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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. 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