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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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..3653883 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #55465 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55465) diff --git a/old/55465-0.txt b/old/55465-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 30f72ca..0000000 --- a/old/55465-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3660 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's The Peoples of India, by James Drummond Anderson - -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: The Peoples of India - -Author: James Drummond Anderson - -Release Date: August 31, 2017 [EBook #55465] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PEOPLES OF INDIA *** - - - - -Produced by deaurider, Chris Pinfield and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - -Transcriber's Note: - -Apparent typographical errors have been corrected, and the use of -hyphens has been normalized. - -The author does not identify the transliteration scheme(s) used for -Indian words in the text. Macrons (as in "ā") are used extensively and -there is some use of the "diacritic dot" (as in "ṇ"). - -Text in italics is indicated by _underscores_ and text in black-letter -font is indicated by +plus signs+. Small capitals have been replaced by -full capitals. - - - - -The Cambridge Manuals of Science and Literature - -THE PEOPLES OF INDIA - - - CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS - +London+: FETTER LANE, E.C. - C. F. CLAY, MANAGER - -[Illustration: university crest] - - +Edinburgh+: 100, PRINCES STREET - +Berlin+: A. ASHER AND CO. - +Leipzig+: F. A. BROCKHAUS - +New York+: G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS - +Bombay and Calcutta+: MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD. - -_All rights reserved_ - - -[Illustration: - - Brāhmans - (_Mirzapur district_)] - - -[Illustration: title page - - THE PEOPLES OF INDIA - BY - J. D. ANDERSON, M.A. - - Teacher of Bengali in the - University of Cambridge, formerly - of the Indian Civil Service - - Cambridge: - at the University Press - - 1913] - - +Cambridge+: - PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A. - AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS - -_With the exception of the coat of arms at the foot, the design on the -title page is a reproduction of one used by the earliest known Cambridge -printer, John Siberch, 1521_ - - - - -PREFACE - - -The writing of this little book has been delayed by the hope I once -cherished of incorporating in it some of the results of the Indian -Census of 1911. This desire was inevitable in the case of a retired -Indian official, who, like most of his kind, has taken a small part in -one or more of the decennial numberings of the Indian people. In this -country, a Census affords material chiefly for the calculations and -theories of the statistician, and the Registrar-General is not regarded -as an expert in Anthropology or Linguistics. But in India the case is -very different. If the district officer is always glad to learn as much -as possible of the people with whom he is brought into contact, his -official duties often reveal only the seamy side of Indian life, and it -is only when he is in camp, or snatching a rare and hurried holiday in -shooting, that he gets to see something of the people otherwise than as -litigants or payers of revenue. A census is an agreeable and welcome -opportunity for looking at India from another and more genially human -point of view. In the first place, it is one of the least expensive of -official operations, since it is chiefly performed by unpaid and -volunteer agency. Hence the official, a little weary of litigants, -touts, pleaders, and subordinates, who, however amiable in their private -lives, are apt to be indolent and obstructive in office, is glad to make -acquaintance with new friends, who, for the most part, take an -intelligent and amused interest in the unfamiliar task of numbering. For -many busy weeks before the actual counting takes place, the district -officer has to ride far and near, to satisfy himself that all necessary -preparations have duly been made, to issue the instructions that may be -called for by the zeal, inquisitiveness or density of his volunteer -colleagues. In the process, he has many pleasant and some amusing -experiences. On one occasion I rode into a little village on the -north-eastern frontier, inhabited by semi-savage Tibeto-Burmese people. -Official orders as to the numbering of all the house in legible figures -had apparently not been obeyed. I simulated wrath and disappointment, -but the worthy headman on whom I vented my (purely official) indignation -was not dismayed. "Bring out your drums!" he shouted. Every householder -produced the family kettle-drum, on the head of which the number of his -house had been duly inscribed in large figures. There was no paper in -the village, but parchment was invented before paper, and the headman -deserved the commendation I was glad to bestow. On another occasion, I -found a house numbered indeed, but grievously dilapidated and obviously -deserted. "Why is this empty house numbered?" I asked. "It is haunted by -a ghost, sir," answered the enumerator. I confess I felt sorry not to -allow him to include this ghostly visitant in a census of living men. -Other incidents, more ethnologically important than these, will -frequently occur. In any case the Census Report of an Indian province is -by far the most interesting official document in existence, and each -census adds something to our knowledge of Indian humanity, if only -because each Census Commissioner, always an officer of unusual ability -and attainments, looks at his task from a point of view somewhat -different from that of his predecessors, and stamps his individuality on -the work of his subordinates. Those who have read Mr E. A. Gait's -article on _Caste_ in the _Dictionary of Ethics and Religion_ will -expect the census of 1911 to contain new views and fresh information as -to the actual working of the caste system in various provinces, and its -relation to the religious ideas of the people. - - * * * * * - -It was natural, then, that I should wish to learn from a new tapping of -the source from which has been compiled, for the most part, the ethnical -portion of the first volume of the Imperial Gazetteer of India, which -has been my chief authority in compiling this little book. But I know -not when Mr Gait's Report for all India will be ready, and even the -Provincial Reports come but slowly from the Press. Most of them are full -of the most interesting and valuable information, but it takes time to -assimilate so much new matter, and, in any case, not much of it could -have been utilized for so small and elementary a book. Hence I have -simply to state my debt to the late Sir H. H. Risley and Mr E. A. Gait -for the chapter on Race and Caste; to Sir G. A. Grierson for the chapter -on Languages, and to Mr William Crooke for enabling me further to -summarise his masterly summary of what is known about Indian Religions. -It is a particular pleasure to acknowledge my indebtedness to my friend -Sir G. A. Grierson. Years ago, when we were young men, it was known that -in him the Indian Civil Service possessed a scholar and a linguist of -most unusual industry and ability. But few knew that there was -germinating in his mind the scheme for the great _Linguistic Survey of -India_, the most remarkable feat of administrative scholarship, perhaps, -that has ever been attempted, a feat that has won him the _Prix Volney_ -and I know not what other appreciations of his work in France and -Germany. His learning and linguistic skill are widely known, but I must -seize the opportunity to tell of another feature of his achievement. Of -course no man knows more than a few of the hundreds of Indian languages, -but there is one man who knows something of the working and mechanism of -them all, and that is Sir G. A. Grierson. I had the privilege of helping -him with part of the Bodo volume of his _Survey_, having had occasion to -learn one or two Tibeto-Burman languages in the course of official duty. -The practised ease with which he acquired the syntactical and phonetic -peculiarities of languages with which he had no previous acquaintance -was the most surprising and delightful intellectual performance I have -ever witnessed. - -I have ventured occasionally to enliven my chiefly borrowed narrative -with personal ideas or reminiscences. Such digressions have however been -few and brief, and I do not think I need apologise for them. - -I have to thank Miss Lilian Whitehouse and my son, Lieut. M. A. -Anderson, R.E., for the two diagrammatic maps which will, I hope, clear -up any geographical difficulties created by a necessarily brief account -of a large and complicated subject. - -I owe the illustrations of caste types to the kindness of Mr William -Crooke. They are from photographs of inhabitants of one single district -of the United Provinces and are interesting as showing how in a single -small area racial differences show themselves in such a way as to be -recognisable by the most careless observer. They prove once more how -stratified Indian humanity has become under the influence of caste rules -of marriages. - -J. D. A. - -_September, 1913._ - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAP. PAGE - - PREFACE v - - INTRODUCTION 1 - - I. RACE AND CASTE 13 - - II. THE LANGUAGES OF INDIA 54 - - III. THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA 81 - - BIBLIOGRAPHY 113 - - INDEX 115 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - -PLATE - -Brāhmans (_Mirzapur district_) _Frontispiece_ - - I. Mahābrāhmans (_Mirzapur district_) _To face page_ 12 - - II. Kāyasthas—the writer caste (_Mirzapur - district_) " 24 - - III. Dharkārs (_Mirzapur district_) " 36 - - IV. Banjara women (_Mirzapur district_) " 48 - - V. Seoris or Savaras (_Mirzapur district_) " 60 - - VI. A Bhuiyār (_Mirzapur district_) " 72 - - VII. A Ghāsiya (_Mirzapur district_) " 84 - - - - -MAPS - - -The Indian Empire—Distribution of Population _At end of book_ - -The Indian Empire—Distribution of Prevailing - Languages " - - - - -INTRODUCTION - - -It is necessary, once more, to remind the reader that the peninsula of -India has an area and population roughly equal to the area and -population of Europe without Russia. Everyone who has learnt geography -at school is familiar with the great triangle, its base in the soaring -Himalayan heights in the north, its apex jutting into the Indian Ocean, -and marked by the satellite island of Ceylon. To the north, then, is the -great mountain barrier, a tangled mass of snowy peaks, glaciers and -snowfields, separating the sunny plains of India proper from the -plateaux of Central Asia. Beneath them lie wide river basins, sandy and -dry as unirrigated Egypt to the west; moist, warm, and waterlogged to -the east. To the south of the valleys of the Indus and the Ganges is the -central plateau, home of many aboriginal races. This rises on the west -into a castellated rampart of hills facing the Arabian Sea, and on the -south slopes away into green undulating uplands. So much, at least, of -geographical description must be given as a clue to the distribution of -the peoples of India. Along the Himalayas, growing stronger in numbers -as we go eastwards, are races mostly of a Mongolian type, mingled with -purely Indian elements. In the Panjāb and the United Provinces, sending -offshoots southwards along the well-watered west coast, are the peoples -in whom the traces of Aryan immigration are most visible. In Bengal we -find a duskier race, provisionally termed Mongolo-Dravidian, but with a -strong infusion, in the upper classes, of western blood. In the south -are a still darker population almost wholly Dravidian. It is in the most -ancient part of India, in the high plateau of the Deccan, that there -still dwell the peoples who are probably the aborigines of the land and -use the most purely Indian languages, the various Dravidian dialects. -The geologically recent valleys of the Indus and Ganges are the home of -races, mingled with aboriginal peoples, whose language and physical -features show that in them is a strong strain of immigrant blood. - -On the Himalayan slopes, in Assam, and especially in Burma, are -Tibeto-Burman peoples, with something of a Japanese aspect. Intermingled -with all these, in forests and on rough and hardly accessible hills, are -scattered many groups of semi-savage folk, of whom little was known till -the gradual spread of British rule carried the administrator, the -missionary, and finally the anthropologist, into regions once considered -unfit for the presence of civilised men. - -So far, it may be said, the distribution of Indian humanity is not very -unlike that of the races of Europe. Even this very crude summary, it is -true, shows at least three great groups of languages, Dravidian in the -south, Indo-European in the west and north-west, Tibeto-Burman in the -north and the north-east. There are in fact five separate families of -human speech which have their homes in India; the Aryan, the Dravidian, -the Mundā, the Mon-Khmer, and the Tibeto-Chinese. The lateral spread of -these is, of course, no real indication of the present habitat of five -different races of men. But they do indicate the existence, in varying -degrees of purity, of five different origins, of which the Dravidian and -Mundā alone can be said to be purely indigenous and confined to the -Indian peninsula. Nowhere is it more easy than in India to see how -languages spread from race to race, from tribe to tribe, with a sort of -linguistic contagion; the stronger, more supple, more copious, more -cultivated languages replacing and gradually destroying weaker forms of -speech. Something of the same sort has occurred, and is even now -happening, in Europe. But the surviving European languages are mostly -sturdy and vigorous, and do not readily yield place to one another. In -India the process of linguistic invasion is going on before our eyes, -attendant on the gradual growth of Hindu civilisation and religion, -which disdains to practise open and reasoned proselytism, but extends -its borders nevertheless, and carries with it one or another of the -Aryan dialects. - -In spite of the spread of the stronger languages, the five great -families of Indian speech remain and testify to more varied origins than -those of Europe. One of the first results of familiarity with Indian -peoples is a sense of their remarkable variety of aspect and culture. -When the stranger lands in India, his first feeling is one of -bewildering sameness; the dusky beings that surround him seem as like -one another as sheep, or peas. But that sensation is merely due to the -predominance of unfamiliar colour, and soon gives way to an impression -of astonishing and most interesting variety. This variety is exhibited -by the careful anthropometric investigations of the ethnologist. But -there is more variety than average measurements show, and the rough -impressions of the experienced administrator and traveller are not -without their value. For instance, Sir William Hunter, in his work on -_The Indian Empire_, classified the highlanders of Chota Nagpore as a -race apart, whom he called Kolārians. Sir H. H. Risley says that "the -distinction between Kolārians and Dravidians is purely linguistic, and -does not correspond to any differences of physical type." As a matter of -average physical measurements, this criticism is just. The average -dimensions of Sonthal skulls are the same as those of other Dravidian -races. But he would be a poor observer of racial characteristics, who -could not pick out a typical inhabitant of Chota Nagpore from a crowd of -southern Dravidians. Even in parts of Bengal where such "Kolārian" folk -have settled some generations ago, and have acquired the local language -and dress, they are almost as easily distinguished as a Hindu -undergraduate in Cambridge. If physical characters are rightly divided -into "indefinite" signs of race, which can only be described with -difficulty and hesitation in ordinary language, and the "definite" signs -which can be measured and reduced to figures, yet the general aspect of -a tribe or caste is the first thing which strikes an experienced -enquirer's eye, and leads him to make further and more detailed -investigations. - -So is it also with those divisions, peculiar to India, which are known -to us by the Portuguese name of _caste_. The Indian name for caste is -_varna_, or "colour," and physical differences between different castes -were fairly obvious even before accurate averages were struck between -many individual measurements. Caste has undoubtedly tended, and for -similar reasons, to perpetuate such differences between classes of men -as we readily recognise between different breeds of horses or cattle. -The ages of men succeed one another more slowly than the generations of -domestic animals, and segregation, in spite of caste rules, has probably -at no time been so rigid as in the case of pure-bred animals. But there -is a restriction in the matter of marriage which has been more or less -efficacious, and especially so in the case of the higher castes, where -the women are more carefully guarded, and pride of birth influences the -future mothers of the race. In some rare instances, castes are still -racial, preserved from immixture by much the same feeling which leads -the white American to protect his race from a mingling of Negro or Red -Indian blood. Other castes are still recognisably the result and record -of such forbidden mixtures. Sometimes the resulting difference is so -great as to be visible in actual measurements. Often the result is a -mere peculiarity of aspect, such as enables an expert to identify a -mongrel or a crossbreed among domesticated animals. In any case, once a -caste is formed, it is fenced in by matrimonial rules, strict in -proportion to the social status and consideration of the group. Not -only, then, are the racial origins of modern India more various than -those of Europe, but such varieties of colour, stature, and culture as -exist tend to be perpetuated. - -It has been said, somewhat paradoxically, that whereas in Europe the -divisions between races of men cut perpendicularly, as it were, so as to -be more or less local and geographical, in India the separating lines -run horizontally, and represent social strata. This, of course, is only -partly true. The ancient Hindu theory of caste assumes the existence of -four great divisions of Hindu humanity, extending all over India; -namely, Brāhmans or priests, Kshatriyas, or warriors; Vaiçyas, or -trading and professional folk; and Sūdras, who are most justly and aptly -to be described as "the remainder." In all parts of Hindu India may be -found representatives of this ancient and theoretical division of -humanity, the first two usually claiming a western origin as eagerly as -some of us claim a tincture of Norman blood. But it would be incorrect -to say that even the highest and purest of these four divisions is of -uniform race, or anything approaching to it, all over India. A Bengali -Brāhman, for instance, can be more or less easily distinguished from -other Bengalis, if he has the typical appearance of his caste. But he is -even more easily distinguished from Brāhmans of other Provinces. How -much of this last difference is due to mixture of blood, how much to -difference of food and climate, it is, of course, difficult to say. But -certainly caste produces a difference of breed in addition to the -ethnical varieties of origin which differentiate the Indian populations -from those of Europe. - -Thirdly, some clue to Indian racial differences may be found in the -religions of the peninsula. The greatest of these is still the Indian -religion _par excellence_, the wonderful collection of varied -speculations, beliefs, and practices known to us as Hinduism, and its -daughter, the religion of Buddha. The latter has spread far and wide, -has subjugated Ceylon and Burma, and is the leading religion of the Far -East. At one time, it was supposed to be entirely or nearly extinct in -India, although students had discovered traces of its influence in the -Vishnuvite sects of Hinduism. Recent researches have shown that an -almost unaltered form of Buddhism survives in the very bosom of -Hinduism, and is practised under Hindu names among certain castes of -Bengal and Orissa. It is to be noted that the investigations into these -survivals have been for the most part conducted by Bengali Hindus, among -whom is springing up a school of ethnologists and comparative linguists, -who only need a better knowledge and understanding of European methods -to be invaluable aids to western research in such matters. In Bengal, a -work of purely anthropological interest has actually been published in -the vernacular, an interesting account of the Chakmas, a Tibeto-Burman -but partly Hinduised race on the eastern border of Bengal. Closely akin -to the lower forms of Hinduism, and often subtly blending with them, are -many Animistic religions, most of them professed by aboriginal tribes, -speaking one or other of the aboriginal languages. - -Islam and Christianity are, of course, imported and proselytising -religions, and yield few if any clues to racial or social origins. Many -Muhammadans profess to be, and not a few are, of authentic foreign -origin. But during the seven hundred years of Muslim rule in India, -there was much intermarriage with native races, and even more -conversion. It is curious that, as in the case of Christianity, the -conversions have been mostly among tribes and classes of the humbler -sort. These were not denied admission into Hinduism, but they were only -admitted on terms of social and racial degradation. Islam and -Christianity alike claim to overlook the accidents of birth and status, -and hence attract those to whom Hinduism only offered a place among the -lowest ranks of its social hierarchy. But even in the case of the -religions of Christ and Muhammad, the inveterate Indian tendency to -recognise and insist on breed and social status has asserted itself -again and again. Among Muhammadans, the Arabic tribal names have come to -be the designations of social units which differ but little from the -endogamous castes of Hinduism, and the same tendency is already evident -among Christian converts. There is a marked reluctance in some quarters -among ex-Hindus to intermarry with ex-Muslims, or even to participate in -sacramental Communion with them. - -As with caste, so with religion, the divisions are not strictly -horizontal. As Christianity is not one thing all over Europe, but has -differences of creed, ritual, and practice corresponding to racial -differences, so the Hinduism, and even the Muhammadanism, of different -provinces varies. There is no sharp boundary; there are elements in -common wherever we go. But just as Dravidian temple architecture can be -easily distinguished, even by the unpractised eye, from that of the -edifices of the Gangetic plains, so local peculiarities of belief or -ritual may come to the aid of the anthropologist, and may suggest or -confirm distinctions more easily verified and more capable of scientific -proof. - -The study of all these matters is not without a practical and -administrative interest at the present time. A hundred and fifty years -ago, to the racial, tribal, and caste differences, accompanied by -differences of language and religion, were added political divisions, -accentuated by frequent dynastic or predatory wars. British rule -has introduced two powerful unifying influences. Our system of -administration, while it is adapted more or less effectively (more in -some cases, less in others, according to the talent and character of -local officers) to local precedents and local needs, is moulded by the -great supervising and consolidating authority of the Governor-General in -Council. - -Secondly, higher education in India is conducted for the most part in -English, and educated India, rapidly growing in numbers, has English for -its second language, and is modifying local beliefs, usages, -aspirations, patriotisms in accordance with ideas more or less -consciously assimilated from European teachers and models. No one can -deny that this new unity of India is the direct result of centralised -British rule. In the far distance of time, all or nearly all India -would, for a while, accept the domination of some Hindu ruler or -dynasty. Under the Muhammadans, similarly, there were times when the -Emperor at Delhi was the ruler of all or nearly all India. Under British -rule, a much wider and more populous India, ranging from Baluchistan to -Burma, and only excepting the semi-independent states which have been -allowed to retain sovereign powers, is really and for the first time -part of the greatest administration on earth except that of China, if we -look to numbers. It is a result, as the history of British India shows, -for which we cannot claim the whole credit. The direction of the great -work of unification has been in British hands; it has chiefly been -carried out by indigenous agency, and, in matters of detail, in -deference to Indian ideas and Indian suggestions. Even fifty years ago, -few Indians supposed that the wide Empire of India could be governed -save under British guidance, or without the aid of British bayonets. The -old habitual forces of disruption were too obvious; the distrust of one -race for another was still too keenly felt to allow Indian politicians -to imagine a united India under indigenous rule. But as the educated -classes grow in power, in numbers, in self-reliance, and reliance on one -another; as some of them are promoted to posts of higher trust and -authority in India, and even in England, it is perhaps only natural that -Indians should suppose that, so far as politics and administration are -concerned, the old divisions and dissensions are obsolete, and that -united India can in future be governed by native agency. That is not a -matter with which ethnology has anything to do. It is the ethnologist's -business merely to record impartially what racial, tribal, social, and -religious differences still survive, and, if he can, to show how far -they have been, and are being, obliterated by the spread of education, -and by growing self-confidence and ambition among educated Indians. -Whether the information the ethnologist collects can be put to any -administrative use does not concern him, nor does he desire that his -impartiality shall be affected by these considerations. But, in a little -book of this kind it may not be amiss to point out that one result of -British rule has been the growth of a new type of Indian, the educated -Indian; who, whether he be Hindu or Muhammadan or Buddhist, is at least -inclined to subordinate the old hereditary divisions to common political -ambitions. These ambitions affect the fortunes and the future of some -three hundred millions of humbler Indians, at present only linked by the -accident of common British rule, and, so far as they are Hindus, by a -common Hindu sentiment. - -[Illustration: _Plate I_ - - Mahābrāhmans - (_Mirzapur district_)] - -In the following chapters, it will be my business to tell, as briefly -and clearly as possible, of (1) the Ethnology and Castes of the Indian -Peoples; (2) the Languages of India; (3) the Religions of India. I hope -what I have already said will sufficiently show why these three subjects -are treated in this order. - - - - -CHAPTER I - -RACE AND CASTE - - -Curiously enough, the systematic enquiry into the physical -race-characteristics of the Indian peoples was due to a daring assertion -by Mr Nesfield, of the Indian Educational Service, to the effect that, -so far as physical signs go, there is practically only one Indian race -and one Indian caste. This was a hasty but quite natural generalisation -from experience of a part of India, the United Provinces, which is in -the heart of the Aryan settlement in the Gangetic _do-āb_ (the area -between "two rivers"). Here caste has long been a settled institution, -and innumerable sub-castes, professional or the result of outcasting, -have come into existence. Mr Nesfield was driven by his local -observations to assert the unity of one great Indian race; he denied the -truth of "the modern doctrine which divides the population of India into -Aryan and aboriginal": he sturdily declared that it was impossible to -distinguish a scavenger from a Brāhman, save by costume and other -artificial and accidental marks. Even in the United Provinces this -uncompromising statement awoke dissent. In other parts of India, as, for -instance, on the north-eastern frontier, the crowded home of many races -and languages, dissent was eager and loud. It was evident, on the face -of it, that Mr Nesfield's new dogma was based on too limited a study. -Caste, for him, was a mere matter of hereditary function and profession; -since most castes in the sacred "midland" of Hinduism have assumed that -guise. There is no reason to suppose that castes have usually or even -often been formed as professional guilds. They come into being for many -reasons, some of which will be presently stated; and in civilised -communities, where the division of labour and specialisation of -professional skill are well established, a caste gradually assumes some -distinctive means of livelihood. But on the borders of Hinduism, where -the Hindu social system is still assimilating new races, instances -abound of racial castes, tribal castes, perhaps even (though this is a -more doubtful matter) totemistic castes. - -Those who had the widest experience of the Peninsula were convinced that -its races were at least as varied as those of Europe: those who, like Mr -Nesfield, had made a close study of one limited tract, might have -continued to believe that under the superficial distinctions of caste -and class lay a real unity of race. But Mr (afterwards Sir H. H.) Risley -had spent the early years of his Indian service among the Dravidian -tribes of Chota Nagpore, and was aware that they differ more widely from -the people Mr Nesfield had studied than an Englishman differs from a -Turk. The difference, indeed, was almost as great as that between a -European and a Chinaman. Could such differences be registered and -described in such a way as to convince minds accustomed to scientific -accuracy in statement? Mr Risley thought he saw his way to an -ethnological classification of Indian races and castes by means of the -then comparatively new methods of anthropometry. In 1891, he published -in the _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_ a paper which marked -the beginning of systematic ethnological studies in India. It contained -a summary of the measurements of eighty-nine castes and tribes of -Bengal, the United Provinces, and Bihār. It dealt, therefore, with the -great alluvial plain, created by the Ganges and Indus, which lies -between the Himalayas and the _massif central_ of the Deccan. Here is -the home of the Aryan immigrants, where the great Indo-European -languages are spoken by communities as numerous as the larger European -nations. Anthropometry showed in the plainest, the most incontrovertible -way, that the caste system of marriages had sorted out men into classes -possessing definite and recognisable physical characteristics. There -were local differences, and caste differences. It only remained to -extend anthropometrical measurements to other parts of India to prove -that the many languages and religious beliefs of India are associated -with an even greater variety of physical qualities. Such enquiries are -still in progress, but many notable results have already been obtained, -especially by Mr Edgar Thurston, in his now famous investigations into -Dravidian ethnography. - -The most important and significant measurement is that of the shape of -the head. It is, of course, impossible to take a man at random and to -say with certainty that the excessive length or breadth of his skull -proves him to belong to a given race. But the average skull-measurements -of a race are distinctive, and confirm, on the whole, the impressions -created by general aspect, colour, language and other vaguer -indications. The general result is as follows. At either end of the -Himalayan range, in Baluchistan on the west, and in Assam and Burma on -the east, broad heads prevail. Broad too are the heads of the mostly -Mongolian races inhabiting the valleys of the southern slopes of the -Himalayas, and in a belt of country running down the western coast at -least as far south as Coorg. In the Panjāb, Rājputānā, and the United -Provinces, tracts where the climate is dry and healthy, where great -summer heat is compensated for by a bracing winter, where wheat is for -the most part the staple food, long heads predominate. In Bihār, -travelling eastwards, medium heads are most common. In the damp and -steamy delta of Bengal, inhabited by over forty millions of rather dusky -rice-eating people, there is a marked tendency towards the Mongolian -brachy-cephaly of Tibeto-Burman races. It is visible among the -Muhammadans and Chandāls of Eastern Bengal, people who are probably -indigenous in this tract, it is more marked among the Kāyasthas, the -writer-caste of Bengal, which claims a western and Aryan origin. It -reaches its maximum development among the Bengali Brāhmans. South of the -Vindhya mountains, where the population is chiefly Dravidian, with a -comparatively small and ancient mixture of northern blood, the prevalent -type is mainly long-headed or medium-headed. The coast-population has -been much affected by foreign influences. On the east coast Malayan, -Indo-Chinese and even Portuguese settlers have altered the local type. -On the west coast, Arab, Persian, African, European, and Jewish -immigrants have mingled with local races, and have changed their -physiognomy, stature, and character of mind and body. - -It is still a moot point, which the Mendelists may some day settle for -us, whether head-form is a true hereditary race-characteristic, whether -the osseous structure of the body generally is not a result of climate, -food and other such circumstances of environment. Yet the shape of the -head as shown by average measurements does mark off races of men which -are separated by other differences than those of habitat. They do -correspond to those vaguer yet unmistakeable characteristics which -enable us to tell one race from another. The Mongolian, even when he -settles in the plains of Assam, Bengal, or Burma and takes to a diet of -rice and fish, keeps his round head and his smooth hairless face. The -Aryan of the north-west has a markedly long head, which, in his case, -goes with a fair complexion and luxuriant beard. The Dravidian, darkest -of Indian races, with a tendency to crinkly or curly hair, has also a -long or medium head. The mixed races of Bengal have, it is not -surprising to find, medium heads, which tend in the upper castes to -become broad. - -Another significant index to race is the measurement of the nose. The -results of nose-measurements roughly divide the peoples of India into -three classes—those having narrow or fine noses (leptorrhine), in which -the width is less than 70 per cent. of the height; those having medium -noses (mesorrhine), with an average index of from 70 to 85; and -broad-nosed (platyrrhine) people, the width of whose noses exceed 85 per -cent. Here we get a physical means of distinguishing between the -long-headed people of north-western India, fair and stalwart, and the -almost equally long-headed dusky folk of the south. For the average nose -of southern India, in Madras, the Central Provinces, and Chota Nagpore, -is broad. In the Panjāb and Baluchistan we get fine noses of what, to us -Europeans, seems an aristocratic type. In Afghanistan, noses are so long -and hooked as to give the tall and vigorous Afghan a Jewish aspect. In -the rest of India, and especially down the west coast, noses are of -medium type. A still more interesting discovery is the fact that -anywhere outside the Aryan tracts of the north-west, the broad nose is a -distinct sign of aboriginal blood. In Bengal, for instance, the lower -castes have broad noses. The priestly and writer castes, for all their -broad heads, have fine noses, which support their claim to a western -origin. Roughly speaking, the broad nose goes with primitive forms of -social organisation, with totemistic exogamous clans. Finer noses are -usually associated with communities of a more modern type; and above -these again come social units, castes and tribes, which claim descent -from eponymous saints and heroes. - -A third physical measurement enables us to effect a further sorting out -of Indian races. What is called the "flatness" of the Mongolian face is -plain to the most careless observer. This is due chiefly to the -formation of the cheekbone, and its relation to the socket of the eye -and the root of the nose. This can be measured and expressed in figures, -with the result that the Mongoloid people of the north-east and the -Himalayan region can be definitely distinguished from the broad-headed -races of Baluchistan, Bombay, and Coorg. - -Finally, it is possible to arrive at the average stature of various -Indian races and communities. The tallest races are found in the -north-west, in Baluchistan, the Panjāb and Rājputānā. A progressive -diminution is seen as we go down the valley of the Ganges, until we find -very short folk among the Assam hill tribes. The Dravidians of the south -are shorter than the Aryans of the north. The smallest Indian tribe is -that of the Negritos of the Andaman Islands, whose average height is -only 4 feet 10½ inches. - -From a careful comparison of these measurements, Sir Herbert Risley -arrived at the classification of Indian humanity, which, for the moment, -is the accepted division, into seven main physical types. Beginning with -the north-western frontier, these are as follows:— - -(1) The _Turko-Iranian_ type, which comprises the Baloches, Brāhuis and -Afghans of Baluchistan and the north-west Frontier Province. These are -probably the result of a fusion of Turkī and Persian blood, and are all -Muhammadans. The general aspect is wholly different from that of other -Indian races, and no one who has ever seen an Afghan or Baloch, with his -long Jewish nose and plentiful hair and beard, can ever confuse this -type with any other. In temperament also these men of the border differ -from other Indians. They are a fierce and warlike race, engaged in -constant blood-feuds with one another. - -(2) The _Indo-Aryan_ type, with its home in the Panjāb, Rājputānā and -Kashmir, has as its most conspicuous members the Rājputs, Khattris and -Jāts. These, in all but colour (and even in colour they are hardly more -dusky than the races round the Mediterranean) closely resemble the -well-bred European in type. In stature they are tall, their complexion -is fair; "eyes dark; hair on face plentiful; head long; nose narrow and -prominent, but not specially long." One significant peculiarity of this -group is that there is little difference in physical character between -the upper and lower classes. This, as we shall presently see, is what we -should expect from what is known of the history of these peoples. The -upper social ranks probably represent the blood, but little diluted with -indigenous mixture, of the Aryan immigrants. Even in the lower classes, -the typical Aryan characteristics are now so prominent that any -indigenous strain that exists is no longer noticeable in average -measurements. Only in height, a quality especially sensitive to -differences of food and sanitation, are the lower castes inferior. Here -we get a remarkable modern instance of transformation of type. The -preaching of the Sikh reformers, involving a change of food and the -inculcation of martial discipline and fervour, has converted the -despised scavenging Chuhrā into the soldierly Mazhabi, once a -redoubtable foe of the English, and now one of the finest soldiers in -the British army. - -(3) The _Scytho-Dravidian_ type, including the Marāthā Brāhmans, the -Kunbīs, and the Coorgs of western India. These peoples differ from the -Turko-Iranian races in being shorter, in having longer heads, higher -noses, and flatter faces. - -(4) The _Aryo-Dravidian_ or Hindostāni type, which exists in the United -Provinces, in parts of Rājputānā, and in Bihār. This type appears to be -due to a mixture of Indo-Aryan and Dravidian strains. The higher classes -resemble Indo-Aryans, the lower have a distinctly Dravidian aspect. Yet, -even to the eye, they form a type apart and are easily recognised. In -this type, the average nose-index corresponds exactly to social status. -The noses grow broader as we go downwards in the social scale. - -(5) The very interesting _Mongolo-Dravidian_ or _Bengali_ type which is -found in Bengal and Orissa. Here Aryan influences may still be detected -in the upper classes, but there has been extensive mingling with -Tibeto-Burman and Dravidian peoples, and other aboriginal inhabitants. -The main distinguishing feature is the broad head, which is most -conspicuous in the upper classes. It is shared equally by the Bengali -Brāhman, who claims a western origin, and the Chittagong Mag, whose -Tibeto-Burman origin is not denied. The Brāhman, on the other hand, -inherits a fine and narrow nose, which may very well be due to -Indo-Aryan ancestry. Recent investigations tend to show that Buddhism -survived till a comparatively recent date in Bengal. Hence, no doubt, a -temporary disregard of caste restrictions and a freer mixture with local -strains. - -(6) The _Mongoloid_ type of the Himalayas, Nepāl, Assam, and Burma. "The -head is broad: complexion dark, with a yellowish tinge; hair on face -scanty; stature short or below average; nose fine to broad; face -characteristically flat; eyelids often oblique." Here we have races -which, if somewhat dark, correspond to the ideas most of us entertain -about the external aspect and temperament of the Siamese or Japanese. In -intellectual ability, and what we may call the artistic faculty, they -are inferior to the Bengali. Most Europeans, however (or is it, -therefore?) find them among the most congenial of Indian races. They are -social, good-natured, straightforward people. In the western Himalayas, -there has been intermixture with Aryan invaders, as in the Kangra Valley -and Nepāl, and the ruling dynasties claim Rājput origin, for the -Indo-Aryans loved to settle in the cool hills, much as the Anglo-Indian -does to this day. But on the mountainous frontiers of North-East Bengal -and Assam, the Mongoloid peoples have remained undisturbed till our own -time. Linguistically, this group is peculiarly interesting, since they -speak many tongues, many of which still remain to be recorded and -studied by European scholars. - -(7) The _Dravidian_ type, which extends from Ceylon to the valley of the -Ganges and covers all South-Eastern India. It is found in Madras, -Hyderabad, the Central Provinces, most of Central India, and Chota -Nagpore. Its purest representatives dwell on the Malabar coast and in -Chota Nagpore. Here we have probably the original inhabitants of India, -now modified in some degree by an infiltration of Aryan, Scythian and -Mongoloid elements. "The stature is short or below mean; the complexion -very dark, approaching black; hair plentiful, with an occasional -tendency to curl; eyes dark; head long; nose very broad, sometimes -depressed at the root, but not so as to make the face appear flat." - -[Illustration: _Plate II_ - - Kāyasthas—the writer caste - (_Mirzapur district_)] - -It must, of course, be understood, that these types and the names -allotted to them merely show that in certain areas the average -characteristics of the peoples dwelling there can be sufficiently -separated to be recognisable not only by eye but by the callipers of the -anthropologist. The names, it will be noticed, in some cases, imply -theories as to the origin of the races thus grouped together. These -theories are partly based on measurements, partly on tradition, partly -on linguistic considerations. It remains for me to state, very rapidly, -what these theories are. - -That the Dravidians are the oldest race in India is rendered _primâ -facie_ probable by the fact that they inhabit the southernmost part of -the peninsula, between races who can with some certainty be called -invaders—and the deep sea. There is a remarkable uniformity of physical -characteristics among the lower specimens of this type. They have in -common an animistic religion, their distinctive language, their peculiar -stone monuments, and a primitive system of totemism. They do not -resemble Europeans on the one hand, or the races of the Far East on the -other. Until proof to the contrary is forthcoming they may well be -regarded as the autochthones of India. - -There is more room for difference of opinion as to the origins of the -brilliant and highly civilised Indo-Aryans of the Panjāb and Rājputānā. -As I have said before, we have here a population closely resembling that -of modern Europe in many respects. I might have added that it still more -closely resembles the Europe of the Roman empire. Nowhere else in Hindu -India does caste sit so lightly, or approach so nearly to the social -classes of Europe. Though there are rules, or rather customs, forbidding -intermarriage between different castes, yet these are mitigated by the -custom, not unknown to ourselves, of _hypergamy_. This simply means that -a man may take a wife from a lower caste, but will not give his -daughters to men of that caste. The result is a uniformity of physical -type found nowhere else in India. Moreover these people speak a language -of the Indo-European family, and have many words and idioms in common -with ourselves. The present theory of their origin is simply that they -are in the bulk immigrants into India, immigrants who came into the land -from the north-west with their herds and families, as the Jews entered -into and possessed Palestine. - -One chief objection to this theory is that the lands through which they -must have passed are in no way fitted to be an _officina gentium_, being -now dry, barren, and all but deserted. But abundant indications remain -to show that the climate of South-Eastern Persia and the tracts to the -north has changed within comparatively recent times. The relics of -crowded populations and ancient civilisations abound in regions now -sandy desert, and there is evidence in the tales told by Greek and -Chinese travellers that the Panjāb itself, most of it comparatively -arid, was once well wooded. The theory then is that the homogeneous and -handsome population of the Panjāb and Rājputānā represents the almost -pure descendants of Aryan settlers, who carried the Indo-European -languages now prevailing over Northern India, just as our own emigrants -took the English language to America. - -But we have also to account for the Aryo-Dravidians who inhabit the -sacred "midland" country of Hinduism, and here we have Dr Hoernle's now -famous theory, remarkably confirmed by the researches of Sir George -Grierson's _Linguistic Survey_. This theory supposes that a second swarm -of Aryan-speaking people, perhaps driven forward by the change of -climate in central Asia, entered India through the high and difficult -passes of Gilgit and Chitral, and established themselves in the fertile -plains between the Ganges and the Jumna. They followed a route which -made it impossible for their women to accompany them. They took to -themselves wives from the daughters of dusky Dravidian aborigines. Here, -by contact with a different, and in their sentiment, inferior race, -caste came into being. Here most of the Vedic hymns were composed. Here, -by a blending of imported and indigenous religious ideals, the ritual -and usages of Hindu religion came into being, to spread in altered forms -east and west and south. The necessity for this second hypothesis is -twofold. It accounts for the marked ethnical barrier which separates -western from eastern Hindustan. Elsewhere the various types melt -imperceptibly into one another. Here alone is a definite racial border -line. Again, the theory accounts for the fact that the Vedic hymns -contain no description whatever of the earlier Aryan migration, and for -the fact that the inhabitants of the middle land always felt a dislike -for the early immigrants as men of low culture and barbarous manners. -For the present, at all events, and perhaps for all time, Dr Hoernle's -ingenious theory holds the field. - -No special theory is required to account for the physical and mental -qualities of the Mongolo-Dravidians of Bengal. No doubt the original -population was Dravidian with a strong intermixture of Tibeto-Burmese -blood, especially in the east and north-east. But the Hindu religion, -developed in the sacred Midlands round Benares, spread to Bengal, -bringing with it the Indo-European speech which in medieval times became -the copious and supple Bengali tongue. From the west too came what we in -Europe would call the gentry, the priestly and professional castes. -These have acquired most of the local physical characters, dusky skin, -low stature, round heads. But in nearly all cases, the fineness and -sharp outline of the nose shows their aristocratic origin, and in some -instances a Bengali Brāhman has all the physical distinction of a -western priest or sage. - -When we turn to the Scytho-Dravidian group we have again to fall back on -records of ancient invasions from the north. Ancient some of them were, -but far less ancient than the settlement of the Aryans in the -north-west. The Sakas have provided India with one of its many -chronological eras; they founded dynasties which have left coins behind -them, they have left vague but widely spread traditions. They were what -we Europeans call Scythians. They were known to the Persians, the -Parthians, and the Chinese. Their original home seems to have been in -the south of China, a land of pre-eminently round-headed races. We know -that they established their dominion over portions of the Panjāb, Sind, -Gujarāt, Rājputānā and Central India. If they have left traces of their -settlement on their descendants we may reasonably expect to find -round-headed races and tribes in regions mostly surrounded by -long-headed peoples. Such a zone of broad-headed people does in fact -extend from the western Panjāb right through the Deccan, till it finally -ends in Coorg. Sir H. H. Risley's theory is that the Scythians first -occupied the great grazing country of the western Panjāb, and finding -their progress eastwards blocked by the Indo-Aryans, turned southwards, -mingled with the Dravidians, and became the ancestors of the warlike -Marātha race. Such an origin forms a tempting explanation of the -well-known predatory habits of the Marātha hordes, and of their frequent -raids all over the peninsula under the decaying administration of the -later Mogul Emperors. It is an interesting and fascinating speculation, -since it accounts not only for the physical aspect of the Marāthas but -for their characteristic political genius, for their wide-ranging -forays, their guerilla warfare, their unscrupulous dealings, their -inveterate love of intrigue, their clannish habits. - -I must here boldly borrow Sir H. H. Risley's summary of the historical -record of Scythian invasions into India, since that is the main -justification for his theory. "In the time of the Achaemenian kings of -Persia," he says, "the Scythians, who were known to the Chinese as Sse, -occupied the regions lying between the lower course of the Sillis or -Jaxartes and Lake Balkash. The fragments of early Scythian history which -may be collected from classical writers are supplemented by the Chinese -annals, which tell us how the Sse, originally located in southern China, -occupied Sogdiana and Trans-oxiana at the time of the establishment of -the Graeco-Bactrian monarchy. Dislodged from these regions by the -Yueh-chi, who had themselves been put to flight by the Huns, the Sse -invaded Bactriana, an enterprise in which they were frequently allied -with the Parthians. To this circumstance, Ujfalvy says may be due the -resemblance which exists between the Scythian coins of India and those -of the Parthian kings. At a later period, the Yueh-chi made a further -advance, and drove the Sse or Sakas out of Bactriana, whereupon the -latter crossed the Paropamisus and took possession of the country called -after them Sakastān, comprising Segistān, Arachosia, and Drangiana. But -they were left in possession only for a hundred years, for about 25 B.C. -the Yueh-chi disturbed them afresh. A body of Scythians then emigrated -eastwards, and founded a kingdom in the western portion of the Panjāb. -The route they followed in their advance upon India is uncertain; but to -a people of their habits it would seem that a march through Baluchistan -would have presented no serious difficulties. - -"The Yueh-chi, afterwards known as the Tokhari, were a power in Central -Asia and the north-west of India for more than five centuries, from 130 -B.C. The Hindus called them Sakas and Turushkas, but their kings seem to -have known no other dynastic title than that of Kushan. The Chinese -annals tell us how Kitolo, chief of the Little Kushans, whose name is -identified with the Kidara of the coins, giving way before the incursion -of the Ephthalites, crossed the Paropamisus, and founded, in the year -425 of our era, the kingdom of Gandhāra, of which, in the time of his -son, Peshawar became the capital. About the same time, the Ephthalites -or Ye-tha-i-li-to of the Chinese annals, driven out of their territory -by the Yuan-yuan, started westward, and overran in succession Sogdiana, -Khwarizan (Khiva), Bactriana, and finally the north-west portion of -India. Their movements reached India in the reign of Skanda Gupta -(452-80) and brought about the disruption of the Gupta empire. The -Ephthalites were known in India as Huns. The leader of the invasion of -India, who succeeded in snatching Gandhāra from the Kushans and -established his capital at Sākala, is called by the Chinese Laelih, and -inscriptions enable us to identify him with the original Lakhan -Udayāditya of the coins. His son Toramāna (490-515) took possession of -Gujarāt, Rājputānā, and part of the Ganges valley, and in this way the -Huns acquired a portion of the ancient Gupta kingdom. Toramāna's -successor, Mihirakula (515-44), eventually succumbed to the combined -attack of the Hindu princes of Mālwā and Magadha." - -I now come to the ethnography as distinguished from the ethnology of -India. Of anthropometry and the lessons to be learnt from it, I have no -personal experience, and have had to borrow my materials at second-hand. -But with the great system of caste, its workings, its manifold -ramifications, everyone who has lived in India has come into more or -less close contact. How important caste is in the social life of the -country may be easily inferred from this little fact. I once asked the -late Navin Chandra Sen, then the most popular of Bengali poets, if he -would attempt a definition of what a Hindu is. After many suggestions, -all of which had to be abandoned on closer examination, the poet came to -the conclusion that a Hindu is (1) one who is born in India of Indian -parents on both sides, and (2) accepts and obeys the rules of caste. -Hinduism is, roughly speaking, the religion of the Aryo-Dravidians, the -upper and fairer classes among whom regarded the aborigines, -matrimonially, much as white Americans regard their negro fellow -citizens. It has spread over nearly the whole of India and is still -spreading, usually but not always, carrying with it one of the -Indo-European languages of India. It is the religion and social system -of races and classes which consider themselves intrinsically superior, -and practise a traditional kind of eugenics, of race preservation. -Humbler or more barbarous races are admitted on various conditions into -caste, sometimes into higher, sometimes into lower positions. The -process is one of that kind of "legal fiction" with which students of -Roman law are familiar. It is a process of unification and, at the same -time, of social segregation. I have already alluded to the suggestion -that caste-divisions are horizontal, as it were, compared with the -geographical divisions of races. But it is always dangerous to make -general statements about three hundred millions of people scattered over -so large an area as India. There are Brāhmans in every part of India, -and these usually trace their origin back to the sacred midland where -Hinduism came into being. They may be, and probably are, the descendants -of the missionaries by whom the religion of the Hindus is, imperceptibly -and without open proselytism, spread abroad. Something corresponding to -a warrior caste and a caste of scribes is to be found in most provinces, -and many of these either claim to be migrants, or have been admitted by -adoption into the privileges of warrior or writer blood. - -But there are many castes which are purely local, even in name, and are -not found elsewhere than in the places where they were admitted into the -Hindu community. Many closely printed pages in the Census Reports of -each province and state enumerate and describe the thousands of castes -revealed by the numbering of the people. It is, of course, only possible -to give a very vague and general idea of some of the classes into which -the castes of India may conveniently be divided. - -I am tempted here to borrow Sir Herbert Risley's definition of caste. -But it is a highly abstract definition, and one that cannot be easily -carried in the head, even by those who have a practical and familiar -acquaintance with members of Indian castes. Roughly a caste is a group -of human beings who may not intermarry, or (usually) eat, with members -of any other caste. There are also sub-castes which are also endogamous. -Very frequently, especially in the parts of India where caste is already -an institution of immemorial antiquity, a caste has allotted to it a -profession or occupation. - -Before we discuss castes properly so called, it is convenient to speak -of the tribes of India, since tribes have a tendency to become castes -when they come under the pervasive influence of Hindu social ideas. In -the south of India are Dravidian tribes, of which the best example are -the tribes of Chota Nagpore. These are divided into a number of -exogamous groups or clans, calling themselves by the name of an animal -or plant, which may be regarded as their totem. The Khonds of Orissa, -who once bore an evil name for their practice of human sacrifices to -propitiate the earth-goddess, are divided into fifty _gochis_ or -exogamous clans, each of which bears the name of a village, and believes -itself to be descended from a common ancestor. These _gochis_ are the -nearest known approach to the local exogamous tribe which Mr McLennan -and the French sociologists believe to be the earliest form of human -society. - -The Mongoloid tribes of Assam are much of the same kind, but in many -cases, as among the head-hunting Nagas, live at perpetual warfare with -one another. In such cases they usually capture their wives in war. It -is interesting to note that when population grows too dense for the -profitable pursuit of the chase, their principal means of livelihood, -such a tribe breaks up into two or more "villages," which immediately -begin waging war with one another, which is quite what a French -sociologist would expect them to do. I can tell of a case within my own -experience in which the headman of a parent village invited the chief of -a colony village (his own nephew) to a feast and palaver with his young -warriors. The guests were all treacherously put to the sword, as a means -of acquiring heads and concubines. I could not get the headman to see -that he had been guilty of an atrocious crime. For him, it was lawful -strategy. And indeed Naga warfare is merely a series of artfully planned -ambushes in which not a few of our own officers perished before we -undertook the direct administration of the Naga Hills. Sir H. Risley -remarks of this group of tribes that "no very clear traces of totemism -have been discovered among them." Subsequent enquiries, however, show -that totemistic clans do exist in some of the Assam tribes. - -[Illustration: _Plate III_ - - Dharkārs - (_Mirzapur district_)] - -Of the Turko-Iranian tribes of the north-western frontier I need not -speak at any length, since these tribes are all sturdy followers of the -Prophet, and save that they are under British rule can hardly be said to -belong to India at all. There is no likelihood that they will ever be -received into the tolerant bosom of Hinduism, since, to the Indian -proper, the Baloch and the Afghan are disagreeable and swaggering -caterans, who have an innate scorn for the typical Hindu hierarchy of -caste. Among these tribes it is martial ability and valour that win a -man consideration and wives. - -Let us now turn to caste properly so called, the traditional social -divisions of the Hindus. And first it is necessary to say something of -the ancient Hindu theory of what caste is, and how it came into -existence. - -As with the Hebrews, the religious literature of India contains a vast -mass of what can only be called law, and perhaps, the most famous of -Indian law books is the Institutes of Manu, a compilation of rules -relating to magic, religion, law, custom, ritual and metaphysics. Even -to this day, these branches of speculation and enquiry, so distinct to -western imaginations, are apt to be confused together as a result of the -pantheistic feeling which pervades Hinduism. The Institutes is a -comparatively modern book, but it repeats ideas which are found in a -more or less explicit form in early authorities[1]. In this book we are -told that in the beginning of things the Pan-theos who "contains all -created things and is inconceivable" produced by effort of thought a -golden egg, from which he himself was born as Brahmā, the creator of the -known universe. From his mouth, his arms, his thighs, and his feet -respectively he created the four great leading castes, the Brāhman, the -Kshatriya, the Vaiçya, and the Sūdra. These were, briefly, the priests, -the warriors and gentlefolk, the traders, and the servile classes of -human society. The other castes were gradually formed, the theory -states, by intermarriages between these. The three higher castes were -allowed to take wives from lower castes. When the caste of the mother -was next below that of the father, the child took the caste of his -mother and no new caste was formed. But where the difference of -condition was greater than this, new castes were formed, lower than -those of either parent. Some discrepancies of rank produced unions which -were regarded as peculiarly offensive to human feelings and as -tantamount to incestuous intercourse. These resulted in very degraded -castes. Where the father married beneath him, the marriage was described -as _anuloma_ or "with the hair." When a woman was guilty of a -_mésalliance_, the marriage was called _pratiloma_ or "against the -hair." The most disgraceful union of this kind was that between a -Brāhman woman and a Sūdra man, the resulting offspring being relegated -to the caste of Chandāl. The unfortunate Chandāl is described as "that -lowest of mortals," and is condemned, as Sir H. Risley says, to live -outside the village, to clothe himself in the garments of the dead, to -eat from broken dishes, to execute criminals, and to carry out the -corpses of friendless men. - -The most superficial acquaintance with existing caste divisions shows -that this theory is not so much a hypothesis as a fanciful fiction. In -eastern Bengal, for instance, the Chandāl is evidently a Mongoloid -aboriginal, with a considerable strain of Dravidian and perhaps even of -Aryan blood. Yet the fiction shows plainly enough the estimation in -which one of the numerically largest divisions of local society is held. -Some thirty years ago, when I was a young magistrate, a comely Chandāl -girl appeared before me, her face streaming with blood from a scalp -wound. She asserted gravely that a Sūdra of higher caste had struck her -on the head with a stick, because he had found her reading a book as she -sat in the doorway of her father's cottage. I was disinclined to believe -this story, but her assailant was promptly sent for, and being brought -straight to me, admitted the truth of the charge, and seemed surprised -at my indignation at a cowardly assault. - -As an attempt to account for the origin and explain the nature of caste -the theory of Manu is obviously a failure. But it contains a picture of -the early castes. It is also interesting because the idea of four -original _varnas_ or "colours" of men may have been borrowed from the -old Persian social organisation. The early scriptures, the Vedas, show -that this conception of four original castes was not brought to India by -Aryan immigrants. But when caste came into being as a result of the -contact of Aryan settlers with Dravidian aborigines, this mythological -explanation, which gave such conspicuous eminence to priests and -warriors, an eminence already conceded to them on account of the -importance of their functions, was readily accepted as a convincing -explanation of the hereditary differences between men in society, a -difference not merely of function, but of colour, aspect, gesture, -speech, breeding, and intelligence. It is necessary to mention this -theory, however briefly, since it still holds ground, except among those -Indians who have had a European education and even among them has the -interest of early and sacred associations which, in Europe, belongs to -the cosmological speculations of the book of Genesis. - -What, next, are castes as they appear to the eye of the European -ethnologist, free from preconceived prejudice, and only anxious to come -as near the truth as is possible in his dealings with ancient -institutions round which has gathered a vast mass of venerable -superstition and religious speculation? In the first place, castes are -often still recognisably _tribes_. Sometimes the leading men of an -aboriginal tribe will acquire sufficient wealth and social consideration -to wish to obtain the stamp of recognition as reputable Hindus. They -will call themselves, for example, and induce their neighbours and the -priests of these to call them, Rājputs. They may not at first succeed in -intermarrying with true hereditary Rājputs, but in time they will be -just Rājputs like any other Rājputs. Or, again, a number of non-Hindus, -animists, will join one of the many Hindu sects or fraternities and will -intermarry with Vaishnavas, Lingayats, Rāmayats, or other devotees of -some favourite deity. Or again, a whole tribe or a considerable portion -of a tribe, usually one of some political importance, will enter -Hinduism by means of some plausible fiction. The instance quoted by Sir -H. Risley is that of the Koches of north-eastern Bengal. These people -are Tibeto-Burmans and until recent times spoke a dialect of the -agglutinative Bodo language. They now call themselves Rājbansis, "of -royal birth," or Bhāngā Kshatriyas, "broken warriors," names which -enable them to claim an origin from the traditional dispersion of the -Aryan warrior caste by the hero Parasu Rāma, "Rāma of the battle axe." -They claim descent from the epic monarch Dasarath, father of Rāma, have -their own Brāahmins, and have begun to adopt the Brāhminical system of -exogamous _gotras_. But, as Sir H. Risley remarks, they are in a -transitional state, since they have all hit upon the same _gotra_, and -are therefore compelled to marry within it, except in the rare instances -in which they contract unions with Bengali women. - -A still more interesting, because more recent, instance of this sort is -that of the Meithei, now known to Hindus as Manipuris. In the -Mahābhāarata is told the tale of how the hero Arjuna wandered from his -brethren into Southern and Eastern India, and, among other adventures, -met (as Æneas with Dido) with Chitrangadā, the fair daughter of the King -of Manipur, somewhere near the eastern coast. Some 150 years ago, the -then king of the beautiful valley of Imphāl, between Assam and Burma, -was thinking of becoming a Muhammadan, by way of courting the favour of -the Muhammadan rulers of Bengal. But Hindu priests persuaded him that a -better way of linking his fortunes with those of India, rather than with -Ava (with whose royal family his dynasty had usually intermarried), was -by becoming Hindu with all his people. Imphāl was identified with -Manipur, and many of the Meithei race became Vishnuvite Hindus with -their ruler, though they retain their primitive Tibeto-Burman language. -I may mention a little personal reminiscence to show how completely the -change by fictitious adoption was accepted in Bengal. In 1891, my old -friend and chief, Mr Quinton, with all his staff, was treacherously -murdered at Manipur. Subsequently when I was magistrate of Chittagong, I -found that my head clerk, an extremely mild and intelligent Bengali -Kāyastha, had celebrated the easily suppressed mutiny at Manipur by -writing a drama based on the ancient legend of Arjuna's amours with -Chitrangadā! - -Sometimes an aboriginal tribe will become a Hindu caste without losing -its old tribal designation. They will worship Hindu gods without daring -wholly to neglect tribal deities, which, as might perhaps be expected, -are left chiefly to the women of the tribe. Such a tribe will rapidly -assimilate itself to the beliefs and practices of Hindu neighbours, and -finally only its name and (except in case of occasional intermarriage -with other castes) its physical aspect will remain to testify to its -origin. - -Castes are at present classified as follows: - -(1) What Sir H. Risley calls _the tribal type_, instances of which have -been given above. Such tribal castes abound in all parts of India. It is -not improbable that the great Sūdra division of Hindu tradition was -originally the whole mass of Dravidian aboriginals as they came into -contact with Aryan immigrants, and were conceded a subordinate place in -their social system. It would be useless to give a list of the names of -such castes, but I cannot refrain from mentioning the excellent Doms of -the Assam Valley, whose name unfortunately associates them with very -different people in India proper. They are obviously of Tibeto-Burman -origin, and deserve closer study than they receive. Their long thatched -places of worship, true synagogues for meeting together and curiously -unlike the tiny _cellæ_ of Hindu temples, are among the most conspicuous -features of Assam villages. They have no idols, and place a _puthi_, a -holy book, on what may pass for the village altar. They are vaguely -Hinduised, but will humbly declare "_āmi hindu na hô_," "we are not -Hindu folk." Yet they are well on their way towards acceptance into -caste, and have already a strong infusion of Hindu blood. - -Other border races, though they are still too savage and independent to -become Hindu, are marked down for absorption. Such, for instance, are -the Daflas of the northern border of Assam, cousins of the Abors to whom -attention has been drawn by recent events. The Daflas are still frankly -animistic; their love of strong spirits and other intoxicants, their -addiction to their favourite diet of roast pork, their extremely -uncleanly habits and barbarous speech, all make them very offensive to -the gentle vegetarian Hindus their neighbours. But it happens that the -tribal costume closely resembles the traditional dress of Mahādēva, the -Destroyer, the most active and formidable member of the Hindu Trinity, -and already some Hindus speak of these genial Highlanders as Siva-bansa, -as "of Siva's race." Many other examples, with interesting details of -fictional methods, will be found in Mr E. A. Gait's admirable _History -of Assam_. - -(2) _The functional or occupational type_ of caste. This is the form of -caste best known to Europeans, because, since the first European -missionaries and traders visited those parts of India where the caste -system has had the longest opportunity to evolve, they came most into -contact with this, which is probably the oldest and most elaborated form -of caste. The Hindu theory of caste encouraged the adoption of special -occupations, and now the evolution has proceeded so far that change of -occupation may usually result in a change of caste. A remarkable -instance of this is found in the Marāthi districts of the Central -Provinces. Here is a separate and newly formed caste of village servants -called Gārpagāri, "hail-averters," whose business it is to protect the -village crops from hailstorms. Shepherds who take to tillage break away -from their pastoral brethren, and so on. Even those who retain their -traditional occupations are wont to adopt more seemly-sounding names -than those that belong to their trade. I have known barbers who called -themselves Chandra-vaidyas[2], which is a promotion more subtle than a -mere ascent to the status of "hair-dresser," and washermen who have -followed suit by dubbing themselves Sukla-vaidya, a word of which -"white-worker" is a crude but sufficiently suggestive translation. - -(3) The _sectarian type_ is a singularly interesting example of the -strong social influence of Hindu sentiment. Nearly all new Hindu sects -begin by renouncing caste in the enthusiastic following of some single -deity, some new explanation of the mysteries of life, and love, and -death. These sects are usually the followers of some reforming theorist, -whose leadership is apt to become hereditary. Such sects almost always -believe that all men are equal, or at all events, that all who accept -their doctrines are equal. One of my most interesting recollections is -of a now distant interview with a buxom middle-aged lady, the hereditary -leader of the Kartā-bhajās of Central Bengal. She sat unveiled, and was -accessible to all who, like myself, were interested in the community -over which she exercised a firm but good-natured control. It is a -picturesque detail that her chosen seat when receiving visitors was an -ancient European four-poster bedstead. Her followers (and revenues) were -growing rapidly, increased chiefly by the democratic instinct which, -even in India, revolts against social prestige. But it would seem that -when such a sect grows and spreads, the old separatist ideas reassert -themselves, and the sect breaks up into smaller endogamous communities, -whose status depends on the original position of the members in -Hinduism. The most remarkable instance of this kind is furnished by the -great Lingayat caste of Bombay, which contains over two and a half -millions of members. In the twelfth century the Lingayats were a sect -who believed in the equality of all men. In Mr P. J. Mead's Bombay -Census Report for 1911 is a very interesting account of the present -condition of the Lingayats, an account which shows how the scholar, the -linguist, and the administrator can work together to find materials for -the anthropologist. Dr Fleet's examination of ancient inscriptions has -thrown much light on the origin of the sect, but the author of the -Report holds that there may be some reason to think that the sect is -much older than is commonly supposed. In any case, they are already -divided into three great groups, comprising many subdivisions. - -(4) _Castes formed by crossing_ come aptly to show that there was some -basis for Manu's theory of caste after all. Castes, nowadays, increase -by fission, by throwing off sub-castes, and one species of these -sub-castes is created by mixed marriages. This tendency, curiously -enough, is most evident in Dravidian tribes, such as the Mundās, which -are not yet wholly Hinduised, but have been affected by Hindu example. -So far as I know, these mixed castes do not occur among the Mongoloid -peoples, and I have come across cases where a member of an aboriginal -tribe has been accepted into the caste of a Hindu girl he has married. -In one case, within my own experience, the bridegroom had begun as an -animist, had become Christian, and finally entered by marriage into the -quite respectable Koch caste. One interesting caste in Bengal, that of -the Shāgirdpeshas, owes its origin to concubinage with the so-called -slaves, the women of tenants surrounding a homestead who pay their rent -in service. This, it will be observed, is a caste of illegitimacy, in -which the relationship between the legitimate and illegitimate children -of a man of good caste is recognised, but the two are not allowed to eat -together. The classical instance of a mixed caste is the Khas of Nepāl, -said to be the result of very ancient intermarriages between Rājput or -Brāhman immigrants and the Mongolian "daughters of men." - -[Illustration: _Plate IV_ - - Banjara women - (_Mirzapur district_)] - -(5) _Castes of the national type._ This somewhat daring title we owe to -the great authority of Sir H. Risley. As one instance, he mentions the -Newārs, a Mongoloid people, who were once the ruling race in Nepāl, till -the Gurkha invasion in 1769, and have now become a caste. Other -instances might be found on the north-eastern frontier. But the people -Sir Herbert Risley had in mind when he invented this term was -undoubtedly the remarkable Marātha race, once the most daring warriors -and freebooters in India, and now the rivals of the Bengalis in -intellectual ability, and probably more than their equals in political -sagacity. Sir Rāmkrishna Gopāl Bhandārkar is our authority for the -statement that the Rattas were a tribe who held political supremacy in -the Deccan from the earliest days. In time they became Mahā-rattas, -"Great Rattas," and the land in which they lived was called Mahārattha, -which, by a common linguistic habit of mankind, was Sanskritised into -Mahā-rāshtra. Their marriage customs show marked traces of totemistic -institutions. An extremely interesting account of the present condition -of this warlike and enterprising race will be found at pp. 289, 290 of -the Bombay Census Report for 1911. It neither supports nor discourages -Sir H. Risley's ingenious theory of the Scythic origin of the Marāthas, -which is at least a theory which recognises the respect in which our -ancestors held their martial prowess and talents[3]. - -(6) _Castes formed by migration._ These are new castes which serve to -enforce the warning against a too ready acceptance of the definition of -caste as a "horizontal" division of humanity. It is a method of forming -new communities of Hindus which is very easily intelligible to us, -seeing that our own race is split into sections only differing from -castes in not being strictly endogamous, such as Anglo-Indians, -Australians, New Zealanders, and so forth. Members leave home and settle -among strangers. They are assumed to have formed foreign habits, eaten -strange food, worshipped alien gods, and have a difficulty—an expensive -difficulty—in finding wives in the parent caste. After a time they marry -only among themselves, become a sub-caste, and are often known by some -territorial name, Bārendra, Rārhi, or what not. Such seemingly are the -remarkable Nāmbudri Brāhmans of Malabar, and the Rārhi Brāhmans of -Bengal. Sometimes change of habitat brings about loss of rank, sometimes -promotion. These are matters on which the Census Reports now being -published are full of interesting details. But they are matters which -are not easily summarised. No doubt Mr Gait's Report on the combined -results of Census operations in India will show the progress of castes -of this type during the last ten years. - -(7) _Castes formed by changes of custom._ This is a fruitful cause of -new divisions of Hindu society. It is, for the moment, more than usually -operative, owing to the spread of education, and often represents a -difference of social opinion which corresponds, more or less closely, to -Conservative and Radical ideas among ourselves. It evidently was always -a cause of fissiparous tendencies. The most notable instance is the -distinction between Jāts and Rājputs, both apparently sprung from the -same stock, but separated socially, amongst other causes, by the fact -that the former practise and the latter abjure infant marriages. - - * * * * * - -This is a very rapid and highly summarised account of the races and -castes of India. There are many obvious omissions. Nothing has been said -of the Sikhs, little or nothing about the numerous races of the -north-eastern frontier. But enough has been said to give a fair general -impression of what the physical characters of the Indian peoples are, -and what kind of institution caste is in its practical working. More -might have been said about totemistic clans, but on this subject those -who would pursue their studies further have only to turn to Dr J. G. -Frazer's work on the subject. In the next chapter, I have to borrow my -materials from Sir G. A. Grierson, and show how the peoples of India are -divided by differences of language. On the whole, those linguistic -divisions correspond with remarkable accuracy to the orographical and -climatic structure of the country and the racial divisions which we owe -to the learning and ingenuity of Sir H. H. Risley. Where there are great -open plains, watered and fertilised by mighty rivers, we get large -populations speaking the great literary languages of India. In the -rugged recesses of the mountains we find small communities, divided from -one another by physical obstacles which have produced rigid local -patriotisms and enmities, and a wonderful variety of savage speeches. -The linguist has usually worked independently of the ethnologist, and -has come to his own unprejudiced conclusions. It is interesting to find -how closely the results of their separate enquiries agree. - - -_Postscript._ - -Sir H. H. Risley's theory as to the Scythian origin of the Marāthas has -not passed unquestioned, and those who wish to see a brief and clear -account of the latest theories on the subject should read Mr Crooke's -paper on "Rājputs and Marāthas" in Vol. XL. (January—June, 1910) of the -_Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute_. Mr Crooke, who gives -copious references to the latest literature on the subject, holds that -"the theory that a Hun or Scythian element is to be traced in the -population of the Deccan is inconsistent with the facts of tribal -history, so far as they can now be ascertained." Mr Crooke thinks that -the anthropometrical facts can be explained otherwise than by Saka -invasion and an infusion of Scythian blood. "The presence of a -brachycephalic strain," he says, "in Southern and Western India need not -necessarily imply a Mongoloid invasion from Central Asia. The western -coast was always open to the entry of foreign races. Intercourse with -the Persian Gulf existed from a very early period, and Mongoloid Akkads -or the short-headed races from Baluchistan may have made their way along -the coast or by sea into Southern and Western India. But it is more -probable that this strain reached India in prehistoric times, and that -the present population is the result of the secular intermingling of -various race types, rather than of events within the historical period." -Mr Crooke's view is supported by the recently issued Census Report of -the Bombay Presidency, which says, "the term Marātha is derived by some -from two Sanskrit words, _mahā_, 'great,' and _rathi_, 'a warrior.'" -According to Sir Rāmkrishna Gopāl Bhandārkar it is derived from Rattas, -a tribe which held political supremacy in the Deccan from the remotest -time. "The Rattas called themselves Mahā Rattas or Great Rattas, and -thus the country in which they lived came to be called Mahārāttha, the -Sanskrit of which is Mahā-rāshtra." - -Indigenous names are frequently Sanskritised, much as we turn French -_chaussée_ into "causeway." Sometimes the change is so complete that the -original cannot be identified. In some cases the alteration is easily -recognised. In Northern Bengal, for instance, is the river _Ti-stā_, a -name which belongs to a large group of Tibeto-Burman river names -beginning with _Ti-_, or _Di-_, such as _Ti-pai_, _Di-bru_, _Di-kho_, -_Di-sāng_, etc., etc. Hindus say the name _Ti-stā_ is either a -corruption of Sanskrit _Tri-srotas_, "having three streams," or of -Tṛṣṇā, "thirst." Etymology and legend, in fact, give but doubtful -guidance to the ethnologist, and the best hope of acquiring some real -knowledge of Rājput and Marātha origins lies in the possible discovery -of coins and inscriptions in the absence of direct historical records. - -[1] The actual date is very uncertain. Dr Burnell thinks the book was -composed so late as A.D. 500, but it was probably much older. - -[2] "Moon-physicians," an allusion to the crescent-shaped brass basin of -the barber, such as the helmet of Don Quixote, familiar to us all. - -[3] But see the postscript to this chapter. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE LANGUAGES OF INDIA - - -It is quite possible to live many years in one province or another of -India without obtaining more than the vaguest conception of the -linguistic riches of the country. It was Sir G. A. Grierson who rendered -it impossible for any but the most careless to ignore the fact that -India has not only more languages than Europe, but many more kinds and -families of speech. Most Europeans in India live in the populous areas -where ethnical and geographical conditions are favourable to the -evolution and spread of one of the great literary languages. In Madras, -the European comes into contact with one or other of the cultivated -Dravidian tongues. In Bombay, he learns that Marāthi and Gujarāti have -ancient and interesting literatures. In Calcutta, he is surrounded by -millions of Bengalis, who in modern times have as many varieties of -literary expression as the most advanced of European races. In Rangoon, -he hears the most highly organised of Tibeto-Burman speeches. In -Allahabad, Benares, Lahore, Patna, he acquires some smattering of the -beautiful and expressive languages which are closest to the model of the -original Indo-Aryan idiom. These are the exact counter parts of the -great literary languages of Europe, of English, French, German, Italian, -etc. But while the European mountains contain one or two shy survivals -at most of primitive ways of talking, India has many languages of the -type of Basque. In the little frontier province of Assam alone, dozens -of grammars and vocabularies have been printed, and much more remains to -be done. Happily, an appetite for more information has been aroused by -the feast spread before linguists in Sir G. A. Grierson's great -_Survey_. He himself is at work on a book which will tell us all that is -at present known about the many languages of India, and their relations -with one another. But in addition to his own labours, Sir George -Grierson has been an apostle of linguistic research and has gathered -round him many disciples, not all of whom recognise whence came the -impulse that has set them to an examination of the history and growth of -Indian languages. Most promising sign of all, native scholars no longer -disdain the living tongues of India, nor confine their studies to the -classics of Sanskrit, Arabic, and Persian. In Bengal alone, the -Proceedings of the _Vangiya Sāhitya Parisat_, a society for the pursuit -of linguistic and ethnological research, now form a goodly library of -books, and the poet, Rabindranath Tagore, whose own English version of -his charming _Gitanjali_ is in the hands of all who love poetry or are -interested in Indian matters, is also a very keen and competent student -of his native language on lines suggested by the enquiries of European -scholars. Much has been learnt, but linguistic research in India has -still many interesting secrets for the zeal of European students to -reveal. In Scandinavia, Germany, France, a new sense of the value of -such studies has been aroused. All that can be attempted in the -following pages is to show, very summarily and briefly, what is known at -present. - -We have already seen that there are seven more or less recognisable -types of Indian humanity. To these roughly correspond five great -families of living vernaculars. The Turko-Iranian, the Indo-Aryan, the -Scytho-Dravidian, the Aryo-Dravidian, and the Mongolo-Dravidian races -have for the most part acquired Aryan languages which, in their -relations to Sanskrit and Persian, may be compared with the Romance -languages of Europe in their relations to literary Greek and Latin. The -Dravidian races speak one or other of the great Dravidian dialects, or -some idiom of the Mundā languages of Chota Nagpore. Among the Mongoloid -races of the extreme north and east of India, we find the Mon-Khmer and -the Tibeto-Chinese families of speech. Of these, the Dravidian family -seems to be confined to India—to the high tablelands of Southern India, -with one outlying settlement among the Brāhuis of Baluchistan. This -Dravidian speech would seem to be the original and indigenous language -of India. The Mundā languages of Chota Nagpore, again, are plainly very -ancient Indian tongues and are, in all probability, as aboriginal as the -true Dravidian speech. But Mundā tongues have elements in common with -the Mon-Khmer languages of Further India, Malacca, and Australonesia. -The present explanation of this fact is provided by the supposition -that, in prehistoric times, these distant regions shared a common -language with great part of Northern India. But, for all practical -purposes, the relations of the Mundā languages with the Far East are -still so vaguely defined, that they may be provisionally regarded as -being as indigenous as their neighbours, the Dravidian languages. The -connection of the Mon-Khmer languages with Further India and the Pacific -have formed the subject of the now famous researches of Pater Schmidt of -Vienna and other German investigators. The Indo-Chinese family of -languages is obviously connected with the many dialects of Southern -China. An Indian journalist once told me that he thought that the -tumbled mountain ranges which separate India from China and form, for -the time, a semi-savage "no man's land" of primitive social customs and -administration, are the most interesting area on earth. It is an Asiatic -and a huger Albania, of whose ethnological and linguistic condition much -has yet to be learned. Those who heard Mr Archibald Rose's lectures in -London and Cambridge on his travels in these regions will easily realise -how much room there is here for anthropological and linguistic research -among the rough but attractive races of this quarter. - -Lastly, in the great alluvial plain which separates the Himalayas from -the tableland of the south, and along the western coast, are the peoples -who use one or other of the great Aryan vernaculars, languages of much -the same type as the modern languages of Europe, sharing much of their -vocabulary, and ultimately derived from similar if still obscure -origins. It is of all these languages, and of some of their innumerable -dialects (not all of them even now known by name), that some account -must be given in this chapter. - - * * * * * - -The history of the languages of India has reflected the long struggle -for pre-eminence between the indigenous Dravidian culture of the south -and the Aryan civilisation of the north. The Mundā languages are those -of an isolated group of highlanders, who, till quite recent times, -hardly came into contact with or were influenced by the speech or -thought of other races. The Mon-Khmer-speaking people of the Khasi Hills -were similarly wholly isolated, and were long supposed to be absolutely -aboriginal and separate from other races of men, till quite recent -investigations discovered their linguistic affinities with the Mons of -Southern Burma and races in French Indo-China. The Tibeto-Burman -languages of the north-eastern frontier are the simple and primitive -speech of semi-savage men. For such languages, contact with the Aryan -languages means rapid decay and dissolution. - -Hindu civilisation and Hindu religion find easy converts in the rude and -simple Mongoloid people of the north-east, and acceptance of Hindu -manners and customs almost always results in a rapid change of language. -So again, the Iranian languages represent the final stage in the advance -of Islam and its languages as a conquering religion. The Iranian tongues -of the north-western frontier are only Indian in the fact that they -happen to fall within the administrative border of British India. If we -omit all consideration of these races and languages for the present, we -shall be free to consider the long struggle between the Aryan and the -Dravidian. The Aryan religion, the religion of the Hindus, has spread -all over India, and as the Dravidian temples of the south are among the -glories of Hindu religious architecture, so the Hinduism of the south is -now, in many ways, the most typical and interesting form of the -religion. The spread of the Aryan blood has been far less wide in -extent, as the previous chapter sufficiently shows. The Aryan languages -have spread all over the north of India, up to an irregular line running -obliquely across the peninsula from near Vizagapatam on the east coast -to near Goa on the west coast. Into the Aryan area projects the rocky -plateau of Chota Nagpore, where the Mundā dialects still survive, and -there are a few other outlying areas where Dravidian tribes still use -the original language of India. With these exceptions, Northern India, -from Bombay to Calcutta now speaks Aryan languages. - -[Illustration: _Plate V_ - - Seoris or Savaras - (_Mirzapur district_)] - -Let me then begin by giving a brief account of the two ancient and -indigenous families of language in India, the Dravidian and Mundā -families. Sir G. Grierson's _Survey_ has definitely established the fact -that, in spite of the close physical resemblance between the Dravidian -races properly so called and the inhabitants of Chota Nagpore, there is -no linguistic affinity between them. In Sir George Grierson's own words -"they differ in their pronunciation, in their modes of indicating -gender, in their declensions of nouns, in their method of indicating the -relationship of a verb to its objects, in their numeral systems, in -their principles of conjugation, in their methods of indicating the -negative, and in their vocabularies. The few points in which they agree -are points which are common to many languages scattered all over the -world." - - -_The Dravidian Languages._ - -These are, as aforesaid, the languages of Southern India. Two of them -survive further to the north in Chota Nagpore and the Sonthal Parganas, -where they exist side by side with Mundā dialects. One curiously -isolated Dravidian language is Brāhui, an extraordinary survival, far to -the north-west, in the midst of the Iranian and Muhammadan languages of -Baluchistan. The Sanskrit writers knew of two great southern languages -which they named the Andhra-bhāshā and the Drāvida-bhāshā. The first -corresponded to what is now Telugu and its cognates, the latter to the -rest of the southern languages. Sir George Grierson classifies the -Dravidian family thus: - - Number of speakers - (1901) - -A. Drāvida group: - - Tamil 16,525,500 - Malayalam 6,029,304 - Kanarese 10,365,047 - Kodagu 39,191 - Tulu 535,210 - Toda 805 - Kota 1300 - Kurukh 592,351 - Malto 60,777 - -B. Intermediate languages: - - Gond, etc. 1,123,974 - -C. Andhra group: - - Telugu 20,696,872 - Kandh 494,099 - Kola-i 1505 - -D. Brāhui 48,589 - - 56,514,524 - -Sir G. Grierson borrows the following general account of the main -characteristics of the Dravidian forms of speech, with slight verbal -alterations, from the _Manual of the Administration of the Madras -Presidency_: - -"In the Dravidian languages all nouns denoting inanimate substances and -irrational beings are of the neuter gender. The distinction of male and -female appears only in the pronoun of the third person, in adjectives -formed by suffixing the pronominal terminations, and in the third person -of the verb. In all other cases, the distinction of gender is marked by -separate words signifying 'male' and 'female.' Dravidian nouns are -inflected, not by means of case terminations, but by means of suffixed -postpositions and separable particles. Dravidian neuter nouns are rarely -pluralized; Dravidian languages use postpositions instead of -prepositions. Dravidian adjectives are incapable of declension. -It is characteristic of these languages, in contradistinction to -Indo-European, that, wherever practicable, they use as adjectives the -relative participles of verbs, in preference to nouns of quality or -adjectives properly so called. A peculiarity of the Dravidian (and also -of the Mundā) dialects is the existence of two pronouns of the first -person plural, one inclusive of the person addressed, the other -exclusive. The Dravidian languages have no passive voice, this being -expressed by verbs signifying 'to suffer' etc. The Dravidian languages, -unlike the Indo-European, prefer the use of continuative participles to -conjunctions. The Dravidian verbal system possesses a negative as well -as an affirmative voice. It is a marked peculiarity of the Dravidian -languages that they make use of relative participial nouns instead of -phrases introduced by relative pronouns. These participles are formed -from the various participles of the verb by the addition of a formative -suffix. Thus 'the person who came' is in Tamil literally 'the who-came'." - -It is worth while, for once, to quote this somewhat technical -description because it shows that though the Aryan languages have driven -the Dravidian languages out of Northern India, the latter may have -affected the Aryan speech in the transition which, in common with the -corresponding speeches of Europe, it has undergone from inflected to -analytic ways of talking. - -_Tamil._ Tamil, or Arava, is spoken all over the south of India and the -northern part of Ceylon. It extends as far as Mysore on the west coast -and Madras on the east coast. It has been carried all over Further India -by emigrant coolies. As might be expected from its geographical -position, it is the oldest, richest, and most highly organised of -Dravidian languages. It has an extensive literature written in a -literary dialect called "Shen" or "perfect" as compared with the -colloquial "Kodum" or "rude" speech of ordinary men. The words "Tamil" -and "Drāvida" are both corruptions of an original "Drānida." Tamil has -an alphabet of its own. - -_Malayalam._ Malayalam is a branch of Tamil which came into existence in -the ninth century A.D. It is the language of the Malabar coast, and has -one dialect, Yerava, spoken in Coorg. This language has borrowed its -vocabulary freely from Sanskrit. It differs from the mother tongue in -having dropped the personal terminations of verbs. Its alphabet is the -Grantha character, much used in Southern India for writing Sanskrit. - -_Kanarese._ Kanarese is the language of the Kingdom of Mysore and the -adjoining British territory. It has an ancient literature written in a -character resembling that of Telugu. Its dialects of Badaga and Kurumba -are spoken in the Nīlgiri hills. Kodagu, the language of Coorg, is said -by some to be a dialect of Kanarese, and is the link between it and -Tulu, the language of part of South Kanara in Madras. Toda and Kota will -always have an interest for anthropologists in connection with Dr -Rivers' now classical investigation into the social life of the Todas. - -_Gond._ The Gond language is spoken outside the true Dravidian area, in -the hill country of Central India. It is intermediate between the -Drāvida and Andhra languages, and like most hill languages has many -dialects. It is unwritten and has no literature. - -_Telugu._ Telugu is the only important Andhra language now surviving. It -is the language of the eastern coast from Madras to near the southern -border of Orissa. It has an extensive literature written in a character -of its own, adapted from the Aryan Devanāgari. This character, like the -writing of Orissa, is easily recognised by its loops and curves, said to -be due to the difficulty of writing straight lines with a stylus on a -palm leaf without splitting the leaf. - -Finally there remains the isolated and distant Brāhui language in -Baluchistan. Its separate existence has led to a very pretty quarrel -between linguists and ethnologists. Dr Haddon in his work on the -_Wanderings of Peoples_, in this series, says that "the Dravidians may -have been always in India: the significance of the Brāhui of -Baluchistan, a small tribe speaking a Dravidian language, is not -understood, probably it is merely a case of cultural drift." Sir George -Grierson says "if they (the Dravidians) came from the north-west, we -must look upon the Brāhuis as the rear-guard; but if from the south, -they must be considered as the advance guard of the Dravidian -immigration. Under any circumstances it is possible that the Brāhuis -alone retain the true Dravidian ethnic type, which has been lost in -India proper by admixture with other aboriginal nationalities such as -the Mundās." My own diffident suggestion is that the Brāhuis may be a -Dravidian race as a survival of emigration when Northern India was also -Dravidian, as the French are a "Latin" race. - -Of the Mundā languages I need not speak at any length, interesting as -they are to students of spoken speech. They are spoken by over three -millions of people, and, besides numerous dialects of each, are six in -number. They have been carefully studied by missionaries and others, and -many of them are now recorded in the Roman character. - -I must apologise for a somewhat dull and detailed account of the -Dravidian languages. It seemed necessary to explain what manner of -languages they were that fought an unequal and not always losing fight -with the great Aryan languages of the north. The account of the struggle -between the two, on the other hand, has an enduring interest. Dravidian -and Aryan languages now face one another much as do French and Breton in -Brittany, English and Gaelic in the Highlands, Flemish and French in -Belgium. But in the Indian plains the contest was waged on a much vaster -scale, and some of the incidents of the long struggle can still be -recovered. One point should be carefully borne in mind. In Northern -India the Aryan languages and the Hindu religion are openly and -completely victorious. The peculiar philosophic and religious ideas of -Hinduism find apt and copious expression in the Aryan vocabulary of the -north. But Dravidian India, too, in accepting Hinduism, perforce -accepted with it much of the Aryan vocabulary. It is Dravidian still, as -England is still mainly Germanic. But without Aryan words it could -hardly give expression to Hindu speculations and aspirations. As our own -language, as these words I write, have a strong intermixture of Latin -phrase and idiom, so the Aryan influence has in a greater or less degree -penetrated to Ceylon itself, once held by Aryan poets to be the home of -demoniac and barbarian races. There are Dravidian traces in the north, -survivals of old days of Dravidian supremacy. In the south, a veneer of -Aryan culture has been added to the ancient Dravidian civilisation. This -was strong to resist a change of idiom: it clung sturdily to most of its -vocabulary; but there has been an infusion of Aryan words, needed for -ritual and, in some cases, for administrative purposes. The use of the -word "administrative" reminds me to say, before passing on, that nowhere -in India is English so freely used as in the Dravidian south. Originally -Englishmen seem to have found Dravidian languages too difficult a means -of communication. But Dravidians themselves soon discovered that English -was a convenient _lingua franca_. All India is now making the same -discovery, and English is binding the educated classes into a new -pan-Indian race. - - -_The Aryan Languages._ - -We now return to the fascinating story of the spread of the Indo-Aryan -languages over the north and west of the peninsula. In the tale, -captured from the patient study of words and idioms, and finding only -occasional support from legend, and practically none from history, since -history had not yet begun to exist, we get a singularly moving and -interesting picture of the social existence of vanished tribes of men. -We partly know and partly conjecture that there was once a race of men -whom we may conveniently call Indo-Europeans who spoke the parent-speech -of the modern languages of Europe, Armenia, Persia, and northern India. -Probably the Panjāb in very early times was occupied by several -immigrations of Indo-European folk, for in the earliest days of which we -have any knowledge, the land of the Five Rivers is already the home of -many Indo-Aryan tribes, who live at enmity with one another, and have a -fraternal habit of speaking of one another as unintelligible barbarians. - -In the Sanskrit geography of somewhat later times, India is divided into -the sacred Madhya-deça, the "Midland," and the rest. Already this -Midland country, the home of the latest immigrants, is considered to be -the true habitat of civilised Aryans, all the rest of the peninsula -being more or less barbarous. It is important that the reader should -understand exactly where this Midland lay. On the north it ended below -the foot-slopes of the Himalayas. On the south, it was bordered by the -Vindhyā hills, the southern boundary of the Gangetic plain. On the west -it extended to Sirhind on the eastern limits of what is now the Panjāb. -On the east its limit was the confluence of the Ganges and Jumna. Its -inhabitants, of mixed Aryan and Dravidian origin, had spread eastwards -from the upper part of the _do-āb_, the watershed between the two -rivers. Their language gradually became the current speech of the -Midland. It was cultivated as a literary tongue from early times and -came to be known as Sanskrit, the "purified" language. Purified and -systematised it was by the labours of grammarians and phoneticians, the -most famous of whom is Pānini, who lived and wrote about 300 B.C. - -To the phonetic acumen of these early grammarians the existing alphabets -of northern India, singularly different in arrangement from the confused -order of European and Semitic letters, bear testimony. In the Indian -alphabets the letters are arranged in order, according to the vocal -organs chiefly used in their pronunciation, as Gutturals, Palatals, -Cerebrals, Dentals, and Labials. All the phonetic changes which occur in -the formation of the numerous compound words are carefully reduced to -rule, and the spelling professes to be (what perhaps no spelling ever -has been or can be) phonetic. - -[Illustration: _Plate VI_ - - A Bhuiyār - (_Mirzapur district_)] - -It is a moot point whether Sanskrit was in Pānini's time a spoken -vernacular. It is more probable that it was, what it still remains in -most parts of Hindu India, a second and literary language, used much as -Latin was used in medieval Europe. The spoken form of the archaic -language found in the older Vedas developed into Prākrit, which existed -side by side with Sanskrit as the spoken dialects of Italy existed side -by side with literary Latin. As the Italian dialects developed into the -modern languages of Europe, so the Prākrits gave birth to the Aryan -modern languages of India. Thus the latter were not in any accurate -sense derived from Sanskrit, but only shared a common origin with it[4]. -It remained, however, as a standard of literary perfection and was -destined to play an important part in the enrichment of many of the -modern languages of India, when contact with western culture brought -about what may fairly be called a literary renaissance. This was -particularly the case with Bengali. Its medieval literature was all but -confined to rhymed hymns and tales. English education led to a revival -of Sanskrit studies. From England Bengal learnt that it was possible to -write prose in many varied forms, in novels, essays, histories, -journalism, and so forth. The medieval literary language, derived from -the Prākrit, had grown insufficient for the expression of anything but -the simplest devotional or amatory emotion, and Bengali borrowed freely -from the rich treasury of Sanskrit. - -In the "Midland," then, were various forms of Prākrit, side by side with -the sacred and literary Sanskrit. Round the Midland, on the west, south, -and east lay territories inhabited by other Indo-Aryan tribes. This -country included what is now the Panjāb, Sind, Gujarāt, Rājputānā and -the country to its east, Oudh and Bihār. The tribes inhabiting this -semicircular tract had each of them its own dialect. But it is important -to note that the dialects of this "Outer Band" were much more closely -related to one another than to the spoken language of the "Midland." It -was this circumstance which suggested Dr Hoernle's ingenious theory, -already mentioned, of the second and separate invasion of Aryans into -the Midland over the mountainous passes of Gilgit, too high, arduous, -and difficult to be traversed by the families and herds of the nomad -newcomers. - -In course of time the population of the Midland grew in numbers and -valour and pressed closely on the food supplies of the tract. It was -already the centre of a vigorous and widely influential civilisation. It -contained the imperial cities of Delhi and Kanauj, and the sacred city -of Mathura (Μόδουρα ἡ τῶν θεῶν, as Ptolemy calls it). This crowded, -vigorous, and martial population was bound to expand. It spread -into the eastern Panjāb, Rājputānā, Gujarāt and Oudh, carrying with it -its language. Hence, as Sir George Grierson points out, we get in this -"Outer Band" mixed languages, of the Midland type near the "Midland" -centre, but fading into local dialects as we go further west, south, and -east. Finally as the Midlanders crowded into the territories of the -Outer Band, the inhabitants of these took refuge among the Dravidians of -the south and east, and so gave birth to dialects which ultimately -became Marāthi in the south and Oriyā, Bengali and Assamese on the east, -all of them characteristic languages of the "Outer Band." - -I am borrowing so freely and unscrupulously from Sir George Grierson -that it is a relief to pause for a moment to interpose a very diffident -suggestion of my own. Vocabulary, and even idiom, have become a dubious -guide to the constituent elements of the "Outer Band" languages which -have almost entirely destroyed the original vocabularies of the -Dravidian or Mongolo-Dravidian races who use them. But it is just -possible that accentuation, rhythm, metre may furnish some clue to these -vanished dialects, which may have bequeathed a characteristic tone of -voice to their Aryan successors. Bengali, for instance, has a very -peculiar initial phrasal accent which strongly distinguishes it from the -etymologically cognate speech of Bihār, much as the characteristic -_accent tonique_ of French distinguishes it from Italian and Spanish. -Native scholars in Bengal are, I am glad to say, beginning to work at -the Dravidian elements in their expressive and copious language, and -will, I hope, soon investigate the Mongolian elements, whether of idiom -or pronunciation, in the Bengali of the north-eastern part of the -province. - -To return to Sir George Grierson, he holds that the present linguistic -condition of northern India is this:—there is, firstly, a Midland -Indo-Aryan language which holds the Gangetic Doāb. Round it on three -sides is a band of Mixed languages, in the eastern Panjāb, Gujarāt, -Rājputānā and Oudh. With these Sir George includes the Indo-Aryan -languages of the Himalayan slopes north of the Midland, which have been -introduced in comparatively recent times by immigrants from Rājputānā. - -_The Prākrits._ Before I leave the Aryan languages of India, I must give -a brief summary of what Sir George Grierson says of the Prākrits, the -spoken speeches which have always, implicitly or explicitly, been -distinguished from the artificial and literary Sanskrit. The Primary -Prākrits of the Midland and Outer Band (of which latter no record -survives) were of the same type as the Latin known to us in literature. -They were synthetic and inflected languages. These gradually decayed (or -developed) into what Sir G. Grierson calls the Secondary Prākrits. These -are still synthetic, but diphthongs and harsh combinations of consonants -are avoided, "till in the latest developments we find a condition of -almost absolute fluidity, each language becoming an emasculated -collection of vowels hanging for support on an occasional consonant." -These Secondary Prākrits lasted from the days of the Buddha (550 B.C.) -to about 1000 A.D. - -One at least of these Secondary Prākrits, Pāli, has obtained world-wide -fame as the language of the Buddhist scriptures. Thus crystallised, it -underwent the same fate as Sanskrit and became more or less what we call -in Europe a "dead" language. In the Midland was a great and famous -Prākrit called Sauraseni, after the Sanskrit name, Surasena, of the -country round Mathura. In Bihār was Māgadhī; in Oudh and Baghelkhand was -Ardha-māgadhī or "half Māgadhī"; south of these was Mahārāshtri, which -is best known to students of the ancient Indian drama as the vehicle of -the lyrics with which the plays are studded. Kings, sages, heroes and -other noble characters speak Sanskrit. Inferior personages use Sauraseni. - -The Secondary Prākrits themselves degenerated into what Indian -grammarians call Apabhramsas, "corrupt" or "decayed" tongues, which were -used for literary purposes and finally became the parents of the great -Aryan languages of the present time. - -For comparison with the preceding table of the Dravidian languages, I -give below the census table of the Aryan languages as recorded in 1901:— - - Number of - speakers - -A. Language of the Midland: - - Western Hindi 40,714,925 - -B. Intermediate languages. - - _a._ More nearly related to the Midland language: - Rājasthānī 10,917,712 - The Pahārī (or 'mountain') - languages of the Himalaya 3,124,981 - Gujarāti 9,439,925 - Panjābi 17,070,961 - - _b._ More nearly related to the Outer languages: - Eastern Hindi 22,136,358 - -C. Outer languages. - - _a._ North-western group: - Kāshmīrī 1,007,957 - Kohistānī 36 - Lahndā 3,337,917 - Sindhī 3,494,971 - - _b._ Southern language: - Marāthī 18,237,899 - - _c._ Eastern group: - Bihārī 34,579,844 - Oriyā 9,687,429 - Bengali 44,624,048 - Assamese 1,350,846 - -Of all these modern languages, their idioms, their characters, their -literature, I do not venture to give even a summarised account. Those -who have any curiosity to learn more about them cannot do better than -consult Sir George Grierson's work on _The Languages of India_, until -it, in its turn, is superseded by the book he is now writing from the -materials collected in his _Linguistic Survey_. But everyone who has -read _The Newcomes_ will want to know what Hindustāni is, especially as -it is one of the languages prescribed for the study of probationers for -the Indian Civil Service and is taught at the universities of Oxford, -Cambridge, London, and Dublin. In the strictest sense Hindustāni is the -dialect of western Hindi spoken between Meerut and Delhi. It was much -cultivated, as a literary dialect, by both Hindus and Musalmāns. The -latter wrote, and write it, in the Persian character, and have added a -large number of Persian and Arabic words. In this Persianised form it is -known as Urdū, "a name derived from the _Urdū-e mu 'alla_, or royal -military bazaar outside the imperial palace at Delhi, where it is -supposed to have had its origin." Under Muhammadan rule Urdū was almost -as much the _lingua franca_ of India as English has come to be in modern -times. - -Another point is worth noting here. The Aryan languages of northern -India are, in a very real sense, Hindu languages. Perhaps I shall make -myself clearer by asserting that the languages of Western Europe are -Christian languages. For historical reasons, their religious phraseology -has a Christian connotation and allusiveness. But in the west, the -distinction between things secular and things religious has become so -familiar that the Christian element in our speech is not recognisable in -our ordinary talk. In Hindu India, on the other hand, almost every act -of a man's life has some religious or superstitious significance, and -hence all the Aryan languages in the mouths of Hindus are markedly -different from the shape they assume when spoken by Musalmāns. In the -case of western Hindi we have the recognised Muhammadan dialect of Urdū, -but in other languages too there is a Muhammadan dialect or _patois_, -even if it has no separate name. A curious exception, however, occurs in -eastern Bengal, where the bulk of the population is Musalmān. In this -region the Muhammadans are comparatively recent converts from the lower -aboriginal or Mongoloid castes, whose Muhammadanism sits very lightly on -their habits and consciences, and so far as my own experience goes, -there is little difference between the speech of the lower Musalmāns and -their friends and cousins the Chandāls and other indigenous castes. - - -_The Indo-Chinese Languages._ - -Finally, I must say a few words about the Indo-Chinese and Mon-Khmer -languages. I spent most of my official life among people speaking these -languages, and find, somewhat shamefacedly, that Sir G. A. Grierson -makes me responsible for sundry vocabularies compiled in my distant -youth. Naturally, I feel a personal interest in the people of the -north-eastern border, and am tempted to enlarge on their qualities of -speech and character. But I have left myself little space, and the -Mongoloid races of the frontier are hardly Indian in any proper sense of -the word. Moreover, though their total number is not great, they speak -many languages. The Census of 1901 recognises 119 such languages. The -most important of them all is, of course, Burmese, which is spoken by -about seven and a half millions of people. There are nearly 900,000 -Karens in Burma, and about 750,000 Shans. The Meithei (now Manipuris) -mentioned above are 272,997 in number. The Boro or Kachari people of the -Assam valley, a most attractive and delightful race, number somewhat -less than 250,000. The other languages of this type have mostly a much -smaller number of speakers than these. But mention should be made of -250,000 Mons, Palungs and Was in Burma, and 177,827 Khāsis in Assam, -since these constitute the only members of the Mon-Khmer family still -found within the limits of British India. - -These people, speaking Indo-Chinese languages, surround India proper on -the north and east in a crescent-shaped curve, mostly in the valleys of -lofty and rugged mountains. From the eastern mountains projects into the -midst of the modern province of Assam a range of hills, dividing the -valley of the Brahmaputra from that of Sylhet, which is watered by the -Surma. Readers of Sir W. W. Hunter's delightful little book on _The -Thackerays in India_ will not need to be told where Sylhet is, or what -sort of a place it is. This range of hills is inhabited by the Garos on -the west, and the Nagas on the east, both Tibeto-Burman races. Between -them, on one of the most beautiful plateaus in the world, are the -Khāsis, once, as I have said elsewhere, regarded as being as isolated -and unique as our European Basques, but now proved to be, linguistically -at least, connected with the Mons in Burma, and many races and tribes in -Further India and Australonesia. - -All these Indo-Chinese people seem to have come originally from -north-western China, following the beds of great rivers in their travel; -down the Chindwin, the Irrawaddy, and the Salween into Burma, down the -Brahmaputra into Assam, and up the Brahmaputra into Tibet. There seem to -have been at least three waves of migration. First, in prehistoric -times, there was a Mon-Khmer invasion into Further India and Assam. -Next, also at an unknown date, was a Tibeto-Burman invasion into the -same regions and Tibet. Next the Tai branch of the Siamese-Chinese -entered eastern Burma about the sixth century A.D. A fourth -Tibeto-Burmese invasion, that of the Kachins, when in Lord Dufferin's -time, the British annexed Upper Burma. - -I think I have now said enough to show how the languages of India are -distributed. It only remains to give a brief and cursory account of the -Indian Religions. This is a subject on which big books might be, and -have been, written. But, even in so small a book on the Peoples of India -it seems necessary to give some account of their religious divisions. - -[4] As in Europe, the modern Aryan languages differ from one another -chiefly in survivals from the indigenous earlier speech which preceded -each of them. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA - - -(1) _Animism._ At the base of all the religions, perhaps at the base of -all religions all over the world, lies a mass of primitive beliefs, not -perhaps yet consciously classed by the holders of them as distinctly -religious, which are called by the question-begging name of Animism. By -this statement, I mean merely that many of the more ignorant and simple -folk who profess and call themselves Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, -Muhammadans, or Christians, are in fact at the animistic stage of -intellectual evolution. The religious impulse is there, but has not -become specialised. There is no religious theorising, but merely -communal and transmitted beliefs about the nature of things in general. -Perhaps I had better quote Sir H. H. Risley's definition of Hinduism as -it exists in India. "It conceives of man," he says, "as passing through -life surrounded by a ghostly company of powers, elements, tendencies, -mostly impersonal in their character, shapeless phantasms of which no -image can be made and no definite idea can be formed. Some of these have -departments or spheres of influence of their own: one presides over -cholera, another over small pox, another over cattle disease; some dwell -in rocks, others haunt trees, others, again, are associated with rivers, -whirlpools, waterfalls, or strange pools hidden in the depths of the -hills. All of them require to be diligently propitiated by reason of the -ills which proceed from them, and usually the land of the village -provides the means for their propitiation." - -If this definition, that of a kindly and experienced student of -primitive thought and emotion, be correct, there is already an attempt -at analysis and classification. But the analysis is feeble, the -classification very elementary. The differences which seem obvious to -the civilised man, who inherits the analytic inventions and -investigations of long series of ancestors, are not yet realised. There -is practically no distinction between things animate and inanimate, -since all may be maleficent and must therefore, on occasion, be -propitiated. There is no sense of things subter-human, human, and -superhuman. Still less, of course, is there any recognition of the -difference between things religious and things secular. Grown men face -the facts of life as children do, and receive the impressions life -conveys to them _en masse_, without making much effort to sort them out. -In our own case, we learn to classify from our elders, and -classification, literary, scientific, social, religious, is a large part -of what we call education. How does primitive man begin to sort out the -facts of life, to remember them in classes, to discriminate between -human beings and other animals, to place animals above inanimate things, -himself above animals, and, finally, the gods above himself? The history -of the evolution of Hinduism throws some light on this evolution as it -occurred in India. - -Meanwhile, it is worth noticing that the Census returns of 1901 returned -the Animists of India at only about 8½ millions, or less than 3 per -cent. Those who returned themselves as Hindu or Musalmān were so -recorded, whatever their degree of mental and social culture. An attempt -has been made in the Census of 1911 to distinguish between true Hindus -and Animists who call themselves Hindu. How far the attempt was -successful, I do not know. I can well believe that it was not welcomed -even by educated and intelligent Hindus. Many years ago, I remember a -highly educated Hindu in Bengal telling me that there is no distinction -between Animists and Hindus; that an Animist is merely a Hindu "in the -making" as it were. But perhaps that assertion only amounted to an -admission that the Hindu mind is averse from the kind of intellectual -evolution by conscious analysis and classification which is dear to -Western imaginations. Yet the history of Hinduism and its branches shows -that such an evolution has taken place. - -[Illustration: _Plate VII_ - - A Ghāsiya - (_Mirzapur district_)] - -I should like to suggest that at the stage of human evolution which we -call animistic, man takes the facts of life in the lump, as it were, and -does not sort them out into classes. If we are to judge by what we know -of the history of Hinduism, the evolution of primitive man from this -unclassifying stage is something as follows. Art comes into play. The -practice of song and draughtsmanship introduces specialisation. From -singing comes verse, from drawing comes some kind of rude writing. The -first trains the memory, the second aids memory. Then comes the social -classification which results from the breaking up of clans, and contact -with other clans and communities. All men are not the same, and the -difference is grasped and finds expression in language. The new power of -classification is extended to other things. The difference between -animate and inanimate things is understood, and their relative powers of -helping or hurting the tribal community. When classification has -proceeded thus far, the inference is easy that as what is known of the -faculties of subter-human beings and things to benefit or hurt humans -does not by any means account for the joys and calamities of life, there -must be a class of superhuman beings who are to be conciliated. By their -supposed deeds they are judged. If they are, on the whole, kindly and -easily placated, they will be classified by some title which they will -usually share with great and good men. If their action on mankind be -harmful, they will bear the names given to malicious or inimical races -or individuals. At a subsequent stage of analytical evolution their -generic names will be confined to their own class; they will be gods or -demons. Many Hindus have hardly gone beyond this stage, and we can -hardly be surprised that some objection should be taken to too rigid a -distinction between Hindus and Animists. In practice, it is often -difficult to say whether a given observance is Animistic or Hindu. Here -is one case, out of thousands that occur in India, from my own -experience. In the seaport town of Chittagong is the shrine of the -famous Muhammadan saint Pir Badr, a holy man often invoked by travellers -on sea or river. In a niche in a little pillar in the open air, -Christians and Buddhists, Hindus and Musalmāns alike place lighted -candles by way of propitiation. This, surely, is an observance of the -Animistic type. It has no part in any theorised or classified religious -system. It is merely the attempt to gratify an influence which may help -or harm. Animism is consistent with the most vivid, if childlike, -curiosity. All is grist that comes to that primitive mill. But the -resulting flour of thought is, as it were, coarse and unsifted. Artistic -specialisation, the birth of literature, brings a need of -classification. Out of propitiation comes ritual, a belief in the -efficacy of sacramental gestures, offerings, formulæ. But, as time goes -on, they are appropriated to the service of highly specialised deities. -As man learns the advantage of a division of labour and a specialisation -of function, so his gods become "departmental." The classification will -not be that of modern times. Among animate things will be reckoned fire, -and air, the sun and moon and the twinkling stars. But the process of -analysing and sorting will have begun. - -(2) _The Vedas._ The Aryan immigrants seem to have brought a scanty and -summary theology with them, or it may be that in different surroundings -they forgot their old religious ideas, and, with the help of Dravidian -and other aboriginal speculations, evolved new ones. Sir G. Grierson has -suggested that the fact that they migrated in two afterwards hostile -bodies finds its reflection, in the Vedas, in the fabled antagonism of -the rival priests Visvāmitra and Vasishta; in the Mahābhāratā in the -famous war between the Kauravas and Pāndavas, the Eastern counterpart of -the siege of Troy. - -The Vedas are four collections of ritual hymns, used in connection with -the oblation of the intoxicating juice of the Soma, the moon-plant, or -with the sacrificial Fire. The Rig-veda (the oldest) and its supplement -the Sāma-veda are now held to have been composed when the Aryans had -reached the junction of the Panjāb rivers with the Indus: the Black and -White Yajur-veda when they reached the Sutlej and the Jumna; the -Atharva-veda, which contains the lower beliefs of aboriginal races, when -they had reached Benares. There are gods and goddesses of the sky, the -most important being the Sun, and Varuna (the Greek οὐρανός), afterwards -a kind of Hindu Neptune, but in these early days represented as sitting -in the vault of heaven, and having the sun and stars as the eyes with -which he watches the doings of men. His function was to encourage -personal holiness as a human ideal. In the mid-air Indra became -pre-eminent on Indian soil, where the dependence of an agricultural -people on periodical rains made the rain-god an important deity. On -earth the most important deities are Soma and Agni (fire) already -mentioned. There was also Yama, the beautiful and stately god of death, -who though naturally immortal chose to die, and lead the way for mortal -successors to the abodes of the dead. Besides the departmental gods, -there is in the Vedas a distinct foreshadowing of Pantheism. - -(3) _The Brāhmanas._ When the Aryans reached the "Midland," the upper -Gangetic valley, the Vedic hymns were supplemented by new Scriptures, -called Brāhmanas, which were digests of dicta on matters of ritual for -the guidance of priests. These were the beginning of Brāhmanism. The -elementary Pantheistic theory of the Vedas was developed into a belief -in one Spiritual Being or Ātman. When manifested and impersonal, this -Being was the neuter Brahma; when regarded as the Creator, he was the -masculine Brahmā; but when manifested in the highest order of -intellectual men, he was Brāhman, the Brāhman priestly class. Following -the Brāhmanas, was a third order of religious literature, the -Upanishads. Dr Hopkins has thus summarised the teaching of these three -Scriptures. "In the Vedic hymns, man fears the gods. In the Brāhmanas -man subdues the gods, and fears God. In the Upanishads man ignores the -gods and becomes God." Not that these three kinds of Scripture, these -three evolutions of religious speculation, followed one another in -chronological order. But this was, roughly, the logical evolution. -Finally the doctrine was established that knowledge leads to the supreme -bliss of absorption into Brahmā, and with this was combined the theory -of transmigration. - -Even from this extremely crude and simplified statement, it will be -evident that the priesthood had secured for themselves an unexampled -supremacy, and, in the Midland at least, had placed the administrator -and warrior in a state of marked inferiority. But in the surrounding -territories, success in arms and government won men the consideration -still considered their due among ourselves. In the Midland itself the -territory was divided among a number of petty chiefs, who waged -perpetual warfare with one another. They were not likely to ignore the -prestige won by valour and warlike skill. One of them was Gautama, the -Buddha (_c._ 596-508 B.C.). Another was Vardhamāna, his contemporary, -the founder of Jainism. This is not the place to tell of Buddhism, -which, as a recognised creed, though it has spread far to the north and -east, and is the religion of Ceylon and Burma, only survives in India -proper in faint influences on the belief and practice of various Hindu -sects. - -(4) _Jainism._ The Jain Reform still exists and numbers over a million -of followers. Its doctrines have a vague and general resemblance to -those of Buddhism, not because either copied the other, but because they -sprang from a common origin. In both Nirvāna, the "blowing out," as it -were, of the lamp of life is the goal aimed at. But to the Buddhist, -Nirvāna means the peace of extinction; to the Jain, it is final escape -from the body after various metamorphoses. Mr Crooke defines the -fivefold vow of the Jains as prescribing (1) the sanctity of human life; -(2) renunciation of lying, which proceeds from anger, greed, fear or -mirth; (3) refusal to take things not given; (4) chastity; (5) -renunciation of worldly attachments. The Jain pantheon consists of -deified saints who are either Tīrthan-kara, "making a passage through -the circuit of life," or Jina, "the victorious ones." - -(5) _Hinduism Proper._ These reforms, joined with the spread of the -Brāhmanical faith into lands where the authority of Aryan priests was -not recognised, produced something which, in its way, resembles the -Protestant Reformation. The Vedic religion had come to be the monopoly -of a limited order of hereditary priests. This ritual supremacy was -broken up by two influences. A new national ideal of worship found -expression in the Epics, which to this day, in metrical translations, -are the layman's scripture all over India. Secondly, the Vedic pantheon -was enormously enlarged by the admission of non-Aryan deities and -aboriginal modes of worship. Hence arose the body of writings known as -the Purānas, or "ancient" books, not all really old in the trace of -their composition, but perhaps deserving their title as containing very -old beliefs. Of all these books and their teaching other authorities -have written recently in various works on the early history and -religious poetry of India, and it would therefore be presumptuous for me -to say anything about the religious literature of Hinduism. It is -sufficient to say that the Epics introduced, in place of the vague and -shadowy Vedic gods, heroic incarnations of divine virtue, wisdom and -valour, and thus led to the sectarian worship of the two active members -of a new supreme triad of gods, Brahmā, the creator, Vishnu, the -preserver, and Siva, the destroyer. Most Hindus are now followers of one -or other of the two latter in some incarnation. In early times this -sectarian rivalry led to wars and persecutions, but Hinduism is -singularly tolerant in matters of belief and doctrine. A Saiva is not a -disbeliever in the divinity of the incarnations of Vishnu; a Vaishnava -recognises the ascetic powers of Siva. But each has his favourite deity -and chiefly studies the scriptures relating to him. The principal -incarnations of Vishnu are Krishna and Rāma, who seem to have been -originally deified heroes of the Midland. There were many Vishnuvite -reformers, some of whom, it is interesting to note, may have derived -suggestions from the early Christianity of Southern India. - -The first of these was Rāmānuja, who lived in the eleventh century A.D. -Fifth in succession to him was Rāmānanda, who lived in the fourteenth -century and was the missionary of popular Vaishnavism in Northern India. -To him that tract owes the prevalence of the cult of Rāma and his wife -Sītā, the hero and heroine of the Epic known as the Rāmāyana. His chief -innovation was the admission of low-caste disciples into the communion. -His disciple, the famous Kabir (1380-1420 A.D.), went further. He even -linked Hinduism with Islam. Himself a humble weaver, he taught the -spiritual equality of all men. God is one, he argued, by whatever name -men choose to call Him. The accidents of life, social station and caste, -happiness and grief, prosperity and misfortune, are all the results of -Māya or Illusion. Happiness comes not by formula or sacrifice but by -passionate adoration (_bhakti_) of God. Kabir's chief importance in the -history of Hindu evolution is in the fact that his doctrines were the -origin of Sikhism. - -Another great name in the democratic Vaishnava reformation was that of -Chaitanya (1485-1527 A.D.). Mr E. A. Gait writes of him that he was "a -Baidik Brāhman. He preached mainly in Central Bengal and Orissa, and his -doctrine found ready acceptance among large numbers of the people, -especially among those who were still, or had only recently ceased to -be, Buddhists. This was mainly due to the fact that he drew his -followers from all sources, so much so that even Muhammadans followed -him. He preached vehemently against the immolation of animals in -sacrifice, and the use of animal food and stimulants, and taught that -the true road to salvation lay in bhakti, or fervent devotion to God. He -recommended Rādhā worship, and taught that the love felt by her for -Krishna was the highest form of devotion. The acceptable offerings were -flowers, money, and the like; but the great form of worship was the -Sankirtan, or procession of worshippers playing and singing. The -peculiarity of Chaitanya's cult is that the post of spiritual guide, or -Goshain, is not confined to Brāhmans, and several of those best known -belong to the Baidya caste[5]." - -_The Sikhs._ As a religious system, the creed of the Sikhs originated -from the Hindu teaching of Kabir, and may yet be reabsorbed into -Hinduism, though the Census of 1911 shows that it still flourishes as a -separate religion. It began as a religious reform and ended by being a -political organisation. It was founded by the Guru Nānak (1469-1538 -A.D.) in the Panjāb. Its formula was the Unity of God and the -Brotherhood of Man. Ultimately it became a martial brotherhood, one of -whose objects was by training, diet, and self-denial to present a strong -front to the encroachments of Muhammadan invaders from across the -north-west frontier. Circumstances led the Sikh confederacy to try its -fortune in arms in two fiercely fought campaigns with the growing power -of our East India Company. Defeat was followed by a loyal acceptance of -British supremacy, and the Sikhs rival the Gurkhas as the best soldiers -in the Indian army. Their services during the mutiny of 1857 will never -be forgotten. - -_The Sāktas._ One other great Hindu sect, that of the Sāktas, must be -briefly mentioned. It worships the active female principle (_prakriti_) -of one or other of the forms of the Consort of Siva—Durgā, Kāli, or -Pārvati. This cult arose in Eastern Bengal or Assam about the fifth -century, A.D., and has its own scriptures in the Tantras. This sect is -probably due to the recrudescence of very ancient aboriginal cults. It -is associated with blood-offerings and libidinous rites. It was -denounced by the Vaishnava reformers, but still survives, even among -educated men. It affected the later forms of Buddhism. - -Finally, by omitting all mention of numerous modern Vaishnava sects, we -come to the modern Theistic sects. The Brahmo Samāj of Bengal was -founded by the celebrated Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1774-1833) who died and -was buried at Clifton. His teachings were continued and developed by his -successors Maharshi Devendranāth Tagore (the father of the poet -Rabindranāth Tagore), Keshav Chandra Sen, and Pratāp Chandra Majumdār. -All of these were men of much piety, eloquence, and learning. Sir Alfred -Lyall says that "Brahmoism, as propagated by its latest expounders, -seems to be unitarianism of a European type, and as far as one can -understand its argument, appears to have no logical stability or _locus -standi_ between revelation and pure rationalism; it propounds either too -much or too little to its hearers." It has, however, been an effectual -bar to the spread of Christianity among the educated classes in Bengal. -It enables them to remain in touch with Hinduism, from which an adoption -of any European creed would effectually divide them. Its services of -praise and prayer, with a sermon or discourse, are held on Sundays, and -in form resemble those of the Christian free churches. Its creed -consists in a belief in the Unity of God, the brotherhood of man, and -direct communion with God without the intervention of any mediator. It -may fairly be claimed for it that it has satisfied the religious needs -of men most of whom lead exemplary and in some cases saintly lives, -without compelling them to join what is regarded as a foreign and -uncongenial religion. But for Ram Mohan Roy, educated Bengal might well -have furnished the nucleus of a Christian Church of India, since, before -his time, many distinguished and able converts were made. I need only -mention the late Rev. K. M. Bannerjee. The Brahmo Samāj is divided into -three sections. The Ādi Samāj, as its name indicates, is the original -church. It is the most conservative of the three, and takes its -inspiration wholly from the Hindu scriptures, and especially from the -Upanishads. The Navavidhān Samāj, founded by Keshav Chandra Sen, "the -Church of the New Dispensation," is much more eclectic and has borrowed -what it considers acceptable, not only from the holy books of Hinduism, -but from Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam. The Sādhāran (or "general") -Brāhmo Samāj is the most advanced of the three Churches. It rejects -caste and the seclusion of women, allows inter-caste marriages, and is -seemingly as far from orthodox Hinduism as from orthodox Christianity. -It has even allowed one of its lady members to be married to an -Englishman by Brāhmo rites. If it can hardly be called Hindu in ritual -or in belief, it is Hindu in what is probably regarded as the more -important sense of being a purely Indian sect and not a direct product -of European missionary zeal. - -Another new sect, the Ārya Samāj, or Aryan Society, has much influence -in the Panjāb and North-Western India generally. It was founded by -Dayānand Saraswati (1827-53). Its only scriptures are the Vedas. It -professes pure monotheism, repudiates idol worship, and is much -interested in social reform. It has also at times been mixed up, more or -less directly, with political agitation. Like the Brāhmo Samāj, it is -probably due in its inception to the influence of European religious -teaching, but, as is perhaps natural, its acceptance of European ethics -is marked by a sturdy resistance to European dogma. - -The great bulk of Hinduism, however, remains still but little removed -from the Animistic stage of religious evolution, and one of the results -of the spread of British rule into wild and savage tracts has been the -extension of the borders of Hinduism in competition with Christianity. -In the rougher and wilder races, not yet sufficiently softened and -civilised for the acceptance of the Hindu social system, the Christian -missionary prevails. He has been most successful among the Gonds of -Central India, among such savage tribes as the Nāgas, Gāros, and Lushais -on the Assam border. Elsewhere Hinduism pursues its quietly -imperturbable course and admits savage races to its lower castes as it -has always admitted them during the last two thousand years. - -_Islam in India._ Since King George V has more Muhammadan subjects than -any other ruler on earth—some 75,000,000 in number, it would not be -proper to close a little book on the Peoples of India without saying -something of those of their number who are Musalmāns. The early -Muhammadan invasions of the tenth century were mere predatory raids, and -were attended neither by settlement nor conversion. But at the end of -the twelfth century Muhammad Ghori overthrew the Hindu dynasties of -Delhi and Kanauj and thus opened the way to future Muhammadan conquests. -In the sixteenth century Moghal rule was established under Babar and his -successors. During the preceding five centuries Hindu India suffered -much oppression and wrong at the hands of Muhammadan invaders, but Islam -had made no attempt to become an Indian religion. The early Moghal -emperors were too busy in consolidating their conquests and organising -their administration to have much leisure or inclination for -proselytising. Their policy depended largely on co-operation with Rājput -princes, whose daughters they married. The influence of Rājput empresses -and princesses made for kindly tolerance. It was only under the zealot -Aurangzeb that any tendency to forcible conversion showed itself. - -The final result of some seven hundred years of Muhammadan rule in -various parts of the country is that Musalmāns are in excess of Hindus -only in the Western Panjāb, which is in contact with a purely Muhammadan -country, and in Eastern Bengal, where the aboriginal low-caste Hindu was -glad to get social promotion by accepting Islam, and where he thrives -and prospers at the expense of his Hindu brother, partly because his -diet is more nutritious, partly because he does not practise -infant-marriage and other debilitating customs. - -As has been said above, Animism has affected Islam as well as Hinduism. -From the old religion of the country Musalmāns have borrowed demonology, -a belief in witchcraft, and the worship of departed Pirs or saints. The -most remarkable instance of the latter is the sect of the Pachpiriyas of -Bengal, the worshippers of the Five Saints, a cult which some have -traced to the cult of the five Pāndava heroes of the Mahābhārata. The -five Pirs, however, vary in name from district to district. In Eastern -Bengal, no one, whether Hindu or Musalmān (or, I had almost said, -Christian), begins a journey by boat without a loud and hearty -invocation of the Ganges, the Wind, the Five Pirs, and Pir Badr before -mentioned. - -Of the two great sects of Islam, the Sunnis and the Shias, the former -are by far the most numerous in India. The Sunnis or Traditionalists -accept the Sunnat or collected body of Arabic usage as possessing -authority concurrent with that of the Koran, which is the sole scripture -of the Shias. Yet in Eastern Bengal the annual procession of the Tazias, -or representations of the tombs of the martyred grandsons of the -Prophet, is much attended by Sunnis (though for them the practice is -unorthodox), and indeed by Hindus also. In other parts of India, the -Mohurram festival has often led to serious encounters between Hindus and -Musalmāns, and even in Calcutta and Bombay has been the cause of -dangerous riots. - -The sects of Islam in India, unlike the Hindu sects, are not due to the -instinct for differentiation, for obvious reasons. They are, in Mr -Crooke's words, either puritanical or pietistic. Consequently, followers -of them are apt to show a tendency to fanaticism. The Hindu sectarian -adores some favourite deity, but does not deny the merits, or the -Hinduism, of other deities or their followers. The Musalmān sectarian is -one who has discovered a higher orthodoxy than others, or a straighter -road to religion, and regards those who do not share his views as an -enemy of God and the true faith. Of the puritanical sects, the best -known is that of the Wahābis, founded by Ibn Abdul Wahāb at Nejd in -Arabia, at the beginning of the eighteenth century. It was an attempt to -revive primitive Muhammadanship without the corruptions and accretions -of later ages and foreign lands. It was brought into India by Sayid -Ahmad Shāh, who proclaimed a Jihād, or holy war, against the Sikhs in -1826. The Wahābis hold that the doctrine of the Unity of God has been -endangered by the excessive reverence paid to the Prophet, to his -successors the Imāns, and to shrines. At times Wahābis have given -trouble to the administration, especially in Bengal. In recent years, -however, they call themselves Ahl-i-hadīs, or "followers of tradition," -and employ themselves chiefly in endeavouring to eradicate modern -superstitions. - -The pietistic sects tend towards Sūfi-ism, a combination of Aryan -pantheism with Semitic monotheism, which takes the form of ecstatic -devotion. Something of the same kind may be found in the Vaisnav sects -of Hinduism, and in both cases ultimate absorption in the divinity is -the goal aimed at. - -Very interesting local communities of Muhammadans are the Moplahs of the -Malabar coast, descendants of Arab settlers; the Bohras or "traders" of -Western India; and the Khojās, followers of the "Old Man of the -Mountain," whose present representative is H.H. the Agha Khān of Bombay, -who has many friends in England. - -_The Pārsīs._ The word Pārsī simply means Persian, and the Pārsī -religion is the dualistic faith, combined with fire-worship, of the -ancient Persians. It is also called Mazdaism from Ahura Mazda (Ormuzd), -who is in perpetual conflict with Angro Mainyush (Ahriman), the spirit -of evil. It is also called Zoroastrianism, from the reformer Zoroaster, -the Greek form of the old Iranian Zarathushtra, the modern Persian -Zardusht. The religious phraseology of the Pārsīs shows that their faith -must have had a common origin with the Aryan religion of India before -the Iranian and Indo-Aryan migrations parted company. By a curious trick -of language, the Devas, who in India and Europe are beneficent gods, in -Persia become evil spirits. In India by a corresponding inversion, the -word Asura, which in the Rig-veda is still a name of gods, was applied -to hostile (generally aboriginal) demons. By a further process Asura was -regarded as a negative word, and gave birth to a tribe of beneficent -Suras. In the earlier times, there were both Ahura and Daeva -worshippers, the former being socially superior, cattle-breeders, who, -like the Indian Hindus, venerated the cow. It was Zoroaster's mission to -fuse these two cults into a dualistic creed, whose main principle was -the continuous struggle between the powers of good and evil. Submerged -for a time during the Greek occupation, the Mazdaist faith revived under -the Sassanids, but was finally overthrown by the advent of Islam, which -persecuted and strove to extirpate the worship of fire. - -Many of the survivors migrated to India, where they secured the -tolerance of Hindu and Muhammadan rulers alike, and increased and -multiplied. Up to the middle of the eighteenth century, Surat, Nausāri, -and the neighbouring parts of Gujarāt were their home. When, under -British rule, Bombay became a great commercial port, large numbers of -Pārsīs migrated thither, and in many cases won great wealth and -influence. - -In the early days of their dispersion, the weak colonies of Pārsīs -assimilated themselves with the lower classes of Hindus by whom they -were surrounded. But fresh accessions from Irān, and a growth of -national prosperity and self-confidence brought about a restoration of -the ancient faith. On Indian soil, the Pārsīs now number 94,000. But -owing to their intelligence and wealth, due to their remarkable success -in trading, the Pārsīs command a much wider political and social -influence than their numbers would seem to show. According to Pārsī -belief, the soul passes after death to paradise (Bihisht) or a place of -punishment (Dozakh) according to a man's conduct in life. Much -importance is attached to the performance of rites to the _manes_ of -ancestors. Fire, water, the sun, moon, and stars were created by Ahura -Mazda, and are venerated, as is Zarathushtra the Prophet. Soshios, his -son, will some day be reincarnated as a Messiah, and will convert the -world to the true faith. As with other Indian religions, contact with -Europeans tends to produce laxity of belief and conduct. - -_Christianity._ It is interesting to remember that there were Christians -in India before the Christian faith reached our islands. The tradition -that St Thomas was the Apostle of India, and suffered martyrdom there, -is indeed discredited. This tradition originated with the Syriac _Acta -Thomae_, and was accepted by Catholic teachers from the middle of the -fourth century. The Indian King Gundaphar of the _Acta_ is undoubtedly -the historical Gondophares, whose dynasty was Parthian, though his -territories were loosely considered to extend to India. A full account -of the traditions connecting St Thomas with India (by W. R. Philipps) -will be found in vol. XXXII. of the _Indian Antiquary_, 1903, pp. 1-15, -145-160. - -The term "Christians of St Thomas" is often applied to the members of -the ancient Christian churches of Southern India which claim him as -their first founder, and honour as their second founder a bishop called -Thomas, who is said to have come from Jerusalem to Malabar in 345 A.D. -According to local tradition, St Thomas went from Malabar to Mylapur, -now a suburb of Madras and the seat of a Roman Catholic bishop. Here -still exists the shrine of his martyrdom on Mount St Thomas. A -miraculous cross is shown with a Pahlavi inscription which is said to be -as old as the end of the seventh century. The old churches of the south -were certainly of East Syrian origin. They never wholly lost their sense -of connection with their mother church, for it is known that they sent -deputies in 1490 to the Nestorian patriarch Simeon, who provided them -with bishops. Under Musalmān rule, they suffered severely, and welcomed -the advent of the Portuguese to India. They were, however, recalcitrant -to Roman influence, and it was with much difficulty that in 1599 they -were induced to submit to a formal union with Rome at the synod of -Diamper (Udayamperur in Cochin). During the following century and a half -the Thomasine churches were under foreign Jesuit rule, but yielded an -unwilling and intermittent obedience. In 1653, there was a great schism, -and of about 200,000 Christians of St Thomas only 400 remained loyal to -Rome, though some of their churches were soon won back by the -Carmelites. The remainder fell under the influence of the Jacobite Mar -Gregorius, styled patriarch of Jerusalem, who reached Malabar in 1665 as -an emissary from Ignatius patriarch of Antioch. From this time, the -independent churches of Southern India have been Jacobite. At the -present time, they are on friendly terms with the Anglican church in -India, and are loosening their dependence on the Jacobite patriarch of -Antioch. - -Of missionary work in India I need not speak in a book of this size. -There are nearly three millions of Christians in India, of whom two and -a half millions are native converts. Seeing that missionary work has -been in operation since 1500, a tale of converts amounting to less than -one per cent. may seem a discouraging result of over 400 years of -contact with European religious thought. But actual conversion has taken -place chiefly among the lower classes and least advanced races. Among -the educated classes the influence of Christianity has been indirect, -and in many cases has produced a transformation in ethical belief and -social conduct as complete as could have been wrought by open -conversion. The Brāhmo Samāj, for instance, remains Hindu in a sense, -because it refuses to sever its connection with India, or to acknowledge -European authority in matters of religion. But the Brāhmo Samāj could -not have come into existence but for Rām Mohan Roy's friendly and -intimate acquaintance with European Christians and Unitarians. Even in -the matter of conversion, the rate of progress is increasing rapidly, -partly because missionary effort is being directed to savage tracts -hitherto unvisited by civilised men, but partly, also, because the -native Christian community is beginning to have sufficient -self-confidence and status to proselytise in its turn. The multiplicity -of missionary agencies, due to the accidents of European history and -development, has been an impediment. Such terms as the Church of -England, Church of Scotland, Welsh Baptists, American Baptists, etc., -can have little signification for races who cannot be expected to know -the historical causes which brought about these local varieties of -Christian doctrine and practice. There may yet arise among one of the -rival churches in India a Christian Rāmanuja or Chaitanya, who may found -a great Church of India, with a ritual, and, perhaps, doctrines of its -own. The most successful of the Jesuit missionaries, Robert de Nobili[6] -for instance, and such men as the Abbé Dubois in later times, owed their -success to the fact that they assumed the habits, dress, and often the -titles of Brāhmanic ascetics. They could not assume the dusky skin -which, after all, is the first and easiest means of gaining an Indian's -confidence. They could not wholly accept caste, they could not wink at -polygamy in the case of men whose first wives were infertile, and who -had an hereditary sense that the lack of an heir is socially and -religiously reprehensible. Perhaps a truly indigenous Church of India -may deal with such difficulties more successfully than men who are -compelled to teach, not only the elements of the Christian faith, but -the ethical traditions belonging to their own race. - -In this connection, I may be allowed to conclude my necessarily brief -story of Indian races and religions with an anecdote. Just thirty-five -years ago I was in charge of a "subdivision" in Bengal which contained a -large number of native Christians belonging to the Church of England. -There were several churches with parsonages, and the nearest of these to -my headquarters was in the charge of a young missionary who was glad to -have an occasional chat with a young magistrate. One day my missionary -friend told me that he had discovered with dismay that his flock were in -the habit of attending the Communion Service in batches, according to -their castes, so as not to be obliged to drink out of the cup with men -of alien caste. There were Hindu Christians and Muhammadan Christians -who could not eat or drink together. He decided that this state of -things must be stopped at all costs, as being wholly contrary to -Christian teaching. I ventured to suggest that spiritual equality is not -the same thing as social equality, but had to admit that caste is not -usually recognised as a Christian institution. Apparently the Christians -listened to their pastor's admonition, for, a few days after, he rode -over to say that, in consequence of ex-scavengers and ex-Brāhmans having -communicated together, his whole congregation had been put out of caste -by their Hindu neighbours. This may not, at first sight, seem a very -serious calamity. But it happened that, in the caste specialisation -which had survived among the Christians, there were none of the -community who were barbers or midwives by caste. Christian men were -going about with stubbly chins: worse still, Christian women were in -need of help which their Hindu sisters refused to supply. It was a -difficult situation for two young bachelors. However, I now confess, -after all these years, that I brought a little official pressure to bear -on the midwives, and the situation was saved for the moment. In those -days, the educational policy of Government was to give grants-in-aid to -primary schools, most of which, in this very Christian "subdivision" -were either Roman Catholic or Anglican. When next I proceeded to issue -my doles according to school-population and other educational results, I -was astonished to find that the Roman Catholic grant-in-aid had -increased greatly and the Anglican grant-in-aid had proportionally -diminished. This was the immediate (and no doubt temporary) result of my -missionary friend's zeal. Such survivals of old beliefs are common in -all the religions of India. The main social impulse of the people was -implanted on their minds at the distant epoch of the Aryan settlement, -the sense of social and racial inequality which has now hardened into -the caste system. To most Indians a recognition of the importance and -value of caste is the first step towards decent and seemly conduct, -towards civilised morality. When a semi-savage hill-man begins to -recognise his inferiority to his Hindu neighbours and makes tentative -approaches with a view to inclusion in civilised society, his first duty -is to abjure the diet of pork and rice-beer which his unregenerate -appetite loves, since these indulgences stand in the way of sharing a -meal with Hindu folk. (In other parts of India, liquor and meat are -consumed by low-caste Hindus of aboriginal origin.) In Assam, a Kachāri -first accepts the _sarana_ or "protection" of a Hindu Goshain. He is -then called a Saraniya Koch. His next step is to abandon strong drinks, -on which he is promoted to the status of a Modāhi Koch. At this stage, -he may be fortunate enough to win the hand of a bride of pure Koch -family, and, under her guidance, acquires enough of conventional habits -and beliefs to be recognised as a Kāmtāli or Bor Koch, and is a true -Hindu, a member of a genuine Hindu caste. Musalmāns and Christians have -other social conventions, and do not usually regard them as essential to -good manners or godliness. But their converts retain their social -superstitions and carry them into the new surroundings, where they -sometimes come into disagreeable contact with the ethical ideas -belonging to imported religions. - -The contact of Aryan with Dravidian races, some three thousand years -ago, brought about the beginnings of caste, which, from one point of -view, may be regarded as a rude form of "race-protection," a primitive -system of eugenics. It is still most rigidly enforced in the south, -where the semi-Aryan classes are in a great minority. It is most relaxed -in the Panjāb, where, though caste rules exist, the population is, and -probably always has been, as homogeneous as our own race. French -travellers in India have sometimes said, half-humorously, that the -Anglo-Indian administrators and merchants are practically a caste unto -themselves. Bengalis have made the same remark and have said that our -Civil Service is composed of _Kali Yuger Brāhman_, "the Brāhmans of the -Iron Age." There was once some truth in the accusation, if accusation it -be. It was not our business to interfere deliberately with caste, since -British policy from the first has been one of kindly neutrality and -toleration. Whether indirect influences have mitigated the effect of the -sentiment of caste is a moot point. Educated Indians who have lived in -Europe see its irksomeness, and in some cases denounce it more -vigorously than most Europeans will care to denounce a system due to -historical causes which are still partly operative. On the other hand, -railways and other facilities for travel, though they have necessarily -introduced laxity in matters of food and contact, have probably -heightened the caste feeling by emphasising the variety of Hindu -humanity and of the customs and habits of its many races. Hence the -evolution of Indian society remains as interesting and as incalculable -as ever. - -In a little book of this sort it has been necessary to make many general -and sweeping statements which are not always literally true of any given -part of India. But perhaps enough has been said to show the interesting -and significant differences between the three hundred odd millions of -Western Europe and the three hundred odd millions of India. Our business -in India has been primarily to keep the peace, to provide a -breathing-space after the social and political turmoil that followed on -the breaking-up of the Moghal empire. The principal result, so far, has -been a notable increase in Hindu self-confidence and ambition, and a -growing belief among Hindus that their ancient social system is not -incompatible with industrial, commercial, and political advance on -European lines. This belief has been much strengthened by the -modernisation of Japan, and its results. It has been fostered by the -free admission of educated Hindus to the highest and most responsible -posts in the King-Emperor's administration. Inasmuch as that statement -brings me to the most modern development of Hindu life and thought, I -cannot do better than end at this point. - -[5] Some account of the development of Chaitanya's teaching in Assam may -be found in an article of mine in Dr Hastings' _Dictionary of Religion -and Ethics_. - -[6] In 1606, R. de Nobili, a nephew of Bellarmine, was in charge of the -Jesuit mission at Madura, and adopted the costume of a Dravidian Brāhman. - - - - -BIBLIOGRAPHY - - -CHAPTER I - -The standard authority on the Hindu literary theory of Caste is M. Emile -Senart's _Les Castes dans l'lnde_. Paris. Ernest Leroux. 1896. - -Probably the best succinct account of Caste is Mr E. A. Gait's article -in Dr Hastings' _Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics_. This will, of -course, be brought up to date in the forthcoming Report on the Indian -Census of 1911. - -Sir A. C. Lyall's _Asiatic Studies_. London. John Murray. Contains a -sympathetic and learned account of Hindu social life and of the workings -of Caste in Upper India. - -M. C. Bouglé's _Essai sur le Régime des Castes_. Paris. Felix Alcan. -1908. Contains much interesting matter taken from many sources, but -sometimes, from want of local knowledge, does not sufficiently -discriminate between different developments of the caste system. - -There is an enormous literature on the races, tribes, and castes of -India, but references to the most important books will be found in the -above authorities. - - * * * * * - -Chapter I is, in the main, a summary of Sir H. H. Risley's views as -expressed in Chapter VI of Vol. I of the _Imperial Gazetteer_. That is -inevitable, since the _Gazetteer_ contains necessarily the most -authoritative summary of what is known on the subject, pending the -appearance of Mr Gait's forthcoming Census Report. - - -CHAPTER II - -The standard authority on the modern languages of India is Sir G. A. -Grierson's work on _The Languages of India_ (Calcutta, 1903). It will, -however, be superseded by the book which Sir G. A. Grierson is now -writing on the basis of the further materials collected in his -_Linguistic Survey_, and in the Census Reports of 1911. The eleven -volumes hitherto published of the _Survey_ itself give specimens of the -Indian languages and skeleton grammars. - - -CHAPTER III - -Professor Macdonell's _History of Sanskrit Literature_ (Heinemann, 1905) -contains a fascinating and readable account of the Hindu scriptures from -the Vedic ages up to modern times. - -Professor Hopkins' _Religions of India_ and _India Old and New_ deal -with both the literature and the actual working of Indian religions. Mr -W. Crooke's _Native Races of Northern India_ is a popular account of the -Aryan region, and Mr Thurston's _Castes and Tribes of Southern India_. -Madras, Government Press. 1908. Though it is more elaborate and -scientific in its treatment, is full of matters which are interesting -not only to the specialist. - -Meredith Townsend's _Asia and Europe_. London. Archibald Constable. -1905. Is still an interesting and suggestive study of the differences -between East and West, and Sir A. C. Lyall's _Asiatic Studies_ are the -even more illuminating results of a long, intimate, and sympathetic -familiarity with Indian religious thought. - -The chapter on Religion in the forthcoming Census Report for 1911 will -contain the latest fruits of research, statistical and other. - -There is an enormous mass of literature dealing in detail with the -religions and sects of India. A selected list of books will be found at -p. 446 of the _Imperial Gazetteer_. - - - - -INDEX - - -Abor race, 44 - -Accent in Indian languages, 74 - -Ādi Brāhmo Samāj, 96 - -Alphabets of India, 70 - -Animism among Muhammadans, 99 - -Animistic religions of India, 81 - -Animists as potential Hindus, 83 - -_Anu-loma_ castes, 38 - -Apabhramsa or "decayed" languages, 75 - -Arjuna, supposed ancestor of Manipur dynasty, 42 - -Aryan settlement in Gangetic _do-āb_, 27 - -Aryan settlement in the Panjāb, 26 - -Aryo-Dravidian type of race, 22 - -_Assam, History of_, by E. A. Gait, 45 - -Assamese language, 76 - - -Bannerjee, Rev. K. M., 95 - -Bengali language, 76 - -Bengali race, origins of, 28 - -Bihārī language, 76 - -Bohra Muhammadans, 101 - -Brachycephalous races, 17 - -Brahma, one of the Hindu Trinity, 91 - -Brāhmanas, sacred books, 88 - -Brāhmans of Bengal, 17 - -Brāhmo Samāj in Bengal, 94 - -Brāhui language, 62, 66 - -Buddha (Gautama) and Buddhism, 89 - - -Caste, definition of, 35; - functional type of, 45; - as divided in _gotras_, 41; - as a result of migration, 49; - as resulting from change of custom, 50; - as formed by mixture of blood, 47; - of the national type, 48; - sectarian type, 46; - tribal castes, 40, 43; - as including Koches and other indigenous tribes, 109 - -Chaitanya, Hindu reformer, 92 - -Chandāls, 38 - -Chitrangadā, supposed ancestress of Manipur dynasty, 42 - -Clans, exogamous, 35 - -Crooke, Mr W., on "Rājputs and Marāthas", 52 - - -Dafla race, 44 - -Dolicocephalous races, 17 - -Doms in Assam, 44 - -Dravidian languages, 61, 62 - -Dravidian type of race, 24 - -Dravidians as probable autochthones, 25 - -Dubois, Abbé, 106 - - -Fiction as an origin of caste, 33 - -Functional type of castes, 45 - - -Gait, E. A., _History of Assam_, 45 - -Gandhara, kingdom of, 31 - -Gārpagāri (hail averters) as functional caste, 45 - -Gond language, 62, 65 - -_Gotras_, as branch of caste, 41 - -Gujarāti language, 76 - - -Hindi (Eastern) language, 76 - -Hindi (Western) language, 75 - -Hindustāni or Urdū language, 77 - -Hoernle's theory of Aryan settlements, 28 - -Hypergamy, 26 - - -Indo-Aryan type of race, 21 - -Indo-Chinese invasions, 80 - -Islām in India, 97 - - -Jains, their religion, 89 - - -Kabir, Hindu reformer, 92 - -Kachāri race, 109 - -Kāli, worship of, 94 - -Kanarese language, 61, 64 - -Kandh language, 62 - -Kartā-bhajās, sectarian caste, 46 - -Kāshmīrī language, 76 - -Kāyasthas of Bengal, 17 - -Khojā Muhammadans, 101 - -Koch race, 41 - -Koches as Hindu caste, 109 - -Kodagu language, 61 - -Kohistāni language, 76 - -Kolāmi language, 62 - -Kota language, 62 - -Kurukh language, 62 - - -Lahnda language, 76 - -Languages of India generally, 56; - Apabhramsa, 75; - Assamese, 76; - Bengali, 76; - Bihārī, 76; - Brāhui, 62, 66; - Dravidian, 61, 62; - Gond, 62, 65; - Gujarāti, 76; - Hindi (Western), 75; - Hindi (Eastern), 76; - Hindustāni, 77; - Kanarese, 61, 65; - Kandh, 62; - Kashmīri, 76; - Kodagu, 61; - Kohistāni, 76; - Kolāmi, 62; - Kota, 62; - Kurukh, 62; - Lahnda, 76; - Māgadhi Prākrit, 75; - Mahārāshtri Prākrit, 75; - Malayalam, 61, 64; - Malto, 62; - Marāthi, 76; - Mon-Khmer, 78, 79; - Mundā, 66; - Oriyā, 72, 76; - Pahārī, 76; - Pāli, 75; - Panjābi, 76; - Prākrit, 71; - "Primary" Prākrits, 74; - Rājasthāni, 76; - Sauraseni, 75; - Sindhi, 76; - Tamil, 61, 62; - Telugu, 62, 65; - Toda, 62; - Tulu, 62 - -Lingayats as a sectarian caste, 47 - - -Madhya-deça, the linguistic Midland, 69 - -Māgadhi Prākrit language, 75 - -Mags of Chittagong, 23 - -Mahārāshtri language, 75 - -Malayalam language, 61, 64 - -Malto language, 62 - -Manipur and the Meithei race, 42 - -Manu, Institutes of, 37 - -Marātha race and its origins, 29, 48 - -Marāthi language, 76 - -Meithei race of Manipur, 42 - -Migration as a cause of caste, 49 - -Mixed castes, 47 - -Mongolo-Dravidian race, 23 - -Mongolian races brachycephalous, 18 - -Mongoloid type of race, 23 - -Mon-Khmer languages, 78, 79 - -Moplah Muhammadans, 101 - -Mundā languages, 66 - - -Nānak (Sikh reformer), 93 - -National castes, 48 - -Navavidhān Brāhmo Samāj, 96 - -Navin Chandra Sen, his definition of caste, 33 - -Nesfield, Mr, _Brief View of the Caste System - of the N. W. P. and Oude_ quoted, 13 - -Nestorian Christians, 103 - -Newār tribe in Nepāl, 48 - -Nirvāna as a Buddhist, and Jain doctrine, 89 - -Nobili, Robert de, 106 - -Nose-measurements, 19 - - -Orbito-nasal index, 19 - -Oriyā language, 72, 76 - - -Pahārī language, 76 - -Pāli language, 75 - -Pānini and other grammarians, 70 - -Panjābi language, 76 - -Pantheism, 37 - -Parasu Rāma, 41 - -Pārsīs and their religion, 101 - -Pir Badr of Chittagong, 85 - -Pirs (Muhammadan saints), 99 - -Prākrit languages, 71 - -_Prati-loma_ (see _Anu-loma_) castes, 38 - -Primary Prākrits, 74 - -Purānas (sacred books), 90 - - -Rājputs in Nepāl, etc., 24 - -Rāmānuja (Hindu reformer), 91 - -Risley, Sir H. H., his account of Marātha origins, 30; - Article in _Journal of R. A. Institute_ quoted, 15 - -Roy, Rājā Rām Mohan, 94 - - -Sādhāran Brāhmo Samāj, 96 - -Sāktas, a Hindu sect, 94 - -Saraswati (Dayānand), 96 - -Sauraseni language, 75 - -Scytho-Dravidian type of race, 22 - -Scytho-Dravidian, supposed origin, 29 - -Sectarian type of caste, 46 - -Sen (Keshav Chandra), 94 - -Shagird-peshās as a mixed caste, 48 - -Shia Muhammadans, 99 - -Sikhs and the Sikh religion, 93 - -Sindhī language, 76 - -Siva, as a member of the Hindu Trinity, 91 - -Sse or Sakas (Scythians), 30 - -Stature as an index of race, 20 - -Sunni Muhammadans, 99 - - -Tagore, Maharshi Devendranāth, 94 - -Tagore, Rabindranāth, 94 - -Tamil language, 61, 64 - -Tantras (sacred books), 94 - -Telugu language, 62, 65 - -Thomasine Christians, 103 - -Tīrthan-karas (Jain saints), 90 - -Toda language, 62 - -Totems and Totemistic clans in Assam, 36 - -Tribal castes, 40, 43 - -Tribes in Assam, 35 - -Tribes, Turko-Iranian, 37 - -Tulu language, 62 - -Turko-Iranian type of race, 20 - -Turushka race, 31 - - -Upanishads (sacred books), 88 - - -_Vangiya Sāhitya Parisat_ (Bengal Academy of Literature), 56 - -Vardhamāna, the founder of Jainism, 89 - -Vedas, the four sacred books, 86 - -Vedic deities, 87 - -Vishnu as one of the Hindu Trinity, 91 - - -Wahābi Muhammadans, 100 - - -Yueh-chi race, 31 - - -CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A. AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS - - -[Illustration: map - - THE INDIAN EMPIRE - Distribution of Population - _Camb. Univ. Press_] - -[Illustration: map - - THE INDIAN EMPIRE - Distribution of Prevailing Languages - _Camb. Univ. Press_] - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Peoples of India, by James Drummond Anderson - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PEOPLES OF INDIA *** - -***** This file should be named 55465-0.txt or 55465-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/4/6/55465/ - -Produced by deaurider, Chris Pinfield and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - -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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} - .center { text-indent: 0; text-align: center; } - .smcap { font-variant: small-caps; } - .small { font-size: small; } - .x-small { font-size: x-small; } - .gap-above { margin-top: 2em; } - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -Project Gutenberg's The Peoples of India, by James Drummond Anderson - -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: The Peoples of India - -Author: James Drummond Anderson - -Release Date: August 31, 2017 [EBook #55465] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PEOPLES OF INDIA *** - - - - -Produced by deaurider, Chris Pinfield and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div id="tnote"> - -<p>Transcriber's Note</p> - -<p>Apparent typographical errors have been corrected, and the use of -hyphens has been normalized. Text in black-letter font has been -bolded.</p> - -<p>The author does not identify the transliteration scheme(s) used for -Indian words in the text. Macrons (as in "ā") are used extensively and -there is some use of the "diacritic dot" (as in "ṇ").</p> - -</div> - -<div class="front"> - -<p>The Cambridge Manuals of Science and Literature</p> - -<h1>THE PEOPLES OF INDIA</h1> - - <p>CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS<br /> - <small><b>London</b>: FETTER LANE, E.C.</small><br /> - C. F. CLAY, <span class="smcap">Manager</span></p> - -<div class="image-center"> - <img src="images/crest.jpg" width="72" height="75" alt="mark"/> -</div> - - <p class="small"><b>Edinburgh</b>: 100, PRINCES STREET<br /> - <b>Berlin</b>: A. ASHER AND CO.<br /> - <b>Leipzig</b>: F. A. BROCKHAUS<br /> - <b>New York</b>: G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS<br /> - <b>Bombay and Calcutta</b>: MACMILLAN AND CO., <span class="smcap">Ltd.</span></p> - -<p class="gap-above small"><i>All rights reserved</i></p> - -</div> - -<div class="section"><a name="frontis" id="frontis"></a></div> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 386px;"> - <img src="images/frontis.jpg" width="386" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>Brāhmans<br /> - (<i>Mirzapur district</i>)</p> - </div> -</div> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 390px;"> - <img src="images/title.jpg" width="390" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption-title"> - <p>THE PEOPLES OF INDIA<br /> - BY<br /> - J. D. ANDERSON, M.A.</p> - - <p>Teacher of Bengali in the<br /> - University of Cambridge, formerly<br /> - of the Indian Civil Service</p> - - <p>Cambridge:<br /> - at the University Press</p> - - <p>1913</p> - </div> -</div> - -<div class="front"> - - <p class="small"><b>Cambridge</b>:<br /> - PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A.<br /> - AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS</p> - -<p class="gap-above"><i>With the exception of the coat of arms at -the foot, the design on the title page is a -reproduction of one used by the earliest known -Cambridge printer, John Siberch, 1521</i></p> - -</div> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">{v}</a></div> - -<h2>PREFACE</h2> - -<p class="nodent"><span class="smcap">The</span> writing of this little book has been delayed -by the hope I once cherished of incorporating -in it some of the results of the Indian Census of 1911. -This desire was inevitable in the case of a retired -Indian official, who, like most of his kind, has taken a -small part in one or more of the decennial numberings -of the Indian people. In this country, a Census affords -material chiefly for the calculations and theories of -the statistician, and the Registrar-General is not -regarded as an expert in Anthropology or Linguistics. -But in India the case is very different. If the district -officer is always glad to learn as much as possible of -the people with whom he is brought into contact, his -official duties often reveal only the seamy side of -Indian life, and it is only when he is in camp, or -snatching a rare and hurried holiday in shooting, that -he gets to see something of the people otherwise than -as litigants or payers of revenue. A census is an -agreeable and welcome opportunity for looking at -India from another and more genially human point -of view. In the first place, it is one of the least -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">{vi}</a></span> -expensive of official operations, since it is chiefly -performed by unpaid and volunteer agency. Hence -the official, a little weary of litigants, touts, pleaders, -and subordinates, who, however amiable in their -private lives, are apt to be indolent and obstructive -in office, is glad to make acquaintance with new -friends, who, for the most part, take an intelligent -and amused interest in the unfamiliar task of numbering. -For many busy weeks before the actual counting -takes place, the district officer has to ride far and -near, to satisfy himself that all necessary preparations -have duly been made, to issue the instructions that -may be called for by the zeal, inquisitiveness or -density of his volunteer colleagues. In the process, -he has many pleasant and some amusing experiences. -On one occasion I rode into a little village on the -north-eastern frontier, inhabited by semi-savage -Tibeto-Burmese people. Official orders as to the -numbering of all the house in legible figures had -apparently not been obeyed. I simulated wrath and -disappointment, but the worthy headman on whom -I vented my (purely official) indignation was not -dismayed. "Bring out your drums!" he shouted. -Every householder produced the family kettle-drum, -on the head of which the number of his house had -been duly inscribed in large figures. There was no -paper in the village, but parchment was invented -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">{vii}</a></span> -before paper, and the headman deserved the commendation -I was glad to bestow. On another occasion, -I found a house numbered indeed, but grievously -dilapidated and obviously deserted. "Why is this -empty house numbered?" I asked. "It is haunted -by a ghost, sir," answered the enumerator. I confess -I felt sorry not to allow him to include this ghostly -visitant in a census of living men. Other incidents, -more ethnologically important than these, will frequently -occur. In any case the Census Report of an -Indian province is by far the most interesting official -document in existence, and each census adds something -to our knowledge of Indian humanity, if only -because each Census Commissioner, always an officer -of unusual ability and attainments, looks at his task -from a point of view somewhat different from that of -his predecessors, and stamps his individuality on the -work of his subordinates. Those who have read -Mr E. A. Gait's article on <i>Caste</i> in the <i>Dictionary -of Ethics and Religion</i> will expect the census of 1911 -to contain new views and fresh information as to -the actual working of the caste system in various -provinces, and its relation to the religious ideas of -the people.</p> - -<p class="gap-above">It was natural, then, that I should wish to learn -from a new tapping of the source from which has -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">{viii}</a></span> -been compiled, for the most part, the ethnical portion -of the first volume of the Imperial Gazetteer of India, -which has been my chief authority in compiling this -little book. But I know not when Mr Gait's Report -for all India will be ready, and even the Provincial -Reports come but slowly from the Press. Most of -them are full of the most interesting and valuable -information, but it takes time to assimilate so much -new matter, and, in any case, not much of it could -have been utilized for so small and elementary a -book. Hence I have simply to state my debt to the -late Sir H. H. Risley and Mr E. A. Gait for the -chapter on Race and Caste; to Sir G. A. Grierson -for the chapter on Languages, and to Mr William -Crooke for enabling me further to summarise his -masterly summary of what is known about Indian -Religions. It is a particular pleasure to acknowledge -my indebtedness to my friend Sir G. A. Grierson. -Years ago, when we were young men, it was known -that in him the Indian Civil Service possessed a -scholar and a linguist of most unusual industry and -ability. But few knew that there was germinating in -his mind the scheme for the great <i>Linguistic Survey -of India</i>, the most remarkable feat of administrative -scholarship, perhaps, that has ever been attempted, a -feat that has won him the <i>Prix Volney</i> and I know -not what other appreciations of his work in France -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">{ix}</a></span> -and Germany. His learning and linguistic skill are -widely known, but I must seize the opportunity to -tell of another feature of his achievement. Of course -no man knows more than a few of the hundreds of -Indian languages, but there is one man who knows -something of the working and mechanism of them all, -and that is Sir G. A. Grierson. I had the privilege of -helping him with part of the Bodo volume of his -<i>Survey</i>, having had occasion to learn one or two -Tibeto-Burman languages in the course of official -duty. The practised ease with which he acquired the -syntactical and phonetic peculiarities of languages -with which he had no previous acquaintance was the -most surprising and delightful intellectual performance -I have ever witnessed.</p> - -<p>I have ventured occasionally to enliven my chiefly -borrowed narrative with personal ideas or reminiscences. -Such digressions have however been few and -brief, and I do not think I need apologise for them.</p> - -<p>I have to thank Miss Lilian Whitehouse and my -son, Lieut. M. A. Anderson, R.E., for the two diagrammatic -maps which will, I hope, clear up any geographical -difficulties created by a necessarily brief -account of a large and complicated subject.</p> - -<p>I owe the illustrations of caste types to the -kindness of Mr William Crooke. They are from -photographs of inhabitants of one single district of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">{x}</a></span> -the United Provinces and are interesting as showing -how in a single small area racial differences show -themselves in such a way as to be recognisable -by the most careless observer. They prove once -more how stratified Indian humanity has become -under the influence of caste rules of marriages.</p> - -<div class="foot"> -<div class="right1">J. D. A.</div> -<div class="left1"><i>September, 1913.</i></div> -</div> - -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> - -<table class="toc" summary="ToC"> - -<tr> - <td class="chap-plat x-small">CHAP.</td> - <td colspan="3" class="pag x-small">PAGE</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="chap-plat"></td> - <td class="title smcap">Preface</td> - <td colspan="2" class="pag"><a href="#Page_v">v</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="chap-plat"></td> - <td class="title smcap">Introduction</td> - <td colspan="2" class="pag"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="chap-plat">I.</td> - <td class="title smcap">Race and Caste</td> - <td colspan="2" class="pag"><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="chap-plat">II.</td> - <td class="title smcap">The Languages of India</td> - <td colspan="2" class="pag"><a href="#Page_54">54</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="chap-plat">III.</td> - <td class="title smcap">The Religions of India</td> - <td colspan="2" class="pag"><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="chap-plat"></td> - <td class="title smcap">Bibliography</td> - <td colspan="2" class="pag"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="chap-plat"></td> - <td class="title smcap">Index</td> - <td colspan="2" class="pag"><a href="#Page_115">115</a></td> -</tr> - -</table> - -<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> - -<table class="toc" summary="ToI"> - -<tr> - <td class="chap-plat x-small">PLATE</td> - <td colspan="3" class="pag x-small"></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="chap-plat"></td> - <td class="title">Brāhmans (<i>Mirzapur district</i>)</td> - <td colspan="2" class="pag small"><a href="#frontis"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="chap-plat">I.</td> - <td class="title">Mahābrāhmans (<i>Mirzapur district</i>)</td> - <td class="ditto small"><i>To face page</i></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_12">12</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="chap-plat">II.</td> - <td class="title">Kāyasthas—the writer caste (<i>Mirzapur district</i>)</td> - <td class="ditto">" "</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="chap-plat">III.</td> - <td class="title">Dharkārs (<i>Mirzapur district</i>)</td> - <td class="ditto">" "</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="chap-plat">IV.</td> - <td class="title">Banjara women (<i>Mirzapur district</i>)</td> - <td class="ditto">" "</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_48">48</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="chap-plat">V.</td> - <td class="title">Seoris or Savaras (<i>Mirzapur district</i>)</td> - <td class="ditto">" "</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_60">60</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="chap-plat">VI.</td> - <td class="title">A Bhuiyār (<i>Mirzapur district</i>)</td> - <td class="ditto">" "</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_72">72</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="chap-plat">VII.</td> - <td class="title">A Ghāsiya (<i>Mirzapur district</i>)</td> - <td class="ditto">" "</td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_84">84</a></td> -</tr> - -</table> - -<h2>MAPS</h2> - -<table class="toc" summary="ToM"> - -<tr> - <td colspan="2" class="title">The Indian Empire—Distribution of Population</td> - <td colspan="2" class="ditto"><a href="#map-1"><i>At end of book</i></a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td colspan="2" class="title">The Indian Empire—Distribution of Prevailing Languages</td> - <td colspan="2" class="ditto"><a href="#map-2"><i>At end of book</i></a></td> -</tr> - -</table> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">{1}</a></div> - - <h2>INTRODUCTION</h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">It</span> is necessary, once more, to remind the reader -that the peninsula of India has an area and population -roughly equal to the area and population of -Europe without Russia. Everyone who has learnt -geography at school is familiar with the great triangle, -its base in the soaring Himalayan heights in the -north, its apex jutting into the Indian Ocean, and -marked by the satellite island of Ceylon. To the -north, then, is the great mountain barrier, a tangled -mass of snowy peaks, glaciers and snowfields, separating -the sunny plains of India proper from the plateaux -of Central Asia. Beneath them lie wide river basins, -sandy and dry as unirrigated Egypt to the west; -moist, warm, and waterlogged to the east. To the -south of the valleys of the Indus and the Ganges is -the central plateau, home of many aboriginal races. -This rises on the west into a castellated rampart of -hills facing the Arabian Sea, and on the south slopes -away into green undulating uplands. So much, at -least, of geographical description must be given as -a clue to the distribution of the peoples of India. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">{2}</a></span> -Along the Himalayas, growing stronger in numbers -as we go eastwards, are races mostly of a Mongolian -type, mingled with purely Indian elements. In the -Panjāb and the United Provinces, sending offshoots -southwards along the well-watered west coast, are -the peoples in whom the traces of Aryan immigration -are most visible. In Bengal we find a duskier race, -provisionally termed Mongolo-Dravidian, but with -a strong infusion, in the upper classes, of western -blood. In the south are a still darker population -almost wholly Dravidian. It is in the most ancient -part of India, in the high plateau of the Deccan, that -there still dwell the peoples who are probably the -aborigines of the land and use the most purely Indian -languages, the various Dravidian dialects. The geologically -recent valleys of the Indus and Ganges are -the home of races, mingled with aboriginal peoples, -whose language and physical features show that in -them is a strong strain of immigrant blood.</p> - -<p>On the Himalayan slopes, in Assam, and especially -in Burma, are Tibeto-Burman peoples, with something -of a Japanese aspect. Intermingled with all -these, in forests and on rough and hardly accessible -hills, are scattered many groups of semi-savage folk, -of whom little was known till the gradual spread of -British rule carried the administrator, the missionary, -and finally the anthropologist, into regions once considered -unfit for the presence of civilised men.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">{3}</a></span> -So far, it may be said, the distribution of Indian -humanity is not very unlike that of the races of -Europe. Even this very crude summary, it is true, -shows at least three great groups of languages, -Dravidian in the south, Indo-European in the west -and north-west, Tibeto-Burman in the north and the -north-east. There are in fact five separate families -of human speech which have their homes in India; -the Aryan, the Dravidian, the Mundā, the Mon-Khmer, -and the Tibeto-Chinese. The lateral spread -of these is, of course, no real indication of the present -habitat of five different races of men. But they do -indicate the existence, in varying degrees of purity, -of five different origins, of which the Dravidian and -Mundā alone can be said to be purely indigenous -and confined to the Indian peninsula. Nowhere is -it more easy than in India to see how languages -spread from race to race, from tribe to tribe, with -a sort of linguistic contagion; the stronger, more -supple, more copious, more cultivated languages -replacing and gradually destroying weaker forms of -speech. Something of the same sort has occurred, -and is even now happening, in Europe. But the -surviving European languages are mostly sturdy and -vigorous, and do not readily yield place to one another. -In India the process of linguistic invasion is -going on before our eyes, attendant on the gradual -growth of Hindu civilisation and religion, which -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">{4}</a></span> -disdains to practise open and reasoned proselytism, -but extends its borders nevertheless, and carries with -it one or another of the Aryan dialects.</p> - -<p>In spite of the spread of the stronger languages, -the five great families of Indian speech remain and -testify to more varied origins than those of Europe. -One of the first results of familiarity with Indian -peoples is a sense of their remarkable variety of -aspect and culture. When the stranger lands in -India, his first feeling is one of bewildering sameness; -the dusky beings that surround him seem as like one -another as sheep, or peas. But that sensation is -merely due to the predominance of unfamiliar colour, -and soon gives way to an impression of astonishing -and most interesting variety. This variety is exhibited -by the careful anthropometric investigations -of the ethnologist. But there is more variety than -average measurements show, and the rough impressions -of the experienced administrator and traveller -are not without their value. For instance, Sir William -Hunter, in his work on <i>The Indian Empire</i>, classified -the highlanders of Chota Nagpore as a race apart, -whom he called Kolārians. Sir H. H. Risley says -that "the distinction between Kolārians and Dravidians -is purely linguistic, and does not correspond -to any differences of physical type." As a matter of -average physical measurements, this criticism is just. -The average dimensions of Sonthal skulls are the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">{5}</a></span> -same as those of other Dravidian races. But he -would be a poor observer of racial characteristics, -who could not pick out a typical inhabitant of Chota -Nagpore from a crowd of southern Dravidians. Even -in parts of Bengal where such "Kolārian" folk have -settled some generations ago, and have acquired the -local language and dress, they are almost as easily -distinguished as a Hindu undergraduate in Cambridge. -If physical characters are rightly divided into "indefinite" -signs of race, which can only be described -with difficulty and hesitation in ordinary language, -and the "definite" signs which can be measured and -reduced to figures, yet the general aspect of a tribe -or caste is the first thing which strikes an experienced -enquirer's eye, and leads him to make further and -more detailed investigations.</p> - -<p>So is it also with those divisions, peculiar to India, -which are known to us by the Portuguese name of -<i>caste</i>. The Indian name for caste is <i>varna</i>, or -"colour," and physical differences between different -castes were fairly obvious even before accurate -averages were struck between many individual -measurements. Caste has undoubtedly tended, and -for similar reasons, to perpetuate such differences -between classes of men as we readily recognise between -different breeds of horses or cattle. The ages -of men succeed one another more slowly than the -generations of domestic animals, and segregation, in -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">{6}</a></span> -spite of caste rules, has probably at no time been so -rigid as in the case of pure-bred animals. But there -is a restriction in the matter of marriage which has -been more or less efficacious, and especially so in the -case of the higher castes, where the women are more -carefully guarded, and pride of birth influences the -future mothers of the race. In some rare instances, -castes are still racial, preserved from immixture by -much the same feeling which leads the white American -to protect his race from a mingling of Negro or Red -Indian blood. Other castes are still recognisably the -result and record of such forbidden mixtures. Sometimes -the resulting difference is so great as to be -visible in actual measurements. Often the result is -a mere peculiarity of aspect, such as enables an -expert to identify a mongrel or a crossbreed among -domesticated animals. In any case, once a caste is -formed, it is fenced in by matrimonial rules, strict in -proportion to the social status and consideration of -the group. Not only, then, are the racial origins of -modern India more various than those of Europe, but -such varieties of colour, stature, and culture as exist -tend to be perpetuated.</p> - -<p>It has been said, somewhat paradoxically, that -whereas in Europe the divisions between races of -men cut perpendicularly, as it were, so as to be more -or less local and geographical, in India the separating -lines run horizontally, and represent social strata. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">{7}</a></span> -This, of course, is only partly true. The ancient -Hindu theory of caste assumes the existence of four -great divisions of Hindu humanity, extending all over -India; namely, Brāhmans or priests, Kshatriyas, or -warriors; Vaiçyas, or trading and professional folk; -and Sūdras, who are most justly and aptly to be -described as "the remainder." In all parts of Hindu -India may be found representatives of this ancient -and theoretical division of humanity, the first two -usually claiming a western origin as eagerly as some -of us claim a tincture of Norman blood. But it -would be incorrect to say that even the highest and -purest of these four divisions is of uniform race, or -anything approaching to it, all over India. A Bengali -Brāhman, for instance, can be more or less easily distinguished -from other Bengalis, if he has the typical -appearance of his caste. But he is even more easily -distinguished from Brāhmans of other Provinces. -How much of this last difference is due to mixture -of blood, how much to difference of food and climate, -it is, of course, difficult to say. But certainly caste -produces a difference of breed in addition to the -ethnical varieties of origin which differentiate the -Indian populations from those of Europe.</p> - -<p>Thirdly, some clue to Indian racial differences -may be found in the religions of the peninsula. The -greatest of these is still the Indian religion <i>par excellence</i>, -the wonderful collection of varied speculations, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">{8}</a></span> -beliefs, and practices known to us as Hinduism, and -its daughter, the religion of Buddha. The latter -has spread far and wide, has subjugated Ceylon and -Burma, and is the leading religion of the Far East. -At one time, it was supposed to be entirely or nearly -extinct in India, although students had discovered -traces of its influence in the Vishnuvite sects of -Hinduism. Recent researches have shown that an -almost unaltered form of Buddhism survives in the -very bosom of Hinduism, and is practised under -Hindu names among certain castes of Bengal and -Orissa. It is to be noted that the investigations into -these survivals have been for the most part conducted -by Bengali Hindus, among whom is springing up a -school of ethnologists and comparative linguists, who -only need a better knowledge and understanding of -European methods to be invaluable aids to western -research in such matters. In Bengal, a work of -purely anthropological interest has actually been -published in the vernacular, an interesting account -of the Chakmas, a Tibeto-Burman but partly Hinduised -race on the eastern border of Bengal. Closely -akin to the lower forms of Hinduism, and often subtly -blending with them, are many Animistic religions, -most of them professed by aboriginal tribes, speaking -one or other of the aboriginal languages.</p> - -<p>Islam and Christianity are, of course, imported and -proselytising religions, and yield few if any clues to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">{9}</a></span> -racial or social origins. Many Muhammadans profess -to be, and not a few are, of authentic foreign origin. -But during the seven hundred years of Muslim rule -in India, there was much intermarriage with native -races, and even more conversion. It is curious that, -as in the case of Christianity, the conversions have -been mostly among tribes and classes of the humbler -sort. These were not denied admission into Hinduism, -but they were only admitted on terms of social and -racial degradation. Islam and Christianity alike claim -to overlook the accidents of birth and status, and -hence attract those to whom Hinduism only offered a -place among the lowest ranks of its social hierarchy. -But even in the case of the religions of Christ and -Muhammad, the inveterate Indian tendency to recognise -and insist on breed and social status has asserted -itself again and again. Among Muhammadans, the -Arabic tribal names have come to be the designations -of social units which differ but little from the -endogamous castes of Hinduism, and the same tendency -is already evident among Christian converts. -There is a marked reluctance in some quarters among -ex-Hindus to intermarry with ex-Muslims, or even to -participate in sacramental Communion with them.</p> - -<p>As with caste, so with religion, the divisions are -not strictly horizontal. As Christianity is not one -thing all over Europe, but has differences of creed, -ritual, and practice corresponding to racial differences, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">{10}</a></span> -so the Hinduism, and even the Muhammadanism, of -different provinces varies. There is no sharp boundary; -there are elements in common wherever we go. -But just as Dravidian temple architecture can be -easily distinguished, even by the unpractised eye, -from that of the edifices of the Gangetic plains, so -local peculiarities of belief or ritual may come to the -aid of the anthropologist, and may suggest or confirm -distinctions more easily verified and more capable of -scientific proof.</p> - -<p>The study of all these matters is not without a -practical and administrative interest at the present -time. A hundred and fifty years ago, to the racial, -tribal, and caste differences, accompanied by differences -of language and religion, were added political -divisions, accentuated by frequent dynastic or predatory -wars. British rule has introduced two powerful -unifying influences. Our system of administration, -while it is adapted more or less effectively (more in -some cases, less in others, according to the talent and -character of local officers) to local precedents and -local needs, is moulded by the great supervising -and consolidating authority of the Governor-General -in Council.</p> - -<p>Secondly, higher education in India is conducted -for the most part in English, and educated India, -rapidly growing in numbers, has English for its -second language, and is modifying local beliefs, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">{11}</a></span> -usages, aspirations, patriotisms in accordance with -ideas more or less consciously assimilated from European -teachers and models. No one can deny that -this new unity of India is the direct result of centralised -British rule. In the far distance of time, all or -nearly all India would, for a while, accept the domination -of some Hindu ruler or dynasty. Under the -Muhammadans, similarly, there were times when the -Emperor at Delhi was the ruler of all or nearly all -India. Under British rule, a much wider and more -populous India, ranging from Baluchistan to Burma, -and only excepting the semi-independent states which -have been allowed to retain sovereign powers, is really -and for the first time part of the greatest administration -on earth except that of China, if we look to -numbers. It is a result, as the history of British India -shows, for which we cannot claim the whole credit. -The direction of the great work of unification has -been in British hands; it has chiefly been carried -out by indigenous agency, and, in matters of detail, -in deference to Indian ideas and Indian suggestions. -Even fifty years ago, few Indians supposed that the -wide Empire of India could be governed save under -British guidance, or without the aid of British bayonets. -The old habitual forces of disruption were too obvious; -the distrust of one race for another was still too -keenly felt to allow Indian politicians to imagine -a united India under indigenous rule. But as the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">{12}</a></span> -educated classes grow in power, in numbers, in self-reliance, -and reliance on one another; as some of -them are promoted to posts of higher trust and -authority in India, and even in England, it is perhaps -only natural that Indians should suppose that, so far -as politics and administration are concerned, the old -divisions and dissensions are obsolete, and that united -India can in future be governed by native agency. -That is not a matter with which ethnology has anything -to do. It is the ethnologist's business merely -to record impartially what racial, tribal, social, and -religious differences still survive, and, if he can, to -show how far they have been, and are being, obliterated -by the spread of education, and by growing -self-confidence and ambition among educated Indians. -Whether the information the ethnologist collects can -be put to any administrative use does not concern -him, nor does he desire that his impartiality shall be -affected by these considerations. But, in a little book -of this kind it may not be amiss to point out that one -result of British rule has been the growth of a new -type of Indian, the educated Indian; who, whether he -be Hindu or Muhammadan or Buddhist, is at least -inclined to subordinate the old hereditary divisions -to common political ambitions. These ambitions -affect the fortunes and the future of some three -hundred millions of humbler Indians, at present only -linked by the accident of common British rule, and, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">{13}</a></span> -so far as they are Hindus, by a common Hindu -sentiment.</p> - -<div class="section"></div> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 369px;"> - <img src="images/pl-1.jpg" width="369" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p><i>Plate I</i></p> - <p>Mahābrāhmans<br /> - (<i>Mirzapur district</i>)</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>In the following chapters, it will be my business -to tell, as briefly and clearly as possible, of (1) the -Ethnology and Castes of the Indian Peoples; (2) the -Languages of India; (3) the Religions of India. I hope -what I have already said will sufficiently show why -these three subjects are treated in this order.</p> - - <h2>CHAPTER I<br /> - <small>RACE AND CASTE</small></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Curiously</span> enough, the systematic enquiry into -the physical race-characteristics of the Indian peoples -was due to a daring assertion by Mr Nesfield, of the -Indian Educational Service, to the effect that, so far -as physical signs go, there is practically only one -Indian race and one Indian caste. This was a hasty -but quite natural generalisation from experience of -a part of India, the United Provinces, which is in the -heart of the Aryan settlement in the Gangetic <i>do-āb</i> -(the area between "two rivers"). Here caste has -long been a settled institution, and innumerable sub-castes, -professional or the result of outcasting, have -come into existence. Mr Nesfield was driven by his -local observations to assert the unity of one great -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">{14}</a></span> -Indian race; he denied the truth of "the modern -doctrine which divides the population of India into -Aryan and aboriginal": he sturdily declared that it -was impossible to distinguish a scavenger from a -Brāhman, save by costume and other artificial and -accidental marks. Even in the United Provinces -this uncompromising statement awoke dissent. In -other parts of India, as, for instance, on the north-eastern -frontier, the crowded home of many races -and languages, dissent was eager and loud. It was -evident, on the face of it, that Mr Nesfield's new -dogma was based on too limited a study. Caste, for -him, was a mere matter of hereditary function and -profession; since most castes in the sacred "midland" -of Hinduism have assumed that guise. There is no -reason to suppose that castes have usually or even -often been formed as professional guilds. They come -into being for many reasons, some of which will be -presently stated; and in civilised communities, where -the division of labour and specialisation of professional -skill are well established, a caste gradually -assumes some distinctive means of livelihood. But -on the borders of Hinduism, where the Hindu social -system is still assimilating new races, instances abound -of racial castes, tribal castes, perhaps even (though -this is a more doubtful matter) totemistic castes.</p> - -<p>Those who had the widest experience of the -Peninsula were convinced that its races were at -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">{15}</a></span> -least as varied as those of Europe: those who, like -Mr Nesfield, had made a close study of one limited -tract, might have continued to believe that under the -superficial distinctions of caste and class lay a real -unity of race. But Mr (afterwards Sir H. H.) Risley -had spent the early years of his Indian service among -the Dravidian tribes of Chota Nagpore, and was -aware that they differ more widely from the people -Mr Nesfield had studied than an Englishman differs -from a Turk. The difference, indeed, was almost as -great as that between a European and a Chinaman. -Could such differences be registered and described -in such a way as to convince minds accustomed to -scientific accuracy in statement? Mr Risley thought -he saw his way to an ethnological classification of -Indian races and castes by means of the then comparatively -new methods of anthropometry. In 1891, -he published in the <i>Journal of the Anthropological -Institute</i> a paper which marked the beginning of -systematic ethnological studies in India. It contained -a summary of the measurements of eighty-nine -castes and tribes of Bengal, the United Provinces, -and Bihār. It dealt, therefore, with the great -alluvial plain, created by the Ganges and Indus, -which lies between the Himalayas and the <i>massif -central</i> of the Deccan. Here is the home of the -Aryan immigrants, where the great Indo-European -languages are spoken by communities as numerous -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">{16}</a></span> -as the larger European nations. Anthropometry -showed in the plainest, the most incontrovertible -way, that the caste system of marriages had sorted -out men into classes possessing definite and recognisable -physical characteristics. There were local -differences, and caste differences. It only remained -to extend anthropometrical measurements to other -parts of India to prove that the many languages and -religious beliefs of India are associated with an even -greater variety of physical qualities. Such enquiries -are still in progress, but many notable results have -already been obtained, especially by Mr Edgar -Thurston, in his now famous investigations into -Dravidian ethnography.</p> - -<p>The most important and significant measurement -is that of the shape of the head. It is, of course, -impossible to take a man at random and to say with -certainty that the excessive length or breadth of his -skull proves him to belong to a given race. But the -average skull-measurements of a race are distinctive, -and confirm, on the whole, the impressions created -by general aspect, colour, language and other vaguer -indications. The general result is as follows. At -either end of the Himalayan range, in Baluchistan -on the west, and in Assam and Burma on the east, -broad heads prevail. Broad too are the heads of the -mostly Mongolian races inhabiting the valleys of the -southern slopes of the Himalayas, and in a belt of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">{17}</a></span> -country running down the western coast at least as -far south as Coorg. In the Panjāb, Rājputānā, and -the United Provinces, tracts where the climate is dry -and healthy, where great summer heat is compensated -for by a bracing winter, where wheat is for the most -part the staple food, long heads predominate. In -Bihār, travelling eastwards, medium heads are most -common. In the damp and steamy delta of Bengal, -inhabited by over forty millions of rather dusky rice-eating -people, there is a marked tendency towards -the Mongolian brachy-cephaly of Tibeto-Burman -races. It is visible among the Muhammadans and -Chandāls of Eastern Bengal, people who are probably -indigenous in this tract, it is more marked among the -Kāyasthas, the writer-caste of Bengal, which claims -a western and Aryan origin. It reaches its maximum -development among the Bengali Brāhmans. South -of the Vindhya mountains, where the population is -chiefly Dravidian, with a comparatively small and -ancient mixture of northern blood, the prevalent -type is mainly long-headed or medium-headed. The -coast-population has been much affected by foreign -influences. On the east coast Malayan, Indo-Chinese -and even Portuguese settlers have altered the local -type. On the west coast, Arab, Persian, African, -European, and Jewish immigrants have mingled with -local races, and have changed their physiognomy, -stature, and character of mind and body.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">{18}</a></span> -It is still a moot point, which the Mendelists may -some day settle for us, whether head-form is a true -hereditary race-characteristic, whether the osseous -structure of the body generally is not a result of -climate, food and other such circumstances of environment. -Yet the shape of the head as shown by -average measurements does mark off races of men -which are separated by other differences than those -of habitat. They do correspond to those vaguer yet -unmistakeable characteristics which enable us to tell -one race from another. The Mongolian, even when -he settles in the plains of Assam, Bengal, or Burma -and takes to a diet of rice and fish, keeps his round -head and his smooth hairless face. The Aryan of the -north-west has a markedly long head, which, in his -case, goes with a fair complexion and luxuriant -beard. The Dravidian, darkest of Indian races, with -a tendency to crinkly or curly hair, has also a long or -medium head. The mixed races of Bengal have, it -is not surprising to find, medium heads, which tend -in the upper castes to become broad.</p> - -<p>Another significant index to race is the measurement -of the nose. The results of nose-measurements -roughly divide the peoples of India into three classes—those -having narrow or fine noses (leptorrhine), in -which the width is less than 70 per cent. of the height; -those having medium noses (mesorrhine), with an -average index of from 70 to 85; and broad-nosed -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">{19}</a></span> -(platyrrhine) people, the width of whose noses exceed -85 per cent. Here we get a physical means of distinguishing -between the long-headed people of north-western -India, fair and stalwart, and the almost -equally long-headed dusky folk of the south. For -the average nose of southern India, in Madras, the -Central Provinces, and Chota Nagpore, is broad. In -the Panjāb and Baluchistan we get fine noses of what, -to us Europeans, seems an aristocratic type. In -Afghanistan, noses are so long and hooked as to give -the tall and vigorous Afghan a Jewish aspect. In the -rest of India, and especially down the west coast, -noses are of medium type. A still more interesting -discovery is the fact that anywhere outside the Aryan -tracts of the north-west, the broad nose is a distinct -sign of aboriginal blood. In Bengal, for instance, the -lower castes have broad noses. The priestly and -writer castes, for all their broad heads, have fine -noses, which support their claim to a western origin. -Roughly speaking, the broad nose goes with primitive -forms of social organisation, with totemistic exogamous -clans. Finer noses are usually associated with -communities of a more modern type; and above these -again come social units, castes and tribes, which claim -descent from eponymous saints and heroes.</p> - -<p>A third physical measurement enables us to effect -a further sorting out of Indian races. What is called -the "flatness" of the Mongolian face is plain to the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">{20}</a></span> -most careless observer. This is due chiefly to the -formation of the cheekbone, and its relation to the -socket of the eye and the root of the nose. This can -be measured and expressed in figures, with the result -that the Mongoloid people of the north-east and -the Himalayan region can be definitely distinguished -from the broad-headed races of Baluchistan, Bombay, -and Coorg.</p> - -<p>Finally, it is possible to arrive at the average -stature of various Indian races and communities. -The tallest races are found in the north-west, in -Baluchistan, the Panjāb and Rājputānā. A progressive -diminution is seen as we go down the valley -of the Ganges, until we find very short folk among -the Assam hill tribes. The Dravidians of the south -are shorter than the Aryans of the north. The -smallest Indian tribe is that of the Negritos of the -Andaman Islands, whose average height is only 4 feet -10½ inches.</p> - -<p>From a careful comparison of these measurements, -Sir Herbert Risley arrived at the classification of -Indian humanity, which, for the moment, is the -accepted division, into seven main physical types. -Beginning with the north-western frontier, these are -as follows:—</p> - -<p>(1) The <i>Turko-Iranian</i> type, which comprises -the Baloches, Brāhuis and Afghans of Baluchistan -and the north-west Frontier Province. These are -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">{21}</a></span> -probably the result of a fusion of Turkī and Persian -blood, and are all Muhammadans. The general aspect -is wholly different from that of other Indian races, -and no one who has ever seen an Afghan or Baloch, -with his long Jewish nose and plentiful hair and -beard, can ever confuse this type with any other. -In temperament also these men of the border differ -from other Indians. They are a fierce and warlike -race, engaged in constant blood-feuds with one another.</p> - -<p>(2) The <i>Indo-Aryan</i> type, with its home in the -Panjāb, Rājputānā and Kashmir, has as its most -conspicuous members the Rājputs, Khattris and Jāts. -These, in all but colour (and even in colour they are -hardly more dusky than the races round the Mediterranean) -closely resemble the well-bred European in -type. In stature they are tall, their complexion is -fair; "eyes dark; hair on face plentiful; head long; -nose narrow and prominent, but not specially long." -One significant peculiarity of this group is that there -is little difference in physical character between the -upper and lower classes. This, as we shall presently -see, is what we should expect from what is known of -the history of these peoples. The upper social ranks -probably represent the blood, but little diluted with -indigenous mixture, of the Aryan immigrants. Even -in the lower classes, the typical Aryan characteristics -are now so prominent that any indigenous strain that -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">{22}</a></span> -exists is no longer noticeable in average measurements. -Only in height, a quality especially sensitive -to differences of food and sanitation, are the lower -castes inferior. Here we get a remarkable modern -instance of transformation of type. The preaching -of the Sikh reformers, involving a change of food -and the inculcation of martial discipline and fervour, -has converted the despised scavenging Chuhrā into -the soldierly Mazhabi, once a redoubtable foe of the -English, and now one of the finest soldiers in the -British army.</p> - -<p>(3) The <i>Scytho-Dravidian</i> type, including the -Marāthā Brāhmans, the Kunbīs, and the Coorgs of -western India. These peoples differ from the Turko-Iranian -races in being shorter, in having longer heads, -higher noses, and flatter faces.</p> - -<p>(4) The <i>Aryo-Dravidian</i> or Hindostāni type, -which exists in the United Provinces, in parts of -Rājputānā, and in Bihār. This type appears to be -due to a mixture of Indo-Aryan and Dravidian -strains. The higher classes resemble Indo-Aryans, -the lower have a distinctly Dravidian aspect. Yet, -even to the eye, they form a type apart and are easily -recognised. In this type, the average nose-index -corresponds exactly to social status. The noses grow -broader as we go downwards in the social scale.</p> - -<p>(5) The very interesting <i>Mongolo-Dravidian</i> or -<i>Bengali</i> type which is found in Bengal and Orissa. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">{23}</a></span> -Here Aryan influences may still be detected in the -upper classes, but there has been extensive mingling -with Tibeto-Burman and Dravidian peoples, and other -aboriginal inhabitants. The main distinguishing -feature is the broad head, which is most conspicuous -in the upper classes. It is shared equally by the -Bengali Brāhman, who claims a western origin, and -the Chittagong Mag, whose Tibeto-Burman origin -is not denied. The Brāhman, on the other hand, -inherits a fine and narrow nose, which may very well -be due to Indo-Aryan ancestry. Recent investigations -tend to show that Buddhism survived till a -comparatively recent date in Bengal. Hence, no -doubt, a temporary disregard of caste restrictions -and a freer mixture with local strains.</p> - -<p>(6) The <i>Mongoloid</i> type of the Himalayas, Nepāl, -Assam, and Burma. "The head is broad: complexion -dark, with a yellowish tinge; hair on face scanty; -stature short or below average; nose fine to broad; -face characteristically flat; eyelids often oblique." -Here we have races which, if somewhat dark, correspond -to the ideas most of us entertain about the -external aspect and temperament of the Siamese or -Japanese. In intellectual ability, and what we may -call the artistic faculty, they are inferior to the -Bengali. Most Europeans, however (or is it, therefore?) -find them among the most congenial of Indian -races. They are social, good-natured, straightforward -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">{24}</a></span> -people. In the western Himalayas, there has been -intermixture with Aryan invaders, as in the Kangra -Valley and Nepāl, and the ruling dynasties claim -Rājput origin, for the Indo-Aryans loved to settle -in the cool hills, much as the Anglo-Indian does to -this day. But on the mountainous frontiers of North-East -Bengal and Assam, the Mongoloid peoples have -remained undisturbed till our own time. Linguistically, -this group is peculiarly interesting, since they -speak many tongues, many of which still remain to -be recorded and studied by European scholars.</p> - -<p>(7) The <i>Dravidian</i> type, which extends from -Ceylon to the valley of the Ganges and covers all -South-Eastern India. It is found in Madras, Hyderabad, -the Central Provinces, most of Central India, -and Chota Nagpore. Its purest representatives dwell -on the Malabar coast and in Chota Nagpore. Here -we have probably the original inhabitants of India, -now modified in some degree by an infiltration of -Aryan, Scythian and Mongoloid elements. "The -stature is short or below mean; the complexion very -dark, approaching black; hair plentiful, with an -occasional tendency to curl; eyes dark; head long; -nose very broad, sometimes depressed at the root, -but not so as to make the face appear flat."</p> - -<div class="section"></div> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 383px;"> - <img src="images/pl-2.jpg" width="383" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p><i>Plate II</i></p> - <p>Kāyasthas—the writer caste<br /> - (<i>Mirzapur district</i>)</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>It must, of course, be understood, that these types -and the names allotted to them merely show that in -certain areas the average characteristics of the peoples -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">{25}</a></span> -dwelling there can be sufficiently separated to be -recognisable not only by eye but by the callipers of -the anthropologist. The names, it will be noticed, -in some cases, imply theories as to the origin of the -races thus grouped together. These theories are -partly based on measurements, partly on tradition, -partly on linguistic considerations. It remains for -me to state, very rapidly, what these theories are.</p> - -<p>That the Dravidians are the oldest race in India -is rendered <i>primâ facie</i> probable by the fact that -they inhabit the southernmost part of the peninsula, -between races who can with some certainty be called -invaders—and the deep sea. There is a remarkable -uniformity of physical characteristics among the lower -specimens of this type. They have in common an -animistic religion, their distinctive language, their -peculiar stone monuments, and a primitive system -of totemism. They do not resemble Europeans on -the one hand, or the races of the Far East on the -other. Until proof to the contrary is forthcoming -they may well be regarded as the autochthones of -India.</p> - -<p>There is more room for difference of opinion as to -the origins of the brilliant and highly civilised Indo-Aryans -of the Panjāb and Rājputānā. As I have said -before, we have here a population closely resembling -that of modern Europe in many respects. I might -have added that it still more closely resembles the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">{26}</a></span> -Europe of the Roman empire. Nowhere else in -Hindu India does caste sit so lightly, or approach -so nearly to the social classes of Europe. Though -there are rules, or rather customs, forbidding intermarriage -between different castes, yet these are -mitigated by the custom, not unknown to ourselves, -of <i>hypergamy</i>. This simply means that a man may -take a wife from a lower caste, but will not give his -daughters to men of that caste. The result is a -uniformity of physical type found nowhere else in -India. Moreover these people speak a language of -the Indo-European family, and have many words and -idioms in common with ourselves. The present theory -of their origin is simply that they are in the bulk -immigrants into India, immigrants who came into -the land from the north-west with their herds and -families, as the Jews entered into and possessed -Palestine.</p> - -<p>One chief objection to this theory is that the -lands through which they must have passed are in -no way fitted to be an <i>officina gentium</i>, being now -dry, barren, and all but deserted. But abundant -indications remain to show that the climate of South-Eastern -Persia and the tracts to the north has -changed within comparatively recent times. The -relics of crowded populations and ancient civilisations -abound in regions now sandy desert, and there -is evidence in the tales told by Greek and Chinese -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">{27}</a></span> -travellers that the Panjāb itself, most of it comparatively -arid, was once well wooded. The theory -then is that the homogeneous and handsome population -of the Panjāb and Rājputānā represents the -almost pure descendants of Aryan settlers, who -carried the Indo-European languages now prevailing -over Northern India, just as our own emigrants took -the English language to America.</p> - -<p>But we have also to account for the Aryo-Dravidians -who inhabit the sacred "midland" country -of Hinduism, and here we have Dr Hoernle's now -famous theory, remarkably confirmed by the researches -of Sir George Grierson's <i>Linguistic Survey</i>. -This theory supposes that a second swarm of Aryan-speaking -people, perhaps driven forward by the -change of climate in central Asia, entered India -through the high and difficult passes of Gilgit and -Chitral, and established themselves in the fertile -plains between the Ganges and the Jumna. They -followed a route which made it impossible for their -women to accompany them. They took to themselves -wives from the daughters of dusky Dravidian aborigines. -Here, by contact with a different, and in -their sentiment, inferior race, caste came into being. -Here most of the Vedic hymns were composed. Here, -by a blending of imported and indigenous religious -ideals, the ritual and usages of Hindu religion came -into being, to spread in altered forms east and west -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">{28}</a></span> -and south. The necessity for this second hypothesis is -twofold. It accounts for the marked ethnical barrier -which separates western from eastern Hindustan. -Elsewhere the various types melt imperceptibly into -one another. Here alone is a definite racial border -line. Again, the theory accounts for the fact that -the Vedic hymns contain no description whatever of -the earlier Aryan migration, and for the fact that the -inhabitants of the middle land always felt a dislike -for the early immigrants as men of low culture and -barbarous manners. For the present, at all events, -and perhaps for all time, Dr Hoernle's ingenious -theory holds the field.</p> - -<p>No special theory is required to account for the -physical and mental qualities of the Mongolo-Dravidians -of Bengal. No doubt the original population -was Dravidian with a strong intermixture of Tibeto-Burmese -blood, especially in the east and north-east. -But the Hindu religion, developed in the sacred -Midlands round Benares, spread to Bengal, bringing -with it the Indo-European speech which in medieval -times became the copious and supple Bengali tongue. -From the west too came what we in Europe would -call the gentry, the priestly and professional castes. -These have acquired most of the local physical -characters, dusky skin, low stature, round heads. -But in nearly all cases, the fineness and sharp outline -of the nose shows their aristocratic origin, and in -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">{29}</a></span> -some instances a Bengali Brāhman has all the physical -distinction of a western priest or sage.</p> - -<p>When we turn to the Scytho-Dravidian group we -have again to fall back on records of ancient invasions -from the north. Ancient some of them were, but far -less ancient than the settlement of the Aryans in the -north-west. The Sakas have provided India with -one of its many chronological eras; they founded -dynasties which have left coins behind them, they -have left vague but widely spread traditions. They -were what we Europeans call Scythians. They were -known to the Persians, the Parthians, and the Chinese. -Their original home seems to have been in the south -of China, a land of pre-eminently round-headed races. -We know that they established their dominion over -portions of the Panjāb, Sind, Gujarāt, Rājputānā and -Central India. If they have left traces of their -settlement on their descendants we may reasonably -expect to find round-headed races and tribes in -regions mostly surrounded by long-headed peoples. -Such a zone of broad-headed people does in fact -extend from the western Panjāb right through the -Deccan, till it finally ends in Coorg. Sir H. H. -Risley's theory is that the Scythians first occupied -the great grazing country of the western Panjāb, and -finding their progress eastwards blocked by the Indo-Aryans, -turned southwards, mingled with the Dravidians, -and became the ancestors of the warlike -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">{30}</a></span> -Marātha race. Such an origin forms a tempting -explanation of the well-known predatory habits of -the Marātha hordes, and of their frequent raids all -over the peninsula under the decaying administration -of the later Mogul Emperors. It is an interesting -and fascinating speculation, since it accounts not -only for the physical aspect of the Marāthas but -for their characteristic political genius, for their -wide-ranging forays, their guerilla warfare, their unscrupulous -dealings, their inveterate love of intrigue, -their clannish habits.</p> - -<p>I must here boldly borrow Sir H. H. Risley's -summary of the historical record of Scythian invasions -into India, since that is the main justification -for his theory. "In the time of the Achaemenian -kings of Persia," he says, "the Scythians, who were -known to the Chinese as Sse, occupied the regions -lying between the lower course of the Sillis or -Jaxartes and Lake Balkash. The fragments of early -Scythian history which may be collected from classical -writers are supplemented by the Chinese annals, -which tell us how the Sse, originally located in -southern China, occupied Sogdiana and Trans-oxiana -at the time of the establishment of the Graeco-Bactrian -monarchy. Dislodged from these regions -by the Yueh-chi, who had themselves been put to -flight by the Huns, the Sse invaded Bactriana, an -enterprise in which they were frequently allied with -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">{31}</a></span> -the Parthians. To this circumstance, Ujfalvy says -may be due the resemblance which exists between -the Scythian coins of India and those of the Parthian -kings. At a later period, the Yueh-chi made a further -advance, and drove the Sse or Sakas out of Bactriana, -whereupon the latter crossed the Paropamisus and -took possession of the country called after them -Sakastān, comprising Segistān, Arachosia, and Drangiana. -But they were left in possession only for a -hundred years, for about 25 <small>B.C.</small> the Yueh-chi disturbed -them afresh. A body of Scythians then -emigrated eastwards, and founded a kingdom in the -western portion of the Panjāb. The route they -followed in their advance upon India is uncertain; -but to a people of their habits it would seem that a -march through Baluchistan would have presented no -serious difficulties.</p> - -<p>"The Yueh-chi, afterwards known as the Tokhari, -were a power in Central Asia and the north-west of -India for more than five centuries, from 130 <small>B.C.</small> The -Hindus called them Sakas and Turushkas, but their -kings seem to have known no other dynastic title -than that of Kushan. The Chinese annals tell us -how Kitolo, chief of the Little Kushans, whose name -is identified with the Kidara of the coins, giving way -before the incursion of the Ephthalites, crossed the -Paropamisus, and founded, in the year 425 of our -era, the kingdom of Gandhāra, of which, in the time -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">{32}</a></span> -of his son, Peshawar became the capital. About -the same time, the Ephthalites or Ye-tha-i-li-to of -the Chinese annals, driven out of their territory by the -Yuan-yuan, started westward, and overran in succession -Sogdiana, Khwarizan (Khiva), Bactriana, and -finally the north-west portion of India. Their movements -reached India in the reign of Skanda Gupta -(452-80) and brought about the disruption of the -Gupta empire. The Ephthalites were known in India -as Huns. The leader of the invasion of India, who -succeeded in snatching Gandhāra from the Kushans -and established his capital at Sākala, is called by the -Chinese Laelih, and inscriptions enable us to identify -him with the original Lakhan Udayāditya of the -coins. His son Toramāna (490-515) took possession -of Gujarāt, Rājputānā, and part of the Ganges valley, -and in this way the Huns acquired a portion of -the ancient Gupta kingdom. Toramāna's successor, -Mihirakula (515-44), eventually succumbed to the -combined attack of the Hindu princes of Mālwā and -Magadha."</p> - -<p>I now come to the ethnography as distinguished -from the ethnology of India. Of anthropometry and -the lessons to be learnt from it, I have no personal -experience, and have had to borrow my materials at -second-hand. But with the great system of caste, its -workings, its manifold ramifications, everyone who -has lived in India has come into more or less close -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">{33}</a></span> -contact. How important caste is in the social life -of the country may be easily inferred from this little -fact. I once asked the late Navin Chandra Sen, then -the most popular of Bengali poets, if he would attempt -a definition of what a Hindu is. After many suggestions, -all of which had to be abandoned on closer -examination, the poet came to the conclusion that a -Hindu is (1) one who is born in India of Indian -parents on both sides, and (2) accepts and obeys the -rules of caste. Hinduism is, roughly speaking, the -religion of the Aryo-Dravidians, the upper and fairer -classes among whom regarded the aborigines, matrimonially, -much as white Americans regard their negro -fellow citizens. It has spread over nearly the whole -of India and is still spreading, usually but not always, -carrying with it one of the Indo-European languages -of India. It is the religion and social system of races -and classes which consider themselves intrinsically -superior, and practise a traditional kind of eugenics, -of race preservation. Humbler or more barbarous -races are admitted on various conditions into caste, -sometimes into higher, sometimes into lower positions. -The process is one of that kind of "legal fiction" -with which students of Roman law are familiar. It -is a process of unification and, at the same time, of -social segregation. I have already alluded to the -suggestion that caste-divisions are horizontal, as it -were, compared with the geographical divisions of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">{34}</a></span> -races. But it is always dangerous to make general -statements about three hundred millions of people -scattered over so large an area as India. There are -Brāhmans in every part of India, and these usually -trace their origin back to the sacred midland where -Hinduism came into being. They may be, and probably -are, the descendants of the missionaries by -whom the religion of the Hindus is, imperceptibly -and without open proselytism, spread abroad. Something -corresponding to a warrior caste and a caste of -scribes is to be found in most provinces, and many -of these either claim to be migrants, or have been -admitted by adoption into the privileges of warrior -or writer blood.</p> - -<p>But there are many castes which are purely local, -even in name, and are not found elsewhere than in -the places where they were admitted into the Hindu -community. Many closely printed pages in the -Census Reports of each province and state enumerate -and describe the thousands of castes revealed by the -numbering of the people. It is, of course, only -possible to give a very vague and general idea of -some of the classes into which the castes of India -may conveniently be divided.</p> - -<p>I am tempted here to borrow Sir Herbert Risley's -definition of caste. But it is a highly abstract definition, -and one that cannot be easily carried in the -head, even by those who have a practical and familiar -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">{35}</a></span> -acquaintance with members of Indian castes. Roughly -a caste is a group of human beings who may not -intermarry, or (usually) eat, with members of any -other caste. There are also sub-castes which are -also endogamous. Very frequently, especially in the -parts of India where caste is already an institution -of immemorial antiquity, a caste has allotted to it a -profession or occupation.</p> - -<p>Before we discuss castes properly so called, it is -convenient to speak of the tribes of India, since tribes -have a tendency to become castes when they come -under the pervasive influence of Hindu social ideas. -In the south of India are Dravidian tribes, of which -the best example are the tribes of Chota Nagpore. -These are divided into a number of exogamous -groups or clans, calling themselves by the name of -an animal or plant, which may be regarded as their -totem. The Khonds of Orissa, who once bore an evil -name for their practice of human sacrifices to propitiate -the earth-goddess, are divided into fifty <i>gochis</i> -or exogamous clans, each of which bears the name of -a village, and believes itself to be descended from a -common ancestor. These <i>gochis</i> are the nearest -known approach to the local exogamous tribe which -Mr McLennan and the French sociologists believe to -be the earliest form of human society.</p> - -<p>The Mongoloid tribes of Assam are much of -the same kind, but in many cases, as among the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">{36}</a></span> -head-hunting Nagas, live at perpetual warfare with -one another. In such cases they usually capture their -wives in war. It is interesting to note that when -population grows too dense for the profitable pursuit -of the chase, their principal means of livelihood, such -a tribe breaks up into two or more "villages," which -immediately begin waging war with one another, -which is quite what a French sociologist would expect -them to do. I can tell of a case within my own -experience in which the headman of a parent village -invited the chief of a colony village (his own nephew) -to a feast and palaver with his young warriors. The -guests were all treacherously put to the sword, as a -means of acquiring heads and concubines. I could -not get the headman to see that he had been guilty -of an atrocious crime. For him, it was lawful strategy. -And indeed Naga warfare is merely a series of artfully -planned ambushes in which not a few of our own -officers perished before we undertook the direct -administration of the Naga Hills. Sir H. Risley -remarks of this group of tribes that "no very clear -traces of totemism have been discovered among them." -Subsequent enquiries, however, show that totemistic -clans do exist in some of the Assam tribes.</p> - -<div class="section"></div> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 365px;"> - <img src="images/pl-3.jpg" width="365" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p><i>Plate III</i></p> - <p>Dharkārs<br /> - (<i>Mirzapur district</i>)</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Of the Turko-Iranian tribes of the north-western -frontier I need not speak at any length, since these -tribes are all sturdy followers of the Prophet, and -save that they are under British rule can hardly be -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">{37}</a></span> -said to belong to India at all. There is no likelihood -that they will ever be received into the tolerant bosom -of Hinduism, since, to the Indian proper, the Baloch and -the Afghan are disagreeable and swaggering caterans, -who have an innate scorn for the typical Hindu hierarchy -of caste. Among these tribes it is martial ability -and valour that win a man consideration and wives.</p> - -<p>Let us now turn to caste properly so called, the -traditional social divisions of the Hindus. And first it is -necessary to say something of the ancient Hindu theory -of what caste is, and how it came into existence.</p> - -<p>As with the Hebrews, the religious literature of -India contains a vast mass of what can only be called -law, and perhaps, the most famous of Indian law books -is the Institutes of Manu, a compilation of rules -relating to magic, religion, law, custom, ritual and -metaphysics. Even to this day, these branches of -speculation and enquiry, so distinct to western imaginations, -are apt to be confused together as a result of -the pantheistic feeling which pervades Hinduism. -The Institutes is a comparatively modern book, but -it repeats ideas which are found in a more or less -explicit form in early authorities<span -class="fnanchor"><a name="Ref_1" id="Ref_1" href="#Foot_1">[1]</a></span>. -In this book we are told that in the beginning of things the Pan-theos -who "contains all created things and is inconceivable" -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">{38}</a></span> -produced by effort of thought a golden egg, from -which he himself was born as Brahmā, the creator of -the known universe. From his mouth, his arms, -his thighs, and his feet respectively he created the -four great leading castes, the Brāhman, the Kshatriya, -the Vaiçya, and the Sūdra. These were, briefly, the -priests, the warriors and gentlefolk, the traders, and -the servile classes of human society. The other castes -were gradually formed, the theory states, by intermarriages -between these. The three higher castes were -allowed to take wives from lower castes. When the -caste of the mother was next below that of the father, -the child took the caste of his mother and no new caste -was formed. But where the difference of condition -was greater than this, new castes were formed, lower -than those of either parent. Some discrepancies of -rank produced unions which were regarded as peculiarly -offensive to human feelings and as tantamount -to incestuous intercourse. These resulted in very -degraded castes. Where the father married beneath -him, the marriage was described as <i>anuloma</i> or "with -the hair." When a woman was guilty of a <i>mésalliance</i>, -the marriage was called <i>pratiloma</i> or "against -the hair." The most disgraceful union of this kind -was that between a Brāhman woman and a Sūdra -man, the resulting offspring being relegated to the -caste of Chandāl. The unfortunate Chandāl is described -as "that lowest of mortals," and is condemned, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">{39}</a></span> -as Sir H. Risley says, to live outside the village, to -clothe himself in the garments of the dead, to eat -from broken dishes, to execute criminals, and to carry -out the corpses of friendless men.</p> - -<p>The most superficial acquaintance with existing -caste divisions shows that this theory is not so much -a hypothesis as a fanciful fiction. In eastern Bengal, -for instance, the Chandāl is evidently a Mongoloid -aboriginal, with a considerable strain of Dravidian -and perhaps even of Aryan blood. Yet the fiction -shows plainly enough the estimation in which one of -the numerically largest divisions of local society is -held. Some thirty years ago, when I was a young -magistrate, a comely Chandāl girl appeared before -me, her face streaming with blood from a scalp -wound. She asserted gravely that a Sūdra of higher -caste had struck her on the head with a stick, because -he had found her reading a book as she sat in the -doorway of her father's cottage. I was disinclined -to believe this story, but her assailant was promptly -sent for, and being brought straight to me, admitted -the truth of the charge, and seemed surprised at my -indignation at a cowardly assault.</p> - -<p>As an attempt to account for the origin and -explain the nature of caste the theory of Manu is -obviously a failure. But it contains a picture of the -early castes. It is also interesting because the idea -of four original <i>varnas</i> or "colours" of men may have -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">{40}</a></span> -been borrowed from the old Persian social organisation. -The early scriptures, the Vedas, show that this -conception of four original castes was not brought to -India by Aryan immigrants. But when caste came -into being as a result of the contact of Aryan settlers -with Dravidian aborigines, this mythological explanation, -which gave such conspicuous eminence to -priests and warriors, an eminence already conceded -to them on account of the importance of their functions, -was readily accepted as a convincing explanation -of the hereditary differences between men in society, -a difference not merely of function, but of colour, -aspect, gesture, speech, breeding, and intelligence. -It is necessary to mention this theory, however briefly, -since it still holds ground, except among those -Indians who have had a European education and -even among them has the interest of early and -sacred associations which, in Europe, belongs to the -cosmological speculations of the book of Genesis.</p> - -<p>What, next, are castes as they appear to the eye -of the European ethnologist, free from preconceived -prejudice, and only anxious to come as near the -truth as is possible in his dealings with ancient -institutions round which has gathered a vast mass -of venerable superstition and religious speculation? -In the first place, castes are often still recognisably -<i>tribes</i>. Sometimes the leading men of an aboriginal -tribe will acquire sufficient wealth and social -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">{41}</a></span> -consideration to wish to obtain the stamp of recognition -as reputable Hindus. They will call themselves, -for example, and induce their neighbours and the -priests of these to call them, Rājputs. They may not at -first succeed in intermarrying with true hereditary -Rājputs, but in time they will be just Rājputs like any -other Rājputs. Or, again, a number of non-Hindus, -animists, will join one of the many Hindu sects or fraternities -and will intermarry with Vaishnavas, Lingayats, -Rāmayats, or other devotees of some favourite deity. -Or again, a whole tribe or a considerable portion -of a tribe, usually one of some political importance, -will enter Hinduism by means of some plausible -fiction. The instance quoted by Sir H. Risley is that -of the Koches of north-eastern Bengal. These people -are Tibeto-Burmans and until recent times spoke a -dialect of the agglutinative Bodo language. They -now call themselves Rājbansis, "of royal birth," or -Bhāngā Kshatriyas, "broken warriors," names which -enable them to claim an origin from the traditional -dispersion of the Aryan warrior caste by the hero -Parasu Rāma, "Rāma of the battle axe." They -claim descent from the epic monarch Dasarath, father -of Rāma, have their own Brāahmins, and have begun -to adopt the Brāhminical system of exogamous -<i>gotras</i>. But, as Sir H. Risley remarks, they are in -a transitional state, since they have all hit upon the -same <i>gotra</i>, and are therefore compelled to marry -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">{42}</a></span> -within it, except in the rare instances in which they -contract unions with Bengali women.</p> - -<p>A still more interesting, because more recent, -instance of this sort is that of the Meithei, now -known to Hindus as Manipuris. In the Mahābhāarata -is told the tale of how the hero Arjuna wandered -from his brethren into Southern and Eastern India, -and, among other adventures, met (as Æneas with -Dido) with Chitrangadā, the fair daughter of the -King of Manipur, somewhere near the eastern coast. -Some 150 years ago, the then king of the beautiful -valley of Imphāl, between Assam and Burma, was -thinking of becoming a Muhammadan, by way of -courting the favour of the Muhammadan rulers of -Bengal. But Hindu priests persuaded him that -a better way of linking his fortunes with those of -India, rather than with Ava (with whose royal family -his dynasty had usually intermarried), was by becoming -Hindu with all his people. Imphāl was -identified with Manipur, and many of the Meithei -race became Vishnuvite Hindus with their ruler, -though they retain their primitive Tibeto-Burman -language. I may mention a little personal reminiscence -to show how completely the change by fictitious -adoption was accepted in Bengal. In 1891, my old -friend and chief, Mr Quinton, with all his staff, was -treacherously murdered at Manipur. Subsequently -when I was magistrate of Chittagong, I found that -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">{43}</a></span> -my head clerk, an extremely mild and intelligent -Bengali Kāyastha, had celebrated the easily suppressed -mutiny at Manipur by writing a drama -based on the ancient legend of Arjuna's amours -with Chitrangadā!</p> - -<p>Sometimes an aboriginal tribe will become a -Hindu caste without losing its old tribal designation. -They will worship Hindu gods without daring wholly -to neglect tribal deities, which, as might perhaps be -expected, are left chiefly to the women of the tribe. -Such a tribe will rapidly assimilate itself to the -beliefs and practices of Hindu neighbours, and -finally only its name and (except in case of occasional -intermarriage with other castes) its physical aspect -will remain to testify to its origin.</p> - -<p>Castes are at present classified as follows:</p> - -<p>(1) What Sir H. Risley calls <i>the tribal type</i>, -instances of which have been given above. Such -tribal castes abound in all parts of India. It is not -improbable that the great Sūdra division of Hindu -tradition was originally the whole mass of Dravidian -aboriginals as they came into contact with Aryan -immigrants, and were conceded a subordinate place -in their social system. It would be useless to give -a list of the names of such castes, but I cannot -refrain from mentioning the excellent Doms of the -Assam Valley, whose name unfortunately associates -them with very different people in India proper. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">{44}</a></span> -They are obviously of Tibeto-Burman origin, and -deserve closer study than they receive. Their long -thatched places of worship, true synagogues for -meeting together and curiously unlike the tiny <i>cellæ</i> -of Hindu temples, are among the most conspicuous -features of Assam villages. They have no idols, and -place a <i>puthi</i>, a holy book, on what may pass for the -village altar. They are vaguely Hinduised, but will -humbly declare "<i>āmi hindu na hô</i>," "we are not -Hindu folk." Yet they are well on their way towards -acceptance into caste, and have already a strong -infusion of Hindu blood.</p> - -<p>Other border races, though they are still too -savage and independent to become Hindu, are -marked down for absorption. Such, for instance, -are the Daflas of the northern border of Assam, -cousins of the Abors to whom attention has been -drawn by recent events. The Daflas are still frankly -animistic; their love of strong spirits and other -intoxicants, their addiction to their favourite diet -of roast pork, their extremely uncleanly habits and -barbarous speech, all make them very offensive to -the gentle vegetarian Hindus their neighbours. But -it happens that the tribal costume closely resembles -the traditional dress of Mahādēva, the Destroyer, the -most active and formidable member of the Hindu -Trinity, and already some Hindus speak of these -genial Highlanders as Siva-bansa, as "of Siva's race." -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">{45}</a></span> -Many other examples, with interesting details of -fictional methods, will be found in Mr E. A. Gait's -admirable <i>History of Assam</i>.</p> - -<p>(2) <i>The functional or occupational type</i> of caste. -This is the form of caste best known to Europeans, -because, since the first European missionaries and -traders visited those parts of India where the caste -system has had the longest opportunity to evolve, -they came most into contact with this, which is -probably the oldest and most elaborated form of -caste. The Hindu theory of caste encouraged the -adoption of special occupations, and now the evolution -has proceeded so far that change of occupation -may usually result in a change of caste. A remarkable -instance of this is found in the Marāthi districts -of the Central Provinces. Here is a separate and -newly formed caste of village servants called Gārpagāri, -"hail-averters," whose business it is to protect -the village crops from hailstorms. Shepherds who -take to tillage break away from their pastoral -brethren, and so on. Even those who retain their -traditional occupations are wont to adopt more -seemly-sounding names than those that belong to -their trade. I have known barbers who called -themselves Chandra-vaidyas<span -class="fnanchor"><a name="Ref_2" id="Ref_2" href="#Foot_2">[2]</a></span>, -which is a promotion -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">{46}</a></span> -more subtle than a mere ascent to the status of -"hair-dresser," and washermen who have followed -suit by dubbing themselves Sukla-vaidya, a word -of which "white-worker" is a crude but sufficiently -suggestive translation.</p> - -<p>(3) The <i>sectarian type</i> is a singularly interesting -example of the strong social influence of Hindu -sentiment. Nearly all new Hindu sects begin by -renouncing caste in the enthusiastic following of -some single deity, some new explanation of the -mysteries of life, and love, and death. These sects -are usually the followers of some reforming theorist, -whose leadership is apt to become hereditary. Such -sects almost always believe that all men are equal, -or at all events, that all who accept their doctrines -are equal. One of my most interesting recollections -is of a now distant interview with a buxom middle-aged -lady, the hereditary leader of the Kartā-bhajās -of Central Bengal. She sat unveiled, and was -accessible to all who, like myself, were interested -in the community over which she exercised a firm -but good-natured control. It is a picturesque detail -that her chosen seat when receiving visitors was -an ancient European four-poster bedstead. Her -followers (and revenues) were growing rapidly, increased -chiefly by the democratic instinct which, -even in India, revolts against social prestige. But -it would seem that when such a sect grows and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">{47}</a></span> -spreads, the old separatist ideas reassert themselves, -and the sect breaks up into smaller endogamous -communities, whose status depends on the original -position of the members in Hinduism. The most -remarkable instance of this kind is furnished by -the great Lingayat caste of Bombay, which contains -over two and a half millions of members. In the -twelfth century the Lingayats were a sect who -believed in the equality of all men. In Mr P. J. -Mead's Bombay Census Report for 1911 is a very -interesting account of the present condition of the -Lingayats, an account which shows how the scholar, -the linguist, and the administrator can work together -to find materials for the anthropologist. Dr Fleet's -examination of ancient inscriptions has thrown much -light on the origin of the sect, but the author of the -Report holds that there may be some reason to think -that the sect is much older than is commonly supposed. -In any case, they are already divided into -three great groups, comprising many subdivisions.</p> - -<p>(4) <i>Castes formed by crossing</i> come aptly to -show that there was some basis for Manu's theory -of caste after all. Castes, nowadays, increase by -fission, by throwing off sub-castes, and one species -of these sub-castes is created by mixed marriages. -This tendency, curiously enough, is most evident -in Dravidian tribes, such as the Mundās, which -are not yet wholly Hinduised, but have been -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">{48}</a></span> -affected by Hindu example. So far as I know, -these mixed castes do not occur among the Mongoloid -peoples, and I have come across cases where -a member of an aboriginal tribe has been accepted -into the caste of a Hindu girl he has married. In -one case, within my own experience, the bridegroom -had begun as an animist, had become Christian, -and finally entered by marriage into the quite -respectable Koch caste. One interesting caste in -Bengal, that of the Shāgirdpeshas, owes its origin -to concubinage with the so-called slaves, the women -of tenants surrounding a homestead who pay their -rent in service. This, it will be observed, is a caste -of illegitimacy, in which the relationship between -the legitimate and illegitimate children of a man -of good caste is recognised, but the two are not -allowed to eat together. The classical instance of -a mixed caste is the Khas of Nepāl, said to be -the result of very ancient intermarriages between -Rājput or Brāhman immigrants and the Mongolian -"daughters of men."</p> - -<div class="section"></div> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 377px;"> - <img src="images/pl-4.jpg" width="377" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p><i>Plate IV</i></p> - <p>Banjara women<br /> - (<i>Mirzapur district</i>)</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>(5) <i>Castes of the national type.</i> This somewhat -daring title we owe to the great authority of Sir H. -Risley. As one instance, he mentions the Newārs, -a Mongoloid people, who were once the ruling race -in Nepāl, till the Gurkha invasion in 1769, and have -now become a caste. Other instances might be -found on the north-eastern frontier. But the people -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">{49}</a></span> -Sir Herbert Risley had in mind when he invented -this term was undoubtedly the remarkable Marātha -race, once the most daring warriors and freebooters -in India, and now the rivals of the Bengalis in intellectual -ability, and probably more than their -equals in political sagacity. Sir Rāmkrishna Gopāl -Bhandārkar is our authority for the statement that -the Rattas were a tribe who held political supremacy -in the Deccan from the earliest days. In time they -became Mahā-rattas, "Great Rattas," and the land -in which they lived was called Mahārattha, which, -by a common linguistic habit of mankind, was -Sanskritised into Mahā-rāshtra. Their marriage -customs show marked traces of totemistic institutions. -An extremely interesting account of the -present condition of this warlike and enterprising -race will be found at pp. 289, 290 of the Bombay -Census Report for 1911. It neither supports nor -discourages Sir H. Risley's ingenious theory of the -Scythic origin of the Marāthas, which is at least -a theory which recognises the respect in which our -ancestors held their martial prowess and talents<span -class="fnanchor"><a name="Ref_3" id="Ref_3" href="#Foot_3">[3]</a></span>.</p> - -<p>(6) <i>Castes formed by migration.</i> These are new -castes which serve to enforce the warning against -a too ready acceptance of the definition of caste as -a "horizontal" division of humanity. It is a method -of forming new communities of Hindus which is very -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">{50}</a></span> -easily intelligible to us, seeing that our own race -is split into sections only differing from castes in -not being strictly endogamous, such as Anglo-Indians, -Australians, New Zealanders, and so forth. Members -leave home and settle among strangers. They are -assumed to have formed foreign habits, eaten strange -food, worshipped alien gods, and have a difficulty—an -expensive difficulty—in finding wives in the parent -caste. After a time they marry only among themselves, -become a sub-caste, and are often known by -some territorial name, Bārendra, Rārhi, or what not. -Such seemingly are the remarkable Nāmbudri Brāhmans -of Malabar, and the Rārhi Brāhmans of Bengal. -Sometimes change of habitat brings about loss of -rank, sometimes promotion. These are matters on -which the Census Reports now being published are -full of interesting details. But they are matters -which are not easily summarised. No doubt Mr -Gait's Report on the combined results of Census -operations in India will show the progress of castes -of this type during the last ten years.</p> - -<p>(7) <i>Castes formed by changes of custom.</i> This -is a fruitful cause of new divisions of Hindu society. -It is, for the moment, more than usually operative, -owing to the spread of education, and often represents -a difference of social opinion which corresponds, -more or less closely, to Conservative and Radical -ideas among ourselves. It evidently was always a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">{51}</a></span> -cause of fissiparous tendencies. The most notable -instance is the distinction between Jāts and Rājputs, -both apparently sprung from the same stock, but -separated socially, amongst other causes, by the fact -that the former practise and the latter abjure infant -marriages.</p> - -<p class="gap-above">This is a very rapid and highly summarised -account of the races and castes of India. There -are many obvious omissions. Nothing has been said -of the Sikhs, little or nothing about the numerous -races of the north-eastern frontier. But enough has -been said to give a fair general impression of what -the physical characters of the Indian peoples are, -and what kind of institution caste is in its practical -working. More might have been said about totemistic -clans, but on this subject those who would -pursue their studies further have only to turn to -Dr J. G. Frazer's work on the subject. In the next -chapter, I have to borrow my materials from Sir -G. A. Grierson, and show how the peoples of India -are divided by differences of language. On the -whole, those linguistic divisions correspond with -remarkable accuracy to the orographical and climatic -structure of the country and the racial divisions -which we owe to the learning and ingenuity of Sir -H. H. Risley. Where there are great open plains, -watered and fertilised by mighty rivers, we get large -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">{52}</a></span> -populations speaking the great literary languages of -India. In the rugged recesses of the mountains we -find small communities, divided from one another by -physical obstacles which have produced rigid local -patriotisms and enmities, and a wonderful variety -of savage speeches. The linguist has usually worked -independently of the ethnologist, and has come to his -own unprejudiced conclusions. It is interesting to -find how closely the results of their separate enquiries -agree.</p> - -<p class="center"><i>Postscript.</i></p> - -<p>Sir H. H. Risley's theory as to the Scythian origin -of the Marāthas has not passed unquestioned, and -those who wish to see a brief and clear account of -the latest theories on the subject should read Mr -Crooke's paper on "Rājputs and Marāthas" in -Vol. <small>XL.</small> (January—June, 1910) of the <i>Journal of -the Royal Anthropological Institute</i>. Mr Crooke, -who gives copious references to the latest literature -on the subject, holds that "the theory that a Hun -or Scythian element is to be traced in the population -of the Deccan is inconsistent with the facts of tribal -history, so far as they can now be ascertained." Mr -Crooke thinks that the anthropometrical facts can -be explained otherwise than by Saka invasion and -an infusion of Scythian blood. "The presence of -a brachycephalic strain," he says, "in Southern and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">{53}</a></span> -Western India need not necessarily imply a Mongoloid -invasion from Central Asia. The western coast -was always open to the entry of foreign races. Intercourse -with the Persian Gulf existed from a very -early period, and Mongoloid Akkads or the short-headed -races from Baluchistan may have made their -way along the coast or by sea into Southern and -Western India. But it is more probable that this -strain reached India in prehistoric times, and that -the present population is the result of the secular -intermingling of various race types, rather than of -events within the historical period." Mr Crooke's -view is supported by the recently issued Census -Report of the Bombay Presidency, which says, "the -term Marātha is derived by some from two Sanskrit -words, <i>mahā</i>, 'great,' and <i>rathi</i>, 'a warrior.'" -According to Sir Rāmkrishna Gopāl Bhandārkar it -is derived from Rattas, a tribe which held political -supremacy in the Deccan from the remotest time. -"The Rattas called themselves Mahā Rattas or Great -Rattas, and thus the country in which they lived -came to be called Mahārāttha, the Sanskrit of which -is Mahā-rāshtra."</p> - -<p>Indigenous names are frequently Sanskritised, -much as we turn French <i>chaussée</i> into "causeway." -Sometimes the change is so complete that the -original cannot be identified. In some cases the -alteration is easily recognised. In Northern Bengal, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">{54}</a></span> -for instance, is the river <i>Ti-stā</i>, a name which belongs -to a large group of Tibeto-Burman river names beginning -with <i>Ti-</i>, or <i>Di-</i>, such as <i>Ti-pai</i>, <i>Di-bru</i>, -<i>Di-kho</i>, <i>Di-sāng</i>, etc., etc. Hindus say the name -<i>Ti-stā</i> is either a corruption of Sanskrit <i>Tri-srotas</i>, -"having three streams," or of Tṛṣṇā, "thirst." Etymology -and legend, in fact, give but doubtful guidance -to the ethnologist, and the best hope of acquiring -some real knowledge of Rājput and Marātha origins -lies in the possible discovery of coins and inscriptions -in the absence of direct historical records.</p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="nodent"><a name="Foot_1" id="Foot_1" href="#Ref_1">[1]</a> -The actual date is very uncertain. Dr Burnell thinks the -book was composed so late as <small>A.D.</small> 500, but it was probably much -older.</p> - -<p class="nodent"><a name="Foot_2" id="Foot_2" href="#Ref_2">[2]</a> -"Moon-physicians," an allusion to the crescent-shaped brass -basin of the barber, such as the helmet of Don Quixote, familiar -to us all.</p> - -<p class="nodent"><a name="Foot_3" id="Foot_3" href="#Ref_3">[3]</a> -But see the postscript to this chapter.</p> - -</div> - -<h2>CHAPTER II<br /> -<small>THE LANGUAGES OF INDIA</small></h2> - -<p>It is quite possible to live many years in one -province or another of India without obtaining more -than the vaguest conception of the linguistic riches -of the country. It was Sir G. A. Grierson who -rendered it impossible for any but the most careless -to ignore the fact that India has not only more -languages than Europe, but many more kinds and -families of speech. Most Europeans in India live in -the populous areas where ethnical and geographical -conditions are favourable to the evolution and spread -of one of the great literary languages. In Madras, -the European comes into contact with one or other -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">{55}</a></span> -of the cultivated Dravidian tongues. In Bombay, he -learns that Marāthi and Gujarāti have ancient and -interesting literatures. In Calcutta, he is surrounded -by millions of Bengalis, who in modern times have as -many varieties of literary expression as the most -advanced of European races. In Rangoon, he hears -the most highly organised of Tibeto-Burman speeches. -In Allahabad, Benares, Lahore, Patna, he acquires -some smattering of the beautiful and expressive -languages which are closest to the model of the -original Indo-Aryan idiom. These are the exact -counter parts of the great literary languages of -Europe, of English, French, German, Italian, etc. -But while the European mountains contain one or -two shy survivals at most of primitive ways of talking, -India has many languages of the type of Basque. In -the little frontier province of Assam alone, dozens of -grammars and vocabularies have been printed, and -much more remains to be done. Happily, an appetite -for more information has been aroused by the feast -spread before linguists in Sir G. A. Grierson's great -<i>Survey</i>. He himself is at work on a book which will -tell us all that is at present known about the many -languages of India, and their relations with one -another. But in addition to his own labours, Sir -George Grierson has been an apostle of linguistic -research and has gathered round him many disciples, -not all of whom recognise whence came the impulse -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">{56}</a></span> -that has set them to an examination of the history -and growth of Indian languages. Most promising -sign of all, native scholars no longer disdain the -living tongues of India, nor confine their studies to -the classics of Sanskrit, Arabic, and Persian. In -Bengal alone, the Proceedings of the <i>Vangiya Sāhitya -Parisat</i>, a society for the pursuit of linguistic and -ethnological research, now form a goodly library of -books, and the poet, Rabindranath Tagore, whose -own English version of his charming <i>Gitanjali</i> is in -the hands of all who love poetry or are interested -in Indian matters, is also a very keen and competent -student of his native language on lines suggested by -the enquiries of European scholars. Much has been -learnt, but linguistic research in India has still many -interesting secrets for the zeal of European students to -reveal. In Scandinavia, Germany, France, a new sense -of the value of such studies has been aroused. All -that can be attempted in the following pages is to show, -very summarily and briefly, what is known at present.</p> - -<p>We have already seen that there are seven more -or less recognisable types of Indian humanity. To -these roughly correspond five great families of living -vernaculars. The Turko-Iranian, the Indo-Aryan, the -Scytho-Dravidian, the Aryo-Dravidian, and the Mongolo-Dravidian -races have for the most part acquired -Aryan languages which, in their relations to Sanskrit -and Persian, may be compared with the Romance -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">{57}</a></span> -languages of Europe in their relations to literary -Greek and Latin. The Dravidian races speak one -or other of the great Dravidian dialects, or some -idiom of the Mundā languages of Chota Nagpore. -Among the Mongoloid races of the extreme north -and east of India, we find the Mon-Khmer and the -Tibeto-Chinese families of speech. Of these, the -Dravidian family seems to be confined to India—to -the high tablelands of Southern India, with one outlying -settlement among the Brāhuis of Baluchistan. -This Dravidian speech would seem to be the original -and indigenous language of India. The Mundā -languages of Chota Nagpore, again, are plainly very -ancient Indian tongues and are, in all probability, as -aboriginal as the true Dravidian speech. But Mundā -tongues have elements in common with the Mon-Khmer -languages of Further India, Malacca, and -Australonesia. The present explanation of this fact -is provided by the supposition that, in prehistoric -times, these distant regions shared a common language -with great part of Northern India. But, for all -practical purposes, the relations of the Mundā -languages with the Far East are still so vaguely -defined, that they may be provisionally regarded as -being as indigenous as their neighbours, the Dravidian -languages. The connection of the Mon-Khmer languages -with Further India and the Pacific have formed -the subject of the now famous researches of Pater -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">{58}</a></span> -Schmidt of Vienna and other German investigators. -The Indo-Chinese family of languages is obviously -connected with the many dialects of Southern China. -An Indian journalist once told me that he thought -that the tumbled mountain ranges which separate -India from China and form, for the time, a semi-savage -"no man's land" of primitive social customs -and administration, are the most interesting area on -earth. It is an Asiatic and a huger Albania, of whose -ethnological and linguistic condition much has yet to -be learned. Those who heard Mr Archibald Rose's -lectures in London and Cambridge on his travels in -these regions will easily realise how much room there -is here for anthropological and linguistic research -among the rough but attractive races of this quarter.</p> - -<p>Lastly, in the great alluvial plain which separates -the Himalayas from the tableland of the south, and -along the western coast, are the peoples who use one or -other of the great Aryan vernaculars, languages of much -the same type as the modern languages of Europe, -sharing much of their vocabulary, and ultimately -derived from similar if still obscure origins. It is of -all these languages, and of some of their innumerable -dialects (not all of them even now known by name), -that some account must be given in this chapter.</p> - -<p class="gap-above">The history of the languages of India has reflected -the long struggle for pre-eminence between the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">{59}</a></span> -indigenous Dravidian culture of the south and the -Aryan civilisation of the north. The Mundā languages -are those of an isolated group of highlanders, who, till -quite recent times, hardly came into contact with or -were influenced by the speech or thought of other -races. The Mon-Khmer-speaking people of the Khasi -Hills were similarly wholly isolated, and were long -supposed to be absolutely aboriginal and separate -from other races of men, till quite recent investigations -discovered their linguistic affinities with the -Mons of Southern Burma and races in French Indo-China. -The Tibeto-Burman languages of the north-eastern -frontier are the simple and primitive speech -of semi-savage men. For such languages, contact -with the Aryan languages means rapid decay and -dissolution.</p> - -<p>Hindu civilisation and Hindu religion find easy -converts in the rude and simple Mongoloid people -of the north-east, and acceptance of Hindu manners -and customs almost always results in a rapid change -of language. So again, the Iranian languages represent -the final stage in the advance of Islam and -its languages as a conquering religion. The Iranian -tongues of the north-western frontier are only Indian -in the fact that they happen to fall within the administrative -border of British India. If we omit all -consideration of these races and languages for the -present, we shall be free to consider the long struggle -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">{60}</a></span> -between the Aryan and the Dravidian. The Aryan -religion, the religion of the Hindus, has spread all -over India, and as the Dravidian temples of the south -are among the glories of Hindu religious architecture, -so the Hinduism of the south is now, in many ways, -the most typical and interesting form of the religion. -The spread of the Aryan blood has been far less wide -in extent, as the previous chapter sufficiently shows. -The Aryan languages have spread all over the north -of India, up to an irregular line running obliquely -across the peninsula from near Vizagapatam on the -east coast to near Goa on the west coast. Into the -Aryan area projects the rocky plateau of Chota -Nagpore, where the Mundā dialects still survive, -and there are a few other outlying areas where -Dravidian tribes still use the original language of -India. With these exceptions, Northern India, from -Bombay to Calcutta now speaks Aryan languages.</p> - -<div class="section"></div> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 372px;"> - <img src="images/pl-5.jpg" width="372" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p><i>Plate V</i></p> - <p>Seoris or Savaras<br /> - (<i>Mirzapur district</i>)</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Let me then begin by giving a brief account of -the two ancient and indigenous families of language -in India, the Dravidian and Mundā families. Sir -G. Grierson's <i>Survey</i> has definitely established the -fact that, in spite of the close physical resemblance -between the Dravidian races properly so called and -the inhabitants of Chota Nagpore, there is no -linguistic affinity between them. In Sir George -Grierson's own words "they differ in their pronunciation, -in their modes of indicating gender, in their -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">{61}</a></span> -declensions of nouns, in their method of indicating -the relationship of a verb to its objects, in their -numeral systems, in their principles of conjugation, -in their methods of indicating the negative, and in -their vocabularies. The few points in which they -agree are points which are common to many languages -scattered all over the world."</p> - -<h3>The Dravidian Languages.</h3> - -<p>These are, as aforesaid, the languages of Southern India. Two of -them survive further to the north in Chota Nagpore -and the Sonthal Parganas, where they exist side by -side with Mundā dialects. One curiously isolated -Dravidian language is Brāhui, an extraordinary survival, -far to the north-west, in the midst of the -Iranian and Muhammadan languages of Baluchistan. -The Sanskrit writers knew of two great southern -languages which they named the Andhra-bhāshā and -the Drāvida-bhāshā. The first corresponded to what -is now Telugu and its cognates, the latter to the rest -of the southern languages. Sir George Grierson -classifies the Dravidian family thus:</p> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">{62}</a></div> - -<table class="speak" summary="Dravidian dialects"> - -<tr> - <td colspan="2" class="group"></td> - <td class="number x-small">Number of speakers<br />(1901)</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td colspan="2" class="group">A. Drāvida group:</td> - <td class="number"></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="dialect">Tamil</td> - <td class="number">16,525,500</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="dialect">Malayalam</td> - <td class="number">6,029,304</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="dialect">Kanarese</td> - <td class="number">10,365,047</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="dialect">Kodagu</td> - <td class="number">39,191</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="dialect">Tulu</td> - <td class="number">535,210</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="dialect">Toda</td> - <td class="number">805</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="dialect">Kota</td> - <td class="number">1300</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="dialect">Kurukh</td> - <td class="number">592,351</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="dialect">Malto</td> - <td class="number">60,777</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td colspan="2" class="group">B. Intermediate languages:</td> - <td class="number"></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="dialect">Gond, etc.</td> - <td class="number">1,123,974</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td colspan="2" class="group">C. Andhra group:</td> - <td class="number"></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="dialect">Telugu</td> - <td class="number">20,696,872</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="dialect">Kandh</td> - <td class="number">494,099</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="dialect">Kolami</td> - <td class="number">1505</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td colspan="2" class="group">D. Brāhui</td> - <td class="number">48,589</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td colspan="2" class="group"></td> - <td class="number top">56,514,524</td> -</tr> - -</table> - -<p>Sir G. Grierson borrows the following general -account of the main characteristics of the Dravidian -forms of speech, with slight verbal alterations, from -the <i>Manual of the Administration of the Madras -Presidency</i>:</p> - -<p>"In the Dravidian languages all nouns denoting -inanimate substances and irrational beings are of the -neuter gender. The distinction of male and female -appears only in the pronoun of the third person, in -adjectives formed by suffixing the pronominal terminations, -and in the third person of the verb. In all other -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">{63}</a></span> -cases, the distinction of gender is marked by separate -words signifying 'male' and 'female.' Dravidian -nouns are inflected, not by means of case terminations, -but by means of suffixed postpositions and separable -particles. Dravidian neuter nouns are rarely pluralized; -Dravidian languages use postpositions instead -of prepositions. Dravidian adjectives are incapable -of declension. It is characteristic of these languages, -in contradistinction to Indo-European, that, wherever -practicable, they use as adjectives the relative participles -of verbs, in preference to nouns of quality or -adjectives properly so called. A peculiarity of the -Dravidian (and also of the Mundā) dialects is the -existence of two pronouns of the first person plural, -one inclusive of the person addressed, the other -exclusive. The Dravidian languages have no passive -voice, this being expressed by verbs signifying 'to -suffer' etc. The Dravidian languages, unlike the -Indo-European, prefer the use of continuative participles -to conjunctions. The Dravidian verbal system -possesses a negative as well as an affirmative voice. -It is a marked peculiarity of the Dravidian languages -that they make use of relative participial nouns -instead of phrases introduced by relative pronouns. -These participles are formed from the various participles -of the verb by the addition of a formative suffix. -Thus 'the person who came' is in Tamil literally 'the -who-came'."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">{64}</a></span> -It is worth while, for once, to quote this somewhat -technical description because it shows that though -the Aryan languages have driven the Dravidian -languages out of Northern India, the latter may -have affected the Aryan speech in the transition -which, in common with the corresponding speeches -of Europe, it has undergone from inflected to analytic -ways of talking.</p> - -<p><i>Tamil.</i> Tamil, or Arava, is spoken all over the -south of India and the northern part of Ceylon. -It extends as far as Mysore on the west coast and -Madras on the east coast. It has been carried all -over Further India by emigrant coolies. As might -be expected from its geographical position, it is the -oldest, richest, and most highly organised of Dravidian -languages. It has an extensive literature written in -a literary dialect called "Shen" or "perfect" as -compared with the colloquial "Kodum" or "rude" -speech of ordinary men. The words "Tamil" and -"Drāvida" are both corruptions of an original -"Drānida." Tamil has an alphabet of its own.</p> - -<p><i>Malayalam.</i> Malayalam is a branch of Tamil -which came into existence in the ninth century <small>A.D.</small> -It is the language of the Malabar coast, and has one -dialect, Yerava, spoken in Coorg. This language has -borrowed its vocabulary freely from Sanskrit. It -differs from the mother tongue in having dropped -the personal terminations of verbs. Its alphabet -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">{65}</a></span> -is the Grantha character, much used in Southern -India for writing Sanskrit.</p> - -<p><i>Kanarese.</i> Kanarese is the language of the -Kingdom of Mysore and the adjoining British -territory. It has an ancient literature written in -a character resembling that of Telugu. Its dialects -of Badaga and Kurumba are spoken in the Nīlgiri -hills. Kodagu, the language of Coorg, is said -by some to be a dialect of Kanarese, and is the -link between it and Tulu, the language of part -of South Kanara in Madras. Toda and Kota will -always have an interest for anthropologists in connection -with Dr Rivers' now classical investigation -into the social life of the Todas.</p> - -<p><i>Gond.</i> The Gond language is spoken outside the -true Dravidian area, in the hill country of Central -India. It is intermediate between the Drāvida and -Andhra languages, and like most hill languages has -many dialects. It is unwritten and has no literature.</p> - -<p><i>Telugu.</i> Telugu is the only important Andhra language -now surviving. It is the language of the eastern -coast from Madras to near the southern border of -Orissa. It has an extensive literature written in a -character of its own, adapted from the Aryan Devanāgari. -This character, like the writing of Orissa, is -easily recognised by its loops and curves, said to be -due to the difficulty of writing straight lines with a -stylus on a palm leaf without splitting the leaf. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">{66}</a></span></p> - -<p>Finally there remains the isolated and distant -Brāhui language in Baluchistan. Its separate existence -has led to a very pretty quarrel between linguists -and ethnologists. Dr Haddon in his work on the -<i>Wanderings of Peoples</i>, in this series, says that -"the Dravidians may have been always in India: -the significance of the Brāhui of Baluchistan, a small -tribe speaking a Dravidian language, is not understood, -probably it is merely a case of cultural drift." -Sir George Grierson says "if they (the Dravidians) -came from the north-west, we must look upon the -Brāhuis as the rear-guard; but if from the south, -they must be considered as the advance guard of the -Dravidian immigration. Under any circumstances -it is possible that the Brāhuis alone retain the true -Dravidian ethnic type, which has been lost in India -proper by admixture with other aboriginal nationalities -such as the Mundās." My own diffident suggestion -is that the Brāhuis may be a Dravidian race as -a survival of emigration when Northern India was -also Dravidian, as the French are a "Latin" race.</p> - -<p>Of the Mundā languages I need not speak at any -length, interesting as they are to students of spoken -speech. They are spoken by over three millions of -people, and, besides numerous dialects of each, are -six in number. They have been carefully studied by -missionaries and others, and many of them are now -recorded in the Roman character.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">{67}</a></span> -I must apologise for a somewhat dull and detailed -account of the Dravidian languages. It seemed -necessary to explain what manner of languages they -were that fought an unequal and not always losing -fight with the great Aryan languages of the north. -The account of the struggle between the two, on -the other hand, has an enduring interest. Dravidian -and Aryan languages now face one another much as -do French and Breton in Brittany, English and Gaelic -in the Highlands, Flemish and French in Belgium. -But in the Indian plains the contest was waged on -a much vaster scale, and some of the incidents of the -long struggle can still be recovered. One point -should be carefully borne in mind. In Northern -India the Aryan languages and the Hindu religion -are openly and completely victorious. The peculiar -philosophic and religious ideas of Hinduism find apt -and copious expression in the Aryan vocabulary of -the north. But Dravidian India, too, in accepting -Hinduism, perforce accepted with it much of the -Aryan vocabulary. It is Dravidian still, as England -is still mainly Germanic. But without Aryan words -it could hardly give expression to Hindu speculations -and aspirations. As our own language, as these -words I write, have a strong intermixture of Latin -phrase and idiom, so the Aryan influence has in -a greater or less degree penetrated to Ceylon itself, -once held by Aryan poets to be the home of demoniac -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">{68}</a></span> -and barbarian races. There are Dravidian traces -in the north, survivals of old days of Dravidian -supremacy. In the south, a veneer of Aryan culture -has been added to the ancient Dravidian civilisation. -This was strong to resist a change of idiom: it clung -sturdily to most of its vocabulary; but there has -been an infusion of Aryan words, needed for ritual -and, in some cases, for administrative purposes. The -use of the word "administrative" reminds me to say, -before passing on, that nowhere in India is English -so freely used as in the Dravidian south. Originally -Englishmen seem to have found Dravidian languages -too difficult a means of communication. But Dravidians -themselves soon discovered that English was -a convenient <i>lingua franca</i>. All India is now making -the same discovery, and English is binding the educated -classes into a new pan-Indian race.</p> - -<h3>The Aryan Languages.</h3> - -<p>We now return to the fascinating story of the -spread of the Indo-Aryan languages over the north -and west of the peninsula. In the tale, captured -from the patient study of words and idioms, and -finding only occasional support from legend, and -practically none from history, since history had not -yet begun to exist, we get a singularly moving and -interesting picture of the social existence of vanished -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">{69}</a></span> -tribes of men. We partly know and partly conjecture -that there was once a race of men whom we may conveniently -call Indo-Europeans who spoke the parent-speech -of the modern languages of Europe, Armenia, -Persia, and northern India. Probably the Panjāb in -very early times was occupied by several immigrations -of Indo-European folk, for in the earliest days of -which we have any knowledge, the land of the Five -Rivers is already the home of many Indo-Aryan -tribes, who live at enmity with one another, and -have a fraternal habit of speaking of one another -as unintelligible barbarians.</p> - -<p>In the Sanskrit geography of somewhat later -times, India is divided into the sacred Madhya-deça, -the "Midland," and the rest. Already this Midland -country, the home of the latest immigrants, is considered -to be the true habitat of civilised Aryans, all -the rest of the peninsula being more or less barbarous. -It is important that the reader should understand -exactly where this Midland lay. On the north it -ended below the foot-slopes of the Himalayas. On -the south, it was bordered by the Vindhyā hills, the -southern boundary of the Gangetic plain. On the -west it extended to Sirhind on the eastern limits of -what is now the Panjāb. On the east its limit was -the confluence of the Ganges and Jumna. Its inhabitants, -of mixed Aryan and Dravidian origin, had -spread eastwards from the upper part of the <i>do-āb</i>, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">{70}</a></span> -the watershed between the two rivers. Their language -gradually became the current speech of the -Midland. It was cultivated as a literary tongue -from early times and came to be known as Sanskrit, -the "purified" language. Purified and systematised -it was by the labours of grammarians and phoneticians, -the most famous of whom is Pānini, who -lived and wrote about 300 <small>B.C.</small></p> - -<p>To the phonetic acumen of these early grammarians -the existing alphabets of northern India, -singularly different in arrangement from the confused -order of European and Semitic letters, bear testimony. -In the Indian alphabets the letters are arranged in -order, according to the vocal organs chiefly used in -their pronunciation, as Gutturals, Palatals, Cerebrals, -Dentals, and Labials. All the phonetic changes -which occur in the formation of the numerous compound -words are carefully reduced to rule, and the -spelling professes to be (what perhaps no spelling -ever has been or can be) phonetic.</p> - -<div class="section"></div> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 368px;"> - <img src="images/pl-6.jpg" width="368" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p><i>Plate VI</i></p> - <p>A Bhuiyār<br /> - (<i>Mirzapur district</i>)</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>It is a moot point whether Sanskrit was in Pānini's -time a spoken vernacular. It is more probable that -it was, what it still remains in most parts of Hindu -India, a second and literary language, used much as -Latin was used in medieval Europe. The spoken -form of the archaic language found in the older -Vedas developed into Prākrit, which existed side -by side with Sanskrit as the spoken dialects of Italy -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">{71}</a></span> -existed side by side with literary Latin. As the -Italian dialects developed into the modern languages -of Europe, so the Prākrits gave birth to the Aryan -modern languages of India. Thus the latter were -not in any accurate sense derived from Sanskrit, but -only shared a common origin with it<span -class="fnanchor"><a name="Ref_4" id="Ref_4" href="#Foot_4">[4]</a></span>. -It remained, however, as a standard of literary perfection and -was destined to play an important part in the enrichment -of many of the modern languages of India, -when contact with western culture brought about -what may fairly be called a literary renaissance. -This was particularly the case with Bengali. Its -medieval literature was all but confined to rhymed -hymns and tales. English education led to a revival -of Sanskrit studies. From England Bengal learnt -that it was possible to write prose in many varied -forms, in novels, essays, histories, journalism, and so -forth. The medieval literary language, derived from -the Prākrit, had grown insufficient for the expression -of anything but the simplest devotional or amatory -emotion, and Bengali borrowed freely from the rich -treasury of Sanskrit.</p> - -<p>In the "Midland," then, were various forms of -Prākrit, side by side with the sacred and literary -Sanskrit. Round the Midland, on the west, south, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">{72}</a></span> -and east lay territories inhabited by other Indo-Aryan -tribes. This country included what is now the Panjāb, -Sind, Gujarāt, Rājputānā and the country to its east, -Oudh and Bihār. The tribes inhabiting this semicircular -tract had each of them its own dialect. But -it is important to note that the dialects of this "Outer -Band" were much more closely related to one another -than to the spoken language of the "Midland." It -was this circumstance which suggested Dr Hoernle's -ingenious theory, already mentioned, of the second -and separate invasion of Aryans into the Midland -over the mountainous passes of Gilgit, too high, -arduous, and difficult to be traversed by the families -and herds of the nomad newcomers.</p> - -<p>In course of time the population of the Midland -grew in numbers and valour and pressed closely on -the food supplies of the tract. It was already the -centre of a vigorous and widely influential civilisation. -It contained the imperial cities of Delhi and Kanauj, -and the sacred city of Mathura -(<span title="Modoura ê tôn Theôn">Μόδουρα ἡ τῶν θεῶν</span>, -as Ptolemy calls it). This crowded, vigorous, and -martial population was bound to expand. It spread -into the eastern Panjāb, Rājputānā, Gujarāt and -Oudh, carrying with it its language. Hence, as Sir -George Grierson points out, we get in this "Outer -Band" mixed languages, of the Midland type near -the "Midland" centre, but fading into local dialects -as we go further west, south, and east. Finally as the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">{73}</a></span> -Midlanders crowded into the territories of the Outer -Band, the inhabitants of these took refuge among the -Dravidians of the south and east, and so gave birth -to dialects which ultimately became Marāthi in the -south and Oriyā, Bengali and Assamese on the east, all -of them characteristic languages of the "Outer Band."</p> - -<p>I am borrowing so freely and unscrupulously from -Sir George Grierson that it is a relief to pause for a -moment to interpose a very diffident suggestion of -my own. Vocabulary, and even idiom, have become -a dubious guide to the constituent elements of the -"Outer Band" languages which have almost entirely -destroyed the original vocabularies of the Dravidian or -Mongolo-Dravidian races who use them. But it is just -possible that accentuation, rhythm, metre may furnish -some clue to these vanished dialects, which may have -bequeathed a characteristic tone of voice to their -Aryan successors. Bengali, for instance, has a very -peculiar initial phrasal accent which strongly distinguishes -it from the etymologically cognate speech -of Bihār, much as the characteristic <i>accent tonique</i> -of French distinguishes it from Italian and Spanish. -Native scholars in Bengal are, I am glad to say, -beginning to work at the Dravidian elements in their -expressive and copious language, and will, I hope, -soon investigate the Mongolian elements, whether of -idiom or pronunciation, in the Bengali of the north-eastern -part of the province.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">{74}</a></span> -To return to Sir George Grierson, he holds -that the present linguistic condition of northern -India is this:—there is, firstly, a Midland Indo-Aryan -language which holds the Gangetic Doāb. -Round it on three sides is a band of Mixed languages, -in the eastern Panjāb, Gujarāt, Rājputānā -and Oudh. With these Sir George includes the -Indo-Aryan languages of the Himalayan slopes -north of the Midland, which have been introduced -in comparatively recent times by immigrants from -Rājputānā.</p> - -<p><i>The Prākrits.</i> Before I leave the Aryan languages -of India, I must give a brief summary of what Sir -George Grierson says of the Prākrits, the spoken -speeches which have always, implicitly or explicitly, -been distinguished from the artificial and -literary Sanskrit. The Primary Prākrits of the -Midland and Outer Band (of which latter no record -survives) were of the same type as the Latin known -to us in literature. They were synthetic and inflected -languages. These gradually decayed (or developed) -into what Sir G. Grierson calls the Secondary Prākrits. -These are still synthetic, but diphthongs and harsh -combinations of consonants are avoided, "till in the -latest developments we find a condition of almost -absolute fluidity, each language becoming an emasculated -collection of vowels hanging for support on an -occasional consonant." These Secondary Prākrits -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">{75}</a></span> -lasted from the days of the Buddha (550 <small>B.C.</small>) to -about 1000 <small>A.D.</small></p> - -<p>One at least of these Secondary Prākrits, Pāli, -has obtained world-wide fame as the language of the -Buddhist scriptures. Thus crystallised, it underwent -the same fate as Sanskrit and became more or less -what we call in Europe a "dead" language. In the -Midland was a great and famous Prākrit called -Sauraseni, after the Sanskrit name, Surasena, of the -country round Mathura. In Bihār was Māgadhī; -in Oudh and Baghelkhand was Ardha-māgadhī or -"half Māgadhī"; south of these was Mahārāshtri, -which is best known to students of the ancient Indian -drama as the vehicle of the lyrics with which the -plays are studded. Kings, sages, heroes and other -noble characters speak Sanskrit. Inferior personages -use Sauraseni.</p> - -<p>The Secondary Prākrits themselves degenerated -into what Indian grammarians call Apabhramsas, -"corrupt" or "decayed" tongues, which were used -for literary purposes and finally became the parents -of the great Aryan languages of the present time.</p> - -<p>For comparison with the preceding table of the -Dravidian languages, I give below the census table of -the Aryan languages as recorded in 1901:—</p> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">{76}</a></div> - -<table class="speak" summary="Aryan dialects"> - -<tr> - <td colspan="3" class="group"></td> - <td class="number x-small">Number of speakers</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td colspan="3" class="group">A. Language of the Midland.</td> - <td class="number"></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="subgroup"></td> - <td class="dialect">Western Hindi</td> - <td class="number">40,714,925</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td colspan="3" class="group">B. Intermediate languages.</td> - <td class="number"></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td colspan="2" class="subgroup"><i>a.</i> More nearly related to the Midland language:</td> - <td class="number"></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="subgroup"></td> - <td class="dialect">Rājasthānī</td> - <td class="number">10,917,712</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="subgroup"></td> - <td class="dialect">The Pahārī (or 'mountain') languages of the Himalaya</td> - <td class="number">3,124,981</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="subgroup"></td> - <td class="dialect">Gujarāti</td> - <td class="number">9,439,925</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="subgroup"></td> - <td class="dialect">Panjābi</td> - <td class="number">17,070,961</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td colspan="2" class="subgroup"><i>b.</i> More nearly related to the Outer languages:</td> - <td class="number"></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="subgroup"></td> - <td class="dialect">Eastern Hindi</td> - <td class="number">22,136,358</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td colspan="3" class="group">C. Outer languages.</td> - <td class="number"></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td colspan="2" class="subgroup"> <i>a.</i> North-western group:</td> - <td class="number"></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="subgroup"></td> - <td class="dialect">Kāshmīrī</td> - <td class="number">1,007,957</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="subgroup"></td> - <td class="dialect">Kohistānī</td> - <td class="number">36</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="subgroup"></td> - <td class="dialect">Lahndā</td> - <td class="number">3,337,917</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="subgroup"></td> - <td class="dialect">Sindhī</td> - <td class="number">3,494,971</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td colspan="2" class="subgroup"> <i>b.</i> Southern language:</td> - <td class="number"></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="subgroup"></td> - <td class="dialect">Marāthī</td> - <td class="number">18,237,899</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td colspan="2" class="subgroup"> <i>c.</i> Eastern group:</td> - <td class="number"></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="subgroup"></td> - <td class="dialect">Bihārī</td> - <td class="number">34,579,844</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="subgroup"></td> - <td class="dialect">Oriyā</td> - <td class="number">9,687,429</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="subgroup"></td> - <td class="dialect">Bengali</td> - <td class="number">44,624,048</td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="group"></td> - <td class="subgroup"></td> - <td class="dialect">Assamese</td> - <td class="number">1,350,846</td> -</tr> - -</table> - -<p>Of all these modern languages, their idioms, their -characters, their literature, I do not venture to give -even a summarised account. Those who have any -curiosity to learn more about them cannot do better -than consult Sir George Grierson's work on <i>The -Languages of India</i>, until it, in its turn, is superseded -by the book he is now writing from the materials -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">{77}</a></span> -collected in his <i>Linguistic Survey</i>. But everyone -who has read <i>The Newcomes</i> will want to know what -Hindustāni is, especially as it is one of the languages -prescribed for the study of probationers for the -Indian Civil Service and is taught at the universities -of Oxford, Cambridge, London, and Dublin. In the -strictest sense Hindustāni is the dialect of western -Hindi spoken between Meerut and Delhi. It was -much cultivated, as a literary dialect, by both Hindus -and Musalmāns. The latter wrote, and write it, -in the Persian character, and have added a large -number of Persian and Arabic words. In this -Persianised form it is known as Urdū, "a name -derived from the <i>Urdū-e mu 'alla</i>, or royal military -bazaar outside the imperial palace at Delhi, where it -is supposed to have had its origin." Under Muhammadan -rule Urdū was almost as much the <i>lingua franca</i> -of India as English has come to be in modern times.</p> - -<p>Another point is worth noting here. The Aryan -languages of northern India are, in a very real sense, -Hindu languages. Perhaps I shall make myself clearer -by asserting that the languages of Western Europe -are Christian languages. For historical reasons, their -religious phraseology has a Christian connotation and -allusiveness. But in the west, the distinction between -things secular and things religious has become so -familiar that the Christian element in our speech is -not recognisable in our ordinary talk. In Hindu -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">{78}</a></span> -India, on the other hand, almost every act of a man's -life has some religious or superstitious significance, -and hence all the Aryan languages in the mouths of -Hindus are markedly different from the shape they -assume when spoken by Musalmāns. In the case of -western Hindi we have the recognised Muhammadan -dialect of Urdū, but in other languages too there is -a Muhammadan dialect or <i>patois</i>, even if it has no -separate name. A curious exception, however, occurs -in eastern Bengal, where the bulk of the population -is Musalmān. In this region the Muhammadans are -comparatively recent converts from the lower aboriginal -or Mongoloid castes, whose Muhammadanism -sits very lightly on their habits and consciences, and -so far as my own experience goes, there is little -difference between the speech of the lower Musalmāns -and their friends and cousins the Chandāls and -other indigenous castes.</p> - -<h3>The Indo-Chinese Languages.</h3> - -<p>Finally, I must say a few words about the Indo-Chinese -and Mon-Khmer languages. I spent most of -my official life among people speaking these languages, -and find, somewhat shamefacedly, that Sir G. A. -Grierson makes me responsible for sundry vocabularies -compiled in my distant youth. Naturally, I -feel a personal interest in the people of the north-eastern -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">{79}</a></span> -border, and am tempted to enlarge on their -qualities of speech and character. But I have left -myself little space, and the Mongoloid races of the -frontier are hardly Indian in any proper sense of the -word. Moreover, though their total number is not -great, they speak many languages. The Census of -1901 recognises 119 such languages. The most important -of them all is, of course, Burmese, which is -spoken by about seven and a half millions of people. -There are nearly 900,000 Karens in Burma, and -about 750,000 Shans. The Meithei (now Manipuris) -mentioned above are 272,997 in number. The Boro -or Kachari people of the Assam valley, a most attractive -and delightful race, number somewhat less than -250,000. The other languages of this type have -mostly a much smaller number of speakers than these. -But mention should be made of 250,000 Mons, Palungs -and Was in Burma, and 177,827 Khāsis in -Assam, since these constitute the only members of -the Mon-Khmer family still found within the limits -of British India.</p> - -<p>These people, speaking Indo-Chinese languages, -surround India proper on the north and east in a -crescent-shaped curve, mostly in the valleys of lofty -and rugged mountains. From the eastern mountains -projects into the midst of the modern province of -Assam a range of hills, dividing the valley of the -Brahmaputra from that of Sylhet, which is watered -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">{80}</a></span> -by the Surma. Readers of Sir W. W. Hunter's -delightful little book on <i>The Thackerays in India</i> will -not need to be told where Sylhet is, or what sort of -a place it is. This range of hills is inhabited by the -Garos on the west, and the Nagas on the east, both -Tibeto-Burman races. Between them, on one of the -most beautiful plateaus in the world, are the Khāsis, -once, as I have said elsewhere, regarded as being as -isolated and unique as our European Basques, but -now proved to be, linguistically at least, connected -with the Mons in Burma, and many races and tribes -in Further India and Australonesia.</p> - -<p>All these Indo-Chinese people seem to have come -originally from north-western China, following the -beds of great rivers in their travel; down the Chindwin, -the Irrawaddy, and the Salween into Burma, -down the Brahmaputra into Assam, and up the Brahmaputra -into Tibet. There seem to have been at -least three waves of migration. First, in prehistoric -times, there was a Mon-Khmer invasion into Further -India and Assam. Next, also at an unknown date, -was a Tibeto-Burman invasion into the same regions -and Tibet. Next the Tai branch of the Siamese-Chinese -entered eastern Burma about the sixth -century <small>A.D.</small> A fourth Tibeto-Burmese invasion, -that of the Kachins, when in Lord Dufferin's time, -the British annexed Upper Burma.</p> - -<p>I think I have now said enough to show how the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">{81}</a></span> -languages of India are distributed. It only remains -to give a brief and cursory account of the Indian -Religions. This is a subject on which big books -might be, and have been, written. But, even in so -small a book on the Peoples of India it seems necessary -to give some account of their religious divisions.</p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="nodent"><a name="Foot_4" id="Foot_4" href="#Ref_4">[4]</a> -As in Europe, the modern Aryan languages differ from one -another chiefly in survivals from the indigenous earlier speech -which preceded each of them.</p> - -</div> - -<h2>CHAPTER III<br /> -<small>THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA</small></h2> - -<p>(1) <i>Animism.</i> At the base of all the religions, -perhaps at the base of all religions all over the -world, lies a mass of primitive beliefs, not perhaps -yet consciously classed by the holders of them as -distinctly religious, which are called by the question-begging -name of Animism. By this statement, I mean -merely that many of the more ignorant and simple -folk who profess and call themselves Hindus, Buddhists, -Jains, Muhammadans, or Christians, are in -fact at the animistic stage of intellectual evolution. -The religious impulse is there, but has not become -specialised. There is no religious theorising, but -merely communal and transmitted beliefs about the -nature of things in general. Perhaps I had better -quote Sir H. H. Risley's definition of Hinduism as it -exists in India. "It conceives of man," he says, "as -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">{82}</a></span> -passing through life surrounded by a ghostly company -of powers, elements, tendencies, mostly impersonal in -their character, shapeless phantasms of which no -image can be made and no definite idea can be -formed. Some of these have departments or spheres -of influence of their own: one presides over cholera, -another over small pox, another over cattle disease; -some dwell in rocks, others haunt trees, others, again, -are associated with rivers, whirlpools, waterfalls, or -strange pools hidden in the depths of the hills. All -of them require to be diligently propitiated by reason -of the ills which proceed from them, and usually the -land of the village provides the means for their -propitiation."</p> - -<p>If this definition, that of a kindly and experienced -student of primitive thought and emotion, be correct, -there is already an attempt at analysis and classification. -But the analysis is feeble, the classification -very elementary. The differences which seem obvious -to the civilised man, who inherits the analytic inventions -and investigations of long series of ancestors, are -not yet realised. There is practically no distinction -between things animate and inanimate, since all may -be maleficent and must therefore, on occasion, be -propitiated. There is no sense of things subter-human, -human, and superhuman. Still less, of course, is there -any recognition of the difference between things religious -and things secular. Grown men face the facts -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">{83}</a></span> -of life as children do, and receive the impressions -life conveys to them <i>en masse</i>, without making much -effort to sort them out. In our own case, we learn -to classify from our elders, and classification, literary, -scientific, social, religious, is a large part of what we -call education. How does primitive man begin to -sort out the facts of life, to remember them in classes, -to discriminate between human beings and other -animals, to place animals above inanimate things, -himself above animals, and, finally, the gods above -himself? The history of the evolution of Hinduism -throws some light on this evolution as it occurred in -India.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, it is worth noticing that the Census -returns of 1901 returned the Animists of India at -only about 8½ millions, or less than 3 per cent. Those -who returned themselves as Hindu or Musalmān -were so recorded, whatever their degree of mental -and social culture. An attempt has been made in the -Census of 1911 to distinguish between true Hindus -and Animists who call themselves Hindu. How far -the attempt was successful, I do not know. I can -well believe that it was not welcomed even by -educated and intelligent Hindus. Many years ago, -I remember a highly educated Hindu in Bengal telling -me that there is no distinction between Animists -and Hindus; that an Animist is merely a Hindu "in -the making" as it were. But perhaps that assertion -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">{84}</a></span> -only amounted to an admission that the Hindu mind -is averse from the kind of intellectual evolution by -conscious analysis and classification which is dear to -Western imaginations. Yet the history of Hinduism -and its branches shows that such an evolution has -taken place.</p> - -<div class="section"></div> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 381px;"> - <img src="images/pl-7.jpg" width="381" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p><i>Plate VII</i></p> - <p>A Ghāsiya<br /> - (<i>Mirzapur district</i>)</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>I should like to suggest that at the stage of -human evolution which we call animistic, man takes -the facts of life in the lump, as it were, and does not -sort them out into classes. If we are to judge by -what we know of the history of Hinduism, the evolution -of primitive man from this unclassifying stage -is something as follows. Art comes into play. The -practice of song and draughtsmanship introduces -specialisation. From singing comes verse, from -drawing comes some kind of rude writing. The first -trains the memory, the second aids memory. Then -comes the social classification which results from the -breaking up of clans, and contact with other clans -and communities. All men are not the same, and -the difference is grasped and finds expression in -language. The new power of classification is extended -to other things. The difference between -animate and inanimate things is understood, and -their relative powers of helping or hurting the tribal -community. When classification has proceeded thus -far, the inference is easy that as what is known of -the faculties of subter-human beings and things to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">{85}</a></span> -benefit or hurt humans does not by any means -account for the joys and calamities of life, there -must be a class of superhuman beings who are to -be conciliated. By their supposed deeds they are -judged. If they are, on the whole, kindly and easily -placated, they will be classified by some title which -they will usually share with great and good men. If -their action on mankind be harmful, they will bear -the names given to malicious or inimical races or -individuals. At a subsequent stage of analytical -evolution their generic names will be confined to -their own class; they will be gods or demons. Many -Hindus have hardly gone beyond this stage, and we -can hardly be surprised that some objection should -be taken to too rigid a distinction between Hindus -and Animists. In practice, it is often difficult to say -whether a given observance is Animistic or Hindu. -Here is one case, out of thousands that occur in India, -from my own experience. In the seaport town of -Chittagong is the shrine of the famous Muhammadan -saint Pir Badr, a holy man often invoked by travellers -on sea or river. In a niche in a little pillar in the -open air, Christians and Buddhists, Hindus and -Musalmāns alike place lighted candles by way of -propitiation. This, surely, is an observance of the -Animistic type. It has no part in any theorised or -classified religious system. It is merely the attempt -to gratify an influence which may help or harm. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">{86}</a></span> -Animism is consistent with the most vivid, if childlike, -curiosity. All is grist that comes to that -primitive mill. But the resulting flour of thought -is, as it were, coarse and unsifted. Artistic specialisation, -the birth of literature, brings a need of -classification. Out of propitiation comes ritual, a -belief in the efficacy of sacramental gestures, offerings, -formulæ. But, as time goes on, they are -appropriated to the service of highly specialised -deities. As man learns the advantage of a division -of labour and a specialisation of function, so his gods -become "departmental." The classification will not -be that of modern times. Among animate things -will be reckoned fire, and air, the sun and moon and -the twinkling stars. But the process of analysing -and sorting will have begun.</p> - -<p>(2) <i>The Vedas.</i> The Aryan immigrants seem to -have brought a scanty and summary theology with -them, or it may be that in different surroundings -they forgot their old religious ideas, and, with the -help of Dravidian and other aboriginal speculations, -evolved new ones. Sir G. Grierson has suggested -that the fact that they migrated in two afterwards -hostile bodies finds its reflection, in the Vedas, in the -fabled antagonism of the rival priests Visvāmitra and -Vasishta; in the Mahābhāratā in the famous war -between the Kauravas and Pāndavas, the Eastern -counterpart of the siege of Troy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">{87}</a></span> -The Vedas are four collections of ritual hymns, -used in connection with the oblation of the intoxicating -juice of the Soma, the moon-plant, or with the -sacrificial Fire. The Rig-veda (the oldest) and its -supplement the Sāma-veda are now held to have -been composed when the Aryans had reached the -junction of the Panjāb rivers with the Indus: the -Black and White Yajur-veda when they reached -the Sutlej and the Jumna; the Atharva-veda, which -contains the lower beliefs of aboriginal races, when -they had reached Benares. There are gods and -goddesses of the sky, the most important being the -Sun, and Varuna (the Greek <span title="ouranos">οὐρανός</span>), -afterwards a kind of Hindu Neptune, but in these early days -represented as sitting in the vault of heaven, and -having the sun and stars as the eyes with which he -watches the doings of men. His function was to -encourage personal holiness as a human ideal. In -the mid-air Indra became pre-eminent on Indian soil, -where the dependence of an agricultural people on -periodical rains made the rain-god an important -deity. On earth the most important deities are -Soma and Agni (fire) already mentioned. There was -also Yama, the beautiful and stately god of death, -who though naturally immortal chose to die, and -lead the way for mortal successors to the abodes of -the dead. Besides the departmental gods, there is in -the Vedas a distinct foreshadowing of Pantheism. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">{88}</a></span></p> - -<p>(3) <i>The Brāhmanas.</i> When the Aryans reached -the "Midland," the upper Gangetic valley, the Vedic -hymns were supplemented by new Scriptures, called -Brāhmanas, which were digests of dicta on matters -of ritual for the guidance of priests. These were the -beginning of Brāhmanism. The elementary Pantheistic -theory of the Vedas was developed into a belief -in one Spiritual Being or Ātman. When manifested -and impersonal, this Being was the neuter Brahma; -when regarded as the Creator, he was the masculine -Brahmā; but when manifested in the highest order -of intellectual men, he was Brāhman, the Brāhman -priestly class. Following the Brāhmanas, was a -third order of religious literature, the Upanishads. -Dr Hopkins has thus summarised the teaching of -these three Scriptures. "In the Vedic hymns, man -fears the gods. In the Brāhmanas man subdues the -gods, and fears God. In the Upanishads man ignores -the gods and becomes God." Not that these three -kinds of Scripture, these three evolutions of religious -speculation, followed one another in chronological -order. But this was, roughly, the logical evolution. -Finally the doctrine was established that knowledge -leads to the supreme bliss of absorption into Brahmā, -and with this was combined the theory of transmigration.</p> - -<p>Even from this extremely crude and simplified -statement, it will be evident that the priesthood had -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">{89}</a></span> -secured for themselves an unexampled supremacy, -and, in the Midland at least, had placed the administrator -and warrior in a state of marked inferiority. -But in the surrounding territories, success in arms -and government won men the consideration still considered -their due among ourselves. In the Midland -itself the territory was divided among a number of -petty chiefs, who waged perpetual warfare with one -another. They were not likely to ignore the prestige -won by valour and warlike skill. One of them was -Gautama, the Buddha (<i>c.</i> 596-508 <small>B.C.</small>). Another -was Vardhamāna, his contemporary, the founder of -Jainism. This is not the place to tell of Buddhism, -which, as a recognised creed, though it has spread -far to the north and east, and is the religion of -Ceylon and Burma, only survives in India proper in -faint influences on the belief and practice of various -Hindu sects.</p> - -<p>(4) <i>Jainism.</i> The Jain Reform still exists and -numbers over a million of followers. Its doctrines -have a vague and general resemblance to those of -Buddhism, not because either copied the other, but -because they sprang from a common origin. In both -Nirvāna, the "blowing out," as it were, of the lamp -of life is the goal aimed at. But to the Buddhist, -Nirvāna means the peace of extinction; to the Jain, -it is final escape from the body after various metamorphoses. -Mr Crooke defines the fivefold vow of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">{90}</a></span> -the Jains as prescribing (1) the sanctity of human -life; (2) renunciation of lying, which proceeds from -anger, greed, fear or mirth; (3) refusal to take things -not given; (4) chastity; (5) renunciation of worldly -attachments. The Jain pantheon consists of deified -saints who are either Tīrthan-kara, "making a passage -through the circuit of life," or Jina, "the victorious -ones."</p> - -<p>(5) <i>Hinduism Proper.</i> These reforms, joined -with the spread of the Brāhmanical faith into lands -where the authority of Aryan priests was not recognised, -produced something which, in its way, resembles -the Protestant Reformation. The Vedic religion had -come to be the monopoly of a limited order of -hereditary priests. This ritual supremacy was broken -up by two influences. A new national ideal of worship -found expression in the Epics, which to this day, in -metrical translations, are the layman's scripture all -over India. Secondly, the Vedic pantheon was -enormously enlarged by the admission of non-Aryan -deities and aboriginal modes of worship. Hence arose -the body of writings known as the Purānas, or "ancient" -books, not all really old in the trace of their composition, -but perhaps deserving their title as containing -very old beliefs. Of all these books and their teaching -other authorities have written recently in various -works on the early history and religious poetry of -India, and it would therefore be presumptuous for -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">{91}</a></span> -me to say anything about the religious literature of -Hinduism. It is sufficient to say that the Epics introduced, -in place of the vague and shadowy Vedic -gods, heroic incarnations of divine virtue, wisdom and -valour, and thus led to the sectarian worship of the -two active members of a new supreme triad of gods, -Brahmā, the creator, Vishnu, the preserver, and Siva, -the destroyer. Most Hindus are now followers of one -or other of the two latter in some incarnation. In -early times this sectarian rivalry led to wars and -persecutions, but Hinduism is singularly tolerant in -matters of belief and doctrine. A Saiva is not a -disbeliever in the divinity of the incarnations of -Vishnu; a Vaishnava recognises the ascetic powers -of Siva. But each has his favourite deity and chiefly -studies the scriptures relating to him. The principal -incarnations of Vishnu are Krishna and Rāma, who -seem to have been originally deified heroes of the Midland. -There were many Vishnuvite reformers, some of -whom, it is interesting to note, may have derived suggestions -from the early Christianity of Southern India.</p> - -<p>The first of these was Rāmānuja, who lived in the -eleventh century <small>A.D.</small> Fifth in succession to him was -Rāmānanda, who lived in the fourteenth century and -was the missionary of popular Vaishnavism in Northern -India. To him that tract owes the prevalence of the -cult of Rāma and his wife Sītā, the hero and heroine -of the Epic known as the Rāmāyana. His chief -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">{92}</a></span> -innovation was the admission of low-caste disciples -into the communion. His disciple, the famous Kabir -(1380-1420 <small>A.D.</small>), went further. He even linked -Hinduism with Islam. Himself a humble weaver, -he taught the spiritual equality of all men. God is -one, he argued, by whatever name men choose to call -Him. The accidents of life, social station and caste, -happiness and grief, prosperity and misfortune, are -all the results of Māya or Illusion. Happiness comes -not by formula or sacrifice but by passionate adoration -(<i>bhakti</i>) of God. Kabir's chief importance in -the history of Hindu evolution is in the fact that his -doctrines were the origin of Sikhism.</p> - -<p>Another great name in the democratic Vaishnava -reformation was that of Chaitanya (1485-1527 <small>A.D.</small>). -Mr E. A. Gait writes of him that he was "a Baidik -Brāhman. He preached mainly in Central Bengal -and Orissa, and his doctrine found ready acceptance -among large numbers of the people, especially among -those who were still, or had only recently ceased to -be, Buddhists. This was mainly due to the fact that -he drew his followers from all sources, so much so -that even Muhammadans followed him. He preached -vehemently against the immolation of animals in -sacrifice, and the use of animal food and stimulants, -and taught that the true road to salvation lay in -bhakti, or fervent devotion to God. He recommended -Rādhā worship, and taught that the love felt by her -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">{93}</a></span> -for Krishna was the highest form of devotion. The -acceptable offerings were flowers, money, and the -like; but the great form of worship was the Sankirtan, -or procession of worshippers playing and singing. The -peculiarity of Chaitanya's cult is that the post of -spiritual guide, or Goshain, is not confined to Brāhmans, -and several of those best known belong to the -Baidya caste<span -class="fnanchor"><a name="Ref_5" id="Ref_5" href="#Foot_5">[5]</a></span>."</p> - -<p><i>The Sikhs.</i> As a religious system, the creed of -the Sikhs originated from the Hindu teaching of -Kabir, and may yet be reabsorbed into Hinduism, -though the Census of 1911 shows that it still flourishes -as a separate religion. It began as a religious reform -and ended by being a political organisation. It was -founded by the Guru Nānak (1469-1538 <small>A.D.</small>) in the -Panjāb. Its formula was the Unity of God and the -Brotherhood of Man. Ultimately it became a martial -brotherhood, one of whose objects was by training, -diet, and self-denial to present a strong front to the -encroachments of Muhammadan invaders from across -the north-west frontier. Circumstances led the Sikh -confederacy to try its fortune in arms in two fiercely -fought campaigns with the growing power of our East -India Company. Defeat was followed by a loyal -acceptance of British supremacy, and the Sikhs rival -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">{94}</a></span> -the Gurkhas as the best soldiers in the Indian army. -Their services during the mutiny of 1857 will never -be forgotten.</p> - -<p><i>The Sāktas.</i> One other great Hindu sect, that of -the Sāktas, must be briefly mentioned. It worships -the active female principle (<i>prakriti</i>) of one or other -of the forms of the Consort of Siva—Durgā, Kāli, or -Pārvati. This cult arose in Eastern Bengal or Assam -about the fifth century, <small>A.D.</small>, and has its own scriptures -in the Tantras. This sect is probably due to the -recrudescence of very ancient aboriginal cults. It -is associated with blood-offerings and libidinous rites. -It was denounced by the Vaishnava reformers, but -still survives, even among educated men. It affected -the later forms of Buddhism.</p> - -<p>Finally, by omitting all mention of numerous -modern Vaishnava sects, we come to the modern -Theistic sects. The Brahmo Samāj of Bengal was -founded by the celebrated Raja Ram Mohan Roy -(1774-1833) who died and was buried at Clifton. -His teachings were continued and developed by his -successors Maharshi Devendranāth Tagore (the father -of the poet Rabindranāth Tagore), Keshav Chandra -Sen, and Pratāp Chandra Majumdār. All of these -were men of much piety, eloquence, and learning. -Sir Alfred Lyall says that "Brahmoism, as propagated -by its latest expounders, seems to be unitarianism of -a European type, and as far as one can understand -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">{95}</a></span> -its argument, appears to have no logical stability or -<i>locus standi</i> between revelation and pure rationalism; -it propounds either too much or too little to its -hearers." It has, however, been an effectual bar -to the spread of Christianity among the educated -classes in Bengal. It enables them to remain in -touch with Hinduism, from which an adoption of -any European creed would effectually divide them. -Its services of praise and prayer, with a sermon or -discourse, are held on Sundays, and in form resemble -those of the Christian free churches. Its creed consists -in a belief in the Unity of God, the brotherhood -of man, and direct communion with God without the -intervention of any mediator. It may fairly be -claimed for it that it has satisfied the religious needs -of men most of whom lead exemplary and in some -cases saintly lives, without compelling them to join -what is regarded as a foreign and uncongenial -religion. But for Ram Mohan Roy, educated Bengal -might well have furnished the nucleus of a Christian -Church of India, since, before his time, many distinguished -and able converts were made. I need -only mention the late Rev. K. M. Bannerjee. The -Brahmo Samāj is divided into three sections. The -Ādi Samāj, as its name indicates, is the original -church. It is the most conservative of the three, -and takes its inspiration wholly from the Hindu -scriptures, and especially from the Upanishads. The -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">{96}</a></span> -Navavidhān Samāj, founded by Keshav Chandra Sen, -"the Church of the New Dispensation," is much more -eclectic and has borrowed what it considers acceptable, -not only from the holy books of Hinduism, but -from Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam. The Sādhāran -(or "general") Brāhmo Samāj is the most -advanced of the three Churches. It rejects caste -and the seclusion of women, allows inter-caste -marriages, and is seemingly as far from orthodox -Hinduism as from orthodox Christianity. It has -even allowed one of its lady members to be married -to an Englishman by Brāhmo rites. If it can hardly -be called Hindu in ritual or in belief, it is Hindu -in what is probably regarded as the more important -sense of being a purely Indian sect and not a direct -product of European missionary zeal.</p> - -<p>Another new sect, the Ārya Samāj, or Aryan Society, -has much influence in the Panjāb and North-Western -India generally. It was founded by Dayānand Saraswati -(1827-53). Its only scriptures are the Vedas. -It professes pure monotheism, repudiates idol worship, -and is much interested in social reform. It has also -at times been mixed up, more or less directly, with -political agitation. Like the Brāhmo Samāj, it is -probably due in its inception to the influence of -European religious teaching, but, as is perhaps -natural, its acceptance of European ethics is marked -by a sturdy resistance to European dogma.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">{97}</a></span> -The great bulk of Hinduism, however, remains -still but little removed from the Animistic stage -of religious evolution, and one of the results of -the spread of British rule into wild and savage tracts -has been the extension of the borders of Hinduism -in competition with Christianity. In the rougher -and wilder races, not yet sufficiently softened and -civilised for the acceptance of the Hindu social -system, the Christian missionary prevails. He has -been most successful among the Gonds of Central -India, among such savage tribes as the Nāgas, Gāros, -and Lushais on the Assam border. Elsewhere -Hinduism pursues its quietly imperturbable course -and admits savage races to its lower castes as it -has always admitted them during the last two -thousand years.</p> - -<p><i>Islam in India.</i> Since King George V has -more Muhammadan subjects than any other ruler -on earth—some 75,000,000 in number, it would not -be proper to close a little book on the Peoples of -India without saying something of those of their -number who are Musalmāns. The early Muhammadan -invasions of the tenth century were mere predatory -raids, and were attended neither by settlement nor -conversion. But at the end of the twelfth century -Muhammad Ghori overthrew the Hindu dynasties -of Delhi and Kanauj and thus opened the way to -future Muhammadan conquests. In the sixteenth -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">{98}</a></span> -century Moghal rule was established under Babar -and his successors. During the preceding five -centuries Hindu India suffered much oppression -and wrong at the hands of Muhammadan invaders, -but Islam had made no attempt to become an -Indian religion. The early Moghal emperors were -too busy in consolidating their conquests and organising -their administration to have much leisure or -inclination for proselytising. Their policy depended -largely on co-operation with Rājput princes, whose -daughters they married. The influence of Rājput -empresses and princesses made for kindly tolerance. -It was only under the zealot Aurangzeb that any -tendency to forcible conversion showed itself.</p> - -<p>The final result of some seven hundred years of -Muhammadan rule in various parts of the country is -that Musalmāns are in excess of Hindus only in the -Western Panjāb, which is in contact with a purely -Muhammadan country, and in Eastern Bengal, where -the aboriginal low-caste Hindu was glad to get social -promotion by accepting Islam, and where he thrives -and prospers at the expense of his Hindu brother, -partly because his diet is more nutritious, partly -because he does not practise infant-marriage and -other debilitating customs.</p> - -<p>As has been said above, Animism has affected -Islam as well as Hinduism. From the old religion of -the country Musalmāns have borrowed demonology, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">{99}</a></span> -a belief in witchcraft, and the worship of departed -Pirs or saints. The most remarkable instance of the -latter is the sect of the Pachpiriyas of Bengal, the -worshippers of the Five Saints, a cult which some -have traced to the cult of the five Pāndava heroes of -the Mahābhārata. The five Pirs, however, vary in -name from district to district. In Eastern Bengal, -no one, whether Hindu or Musalmān (or, I had -almost said, Christian), begins a journey by boat -without a loud and hearty invocation of the Ganges, -the Wind, the Five Pirs, and Pir Badr before -mentioned.</p> - -<p>Of the two great sects of Islam, the Sunnis and -the Shias, the former are by far the most numerous -in India. The Sunnis or Traditionalists accept the -Sunnat or collected body of Arabic usage as possessing -authority concurrent with that of the Koran, -which is the sole scripture of the Shias. Yet in -Eastern Bengal the annual procession of the Tazias, -or representations of the tombs of the martyred -grandsons of the Prophet, is much attended by -Sunnis (though for them the practice is unorthodox), -and indeed by Hindus also. In other parts -of India, the Mohurram festival has often led to -serious encounters between Hindus and Musalmāns, -and even in Calcutta and Bombay has been the -cause of dangerous riots.</p> - -<p>The sects of Islam in India, unlike the Hindu -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">{100}</a></span> -sects, are not due to the instinct for differentiation, -for obvious reasons. They are, in Mr Crooke's -words, either puritanical or pietistic. Consequently, -followers of them are apt to show a tendency to -fanaticism. The Hindu sectarian adores some favourite -deity, but does not deny the merits, or the -Hinduism, of other deities or their followers. The -Musalmān sectarian is one who has discovered a -higher orthodoxy than others, or a straighter road -to religion, and regards those who do not share his -views as an enemy of God and the true faith. Of -the puritanical sects, the best known is that of the -Wahābis, founded by Ibn Abdul Wahāb at Nejd in -Arabia, at the beginning of the eighteenth century. -It was an attempt to revive primitive Muhammadanship -without the corruptions and accretions of later -ages and foreign lands. It was brought into India -by Sayid Ahmad Shāh, who proclaimed a Jihād, or -holy war, against the Sikhs in 1826. The Wahābis -hold that the doctrine of the Unity of God has been -endangered by the excessive reverence paid to the -Prophet, to his successors the Imāns, and to shrines. -At times Wahābis have given trouble to the administration, -especially in Bengal. In recent years, -however, they call themselves Ahl-i-hadīs, or "followers -of tradition," and employ themselves chiefly in -endeavouring to eradicate modern superstitions.</p> - -<p>The pietistic sects tend towards Sūfi-ism, a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">{101}</a></span> -combination of Aryan pantheism with Semitic monotheism, -which takes the form of ecstatic devotion. -Something of the same kind may be found in the -Vaisnav sects of Hinduism, and in both cases ultimate -absorption in the divinity is the goal aimed at.</p> - -<p>Very interesting local communities of Muhammadans -are the Moplahs of the Malabar coast, -descendants of Arab settlers; the Bohras or -"traders" of Western India; and the Khojās, followers -of the "Old Man of the Mountain," whose -present representative is H.H. the Agha Khān of -Bombay, who has many friends in England.</p> - -<p><i>The Pārsīs.</i> The word Pārsī simply means Persian, -and the Pārsī religion is the dualistic faith, combined -with fire-worship, of the ancient Persians. It is also -called Mazdaism from Ahura Mazda (Ormuzd), who -is in perpetual conflict with Angro Mainyush (Ahriman), -the spirit of evil. It is also called Zoroastrianism, -from the reformer Zoroaster, the Greek form of -the old Iranian Zarathushtra, the modern Persian -Zardusht. The religious phraseology of the Pārsīs -shows that their faith must have had a common -origin with the Aryan religion of India before the -Iranian and Indo-Aryan migrations parted company. -By a curious trick of language, the Devas, who in -India and Europe are beneficent gods, in Persia -become evil spirits. In India by a corresponding -inversion, the word Asura, which in the Rig-veda -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">{102}</a></span> -is still a name of gods, was applied to hostile (generally -aboriginal) demons. By a further process Asura -was regarded as a negative word, and gave birth to a -tribe of beneficent Suras. In the earlier times, there -were both Ahura and Daeva worshippers, the former -being socially superior, cattle-breeders, who, like the -Indian Hindus, venerated the cow. It was Zoroaster's -mission to fuse these two cults into a dualistic creed, -whose main principle was the continuous struggle -between the powers of good and evil. Submerged -for a time during the Greek occupation, the Mazdaist -faith revived under the Sassanids, but was finally -overthrown by the advent of Islam, which persecuted -and strove to extirpate the worship of fire.</p> - -<p>Many of the survivors migrated to India, where -they secured the tolerance of Hindu and Muhammadan -rulers alike, and increased and multiplied. Up to -the middle of the eighteenth century, Surat, Nausāri, -and the neighbouring parts of Gujarāt were their -home. When, under British rule, Bombay became -a great commercial port, large numbers of Pārsīs -migrated thither, and in many cases won great -wealth and influence.</p> - -<p>In the early days of their dispersion, the weak -colonies of Pārsīs assimilated themselves with the -lower classes of Hindus by whom they were surrounded. -But fresh accessions from Irān, and a -growth of national prosperity and self-confidence -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">{103}</a></span> -brought about a restoration of the ancient faith. On -Indian soil, the Pārsīs now number 94,000. But owing -to their intelligence and wealth, due to their remarkable -success in trading, the Pārsīs command a much -wider political and social influence than their numbers -would seem to show. According to Pārsī belief, the -soul passes after death to paradise (Bihisht) or a -place of punishment (Dozakh) according to a man's -conduct in life. Much importance is attached to the -performance of rites to the <i>manes</i> of ancestors. Fire, -water, the sun, moon, and stars were created by Ahura -Mazda, and are venerated, as is Zarathushtra the Prophet. -Soshios, his son, will some day be reincarnated -as a Messiah, and will convert the world to the true -faith. As with other Indian religions, contact with -Europeans tends to produce laxity of belief and -conduct.</p> - -<p><i>Christianity.</i> It is interesting to remember that -there were Christians in India before the Christian -faith reached our islands. The tradition that St -Thomas was the Apostle of India, and suffered -martyrdom there, is indeed discredited. This tradition -originated with the Syriac <i>Acta Thomae</i>, and -was accepted by Catholic teachers from the middle -of the fourth century. The Indian King Gundaphar -of the <i>Acta</i> is undoubtedly the historical Gondophares, -whose dynasty was Parthian, though his territories -were loosely considered to extend to India. A full -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">{104}</a></span> -account of the traditions connecting St Thomas with -India (by W. R. Philipps) will be found in vol. <small>XXXII.</small> -of the <i>Indian Antiquary</i>, 1903, pp. 1-15, 145-160.</p> - -<p>The term "Christians of St Thomas" is often -applied to the members of the ancient Christian -churches of Southern India which claim him as their -first founder, and honour as their second founder a -bishop called Thomas, who is said to have come from -Jerusalem to Malabar in 345 <small>A.D.</small> According to local -tradition, St Thomas went from Malabar to Mylapur, -now a suburb of Madras and the seat of a Roman -Catholic bishop. Here still exists the shrine of his -martyrdom on Mount St Thomas. A miraculous cross -is shown with a Pahlavi inscription which is said to -be as old as the end of the seventh century. The old -churches of the south were certainly of East Syrian -origin. They never wholly lost their sense of connection -with their mother church, for it is known that -they sent deputies in 1490 to the Nestorian patriarch -Simeon, who provided them with bishops. Under -Musalmān rule, they suffered severely, and welcomed -the advent of the Portuguese to India. They were, -however, recalcitrant to Roman influence, and it was -with much difficulty that in 1599 they were induced -to submit to a formal union with Rome at the -synod of Diamper (Udayamperur in Cochin). During -the following century and a half the Thomasine -churches were under foreign Jesuit rule, but yielded -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">{105}</a></span> -an unwilling and intermittent obedience. In 1653, -there was a great schism, and of about 200,000 Christians -of St Thomas only 400 remained loyal to Rome, -though some of their churches were soon won back -by the Carmelites. The remainder fell under the -influence of the Jacobite Mar Gregorius, styled -patriarch of Jerusalem, who reached Malabar in -1665 as an emissary from Ignatius patriarch of Antioch. -From this time, the independent churches of -Southern India have been Jacobite. At the present -time, they are on friendly terms with the Anglican -church in India, and are loosening their dependence -on the Jacobite patriarch of Antioch.</p> - -<p>Of missionary work in India I need not speak in -a book of this size. There are nearly three millions -of Christians in India, of whom two and a half millions -are native converts. Seeing that missionary work -has been in operation since 1500, a tale of converts -amounting to less than one per cent. may seem a -discouraging result of over 400 years of contact with -European religious thought. But actual conversion -has taken place chiefly among the lower classes and -least advanced races. Among the educated classes -the influence of Christianity has been indirect, and -in many cases has produced a transformation in -ethical belief and social conduct as complete as could -have been wrought by open conversion. The Brāhmo -Samāj, for instance, remains Hindu in a sense, because -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">{106}</a></span> -it refuses to sever its connection with India, or to -acknowledge European authority in matters of -religion. But the Brāhmo Samāj could not have -come into existence but for Rām Mohan Roy's -friendly and intimate acquaintance with European -Christians and Unitarians. Even in the matter of -conversion, the rate of progress is increasing rapidly, -partly because missionary effort is being directed to -savage tracts hitherto unvisited by civilised men, but -partly, also, because the native Christian community -is beginning to have sufficient self-confidence and -status to proselytise in its turn. The multiplicity of -missionary agencies, due to the accidents of European -history and development, has been an impediment. -Such terms as the Church of England, Church of -Scotland, Welsh Baptists, American Baptists, etc., -can have little signification for races who cannot be -expected to know the historical causes which brought -about these local varieties of Christian doctrine and -practice. There may yet arise among one of the rival -churches in India a Christian Rāmanuja or Chaitanya, -who may found a great Church of India, with a ritual, -and, perhaps, doctrines of its own. The most successful -of the Jesuit missionaries, Robert de Nobili<span -class="fnanchor"><a name="Ref_6" id="Ref_6" href="#Foot_6">[6]</a></span> -for instance, and such men as the Abbé Dubois in -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">{107}</a></span> -later times, owed their success to the fact that they -assumed the habits, dress, and often the titles of -Brāhmanic ascetics. They could not assume the -dusky skin which, after all, is the first and easiest -means of gaining an Indian's confidence. They could -not wholly accept caste, they could not wink at polygamy -in the case of men whose first wives were -infertile, and who had an hereditary sense that the -lack of an heir is socially and religiously reprehensible. -Perhaps a truly indigenous Church of -India may deal with such difficulties more successfully -than men who are compelled to teach, not only the -elements of the Christian faith, but the ethical -traditions belonging to their own race.</p> - -<p>In this connection, I may be allowed to conclude my -necessarily brief story of Indian races and religions -with an anecdote. Just thirty-five years ago I was in -charge of a "subdivision" in Bengal which contained -a large number of native Christians belonging to the -Church of England. There were several churches -with parsonages, and the nearest of these to my headquarters -was in the charge of a young missionary who -was glad to have an occasional chat with a young -magistrate. One day my missionary friend told me -that he had discovered with dismay that his flock -were in the habit of attending the Communion Service -in batches, according to their castes, so as not to be -obliged to drink out of the cup with men of alien caste. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">{108}</a></span> -There were Hindu Christians and Muhammadan -Christians who could not eat or drink together. He -decided that this state of things must be stopped at -all costs, as being wholly contrary to Christian teaching. -I ventured to suggest that spiritual equality is -not the same thing as social equality, but had to -admit that caste is not usually recognised as a Christian -institution. Apparently the Christians listened -to their pastor's admonition, for, a few days after, he -rode over to say that, in consequence of ex-scavengers -and ex-Brāhmans having communicated together, his -whole congregation had been put out of caste by their -Hindu neighbours. This may not, at first sight, seem -a very serious calamity. But it happened that, in the -caste specialisation which had survived among the -Christians, there were none of the community who -were barbers or midwives by caste. Christian men -were going about with stubbly chins: worse still, -Christian women were in need of help which their -Hindu sisters refused to supply. It was a difficult -situation for two young bachelors. However, I -now confess, after all these years, that I brought a -little official pressure to bear on the midwives, and -the situation was saved for the moment. In those -days, the educational policy of Government was to -give grants-in-aid to primary schools, most of which, -in this very Christian "subdivision" were either -Roman Catholic or Anglican. When next I proceeded -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">{109}</a></span> -to issue my doles according to school-population and -other educational results, I was astonished to find -that the Roman Catholic grant-in-aid had increased -greatly and the Anglican grant-in-aid had proportionally -diminished. This was the immediate (and no -doubt temporary) result of my missionary friend's -zeal. Such survivals of old beliefs are common in all -the religions of India. The main social impulse of -the people was implanted on their minds at the distant -epoch of the Aryan settlement, the sense of social and -racial inequality which has now hardened into the -caste system. To most Indians a recognition of the -importance and value of caste is the first step towards -decent and seemly conduct, towards civilised morality. -When a semi-savage hill-man begins to recognise his -inferiority to his Hindu neighbours and makes tentative -approaches with a view to inclusion in civilised -society, his first duty is to abjure the diet of pork -and rice-beer which his unregenerate appetite loves, -since these indulgences stand in the way of sharing -a meal with Hindu folk. (In other parts of India, -liquor and meat are consumed by low-caste Hindus -of aboriginal origin.) In Assam, a Kachāri first -accepts the <i>sarana</i> or "protection" of a Hindu -Goshain. He is then called a Saraniya Koch. His -next step is to abandon strong drinks, on which he is -promoted to the status of a Modāhi Koch. At this -stage, he may be fortunate enough to win the hand -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">{110}</a></span> -of a bride of pure Koch family, and, under her -guidance, acquires enough of conventional habits and -beliefs to be recognised as a Kāmtāli or Bor Koch, -and is a true Hindu, a member of a genuine Hindu -caste. Musalmāns and Christians have other social -conventions, and do not usually regard them as -essential to good manners or godliness. But their -converts retain their social superstitions and carry -them into the new surroundings, where they sometimes -come into disagreeable contact with the ethical -ideas belonging to imported religions.</p> - -<p>The contact of Aryan with Dravidian races, some -three thousand years ago, brought about the beginnings -of caste, which, from one point of view, may be -regarded as a rude form of "race-protection," a -primitive system of eugenics. It is still most rigidly -enforced in the south, where the semi-Aryan classes -are in a great minority. It is most relaxed in the -Panjāb, where, though caste rules exist, the population -is, and probably always has been, as homogeneous as -our own race. French travellers in India have sometimes -said, half-humorously, that the Anglo-Indian -administrators and merchants are practically a caste -unto themselves. Bengalis have made the same -remark and have said that our Civil Service is composed -of <i>Kali Yuger Brāhman</i>, "the Brāhmans of -the Iron Age." There was once some truth in the -accusation, if accusation it be. It was not our -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">{111}</a></span> -business to interfere deliberately with caste, since -British policy from the first has been one of kindly -neutrality and toleration. Whether indirect influences -have mitigated the effect of the sentiment of caste is -a moot point. Educated Indians who have lived in -Europe see its irksomeness, and in some cases -denounce it more vigorously than most Europeans -will care to denounce a system due to historical -causes which are still partly operative. On the other -hand, railways and other facilities for travel, though -they have necessarily introduced laxity in matters of -food and contact, have probably heightened the caste -feeling by emphasising the variety of Hindu humanity -and of the customs and habits of its many races. -Hence the evolution of Indian society remains as -interesting and as incalculable as ever.</p> - -<p>In a little book of this sort it has been necessary -to make many general and sweeping statements which -are not always literally true of any given part of India. -But perhaps enough has been said to show the interesting -and significant differences between the three -hundred odd millions of Western Europe and the three -hundred odd millions of India. Our business in India -has been primarily to keep the peace, to provide a -breathing-space after the social and political turmoil -that followed on the breaking-up of the Moghal -empire. The principal result, so far, has been a -notable increase in Hindu self-confidence and ambition, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">{112}</a></span> -and a growing belief among Hindus that their ancient -social system is not incompatible with industrial, -commercial, and political advance on European lines. -This belief has been much strengthened by the -modernisation of Japan, and its results. It has been -fostered by the free admission of educated Hindus to -the highest and most responsible posts in the King-Emperor's -administration. Inasmuch as that statement -brings me to the most modern development of -Hindu life and thought, I cannot do better than end -at this point.</p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="nodent"><a name="Foot_5" id="Foot_5" href="#Ref_5">[5]</a> -Some account of the development of Chaitanya's teaching in -Assam may be found in an article of mine in Dr Hastings' -<i>Dictionary of Religion and Ethics</i>.</p> - -<p class="nodent"><a name="Foot_6" id="Foot_6" href="#Ref_6">[6]</a> -In 1606, R. de Nobili, a nephew of Bellarmine, was in charge -of the Jesuit mission at Madura, and adopted the costume of a -Dravidian Brāhman.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">{113}</a></div> - -<div class="small"> - -<h2>BIBLIOGRAPHY</h2> - -<h3>CHAPTER I</h3> - -<p>The standard authority on the Hindu literary theory of Caste -is M. Emile Senart's <i>Les Castes dans l'lnde</i>. Paris. Ernest -Leroux. 1896.</p> - -<p>Probably the best succinct account of Caste is Mr E. A. Gait's -article in Dr Hastings' <i>Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics</i>. -This will, of course, be brought up to date in the forthcoming -Report on the Indian Census of 1911.</p> - -<p>Sir A. C. Lyall's <i>Asiatic Studies</i>. London. John Murray. -Contains a sympathetic and learned account of Hindu social life -and of the workings of Caste in Upper India.</p> - -<p>M. C. Bouglé's <i>Essai sur le Régime des Castes</i>. Paris. Felix -Alcan. 1908. Contains much interesting matter taken from -many sources, but sometimes, from want of local knowledge, does -not sufficiently discriminate between different developments of -the caste system.</p> - -<p>There is an enormous literature on the races, tribes, and -castes of India, but references to the most important books will -be found in the above authorities.</p> - -<p class="gap-above">Chapter I is, in the main, a summary of Sir H. H. Risley's -views as expressed in Chapter VI of Vol. I of the <i>Imperial -Gazetteer</i>. That is inevitable, since the <i>Gazetteer</i> contains -necessarily the most authoritative summary of what is known on -the subject, pending the appearance of Mr Gait's forthcoming -Census Report.</p> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">{114}</a></div> - -<h3>CHAPTER II</h3> - -<p>The standard authority on the modern languages of India is -Sir G. A. Grierson's work on <i>The Languages of India</i> (Calcutta, -1903). It will, however, be superseded by the book which -Sir G. A. Grierson is now writing on the basis of the further -materials collected in his <i>Linguistic Survey</i>, and in the Census -Reports of 1911. The eleven volumes hitherto published of the -<i>Survey</i> itself give specimens of the Indian languages and skeleton -grammars.</p> - -<h3>CHAPTER III</h3> - -<p>Professor Macdonell's <i>History of Sanskrit Literature</i> -(Heinemann, 1905) contains a fascinating and readable account -of the Hindu scriptures from the Vedic ages up to modern times.</p> - -<p>Professor Hopkins' <i>Religions of India</i> and <i>India Old and -New</i> deal with both the literature and the actual working of -Indian religions. Mr W. Crooke's <i>Native Races of Northern -India</i> is a popular account of the Aryan region, and Mr Thurston's -<i>Castes and Tribes of Southern India</i>. Madras, Government -Press. 1908. Though it is more elaborate and scientific in its -treatment, is full of matters which are interesting not only to -the specialist.</p> - -<p>Meredith Townsend's <i>Asia and Europe</i>. London. Archibald -Constable. 1905. Is still an interesting and suggestive study of -the differences between East and West, and Sir A. C. Lyall's <i>Asiatic -Studies</i> are the even more illuminating results of a long, intimate, -and sympathetic familiarity with Indian religious thought.</p> - -<p>The chapter on Religion in the forthcoming Census Report -for 1911 will contain the latest fruits of research, statistical and -other.</p> - -<p>There is an enormous mass of literature dealing in detail with -the religions and sects of India. A selected list of books will be -found at p. 446 of the <i>Imperial Gazetteer</i>.</p> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">{115}</a></div> - -</div> - -<div class="index"> - -<h2>INDEX</h2> - -<ul> - - <li>Abor race, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> - - <li>Accent in Indian languages, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> - - <li>Ādi Brāhmo Samāj, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> - - <li>Alphabets of India, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> - - <li>Animism among Muhammadans, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> - - <li>Animistic religions of India, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> - - <li>Animists as potential Hindus, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> - - <li><i>Anu-loma</i> castes, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> - - <li>Apabhramsa or "decayed" languages, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> - - <li>Arjuna, supposed ancestor of Manipur dynasty, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> - - <li>Aryan settlement in Gangetic <i>do-āb</i>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> - - <li>Aryan settlement in the Panjāb, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> - - <li>Aryo-Dravidian type of race, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> - - <li><i>Assam, History of</i>, by E. A. Gait, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> - - <li>Assamese language, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> - -</ul> - -<ul> - - <li>Bannerjee, Rev. K. M., <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> - - <li>Bengali language, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> - - <li>Bengali race, origins of, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> - - <li>Bihārī language, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> - - <li>Bohra Muhammadans, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> - - <li>Brachycephalous races, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> - - <li>Brahma, one of the Hindu Trinity, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> - - <li>Brāhmanas, sacred books, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li> - - <li>Brāhmans of Bengal, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> - - <li>Brāhmo Samāj in Bengal, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> - - <li>Brāhui language, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li> - - <li>Buddha (Gautama) and Buddhism, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> - -</ul> - -<ul> - - <li>Caste, definition of, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>; - <ul><li>functional type of, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>;</li> - <li>as divided in <i>gotras</i>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>;</li> - <li>as a result of migration, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</li> - <li>as resulting from change of custom, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</li> - <li>as formed by mixture of blood, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>;</li> - <li>of the national type, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;</li> - <li>sectarian type, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>;</li> - <li>tribal castes, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;</li> - <li>as including Koches and other indigenous tribes, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li></ul> - </li> - - <li>Chaitanya, Hindu reformer, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li> - - <li>Chandāls, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> - - <li>Chitrangadā, supposed ancestress of Manipur dynasty, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> - - <li>Clans, exogamous, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> - - <li>Crooke, Mr W., on "Rājputs and Marāthas", <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li> - -</ul> - -<ul> - - <li>Dafla race, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> - - <li>Dolicocephalous races, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> - - <li>Doms in Assam, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> - - <li>Dravidian languages, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> - - <li>Dravidian type of race, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> - - <li>Dravidians as probable autochthones, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> - - <li>Dubois, Abbé, <a href="#Page_106">106</a></li> - -</ul> - -<ul> - - <li>Fiction as an origin of caste, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> - - <li>Functional type of castes, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> - -</ul> - -<ul> - - <li>Gait, E. A., <i>History of Assam</i>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> - - <li>Gandhara, kingdom of, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> - - <li>Gārpagāri (hail averters) as functional caste, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> - - <li>Gond language, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> - - <li><i>Gotras</i>, as branch of caste, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> - - <li>Gujarāti language, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> - -</ul> - -<ul> - - <li>Hindi (Eastern) language, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> - - <li>Hindi (Western) language, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> - - <li>Hindustāni or Urdū language, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> - - <li>Hoernle's theory of Aryan settlements, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> - - <li>Hypergamy, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> - -</ul> - -<ul> - - <li>Indo-Aryan type of race, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> - - <li>Indo-Chinese invasions, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> - - <li>Islām in India, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - -</ul> - -<ul> - - <li>Jains, their religion, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> - -</ul> - -<ul> - - <li>Kabir, Hindu reformer, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li> - - <li>Kachāri race, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> - - <li>Kāli, worship of, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> - - <li>Kanarese language, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> - - <li>Kandh language, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> - - <li>Kartā-bhajās, sectarian caste, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> - - <li>Kāshmīrī language, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> - - <li>Kāyasthas of Bengal, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> - - <li>Khojā Muhammadans, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> - - <li>Koch race, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> - - <li>Koches as Hindu caste, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> - - <li>Kodagu language, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> - - <li>Kohistāni language, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> - - <li>Kolāmi language, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> - - <li>Kota language, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> - - <li>Kurukh language, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> - -</ul> - -<ul> - - <li>Lahnda language, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> - - <li>Languages of India generally, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>; - <ul><li>Apabhramsa, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</li> - <li>Assamese, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</li> - <li>Bengali, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</li> - <li>Bihārī, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</li> - <li>Brāhui, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</li> - <li>Dravidian, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li> - <li>Gond, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</li> - <li>Gujarāti, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</li> - <li>Hindi (Western), <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</li> - <li>Hindi (Eastern), <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</li> - <li>Hindustāni, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</li> - <li>Kanarese, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</li> - <li>Kandh, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li> - <li>Kashmīri, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</li> - <li>Kodagu, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;</li> - <li>Kohistāni, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</li> - <li>Kolāmi, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li> - <li>Kota, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li> - <li>Kurukh, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li> - <li>Lahnda, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</li> - <li>Māgadhi Prākrit, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</li> - <li>Mahārāshtri Prākrit, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</li> - <li>Malayalam, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>;</li> - <li>Malto, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li> - <li>Marāthi, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</li> - <li>Mon-Khmer, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>;</li> - <li>Mundā, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</li> - <li>Oriyā, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</li> - <li>Pahārī, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</li> - <li>Pāli, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</li> - <li>Panjābi, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</li> - <li>Prākrit, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>;</li> - <li>"Primary" Prākrits, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;</li> - <li>Rājasthāni, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</li> - <li>Sauraseni, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</li> - <li>Sindhi, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</li> - <li>Tamil, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li> - <li>Telugu, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</li> - <li>Toda, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li> - <li>Tulu, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li></ul> - </li> - - <li>Lingayats as a sectarian caste, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> - -</ul> - -<ul> - - <li>Madhya-deça, the linguistic Midland, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> - - <li>Māgadhi Prākrit language, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> - - <li>Mags of Chittagong, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> - - <li>Mahārāshtri language, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> - - <li>Malayalam language, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> - - <li>Malto language, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> - - <li>Manipur and the Meithei race, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> - - <li>Manu, Institutes of, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> - - <li>Marātha race and its origins, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> - - <li>Marāthi language, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> - - <li>Meithei race of Manipur, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> - - <li>Migration as a cause of caste, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> - - <li>Mixed castes, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> - - <li>Mongolo-Dravidian race, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> - - <li>Mongolian races brachycephalous, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> - - <li>Mongoloid type of race, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> - - <li>Mon-Khmer languages, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> - - <li>Moplah Muhammadans, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> - - <li>Mundā languages, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li> - -</ul> - -<ul> - - <li>Nānak (Sikh reformer), <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> - - <li>National castes, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> - - <li>Navavidhān Brāhmo Samāj, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> - - <li>Navin Chandra Sen, his definition of caste, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> - - <li>Nesfield, Mr, <i>Brief View of the Caste System of the N. W. P. and Oude</i> quoted, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> - - <li>Nestorian Christians, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> - - <li>Newār tribe in Nepāl, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> - - <li>Nirvāna as a Buddhist, and Jain doctrine, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> - - <li>Nobili, Robert de, <a href="#Page_106">106</a></li> - - <li>Nose-measurements, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> - -</ul> - -<ul> - - <li>Orbito-nasal index, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> - - <li>Oriyā language, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> - -</ul> - -<ul> - - <li>Pahārī language, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> - - <li>Pāli language, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> - - <li>Pānini and other grammarians, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> - - <li>Panjābi language, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> - - <li>Pantheism, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> - - <li>Parasu Rāma, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> - - <li>Pārsīs and their religion, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> - - <li>Pir Badr of Chittagong, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> - - <li>Pirs (Muhammadan saints), <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> - - <li>Prākrit languages, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> - - <li><i>Prati-loma</i> (see <i>Anu-loma</i>) castes, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> - - <li>Primary Prākrits, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> - - <li>Purānas (sacred books), <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> - -</ul> - -<ul> - - <li>Rājputs in Nepāl, etc., <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> - - <li>Rāmānuja (Hindu reformer), <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> - - <li>Risley, Sir H. H., his account of Marātha origins, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>; - <ul><li>Article in <i>Journal of R. A. Institute</i> quoted, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li></ul> - </li> - - <li>Roy, Rājā Rām Mohan, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> - -</ul> - -<ul> - - <li>Sādhāran Brāhmo Samāj, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> - - <li>Sāktas, a Hindu sect, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> - - <li>Saraswati (Dayānand), <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> - - <li>Sauraseni language, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> - - <li>Scytho-Dravidian type of race, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> - - <li>Scytho-Dravidian, supposed origin, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> - - <li>Sectarian type of caste, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> - - <li>Sen (Keshav Chandra), <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> - - <li>Shagird-peshās as a mixed caste, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> - - <li>Shia Muhammadans, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> - - <li>Sikhs and the Sikh religion, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> - - <li>Sindhī language, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> - - <li>Siva, as a member of the Hindu Trinity, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> - - <li>Sse or Sakas (Scythians), <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> - - <li>Stature as an index of race, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> - - <li>Sunni Muhammadans, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> - -</ul> - -<ul> - - <li>Tagore, Maharshi Devendranāth, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> - - <li>Tagore, Rabindranāth, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> - - <li>Tamil language, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> - - <li>Tantras (sacred books), <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> - - <li>Telugu language, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> - - <li>Thomasine Christians, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> - - <li>Tīrthan-karas (Jain saints), <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> - - <li>Toda language, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> - - <li>Totems and Totemistic clans in Assam, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li> - - <li>Tribal castes, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li> - - <li>Tribes in Assam, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> - - <li>Tribes, Turko-Iranian, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> - - <li>Tulu language, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> - - <li>Turko-Iranian type of race, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> - - <li>Turushka race, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> - -</ul> - -<ul> - - <li>Upanishads (sacred books), <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li> - -</ul> - -<ul> - - <li><i>Vangiya Sāhitya Parisat</i> (Bengal Academy of Literature), <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li> - - <li>Vardhamāna, the founder of Jainism, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> - - <li>Vedas, the four sacred books, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> - - <li>Vedic deities, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> - - <li>Vishnu as one of the Hindu Trinity, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> - -</ul> - -<ul> - - <li>Wahābi Muhammadans, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> - -</ul> - -<ul> - - <li>Yueh-chi race, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> - -</ul> - -</div> - -<p class="gap-above x-small center">CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, - M.A. AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS</p> - -<div class="section"><a name="map-1" id="map-1"></a></div> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 600px;"> - <img src="images/map-1.jpg" width="600" height="495" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p class="left">THE INDIAN EMPIRE<br /> - Distribution of Population</p> - <p class="right"><i>Camb. Univ. Press</i></p> - </div> -</div> - -<div class="section"><a name="map-2" id="map-2"></a></div> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 600px;"> - <img src="images/map-2.jpg" width="600" height="483" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p class="left">THE INDIAN EMPIRE<br /> - Distribution of Prevailing Languages</p> - <p class="right"><i>Camb. Univ. Press</i></p> - </div> -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Peoples of India, by James Drummond Anderson - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PEOPLES OF INDIA *** - -***** This file should be named 55465-h.htm or 55465-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/4/6/55465/ - -Produced by deaurider, Chris Pinfield and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - -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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