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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 Small capitals have been replaced by -full capitals.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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