house is seldom -lonely. The morning she spends at her toilet and in seeing to the -day’s marketings and looking to the kitchen. At meals all the family, -men and women alike, meet and eat together. Sometimes, even, a -much-favoured friend of the husband’s, a trusted and intimate friend, -may be introduced to the inner, unveiled circle. After the midday meal, -a rest; then sewing and talking; then games of backgammon and chess -make the afternoon pass. The evening dinner then needs looking to, -and after dinner it is common to hear or read tales and romances or -religious books. Children may also take up much of the woman’s time; -and among Mussulmans as a rule the wife may count upon a loving, almost -a passionate, husband, except in the unhappy cases where differences of -temperament produce a real antipathy. In that case she can always try -to force a divorce from his hands, though the practice varies with the -social circle. That the pressure of Indian influences has forced upon -them child-marriage, followed only too often by premature consummation; -that the intentions of the Prophet in regard to divorce and widowhood -have often been neglected; and that the rule of veiling has been -interpreted with a superstitious irrationalism, quite opposed to the -teachings of the law, are disabilities under which the Mussulman -woman of the middle classes still has in part to suffer. But she is at -least oppressed by no tradition of renunciation or asceticism, and she -has, in favour of her fulfilment and just cherishing, text after text -in the sacred Book. The recent tendency to a purer Islamic practice, -hand in hand with the growth of rationalism, offer her hope of early -liberation from extraneous bonds and of development as a free human -agent. The women of Islam have as guide rules of law, sanctioned by -revelation, which if practised are more rational and more insistent on -justice and human freedom than any other precepts ever codified into -statutes. It is to be hoped that the recent advance and rationalistic -movement in Islamic countries will secure the happiness that should -follow intelligent practice of a humane code. The devastation caused by -Mongol invasions and ravages and the subtle perversions induced by an -alien atmosphere have to be repaired and eradicated; but there is no -intrinsic reason why the social system of Islam should not again reach -and surpass the high level it commanded in the days of Al Ma’mun. - -[Illustration: MEMAN LADY WALKING] - -In a review of the middle classes of India, it would be impossible -to omit the rich and influential sect of Parsis. Descendants of the -ancient inhabitants of Persia, expelled after the Mussulman conquest, -followers of Zoroaster and worshippers of fire, they reached the -west coast of India after many perils, to be finally protected by a -Hindu Rána or prince. Small in numbers, for many centuries they lived -in the main by agriculture, though there were a few among them who -achieved a name in arms. With the coming of the British they changed -their pursuits and their social habits. Commerce had heretofore been -strictly protected by the exclusive guilds of the Hindu merchants. Its -doors were now thrown open. Moreover, the British official required -body-servants, if possible of good class. The Hindu was precluded -from accepting such an occupation by caste rules of purity and caste -prohibitions. The Zoroastrian religion left the Parsi free from such -scruples. Many members of the community, by commerce direct and by -the assistance that gratitude was ready to bestow, were soon able to -insinuate themselves into positions which they maintained by their -adaptability and their commercial integrity. In shipbuilding they -excelled, and both in this and in the kindred trade of ship-broking -they accumulated many fortunes. The liquor trade was their monopoly; -and, aided by the privilege of exclusive distilling and a monopoly of -sale, it was remunerative to an undreamt degree. By the end of the -eighteenth century, an old traveller notes, practically the whole of -Malabar Hill, the most fashionable and only really enjoyable portion of -Bombay had already passed into the ownership of rich Parsis. Throughout -the nineteenth century their wealth and their importance grew. - -One of the most striking qualities of the Parsi community is its -aptitude for imitation. With the advent of British rule, this facility -stood them in good stead. It was not long before English education -became general and almost universal among them, while by their prompt -acquisition of the minor conventions of manners, they easily opened -the doors of European society. In consequence it was not long before -they attained a position of social importance, based upon solid -grounds of wealth and education. The Parsi woman was not left behind -in the advance of her caste. Many women studied diligently and even -passed the examinations of the University. In general they demanded -a liberty such as they read of in English novels, and fancied they -could see among their English friends. They refused to marry except at -their own choice. For the dull details of household management they -expressed contempt and considered their duties done when they looked -to the furnishing and decoration of their houses. In dress, the Parsi -woman has contrived no less to modify her own costume, originally a -slightly altered form of the Hindu woman’s, in imitation of European -fashion. She still retains the mantle or _sari_, but it is hemmed with -a border imported from London or Paris. An outer lace shirt is draped -like a blouse under the mantle. The trousers, which she has to wear -under her skirt by customary prescription, are so curtailed as to be -invisible, and the feet are thrust into silk stockings and Louis Quinze -shoes. Her jewelry is of European pattern, usually second-rate, and -she despises the beautiful antique designs of the Indian goldsmith as -“old-fashioned.” - -The Parsi woman has in the past been greeted by an amount of praise -from European writers which, though intelligible, is yet almost -extravagant. It was natural to be pleased at so conscious an -imitation, especially in a generation when most Europeans had no doubt -of the superiority of their own civilization and were prone to judge -the merits of other races, like missionaries, by their aptitude for -assimilating its products. They could, after all, always clinch the -argument by pointing irrefutably to the triumphs of the Albert Memorial -and the Crystal Palace. In a country where few women of the better -classes appear in public and beauty is seldom displayed, the spectacle -of many gaily-dressed ladies, with graceful drapery, promenading along -an Indian street with the freedom of a popular sea-side resort at home, -gave almost as much pleasure and pride to the gratified Englishman as -it did to the girls’ own parents. It has required closer inspection and -broader judgment of East and West to notice the cracks that stretch, -no doubt inevitably, across the charming picture. New liberties, -imitation not always too wisely conceived, above all sudden commercial -prosperity--these have had their advantages. But they also have their -countervailing losses. - -At the bottom of such disadvantages as appear is no doubt the broad -fact that the community as a whole consists of business men. There are -of course individuals who have adopted the learned professions and are -solicitors, doctors, barristers, and judges. But even they live in a -society and probably in a family circle which is wholly commercial; and -even their successes are estimated by the money they bring in. In many -ways Parsi society is like the Jewish society that is to be found in -the larger cities of Europe. But the Jews as a community are devoted -to the arts and have a ripe sense of emotional and spiritual values. -They respect learning and artistic expression. Even those--the greater -number--among them who are engaged in business frankly enough recognize -their inferiority to thinkers and artists. Again the Jews have always -had a tradition of aristocracy among themselves, and in recent years -have sought every opportunity of mingling with the nobilities of the -countries to which they belong. The best among them have, therefore, -raised themselves by art and letters and by an aristocratic code -far above the narrow vices of a commercial middle class, and it is -only the lower strata who continue to display the typical defects of -“business life.” But the Parsis have unfortunately so far missed these -mitigations. They have not, and, within the memory of history, they -have never had, the tradition of an aristocracy. They are separated -from the indigenous nobility, not only by religion, but by interest -and custom, and the difference has been deepened by their partiality -for an Anglicized mode of life. Though a few among them have done good -work, they have no real liking for learning and art. Hence there is -hardly a community in the world, except perhaps in the United States -of America, which bases its standards so largely upon wealth. Men are -esteemed mainly by what they have managed to acquire; precedence is -allowed according to size of income; the business man takes rank over -the professional; and a memorandum of their richest men is inscribed -on each Parsi’s heart, as on tablets of brass. - -These are defects which are not unnatural when a small and isolated -community finds itself confined to commerce and is from its history -devoid of higher interests. They are defects which do not alter the -fact that not a few among the Parsis, especially those who have for -generations reposed upon inherited wealth and have taken to the learned -professions, are charming men and women and true and worthy friends. -Among those who have such a position--who do not aspire to dazzle -fashion in the wealthiest circles and do not require to increase their -incomes by further trading--the women are attractive by their education -and their rational freedom. They preserve a place of dignity and -reserve, while quietly taking from life the benefits it offers to a -liberal mind. They may even rise above the touchy vanity which is all -too common. - -It must, however, be admitted that Parsi womanhood has suffered -harm from the excessive imitation of English habits--or what are -taken to be such. From the nature of the case, because of their own -inclinations and environment, the English life they have sought to -imitate has inevitably been that of the middle classes. And the effect -has been heightened by the enormous consumption of English novels -among Parsi women. Owing partly to national character and partly to -the demoralizing secret censorship which broods over the publishing -world, nearly all English novels have to be “pretty-pretty” falsehoods, -distorted away from the facts of life and the truths of nature. The -consequence has been to produce a dangerous mental confusion in which -spirituality and idealism are suppressed and replaced by a fruitless -sentimentality. Reality on the other hand is known and presented only -in the shape of hard cash. The harm done by such popular writings is -not so apparent in England, where they are part of the normal tissue -wastage of the nation. In a foreign and not immune constitution, they -produce rapid inflammation. One finds therefore among Parsi women, as -one does among the women of the United States, a mentality in which -impracticable and silly sentimentalism is mixed up inextricably with -a thirst for the solid advantages of wealth. They sigh for courtships -of the kind depicted in their favourite “literature,” with scores of -“dears” and “darlings” scribbled over scented letters, with moon-calf -glances and clammy squeezings of hands; they and the heroes of -their fancy get photographed together like any German _braut_ and -_brautigam_; they enter marriage with a blind eye turned to the hard -realities of human nature, to discipline for instance and duty, but -with the expectation of finding a husband on his knees to pamper every -wish and petulance. Yet at the same time, the Parsi, like the American, -girl will not let herself slide into these sentimentalities till she -is assured of her admirer’s income and position. Both restraints--that -which keeps her from love till she knows how money stands, and that -which keeps her during her courtship within the bounds of technical -chastity--come easy enough as she is, with a few honourable exceptions, -free from passion. She would never give herself to the wild love of -Romeo and Juliet or the abandoned ecstasy of Tristan and Isolde. -Hermann and Dorothea, or a drawing-room ballad, would appeal more -readily to her sympathies. That in England there is also another -type of womanhood, truer and greater, she does not know--how could -she? That there are girls of a fine candour and simplicity who are -taught in childhood to obey and to have quiet, effacing manners, who -respect a father whom they see controlling a large estate, honoured -in Parliament, perhaps governing a great dependency, who are bred in -a society of equals in which true and natural superiorities alone, -whether of age or seniority, of success in the hunting-field or in -the council, are admitted and publicly recognized, that such girls -bring to their husbands with their love, respect, and the heritage of -discipline, that as wives, while expecting to find fulfilment and the -realization of their hopes, they are ready to subserve the higher and -enduring interests of a family, of such facts and such nobilities of -life--worthy indeed of imitation if such there must be--there can be -little knowledge. Vital facts are not always plain upon the surface, -and in England no class is so quiet and unobtrusive as the one which -really counts. - -[Illustration: PARSI FASHION] - -The prevalence of a money standard in their lives has introduced among -the Parsis the great evil of excessive dowries. Generally speaking, -it may almost be said, no Parsi young man will marry a bride unless -her parents come down with a large settlement, and scandalous stories -are sometimes told of the means employed to extort larger sums from -the father. The girl whose family is poor--be she as beautiful as -Shirin and virtuous as an angel--stands in every danger of being -left a spinster. Day by day the probabilities against marriage grow -heavier, and the number of unmarried Parsi women of mature age goes -on increasing. Alone of all the peoples of India among them the -reproachful name of “old maid” can be used. The numbers of unmarried -women are already so great that this has become a serious danger to the -community, as for that matter it is among the upper middle classes of -Great Britain. “Old maid-ism” must have its consequences: hysteria and -other illness is on the increase; and the suffragette may soon become -as actual a terror and a retribution to the Parsis as she has been in -England. If this should ever happen, then climate and the surrounding -environment are likely to make the pathology of the situation even more -critical in India. - -The marriage law which governs the Parsis is very much the same as -that which exists in England. Marriages are strictly monogamous, and -divorce can be given only by the decree of a public Court of Law on -grounds nearly the same as those admitted in the English Courts. In -practice early marriage has ceased to exist, and indeed marriages, as -in England, are as a rule contracted at far too late an age. The same -causes which lead so often to women remaining unmarried, have also -raised the average of age. - -Parsi life presents, therefore, the picture of a society in which -woman have many seeming and some actual advantages, but in which, -on the other hand, they are more and more rapidly plunging into -unforeseen but very real evils. They have great liberty, a liberty -greater, or at least less restrained, than is enjoyed by the women of -the better classes in England or in France. They can have education -and the pleasures of a liberal mind. In accepting a husband they are -ostensibly allowed full freedom of choice, though in practice they -are of course limited by the usual considerations, by the importance -attached to wealth, and, especially, by the great difficulty of -securing any husband at all. They have the advantage of being trained -to mix without shyness in all societies. But, even apart from a certain -self-assertiveness which at times distresses their best admirers, -they have to suffer from the growing probability of a life-long -spinsterhood. Only too many will have to face the final misfortune of a -wasted and infructuous life. - -The community is distinguished by its loyalty and its generosity; -and Parsi women, as well as men, play their part in that lavish -distribution of charity for which their race has become famous. It -could be hoped that, without foregoing what they have gained in -education and position, they should also preserve fresh the emotional -values of sweet and disciplined womanhood and be able to secure those -timely and assured conjugal relations which must be its fulfilment and -best reward. - - - - -Working and Aboriginal Classes - - “Sweetly the drum is beaten and - Sweetly the girl comes to draw water: - Sweet is the ochre on her forehead: - Sweet is her bodice of silk: - Sweet is her charming footstep. - Ohé! the cakes baked by the girl: - Sweet is the girl with her infant child. - Lo, her dress is wet and clinging from the water - And she is adorned with tassels of jewels: - On her hands are bracelets - And her feet are enriched with anklets.” - - _Rowing Song of the Fisher Kolis._ - - “A palmer came over the mountains and sat down under a barren tamarind - tree - Then he got him three stones and placed a pot upon them. - He went to the midst of the town to ask alms and played his pipe as he - went. - The sound of his pipe reached the ear of Rádha. - She ran towards her father and towards her mother: - ‘You are my father and my mother: I am going off with this palmer for my - man.’ - ‘Do not go, my dearest daughter, I will give you all you want. - Cows and buffaloes will I give and for your service four hand-maidens.’ - ‘What should I do with your cows and buffaloes? - What should I do with your four maid-servants? - For such a man have I prayed to God for full twelve years.’” - - _Marriage Song of the Fisher Kolis._ - -[Illustration: DYER GIRL IN AHMEDABAD] - - - - -Chapter VI - -THE WORKING AND ABORIGINAL CLASSES - - -If it was difficult in any way to summarize the varying conditions of -the middle classes and to present with anything like unity some picture -of their women, to attempt the same for the lower classes is to face -difficulties that are in fact insuperable. The middle classes, as in -all countries, are much conventionalized, and are always busied with -a conscious effort to live up to an ideal that may be misapprehended -or incomplete, but is still in the main intelligible. The differences -that exist are either geographical or sectarian--differences due -to tradition and development in differing environment, in varying -faiths, for instance, and doctrines. The lower classes, especially -the aboriginal tribes, still stand so narrowly on the circumference -of the Hindu system that, with a literal eccentricity, they evade the -attraction of conventional rule and regulation. They are governed -by customs, often of immemorial antiquity, which may be outside the -orbit of Hindu precept, and by superstitious fears which lead to -sudden and capricious divagations. The main criterion of their status -and the chief factor of divergence in their lives is the degree to -which they have accepted Hindu Law or, to put it more exactly, the -Brahman customs recorded in Sanscrit scriptures and stereotyped in the -decisions of the Law Courts. - -Broadly speaking, throughout India proper, the lower classes that -stand within the Hindu system are the offspring of mixed Scythian and -Dravidian parentage. But neither term can be taken too strictly. In -Scythian may be included not only the hordes of White Huns, Gujjars, -and Kusháns, but even some remote trace of earlier conquerors of Aryan -race: Dravidian is little more than a collective name for the dark -peoples who, before the dawn of history, were in possession of the -Indian continent. From the two races in mixed and varying proportion -are sprung the artisans and respectable cultivators of India, probably -even the untouchable and degraded castes that cluster in dirty hovels -on the outskirts of every village. In the far south they are almost, if -not quite, Dravidian; in the north-west, where the five rivers flow, -they are nearly pure Scythian. Between the two extremes are a multitude -of shades and a multitude of customs. Even the Mussulman lower classes -are in the main descended from the same constituents. Converts to -Islam though they are and legally free to marry as they please among -believers, they have usually restricted themselves to their fellows and -have continued the line unbroken as it ran in the days of idolatry. The -pretty dyer girl whose bright clothes and open smiling face is so much -a feature of Ahmedabad, for instance, is by descent no different from -her Hindu sisters. Where she has altered, where her gait is more free -and her glance more bold and frank, the change is due to that influence -of belief upon physique, to which far too little attention has so far -been paid by the professors of anthropology. This influence of mind -upon body can be seen in Europe where the Jews, descendants of so many -peoples and, at least as far as Eastern Europe is concerned, mainly -Ugro-Turkish by race, have yet by an unanimous and constant habit of -thought largely acquired the marked cast of features which is called -“Semitic.” In India the Mussulman population is a living instance -of the same modification of the physical by the mental. The change -has been too much ignored by a science which, from its mathematical -prepossessions, thinks only in things that can be weighed or counted -and neglects forces which must be measured by a subtler calculus. - -[Illustration: MUSSULMAN WEAVER] - -The Mussulman weaver women, again, bear sons who are known for their -turbulence and who strike home in every sectarian riot. Yet the Hindu -weavers of the same kin are quiet and even timid. The handsome Sunni -Bohora women of Broach and Cambay, converted descendants of the -prevailing caste of Hindu cultivators in the province, are famous not -only for their looks--and striking is their bold beauty--- but also for -their virile energy and resolution. - -In the Hindu artisan and cultivating classes, the status of women -is most affected by the social position accorded to the caste as a -whole. The higher the importance of the caste and the more it acquires -wealth and consideration, the more quickly it accepts child-marriage -and--what is socially even more important--the prohibition of widow -remarriage. These in India are the tests of fashion; and each caste, or -even any single section of a caste, as it finds its position improving, -confirms and establishes it by the fresh burden that it throws upon -its womankind. For the enhanced consideration gained by wealth, and -the ceremonial purity which can be bought by wealth, the women pay. -Life-long widowhood is the price extorted from the individual for the -social prestige of the class. - -In the last thirty years a remarkable and quite the most important -feature of Indian history has been the rapid growth and extension of -Hinduism. Yet, so easy and natural has it been, it has passed almost -unnoticed. There are many in Europe who believe that Indian castes -are fixed, immanent, and immutable. And this belief is upheld with -conviction by almost every Indian. Yet nothing could be more erroneous. -The concept of caste is no doubt ancient and of a strength so confirmed -that it can almost with propriety be called permanent. Yet the actual -castes--the things that _are_--are fluid in the extreme and are in -constant movement, while the boundaries of the system have recently -had vast extensions. The ease of communication given by railways has -brought the central Brahman influences home to every hamlet in the -continent, till whole tribes that were formerly hostile have been -persuaded to adopt the name and many of the customs of the Hindu. At -the same time new thoughts of Indian nationality and solidarity, born -of English education, have roused in the higher and educated classes -a real desire to comprise within the Hindu fold peoples from whom -their fathers would have shrunk as from foreign and debased savages. -But the idea round which the whole caste system revolves is that of -marriage. Far above the maintenance of ceremonial purity, far above -mere restrictions on food and water, stands, as the one essential -rule of caste, the limitation of lawful marriage to a fixed circle of -descent, real or fanciful. And with this limitation, which is of the -very essence of Hinduism, goes a certain view of marriage as magical, -sacramental. Thus each additional conversion of a strange tribe to the -Hindu system brings fresh adherents in great numbers to what, more or -less clearly adumbrated, is at least a reflection of the Brahman ideal -of womanhood. To coarser minds and to tribes not much advanced beyond -the savage, only a thin ray of the ideal can penetrate. Among such -tribes the woman may remain free for some long time from the trammels -of the higher law. - -[Illustration: CAMBAY TYPE] - -For that law can be tolerable only when it is fully comprehended. But -as they advance in civilization and the conversion to Hinduism is -solidified, as it were, by developing education, so the ideal, more -and more clearly grasped, begins to be followed in practice. It is at -this stage that child-marriage and the unrelieved doom of widowhood are -introduced. New India therefore presents the paradox that while in the -upper class a few, gained to the cause of rationalism, allow widows to -remarry, discarding almost with violence the old sanctions and the old -beliefs, side by side in the great mass of the people the prejudice -daily grows and millions now forbid remarriage who thirty years ago -would never have dreamt of the restriction. - -But as a whole the properly Hinduized lower castes have no great -interest to the observer. The conduct of the women is as close as -possible an imitation of the better class, deflected as in all -countries by poverty and labour and by the inevitable roughness and -coarser understanding of their class. To trace in detail the full -recent growth and development of such a caste might have its interest, -but would transgress the purpose and limits of this book. Of especial -interest, should anyone attempt it, would be the development, of the -dairyman and milkmaid class in India. Divided into many septs, and -in some instances differing now in race, they are descended from the -Scythian tribes of Gujjar and Ahir. It would be interesting to trace -them from the uplands of Kashmir, where they still roam, through the -Gangetic plain to Káthiawád, where among many pretty women their -women--Cháran and Rabári--are perhaps the most beautiful, and where -their men are genealogists and bards, and stand surety for the treaty -bonds of kings. Even in appearance, and greatly still in custom, they -have much of the high mountain air of the great plateaux on the roof of -Asia, where once they wandered with their sheep over dry, wind-swept -uplands. - -[Illustration: THE MILKMAID] - -More homogenous and far more thoroughly imbued in the Hindu tint -are the striking fisher or Són Koli caste of the western coasts. -The collective name of Koli covers a multitude of tribes--not yet -fully embraced in the Hindu caste system--whose unity of name and -manifold distinction in fact forms one of the most difficult of the -unexplained problems of Indian ethnology. A century ago most of their -tribes were freebooters, cattle-lifters, caterans. Many Koli families -won themselves little principalities, and some have got themselves -recognized among the Rajput clans. Others are peaceful cultivators, -and there are many who live as labourers by the sweat of their brow. -But to this day there are some who prefer crime, and will even board -a running train to rob the goods waggons. All of them have, perhaps, -some strain of descent from an earlier race--Kolarian, or call it what -you will--settled in India before the Aryan invasions. But it is clear -that, though they retained a tribal organization, they must in great -but varying proportion have mingled with and assumed the characters of -other races. In places they are hard to distinguish from the aboriginal -Bhil; in other regions--in Káthiawád, for instance, and the salt plains -where the receding sea has made way between Gujarát and Sind--they seem -rather to be the residue of a Rajput soldiery, common soldiers perhaps, -not ennobled by a diplomatic victory, or married to women of some -earlier tribe. At any rate among some of these tribes there subsist -traces of customs foreign to the rest of India, such as the rule of -marrying an elder brother’s widow or of the younger brother, even -before her widowhood, sharing in her favours. - -But of community with those wilder clans there is now little trace in -the customs of the fisher tribes who live upon the shore that stretches -from north of Bombay City down towards the Malabar coast. In the past a -certain fondness for piracy was perhaps a solitary sign of a probable -connection. From their appearance, however, it is clear that they are -the descendants of a people as widely distinguished on the one hand -from the darker farming and labouring castes who form the major part of -the population, as on the other they are from the grey-eyed and pallid -Brahmans of the coast who are its spiritual aristocracy. Distinguished -physically from the other inhabitants by their light-brown complexion, -the round curves of their faces, and their smiling expressions, they -are equally distinguished by their occupation, their separate dialect, -and their aristocratic constitution. It is also clear that from the -date of their settlement on the coast-line, they have kept themselves -unusually unaffected either by the amours or by the moral and mental -ideals of the surrounding population. History is not plain in the -matter of their arrival on the coast, but a probable inference from -tradition is that most of the present day Kolis are descended from -immigrants who came down from the hills some four hundred years ago. It -was only about two centuries ago, under the rule of the Peshwas, that -they entered the fold of Hinduism, and they themselves say that they -were first taught to know the Gods at that time by one Kálu Bhagat, an -ascetic who had himself been of their tribe. - -They are peaceful enough now, but they are still bold sailors, and -it is their fishing-boats which bring the daily catch to the Bombay -market. The men are handsome and well-built, with curious scarlet caps, -like an ascetic’s, which are the distinctive uniform of their class. -But, as would seem in all countries to be the case with fisher-folk, -where the man toils on the sea and on shore rests and smokes in -idleness, in the daily round of life it is the woman who counts most. -At home she is mistress, and she takes the earnings of her man and -gives him what he needs for his drink and smoke. She carries the fish -to market and drives her bargain with keen shrewdness. She does not -lose as a saleswoman by the attraction of her smiling lips, showing -her sound white teeth, and of her trim, tight figure. The dress is -striking. The skimpy mantle or _sari_ is slung tight between the legs -and over the upper thigh, so that every movement of limb and curve of -figure shows in bold lines, as the fisherwoman carries her basket on -her head to the crowded market. The freedom and strength that they -draw from the ocean is preserved by a customary law which allows women -a reasonable liberty. In many ways the Koli fishwife is as fine and -independent as her sister of Newhaven in Scotland. Like her, she has -her share of her husband’s drink when there are guests in the house or -the sorrow of the swirling, driving rain is forgotten in a cheering -glass. On their right hand these women wear a silvern bracelet of -peculiar and heavy shape such as is worn by no other caste. No other -bangle or bracelet, ornament or jewel is worn on that hand; and the -absence of such adornments is for them a sign of the covenant under -which God protects his fishers from the perils of the deep. - -Among the fisher-folk marriages are seldom contracted till after -puberty and the bridegroom is usually required to have attained at -least twenty years. For they hold that a youngster below that age -cannot work as he should at oar and sail, if he have a wife to cherish. -The wife is usually consulted by her parents and asked whether she is -willing to accept her suitor. Widows are of course allowed to marry -again, and a full divorce is granted to a husband only if his wife be -taken in adultery. In other cases, only orders of what can be called -“judicial separation” are passed--with the same natural results that -in England follow upon such decrees. Among the many castes of India, -there is usually a constitution which can fairly be called democratic; -disputes are decided and case-law made by an elected tribunal. The -fisher-folk have other ways. The final decision in their caste rests -with an hereditary headman aided, but not bound, by assessors. He -gives decrees of divorce, in which the claims of the wife are treated -with more justice than would be got from an elected and therefore -hide-bound tribunal. In all cases of desertion, misuse, cruelty and -neglect, whether accidental or intended, the wife can get a speedy -separation by the order of the headman. On him again rests the duty -of providing for all orphan girls and finding them good husbands. -Further, the headman, sitting by himself “in chambers,” has the right -of protecting women who become mothers without being wives, of fining -their paramours, and of finding them husbands to cover their disgrace. -There are signs, unhappily, of the power passing--to be replaced by -the usual elected body and rules derived more strictly from Brahman -custom. But in the meantime women fare well, and their own bright -faces, their healthy children, and their contented husbands all testify -to the value of a practice as sane as it is unusual. Happiness readily -expresses itself in song, and the songs of the fisher-folk are stirring -and tuneful. They sing them in a dialect of their own, apart from the -written language; and on their festivals it is inspiriting to hear the -choruses of men and women joyfully chanting these songs of the sea. - -[Illustration: A FISHWIFE OF BOMBAY] - -Of aboriginal tribes pure and simple--creatures untamed and almost -untouched by the various civilizations that one after another have -shaped humanity in the Indian continent--there are many still left -in the wilder forests and mountains. But the latest of the great -civilizations that have reached India has set in action forces -which they can no longer elude. A law that is at once impartial -and all-embracing and a railroad system which, in search of trade, -penetrates the jungle and tunnels through the rock, have brought even -their homes within the economy of modern life. They are being quickly -sucked into the vortex of Hinduism, to emerge half-stifled as a menial -class. As at the touch they leave their strangeness and their jungle -ways, they sink to the lowest scale among the civilized, where once, -with all the dangers of wild animals and exposure to disease, they -had at least been free of the forest. Among the smaller aboriginal -tribes the Todas of the Nilghiri mountains are conspicuous. For one -thing they are an instance which reduces to absurdity the inferences -of an anthropology too subject to abstractions and too reliant on -skull-measurement. For anthropologists of that school have found the -measurements of the Todas to be exactly Aryan--the one thing which--(if -the word is to have any meaning at all) they cannot be. The Todas are -a small tribe now, some 700 persons in all. They support themselves by -rearing buffaloes, whose milk and cheese they sell to the residents of -the neighbouring sanatorium, recently built upon a mountain plateau -that for hundreds of years had been thought impenetrable. In the spring -they scatter with their herds through the pastures of the uplands and -return to their dirty huts in the rainy season. But the touch of the -finger of civilization has crushed their loins, and the decay of this -curious tribe is too far advanced to be arrested. Drink, opium, and -poverty have contributed to their ruin, and the tribe is scourged by -the ravages of a disease to which they were new. The women are vicious -without emotion, and mercenary without disgust. Miscarriages are -frequent, and those children who see the light are born diseased, are -left neglected, and die like flies. - -[Illustration: TODA WOMAN IN THE NILGIRIES] - -Of all the aboriginal peoples--more important even than the Gond -peoples and the Gond Rajas of Central India--the greatest and the -most impressive are the Bhil tribes. They can be traced from the first -dawn of history; and in all the Sanscrit poems, Bhil queens hospitable -to errant Aryan knights are as needful an incident as Bhil archers, -liker devils than men, shooting their death-dealing arrows from behind -rock and bush. They held kingdoms and had founded temples, reservoirs -and towns when first they met the fair warriors from the north. Then -they were driven forth and hunted and slain, and their homes were -made desolate and they took to the forests as broken men, their hand -against all others. Century after century they lay hidden in their -lairs, coming forth only to rob and raid, cruel and merciless since -they themselves were dealt with cruelly and without mercy. Yet one -thing they were always, autochthonic, like some primeval force in whom, -if all could have their rights, the soil and its title must to the -end be vested. And so it is that to this day they have by a curious -prescription a symbolic function at the coronation of Rajput princes. -When a ruler first ascends his throne, by a Hindu custom, a mark of -ochre is printed on his brow by a priest as an auspicious omen and a -sign of fortune. But for the Rajput chiefs who rule in the country that -was once the Bhils’, the mark must be made by blood pricked from the -finger or toe of a Bhil tribesman or his sister. Even the first and -proudest chief in India, the Mahárána of Mewár, does thus acknowledge -the autochthonous race whom he displaces but who hold the prior right. - -From Mewár the Bhil tribes reach west to the confines of Gujarát and -south to the Deccan plateau. Their status varies as the land they -occupy is more or less open and cultivated. In the forests they are -independent and self-sufficient, ruled by their own tribal custom, -rough perhaps and uncultured, but merry, equal one to the other, -not unprosperous. In the civilized tracts, where economic forces of -competition have free-play and Hinduism has prevailed, they have sunk -to the position of a proletariat, supporting themselves on labour such -as they can get and by theft whenever possible. They lose their virtues -at the contact and merge on the untouchable masses of the lowest Hindu -castes, with the same vices and the same imitative rules and customs. - -[Illustration: GOND WOMAN] - -On the hills and in the forests of the Rewa Kántha States and -Mewár, however, the Bhils are seen at their best--sporting, loyal, -happy wildmen of the woods. They have no villages like the Hindu -plainsmen--close-crowded and ill-smelling. Each family has its own -homestead in the clearing, a hut of logs grass-thatched, overgrown -by the creeper-gourd with its yellow flowers. The men are skilled in -the use of bow and arrow and love to roam the forests after game. -They follow the tracks by which wild animals move at dawn from the -valleys, and they know each lair or water-hole. The women also know -the forest, where they collect grass seeds to be ground to flour, and -where they gather the luscious fleshy flower of the mhowra tree to cook -into cakes or distil into fiery liquor. They keep large numbers of -cattle and every homestead has its own fowls and chickens. Two enemies -only prey upon them, the leopard who seizes the grazing calf, and the -anopheles mosquito which injects into their blood the malaria that ages -and kills them early. For the rest while the years are good and the -seasons kindly and the rain comes in good time and falls sufficiently, -they are happy and free from care. But when there is scarcity, they -die of famine, save for the relief brought to their doors by British -administration. Among the hill tribes, where they still distinguish -themselves from the Hindus, the Bhil woman has much freedom. When she -has long passed puberty, at seventeen say or eighteen, she marries -pretty much as she pleases. They are, in a pale copy of the Rajput -feudal chivalry, divided into clans and have the religious prohibition -of marriage within the clan. The girl must, therefore, choose a husband -from another family. But the clan descents are rather vague and -blurred, and the prohibition does not in practice hamper their choice -seriously. Outside of this limit, at any rate, they marry with their -heart. Only the intending bridegroom must make the girl’s father a -customary payment of money or of cattle, often stolen in a raid from -some lowland village. If he cannot pay, however, he has the option of -doing seven years’ service in the father’s house, as Jacob did for -Leah. During that time he is free of the girl, though he is not fully -married till the end, and he lives in the house more as a dependent -poor relation than a servant. Till they are married, the girls are not -expected to be too strictly virtuous. While they are young, their sport -with neighbours’ boys is merely smiled at indulgently as “the play of -children.” Even when they have ripened to real womanhood--“and then -Chloe first learnt that what had happened near the forest was but the -play of shepherds”--they still wear the white bodice which shows them -to be girls unclaimed by any man, and no one looks too closely to their -actions. When once, however, they have chosen their husband and settled -down to marriage, it is rare indeed that there be thought of any other -man. Rare above all is it, if there have been children of the marriage. -If, however, there should be trouble, divorce is easily arranged by -a small payment to the husband and the wife is free to marry another -man. A widow of course is no less free to marry, and a young woman -never remains in widowhood. Men and women live on very equal terms, -and there is much good-humoured affection between husband and wife and -children. Not unlike is it to the life of the Scottish peasant and his -wife, an easy freedom in youth leading to a homely and loving marriage. -The money that they earn is often kept by the house-wife, who allows -her man so much per week for drink, the chief diversion of the Bhil. -She also is none too strict and likes her glass at a festival. But the -woman is usually temperate, while the man only too often drinks to a -wild excess. - -[Illustration: BHIL GIRL] - -The Bhil women, deep-breasted, broad, their large thighs showing bare, -look fit to be the mothers of sound children, healthy and strong. -Pleasant and even comely they appear, with their flat, good-natured -faces and their plump limbs, their features a little coarse perhaps, -but sonsy. Their hair lies low on the brow in a pleated fringe, caught -on the crown by a bell-shaped silver brooch. They are fond, like all -savages, of adornment, and layer upon layer of glass beads, dark blue, -white and crimson, lie heavy over neck and breast. Heavy bands of brass -circle the leg from knee to instep, and clash and tinkle as they move. -A coarse cloak of navy blue, draped from the head over the body, is -tucked up into the waist-band, leaving the thighs half-bare. They look -men boldly in the face, with candour and self-reliance. - -The Bhils, both men and women, are fond of a joke, and nowhere in India -is laughter heard more freely and more readily. The more Rabelaisian -the joke, it must be allowed, the better they relish it; and women are -as openly amused by an indecency as men. Their songs are not always -lady-like, and a wedding song gives them full scope for merry ballads, -of a sort common in Europe up to the seventeenth century but foreign -to the drawing-rooms of to-day, which have room only for a Zola or an -Ibsen. Laughter the Bhils have and loyalty, good-nature and simple -hearts. What they have in their minds they speak openly; and plain -words can surely be forgiven, when the thought is straight and true. - -Dancing is one of the great amusements of the Bhils, both men and -women, and they should be seen dancing at the spring Saturnalia, the -festival of the Holi. They light a large bonfire of teak-wood logs, -throwing into the flames handfuls of grain as an offering to the local -goddess. Then the dance proceeds round the blazing fire. The men carry -light sticks in their hands, which they tap against each other, at -first slowly and listlessly, as they begin to circle slowly round. In -the centre the drummers stand, beating the skins in wild harmony. Then -the dance grows wilder and always wilder, and the dancers shout the -shrill whoop, not unlike the Highlander’s when he dances, a yell which -quavers from the compressed throat through quickly trilling lips. As -the time quickens, the sticks are beaten faster upon each other, and -the dancers move three steps forward, then a turn, then three steps -forward, once again. The women also dance round and round, and their -shrill voices begin a song. The men follow the words and reply, verse -to verse, in a weird antiphony. When the fun becomes louder, the men -join hands in a circle and the women climb up by their clasped hands -till on each man’s shoulders there stands a woman, her hands also -joined to her neighbour’s, and the whole circle revolves to the tune -of some village song. When they are not dancing, jests and jibe are -bandied freely between the younger lads and their girls, and now and -again a loving look or touch is rewarded with a ringing box on the ears. - -But, with all their freedom, the Bhil women have their pride and -virtue. From their womanhood and independence they will not readily -derogate, even if the price be heavy. And not seldom the stranger, -some stall-fed Hindu from a fatter land, has learnt this to his cost. -There was such a one, a Charge Officer, who administered (or was -supposed to) a relief camp in the Bhil country during a famine year. -Being well-fed and lazy, pampered and a fool, he thought he could -have his will of the bold, “unlady-like” forest women who were forced -by famine to seek relief at his hands. So he cast a lecherous eye on -one who was young and fair and had a merry laugh. And being fat and -foolish, he put the alternative to her bluntly, as such a man would, -with no nonsense about it. If she was not pleased, she could look out -for herself elsewhere. So she smiled a merry smile and fixed an hour -when he should meet her in the forest. But when he got there, he found -not her alone whom he sought but with her a round dozen of her women -friends. And each one had a good, fresh-cut stick in her hand. Then -they explained to him at some length, and with free and appropriate -gesture, that they knew exactly where to use a stick with most effect. -Their language was distinctly daring, but they left him clear about -their meaning. And that after all is the main thing. It took him quite -a long time to get home after they had done with him, and crawling -through the jungle is not pleasant going. Even when he was dismissed -from his employment a couple of days later, the impression of their -arguments was still acute. But there were hopes that in time he would -begin to understand the character of the Bhil woman. - -Such manners and such characters it would be difficult to find -elsewhere in India. With the general Hindu ideal of service, chastity, -and effacement they have no common ground. Yet it cannot be doubted -that here is a life which makes for happiness and, in its own way, -for self-realization. The Bhils are wild and uncultured, of course, -and they have to suffer from the fevers of the forest and from wild -animals. Of luxury they know nothing and their pleasures are primitive -and rather coarse. But they are contented. The wife loves her man and -the husband cherishes his wife with a very real fondness and even with -respect, and they have a cheerful pride as they watch their children -play and grow strong and upright. They share their hardships and their -small joys fairly and equally. They tend their garden with a kindly -contentment; and at night, their labour done, they drink their glass -and have their jest, and go to bed in the forest clearing tired and -comfortable. And when the Bhil does rob a travelling merchant and -is caught, it is for his wife alone that he yearns in the dreary -separation of the prison. - -Civilization, if it comes to the Bhil from the East, brings with it -child-marriage and Brahman law and caste degradation; if from the West, -it brings the factory and the industrial slum. Drunken and thrift-less, -oppressed by customs which he cannot understand, he finds himself -submerged in the lowest proletariat, exploited and despised. Can -civilization give anything to the Bhil better than what he has?--ease -and liberty! - - - - -The Dancing Girl - - “She measures every measure, everywhere - Meets art with art. Sometimes as if in doubt, - Not perfect yet and fearing to be out, - Trails her plain ditty in one long-spun note - Through the sleek passage of her open throat, - A clear unwrinkled song: then doth she point it - With tender accents, and severely joint it - By short diminutions.” - - _Music’s Duel._ CRASHAW. - - “Nowadays Indian ‘reformers’ in the name of ‘civilization and - science’ seek to persuade the _muralis_ (girls dedicated to the - Gods) that they are ‘plunged in a career of degradation.’ No - doubt in time the would-be moralists will drive the _muralis_ - out of their temples and their homes, deprive them of all - self-respect, and convert them into wretched outcastes, all in - the cause of ‘civilization and science.’ So it is that early - reformers create for the reformers of a later day the task of - humanizing life afresh.” - - _Sex in Relation to Society._ HAVELOCK ELLIS. - - - - -Chapter VII - -THE DANCING GIRL - - -For the women of India an independent profession is a thing almost -unknown. Here are no busy typewriters, no female clerks, no barmaids. -The woman spends her whole life in a home, supported and maintained, -her father’s as a child, then her husband’s, or else one of those -large joint households in which every woman of the family, widowed -or married, finds her place. If she is poor, she may have work to do -in plenty, besides the care of her house and children. She may sew -or go out to help in richer households; often she joins her husband -in his work, and you may see the potter’s wife fetching earth and -carrying bricks, or the washerman’s wife drive his laden ox. Sometimes -she labours in the field, busily weeding or bent double as in the -water-covered muddy patch she transplants the young rice-shoots. But in -none of these tasks does she work for herself, alone and independent, -at a trade chosen by her own taste. She labours as one member of a -higher unit, the family of which she is a part, and she knows that by -her efforts she helps to feed and clothe her children or to add to -the funds controlled by the head of the joint family. Even domestic -service, in the European sense of the word, hardly exists. Ruling and -noble families have their maid-servants, but these are not independent -women hired under a contract, enforceable at law. They are women born -and bred in the palace, bound by affection and upbringing, hereditary -house-servants, almost slaves. They are treated as of the family, are -paid by food and clothing, by presents and the final gift in marriage -to a male servant. Only a few, a very few there are, widows mainly, -usually Mussulman, who can in the Western sense of the word be called -servants. - -In recent years changes in ideas, and still more changes in social -economy, have produced a few women in regard to whose work it is -possible to use the words “independent profession.” There are even -a few lady doctors, Parsis mainly, in whose case the imitation -of European customs and the resultant obstacles to marriage have -facilitated study and the adoption of a career. There are far more who -are teachers--always underpaid--in girls’ schools, or nurses--also -underpaid--or midwives. Largely these are Brahman widows, who, -repudiating the austerities of traditional belief, have found a more -useful life by these labours, and relieve their relatives of the charge -of their support or bring up their children by their own praiseworthy -efforts. - -But even these are still exceptions to be counted by hundreds, by -thousands at the most, out of all the three hundred millions of India’s -population. For the women of India, it may almost be said, there -is only one independent profession open, one that is immemorial, -remunerative, even honoured, and that is the profession of the dancing -girl. There is hardly a town in India, however small, which has not -its group of dancing girls, dubious perhaps and mediocre; and there is -not a wedding, hardly an entertainment of any circumstance, at which -the dancing girl’s services are not engaged. And it may be added that -there is hardly a class so much misjudged or a profession so much -misunderstood. - -For long generations and in many countries the dancing girls of India -have been the theme of poets and stock figures of romanticism. In -Indian literature it was of course natural that they should find a -place. And in fact, from the earliest Sanscrit poets down to the -novelists and play-wrights of modern Bengal or Gujarát, there are -few dramas in which a dancer does not play a role. Often the part is -pathetic, even tragic, while it is usually edifying and pietistic. The -courtesan who, urged by the eloquence or attraction of a pious ascetic, -finds the grace of God and abandons art for austerity and the palace -for the hermitage, is one of the recurrent conventions of the Indian -classics. In one of the best-known of Mahrathi poems, there is such a -picture, expressed with vigour and emotion. Converted to self-denial -and renunciation, the dancing girl, once beautiful, lies alone, dirty -and squalid, without food, in a witch-haunted graveyard, affrighted by -ghosts, tormented by spirits of evil, yet uplifted by the love of God -and blessed by her memories of the saint whose coldness was to her -the sign of a higher adoration. But in the literature of Europe the -bayadère, to use a name corrupted from the Portuguese, has also been a -frequent and a luxurious figure. In the romantic fancies of the late -eighteenth and the early nineteenth centuries, she was, both in France -and Germany, a personage on whom poets lavished the embellishments -of their art. Her hazy outlines they bespangled with the imagery of -fiction and the phantasies of invention. She was a symbol for oriental -opulence, a creature of incredible luxury and uncurbed sensuousness, -or tropic passion and jewelled magnificence. From her tresses blew the -perfumes of lust; on her lips, like honey sweet, distilled the poisons -of vice; hidden in her bodice of gold brocade she carried the dagger -with which she killed. - -Divest her of poetic association. Rob her of the hues cast by the -distant dreams of romanticism. Strip her even of the facts of history -and the traditions of the Indian classics. Yet she remains a figure -sufficiently remarkable. Not tragic and certainly not gay, she embodies -in herself so much of India, both its past and present, that without -understanding her life and significance it is impossible to comprehend -the social whole which she explains and commentates. - -[Illustration: DANCER IN MIRZAPUR] - -The very name of dancing girl, it must be noted, is a misnomer. For as -an artist she finds expression primarily in song, not in the dance. -In the Indian theory of music, dancing is but an adjunct, one rhythm -the more, to the sung melody. It is the singer’s voice which, is -the ultimate means of music, her song which is its real purpose. To -embellish its expression and heighten its enjoyment the singer takes -the aid of instruments, the pipe, the strings, the drum and not least -of the dance. Regarded in its first elements, the dance is one means -the more of marking the time of the melody. Throughout the Indian -dance the feet, like the tuned drums, are means to mark the beats. -The time is divided into syllables or bars and the dancer’s beating -feet, circled with a belt of jingling bells, must move and pause in -the strictest accordance. The right foot performs the major part, the -left completes the rhythmic syllable. But further by her dance the -singer’s art is to make more clear and more magnetic the meaning of -her song. With her attitudes and gestures she accords her person to -her melody and sense, till her whole being, voice and movement, is but -one living emotion. Her veil half-drawn over her features, her head -averted, a frown wrinkling her brow, she portrays modesty recoiling -from a lover. With joined hands uplifted to her forehead, with body -bent, and eyes cast upon the ground, she accompanies the hymns of -worship and resignation to God’s will. With quickly moving gesture, -she marks the harsher sounds of rage or mortified indignation. Even -pleasure and the tenderer joy she represents by the softly swaying body -and slow waving movements of her upturned hands. But it is not enough -that gesture should be natural and appropriate. Mere realism would not -harmonize with the songs and instrumental music to which it is an -accompaniment. Its crudities would be out of tune, conspicuous, even -brutal. The dancer’s gestures and pantomime must be soft, rhythmic, -and restrained. Like every other art, dancing too has its economy -and its self-restraint. And the way to this ideal harmony is through -the simplifications of convention and the discipline of a graceful -technique. The dancer has to learn by painful practice to move her -limbs in harmony with the rhythms of her melody, to avoid all that -is abrupt or unsymmetrical. Each pose should be that of a statue, -emotion poising in a harmony of line and balance. In order to attain -this complete accord of movement and melody, this union of grace and -emotional expression, it is necessary to conventionalize the means by -strict attention to the material presented to the creative artist--in -the case of the dance, the youthful female figure. As in a painting, to -the trained eye, a line presents the transition between two differently -lit surfaces, so in the dance, by an habitual agreement between the -spectator and the performer, certain simple movements are made to evoke -wider imaginations. Indian dancing, like every art, must have its -own conventions. But they are conventions finally based upon actual -mimicry, simplifications, one may say, of natural movements. They are -attained by the exclusion of all that is superfluous, leaving only the -essential curve or contour of the movement. They are the actual made -spiritual, by the excision of all excess, by the suppression of the -uncouthness which defective material and stiff muscles force upon -human action. The movements of the Indian dancer bear to the primitive -gestures of men and women, in the moments of actual impulse, the same -relation as the simplified form of Indian painting and sculpture bear -to the realities of living flesh and blood in light and shadow. To -the European the conventions are difficult to understand, as they -presuppose a different training; and in him they do not readily awake -the required emotion. For European art has for many centuries been in -the main realistic, concerned above all with the material appearance of -things and actions. The art of the East, on the other hand, has in all -its leading schools sought the spiritual, striving with the jejunest -outlines to interpret the significance which may underlie the outward -clothing of form and colour and surface. Moreover, the oriental eye -has a natural aptitude for decorative pattern, to which the excessive -devotion of the Indian intellect to deduction and abstract analysis -affords a parallel. The artist, therefore, does not rest content -with simplification but further seeks to manipulate the conventions, -through which he realizes his spiritual meaning, into a symmetric and -decorative pattern. The same tendencies appear in the dance, when -practised as an art, in India. - -There are two great methods of artistic dancing in India which -correspond to the main geographical distinction of the continent -and can be called the Peninsular and the Northern. The Peninsular -or Southern has its home and training-ground in Madras, where the -temple dancing girls, the “servants of God” as they are called in the -vernacular, follow their fine tradition. The old Hindu city of Tanjore -with its exuberant temple is the centre of the school, to which it has -given its name. The other or Northern method is at its highest in the -cities of Delhi and Lucknow, more secular in its purpose, yet more -austere in its expression. - -In the North where the girls, wearing an adaptation of the Mussulman -dress, are mostly of that faith and have no bond with any temple -or religious institution, the dance or gesture-play is strictly -subordinate to the song. The artist moves back and forward a few -steps as she sings, the feet of course always beating the time, -while her hands are raised or lowered and her fingers grouped in a -few conventional poses, gracefully artificial or simply decorative, -but with no present actuality and little stimulus to emotion. The -pleasure of the spectator is in the main intellectual, the effect of -reminiscence and association, while he interprets the meaning of which -the movements are suggestive but abstract symbols. At the end of the -verse the dancer floats softly round the circle of spectators, with -coquetry in her eyes, extorting applause by a quick virtuosity of steps -and pirouettes, which have little relation to any living and real -passion. - -The Peninsular school, on the other hand, gives the dance in and by -itself a far higher value and more extended field. It is far more than -the mere visible decoration of a sung melody. It has a life of its -own, often wild and passionate; and has its own instant appeal to -independent emotions. Often the dance is in itself the pantomime of a -whole story, the meeting and love of Krishna and Rádha, for instance, -at the river’s side. The melody of the instruments is a suitable -accompaniment and the voice does little more than supply a pleasing -refrain. Sometimes it is a mere rhythmic and decorative reconstruction -of everyday actions, the mimicry, harmonious and graceful, of a boy -flying a kite or of a fluttering butterfly. The dancers move lightly -and quickly over the floor, their steps diversified, their gestures -free and natural. Upon their features play the lines of hope and joy, -of sorrow and disdain. Then as the story closes, in a final burst of -melody, their voices rise with the instruments that accompany in a last -_forte_ repetition of the refrain or motive. - -Thus in the Peninsular or Tanjore school the art of dancing, though -also, of course, dependent upon conventionalisms of gesture and -movement, and significant of meanings which it suggests rather than -imitates, has a more actual appeal to emotion and a less fettered -freedom. It has a finer spontaneity, a freer flow of imagination. At -its best, it is a splendid school of dancing, the only method perhaps -worthy to be put beside, though below, the magnificent creations of the -Russian ballet. - -From the point of view of art, however, even the Tanjore dancing girls, -and still more the performers of the Northern school, have certain -defects, which could be removable if the players and public had a -finer sense of artistic purpose. The women themselves are too often -of little education, illiterate, with their tastes uncultivated. A -good voice and some natural grace, with training only in technique, -may make a pleasing enough dancer but cannot produce an artist. For -any excellent attainment a higher cultivation is required. Another -difficulty, peculiar to India, is that many experts will, from -superstitious fear or jealousy, refuse to impart their secrets to a -pupil or a novice. But worst of all by far is that lack of artistic -sensibility, general in modern India, which is satisfied by the tricks -of virtuosity and has no recognition of sincerity and deeper beauty. -In song the faults are obvious and regretted. High notes are screamed -out with the utmost effort of the singers’ lungs to the amazement and -admiration of the groundlings, while the practice of slurred arpeggios -at the highest speed obscures the roundness of the voice in the true -melody. Given a good voice, a girl is only too soon trained to these -efforts, on which in a few years her natural gifts are squandered. -Smooth and easy singing and finished phrasing are little valued by the -side of those difficult but unbeautiful accomplishments. Similarly in -the accompanying dance violent gestures, strained poses, or undue and -difficult effort ravish praise that should more correctly be given to -sincere emotion and an easy and natural rhythm. A dead conventionalism, -emphasized and over-strained by difficult contortions, has repressed -the development of the art, especially in the northern, more abstract -method. - -[Illustration: MUSSULMAN NAUTCH-GIRL] - -Another great drawback against which Indian professional dancing -struggles is the lack of a public that itself is given to dancing. For -every art the great safeguard and vivifying influence is a popular -practice of its easier forms. Music flourished in Italy and in Germany, -where every person sings. Poetry becomes great when behind it there -is a living growth of popular ballads or lyrics. The Russian ballet -has made its wonderful achievement because every peasant dances with -vigour and even with grace, and in the summer nights in every village -young men and women dance. In India popular dancing has for many -centuries been moribund, even dead. At the festival of the new Hindu -year, in a few parts of India, groups of ladies sing songs in unison -as they circle to a slow measure or rhythmic step. Occasionally in the -_zanánas_ of the richer families the ladies dance what is known as a -Rásada. Each catches her neighbours’ hands and they move round and -round in a circle bowing, slow in the beginning and faster to the end. -These are the palace dances, now almost disused, of which can be read -in Sir Edwin Arnold’s translation of the Chaurapanchasika.-- - - “Yet now, this but abides, to picture smoothly - How in the palace-dance foremost she paced: - Her glancing feet and light limbs swayed demurely - Moon-like, amid their cloudy robes; moon-faced, - With hips majestic under slender waist, - And hair with gold and blooms braided and laced.” - -In villages among the lower classes there is also at stated seasons -some rustic dancing, even with men, of a rough and boisterous kind. -But generally speaking, popular dancing there is none. “No one dances -unless he is drunk,” the Indian gentlemen might mutter with the too -grave Roman. - -Still, granting these deficiencies of environment and allowing for -all imperfections and desired improvements, dancing remains the most -living and developed of existing Indian arts. In the Peninsular school -above all, India has a possession of very real merit, on which no -appreciation or encouragement can be thrown away. It is something -of which the country can well be proud, almost the only thing left, -perhaps, in the general death-like slumber of all imaginative work, -which still has a true emotional response and value. It sends its call -to a people’s soul; it is alive and forceful. - -All the more tragic is it, a very tragedy of irony, that the dance--the -one really Indian art that remains--has been, by some curious -perversion of reasoning, made the special object of attack by an -advanced and reforming section of Indian publicists. They have chosen -to do so on the score of morality--not that they allege the songs and -dances to be immoral, if such these could be, but that they say the -dancers are. Of the dances themselves no such allegation could, even by -the wildest imagination, possibly be made. The songs are pure beside -the ordinary verses of a comic opera, not to mention a music-hall in -the capital of European civilization, Paris. The dancing is graceful -and decorous, carefully draped and restrained. But the dancers, it is -true, do not as a rule preserve that strict code of chastity which -is exacted from the marrying woman. How the stringency or laxity -of observance of this code by a performer can possibly affect the -emotional and even national value of her art and performance has not -been and cannot be explained. Art cannot be smirched by the sins of its -followers; the flaws in the crystal goblet do not hurt the flavour of -the wine. - -In the Peninsula of India dancing and professional singing is first of -all a religious institution, bound up with the worship of the Gods. To -every temple of importance are attached bands of six, eight, or more -girls, paid in free gifts of land or in money for the duties which they -perform. They are recruited in infancy from various castes and wear -the ordinary garments, slightly more ornamental, of the Indian lady of -those regions. In certain castes the profession is hereditary, mother -bringing up daughter in turn to these family accomplishments. In other -cases, as in the great temple of Jejuri in the Deccan, children are -dedicated by their parents to the service of God and left when they -reach a riper age to the teaching and superintendence of the priests. -Twice a day, morning and evening, they sing and dance within the temple -to the greater glory of God; and at all the great public ceremonies and -festivals they play their part in the solemnities. Teaching is imparted -by older men, themselves singers, who take in hand the training of -small groups of girls. In some cases a form of marriage is performed, -for the fulfilment of traditional religious obligation, with a man -of the dancer’s caste, with an idol, or even with a sacred tree. But -the ceremony entails no ethical obligations, such as apply to the -real married woman. The dancers are regarded, being independent and -self-supporting, as freed from the code which applies to women living -in family homes and maintained by the work and earnings of a father -or a husband. It is their right to live their lives as they will, -for their own pleasure and happiness, unrestrained by any code more -stringent than that of an independent man. - -[Illustration: DANCER FROM TANJORE] - -Besides Tanjore, the old Portuguese possession of Goa and the -neighbouring districts bordering on the ocean, where the forests and -rocks of the Western Ghauts drop sharply to the rice-lands of the -shore, are famous for the excellence of their singers. Here they are -known under the name of Naikins or “Ladyships,” and have a position of -no little respect. Though they like to trace their origin in their own -sayings to those nymphs who in heaven are said to entertain the Gods, -the truth is that they are largely recruited from other classes, whose -children they purchase or adopt. They live in houses like those of -the better-class Hindus, with broad verandahs and large court-yards, -in which grows a plant or two of the sacred sweet basil. Their homes -are furnished in the plain style of the Hindu householder, with mats -and stools and wooden benches and an abundance of copper and brass -pots and pans and water vessels. Only they wear a profusion of gold -ornaments on head and wrists and fingers, a silver waist-band, and -silver rings on their toes, and they make their hair gay with flowers. -Their lives are simple and not luxurious; but the days are idled away -in the languorous ease of the tropic sea breezes, a land of repose, a -lazy land. They rise late, they bathe, they eat rice-gruel, and talk -and sleep. The long afternoon is passed in more chatting and in their -constant enjoyment of chewing betel leaves, till after dinner they go -out to sing and dance to a late hour of the night. It is a life of -quiet ease, uneventful, indolent no doubt, but hardly dissipated. And -of course in all worship and religious observance they are devout and -orthodox, fearing the Gods, and reverent to the officiating priesthood. - -Now when some Hindu reformers object to the employment of such women in -the temples of God and deny the efficacy of song and dance as adjuncts -of religious emotion, it would of course be impertinence for the -follower of another creed to express an opinion. The rubrics of prayer -are between the worshipper alone and his God. If they preach that -worship and oblation are for those only who have made asceticism their -practice and who have turned their faces from the world to the pure -concept of divinity, they are obviously within their rights: and the -question must be decided by a congregation of fellow-worshippers. Even -if they desire to bar the temple-door to women, who have taken no vow -of chastity and hope for salvation without closing their ears to love, -they are entitled to do as they like with their own, if they can obtain -a consensus of believers. Observers of other creeds would willingly, -if without impropriety they could have a voice, join in deploring the -abuse, in some temples, of the custom of dedication; for girls thus -dedicated, as at Jejuri, are often too numerous for the purposes of -the temple-service and are thrown upon the world, without adequate -artistic training, almost, one might say, with none, to make their -way as best they can. When this happens, though Hindu society treats -the devotees kindly and gives them easy admission to good houses, yet -their dearth of artistic accomplishment, the refusal of support by the -temple to which they are ascribed, and the pressing needs of sustenance -must often force the unfortunate girl to a distasteful trade. But to -include these among dancing girls in the proper sense is hardly fair. -The motives of dedication are different and are exclusively religious, -while the custom has arisen from the old Hindu tradition of appointing -a girl to take the place of a son. The trained singer who succeeds to -an appointment in a temple is in a very different position, and her -life is as a rule happy and prosperous. The example of other countries -has shown how an art may gain by the support of a Church, and how, in -the absence of countervailing circumstances of popular understanding -and enthusiasm, the withdrawal of ecclesiastical patronage may -cause its decline and even its ruin. The Reformation in Europe, -for instance, whatever its benefits to a new growing world in other -matters, swept without doubt like a devastation over the rich fields of -human imagination and like a tempest obliterated the aesthetic emotions -in which the human soul attains its highest. In India, in the absence -of a humanism such as Europe could imbibe from Athens, the dependence -of art upon religion is more strait and isolated, while the very forms -of Indian art are moulded in a supernatural conception of the universe. -So subtly poised is it upon this pinnacle, that the mere touch of the -freethinker and reformer, one fears, may send it shattered to the -ground. - -In the North, it has been said, the dancing girls have no connection -with religious institutions, though, as it happens, their artistic -conventions are more abstract and less sensuous. Mostly they are -Mussulmans by belief or are Hindus who have adopted Mussulman ways and -manners. They do not belong to colleges or groups but live alone and -independently, earning their living by their art, without support from -any temple. At the same time it is the custom in many parts to invite -them to perform at the shrine of some dead saint during the annual -celebrations. They sing on such occasions songs of a sacred kind, -psalmodies of praise to God and His Prophet, poems well known in the -Urdu language. They chant also the odes of the Sufis or Persian mystic -poets, in which the adoration of the Deity is clothed in the language -of love, and the praises of wine are metaphors for the ecstasies of -the Spirit. Usually the dancing girl lives alone in her own house, some -balconied and flat-roofed house in the crowded bazaar, where she can -overlook the movement of the town and mark the doings of her world. -There is little that escapes her prying eyes, and the musicians in her -pay, the barber who lives in the street and the seller of betel leaves -keep her posted in all the city scandals. There is constant coming and -going to her doors, and in the afternoon admirers from the younger -nobility and professional men drop in to pass the time and smoke -and laugh a few hours away. Sometimes her house becomes a centre of -intrigue where palace revolutions or doubtful conspiracies are hatched -under her friendly eye by young men, who lounge on her cushions beside -the trellised window. The room is heavy with the sweet, over-perfumed -smoke of the black tobacco paste which she smokes in her silver-mounted -hookah. When she drives out at evening, police-constables salute her. -In most Native States such dancing girls, two or three or four, are an -appanage of the royal retinue, and are paid salaries or retaining fees -on a generous basis. Such a girl will ordinarily get one hundred to -one hundred and fifty rupees per month from the State--the salary of a -Police Magistrate--with gifts on special occasions. In exchange she has -to sing twice or thrice a week when the chief calls for her, but with -his permission she may always perform at other houses where she can -earn larger fees. Some chiefs are famous for their taste, and a girl -tries to secure an engagement for a year or two in such a Darbar to -establish her reputation for the future. In many cases these dancers, -as they grow older, marry one of their lovers and settle down to the -quiet life of the respectable Mussulman lady behind the _purdah_. -Sometimes they adopt a clever and pretty girl and train her, half as -maid and half as companion, in the mysteries of their art, till she in -turn becomes a singer and helps to keep her mistress and teacher, with -no little piety and charity, in her old age. - -Modern opponents of dancing, however, with their influence on a -population which has few artistic tastes and a marked bent for economy, -have already done much to degrade the profession and are gradually -forcing girls, who would formerly have earned a decent competence -with independence and an artist’s pride, into a shameful traffic from -very want. Day by day the number of those women is growing less who -alone preserve the memory of a fine Indian art. And, as they lose the -independence earned by a profession, day by day more women are being -thrust into the abysmal shame and destitution of degraded womanhood. -An Indian proverb already sums up this peculiar item of the “reform -programme” thus: “The dancing girl was formerly fed with good food in -the temple; now she turns somersaults for a beggar’s rice.” - -But, for the delineation of Indian life and society, the position of -the dancing girl must be envisaged from a loftier altitude. It is only -from such an aspect that her portrait can be said to complete and -interpret the gallery of Indian womanhood. - -In the long history of human development occasional licence appears as -necessary to mankind as the habitual routine of morality. Convention -and self-restraint have been accepted and adopted for mutual -convenience; but, by an impulse as natural as it is healthy, man has -from time to time escaped from his stagnation through the orgy. Even -the savage, with his underfed body and atrophied sensibilities, finds -a periodic outlet for the starveling powers and ambitions hidden in -his breast by some spring or autumn festival at which, by one wild -orgy, he overleaps the fears and trammels of magical prescription and -intoxicates himself, for a brief space, into a freer manhood. When -savagery ends and barbarism begins, the orgy becomes something of an -institution, as it did in the Christian Church of the Middle Ages or -in the Holi of India. But as civilization grows more refined, it is -for the spirit rather than the body that the outburst into freedom is -demanded. In a cultured community it is a sort of cerebral licence -which is excited and assuaged by the orgies of the imagination. The -theatre and music, painting and poetry by their stimulation purge the -soul of those emotions which, unrelieved, would sour and make ill the -spirit. In a state where man is bound hand and foot to a mechanical -routine of wage-earning, he must seek through the excitement of his -imagination that explosion of emotion followed by quiescence, by -which the fermenting activities of his mind and body can alone find -their needed relief. Among the agents that rouse this excitement and -in turn satisfy it are to be ranked high the rhythm and music of -the dance, with the spectacle of graceful limbs and pretty faces, of -dresses such as are seen in dreams and jewelry rich beyond phantasy. -Every man at some time in his life has woven his fairy tales of hope, -and there is none so dull but has pictured a goddess to his fancy. Now -the woman who toils in his house and shares his interests may be ever -so tenderly loved and cared for, but she is his own help-mate, of his -own sturdy flesh and blood. Hardly--except perhaps for a space in the -first blossoming of new love--can he clothe her familiar being with the -robes and colours of his dreaming fancies. But in the trained actress -with her artful graces and her aloofness, he sees one who responds to -those secret aspirations, and gives them room to expand and calms and -soothes them, till at last, the spectacle ended, and his mind reposed, -he returns to his home in peace for the further routine of workaday -existence. - -Now where life is free and unrestricted, among the powerful and the -leisured, every hour has its variety and desire may be satisfied -without awaiting any special occasion. But when existence is narrowed -to routine and one day is like another, then indeed the soul must -sometimes soar to an illusion of wild wind-driven liberty. Man has to -guide his plough in the furrow; but not to look to the sky and its -currents at the turning!--better death at once than such weariness. And -it is the finer creative spirits, the men that think and produce, who -are quickest crushed by the unbroken rule of abstinence. In India the -general tone is brown, the light grey-brown of dusty plains and dry -fields and villages of sun-baked mud. The ritual of to-day is that of -yesterday, and will be that of to-morrow. The same prayers, the same -labours, the same plain food, the same simple house and furnishings. -Simplicity, abstinence, repression, the rejection of all that is -superfluous, these are the notes of ordinary life. There is contentment -enough as a rule. The wife is faithful and devoted, the children play -and grow up and get married, the cattle pull the plough and the soil -bears the corn. It produces on the whole a contented resignation, -this life, with its austere simplicities and its overhanging haze of -asceticism. But even then there are times when the self will out and -the lulled nerves begin to stir and tingle and stab with a bitter pain. -There is no social life as in France and upper-class England, where -ladies of wit and reading, graceful, well-dressed, trained to charm -and please, quicken the minds and respond to the sympathies of a wider -circle, while at the same time imposing a fine code of manners and -a tactful moderation. The wife, devoted and affectionate as she is, -must usually be first the _house-wife_, busied with a narrow routine, -limited in experience, bounded by babies and the day’s dinner. In most -classes she is illiterate and she has few of the accomplishments which -amuse and distract. Even in Athens, the city above all of urbanity, -as the married woman was secluded and domestic like the Indian, the -female _comrade_, the _hetaira_, with her witty talk and her song and -accomplishments was a necessity of social life. In old India also this -need was known, as can be read in the traditional poetic histories, and -the dancing girl, the _gunika_ as they called her, was the recognized -teacher to young princes of manners and of chivalry. Those days are -past; but even now the dancing girls, by the admission even of a -missionary,[1] “are the most accomplished women among the Hindus. They -read, write, sing and play as well as dance.” They dress well and -modestly, they know the arts of pleasing, and their success is in the -main due to the contrast by which they transcend the ordinary woman -and to the illusions they can give. They do not, therefore, merely -fulfil a need but also represent an ideal. Even apart from their art -and its high imaginative value, as almost the only living art in India, -they respond in a larger sense to a real need of society. To stifle -a class of women, living their own lives in independence, graceful, -accomplished, often clever, to degrade them, to make them outcastes and -force them into shameful by-ways, is not merely to sin against charity; -it is also a blunder against life. - - [1] The Rev. M. Phillips, “Evolution of Hinduism,” 1903. - -[Illustration: NAIKIN IN KANARA] - -The existence of such a class, regarded in the light of ultimate -truths, may fall far short of the perfect state. But the remedy in -any country lies not in their repression and degradation, the most -disastrous of all attempts. It lies in the freedom and education of -the married woman. When the married woman also is freed from the -oppression of narrow codes and the dull monotony of house-work, when -she too is able to be accomplished and graceful, witty and artistic, -free to choose as she pleases and to be true to her nature, then no -doubt the professional beauty must by the mere weight of facts become -extinct. But what nation, what society will risk the experiment? and -what conditions can make it possible? This at least is clear that -where a rigid matrimonial system, supported by all the sanctions of -religion and inspired by a tradition of asceticism, is fast entrenched -and fortified, where woman is limited and narrowed to the duties of a -housekeeper or a mother, there the fulfilment of the deeper cravings -of human emotion and the satisfaction of artistic sensibilities will -depend upon a class that has in it much which is not ignoble. - - - - -Woman’s Dress - - “Upon my right hand did stand the Queen in a vesture of gold - wrought about in divers colours.” - - _Psalm XLV._ - -[Illustration: GIPSY WOMAN] - - - - -Chapter VIII - -WOMAN’S DRESS - - -Dress in India can be comprised within a few typical forms. Fashion, -which in Europe is so frequently variable and occupies itself with -line and contour, is in India far more stable and persistent. Fashion -exists, of course, as in every land where women live and grow and -change. But it busies itself rather with what may be called the -accidents than with the essentials of attire. In the choice of colour -the women of India display a rich variety; and selection, though less -subject to sudden and violent alteration, is governed by those moods of -temperament which are generalized under the name of fashion. No less -operative is changing temperament upon the designs of jewelry and the -choice of gems to set in gold. Even in respect of the textures which -women choose for their clothes, there are collective changes of mood -and mode to be noticed. But in point of dress and adornment, as in most -other activities, in India there is a governance by authority and a -quasi-religious sanction which is foreign to the strongly individualist -tempers of the West. The shapes and to some extent even the colour of -dress and the design and manner of wearing jewelry are among those -distinctive marks of social rank and ceremonial purity, in a word of -caste, which are guarded jealously as if almost sacrosanct. It is only -in the additions and embellishments permitted upon the normal habits -of the caste that the human personality finds room for self-display. A -woman must first of all make her dress conform to the approved habits -of her class. That done, she is free to express her own tastes and -talents within the range of such permissible colours and superfluous -ornaments as do not alter the essential lines of her costume. - -The interest of dress centres mainly upon the human psychology of -which it is one among many other expressions. And it is not a little -surprising that this inner and living bond has so often escaped the -writers who have made costume their subject. Dress, regarded as form -and colour only, has no doubt its own value to the painter. Like -every arrangement in which selected hues or lines are grouped for the -creation of a new beauty, it has an emotional appeal apart from its -meaning or history. The uses of drapery in sculpture and the sensuous -pleasure given by rich velvets and gold brocades in the paintings of -Titian or Veronese are instances of the fascination of clothes, merely -on their decorative side. But an intenser interest comes to being when -dress is known to be also the expression of a character that in one -sense may be called individual but may with more reality be regarded as -part of a vast national life. - -For by its very nature dress is a means selected to heighten the -attraction of the sexes for each other. The use of clothes as a -protection against the extremes of climate is merely secondary and is -even something of a reproach to natural adaptation. It is as adornment, -and in its purpose of attraction, that it has its real and ultimate -meaning. That dress comes to be used incidentally to preserve modesty -does not affect its primary purpose. Modesty itself is one of the -secondary properties of love and one of its most powerful weapons. But -it is when mankind becomes sophisticated that the value and function of -modesty are properly understood; and it is then that dress and ornament -are so designed as to combine their direct and, under the guise of -modesty, their indirect attractions. It follows, therefore, that in any -people the use of the means of attraction which are supplied by dress -and jewelry must correspond to the attributes of the persons whom it is -desired to attract. If the dress did not conform to some inbred desire -in those who see it, it could have no power to please; even it might -become repellent. But similarity of birth and training tends to mould -the majority of each nation to something of an average, and it is after -all as a response to the desires of the average person that dress is -designed. It responds, therefore, to the psychology of the people in -which it is found. - -Looked at from this aspect, the fundamental difference between the -costumes of European and of Indian women becomes at once more deeply -significant. In Europe, during the long centuries that have succeeded -the fall of Rome, one quality above all has clung to dress, that -is, _bizarrerie_ of form. The Teutonic barbarians who uprooted the -Mediterranean civilizations and imposed in their place those tribal -feudalisms and customary rules from which Europe is not yet fully -freed, seem whether from their primitive particularism or their -inborn brutality to have largely been lacking in the sense of form. -Symmetry and simplicity were conceptions beyond their northern brains -and outside their temperament. Even to this day the German (who -with least admixture of blood or education represents the primeval -Teutonic savage) is hardly able by any effort of reason to comprehend -the meaning of these words. In essence, it would seem, his mind is -formless, vague, amorphous. So in their buildings, the Goths could -find no use for purity of form. What they sought always and with a -great effectiveness achieved was a shape, or rather a conglomeration of -shapes, complicated and exaggerated, with lengthy spires and cumbrous -altitudes, that should be curious, awful, and _bizarre_. They never -sought to soothe the mind. Their churches do not so much attract -attention, but capture it, as it were, by an audacious ravishment. -And as this purpose was congenial to their own psychology, so did -they win their effect among their own and kindred peoples. Similarly -their women, if they were to excite the desires of men habituated to -bloodshed and the strong stress of war, had to take their attention by -storm, with the aid of the fantastic and unexpected in their costume. -Without the subtlety of imagination and finesse to excel by a fine -harmony or a graceful nicety, they were forced upon the extravagant -and exuberant. The lines of their dress were not designed to be -congruous with the human body or to agree in beautiful drapery, but -were meant rather to amaze the onlooker by a sudden onslaught upon his -vision. At any cost they were to be effective--to produce, that is, an -immediate effect by the strangeness and extravagance of their form. -In regard to colour they had less invention and hardly any taste; and -the grey skies of the north are not suited to the richer hues. So it -was to contortions of line and form that they had recourse. However -mitigated, these are characteristics that remain to this day. Even -in modern dress, the lines tend to be abrupt and exaggerated, and an -ever-changing fashion varies them in a discordant manner. Every ten -years, it has been said, the shape of womankind, as it is visible, -changes in Europe. Each new change means, of course, an attempt to -capture attention by a novel attitude. This is the cause that, out of -the whole nineteenth century, it was only for a few years under the -Consulate and early Empire that woman’s dress appears tolerable to an -artist’s eye or even, upon reflection, to the common man or woman. - -[Illustration: A GURKHA’S WIFE] - -Indian dress, on the other hand, has this in common with the -classic style, that it is simple in form and harmonious. It exacts -no distortions or deformities. It veils the body but it does not -misrepresent it. Still less does it attempt to substitute a fictitious -for a natural line. But while the Indian mind, like that of the -classic Mediterranean peoples, approves a natural simplicity of design, -unlike the other, it delights in a profusion of extraneous ornament. -Even the monstrous temples of the South are in essence simply planned, -but they are overlaid and even overloaded with masses of strange -carving and decoration. Indian psychology, in this not dissimilar from -the Teuton, has a craving for the wonderful and _bizarre_. The people -are of those that look for miracles. But, by a fortunate dispensation, -they are content to leave the pure lines of form undisturbed--a quality -that keeps them in regard to the broad facts of life true to nature. -For their wayward fancies they find scope in _bizarrerie_ of colour and -external decoration. Thus the Indian woman wears dresses that in shape -are easy and simple and beautiful, but she seeks further to attract by -a marvellous variety of colour and a curious adornment. - -[Illustration: A GLIMPSE AT A DOOR IN GUJARÁT] - -The limits of the _bizarre_ as it appears in India are probably reached -in the dress of the _Banjara_ women. They belong to a tribe that, -far from unmixed, has in it much of that gipsy race, which has also -migrated across the Sind deserts and Asia Minor to the furthest corners -of Europe. For centuries they were the carriers of India, transporting -salt and opium and grain on their pack-cattle along the trade-routes -across the continent. They have settled down now, some of them, in -little settlements where, under their own chieftains, they till the -soil and deal in cows and buffaloes. But many of them are wanderers to -this day, daring smugglers, dangerous when they are cornered, often -even thieves and robbers. The men are especially handsome, with a free -and fiery look, and a manly air. But the women also are not by any -means unattractive, and the striking dress they have chosen, with its -bold colours and its swinging skirt, sets them up well and handsomely. -The pity is that they will wear it till from age and dirt it drops off -with its own corruption. The bright colours they affect reach their -limit in the pleated skirt with its glaring reds and yellows, a motley -that has in it something of the clown or mountebank. The bodice in -no real sense fulfils its part but is rather a bright-decked screen -dropping from the neck to just below the waist-line, stiffened with -pieces of glass and thick stitching. The mantle which they adopt, -unlike that of most Hindu women, is short, like that of the Mussulman, -but coarser. Their jewelry is peculiar to themselves, and in shape -strange and striking. It is worn about the head in great profusion, so -that the twinkling cunning face seems almost set in silver. The hair -has two pleats at each side into which tassel-like ornaments of silver -are hung. But most _bizarre_ of all is the horn or stick, twined into -their hair, which rests upon the head and props up their mantle like a -tent. Originally perhaps designed to give the head a better protection -against the eastern sun, it has now acquired a religious significance -and is never doffed, even at night in bed, except by a widow. That -with this inconvenient attachment, they still can balance by its nice -adjustment heavy pots of water on their heads is one of the minor -wonders of the Indian country-side. The Banjara encampment with its -boldly-clad and boldly-staring women, also it may be added with its -strong fierce dogs of special breed, is a sight too picturesque ever to -be forgotten, especially in a country where life tends in the villages -to a brown monotone. - -The _bizarre_ is again to be found prevailing even over form on the -Mongolian borderland of Northern India. In Nepal, whence come the brave -Gurkha soldiers of our wars, dress, like the shape and decoration of -the wooden temples of the people, has in it something alien to the -normal lines of Aryan and Indian womanhood. And the strangeness is -heightened by the quaintness of the jewelry and the uncut turquoises in -which they delight. - -But in most of India proper the essence of dress is simple. Shoes are -not in general worn, though loose wide slippers of velvet or of leather -may be sometimes seen. The natural result is that the foot retains -a beauty which can never be expected when it is cramped by constant -pressure. The working woman, tramping miles along the roads or over -fields, with heavy burdens on her head or her child upon the hip, -loses of course too quickly the springing instep and sinks to a flat -and sprawling foot. But in the higher classes, or among the womanhood -whom caste preserves in a moderate seclusion, the foot is small, -well-curved, and light. It is a thing of infinite fascination, tinted -perhaps with the henna’s pink, almost like a flower. Even aged women -there are to be seen, their faces worn and wrinkled, who still have the -unspoilt feet of youth and well-born blood. Among the richer ladies of -the greater cities, where it is smart to be “advanced,” Parisian shoes -and silken stockings are nowadays worn, at least out of doors--a habit -enforced by the security thus gained against plague infection; but the -greater number still preserves the foot free and beautiful. - -For the rest, among Hindu women the dress consists of three portions -only, never more, though they may be only two. These are a skirt, -a bodice, and a mantle. The skirt is not very different from the -petticoat of Europe in cut, but may either drop simply or be made up in -accordion pleats, something as a kilt is pleated, so cut as to stand -out a considerable way at the ankle. The latter shape, worn mainly by -the women of Márwár, but in painting invariably given to Rádha and the -loves of the god Krishna, is most beautiful with its brush and swing. -The skirt is fastened plainly by a silken cord tied fast at the waist -and is sometimes girdled by a silver belt. The Indian bodice again is -designed in the main to support the breast whose form it defines and -even, by its pattern, accentuates. It may either fit all round the -person, fastening in front by buttons or a ribbon, or be a covering for -the chest only, put on from the front and tied across the open back by -two tapes. But the most distinctive feature of all is certainly the -glorious drapery of the _sari_, which has been translated “mantle” -in default of a better word. The _sari_ is an article of dress as -distinctive as the Spanish mantilla and as difficult to wear with -the right charm and manner. It is an oblong of material, hemmed when -possible at one side with gold embroidery and edged with a sort of -closed fringe. When, as is most common, it is worn with a skirt, -its length is about fifteen feet and its breadth about three. When, -however, as in a contrasting style, it has by its intricacies to take -the place of an absent skirt as well, it measures some twenty-five feet -in length. It is to these mantles that the Indian lady devotes her -deftest thoughts and on them, within the limits conceded by caste and -fashion, that she displays her personal tastes. Their hues and patterns -have an infinite range. Some are in plain natural colours, white or -red or blue--solid, unbroken colour, not least beautiful in the stark -sunlight. Others are delicate cotton prints, flowered and sprigged and -dainty. Sometimes they are printed in a bold decorative pattern, formal -and conventional. Neutral and half tints at times mix in a bewildering -wealth of hue, till the eye is at a loss to know whether the ground -be green or pink or purple. The border may be a plain hem-stitch or a -two-inch broad piece of gold brocade, sumptuously woven in the acanthus -pattern or in the shape of birds and flowers. But in the draping of the -mantle, so simple in cut yet of such infinite variety, consists the -highest art and the true expression of personality. One end is taken -round the waist a couple of times and tucked into the waist-band at -the centre, falling to the feet in formal folds; the other passes over -head and shoulder, with the breadth decorated and displayed across the -upper half of the body. In the management of the upper half lies the -true secret. It must show the full beauty of the cloth, yet by a sort -of innocent accident, without a hint of ostentation. At the same time -it must be loose enough to allow graceful folds to drop naturally from -the head to the shoulders, and tight enough to sit close at the breast -whose curves it accentuates while it seems to veil. Enough but not -too much of the bodice must be shown with a fine nicety. The border -is at times allowed to turn carelessly up, till the gold armlet above -the elbow can be seen even on the covered right arm. At one moment, a -modest gesture brings the mantle across the face, as in shy courtesy -before an elder or an illustrious man; in a crowd it is draped to hide -both arms and conceal the figure; when it slips, it is quickly drawn -forward over the head with a charming pretence of timidity. The Márwári -woman by a trick peculiar to herself makes of her mantle a screen held -open between two fingers, through which only her lustrous eye appears, -melting and languorous; and in the armoury of every Indian woman the -mantle by its nice management is the chief instrument of love. - -[Illustration: A WIDOW IN THE DECCAN] - -The short mantle, worn as described, should of course imply a skirt. -But in the south of Gujarát, from Surat to Bombay, whether from the -steamy warmth of the climate or from some subtle change of mood, -ladies of the richer classes, while continuing to drape the mantle -in the same graceful way, have of late years given up the usage of a -skirt and wear at most a trim lace petticoat. The effect is not unlike -that of a recent ephemeral fashion in Western Europe. Seen in the bold -Indian sunlight, the double thicknesses of light silk or cotton are -little less transparent than a veil of gauze and limbs are revealed in -a shadowed fulness, which is less modest than it is suggestive. - -In the Central plateau, however, and the south of India the skirt is -also dispensed with by a fashion that can claim at once antiquity -and respectability. There it is the long mantle, twenty-five feet in -length, which is worn. Of thick coarse silk and dark solid colour, it -is so draped as to be caught between the legs in a broad, low-hanging -fold, tucked loosely at the back. Its folds are carefully arranged to -leave a double thickness, marked by the border of the mantle, over -the upper part of the legs. It is a style inherited from a remote -antiquity, descendant from the dresses seen even on Buddhist carvings -in the great rock temples of the Deccan. Beautiful it can hardly be -called, with its effect of a divided skirt and its too clumsy folds -and thicknesses; but it is certainly not frivolous. Rather perhaps -should one say that it is eminently respectable, with its sameness -and stiff conventionality. The pressure of the ascetic ideal is shown -even more strongly in the monotonous colours, dark blue usually or -dark green, which are the ordinary wear in those parts of the country. -To the artist the costume, one would think, had little value; yet -that it can be idealized is seen from the effects achieved in the -simplifications of early sculpture. This contrast in dress between the -southern part of the Peninsula and Gujarát or Northern India reflects -once again that contrast in belief and character which has already, -perhaps with a too frequent repetition, been remarked. This monotony -of asceticism is even more noticeable in the south in the dress of -widows (poor creatures with shaven heads, their limbs untouched by a -single jewel!)--a dress of a mantle only, white or of a strange dull, -dingy red--a dress that kills all looks and attractions, save where the -light of religious duty, nature overcome, makes the starved face seem -spiritual. - -[Illustration: A WOMAN OF THE UNITED PROVINCES] - -In the dress of Mussulman women the main feature is that trousers are -substituted for the Hindu skirt. They may be wide and baggy, cut in -loose full curves from the hips to the tighter openings at the ankles, -a style not too precise to be devoid of all attraction. Or, as worn by -ladies of the Upper Indian aristocracy and by other women who lay claim -to Moghul descent, they may sit tight like gloves from ankle to knee, a -fashion at once ugly and repellent. It would be difficult, even after -long reflection, to design a style of dress so unbecoming to a woman’s -gait and figure, so crudely frank, so hideously unsuggestive. A bodice -may or may not be worn, as Hindu influence is more or less strong. A -long fine shirt, half open at the neck and falling to about the knee, -is an invariable article of dress, which on a young woman fits well and -gracefully. In former days, and even now among the older-fashioned, -a long full-pleated skirt and jacket in one was worn above the other -garments, fitting tight to below the breast, then from the high-set -waist-line spreading out in wide stiff pleats like a broad petticoat. -Over her head the Mussulman lady wears a shawl or mantilla, less long -than her Hindu sister’s mantle, which is made of the finest textures -and is dyed in the most delicate of colours. It is the full dress of -the Mussulman lady that, except in Southern India, the dancing girl has -made her own for professional uses and embellished with every device of -pattern and every richness of material. - -It would be interesting to digress here, in relation to Indian dress, -upon that long conflict between the _decolleté_ and the _retroussé_, -which in Europe has from time to time been settled by the successes -of the former. But a full discussion would go beyond the purpose and -necessary limits of this book. Briefly it may be said that, in this -matter too, Indian dress quite correctly expresses the difference -which subsists between the present European and immemorial Indian -temperament. For, with reasonable exceptions, it may be said that in -India, on the whole, no special feelings, either of modesty or the -reverse, attach to the lower limbs. The skirt is, therefore, not the -hampering, stiff garment that it usually is in Europe. But the upper -half of the body, on the other hand, has a far greater significance -than in Western Europe. And this it is which has made the use of the -covering mantle or _sari_ the most distinctive feature of Indian -costume. - -Dress even in its simplest form has been seen to have its sectarian -meaning and restrictions. A widow for instance, at least among orthodox -Brahmans in the Peninsula, is limited to certain solid colours, -never black or dark blue, red as a rule, or white. And every woman -is restricted to definite shapes and cut. To transgress beyond these -limits would be to offend against caste rules with a sanctity defended -and sanctioned by a caste tribunal. But greater significance attaches -to the use of jewelry. Some stones are valued for this or that magical -virtue; certain metals can or must be used only at definite times and -places: some shapes of ornament are bidden or forbidden to a certain -caste. The prohibition against wearing gold upon the feet is the most -obvious instance. Here a value of a magical kind, as a purifying agent, -is ascribed to the metal, and its use was not allowed on limbs where it -might be contaminated by the dust and dirt of the road. Only in royal -families is the prescription ever disregarded; and even then only by -few. - -Of forms and modes of ornament peculiar to one caste and partly at -least sanctified by superstition, something has already been said in -describing the fisher and the gipsy women. But instances might be -multiplied without end. Each section nearly of the community has at -least one peculiar jewel, associated with a religious festival or a -caste ceremony or belief. Perhaps the most obvious examples are the -charms and talismans freely worn by all classes of Mussulman women. -In these the stones and their settings are the symbolic expressions -of deep and mysterious thoughts and the instruments of a magical -significance. On amulets of white jade or carnelian are inscribed -in Arabic characters the highest names of the Most High. On other -cartouches are engraved the sacred symbols of the Jewish Cabbalists, -just as Hindus draw and venerate that sign of the Swastika which from -the time of the Bronze Age has presented the beneficent motions of -the sun. They have little boxes of chased gold in which are enclosed -written charms to protect the wearer from the malice of jinns and the -malevolence of the evil eye. On heart-shaped plates of silver they cut -the sacred hand which persists in the escutcheon of Ulster baronets, -and on others are inscribed the name of “Tileth” and the injunction, -“Adam and Eve away from here.” - -But the use of jewelry has a religious tinge no less among Hindus. It -is for instance a common belief that at least a speck of gold must be -worn upon the person to ensure ceremonial purity. Thus in Northern -India there are castes where married women wear plates of gold on some -of the front teeth; while it is general when preparing the dead for -the burning to attach a gold coin or ring to the corpse. Moreover, the -wearing of jewelry by women is prescribed by the sacred text which -says: “A wife being gaily adorned, her whole house is embellished, but -if she be destitute of ornaments, all will be deprived of decoration.” -This again is one reason why there is so little change in the design. -Variety there is, and indeed the number of ornaments, each with a -different name and use, is almost bewildering. But in each kind the -design passes from one to another generation almost unchanged, and -the craftsman has no need to devise new forms and varying settings. -What has been worn by the grandmother will be equally pleasing to the -grand-daughter. When there is change and variety, it is only in the -large commercial cities, where European patterns are being exploited to -the ruin of indigenous craftsmanship. - -The bracelet is the most significant and the nose-ring the most -peculiar of Indian ornaments. For bracelets are above all the visible -sign of marriage. Young girls before their wedding may wear bangles of -many kinds: but the first act of widowhood is to discard them all. Some -which are made of lac are peculiar to the married woman, and next to -them in significance are the bangles of variegated glass which are so -much appreciated. On the husband’s death these are at once shattered; -and the same breaking of bangles is the accompaniment of divorce. The -nose-ring, as it is called in English, is only seldom in shape a ring. -In Northern India indeed, in certain castes, a real ring of large -diameter passes through the cartilage; and its effect is not beautiful. -But in most places and classes, it is not so much a ring as a small -cluster of gems affixed by one means or another to the nostril. That -worn most commonly in the Deccan--a sort of brooch with a large almost -triangular setting--is also clumsy and unbeautiful. Another type, worn -by the cultivators of Gujarát, is like a button in which the jewelled -top screws, through a hole bored in the nostril, into the lower half--a -form no less ungainly. But Mussulmans adopt a different and more -graceful form. Through the central cartilage of the nose a small gold -wire passes on which drops a jewel, at its best a fine pear-shaped -pearl, dangling down to the central curve of the upper lip. But the -prettiest of all--a real aid this to a pretty face--is a small stud -of a single diamond or ruby fixed almost at the corner of the left -nostril. Here it has the value of a tiny beauty-spot, more attractive -by its sheen, and draws the eye to the curve of a finely-chiselled nose -and down to the petulant smiling lips. - -Among the most beautiful of Indian ornaments are the _champlevé_ -enamels made by Sikh workers who have found a home in the pink city -of Jaipur. In golden plaques they scrape little depressions which -they fill with oxides of various metals, fixed by the nicely-varied -temperature of fire. Gems also are worn in great profusion by the -richer classes, though little by those who have to regard their -ornaments also as an investment. To the poor of course the purchase -of silver or gold jewelry is still the only form of saving with which -they are familiar and in which they have confidence; and it is quite -impossible even to guess the millions of bullion hoarded unproductively -in this form in India. In regard to gems, many a superstitious belief -still remains. Thus it is believed that in an evil conjunction of the -sun the ruby is propitious, while the diamond is remedial against the -baleful influences of the moon. On the day of the week named after Mars -or War, the coral should be trusted, and the zircon is efficacious -against Mercury known as Buddha. The pearl is specially designed for -wear when Jupiter is dangerous. The cat’s eye deflects the radiances of -Venus and in the ascending node the emerald is sovereign. This lore of -gems is set out at length in the _Ruby-garland_ of Maharaja Surendra -Mohan Tagore. - -The graceful dress and finely-designed jewelry of the Indian women is -a covering and an embellishment, suitable and, as a rule, singularly -attractive. But the person that is so covered receives no less care. -An almost scrupulous personal cleanliness is observed by nearly every -woman. Among the gipsy and criminal tribes indeed clothes are worn -until they drop off from age; and the untouchable castes who perform -the lowest menial services and cluster in sordid hovels outside the -village also leave much to be desired. In the crowded slums of the -industrial cities, too, it is to be feared, there are many, especially -of the professional beggars, who from vice or dulled apathy allow -themselves to become foul and loathsome. But even the worst of these -could perhaps be equalled in the mean streets of Europe. These degraded -classes once out of account, however, there is no question that the -niceties of personal cleanliness are followed in all ranks with a fine -devotion which can be equalled only in the upper class of Europe. In -some points they may put even those to shame though they cannot vie -with the modern luxury of the English or French lady’s bath, with its -sponges and gloves and powders and perfumed salts. Washing in India is -a religious ordinance, scrupulously observed, and the body is cleansed -with water and made smooth like bronze with orpiment and tinged with -henna and perfumed with the essence of flowers, till it is a mirror of -purity, worthy of adornment and respect. - - - - -The Moving Finger - - “A creed is a rod - And a crown is of night, - But this thing is God - To be man with thy might, - To grow straight in the strength of thy spirit and live out thy life - as the light. - … - I bid you but _be_. - I have need not of prayer; - I have need of you free - As your mouths of mine air, - That my heart may be greater within me, beholding the fruits of me - fair.” - - _Hertha._ SWINBURNE. - - - - -Chapter IX - -THE MOVING FINGER - - -The aim of this book has been as far as possible to show the Indian -woman as she is, living and acting and expanding. But life, properly -speaking, cannot be represented. Representation must always be of -something that is already past and therefore lifeless and mechanical. -It breaks off and pins down, like a specimen in a museum, a mere -fragment out of the moving continuity of life. So a photograph for -instance, when it impresses a discontinuous moment on the plate, merely -fixes something which is artificial and unreal. Perhaps in literature -it would be impossible to give vitality to the picture of an Indian -woman, unless in the form of poetry or prose fiction. But the picture -would then be endowed with personal character and an individual shape. -Here it was desired rather to analyse national characteristics and to -display the varieties of Indian womanhood and their values. It was -necessary, therefore, to embody the typical rather than the personal -and to lose something of concrete reality in the effort to generalize -usual habits of mind and body. It is, however, true that neither man -nor woman can ever be so well known, as through the ideals which -they feel. In those ideals, in the spirit with which they meet the -incidents of life, consists all that is most real and permanent in -their actions. Other desires and emotions, peculiar to the individual, -which help to make his whole concrete life, are after all unharmonized -and, as it were, accidental. Essential are the thoughts which guide -his purposes and the social atmosphere in which he breathes. Regarded -in this way, the womanhood of India appears on the whole to be moving -in all its million lives towards a more or less similar ideal, more or -less clearly recognized as the social class rises or sinks in education -and self-consciousness. There are, of course, exceptions. The nobility -of Southern India form a social back-water, fed by other traditions -from a secluded source. There are wild tribes on whose crude minds the -common thought has hardly yet had time to become operative. And the -Mussulman population is, at least in name, ruled by an ethic far more -rationalistic and liberal. Yet there is not a class which in some form -or other, however indirectly, has not had to submit to the supremacy of -an ideal which in its purer lines is truly national. With the increased -ease of communication and the rigidity given to accepted Brahman -custom by the Courts of Law and common education, the movement towards -the same ideal throughout the various communities has become more -marked and rapid. Peculiarities of caste and race tend to be swamped -in the general current. In a few cases, new diversities have come -into existence, where, for instance, some of a small highly-educated -class have revolted against traditional restrictions or sought a new -salvation in the close imitation of European customs without a European -environment. It is in the comprehension of these ideals, manifested in -typical castes and classes, and of the social atmosphere that any real -image of Indian womanhood can alone be formed. - -But it is not enough to see a woman in her girlhood and growth, in her -love and marriage, and in her relations to her family and society. To -grasp her as she really is she should be seen also as a mother. For if -love is a duty of womanhood, biologically the function of motherhood is -even more important. It is the most decisive of all her functions in a -primitive society. As the race advances, it does not lose its place, -but beside it ascend other functions, first and most essential that -of love or wifehood, and afterwards that of polishing and refining a -mixed society. In value to each life and each generation, the greatest -of these is certainly love; and the successful wife or mistress -ranks higher in art and literature and with the finer spirits and -civilizations than even the best of mothers. For the former implies -gifts which are not only rarer but also emanate from higher and nobler -qualities of mind, while it responds to needs which are felt above all -by loftier natures. Maternity, on the other hand, is the instinct of -reproduction in action, controlled by intelligent care and affection. -It is not peculiar to the human being but is as strong a force in -the animal. It is of course essential, like everything else that is -primeval in our life; for humanity is broad-based upon the animal. But -wifehood is a conception of the creative human intellect, a specialized -object of human feelings. The perfect beloved is an ideal form created -by a developed intellect and fastidious emotions. - -Hence the worth of a nation’s womanhood can best be estimated by the -completeness with which they fulfil the inspirations of love and its -devotion. And judged by this standard, the higher types in India need -fear no comparison. Whenever race and belief have combined to resist -the mere negatives of ascetic teaching, there is a rich literature of -love, there is a mastery of rapture, and with it the constant service -of undying devotion. - -Yet fully to estimate the value of her life, it would be necessary also -to watch the Indian woman in her performance of a mother’s functions. -The strength of her desire for children, the warmth and selflessness -of her affection, the extent of her care and teaching, her readiness -or unwillingness herself to learn the needs of childhood, above all, -the place in her heart that she affords her children--all these are -factors which should be not merely weighed or analyzed but actually -felt by a creature intuition. But only another woman could have such -comprehension or attain such intuition. No man--even in regard to the -women of his own country, where he is illuminated by the examples of -his mother and his wife--could have the needed sympathy, the necessary -similarity of feeling, to comprehend the woman’s emotions to the child -she bears and over whose growth she watches. It would be impossible to -attempt the task in a foreign country of women by whose side one has -not grown from infancy. - -Some points, however, which lend themselves to any observation, -may be noted, all the more since they have not infrequently led to -misunderstanding. It is the case undoubtedly that every Indian woman, -whatever her rank or race, has a clamorous wish to bear children, above -all a son, for her husband’s sake. “How many children have you?” is -the first question every woman asks another. In order to get children -they go on pilgrimages and tolerate austerities, they give alms to -beggars and are deluded by impostors. A childless woman becomes only -too readily the butt of scorn and even of her own self-reproach. Not -to have borne a son is to the Indian woman to have missed her vocation -and have failed in life. She has a certainty of belief--“She knows” -she would say--that it is her function, even hers, to have children; -and if she be fruitful, she counts herself blessed. From these data, -it has often been inferred that Indian women in all classes have an -overpowering desire for motherhood and are especially mastered by the -maternal instinct. But that this inference is wholly just, may well be -doubted. - -In the upper classes at least it must be admitted that the woman wishes -for children because of reasoned and intelligible motives, and that -these motives are so strong as to overcome any instinctive passions. -And a will moved by a mere calculation of reason may be as powerful as -and even more effective than an act of will which, really responds to a -deep and eternal, unreasoned, self-creating emotion. The Indian woman -at any rate has every reason to desire to be a mother, above all the -mother of a son. Hindu science and philosophy have never hidden from -her that, regarded as a living being merely like any other animal, her -primary function is to continue the race. And religion has impressed -this teaching upon every mind by the legend that a man’s soul can be -released from the torments which follow death only by the prayers -and ritual of a living son. Moreover, she fears that barrenness may -impose the presence of a second wife, a rival in that love to which, -after all, she gives first place. Then, again, the end may prove to be -subjection to another woman’s son, heir to his mother’s hatreds. Or at -the best there is the pressure of religious faith--to think herself -accursed, if she has no child, while even her husband may in time -shrink from her as from a being judged by the doom of God. All these -are motives which can be weighed by the intellect but which move desire -and will-power. Yet their action does not in itself show that the -instinct of maternity is strong beyond the usual. - -It is true of course that little girls in India in their games are -accustomed to play at being mothers and cook for imaginary children -and put their dolls to bed, and in a word play as girls do all over -the world. But so they play also at being wives and greeting their -husbands and bowing to a mother-in-law. When it is considered how -early they learn the secrets of life and how few their other games and -amusements can be, it is hardly astonishing that motherhood should -enter soon in their thoughts and pastimes. But the European child is -at least as ready to play with dolls and as fond of mothering her pets -with a mimicry to which her instincts call her. Where the European girl -differs is that marriage enters little into her thoughts and games, -love in any real sense hardly at all; whereas the Indian girl from -childhood has her mind filled with glad anticipations, and responds -to the name of marriage with a ready and not altogether unconscious -emotion. Even from the example of the child, then, the inference would -rather be that the instinct for love is quickly developed than that the -maternal instinct is stronger than in other peoples. - -There are considerations of many kinds which go to show that the desire -for love is first in the Indian woman’s heart, at least in the higher -and better nurtured classes. In England for instance it is really now -the case--largely owing to the defects of a highly artificial education -and partly from the evils produced by bad economic conditions--that -there are quite a number of women who would desire to be mothers -but who actually look upon marriage and love as a distasteful and -unpleasant preliminary. Such a perversion of view, it can at once -be said, is unknown in India--not only unknown indeed, but even -inconceivable. Every woman may wish for a child, but she wishes first -and above all for the blessing of a loving husband, and she desires -the child mainly to satisfy and conciliate the man to whom she gives -herself joyfully. - -Again it is striking that the whole long record of Indian literature -contains hardly one picture of a mother’s love, and is dumb even -about the longing at her heart for a child. Erotic poetry is full and -voluminous and the love of man and woman is sung in burning words in -thousands of lyrics, while it is also depicted with a more objective -grandeur in numerous epics. Hardly any European literature, at least -since Alexandria, can vie with this literature of love in volume and -intensity. But in the poetry of the West, mother’s love has had its -honoured place. In the letters of India it is almost absent. - -It is sometimes suggested in India, and it may perhaps be true, that -in the castes which allow divorce, a mother’s affection for her child -is a passion stronger than her love for her husband. It would indeed -sometimes seem in those classes that she would more readily choose to -sacrifice the father than the child. But it does not follow that the -cause lies in the freedom of divorce, even though it be a factor which -co-operates in the result. For in practice the Hindu castes which allow -divorce are almost all of the lower class--in some cases not much above -the savage, ignorant, of a slow sensibility, unstimulated by the arts -and luxuries of civilization. Their passions have not yet much refined -above the elemental. For that fine and ennobling love which is the -fruit of advanced culture they have not yet developed the capacity. But -the maternal instinct remains among them in all its primitive strength. -And it has not to divide its sovereignty with the emotions of a later -culture. Relatively its force is greater, because undivided. - -But, it must be said, in no class does maternal affection arouse, as -it should, that persistent and laborious effort to tend and educate, -which is its worthiest criterion. The Indian mother is lavish with -her caresses and endearments, as in other moods she may fly into fits -of uncontrolled anger. But, except for the lengthy period of nursing, -sometimes three and ordinarily two years, to which she is willing -to devote herself, she shows only too little of that continuous and -intelligent care which is expected from a mother. Largely no doubt this -is due to ignorance. She has not--one might with justice say she is not -allowed to have--the knowledge which is needed to be a good mother. -She is unaware of the most elementary requirements of sanitation and -health. Worse still, she has not been trained to know the importance -of compelling good habits and regular discipline in early childhood. -Again, though she is usually an affectionate, she is not often an -inspiring, mother. She is probably at her best as she sees her children -fed with the food she has cooked herself, giving to each the tit-bits -that she can, looking lovingly to their comforts, herself waiting till -all are done before she sits down to her own meal. This is the memory -that lingers most closely in the Indian’s mind as the man grows older -and leans on retrospect. To most European children the remembrance that -is dearest is that of his mother stooping over his cot to kiss him -good-night, radiant in beauty, clad in silks and laces, with the gleam -of white shoulders and precious stones to set off the soft curves of -her dear face, before she leaves for a dinner, a theatre, or a ball. -He is proud of her looks, so transformed, and of her charm, proud that -he belongs to a being so splendid and so wonderful. But to the Indian -the picture that recurs is of ungrudging kindly service. And perhaps -the prolonged nursing period, bad as in other respects it is--bad -especially for the over-taxed mother--serves to draw closer the bond -between her and the child, already conscious of its own existence. -Certain it is that the Indian son, as he grows up, forbears ever to -judge his mother. Of Indian women generally, or of the mothers of -other men, he may complain for their ignorance and their disregard of -matters which he has taught himself to consider necessary; he may even -with some unfairness blame them for a want of steadfast purpose and -regularity, which is by no means peculiar to their sex. But for his own -mother he preserves a constant respect and loving solicitude. - -[Illustration: IN THE HAPPY VALLEY OF KASHMIR] - -Yet, all said and done, it is not in motherhood, but rather in her -love, that the Indian woman has reached her highest achievement. -The devotion and self-sacrifice which are hers form a triumph of -the spirit; and she clothes these virtues with sensuous charm and -transcendent ecstasy. She gives freely of herself with both hands, by -service and surrender, by wistfulness and delight. - -It is in the quality of social charm that the Indian woman is most -often lacking. For the man she loves she can command every grace. -She can be coaxing, caressing, kind, gentle, tender, submissive, -all in one. Even to the stranger, alone in her family as guest or -dependent, she shows herself solicitous and kindly, with a pleasing -quiet charm that comes from the heart. But she has not the habit of -social entertainment or that special training, so much a matter of a -quickened intelligence, which is required to set general acquaintances -at ease or to lead a conversation which should be at once comprehensive -and light. She has no general coquetry and is often without that ease -of manner and unconstrained grace of movement in a crowded room, -which can hardly be acquired otherwise than by the habitual usage -of good society. This lapse from complete achievement marks itself -most strongly in the intonations of her voice. For it must, alack, be -admitted that the Indian woman’s voice is her weak point. Here are -few of those soft, round, low but clear mezzos and contraltos which -like bronze bells sound so deliciously in a European drawing-room. The -voice in India seems seldom to have that steady control and rounded -_timbre_ which is gained from the repression of strained and uneven -notes and the modulation of all tones to one easy key. The Indian girl -is not even taught to sing and knows nothing of voice production. What -little she does sing, untaught or worse than untaught, is more often -a scream than a real melody. Good voices are almost the monopoly of -the professional dancing girl. Hence even in ordinary conversation, -a lady’s speech tends to harsh and abrupt sounds, shrill and not -beautiful. Her intonation is only too often an antidote to the charms -of her fastidious neatness and her kindly eyes and smile. - -Society, it must be said, and social converse had in India ceased -to exist some fifteen hundred years ago. It does not happen that a -company of men and women meet on easy terms for entertainment with -the pleasures of light and familiar conversation, not learned, never, -please heaven, didactic or instructive, but clever, witty, illumined -by intuitions and swift generalizations, light of touch, and near to -laughter. Nor is anything known of that innocent coquetry of well-bred -womanhood, which seeks no particular stimulations but appeals for a -general admiration, impersonally given to that fine spirited, finely -attractive being who is the last word in luxury and taste and womanly -moderation. - -In India as one knows it--whatever it may have been in the remoter age -pictured in the caves of Ajanta--the aspirations of women have taken -a different course through a more placid water. Where they steer is -no ebb and flow of conflicting purpose and sometimes, as they pass -listlessly to the shore, it looks almost as if the roadstead had come -to a stagnation. And yet--yet the course is set correctly and the sun -is rightly taken. It may be that the horizon is viewed too low and -that the profundities of the human spirit are not yet plumbed; but the -Indian woman crosses the waters of life on a line true to her nature -and her functions. - -There is in all the Indian languages which derive from Sanscrit a word -whose habitual usage is significant of a whole attitude to life, by -whose meaning alone it is possible to understand the position sought -by and accorded to womanhood. It is the word “_dharma_” which has -been constantly mistranslated into English as “religion.” But when -an Indian speaks of “_dharma_” he means really the duties, divinely -imposed if you like or valid in nature, of his station. Between this -“_dharma_” and that, between the “_dharma_” of his own class or sex and -that of others, he draws a sharp distinction. In England, too, this -sense is not unknown and the great landlord, for instance, speaks with -right of the duties of his position, contrasting them with a broad -distinction to those of the merchant, for example, or the workman. -_Noblesse oblige_ is a proverb that has been applied in all countries. -But throughout Western thought there runs the idea that duty and morals -must at bottom be one and the same for all. It is only, one might say, -as a concession that the special duties of each station are recognized; -and at most they are referred rather to the accidentals of life, to -those supererogatory virtues which may be expected, like magnanimity -or liberality from the rich and powerful, or that exceptional patience -and humility which many persons seem to expect from the needy and -unfortunate. The basic more permanent rules of moral conduct are -regarded as something absolute, unalterable, unconditioned. Even the -differences of sex are forgotten in the abstract contemplation of fixed -moral laws. In practice, of course, facts have often compelled peoples -to admit that differences do exist in the application of rules of -conduct. Thus, to take a recent instance, in the crisis of war public -opinion has allowed that even the supreme duties of citizenship press -with divergent force upon married and unmarried men. Similarly it -was until recently recognized by all and is even now by the greatest -number that there are matters in which the conduct of men and women -cannot be the same and that the same rights and duties cannot be -applied indiscriminately to both sexes. But the recognition was seldom -more than tacit. It was never co-ordinated, at least in England, to a -reasoned view of life. It was not built upon a deliberate analysis of -natural differences in function and in sensory and nervous force. It -tended rather to be a mere concession to passing conditions of life. -Thought, when it was explicit, dwelt chiefly upon abstract ideas of -equality and equal duties. Some writers even tried to explain away -the differences of character between men and women by referring them -to mere accidents of environment, to women getting a less thorough -education, for instance, or less of a chance in life, as it was -called. It was not openly and clearly recognized that the natures and -functions of men and women were different in essentials, and that the -rules of conduct must in consequence be relative to different needs and -purposes. - -[Illustration: A DENIZEN OF THE WESTERN GHAUTS] - -In India, the way in which “_dharma_” is understood has made such a -mistake impossible. From its implications it is believed by all, or has -until the last few years been believed, that duty must necessarily be -relative to function and must correspond with fitness to inner nature. -A distinction so obvious and primary as that of sex can in consequence -be ignored by none except a few recent abstract thinkers. The rights -and duties of women are defined in relation to the activities which are -imposed on them by the principles of their nature; and the ideal which -is painted is in harmony with the natural laws of flesh and spirit. -Modesty, self-sacrifice, tenderness, neatness, all that is delicate -and fastidious, those are qualities which have a natural propriety. -To play her modest part in the family household quietly, to sweeten -life within the radius of her influence, to serve her children, to -please the man to whom she is dedicated, to receive pleasure in her -love, and find happiness in the pleasures that she gives, that is a -woman’s “_dharma_”--her fitting performance of function. It is not, of -course, that Hinduism does not know that men and women are alike in -respect of certain faculties and both alike distinguished from other -living creatures. But it has laid more stress upon the differences -in function. It has been able to see that the being of each separate -man and woman is one and indivisible, and that sex is not a mere -distinction added or subtracted but rather the shape in which the -whole living, acting human creature is cast and moulded. This, which -is the teaching of India’s philosophies, is also the practical wisdom -of her peoples. And this it is which has kept Indian women so superbly -natural, so calmly insistent on their sex. In Northern Europe, it -may perhaps be said, the evolution of womanhood has more rapidly -progressed, in response to a quickly developing environment; but in as -far as it has rejected nature and inner law, it may the rather tend -to be in fact a _devolution_, a turn or twist _from_ the road and not -a progress. In India evolution has been slow, cramped by unnecessary -superstitions and arbitrary abstentions, but in its main lines at least -it is consistent and natural. Its form is not unsuitable; though it -still has to be filled with a larger and richer content. - -But the content of life in India is in truth already being enriched. -Her women are no mere abstractions, fixed and immovable, to be -delineated by thin conventional lines. Rather must they be thought of -as a mass of concrete, distinguishable, living human beings, moving as -a whole towards a larger freedom. Only a century ago when the greatest -of German thinkers, Hegel, wrote his “Philosophy of History” he could -with no little truth say that “Indian culture had not attained to -a recognition of freedom and inner morality,” and could assert that -in the Indian soul there was “bound up an irrational imagination -which attaches the moral value and character of men to an infinity -of outward actions as empty in point of intellect as of feeling, and -sets aside all respect for the welfare of men and even makes a duty -of the cruellest and severest contravention of it.” Women of course -in all countries are far more conservative than men and are more -readily content to sink the needs of personality in a general level -of unruffled action. Yet even among the women of India a new spirit -of liberation from external limitations is becoming visible and an -aspiration to an excellence that shall be from within. In spite of -caste distinctions, in spite of the forced rigidity of the marriage -system, in spite of all the mental unrest and error of the educated -and the practical inertia of the unread, in spite of all this and much -more, it would now be far from true to say of them as a whole that they -are unconscious of inward freedom and inward law or are blind to the -needs of human welfare in the conditions of human life. - -But this inner freedom and external amplitude need not be sought and -will not be gained in the imitation of foreign manners and customs. -Such imitation can never be anything but unnatural and inharmonious; -and the castes which have tried it have not succeeded in avoiding -evil consequences. A better way is to revert to the ancient ideals -which still inspire all that is good in later practice. Dark ages -of ignorance have pruned and pinched the older, freer spirit, by -superstitious and absurd asceticisms and misinterpreted authorities. -Only the ruling castes have enlarged themselves from the bondage by -their more virile audacities. In general even the primitive and natural -classes, as they raise their status and become reflective, succumb -to the same narrowing limitations and impose upon their womankind -disabilities which are external and mechanical but which they see -current in the higher Brahmanized classes. Yet in the older, nobler -days, the Indian women had a life larger by far and more rich in -fulfilment. To regain this, which after all is still a living ideal, -and to ennoble and enlarge it further through that Greek thought--that -inspiring humanity and breath of happiness--which is the life-giving -element of European science and civilization, that were indeed an -end worthy of a fine tradition. To cut away from the bonds of fears -and artificialities and non-human hopes and terrors and seek only to -_be_, wholly and fully, in the harmony of nature and function and -sane development, preserving the eternal virtues of womanhood, and -finely conscious of a proud tradition--by some such purpose surely -might it be possible to secure safe continuity and social health -while attaining a progressive and extended activity that should not -be alien or discordant. But the timidities of crude asceticism must -first be overcome. A generation must arise which can comprehend -that self-control is not abstention, far from it, but is found only -when, a free soul, governing itself by its own laws, seeks its own -satisfaction and the development of all its functions in its free -activities. To deny human nature, for any price however fanciful, is -more harmful by far than the “Fay ce que Voudras” of any Abbaye de -Thelème. - -[Illustration: A WORKING WOMAN AT AJMERE] - -Of the narrow and incongruous privations with which the old ideals -were overlaid in the later decadence many still remain. Most cruel -and least defensible of all is the prejudice, common in all classes -except the highest and not unknown even there, against the enjoyment -of literature and art. Music is discountenanced, pictures are never -seen, even reading and writing is thought unwomanly. When not only the -charming likeness drawn of women in old books is remembered, but in -actual life also one sees the fine harmony achieved by those ladies, -Rajputs perhaps or Nágar Brahmans, who can recite and enjoy poetry -and even sing or play instruments--with what far greater happiness to -themselves and the men they love!--it should be plain how great is the -national loss wrought by this empty deprivation. Of all the European -countries, it is in France that women have most nearly attained that -final excellence which both accords with the true tradition of Western -life and is not out of harmony with their nature. There a sane and wise -worldliness has led to an incessant regard to neatness and careful -management, an avoidance of all that is wasteful or excessive. And -French life of course pivots upon a mixed society, easily mingling in -graceful and polished intercourse--an urbane fellowship in a human -_civitas_, a citizenship in whose enjoyment, it might almost seem, -lies the last test of civilization. Hence the French woman, for her -part, has trained herself or been trained to be the instrument of -a symphony of urbanity and well-bred fellowship, giving of her own -characteristic qualities to be an inspiration and a standard to the -creative art. Yet, with it all, she is emphatic of her sex. From the -highest to the lowest class, one may see her, neat, well dressed, -choice in adornment, lavish of love. But she is also tirelessly ready -to serve, in her house-keeping as in affairs, devoted to the family of -which she is the living bond, an affectionate but careful mother who is -honoured and loved by her sons with a pure and tender fervour. For in -France, in spite of the general European tendency to moral absolutes -at least in theory, the balanced sanity and practical wisdom of the -people has never failed to recognize the different spheres and powers, -qualities and weaknesses, of men and women. And further, Greek thought -and an unbroken Roman tradition have kept alive in France the ideal of -a temperate and steady fruition of a world that is made for mankind. -In India conditions are different and there is no tradition of mixed -society with an easy untrammelled exchange of ideas. Yet even within -the limits of the family, it might be thought, the added enjoyment -and the larger and finer interests that would be gained by some such -acquaintance with books and music and paintings, and the nobler -emotions thus won, should seem desirable to all who can think at all. - -Controversy has raged fiercely in India round this question of woman’s -education. The number of women who can even read and write, if all -classes in the whole country are regarded, is a negligible quantity, -so small it is; and there are vast tracts in which even Brahman girls -remain wholly illiterate. There are many to this day who bitterly -oppose even the teaching of letters to girl-children. That this can be -the case is of course due to the ignorance of their parents. They have -not yet been able to grasp, nor do they know their own ancient history -to sufficient purpose, that reading and writing is the birth-right -of every human being and a necessary condition of all intelligence -and rational development. They are not aware that the ancient ideal -contemplated no such renouncement. And quite without cause they -fear that instruction for a few years in the elements of education -would interfere with the routine of family life and the customs of -marriage. They have perhaps never had it clearly put to them how simply -this instruction could be fitted in with the usual programme of an -ordinary household and how it need imply no departure from existing -practice in other matters. But indefensible though this opposition -to elementary instruction must be, the objections against further -education are unfortunately by no means without excuse. For it must -with bitterness be confessed that the modern world, at any rate in -Europe, has not yet devised any suitable system of higher education -for girls, has indeed rather busied itself with what is unsuitable -and injurious. “Advanced thinkers” and “social leaders” have a way of -shutting their eyes to scientific results; and facts are hard things -which a flabby age prefers to ignore. So girls have been encouraged -to emulate boys and young men in every sort of examination within the -same curriculum, without heed of their earlier precocity, different -method of nervous activity and smaller reserve force, to the detriment -of health and natural talents and to their unfitting for their own -purposes and functions. It is this which Indian parents, with an eye -open to facts when they are so broad and natural as the facts of sex, -have apprehended, however dimly, and as it were unconsciously. They -have guessed what higher education must in all probability mean in -India, as long as European education remained unchanged. And they -would not let their girls run the risk of an education which might -distort, rather than develop, their sex. Late events served further to -deepen this strong and instinctive distrust; and it is indisputable -that the excesses of an unhappy section of English women with abnormal -aspirations have set back the cause of women’s education in India by -many decades. - -[Illustration: BORN BESIDE THE SACRED RIVERS] - -The misfortune is that in India opposition does not confine itself to -a particular and, one hopes, a temporary phase of secondary education; -nor does it recognize that in all countries, and especially in India -with its universal and early marriage, the question of higher -education can affect only a very small number of the total. The feeling -of dislike is instinctive and intuitional rather than a reasoned -criticism, and it has crept on like a cloud of smoke over the whole -field of elementary education. Necessarily it has also obscured all -view of a possible, better indigenous method of higher education, which -should at once be consonant with the traditions of ancient India and -the needs of women in Indian society. Such a system appears now to have -been set under way in the wonder-working country of Japan, and with -little change might probably be made suitable to Indian conditions. It -deserves at least to be studied without prejudice and with a settled -understanding of the requirements of the land and of the small classes -of women who would directly benefit. - -In spite of all obstacles, due partly to the decay of older customs, -partly also to imported confusions, it may be hoped that before long -it will be admitted that every girl must be taught to read and write. -And one may even hope that a higher education will ensue which, without -slurring over a woman’s earlier precocity and special talents, without -ignoring her specific duties as wife and mother, without forgetting the -peculiar needs and excellences of her mind and body, will in addition -make her more liberal, better instructed, a worthier companion and a -nobler inspiration. In India happily a girl is already allowed to know -the facts of life and her emotions are at least natural. But such an -education as one foresees would teach her to know more clearly and -with scientific truth how to be at once a pleasing and happy wife and a -good mother. She, and through her the children whom she trains, would -learn the evils of premature or too constantly recurring childbirth and -how to avoid them easily. She would know also how to protect her family -from uncleanly surroundings and unwholesome habits. She would not -unlearn but rather be taught even better the necessary arts of cooking -and of sewing, the latter nowadays in many cases almost unknown. But in -addition she would also learn to appreciate the beauties of language -and of craftsmanship, to hear and understand great poetry, and to feel -her whole being thrill to a more glorious harmony in response to the -call of the fine arts. She would still--like the Nair ladies of whom -old Duarte Barbosa wrote--“hold it a great honour to please men.” Yet -she would please not merely by her passion and purity and service, but, -keeping these, would also create a higher attraction of the spirit. -Thus would the lotus women of India be in truth such that of each it -might be said: “She walks delicately like a swan and her voice is low -and musical as the note of the cuckoo, calling softly in the summer -day.… She is gracious and clever, pious and respectful, a lover of God, -a listener to the virtuous and the wise.” - - “It may be all my love went wrong-- - A scribe’s work writ awry and blurred, - Scrawled after the blind evensong-- - Spoilt music with no perfect word.” - - _The Leper._ SWINBURNE. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Women of India, by Otto Rothfeld - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WOMEN OF INDIA *** - -***** This file should be named 50346-0.txt or 50346-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/3/4/50346/ - -Produced by Julie Barkley and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Women of India - -Author: Otto Rothfeld - -Illustrator: M. V. Dhurandhar - -Release Date: October 30, 2015 [EBook #50346] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WOMEN OF INDIA *** - - - - -Produced by Julie Barkley and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[i]</a><br /><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[ii]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus1" id="illus1"></a> -<img src="images/illus-1.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">A BOMBAY LADY</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></p> - -<h1>WOMEN OF INDIA</h1> - -<p class="titlepage"><span class="smaller"><i>BY</i></span><br /> -OTTO ROTHFELD, F.R.G.S., I.C.S.</p> - -<p class="titlepage smaller">AUTHOR OF<br /> -‘INDIAN DUST,’ ‘LIFE AND ITS PUPPETS’<br /> -‘WITH PEN AND RIFLE IN KISHTWAR’</p> - -<p class="titlepage"><span class="smaller"><i>ILLUSTRATED BY</i></span><br /> -M.V. DHURANDHAR</p> - -<p class="titlepage">BOMBAY<br /> -D.B. TARAPOREVALA SONS & CO.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a></span></p> - -<p class="titlepage smaller"><i>Printed in Great Britain<br /> -by Turnbull & Spears, Edinburgh</i></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p> - -<p class="titlepage">DEDICATED<br /> -<span class="smaller">WITH THE DEVOTION OF A LIFETIME<br /> -TO THE KINDEST OF FRIENDS</span><br /> -MRS ARGYLL ROBERTSON<br /> -<span class="smaller">A CONSTANT WELL-WISHER OF<br /> -INDIAN WOMANHOOD</span></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span></p> - -<h2>Contents</h2> - -<table summary="Contents"> - <tr> - <td class="tdr smaller">CHAP.</td><td></td><td class="tdr smaller">PAGE</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">I.</td><td><a href="#chapter1">AS THEY ARE</a></td><td class="tdr">1</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">II.</td><td><a href="#chapter2">MARRIAGE IN INDIA</a></td><td class="tdr">15</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">III.</td><td><a href="#chapter3">THE HINDU WOMAN IN MARRIAGE</a></td><td class="tdr">31</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">IV.</td><td><a href="#chapter4">THE LADIES OF THE ARISTOCRACY</a></td><td class="tdr">61</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">V.</td><td><a href="#chapter5">THE MIDDLE CLASSES</a></td><td class="tdr">89</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">VI.</td><td><a href="#chapter6">THE WORKING AND ABORIGINAL CLASSES</a></td><td class="tdr">127</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">VII.</td><td><a href="#chapter7">THE DANCING GIRL</a></td><td class="tdr">149</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">VIII.</td><td><a href="#chapter8">WOMAN’S DRESS</a></td><td class="tdr">175</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">IX.</td><td><a href="#chapter9">THE MOVING FINGER</a></td><td class="tdr">197</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span></p> - -<h2>List of Illustrations</h2> - -<table summary="Illustrations"> - <tr> - <td class="tdr smaller">NO.</td><td></td><td class="tdr smaller">FACING PAGE</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">1.</td><td><a href="#illus1">A BOMBAY LADY</a></td><td class="tdr"><i>Frontispiece</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">2.</td><td><a href="#illus2">A PATHARE PRABHU</a></td><td class="tdr">7</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">3.</td><td><a href="#illus3">WATER-CARRIER FROM AHMEDABAD</a></td><td class="tdr">8</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">4.</td><td><a href="#illus4">SWEEPER</a></td><td class="tdr">10</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">5.</td><td><a href="#illus5">FISHER WOMAN OF SIND</a></td><td class="tdr">19</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">6.</td><td><a href="#illus6">MUSSULMAN ARTISAN FROM KÁTHIAWÁD</a></td><td class="tdr">23</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">7.</td><td><a href="#illus7">PATHAN WOMAN</a></td><td class="tdr">26</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">8.</td><td><a href="#illus8">BORAH LADY FROM SURAT</a></td><td class="tdr">30</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">9.</td><td><a href="#illus9">A BRAHMAN LADY GOING TO THE TEMPLE</a></td><td class="tdr">37</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">10.</td><td><a href="#illus10">FROM JODHPUR</a></td><td class="tdr">44</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">11.</td><td><a href="#illus11">A MILL-HAND</a></td><td class="tdr">53</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">12.</td><td><a href="#illus12">A MAHAR WOMAN</a></td><td class="tdr">60</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">13.</td><td><a href="#illus13">LADY FROM MEWÁR</a></td><td class="tdr">69</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">14.</td><td><a href="#illus14">RAJPUT LADY FROM CUTCH</a></td><td class="tdr">76</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">15.</td><td><a href="#illus15">MAHRATTI LADY</a></td><td class="tdr">78</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">16.</td><td><a href="#illus16">NAIR LADY</a></td><td class="tdr">83</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">17.</td><td><a href="#illus17">MUSSULMAN LADY OF NORTHERN INDIA</a></td><td class="tdr">87</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">18.</td><td><a href="#illus18">FROM BURMAH</a></td><td class="tdr">90</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">19.</td><td><a href="#illus19">LADY FROM MYSORE</a></td><td class="tdr">94</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">20.</td><td><a href="#illus20">A SOUTHERN INDIAN TYPE</a></td><td class="tdr">97</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">21.</td><td><a href="#illus21">BENGALI LADY</a></td><td class="tdr">99</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">22.</td><td><a href="#illus22">A NÁGAR BEAUTY</a></td><td class="tdr">101</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">23.</td><td><a href="#illus23">JAIN NUN</a></td><td class="tdr">108</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span>24.</td><td><a href="#illus24">BHATIA LADY</a></td><td class="tdr">110</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">25.</td><td><a href="#illus25">KHOJA LADY IN BOMBAY</a></td><td class="tdr">112</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">26.</td><td><a href="#illus26">MEMAN LADY WALKING</a></td><td class="tdr">117</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">27.</td><td><a href="#illus27">PARSI FASHION</a></td><td class="tdr">124</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">28.</td><td><a href="#illus28">DYER GIRL IN AHMEDABAD</a></td><td class="tdr">129</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">29.</td><td><a href="#illus29">MUSSULMAN WEAVER</a></td><td class="tdr">131</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">30.</td><td><a href="#illus30">CAMBAY TYPE</a></td><td class="tdr">133</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">31.</td><td><a href="#illus31">THE MILKMAID</a></td><td class="tdr">135</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">32.</td><td><a href="#illus32">A FISHWIFE OF BOMBAY</a></td><td class="tdr">138</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">33.</td><td><a href="#illus33">TODA WOMAN IN THE NILGIRIES</a></td><td class="tdr">140</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">34.</td><td><a href="#illus34">GOND WOMAN</a></td><td class="tdr">142</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">35.</td><td><a href="#illus35">BHIL GIRL</a></td><td class="tdr">145</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">36.</td><td><a href="#illus36">DANCER IN MIRZAPUR</a></td><td class="tdr">154</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">37.</td><td><a href="#illus37">MUSSULMAN NAUTCH-GIRL</a></td><td class="tdr">160</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">38.</td><td><a href="#illus38">DANCER FROM TANJORE</a></td><td class="tdr">165</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">39.</td><td><a href="#illus39">NAIKIN IN KANARA</a></td><td class="tdr">172</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">40.</td><td><a href="#illus40">GIPSY WOMAN</a></td><td class="tdr">177</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">41.</td><td><a href="#illus41">A GURKHA’S WIFE</a></td><td class="tdr">181</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">42.</td><td><a href="#illus42">A GLIMPSE AT A DOOR IN GUJARÁT</a></td><td class="tdr">183</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">43.</td><td><a href="#illus43">A WIDOW IN THE DECCAN</a></td><td class="tdr">186</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">44.</td><td><a href="#illus44">A WOMAN OF THE UNITED PROVINCES</a></td><td class="tdr">188</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">45.</td><td><a href="#illus45">IN THE HAPPY VALLEY OF KASHMIR</a></td><td class="tdr">208</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">46.</td><td><a href="#illus46">A DENIZEN OF THE WESTERN GHAUTS</a></td><td class="tdr">213</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">47.</td><td><a href="#illus47">A WORKING WOMAN AT AJMERE</a></td><td class="tdr">216</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">48.</td><td><a href="#illus48">BORN BESIDE THE SACRED RIVERS</a></td><td class="tdr">220</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center larger"><a name="chapter1" id="chapter1"></a>As they are</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p class="smaller">“Oh hail! O bright great God, in the form of that -brown-eyed beautiful thing before me, that fills me -with astonishment and laughter and supreme delight.”</p> - -<p class="smaller right"><i>A Draught of the Blue.</i> PROFESSOR BAIN.</p> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p> - -<h2>Chapter I<br /> -<span class="smaller">AS THEY ARE</span></h2> - -<p>Others had written even before Vatsyana the Wise -wrote his “Gospel of Love.” At that time the power -of the Yávans and the Sákas was outstretched over -the land. They were peoples that had come out -of Persia and Bactria and obscure Scythia, many of -them men with the blood of those Ionian soldiers -who had marched with Alexander and settled with -Eastern wives under Eastern skies. The teachings -of Gautama, the Indian prince, they had made their -own; and to the countries in which they ruled they -had brought the peace of Buddha and the temperate -fruitions of Greece. On all the great trade-routes -were monasteries of Buddhist monks and large caravanserais -for merchants and pilgrims. Even as far -as the sands of Lopnor, far across the roof of the -world, and to the Gobi desert, where the Chinese -land begins, the tribes that gave rulers to India had -set their posts and planted their colonies. On -cunningly-sealed wedges of wood they sent their -royal orders to the wardens of their frontiers and -on palm-leaves from the Indian coasts they inscribed -the lore that gave the illumination of God to settlements -on the mountains and in the Central Asian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> -deserts. In the shrines or stupas that they raised -to Buddha, the wise teacher, they had dadoes and -frescoes painted in tempera by some Titianus or -Heliodorus from the Hellenized Levant, adventurers -of a fine Grecian courage, who scattered their harmonious -energies and their joy in life over the Indian -world. Along the trade-routes marched merchants’ -caravans, burdened with silks and rare spices, that -found their way from China to the Black Sea or the -precarious ports on the Arabian Coast.</p> - -<p>“Women,” wrote the professors of love, in that -time of peace and enjoyment, “can be divided into -four classes. There is she who is a pure lotus, and -she who is fair as a picture, she whom they call hag -and witch, and she who can be likened only to the -female of the elephant.” Of her who is as a lotus -they wrote:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> “Her face is pleasant, like the full -moon: her plump body is tender as the mustard -flower: her skin is fine and soft as the golden lotus, -fair and undarkened. Bright and beautiful are her -eyes like those of the antelope, clear-cut and healthful. -Her breast is firm and full and uplifted, and -her neck shapely: her nose is straight and delightful. -The scent of her body is like a lily newly burst. She -walks delicately like a swan and her voice is low and -musical as the note of the cuckoo, calling softly in the -summer day. She is clothed in clean white garments -and she delights in rich jewels and adornments. She -is gracious and clever, pious and respectful, a lover -of God, a listener to the virtuous and the wise.”</p> - -<p>Of the manner of living of a virtuous woman -it is further written by Vatsyana the Wise: “A -virtuous woman that hath affection to her husband -shall in all things act according to his wishes as if he -were divine. She shall keep the house well-cleansed -and arrange flowers of every kind in the different -chambers and surround the house with a garden -and make the floor smooth and polished, so that -all things be meet and seemly. Above all she shall -venerate the shrine of the Household Deities. To -the parents of her husband she shall behave as is meet -and proper, speaking to them in few words and softly, -not laughing loud in their presence, but being always -quiet and respectful without self-will and contradiction. -She shall always consider in the kitchen -what her husband likes and dislikes and shall seek -to please him. Always she will sit down after him -and rise before him: and when she hears his footsteps -as he returns home, she will get up and meet him and -do aught that he desires. If her husband do wrong, -she shall not unduly reproach him, but show him a -slight displeasure and rebuke him in words of fondness -and affection. And when she goes to her husband -when they are alone, she will wear bright coloured -garments and many jewels and anklets and will -perfume herself with sweet ointments and in her -hair place flowers.”</p> - -<p>Many generations have passed and other races—Hunas -and Gujjars and Mongols—have invaded -India. And asceticism has squeezed the people in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> -its dry hand, and there has been war and bigotry and -pestilence. Yet even now the teachings are not -quite forgotten. Many a one there still is among -the women of India, of whom it can with truth be -said: “She is even as a golden lotus.”</p> - -<p>Now, again, the sovereigns of India rule over many -regions and send their royal messages to the uttermost -ends of the earth. Again the great trade-routes -pass through India and the merchandise of -East and of West meet in the harbours of Bombay -and Calcutta. Castes and peoples feel their way to -a common nationality and a fresher spirit, and before -their eyes breaks the morning light of a new Renaissance. -And in the women of new India the old -texts revive to a more vigorous flesh and spirit.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus2" id="illus2"></a> -<img src="images/illus-2.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">A PATHARE PRABHU</p> -</div> - -<p>Stand of an evening on the Queen’s Road in Bombay, -looking over the wide curve of Back Bay, where the -lights of the city fade away into the distances of the -sea and on the right the hill throws its contour against -the darkening sky. They pass here, brightly-clad, -quietly smiling, modestly distant, the women of -India at their newest and most modern, yet in -essentials formed by the ancient rule. They are -discarding perhaps the habits of dark ages of misrule -and superstition, but they cling none the less to the -spirit of old India—to those principles hallowed at -its best and freshest age. In their cars the wives -and children of rich merchants glide through the -crowd. On the back seat, in the shadow of the cabriolet -top, a glimpse of gold-brocade can be caught<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> -or the tone of a fair brown skin. Here a Bhatia lady -passes, come originally from the hot plains of the -Cutch Peninsula, the wife of a millionaire cotton-spinner -or a financial agent. Or there, in gracefully-draped -mantle<a name="FNanchor_1" id="FNanchor_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> and Paris-made shoes and stockings, -a Saraswat Brahman lady or a Pathare Prabhu, with -that lustrous pallor that is brought by the warm -breezes from the sea, goes on her way to her club to -play tennis or drink afternoon tea. Seated in open -carriages or strolling along the pavement to taste -the freshness of the sea-breeze, are hundreds of Parsi -girls, in dresses of every hue, with the heavy velvet -borders that they affect, gossiping, nodding to their -friends, laughing and chattering. Poorer women -dart across the street, pulling children after them -through the busy traffic, and carrying their youngest -on their hip astride. A sweeper woman brushes -fallen leaves into the gutter. Through all the noise -of motors and of the trains that dash along the disfiguring -railway, the sound of a bell clanged at the -temple door by a worshipper may be heard and, at -sunset, the call to prayer from the minaret of a mosque. -Behind a high wall, half-way down the fashionable -drive, a red light rises against the darkness from the -flames which consume the city’s dead.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1" id="Footnote_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The <i>sari</i> has throughout this book been rendered by the -English word “mantle,” though as an equivalent it is misleading. -For a description of the <i>sari</i> as it is, see Chapter VIII.</p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<p>Chiefly the notes that strike are of nature and sex. -These women are so thoroughly women, beyond and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> -above all else. Except perhaps among the Parsis, -where English customs have been sometimes too -closely copied, there is no trace of the beings, women -in age, but stunted and warped and with the ignorance -of children, that, seen in other countries, create -an uneasiness as at the touch of something unnatural -and perverse. Here are the clear brows and smiling -faces of those who <i>know</i>, to whom sex is a necessary -part of life, and motherhood a pride and duty. They -dress and adorn themselves, because they are women, -with a husband to please and to govern. Their sex -is frank and admitted: as women they know their -place in the world and as women they seek a retiring -modesty. Their very aloofness, their seclusion, gives -them half their charm: and they know it. Not -for them, for instance, the dismal methods of -American schools, where mixed classes and a common -play-ground rub away all the attraction of the sexes -and make their growing pupils dully kin like brother -and sister. In India women are so much valued and -attain half their power because they are only occasionally -seen and seldom met. It is the rarest flowers -that are sought at the peril of life itself. It is for -the women who live veiled and separated that men -crave, captives of passion at a first quick-taken glance. -A wife who is not the familiar companion of -every walk or game, who is never seen through -the long business hours—with what delight the -husband, unjaded by the constant sight of -women in street or office, seeks her at last in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> -inner apartments where she waits with smiles and -flowers!</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus3" id="illus3"></a> -<img src="images/illus-3.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">WATER-CARRIER FROM AHMEDABAD</p> -</div> - -<p>How natural they are—true, that is, to the natural -instincts and purposes of women, not without womanly -artifice—is most apparent from a contrast. Their -shyness, even their self-consciousness with men, is -of a woman’s nature. Their love of jewelry, their -little tricks of manner, why, the very way they stand -are, after all, the natural derivatives of womanhood. -Of motherhood they have no shame: they celebrate -marriage and childbirth frankly with a fine candour. -Their garments drape them in soft flowing lines -falling in downward folds over the rounded contours -of the body—draperies full of grace and restful. In -Europe women still adhere to a deformity brought -in by German barbarism in the dark ages. With -curious appliances, they distort and misshape the -middle of their bodies from quite early childhood -till—the negation of all beauty—in place of a natural -human figure appear two disjunct parts joined, as -it were, mechanically by a tightened horizontal -band. From their passive acceptance of routine, -women will bear traditional deformity, in spite of -illness and the constant weariness of nervous disorders. -What is difficult to understand is that—with -all their wish to please—they can endure its -patent ugliness. Pleasing is the contrast of the Indian -mantle, gracefully draped over head and shoulders -and falling in vertical folds to the feet, and of the -gaily-stitched and neat little fitting bodice of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> -Hindu lady. Her head with its smooth hair, decked -with simple gold ornaments or fresh flowers, half -covered by the silken veil, is well poised and beautiful.</p> - -<p>She poses on it no twisted straws, dyed in metallic -colours, no fantastic covering, hung with pieces of -dead bird.</p> - -<p>The step of the Indian woman walking is a thing -of joy. It has in it nothing of the mincing awkward -shuffle or of the disgracious manly stride. But at -her best see her walking in the country villages, where -her frame is trained to a graceful poise by the constant -carriage of water-pots balanced on her head -as she steps unshod down the dusty lanes or the -sloping banks of the river.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus4" id="illus4"></a> -<img src="images/illus-4.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">SWEEPER</p> -</div> - -<p>In the villages, indeed, it is round the well that -woman’s life circles. Where the dry plains stretch -away westward from Ahmedabad over land cast back -by the sea, the walls of mud-built villages stand -square against the blank horizon, where they were -raised against the raids of Kathi or of Koli freebooters. -Here in the hot spring months from March -to July, before the grey rains turn the land to a sticky -swamp, the sun from dawn to its setting beats savagely; -on the sand. In these little townships, high-walled, -with iron-studded gates, the women have to seek -the well early. An hour before the day, before even -the false dawn throws its silver flicker over the sky, -they come from every quarter to the one great well -which supplies the place. Oh! the early morning -chatter which wakes one from his sleep! Ropes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> -and buckets splash upon the water and pot rings -against brass pot. They come in scores, of every -caste and age, merchants’ wives and pretty <i>noblesse</i>, -cultivators and labourers, old women, widows and -mothers, and little naked children—how frail and -tender their lines!—hardly able to stagger homewards -under the load. With hurried prattle they talk of -the night and the coming day, of the prices of the -bazaar and the scandal of a wanton neighbour or the -coming visit of a priest. The day dawns and the -full white orb of the sun, white living heat like molten -metal, rises suddenly into the level sky. The women -finish drawing water as best they can and turn home. -They walk straight, those women, two copper pots -balancing easily on the head, another large pitcher -lightly held against the hip, easily moving as they -talk and smile. No wonder if a young man, idly, -may sometimes stroll towards the well. For some -there are who looking on these women of Káthiawád -passing, with golden skins and full oval faces, must -say to themselves, as said Solomon, “How fair and -how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights: this -thy stature is like to a palm-tree and thy breasts to -clusters of grapes.”</p> - -<p>Next to the well, it is at the temple that the life -of a woman centres. For her every thought and act -is moulded from childhood to the day of death by -the present reality of religion. Her childhood is an -adoration, marriage a sacrament, wifehood an oblation: -in motherhood she finds at once sacrifice and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> -worship: while life and death alike are a quest and -a resignation. Life, as to herself she interprets it, is -not so much action as a response to divine ordinance, -receptive and submissive. She awaits love and may -yield to joy: but she expects them as a handmaiden, -humbly, without striving and without insistence. -And the daily ritual in which her life of service finds -its symbol is the scattering of flowers upon the images -of God, the singing of His praises, and the circumambulation -of His sacred shrine. At the temple she -makes her humble vows, for a husband’s kindness -or the supreme gift of childbirth. And there, -from the fulness of her heart, she pours out thanksgiving -for the blessings of her state. And if at the -end perhaps she die childless and a widow, it is not -singular if she leave her wealth to the further endowment -of the temple and the greater glory of God Rama -and his Sita, the divine pair of her worship.</p> - -<p>The heroism of Indian womanhood has found its -loftiest expression in the Rajput nobility, with the -great Queens who have fought and been slain in -battle or self-immolated on the funeral pyre: its -piety is a transfiguration in the Brahman and the -merchant class: and woman’s love with its transcendent -ecstasy burns like a glowing ember on the -hearth of every soul. But for devotion to labour, -uninspired by any ideal other than its mere fulfilment, -one turns to the menial castes that, from -century to century, have lived closest to their own -soil. Thus on the stony uplands of the Deccan,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> -the women of the untouchable Mahars—descended -probably from some once ruling race, long tragically -overthrown—labour without respite in the hard -fields at their husbands’ sides. But, furthermore, -they bear and suckle children, cook the family food -and do the work of their poor household. Ceaseless -labour it is, done without bitterness, in a humble -resignation. A rough life, yet not without redemption! -Their hardships are recognized and their -pleasures shared: they stand side by side with their -menfolk, comrades by their service. They hold -themselves upright, not without the pride of service, -and to the eye that comprehends, they have even a -rough attraction, like a picture by Millet, in their -sturdy strength, earthy and fruitful.</p> - -<p>The book of Indian womanhood has many pages, -and each page is different, one from the other. Living -in a wide continent, the speech of one group of women -is not as the speech of another. And in faith they -are not one, nor in blood nor habit. But though -the leaves of the book are of various type, yet they are -all of one shape, bound in one cloth and colour. For -to all of them, above all else, is contentment with -their own womanhood, faith in religion and the -natural hope of love. An unremitting devotion and -an unfailing tenderness, that is the Indian woman’s -service in the world; and it is her loving service that -has given its best to the land. India has had great -preachers and great thinkers, it has had and has brave -soldiers. But more than the men, more even than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> -their best and bravest, it is the women who have -deserved well of the country. What they have won -is the respect with which all men behave to stranger -women. It is a rule of Indian manners that they -should pass unnoticed and unremarked, even in the -household of a friend, and, except perhaps among -the lowest ruffians, there is none who would offend -the modesty of a woman even by a gesture or an -unseemly recognition. They can pass in the midst -of crowds, as nurses pass in the most evil back-streets, -without molestation or insult. For the women of -India have raised an ideal, lofty and selfless, for all -to behold: and they have come near its attainment. -And with all its self-sacrifice and abnegation, with -all its unremitting service, the ideal is not inhuman -nor is it alien to the nature of womankind. It allows -for weaknesses, it is kind to faults, and it aspires frankly -to the joys of a fulfilment deserved by service. Not -without reason did the writers of old India liken the -perfect woman of their land to a lotus, in that she -“is tender as a flower.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center larger"><a name="chapter2" id="chapter2"></a>Marriage in India</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse indent4">“Thilke blissful lyf</div> -<div class="verse">That is betwixe an housband and his wyf:</div> -<div class="verse">And for to live under that holy bond</div> -<div class="verse">With which that first God man and womman bond.</div> -<div class="verse">‘Non other lyf,’ sayde he, ‘is worth a bene:</div> -<div class="verse">For wedlock is so esy and so clene,</div> -<div class="verse">That in this world it is a paradys.’”</div> -<p class="right"><i>Marchantes Tale.</i> CHAUCER.</p> -</div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p> - -<h2>Chapter II<br /> -<span class="smaller">MARRIAGE IN INDIA</span></h2> - -<p>In all countries, for a woman marriage has a significance -not only greater than but different in quality -from the significance it has for a man. It is not -merely that to the man marriage is only one incident, -however far-reaching in its effects and values, among -the recurrent vicissitudes of life; while to the woman, -even if it be so regarded, it is at least the most conclusive -of all incidents—that from which depends not -alone her own comfort but rather the fulfilment of her -whole being and function. A man’s life is made up of -the intermittent pursuit of many a quarry at the impulse -of divergent passions, projected from time to time -in varying light upon the evenly-moving background of -the sub-conscious activities. He studies and his soul is -engrossed in the niceties of the arts or the subtleties of -philosophy. He finds satisfaction for his intellect and -even his emotions in the choice of the fitting phrase for -a description. At another time he rushes to sport, and, -for many hours in the day and many days in the month, -finds pleasant fatigue and final occupation in stalking -the stag through the forest with its dry crackling leaves. -In administration he makes a career: and he may be -busy day and night with problems of finance, the just<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> -use of authority or the thousand questions of policy in -a developing civilization. Whatever his profession may -be, his work engages the greater portion of his life and -all his highest and most useful energies. A man’s pulse -quickens its beat rapidly, and as easily falls again to a -slow extreme of indolence and indifference. He does -his best and finest work in the hours of rapid energy. -It is then that he fulfils those functions of creation and -fruitful activity which appertain to the male in the self-ordered -organization of the world. But among those -his union with his mate is not the most important. -Rather it may be called the expenditure of a superfluous -energy. He needs his mate only in the moments of -excited passion, when his energies, unexhausted by duties -that he counts more valuable, are at their strongest. -But as a companion he values the woman that is given -to him mainly in the hours of repose and leisure—those -periods when the over-stimulated mind and body sink -to the level of an indolent passivity. Companionship -he seeks that his surroundings should be easy and congenial, -when his work is done and he is weary. Again, -when a man marries, he either has loved or will love -other women and he knows in his heart that the wife, -who is to share and make his home, can be only one, -though perhaps the tenderest and sweetest, of his loving -memories. Herein, for the woman who gives him her -love, is the irony. Only with the man to whom all love -is ashes and who can never kindle the fierce flame of -passion, can she expect the sole and exclusive possession -to which she is inclined by her own nature. From the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> -man who can promise her his only love, the gift is of -little value and his love but the thin shadow of a spectre. -But she knows the man whose love is as a robe of purple -or a diadem of rubies cannot be for her alone, wholly hers.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus5" id="illus5"></a> -<img src="images/illus-5.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">FISHER WOMAN OF SIND</p> -</div> - -<p>To the woman, however, marriage is the incident of -all incidents, that one action to which all else in life—even -the birth of her first male-child—is subsidiary and -subordinate. She goes to her mate, in shyness and -modesty, as to one who for the first time shall make her -truly woman. At his touch the whole world changes -and the very birds and flowers, the seas, the stars, and -the heaven above, put on a different colour and murmur -a new music. In a moment the very constitution of -her body alters and her limbs take nobler curves and -her figure blooms to a new splendour. Her mind and -emotions grow: and the dark places which she had -feared are seen to be sun-lit and lofty. Marriage is to -her more than an incident, however revolutionary. It -is rather the foundation of a new life, indeed a new -life itself. For her, henceforth, her whole existence is -but the one fact of being married. It is her career, -her profession, her study, her joy, her everything. She -lives no longer in herself but rather as her man’s wife. -“Half-body,” the Sanscrit poets say, not untruly of -the married woman.</p> - -<p>In India, even more than in Europe, certainly more -than in Northern Europe, marriage is to a woman -everything. In early childhood she becomes aware, -gradually and almost unconsciously, of the great -central facts of nature. She lives in a household in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> -which, along with the earning of daily bread, all talk -freely of marriages and the birth of children. When -a brother or sister is born, she is not excluded, and no -one tells her tales of mysterious storks or cabbages. -As she grows older, she hears the stories of Sita, the -divine wife, and of Sakuntala, the loved princess: -and the glowing winds of spring and the burning sun -help to bring her to a quick maturity. Around her -she sees her girl friends given in marriage to flower-crowned -boy bridegrooms, brought on gold-caparisoned -horses with beating of drums and bursting -fire-works and much singing to the bridal bower and -the sacred fire. She learns of widowhood and the -life-long austerities imposed on a woman whose sin-haunted -destiny drags her husband to the grave. In -the household prayers she sees that her father needs -her mother at his side for the due offering of oblations -and the completion of the ritual. Of a woman unmarried, -not a widow, she never hears and the very -notion can hardly frame itself on the mirror of her -mind. No wonder that, with her earliest reflections, -she bends her thoughts upon the husband that is to -come and to be her lord, to whom she will hold herself -affianced by the will of God through all the moving -cycle of innumerable deaths and existences.</p> - -<p>Matrimony in India, in nearly every case, is stamped -by one of two types, the marriage-contract of the -Mussulmans, or the unions sanctified in the vast and -extremely complex social system that is comprised -under the general name of Hinduism. In theory,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> -legally one might say, marriage among the Mussulmans -of India is a contract that should in no way -differ from that practised in other countries of Islam. -A man and a woman bind themselves or are bound by -a voidable contract which confers certain rights of -maintenance and succession, in consideration of mutual -comfort and cherishing. The contract, but not its -sanction and consequences, can be repudiated at the -man’s will and, subject to certain intelligible limitations, -at the claim of the woman. In all cases proper -and ample provision is and must be made for the -children. The woman who is divorced, or widowed, -is in no way prevented from entering upon a fresh -contract with another husband, rather she is encouraged -and assisted so to do. Broadly speaking, this is the legal -position in every Mussulman marriage. No other world-wide -system has ever been so reasonable and so human. -It is a legislation passed through the mouth of its -Founder for all followers of the faith, as human beings -bound in their relations to other men and women only -by justice, which is the ultimate morality of the world. -The interpretation of the Legislator’s act has varied -slightly in the jurisprudence of the “Four Pillars of the -Faith,” the talented authors of the four great law-schools -of Islam. Among the Shiah sect in Persia, also, -the rulings have been somewhat modified and extended -in the judge-made law of the ecclesiastical courts: and -contracts for temporary marriages—marriages limited -to a stated, sometimes a short, period—have for example -been recognized and ratified. But these are all variations<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> -which show the more clearly how, in essence, the -matrimony of Islam is a thing of law, an agreement -for certain purposes and with certain consequences, -between human beings regarded in their capacity as -agents in a very human world. That this should be -so is, in fact, a necessary consequence from the whole -character of Islam. For the very essence of Islam is its -rationalism. God created the world that He might be -<i>known</i>. From the children of Adam He expects praise -and He exacts obedience and resignation. By His -strength and will He divides among them their shares -of blissful or unkind environment. But in the activities -of human life, when they have satisfied the requirements -of prostration to the All-Powerful Creator, He -leaves them free to move as they will under the guidance -of the highest human morality—justice. In the verses -that are concerned with the relations between man and -man, the Book of the Qor’an is as rational as the ethics -of Aristotle or the commentary of a student. Even the -Persian mystics, that were clad in wool, the children -of the Tasawwuf—they who represent Indo-Aryan -mysticism outcropping from the level calculations of -the Semitic faith—sought, in the main, only to modify -the attitude of man to God. In place of obedience, -with its scale of service and reward, they set up a -spiritual ecstasy of love, and in this love they hoped -to unite the human consciousness with the divine -thought of which it is a manifestation and in which -it seeks absorption. But the way with its four stages -of ascent, by which they pointed the road to final<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> -union with absolute Being, rarely traversed the ethics -of human action in the phenomenal world. With the -commands of justice and with the contracts which made -possible and legitimate the companionship and love of -man and woman they never really sought to interfere.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus6" id="illus6"></a> -<img src="images/illus-6.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">MUSSULMAN ARTISAN FROM KÁTHIAWÁD</p> -</div> - -<p>This then is the plan, clear, reasonable, and humane. -But in the practice of India, it must be confessed, there -have been many deviations. They live after all, the -Mussulmans of India, among a population, of which they -form but the seventh part, highly religious, mystical, -seeing in all things magic and the supernatural. In great -part they derive from the castes and tribes of Hindu -India, converted to the creed by conquest, interest, or -persuasion. Large sections still retain and are governed -by the Hindu customary law of their former tribe. The -rich Mussulman merchants of Bombay, who traverse the -ocean like other Sindbads and seek their merchandise -in the Eastern Archipelagoes or in the new colonies -of the African continent, peaceful merchants of whom -a large sect still perpetuates the doctrines of the Shaik -of the Mountain and reveres the memory, without -the practice, of the Assassins, follow in their domesticities -and the laws of succession rules whose significance -depends from the mystic teachings of the Hindu sages. -In Gujarát the Mussulman nobility preserve with -respect the names and practices of the Rajput chiefs -from whom they are descended. They marry within -families of cognate origin and transmit their estates -and dignities by a rule that is widely apart from the -jurisprudence of Islam. But that marriage is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> -indefeasibly binding on a woman for all time, even after -death’s parting, so that the widowed wife may never -seek another husband—these are ideas whose ultimate -basis is a view of the world as a thing moved and -deflected by magic and magical interpositions. Yet -these opinions of the surrounding Hindu population -have invaded the Mussulman household also. The -proud families which claim direct descent from the -Prophet of Arabia have in practice created an absolute -prohibition of remarriage. And in many families -of temporal rank the same veto is observed, as having -in it something exclusive and patrician. Even among -the common people, it is only the first marriage -which is known by the significant name of “gladness,” -while the corrector Arabic term has been degraded -with a baser meaning to the marriage of a widow. -In practice, too, the wise provisions of the law for -dowries and the separate maintenance of a wife have -been neglected, while divorce is much discountenanced -and the claims of an ill-used or insufficiently-cherished -wife to a decree are ignored or even forgotten. -Child-marriage has become the rule, and consent to -a life-long bond under a contract which has come to -be regarded almost as inviolable, is only too often -given on behalf of the young girl by a relation indifferent -to all except wealth and position.</p> - -<p>Yet such is the radiance, so purifying the chemistry -of reason that, in spite of superstition, it continues to -oxidize and revive the body which it permeates. The -inroads of Mongol tribes from Central Asia—recent and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> -bigoted converts—laid low the body politic of Islam. -For five dark centuries Mussulman culture was turned -into a wilderness. In India Islam has been further -obscured, as has been shown, by the encroaching customs -and feelings of peoples who conceived life on an incompatible -and magical apprehension. Yet the word of -rationalism was never wholly silent, and the thought of -human justice in a world of causation persisted, however -feebly, to sweeten and humanize the relations of men -and women in the fundamental contract of matrimony. -The Mussulman woman in her family wields great -power and influence. She is consulted and made -much of to an extent rare in most countries. The -words of the Qor’an are a constant inspiration to her -husband; and he knows himself to be bound to cherish -as best he can the woman who is described in Scripture -as a field which he should cultivate and as a -partner to whom he owes kindness and protection. -Under this inspiration he can hardly fail to estimate -at its highest the value of womanhood; for even in -heaven his promised reward includes the pleasures -of beautiful and enchanting women. Thus has Omar -Khayyam written in the 188th Rubaiyat:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“They say there will be a paradise and fair women and black-eyed virgins,</div> -<div class="verse">And there, say they, will be pure wine and honey.</div> -<div class="verse">So if we adore our wine and our beloved, why, ’tis lawful</div> -<div class="verse">Since the end of all this business will be even thus.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The Mussulman religion idealizes above everything -manliness and the manly virtues; and it certainly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> -does not undervalue the place of sex in human life. -Now, it is the virile man who yields most readily to -the sway of woman. His very vigour impels him to -her side: and in the reactions from enterprise and -affairs he wishes to be soothed by her companionship -and delight. So it is true that the Mussulman -woman in India has seldom cause for complaint -within her household. The day’s labour done, husband -and children gather in the inner apartments, -where she rules, and devote themselves to her comfort -and entertainment.</p> - -<p>Where she suffers, if at all, is from the too rigid -custom of the <i>purdah</i> or female seclusion. What in -India distorted the modest injunction of the Prophet -that women should veil their faces before strange -men to the excessive and even fantastic <i>purdah</i> -system, is a question still hotly debated by Indian -reformers and publicists.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus7" id="illus7"></a> -<img src="images/illus-7.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">PATHAN WOMAN</p> -</div> - -<p>Hindus accuse the Mussulman population of introducing -the system: Mussulmans point to the more -rational habit of other Islamic countries and lay the -charge to the door of the Rajput nobility. Whatever -may have been the original cause, the results are -sometimes ludicrous and injurious. Applied as it is -in the houses of nobles and rich merchants, the custom -is sufficiently tolerable and even advantageous. The -ladies have gardens in which to exercise their limbs: -they drive in screened carriages to see the town or -enjoy the country breezes; they have liberty to visit -at all hours the houses of their women friends and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> -profit by their conversation. They have light and -air and reasonable freedom. Like many other points -of aristocratic ceremony, the practice of seclusion is -valued largely by the inconvenience it causes to others. -It needs little knowledge of feminine nature to -appreciate the pleasurable sense of dignity it causes -the wealthy <i>purdah</i> lady when, at a visit, she sees all -male servants and even the owner of the house sent -hurrying to hide in remote corners while she makes -her stately progress from her carriage to her friends’ -apartments. On her travels she notes with pride -the tumult in the crowded station when sheets are -held across the platform to seclude her from stranger -eyes as she slowly strolls to her compartment. But -to apply the same etiquette to the middle and the -poorer classes is little short of madness. Yet there -are many parts of India, where the Mussulman population, -and especially their womankind, insist with -melancholy pride on these observances, whatever -their poverty and decay. There are found in little -crumbling mud-hovels, clinging to the base of ancient -forts and palaces, women who spend their useless -lives crouched in a dark ill-smelling room, where the -light of day and the breath of energy and aspiration -can never reach them. They bear feeble children: -fall sick of a decline or internal ailments: and go out -in premature senility like a candle in a choked tunnel. -Fortunately the sturdy Mussulman peasantry of the -north know nothing of these follies: nor in Káthiawád -and Gujarát do the Mussulman artisans, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> -are here pictured, ruin their homes by this disastrous -aping of an aristocracy. But even with this drawback—one -maintained, it must be remembered, -mainly by the same feminine lust for pride and precedence -which in England keeps the clerk’s wife from -cooking a dinner—it is in general true that the -rationalism of the system has produced mutual respect -and affection, together with much courtesy and -chivalry, between the sexes.</p> - -<p>The Afghan or Pathan woman is in many ways -apart from her Mussulman sister of the real India of -the plains. Strong, virile, courageous, but treacherous -and illiterate, the Afghan tribes are still narrowly -within the pale of savagery. They are hillmen, -living in secluded valleys or rocky fastnesses, with -the virtues of their kind, but far removed from those -urbane polities which in all languages and races have -set the type of civilization. In Islam the word for -civilization is as much derived from the word for -“city,” “Medinah,” as in the languages that trace -their descent from the Latins. Of gentler qualities -the Afghans have no share. But they have strong -passions, great thirst for love, and the freeman’s respect -for others’ freedom. The woman is caressed and petted, -loved with a passionate love, loaded with gifts, and -then—when old age breaks her vigour—too often cast -aside with the callous thoughtlessness of the savage. -The men are jealous and she lives always under the -shadow of a knife, the long, thin, sharp-edged knife -of the Pathan, so quickly drawn across the throat at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> -the first whisper of dishonour. Herself passionate -and hot-tempered, she too blazes out in sudden rages, -and the small dagger that she carries is not unseldom -used. Passion and excitement, quick pulsing heart-beats, -fiery love, splashing like scarlet flames upon the -dusty background, and then the slow neglected downward -track of old age, that is the Afghan woman’s life.</p> - -<p>Mostly she is chaste and clings to her own man, -till the last bullet catches him full in the chest and his -life gurgles out with the bubbling blood. But she -can also love greatly and superbly, like the fine full-blooded -creature that she is. There was such a girl -once, a child merely, fifteen years old, who from the -barred windows of her father’s house at Kabul, saw -a young English officer ride past on his charger with -the ill-fated expedition. She came of royal stock and -her father was a chieftain of rank in the Amir’s -service. Yet she learnt the officer’s name, who can -say with how many precautions and terrors: and -found he was still unmarried. When the troops left, -she crept forth too, this child of fifteen, and turned -her face from her father’s house and her people to -follow the man she had chosen. She found her way -across the mountains by the wind-bitten passes, with -little food or shelter, till she reached the deserts of -Sind and the wide stretches of the Indus. Not till -then was she safe from the avenging dagger. Then -slowly she traced her road till she came to the port -of Karachi. And there, in the new cantonment, with -its strange avenues and houses, she found the man<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> -whom she had sought. He, happily, was rich and -of distinguished family. He heard her story and -married the brave girl who had dared so much for -his love. Then he brought her to England and had -her taught and trained, and she found favour at -Court, and their lives were happy.</p> - -<p>Such the Afghan woman can be. The love which -she gets—and gives—echoes in the poetry of -Lawrence Hope.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“You are all that is lovely and light,</div> -<div class="verse">Aziza,—whom I adore,</div> -<div class="verse">And, waking after the night,</div> -<div class="verse">I am weary with dreams of you.</div> -<div class="verse">Every nerve in my heart is tense and sore</div> -<div class="verse">As I rise to another morning apart from you.</div> -<div class="verse">I would burn for a thousand days,</div> -<div class="verse">Aziza, whom I adore,</div> -<div class="verse">Be tortured, slain, in unheard of ways</div> -<div class="verse">If you pitied the pain I bore.</div> -<div class="verse center">…</div> -<div class="verse">Give me your love for a day,</div> -<div class="verse">A night, an hour;</div> -<div class="verse">If the wages of sin are death,</div> -<div class="verse">I am willing to pay.</div> -<div class="verse">What is my life but a breath</div> -<div class="verse">Of passion burning away?</div> -<div class="verse">Away from an unplucked flower?</div> -<div class="verse">Oh! Aziza, whom I adore,</div> -<div class="verse">Aziza, my one delight,</div> -<div class="verse">Only one night—I will die before day,</div> -<div class="verse">And trouble your life no more.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus8" id="illus8"></a> -<img src="images/illus-8.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">BORAH LADY FROM SURAT</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center larger"><a name="chapter3" id="chapter3"></a>The Hindu Woman in Marriage</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">ἀλλ᾿ ἐννοεῖν χρὴ τοῦ το μὲν γυναῖχ᾿ ὅτι</div> -<div class="verse">ἒφυμεν ὡς πρὸς ἄνδρας οὐ μαχουμίνα</div> -<div class="verse">ἔ πει τα δ᾿ οὕνεκ᾿ ἀρχόμεσθ᾿ ἐκ κρεισσόνων</div> -<div class="verse">καὶ ταῦ τ᾿ ἀκούειν κἄτι τῶνδ᾿ ἀλγίονα.</div> -<p class="right"><i>Antigone</i>, ll. 61 <i>seq.</i></p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“But we must reflect first that we were born a woman,</div> -<div class="verse">Not such as to strive against men: and then that as</div> -<div class="verse">we are ruled by them that are the stronger, we must</div> -<div class="verse">obey in these things and in things yet sorer.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span></p> - -<h2>Chapter III<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE HINDU WOMAN IN MARRIAGE</span></h2> - -<p>Marriage under the Hindu system is by no means -easy to describe as in actual fact it is. The definitions -and classifications given in the legal textbooks -or Scriptures of the Hindus are little better than -abstractions—deductions from assumed premises of -a theological kind, with only a slender tie to the -actual life of Hindu societies. The difficulties of -practice arise from the vast complexities and fluid -conditions of the great masses of peoples and races, -with divergent levels of culture and inconsistent ideas, -that compose the aggregate which for convenience is -distinguished from all others by the collective name -of Hinduism. For Hinduism is, of course, in no real -sense a church or creed. It has no definite tenets -and no articles of dogma. The acceptance of a -certain social system, centring upon the existence of -hereditary priesthoods with divinely-given powers of -interposition and interpretation, is its final criterion. -This system and its practical consequences once -accepted, the man is free to believe and follow what -creeds or philosophies he may please.</p> - -<p>Yet through it all there is a certain rather vague -and elusive unity of idea, a spirit, one might say, that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> -in various forms penetrates and transmutes the varying -material of creed and caste, of blood and race -with which it is presented. In essence this is the -spirit which regards the whole world as an unreal -dream, an illusory changing scene of transformations, -stretched over the realities of a higher ultimate world -of Divine unity. Laws and customs are based not -on a reasoned pursuit of the good as existent in this -life; but upon the means, magical or supernatural, -of acquiring merit in a supposed ultimate universe -of timeless and permanent reality reached after final -severance from the circle of birth and death. It is -a spirit diametrically opposed to that Greek thought -which placed before man as his final and only aim -happiness or the excellent performance of function in -the world we know. Hardly less is it opposed to the -Semitic creeds which project the purposes and rewards -of virtue into a similar world of similar perceptions and -individualities conceived as existent on a higher plane -attainable after death. For the unifying spirit of -Hinduism, so far as it can be grasped as in any way <i>one</i>, -rejects the world altogether as a reality and places its -virtues not in any reasoned balance of human rights and -duties, but in the observance of rituals and austerities -commended by the authority of a hierarchy.</p> - -<p>Hence marriage also, as far as it approaches the -ideal, is based upon considerations that are non-rational -and belong rather to a mystical or supernatural -way of regarding life. Marriage to the -Hindu thinker and idealist has nothing to do, in its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> -ultimate causes, with the preferences of one man or -one woman, nothing to do with the pursuit of happiness -in a palpitating finite and human life. He sees -in it no free union of two human wills, joined for -their own contentment in an isolated human relation. -Rather it is the connection of two incarnations of the -world spirit during an unreal moment of illusory -existence. The proper husband and wife are recognized -and selected by magical arts exercised under -the authority of the Sacred Books by certain classes -of the priesthood. They are joined under a right -conjunction of the stars, interpreted by an hereditary -expert in the magic art of astrology. Their marriage -is sanctified by miraculous rites and blessed and transformed -by the repetition of mysterious Sanskrit phrases. -They enter their new state purified as by a consecration. -In a word, they deal with a sacrament, not with a -human contract. It is not the satisfaction of human -feelings that is sought, but the fulfilment of a ritual duty -to the family, in its relation to the Divine Spirit.</p> - -<p>This view of marriage, as an ordained sacrament, -is manifested throughout the actual ceremonies of -the wedding, at least among the castes that claim the -higher ritual ranks. The bride and bridegroom must -belong to the same subdivision of the caste and yet -must not be related by a common descent from the -same mythical founder of the family. Before they -can be betrothed, the horoscopes must be studied -by an hereditary astrologer to see that the proposed -union does not traverse any of the influences of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> -stars in their conjunctions. Nowadays it is true that -horoscopes have fallen somewhat into neglect among -the more “advanced.” These allege that the time -is wrongly found on any horologe except the old-fashioned -water-clock and they insinuate—what is no -doubt often true—that the verdict of the astrologer -depends upon his emoluments. Thus even the most -advanced of Hindus, if they do without such advice, -do so on the ostensible ground that horoscopes are -incorrectly delivered, not that in themselves they are -unreasonable. Again the marriage is made between -children, so that desire or personal preference shall -not disturb the ordinances of heaven. The ceremony -can take place only in the auspicious months when -the constellations of Jupiter and Venus are in conjunction -with the sun. At the wedding symbolic -presentments of the boy’s and girl’s ancestors make -more clear the significance of the wedding, as a mere -phase in a family existence, in which the individual -is as nothing and the race is all. When the moment -approaches, the bride and bridegroom sit, face to -face or side by side before the objects of worship, their -right hands joined, a strand of red cotton round their -necks, a cloth drawn as a screen between their faces. -The priests chant Sanskrit verses, while the astrologer -consults the water-clock, which is needed to read the -exact sacerdotal hour. Then when the moment has -come and the cloth is drawn, the pair turn round -the sacred sacrificial fire, and the seven steps are taken -which make the marriage indissoluble and eternal. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> -bridegroom turns to his wife and utters the sacred verse, -“Oh! bride! give your heart to my work, make your -mind agreeable to mine. May the God Brahaspati -make you pleasing to me.” Then for himself he swears -not to transgress, whether for wealth or love. And then -they go out and look upon the Polar Star, that star -which guided the first Aryan wanderers across Asia.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus9" id="illus9"></a> -<img src="images/illus-9.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">A BRAHMAN LADY GOING TO THE TEMPLE</p> -</div> - -<p>A marriage of this kind, so solemn and so sacramental, -cannot in the lifetime of its partakers be -severed or dissolved. Only the will of God, executed -by the cold scythe of Death, can grant a divorce. -Until death come, the pair is inevitably joined, to -labour and pray together, and to engender and bear -the children who in time shall release their parents’ -souls from the purgatory of unfulfilled duties. The -Hindu theory is a deduction from two principles, -one, the unreality of individual appearance, the -second, the unworthiness of sensuous illusion.</p> - -<p>Marriage is a union of ephemeral beings for the -sake of family and community, and for the attainment -of a worshipful elevation over sense and the -world of illusion. It is at once a consecration and -an initiation. The absence of that strong sexual -passion which we have clad in the jewelled veils of -poetry and have baptized in the romantic waters of love -is not to the Brahman eye an impediment or a disappointment. -At the most the hope is for an ordered -affection and a disciplined devotion.</p> - -<p>But the facts of human nature cannot with impunity -be ignored. Ideals based on a non-natural order of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> -things may inspire noble poetry: but they must fail -when they are applied to large bodies of men and -women. Contracts founded upon causes and effects -that are traced by reason can be applied without much -hindrance and at any rate without hypocrisy by all -those who can recognize facts. But there are few who -are worthy of or can benefit by a sacrament. The -Hindu spirit has created splendid images and has -embodied in literature the characters of Sita and of -Damyanti, the wife who is all devotion and sacrifice, -nobly courageous, nobly patient. But, by its very -distance from actuality, it leads in the practice of every -day to great hypocrisy and unnecessary hardship. -The danger has been foreseen by the lawgivers themselves: -and they have not dared to apply their ideal, -even in theory, to others than the highest castes of -the hierarchy. For the warrior, the cultivator, and -the menial classes they have allowed different practices -and divergent ideals. Even in the practice of those -Brahmans, to whom the system should apply in its -entirety, considerable concessions have been authorized. -In the unauthorized acts of every day life there are -even greater deviations. In one sense, of course, it -may be said that the theory of the highest Hinduism -in regard to marriage is one and indivisible; but -marriage is, after all, the concrete contact and companionship -of a living, feeling man and woman, and -the application of the theory an affair of national -character. Race and climate and the influences of -history have played their part in the Indian Continent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> -at least as much as in other regions of equal area. -Even in the priestly Brahman caste, the Brahman of -the Deccan is as different from him of the Punjáb as -an Italian Marchese could be from a Prussian Graf. -They come from different strains, they live in different -surroundings: and the one bond is a common social -system with some common ideals under which they -have both obtained their power.</p> - -<p>In general, it may be said that the ideal has been -humanized and softened in all those parts of India in -which Rajput or Mussulman influences have at any -time been powerful. In such regions, in Gujarát, for -instance, or in Káthiawád, the people have never -taken kindly to the mere negation of desire. A -certain practical genius has always turned their glance -to the fruits of the earth and the pleasures of the -senses. Commerce brought them wealth and the -desire for comfort; from chivalry they learnt the -lessons of gaiety and enjoyment. Among them beauty -is esteemed and desired; pleasure sought or demanded. -From a wife is expected charm and companionship, -passion and pleasure. She is treated as a human -being, with the ordinary human capacities and frailties; -and she can exercise power and influence by her -charms. She may be loved as a woman; and she is -often the object of jealousy; but she is seldom deadened -by that chilling respect which shrivels fresh desire.</p> - -<p>In the arid, ascetic Deccan, on the other hand, the -woman is more commonly disregarded. There she -lives in an atmosphere where sensuousness is reproached,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> -though it may be practised. A man indulges -passion, if he do so at all, as a thing shameful -in itself and abominable, with stealth and self-abasement, -in the grossest and least urbane manner. If -he yield to a sexual desire, it is without esteem or -regard for the partner in his sin. Towards the wife -of a consecrated marriage he preserves an attitude, -which may be irreproachable, but must certainly -be unflattering to her womanhood. In the light of -religion, she may be regarded as a partner in a mystic -union: but in the household she is often little better -than a housekeeper, contemned, neglected, and never -warmed by the glow of desire nor wooed with those -attentions by which men seek to please. Between -Gujarát and the Deccan, it is again the contrast, only -intensified, between France and England. On the one -hand, power and pleasure and the charm of life—with -perhaps jealousy and a certain sense of the possibilities -of human frailty. On the other, coldness, a real -contempt, and that callous reliance on an unswerving -chastity, which some have been pleased to call respect—and -which is so annoying even to the plainest woman.</p> - -<p>Religion again effects a distinction. Those who -adhere to the worship of Shiva, the God of Destruction, -the Lord of Death, the Master of Ascetics, are -apt to turn from the goods of this life to a final -absorption in an abstract oneness. But in Krishna, -the very human incarnation of God the Preserver, -the inhabitants of the richer and more fertile tracts -of the continent have found a congenial saviour.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> -From the devotees of his creed he demands only love, -a constant and all-absorbing offering of the heart: -and he bestows upon them in return the free ease of -the world through which they are passing on the way -to the love-laden groves of Paradise. While the -followers of the theology that centres upon Shankar -see the universe as one, an abstract God-in-himself, -indivisible, unchanging, a pure spirit that alone <i>is</i> -and has being, and define the aim of life as, after -reiterated births into further action, the final liberation -from the senses by absorption into this infinite and -unqualified spirit, the worshippers of Krishna adopt -a teaching which admits an eternal dualism. Force -and nature, spirit and matter, are to them an everlasting -pair, which can never be finally united. So -they tend readily to a view of life in which man and -the Deity, as he can know Him, are circumscribed -by nature, and in which man can find salvation in the -love of all things. And in the love of all things, if -there be inward grace, the enjoyment of the nature -that God has granted to the world must be allowable. -Freedom is attained when the enjoyment is unconditioned -and the soul is wholly united to the spirit of -all nature. It is only the conditions of life, and the -need for transcending the wants of the world in order -to reach that grace in which God is directly felt, which -can impose restrictions and prohibitions. So, naturally -enough, the disciple of the gracious, kind, and loving -Krishna is more likely to demand love from the companion -of life than the ascetic votary of Shiva.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> -The practical meaning of marriage is again very -different in the warrior caste, now represented by -the Rajput clans. Comparatively recent invaders -of mixed Scythian and Turkish or Hunnish tribes, -they almost alone in India have become what in -Europe is meant by a gentry or an aristocracy. Feudal -in their concept of the state, cavaliers and men-at-arms, -seeking in war a profession, in the acquisition of -landed estates their fulfilment, and in sport their -relaxation, they have brought to the brown monotony -of India the splendour of gallantry, chivalry, and -romance. Exempted even by priestly ordinance from -the oppressive asceticism that is in general obligatory -to the Hindu mind, they have formed for themselves -a code of honour coloured by the legitimate hopes -and enjoyments of a warrior clan. In the traditions -of their caste they still preserve the memory of the -bride’s choosing. The suitors sat assembled, each in -his own place, in the palace hall, with sword and shield -to his hand. The curtain was uplifted and the bride -stepped round the hall, a garland of flowers on her -arm. Then when she reached the man whom she -chose to be her own prince and beloved husband, she -slipped the garland on his neck. Thus they became -man and wife, and no one could deny their will. -That time is long since gone, and no bride has now -such a choosing. Yet to this day the heroines of all -Indian plays and the great women of Indian poetry -are all of the Rajput class. Marriage is with them -even now a practice adapted to the aristocratic temper<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> -partly from the earlier Brahman books and partly -from the traditions of Central Asia, tinged also by -the fashions set by Mussulman emperors in the Courts -at Delhi. Polygamy is recognized as lawful and is -practised by the Ruling Chiefs and the richer of their -cadets. The maid-servant may be the concubine of -her master and the dancing girl who enlivens the Courts -is often in private a mistress. But great is the power of -the wife behind the curtain, deep and warm-blooded the -love she hopes to win, great also her valorous devotion. -And through the whole fabric runs a woof as of old, -half-faded brocade, a thread of chivalry and pure -reverence and protective delight. A strand of silk at the -wrist may make the Rajput gentleman at any moment -the knight-errant of a lady whom he shall never see, -and for whom his honour shall yet be as a brother’s.</p> - -<p>But to the Rajput lady of a ruling house there is -one special terror. If death puts his finger on her -husband, her life is too often overwhelmed to an -extent unnecessary and cruel. For herself remarriage -is forbidden: and a love-affair is often requited with -secret poison by her husband’s successors. For there -are many who still hold that the family honour can -be stained indelibly by a woman’s lightness. Then -in her husband’s place may sit on the throne a rival’s -son, who from childhood has had his ears filled with -bitterness. Her jointure may be insufficient; even -an administration is only too often unsympathetic -or unduly sparing of money; or the successor may by -force or intrigue attenuate the estate that was bequeathed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> -She finds interest no doubt in the management -of the lands that form her jointure, but her -seclusion places her largely in the hands of interested -advisers. As a rule, the downfall is more lamentable -even than that of the Dowager in Europe, except perhaps -in Royal families. Suicide (<i>Sati</i>) on the funeral -pyre was in the past almost a release for the Rajput -widow. Among the smaller Rajput yeomanry, the -case is better. Remarriage is not unseldom allowed. -At the worst, the wife has had no rival and her own -child succeeds; while, failing children, she finds with -her relatives the respect and kindness to women which -is general in this caste of manly gentlemen.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus10" id="illus10"></a> -<img src="images/illus-10.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">FROM JODHPUR</p> -</div> - -<p>Another group consists of the lower, but thoroughly -Hinduized, working castes. These run from the very -low untouchable castes who are the usual domestics -of the European officer to the skilled artisan and the -cultivator. Their matrimonial regulations are a compromise -(like most compromises hardly “working”) -between Brahman theory, economic necessity, and -obsolete primitive custom. They are influenced -vaguely by the usual ideals. Widow remarriage is -however tolerated and commonly practised, though -somewhat looked down upon in the popular regard. -When the parties to the association are working men -and women, miserably poor for the most part, illiterate -and unprogressive, it follows naturally that the action -of the system is conditioned mainly by economics. -Toil and labour, in field or factory or shop, is the part -of both, and the woman’s household work and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> -assistance of the growing children are incentives to -and conditions of the marriage. They have no -leisure for the finer sensibilities and, like the poor in -all countries, must have an eye ever open to the needs -of food and nutrition. Without much education -and with little capacity for refined emotion, it is not -unnatural if there is sometimes disunion, and if they -seldom attain the heights. The husband in his -cups may occasionally beat his wife, or may have to -sit with bowed head before the storm of her boisterous -abuse. Yet they compare favourably with -similar classes in other countries; and at the worst -they shame the terrors of European slums, the brutal -wife-kickers and procurers who lurk in the blind alleys -of industrial life. It is true indeed that the rapid -growth of industrial labour in India also has adversely -affected the marriages of that class and that only too -often an unhappy union ends in elopement or prostitution. -Generally, however, it may be said that the -Hindu husband even in this class seldom descends to -the grossness and cruelty so often found in the lower -quarters of European cities: while the wife forms and -maintains a higher standard of womanly conduct and -devotion. An easier toleration marks their conjugal -relations and the Hindu character at its worst is -commonly free from the extremer modes of brutality.</p> - -<p>Among the aboriginal tribes, the Bhils for instance, -marriage is still in a very fluid condition. The actual -form that in practice it takes depends inevitably -on the extent to which the tribe has succumbed to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> -Hindu or rather Brahman influence. As it becomes -subjected to that influence, and as in consequence it -aims at raising its rank within the Hindu social -system by the aping of higher castes, so it the more -readily adopts the worst accretions to Hindu matrimony, -child-marriage, for instance, and large dowries. -But in general it may be said that marriage among -such tribes is a free association between youthful -adults, promulgated by certain payments of money -or service to the bride’s parents and relieved, if barren -or unhappy, by an almost unrestricted right of divorce. -Pre-nuptial chastity is hardly looked for, and neither -man nor girl is much blamed for an early slip. -After marriage chastity is the usual rule. The attitude -is in practice not very dissimilar from the reasonable and -natural outlook of the Scottish peasant; and, as in -Scotland, the net result is a state of general happiness, -easy and equal companionship, and very remarkable -mutual trust. The woman has much weight in affairs -and not unfrequently holds the purse. As in the country -districts of Scotland, prostitution is unknown, and the -cruel ruin of a woman who has loved too soon is practically -unheard of. Widows of course remarry, and there -is much homely love between husband and wife and -parents and children.</p> - -<p>Another system still survives among the inhabitants -of the southern coast lands where the Arabian Sea -beats against the palm groves of Malabar. Here the -tribes of the Nairs, formerly warlike and still brave, -headed by the ruling house of Travancore, maintain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> -a marriage system that dates from the earlier Dravidian -culture which preceded the Aryan invasions. Both -among the Nairs—the noble class—and among the -priests, the Nambutiri Brahmans, an ecclesiastical -and land-owning aristocracy of peculiar sanctity, the -customs of matriarchy prevail in various degrees. -Among the Nairs, for several centuries, the law was -of polyandry, pure and simple, the wife having several -husbands according to her own good pleasure. In -late years the actual habit of polyandry is to all intents -defunct and only in very few cases, if at all, could a -Nair lady be found who consorts with more than one -husband. But succession is still traced through the -female line and a boy succeeds to his mother’s brother, -not to his father. And in other subtler ways the -effects of polyandry are still manifest. Perhaps the -most curious survival is that the religious ceremonial -of marriage—an expensive and public rite—is performed -at an early age with a man, with whom the girl has no -other connection than formal participation in this ineffective -sacrament. Much later comes what, in the -European sense, would be called the real marriage, with -the husband whom she is to cherish. This is a contract, -entered into freely by both parties, dissoluble at will. -One of the elements of its popularity and success is in this -very freedom which has given the Nair ladies a position -enjoyed by few other Indian women. An attempt -absurdly made to limit this freedom by legislation, which -gave an option to the parties by an act of registration -to introduce the usual disabilities of a rigid matrimony,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> -has proved an utter failure. An accompaniment of -the polyandrous or matriarchal system, which still -prevails, is that husband and wife do not live together. -The Nair house is the abode of a whole large family, -based upon joint descent from a common female -ancestor. In the house or family mansion the apartments -of the women are together and are entirely -separate from that part of the house in which the men -live. In this house the husband has no part or share; -but he comes to visit his wife in her apartment just -as she goes occasionally to visit him in the similar -household in which, by his descent on the mother’s -side, he has a right to live. On the freedom of choice -exercised by a Nair lady in her mating there is little -restriction, save only the one that she must not choose -a man of lower station.</p> - -<p>The Nambutiri Brahmans, on the other hand, -though they live among the Nair tribes and are their -priests, have gone no further than a compromise -between this system and the arrangements usually -prevalent among Brahmans. The results, like those -of most compromises, have been disastrous. Only -the eldest son of a family marries. The rest, when -study of Scripture and the practice of ascetic simplicity -prove unsatisfying, seek consolation in indiscriminate -seduction. The immediate results of a theory so unnatural -are polygamy, burdensome dowries, marriages -for wealth alone, and the seclusion and bondage of -women. In spite of the simplicity and candour of these -Brahmans—qualities which make them personally loveable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> -even to those who deplore their influence—their -community has been gravely injured by such marriages. -Only the simplicity of their desires and the earnest conservatism -of their faith have made them tolerate a -system so unnatural and injurious. They bow with -pious resignation to the will of God, by which they -mean the results of their own human folly.</p> - -<p>Bitter must the contrast be to the secluded and -austere Nambutiri ladies when they see their Nair -neighbours at the annual winter festival which commemorates -the death of Kámdev, the Hindu God of -Love. Long before daybreak, every Nair girl of any -position is out of bed and goes with her girl friends to -the nearest tank. Plunging into the water together, -they sing in unison the song which is sacred to the God -of human hearts. As they sing, they beat the water, -with the left hand held immediately under the surface -and the right brought down upon it in a sloping stroke, -splashing and sounding deep. Stanza after stanza, song -after song they sing till the first light of dawn peeps -over the cocoa-nut palms. Then they go back to their -homes to dress in their best and enjoy their holy day. -They darken their eyelids with collyrium and make their -lips red with betel leaf. In the gardens they play on -swings with their friends. Then they sit down in -merriment and enjoyment to the noon-day meal of -arrowroot and molasses with ripe yellow plantains and -green cocoa-nuts. Afterwards they again sing and dance, -while all good husbands on this day of days visit their -wives in their family mansions and make themselves<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> -pleasant to the ladies of the family and bring little -presents and friendly good wishes.</p> - -<p>This system, strange though it appears to those -who are familiar only with Jewish and Teutonic -customs, has been particularly successful in securing -the ends of every marriage—comfort, free development, -and the worthy upbringing of healthy children. -In no class in India is education better appreciated -and more widely shared by the sexes. Every Nair girl -is sent to the village school, her education as much a -matter of course as her brothers’; while there are many -who have matriculated at the Madras University. At -the same time, by the universal admission of those who -know them, there are few women in India who have -greater charm or exercise as valuable an influence on -the manners and morals of society.</p> - -<p>Marriage in Hindu India is, therefore, very various -both in practice and in theory according to the -locality and the race or caste. But regarded as a -whole it presents, one may say, some common characteristics. -It is invariably a religious rite, sanctioned -by magical ceremony, really sacramental. Only in -castes which allow a widow to remarry is the second -union divested of most of this supernatural sanction, -to become almost a free contract. Again marriages -are in general arranged by the parents or relations—with -the advice of priests and astrologers—while the -husband and wife are still children, either in real -childhood or shortly after their puberty. Further, -in all the higher castes, and in lower castes as they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> -assume or usurp a higher position, widows are forbidden -a further marriage. Normally the idea of -marriage in the classes in which Brahman influence -is most firm is accompanied by a certain ascetic -thought, which holds sensuousness and enjoyment to -be something debasing and earth-bound. The world -of action being illusory and unreal, and each action -entailing its answering reaction, deliverance from -illusive appearances and absorption into the one final -reality can be gained only by passive withdrawal -from activity. But all action springs from desire: -and the strongest and most attractive of desires is -love. Hence in marriage there should be no overpowering -desires, none of those impulses of emotion -which keep the man bound during thousands of -incarnations to the idly-turning wheel of illusion. -Only as a deliverance from conflicting desire and as -the means of continuing family life is marriage in -itself to be valued. Its happiness and fruition are -to be sought not in the tumults of passion but in the -calm and ordered affection of a disciplined and worshipful -pair. From the husband protection and self-restraint -are due; from the wife to the lord, whom -heaven has given her, unflinching devotion, constant -respect and obedience, unwavering chastity.</p> - -<p>But in some castes and places the ideal has been -altered largely by feudalism and chivalry, by luxury -and an appreciation of human happiness, and by the -influences of a kindly humanizing belief. There we -find love welcomed and pursued, and the beauteous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> -wife elevated like a substantiation of that Krishna-spirit -in which man attains on earth to the love which -is unending.</p> - -<p>In general, Hindu marriage does undoubtedly, to -a marked extent, reach very closely to the purposes -which it seeks. In general, it produces a very real, -if somewhat colourless, affection, an affection maintained -by common interests and the great bond of -constant association. The defects which it has are -in the main the excrescences of a religious system, -such as are apt to grow wherever reason is displaced -by theological or supernatural commandment. When -rationalism grows strong enough to question the -authority of priestly ordinance and tradition, it will -be possible without any very serious effort to prune -them safely from the sturdy trunk of Hindu life.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus11" id="illus11"></a> -<img src="images/illus-11.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">A MILL-HAND</p> -</div> - -<p>Child-marriage is, of course, that one of all its -features which has been most violently attacked. -But it may be doubted whether those who have -attacked it have always had a clear understanding of -its significance. Real child-marriage—the wedding -of children who have not yet reached puberty—is -after all nothing more than an indefeasible betrothal. -And in itself it is a logical and natural deduction from -a theory which postulates the selection of the bridal -pair by supernatural agency, working either through -the divinations of an astrologer or through the parents’ -careful affection. Any element of personal choice -and free-will would be repugnant to the underlying -thoughts and must to a large extent be subversive of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> -the social and moral superstructure. Free-choice -could be introduced generally only by a substitution -for Brahman regulation of something quite other—as -the warrior castes, for instance, extorted for themselves -from a submissive hierarchy a different scale of -moral values. Moreover, in practice child-marriage -has some clear advantages. For it allows the wedded -pair to be brought up together, as children only, in -their parents’ houses, till in time they become habituated -to each other’s company and affection, while -gradually they come to know and learn their place in -those large households to which their future lives -belong. The Hindu married couple can live in no -independent isolation like the European. Rather -they will be but one unit of a great family household -managed on behalf of all by its eldest members. The -real marriage, the consummation of their growth to -man and woman, comes much later, after many years -perhaps, when the parents at last give their consent -to the grown student and the healthy maiden who -helps daily in the household tasks. Rather it is not -the child-marriage that is so much to be deprecated -as the marriage that succeeds, as in some castes it -does, too quickly upon puberty. For, by an unhappy -ignorance, puberty is in India only too often -thought, as it was thought in the Europe of the -Renaissance, to be maturity; and the marriage thus -concluded is at once made real.</p> - -<p>In fact, in both cases what is needed is a little more -scientific knowledge and the embodiment of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> -knowledge in the Penal Code. Cases occur only too -frequently of the martyrdom of young brides, not so -much from cruelty, or even from uncontrolled passion, -as from sheer ignorance of scientific fact. It has -become a superstition, supported of course by the -usual authority, that puberty means maturity, not -merely for love—which would be sufficiently -misleading—but even for child-bearing. Here it is -that rational education must enter the field. In a -country in which knowledge is luckily not accounted -shameful, it is easy for education to explain that puberty -is only the beginning of a new period, and that love’s -first blossoms must not be followed by too early fruit.</p> - -<p>In this respect the practice of Hindu marriage -unhappily does show a fault of the most serious and -terrible kind. If education has still much to do, the -state of the law most certainly requires improvement. -It is sometimes said that the Penal Law of India at -present does not give adequate protection to girls -who, for various reasons, are unmarried. But silence -is usually kept about the far more serious fact that it -provides practically no protection to the married -girl. In her case the age of consent has actually been -fixed at twelve; and no child of more than twelve can -claim protection from the law against the brutality -of the man to whom she has been married. Obviously -the limit of age for the protection of girls should be -the same in all cases, whether she be married or unmarried, -whether she be the victim of the man to -whom she has been joined beside the sacred fire or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> -of one who owes her no special duty. It is the most -obvious confusion of thought which fails to see that -the offence, if it is one, is exactly the same, whether -or not a mystical ritual has been first observed. The -<i>thug</i> was no better than a common strangler because -he first prayed to Bhavani before he murdered. The -offence is the same in all cases; the punishment should, -if anything, be more severe to the man who is -peculiarly bound in duty and in honour to cherish -the woman he has made his wife. The State is now -prepared to protect against perversion a class of -women who, on an outside estimate, do not exceed -one-hundredth of the population and who <i>ex hypothesi</i> -are of a position and character somewhat less than -reputable. But the State denies its protection to -the other ninety-nine women of each hundred, the -mothers of the country, the honoured helpmates of -its households.</p> - -<p>The harshness is made the greater by vices which, -though forbidden, have in practice become common. -The sale of daughters is an offence against which -the sacred writings of the Hindus strongly and consistently -inveigh. Yet in only too many cases parents -do little else than sell their girls in marriage to the -highest bidder. The sums of money which they -demand and which they use, not for the daughter’s -benefit, but for their own, are so large that they are -forced to accept a suitor of sufficient substance without -regard to fitness or religious sanction. Of the -higher classes many nowadays revolt against such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> -conduct, which they recognize to be wicked and -despicable. But in the lower castes it is still general. -The inner motive of such actions is, of course, the -ignorance, quite as much as the selfishness, of the -father. Too ignorant to comprehend that a human -soul is an end in itself and that a daughter is also a -free human being, he looks on her with besotted eye -as a mere instrument of his own betterment. Hand -in hand with this evil, and dependent from it, is the -terrible practice of giving young brides to elderly -husbands. In no other country could the results be -more disastrous or the girl-wife more unhappy. -Vallabh, the Gujaráti poet, has expressed that wretchedness -in a beautiful song, which has had some influence -in abating this social evil. From it the following lines -are quoted, addressed to the Goddess Mother:—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Goddess mother, old is the husband thou hast given me,</div> -<div class="verse">Mother, accursed is this coming to life of mine. Alas, what more can I say?</div> -<div class="verse">Goddess mother, a little child am I and he a great lumbering, aged man,</div> -<div class="verse">My youth is like a blossom and my husband is a shrivelled mummy.</div> -<div class="verse">Mother, mine are just sixteen years and he has seen his eighty.</div> -<div class="verse">Goddess mother, of a winter’s night there is many a taste one feels,</div> -<div class="verse">But doltish is old age, and my husband is deaf and dumb.</div> -<div class="verse">Goddess mother, sportive am I and would like to play and I make my eyes twinkle,</div> -<div class="verse">But, mother, he, he says, ‘I’ll beat you,’ and lifts his stick in his hand.</div> -<div class="verse">Old is my husband, mother, what good can come out of age?</div> -<div class="verse">Goddess mother, on the festival all the girls are gaily dressed and merry,</div> -<div class="verse">But my husband is tired and weak and ugly, and I bend my head in shame.</div> -<div class="verse">Mother, my hair is black and his head is all white or grey.</div> -<div class="verse">My youth is at its blooming and already my life is wrecked.</div> -<div class="verse">Goddess mother, why was I not strangled at birth, why was I not poisoned?</div> -<div class="verse">Yet if my husband die, it is my part to be true to death.</div> -<div class="verse">Nay, Goddess mother, with joined hands I pray at thy feet,</div> -<div class="verse">When I am born again, give me a husband that is young and strong.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>But as long as society tolerates the acceptance of -money by a bride’s father, so long will there be parents -to be tempted by gold to sanction their children’s -ruin. And even then there will persist a deeper -reason. For girls are all early married and widows -may not marry a second time. So, even against his -will, an elderly man is forced, if he wishes to have the -legitimate and socially-sanctioned companionship of -a woman, to seek in marriage one of the young girls -who alone are in India available for a suitor.</p> - -<p>The prohibition of widow remarriage has also been -bitterly attacked, often by those Indians who, from -education or environment, have been affected by -rationalism, sometimes by those who find a false pride -in the imitation of foreign custom. But the prohibition -is not of course universal. Those castes -which have not yet set up a claim to the higher ceremonial -purities, are free to compound with human -desires by a second marriage, devoid of sacramental<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> -significance. It is in the higher classes that the -woman may have to pay for the pride of caste by her -individual austerities. Yet against the prohibition -of widow remarriage may be set the terrific wastage -in Europe of chaste and unmarried women. It has -not at least entailed upon Indian society that narrowing -and unnatural education which Europe has -seen itself forced to accept, with all its consequent -evils, and which is perhaps inevitable if chastity is to -be required as their highest and sometimes their only -virtue from women who are in every case condemned -to a lengthy and, in a vast number of unhappy cases, -to a life-long celibacy. In India a woman is at least -allowed to <i>know</i> and to be natural; for an early -marriage gives her in her ripening maturity the fitting -fulfilment of her womanhood. And, even at the -worst conjunction of destiny, the ideal of devotion -crystallized in an unbroken widowhood is, in itself, -no ignoble aspiration. The unflinching veneration -that a son gives to his widowed mother is in India no -small recompense for her sacrifice to a sacred duty. -Widowhood is recognized by all as a state—divinely -imposed—of austerity and atonement. But it has -its own quiet rewards in the family home, with its -sense of duty done, like a nun’s or a Sister of Mercy’s. -It is harsh in those castes, which have merely adopted -a custom, when the inspiring ideal is not felt living in -their hearts, deep and intense. And it is also harsh -in those cases where the original thought has been -warped by an exaggerated deduction or where punishment<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> -is too rigorously exacted for illicit infringement -of the rule. At least in the case of the child-widow, -betrothed indeed by a sacrament, but never really -wedded, some speedy relaxation of the rule appears -desirable: and it is probable that, with the decay of -faith and with the new scepticism about blessings -conveyed by an astrologer’s predictions, some such -amendment will soon ensue.</p> - -<p>A deeper objection to the Hindu system is one -which has been seldom, if ever, expressed. Racially, -the absence of that natural selection which expresses -itself in sexual desire, cannot but be detrimental. -It is perhaps vain to expect a vigorous childhood to -be born from unions in which healthy desire is replaced -by the coldness of duty or by an instinct that -has not been transfigured by personal attraction and -selection. The difficulty is inherent in a system -which bases its selection upon the supernatural and -rejects the natural call of spirit to spirit and sense to -sense. And yet it must be confessed, not without -shame, that a careful selection by parents, if it could -be trusted to be rational and disinterested, might be -no more injurious than the restricted and illusory -choice, too often made in ignorance, which so far -seems to be the only substitute that civilization has -learnt to provide. In general, it may be said that -the Hindu rules of marriage are, in the ordinary sense -of happiness, as conducive to the happiness of the -spouses as the fast transforming systems of modern -Europe, and that their happiness is less self-centred<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> -and more altruistic. Romantic love is, after all, -most commonly, even in Europe, the short-lived flower -of life in one sex and one class. Marriage must everywhere -be in practice limited and artificially restricted. -Economic conditions are very near the base of most -marriages; and even in the richer classes must be a -main constituent of the bride’s decision. Moreover, -for the lasting purposes of marriage, affection is no -bad substitute for love—affection and the sense of -destined consecration. It may at least be asserted -that, in general, among the upper castes of India the -mingled feeling of duty and devotion is as strong as, -and perhaps more stable than, in the corresponding -sections of English society. In many places, however, -and in many castes, the soft bloom of companionship -and emotion is bruised by the brutality of a first union -with a partner before unknown and undesired. Nor -can it be denied that the gnostic asceticism, to which -Indian idealism has so often condescended, has killed, -where it could, that joy in a free humanity which -alone can invest marriage with the flaming beauty of -love. When the value of love is considered as an -inspiration to art and chivalry and, indeed, to every -creative activity, then the loss, thus self-inflicted, will -appear in all its gravity. It may well be that the -deathly slumber of the arts in modern India is to no -small extent due to spiritual conditions which exclude -and condemn the love which is profane, and is therefore -alive and immortal.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus12" id="illus12"></a> -<img src="images/illus-12.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">A MAHAR WOMAN</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center larger"><a name="chapter4" id="chapter4"></a>The Ladies of the Aristocracy</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">“Love in full life and length, not love ideal,</div> -<div class="verse">No, nor ideal beauty, that fine name,</div> -<div class="verse">But something better still, so very real</div> -<div class="verse">That the sweet model must have been the same.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="verse">And oh! the loveliness at times we see</div> -<div class="verse">In momentary gliding, the soft grace,</div> -<div class="verse">The youth, the bloom, the beauty which agree,</div> -<div class="verse">In many a nameless being we retrace,</div> -<div class="verse">Whose course and home we know not nor shall know</div> -<div class="verse">Like the lost Pleiad seen no more below.”</div> -</div> -<p class="right"><i>Beppo.</i> LORD BYRON.</p> -</div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p> - -<h2>Chapter IV<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE LADIES OF THE ARISTOCRACY</span></h2> - -<p>What exactly it is which constitutes an aristocracy, -at any given time or place, is not always easy to define. -In Europe, in general, aristocracies are based upon -the survivals of feudal fiefs or sometimes upon Court -distinctions—but how greatly altered, broadened, -twisted, and transmuted! In India special considerations -have arisen to complicate the question. -For all through Indian society there run, on different -curves, double classifications, each traced by divergent -forces. On the one hand, as in all human -societies—unhappily imperfect—lies the great universal -distinction which one calls rank, distinction -of power, that is, and official authority, with distinction -of wealth as accompaniment or even as sole -qualification. On the other side lie the less natural—shall -they be called unnatural?—distinctions of a -hierarchic classification, peculiar to this continent -and the Hindu faith. In this hierarchy, the classification -is not by power as tested and exercised in the -world, open and plain to all men, but by a claim to -power over supernatural forces, acquired by religious -merit, not necessarily in the individual life but perhaps -in lives assumed to have occurred in past transmigrations.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> -But, as the saint spends in study and prayer -the hours during which conquerors are active with -sword or sceptre, so religious merit does not necessarily -bring wealth or authority—with which indeed -it should be incompatible. Moreover, religious -austerities and abnegations spring from or produce -a character, to which the vices and virtues of a feudal -aristocracy are alike opposed. So though the Brahman -is in the hierarchy of caste by universal recognition -infinitely the highest, so much indeed above all others -as to be by mystic ordinance “twice-born,” though -he is ceremonially pure as purity itself, though his -life is sacred and his blessing a reward, his curse a -menace and a doom, yet in no actual sense can his -caste be said to form an aristocracy. A few there -are among the caste who have risen to royal state -and rule lands as princes; but even in them the -qualities of human leadership are overwhelmed by the -traditions of a scholar race and a consecrated people.</p> - -<p>Actually, therefore, it may be said—if words are -used in the usual sense—that the aristocracy of India -is composed of the Mussulman nobility and of the -second or Kshatriya class of Hindus, the ruling and -fighting houses of the land. And of these at once -the most interesting and the most important are the -tribes known collectively under the name of Rajputs, -“sons of kings,” as the word would read in English. -They are, of all the people of India, the most gallant -and picturesque. Almost they are Indian chivalry -itself.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> -In India, the homes properly speaking of the Rajput -tribes are in Márwár, Mewár, and Káthiawád, in the -tracts, that is, which stretch from the centre of the -Continent to the sands of Sind and down to the base -of the Peninsula, as well as in the province that projects -into the Ocean to the West. From the desert -of Bikanir and Jodhpur, where water has to be sought -by shafts hundreds of feet below the level of the -scorching sand, to the forests and glens and rocks of -Mewár and to the fertile plains that roll across -Gujarát to the Arabian Sea, they rule or hold their -lands on service tenures, and hunt and shoot and make -love and yearn for battle. Bikanir, Jodhpur, Rutlam, -Jamnagar, Baria, and how many other names there -are that in the Great War have made dear the Rajput -clans! They have borne the flag as fighting gentlemen -to France and Flanders, to East Africa, and the -plains of the Tigris and Euphrates. The recital of -their deeds and glory is a task, alas! for other pens. -Be it for these lines to make something plain of the -manner of their daily life at home.</p> - -<p>But first a few words must be written of their -history. For without some such knowledge, there -can be no understanding either of India or of the -qualities for which the Rajput stands. Modern -India, as it is now known, came to shape in the nine -hundred or thousand years that passed from the day -of Alexander to the Mussulman conquests. Before -that period there was an India, still reflected in the -Scriptures and in the living beliefs of the people,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> -when Aryan immigrants furnished rulers and priests -to dark Dravidian masses, cousins of those who still -people the South Sea Archipelagoes, peoples who -even now form the staple of the Southern Indian -population, those who speak Tamil and Telugu and -migrate as labourers not only to Ceylon but even to -Fiji and Jamaica and Trinidad. But after the -division of Alexander’s Eastern Empire, that vast -half-obscure series of invasions began which changed -the face of the greater part of the Indian continent -and altered all the constituents of its population. -From the Bactrian Empire and its Hellenized inhabitants, -came Menander with the Ionians—Yávans -as they are known in Indian history. From the Oxus -valley and Central Asia came the Scythian Sákas and -the Kusháns. And all of these accepted the Buddhist -faith and ruled kingdoms and helped learning and -founded new families. Then, in the end of the fourth -and throughout the fifth centuries, this India already -so transformed, was flooded by the vaster, all transmuting -hordes of Gujjars and White Huns. Each -horde in turn swept into its embrace something of its -predecessors, each being widely mixed and composite. -So to the last in all those conquering peoples—and -the Huns were a people on the move and not an army—there -were elements of Greek and Turk, Avar and -Mongol, and Persian and Caucasian—all the elements -in short that go also to make up Eastern Europe -and its nations. Those were the peoples from whom -descend the Kshatriya caste of modern India, these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> -fine well-mannered fiery sportsmanlike Rajputs, who -are the pride of their country. They look like any -Hungarian nobleman or Georgian chief; and all the -centuries spent in enervating climates and an austere -faith have not taken from them their dash and -passionate fervour.</p> - -<p>They are Kshatriyas now, it has been said, these -Rajputs from Central Asia. For from of old the -classic, if academic, division of the Indian peoples -has been supposed to be in four great caste or class -abstractions, of which the second or warrior class is -known as Kshatriya. And in fact it was into this -caste that the invaders were by artful priests assumed -to be adopted. The first hordes, from Bactria and -the Oxus, had become followers of Buddha, a casteless -faith in which the Brahman priesthood lost its -privileges. But the later comers, the Gujjars and -Huns, with their adoration of fire and sun and moon, -were quickly persuaded to the Hindu system and -the acceptance of the Brahman priesthood. So they -slew as they conquered and extirpated the adherents -of the reformed creed. And for reward they obtained -the rank of Kshatriya and genealogies of the true -Aryan breed. Those who were soldiers and founded -states or formed the fighting men-at-arms of the clan -maintained the rank, and are the Rajputs of to-day. -The rest, as they settled down to trade or craftsmanship -or as each by the succeeding horde was engulfed, -and, where it was not absorbed, oppressed, brought -to the multitudinous castes of upper India that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> -Rajput element which is still strongly marked by -Scythian tribal names and even by customs or appearance. -It was a clan system, something like the -Highland clans. Just as Macdonalds or Camerons -absorbed into themselves earlier Picts or later broken -septs, so did even the proud Sesodias of Udepur, one -must suppose, take into their tribe in the first rush of -conquest many converted Sákas or Kusháns, broken -tribes, it may be, who were useful recruits, or perhaps -at times some powerful leaders. As the Highlander -going to Glasgow or the Lowlands, lost his nobility -and became artisan or weaver or tradesman, marrying -with the common people and shedding his pride and -distinctions, so of the Central Asian fighting tribes -there were many who descended to the common level -of the working population.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus13" id="illus13"></a> -<img src="images/illus-13.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">LADY FROM MEWÁR</p> -</div> - -<p>Now the Rajput tribes for over a thousand years -have been the kernel of Indian aristocracy. They -have lofty genealogies which trace their trees to roots -in mythology, to birth from fire or the personified -sun and moon. The god Krishna, a Kshatriya chief, -indeed, of real but hidden fact, mixed inextricably with -the ancient concept of a cloud-god, powerful in some -forgotten Aryan home, has his place as divine progenitor -in many a family tradition. They have their -professional bards who sing the epics of their race -and preserve the records of their families and descent. -For a thousand years they have spent the lustres -fighting, tumultuous, each chief with his following -against his neighbour, always divided, yet throughout<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> -in no mere lust of acquisition but in the spirit of a -sport, sought for its own sake, governed by the rules -of chivalry. Throughout Rajputana and Káthiawád, -their castles stand on every eminence. Thence they -could sally forth upon a foray, or in them, if the worst -befell, sustain a brief siege. Younger sons either -went out to carve themselves a career and perhaps -a kingdom with the sword or received an appanage, -half-independent, in which they governed as vassal -princes. The chief ruled with a power absolute and -arbitrary; but he had to rule as a father among his -children. The clan obeyed, as a child obeys his -father; yet withal there was always a curious feeling -of equality. They were all of the same blood, they -felt, high or low, born to carry arms, all gentlemen; -and the chief was no better than his poorest brother, -except that God had given him as eldest of the older -line the right of decision in affairs. For their estates -the clansmen paid by service, each according to his -fief serving in person or with subordinate horsemen -and men-at-arms. To this class belong the women -who have been India’s heroines, the women whose -names survive in story, brave with the brave, tender -and true. Best known of all, perhaps too well-known -again to bear mention, are Padmini, the princess of -Mewár, and her no less courageous companions and -maid-servants. For she was beautiful, of a beauty -so surpassing as to bring ruin to her own people. -’Alá-ud-din, the great conqueror, heard of her fame -and contrived to see her features in a mirror. Then,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> -having looked, he swore that she must be yielded to -his passion or, if not, that Chitor, the capital of Mewár, -should fall. Finally, when it was no longer possible -to resist and the impregnable fort was only too clearly -pregnable by the enemy, Padmini called the wives -and daughters of the fighting men and told them -what was in her mind. In the vaults deep within -the core of this strange hill fortress, they piled wood -and straw and built themselves a vast pyre. Then -with a farewell to the soldiers who were to charge in -one last sortie upon the enemy, the women went -down the steps to the supreme offering and laid themselves -upon the logs of burning wood and died. In -this way the women of Chitor—without one to shrink -or to draw back—preserved for all time the memory -of Rajput honour and the exaltation of Rajput -womanhood.</p> - -<p>Even to-day, without a doubt, there are within the -<i>zanánas</i> of Mewár many women of a spirit no less -sublime. The honour of the family, that is a sacred -flame which they feed in their hearts with ever -renewed fuel of self-sacrifice and devotion. That is -a repute, which, even when they sin, they seek to -preserve intact; and they know only too well that -infraction of this law brings with it death. The -women live, with few exceptions, in the strictest -seclusion, seeing no male person except their husband -and occasionally an uncle or a brother. But, in -despite of privacy, the fame of their conduct is -whispered abroad and their influence in affairs is only<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> -too often felt, even by Political Agents and Residents. -In a chief’s household, there may be two or three -wives, each with her separate establishment and her -appanages. The management of her estates alone -demands a good deal of intelligence and force of will. -Handicapped as she is by being forced to converse -with her stewards through a curtain, behind which -she remains invisible, it is remarkable with what ability -many a Rajput wife or widow controls the administration -of her funds, though sometimes unhappily she -may become the victim of fraud or specious appearances. -The popular estimation of the Rajput ladies’ -talents is shown in the Gujaráti proverb, “The clever -woman’s children are fools, and the foolish woman’s -children are clever,” in which the former is the Rajput -woman with her impetuous and often imprudent sons, -and the latter the cunning Bania trader with his -usually awkward and futile mother.</p> - -<p>Only experience can show how deep, and sometimes -how perverted, is the respect for family honour; -how hard the duty imposed upon women to preserve -it above all things else at any cost. Some years ago, -a young Rajput gentleman in an access of insane rage -murdered his stepmother in her room. He had a -sister, a girl of eighteen, still unmarried, who was -sitting beside the pair and saw the murder done -before her eyes. As it happened, a Government -officer was near the place, got early information, and -by a forced ride through darkness over forest tracks -was able to reach the scene of the murder by midnight.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> -He went at once to the girl’s quarters and, -while respecting the custom of purdah, insisted upon -speaking to her in person. The girl was still shaken -by the murder that she had witnessed, her nerves -upset, her night sleepless, her mind a vortex of cruel -impressions. Under the skilful questioning, she soon -broke down, and—told the truth! She recounted -the facts as they had happened; and the facts were -that her brother, the head of the family, was a -murderer. But thereafter the girl remained unmarried, -no Rajput of lineage, however poor, being -found to accept in marriage a Rajput maiden who by -the mere truth had fixed in the public eye a stain on -the family name.</p> - -<p>Of Rajput wooings there is still many a romantic -story to be told. In one of the smaller states there -had been some talk of marrying the daughter of the -house to a greater chief. The young lady, a girl of -about fifteen, exceptionally beautiful and graceful, -well-educated, a writer of excellent letters both in -her own and in the English language, managed to get -hold of a photograph of the proposed consort and -incontinently fell in love with the pictured image. -The negotiations met with unexpected difficulties -and the project all but fell through. The young -chief, who had not seen her, was indifferent and -accepted an offer from a more powerful state, where -he married the young princess, almost a child. This -was so far from damping the other lady, that it served -only to inflame her further. The greater the difficulty,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> -the more determined she was to win the man whom -she now loved with a bitter passion. She wrote, she -intrigued, she guided the negotiations herself, she -entreated and schemed and insisted. At last she was -successful, and the young chief came to wed her as his -second wife. Throughout the ceremony, he was -indifferent, almost bored. From his manner it was -plain that he married only as a duty, because he was -a gentleman, bound to a promise which he may have -thought himself cheated into giving. But, the ceremony -over, he went according to custom to eat the -first meal with his new wife and for the first time to -see her face and listen to her speech. In less than an -hour everything was changed. Fired by her immediate -charms, he burst all the bonds of etiquette -and carried his bride off to his own tents. He made -her his queen and put her like a seal upon his heart. -For the child whom he had formerly married there -was little thought, and the new bride, who for so -many years had loved him from his portrait with a -passionate eagerness, became the ruler as well as the -loving servant of her prince.</p> - -<p>The daily lives of these Rajput ladies of Mewár -and Márwár may not have many deep interests but -they are by no means empty. Among the greater -chiefs, the woman’s life is the usual life of palaces, -with luxuries at command and with corresponding -duties. There are servants to order and affairs to -manage. Most ladies read and hear recitations; -maid-servants sometimes sing; and children have to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> -be cared for and tended. Sewing is a common -amusement in which most Rajput women are expert. -Occasionally a Rajput girl is heard of who, in the -remoter districts, goes out riding or even shooting, -dressed sometimes as a man, though seldom indeed -can such amusements, in a caste which follows the -seclusion of women, be entertained after childhood. -There are, however, among advanced chiefs with -modern ideas not a few instances in which there is -a tennis-court in the palace grounds for the ladies, -where the wives play together or with their husband -and his nearest relations. And there are some rare -States where even the semblance of seclusion is being -discarded and the ladies drive abroad or shoot big -game in the jungle.</p> - -<p>These, however, are the liberties of the great. -Among the lesser nobility, where riches are usually -wanting and position has to be maintained by a -stricter observance of traditional rule, the manner -of life is busier, with less need of pleasure-seeking. -In such a minor country-house, the wife will usually -rise with the sun. If her mother-in-law is alive, she -goes first to her room and wishes her a good morning. -Then comes, what is in all such households a duty of -first importance, the care of the dairy-farm with its -noble white cows. The milk and whey is always -distributed to servants and dependents by the lady -herself. That done, she has a bath and says a short -prayer for her husband, sees the children have their -breakfast, and visits the kitchen. The proudest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> -nobleman’s wife would think shame of herself, if she -did not superintend the cooking and at need take a -hand in the baking of cakes and special delicacies. -She sees to it that her husband and all male guests—usually -numerous—have their breakfast before she -herself eats her meal with her women. In that hot -land, all sleep who can in the middle of the day, and -the Rajput woman is no exception. When a couple -of hours later she rises, she seeks for some amusement -for the afternoon. All Rajput ladies are brought up -from childhood to the strictest care of their persons -and are taught even physical exercises. Before they -are married they have learnt every device by which -they can preserve or heighten their beauty and every -art by which to sharpen their husbands’ zest and -devotion. For this purpose there are many things -they learn which in Europe would be disapproved. -But it is largely due to this care that they are faultlessly -neat, fair, and attractive, and that so often their -beauty lasts to advanced years. Thus in the quiet -afternoon hours one of the frequent amusements is -to inspect and brush clothes. Ladies keep large -wooden chests, hasped and bolted with iron and often -beautifully carved, very like the bridal chests of the -Italian Renaissance. In them are stored the clothes -in whose neatness and beauty they place their vanity. -One by one they are taken out by the maid-servants -and dusted and shown to the mistress and refolded -and put back. It is a poor woman indeed who does -not have at least fifteen to twenty skirts, from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> -cheaper cotton or red Turkey cloth to the richest -silks and gold embroidery. Mantles <i>(Saris)</i> are at -least as many and of bodices there may be forty or -fifty. The maid-servants who fold the clothes are -a notable institution. Rather household slaves than -servants, born and bred in the house, and almost of -pure Rajput blood themselves, they are the intimates -of their mistress. One or two of them there will -always be who have been her affectionate companions -since childhood and have, on marriage, accompanied -her to her new home. Such a girl is the lady’s confidant -and constant comrade, who looks to all her -comforts, rubs her down after her bath and does -skilful massage, knows all her secrets, brings her all -rumours of the world, sleeps at her side in her husband’s -absence, and is her much cherished friend. -Often, especially in youth, the two spend their afternoons -sewing together. Amongst the Rajputs of -Káthiawád, besides the pretty bodices that they often -sew themselves, it is the custom for girls to embroider -fringed strips of cloth for hanging across doors or -squares to fasten upon walls for use as ornament at -marriages and festivals. Little pieces of glass or mica -are let into the embroidery and the patterns very -much resemble those still sewn by peasant women in -Hungary, whither they were also brought from the -same tribal centres of Asia. Reading, visiting, chatting -take up the rest of the day till evening approaches. -Then the Rajput woman puts on her richer dresses and -her jewelry and gets ready for dinner and the night.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus14" id="illus14"></a> -<img src="images/illus-14.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">RAJPUT LADY FROM CUTCH</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span></p> - -<p>The Rajput women of Káthiawád and Cutch -deserve some special mention, both for their beauty -and their exceptional cleverness. Beautiful they are -above all other women of India except only in -Kashmir, fair with a rich fresh golden tint of skin, -with full soft eyes, and with long black hair. In their -apparel they are particularly tasteful, and the green -hues that they specially affect set off their complexion -at its best under the Indian sky. Of their intelligence -there is no doubt, and throughout the Rajput country -they are respected for their talents and perhaps, -shall we add, feared for their intrigue. Jealous and -ambitious to a fault, they are not ignorant even of -the use of poison; and at least it is a proverb that -“She marries the land, not the man.” Gallant and -courageous they are, even in evil, and it is not so long -ago that the tale was told of a not-virtuous princess -that night after night in the dark hours saddled a -riding camel with her own hands in the stable and -rode six miles out to join a lover, and before dawn, -another six miles back, unseen, unknown, with the -threat of a dagger-thrust, if discovered, always in -her mind. But when well-beloved and cherished, -these Rajput women are charming companions and -faithful, assiduous helpmates.</p> - -<p>Besides the tribes who can claim to be Rajputs of -authentic origin, descended as was said from the -Central Asian invaders who transformed ancient -India to its present type, it follows reasonably enough -from the constitution of the tribal entities and from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> -the eternal facts of power and sovereignty, that there -are many others who put forward a claim more or -less substantiated to a similar recognition. Such are -the slightly later invaders of similar strains who came -to India from Scythia by a different road, the Jhadejas -of Cutch and Káthiawád, for instance, with their -frequent marriages with Mussulmans. These have -at least a perfectly legitimate title to the name by -a sort of cadet copyhold. The hill Rajputs of the -Himalayas, among whom for generations survived -the last indigenous school of Indian painting, can also -fairly put forward a claim based on historical descent. -But in addition, throughout Northern India, whenever -by the fortune of circumstance a new tribe, not yet -included as a caste in the orthodox Hindu system, has -attained to princely power, the claim to true Rajput -ancestry, for a time overlaid and obscured by the -dust-layers of adversity, is propounded and defended. -Minstrels in India are no less complacent than genealogists -and heralds in Europe; and a ruling chief can -have a mythical founder of his line disinterred from -unknown records as readily as can a British peer. -Instances are many and notorious; but it would be -invidious to retail cases, where very often the tribe or -its ruling family are in every way worthy of inclusion.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus15" id="illus15"></a> -<img src="images/illus-15.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">MAHRATTI LADY</p> -</div> - -<p>Among the Hindu aristocracy not yet fully recognized -as Rajput, perhaps the most notable are the -Mahrattas. Cultivators of the arid Deccan highlands, -their swift-raiding horsemen carved out many a principality -in the last three centuries. Several regiments<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> -of the Indian army are recruited from these stern and -hardy tribes, and the Mahratta has fought steadily -and well on the Euphrates and the Yser. Among the -ruling chiefs, the generosity, loyalty, and gallantry of -H.H. the Maharaja Scindia of Gwalior, in particular, -have now become famous throughout the world.</p> - -<p>Besides the ruling chiefs, the Mahratta tribes have -a number of families of lesser nobility, above the mass -of poorer farmers and peasants. Five of the tribes -boast a purer birth and loftier ancestry; while in all -ninety-nine tribes or branches of the race are counted. -But in all tribes, far greater is the distinction between -gentle and simple than among the Rajput clans. -The Rajput clans form a real brotherhood in which, -in many senses, each man is as good as another, -wealth and power being accidentals only upon the -leading strain. Over the whole social life is the -tradition of the feudal fief and tenure, where all hold -as gentlemen by their soldiers’ service. Among the -Mahrattas there has never been this history of feudal -aristocracy. And even more perhaps, a certain democratic -tendency and a certain proneness to claim -“rights” in the true democratic spirit, make it -natural for those who have attained nobility to distinguish -themselves by a haughtier aloofness. In -many ways this tendency has affected the Mahratta -woman. It has introduced the <i>purdah</i> or seclusion -for one thing among a people to whom it is not natural, -first among the nobility, and now to a modified degree -among the richer or prouder of the farmer class.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> -Among the mass it hardly exists even in name. More -obvious still is the difference in appearance between -the <i>lady</i> and the <i>woman</i>. The latter is like the -generality of the Deccan population—one sect of -Brahmans alone excepted—dark, stunted, hardly -attractive. The former is fair, graceful, sometimes -singularly charming. Seen at her best (and there -are now not a few who in the disuse of seclusion in -the more modern houses may be so seen) she is intelligent -if quiet, winning though a trifle austere, grave -and refined. The Mahratta lady lacks the open, ready -smile and frank feminine fascination of the Rajput, -but she has her own severer appeal. There is something -in her always that is virginal. She goes through -life as if unconscious of evil or at least as one deliberately -and finely passing by with eyes unnoticing. -Almost she reminds one of the girl-student resolute -upon her way to lectures. Or—shall we say?—in her -is something of the Florentine school, in the Rajput -princess the full rich bloom of Venice.</p> - -<p>But in the Peninsula where it narrows to a cape -against Ceylon there still survives an earlier segregated -India, untouched, or almost so, by Scythian immigration. -It never knew those tribal communities, now -broken up and regrouped and again assimilated, -which left behind as their living memorial the strenuous -organism of the Rajput clans. In the south, where -the green of the rice-fields gleams bright like emerald, -and traffic moves slowly upon great waterways, a -world survives, two thousand years old, fallen perhaps<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> -a little to decrepitude, of indigenous Dravidians—caste-ridden, -they, from the first known times—and -rarer immigrant Aryans. And in that world out of -the teeming millions of the Dravidian population, akin -perhaps in remote ages to the inhabitants of the South -Seas, the nobility are the Nairs. Aristocracy they can -hardly perhaps be called with propriety, since they -themselves do not claim to rule as being best. Rather -they derive their nobility, by their own showing, from -the fact that they were deemed worthy by the Aryan -priests, whom they acknowledge to be the highest of -mankind. The Nairs are a community, rather than -a caste or tribe, with powers of assimilation. A -large infusion of Aryan blood, obtained from the -favours of the priesthood whom they venerate, has -given them a peculiar distinction from the Dravidian -masses.</p> - -<p>In the “Relations of the Most Famous Kingdom in -the World,” which was published in the year of Grace -1611 by Master Johnson, this southern nobility was -abundantly described:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> “It is strange to see how -ready the souldiour of this country is at his weapons: -they are all gentile men and tearmed Naires. At -seven years of age they are put to school to learn the -use of their weapons, where, to make them nimble -and active, their sinews and joints are stretched by -skilful fellows and anointed with the oyle sesamus. -By this anointing they become so light and nimble -that they will wind and turn their bodies as if they -had no bones, casting them forward, backward, high -and low, even to the astonishment of the beholders. -Their continual delight is in their weapon, persuading -themselves that no nation goeth beyond them in skill -and dexterity.” They are no longer warriors and the -only soldiers of Nair caste are the household brigade -maintained by H.H. the Maharaja of Travancore. -But they are still brave, and in their play the sword and -buckler and the bow and arrow keep their place.</p> - -<p>Nowadays it is the women who have won the higher -fame. Seldom in any country can there have been a -womanhood that has received such universal eulogy. -From the earliest histories of Malabar to the latest -writings of French tourists, the chorus, of praise has -been a monody. Old Duarte Barbosa, writing centuries -ago his “Description of the Coasts of East Africa -and Malabar,” already clothed his impression in admiring -words. Most of all he notes that “they are -very clean and well-dressed women and they hold it -a great honour to know how to please men.” This -careful cleanliness and a certain grave sort of neatness -are indeed recurrent in every description. The bath -is to them a very article of faith and they bathe not -daily but, almost it might be said, hourly. Beside -each house is a large private tank or pond of masonry -with broad stone steps leading to the water, and there -are few moments in the hot daylight hours when it -does not resound to a woman’s laugh. They use the -nuts of various saponaceous plants to free hair and skin -from the slightest impurity; and no robe, however -slightly soiled, is ever worn again till it is thoroughly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> -cleaned by the washerwoman. A scrupulous cleanliness -and a fastidious neatness—a total impression of -almost hieratic purity—this exhales from the Nair -woman like an emanation. By their grave simplicity -an English official was inspired to a pretty compliment, -as he toiled through some red-tape Census Report with -much talk of “excess of females” in the Nair population. -“They could never be accused,” he reported -with mock indignation, “of an ‘excess of females.’ -The most beautiful women in India, if numerous, -could never be excessive.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus16" id="illus16"></a> -<img src="images/illus-16.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">NAIR LADY</p> -</div> - -<p>The general picture of grave and simple purity is -heightened by the appearance of their houses, each -aloof and separate with a certain quiet dignity in its -own grounds. A bathing tank and a garden, these are -the first conditions of every household; and the garden -is luxuriant with the great rough stems of the jack-fruit -tree, the graceful areca and cocoa-nut palms, and -bright green, broad-leaved banana plants. To the -east is the gate, through the garden, to the house, with -a stile to cross and a gate-house or lodge at its side. -The house itself, with its large household all related -through the female line, has on the ground floor its -kitchen and store-rooms, an open courtyard, and a -large dining-hall. And above, with two separate staircases, -lie on one side the women’s, on the other the -apartments of the men, segregated entirely one from -another. In such houses with all their numerous -family-members, brothers and sisters and cousins and -aunts and children always growing up, a certain quiet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> -discipline and an instinctive order, from being a duty, -becomes a constant habit. Comfort and tranquillity, -if they are to be had, exact self-effacing restraint and -gentle deference to others’ wishes and requirements. -Whatever is boisterous and impulsive, the self-assertive -and the crude, has had to be effaced and smoothed -away, as pebbles shaken together in a bag lose their -sharp edges. The manners that result are quiet and -self-contained, a little solemn perhaps, as of people -traversing a cathedral, but sweetened by human -charity and a pleasant touch of worldly irony.</p> - -<p>The dress is simple in the extreme, a single white -cloth that reaches from the waist to the knee. This -for long ages has been the sole honoured dress of the -Nair lady, above all fear as she is and above reproach. -That in all public places she should go boldly and -unashamed, with no self-conscious daring, but simply -and modestly, with the upper part of her body uncovered -before all men, has been the law of her community. -Only jewelry she wears, a gold or silver -chain, even a gold belt about her waist, gold bosses -in her ears, and a necklace whose pendants are as the -cobra’s hood upon her neck. Sometimes, however, -especially in these later days, and when she travels to -other provinces, she throws a cloth over her shoulders -and bosom, with a certain shyness, as of something -coquettish and immodest.</p> - -<p>Amusements too are simple, but to their thinking -plentiful and quietly enjoyable. All girls are taught -to read and write, and not a few are highly educated.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> -They are in general on the happiest terms with their -husbands, whom they do not see too much and whose -affections are not blunted by the daily usage of a common -household and the dulling minutiae of daily life. -When, however, there is incompatibility, they separate -simply and naturally without unkindness to seek a -better loved mate. In leisure hours, swinging, two -or three merry girls on the same swing, is a favourite -amusement, and singing and dancing are often enjoyed, -especially at the great autumn festival when the house -is filled with presents and each one gives every one else -a yellow cloth or a toy or an ornament. Prettiest of -all their amusements, however, and most symbolic of -all that quiet, so sweetly singular life on the backwaters -of the south, is that of flower-decoration. In the early -morning the children of the large household go into the -fields to gather flowers and bring them back in armfuls. -Then all sit down in the courtyard, and with their -gathered blossoms make bright decorative patterns on -the walls and floor. Best loved of all is a flower-carpet -over which they raise a booth, gaily festooned with -other flowers. When all is complete, the neighbours -are asked to come in and admire; and they compare -it with their own in turn. But the finest flowers of -all are the sweet gravely tender women of Malabar.</p> - -<p>When he turns to the Mussulman aristocracy of -India, the European finds himself on ground more -familiar, as it is more similar to the landscape of his -own social existence. These chiefs and nobles are the -descendants—in most part—of soldier adventurers who,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> -as generals or as governors under the Emperors of Delhi, -or as rebels and fighters for their own hand, achieved -estates and even principalities. They have no caste -or tribe to distinguish them from their fellows, but -owe their position to their authority and landed -interest. As sons of Adam, they hold, all men are in -essence equal, but Destiny has apportioned sovereignty -to one and to another beggary. They rise and fall, -as in Europe, too, heritages are wasted and fortunes -won; and they rely upon no mystic ordinance and no -hieratic ceremonial for their prestige. The frank -acceptance of the world as it is, <i>facts</i> alone one would -say having importance, makes the Mussulman gentleman -and his family appear figures fully human and -comprehensible. Polygamy and the seclusion of women -alone cause disparities, superficial even these in many -respects.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus17" id="illus17"></a> -<img src="images/illus-17.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">MUSSULMAN LADY OF NORTHERN INDIA</p> -</div> - -<p>The permission to marry up to four wives is in -practice seldom utilized. The commandment to treat -all wives alike, with equal favour and cherishing, in -itself makes righteous polygamy by no means easy. -But a more actual obstacle is the natural jealousy of -the woman and her great influence. There are few -Mussulman ladies whose husbands are not just the -least thing “henpecked.” And few of them will allow -a rival to enter the zanána without a struggle. Only -in a few of the most powerful courts is it prevalent to -any conspicuous degree; and in such royal households -where it exists, it flies often in the face of Holy Scripture -no less than human sense and comfort. It is then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> -a vice and not an observance. Seclusion—the “purdah”—exists -with a severity far exceeding modern -Turkey or even Egypt, and still more in excess of the -Prophet’s teaching; but it falls short of the unreasoning -stringency of the Rajput code. It is relaxed for -one thing by the recognition in each case of certain -persons who stand “within the enclosure,” as it is -called, or in other words are free to meet the women of -the house unveiled. In this circle are included a large -number of male relatives and even, in a few cases, the -husband’s most intimate friends, as well as servants -brought up from childhood within the family. Moreover, -the restriction becomes less oppressive when it -is relieved by the wide freedom to visit women-friends -which is generally sanctioned. Veiled though they -drive through the streets and unseen, there are few -things which are not noted by the keen eyes behind -the peep-holes in the shrouding cloak.</p> - -<p>The Mussulman girl of the better class is in early -childhood taught to recite prayers and to read the -Qor’an in Arabic, though without understanding of the -words she reads. As she grows older she is usually taught -more, and attains a fair knowledge of Urdu, while, if -she shows signs of greater capacity, she will often learn -Persian as well. To read simple books in Urdu and -Persian is at least a common accomplishment, and there -are not a few who can themselves read or, at least, -understand the elegant odes of Hafiz. In household -management and the care of her children the Mussulman -lady is able to find incessant occupation, while<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> -there is no one who more appreciates the pleasures of -a garden with runnels of flowing water under a tropic -sky. She rises very early, and shortly after dawn she -is to be found among the roses in the walled garden. -Chess and backgammon are frequent amusements. In -talismans, omens, charms and the evil eye she has -an unshakable belief, which survives every trial. And -in her later years she looks forward to the sacred -pilgrimage to Mecca, with all its difficulties and hardships, -as the last and best employment of a well-spent -life. Something there is truly noble in that figure of -an old lady, veiled in white, facing, after a long life -behind the curtain, the crowded port, the steamer, -and the desert Bedouins. But sweetest picture of all -in the womanhood of the Mussulman nobility is the -growing girl, not yet a woman, in coloured silk trousers, -long robe, or shirt of fine Dacca muslin, and velvet -cap gold-embroidered, as she sits cross-legged beneath -a shady tree and recites aloud from the silk-covered -Qor’an that is open before her on its carved sandalwood -rest.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center larger"><a name="chapter5" id="chapter5"></a>The Middle Classes</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Things never changed since the time of the Gods,</div> -<div class="verse">The flowing of water, the way of love.”</div> -<p class="right"><i>Japanese Song.</i> LAFCADIO HEARN.</p> -</div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus18" id="illus18"></a> -<img src="images/illus-18.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">FROM BURMAH</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span></p> - -<h2>Chapter V<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE MIDDLE CLASSES</span></h2> - -<p>In a vast empire with a population of over three -hundred millions, in area a continent, with some -thirty-five main languages and of dialects none can -say how many, with different religions and with cultures -divided from each other by centuries of progress, -anything like an adequate description of the middle-class -woman would be a task beyond human power, -and its perusal beyond the patience of the most -enduring reader. Less difficult by far would it be to -head a chapter “The middle classes of Europe,” and, -within its limits, after running from Greece and -Roumania to Spain and England, to scale the heights -upon which, like an inspiration, the womanhood of -France sits enthroned. But there are at least some -essentials in which the womanhood of the Indian middle -classes becomes congruous, differing therein from the -women of other countries, Europe for instance, or -America or China. Perhaps it may be tried by the -selection of a few types, with the aid of contrast and -analysis, in some way to express their essential -atmosphere and habit.</p> - -<p>Burmah must, one finds, go to the wall, not most -certainly for any fault of its own but because it lies so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> -far apart from the total of Indian life. For administration -it is placed within the confines of the Indian -Empire, but with the Indian peoples its people has -no lot or part. To omit it seems almost a pity, so -frankly independent are its women and so fascinating—free -above the women of most nations and consonant -to an unusual degree with ultimate human ideals. -One sees such a little Burmese lady sometimes, but -how rarely, in India, the wife perhaps of some English -officer or of a high Burmese councillor, so a picture may -stand as reminder of smiling daintiness, like some -porcelain figurine glazed and tinted in the furnace of -human freedom.</p> - -<p>In India proper, of the middle classes, the most -important, and perhaps the most enigmatic, figure is -the Brahman’s. The class is certainly an aristocracy -in one, the etymological, sense. For it is as being best -that they hold power and the power that they hold -is, even to this day, most undeniable. Aristocracy—“rule -of the best”—of those rather who are admitted -to be best—if this be indeed a meaning true to fact, -then the Brahmans should be included in or alone -comprise that rank. With many of them their very -appearance, their gait and self-composure, support the -role. With steady untroubled eye, straight nose and -sensitive nostril, fair skin, “pride in their port” and -self-restraint in every gesture, they move through the -mass of common men, as if conscious of a higher mission. -By the sacred thread across the shoulder they proclaim -themselves twice-born, once from a mortal womb and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> -once again at an auspicious hour in childhood by -initiation to the sacred mysteries. Calm and indifferent, -serene with a careful precision and habit of -restraint, they incarnate in their manner something -of absolute repose, as if untouched by the mundane -ebb and flow. Withal they are not in any customary -sense a nobility. Perhaps, it may be said, they have -transcended even nobility. In any case the proudest -noble must at times, and some must constantly, admit -the ascendancy, spiritual though it be, of these born -preceptors. The greatest ruler will eat food cooked -by the poorest Brahman beggar; but no Brahman, -desperate with the pangs of destitution, would accept -even a glass of water from a monarch’s jug, the mere -touch being a profanation to the nutriment of sanctity. -In Southern India, where the Brahman, immigrant -from Aryan races, was most successful in exploiting -the indigenous population by the means of religious -awe, the Nair nobility are abject in their recognition -of this hierarchic superiority. In every word of -speech the Nair throws himself, as a clod of mud, -before the Brahman’s feet to be trampled and contemned. -His house becomes, in speaking to a Brahman, -his poor dunghill and the Brahman’s house his palace; -his teeth are dirty in his speech, and the Brahman’s -pearls; his sleep is a mere falling into snores, and the -Brahman’s an honourable slumber.</p> - -<p>But in ordinary speech, in Europe and no less in -India, the concept of nobility or aristocracy in its -worldly relations implies other qualities. A certain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> -tinge of feudal tradition colours our thought; and a -nobleman is always conceived primarily as a fighter -and a leader of his own men in his own estate. Love -of sport, a certain careless gaiety, an eupeptic cheerfulness -and a happy enjoyment, face to face with a world -in which nothing really matters, coupled with the -readiness to do the duties of his station and to die for -honour, these are qualities that make up the mental -picture.</p> - -<p>It is not to such a class that the Brahman belongs. -To life and the pleasures of life, he stands as a pillar -of negation. Not here and now one conceives him -beckoning, but in a reality transcending all appearance -in duty and existence. Privation is for him the highest -rule and participation in the world is at most an -inexorable concession to accidental forces. The -Brahman’s life must, in semblance at least, be one of -constant abstention, rigidly guarded. The show of -enjoyment and the joy of healthy natural life must -be repressed or at least veiled discreetly. Between -him and mere sensual humanity he has dug a gulf, -impassable.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus19" id="illus19"></a> -<img src="images/illus-19.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">LADY FROM MYSORE</p> -</div> - -<p>Of Brahmans only a few are by ordination priests. -The majority fill the professional classes, as administrators, -clerks, astrologers, scholars, physicians, lawyers, -and the like. Some are money-lenders and not a few -are cultivators of the soil. There are even rare -Brahman houses which, in spite of religious prohibition, -have usurped the thrones of princes. But in -all there exists not only a sense of solidarity as being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> -sanctified, but also this ideal of abstention, leading in -practice not unseldom to a grave and measured -hypocrisy. As a whole they are the professional class -of India, they and the rival caste, the Kayasthas or -“scribes,” and maintain with admirable earnestness -the tastes and pursuits of an intellectual, idealizing, -and temperate order. Mental discipline, the suppression -of the impulsive act, a habit of restriction so -incessant as to become almost instinctive, these they -have to a degree almost overwhelming.</p> - -<p>Among Rajput women one finds certainly the highest -development of the individual with the greatest charm -and the fullest humanity, and it is they, almost alone, -who have achieved the heroic. But to India as a -whole the ordinary ideal of woman in her relation to -social function is represented by the more reticent -figure of the Brahman. She is woman as in his life -the ordinary man would wish to find her, quiet, -devoted, managing and pious.</p> - -<p>Nowhere is the Brahman woman so true to the type -presented in this ideal as in the Madras Presidency -and in the Bombay Deccan. And never is she so true -to herself as when she goes, sedately, to the temple. -In her hand she carries the brass tray on which she has -put her humble offerings of ochre powder and flowers -with a wick burning beside them; and she goes looking -neither to the right nor to the left. She rings the bell -which summons the God’s attention to his worshipper -and walks the prescribed ceremonial steps round the -idol with a grave unquestioning dignity. And her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> -whole life is one unceasing round of service, in which -humility is elevated by an ever-present sense of Divine -ordinance. To the lowly in heart she feels—almost -one might say she knows, so strongly does she feel—belongs -the kingdom of heaven. In service to find -fulfilment, even happiness, that is her God-given -mission. She grinds corn and cooks, carries water -and washes the house, nurses her children, waits upon -her family, as also she draws ornamental patterns with -white and red chalks upon her door-step, all with a -humble pride and joy in the singleness of her devotion. -In poorer houses, in the houses of far the greater -number of her class, she is at work all day from long -before the first-dawning till at last at night she falls -into the deep slumbers of exhaustion. There are few -who keep servants, except for an occasional old woman -who comes to help with the rougher tasks. And in -addition to the household labour, she is forced, too -early, to premature childbirth, and protracted nursing. -For charm and coquetry, for all the arts by which -woman gladdens life and creates a liberal society, she -has, if she had the inclination, no spare time or energy. -She ages early, spent by exhausting labour and the -recurring burden of unregulated childbirth, unwarmed -by joy, unlit by passion.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus20" id="illus20"></a> -<img src="images/illus-20.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">A SOUTHERN INDIAN TYPE</p> -</div> - -<p>But the bare life of poverty and unending labour -is illumined by a spiritual exaltation. With the performance -of their service the million Saint Theresas of -the Deccan are able to find within their hearts a satisfying -happiness. Like nuns, by an austere self-repression,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> -they avert their eyes from humanity and the -human purposes of life; and when they are forced to -see, they persuade themselves to despise. They live -as it were in a spiritual cloister. But even in this world -they are not altogether without reward, though it -comes late in life. The love and devoted kindness of -her sons, that is the one constant meed of service upon -which the woman counts. And there are few things -more impressive than an Indian son’s look when he turns -to his mother or the tone in which, even years after her -death, he speaks of his childhood at her side. And in old -age when she in turn, with her husband, succeeds to the -management of the large joint family household, she -finds a peaceful joy in the ordering of their simple life -and the caresses of her clustering grandchildren. At -the end, when death lays her to sleep at last, she dies in -the hope of an untroubled peace, as one who has accomplished -a lengthy service not without pain and effort.</p> - -<p>Such perhaps most truly are the women of India, as -through a large continent the greatest number of its -inhabitants would like to see them. Not for this world, -they might say, is the labour; not for love and enjoyment -and greater power and finer emotions and self-development -and the glories of nature do they thirst. -Of the fervours of youth and the vivid joys of mere -active BEING, of the fine harmonies between soul and -sense in expanding, self-perfecting human functions, -of a humanity that should be self-sufficient, free in -the face of the eternal universe and glad in the fight -for mastery with obstructive matter, they have not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> -even a conception. To an Indian Antigone no chorus -would sing of human power and magnitude. Only -the preacher would instruct in humility and abnegation.</p> - -<p>Even the richest Brahman women of the South spend -their leisure hours in a manner that accords with the -common ideal. Relieved of the more exhausting -house-work by the labour of the servants, they spend -the afternoon hours when they are at rest in the reading -of the Purans, those grosser Scriptures or, one might -perhaps with truer comparison say, those Hagiologies -in which priests have deformed the too subtle tenets -of Hindu theosophy with the flesh of mythology. In -the reciting of these legends, and in lengthy prayers -and ritual performance the wealthy Brahman lady is -content to find the entertainment of her leisure.</p> - -<p>The same ideal of service and privation is to be found -no less in Bengal, sweetened however and softened like -the more languid air. There is something hard, even -cruel perhaps, in the arid Deccan plain with its burning -dry winds and its stony hill-sides, and its stern, thrifty, -self-centred people. Its asceticism is harsh and rough, -the sour ferment as it were of crude souls in fear of a -fierce Deity, looking by abnegation to secure the grace -that alone can give salvation. The spirit is that, -almost, of a Hindu Calvinism, savagely abnegatory. -A softer piety, as of some Italian nunnery among roses -and olive trees over the blue sea, inspires the womanhood -of Bengal. They have a devotion no less intense, -their service and self-sacrifice is no smaller; but they -are filled also with the pity that assuages and the love<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> -that makes things sweet. To be kind and tender in -a world which, with all its evil and pain, is pervaded -by a loving and merciful Providence, such is the spirit -in which they render service. The large houses of -Bengal, embowered in trees, have a claustral peace -as well as labour. The lives of the women in them -are coloured by the tender light of pity and affection. -Often in the warm nights under the star-strewn sky, -young girls creep to each other and whisper little gaieties.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus21" id="illus21"></a> -<img src="images/illus-21.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">BENGALI LADY</p> -</div> - -<p>In general, among the middle classes of Bengal, -women practise a seclusion that is, however, not too -rigid. It is a seclusion like that of classic Athens, not -savagely jealous as it still is in many Rajput houses. -But with the renaissance that in the last fifty years -has so greatly altered life in this great province, many -have learnt to discard orthodoxy and with it the -traditional restrictions. At Benares, especially, many -a Bengali lady can be seen walking openly to the -temples and the sacred river. Always she bears a -perfect courtesy and a rounded balanced dignity. Of -the newer school, too many perhaps have aspirations -gleaned from the lighter English novels which they -eagerly read—dreams for whose passage the ivory -gates of Hinduism were never meant to open. But -deep in the hearts of all—far deeper than such fashions—are -the images of Sita and Sakuntala. Some play -tennis and ride, some there are who return from -English schools and the smarter section of London -society with the gossip of Ranelagh or the bridge club -and a wider taste for amusement. But there are none<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> -who discard the tenderness and soft devotion of their -native womanhood. Nowhere in India have there -been so many marriages between English and Indian; -nowhere have they been more successful. The number -of women really educated, appreciative of art and -literature, a few even themselves poets and writers, is -out of all comparison large; and the artistic rebirth -in Bengal must to some extent have been shaped by -the influence of women’s grace on the social world. -Without departing from the prescribed fields of service -and abnegation, they take their part in every important -movement—sometimes perhaps unwisely! But at times -they have brought untold benefit by their acts. So a few -years ago did the brave girl who by the sacrifice of her -own life slew a great social evil—the purchase of men -at the price of ruinous dowries. It must at least be conceded -that the women of Bengal, descendant from mixed -races but long since truly Indian, have clothed the -sacerdotal ideal in vestment of soft and womanly grace. -But there are other parts of India where even the -Brahman woman has diverged from this ideal, or—should -one not rather say?—has transfused into it -the feelings and robust sensuality of a more vigorous -nature. Where the late conquerors from the North -have settled, where rich plains bear wheat and millet, -and fields are hedged with the milk-bush and the -cactus, where the great trees make the country seem -like an English park, and the air bites cold in the -winter mornings when a skin of ice crackles on road-side -pools, where in the hot months the sun hangs like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> -a disc of brass over the panting earth, there the pulse -beats stronger and a larger nature sways the will. -Women there have their claims as well as duties; -and from life they demand, besides the right to serve, -a broader power also and a rich fulfilment. They -wish for love and to be loved, and even in their service -they aspire to govern. For their womanhood they -claim at least some freedom. The texts are still the -same; but they are commented by a bolder temperament. -The distinction holds good perhaps for all the -women of real Hindustan—for the lusty graceful women -of Allahabad, for instance, and the upper Ganges Valley.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus22" id="illus22"></a> -<img src="images/illus-22.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">A NÁGAR BEAUTY</p> -</div> - -<p>But nowhere can this fine and active type be better -studied than in the Nágar caste of Káthiawád and -Gujarát. The Nágar community came to India with -the last Scythian hordes; and almost at once, at the -great fire baptism of Ajmer, attained the rank of -Brahmans. To this day, so high do they hold themselves -above all others, they hardly trouble to use the -title Brahman, but call themselves merely Nágar, with -a proud simplicity, as who would say, “I am the -Prince.” For centuries they have held the appointments -of the State and been famous as administrators. -They are to be found in every rank and in every department -of the public services, clever, courteous, receptive, -and self-confident. Their pride has become a -byword among other castes; and their success has -made them the mark of envy and dislike. But there -can be no question of the ability with which they have -held their position, nor of the keen, progressive intellect<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> -that guides their interests and activities. They have -an eager humanity, and a keen understanding of worldly -good and evil, and are above the hypocritical renunciations -and pessimistic sanctity of a priestly class. -Literature they hold in honour; and the creative -instinct, which leads many of them to administration -as the career in which man expresses his active will -through the minds and morals of mankind, forces others -of their community to self-expression in thought and -language. If renunciation there be, it is here, not for -a mere negation, in itself fruitless; but to the end of -a greater realization in the material given by humanity. -In this dynamic will, the women have a proportional -share. Ambitious and intellectual, they partake in -the interests of their families and encourage or advise -their husbands and their children. For the achievement -of purpose they are ready for every sacrifice; -but the consciousness of larger interests ennobles the -sacrifice as it humanizes the purpose. They too serve, as -every Hindu woman seeks to serve, and the Nágar wife, -like her sisters, will cook and wash and stand aside before -her man and wait upon his meals. But her devotion is -shaped by a less trammelled intellect, and she claims in -return an immediate recompense of love and attention.</p> - -<p>Very beautiful are the Nágar women, and their -beauty is the theme of countless songs and ballads. -Fair with a rich golden vivid fairness, like the colour of -ripe wheat, with dark eyes in whose depth glows a -spark of passion and round which humour and laughter -play, with full petulant lips, figures finely rounded and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> -firmly plump like the quail, with, graceful movement -and slender limb, the whole lit up by intelligence and -comprehension and a touch of conscious charm, the -Nágar woman presents a picture that remains unforgotten. -Even laborious study seems to have no -power to rob her of her looks, and the girl-graduate is -fresh and graceful, as if she had never bent over Euclid -or deductive logic. One meets them so at times in -Ahmedabad or Baroda, in the houses of the highest -officials, clever, well-read, well-bred, with perfect -manners and astounding beauty, like some memory -of the Italian Renaissance, taking no small part in the -establishment of an urbane and liberal society, and like -the <i>donne</i> of Boccacio they return to their homes to -serve and cherish their husbands. And of love they -can repeat the whole gamut. Indeed, the keynotes of -this society, with all its undertones of Hindu abnegation—as -in Florence, too, one imagines an undercurrent, -not too discordant, from Savonarola’s denunciations—are -not unlike Italy in the great age. Women have -similar duties with a touch of the same implied seclusion; -they have the same intrigues and stolen pleasures, -the same essentially natural poise in life; they are now -even beginning a similar application to learning and -poetry. And of love too they have no lesser lore and -experience than those ladies who, finely natural and -fittingly acquiescent in their sex, gladdened and made -illustrious the Courts of Mantua and Ferrara.</p> - -<p>Even more beautiful than the women in the Nágar -caste are their charming and delightful children.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> -With the round oval of their faces, the fair bloom of -their skins, the growing intelligence that dances in their -eyes, they at once captivate all who look. In general -up to the age of eight or ten they remain naked (though -an unfortunate new fashion, imitated from customs -made necessary by the cold grey skies of England, tends -to hamper their free beauty in ugly and unwholesome -clothes), and the light movement of frail gold-browned -limbs in the Indian air is sheer refreshment to the eye. -Devotion, then, the Nágar woman certainly stands -for, devotion and the due and harmonious fulfilment -of the duties of her station. A woman she is always, -fully and truly womanly. But she is far above the -mere privative of empty abnegation. Beauty she -knows and values, and she is not ignorant or afraid -of the power that kindly beauty can exercise in the -affairs of men. Learning she can recognize and -honour; literature she assists; even of art, she is not, -like her sisters, much afraid. In Gujarát from of old -the dainty custom has remained by which on certain -festivals, the feast of lamps for instance, ladies of the -highest classes meet in the open streets of the residential -quarters and chant choral songs while they move round -in a circle, beating time with their hands and bending -gracefully up and down. They sing of spring and -flowers and the sports of girl-friends in palace-gardens. -But in the large industrial cities which in the last -generation have risen upon the older towns with their -restricted social circles, the publicity of the streets has -become inconvenient. The Nágar ladies in Ahmedabad,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> -for instance, have taken a leading part in transferring -the old songs to larger concert halls in clubs -and similar places, and at the same time raising the -standard and artistic value of the performance. Those -who have ever heard such a concert must be grateful -for a movement full at the same time of beauty and -colour and sweet sound along with modesty and perfect -taste. For a higher social life, with heightened -enjoyments and a rational freedom, for self-development -and wider interests, yet well within the limits -that nature prescribes for woman, distinct from the -far other limits set to man by his divergent functions, -for a life that has in it something of Greece as well as -the main ideals of Hinduism, the Nágar woman, for -all the illiberal asceticism of the Brahman tradition, -may emphatically stand.</p> - -<p>In the mercantile classes the same ideals persist, -deflected however by the incidents of their livelihood -and to an even greater extent by a profound difference -in spiritual aspect. Of the Hindu trading classes by -far the most important and the most ubiquitous are -the merchants of Márwár, of Gujarát, and of Cutch. -All follow one of two sects, the Vaishnava or the Jain—the -latter in essence a different religion, originally -indeed a protest against Hinduism but now little more -than a sect, another ripple, so to say, on the waters of -national faith. Both at any rate are protests against -Brahman orthodoxy and the gnostic philosophies of -essential Hinduism. Numerically and in its effects, -by far the more important is Vaishnavism. In the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> -form in which it has been adopted by the trading -classes, it is the belief that by love alone can God be -realized. It centres upon Krishna, that tender and -sportive figure, in whom the God Vishnu again came to -earthly life, and in whom are enshrined the memories -of a once-living hero. On Him mythology and popular -song have lavished their softest endearments and their -most entrancing images. In His name have been -composed the voluptuous love-poems of many generations; -and the dalliances of Krishna with the milk-maids -and His beloved Rádha are the constant theme -to which Indian passion turns for lyrical expression. -They are the familiar accompaniment in childhood as -in age of the merchant’s women-folk. In Vaishnavism -such as this the devotee throws himself, as a suppliant, -on God’s grace and love alone. He acknowledges indeed -his innate incapacity to apprehend the Godhead, -but he aspires at least to feel something of His Glory -in those ecstasies of self-abandonment which can be -likened on this earth only to the passionate love of man -and woman. In their prayers too they associate with -the God that consort Lakshmi or Rukhmini, who gives -wealth and prosperity—the benign divinity who with -her lord preserves and maintains all living things and -in loving-kindness intercedes for all who seek by love -and submission to realize the Divine in the universe, -be their sins manifold as the sands upon the shore.</p> - -<p>In every land, of course, the pursuit of wealth as -such must be opposed to higher spiritual activities -and loftier aspirations. For the merchant the end<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> -must be the acquisition of riches for its own sake. All -other purposes are either means or incidents. He must -treat men and women as means and not as ends in -themselves. He can have for humanity none of that -respect which is felt by him who, as equal among -equals, seeks as his end human perfection, or even by -him who, again one of many equals, works, as he thinks, -by pain and self-denial for the greater glory of God. -Where acquisition is the supreme good, all else must -be subordinate. And the methods of acquisition are -really two-fold, either by careful saving and the -starving of desire to accumulate useless metal tokens -which are the equivalents of untasted pleasures, or by -wilder speculation quickly to capture the wealth which, -exchanged, can buy luxury and material gratification. -Side by side, in the same class of men, the two methods -can be seen. Extravagant abstention and extravagant -lavishness, a fulfilment that is material or an abstention -that is no less material, these in all countries are the -marks of the merchant class. But they can be mitigated -in their effect, as they were in the Italian -Renaissance by the almost superstitious devotion of -all ranks to the newly-exhumed classic ideal. In -India this mitigation is given by the creed of Krishna -and of love. Materialized though it has to be when -refracted through the mind of man the acquisitive, it -is still an influence, nicely attuned to the receiver, for -something finer and ennobling. What there is of -good, charity and spiritual significance in the merchant’s -life (and it is after all much) is mainly drawn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> -from a faith which, even when interpreted in a too -material sense, could hardly be replaced for its worshippers -by any other <i>credo</i>. In modern Europe the -aristocratic ideal has for the richer merchant something -of the same significance and mitigating value. -But for those outside the circle in which this ideal -can be operative there is no other thought to raise and -enlarge the spirit.</p> - -<p>It is not difficult to see how all these influences must -react upon the woman’s life. The effects are further -complicated by the fact that child-marriages are still -the rule, and that only too often, in a trading class, -the young bride is sold by her parents for large sums -to an aged bridegroom. Among the larger number of -the class, probably, acquisition is sought by rigid -economy. The young wife finds herself stinted, -therefore, of every comfort and even of the dresses -and ornaments that by nature every woman desires. -The husband holds the purse and makes almost all -purchases himself. A few rupees only can reach the -wife, and for these she has to account. Even if her -husband is young, long hours in the shop, constant -poring over account books, and little exercise only too -soon make him obese and feeble. The only real -interests are house-work, in which she has no final -voice, and frequent, often ill-natured, gossip. On the -other hand, she has this of advantage that her menfolk, -weighing the world as they do by its material fruits, -ascribe to women the first place in their pleasures. -She is, therefore, in spite of all, able sometimes to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> -attain a real power that is discordant with her ostensible -position. The passion is for the sex in general, -not for the individual woman; for a mere satisfaction -of sense, not for a spiritual individualized love of the -fitting mate. But a shrewd woman can play upon the -passion and make it serve her own purposes. And when -the trader’s wife does manage to attain such influence, -she uses it unsparingly for her own satisfaction. Many -a comedy of manners is played, unseen, on the dark -stage of the merchant’s house. There are not a few -husbands who, whether from love of gain or from -sheer terror of their wives, shut their eyes complaisantly -to divagations damaging to their honour. The practice -common to many money-lenders of keeping burly -Mussulman, often Afghan, servants in their households, -is anything except an incentive to female virtue.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus23" id="illus23"></a> -<img src="images/illus-23.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">JAIN NUN</p> -</div> - -<p>Among the merchants who follow the Jain religion, -however, these conditions apply with less force. Their -life is simpler and the imagination is unheated by the -constant thought of loving ecstasy. The Jain <i>sadhvis</i>, -a class of nuns recruited both from the unmarried -and the widowed, bear a character that is far above -reproach. With shaven heads and in yellow garments, -a little square of cloth usually tied upon their lips to -save them from inhaling the smallest insect, they -wander through the country, begging and singing -hymns, nowhere to remain above four days, leading a -life of austerity for the glory of the spirit. They are -irreproachable like Sisters of Mercy, and like Sisters -of Mercy they can move safely among the roughest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> -crowds, protected by the respect of all. Something of -their simple and humble piety has penetrated to all ranks -among the Jains; and the ladies of the Jain millionaires -of Ahmedabad, owners of large cotton factories and -masters of men and money, live their simple lives in -the midst of riches with purity and quiet modesty.</p> - -<p>Amongst the richest of the merchant class are the -Bhatias, who gain rather by daring speculation than -by niggardly effort. On the race-course, as in the -exchange and cotton market, they are conspicuous -figures, with a certain pleasing <i>bonhomie</i> and easy good-fellowship. -The Bhatia women play a part in the -social life of modern India that is hardly less conspicuous. -Orthodox in the extreme, they are strict -followers not of the ascetic but of the more human -sect. They are able, therefore, to be strict in -observance and orthodox in belief without abdicating -the rights and enjoyments of humanity. They attend -diligently to religious services and in the early hours -of the morning the ways that lead to the Krishna -temple are thronged with their carriages. To the -High-priests, in whom they see the divinity incarnate, -they give an adoration that is almost boundless. But, -with all this, they claim from life the fulfilment of -their humanity and their womanhood. Moreover, -they demand something of excitement and palpitant -emotion. A few there are who, like their menfolk, -gamble, and there is none who will deny herself the -excitement of jewelry and fine clothes, diaphanous -fabrics half disclosing the limbs they cover. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> -worst offshoot of their orthodoxy is the practice of -infant marriage; and there are few sections of the -community in which young girls are so often married -to old men, the parents profiting by the bride-price. -As the remarriage of widows is forbidden, it follows -necessarily that in the Bhatia caste there is a number, -quite excessive, of young widows, in the first bloom of -fresh maturity, often left with great fortunes. Fortunately -for society, these widows, so numerous are -they and the conditions of their marriage so manifestly -unfair, have been able collectively to repudiate the -hardships that enmesh the orthodox Brahman who has -lost her husband. Among the Bhatias, there are few -shaven heads! Neat and well dressed, with pleasing -face and figure, perhaps too consciously demure, they -strike an attractive note in the complex harmonies -of modern India. The system by which they are -married is hardly elevating and is opposed not only to -the ideals but also to the commandments of the sacred -texts; but a commercial class cannot get away from -its own limitations. It is at least a great deal gained -that it should be alleviated by a sensible appreciation -of life and joy and by a degree of freedom which, -though not of the highest and inmost kind, is more -humanizing and liberal than the negatives of material -self-denial. Self-control, control, that is, of and by -the inner self in harmony with ultimate nature, is no -doubt the concomitant of the highest liberty; but -any liberty, even any licence, is better than the denial -of the actual living self.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus24" id="illus24"></a> -<img src="images/illus-24.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">BHATIA LADY</p> -</div> - -<p>In the rich province of Gujarát, the home of so -large a proportion of the merchants of India, there is -a festival which embodies in its observance much of -the inner feeling of the Indian woman. During the -rains, for one waxing moon, the days are sacred to -that Goddess, who represents the all-pervading energy -of nature, the spouse of Shiva, the Great God, the -ultimate Destroyer. During these days the maidens -of middle-class Gujarát worship the Goddess with an -eye fixed upon the attainment of the perfect husband. -The little girls go in groups and bathe and pray, and -they make the vow that is the Vow of Life. They -may be as young as six or seven or eight, but year after -year they renew the vow till they are married. -Throughout the day they have to sit in a darkened -room, reflecting upon the Goddess and upon the -supreme boon of a good husband, but at times resting -their minds by nursery tales or songs or innocent -games with cards and dice. Then every morning -they bathe again in the pond or river, where rival -groups of girls make jokes upon each other and laugh -and play. The many songs are the most touching -part of the whole festival. And these songs represent -a marriage of free choice, in which the girl chooses a -husband from her suitors. How different from the -present practice! Year after year, till they are -married, they sing these songs. And who shall say -how far this dream of choice may remain to mould -their actions, even after the forced marriage that -awaits them? The need of marriage at least, its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> -supreme value to a woman’s life, that is always before -their eyes from early childhood; and marriage is bound -up with religion, with the personal gifts of the divine -and happy wife of the Greatest God. But in the very -songs, sanctioned by the goddess, the cry is always -for the chosen mate, the giver of love and happiness. -Little wonder if at times the grown girl, now become -conscious, learns to know the difference between the -husband selected under social conventions by her -parents for his worldly circumstance and the man -who, unsuitable perhaps in wealth or temperament, -is yet nature-chosen to be the mate of her desires and -the beloved of her heart. For the parents’ choice is -not always wise, and among sinful mankind there are -not a few who will sacrifice a daughter’s welfare to -their own profit.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus25" id="illus25"></a> -<img src="images/illus-25.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">KHOJA LADY IN BOMBAY</p> -</div> - -<p>Of the Mussulman middle classes, the most conspicuous -are the Bohras and the Khojas. Both belong -to different branches of the Shiah sect, that sect which -is to Islam what the Catholic Church is to Christianity. -Both also are the descendants of Hindu communities -which were converted in fairly recent times to the -faith of salvation. Among the Khojas, especially, -many Hindu customs have survived, and their law of -succession in particular is not the law of the Qor’an -but the survival of Hindu tribal custom. At this -moment, perhaps, theirs is the most interesting of -these communities, both because by their practical -talents they have obtained a place of political leading -among Indian Mussulmans and because they are—with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> -the exception of a small reforming branch—the -religious followers of H.H. the Agha Khan, a prince -so nobly known by his loyal efforts in the War.</p> - -<p>The Khojas, “honourable gentlemen” as the name -means, come in the main from Gujarát and Bombay. -But they are scattered now through all the bigger trade -centres of India—Calcutta, Nagpur, Sind and the -Punjáb. They have not, however, confined their -enterprise to the Indian Empire, but have made -settlements in the East wherever the British flag gives -its subjects protection. They have crossed the -mountain passes to Hanza and Dardistan; they have -sailed to Zanzibar and the Persian Gulf; they have -penetrated into Arabia; they maintain business connections -with Singapore, China and Japan, and even -with England, America and Australia. Many of the -great commercial interests of India are in their hands, -and in business they bear an excellent reputation for -integrity and punctuality. Their representatives have -an important place in the Legislative Councils of -Bombay and of the Government of India. In social -life, they are something of epicures, and their clubs -are not only hospitable but are well-managed and -furnished. The best of food and the best of wine -will always be found at any entertainment given by -these generous and liberal merchants. They enjoy -literature and still more music and dancing; and they -are among the most tasteful supporters of those arts. -Many among them have now forsaken commerce for -the liberal professions.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p> - -<p>The Khoja woman is hidden in seclusion behind the -<i>purdah</i>. The few that are to be seen are as a rule -somewhat below the middle height and are of a graceful, -but not altogether healthy, slightness. They are -well educated and are good housekeepers, known for -their neatness and management. As Mussulmans -they are of course married under a system of free -contract, but unfortunately for them Hindu tradition -has been too strong, and they suffer in practice from -many of the disabilities of their Hindu sisters. Remarriage -after widowhood is in practice almost unknown; -and divorce is so discountenanced that its -relief is seldom sought. On the other hand, the -ascetic idea is at least absent, and a wife expects and -a husband is prepared to give constant attention and -all possible comfort. They have a force of character -which merits this attention; and their features, with -arched head and broad forehead, strong chin, and -large lustrous eyes, are the index of their character.</p> - -<p>Of other trading classes of Mussulmans, the Memans, -also converts from Hindu castes in Sind, Káthiawád -and Cutch, deserve notice, if only for their charity -and piety. All Memans, women as well as men, hope -to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca and habitually -visit the Chisti Shrine at Ajmer. And for their large -secret charities the women, no less than the men, have -a well-deserved reputation.</p> - -<p>Among the large body of middle-class Mussulmans -of the usual Sunni sects, those who claim to be descended -from foreign invaders and who are at least not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> -directly traceable to any special wholesale conversion, -the position of women is on the whole satisfactory and -agreeable. Every family has its poor relations and -dependants so that, even when she is childless, the -mistress of the house is seldom lonely. The morning -she spends at her toilet and in seeing to the day’s -marketings and looking to the kitchen. At meals all -the family, men and women alike, meet and eat -together. Sometimes, even, a much-favoured friend of -the husband’s, a trusted and intimate friend, may be -introduced to the inner, unveiled circle. After the -midday meal, a rest; then sewing and talking; then -games of backgammon and chess make the afternoon -pass. The evening dinner then needs looking to, and -after dinner it is common to hear or read tales and -romances or religious books. Children may also take -up much of the woman’s time; and among Mussulmans -as a rule the wife may count upon a loving, -almost a passionate, husband, except in the unhappy -cases where differences of temperament produce a real -antipathy. In that case she can always try to force a -divorce from his hands, though the practice varies -with the social circle. That the pressure of Indian -influences has forced upon them child-marriage, -followed only too often by premature consummation; -that the intentions of the Prophet in regard to divorce -and widowhood have often been neglected; and that -the rule of veiling has been interpreted with a superstitious -irrationalism, quite opposed to the teachings -of the law, are disabilities under which the Mussulman<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> -woman of the middle classes still has in part to suffer. -But she is at least oppressed by no tradition of renunciation -or asceticism, and she has, in favour of her fulfilment -and just cherishing, text after text in the sacred Book. -The recent tendency to a purer Islamic practice, hand -in hand with the growth of rationalism, offer her -hope of early liberation from extraneous bonds and of -development as a free human agent. The women of -Islam have as guide rules of law, sanctioned by revelation, -which if practised are more rational and more -insistent on justice and human freedom than any -other precepts ever codified into statutes. It is to be -hoped that the recent advance and rationalistic movement -in Islamic countries will secure the happiness -that should follow intelligent practice of a humane -code. The devastation caused by Mongol invasions -and ravages and the subtle perversions induced by an -alien atmosphere have to be repaired and eradicated; -but there is no intrinsic reason why the social system -of Islam should not again reach and surpass the high -level it commanded in the days of Al Ma’mun.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus26" id="illus26"></a> -<img src="images/illus-26.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">MEMAN LADY WALKING</p> -</div> - -<p>In a review of the middle classes of India, it would -be impossible to omit the rich and influential sect of -Parsis. Descendants of the ancient inhabitants of -Persia, expelled after the Mussulman conquest, followers -of Zoroaster and worshippers of fire, they reached the -west coast of India after many perils, to be finally protected -by a Hindu Rána or prince. Small in numbers, -for many centuries they lived in the main by agriculture, -though there were a few among them who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> -achieved a name in arms. With the coming of the -British they changed their pursuits and their social -habits. Commerce had heretofore been strictly protected -by the exclusive guilds of the Hindu merchants. -Its doors were now thrown open. Moreover, the -British official required body-servants, if possible of -good class. The Hindu was precluded from accepting -such an occupation by caste rules of purity and caste -prohibitions. The Zoroastrian religion left the Parsi -free from such scruples. Many members of the community, -by commerce direct and by the assistance that -gratitude was ready to bestow, were soon able to insinuate -themselves into positions which they maintained -by their adaptability and their commercial -integrity. In shipbuilding they excelled, and both -in this and in the kindred trade of ship-broking they -accumulated many fortunes. The liquor trade was -their monopoly; and, aided by the privilege of exclusive -distilling and a monopoly of sale, it was remunerative -to an undreamt degree. By the end of the eighteenth -century, an old traveller notes, practically the whole of -Malabar Hill, the most fashionable and only really -enjoyable portion of Bombay had already passed into -the ownership of rich Parsis. Throughout the nineteenth -century their wealth and their importance grew.</p> - -<p>One of the most striking qualities of the Parsi community -is its aptitude for imitation. With the advent -of British rule, this facility stood them in good stead. -It was not long before English education became -general and almost universal among them, while by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> -their prompt acquisition of the minor conventions of -manners, they easily opened the doors of European -society. In consequence it was not long before they -attained a position of social importance, based upon -solid grounds of wealth and education. The Parsi -woman was not left behind in the advance of her caste. -Many women studied diligently and even passed the -examinations of the University. In general they -demanded a liberty such as they read of in English -novels, and fancied they could see among their English -friends. They refused to marry except at their own -choice. For the dull details of household management -they expressed contempt and considered their duties -done when they looked to the furnishing and decoration -of their houses. In dress, the Parsi woman has -contrived no less to modify her own costume, originally -a slightly altered form of the Hindu woman’s, in -imitation of European fashion. She still retains the -mantle or <i>sari</i>, but it is hemmed with a border imported -from London or Paris. An outer lace shirt is -draped like a blouse under the mantle. The trousers, -which she has to wear under her skirt by customary -prescription, are so curtailed as to be invisible, and -the feet are thrust into silk stockings and Louis Quinze -shoes. Her jewelry is of European pattern, usually -second-rate, and she despises the beautiful antique -designs of the Indian goldsmith as “old-fashioned.”</p> - -<p>The Parsi woman has in the past been greeted by -an amount of praise from European writers which, -though intelligible, is yet almost extravagant. It was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> -natural to be pleased at so conscious an imitation, -especially in a generation when most Europeans had -no doubt of the superiority of their own civilization -and were prone to judge the merits of other races, -like missionaries, by their aptitude for assimilating its -products. They could, after all, always clinch the -argument by pointing irrefutably to the triumphs of -the Albert Memorial and the Crystal Palace. In a -country where few women of the better classes appear -in public and beauty is seldom displayed, the spectacle -of many gaily-dressed ladies, with graceful drapery, -promenading along an Indian street with the freedom -of a popular sea-side resort at home, gave almost as -much pleasure and pride to the gratified Englishman -as it did to the girls’ own parents. It has required -closer inspection and broader judgment of East and West -to notice the cracks that stretch, no doubt inevitably, -across the charming picture. New liberties, imitation -not always too wisely conceived, above all sudden commercial -prosperity—these have had their advantages. -But they also have their countervailing losses.</p> - -<p>At the bottom of such disadvantages as appear is -no doubt the broad fact that the community as a -whole consists of business men. There are of course -individuals who have adopted the learned professions -and are solicitors, doctors, barristers, and judges. But -even they live in a society and probably in a family -circle which is wholly commercial; and even their -successes are estimated by the money they bring in. -In many ways Parsi society is like the Jewish society<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> -that is to be found in the larger cities of Europe. -But the Jews as a community are devoted to the arts -and have a ripe sense of emotional and spiritual values. -They respect learning and artistic expression. Even -those—the greater number—among them who are -engaged in business frankly enough recognize their -inferiority to thinkers and artists. Again the Jews -have always had a tradition of aristocracy among -themselves, and in recent years have sought every -opportunity of mingling with the nobilities of the -countries to which they belong. The best among -them have, therefore, raised themselves by art and -letters and by an aristocratic code far above the narrow -vices of a commercial middle class, and it is only the -lower strata who continue to display the typical defects -of “business life.” But the Parsis have unfortunately -so far missed these mitigations. They have not, and, -within the memory of history, they have never had, -the tradition of an aristocracy. They are separated -from the indigenous nobility, not only by religion, but -by interest and custom, and the difference has been -deepened by their partiality for an Anglicized mode -of life. Though a few among them have done good -work, they have no real liking for learning and art. -Hence there is hardly a community in the world, -except perhaps in the United States of America, which -bases its standards so largely upon wealth. Men are -esteemed mainly by what they have managed to -acquire; precedence is allowed according to size of -income; the business man takes rank over the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> -professional; and a memorandum of their richest men -is inscribed on each Parsi’s heart, as on tablets of brass.</p> - -<p>These are defects which are not unnatural when a -small and isolated community finds itself confined to -commerce and is from its history devoid of higher -interests. They are defects which do not alter the -fact that not a few among the Parsis, especially those -who have for generations reposed upon inherited -wealth and have taken to the learned professions, are -charming men and women and true and worthy -friends. Among those who have such a position—who -do not aspire to dazzle fashion in the wealthiest circles -and do not require to increase their incomes by further -trading—the women are attractive by their education -and their rational freedom. They preserve a place of -dignity and reserve, while quietly taking from life the -benefits it offers to a liberal mind. They may even rise -above the touchy vanity which is all too common.</p> - -<p>It must, however, be admitted that Parsi womanhood -has suffered harm from the excessive imitation -of English habits—or what are taken to be such. -From the nature of the case, because of their own -inclinations and environment, the English life they -have sought to imitate has inevitably been that of the -middle classes. And the effect has been heightened -by the enormous consumption of English novels among -Parsi women. Owing partly to national character and -partly to the demoralizing secret censorship which -broods over the publishing world, nearly all English -novels have to be “pretty-pretty” falsehoods, distorted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> -away from the facts of life and the truths of -nature. The consequence has been to produce a -dangerous mental confusion in which spirituality and -idealism are suppressed and replaced by a fruitless -sentimentality. Reality on the other hand is known -and presented only in the shape of hard cash. The -harm done by such popular writings is not so apparent -in England, where they are part of the normal tissue -wastage of the nation. In a foreign and not immune -constitution, they produce rapid inflammation. One -finds therefore among Parsi women, as one does among -the women of the United States, a mentality in which -impracticable and silly sentimentalism is mixed up -inextricably with a thirst for the solid advantages of -wealth. They sigh for courtships of the kind depicted -in their favourite “literature,” with scores of “dears” -and “darlings” scribbled over scented letters, with -moon-calf glances and clammy squeezings of hands; -they and the heroes of their fancy get photographed -together like any German <i>braut</i> and <i>brautigam</i>; they -enter marriage with a blind eye turned to the hard -realities of human nature, to discipline for instance -and duty, but with the expectation of finding a husband -on his knees to pamper every wish and petulance. Yet -at the same time, the Parsi, like the American, girl -will not let herself slide into these sentimentalities till -she is assured of her admirer’s income and position. -Both restraints—that which keeps her from love till -she knows how money stands, and that which keeps -her during her courtship within the bounds of technical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> -chastity—come easy enough as she is, with a few -honourable exceptions, free from passion. She would -never give herself to the wild love of Romeo and Juliet -or the abandoned ecstasy of Tristan and Isolde. -Hermann and Dorothea, or a drawing-room ballad, -would appeal more readily to her sympathies. That -in England there is also another type of womanhood, -truer and greater, she does not know—how could she? -That there are girls of a fine candour and simplicity -who are taught in childhood to obey and to have quiet, -effacing manners, who respect a father whom they see -controlling a large estate, honoured in Parliament, -perhaps governing a great dependency, who are bred -in a society of equals in which true and natural superiorities -alone, whether of age or seniority, of success -in the hunting-field or in the council, are admitted -and publicly recognized, that such girls bring to their -husbands with their love, respect, and the heritage of -discipline, that as wives, while expecting to find fulfilment -and the realization of their hopes, they are ready -to subserve the higher and enduring interests of a family, -of such facts and such nobilities of life—worthy indeed -of imitation if such there must be—there can be little -knowledge. Vital facts are not always plain upon the -surface, and in England no class is so quiet and unobtrusive -as the one which really counts.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus27" id="illus27"></a> -<img src="images/illus-27.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">PARSI FASHION</p> -</div> - -<p>The prevalence of a money standard in their lives -has introduced among the Parsis the great evil of -excessive dowries. Generally speaking, it may almost -be said, no Parsi young man will marry a bride unless<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> -her parents come down with a large settlement, and -scandalous stories are sometimes told of the means -employed to extort larger sums from the father. The -girl whose family is poor—be she as beautiful as Shirin -and virtuous as an angel—stands in every danger of -being left a spinster. Day by day the probabilities -against marriage grow heavier, and the number of unmarried -Parsi women of mature age goes on increasing. -Alone of all the peoples of India among them the -reproachful name of “old maid” can be used. The -numbers of unmarried women are already so great -that this has become a serious danger to the community, -as for that matter it is among the upper middle -classes of Great Britain. “Old maid-ism” must have -its consequences: hysteria and other illness is on the -increase; and the suffragette may soon become as actual -a terror and a retribution to the Parsis as she has been -in England. If this should ever happen, then climate -and the surrounding environment are likely to make the -pathology of the situation even more critical in India.</p> - -<p>The marriage law which governs the Parsis is very -much the same as that which exists in England. -Marriages are strictly monogamous, and divorce can -be given only by the decree of a public Court of Law -on grounds nearly the same as those admitted in the -English Courts. In practice early marriage has ceased -to exist, and indeed marriages, as in England, are as -a rule contracted at far too late an age. The same -causes which lead so often to women remaining unmarried, -have also raised the average of age.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span></p> - -<p>Parsi life presents, therefore, the picture of a society -in which woman have many seeming and some actual -advantages, but in which, on the other hand, they are -more and more rapidly plunging into unforeseen but -very real evils. They have great liberty, a liberty -greater, or at least less restrained, than is enjoyed by -the women of the better classes in England or in -France. They can have education and the pleasures -of a liberal mind. In accepting a husband they are -ostensibly allowed full freedom of choice, though in -practice they are of course limited by the usual considerations, -by the importance attached to wealth, -and, especially, by the great difficulty of securing any -husband at all. They have the advantage of being -trained to mix without shyness in all societies. But, -even apart from a certain self-assertiveness which at -times distresses their best admirers, they have to suffer -from the growing probability of a life-long spinsterhood. -Only too many will have to face the final -misfortune of a wasted and infructuous life.</p> - -<p>The community is distinguished by its loyalty and -its generosity; and Parsi women, as well as men, play -their part in that lavish distribution of charity for -which their race has become famous. It could be hoped -that, without foregoing what they have gained in education -and position, they should also preserve fresh the -emotional values of sweet and disciplined womanhood -and be able to secure those timely and assured conjugal -relations which must be its fulfilment and best reward.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center larger"><a name="chapter6" id="chapter6"></a>Working and Aboriginal Classes</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Sweetly the drum is beaten and</div> -<div class="verse">Sweetly the girl comes to draw water:</div> -<div class="verse">Sweet is the ochre on her forehead:</div> -<div class="verse">Sweet is her bodice of silk:</div> -<div class="verse">Sweet is her charming footstep.</div> -<div class="verse">Ohé! the cakes baked by the girl:</div> -<div class="verse">Sweet is the girl with her infant child.</div> -<div class="verse">Lo, her dress is wet and clinging from the water</div> -<div class="verse">And she is adorned with tassels of jewels:</div> -<div class="verse">On her hands are bracelets</div> -<div class="verse">And her feet are enriched with anklets.”</div> -<p class="right"><i>Rowing Song of the Fisher Kolis.</i></p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“A palmer came over the mountains and sat down under a barren tamarind tree</div> -<div class="verse">Then he got him three stones and placed a pot upon them.</div> -<div class="verse">He went to the midst of the town to ask alms and played his pipe as he went.</div> -<div class="verse">The sound of his pipe reached the ear of Rádha.</div> -<div class="verse">She ran towards her father and towards her mother:</div> -<div class="verse">‘You are my father and my mother: I am going off with this palmer for my man.’</div> -<div class="verse">‘Do not go, my dearest daughter, I will give you all you want.</div> -<div class="verse">Cows and buffaloes will I give and for your service four hand-maidens.’</div> -<div class="verse">‘What should I do with your cows and buffaloes?</div> -<div class="verse">What should I do with your four maid-servants?</div> -<div class="verse">For such a man have I prayed to God for full twelve years.’”</div> -<p class="right"><i>Marriage Song of the Fisher Kolis.</i></p> -</div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus28" id="illus28"></a> -<img src="images/illus-28.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">DYER GIRL IN AHMEDABAD</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></p> - -<h2>Chapter VI<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE WORKING AND ABORIGINAL CLASSES</span></h2> - -<p>If it was difficult in any way to summarize the varying -conditions of the middle classes and to present with -anything like unity some picture of their women, to -attempt the same for the lower classes is to face -difficulties that are in fact insuperable. The middle -classes, as in all countries, are much conventionalized, -and are always busied with a conscious effort to live -up to an ideal that may be misapprehended or incomplete, -but is still in the main intelligible. The -differences that exist are either geographical or sectarian—differences -due to tradition and development in -differing environment, in varying faiths, for instance, -and doctrines. The lower classes, especially the -aboriginal tribes, still stand so narrowly on the circumference -of the Hindu system that, with a literal -eccentricity, they evade the attraction of conventional -rule and regulation. They are governed by customs, -often of immemorial antiquity, which may be outside -the orbit of Hindu precept, and by superstitious fears -which lead to sudden and capricious divagations. The -main criterion of their status and the chief factor of -divergence in their lives is the degree to which they -have accepted Hindu Law or, to put it more exactly,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> -the Brahman customs recorded in Sanscrit scriptures -and stereotyped in the decisions of the Law Courts.</p> - -<p>Broadly speaking, throughout India proper, the -lower classes that stand within the Hindu system are -the offspring of mixed Scythian and Dravidian parentage. -But neither term can be taken too strictly. In -Scythian may be included not only the hordes of -White Huns, Gujjars, and Kusháns, but even some -remote trace of earlier conquerors of Aryan race: -Dravidian is little more than a collective name for the -dark peoples who, before the dawn of history, were in -possession of the Indian continent. From the two -races in mixed and varying proportion are sprung the -artisans and respectable cultivators of India, probably -even the untouchable and degraded castes that cluster -in dirty hovels on the outskirts of every village. In -the far south they are almost, if not quite, Dravidian; -in the north-west, where the five rivers flow, they are -nearly pure Scythian. Between the two extremes are -a multitude of shades and a multitude of customs. -Even the Mussulman lower classes are in the main -descended from the same constituents. Converts to -Islam though they are and legally free to marry as -they please among believers, they have usually restricted -themselves to their fellows and have continued -the line unbroken as it ran in the days of idolatry. -The pretty dyer girl whose bright clothes and open -smiling face is so much a feature of Ahmedabad, -for instance, is by descent no different from her -Hindu sisters. Where she has altered, where her gait<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> -is more free and her glance more bold and frank, the -change is due to that influence of belief upon physique, -to which far too little attention has so far been paid -by the professors of anthropology. This influence of -mind upon body can be seen in Europe where the -Jews, descendants of so many peoples and, at least as -far as Eastern Europe is concerned, mainly Ugro-Turkish -by race, have yet by an unanimous and constant -habit of thought largely acquired the marked -cast of features which is called “Semitic.” In India -the Mussulman population is a living instance of the -same modification of the physical by the mental. -The change has been too much ignored by a science -which, from its mathematical prepossessions, thinks only -in things that can be weighed or counted and neglects -forces which must be measured by a subtler calculus.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus29" id="illus29"></a> -<img src="images/illus-29.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">MUSSULMAN WEAVER</p> -</div> - -<p>The Mussulman weaver women, again, bear sons -who are known for their turbulence and who strike -home in every sectarian riot. Yet the Hindu weavers -of the same kin are quiet and even timid. The handsome -Sunni Bohora women of Broach and Cambay, -converted descendants of the prevailing caste of Hindu -cultivators in the province, are famous not only for -their looks—and striking is their bold beauty—- but also -for their virile energy and resolution.</p> - -<p>In the Hindu artisan and cultivating classes, the -status of women is most affected by the social position -accorded to the caste as a whole. The higher the -importance of the caste and the more it acquires -wealth and consideration, the more quickly it accepts<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> -child-marriage and—what is socially even more important—the -prohibition of widow remarriage. These -in India are the tests of fashion; and each caste, -or even any single section of a caste, as it finds its -position improving, confirms and establishes it by the -fresh burden that it throws upon its womankind. For -the enhanced consideration gained by wealth, and the -ceremonial purity which can be bought by wealth, the -women pay. Life-long widowhood is the price extorted -from the individual for the social prestige of the class.</p> - -<p>In the last thirty years a remarkable and quite the -most important feature of Indian history has been the -rapid growth and extension of Hinduism. Yet, so -easy and natural has it been, it has passed almost unnoticed. -There are many in Europe who believe that -Indian castes are fixed, immanent, and immutable. -And this belief is upheld with conviction by almost -every Indian. Yet nothing could be more erroneous. -The concept of caste is no doubt ancient and of a -strength so confirmed that it can almost with propriety -be called permanent. Yet the actual castes—the -things that <i>are</i>—are fluid in the extreme and are -in constant movement, while the boundaries of the -system have recently had vast extensions. The ease -of communication given by railways has brought the -central Brahman influences home to every hamlet in -the continent, till whole tribes that were formerly -hostile have been persuaded to adopt the name and -many of the customs of the Hindu. At the same time -new thoughts of Indian nationality and solidarity,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> -born of English education, have roused in the higher -and educated classes a real desire to comprise within -the Hindu fold peoples from whom their fathers would -have shrunk as from foreign and debased savages. -But the idea round which the whole caste system -revolves is that of marriage. Far above the maintenance -of ceremonial purity, far above mere restrictions -on food and water, stands, as the one essential rule of -caste, the limitation of lawful marriage to a fixed circle -of descent, real or fanciful. And with this limitation, -which is of the very essence of Hinduism, goes a certain -view of marriage as magical, sacramental. Thus each -additional conversion of a strange tribe to the Hindu -system brings fresh adherents in great numbers to -what, more or less clearly adumbrated, is at least a -reflection of the Brahman ideal of womanhood. To -coarser minds and to tribes not much advanced beyond -the savage, only a thin ray of the ideal can penetrate. -Among such tribes the woman may remain free for -some long time from the trammels of the higher law.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus30" id="illus30"></a> -<img src="images/illus-30.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">CAMBAY TYPE</p> -</div> - -<p>For that law can be tolerable only when it is fully -comprehended. But as they advance in civilization -and the conversion to Hinduism is solidified, as it -were, by developing education, so the ideal, more and -more clearly grasped, begins to be followed in practice. -It is at this stage that child-marriage and the unrelieved -doom of widowhood are introduced. New -India therefore presents the paradox that while in -the upper class a few, gained to the cause of rationalism, -allow widows to remarry, discarding almost with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> -violence the old sanctions and the old beliefs, side by -side in the great mass of the people the prejudice daily -grows and millions now forbid remarriage who thirty -years ago would never have dreamt of the restriction.</p> - -<p>But as a whole the properly Hinduized lower castes -have no great interest to the observer. The conduct -of the women is as close as possible an imitation of -the better class, deflected as in all countries by poverty -and labour and by the inevitable roughness and coarser -understanding of their class. To trace in detail the -full recent growth and development of such a caste -might have its interest, but would transgress the -purpose and limits of this book. Of especial interest, -should anyone attempt it, would be the development, -of the dairyman and milkmaid class in India. Divided -into many septs, and in some instances differing now -in race, they are descended from the Scythian tribes of -Gujjar and Ahir. It would be interesting to trace them -from the uplands of Kashmir, where they still roam, -through the Gangetic plain to Káthiawád, where among -many pretty women their women—Cháran and Rabári—are -perhaps the most beautiful, and where their men -are genealogists and bards, and stand surety for the treaty -bonds of kings. Even in appearance, and greatly still in -custom, they have much of the high mountain air of the -great plateaux on the roof of Asia, where once they wandered -with their sheep over dry, wind-swept uplands.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus31" id="illus31"></a> -<img src="images/illus-31.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">THE MILKMAID</p> -</div> - -<p>More homogenous and far more thoroughly imbued -in the Hindu tint are the striking fisher or Són Koli -caste of the western coasts. The collective name of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> -Koli covers a multitude of tribes—not yet fully embraced -in the Hindu caste system—whose unity of -name and manifold distinction in fact forms one of -the most difficult of the unexplained problems of -Indian ethnology. A century ago most of their tribes -were freebooters, cattle-lifters, caterans. Many Koli -families won themselves little principalities, and some -have got themselves recognized among the Rajput -clans. Others are peaceful cultivators, and there are -many who live as labourers by the sweat of their brow. -But to this day there are some who prefer crime, and -will even board a running train to rob the goods -waggons. All of them have, perhaps, some strain of -descent from an earlier race—Kolarian, or call it what -you will—settled in India before the Aryan invasions. -But it is clear that, though they retained a tribal -organization, they must in great but varying proportion -have mingled with and assumed the characters -of other races. In places they are hard to distinguish -from the aboriginal Bhil; in other regions—in Káthiawád, -for instance, and the salt plains where the receding -sea has made way between Gujarát and Sind—they seem -rather to be the residue of a Rajput soldiery, common -soldiers perhaps, not ennobled by a diplomatic victory, -or married to women of some earlier tribe. At any rate -among some of these tribes there subsist traces of customs -foreign to the rest of India, such as the rule of marrying -an elder brother’s widow or of the younger brother, even -before her widowhood, sharing in her favours.</p> - -<p>But of community with those wilder clans there is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> -now little trace in the customs of the fisher tribes who -live upon the shore that stretches from north of -Bombay City down towards the Malabar coast. In -the past a certain fondness for piracy was perhaps a -solitary sign of a probable connection. From their -appearance, however, it is clear that they are the -descendants of a people as widely distinguished on the -one hand from the darker farming and labouring -castes who form the major part of the population, -as on the other they are from the grey-eyed and -pallid Brahmans of the coast who are its spiritual -aristocracy. Distinguished physically from the other -inhabitants by their light-brown complexion, the -round curves of their faces, and their smiling expressions, -they are equally distinguished by their occupation, -their separate dialect, and their aristocratic -constitution. It is also clear that from the date of their -settlement on the coast-line, they have kept themselves -unusually unaffected either by the amours or -by the moral and mental ideals of the surrounding -population. History is not plain in the matter of -their arrival on the coast, but a probable inference -from tradition is that most of the present day Kolis -are descended from immigrants who came down from -the hills some four hundred years ago. It was only -about two centuries ago, under the rule of the Peshwas, -that they entered the fold of Hinduism, and they -themselves say that they were first taught to know the -Gods at that time by one Kálu Bhagat, an ascetic who -had himself been of their tribe.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span></p> - -<p>They are peaceful enough now, but they are still -bold sailors, and it is their fishing-boats which bring -the daily catch to the Bombay market. The men -are handsome and well-built, with curious scarlet -caps, like an ascetic’s, which are the distinctive uniform -of their class. But, as would seem in all countries to -be the case with fisher-folk, where the man toils on -the sea and on shore rests and smokes in idleness, in -the daily round of life it is the woman who counts -most. At home she is mistress, and she takes the -earnings of her man and gives him what he needs for -his drink and smoke. She carries the fish to market -and drives her bargain with keen shrewdness. She -does not lose as a saleswoman by the attraction of her -smiling lips, showing her sound white teeth, and of -her trim, tight figure. The dress is striking. The -skimpy mantle or <i>sari</i> is slung tight between the legs -and over the upper thigh, so that every movement -of limb and curve of figure shows in bold lines, as -the fisherwoman carries her basket on her head to the -crowded market. The freedom and strength that -they draw from the ocean is preserved by a customary -law which allows women a reasonable liberty. In -many ways the Koli fishwife is as fine and independent -as her sister of Newhaven in Scotland. Like her, she -has her share of her husband’s drink when there are -guests in the house or the sorrow of the swirling, -driving rain is forgotten in a cheering glass. On their -right hand these women wear a silvern bracelet of -peculiar and heavy shape such as is worn by no other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> -caste. No other bangle or bracelet, ornament or jewel -is worn on that hand; and the absence of such adornments -is for them a sign of the covenant under which -God protects his fishers from the perils of the deep.</p> - -<p>Among the fisher-folk marriages are seldom contracted -till after puberty and the bridegroom is usually -required to have attained at least twenty years. For -they hold that a youngster below that age cannot -work as he should at oar and sail, if he have a wife to -cherish. The wife is usually consulted by her parents -and asked whether she is willing to accept her suitor. -Widows are of course allowed to marry again, and a -full divorce is granted to a husband only if his wife -be taken in adultery. In other cases, only orders of -what can be called “judicial separation” are passed—with -the same natural results that in England follow -upon such decrees. Among the many castes of India, -there is usually a constitution which can fairly be -called democratic; disputes are decided and case-law -made by an elected tribunal. The fisher-folk have -other ways. The final decision in their caste rests -with an hereditary headman aided, but not bound, -by assessors. He gives decrees of divorce, in which -the claims of the wife are treated with more justice -than would be got from an elected and therefore -hide-bound tribunal. In all cases of desertion, misuse, -cruelty and neglect, whether accidental or intended, -the wife can get a speedy separation by the -order of the headman. On him again rests the duty -of providing for all orphan girls and finding them good<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> -husbands. Further, the headman, sitting by himself -“in chambers,” has the right of protecting women -who become mothers without being wives, of fining -their paramours, and of finding them husbands to -cover their disgrace. There are signs, unhappily, of -the power passing—to be replaced by the usual -elected body and rules derived more strictly from -Brahman custom. But in the meantime women fare -well, and their own bright faces, their healthy children, -and their contented husbands all testify to the value -of a practice as sane as it is unusual. Happiness readily -expresses itself in song, and the songs of the fisher-folk -are stirring and tuneful. They sing them in a dialect -of their own, apart from the written language; and on -their festivals it is inspiriting to hear the choruses of men -and women joyfully chanting these songs of the sea.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus32" id="illus32"></a> -<img src="images/illus-32.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">A FISHWIFE OF BOMBAY</p> -</div> - -<p>Of aboriginal tribes pure and simple—creatures -untamed and almost untouched by the various civilizations -that one after another have shaped humanity in -the Indian continent—there are many still left in the -wilder forests and mountains. But the latest of the -great civilizations that have reached India has set in -action forces which they can no longer elude. A law -that is at once impartial and all-embracing and a -railroad system which, in search of trade, penetrates -the jungle and tunnels through the rock, have brought -even their homes within the economy of modern life. -They are being quickly sucked into the vortex of -Hinduism, to emerge half-stifled as a menial class. -As at the touch they leave their strangeness and their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> -jungle ways, they sink to the lowest scale among the -civilized, where once, with all the dangers of wild -animals and exposure to disease, they had at least been -free of the forest. Among the smaller aboriginal -tribes the Todas of the Nilghiri mountains are conspicuous. -For one thing they are an instance which -reduces to absurdity the inferences of an anthropology -too subject to abstractions and too reliant on skull-measurement. -For anthropologists of that school have -found the measurements of the Todas to be exactly -Aryan—the one thing which—(if the word is to have -any meaning at all) they cannot be. The Todas are -a small tribe now, some 700 persons in all. They -support themselves by rearing buffaloes, whose milk -and cheese they sell to the residents of the neighbouring -sanatorium, recently built upon a mountain plateau that -for hundreds of years had been thought impenetrable. -In the spring they scatter with their herds through the -pastures of the uplands and return to their dirty huts -in the rainy season. But the touch of the finger of -civilization has crushed their loins, and the decay of this -curious tribe is too far advanced to be arrested. Drink, -opium, and poverty have contributed to their ruin, -and the tribe is scourged by the ravages of a disease to -which they were new. The women are vicious without -emotion, and mercenary without disgust. Miscarriages -are frequent, and those children who see the light are -born diseased, are left neglected, and die like flies.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus33" id="illus33"></a> -<img src="images/illus-33.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">TODA WOMAN IN THE NILGIRIES</p> -</div> - -<p>Of all the aboriginal peoples—more important even -than the Gond peoples and the Gond Rajas of Central<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> -India—the greatest and the most impressive are the -Bhil tribes. They can be traced from the first dawn -of history; and in all the Sanscrit poems, Bhil queens -hospitable to errant Aryan knights are as needful an -incident as Bhil archers, liker devils than men, shooting -their death-dealing arrows from behind rock and -bush. They held kingdoms and had founded temples, -reservoirs and towns when first they met the fair -warriors from the north. Then they were driven -forth and hunted and slain, and their homes were made -desolate and they took to the forests as broken men, -their hand against all others. Century after century -they lay hidden in their lairs, coming forth only to -rob and raid, cruel and merciless since they themselves -were dealt with cruelly and without mercy. Yet one -thing they were always, autochthonic, like some -primeval force in whom, if all could have their rights, -the soil and its title must to the end be vested. And -so it is that to this day they have by a curious prescription -a symbolic function at the coronation of -Rajput princes. When a ruler first ascends his throne, -by a Hindu custom, a mark of ochre is printed on his -brow by a priest as an auspicious omen and a sign of -fortune. But for the Rajput chiefs who rule in the -country that was once the Bhils’, the mark must be -made by blood pricked from the finger or toe of a Bhil -tribesman or his sister. Even the first and proudest -chief in India, the Mahárána of Mewár, does thus -acknowledge the autochthonous race whom he displaces -but who hold the prior right.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span></p> - -<p>From Mewár the Bhil tribes reach west to the -confines of Gujarát and south to the Deccan plateau. -Their status varies as the land they occupy is more -or less open and cultivated. In the forests they are -independent and self-sufficient, ruled by their own -tribal custom, rough perhaps and uncultured, but -merry, equal one to the other, not unprosperous. -In the civilized tracts, where economic forces of competition -have free-play and Hinduism has prevailed, -they have sunk to the position of a proletariat, -supporting themselves on labour such as they can get -and by theft whenever possible. They lose their -virtues at the contact and merge on the untouchable -masses of the lowest Hindu castes, with the same vices -and the same imitative rules and customs.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus34" id="illus34"></a> -<img src="images/illus-34.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">GOND WOMAN</p> -</div> - -<p>On the hills and in the forests of the Rewa Kántha -States and Mewár, however, the Bhils are seen at their -best—sporting, loyal, happy wildmen of the woods. -They have no villages like the Hindu plainsmen—close-crowded -and ill-smelling. Each family has its -own homestead in the clearing, a hut of logs grass-thatched, -overgrown by the creeper-gourd with its -yellow flowers. The men are skilled in the use of -bow and arrow and love to roam the forests after game. -They follow the tracks by which wild animals move -at dawn from the valleys, and they know each lair or -water-hole. The women also know the forest, where -they collect grass seeds to be ground to flour, and -where they gather the luscious fleshy flower of the -mhowra tree to cook into cakes or distil into fiery<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> -liquor. They keep large numbers of cattle and every -homestead has its own fowls and chickens. Two -enemies only prey upon them, the leopard who seizes -the grazing calf, and the anopheles mosquito which -injects into their blood the malaria that ages and kills -them early. For the rest while the years are good and -the seasons kindly and the rain comes in good time and -falls sufficiently, they are happy and free from care. But -when there is scarcity, they die of famine, save for the -relief brought to their doors by British administration. -Among the hill tribes, where they still distinguish -themselves from the Hindus, the Bhil woman has much -freedom. When she has long passed puberty, at -seventeen say or eighteen, she marries pretty much as -she pleases. They are, in a pale copy of the Rajput -feudal chivalry, divided into clans and have the religious -prohibition of marriage within the clan. The girl -must, therefore, choose a husband from another family. -But the clan descents are rather vague and blurred, -and the prohibition does not in practice hamper their -choice seriously. Outside of this limit, at any rate, -they marry with their heart. Only the intending -bridegroom must make the girl’s father a customary -payment of money or of cattle, often stolen in a raid -from some lowland village. If he cannot pay, however, -he has the option of doing seven years’ service in the -father’s house, as Jacob did for Leah. During that -time he is free of the girl, though he is not fully married -till the end, and he lives in the house more as a -dependent poor relation than a servant. Till they are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> -married, the girls are not expected to be too strictly -virtuous. While they are young, their sport with -neighbours’ boys is merely smiled at indulgently as -“the play of children.” Even when they have -ripened to real womanhood—“and then Chloe first -learnt that what had happened near the forest was but -the play of shepherds”—they still wear the white -bodice which shows them to be girls unclaimed by -any man, and no one looks too closely to their actions. -When once, however, they have chosen their husband -and settled down to marriage, it is rare indeed that -there be thought of any other man. Rare above all -is it, if there have been children of the marriage. If, -however, there should be trouble, divorce is easily -arranged by a small payment to the husband and the -wife is free to marry another man. A widow of course -is no less free to marry, and a young woman never -remains in widowhood. Men and women live on very -equal terms, and there is much good-humoured -affection between husband and wife and children. -Not unlike is it to the life of the Scottish peasant and -his wife, an easy freedom in youth leading to a homely -and loving marriage. The money that they earn is -often kept by the house-wife, who allows her man so -much per week for drink, the chief diversion of the -Bhil. She also is none too strict and likes her glass -at a festival. But the woman is usually temperate, -while the man only too often drinks to a wild excess.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus35" id="illus35"></a> -<img src="images/illus-35.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">BHIL GIRL</p> -</div> - -<p>The Bhil women, deep-breasted, broad, their large -thighs showing bare, look fit to be the mothers of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> -sound children, healthy and strong. Pleasant and -even comely they appear, with their flat, good-natured -faces and their plump limbs, their features a little -coarse perhaps, but sonsy. Their hair lies low on -the brow in a pleated fringe, caught on the crown -by a bell-shaped silver brooch. They are fond, like -all savages, of adornment, and layer upon layer of -glass beads, dark blue, white and crimson, lie heavy -over neck and breast. Heavy bands of brass circle -the leg from knee to instep, and clash and tinkle as -they move. A coarse cloak of navy blue, draped from -the head over the body, is tucked up into the waist-band, -leaving the thighs half-bare. They look men -boldly in the face, with candour and self-reliance.</p> - -<p>The Bhils, both men and women, are fond of a joke, -and nowhere in India is laughter heard more freely -and more readily. The more Rabelaisian the joke, -it must be allowed, the better they relish it; and -women are as openly amused by an indecency as men. -Their songs are not always lady-like, and a wedding -song gives them full scope for merry ballads, of a sort -common in Europe up to the seventeenth century -but foreign to the drawing-rooms of to-day, which -have room only for a Zola or an Ibsen. Laughter the -Bhils have and loyalty, good-nature and simple hearts. -What they have in their minds they speak openly; -and plain words can surely be forgiven, when the -thought is straight and true.</p> - -<p>Dancing is one of the great amusements of the -Bhils, both men and women, and they should be seen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> -dancing at the spring Saturnalia, the festival of the -Holi. They light a large bonfire of teak-wood logs, -throwing into the flames handfuls of grain as an -offering to the local goddess. Then the dance proceeds -round the blazing fire. The men carry light -sticks in their hands, which they tap against each other, -at first slowly and listlessly, as they begin to circle -slowly round. In the centre the drummers stand, -beating the skins in wild harmony. Then the -dance grows wilder and always wilder, and the dancers -shout the shrill whoop, not unlike the Highlander’s -when he dances, a yell which quavers from the compressed -throat through quickly trilling lips. As the -time quickens, the sticks are beaten faster upon each -other, and the dancers move three steps forward, then -a turn, then three steps forward, once again. The -women also dance round and round, and their shrill -voices begin a song. The men follow the words and -reply, verse to verse, in a weird antiphony. When -the fun becomes louder, the men join hands in a circle -and the women climb up by their clasped hands till on -each man’s shoulders there stands a woman, her hands -also joined to her neighbour’s, and the whole circle revolves -to the tune of some village song. When they are -not dancing, jests and jibe are bandied freely between the -younger lads and their girls, and now and again a loving -look or touch is rewarded with a ringing box on the ears.</p> - -<p>But, with all their freedom, the Bhil women have -their pride and virtue. From their womanhood and -independence they will not readily derogate, even if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> -the price be heavy. And not seldom the stranger, -some stall-fed Hindu from a fatter land, has learnt this -to his cost. There was such a one, a Charge Officer, -who administered (or was supposed to) a relief camp -in the Bhil country during a famine year. Being -well-fed and lazy, pampered and a fool, he thought -he could have his will of the bold, “unlady-like” forest -women who were forced by famine to seek relief at -his hands. So he cast a lecherous eye on one who was -young and fair and had a merry laugh. And being -fat and foolish, he put the alternative to her bluntly, -as such a man would, with no nonsense about it. If -she was not pleased, she could look out for herself -elsewhere. So she smiled a merry smile and fixed -an hour when he should meet her in the forest. But -when he got there, he found not her alone whom he -sought but with her a round dozen of her women -friends. And each one had a good, fresh-cut stick -in her hand. Then they explained to him at some -length, and with free and appropriate gesture, that -they knew exactly where to use a stick with most -effect. Their language was distinctly daring, but they -left him clear about their meaning. And that after -all is the main thing. It took him quite a long time -to get home after they had done with him, and crawling -through the jungle is not pleasant going. Even when -he was dismissed from his employment a couple of -days later, the impression of their arguments was still -acute. But there were hopes that in time he would -begin to understand the character of the Bhil woman.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span></p> - -<p>Such manners and such characters it would be -difficult to find elsewhere in India. With the general -Hindu ideal of service, chastity, and effacement they -have no common ground. Yet it cannot be doubted -that here is a life which makes for happiness and, in -its own way, for self-realization. The Bhils are wild -and uncultured, of course, and they have to suffer -from the fevers of the forest and from wild animals. -Of luxury they know nothing and their pleasures are -primitive and rather coarse. But they are contented. -The wife loves her man and the husband cherishes -his wife with a very real fondness and even with -respect, and they have a cheerful pride as they watch -their children play and grow strong and upright. -They share their hardships and their small joys fairly -and equally. They tend their garden with a kindly -contentment; and at night, their labour done, they -drink their glass and have their jest, and go to bed in -the forest clearing tired and comfortable. And when -the Bhil does rob a travelling merchant and is caught, -it is for his wife alone that he yearns in the dreary -separation of the prison.</p> - -<p>Civilization, if it comes to the Bhil from the East, -brings with it child-marriage and Brahman law and -caste degradation; if from the West, it brings the -factory and the industrial slum. Drunken and thrift-less, -oppressed by customs which he cannot understand, -he finds himself submerged in the lowest proletariat, -exploited and despised. Can civilization give anything -to the Bhil better than what he has?—ease and liberty!</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center larger"><a name="chapter7" id="chapter7"></a>The Dancing Girl</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“She measures every measure, everywhere</div> -<div class="verse">Meets art with art. Sometimes as if in doubt,</div> -<div class="verse">Not perfect yet and fearing to be out,</div> -<div class="verse">Trails her plain ditty in one long-spun note</div> -<div class="verse">Through the sleek passage of her open throat,</div> -<div class="verse">A clear unwrinkled song: then doth she point it</div> -<div class="verse">With tender accents, and severely joint it</div> -<div class="verse">By short diminutions.”</div> -<p class="right"><i>Music’s Duel.</i> CRASHAW.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="smaller">“Nowadays Indian ‘reformers’ in the name of -‘civilization and science’ seek to persuade the <i>muralis</i> -(girls dedicated to the Gods) that they are ‘plunged -in a career of degradation.’ No doubt in time the -would-be moralists will drive the <i>muralis</i> out of their -temples and their homes, deprive them of all self-respect, -and convert them into wretched outcastes, all in -the cause of ‘civilization and science.’ So it is that -early reformers create for the reformers of a later day -the task of humanizing life afresh.”</p> - -<p class="smaller right"><i>Sex in Relation to Society.</i> HAVELOCK ELLIS.</p> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span></p> - -<h2>Chapter VII<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE DANCING GIRL</span></h2> - -<p>For the women of India an independent profession -is a thing almost unknown. Here are no busy typewriters, -no female clerks, no barmaids. The woman -spends her whole life in a home, supported and maintained, -her father’s as a child, then her husband’s, or -else one of those large joint households in which every -woman of the family, widowed or married, finds her -place. If she is poor, she may have work to do in -plenty, besides the care of her house and children. -She may sew or go out to help in richer households; -often she joins her husband in his work, and you may -see the potter’s wife fetching earth and carrying bricks, -or the washerman’s wife drive his laden ox. Sometimes -she labours in the field, busily weeding or bent -double as in the water-covered muddy patch she -transplants the young rice-shoots. But in none of -these tasks does she work for herself, alone and independent, -at a trade chosen by her own taste. She -labours as one member of a higher unit, the family of -which she is a part, and she knows that by her efforts -she helps to feed and clothe her children or to add to -the funds controlled by the head of the joint family. -Even domestic service, in the European sense of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> -word, hardly exists. Ruling and noble families have -their maid-servants, but these are not independent -women hired under a contract, enforceable at law. -They are women born and bred in the palace, bound -by affection and upbringing, hereditary house-servants, -almost slaves. They are treated as of the family, are -paid by food and clothing, by presents and the final -gift in marriage to a male servant. Only a few, a -very few there are, widows mainly, usually Mussulman, -who can in the Western sense of the word be called -servants.</p> - -<p>In recent years changes in ideas, and still more -changes in social economy, have produced a few women -in regard to whose work it is possible to use the words -“independent profession.” There are even a few -lady doctors, Parsis mainly, in whose case the imitation -of European customs and the resultant obstacles to -marriage have facilitated study and the adoption of a -career. There are far more who are teachers—always -underpaid—in girls’ schools, or nurses—also underpaid—or -midwives. Largely these are Brahman -widows, who, repudiating the austerities of traditional -belief, have found a more useful life by these labours, -and relieve their relatives of the charge of their support -or bring up their children by their own praiseworthy -efforts.</p> - -<p>But even these are still exceptions to be counted -by hundreds, by thousands at the most, out of all the -three hundred millions of India’s population. For -the women of India, it may almost be said, there is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> -only one independent profession open, one that is -immemorial, remunerative, even honoured, and that -is the profession of the dancing girl. There is hardly -a town in India, however small, which has not its -group of dancing girls, dubious perhaps and mediocre; -and there is not a wedding, hardly an entertainment -of any circumstance, at which the dancing girl’s services -are not engaged. And it may be added that -there is hardly a class so much misjudged or a profession -so much misunderstood.</p> - -<p>For long generations and in many countries the -dancing girls of India have been the theme of poets -and stock figures of romanticism. In Indian literature -it was of course natural that they should find a place. -And in fact, from the earliest Sanscrit poets down to -the novelists and play-wrights of modern Bengal or -Gujarát, there are few dramas in which a dancer does -not play a role. Often the part is pathetic, even -tragic, while it is usually edifying and pietistic. The -courtesan who, urged by the eloquence or attraction -of a pious ascetic, finds the grace of God and abandons -art for austerity and the palace for the hermitage, is -one of the recurrent conventions of the Indian classics. -In one of the best-known of Mahrathi poems, there -is such a picture, expressed with vigour and emotion. -Converted to self-denial and renunciation, the dancing -girl, once beautiful, lies alone, dirty and squalid, -without food, in a witch-haunted graveyard, affrighted -by ghosts, tormented by spirits of evil, yet uplifted -by the love of God and blessed by her memories of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> -the saint whose coldness was to her the sign of a higher -adoration. But in the literature of Europe the -bayadère, to use a name corrupted from the Portuguese, -has also been a frequent and a luxurious figure. In -the romantic fancies of the late eighteenth and the -early nineteenth centuries, she was, both in France -and Germany, a personage on whom poets lavished -the embellishments of their art. Her hazy outlines -they bespangled with the imagery of fiction and the -phantasies of invention. She was a symbol for oriental -opulence, a creature of incredible luxury and uncurbed -sensuousness, or tropic passion and jewelled magnificence. -From her tresses blew the perfumes of lust; -on her lips, like honey sweet, distilled the poisons of -vice; hidden in her bodice of gold brocade she carried -the dagger with which she killed.</p> - -<p>Divest her of poetic association. Rob her of the -hues cast by the distant dreams of romanticism. Strip -her even of the facts of history and the traditions of -the Indian classics. Yet she remains a figure sufficiently -remarkable. Not tragic and certainly not gay, she -embodies in herself so much of India, both its past -and present, that without understanding her life and -significance it is impossible to comprehend the social -whole which she explains and commentates.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus36" id="illus36"></a> -<img src="images/illus-36.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">DANCER IN MIRZAPUR</p> -</div> - -<p>The very name of dancing girl, it must be noted, -is a misnomer. For as an artist she finds expression -primarily in song, not in the dance. In the Indian -theory of music, dancing is but an adjunct, one rhythm -the more, to the sung melody. It is the singer’s voice<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> -which, is the ultimate means of music, her song which -is its real purpose. To embellish its expression and -heighten its enjoyment the singer takes the aid of -instruments, the pipe, the strings, the drum and not -least of the dance. Regarded in its first elements, the -dance is one means the more of marking the time of the -melody. Throughout the Indian dance the feet, like -the tuned drums, are means to mark the beats. The -time is divided into syllables or bars and the dancer’s -beating feet, circled with a belt of jingling bells, must -move and pause in the strictest accordance. The right -foot performs the major part, the left completes the -rhythmic syllable. But further by her dance the -singer’s art is to make more clear and more magnetic -the meaning of her song. With her attitudes and -gestures she accords her person to her melody and -sense, till her whole being, voice and movement, is but -one living emotion. Her veil half-drawn over her -features, her head averted, a frown wrinkling her brow, -she portrays modesty recoiling from a lover. With -joined hands uplifted to her forehead, with body bent, -and eyes cast upon the ground, she accompanies the -hymns of worship and resignation to God’s will. With -quickly moving gesture, she marks the harsher sounds -of rage or mortified indignation. Even pleasure and -the tenderer joy she represents by the softly swaying -body and slow waving movements of her upturned -hands. But it is not enough that gesture should be -natural and appropriate. Mere realism would not -harmonize with the songs and instrumental music to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> -which it is an accompaniment. Its crudities would -be out of tune, conspicuous, even brutal. The dancer’s -gestures and pantomime must be soft, rhythmic, and -restrained. Like every other art, dancing too has its -economy and its self-restraint. And the way to this -ideal harmony is through the simplifications of convention -and the discipline of a graceful technique. -The dancer has to learn by painful practice to move -her limbs in harmony with the rhythms of her melody, -to avoid all that is abrupt or unsymmetrical. Each -pose should be that of a statue, emotion poising in a -harmony of line and balance. In order to attain this -complete accord of movement and melody, this union -of grace and emotional expression, it is necessary to -conventionalize the means by strict attention to the -material presented to the creative artist—in the case -of the dance, the youthful female figure. As in a -painting, to the trained eye, a line presents the transition -between two differently lit surfaces, so in the -dance, by an habitual agreement between the spectator -and the performer, certain simple movements are -made to evoke wider imaginations. Indian dancing, -like every art, must have its own conventions. But -they are conventions finally based upon actual mimicry, -simplifications, one may say, of natural movements. -They are attained by the exclusion of all that is -superfluous, leaving only the essential curve or contour -of the movement. They are the actual made spiritual, -by the excision of all excess, by the suppression of -the uncouthness which defective material and stiff<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> -muscles force upon human action. The movements -of the Indian dancer bear to the primitive gestures -of men and women, in the moments of actual impulse, -the same relation as the simplified form of Indian -painting and sculpture bear to the realities of living -flesh and blood in light and shadow. To the European -the conventions are difficult to understand, as they -presuppose a different training; and in him they do -not readily awake the required emotion. For European -art has for many centuries been in the main realistic, -concerned above all with the material appearance of -things and actions. The art of the East, on the other -hand, has in all its leading schools sought the spiritual, -striving with the jejunest outlines to interpret the -significance which may underlie the outward clothing -of form and colour and surface. Moreover, the -oriental eye has a natural aptitude for decorative -pattern, to which the excessive devotion of the Indian -intellect to deduction and abstract analysis affords a -parallel. The artist, therefore, does not rest content -with simplification but further seeks to manipulate -the conventions, through which he realizes his spiritual -meaning, into a symmetric and decorative pattern. -The same tendencies appear in the dance, when -practised as an art, in India.</p> - -<p>There are two great methods of artistic dancing in -India which correspond to the main geographical distinction -of the continent and can be called the Peninsular -and the Northern. The Peninsular or Southern -has its home and training-ground in Madras, where<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> -the temple dancing girls, the “servants of God” as -they are called in the vernacular, follow their fine -tradition. The old Hindu city of Tanjore with its -exuberant temple is the centre of the school, to which -it has given its name. The other or Northern method -is at its highest in the cities of Delhi and Lucknow, -more secular in its purpose, yet more austere in its -expression.</p> - -<p>In the North where the girls, wearing an adaptation -of the Mussulman dress, are mostly of that faith -and have no bond with any temple or religious institution, -the dance or gesture-play is strictly subordinate -to the song. The artist moves back and forward a -few steps as she sings, the feet of course always beating -the time, while her hands are raised or lowered and -her fingers grouped in a few conventional poses, gracefully -artificial or simply decorative, but with no present -actuality and little stimulus to emotion. The pleasure -of the spectator is in the main intellectual, the effect -of reminiscence and association, while he interprets the -meaning of which the movements are suggestive but -abstract symbols. At the end of the verse the dancer -floats softly round the circle of spectators, with -coquetry in her eyes, extorting applause by a quick -virtuosity of steps and pirouettes, which have little -relation to any living and real passion.</p> - -<p>The Peninsular school, on the other hand, gives the -dance in and by itself a far higher value and more -extended field. It is far more than the mere visible -decoration of a sung melody. It has a life of its own,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> -often wild and passionate; and has its own instant -appeal to independent emotions. Often the dance -is in itself the pantomime of a whole story, the meeting -and love of Krishna and Rádha, for instance, at the -river’s side. The melody of the instruments is a -suitable accompaniment and the voice does little more -than supply a pleasing refrain. Sometimes it is a mere -rhythmic and decorative reconstruction of everyday -actions, the mimicry, harmonious and graceful, of a -boy flying a kite or of a fluttering butterfly. The -dancers move lightly and quickly over the floor, their -steps diversified, their gestures free and natural. Upon -their features play the lines of hope and joy, of sorrow -and disdain. Then as the story closes, in a final burst -of melody, their voices rise with the instruments that -accompany in a last <i>forte</i> repetition of the refrain or -motive.</p> - -<p>Thus in the Peninsular or Tanjore school the art -of dancing, though also, of course, dependent upon -conventionalisms of gesture and movement, and significant -of meanings which it suggests rather than -imitates, has a more actual appeal to emotion and a -less fettered freedom. It has a finer spontaneity, a -freer flow of imagination. At its best, it is a splendid -school of dancing, the only method perhaps worthy to -be put beside, though below, the magnificent creations -of the Russian ballet.</p> - -<p>From the point of view of art, however, even the -Tanjore dancing girls, and still more the performers -of the Northern school, have certain defects, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> -could be removable if the players and public had a -finer sense of artistic purpose. The women themselves -are too often of little education, illiterate, with -their tastes uncultivated. A good voice and some -natural grace, with training only in technique, may -make a pleasing enough dancer but cannot produce -an artist. For any excellent attainment a higher -cultivation is required. Another difficulty, peculiar -to India, is that many experts will, from superstitious -fear or jealousy, refuse to impart their secrets to a -pupil or a novice. But worst of all by far is that lack -of artistic sensibility, general in modern India, which -is satisfied by the tricks of virtuosity and has no -recognition of sincerity and deeper beauty. In song -the faults are obvious and regretted. High notes -are screamed out with the utmost effort of the singers’ -lungs to the amazement and admiration of the -groundlings, while the practice of slurred arpeggios -at the highest speed obscures the roundness of the -voice in the true melody. Given a good voice, a girl -is only too soon trained to these efforts, on which in a -few years her natural gifts are squandered. Smooth -and easy singing and finished phrasing are little valued -by the side of those difficult but unbeautiful accomplishments. -Similarly in the accompanying dance -violent gestures, strained poses, or undue and difficult -effort ravish praise that should more correctly be -given to sincere emotion and an easy and natural -rhythm. A dead conventionalism, emphasized and -over-strained by difficult contortions, has repressed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> -the development of the art, especially in the northern, -more abstract method.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus37" id="illus37"></a> -<img src="images/illus-37.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">MUSSULMAN NAUTCH-GIRL</p> -</div> - -<p>Another great drawback against which Indian professional -dancing struggles is the lack of a public that -itself is given to dancing. For every art the great -safeguard and vivifying influence is a popular practice -of its easier forms. Music flourished in Italy and in -Germany, where every person sings. Poetry becomes -great when behind it there is a living growth of popular -ballads or lyrics. The Russian ballet has made its -wonderful achievement because every peasant dances -with vigour and even with grace, and in the summer -nights in every village young men and women dance. -In India popular dancing has for many centuries been -moribund, even dead. At the festival of the new -Hindu year, in a few parts of India, groups of ladies -sing songs in unison as they circle to a slow measure -or rhythmic step. Occasionally in the <i>zanánas</i> of the -richer families the ladies dance what is known as a -Rásada. Each catches her neighbours’ hands and they -move round and round in a circle bowing, slow in the -beginning and faster to the end. These are the palace -dances, now almost disused, of which can be read in Sir -Edwin Arnold’s translation of the Chaurapanchasika.—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Yet now, this but abides, to picture smoothly</div> -<div class="verse">How in the palace-dance foremost she paced:</div> -<div class="verse">Her glancing feet and light limbs swayed demurely</div> -<div class="verse">Moon-like, amid their cloudy robes; moon-faced,</div> -<div class="verse">With hips majestic under slender waist,</div> -<div class="verse">And hair with gold and blooms braided and laced.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span></p> - -<p>In villages among the lower classes there is also at -stated seasons some rustic dancing, even with men, of -a rough and boisterous kind. But generally speaking, -popular dancing there is none. “No one dances -unless he is drunk,” the Indian gentlemen might -mutter with the too grave Roman.</p> - -<p>Still, granting these deficiencies of environment -and allowing for all imperfections and desired improvements, -dancing remains the most living and -developed of existing Indian arts. In the Peninsular -school above all, India has a possession of very real merit, -on which no appreciation or encouragement can be -thrown away. It is something of which the country -can well be proud, almost the only thing left, perhaps, -in the general death-like slumber of all imaginative -work, which still has a true emotional response and -value. It sends its call to a people’s soul; it is alive -and forceful.</p> - -<p>All the more tragic is it, a very tragedy of irony, -that the dance—the one really Indian art that remains—has -been, by some curious perversion of reasoning, -made the special object of attack by an advanced and -reforming section of Indian publicists. They have -chosen to do so on the score of morality—not that they -allege the songs and dances to be immoral, if such -these could be, but that they say the dancers are. Of -the dances themselves no such allegation could, even -by the wildest imagination, possibly be made. The -songs are pure beside the ordinary verses of a comic -opera, not to mention a music-hall in the capital<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> -of European civilization, Paris. The dancing is graceful -and decorous, carefully draped and restrained. -But the dancers, it is true, do not as a rule preserve -that strict code of chastity which is exacted from the -marrying woman. How the stringency or laxity of -observance of this code by a performer can possibly -affect the emotional and even national value of her -art and performance has not been and cannot be -explained. Art cannot be smirched by the sins of -its followers; the flaws in the crystal goblet do not -hurt the flavour of the wine.</p> - -<p>In the Peninsula of India dancing and professional -singing is first of all a religious institution, bound up -with the worship of the Gods. To every temple of -importance are attached bands of six, eight, or more -girls, paid in free gifts of land or in money for the -duties which they perform. They are recruited in -infancy from various castes and wear the ordinary -garments, slightly more ornamental, of the Indian lady -of those regions. In certain castes the profession is -hereditary, mother bringing up daughter in turn to -these family accomplishments. In other cases, as in -the great temple of Jejuri in the Deccan, children are -dedicated by their parents to the service of God and -left when they reach a riper age to the teaching and -superintendence of the priests. Twice a day, morning -and evening, they sing and dance within the temple -to the greater glory of God; and at all the great -public ceremonies and festivals they play their part -in the solemnities. Teaching is imparted by older<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> -men, themselves singers, who take in hand the training -of small groups of girls. In some cases a form of -marriage is performed, for the fulfilment of traditional -religious obligation, with a man of the dancer’s caste, -with an idol, or even with a sacred tree. But the -ceremony entails no ethical obligations, such as apply -to the real married woman. The dancers are regarded, -being independent and self-supporting, as freed from -the code which applies to women living in family -homes and maintained by the work and earnings of -a father or a husband. It is their right to live their -lives as they will, for their own pleasure and happiness, -unrestrained by any code more stringent than that -of an independent man.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus38" id="illus38"></a> -<img src="images/illus-38.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">DANCER FROM TANJORE</p> -</div> - -<p>Besides Tanjore, the old Portuguese possession of -Goa and the neighbouring districts bordering on the -ocean, where the forests and rocks of the Western -Ghauts drop sharply to the rice-lands of the shore, are -famous for the excellence of their singers. Here they -are known under the name of Naikins or “Ladyships,” -and have a position of no little respect. Though they -like to trace their origin in their own sayings to those -nymphs who in heaven are said to entertain the Gods, -the truth is that they are largely recruited from other -classes, whose children they purchase or adopt. They -live in houses like those of the better-class Hindus, -with broad verandahs and large court-yards, in which -grows a plant or two of the sacred sweet basil. Their -homes are furnished in the plain style of the Hindu -householder, with mats and stools and wooden benches<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> -and an abundance of copper and brass pots and pans -and water vessels. Only they wear a profusion of -gold ornaments on head and wrists and fingers, a -silver waist-band, and silver rings on their toes, and -they make their hair gay with flowers. Their lives -are simple and not luxurious; but the days are idled -away in the languorous ease of the tropic sea breezes, -a land of repose, a lazy land. They rise late, they -bathe, they eat rice-gruel, and talk and sleep. The -long afternoon is passed in more chatting and in their -constant enjoyment of chewing betel leaves, till after -dinner they go out to sing and dance to a late hour of -the night. It is a life of quiet ease, uneventful, -indolent no doubt, but hardly dissipated. And of -course in all worship and religious observance they -are devout and orthodox, fearing the Gods, and reverent -to the officiating priesthood.</p> - -<p>Now when some Hindu reformers object to the -employment of such women in the temples of God -and deny the efficacy of song and dance as adjuncts -of religious emotion, it would of course be impertinence -for the follower of another creed to express an opinion. -The rubrics of prayer are between the worshipper -alone and his God. If they preach that worship and -oblation are for those only who have made asceticism -their practice and who have turned their faces from the -world to the pure concept of divinity, they are obviously -within their rights: and the question must be decided -by a congregation of fellow-worshippers. Even if -they desire to bar the temple-door to women, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> -have taken no vow of chastity and hope for salvation -without closing their ears to love, they are entitled to -do as they like with their own, if they can obtain a -consensus of believers. Observers of other creeds -would willingly, if without impropriety they could -have a voice, join in deploring the abuse, in some -temples, of the custom of dedication; for girls thus -dedicated, as at Jejuri, are often too numerous for the -purposes of the temple-service and are thrown upon -the world, without adequate artistic training, almost, -one might say, with none, to make their way as best -they can. When this happens, though Hindu society -treats the devotees kindly and gives them easy admission -to good houses, yet their dearth of artistic -accomplishment, the refusal of support by the temple -to which they are ascribed, and the pressing needs of -sustenance must often force the unfortunate girl to -a distasteful trade. But to include these among -dancing girls in the proper sense is hardly fair. The -motives of dedication are different and are exclusively -religious, while the custom has arisen from the old -Hindu tradition of appointing a girl to take the place -of a son. The trained singer who succeeds to an -appointment in a temple is in a very different position, -and her life is as a rule happy and prosperous. The -example of other countries has shown how an art may -gain by the support of a Church, and how, in the -absence of countervailing circumstances of popular -understanding and enthusiasm, the withdrawal of -ecclesiastical patronage may cause its decline and even<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> -its ruin. The Reformation in Europe, for instance, -whatever its benefits to a new growing world in other -matters, swept without doubt like a devastation over -the rich fields of human imagination and like a tempest -obliterated the aesthetic emotions in which the -human soul attains its highest. In India, in the absence -of a humanism such as Europe could imbibe from -Athens, the dependence of art upon religion is more -strait and isolated, while the very forms of Indian -art are moulded in a supernatural conception of the -universe. So subtly poised is it upon this pinnacle, -that the mere touch of the freethinker and reformer, -one fears, may send it shattered to the ground.</p> - -<p>In the North, it has been said, the dancing girls have -no connection with religious institutions, though, as -it happens, their artistic conventions are more abstract -and less sensuous. Mostly they are Mussulmans by -belief or are Hindus who have adopted Mussulman -ways and manners. They do not belong to colleges -or groups but live alone and independently, earning -their living by their art, without support from any -temple. At the same time it is the custom in many -parts to invite them to perform at the shrine of some -dead saint during the annual celebrations. They sing -on such occasions songs of a sacred kind, psalmodies -of praise to God and His Prophet, poems well known -in the Urdu language. They chant also the odes of -the Sufis or Persian mystic poets, in which the adoration -of the Deity is clothed in the language of love, -and the praises of wine are metaphors for the ecstasies<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> -of the Spirit. Usually the dancing girl lives alone in -her own house, some balconied and flat-roofed house -in the crowded bazaar, where she can overlook the -movement of the town and mark the doings of her -world. There is little that escapes her prying eyes, -and the musicians in her pay, the barber who lives in -the street and the seller of betel leaves keep her posted -in all the city scandals. There is constant coming and -going to her doors, and in the afternoon admirers from -the younger nobility and professional men drop in to -pass the time and smoke and laugh a few hours away. -Sometimes her house becomes a centre of intrigue -where palace revolutions or doubtful conspiracies are -hatched under her friendly eye by young men, who -lounge on her cushions beside the trellised window. -The room is heavy with the sweet, over-perfumed -smoke of the black tobacco paste which she smokes -in her silver-mounted hookah. When she drives out -at evening, police-constables salute her. In most -Native States such dancing girls, two or three or four, -are an appanage of the royal retinue, and are paid -salaries or retaining fees on a generous basis. Such a -girl will ordinarily get one hundred to one hundred -and fifty rupees per month from the State—the salary -of a Police Magistrate—with gifts on special occasions. -In exchange she has to sing twice or thrice a week -when the chief calls for her, but with his permission -she may always perform at other houses where she can -earn larger fees. Some chiefs are famous for their -taste, and a girl tries to secure an engagement for a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> -year or two in such a Darbar to establish her reputation -for the future. In many cases these dancers, as -they grow older, marry one of their lovers and settle -down to the quiet life of the respectable Mussulman -lady behind the <i>purdah</i>. Sometimes they adopt a clever -and pretty girl and train her, half as maid and half as -companion, in the mysteries of their art, till she in turn -becomes a singer and helps to keep her mistress and -teacher, with no little piety and charity, in her old age.</p> - -<p>Modern opponents of dancing, however, with their -influence on a population which has few artistic tastes -and a marked bent for economy, have already done -much to degrade the profession and are gradually -forcing girls, who would formerly have earned a decent -competence with independence and an artist’s pride, -into a shameful traffic from very want. Day by day -the number of those women is growing less who alone -preserve the memory of a fine Indian art. And, as -they lose the independence earned by a profession, day -by day more women are being thrust into the abysmal -shame and destitution of degraded womanhood. An -Indian proverb already sums up this peculiar item of -the “reform programme” thus: “The dancing girl -was formerly fed with good food in the temple; now -she turns somersaults for a beggar’s rice.”</p> - -<p>But, for the delineation of Indian life and society, -the position of the dancing girl must be envisaged -from a loftier altitude. It is only from such an aspect -that her portrait can be said to complete and interpret -the gallery of Indian womanhood.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span></p> - -<p>In the long history of human development occasional -licence appears as necessary to mankind as the habitual -routine of morality. Convention and self-restraint -have been accepted and adopted for mutual convenience; -but, by an impulse as natural as it is healthy, -man has from time to time escaped from his stagnation -through the orgy. Even the savage, with his underfed -body and atrophied sensibilities, finds a periodic outlet -for the starveling powers and ambitions hidden in his -breast by some spring or autumn festival at which, by -one wild orgy, he overleaps the fears and trammels of -magical prescription and intoxicates himself, for a -brief space, into a freer manhood. When savagery -ends and barbarism begins, the orgy becomes something -of an institution, as it did in the Christian -Church of the Middle Ages or in the Holi of India. -But as civilization grows more refined, it is for the -spirit rather than the body that the outburst into -freedom is demanded. In a cultured community it is -a sort of cerebral licence which is excited and assuaged -by the orgies of the imagination. The theatre and -music, painting and poetry by their stimulation purge -the soul of those emotions which, unrelieved, would -sour and make ill the spirit. In a state where man is -bound hand and foot to a mechanical routine of wage-earning, -he must seek through the excitement of his -imagination that explosion of emotion followed by -quiescence, by which the fermenting activities of his -mind and body can alone find their needed relief. -Among the agents that rouse this excitement and in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> -turn satisfy it are to be ranked high the rhythm and -music of the dance, with the spectacle of graceful -limbs and pretty faces, of dresses such as are seen in -dreams and jewelry rich beyond phantasy. Every -man at some time in his life has woven his fairy tales -of hope, and there is none so dull but has pictured a -goddess to his fancy. Now the woman who toils in -his house and shares his interests may be ever so -tenderly loved and cared for, but she is his own help-mate, -of his own sturdy flesh and blood. Hardly—except -perhaps for a space in the first blossoming of -new love—can he clothe her familiar being with the -robes and colours of his dreaming fancies. But in the -trained actress with her artful graces and her aloofness, -he sees one who responds to those secret aspirations, -and gives them room to expand and calms and soothes -them, till at last, the spectacle ended, and his mind -reposed, he returns to his home in peace for the further -routine of workaday existence.</p> - -<p>Now where life is free and unrestricted, among the -powerful and the leisured, every hour has its variety -and desire may be satisfied without awaiting any -special occasion. But when existence is narrowed to -routine and one day is like another, then indeed the -soul must sometimes soar to an illusion of wild wind-driven -liberty. Man has to guide his plough in the -furrow; but not to look to the sky and its currents -at the turning!—better death at once than such -weariness. And it is the finer creative spirits, the -men that think and produce, who are quickest crushed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> -by the unbroken rule of abstinence. In India the -general tone is brown, the light grey-brown of dusty -plains and dry fields and villages of sun-baked mud. -The ritual of to-day is that of yesterday, and will be -that of to-morrow. The same prayers, the same -labours, the same plain food, the same simple house -and furnishings. Simplicity, abstinence, repression, the -rejection of all that is superfluous, these are the notes -of ordinary life. There is contentment enough as a -rule. The wife is faithful and devoted, the children -play and grow up and get married, the cattle pull the -plough and the soil bears the corn. It produces on -the whole a contented resignation, this life, with its -austere simplicities and its overhanging haze of -asceticism. But even then there are times when the -self will out and the lulled nerves begin to stir and -tingle and stab with a bitter pain. There is no social -life as in France and upper-class England, where ladies -of wit and reading, graceful, well-dressed, trained to -charm and please, quicken the minds and respond to -the sympathies of a wider circle, while at the same -time imposing a fine code of manners and a tactful -moderation. The wife, devoted and affectionate as -she is, must usually be first the <i>house-wife</i>, busied with -a narrow routine, limited in experience, bounded by -babies and the day’s dinner. In most classes she is -illiterate and she has few of the accomplishments -which amuse and distract. Even in Athens, the city -above all of urbanity, as the married woman was -secluded and domestic like the Indian, the female<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> -<i>comrade</i>, the <i>hetaira</i>, with her witty talk and her song -and accomplishments was a necessity of social life. -In old India also this need was known, as can be read -in the traditional poetic histories, and the dancing -girl, the <i>gunika</i> as they called her, was the recognized -teacher to young princes of manners and of chivalry. -Those days are past; but even now the dancing girls, -by the admission even of a missionary,<a name="FNanchor_2" id="FNanchor_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> “are the most -accomplished women among the Hindus. They read, -write, sing and play as well as dance.” They dress -well and modestly, they know the arts of pleasing, and -their success is in the main due to the contrast by -which they transcend the ordinary woman and to -the illusions they can give. They do not, therefore, -merely fulfil a need but also represent an ideal. Even -apart from their art and its high imaginative value, as -almost the only living art in India, they respond in a -larger sense to a real need of society. To stifle a class -of women, living their own lives in independence, -graceful, accomplished, often clever, to degrade them, -to make them outcastes and force them into shameful -by-ways, is not merely to sin against charity; it is -also a blunder against life.</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2" id="Footnote_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The Rev. M. Phillips, “Evolution of Hinduism,” 1903.</p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus39" id="illus39"></a> -<img src="images/illus-39.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">NAIKIN IN KANARA</p> -</div> - -<p>The existence of such a class, regarded in the light -of ultimate truths, may fall far short of the perfect -state. But the remedy in any country lies not in their -repression and degradation, the most disastrous of all -attempts. It lies in the freedom and education of the -married woman. When the married woman also is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> -freed from the oppression of narrow codes and the dull -monotony of house-work, when she too is able to be -accomplished and graceful, witty and artistic, free to -choose as she pleases and to be true to her nature, -then no doubt the professional beauty must by the -mere weight of facts become extinct. But what -nation, what society will risk the experiment? and -what conditions can make it possible? This at least -is clear that where a rigid matrimonial system, -supported by all the sanctions of religion and inspired -by a tradition of asceticism, is fast entrenched and -fortified, where woman is limited and narrowed to the -duties of a housekeeper or a mother, there the fulfilment -of the deeper cravings of human emotion and -the satisfaction of artistic sensibilities will depend upon -a class that has in it much which is not ignoble.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center larger"><a name="chapter8" id="chapter8"></a>Woman’s Dress</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p class="smaller">“Upon my right hand did stand the Queen in a -vesture of gold wrought about in divers colours.”</p> - -<p class="smaller right"><i>Psalm XLV.</i></p> - -</div> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus40" id="illus40"></a> -<img src="images/illus-40.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">GIPSY WOMAN</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span></p> - -<h2>Chapter VIII<br /> -<span class="smaller">WOMAN’S DRESS</span></h2> - -<p>Dress in India can be comprised within a few typical -forms. Fashion, which in Europe is so frequently -variable and occupies itself with line and contour, is -in India far more stable and persistent. Fashion -exists, of course, as in every land where women live -and grow and change. But it busies itself rather -with what may be called the accidents than with the -essentials of attire. In the choice of colour the women -of India display a rich variety; and selection, though -less subject to sudden and violent alteration, is -governed by those moods of temperament which are -generalized under the name of fashion. No less -operative is changing temperament upon the designs -of jewelry and the choice of gems to set in gold. -Even in respect of the textures which women choose -for their clothes, there are collective changes of mood -and mode to be noticed. But in point of dress and -adornment, as in most other activities, in India there -is a governance by authority and a quasi-religious -sanction which is foreign to the strongly individualist -tempers of the West. The shapes and to some extent -even the colour of dress and the design and manner -of wearing jewelry are among those distinctive marks<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> -of social rank and ceremonial purity, in a word of caste, -which are guarded jealously as if almost sacrosanct. -It is only in the additions and embellishments permitted -upon the normal habits of the caste that the -human personality finds room for self-display. A -woman must first of all make her dress conform to the -approved habits of her class. That done, she is free to -express her own tastes and talents within the range -of such permissible colours and superfluous ornaments -as do not alter the essential lines of her costume.</p> - -<p>The interest of dress centres mainly upon the -human psychology of which it is one among many other -expressions. And it is not a little surprising that -this inner and living bond has so often escaped the -writers who have made costume their subject. Dress, -regarded as form and colour only, has no doubt its -own value to the painter. Like every arrangement -in which selected hues or lines are grouped for the -creation of a new beauty, it has an emotional appeal -apart from its meaning or history. The uses of -drapery in sculpture and the sensuous pleasure given -by rich velvets and gold brocades in the paintings -of Titian or Veronese are instances of the fascination -of clothes, merely on their decorative side. But an -intenser interest comes to being when dress is known -to be also the expression of a character that in one -sense may be called individual but may with more -reality be regarded as part of a vast national life.</p> - -<p>For by its very nature dress is a means selected to -heighten the attraction of the sexes for each other.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> -The use of clothes as a protection against the extremes -of climate is merely secondary and is even something -of a reproach to natural adaptation. It is as adornment, -and in its purpose of attraction, that it has its -real and ultimate meaning. That dress comes to be -used incidentally to preserve modesty does not affect -its primary purpose. Modesty itself is one of the -secondary properties of love and one of its most powerful -weapons. But it is when mankind becomes -sophisticated that the value and function of modesty -are properly understood; and it is then that dress -and ornament are so designed as to combine their -direct and, under the guise of modesty, their indirect -attractions. It follows, therefore, that in any people -the use of the means of attraction which are supplied -by dress and jewelry must correspond to the attributes -of the persons whom it is desired to attract. -If the dress did not conform to some inbred desire in -those who see it, it could have no power to please; -even it might become repellent. But similarity of -birth and training tends to mould the majority of -each nation to something of an average, and it is after -all as a response to the desires of the average person -that dress is designed. It responds, therefore, to the -psychology of the people in which it is found.</p> - -<p>Looked at from this aspect, the fundamental difference -between the costumes of European and of Indian -women becomes at once more deeply significant. In -Europe, during the long centuries that have succeeded -the fall of Rome, one quality above all has clung to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> -dress, that is, <i>bizarrerie</i> of form. The Teutonic -barbarians who uprooted the Mediterranean civilizations -and imposed in their place those tribal feudalisms -and customary rules from which Europe is not yet -fully freed, seem whether from their primitive particularism -or their inborn brutality to have largely -been lacking in the sense of form. Symmetry and -simplicity were conceptions beyond their northern -brains and outside their temperament. Even to this -day the German (who with least admixture of blood -or education represents the primeval Teutonic savage) -is hardly able by any effort of reason to comprehend -the meaning of these words. In essence, it would -seem, his mind is formless, vague, amorphous. So in -their buildings, the Goths could find no use for purity -of form. What they sought always and with a great -effectiveness achieved was a shape, or rather a conglomeration -of shapes, complicated and exaggerated, -with lengthy spires and cumbrous altitudes, that should -be curious, awful, and <i>bizarre</i>. They never sought to -soothe the mind. Their churches do not so much -attract attention, but capture it, as it were, by an -audacious ravishment. And as this purpose was congenial -to their own psychology, so did they win their -effect among their own and kindred peoples. Similarly -their women, if they were to excite the desires of men -habituated to bloodshed and the strong stress of war, -had to take their attention by storm, with the aid of -the fantastic and unexpected in their costume. -Without the subtlety of imagination and finesse to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> -excel by a fine harmony or a graceful nicety, they were -forced upon the extravagant and exuberant. The -lines of their dress were not designed to be congruous -with the human body or to agree in beautiful drapery, -but were meant rather to amaze the onlooker by a -sudden onslaught upon his vision. At any cost they -were to be effective—to produce, that is, an immediate -effect by the strangeness and extravagance of their -form. In regard to colour they had less invention -and hardly any taste; and the grey skies of the north -are not suited to the richer hues. So it was to contortions -of line and form that they had recourse. -However mitigated, these are characteristics that -remain to this day. Even in modern dress, the lines -tend to be abrupt and exaggerated, and an ever-changing -fashion varies them in a discordant manner. -Every ten years, it has been said, the shape of womankind, -as it is visible, changes in Europe. Each new -change means, of course, an attempt to capture -attention by a novel attitude. This is the cause that, -out of the whole nineteenth century, it was only for -a few years under the Consulate and early Empire -that woman’s dress appears tolerable to an artist’s eye -or even, upon reflection, to the common man or -woman.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus41" id="illus41"></a> -<img src="images/illus-41.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">A GURKHA’S WIFE</p> -</div> - -<p>Indian dress, on the other hand, has this in common -with the classic style, that it is simple in form and -harmonious. It exacts no distortions or deformities. -It veils the body but it does not misrepresent it. Still -less does it attempt to substitute a fictitious for a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> -natural line. But while the Indian mind, like that -of the classic Mediterranean peoples, approves a natural -simplicity of design, unlike the other, it delights in -a profusion of extraneous ornament. Even the monstrous -temples of the South are in essence simply -planned, but they are overlaid and even overloaded -with masses of strange carving and decoration. Indian -psychology, in this not dissimilar from the Teuton, -has a craving for the wonderful and <i>bizarre</i>. The -people are of those that look for miracles. But, by -a fortunate dispensation, they are content to leave the -pure lines of form undisturbed—a quality that keeps -them in regard to the broad facts of life true to nature. -For their wayward fancies they find scope in <i>bizarrerie</i> -of colour and external decoration. Thus the Indian -woman wears dresses that in shape are easy and simple -and beautiful, but she seeks further to attract by a -marvellous variety of colour and a curious adornment.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus42" id="illus42"></a> -<img src="images/illus-42.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">A GLIMPSE AT A DOOR IN GUJARÁT</p> -</div> - -<p>The limits of the <i>bizarre</i> as it appears in India are -probably reached in the dress of the <i>Banjara</i> women. -They belong to a tribe that, far from unmixed, has -in it much of that gipsy race, which has also migrated -across the Sind deserts and Asia Minor to the furthest -corners of Europe. For centuries they were the -carriers of India, transporting salt and opium and grain -on their pack-cattle along the trade-routes across the -continent. They have settled down now, some of -them, in little settlements where, under their own -chieftains, they till the soil and deal in cows and -buffaloes. But many of them are wanderers to this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> -day, daring smugglers, dangerous when they are -cornered, often even thieves and robbers. The men -are especially handsome, with a free and fiery look, -and a manly air. But the women also are not by any -means unattractive, and the striking dress they have -chosen, with its bold colours and its swinging skirt, -sets them up well and handsomely. The pity is that -they will wear it till from age and dirt it drops -off with its own corruption. The bright colours -they affect reach their limit in the pleated skirt with -its glaring reds and yellows, a motley that has in it -something of the clown or mountebank. The bodice -in no real sense fulfils its part but is rather a bright-decked -screen dropping from the neck to just below -the waist-line, stiffened with pieces of glass and thick -stitching. The mantle which they adopt, unlike that -of most Hindu women, is short, like that of the Mussulman, -but coarser. Their jewelry is peculiar to -themselves, and in shape strange and striking. It is -worn about the head in great profusion, so that the -twinkling cunning face seems almost set in silver. -The hair has two pleats at each side into which tassel-like -ornaments of silver are hung. But most <i>bizarre</i> -of all is the horn or stick, twined into their hair, which -rests upon the head and props up their mantle like a -tent. Originally perhaps designed to give the head a -better protection against the eastern sun, it has now -acquired a religious significance and is never doffed, -even at night in bed, except by a widow. That with -this inconvenient attachment, they still can balance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> -by its nice adjustment heavy pots of water on their -heads is one of the minor wonders of the Indian -country-side. The Banjara encampment with its -boldly-clad and boldly-staring women, also it may -be added with its strong fierce dogs of special breed, is -a sight too picturesque ever to be forgotten, especially -in a country where life tends in the villages to a brown -monotone.</p> - -<p>The <i>bizarre</i> is again to be found prevailing even -over form on the Mongolian borderland of Northern -India. In Nepal, whence come the brave Gurkha -soldiers of our wars, dress, like the shape and decoration -of the wooden temples of the people, has in -it something alien to the normal lines of Aryan -and Indian womanhood. And the strangeness is -heightened by the quaintness of the jewelry and -the uncut turquoises in which they delight.</p> - -<p>But in most of India proper the essence of dress is -simple. Shoes are not in general worn, though loose -wide slippers of velvet or of leather may be sometimes -seen. The natural result is that the foot retains a -beauty which can never be expected when it is cramped -by constant pressure. The working woman, tramping -miles along the roads or over fields, with heavy burdens -on her head or her child upon the hip, loses of course -too quickly the springing instep and sinks to a flat and -sprawling foot. But in the higher classes, or among -the womanhood whom caste preserves in a moderate -seclusion, the foot is small, well-curved, and light. It -is a thing of infinite fascination, tinted perhaps with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> -the henna’s pink, almost like a flower. Even aged -women there are to be seen, their faces worn and -wrinkled, who still have the unspoilt feet of youth and -well-born blood. Among the richer ladies of the -greater cities, where it is smart to be “advanced,” -Parisian shoes and silken stockings are nowadays worn, -at least out of doors—a habit enforced by the security -thus gained against plague infection; but the greater -number still preserves the foot free and beautiful.</p> - -<p>For the rest, among Hindu women the dress consists -of three portions only, never more, though they -may be only two. These are a skirt, a bodice, and a -mantle. The skirt is not very different from the -petticoat of Europe in cut, but may either drop simply -or be made up in accordion pleats, something as a -kilt is pleated, so cut as to stand out a considerable -way at the ankle. The latter shape, worn mainly by -the women of Márwár, but in painting invariably -given to Rádha and the loves of the god Krishna, is -most beautiful with its brush and swing. The skirt -is fastened plainly by a silken cord tied fast at the -waist and is sometimes girdled by a silver belt. The -Indian bodice again is designed in the main to support -the breast whose form it defines and even, by its -pattern, accentuates. It may either fit all round the -person, fastening in front by buttons or a ribbon, or -be a covering for the chest only, put on from the front -and tied across the open back by two tapes. But the -most distinctive feature of all is certainly the glorious -drapery of the <i>sari</i>, which has been translated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> “mantle” -in default of a better word. The <i>sari</i> is an article of -dress as distinctive as the Spanish mantilla and as -difficult to wear with the right charm and manner. -It is an oblong of material, hemmed when possible -at one side with gold embroidery and edged with a -sort of closed fringe. When, as is most common, it -is worn with a skirt, its length is about fifteen feet -and its breadth about three. When, however, as in -a contrasting style, it has by its intricacies to take the -place of an absent skirt as well, it measures some -twenty-five feet in length. It is to these mantles that -the Indian lady devotes her deftest thoughts and on -them, within the limits conceded by caste and fashion, -that she displays her personal tastes. Their hues and -patterns have an infinite range. Some are in plain -natural colours, white or red or blue—solid, unbroken -colour, not least beautiful in the stark sunlight. -Others are delicate cotton prints, flowered and -sprigged and dainty. Sometimes they are printed in -a bold decorative pattern, formal and conventional. -Neutral and half tints at times mix in a bewildering -wealth of hue, till the eye is at a loss to know whether -the ground be green or pink or purple. The border -may be a plain hem-stitch or a two-inch broad piece of -gold brocade, sumptuously woven in the acanthus -pattern or in the shape of birds and flowers. But in -the draping of the mantle, so simple in cut yet of such -infinite variety, consists the highest art and the true -expression of personality. One end is taken round the -waist a couple of times and tucked into the waist-band<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> -at the centre, falling to the feet in formal folds; the -other passes over head and shoulder, with the breadth -decorated and displayed across the upper half of the -body. In the management of the upper half lies the -true secret. It must show the full beauty of the cloth, -yet by a sort of innocent accident, without a hint of -ostentation. At the same time it must be loose enough -to allow graceful folds to drop naturally from the -head to the shoulders, and tight enough to sit close -at the breast whose curves it accentuates while it -seems to veil. Enough but not too much of the -bodice must be shown with a fine nicety. The border -is at times allowed to turn carelessly up, till the gold -armlet above the elbow can be seen even on the -covered right arm. At one moment, a modest gesture -brings the mantle across the face, as in shy courtesy -before an elder or an illustrious man; in a crowd it -is draped to hide both arms and conceal the figure; -when it slips, it is quickly drawn forward over the -head with a charming pretence of timidity. The -Márwári woman by a trick peculiar to herself makes -of her mantle a screen held open between two fingers, -through which only her lustrous eye appears, melting -and languorous; and in the armoury of every Indian -woman the mantle by its nice management is the -chief instrument of love.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus43" id="illus43"></a> -<img src="images/illus-43.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">A WIDOW IN THE DECCAN</p> -</div> - -<p>The short mantle, worn as described, should of -course imply a skirt. But in the south of Gujarát, -from Surat to Bombay, whether from the steamy -warmth of the climate or from some subtle change of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> -mood, ladies of the richer classes, while continuing -to drape the mantle in the same graceful way, have -of late years given up the usage of a skirt and wear at -most a trim lace petticoat. The effect is not unlike -that of a recent ephemeral fashion in Western Europe. -Seen in the bold Indian sunlight, the double thicknesses -of light silk or cotton are little less transparent than -a veil of gauze and limbs are revealed in a shadowed -fulness, which is less modest than it is suggestive.</p> - -<p>In the Central plateau, however, and the south -of India the skirt is also dispensed with by a fashion -that can claim at once antiquity and respectability. -There it is the long mantle, twenty-five feet in length, -which is worn. Of thick coarse silk and dark solid -colour, it is so draped as to be caught between the legs -in a broad, low-hanging fold, tucked loosely at the -back. Its folds are carefully arranged to leave a double -thickness, marked by the border of the mantle, over -the upper part of the legs. It is a style inherited -from a remote antiquity, descendant from the dresses -seen even on Buddhist carvings in the great rock -temples of the Deccan. Beautiful it can hardly be -called, with its effect of a divided skirt and its too -clumsy folds and thicknesses; but it is certainly not -frivolous. Rather perhaps should one say that it is -eminently respectable, with its sameness and stiff -conventionality. The pressure of the ascetic ideal is -shown even more strongly in the monotonous colours, -dark blue usually or dark green, which are the ordinary -wear in those parts of the country. To the artist the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> -costume, one would think, had little value; yet that -it can be idealized is seen from the effects achieved -in the simplifications of early sculpture. This contrast -in dress between the southern part of the Peninsula -and Gujarát or Northern India reflects once again -that contrast in belief and character which has already, -perhaps with a too frequent repetition, been remarked. -This monotony of asceticism is even more noticeable -in the south in the dress of widows (poor creatures -with shaven heads, their limbs untouched by a single -jewel!)—a dress of a mantle only, white or of a strange -dull, dingy red—a dress that kills all looks and attractions, -save where the light of religious duty, nature -overcome, makes the starved face seem spiritual.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus44" id="illus44"></a> -<img src="images/illus-44.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">A WOMAN OF THE UNITED PROVINCES</p> -</div> - -<p>In the dress of Mussulman women the main feature -is that trousers are substituted for the Hindu skirt. -They may be wide and baggy, cut in loose full curves -from the hips to the tighter openings at the ankles, -a style not too precise to be devoid of all attraction. -Or, as worn by ladies of the Upper Indian aristocracy -and by other women who lay claim to Moghul descent, -they may sit tight like gloves from ankle to knee, a -fashion at once ugly and repellent. It would be -difficult, even after long reflection, to design a style of -dress so unbecoming to a woman’s gait and figure, so -crudely frank, so hideously unsuggestive. A bodice -may or may not be worn, as Hindu influence is more -or less strong. A long fine shirt, half open at the neck -and falling to about the knee, is an invariable article -of dress, which on a young woman fits well and gracefully.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> -In former days, and even now among the -older-fashioned, a long full-pleated skirt and jacket in -one was worn above the other garments, fitting tight -to below the breast, then from the high-set waist-line -spreading out in wide stiff pleats like a broad petticoat. -Over her head the Mussulman lady wears a shawl or -mantilla, less long than her Hindu sister’s mantle, -which is made of the finest textures and is dyed in the -most delicate of colours. It is the full dress of the -Mussulman lady that, except in Southern India, the -dancing girl has made her own for professional uses -and embellished with every device of pattern and every -richness of material.</p> - -<p>It would be interesting to digress here, in relation -to Indian dress, upon that long conflict between the -<i>decolleté</i> and the <i>retroussé</i>, which in Europe has from -time to time been settled by the successes of the former. -But a full discussion would go beyond the purpose -and necessary limits of this book. Briefly it may be -said that, in this matter too, Indian dress quite correctly -expresses the difference which subsists between -the present European and immemorial Indian temperament. -For, with reasonable exceptions, it may -be said that in India, on the whole, no special feelings, -either of modesty or the reverse, attach to the lower -limbs. The skirt is, therefore, not the hampering, -stiff garment that it usually is in Europe. But the -upper half of the body, on the other hand, has a far -greater significance than in Western Europe. And -this it is which has made the use of the covering<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> -mantle or <i>sari</i> the most distinctive feature of Indian -costume.</p> - -<p>Dress even in its simplest form has been seen to -have its sectarian meaning and restrictions. A widow -for instance, at least among orthodox Brahmans in -the Peninsula, is limited to certain solid colours, never -black or dark blue, red as a rule, or white. And every -woman is restricted to definite shapes and cut. To -transgress beyond these limits would be to offend -against caste rules with a sanctity defended and -sanctioned by a caste tribunal. But greater significance -attaches to the use of jewelry. Some stones -are valued for this or that magical virtue; certain -metals can or must be used only at definite times and -places: some shapes of ornament are bidden or forbidden -to a certain caste. The prohibition against -wearing gold upon the feet is the most obvious instance. -Here a value of a magical kind, as a purifying agent, is -ascribed to the metal, and its use was not allowed on -limbs where it might be contaminated by the dust -and dirt of the road. Only in royal families is the -prescription ever disregarded; and even then only -by few.</p> - -<p>Of forms and modes of ornament peculiar to one -caste and partly at least sanctified by superstition, -something has already been said in describing the -fisher and the gipsy women. But instances might be -multiplied without end. Each section nearly of the -community has at least one peculiar jewel, associated -with a religious festival or a caste ceremony or belief.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> -Perhaps the most obvious examples are the charms -and talismans freely worn by all classes of Mussulman -women. In these the stones and their settings are -the symbolic expressions of deep and mysterious -thoughts and the instruments of a magical significance. -On amulets of white jade or carnelian are inscribed -in Arabic characters the highest names of the Most -High. On other cartouches are engraved the sacred -symbols of the Jewish Cabbalists, just as Hindus draw -and venerate that sign of the Swastika which from the -time of the Bronze Age has presented the beneficent -motions of the sun. They have little boxes of chased -gold in which are enclosed written charms to protect -the wearer from the malice of jinns and the malevolence -of the evil eye. On heart-shaped plates of silver -they cut the sacred hand which persists in the -escutcheon of Ulster baronets, and on others are -inscribed the name of “Tileth” and the injunction, -“Adam and Eve away from here.”</p> - -<p>But the use of jewelry has a religious tinge no less -among Hindus. It is for instance a common belief -that at least a speck of gold must be worn upon the -person to ensure ceremonial purity. Thus in Northern -India there are castes where married women wear -plates of gold on some of the front teeth; while it is -general when preparing the dead for the burning to -attach a gold coin or ring to the corpse. Moreover, -the wearing of jewelry by women is prescribed by -the sacred text which says:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> “A wife being gaily -adorned, her whole house is embellished, but if she be -destitute of ornaments, all will be deprived of decoration.” -This again is one reason why there is so little -change in the design. Variety there is, and indeed the -number of ornaments, each with a different name and -use, is almost bewildering. But in each kind the -design passes from one to another generation almost -unchanged, and the craftsman has no need to devise -new forms and varying settings. What has been worn -by the grandmother will be equally pleasing to the -grand-daughter. When there is change and variety, it -is only in the large commercial cities, where European -patterns are being exploited to the ruin of indigenous -craftsmanship.</p> - -<p>The bracelet is the most significant and the nose-ring -the most peculiar of Indian ornaments. For -bracelets are above all the visible sign of marriage. -Young girls before their wedding may wear bangles -of many kinds: but the first act of widowhood is to -discard them all. Some which are made of lac are -peculiar to the married woman, and next to them in -significance are the bangles of variegated glass which -are so much appreciated. On the husband’s death -these are at once shattered; and the same breaking -of bangles is the accompaniment of divorce. The -nose-ring, as it is called in English, is only seldom in -shape a ring. In Northern India indeed, in certain -castes, a real ring of large diameter passes through the -cartilage; and its effect is not beautiful. But in -most places and classes, it is not so much a ring as a -small cluster of gems affixed by one means or another<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> -to the nostril. That worn most commonly in the -Deccan—a sort of brooch with a large almost triangular -setting—is also clumsy and unbeautiful. Another -type, worn by the cultivators of Gujarát, is like a -button in which the jewelled top screws, through a -hole bored in the nostril, into the lower half—a form -no less ungainly. But Mussulmans adopt a different -and more graceful form. Through the central cartilage -of the nose a small gold wire passes on which -drops a jewel, at its best a fine pear-shaped pearl, -dangling down to the central curve of the upper lip. -But the prettiest of all—a real aid this to a pretty -face—is a small stud of a single diamond or ruby fixed -almost at the corner of the left nostril. Here it has -the value of a tiny beauty-spot, more attractive by its -sheen, and draws the eye to the curve of a finely-chiselled -nose and down to the petulant smiling lips.</p> - -<p>Among the most beautiful of Indian ornaments are -the <i>champlevé</i> enamels made by Sikh workers who have -found a home in the pink city of Jaipur. In golden -plaques they scrape little depressions which they fill -with oxides of various metals, fixed by the nicely-varied -temperature of fire. Gems also are worn in -great profusion by the richer classes, though little by -those who have to regard their ornaments also as an -investment. To the poor of course the purchase of -silver or gold jewelry is still the only form of saving -with which they are familiar and in which they have -confidence; and it is quite impossible even to guess the -millions of bullion hoarded unproductively in this form<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> -in India. In regard to gems, many a superstitious -belief still remains. Thus it is believed that in an -evil conjunction of the sun the ruby is propitious, -while the diamond is remedial against the baleful -influences of the moon. On the day of the week -named after Mars or War, the coral should be trusted, -and the zircon is efficacious against Mercury known as -Buddha. The pearl is specially designed for wear -when Jupiter is dangerous. The cat’s eye deflects the -radiances of Venus and in the ascending node the -emerald is sovereign. This lore of gems is set out at -length in the <i>Ruby-garland</i> of Maharaja Surendra -Mohan Tagore.</p> - -<p>The graceful dress and finely-designed jewelry of -the Indian women is a covering and an embellishment, -suitable and, as a rule, singularly attractive. But the -person that is so covered receives no less care. An -almost scrupulous personal cleanliness is observed by -nearly every woman. Among the gipsy and criminal -tribes indeed clothes are worn until they drop off -from age; and the untouchable castes who perform -the lowest menial services and cluster in sordid hovels -outside the village also leave much to be desired. In -the crowded slums of the industrial cities, too, it is to -be feared, there are many, especially of the professional -beggars, who from vice or dulled apathy allow themselves -to become foul and loathsome. But even the -worst of these could perhaps be equalled in the mean -streets of Europe. These degraded classes once out -of account, however, there is no question that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> -niceties of personal cleanliness are followed in all ranks -with a fine devotion which can be equalled only in the -upper class of Europe. In some points they may put -even those to shame though they cannot vie with the -modern luxury of the English or French lady’s bath, -with its sponges and gloves and powders and perfumed -salts. Washing in India is a religious ordinance, -scrupulously observed, and the body is cleansed with -water and made smooth like bronze with orpiment -and tinged with henna and perfumed with the essence -of flowers, till it is a mirror of purity, worthy of -adornment and respect.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center larger"><a name="chapter9" id="chapter9"></a>The Moving Finger</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“A creed is a rod</div> -<div class="verse">And a crown is of night,</div> -<div class="verse">But this thing is God</div> -<div class="verse">To be man with thy might,</div> -<div class="verse">To grow straight in the strength of thy spirit and live out thy life as the light.</div> -<div class="verse center">…</div> -<div class="verse">I bid you but <i>be</i>.</div> -<div class="verse">I have need not of prayer;</div> -<div class="verse">I have need of you free</div> -<div class="verse">As your mouths of mine air,</div> -<div class="verse">That my heart may be greater within me, beholding the fruits of me fair.”</div> -<p class="right"><i>Hertha.</i> SWINBURNE.</p> -</div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span></p> - -<h2>Chapter IX<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE MOVING FINGER</span></h2> - -<p>The aim of this book has been as far as possible to -show the Indian woman as she is, living and acting -and expanding. But life, properly speaking, cannot -be represented. Representation must always be of -something that is already past and therefore lifeless -and mechanical. It breaks off and pins down, like a -specimen in a museum, a mere fragment out of the -moving continuity of life. So a photograph for -instance, when it impresses a discontinuous moment -on the plate, merely fixes something which is artificial -and unreal. Perhaps in literature it would be impossible -to give vitality to the picture of an Indian -woman, unless in the form of poetry or prose fiction. -But the picture would then be endowed with personal -character and an individual shape. Here it was desired -rather to analyse national characteristics and to display -the varieties of Indian womanhood and their -values. It was necessary, therefore, to embody the -typical rather than the personal and to lose something -of concrete reality in the effort to generalize usual -habits of mind and body. It is, however, true that -neither man nor woman can ever be so well known, -as through the ideals which they feel. In those ideals,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> -in the spirit with which they meet the incidents of -life, consists all that is most real and permanent in -their actions. Other desires and emotions, peculiar -to the individual, which help to make his whole concrete -life, are after all unharmonized and, as it were, -accidental. Essential are the thoughts which guide -his purposes and the social atmosphere in which he -breathes. Regarded in this way, the womanhood of -India appears on the whole to be moving in all its -million lives towards a more or less similar ideal, more -or less clearly recognized as the social class rises or -sinks in education and self-consciousness. There are, -of course, exceptions. The nobility of Southern -India form a social back-water, fed by other traditions -from a secluded source. There are wild tribes on -whose crude minds the common thought has hardly -yet had time to become operative. And the Mussulman -population is, at least in name, ruled by an ethic -far more rationalistic and liberal. Yet there is not a -class which in some form or other, however indirectly, -has not had to submit to the supremacy of an ideal -which in its purer lines is truly national. With the -increased ease of communication and the rigidity -given to accepted Brahman custom by the Courts of -Law and common education, the movement towards -the same ideal throughout the various communities -has become more marked and rapid. Peculiarities of -caste and race tend to be swamped in the general -current. In a few cases, new diversities have come -into existence, where, for instance, some of a small<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> -highly-educated class have revolted against traditional -restrictions or sought a new salvation in the close -imitation of European customs without a European -environment. It is in the comprehension of these -ideals, manifested in typical castes and classes, and of -the social atmosphere that any real image of Indian -womanhood can alone be formed.</p> - -<p>But it is not enough to see a woman in her girlhood -and growth, in her love and marriage, and in her -relations to her family and society. To grasp her as she -really is she should be seen also as a mother. For if -love is a duty of womanhood, biologically the function -of motherhood is even more important. It is the -most decisive of all her functions in a primitive society. -As the race advances, it does not lose its place, but -beside it ascend other functions, first and most essential -that of love or wifehood, and afterwards that of -polishing and refining a mixed society. In value to -each life and each generation, the greatest of these -is certainly love; and the successful wife or mistress -ranks higher in art and literature and with the finer -spirits and civilizations than even the best of mothers. -For the former implies gifts which are not only rarer -but also emanate from higher and nobler qualities of -mind, while it responds to needs which are felt above -all by loftier natures. Maternity, on the other hand, -is the instinct of reproduction in action, controlled -by intelligent care and affection. It is not peculiar -to the human being but is as strong a force in the -animal. It is of course essential, like everything else<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> -that is primeval in our life; for humanity is broad-based -upon the animal. But wifehood is a conception -of the creative human intellect, a specialized object -of human feelings. The perfect beloved is an ideal -form created by a developed intellect and fastidious -emotions.</p> - -<p>Hence the worth of a nation’s womanhood can best -be estimated by the completeness with which they -fulfil the inspirations of love and its devotion. And -judged by this standard, the higher types in India -need fear no comparison. Whenever race and belief -have combined to resist the mere negatives of ascetic -teaching, there is a rich literature of love, there is a -mastery of rapture, and with it the constant service -of undying devotion.</p> - -<p>Yet fully to estimate the value of her life, it would -be necessary also to watch the Indian woman in her -performance of a mother’s functions. The strength -of her desire for children, the warmth and selflessness -of her affection, the extent of her care and teaching, -her readiness or unwillingness herself to learn the -needs of childhood, above all, the place in her heart -that she affords her children—all these are factors which -should be not merely weighed or analyzed but actually -felt by a creature intuition. But only another woman -could have such comprehension or attain such intuition. -No man—even in regard to the women of -his own country, where he is illuminated by the -examples of his mother and his wife—could have the -needed sympathy, the necessary similarity of feeling,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span> -to comprehend the woman’s emotions to the child -she bears and over whose growth she watches. It -would be impossible to attempt the task in a foreign -country of women by whose side one has not grown -from infancy.</p> - -<p>Some points, however, which lend themselves to -any observation, may be noted, all the more since they -have not infrequently led to misunderstanding. It is -the case undoubtedly that every Indian woman, -whatever her rank or race, has a clamorous wish to -bear children, above all a son, for her husband’s sake. -“How many children have you?” is the first question -every woman asks another. In order to get children -they go on pilgrimages and tolerate austerities, they -give alms to beggars and are deluded by impostors. -A childless woman becomes only too readily the butt -of scorn and even of her own self-reproach. Not to -have borne a son is to the Indian woman to have missed -her vocation and have failed in life. She has a certainty -of belief—“She knows” she would say—that -it is her function, even hers, to have children; and if -she be fruitful, she counts herself blessed. From these -data, it has often been inferred that Indian women -in all classes have an overpowering desire for motherhood -and are especially mastered by the maternal -instinct. But that this inference is wholly just, may -well be doubted.</p> - -<p>In the upper classes at least it must be admitted -that the woman wishes for children because of reasoned -and intelligible motives, and that these motives are so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> -strong as to overcome any instinctive passions. And a -will moved by a mere calculation of reason may be as -powerful as and even more effective than an act of -will which, really responds to a deep and eternal, -unreasoned, self-creating emotion. The Indian woman -at any rate has every reason to desire to be a mother, -above all the mother of a son. Hindu science and -philosophy have never hidden from her that, regarded -as a living being merely like any other animal, her -primary function is to continue the race. And religion -has impressed this teaching upon every mind by the -legend that a man’s soul can be released from the -torments which follow death only by the prayers and -ritual of a living son. Moreover, she fears that -barrenness may impose the presence of a second wife, -a rival in that love to which, after all, she gives first -place. Then, again, the end may prove to be subjection -to another woman’s son, heir to his mother’s hatreds. -Or at the best there is the pressure of religious faith—to -think herself accursed, if she has no child, while -even her husband may in time shrink from her as from -a being judged by the doom of God. All these are -motives which can be weighed by the intellect but -which move desire and will-power. Yet their action -does not in itself show that the instinct of maternity -is strong beyond the usual.</p> - -<p>It is true of course that little girls in India in their -games are accustomed to play at being mothers and -cook for imaginary children and put their dolls to bed, -and in a word play as girls do all over the world. But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> -so they play also at being wives and greeting their -husbands and bowing to a mother-in-law. When it -is considered how early they learn the secrets of life -and how few their other games and amusements can -be, it is hardly astonishing that motherhood should -enter soon in their thoughts and pastimes. But the -European child is at least as ready to play with dolls -and as fond of mothering her pets with a mimicry -to which her instincts call her. Where the European -girl differs is that marriage enters little into her -thoughts and games, love in any real sense hardly at -all; whereas the Indian girl from childhood has her -mind filled with glad anticipations, and responds to -the name of marriage with a ready and not altogether -unconscious emotion. Even from the example of the -child, then, the inference would rather be that the -instinct for love is quickly developed than that the -maternal instinct is stronger than in other peoples.</p> - -<p>There are considerations of many kinds which go -to show that the desire for love is first in the Indian -woman’s heart, at least in the higher and better nurtured -classes. In England for instance it is really -now the case—largely owing to the defects of a highly -artificial education and partly from the evils produced -by bad economic conditions—that there are quite a -number of women who would desire to be mothers -but who actually look upon marriage and love as a -distasteful and unpleasant preliminary. Such a perversion -of view, it can at once be said, is unknown in -India—not only unknown indeed, but even inconceivable.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span> -Every woman may wish for a child, but -she wishes first and above all for the blessing of a -loving husband, and she desires the child mainly to -satisfy and conciliate the man to whom she gives -herself joyfully.</p> - -<p>Again it is striking that the whole long record of -Indian literature contains hardly one picture of a -mother’s love, and is dumb even about the longing -at her heart for a child. Erotic poetry is full and -voluminous and the love of man and woman is sung -in burning words in thousands of lyrics, while it is also -depicted with a more objective grandeur in numerous -epics. Hardly any European literature, at least since -Alexandria, can vie with this literature of love in -volume and intensity. But in the poetry of the -West, mother’s love has had its honoured place. In -the letters of India it is almost absent.</p> - -<p>It is sometimes suggested in India, and it may -perhaps be true, that in the castes which allow divorce, -a mother’s affection for her child is a passion stronger -than her love for her husband. It would indeed -sometimes seem in those classes that she would more -readily choose to sacrifice the father than the child. -But it does not follow that the cause lies in the -freedom of divorce, even though it be a factor which -co-operates in the result. For in practice the Hindu -castes which allow divorce are almost all of the lower -class—in some cases not much above the savage, -ignorant, of a slow sensibility, unstimulated by the -arts and luxuries of civilization. Their passions have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> -not yet much refined above the elemental. For that -fine and ennobling love which is the fruit of advanced -culture they have not yet developed the capacity. -But the maternal instinct remains among them in all -its primitive strength. And it has not to divide -its sovereignty with the emotions of a later culture. -Relatively its force is greater, because undivided.</p> - -<p>But, it must be said, in no class does maternal -affection arouse, as it should, that persistent and -laborious effort to tend and educate, which is its -worthiest criterion. The Indian mother is lavish -with her caresses and endearments, as in other moods -she may fly into fits of uncontrolled anger. But, -except for the lengthy period of nursing, sometimes -three and ordinarily two years, to which she is willing -to devote herself, she shows only too little of that -continuous and intelligent care which is expected from -a mother. Largely no doubt this is due to ignorance. -She has not—one might with justice say she is not -allowed to have—the knowledge which is needed to -be a good mother. She is unaware of the most elementary -requirements of sanitation and health. Worse -still, she has not been trained to know the importance -of compelling good habits and regular discipline in -early childhood. Again, though she is usually an -affectionate, she is not often an inspiring, mother. -She is probably at her best as she sees her children fed -with the food she has cooked herself, giving to each -the tit-bits that she can, looking lovingly to their -comforts, herself waiting till all are done before she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> -sits down to her own meal. This is the memory that -lingers most closely in the Indian’s mind as the man -grows older and leans on retrospect. To most -European children the remembrance that is dearest is -that of his mother stooping over his cot to kiss him -good-night, radiant in beauty, clad in silks and laces, -with the gleam of white shoulders and precious stones -to set off the soft curves of her dear face, before she -leaves for a dinner, a theatre, or a ball. He is proud -of her looks, so transformed, and of her charm, proud -that he belongs to a being so splendid and so wonderful. -But to the Indian the picture that recurs is of -ungrudging kindly service. And perhaps the prolonged -nursing period, bad as in other respects it is—bad -especially for the over-taxed mother—serves to -draw closer the bond between her and the child, -already conscious of its own existence. Certain it is -that the Indian son, as he grows up, forbears ever to -judge his mother. Of Indian women generally, or of -the mothers of other men, he may complain for their -ignorance and their disregard of matters which he has -taught himself to consider necessary; he may even -with some unfairness blame them for a want of steadfast -purpose and regularity, which is by no means -peculiar to their sex. But for his own mother he -preserves a constant respect and loving solicitude.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus45" id="illus45"></a> -<img src="images/illus-45.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">IN THE HAPPY VALLEY OF KASHMIR</p> -</div> - -<p>Yet, all said and done, it is not in motherhood, but -rather in her love, that the Indian woman has reached -her highest achievement. The devotion and self-sacrifice -which are hers form a triumph of the spirit;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> -and she clothes these virtues with sensuous charm and -transcendent ecstasy. She gives freely of herself -with both hands, by service and surrender, by wistfulness -and delight.</p> - -<p>It is in the quality of social charm that the Indian -woman is most often lacking. For the man she loves -she can command every grace. She can be coaxing, -caressing, kind, gentle, tender, submissive, all in one. -Even to the stranger, alone in her family as guest or -dependent, she shows herself solicitous and kindly, -with a pleasing quiet charm that comes from the -heart. But she has not the habit of social entertainment -or that special training, so much a matter of a -quickened intelligence, which is required to set general -acquaintances at ease or to lead a conversation which -should be at once comprehensive and light. She has -no general coquetry and is often without that ease of -manner and unconstrained grace of movement in a -crowded room, which can hardly be acquired otherwise -than by the habitual usage of good society. This -lapse from complete achievement marks itself most -strongly in the intonations of her voice. For it must, -alack, be admitted that the Indian woman’s voice is -her weak point. Here are few of those soft, round, low -but clear mezzos and contraltos which like bronze -bells sound so deliciously in a European drawing-room. -The voice in India seems seldom to have that -steady control and rounded <i>timbre</i> which is gained -from the repression of strained and uneven notes and -the modulation of all tones to one easy key. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> -Indian girl is not even taught to sing and knows -nothing of voice production. What little she does -sing, untaught or worse than untaught, is more often -a scream than a real melody. Good voices are almost -the monopoly of the professional dancing girl. Hence -even in ordinary conversation, a lady’s speech tends -to harsh and abrupt sounds, shrill and not beautiful. -Her intonation is only too often an antidote to the -charms of her fastidious neatness and her kindly eyes -and smile.</p> - -<p>Society, it must be said, and social converse had in -India ceased to exist some fifteen hundred years ago. -It does not happen that a company of men and women -meet on easy terms for entertainment with the -pleasures of light and familiar conversation, not -learned, never, please heaven, didactic or instructive, -but clever, witty, illumined by intuitions and swift -generalizations, light of touch, and near to laughter. -Nor is anything known of that innocent coquetry -of well-bred womanhood, which seeks no particular -stimulations but appeals for a general admiration, -impersonally given to that fine spirited, finely attractive -being who is the last word in luxury and taste and -womanly moderation.</p> - -<p>In India as one knows it—whatever it may have been -in the remoter age pictured in the caves of Ajanta—the -aspirations of women have taken a different course -through a more placid water. Where they steer is -no ebb and flow of conflicting purpose and sometimes, -as they pass listlessly to the shore, it looks almost as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> -if the roadstead had come to a stagnation. And yet—yet -the course is set correctly and the sun is rightly -taken. It may be that the horizon is viewed too low -and that the profundities of the human spirit are not -yet plumbed; but the Indian woman crosses the -waters of life on a line true to her nature and her -functions.</p> - -<p>There is in all the Indian languages which derive -from Sanscrit a word whose habitual usage is significant -of a whole attitude to life, by whose meaning -alone it is possible to understand the position sought -by and accorded to womanhood. It is the word -“<i>dharma</i>” which has been constantly mistranslated -into English as “religion.” But when an Indian -speaks of “<i>dharma</i>” he means really the duties, -divinely imposed if you like or valid in nature, of his -station. Between this “<i>dharma</i>” and that, between -the “<i>dharma</i>” of his own class or sex and that of -others, he draws a sharp distinction. In England, too, -this sense is not unknown and the great landlord, for -instance, speaks with right of the duties of his position, -contrasting them with a broad distinction to those of -the merchant, for example, or the workman. <i>Noblesse -oblige</i> is a proverb that has been applied in all countries. -But throughout Western thought there runs the idea -that duty and morals must at bottom be one and the -same for all. It is only, one might say, as a concession -that the special duties of each station are recognized; -and at most they are referred rather to the accidentals -of life, to those supererogatory virtues which may be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> -expected, like magnanimity or liberality from the -rich and powerful, or that exceptional patience and -humility which many persons seem to expect from the -needy and unfortunate. The basic more permanent -rules of moral conduct are regarded as something -absolute, unalterable, unconditioned. Even the differences -of sex are forgotten in the abstract contemplation -of fixed moral laws. In practice, of course, facts have -often compelled peoples to admit that differences -do exist in the application of rules of conduct. Thus, -to take a recent instance, in the crisis of war public -opinion has allowed that even the supreme duties of -citizenship press with divergent force upon married -and unmarried men. Similarly it was until recently -recognized by all and is even now by the greatest -number that there are matters in which the conduct -of men and women cannot be the same and that the -same rights and duties cannot be applied indiscriminately -to both sexes. But the recognition was seldom -more than tacit. It was never co-ordinated, at least -in England, to a reasoned view of life. It was not -built upon a deliberate analysis of natural differences -in function and in sensory and nervous force. It -tended rather to be a mere concession to passing -conditions of life. Thought, when it was explicit, -dwelt chiefly upon abstract ideas of equality and equal -duties. Some writers even tried to explain away the -differences of character between men and women -by referring them to mere accidents of environment, -to women getting a less thorough education, for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> -instance, or less of a chance in life, as it was called. -It was not openly and clearly recognized that the -natures and functions of men and women were different -in essentials, and that the rules of conduct must -in consequence be relative to different needs and -purposes.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus46" id="illus46"></a> -<img src="images/illus-46.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">A DENIZEN OF THE WESTERN GHAUTS</p> -</div> - -<p>In India, the way in which “<i>dharma</i>” is understood -has made such a mistake impossible. From its implications -it is believed by all, or has until the last few -years been believed, that duty must necessarily be -relative to function and must correspond with fitness -to inner nature. A distinction so obvious and primary -as that of sex can in consequence be ignored by none -except a few recent abstract thinkers. The rights -and duties of women are defined in relation to the -activities which are imposed on them by the principles -of their nature; and the ideal which is painted is -in harmony with the natural laws of flesh and spirit. -Modesty, self-sacrifice, tenderness, neatness, all that -is delicate and fastidious, those are qualities which -have a natural propriety. To play her modest part -in the family household quietly, to sweeten life within -the radius of her influence, to serve her children, to -please the man to whom she is dedicated, to receive -pleasure in her love, and find happiness in the pleasures -that she gives, that is a woman’s “<i>dharma</i>”—her fitting -performance of function. It is not, of course, that -Hinduism does not know that men and women are -alike in respect of certain faculties and both alike -distinguished from other living creatures. But it has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> -laid more stress upon the differences in function. It -has been able to see that the being of each separate -man and woman is one and indivisible, and that sex -is not a mere distinction added or subtracted but -rather the shape in which the whole living, acting -human creature is cast and moulded. This, which is -the teaching of India’s philosophies, is also the practical -wisdom of her peoples. And this it is which has -kept Indian women so superbly natural, so calmly -insistent on their sex. In Northern Europe, it may -perhaps be said, the evolution of womanhood has -more rapidly progressed, in response to a quickly -developing environment; but in as far as it has rejected -nature and inner law, it may the rather tend to be in -fact a <i>devolution</i>, a turn or twist <i>from</i> the road and -not a progress. In India evolution has been slow, -cramped by unnecessary superstitions and arbitrary -abstentions, but in its main lines at least it is consistent -and natural. Its form is not unsuitable; -though it still has to be filled with a larger and richer -content.</p> - -<p>But the content of life in India is in truth already -being enriched. Her women are no mere abstractions, -fixed and immovable, to be delineated by thin conventional -lines. Rather must they be thought of as a -mass of concrete, distinguishable, living human beings, -moving as a whole towards a larger freedom. Only a -century ago when the greatest of German thinkers, -Hegel, wrote his “Philosophy of History” he could -with no little truth say that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> “Indian culture had -not attained to a recognition of freedom and inner -morality,” and could assert that in the Indian soul there -was “bound up an irrational imagination which attaches -the moral value and character of men to an infinity of -outward actions as empty in point of intellect as of feeling, -and sets aside all respect for the welfare of men and -even makes a duty of the cruellest and severest contravention -of it.” Women of course in all countries are -far more conservative than men and are more readily -content to sink the needs of personality in a general -level of unruffled action. Yet even among the women -of India a new spirit of liberation from external -limitations is becoming visible and an aspiration to an -excellence that shall be from within. In spite of caste -distinctions, in spite of the forced rigidity of the -marriage system, in spite of all the mental unrest and -error of the educated and the practical inertia of the -unread, in spite of all this and much more, it would -now be far from true to say of them as a whole that -they are unconscious of inward freedom and inward -law or are blind to the needs of human welfare in the -conditions of human life.</p> - -<p>But this inner freedom and external amplitude -need not be sought and will not be gained in the -imitation of foreign manners and customs. Such -imitation can never be anything but unnatural and -inharmonious; and the castes which have tried it -have not succeeded in avoiding evil consequences. -A better way is to revert to the ancient ideals which -still inspire all that is good in later practice. Dark<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> -ages of ignorance have pruned and pinched the older, -freer spirit, by superstitious and absurd asceticisms -and misinterpreted authorities. Only the ruling castes -have enlarged themselves from the bondage by their -more virile audacities. In general even the primitive -and natural classes, as they raise their status and -become reflective, succumb to the same narrowing -limitations and impose upon their womankind disabilities -which are external and mechanical but which -they see current in the higher Brahmanized classes. -Yet in the older, nobler days, the Indian women had -a life larger by far and more rich in fulfilment. To -regain this, which after all is still a living ideal, -and to ennoble and enlarge it further through that -Greek thought—that inspiring humanity and breath -of happiness—which is the life-giving element of -European science and civilization, that were indeed -an end worthy of a fine tradition. To cut away from -the bonds of fears and artificialities and non-human -hopes and terrors and seek only to <i>be</i>, wholly and fully, -in the harmony of nature and function and sane -development, preserving the eternal virtues of womanhood, -and finely conscious of a proud tradition—by -some such purpose surely might it be possible to secure -safe continuity and social health while attaining a -progressive and extended activity that should not be -alien or discordant. But the timidities of crude -asceticism must first be overcome. A generation -must arise which can comprehend that self-control -is not abstention, far from it, but is found only when, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> -free soul, governing itself by its own laws, seeks its -own satisfaction and the development of all its -functions in its free activities. To deny human -nature, for any price however fanciful, is more harmful -by far than the “Fay ce que Voudras” of any -Abbaye de Thelème.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus47" id="illus47"></a> -<img src="images/illus-47.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">A WORKING WOMAN AT AJMERE</p> -</div> - -<p>Of the narrow and incongruous privations with -which the old ideals were overlaid in the later decadence -many still remain. Most cruel and least defensible of -all is the prejudice, common in all classes except the -highest and not unknown even there, against the -enjoyment of literature and art. Music is discountenanced, -pictures are never seen, even reading and writing -is thought unwomanly. When not only the charming -likeness drawn of women in old books is remembered, -but in actual life also one sees the fine harmony -achieved by those ladies, Rajputs perhaps or Nágar -Brahmans, who can recite and enjoy poetry and even -sing or play instruments—with what far greater happiness -to themselves and the men they love!—it should -be plain how great is the national loss wrought by this -empty deprivation. Of all the European countries, -it is in France that women have most nearly attained -that final excellence which both accords with the -true tradition of Western life and is not out of harmony -with their nature. There a sane and wise worldliness -has led to an incessant regard to neatness and careful -management, an avoidance of all that is wasteful or -excessive. And French life of course pivots upon a -mixed society, easily mingling in graceful and polished<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span> -intercourse—an urbane fellowship in a human <i>civitas</i>, -a citizenship in whose enjoyment, it might almost -seem, lies the last test of civilization. Hence the -French woman, for her part, has trained herself or -been trained to be the instrument of a symphony of -urbanity and well-bred fellowship, giving of her own -characteristic qualities to be an inspiration and a -standard to the creative art. Yet, with it all, she -is emphatic of her sex. From the highest to the -lowest class, one may see her, neat, well dressed, -choice in adornment, lavish of love. But she is also -tirelessly ready to serve, in her house-keeping as in -affairs, devoted to the family of which she is the living -bond, an affectionate but careful mother who is -honoured and loved by her sons with a pure and -tender fervour. For in France, in spite of the general -European tendency to moral absolutes at least in -theory, the balanced sanity and practical wisdom of -the people has never failed to recognize the different -spheres and powers, qualities and weaknesses, of men -and women. And further, Greek thought and an -unbroken Roman tradition have kept alive in France -the ideal of a temperate and steady fruition of a world -that is made for mankind. In India conditions are -different and there is no tradition of mixed society -with an easy untrammelled exchange of ideas. Yet -even within the limits of the family, it might be -thought, the added enjoyment and the larger and -finer interests that would be gained by some such -acquaintance with books and music and paintings, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span> -the nobler emotions thus won, should seem desirable -to all who can think at all.</p> - -<p>Controversy has raged fiercely in India round this -question of woman’s education. The number of -women who can even read and write, if all classes in -the whole country are regarded, is a negligible -quantity, so small it is; and there are vast tracts in -which even Brahman girls remain wholly illiterate. -There are many to this day who bitterly oppose even -the teaching of letters to girl-children. That this -can be the case is of course due to the ignorance of -their parents. They have not yet been able to grasp, -nor do they know their own ancient history to sufficient -purpose, that reading and writing is the birth-right -of every human being and a necessary condition of all -intelligence and rational development. They are not -aware that the ancient ideal contemplated no such -renouncement. And quite without cause they fear -that instruction for a few years in the elements of -education would interfere with the routine of family -life and the customs of marriage. They have perhaps -never had it clearly put to them how simply this -instruction could be fitted in with the usual programme -of an ordinary household and how it need imply no -departure from existing practice in other matters. -But indefensible though this opposition to elementary -instruction must be, the objections against further -education are unfortunately by no means without -excuse. For it must with bitterness be confessed that -the modern world, at any rate in Europe, has not yet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> -devised any suitable system of higher education for -girls, has indeed rather busied itself with what is -unsuitable and injurious. “Advanced thinkers” and -“social leaders” have a way of shutting their eyes to -scientific results; and facts are hard things which a -flabby age prefers to ignore. So girls have been -encouraged to emulate boys and young men in every -sort of examination within the same curriculum, -without heed of their earlier precocity, different -method of nervous activity and smaller reserve force, -to the detriment of health and natural talents and to -their unfitting for their own purposes and functions. -It is this which Indian parents, with an eye open to -facts when they are so broad and natural as the facts -of sex, have apprehended, however dimly, and as it -were unconsciously. They have guessed what higher -education must in all probability mean in India, as long -as European education remained unchanged. And -they would not let their girls run the risk of an education -which might distort, rather than develop, their -sex. Late events served further to deepen this strong -and instinctive distrust; and it is indisputable that -the excesses of an unhappy section of English women -with abnormal aspirations have set back the cause of -women’s education in India by many decades.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 275px;"> -<a name="illus48" id="illus48"></a> -<img src="images/illus-48.jpg" width="275" height="400" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">BORN BESIDE THE SACRED RIVERS</p> -</div> - -<p>The misfortune is that in India opposition does not -confine itself to a particular and, one hopes, a temporary -phase of secondary education; nor does it -recognize that in all countries, and especially in India -with its universal and early marriage, the question of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> -higher education can affect only a very small number -of the total. The feeling of dislike is instinctive and -intuitional rather than a reasoned criticism, and it -has crept on like a cloud of smoke over the whole -field of elementary education. Necessarily it has also -obscured all view of a possible, better indigenous -method of higher education, which should at once be -consonant with the traditions of ancient India and the -needs of women in Indian society. Such a system -appears now to have been set under way in the wonder-working -country of Japan, and with little change -might probably be made suitable to Indian conditions. -It deserves at least to be studied without prejudice -and with a settled understanding of the requirements -of the land and of the small classes of women who -would directly benefit.</p> - -<p>In spite of all obstacles, due partly to the decay of -older customs, partly also to imported confusions, it -may be hoped that before long it will be admitted -that every girl must be taught to read and write. -And one may even hope that a higher education will -ensue which, without slurring over a woman’s earlier -precocity and special talents, without ignoring her -specific duties as wife and mother, without forgetting -the peculiar needs and excellences of her mind and -body, will in addition make her more liberal, better -instructed, a worthier companion and a nobler inspiration. -In India happily a girl is already allowed -to know the facts of life and her emotions are at least -natural. But such an education as one foresees would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span> -teach her to know more clearly and with scientific -truth how to be at once a pleasing and happy wife and -a good mother. She, and through her the children -whom she trains, would learn the evils of premature -or too constantly recurring childbirth and how to -avoid them easily. She would know also how to -protect her family from uncleanly surroundings and -unwholesome habits. She would not unlearn but -rather be taught even better the necessary arts of -cooking and of sewing, the latter nowadays in many -cases almost unknown. But in addition she would -also learn to appreciate the beauties of language and -of craftsmanship, to hear and understand great poetry, -and to feel her whole being thrill to a more glorious -harmony in response to the call of the fine arts. She -would still—like the Nair ladies of whom old Duarte -Barbosa wrote—“hold it a great honour to please -men.” Yet she would please not merely by her passion -and purity and service, but, keeping these, would also -create a higher attraction of the spirit. Thus would -the lotus women of India be in truth such that of each -it might be said:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> “She walks delicately like a swan -and her voice is low and musical as the note of the -cuckoo, calling softly in the summer day.… She is -gracious and clever, pious and respectful, a lover of -God, a listener to the virtuous and the wise.”</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“It may be all my love went wrong—</div> -<div class="verse">A scribe’s work writ awry and blurred,</div> -<div class="verse">Scrawled after the blind evensong—</div> -<div class="verse">Spoilt music with no perfect word.”</div> -<p class="right"><i>The Leper.</i> SWINBURNE.</p> -</div> -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Women of India, by Otto Rothfeld - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WOMEN OF INDIA *** - -***** This file should be named 50346-h.htm or 50346-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/3/4/50346/ - -Produced by Julie Barkley and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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