diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 63231-0.txt | 1317 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 63231-0.zip | bin | 0 -> 28944 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 63231-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 34403 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 63231-h/63231-h.htm | 1765 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 63231-rst.zip | bin | 0 -> 22305 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 63231-rst/63231-rst.rst | 1001 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/63231-0.txt | 1317 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/63231-0.zip | bin | 0 -> 28944 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/63231-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 34403 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/63231-h/63231-h.htm | 1765 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/63231-rst.zip | bin | 0 -> 22305 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/63231-rst/63231-rst.rst | 1001 |
15 files changed, 8182 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/63231-0.txt b/63231-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c6e7b92 --- /dev/null +++ b/63231-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1317 @@ + +This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online at +https://www.gutenberg.org/license. 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: Castes In India +Author: Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar +Release Date: September 18, 2020 [EBook #63231] +Language: English +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CASTES IN INDIA *** + + + + +Produced by Joseph Koshy. + +Transcribed from The Indian Antiquary, Vol. 46, pp. 81–95. + + + + + THE + + INDIAN ANTIQUARY + + A JOURNAL OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH + + IN + + ARCHÆOLOGY, EPIGRAPHY, ETHNOLOGY, GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY, FOLKLORE, + LANGUAGES, + LITERATURE, NUMISMATICS, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, _&c_., _&c_. + + + EDITED BY + + SIR RICHARD CARNAC TEMPLE, BART, C.B., C.I.E., F.S.A. + + HON. FELLOW, TRIN. HALL, CAMBRIDGE, + FORMERLY LIEUT.-COLONEL, INDIAN ARMY. + + AND + + _Prof. DEVADATTA RAMKRISHNA BHANDARKAR, M.A._ + + + ⸻ + + VOL. XLVI.—1917. + + + + *BOMBAY:* + + _Printed and Published at the BRITISH INDIA PRESS, Mazgaon, Bombay._ + + LONDON: + + BERNARD QUARITCH LIMITED, 11 GRAFTON STREET, + NEW BOND STREET, W. + + [_All Rights Reserved_.] + + + + +[pg 81] + + *Their mechanism, genesis and development.*¹ + + BY BHIMRAO R. AMBEDKAR, M. A. + + ¹ A paper read before the Anthropology Seminar (9th May 1916) of Dr. + A. A. Goldenweiser, Columbia University, New York. + +Many of us, I dare say, have witnessed local, national, or international +expositions of material objects that make up the sum total of human +civilization. But few can entertain the idea of there being such a +thing as an exposition of human institutions. Exhibition of human +institutions is a strange idea; some might call it the wildest of ideas. +But as students of Ethnology I hope you will not be hard on this +innovation, for it is not so, and to you at least it should not be +strange. + +You all have visited, I believe, some historic place like the ruins of +Pompeii, and listened with curiosity to the history of the remains as it +flowed from the glib tongue of the guide. In my opinion a student of +Ethnology, in one sense at least, is much like the guide. Like his +prototype, he holds up (perhaps with more seriousness and desire of self +instruction) the social institutions to view, with all the objectiveness +humanly possible, and inquires into their origin and function. + +Most of our fellow students in this Seminar, which concerns itself with +Primitive _versus_ Modern Society, have ably acquitted themselves along +these lines by giving lucid expositions of the various institutions, +modern or primitive, in which they are interested. It is my turn now, +this evening, to entertain you, as best I can, with a paper on “Castes +in India: their mechanism, genesis and development.” + +I need hardly remind you of the complexity of the subject I intend to +handle. Subtler minds and abler pens than mine have been brought to the +task of unravelling the mysteries of Caste; but unfortunately it still +remains in the domain of the “unexplained,” not to say of the +“un-understood.” I am quite alive to the complex intricacies of a hoary +institution like Caste, but I am not so pessimistic as to relegate it to +the region of the unknowable, for I believe it can be known. The caste +problem is a vast one, both theoretically and practically. Practically, +it is an institution that portends tremendous consequences. It is a +local problem, but one capable of much wider mischief, for “as long as +caste in India does exist, Hindus will hardly intermarry or have any +social intercourse with outsiders; and if Hindus migrate to other +regions on earth, Indian caste would become a world problem.”² +Theoretically, it has defied a great many scholars who have taken upon +themselves, as a labour of love, to dig into its origin. Such being the +case, I cannot treat the problem in its entirety. Time, space and +acumen, I am afraid, would all fail me, if I attempted to do otherwise +than limit myself to a phase of it, namely, the genesis, mechanism and +spread of the caste system. I will strictly observe this rule, and will +dwell on extraneous matters only when it is necessary to clarify or +support a point in my thesis. + + ² Ketkar, _Caste_, p. 4. + +To proceed with the subject. According to well-known ethnologists, the +population of India is a mixture of Aryans, Dravidians, Mongolians and +Scythians. All these stocks of people came into India from various +directions and with various cultures, centuries ago, when they were in a +tribal state. They all in turn elbowed their entry into the country by +fighting with their predecessors, and after a stomachful of it settled +down as peaceful neighbours. Through constant contact and mutual +intercourse they evolved a common [pg 82] culture that superseded their +distinctive cultures. It may be granted that there has not been a +thorough amalgamation of the various stocks that make up the peoples of +India, and to a traveller from within the boundaries of India the East +presents a marked contrast in physique and even in colour to the West, +as does the South to the North. But amalgamation can never be the sole +criterion of homogeneity as predicated of any people. Ethnically all +peoples are heterogeneous. It is the unity of culture that is the basis +of homogeneity. Taking this for granted, I venture to say that there is +no country that can rival the Indian Peninsula with respect to the unity +of its culture. It has not only a geographic unity, but it has over and +above all a deeper and a much more fundamental unity—the indubitable +cultural unity that covers the land from end to end. But it is because +of this homogeneity that Caste becomes a problem so difficult to be +explained. If the Hindu Society were a mere federation of mutually +exclusive units, the matter would be simple enough. But Caste is a +parcelling of an already homogeneous unit, and the explanation of the +genesis of Caste is the explanation of this process of parcelling. + +Before launching into our field of enquiry, it is better to advise +ourselves regarding the nature of a caste. I will therefore draw upon a +few of the best students of caste for their definitions of it. + +(1) M. Senart, a French authority, defines a caste as “a close +corporation, in theory at any rate rigorously hereditary: equipped with +a certain traditional and independent organisation, including a chief +and a council, meeting on occasion in assemblies of more or less plenary +authority and joining together at certain festivals: bound together by +common occupations, which relate more particularly to marriage and to +food and to questions of ceremonial pollution, and ruling its members by +the exercise of jurisdiction, the extent of which varies, but which +succeeds in making the authority of the community more felt by the +sanction of certain penalties and, above all, by final irrevocable +exclusion from the group.” + +(2) Mr. Nesfield defines a caste as “a class of the community which +disowns any connection with any other class and can neither intermarry +nor eat nor drink with any but persons of their own community.” + +(3) According to Sir H. Risley, “a caste may be defined as a collection +of families or groups of families bearing a common name which usually +denotes or is associated, with specific occupation, claiming common +descent from a mythical ancestor, human or divine, professing to follow +the same professional callings and are regarded by those who are +competent to give an opinion as forming a single homogeneous community.” + +(4) Dr. Ketkar defines caste as “a social group having two +characteristics: (1) membership is confined to those who are born of +members and includes all persons so born; (2) the members are forbidden +by an inexorable social law to marry outside the group.” + +To review these definitions is of great importance for our purpose. It +will be noticed that taken individually the definitions of three of the +writers include too much or too little: none is complete or correct by +itself and all have missed the central point in the mechanism of the +Caste system. Their mistake lies in trying to define caste as an +isolated unit by itself, and not as a group within, and with definite +relations to, the system of caste as a whole. Yet collectively all of +them are complementary to one another, each one emphasising what has +been obscured in the other. By way of criticism, therefore, I will take +only those points common to all Castes in each of the above definitions +which are regarded as peculiarities of Caste and evaluate them as such. + +[pg 83] To start with M. Senart, He draws attention to the “idea of +pollution” as a characteristic of Caste. With regard to this point it +may be safely said that it is by no means a peculiarity of Caste as +such. It usually originates in priestly ceremonialism and is a +particular case of the general belief in purity. Consequently its +necessary connection with Caste may be completely denied without +damaging the working of Caste. The “idea of pollution” has been +attached to the institution of Caste, only because the Caste that enjoys +the highest rank is the priestly Caste: while we know that priest and +purity are old associates. We may therefore conclude that the “idea of +pollution” is a characteristic of Caste only in so far as Caste has a +religious flavour. Mr. Nesfield in his way dwells on the absence of +messing with those outside the Caste as one of its characteristics. In +spite of the newness of the point we must say that Mr. Nesfield has +mistaken the effect for the cause. Caste, being a self-enclosed unit, +naturally limits social intercourse, including messing etc., to members +within it. Consequently this absence of messing with outsiders is not +due to positive prohibition, but is a natural result of Caste, _i.e._, +exclusiveness. No doubt this absence of messing, originally due to +exclusiveness, acquired the prohibitory character of a religious +injunction, but it may be regarded as a later growth. Sir H. Risley, +makes no new point deserving of special attention. + +We now pass on to the definition of Dr. Ketkar, who has done much for +the elucidation of the subject. Not only is he a native, but he has +also brought a critical acumen and an open mind to bear on his study of +Caste. His definition merits consideration, for he has defined Caste in +its relation to a system of Castes, and has concentrated his attention +only on those characteristics which are absolutely necessary for the +existence of a Caste within a system, rightly excluding all others as +being secondary or derivative in character. With respect to his +definition it must, however, be said that in it there is a slight +confusion of thought, lucid and clear as otherwise it is. He speaks of +*Prohibition of Intermarriage* and *Membership by Autogeny* as the two +characteristics of Caste. I submit that these are but two aspects of +one and the same thing, and not two different things as Dr. Ketkar +supposes them to be. If you prohibit inter-marriage the result is that +you limit, membership to those born within the group. Thus the two are +the obverse and the reverse sides of the same medal. + +This critical evaluation of the various characteristics of Caste leaves +no doubt that prohibition, or rather the absence of +intermarriage—endogamy, to be concise—is the only one that can be called +the essence of Caste when rightly understood. But some may deny this on +abstract anthropological grounds, for there exist endogamous groups +without giving rise to the problem of Caste. In a general way this may +be true, as endogamous societies, culturally different, making their +abode in localities more or less removed, and having little to do with +each other, are a physical reality. The negroes and the whites and the +various tribal groups that go by the name of American Indians in the +United States may be cited as more or less appropriate illustrations in +support of this view. But we must not confuse matters, for in India the +situation is different. As pointed out before, the peoples of India +form a homogeneous whole. The various races of India occupying definite +territories have more or less fused into one another and do possess a +cultural unity, which is the only criterion of a homogeneous population. +Given this homogeneity as a basis, Caste becomes a problem altogether +new in character and wholly absent in the situation constituted by the +mere propinquity of endogamous social or tribal [pg 84] groups. Caste +in India means an artificial chopping off of the population into fixed +and definite units, each one prevented from fusing into another through +the custom of endogamy. Thus the conclusion is inevitable that +*endogamy is the only characteristic that is peculiar to Caste*, and if +we succeed in showing how endogamy is maintained, we shall practically +have proved the genesis and also the mechanism of Caste. + +It may not be quite easy for you to anticipate why I regard endogamy as +a key to the mystery of the Caste system. Not to strain your +imagination too much, I will proceed to give you my reasons for it. + +It may not also be out of place to emphasize at this moment that no +civilized society of to-day presents more survivals of primitive times +than does the Indian society. Its religion is essentially primitive and +its tribal code, in spite of the advance of time and civilization, +operates in all its pristine vigour even to-day. One of these primitive +survivals, to which I wish particularly to draw your attention, is the +*custom of exogamy*. The prevalence of exogamy in the primitive world +is a fact too well known to need any explanation. With the growth of +history, however, exogamy has lost its efficacy and, excepting the +nearest blood-kins, there is usually no social bar restricting the field +of marriage. But regarding the peoples of India the law of exogamy is a +positive injunction even to-day. Indian society still savours of the +clan system, even though there are no clans: and this can be easily seen +from the law of matrimony which centres round the principle of exogamy, +for it is not that _sapindas_ (blood-kins) cannot marry, but a marriage +even between _sagotras_ (of the same class) is regarded as a sacrilege. + +Nothing is therefore more important for you to remember than the fact +that endogamy is foreign to the people of India. The various _gotras_ +of India are and have been exogamous: so are the other groups with +totemic organization. It is no exaggeration to say that with the people +of India exogamy is a creed and none dare infringe it, so much so that, +in spite of the endogamy of the Castes within them, exogamy is strictly +observed and that there are more rigorous penalties for violating +exogamy than there are for violating endogamy. You will, therefore, +readily see that with exogamy as the rule there could be no Castes, for +exogamy means fusion. But we _have_ Castes; consequently in the final +analysis creation of Castes, so far as India is concerned, means the +superposition of endogamy on exogamy. However, in an originally +exogamous population an easy working out of endogamy (which is +equivalent to the creation of Caste) is a grave problem, and it is in +the consideration of the means utilized for the preservation of endogamy +against exogamy that we may hope to find the solution of our problem. + +Thus the *superposition of endogamy on exogamy means the creation of +Caste*. But this is not an easy affair. Let us take an imaginary group +that desires to make itself into a Caste and analyse what means it will +have to adopt to make itself endogamous. If a group desires to make +itself endogamous a formal injunction against intermarriage with outside +groups will be of no avail, especially if prior to the introduction of +endogamy, exogamy had been the rule in all matrimonial relations. +Again, there is a tendency in all groups lying in close contact with one +another to assimilate and amalgamate, and thus consolidate into a +homogenous society. If this tendency is to be strongly counteracted in +the interest of Caste formation, it is absolutely necessary to +circumscribe a circle outside which people should not contract +marriages. + +Nevertheless, this encircling to prevent marriages from without creates +problems from within which are not very easy of solution. Roughly +speaking, in a normal group the [pg 85] two sexes are more or less +evenly distributed, and generally speaking there is an equality between +those of the same age. The equality is, however, never quite realized +in actual societies. At the same time to the group that is desirous of +making itself into a caste the maintenance of equality between the sexes +becomes the ultimate goal, for without it endogamy can no longer +subsist. In other words, if endogamy is to be preserved conjugal rights +from within have to be provided for, otherwise members of the group will +be driven out of the circle to take care of themselves in any way they +can. But in order that the conjugal rights be provided for from within, +it is absolutely necessary to maintain a numerical equality between the +marriageable units of the two sexes within the group desirous of making +itself into a Caste. It is only through the maintenance of such an +equality that the necessary endogamy of the group can be kept intact, +and a very large disparity is sure to break it. + +*The problem of Caste, then, ultimately resolves itself into one of +repairing the disparity between the marriageable units of the two sexes +within it*. Left to nature, the much needed parity between the units +can be realized only when a couple dies simultaneously. But this is a +rare contingency. The husband may die before the wife and create a +_surplus woman_, who must be disposed of, else through intermarriage she +will violate the endogamy of the group. In like manner the husband may +survive his wife and be a _surplus man_, whom the group, while it may +sympathise with him for the sad bereavement, has to dispose of, else he +will marry outside the Caste and will break the endogamy. Thus both the +_surplus man_ and the _surplus woman_ constitute a menace to the Caste +if not taken care of, for not finding suitable partners inside their +prescribed circle (and left to themselves they cannot find any, for if +the matter be not regulated there can only be just enough pairs to go +round) very likely they will transgress the boundary, marry outside and +import offspring that is foreign to the Caste. + +Let us see what our imaginary group is likely to do with this _surplus +man_ and _surplus woman_. We will first take up the case of the +_surplus woman_. She can be disposed of in two different ways so as to +preserve the endogamy of the Caste. + +First: burn her on the funeral pyre of her deceased husband and get rid +of her. This, however, is rather an impracticable way of solving the +problem of sex disparity. In some cases it may work, in others it may +not. Consequently every _surplus woman_ cannot thus be disposed of, +because it is an easy solution but a hard realization. And so the +_surplus woman_ (＝ widow), if not disposed of, remains in the group: +but in her very existence lies a double danger. She may marry outside +the Caste and violate endogamy, or she may marry within the Caste and +through competition encroach upon the chances of marriage that must be +reserved for the potential brides in the Caste. She is therefore a +menace in any case, and something must be done to her if she cannot be +burned along with her deceased husband. + +The second remedy is to enforce widowhood on her for the rest of her +life. So far as the objective results are concerned, burning is a +better solution than enforcing widowhood. Burning the widow eliminates +all the three evils that a _surplus woman_ is fraught with. Being dead +and gone she creates no problem of remarriage either inside or outside +the Caste. But compulsory widowhood is superior to burning because it +is more practicable. Besides being comparatively humane it also guards +against the evils of remarriage as does burning: but it fails to guard +the morals of the group. No doubt under compulsory widowhood the woman +remains, and just because she is deprived of her natural right of being +a legitimate wife in future, the incentive to immoral conduct is +increased. But [pg 86] this is by no means an insuperable difficulty. +She can be degraded to a condition in which she is no longer a source of +allurement. + +The problem of _surplus man_ (＝ widower) is much more important and +much more difficult than that of the _surplus woman_ in a group that +desires to make itself into a Caste. From time immemorial man as +compared with woman has had the upper hand. He is a dominant figure in +every group and of the two sexes has greater prestige. With this +traditional superiority of man over woman his wishes have always been +consulted. Woman, on the other hand, has been an easy prey to all kinds +of iniquitous injunctions, religious, social or economic. But man as a +maker of injunctions is most often above them all. Such being the case, +you cannot accord the same kind of treatment to a _surplus man_ as you +can to a _surplus woman_ in a Caste. + +The project of burning him with his deceased wife is hazardous in two +ways: first of all it cannot be done, simply because he is a man. +Secondly, if done, a sturdy soul is lost to the Caste. There remain +then only two solutions which can conveniently dispose of him. I say +conveniently, because he is an asset to the group. + +Important as he is to the group, endogamy is still more important, and +the solution must assure both these ends. Under these circumstances he +may be forced, or I should say induced, after the manner of the widow, +to remain a widower for the rest of his life. This solution is not +altogether difficult, for without any compulsion some are so disposed as +to enjoy self-imposed celibacy, or even to take a further step of their +own accord and renounce the world and its joys. But, given human nature +as it is, this solution can hardly be expected to be realized. On the +other hand, as is very likely to be the case, if the _surplus man_ +remains in the group as an active participator in group activities, he +is a danger to the morals of the group. Looked at from a different +point of view celibacy, though easy in cases where it succeeds, is not +so advantageous even then to the material prospects of the Caste. If he +observes genuine celibacy and renounces the world, he would not be a +menace to the preservation of Caste endogamy or Caste morals as he +undoubtedly would be if he remained a secular person. But as an ascetic +celibate he is as good as burned, so far as the material well-being of +his Caste is concerned. A Caste, in order that it may be large enough +to afford a vigorous communal life, must be maintained at a certain +numerical strength. But to hope for this and to proclaim celibacy is +the same as trying to cure atrophy by bleeding. + +Imposing celibacy on the _surplus man_ in the group, therefore, fails +both theoretically and practically. It is in the interest of the Caste +to keep him as a _grahastha_ (one who raises a family), to use a +Sanskrit technical term. But the problem is to provide him with a wife +from within the Caste. At the outset this is not possible, for the +ruling ratio in a caste has to be one man to one woman and none can have +two chances of marriage, for in a Caste thoroughly self-enclosed there +are always just enough marriageable women to go round for the +marriageable men. Under these circumstances the _surplus man_ can be +provided with a wife only by recruiting a bride from the ranks of those +not yet marriageable in order to tie him down to the group. This is +certainly the best of the possible solutions in the case of the _surplus +man_. By this, he is kept within the Caste. By this means numerical +depletion through constant outflow is guarded against, and by this +endogamy and morals are preserved. + +It will now be seen that the four means by which numerical disparity +between the two sexes is conveniently maintained are: (1) Burning the +widow with her deceased [pg 87] husband; (2) Compulsory widowhood—a +milder form of burning; (3) Imposing celibacy on the widower; (4) +Wedding him to a girl not yet marriageable. Though, as I said above, +burning the widow and imposing celibacy on the widower are of doubtful +service to the group in its endeavour to preserve its endogamy, all of +them operate as _means_. But means, as forces, when liberated or set in +motion create an end. What then is the end that these means create? +They create and perpetuate endogamy, while caste and endogamy, according +to our analysis of the various definitions of caste, are one and the +same thing. Thus the existence of these means is identical with caste +and caste involves those means. + +This, in my opinion, is the general mechanism of a caste in a system of +castes. Let us now turn from these high generalities to the castes in +Hindu society and inquire into their mechanism. I need hardly promise +that there are a great many pitfalls in the path of those who try to +unfold the past, and caste in India to be sure is a very ancient +institution. This is especially true where there exist no authentic or +written records, or where the people, like the Hindus, are so +constituted that to them writing history is a folly, for the world is an +illusion. But institutions do live, though for a long time they may +remain unrecorded and as often as not customs and morals are like +fossils that tell their own history. If this is true, our task will be +amply rewarded if we scrutinize the solution the Hindus arrived at to +meet the problems of the _surplus man_ and _surplus woman_. + +Complex though it be in its general working the Hindu Society, even to a +superficial observer, presents three singular uxorial customs, namely:— + + (i) _Sati_ or the burning of the widow on the funeral pyre of her + deceased husband. + (ii) Enforced widowhood by which a widow is not allowed to remarry. + (iii) Girl marriage. + +In addition, one also notes a great hankering after _sannyasa_ +(renunciation) on the part of the widower, but this may in some cases be +due purely to psychic disposition. + +So far as I know, no scientific explanation of the origin of these +customs is forthcoming even to-day. We have plenty of philosophy to +tell us why these customs were honoured, but nothing to tell us the +causes of their origin and existence. _Sati_ has been honoured (_Cf_. +A. K. Coomaraswamy, _Sati: a Defence of the Eastern Woman_ in the +_British Sociological Review_, Vol. VI. 1913) because it is a “proof of +the perfect unity of body and soul” between husband and wife and of +“devotion beyond the grave;” because it embodied the ideal of wifehood, +which is well expressed by Umâ when she said “Devotion to her Lord is +woman’s honour, it is her eternal heaven: and O Maheshvara,” she adds +with a most touching human cry, “I desire not paradise itself if thou +art not satisfied with me!” Why compulsory widowhood is honoured I know +not, nor have I yet met with any one who sang in praise of it, though +there are a great many who adhere to it. The eulogy in honour of girl +marriage is reported by Dr. Ketkar to be as follows: “A really faithful +man or woman ought not to feel affection for a woman or a man other than +the one with whom he or she is united. Such purity is compulsory not +only after marriage, but even before marriage, for that is the only +correct ideal of chastity. No maiden could be considered pure if she +feels love for a man other than the one to whom she might be married. +As she does not know to whom she is going to be married, she must not +feel affection for any man at all before marriage. If she does so, it +is a sin. So it is better for a girl to know whom she has to love, +before any sexual consciousness has been awakened in her.”³ Hence girl +marriage. + + ³ _History of Caste in India_, 1909, pp. 32–33. + +This high-flown and ingenious sophistry indicates why these institutions +were honoured, but does not tell us why they were practised. My own +interpretation is that they were honoured because they were practised. +Any one slightly acquainted with rise of individualism in the 18th +century will appreciate my remark. At all times, it is the movement +that is most important; and the philosophies grow around it long +afterwards to justify it and give it a moral support. In like manner I +urge that the very fact that these customs were so highly eulogized +proves that they needed eulogy for their prevalence. Regarding the +question as to why they arose, I submit that they were needed to create +the structure of caste and the philosophies in honour of them were +intended to popularize them, or to gild the pill, as we might say, for +they must have been so abominable and shocking to the moral sense of the +unsophisticated that they needed a great deal of sweetening. These +customs are essentially of the nature of _means_, though they are +represented as ideals. But this should not blind us from understanding +the _results_ that flow from them. One might safely say that +idealization of means is necessary and in this particular case was +perhaps motivated to endow them with greater efficacy. Calling a means +an end does no harm, except that it disguises its real character; but it +does not deprive it of its real nature, that of a means. You may pass a +law that all cats are dogs, just as you can call a means an end. But +you can no more change the nature of means thereby than you can turn +cats into dogs; consequently I am justified in holding that, whether +regarded as ends or as means, _Sati_, _enforced widowhood_ and _girl +marriage_ are customs that were primarily intended to solve the problem +of the _surplus man_ and _surplus woman_ in a caste and to maintain its +endogamy. Strict endogamy could not be preserved without these customs, +while caste without endogamy is a fake. + +Having explained the mechanism of the creation and preservation of Caste +in India, the further question as to its genesis naturally arises. The +question of origin is always an annoying question and in the study of +Caste it is sadly neglected: some have connived at it, while others have +dodged it. Some are puzzled as to whether there could be such a thing +as the origin of caste and suggest that “if we cannot control our +fondness for the word ‘origin’, we should better use the plural form, +_viz._, ‘origins of caste’.” As for myself I do not feel puzzled by the +Origin of Caste in India, for, as I have established before, endogamy is +the only characteristic of Caste and when I say *origin of caste* I mean +*the origin of the mechanism for endogamy*. + +The atomistic conception of individuals in a Society so greatly +popularised—I was about to say vulgarized—in political orations is the +greatest humbug. To say that individuals make up society is trivial; +society is always composed of classes. It may be an exaggeration to +assert the theory of class-conflict, but the existence of definite +classes in a society is a fact. Their basis may differ. They may be +economic or intellectual or social, but an individual in a society is +always a member of a class. This is a universal fact and early Hindu +society could not have been an exception to this rule, and, as a matter +of fact, we know it was not. If we bear this generalization in mind, +our study of the genesis of caste would be very much facilitated, for we +have only to determine what was the class that first made itself into a +caste, for class and caste, so to say, are next door neighbours, and it +is only a span that separates the two. *A caste is an enclosed class*. + +The study of the origin of caste must furnish us with an answer to the +question—what is the class that raised this “enclosure” around itself? +The question [pg 89] may seem too inquisitorial, but it is pertinent, +and an answer to this will serve us to elucidate the mystery of the +growth and development of castes all over India. Unfortunately a direct +answer to this question is not within my power. I can answer it only +indirectly. I said just above that the customs in question were current +in the Hindu society. To be true to facts it is necessary to qualify +the statement, as it connotes universality of their prevalence. These +customs in all their strictness are obtainable only in one caste, namely +the Brahmans, who occupy the highest place in the social hierarchy of +the Hindu society; and as their prevalence in Non-Brahman castes is +derivative their observance is neither strict nor complete. This +important fact can serve as a basis of an important observation. If the +prevalence of these customs in the non-Brahman Castes is derivative, as +can be shown very easily, then it needs no argument to prove what class +is the father of the institution of caste. Why the Brahman class should +have enclosed itself into a caste is a different question, which may be +left as an employment for another occasion. But the strict observance +of these customs and the social superiority arrogated by the priestly +class in all ancient civilizations are sufficient to prove that they +were the originators of this “unnatural institution” founded and +maintained through these unnatural means. + +I now come to the third part of my paper regarding the question of the +growth and spread of the caste system all over India. The question I +have to answer is: How did the institution of caste spread among the +rest of the non-Brahman population of the country? The question of the +spread of the castes all over India has suffered a worse fate than the +question of genesis. And the main cause, as it seems to me, is that the +two questions of spread and of origin are not separated. This is because +of the common belief among scholars that the caste system has either +been imposed upon the docile population of India by a law-giver as a +divine dispensation, or that it has grown according to some law of +social growth peculiar to the Indian people. + +I first propose to handle the law-giver of India. Every country has its +lawgiver, who arises as an incarnation (_avatar_) in times of emergency +to set right a sinning humanity and give it the laws of justice and +morality. Manu, the law-giver of India, if he did exist, was certainly +an audacious person. If the story that he gave the law of caste be +credited, then Manu must have been a dare-devil fellow and the humanity +that accepted his dispensation must be a humanity quite different from +the one we are acquainted with. It is unimaginable that the law of +caste was _given_. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that Manu could +not have outlived his law, for what is that class that can submit to be +degraded to the status of brutes by the pen of a man, and suffer him to +raise another class to the pinnacle? Unless he was a tyrant who held +all the population in subjection it cannot be imagined that he could +have been allowed to dispense his patronage in this grossly unjust +manner, as may be easily seen by a mere glance at his “Institutes.” I +may seem hard on Manu, but I am sure my force is not strong enough to +kill his ghost. He lives, like a disembodied spirit and is appealed to, +and I am afraid will yet live long. One thing I want to impress upon +you is that Manu did not _give_ the _law_ of Caste and that he could not +do so. Caste existed long before Manu. He was an upholder of it and +therefore philosophised about it, but certainly he did not and could not +ordain the present order of Hindu Society. His work ended with the +codification of existing caste rules and the preaching of Caste +_Dharma_. The spread and growth of the Caste system is too [pg 90] +gigantic a task to be achieved by the power or cunning of an individual +or of a class. Similar in argument is the theory that the Brahmans +created the caste. After what I have said regarding Manu, I need hardly +say anything more, except to point out that it is incorrect in thought +and malicious in intent. The Brahmans may have been guilty of many +things, and I dare say they are, but the imposing of the caste system on +the non-Brahman population was beyond their mettle. They may have +helped the process by their glib philosophy, but they certainly could +not have pushed their scheme beyond their own confines. To fashion +society after one’s own pattern! How glorious! How hard! One can take +pleasure and eulogize its furtherance, but cannot further it very far. +The vehemence of my attack may seem to be unnecessary: but I can assure +you that it is not uncalled for. There is a strong belief in the mind +of orthodox Hindus that the Hindu Society was somehow moulded into the +frame work of the Caste System, and that it is an organization +consciously created by the _Shâstras_. Not only does this belief exist, +but it is being justified on the ground that it cannot but be good, +because it is ordained by the _Shâstras_ and the _Shâstras_ cannot be +wrong. I have urged so much on the adverse side of this attitude, not +because the religious sanctity is grounded on scientific basis, nor to +help those reformers who are preaching against it. Preaching did not +make the caste system, neither will it unmake it. My aim is to show the +falsity of the attitude that has exalted religious sanction to the +position of a scientific explanation. + +Thus the great man theory does not help us very far in solving the +spread of castes in India. Western scholars, probably not much given to +hero-worship, have attempted other explanations. The nuclei, round +which have “formed” the various castes in India, are, according to +them:—(1) occupation; (2) survivals of tribal organizations, etc.; (3) +the rise of new belief; (4) cross-breeding and (5) migration. + +The question may be asked whether these nuclei do not exist in other +societies and whether they are peculiar to India. If they are not +peculiar to India, but are common to the world, why is it that they did +not “form” caste on other parts of this planet? Is it because those +parts are holier than the land of the Vedas, or that the professors are +mistaken? I am afraid that the latter is the truth. + +Inspite of the high theoretic value claimed by the several authors for +their respective theories, based on one or other of the above nuclei, +one regrets to say that on close examination they are nothing more than +filling illustrations—what Matthew Arnold means by “the grand name +without the grand thing in it.” Such are the various theories of caste +advanced by Sir Denzil Ibbetson, Mr. Nesfield, M. Senart and Sir H. +Risley. To criticise them in a lump would be to say that they are a +disguised form of the _Petitio Principii_ of formal logic. To +illustrate: Mr. Nesfield says that “function and function only … was the +foundation upon which the whole system of castes in India was built up.” +But he may rightly be reminded that he does not very much advance our +thought by making the above statement, which practically amounts to +saying that castes in India are functional or occupational, which is a +very poor discovery! We have yet to know from Mr. Nesfield why is it +that an occupational group turned into an occupational caste? I would +very cheerfully have undertaken the task of dwelling on the [pg 91] +theories of other ethnologists, had it not been for the fact that Mr. +Nesfield’s is a typical one. + +Without stopping to criticize those theories that explain the caste +system as a natural phenomenon occurring in obedience to the law of +disintegration, as explained by Herbert Spencer in his formula of +evolution, or as natural as “the structural differentiation within an +organism”—to employ the phraseology of orthodox apologists—, or as an +early attempt to test the laws of eugenics—as all belonging to the same +class of fallacy which regards the caste system as inevitable, or as +being consciously imposed in anticipation of these laws on a helpless +and humble population, I will now lay before you my own view on the +subject. + +We shall be well advised to recall at the outset that the Hindu society, +in common with other societies, was composed of classes and the earliest +known are the (1) Brahmans or the priestly class: (2) the Kshatriya, or +the military class: (3) the Vaiśya, or the merchant class: and (4) the +Sudra, or the artisan and menial class. Particular attention has to be +paid to the fact that this was essentially a class system, in which +individuals, when qualified, could change their class, and therefore +classes did change their personnel. At some time in the history of the +Hindus, the priestly class socially detached itself from the rest of the +body of people and through a closed-door policy became a caste by +itself. The other classes being subject to the law of social division +of labour underwent differentiation, some into large, others into very +minute groups. The Vaiśya and Sudra classes were the original inchoate +plasm, which formed the sources of the numerous castes of to-day. As +the military occupation does not very easily lend itself to very minute +sub-division, the Kshatriya class could have differentiated into +soldiers and administrators. + +This sub-division of a society is quite natural. But the unnatural +thing about these sub-divisions is that they have lost the open door +character of the class system and have become self-enclosed units called +castes. The question is, were they compelled to close their doors and +become endogamous, or did they close them of their own accord? I submit +that there is a double line of answer: *Some closed the door: others +found it closed against them*. The one is a psychological +interpretation and the other is mechanistic, but they are complementary +and both are necessary to explain the phenomena of caste formation in +its entirety. + +I will first take up the psychological interpretation. The question we +have to answer in this connection is: Why did these sub-divisions or +classes, if you please, industrial, religious or otherwise, become +self-enclosed or endogamous? My answer is because the Brahmans were so. +Endogamy, or the closed-door system, was a fashion in the Hindu Society, +and as it had originated from the Brahman caste it was whole-heartedly +imitated by all the non-Brahman sub-divisions or classes, who, in their +turn, became endogamous castes. It is “the infection of imitation” that +caught all these sub-divisions on their onward march of differentiation +and has turned them into castes. The propensity to imitate is a +deep-seated one in the human mind and need not be deemed an inadequate +explanation for the formation of the various castes in India. It is so +deep-seated that Walter Bagehot argues that “we must not think of … +imitation as voluntary, or even conscious. On the contrary it has its +seat mainly in very obscure parts of the mind, whose notions, so far +from being consciously produced, are hardly felt to exist; so far from +being conceived beforehand, are not even felt at the time. The main +seat of the imitative part of our nature is our belief, and the causes +predisposing us to believe this or disinclining us to believe that are +among the obscurest parts of our nature. But as to the imitative nature +[pg 92] of credulity there can be no doubt.”⁴ This propensity to imitate +has been made the subject of a scientific study by Gabriel Tarde, who +lays down three laws of imitation. One of his three laws is that +imitation flows from the higher to the lower or, to quote his own words, +“Given the opportunity, a nobility will always and everywhere imitate +its leaders, its kings or sovereigns, and the people likewise, given the +opportunity, its nobility.”⁵ Another of Tarde’s laws of imitation is: +that the extent or intensity of imitation varies inversely in proportion +to distance, or in his own words “the thing that is most imitated is the +most superior one of those that are nearest. In fact, the influence of +the model’s example is efficacious inversely to its _distance_ as well +as directly to its superiority. Distance is understood here in its +sociological meaning. However distant in space a stranger may be, he is +close by, from this point of view, if we have numerous and daily +relations with him and if we have every facility to satisfy our desire +to imitate him. This law of the imitation of the nearest, of the least +distant, explains the gradual and consecutive character of the spread of +an example that has been set by the higher social ranks.”⁶ + + ⁴ _Physics and Politics_ 1915, p. 60. + + ⁵ _Laws of Imitation_, Tr. by E. C. Parsons, 2nd ed. p. 217. + + ⁶ _Ibid_. p. 224. + +In order to prove my thesis—which really needs no proof—that some castes +were formed by imitation, the best way, it seems to me, is to find out +whether or not the vital conditions for the formation of castes by +imitation exist in the Hindu Society. The conditions for imitation, +according to this standard authority are: (1) That the source of +imitation must enjoy prestige in the group and (2) that there must be +“numerous and daily relations” among members of a group. That these +conditions were present in India there is little reason to doubt. The +Brahman is a semi-god and very nearly a demi-god. He sets up a mode and +moulds the rest. His prestige is unquestionable and is the +fountain-head of bliss and good. Can such a being, idolised by +Scriptures and venerated by the priest-ridden multitude, fail to project +his personality on the suppliant humanity? Why, if the story be true, +he is believed to be the very end of creation. Such a creature is +worthy of more than mere imitation, but at least of imitation; and if he +lives in an endogamous enclosure, should not the rest follow his +example? Frail humanity! Be it embodied in a grave philosopher or a +frivolous housemaid, it succumbs. It cannot be otherwise. Imitation is +easy and invention is difficult. + +Yet another way of demonstrating the play of imitation in the formation +of castes is to understand the attitude of non-Brahman classes towards +those customs which supported the structure of caste in its nascent days +until, in the course of history, it became embedded in the Hindu mind +and hangs there to this day without any support—for now it needs no prop +but belief—like a weed on the surface of a pond. In a way, but only in +a way, the status of a caste in the Hindu Society varies directly with +the extent of the observance of the customs of _sati_, enforced +widowhood, and girl marriage. But observance of these customs varies +directly with the _distance_ (I am using the word in the Tardian sense) +that separates the caste. Those castes that are nearest to the Brahmans +have imitated all the three customs and insist on the strict observance +thereof. Those that are less near have imitated enforced widowhood and +girl marriage; others, a little further off, have only girl marriage, +and those furthest off have imitated only the belief in the caste +principle. This imperfect imitation, I dare say, is due partly to what +Tarde calls “distance” and partly to the barbarous character of these +customs. This [pg 93] phenomenon is a complete illustration of Tarde’s +law and leaves no doubt that the whole process of caste-formation in +India is a process of imitation of the higher by the lower. At this +juncture I will turn back to support a former conclusion of mine, which +might have appeared to you as too sudden or unsupported. I said that +the Brahman class first raised the structure of caste by the help of +those three customs in question. My reason for that conclusion was that +their existence in other classes was derivative. After what I have said +regarding the rôle of imitation in the spread of these customs among the +non-Brahman castes, as means or as ideals, though the imitators have not +been aware of it, they exist among them as derivatives; and, if they are +derived, there must have been prevalent one original caste that was high +enough to have served as a pattern for the rest. But in a theocratic +society, who could be the pattern but the servant of God? + +This completes the story of those that were weak enough to close their +doors. Let us now see how others were closed in as a result of being +closed out. This I call the mechanistic process of the formation of +caste. It is mechanistic because it is inevitable. That this line of +approach, as well as the psychological one, to the explanation of the +subject has escaped my predecessors is entirely due to the fact that +they have conceived Caste as a unit by itself and not as one within a +System of Caste. The result of this oversight or lack of sight has been +very detrimental to the proper understanding of the subject matter and +therefore its correct explanation. I will proceed to offer my own +explanation by making one remark which I will urge you to bear +constantly in mind. It is this: that *caste in the singular number is +an unreality*. *Castes exist only in the plural number*. There is no +such thing as _a_ caste: there are always castes. To illustrate my +meaning: while making themselves into a caste, the Brahmans, by virtue +of this, created a non-Brahman caste; or, to express it in my own way, +while closing themselves in they closed others out. I will clear my +point by taking another illustration. Take India as a whole with its +various communities designated by the various creeds to which they owe +allegiance, to wit, the Hindus, Muhammadans, Jews, Christians and +Parsis. Now, barring the Hindus, the rest within themselves are +non-caste communities. But with respect to each other they are castes. +Again, if the first four enclose themselves, the Parsis are directly +closed out, but are indirectly closed in. Symbolically, if group A. +wants to be endogamous, group B. has to be so by sheer force of +circumstances. + +Now apply the same logic to the Hindu society and you have another +explanation of the “fissiparous” character of caste, as a consequence of +the virtue of self-duplication that is inherent in it. Any innovation +that seriously antagonises the ethical, religious and social code of the +Caste is not likely to be tolerated by the Caste, and the recalcitrant +members of a Caste are in danger of being thrown out of the Caste, and +left to their own fate without having the alternative of being admitted +into or absorbed by other Castes. Caste rules are inexorable and they +do not wait to make nice distinctions between kinds of offence. +Innovation may be of any kind, but all kinds will suffer the same +penalty. A novel way of thinking will create a new Caste for the old +ones will not tolerate it. The noxious thinker respectfully called Guru +(Prophet) suffers the same fate as the sinners in illegitimate love. +The former creates a caste of the nature of a religious sect and the +latter a type of mixed caste. Castes have no mercy for a sinner who has +the courage to violate the code. The penalty is excommunication and the +result is a new caste. It is not peculiar Hindu psychology that induces +the excommunicated to form themselves into a caste: far from it. On the +contrary, very often they have been quite [pg 94] willing to be humble +members of some caste (higher by preference) if they could be admitted +within its fold. But castes are enclosed units and it is their +conspiracy with clear conscience that compels the excommunicated to make +themselves into a caste. The logic of this obdurate circumstance is +merciless, and it is in obedience to its force that some unfortunate +groups find themselves enclosed, because others in enclosing, themselves +have closed them out, with the result that new groups (formed on any +basis obnoxious to the caste rules) by a mechanical law are constantly +being converted into castes to a bewildering multiplicity. Thus is told +the second tale in the process of Caste formation in India. + +Now to summarise the main points of my thesis. In my opinion there have +been several mistakes committed by the students of Caste, which have +misled them in their investigations. European students of Caste have +unduly emphasised the rôle of colour in the caste-system. Themselves +impregnated by colour prejudices, they very readily imagined it to be +the chief factor in the Caste problem. But nothing can be farther from +the truth, and Dr. Ketkar is correct when he insists that “All the +princes whether they belonged to the so-called Aryan race, or the +so-called Dravidian race, were Aryas. Whether a tribe or a family was +racially Aryan or Dravidian was a question which never troubled the +people of India, until foreign scholars came in and began to draw the +line. The colour of the skin had long ceased to be a matter of +importance.”⁷ Again, they have mistaken mere descriptions for +explanation and fought over them as though they were theories of origin. +There are occupational, religious, etc. castes, it is true, but it is by +no means an explanation of the origin of Caste. We have yet to find out +why occupational groups are castes; but this question has never even +been raised. Lastly they have taken Caste very lightly as though a +breath had made it. On the contrary, Caste, as I have explained it, is +almost impossible to be sustained: for the difficulties that it involves +are tremendous. It is true that Caste rests on belief, but before +belief comes to be the foundation of an institution, the institution +itself needs to be perpetuated and fortified. My study of the Caste +problem involves four main points: (1) That in spite of the composite +make-up of the Hindu population, there is a deep cultural unity. (2) +That Caste is a parcelling into bits of a larger cultural unit. (3) That +there was one Caste to start with. (4) That classes have become Castes +through imitation and excommunication. + + ⁷ _History of Caste_ p. 82. + +Peculiar interest attaches to the problem of Caste in India to-day, as +persistent attempts are being made to do away with this unnatural +institution. Such attempts at reform, however, have aroused a great +deal of controversy regarding its origin, as to whether it is due to the +conscious command of a Supreme Authority, or is an unconscious growth in +the life of a human society under peculiar circumstances. Those who hold +the latter view will, I hope, find some food for thought in the +standpoint adopted in this paper. Apart from its practical importance +the subject of Caste is an all absorbing problem and the interest +aroused in me regarding its theoretic foundations has moved me to put +before you some of the conclusions, which seem to me well founded, and +the grounds upon which they may be supported. I am not, however, so +presumptuous as to think them in any way final, or anything more than a +contribution to a discussion of the subject. It seems to me that the +car has been shunted on wrong lines, and the primary object of the paper +is to indicate what I regard to be the right path of investigation, with +a view to arrive at a serviceable truth. We must, however, guard +against approaching the subject with a bias. + +[pg 95] Sentiment must be outlawed from the domain of science and things +should be judged from an objective standpoint. For myself I shall find +as much pleasure in a positive destruction of my own ideology, as in a +rational disagreement on a topic, which, notwithstanding many learned +disquisitions is likely to remain controversial for ever. To conclude, +while I am ambitious to advance a Theory of Caste, if it can be shown to +be untenable I shall be equally willing to give it up. + + + + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CASTES IN INDIA *** + + + + +A Word from Project Gutenberg + + +We will update this book if we find any errors. + +This book can be found under: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63231 + +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. +Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this +license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic +works to protect the Project Gutenberg™ concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge +for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you do not +charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the rules is +very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as +creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research. They +may be modified and printed and given away – you may do practically +_anything_ in the United States with eBooks not protected by U.S. +copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, +especially commercial redistribution. + + +The Full Project Gutenberg License + + +_Please read this before you distribute or use this work._ + +To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or +any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at +https://www.gutenberg.org/license. + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use & Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works + + +*1.A.* By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the +terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all +copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your possession. If you +paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg™ +electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this +agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you +paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +*1.B.* “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few things +that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works even +without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See paragraph +1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement and help +preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. See +paragraph 1.E below. + +*1.C.* The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the +Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of +Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in +the collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the United States and +you are located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent +you from copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating +derivative works based on the work as long as all references to Project +Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the +Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting free access to electronic works +by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ works in compliance with the terms +of this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg™ name associated +with the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg™ License when you share it without charge with others. + + +*1.D.* The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning the +copyright status of any work in any country outside the United States. + +*1.E.* Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +*1.E.1.* The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work on +which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase +“Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, +viewed, copied or distributed: + + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United + States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with + almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away + or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License + included with this eBook or online at https://www.gutenberg.org + . If you are not located in the United States, you’ll have to + check the laws of the country where you are located before using + this ebook. + +*1.E.2.* If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is derived +from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not contain a +notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the copyright +holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in the United +States without paying any fees or charges. If you are redistributing or +providing access to a work with the phrase “Project Gutenberg” +associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply either with +the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or obtain permission +for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ trademark as set +forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +*1.E.3.* If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +*1.E.4.* Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™. + +*1.E.5.* Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg™ License. + +*1.E.6.* You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format other than +“Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ web site +(https://www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or +expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a +means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original +“Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include +the full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +*1.E.7.* Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works unless +you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +*1.E.8.* You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works provided +that + + - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed to + the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has agreed to + donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid within 60 + days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally + required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty payments + should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, + “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary + Archive Foundation.” + + - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ License. + You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the + works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and + all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ works. + + - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + + - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works. + + +*1.E.9.* If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg™ +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set forth +in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from both the +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The Project Gutenberg +Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact +the Foundation as set forth in Section 3. below. + +*1.F.* + +*1.F.1.* Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project +Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may +contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate +or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by your +equipment. + +*1.F.2.* LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES – Except for the “Right +of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all liability +to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees. YOU AGREE +THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF +WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. +YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR +UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, +INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE +NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. + +*1.F.3.* LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND – If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +*1.F.4.* Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS,’ WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +*1.F.5.* Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +*1.F.6.* INDEMNITY – You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg™ +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™ + + +Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s goals +and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will remain freely +available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure and +permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future generations. To learn +more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and how +your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the +Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org . + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the state +of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue +Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification number is +64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf . Contributions to the +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the +full extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. + +The Foundation’s principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the +mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its volunteers +and employees are scattered throughout numerous locations. Its business +office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, +(801) 596-1887, email business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to +date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s web site and +official page at http://www.pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation + + +Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without wide spread +public support and donations to carry out its mission of increasing the +number of public domain and licensed works that can be freely +distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest array of +equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations ($1 to +$5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt status with +the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations where +we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state +visit https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make any +statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from outside +the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other ways +including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To donate, +please visit: https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic +works. + + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg™ +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in +the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook’s eBook +number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected _editions_ of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +_Versions_ based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg™, including +how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to +our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/63231-0.zip b/63231-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2f974b2 --- /dev/null +++ b/63231-0.zip diff --git a/63231-h.zip b/63231-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..28b7783 --- /dev/null +++ b/63231-h.zip diff --git a/63231-h/63231-h.htm b/63231-h/63231-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..277654c --- /dev/null +++ b/63231-h/63231-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1765 @@ +<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?> +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC '-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN' 'http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd'> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> +<meta name="generator" content="Docutils 0.16: http://docutils.sourceforge.net/" /> +<style type="text/css"> +/* +Project Gutenberg common docutils stylesheet. + +This stylesheet contains styles common to HTML and EPUB. Put styles +that are specific to HTML and EPUB into their relative stylesheets. + +:Author: Marcello Perathoner (webmaster@gutenberg.org) +:Copyright: This stylesheet has been placed in the public domain. + +This stylesheet is based on: + + :Author: David Goodger (goodger@python.org) + :Copyright: This stylesheet has been placed in the public domain. + + Default cascading style sheet for the HTML output of Docutils. + +*/ + +/* ADE 1.7.2 chokes on !important and throws all css out. */ + +/* FONTS */ + +.italics { font-style: italic } +.no-italics { font-style: normal } + +.bold { font-weight: bold } +.no-bold { font-weight: normal } + +.small-caps { } /* Epub needs italics */ +.gesperrt { } /* Epub needs italics */ +.antiqua { font-style: italic } /* what else can we do ? */ +.monospaced { font-family: monospace } + +.smaller { font-size: smaller } +.larger { font-size: larger } + +.xx-small { font-size: xx-small } +.x-small { font-size: x-small } +.small { font-size: small } +.medium { font-size: medium } +.large { font-size: large } +.x-large { font-size: x-large } +.xx-large { font-size: xx-large } + +.text-transform-uppercase { text-transform: uppercase } +.text-transform-lowercase { text-transform: lowercase } +.text-transform-none { text-transform: none } + +.red { color: red } +.green { color: green } +.blue { color: blue } +.yellow { color: yellow } +.white { color: white } +.gray { color: gray } +.black { color: black } + +/* ALIGN */ + +.left { text-align: left } +.justify { text-align: justify } +.center { text-align: center; text-indent: 0 } +.centerleft { text-align: center; text-indent: 0 } +.right { text-align: right; text-indent: 0 } + +/* LINE HEIGHT */ + +body { line-height: 1.5 } +p { margin: 0; + text-indent: 2em } + +/* PAGINATION */ + +.title, .subtitle { page-break-after: avoid } + +.container, .title, .subtitle, #pg-header + { page-break-inside: avoid } + +/* SECTIONS */ + +body { text-align: justify } + +p.pfirst, p.noindent { + text-indent: 0 +} + +.boxed { border: 1px solid black; padding: 1em } +.topic, .note { margin: 5% 0; border: 1px solid black; padding: 1em } +div.section { clear: both } + +div.line-block { margin: 1.5em 0 } /* same leading as p */ +div.line-block.inner { margin: 0 0 0 10% } +div.line { margin-left: 20%; text-indent: -20%; } +.line-block.noindent div.line { margin-left: 0; text-indent: 0; } + +hr.docutils { margin: 1.5em 40%; border: none; border-bottom: 1px solid black; } +div.transition { margin: 1.5em 0 } + +.vfill, .vspace { border: 0px solid white } + +.title { margin: 1.5em 0 } +.title.with-subtitle { margin-bottom: 0 } +.subtitle { margin: 1.5em 0 } + +/* header font style */ +/* http://dev.w3.org/csswg/css3-fonts/#propdef-font-size */ + +h1.title { font-size: 200%; } /* for book title only */ +h2.title, p.subtitle.level-1 { font-size: 150%; margin-top: 4.5em; margin-bottom: 2em } +h3.title, p.subtitle.level-2 { font-size: 120%; margin-top: 2.25em; margin-bottom: 1.25em } +h4.title, p.subtitle.level-3 { font-size: 100%; margin-top: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.5em; font-weight: bold; } +h5.title, p.subtitle.level-4 { font-size: 89%; margin-top: 1.87em; margin-bottom: 1.69em; font-style: italic; } +h6.title, p.subtitle.level-5 { font-size: 60%; margin-top: 3.5em; margin-bottom: 2.5em } + +/* title page */ + +h1.title, p.subtitle.level-1, +h2.title, p.subtitle.level-2 { text-align: center } + +#pg-header, +h1.document-title { margin: 10% 0 5% 0 } +p.document-subtitle { margin: 0 0 5% 0 } + +/* PG header and footer */ +#pg-machine-header { } +#pg-produced-by { } + +li.toc-entry { list-style-type: none } +ul.open li, ol.open li { margin-bottom: 1.5em } + +.attribution { margin-top: 1.5em } + +.example-rendered { + margin: 1em 5%; border: 1px dotted red; padding: 1em; background-color: #ffd } +.literal-block.example-source { + margin: 1em 5%; border: 1px dotted blue; padding: 1em; background-color: #eef } + +/* DROPCAPS */ + +/* BLOCKQUOTES */ + +blockquote { margin: 1.5em 10% } + +blockquote.epigraph { } + +blockquote.highlights { } + +div.local-contents { margin: 1.5em 10% } + +div.abstract { margin: 3em 10% } +div.image { margin: 1.5em 0 } +div.caption { margin: 1.5em 0 } +div.legend { margin: 1.5em 0 } + +.hidden { display: none } + +.invisible { visibility: hidden; color: white } /* white: mozilla print bug */ + +a.toc-backref { + text-decoration: none ; + color: black } + +dl.docutils dd { + margin-bottom: 0.5em } + +div.figure { margin-top: 3em; margin-bottom: 3em } + +img { max-width: 100% } + +div.footer, div.header { + clear: both; + font-size: smaller } + +div.sidebar { + margin: 0 0 0.5em 1em ; + border: medium outset ; + padding: 1em ; + background-color: #ffffee ; + width: 40% ; + float: right ; + clear: right } + +div.sidebar p.rubric { + font-family: sans-serif ; + font-size: medium } + +ol.simple, ul.simple { margin: 1.5em 0 } + +ol.toc-list, ul.toc-list { padding-left: 0 } +ol ol.toc-list, ul ul.toc-list { padding-left: 5% } + +ol.arabic { + list-style: decimal } + +ol.loweralpha { + list-style: lower-alpha } + +ol.upperalpha { + list-style: upper-alpha } + +ol.lowerroman { + list-style: lower-roman } + +ol.upperroman { + list-style: upper-roman } + +p.credits { + font-style: italic ; + font-size: smaller } + +p.label { + white-space: nowrap } + +p.rubric { + font-weight: bold ; + font-size: larger ; + color: maroon ; + text-align: center } + +p.sidebar-title { + font-family: sans-serif ; + font-weight: bold ; + font-size: larger } + +p.sidebar-subtitle { + font-family: sans-serif ; + font-weight: bold } + +p.topic-title, p.admonition-title { + font-weight: bold } + +pre.address { + margin-bottom: 0 ; + margin-top: 0 ; + font: inherit } + +.literal-block, .doctest-block { + margin-left: 2em ; + margin-right: 2em; } + +span.classifier { + font-family: sans-serif ; + font-style: oblique } + +span.classifier-delimiter { + font-family: sans-serif ; + font-weight: bold } + +span.interpreted { + font-family: sans-serif } + +span.option { + white-space: nowrap } + +span.pre { + white-space: pre } + +span.problematic { + color: red } + +span.section-subtitle { + /* font-size relative to parent (h1..h6 element) */ + font-size: 100% } + +table { margin-top: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.5em; border-spacing: 0 } +table.align-left, table.align-right { margin-top: 0 } + +table.table { border-collapse: collapse; } + +table.table.hrules-table thead { border: 1px solid black; border-width: 2px 0 0 } +table.table.hrules-table tbody { border: 1px solid black; border-width: 2px 0 } +table.table.hrules-rows tr { border: 1px solid black; border-width: 0 0 1px } +table.table.hrules-rows tr.last { border-width: 0 } +table.table.hrules-rows td, +table.table.hrules-rows th { padding: 1ex 1em; vertical-align: middle } + +table.table tr { border-width: 0 } +table.table td, +table.table th { padding: 0.5ex 1em } +table.table tr.first td { padding-top: 1ex } +table.table tr.last td { padding-bottom: 1ex } +table.table tr.first th { padding-top: 1ex } +table.table tr.last th { padding-bottom: 1ex } + + +table.citation { + border-left: solid 1px gray; + margin-left: 1px } + +table.docinfo { + margin: 3em 4em } + +table.docutils { } + +div.footnote-group { margin: 1em 0 } +table.footnote td.label { width: 2em; text-align: right; padding-left: 0 } + +table.docutils td, table.docutils th, +table.docinfo td, table.docinfo th { + padding: 0 0.5em; + vertical-align: top } + +table.docutils th.field-name, table.docinfo th.docinfo-name { + font-weight: bold ; + text-align: left ; + white-space: nowrap ; + padding-left: 0 } + +/* used to remove borders from tables and images */ +.borderless, table.borderless td, table.borderless th { + border: 0 } + +table.borderless td, table.borderless th { + /* Override padding for "table.docutils td" with "!important". + The right padding separates the table cells. */ + padding: 0 0.5em 0 0 } /* FIXME: was !important */ + +h1 tt.docutils, h2 tt.docutils, h3 tt.docutils, +h4 tt.docutils, h5 tt.docutils, h6 tt.docutils { + font-size: 100% } + +ul.auto-toc { + list-style-type: none } +</style> +<style type="text/css"> +/* +Project Gutenberg HTML docutils stylesheet. + +This stylesheet contains styles specific to HTML. +*/ + +/* FONTS */ + +/* em { font-style: normal } +strong { font-weight: normal } */ + +.small-caps { font-variant: small-caps } +.gesperrt { letter-spacing: 0.1em } + +/* ALIGN */ + +.align-left { clear: left; + float: left; + margin-right: 1em } + +.align-right { clear: right; + float: right; + margin-left: 1em } + +.align-center { margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto } + +div.shrinkwrap { display: table; } + +/* SECTIONS */ + +body { margin: 5% 10% 5% 10% } + +/* compact list items containing just one p */ +li p.pfirst { margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0 } + +.first { margin-top: 0 !important; + text-indent: 0 !important } +.last { margin-bottom: 0 !important } + +span.dropcap { float: left; margin: 0 0.1em 0 0; line-height: 1 } +img.dropcap { float: left; margin: 0 0.5em 0 0; max-width: 25% } +span.dropspan { font-variant: small-caps } + +.no-page-break { page-break-before: avoid !important } + +/* PAGINATION */ + +.pageno { position: absolute; right: 95%; font: medium sans-serif; text-indent: 0 } +.pageno:after { color: gray; content: '[' attr(title) ']' } +.lineno { position: absolute; left: 95%; font: medium sans-serif; text-indent: 0 } +.lineno:after { color: gray; content: '[' attr(title) ']' } +.toc-pageref { float: right } + +@media screen { + .coverpage, .frontispiece, .titlepage, .verso, .dedication, .plainpage + { margin: 10% 0; } + + div.clearpage, div.cleardoublepage + { margin: 10% 0; border: none; border-top: 1px solid gray; } + + .vfill { margin: 5% 10% } +} + +@media print { + div.clearpage { page-break-before: always; padding-top: 10% } + div.cleardoublepage { page-break-before: right; padding-top: 10% } + + .vfill { margin-top: 20% } + h2.title { margin-top: 20% } +} + +/* DIV */ +pre { font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.9em; white-space: pre-wrap } +</style> +<title>cii.rst</title> +<meta name="PG.Title" content="Castes In India" /> +<meta name="PG.Id" content="63231" /> +<meta name="PG.Released" content="2020-09-18" /> +<meta name="PG.Rights" content="Public Domain" /> +<meta name="PG.Producer" content="Joseph Koshy" /> +<meta name="PG.Credits" content="Transcribed from The Indian Antiquary, Vol. 46, pp. 81–95." /> +<meta name="DC.Title" content="Castes In India" /> +<meta name="DC.Creator" content="Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar" /> +<meta name="DC.Language" content="en" /> +<meta name="DC.Created" content="1917" /> + +<link rel="schema.DCTERMS" href="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" /> +<link rel="schema.MARCREL" href="http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/" /> +<meta name="DCTERMS.title" content="Castes in India" /> +<meta name="DCTERMS.source" content="file:///htdocs/ebookmaker/cache/20200918105821/cii.rst" /> +<meta name="DCTERMS.language" content="en" scheme="DCTERMS.RFC4646" /> +<meta name="DCTERMS.modified" content="2020-09-18T17:58:25.061708+00:00" scheme="DCTERMS.W3CDTF" /> +<meta name="DCTERMS.publisher" content="Project Gutenberg" /> +<meta name="DCTERMS.rights" content="Public Domain in the USA." /> +<link rel="DCTERMS.isFormatOf" href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63231" /> +<meta name="DCTERMS.creator" content="Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar" /> +<meta name="DCTERMS.creator" content="Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar" /> +<meta name="DCTERMS.created" content="2020-09-18" scheme="DCTERMS.W3CDTF" /> +<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width" /> +<meta name="generator" content="Ebookmaker 0.9.7 by Project Gutenberg" /> +</head> +<body> +<div class="document"> + + +<!-- this is the default PG-RST stylesheet --> +<!-- figure and image styles for non-image formats --> +<!-- default transition --> +<!-- default attribution --> +<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- --> +<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- --> +<div class="docutils container language-en pgheader" id="pg-header" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<p class="noindent pfirst"><span>This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States +and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no +restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it +under the terms of the </span><a class="reference internal" href="#project-gutenberg-license">Project Gutenberg License</a><span> included with +this ebook or online at </span><a class="reference external" href="https://www.gutenberg.org/license">https://www.gutenberg.org/license</a><span>. 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.</span></p> +<p class="noindent pnext"></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<div class="docutils container" id="pg-machine-header"> +<p class="noindent pfirst"><span>Title: Castes In India +<br /> +<br />Author: Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar +<br /> +<br />Release Date: September 18, 2020 [EBook #63231] +<br /> +<br />Language: English +<br /> +<br />Character set encoding: UTF-8</span></p> +</div> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="noindent pfirst" id="pg-start-line"><span>*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK </span><span>CASTES IN INDIA</span><span> ***</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="noindent pfirst" id="pg-produced-by"><span>Produced by Joseph Koshy.</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="noindent pfirst"><span>Transcribed from The Indian Antiquary, Vol. 46, pp. 81–95.</span></p> +</div> +<div class="clearpage"> +</div> +<div class="docutils container"> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="small">THE</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="xx-large">INDIAN ANTIQUARY</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="large">A JOURNAL OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="small">IN</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="center line"><span class="medium">ARCHÆOLOGY, EPIGRAPHY, ETHNOLOGY, GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY, FOLKLORE, LANGUAGES,</span></div> +<div class="center line"><span class="medium">LITERATURE, NUMISMATICS, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, </span><em class="italics medium">&c</em><span class="medium">., </span><em class="italics medium">&c</em><span class="medium">.</span></div> +</div> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="small">EDITED BY</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">SIR RICHARD CARNAC TEMPLE, BART, C.B., C.I.E., F.S.A.</span></p> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="center line"><span class="small">HON. FELLOW, TRIN. HALL, CAMBRIDGE,</span></div> +<div class="center line"><span class="small">FORMERLY LIEUT.-COLONEL, INDIAN ARMY.</span></div> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="small">AND</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium small-caps">Prof. DEVADATTA RAMKRISHNA BHANDARKAR, M.A.</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span>⸻</span></p> +<p class="center pnext"><span>VOL. XLVI.—1917.</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold medium">BOMBAY:</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="small small-caps">Printed and Published at the BRITISH INDIA PRESS, Mazgaon, Bombay.</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">LONDON:</span></p> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="center line"><span class="medium">BERNARD QUARITCH LIMITED, 11 GRAFTON STREET,</span></div> +<div class="center line"><span class="medium">NEW BOND STREET, W.</span></div> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">[</span><em class="italics medium">All Rights Reserved</em><span class="medium">.]</span></p> +</div> +<div class="clearpage"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst"><span>[pg 81]</span></p> +<div class="level-2 section" id="castes-in-india"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><span>CASTES IN INDIA.</span></h2> +<p class="center pfirst"><strong class="bold">Their mechanism, genesis and development.</strong><a class="footnote-reference" href="#id2" id="id1"><sup>1</sup></a></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="small">BY BHIMRAO R. AMBEDKAR, M. A.</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst"><span>Many of us, I dare say, have witnessed local, national, or +international expositions of material objects that make up the sum +total of human civilization. But few can entertain the idea of there +being such a thing as an exposition of human institutions. Exhibition +of human institutions is a strange idea; some might call it the +wildest of ideas. But as students of Ethnology I hope you will not be +hard on this innovation, for it is not so, and to you at least it +should not be strange.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>You all have visited, I believe, some historic place like the ruins of +Pompeii, and listened with curiosity to the history of the remains as +it flowed from the glib tongue of the guide. In my opinion a student +of Ethnology, in one sense at least, is much like the guide. Like his +prototype, he holds up (perhaps with more seriousness and desire of +self instruction) the social institutions to view, with all the +objectiveness humanly possible, and inquires into their origin and +function.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Most of our fellow students in this Seminar, which concerns itself +with Primitive </span><em class="italics">versus</em><span> Modern Society, have ably acquitted themselves +along these lines by giving lucid expositions of the various +institutions, modern or primitive, in which they are interested. It +is my turn now, this evening, to entertain you, as best I can, with a +paper on “Castes in India: their mechanism, genesis and development.”</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>I need hardly remind you of the complexity of the subject I intend to +handle. Subtler minds and abler pens than mine have been brought to +the task of unravelling the mysteries of Caste; but unfortunately it +still remains in the domain of the “unexplained,” not to say of the +“un-understood.” I am quite alive to the complex intricacies of a +hoary institution like Caste, but I am not so pessimistic as to +relegate it to the region of the unknowable, for I believe it can be +known. The caste problem is a vast one, both theoretically and +practically. Practically, it is an institution that portends +tremendous consequences. It is a local problem, but one capable of +much wider mischief, for “as long as caste in India does exist, Hindus +will hardly intermarry or have any social intercourse with outsiders; +and if Hindus migrate to other regions on earth, Indian caste would +become a world problem.”</span><a class="footnote-reference" href="#id4" id="id3"><sup>2</sup></a><span> Theoretically, it has defied a great +many scholars who have taken upon themselves, as a labour of love, to +dig into its origin. Such being the case, I cannot treat the problem +in its entirety. Time, space and acumen, I am afraid, would all fail +me, if I attempted to do otherwise than limit myself to a phase of it, +namely, the genesis, mechanism and spread of the caste system. I will +strictly observe this rule, and will dwell on extraneous matters only +when it is necessary to clarify or support a point in my thesis.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>To proceed with the subject. According to well-known ethnologists, +the population of India is a mixture of Aryans, Dravidians, Mongolians +and Scythians. All these stocks of people came into India from +various directions and with various cultures, centuries ago, when they +were in a tribal state. They all in turn elbowed their entry into the +country by fighting with their predecessors, and after a stomachful of +it settled down as peaceful neighbours. Through constant contact and +mutual intercourse they evolved a common [pg 82] culture that +superseded their distinctive cultures. It may be granted that there +has not been a thorough amalgamation of the various stocks that make +up the peoples of India, and to a traveller from within the boundaries +of India the East presents a marked contrast in physique and even in +colour to the West, as does the South to the North. But amalgamation +can never be the sole criterion of homogeneity as predicated of any +people. Ethnically all peoples are heterogeneous. It is the unity of +culture that is the basis of homogeneity. Taking this for granted, I +venture to say that there is no country that can rival the Indian +Peninsula with respect to the unity of its culture. It has not only a +geographic unity, but it has over and above all a deeper and a much +more fundamental unity—the indubitable cultural unity that covers the +land from end to end. But it is because of this homogeneity that +Caste becomes a problem so difficult to be explained. If the Hindu +Society were a mere federation of mutually exclusive units, the matter +would be simple enough. But Caste is a parcelling of an already +homogeneous unit, and the explanation of the genesis of Caste is the +explanation of this process of parcelling.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Before launching into our field of enquiry, it is better to advise +ourselves regarding the nature of a caste. I will therefore draw upon +a few of the best students of caste for their definitions of it.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>(1) M. Senart, a French authority, defines a caste as “a close +corporation, in theory at any rate rigorously hereditary: equipped +with a certain traditional and independent organisation, including a +chief and a council, meeting on occasion in assemblies of more or less +plenary authority and joining together at certain festivals: bound +together by common occupations, which relate more particularly to +marriage and to food and to questions of ceremonial pollution, and +ruling its members by the exercise of jurisdiction, the extent of +which varies, but which succeeds in making the authority of the +community more felt by the sanction of certain penalties and, above +all, by final irrevocable exclusion from the group.”</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>(2) Mr. Nesfield defines a caste as “a class of the community which +disowns any connection with any other class and can neither intermarry +nor eat nor drink with any but persons of their own community.”</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>(3) According to Sir H. Risley, “a caste may be defined as a +collection of families or groups of families bearing a common name +which usually denotes or is associated, with specific occupation, +claiming common descent from a mythical ancestor, human or divine, +professing to follow the same professional callings and are regarded +by those who are competent to give an opinion as forming a single +homogeneous community.”</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>(4) Dr. Ketkar defines caste as “a social group having two +characteristics: (1) membership is confined to those who are born of +members and includes all persons so born; (2) the members are +forbidden by an inexorable social law to marry outside the group.”</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>To review these definitions is of great importance for our purpose. +It will be noticed that taken individually the definitions of three of +the writers include too much or too little: none is complete or +correct by itself and all have missed the central point in the +mechanism of the Caste system. Their mistake lies in trying to define +caste as an isolated unit by itself, and not as a group within, and +with definite relations to, the system of caste as a whole. Yet +collectively all of them are complementary to one another, each one +emphasising what has been obscured in the other. By way of criticism, +therefore, I will take only those points common to all Castes in each +of the above definitions which are regarded as peculiarities of Caste +and evaluate them as such.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>[pg 83] To start with M. Senart, He draws attention to the “idea of +pollution” as a characteristic of Caste. With regard to this point it +may be safely said that it is by no means a peculiarity of Caste as +such. It usually originates in priestly ceremonialism and is a +particular case of the general belief in purity. Consequently its +necessary connection with Caste may be completely denied without +damaging the working of Caste. The “idea of pollution” has been +attached to the institution of Caste, only because the Caste that +enjoys the highest rank is the priestly Caste: while we know that +priest and purity are old associates. We may therefore conclude that +the “idea of pollution” is a characteristic of Caste only in so far as +Caste has a religious flavour. Mr. Nesfield in his way dwells on the +absence of messing with those outside the Caste as one of its +characteristics. In spite of the newness of the point we must say +that Mr. Nesfield has mistaken the effect for the cause. Caste, being +a self-enclosed unit, naturally limits social intercourse, including +messing etc., to members within it. Consequently this absence of +messing with outsiders is not due to positive prohibition, but is a +natural result of Caste, </span><em class="italics">i.e.</em><span>, exclusiveness. No doubt this absence +of messing, originally due to exclusiveness, acquired the prohibitory +character of a religious injunction, but it may be regarded as a later +growth. Sir H. Risley, makes no new point deserving of special +attention.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>We now pass on to the definition of Dr. Ketkar, who has done much for +the elucidation of the subject. Not only is he a native, but he has +also brought a critical acumen and an open mind to bear on his study +of Caste. His definition merits consideration, for he has defined +Caste in its relation to a system of Castes, and has concentrated his +attention only on those characteristics which are absolutely necessary +for the existence of a Caste within a system, rightly excluding all +others as being secondary or derivative in character. With respect to +his definition it must, however, be said that in it there is a slight +confusion of thought, lucid and clear as otherwise it is. He speaks +of </span><strong class="bold">Prohibition of Intermarriage</strong><span> and </span><strong class="bold">Membership by Autogeny</strong><span> as +the two characteristics of Caste. I submit that these are but two +aspects of one and the same thing, and not two different things as +Dr. Ketkar supposes them to be. If you prohibit inter-marriage the +result is that you limit, membership to those born within the group. +Thus the two are the obverse and the reverse sides of the same medal.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>This critical evaluation of the various characteristics of Caste +leaves no doubt that prohibition, or rather the absence of +intermarriage—endogamy, to be concise—is the only one that can be +called the essence of Caste when rightly understood. But some may +deny this on abstract anthropological grounds, for there exist +endogamous groups without giving rise to the problem of Caste. In a +general way this may be true, as endogamous societies, culturally +different, making their abode in localities more or less removed, and +having little to do with each other, are a physical reality. The +negroes and the whites and the various tribal groups that go by the +name of American Indians in the United States may be cited as more or +less appropriate illustrations in support of this view. But we must +not confuse matters, for in India the situation is different. As +pointed out before, the peoples of India form a homogeneous whole. +The various races of India occupying definite territories have more or +less fused into one another and do possess a cultural unity, which is +the only criterion of a homogeneous population. Given this +homogeneity as a basis, Caste becomes a problem altogether new in +character and wholly absent in the situation constituted by the mere +propinquity of endogamous social or tribal [pg 84] groups. Caste in +India means an artificial chopping off of the population into fixed +and definite units, each one prevented from fusing into another +through the custom of endogamy. Thus the conclusion is inevitable +that </span><strong class="bold">endogamy is the only characteristic that is peculiar to +Caste</strong><span>, and if we succeed in showing how endogamy is maintained, we +shall practically have proved the genesis and also the mechanism of +Caste.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>It may not be quite easy for you to anticipate why I regard endogamy +as a key to the mystery of the Caste system. Not to strain your +imagination too much, I will proceed to give you my reasons for it.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>It may not also be out of place to emphasize at this moment that no +civilized society of to-day presents more survivals of primitive times +than does the Indian society. Its religion is essentially primitive +and its tribal code, in spite of the advance of time and civilization, +operates in all its pristine vigour even to-day. One of these +primitive survivals, to which I wish particularly to draw your +attention, is the </span><strong class="bold">custom of exogamy</strong><span>. The prevalence of exogamy in +the primitive world is a fact too well known to need any explanation. +With the growth of history, however, exogamy has lost its efficacy +and, excepting the nearest blood-kins, there is usually no social bar +restricting the field of marriage. But regarding the peoples of India +the law of exogamy is a positive injunction even to-day. Indian +society still savours of the clan system, even though there are no +clans: and this can be easily seen from the law of matrimony which +centres round the principle of exogamy, for it is not that </span><em class="italics">sapindas</em><span> +(blood-kins) cannot marry, but a marriage even between </span><em class="italics">sagotras</em><span> (of +the same class) is regarded as a sacrilege.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Nothing is therefore more important for you to remember than the fact +that endogamy is foreign to the people of India. The various </span><em class="italics">gotras</em><span> +of India are and have been exogamous: so are the other groups with +totemic organization. It is no exaggeration to say that with the +people of India exogamy is a creed and none dare infringe it, so much +so that, in spite of the endogamy of the Castes within them, exogamy +is strictly observed and that there are more rigorous penalties for +violating exogamy than there are for violating endogamy. You will, +therefore, readily see that with exogamy as the rule there could be no +Castes, for exogamy means fusion. But we </span><em class="italics">have</em><span> Castes; consequently +in the final analysis creation of Castes, so far as India is +concerned, means the superposition of endogamy on exogamy. However, +in an originally exogamous population an easy working out of endogamy +(which is equivalent to the creation of Caste) is a grave problem, and +it is in the consideration of the means utilized for the preservation +of endogamy against exogamy that we may hope to find the solution of +our problem.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Thus the </span><strong class="bold">superposition of endogamy on exogamy means the creation of +Caste</strong><span>. But this is not an easy affair. Let us take an imaginary +group that desires to make itself into a Caste and analyse what means +it will have to adopt to make itself endogamous. If a group desires +to make itself endogamous a formal injunction against intermarriage +with outside groups will be of no avail, especially if prior to the +introduction of endogamy, exogamy had been the rule in all matrimonial +relations. Again, there is a tendency in all groups lying in close +contact with one another to assimilate and amalgamate, and thus +consolidate into a homogenous society. If this tendency is to be +strongly counteracted in the interest of Caste formation, it is +absolutely necessary to circumscribe a circle outside which people +should not contract marriages.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Nevertheless, this encircling to prevent marriages from without +creates problems from within which are not very easy of solution. +Roughly speaking, in a normal group the [pg 85] two sexes are more or +less evenly distributed, and generally speaking there is an equality +between those of the same age. The equality is, however, never quite +realized in actual societies. At the same time to the group that is +desirous of making itself into a caste the maintenance of equality +between the sexes becomes the ultimate goal, for without it endogamy +can no longer subsist. In other words, if endogamy is to be preserved +conjugal rights from within have to be provided for, otherwise members +of the group will be driven out of the circle to take care of +themselves in any way they can. But in order that the conjugal rights +be provided for from within, it is absolutely necessary to maintain a +numerical equality between the marriageable units of the two sexes +within the group desirous of making itself into a Caste. It is only +through the maintenance of such an equality that the necessary +endogamy of the group can be kept intact, and a very large disparity +is sure to break it.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">The problem of Caste, then, ultimately resolves itself into one of +repairing the disparity between the marriageable units of the two +sexes within it</strong><span>. Left to nature, the much needed parity between the +units can be realized only when a couple dies simultaneously. But +this is a rare contingency. The husband may die before the wife and +create a </span><em class="italics">surplus woman</em><span>, who must be disposed of, else through +intermarriage she will violate the endogamy of the group. In like +manner the husband may survive his wife and be a </span><em class="italics">surplus man</em><span>, whom +the group, while it may sympathise with him for the sad bereavement, +has to dispose of, else he will marry outside the Caste and will break +the endogamy. Thus both the </span><em class="italics">surplus man</em><span> and the </span><em class="italics">surplus woman</em><span> +constitute a menace to the Caste if not taken care of, for not finding +suitable partners inside their prescribed circle (and left to +themselves they cannot find any, for if the matter be not regulated +there can only be just enough pairs to go round) very likely they will +transgress the boundary, marry outside and import offspring that is +foreign to the Caste.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Let us see what our imaginary group is likely to do with this </span><em class="italics">surplus +man</em><span> and </span><em class="italics">surplus woman</em><span>. We will first take up the case of the +</span><em class="italics">surplus woman</em><span>. She can be disposed of in two different ways so as +to preserve the endogamy of the Caste.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>First: burn her on the funeral pyre of her deceased husband and get +rid of her. This, however, is rather an impracticable way of solving +the problem of sex disparity. In some cases it may work, in others it +may not. Consequently every </span><em class="italics">surplus woman</em><span> cannot thus be disposed +of, because it is an easy solution but a hard realization. And so the +</span><em class="italics">surplus woman</em><span> (＝ widow), if not disposed of, remains in the group: +but in her very existence lies a double danger. She may marry outside +the Caste and violate endogamy, or she may marry within the Caste and +through competition encroach upon the chances of marriage that must be +reserved for the potential brides in the Caste. She is therefore a +menace in any case, and something must be done to her if she cannot be +burned along with her deceased husband.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>The second remedy is to enforce widowhood on her for the rest of her +life. So far as the objective results are concerned, burning is a +better solution than enforcing widowhood. Burning the widow +eliminates all the three evils that a </span><em class="italics">surplus woman</em><span> is fraught with. +Being dead and gone she creates no problem of remarriage either inside +or outside the Caste. But compulsory widowhood is superior to burning +because it is more practicable. Besides being comparatively humane it +also guards against the evils of remarriage as does burning: but it +fails to guard the morals of the group. No doubt under compulsory +widowhood the woman remains, and just because she is deprived of her +natural right of being a legitimate wife in future, the incentive to +immoral conduct is increased. But [pg 86] this is by no means an +insuperable difficulty. She can be degraded to a condition in which +she is no longer a source of allurement.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>The problem of </span><em class="italics">surplus man</em><span> (＝ widower) is much more important and +much more difficult than that of the </span><em class="italics">surplus woman</em><span> in a group that +desires to make itself into a Caste. From time immemorial man as +compared with woman has had the upper hand. He is a dominant figure +in every group and of the two sexes has greater prestige. With this +traditional superiority of man over woman his wishes have always been +consulted. Woman, on the other hand, has been an easy prey to all +kinds of iniquitous injunctions, religious, social or economic. But +man as a maker of injunctions is most often above them all. Such +being the case, you cannot accord the same kind of treatment to a +</span><em class="italics">surplus man</em><span> as you can to a </span><em class="italics">surplus woman</em><span> in a Caste.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>The project of burning him with his deceased wife is hazardous in two +ways: first of all it cannot be done, simply because he is a man. +Secondly, if done, a sturdy soul is lost to the Caste. There remain +then only two solutions which can conveniently dispose of him. I say +conveniently, because he is an asset to the group.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Important as he is to the group, endogamy is still more important, and +the solution must assure both these ends. Under these circumstances +he may be forced, or I should say induced, after the manner of the +widow, to remain a widower for the rest of his life. This solution is +not altogether difficult, for without any compulsion some are so +disposed as to enjoy self-imposed celibacy, or even to take a further +step of their own accord and renounce the world and its joys. But, +given human nature as it is, this solution can hardly be expected to +be realized. On the other hand, as is very likely to be the case, if +the </span><em class="italics">surplus man</em><span> remains in the group as an active participator in +group activities, he is a danger to the morals of the group. Looked +at from a different point of view celibacy, though easy in cases where +it succeeds, is not so advantageous even then to the material +prospects of the Caste. If he observes genuine celibacy and renounces +the world, he would not be a menace to the preservation of Caste +endogamy or Caste morals as he undoubtedly would be if he remained a +secular person. But as an ascetic celibate he is as good as burned, +so far as the material well-being of his Caste is concerned. A Caste, +in order that it may be large enough to afford a vigorous communal +life, must be maintained at a certain numerical strength. But to hope +for this and to proclaim celibacy is the same as trying to cure +atrophy by bleeding.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Imposing celibacy on the </span><em class="italics">surplus man</em><span> in the group, therefore, fails +both theoretically and practically. It is in the interest of the +Caste to keep him as a </span><em class="italics">grahastha</em><span> (one who raises a family), to use a +Sanskrit technical term. But the problem is to provide him with a +wife from within the Caste. At the outset this is not possible, for +the ruling ratio in a caste has to be one man to one woman and none +can have two chances of marriage, for in a Caste thoroughly +self-enclosed there are always just enough marriageable women to go +round for the marriageable men. Under these circumstances the +</span><em class="italics">surplus man</em><span> can be provided with a wife only by recruiting a bride +from the ranks of those not yet marriageable in order to tie him down +to the group. This is certainly the best of the possible solutions in +the case of the </span><em class="italics">surplus man</em><span>. By this, he is kept within the Caste. +By this means numerical depletion through constant outflow is guarded +against, and by this endogamy and morals are preserved.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>It will now be seen that the four means by which numerical disparity +between the two sexes is conveniently maintained are: (1) Burning the +widow with her deceased [pg 87] husband; (2) Compulsory widowhood—a +milder form of burning; (3) Imposing celibacy on the widower; (4) +Wedding him to a girl not yet marriageable. Though, as I said above, +burning the widow and imposing celibacy on the widower are of doubtful +service to the group in its endeavour to preserve its endogamy, all of +them operate as </span><em class="italics">means</em><span>. But means, as forces, when liberated or set +in motion create an end. What then is the end that these means +create? They create and perpetuate endogamy, while caste and +endogamy, according to our analysis of the various definitions of +caste, are one and the same thing. Thus the existence of these means +is identical with caste and caste involves those means.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>This, in my opinion, is the general mechanism of a caste in a system +of castes. Let us now turn from these high generalities to the castes +in Hindu society and inquire into their mechanism. I need hardly +promise that there are a great many pitfalls in the path of those who +try to unfold the past, and caste in India to be sure is a very +ancient institution. This is especially true where there exist no +authentic or written records, or where the people, like the Hindus, +are so constituted that to them writing history is a folly, for the +world is an illusion. But institutions do live, though for a long +time they may remain unrecorded and as often as not customs and morals +are like fossils that tell their own history. If this is true, our +task will be amply rewarded if we scrutinize the solution the Hindus +arrived at to meet the problems of the </span><em class="italics">surplus man</em><span> and </span><em class="italics">surplus +woman</em><span>.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Complex though it be in its general working the Hindu Society, even to +a superficial observer, presents three singular uxorial customs, +namely:—</span></p> +<ol class="lowerroman simple"> +<li><p class="first pfirst"><em class="italics">Sati</em><span> or the burning of the widow on the funeral pyre of her +deceased husband.</span></p> +</li> +<li><p class="first pfirst"><span>Enforced widowhood by which a widow is not allowed to remarry.</span></p> +</li> +<li><p class="first pfirst"><span>Girl marriage.</span></p> +</li> +</ol> +<p class="pfirst"><span>In addition, one also notes a great hankering after </span><em class="italics">sannyasa</em><span> +(renunciation) on the part of the widower, but this may in some cases +be due purely to psychic disposition.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>So far as I know, no scientific explanation of the origin of these +customs is forthcoming even to-day. We have plenty of philosophy to +tell us why these customs were honoured, but nothing to tell us the +causes of their origin and existence. </span><em class="italics">Sati</em><span> has been honoured +(</span><em class="italics">Cf</em><span>. A. K. Coomaraswamy, </span><em class="italics">Sati: a Defence of the Eastern Woman</em><span> in +the </span><em class="italics">British Sociological Review</em><span>, Vol. VI. 1913) because it is a +“proof of the perfect unity of body and soul” between husband and wife +and of “devotion beyond the grave;” because it embodied the ideal of +wifehood, which is well expressed by Umâ when she said “Devotion to +her Lord is woman's honour, it is her eternal heaven: and O +Maheshvara,” she adds with a most touching human cry, “I desire not +paradise itself if thou art not satisfied with me!” Why compulsory +widowhood is honoured I know not, nor have I yet met with any one who +sang in praise of it, though there are a great many who adhere to it. +The eulogy in honour of girl marriage is reported by Dr. Ketkar to be +as follows: “A really faithful man or woman ought not to feel +affection for a woman or a man other than the one with whom he or she +is united. Such purity is compulsory not only after marriage, but +even before marriage, for that is the only correct ideal of chastity. +No maiden could be considered pure if she feels love for a man other +than the one to whom she might be married. As she does not know to +whom she is going to be married, she must not feel affection for any +man at all before marriage. If she does so, it is a sin. So it is +better for a girl to know whom she has to love, before any sexual +consciousness has been awakened in her.”</span><a class="footnote-reference" href="#id6" id="id5"><sup>3</sup></a><span> Hence girl marriage.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>This high-flown and ingenious sophistry indicates why these +institutions were honoured, but does not tell us why they were +practised. My own interpretation is that they were honoured because +they were practised. Any one slightly acquainted with rise of +individualism in the 18th century will appreciate my remark. At all +times, it is the movement that is most important; and the philosophies +grow around it long afterwards to justify it and give it a moral +support. In like manner I urge that the very fact that these customs +were so highly eulogized proves that they needed eulogy for their +prevalence. Regarding the question as to why they arose, I submit +that they were needed to create the structure of caste and the +philosophies in honour of them were intended to popularize them, or to +gild the pill, as we might say, for they must have been so abominable +and shocking to the moral sense of the unsophisticated that they +needed a great deal of sweetening. These customs are essentially of +the nature of </span><em class="italics">means</em><span>, though they are represented as ideals. But +this should not blind us from understanding the </span><em class="italics">results</em><span> that flow +from them. One might safely say that idealization of means is +necessary and in this particular case was perhaps motivated to endow +them with greater efficacy. Calling a means an end does no harm, +except that it disguises its real character; but it does not deprive +it of its real nature, that of a means. You may pass a law that all +cats are dogs, just as you can call a means an end. But you can no +more change the nature of means thereby than you can turn cats into +dogs; consequently I am justified in holding that, whether regarded as +ends or as means, </span><em class="italics">Sati</em><span>, </span><em class="italics">enforced widowhood</em><span> and </span><em class="italics">girl marriage</em><span> are +customs that were primarily intended to solve the problem of the +</span><em class="italics">surplus man</em><span> and </span><em class="italics">surplus woman</em><span> in a caste and to maintain its +endogamy. Strict endogamy could not be preserved without these +customs, while caste without endogamy is a fake.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Having explained the mechanism of the creation and preservation of +Caste in India, the further question as to its genesis naturally +arises. The question of origin is always an annoying question and in +the study of Caste it is sadly neglected: some have connived at it, +while others have dodged it. Some are puzzled as to whether there +could be such a thing as the origin of caste and suggest that “if we +cannot control our fondness for the word ‘origin’, we should better +use the plural form, </span><em class="italics">viz.</em><span>, ‘origins of caste’.” As for myself I do +not feel puzzled by the Origin of Caste in India, for, as I have +established before, endogamy is the only characteristic of Caste and +when I say </span><strong class="bold">origin of caste</strong><span> I mean </span><strong class="bold">the origin of the mechanism +for endogamy</strong><span>.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>The atomistic conception of individuals in a Society so greatly +popularised—I was about to say vulgarized—in political orations is the +greatest humbug. To say that individuals make up society is trivial; +society is always composed of classes. It may be an exaggeration to +assert the theory of class-conflict, but the existence of definite +classes in a society is a fact. Their basis may differ. They may be +economic or intellectual or social, but an individual in a society is +always a member of a class. This is a universal fact and early Hindu +society could not have been an exception to this rule, and, as a +matter of fact, we know it was not. If we bear this generalization in +mind, our study of the genesis of caste would be very much +facilitated, for we have only to determine what was the class that +first made itself into a caste, for class and caste, so to say, are +next door neighbours, and it is only a span that separates the two. +</span><strong class="bold">A caste is an enclosed class</strong><span>.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>The study of the origin of caste must furnish us with an answer to the +question—what is the class that raised this “enclosure” around itself? +The question [pg 89] may seem too inquisitorial, but it is pertinent, +and an answer to this will serve us to elucidate the mystery of the +growth and development of castes all over India. Unfortunately a +direct answer to this question is not within my power. I can answer +it only indirectly. I said just above that the customs in question +were current in the Hindu society. To be true to facts it is +necessary to qualify the statement, as it connotes universality of +their prevalence. These customs in all their strictness are +obtainable only in one caste, namely the Brahmans, who occupy the +highest place in the social hierarchy of the Hindu society; and as +their prevalence in Non-Brahman castes is derivative their observance +is neither strict nor complete. This important fact can serve as a +basis of an important observation. If the prevalence of these customs +in the non-Brahman Castes is derivative, as can be shown very easily, +then it needs no argument to prove what class is the father of the +institution of caste. Why the Brahman class should have enclosed +itself into a caste is a different question, which may be left as an +employment for another occasion. But the strict observance of these +customs and the social superiority arrogated by the priestly class in +all ancient civilizations are sufficient to prove that they were the +originators of this “unnatural institution” founded and maintained +through these unnatural means.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>I now come to the third part of my paper regarding the question of the +growth and spread of the caste system all over India. The question I +have to answer is: How did the institution of caste spread among the +rest of the non-Brahman population of the country? The question of +the spread of the castes all over India has suffered a worse fate than +the question of genesis. And the main cause, as it seems to me, is +that the two questions of spread and of origin are not separated. +This is because of the common belief among scholars that the caste +system has either been imposed upon the docile population of India by +a law-giver as a divine dispensation, or that it has grown according +to some law of social growth peculiar to the Indian people.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>I first propose to handle the law-giver of India. Every country has +its lawgiver, who arises as an incarnation (</span><em class="italics">avatar</em><span>) in times of +emergency to set right a sinning humanity and give it the laws of +justice and morality. Manu, the law-giver of India, if he did exist, +was certainly an audacious person. If the story that he gave the law +of caste be credited, then Manu must have been a dare-devil fellow and +the humanity that accepted his dispensation must be a humanity quite +different from the one we are acquainted with. It is unimaginable +that the law of caste was </span><em class="italics">given</em><span>. It is hardly an exaggeration to +say that Manu could not have outlived his law, for what is that class +that can submit to be degraded to the status of brutes by the pen of a +man, and suffer him to raise another class to the pinnacle? Unless he +was a tyrant who held all the population in subjection it cannot be +imagined that he could have been allowed to dispense his patronage in +this grossly unjust manner, as may be easily seen by a mere glance at +his “Institutes.” I may seem hard on Manu, but I am sure my force is +not strong enough to kill his ghost. He lives, like a disembodied +spirit and is appealed to, and I am afraid will yet live long. One +thing I want to impress upon you is that Manu did not </span><em class="italics">give</em><span> the </span><em class="italics">law</em><span> +of Caste and that he could not do so. Caste existed long before Manu. +He was an upholder of it and therefore philosophised about it, but +certainly he did not and could not ordain the present order of Hindu +Society. His work ended with the codification of existing caste rules +and the preaching of Caste </span><em class="italics">Dharma</em><span>. The spread and growth of the +Caste system is too [pg 90] gigantic a task to be achieved by the +power or cunning of an individual or of a class. Similar in argument +is the theory that the Brahmans created the caste. After what I have +said regarding Manu, I need hardly say anything more, except to point +out that it is incorrect in thought and malicious in intent. The +Brahmans may have been guilty of many things, and I dare say they are, +but the imposing of the caste system on the non-Brahman population was +beyond their mettle. They may have helped the process by their glib +philosophy, but they certainly could not have pushed their scheme +beyond their own confines. To fashion society after one's own +pattern! How glorious! How hard! One can take pleasure and eulogize +its furtherance, but cannot further it very far. The vehemence of my +attack may seem to be unnecessary: but I can assure you that it is not +uncalled for. There is a strong belief in the mind of orthodox Hindus +that the Hindu Society was somehow moulded into the frame work of the +Caste System, and that it is an organization consciously created by +the </span><em class="italics">Shâstras</em><span>. Not only does this belief exist, but it is being +justified on the ground that it cannot but be good, because it is +ordained by the </span><em class="italics">Shâstras</em><span> and the </span><em class="italics">Shâstras</em><span> cannot be wrong. I have +urged so much on the adverse side of this attitude, not because the +religious sanctity is grounded on scientific basis, nor to help those +reformers who are preaching against it. Preaching did not make the +caste system, neither will it unmake it. My aim is to show the +falsity of the attitude that has exalted religious sanction to the +position of a scientific explanation.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Thus the great man theory does not help us very far in solving the +spread of castes in India. Western scholars, probably not much given +to hero-worship, have attempted other explanations. The nuclei, round +which have “formed” the various castes in India, are, according to +them:—(1) occupation; (2) survivals of tribal organizations, etc.; (3) +the rise of new belief; (4) cross-breeding and (5) migration.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>The question may be asked whether these nuclei do not exist in other +societies and whether they are peculiar to India. If they are not +peculiar to India, but are common to the world, why is it that they +did not “form” caste on other parts of this planet? Is it because +those parts are holier than the land of the Vedas, or that the +professors are mistaken? I am afraid that the latter is the truth.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Inspite of the high theoretic value claimed by the several authors for +their respective theories, based on one or other of the above nuclei, +one regrets to say that on close examination they are nothing more +than filling illustrations—what Matthew Arnold means by “the grand +name without the grand thing in it.” Such are the various theories of +caste advanced by Sir Denzil Ibbetson, Mr. Nesfield, M. Senart and +Sir H. Risley. To criticise them in a lump would be to say that they +are a disguised form of the </span><em class="italics">Petitio Principii</em><span> of formal logic. To +illustrate: Mr. Nesfield says that “function and function only … was the +foundation upon which the whole system of castes in India was built +up.” But he may rightly be reminded that he does not very much +advance our thought by making the above statement, which practically +amounts to saying that castes in India are functional or occupational, +which is a very poor discovery! We have yet to know from Mr. Nesfield +why is it that an occupational group turned into an occupational +caste? I would very cheerfully have undertaken the task of dwelling on +the [pg 91] theories of other ethnologists, had it not been for the +fact that Mr. Nesfield's is a typical one.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Without stopping to criticize those theories that explain the caste +system as a natural phenomenon occurring in obedience to the law of +disintegration, as explained by Herbert Spencer in his formula +of evolution, or as natural as “the structural differentiation within +an organism”—to employ the phraseology of orthodox apologists—, or as +an early attempt to test the laws of eugenics—as all belonging to the +same class of fallacy which regards the caste system as inevitable, or +as being consciously imposed in anticipation of these laws on a +helpless and humble population, I will now lay before you my own view +on the subject.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>We shall be well advised to recall at the outset that the Hindu +society, in common with other societies, was composed of classes and +the earliest known are the (1) Brahmans or the priestly class: (2) the +Kshatriya, or the military class: (3) the Vaiśya, or the merchant +class: and (4) the Sudra, or the artisan and menial class. Particular +attention has to be paid to the fact that this was essentially a class +system, in which individuals, when qualified, could change their +class, and therefore classes did change their personnel. At some time +in the history of the Hindus, the priestly class socially detached +itself from the rest of the body of people and through a closed-door +policy became a caste by itself. The other classes being subject to +the law of social division of labour underwent differentiation, some +into large, others into very minute groups. The Vaiśya and Sudra +classes were the original inchoate plasm, which formed the sources of +the numerous castes of to-day. As the military occupation does not +very easily lend itself to very minute sub-division, the Kshatriya +class could have differentiated into soldiers and administrators.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>This sub-division of a society is quite natural. But the unnatural +thing about these sub-divisions is that they have lost the open door +character of the class system and have become self-enclosed units +called castes. The question is, were they compelled to close their +doors and become endogamous, or did they close them of their own +accord? I submit that there is a double line of answer: </span><strong class="bold">Some closed +the door: others found it closed against them</strong><span>. The one is a +psychological interpretation and the other is mechanistic, but they +are complementary and both are necessary to explain the phenomena of +caste formation in its entirety.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>I will first take up the psychological interpretation. The question +we have to answer in this connection is: Why did these sub-divisions +or classes, if you please, industrial, religious or otherwise, become +self-enclosed or endogamous? My answer is because the Brahmans were +so. Endogamy, or the closed-door system, was a fashion in the Hindu +Society, and as it had originated from the Brahman caste it was +whole-heartedly imitated by all the non-Brahman sub-divisions or +classes, who, in their turn, became endogamous castes. It is “the +infection of imitation” that caught all these sub-divisions on their +onward march of differentiation and has turned them into castes. The +propensity to imitate is a deep-seated one in the human mind and need +not be deemed an inadequate explanation for the formation of the +various castes in India. It is so deep-seated that Walter Bagehot +argues that “we must not think of … imitation as voluntary, or even +conscious. On the contrary it has its seat mainly in very obscure +parts of the mind, whose notions, so far from being consciously +produced, are hardly felt to exist; so far from being conceived +beforehand, are not even felt at the time. The main seat of the +imitative part of our nature is our belief, and the causes +predisposing us to believe this or disinclining us to believe that are +among the obscurest parts of our nature. But as to the imitative +nature [pg 92] of credulity there can be no doubt.”</span><a class="footnote-reference" href="#id10" id="id7"><sup>4</sup></a><span> This +propensity to imitate has been made the subject of a scientific study +by Gabriel Tarde, who lays down three laws of imitation. One of his +three laws is that imitation flows from the higher to the lower or, to +quote his own words, “Given the opportunity, a nobility will always +and everywhere imitate its leaders, its kings or sovereigns, and the +people likewise, given the opportunity, its nobility.”</span><a class="footnote-reference" href="#id11" id="id8"><sup>5</sup></a><span> Another of +Tarde's laws of imitation is: that the extent or intensity of +imitation varies inversely in proportion to distance, or in his own +words “the thing that is most imitated is the most superior one of +those that are nearest. In fact, the influence of the model's example +is efficacious inversely to its </span><em class="italics">distance</em><span> as well as directly to its +superiority. Distance is understood here in its sociological meaning. +However distant in space a stranger may be, he is close by, from this +point of view, if we have numerous and daily relations with him and if +we have every facility to satisfy our desire to imitate him. This law +of the imitation of the nearest, of the least distant, explains the +gradual and consecutive character of the spread of an example that has +been set by the higher social ranks.”</span><a class="footnote-reference" href="#id12" id="id9"><sup>6</sup></a></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>In order to prove my thesis—which really needs no proof—that some +castes were formed by imitation, the best way, it seems to me, is to +find out whether or not the vital conditions for the formation of +castes by imitation exist in the Hindu Society. The conditions for +imitation, according to this standard authority are: (1) That the +source of imitation must enjoy prestige in the group and (2) that +there must be “numerous and daily relations” among members of a group. +That these conditions were present in India there is little reason to +doubt. The Brahman is a semi-god and very nearly a demi-god. He sets +up a mode and moulds the rest. His prestige is unquestionable and is +the fountain-head of bliss and good. Can such a being, idolised by +Scriptures and venerated by the priest-ridden multitude, fail to +project his personality on the suppliant humanity? Why, if the story +be true, he is believed to be the very end of creation. Such a +creature is worthy of more than mere imitation, but at least of +imitation; and if he lives in an endogamous enclosure, should not the +rest follow his example? Frail humanity! Be it embodied in a grave +philosopher or a frivolous housemaid, it succumbs. It cannot be +otherwise. Imitation is easy and invention is difficult.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Yet another way of demonstrating the play of imitation in the +formation of castes is to understand the attitude of non-Brahman +classes towards those customs which supported the structure of caste +in its nascent days until, in the course of history, it became +embedded in the Hindu mind and hangs there to this day without any +support—for now it needs no prop but belief—like a weed on the surface +of a pond. In a way, but only in a way, the status of a caste in the +Hindu Society varies directly with the extent of the observance of the +customs of </span><em class="italics">sati</em><span>, enforced widowhood, and girl marriage. But +observance of these customs varies directly with the </span><em class="italics">distance</em><span> (I am +using the word in the Tardian sense) that separates the caste. Those +castes that are nearest to the Brahmans have imitated all the three +customs and insist on the strict observance thereof. Those that are +less near have imitated enforced widowhood and girl marriage; others, +a little further off, have only girl marriage, and those furthest off +have imitated only the belief in the caste principle. This imperfect +imitation, I dare say, is due partly to what Tarde calls “distance” +and partly to the barbarous character of these customs. This [pg 93] +phenomenon is a complete illustration of Tarde's law and leaves no +doubt that the whole process of caste-formation in India is a process +of imitation of the higher by the lower. At this juncture I will turn +back to support a former conclusion of mine, which might have appeared +to you as too sudden or unsupported. I said that the Brahman class +first raised the structure of caste by the help of those three customs +in question. My reason for that conclusion was that their existence +in other classes was derivative. After what I have said regarding the +rôle of imitation in the spread of these customs among the non-Brahman +castes, as means or as ideals, though the imitators have not been +aware of it, they exist among them as derivatives; and, if they are +derived, there must have been prevalent one original caste that was +high enough to have served as a pattern for the rest. But in a +theocratic society, who could be the pattern but the servant of God?</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>This completes the story of those that were weak enough to close their +doors. Let us now see how others were closed in as a result of being +closed out. This I call the mechanistic process of the formation of +caste. It is mechanistic because it is inevitable. That this line of +approach, as well as the psychological one, to the explanation of the +subject has escaped my predecessors is entirely due to the fact that +they have conceived Caste as a unit by itself and not as one within a +System of Caste. The result of this oversight or lack of sight has +been very detrimental to the proper understanding of the subject +matter and therefore its correct explanation. I will proceed to offer +my own explanation by making one remark which I will urge you to bear +constantly in mind. It is this: that </span><strong class="bold">caste in the singular number +is an unreality</strong><span>. </span><strong class="bold">Castes exist only in the plural number</strong><span>. There +is no such thing as </span><em class="italics">a</em><span> caste: there are always castes. To illustrate +my meaning: while making themselves into a caste, the Brahmans, by +virtue of this, created a non-Brahman caste; or, to express it in my +own way, while closing themselves in they closed others out. I will +clear my point by taking another illustration. Take India as a whole +with its various communities designated by the various creeds to which +they owe allegiance, to wit, the Hindus, Muhammadans, Jews, Christians +and Parsis. Now, barring the Hindus, the rest within themselves are +non-caste communities. But with respect to each other they are +castes. Again, if the first four enclose themselves, the Parsis are +directly closed out, but are indirectly closed in. Symbolically, if +group A. wants to be endogamous, group B. has to be so by sheer force +of circumstances.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Now apply the same logic to the Hindu society and you have another +explanation of the “fissiparous” character of caste, as a consequence +of the virtue of self-duplication that is inherent in it. Any +innovation that seriously antagonises the ethical, religious and +social code of the Caste is not likely to be tolerated by the Caste, +and the recalcitrant members of a Caste are in danger of being thrown +out of the Caste, and left to their own fate without having the +alternative of being admitted into or absorbed by other Castes. Caste +rules are inexorable and they do not wait to make nice distinctions +between kinds of offence. Innovation may be of any kind, but all +kinds will suffer the same penalty. A novel way of thinking will +create a new Caste for the old ones will not tolerate it. The noxious +thinker respectfully called Guru (Prophet) suffers the same fate as +the sinners in illegitimate love. The former creates a caste of the +nature of a religious sect and the latter a type of mixed caste. +Castes have no mercy for a sinner who has the courage to violate the +code. The penalty is excommunication and the result is a new caste. +It is not peculiar Hindu psychology that induces the excommunicated to +form themselves into a caste: far from it. On the contrary, very +often they have been quite [pg 94] willing to be humble members of +some caste (higher by preference) if they could be admitted within its +fold. But castes are enclosed units and it is their conspiracy with +clear conscience that compels the excommunicated to make themselves +into a caste. The logic of this obdurate circumstance is merciless, +and it is in obedience to its force that some unfortunate groups find +themselves enclosed, because others in enclosing, themselves have +closed them out, with the result that new groups (formed on any basis +obnoxious to the caste rules) by a mechanical law are constantly being +converted into castes to a bewildering multiplicity. Thus is told the +second tale in the process of Caste formation in India.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Now to summarise the main points of my thesis. In my opinion there +have been several mistakes committed by the students of Caste, which +have misled them in their investigations. European students of Caste +have unduly emphasised the rôle of colour in the caste-system. +Themselves impregnated by colour prejudices, they very readily +imagined it to be the chief factor in the Caste problem. But nothing +can be farther from the truth, and Dr. Ketkar is correct when he +insists that “All the princes whether they belonged to the so-called +Aryan race, or the so-called Dravidian race, were Aryas. Whether a +tribe or a family was racially Aryan or Dravidian was a question which +never troubled the people of India, until foreign scholars came in and +began to draw the line. The colour of the skin had long ceased to be +a matter of importance.”</span><a class="footnote-reference" href="#id14" id="id13"><sup>7</sup></a><span> Again, they have mistaken mere +descriptions for explanation and fought over them as though they were +theories of origin. There are occupational, religious, etc. castes, +it is true, but it is by no means an explanation of the origin of +Caste. We have yet to find out why occupational groups are castes; +but this question has never even been raised. Lastly they have taken +Caste very lightly as though a breath had made it. On the contrary, +Caste, as I have explained it, is almost impossible to be sustained: +for the difficulties that it involves are tremendous. It is true that +Caste rests on belief, but before belief comes to be the foundation of +an institution, the institution itself needs to be perpetuated and +fortified. My study of the Caste problem involves four main +points: (1) That in spite of the composite make-up of the Hindu +population, there is a deep cultural unity. (2) That Caste is a +parcelling into bits of a larger cultural unit. (3) That there was one +Caste to start with. (4) That classes have become Castes through +imitation and excommunication.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Peculiar interest attaches to the problem of Caste in India to-day, as +persistent attempts are being made to do away with this unnatural +institution. Such attempts at reform, however, have aroused a great +deal of controversy regarding its origin, as to whether it is due to +the conscious command of a Supreme Authority, or is an unconscious +growth in the life of a human society under peculiar circumstances. +Those who hold the latter view will, I hope, find some food for +thought in the standpoint adopted in this paper. Apart from its +practical importance the subject of Caste is an all absorbing problem +and the interest aroused in me regarding its theoretic foundations has +moved me to put before you some of the conclusions, which seem to me +well founded, and the grounds upon which they may be supported. I am +not, however, so presumptuous as to think them in any way final, or +anything more than a contribution to a discussion of the subject. It +seems to me that the car has been shunted on wrong lines, and the +primary object of the paper is to indicate what I regard to be the +right path of investigation, with a view to arrive at a serviceable +truth. We must, however, guard against approaching the subject with a +bias.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>[pg 95] Sentiment must be outlawed from the domain of science and +things should be judged from an objective standpoint. For myself I +shall find as much pleasure in a positive destruction of my own +ideology, as in a rational disagreement on a topic, which, +notwithstanding many learned disquisitions is likely to remain +controversial for ever. To conclude, while I am ambitious to advance +a Theory of Caste, if it can be shown to be untenable I shall be +equally willing to give it up.</span></p> +<div class="clearpage"> +</div> +<div class="docutils container footnotes"> +<div class="footnote-group"> +<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="id2" rules="none"> +<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup> +<tbody valign="top"> +<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id1">[<span class="smaller">1</span>]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst"><span class="smaller">A paper read before the Anthropology Seminar (9th May 1916) of +Dr. A. A. Goldenweiser, Columbia University, New York.</span></p> +</td></tr> +</tbody> +</table> +<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="id4" rules="none"> +<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup> +<tbody valign="top"> +<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id3">[<span class="smaller">2</span>]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst"><span class="smaller">Ketkar, </span><em class="italics smaller">Caste</em><span class="smaller">, p. 4.</span></p> +</td></tr> +</tbody> +</table> +<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="id6" rules="none"> +<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup> +<tbody valign="top"> +<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id5">[<span class="smaller">3</span>]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst"><em class="italics smaller">History of Caste in India</em><span class="smaller">, 1909, pp. 32–33.</span></p> +</td></tr> +</tbody> +</table> +<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="id10" rules="none"> +<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup> +<tbody valign="top"> +<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id7">[<span class="smaller">4</span>]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst"><em class="italics smaller">Physics and Politics</em><span class="smaller"> 1915, p. 60.</span></p> +</td></tr> +</tbody> +</table> +<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="id11" rules="none"> +<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup> +<tbody valign="top"> +<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id8">[<span class="smaller">5</span>]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst"><em class="italics smaller">Laws of Imitation</em><span class="smaller">, Tr. by E. C. Parsons, 2nd ed. p. 217.</span></p> +</td></tr> +</tbody> +</table> +<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="id12" rules="none"> +<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup> +<tbody valign="top"> +<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id9">[<span class="smaller">6</span>]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst"><em class="italics smaller">Ibid</em><span class="smaller">. p. 224.</span></p> +</td></tr> +</tbody> +</table> +<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="id14" rules="none"> +<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup> +<tbody valign="top"> +<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id13">[<span class="smaller">7</span>]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst"><em class="italics smaller">History of Caste</em><span class="smaller"> p. 82.</span></p> +</td></tr> +</tbody> +</table> +</div> +</div> +<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- --> +<div class="backmatter"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst" id="pg-end-line"><span>*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK </span><span>CASTES IN INDIA</span><span> ***</span></p> +<div class="cleardoublepage"> +</div> +<div class="language-en level-3 pgfooter section" id="a-word-from-project-gutenberg" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<span id="pg-footer"></span><h3 class="level-3 pfirst section-title title"><span>A Word from Project Gutenberg</span></h3> +<p class="pfirst"><span>We will update this book if we find any errors.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>This book can be found under: </span><a class="reference external" href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63231"><span>https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63231</span></a></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>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. +Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this +license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works to protect the Project Gutenberg™ concept and +trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be +used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific +permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, +complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for +nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, +performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given +away – you may do practically </span><em class="italics">anything</em><span> in the United States with +eBooks not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject +to the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.</span></p> +<div class="level-4 section" id="the-full-project-gutenberg-license"> +<span id="project-gutenberg-license"></span><h4 class="level-4 pfirst section-title title"><span>The Full Project Gutenberg License</span></h4> +<p class="pfirst"><em class="italics">Please read this before you distribute or use this work.</em></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full +Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at +</span><a class="reference external" href="https://www.gutenberg.org/license">https://www.gutenberg.org/license</a><span>.</span></p> +<div class="level-5 section" id="section-1-general-terms-of-use-redistributing-project-gutenberg-electronic-works"> +<h5 class="level-5 pfirst section-title title"><span>Section 1. General Terms of Use & Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works</span></h5> +<p class="pfirst"><strong class="bold">1.A.</strong><span> By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or +destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your +possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a +Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by +the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person +or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.B.</strong><span> “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.C.</strong><span> The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the +Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection +of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual +works in the collection are in the public domain in the United +States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the +United States and you are located in the United States, we do not +claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, +displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as +all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope +that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting free +access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ works +in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the Project +Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily comply with +the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the same format +with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when you share it +without charge with others.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.D.</strong><span> The copyright laws of the place where you are located also +govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most +countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside the +United States, check the laws of your country in addition to the terms +of this agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, +distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any +other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no +representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any +country outside the United States.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.E.</strong><span> Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.E.1.</strong><span> The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work +on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the +phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, +performed, viewed, copied or distributed:</span></p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<p class="pfirst"><span>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States +and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no +restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it +under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this +eBook or online at </span><a class="reference external" href="https://www.gutenberg.org">https://www.gutenberg.org</a><span> . 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.</span></p> +</div> +</blockquote> +<p class="pfirst"><strong class="bold">1.E.2.</strong><span> If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is +derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not +contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the +copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in +the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are +redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply +either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or +obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.E.3.</strong><span> If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is +posted with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and +distribution must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and +any additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms +will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works posted +with the permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of +this work.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.E.4.</strong><span> Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project +Gutenberg™ License terms from this work, or any files containing a +part of this work or any other work associated with Project +Gutenberg™.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.E.5.</strong><span> Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute +this electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg™ License.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.E.6.</strong><span> You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including +any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access +to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format other +than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official +version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ web site +(</span><a class="reference external" href="https://www.gutenberg.org">https://www.gutenberg.org</a><span>), you must, at no additional cost, fee or +expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a +means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original +“Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include +the full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.E.7.</strong><span> Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.E.8.</strong><span> You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works provided +that</span></p> +<ul class="open"> +<li><p class="first pfirst"><span>You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from +the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method you +already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed to +the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has agreed to +donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid within 60 +days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally +required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty payments +should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, +“Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation.”</span></p> +</li> +<li><p class="first pfirst"><span>You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies +you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he +does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ +License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all +copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue +all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ +works.</span></p> +</li> +<li><p class="first pfirst"><span>You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of +any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the +electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of +receipt of the work.</span></p> +</li> +<li><p class="first pfirst"><span>You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free +distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.</span></p> +</li> +</ul> +<p class="pfirst"><strong class="bold">1.E.9.</strong><span> If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than +are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing +from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The +Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ +trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3. below.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.F.</strong></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.F.1.</strong><span> Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend +considerable effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe +and proofread works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating +the Project Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the medium on which they may be +stored, may contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, +incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a +copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or +damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that +damage or cannot be read by your equipment.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.F.2.</strong><span> LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES – Except for the +“Right of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the +Project Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a +Project Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.F.3.</strong><span> LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND – If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium +with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you +with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in +lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person +or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second +opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If +the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing +without further opportunities to fix the problem.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.F.4.</strong><span> Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set +forth in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS,’ WITH +NO OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.F.5.</strong><span> Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of +damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement +violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the +agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or +limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or +unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the +remaining provisions.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.F.6.</strong><span> INDEMNITY – You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, +the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the +production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, +including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of +the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this +or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any +Defect you cause.</span></p> +</div> +<div class="level-5 section" id="section-2-information-about-the-mission-of-project-gutenberg"> +<h5 class="level-5 pfirst section-title title"><span>Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™</span></h5> +<p class="pfirst"><span>Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of +computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It +exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations +from people in all walks of life.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™'s +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will remain +freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future generations. To +learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and +how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the +Foundation web page at </span><a class="reference external" href="http://www.pglaf.org">http://www.pglaf.org</a><span> .</span></p> +</div> +<div class="level-5 section" id="section-3-information-about-the-project-gutenberg-literary-archive-foundation"> +<h5 class="level-5 pfirst section-title title"><span>Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation</span></h5> +<p class="pfirst"><span>The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +</span><a class="reference external" href="https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf">https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf</a><span> . Contributions to the +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to +the full extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the +mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its +volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous +locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt +Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email </span><a class="reference external" href="mailto:business@pglaf.org">business@pglaf.org</a><span>. Email +contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the +Foundation's web site and official page at </span><a class="reference external" href="http://www.pglaf.org">http://www.pglaf.org</a></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>For additional contact information:</span></p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line"><span>Dr. Gregory B. Newby</span></div> +<div class="line"><span>Chief Executive and Director</span></div> +<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="mailto:gbnewby@pglaf.org">gbnewby@pglaf.org</a></div> +</div> +</div> +</blockquote> +</div> +<div class="level-5 section" id="section-4-information-about-donations-to-the-project-gutenberg-literary-archive-foundation"> +<h5 class="level-5 pfirst section-title title"><span>Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation</span></h5> +<p class="pfirst"><span>Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without wide spread +public support and donations to carry out its mission of increasing +the number of public domain and licensed works that can be freely +distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest array of +equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations ($1 to +$5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt status +with the IRS.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular +state visit </span><a class="reference external" href="https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate">https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate</a></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To +donate, please visit: </span><a class="reference external" href="https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate">https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate</a></p> +</div> +<div class="level-5 section" id="section-5-general-information-about-project-gutenberg-electronic-works"> +<h5 class="level-5 pfirst section-title title"><span>Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works.</span></h5> +<p class="pfirst"><span>Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg™ +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in +the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper +edition.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Corrected </span><em class="italics">editions</em><span> of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is +renamed. </span><em class="italics">Versions</em><span> based on separate sources are treated as new +eBooks receiving new filenames and etext numbers.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search +facility:</span></p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<p class="pfirst"><a class="reference external" href="https://www.gutenberg.org">https://www.gutenberg.org</a></p> +</div> +</blockquote> +<p class="pfirst"><span>This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg™, including +how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe +to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.</span></p> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/63231-rst.zip b/63231-rst.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5517200 --- /dev/null +++ b/63231-rst.zip diff --git a/63231-rst/63231-rst.rst b/63231-rst/63231-rst.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ca7cc23 --- /dev/null +++ b/63231-rst/63231-rst.rst @@ -0,0 +1,1001 @@ + +.. -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- + +.. meta:: + :PG.Title: Castes In India + :PG.Id: 63231 + :PG.Released: 2020-09-18 + :PG.Rights: Public Domain + :PG.Producer: Joseph Koshy + :PG.Credits: Transcribed from The Indian Antiquary, Vol. 46, pp. 81–95. + :DC.Title: Castes In India + :DC.Creator: Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar + :DC.Language: en + :DC.Created: 1917 + +.. pgheader:: +.. clearpage:: +.. container:: center + + .. class:: small + + THE + + .. vspace:: 1 + .. class:: xx-large + + INDIAN ANTIQUARY + + .. vspace:: 1 + .. class:: large + + A JOURNAL OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH + + .. vspace:: 1 + .. class:: small + + IN + + .. vspace:: 1 + .. class:: medium + + | ARCHÆOLOGY, EPIGRAPHY, ETHNOLOGY, GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY, FOLKLORE, LANGUAGES, + | LITERATURE, NUMISMATICS, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, *&c*., *&c*. + + .. vspace:: 2 + .. class:: small + + EDITED BY + + .. vspace:: 1 + .. class:: medium + + SIR RICHARD CARNAC TEMPLE, BART, C.B., C.I.E., F.S.A. + + .. class:: small + + | HON. FELLOW, TRIN. HALL, CAMBRIDGE, + | FORMERLY LIEUT.-COLONEL, INDIAN ARMY. + + AND + + .. vspace:: 1 + .. class:: medium small-caps + + Prof. DEVADATTA RAMKRISHNA BHANDARKAR, M.A. + + .. vspace:: 2 + + ⸻ + + VOL. XLVI.—1917. + + + .. vspace:: 3 + .. class:: bold medium + + BOMBAY: + + .. vspace:: 1 + .. class:: small small-caps + + Printed and Published at the BRITISH INDIA PRESS, Mazgaon, Bombay. + + .. vspace:: 1 + .. class:: medium + + LONDON: + + | BERNARD QUARITCH LIMITED, 11 GRAFTON STREET, + | NEW BOND STREET, W. + + [*All Rights Reserved*.] + +.. clearpage:: + +[pg 81] + +================ +CASTES IN INDIA. +================ + +.. class:: center + + **Their mechanism, genesis and development.** [1]_ + + .. vspace:: 1 + + .. class:: small + + BY BHIMRAO R. AMBEDKAR, M. A. + +.. [1] A paper read before the Anthropology Seminar (9th May 1916) of + Dr. A. A. Goldenweiser, Columbia University, New York. + +.. vspace:: 1 + +Many of us, I dare say, have witnessed local, national, or +international expositions of material objects that make up the sum +total of human civilization. But few can entertain the idea of there +being such a thing as an exposition of human institutions. Exhibition +of human institutions is a strange idea; some might call it the +wildest of ideas. But as students of Ethnology I hope you will not be +hard on this innovation, for it is not so, and to you at least it +should not be strange. + +You all have visited, I believe, some historic place like the ruins of +Pompeii, and listened with curiosity to the history of the remains as +it flowed from the glib tongue of the guide. In my opinion a student +of Ethnology, in one sense at least, is much like the guide. Like his +prototype, he holds up (perhaps with more seriousness and desire of +self instruction) the social institutions to view, with all the +objectiveness humanly possible, and inquires into their origin and +function. + +Most of our fellow students in this Seminar, which concerns itself +with Primitive *versus* Modern Society, have ably acquitted themselves +along these lines by giving lucid expositions of the various +institutions, modern or primitive, in which they are interested. It +is my turn now, this evening, to entertain you, as best I can, with a +paper on “Castes in India: their mechanism, genesis and development.” + +I need hardly remind you of the complexity of the subject I intend to +handle. Subtler minds and abler pens than mine have been brought to +the task of unravelling the mysteries of Caste; but unfortunately it +still remains in the domain of the “unexplained,” not to say of the +“un-understood.” I am quite alive to the complex intricacies of a +hoary institution like Caste, but I am not so pessimistic as to +relegate it to the region of the unknowable, for I believe it can be +known. The caste problem is a vast one, both theoretically and +practically. Practically, it is an institution that portends +tremendous consequences. It is a local problem, but one capable of +much wider mischief, for “as long as caste in India does exist, Hindus +will hardly intermarry or have any social intercourse with outsiders; +and if Hindus migrate to other regions on earth, Indian caste would +become a world problem.” [2]_ Theoretically, it has defied a great +many scholars who have taken upon themselves, as a labour of love, to +dig into its origin. Such being the case, I cannot treat the problem +in its entirety. Time, space and acumen, I am afraid, would all fail +me, if I attempted to do otherwise than limit myself to a phase of it, +namely, the genesis, mechanism and spread of the caste system. I will +strictly observe this rule, and will dwell on extraneous matters only +when it is necessary to clarify or support a point in my thesis. + +.. [2] Ketkar, *Caste*, p. 4. + +To proceed with the subject. According to well-known ethnologists, +the population of India is a mixture of Aryans, Dravidians, Mongolians +and Scythians. All these stocks of people came into India from +various directions and with various cultures, centuries ago, when they +were in a tribal state. They all in turn elbowed their entry into the +country by fighting with their predecessors, and after a stomachful of +it settled down as peaceful neighbours. Through constant contact and +mutual intercourse they evolved a common [pg 82] culture that +superseded their distinctive cultures. It may be granted that there +has not been a thorough amalgamation of the various stocks that make +up the peoples of India, and to a traveller from within the boundaries +of India the East presents a marked contrast in physique and even in +colour to the West, as does the South to the North. But amalgamation +can never be the sole criterion of homogeneity as predicated of any +people. Ethnically all peoples are heterogeneous. It is the unity of +culture that is the basis of homogeneity. Taking this for granted, I +venture to say that there is no country that can rival the Indian +Peninsula with respect to the unity of its culture. It has not only a +geographic unity, but it has over and above all a deeper and a much +more fundamental unity—the indubitable cultural unity that covers the +land from end to end. But it is because of this homogeneity that +Caste becomes a problem so difficult to be explained. If the Hindu +Society were a mere federation of mutually exclusive units, the matter +would be simple enough. But Caste is a parcelling of an already +homogeneous unit, and the explanation of the genesis of Caste is the +explanation of this process of parcelling. + +Before launching into our field of enquiry, it is better to advise +ourselves regarding the nature of a caste. I will therefore draw upon +a few of the best students of caste for their definitions of it. + +\(1) M. Senart, a French authority, defines a caste as “a close +corporation, in theory at any rate rigorously hereditary: equipped +with a certain traditional and independent organisation, including a +chief and a council, meeting on occasion in assemblies of more or less +plenary authority and joining together at certain festivals: bound +together by common occupations, which relate more particularly to +marriage and to food and to questions of ceremonial pollution, and +ruling its members by the exercise of jurisdiction, the extent of +which varies, but which succeeds in making the authority of the +community more felt by the sanction of certain penalties and, above +all, by final irrevocable exclusion from the group.” + +\(2) Mr. Nesfield defines a caste as “a class of the community which +disowns any connection with any other class and can neither intermarry +nor eat nor drink with any but persons of their own community.” + +\(3) According to Sir H. Risley, “a caste may be defined as a +collection of families or groups of families bearing a common name +which usually denotes or is associated, with specific occupation, +claiming common descent from a mythical ancestor, human or divine, +professing to follow the same professional callings and are regarded +by those who are competent to give an opinion as forming a single +homogeneous community.” + +\(4) Dr. Ketkar defines caste as “a social group having two +characteristics: (1) membership is confined to those who are born of +members and includes all persons so born; (2) the members are +forbidden by an inexorable social law to marry outside the group.” + +To review these definitions is of great importance for our purpose. +It will be noticed that taken individually the definitions of three of +the writers include too much or too little: none is complete or +correct by itself and all have missed the central point in the +mechanism of the Caste system. Their mistake lies in trying to define +caste as an isolated unit by itself, and not as a group within, and +with definite relations to, the system of caste as a whole. Yet +collectively all of them are complementary to one another, each one +emphasising what has been obscured in the other. By way of criticism, +therefore, I will take only those points common to all Castes in each +of the above definitions which are regarded as peculiarities of Caste +and evaluate them as such. + +[pg 83] To start with M. Senart, He draws attention to the “idea of +pollution” as a characteristic of Caste. With regard to this point it +may be safely said that it is by no means a peculiarity of Caste as +such. It usually originates in priestly ceremonialism and is a +particular case of the general belief in purity. Consequently its +necessary connection with Caste may be completely denied without +damaging the working of Caste. The “idea of pollution” has been +attached to the institution of Caste, only because the Caste that +enjoys the highest rank is the priestly Caste: while we know that +priest and purity are old associates. We may therefore conclude that +the “idea of pollution” is a characteristic of Caste only in so far as +Caste has a religious flavour. Mr. Nesfield in his way dwells on the +absence of messing with those outside the Caste as one of its +characteristics. In spite of the newness of the point we must say +that Mr. Nesfield has mistaken the effect for the cause. Caste, being +a self-enclosed unit, naturally limits social intercourse, including +messing etc., to members within it. Consequently this absence of +messing with outsiders is not due to positive prohibition, but is a +natural result of Caste, *i.e.*, exclusiveness. No doubt this absence +of messing, originally due to exclusiveness, acquired the prohibitory +character of a religious injunction, but it may be regarded as a later +growth. Sir H. Risley, makes no new point deserving of special +attention. + +We now pass on to the definition of Dr. Ketkar, who has done much for +the elucidation of the subject. Not only is he a native, but he has +also brought a critical acumen and an open mind to bear on his study +of Caste. His definition merits consideration, for he has defined +Caste in its relation to a system of Castes, and has concentrated his +attention only on those characteristics which are absolutely necessary +for the existence of a Caste within a system, rightly excluding all +others as being secondary or derivative in character. With respect to +his definition it must, however, be said that in it there is a slight +confusion of thought, lucid and clear as otherwise it is. He speaks +of **Prohibition of Intermarriage** and **Membership by Autogeny** as +the two characteristics of Caste. I submit that these are but two +aspects of one and the same thing, and not two different things as +Dr. Ketkar supposes them to be. If you prohibit inter-marriage the +result is that you limit, membership to those born within the group. +Thus the two are the obverse and the reverse sides of the same medal. + +This critical evaluation of the various characteristics of Caste +leaves no doubt that prohibition, or rather the absence of +intermarriage—endogamy, to be concise—is the only one that can be +called the essence of Caste when rightly understood. But some may +deny this on abstract anthropological grounds, for there exist +endogamous groups without giving rise to the problem of Caste. In a +general way this may be true, as endogamous societies, culturally +different, making their abode in localities more or less removed, and +having little to do with each other, are a physical reality. The +negroes and the whites and the various tribal groups that go by the +name of American Indians in the United States may be cited as more or +less appropriate illustrations in support of this view. But we must +not confuse matters, for in India the situation is different. As +pointed out before, the peoples of India form a homogeneous whole. +The various races of India occupying definite territories have more or +less fused into one another and do possess a cultural unity, which is +the only criterion of a homogeneous population. Given this +homogeneity as a basis, Caste becomes a problem altogether new in +character and wholly absent in the situation constituted by the mere +propinquity of endogamous social or tribal [pg 84] groups. Caste in +India means an artificial chopping off of the population into fixed +and definite units, each one prevented from fusing into another +through the custom of endogamy. Thus the conclusion is inevitable +that **endogamy is the only characteristic that is peculiar to +Caste**, and if we succeed in showing how endogamy is maintained, we +shall practically have proved the genesis and also the mechanism of +Caste. + +It may not be quite easy for you to anticipate why I regard endogamy +as a key to the mystery of the Caste system. Not to strain your +imagination too much, I will proceed to give you my reasons for it. + +It may not also be out of place to emphasize at this moment that no +civilized society of to-day presents more survivals of primitive times +than does the Indian society. Its religion is essentially primitive +and its tribal code, in spite of the advance of time and civilization, +operates in all its pristine vigour even to-day. One of these +primitive survivals, to which I wish particularly to draw your +attention, is the **custom of exogamy**. The prevalence of exogamy in +the primitive world is a fact too well known to need any explanation. +With the growth of history, however, exogamy has lost its efficacy +and, excepting the nearest blood-kins, there is usually no social bar +restricting the field of marriage. But regarding the peoples of India +the law of exogamy is a positive injunction even to-day. Indian +society still savours of the clan system, even though there are no +clans: and this can be easily seen from the law of matrimony which +centres round the principle of exogamy, for it is not that *sapindas* +(blood-kins) cannot marry, but a marriage even between *sagotras* (of +the same class) is regarded as a sacrilege. + +Nothing is therefore more important for you to remember than the fact +that endogamy is foreign to the people of India. The various *gotras* +of India are and have been exogamous: so are the other groups with +totemic organization. It is no exaggeration to say that with the +people of India exogamy is a creed and none dare infringe it, so much +so that, in spite of the endogamy of the Castes within them, exogamy +is strictly observed and that there are more rigorous penalties for +violating exogamy than there are for violating endogamy. You will, +therefore, readily see that with exogamy as the rule there could be no +Castes, for exogamy means fusion. But we *have* Castes; consequently +in the final analysis creation of Castes, so far as India is +concerned, means the superposition of endogamy on exogamy. However, +in an originally exogamous population an easy working out of endogamy +(which is equivalent to the creation of Caste) is a grave problem, and +it is in the consideration of the means utilized for the preservation +of endogamy against exogamy that we may hope to find the solution of +our problem. + +Thus the **superposition of endogamy on exogamy means the creation of +Caste**. But this is not an easy affair. Let us take an imaginary +group that desires to make itself into a Caste and analyse what means +it will have to adopt to make itself endogamous. If a group desires +to make itself endogamous a formal injunction against intermarriage +with outside groups will be of no avail, especially if prior to the +introduction of endogamy, exogamy had been the rule in all matrimonial +relations. Again, there is a tendency in all groups lying in close +contact with one another to assimilate and amalgamate, and thus +consolidate into a homogenous society. If this tendency is to be +strongly counteracted in the interest of Caste formation, it is +absolutely necessary to circumscribe a circle outside which people +should not contract marriages. + +Nevertheless, this encircling to prevent marriages from without +creates problems from within which are not very easy of solution. +Roughly speaking, in a normal group the [pg 85] two sexes are more or +less evenly distributed, and generally speaking there is an equality +between those of the same age. The equality is, however, never quite +realized in actual societies. At the same time to the group that is +desirous of making itself into a caste the maintenance of equality +between the sexes becomes the ultimate goal, for without it endogamy +can no longer subsist. In other words, if endogamy is to be preserved +conjugal rights from within have to be provided for, otherwise members +of the group will be driven out of the circle to take care of +themselves in any way they can. But in order that the conjugal rights +be provided for from within, it is absolutely necessary to maintain a +numerical equality between the marriageable units of the two sexes +within the group desirous of making itself into a Caste. It is only +through the maintenance of such an equality that the necessary +endogamy of the group can be kept intact, and a very large disparity +is sure to break it. + +**The problem of Caste, then, ultimately resolves itself into one of +repairing the disparity between the marriageable units of the two +sexes within it**. Left to nature, the much needed parity between the +units can be realized only when a couple dies simultaneously. But +this is a rare contingency. The husband may die before the wife and +create a *surplus woman*, who must be disposed of, else through +intermarriage she will violate the endogamy of the group. In like +manner the husband may survive his wife and be a *surplus man*, whom +the group, while it may sympathise with him for the sad bereavement, +has to dispose of, else he will marry outside the Caste and will break +the endogamy. Thus both the *surplus man* and the *surplus woman* +constitute a menace to the Caste if not taken care of, for not finding +suitable partners inside their prescribed circle (and left to +themselves they cannot find any, for if the matter be not regulated +there can only be just enough pairs to go round) very likely they will +transgress the boundary, marry outside and import offspring that is +foreign to the Caste. + +Let us see what our imaginary group is likely to do with this *surplus +man* and *surplus woman*. We will first take up the case of the +*surplus woman*. She can be disposed of in two different ways so as +to preserve the endogamy of the Caste. + +First: burn her on the funeral pyre of her deceased husband and get +rid of her. This, however, is rather an impracticable way of solving +the problem of sex disparity. In some cases it may work, in others it +may not. Consequently every *surplus woman* cannot thus be disposed +of, because it is an easy solution but a hard realization. And so the +*surplus woman* (＝ widow), if not disposed of, remains in the group: +but in her very existence lies a double danger. She may marry outside +the Caste and violate endogamy, or she may marry within the Caste and +through competition encroach upon the chances of marriage that must be +reserved for the potential brides in the Caste. She is therefore a +menace in any case, and something must be done to her if she cannot be +burned along with her deceased husband. + +The second remedy is to enforce widowhood on her for the rest of her +life. So far as the objective results are concerned, burning is a +better solution than enforcing widowhood. Burning the widow +eliminates all the three evils that a *surplus woman* is fraught with. +Being dead and gone she creates no problem of remarriage either inside +or outside the Caste. But compulsory widowhood is superior to burning +because it is more practicable. Besides being comparatively humane it +also guards against the evils of remarriage as does burning: but it +fails to guard the morals of the group. No doubt under compulsory +widowhood the woman remains, and just because she is deprived of her +natural right of being a legitimate wife in future, the incentive to +immoral conduct is increased. But [pg 86] this is by no means an +insuperable difficulty. She can be degraded to a condition in which +she is no longer a source of allurement. + +The problem of *surplus man* (＝ widower) is much more important and +much more difficult than that of the *surplus woman* in a group that +desires to make itself into a Caste. From time immemorial man as +compared with woman has had the upper hand. He is a dominant figure +in every group and of the two sexes has greater prestige. With this +traditional superiority of man over woman his wishes have always been +consulted. Woman, on the other hand, has been an easy prey to all +kinds of iniquitous injunctions, religious, social or economic. But +man as a maker of injunctions is most often above them all. Such +being the case, you cannot accord the same kind of treatment to a +*surplus man* as you can to a *surplus woman* in a Caste. + +The project of burning him with his deceased wife is hazardous in two +ways: first of all it cannot be done, simply because he is a man. +Secondly, if done, a sturdy soul is lost to the Caste. There remain +then only two solutions which can conveniently dispose of him. I say +conveniently, because he is an asset to the group. + +Important as he is to the group, endogamy is still more important, and +the solution must assure both these ends. Under these circumstances +he may be forced, or I should say induced, after the manner of the +widow, to remain a widower for the rest of his life. This solution is +not altogether difficult, for without any compulsion some are so +disposed as to enjoy self-imposed celibacy, or even to take a further +step of their own accord and renounce the world and its joys. But, +given human nature as it is, this solution can hardly be expected to +be realized. On the other hand, as is very likely to be the case, if +the *surplus man* remains in the group as an active participator in +group activities, he is a danger to the morals of the group. Looked +at from a different point of view celibacy, though easy in cases where +it succeeds, is not so advantageous even then to the material +prospects of the Caste. If he observes genuine celibacy and renounces +the world, he would not be a menace to the preservation of Caste +endogamy or Caste morals as he undoubtedly would be if he remained a +secular person. But as an ascetic celibate he is as good as burned, +so far as the material well-being of his Caste is concerned. A Caste, +in order that it may be large enough to afford a vigorous communal +life, must be maintained at a certain numerical strength. But to hope +for this and to proclaim celibacy is the same as trying to cure +atrophy by bleeding. + +Imposing celibacy on the *surplus man* in the group, therefore, fails +both theoretically and practically. It is in the interest of the +Caste to keep him as a *grahastha* (one who raises a family), to use a +Sanskrit technical term. But the problem is to provide him with a +wife from within the Caste. At the outset this is not possible, for +the ruling ratio in a caste has to be one man to one woman and none +can have two chances of marriage, for in a Caste thoroughly +self-enclosed there are always just enough marriageable women to go +round for the marriageable men. Under these circumstances the +*surplus man* can be provided with a wife only by recruiting a bride +from the ranks of those not yet marriageable in order to tie him down +to the group. This is certainly the best of the possible solutions in +the case of the *surplus man*. By this, he is kept within the Caste. +By this means numerical depletion through constant outflow is guarded +against, and by this endogamy and morals are preserved. + +It will now be seen that the four means by which numerical disparity +between the two sexes is conveniently maintained are: (1) Burning the +widow with her deceased [pg 87] husband; (2) Compulsory widowhood—a +milder form of burning; (3) Imposing celibacy on the widower; (4) +Wedding him to a girl not yet marriageable. Though, as I said above, +burning the widow and imposing celibacy on the widower are of doubtful +service to the group in its endeavour to preserve its endogamy, all of +them operate as *means*. But means, as forces, when liberated or set +in motion create an end. What then is the end that these means +create? They create and perpetuate endogamy, while caste and +endogamy, according to our analysis of the various definitions of +caste, are one and the same thing. Thus the existence of these means +is identical with caste and caste involves those means. + +This, in my opinion, is the general mechanism of a caste in a system +of castes. Let us now turn from these high generalities to the castes +in Hindu society and inquire into their mechanism. I need hardly +promise that there are a great many pitfalls in the path of those who +try to unfold the past, and caste in India to be sure is a very +ancient institution. This is especially true where there exist no +authentic or written records, or where the people, like the Hindus, +are so constituted that to them writing history is a folly, for the +world is an illusion. But institutions do live, though for a long +time they may remain unrecorded and as often as not customs and morals +are like fossils that tell their own history. If this is true, our +task will be amply rewarded if we scrutinize the solution the Hindus +arrived at to meet the problems of the *surplus man* and *surplus +woman*. + +Complex though it be in its general working the Hindu Society, even to +a superficial observer, presents three singular uxorial customs, +namely:— + +(i) *Sati* or the burning of the widow on the funeral pyre of her + deceased husband. +(ii) Enforced widowhood by which a widow is not allowed to remarry. +(iii) Girl marriage. + +In addition, one also notes a great hankering after *sannyasa* +(renunciation) on the part of the widower, but this may in some cases +be due purely to psychic disposition. + +So far as I know, no scientific explanation of the origin of these +customs is forthcoming even to-day. We have plenty of philosophy to +tell us why these customs were honoured, but nothing to tell us the +causes of their origin and existence. *Sati* has been honoured +(*Cf*. A. K. Coomaraswamy, *Sati: a Defence of the Eastern Woman* in +the *British Sociological Review*, Vol. VI. 1913) because it is a +“proof of the perfect unity of body and soul” between husband and wife +and of “devotion beyond the grave;” because it embodied the ideal of +wifehood, which is well expressed by Umâ when she said “Devotion to +her Lord is woman's honour, it is her eternal heaven: and O +Maheshvara,” she adds with a most touching human cry, “I desire not +paradise itself if thou art not satisfied with me!” Why compulsory +widowhood is honoured I know not, nor have I yet met with any one who +sang in praise of it, though there are a great many who adhere to it. +The eulogy in honour of girl marriage is reported by Dr. Ketkar to be +as follows: “A really faithful man or woman ought not to feel +affection for a woman or a man other than the one with whom he or she +is united. Such purity is compulsory not only after marriage, but +even before marriage, for that is the only correct ideal of chastity. +No maiden could be considered pure if she feels love for a man other +than the one to whom she might be married. As she does not know to +whom she is going to be married, she must not feel affection for any +man at all before marriage. If she does so, it is a sin. So it is +better for a girl to know whom she has to love, before any sexual +consciousness has been awakened in her.” [3]_ Hence girl marriage. + +.. [3] *History of Caste in India*, 1909, pp. 32–33. + +This high-flown and ingenious sophistry indicates why these +institutions were honoured, but does not tell us why they were +practised. My own interpretation is that they were honoured because +they were practised. Any one slightly acquainted with rise of +individualism in the 18th century will appreciate my remark. At all +times, it is the movement that is most important; and the philosophies +grow around it long afterwards to justify it and give it a moral +support. In like manner I urge that the very fact that these customs +were so highly eulogized proves that they needed eulogy for their +prevalence. Regarding the question as to why they arose, I submit +that they were needed to create the structure of caste and the +philosophies in honour of them were intended to popularize them, or to +gild the pill, as we might say, for they must have been so abominable +and shocking to the moral sense of the unsophisticated that they +needed a great deal of sweetening. These customs are essentially of +the nature of *means*, though they are represented as ideals. But +this should not blind us from understanding the *results* that flow +from them. One might safely say that idealization of means is +necessary and in this particular case was perhaps motivated to endow +them with greater efficacy. Calling a means an end does no harm, +except that it disguises its real character; but it does not deprive +it of its real nature, that of a means. You may pass a law that all +cats are dogs, just as you can call a means an end. But you can no +more change the nature of means thereby than you can turn cats into +dogs; consequently I am justified in holding that, whether regarded as +ends or as means, *Sati*, *enforced widowhood* and *girl marriage* are +customs that were primarily intended to solve the problem of the +*surplus man* and *surplus woman* in a caste and to maintain its +endogamy. Strict endogamy could not be preserved without these +customs, while caste without endogamy is a fake. + +Having explained the mechanism of the creation and preservation of +Caste in India, the further question as to its genesis naturally +arises. The question of origin is always an annoying question and in +the study of Caste it is sadly neglected: some have connived at it, +while others have dodged it. Some are puzzled as to whether there +could be such a thing as the origin of caste and suggest that “if we +cannot control our fondness for the word ‘origin’, we should better +use the plural form, *viz.*, ‘origins of caste’.” As for myself I do +not feel puzzled by the Origin of Caste in India, for, as I have +established before, endogamy is the only characteristic of Caste and +when I say **origin of caste** I mean **the origin of the mechanism +for endogamy**. + +The atomistic conception of individuals in a Society so greatly +popularised—I was about to say vulgarized—in political orations is the +greatest humbug. To say that individuals make up society is trivial; +society is always composed of classes. It may be an exaggeration to +assert the theory of class-conflict, but the existence of definite +classes in a society is a fact. Their basis may differ. They may be +economic or intellectual or social, but an individual in a society is +always a member of a class. This is a universal fact and early Hindu +society could not have been an exception to this rule, and, as a +matter of fact, we know it was not. If we bear this generalization in +mind, our study of the genesis of caste would be very much +facilitated, for we have only to determine what was the class that +first made itself into a caste, for class and caste, so to say, are +next door neighbours, and it is only a span that separates the two. +**A caste is an enclosed class**. + +The study of the origin of caste must furnish us with an answer to the +question—what is the class that raised this “enclosure” around itself? +The question [pg 89] may seem too inquisitorial, but it is pertinent, +and an answer to this will serve us to elucidate the mystery of the +growth and development of castes all over India. Unfortunately a +direct answer to this question is not within my power. I can answer +it only indirectly. I said just above that the customs in question +were current in the Hindu society. To be true to facts it is +necessary to qualify the statement, as it connotes universality of +their prevalence. These customs in all their strictness are +obtainable only in one caste, namely the Brahmans, who occupy the +highest place in the social hierarchy of the Hindu society; and as +their prevalence in Non-Brahman castes is derivative their observance +is neither strict nor complete. This important fact can serve as a +basis of an important observation. If the prevalence of these customs +in the non-Brahman Castes is derivative, as can be shown very easily, +then it needs no argument to prove what class is the father of the +institution of caste. Why the Brahman class should have enclosed +itself into a caste is a different question, which may be left as an +employment for another occasion. But the strict observance of these +customs and the social superiority arrogated by the priestly class in +all ancient civilizations are sufficient to prove that they were the +originators of this “unnatural institution” founded and maintained +through these unnatural means. + +I now come to the third part of my paper regarding the question of the +growth and spread of the caste system all over India. The question I +have to answer is: How did the institution of caste spread among the +rest of the non-Brahman population of the country? The question of +the spread of the castes all over India has suffered a worse fate than +the question of genesis. And the main cause, as it seems to me, is +that the two questions of spread and of origin are not separated. +This is because of the common belief among scholars that the caste +system has either been imposed upon the docile population of India by +a law-giver as a divine dispensation, or that it has grown according +to some law of social growth peculiar to the Indian people. + +I first propose to handle the law-giver of India. Every country has +its lawgiver, who arises as an incarnation (*avatar*) in times of +emergency to set right a sinning humanity and give it the laws of +justice and morality. Manu, the law-giver of India, if he did exist, +was certainly an audacious person. If the story that he gave the law +of caste be credited, then Manu must have been a dare-devil fellow and +the humanity that accepted his dispensation must be a humanity quite +different from the one we are acquainted with. It is unimaginable +that the law of caste was *given*. It is hardly an exaggeration to +say that Manu could not have outlived his law, for what is that class +that can submit to be degraded to the status of brutes by the pen of a +man, and suffer him to raise another class to the pinnacle? Unless he +was a tyrant who held all the population in subjection it cannot be +imagined that he could have been allowed to dispense his patronage in +this grossly unjust manner, as may be easily seen by a mere glance at +his “Institutes.” I may seem hard on Manu, but I am sure my force is +not strong enough to kill his ghost. He lives, like a disembodied +spirit and is appealed to, and I am afraid will yet live long. One +thing I want to impress upon you is that Manu did not *give* the *law* +of Caste and that he could not do so. Caste existed long before Manu. +He was an upholder of it and therefore philosophised about it, but +certainly he did not and could not ordain the present order of Hindu +Society. His work ended with the codification of existing caste rules +and the preaching of Caste *Dharma*. The spread and growth of the +Caste system is too [pg 90] gigantic a task to be achieved by the +power or cunning of an individual or of a class. Similar in argument +is the theory that the Brahmans created the caste. After what I have +said regarding Manu, I need hardly say anything more, except to point +out that it is incorrect in thought and malicious in intent. The +Brahmans may have been guilty of many things, and I dare say they are, +but the imposing of the caste system on the non-Brahman population was +beyond their mettle. They may have helped the process by their glib +philosophy, but they certainly could not have pushed their scheme +beyond their own confines. To fashion society after one's own +pattern! How glorious! How hard! One can take pleasure and eulogize +its furtherance, but cannot further it very far. The vehemence of my +attack may seem to be unnecessary: but I can assure you that it is not +uncalled for. There is a strong belief in the mind of orthodox Hindus +that the Hindu Society was somehow moulded into the frame work of the +Caste System, and that it is an organization consciously created by +the *Shâstras*. Not only does this belief exist, but it is being +justified on the ground that it cannot but be good, because it is +ordained by the *Shâstras* and the *Shâstras* cannot be wrong. I have +urged so much on the adverse side of this attitude, not because the +religious sanctity is grounded on scientific basis, nor to help those +reformers who are preaching against it. Preaching did not make the +caste system, neither will it unmake it. My aim is to show the +falsity of the attitude that has exalted religious sanction to the +position of a scientific explanation. + +Thus the great man theory does not help us very far in solving the +spread of castes in India. Western scholars, probably not much given +to hero-worship, have attempted other explanations. The nuclei, round +which have “formed” the various castes in India, are, according to +them:—(1) occupation; (2) survivals of tribal organizations, etc.; (3) +the rise of new belief; (4) cross-breeding and (5) migration. + +The question may be asked whether these nuclei do not exist in other +societies and whether they are peculiar to India. If they are not +peculiar to India, but are common to the world, why is it that they +did not “form” caste on other parts of this planet? Is it because +those parts are holier than the land of the Vedas, or that the +professors are mistaken? I am afraid that the latter is the truth. + +Inspite of the high theoretic value claimed by the several authors for +their respective theories, based on one or other of the above nuclei, +one regrets to say that on close examination they are nothing more +than filling illustrations—what Matthew Arnold means by “the grand +name without the grand thing in it.” Such are the various theories of +caste advanced by Sir Denzil Ibbetson, Mr. Nesfield, M. Senart and +Sir H. Risley. To criticise them in a lump would be to say that they +are a disguised form of the *Petitio Principii* of formal logic. To +illustrate: Mr. Nesfield says that “function and function only … was the +foundation upon which the whole system of castes in India was built +up.” But he may rightly be reminded that he does not very much +advance our thought by making the above statement, which practically +amounts to saying that castes in India are functional or occupational, +which is a very poor discovery! We have yet to know from Mr. Nesfield +why is it that an occupational group turned into an occupational +caste? I would very cheerfully have undertaken the task of dwelling on +the [pg 91] theories of other ethnologists, had it not been for the +fact that Mr. Nesfield's is a typical one. + +Without stopping to criticize those theories that explain the caste +system as a natural phenomenon occurring in obedience to the law of +disintegration, as explained by Herbert Spencer in his formula +of evolution, or as natural as “the structural differentiation within +an organism”—to employ the phraseology of orthodox apologists—, or as +an early attempt to test the laws of eugenics—as all belonging to the +same class of fallacy which regards the caste system as inevitable, or +as being consciously imposed in anticipation of these laws on a +helpless and humble population, I will now lay before you my own view +on the subject. + +We shall be well advised to recall at the outset that the Hindu +society, in common with other societies, was composed of classes and +the earliest known are the (1) Brahmans or the priestly class: (2) the +Kshatriya, or the military class: (3) the Vaiśya, or the merchant +class: and (4) the Sudra, or the artisan and menial class. Particular +attention has to be paid to the fact that this was essentially a class +system, in which individuals, when qualified, could change their +class, and therefore classes did change their personnel. At some time +in the history of the Hindus, the priestly class socially detached +itself from the rest of the body of people and through a closed-door +policy became a caste by itself. The other classes being subject to +the law of social division of labour underwent differentiation, some +into large, others into very minute groups. The Vaiśya and Sudra +classes were the original inchoate plasm, which formed the sources of +the numerous castes of to-day. As the military occupation does not +very easily lend itself to very minute sub-division, the Kshatriya +class could have differentiated into soldiers and administrators. + +This sub-division of a society is quite natural. But the unnatural +thing about these sub-divisions is that they have lost the open door +character of the class system and have become self-enclosed units +called castes. The question is, were they compelled to close their +doors and become endogamous, or did they close them of their own +accord? I submit that there is a double line of answer: **Some closed +the door: others found it closed against them**. The one is a +psychological interpretation and the other is mechanistic, but they +are complementary and both are necessary to explain the phenomena of +caste formation in its entirety. + +I will first take up the psychological interpretation. The question +we have to answer in this connection is: Why did these sub-divisions +or classes, if you please, industrial, religious or otherwise, become +self-enclosed or endogamous? My answer is because the Brahmans were +so. Endogamy, or the closed-door system, was a fashion in the Hindu +Society, and as it had originated from the Brahman caste it was +whole-heartedly imitated by all the non-Brahman sub-divisions or +classes, who, in their turn, became endogamous castes. It is “the +infection of imitation” that caught all these sub-divisions on their +onward march of differentiation and has turned them into castes. The +propensity to imitate is a deep-seated one in the human mind and need +not be deemed an inadequate explanation for the formation of the +various castes in India. It is so deep-seated that Walter Bagehot +argues that “we must not think of … imitation as voluntary, or even +conscious. On the contrary it has its seat mainly in very obscure +parts of the mind, whose notions, so far from being consciously +produced, are hardly felt to exist; so far from being conceived +beforehand, are not even felt at the time. The main seat of the +imitative part of our nature is our belief, and the causes +predisposing us to believe this or disinclining us to believe that are +among the obscurest parts of our nature. But as to the imitative +nature [pg 92] of credulity there can be no doubt.” [4]_ This +propensity to imitate has been made the subject of a scientific study +by Gabriel Tarde, who lays down three laws of imitation. One of his +three laws is that imitation flows from the higher to the lower or, to +quote his own words, “Given the opportunity, a nobility will always +and everywhere imitate its leaders, its kings or sovereigns, and the +people likewise, given the opportunity, its nobility.” [5]_ Another of +Tarde's laws of imitation is: that the extent or intensity of +imitation varies inversely in proportion to distance, or in his own +words “the thing that is most imitated is the most superior one of +those that are nearest. In fact, the influence of the model's example +is efficacious inversely to its *distance* as well as directly to its +superiority. Distance is understood here in its sociological meaning. +However distant in space a stranger may be, he is close by, from this +point of view, if we have numerous and daily relations with him and if +we have every facility to satisfy our desire to imitate him. This law +of the imitation of the nearest, of the least distant, explains the +gradual and consecutive character of the spread of an example that has +been set by the higher social ranks.” [6]_ + +.. [4] *Physics and Politics* 1915, p. 60. +.. [5] *Laws of Imitation*, Tr. by E. C. Parsons, 2nd ed. p. 217. +.. [6] *Ibid*. p. 224. + +In order to prove my thesis—which really needs no proof—that some +castes were formed by imitation, the best way, it seems to me, is to +find out whether or not the vital conditions for the formation of +castes by imitation exist in the Hindu Society. The conditions for +imitation, according to this standard authority are: (1) That the +source of imitation must enjoy prestige in the group and (2) that +there must be “numerous and daily relations” among members of a group. +That these conditions were present in India there is little reason to +doubt. The Brahman is a semi-god and very nearly a demi-god. He sets +up a mode and moulds the rest. His prestige is unquestionable and is +the fountain-head of bliss and good. Can such a being, idolised by +Scriptures and venerated by the priest-ridden multitude, fail to +project his personality on the suppliant humanity? Why, if the story +be true, he is believed to be the very end of creation. Such a +creature is worthy of more than mere imitation, but at least of +imitation; and if he lives in an endogamous enclosure, should not the +rest follow his example? Frail humanity! Be it embodied in a grave +philosopher or a frivolous housemaid, it succumbs. It cannot be +otherwise. Imitation is easy and invention is difficult. + +Yet another way of demonstrating the play of imitation in the +formation of castes is to understand the attitude of non-Brahman +classes towards those customs which supported the structure of caste +in its nascent days until, in the course of history, it became +embedded in the Hindu mind and hangs there to this day without any +support—for now it needs no prop but belief—like a weed on the surface +of a pond. In a way, but only in a way, the status of a caste in the +Hindu Society varies directly with the extent of the observance of the +customs of *sati*, enforced widowhood, and girl marriage. But +observance of these customs varies directly with the *distance* (I am +using the word in the Tardian sense) that separates the caste. Those +castes that are nearest to the Brahmans have imitated all the three +customs and insist on the strict observance thereof. Those that are +less near have imitated enforced widowhood and girl marriage; others, +a little further off, have only girl marriage, and those furthest off +have imitated only the belief in the caste principle. This imperfect +imitation, I dare say, is due partly to what Tarde calls “distance” +and partly to the barbarous character of these customs. This [pg 93] +phenomenon is a complete illustration of Tarde's law and leaves no +doubt that the whole process of caste-formation in India is a process +of imitation of the higher by the lower. At this juncture I will turn +back to support a former conclusion of mine, which might have appeared +to you as too sudden or unsupported. I said that the Brahman class +first raised the structure of caste by the help of those three customs +in question. My reason for that conclusion was that their existence +in other classes was derivative. After what I have said regarding the +rôle of imitation in the spread of these customs among the non-Brahman +castes, as means or as ideals, though the imitators have not been +aware of it, they exist among them as derivatives; and, if they are +derived, there must have been prevalent one original caste that was +high enough to have served as a pattern for the rest. But in a +theocratic society, who could be the pattern but the servant of God? + +This completes the story of those that were weak enough to close their +doors. Let us now see how others were closed in as a result of being +closed out. This I call the mechanistic process of the formation of +caste. It is mechanistic because it is inevitable. That this line of +approach, as well as the psychological one, to the explanation of the +subject has escaped my predecessors is entirely due to the fact that +they have conceived Caste as a unit by itself and not as one within a +System of Caste. The result of this oversight or lack of sight has +been very detrimental to the proper understanding of the subject +matter and therefore its correct explanation. I will proceed to offer +my own explanation by making one remark which I will urge you to bear +constantly in mind. It is this: that **caste in the singular number +is an unreality**. **Castes exist only in the plural number**. There +is no such thing as *a* caste: there are always castes. To illustrate +my meaning: while making themselves into a caste, the Brahmans, by +virtue of this, created a non-Brahman caste; or, to express it in my +own way, while closing themselves in they closed others out. I will +clear my point by taking another illustration. Take India as a whole +with its various communities designated by the various creeds to which +they owe allegiance, to wit, the Hindus, Muhammadans, Jews, Christians +and Parsis. Now, barring the Hindus, the rest within themselves are +non-caste communities. But with respect to each other they are +castes. Again, if the first four enclose themselves, the Parsis are +directly closed out, but are indirectly closed in. Symbolically, if +group A. wants to be endogamous, group B. has to be so by sheer force +of circumstances. + +Now apply the same logic to the Hindu society and you have another +explanation of the “fissiparous” character of caste, as a consequence +of the virtue of self-duplication that is inherent in it. Any +innovation that seriously antagonises the ethical, religious and +social code of the Caste is not likely to be tolerated by the Caste, +and the recalcitrant members of a Caste are in danger of being thrown +out of the Caste, and left to their own fate without having the +alternative of being admitted into or absorbed by other Castes. Caste +rules are inexorable and they do not wait to make nice distinctions +between kinds of offence. Innovation may be of any kind, but all +kinds will suffer the same penalty. A novel way of thinking will +create a new Caste for the old ones will not tolerate it. The noxious +thinker respectfully called Guru (Prophet) suffers the same fate as +the sinners in illegitimate love. The former creates a caste of the +nature of a religious sect and the latter a type of mixed caste. +Castes have no mercy for a sinner who has the courage to violate the +code. The penalty is excommunication and the result is a new caste. +It is not peculiar Hindu psychology that induces the excommunicated to +form themselves into a caste: far from it. On the contrary, very +often they have been quite [pg 94] willing to be humble members of +some caste (higher by preference) if they could be admitted within its +fold. But castes are enclosed units and it is their conspiracy with +clear conscience that compels the excommunicated to make themselves +into a caste. The logic of this obdurate circumstance is merciless, +and it is in obedience to its force that some unfortunate groups find +themselves enclosed, because others in enclosing, themselves have +closed them out, with the result that new groups (formed on any basis +obnoxious to the caste rules) by a mechanical law are constantly being +converted into castes to a bewildering multiplicity. Thus is told the +second tale in the process of Caste formation in India. + +Now to summarise the main points of my thesis. In my opinion there +have been several mistakes committed by the students of Caste, which +have misled them in their investigations. European students of Caste +have unduly emphasised the rôle of colour in the caste-system. +Themselves impregnated by colour prejudices, they very readily +imagined it to be the chief factor in the Caste problem. But nothing +can be farther from the truth, and Dr. Ketkar is correct when he +insists that “All the princes whether they belonged to the so-called +Aryan race, or the so-called Dravidian race, were Aryas. Whether a +tribe or a family was racially Aryan or Dravidian was a question which +never troubled the people of India, until foreign scholars came in and +began to draw the line. The colour of the skin had long ceased to be +a matter of importance.” [7]_ Again, they have mistaken mere +descriptions for explanation and fought over them as though they were +theories of origin. There are occupational, religious, etc. castes, +it is true, but it is by no means an explanation of the origin of +Caste. We have yet to find out why occupational groups are castes; +but this question has never even been raised. Lastly they have taken +Caste very lightly as though a breath had made it. On the contrary, +Caste, as I have explained it, is almost impossible to be sustained: +for the difficulties that it involves are tremendous. It is true that +Caste rests on belief, but before belief comes to be the foundation of +an institution, the institution itself needs to be perpetuated and +fortified. My study of the Caste problem involves four main +points: (1) That in spite of the composite make-up of the Hindu +population, there is a deep cultural unity. (2) That Caste is a +parcelling into bits of a larger cultural unit. (3) That there was one +Caste to start with. (4) That classes have become Castes through +imitation and excommunication. + +.. [7] *History of Caste* p. 82. + +Peculiar interest attaches to the problem of Caste in India to-day, as +persistent attempts are being made to do away with this unnatural +institution. Such attempts at reform, however, have aroused a great +deal of controversy regarding its origin, as to whether it is due to +the conscious command of a Supreme Authority, or is an unconscious +growth in the life of a human society under peculiar circumstances. +Those who hold the latter view will, I hope, find some food for +thought in the standpoint adopted in this paper. Apart from its +practical importance the subject of Caste is an all absorbing problem +and the interest aroused in me regarding its theoretic foundations has +moved me to put before you some of the conclusions, which seem to me +well founded, and the grounds upon which they may be supported. I am +not, however, so presumptuous as to think them in any way final, or +anything more than a contribution to a discussion of the subject. It +seems to me that the car has been shunted on wrong lines, and the +primary object of the paper is to indicate what I regard to be the +right path of investigation, with a view to arrive at a serviceable +truth. We must, however, guard against approaching the subject with a +bias. + +[pg 95] Sentiment must be outlawed from the domain of science and +things should be judged from an objective standpoint. For myself I +shall find as much pleasure in a positive destruction of my own +ideology, as in a rational disagreement on a topic, which, +notwithstanding many learned disquisitions is likely to remain +controversial for ever. To conclude, while I am ambitious to advance +a Theory of Caste, if it can be shown to be untenable I shall be +equally willing to give it up. + +.. clearpage:: + +.. footnotes:: + :class: smaller + +.. pgfooter:: diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..599ef04 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #63231 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63231) diff --git a/old/63231-0.txt b/old/63231-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c6e7b92 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/63231-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1317 @@ + +This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online at +https://www.gutenberg.org/license. 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: Castes In India +Author: Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar +Release Date: September 18, 2020 [EBook #63231] +Language: English +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CASTES IN INDIA *** + + + + +Produced by Joseph Koshy. + +Transcribed from The Indian Antiquary, Vol. 46, pp. 81–95. + + + + + THE + + INDIAN ANTIQUARY + + A JOURNAL OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH + + IN + + ARCHÆOLOGY, EPIGRAPHY, ETHNOLOGY, GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY, FOLKLORE, + LANGUAGES, + LITERATURE, NUMISMATICS, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, _&c_., _&c_. + + + EDITED BY + + SIR RICHARD CARNAC TEMPLE, BART, C.B., C.I.E., F.S.A. + + HON. FELLOW, TRIN. HALL, CAMBRIDGE, + FORMERLY LIEUT.-COLONEL, INDIAN ARMY. + + AND + + _Prof. DEVADATTA RAMKRISHNA BHANDARKAR, M.A._ + + + ⸻ + + VOL. XLVI.—1917. + + + + *BOMBAY:* + + _Printed and Published at the BRITISH INDIA PRESS, Mazgaon, Bombay._ + + LONDON: + + BERNARD QUARITCH LIMITED, 11 GRAFTON STREET, + NEW BOND STREET, W. + + [_All Rights Reserved_.] + + + + +[pg 81] + + *Their mechanism, genesis and development.*¹ + + BY BHIMRAO R. AMBEDKAR, M. A. + + ¹ A paper read before the Anthropology Seminar (9th May 1916) of Dr. + A. A. Goldenweiser, Columbia University, New York. + +Many of us, I dare say, have witnessed local, national, or international +expositions of material objects that make up the sum total of human +civilization. But few can entertain the idea of there being such a +thing as an exposition of human institutions. Exhibition of human +institutions is a strange idea; some might call it the wildest of ideas. +But as students of Ethnology I hope you will not be hard on this +innovation, for it is not so, and to you at least it should not be +strange. + +You all have visited, I believe, some historic place like the ruins of +Pompeii, and listened with curiosity to the history of the remains as it +flowed from the glib tongue of the guide. In my opinion a student of +Ethnology, in one sense at least, is much like the guide. Like his +prototype, he holds up (perhaps with more seriousness and desire of self +instruction) the social institutions to view, with all the objectiveness +humanly possible, and inquires into their origin and function. + +Most of our fellow students in this Seminar, which concerns itself with +Primitive _versus_ Modern Society, have ably acquitted themselves along +these lines by giving lucid expositions of the various institutions, +modern or primitive, in which they are interested. It is my turn now, +this evening, to entertain you, as best I can, with a paper on “Castes +in India: their mechanism, genesis and development.” + +I need hardly remind you of the complexity of the subject I intend to +handle. Subtler minds and abler pens than mine have been brought to the +task of unravelling the mysteries of Caste; but unfortunately it still +remains in the domain of the “unexplained,” not to say of the +“un-understood.” I am quite alive to the complex intricacies of a hoary +institution like Caste, but I am not so pessimistic as to relegate it to +the region of the unknowable, for I believe it can be known. The caste +problem is a vast one, both theoretically and practically. Practically, +it is an institution that portends tremendous consequences. It is a +local problem, but one capable of much wider mischief, for “as long as +caste in India does exist, Hindus will hardly intermarry or have any +social intercourse with outsiders; and if Hindus migrate to other +regions on earth, Indian caste would become a world problem.”² +Theoretically, it has defied a great many scholars who have taken upon +themselves, as a labour of love, to dig into its origin. Such being the +case, I cannot treat the problem in its entirety. Time, space and +acumen, I am afraid, would all fail me, if I attempted to do otherwise +than limit myself to a phase of it, namely, the genesis, mechanism and +spread of the caste system. I will strictly observe this rule, and will +dwell on extraneous matters only when it is necessary to clarify or +support a point in my thesis. + + ² Ketkar, _Caste_, p. 4. + +To proceed with the subject. According to well-known ethnologists, the +population of India is a mixture of Aryans, Dravidians, Mongolians and +Scythians. All these stocks of people came into India from various +directions and with various cultures, centuries ago, when they were in a +tribal state. They all in turn elbowed their entry into the country by +fighting with their predecessors, and after a stomachful of it settled +down as peaceful neighbours. Through constant contact and mutual +intercourse they evolved a common [pg 82] culture that superseded their +distinctive cultures. It may be granted that there has not been a +thorough amalgamation of the various stocks that make up the peoples of +India, and to a traveller from within the boundaries of India the East +presents a marked contrast in physique and even in colour to the West, +as does the South to the North. But amalgamation can never be the sole +criterion of homogeneity as predicated of any people. Ethnically all +peoples are heterogeneous. It is the unity of culture that is the basis +of homogeneity. Taking this for granted, I venture to say that there is +no country that can rival the Indian Peninsula with respect to the unity +of its culture. It has not only a geographic unity, but it has over and +above all a deeper and a much more fundamental unity—the indubitable +cultural unity that covers the land from end to end. But it is because +of this homogeneity that Caste becomes a problem so difficult to be +explained. If the Hindu Society were a mere federation of mutually +exclusive units, the matter would be simple enough. But Caste is a +parcelling of an already homogeneous unit, and the explanation of the +genesis of Caste is the explanation of this process of parcelling. + +Before launching into our field of enquiry, it is better to advise +ourselves regarding the nature of a caste. I will therefore draw upon a +few of the best students of caste for their definitions of it. + +(1) M. Senart, a French authority, defines a caste as “a close +corporation, in theory at any rate rigorously hereditary: equipped with +a certain traditional and independent organisation, including a chief +and a council, meeting on occasion in assemblies of more or less plenary +authority and joining together at certain festivals: bound together by +common occupations, which relate more particularly to marriage and to +food and to questions of ceremonial pollution, and ruling its members by +the exercise of jurisdiction, the extent of which varies, but which +succeeds in making the authority of the community more felt by the +sanction of certain penalties and, above all, by final irrevocable +exclusion from the group.” + +(2) Mr. Nesfield defines a caste as “a class of the community which +disowns any connection with any other class and can neither intermarry +nor eat nor drink with any but persons of their own community.” + +(3) According to Sir H. Risley, “a caste may be defined as a collection +of families or groups of families bearing a common name which usually +denotes or is associated, with specific occupation, claiming common +descent from a mythical ancestor, human or divine, professing to follow +the same professional callings and are regarded by those who are +competent to give an opinion as forming a single homogeneous community.” + +(4) Dr. Ketkar defines caste as “a social group having two +characteristics: (1) membership is confined to those who are born of +members and includes all persons so born; (2) the members are forbidden +by an inexorable social law to marry outside the group.” + +To review these definitions is of great importance for our purpose. It +will be noticed that taken individually the definitions of three of the +writers include too much or too little: none is complete or correct by +itself and all have missed the central point in the mechanism of the +Caste system. Their mistake lies in trying to define caste as an +isolated unit by itself, and not as a group within, and with definite +relations to, the system of caste as a whole. Yet collectively all of +them are complementary to one another, each one emphasising what has +been obscured in the other. By way of criticism, therefore, I will take +only those points common to all Castes in each of the above definitions +which are regarded as peculiarities of Caste and evaluate them as such. + +[pg 83] To start with M. Senart, He draws attention to the “idea of +pollution” as a characteristic of Caste. With regard to this point it +may be safely said that it is by no means a peculiarity of Caste as +such. It usually originates in priestly ceremonialism and is a +particular case of the general belief in purity. Consequently its +necessary connection with Caste may be completely denied without +damaging the working of Caste. The “idea of pollution” has been +attached to the institution of Caste, only because the Caste that enjoys +the highest rank is the priestly Caste: while we know that priest and +purity are old associates. We may therefore conclude that the “idea of +pollution” is a characteristic of Caste only in so far as Caste has a +religious flavour. Mr. Nesfield in his way dwells on the absence of +messing with those outside the Caste as one of its characteristics. In +spite of the newness of the point we must say that Mr. Nesfield has +mistaken the effect for the cause. Caste, being a self-enclosed unit, +naturally limits social intercourse, including messing etc., to members +within it. Consequently this absence of messing with outsiders is not +due to positive prohibition, but is a natural result of Caste, _i.e._, +exclusiveness. No doubt this absence of messing, originally due to +exclusiveness, acquired the prohibitory character of a religious +injunction, but it may be regarded as a later growth. Sir H. Risley, +makes no new point deserving of special attention. + +We now pass on to the definition of Dr. Ketkar, who has done much for +the elucidation of the subject. Not only is he a native, but he has +also brought a critical acumen and an open mind to bear on his study of +Caste. His definition merits consideration, for he has defined Caste in +its relation to a system of Castes, and has concentrated his attention +only on those characteristics which are absolutely necessary for the +existence of a Caste within a system, rightly excluding all others as +being secondary or derivative in character. With respect to his +definition it must, however, be said that in it there is a slight +confusion of thought, lucid and clear as otherwise it is. He speaks of +*Prohibition of Intermarriage* and *Membership by Autogeny* as the two +characteristics of Caste. I submit that these are but two aspects of +one and the same thing, and not two different things as Dr. Ketkar +supposes them to be. If you prohibit inter-marriage the result is that +you limit, membership to those born within the group. Thus the two are +the obverse and the reverse sides of the same medal. + +This critical evaluation of the various characteristics of Caste leaves +no doubt that prohibition, or rather the absence of +intermarriage—endogamy, to be concise—is the only one that can be called +the essence of Caste when rightly understood. But some may deny this on +abstract anthropological grounds, for there exist endogamous groups +without giving rise to the problem of Caste. In a general way this may +be true, as endogamous societies, culturally different, making their +abode in localities more or less removed, and having little to do with +each other, are a physical reality. The negroes and the whites and the +various tribal groups that go by the name of American Indians in the +United States may be cited as more or less appropriate illustrations in +support of this view. But we must not confuse matters, for in India the +situation is different. As pointed out before, the peoples of India +form a homogeneous whole. The various races of India occupying definite +territories have more or less fused into one another and do possess a +cultural unity, which is the only criterion of a homogeneous population. +Given this homogeneity as a basis, Caste becomes a problem altogether +new in character and wholly absent in the situation constituted by the +mere propinquity of endogamous social or tribal [pg 84] groups. Caste +in India means an artificial chopping off of the population into fixed +and definite units, each one prevented from fusing into another through +the custom of endogamy. Thus the conclusion is inevitable that +*endogamy is the only characteristic that is peculiar to Caste*, and if +we succeed in showing how endogamy is maintained, we shall practically +have proved the genesis and also the mechanism of Caste. + +It may not be quite easy for you to anticipate why I regard endogamy as +a key to the mystery of the Caste system. Not to strain your +imagination too much, I will proceed to give you my reasons for it. + +It may not also be out of place to emphasize at this moment that no +civilized society of to-day presents more survivals of primitive times +than does the Indian society. Its religion is essentially primitive and +its tribal code, in spite of the advance of time and civilization, +operates in all its pristine vigour even to-day. One of these primitive +survivals, to which I wish particularly to draw your attention, is the +*custom of exogamy*. The prevalence of exogamy in the primitive world +is a fact too well known to need any explanation. With the growth of +history, however, exogamy has lost its efficacy and, excepting the +nearest blood-kins, there is usually no social bar restricting the field +of marriage. But regarding the peoples of India the law of exogamy is a +positive injunction even to-day. Indian society still savours of the +clan system, even though there are no clans: and this can be easily seen +from the law of matrimony which centres round the principle of exogamy, +for it is not that _sapindas_ (blood-kins) cannot marry, but a marriage +even between _sagotras_ (of the same class) is regarded as a sacrilege. + +Nothing is therefore more important for you to remember than the fact +that endogamy is foreign to the people of India. The various _gotras_ +of India are and have been exogamous: so are the other groups with +totemic organization. It is no exaggeration to say that with the people +of India exogamy is a creed and none dare infringe it, so much so that, +in spite of the endogamy of the Castes within them, exogamy is strictly +observed and that there are more rigorous penalties for violating +exogamy than there are for violating endogamy. You will, therefore, +readily see that with exogamy as the rule there could be no Castes, for +exogamy means fusion. But we _have_ Castes; consequently in the final +analysis creation of Castes, so far as India is concerned, means the +superposition of endogamy on exogamy. However, in an originally +exogamous population an easy working out of endogamy (which is +equivalent to the creation of Caste) is a grave problem, and it is in +the consideration of the means utilized for the preservation of endogamy +against exogamy that we may hope to find the solution of our problem. + +Thus the *superposition of endogamy on exogamy means the creation of +Caste*. But this is not an easy affair. Let us take an imaginary group +that desires to make itself into a Caste and analyse what means it will +have to adopt to make itself endogamous. If a group desires to make +itself endogamous a formal injunction against intermarriage with outside +groups will be of no avail, especially if prior to the introduction of +endogamy, exogamy had been the rule in all matrimonial relations. +Again, there is a tendency in all groups lying in close contact with one +another to assimilate and amalgamate, and thus consolidate into a +homogenous society. If this tendency is to be strongly counteracted in +the interest of Caste formation, it is absolutely necessary to +circumscribe a circle outside which people should not contract +marriages. + +Nevertheless, this encircling to prevent marriages from without creates +problems from within which are not very easy of solution. Roughly +speaking, in a normal group the [pg 85] two sexes are more or less +evenly distributed, and generally speaking there is an equality between +those of the same age. The equality is, however, never quite realized +in actual societies. At the same time to the group that is desirous of +making itself into a caste the maintenance of equality between the sexes +becomes the ultimate goal, for without it endogamy can no longer +subsist. In other words, if endogamy is to be preserved conjugal rights +from within have to be provided for, otherwise members of the group will +be driven out of the circle to take care of themselves in any way they +can. But in order that the conjugal rights be provided for from within, +it is absolutely necessary to maintain a numerical equality between the +marriageable units of the two sexes within the group desirous of making +itself into a Caste. It is only through the maintenance of such an +equality that the necessary endogamy of the group can be kept intact, +and a very large disparity is sure to break it. + +*The problem of Caste, then, ultimately resolves itself into one of +repairing the disparity between the marriageable units of the two sexes +within it*. Left to nature, the much needed parity between the units +can be realized only when a couple dies simultaneously. But this is a +rare contingency. The husband may die before the wife and create a +_surplus woman_, who must be disposed of, else through intermarriage she +will violate the endogamy of the group. In like manner the husband may +survive his wife and be a _surplus man_, whom the group, while it may +sympathise with him for the sad bereavement, has to dispose of, else he +will marry outside the Caste and will break the endogamy. Thus both the +_surplus man_ and the _surplus woman_ constitute a menace to the Caste +if not taken care of, for not finding suitable partners inside their +prescribed circle (and left to themselves they cannot find any, for if +the matter be not regulated there can only be just enough pairs to go +round) very likely they will transgress the boundary, marry outside and +import offspring that is foreign to the Caste. + +Let us see what our imaginary group is likely to do with this _surplus +man_ and _surplus woman_. We will first take up the case of the +_surplus woman_. She can be disposed of in two different ways so as to +preserve the endogamy of the Caste. + +First: burn her on the funeral pyre of her deceased husband and get rid +of her. This, however, is rather an impracticable way of solving the +problem of sex disparity. In some cases it may work, in others it may +not. Consequently every _surplus woman_ cannot thus be disposed of, +because it is an easy solution but a hard realization. And so the +_surplus woman_ (＝ widow), if not disposed of, remains in the group: +but in her very existence lies a double danger. She may marry outside +the Caste and violate endogamy, or she may marry within the Caste and +through competition encroach upon the chances of marriage that must be +reserved for the potential brides in the Caste. She is therefore a +menace in any case, and something must be done to her if she cannot be +burned along with her deceased husband. + +The second remedy is to enforce widowhood on her for the rest of her +life. So far as the objective results are concerned, burning is a +better solution than enforcing widowhood. Burning the widow eliminates +all the three evils that a _surplus woman_ is fraught with. Being dead +and gone she creates no problem of remarriage either inside or outside +the Caste. But compulsory widowhood is superior to burning because it +is more practicable. Besides being comparatively humane it also guards +against the evils of remarriage as does burning: but it fails to guard +the morals of the group. No doubt under compulsory widowhood the woman +remains, and just because she is deprived of her natural right of being +a legitimate wife in future, the incentive to immoral conduct is +increased. But [pg 86] this is by no means an insuperable difficulty. +She can be degraded to a condition in which she is no longer a source of +allurement. + +The problem of _surplus man_ (＝ widower) is much more important and +much more difficult than that of the _surplus woman_ in a group that +desires to make itself into a Caste. From time immemorial man as +compared with woman has had the upper hand. He is a dominant figure in +every group and of the two sexes has greater prestige. With this +traditional superiority of man over woman his wishes have always been +consulted. Woman, on the other hand, has been an easy prey to all kinds +of iniquitous injunctions, religious, social or economic. But man as a +maker of injunctions is most often above them all. Such being the case, +you cannot accord the same kind of treatment to a _surplus man_ as you +can to a _surplus woman_ in a Caste. + +The project of burning him with his deceased wife is hazardous in two +ways: first of all it cannot be done, simply because he is a man. +Secondly, if done, a sturdy soul is lost to the Caste. There remain +then only two solutions which can conveniently dispose of him. I say +conveniently, because he is an asset to the group. + +Important as he is to the group, endogamy is still more important, and +the solution must assure both these ends. Under these circumstances he +may be forced, or I should say induced, after the manner of the widow, +to remain a widower for the rest of his life. This solution is not +altogether difficult, for without any compulsion some are so disposed as +to enjoy self-imposed celibacy, or even to take a further step of their +own accord and renounce the world and its joys. But, given human nature +as it is, this solution can hardly be expected to be realized. On the +other hand, as is very likely to be the case, if the _surplus man_ +remains in the group as an active participator in group activities, he +is a danger to the morals of the group. Looked at from a different +point of view celibacy, though easy in cases where it succeeds, is not +so advantageous even then to the material prospects of the Caste. If he +observes genuine celibacy and renounces the world, he would not be a +menace to the preservation of Caste endogamy or Caste morals as he +undoubtedly would be if he remained a secular person. But as an ascetic +celibate he is as good as burned, so far as the material well-being of +his Caste is concerned. A Caste, in order that it may be large enough +to afford a vigorous communal life, must be maintained at a certain +numerical strength. But to hope for this and to proclaim celibacy is +the same as trying to cure atrophy by bleeding. + +Imposing celibacy on the _surplus man_ in the group, therefore, fails +both theoretically and practically. It is in the interest of the Caste +to keep him as a _grahastha_ (one who raises a family), to use a +Sanskrit technical term. But the problem is to provide him with a wife +from within the Caste. At the outset this is not possible, for the +ruling ratio in a caste has to be one man to one woman and none can have +two chances of marriage, for in a Caste thoroughly self-enclosed there +are always just enough marriageable women to go round for the +marriageable men. Under these circumstances the _surplus man_ can be +provided with a wife only by recruiting a bride from the ranks of those +not yet marriageable in order to tie him down to the group. This is +certainly the best of the possible solutions in the case of the _surplus +man_. By this, he is kept within the Caste. By this means numerical +depletion through constant outflow is guarded against, and by this +endogamy and morals are preserved. + +It will now be seen that the four means by which numerical disparity +between the two sexes is conveniently maintained are: (1) Burning the +widow with her deceased [pg 87] husband; (2) Compulsory widowhood—a +milder form of burning; (3) Imposing celibacy on the widower; (4) +Wedding him to a girl not yet marriageable. Though, as I said above, +burning the widow and imposing celibacy on the widower are of doubtful +service to the group in its endeavour to preserve its endogamy, all of +them operate as _means_. But means, as forces, when liberated or set in +motion create an end. What then is the end that these means create? +They create and perpetuate endogamy, while caste and endogamy, according +to our analysis of the various definitions of caste, are one and the +same thing. Thus the existence of these means is identical with caste +and caste involves those means. + +This, in my opinion, is the general mechanism of a caste in a system of +castes. Let us now turn from these high generalities to the castes in +Hindu society and inquire into their mechanism. I need hardly promise +that there are a great many pitfalls in the path of those who try to +unfold the past, and caste in India to be sure is a very ancient +institution. This is especially true where there exist no authentic or +written records, or where the people, like the Hindus, are so +constituted that to them writing history is a folly, for the world is an +illusion. But institutions do live, though for a long time they may +remain unrecorded and as often as not customs and morals are like +fossils that tell their own history. If this is true, our task will be +amply rewarded if we scrutinize the solution the Hindus arrived at to +meet the problems of the _surplus man_ and _surplus woman_. + +Complex though it be in its general working the Hindu Society, even to a +superficial observer, presents three singular uxorial customs, namely:— + + (i) _Sati_ or the burning of the widow on the funeral pyre of her + deceased husband. + (ii) Enforced widowhood by which a widow is not allowed to remarry. + (iii) Girl marriage. + +In addition, one also notes a great hankering after _sannyasa_ +(renunciation) on the part of the widower, but this may in some cases be +due purely to psychic disposition. + +So far as I know, no scientific explanation of the origin of these +customs is forthcoming even to-day. We have plenty of philosophy to +tell us why these customs were honoured, but nothing to tell us the +causes of their origin and existence. _Sati_ has been honoured (_Cf_. +A. K. Coomaraswamy, _Sati: a Defence of the Eastern Woman_ in the +_British Sociological Review_, Vol. VI. 1913) because it is a “proof of +the perfect unity of body and soul” between husband and wife and of +“devotion beyond the grave;” because it embodied the ideal of wifehood, +which is well expressed by Umâ when she said “Devotion to her Lord is +woman’s honour, it is her eternal heaven: and O Maheshvara,” she adds +with a most touching human cry, “I desire not paradise itself if thou +art not satisfied with me!” Why compulsory widowhood is honoured I know +not, nor have I yet met with any one who sang in praise of it, though +there are a great many who adhere to it. The eulogy in honour of girl +marriage is reported by Dr. Ketkar to be as follows: “A really faithful +man or woman ought not to feel affection for a woman or a man other than +the one with whom he or she is united. Such purity is compulsory not +only after marriage, but even before marriage, for that is the only +correct ideal of chastity. No maiden could be considered pure if she +feels love for a man other than the one to whom she might be married. +As she does not know to whom she is going to be married, she must not +feel affection for any man at all before marriage. If she does so, it +is a sin. So it is better for a girl to know whom she has to love, +before any sexual consciousness has been awakened in her.”³ Hence girl +marriage. + + ³ _History of Caste in India_, 1909, pp. 32–33. + +This high-flown and ingenious sophistry indicates why these institutions +were honoured, but does not tell us why they were practised. My own +interpretation is that they were honoured because they were practised. +Any one slightly acquainted with rise of individualism in the 18th +century will appreciate my remark. At all times, it is the movement +that is most important; and the philosophies grow around it long +afterwards to justify it and give it a moral support. In like manner I +urge that the very fact that these customs were so highly eulogized +proves that they needed eulogy for their prevalence. Regarding the +question as to why they arose, I submit that they were needed to create +the structure of caste and the philosophies in honour of them were +intended to popularize them, or to gild the pill, as we might say, for +they must have been so abominable and shocking to the moral sense of the +unsophisticated that they needed a great deal of sweetening. These +customs are essentially of the nature of _means_, though they are +represented as ideals. But this should not blind us from understanding +the _results_ that flow from them. One might safely say that +idealization of means is necessary and in this particular case was +perhaps motivated to endow them with greater efficacy. Calling a means +an end does no harm, except that it disguises its real character; but it +does not deprive it of its real nature, that of a means. You may pass a +law that all cats are dogs, just as you can call a means an end. But +you can no more change the nature of means thereby than you can turn +cats into dogs; consequently I am justified in holding that, whether +regarded as ends or as means, _Sati_, _enforced widowhood_ and _girl +marriage_ are customs that were primarily intended to solve the problem +of the _surplus man_ and _surplus woman_ in a caste and to maintain its +endogamy. Strict endogamy could not be preserved without these customs, +while caste without endogamy is a fake. + +Having explained the mechanism of the creation and preservation of Caste +in India, the further question as to its genesis naturally arises. The +question of origin is always an annoying question and in the study of +Caste it is sadly neglected: some have connived at it, while others have +dodged it. Some are puzzled as to whether there could be such a thing +as the origin of caste and suggest that “if we cannot control our +fondness for the word ‘origin’, we should better use the plural form, +_viz._, ‘origins of caste’.” As for myself I do not feel puzzled by the +Origin of Caste in India, for, as I have established before, endogamy is +the only characteristic of Caste and when I say *origin of caste* I mean +*the origin of the mechanism for endogamy*. + +The atomistic conception of individuals in a Society so greatly +popularised—I was about to say vulgarized—in political orations is the +greatest humbug. To say that individuals make up society is trivial; +society is always composed of classes. It may be an exaggeration to +assert the theory of class-conflict, but the existence of definite +classes in a society is a fact. Their basis may differ. They may be +economic or intellectual or social, but an individual in a society is +always a member of a class. This is a universal fact and early Hindu +society could not have been an exception to this rule, and, as a matter +of fact, we know it was not. If we bear this generalization in mind, +our study of the genesis of caste would be very much facilitated, for we +have only to determine what was the class that first made itself into a +caste, for class and caste, so to say, are next door neighbours, and it +is only a span that separates the two. *A caste is an enclosed class*. + +The study of the origin of caste must furnish us with an answer to the +question—what is the class that raised this “enclosure” around itself? +The question [pg 89] may seem too inquisitorial, but it is pertinent, +and an answer to this will serve us to elucidate the mystery of the +growth and development of castes all over India. Unfortunately a direct +answer to this question is not within my power. I can answer it only +indirectly. I said just above that the customs in question were current +in the Hindu society. To be true to facts it is necessary to qualify +the statement, as it connotes universality of their prevalence. These +customs in all their strictness are obtainable only in one caste, namely +the Brahmans, who occupy the highest place in the social hierarchy of +the Hindu society; and as their prevalence in Non-Brahman castes is +derivative their observance is neither strict nor complete. This +important fact can serve as a basis of an important observation. If the +prevalence of these customs in the non-Brahman Castes is derivative, as +can be shown very easily, then it needs no argument to prove what class +is the father of the institution of caste. Why the Brahman class should +have enclosed itself into a caste is a different question, which may be +left as an employment for another occasion. But the strict observance +of these customs and the social superiority arrogated by the priestly +class in all ancient civilizations are sufficient to prove that they +were the originators of this “unnatural institution” founded and +maintained through these unnatural means. + +I now come to the third part of my paper regarding the question of the +growth and spread of the caste system all over India. The question I +have to answer is: How did the institution of caste spread among the +rest of the non-Brahman population of the country? The question of the +spread of the castes all over India has suffered a worse fate than the +question of genesis. And the main cause, as it seems to me, is that the +two questions of spread and of origin are not separated. This is because +of the common belief among scholars that the caste system has either +been imposed upon the docile population of India by a law-giver as a +divine dispensation, or that it has grown according to some law of +social growth peculiar to the Indian people. + +I first propose to handle the law-giver of India. Every country has its +lawgiver, who arises as an incarnation (_avatar_) in times of emergency +to set right a sinning humanity and give it the laws of justice and +morality. Manu, the law-giver of India, if he did exist, was certainly +an audacious person. If the story that he gave the law of caste be +credited, then Manu must have been a dare-devil fellow and the humanity +that accepted his dispensation must be a humanity quite different from +the one we are acquainted with. It is unimaginable that the law of +caste was _given_. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that Manu could +not have outlived his law, for what is that class that can submit to be +degraded to the status of brutes by the pen of a man, and suffer him to +raise another class to the pinnacle? Unless he was a tyrant who held +all the population in subjection it cannot be imagined that he could +have been allowed to dispense his patronage in this grossly unjust +manner, as may be easily seen by a mere glance at his “Institutes.” I +may seem hard on Manu, but I am sure my force is not strong enough to +kill his ghost. He lives, like a disembodied spirit and is appealed to, +and I am afraid will yet live long. One thing I want to impress upon +you is that Manu did not _give_ the _law_ of Caste and that he could not +do so. Caste existed long before Manu. He was an upholder of it and +therefore philosophised about it, but certainly he did not and could not +ordain the present order of Hindu Society. His work ended with the +codification of existing caste rules and the preaching of Caste +_Dharma_. The spread and growth of the Caste system is too [pg 90] +gigantic a task to be achieved by the power or cunning of an individual +or of a class. Similar in argument is the theory that the Brahmans +created the caste. After what I have said regarding Manu, I need hardly +say anything more, except to point out that it is incorrect in thought +and malicious in intent. The Brahmans may have been guilty of many +things, and I dare say they are, but the imposing of the caste system on +the non-Brahman population was beyond their mettle. They may have +helped the process by their glib philosophy, but they certainly could +not have pushed their scheme beyond their own confines. To fashion +society after one’s own pattern! How glorious! How hard! One can take +pleasure and eulogize its furtherance, but cannot further it very far. +The vehemence of my attack may seem to be unnecessary: but I can assure +you that it is not uncalled for. There is a strong belief in the mind +of orthodox Hindus that the Hindu Society was somehow moulded into the +frame work of the Caste System, and that it is an organization +consciously created by the _Shâstras_. Not only does this belief exist, +but it is being justified on the ground that it cannot but be good, +because it is ordained by the _Shâstras_ and the _Shâstras_ cannot be +wrong. I have urged so much on the adverse side of this attitude, not +because the religious sanctity is grounded on scientific basis, nor to +help those reformers who are preaching against it. Preaching did not +make the caste system, neither will it unmake it. My aim is to show the +falsity of the attitude that has exalted religious sanction to the +position of a scientific explanation. + +Thus the great man theory does not help us very far in solving the +spread of castes in India. Western scholars, probably not much given to +hero-worship, have attempted other explanations. The nuclei, round +which have “formed” the various castes in India, are, according to +them:—(1) occupation; (2) survivals of tribal organizations, etc.; (3) +the rise of new belief; (4) cross-breeding and (5) migration. + +The question may be asked whether these nuclei do not exist in other +societies and whether they are peculiar to India. If they are not +peculiar to India, but are common to the world, why is it that they did +not “form” caste on other parts of this planet? Is it because those +parts are holier than the land of the Vedas, or that the professors are +mistaken? I am afraid that the latter is the truth. + +Inspite of the high theoretic value claimed by the several authors for +their respective theories, based on one or other of the above nuclei, +one regrets to say that on close examination they are nothing more than +filling illustrations—what Matthew Arnold means by “the grand name +without the grand thing in it.” Such are the various theories of caste +advanced by Sir Denzil Ibbetson, Mr. Nesfield, M. Senart and Sir H. +Risley. To criticise them in a lump would be to say that they are a +disguised form of the _Petitio Principii_ of formal logic. To +illustrate: Mr. Nesfield says that “function and function only … was the +foundation upon which the whole system of castes in India was built up.” +But he may rightly be reminded that he does not very much advance our +thought by making the above statement, which practically amounts to +saying that castes in India are functional or occupational, which is a +very poor discovery! We have yet to know from Mr. Nesfield why is it +that an occupational group turned into an occupational caste? I would +very cheerfully have undertaken the task of dwelling on the [pg 91] +theories of other ethnologists, had it not been for the fact that Mr. +Nesfield’s is a typical one. + +Without stopping to criticize those theories that explain the caste +system as a natural phenomenon occurring in obedience to the law of +disintegration, as explained by Herbert Spencer in his formula of +evolution, or as natural as “the structural differentiation within an +organism”—to employ the phraseology of orthodox apologists—, or as an +early attempt to test the laws of eugenics—as all belonging to the same +class of fallacy which regards the caste system as inevitable, or as +being consciously imposed in anticipation of these laws on a helpless +and humble population, I will now lay before you my own view on the +subject. + +We shall be well advised to recall at the outset that the Hindu society, +in common with other societies, was composed of classes and the earliest +known are the (1) Brahmans or the priestly class: (2) the Kshatriya, or +the military class: (3) the Vaiśya, or the merchant class: and (4) the +Sudra, or the artisan and menial class. Particular attention has to be +paid to the fact that this was essentially a class system, in which +individuals, when qualified, could change their class, and therefore +classes did change their personnel. At some time in the history of the +Hindus, the priestly class socially detached itself from the rest of the +body of people and through a closed-door policy became a caste by +itself. The other classes being subject to the law of social division +of labour underwent differentiation, some into large, others into very +minute groups. The Vaiśya and Sudra classes were the original inchoate +plasm, which formed the sources of the numerous castes of to-day. As +the military occupation does not very easily lend itself to very minute +sub-division, the Kshatriya class could have differentiated into +soldiers and administrators. + +This sub-division of a society is quite natural. But the unnatural +thing about these sub-divisions is that they have lost the open door +character of the class system and have become self-enclosed units called +castes. The question is, were they compelled to close their doors and +become endogamous, or did they close them of their own accord? I submit +that there is a double line of answer: *Some closed the door: others +found it closed against them*. The one is a psychological +interpretation and the other is mechanistic, but they are complementary +and both are necessary to explain the phenomena of caste formation in +its entirety. + +I will first take up the psychological interpretation. The question we +have to answer in this connection is: Why did these sub-divisions or +classes, if you please, industrial, religious or otherwise, become +self-enclosed or endogamous? My answer is because the Brahmans were so. +Endogamy, or the closed-door system, was a fashion in the Hindu Society, +and as it had originated from the Brahman caste it was whole-heartedly +imitated by all the non-Brahman sub-divisions or classes, who, in their +turn, became endogamous castes. It is “the infection of imitation” that +caught all these sub-divisions on their onward march of differentiation +and has turned them into castes. The propensity to imitate is a +deep-seated one in the human mind and need not be deemed an inadequate +explanation for the formation of the various castes in India. It is so +deep-seated that Walter Bagehot argues that “we must not think of … +imitation as voluntary, or even conscious. On the contrary it has its +seat mainly in very obscure parts of the mind, whose notions, so far +from being consciously produced, are hardly felt to exist; so far from +being conceived beforehand, are not even felt at the time. The main +seat of the imitative part of our nature is our belief, and the causes +predisposing us to believe this or disinclining us to believe that are +among the obscurest parts of our nature. But as to the imitative nature +[pg 92] of credulity there can be no doubt.”⁴ This propensity to imitate +has been made the subject of a scientific study by Gabriel Tarde, who +lays down three laws of imitation. One of his three laws is that +imitation flows from the higher to the lower or, to quote his own words, +“Given the opportunity, a nobility will always and everywhere imitate +its leaders, its kings or sovereigns, and the people likewise, given the +opportunity, its nobility.”⁵ Another of Tarde’s laws of imitation is: +that the extent or intensity of imitation varies inversely in proportion +to distance, or in his own words “the thing that is most imitated is the +most superior one of those that are nearest. In fact, the influence of +the model’s example is efficacious inversely to its _distance_ as well +as directly to its superiority. Distance is understood here in its +sociological meaning. However distant in space a stranger may be, he is +close by, from this point of view, if we have numerous and daily +relations with him and if we have every facility to satisfy our desire +to imitate him. This law of the imitation of the nearest, of the least +distant, explains the gradual and consecutive character of the spread of +an example that has been set by the higher social ranks.”⁶ + + ⁴ _Physics and Politics_ 1915, p. 60. + + ⁵ _Laws of Imitation_, Tr. by E. C. Parsons, 2nd ed. p. 217. + + ⁶ _Ibid_. p. 224. + +In order to prove my thesis—which really needs no proof—that some castes +were formed by imitation, the best way, it seems to me, is to find out +whether or not the vital conditions for the formation of castes by +imitation exist in the Hindu Society. The conditions for imitation, +according to this standard authority are: (1) That the source of +imitation must enjoy prestige in the group and (2) that there must be +“numerous and daily relations” among members of a group. That these +conditions were present in India there is little reason to doubt. The +Brahman is a semi-god and very nearly a demi-god. He sets up a mode and +moulds the rest. His prestige is unquestionable and is the +fountain-head of bliss and good. Can such a being, idolised by +Scriptures and venerated by the priest-ridden multitude, fail to project +his personality on the suppliant humanity? Why, if the story be true, +he is believed to be the very end of creation. Such a creature is +worthy of more than mere imitation, but at least of imitation; and if he +lives in an endogamous enclosure, should not the rest follow his +example? Frail humanity! Be it embodied in a grave philosopher or a +frivolous housemaid, it succumbs. It cannot be otherwise. Imitation is +easy and invention is difficult. + +Yet another way of demonstrating the play of imitation in the formation +of castes is to understand the attitude of non-Brahman classes towards +those customs which supported the structure of caste in its nascent days +until, in the course of history, it became embedded in the Hindu mind +and hangs there to this day without any support—for now it needs no prop +but belief—like a weed on the surface of a pond. In a way, but only in +a way, the status of a caste in the Hindu Society varies directly with +the extent of the observance of the customs of _sati_, enforced +widowhood, and girl marriage. But observance of these customs varies +directly with the _distance_ (I am using the word in the Tardian sense) +that separates the caste. Those castes that are nearest to the Brahmans +have imitated all the three customs and insist on the strict observance +thereof. Those that are less near have imitated enforced widowhood and +girl marriage; others, a little further off, have only girl marriage, +and those furthest off have imitated only the belief in the caste +principle. This imperfect imitation, I dare say, is due partly to what +Tarde calls “distance” and partly to the barbarous character of these +customs. This [pg 93] phenomenon is a complete illustration of Tarde’s +law and leaves no doubt that the whole process of caste-formation in +India is a process of imitation of the higher by the lower. At this +juncture I will turn back to support a former conclusion of mine, which +might have appeared to you as too sudden or unsupported. I said that +the Brahman class first raised the structure of caste by the help of +those three customs in question. My reason for that conclusion was that +their existence in other classes was derivative. After what I have said +regarding the rôle of imitation in the spread of these customs among the +non-Brahman castes, as means or as ideals, though the imitators have not +been aware of it, they exist among them as derivatives; and, if they are +derived, there must have been prevalent one original caste that was high +enough to have served as a pattern for the rest. But in a theocratic +society, who could be the pattern but the servant of God? + +This completes the story of those that were weak enough to close their +doors. Let us now see how others were closed in as a result of being +closed out. This I call the mechanistic process of the formation of +caste. It is mechanistic because it is inevitable. That this line of +approach, as well as the psychological one, to the explanation of the +subject has escaped my predecessors is entirely due to the fact that +they have conceived Caste as a unit by itself and not as one within a +System of Caste. The result of this oversight or lack of sight has been +very detrimental to the proper understanding of the subject matter and +therefore its correct explanation. I will proceed to offer my own +explanation by making one remark which I will urge you to bear +constantly in mind. It is this: that *caste in the singular number is +an unreality*. *Castes exist only in the plural number*. There is no +such thing as _a_ caste: there are always castes. To illustrate my +meaning: while making themselves into a caste, the Brahmans, by virtue +of this, created a non-Brahman caste; or, to express it in my own way, +while closing themselves in they closed others out. I will clear my +point by taking another illustration. Take India as a whole with its +various communities designated by the various creeds to which they owe +allegiance, to wit, the Hindus, Muhammadans, Jews, Christians and +Parsis. Now, barring the Hindus, the rest within themselves are +non-caste communities. But with respect to each other they are castes. +Again, if the first four enclose themselves, the Parsis are directly +closed out, but are indirectly closed in. Symbolically, if group A. +wants to be endogamous, group B. has to be so by sheer force of +circumstances. + +Now apply the same logic to the Hindu society and you have another +explanation of the “fissiparous” character of caste, as a consequence of +the virtue of self-duplication that is inherent in it. Any innovation +that seriously antagonises the ethical, religious and social code of the +Caste is not likely to be tolerated by the Caste, and the recalcitrant +members of a Caste are in danger of being thrown out of the Caste, and +left to their own fate without having the alternative of being admitted +into or absorbed by other Castes. Caste rules are inexorable and they +do not wait to make nice distinctions between kinds of offence. +Innovation may be of any kind, but all kinds will suffer the same +penalty. A novel way of thinking will create a new Caste for the old +ones will not tolerate it. The noxious thinker respectfully called Guru +(Prophet) suffers the same fate as the sinners in illegitimate love. +The former creates a caste of the nature of a religious sect and the +latter a type of mixed caste. Castes have no mercy for a sinner who has +the courage to violate the code. The penalty is excommunication and the +result is a new caste. It is not peculiar Hindu psychology that induces +the excommunicated to form themselves into a caste: far from it. On the +contrary, very often they have been quite [pg 94] willing to be humble +members of some caste (higher by preference) if they could be admitted +within its fold. But castes are enclosed units and it is their +conspiracy with clear conscience that compels the excommunicated to make +themselves into a caste. The logic of this obdurate circumstance is +merciless, and it is in obedience to its force that some unfortunate +groups find themselves enclosed, because others in enclosing, themselves +have closed them out, with the result that new groups (formed on any +basis obnoxious to the caste rules) by a mechanical law are constantly +being converted into castes to a bewildering multiplicity. Thus is told +the second tale in the process of Caste formation in India. + +Now to summarise the main points of my thesis. In my opinion there have +been several mistakes committed by the students of Caste, which have +misled them in their investigations. European students of Caste have +unduly emphasised the rôle of colour in the caste-system. Themselves +impregnated by colour prejudices, they very readily imagined it to be +the chief factor in the Caste problem. But nothing can be farther from +the truth, and Dr. Ketkar is correct when he insists that “All the +princes whether they belonged to the so-called Aryan race, or the +so-called Dravidian race, were Aryas. Whether a tribe or a family was +racially Aryan or Dravidian was a question which never troubled the +people of India, until foreign scholars came in and began to draw the +line. The colour of the skin had long ceased to be a matter of +importance.”⁷ Again, they have mistaken mere descriptions for +explanation and fought over them as though they were theories of origin. +There are occupational, religious, etc. castes, it is true, but it is by +no means an explanation of the origin of Caste. We have yet to find out +why occupational groups are castes; but this question has never even +been raised. Lastly they have taken Caste very lightly as though a +breath had made it. On the contrary, Caste, as I have explained it, is +almost impossible to be sustained: for the difficulties that it involves +are tremendous. It is true that Caste rests on belief, but before +belief comes to be the foundation of an institution, the institution +itself needs to be perpetuated and fortified. My study of the Caste +problem involves four main points: (1) That in spite of the composite +make-up of the Hindu population, there is a deep cultural unity. (2) +That Caste is a parcelling into bits of a larger cultural unit. (3) That +there was one Caste to start with. (4) That classes have become Castes +through imitation and excommunication. + + ⁷ _History of Caste_ p. 82. + +Peculiar interest attaches to the problem of Caste in India to-day, as +persistent attempts are being made to do away with this unnatural +institution. Such attempts at reform, however, have aroused a great +deal of controversy regarding its origin, as to whether it is due to the +conscious command of a Supreme Authority, or is an unconscious growth in +the life of a human society under peculiar circumstances. Those who hold +the latter view will, I hope, find some food for thought in the +standpoint adopted in this paper. Apart from its practical importance +the subject of Caste is an all absorbing problem and the interest +aroused in me regarding its theoretic foundations has moved me to put +before you some of the conclusions, which seem to me well founded, and +the grounds upon which they may be supported. I am not, however, so +presumptuous as to think them in any way final, or anything more than a +contribution to a discussion of the subject. It seems to me that the +car has been shunted on wrong lines, and the primary object of the paper +is to indicate what I regard to be the right path of investigation, with +a view to arrive at a serviceable truth. We must, however, guard +against approaching the subject with a bias. + +[pg 95] Sentiment must be outlawed from the domain of science and things +should be judged from an objective standpoint. For myself I shall find +as much pleasure in a positive destruction of my own ideology, as in a +rational disagreement on a topic, which, notwithstanding many learned +disquisitions is likely to remain controversial for ever. To conclude, +while I am ambitious to advance a Theory of Caste, if it can be shown to +be untenable I shall be equally willing to give it up. + + + + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CASTES IN INDIA *** + + + + +A Word from Project Gutenberg + + +We will update this book if we find any errors. + +This book can be found under: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63231 + +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. +Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this +license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic +works to protect the Project Gutenberg™ concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge +for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you do not +charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the rules is +very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as +creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research. They +may be modified and printed and given away – you may do practically +_anything_ in the United States with eBooks not protected by U.S. +copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, +especially commercial redistribution. + + +The Full Project Gutenberg License + + +_Please read this before you distribute or use this work._ + +To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or +any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at +https://www.gutenberg.org/license. + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use & Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works + + +*1.A.* By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the +terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all +copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your possession. If you +paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg™ +electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this +agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you +paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +*1.B.* “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few things +that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works even +without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See paragraph +1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement and help +preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. See +paragraph 1.E below. + +*1.C.* The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the +Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of +Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in +the collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the United States and +you are located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent +you from copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating +derivative works based on the work as long as all references to Project +Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the +Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting free access to electronic works +by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ works in compliance with the terms +of this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg™ name associated +with the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg™ License when you share it without charge with others. + + +*1.D.* The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning the +copyright status of any work in any country outside the United States. + +*1.E.* Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +*1.E.1.* The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work on +which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase +“Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, +viewed, copied or distributed: + + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United + States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with + almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away + or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License + included with this eBook or online at https://www.gutenberg.org + . If you are not located in the United States, you’ll have to + check the laws of the country where you are located before using + this ebook. + +*1.E.2.* If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is derived +from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not contain a +notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the copyright +holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in the United +States without paying any fees or charges. If you are redistributing or +providing access to a work with the phrase “Project Gutenberg” +associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply either with +the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or obtain permission +for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ trademark as set +forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +*1.E.3.* If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +*1.E.4.* Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™. + +*1.E.5.* Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg™ License. + +*1.E.6.* You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format other than +“Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ web site +(https://www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or +expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a +means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original +“Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include +the full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +*1.E.7.* Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works unless +you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +*1.E.8.* You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works provided +that + + - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed to + the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has agreed to + donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid within 60 + days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally + required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty payments + should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, + “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary + Archive Foundation.” + + - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ License. + You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the + works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and + all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ works. + + - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + + - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works. + + +*1.E.9.* If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg™ +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set forth +in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from both the +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The Project Gutenberg +Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact +the Foundation as set forth in Section 3. below. + +*1.F.* + +*1.F.1.* Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project +Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may +contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate +or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by your +equipment. + +*1.F.2.* LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES – Except for the “Right +of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all liability +to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees. YOU AGREE +THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF +WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. +YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR +UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, +INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE +NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. + +*1.F.3.* LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND – If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +*1.F.4.* Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS,’ WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +*1.F.5.* Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +*1.F.6.* INDEMNITY – You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg™ +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™ + + +Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s goals +and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will remain freely +available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure and +permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future generations. To learn +more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and how +your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the +Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org . + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the state +of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue +Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification number is +64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf . Contributions to the +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the +full extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. + +The Foundation’s principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the +mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its volunteers +and employees are scattered throughout numerous locations. Its business +office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, +(801) 596-1887, email business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to +date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s web site and +official page at http://www.pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation + + +Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without wide spread +public support and donations to carry out its mission of increasing the +number of public domain and licensed works that can be freely +distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest array of +equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations ($1 to +$5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt status with +the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations where +we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state +visit https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make any +statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from outside +the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other ways +including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To donate, +please visit: https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic +works. + + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg™ +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in +the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook’s eBook +number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected _editions_ of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +_Versions_ based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg™, including +how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to +our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/63231-0.zip b/old/63231-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2f974b2 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/63231-0.zip diff --git a/old/63231-h.zip b/old/63231-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..28b7783 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/63231-h.zip diff --git a/old/63231-h/63231-h.htm b/old/63231-h/63231-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..277654c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/63231-h/63231-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1765 @@ +<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?> +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC '-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN' 'http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd'> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> +<meta name="generator" content="Docutils 0.16: http://docutils.sourceforge.net/" /> +<style type="text/css"> +/* +Project Gutenberg common docutils stylesheet. + +This stylesheet contains styles common to HTML and EPUB. Put styles +that are specific to HTML and EPUB into their relative stylesheets. + +:Author: Marcello Perathoner (webmaster@gutenberg.org) +:Copyright: This stylesheet has been placed in the public domain. + +This stylesheet is based on: + + :Author: David Goodger (goodger@python.org) + :Copyright: This stylesheet has been placed in the public domain. + + Default cascading style sheet for the HTML output of Docutils. + +*/ + +/* ADE 1.7.2 chokes on !important and throws all css out. */ + +/* FONTS */ + +.italics { font-style: italic } +.no-italics { font-style: normal } + +.bold { font-weight: bold } +.no-bold { font-weight: normal } + +.small-caps { } /* Epub needs italics */ +.gesperrt { } /* Epub needs italics */ +.antiqua { font-style: italic } /* what else can we do ? */ +.monospaced { font-family: monospace } + +.smaller { font-size: smaller } +.larger { font-size: larger } + +.xx-small { font-size: xx-small } +.x-small { font-size: x-small } +.small { font-size: small } +.medium { font-size: medium } +.large { font-size: large } +.x-large { font-size: x-large } +.xx-large { font-size: xx-large } + +.text-transform-uppercase { text-transform: uppercase } +.text-transform-lowercase { text-transform: lowercase } +.text-transform-none { text-transform: none } + +.red { color: red } +.green { color: green } +.blue { color: blue } +.yellow { color: yellow } +.white { color: white } +.gray { color: gray } +.black { color: black } + +/* ALIGN */ + +.left { text-align: left } +.justify { text-align: justify } +.center { text-align: center; text-indent: 0 } +.centerleft { text-align: center; text-indent: 0 } +.right { text-align: right; text-indent: 0 } + +/* LINE HEIGHT */ + +body { line-height: 1.5 } +p { margin: 0; + text-indent: 2em } + +/* PAGINATION */ + +.title, .subtitle { page-break-after: avoid } + +.container, .title, .subtitle, #pg-header + { page-break-inside: avoid } + +/* SECTIONS */ + +body { text-align: justify } + +p.pfirst, p.noindent { + text-indent: 0 +} + +.boxed { border: 1px solid black; padding: 1em } +.topic, .note { margin: 5% 0; border: 1px solid black; padding: 1em } +div.section { clear: both } + +div.line-block { margin: 1.5em 0 } /* same leading as p */ +div.line-block.inner { margin: 0 0 0 10% } +div.line { margin-left: 20%; text-indent: -20%; } +.line-block.noindent div.line { margin-left: 0; text-indent: 0; } + +hr.docutils { margin: 1.5em 40%; border: none; border-bottom: 1px solid black; } +div.transition { margin: 1.5em 0 } + +.vfill, .vspace { border: 0px solid white } + +.title { margin: 1.5em 0 } +.title.with-subtitle { margin-bottom: 0 } +.subtitle { margin: 1.5em 0 } + +/* header font style */ +/* http://dev.w3.org/csswg/css3-fonts/#propdef-font-size */ + +h1.title { font-size: 200%; } /* for book title only */ +h2.title, p.subtitle.level-1 { font-size: 150%; margin-top: 4.5em; margin-bottom: 2em } +h3.title, p.subtitle.level-2 { font-size: 120%; margin-top: 2.25em; margin-bottom: 1.25em } +h4.title, p.subtitle.level-3 { font-size: 100%; margin-top: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.5em; font-weight: bold; } +h5.title, p.subtitle.level-4 { font-size: 89%; margin-top: 1.87em; margin-bottom: 1.69em; font-style: italic; } +h6.title, p.subtitle.level-5 { font-size: 60%; margin-top: 3.5em; margin-bottom: 2.5em } + +/* title page */ + +h1.title, p.subtitle.level-1, +h2.title, p.subtitle.level-2 { text-align: center } + +#pg-header, +h1.document-title { margin: 10% 0 5% 0 } +p.document-subtitle { margin: 0 0 5% 0 } + +/* PG header and footer */ +#pg-machine-header { } +#pg-produced-by { } + +li.toc-entry { list-style-type: none } +ul.open li, ol.open li { margin-bottom: 1.5em } + +.attribution { margin-top: 1.5em } + +.example-rendered { + margin: 1em 5%; border: 1px dotted red; padding: 1em; background-color: #ffd } +.literal-block.example-source { + margin: 1em 5%; border: 1px dotted blue; padding: 1em; background-color: #eef } + +/* DROPCAPS */ + +/* BLOCKQUOTES */ + +blockquote { margin: 1.5em 10% } + +blockquote.epigraph { } + +blockquote.highlights { } + +div.local-contents { margin: 1.5em 10% } + +div.abstract { margin: 3em 10% } +div.image { margin: 1.5em 0 } +div.caption { margin: 1.5em 0 } +div.legend { margin: 1.5em 0 } + +.hidden { display: none } + +.invisible { visibility: hidden; color: white } /* white: mozilla print bug */ + +a.toc-backref { + text-decoration: none ; + color: black } + +dl.docutils dd { + margin-bottom: 0.5em } + +div.figure { margin-top: 3em; margin-bottom: 3em } + +img { max-width: 100% } + +div.footer, div.header { + clear: both; + font-size: smaller } + +div.sidebar { + margin: 0 0 0.5em 1em ; + border: medium outset ; + padding: 1em ; + background-color: #ffffee ; + width: 40% ; + float: right ; + clear: right } + +div.sidebar p.rubric { + font-family: sans-serif ; + font-size: medium } + +ol.simple, ul.simple { margin: 1.5em 0 } + +ol.toc-list, ul.toc-list { padding-left: 0 } +ol ol.toc-list, ul ul.toc-list { padding-left: 5% } + +ol.arabic { + list-style: decimal } + +ol.loweralpha { + list-style: lower-alpha } + +ol.upperalpha { + list-style: upper-alpha } + +ol.lowerroman { + list-style: lower-roman } + +ol.upperroman { + list-style: upper-roman } + +p.credits { + font-style: italic ; + font-size: smaller } + +p.label { + white-space: nowrap } + +p.rubric { + font-weight: bold ; + font-size: larger ; + color: maroon ; + text-align: center } + +p.sidebar-title { + font-family: sans-serif ; + font-weight: bold ; + font-size: larger } + +p.sidebar-subtitle { + font-family: sans-serif ; + font-weight: bold } + +p.topic-title, p.admonition-title { + font-weight: bold } + +pre.address { + margin-bottom: 0 ; + margin-top: 0 ; + font: inherit } + +.literal-block, .doctest-block { + margin-left: 2em ; + margin-right: 2em; } + +span.classifier { + font-family: sans-serif ; + font-style: oblique } + +span.classifier-delimiter { + font-family: sans-serif ; + font-weight: bold } + +span.interpreted { + font-family: sans-serif } + +span.option { + white-space: nowrap } + +span.pre { + white-space: pre } + +span.problematic { + color: red } + +span.section-subtitle { + /* font-size relative to parent (h1..h6 element) */ + font-size: 100% } + +table { margin-top: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.5em; border-spacing: 0 } +table.align-left, table.align-right { margin-top: 0 } + +table.table { border-collapse: collapse; } + +table.table.hrules-table thead { border: 1px solid black; border-width: 2px 0 0 } +table.table.hrules-table tbody { border: 1px solid black; border-width: 2px 0 } +table.table.hrules-rows tr { border: 1px solid black; border-width: 0 0 1px } +table.table.hrules-rows tr.last { border-width: 0 } +table.table.hrules-rows td, +table.table.hrules-rows th { padding: 1ex 1em; vertical-align: middle } + +table.table tr { border-width: 0 } +table.table td, +table.table th { padding: 0.5ex 1em } +table.table tr.first td { padding-top: 1ex } +table.table tr.last td { padding-bottom: 1ex } +table.table tr.first th { padding-top: 1ex } +table.table tr.last th { padding-bottom: 1ex } + + +table.citation { + border-left: solid 1px gray; + margin-left: 1px } + +table.docinfo { + margin: 3em 4em } + +table.docutils { } + +div.footnote-group { margin: 1em 0 } +table.footnote td.label { width: 2em; text-align: right; padding-left: 0 } + +table.docutils td, table.docutils th, +table.docinfo td, table.docinfo th { + padding: 0 0.5em; + vertical-align: top } + +table.docutils th.field-name, table.docinfo th.docinfo-name { + font-weight: bold ; + text-align: left ; + white-space: nowrap ; + padding-left: 0 } + +/* used to remove borders from tables and images */ +.borderless, table.borderless td, table.borderless th { + border: 0 } + +table.borderless td, table.borderless th { + /* Override padding for "table.docutils td" with "!important". + The right padding separates the table cells. */ + padding: 0 0.5em 0 0 } /* FIXME: was !important */ + +h1 tt.docutils, h2 tt.docutils, h3 tt.docutils, +h4 tt.docutils, h5 tt.docutils, h6 tt.docutils { + font-size: 100% } + +ul.auto-toc { + list-style-type: none } +</style> +<style type="text/css"> +/* +Project Gutenberg HTML docutils stylesheet. + +This stylesheet contains styles specific to HTML. +*/ + +/* FONTS */ + +/* em { font-style: normal } +strong { font-weight: normal } */ + +.small-caps { font-variant: small-caps } +.gesperrt { letter-spacing: 0.1em } + +/* ALIGN */ + +.align-left { clear: left; + float: left; + margin-right: 1em } + +.align-right { clear: right; + float: right; + margin-left: 1em } + +.align-center { margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto } + +div.shrinkwrap { display: table; } + +/* SECTIONS */ + +body { margin: 5% 10% 5% 10% } + +/* compact list items containing just one p */ +li p.pfirst { margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0 } + +.first { margin-top: 0 !important; + text-indent: 0 !important } +.last { margin-bottom: 0 !important } + +span.dropcap { float: left; margin: 0 0.1em 0 0; line-height: 1 } +img.dropcap { float: left; margin: 0 0.5em 0 0; max-width: 25% } +span.dropspan { font-variant: small-caps } + +.no-page-break { page-break-before: avoid !important } + +/* PAGINATION */ + +.pageno { position: absolute; right: 95%; font: medium sans-serif; text-indent: 0 } +.pageno:after { color: gray; content: '[' attr(title) ']' } +.lineno { position: absolute; left: 95%; font: medium sans-serif; text-indent: 0 } +.lineno:after { color: gray; content: '[' attr(title) ']' } +.toc-pageref { float: right } + +@media screen { + .coverpage, .frontispiece, .titlepage, .verso, .dedication, .plainpage + { margin: 10% 0; } + + div.clearpage, div.cleardoublepage + { margin: 10% 0; border: none; border-top: 1px solid gray; } + + .vfill { margin: 5% 10% } +} + +@media print { + div.clearpage { page-break-before: always; padding-top: 10% } + div.cleardoublepage { page-break-before: right; padding-top: 10% } + + .vfill { margin-top: 20% } + h2.title { margin-top: 20% } +} + +/* DIV */ +pre { font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.9em; white-space: pre-wrap } +</style> +<title>cii.rst</title> +<meta name="PG.Title" content="Castes In India" /> +<meta name="PG.Id" content="63231" /> +<meta name="PG.Released" content="2020-09-18" /> +<meta name="PG.Rights" content="Public Domain" /> +<meta name="PG.Producer" content="Joseph Koshy" /> +<meta name="PG.Credits" content="Transcribed from The Indian Antiquary, Vol. 46, pp. 81–95." /> +<meta name="DC.Title" content="Castes In India" /> +<meta name="DC.Creator" content="Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar" /> +<meta name="DC.Language" content="en" /> +<meta name="DC.Created" content="1917" /> + +<link rel="schema.DCTERMS" href="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" /> +<link rel="schema.MARCREL" href="http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/" /> +<meta name="DCTERMS.title" content="Castes in India" /> +<meta name="DCTERMS.source" content="file:///htdocs/ebookmaker/cache/20200918105821/cii.rst" /> +<meta name="DCTERMS.language" content="en" scheme="DCTERMS.RFC4646" /> +<meta name="DCTERMS.modified" content="2020-09-18T17:58:25.061708+00:00" scheme="DCTERMS.W3CDTF" /> +<meta name="DCTERMS.publisher" content="Project Gutenberg" /> +<meta name="DCTERMS.rights" content="Public Domain in the USA." /> +<link rel="DCTERMS.isFormatOf" href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63231" /> +<meta name="DCTERMS.creator" content="Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar" /> +<meta name="DCTERMS.creator" content="Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar" /> +<meta name="DCTERMS.created" content="2020-09-18" scheme="DCTERMS.W3CDTF" /> +<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width" /> +<meta name="generator" content="Ebookmaker 0.9.7 by Project Gutenberg" /> +</head> +<body> +<div class="document"> + + +<!-- this is the default PG-RST stylesheet --> +<!-- figure and image styles for non-image formats --> +<!-- default transition --> +<!-- default attribution --> +<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- --> +<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- --> +<div class="docutils container language-en pgheader" id="pg-header" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<p class="noindent pfirst"><span>This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States +and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no +restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it +under the terms of the </span><a class="reference internal" href="#project-gutenberg-license">Project Gutenberg License</a><span> included with +this ebook or online at </span><a class="reference external" href="https://www.gutenberg.org/license">https://www.gutenberg.org/license</a><span>. 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.</span></p> +<p class="noindent pnext"></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<div class="docutils container" id="pg-machine-header"> +<p class="noindent pfirst"><span>Title: Castes In India +<br /> +<br />Author: Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar +<br /> +<br />Release Date: September 18, 2020 [EBook #63231] +<br /> +<br />Language: English +<br /> +<br />Character set encoding: UTF-8</span></p> +</div> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="noindent pfirst" id="pg-start-line"><span>*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK </span><span>CASTES IN INDIA</span><span> ***</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="noindent pfirst" id="pg-produced-by"><span>Produced by Joseph Koshy.</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="noindent pfirst"><span>Transcribed from The Indian Antiquary, Vol. 46, pp. 81–95.</span></p> +</div> +<div class="clearpage"> +</div> +<div class="docutils container"> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="small">THE</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="xx-large">INDIAN ANTIQUARY</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="large">A JOURNAL OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="small">IN</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="center line"><span class="medium">ARCHÆOLOGY, EPIGRAPHY, ETHNOLOGY, GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY, FOLKLORE, LANGUAGES,</span></div> +<div class="center line"><span class="medium">LITERATURE, NUMISMATICS, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, </span><em class="italics medium">&c</em><span class="medium">., </span><em class="italics medium">&c</em><span class="medium">.</span></div> +</div> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="small">EDITED BY</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">SIR RICHARD CARNAC TEMPLE, BART, C.B., C.I.E., F.S.A.</span></p> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="center line"><span class="small">HON. FELLOW, TRIN. HALL, CAMBRIDGE,</span></div> +<div class="center line"><span class="small">FORMERLY LIEUT.-COLONEL, INDIAN ARMY.</span></div> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="small">AND</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium small-caps">Prof. DEVADATTA RAMKRISHNA BHANDARKAR, M.A.</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span>⸻</span></p> +<p class="center pnext"><span>VOL. XLVI.—1917.</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold medium">BOMBAY:</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="small small-caps">Printed and Published at the BRITISH INDIA PRESS, Mazgaon, Bombay.</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">LONDON:</span></p> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="center line"><span class="medium">BERNARD QUARITCH LIMITED, 11 GRAFTON STREET,</span></div> +<div class="center line"><span class="medium">NEW BOND STREET, W.</span></div> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">[</span><em class="italics medium">All Rights Reserved</em><span class="medium">.]</span></p> +</div> +<div class="clearpage"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst"><span>[pg 81]</span></p> +<div class="level-2 section" id="castes-in-india"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><span>CASTES IN INDIA.</span></h2> +<p class="center pfirst"><strong class="bold">Their mechanism, genesis and development.</strong><a class="footnote-reference" href="#id2" id="id1"><sup>1</sup></a></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst"><span class="small">BY BHIMRAO R. AMBEDKAR, M. A.</span></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst"><span>Many of us, I dare say, have witnessed local, national, or +international expositions of material objects that make up the sum +total of human civilization. But few can entertain the idea of there +being such a thing as an exposition of human institutions. Exhibition +of human institutions is a strange idea; some might call it the +wildest of ideas. But as students of Ethnology I hope you will not be +hard on this innovation, for it is not so, and to you at least it +should not be strange.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>You all have visited, I believe, some historic place like the ruins of +Pompeii, and listened with curiosity to the history of the remains as +it flowed from the glib tongue of the guide. In my opinion a student +of Ethnology, in one sense at least, is much like the guide. Like his +prototype, he holds up (perhaps with more seriousness and desire of +self instruction) the social institutions to view, with all the +objectiveness humanly possible, and inquires into their origin and +function.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Most of our fellow students in this Seminar, which concerns itself +with Primitive </span><em class="italics">versus</em><span> Modern Society, have ably acquitted themselves +along these lines by giving lucid expositions of the various +institutions, modern or primitive, in which they are interested. It +is my turn now, this evening, to entertain you, as best I can, with a +paper on “Castes in India: their mechanism, genesis and development.”</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>I need hardly remind you of the complexity of the subject I intend to +handle. Subtler minds and abler pens than mine have been brought to +the task of unravelling the mysteries of Caste; but unfortunately it +still remains in the domain of the “unexplained,” not to say of the +“un-understood.” I am quite alive to the complex intricacies of a +hoary institution like Caste, but I am not so pessimistic as to +relegate it to the region of the unknowable, for I believe it can be +known. The caste problem is a vast one, both theoretically and +practically. Practically, it is an institution that portends +tremendous consequences. It is a local problem, but one capable of +much wider mischief, for “as long as caste in India does exist, Hindus +will hardly intermarry or have any social intercourse with outsiders; +and if Hindus migrate to other regions on earth, Indian caste would +become a world problem.”</span><a class="footnote-reference" href="#id4" id="id3"><sup>2</sup></a><span> Theoretically, it has defied a great +many scholars who have taken upon themselves, as a labour of love, to +dig into its origin. Such being the case, I cannot treat the problem +in its entirety. Time, space and acumen, I am afraid, would all fail +me, if I attempted to do otherwise than limit myself to a phase of it, +namely, the genesis, mechanism and spread of the caste system. I will +strictly observe this rule, and will dwell on extraneous matters only +when it is necessary to clarify or support a point in my thesis.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>To proceed with the subject. According to well-known ethnologists, +the population of India is a mixture of Aryans, Dravidians, Mongolians +and Scythians. All these stocks of people came into India from +various directions and with various cultures, centuries ago, when they +were in a tribal state. They all in turn elbowed their entry into the +country by fighting with their predecessors, and after a stomachful of +it settled down as peaceful neighbours. Through constant contact and +mutual intercourse they evolved a common [pg 82] culture that +superseded their distinctive cultures. It may be granted that there +has not been a thorough amalgamation of the various stocks that make +up the peoples of India, and to a traveller from within the boundaries +of India the East presents a marked contrast in physique and even in +colour to the West, as does the South to the North. But amalgamation +can never be the sole criterion of homogeneity as predicated of any +people. Ethnically all peoples are heterogeneous. It is the unity of +culture that is the basis of homogeneity. Taking this for granted, I +venture to say that there is no country that can rival the Indian +Peninsula with respect to the unity of its culture. It has not only a +geographic unity, but it has over and above all a deeper and a much +more fundamental unity—the indubitable cultural unity that covers the +land from end to end. But it is because of this homogeneity that +Caste becomes a problem so difficult to be explained. If the Hindu +Society were a mere federation of mutually exclusive units, the matter +would be simple enough. But Caste is a parcelling of an already +homogeneous unit, and the explanation of the genesis of Caste is the +explanation of this process of parcelling.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Before launching into our field of enquiry, it is better to advise +ourselves regarding the nature of a caste. I will therefore draw upon +a few of the best students of caste for their definitions of it.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>(1) M. Senart, a French authority, defines a caste as “a close +corporation, in theory at any rate rigorously hereditary: equipped +with a certain traditional and independent organisation, including a +chief and a council, meeting on occasion in assemblies of more or less +plenary authority and joining together at certain festivals: bound +together by common occupations, which relate more particularly to +marriage and to food and to questions of ceremonial pollution, and +ruling its members by the exercise of jurisdiction, the extent of +which varies, but which succeeds in making the authority of the +community more felt by the sanction of certain penalties and, above +all, by final irrevocable exclusion from the group.”</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>(2) Mr. Nesfield defines a caste as “a class of the community which +disowns any connection with any other class and can neither intermarry +nor eat nor drink with any but persons of their own community.”</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>(3) According to Sir H. Risley, “a caste may be defined as a +collection of families or groups of families bearing a common name +which usually denotes or is associated, with specific occupation, +claiming common descent from a mythical ancestor, human or divine, +professing to follow the same professional callings and are regarded +by those who are competent to give an opinion as forming a single +homogeneous community.”</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>(4) Dr. Ketkar defines caste as “a social group having two +characteristics: (1) membership is confined to those who are born of +members and includes all persons so born; (2) the members are +forbidden by an inexorable social law to marry outside the group.”</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>To review these definitions is of great importance for our purpose. +It will be noticed that taken individually the definitions of three of +the writers include too much or too little: none is complete or +correct by itself and all have missed the central point in the +mechanism of the Caste system. Their mistake lies in trying to define +caste as an isolated unit by itself, and not as a group within, and +with definite relations to, the system of caste as a whole. Yet +collectively all of them are complementary to one another, each one +emphasising what has been obscured in the other. By way of criticism, +therefore, I will take only those points common to all Castes in each +of the above definitions which are regarded as peculiarities of Caste +and evaluate them as such.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>[pg 83] To start with M. Senart, He draws attention to the “idea of +pollution” as a characteristic of Caste. With regard to this point it +may be safely said that it is by no means a peculiarity of Caste as +such. It usually originates in priestly ceremonialism and is a +particular case of the general belief in purity. Consequently its +necessary connection with Caste may be completely denied without +damaging the working of Caste. The “idea of pollution” has been +attached to the institution of Caste, only because the Caste that +enjoys the highest rank is the priestly Caste: while we know that +priest and purity are old associates. We may therefore conclude that +the “idea of pollution” is a characteristic of Caste only in so far as +Caste has a religious flavour. Mr. Nesfield in his way dwells on the +absence of messing with those outside the Caste as one of its +characteristics. In spite of the newness of the point we must say +that Mr. Nesfield has mistaken the effect for the cause. Caste, being +a self-enclosed unit, naturally limits social intercourse, including +messing etc., to members within it. Consequently this absence of +messing with outsiders is not due to positive prohibition, but is a +natural result of Caste, </span><em class="italics">i.e.</em><span>, exclusiveness. No doubt this absence +of messing, originally due to exclusiveness, acquired the prohibitory +character of a religious injunction, but it may be regarded as a later +growth. Sir H. Risley, makes no new point deserving of special +attention.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>We now pass on to the definition of Dr. Ketkar, who has done much for +the elucidation of the subject. Not only is he a native, but he has +also brought a critical acumen and an open mind to bear on his study +of Caste. His definition merits consideration, for he has defined +Caste in its relation to a system of Castes, and has concentrated his +attention only on those characteristics which are absolutely necessary +for the existence of a Caste within a system, rightly excluding all +others as being secondary or derivative in character. With respect to +his definition it must, however, be said that in it there is a slight +confusion of thought, lucid and clear as otherwise it is. He speaks +of </span><strong class="bold">Prohibition of Intermarriage</strong><span> and </span><strong class="bold">Membership by Autogeny</strong><span> as +the two characteristics of Caste. I submit that these are but two +aspects of one and the same thing, and not two different things as +Dr. Ketkar supposes them to be. If you prohibit inter-marriage the +result is that you limit, membership to those born within the group. +Thus the two are the obverse and the reverse sides of the same medal.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>This critical evaluation of the various characteristics of Caste +leaves no doubt that prohibition, or rather the absence of +intermarriage—endogamy, to be concise—is the only one that can be +called the essence of Caste when rightly understood. But some may +deny this on abstract anthropological grounds, for there exist +endogamous groups without giving rise to the problem of Caste. In a +general way this may be true, as endogamous societies, culturally +different, making their abode in localities more or less removed, and +having little to do with each other, are a physical reality. The +negroes and the whites and the various tribal groups that go by the +name of American Indians in the United States may be cited as more or +less appropriate illustrations in support of this view. But we must +not confuse matters, for in India the situation is different. As +pointed out before, the peoples of India form a homogeneous whole. +The various races of India occupying definite territories have more or +less fused into one another and do possess a cultural unity, which is +the only criterion of a homogeneous population. Given this +homogeneity as a basis, Caste becomes a problem altogether new in +character and wholly absent in the situation constituted by the mere +propinquity of endogamous social or tribal [pg 84] groups. Caste in +India means an artificial chopping off of the population into fixed +and definite units, each one prevented from fusing into another +through the custom of endogamy. Thus the conclusion is inevitable +that </span><strong class="bold">endogamy is the only characteristic that is peculiar to +Caste</strong><span>, and if we succeed in showing how endogamy is maintained, we +shall practically have proved the genesis and also the mechanism of +Caste.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>It may not be quite easy for you to anticipate why I regard endogamy +as a key to the mystery of the Caste system. Not to strain your +imagination too much, I will proceed to give you my reasons for it.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>It may not also be out of place to emphasize at this moment that no +civilized society of to-day presents more survivals of primitive times +than does the Indian society. Its religion is essentially primitive +and its tribal code, in spite of the advance of time and civilization, +operates in all its pristine vigour even to-day. One of these +primitive survivals, to which I wish particularly to draw your +attention, is the </span><strong class="bold">custom of exogamy</strong><span>. The prevalence of exogamy in +the primitive world is a fact too well known to need any explanation. +With the growth of history, however, exogamy has lost its efficacy +and, excepting the nearest blood-kins, there is usually no social bar +restricting the field of marriage. But regarding the peoples of India +the law of exogamy is a positive injunction even to-day. Indian +society still savours of the clan system, even though there are no +clans: and this can be easily seen from the law of matrimony which +centres round the principle of exogamy, for it is not that </span><em class="italics">sapindas</em><span> +(blood-kins) cannot marry, but a marriage even between </span><em class="italics">sagotras</em><span> (of +the same class) is regarded as a sacrilege.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Nothing is therefore more important for you to remember than the fact +that endogamy is foreign to the people of India. The various </span><em class="italics">gotras</em><span> +of India are and have been exogamous: so are the other groups with +totemic organization. It is no exaggeration to say that with the +people of India exogamy is a creed and none dare infringe it, so much +so that, in spite of the endogamy of the Castes within them, exogamy +is strictly observed and that there are more rigorous penalties for +violating exogamy than there are for violating endogamy. You will, +therefore, readily see that with exogamy as the rule there could be no +Castes, for exogamy means fusion. But we </span><em class="italics">have</em><span> Castes; consequently +in the final analysis creation of Castes, so far as India is +concerned, means the superposition of endogamy on exogamy. However, +in an originally exogamous population an easy working out of endogamy +(which is equivalent to the creation of Caste) is a grave problem, and +it is in the consideration of the means utilized for the preservation +of endogamy against exogamy that we may hope to find the solution of +our problem.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Thus the </span><strong class="bold">superposition of endogamy on exogamy means the creation of +Caste</strong><span>. But this is not an easy affair. Let us take an imaginary +group that desires to make itself into a Caste and analyse what means +it will have to adopt to make itself endogamous. If a group desires +to make itself endogamous a formal injunction against intermarriage +with outside groups will be of no avail, especially if prior to the +introduction of endogamy, exogamy had been the rule in all matrimonial +relations. Again, there is a tendency in all groups lying in close +contact with one another to assimilate and amalgamate, and thus +consolidate into a homogenous society. If this tendency is to be +strongly counteracted in the interest of Caste formation, it is +absolutely necessary to circumscribe a circle outside which people +should not contract marriages.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Nevertheless, this encircling to prevent marriages from without +creates problems from within which are not very easy of solution. +Roughly speaking, in a normal group the [pg 85] two sexes are more or +less evenly distributed, and generally speaking there is an equality +between those of the same age. The equality is, however, never quite +realized in actual societies. At the same time to the group that is +desirous of making itself into a caste the maintenance of equality +between the sexes becomes the ultimate goal, for without it endogamy +can no longer subsist. In other words, if endogamy is to be preserved +conjugal rights from within have to be provided for, otherwise members +of the group will be driven out of the circle to take care of +themselves in any way they can. But in order that the conjugal rights +be provided for from within, it is absolutely necessary to maintain a +numerical equality between the marriageable units of the two sexes +within the group desirous of making itself into a Caste. It is only +through the maintenance of such an equality that the necessary +endogamy of the group can be kept intact, and a very large disparity +is sure to break it.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">The problem of Caste, then, ultimately resolves itself into one of +repairing the disparity between the marriageable units of the two +sexes within it</strong><span>. Left to nature, the much needed parity between the +units can be realized only when a couple dies simultaneously. But +this is a rare contingency. The husband may die before the wife and +create a </span><em class="italics">surplus woman</em><span>, who must be disposed of, else through +intermarriage she will violate the endogamy of the group. In like +manner the husband may survive his wife and be a </span><em class="italics">surplus man</em><span>, whom +the group, while it may sympathise with him for the sad bereavement, +has to dispose of, else he will marry outside the Caste and will break +the endogamy. Thus both the </span><em class="italics">surplus man</em><span> and the </span><em class="italics">surplus woman</em><span> +constitute a menace to the Caste if not taken care of, for not finding +suitable partners inside their prescribed circle (and left to +themselves they cannot find any, for if the matter be not regulated +there can only be just enough pairs to go round) very likely they will +transgress the boundary, marry outside and import offspring that is +foreign to the Caste.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Let us see what our imaginary group is likely to do with this </span><em class="italics">surplus +man</em><span> and </span><em class="italics">surplus woman</em><span>. We will first take up the case of the +</span><em class="italics">surplus woman</em><span>. She can be disposed of in two different ways so as +to preserve the endogamy of the Caste.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>First: burn her on the funeral pyre of her deceased husband and get +rid of her. This, however, is rather an impracticable way of solving +the problem of sex disparity. In some cases it may work, in others it +may not. Consequently every </span><em class="italics">surplus woman</em><span> cannot thus be disposed +of, because it is an easy solution but a hard realization. And so the +</span><em class="italics">surplus woman</em><span> (＝ widow), if not disposed of, remains in the group: +but in her very existence lies a double danger. She may marry outside +the Caste and violate endogamy, or she may marry within the Caste and +through competition encroach upon the chances of marriage that must be +reserved for the potential brides in the Caste. She is therefore a +menace in any case, and something must be done to her if she cannot be +burned along with her deceased husband.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>The second remedy is to enforce widowhood on her for the rest of her +life. So far as the objective results are concerned, burning is a +better solution than enforcing widowhood. Burning the widow +eliminates all the three evils that a </span><em class="italics">surplus woman</em><span> is fraught with. +Being dead and gone she creates no problem of remarriage either inside +or outside the Caste. But compulsory widowhood is superior to burning +because it is more practicable. Besides being comparatively humane it +also guards against the evils of remarriage as does burning: but it +fails to guard the morals of the group. No doubt under compulsory +widowhood the woman remains, and just because she is deprived of her +natural right of being a legitimate wife in future, the incentive to +immoral conduct is increased. But [pg 86] this is by no means an +insuperable difficulty. She can be degraded to a condition in which +she is no longer a source of allurement.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>The problem of </span><em class="italics">surplus man</em><span> (＝ widower) is much more important and +much more difficult than that of the </span><em class="italics">surplus woman</em><span> in a group that +desires to make itself into a Caste. From time immemorial man as +compared with woman has had the upper hand. He is a dominant figure +in every group and of the two sexes has greater prestige. With this +traditional superiority of man over woman his wishes have always been +consulted. Woman, on the other hand, has been an easy prey to all +kinds of iniquitous injunctions, religious, social or economic. But +man as a maker of injunctions is most often above them all. Such +being the case, you cannot accord the same kind of treatment to a +</span><em class="italics">surplus man</em><span> as you can to a </span><em class="italics">surplus woman</em><span> in a Caste.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>The project of burning him with his deceased wife is hazardous in two +ways: first of all it cannot be done, simply because he is a man. +Secondly, if done, a sturdy soul is lost to the Caste. There remain +then only two solutions which can conveniently dispose of him. I say +conveniently, because he is an asset to the group.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Important as he is to the group, endogamy is still more important, and +the solution must assure both these ends. Under these circumstances +he may be forced, or I should say induced, after the manner of the +widow, to remain a widower for the rest of his life. This solution is +not altogether difficult, for without any compulsion some are so +disposed as to enjoy self-imposed celibacy, or even to take a further +step of their own accord and renounce the world and its joys. But, +given human nature as it is, this solution can hardly be expected to +be realized. On the other hand, as is very likely to be the case, if +the </span><em class="italics">surplus man</em><span> remains in the group as an active participator in +group activities, he is a danger to the morals of the group. Looked +at from a different point of view celibacy, though easy in cases where +it succeeds, is not so advantageous even then to the material +prospects of the Caste. If he observes genuine celibacy and renounces +the world, he would not be a menace to the preservation of Caste +endogamy or Caste morals as he undoubtedly would be if he remained a +secular person. But as an ascetic celibate he is as good as burned, +so far as the material well-being of his Caste is concerned. A Caste, +in order that it may be large enough to afford a vigorous communal +life, must be maintained at a certain numerical strength. But to hope +for this and to proclaim celibacy is the same as trying to cure +atrophy by bleeding.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Imposing celibacy on the </span><em class="italics">surplus man</em><span> in the group, therefore, fails +both theoretically and practically. It is in the interest of the +Caste to keep him as a </span><em class="italics">grahastha</em><span> (one who raises a family), to use a +Sanskrit technical term. But the problem is to provide him with a +wife from within the Caste. At the outset this is not possible, for +the ruling ratio in a caste has to be one man to one woman and none +can have two chances of marriage, for in a Caste thoroughly +self-enclosed there are always just enough marriageable women to go +round for the marriageable men. Under these circumstances the +</span><em class="italics">surplus man</em><span> can be provided with a wife only by recruiting a bride +from the ranks of those not yet marriageable in order to tie him down +to the group. This is certainly the best of the possible solutions in +the case of the </span><em class="italics">surplus man</em><span>. By this, he is kept within the Caste. +By this means numerical depletion through constant outflow is guarded +against, and by this endogamy and morals are preserved.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>It will now be seen that the four means by which numerical disparity +between the two sexes is conveniently maintained are: (1) Burning the +widow with her deceased [pg 87] husband; (2) Compulsory widowhood—a +milder form of burning; (3) Imposing celibacy on the widower; (4) +Wedding him to a girl not yet marriageable. Though, as I said above, +burning the widow and imposing celibacy on the widower are of doubtful +service to the group in its endeavour to preserve its endogamy, all of +them operate as </span><em class="italics">means</em><span>. But means, as forces, when liberated or set +in motion create an end. What then is the end that these means +create? They create and perpetuate endogamy, while caste and +endogamy, according to our analysis of the various definitions of +caste, are one and the same thing. Thus the existence of these means +is identical with caste and caste involves those means.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>This, in my opinion, is the general mechanism of a caste in a system +of castes. Let us now turn from these high generalities to the castes +in Hindu society and inquire into their mechanism. I need hardly +promise that there are a great many pitfalls in the path of those who +try to unfold the past, and caste in India to be sure is a very +ancient institution. This is especially true where there exist no +authentic or written records, or where the people, like the Hindus, +are so constituted that to them writing history is a folly, for the +world is an illusion. But institutions do live, though for a long +time they may remain unrecorded and as often as not customs and morals +are like fossils that tell their own history. If this is true, our +task will be amply rewarded if we scrutinize the solution the Hindus +arrived at to meet the problems of the </span><em class="italics">surplus man</em><span> and </span><em class="italics">surplus +woman</em><span>.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Complex though it be in its general working the Hindu Society, even to +a superficial observer, presents three singular uxorial customs, +namely:—</span></p> +<ol class="lowerroman simple"> +<li><p class="first pfirst"><em class="italics">Sati</em><span> or the burning of the widow on the funeral pyre of her +deceased husband.</span></p> +</li> +<li><p class="first pfirst"><span>Enforced widowhood by which a widow is not allowed to remarry.</span></p> +</li> +<li><p class="first pfirst"><span>Girl marriage.</span></p> +</li> +</ol> +<p class="pfirst"><span>In addition, one also notes a great hankering after </span><em class="italics">sannyasa</em><span> +(renunciation) on the part of the widower, but this may in some cases +be due purely to psychic disposition.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>So far as I know, no scientific explanation of the origin of these +customs is forthcoming even to-day. We have plenty of philosophy to +tell us why these customs were honoured, but nothing to tell us the +causes of their origin and existence. </span><em class="italics">Sati</em><span> has been honoured +(</span><em class="italics">Cf</em><span>. A. K. Coomaraswamy, </span><em class="italics">Sati: a Defence of the Eastern Woman</em><span> in +the </span><em class="italics">British Sociological Review</em><span>, Vol. VI. 1913) because it is a +“proof of the perfect unity of body and soul” between husband and wife +and of “devotion beyond the grave;” because it embodied the ideal of +wifehood, which is well expressed by Umâ when she said “Devotion to +her Lord is woman's honour, it is her eternal heaven: and O +Maheshvara,” she adds with a most touching human cry, “I desire not +paradise itself if thou art not satisfied with me!” Why compulsory +widowhood is honoured I know not, nor have I yet met with any one who +sang in praise of it, though there are a great many who adhere to it. +The eulogy in honour of girl marriage is reported by Dr. Ketkar to be +as follows: “A really faithful man or woman ought not to feel +affection for a woman or a man other than the one with whom he or she +is united. Such purity is compulsory not only after marriage, but +even before marriage, for that is the only correct ideal of chastity. +No maiden could be considered pure if she feels love for a man other +than the one to whom she might be married. As she does not know to +whom she is going to be married, she must not feel affection for any +man at all before marriage. If she does so, it is a sin. So it is +better for a girl to know whom she has to love, before any sexual +consciousness has been awakened in her.”</span><a class="footnote-reference" href="#id6" id="id5"><sup>3</sup></a><span> Hence girl marriage.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>This high-flown and ingenious sophistry indicates why these +institutions were honoured, but does not tell us why they were +practised. My own interpretation is that they were honoured because +they were practised. Any one slightly acquainted with rise of +individualism in the 18th century will appreciate my remark. At all +times, it is the movement that is most important; and the philosophies +grow around it long afterwards to justify it and give it a moral +support. In like manner I urge that the very fact that these customs +were so highly eulogized proves that they needed eulogy for their +prevalence. Regarding the question as to why they arose, I submit +that they were needed to create the structure of caste and the +philosophies in honour of them were intended to popularize them, or to +gild the pill, as we might say, for they must have been so abominable +and shocking to the moral sense of the unsophisticated that they +needed a great deal of sweetening. These customs are essentially of +the nature of </span><em class="italics">means</em><span>, though they are represented as ideals. But +this should not blind us from understanding the </span><em class="italics">results</em><span> that flow +from them. One might safely say that idealization of means is +necessary and in this particular case was perhaps motivated to endow +them with greater efficacy. Calling a means an end does no harm, +except that it disguises its real character; but it does not deprive +it of its real nature, that of a means. You may pass a law that all +cats are dogs, just as you can call a means an end. But you can no +more change the nature of means thereby than you can turn cats into +dogs; consequently I am justified in holding that, whether regarded as +ends or as means, </span><em class="italics">Sati</em><span>, </span><em class="italics">enforced widowhood</em><span> and </span><em class="italics">girl marriage</em><span> are +customs that were primarily intended to solve the problem of the +</span><em class="italics">surplus man</em><span> and </span><em class="italics">surplus woman</em><span> in a caste and to maintain its +endogamy. Strict endogamy could not be preserved without these +customs, while caste without endogamy is a fake.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Having explained the mechanism of the creation and preservation of +Caste in India, the further question as to its genesis naturally +arises. The question of origin is always an annoying question and in +the study of Caste it is sadly neglected: some have connived at it, +while others have dodged it. Some are puzzled as to whether there +could be such a thing as the origin of caste and suggest that “if we +cannot control our fondness for the word ‘origin’, we should better +use the plural form, </span><em class="italics">viz.</em><span>, ‘origins of caste’.” As for myself I do +not feel puzzled by the Origin of Caste in India, for, as I have +established before, endogamy is the only characteristic of Caste and +when I say </span><strong class="bold">origin of caste</strong><span> I mean </span><strong class="bold">the origin of the mechanism +for endogamy</strong><span>.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>The atomistic conception of individuals in a Society so greatly +popularised—I was about to say vulgarized—in political orations is the +greatest humbug. To say that individuals make up society is trivial; +society is always composed of classes. It may be an exaggeration to +assert the theory of class-conflict, but the existence of definite +classes in a society is a fact. Their basis may differ. They may be +economic or intellectual or social, but an individual in a society is +always a member of a class. This is a universal fact and early Hindu +society could not have been an exception to this rule, and, as a +matter of fact, we know it was not. If we bear this generalization in +mind, our study of the genesis of caste would be very much +facilitated, for we have only to determine what was the class that +first made itself into a caste, for class and caste, so to say, are +next door neighbours, and it is only a span that separates the two. +</span><strong class="bold">A caste is an enclosed class</strong><span>.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>The study of the origin of caste must furnish us with an answer to the +question—what is the class that raised this “enclosure” around itself? +The question [pg 89] may seem too inquisitorial, but it is pertinent, +and an answer to this will serve us to elucidate the mystery of the +growth and development of castes all over India. Unfortunately a +direct answer to this question is not within my power. I can answer +it only indirectly. I said just above that the customs in question +were current in the Hindu society. To be true to facts it is +necessary to qualify the statement, as it connotes universality of +their prevalence. These customs in all their strictness are +obtainable only in one caste, namely the Brahmans, who occupy the +highest place in the social hierarchy of the Hindu society; and as +their prevalence in Non-Brahman castes is derivative their observance +is neither strict nor complete. This important fact can serve as a +basis of an important observation. If the prevalence of these customs +in the non-Brahman Castes is derivative, as can be shown very easily, +then it needs no argument to prove what class is the father of the +institution of caste. Why the Brahman class should have enclosed +itself into a caste is a different question, which may be left as an +employment for another occasion. But the strict observance of these +customs and the social superiority arrogated by the priestly class in +all ancient civilizations are sufficient to prove that they were the +originators of this “unnatural institution” founded and maintained +through these unnatural means.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>I now come to the third part of my paper regarding the question of the +growth and spread of the caste system all over India. The question I +have to answer is: How did the institution of caste spread among the +rest of the non-Brahman population of the country? The question of +the spread of the castes all over India has suffered a worse fate than +the question of genesis. And the main cause, as it seems to me, is +that the two questions of spread and of origin are not separated. +This is because of the common belief among scholars that the caste +system has either been imposed upon the docile population of India by +a law-giver as a divine dispensation, or that it has grown according +to some law of social growth peculiar to the Indian people.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>I first propose to handle the law-giver of India. Every country has +its lawgiver, who arises as an incarnation (</span><em class="italics">avatar</em><span>) in times of +emergency to set right a sinning humanity and give it the laws of +justice and morality. Manu, the law-giver of India, if he did exist, +was certainly an audacious person. If the story that he gave the law +of caste be credited, then Manu must have been a dare-devil fellow and +the humanity that accepted his dispensation must be a humanity quite +different from the one we are acquainted with. It is unimaginable +that the law of caste was </span><em class="italics">given</em><span>. It is hardly an exaggeration to +say that Manu could not have outlived his law, for what is that class +that can submit to be degraded to the status of brutes by the pen of a +man, and suffer him to raise another class to the pinnacle? Unless he +was a tyrant who held all the population in subjection it cannot be +imagined that he could have been allowed to dispense his patronage in +this grossly unjust manner, as may be easily seen by a mere glance at +his “Institutes.” I may seem hard on Manu, but I am sure my force is +not strong enough to kill his ghost. He lives, like a disembodied +spirit and is appealed to, and I am afraid will yet live long. One +thing I want to impress upon you is that Manu did not </span><em class="italics">give</em><span> the </span><em class="italics">law</em><span> +of Caste and that he could not do so. Caste existed long before Manu. +He was an upholder of it and therefore philosophised about it, but +certainly he did not and could not ordain the present order of Hindu +Society. His work ended with the codification of existing caste rules +and the preaching of Caste </span><em class="italics">Dharma</em><span>. The spread and growth of the +Caste system is too [pg 90] gigantic a task to be achieved by the +power or cunning of an individual or of a class. Similar in argument +is the theory that the Brahmans created the caste. After what I have +said regarding Manu, I need hardly say anything more, except to point +out that it is incorrect in thought and malicious in intent. The +Brahmans may have been guilty of many things, and I dare say they are, +but the imposing of the caste system on the non-Brahman population was +beyond their mettle. They may have helped the process by their glib +philosophy, but they certainly could not have pushed their scheme +beyond their own confines. To fashion society after one's own +pattern! How glorious! How hard! One can take pleasure and eulogize +its furtherance, but cannot further it very far. The vehemence of my +attack may seem to be unnecessary: but I can assure you that it is not +uncalled for. There is a strong belief in the mind of orthodox Hindus +that the Hindu Society was somehow moulded into the frame work of the +Caste System, and that it is an organization consciously created by +the </span><em class="italics">Shâstras</em><span>. Not only does this belief exist, but it is being +justified on the ground that it cannot but be good, because it is +ordained by the </span><em class="italics">Shâstras</em><span> and the </span><em class="italics">Shâstras</em><span> cannot be wrong. I have +urged so much on the adverse side of this attitude, not because the +religious sanctity is grounded on scientific basis, nor to help those +reformers who are preaching against it. Preaching did not make the +caste system, neither will it unmake it. My aim is to show the +falsity of the attitude that has exalted religious sanction to the +position of a scientific explanation.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Thus the great man theory does not help us very far in solving the +spread of castes in India. Western scholars, probably not much given +to hero-worship, have attempted other explanations. The nuclei, round +which have “formed” the various castes in India, are, according to +them:—(1) occupation; (2) survivals of tribal organizations, etc.; (3) +the rise of new belief; (4) cross-breeding and (5) migration.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>The question may be asked whether these nuclei do not exist in other +societies and whether they are peculiar to India. If they are not +peculiar to India, but are common to the world, why is it that they +did not “form” caste on other parts of this planet? Is it because +those parts are holier than the land of the Vedas, or that the +professors are mistaken? I am afraid that the latter is the truth.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Inspite of the high theoretic value claimed by the several authors for +their respective theories, based on one or other of the above nuclei, +one regrets to say that on close examination they are nothing more +than filling illustrations—what Matthew Arnold means by “the grand +name without the grand thing in it.” Such are the various theories of +caste advanced by Sir Denzil Ibbetson, Mr. Nesfield, M. Senart and +Sir H. Risley. To criticise them in a lump would be to say that they +are a disguised form of the </span><em class="italics">Petitio Principii</em><span> of formal logic. To +illustrate: Mr. Nesfield says that “function and function only … was the +foundation upon which the whole system of castes in India was built +up.” But he may rightly be reminded that he does not very much +advance our thought by making the above statement, which practically +amounts to saying that castes in India are functional or occupational, +which is a very poor discovery! We have yet to know from Mr. Nesfield +why is it that an occupational group turned into an occupational +caste? I would very cheerfully have undertaken the task of dwelling on +the [pg 91] theories of other ethnologists, had it not been for the +fact that Mr. Nesfield's is a typical one.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Without stopping to criticize those theories that explain the caste +system as a natural phenomenon occurring in obedience to the law of +disintegration, as explained by Herbert Spencer in his formula +of evolution, or as natural as “the structural differentiation within +an organism”—to employ the phraseology of orthodox apologists—, or as +an early attempt to test the laws of eugenics—as all belonging to the +same class of fallacy which regards the caste system as inevitable, or +as being consciously imposed in anticipation of these laws on a +helpless and humble population, I will now lay before you my own view +on the subject.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>We shall be well advised to recall at the outset that the Hindu +society, in common with other societies, was composed of classes and +the earliest known are the (1) Brahmans or the priestly class: (2) the +Kshatriya, or the military class: (3) the Vaiśya, or the merchant +class: and (4) the Sudra, or the artisan and menial class. Particular +attention has to be paid to the fact that this was essentially a class +system, in which individuals, when qualified, could change their +class, and therefore classes did change their personnel. At some time +in the history of the Hindus, the priestly class socially detached +itself from the rest of the body of people and through a closed-door +policy became a caste by itself. The other classes being subject to +the law of social division of labour underwent differentiation, some +into large, others into very minute groups. The Vaiśya and Sudra +classes were the original inchoate plasm, which formed the sources of +the numerous castes of to-day. As the military occupation does not +very easily lend itself to very minute sub-division, the Kshatriya +class could have differentiated into soldiers and administrators.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>This sub-division of a society is quite natural. But the unnatural +thing about these sub-divisions is that they have lost the open door +character of the class system and have become self-enclosed units +called castes. The question is, were they compelled to close their +doors and become endogamous, or did they close them of their own +accord? I submit that there is a double line of answer: </span><strong class="bold">Some closed +the door: others found it closed against them</strong><span>. The one is a +psychological interpretation and the other is mechanistic, but they +are complementary and both are necessary to explain the phenomena of +caste formation in its entirety.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>I will first take up the psychological interpretation. The question +we have to answer in this connection is: Why did these sub-divisions +or classes, if you please, industrial, religious or otherwise, become +self-enclosed or endogamous? My answer is because the Brahmans were +so. Endogamy, or the closed-door system, was a fashion in the Hindu +Society, and as it had originated from the Brahman caste it was +whole-heartedly imitated by all the non-Brahman sub-divisions or +classes, who, in their turn, became endogamous castes. It is “the +infection of imitation” that caught all these sub-divisions on their +onward march of differentiation and has turned them into castes. The +propensity to imitate is a deep-seated one in the human mind and need +not be deemed an inadequate explanation for the formation of the +various castes in India. It is so deep-seated that Walter Bagehot +argues that “we must not think of … imitation as voluntary, or even +conscious. On the contrary it has its seat mainly in very obscure +parts of the mind, whose notions, so far from being consciously +produced, are hardly felt to exist; so far from being conceived +beforehand, are not even felt at the time. The main seat of the +imitative part of our nature is our belief, and the causes +predisposing us to believe this or disinclining us to believe that are +among the obscurest parts of our nature. But as to the imitative +nature [pg 92] of credulity there can be no doubt.”</span><a class="footnote-reference" href="#id10" id="id7"><sup>4</sup></a><span> This +propensity to imitate has been made the subject of a scientific study +by Gabriel Tarde, who lays down three laws of imitation. One of his +three laws is that imitation flows from the higher to the lower or, to +quote his own words, “Given the opportunity, a nobility will always +and everywhere imitate its leaders, its kings or sovereigns, and the +people likewise, given the opportunity, its nobility.”</span><a class="footnote-reference" href="#id11" id="id8"><sup>5</sup></a><span> Another of +Tarde's laws of imitation is: that the extent or intensity of +imitation varies inversely in proportion to distance, or in his own +words “the thing that is most imitated is the most superior one of +those that are nearest. In fact, the influence of the model's example +is efficacious inversely to its </span><em class="italics">distance</em><span> as well as directly to its +superiority. Distance is understood here in its sociological meaning. +However distant in space a stranger may be, he is close by, from this +point of view, if we have numerous and daily relations with him and if +we have every facility to satisfy our desire to imitate him. This law +of the imitation of the nearest, of the least distant, explains the +gradual and consecutive character of the spread of an example that has +been set by the higher social ranks.”</span><a class="footnote-reference" href="#id12" id="id9"><sup>6</sup></a></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>In order to prove my thesis—which really needs no proof—that some +castes were formed by imitation, the best way, it seems to me, is to +find out whether or not the vital conditions for the formation of +castes by imitation exist in the Hindu Society. The conditions for +imitation, according to this standard authority are: (1) That the +source of imitation must enjoy prestige in the group and (2) that +there must be “numerous and daily relations” among members of a group. +That these conditions were present in India there is little reason to +doubt. The Brahman is a semi-god and very nearly a demi-god. He sets +up a mode and moulds the rest. His prestige is unquestionable and is +the fountain-head of bliss and good. Can such a being, idolised by +Scriptures and venerated by the priest-ridden multitude, fail to +project his personality on the suppliant humanity? Why, if the story +be true, he is believed to be the very end of creation. Such a +creature is worthy of more than mere imitation, but at least of +imitation; and if he lives in an endogamous enclosure, should not the +rest follow his example? Frail humanity! Be it embodied in a grave +philosopher or a frivolous housemaid, it succumbs. It cannot be +otherwise. Imitation is easy and invention is difficult.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Yet another way of demonstrating the play of imitation in the +formation of castes is to understand the attitude of non-Brahman +classes towards those customs which supported the structure of caste +in its nascent days until, in the course of history, it became +embedded in the Hindu mind and hangs there to this day without any +support—for now it needs no prop but belief—like a weed on the surface +of a pond. In a way, but only in a way, the status of a caste in the +Hindu Society varies directly with the extent of the observance of the +customs of </span><em class="italics">sati</em><span>, enforced widowhood, and girl marriage. But +observance of these customs varies directly with the </span><em class="italics">distance</em><span> (I am +using the word in the Tardian sense) that separates the caste. Those +castes that are nearest to the Brahmans have imitated all the three +customs and insist on the strict observance thereof. Those that are +less near have imitated enforced widowhood and girl marriage; others, +a little further off, have only girl marriage, and those furthest off +have imitated only the belief in the caste principle. This imperfect +imitation, I dare say, is due partly to what Tarde calls “distance” +and partly to the barbarous character of these customs. This [pg 93] +phenomenon is a complete illustration of Tarde's law and leaves no +doubt that the whole process of caste-formation in India is a process +of imitation of the higher by the lower. At this juncture I will turn +back to support a former conclusion of mine, which might have appeared +to you as too sudden or unsupported. I said that the Brahman class +first raised the structure of caste by the help of those three customs +in question. My reason for that conclusion was that their existence +in other classes was derivative. After what I have said regarding the +rôle of imitation in the spread of these customs among the non-Brahman +castes, as means or as ideals, though the imitators have not been +aware of it, they exist among them as derivatives; and, if they are +derived, there must have been prevalent one original caste that was +high enough to have served as a pattern for the rest. But in a +theocratic society, who could be the pattern but the servant of God?</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>This completes the story of those that were weak enough to close their +doors. Let us now see how others were closed in as a result of being +closed out. This I call the mechanistic process of the formation of +caste. It is mechanistic because it is inevitable. That this line of +approach, as well as the psychological one, to the explanation of the +subject has escaped my predecessors is entirely due to the fact that +they have conceived Caste as a unit by itself and not as one within a +System of Caste. The result of this oversight or lack of sight has +been very detrimental to the proper understanding of the subject +matter and therefore its correct explanation. I will proceed to offer +my own explanation by making one remark which I will urge you to bear +constantly in mind. It is this: that </span><strong class="bold">caste in the singular number +is an unreality</strong><span>. </span><strong class="bold">Castes exist only in the plural number</strong><span>. There +is no such thing as </span><em class="italics">a</em><span> caste: there are always castes. To illustrate +my meaning: while making themselves into a caste, the Brahmans, by +virtue of this, created a non-Brahman caste; or, to express it in my +own way, while closing themselves in they closed others out. I will +clear my point by taking another illustration. Take India as a whole +with its various communities designated by the various creeds to which +they owe allegiance, to wit, the Hindus, Muhammadans, Jews, Christians +and Parsis. Now, barring the Hindus, the rest within themselves are +non-caste communities. But with respect to each other they are +castes. Again, if the first four enclose themselves, the Parsis are +directly closed out, but are indirectly closed in. Symbolically, if +group A. wants to be endogamous, group B. has to be so by sheer force +of circumstances.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Now apply the same logic to the Hindu society and you have another +explanation of the “fissiparous” character of caste, as a consequence +of the virtue of self-duplication that is inherent in it. Any +innovation that seriously antagonises the ethical, religious and +social code of the Caste is not likely to be tolerated by the Caste, +and the recalcitrant members of a Caste are in danger of being thrown +out of the Caste, and left to their own fate without having the +alternative of being admitted into or absorbed by other Castes. Caste +rules are inexorable and they do not wait to make nice distinctions +between kinds of offence. Innovation may be of any kind, but all +kinds will suffer the same penalty. A novel way of thinking will +create a new Caste for the old ones will not tolerate it. The noxious +thinker respectfully called Guru (Prophet) suffers the same fate as +the sinners in illegitimate love. The former creates a caste of the +nature of a religious sect and the latter a type of mixed caste. +Castes have no mercy for a sinner who has the courage to violate the +code. The penalty is excommunication and the result is a new caste. +It is not peculiar Hindu psychology that induces the excommunicated to +form themselves into a caste: far from it. On the contrary, very +often they have been quite [pg 94] willing to be humble members of +some caste (higher by preference) if they could be admitted within its +fold. But castes are enclosed units and it is their conspiracy with +clear conscience that compels the excommunicated to make themselves +into a caste. The logic of this obdurate circumstance is merciless, +and it is in obedience to its force that some unfortunate groups find +themselves enclosed, because others in enclosing, themselves have +closed them out, with the result that new groups (formed on any basis +obnoxious to the caste rules) by a mechanical law are constantly being +converted into castes to a bewildering multiplicity. Thus is told the +second tale in the process of Caste formation in India.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Now to summarise the main points of my thesis. In my opinion there +have been several mistakes committed by the students of Caste, which +have misled them in their investigations. European students of Caste +have unduly emphasised the rôle of colour in the caste-system. +Themselves impregnated by colour prejudices, they very readily +imagined it to be the chief factor in the Caste problem. But nothing +can be farther from the truth, and Dr. Ketkar is correct when he +insists that “All the princes whether they belonged to the so-called +Aryan race, or the so-called Dravidian race, were Aryas. Whether a +tribe or a family was racially Aryan or Dravidian was a question which +never troubled the people of India, until foreign scholars came in and +began to draw the line. The colour of the skin had long ceased to be +a matter of importance.”</span><a class="footnote-reference" href="#id14" id="id13"><sup>7</sup></a><span> Again, they have mistaken mere +descriptions for explanation and fought over them as though they were +theories of origin. There are occupational, religious, etc. castes, +it is true, but it is by no means an explanation of the origin of +Caste. We have yet to find out why occupational groups are castes; +but this question has never even been raised. Lastly they have taken +Caste very lightly as though a breath had made it. On the contrary, +Caste, as I have explained it, is almost impossible to be sustained: +for the difficulties that it involves are tremendous. It is true that +Caste rests on belief, but before belief comes to be the foundation of +an institution, the institution itself needs to be perpetuated and +fortified. My study of the Caste problem involves four main +points: (1) That in spite of the composite make-up of the Hindu +population, there is a deep cultural unity. (2) That Caste is a +parcelling into bits of a larger cultural unit. (3) That there was one +Caste to start with. (4) That classes have become Castes through +imitation and excommunication.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Peculiar interest attaches to the problem of Caste in India to-day, as +persistent attempts are being made to do away with this unnatural +institution. Such attempts at reform, however, have aroused a great +deal of controversy regarding its origin, as to whether it is due to +the conscious command of a Supreme Authority, or is an unconscious +growth in the life of a human society under peculiar circumstances. +Those who hold the latter view will, I hope, find some food for +thought in the standpoint adopted in this paper. Apart from its +practical importance the subject of Caste is an all absorbing problem +and the interest aroused in me regarding its theoretic foundations has +moved me to put before you some of the conclusions, which seem to me +well founded, and the grounds upon which they may be supported. I am +not, however, so presumptuous as to think them in any way final, or +anything more than a contribution to a discussion of the subject. It +seems to me that the car has been shunted on wrong lines, and the +primary object of the paper is to indicate what I regard to be the +right path of investigation, with a view to arrive at a serviceable +truth. We must, however, guard against approaching the subject with a +bias.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>[pg 95] Sentiment must be outlawed from the domain of science and +things should be judged from an objective standpoint. For myself I +shall find as much pleasure in a positive destruction of my own +ideology, as in a rational disagreement on a topic, which, +notwithstanding many learned disquisitions is likely to remain +controversial for ever. To conclude, while I am ambitious to advance +a Theory of Caste, if it can be shown to be untenable I shall be +equally willing to give it up.</span></p> +<div class="clearpage"> +</div> +<div class="docutils container footnotes"> +<div class="footnote-group"> +<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="id2" rules="none"> +<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup> +<tbody valign="top"> +<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id1">[<span class="smaller">1</span>]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst"><span class="smaller">A paper read before the Anthropology Seminar (9th May 1916) of +Dr. A. A. Goldenweiser, Columbia University, New York.</span></p> +</td></tr> +</tbody> +</table> +<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="id4" rules="none"> +<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup> +<tbody valign="top"> +<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id3">[<span class="smaller">2</span>]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst"><span class="smaller">Ketkar, </span><em class="italics smaller">Caste</em><span class="smaller">, p. 4.</span></p> +</td></tr> +</tbody> +</table> +<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="id6" rules="none"> +<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup> +<tbody valign="top"> +<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id5">[<span class="smaller">3</span>]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst"><em class="italics smaller">History of Caste in India</em><span class="smaller">, 1909, pp. 32–33.</span></p> +</td></tr> +</tbody> +</table> +<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="id10" rules="none"> +<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup> +<tbody valign="top"> +<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id7">[<span class="smaller">4</span>]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst"><em class="italics smaller">Physics and Politics</em><span class="smaller"> 1915, p. 60.</span></p> +</td></tr> +</tbody> +</table> +<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="id11" rules="none"> +<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup> +<tbody valign="top"> +<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id8">[<span class="smaller">5</span>]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst"><em class="italics smaller">Laws of Imitation</em><span class="smaller">, Tr. by E. C. Parsons, 2nd ed. p. 217.</span></p> +</td></tr> +</tbody> +</table> +<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="id12" rules="none"> +<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup> +<tbody valign="top"> +<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id9">[<span class="smaller">6</span>]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst"><em class="italics smaller">Ibid</em><span class="smaller">. p. 224.</span></p> +</td></tr> +</tbody> +</table> +<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="id14" rules="none"> +<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup> +<tbody valign="top"> +<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id13">[<span class="smaller">7</span>]</a></td><td><p class="first last pfirst"><em class="italics smaller">History of Caste</em><span class="smaller"> p. 82.</span></p> +</td></tr> +</tbody> +</table> +</div> +</div> +<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- --> +<div class="backmatter"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst" id="pg-end-line"><span>*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK </span><span>CASTES IN INDIA</span><span> ***</span></p> +<div class="cleardoublepage"> +</div> +<div class="language-en level-3 pgfooter section" id="a-word-from-project-gutenberg" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<span id="pg-footer"></span><h3 class="level-3 pfirst section-title title"><span>A Word from Project Gutenberg</span></h3> +<p class="pfirst"><span>We will update this book if we find any errors.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>This book can be found under: </span><a class="reference external" href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63231"><span>https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63231</span></a></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>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. +Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this +license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works to protect the Project Gutenberg™ concept and +trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be +used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific +permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, +complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for +nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, +performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given +away – you may do practically </span><em class="italics">anything</em><span> in the United States with +eBooks not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject +to the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.</span></p> +<div class="level-4 section" id="the-full-project-gutenberg-license"> +<span id="project-gutenberg-license"></span><h4 class="level-4 pfirst section-title title"><span>The Full Project Gutenberg License</span></h4> +<p class="pfirst"><em class="italics">Please read this before you distribute or use this work.</em></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full +Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at +</span><a class="reference external" href="https://www.gutenberg.org/license">https://www.gutenberg.org/license</a><span>.</span></p> +<div class="level-5 section" id="section-1-general-terms-of-use-redistributing-project-gutenberg-electronic-works"> +<h5 class="level-5 pfirst section-title title"><span>Section 1. General Terms of Use & Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works</span></h5> +<p class="pfirst"><strong class="bold">1.A.</strong><span> By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or +destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your +possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a +Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by +the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person +or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.B.</strong><span> “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.C.</strong><span> The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the +Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection +of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual +works in the collection are in the public domain in the United +States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the +United States and you are located in the United States, we do not +claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, +displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as +all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope +that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting free +access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ works +in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the Project +Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily comply with +the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the same format +with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when you share it +without charge with others.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.D.</strong><span> The copyright laws of the place where you are located also +govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most +countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside the +United States, check the laws of your country in addition to the terms +of this agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, +distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any +other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no +representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any +country outside the United States.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.E.</strong><span> Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.E.1.</strong><span> The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work +on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the +phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, +performed, viewed, copied or distributed:</span></p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<p class="pfirst"><span>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States +and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no +restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it +under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this +eBook or online at </span><a class="reference external" href="https://www.gutenberg.org">https://www.gutenberg.org</a><span> . 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.</span></p> +</div> +</blockquote> +<p class="pfirst"><strong class="bold">1.E.2.</strong><span> If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is +derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not +contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the +copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in +the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are +redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply +either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or +obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.E.3.</strong><span> If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is +posted with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and +distribution must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and +any additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms +will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works posted +with the permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of +this work.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.E.4.</strong><span> Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project +Gutenberg™ License terms from this work, or any files containing a +part of this work or any other work associated with Project +Gutenberg™.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.E.5.</strong><span> Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute +this electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg™ License.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.E.6.</strong><span> You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including +any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access +to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format other +than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official +version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ web site +(</span><a class="reference external" href="https://www.gutenberg.org">https://www.gutenberg.org</a><span>), you must, at no additional cost, fee or +expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a +means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original +“Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include +the full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.E.7.</strong><span> Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.E.8.</strong><span> You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works provided +that</span></p> +<ul class="open"> +<li><p class="first pfirst"><span>You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from +the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method you +already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed to +the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has agreed to +donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid within 60 +days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally +required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty payments +should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, +“Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation.”</span></p> +</li> +<li><p class="first pfirst"><span>You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies +you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he +does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ +License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all +copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue +all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ +works.</span></p> +</li> +<li><p class="first pfirst"><span>You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of +any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the +electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of +receipt of the work.</span></p> +</li> +<li><p class="first pfirst"><span>You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free +distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.</span></p> +</li> +</ul> +<p class="pfirst"><strong class="bold">1.E.9.</strong><span> If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than +are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing +from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The +Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ +trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3. below.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.F.</strong></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.F.1.</strong><span> Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend +considerable effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe +and proofread works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating +the Project Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the medium on which they may be +stored, may contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, +incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a +copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or +damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that +damage or cannot be read by your equipment.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.F.2.</strong><span> LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES – Except for the +“Right of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the +Project Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a +Project Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.F.3.</strong><span> LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND – If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium +with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you +with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in +lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person +or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second +opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If +the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing +without further opportunities to fix the problem.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.F.4.</strong><span> Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set +forth in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS,’ WITH +NO OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.F.5.</strong><span> Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of +damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement +violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the +agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or +limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or +unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the +remaining provisions.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><strong class="bold">1.F.6.</strong><span> INDEMNITY – You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, +the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the +production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, +including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of +the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this +or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any +Defect you cause.</span></p> +</div> +<div class="level-5 section" id="section-2-information-about-the-mission-of-project-gutenberg"> +<h5 class="level-5 pfirst section-title title"><span>Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™</span></h5> +<p class="pfirst"><span>Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of +computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It +exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations +from people in all walks of life.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™'s +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will remain +freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future generations. To +learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and +how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the +Foundation web page at </span><a class="reference external" href="http://www.pglaf.org">http://www.pglaf.org</a><span> .</span></p> +</div> +<div class="level-5 section" id="section-3-information-about-the-project-gutenberg-literary-archive-foundation"> +<h5 class="level-5 pfirst section-title title"><span>Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation</span></h5> +<p class="pfirst"><span>The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +</span><a class="reference external" href="https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf">https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf</a><span> . Contributions to the +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to +the full extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the +mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its +volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous +locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt +Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email </span><a class="reference external" href="mailto:business@pglaf.org">business@pglaf.org</a><span>. Email +contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the +Foundation's web site and official page at </span><a class="reference external" href="http://www.pglaf.org">http://www.pglaf.org</a></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>For additional contact information:</span></p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line"><span>Dr. Gregory B. Newby</span></div> +<div class="line"><span>Chief Executive and Director</span></div> +<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="mailto:gbnewby@pglaf.org">gbnewby@pglaf.org</a></div> +</div> +</div> +</blockquote> +</div> +<div class="level-5 section" id="section-4-information-about-donations-to-the-project-gutenberg-literary-archive-foundation"> +<h5 class="level-5 pfirst section-title title"><span>Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation</span></h5> +<p class="pfirst"><span>Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without wide spread +public support and donations to carry out its mission of increasing +the number of public domain and licensed works that can be freely +distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest array of +equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations ($1 to +$5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt status +with the IRS.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular +state visit </span><a class="reference external" href="https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate">https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate</a></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To +donate, please visit: </span><a class="reference external" href="https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate">https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate</a></p> +</div> +<div class="level-5 section" id="section-5-general-information-about-project-gutenberg-electronic-works"> +<h5 class="level-5 pfirst section-title title"><span>Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works.</span></h5> +<p class="pfirst"><span>Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg™ +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in +the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper +edition.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Corrected </span><em class="italics">editions</em><span> of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is +renamed. </span><em class="italics">Versions</em><span> based on separate sources are treated as new +eBooks receiving new filenames and etext numbers.</span></p> +<p class="pnext"><span>Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search +facility:</span></p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<p class="pfirst"><a class="reference external" href="https://www.gutenberg.org">https://www.gutenberg.org</a></p> +</div> +</blockquote> +<p class="pfirst"><span>This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg™, including +how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe +to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.</span></p> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/old/63231-rst.zip b/old/63231-rst.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5517200 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/63231-rst.zip diff --git a/old/63231-rst/63231-rst.rst b/old/63231-rst/63231-rst.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ca7cc23 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/63231-rst/63231-rst.rst @@ -0,0 +1,1001 @@ + +.. -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- + +.. meta:: + :PG.Title: Castes In India + :PG.Id: 63231 + :PG.Released: 2020-09-18 + :PG.Rights: Public Domain + :PG.Producer: Joseph Koshy + :PG.Credits: Transcribed from The Indian Antiquary, Vol. 46, pp. 81–95. + :DC.Title: Castes In India + :DC.Creator: Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar + :DC.Language: en + :DC.Created: 1917 + +.. pgheader:: +.. clearpage:: +.. container:: center + + .. class:: small + + THE + + .. vspace:: 1 + .. class:: xx-large + + INDIAN ANTIQUARY + + .. vspace:: 1 + .. class:: large + + A JOURNAL OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH + + .. vspace:: 1 + .. class:: small + + IN + + .. vspace:: 1 + .. class:: medium + + | ARCHÆOLOGY, EPIGRAPHY, ETHNOLOGY, GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY, FOLKLORE, LANGUAGES, + | LITERATURE, NUMISMATICS, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, *&c*., *&c*. + + .. vspace:: 2 + .. class:: small + + EDITED BY + + .. vspace:: 1 + .. class:: medium + + SIR RICHARD CARNAC TEMPLE, BART, C.B., C.I.E., F.S.A. + + .. class:: small + + | HON. FELLOW, TRIN. HALL, CAMBRIDGE, + | FORMERLY LIEUT.-COLONEL, INDIAN ARMY. + + AND + + .. vspace:: 1 + .. class:: medium small-caps + + Prof. DEVADATTA RAMKRISHNA BHANDARKAR, M.A. + + .. vspace:: 2 + + ⸻ + + VOL. XLVI.—1917. + + + .. vspace:: 3 + .. class:: bold medium + + BOMBAY: + + .. vspace:: 1 + .. class:: small small-caps + + Printed and Published at the BRITISH INDIA PRESS, Mazgaon, Bombay. + + .. vspace:: 1 + .. class:: medium + + LONDON: + + | BERNARD QUARITCH LIMITED, 11 GRAFTON STREET, + | NEW BOND STREET, W. + + [*All Rights Reserved*.] + +.. clearpage:: + +[pg 81] + +================ +CASTES IN INDIA. +================ + +.. class:: center + + **Their mechanism, genesis and development.** [1]_ + + .. vspace:: 1 + + .. class:: small + + BY BHIMRAO R. AMBEDKAR, M. A. + +.. [1] A paper read before the Anthropology Seminar (9th May 1916) of + Dr. A. A. Goldenweiser, Columbia University, New York. + +.. vspace:: 1 + +Many of us, I dare say, have witnessed local, national, or +international expositions of material objects that make up the sum +total of human civilization. But few can entertain the idea of there +being such a thing as an exposition of human institutions. Exhibition +of human institutions is a strange idea; some might call it the +wildest of ideas. But as students of Ethnology I hope you will not be +hard on this innovation, for it is not so, and to you at least it +should not be strange. + +You all have visited, I believe, some historic place like the ruins of +Pompeii, and listened with curiosity to the history of the remains as +it flowed from the glib tongue of the guide. In my opinion a student +of Ethnology, in one sense at least, is much like the guide. Like his +prototype, he holds up (perhaps with more seriousness and desire of +self instruction) the social institutions to view, with all the +objectiveness humanly possible, and inquires into their origin and +function. + +Most of our fellow students in this Seminar, which concerns itself +with Primitive *versus* Modern Society, have ably acquitted themselves +along these lines by giving lucid expositions of the various +institutions, modern or primitive, in which they are interested. It +is my turn now, this evening, to entertain you, as best I can, with a +paper on “Castes in India: their mechanism, genesis and development.” + +I need hardly remind you of the complexity of the subject I intend to +handle. Subtler minds and abler pens than mine have been brought to +the task of unravelling the mysteries of Caste; but unfortunately it +still remains in the domain of the “unexplained,” not to say of the +“un-understood.” I am quite alive to the complex intricacies of a +hoary institution like Caste, but I am not so pessimistic as to +relegate it to the region of the unknowable, for I believe it can be +known. The caste problem is a vast one, both theoretically and +practically. Practically, it is an institution that portends +tremendous consequences. It is a local problem, but one capable of +much wider mischief, for “as long as caste in India does exist, Hindus +will hardly intermarry or have any social intercourse with outsiders; +and if Hindus migrate to other regions on earth, Indian caste would +become a world problem.” [2]_ Theoretically, it has defied a great +many scholars who have taken upon themselves, as a labour of love, to +dig into its origin. Such being the case, I cannot treat the problem +in its entirety. Time, space and acumen, I am afraid, would all fail +me, if I attempted to do otherwise than limit myself to a phase of it, +namely, the genesis, mechanism and spread of the caste system. I will +strictly observe this rule, and will dwell on extraneous matters only +when it is necessary to clarify or support a point in my thesis. + +.. [2] Ketkar, *Caste*, p. 4. + +To proceed with the subject. According to well-known ethnologists, +the population of India is a mixture of Aryans, Dravidians, Mongolians +and Scythians. All these stocks of people came into India from +various directions and with various cultures, centuries ago, when they +were in a tribal state. They all in turn elbowed their entry into the +country by fighting with their predecessors, and after a stomachful of +it settled down as peaceful neighbours. Through constant contact and +mutual intercourse they evolved a common [pg 82] culture that +superseded their distinctive cultures. It may be granted that there +has not been a thorough amalgamation of the various stocks that make +up the peoples of India, and to a traveller from within the boundaries +of India the East presents a marked contrast in physique and even in +colour to the West, as does the South to the North. But amalgamation +can never be the sole criterion of homogeneity as predicated of any +people. Ethnically all peoples are heterogeneous. It is the unity of +culture that is the basis of homogeneity. Taking this for granted, I +venture to say that there is no country that can rival the Indian +Peninsula with respect to the unity of its culture. It has not only a +geographic unity, but it has over and above all a deeper and a much +more fundamental unity—the indubitable cultural unity that covers the +land from end to end. But it is because of this homogeneity that +Caste becomes a problem so difficult to be explained. If the Hindu +Society were a mere federation of mutually exclusive units, the matter +would be simple enough. But Caste is a parcelling of an already +homogeneous unit, and the explanation of the genesis of Caste is the +explanation of this process of parcelling. + +Before launching into our field of enquiry, it is better to advise +ourselves regarding the nature of a caste. I will therefore draw upon +a few of the best students of caste for their definitions of it. + +\(1) M. Senart, a French authority, defines a caste as “a close +corporation, in theory at any rate rigorously hereditary: equipped +with a certain traditional and independent organisation, including a +chief and a council, meeting on occasion in assemblies of more or less +plenary authority and joining together at certain festivals: bound +together by common occupations, which relate more particularly to +marriage and to food and to questions of ceremonial pollution, and +ruling its members by the exercise of jurisdiction, the extent of +which varies, but which succeeds in making the authority of the +community more felt by the sanction of certain penalties and, above +all, by final irrevocable exclusion from the group.” + +\(2) Mr. Nesfield defines a caste as “a class of the community which +disowns any connection with any other class and can neither intermarry +nor eat nor drink with any but persons of their own community.” + +\(3) According to Sir H. Risley, “a caste may be defined as a +collection of families or groups of families bearing a common name +which usually denotes or is associated, with specific occupation, +claiming common descent from a mythical ancestor, human or divine, +professing to follow the same professional callings and are regarded +by those who are competent to give an opinion as forming a single +homogeneous community.” + +\(4) Dr. Ketkar defines caste as “a social group having two +characteristics: (1) membership is confined to those who are born of +members and includes all persons so born; (2) the members are +forbidden by an inexorable social law to marry outside the group.” + +To review these definitions is of great importance for our purpose. +It will be noticed that taken individually the definitions of three of +the writers include too much or too little: none is complete or +correct by itself and all have missed the central point in the +mechanism of the Caste system. Their mistake lies in trying to define +caste as an isolated unit by itself, and not as a group within, and +with definite relations to, the system of caste as a whole. Yet +collectively all of them are complementary to one another, each one +emphasising what has been obscured in the other. By way of criticism, +therefore, I will take only those points common to all Castes in each +of the above definitions which are regarded as peculiarities of Caste +and evaluate them as such. + +[pg 83] To start with M. Senart, He draws attention to the “idea of +pollution” as a characteristic of Caste. With regard to this point it +may be safely said that it is by no means a peculiarity of Caste as +such. It usually originates in priestly ceremonialism and is a +particular case of the general belief in purity. Consequently its +necessary connection with Caste may be completely denied without +damaging the working of Caste. The “idea of pollution” has been +attached to the institution of Caste, only because the Caste that +enjoys the highest rank is the priestly Caste: while we know that +priest and purity are old associates. We may therefore conclude that +the “idea of pollution” is a characteristic of Caste only in so far as +Caste has a religious flavour. Mr. Nesfield in his way dwells on the +absence of messing with those outside the Caste as one of its +characteristics. In spite of the newness of the point we must say +that Mr. Nesfield has mistaken the effect for the cause. Caste, being +a self-enclosed unit, naturally limits social intercourse, including +messing etc., to members within it. Consequently this absence of +messing with outsiders is not due to positive prohibition, but is a +natural result of Caste, *i.e.*, exclusiveness. No doubt this absence +of messing, originally due to exclusiveness, acquired the prohibitory +character of a religious injunction, but it may be regarded as a later +growth. Sir H. Risley, makes no new point deserving of special +attention. + +We now pass on to the definition of Dr. Ketkar, who has done much for +the elucidation of the subject. Not only is he a native, but he has +also brought a critical acumen and an open mind to bear on his study +of Caste. His definition merits consideration, for he has defined +Caste in its relation to a system of Castes, and has concentrated his +attention only on those characteristics which are absolutely necessary +for the existence of a Caste within a system, rightly excluding all +others as being secondary or derivative in character. With respect to +his definition it must, however, be said that in it there is a slight +confusion of thought, lucid and clear as otherwise it is. He speaks +of **Prohibition of Intermarriage** and **Membership by Autogeny** as +the two characteristics of Caste. I submit that these are but two +aspects of one and the same thing, and not two different things as +Dr. Ketkar supposes them to be. If you prohibit inter-marriage the +result is that you limit, membership to those born within the group. +Thus the two are the obverse and the reverse sides of the same medal. + +This critical evaluation of the various characteristics of Caste +leaves no doubt that prohibition, or rather the absence of +intermarriage—endogamy, to be concise—is the only one that can be +called the essence of Caste when rightly understood. But some may +deny this on abstract anthropological grounds, for there exist +endogamous groups without giving rise to the problem of Caste. In a +general way this may be true, as endogamous societies, culturally +different, making their abode in localities more or less removed, and +having little to do with each other, are a physical reality. The +negroes and the whites and the various tribal groups that go by the +name of American Indians in the United States may be cited as more or +less appropriate illustrations in support of this view. But we must +not confuse matters, for in India the situation is different. As +pointed out before, the peoples of India form a homogeneous whole. +The various races of India occupying definite territories have more or +less fused into one another and do possess a cultural unity, which is +the only criterion of a homogeneous population. Given this +homogeneity as a basis, Caste becomes a problem altogether new in +character and wholly absent in the situation constituted by the mere +propinquity of endogamous social or tribal [pg 84] groups. Caste in +India means an artificial chopping off of the population into fixed +and definite units, each one prevented from fusing into another +through the custom of endogamy. Thus the conclusion is inevitable +that **endogamy is the only characteristic that is peculiar to +Caste**, and if we succeed in showing how endogamy is maintained, we +shall practically have proved the genesis and also the mechanism of +Caste. + +It may not be quite easy for you to anticipate why I regard endogamy +as a key to the mystery of the Caste system. Not to strain your +imagination too much, I will proceed to give you my reasons for it. + +It may not also be out of place to emphasize at this moment that no +civilized society of to-day presents more survivals of primitive times +than does the Indian society. Its religion is essentially primitive +and its tribal code, in spite of the advance of time and civilization, +operates in all its pristine vigour even to-day. One of these +primitive survivals, to which I wish particularly to draw your +attention, is the **custom of exogamy**. The prevalence of exogamy in +the primitive world is a fact too well known to need any explanation. +With the growth of history, however, exogamy has lost its efficacy +and, excepting the nearest blood-kins, there is usually no social bar +restricting the field of marriage. But regarding the peoples of India +the law of exogamy is a positive injunction even to-day. Indian +society still savours of the clan system, even though there are no +clans: and this can be easily seen from the law of matrimony which +centres round the principle of exogamy, for it is not that *sapindas* +(blood-kins) cannot marry, but a marriage even between *sagotras* (of +the same class) is regarded as a sacrilege. + +Nothing is therefore more important for you to remember than the fact +that endogamy is foreign to the people of India. The various *gotras* +of India are and have been exogamous: so are the other groups with +totemic organization. It is no exaggeration to say that with the +people of India exogamy is a creed and none dare infringe it, so much +so that, in spite of the endogamy of the Castes within them, exogamy +is strictly observed and that there are more rigorous penalties for +violating exogamy than there are for violating endogamy. You will, +therefore, readily see that with exogamy as the rule there could be no +Castes, for exogamy means fusion. But we *have* Castes; consequently +in the final analysis creation of Castes, so far as India is +concerned, means the superposition of endogamy on exogamy. However, +in an originally exogamous population an easy working out of endogamy +(which is equivalent to the creation of Caste) is a grave problem, and +it is in the consideration of the means utilized for the preservation +of endogamy against exogamy that we may hope to find the solution of +our problem. + +Thus the **superposition of endogamy on exogamy means the creation of +Caste**. But this is not an easy affair. Let us take an imaginary +group that desires to make itself into a Caste and analyse what means +it will have to adopt to make itself endogamous. If a group desires +to make itself endogamous a formal injunction against intermarriage +with outside groups will be of no avail, especially if prior to the +introduction of endogamy, exogamy had been the rule in all matrimonial +relations. Again, there is a tendency in all groups lying in close +contact with one another to assimilate and amalgamate, and thus +consolidate into a homogenous society. If this tendency is to be +strongly counteracted in the interest of Caste formation, it is +absolutely necessary to circumscribe a circle outside which people +should not contract marriages. + +Nevertheless, this encircling to prevent marriages from without +creates problems from within which are not very easy of solution. +Roughly speaking, in a normal group the [pg 85] two sexes are more or +less evenly distributed, and generally speaking there is an equality +between those of the same age. The equality is, however, never quite +realized in actual societies. At the same time to the group that is +desirous of making itself into a caste the maintenance of equality +between the sexes becomes the ultimate goal, for without it endogamy +can no longer subsist. In other words, if endogamy is to be preserved +conjugal rights from within have to be provided for, otherwise members +of the group will be driven out of the circle to take care of +themselves in any way they can. But in order that the conjugal rights +be provided for from within, it is absolutely necessary to maintain a +numerical equality between the marriageable units of the two sexes +within the group desirous of making itself into a Caste. It is only +through the maintenance of such an equality that the necessary +endogamy of the group can be kept intact, and a very large disparity +is sure to break it. + +**The problem of Caste, then, ultimately resolves itself into one of +repairing the disparity between the marriageable units of the two +sexes within it**. Left to nature, the much needed parity between the +units can be realized only when a couple dies simultaneously. But +this is a rare contingency. The husband may die before the wife and +create a *surplus woman*, who must be disposed of, else through +intermarriage she will violate the endogamy of the group. In like +manner the husband may survive his wife and be a *surplus man*, whom +the group, while it may sympathise with him for the sad bereavement, +has to dispose of, else he will marry outside the Caste and will break +the endogamy. Thus both the *surplus man* and the *surplus woman* +constitute a menace to the Caste if not taken care of, for not finding +suitable partners inside their prescribed circle (and left to +themselves they cannot find any, for if the matter be not regulated +there can only be just enough pairs to go round) very likely they will +transgress the boundary, marry outside and import offspring that is +foreign to the Caste. + +Let us see what our imaginary group is likely to do with this *surplus +man* and *surplus woman*. We will first take up the case of the +*surplus woman*. She can be disposed of in two different ways so as +to preserve the endogamy of the Caste. + +First: burn her on the funeral pyre of her deceased husband and get +rid of her. This, however, is rather an impracticable way of solving +the problem of sex disparity. In some cases it may work, in others it +may not. Consequently every *surplus woman* cannot thus be disposed +of, because it is an easy solution but a hard realization. And so the +*surplus woman* (＝ widow), if not disposed of, remains in the group: +but in her very existence lies a double danger. She may marry outside +the Caste and violate endogamy, or she may marry within the Caste and +through competition encroach upon the chances of marriage that must be +reserved for the potential brides in the Caste. She is therefore a +menace in any case, and something must be done to her if she cannot be +burned along with her deceased husband. + +The second remedy is to enforce widowhood on her for the rest of her +life. So far as the objective results are concerned, burning is a +better solution than enforcing widowhood. Burning the widow +eliminates all the three evils that a *surplus woman* is fraught with. +Being dead and gone she creates no problem of remarriage either inside +or outside the Caste. But compulsory widowhood is superior to burning +because it is more practicable. Besides being comparatively humane it +also guards against the evils of remarriage as does burning: but it +fails to guard the morals of the group. No doubt under compulsory +widowhood the woman remains, and just because she is deprived of her +natural right of being a legitimate wife in future, the incentive to +immoral conduct is increased. But [pg 86] this is by no means an +insuperable difficulty. She can be degraded to a condition in which +she is no longer a source of allurement. + +The problem of *surplus man* (＝ widower) is much more important and +much more difficult than that of the *surplus woman* in a group that +desires to make itself into a Caste. From time immemorial man as +compared with woman has had the upper hand. He is a dominant figure +in every group and of the two sexes has greater prestige. With this +traditional superiority of man over woman his wishes have always been +consulted. Woman, on the other hand, has been an easy prey to all +kinds of iniquitous injunctions, religious, social or economic. But +man as a maker of injunctions is most often above them all. Such +being the case, you cannot accord the same kind of treatment to a +*surplus man* as you can to a *surplus woman* in a Caste. + +The project of burning him with his deceased wife is hazardous in two +ways: first of all it cannot be done, simply because he is a man. +Secondly, if done, a sturdy soul is lost to the Caste. There remain +then only two solutions which can conveniently dispose of him. I say +conveniently, because he is an asset to the group. + +Important as he is to the group, endogamy is still more important, and +the solution must assure both these ends. Under these circumstances +he may be forced, or I should say induced, after the manner of the +widow, to remain a widower for the rest of his life. This solution is +not altogether difficult, for without any compulsion some are so +disposed as to enjoy self-imposed celibacy, or even to take a further +step of their own accord and renounce the world and its joys. But, +given human nature as it is, this solution can hardly be expected to +be realized. On the other hand, as is very likely to be the case, if +the *surplus man* remains in the group as an active participator in +group activities, he is a danger to the morals of the group. Looked +at from a different point of view celibacy, though easy in cases where +it succeeds, is not so advantageous even then to the material +prospects of the Caste. If he observes genuine celibacy and renounces +the world, he would not be a menace to the preservation of Caste +endogamy or Caste morals as he undoubtedly would be if he remained a +secular person. But as an ascetic celibate he is as good as burned, +so far as the material well-being of his Caste is concerned. A Caste, +in order that it may be large enough to afford a vigorous communal +life, must be maintained at a certain numerical strength. But to hope +for this and to proclaim celibacy is the same as trying to cure +atrophy by bleeding. + +Imposing celibacy on the *surplus man* in the group, therefore, fails +both theoretically and practically. It is in the interest of the +Caste to keep him as a *grahastha* (one who raises a family), to use a +Sanskrit technical term. But the problem is to provide him with a +wife from within the Caste. At the outset this is not possible, for +the ruling ratio in a caste has to be one man to one woman and none +can have two chances of marriage, for in a Caste thoroughly +self-enclosed there are always just enough marriageable women to go +round for the marriageable men. Under these circumstances the +*surplus man* can be provided with a wife only by recruiting a bride +from the ranks of those not yet marriageable in order to tie him down +to the group. This is certainly the best of the possible solutions in +the case of the *surplus man*. By this, he is kept within the Caste. +By this means numerical depletion through constant outflow is guarded +against, and by this endogamy and morals are preserved. + +It will now be seen that the four means by which numerical disparity +between the two sexes is conveniently maintained are: (1) Burning the +widow with her deceased [pg 87] husband; (2) Compulsory widowhood—a +milder form of burning; (3) Imposing celibacy on the widower; (4) +Wedding him to a girl not yet marriageable. Though, as I said above, +burning the widow and imposing celibacy on the widower are of doubtful +service to the group in its endeavour to preserve its endogamy, all of +them operate as *means*. But means, as forces, when liberated or set +in motion create an end. What then is the end that these means +create? They create and perpetuate endogamy, while caste and +endogamy, according to our analysis of the various definitions of +caste, are one and the same thing. Thus the existence of these means +is identical with caste and caste involves those means. + +This, in my opinion, is the general mechanism of a caste in a system +of castes. Let us now turn from these high generalities to the castes +in Hindu society and inquire into their mechanism. I need hardly +promise that there are a great many pitfalls in the path of those who +try to unfold the past, and caste in India to be sure is a very +ancient institution. This is especially true where there exist no +authentic or written records, or where the people, like the Hindus, +are so constituted that to them writing history is a folly, for the +world is an illusion. But institutions do live, though for a long +time they may remain unrecorded and as often as not customs and morals +are like fossils that tell their own history. If this is true, our +task will be amply rewarded if we scrutinize the solution the Hindus +arrived at to meet the problems of the *surplus man* and *surplus +woman*. + +Complex though it be in its general working the Hindu Society, even to +a superficial observer, presents three singular uxorial customs, +namely:— + +(i) *Sati* or the burning of the widow on the funeral pyre of her + deceased husband. +(ii) Enforced widowhood by which a widow is not allowed to remarry. +(iii) Girl marriage. + +In addition, one also notes a great hankering after *sannyasa* +(renunciation) on the part of the widower, but this may in some cases +be due purely to psychic disposition. + +So far as I know, no scientific explanation of the origin of these +customs is forthcoming even to-day. We have plenty of philosophy to +tell us why these customs were honoured, but nothing to tell us the +causes of their origin and existence. *Sati* has been honoured +(*Cf*. A. K. Coomaraswamy, *Sati: a Defence of the Eastern Woman* in +the *British Sociological Review*, Vol. VI. 1913) because it is a +“proof of the perfect unity of body and soul” between husband and wife +and of “devotion beyond the grave;” because it embodied the ideal of +wifehood, which is well expressed by Umâ when she said “Devotion to +her Lord is woman's honour, it is her eternal heaven: and O +Maheshvara,” she adds with a most touching human cry, “I desire not +paradise itself if thou art not satisfied with me!” Why compulsory +widowhood is honoured I know not, nor have I yet met with any one who +sang in praise of it, though there are a great many who adhere to it. +The eulogy in honour of girl marriage is reported by Dr. Ketkar to be +as follows: “A really faithful man or woman ought not to feel +affection for a woman or a man other than the one with whom he or she +is united. Such purity is compulsory not only after marriage, but +even before marriage, for that is the only correct ideal of chastity. +No maiden could be considered pure if she feels love for a man other +than the one to whom she might be married. As she does not know to +whom she is going to be married, she must not feel affection for any +man at all before marriage. If she does so, it is a sin. So it is +better for a girl to know whom she has to love, before any sexual +consciousness has been awakened in her.” [3]_ Hence girl marriage. + +.. [3] *History of Caste in India*, 1909, pp. 32–33. + +This high-flown and ingenious sophistry indicates why these +institutions were honoured, but does not tell us why they were +practised. My own interpretation is that they were honoured because +they were practised. Any one slightly acquainted with rise of +individualism in the 18th century will appreciate my remark. At all +times, it is the movement that is most important; and the philosophies +grow around it long afterwards to justify it and give it a moral +support. In like manner I urge that the very fact that these customs +were so highly eulogized proves that they needed eulogy for their +prevalence. Regarding the question as to why they arose, I submit +that they were needed to create the structure of caste and the +philosophies in honour of them were intended to popularize them, or to +gild the pill, as we might say, for they must have been so abominable +and shocking to the moral sense of the unsophisticated that they +needed a great deal of sweetening. These customs are essentially of +the nature of *means*, though they are represented as ideals. But +this should not blind us from understanding the *results* that flow +from them. One might safely say that idealization of means is +necessary and in this particular case was perhaps motivated to endow +them with greater efficacy. Calling a means an end does no harm, +except that it disguises its real character; but it does not deprive +it of its real nature, that of a means. You may pass a law that all +cats are dogs, just as you can call a means an end. But you can no +more change the nature of means thereby than you can turn cats into +dogs; consequently I am justified in holding that, whether regarded as +ends or as means, *Sati*, *enforced widowhood* and *girl marriage* are +customs that were primarily intended to solve the problem of the +*surplus man* and *surplus woman* in a caste and to maintain its +endogamy. Strict endogamy could not be preserved without these +customs, while caste without endogamy is a fake. + +Having explained the mechanism of the creation and preservation of +Caste in India, the further question as to its genesis naturally +arises. The question of origin is always an annoying question and in +the study of Caste it is sadly neglected: some have connived at it, +while others have dodged it. Some are puzzled as to whether there +could be such a thing as the origin of caste and suggest that “if we +cannot control our fondness for the word ‘origin’, we should better +use the plural form, *viz.*, ‘origins of caste’.” As for myself I do +not feel puzzled by the Origin of Caste in India, for, as I have +established before, endogamy is the only characteristic of Caste and +when I say **origin of caste** I mean **the origin of the mechanism +for endogamy**. + +The atomistic conception of individuals in a Society so greatly +popularised—I was about to say vulgarized—in political orations is the +greatest humbug. To say that individuals make up society is trivial; +society is always composed of classes. It may be an exaggeration to +assert the theory of class-conflict, but the existence of definite +classes in a society is a fact. Their basis may differ. They may be +economic or intellectual or social, but an individual in a society is +always a member of a class. This is a universal fact and early Hindu +society could not have been an exception to this rule, and, as a +matter of fact, we know it was not. If we bear this generalization in +mind, our study of the genesis of caste would be very much +facilitated, for we have only to determine what was the class that +first made itself into a caste, for class and caste, so to say, are +next door neighbours, and it is only a span that separates the two. +**A caste is an enclosed class**. + +The study of the origin of caste must furnish us with an answer to the +question—what is the class that raised this “enclosure” around itself? +The question [pg 89] may seem too inquisitorial, but it is pertinent, +and an answer to this will serve us to elucidate the mystery of the +growth and development of castes all over India. Unfortunately a +direct answer to this question is not within my power. I can answer +it only indirectly. I said just above that the customs in question +were current in the Hindu society. To be true to facts it is +necessary to qualify the statement, as it connotes universality of +their prevalence. These customs in all their strictness are +obtainable only in one caste, namely the Brahmans, who occupy the +highest place in the social hierarchy of the Hindu society; and as +their prevalence in Non-Brahman castes is derivative their observance +is neither strict nor complete. This important fact can serve as a +basis of an important observation. If the prevalence of these customs +in the non-Brahman Castes is derivative, as can be shown very easily, +then it needs no argument to prove what class is the father of the +institution of caste. Why the Brahman class should have enclosed +itself into a caste is a different question, which may be left as an +employment for another occasion. But the strict observance of these +customs and the social superiority arrogated by the priestly class in +all ancient civilizations are sufficient to prove that they were the +originators of this “unnatural institution” founded and maintained +through these unnatural means. + +I now come to the third part of my paper regarding the question of the +growth and spread of the caste system all over India. The question I +have to answer is: How did the institution of caste spread among the +rest of the non-Brahman population of the country? The question of +the spread of the castes all over India has suffered a worse fate than +the question of genesis. And the main cause, as it seems to me, is +that the two questions of spread and of origin are not separated. +This is because of the common belief among scholars that the caste +system has either been imposed upon the docile population of India by +a law-giver as a divine dispensation, or that it has grown according +to some law of social growth peculiar to the Indian people. + +I first propose to handle the law-giver of India. Every country has +its lawgiver, who arises as an incarnation (*avatar*) in times of +emergency to set right a sinning humanity and give it the laws of +justice and morality. Manu, the law-giver of India, if he did exist, +was certainly an audacious person. If the story that he gave the law +of caste be credited, then Manu must have been a dare-devil fellow and +the humanity that accepted his dispensation must be a humanity quite +different from the one we are acquainted with. It is unimaginable +that the law of caste was *given*. It is hardly an exaggeration to +say that Manu could not have outlived his law, for what is that class +that can submit to be degraded to the status of brutes by the pen of a +man, and suffer him to raise another class to the pinnacle? Unless he +was a tyrant who held all the population in subjection it cannot be +imagined that he could have been allowed to dispense his patronage in +this grossly unjust manner, as may be easily seen by a mere glance at +his “Institutes.” I may seem hard on Manu, but I am sure my force is +not strong enough to kill his ghost. He lives, like a disembodied +spirit and is appealed to, and I am afraid will yet live long. One +thing I want to impress upon you is that Manu did not *give* the *law* +of Caste and that he could not do so. Caste existed long before Manu. +He was an upholder of it and therefore philosophised about it, but +certainly he did not and could not ordain the present order of Hindu +Society. His work ended with the codification of existing caste rules +and the preaching of Caste *Dharma*. The spread and growth of the +Caste system is too [pg 90] gigantic a task to be achieved by the +power or cunning of an individual or of a class. Similar in argument +is the theory that the Brahmans created the caste. After what I have +said regarding Manu, I need hardly say anything more, except to point +out that it is incorrect in thought and malicious in intent. The +Brahmans may have been guilty of many things, and I dare say they are, +but the imposing of the caste system on the non-Brahman population was +beyond their mettle. They may have helped the process by their glib +philosophy, but they certainly could not have pushed their scheme +beyond their own confines. To fashion society after one's own +pattern! How glorious! How hard! One can take pleasure and eulogize +its furtherance, but cannot further it very far. The vehemence of my +attack may seem to be unnecessary: but I can assure you that it is not +uncalled for. There is a strong belief in the mind of orthodox Hindus +that the Hindu Society was somehow moulded into the frame work of the +Caste System, and that it is an organization consciously created by +the *Shâstras*. Not only does this belief exist, but it is being +justified on the ground that it cannot but be good, because it is +ordained by the *Shâstras* and the *Shâstras* cannot be wrong. I have +urged so much on the adverse side of this attitude, not because the +religious sanctity is grounded on scientific basis, nor to help those +reformers who are preaching against it. Preaching did not make the +caste system, neither will it unmake it. My aim is to show the +falsity of the attitude that has exalted religious sanction to the +position of a scientific explanation. + +Thus the great man theory does not help us very far in solving the +spread of castes in India. Western scholars, probably not much given +to hero-worship, have attempted other explanations. The nuclei, round +which have “formed” the various castes in India, are, according to +them:—(1) occupation; (2) survivals of tribal organizations, etc.; (3) +the rise of new belief; (4) cross-breeding and (5) migration. + +The question may be asked whether these nuclei do not exist in other +societies and whether they are peculiar to India. If they are not +peculiar to India, but are common to the world, why is it that they +did not “form” caste on other parts of this planet? Is it because +those parts are holier than the land of the Vedas, or that the +professors are mistaken? I am afraid that the latter is the truth. + +Inspite of the high theoretic value claimed by the several authors for +their respective theories, based on one or other of the above nuclei, +one regrets to say that on close examination they are nothing more +than filling illustrations—what Matthew Arnold means by “the grand +name without the grand thing in it.” Such are the various theories of +caste advanced by Sir Denzil Ibbetson, Mr. Nesfield, M. Senart and +Sir H. Risley. To criticise them in a lump would be to say that they +are a disguised form of the *Petitio Principii* of formal logic. To +illustrate: Mr. Nesfield says that “function and function only … was the +foundation upon which the whole system of castes in India was built +up.” But he may rightly be reminded that he does not very much +advance our thought by making the above statement, which practically +amounts to saying that castes in India are functional or occupational, +which is a very poor discovery! We have yet to know from Mr. Nesfield +why is it that an occupational group turned into an occupational +caste? I would very cheerfully have undertaken the task of dwelling on +the [pg 91] theories of other ethnologists, had it not been for the +fact that Mr. Nesfield's is a typical one. + +Without stopping to criticize those theories that explain the caste +system as a natural phenomenon occurring in obedience to the law of +disintegration, as explained by Herbert Spencer in his formula +of evolution, or as natural as “the structural differentiation within +an organism”—to employ the phraseology of orthodox apologists—, or as +an early attempt to test the laws of eugenics—as all belonging to the +same class of fallacy which regards the caste system as inevitable, or +as being consciously imposed in anticipation of these laws on a +helpless and humble population, I will now lay before you my own view +on the subject. + +We shall be well advised to recall at the outset that the Hindu +society, in common with other societies, was composed of classes and +the earliest known are the (1) Brahmans or the priestly class: (2) the +Kshatriya, or the military class: (3) the Vaiśya, or the merchant +class: and (4) the Sudra, or the artisan and menial class. Particular +attention has to be paid to the fact that this was essentially a class +system, in which individuals, when qualified, could change their +class, and therefore classes did change their personnel. At some time +in the history of the Hindus, the priestly class socially detached +itself from the rest of the body of people and through a closed-door +policy became a caste by itself. The other classes being subject to +the law of social division of labour underwent differentiation, some +into large, others into very minute groups. The Vaiśya and Sudra +classes were the original inchoate plasm, which formed the sources of +the numerous castes of to-day. As the military occupation does not +very easily lend itself to very minute sub-division, the Kshatriya +class could have differentiated into soldiers and administrators. + +This sub-division of a society is quite natural. But the unnatural +thing about these sub-divisions is that they have lost the open door +character of the class system and have become self-enclosed units +called castes. The question is, were they compelled to close their +doors and become endogamous, or did they close them of their own +accord? I submit that there is a double line of answer: **Some closed +the door: others found it closed against them**. The one is a +psychological interpretation and the other is mechanistic, but they +are complementary and both are necessary to explain the phenomena of +caste formation in its entirety. + +I will first take up the psychological interpretation. The question +we have to answer in this connection is: Why did these sub-divisions +or classes, if you please, industrial, religious or otherwise, become +self-enclosed or endogamous? My answer is because the Brahmans were +so. Endogamy, or the closed-door system, was a fashion in the Hindu +Society, and as it had originated from the Brahman caste it was +whole-heartedly imitated by all the non-Brahman sub-divisions or +classes, who, in their turn, became endogamous castes. It is “the +infection of imitation” that caught all these sub-divisions on their +onward march of differentiation and has turned them into castes. The +propensity to imitate is a deep-seated one in the human mind and need +not be deemed an inadequate explanation for the formation of the +various castes in India. It is so deep-seated that Walter Bagehot +argues that “we must not think of … imitation as voluntary, or even +conscious. On the contrary it has its seat mainly in very obscure +parts of the mind, whose notions, so far from being consciously +produced, are hardly felt to exist; so far from being conceived +beforehand, are not even felt at the time. The main seat of the +imitative part of our nature is our belief, and the causes +predisposing us to believe this or disinclining us to believe that are +among the obscurest parts of our nature. But as to the imitative +nature [pg 92] of credulity there can be no doubt.” [4]_ This +propensity to imitate has been made the subject of a scientific study +by Gabriel Tarde, who lays down three laws of imitation. One of his +three laws is that imitation flows from the higher to the lower or, to +quote his own words, “Given the opportunity, a nobility will always +and everywhere imitate its leaders, its kings or sovereigns, and the +people likewise, given the opportunity, its nobility.” [5]_ Another of +Tarde's laws of imitation is: that the extent or intensity of +imitation varies inversely in proportion to distance, or in his own +words “the thing that is most imitated is the most superior one of +those that are nearest. In fact, the influence of the model's example +is efficacious inversely to its *distance* as well as directly to its +superiority. Distance is understood here in its sociological meaning. +However distant in space a stranger may be, he is close by, from this +point of view, if we have numerous and daily relations with him and if +we have every facility to satisfy our desire to imitate him. This law +of the imitation of the nearest, of the least distant, explains the +gradual and consecutive character of the spread of an example that has +been set by the higher social ranks.” [6]_ + +.. [4] *Physics and Politics* 1915, p. 60. +.. [5] *Laws of Imitation*, Tr. by E. C. Parsons, 2nd ed. p. 217. +.. [6] *Ibid*. p. 224. + +In order to prove my thesis—which really needs no proof—that some +castes were formed by imitation, the best way, it seems to me, is to +find out whether or not the vital conditions for the formation of +castes by imitation exist in the Hindu Society. The conditions for +imitation, according to this standard authority are: (1) That the +source of imitation must enjoy prestige in the group and (2) that +there must be “numerous and daily relations” among members of a group. +That these conditions were present in India there is little reason to +doubt. The Brahman is a semi-god and very nearly a demi-god. He sets +up a mode and moulds the rest. His prestige is unquestionable and is +the fountain-head of bliss and good. Can such a being, idolised by +Scriptures and venerated by the priest-ridden multitude, fail to +project his personality on the suppliant humanity? Why, if the story +be true, he is believed to be the very end of creation. Such a +creature is worthy of more than mere imitation, but at least of +imitation; and if he lives in an endogamous enclosure, should not the +rest follow his example? Frail humanity! Be it embodied in a grave +philosopher or a frivolous housemaid, it succumbs. It cannot be +otherwise. Imitation is easy and invention is difficult. + +Yet another way of demonstrating the play of imitation in the +formation of castes is to understand the attitude of non-Brahman +classes towards those customs which supported the structure of caste +in its nascent days until, in the course of history, it became +embedded in the Hindu mind and hangs there to this day without any +support—for now it needs no prop but belief—like a weed on the surface +of a pond. In a way, but only in a way, the status of a caste in the +Hindu Society varies directly with the extent of the observance of the +customs of *sati*, enforced widowhood, and girl marriage. But +observance of these customs varies directly with the *distance* (I am +using the word in the Tardian sense) that separates the caste. Those +castes that are nearest to the Brahmans have imitated all the three +customs and insist on the strict observance thereof. Those that are +less near have imitated enforced widowhood and girl marriage; others, +a little further off, have only girl marriage, and those furthest off +have imitated only the belief in the caste principle. This imperfect +imitation, I dare say, is due partly to what Tarde calls “distance” +and partly to the barbarous character of these customs. This [pg 93] +phenomenon is a complete illustration of Tarde's law and leaves no +doubt that the whole process of caste-formation in India is a process +of imitation of the higher by the lower. At this juncture I will turn +back to support a former conclusion of mine, which might have appeared +to you as too sudden or unsupported. I said that the Brahman class +first raised the structure of caste by the help of those three customs +in question. My reason for that conclusion was that their existence +in other classes was derivative. After what I have said regarding the +rôle of imitation in the spread of these customs among the non-Brahman +castes, as means or as ideals, though the imitators have not been +aware of it, they exist among them as derivatives; and, if they are +derived, there must have been prevalent one original caste that was +high enough to have served as a pattern for the rest. But in a +theocratic society, who could be the pattern but the servant of God? + +This completes the story of those that were weak enough to close their +doors. Let us now see how others were closed in as a result of being +closed out. This I call the mechanistic process of the formation of +caste. It is mechanistic because it is inevitable. That this line of +approach, as well as the psychological one, to the explanation of the +subject has escaped my predecessors is entirely due to the fact that +they have conceived Caste as a unit by itself and not as one within a +System of Caste. The result of this oversight or lack of sight has +been very detrimental to the proper understanding of the subject +matter and therefore its correct explanation. I will proceed to offer +my own explanation by making one remark which I will urge you to bear +constantly in mind. It is this: that **caste in the singular number +is an unreality**. **Castes exist only in the plural number**. There +is no such thing as *a* caste: there are always castes. To illustrate +my meaning: while making themselves into a caste, the Brahmans, by +virtue of this, created a non-Brahman caste; or, to express it in my +own way, while closing themselves in they closed others out. I will +clear my point by taking another illustration. Take India as a whole +with its various communities designated by the various creeds to which +they owe allegiance, to wit, the Hindus, Muhammadans, Jews, Christians +and Parsis. Now, barring the Hindus, the rest within themselves are +non-caste communities. But with respect to each other they are +castes. Again, if the first four enclose themselves, the Parsis are +directly closed out, but are indirectly closed in. Symbolically, if +group A. wants to be endogamous, group B. has to be so by sheer force +of circumstances. + +Now apply the same logic to the Hindu society and you have another +explanation of the “fissiparous” character of caste, as a consequence +of the virtue of self-duplication that is inherent in it. Any +innovation that seriously antagonises the ethical, religious and +social code of the Caste is not likely to be tolerated by the Caste, +and the recalcitrant members of a Caste are in danger of being thrown +out of the Caste, and left to their own fate without having the +alternative of being admitted into or absorbed by other Castes. Caste +rules are inexorable and they do not wait to make nice distinctions +between kinds of offence. Innovation may be of any kind, but all +kinds will suffer the same penalty. A novel way of thinking will +create a new Caste for the old ones will not tolerate it. The noxious +thinker respectfully called Guru (Prophet) suffers the same fate as +the sinners in illegitimate love. The former creates a caste of the +nature of a religious sect and the latter a type of mixed caste. +Castes have no mercy for a sinner who has the courage to violate the +code. The penalty is excommunication and the result is a new caste. +It is not peculiar Hindu psychology that induces the excommunicated to +form themselves into a caste: far from it. On the contrary, very +often they have been quite [pg 94] willing to be humble members of +some caste (higher by preference) if they could be admitted within its +fold. But castes are enclosed units and it is their conspiracy with +clear conscience that compels the excommunicated to make themselves +into a caste. The logic of this obdurate circumstance is merciless, +and it is in obedience to its force that some unfortunate groups find +themselves enclosed, because others in enclosing, themselves have +closed them out, with the result that new groups (formed on any basis +obnoxious to the caste rules) by a mechanical law are constantly being +converted into castes to a bewildering multiplicity. Thus is told the +second tale in the process of Caste formation in India. + +Now to summarise the main points of my thesis. In my opinion there +have been several mistakes committed by the students of Caste, which +have misled them in their investigations. European students of Caste +have unduly emphasised the rôle of colour in the caste-system. +Themselves impregnated by colour prejudices, they very readily +imagined it to be the chief factor in the Caste problem. But nothing +can be farther from the truth, and Dr. Ketkar is correct when he +insists that “All the princes whether they belonged to the so-called +Aryan race, or the so-called Dravidian race, were Aryas. Whether a +tribe or a family was racially Aryan or Dravidian was a question which +never troubled the people of India, until foreign scholars came in and +began to draw the line. The colour of the skin had long ceased to be +a matter of importance.” [7]_ Again, they have mistaken mere +descriptions for explanation and fought over them as though they were +theories of origin. There are occupational, religious, etc. castes, +it is true, but it is by no means an explanation of the origin of +Caste. We have yet to find out why occupational groups are castes; +but this question has never even been raised. Lastly they have taken +Caste very lightly as though a breath had made it. On the contrary, +Caste, as I have explained it, is almost impossible to be sustained: +for the difficulties that it involves are tremendous. It is true that +Caste rests on belief, but before belief comes to be the foundation of +an institution, the institution itself needs to be perpetuated and +fortified. My study of the Caste problem involves four main +points: (1) That in spite of the composite make-up of the Hindu +population, there is a deep cultural unity. (2) That Caste is a +parcelling into bits of a larger cultural unit. (3) That there was one +Caste to start with. (4) That classes have become Castes through +imitation and excommunication. + +.. [7] *History of Caste* p. 82. + +Peculiar interest attaches to the problem of Caste in India to-day, as +persistent attempts are being made to do away with this unnatural +institution. Such attempts at reform, however, have aroused a great +deal of controversy regarding its origin, as to whether it is due to +the conscious command of a Supreme Authority, or is an unconscious +growth in the life of a human society under peculiar circumstances. +Those who hold the latter view will, I hope, find some food for +thought in the standpoint adopted in this paper. Apart from its +practical importance the subject of Caste is an all absorbing problem +and the interest aroused in me regarding its theoretic foundations has +moved me to put before you some of the conclusions, which seem to me +well founded, and the grounds upon which they may be supported. I am +not, however, so presumptuous as to think them in any way final, or +anything more than a contribution to a discussion of the subject. It +seems to me that the car has been shunted on wrong lines, and the +primary object of the paper is to indicate what I regard to be the +right path of investigation, with a view to arrive at a serviceable +truth. We must, however, guard against approaching the subject with a +bias. + +[pg 95] Sentiment must be outlawed from the domain of science and +things should be judged from an objective standpoint. For myself I +shall find as much pleasure in a positive destruction of my own +ideology, as in a rational disagreement on a topic, which, +notwithstanding many learned disquisitions is likely to remain +controversial for ever. To conclude, while I am ambitious to advance +a Theory of Caste, if it can be shown to be untenable I shall be +equally willing to give it up. + +.. clearpage:: + +.. footnotes:: + :class: smaller + +.. pgfooter:: |