Di-vision D5^2.2. Section CL3vn^ Digitized by the Internet Archive ^ in 2016 https://archive.org/details/indiancasteOOwiTs INDIAN CASTE. BY THE LATE JOHN WILSON, D.D., F.R.S., H050RA.RT PRESIDENT OF THE BOMBAY BRANCH OP THE ROYAL ASUTIC SOCIETY, AND SOME TIME VICE-CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF BOMBAY, MISSIONARY OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. Times of India Office, Bombay. William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh & London. 1877. All rights reserved. BoMBiT : PRINTED AT THE TIMES CF INDIA STEAM PRESo. NOTE. When Dr. Wilson died in December 1875, he left no instructions as to the future disposal of the work on Caste on which he had been engaged at intervals for the last twenty years of his life. A cursory inspection of the vast mass of papers which Dr. AVilson left led me to hope that ample material existed for a continuation of the work, if not for its absolute completion. Accordingly, after a delay caused by the necessity of going through all the papers for purposes connected with the winding up of the Estate, all those that seemed to appertain to Dr. Wilson’s literary activity were sent to Mr. Andrew Wilson, into whose hands the task of completing the Book from material existing in manuscript would naturally have fallen. But the result of a care- ful investigation was to satisfy the family that nothing would be gained by attempting to add materially to the work as Dr. Wilson left it ; and, accordingly, I was requested to have it brought out without further delay. iv. Dr. Wilson had finally corrected the whole of the first volume of the work, and the second volume as far as the end of page 184. The material for pp. 1 84-228 of the second volume, completing the account of the Brahmanical castes, existed partly in type, partly in manuscript. But these pages were not revised by the Author. I should perhaps mention that a portion of the first volume has been in type since 1857. An index of names and the more important subjects has been added. PETER PETERSON, M.A. Elphinstone College^ 1^< October, 1877. CONTENTS. Part First— What Caste is. Pages. 9 — 12 SECTION I. Introductory Remarks. 12 — 17 SECTION II. The Meaning, Sphere, Authority and Symbols of Caste. 17 — 53 SECTION III. Orthodox View of the Four Original Castes. The Brahman. His four orders. Present pretensions of the Brahman. The Kshatriya. The Vaishya. The Shudra. 53 — 72 SECTION IV. Orthodox View of the Mixed Castes. Manu’s account. Maratha Tabular View. Conservative Spirit of Orthodox School. 73 — 211 SECTION V. Origin and Development of Indian Caste. Notices in the Rig Veda. The Aryas and Dasyus. The Early Priesthood. The Rishis. The Kshatriyas and Vaishyas. The Shudras. The God Brahma. Caste no systematic institution of the Aryas. The Purusha Sukta. Notices in the Sama Veda. In the Yajiu’ Veda. The Purusha Medha. Notices in the Atharva Veda. In the Brahmanas. Aitareya Brahmana quoted. Legend of Sunahshepha. Notices in the Aranyakas and Upanishads. In the Sutras. Recapitulation. 212 — 277 SECTION VI. Caste in the Indian Epics. The Ramayana. The Mahabharata. CONTUKTS, PAGES. 278 — 315 SECTION VII. The Buddhist View of Caste. Buddha. Date of his death. His doctrines. Buddhist Literature. Buddha’s Relations to Caste. The Vajra ' Shuchi and Skanda Parana. The Jainas. 315 — 353 SECTION VIII. A Peep at Indian Society by the Greeks. Herodotus. Arrian. — Alexander’s expedition. Megas- thenes. His classification of the Indians. Strabo. Ptolemy. 354 — 418 SECTION IX. Caste in the Law Books and Later Indian Literature. List of Smritis. Substance of that of Augiras. Mauu. The Mitakshara. The Parashara Smriti. The Mayukha. 418 — 422 SECTION X. Caste in the Harivansha. 422 — 450 SECTION XI. Caste in the Pdranas. List of the Puranas. Notices of Caste in the several Puranas. INDIAN CASTE BY THE LATE JOHN WILSON, D.D., F.K.S., UOSORARY PRESIDENT OP THE BOMBAY BRANCH OP THE ROYAL ASUTIC SOCIETY, AND SOME TIME VICE-CHANCELLOR OP THE UNIVERSITY OP BOMBAY, MISSIONARY OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. II. Times of India Office, Bombay. William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh & London. 1877. All rights reserved. BOMBAY : PRISTED AT THE TIMEa CF INDIA STEAM PRESS. CONTENTS. Part Second— What the Castes are. Pages. 1—228 5 SECTION I. — The Brahmanical or Priestly Castes. First Distinctions among the Brahmans. 17 General Divisions of the Brahmans. 17- -123 The 17 The 30 Polil 50 The 5G The 60 The 64 The 65 The 66 The 66 The 68 The 72 The 73 The 91 The 124- -228 The 124 The 140 The 148 The 159 The 166 The 187 The 192 The 196 The 203 The 220 The 222 The ,,. .,v ,' -: -, ' ■g'f , J ^ ^ ^ ■. Ini iaAw--d:ioc^ T/ri^ «. '•■ .4t»T ■j ^ nx’AO ri ■;j .JWRttlarrU i^Jti^^V'' tt*#\' , ^ ■« *- fe’-Tn' - "* -..'.'a.rt.?i. *i >,-4,!l»^T^/t M " '1 4! * *r ^ 0^’, - j t ' \ >i - ' \ ■ h . • i4t(.'>«til«ili /rf'Jfl' BtftV^ ^ ^ W .^u£::pf:it,tt AflfdCif^ U V . >|^*f '.’-ri^v,, . 4.. r^jr _j 0.V _r : ' ~v* fr ‘ '. ^X: 5.;'-‘ ■ ' ■ ' ■ . ; 'W J^ielsftnff-v*^ 0 '% \ • 'S.v .l*'tttALi .,-;A*’*Ji 'J it • ' . ■^ 1 . U. ' ‘'’''wBlJit. Aiitjt rif^ fli t ^ .1^ ' ^.: V ■ .*...ii'fi|gt.*j ifey'j.il' -»,r4' . •■ irtit flijlitl ' ' t ‘ < i 1»’ '1^'’ INDIAN CASTE. PART FIRST.— WHAT CASTE IS. I. — Introductory Remarks. Pride of ancestry, of family and personal position and occupation, and of religious pre-eminence, which, as will be immediately seen, is the grand characteristic of “ Caste,” is not peculiar to India. Nations and peoples, as well as individuals, have in all countries, in all ages, and at all times, been prone to take exaggerated views of their own importance, and to claim for them- selves a natural and historical and social superiority to which they have had no adequate title. That spirit which led many of the olden tribes of men to consider their progenitors as the direct offspring of the soil on which they trode, as the children of the sun moon and other heavenly bodies in whose light they rejoiced, or as the procreations or manifestations of the imaginary per- sonal gods whom they worshipped, has been very ex- tensive in its influence throughout the world. The higher communities and classes of men, ungrateful to Provi- dence for their advantages when real, have often looked with contempt and disdain on the lower ; while the lower have looked with envy, jealousy, and depreciation on the higher. Comparatively few individuals, indeed, 10 WHAT CASTE IS. except under the liberalizing and purifying’ influ- ences of onr holy faitli, have been able sincerely to adopt the language of the Roman poet, Nam genus 'et proavos et quae non fecimus ipsi, Yix ea nostra toco ;* or of the Roman orator, “ Quanto superiores snmus, tanto nos o'eramns submissins.”t Who maketh us to differ? and what are the responsibilities of onr respective positions ? have been cpiestions but seldom put and made the subject of distinct recognition. The existence of a common brotherhood in the human family, and the practice of a common sympath}' and succour, have by the majority of men been grievously overlooked. Tyranny and mischief and cruelty have been most extensively the consequence of antisocial presumption and pretension. The constant experience of the general observer of human nature has been not unlike that of the Hebrew sage, Agur, the son of Jakeh: There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes. And yet is not washed from their filthiness. Tliere is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes ! And their eyelids are lifted up. There is a generation whose teeth are as stvords. And their jaw-teeth as knives. To devour the poor from off the earth, And the needy from among men.J It is among the Hindus, however, that the imagina- * For descent and lineage, and the things which we ourselves have not aceomplished : these I scarcely call our own. Ovid. f The loftier that we really are, the more humbly let us conduct ourselves. Quintilian. I Prov. XXX. 12-14. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 11 tion of natural and positive distinctions in humanity has been brought to tlie most fearful and pernicious dev^e- lopment ever exhibited on the face of the globe- The doctrine and practice of what is called Caste, as held and observed by this people, has been only dimly shadowed by the worst social arrangements which were of old to be witnessed among the proudest nations and among the proudest orders of men in these nations. The Egyptians, who, according to Herodotus, considered themselves “ the most ancient of all nations,” and who are described by him as “ excessively religious beyond any other people,” and ‘‘ too much addicted to their an- cestorial customs to adopt any other,”* most nearly ap- proached them in their national and family pretensions, and the privilege and customs of priests and peo[>le viewed in reference both to descent and occupation ; but in the multitude, diversity, complication, and bur- densomeness of their religious and social distinctions, the Hindus have left the Egyptians far behind. Indian Caste is the condensation of all the pride, jealousy, and tyranny of an ancient and predominant people dealing with the tribes which ithey have subjected, and over which they have ruled, often without the sympathies of a recognized common humanity. It is the offspring of extraordinary exaggeration and mystification, and of all the false sj)e- culation and religious scrupulosity of a great country undergoing unwonted processes of degeneration and cor- ruption. It is now the soul as well as the body of Hinduism.! More than anything that ever came within * Herodot. Euterp. ! This is admitted by the natives of India. E. g., Gangadhar Shas- tri Wiadake, in the lliudu-DIiuruia Tatva (p. 76), says in' 12 WHAT CASTE IS. the sphere of the observation of our own great poet, Shakespeare, it is “ That monster Custom, who all sense doth eat Of habits devil.” It is dishonouring alike to the Creator of man, and in- jurious to man the creature. It is emphatically the curse of India and the parent of India’s woes. It is the great enemy of enlightenment and improvement and advancement in India. It is the grand obstacle to the ' triumphs of the Gospel of peace in India- Its evil doings of late, it is not too bold to say, have moved earth below and heaven above and hell beneath. With its terri- ble deeds before us proclaiming its hate and power, attention may well be bestowed on its origan, develop- ments, character, and results, and on our omi duty with respect to its continued influence on Indian society. II. — The Meaning, Sphere, Authority, and Symbols OF Caste. Caste is not an Indian word. Its original form, casta, belongs to the Portuguese, by whom it was ordinarily used among themselves to express “ cast,” mould,” “ race,” kind,” and quality.” It was applied by the Portuguese, wdien they first arrived in the East, to desig- nate the peculiar system of religious and social distinc- f srrri'it?- arrlir jtt fr Hcr&fT urflerr ant . . . .1 sttIt- u? ?T rtf'TJTT^r TRsT TT^T arrf ; fr ^rfT- — it is by means of these Caste distinctions that in the Bharatkhanda the Hindu religion has been so well presei’ved. . . . These Caste distinctions are the chief support of the Hindu religion ; when it (this support) gives way there can be no doubt that the Hindu religion will sink to destruction. MEANING AND SrilERE OF CASTE. 13 tions which they observed among the Hindu people, particularly as founded on race.* The Indian word which partially corresponds with Caste is Jati, equivalent to the Latin gens, (in the inflected form gent — ) and Greek 7£voc, “ race or nation while Jati-hheda, the represent- ative of the foundations of the caste-system, means the “ distinctions of race ( gentis discrhnina. )” Varna, an- other word used for it by the Hindus, originally meant a diflerence in “ colour.” Gradually these Indian words, conveniently rendered by Caste, have coihe to represent not only varieties of race and colour, but every original, hereditary, religious, instituted, and conventional distinc- tion which it is possible to imagine. Caste has its peculiar recognitions, — though of a discordant character, — of crea- tion, formation, constitution, and birth, in all varieties of existence and life, whether vegetable, brutal, human, or superhuman. It gives its directions for recognition, acceptance, consecration, and sacramental dedication, and vice versd, of a human being on his appearance in the world. It has for infancy, pupilage, and manhood, its ordained methods of sucking, sipping, drinking, eating, and voiding ; of washing, rinsing, anointing, and smear- ing ; of clothing, dressing, and ornamenting ; of sitting, * Thus, in describing the people of Malabar, Camoens (Lusiad. Cant. VII. 37) says : — A lei da gcnte toda, rica, e pobre De fabulas composta se imagina : Andam nus, e somente hum panno cobre As partes, que a cobrir natura cnsina : Dous modes ha de gente ; porque a nobro Naires cliamados sao; e a menos dina PoleEs tem por nome; a quern obriga A lei uao mistui-ar a casta antiqua : 14 WHAT CASTE IS. rising, and reclining ; of moving, visiting, and travelling ; of speaking, reading, listening, and reciting ; and of me- ditating, singing, Avorking, playing, and lighting. It has its laws for social and religious rights, privileges, and occupations ; for instructing, training, and educating ; for obligation, duty, and practice ; for divine recognition, service, and ceremony ; for errors, sins, and transgres- sions ; for intercommunion, avoidance, and excommuni- cation ; for defilement, ablution, and purification ; for fines, chastisements, imprisonments, mutilations, banish- ments azid capital executions. It unfolds the Ava3"s of committing what it calls sin, accumulating sin, and of putting away sin ; and of acquiring merit, dispensing merit, and losing merit. It treats of inheritance, conveyance, possession, and dispossession; and of bargains, gain, loss, and ruin. It deals with death, burial, and burning ; and with commemoration, assistance, and injury after death. It interferes, in short, Avith all the relations and events of life, and Avith what precedes and follows, or Avhat is supposed to precede and folloAV life. It reigns supremo in the innumerable classes and divisions of the Hindus, Avhether they originate in family descent, in religious opinions, in civil or sacred occupations, or in local resi- dence ; and it professes to regulate all their interests, affairs, and relationships. Caste is the guiding principle of each of the classes and divisions of the Hindus viewed in their distinct or associated capacity. A caste is any of the classes or divisions of Hindu society. The authority of Caste rests partly on written laAvs, partly on legendary fables and narratiA^es, partly on A^erbal tradition, partly on the injunctions of instructors and priests, partly on custom and usage, and partly on the AUTHORITY AXD SYMBOLS OF CASTE. 15 caprice and convenience of its votaries. “ Tlie roots O'f law,” sa3"s Manu, “are the whole Veda, the ordinances and observanes of such as perfectly understand it, the im- memorial customs of good men, and self-satisfaction.” “No doubt that man who shall follow the rules prescribed in the Shruti [what was heard, from the Veda] and in thev^ Smy'iti [what was remembered, from the Law] will acquire fame in this life, and in the next inexpressible happiness,” “ Custom is transcendent law.”* The rules, and customs, and prejudices, and breaches, and ofl’ences, and conces- sions, and intermissions, and compromises of Caste are numerous and capricious, and complicated beyond com^,^--^ ception. They are constantly characterized by pride and folly^and frequently by wickedness. Caste has its marks, and signs, and symbols, and symbolical acts, as well as its laws and customs ; and very great stress is laid by it on their constant exhibi- tion. The grand index of Hinduism is the tuft of hair on the crown of the head, — called in Sanskrit chuda, or shikhd, in Marathi shend'i, and in Tamul kudame, — which is left there on the performance of the sacrament of tonsure, on the first or third year after birth in the case of the three first classes of the Hindus.! In consequence of this mark, Hinduism is popularly known as the Shen- di-dharma , or religion of the Shcncli.^ In the eighth year after the conception of a Brahman (the representa- tive of the priestly class), in the eleventh from that of a prince or Ksliairiya, and in the twelfth from that of a Vish or Vaishya, the agriculturist and mer- *Manu, ii. 6; ii. 9; i. 108. t See Manu, ii. 35. 1 See Molesworth’s Marilthi Dictionary, sub voc. IG WHAT CASTE IS. chant, tlie investiture with the sacred cord should oc- cur ;* tliongh this sacrament, in the case of these classes pai tiv-iilarly eager for its special blessings, may be re- sulted to by them in their fifth, sixth, or eighth year respectively. t It should never be delayed in the case of a Brahman beyond his sixteenth year ; nor in that of a Kshatriya, beyond his twenty-second ; nor in that of a Vaishya beyond his twenty-fourth 4 This investiture must be hallowed by tlie communication of the Gciyatri^ the verse of the Vedas esteemed most sacred. The par- ties who neglect it are to be reckoned apostates and outcasts, § with whom no connexion is to formed cither in laAv or affinity, even by Brahmans distressed for sub- sistence. The sacrificial strings of each class have to fie formed after a fashion prescribed in the Law Books. Certain orders as to the clothes to be worn, and the staves to be carried, issued as authoritative in ancient times are now in abeyance, though long established custom reigns supreme in these matters. The brow of every Hindu must be marked, at least when he is in a state of cere- monial purit}", with various pigments indicative of his particular caste, and sectarial connexions as a worship- j)cr of particular gods and goddesses in their varied forms. II These marks are spots and dots and figures of particular size and shape, and lines horizontal and verti- cal, as the caste regulations may require. An engraving * Mami, ii. 3G. f Manu, ii. 37. J Mauu, ii. 38. § 'TR^r Manu, ii. 39. II “lie, wlio not entitled to distinguishing marks yet lives by wearing such marks, takes to himself the sins of those who are entitled to such marks, and shall be born from the womb of a brute animal,” Manu, iv. 200. ORTHODOX VIEW OF THE FOUR ORIGENAL CASTES. 17 illustrative of some of them is given in one of the plates of Moor’s Hindu Pantheon. They suggest to a Chris- tian an apt illustration of the figurative expression of the Book of Revelation, the “ mark of the beast in the forehead.” HI. — Orthodox View of the Four Original Castes OF THE Hindus. According to the opinions of the Hindus deemed by them orthodox, the original Castes were four in number, — ■ that of the Brd/tmans, or priestly class ; that of the Kshatriyas, or warrior class ; that of the Vaishyas, or Mercantile and Agricultural class ; and that of the Shn- dras, or Servile Class. “For the sake of preserving the universe,” says Mann, “the Being supremely glorious allotted separate duties to those who sprang respectively from his mouth, his arm, his thigh, and his foot. To Brdhnans he assigned the duties of reading [the Veda], and teaching it, of sacrific- ing, of assisting others to sacrifice, of giving alms, and of receiving gifts.'”' To defend tlie peojde, to give alms, to sacrifice, to read [the Veda], to shun the allurements of sexual gratification, are in a few words, tlie duties of a Kshatriya. To keep herds of cattle, to bestow largesses, to sacrifice, to read the scripture, to cai’ry on trade, to lend at interest, are the duties of a Vaishyn. One principal duty the Supreme Ruler assigns to a Shudra ; naine- 1}’, to serve the before-mentioned classeSj^ithcut depre- * Tliese are the Six constituted tVoiks of the Biahm ins, techni- cally denominated by them Tfd, IIRUC, sUT’Id, and Td. .3 18 AVIIAT CASTE IS. ciating' their worth.* A similar origin and similar duties are ascribed to tl)e Four Castes in the Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata ;f in the Matsya, Bhagavata, and several others of the Pnranas in the Jati-Mala, or Garland of Castes, of authority in Bengal and the Upper Provinces of India, quoted by Mr. Colebrooke ;§iii the Jati-Viveka, or Discrimination of Castes, of authority in the West of India ;11 and in the Sahyadri Khanda of the Skanda Pu- rana, the great practical authority of the Maratha Brah- mans.^ This, in fact, is the view taken of the origin of the four classes by the Caste system now prevalent throuo-htout the whole of India. All other passages of- the vShastras, with representations on the sulqect of a different character, — and such there are in abundance, * I\[ami i. 87-91 • In tins and other quotations from the Hindu T.aw Booh, I mainly follow Sir William Jones, omitting such of his expletives as arc not warranted by the text, and bringing the render- ings sometimes closer to the original. t Mahabharata, Shanti Parva adh. 72. v. 2723. Different ac- counts of the origin of Caste are given in other worhs, including the Pnraoas and the Mahabharata, which, to use the words of Dr. John ]\[uir, (Original Sanshrit Texts p. 37) “ is made up of very heterogene- ous elements, the. products of different ages, and re})rcsenting widely different dogmatical tendencies which have been thrown together by the successive compilers or editors of the work without any regard to their mutual consistentcy.” In the iSIatsya (adh. 4), A'amdeva is the name given to the god {hharjavun, “ the Avorshiiifuf’) Avho (as Brahma, according to the context) created the Castes: — fTSTR In the Bh^avata, the most orthodo.x view of the origin of Caste is given in Skanda iii. adh. v. 33-31. § Colcbrookc's Essays, vol. ii. p. 177. II There are two forms of this work now before me, the larger and smaller. ^ Saliyadri Khamla, A’di Pahasya, Chap. 2o. ORTHODOX VIEW OE THE miAIOIAX. 19 as will afterwards appear — arc contorted and interpreted in tlie light of the dogmas here announced. Caste, to the ])resent day, adheres to its claims as set forth in Manu, without essential compromise or concession. To understand the subject of Caste, then, eve have to keep the statements now cjuoted constantly in viewn For the same purpose, we have to look to the informa- tion given in detail in the Slutstras of the Hindus res- pecting the prerogatives, privileges, and duties of these the j)rimary divisions of Caste, and which is still approv- ed and acted u])on, with very slight modifications in form, throughout the whole country. This we attempt concisely to do. 1. We give a miniature picture, in the first instance of the Brahman. The Shiistras dwell much on the pre-eminence of the Brahman, both by birth and original endowments, above all the other classes of man. “ Since the Brah- man sprang from the most excellent part, since he was the first born, and since he possesses the Veda, he is by right the chief of this whole creation.” “Him, the Being who exists of himself produced in the beginning from his own mouth, that, having performed holy rites, he might present clarified butter to the gods, and cakes of rice to the progenitors of mankind, for the preser- vation of this AYorld. What created being then can surpass Him, with whose mouth the gods of the firma- ment continually feast on clarified butter, and the manes of ancestors, on hallowed cakes ? The very birth of Brahmans is a constant incarnation of Dharma, (God of religion ;) for the Brahman is horn to promote religion, and to procure ultimate happiness. AVhen a Brahman 20 WHAT CASTE IS. springs to lig'lit, he is horn above tlie Avorld, the cliief of all creatures, assigned to guard the treasury of duties, religions and civil. Whatever exists in the universe, is all in effect,* the wealth of the Brahman, since the Brah- man is entitled to it all hy his primogeniture and emi- nence of birth. The Bnlhinan eats but his own food; wears his own apparel ; and bestows but his own in alms: through the benevolence of the Brahman indeed, other mortals enjoy life.”'" His inherent qualities, however sparingly they may be developed, are “ quiescence, self- control, devotion, purity, patience, rectitude, secular and sacred understanding, the recognition of spiritual existence, and the inborn-disposition to serve Brahma.”! In every member of his body, power and glory are resid- ent. The purifying Ganges is in his right ear ; his mouth is that of God himself ; the devouring fire is in his hand ; the holy Hrthas, or places of pilgrimage are in his right foot the cow-of-plenty (kdmadhenu ) from which all desires may be satisfied, is in the hairs of his body. The Brahman is the “first-born,” by nature ( agrajanma ); the “ twice-born” {duija), by the sacra- ment of the maiinji ; the “ deity-on-earth” {bJmdeva), by his divine status ; and the intelligent one {yipra), hv his innate comprehension. § ^ ..... o — common synonyms of the Amarkosha. Ivhanda ii, brahmavarga 4. § The following verse from the Tlrtha Mahatmya has become po- pular ; — trrrT frlqr'rT firR ifr^irR unrc l URC uf #RrR TT r>irw ii All the Ttrthas in the world are in the ocean ; All the Tirthaa in the ocean are in the Brahman’s right foot. f Bhagavad-Gita, xviii. 42. ORTHODOX VIEW OF THE BRAHMAN. 21 The Brahman, thus exalted in original position, is ac- cording to the Sinistra, superior to all law, even of a moral character, whenever it clashes with his wordly in- terests. Even truth and honesty must be dispensed with for his peculiar advantage. “ In tlie case of sensual gratifications,” says ]\lanu, of marriages, of food eaten by cows, of fuel for a sacrifice, of benefit or protection accruing to a Brahman, there is no sin in an oath.”* “ A Brahman” says the same autliorit}^ “ may live by rita and amrita, or by mrita and pramrita, or even by sat- yamrita (truth and faJseliood); ‘but never let him subsist by dog-living’ (hired service.)”! “A Brahman may without hesitation take the property of a Shudra. He (the Shudra) has, indeed, nothing of his own ; his master may, doubtless, take his property. To this in- justice, too, the most horrid cruelty may in his case be added ; for of the most barbarous treatment of the lower orders, and, unbecoming leniency to Brtdimans, the Hin- du sacred writings are in no degree ashamed. The}' actu- ally enjoin this atrocious despitefulness. “ A priest shall be fined five hundred {panas), if he slander a soldier ; twenty-five, if a merchant ; and twelve, if he slander a man of the servile class. For abusing one of the same class, a twice-born man shall be fined only twelve ; but for ribaldry not to be uttered, even that shall be dou- Hence, the readiness to taste the water in which a Brilhinan has washed his foot. In the Padma Parana (Kriya yad)iasara, xx) it is said, r^JT'Trfr?’^ ?T'TJTr^^5rr:| fwpj || — The bearer of a drop of water rvhich has been in contact with a Brahman’s foot has all the sins of his body thereby destroyed. * Mann, viii. 112. f Mann, iv. 4. 1 Mann, viii. 417. 22 WHAT CASTE IS. l)led. A once born man, who insults the twice-born with gross invectives, ought to have his tongue slit ; for lie sprang from the lowest part of Brahm^. If he men- tion their name and class with contumely, as if he say ‘Oil! Devadatta’ (useless gift of God!) an iron style, ten fino’crs lono' shall betliurst red hot into his mouth.” “ Shovdd he, through pride, give instructions to priests concerning their duty, let the king order some hot oil to be drojiped into his moutli and ear.”^ ‘^A man of the lowest class, who shall insolently place himself on the same seat Avith one of the highest, shall either be banished. Avith a mark on his hinder part or the king shall cause a gash to be made on his buttock ; should he s|)it on him through pride, the king shall order both of his lips to be gashed; should he. .[decency requires the suppression of what here folloAvs.] If he seize the Brahman by the locks, or by the feet, or by the beard, or by the throat, or by the scrotum, let the king Avithout hesitation cause incision to be made in his hands.”! Ignominious tonsure is ordained, instead of capital punishment, for an adulterer of the priestly class; Avhile the punishment of other classes in this case may extend to loss of life. ^‘Xevcr shall a king sla}'- a Brahman, though convicted of all possible crimes; let him banish the offender from his realm ; but Avith all his property secure and his body unhurt. No greater crime is knoAvn on earth than slaying a Brahman ; and the king, therefore, must not eA^en form in his mind an idea of killing a priest.”t “ A Brahman, Avho, by his * Manu, viii. 268-272. f Maim, viii. 281-3-28. 1 Maim, viii. 379-381. ORTHODOX VIEW OF THE liRAIDIAX. 23 power and through avarice, shall cause twice-born men, girt with the sacrificial thread, to perform servile acts, with their consent, shall be fined b}'^ tlic king six hund- red But a man of the servile class, whether bought or unbought, he may compel to perform servile duty ; because such a man was created by the self-exist- ent for the purpose of serving Brahmans. A Shudra, though emancipated by his master, is not released from a state of servitude : for of a state which is natural to him, by whom can he be divested ?”* The Brahman, even, is the adjudicator in his own cause, and need make no complaint to royal authorities for the punishment of his enemies, it being left free to himself to take ven- geance, t The Brahmans, as themselves the great authors of the preceptive parts of the Hindu Shastras, have no feeling of shame whatever in stating their pretensions and urg- ing their prerogatives. Only they must now read and interpret the Veda, wdiich they profess to be the highest revelation of the will of God. Their wrath is as dread- fid as that of the gods in heaven. They and their wives, and daughters, are to be worshipped as gods on earth. They allege that they have in many instances, * Manu, viii. 124-1-t. f Jranu, xi. 31-32. I jwr: TCfi T4T “In all ways, Brahmans are to be worshipped: they are a Supreme Divinity.” Manu, ix. 318. In the Fadma Parana (Kriya yadnasara, xx) it is said, “ The good man who worships a Brahman, moving round him to the right hand, obtains the merit of himself going round the seven dwipas (insular continents) of the world.” In the same Avork, it is said, that *• immoral Brahmans are to be Avorshipped, but not Shudras though subduing tlieir passions: the coAv that eats things not to be eaten is better than the soav of good intent.” 24 WHAT CASTE IS. kicked, and beaten, and cursed, and frightened, and de- graded the highest deities, and distressed and destroyed their children. One of their number, Kashyapa, they tell ns, was the parent of the sim, and another, of the moon. Others of them, they hold, wrought great mar- vels in creation and formation. 13rihaspati, the instruc- tor of the gods, is said l)y them to have turned the moon into a cinder, for two kalpas of enormous length ; and to retain his power over it by covering it with rust, when it assumes a ruddy appearance. VishvaJcarma, they declare, dipt off the hands and feet of the sun, to make it round, and cut it also into twelve pieces, in which it appears in the twelv'e signs of the zodiac. The same individual, the architect of the gods, they assert, formed heaven ; and another of his caste manufactured a child of grass, which Sita, the Avife of Rama, could not distinguish from her own son. Kashyapa, already mentioned, they make, through his different Avives, the parent of foAA'ls, of beasts of prey, of buffaloes, coays, and other cloA cn-footed ani- mals ; of haAvks, vultures, and other similar birds ; of the Apsaras, or water-nj-mphs, serpents, and other reptiles ; of trees ; of evil beings ; of the Gandharvas, and of animals Avith hoofs,* He, also, they tell us, made fire ; Avhile Bhriyii imparted to it its propertj'^ of consumption; and gUA'e it its capability of extinction ; and Ayastya, the great Brahman missionary to the South of India, swalloAved up the ocean at three sips, and then passed it impregnated Avith salt. The achievements of the great Brahmans here referred to are thus alluded to by the Hindu lawgiver: — “ 4Vho Avithout perishing could pro- * Bhagavuti I’uraiiu, vi. G ; 2 3-28. ORTHODOX VIEW OF THE BRAHMAX. 25 Yoke those holy men by whom the all-devouring fire was created, the sea with watei’s not drinkable, and the moon with its wane and increase? what prince could gain wealth by oppressing those, who, if angry, could frame other worlds and regents of worlds, and could o-ive beino' to new gods and mortals ? W hat man, desirous of life, would injure those by the aid of whom worlds and gods perpetually exist.”* The following syllogism has gained universal currency in India : — The whole world is under the power of the gods, The gods are under the power of the mantras, The mantras are under the power of the Brahman ; The Brahman is therefore our God.”f These fabrications, which appear to us so ridiculous, were intended to secure to the Brahmans veneration and awe. The endeavour, also, has been made in the Shas- tra to secure to them their lives. They must not be kill- ed, as we have seen, for the most enormous offences. When an individual weeps for any person whom they may have killed, he must make an atonement for his in- firmity. The goddess Durgd is pleased with the blood of a man a thousand years ; but no Brahman must be sa- crificed to her. Garuda, the bearer of Vishnu, used to eat every sort of creatures, except Brahmans, who, if swallowed, would have caused an insufferable pain in his stomach, as is said to have been exemplified on a particu- lar occasion. While Shudras may offer themselves as sa- crifices by what is called the Kdmya marana (voluntary « Manu, ix. 314-316. ? ^ ar^T'TTvfRr wcfi'jfr w ttt'H' 4 26 WHAT CASTE IS. death), Brahmans are not required to make any such consecration of themselves. “ A twice-born man,” says Mann, “ who barely assaults a Brahman with an inten- tion to hurt him shall be whirled about for a century in the hell named Tdmisra ; but having smitten him in an- ger, and by design, even with a blade of grass, he shall be born in one and twenty transmigrations, from the wombs of impure quadrupeds.”* Life, however, must not only be preserved exceptionally for the favoured ; but it must be rendered comfortable. The Brahmans get all the offerings made at the temples; and the most heinous sins are atoned for by giving them presents. If a man sell his cow, he will go to hell ; if he give her in donation to a Brahman he will go to heaven. If on Ganga’s anniversary whole villages be given to Brah- mans, the person presenting them will acquire all the merit which can be obtained : his body will be a million of times more glorious than the sun ; he will have a mil- lion of virgins, many carriages, and palanquins with jewels ; and he will live in heaven with his father as man}’ years as there are particles in the land given to Brahmans. Land given to Brahmans secures heaven ; a red cow, a safe passage across the boiling infernal river, Vaitarani; a house, a heavenly palace ; an um- brella, freedom from scorching heat ; shoes, freedom from pain when walking ; perfumes, freedom from offensive smells ; feasting of Brahmans, particularly at births, marriages and deaths, the highest merit. If a house be defiled by an unclean bird sitting down upon it, it becomes pure when presented to a Brah- man. A proper gift to a Brahman on a deathbed will « Mann, iv. 165-166. ORTHODOX VIEW OE THE RRAHMAX. ^7 sdcure heaven to a malefactor. The Brahmans oblige the other castes, in fact, when they condescend to receive their presents.* Money given to them should be dipped in water, lest the latent glory of their hands should burst forth and consume the donor.t i\Iost ob\dous is it that the legislation of the Brah- mans, embracing such matters and supported by such legends as those now alluded to, has originated exclusive- ly with their own body. Its partialities, and preferences, and prejudices are of the grossest character. Along with these enormous faults, however, it is but fair to look at the strict discipline, continuous ceremoniousness, and rio-id austerities, which in certain circumstances, — associ- ated with numerous puerilities, — it has prescribed for its favourites. In the first A shrama, or Order, that of the Brtihmd- chcirl, or Pupil, the Brahman boy, must render the greatest reverence and attention to his priestly instruc- tor, observing constant oblations, and practising unceas- ing restraints of his appetites- His religious exercises must commence with the morning twilight ; and, except during the times of study and eating, they must be con- * The imparting of gifts {ddna) is quite a science according to the institutions of Caste, which, as far as this matter is concerned, are collected and explained, in all their particularities, in the Law Book entitled the Dana Mayitkha. f In thus mentioning the pretensions of the Brahmans, I have avail- ed myself of and expanded the notices contained in my two Exposures of Hinduism in reply to Brahmanical controversialists. To natives of India acquainted with the Marathi language I would warmly recom- mend IMr. Nesbit’s tract on the Brahman’s Claims, Avhich appear- ed after the Exposures were published, and in which some of the popular aspects of the subject are commented on in a telling way. 28 WHAT CASIK IS, tiimed throughout the day. “Let the twice-born youth,” it is said, “who has been girt with the sacrificial cord, collect wood for the holy tire, beg food of his relations, sleep on a low bed, and perform such offices as may please his preceptor, until his return to the house of his natural father.”* With devotion and austerities he is ordered to study the Veda. He is commanded to ab- stain from honey, flesh, perfumes, garlands, vegetable juices, women, acidulated substances, the killing of animated beings, unguents for his limbs, black powder for his eyes, wearing sandals, using an umbrella, sensual desires, wrath, covetousness, dancing, singing, dice, disputes, detraction, and falsehood. t He is enjoined to sleep alone, and to perform the duty of a religious mendicant. In the second Order, that of the Gnhastha or House- holder, after the Brahman has chosen, or got chosen, for his wife, a girl whose form has no defect, who has an agreeable name, who walks like a goose,J or young elephant, whose hair and teeth are moderate in quantity, and whose body is distinguished by softness, and who, in the case of the first marriage at least, should be of the Brahman class § he should live with her in the strictest fidelity, giving her elegant attire, though not from the most exalted motive,^ seeking to raise up a family, embracing especially a son, without whom, na- * Manu, ii. 108. The other statements here made are on the au- thority of the context. f Manu, ii. 167-178. I Sir W. Jones makes this a phenicopteros, or adjutant bird. The Sanskrit, however, is hansa, a geese. § Manu, lii. 12, 17, etc. ^ Manu, in. 68. ORTHODOX VIEW OF THE RKAIDIxVX. 29 tural or adopted, the salvation of a father cannot be effected.* He has to practise unceasingly various minute and burdensome rites and ceremonies, connected witli study ; oblations to fire ; the presentation of food to spirits, through animated beings, particularly the “twice-bom;” the entertainment of Brahmanical guests ; and the ofl'erinof of rice and water to the manes of ancestors-t At the Shn'iddhas, or reverential feasts and services performed either for ancestors or for gods, he has to avoid inviting or holding intercourse with par- ties labouring under any disease, deformity, impotency, or defect (held under the doctrine of the metempsycosis to be the consequence of past crimes), despising Brah- manical institutes, or following employments unconge- nial with the Brahmanical doctrines and practices, or guilty of crime^ During the feasting, he has to pre- serve his mind in absolute composure, for the shedding * Thougli tlie Sanskrit for son, is putra, tlie reciprocal word for pitar, {Lat. pater a father,) the following fanciful derivation of it, found- ed on this doctrine, is given by Manu, (ix. 138) : — “ Since the son de- livers ( trdijate) relieves his father from the hell named put, he was therefore called patra by Brahma himself !” + Manu, iii. 70, et seq. I Among the parties thus to be avoided are the attendants upon images {demlaka), the sellers of flesh, the party supporting himself by trafiic, a young brother married before the elder or vice versa, a dancer, the husband of a Shudra, the ptipil or preceptor of a Shiidra, a seller of the moon-plant (used in sacrifices), a navigator of the ocean, an encomiast, an oilman, a maker of bows and arrows, a father in- stmcted in the Veda by his son, a tamer of elephants, bulls, horses or camels, an astrologer, a keeper of birds, a breeder of sporting dogs, a shepherd, a keeper of buflalocs, the husljand of a twice-manied woman- Manu, iii. 150-107. 30 WHAT CASTE IS. of a tear would send the messes before him to restless spirits ; anger, to foes; falsehood, to dogs; contact with the foot (pada-sparsha), to Rakshasas ; and agitation, to scoundrels.* * * § At the same time, he has to reo-ale his silent guests with readings from the Yeda, from the in- stitutes of law {Dharma- Shastra) , from stories, from historical poems {Itihdsa, generally applied to the Ma- habharata,) from antiquities {Piirdnas), and from other scriptures. t At these ceremonial offerings animal food, to be ate by the company, is declared to be of more avail in the work of propitiation than vegetables, a fact which the Brahmans of the present day are shy in admitting.^ He has to be most particular about the times of the month and day of his religious services. “He must live, Avith no injury, or AAutli the least possible injury, to ani- mated beings, by pursuing those means of gaining sub- sistence Avhich are strictly prescribed by law, except in times of distress. ”§ He has to keep his hair, nails, and * Manu, iii. 230. f Ibid. iii. 232. t “ The ancestors of men are satisfied a whole month with tila, rice, barlej’, black lentils or vetches, water, roots, and fruit, given with prescribed ceremonies ; two months, with fish ; three months, Avith venison ; four Avith mutton ; five, with the flesh of such birds as the tAvice-born may eat ; six months, Avith the flesh of kids ; seA^en, AA'ith that of spotted deer, or the antelope, called ena ; nine AA'ith that of the 7-uru ; ten months are they satisfied Avith the flesh of Avild boars and Avild buffaloes; eleA'en Avith that of rabits or hares, and of tortoises; a Avhole year with the milk of coavs, and food made of that milk ; from the flesh of the long-eared AA'hite goat, their satisfaction endures tAA^elve A cars.” Manu, iii. 267-271. § Manu, iv. 2. The fourth chapter in many respects coiTesponds with the third. They appear to me to have originally belonged to tAvo different Codes. UETIIODOX VIEW OF THE BRAHMAN. 31 beard clipped, his passions subdued ; his mantle, white; and his body pure/ He must not gaze on the sun whether rising or setting (unless in religious seiwices), or eclipsed, or reflected in water, or advanced to the middle of the sky. He must be reseiwed in his intercourse with his wife, and- neither eat with her, nor see her eating. He must neither dishonour earth, nor fire, nor water. He must not dwell under the govei’nment of a Shudra. He must neither dance nor sing, nor play on musical instru- ments or with dice. He must not use the clothes or ves- sels which have been used by another, till they are purified. The beasts ■with which he travels must be sound, and well trained; and he must nevxr bestride a member of the bovine race. He must not cut his own nails or hairs. He has to be sober in his speech and conduct. He has to accept gifts only from Ksha- tiiyas and Vaishyas; and never from Shudras.t He has to obseiwe religious ceremonies at night (when awake), and at morn, noon, and evening. He has to keep at a distance from the destroyers of animals and vegetable seeds not simply used in food. He must suspend the reading of the Vedas during thunder, rain, earthquakes, and other atmospheric and terrene changes and move- ments. He must intermit the reading of the V eda, for a day and night when a beast of labour, a frog, a cat, a dog, or a snake passes between him and his pupil.;]; He is commanded to abstain from iniquity, lest he * Manu, iv. 35-37. t This is not now the case, as will be afterwards explained, t I once asked a learned Pandit, what inference he was disposed to draw from this injunction. He very adroitly said, “I should infer that the teacher and pupil shoxrld sit very closely together!" 32 WHAT CASTE IS. should be punished for it either in his own person or in those of his descendants. His moral duties he has to prefer to his ceremonial acts, though great excep- tions, elsewhere noticed, are made to this rule- He is not permitted to take food from a servile man, except raw grain for a single night when it may l>e necessary for the support of his life. He has to be liberal in giving gifts to those deserving of benevolence, and lie is not be too proud of his charity. “By false- hood, sacrifice becomes vain ; by pride, austerities go for nought ; by the dishonour of priests, life is diminished ; and by the display of charity, its frait is destroyed.”* In regard to food, the householder, as well as other Brahmans, has to show the greatest scmpulosity. He must avoid eating garlic, onions, leeks, and mush- rooms,! and all vegetables raised in dung, though the vegetable processes know no impurity ; red gums and resins, supposed to be like the blood of animals; and carnivorous birds and quadrupeds, and many others of different orders. He might, according to one law, par- take of the hedgehog, porcupine, some species of lizards, hares, and all quadrupeds, camels excepted, which have * Mann, iv. 20t. See antliorities for the preceding statements in the context. t It is difficult to see the reason of the interdiction of the use of these vegetables, unless perhaps it is to be found in their strong smell, especially when imperfectly cooked. The crime of eating them seems to have been a peculiarly heinoiis one with the Hindu legislators. ■“ The twice-born who has intentionally eaten a mushroom, the flesh of a, tame-hog, or a tame-cock, a leek, or an onion, or garlic, is degrad- ed immediately.” Atonements are available for undesigned eating. Afanu, V. 19-20. ORTHODOX VIEW OF THE BRAHMAN- 33 but one row of teeth.* According to another, he might use considerable latitude in the use of flesh-meat : — “No sin is committed by him who, having honour- ed the deities and the manes, eats flesh-meat Avhich he has bought, himself acquired, or had presented to him by another.”t Yet, Avithout these religious rites, he Avould contract great sin by encouraging the slaughter of animals, which, in the main, is strongly disapproved of by the legislators and not noAV generally resorted to.| He has to submit to great inconveniences from ceremo- nial defilement caused by the birth and death of rela- tives and connections of various degrees, and by the touch of the lowly Chandala, and of all parties in a state of ceremonial impurity. § The duties prescribed for the Brahman householder, in short, are such as must keep him ever busy, ever on the alert, and ever scru- pulous and cautious. The Vdnajprastha, the Hermit of the Wilderness, the Brahman in the third A'shrama, must be a vast deal more selfdenied and restricted than the Householder. At the approach of old age he must abandon his family and * Manu, V. 18. f Manu, v. 32. I The general doctrine of Manu on this subject may be understood from the Ibllowing passages : — “ Flesh-meat cannot be procured with- out injury to animals, and the slaughter of animals obstructs the path to beatitude; from flesh-meat therefore let man abstain. He who consents to the death of an animal, he who kills it, he who dissects it, he who buys it, he Avho sells it, he who dresses it, he who serves ifc up, and he who makes it his food ; these are eight principals in the slaughter.” Manu, v. 48-51. § Manu, V. 85, et seq. For the special laws on these matters, see the Mayukha under Shaucha and Ashaucha (purity and impurity). 3f ^rHAT CASTE IS. worldly affairs. He must not only feed on herbs, ffuits, and roots, but use them in sacrifice. He must wear a black antelope’s hide, or a vesture of the bark of a tree ; and suffer his hair, beard, and nails to grow continually. He must be constantly engaged in reading the Veda, and in other religious exercises. His devotion must be varied by austerities. “Let him slide backwards and forAvards on the gTound ; or let him stand a whole day on tiptoe ; or let him continue in motiorr rising’ and sit- tirrg alter-nately ; birt at surrrise, at noon, and at sunset, let him go to the waters and bathe- Irr the hot season let him sit exposed to five fires; in the rairrs let him stand rrncovered where the clouds pour the heaviest showers ; in the cold season (when the evaporation cairsed by the dry air is excessive) let hinr wear humid vesture; and let him encrease by degrees the austerity of his devotion.”' Abandorring the use of all means of gratification, he rrrust for the pur-pose of uniting his soul with the Divine Spirit, errgage irr meditation, and study the sacred Upanis^hach, or philosophical pantheis- tic treatises. Shuffling off his body, if he is attacked by disease by any of these rrreans, — he is given to urr- derstand, — he will rise to exaltation irr the divirre es- serrce.t The Sannijasi, or Arrcfiorite, in the foirrth A 'shrama, has to improve uporr the course now^ meirtiorred, practis- ifig contemplation, however, more tharr atrsterities. Dehghted with meditating orr the Supreme Spirit, beiirg fixed in such meditatiorr, v.ithout needing anything earthly, withoirt one seirsrral desire, Avithoutany cornparr- “ Manu, vi. 22-2-3. f Manu, vi. 32, etc, ORTHODOX VIEW OF THE P.RAHAIAX ion to his own soul, let him live in this world seeking the bliss of the next, “absolute absorption.” “His hair, nails, and beard being clipped, bearing with him a dish, a staff, and a waterpot, his whole mind being fixed on God, let him wander about continually, with- out giving pain to living beings,”"^ either vegetable or animal. Once a day only he has to ask for food ; and that ought to be at a late hour. Meditating [in gross delusion] on the identity of his outi spirit with that of the Supreme, and seeking reunion, he is to be ready cheerfully to leave the cumbersome and miserable body,! The profession by the Bralmians, that, with certain nonessential modifications, thev have still this sacred cha- racter, and that they follow these injunctions, esteemed divine, gives them a powerful hold of the mind of India, C[uite independently of their pretensions to pre-eminence which we have noticed at the commencement of this heading. Its natural effects are often too little regarded in the estimate of the religious and social forces by which we are surrounded in India. With Brahmanical discipline and pursuits, there is much sympathy, even on the part of those large portions of the community'' which are legally debarred from participating in them. There is an admiration and approval of the Brahman among the people, as well as much dread and distmst of him, and contempt of him for his extravagant claims in connexion with his status and prerogatives. Hence, * Mann, vi. 49-52. t The notice taken of the four ashrams in the Puranas, is quite accord- ant with that of the Law Books. See, for exampk, Wilson’s Vishnu Parana, pp. 294-296 WII AT CASTE IS- -3G the attempt, in late centuries especially, of multitudes precluded from all priestly services, to become wander- ing saints and devotees of various orders and grades. There is very great deference shown to the Brahman, even in the view of the fact that he is now left with- out a legal remedy for enforcing in his own behalf the unjust laws which he has made connected with his own life, honor, and support. I add another observa- tion to this remark. I have a strong impression on my mind that a great deal of the Brahmanical legislation was, from the first, intended only for effect, and that it was never designed to be carried into execution as far as the priestly practice itself was concerned. An intel- ligent native writer in the Calcutta Review justly sa}"s, “Those who arrogate to themselves great honors, must at least profess to be guided by a more elevated stand- ard of duty than their neighbours. A man who prides himself on the greatness of his origin must admit, that it behoveth him to observe higher principles of morali- ty, than those over whom he affects superiority. The Brahmans have accordingly laid down severe rules for tlie government of their order. Whether the authors of the Shastras intended, that their austere rules should be followed out in practice, or whether they merely propos- ed to exhibit their idea of priestly dignity without intend- ing to realize it, it k not easy to determine. One thing, however, is certain, that as the Brahman acknowledged no earthly superior, he had little apprehension of his de- linquencies being severely visited. He could not be called to account for departing from his maxims, because no one was at liberty to judge him. An austere rule of life could therefore prove no greater restraint on his in- ORTHODOX VIEW OF THE KSIIATllTYA. clinations, than he himself [or the priestly community of -which he was a member] chose to allow *” 2. From the Brahman, we pass to the Kshatriya, the Warrior, 'or rather, as will be afterwards explained, the Ruler or Prince. According to the orthodox view of Caste, the Ksha- triya is derived from the arms of the god Brahma, f in the same way as the Brahman is derived from his liead. This explanation of the origin of the Kshatriya, how- ever, is not consistently adhered to, even in the Law Books, which are the great support of the Caste system. In the seventh chapter of the Code of Manu, which is evidently intended for the use of the ruling authorities, the ereation and glory of the prince is thus set forth : — “ Since the -vsmrld destitute of a king quaked on all sides, the Lord created a king for the maintenance of this system, both religious and civil, forming him of eternal particlest drawn from [the gods] Indra, Anila (Vayu), Yama, Arka (Surya), Agni, Varuna, Chandra, and Vittesha (Kuvera) : and since a king was composed of particles drawn from these chief guar- dian deities, he consequently surpa,sses all beings in glory. Like the sun, he burns eyes and hearts ; nor can any human creatures on earth gaze on him. He is fire and air; he, both sun and moon ; he the god of retri- butive justice (Yama) ; he the god of w'ealth (Kuvera) ; he the regent of waters (Varuna); he the lord of the firm- ament. A king, even though a child, must not be * Calcutta Review, 1851, p. 53. I See above, page 17. t Mdtra in the singular, corresponding (etymologically) with the Latin materia and our own matter. 38 WHAT CASTE IS. treated liglitly, from an idea tliat he is a mere mortal ; no, he is a powerful divinit}'^ who appears in human- shape.”" “ The natural duties of the Kshatriya,” ac- cording to the Bhagavad-Gita, “ are heroism, splendour, pertinacity, policy, not fleeing in battle, liberality, and fitness to govern.”t Other \dews of his creation and glory will afterwards fall to be alluded to. The Brahmans, while setting forth their own pre-eminence and superiority, knew how to flatter the powerful and wealthy of their own race, in varied ways not very consistent with the o-eneral doo’matic announcements which were most con- sistent w'ith the religious system wdiich they, sought to uphold. The Kshatriya, according to what has now been said, is set forth in the Law Books as the essence of majesty and power; and as the great dispenser ot justice, particu- larly in the matter of punishment, of which he is the per- sonal manifestation {purushodanda), and which, though needed both by gods and men, is to be leniently applied to Brahmans.| He is to be the protector of the various Castes attending to their prescribed duties. § In dis- charging his functions, he has to abide by the decision of learned Brahmans.1l He must cultivate humility and be warned by the examples of kings who, in the lack of it, have involved themselves in ruin. He is enjoined to seek sacred and secular knowledge from the Brahmans, and * ]\Ianu, vii. 3-8. Some of the gods here mentioned are contem- plated in aspects different from those in which they are exhibited in the Vedas. t Bhagavad-Gita, xviii. 43. § Mann, vii. 35. I jMann, vii. 17-32. ^ Ibid. vii. 37. ORTHODOX VIEW OF THE KSHATIHYA. 39 to avoid various kinds of immoralities and sensualities. He is recommended to choose eight ministers, some of whom are to be versed in the sacred books, and others, in « the art of war. The ambassador ( data ) selected by him should be skilled in all the Shastras. He should live in a capital surrounded by a desert, and otherways difficult of approach, and well-defended by fortifications, his own palace being in its centre. His wife should be of his own class ( varna), and of good descent and agreeable person. He must appoint a domestic priest (purolntd*). and be liberal in sacrifices and in gifts to Brahmans. “An offering in the mouth of a Brahman,” he is told; “is far better than offerings to holy fires; it never drops; it never dries; it is never consumed. ”f In battle he must be brave, resolute, and generous. He must subor- dinate to one another the various districts in his reedm. He must raise taxes from his subjects according to their means; but, though even dying with want, he must not receive any tax from a Brahman learned in the Vedas, while at the same time he must suffer no such Brahman to die of hunger, j; The season of the year most favourable for weather and croj)s, he must choose for his warlike campaigns. His troops he lias to march in varied lines, and according to vai'ied fioures,. with considerable skill, formino:, when thouolit expedient, a van, a reargaiard, and a mainbody, and also wings and a centre. His ordinary soldiers, — who it would appear, might have been of varied ti’ibes and castes, — he was to dispose of in battle according to their capaci- ties. “ Men born in Kurukslietra, in Matsya, in Pan- * Literally, a foreuiaa. f Mann, vii. 84. \ IMaiiu, vii. 40 WHAT CASTE IS. chala, and in Shiirasena,” he is required to engage in the van, and other men who are tall and lio'ht.”* He has to respect the deities and Brahmans of conquered countries, and to appoint over them a prince of his own race ( vansha). To his neighbours who support his cause, he has to practise kindness; and for self-preservation, he has to be ready to part with his dominions and even with his family wdien required. “Against misfortune let him jireserve his wealth ; at the expense of his wealth, let him preserve his wife ; but at all events let him preserve himself, even at the hazard of his wife and riches.”! His * Manu, vii. 193. f Manu, vii. 213. The principle here involved is applied to all classes of the Hindus as well as to Kshatriyas. The Brahmans have embodied it in the following Sanskrit proverb : — 'TTTf ^ 5TCC 'TT: H “ Preserve your wife, preserve you pelf ; But give them both to save yourself : There's other rvealth, another wife ; But where is there another life?” By a slight change (by a Pandit from the West), this wise-saying can be reversed in favour of the poor wife : — u^rVrfr ^ i T^nVr ^ 'IT; IT: l| “ Preserve your man, preserve your pelf ; But give them both to save yoru'self; There’s other wealth, and other men ; But who shall see this life again?” For a short comment on these versicles, see a paper by the late Rev. E. Nesbit in the Oriental Christian Spectator, Sept. 1812. ORTHODOX VIEW OF THE KSHATRIYA. 41 religious and domestic duties be has to attend to in their O own relations. After ablution he has to eat at noon, taking food prepared by faithful servants skilled in the differences of times (lucky and unlucky), and hallowed by texts repulsive of poison. He may then^ divert himself with his women in the inner apartments, taking due care, however, lest he should be betrayed by them. At sunset, after having performed his religious duty, he should deal with spies and emissaries in retirement.* When unable personally to inspect his affairs, he may commit the superintendence of them to a Brahman. t From the Brahman, but never from a Shudra, he has to seek the interpretation of law. “ Of that king, who stupidly looks on while a Shudra decides causes, the kingdom shall sink like a Cow in deep mire.”| The king is the guardian of all property, including that of minors, and the owner of the half of treasure-trove (the other half belonging to Brahmans) , except that found by a learned Brahman, who may take it without any deduc- tion, as he is the lord of all. He also receives the wealth of all other classes on the failure of heirs, except that of Brahmans, which must go to their own community without, in any case, being escheated. § He is the upholder of the Caste laws, and customs of the various classes of the community,^ in so far as practised by good men and vir- tuous Brahmans, and not inconsistent with local usages. In the dispensation of justice, the king himself is not to be made a witness ; and he has also to make an exemption, * Manu, vii. ad finem. f Mann, viii. 9. J Mami, viii. 21. § Manu, iv. 189. ^ Manu, viii. 37-38. 6 42 WHAT CASTE IS. generally, in the matter of giving testimony to certain classes of people, some of whom are thought too humble, and some too great, to appear as witnesses.* He has to order the administration of oaths, or ordeals, to competent witnesses, with considerable solemnity from the Indian point of view; with a due regard to the comparative dig- nity of Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras; and with the recognition of injur}'- said to accrue both to ancestors and posterity from the speaking of false- hood, except when a pious motive intervenes, when this sin is found not to be contracted even by perjury.t The legislation by which he is to be guided, in these matters, to use the words of Sir William Jones, is “a system of despo- tism and priestcraft, both indeed limited by law, but art- fully conspiring to give mutual support, though with mutual checks; it is filled with strange conceits in meta- physics and natural philosophy, with idle superstitions, and with a scheme of theology most obscurely figurative, and consequently liable to dangerous misconception ; it abounds with minute and childish formalities, with cere- monies generally absurd and often ridiculous ; the punish- ments are partial and fanciful ; for some crimes dreadfulh' cruel, for others reprehensibly slight ; and the very mo- rals, though rigid enough on the whole, are, in one or * Among the latter class are specified in Manu, (viii. 65) the learn- 'ed in the three Vedas, Brahmans waiting on the sacred fire, and reli- gious devotees who have abandoned the world. It is Tn consequence of the principle here involved that the BhaJjd and other natwe mer- chants of Bombay are claiming the right of their high-priests (^Maharajas, or great kings !) to decline attendance on the courts of law. I Manu, viii. 66-112. See also above, p. 21. ORTHODOX VIEW OF THE KSHATKIYA. 43 two instances, (as in the case of light oaths and of pious purjury) [just alluded to] unaccountably relaxed. It is interesting- to notice, in the view of these faults and de- fects, that, in regard to the boundaries of property, evi- dence taken is to be recorded in writing ;t and that the lowest classes of the population may be useful in giv- ing testimony in this matter. Punishments inflicted are to descend with violence inversely as the station in caste of the offenders. A Kshatriya defaming a Brah- man shall be fined a hundred [panas~\ ; a Vaishya, an hundred and fifty, or two hundred ; bat a Shu- dra [acting in this way] shall be corporally punished. A Brahman shall be fined fifty, if he slander a Ksha- triya ; twenty-five, if a Vaishya ; and twelve, if a Shu- dra.| Fines for theft are to be inflicted in proportion to the status in Caste of the party offending.^ Adultery is be treated with much severity, the punishment being a cruel death to be inflicted on the lower orders trans- gressing with the higher. Punishments by kings are said to form atonements for the guilty. “ Men who have committed, and have received from kings the pu- nishment due to them, go to pure heaven, and become as clear as those who have done well.”^ This dictum, which removes man from his responsibility to God, has taken a great hold of the popular mind in India. N ative mu - sicians attend the capital executions of the vilest crimi- nals throughout the country, seeking to introduce them into the other world with joy and rejoicing, simply be- * Preface to the Institutes of Manu. | Manu,viii. 255-266. t Manu, viii. 267-268. § Ibid. 337-8. If Manu, Tiii. 318. 44 WHAT CASTE IS. causs they view their death by the public sentence of the law as an atonement for all their transgressions. It is the duty of the princely Kshatriya to keep the Castes below himself clo.se to the works respectively pres- cribed for them. He should order the Vaishya to prac- tise trade, or money-lending, or agriculture and at- tendance on cattle ; and the Shudra to act in the service of the twice-born. It is incumbent upon him to regu- late all market prices, with a due regard to the interests of the buyer and seller.'^' This principle of Caste law is the foundation of the demand often made on govern- ment to interfere in matters of sale and trade. The doctrines of Adam Smith were not in vogue when the laws attributed to Mann were reduced to a Code. It is also the duty of the Kshatriya to aid the male portion ofthe community in maintaining its lordship over the female portion. This is a matter of much consequence with the Hindus ; and it is so intimately connected with Caste that it may be proper onwards to devote to it a separate section of this work- 3. Leaving the Kshatriya, in the meantime, we pro- ceed to notice the Vaishya, who is the Cattle keeper, the Agriculturist, and the Merchant. In a passage in the Code of Manu, already referred to, it is said that to keep herds of cattle, to bestow largesses, to sacrifice, to read the scripture, to carry on trade, to lend at interest, and to cultivate land are the * Manu, riii. 401. Difficulties in regard to this matter are often felt by our own officials, particularly in the matter of grain. For hints as to the removal of these difficulties, see Colonel Sleeman’s Rambles and Recollections, vol. i. chap. 24. ORTHODOX VIEW OF THE VAISHYA- 45 duties of a Vaiahya”* “The natural duties of the Vaishya,” says the Bhagavad-Gita, “are agriculture, keeping of cattle, and the practice -of-merchandise.”t Respecting these duties, indeed, without any hints as to their comparative importance, the information of the lat- er Sanskrit books is throughout self-consistent. In the Law Books, the general ordinances affecting the Vaishya are such as the following. After perform- ing the initiatory sacraments, ending with that of the sacrificial thread, and marrying a wife of his own class, he should be attentive to his proper business, especially that of cattle-keeping, which he is by no means to over- look, as the Lord-of-men has committed cattle to his trust in the same way as he has committed men to that of the Brahman and the Kshatriya. He must never say, “ I keep charge of no cattle nor must others super- sede him in this charge while he is willing to undertake it. With the prices of mercantile commodities he has to be acquainted, especially of gems, pearls, coral, iron, cloth, perfumes and liquids. He has to be skilled in sowing seeds, in the qualities of land, in weights and measures, in the excellence and defects of articles of trafl&c, in the advantages and disadvantages of different districts, in the probable gain and loss on goods, in the breeding of cattle, in the wages of servants, in the va- rious languages of men,| in the best places for keeping * See above, p. 17, where the words “ to cultivate lands” are, by an error, omitted. t Bhagavad-Gita, xviii. 43. t This intimates a diversity of language in Ancient India, and per- haps in the bordering cou.ntries holding intercourse with it. 46 WHAT CASTE IS. goods, and ill all measures for effecting purchase and sale. The augmentation of his wealth should command his vigilant care and solicitude, while he is attentive to the giving of nourishment to all sentient creatures.* Con- siderable intelligence and ingenuity seem to have been requisite for the Vaishya’s duties. Let this be marked as an indication of the state of society when the Hindu Law Books were composed. \ . 4. We conclude this sketch by referring to the legal position of the Shadra. In illustration of this position, especially when com- pared with that of his great master, the Brahman, some notices have already been given by us. The principal duty assigned to the Shudra is that of serving the Brahman, the Kshatriya, and the Vaishya, especially the Brahman, for whose advantage, principally, he has been created. Throughout the Law Books, he is viewed as a domestic slave, to whom servitude is natural and of which he cannot be divested, and whose pro- peidy even is at the disposal of his master.! From his daily engagements in the family of his superiors, it is obvious that ceremonial ablution was not required to be the consequence of simple contact with him. His religious degradation, however, is complete according to Hindu legislation. On the Brahman the following injunctions are laid in Manu : — “ Let him not give ad- vice to a Shudra, nor (except to his own servant) what remains from his own table ; nor clarified batter of which part has been offered (to the gods), nor let him * Manu, ix. 326-333. ! See above, pp. 17, 21, 23. Manu viii. 413-114. x. 121-123. ORTHODOX VIEW OF THE SlirOHA. 47 give spiritual counsel to such a man, nor inform him of the legal expiation for. his sin. Surely -he. who declares the law^ to a servile man, and he who instructs him in the mode of expiating sin sinks with that very man into the hell named Asaimaita.”* A Brahman is never to be the preceptor of a Shudra.f While the first part of a Brahman’s compound name should indi- cate holiness ; of a Kshatriya’s, power; and of a Vai- shya’s, wealth,— that of a Shiidra should indicate con^ tempt|. The V Ma is never to be read in the presence of a Shudra ;§ and for him no sacrifice is to be performed.^ “He has no business with solemn rites.”** “They w^ho receive property from a Shudra for the performance of rites to consecrated fire are contemned, as ministers of the base.”tt His gifts, now so acceptable to the Brah- man, were received of old only in the most limited de- gree, when the Brahman, who had no other means to live, might take from him raw grain enough for a single night. U In one law, it is thus written: — “ Shudras, en- gaged in religious duties, must perform each month the ceremony of shaving their heads; their food must be the orts of Brahmans; and their mode of purification the ’ Manu, iv. 80-81. Sir William Jones, partly on the authority of Kulluka Bhatta, a modern commentator on Manu, has here made some interpolations inconsistent with the passage as referring to Brah- mans, and with its context. t Manu, iii. 156. f Manu, ii. 31. § Manu, iv. 99. f Manu, iii. 178. ** Manu, xi. 13. ff Manu, xi. 42. It Manu, iv. 222. In Manu xi 24. it is said, " Let no Brahman ever beg a gift from a Shudra; for if he perform a sacrifice after such Legging, he shall, in the next life, be born a Chandala.” 48 WHAT CASTE IS- same with that of a Vaisliya but this legislation is not consistently regarded. “ A Brahman is purified by water that reaches his bosom ; a Kshatriya, by water descending to his throat ; a Vaishya, by water taken into his mouth ; a Shudra, by water touched by an ex- tremity.”! Graduation in Caste, indeed, is preserved in every act and in every ceremony. While, for exam- ple, the stick with which a Brahman rinses his teeth, is to be twelve inches long ; that of a Kshatriya is to be eleven; that of a Vaishya, ten; and that of a Shudra, nine. When a Brahman, to remove a natural defilement, is to make five applications of clay ; a Kshatriya is to make four; a Vaishya, three ; and a Shudra, and a wo- man, two. I Much is to be found in the “ sacred books” in the spirit of these injunctions. It is curious to notice that a Brahman is represented as on a level with a Shu- dra, in religious status, till his “ new birth from revealed scripture ;”§ and that he has to view the state of a Shudra as the ultimatum of his own degradation in the case of the greatest offences.1I A In the greatest events of life and death, the privileges of a Shudra are of a very restricted character. He must not marry in any Caste superior to his own.** He must • Manu, V. 40. | Manu, ii. 62. t Shiva Purana, adh. viii. In this and other chapters of a little known Purana, there is very curious information respecting the wor- ship of Shiva and the observances of his votaries. § Manu, ii. 172. If See, for example, Manu iii. 17-19. ** Manu, iii. 15. “ A Brahman, if he take a Shudra to his bed as a first wife, sinks to the regions of torment ; if he beget a child by her he loses even his priestly rank.’' Ibid. iii. 17. ORTHODOX VIEW OF THE SHUDKA. 4i) aid in carrying the body of a Brahman, though even that of his master, to the burning or burying-ground, that the funeral rites may not be hindered and obstructions to enter heaven may not occur.* 7'he southern gate of a town (the most remote from the holy north) is that only by which he can carry his own kinsmen to the grave.f His morals are not to be strictly looked after- Theft is less heinous in him than in those above him.| He may drink the spirit of rice, while it is interdicted to Brah- mans, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas.§ Probably because of his connexion with Brahmanical households, he ranks higher than artizans, to whose occupations he may re- sort when tormented by hunger-|| The cruelty with which he may be punished for the slightest offences against the Brahmans, we have already brought to no- tice.H His murder by a Brahman is equal only to the killing of a cat, an ichneumon, the bird cha^ha (the In- dian Roller), a frog, a dog, a lizard, an owl, or a crow.** His bliss in a future world, or in a future birth, depends principally on his service. “ Servile attendance on Brahmans learned in the Veda, chiefly on such as keep house and are famed for virtue, is of itself the highest duty of a Shudra, and leads him to future beatitude. Pure, humbly serving the higher classes, sweet in speech, never arrogant, ever seeking refuge in Brahmans, he may attain the highest class” (in another birth), ft By some intelligent writers, the position and condition of the Indian Shudras, as brought to notice in the Hin- * Manu, V. 104. t Manu, v. 92. J Manu, viii. 337. § Manu, xi. 94. || Manu, x. 99. If See above pp. 19-20. Manu, xi. 131. ff Manu, ix. 334-335. 7 50 AVHAT CASTE IS. du Law Books, and exhibited in ancient (not the most ancient) India societj^, has been likened to that of the Helots of Sparta. As far as the deprivation of liberty, the social degradation, and the actual sufferings of both these classes of slaves were concerned, there was doubt- less considerable similarity. It must be kept in mind, however, that while the Helots were slaves of the soil and usually employed in agricultural labour, the Shud;’as were slaves of the household and commonly emplo3'ed in domestic services. In religious status, the Shudras were lower than the Helots. When a reference is made to their obvious usefulness in olden times, it is difficult to understand the peculiar hate with which, it would seem, they were regarded, unless on the supposition that they were prone, — as well they might be, — to dis- content and rebellion, at any rate till a general agreement as to their depression was secured among their superiors. Of the four classes of Hindus now treated of, it is held by the Brahmans that theKshatri^’-as and Vaish^^as no longer exist. In exj)lanatioii of their doctrine on this matter, they refer to the legend of Parashurama, an alleged incarnation of the god Vishnu, who is said to have killed all the KshatrAas in twenty- one engage- ments ;* to the destruction of the Yadavas b}'- Krishna, considered also an incarnation of the same god ;f and * For a summary and review of the wild legends connected with Parashmama, see Muir's Texts, pp. 151-174. The slaughter of the Kshatrijas is laid in remote ages, beyond those of the Law Books, and the narrations of it are not available for the purpose _ for which they are appealed to by the modern Brcihmans. t The legends of this alleged clestiuclion' are given in the Mah^bh£- rata and the Vaishnava Pu;anas. Sec Wilson’s Vishnu Purapa, p. 610. DISAPPEARANCE OF THE KSHATRIYAS AND VAISHYAS. 5 1 especially to certain passages in the Bhagavata and other Puraiias, in wliich it is prophesied that after king Nanda, son of Mah’manda, all earthly power is to be administered by Ir^hudras.* To their allegations on these matters it will be afterwards necessaiy to refer. In the meantime, I would simply mention one or tw'o historical facts which bear more distinctly on the posi- tion of the Kshatriyas and Vaishyas in India than do tlie legends adduced by the Brahmans. As the con-* quests of the Aryas, — from whom, as we shall immedi- ately see, the first Brahmans, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas sprung, — advanced in India, difficulties, arising from the prejudices of race, were felt in giving the status of Kshatriyas and Vaishyas to the rulers and cultivators and merchants of the subjugated tribes; while, com- pared with the general population of these tribes, the pure A'lyas must have appeared but few in number. Shakya Muni, the founder of Buddhism, who flourished in the first half of the sixth or latter half of the fifth century before Christ, w^as a Kshatriya ; and he, and his cause after him, received gTeat patronage and support from the scions of the princely tribe, who became its great propagators, while they seceded from the organized Brahmanical faith and were reckoned apostates by its up- * Sec Bhagavata, Skanda .vii. 1. In the Vishnu Purana ("Wilson’s, p. 467) it is said of this Nanda, “Like another Parashuiaina, lie will be the annihilator of the Kshatriya race; for after him the kings of the earth will be Shiidras.” Except sometimes in bare lists of kings (requiring a critical consideration, and adjustment), the Furtnas givg no history. To preserve the air of antiquity, these writings, which were evidently manufactui'ed in late centuries, give their chronology in a prophetical form. 52 WHAT CASTE IS. holders. I'he merchants of India, too, clave to Buddhism in great multitudes, as is evident from the inscriptions on the Buddhist Excavations, and is still illustrated in the case of the Jainasof Western India. In the course of ages, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas, mainly of Aiyan blood, seeing the peculiar honours claimed by and accorded to Brahmans, not unnaturally aspired, we may suppose, after promotion ; and in the miscellaneous so- ciety of India, gave themselves out for Brahmans, though by the real priestly class they might not be altogether acknowledged to have this standing. In every pro- vince of India there are cultivatino^ and labourinsr Brahmans, so-called, who are not acknowledged by their brethren in general to be of the real stamp; and who claim as their privilege only three of the six consti- tuted works of the Brahmans — those of readings the o Vedas, sacrificing for themselves, and giving alms. Examples of this class of Brahmans may be found in the Bhatela Bmlimans of Gujarat ;* in the Shenavl Brahmans of the Maratha country and Goa tenitories; in the Ilaiga Brahmans of the Karnatika ; t and in the Ma- h.istana, or Mastan Brahmans of Odra, or Orissa — who are as likely to have been originally A ryas of the rul- ing and cultivating tribes seeking elevation in caste, as Brahmans deteriorating themselves by their present employments.; It is notorious that in the Bengal Army, * See Author’s Journal of a Tour in Gujarat, in Oriental Chris- tian Spectator 1835, p. 250 f Letter of Huddlestone Stokes Esq. to the aixthor. J Noticing the Mastan Brahmans, ^Ir. A Stirling (Trans, of As- Soc. vol. XV., p. 198) says, “ Besides cultivating with their own hands gardens of the Karbu(.Arum InJicum) cocoanut, and Arec.a,and the pi- ORTHODOX VIEW OF THE MIXED CASTES 53 many of the parties who had professed to belong to the Brahmanhood, have been known to declare themselves to be of a lower g-rade, to get admittance into regiments in which there was more than the desired supply of Brah- mans. All this is said with the full admission of the fact that the Brahmanical tlieoiy of the total extinction of the Kshatriyas and A'aishyas is altogether inadmissible. The descent of some of the Rajput princes from the an- cient Kshatriyas, — with a mixture of foreign and abori- ginal blood, — seems undeniable, even without the rap- turous advocacy of the modern Pauranika, the worthy and genial Colonel James Tod. IV. — Orthodox View of the Mixed Castes. According to Mann, the original developenient of humanity was confined to the Four Castes now noticed. Three Castes, the Brahman, the Kshatriya, and the Vai- shya,” he says, “ are twice-born ; the fourth, the Sliudra, is once-born ; and there is not a fifth.”* These divisions of human society, however, it must be seen at once, are quite inadequate to tlie exigencies of its progress and his- tory. Other classes of men, with other duties, must have appeared in India, as well as in other countries, soon after the first settlement in it of any considerable body of the per beetles, or pan, they very frequently follow the plough, from which circumstance they are called Halia Brahmans, and they are found everywhere in great numbers of Mukaddams and Sarbarakars, or hereditary renters of villages. Those who handle the plough glory in their occupation, and affect to despise the Bed or Veda Brahmans, who live upon alms. ... I have not been able to trace satisfactorily the origin and history of these Mastan Brahmans, who I am informed re- semble the cultivatins: Brahmans of Tirhut and Behar. ’ * Manu, X. 1. 54 WHAT CASTE IS. descendants of onr first progenitor. Such classes Hinduism recoo’nizes; but it views them, and certain deo’iaded classes of tlie people, and other bodies of men not yet within the pale of Hinduism, as the issue of connubial intercourse and adultery, and of after-propagation by that issue, and treats them as mules and hybrids.* It calls them the Mixed Castes (Varna Sankara). The origin thus attri- buted to them is doubtless entirely of a fictional charac- ter. The “ Mixed Castes,” must have originated princi- pally from the increase of occupations in the Hindu com- munity, brought about by the growing demands and divi- sion of labour, and by the circumstance of the dominant people (the A'ryas, to be immediate!}* noticed), coming in contact wnth aboriginal tribes, which, keeping in the main beyond the pale of Hinduism, have either Ireen ultimately degraded, or have maintained for themselves in their own retreats a precarious independence. I introduce, — rvith a few explanations, — the information which is given respecting them by Mann. We are able to identify several of his designations as those of tribes distinct from that of the dominant class which established Brahmanism, and the system of faith with which it is associated. “ Sons, begotten by the twice-born on the class imme- diately below them, wise legislators call similar in class [with their parents, but not the same] because they are degraded b}'^ the lowness of their mothers. Such is the primeval rule for the sons of women one degree lower * Commenting on the passage last quoted from Manu, Kulliika Bhatpi, as noticed by Mr. Muir (Original Sanskrit Texts, p. 175), says, “ There is no fifth Caste ; for Caste cannot be predicated of the mixed tribes, seeing that like mules, they belong to another species distinct from that of their father and mother.” ORTHODOX VIEW OF THE MIXED CASTES. 55 [than their husbands] : tor the sons of women two or three degrees lower, let this rule of law be known: — “ From a Brdhman, on a Vaishya wife,* is born a son called Amhas/itha,” who, as Mann in another law says, “ should live by curing disorders,” and whose class is recognizable as the A.mbastah a people mentioned by Ptolemy, ■}■ “ and represented as a “ Vaidija’ or Physician;”]: on a Shudra wife, [is born] a Nisjidda, originally viewed as a “ settled” inhabitant, one of the Aborigines, but afterwards appointed to catch * The Code, it will be observed, does not toll us what the offspring of a Brahman and a Kshatriya woman, referred to in the preceding general law, is. Probably a verse has here disappeared from the manuscripts. In the Sahyadri Khanda of the Skanda Purdna, we find it thus written ; — 1 UtTdirrTT : — -The offspring of a Yipra (Brahman on a Kshatriya woman is a JIurdhdbhishikta (anointed in the head), a liajanya (of princely descent) reckoned higher in religion than, a Kshatriya. Kulluka BhaUa supplies Mv.rdhdvxtsiJcta, but adds to it, as apparently designations also given to this kind of offspring, Muhishya, Karcina, or Kdyastha. Pre- fixed to these foim designations. Sir TV. Jones (Manu, x. C) supplies the words, “ They are named in order.” But the names are not in the order of four ranks, but expressive of four Castes, alleged to be of one origin and equal status. The Murdhabhishikta, or Murdhdvasikta, Caste is held by the Brahmans to be no longer in existence. t AjujBa-ai, Pal. A’ujFmjrai, Ptol. lib. vii, Ed. Bert. p. 204. J As noticed by Professor Lassen, the appearance of the Yaidya here is puzzling ; but probably the Code had it in view to give to a Yaidya more than the rank of a Yaishya, as each of these mixed classes partakes in the dignity of the father. Onwards the Code gives to the Ambashtha, the cure of disorders, dropping the Vaidya out of view. It is probable that the country of the Ambashthas, like the Karnatika of the present day, furnished remarkable physicians or travelling quacks, 56 WHAT CASTE IS. fish,”* named also Pdrashava, in the Juti-Vivcka, aad the Sahyadri Khanda — a Sonar, or goldsmith, t “ From a Kshatriya, on a Shadra wife, springs a crea- ture called U(jra,'' — the patron3'mic of a people in the time of the Vedas, perhaps the original of the Hungarian nation, — “ with a nature partly" warlike and partly servile, ferocious in his manners, cruel in his acts, and command- ed,— with the Kshattri and Pukkasa to be afterwards mentioned, — “to live by killing animals that livein holes. ”t “ The sons of a BiHimanby [women of] three [lower] classes, of a Kshatriya by [women of) two, and of a Vaishya, by one [lower] class, are called Ajoasada, or degraded. “From a Kshatriya, by' a Brahman woman, is born a * At the time of the Mahabharata, (Rajadharmmanush£shana parva, vv. 2209-22 18, Cal. Ed. vol. iii. p. 443) the Nisjiaclas and Mle'chchas dwelling in the Vindhya mountains, and the reputed descendants of the Avicked Vena are reckoned at a himdred thousand (classes ?). The picture of the Ni.shada there given seems to have had a party lilce the Bhilla for its type, a being spoken of as “ deformed, dwarfish, of the colour of chared-wood, Avith red [flirious ?] eyes, and black hair.” To this description of him Ave shall afterwards advert. The classing of a goldsmith Avith a Nfshdda seems curious ; but the Nish&da Avas not considered so alien from the ruling race as is commonly supposed. In the Ramayana i. 33, Ave find Rama spoken of as meeting ' Avith Guha, “ the pious, and beloA-ed prince of the Ni-shadas” qTllfuTT R^rTlb-TTIT The Bombay goldsmiths, however, don’t like to ’oe associated with the Nishadas, and plead for being considered a sort of sub-Brahmans. The Sahyadri Khanda gives to the Sonar, viewed as a Parashava, more than the religious status of a Shiidra. It denomi- nates him a Mahashudra, or great Shudra. That AA’ork, hoAvever, is but a late production. In the Sahyadri Khanda of the Skanda Purana, the Ugra gets the rank of a Rajput. ORTHODOX VIEW OF THE MIXED CASTES. 57 Suta” [the '‘sent”], to “live by manag-ing- horses and drivino" cal’s and who, of old, must have been the g’reat traditional l>ard, or reciter, of the families in which he was found.* * * § “ From a Yaishya, by a military or sacerdotal wife, springs a Mdghada,” “authorized to travel with merchan- dise,”— and probably an aboriginal inhabitant of the pro- vince of Maghada ; “ and a Vaideha’ , of the country of Videha, — first mentioned in the Sanskrit writings as be- longing to King .Tanaka, — “ to live by waiting on women.” “ From a Shudra, on a Vaishya, Kshatriya, or Brahman woman, are born sons of a mixed breed, called A'yogava (a monstrous junction); a Kshattri,” “a degraded being, who must live by killing animals;” “and a Chdnddla, the lowest of mortals,” — t whose tribe is recognized by Ptolemy as that of the Kandali, or Goiidali, on the river Tapti,:[; (perhaps the Gonds, — adjoining the Phyllitoe, of the same author,' identified as the Bhills, — or the Gondha- hs, still a wandering tribe of the Maharashtra.) “From a Brahman, by an Ugra female, is born an A'vrita ; by one of the Ambashtha. tribe, an A'hhira," — designated from Ahira, of Ptolemy, on the banks of the Indus, and represented by A'hir, the name of a class of shepherds in Sindh, Kachh, and Kathiaw’ad ; “ by one of the Ayogava tribe, a Dhigvana,”\ “ appointed to sell leather.” * The Mahabharata professes to have been recited by Ugrasravas the. son of the Suta Lomaharshana, who is said, however, to have received it from Vaishampayana, a disciple of Vyasa, the reputed “ compiler,” as his name bears, of the Vedas and Shastras. f Manu, X. 6-12. § Ptol. Geo. Ed. Bertii. p. 204. 8 t Manu, X. 15. 58 AVHAT CASTE IS. “ The son of a ^^ is]la(la by a Shudra woman is by tribe a PuJckam” “ to live by killing' animals that live in holes “ but the son of a Shudra by a Nishadi woman, is named Kiihhjtaka. One born of a Kshattri by an JJgra is called Sva- 2Jdha (dog'-eater) ; and one begotten by a Vaideha on an Ambashthi -woman is called Vena ” “ who should strike musical instruments.”* “ Those whom the. twice-born beget on women of equal classes, but who perform not the proper ceremonies, people denominate Vrdtya, or excluded from the Gayatri. “From such an outcast Brahman springs a son, of a sinful nature, named a Blu'a^jakantaka , an A'vanfya, a Vdtadhdna, a Piiskpadha, and a ShaiJcha,” — ^^who seem to have been inhabitants of the countries near the western part of the Yindhya range. “ From such an outcast Kshatriya comes a son called Jhalla (Rajguru), a Malla (wrestler), a Nichhavi,^ Kata (a dancer), a Karana, a Khasa” (of the Khasya tribe), and a Dravida,” — of the eastern coast of the peninsula. “ From such an outcast V aishya is born a son called Sudha/ivd, Uidryya, Kdrusha, Vijanma, Maitra, and Sdtvata” — the last mentioned being near the Vindhya.l “ ADasyu,’' — originally a non- Aryan, — “ or outcast of any pure class, begets, on an Ayogavi woman, a Sairin- dhra, who should know how to attend and dress his master. * Yaia comes from Yi'na, a lyre. + This is supposed by Professor Lassen to be for LJchavi, a class of people, noted as -warriors, in the East of India. Mann x. 17-23. t OHTIIODOX VIEW OF THE MIXED CASTES. 59 A Vaidelia begets on her a sweet-voiced Maitreyaka, who ringing’ a bell (or g'ong) at the appearance of dawn, continualh’ praises great men. “ A XisJuida begets on her n Maryam, or Dasha, w’ho subsists by his labour in boats, and is named Kaivarta, by tliose who dwell in Aryavarta.*^ “From a Nishada, by a Yaideha woman, springs a Kardmra, who cuts leather, and from a Yaideha by women of the Kara, vara and Nishada castes an Andhra (of tlie eastern part of tlie peninsula), and a Mkla,‘\ wdio must live without the tCAvn,” — perhaps of the degraded Meda (“ Mail’”) tribe in Rajputana. “From a Chandala, by a Yaideha Avoman, comes n.Fan- du'opaka, avIio Avorks Avith cane and reeds; and from a Xishdda, an Ahwlika,” said to be a “jailor.” “ From a Chandala, by a Pukassl Avoman, is Ijorn a Sopdka, Avho lives by punishing’ criminals, a sinfiil AA retch ever despised by the virtuous. “ A Xisliadi woman, by a Chandala, produces a son called Antyavasayi (performer of tlie loAvest actions) em- ployed in places for burning tlie dead, contemned eA^enby the contemptible.” 1 “The following races of Kshatriyas, by theif omission of holy rites and by seeing no Brahmans, have gradually sunk ainono; men to the loAAest of the four classes [ the Shadras\ ; — Paundrakas, [ of the east of India ], Odras [ of Orisa ], and Dravidas [ of the south east of India ] ; Kamhojas, Yamiias [Greeks], and Shakas [Sacae]; Pdra- * 3Ianu, X. 32-31. The region of the A'ryas. j The Maratha BrMiniaiis consider the MMa the cfinivalent ol Gonda. J Mann, x. 3G-33. GO WHAT CASTE IS. (las, Pahlavas [ Persians], CMnas [Chinese],* Kirdtas, Daradas, and KhasJias [all identified as names of peoples and tribes]. All those tribes of men which are sprung from the classes produced from the mouth, the arm, the thigh, and the foot of Brahma, became outcasts and are called Dasyus, whether they speak the language of the Mlechchhas, or that of the AryasPi The Mixed Classes of the Hindus, even in their generic designations, are now far more numerous tlian those which are here indicated, though doubtless there has been a great indisposition on the part of the Brahmans to ex- tend them nominally beyond those found mentioned in the more ancient Law Books. This fact may be illustrat- ed by any of the Tabular views of the Castes constructed by the natives in any of the provinces of India, — as in that of the Maharashtra, or Maratlia countr}^ a transliteration and translation of which, in an abridged form, may, with its introductory matter, be here introduced, as the most distinct and prtcise document of the kind procurable.:}: 1. ‘'The Brahmans have proceeded from the mouth of the god Brahma. They have a right to the perfor- mance and use of the Sixteen Sacraments and the Six religious ^yorks.” The Sixteen Sacraments ( sansharas), here alluded to, are the following : — garhhadhana,s>acv\^c(i to promote conception, or acknowledge it when it occurs ; * 'file occurence of tlie Chinas and Yavanas in this veree indicates this portion of Manu to be later than tlie time of the Greeks in India. t Manu X. 4.3-45. See, on some of the tribes here mentioned, Wilson’s Vishnu Purina, p. 177. t This character I give it on comparing the ilarathi Tables -with the similar documents of Bengal, the Gwaler State, Orisa, the Canarcse country, the Tamil countty, Malayalim, etc. ORTHODOX VIEW OF THE MIXED CASTES. 61 punsavana, sacrifice on in tlie foetus; anavalo- bhana, sacrifice in the third month of pregnancy ; Vuhnu- bali, sacrifice to Vishnu in the seventh month of preg- nancy ; simantonjiayana, sacrifice in the lourth, sixth, or eighth month ; jdtakarmma, the birth ceremony, giving the infant clarified butter from a golden spoon before dividing the navel string; ndmakarana, naming the child on the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, or hundred-and-first day; nuhkramana, carrying him out to be presented to the moon on the third lunar day of the third light fort- night ; surydvaloJtana, carrying him out to be presented to the sun in the third or fourth month ; annaprdshana^ feeding him with rice in the sixth or eighth month, or when he has cut his teeth; chuddkdryya, tonsure, in the second or third year ; tipanayana, investiture with the string in the fifth, eighth, or sixteenth year ; mahandmya instruction in the gayatri-mantra, after the Munja, the ceremony of investment with the sacrificial cord ; sama- varttana, loosing the Munja from the loins ; vivdha, mar- riage, with its immediate antecedents and concomitants ; svargarohana, funeral ceremonies and obsequies, to forward the entrance of the spirit into Svarga, or heaven.* The dispensation of such of the Sacraments here mentioned as j)recede birth, is attended with the injury of all delicate feeling in families. There is much ceremony, without any really moral import, in all the Hindu Sacraments. The Six Constituted works of the Brahmans have been already mentioned. t 2. “ The Kshab’iyas have proceeded from the arm * In this mention of the Sacraments, I have principally followed IMolesuorth (Dictionar}", p. 836). But compare Steele's Summary of the Law and Customs of Hindu Caste, p. 30. f See alwe, p. 17. G2 WHAT CASTE IS. of the god. They have a right to the use of the Sixteen Sacraments and Three religious Works. 3, “ The Vaishijas have proceeded from the foot of the god. They have a right to the use of the Sixteen Sacraments and Three religious Works. 4. “ The Shudras have proceeded from the foot of the god. They have a right to the use of Twelve Sacra- ments through the Nama-Mantras.* Their duty is to serve the other three Castes. Thus were created the Four Castes {varnas) . The god Brahma also produced some Mind-born Sons. One of these was Kashyapa Rishi [the son of Marichi one of the Mind-born Sons], who gave birth to the gods {Deoas) and Titans {Daityas), and so continued the progression of the world. '[ The Brahmans had the * The prmcipal Sacraments not alloAvcd to Shudras are Upanayana, Maluinamya, and Sainavarttana. The Nama-Jiahtras are the simple invocations of tlie names of the gods, as distinguished ii-om Yedic texts. t Li the doctrine of the i\Iind-born sons of Brahma, here alluded to (designedly in an obscure form, for preventing the charge of inconsist- ency), there is, even in iManu (i. 32-et seq.), a theory of the origin of the human race quite inconsistent Avith the orthodox A'ic'w of the origin of Caste. “ Having divided his ovrn body into tmo parts, the lord [Brahma, the creator] became, Avith the half, a male, and Avith the half, a female ; and in that female he created Vireij. KnoAv, O most excellent of Brahmans, [IManii is here represented as speaking to Bhrigu, one of the Mind-born Sons, or Sons formed by Manu] that I am the person Avhom that male Vinij alter performing dcA'otion, created : I aa'Iio am the ' creator of all this [Avorld]. Being desirous to form creatirres, I performed A'ery arduous deA'otion, and first created ten IMaharshis, (great Kishis) the lords of creatures : Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Prache- tas, Yashishtha, Bhrigu, and Narada. They, endued Avith great energy, created seven other IManus and Devas, and the abodes of Devas, and ^laharshis of boundless po'.ver. Yakshas, IMkhasas, Pishachas, Gan- ORTHODOX VIEW OF THE MIXED CASTES. 63 custom of receiving in marriage females of all the four Castes (the wife of his own Caste being the first.) The Kshatiiyas married the females of three Castes, including their own. The Vaishyas were to exclude the females of the Brahman and Kshatriya Castes, and to many those of their own and the Shildra Caste. The Shudras were permitted to contract marriages only in their own Caste. Such was the custom of the former ages. The offspring of such marriages is called the Ajiuloma.^ The offspring of unlawful connexions between the higher Caste men and lower caste women is called the PralilomaA The period for the investiture with the sacred thread of the male issues of the Brahman, Kshatriya, and Yaishya Castes is [properly] restricted to the age of nine years (to the commencement of the clhai-^-as, Apsarasas, Asuras, Xaga.<5, Sei-peuts, Siiparnas, and the dif- ferent cla.'«?es of Pitris, Kinnara.s, apes, fi.shes, varioiis birds, beasts, deer. Men, and wild animals Avitli two rows of teeth Thus by iny appointment [that of IMann, the son of the self-existent] and by the force of devotion, these gi'eat ones created all this mova- ble and immovable world with separate actions allotted to each creature.” To this pas&ige, as opposed to the orthodo.x theory of Caste, I directed attention in my lectiu'es to the youth of Bombay many years ago. Mr. iMiiir (whose translation I have adopted in giving it, O. S. T. p. 16), I am glad to notice, thus refers to it : — “ It Avill be obseiwed that among the crcatm'es formed by the ten Maharshis are hlen, who are not .specified as being of any particular caste. How does this creation by the IMaharshis consist with the four being created separately, and by the immediate act of Brahrini, as de.scribed inverse 31,” [in which they are .spoken of as brought from his head, hands, etc] ? * From Anu, with, and loma, hair, gi'ain, or line, meaning in the direct line of nature. ■I" The reverse of the precedijig. 64 WHAT CASTE IS. ninth year)* Those whose thread ceremony has not been solemnized within that period are called Vratya. The children born to the Vratyas by adultery with the women of their own caste are called the Vrdtya-Santati (Yratya-progeny). Again, those bom of illegal con- nexion of the men of any one of the above-mentioned castes with the w'omen of any other caste are called the Mixed Castes {Sankara- Jciti ). The authors of the Jati- Viveka, the Brahajjati-Viveka, the Madhava Kalpalita, and the Parashurama Pratapa [works of authority among the Maratha Brahmans], say there are many Mixed- Castes in this last age (Kali-Yuga) which cannot be determined and described. Yet, wdth the help of Manu and the other Rishis, they enumerate 134 produced from the Anulomas and Pratilomas, and the mixture (by the Sankara-Juti) of the four original Castes. They describe their modes of subsistence, and notice the Castes which are referable to the Sankara-J ati and those which are not. The following is the snm of them : — Directly from god — the Brahman, Kshatriya, Yaishya, and Shudra 4 From the Anuloma — the IMm-dlia-Vasikta, the Amba.shtha, the Pa- rashava, the Mahishya, the Ugra, and the Yaitalika-Karana Charana 6 From the Pratiloma — the Siita, the Yaidehika, the Chandiila, the Magadha, the Kshata-Xishada, the Ayogava 6 From the Vratyas and the Sankaras together, according to the preceding books 36 To which are to be added, fi'om the Parashurama Pratapa, 22 Total of Castes enumerated 134.” * See the injunction of Manu on this matter, above, pp. 15-16. But compare with it, for the apphcation of the term Vratya, the Mahabharata, Anushashana Parva, 6. 2621 : — The three outcaste classes are the Chandala, the Yratya, and the Yaidya, begotten by a Shudra on females of the Brahman, Kshatriya, and Yaishya classes respectively. ORTHODOX VIEW OF THE MIXED CASTES. G5 TABULAR VIEW OF THE CASTES ABOVE REFERRED TO. From the Brahman to the Shudra, here the Kxinhi or Cultivator. Caste* Sanskrit deno^ Marathi denomi- mination* nation* English deno^ . mination. Male Parent. Female Parent. Procession. 1 Brahaniai.ia .... Brahman Brahman . Brahman . . . Brahman . , , Regular. 2 Murddhabhishik ta* Anointed in the head Brahman . . Kshatriya . , . Anuloma_ 3 Kshatriya Kshatriya , Kshatriya .... , Kshatriya . , , Kshatriya . . Regular. 4 Ambashtha .... V aidya Ambashtha . , Brahman . . Vaishya... . Anuloma, 5 Vaishya Vaishya Vaishya , Vaishya.... V aishya . . . . , Regular. 6 Mahishya Joshi Mahishya or Joshi Kshatriya .. Vaishya .. . . , Anuloma. 7 Kunda-Golaka . . Kunda-Golaka . , , Kunda-Golaka Brahman. ., , Brahman wife of another Adultery. 8 Rauda-Golaka ... Randa-Golaka . . Randa-Golaka Brahman . . Brahman- widow Adultery. 9 Bhishaka, or Am- Ap^|p- Ambashtha BhishaJca,or bakat Ambaka Brahman. . . Kshatriya . . Adultery, 10 Sdta Sarathi Charioteer, or Bard Kshatriya .. Brahman . . , . Pratilo* ma. 1 1 ParashavaJ .... Sonar Goldsmith .... Brahman . , Shiidra . . • • Anuloma. 12 Ugra Rajput Itgra Kshatriya . . Shiidra . . . . Anuloma. 13 Eansyakara .... Kansar Bell-metal- Shuiasena, Shurasena, Degene- worker Adhika- Kshatriya Adhika- Kshalriya ration.^ 14 Brijjakantha. . . . Prathama-Bai- ragi 1. Bairugi .... Brahman Vratya, Anupam'ta Brahman . . Vratya- Santati. 15 A'vartaka DwitiyaBairagi. , 2. Do Bi'ijjakantha or Pratham Bairagi Brahman , . Do. 16 Katadhana .... Tritiya-Bairagf. . 3. Do A’vartaka, or Dwitiya Bairagi Braliman. . , Do. 17 Puslipasliekhara. Chaturtha-Bai- ragt 4. Do Katadhana, or Tritiya Bairagi 1| Brahman. , . Do. * Or Jturclhdvisiklita. Xow altogether extinct. t Ifow altogether extinct, t Goldsmitlis are important^ personages in the coramimity. Stany say they are here inserted by favour, as all the handicrafts, according to the Caste theory, should rank lower than Shddras. They have, however, a Brdlimaii progenitor ascribed to them. 5 By a Ksliatriya adopting a trade, as is said. II Tlie Bairagfs,— or Vairdgis—an devotees of Vijhnu, and properly a sect, not a caste. The numeric dis- ' tinctions in Mardthi ( 1, 2, .1, 4 ) are purely arbitrary. 1 9 66 WHAT CASTE IS. treya, Savrlta, 22 AbHr 23 Magadha-Bandi - jana 24 Napita 25 Apara-Napitaf . , 26 Jhalla 27 Malla ... 23 Vichuka , 29 Suda SO Kansyakara SI Kinasava . 32 Bathakara ■ na, or Charana S4 Kayastha 36 Parabha 38 Manikara Mardthi denomi- Englith deno- Male Parent. Female'Pareni. nation. mincUion. . Surya-Upasaka. . Mdghacla . . . , , Brahman . . Pushpashe- Devapuja-Ka- Idol-dresser . . Brahman . , khara . . . , Magadha . . ranar , Jangam, etc., of . . Yratya-van - Yaishya... five kinds of sha Anu- Yanis* Kunbf. Cultivator . , panita , Shiidra . . . . Shudra ... Of the Status of the Cultivators. Gawaji Herdsman\ . . Brahman . , . Mahishya . Bhatava Kavi . . Minstrel of the Yaishya . . . . . Kshatriya . Nbavi Mdgadhas Barber Brahman . . Shudra . . . . Nhavi Barber Magadha . . Ugra Rajguru Jhalla ...... Rshatriya- Shudra or JethiJ; irrestler . . . . Yratiya , Jhalla Kshatriya . Kshatriya . , Chatradhar, or Umbrella- Brahman . . Yaidehika . , Wari Svayampaki .... holder Cook Suta 1 Yaidehika . , Bogar-Kausar . . Clumsy-Bra- Brahman . . Ambashtha . T ambat zier Coppersmith , , Kshatriya . . Parashava . , Sutar § Carpenter . . . . Mahishya . . Charani- Lowe) ’ than Slaidras. Yaitklaka Dhadi(?) Yaishya . . . . Shudra . . . . Prabhu or Par- K. Parbhu .. Yaidehika . . Mahishya . . bhu Prabhu or Par- Barbltu Kayastha . . Kayastha- bhu Parabha Yratya Pra- tvidow Prabhu-sist- Bhadabhunjya . . bhu-bro- ther Grain-pareher Yaidehika . er , Shddra •• Yidhari Jeweller Kshatriya . . Yaishya . . . . K atari Turner MaUikara . Kayastha . , Pratilo- ma. Vratya S. Adultery. * This is a late interpolation, the Jausams being the priests of the Liugtiyits, a modern sect, t From the Sanskrit Jyeshtha, chief. t Variety of the preceding. § Or Karana. II Insinuation from brtihmanical Iwtrcd, the Kayasthas, or Parbhus, being great rivals of the Brdliman in the matter of office-employment. ORTHODOX VIEW OF THE MIXED CASTES. 67 Caste, /ianstrit deno- Mardthi denomi- English deno- Mate Parent. Female Parent. Procession minatioHi 40 A’yogava ...... nation. » Pillharavat • . . . mination. . Stone-di'esser, . Shudra . , . , Yaishya .... Pratilo- 41 Kumbhakiira , , , Kumbhnr . Potter Brahman . . , Ugra ma. 42 Gandhaka , Gandhi . Perfumer . . . . . Ugra .... . Ambashtha. . 43 Yatsala ........ , Gor4khi . Coicherd .... . Shiidra . . . . Kiinsyakdra . 44 Silindhra Mar - Ang-Mardani .. . AppUers of un - Malla . Kshatriya .. danf ( ?) 4o Chhagalika .... , Shejaka. ..... guents . Goatherd .... , Katadhdna. . Bandijana or 46 Sindolaka Shimpi 1 Tailor ...... . Shudra ... Magadhi , Bhanda .... 47 Vastra-Vikraji. , , Kapada-Yika- Clothier- Shiidra .... . Ayogava or 48 Shdbala nar-Shimpi . Unknown* Tailor Br.4hman . Pdthara- va^ . Bandijana . . 49 Shankarghua . . Shank arghna . . Kiiyastha A'yogava. . . . 60 Malakara Mali , Gardener .... Prabhu Mahishya . . , Nishada .... 51 Phala-Vikra) 1 . . Phal-Yikanar ... . Flower-seller Brahman . . Kalavanta . . 52 Kagalika Kavadi Kashi . . Fruit-seller , . Shiidra . . . . ■ Ugra . Messenger . , Bed-tnalcer . . 54 Shayapala Phriis Sairandhra. . , Dwara-rak- 55 Ni.shada-PiLra- Nicha-Sonar .... Low-Sondr .. Brahman . . shaka , Shudra .... shava 56 Mahaguru, Ush- Karhekar Camel-man . . Kshata-Ni- Avartaka . . trapala 57 Magutavalli (?) . . Chora-Rakshak Watchman , . shdda Kshemak Brahman . . Bandijana . . 58 Bhasma- Sankara Gurava Dresser of Maha-Tap- Married- 59 Suchala and Ku- Gondhali Idols Musician .... asvi Brah- man A'ndh) a . . . . Shudra Yaidehika .. cbala 60 Maitn'ya. Gondhali Rude-Musi- A'aidehika . . A'yogava . . 61 Chitrakara Shankavati and dan A’vartaka- Uhigvana . . 62 Prasadika ...... Rajavali Gaundi Mason Kumbhar A'yogava .. Kaivartaka 63 Aurabhra Dhangar Shepherd .... Brijjakanta. . Chhagali.. .. 64 Sangara (?) .... Sangar Shepherd .... Shudra .... A’bhir 65 Yaidehika Kuntan Pimp Yaishya .... Brahman. . . . Pratilo- 66 Kshemaka Dwara-rakshalc , Doorkeeper Kshata-Ni- Ugra ma. 67 Ulmuka Chobdar Lohar Blacksmith . . shada Kshatriya . . Magadha 68 Ishukara Man- Tirgar and Ka- Archer A'bhir Brikunsha . , didik. mangar * The name, said to be Sanskrit, does not seem genniiie. 68 WHAT CASTE IS. Caste. Sanskrit deno- mination. Mar&thi d^nomi^ nation. English deno^ mination. Male Parent. Female Parent . Procession. 69 Ishukara Tirgar Archer Abb.fr Kairartaka. , 70 Mausalika (?) . . Tell Oilman ... . . Parashava . . ■Pgra 71 N%avalli Vik- rayi. Tambolf Betel-leaf seller Kancbarf . , Kumbhakara 72 Kanchakara. . . . . KanchKaranar Glassmaker Shalmalf.. . . . A’vartaka . . 73 Shakilja Nicha-Xhavf . . . . Low-Barber Rdpita Mdrga A'vartaka . . A'vartaka , . V^rn 75 Kuravinda Koshtf Weaver and Spinner Kukkuta. . . 76 Shaushira (?) . .. . Tasardvakar- Koshtf yiaker of coarse silk cloth. Low Weaver Kukkufa . . A'bhfr 77 Nilikdra Nirdli Indigodyer . . A'bbfra .... Kukkufa. . . . 78 Raukika Kit-Londri Charcoal- maker Malla A'vartaka . . 79 Yavasika and Kirdd and Chd- ■ Grass-cutter Fdsulaka . , Pulkasa .... Shdkilya bukswdr Horse- Trainer ' 80 Patula Fdngul Pdngul- beggars Pasulaka . . , Shddra .... 81 Dasyu Bhamatya Thieves Kuravinda . , , Kairartaka.. 82 Vena Bahurupi Maslc-tcearers Playmen Ambashtha V aiddhika . . 83 Brikunslia Jambhaka and A'kat Fortune-tell- ers, etc. A'yogava . . Mdgadha- Bandijana 84 KaHvanta Kaldvanta and Kaval Dancers , Kata . W ahishya . . 85 Paushtika Bhm Bearers .... Brahman . . Ni'shada .... 86 Pdshulpalya or Pashu-Vikarayi Wanjdra Wanjdrd or Banfdra , Paushsika . . Nishdda .... 87 Kairartaka Dbivar KuH. . . . Fisherman . . Pdrashava . . A’yogava . . 88 Dhi'gvan Jin gar Saddler Brdhman . . A'yogava. . . 89 Kdramdri Shikalgar Furbisher . . Descent not recorded. . . . 90 C tdraka Otdri Caster and Founder Kdramdra .. Chitrakdra . . 91 Shuddha-ftldr- gaka Ghadashi or Wasantri ( Loxc ) Mmi- cimi Mdgadha . . Mahishya . . 92 Krodhakukkuta Taksaji Mint man .... Shudra .... Kshata- Kishdda Lower than the preceding hut higher than Chanddlas. They dont reside in villages. 93 Bandhulaka . . ... Jhdrekai'f ... metallic dross Jddhika . . 94 Kdshtapdtrf . . . . Badhdf ... Box-maker .. Kairartaka.. Ahf-tundika 95 Dhusakdra . . . . . . . Coarse- Kdramdra . , Blacksmith Sutdr ...... ORTHODOX VIEW OF THE MIXED CASTES. G9 Caste. Saiislrit item- ilarathi denomi- English deno- Male Parent. Female Parent. Procession. mination. nation. mination. 96 Shailika Ndlband Sheer of animals Kashtapdtra- Brahman . , ku ra 97 Karma-Chdnd- dla. Belddr Sione-cligger Brahman- Brdhman-\vi- Sannydsi dow 98 Mangushtha .... Chuni-Londri . . Lime-burner Kairartaka., Jddhika..,. 99 Manjusha Farit If'asherman Yaidehika Ugra 100 Nata Kolhdntf or Tumbler or Shilmdhra Khatriya . . Bobdri Dancer Mardanf 101 Sutradhara Chitra-kathf or Kald-Sutri Doll-Dancer A’yogava . . Rathakdra. 102 Rajukdra Kdujdri Rope-twister Brijakantha Avartaka , . 103 Kshata-Nishdda Phanse-Pdradhi Snarer Shildra .... Kshatriya . . Pratiloma. 104 Kinshuka Burud Basketmaker Kaivartaka.. Kuravinda., 105 Apara-Kinshuka Kaikddf Basketmaker Kishdda.... DhigTana .. 106 Khadirotpddaka Katkarf K(itkari-\ .... Ushtrapdla. . Brahman 107 Angshuka Man- dalika. Kutewan Dogman .... Pushpashe- KarmaChdn- khar dala lOS Ahi-tundaka. . . . Gdrudi Player with serpents Vaidehika ,. Nishada .... 103 Gholika Yaddri Vaddrf Nishdda.... J'hi-tundalhor . Currier A'yogava . . Dhigvana . . 116 Me da Gonda and Tlidkur Gonda, and Thukur Vaidehika.. Kdravdra .. 117 Bhilla Bhilla Bhilla Kaivartaka. . Kdravari . . 118 Bhdruda Ramushi and Berad Berad, Rdmu- shi Antevasdyl. Pulkasa.... 1 19 Tavdra Lakhdrf or Ni- cha Otari Vamishers, Dealer s-in lac Hastaka .... Meda From the Chdndala to the Cannibal. 120 Chdndala Hindu Halal- khor Scavengers . . Shudra .... Brahman • , Pratiloma. 12l Pulkasa Dongan'-KuH ... , Hill-Kuli Nishada .... Shddra .... * Jungle tribe, makers of cateclui. 'Wandering tril)C : rat-catchers, stone-dressers, Sc. Sachailastidiia. 70 AVHAT CASTE IS. Caste. Sanslril deno- j,' Mardthi denomi- English deno- Male Parent. Female Parent. Procession, viination. nation. mination. 122 Turushka .... Gonda, Turka- Nishada..-. Medada .... man, MlecL- cha, etc.* 123 Shvapdkat PrathamMahar 1 Mahdr .... Chandala .. Pulkasa .... 124 Antevasayi .... Uwitfya MaMr, 2 Mahdr .... Chanddla .. Nishdda.... Dom 125 Plava, Tritfya Makar 3 Mahdr .... Chandala .. A'ndhra.... 126 Kravjadhi Chaturtha Ma- 4 Mahdr .... Shvapaka .. Plava har 127Hastaka.. Pancham Mahdr 5 Mahdr .... Chanddla .. Kraviadhi.. 128 Ka taka Sahara Mahdr 6 Mahdr .... Shvapaka .. Hastaka.... 129 Heshaka Ni'cha-Mahdr ., Low Mahdr.. Doma, Ante- Matangf . . . . vasdyf 130 Chesha Ati-mchaMahar 3/a/idr Turushka .. Chdnddla .. 131 Shvapacha Mang Mdng Chanddla ., Meda 132 Matanga Mang Loto Mdng .. Plava Antevasayi. 133 Malyahdri, Yava- Musalman-Halal- “ SoWier”. . . . Turushka ., Suda na khor, SojarJ 134 Manushya- Adam-l?hor .... Cannibal .... Chdnddla .. Meda Bhakshaka Besides the Castes above enumerated,” it is added to the Tables, “ there are other Castes, — in the city of Puna eleven, — the origin of which caimot be explained according to theShastras. Altogether, the Recognized Castes in the Maratha Country amount to 145. The rank popularly assigned to these Castes does not ill each instance accord with that established by the Shastras.” The list, though comjirehending but the famihes and genera of the local Castes, is indeed, far from being complete. But to this subject we must afterwards return in another connexion. Our object at present has been merely to illustrate the principle according to which, in the orthodox view, varieties in Caste have originated. The mode of their actual development will require special and distinct notice. * This shows that the Br^ihmans are but poor ethnographers, t Dog-eaters: the Sanskrit denominations, it •will [be observed, are all attributed to the Mahdrs, a degraded Aboriginal tribe, here arbitrarily set forth as of six degrees. X Let the British warrior mark the place here assigned to him. The Brdlimans are afraid to put the *‘Sahebs*’ here: and they excuse themselves by saying that they have got a share of the Rdjddhikir6, (authority of governraent) claimed by the ancient Kshatriyas. Some of the Brahmans bold that the Yavanas and Europeans should take rank after the Turushkas : but this is of little consequence, as they are still left between the Chiin- dilaand Cannibal. ORTHODOX VIEW OF THE MIXED CASTES. 71 To this it has to be added, that the view of the origin and po- sition of the castes here given is that to which orthodox Hinduism adheres to the present day. Tliis is obvious, not only from some of the authorities from which the preceding matter has been dra\ni, but from the representations constantly made by the Brah- mans in their intercourse with their pupils, and in then' popular expositions of Hinduism, such as the Hindu Dharma Tatva of Gangadhar Shastri Phadake, long the Pandit of the Bombay Education Society and Elphinstone College in Bombay, pub- lished only in a few years ago.* This author tells us, for example, that the Brahman has got intelligence (huddhi), disposing him to his own six peculiar works; that the Kshatriya is directed by his nature to his appointed employments ; that the Yaishya is urged by innate inclination to his prescribed work ; and that the Shudra is destined hy his “ coarse intellect” to his mean engagements The four first castes, he says, have existed from the creation, and those of the Sankar (through the Anxdoma and the Pratiloma) from early times. The number of castes, he holds, is on the increase to the present day, bringing them, — by differ- ences and distinctions of country, of custom, of conduct, of food and livelihood, of works (good, indifferent, and low), of attach- ment to particular gods, and of sectarial opinion, — up to ‘thou- sands upon thousands.” This increase, he adds, is doubtless “according to the will of God,” and not without its advantages, which should be acknowledged by the powerful Government of this country, which would find it difficult to overthrow even the most modern of them. The advantages of caste, he begs the natives to observe, are undeniable, though he does not specify them ; while there is nothing disgraceful in the meanest services prescribed by the caste system, the very Shudras having Mahars, and Mangs, and others, as much subordinated to them as they * See Hindu Dharrua Tatva, pp. 60-77. / WHAT CASTE IS, themselves are subordinated to the Brahmans. To persons of low-caste seeking learning, not called for by their original posi- tion, he expresses no good will, as he teaches that they will upset the order of things, to the production of general inconve- niences and difficulties. In all this he is but a representative man of the orthodox, and still prevailing, school. Old India directs its uniform effort to the conservation of caste with all its peculiarities and pretensions. Everything adverse to caste it interprets as a sure sign or omen of the advance of the Kali Yuga, or iron age, preparatory to the destruction of the universe, as guessed at in the curious attempts at prophecy made in the Puranas, on the first threatenings or realization of Muhammadan conquest in the North of India.* * The following very curious specimen of these prophecies is here worthy of attention : — “ Men of three tribes, but degraded, and A'bhiras ."ind Sbiidras, will occupy Shauritsbtra, Avantf, Sliiira, Arbuda, and Marubhumi : and Sbiidras out-castes, and Barbarians will be masters of the banks of the Indus, Ddrrika, the Chandrabhdga and Kashirir. These will be contemporary monarchs, reigning over the earth ; kings of churlish spirit, riolent temper, and ever addicted to falsehood and wickedness. They win inflict death t n women, cliildren, and cows ; they will seize upon the property of their subjects, they will be of limited power, and will for the most part rapidly rise and fall ; their lives will be short, their desires insati- able, and they will display but little piety. The people of the various countries intermingling with them will follow their example, and the barbarians being powerful in the patronage of the princes, whilst purer tribes are negiectcd, the people will perish. Wealth and piety will decrease daybydiy, until the world will be wholly depraved. Then property alone will confer rank ; wealth will be the only source of devotion ; passion w ill be the sole bond of union between the sexes ; falsehood will be the only means of success in litigation ; and women will be objects merely of sensual gratification. Earth will be venerated hut for its mineral treasures ; the Brahmanical thread will constitute a Brahman ; external types (as the staff and red garb) will be the only distinctions of the several orders of life ; dishonesty will be the universal means of sub- sistence ; weakness will be the cause of dependence ; menace and presumption will be substituted for learning, liberality will be devotion ; simple ablution will be purification ; mutual assent win be marriage ; fine cicthes will be dignity ; and water afar off will be esteemed a holy spring . Amidst all castes he who is the strongest will reign over a principality thus vitiated by many faults. The people unable to bear the heavy burdens imposed upon them by their avaricious sovereigns, will take refuge among the valleys of the mountains, and will be glad to feed upon wild honey, herbs, roots, fiowers, and leaves ; their only covering will be the bark of trees, and they will be exposed to the cold, and wiud, and sun, and rain. Ko man’s life will exceed three and twenty years. Thus in the Kali age shall decay constantly proceed, until the human race approches its annihilation.” Wilson’s Vishnu Purdna,pp. 481-482. For more matter of the same kind, with curious variations and discrepancies see pp. 622-626 of the same work, the I2th Skanda of the Bhdgava a, and the conclusion of most of the other ruranas. ORIGIN OF CASTE- THE A'RYAS. 73 V. — Origin and Development of Indian Caste. The artificial system of Caste, to which the two preced- ing sections have ’been devoted, was not the growtli of a siimle as:e, or even of a few centuries. The exhibition of its origin and development is the great d&sideratum in all researches into the history of the social life of India. It is to be regretted that the materials for such an ex- hibition are but of limited extent and of difficult interpre- • tation. AVe arrange our notices of them, as far as pi*ac- ticable, in chronological order. 1. AVe begin with gleanings from the Vedas. The earliest sources of information on Indian society are, of course, the oldest portions of the vast and vari- ed body of Indian literature, denominated the Vedas. In referring to them for this information, which can be collected only with much labour, we must distinctly recognise their peculiar character as literary and religious works. The word VMa, as we have elsewhere said, may be rendered Fount-of- Knowledge or of Ausion, its root ap- pearing in the Greek and t’tSw, Latin vido and video, and Englisli The works to which this name is applied, however, have no comprehensive contents suitable to their designation, — which appears to have been given them merely because of their great age and estimated venerable character, as embodying the religious songs and hymns of the ancient Indians. * India Three Thousand Years Ago, p. 15. 10 74 WHAT CASTE IS. They are four iu number, the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva. The Big- Veda, which contains their oldest material and in its oldest form, lias, in its Sanhita or collection, some 11,000 or 12,000 distichs or liichas (from whence it receives its name), arranged in Sidctas, or Hymns, principally according to* their authors and the gods to whom they are addressed. The Yajur (li- terally sacrificial) Veda, occurs in two collections — the Krishna, or Black, the more ancient, bearing also the name of the TaiUiriya (probably derived from the school or sect by whom it was formed) — and the ShuJda, or White, bearing also the name of the Vdjasanei/a, of an origin similar to that now* mentioned. A large portion of its materials in both forms is derived from the Rig, to about the half of wdiicli it is equal in the ex- tent of matter in both of its forms united.* The Santa Veda, w'hich is said by the Brahmans to have 7,000 verses, f draws almost the whole of its contents from the Rig, selecting them, however, iu small portions from particular hymns, and arranging them principall}'^ for sacrificial chanting at the soma sacrifices by a parti- cular class of priests. J The Atharva VMa, which is said *-In the Black Yajur Veda, there appear in the MS. before me to be about 1836 distichs. f In Dr. Stevenson’s edition it occupies only some 3,395 lines. In Benfey’si it has about 2735. Though most of the Hymns (Siiktas, laudations, — from sii good and ai-ta spoken) of the Rig-Ve da are intended for personal and family use, it is obvious from some of them, of later composition than their associates in the Sanhita or collection, that a somewhat definite order had been adopted by the parties acting as priests when these later hymns were composed. Thus, e. g. in R. V. ii. 5. varga 17, we have ORIGIN OF CASTE— THE A'RYAS. to have G,015 verses, is posterior to the others in compo- sition ; and it is mostly filled with incantations and curses and blessings.. It takes only a few of its pieces from the hymns of the Rig', and principally from those of latest composition. The representation of what may be called the Vedic jieriod of time is to be sought for principally in the Jlig- Vcda, because the pieces which it contains are found individually, though not in chronological arrangement, in their original form, and because it is the great fount from which the contents of the other Vedas have, in so far t as they represent that period, been drawn ; and to it the chief inquiries into that period have to be directed. The chronological limits of the oldest Vedic period, ju'operly called by Dr. Max Muller the Chhandas, — that in which the Chants or Sono-s of the Vedas were first composed, — has been shown by that able scholar, in per- fect consistency with the researches of other orientalists, to range from between the year 1200 to 1000 B. C.,"^ embracino- the time, accordino^ to our received Hebrew chronology, intervening between Gideoif the judge, and Solomon the king, of Israel- The light which the Vedas, viewed in connection with the language in which they are composed, throw on the ethnical relationship and geographical position, and social condition, of the Indians at that remote period, , this verse ; “ Thine, Agni, is the office of the Ilotr, of the FotrJ., of the Fitvij, of the Ncslit.^i ; thou art the Agnidhm of the devout ; thine is the function of the Prashastri ; thou art the Adhvaryu and the Brahma ; and the householder in our dwelling.” * History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 572. WHAT CASTE IS. 71) tliongh of a limited, is still of an interesting and valu- able, character. The language of tlie Vedas, — which afthr it enjoj'ed posterior culture, came to be denominated the Sanshrita (literally concreata) or cultivated, — has been found to be intimately connected, both in grammar and vocables, not only with the ancient languages of Persia, ultimate- ly denominated the Zand and Pahlvi, but wuth the Greek, Latin, Gothic, Celtic, and other European lan- guages, comprehended in the Indo-Teutonic family. Of these languages, it is not the parent, but ijie sister or cousin, as has been seen from their philological compar- ison, each of them throwing its own light on the pecu- liar forms and states in wdiich their oldest words first became current, when established by conventional usage ; and each of them containing proofs of subsequent invention and modification of words accordino- to the cos- mic and social experience, thought, feeling, and culture of the divergent and, in some instances, Avidely-separated tribes to which they belong. They are merely fragments of an older language spoken by the progenitors of these tribes, acknowledging a common origin, and long kept united by intercourse and common infcerests.On this matter a perfect consent of orientalists has been gener- ated and expressed of late years. The qase has been • well put by Dr. Max Miiller, who, after giving examples of the grammatical afiinity and verbal accordance of the cognate languages now referred to, thus Avrites : — “ Hence all these dialects point to some more ancient lan- guage Avhich was to them what Latin was to the Romance dialects, — only that at that early period there was no liter- ORIGIN OF CASTE— THE A'RYAS. 77 ature to preserve to us some remnants of that mother- tougiie that died in giving birth to the modern Arian dialects, such as Sanskrit, Zend, Greek, Latin, Gothic, Windic, and Celtic- Yet, if there is any tnith in in- ductive reasoning, that language was once a living lan- guage, spoken in Asia by a small tribe, nay originally by a small family living under one and the same roof, as the language of Caraoens, Cervantes, Voltaire, and Dante, was once spoken by a few peasants who had built their huts on the Seven Hills near the Tibris. If we compare the two tables of paradigms, the coinci- dences between the language of the Veda and the dialect spoken at the present day by the Lithuanian recruit at Berlin aregreaterby far than between French and Italian ; and, after Bopp’s Comparative Grammar has been com- pleted, it will be seen clearly that all the essential forms of grammar had been fully framed and established be- fore the first separation of the Arian family took place.”* * * § The Sanskrit is more closely allied to wdiat has been • called the Zand,f the language of the remains of the an- cient Zoroastrian literature, than to anv of its other cos’- nate tongues. So much is this the case that some re- spectable orientalists, as the late General Vans Kennedy^ and Mr. JohnEomer of the Bombay Civil Service,§ have * !Muller on Comparative Mythology (Oxford Essays, 1856j p. 13. t This word is widely applied by the Parsi's both to the text and comments of their ancient books ; but, as suggested by Dr. Muller, it is probably connected with the Sanskrit Chhandas, poetical metre, or Chants. ^ Researches into the Affinity of Languages, pp. 162-192. § Zend : is it a language ? London, 1858. 78 WHAT CASTE IS. held that the Zand is merely an artificial fabrication from the Sanskrit made by the Farsi priests of India. On this matter we made the following; remarks in 1842 : — “ Whether or not the Farsi priests in India, from tlieir traditional reminiscences of the ancient languages could have fabricated some of the Zand writings, I shall not positively assert. There is a poverty in the expression of some of these wTitings, particularly of the minor litur- gical pieces, which shows that their authors had no ready command of the language in which they wrote. There is an approach to Gujarati idiom, in some instances, and to a Gujarati corruption of Sanskrit, which at one time awakened considerable suspicions in my mind. Viewing the matter of the Zand language, however, in its general aspect, I have no hesitation in declaring that none of the exiled and depressed Farsi priests in India can be supposed to have had the ability to invent that language, with its extensive and minute , grammatical forms, and with its abundant and regular analogies to the Sanskrit, Fersian, Fahlvi, Greek, Latin, and Germanic languages, as so distinctly evinced hy Bopp and Burnouf, and evident to the general student, and to write of a state of society altogether different from that in wdiich they themselves were placed, and in many respects dissimilar to that to which the legends of the Shahnamah and other similar -works, to which they attach some importance, refer.”* The judgment here expressed has been amply con- firmed by the latest lingual researches both in Europe and India- It is now admitted hy .every competent * Autlior’s work on tlie Farsi Keligion,pp. 40G-7. ORIGIN OF CASTE-TIIE A'RYAS. 79 philologist that both the Sanskrit and the Zand have not only had a common parent ; but that the people among whom they originally assumed their ultimate forms were longer united in social fellowship than the peoples, diverging- from the same common stock, with whom the Latin, Greek, and other Indo-Teutonic languages received their peculiar expansion and culture. ]\lost interesting- has it been to observe that the predominant race mentioned in the Vedas bears through- out these works the designation of A'ryya, (or A-rya) thus indicating the country from which it came to India — the Airya o? the Parsi sacred 'writings, applied both generi- cally to the land devoted to the doctrines and rites of the Avasta (the Zoroastrian liturgical course and code) as opposed to Tuirya, and specially to Airyana Vaejo, the pure or primitive Airya- This Ainja is the Ariya of the Persian and tlie Arriya of the Scythian tablets of the Achsemenian Kings at Behistun* ; the Anana of the Greeks, recognized in the designation of the Arxan people as early as the times of Herodotusf ; and the eastern h 'an of modern days. The value of this dis- covery, which belongs to European research, is enhanced and not diminished by the fact that the modern Brahmanical commentators on the Vedas have interpreted the word A'rya merely as a designation, meanfng * See Eawlinson’s Persian Cuneiform Inscriptions in Journal of R. A. S. vol. X. ; Westergaard, in Transactions of R. S. N. A. ; and Norris on the Scythic text of the Behistun Inscriptions, in J. R. A. S. vol. XV. -j- Sec the passages of Herodotus, referring to this matter, extracted and illustrated in Muir’s Sanskrit Texts, vol. ii. pp. 289, 290. 80 WHAT CASTE IS. “ respectable as it testifies to tlie success Avith which foreigners, so long debarred from the. acquisition and perus- al of the YMas, are now studying them. Though, as we have elsewhere said, “ There are instances in the Vedas in which the word A'Tya seems to be used in the sense of high or respectable, this is perhaps a figurative use of the word, according to the well-known analogy of our adjective frank," expressive of the qualities strikingly exhibited in the Frank people. In the event of arya or arya, in the sense of high or respectable,” being the origin of the name of the countiy, A rya is probably equivalent to “ Highlands.”* This opinion is strengthened by the notice taken of Airyana Vaejo in the first fargard of the Vandidad of the Parsls, which is there mentioned as the first of the countries created by Ahura-Mazda or Hormazd, and as having had a change of climate produced in it by Anghro-Mainyu or Ahriman, o’ivinof, according to one form of tradition mentioned in the text, ten months of winter and only two of summer, and according to another seven of summer and five of winter, — thus indicating, when the legends are interpreted, both a high elevation and a northern latitude. Professor Lassen supposes that this district was on the western slopes of the Belurtag and Mustag, in the district in which the rivers Oxus and Jaxartes rise ; and that it formed the original seat of both the Iranian and Indian nations.t Its connexion with the former is rendered pro- bable not merely by geographical considerations, but by the. fact that Persian is spoken in the district to the pre- * Author’s India Three Thousand Years Ago, p. 17. t Lassen’s Indische Altherthumskunde, i. 526-527. ORIGIN OF CASTE— THE A'RYAS. 81 sent day by tlie oldest tribes of Kashghar, Yarkand, Khoten, Aksii (the Oxus land), Turfan, and KhamiL* On the course of the spread of the AVyas from the quarter now mentioned, but little light can now be shed. Their locations as comprehended in the districts known to the early Iranians are thus enumerated in the Tarsi Vandidad. We give their names in parallel columns, with the identifications which have been made of them by several distinguished literary authorities. Vandidad. Pdrsis. (a) 2 -Airyana Vaejo. Iran C'ughdho Shurik .... 3 Mduru Marwa .... 4 Bakhdi Bokhara . . SXicdi Ifesapur .. G Hardy Haleb (Aleppo) 7 Vaekereta, the Kabul Duzbaka (Hell land) 8 Urva Orwe 9 Khefita, with Gurgana or Bchrkiina. Jurgan. 10 Haraqaiti ....Hermand .. 11 liaetumat .... Sistan .... 12 Kagha Rei ^ 13 Chakhra Chin 14 Varcna Kirman or Padashkhir- gar, 15 Hapta-llefidu Hindustan. , (Seven Rivers) 16 (Described) . . Khorasan , , Bumoiif. (b) Ariana Sogdiana Country of the two Marwas. Bactra Kisaia Land of the Zarangaj and Drangaj.§ Sejistiin Lassen, (c) llaug. (d) Ariana Ariana. Sogd Gan of 5ugh- dho.f Maru, Marw Bactra Bactra. Nisaia Nisaia. Herat Aria (of the Greeks) Herat. , Sejistan, with Sejistan. its capital Dushak. Unknown Kabul Hyrcania Kandahar. Arachosia . . . . Arachotus . . • . Arachosia. Etymandros Etymandros •• Hilmend (valley, (near Hermand- near river of river. same name). ‘Pa7«‘ Rhaga: of the classics, pre- sent Rei. • Chinrem of Fer- City in Khora- dausi. san. Varuna of the Ghilan. Indians. The Seven dies. In- The Seven dies. In- Indus Country (seven rivers). Near “ the cir- cumambient * See Lassen, ut supra. t Ofrtolcmy. t Having for its dwelling-place 5ughdo. § In Etymology corresponding with the Sanskrit Sarayu. ^ Near Telierdn. (a) Author's Tdrsi Religion, p. 294. (b) Commentaire sur 1’ Yacna. vere the lords ( ddsa patnih purah). OKIC.IN OF CASTE-THE A RYAS AND IRANIANS. 89 logically connected with one another. Vixyii or Vatu, the Vedic AYind, is the Zandic Vaijd or Vata. The Indian designations of the Sun, Asura, Mitni, Silr, Siiri/a and Scar, find their equivalents in the Iranian Mithra, Hvare (gen. hard), often given as Hvare-Kshaeta, the ruling or glorious sun. Corresponding with the Sanskrit Ushas, the Dawui, w^e have the Zandic UsIidongJi. The moon (Chandra)»m5 of the Veda, is recognized as the Mdongh of the Avasta. The A'pah or Waters, per- sonified in the Vedas, and the Aptyas there represented as water gods, have as their correspondents, in the Avasta, A'po and A'thwya, Among the personifica- tions of the Veda is Ayhci,* the goddess of evil, cor- responding in some respects (though not with tlie dual- istic notions of Zoroaster) with the Ahriman of the Par- sis, or in Zend Anghro-Mainyu, the ugly-minded or evil- minded-one. In the Vedic Vanina (the ovpavdg of the Greeks) we have, in the ideaofboundlessheavenly space, the correspondent of the Varena of the Avasta. The Vishve-De- vas, spoken of in the Vedas as the Collective gods, and some- times as special gods, the Protectors of men, correspond, with numerical and other modifications, with the Amshds- pands and Izads of the Parsis.f The Piiris, or typical * See Note in India Three Thousand Years Ago, p. 72. f “ The Zand word for Izad is yazata, which means an object of worship. It corresponds exactly Avith the Sanskrit yajata, which occurs in the Rig-Veda (Sanhita B. I. ch. iii. h. 34, st. 7 ) and Avhich is explained by Sayana the commentator, by yaslitavya, and rendered by Rosen sacris celebrandus. M. Burnouf translates it by “ digne qu’on lui ofFre le sacrifice.” See Journal Asiatique, Octobre 1840. The Zand for Amshaspand is amesha-spenta. The words of avIucIi this name is composed, are correctly represented by Edal Darn (Maujazat-i-Zarthu.sht, p. 20,) 90 WHAT CASTE IS. ancestors often acltlressed in tlie Vedas, correspond with the Parsi Faruhars* The Soma, as a plant, and as the fermented juice of a plant, much used in sacrifice, and as a deified power delighting god and exhilirating man, even to inspiration, stands in tlie same relationship in the Haoma of the Avasta. In the ninth Ha of the Yagna of the Pdrsis, Tlaorna, as a god, is represented as teacliing Zoroaster that the first person who consulted him was Vivanghao, the father of Yimd, or Jamshid ; the second, A'thwya, the father of Thrayetyaono, or Faridun ; the third Sam, the father of Urvdkhsyo and Kerepafpo ; and the fourth Paourusacpo, the father of Zaratlmstra, or Zoroaster.f In the Veda, most of these concepts appear with their own peculiarities. The correspondent in the Veda of Yimo, — who with the Iranians was their first or ideal man, the great establisher of their colonization and agriculture and pecoriculture, — is Yama, the Subduer, or God of human Destiny, dealing with the human race, not in its earthly golden age, but in its ultimate state beyond the grave..J The father of Yama, in the Veda, is Vivashvat, the Vivanghat or Vivanghao of the Ya^na. The wife of Yama, in the Veda, is Yann the wife or sister of Yimo, and (to judge from the Paisi by ‘ e.Kalted immortals,’ [or existences, cr saints].” Author’s work on Parsi Religion, p. 129. * The nominative singular is in Zand, Fravashis. The noun is feminine. The Zand names, or rather denominations, of the Faruhars have a figurative meaning. f Author’s Parsi Religion, p. 400. i See "Westergaard on Ancient Iranian Mythology, in J. B. B. R. A. S. 1853. ORIGIN OF CASTE- THE A'RYAS AND IRANIANS. 91 Buudeshne) Jeme or Jemake* Trita, or, Traitana (the adjective form of the same name), is a mythological personage of the Veda associated with Yama, and, as pointed out by l)r- Roth, the correspondent of Thray^t- aonaA Kereqacpo, as shown by the same scholar, has also a figurative position in the Veda. Nahanazdista and Xdbhdnedishtha the son of Mann (R. V* viii. 1.29 are also remarkable mythical accordances, both in the Avasta and Veda.t The form of the hymns of the Yagna and the Yagts of the Avasta, as noticed many years ag:o, has much resemblance to that of the Veda. The designations, both characteristic and technical, of the priests and worshippers of the Veda and of the Avasta often asree.*! So do the words used in these works expressive of praise and sacrifice-H And so do some of the common instruments of worship, as the * Dr. Rotli, to whom we are greatly indebted for the illustration both of the Veda and Avasta, first brought this coincidence to notice in the Z. D. I\r. G. vol. iv. p. 417. + See Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morg. Ges. baud ii. s. 216 ; and abstract of Roth’s paper by Dr. J. Murray Mitchell in Journal of B. B. R. A.S. July, 1852. Atliimja, (in Persian Aibin or Aitfa,) as mentioned in the passage from the Yacna quoted above, is the flvther of Thraetyaono. The patronymic of Trita, in the Veda (R. V. i. 7. v. 21) is A'ptya, a water ruler. Trita in the Veda fights against the aerial serpent {ahis'^ or enemy, carrying off the cows (clouds) which would otherwise yield their nourishing millc ; and TJiraetaona opposes the ashi-dahak, the destroying (earthly) serpent, the author of evil. J See Lassen’s Ind. Altherthumskunde, i. 516. liSee Pars! Religion by the Author, pp. 226-227. To the instances there given that of the Sanskrit Atharva and the Zand A'thrava, a priest, literally a Fireman (ut sup. p. 209), may be added. II Pars! Religion, pp. 268-271. 92 WHAT CASTE IS. Havni of the Brahmans and the Havana of the Parsis* Even the divergency and antagonism of the religion of Zoroaster from that of the Rishis of the Vedas, is in many particulars like that which in the coarse of speculation and reform might easily appear among a people originally associated together, but after- wards following a peculiar religions and social develop- ment. The word Deva (or Devas), as has often been shown, musthave been a desio-nalion in the original Ira- nian race of any Divinity before even the separation from one another of the peoples known as Greeks and Romans and foreigners not fully established in the land, as will still more appear from passages now immediately to be adduced from the Rig-Veda. In the Rig-Veda, as might l)e expected from the fact that it consists of laudations and sacrificial songs of the Gods, no formal and direct information on the early social state of the Aryan community is to be expected. It is only from poetical and historical allusions there occur- ring that anything can be learned respecting the society of their own day or of more ancient times. These allusions, however, are pretty numerous, and when com- pared together productive of curious and valuable results. In collecting the information to be found in the Veda bearing on the origin and growth of Caste, it is necessary to look to the A ryan community in two distinct aspects, — that which respects its connection with the exterior, partly amalgamated, or hostile, tribes with which it came in contact, and that which respects its own social condition and development. The A ryas, we find from the Rig-Veda, though in some respects an interesting people, and considerably ad- vanced in civilization,* had the pride of race in an ex- travagant degree. They were an aspiring, a domi- neeiing, and an intolerant people, with strong antipathies of race andreligion,and showing great contempt and hatred of the other tribes with whom they came in contact. As this pride of race, violence, and intolerance were special features of Caste when formally established, it may be well for us to collect the piincipal notices which we have of their earliest manifestations in the Veda now mentioned. “ Discriminate 0 Indra between the A'ryas, and those who are * See India Three Thousand Years Ago, pp. 29-34. 94 WHAT CASTE IS. Dasyus : piini.sliing those who perform no religious rites (avritan), compel them to submit to the sacrifices ; be thou the powerful, the encourager of the sacrificer.” ( Rig- Veda, ash t l.adh. 4. varga 11.) “ Munificent hero (Indra), who easily conquerest thy foes, thou didst put to flight (under Kutsa) the Dasyus in battle.” (Ib. i. 5. 4.) “ Indra, the invoked by many, attended by the moving Maruts, having attacked the Dasyus and the Shiinyus, slew them with his thunderbolt ; the thuiiderer then divided the fields with his white complexioned friends.” (Ib. 1. 7. 11.)* “ (We invoke Indra) who is the lord of all moving and breathing creatures, who first recovered the kine for the Brahman, (the repeater of the Brahma or wordf), and who slew the humbled Dasyus." (i. 7.12 ) “ Armed with the thunderbolt, and confident in his strength, he (Indra) has gone on destroying the cities of the Ddsas. O Indra, the wise, the thunderef, cast thy shaft against the Dasyu, and augment the strength and glory of the A'rya." (i. 7. 16.) “ Sweeping away the Dasyu with the thunderbolt, you Ashw'ius have bestowed brilliant light upon the Ary a." (i. 8. 17.) “ Indra, who in a hundred ways is the protector in battles, in heaven conferring battles, has preserved in the fray the sacrificing A'rya. Punishing the destitute of rites he subjected the black skin to Manu (the A ryan or privileged man.) (ii. 1. 19.) “ Destroy, Indra, the tawny-coloured, fearfully roaring Pishdchi ; annihilate all the Rakshasas." (ii. 1. 22.)l “ Indra, lord of steeds, invigorated by our animating praise, thou hast slain those wdio make thee no offerings, and disturb thy worship- pers.” fii. 4. 17. ID “ Consume, mighty one, the irreligious Dasyu, as a wooden vessel is burnt by fire.” (ii. 4. 18.) ’Thou hast disclosed light to the A'rya: * The translation of this verse here given is that of Professor H. H. Wilson, which I think substaiitiallj correct, as Shinty it (whicli m.ay be translated “destroyer"’, as alter- natively in Muir’s Sanscrit Texts, vol. ii. pp. 384), is evidently coupled in the Veda, with Da.iyus, used in a personal sense. f Sdyana A'charya (Muller’s Text of Rig-Veda, i. p. 807 applies Brahmana, here used, to the “ Brdhmanajdti or Brahman Caste. But this is going too far, on modern Brahmanical principles. J Here both Piskdchis and Rakshasas ( soon viewed by the Hindus as devils) are seemingly spoken of as a people. II Wilson’s R. V. ii. p. 168. ORIGIN OF CASTE— THE A'RYAS AND DASYUS. 95 the Dasyu has been placed at thy left hand. Let us honour those who, through thy protection, surpass all their rivals, as the Dasyus are surpassed by the A'ryas." (ii. 6. 6.) “ Encountering the ('Asums^, carrying off Dabhiti, he burnt all their weapons in a kindled fire, and enriched (the prince) with their cattle, their horses, and their chariots.” (ii. 6. 15.) “ Thou hast slain the Dasyus, Chuinuri and Dhuni, having cast them into .sleep ; thou hast protected Dabhiti.” (ii. 6. 16.) “ He (Indra) slew the Dasyus, and destroyed their iron cities, (ii. 6. 26.1 “ Pluck up the Dakshas, Indra, by the root ; cut asunder the middle, blight the summit : to whatever remote regions thou hast driven the sinner, cast upon the hater of the (ceremonial) word (brahma) thy consuming weapon, (iii. 2. 4.) “ Having slain the Dasyus, he protected the A rya colour (or race, varna) (iii. 11. 17.)* “ What do the cattle for thee among the Kikatas ; they yield no milk for the offerings to Soma ; and they heat no fire (for the sacrifice) ; bring (also) the wealth of Pramagandha (the usurer ?) and subdue to us, Maghavat (Indra), the vile branch (or stock) of the people” (naichdshdkam).( “ Defending him (a poet, kavi,) with thy protection, the guileful, impious ( Mdydvanbrahma, (mad against the Brahma) Dasyu has been destroyed in the contest for the spoil. With a mind resolved on killing the Dasyu thou comest thou hast swiftly destroyed the Dasyus. (iii. 5. 18 ) “ Indra, 0 Soma, has slain the Dasyns in battle : Agni has con- sumed them before the noon.” (iii. 6. 17.) Tra.sadasyu| has bestowed upon many the ancient (gifts) which Avere obtained by the liberal (prince) through your (favoiu- Heaven • See p. 13. t On this import.mt passage Prof. H. H. Wilson (R. V. iii., p. 86) has the follow- ing note : — The Kikatas are said by Sayana, following Ydska, Nir. vi. 32, to be countries inhabited by Andryas, people who do not perform worship, who are infidels, Ndstikas [rather non- Aryans] : Kikata is usually identified with South Behar, showing, appa- rently, that Vaidik Hinduism had not reached the province when this was said ; or as Kfkata was the fountain head of Buddhism, it might be asserted that the Buddhists were here alluded to, if it were not wholly incompatible with all received notions ot the earlier date of the Vedas.” Kikata I think, must have been nearer to the earlier 96 ■\VHAT CASTE IS. and Earth) ; you too have given a horse, a son, a weapon, (for the destruction of the Dasyus, fierce, and foe-subduing.” (iii. 7- 11.) “ Twofold is my empire [says the King Trasadasyu, so called from harassing the Dasyus] : — that of all the Kshatriya people, and all the immortals are ours ; the gods associate me with the works of Varuna. I rule over those of the human form.” (iii. 7.17.) “ With the thunderbolt thou hast confounded the voiceless (or noseless) Dasyus, thou hast bestowed in battle the speech-bereft foes, (iv. 1 24.)* “ Indra, the subduer of all, the Arya (or Lord) leads the Ddsa. according to his wish.” (iv. 2 4.)f “ Thou (Indra) art he who hast quickly subdued the Dasyus : thou art the chief one who hast given preservation to the A'rya." (iv. 6. 4.) “ Make hot the heavens, earth, and firmament, for the oppressive race : parent-of-showers, consume them everywhere with thy radiance, make the heaven and the firmament too hot for the haters- of-the-Brahma. Thou hast rendered human enemies whether Ddsas or Aryas easy to be overcome.” (iv. 6. 4 |) “ Glorified by us, he (Indra) bows not down to the robust nor to the firm, nor to the persevering (worshipper) who is instigated by the Dasyus Overthrow, on the part of the A'rya, all the Ddsa races everywhere abiding.” (iv. 6. 18-19.) “ Thou hast destroyed the hundred impregnable cities of the Dasyu Shambara.” (iv. 7-3.)§ seats of the Aryas than South Behar. M. Vivien de Saint-Martin (Mviir’s Texts ii. xxii.) thinks that the country of the Kikatas must probably’ have been in Koshala or Andh. In rendering the above verse, we have compared the versions of Prof. H. H. Wilson and Mr. Muir with the original. * ‘‘ Andso dasyun amrinah. Andsa, Sdyana says, means dsyarahitdn, devoid or deprived of words, dsya, face or mouth, being put by metonymy for shabda, the sound that comes from the mouth, articulate speech, alluding possibly to the uncultivated dialetts of the barbarous tribes.. . .Prof. Miiller (Unit ersal History of Man, i. 346) re- ferring to this text proposes to separate anasd into a, non, nasd, the nose, noseless. Wilson’s R.V. iii. p 276. t TWrr PTiirTTr q->ir T5T WT TlHiini: || SIHIT qrifq-irrT S’rTTr sifircyr § “ Shambara is more usually styled an Asura, and hence it would appe.ar that Dnsyn and Asura are .synonimons.'' Prof. H.H. Wilson It. V. iii. p. 444. ORIGIN OF CASTE-TIIE A'RYAS AND DAS YUS. 97 “ Agni has dispersed the impious, the chattering, faithless, riteless, non-Si\ci'ificing Panis, the Dasyus." (v. 2. 9.) “ Thou hast, for the sake of Dabhiti, vanquished the Dasyus Chumuri and Dhuni.” (v. 2. 29.) “ Put an end to the enmity which divides the Dasyus and the Aryas." (v. 6.4.) “ Indra and Soma burn the Rakshas, destroy them, throw them down, ye two Bulls, the people that grow in darkness. Hew down the mad men, suffocate them, kill them, hurl them away, and slay the voracious. Indra and Soma, up together against the cursing demon ! may he burn and hiss like an oblation in the fire ! Put your everlasting hatred on the villain, who hates the Brahman [or rather hrahna, etc.], who eats flesh (raw), and whose look is abominable.”* (v. 7. 5.) “ Favour the prayer (Brahma), favorrr the service ; kill the Eakshasas ; drive away the evil.” (vi. 3. 16.) “ Thou, Indra, favourest our rites ; thou satisfiest (by retribution) thy revilers ; thou most excellent and powerful hero, hast smitten the Ddsa in the middle of his thigh. Let Parvata, our friend Parvata, with a powerful stroke, strike down from the height the riteless, in- human, non-sacrificing, godless Dasyu." (vi. 5. 9-10.) “ Thou, Indra, art the friend of the offering, the Lord of heaven ; thou overturnest the stable cities ; thou destroyest the Dasyu, and givest increase to Manu, thou Lord of heaven.” (vi. 7. 1.) “ O Indra, object of our praises, let the godless (adeva), whether he be an A'rya\ or a Dasyu, who wages war against us, be vanquished by us.” (vii. 8. 14.) “ Thou hast for the sake of the Aryas vanquished the Dasyus. (viii. 2. 19.) “ I, Indra, come recognizing and marking the distinction of the Dasyu and the Arya. (viii. 4. 4.) “ This person humbled and subdued the roaring Ddsa (hei'e viewed as an aerial monster) with six eyes and three heads.” (viii. 5. 14.)J • In this passage the spirited translation of Dr. Max MUller (Last Results of the Turanian Researches, p. 344) has been adopted. A closer translaiion of the same import is, with the original, given by Dr. John -Muir (Sanskrit Texts, ii. 406 ) t In the Rig- Veda, particularly the seventh and eight Afhtaks, A'ryas hostile to the Rishi.s are mentioned as above. I Several other passages of this character occur. See Muir’s Texts ii. 403, 13 08 WHAT CASTE IS. The A'rija has been able to measure himself with the Dasyu. Indra, the ally of Rijishvan, has destroyed the villages of Pipra, the magical (Mayina) Asura, (viii. 7. 26.) These passages, and others of a like nature which could be adduced, not only bring to notice, in the neiglibourhood of the early Indian settlements of the Aryas, the existence of races different in colour, creed, and customs from tliese AVyas, but reveal the deep- seated hatred and contempt of these races by the A ryas, who deliglited to wage war against them on religious grounds, rejoiced in their conquest and overthrow, and even applied, in the progress of time, their names and designations to the imaginary aerial and spiritual beings which, in their superstitious imaginings, they believed to be in a constant state of hostility to their own persons and social and religious institutions. The violent anti- patliy and hate of race and religion, thus early manifest- ed, liave continued to be among the most potent and injurious elements of Caste to the present day. The ATyas, and the tribes taken by them into alliance, have ever nourished and cherished them, particularly as applied to the lower tribes of the country, in the different pro- vinces of India in Avhich they have been established, It will have been noticed that the prevailing epithet of the people, or peoples, to whom in the preceding ex- tracts the A'ryas are represented as opposed, is that of Dasyu- We have already mentioned Avhat w’^e consider the original meanino- of the denomination — Gentes, those of the country,* or Aborigines or Natives- The Iranian correspondents of the name warrant us to attach to it this meaning. With reference to its peculiar implica- * See above, p. 88. ORIGIN OF CASTE— THE A’llYAS AND DASYUS. 00 tions, however, Dr. Max Miiller says, Dasyu in the Veda is enemy''* The Brahmans, to the present day, marking' their traditional animus, make it the equivalent of slave and robber- llas/ihasa, it will also have been seen, is another de- nomination given to the tribes to whom the AVyas placed themselv'es in hostility. Etjnnologically it means the “ strong,'’ the “ powerful,” the “ protecting,” the “ gigantic.” As applied to an aboriginal people, it is used in the Veda very much as the word Repliaim is used in the Hebrew scriptures. By the Aryas it soon had a purely mythological meaning attached to it, characteris- tic of both terrestrial and aerial “ monsters.” In the ShaVpatha Brahmana of the White Yajur Veda the Rakshasas are represented as “ prohibiters,” that is “ prohibiters of sacrifice. ”f Asitra is another denomination given by the A'ryas to their enemies. It is somewhat difficult to ascertain its import. We have already found it used as a designa- tion of the Sun, probably in the sense of Lord or Mas- ter, its root being possibly as, to be. Perhaps, like the word NayoJt (dux) in modern times, it was in this sense applied to the aboriginal tribes on account of the number of their heads of clans. J With the Aryas, how- * Comparative IMytliology in Oxford Essays, 1856 p. 24. Dr. M. ■with the Persian equivalents in his eye says, “ It is hardly doubtful that the Greek ha-izaT-ns represents a Sanskrit title ddsa-pati, lord of nations.” f See Weber in Z. D. M. G. iii. 289, sq. X The word Ndk, the contraction of Ndyalz, is the common epithet (of respect) used by the lowly Mahars of the Maratlul country. From the abundance of Ndhs connected with the Bhills of the Baida jungles, east of Baroda, they are called Ndlcadas. 100 WHAT CASTE IS. ever, the Asuras were soon viewed as wicked, malicious spirits, as opposed to the Suras, or deities. From the references which are made in the Vedas to the power, resources, appliances, and residences of the Dasyiis, it is manifest tliat they were found in no contemptible position by the A’ryas when they entered India. The subjection of them by the A'ryas required time and strength for its accomplishment. The state of society among the A'ryas themselves now requires our particular attention. In connexion with them such questions as the following occur : — Do the symptoms of Caste, or of tendencies to Caste, appear in the A'ryan community as it is first brought to notice in the Vedas ? Were Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras, and Sankaras then found to exist ? Was a diverse creation, — from the head, arms, thighs, and feet of the godhead respectively, — then ascribed to the first four of these classes ? Had they a monopoly of their occupations and privileges, founded on creation, birth, or descent ? Could there be no interchange of classes among them ? Were their respective duties prescribed to them by alleged special divine regulations I Did legislative impedimenJ-s, with religious sanctions, exist as to their intercommunion and marriage ? Did cere- monial defilement follow the accidental or deliberate touch of any classes of people with whom they came in contact ? Were there any practices, or pretensions, of parties among them which had the tendency to originate Caste \ The following observations, which are merely an ex- pansion of what we have said on this subject in a late ORIGIN OF CASTE—TIIE EARLY PRIESTHOOD. 101 small publication, will assist us iii answering these in- quiries. ( 1 .) The position and authority of the A/ryan priesthood as presented to our view in the Chhandas portions of the Vedas have comparatively speaking, hut a very limited advancement and development. The word Brahman does not appear in the Hymns as a fully established generic desig- nation of a priest, or of a party belonging to an established priesthood. It thus originated. The word brahma (from the root hrih (hr vrih) to utter, to speak/ to make a noise,) means prayer ; and it is applied, — as in several instances now quoted m connexion with the Ahyas and Dasyus, — to the ceremonial prayers of the A ryas, neglected or opposed by the Dasyus.* In consequence, the word Brahman or Brahma in the masculine, came to mean the utterer, or conductor of prayer.f The Brahmans, it cannot he doubted," are represented in the Vedas merely as a profession, and not as a caste. Not a word is said in these writings about their origin as (hverse frcm that of other members of the human family. They ask no privileges on account of ori- gmal dignity or status. They are in the Vedas principally a class of priests, officiating at sacrifices and other reli- gious services, along with other specified classes of priests. The following are instances of the ways in which they are there brought to notice. “ The chanters chant thee, Shataki-atu [a name of Indra], the reciters of the Richas * Thus we have, above, the Brahman (the repeater of the hrahna or word), p. 94 ; the hater of the brahma (or word), p. 95 ; “mad against the brahma" (against the usage of the word), p. 95, etc. f See article by Dr. R. Roth on Brahma and the Brahmans in Z. D. M. G., vol. i. pp. 66-86, and the Abstract of that article pub- lished in the Benares Magazine (Oct. 1851), by Dr. J. Muir. 102 WHAT CASTE IS. praise thee, wlio are Avorthy of praise ; the Brahmanas raise thee aloft like a hamhoo pole.”* “ Thine, Agni, is the office of the Hofri, of the Potri, of the Pilvlj, of the Neshtri ; thou art the Agnklhra of the devout, thiiie is the function of the Prashastri ; thou art the Adhvanjii and the Brahma' ; and the householder m oiu’ dAA'elling.”f Here are eight kinds of priests men- tioned, of whom the Brahma or Brahraana is the last. Even in the highest sense of the Vedas the word BraJi- man is used merely in a simple official sense, and applied to an active class in the community, as when the Brahman is mentioned along Avith the Rdjanya, or prince. J It was ill times later than those of the oldest por- tions of the Vedas that the AAord Brahma or Brahmana came to to he used in the exclusiA e sense of god-horn priest. It is not difficult, indeed, as aaiII he aftervnrds seen, to trace the progress of the Brahman from his Vedic profession to his suhseqiient position as maintained by Caste. From his peculiar position at sacrifices, he was often their conductor, — the pnrohila, or foreman, — ^for tliis. is the literal ineaning of the Avord. This honour he shared only with others in the first instance, many of whom, as Vishvaniitra and his school, belonged to the royal race. Agni, ihe god of fire, the deA'ourer, or re- * See Text in Muller’s Eig-Veda, vol. i. p. 127. Professor Wilson (Pig-Veda, vol. i, p. 24) reads Braliinanas. In the original here, the Avord is Brahmanah, the plural of Brahma. f Wilson’s Pig-Veda, A'ol. ii. p. 209, Avith the change of Brahma for its equh'alent Brahman, as in the text (Aluller, \’ol. ii. p. 41G). According to some authorities, altogether sixteen kinds of priests shai'ed in the offerings on great occasions. See note in Wilson, ut sup., AA'here the authorities are quoted and illustrated. J Pig- Veda, i. 7. 27. ORIGIN OF CASTE -THE RISIIIS. 103 ceiver of sacrifices, was the of tlie gods in the skv* ; and it was meritorious for kings to have a Brahma or BraJimana as his correspondent on earth. 1'he office of the Puroliita and Bi ahnia gradually became hereditary ; and the Brahma, as attached to the houses of the great, became of growing consequence, especially in connexion with the anointing of kings and their horse-sacrifices, on which they counted much for conquest and progeny. His study and learning gradually increased his influence ; and he was constituted an adviser and counsellor. His sup- posed peculiar’ access to the gods gave him a peculiar sanctity. He became a legislator ; and in this capacity he soon made himself a god-npon-eartli. Such an exal- tation of a human mediator has often, to a certain extent, been witnessed in other countries besides India. (2.) The writers of the Vedas, who are denominated Bhhis, or seers or inditers, and who were doubtless in a religious point of view the highest parties in the Aryan commimity,f call for support and countenance on account of their occupation and doings, without refer- ence to any order in societ}" enjoyed by them.J Though * Rig-Veda i. 1. I. et in mult. loc. f The phrase, “ As the Rishi among the Vipras” (rendered, in the genitive plural, by “ the intelligent,” by the commentator Madhavacharya) occurs in the Sama Veda. Author’s MS. of Ma- dhava’s commentary, part 2nd. fol. 38. Vipra is now a synonym of Briihman. It is rendered by “ intelligent,” in the commen- tary on the Rig by Say ana. J “ For the donors of (pious) gifts,” they sung, “ the suns shine in heaven” (Wilson’s E. V. ii. 17) ; “ the givers of pious donations attain immortality ; the givers of (pious) gifts prolong theii' (worldly) exist- ence.” They blamed some chiefs for annoying them, Avithout claiming any established status (ib. ii. 6). 104 WHAT CASTE IS. these occupations may have been in some cases here- ditary, in consequence of the establishment of schools or classes for committing' the A ryan Hymns to memory, they were not confined to one class of the Indian people. They were at least from both the kingly and the priestly classes of the population. Vishva- mitra, to whom many of the Hymns of the Vedas are ascribed,* and wlio in the Vishnu Purana, — one of the most important legendary and traditional treatises of the Hindus, — is represented as one of the seven original Rishis of the present system of things,')' was, as is admitted b}'^ all kinds of Hindu authorities, originally a Majarshi, or a rishi from the rajas, though said to be elevated to tlie Brahviarshi, or Brahman grade of risliis, for his talents, acquirements, and observ- ances. Jamadagni, who is mentioned also in the Veda as a Rishi, j; — and who, in the later Hindu legends, is * E. g., Elg-Veda, Muller, ii. p. 932, et. seq. f Vasislitha, Kashyapa, Atri, Jamadagni, Gautama, Vishvamitra, and Bharadvaja are the seven Rishis, according to Wilson’s Vishnu Purana, p. 264. Other lists of the great rishis, are given with variations in Manu, and the Puranas, etc. For the age of the Puranas, — which are all posterior to the revival of Brahmanism after the destruction of Buddhism, — see Appendix to the Notes of Colonel Sykes on Ancient India. J “ Vishvamitra is a remarkable person in the traditions of the Hindu religion : according to the historical and Paurdnik authori- ties, he was originally a member of the Kshatriya, or royal and mili- tary caste, and himself for some time a monarch : he was descended from Kuslia, of the lunar race, and was the ancestor of many royal and saintly personages, who, with himself were called after their com- mon ancestor, Kushikas or Kaushikas : by the force of his austerities [sic scribunt Brachmanes], he compelled Brahma to admit him into ORIGIN OF CASTE -THE RISIIIS. 105 the father of the reputed Avatara Parashurama, is repre- sented as the nephew of Vishvamitra. From both Vishvamitra and Jamadagni, numerous tribes of Brah- mans of mixed blood, according to the legends, claim descent. Many of the Vedic hymns are by authors said to be either of the princely class, or to have been raised from it to the priestly class.* the Brahmanical order, into which he sought admission in order to be placed upon a level with Vasishtha, with whom he had quarelled : his descent, and the circumstances of his dispute with VasishUia, are told, with some variation, in the Edmdijana, (ch. li. — Ixv. Schle- gel’s edition,) in the Mdlidbhdrata, Vciyu, Vishnu, and Bhdgavata and other Puranas : the details of the Ramayana are most ample : the texts of the Big- Veda intimate a general conformity with those of the Pnrdnas as to the family designation of Vishvdmitra, and to occa- sional disagreements from Vasishtha, originating, apparently, in their respective patronage of hostile princes : according, however, to the heroic poems, the Puranas, and various poems, and plays, these two saints were on very amicable terms in their relations to the royal family of Ayodhijd, or to king Dasharatha, and his son Rdma." Wilson’s Rig-Veda, ii, pp. 318-319. Neither the chronology nor the geography of the authorities last mentioned is of much consequence in reference to the Rishis, who are handed about by the traditionists ad libitum, both in reference to time and place. * Mr. Colebrooke, (As. Trans, vol. viii. p. 393,) long ago, noticed the authorship of certain hymns of the Eig-Vdda as belonging to royal authors, such as Mandhatrf, son of Yuvanashva; Shivi, son of Ushinara; Vasumanas, son of Rohiddshva; and Pratardana, son of Divodasa. Other hymns of the same Veda are attributed to several of the sons of Vishvamitra as Madhuchhanda, Rishabha, and Renu ; to Ambarisha; to Bharata, the father of Devashrava; to Medhatithi; to Nabhaga; to Rahugana; to Vatsapriya, the son of Bhdlandana ; to Paiuruva, of the Lunar race of kings; to Vena ; to Sudasa ; to Grit- samada, the son of Shunahotra, but who afterwards became the son of Shunaka ; to Devapi and Shantanu ; and to other princely authors. Several of the hymns of the last Ashtak of the Rig-Veda are by U i06 WHAT CASTE IS. (3.) The Rjshis and priests received in marriage the daughters of other classes of the community. The Brahmans of the present day are well aware of this fact • but, in deference to their later Shastras, they maintain that such marriages were mere indulgences, and con- fined to the assumption of one wife of each of the higher classes, in addition to tliose of Brahmanical rank. But what will they make of the following story, related in the Niti-Manjari, of Kakshivat, the author of several Suktas in the Rig- Veda, whose mother, Ushik, — it is to be noted, — was the reputed daughter of king Anga’s slave ? “ Kakshivat having finished his course of study, and taken leave of his preceptor, Avas journeying home- ward, Avhen night came on, and he fell asleep by the road-side ; early in the morning Raja Svanaya, the son of Bhavayavya, attended by his retinue, came to Kavasha Ailusha, said to be tlie son of a Ddsa, as noticed by Dr. Muller (History of Sanskrit Literature, p. 58). A few of the hymns of the Rig-Veda are even ascribed to females, real or imaginary, as Shachi, the daughter of Pulomana; Shraddha, the daughter of Kama; Goriviti, the daughter of Sakti ; and Vak, the daughter of Abhrina. On various gottras, or families, of Brahmans mixed with, or derived from, the regal blood, see legendary notices in Wilson’s Vishnu Purana, pp. 369, 405, 448, 457, 454, etc. Dr. John Muir, in his “ Original Sanskrit Texts,” vol. i. pp. 44-56, has given a series of “ passages sufficient to prove that according to the traditions received by the compilers of the ancient legendary his- tory of India, (traditions so general and undisputed as to prevail over even their strong hierarchical prepossessions,) Brahmans and Ksha- triyas were, at least in many cases, originally descended from one and the same stock.” Some of the cases referred to by Dr. Muir are the same as those of the parties mentioned in the first paragraph of this note. The historical inference ought not to be pressed beyond the bounds indicated by Dr. M. ORIGIN OF CASTE-TIIE RISIIIS. 107 the spot, and disturbed the Brahman’s slumbers : upon his starting up the Raja accosted liim ^rith great cor- diality, and being struck by his personal appearance, determined, if he was of suitable rank and birth, to give him his daughters in marriage. xVftcr ascertaining his fitness, he took Kakshivat home with him, and there married him to his ten daughters, presenting him at the same time with a hundred nishkas of sold, a hundred horses, a hundred bulls, one thousand and sixty cows, and eleven chariots, one for each of his wives and one for himself, each drawn by four horses.” Kakshivat himself, in the Yeda, thus celebrates the liberality of his father-in-law ; — “ From which ge- nerous prince soliciting (my acceptance) I, Kakshivat, unhesitatingly accepted a hundred nishkas, a hundred vigorous steeds, and a hundred bulls, whereby he has spread his imperishable fame through heaven. Ten chariots drawn by bay steeds, and carrying my wives, stood near me given by Svanaya ; and a thousand and sixty cows followed. Forty bay horses (harnessed) to the chariots, lead the procession in front of a thousand followers. The Pajras, the kinsmen of Kakshivat, rub down the high-spirited steeds, decorated with golden trappings.”* It does not appear that Kakshivat had any wives of his own class. The supply which he had from the chief was more than sufficient. Other instances of Rishis and priests marrying the daughters of kings are often alluded to.f * Wilson’s Rig-Veda, vol. ii. p. 14, 17-18. f As those of Chyavana with Siilcanya, the daughter of Sharjati, (Wilson’s R. V. 1. 139, etc.) and Jamadagni with Renuksi, the daugh- ter of Renu. 108 WHAT CASTE IS. (4.) The term .Ks^aOv?/a, applied by tlie Shastras, or Law Books, to the second or warrior class in the Hindu community, is used in the Vedas only as a de- nominative of a party possessed of Jcshatra, or power. In this sense it is applied to the gods, as to Indra and Varuna, and Mitra and ^ aruna,* In tlie Vedas, the word Kshetrapati, the “ owner of a field,” is the name of a person possessed of landed property ; and the name Kshatrapati, “ the possessor of power,” seems to liave been applicable to an}'^ party exercising authority of any kind or extent. Kshntriya is the equivalent of of Kshatrapati. Kshatra corresponds, as noticed by Lassen, with the Zend kshatra, which also means im- perium, agreeing with the Greek Kparng and etymolo- gically referring to the attribute of bodily strength. Synonyms of Kshatriya were Vishaspati or Vis/uhnpati, a master of the people or village community ; Baj, the equivalent of the Latin Rex, a king ; and Bajanya, a prince, the derivative of Baj. The kings and chiefs of the Ary as are often praised by the Rishis in the Vedas ; but not a word is there uttered about their emanation by birth from the arms of the Godhead- It is a great fact, as noticed by Professor Wilson and others, that “ There are [in the Vedas] indications of Rajas hostile to * Even Sayana (Muller’s R. V. iii. p. 498) views it, as applied to the la.st mentioned gods, as the equivalent oidhana, wealth, and hala, power. In the R. V. iii. 7. 17, Trasadasya, a royal sage who identifies himself with the gods in the fanaticism of his devotion, says, Rii rrdT US 3TR=rr tr^r “ i fiave a twofold sovereignty, that of all the (power), and all the immortals are ours.” Prof. Wilson gives “ race” as the supplied word, but this seemi ngly on the authority of Sayana. ORIGIN OF CASTE— THE KSIIATRIYAS AND VAISIIYAS. 109 the ritual who would not therefore have belonged to the recognized militaiy order.”* The Rajanyas, as we have just seen, were sometimes Rishis or seers. Even in the times of the ritual Brahmanas, to be afterwards noticed, they had the privilege of conducting sacrifices (5.) In the time of tlie Vedas, visha (related to vesha, a house or district t) generally meant people in general and Vaishya, its adjective, was afterwards applied to a householder or to what belonged to an individual of the common people. The Latin vicus and the Greek o«Koe are the correspondents of vesha.\\ Visha, if applied, sometimes, to the pastoral, the agricultural, and the other industrial classes of the community, had reference only to their immediate occupations, without giving them any monopoly of these occupations. In an address to the Ashvins in the Rig- Veda from which we have already quoted a text, we find the general interests of the com- munity, of the worshipper, or of the institutor of the sacrifice, thus referred to — “ Favoiu- the prayer (brahma), favoiu- the service ; kill the Rakshasas, drive away the * Preface to vol. ii. of Rig-Veda, p. xv. t It has this meaning in Zand also. t In Rig-Veda, iii. 1. 9, Agni is spoken of as the preceder of vts/uh?i mamishndm, human beings. In iii. 8. 18, he is called vislidm vislipati, the lord of men. II Visha ^vas pointed out by Kuhn and Lassen as having this rela- tionship. It occurs in the names of many of our own towns, as Greemt'ic/i, 'SVoolwicli, etc., as indicated by Dr. Miiller. As noticed by the antiquarian historians now mentioned, it has been preserved in the Lithuanish loieszpatis, lord of the manor. Pati is recognizable in the Greek ^£(jrsorrif Dnma, corresponding with the Latin damns, is used in Sanskrit for a single house or home. 110 WHAT CASTE IS. favour the power (khatra) and favour the manly- sti-eugtli ; favour the cow the repre.sentative of property) ; and favour the people (or house, visha)”* * This passage, which occurs in the Eig-Veda, 6th. asht. 3rd. adh. 16th. varg., is a very important one. The text, omitting repetitive clauses, runs thus : — fiT . . .... ^^f1r^5=r r>5rrf. (Ji. s. Rig- Veda, of B. B. Itoyal Asiatic Society.) In the Pada, the words are separated thus I flFf# I ^ I'rlfM 1 Wq-: | f# | radtHT | I sHTlTr: 1 . . . I R5T: 1, the word being to be sup- plied after each of the last three words, according to the system of nota- tion used. (Author’s MS. of Pada of R. V.) Sayana Acharya, the commentator, under the caste feeling of later times, identifies brahma (prayer) ^vith Brahnana (the man-that-prays, and kshatra (power) with Kshatrii/a, the party-exercising-power, and dhenu, the cow, and visha, the people, with the Yaishya, the party-belonging-to-the-peo- ple. This interpretation is not to be wondered at ; but it is -without early sanction. The mantra referred to is a favourite one with the Brahmans; and, both as in the Rig- Veda and as in an expanded form, it is much used in their more solemn and secret services, and this in such a way as to show that originally it dealt -with interests and not with castes. It occurs in this enlarged form at the com- mencement of the Taittiriya Brahmana of the Black Yajur Veda : — ^ ^ rlFTT I 1 ^ I ^ ^ rlFTT I ?it ^ TiFfT I jTs-|^ ^ TiFi# I t i rsFir- (Author’s MS.) This may be thus translated : — “ Maintain the 2)rai/er, m.ake-it-prosperous to me ; maintain the power, make-it- prosperous to me ; maintain the food, make-it-prosperous to me ; maintain the milk, make-it-prosperous to me ; maintain the wealth, make-it-prosperous to me ; maintain the offspring, make-it-prosperous to me ; maintain the herd, make-it-prosperous to me.” Sayana, in his commentary on this passage, identifies brahma -with the Brahman caste, engaged for the institutor-of-the-sacrifice. Khatra, he makes the authority-of-the-head-of-a-district. But the other terms used he ORIGIN OF CASTE— THE SIIUDRAS. Ill Interests here occupy the ground which in later times belonged to particidar castes. The unity of the whole immigrant race continued marked by the patronymic name ATva, to which we have often referred. The Yaishyas, in the times of the Pandavas of the great War, according to the Mahdbharata, had considerable influ- ence in affairs of state, as exemplified in the cases of the wise Yidur and Yuyutsu. It was only by degrees, and after the A'ryas had been settled in the great plains of India, that the Yaishyas got special charge of flocks and herds, and agriculture, and merchandise assigned to them, as in the days of Manu ; for the time was, when a cowkeeper {gopa, gopala, gosvdmu) was a chieftain in their community. (6.) The Shudras, though 1 rented by Manu and Hindu legislation in general, as a component (though enslaved) part of the Indian community, not entitled to the second or sacramental birth, are not even once mentioned in the olden parts of the Yedas. They are first locally brought to notice, in the Mahabharata, along with the AhMras, dwelling on the banks of the Indus. f The Abhiras, are recognized as in that position by Ptolemy, who denomi- nates the district in which they were found Ahiria\\ does not venture to apply to any other alleged castes. In the third mantra of the Taittiriya Brahmana, the vital-breath, sight, hearing, mind, speech, etc., are coupled with the supplicatory verbs, in the same way as brahma, and kshatra, evidently showing that matters pertaining to the institution of the sacrifice are referred to throughout. * This last word is still used as the equivalent of Master. It is particularly applied to classes of religionists. I Mahabharata, Bhishma Parva, 305 (Cal. ed. ii. p. 344.) :j: Ptol. Geo. lib. vii. p. 102. edit. Bert. 112 WHAT CASTE IS. and their representatives are still seen in the A'hirs, a class of shepherds and cultivators in Sindh, Kachh, and Kathiawad. There are distinct classical notices of the Shudras in this very locality and its neighbourhood. “ In historical times,” says Lassen, “ their name re- appears in that of the town SuSpoc oa the lower Indus, and, what is especially worthy of notice, in that of the people SuSpot among the northern Arachosians.* Thus their existence as a distinct nation is estal)lished in the neighbourhood of the Indus, that is to say, in the region in which, in the oldest time, the Aryan Indians dwelt. They [the Aryans] probably conquered these earlier inhabitants ; and it becomes manifest from this circum- stance, that it was from the conquest of the other Abori- gines in the interior part of the country, that afterwards, the name [Shudra] was extended to the whole servile caste. This name cannot be derived from the Sanskrit; and it is to be presumed that the right spelling should be Sudra'\. If this be correct, it must be sounded Hiidra in old Persian; and this is confirmed by the statement of Megasthenes, that the Indian nations of the 'Y^paKai sent auxiliaries to the Persians before the time of Alexander ]; * Ptol. vii. 1. 61. vi. 20. 3. They are also mentioned by Dionys. Perieg. V. 1142, under the name SxuSfoi, in which passage other mis- takes occur, as, e. g., Ibr jU-er IKII 3i4?TiTrfJTrd4f 1 'TTfr^T vrfifR RqTTstiriTT T^rii ^ ®s c • II ^ II ^1151^1^- 51^ 3Tf)T II a II gwiT nTr^RPid’ rlTRr str 1 eurgr q-^WR ipfr 50 II II I arrw ?frR sir arJisiT ^irwr || ii ^i^ar Jrarg 'iq'TRq 1 q^f *» > 'O tf C tts arpcRi^ qriqRT II ^ ii fi^itr rrir STRC I SIRC ^TfRRlTRRg- || ^ || FfRITRI 31511# Rl »T!irR: I Rlflf 5IRC HRliRRl aisriTq; || I^ol| qiRRT sqqrRqR | JR RfiT^q # fl| ^IR^ TlTf g-#R || H JRJFR# qrr riRR: fd: q? q?T: q^lRl 3T5TRq ||A:^|| RXUrn^# STR^iflRR apsTRH | JRR ffRllflR TflRlf qrjFSTRirllVitll Roqr JTRif 3TfTrc3j ^r#r ?R:RRq#ir | qi:iir jrrrrl-srRr^riT ^TNiRfqiRqi- R^^ll Vv II qRTRq: RT: RRR: fl^l: | 5-fR7 W flRRl aifiTR q|T || || qRR qn iTRqq RHIIR Wlfi- -qr^iR I niftiR: ?irit q^qq ^nwi: RRqqi: || \^ II * The text we take from the MS. of the B. B. R. A. S., which on comparison we find, except in two letters, agrees with that of Burtouf, which was made from the same original cop)', that of Colonel Shortrede, 120 WHAT CASTE IS. Dr. Muller lias lately well illustrated liis^ own remark^ lliat European critics are able to show that tins passage of the Vedas is of “ later origin than the great mass of the hymns.” In his History of Sanskrit Literature he thus writes respecting it : — “ There can be little doubt that it is modern both in its character and in its diction. It is full of allusions to the sacrificial ceremonials, it uses technical philosophical terms, it mentions the three sea- sons in the order of Vasanta, spring, Gilshma, summer, and Sharad, autumn, it contains the only passage in the Rig-Veda where the four castes are enumerated. The evidence of language for the modern date of this composi- tion is equally strong. Grishma, for instance, the name of the hot season, does not occur in any other hymn of the Rig- Veda ; and Vasanta also, the name of spring, does not belong to the earliest vocabulary of the Vedic poets. It occurs but once more in the Rig- Veda (mand. 161.M.”) Dr. Muller brmgs down this hymn to the time of making the final collection of the Rig- Veda Sauhita, “ the work of the Mantra period,” to which he gives the date of 1000-800 before Christ. He does not carry it lower, because of allusions to it in the Brahmanas, and because it has found a place in the collections of the Va- jaseyins and Atharvans.* That it cannot be carried higher than this is obvious, not only from the considera- tions above referred to, but from the distinction (recognized by it) in the Vedic “hymns called the RicIi,andSdman, the metres (Chhandas) , and the Yajus," which seems to indi- cate the existence of an artificial division at the time it originated of the Vedic material, at least for conventional saciificial pimposes. * Muller's Hist. Sans. Lit, p. 572. ORIGIN OF CASTE— THE PURUSIIA SUKTA. 121 111 regard to the meaning of tlie rurii.dia Sukta we adliere to the jiidgmeiit wliich we liave elsewhere expressed upon it. “ d'he support wliich even it gives to the system of caste is of a very limited character. The passage in it which approximates the subject is the following ‘ When they produced Piirusha [perhaps eipiivalent to ‘ when ruriisha Avas produced’] into Iioav many portions did they separate him ? What was his mouth ? What were his arms ? What were pronounced his thighs and feet ? The Brahman was his mouth ; the Rajanya (prince) was made his arms ; the Vaishya was his thighs ; and the Shudra sprang from his feet.’ This occurs in a composition which is both metaphysical and figurative ; and it prohahly ex- presses an idea originally of this character : — The Brah- man, as the expositor of the will of God, conceived of as an enomious male, and the recipient of the gifts and offerings made to the divinities, was the mouth of this male ; the Rdjamja, the prince or warrior, the iiistruinent of offence and defence, was the arms of this male ; the Vaishya, as the cultivator of the soil, and the original possessor of its Avealth, Avas the thighs of this male ; and the Shudra, or slave, as the loAvest member of the body social, Avas the feet of this male. All this is clearly meta- physical and metaphorical, though afterwards it Avas vieAved as historical and dogmatic.”* For the system of caste, it is noAv obvious, there is no legitimate Avarraut in the great hymn collection of the Rig-Veda. * India Three Thousand Years Ago, pp. 44-45. Dr. TMnir, illusti-ating the Purusha Sukta, properly says : “ It is only the Shudi-a who is here said to have sprung from the feet of Purusha. In a hymn of this allegorical and mystical character, it cannot be assumed that the writer intended to represent it as a 16 122 WHAT CASTE IS. Nor IS sudi coimteiiance of Caste to he fomid in any of die olden portions of die other Vt^las, wliicli are all taken from what is properly denominated hy Dr. Midler the “one genuine collection, the so-called Rig-Veda, or the Veda of praise.”* The first of these derivatiyc Vedas is the Sdrna, the whole of whose texts, with few exceptions, as already hint- ed, liaye been actually found in the Rik, cspeciall}^ in the eighth and ninth mandals.f It is not to he expected, con- secpiently, that much light should he cast hy it individually on the'social state of the ancient ATyas, eyen though it .should ho admitted, as thought hy Dr. Muller, that the time of its construction falls n-ithin that of the Rrahmanas, — hetween 800 — 600 years before Christ. We notice a few things which have struck our attention when going over it in connexion with the subject before us. dlie god Brahma is distinguished in one place both from Agni, the god of fire, and Vrihaspati, the lord of prayer, A pre-eminence among the gods is in one other place at least histoiical fact, that the four different classes sprang from different parts of Purusha’s body ; any more than that he desired to assert, as literally true, what he has stated in verses 13 and 14 ; that ‘ the moon was produced from his mind, the sun from his eye, Indra and Agni from his niOMt/j, and Vayu from his tirent//,’ &c. Ac. &c. In flict the Yajur Veda alleges that Vayu came forth from his car; and so contradicts the Pig-Veda.” Texts i. 10. * lleview in Times, 10th April, 1858. I As the Sama does not make quotations from the last hj-mns of the Rik, it has been inferred by Weber and others that its pieces had been arranged before the completion of the Rig-Veda collection ; but Dr. hliiller (Anc. Sans. Lit. p. 427.) attributes both its collection and that of the Rig-Veda to the Brahinana period. See Muir’s Texts, ii. 203. J Benfey’s Text of Sdma Veda, p. 10. ORIGIN OF CASTE— NOTICES IN SAMA VEDA. 123 nscribed to him, no doubt because he is viewed as the lord of sacrifice* lu the jiassag-e last referred to, the JUs/ii is mcutioiied as the marked one among the Vipras, or iiitel- ligcut ; while in another the Vipra is denominated the in_ strumcutalitv, or agent, of tlie sacrifice,! thus intimaling that the designation was being applied distinctive!}^ to an oiliciating priest. Several passages in the Sama in which the word lirahma, used as a human conductor of prayer or sacrifice, are taken from the Rik, need not be here noticed, 'I'lie human Brahma is spoken of, in one place, as the master of (holy) seasons, and the Brahmans as praising Indra in hvmns,f The designation Brahma seems from this to have been about this time coming into use as a generic * Tliis is in a curious address to the sacred Soma, the genius of ardent spirits : — fi'riT: ITT UdtTr STRTr friT ^IRTi I sTfir ^'ir^Tf TTTi : 37ffTrur%R!TRtiTfffr sTiirq-’r | unr: !! .Sama Veda, 2nd part, hi. 3, Stevenson’s Text jn 77, Benfey’s, 8-t. Soma is pure, the generator of intellect, the generator of the heavens, the generator of fire, the generator of the sun, the generator of Indra, and the generator of the earth, the generator of Vishnu — Soma, when sounding it goes to its holy place, (is) Brahnni among the gods, the high-one among the poets, the Bishi among the Vipras, the hawk among the raptores, the bufl'aloe among horned animals and the sword among cleavers. i rifr 75TFT ur-TT : sdma, ii. G. (Benfcy, p. I2G.) X wur T rsTr u't ii 3'3Tr'T tsf Rfifffr f?TTr S' il Siima Veda, part 1st, v. G. 2. Stevenson’s Text p. 38, Benfey’s, P. 46. Compare fthidhava’s Comment, sub. loc. 124 WHAT CASTE IS. term for a priest. Nothing of a peculiar character occurs ill the Sama applying either to the Raja or the Vhha. The second of the derivative Vedas, the Yajus or Yajur, as already mentioned, exists in two forms, the Black and the White.* They are partly in prose and partly in verse, the poetical portion being generally that which is taken from the Rik, Exclusive of their texts from the Rik, they appear, in their liturgical directions especially, very like the Brahraanas,to the era of which, as collections, they belong. They indicate the assumption of Brahmani- cal pre-eminence, but in the face of opposition from certain portions of the Indian commiinit3\ In the Black Yajur Veda, the Brahma, and Kshatra are, (with the Sujiraja (the good population), and Rcnjasposha supporting wealth), recognized as distinct interests, in prayers several times used.f The predominance of the Brahman in sacrifice is set forth throughout this collec- tion, at least of the portions of it which have been print- ed. Social distinctions are recognized in it, as those of the Brahma ; the Rajanya, prince ; the. Mahisju, the wife of an anointed king ; the Parivrikti, according to the commentator Madhava “the unloved wife of a king” (concubine.^); the Senani, general; theNM^u, charioteer; the Grdmnni, villager; the Kshutta,i\ie. “guardian of the females ; the Sangrahitd, the treasurer ; the Bhdgaduyha, * See above, p. 74. In the text of the White Yajur V(5da, ably edited by Dr. Weber of Berlin, there are 4045 lines. Dr. W. gives us also the text of the commentary of iMahidhara, the Shatapatha Bnilimana, and the Shrauta Sutras of Katyayan, and Extracts from the Commentaries of Karka and Yajnikadeva. j Taittirlya Sanhita of Y. V. i. 3. I ; I. 9. G. (Roer and Cowell’s ed. vol. i. pp. 445, 492.) ORIGIN OF CASTE-NOTICES IN YAJUR \T:DA. 125 the collector (of the king's portion, said by the commen- tator to be the sixth part) ; the Akshdvapa, the player at dice.* But these are probably principally designations of parties in public office. The commentator speaks of tliem as the recognized supporters of the kingdom.f An appropriation of the gods is thus made in recognition of certain orders of the community. “ Brihaspati is the god of speech ; Indra, of chiefs; Mitra, of the truthful ; Va- rum of the religious”; and “ Soma of us the Brahmans. Brahmans and Kshatriyas are viewed as distinct, in con- nexion with the colour of the beasts used in a certain sacrifice. § In the White Yajur Veda the information bearing on our subject is such as the following: — In this Veda the Brahma and Kshatra are coupled together in the worship of Agni, and in other connexions as in the Black Yajur Veda.|l The Brahman is men- tioned as an object of reverence with ancestors and rishis,!! Indra (the thunderer) is declared to be the hold and support of the Kshatra,** while he is also set forth as the god of the Kshatra and the princedom. Soma (so often addressed in sacrifice) is declared to be the god of the Brdhmans,-\-\ as in a passage from the Schna IVda already referred to. The different functions in the community of the Brahman and Kshatra are thus in- directl}’^ recognized. Salutations are given to the Kshe- proprietor of fields ; to the Suta, bard or chario- * Taittariya Sanluta, i. 8. 9. % S. Y. V. i. 6. 46. t Roer & Cowell’s Ed. vol. ii. p. 105. ** S. Y. V. 1. 9. 8. X Taitt. S. of Y. V.; 8. 10. ft Slmkla Yajur Yeda 1. 9. 19- § Taittin'ja Sanliita of Y. V. ii. 1. 2. II Slmkla Yajur- Veda, i. 1. 18 ; i. 5. 26. 126 WHAT CASTE IS. tcer; to the Taskarapati, probably master of a subjugated tribe to the. K^(llunchapat^, “ iubabiting- mountainous regions” ; to the bearers of bows and arrows ; to the Skvapati, or master of bounds ; to tlie Vratapati, “ the master of a multitude to the oat)-binder, the goldsmith, the vender or merchant, the (hired) mourner, the watchman, the public-crier, the foreslasher (in battle), the gambler, the viewer-of- the-early-sun (in worship), the fabricator, the arch-fabri- cator, the attendant-on-cows, the cow-killer, the priest- of-the-Charakas, the speaker (of nonsense), the copious- speaker, the drum-beater, the player-on-the- Yina (lute), the blower-cf-the-tuna (bagpipes), the blower of the conch, the forester, the forest-burner, the waterman, the pole- dancer, Some are noticed who, it may be supposed, had a definite status of office or rank in the community, as the Brahman, the Rajan}’a, the Yaishya, the Shudra, the Suta, the Vratya. And some are mentioned as belonging to tribes receiving their denominations principall}'’ from the countries to which they l)elonged, as the Ayogava, the Magadha, the Taskara, the Naishada, the Dasha (Dasyu), the Kaivarta, the Bainda (ofVind), the Mainal, the Kirata, the Jambhaka, the Kimpuru.?ha, the Paul- ka.sa (or Pulkasa), and the Chandala. All this testifies to the multifariousness of rank and division of labour in the Indian community. Many of the classes of men here mentioned were ulti- ORIGIN OF CASTE-NOTICES IN THE YAJUR VEDA. 135 mately recognized as forming distinctive Castes, as will appear from their designations when compared with the list of castes which we have already inserted.* In the passage, which, we have just quoted, however, there is no decided proof of anything like a complete establish- ment of the caste-sj^stem at the time to which it belongs. The Brdlnnan, doubtless, had his claims to superiority from his office of conversancy with the Brah- ma, now probably generally hereditary. The prince is the representative of the Kshatra, or power. Tillage is in the hands of the Vaishya, who, it is to be noticed, is dis- tinct from the Vdni, or merchant. The symbolical re- presentative of toil is the Shudra. The numerous parties engaged in distinctive occupations are certainly not men- tioned in any order of rank or even of fixed profession- There is here no fabulous reference to any parties born of a conventional or adulterous mixture of Caste. If the Caste .system did at this time exist to any extent, it was far from being matured. Most of the classes mentioned without such patronymics as we find in the case of the Magadhas and Chandalas, we have reason to believe, were Aryas, or related to the AVyas. It is to be parti- cularly observed that no exterior tribes are mentioned which have been recognized geographicallyas having their location south of the Vindhya mountains. This range, up to the period of the composition of this Adhyaya, had probably not been crossed by the A ryas. The Purusha Sukta, which we have already quoted from the Rig- Veda, f follows this Adhyaya in the White Yajur-Veda. Little light is cast on its mysterious sym- * See above, pp. 65-70. f See above, pp. 118-119. 136 WHAT CASTE IS. holism by the commentator Malhdhara. Without com- punction, and without any attention to the literal meaning of his text, he derives the Brahman jfrojn the mouth of Prajapati, the Ksliatri}’a from his arms, and the Yaishya from his thighs. The Indian mind had undergone a grear. deterioration wlien it turned poetical figures into literal facts ; uhen it turned the simple and natural, though ph3'siolatrous, poetry’ of the Vedas into legendrv; and when it multiplied and magnified the legends to enormities and absurdities of the most grotesque and monstrous character. This deterioration of the Indian mind is particular!}^ apparent in the Atharva, or fourth VMa, to which, in connexion with tlie subject before us, we now turn our attention. As already mentioned, the word Atharva cor- responds with the Zand A'thrava, etymologically a fire- man.* It occurs in the Rig- Veda as the name of a particular Rishi or sage, from the constituents of whose school, or course, in after times it probably received its de- signation. It differs very considerably in its authority and character from the other Vedas, which, more than it, are particularly associated with sacrifice. “As there are three different branches of the ceremonial, the ^^eda is, for the better performance of the sacrifices, divided into three ; the Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda, and Sama-Veda. The cere- monial of the Ilotri priests is performed w ith the Rig- Vetla j that of the Adhvaryu priests, wdlh the Yajur- Veda ; that of the Udgatri priests, with the Sama-Veda. The duties of the Brahman priests, and of him for whom the sacrifice is offered, are also contained in these three Vedas. The Atharva- Veda is not used for solemn sacri- * See above, p. 91. ORIGIN OF CASTE— THE PURUSIIA MEDIIA. 137 fices, and is very different from tlie others, as it teaches only expiatory, preservative, or imprecatory rites.” This sensible opinion of Madlmsudan Sarasvati, quoted by Dr. Miiller,* has been confirmed by the research of European and American orientalists. “ The Atharvana,” says Pro- fessor Whitney (with Dr. R. Roth, the joint-editor of its Text,t) “ is like the Rich, a historical general, and not a liturgical collection- Its first eighteen books, of which alone it was originally composed, are arranged upon a like system throughout : the length of the hymns, and not either their subject or their alleged authorship, being the guiding principle : those of about the same number of verses are combined together into books, and the books made up of the shorter hymns stand first in order. A sixth of the mass, however, is not metrical, but consists of longer or shorter prose pieces, nearly akin in point of language and style to passages of the Brahmanas. Of the remainder, or metrical portion, about one-sixth is also found among the hymns of the Rich, and mostly in the tenth book of the latter : the rest is peculiar to the Atharva. The greater portion of them are plainly shown, both by their language and in- ternal character, to be of much later date than the general contents of the other historic Veda (the Rig- Veda), and even than its tenth book, with which they stand nearly connected in import and origin.” “ The most prominent characteristic feature of the Atharvana is the multitude of incantations which it con- * History of Sanskrit Literature, p. 122. For Madhusiidan’s complete view of the Orthodox Brahmanical Literature, see Weber’s Indische Studien, i. p. 1-20. t In the work, as edited by them, there are 10,296 lines. . 18 138 AVHAT CASTE IS. tains; these are pronounced either by the person who is himself to be benefited, or, more often, by the sorcerer for him, and are directed to the procuring of the greatest variety of desirable ends ; most frequently, perhaps, long life, or recovery from grievous sickness, is the object sought : there a talisman, such as a necklace, is some- times given, or in very numerous cases some plant en- dowed with marvellous virtues is to be the immediate external means of cure ; further, the attainment of wealth or power is aimed at, the downfall of enemies, success in loA^e or in play, the removal of petty pests, and so on, even down to tJie growth of hair on a bald pate.”* “ The origin of the Atharva Sanhita,” says Professor Weber, “ falls within the period when Brahmanism had become dominant Many of the hymns which it contains are to be found also in the Rik-Sanhita,f bnt there they are recent interpolations originating in the period wdien its compilation took place, while in the Atharva collection they are the just and proper expression of the present. The spirit of the two collections is entirely different. In the Rik there breathes a lively natural feeling, a warm love for nature ; while in the Atharva, on the contrary, there predominates an anxious apprehension of evil spirits and their magical powers : in the Rik we see the people in the exercise of perfect freedom and voluntary activity, while in the Atharva, we observe them bound in the fetters of the hierarchy and superstition.”! The very * Joum. of the American Or. Soc. ir. 254-5, 308. t [Less proportionally of the material of the Atharva-Veda is from the Rig-V^da than that of the Sama and Yajas. j 1 Hist, of Ind. Lit. quoted in Muir’s Texts, ii. p. 202. OKIGIX OF CASTE— THE PURUSHA MEDHA. 139 name of the Atharva Veda, derived from a particular class of priests, shows that originally it had somewhat of a sectarial character. “ According to the original dis- tribution of the sacrificial offices among the four classes of priests, the supervision of the whole sacrifice, and the remedying of any mistake that might have happened belonged to the Brahman. He had to know the three Vedas, to follow in his mind the whole sacrifice, and to advise the other priests on all doubtful points. If it was the office of the Brahman to remedy mistakes in the performance of the sacrifice, and if, for that purpose, the formulas of the Atharvangiras were considered of special efficacy, it follows that it was chiefly the Brahman who had to acquire a knowledge of these formulas. Now the office of the Brahman was contested by the other classes of priests. The Bahvrichas maintain that the office of Brahman should be held by a Bahvricha (Hotri), the Adhvaryas maintain that it belongs to one of their own body, and the Chhandogas also preferred similar claims. It was evidently the most important office, and in man}'^ instances, though not always, it was held by the Puro- hita, the hereditary family priest. Certain families also claimed a peculiar fitness for the office of Brahman, such as the Vasishthas, and Vishvamitras... Because a knowledge of the songs of the Atharvangiras was most important to the Brahman or Purohita; these songs them- selves, when once admitted to the rank of a Veda, were called the Veda of the Brahman, or the Brahma-Veda.”‘ * Muller’s History of Sanskrit Literature, pp. 447-8. Dr. M. adds, however, “ It is a common mistake in later writers to place the Atharva Veda co-ordinate with the other Vedas.” 140 WHAT CASTE IS. Tliat the Atliarva Veda should magnify the Indian priesthood, and especially the Brahman, as distinguished from the Hotri, Adhvaryu, etc., is but natural on the ground here stated. We now refer to the general infor- mation bearing on our inquiries which it contains. Both the Brahmans and the Kshatra are represented in it as engaged in extolling Agni.* In behalf of a Raj^ the prayer is offered up that he may be the only lord of his country, and that he may be praised by the Visha (here his subjects in general) throughout his realm.! The Kshatra, Rathakara, Karmhra, and the Gramani and Suta established in the service J of a Kaja are men- tioned as associated together. § A Purohita (family priest) prays that the bravery and power of the Kshatra whom he represents may be undecaying.|| Of the Brah- man it is said, “ The Brahman was the first born with ten heads (and) ten faces (that is, probably with extraordi- nary capacities) ; he was the first that drank the Soma, he made poison a (harmless) juice.”^ The Shtidra is recog- nized as distinct from the A’rya,** and also the Dasa from the A'rya, as in the Rig-Veda.ff Visbvaraitra, origi. nally of the royal race, and Jamadagni, are associated with the Brahmanic Vasi.ditha in the protection of Mitra and Varuna. The supremacy of the Brahman is thus set forth : — “ Th^Brahman is lord, not the Rajanya, nor * Atbarva Veda, ii. 6. 2, 4. f Atliarva Veda, iii. 4. 1-2. t Rajakntah. § A. V. iii. 5. 1-7. II A. V. iii. 19. 1-2. %A. V. iv. 6. 1. * ^ U'f 'T^r a . By it, (a particular medicine) I see everything, whether the Shudra or the Arya, A. V. iv. 20. 8. ft A. V. iv. 32. 1. ORIGIN OF CASTE- NOTICES IN THE ATHARVA \Ti:DA.114r the Vaishya''* “ Let not the Bajanya,'” it is enjoined, desire to eat the inedible cow of a Brahman”,! a claim being thus put forth of a privilege for the Brahman’s pet, afterwards extended by degrees to the bovine race in general. The Brahman’s life, it is said, is not to be taken, and his body is to be loved like that of Agni.j: A curious passage coaxing the departure of a certain dis- ease called Takman (first brought to notice by Dr. Roth) throws some light on the boundaries of the Indo- Aryan community and its distant neighbours. “ His (Tak- man’s) abode are the Mujavats, his abode the Mahd- virshas. As soon as thou art born, O Takman, thou so- journest (1) among the Bahlikas. Go, Takman, to the Mujavats, or far way to the Bahlikas. Choose the female Shudra for food ; and shake her. Passing by our friends ('?), devour the Mahavrishas and the Mujavats. We point out to Takman these or those foreign regions. Takman along with thy brother Balasa, and with thy sister Kasika (cough), and with thy nephew Paman, depart to that foreign people. We transfer T;)kman as a servant and as a treasure, to the Gandharins, the Mujavats, the Anyas and the Magadhas”'^ An extract is given from the hymn in the Rig- Veda in which Vasishiha complains of being called a Ydtudhdna * Clil-qt ^’^51 : A. V. V. 17. 9. t ITT mfiw V rii^ ^it raEifer ^?ir?T. a. v. v. is. 1. t A. V. V. 18. 6. II A. V. V. 22. 5-14. The translatioa of this passage is from Muir’s Texts, ii. 3G4. Mantras like this are yet repeated for the banishment of disease from India. 142 WHAT CASTE IS. by Vishvumitra-* The word Brahmachari seems to be used as synonimous with Brahman, and is set forth as the first l)orn of the Bralima or prayer, Arhich he advances-t The Purusha Sukta is given with a few variations from the form in which it appears in the Rig- Veda. The text of it which applies to caste reads thus : — “ The Brahman w'as his mouth; the Rajanya became (abhavat) his arms ; the Vaishya was his middle (madhyam) ; the Shudra sprung from his feet-”J Though, as w^e have already shown, little stress is to be laid on this passage, it is evident that the collection of the Atharva Veda was made when the caste system had made considerable progress. 2. We now leave the Vedas, and proceed to the Brdh- inaiuis. The Brdhmanas, which are to be distinguished from the JNIantras, or Vedic Texts, derived from the Sanhitas or collections of the Vethc Hymns, are essentially consider- ed Liturgical and Rubiical Directories for the ceremonies to be performed by the Brahmans, from their connexion with whom, or as comprehending the Brahma technically understood, they deiive their name. Them contents, how- ever, are really of a varied character. “ The difficulty,” says Dr, Muller, ofgmug an exhaustive definition of what a Brahmana is, has been felt by the Brahmans themselves. The name given to this class of literature does not teach us more than that these works belonged to the Brahmans, They are Brahmanic, i. e. theological tracts, compiising * A. V. viii. 4. 14-] 6. Attention to this passage, as found in the R. V., was first drawn by Dr. Mullerin Bunsen’s Outlines of the Phil, of Un. Hist. i. p. 344. f A. V. xi. 5. 4-7. 1 A. V. 19. 6-6. ORIGIN OF CASTE— NOTICES IN THE BRA'IIMANAS. 143 the knowledge most valued by the Brahmans, bearing partly on the traditions and customs of the people. They profess to teach the performance of the sacrifice ; but for the greater part they are occupied with additional matter; with explanations and illustrations of things more or less distantly connected with their original faith and their an- cient ceremonial.” “ There was originally but one body of Brahmanas for each of the three Vedas ; for the Rie- Veda, the Brahmanas of the Bahvrichas, for the Sama- Veda the Brahmanas of the Chhandogas, and for the Yajur-Veda in its two forms, the Brahmanas of the Tait- tiiiyas, and the Shatapatha Brahmana. These works were not written in metre, like the Sanhitds, and were therefore more exposed to alteration in the course of a long con- tinued oral tradition. We possess the Bralimana of the Bahvrichas in the Shakhas [Memorial Stems, or Schools] of the Aitareyins and the Kaushitakins.” * “ Tire Brahmanas,” Dr. Muller continues, “ represent no doiibt a most interesting phase m the history of the In- dian mind, but judged by themselves, as literary produc- tions, they are more disappointing. No one would have supposed that at so early a period, and in so primitive a state of society, there could have risen up a literature, which for pedantry and downright absurdity can hardly be matched anywhere. There is no lack of striking thoughts, of bold expressions, of sound reasonmg, and curious traditions in these collections. But these are only like the fragments of a torso, like precious gems set in brass and lead. The general character of these works is marked by shallow and insipid grandiloquence, by priestly * History of Sanscrit Literature, pp. 342-346. 144 WHAT CASTE IS. conceit, and antiquarian pedantry. It is most important to the historian that he should know how soon the fresh and healthy growth of a nation can be blighted by priest- craft and superstition. It is most important that we should know that nations are liable to these epidemics in then’ youth as well as in their dotage. These works deserve to be studied as the physician studies the twaddle of idiots, and the raving of madmen. They will disclose to a thoughtful eye the ruins of faded grandeiu-, the memories of noble aspirations. But let us only try to translate these works into our own language, and we shall feel astonished that human language and human thought should ever have been used for such purposes.” * These writings, however, are still deserving of special attention. “ Though their professed object is to teach the sacrifice, they allow a much larger space to dogmatical, exegetical, mystical, and philosophical speculations than to the ceremonial itself. They appeal continually to older authorities.” f “ The Brahmanas exhibit the accumulated thought of a long suc- cession of early theologians and philosophers. But the very earliest of these sages follow a train of thought which gives clear evidence of a decaying religion.” J “ These books Avill always be to us the most valuable sources for tracing the beginnings of thought on divine things; and, at the same time, sources from Avhich we may draw the most varied information regarding the conceptions on which the entire system of worship, as well as the social and hierar- chical order of India are founded.” ^ History of Sanscrit Literature, pp. 389-390. f Ib. p. 328. J Ib. pp. 429. § Dr. Koth’s Introduction to the Nirukta, quoted in Muir’s Texts, p. 193. ORIGIN OF CASTE— NOTICES IN THE BRAIIMANAS. 145 At the time of the composition of the Brahmanas, which may be stated as extending from 800 to 600 B. C-, the collection of the three olden Vedas was doubtless formed. The following passage from the Aitareya Brdli- mana, which is Avorthy of notice in sev eral particulars, esta- blishes this fact, as far as that work at least is concerned. “ Prajapati desired that for the being of Praja (offspring) there should be done (Avhat Avas required). He, setting a toiling, performed tapa (toil). After performing topa, he created these Worlds — the Earth, the Medial Expanse f :in~ tarikhsha), (and) HeaA'en (Diva). HaA'ing performed tapa for these AA orlds, he again performed tapa, and the three Lights were produced — Fire (Agni) from earth, Wind (Vayu) from the expanse, and the Sun (Aditya) from the lieaA en. Having performed tapa for these lights, he again performed tapa, and the three Vedas Avere produced ; — the Rig Veda sprung from fire ; the Yajur-Veda, from AA'ind ; and the Saina-Veda from the sun. Having performed tapa for these Vedas, he again performed tapa, and the three Shukras AAere produced. JBhii was made from the Rig- Veda ; Bhuva, from the Yajur-Veda, and Sva from the Saina Veda. Having performed tapa for these Shukras, he again performed tapa, (and) the three Varnas AA'ere made — «kar, nkar, » T?rr tt^ 5P-TraTirru#^ eirfrr^fr AHirarR qr- Ilir. (Dh.) Sii. xxvii. 19. 196 WHAT CASTE IS. The A'pastamha Samaydchdnica Sutra and Dharma Sutra, belong to the same Veda — the Black- Yajnr, as those which Ave liaA e iioaa' reAneAA ed. They have been looked at by Dr. Muller, Avho thus Avrites of them. “ A'pastamha, in his Samavacharika Sutras, declares dis' tinctly that there are four Varnas, the Brahman, the Ksha- triya, the Vaishaya, the Shudra, but that the initiatory rites, the Upanayana in particular, are only intended for the three first classes. The same is implied, no doid)t, in the other Sutras which give the rules as to the proper time Avhen a young Brahman, a young Kshatriya, or a young Vaishya should be apprenticed Avith their spiritual tutors, but never say at Avhat age this or similar ceremonies .should be performed for one not belonging to these three Varnas. Yet they never exclude the Shudra expressly, nor do they represent him as the born slave or client of the other castes. In the Dharma-sutras the social degra- dation of the Shudra is as great as in the later Law Books, and the same crime, if committed by a Brahman and a Shudra, is visited Avith very different punishments. Thus if a member of the three Varnas commits adultery Avith the Avife of a Shudra, he is to be banished ; if a Sluidra commits adultery Avith the Avife of a member of the three Varnas, he is to be executed. If a Shudra abuses an honest member of the three Varnas, his tongue is to be cut out. He is to be flogged for not keeping at a respectful distance. For murder, theft, and pillage the Shudra is executed ; the Brahman, if caught in the same offences, is only deprived of his eyesight. This is the same iniquitous laAA*, Avhich Ave find in the later Law Books. But althouoh the distinc- O tion between the Shudras and tlie otlier Varnas is so ORIGIN OF CASTE— NOTICES IN THE Sl^JTRAS. 197 sliarply drawn by A'pastaniba, he admits that a Shiulra, if he obeys the law, may be born again as a Vaishya, tlie Vaishya as a Kshatriya, and the Ksliatriya as a Brah- man ; and that a Brahman if he disregards the law, will be born again as a Kshatriya, the Kshatriya as a A aisliya, and the Vaishya as a Sliudra.”* This passage contains evidence tliat the A pastamba Samayacharika and Dliarma Si'dras of A'pastaniba agree, in tlie matters mentioned, witli those of Hiranyakeshi, to whicli we have above referred. They both exclude the Shudra from tlie Upa- naj'ana and other rites to which the higher classes have access. Some of the other Sutras do the same thing, which is taught by implication, as noticed by Dr. Miiller in all the Yedic Sutras. f The enslavement of the Shudra, I rather think, is taken for granted by Hiranyakeshi, when he hints at the easy appropriation of him, in the terms we have above referred to.J The iniquitous degradation of the Shudra, — corresponding with that of the Law Books, — is expressed in the same language both by Hiranyakeshi and A'pastamba. It is quite possible, however, from the reference made to the “ Purana Shlokas,”" which we have noticed in a portion of the Hiranyakeshi Sutras, that it is a posterior addition made to them, expressly to effect their agreement with the Law Books and other later authorities. § A'pastamba’s reference to a change of * Hist, of A. S. Lit. p. 207. t See reference to the Katayana Shrauta-Sutras, p. 183, above. X See p. 192. § Dr. Muller in a note thus di-aws attention to an instance of direct fraud in a matter of this kind in later times : — “ Apast. i. 6. 198 WHAT CASTE IS. places in future births, — tlie consequence of the full development of the doctrine of the metempsjmhosis — occurs, in the same words in Hiranj'akeshi.* In the A’ sliraUiyana Shvanta SiVm,'\ associated with the Rig’-Yeda, we have found no passages referring to Caste which are not anticipated hy our extracts from the Brahmanas, except in so far as the reputed gofras, (families) of the Brahmans, and the progenitor Rislils recognized hy them in the pravara, or initial invocation of the god Agni, with the names of ancient Rishis added, at the consecration of fire, are concerned. These yotras and pravaras, as found in this Sutra are tabulated hy Dr. Midler. VVe shall afterwards have to notice them II later works, such as the Sanskara-ganapati this Siitra of A'p^ist^iraba, which excludes the Shiidras from initiation, has been so altered as to admit them. MS. E. I. H. 912, p. 16. 5T>T l | I iigrqTdTrf^rdT- rJirff II — To elFect this fraud (if a MS. of the Maharashtra was before its author), nothing more was necessary than to overlook the involved but unexpressed, short vowel (n ) of the preceding word forming the negative. The passage in Iliraiiyakeshi .stands thus : — gfr sr-q-er; ^gr^T^rtTRjs^riT- qier^rlr^ ^JirPr. (xxvi. l). All that was necessary for the fraud was to commence the quotation without picking up the negative a from shrei/ana preceding sMdrdndm. The Slnidra initiations, etc. effected by the fraud, notwithstanding, were not to be made by the V edic mantras (still confined to the higher Varnas) but by what are called the Nama-mantras — mantras framed on the principle of the mere recognition of the names of the later gods. * Hir. Sii. xxvii. 10. f For the copy of these Siitras which we have used, we are indebted to Bhatpambhatta Phadake of Wai. X Hist, of A. S. Lit. pp. 380-G. ORIGIN OF CASTE-NOTICES IN THE SUTRAS. 199 in connexion with the still existing- divisions in the Indian Brahmanhood. The Grlhj/a Sutra, — or Sutra of Domestic Rites, — of A shvala}'ana, also furnishes us with little material con- nected with caste. The lowly Clrandala is thus associated with other beings, in the distribution of rice at the Paka- yajna (the sacrifice of cooked meats*), resorted to on several domestic occasions: — “ Let anna be thrown on the ground to dogs, Chandalas, demons, the fallen, and crow's.”'|" Of sacramental ceremonies to be used by the three Varnas, up to the time of initiation, the following are mentioned on the authority of “ Upanishads” not otherw'ise speci- fied : — Garhhdlaniblia7ia,pnnsavana, anavalohhana, which are to be performed in the third month of conception ; shnanlonny ana, io be performed in the fourth month of conception ; jdlakanna, to be performed at birth ; anna- prhshana, to be performed in the sixth month after birth ; chaida, which ought to be performed in the third year after birth ; and the npanayana,'^ to be performed in the eighth year after birth in the case of Brahmans, in the eleventh in the case of Kshatriyas, and the twelfth in the case of Vaishyas, though they may be delayed for double these periods in the respective cases mentioned, at the expiry of which if they be not performed the parties will be reckoned apostates — patita savitrika (fallen from the savitri or sacred gayatri), and incapacitated for initiation, study, and social intercourse * Dr. Muller (p. 203) takes puka in this word to signify small or good, as it sometimes does. t =TiTr5!- RT 'im Rifr A'sh. Grihya Sii. i. f For the meaning of these words, see before, pp. GO-1. 200 WHAT CASTE IS. (vijavahareynh).* In connexion -with the return of a youth to his family after the expiiy of his pupilage, and the burnt-offering which is then to be made, Agni is to be addressed as having “ the Brahman for his mouth, the Rajanya arm, the Vahhya for his belly, and women for his .”t Allied in origin to the Sutra now referred to is the Mdnava Kcdpa (Ceremonial) Sutra, connected with the Black Yajur Veda, the first four books of which have been lately lithographed under the auspices of Dr. Goldstiicker. In this cuiious and rare fragment we have found but little which bears on caste, while this little has, on other authorities, been mostly anticipated in the preceding pages. The leavings at the Homa, however, it tells us are to be ate and drunk by the Brahman, and not by the Rajanya or Vaishya. J The second birth (dvljalva) is not to be reck- oned as effected in the case of Shudras, even when the Sanskaras of the Dvijas (the Brahman, Kshatriya, and Ahiishya) are practised by them.§ Pious Rajanyas are recommended to have a continuous Agnihotra under the care of a Ritvija, for it is the Brahman who has the (spe- cial) })rivilege of sacrifice. In connexion with this, the commentator (Kumarila) holds that no Brahman engaged in tlie occupation of other castes should be employed in the Agnihotra (or other sacrificial lites), and cpiotes iii support of this view a dictum (which also occurs in the * Ash. Gr. Su. i. 12-19. . f Ib. iii. 8. t Manava Kalpa Siitra, fol. 55 (b). The transcript (nearly amount- ing to a fac-simile) was made by a Sanskrit student, Mi.ss Amelia Rattenbury. § Manava Kalpa Sutras, fol. 76 (6). ORIGIN OF CASTE— RECAPITULATION. 201 !Manii Smriti) to the effect that “ Brahmans who take care of cattle, who trade, who practise mechanical and sportive arts, Avho are hody-attcndants, who are usurers, are to be treated as Shudras.”"^ The Sutras very unequivocally bring’ us to the Law Books. The time of their respective authors, or rather collectors, we may afterwards notice. Without enlarging- at present on wliat lias so evidently conducted us to what are, undoubtedly, the positive insti- tutions of Caste, we would now make a brief recapitulation of this long section of our work, with a view to concen- trating on the precise subject of our inquiries the scattered rays which it furnishes. The ruling tribe of India for many ages past has been that of the ATyas, whose language (the oldest specimens of which Ave have in the Vedas, and which was ultimately called the Sanskrit), is admitted by all philologists to be cognate with the Greek, Latin, Gothic, Celtic, Armenian, Persian, and other European and Asiatic languages, com- prehended in the Indo-Teu tonic family. It bears the closest analogy to the Zend, in which exist the ancient liter- ary works of the followers of Zoroaster, or the Iranians, or Parsls. The Iranians derived their name from their supposed primitive seat as an organized community, Airyana Vaejo (the Aryan Vaejo), on the slopes of the mountainous country between the Oxus and Jaxartes, the general name of the land over which they afterwards spread on their way to the south being Airya, the * Mdnava Kalpa Sutras, fol. 98 (b). The dictum quoted occurs in the Manu Smriti, viii. 102, where it is applied to the treatment of witnesses. 26 202 WHAT CASTE IS. noun of the adjective Airyana now mentioned. The word A’rya in Sanskrit designates the people who had come from Ainja, in the first instance, to the banks of the Indus, where, in consequence of social and religious changes, they became to a great extent separated from their congeners, who had failed to follow them to the limits of their wanderings. On the affluents and banks of the Indus, the ATyas composed the hjunns now found in the Yedic collections, which are the only sources of our knowledge of their ancient state. The religious differences which occurred between them and the Iranians w^ere of considerable magnitude ; but never- theless they left many traces, as we have seen, of a common faith and practice in the ages of antiquity. The A'ryas w^ere in many respects an interesting peo- ple, and considerabl}^ advanced in civilization ; but as they extended themselves in the land of the Indus and adjoining territories, and came in contact witli other tribes who had preceded them in their immi- grations into these regions of the earth, they manifested to them great pride of race and violence of religions antipathy and opposition, as is abundantl}' evident from numerous passages wdiicb we have produced from their ancient literaiy remains. This j)ride of race and violence of religious antipathy w^ere the origin of the caste feeling ever afterwards displayed by the A'ryas to the tribes whom they supposed to be inferior to themselves, and more especially to those who have not been able in Avhole or in part to resist their religions and civil domi- nion. So powerful were the effects of these evils that the A'ryas viewed the strange peo])le, whose inheritances ORIGIN OF CASTE— RECAPITULATION. 203 they sought to possess, as scarcely human beings. Their very names they made the synonyms of fiends and devils. But in connexion with Caste the community of the A'ryas themselves has to be looked at as well as their bearing to the tribes and races exterior to that commu- nity. Though religious and social distinctions were known among them from their entrance into India, Caste in the technical sense of the term did certainly not then exist amono; them. The Brahmd or Brahman was at first merely the utterer or conductor of hrahma or prayer ; the Rdjanya, the prince, and the Kshatra, or Kshatriya, were the possessors and dispensers of the raj or govern- ment, and hshatra, power or authority ; and the Visha, Vita, or Vaishya, was an ordinary householder. Rank and profession were seen in these distinctions ; but they were founded on fitness, conventional understanding, and arrangement ; and not on an alleged diverse generation from the body or subslanceof deity. Asfaras any religious pre-eminence might be associated with them, they were not even hereditary. The Brahmans asked no privileges on account of original status or dignity. As distinguished from other priests associated with themselves and be- longing to the same class, they Avere only, on first obtain- ing distinction, conductors of tli6 greater ceremonials, and the appointed Purohitas, or family-priests of kings and princes. The highest parties in a religious point of view in the ATyan community were the Rishis, the poetical authors of their hymns ; and these might belong either to kingly, priestly, common, or even Dasyu, fami- lies. Instances of their intermarriage in both kingly and priestly families are brought to notice. Rdjatiyas and 2C4 WHAT CASTE IS. VaisJnjas had the privilege of conducting sacrifice as well as Brahmans ; and no peculiar appropriation of duty to Vaishyas w^as for long made by religious legislation. The name Shudra does not even occur in the early parts of the collection of the Vedas. It belonged to a people first found (and enslaved) by the AVyas on tlie banks of the Indus; and it was afterwards given to other bodies of men placed in a similar position with regard to the dominant tribe. The doctrine of Caste impurity and defilement is not found in the ancient Vedic collections, though the Brahmanas make allusions to sacramental defilement. Tlie peculiar conception of the god Brahma, in connexion with Avhich the theory of Caste is associated, had been formed in the first of the Vedic ages. The Hymn of the Primeval Male in which it is first found in an incipient form does not belong to the earlier portions of the Vedas- It is in the derivative Vedas that the predominance of the Brahman in sacrifice first begins authoritatively to appear. In these derivative Vedas, too, various social distinctions and professional functions are first mentioned, tliough without any reference to an established religious foundation. Custom, it may be admitted, however, was at the time of the arrangement of these Vedas preparing the way for the development of inter-A'iyan Caste. In one of the Khillas, or supplementary chapters, of the White Yajur Veda, that denominated the Purushamedha, — cer- tainly not older than the period of the Bredimanas, — numer- ous distinctiveand curious classes in the Indian community are brought to notice. Many of these classes w^ere after- wards recognized as forming discriminated castes ; but a ORIGIN OF CASTE- RECAPITULATION. 205 reference to their specified associations and connexions shows that the Caste-system was not matured when the chapter of the Purushamedha was composed- A great deterioration of the Indian mind, bearing on tlie development of Caste, appears in connexion with the A the latest of the Vedic collections. The Indian people are obviously brought to notice in it as bound in the fetters of an established hierarchy and ram- pant superstition. The priest, particularly the priest of the Atharva class, is dominant in that work. In it, too, the Brahman, or the Piiro1iita,\% not the minister, or sub- stitute, but the lord of the prince ; and peculiar privileges are consequently to he enjoyed by him. In the Drahmanas, or earliest Liturgical and Rubrical Directories and Compilations of the Legendry and Specula- tion of the Brahmans, — the supposed age of which has just been mentioned, — the progress of tlie Brahmans to power, and the gradual development of Caste in general, receives soine valuable incidental illustrations. These compositions always treat of the Brahmans as a pre-eminent cla^s, ascrib- ing their “ beauty and wisdom” to the Gayatri verse ; while they speak of the Kshatriya as obtaining “ splendour and bravery” from the Trishtub,and of the Vaishya, as getting- cattle, from the Jagati. A certain Rishi ol the Vedtas, a Dusyaputra they tell us, enjoyed his status only by the spe- cial favour of the gods. The Brahman, they say, stands in the relationship to others of Brihaspati, the Purohitaof the gods. They encourage the maintenance of a hereditary priest- hood, even by force. They relate long legends to enhance the virtue of the royal Vishvamitra, who had been raised to the Brahmanhood by his adoption ol a Brahman who •206 WHAT CASTE IS. had narrowly escaped been sacrificed to the gods ; and they degrade the memory of this Visln amitra by making him tlie parent of certain aboriginal tribes. Tliey throw distinctive light on the manner in wliich the Brahmans practically obtained a monopoly in sacrifice. The Brah- mans, they tell ns, acted in their own peculiar character and functions Avhen they conducted sacrifices, while the Kshatriyas laid aside their peculiar character and functions when they sacrificed and performed a work beyond their general ability. They invent stories of excessive (almost incalculable) rewards having been given by princes to olliciating priests. They put the Brahman in the class of , the gods, and the Shudra in the class of the devils. Nay, thev declare that the Brahman is everv divinitv. In the lack of a goat for a sacrifice, the Homa, they declare, may be made at the right hand of a Brahman. He is the Vaish- vanara fire; if the Homa be made on the hand, it is as if made by Agni himself. The Bvdhman is of the form of the day ; the Kshatriya, of the form of the night. The SfiHclra is oiilv the watchman at the great horse- sacrifice. It is perhaps in connexion with his watching at sacrifice, or in his participation in the edibles or potables of sacrifice (also referred to in the Brahmanas) that the Shudra in a particidar instance is invited to sacrifice.* 'The Brahman they recommend to seek to be the personal representative at sacrifice of every Kshatriya. Defilement and uupurity they first bring to notice ; but this not in connexion with the persons of men in ordinary cu'cum- stances, as in the matured system of caste, but in con- nexion with sacramental services. * See above, p. 1G3. ORIGIN OF CASTE— RECAPITULATION. 207 One of the legends of the Brahmanas, ag-reeing- in some respects witli the INIosaic history of tlie Deluge, seems to indicate that the A’rvas had some tradition of their havino- • O j)assed some great mountainous range to the north on their coming to India. This agrees with the inferences noticed in the commencement of this section of our work. A party connected with Gandharais represented in the Shatapatlia Brahmana as speaking in his proper character, and this as an ATyan. Pentads and Heptads are mentioned in the same Avork, hut these perhaps only in connexion with the peoples of the Panjah and the contiguous country. The old Aranyalas and U^xiiiishach, Avhich are found- ed on Pantheism, or on Dualism, are philosopliically speak- ing unfavourahle to caste, inasmuch as they treat of all the A aiieties of men and animals as merely developments of Brahma, which they use in the neAv sense of the universal Self, Soul, or Spirit. They even ascribe the origin of the knowledge of Brahma (in a passage Avhich we shall afterwards quote) to the Kshatriyas as distin- puished from the Brahmans.* Yet incidental references o and legends in these works are sometimes not inconsistent Avitli the claims of the Brahmans for pre-eminence. Brahma, they say, is the birth-place of the Kshatra. God in the Brahman is in his highest form. The doctrine of Brahma (or Soul) may he learned from a Kshatrya; hut it goes against the grain for a Brahman to approach a Kshatriya to learn this doctrine. Looking to the non-ini- tiated Avorld, these philosophical works recognize the Brah- manical A'shrams, or Orders, as in the later LaAv Books. The founders of the Indian Schools, in general, accommo- * Chhaudogya Up. v. 3. 7. 208 WHAT CASTE IS. dated themselves to the prevailing customs and supersti- tions of the country. The Vedic Sutras, the period of which prohahlv ranges from 000 to 200 before Christ, and which are intermediate between the Brahmanas and the Law Books, show a marked growth in the development of caste. This remark is more applicable, however, to the Shrauta Sutrcisund Sdma- yachdrika or Dharma Sutras, than to the Grihya Sutras or Sutras of Domestic Services ; but our references to them liave been so recent that they need not be here recapitu- lated. From what we have collected, translated, and said in this long section, it must be apparent that Caste, which was not an original institution of the A'ryas, arose from small and almost imperceptible beginnings, though in a way which at the same time is not unintelligible in the view of the admitted pravities of human nature. Our conclu- sions respecting it though founded on a personal and special examination of the Vedic works to which we have refer- red (with the helps with which they are now associated), are wonderfull}’ in accordance ’with those of the learned orientalists who have of late years given their attention to it in Europe, such as Lassen, Both, Weber, jMuir, and Max Muller. All these learned gentlemen have, at o-reater or less length, noticed the rise aud advancement of the Brahmauical power much in the way we have done in the preceding pages. Dr. Muller, for example, thus writes in his usual animated style, but with an acute recognition of facts and principles : — “ The three occu- pations of the A'ryas in India were fighting, cultivating the soil, and worshipping the gods. Those who fought ORIGIN OF CASTE— RECAPITULATION. 209 the battles of the people would naturally acquire influ- ence and rank, and their leaders appear in the Veda as Rajas or Kings. Those who did not share in the fighting would occupy a more humble position ; they were called Vish, Vaishyas, or householders, and would no doubt have to contribute towards the maintenance of the armies.” “ But a third occupation, that of worshipping the gods, was evidently considered by the whole nation to be as important and as truly essential to the well-being of the country as fighting against enemies or cultivating the soil. However imperfect and absurd their notions of the Deity may seem to us, we must admit that no nation vtas ever so anxious to perform the service of their gods as the early Hindus. It is the gods who conquer the enemy, it is the gods who vouchsafe a rich harvest. Health and wealth, children, friends, flocks, and gold, all are the gifts of the gods. And these are not unmeaning phrases with those early poets.” “ Among a nation of. this peculiar stamp the priests were certain to acquire great influence at a very early period, and, like all priests, they were as certain to use it for their own advantage, and to the ruin of all true religious feeling. It is the lifespring of all religion that man feels the immediate presence of God, and draws as near to God as a child to his father. But the priests maintained that no one should approach the gods without their intercession, and that no sacrifices should be offered without their advice. Most of the Indo-European nations have resisted these claims, but in India the priests were successful, and in the Veda, alread}'^, though only in some of the latest hymns, the position of the priest or the Purohita, is firmly esta- 27 210 WHAT CASTE IS. blislied.” “These ver}^ 113'mns were the chief strengtli on which the priests relied, and they were handed down from father to son as the most valuable heirloom. A hymn by which the gods had been invoked at the beginning of a battle, and which had secured to the king a victory over his enemies, was considered an unfailing spell, and it became the sacred war-song of a whole trihe. But the priests only were allowed to chant these songs, they onl}^ were able to teach them, and the^^ impressed the people with a belief that the slightest mistake in the words, or the pronunciation of the words, would rouse the anger of the gods. Thus they became the masters of all religious ceremonies, the teachers of the people, the ministers of kings. Their favour was courted, their anger dreaded, b}" a pious but credulous race. The priests never aspired [nominally] to Royal power. They left the insignia of royalty to the military caste. But woe to the warrior who would not submit to their spiri- tual guidance, or who would dare to perform his sacrifice without waiting for his Samuel ! There were fierce and sanguinary struggles between tlie priests and the nobility before the King consented to how before the Brahman. In the ^’^eda we still find Kings composing their own hymns to the gods, royal bards, Rajar.«his, who united in their person the powers both of king and priest. The family of Vishvamitra has contributed its own collection of hymns to the Rig- Veda, but Vishvamitra himself was of royal descent, and if in later times he is represented as admitted to the Brahmanic family of the Bhrigus — a family famous for its sanctity as well as its valour — this is but an excuse invented bv the Brahmans, in order to ORIGIN OF CASTE— RECAPITULATION. 211 explain what would otherwise have upset their old system . King- Janaka of Yideha is represented in some of the Brahmanas as more learned than any of the Brahmans at his Court. Yet, when instructed by Yajiiavalkaya as to the real nature of the soul and its identity with Brahma, or the divine spirit, he exclaims, ‘ I will give thee, 0 A'enerable, the kingdom of the Videhas, and my own self, to become thy slave.’ As the influence of the Brahmans extended they became more and more jealous of their privileges, and, while fixing their own privileges, they endeavoured at the same time to circumscribe the duties of the warriors and the householders. Those of the ATyas who would not submit to the laws of the three estates were treated as outcasts, and they are chiefly known by the name of Vratyas or tribes. They spoke the same language as the three Aryan castes, but they did not submit to Brahmanic discipline, and they had to perform certam penances if they wished to be readmitted into the ATyan society. The aboriginal inhabitants again, who conformed to the Brahmanic law, received certain privileges, and were constituted as a fourth caste, under the name of Shudras, whereas all the rest who kept aloof were called Dasyus, whatever their language might be.”«= ^Ye clearly see the path over which the Brahmans moved, though we cannot sympathize with either their aspirations or their success. Caste was a growth, pride being its seminal principle — the pride of race, and the pride of religious presumption and pre-eminence, issuing in arrogant monopoly. * Times, 10th April, 1858. 212 AVHAT CASTE IS. YI. — Caste in the Indian Epics. In looking for information as to the origin and early development of Caste, "we have hitherto confined our attention to the Yedic works, of different characters and ages, which, as far as that iustitiition*is concerned, have passed in review before us in the preceding section of our volume. We have next to seek for illustrations of its action in Indian society in the literature which may be considered, at least, in its original form, intermediate between these Yedic works and the Hindu Law-Books, in which Caste is essentially bound up with Hinduism, and decreed, as far as priestly legislation can accomplish the matter, to last till the world, by its impairment and neglect, is ripe for destruction.* We now turn our attention to the Epics, which, when critically viewed, are really the best sources of information respecting the working of Caste influences and their extension and maintenance throughout India. By the Indian Epics, we mean the Ramaijana and the Mahahharata. They are both designated Kavya, poetry properly so-called, and itihasa or dkJnjdna, narrative or tale. They were first denominated Epics by Sir William Jones, whose conjectures, even respecting what was but imperfecth’^ known in his day, were often of a happy character. “ The appropriateness of the epithet,” says Professor H. H. Wilson, “ has been denied by some of those ultra-admirers of Yirgil and Homer, who will allow the dignity of the Epos to be claimed by none but the objects of their idolatry : and, in the restricted sense in which a poem is entitled Epic, agreeable to the definition of * See before, note, p. 72. CASTE IN THE EPICS— THE RAMAYANA. 213 Aristotle, it may indeed be matter of question, if the term be strictly applicable to the Hindu Poems. Al- though, however, it might not be impossible to vindicate their pretensions to such a title, yet it is not worth while to defend them. It matters little what they are called ; and they wall not lose their value, as interesting narra- tives of important events, as storehouses of historical traditions and m3^thological legends, as records of the ancient social and political condition of India, and as juctnres of natural manners, if, instead of epic, they be denominated heroic poems.”* As they are now found, they are both, especially theMahabharata, deficient in unity, and have an immense number of anachronisms, episodes, digressions, discussions, interpolations, many of which are posterior to their original composition. We notice them in what we conceive to be the order of that composition. 1. The Ramdijana, or Progress-of-Iiama, derives its name from Rama, King of A\ odhya, (“Oude”), the thirty- fourth in descent according to one of its recensions from the mythical personage Vaivasvata, or Maim, the son of the sun. Its great object is to celebrate, after a mj^thical or allegorical form, the advancement of the ATyan power and rites among the uncivilized tribes of the south of India, the opposition to which is typified by a Rakshasa or giant named Ravana, |' who is said to have carried ofl' Sita, the wife of Rama, the daughter of Swadhaya, the representative of the line of Janaka of Videha, or Maithila. * Introduction to Johnson’s Selections from the Mahiibharata. •j" “ "Wliat this is to India,” says Dr. Max Muller, “ the war of Persia was to Greece ; the victory of patriotic valour over brute force. The muses of Herodotus are the Ramiiyana of Hellas.” Hist. A. S. Lit. p. 17. Yet, how vastly different their character ! 211 WPIAT CASTE IS. This occurred when Rama, banished by his father Dasliaratha, was living as an ascetic in the forests, along with one of his brothers Lakshmana, The action of the poem is primarily directed to the recovery and reinstate- ment of Sita ; and on the whole it is of a uniform casting. Rama, with the assistance of Sugriva, Hanuman, and other monkey chiefs, (representatives of forest tribes,) in- vaded Lanka, the country of the ravisher, took his capital, killed Ravana in fight, established the brother of the offender (Yiblnshana, the formidable) on the throne, and returned to Ayodhya, where he reigned in succession to his father. The sphere of the poem, viewed in its essen- tial range, as observed by Professor Lassen, is geogra- phically limited to the country north of the Vindhya [mountains] ; in the south there is nothing but a wilder- ness of forests, with monkevs for inhabitants.” Little notice is taken in it of any southern peoples, though there are allusions to them in Sugriva’s charge to the mon- keys requiring them to search various localities for Sita, as will afterwards appear ; and the extension of its story to Lanka, or Ceylon, as thought by Lassen, is probably poste- rior to its original composition. It is attributed to V almiki, a Brahman, represented as the contemporary of Rama ; but certainly it was not composed in the days of that king, Avhile large portions of it so speak of Valmiki as to show that he was not their author. The portions of it which allude to Rama as an incarnation of a portion, or a portion- of-a-portion {anshdnshu) of the god Vishnu do not seem to belong to its original plan.* It was originally handed * “ lu the Epic poems,” says Lassen, “ Riima and Krishna certainly appear as incarnations of Vishnu, but at the same time as human CASTE IN THE EPICS— THE RAMAYANA. 215 down orally ; and is said to have been sung at a great Ashvamedha, or royal horse-sacrifice by Kusha and Lava, the reputed [but disowned] sons of its hero, “ their joint name {Kushilava”), as remarked by Lassen, “ signifying a bard and at a later time an actor, as though the hero had through his seed given birth to a race of bards,” A good portion of it, distinguished for the ease and naturalness of its language, may have been composed when the Sanskrit was a spoken language, which it ceased to be soon after heroes ; and these two representations are so little commingled that both of the two ordinarily display themselves only like other more highly-gifted men, act according to human motives, and do not by any means turn their divine superiority to account. It is only in single sections especially added to inculcate their divinity that they come forward as Vishnu. No one can read the two poems with attention w'ithont being reminded of the later addition of these deifying sections, of the awkward manner in which they are often introduced, of the looseness of their connexion, and of their superfluousness with refer- ence to the progress of the narrative. Even as the Mahdbharata now stands Krishna is not the principal hero of the poem ; this part is ap- propriated to the Pandavas. He certainly belonged to the original Piindava legend, but only as the hero of his tribe, and not as occupying a higher position than the Pandavas. His elevation above his fellow- heroes is due to later endeavours, but does not pervade the whole work, and it is only in a very few places that the later editors have ventured to call the Bharata the holy book of Krishna.” For Lassen on the Indian Epics, see his Indische Altherthumskunde, i. 479-499. Gorresio, in his preface to the fifth volume of his text of the Ramayana, after quoting the passages in which Rama is spoken of in that work as an Avatiira of Vishnu, hesitates to pronounce on the question of their original connection, or not, with the poem. At p. xlviii, he says, “ Resti dunque sospesa la sentenza ; suh judice h$.” The passages quoted are but few in number, and the idea which they express is certainly not wrought into the body of the poem. 216 ■\VIIAT CASTE IS. tlie time of Buddha. Its legends (as well as those of the IMahablidrata which is posterior to it) Professor Lassen justly holds, were remolded in a way which tended to generalize them and obliterate the features of the more ancient times, and while the whole material was subjected to a priestly, religious influence.” “ The views of a later period,” the same distinguished author adds, “ pene- trated the ancient legend ; the doctrines of the three great gods [Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva] of the four castes and their position, and whatever other ideas were not a part of the Indian system, took possession also of the traditions of the earliest era. The priestly element of the history of the gods restricted the martial character of the heroic legend, and confined it to narrower limits. The battles in the Rainayana seek rather to excite our astonishment by supernatural personages and weapons, than to awaken our wonder by great natural human prowess.” Pahlavas (the Pactyes of the Greeks), Shakas, Yavanas, (Ibiies, or Greeks) are mentioned in it* ; and in all probability, the Yavanas here referred to became known to the Indians pos- terior to the days of Alexander the Great. It is diflicult, almost impossible in many instances, to distinguish between the more ancient and more modern portions of the Avork, between those Avhich are prior and those which are posterior to the triumph of Buddhism. It exists, it may be proper here to add, in at least tAvo recensions, the Northern recension and Gaud, or Bengal, recension, AA’hich, in some places, differ considerably in their Avording, though little in their meaning. Sometimes AAe have had the one, and sometimes the other, in oin hands, Avhen making our extracts. In the portions * Ram. i. 55. CASTE IN THE EPICS— THE RAMA YANA. 217 of the Ramayanji meritoriously published and translated by l^rs. Marshman and Carey, there is a combination, or mixture, of the recensions. Sclilegel attempted, in the portions which he edited and translated, to give the northern text in its purity. It is the Gaud recension which of late years has been very neatly and accurately edited, with an excellent Italian translation, by the Cave- liere Gaspare Gorresio. In the Sanskrit text of the work, it is said to consist of 24,000 verses.* One of my friends (the Rev. J. W. Gardner), who has kindly counted them for me, finds them to amount to 20,213. It has evidently been an object with the authors of tlie Ramayana, to represent the Caste system, — especially as connected with the Brahmans, Ksliatriyas, Yaishyas, and Shudras, — as essentially formed in the days of Rama the King of Ayodhya, whose doings they celebrate in a myth- ical form. These castes are often mentioned together, throughout that poem, as forming the recognized divisions of Hindu society. In its introduction it is prophesied of Rama, as the descendant of Raghu, one of his predecessors on the throne, that he should establish the four Varrms in the world according to their respective duties.f Among the inhabitants of his capital were the excellent twice-born men maintaining the sacrificial fire, deeply read in the V eda and its six Angas,J distributors of thousands (of gifts), full * Ram. i. at the end. f Ramayana i. 199. f The six Yediingas, or “ members-of-the-Veda.” “ This name,” Dr. Muller (Hist. A. S. Lit. p. 109) correctly say.s, “ does not imply the existence of six distinct books or treatises intimately connected with their [the Brahmans’] sacred wiltings, but merely the admission of six 28 218 WHAT CASTE IS. of truth, discipline, and mercy, like the ancient great Rishis, controllers of themselves* Of its people in general it is said that no one of them was anyayavritlimdn, addicted to a calling not his own.f “ The Kshatra, Brahma, and Vita were loyal to their sovereign j while there were no Sankaras (mixed classes) either by bu’th or by conduct.”;}: “ All the Varnas kept by their proper work.”§ To the horse-sacrifice of Dasharatha, the father of Rama, per- formed for the sake of offspring, learned and devout Brahmans were ordered to be summoned by Sumantra, his minister, who is said to have introduced Suyajna, Vama- deva, Javali, Kashyapa, the Piu-ohita Vasishtha, and others, the poet by a gross anachronism going back to the times of the Vedas |j These Brahmans began to conduct the sacri- fice. Multitudes of then’ caste were present, who were furnished with abandance of food and drink. Pious persons of the four castes were ordered by Vasi.slitha to be invited, andako Janaka,king of Mithila,the Kingof Kashi, the king- subjects, tbe study of which was necessary either for the reading, the understanding, or the proper sacrificial employment of the Veda.” Dr. M. thinks they were originally “ integral portions of the Brahmanas, in the same manner as the [primitive] Puranas and Itihasas,” and not the “ small and barren tracts now known by this name.” (p. 110.). They are mentioned in the little Charanavyuha to which we mu.st after- wards refer, as shikshd (pronunciation), kalpa (ceremonial), vyakdrmm (grammar), (explanation, of words), c/m/ida (metre), &ndjyotislia (astronomy and astrology). All the Brahmans consider them to have still these di-visions. Ram. i. 5. 20. p Ram. i. 6. 6. : Ram. i. 16. (N. R.) II Ram. i. 11. 6-9. See also ii. 8. f Riim i. 6. 21. CASTE IN THE EPICS— THE KA'MA'YANA. 219 of Kekayi, Lomapada the king' of Anga, the kings to the east of Sindhusanvira and Snrashtra, alid the kings of the south, who must consequently be supposed to have been followers of the A'ryan faith.* Thousands of Brahmans were feasted separately. The king, bent on increasing his family, presented on that occasion the east country to the Hotri, the west to the Adhvaryn, the south to the Brdh- man, and the north to the Udgatri ; hut these classes of priests devoted to the study of the Veda, refused this otlering, accepting, however, “ a million of cows, a hundred millions of (pieces of) gold, and four times as many pieces of silver.” In addition to this he gave ten millions (of the gold) of Jamhunada to the Brahmans in general.'!' A somewhat similar liberality was shown by him on the occasion of the marriage of his four sons, when he gave the Brahmans four hundred thousand cows. J Of even this liberality, the rich Brahmans are represented as scarcely standing in need. Vasishtha is made to decline for his cow Shabala (which yielded according to desire) an offer from Vishvamitra of fourteen thousand elephants, with ^ Some have supposed that the Surdshtra and Sauvira here men- tioned were contiguous countries ; but this was not the case. Si'ta in resisting the addresses of Eavana (Ham. iii. 53.56) alludes to their distance from one another as an illustration of the distance between him and Kama, her husband, in her estimation. Surdshtra was in the penin- sula of Kdthidwdd, and Sauvira (or Sindhu-Sauvira) a district on the Indus, far to the east. Tire Brahmans of Sehwan (the Sindomana of Alexander’s historians) identify their town with Sindhu-Sauvira, but erroneously, as it is comparatively near Surdshtra. y Earn. i. 12. 12, et. seq. Compare both recensions. t Edm. i. 74. 28-9. 220 WHAT CASTE IS. golden appurtenances ; eight hundred golden chariots, with four white horses for each ; one thousand and ten horses of good hirth by country and family, and ten millions of cows of various colours and hues.* This cow, Shahala, the creation of the ingenuity of the Brahmans, seems to have had gi’eat regard for the glory of Brahmans, for she says to her owner : “ A Kshatriya’s power, it is said, is not so powerful as that of a Brahman, which being the power of the Brahma is divine and greater than that of the Kshatra.”f An extraordinary conflict is represented as haA - ino- been maintained between ^'ishvamitra and Vashishtha, which ended in the former performing most extraordinary austerities to obtain the Brahmanhood which the earlier traditions of the Hindus represent him as having acquired.^ Bhagiratha, the son of Ddipa, is exhibited as performing austerities for the descent of the Ganges, for a thousand years, suiTounded in the hot season with five fires and in the cold lying in water, according to the ordinances (found in Manu).§ Allusions ai'e made in it to the destruction in a former ao-e of the Kshatrivas hv Paraslmrama, the son of Jamadagni, because of their opposition to the Brahmans. (( Dasliaratha, on his sending his son Bharata to his grand- father, thus counsels him : — “ Be thou modest and pious and humble, O my son ; by every endeavour seek to please the Brahmans devoted to the work of the Shruti and exert- ing themselves in service. Ask thou counsel of them ; let * Riirn. i. 54. 19-22. f Ib. i. 55. 14. I Ramayana i. 54-67. See on this Muir’s Texts, i. 98-110, § Riim. i. 44. 9-12. See before, p. 34. II Ram. i. 76. 21 et seq. CASTE IN THE EPICS-TTIE KA'JIA'YANA. 221 llieir counsel be received by ibee as the elixir of immortal- ity. They are the root of prosperity and glory. 'J'lie Brahmans, the ntterers of the brahma, are necessary in every ceremonial institute. The gods, O son, O most wise, have, for maintaining the existence of men, assumed the abode of humanity becoming gods on earth, the twice- born. To them belong the Vedas, the Dharmashdstra, the disciplinary Institutes, the Nlti-shastra, and the science of Archery.”* The Brahmans are set forth as deeply lamenting for Rdma when ordered by his father to take up his abode in the wilderness ; and when they fol- loAved him on foot, it is said, he would not ride.f Dasha- ratha, his father, who also accompanied him to Chitrakuta, is made to express to one of his wives his deep penitence for having killed a boy who appeared to be of the Brah- manical race, and he was comforted by the youth saying, “ I am not of the twice-born ; throAV aside the fear of (having committed) Brahmacide. I was produced by a Brdhman on a female Shudra living in the wilderness. ”J The property, as well as the life of a Brahman is repre- sented as sacred, by Bharata, when he complains of Rama having been sent by his father into the wilderness.'^ Rama’s success in war is attributed more to the hows, arrows, scimitars, and other weapons which he received from the Rishis and other Brahmans than to any portion of the divinity which he is represented as possessing. |j Earn. i. 79, 16-20. t Earn. ii. 66. 43. II Earn. i. 30, et in al. loc< ■]■ Earn. ii. 43. § Riiin. ii. 74. 53. WHAT CASTE IS. 0-2 2 The lionour of the Brahmans is set fortli as one of the grand duties of inoralit}^ which are thus spoken of: — 'WrsrJT ^ JTTr^^JTr m’q’^rrar^rr ^ | rg:3rfffT^ifTf?TT3pf ^ TP^rr^irrirwTT^q’ The sages say that truth, and religion, and valor, and tenderness for living beings, and affectionate speech, and the service or worship of the twice-born, the gods, and guests, form the path which leads to heaven.*” Here the Brahmans take precedence of the gods. Little is found in the Ramayana about the distinctive position of the Kshatriyas. It must be remembered, however, that the grand object of the poem is the lauda- tion of the princes of Ayodhya in the use of their kshatra, or power. The Kshatri3'as, it shows us, formed the leaders of armies. Bali, or Valia monke}^ prince, when expostnlating with Rama for wounding him with an arrow not in fair fight, says to him, “ Composedness, liberality, self-confidence, forgiveness, truthfulness, boldness, steadi- ness, and the disposition to punish transgressors are the qualities of the Kshatra.” The same quadrumanous '• Eiim. ii. 118, 32. The moral teachings of this chapter are much superior to those of the professed law-books. The following lines (verses 13-14) are excellent: — q-ff: nfTTU II Tratliis the founda'.ion of pietj' in the world; the root of religion is truth; Truth is the supreme principle in the world ; on truth prosperity rests. Tnith is the most excellent of all things; wherefore let truth be glorious. CASTE IX THE EPICS— THE RA'MA'YAXA. 2-23 teacher gives him the following instruction agreeable to the Law Books: — “Thedestroyerofkings, ofBrahmans, and of cows, the thief, the life-taker, the atheist, and the younger brother who marries before the elder, go to hell. My skin is not fit to be worn by saints. What will you do with my bones ! My flesh is not to be ate by^a Brahma- chari like thyself. O descendant of Raghu, there are five classes (of animals) with five nails which are not to be ate by Brahmans and Kshatriyas. The hare, porcupine, guana, crocodile, and tortoise are these five. These ^ther five have been mentioned (by law) to me as inedible — the jackal, crocodile, monkey, kinnara, and man.* Munis do not touch either my skin or bones. My flesh is not to be ate by saints ; I am of the five-nailed. ”j' Lakshmana, the brother of 'Rama, when instructing Sugriva, the brother and successor of Bali, seems to have made a return for this information ; for he repeats this Shloka on the authority of Brahma : — “ For the slayer of a Brahman, for the drinker of intoxicants, for the thief, and for the breaker of vows an atonement (iiishKritiX) is prescribed; but for ingratitude there is no atonement.”^ Though the authors of the Ramayana speak of the Yaishyas and Shi'alras as having their respective functions * The word for man here is nara, coupled with vdnara (monkey), — the man-of-the woods, — according to the native etymologists, t Ram. iv. 16. 22, 30-34. J Literally “ a-doing-away.” The word is used in MaraRii as well as in Sanskrit, and is often nearer the idea.of“ atonement” than prdijas- cliitta, the meaning of which frequently is “ penance,” or “ penitence.” Ram. iv. 34. 18. 221 WHAT CASTE IS. (sraliarma), they did not, it appears to me, seek to recognize any sncli subordination of castes and ranks founded on diversities of occupation as has been exhibited in later times. In the ninetieth chapter of the Ayodhya- Kanda, the inhabitants of the city of Ayodhya are represented .as going out vith Bharata in the following- order, — to seek Rama that he might occupy the throne after his father Dasharatha’s death. I give their desig- nations in tire singular, for the sake of convenience, though the plural is used by the poet. 1 Manikdra, Jeweller. 25 Bandi,\ . Panegyrist. 2 Kumhhakdra, ... Potter. 26 Varata, . Varata. I U Yantrakarmakrit , Mechanician. 27 Vaittrakdra, .. . Worker-in-wilhes. 4 Astropajivi, Man-of-arms. 28 Gdndhika, . Compounder-of- b ilayurika, Peacock-keeper. perfumes. 6 Taittirika, Partridge-keeper. 29 Pdniha, . Dealer-in-drinks. 7 Chhedaka, Borer (as of pearls, 30 Prdvdrika, . Garment-maker, wood, etc.) 31 Sutrahdra, . Uarpenter.J 8 Bhcdaka. Splitter. 32 Shilpopajivi . Artisan, 9 Dantakdra, Ivory-worker.* 33 Hiranyakdra, .. . Worker-in-gold. 10 Sudhakdra, l)ealer-in-nectar. 34 Vriddhyupajivi, U surer. 11 Gandhopnjtvi, ... Perfumer. 35 Prdbdlika, . Worker-in-coral. 12 Svarnakdra, Goldsmith. 36 Skaukarika, . Pork-dealer. 13 Kanakadhdraka, Metallic-burnisher. 37 Matsyopajivi, .. . Fishmonger. 14 Sndpaka, Bather. 38 blulavdpa. . Planter. 15 Chhddaka, Dresser. 39 Kdnsyakdra, .. . Brazier. 16 Vaidya, Physician. 40 Chitrakdra, . Painter. 17 Shaundika. Distiller. 41 Dhdnyavikrdyaka Grain-dealer. 18 BhUpika, Incense-dealer. 42 Patiyavikrayi .. . Huckster. 19 Rajaka, Washerman. 43 Phalopajivi, . Fruit-seller. 20 Tantravdya, Weaver. 44 Pushpopajivi, .. . Flower-seller. 21 Rangopajil'i, ... Actor. 45 Lepakdra, . Plasterer. 22 Abhishtavaku, ... Encomiast. 46 Stkapataya, . Architect. 23 .S'uia , Suta. 47 Takshdna, . Carpenter. 24 Mdghada, Msighada. 48 Kdrayantrika, .. . Instrument-maker, * Literallj', toothworkcr. f Probably the equivalent of Bandijaii, X The occupation of the Varata (man of a particular racc^ is unkno^vu. § Binding by cords, instead of nails, seems, judging from the etymology of bis name, to have been originally his wont. CASTE IN THE ETiCS— THE RAIMAYANA. •225 49 !\'iodpaka, Seedsman. 50 Jshtakdkdraka,... Brickmaker. 51 Dadhimodakdra, Cheesemaker. 52 Mdldkdra, Gardener. 53 Chang irika-vik- Seller-of- wood-sor- rayi. rel.* 54 Mdnsopajivi, ... Flesher. 55 PatHkdvdpaka, Planter-of-thc Lodli-tree.f 56 Chkrnopajim, ... SelIer-of-po\vders. 57 Kdrpdsika, Cotton-dealer (or- teazer). 58 Dhanushkdra, ... Maker-of-bows. 59 Sutravikrayi, ... Thread-seller. 60 Shastrakarma- krii, Armourer, 61 Kdndakdra, Betelnut-seller. 62 TambuUka. Leaf-seller. 63 Chitrambhajanti, Draftsman. 64 Ckarmakdra, ... Currier. 65 Lohokdra, Blacksmith. 66 Shaldkdshalaya- Maker-of-darts and kartd, javelins. 67 Viskaghdta, Destroyer-of-poi- sons. 68 Bhutagrahavi- dJiijna, Exorcist. 69 Bdlandmchikit- Physician-for-chil- sak, dren. 70 Arakutakrita, ... 71 Tamrikuta[kvat'\, 72 Svastikdra, 73 Keshakdra, 74 Bhaktopasddha- ka, 75 Brishtakdm, 76 Shaktukdra, 77 Shddvika, 78 Khandakdra, ... 79 Vdnijaka, 80 Kdchakdra, 81 Chatrdkdra, 82 V edhahashodka- ka, 83 Khandasansthd- paka, 84 Tdmropajivi, ... 85 Shrenhuahattara, 86 Grdmaghoshama- hattara, 87 Shailmha, 88 Dijutavaitansilca, Brass-founder. Copper-founder. M aker-of-figures (on floors, etc). Hairdresser. Boiler (Cook). Frier (Cook). Baker. Confectioner. Bealer-in-candied- sugar. Merchant. Cutter-of-crystal, or glassmaker. Umbrella-maker. Refiner. Maker-of-inlaid- work. Coppersmith. Chief-of-a-guild. Chief-of-the-town- herds. Player (or Tum- bler). Diee-player. “ Followers of each occupation,” it is added, “and all other dealers, in the city crowded together, except those who were sick, old, and young. Brahmans, who were pure, versed in the Vedas, and distinguished, thousands in number, came along behind Bharata, who proceeded with his luggage loaded on bullocks.” J To these Brahmans he had given abundant largesses on the occasion of his having performed the first funeral obsequies (shraddha) of his * rrobabI.v for rinsing the teeth. t For what use ? i Ram. ii. 90. In the northern recension (Bombay edition, ii. 83, Ibh 161), the classes enumerated are much fewer than tho.se in this list. 29 226 WHAT CASTE IS. father. Vasishtha advised him to occupy the throne, promising that the people of the north, west, and south, the Keralas (the people of the Konkan and Malabar), the Dandadharas, and the dwellers on the coast of the ocean, would bring him gems (in token of subjection,)* In the list above-quoted there can be nothing more than an attempt to represent the occupations of the times of Rama, to which the poem is posterior. Whether or not it belonged to the poem in its original form, it is impossible to say. It shows an advanced state of society, as far as diversities of occupation are concerned. What is most worthy of notice in it is, that the profession ists which it enumei'ates are mentioned seemingly without any refer- ence to the rank usually recognized in caste arrangements. Many of them, it is obvious, must have belonged to the A'ryau race. The Ramayana mentions some of the aboriginal tribes of India with greater respect than that accorded to them in Mann. Rama in an early stage of his wanderings near the Ganges met “ the virtuous Guha, the beloved chief of the Ni.«hadas.”t The occurrence of the Nishadas at this place seems to indicate that the progress oftlie A'ryan race in the eastern country was still but limited.'j: The forest tribes represented by Hanuman, Sugriva, etc. were his great auxiliaries in his alleged journey to Lanka. The Palliovas, Shalcas (Sacoe, Scythians), Yavanas (lones or Greeks) Kambojas, Varvaras (Barbaroi), Haritas, Kird- Ram. ii. 88. 7. f 3IfJTr^rr?r (THTffJrr Ram. i. l. 29. Bombay ed. et in al. loc. t For Rama’s intercourse with Guha, see Ram. ii. 52. Gor. CASTE IN THE EPICS— THE EAMAYAXA. 00 V tds, and Mlechchas are. spoken of as most valiant, tliongli most impure, peoples, in the narrative of the contests between Yashishtlia and Vishvamitra in the first book. Tbe Chdadalas (tlie Gondaloi of Ptolemy*) are more than once mentioned as conveying defilement to those coming in contact with tliem. The sons, or disciples of Vasisbtha, are represented as asking, in opposition to Vishvamitra, originally a Kshatriya, bow tbe gods can eat the sacri- fice when it is offered by a Kshatriya officiating as a priest (i/ajala) for a Chdndala, and how Brahmans after eating the food of a Chandala can go to heaven purified by ATshvamitra.f Yet Rama is said to have called the chief of the twice-born (tlie Brahmans) to kindle the fire of the Homa, to repeat mantras, to scatter the Knsha grass, and to oflier clarified butter to the fire, on the occasion of the instalment on the throne of the monkev •J Bali, who did not recover from the wound of his arrow.;,'; The most extensive allusions to the provinces, tribes, and nations of India which the Rdmayana contains are made in the orders issued by Sugriva to his monkey-hosts to search for Sita after her abstraction by Havana. Connected with the East, mention is made (in addition to that of mythical beings) of the Shakas, Pulindas, and Kalingas ; of tlie Sumhhas, Videhas, Kashikosbalas, Magadhas, Danda- kulas, Vangas, and Angas; and of the Kiratas, the black- mouthed Parakas and Karhukas, Connected with the South, are noticed the Mekalas, Utkalas, Chedas, Dasharnas, * Ptol. Geo. vii. f Rilni. 59. 11-15. See on this Muir’s Texts, i. p. 102. t Rilin. ir. 25. 27-28. 228 WHAT CASTE IS. Knkiiras, Antavvediis ; the Bhojas, Piindyas, the Vidar- hlia.^s, Rishikas, Ashmakas, Pnliiidas, and Kalingas ; the Aundras (Andhras ?), tlie Dravidas, Pimdras, Cholas, and Keralas. Connected with the Weat reference is made to the Surashtras, Yalhikas, Bhadras, and Ahhiras ; tlie Suviras, Anlias, and Kolukas ; tlie Kaikeyas, Sindhusaiiviras ; Anarttas ; the inhabitants of Main* and Anumarn, the Shnrabhiras ; tlie Pahlavas, and the inliahitants of the Panchanada, Kashmir, the city of Takshasldla, Shalaka, and tlie Shalvas. Connected with the North, are mentioned the Maisyas, Pnliiidas, Sharasenas, the Pracharas, the Bhadrakas, the Kurus and Madrakas, the Gaiidharas, the Yavanas, Shakas, Odras, Paradas, Vidhikas, Paiiravas, Kinkaras, Chinas, and Aparchhias, the Tukharas, \arvaras (or Barbaras), Kambojas, and Daradas, the Kiratas, Tan- kanas, Bhadras, and Pashupalas, and the Uttara Knrus.t The portion of the poem in which these names occur is probably one of its later sections. Rama on recovering his wife, and abandoning her from suspicion after she had passed through the ordeal of fire, and being inaugurated, is made to give to the Brahmans “ thousands of thousands of cows, hundreds of humh’eds of bulls, 30,000,000 goldings, conveyances, food, clothes, beds and couches, and very many vil- lages.”! The Raiiiayana, so interesting in a literary point ofvieu, ends with the glorification of the Brahmans, whose exal- tation was ever in the view of its authors. * Also given as Marabliumi. i Ram. vi. 112. 84-G. I Ram. iv. 40. 41. 43. 44. CASTE IN THE EPICS— THE MAHABHAllATA. 229 2. The 3Iahdbharata, to wliicli we now proceed, is a u ork of great size. It is generally spoken of as contain- ing 100,000 stanzas ; hut this was certainly not its original hulk. The first printed edition [puhlislied at Calcutta], writes Professor II. H. Wilson, “ contains 107,389 shlokas ; hut this comprizes the supplement called Hari\ansha, the stanzas of which are 16,374, and Avhich is certainly not a part of the original Mahahharata.”’*' In its first chapter it is represented as repeated hy the Sauti (or Suta) Ugra- shava, the son of Lomaharshana, to the Rishis of the Naimisha forest. It is attributed to Krishna Dvaipayana, or Vydsa (“ the ’extender”), who is said to have compre- hended it, in its first edition, in 24,000, stanzas, hut without the Upakhyaiias (“ inferior narratives”) devoted to the gods, pitris (ancestorial manes), Gandharvas, and men, which when added raised it to 100,000.| It is said to have been communicated hy Narada to the Gods ; by Devala to the Pitris ; hy Shuka, to the Gandharvas, and hy Vai- shampayana, (who heard it from his master at a sacrifice of king Janamejaya, the disciple of Vyasa,) to Men. It is said of it that some Brahmans commence it Avith the word Mami ; some, with cislika ; and some Avith i/joaric/tara,]; In all probability the editions of it have been numerous, episodes and interpolations having been added to it at various times, hy Brahmanical agreement. Its name, according to some, means, ‘‘of-great-Aveight” ; and accord- ing to others, Avho are probably right in their opinion, “ AAdiat-pertains-to-the-great-(king)-Bharata.” Vyasa, to * Introduction to Johnson’s Selections from the Mahiibharata. t iUahabh. i. 1. 101 (p. 4). J Mahabh. i. 1. 52 (p. 3). 230 WHAT CASTE IS. whom its original authorship is assigned, is said to liavc been the half -brother of ViehitraA Irva (of the Lunar Race of kings) by whose widowed wives (Ainba and Amhalika) he had as sons Pandu and Dhritarashtra.* Pandu had five sons, called the Paiidavas — Yuddhi.«hthira, Bliima, and Arjnna by his wife Pritha; and Naknla and Sahadeva by his wife JMadri. Dhritarashtra had the parentage of a hundred sons ascribed to him, collectiyely called the Kau- ravas as descended from king Kuril, of whom Dnryodhana the oldest was the most distinguished. The subject of tlie poem of the iMahahharata is a war for sovereignty, — the possession of the throne of Hastinapura, — between tlie Pandavas and Kauravas, now mentioned. The story of the “ Mahabharata is divided into eioh- •J O teen Parvas, or “ Segments,” — the A'di, Sabha, Vana, Virata, Udyoga, Bhishma, Drona, Karna, Shalya, Saup- tika, Stii, Shanti, Anushashana, Ashvamedha, A'shram- vasika, Mausala, Mahaprasthana, and Svargarohana, — to the general contents of which it is proper for us to allude, for the sake of marking the position of the inform- ation which they afford on the subject of caste. (1.) The A di Parva (or Parvva), the Introductory Section, notices the general circumstances of the parties Avith whom the Great War originated. Pandu, “ the Pale,” was, on account of his pallor (perhaps intimating as supposed by Professor H. H. Wilson a leprous taint) * Krislina Dvaipayana is said to have been the son of the Sage Pariishara by Satyavati before her marriage to Shantanu, tlie king of Hastinapura. Vichitravirya, the .successor of Shantanu, dying Avithout offspring, Vyasa, according to the custom of the times, raised up by his AvidoAvs heirs to the throne. CASTE IN THE EPICS— THE MAIIABHAKATA. 231 lield incapable of succession to the throne. H e conse- quently retired to the Himalaya mountains, where his sons were born to him or (according’ to the legends} produced through his wives by various of the gods. On his death they were introduced, at Hastinapura, to their uncle Hhritarashtra, who, on being’ ultimately satis- fied about their origin, took them under his care, and educated them with his own sons, who treated them with jealousy and dislike, setting fire on one occasion to the house in which they resided with their mother Pritha. The Pandavas, warned by this opposition, secreted themselves in the forests, and disguised themselves as Brahmans. Jt was only when they heard of the svayam- vara, (or the choice of a husband after public trial of capacity and prowess) of Draupadi, the daughter of Drupada, king of Panchala, in which they were success- ful, that they were again revealed in their own character.* It is curious to observe the alleged polyandrism of their common wife, which is in accordance with customs still existing in Malabar and Travankur, the South-west of India. (2.) In the Sahl d, or Court, Parva, various movements at H istinapura are recorded. Dhritarashtra, hearing of the success of the Pandavas sent for them, and divided the sovereignty between them and his sons, Yudhi.'shthira and his brethren reigning at Indraprastha, and Dur- * For a spirited poetical translation of the Passage of Arras, by Prof. H. H. Wilson, see Quart. Or. Mag. March 1825. The passage of Arras was at Panchala, and not at Ilastinapur as mentioned in the title of this translation. 232 WHAT CASTE IS. yodhana and his brethren reigning at Hastinapura, at no oreat distance from one another. Jealousies and strifes o were tlie consequence of this arrangement. Yudhi.di- thira, aided by his brothers, brought many of the inferior })riiices of India under his sway. He then engaged in celebrating the ceremonial of the Eajasuya, — in esta- blishment of his pre-eminence, — at which these princes did him obeisance. The sons of Dhritarashtra, dislikino- his honours, but feigning a wish to promote the amuse- ment going on, challenged him to a game, resembling backgammon, at which he lost to Duryodhana his all — including his kingdom, wife, brothers, and himself. These were again restored to him on the intercession of Dhritara.shtra ; but, on a second adventure, he incurred the penalty of passing, with his brothers and their com- mon wife Draupadi, twelve years in the forests and an additional year in absolute obscurity, with liability to renewal of the whole period in case of their discovery in this interval. (3.) In the Va>m, or Forest, Parva, we have an account of the incidents which befell the Pandavas in their banishment. (4.) The Virala Parva brings to notice the intercom- munion of the Pandavas with Virata, king of Matsya- desha, to whom they revealed themselves after the completion of the period of their exile, and whose assist- ance they secured to avenge their wrongs. (5.) The Udyoga Parva, or Chapter of Endeavour, re- lates the preparations made by both sides for the terrible war which was to follow. The assistance of king Krishna, said to be an Avatara or Incarnation of Vi.'rhnu, was soli- CASTE IN THE EPICS— THE MAHA'BHA'RATA. 233 cited by both parties, to whom he was related in blood. He gave Duryodhana the choice either of his own personal assistance, or of that of his army. His military force was preferred. In consequence of this he was left free to give himself to the Pandavas, to Avhose cause, as the story goes, and as the charioteer of Arjuna, he gave invaluable assistance, although he afterwards had his own difficul- ties in battle with Jarasandha and other foes. (6.) The Bhishma Parva derives its name from Blnsh- ma, the son of Shantauu by Ganga, or the Ganges- He was the paternal uncle of Dhritarashtra, owing to whose blindness he acted as regent while his grand-nephews were under age. Though he did not approve of the con- duct of Duryodhana to his cousins, he espoused the cause of the Kauravas. In the first series of battles, to which the sixth parva is mainly devoted, he commanded the forces of Duryodhana. He was Avounded in fight. Of the battles which took place under him and the generals by Avhom he was succeeded, it is correctly said, “ Some of these are very Homeric ; but, in general, the interest of the narrative is injured by repetition, and the battles are spoiled by the introduction of supernatural veapons, which leaves little credit to the hero who vanquishes by their employment.”* 7. The Drona Parva is named from Drona, the mili- tary preceptor of both the Kauravas and Pandavas, who succeeded Bhishma as commander of the forces of the Kauravas, and proved a most competent warrior^ * Prof. H. H. Wilson’s Preface to Johnson’s Selections from the Mahabharata. 30 234 WHAT CASTE IS. 8. The Karna Parva makes us acquainted with the generalship, on the same side, of Karna, said to be the son of A'ditya, the Sun, and of Pritha, before her marriage to Pandu. It was the jealousy of his brethren, who viewed him as a bastard, which is assigned as the reason of his espousing the cause of their adversaries. He is represented as the king of Anga. 9. The Shalija Parva gets its name from Shalya, king of Madra, the successor of Karna. It was when he was leader that Duryodhana was killed by Bhima in a duel fought with Gadas, or maces of a formidable character. 10. The Sauptika Parva, or Section-of-Sleep, is named from a nocturnal attack made on the Pandavas, in the repulsion of which they owed much to Krishna, their ally. 11. The or Female, Parva is named from the lamentation of the females over the slain on both sides. It also represents the leaders of the war as nearly over- whelmed with grief. It contains some passages char- acterized by affection and tenderness. 12. The Shdnti Parva is the section of Consolation, following this grief. A great deal of the Hindu teach- ing respecting the duties of kings and the means of liberation from future births, put into the mouth of Blnshma, has found in it a place. It has] evidently re- ceived many interpolations. (13.) The Anushdshana Parva, or Section of Law, treats of general duties, the speaker also being Bhi.fhma, about to die, and the principal listener being Yudhishthira. Its didactic })ortions are enlivened by tales and fables, according to Indian custom. CASTE IN THE EPICS-TIIE MAHA'BIIA'KA'I'A. 2So (14.) The AshvamedJta, or Horse-sacrifice, Parva, gives us ail account of tlie great ceremonial of Yudliisli- thira, on his attaining- to acknowledged sovereignt}^ (15.) The A'shvamavasika Parva, or Section-of-the- Ilefuge, shows us Dhritarashtra, his wife Gandhari (the daughter of the king of Gandliara), and their companions retiring to a hermitage and there dying. IG. The Mausala Parva, or Section- of- the-Clnh, narrates the destruction of the race of Yadii of the Lunar line, including that of Krishna, one of its members, which ■was followed by the submergence of Dvarika, his ulti- mate capital. The denomination and contents of the two remaining books, we mention in the words of Professor H. H. Wilson : — 17. “The seventeenth Book called the Mahaprasthanika or Great- Journey, witnesses the abdication of his hardly won throne, by Yudhishthira, and the departure of himself, his brothers, and Draupadi to the Himalaya, on their way to the holy mount Mem. As they ju’oceed, the influence of former evil deeds proves fatal, and each in succession drops dead by the way side, until Yudhishthira, and a dog that followed them from Hastinapura, are the only survivors. Indi-a comes to convey the prince to Svarga, or Indra’s heaven ; but Yudhishthira refuses to go thither, unless Admitted to that equal sky, His faithful dog shall bear him company, and Indra is obliged to comply. 18. “ The eighteenth Book, the Svargarohana [the De- parture-to-Heaven] introduces Yudhishthira in his bodily 23G WHAT CASTE IS. form to heaven. To his great dismay he finds there Diir- yodhana and the other sons of Dhritarashtra ; hnt sees none of his own friends, his brothers, or Draupadi. He demands to know where they are, and refuses to stay in Svaroa without them. A messenger of the gods is sent to show him where his friends are, and leads him to the ‘ fauces grayeolentis Avemi,’ where he encounters all sorts of dis- gusting and terrific objects. His first impression is to turn hack ; hut he is arrested by the wailiims of well-remem- hered voices, imploring him to remain, as his presence has already alleviated their tortures. He overcomes his repug- nance, and resolves to share the fate of his friends in health, rather than abide with their enemy in heaven. This is his crowning trial. The gods come, and applaud his disinter- ested virtue. All the hoiTors that had formerly beset bis path, vanish ; and his friends and kindred are raised along ^vith him to Svarga ; where they become again the celestial personages that they originally were, and Avliich they had ceased to be for a season, in order to descend along with Krishna in human fonns amongst mankind and co-operate with him in relieving the world from the tyranny of those evil beings, who were oppressing the virtuous and propa- gating impiety, in the chai-acters of Duryodhana, his brothers, and their allies.”* On the Harivansha, which is a supplement to the Maha- bharata, we do not at present say anything. In examining the Mahabharata in connexion with the subject of our inquiry, we find a very decided social and poetical exaltation of caste ; some historical traces of the manner in which it acquired its ultimate establishment ; * Preface to John.son’s Selections from the Mahabharata. CASTE IN THE EPICS- THE MAHA BIIA'RATA. 237 mid some carious theoretical speculations as to its origin. It is convenient to refer to it in the order of its hooks now mentioned. (1.) In the first section we have an account of a strug- gle of the Brahmans with the Kshalriyas which, though of a wild character, may he noticed as illustrative of the enmity Avhich their mutual contests for supremacy during the rise of the caste system must often have generated, I insert the accurate abstract of it given hy Mr. Muir: — “ There was a king named Kritavirya, hy whose liberality the Bhrigus, learned in the Vedas, who officiated as his priests, had been greatly emiched with corn and money. After he had o'one to heaven, his descendants were in want of money, and came to beg for a supply from the Bhrigus, of whose wealth they were aware. Some of the latter hid their money under ground, others bestowed it on Brah- mans, being afraid of the Kshatriyas, while others again gave these last what they wanted. It happened, however, that a Kshatriya, while digging the ground, discovered the money concealed in the house of a Bhrigu. The Ksha- triyas then assembled and saw this treasure, and slew, in consequence, all the Bhrigus, down to the children in the womb. The widows, however, fled to the Himalaya mountains. One of them concealed her unborn child in her thigh. The Kshatriyas, hearing of its existence, sought to kill it ; but it issued forth with a lustre which blinded the persecutors. They, now humbled, supplicated the mother of the child for the restoration of their sight ; but she refeiTed them to her wonderful infant Aurva (into whom the whole Veda, with its six Vedangas,* had entered), * See, above, p. 216. 238 WHAT CASTE IS. as the person who had rohhed them of their sight, (in re- taliation of the slaughter of his relatives), and who alone could restore it. They accordingly had recourse to him, and their eyesight was restored. Ann a, however, meditated the destruction of all living creatures, in revenge for the slaughter of the Bhrigus ; hut his progenitors (pitris) them- selves appeared, and sought to turn him from his purpose by saying that they had no de.sire to he revenged on the Kshatriyas ; ‘ whose violence the devout Bhrigus had not overlooked from weakness, but had rather sought to pro- voke, by concealing their money, (for which, in view of heaven, they cared nothing,) in order, when weary of life, to bring about their own destruction by the hands of those irritated warriors, that so they might he exalted the sooner to paradise.’ ‘ Destroy not the Kshatriyas, O sou,’ they concluded, ‘ nor the seven worlds ; abandon your kindled wrath, which nullifies the power of austeriUy.. Aurva, however, argued against this clemency on grounds of jus- tice and policy ; and urged that his wrath, if it found no other vent, would consume himself. He was, however, at length persuaded by the pitris to throw it into the sea, where it found exercise in assailing the watery element : — “ Having become the great Hayashiras, known to those who are acquainted with the Veda, which vomits forth that fil e, and drinks up the waters.”* This legendry, the ob- ject of which is apparent, appears in various other forms in the Mahabharata and other works. The phosphorescence of the sea, seen when ships move along, is pointed to, even in the present day, as the flashings of the Aurvagui, or submarine fire of Aiu’va. * Mahdbharatca, i. v. 6802, et seq. Miiir’s Texts, i. pp. 152. CASTE IN THE EPICS— THE MAIIA'BIIA'RATA. 239 The celebration of the glory (mahatmya) of Brah- mans is said to be one of the objects of the Mahabharata itself.* Desiring’ the favour of Brahma and the Brah- mans, it is said Vyasa formed the divisions of the Vedas, ■wherefore he is called Vyasa, tlie Divider.f Without reference to the alleged origin of the castes from the bodily members of the divinity, it is said, that “ the known mental sous of Brahma are the six Mahar- shis, Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, and Kratu From these Maharshis, according’ to the con- text, all created beings have sprung. Concerning the eight kinds of marriage prescribed in the Smriti — the Brahma, Daiva, Arsha, Prajapatya, Asura, Gandharva, Rakshasa, and Paisacha, it is said that the first four of them become the Brahman; the first six, the Kshatriya ; the Rakshasa, a king ; and the Pai- sacha, the Vitas and Shudras.§ The “Brahman,” it is said, “is the chief of bipeds, the cow is the highest of quadrupeds ; the guru is the chief of those that are venerable ; and a son is the chief of those that are delectable.” |( Yet, in the context, it is said that “ The Kshatra was created by the Brahma, and the Brahma was formed by the Kshatra.”^!' Perhaps, in the latter clause, the reference is to an allegation such as we find in the Chhandogya Upanishad, that Brahma, viewed in the Vedantic sense of the “ science-of-soul,” « M. Bh. i. V. 2316. f Ib. v. 2417. t Ib. V. 2518. § Ib. 2962-3. 11 M. Bh. i. 3044. UOT wr?I'4r dr?T. Ib. V. 3377. 210 WHAT CASTE IS. particularly as connected with a future state, originated with the Kshatriyas.* Such an origination of this species of learning is by no means improbable, the Kshatriyas ultimately being freer for speculation than the Brahmans enoao-ed in the cumbersome and minute rites and cere- O O monies which they succeeded in monopolizing. The credit given to the Kshatriyas in this matter was counter- balanced by the subsequent progress of the Brahmans in this kind of learning. He who is chief among the knowers-of-Brahma, is he who excels in the use of the weapons-of-Brahma. For Drona, a Brahman, superiority even in valour was claimed. f In a passage, quoted by Mr, Muir, “ The Yavanas are said to be descended from Turvasu, the Yaibhojas from Druhyu, and the Mlechcha tribes from Ann.”;}: Remarks * The pre-eminence of the Kshatriya in the case of research as to soul is several times brought to notice in the Chhandogya Upanishad. Mr. Eajendraliil Mitra, in the introduction to his edition and transla- tion of this ancient piece, says (pp. 25-26), “ In explaining these attributes of Om several anecdotes are related, in one of which (v. 8.) a Kshatriya takes piecedence of two Brahmans in explaining the subject of their discourse. Similar precedence is given to the Ksha- trij’as in sections 3rd and 11th of the fifth chapter, and in the Kathaand Vrihad Aranyaka Upanishads. Nor does this precedence appear to be accidental. Pravahana, King of Panchiila (ch. v. sect. 3) goes the length of asserting that the knowledge of man’s lot hereafter was first attained by his own caste.” In reply to a question from a Brahman he says, “ Since you have thus inquired, and inasmuch as no Brahman knew it before, hence of all people in the world, the Kshatriyas alone have the right of imparting instruction on this subject.” t M. Bh. i. V. 6379. i Muir, i. p. 178, M. Bh. i. v. 3533. CASTE IN THE EPICS— THE MAHABHARATA. 241 of this kind, however, are probably speculative for the nonce, and not historical. The Rishi Vasishtha is (probably fictionally) associ- ated with the Bharatas as their family-priest. He is represented as installing Sainvarana as monarch of the Kshatriya race, to be a horn (of power) over the whole earth, by the simple repetition of the syllable Om.* The co-operative subordination of the four Castes is said to have been observed in the reign of Shantanu.j' The Nishadas found by the Pandavasand Kauravas, on their going out to hunt, are said to have been so black in their skin and hair that the dogs began to bark at them, and to have been particularly keen in hearing. This is an indication of their long residence in India, and of their comparatively uncivilized state. Suicide is declared to be less heinous than Brahmacide, for which there is no atonement {nishkriti).^ A curious leo-eud is related at length to enhance the Avorth and might of the Brahman Vasishtha and to depre- ciate his rival Vishvamitra, of Avhom we have already given various notices. We take the following extracts of it from Mr. Muir’s Texts, adopting his excellent translation. “Having gained this great and self-restraining personage” (Vasishtha), it is said, “ the Kings of Ikshvaku’s race acquired the dominion of the earth. Possessing this excellent Rishi, Vasishtha, for their priest, they offered sacrifice. This Brahman-rishi performed sacrificial rites for all those monarchs,as Vrihaspati does for the immortals. Wherefore let some desirable Brahman, endoAved with * M. Bh. i. 3731, sq. See on this, Muir, i. p. 135. t M. Bh. i. V. 3977-8. t Ib. v. 4249. § M. Bh. i. v. C227. 31 242 WHAT CASTE IS. good qualities, whose chief characteristic is religion, aud who is skilled in Vedic observances, be selected as a family priest. Let a well-born Kshatriya, who wishes to subdue the earth, first appoint a priest, in order to acquire domi- nion.” The story goes on to speak of the cow of Va- sishtha. Vishvamitra offered “a hundred millions of cows, or his kingdom, as her price. His offer was rejected. He then said, ‘He was a Kshatriya, and Vasishtha a Brah- man, whose function was devotion and study ; one of a class who were gentle and destitute of power; — and that as his offer was refused, he would act agreeably to the characterof his caste, and take the cow by force.’ Vasishtha told him to do as he proposed wdthont loss of time. Vish- vamitra seized the cow', but she would not move from the hermitage, though violently beaten with whip and stick ; and demanded of Vasishtha why he did not help her.”* In the same parva there occurs another legend connected with the parties now mentioned, in which some curious illustrations are given of Brahmanical demands and exactions. Vasishtha was the priest of king Kal- mashapada, son of Sudasa of the race of Ikshvaku, an office desired also by Vishvamitra. The king, when out hunting, desired Shaktri, the eldest of Vasi.ditha’s hundred sons to get out of the road. “ The king must according to all the principles of law cede the path to the Brahman,” was the repl}^ The king did not yield, but struck the Brahman with his whip. The Brahman, in return, laid a curse upon the king, that he should be- come a man-eater. The king was ultimatelj^ however, about to give Avay, when Vishvamitra, who was passing * M. Bh. i. V. CG38, et. seq. Muir’s Tests, i. pp. 9G-7. CASTE IN THE EPICS— THE MAHABHARATA. 243 l)y, put a Rdksliasa into him, wlio urged him to mischief. The king sent some human flesh to a poor Brahman, ^vllo also laid his curse upon him, to the intent that he should become a man-eater. He consequently began his work by devouring all the children of Vasishtha, beginning with the oldest. Vasishtha attempted to destroy himself, instead of destroying his rival Vishva- mitra. ‘This divine sage hurled himself from the sura- mit of ]\Ieru ; but fell upon the rocks as if on a heap of cotton. Escaping alive from his fall, he entered a glow- ing fire ill the forest ; but the fire, though fiercel}' blazing, not only failed to burn him, but .seemed perfectly cool. He next threw himself into the sea with a heavy stone attached to his neck; but was cast up by the waves on the dry land. He then went home to his hermitage; but seeing it empty and desolate, he was again overcome by grief, and binding himself with bonds he threw himself into the river Vipasha, which was swollen by the rains, and was sweeping along many trees torn from its banks ; but the river severing his bonds, deposited him unbound (Vipasha) ; whence the name of the stream, as imposed by the sage.... He afterwards threw himself into the Shatadni (Sutlej), which derived its name from rushing away in a hundred directions on seeing the Brahman brilliant as fire.’ In consequence of this he was once more stranded. After roaming about over many countries and forests, he again returned to his hermitage ; and finding that his daughter-in-law Adrf- .shyanti (Saktrl’s widow) was pregnant (with a child, who, when born, received the name of Parashara), and that there was thus a hope of his lineage being continued, he 244 WHAT CASTE IS. abstained from further attempts on his own life. King Kalmashapiida, whom they beheld in the forest, was about to devour them both, when Vasi.?htha stopped him by a blast from his mouth, and sprinkling him with water, consecrated by a holy text, he delivered him from the curse by which he had been affected for twelve years. The king then addressed Vasishtha thus : ‘ Most excel- lent sage, I am Saudas, whose priest thou art : What can I do that would be pleasing to thee? Vasishtha answered : ‘ This which has happened has been owing to the force of destiny : go, and rule thy kingdom ; but O monarch never contemn the Brahmans.’ The king re- plied : ‘ never shall I despise the most excellent Brahmans, but submitting to thy commands, I shall pay them all honor.’ ”* In the Hindu literature there are other legends of a similar character about these personages, which it would contribute but little to our purpose here to notice in detail. The whole have originated in allu- sions in the Hig-Veda to both Vasi.'jhtha and Vishvamitra having been family priests of king Sudasa, and at the same time having been very jealous of one another’s influence, and disposed to use their own power, and that of the gods whom they invoked, to do one another mischief. They testify merely to a struggle of the Brahmans with the Kshatriyas in the establishment of their priestly mono- poly,!— a struggle, the grounds of which are obvious. (2.) In the Sabhd Parva we find a chapter^ which * Muir’s Texts, i. 113-117. M. Bh. i. v. 6699, et seq. j" See Texts of Mr. Muir, i. 95 et. seq., where the legends are pati- ently collected and compared and accurately translated. M. Bh. ii. 5. V. 983, et seq. CASTE IN THE ETICS— THE MAHABHARATA. 245 throws much light on the geography of ancient India, and of the spread of tlie Aryas and their institutions in this great country. It is entitled Dtgvijaya, and treats of the conquest of the four quarters of the world by the brothers of Yudhi.?hthira, and of the gifts brought to him by the nations at the time of his Rajasuya, or coronation sacrifice. It has attracted much attention from European orientalists, though, from the state in which the text is found, it appears to liave been much neglected by native Sanskrit scholars. It has been copiously illustrated both by Professor Lassen and the late Professor H. H. Wilson,* as well as compared with other portions of the Mahabha- rata and of other literary works of the Hindus. The following findings are principally the results of the re- searches of Lassen. Two routes in advance offered them- selves to the ATyans after their settlement in the Pancha- nada, or Panjab, — one leading eastward in the direction of the Yamuna and Ganges, and the other along the Sindhu to the ocean. The valleys of the rivers rising in the Himalaya also invited visitors ; and Kashmira became an ancient seat of the Bralrmanic faith. The Daradas, contiguous to this region, however, followed not this law, being denominated Dasyus in Mann, as well as in the Mahabharata. When the A'ryas reached the course of the Yamuna, they found the Vindhya range with its * See Lassen’s commentaries upon it in the first and second volumes of his Zeitschrift fiir die Kunde des Morgenlandes, and in his Indische Altherthumskunde, vol. i. p. 531 et. seq. A translation of this portion of his invaluable work is given in the Oriental Christian Spectator, for May and June 1857, and March and April 1862. For Professor Wilson’s illustrations, see his Vishnu Purana, pp. 179-197. 246 WHAT CASTE IS. many offsets and forests. Following the principal streams tlie}^ reached the Sarayu and the Kaiishik'i, where their earlier capitals Ayodhya and Mithila were founded. From Madhyadesha where they now were, the roads, in progress, went either across the Yiudhya, or round it on both sides. Advances mav also have been made hv them to %/ » the west of the Aravali range, wdiere, near the range itself, the country is not altogether barren. Sura.«htra, mainly the peninsula of Gujarat, appears as early as the Ramayana as an A ryan country. From Indraprastha on the Yamuna, a road ran to the Narmada river l)y way of Ujja3dni ; and another ran from the province of Magadha to the upper portions of the Narmada, but as it passes through the wild country' of the Gondas it would not be of much use to the A'lyas. The Kulindas of the western river-valleys of the Hima- laya and the higher contiguous regions were, probably, at the time of the Mahabharata, an A'lyan nation, never being spoken of as Das\m3, though they must have had but little contact with the Aryan civilization. The regions conti- guous to the westei’n rivers Aiay also be supposed to have been A'lyan, as the}' were easily accessible to a spreading people. Eastward from the Upper Ganges the population was non-ATvan, as were the Tanganas and Kiratas of the Sarayu valley. Videha and Mithila, under the Hima- laya, appear, in the pilgrimages, as A'lyan land. On the whole, in the time of the Mahabharata, the A'ryan pro- gress had not advanced farther to the east than w'e find it in the Ramayana. In other directions, however, that progress was very considerable. While in the Ramaj^ana, Anga was the most south-eastern A'ryan land, w'e find in CASTE IN THE EPICS— THE MAIIABHARATA. 247 the Mahabliarata, powerful kings of the Pundras, the king of Madagiri, of Banga, and of Tdmralipta, and even the Suhraas on the sea-shore, mentioned ; while it tells us that the months of the Ganges were frequented by pil- grims. The Brahmanic law, propagated by the Gautamas, had by this time reached the five principal nations of eastern India, — the Angas, Pundras, Bangas, Suhmas, and Kalingas. The river Vaitaranl, in Kalinga, is even spoken of as a holy river. The worship of Shiva is said to have prevailed in its neigtibourhood. This region was not all subjected to Brahmanism. The Odras, Dravidas, and A'ndhras appear as non-ATyan. In the Ramayana the hermitage of Agastya is placed in the north of the Upper Godavari; in the Mahabliarata it is said to have been found by the Pandavas at the mouth of that river. In the Mahabliarata, the tirthas of the Kumaris, or Virgins, is found at the southernmost promontory of India, still named from them Gape Comorin. The hermitages of the teachers of the Dakhan moved south with the ATyan settlements. A hermitage is spoken of as beino- at Gokarna on the western coast. Prabhasa was also there the locality of a Brahmanical institution, but further to the north, possibly in the British Konkan.* ►Shurparaka was a tirtha both on the western and eastern sea, in the latter case near the mouths of the Krishna. No tirthas being mentioned as in the interior of the Dakhan, we may conclude that at the time of the Mahabliarata it was but little aflected by Brahmanism. JMahishmati, in theMaisur, furnishes auxiliaries, liowever, * So, Lassen. The Brahmans of Surashtra place it at the S. W. corner of the Gujarat Peninsula. 248 WHAT CASTE IS. to the Kurus through its king Nila. In connexion with it, Agni is represented as granting unlimited liberty to the women of that land in the choice of a plurality of husbands, as among the well-known Nairs of Malabar to the present time. The more southern part of the Dakhan is treated as a country but little known ; and there the Dig- Vijaya places the fabulous nations — the one- footed, the black-faced, etc. The known nations of the south are principally situated on the coasts, as the Keralas, Pandyas, Dravidas, Odras, and Kalingas. Vibhishana, the brother of Eavana, is spoken of as in Lanka. The Payoshni, the river of-hot-water, of which a synonym of corresponding meaning was the Tapti, was at the period to which these notices refer rich in its Brah- manical tirthas.* Yidarbha, hodie Berar, and Khandesh, were to a certain extent ATyan, though many wild tribes must then, as well as at present, have been residing within their borders. The Godavari and Bhimarathi were praised as holy rivers. Of the affluents of the Godavari, however, only the Venva is mentioned. The Praveni is the frontier of the holy land in the direction of the Dak- shindpatha, now corresponding with the Dakhan. “If we sum up these inquiries,” says Professor Lassen, “ we perceive a considerable progress in the propagation of the Aryan religion and dominion towards the south when compared with the state of things pourtrayed in the Edindyana. The Brdhmanic cultus had spread from Surdshtra to Gokarna, on the eastern coast not only as far as the mouths of the Ganges, but as far as those of * It was perhaps from these settlements, sacred to Agni the god of fire, that it received its name. CASTE IN THE EPICS— THE MAIIABIIAKATA. 2t9 the Gochivari; and even beyond tliein, the kings of Kaliji- ga and Manipura obeyed the laws of the A'ryan war- riors. In the interior, in the south of India, we find no more the solitary hermitages of the Ramdyana ; but the banks of the Payo.^hm, of the Praveni, and of the Goda- vari are studded with numerous seats of penitents, while the A'ryan kings reign already in the countries to the south of the great mountains of separation, which are even traversed by caravans. Deeper in the south, however, the country is yet non- A'ryan, with the exception of one single region, that of the Mahishikas; and this, although accepting Brahmans and their cultus, still preserves its peculiar Dakhan customs. The people of the southern- most Dakhan and Ceylon have entered into intercourse with the inhabitants of the North, and have become known to them by the products of their countries. Although the conjecture that this connexion took place by sea is not confirmed by the Epos, we possess for it the weightier testimony of the Vedas, that the A'ryan Indians prose- cuted navigation and undertook voyages : because the Ashvins are praised for exhibiting their power by protect- ing the hundred-oared ship of Bhujyu on the immeasurable bottomless sea, and bringing it fortunately to the shore. “ The INIahabharata affords also instructive hints on the manner of the A'rvau propagation. No Aryan empire is mentioned on the west coast to the south of Surashtra. The hermitages, however, of the Brahmans, aiid the seats of the Gods, extend as far as Gokarna ; and thus far pilgrimages were undertaken. But no A'ryan nation is mentioned. Gokarna is now the southern limit of the domain of the Sanskrit tongue. At the time of Ptolemy, 32 250 WHAT CASTE IS. tliis coast, and tlie interior country above it, was called Ary aka ; and hence it must have been occupied by ATyans. Consequently the iinmig-ration of the A'ryans into this part took place later than the time of the Pandavas, and the Brahmans appear here only as the precursors of A'ryan possession. The same holds good also of the valley of the Payoshni, in which, also, only seats of the Brahmans are mentioned ; and the King of A'idarbha is not represented to us as a conqueror, but as a founder of a Brahmanical state. Consequently the Marathas also immigrated after the heroic time. Baglana and the country near the som'ces of the Godavari, i. e. the first seats of the Marathas upon the high land, were not yet visited by the Pandavas. It is still plainer handed down by the my thus, that in Mahishmati, the Brahmans introduced their cultus themselves without the assistance of waniors ; and by this also the conjecture is confirmed, that the south of India was gained over to Aryan civilization, not by forced conversions, but by means of peaceable missions of Brahmans. For this we have also the confinnation of Ptolemy, who mentions a race of Brah- mans ill southernmost India on the Argalic gulf.”* On the names of peoples and countries occurring in the Dig-Vijaya much light has been cast not only by Professor Lassen but by Professor H. H. Wilson ; but it is not necessary for us to extend om’ notices of this and similar portions of the Mahabharata. The carrying on of war, at all hazards of life, is declared to be the duty of the Kshatriya.t (3.) Ill the Vana Parva, after it is again stated that * Lassen’s Indische Altherthumskunde, i. pp. 576-78. •f M. Bh. ii. V. 1951. CASTE IN THE EPICS-THE MAHABHAKATA. 251 the Brahma was formed by the Ksliatra and the Kshatra by the Brahma, the necessity of a Kshatra having a Brah- man for instruction and advice is very emphatically set forth. ithout an aiTangement of this kind any nation or people, it • is said, will go to destruction. The power of the Brahman and Kshatriya united together are as fire and Avind in the consumption of the forest — iiTesistihle.* With reference doubtless to the early settlement of the ATyans near the Sarasvati, it is said, “ They Avho dwell to the south of the Sarasvati and to the north of the Drishad- vati dwell in heaven,” adding that the district is knoAvn by the name of the very holy Brahmakshetra. OiiAvards it is said that the disappearance (in the sands) of the Sarasvati takes place from its reaching the borders of the Nishadas (viewed as impure). “ Here is this delightful, divine, and fluent river the Sarasvati. O King of men, (here is) what is called the Vindshana (the disappearance) of the Sarasvati; on accomit of the fault {dosha) of the commencement of the region of the Nishadas, the Sarasvati, entered the earth. ”f The story of Parshurama and the Kshatriyas is related in this parva A\dth great particularity. The following ac- curate notice of the legend is by Miv Muii’ : — “Arjun, son of Kritaviryaand King of the Haihayas, bad, weare told,, twenty-one hundred arms. He rode in a chariot of gold, the march of which was irresistible. He thus trod down gods, yakshas, and rishis, and oppressed all creatures. The gods and rishis applied to Vishnu, and he along Avith Indra, who had been insulted by Arjuna, devised the means of destroying the latter. About this time, the story goes on, there lived a king of Kanyakubja called Gadhi, who had a daughter named Satyavatl. The marriage of this princess to the rishi Kichika, and the birth of Jamadagni, are then told in the same way as * M. Bh. hi. V. 975-983. f Bh. hi. v. 5074. Ib, v. 10538. 252 WHAT CASTE IS. above narrated in p. 85.* Jamadagui and Satyavati had five sons, the youngest of whom was the redoubtable Parshurdma. By his father’s command he kills his mother (in whom her hu-sband liad detected some inward defilement), alter the four elder sons had refused this matricidal office, and had in consequence been deprived of reason by their father’s curse. At Parshurama’s desire, however, his mother is restored by his father to life, and his brothers to reason, and he himself is absolved from all the guilt of murder. His history now begins to be connected with that of King Arjuna (or Kdrtavirya). The latter had come to Jainadagui’s hermitage, and had been respectfully received ; but he had requited this honour by carrying away by force the calf of the sage's sacrilicial cow, and breaking down his lofty tree.s. On being informed of this violence, Parshuriuna was filled with indignation, attacked and slew Arjuna, and cut off his arms (which according to this version were a thousand in number). Arjuna’s sons in return slew the sage Jamadagui, in the absence of Parshurama. The latter vowed to des- troy the Avhole Kshatriya race, and executed his threat by killing first Arjuua’s sons, and their followers. “ Twenty-one times,” it is said, he swept away all Kshatriyas from the earth, and formed five lakes of blood in Samantapanchaka ; in which he satiated the manes of the Bhrigus He then performed a grand sacrifice to Indra, and gave the earth to the officiating priests. lie bestowed also a golden altar on the sage Kashyapa This, by his permission, the Brahmans divided among themselves, deriving thence the name of Khan avayanas. Having given away the earth to Kashj'apa, Parshurama himself dwells on the mountain IMahendra. Thus did enmity arise between him and the Kshatriyas, and thus was the earth conquered by Hama of boundless might.”t This legend, ^Yhicll occurs in other forms elsewhere, ma}’^ have arisen from a very small beginning, to which we have already referred.^ The only historical fact on which it can be founded, is that there were olden quarrels * See p. 237-8 of this work. I Muir’s Texts, i. pp. 156-7 M. Bh. iii. v. 1 1070, et .seq. I See before, p. 148. CASTE IN THE EPICS- THE MAIIABIIAKATA. 253 about prerogative between Brahmans and Kshatriyas. Its intended lesson is the danger of Kshatriyas trifling Avith Brahmans. In connexion with a description of the first age, put into the month of Hannman, it is mentioned that Brali- mans, Kshatriyas, Vaisln’as, and Shndras strictly observed the institutes of their oavu castes.* Tliis representation Av^as intended as a hint for the present. In the context, sacri- ficing (for one’s self), giving of gifts, learning the Vedas, are said to be common to the three twice- born castes; Avhile sacrificing for others and teaching, and taking alms belong to the Bndimans, — protection (pdlana) being the duty of the Kshatriyas, supporting (poahana) that of the Vaish}"as, and service (slmshrushd) that of the Shudras.f The King Xahnsha, the son of A yus, and grandson of PnrnraA'as mentioned in the Vedas, (avIio is represent- ed, in the first parva;J: as lorcing even the Rishis to pay him tribute, and to carry him upon their shoulders, in a palanquin,) is represented as found by V udhishthira as a serpent, into Avhich state he had been brought by the curse of one of them, Agastya Muni, Avhom he had touched Avith his foot. He is made to be bcAvail his pride and to ask deliverance from Yudhishthira, whose name had been given as Ins saviour by the Muni, on his begging his pardon. It is added that Yudhishthira gave him a celestial form in Avhich he ascended to heaven. The curse and its limitation Avere of course both from the Brahman. § M. Bli. iii. V. 11241. f It), iii. v. 11298 etseq. f Ib. i. V. 3151, et seq. § M. Bb. iii. v. 12408, et seq. Muir’s Texts, i, G8-9. 1 254 WHAT CASTE IS. In the course of the alleged conversation between Yudhishthira and the Serpent now referred to, some of the principles of caste as affected by the progress of Indian society, are curiously brought forward. “ The Serpent says : Who, 0 king Yudhishthira, is the Brahman, and what is Knowledge? Declare your high judgment (in the case), I make inquiry of thee. Yudhishthira says : He in whom are seen truth, libera- lity, forgiveness, virtue, innocence, austere-devotion, and compassion, he, O king of Nagas, is according to the Smriti a Brahman. Knowledge, O Serpent, is Parabrah- ma, without pain, without pleasure, whither, upon having gone, they have no grief ; what more do you wish to be known ? The Serpent replies : The establishment of the four castes is with proof (authorized), and Brahma is also true. But even in Shudras, O Yudhishthira, are | truth, liberality, wrathlessness, innocence, abstinence from j killing, compassion. (The) knowledge (of Brahma ?) is also without pain or pleasure, O Lord of men ; and without these (sensations), there is no other thing but Knowledge. Yudhishthira says : When in a Shudra j there is a mark of virtue, and it is not in a Dvfja, the I Shudra is not a Shudra and the Brahman is not a Brah- > man. The person in whom that mark of virtue is seen, jj O Serpent, is a Brennan; and the person in whom it is d not seen is a Shudra.”* The conversation is continued (I here avail myself of Mr. Muir’s translation of it) : “ The Serpent said : If you regard him only as a Brahman w'hom his conduct makes such, then caste is of no avail until deeds are superadded to it. Yudhishthira replies: * M. Bli. iii. vv. 124G9, et seq. CASTE IN THE EPICS— THE MAHABIHVRATA. 255 O most sapient Serpent, the caste of mankind is difficult to determine, owing to the general confusion of classes. Men of all castes are continually begetting cliildren on women of all castes : the speech, the mode of propaga- tion. tlie. birth, the death, of all men are alike. This also is established by the word of rishis, and is authoritative, — ‘ We who sacrifice,’ etc. Hence those who have insight into reality consider virtuous character to be the thing mainly to be desired. The natal rites of a male are enjoined to be performed before the section of the umbil- ical cord. [See Mann ii. 29]. Then Savitri (the Gayatri, Manu, ii. 77), becomes his mother, and the religious teacher his father. [Manu, ii. 170, 225.] He is on a level with a Shudra till he is born in the Veda. [Manu, ii. 172.] In this division of opinions Manu Swayam- bhuva hath so declared. Again, though the prescribed ceremonies have been fulfilled? Yet, if good conduct is not superadded, there is considered to be, in that case, a great confusion of castes. I have before declared him to be a Brahman who aims at purity of conduct.”* There is something here like a statement of certain Buddhist objections to Caste, though with but a feeble reply to them. An account of the Deluge, much extended, and different from that of the Shatapatha Brahmana which we have in- troduced into a former part of this work, [ is given in the parva under notice. It differs from that which we have cpioted, in this among other respects, that it does not men- tion the original residence of IManu.]; * Muir’s Texts, i. 197. f See, before, p. 167 et seq. J M. Bh. iii. 12751, et seq. The passage has been extracted and translated by Mr. Muir in his Texts, ii. 331-2. 256 WriAT CASTE IS. The glory of the Brahman is emphatically set forth in the following- instructions given to Yiulhislithira by the Rishi Markandeya, particularly in their conclusion : — “ Tlie person possessed of these three piu ities — purity of speech, purity of conduct, and purity hy water (ablution) — is \Aorthy of heaven ; of this there is no doubt. The Brahman who performs SandJujd morning and evening, repeating the holy, divine (jdyatri, the mother of the Yedas, that Brah- man becomes hj' this divine (object) free from sin (tmshta- Idlvishah) . He is not to grieve for being a receiver of gifts, even though of the earth and ocean (that is of the whole world). Whatever planets, as the sun in the heavens, etc., may he fearful to him, tliey become to him prosperous, and more and more prosperous tor aye. Pursu- ing evil devils (phhitdshindh,)* oi horrible form and great bulk, do not ill-treat the Brahman. From teaching, sacri- ficing, and taking gifts from others (whatever errors may occur?), there is no fault, as Brahmans are like the blazing tire (which consumes everything). Whether ill-instructed or well-instructed, whether vulgar or refined. Brahmans are not to he disregarded, being as fire concealed in ashes. As kindled fire in the hurning-ground (for the dead) is without fault, so the Brahman learned or unlearned is a great deity.”f Even the Hakshasa Vihlnshana, is made to utter respect for the Brahmans, by declining to use their instrument * Literally, flesli-eaters. ■]• M. Bh. iii. vv. ■ 13131-13438. The following is the Sanskrit of the two last Shlokas of this passage : — 41 1114141: k?4141^4^1 1 W1^'4R14H^-41 i;41?r!l:il NO i 4311 ^JT^IR flRlSTl: 414^1 %4 l-'STR 1 44 14S:Rr4§:r^ 41 41?T'41 444 1144 II CASTE IN THE EPICS— THE MAIIABIIAPvATA. 257 (that of prayer), while his brother Ravana was beseeching* Brahma to make him invisible to liis foes.* (4.) Ill the Vinka Parva, we have the distribution of works for the four castes respectively mentioned, as by “ Svayambluiva” (Mann), a proof that this portion of the work at least is posterior to that Code.f (5.) Ill the Udyoga Parva there is a repetition, with ^■ariations, of the story of the haughty king* Nahusha, evidently again brought forward to show the danger of ill-treating the Brahmans. J (6.) In the Bhishma Parva occurs the well-kiiowu Bhagawad-Gita, or Song-of-God, containing the discourse between Krishna and Arjima, in which the latter party relates his humane scruples about going into battle when the crisis of the great war occurred, and the former gives a reply, which, to use the words of Mr. Milman, breathes “ the terrible sublime of pantheistic fatalism.”^ The system of philosophy on which this remarkable episode is, in the main, founded, is that of the Voga of Panlayijali, in Avhich liberation from further births, and absorption into the divine Spirit, (the great objects of desire accord- ing to Hindu speculation), are made dependent on the knowledge of Spirit and the practice of contemplative and ascetic devotion, so far as indifference to pleasure and pain and the suppression of emotional action are concern- ed. It is not altogether consistent or homogeneous * M. Bh. iii. 15913. Muir, ii. 433. f M. Bh. iv. 1457. So also in vv. 830-35 ; 1550-Gl ; v. 3454 et seq., etc. See Muir i. pp. 69-73. I M. Bh. V. V. 345, et seq. § Quarterly Review, vol. xiv. 258 WHAT CASTE IS. tliroug'liout, and as pointed out by William de Humboldt, who viewed it as an important-cuntribution to philosophy, has itself been probably 'the subject of additions and interpolations, from various hands.* Notwithstanding its speculative character, it professes to show respect to what may be called the Hindu institutes. Its notices of Caste are very scanty. The existence of the mixed classes (Varaa-sankara) it traces to vicious women.f It is probable that at the time it was composed, all il- legitimate children were reckoned to belong to the mixed castes, which, in the first instance, had originated from the division of labour. Fighting it represents as the supreme duty of the Kshatriya.^ Probably with seces- sions to Buddhism, more than secessions from Caste, in view, but applicable to both, it sets forth the general apho- rism : — “ One’s own religion, though worthless, is better than the religion of another, however well instituted (or followed) ; one’s own religion is profitable at death, while that of another beareth fear.”§ It represents Kri.dma (as the Supreme) saying : “ They w'ho are of the womb- of-sin, women, Vaishyas, and Shudras shall go the supreme journey, if they take refuge with me; how much more my holy worshippers, the Brahmans, and the Rajarsliis.”|| In connexion with its notices of the three qualities of truth passion (raja), and darkness * For a translation of Humboldt’s Essay, by the late Rev. G. II. Weigle, see a valuable edition of the Bhagawad-Gita in Sanskrit, Cana- rese, and English, published by the Rev. J. Garrett, at Bangalur, 1849. t M. Bh. vi. V. 872. X M. Bh. vi. V. 909. § M. Bh. vi. v. 958. 11 M. B. vi. 1203-4. CASTE IN THE EPICS— THE MAHABIIARATA. 250 (tama), it says, that, “ The sacrifice which is performed without the ordained rites, witliout the distribution of food, without the mantras, without dakshina, and without faith is of the quality of darkness.”* The respective duties and qualities of the Brahman, Kshatriya, and Vaishya, it declares in the usual form, as already given by us on its aiithority.f (7.) In the Drona Parva, the Shudras, along with other peoples near the Indus, are mentioned as a people, J as in the Dig-vijaya, — a position consistent with that which we have supposed to have originally belonged to them.§ (8.) In the Kama Parva, it is mentioned that in the appointment of Karna to succeed Drona as general. Brah- mans, Kshatriy as, V aishyas, and Slnldras -were unanimous (^sunmatdh).^ In the same section the following passage occurs : — “The Bi'dlnnans, accorchng to the Shruti, were created by Brahma from his mouth ; the Kshatra from his arms ; the Vaishyas from his thighs ; and the Shudras from his feet. Other distinctions of caste called Pratiloma and Anuloma w'ere produced from thein.^ This, 0 king, was from intercourse Avith strange females (those not belonging to one’s owm caste). The Kshatriyas, according to the Smriti, are protectors, collectors (of tribute), and givers-of-largesses. Sacrificing for others, teaching, and taking pure alms, belong to the Brahmans. Brahmans are established on the earth for the advantage of the people. The Vaishyas are in duty * M. Bh. vi. V. 1439. X M. Bh. vii. 183-4. II M. Bh. viii. 390. j See before, pp. 20, 38, 45. § See before, p. 111. If See before, p. 63. 260 WHAT CASTE IS. obligated to agriculture, keeping of cattle, and liberality. The SJmdras are appointed sen ants to the Brahma, Ksha- tra, and Visha, Tlie Sutas are appointed servants of the Brahma and Kshatra. It is not heai'd (never enjoined) that a Kshatriva should be a servant to a Suta. I, a Munl- dhuhhishikta, (Shalya is addressing Dmyodhana) who am born of a Rajai’shi family, O king, and wlio am addressed as a 3Iaharat1ia, am to be served and praised by Bandis. T who am, as above signified, O king, do not wish to be the charioteer of a Sutaputra.” “Having got so dishonoured, I will certainly not fight. Having asked (leave) of you, O son of Gaudharl, I take my departure to my own home.”* Duryodhana afterwards reminds Shalya, that a chaiioteer may be superior to the person driven (as was exemplified in the case of Kri.«lma and Arjuna).')' All this is in consistency Avith the orthodox view of Caste, as found in ISIanu and elsewhere. J In the context of the passages now referred to, much is said of the impurity of the Madrakas, and Gandharas, Avhose king was Shalya. § Of the adjoining teriitories of the Bdh'ikas, the neighbours of the Madi-as, a most curious account is given, in a passage thus summarily translated by Professor H. H. Wilson : — “ An old and excellent Brahman reviling the countries Bahilva and hfadra in the dwelling of Dhritarashtra, related facts long known, and thus described those nations. External to the Himavan, and beyond the Ganges, beyond the Sarasvati and Yamuna rivers and Kurukshetra, between five rivers, and the Sindhii as the sixth, are situated the Biihikas, devoid of ritual or observance, and therefore to be shunned. * M. Bh. viii. v. 1367 et seq. f M. Bh. viii. v. 1621. I See before, p. 53, et seq. § M. Bh. viii. 1837, et seq. CASTE IN THE EPICS— THE MAIliBIIARATA. 201 Theii fig-tree is named Govardhana (i. e. the place of cow-killing) ; their market place is Subhadram, (the place of vending liquor : at least so say the commentators), and these give titles to the doorway of the royal palace. A business of great importance compelled me to dwell amongst the Bi'ihikas, and their customs are therefore well known to me. The chief city is called Shakdla, and the river Apagd. The people are also named Jarttikas ; and their customs are shameful. They drink spirits made from sugar and grain, and eat meat seasoned Avith garlic ; and live on flesh and wine : their women intoxicated appear in public places, Avith no other garb than garlands and perfumes, dancing and singing, and vociferating indecencies in tones more harsh than those of the camel or the ass ; they indulge in promiscuous intercourse, and are under no restraint. They clothe themselves in skins and blankets, and sound the cymbal and drum and conch, and cry aloud Avith hoarse voices. “ We Av ill hasten to delight, in thick forests and in pleasant places ; Ave will feast and sport ; and gathering on the high Avays spring upon the travellers and spoil, and scourge them.” In Shakala, a female demon (a Eiikshasi) on the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight sings aloud, “ I will feast on the flesh of kine, and quaff the inebriating sjflrit attended by fair and graceful females.” The Shiidra-like Balnkas have no institutes nor sacrifices ; and neither deities, manes, nor Brah- mans accept their offerings. They eat out of Avooden or earthen plates, nor heed their being smeared Avith Avine or viands, or licked by dogs, and they use equally in its various preparations the milk of CAves, of camels, and of asses. Who that has drank milk in the city Yugandhara can hope to enter Svarga ? JBa/ii and Hika Avere the names of two fiends in the Vipasha river; the Bdhikas are their descendants and not of the creation of Brahma. Some say the Amttos are the name of the people, andBahikaof the Avaters. The Vedas are notknoAvn there, nor oblation, nor sacrifice, and the gods Avill not partake their food. The Prasthalas (perhaps borderers), Madras, Gandhdvas, A'rattas, IGiashas, Vasas, Atisindhus, (or those beyond the Indus), Saum'ras, are all equally in- famous. There one who is by birth a Brdlnnan, becomes a Kshatriya, or aVaisliya, or a Sliudra, or a Barber, and having been a barber becomes a Brdlman again. A virtuous Avoman Avas once violated by Aratta ruffians, and she cursed the race, and their Avomen have ever since been unchaste. On this account their heirs are their sister’s children, not 262 WHAT CASTE IS. tlieir own. All countries have their laws and gods : the Yavanas are •wise, and pre-eminently brave ; the Mlechchas observe their own ritual, but the MadraJ:as are worthless. Madra is the ordure of the earth : it is the region of ebriety, unchastity, robbery, and murder : fie on the Panchanada people ! fie on the Aratta race !"' From tliis it is evident that if ever the Madras and Bahikas (or Yahlkas) were under A'ryan influence, they had contrived to make their escape from it at the period liere represented. Some of the Caste customs of the A'ryas are here revealed by our turning- the vices.charged hv the narrator into virtues. (9.) In the Shahja Parva, there are several stories settino’ forth the struggles of Vishvamitra to attain Brah- o o o manhood. f Their intended lesson is like that pertaining to this matter found elsewhere : — The Brahmanhood, after the formation of the first of the race of the head- horn, was held was to be a privilege of birth, except when superhuman efforts were made by the favour of the gods to obtain its advantages. (10.) In the Sauptika Parva, Ashvathama, the son of Droua, a Brahman, apologizes for his knowledge of war and the affairs of tlie Ksliatriyas by pleading his own povert}^ the sole cause of his abandonment of Brahma- nical works.J Poverty is a great plea for remissness in caste observances even at the present day. (11.) In the Stri Parva, we find nothing bearing on Caste. The writers and framers of the Mahabh^rata have * M. Bh. viii. 2026, et seq. Asiatic Researches, vol. xv. pp. 108-9. •|- M. Bh. ix. V. 2265, et .seq. ; v. 2357, et seq. These passages are trauslatedin Muir’s Texts, i. pp. 200-1 ; 202-204. 1 M.Bh. ix.v. 122-5. CASTE IN THE EPICS— THE MAHABHARATA. 2()3 refrained from discussing any of the questions raised respecting it with mourning women. (12.) In the Parva, Arjuna teaches that death in battle is better than all sacrifices for a Kshatriya. In the Itajadharmdmishdsana section of this division of the Bharata, there is much said on the religion and duty of kings, corresponding with what we find in the Law-books. * The legendry respecting Parashurama and the alleged destruction of the Kshatriyas here appears in a very advanced and extended form. The followino- is an o abridgement of what is found respecting it in Mr. Muir’s Texts : — “ Jamadagni was father of Parashurama, “ who became perfect in all science, thoroughly versed in archery, and the slayer of the Kshatri- yas, himself violent as flaming fire. By propitiating Mahiideva he obtained among other things the irresistible axe, (parasliu ), from which his name is derived. Arjuna, son of Kritavirya, kingof the Haihayas, is here represented as a dutiful and religious monarch who, at an Ashvamedha (horse-sacrifice) bestowed on the Brahmans the earth Avith its seven continents and mountains, Avhich he had conquered Avith his thousand arms.” He had, however, been cursed by the sage A'pava (Vasishtha) to haAm those arms cut off by Parashurama. Being of a meek, pious, kind, and charitable tlirn of mind, the valiant Arjuna thought nothing of the curse ; but his sons, avIio Avere of a barbarous disposition, became the cause of his death. Unknown to their father, they took aAvay Jamadagni’s calf, and, in consequence Parashui'aina attacked Arjuna, and cut oflf his arms. His sons relatiated by kilhng Jamadagni. Parashurama having voAved in consequence to SAveep aAvay all Kshatriyas from the earth, seized his Aveapons, and slaughter- ing the sons and gi-andsons of Arjuna, with thousands of the Haihayas, he cleared the earth of Kshatriyas, and converted it into a mass of ensanguined mud. Then, being penetrated by deep compassion, he Avent to the forest. After thousands of years had elapsed he Avas * See before, pp. 37-44. 204 WHAT CASTE IS. taunted by Pardvasu, the grandson of Visbvamitra, with having failed to fulfil his threat, and vainly boasted in public of having killed all the Kshatriyas, (as many of that tribe were there present), and with having withdrawn from fear ; while the earth had again become overrun by them the K.shatriyas who had before been spared had now grown powerful kings. These however, being stung by Paravasu’s taunt, Parashurama now slew, with their children, and all the yet unborn infants as they came into the world. Some, however, were preserved by their mothers. Having twenty-one times cleared the earth of Kshatriyas, he gave her as a sacrificial fee to Kashhyapa at the con- clusion of the Ashvamedha. Kashyapa, making a signal with his hand, in which he held the sacrificial ladle, that the remaining Kshatriyas should be spared, sent away Parashurama to the shore of the southern ocean Having received dominion over the earth, Kashyapa made it an abode ofBrahmans, and himself Avithdrew to the forests. Shiidras and Vaishyas then began to act lawlessly toAvards the Avives of the Brahmans, and, in consequence of there being no goveimment, the Aveak Avere oppressed by the strong, and no one was master of his property The earth being distressed by the Avicked, in conse- quence of that disorder, descended to the loAver regions, etc. This goddess earth then supplicated Kashyapa for protection, and for a king. She had, she said, preserved among the females many Kshatriyas AA'ho had been born in the race of the Haihayas, and Avhom she desired for her protectors.” Among these are mentioned Sarvakarma, the son of Saudasa, “Avhom the tender-hearted priest Pariishara had saved, performing, though a Brahman, all menial offices, ( Sarvakaiinam) for him like a Shudra, — whence the prince’s name ‘All these Kshatriyas’ descendants have been preserved in different places If they protect me I shall continue unshaken. Their fathers and grand- fathers Avere slain on my account by Kama, energetic in action. It is incumbent on me to avenge their cause. For I do not desire to be always protected by an extraordinary person [? stich as Kashyapa?] ; but I Avill be content Avith an ordinary ruler (?). Let this be speedily fulfilled.’ Kashyapa then sent for these Kshatriyas Avho had been pointed out by the earth, and installed them in the kingly office.”* *_ Muir's Texts, i.pp. 157-1.59. M. Bli. xii. v. 1745, et seq. CASTE IN THE EPICS- THE MAHABHAKATA. 2(55 I’liis legeiidry, as we have already hinted,* may have had but a very slender beginning. For its extension there may have been a strong motive at the time it assumed the form now given. This motive, 1 venture to think, was the disparagement of the Kshatriyas at the time when the Buddhist faith, patronized by the Ksha- triyas, began to prevail. But this matter we may after- wards notice. Prithu, (the son of Vena, mentioned as a refractory king by Manuf), is represented in the Parva before us as very respectful to the chief of the twice-born. “ In thought, deed, and^^ word,” it was enjoined upon him, “ take on thyself, and constantly renew the engagement (pratijnd) to uphold the earthly Brahma (Vedic ser- vices)... And promise that thou will exempt the Brah- mans from punishment, and preserve society from the confusion of castes. The son of Vena then addressed the gods headed by the Rishis: ‘ The illustrious Brahmans, the chief of men, shall be venerated by me.’J In this veneration much moral excellence was concentrated, ac- cording to Brahmanical notions. In the context, a fanci- ful derivation of the name Kshatriya is thus given : — “The Kshatriya is so called from saving the Brahmans from Ksliata (hurt).”§ Long discussions are carried on between Bhishma and * See before, p. 148. t Manu, vii. 41. J M. Bh. xii. V. 2221, et seq. § 3'^qfr- M. Bh. xii. v. 2247. Ksliatra really means “ power” ; and Kshatriya, “ a possessor of power.” See before p. 108. 266 WHAT CASTE IS. Yudbishthira on the subject of Caste, in Tvhicb the exaltation of the Brahman, his four ashramas, and his six works, are specified in tlie usual form ; while it is said that the Kshatriyas are to exercise their power in subor- dination to and witli the advice of the Brahmans. In connexion with the matters now referred to, some light is cast by the following passage (translated by Mr. Muir) on the accommodations made by the Aryas with the Dasyus, when they were able to proselytize them. Blu.dima repeats in it in a conversation alleged to have taken place between king Mandhata and Indra: — “ The Tavanas, Kiratas, Gandhdras, Chinas, Shai'aras, Varvaras, Shakas, Tusharas, Kankas, Pahlavas, Andhras, Madras, Paundras, Puliudas, Raraathas, Kambojas, men sprung from Brahmans and from Kshatriyas, persons of the Vaishya and Shiidra castes — ‘how shall these people of dilferent countries practise duty, and what rules shall kings like me prescx'ibe for those who are living as Dasyus ? Instruct me on these points, for thou [Indra] art the friend of our Kshatriya race.’ Indra answers : All the Dasjnis should obey their parents, their spiritual directors, and anchorites, and kings. It is also their duty to perform the ceremonies ordained in the Vedas. They should sacri- fice to the Pitris, construct wells, buildings for the distribution of water, and resting places for travellers, and should on proper occasions bestow gifts on the Brahmans. They should practise innocence, veracity, meekness, purity, and inofiensiveness ; should maintain their wives and families ; and make a just division of property. Gifts should be distributed at all sacrifices by those who desire to prosper. All the Dasyus should offer costly pdka oblations. Such duties as these, which have been ordained of old, ought to be observed by all people. Mandhatri observes : In this world of men, Dasyus are to be seen in all castes, living, under another garb, even among men of the four orders (dsh’amas). Indra replies : ‘ When criminal justice has perished, and the duties of Government are disregarded, mankind become bewildered through the wickedness of their kings. When this Krita age has come to a close, innumerable mendicants and CASTE IN THE EPICS-TIIE MAHABIIIrATA. 267 hypocrites shall arise, and the four orders become disorganized. Dis- regarding the excellent paths of ancient duty, and impelled by passion and by anger, men shall fall into wickedness.”* Tliougli this is certainly not one of the etu*lier portions of the INIahabharata, it is possessed of importance, as illustrating the method of bringing foreign tribes within the pale of Brahmanism. The prophecy with which it concludes shows that it w'as written when the glory of that system of social life and religion was, in the Indian point of view, beginning to pass away. Curious matter is added to it respecting the evils which occur when Kshatriyas fail to discharge their duty of protection. f In the context, the orthodox view of the origin of the four primitive castes is put into the mouth of the god Vayu, who concludes by saying to Bhishma, “ The Brahman was born immediately after the earth, the Lord of all creatures, to protect the treasury of re- ligion. Therefore [the creator] constituted the Kshatriya the controller of the earth, a second Yama to bear the rod, for the satisfaction of the people. And it was Brahma’s ordi- nance that the Vai.shya should sustain these thi’ee castes with money and corn ; and that the Shudra should serve them. The son of Ila [Pururavas] then enquires: tell me, Vayu, whose should the earth, with its wealth, lightfully be, the Brahman’s or the Kshatriya’s? Vayu replies, “ Whatever exists in the world belongs to the Brahmans in right of pri- mogenitiu-e and headship.”;j: Exhortations exhorting Brah- mans and Kshatriyas to agree (with this recognition) follow. * Muir’s Texts, i. p. 180. BI. Bh. xii. t. 2429. I M. Bli. xii. V. 254.0, et seq. i M. Bh. xii. V. 2749, et seq. Muir’s Texts, pp. 33-4- § !M. Bh. xii. V. 2803, 2936, etc. 268 WHAT CASTE IS. A detailed account is given of an alleged conversation between Mshvainitra and a Cliandala about a proposal made bv the sage to eat a dog’s thigli in a season of famine. It was when this savoury dish was cooked and ready, that ^Ashvamitra by a heavy fall of rain . was prevented from carrying his fully formed pm'pose into effect. The Chan- dala is represented as standing out against the use of the extraordinai-y meal.* Manu alludes to the legeiid'l' as an illustration of what may be lawfully done for the sustenation of life in times of difficulty. J A Brahman (Gautama) is represented as having assimilated himself to the Mlechchas (alias Dasyus, according to the notice), while dwelling amono^ them on a begging excursion. He was recalled to duty, however, by another Brahman visitor.*^ The following passage, wliich I give as translated by Mr. JMuir, contains a statement of the origm of Caste different from all which we have yet noticed; while at the same time, it is more moderate than many of the Brah- mannical teachings which have passed before oiu’ view. “ Brigu speaks : Brahma thus formerly created the Prajapatis (Br^- manas) distinguished by his own energy, and in splendour eqiralling the sun and fire. The loi'd then formed tmth, righteousness, devo- tion, eternal Vedas, virtuous practice, and purity for [the attainment of] heaven. He also formed the Devas, Danavas, Gandharvas, Daityas, Asiiras, Mahoragas, Yakshas, Rakshasas, Nagas, Pishachas, and men. Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shiidras, and other tribes [or castes] of living creatures. The colour \yama, meaning primarily colour and afterwards caste] of the Brahmans was white ; that of the Kshatriyas red ; that of the Vaishyas yellow ; and that of the Shiidras black. * M. Bh. xii. V. 5330-5420. i lilanu X. 108. t Manu X. 108. § M. Bh. -\ii. V- 6295, et seip CASTE IN THE EPICS— THE MAIIABIIARATA. 2(il) “ Bhilradwiija here rejoins : if the cast (rnj’nct) of the four castes is distinguished by their colour \_carna\, then Ave perceive in all the castes a confusion of caste [or colour]. Desire, anger, fear, cupidity, grief, anxiet}', hunger, fatigue, prevail over all ; [‘ sarvesham na prabhavati the reading of the Calcutta edition can scarcely be correct;] by what, then, is caste distinguished ? [They have in common all] the bodily secretions, Avith phlegm, bile, and blood ; and the bodies of them all decay : by Avhat then is caste distinguished ? There are innumerable kinds of things moving and stationary : hmv is the class [or caste] of all these different classes of creatures determined ? “ Bhrigu replies : there is no distinction of castes ; this Avhole Avorld is from [or is formed of] Brahma ; for having been formerly created by him, it became separated into castes in consequence of Avorks. Those red-limbed Brahmans [tAvice born] who Avere fond of sensual pleasure, fiery, irascible, prone to daring, and Avho had forsaken their duties, fell into the condition of Ksh^triyas. The yelloAv Brahmans AV’ho derived tlieir livelihood from cows, and agriculture, and did not practise their duties, fell into the state of Vaishyas. The Brahmans who Avere black, and had lost their purity, Avho were addicted to violence and lying, Avho Avere covetous and subsisted by all kinds of Avork, fell into the position of Shudras. Being thus separated by these their Avorks, the Brahmans became of other castes. Religious cere- monies and sacrifice have not been ahvays forbidden to [all] these. Thus these four castes, Avhose speech [SarasAvati] is from Brahma [or Brahmanical ?]*, Avere formerly instituted by Brahma ; but by their cupidity fell into ignorance. Brahmans ai’e dependent on the Vedas [brahma] ; their deAmtion does not perish, Avhile they constantly main- tain the Veda, its observances and rules. The Veda [brahma] Avas created the chief of all things : they Avho do not knoAV it are not Brah- mans. Of these [of those Avho are not Brahmans ?] there are many other classes of different sorts in different places, Pishachas, Rakshasas, Pretas, various classes of Mlechhas, Avho have lost all knoAvledge, sacred and profane, and folloAv Avhatever observances they please. Other creatures with the initiation of Brahmans, Avho have ascertained * See ludische Stuclien, a'oI. ii. 194 note, where Dr. Weber regards this passage as intimating that at an earlj' period of Tmliaii history the Shfidi-as spoke the s.ame language ns the other castes. 270 WHAT CASTE IS. their proper duties, are created by other Rishis through their own devotion. This creation, proceeding from the primeval god, having its root in Brahma, and unperishable, is called the mental creation, devoted to duty. “ Bharadwiija .now enquires: what constitutes a Brahman, a Kshatriya, a Vaishya, or a Shudra ? tell me, O most eloquent of Brahmanical sages. Brigu replies : he who is pure, consecrated by the natal and other initiatory ceremonies, who duly studies the Veda, practises the six kinds of works, and the rites of purification, who eats of offerings, is attached to his religious teacher, is constant in austerities, and is devoted to truth, is called a Brahman. lie in whom are seen truth, liberality, inoffensiveness, innocence, modesty, compassion, and devo- tion— is declared to be a Brahman. He who pursues the duties derived from the function of protection (KsJiatti-a), who studies the Veda, and is addicted to giving and receiving, — is called a K.shatriya. He who quickly enters among (?) cattle, (this seems to be a play upon words, to connect the word with the root vish, to enter,) is addicted to agriculture, and acquisition, who is pure, and studies the Vedas, — is called a Vaishya. He who is unclean is addicted constantly to all kinds of. food, performs all kinds of works, has abandoned the Veda, and is destitute of pure observances, — is called a Shudra. And this is the mark of a Shudra, and it is not found in a twice-born man : the Shudra will be a Shudra, but the Brahman not a Brahman.”* The three Varnas, according- to Parasliara, are required to observe their respective Tvorks, as often enjoined. A Shudra, however, may practise merchandise, the keeping of cattle, masonry, playing, acting, the selling of spirits and flesh, the selling of iron and leather. What is not agreeable to usage is not to he done.'f' It is evident from this that the Shudi-as by this time were not all in a state of slavery. ( 1 3.) In the Anushdsana Parva, there are many notices of Caste as well as in the Shanti Parva, now refeiTed to. * Muir’s Texts i. 38-40. M. Bla. xii. v. 6930, et seq. t Bh. xii. V. 10794, et scq. CASTE IN THE EPICS— THE MAIIABHARATA. 271 The Brahman (theoretically viewed) is said to he free of anger.* * * § Tlie question, How did Vishvamitra become a Bralimaii (without transmigrating into another body) is again put and answered. References are made to his reported auster- ities and exploits, and it is said that Richilia, the father of Shunahsheplia, “ infused into him the Brahmaiihood.”t A Brahman though only ten years of age is fitted, it is said, to be a guru of a Kshatriya a hundred years old. The Brahman is the father ; the Kshatnya the son. It is in lack of a Brahman that a Kshatriva has sovereio-ntv in * O V the earth. J The Chandala, according to the fictional system, is said to derive his birth from a Brahman mother and a barber father. § The entertainers of Cows and Brahmans and the follow- ers of truth need fear no evil.|| Tlie females of the bovine race and the chief of the twice-’horii are often mentioned together throughout tlie Mahabharata as objects of religi- ous veneration and attention. The law of inheritance as affecting the offspring of Brahmans by wives of different classes is thus in substance stated: The property of a Brahman being divided into ten parts, four of these fall to the offspring by a female * M. Bh. xiii. 26. f M. Bh. xiii. v. 260. See on the legends here recited, Muir’s Texts, i. 111-112. J M. Bh. xiii. v. 394-5. More occurs in the context about the pre-eminence of the Brahman. § M. Bh. xiii. v. 1882. II M.Bh.xiii. 2035. 272 WHAT CASTE IS. Brahman ; three, to that by a female Kshatriya ; two, to that by a female Vaishya; and one to that by a Shudra.* The origin of the Parashava, Ugra, Suta, Vaidehaka, Mandgalya, Bandi, Magadha, Nishada, AyogaA'a, Taksha, Sairandhra, Madhnka, Madgura, Sln^aj)aka, Sangandha, Madranabha, Pnkkasa, Kshndra, Andhra, Karavara, Pan- dusaupaka, A'hindaka, and of some other Castes is given in the fictional form found in Mann and in the table which we have already inserted, f The story of Parashnrama and Vishvamitra is again repeated AAntli variations. Mr. Muir, aaIio gives it at length, asks, “ Is the legend intended to account for a real fact? Was Parashiu’ama of a sacerdotal tribe, and yet by profession a warrior, just as Vishvamitra Avas con- versely of royal extraction, and yet a priest by profession.”]; The rules to be observed in the giving of gifts and practising liberality (ckmdharma) are laid down AA’ith par- ticularity. The fruit of the gift of a coav by a Brahman distinguished for truth and duty is equal to that of a thousand (in ordinary circumstances). The fruit of a simi- lar gift by a Kshatriya of this character is equal to that enjoyed by a Brahman. That ofa Vaishya is that of five hunch’ed ; and of a Shudra, of the fourth (of the Brahman’s merit, or tAvo hundred and fifty). § A long conversation on the merit of the gift of cows conducted betAveeii Saudasa * M. Bh. xiii. v. 2ol0, et seq. f M. Bh. xiii. 25G5, et. seq. See before, pp. 55-59 ; 65-70. X Muir’s Texts i. 169-171. M. Bh. xiii. 2718, et. seq. § M. Bh. xiii. v. 3575-79. See the ceutext for the institiitcs about Ddnadharma. CASTE IN THE EPICS— THE MAIIAJ3HARATA. 278 and Vasislitlia, follows.* The teaching's of Vasishtha are in rejilj to the question, “ What, O sinless Lord, is declared to he the purest thing in the three worlds, hy constantly observing- which a man may acquire the highest merit (pur)]/(nnutlama7/i)"? They specify, amongst other things, the heavens (lokas) into which the givers of cows, of parti- cular colours and trappings and conditions as to calves and milk, enter after death. They called forth, according to the legend, great liberality from Sauddsa, who in conse- quence attained to the “ heavens,” — a plurality of these “ heavens” being intimated without that individual specifi- cation which, with reference to his personal identity, it miffht have been difficult to indicate. I once ventimed to propose tbis question to a Brahman casuist : “ Into what heaven or heavens does the giver of cows of different characters, each meriting a particular heaven, actually enter”? He seemed unwilling to give any answer.. I expected him to have said, “ He will get a choice.” Another story about Parashurama appears in this neigh- bourhood. It is thus given by Mr. Muir: — “ It begins as follows : ‘ Rama, son of Jamadagni, having thrice seven times cleared the world of Kshatriyas, and conquered the whole earth, performed the horse-sacrifice, venerated by Bi'Ahmans and Kshatriyas, which confers all ol>jects of desire, which cleanses all crea- tures, augments power and lustre; and became thereby sinless and glorious. He did not, however, feel relieved in his mind, but enquired of the Rishis skilled in the scriptures, and the gods, what was that which most perfectly cleansed a man who had committed deeds of violence; for he felt compunction for what he had done. The Rishis skilled in the Vedas and Shastras replied, let the Brahmans be the objects of your liberality, as the authority of the Vedas requires ; and let the Brahman Rishis be further consulted in regard to the M. Bh. xiii. v. 3735 — 3801. 35 274 WIIAT CASTE IS. means of lustration.’ Pai-asliurama accordingly consulted Vasishtlia, Agastya, and Kasliyapa. They replied that he should bestow cows, land, and other property, and especially gold, the purifying power of which was very great : ‘as those who bestow it, bestow the gods:’ — a proposition Avhich is thus compendiously proved : ‘ for Agni compre- hends all the gods; and gold is of the essence of Agni.’ In regard to the origin of this precious metal, Vasishtha tells a very long story, how it was born by the goddess Gangi to Agni, by whom she had been impregnated, and was the son of that god. ‘ Thus Avas gold born the offspring of Jatavedas (Agni), the chief of gems and of oina- ments, the most pure of all pure things, the most auspicious of all auspicious objects ; and one Avith the divine Agni, the lord Prajdpati. It must be highly consolatory for those Avho are disposed to be liberal to the Brahmans, to be assured that the gift of gold has such a high mystical, as Avell as »>,ui-rent exchangeable, value. ‘ Parashurama,’ the story concludes, ‘ after being thus addressed by Yasishtha, gave gold to the Brahmans, and Avas freed from sin.’ ”* A dirty story is told about the birth of the great Brah- man Bhrigu, of whose origin various accounts are given in the Hindu writings. f Aijuna is represented as disputing the power and au- tliority of the Brahmans, and as boasting of Ins own prowess as a Kshatriya. The god Vayu is then bronght in repeating various stories, to rebuke his presumption, and establisli tlie priestly pre-eminence. When the earth, offended by king Anga who wislied to present it to the Brahmans as a sacrificial fee, was about to depart in a pet to the Avorld of Brahma, the sage Kasliyapa (a Brah- man) entered into her, and she became repleni.shed with grass and plants, and then did obeisance to Kasliyapa, and became his daughter. Angiras made a potation of the waters, and then filled the whole earth with a great flood. * Muir’s Texts, i. pp. 162-63. M. Bh. xiii. v. 3960, et seq.. j- See Muir’s Texts, i. pp. 152-53. CASTE ITJ THE EPICS— THE MAIIABHa'rATA. 275 Gautama cursed Puraridara (the god Tndra) for an evil- affection for his wife Ahalya, and yet escaped injury by his daring. The Brahmans made the ocean salt by their curse. Aurva alone destroyed the great Kshatriya family of the Talajanghas. Agni himself is a BrMiman, receiving the offerings of the whole world. Utathya called the god V^aruna a “robber,” for carrying off his wife ; and in his rage compelled restitution by drinking up all the sea, of which Varuna (in his modern aspects) is supposed to be the guardian. Agastya protected the gods from the enraged Asuras and Danavas, when they appealed to him for protection ; and expelling the Dana- vas from heaven made them fly to the south. Vasishtha, on another occasion, also protected the gods, including Indra, from the Danavas, all of whom he burnt up. Atri, too, protected the gods from their enemies. Cha- jmvana, the powerful, forced Indra to drink the Soma with the Ashvins, frightening him by a fearful monster, named Mada, which he created for the occasion. When Indra and the gods had fallen into the mouth of this Mada, and thus lost heaven ; and when the demon Kapas had deprived them of the eartli, they betook themselves, on the advice of Brahma, to the Brahmans, who hurled forth their fires and destroyed Kapas. Given the truth of all these stories, we need not wonder at Arjuna saying, “ I live altogether and always for the Brahmans : I am devoted to the Brahmans, and do obeisance to them conti- nually.”* How suitable to the omnipotent sons of Brah- * M. Bh. xiii. 7187-7353. See Miiii’s Texts, i. pp. 163-169. These stories of the Maliabharata are similar to those to which we have referred at pp. 23-25 of this work. 276 WHAT CASTE IS. ma would have been the counsel of the poet Gowper : — Beware of too sublime a sense Of your own worth and consequence. The man who dreams himself so great, And his importance of such weight, That all around in all that’s done Must move and act for Him alone, Will learn in .school of tribulation The folly of his expectation. (14.) In the AshvamMha, or Horse-Sacrifice Parva, we have some valuable geographical information given in connexion with the wandering of the horse previous to its being presented to the god Indra; butits indications we have already noticed on the authority of Professor Lassen.* In the latter Parvas we have not found any informa- tion respecting Caste worthy of abstracting, though their tone is altogether consistent with its spirit. f Having given, as we have passed along, most of the legends respecting Parashurama and the destruction of the Kshatri3’as, we may turn back to a notice of a renewed race of Kshatriyas, said to have been produced by the intercourse of Brahmans with Kshatriya women. At this time, it is added, the Brahmanical faith was well observed, the Brahmans being well instructed in the Aedas, their Angas, and the Upani.?hads j the Kshatriyas being liberal in tlieir Dakshina to Brahmans ; the Vaishyas cultivating their fields without* cows (i. e., onh' bj' bul- locks ;) the Shudras not presuming to pronounce the Tedas; and all the Castes (Vanias) following their dis- * See before, pp. 245, et seq. For a reference to Gokarna, Prabliasa, and Dvaravati, etc., see M. Bh. xiv. V. 2477, et seq. CASTE IN THE EPICS— THE MAIIABIIARATA. 277 tinctive works.* The general doctrine of orthodox Hindus is tliat the Kshatriyas as a body have disappear- ed. The probable reason of this allegation, as we have already hinted, was the countenance given by the Ksha- triyas to the Buddhist heresy. The spread of this heresy gave an importance and expansion among the Brahmans to the legends about Parashurama which they did not originally possess ; and that very much to the annoyance of the professing Kshatriyas of the present day, who are very unwilling to have their desired position in the Indian community in any way questioned. In no work of tlie classical literature of the Hindus has so much been done, by interpolations and apocryphal additaments, to uphold Caste as in the Mahabharata. That large work, with its numerous didactic episodes and interludes, is as great a strong-hold of Caste as any of the Indian law-books, to whicli, from its references to them, it is obvious that large portions of it are posterior. It ma}'^ be characterized as the great fountain of Indian popular instruction. Its influence exceeds that of all the Puranas put together, though they themselves to a con- siderable extent harmonize with it. The provincial poetry, — as that of the Marathas, — continually draws from its almost inexhaustible stores. Most injurious is the common idea formed of it by the Hindus, that the bulk of it is veritable liistory as well as exciting and amusing- poetry. A translation of the whole of it into English is certainly a desideratum. Notwithstanding the care bestowed on the edition of the text printed at Calcutta, a collation of the older manuscripts is also a desideratum. [' * M. Bh. i. V. 2458, et seq. t A lithographed edition of the work is in the press in Bombay. 278 AVIIAT CASTE IS. VI J. — The Buddhist View of Caste. On entering on tliis subject it is necessary for us to mark the pre.senl stage of our chronological advancement. V e view Dr. Max Miiller’s date of the Sutra peiiod, — from 600-200 before Christ, — as coiTect enouoh for general practical purposes. It is abundantly evident fi’om the notices wbich we have given, from even the earliest of this serie.s of works, that the Caste system had reached its matiuity when they were prepared. It is also manifest from the Aranyakas and Upani.shads, that even before this time, Indian speculation, in which it is admitted on all hands Buddhism originated, had made considerable pro- gress. With Caste, then. Buddhism had to deal. Its peculiar treatment of this institution, as we shall immediate- ly see, was one of the principal causes of its rapid establish- ment in India. Buddhism in its most important social aspect was a reaction against Caste, the tyranny of which multitudes had begun to feel to be unbearable, though previous to its origin they had considered themseh es unable to assail the religious foundations on which it was supposed to rest. The Brahmans, the inventors and guardians of Caste, had up to the time ofBuddha been nearly omnipotent in Indian society. The word Buddha is not a name, but an appellative. It means the “ intelligent-one,” or the party possessed of intelligence (in the sense of omniscience). The proper name of the individual on whom it is confeiTed is unknouii, as is the case with those of not a few of the most celebrated of the Hindu religionists. Other common denominations of Buddha were Shdkya Muni, the Sage of the Shakya BUDDHIST VIEW OF CASTE. 279 tribe; Shakya the Shakya Lord; Slidkya Sinha, the Shakya Lion (or majestic one); Prabhu Gautama, tlie distingiiislied one of the Gautama family ; Bhagaval, the y'orsliipfnl one, emphatically so called ; Siddhdria, the one Ayho has obtained perfection ; and Tathdgata, the one Ayho has passed (into total liberation or extinction).* Buddha (\yho is represented by his followers as haying- a pre-existent heayenly state obtained by his merits in former births) belonged originally to the Kshatriya Caste, of the early influence of which in Indian speculation we hare already seen some notices-t His father was Shuddhodana, the king of Kapilayastu or Kapilapura,J “ the estate of Kapila” or “ city of Kapila,” probably so named from its proximity to what may haye been the hermitage of the Rishi Ka])ila, the reputed founder of the Sankhya or Numeral System of the Indian Schoolmen, to certain of whose doc- trines some of those of Buddha bear a considerable resem- blance. His mother, Maya or Mayadevi, daughter of king Suprabuddha,§ is said to haye died seyen days after Lalita Vistara, in mult loc. See before, pp. 239-240, “ Kum^rila [the commentator on the Mimansa] always speaks of Buddha as a Kshatriya who tried to become a Brahman.” Muller’s Hist. ofSans. Lit. p. 79. \ Lalita Vistara, adh. xii. xv. xvi. Life of Shakya by A. Csoma Kdibsi, in As. Res. vol. xx. pp. 286, et seq. § “ There was a consultation again among the gods in what form Bodhisatta should enter into the womb or body of the woman whom he had chosen to become his mother. A young elephant with six adorned trunks, such as h,as been judged proper in Brahmanical w-orks, was preferred. He therefore leaving Tushita [said to be a heavenj de- scends, and in the form of an elephant, enters by the right side or cavity of the body of Mayadevi, the wife of Shuddhodana.” “ The child came out by her right side.” See A. Csoma Kbrbsi, ut .sup. 280 WHAT CASTE IS. Ills birth. He was reared under the care of her sister, Gautami. His early days gave indications of future promise ; and many extravagant and incongruous legeuds connected with them are related by his followers. In his youth, it is said, he was put to school (shdldlipi, hall-of-writing), where he trreatlv astonished his master, who was named Vi.shvami- tra, by his knowledge of sixty kinds of writing, terrene and Celestial.* The party chosen for him as a wife was Gopa, the daughter of Dandapani, like himself of the Shakya race, for she is often spoken of as the Shakya Kanya (daughter, or lady).f Two other spouses were given to liiin according to the Tibetan accounts. By one of his wives, the name of whom is variedly given in the Buddhist writings,;}: he had a son named Rahula. IMarnage did not in his case interfere with the meditation and reflection to which he was early addicted. At the age of twenty-nine he renounced the world; deeply aflected by its prevailing miseiies. He * At the time of Buddha’s birth, literal ■writing 'ivas probably not practised by tlie Indians, though it -was in use somewhat before the third century before Christ. See Author’s India Three Thousand Years Ago, pp. 34-3G ; and, more particularly. Max Muller’s Hist, of Anc. S. Lit. pp. 497-524. Among the kinds of writing said to be known to Buddha, were those of Anja (the Bhagalpur territories), Banga (Bengal), Magadha, Dravida, and Kindn(ov Kanadi, the Canarese country ?), the Bakshina, the Ugra, the JDarda, the Kashga, the China, the the Uttara-Kuni, the Apara-Gaiida, the Easter n-Videha. Lalita-Vistara, adh. x. (Cal. ed. pp. 143-144). Csoma Kbrbsi (As. Res. XX. p. 290) mentions the lipi of the Tavanas, (or Greeks) as one of those known to Buddha; but that is not specified in the Calcutta edition of the Lalita-Vistara. I Lai. Yist. adh. xii. J Burnouf, Lotus de la Bonne Loi, p. 164. Mahavanso, p. 9. As. Res. XX. p. 200. BUDDHIST VTETP OF CASTE. 281 became the pupil of a Bralmiaii at Vaisluili, and afterwards of another famous Brahman at Rajagnlia, the capital of Magadha. Simple austerities, however, were not to his taste. With five of liis fellow-disciples he retired into soli- tude near the village of Uravelaya( '.fterwards Baddhagaya), where for six years he resided, maturing his own peculiar sy.stem of faitli. Varanasi, or Benares, was the next place wliich enjoyed the light of his presence. He was afterwards invited by king Bimbisara to Rajagriha, at which place and in its neighbourhood he is said to have discoursed to his disciples, teaching them the misery of birth and the desirableness of its termination. It was per- haps the favour extended to him by Bimbisara which led to the murder of that king, by his son Ajatashatru. From Ra- jagrihahe went to Shiavasti,the capit.dof Koshala, where he lived and lectured in a distinctive building erected for him and his disciples by an opulent merchant named Anatha- pindada, and where he succeeded in the conversion to his faith of Prasenajita, the king of that locality. After twelve years’ absence he visited his native place, on which occasion his own tribe professed their adherence to his doctrines. His own wife and aunt (his foster-mother) are said to have been the first of his female disciples and devotees. He afterwards revisited Rajagriha, where he could ulti- mately claim Ajata.shatru as a disciple. He also revisited Yai.shali ; and at about the age of seventy-five he died in a forest near Kushinagara, to which city he had been bending his footsteps. His death occurred according to Professor Lassen in the year 54.3, and according to Dr. Max Muller, in the year 477, before Christ.*'^ ^ For a review of the question of the date of Buddha’s death, see Muller’s Hist, of S. Lit. pp. 260, et seq. (which contains the references .S6 282 WHAT CASTE IS. The doctrines of Buddha^ metaphysically viewed, were of an atheistic character, as, like Kapila, his predecessor, he denied that there is any proof of the existence of a creative and superintending providence, and resolved all the objects, combinations, organizations, and phenomena, which indicate divine volition, design, creation, adapta- tion, and guidance, into mere nature, proximity^ deve- lopment, and growth.* He was an indevout specu- latist; but as an instructor he was aided by concurrent circumstances, and produced a greater effect on the mind and practice of India, and through his disciples on the adjoining countries, than any other of India's sons. This effect was not so much the result of his negative spiritual and metaphysical teaching, — denying the existence of Deity, and holding out as the summurn bonum after death, nirvdna. — the extinction of being, or as some writers are inclined to believe, the extinction of conscious being, at death, f — but of his moral and to Lassen) and Groldstiicker’s Manava Kalpa Siitra, Introduction, p. 230-234. Mr. Tournour (Maliavanso, Introduction, p. xlviii.), was aware of the difficulty of fixing the date of Buddha's death, though he decides, as Lassen afterwards did, in favour of the Ceylon authorities. [As this sheet is passing through the press, I observe that a paper on the date of the death of Buddha (Ueber Buddha’s Todesjahr und tinege andere Zeitpunkte in der alteren Geschishte Indiens) has just been pub- lished by my learned friend, Professor Westergaard, K. D. of Copen- hagen. He makes that event to have occurred between 368-370, B. C.] * For the principles of the School of Kapila, see the “ Sankhya Aphorisms of Kapila (text, translation and paraphrase) by Dr. Ballau- tyne ; and the Sankhya Pravachana Bhashya by Vijnana Bhikshu (text), with a valuable introduction by Dr. Fitz-Edward Hall. f Nirvana is a participial noun formed from vd, (to blow, as the Avind) with the negative affix ni7\ It may mean non-agitation, as ivell BUDDHIST VIEW OF CASTE. 283 social teachings, which were superior, in some respects, to those of his predecessors and contemporaries. What was liis treatment of Caste ? is the question with which at present we have to do. For an answer to this question we must refer to the traditional record.? of his own teachings and those of his early disciples, which, though full of exaggerations and in- ventions, yet afford a small residuum of historical matter to the critical and philosophical reader ; and to the wondrous monuments of the faith which he established which are to be found throughout India, especially in the Western parts of the Dakhan. Copies of these Buddhist I'ecords, in the Sanskrit language and Tibetan translations, were discovered and collected by one of India’s most accom- plished scholars (both as a linguist and a naturalist) and most able and public-spirited administrators, B. H. Hodg- as extinction in which sense (with a good array of authority) it is inter- preted by Burnouf, Lassen, etc. The word in its technical moaning is used by the Jaina disputants of the North-West of India principally for absolute and undisturbable non-conscious-quiescence. The differ- ence between this idea and that of extinction is but very slight.. One of the most interesting groups of hewn-figures at the Caves of Ajanta, of gigantic dimensions, represents the death of Buddha. “ The sage in the scene is lying in a horizontal position. His earthly servants, standing round his couch, are overcome with sorrow and grief, while a band of heavenly choristers above is frantic with joy at the supposed liberation or extinction of his spirit.” Author’s Eemarks on the Bud- dhist Excavations of Western India prefixed to Johnson’s Photographs of the Caves of Karla, p. 5. No symbol of the departed spirit is seen in this group. Dr. Judson (see his Memoir by Dr. Wayland, ii. pp. 340-1) found nothing in the Buddhism of Barmah “ to redeem the system from the charge of absolute atheism.” “ Dr. Judson also regarded the state of nigban (nirvana) as nothing less than a total extinction of soul and body.” 284 WHAT CASTE IS. son, Esq., long Resident at the Court of Nepal, who also directed attention to their interesting contents in a series of valuable papers given by him to the Asiatic Societies ot India and Europe.* Copies of them, too, were, with princely liberalit}», presented hy Mr. Hodgson to the Asiatic Societies of Bengal, Great Britain, and France. Thev bore their first fruits in Paris, throuMi the zeal and perseverance of the late ingenious and learned Professor E. Burnouf, who made them the foundation of his “ In- troduction a I’Histoire du Buddliisme Indien,” which was published in 1844, and who also translated into French, one of the most important of them, the Saddhanna Pandarikci, or “ Lotus de la Bonne Loi,” which left the press a short time after his lamented death. With the discover}^ of the Hodgson manuscripts, the researches in Tibet of Mr. Alexander Csoma Kbibsi, — whose Analysis of the Dulva (a portion of the great Kah-Gijur) and Notices of the Life of Shakya, appeared in the Bengal Asiatic Society’s Transactions in 1835 ; Schmidt’s trans- lation of portions of the Buddhist canon of Mongolia; and the translation and publication of the Mahavanso of Ceylon, by the Hon. George Tumour, which appeared in 183 7, were nearly concurrent. These interesting works have been followed by the translation from the Chinese of the Travels of the Buddhist Pilgrims Fahian and Hiuen-Thsang in the end of the fourth and beginning of the fifth, and in the seventh, centuries of the Christian era, by Renmsat, Klaproth, Landress, and Julien ; by a trans- lation from the Tibetan of a History of Buddha, by Foucaux ; * These pnpers, fifteen in nun: her, were collected by Mr. Hodgson, and republished by him at the Serampore press in 1841. BUDDHIST VIEW OF CASTE. 285 by the publication, in the Bibliotbecalndica, of a portion of tlie Sanskrit Vistarn, tlie LegendaryLife of Buddha, edited by Babu Rijendralal Mitra; by the important works of the Rev. Spence Hardy on Eastern Monachism, and his Manual of Buddhism ; by the able papers of the Rev. D- J. Gogerly of Ceylon ; by the publication of the Pali te.xt of the Dhrtmmapodam, by Dr. Fausbull of Copen- hagen; by various papers on the Buddhist antiquities of AVestern India, in the Journal of tlie Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society ;* and by the learned treatises * “ The following is a list of the papers treating of them (the Bud- dhist remains) which appear in our late proceedings, according to the dates which they bear. On the Ashoka inscriptions at Girnar by Caprain G. LeG. Jacob and N. L. Westergaard, Esq. Biief account of the Minor Buddha Caves of Bedsa and Bhaja near Karla, by N. L. "Westergaard. ^Ir. Prinsep’s Correspondence with Dr. Burn on Indian Antiquities. Historical Researches on the Origin and Principles of the Buddha and Jaina Religions, by James Bird, Esq. Correction of Errors in the Lithograph of the Girnar Inscriptions by Capt. LeGrand Jacob. Memoir on the Cave Temples and Monasteries and other Ancient Buddhist, Brahmanical, and Jaina remains of Western India, by Jolin Wilson, D. D. Memorandum on some Buddhist Excavations rear Karhad by H. B. E. Frere, Esq. Note on the Rock Inscriptions in the Island of Salsette by J. Stevenson, D. D. Second Memoir on the Cave-Temples and Jlonasteries, and other Ancient Remains of Western India, by John Wilson, D, D. Historical Names and Facts contained in the Kanheri Inscriptions, by J. Stevenson, D. D. On the Nasik Cave Inscriptions, by J. Stevenson, D. D. Buddhist Cave Temples in the Sirkars of Baital-Wadi and Daulatabad, by W. H. Bradley, Esq. Sahyadri Inscriptions, by J. Stevenson, D. D. Description the Caves of Kalvi in Malwa, by E. Iinpey, Esq. Descriptive Notices of Antiquities in Sindh by II. B. E. Frere, Esq. All these papeis are in addition to the well-known papers of Mr. Erskine, Colonel Svkes, and Captain Dangerfield, and contain important information with statemenis of opinion and speculation worthy of respectful attention. Other valuable WHAT CASTE IS. •28 (i of Koppon and St. Hilaire. Ample material has thus been provided for a correct estimate of Buddhism in its general character and relationships, though otlier con- tributions to its elucidation will still be welcomed by the public.* There can now be but little doubt of the view which Buddha took of Indian Caste. papers on the matters to which I now refer, especially by Dr. Stevenson and the Messrs. West, have been laid before the Societ}'.” — Author’s Eeview of the Present State of Oriental, Antiquarian, and Geographical Research connected with the West of India in Journ. B. B. R. A. S. 1856. Since this article appeared, the transcript of the Kanheri In- scriptions by the Jlessrs. West has been published in the Bombay Journal for 1862. Dr. Bhau Daji is reviewing them and others in a series of ingenious and learned papers. It is hoped that by degrees their contents will be fully ascertained. * Of the Buddhist writings the following is a correct summary view by Professor H. H. Wilson. “ According to the Buddhists themselves, the doctrines of Shakya Muni were not committed to writing by him, but were orally commu- nicated to his disciples, and transmitted in like manner by them to suc- ceeding generations. When they were first written is not clearly made out from the traditions of the North ; but they agree with those of the South in describing the occurrence of different public councils or con- vocations at which the senior Buddhist priest corrected the errors that had crept into the teaching of heterodox disciples and agreed upon the chief points of discipline and doctrine that were to be promulgated. The first of these councils was held, it is said, immediately after Shak\ a liinni’s death ; the second 110, and the third 218 years afterwards, or about 246 B. C. The Northern Buddhists confound apparently the second end third councils, or take no notice of the latter in the time of A.shoka, but placed the third in Kashmir under the patronage of Kanishka or Kanerka, one of the Hindu-Sythic Kings, 400 years after Budha’s Jsirvana or B. C. 153. Both accounts agree that the pro- pagation of Buddhism, by ilissions dispatched for that purpose, took place after the third council. BUDDHIST VIEW OF CASTE. 287 Buddha found the system of Indian caste in existence and vigorous operation, when he commenced his studies and teachings. In the oldest works of his disciples which treat ol his life and doctrines, the first castes, — of Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras, — are frequently men- tioned, and often in opposition to the Chandalas, Avho are introduced as representatives of the non-Brahmanical classes. The Brahmans are generally alluded to as de facto superior to the otlier classes in status, learning, religious practice, and austerities. Tliey are recognized as acquainted with the four Vedas ; as in possession of the mantras, or holy words ; as the dispensers and conductors of sacred rites to princes and peoples; as Brahmans hy birth {Jdti-B rdhmandh ) and Brahmans hy learning (Vhla- Brdhmanalf ; as resorting to agriculture only in times or circumstances of distress ; as practising astrology and soothsaying ; and as receiving gifts of goods, treasure, “ According to the traditions which are current in the South as well as the North, the classification of the Buddhist authorities as theTri- pithaka (the three collections) took place at the first council, the por- tion termed Sutra the doctrinal precepts, being compiled by A'nanda ; the Vinaya, or discipline of the priesthood, by Upali ; and the Ahhi- dharmaov philosophical portions by Kashyapa, all three Buddha’s disci- ples. Their compilations were revised at the second council, and were finally established as canonical at last. Their being compiled, however, does not necessarily imply their being written, and according to the Northern Buddhists, they were not committed to writing until after the convocation in Kashmir, or l-oS B. C. ; while the Southern authorities state, that they were preserved by memory for 450 years, and were then first reduced to writing in Ceylon.” — Journ. of R. A. S. vol. xvi. p. 239. In the paper from which this extract is made, Professor Wil- son expresses his doubt of the system of the Buddhists having had any specific founder. Shakya Muni, he is inclined to consider only a mythical personage. 288 WHAT CASTE IS. and land for their services. The Kshatrijas, with whom, as we liave already seen, Buddha himself was connected, are noticed a^ a governing class ; and most of the more important of them emhraced the system of faith and prac- ti e of which he was the parent, and used their influence in hehalf of that system, even to the humiliation of the Brahmans. Other Castes, such as those of the V enukaras, Rathakaras, Pukkasas, Baiharas, Ahirs, or Herdsmen, are viewed in the writing'^, to whicli we refer, as inferior both in station and privilege to the Brahmans and Kshatriyas. The Buddhist Sutras, too, recognize the duty, or custom, of each person to marry in his own caste, and to follow the profession of his ancestors. They ascribe baseness and elevation of birth to sin practised or to merit accumu- lated in former hii'ths, according to the prevailing doctrine of. the metempsycliosis. Yet, the Lalita Vistara, in giving an account of the choice of a wife for Buddha by his father Shuddhodana, represents the father, as giving in- structions that the wife should he chosen, according to her qualities, from either a Brahman, a Ksliatriya, a Vaisliya, or a Sliudra family.* d'his work, however, was probably composed, only little more than a century before the Chris- tian era. “ While society was in this state,” — to quote from M. E. Burnouf, — “ tliere was horn in one of the families of the Kshatriyas, that of the Shakyas of Kapilavastu, which professed to he descended from the Solar race of Kings, a young prince who at the age of twenty-nine renounced the world, and became a devotee under the name of Shdhja Muni, or Sliraman Gautama. His doctrine % Lalita Vistara, adh. xii. (p. 159, Calc, ed.) BUDDHIST VIEW OF CASTE. 281) which according to the [Buddhist] Siitras was more moral than metaphysical, at least in its principle, rested on an opinion admitted as a fact, and upon a hope presented as a certainty. The opinion was that the visible world is in a state of perpetual change ; that death succeeds life, and life death ; that man, as well as all that siuTounds him, revolves in an eternal cii'cle of transmigration ; that he passes ill succession through all the varieties of life from the most elementary to the most perfect ; that the place which he occupies in the vast scale of living beings depends on the merit of the actions he performs in the world, and that thus the virtuous man is to he reborn after death with a divine body and the wicked with a degraded body ; that the rewards of heaven and the punishments of hell are only for a limited period, like the things of this vv'oiid ; that time exhausts the merit of virtuous actions as it effaces the faults of the wicked ; and that the fated law of change extends over the world, over tlie gods, and over the damned (in hell). The hope which Shakya IVIuni gave to men was the possibility of escaping this law of change, by entering into what is called nirvana, that is to say, annihilation. The positive sign of this annihilation was death ; but a prevenient sign announced in this life the man predestined to this supreme deliverance ; it was the possession of unlimited knowledge, which enabled him to see the world with all its moral and physical laws ; and to sum up all in a single word, it was the practice of the six transcendental perfections — almsgiving, morality, knowledge, energy, patience, and charity. The authority on which the devotee of the race of Shakya rested his teaching was entirely personal, and was formed of two 37 290 WHAT CASTE IS. elements, the one real, and the other ideal. The fir.st was the regularity and sanctity of his conduct, of which chastity, patience, and charity formed the principal features. The second was the claim he had to be a Buddha, that is Enli^ht- ened [rather The-endowed-with-intelligence], and conse- quently possessed of superhuman knowledge and power. By his power he WTOught mu-acles ; by bis knowledge he called up before himself the past and the future in a clear and com- plete form. By it he could tell what any man had done in a previous state of existence ; and he affirmed that an infinite number of beings had like himself already attained by the practice of the same virtues to the dignity of a Buddha before entering into a state of complete annihilation. In fine, he presented himself to men as their Saviour, and promised that his death should not be the annihilation of bis doctrine, but that that doctrine should continue for a great number of ages after him, and that when its salutary influence should cease, a new Buddha, whom he announced by name, should come into the world, who before having to descend to the earth had, according to the legends, consecrated himself in heaven to be a future Buddha.”* The same distinguished orientalist from whom we have now quoted thus more particularly notices the view taken by Buddha of Indian society, and tlie modifications which he introduced into it in connexion with Caste. “ His avowed aim was to save men from the miserable condi- tions of existence which they found in this world, and to free them from the fated law of transmigration. He ad- * Buniouf, Introduct. a ITIistoire du Buddhisme Indien, i. pp. 152-53. His references in proof are to the Lalita Vistara, fol. 25 of his IMS. and to the Life of Shakhya in As, Res. vol. xx. p. 287. BUDDHIST VIEW OF CASTE. 291 mitted that the practice of virtue ensured to a good man a future sojourn in heaven, and the enjoyment of a better existence. But no one viewed this as a definitive state of well-being: to become a god was to be born again in order one day to die ; and the object was to escape for ever the necessity of being born again and dying. The distinction of Castes was in the view of Shakya an accident in the ex- istence of men here below — an accident which he recoo-- o nized, but could not prevent. This is why the Castes appear in all the Sutras and legends which 1 have read as an esta- blished fact, against which Shakya does not make a single political objection. This was so much the case, that when a party attached to the service of a prince wished to embrace the life of a devotee, Shakya did not receive him till the prince had given his consent.” [This is illustrated by a legend from the Avadana Shataka]. “This respect of Shakya for the royal authority has left its traces even on modern Buddhism; and it is one of the fundamental rules for the ordination of a Devotee or Mendicant [/?/riA:67/?r], that he should reply in the negative to the question,^ Art thou in the service of the king?* Shakya admitted, then, the * [One of the questions asked (in Pali) at the candidate for admis- sion into the order of Devotee (Bhikshu) is rrSfUIT — Thou art not a soldier-of-the king ? The reply is, ^THT >1^^^ — I am not, O venerable-ones. See Kammavakhya, edited by Dr. Spiegel, p. 5. The novice is exhorted, according to this formula of initiation, to eat the food left by others except on particular occasions ; to wear chiefly garments dyed with clay ; to dwell usually at the roots of trees ; to use cow’s urine as a medicament, and only occasionally gin, butter, oil, honey, and sugar ; to abstain altogether from intercourse with women ; to abstain from stealing, even that of a leaf ; to abstain from killing animals, etc.] 292 WHAT CASTE IS. Ilierarchy of Castes ; he even explained it, as did tlie Brahmans, by the theory of punishments and rewards ; and as often as lie instructed a man of low condition, he did not fail to attribute the baseness of his birth to the sins he had committed in a former life. To convert a man of whatever condition, then, was in the view of iShakya to give him the means of escaping from trans- migration.” “ Shakya opened, then, to all castes with- out distinction the way of salvation, from which their birth had before excluded the greater number ; and he made them equal among themselves, and in his own estimation, by conferring upon them investiture with the rank of Devotees. In this last respect he went much further than the philosophers Kapila and Patanjali, who had be2;un a work somewhat resemblino; that which the Buddhists afterwards accomplished. By attacking as useless the works prescribed by the Veda, and by sub- stituting for them the practice of personal asceticism, Kapila had placed within the reach of all, in principle at least if not in reality, the title of Ascetic, which pre- vious to that time had been the distinction and almost exclusive privilege of the life of a Brahman. Shakya did more than this : he gave to isolated philosophers the organization of a religious body. We thus find the ex- planation of two facts, the facility with which Buddhism must have been originally propagated, and the opposition which Brahmanism naturally made to its progress. The Brahmans had no objections to make to Shakya so long as he restricted himself to work out as a philosopher the future deliverance of man, and to assure him of the liberation which 1 have already characterized as absolute. BUDDHIST VIEW OF CASTE. 293 But they could not admit the possibility of that actual deliverance, that relative liberation which tended to nothing- short of the destruction in a given time, of the subordination of Castes as regarded religion. This is how Shakya attacked tlie foundation of the Indian system, and it indicates that a time could not fail to come, when the Brahmans placed at the head of that system, would feel the necessity of proscribing a doctrine of which the consequences could not escape them.”* It is evident from all this, — which is perfectly con- sistent with what is found in the oldest Buddhist Sutras and legends, — that Shakya Muni did not directly oppose tl)e state of matters religious and social which he found to exist in Indian society. He thought that he had found out a better and shorter way to get rid of the evils of life ; and he brought his own plan to notice in the most effective manner. He became himself, as we have seen, an ascetic ; and he strove by strictness and purity of life, more than by harshness of discipline, to become tlie best of ascetics, and to elevate himself to a moral position, superior even to that of the Ttrthyas or dwellers at holy places, and the most ascetic of the Brahmans. His tenets and practices he brought con- spicuously to notice by the public preaching of himself and his disciples, avoiding that monopoly of know- ledge and instruction to which the Brahmans had laid claim. All classes of society, without any peculiar privilege from Caste, were invited to join the orders wliich he established, with the full expectation of receiv- * Burnouf, ut sup. i. pp. 2I0-2I2. 294 WHAT CASTE IS. ing- th*eir highest advantages. He disparaged and eschewed, though he did not directly condemn, a here- ditary priesthood. He pretended, if we may believe his followers, to work miracles, and to be himself a miracle of knowledge. He carried his sympathies, too, much farther beyond the human family than had been done before his day. He interdicted all animal sacrifice, and all slaying of animals even for the purpose of food, ordering; the rules of eating- and drinking so as to make them accord with this object. Aided by numer- ous associates and by some of the most powerful of the Indian princes, he effected a revolution in Indian society. Multitudes made him their leader; his system gained a political importance, particularly through Ashoka the grandson of Chandragupta (the Sandra- cottus of the Greeks) ; and his faith, through the zeal of his adherents, and the notice which its wmndrous structural buildings and excavations (then novelties in India) attracted, became predominant in India for ages, and was carried to other lauds, where it still exists though not Avith its pristine vigour. Even the forest tribes of India, as may be seen from the ornamental figures of the cave-temples and ra onasteries of Western India, are represented as joyfully doing him homage. Denying the existence of the Divinity, he made him- self, or suffered himself to be made, a god. His images, throuo'h the efforts of his followers, soon filled the temples, the gods of the Hindu pantheon being thence banished, or there appearing as subordinate to him- self. His way became more glorious than that of the Dridimans in the eyes of the multitude, the Sfiramana BUDDHIST VIEW OF CASTE. 29') taking the precedence of tlie Bruhmana.* Though some l^ralimans became his willing pupils, the Brahmanical body soon appeared in opposition to him. His followers in their turn began to oppose the Brahmans, and ulti- mately placed themselves to them in an attitude of unmitigated hostility. The strife continued, even during the ages of Buddhist ascendancy. The Brahman power, as will be onwards noticed, ultimately proved victorious within the bounds of India proper. The final attitude of Buddhism to Caste cannot be better illustrated than by the Buddhist tract attributed to Ashva Ghosha. This witty production was discovered by Mr. Hodgson in NepH in 1829. “ A few days since,” (he writes in July 1 1th, 1829), “ my learned old Bauddba 1‘riend brought me a little tract in Sanskrit, with such an evident air of pride and pleasure, that I immediately asked him what it contained. ‘ Oh, my friend,’ was his reply, ‘ 1 have been long trying to procure for you this work, in the assurance that you must highly approve the wit and wisdom contained in it ; and after many applications to the owner, 1 have at length obtained the loan of it for three or four days. But I cannot let you have it or even a copy of it, such being the conditions on which I procured you a sight of it.’ These words of my old friend stimulated my curiosity, and with a few fair words I engao'ed the old oentleman to lend me and my pandit his aid in making a translation of it.” This * The designation of Shramana (a practiser of shrama, toil or austerity) does not necessarily mean a Buddhist devotee ; but as opposed to Brahmana, it has this meaning, in Avhich it always occurs in the Buddhist writings. 296 WHAT CASTE IS. translation appeared in the third volume of the Trans- actions of the Royal Asiatic Society, and was afterwards reprinted in Mr. Hodgson’s “ Illustrations of the Litera- ture and Religion of the Buddhists.” I have compared it throughout with a manuscript of the original, present- ed to me by the late L. Wilkinson, Esq., a most able and zealous member of the Bombay Civil Service; and found it to be both sufficiently accurate, and spirited.* * * § I here give it a place, interpolating a few explanations and adding a few notes. The Buddhist author, it must be borne in mind, reasons ex concessu throughout, from what he supposes to he the Brahmanical writings. Vojra ShucJn. “ I, Asliva Gtosha first invoking Manju Ghosha,'|' the Guru of the world, with all my soul and all my strength, proceed to compose the book called Vajra ShucTii' [the Adamentine Needle] in according with the Shastras [or rather, established opinion, Mata']." Allow then that your Vedas and Smritis, and works involving both Dharma and Artha% are good and vahd, and that discourses at variance with them are invalid, still what you say that the Brahman is the highest of the four Castes, cannot be proved from these books. Tell me first of all what is Brahmanhood ? Is it life, or parentage,§ or body, or wisdom, or the way [rather practice, achdra] or acts i. e. that is morality {karma], or the Vedas (learning in the Vedas). If you say that it is life (jiva ), such an assertion cannot be recon- ciled with the Vedas ; for it is written in the Vedas that the sun and * The. Vajra Shiichi was printed by Mr. Wilkinson in 1839, with an acute but sophistical comment on it by Subaji Bapu. f [Probably a Buddhist sage. See Burnouf, Lotus de la Bonne Loi, p. 509.] J [Dharma (duty), artha (aim), kdma (desire), and moksha (liberation), are the four objects of human existence, according to Iliuduism.] § [In the JIS. sent to me by Mr. Wilkinson the word for this (given onwards as jdfi, or birth, rather than parentage) is omitted.] BUDDHIST VIEAI/ OF CASTE. 297 the moon, and other deities, were at first quadrupeds ; and some other deities were first animals and afterwards became gods ; even the vilest of the vile (shvapdka) have become gods.* From these words it is clear that Brahmanhood is not life {jiva), a position which is further proved from these words of the (Mahd) Bharata : seven hunters and ten deer of the hill Kiilinjala, a goose of the lake Manasa-sara, a Chakravaka of the Sharadvipa, all these wei-e born as Brahmans in the KumJcshetra (near Delhi), and became very learned in the Vedas. It is also said by Manu in his Dharmashastra, “ Whatever Brahman learned in the four Vedas with- their Angas and Upangas, shall take charity [fees or gifts] from a Shudra, shall for twelve births be an ass, and for sixty births a hog, and seventy births a dog.f From these words it is clear that Brahmanhood is not life ; for if it were, how could such things be ? If, again, you say that Brahmanhood depends on parentage or birth (jati), that is, that to be a Brahman one must be born of Brahman parents, — this notion is at variance with the known passage of the Smriti, that Achala Muni was born of an elephant, and Kesha Pingala of an owl, and Agasl)'a Muni from the Agasti flower, and Ivausika Muni from the Kusha grass, and Kapila from a monkey, and Gautama Hishi from a creeper that entwined a Sala tree, and Drona A'charya from an earthen pot, and Taittiri Rishi from a partridge, and (Parashu) Rama from dust, and Shringa Rishi from a deer, and Vyasa Muni from a fisher woman, and Kaushika Muni from a female Shudra, and Vishvamitra from a Chandalni, and Vasishtha Muni from a strumpet. Not one of them had a Brahman mother, and yet all were notoriously called Brah- * [The text of this passage is the following : — ' aiRj HT: TnTrwrfl I : 'TWBTfl 1 1 1 1 3Tr?iT : 'T5TT: 1 I — ^literally, The Sun was an animated being [or the (great) Soul, according to the Vedantists] ; the Moon was an animated being ; Indra was an animated being ; animated beings (were) the gods ; moreover, the gods were animated beings ; the dog-eaters were at first gods.] f [The taking of gifts by Brahmans from Shfidras is forbidden in Manu, but not in the terms here alleged.] 38 298 WHAT CASTE IS. mans ; whence I infer, that the title is a distinction of popular origin, and cannot be traced to parentage from written authorities.* Should you again say, that whoever is born of a Brahman father or mother is a Brahman, then the child of a slave [Dasa] even may become a Brahman ; a consequence to which I have no objection, but which will not consort with your notions, I fancy. Do you say that he who is sprung of Brahman parents is a Brahman ? Still I object that, since you must mean pure and true Brahmans, in such case the breed of Brahmans must be at an end ; since the fathers of the parent race of Brahmans are not, any of them, free from the suspicion of having wives, who notoriously commit adultery with Shudras. Now, if the real father be a Shudra, the son cannot be a Brahman, notwithstanding the Brahmanhood of his mother. From all which I infer that Brahmanhood is not truly derivable from birth ; and I draw fresh proofs of this from the Manava Dharma, which affirms that the Brahman who eats flesh loses instantly his rank ; and also, that by selling wax, or salt, or milk, he becomes a Shudra in three days ; and further, that even such a Brahman as can fly like a bird directly ceases to be a Brahman by meddling with the fleshpots. From all this is it not clear that Brahmanhood is not the same with birth? since, if that were the case, it could not be lost by any acts however degrading. Knew you ever of a flying horse that by alighting on earth was turned into a pig ? — ’Tis impossible. Say you that body (sJianra) is the Brahman ? this too is false ; for, if body be the Brahman, then fire, when the Brahman’s corpse is consumed by it, will be the murderer of a Brahman; and such also will be every * [When such absurdities as those mentioned in this paragraph found entrance into the more modern Indian legendry (in which they still occupy a place), it is difficult to say. dome things resembling them occur in the Digvarga of the Amara- kosha, probably of the first century of the Christian era. Agasfya, for example, is there called Kumbhasambhava, produced from a jar ; A'ugiras to be Chitrashi- 1,-Aand^'o, horn of a peacock; and Aruna to be Garuddgraja, horn of the beak of Garuda or the eagle. The whole is equivalent to what would he such conceits as that Lord Bacon was born of the loin of a pig ; that Mr. Partridge, the able scientific visitor of Garibaldi, was born of the game bird of the same name ; and that the learned Mr. Sheepshanks was born of the trotter of a ram.] BUDDHIST VIEW OF CASTE. 209 one of the Brahman’s relatives who consigned his body to the flames. Nor less will this other absurdity follow, that every one born of a Brahman, though his mother were a Kshatriya or a Vaishya, [or a Shiidra] Avould be a Brahman — being bone of the bone, and flesh of the flesh of, his father, a monstrosity, you wdll allow, that was never heard of. Again, are not performing sacrifice, and causing others to perform it, reading and causing to read, receiving and giving charity, and other holy acts, sprung from the body of the Brahman ? Is then the virtue of all these destroyed by the destruction of the body of a Brahman ? Surely not, according to your own principles ; and, if not, then Brahmanhood cannot consist in body. Say yoir that wisdom* constitutes the Brahman ? This too is in- correct. Why ? Because, if it were true, many Shudras must have be- come Brahmans from the great wisdom they acquired. I myself know many Shudras who are masters of the four Vedas, and of philology, and of the Mimansd, and Sankhya, and Vaisheshika and Jyotishika philosophies ; yet not one of them is or ever was called a Brahman. It is clearly proved, then, that Brahmanhood consists not in wisdom or learning. Then do you affinn that the A'chara is Brahmanhood ? This too is false ; for if it were true, many Shudras would become Brahmans ; since many Nabas and Bhatas, and Kaivartas, and Bhandas, and others, are everywhere to be seen performing the severest and most laborious acts of piety. Yet not one of these, who are all so pre-eminent in their A'chara, is ever called a Brahman, from which it is clear that A'chara does not constitute the Brahman. Say you that Karma makes the Brahman ? I answer, no ; for the argument used above applies here with even greater force, altogether annihilating the notion that acts constitute the Brahman. Do you declare that by reading the Vedas a man becomes a Brah- man ? This is palpably false ; for it is notorious that the Rdksliasa Havana was deeply versed in all the four Vedas [the Rig- Veda, Yajurveda, Sama Veda, and Atharva Veda] ; and that, indeed, all the Rdkshasas studied the VMas in Ravana’s time : yet you do not say « Perhaps it should rather be translated learning. Tliis word in the original is Jn&na. 300 WHAT CASTE IS. that one of them thereby became a Brahman. It is therefore proved that no one becomes a Brahman by reading the Vedas. What then is this creature called a Brahman ? If neither reading the Vedas, nor sanskdras, [sacraments, J nor parentage, nor race (kula), nor acts (karma), confers Brahmanhood, what does or can? To my mind Brahmanhood is merely an immaculate quality, like the snowy whiteness of the Kundha flower. That which removes sin is Brahman- hood. It consists of Vrata and Tapa, and Niyama, and Upavdsa, and Dana, and Dama, and Sliama, and Sanyama. It is written in the Vedas that the gods hold that man to be a Brahman who is free from intemperance and egotism ; and from Sanya, and Parigraha, and Pdga, and Dve'sha. Moreover, it is written in all the Shastras that the signs of a Brahman are these, truth, penance, the command of the organs of sense, and mercy ; as those of a Chandala are the vices opposed to those virtues. Another mark of the Brahman is a scrupulous abstinence from sexual commerce, whether he be born a god, or a man, or a Ipeast.* Yet further, Shukra (A'charya) has said, that the gods take no heed of Caste, but deem him to be the Brahman who is a good man although he belong to the vilest. From all which I infer, that birth, and life, and body, and wisdom, and observance of religious rites (A’chara), and acts (Karma), are all of no avail towards becoming a Brahman. Then again, that opinion of your sect, that Pravrajyd is pro- hibited to the Shiidra ; and that for him service and obedience paid to Brahnians are instead of Pravrajyd, — because, forsooth, in speaking of the four castes, the Shiidra is mentioned last, and is therefore the vilest, — is absurd ; for, if it were correct, Indra would be made out to be the lowest and meanest of beings, Indra being mentioned in the (Parni) Sutra after the dog, thus — “ Shva, Pura, Mugliavan.'’^ In truth, the order in which they are mentioned or written, cannot affect the relative rank and dignity of the beings spoken of. What ! is Parvati greater than Mahesha ? or are the teeth superior in dignity to the lips, because Ave find the latter postponed to the * [This is according to tlic Buddhist view. The Indian Brahmans have prac- tised marriage from the earliest ages.] t [A name ot Indra in the VSdas.] BUDDHIST VIEW OF CASTE. 301 former, for the mere sake of euphony in some grammar sentence ? Are the teeth older than the lips ; or does your creed teach you to postpone Shiva to his spouse ? No ; nor any more is it true that the Sluidra is vile, and the Brahman high and mighty, because -vve are used to repeat the Chatur Varna [four castes] in a particular order. And if this proposition be untenable, your deduction from it, viz. that the vile Shiidra must be content to regard his service and obedience to Brah- mans as his only Pravrajjjd,* falls likewise to the ground. Know further, that it is written in the Dharma Shastra of Manu, that the Brahman who has drank the milk of a Shiidrani, or has been even breathed upon by a Shiidrani, or has been born of such a female, is not restored to his rank by Prayaschitta.^ In the same work it is further asserted, that if any Brahman eat and drink from the hands of a Shiidrani, he becomes in life a Shiidra, and after death a dog. Manu further says, that a Brahman who associates with female Shudras or keeps a Shiidra concubine, shall be rejected by gods and ancestors^ and after death shall go to hell. From all these assertions of the Mauava Dharma, it is clear that Brahmanhood is nothing in- defensibly attached to any race or breed, but is merely a quality of good men. Further, it is written in the Shastra of Manu, that many Shudras became Brahmans by force of their piety ; for example, Kathina Muni, who was born of the sacrificial flame produced by the friction of wood, became a Brahman by dint of Tapa; and Vasishtha Muni born of the courtezan Urvashf, and Vyiisa Muni, born of a female of the fisherman’s caste ; and liishiyashringa Muni, born of a doe ; and Vishvdmitra, born of a Chanddlni ; and Narada Sluni, born of a female spiritseller ; all these became Brahmans by virtue of their Tapas. Is it not clear then Brahmanhood depends not on birth ? It is also notorious that he who has conquered himself is a Tati ; that he who performs penance is a Tapasya; and that he who observes the Brahmacharya is a Bi'ahman. It is clear then that he whose life is pure, and his temper cheerful, is the true Brahman ; and that lineage (Kula) has nothing to do Avith the matter. There are these Shlokas in the Manava Dharma, “ Goodness of disposition and purity are the best of all things ; lineage is not alone deserving [Shushrusha, service, in MS.] t {Nishkriti, atonement, in MS.] 302 WHAT CASTE IS. of respect. If the race be royal and virtue be wanting to it, it is contemptible and useless.” Kathina IMuni and Vyasa Muni, ami other sages, though bom of Shudras, are famous among men as Brahmans, and many persons born in the lowest ranks have attained to heaven by the practice of uniform good conduct (s/izTa). To say there- fore that the Brahman is of one particular race is idle and false. 1 our doctrine, that the Brahman was produced from the mouth, the Kshatriya from the arms, the Yaishya from the thighs, and the Shudras from the feet, cannot be supported. Brahmans are not of one particular race. Many persons have lived who belonged to the Kaivarta [fisherman] Jcxila, and the Bajalca [washerman] kida, and the Clidnddla kula, and yet, while they existed in this world, per- formed the Cliitda Karma [head-shaving] and Munj-bandhana [tying- the-sacred-string], and [applying the] Danta-Kdshthd [tooth-rinsing- wood] and other acts appropriated to Brahmans, and after their deaths became, and still are, famous under the Brahman. All that I have said about BrMimans you must know is equally appli- cable to Kshatriyas ; and that the doctrine of the four castes is altogether false. All men are of one caste. Wonderful ! you affirm that all men proceeded from one, i. e. Brahma; how then can there be a fourfold insuperable diversity among them ? If I have four sons by one Avife, the four sons having one father and mother must be all essentially alike. KnoAV too that distinctions of race among beings are broadly marked by differences of conformations and organization : thus, the foot of the elephant is very different from that of the horse ; that of the tiger unlike that of the deer ;*and so of the rest, and by that single diagnosis we learn that those animals belong to very differ- ent races. But I never heard that the foot of a Kshatriya was different from that of a Brahman, or that of a Shudra. All men are formed alike, and are clearly of one race. Further, the generative organs, the colour, the figure, the ordure, the urine, the odour, and utterance of the ox, the buffalo, the horse, the elephant, the ass, the monkey, the goat, the sheep, etc. furnish clear diagnostics whereby to separate these various races of animals ; but in all those respects the Brahman resembles the Kshatriya, and is therefore of the same race or species rvith him. I have instanced among quadrupeds the diversities which separate diverse genera. I noAV proceed to give some more instances from among birds. Thus, BUDDHIST VIEW OF CASTE. 303 the goose, the dove, the parrot, the peacock, etc. are known to be different by their diversities of figure, and colour, and plumage, and beak ; but the Briihraan, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra are alike with- out and within. How then can we say they are essentially distinct? Again, among trees, the Vata and Bakula, and Palasha and Ashoka, and Tamala, and Nagakeshara, and Shirisha and Champaka, and others, are clearly conti'adistinguished by their stems, and leaves, and flowers, and fruits, and barks, and timber, and seeds, and juices and odours ; but Brahmans, and Kshatriyas, and the rest, are alike in flesh, and skins, and blood, and bones, and figure, and excrements, and mode of birth. It is surely then clear that they are of one species or race. Again, tell me, is a Brahman’s sense of pleasure and pain different from that of the Kshatriya ? Does not the one sustain life in the same way, and And death from the same causes as the other ? Do they differ in intellectual fliculties, in their actions, or the objects of those actions ; in the manner of their birth, or in their subjection to fear and hope ? not a whit.* It is therefore clear that they are essentially the same. In the Udumbara and Panasa trees the fruit is produced from the branches, the stem, the joints, and the loots. | Is one fruit therefore different from another, so that we may call that produced faom the top of the stem the Brahman fruit, and that from the roots the Shudra fruit ? Surely not. Nor can men be of four distinct races, because they sprang from four diSerent parts of one body. You say that the Brahman was produced from the mouth ; whence was the Brahmani produced? From the mouth likewise ? Grant it, and then you must marry the brother to the sister ! a pretty business indeed ! if such incest is to have place in this world of ours, all distinctions of right and wrong must be obliterated. This consequence, flowing inevitably from your doctrine that the Brahman proceeded from the mouth, proves the falsity of that doctrine. The distinctions between Bralimans, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras, are founded merely on the observance of divers rites, and the practice • [Mr. Hodgson justly says, “ The manner in which our author treats this part of his subject, is, in my judgment admirable, and altogether worthy of a European mind. Indeed it bears the closest resemblance to the stj'le of argument used by Shakespeare. . , .in the Merchant of Venice : Hath not a Jew eyes, etc.”] •f [The Udambara is the Ficus glomerata; and the Panasa, the Artocarpus integrifolia.] 304 WHAT CASTE IS. of different professions ; as is clearly proved by the conversation of Vaisluunpayana Rishi with Yudhishthira Raja, which was as follows : One day the son of Panda, named Yudhishthira, Avho was the wise man of his age, joining his hands reverentially, asked Vaishanipayana, whom do you call a Brahman; and what are the signs of Brahmanhood? Vaisham answered, the first sign of aBr.ahman is, that he possesses long suffering and the rest of the virtues, and never is guilty of violence and wrong-doing ; that he never eats flesh ; and never hurts a sentient thing. The second sign is, that he never takes that which belongs to another without the owner’s consent, even though he find it in the road. The third sign is, that he masters all worldly affections and desires, and is absolutely indifferent of earthly considerations. The fourth, whether he is born a man, or a god, or a beast, he never yields to sexual desires. The. fifth that he possesses the following five pure qualities, truth, mercy, command of the senses, universal benevolence, and penance. Whoever posse.sses these five signs of Brahmanhood I acknowledge to be a Brah- man ; and, if he possess them not, he is a Shudia. Brahmanhood de- pends not on race (Kula) or birth, (Jdti) nor on the performance of cer- tain ceremonies. If a Chandala is virtuous, and possesses the signs above noted, he is a Brahman. *Oh ! Yudhishthira, formerly in this world of ours there was but one caste. The division into four castes originated Avith diversity of rites and avocations. All men Avere born of Avoman in like manner. All are subject to the same physical necessities, and have the same organs and senses. But he Avhose conduct is uniformly good is a Brahman ; and if it be otherwise he is a Shiidra ; aye, IcAver than a Shudra. The Shudra Avho, on the other hand, possesses these virtues is a Brahman. Oh, Yudhishthira ! If a Shudra be superior to the allurements of the five senses, to give him charity is a virtue that Avill be rewarded in heaven. Heed not his caste, but only mark his qualities. Whoever in this life ever does Avell, and is ever ready to benefit others, spending his days and nights in good acts, such an one is a Brahman ; and Avho- ever, relinquishing Avorldly Avays, employs himself solely in the * The word in the original is Tapas, which we are accustomed to translate “ penance,” and I have followed the usage, though “ ascetism” would he a better word. The proud Tapas, Avhom the very gods regard with dread, never di-eams of contrition and repentance. BUDDHIST VIEW OF CASTE. 305 acquisition of Moksha, such an one also is a Brahman ; and whoever refrains from destruction of life, and from worldly affections, and evil acts, and is free from passion and backbiting, such an one also is a Brahman ; and whoso possesses kshamd [forgiveness], dayd [mercy], [subjection of the passions], f?a/ia [liberality], satya [truthful- ness], shauchana [purity], smriti [knowledge of law], ghrind [ten- derness], vidyd [learning], and vijndna [discernment], etc., is a Brahman. Oh, Yudhishthira, if a person perform the Brahmacharya for one night, the merit of it is greater than that of a thousand sacrifices (Yajna). And whoso has read all the Vedas, and performed all the Tirthas, and observed all the commands and prohibitions of the Shastra, such an one is a Brahman 1 and whoso has never injured a sentient thing by act, word, or thought, such a person shall instantly be absorbed (at his death) in Brahma. Such were the words of Vaishampayana. Oh, my friend, my design in the above discourse is, that all ignorant Brahmans and others should acquire wisdom by studying it, and take to the right way. Let them, if they approve it, heed it ; and if they approve it not, let them neglect its admonitions.” Of the time of the production of this curious and pun- gent tract, it is difficult to form an opinion. ]\Ir. Hodgson says, “ Who Asliva Ghoslia, the author, was, when he flourished and where, I cannot ascertain. All that is knotvn of him at Nepal is, that he was a Maha-Pandit, or great sage, and wrote, besides the little treatise now translated, two larger Bauddha works of high repute, the names of which are mentioned in a note.”* Buniouf asks whether Ashva Ghosha was the celebrated devotee, whose name is rendered in Chinese by Ma ming (the voice of a horse), and who according to the Japanese Encyclopoedia, was the twelfth Buddhist patriarch after the death of tShakya Muni or some more modern devotee of the same * Buddha Charitra Kavya, and the Nandi Mukhasughoaha Avadana, and other works. Hodgson’s 111. of Lit. and Eel. of the Buddhists, pp. 193-4. 39 306 WHAT CASTE IS. name.* I am inclined to believe that the work has been long known, to a greater or less extent, even on the con- tinent of India. Mr. Wilkinson obtained his copy of it from a Brahman of the town of Nasik, at Bhopal in Central India. The Rev. Dr. Glasgow lately sent me a cata- logue of a deceased Brahman’s library offered for private sale, I observed in it an entrance — “ The Vajra Shuchi' ; and having asked this tract, and obtained it, through the kindness of my learned friend, I find that it professes to he the composition of the celebrated Shankara A'charya (of the eighth century of the Christian era), the copy having- been made in Samvat 1845 — A. D. 1730. The first part of this Brahmauic treatise is a brief memoriter summary of the argument of the Buddhist tract, as will appear from the following literal translation which I make of it. Here the Vajra Shuchi [the Adamantine Needle] is ■written. Hari ! Om ! I begin to publish the Adamantine Needle, the piercer of the ignorance of the Sh^tra, the stigma of the destitute of know- ledge, the ornament of the intelligent. That the Bnihman is the chief of the four castes ( Varna), the Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra, is declared in the Vedas, and is set forth by the Smritis. And this is the beginning. What is that which is called a Brahman ? Is it life (Jiva) ? Is it body {deha) ? Is it birth (jdti) ? Is it colour {varna) ? Is it learning {pdn,diti/a) ? Is it religion {dharma) ? Is it liberality {dlumnikya) ? Is it works (karma) ? These are the eight objections (brought forward). First, suppose that Life is the thing. Then, it being so, the form of life being the same in all men, life cannot be the Brahman. And, again, suppose the Brahman to be Body. Then, fi-om the disease and mortality apparent in the body of all men down to the Chandala, it is evident that body cannot be the Brahman. Again, if body be the Brahman, then from the concremation of the bodies Introduct. a I’Histoire du Buddhisme Indien, i. pp. 215-lG. BUDDHIST VIEW OF CASTE. 307 of fathers and mothers, by sons, the sin of Brahmacide would attach itself to them. Wherefore body cannot be the Brahman. And suppose Colour to be the Bnihman, (and that it is the case that) the Brahman is of white colour, the Kshatriya is of red colour, the Vaishya is of yellow colour, the Shudra is of black colour :* then from the appearance of the mixture of colour among all the classes, including that of the' Brahmans, it is evident that colour is not the Brahman. Again suppose Works to be the Brahman. According to this, the Brahman of white colour lives (or would live) a hundred years ; the Kshatriya, the half (of this number, fifty years) ; the Vaishya, the half (of this number, twenty-five years) ; and the Shudra, the half (of this number, twelve and a half years). From there being no such rule, it is evident that work constitutes not the Brahman. Again, suppose Birth to be the Brahman. Then, there are many great Rishis who have been of strange birth : Rishyashringa was born of a deer ; Kaushika was from a stalk of the Kusha -grass (Poa Cynosuroides) ; Gautama was (born) from the back of a hair ; Valmlka (was born) from an anthill; Vyasa (was born from) the daughter of a fisherman (^Kaivartaka) ; Vasishtha (was born) of a Vaishya woman ; Vishvamitra (was born) of a Kshatriya female ; Agasti was born from a water jar ; Mandikya was born from the flower of the Manduka (Bignonia Indica) ; Matanga was the son of a Matanga (a low tribe) ; Parashara [the father of Vyasa] was born from a female Chandala ; Narada was the son of a Dasa ; — so it is set forth in the Puranas. These parties on account of their distin- guished knowledge obtained Brahmanhood and pre-eminence, though without birth, as certainly reported. Again, if Learning be supposed to constitute Brahmanhood, it is found that there are many Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shiidras, etc., who have great knowledge of categories (padartha) and logiiial processes (vakya-pra- mdna) ; and that consequently learning does not constitute the Brahman. Again, if Religion be supposed to constitute the Brahman, there are many Kshatidyas, Vaishyas, and Shiidras, etc., who have in religious observance performed meritorious works ( ishUipurta) ; and consequently Religion does not constitute the Brahman. * This alleged diversity of colour in Ihe primitive Castes is noticed in the Maha hharata, xiii. v. 6934. See also Muir’s Texts, i. pp. 49-1. 308 WHAT CASTE IS. Again if Liberality be supposed to constitute the Brahman, there are many Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras, who have given gifts of daughters, gifts of cows, gifts of gold, gifts of ahe-bnffaloes ; and there- fore liberality does not constitute the Brahman, What then [constitutes the Brahman] ? He who sees the import of Brahma as clearly as one who holds [the fruit of the] A^malaka in his hand and who is without lust, anger, hatred, etc., [and has] quiet and self-restraint, and from whom pleasure, pride, envy, desire, folly, and other evil affections are removed, is declared to be a Brahman. A Shiidra by birth becoming a Brahmacharya is declared to be a dvtja (one-twice-born) ; by practice in the Vedas, he becomes a Vipra (an in- telligent one) ; and by the knowledge of Brahma, he becomes a, Brahman* This reasoning is in substance that of the Buddhist Vajra Sliuchi. Tlie tract proceeds to dispose of the repre- sentations now quoted on the usual principles of the Ve- dantists, — not disparaging the caste of the Brahmans, but holdinjr the knowledo^e of Brahma to be essential to its perfection. It appears to me that its author thus ingeni- ously seeks to weaken the Buddhist argument, which must have been current in the country before he considered it expedient to interfere with it. And here it is proper to observe that though the Vai.shnaA'a Brahmans, — the modern sectarial followers of Vishnu, — have most absurdly alleged that Buddha was a descent {avatdra), the Shaiva Brahmans, — the sectariiil followers of Shiva, — that he was a personal manifestation (rupadhdrdna) of Vishnu, f effected for the • Shankara Acharya virichataydn upanishat subodhinyan Vajra Sbuchf, pp. 1-4. “ Then in the course of the Kali (Yuga), for distressing the enemies of the Suras (gods), he will be born among the Klkatas, as Buddha, the son of Anjana.” Bhagavata Purana, i. 3. 24. See passages of a similar kind referred to in Kennedy on Ancient and Hindu Mythology, p, 250. f BUDDHIST VIEW OF CASTE. 309 purpose of destroying the merit of a righteous king, whose worth they allege came into depressing competition with that of the gods themselves, they have all along rightly interpreted the principles of Buddhism while strenuously opposing them. In the interesting Nataka, or Play, entitled the MrichchhalcaVikd, or Toy Cart, attributed to king Sudraka, and supposed by Professor H. H. Wilson to have been composed about a century before the Christian era, a Shramanaka, or Bdddhist mendicant, is represented as thus sinofinff: — o O “ Be virtue, friend.s, your only store, And restless appetite restrain, Beat meditation’s drum and sore Your watch against each sense maintain ; The thief that still, in ambush lies, To make devotion’s wealth his prize. Cast the five senses all away, That trample o’er the virtuous will. The pride of self importance slay. And ignorance remorseless kill j So shall you safe the body guard. And Heaven shall be your last reward. Why shave the head and mow the chin While bristling follies choke the breast ? Apply the knife to parts Avithin And heed not how deformed the rest : The heart of pride and passion weed. And then the man is pure indeed.”* • Wilson’s Hindu Theatre, vol. i. p. 122. The spirit of the original passage (see Stenzler’s text, p. 112) is here preserved, though considerable freedom has been used in the translatioD. 310 WHAT CASTE IS. The party thus chaiinting with Buddhistical propriety, wlio is represented as originally a Samvdhalca, — a body- servant, or gambler, is also set forth as saying when about to leave his original work, “ Lady, on account of the disgrace of this gambling profession I will become a Shakya Shramanaka,"* thus intimating the motive, by which, according to the Buddhist social reform, parties of the lower castes of the Hindus were often intluenced in their assumption of Buddhist mendicancy. A similar motive is that by which many parties of the lower castes of the Hindus are influenced when they join the religions orders of the present day. In the Kashi Khanda of the Skanda Purana, devoted to the Shaiva form of Hinduism, the following are said to be the Buddhist teachings of Vishnu, — ^I’esponding to the call of Shiva, to adopt measures for effecting the injury of the righteous reign of king Divodasa, whose merit prevented the return of Shiva to liis own city Kashi : — “ This order of things (sansdra) is eternally manifest (that is has no beginning) ; (to it) there is neither creator nor creation. It is self-existent, and self-extinguished. From Brahma to a (vegetable) .spike everything is confined in a bodily form. The soul (A'tmd) and God (Ishvara) are identical ; they are not two : for Brahma, Vishnu, and Indra, etc. are merely nominal distinctions, as we are denomi- nated Punyakirti,f etc. As at our natural time our bodies perish, so (other) bodies, from Brahma to a fly, perish at their natural * In the Prakrita of the play, the original is ^55TTlTT'T’'T5rf^5riT'^^ being in Sanskrita, See the carefully edited text of Stenzler, pp. 39-40 ; 195. t The name said to be assumed by Vishnu, when he set to the propagation of heresy. I BUDDHIST VIEW OF CASTE. 311 time. On a proper view (of matters) there is no superiority of bodies. Eating, copulating, sleeping, and fear are common to all. Satisfaction in eating is common to all, without any superiority or inferiority. Thirst is the consequence to all of refraining from drinking. ...Suppose there are hundreds of horses: their use to sit on is the same to all (that is only one at a time is available for sitting on). The pleasure experienced by sleeping on couches is the same as if we were sleeping on the Hoor. As we ourselves possessed of bodies fear death, so all from Brahma to an insect fear death alike. If we consider aright, we shall see that all wearing bodies are alike. And having so inquired, it is established, that there should be no slaughter of any one (living being) (at any time) or at any place. There is no religion in the world like tenderness to life {Jfvadaiju) ; wherefore men ought by all means to practise tender- ness to life. He who preserves a single life, is as if he had preserved the three worlds, and he who kills one (life) is as if he had destroyed the three worlds ; wherefoi’e let there be preserving and not killing. That refraining from killing is the supreme duty {paramodharma), is said by the learned (suras) of old. Wherefore, whoever has the fear of hell should avoid- killing. There is no sin in the three worlds like slaughter. The killer goes to hell ; the non-killer goes to heaven (svarga). There are other offerings, but their fruits are very small. The offering ( ddna ) freeing from fear is manifestly the greatest in the three worlds. There are four gifts enjoined by the great Ri.shis, on the inspection of the Shastras ; they are seen to be prodrrctive of ad- vantage in the present life and that which is to come : — giving confi- dence to the terrified, giving medicine to the suffering, giving learning to the ignorant, and giving food to the hungry. (Moreover), the power- in gems, mantras, medicines, is to be reckoned extremely great. Where- fore men traffic among them by various expedients, and acquire wealth. Having acquired wealth, continue to worship at the twelve shrines, for without wealth there is no other way of worship. The twelve good (shrines) are the five organs of sensation, the five faculties of sen- sation, the intellectual faculty (mana), and intelligence {huddhi). Heaven and hell are in these twelve and nowhere else. Pleasure is said to be heaven, and pain to be hell. If the body die while enjoying pleasure, this is deliverance (moksha). This is the excellent deliver- 312 WHAT CASTE IS. ance ; there is no other deliverance whatsoever. The total destruction of desire and pain is in the highest sense the excellent deliverance (vijndno-paramomoksha) this is to be understood by the perceivers of distinctions. This is the Shruti spoken by the learned in the Vedas : — There is to be no killing of any living beings ; (the sacrificial "Rich beginning with) Agnishoma begets bewilderment to pure persons, for to intelligent ones there is no authority to its making the destruction of animals. That the cutting of trees, the slaughtering of animals, the making the ground red with the burning of oil-giving plants and clarified butter, lead to the attainment of heaven is surprising.* The doctrines propagated by the Buddhists, — those of the eternal existence of the universe, of the negation of a Creator and a creation, of the identity of soul in all existing forms, of the natural course of growth and decay and pleasure and pain, of the universality of the fear of birth and death among sentient beings, of the great virtue of the preservation of life even in its lowest forms, of the evil of animal saciifice and the destruction of vegetable growth, — are all here plainly set forth. It is only the doctrine of spirit involved in the passage quoted, how- ever, Avhich can be applied to the mitigation of the pride of caste. Very precise on this subject are the teach- ings in the context put mto the mouth of Lakshmi, the spouse of Vi.shnu, who under the name of Vijndna Kau- mudi, is thus made to hold forth, after alluding to the propriety of enjoying bodily pleasures, which is no peculiar tenet of the Buddhists : — “ The thirteen beautiful daughters of Daksha were married to Kashyapa, the son of Marichi (the brother of Daksha). People of small understanding of the present time consider that such a kind of marriage • Kashi Kbanda, of the Skanda Purana ii. 58. 80-108 (fol. 34-37 of MS. of l)r. Bhau BUDDHIST VIEW OF CASTE. 313 h fit, uiul yet not fit. Tlie four castes are produced from tlie mouth, arm, thigh, and foot : this was the false imagination of olden times. How can four sons produced from the same body be of separate castes ? (High) caste and low caste (varna avarna) are not to be thought of. Distinctions among men are not to be taken cognizance of by any one at any time or at any place.”* Only one explanation regarding the Buddhist view of Caste remains to be made. Though it is evident, both from tlie testimony of the Buddhists tliemselves and of their enemies the Brahmans, that they opposed Caste as far as they were able according to the exigencies of the times in which they lived, they actually, as a matter of policy, often winked at its existence in Indian society. While it was not canied by them into foreign countries, it was tolerated, though disparaged, by them wherever thev found they had been preceded by Aryan rule. They invented, too, in connexion with it their own legendrv. All this is abundantly evident from what we find to be the state of matters in regard to the island of Ceylon. Mr. Tolfrey, in the Appendix to Lord Valentia’s Travels, says, “ The epoch in Avhich Ave now are is called (by the Buddhists) the Mahabhadra Kalpa,” previous to Avhicli a thousand millions of millions of worlds (sakavals) have been destroyed. Living creatures were regenerated, how- ever, in the higher regions, and became Brahmas, AAithout * Kaslu Khanda, ii. 58, 109-123 (MS. fol. 36). The legend of Divadasa and Buddha, as found in this work, is, in substance, given by Vans Kennedy in his Eesearches in Ancient and Hindu Mythology, pp. ■423-'131. See also Author’s First Exposure of Hinduism, pp. 137-140. 40 3M WHAT CASTE IS. any distinction of caste* Some of these Bralnuas returned to the world, “ which tliey formerly inhabited, on their being reproduced, hut from avarice degenerated to such a degree that they began to steal. Upon this, quarrels arose among them, and there being no chief to decide these disputes, their wise men reflected that the world would not be in a proper state w ithout some kind of go- vernment. Upon this they selected from among them a person renowned for wisdom, whom they appointed to he their king, saying to him, ‘ Thou art our king we Avill give to thee one-tenth part of the substance we may acquire ; he thou a judge, and a ruler over us.’ This king was called Maha Sammata, a compound Avord, AAhich signifies a great assembly [rather one elected by many], to indicate that he had been chosen by the consent of many people.”* The statements made by Mr. Spence Hardy agree Avith this condensed vieAv of the Buddliist theory of tlie origin of the principal Castes. The king, he tells us, W'as called a Khatiyo or Ksliatriya ; the Brahmas, Avho concuiTed in the suppression of impious proceedings, were called Brah- manas; those who acquired wealth, Vessd, or Vaishyas ; and those wdio were addicted to hunting, Sudda,or Shudras.f Several lists of Castes or professions are given by Mr. Tolfrey. Their denominations are principally derived from the Sanskrit, and are similar to those contained in the Indian lists Avhich aa e have already inserted. They are said to haA'e been constituted in order to serve the four superior Castes. * Lord Valentia’s Travels, iii. p. 488-9. Manual of Buddhism, p. 66. PEEP AT INDIAN SOCIETY BY THE GREEKS. 315 The destruction of Buddhism by Brahmanism under caste influence I shall afterwards have occasion to notice I conclude this chapter by remarking- that the Jainas, who are only Buddhist Seceders, take exactly the same view of Caste as their speculative progenitors. Their Yatis or Jatis^aud other religionists in the West of India, continu- ally assail Caste by such arguments as we find in the Vajra Shuchi of Ashva Gho.?ha. VITI. — A Peep AT Indian Society by the Greeks. India is emphatically the land of mystery. It has been a land of mystery from the earliest ages to the present hour. It has been a land of mystery to distant strangers, to friendly and hostile visitors, and even to its own inhabitants. Scarcely any other country of the world is to be compared to it in this respect. Egypt, with its hieroglyphic and hieratic characters and its esoteric doctrines, had its records and gigantic works palpable to all, which declared the grand outlines of its history, even back to the remotest ages. Assyria, Babylon, and Persia, though long obscure to their neighbours, did not conceal their history from their own. people, but even stamped much of it on bricks and cylinders, and graved much of it on permanent tablets and on rocks, to be read by all men. The closed land of China, though jealous of foreign intrusion, has always patronized an open literature for the benefit of its own sons, as well as preserved and published the results of the thought and research of its numerous moralists, economists, and re- corders. Lidia alone has striven to keep itself in obscurity 316 WHAT CASTE IS. and darkness. It had its poets in the early ages of the world; but the}' composed, and sang, and recited, princi- pally for themselves and the gods of their invention and recognition. It had its priests, more numerous perhaps than those of any other country, but they kept their knowledge within their own circle, making of it an entire monopoly. It had its thinkers and wise men; but their lips did not “ disperse knowledge,” but enjoined the preservation of it as a body of secrets to be communicated only to particular classes of men, and amongst these oidy to the disciplined and initiated. It had its princes who patronized its bards and eulogists ; but these princes encouraged these bards and eulogists to deal with flat- teries and fables and not with facts and principles. It had its peculiar itiJu'isa, but this, speaking generally, was simply a licensed fiction, a dogmatic assertion that mat- ters (in their incongruities and puerilities beyond the sphere of rational belief) were said to he so and so, without reference to their real orig-in and circumstantials. It con- tented itself with bare genealogical tables, which make no distinction between tlie divine, the heroic, and the human, and into which were thrust apocryphal additions whenever a new power or dynasty, however obscure, was anxious to invent and claim the ])restige of antiquity. When these tables necessarily referred to later times, they were actu- ally set forth, as in the Bhagavata, Yidinu, and other Puranas, not as chronicles of the past, but as prophecies of the future. Its own progress and development, it neither, as a consequence, observed nor recorded. The only glimpses into its past which itself furnished were obtained by occasional rents in the veil of its mystery by the PEEP AT INDIAN SOCIETY BY THE GREEKS. 317 violent hand of sectarianism, as in the case of Buddhism and other attempts to modify or change its general creed. It even kept aloof, after its early ages, from commerce and communion with neighbouring nations, which its own sons were forbidden to visit on pain of religious deprivation. It is the fact that India has thus not spoken for herself that gives such a great interest to the notices taken of it in connexion with the nations and tribes which by visiting its shores sought to carry its productions to distant lands; and to the observations made on the borders of its territories or within its own boundaries by those who have sought to acquire its sovereignty, or to maintain with it a good understanding in connexion with their neighbouring colonies. This interest is now en- hanced tenfold, when the vast and non-reviewed literature of India is in all its departments, in this critical age, passing into the hands of those who are competent to observe its indications, to interpret its spirit, and to cast the light which it yields on the patli of its past advance- ment, and on the present state of its society, and its physical condition. From all the people of antiquity brought into contact with India, we should expect the most from the Greeks. They had a cultivated intelligence, ardent curiosity, and, except as modified by an inordinate tribual pride, feelings of catholicity connected with all that could be character- ized as an approximation to civilization. It was among them that the historiccil faculty properly so-called was first developed in extended comprehensiveness and laborious research. History (laTopla), — learning or 318 WHAT CASTE IS. knowing by inquiry, and the knowledge or information so obtained, — was their own word ; and the improvement of the historical faculty was their own glory. They belonged to the same great race from which the dominant Indians, the ATyans, had sprung. Their forefathers, with those of these ATyas, had long been members of the same family and community, and had had the same social connexions, the same speech, the same gods, and the same religion. The questions at once occur, when we realize their intercommunion in subsequent times, — Did the Greeks recognize their remote but close rela- tionship with the A'ryas ? did they perceive in India the many elements of their common speech ? did they discover the identity or analogous position of the Grecian and Indian gods 1 did they see how the tribes migrating to the w'est and those moving to the south or south-east had, with marked peculiar diversities of occupation and development, certain things in common ? did they note the peculiarities of India, and contrast them with those of their own country 1 These and other similar ques- tions can be answered only by a careful collation of, and attention to, the fragments of their accounts of India which remain, and the comparison of them with what we know of India itself and find in its literary remains. By a similar process we answer the inquiries. Do the Greek accounts illustrate the Indian literature, and Does the Indian literature illustrate the Greek accounts ? Both series of questions will be answered, in part at least, as we proceed with this section of our volume. The first Greek author who mentions India by name, I need scarcely mention, is Herodotus, the father of PEEP AT INDIAN SOCIETY BY THE GEEEKS. 319 profane history.* He was born at Halicarnassus in Caria about the year B. C. 484; and he probably lived to an advanced age. He had intimate connexions at various times with Greece and the Greek colonies, and he was a great traveller in Europe, the North of Africa, and the West of Asia. He had, for his day, a compre- hensive view of the objects of history. “ Herodotus of Halicarnassus,” he says, publishes his researches in order to prevent the achievements of men from fading in the oblivion of time, and lest the great and admirable exploits both of Greeks and Barbarians should fail of their due renown. He also proposes to explain the occasions of the wars which have been carried on between them.”f The w’ars before him were specially those of the Greeks and Persians. It is in connexion with these wars that he notices the circumstances of the various peoples which were affected by them. The course of his history, which he dedicates to the Muses, properly commences with the time (B. C. 546) when Cyrus, the founder of the Persian empire, conquered the Lydian kingdom of Croesus, and extends to the capture of Sestos (B. C. 478), when the Greeks triumphed over the Persians. It is in connexion with his enumeration and description of the satrapies of Darius that he notices India, both as included in these satrapies and exterior to them. He had not personally visited India, his travels to the East having terminated in Mesopotamia or the Persian provinces contiguous to that country. There can be but little doubt that he had * Perhaps India was included in the Ethiopia of Homer (Od. i. 23-24'). f Herodotus, Clio., 1. 320 WHAT CASTE IS. intercourse with parties who had seen India or made it the subject of inquiry with those who had visited its border provinces. The information which he gives respecting it, though brief, and not to be received wdthout criticism, is nevertheless of a valuable character. Of geographical discoveries and acquisition of terri- tory in India by Darius, Herodotus thus wu'ites : — “ The greater part of [the unknown] Asia was explored under the direction of Darius. This king wishing to know on what part of the coast the Indus meets tlie sea — a river which after the Nile is the only one [then known] that produces crocodiles, sent ships with persons on whose fidelity and truth he could rely, and among these was kScylax of Car3^andea. These setting out from Caspa- tyrus, a city of Pactyica, descended the river in its course towards the East (?) till they reached the sea.” “After this voyage had been accomplished, Darius subdued the Indians, and frequented that sea,” (the Indian Ocean).* The origin of this voyage must have been on the Kabul affluent of the Indus — theKophenor Kuhhd. Pactyica, (the country in which it commenced) is recognizable in the name of a people, with whom w'e are all familiar, found in that locality to the present day, I mean tlie Pakhtus or Pathans. Speaking of the twentieth satrapy of Darius established through this conquest, Herodotus further says : — “ The Indians a people much more numerous than any that is known contributed a sum proportionately larger than that of any other division, for they paid three hundred and sixty talents of gold * Herod. i\\ 44. Taylor, p. 285. PEEP AT INDIAN SOCIETY HY THE GREEKS. 321 dust.”* We have not to suppose, from this notice, that the empire of Darius extended over all the country now com- prehended under the name of India. It embraced, there is reason to believe, only the country contiguous to the hanks of the Indus and the territory lying on the Persian side of the Hindu Caucasus. This is evident from what is afterwards added by Herodotus : — “ The eastern part of India is a desert of sand, and of all the nations known to us, or of which we possess any certain information, the Indians are the farthest toward the East, being on that side the first people of Asia : for the sands render the country beyond them towards the east uninhabitable. ”f The great desert here referred to is supposed by Sir Gardiner Wilkinson to be that lying to the north of the Himalaya between that range and the Tchien Chau Range.;}: Major Rennell supposes that it may apply to the country between the lower part of the Indus and Rajputana.§ It is evident that Herodotus had not been exactly informed of the peninsula of India, stretching into the Indian ocean, though he speaks in the progress of his narrative of a people resembling Ethiopians in the tint of their skin, whose country was a long way from Persia (that is the Persian dominions) towards the south. India is the only satrapy which Herodotus represents as paying its tribute in gold. The sum which he speci- fies as yielded by it is very large, being four and a half times as much in value as that yielded by the opulent satrapy of Babylonia and Assyria. The region from which the gold was procured is indicated by him, it is * Herod, iii. 94. f Ib. iii. 98. I See Rawlinsou’s Herod. § Rennell’s Geo. oi Herod, p. 309. 41 322 WHAT CASTE IS. believed, witli accuracy. “ There are other Indians not far distant from the city Caspatyrus, and the region Pactyica.” “The mode of life followed by these is similar to that of the Bactrians. They are the most warlike of all the Indians ; and it is these who furnish the gold.”* The northern portions of this district em- bracing the lofty ranges of the Hindu Kush, the Belur- Tagli and Mus-Tagh, Altai, and other places near the sources of the Oxus and Kabul Indus, are said to “ abound with the precious metal-” This portion of country is, I think,- referred to in the book of Genesis, — in connexion with the seat of the garden of Eden and the rivers of paradise. “ A river (or watershed, panalot, or water-roll in the Indian languages, as I venture to interpret it) went out of Eden, to water the garden (probably an extended district) ; and from thence it was ))arted, and became into four heads (for actual drainage). The name of the first is Pishon (or the Shon or Indus in this quarter. Pi, the first syllable of tlie word, as I have elsewhere conjectured,! being the Egyptian definite article, and SJton being the Egyptian name of the Simihu, or Indus); that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah (the Campilla of the Indians, as tliought by Pro- fessor Lassen), where there is gold ; and the gold of that land is good : tliere is bdolach and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon (admitted by all o-eoo-raphers to be the Oxus) : the same is it that com- ])assed the whole of Cush (translated Ethiopia).”! This region, I believe with others, furnished the gold of the * Herod, iii. 98. t India Tliree Thousand Years Ago. ! Gen. ii. 10-12. PEEP AT INDIAN SOCIETY BY THE GREEKS. 323 Solomonic commerce, referred to in the books of Kings and Chronicles, which was exported from ports on the Indus, in the province denominated by Ptolemy Abiria, and by the Periplus, Sabiria mA Iberia, — the land of the A bhiras, the Indian Ophir.* The account given by Herodotus of the method of the accpiisition of the gold referred to has afforded much amusement since his day, though it has been substantially repeated by some of his successors. “ Here in this desert (that is the sandy desert already mentioned) there live amid the sand great ants, in size somewhat less than dogs, but bigger than foxes. The Persian king has a number of them which have been caught by the hunters in the land whereof we are speaking. Tliese ants make their dwellings under ground, and like the Greek ants which they very much resemble in shape, throw up sand heaps as they burrow. Now the sand which they throw up is full of gold. The Indians, when they go into the desert to collect this sand, take three camels and harness them together, a female in the middle and a male on either side in a leading rein. The rider sits on the female ; and they are particular to choose for the purpose one that has but just dropped her young ; for the female camels can run as fast as horses, while they bear burdens very much better. When the Indians there- fore have thus equipped themselves they set off in quest of the gold, calculating the time so that they may be engaged in seizing it during the most sultry part of the day, when the ants hide themselves to escape the heat When the Indians reach the place where the gold is, they fill their bags with the sand, and ride away at their best speed ; the ants, however, scenting them, as the Persians say, rush forth in pursuit. Now thc.se animals are so swift, they declare, that there is nothing in the world like them ; if it were not therefore, that the Indians get a start while the ants are mustering, not a single gold- * See Lassen’s Indische Alterthumskunde, ii. p. 539. Josephus (Antiq. 1. 3. 3.) and many of the Christian Fathers made the Pishoa tlie Ganges. 324 WHAT CASTE IS. gatherer could escape. During the flight the male camels, which are not so fleet as the females, grow tired, and begin to drag, first one and then the other ; but the females recollect the young which they have left behind, and never give way or flag. Such, according to the Persians, is the manner in which the Indians get the greater part of their gold ; some is dug out of the earth, but of this the supply is scanty.”* In this narrative there are donbtless proofs both of imposition practised upon Herodotus by his informers, and of the simplicity and credulity of the historian. Even in its absurdities, however, heightened though they have been by the fears of the gold-finders lest their occupation should be interfered with by interlopers, there is a substratum of truth. The late Professor Horace Hayman Wilson is of opinion that the story may have arisen from the fact that the gold found in the plains of little Thibet is commonly called Pippilika or “ant” gold, I'rom the belief that the colonies of ants, by their wonted operations, are instrumental in bringing the gold to view. A better conjecture, in my opinion, has been made than this. It is that the animal which is said to bur- row in the sands is the Pengolin, or ant-eater (the Manis crassicaudata), called hy thenatives of the Maratha Coun- try the Kauvali manjar (or tiled cat). The habits of this animal in burrowing in the sands are well known ; and it is abundant in many places of India. It is one of the most remarkable of the Edentata mammals ; and as its familiars are not recognized by the natives of India, they give very fabulous accounts of its powers and capacities, especially of its alleged ability to kill a man by the sweep of its tail, which bears a greater proportion to the Taylor’s Herodotus, p. 494. PEEP AT INDIAN SOCIETY BY THE GREEKS. 325 size of its trunk than is found in any other quadruped. In certain of its aspects, as looked at by the rude childreji of nature, it has some resemblance to an ant. It is so curious altogether that it is not unlikely that specimens of it may have been sent to the king of Persia. It is a mistake of our countrymen in India, to say that food cannot be provided for it in a state of captivity. I nourished a specimen of it for a couple of months, by giving it milk and eggs ; and it died only in consequence of a fall which it had of about twenty feet. Of the tribes of India, Herodotus remarks that they are “ numerous,” and that “ they do not all speak the same language.” The A'ryan conquerors of India, who spoke the Vedic language (called Sanskrita when after- wards it had the benefit of grammatical culture), were not, as we have seen in former parts of this work, the first immigrants into India. They found that they had been preceded not only by tribes remotely cognate with tliemselves, but by many Scythian, Turanian, and Hamitic tribes, whose languages they but little understood. About the time of Herodotus, the Sanskrit was about to cease to be a spoken language. Such of the tribes of India as laid aside their own Turanian dialects, had then formed a great many provincial dialects, in their attempts to make themselves intelligible to the dominant people. This diversity of language was not unknown even in what must have been the Persian India. There are several Indus dialects (as there are great diversities of tribes) on the banks of that river even in the present day. It is an extremely curious fact that the language of the Braliuis, a people there to be found, is cognate not so WHAT CASTE IS. 3-2 G umcli with the languages of Northern as witli tliose of Southern India. Of a certain tribe or class on the banks of the Indus, Herodotus says : — “ They who dwell in the marshes along the river, live on raw fish, which thev take in boats made of reeds, each formed out of a single joint. These Indians wear a dress of sedge, which they cut in the river and bruise ; afterwards they weave it into mats, and wear it as we wear a breast-plate.” Rude Ichthyophagi of tliis character have been associated with many countries, but partially known. Some have supposed that the reed out of which their boats were constructed were bambus ; but the fabrication of boats from a single joint of a bambu was impossible. “ Eastward of these Indians,” our author goes on to sav, “ are another tribe called Padoeans, who are wander- ers, and live on raw flesh. This tribe is said to have the followiiio; customs : — If one of their number be ill, man or woman, they take the sick person, and if he be a man, the men of his acquaintance proceed to put him to death, because they say his flesh would be spoilt for them if he pined and wasted away with sickness. The man protests he is not ill in the least, but his friends uill not accept his denial — in spite of all he can say they kill him, and feast themselves on his body. So also if a woman be sick, the women who are her friends take her and do with her exactly the same as the men. If one of them reaches to old age, about which there is seldom anv question, as commonly before that time they have had some disease or other, and so have been put to death — but if a man notwithstanding comes to be old, then they PEEP AT INDIAN SOCIETY BY THE GKEEKS. 327 offer him in sacrifice to their gods and afterwards eat his flesh.” On tlie cannihalism here referred to, tlie following note is given in RaAvlinson’s lately published translation of Herodotus — a work of great merit, and generally edited with critical carefulness and accuracy. “ The same Custom (of cannibalism) is said to have prevailed among the Massagetae and the Issidonians ; and a similar one is mentioned by Strabo as existing among the Caspiaus and the Derbices. Marco Polo found the practice in Sumatra in his own day. “ The people of Dragoian,” he says, “observe this horrible custom in cases wliere any member of their family is afflicted with a disease. The relations of the sick person send for the magicians, whom they require, on examination of the symptoms, to declare whether he will recover or not. If the decision be that he cannot, the relations then call in certain men whose peculiar duty it is, and who perform their business witli dexterity, to close the mouth until he is suffocated. This l)eing done they cut the body in pieces in order to prepare it as victuals, and when it has been so dressed the relations assemble, and in a convivial manner eat the whole of it, not leaving so much as the marrow in the bones.’ Accord- ing to some modern writers (Elphinstoiie’s Cabul, vol. i. p. 45, 2nd ed.) cannibalism continues in tlie countries bordering on the Indus to the present day.”* To this I would add, that the word Padoean may perhaps have been derived from the Iiuhan Pahudi, or “ moun- taineers,” against whom the charge of cannibalism is not yet extinct, even in parts more to the east and south than * Eawlinson’s Herodotus. WHAT CASTE IS. tlie Indus. In an account of the Bandarwars by Lient. Prendergast, we find the following statement : — “ In May, 1820, I visited tlie hills of Amarkantak, and the source of the Narbada river, accompanied by Capt. W. Lo\v of the Madras Army, and having heard that a particular tribe of Gonds who lived in the hills were Cannibals, I was anxious to ascertain the truth of the assertion, and made the most particular enquiries (assisted by my munshi, Mohan Sinha, an intelligent and well informed Kayath) as to their general habits and mode of living. We learned, after much trouble, that there was a tribe of Gonds Avho resided in the hills of Amarkantak, and to the S. E. in the Gondwiida country, who held very little intercourse with the villagers, and never went among them, except to barter or purchase provisions. This race live in detached parties, and have seldom more than eight or ten huts in one place. They are Cannibals in the real sense of the word, but never eat the flesh of any person not belonging to their own family or tribe ; nor do they do this except on particular occasions. It is the custom of this singular people to cut the throat of any person of their family Avho is attacked by severe illness, and who they think has no chance of recovering, Avhen they collect tlie whole of their relations and particular friends, and feast upon the body. In like manner, when a person arrives at a great age, and becomes feeble and weak, the Halal-khor operates upon him, Avhen the different members of the family assemble for the same purpose as above stated. In other respects, this is a simple race of people, nor do they consider cutting the throats of their sick relations or aged parents any sin ; but on the contrary an act acceptable to Kali, a mercy to their relations, and a blessing to their whole race.”* This matter deserves to he inquired into. It was the eliarge of infanticide against the Indians hrouglit hy Colonel Wilford on the alleged authority of the Greeks and Romans, which led Jonathan Duncan to discover the awful custom of infanticide among the Rajputs. Our actual acquaintance with the inhahitauts of the forests of India is a great deal more limited than it ought to he at the present * Alexander’s E. I. Magazine, 1831, p. 140. 1‘EEP AT INDIAN SOCIETY BY THE GREEKS. 329 time. Let India look to itself, as well as devote its enter- prizing officers to the work of African discovery. The antipodes of the cannihals with Herodotus were the ])arties who entirely abstained from animal food. “ There is another set of Indians,” he says, “ whose customs are very diflerent. They refuse to put any live animal to death, they sow no corn, and have no dwelling houses. Vegetables are theii’ only food. There is a plant which grows wild in their country, bearing seed about the size of a millet-seed in a calyx ; their wont is to gather this seed, and having boiled it, calyx and all, to use it for food. If one of them is attacked with sickness, he goes forth into (he wilderness, and lies down to die ; no one has the least concern either for the sick or for the dead.” Herodotus wrote about the times of the Buddhists ; hut even before their day great tenderness to animal life had been deve- loped in India, as a consequence of the doctrine of the metempsychosis, which however is not to he found in the Vedas, which in many places exemplify the use of animal food, even of that of the cow afterwards so sacred throughout the country. The first limitation as to animal food with which I am acquainted is in by far the most modern of tlie Vedas, the Atharvana. It occurs in a command (already Inferred to) not to kill the “ inedilde cows of the Brah- mans,” and seems to have in view only the preservation of their pets.* The avoidance of the use of the cereals by the vegetarians hinted at by Herodotus is explained partly by the injunctions in Manu against the destruction of seed.s, the germs of life, as exemplified in the complaints made against an oil press. f Why any seed should have been used by the See before, p. 141. I Manu, iv. 8o. 330 WHAT CASTE IS. ^ eg-etaiiaiis, scrupulously avoiding com, does not appear. The dying in the wilderness without the care of friends may liave a reference to the case of the Vunaprasthas, whom we have already noticed in this work. The informers of Herodotus respecting India were certainly not friendly to its diversified tribes and tongues, if they had opportunities of actually observing their social state. “ All the tribes I have mentioned,” he says, “ live together like the brute beasts,” They were mistaken, too, when they said that all the tribes of India “ had the same lint of skin, which approaches that of the Ethiopians.” 'rids language requires to be very considerably qualified, even when it is applied to the more southern tribes, which Herodotus must have heard of in the general, for he adds, “ Their country is a long way from Persia towards tlie south, nor had king Darius ever any authority over them,” We have thus exhausted the general, and somewhat meaore, notices of India found in Herodotus. Nothiuo' more of this country worthy of attention was learned by the Greeks till about one hundred and fifty years after Herodotus, when Alexander the Great, in his attempt to subdue the Persian empire to the dominion of Macedon, reached its northern borders. A great flood of light was doubtless then thrown on India, revealing its pecu- liarities to intelligent inquirers ; but it has been oidy /})ti(s ) king of India, Sandracyptus, as conjectured by Sir William Jones, aa^is the Chnndmgupta of the Hindus, the grandfather of the Emperor Ashoka, the great patron of the Buddhists. It was under Seleucus, the successor of Alexander, aa'Iio had made a treaty AAith him about portions of territory Avest of the Indus, that Megasthenes visited liis court at his capital PalibotJira, or PdtaUputra, at the confluence of the Eranohoas (or Shona) and Ganges, near the modern Patna, and Avhich he assures us Avas eighty furlono's in length and fifteen in breadth, Avith a ditch thirty cubits deep, and a Avail AA'itli five hundred and seventy * These have been collected (but not translated) by Dr. Schwanbeck, in his Megasthenis Indica, Bonn®, 184G. j Arriaui lib. v. cap. 6. f See before, p. 81. rEEP AT INDIAN SOCIETY BY THE GREEKS. 337 lo\vers and sixt y-four gates.* Tlie discovery of a real Indian (latum, well called by Dr. Max Muller “the sheet anchor of Indian chronology,” (the only date which promises in any good degree an adjustment of any portion of our Indian genealogies), is the consequence of this recognition. Justin f tells us that Sandracottus had seized the throne of India (from tlie last of the Nandas, it appears from the Indian account) after the prefects of Alexander had been murdur- ed (317 B- C.) Seleucus found him sovereign of India wlien, after the taking of Babylon and the conquest of Bactria, he passed on to India, to make secure arrangements with its emperor. It was then he concluded the treaty with him, which must have been before the year 312, for after his return to Babylon, he founded the era which bears his own name, tlie Seleucidan era. It is concluded from this that Chandragupta became king about B. C. 315. It must have been about the year 312 that Megasthenes first visited his court. ;{; It is on the people of India that the information which he communicates to us principally turns. Megasthenes, as is well known, divides the pojiulation of India into seven principal divisions or classes a word which does not necessarily mean Castes). These are those of the Philosophers, the Agriculturists, the Shepherds and Hunters, the Artizans, Hucksters and Bodily Labourers, the Warriors, the Inspectors, and the Counsellors and Assessors of the king. Those who have * For the identification of Palibothra and Pataliputra, we are indebted to Major Rennell. Robertson’s dissent from Reunell (Note xiv. to Dis- quisition) is groundless. t Justin XV- 4. I See Max Muller’s Hist, of Sans. Lit. 4.1 338 WHAT CASTE IS. viewed these divisions as indicating Castes, looked to either from a Brahmanical or a Buddhist point of viesv, have been much puzzled with this classification, for it is really not reconcilable with any specific classification of Castes noticed anywhere in the Indian literature. Tlie classification, it appears to me, is either that of Megasthenes himself, or of the political authorities of Palibothra with whom he came ill contact. After referring to the Philosophers, as in a position eutu’ely peculiar, it rises from the Husbandman, — wliom he views with much regard, — to the Royal Counsel- lors, next in authority to the king himself. Notwithstand- ing this peculiarity of the classification of Megasthenes, the inlormation which his notices of the classes embraced by him atford is of great value, and throws considerable light even on the Caste system prevalent in his day. It is deserving of attention in all its details. 1. Of the Philosophers, Megasthenes thus writes (I {piote from him as cited by Strabo,* who is more copious in his quotations than Arrian) : — “ Among the classes, the first in honour, though in num- ber the smallest, are the philosophers. People who offer sacrifice or perform any sacred rite have the services of those persons on their private account ; but the kings employ them in a public capacity at the time of what is called the Great Synod, where at the time of the new year all the philosophers repair to the king at the gate, and any useful thing which they have committed to writing, or observed, tending to improve the production of fruits or of animals, or of advantage to the order of the state, is then * Strab. Geog. lib. xv. 1. et seq. PEEP AT INDIAN SOCIETY BY THE GREEKS. 330 publicly set forth. And whoever has been detected in thrice e rai.sed to the class of the father in the seventh generation. The same is the law as to the offspring of a Kshatriya and of a Vaishya by a Shudra woman. (64-5.) But these dicta are now obsolete, as the wives of the Dvija must niw be of tlndrown class. § They are worthy of notice, however, as indicating corruption in the Biahmanical blood in ancient times. It is curious to mark in connexion with them, the following extra- ordinary law : — “ Ashy virtue of the father’s issue the descendants of * See in connexion with this the quotations, made at p. 24, above. •f See before, p. p. 44-50. J Bee before pp. 53-60, § See before p. 377. 384 WHAT CASTE IS. animals have become reverend and celebrated Risliis (exemplified says Kulluka Bhatta in Rishishringa, in the liamayana), so (it isseen) that the paternal side prevails. (72.) In noticing the occupations in which the Dvijas may engage when straitened for subsistence, there is a great discouragement of agricul- ture, destructive of animal life ; of the sale of liquids, dressed grain, tila seeds (unless for sacred purposes), atones, salt, cattle, men, women, cloth dyed red, cloth made of Sana, Kshuma-bark, wool (even though not red) ; of fruit, roots, drugs, water, arms, poison, flesh-meat ; of the Soma, milk, honey, clarified butter, oil (of tila), sugar, and the Kusha grass ; of forest beasts ; of ravenous beasts, spirits, indigo, lakshd (lac), and beasts with uncloven hoofs. “ By selling flesh, laksha, or salt, a Brahman instantly becomes an apostate ; by selling milk for three days, he becomes a Slnidra.” (86-92.) The sale of some of these articles is interdicted because of their supposed sacredness, because of the loss of animal life in their production, or because of their alleged impurity or liability to ceremonial defilement. The advantage of each caste seeking to discharge its( own duties is illustrated by the following statute and maxim : — rfiFTT R- qrrw ff ^i?r: Tqffl 5irrliFr:il “ One’s own imposed duty though rvorthless is paramount, — not that of another party, though w'ell instituted ; the person living by a strange course-of-duty falls instantly from Caste.” (97.)"' The Brahman in distress, however, may receive gifts from any quarter (atonements being at hand). To save life forbidden food may be taken, as illustrated in the alleged cases of Aji'garta, Vamadeva, Bharadvaja, and Vishvamitra often referred to in the Hindu literature. f (102-8.) • This is somewhat like what we find in the Bhagavad-Gfta (iii. 35) : ftJJ'T: 'Tr-TflTfT “ One’s own religion, though worthless, is better than a strange religion, however well instituted , death in one’s own rehgion is good ; that (the religion) of another beareth fear."’ t See above pp. 150, et seq. CASTE IX THE LAIV-BOOKS. 385 A Ksbatriya may take the fourth part (of a crop or income) in time of distress. (118.) Attendance on Brahmans is the best work of a Shiidra ; whatever else he may perform will be fruitless to him. (123.) “ There is no guilt in a Shudra (who eats garlic and other forbidden articles). He is not fit for the Sanskara (of initiation). He has neither the right of practising Z)Aarma (duty), nor is any restraint placed on him in regard to Dharma.”^ (126.) Moral duties, however, are obligatory upon him. The eleventh chapter of Manu is devoted principally to penance and expiation. It begins, however, with certain laws as to largesses. Alms are to be given to Brahmans seeking to marry, to sacrifice, to travel ; to those who have e.xpended their wealth on sacred rites, and who desire to maintain their guru, father, or mother ; to those who are Brahmacharis, and those who are afilicted with disease. These nine classes of Brahmans are Sndtakas (purified-ones). Jewels of all sorts are to be given to Brahmans knowing the Vedas. What is necessary to complete a sacrifice may be taken from any person, even from a Shudra if a Vaishya (or other Dvija) be not near, since the Shudra has no business with sacrifice. A Brahman, without being held guilty of theft, may take a day’s food from the party who for three days has failed to supply his wants. A Kshatriya must never seize the wealth of a Br^iman. He gains from the Brahman whom he protects a sixth part of his righteousness. A Brahman begging from a Shudra becomes in the next birth a Chandala. IMisappropriating what he has begged for a sacrifice, he becomes a Chasa, or a crow, for a hundred years. The person who robs the Brahmans feeds on the orts of vul- tures in the other world for a hundred years. A Brahman skilled in the law may chastise those who injure him without appealing to the king. He may use the Shruti of Atharvan (the Atharva Veda) reveal- ed to Angiras, for speech is the weapon of a Brahman to destroy his enemy, as arms in the case of a Kshatriya, and wealth in the case of a Vaishya and Shudra. (xi. 1-31.) Neither a girl, nor a young woman, nor a man of little learning, nor a dunce, nor a diseased person, nor the uninitiated, is permitted * This verse, which I have partially supplemented according to Kulluka Bbatta, has eiven much trouble to modem commentators. 49 386 WHAT CASTE IS. to sacrifice. Only one who has read all the Vedas must officiate at an oblation to fire. (57-8.) No man must sacrifice without bestowing liberal gifts. (40.) A priest who keeps an agnihotra, and neglects his fire, must perform the chdndrayana for one month, his neglect being equal, to the slaughter of a son. (41.) Proceeding to enter more formally on the doctrine of penance, IManu repeats the following noticeable dicta : — “ The wise say penance (is effectual) for involuntary sin ; and others say that it is available, from the evidence of the Shruti, even for a voluntary offence. A sin involuntarily committed is purged by Vedic repetition ; but an offence committed intentionally, through infatuation, by various special penances.” (45-6.) For certain offences deliberately com- mitted, thei'e is now no available penance. Morbid changes in the body are said to occur for sins committed in the present birth, or in those by which it has been preceded. To escape these, penances ought to be resorted to. (48-54.) Some sins are thus classified ; — I. Mahdpntakas (Great Sins). Brahmacide, Sm';ipana (drinking of .spirits), theft (of a Brahman’s gold), adi Itery with the wife of a guru, and associating with parties guilty of these crimes. IT. Patakas (Sins) : — 1. — False pretension (as to caste), bringing a false charge before a king, falsely accusing a guru, — which are nearly equal to killing a Brahman. 2. Forgetting the Brahma (the Veda), showing contempt for the Veda, giving false evidence, killing a friend^ eating Avhat is forbidden, or what is unfit to be tasted,* which six (faults) are like spirit-drinking. 3. Appropriating a deposit, and stealing a man, ahorse, silver, a field, a diamond, or any other gem, are nearly equal to stealing (the gold of a Brahman). 4. Carnal dealing with sisters of the same womb, with a little girl, with women of the low castes, or with the wife of a friend or son, — which are said to be nearly equal to the violation of the bed of a guru. * ijff fff CASTE IN THE LAW-BOOKS. 387 III. UpapdtaJcas, (Sins of a lower degree) : — Cow-killing, sacrificing for outcastes (j>atitdh), adultery, selling oneself ; deserting a mother, a father, a guru, tho reading of the Veda, the (sacred) fire, or a son ; the marriage of a younger brother before the elder, or the omission of the elder to marry before the younger; giving a daughter to either of them, or per- forming their nuptial sacrifice; defiling a damsel, usury, breaking one’s vow (of chastity as a student) ; selling a tank, a garden, a wife, or a child; becoming a Vratya (by neglect of initiatory rites); abandoning a kinsman, teaching the Veda for hire, learning it from a hireling, selling articles not to be sold, having property in mines> putting large machines to work, destroying medicinal plants, living by (the harlotry of) a wife, preparing charms to destroy, cutting down green trees for fuel, performing rites for self-interest, eating pro- hibited food (once without a previous design), neglecting the (sacred) fire, theft, non-payment of debts, having dealings with untrue Shas- tras,* excessive attention to music or dancing, stealing grain, the base, inebils, or cattle, intercourse with a drunk woman ; killing a woman, a Shudra, a Vaishya, or a Kshatriya, atheism. IV. The Caste destroying sins (in addition to the preceding, to which they are inferior) ; — Giving pain to a Brahman, smelling spirituous liquor or anything unfit to be smelt, cheating, unnatural practices with a male. V. Sins reducing a person to a mixed caste : — Killing an ass, a horse, a camel, an antelope, an elephant, a goat, a sheep, a fish, a snake, or a buffalo. VI. Sins excluding from social repasts : — , Accepting presents from blameable persons, engaging as a merchant (in the case of a Brahman), serving a Shiidra-master, and speak- ing unturth. VII. Sins causing defilement (mala) : — Killing an insect, a bird, or a worm ; eating what has been carried with liquor ; stealing fruit, wood, or flowers ; and discomposure of mind. (55-70.) This classification of sins and offences, it will be noticed, is made altogether on the principles of Caste, which are most remarkable for . The reference is probably to Buddhist works. 388 WHAT CASTE IS, their partiality. Killing a Brahman and stealing his gold are of com-se the greatest olFences which can be committed. In a similar category is placed the drinking of spirits by a Brahman, The reason is stated onwards, “ A drunk Brahman may fall on something impure, or may when intoxicated make a Vedic utterance, or perform some unlawful act,” (97.) Eating things prohibited is more heinous than incest and unnatural crime, or killing a woman, a Shudra, a Vaishya or a Kshatriya. Even giving pain to a Brahman causes a loss of caste. The penances for the offences committed, so far as they are avail- able, are regulated on the same caste principles. A Brahman killing a Brahman (inadvertently) may dwell in a forest for a dozen of years, feeding on alms, and contemplating the skull of the slain. A Ksha- triya doing this, has to make himself a mark to archers or cast himself thrice headlong into blazing fire. A king, doing it, has to perform (with great presents) one of the six great sacrifices. Alternatives are also allowed, among which is the suiTender, in the case of the rich, of property to a Brahman learned in the Vedas; or walking to the source of the river Sarasvati. The preservation of a cow or Brahman atones for brahmacide. The stealer of the gold of a Brahman has (either to the destruction of his life or otherwise) to be struck by a king with an iron mace ; but if the offender be a Brahman he can get off by the performance of tjpa. Caste lost by the offences above specified vo- luntarily committed is recovered by the sdntapana, and involuntarily, by the For exclusion from society the cJidndr&yana is available. For killing a Kshatriya the penance asked is only the fovu'th part of that required for killing a Brahman ; for killing a Vaishya, an eighth ; for killing a Shudra, a sixteenth. If a Brahman kill a cat, an ichneumon, a Chdsha (the Indian blue jay), a frog, a dog, a lizard, an owl, or a crow, he has to perform the same penance as for killing a Shudra, that is the chdndrdyana. (70-132.) A Brahman having connexion or eating with a Chandala, or other low'- caste woman, or receiving gifts from such a person, loses his own caste if he acts unwittingly, and sinks to a level Avith them if he acts wittingly. (175.) The associate for a year of a fallen person falls bke him ; and must perform his prescribed penance. (176.) After noticing these and other penances, Manu treats of the method of excluding from caste. The Sapindas and other relatives of the CASTE IN THE LAW-BOOKS. 389 patita must offer (to his manes as if he were dead), ia the evening of an unlucky day, a libation of water, — his connections, an officiating priest (Kitsik), and his guru being present; a slave-girl breaking the pot (of water) ; and the kinsmen remaining impure for a day and night. They must afterwards cease to speak or to sit with him, withhold all inheritance and property from him, refuse him common attentions, and deprive him of his rights of primogeniture. Other parties also must cease to have any intercourse with him. A similar course is to be observed in the case of outcasted women, who may be permitted, however, to be humbly fed, clothed, and lodged in huts near the family residence. (183-6-9.) Manu contemplates the pos- sibility of restoration to caste after this formidable ejection (187-8); but this restoration by penance, after the breaking of the pot, seldom, if ever, now occurs in Indian society. Manu, as reported, again returns to the subject of penances, the last laws found in the Sanhita ascribed to him not fitting in appropriately with those already noticed. Neglecters of the Gtiyatrf and the sacred string (at the appointed tifne) are admissible to them after penance. A person saying humph ! to a Brahman must bathe, fast for a day , and clasp the feet of the offended party. (205.) For striking a Brah- man with a blade of grass, tying him by the neck with a cloth, and over- powering him in argument, the offender must fall prostrate before him. (207.) A person intending to strike a Brahman with intent to kill remains in hell a hundred years, actually striking him, a thousand. Every drop of a Brahman’s blood shed and attracting particles of dust, demands a thousand years’ torment for each of these particles. (206-7.) The prescribed penances are next explained, and those of the Praja- patya, Santapana, etc., but in a way somewhat different from that stated in the notes above appended to Angiras, which correspond with the prevalentBrahmanical interpretation. (211-226.) The alleged benefits of penance and repentance are stated at length. Tapa is declared to be all-prevalent. (240.) Even in connexion with the future world, the subject principally treated of in the twelfth, or last, chapter of Manu, Caste is made to appear with all its pretensions and partialities. 390 WHAT CASTE IS. When treating of the three qualities of Satva, Baja, and Tama (purity, passion, and darkness), said to be inherent in the productions as well as in the essence of Deity, and their connexion with transmi- gration and their division into their conditions of the lowest, the mean, and the highest, he places SMdras and illlechchlias, with elephants, horses, lions, tigers, and boars in the middle condition of the T'amasa quality; — only worms, insects, reptiles, etc. being below them ; while Chdranas, Suparnas, and “ deceitful men,” and even the devilish Rakshasas and Pishachas, are put above them in the highest place of this quality, (xii. 41-44.) JliaUas, Mallas, and Natas (said by the commentator to be Vratyas of the Kshatriyas,) Manu places in the Eajasa condition, above all the parties above mentioned. Of course the Brahmans are placed in the condition of purity, accord- ing to their own grades ; — devotees (Tapasvis), mendicants (Yatis), and common Brahmans (Vipras) arriving at the lowest state of purity ; sacrificers and Rishis, at the middle; and Brahma and the Brahmans participating in creation (the Prajapatis) at the highest, (xii. 48-50.) The slayer of a Brahman must enter the body of a dog, a boar, an ass, a camel, a bull, a goat, a sheep, a stag, a bird, or of a Chanddla or Pukkasha. (55.) The stealer of the gold (of a Brahman) must pass a thousand times into the bodies of spiders, snakes, etc. (57.) Individuals of the four Variias for omitting their peculiar (Caste) duties must enter sinful bodies, and become slaves to their foes. A Brdh- man making this omission becomes an Ulkamukha, (with a mouth like a flame of fire,) and devours what is vomited ; a Kshatriya, a Kataputana, and eats ordure and dead bodies ; a Vaishya, a Maitrakshajyotika, and feeds on pus : and a Shudra, a Chailashaka, and feeds on lice. (70-2.) The Brahmans, from their caste position and the possession of the knowledge of spirit (atmajndna) and of the Veda are said to have pecu- liar facilities for the attainment of future bliss. (82-87.) As fire consumes with its own power living trees so he who knows the Vedas consumes the taint of his own (sinful) acts. (101.)* On the failure of ocular inspection of liie Vedas, of inference, and of the Shastra, that which instructed Brahmans propound is to be held to be indubitable law. (105, 109.) ♦ This sentence is a Brahmanical proverb. We have met it before in Angiras (shloka 102). CASTE IN THE LAW-BOOKS. 391 Tlie contents of tlie larger portion of the YajnavaLkya Smriti and of the comment upon it of Vijnaneshvara, con- tained in tlie Mitakshara, are given by the late Mr. BoiTodaile, of the Bombay Civil Service, in the Appendix to His Reports of Civil Causes decided by the Bombay Court of Sadar Adalat.* Better Indices (in Sanskrit) are contained in the Calcutta edition of the work published in 1813, and in the Bombay lithographed edition of 1863. After the extracts now made from Mann, it is not neces- sary for the objects of this work that the references to that Law-book should be very numerous. The Shruti, Smriti, pure A'chdra, love of one’s soul (or self), and good desires are thefoundations of religion, (i. 1-7.) The mantras, or sacred texts, in the Sanskaras, or Sacraments, are to be used by Dvijas, but not by Shiidras. The teacher should instruct his disciple in Shaucha and A'chara, (cei-emonial purity and observance) before teaching the Vedas. (1.2.7.) A Brahman should receive the TJpanayana in his eighth year from conception or birth ; a Kshatriya, in his eleventh ; and a Vai.shya, in liis twelfth. A Brahman not receiving it before his sixteenth year, a Kshatriya before his twenty-second year, and a Vaishya before his twenty-fourth year, are to be esteemed Vrdtyas and fallen from the Savitrl. (i. 6. 29.) During eating, silence has to be maintained ; and water has to be drunk before and after eating. In connexion with the duties of a householder the following instruc- tions are given. The purification and relief of the body are to be attended to. The teeth are to be rinsed. The Homa is to be per- formed moi-ning and evening. The Vedas and Shastras are to be studied. The worship of God is to b^^ conducted. Water is to be poured out to the gods and ancestors. The Vedas, Puranas, Itihiisas and what treats of the Soul, are to be repeated. Balikarma (sacrifice to ghosts), Svadha (sacrifice to ancestors), Homa (sacrifice to the gods), * Printed for Government in 1821. I I 392 WHAT CASTE IS. Svadhyaya (sacrifice to Brahma), and hospitality to men, are the five daily great sacrifices. A portion of the food used in these sacraments is to be thrown to dogs, Chandalas, and crows. Then, husband and wife, after other inmates of the family are satisfied, have to eat what remains, (i. 5. 1-30.) The following are said to be the common duties universally of all men: — Abstinence from killing, truthfulness, abstinence from theft, (ceremonial) purity, the control of the senses, the imparting of gifts, eelfcommand, compassion, endurance."^' (15. 26.) A Brahman sacrificing Avith what he has begged fi-om a Shudra becomes a Chandala; and not sacrificing with what he has got for a sacrifice, he becomes a hlidsa, or a croAv. (1. 5. 31.) No intercourse is to be maintained by Snatakas with hypocrites, or heretics. (1.6. 2.) They are to dress in AA'hite clothing, (ib. 3.) Nature is not to be relieved in rivers (Avhich are esteemed sacred). The couch, stonl, garden, house, or conveyance of any other party is not to be used by a Snataka. He is to take no food from a party not using the sacred fire. (ib. 32.) As stated by Augiras, the Dasa, Cowherd, Kulamitra, Ardhasirina, and Barber may eat with the Shudra. (ib. 38.) The legislation of Yajnavalkya on the subject of eatables and non- eatables is similar to that of Manu. Flesh procured for profane purposes or Avith hair or maggots ; food prepared for another party, or prepared on a preceding day and left by another, and touched by dogs or a woman in her courses, breathed on by cows, left by birds, or touched by a foot, is not to be ate. Food of ghrita or other liquids, wheat, barley, and coav’s milk, though prepared beforehand, may be talten. The milk of the cow is not to be taken till the tenth day after the cahdng. For eating intentionally the flesh of the jay, of red-footed (birds), and of fishes, fasting is to be obserA^ed for three days. The Chandrayana is to be performed for eating onions, village-pigs, mush- rooms, village-foAvls, leeks, and carrots. Of certain five-claAved animals he may eat as already intimated (i. 7) by Manu.f But, in the case of f See before p. 32. CASTE IN THE LAW-BOOKS. 393 Brdlimans, all use of animal food is now discouraged, though it is re- sorted to by certain classes of them. On the purification of articles, the legislation of Ydjnavalkya is similar to that of Angiras. (i. 8.) The section on Danadharma (or largesses) opens with the praise of the Brahmans, who are to be the objects of the liberality prescribed. The gift of a cow with the calf half-born is the best of all gifts ; it is like that of the earth itself. The giver obtains by it a year of heaven- ly bliss for every hair of its body. Gold, tila-seeds, lamps, gi-ains, trees, horses, chariots, couches, etc., etc., are suitable gifts, (i. 9.) For the performance of Shraddhas, either on the occasion of births, deaths, eclipses, or the (ninety-six) established occasions in a year connected with days and months. Brahmans learned in all the A^^das, skilled in the knowledge of Brahma, and various relatives, are to be called. Brahmans diseased, blind of an eye, of loose character, of adulterous origin, with badnails, w'ith black teeth, imperfectly clothed, of evil speech, practising merchandise, teaching for hire, without man- hood, practising fornication, disaffected to friends, backbiters, sellers of the Soma, abandoners of gurus or parents, eaters with Kunda-golakas, holders of intercourse with outcastes, thievish, of bad conduct, and of bad report, are not to be invited, (i. 10 3-8.) The propitiating of Ganapati and of the planets, which is treated of at some length, is the duty of all castes, though particularly binding on the prince, (i. 11, 12.) The duties of the prince are laid down, somewhat after Manu, with certain variations. When he gives land to Brahmans, the deed of gift should be on cloth or on copper-plates, with his seal and the names of himself and ancestry attached, (i. 13. 10-12). He is encouraged to give in charity of the fruits of his valour ; and he is a.ssured that pai’adise {svarga) will be the result of his death in battle, (ib. 15-16)- lie has to preserve the deshdchdra and Kulusthiti (the customs of coun- tries and families.) (ib. 35.) In the second chapter, which treats of Vyavalidra, or the Law of Com- mon Life, in which the legislation is of a character superior to that of the first, — there is but little directly connected with Caste. Yet some impor- tant matters are to be noted in it. In discharge of debt, the claims of the Brahmans, and next in oi’der those of Kshatriyas, Vaisliyas, and 50 394 W'HAT CASTE IS. Shudras respectively, are to be regarded, (li. 2. 5.) The convenience oi Brahmans is to be consulted in the payment of their debts, (ib. 7.) son sliould pay the debts of a father not heard of, or deceased, or in- capacitated [according to Vijnaneshvara, on the authority ofNarada, when he has the power of administration oil becoming sixteen years of age.] Corporal punishment is not be inflicted on Bnilimans. (ib. ii. 3. 12.) Double or triple punishment is to be inflicted on the revilers of the Pratiloma Castes,* while only half punishment is to be inflicted on the revilers of the Anuloma. The revilers of Brahmans, kings, and gods are to be punished according to the uttama sahas (in the highest degree, with a fine of 1,000 panas) ; of the other castes, with the madJiyama sahas, (the middle degree, of 500 panas ; and of towns and countries with the prathama sahas (the first degree, of 250 panas). (ii. 16-1-8.) A person not a Brahman giving pain to a Brahman should lose the member by which he has oflTended him ; threatening a Brahman with an upraised weapon, he should suffer the prathama sahasa ; and merely touching a weapon in the thought of using it against a Brdhman, he should suffer the half of this punishment, (ii. 17-4.) A man committing adultery in his own caste is to be pun- ished according to the highest scale ; with a person lower than his own caste, according to the middle class; and with a pei’son, higher in caste than himself, with death, while the woman is to be deprived of her ears and nose. Persons carrying off girls of higher ca.ste than their own are to be punished with death. A person of high caste having intercoui'se with a low caste woman desiring it is guiltless ; but having intercourse with such a person not desiring it he is blame-worthy, (ii. 22. 4-6.) A person of caste having intercourse with an antyaja woman, is to be stamped with a mark, or abandoned in disgrace. A Shiidra having intercourse w'ith an antyaja woman becomes an antyaja. An antyaja having intercourse with an Aryan woman is to be put to death, (ii. 22-12.) Any person defiling a Brahman by an article forbidden to be ate is to be jninished with the highest fine ; thus de- filing a Kshatriya, with the middle fine ; thus defiling a Vaishiya, with the low fine ; and thus defiling a Shiidra with the half of the low fine, (ii. 23. 2.) A Shiidra, assuming the marks of a Bi ahman should he fined eight hundred panas. In this legislation, there is only a general * See before pp. 63-64. CASTE IN THE LAW-BOOKS. 395 agreement with tliat of tlie other Smriti,s. For much of Vijnaneslivara’a Commentary on Yajnavalkya there is no foundation in the text. The annotator, as he proceeds, draw.s copiously on other authorities. A child dying before the completion of its second year is to be buried and not burned, (iii. 1. 1.) The ceremonies needful on burn- ing the dead are not to be repeated in the case of Brahraacharis and the degraded, or in the case of heretics, the unprotected, fratricides, sensualists, drunkards, or suicides, (ib. 5-6.) The great source of comfort held out to the bereaved is the fact that death is the resolution of the body into the five elements. (9.) Persons who may have car- ried the dead to be burned should not be touched for a day. (16.) Parents are ceremonially unclean for three or for ten days after the death of a child not older than two years. (18.)* A Kshatriya is impure for twelve days, a Vaishya, for fifteen, and a Sluidra for thirty, (while a Brahman is impure only for ten days), on occasion of the death of an adult relative. (22.) No Sluidra should attend the burning of a Dvija ; and no Dvija, that of a Sluidra. A king does not become impure by the death of his relations ; and no impurity arises from those who die in defence of cows and Brahmans. (27.) In times of distress, a Brahman may follow the Dharma of a Ksha- triya or of a Vaishya (iii. 2. 1), abstaining, however, 'from selling forbidden articles (2-4). The origin of the four castes is stated according to the orthodox view. (iii. 4. 71.) Atonements for varioirs offences are prescribed as in IManu. (iii. 6.) In the case of Mahapatakas a Sluidra has not the privilege of Jdjta (re- peating mantras) and some other ceremonial observances of the higher castes ; but by using the other means prescribed for twelve years, he may make an atonement for his offences under this heading, (iii. 7.1.) A thousand oxen or cows are to be given for the homicide of a Kshatriya, or a Vrata for the slaughter of a Brahman, observed for three years ;f a hundred cows for that of a Vaishya, or a Vrata for * The difference about the time of impurity in this instance is attributed to the different teachings of the authors of the Smritis. Manu mentions ten days for its con- tinuance. t In the case of the in.advertent slaughter of a Brahman, the penitential Vrata (begging with a skull in hand) has to last for twelve years, (iii. 6. 37.) 396 WHAT CASTE IS. one year ; ten cows for that of a Shiidra, or a Vrata (a voluntarily imposed penance) of six months, (iii. 8. 2-3.) For the slaughter of a bad wife of a Brahman, a leather skin for drawing water has to be given ; for that of a Kshatriya, a bow ; for that of a Yaishya, a goat ; for that of a Shudra, a ram, (iii. 8. 4) ; and tor the slaughter ol a good woman what is given for the slaughter of a Shudra. (5.) The benefits of hearing or repeating the Smriti of Yajnavalkya are said, at the close of the treatise, to be great indeed. It makes a Brah- man venerable, a Kshatriya victorious, and a Vaishya rich and pros- perous. The poor Shudra has to be satisfied with the information he may get of it from the Dvijas, according to his exigencies as they may occur. Ill the Pardshara Smriti, the general contents of which I have already noticed, no regular arrangement is ob- served. The work is reckoned a great authority in the Kali Yuga ; and it is evidently more modern than some of the other law collections of its class- It gives the following list of Smritis at its commencement : — those of Manu, Garga, Gautama, Vasi.fhtlia, Kashyapa, Gopala,f Atri, Vishnu, SanvarUa, Daksha, Angiras, Shatatapa, Harita, Yajnavalkya, vV'pastamba, Shankha and Likhita, Katyayana, Pracheta, and Shrutiraja (Parashara 1 ). Manu, it is added, prevailed as an authority in the three first Yugas, while the Akhava of the three Yogas is not for the present Kali Yuga. Tupa ivas the highest duty in the Krita Yuga; knowledge, in the Treta; and sacrifice in the Dvapara ; while the giving of largesses is the highest duty in the Kali. The Dharma (religious law) of Manu was for the Krita ; * At p. 357. t In the copy referred to by Dr. Stenzler (lud. Stud. i. 232) the name of Ushanas liere occurs for that of Gopala. CASTE IN THE LAW-BOOKS. 397 that of Gautama for the Treta ; that of Sliankha and Likhita for tlie Dvapara ; and tliat of Parashara is for the Kali. The party guilty of a fault infected a country in the Krita Yuga ; in the Treta^ a village; in the Dvapara, his fan)ily ; and in the Kali, himself. A person hecawe jyat/la (fallen from caste) in the Krita, by conversation ; in the Treta, by contact; and in the Dvapara, by eating (forbidden) food ; -while in the Kali, by deeds. In the Krita largesses were taken to the house (of the party to be benefited by them) ; in the Treta, by calling him to receive them) ; and in the Dvapara, by simply relieving the asker ; while in the Kali, they are to be bestowed only for service. In the Krita, the pranas (five vital airs) were in the elements (of the body) ; in the Treta, in the flesh ; in the Dvaj)ara, in the blood ; while, in the Kali, they are in the food. The Dvijas are not to-be blamed for the peculiarities of the respective Yugas. In the Krita, curses took imme- diate effect ; in the Treta after ten days ; in the Dvapara, after a month ; while in the Kali Yuga, after one year."'^ Pure religion and truth in the Kali have only a fourth part of their proper dimensions. Life is shortened (in this Yuga) by eating forbidden things. Dharina and tapa are practised only for ostentation. There will be much false speaking for the sake of wealth. Little milk will be yielded by cows ? The earth will yield but little grain. Woman will bear only females. The intercourse of the sexes will be only for pleasure. Princes (Bhupalas} * Professor Mouier Williams correctly says, in liis excellent In- augural Lecture, that the curse of a Brahman is always supposed among the Hindus to take effect sooner or later. 398 WHAT CASTE IS. will be subjected to Dasyus. Sliudras will have the A'chara of Brahmans ; and the Dvijas that of Shudras. The high castes (adyavarnas) will earn their livelihood like the lowest (antyajas). The KritaYuga was for the Brah- mans ; the Treta for the Kshatriyas ; the Dvapara for the Vaishyas ; and the Kali is for the Shudras. Womenof the lower Castes will not be married with the higher according to the law which permitted the Dvijas to add to the wife of their own class one from each of the lower of the four Varnas. Duty and sin will be commingled. The merit which was of a million deo-rees of fruit in the Krita was of a hundred thousand in the Treta, of ten thousand in the Dvapara, and will be of a hundred in the Kali- (i. 1-13-39.) Specific legislation follows this general account of the modifications caused by the Yugas. The Dvijas should live where the black antelope moves, between the Himavat and the Vindhya, where the ocean-going rivers flow, where the great tirthas are found, and where the Kishis dwell. This is the land of purity ; but Shudras may live where they are inclined. The countiy is bad where things not to be drunk are drunk, not to be eaten are eaten, and where unlawful connexions are formed, (i. 1-40-45.) A Biahman may give food to a Kshatriya, a Vaishya, or a Shudra visiting him at the time of a meal. (i. 6. 12-13.) The general duties of the four Varnas are laid down as in Manu and the other Smritis. It is declared, however, to be a sin, even on the part of a Shudra, to sell spirits or flesh, (i. 7. 1-14.) The water thrown (for consecration) on the horn of a cow is sixteen times better than that of all the tirthas of the rivers and oceans of the earth, (i. 8. 28.) Ifa Dvija eat food on the last day of the moon {chandrahshaya vulgo amdvdsjja) he will lose his merit for the month, (i. 8. 37.) The achara offiimilies and countries is strongly inculcated on all classes of people, as their supreme duty. (i. 9. 200.) CASTE IN THE LAW-BOOKS. 399 A Shu Ira is in the matter of ddna to be reckoned like a fool, to whom nothing is to be given, (i. 9. 217.) A Dvija eating of the food of a person not on the right road, or of a mean person, becomes instantly like a Sluidra ; and after deatli he be- comes a village-pig {yilashukara). He who eats the food of a usurer, or of a shepherd, or of a person who has lost caste, goes to hell. A Dvija eating from the hands of a Sluidra wife goes to the Eaurava hell, (i. 9. 284.) Dvijas should not perform any religious services or sacrifices to get gifts from Shudras, on the penalty of becoming chandalas. (i. 9. 293) Animal food may be ate at Shraddhas and sacrifices, and in times of famine, (i. 9. S17.) The following classes of Brahmans are not to be employed at Shrad- dhas:— The blind of an eye, he who has broken a contract of mari iage, a diseased person, a backbiter, a usurer, an ungrateful person, a wrath- ful person, a hater of friends, a person with bad nails or black teeth, one wanting a limb or having a superfluous limb, a eunuch, one of bad report, one of bad speech, one who teaches for hire, a polluter of virgins, a shopkeeper, a seller of the Soma, one ruled by his wife, one of illegitimate birth, a forsaker of his parents, a thief, a vrishalipati, one ignorant of his own duties, one who has a wife who has been before married, a goatherd or keeper of buffaloes, one accused of evil deeds, a receiver of unlawful presents, one who habitually lives on alms, an astrologer or a messenger, one who, after eating on the burning-ground on the eleventh day after the death, has not taken the prescribed atonement, etc., etc. (v. 1-12.) Arrangements should be made to prevent Brahmans at Shraddhas imitating the sound of Shudras, swine, cocks, (v. 58.) A Brahman begging regularly from low caste people, from Mlench- has, and distillers, is pronounced a Baka, or heron, (v. 53.) In the case of death or birth there is no impurity to the liberal, to those who are addicted to making vows, to poets, to saci ificers, to Agni- hotris, to the .skilled in the six-Angas (of the Vedas), to a king, to a persons skilled in the shruti. In the kali (yuga) there is no impurity except what may be removed by immediate ablution. A Brahman at- tending the funeral of a Shiidra is impure for three days. (vi. 11-12 ) If a Dvija be touched by a Chaudala when making water, he must 400 WHAT CASTE IS. fast for six nights. If a Brahman when eating be touched by anothe r Braliman, lie must sip water and repeat the names of Vishnu; if a he be touched by a Kshatriya, he must fast till night ; if, by a Vaishj'a, he must iu addition to this fast, swallow the five products of the cow; if by a Sluidra, or a dog, he must fast for a day and night; if by a washerman, or other low castes, he must perform the half of the prajapatya penance. If a Brahman when eating be touched by a woman who is impure from a birth or restraint, or by a Mlen- chha, he must fiist till sunset, and bathe in water kept for a day. (vi. 48-57.) Shabaras, Pulindas, Kikatas (aboriginal tribes), and Natas are like washermen. If a Vaishya go to a woman of the washerman caste, he has to take cow’s urine, and half-ripe barley for six days, or perform a double krichhra. (vi. 312-314.) The rules for defilement in eating given by Parashara are similar to those of Angiras. Food cooked in the Louse of a Shudra may be ate at a river when sprinkled with its water, accompanied by a repetition of the Gayatn'. Unboiled grain, flesh, clarified butter, honey, oil, and different kinds of fruits are impure while they are in the vessels of Mlenchhas, but pure, when taken from them.* Milk, cui-ds, and clarified butter are pure when in the vessels of the Abhiras (viewed as cowherds). Market wares ai'e pure while in the hands of the venders, (vi. 315-324.) The rules for the cleansing of vessels are like those of Angiras and Manu. A Brahman is not to accept gifts when in a state of impurity from births or deaths. When he receives gifts from a Brahman, he has to ac- knowledge them in a loud voice ; from a Rajanya, in a gentle voice ; from a Vaishya, in a whisper ; and from a Shudra, in his own mind. With a Brahman, he has to commence by saying Om ; with a king he has to utter thanks without the Om ; with a Vaishya, to whisper thanks ; and with a Sluidra, to wish thanks, imagining himself to say, svasti (this is good), (vii. 82-88.) The whole administration of Shdnti, or propitiation, of the god.s, * From the specification of the Jllenchhas, or Barbarians, iu connexion with these products, it seems to be warrantable to infer that the articles were sometimes imported into India at least from the neighbouring provinces. CASTE IN THE LAW-BOOKS. 401 elements, devils, etc., and of houses, temples, tanks, etc. is in the hands of the Brahmans (ix, passim). The M-ork concludes with a statement of the doctrines and practices connected with the Yoga. The best digest of Hindu law, all things considered, is probably to be found in the Mayukha of Kamalakara Bhatta, to which reference has already been made. Its twelve Bays, or divisions, are not always arranged in the same order. With a view to indicate the applica- tion of these divisions to such of the social customs of the Hindus as are more or less connected with Caste, I notice their contents, at greater or less length, as needful for the objects of this Avork. (1.) In the Sanskdra Mayukha^ after some general references to the authoritative literature of the Hindus, Ave liaA'e notices of eleA^en of the sixteen Sacraments, in connexion with Avhich the peculiarities of the four A'sh- ramas of the Brahmans, and the general duties of Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shiidras, and Avomen are treated of. In this department of the Avork, howeA^er, there is nothing which AA^e haA’e not already noticed. (2.) In the Shunti Mayiikha^ which treats of the propitiation of the gods and other objects of fear, Ave ha\"e the following principal sections : — ■ The worship (pujd) of Ganapati. The ablution ( sndpana ) of Yinayaka (Ganapati). Sacrifice to the Planets. Characteristics (for good or evil) of the Planets. Characteristics of Ganapati and of the Lokapiflas (guardians of the Cardinal Points). Directions for the Homas (bnmt-sacrlfices) of 100,000, 1,000,000, or 100,000,000 dhutis, or oblations. The Puja of Houses. hi 402 WHAT CASTE IS. Tlie Puj«a of the Arches of Gateways. The Puja of objects resembling the Deities, as of Nandi, Garuda, etc. The Propitiation of the Grahayogas (conjunctions of the Planets). The Propitiation of the Planets, in their individuality. The Propitiation of Raliu and Ketu, (the ascending and descending Nodes), hut viewed as devils seizing the sun and moon, and causing their eclipse. The Arka-Vivaha, the third marriage of a Brahman, made first to the Asclepias gigantea, and afterwards to the bride.* The Shanti of a woman’s courses. The Shanti of the birth of a calf. Tlie Shanti of new teeth. Tlie Shanti of a birth occm-ring on the fourteenth day of the decrease of the moon. The Shanti of the full-moon, and of the last day of the moon. The Shanti of a birth occurring on the day of the new moon. The Shanti of the Nakshatras (Lunar Mansions). The Shanti of a birth occurring during an eclipse. The Shanti of the Visha-Ghatika (the Poisonous or unlucky Ghatikd of the thirty ghatikas in a day and night). The Shanti of the Gandanta-Yoga (an unlucky conjimction of the Nakshatras). Tke Shanti of disgusting occurrences. The Shanti of the entrance of the sun into particular signs of the zodiac. The Shanti of falling into fevers, etc. The Shanti of days specified in the Sutras of A'shvalayana. The Shanti of eclipses. The Shanti of injuries to receptacles of water and fire. The Shanti of the falling of great walls. The Sh&ti of disease in trees. The Shanti of the falling of lizards. The Shanti of village and wild animals, as of the dove, crow, horse, and elephant. (3.) The contents of the Vyavahdra Mayukha are * Has this custom originated from the shame of third marriages, prevalent among the olden Hindus ? CASTE IN THE LAW-BOOKS. 403 SO similar to the chapter on the same subject of the Mitakshdra of Yajnavalkya, to which we have already referred, and bear so little on caste observances, that we have little to notice connected "with them. When enjoining the preservation of the customs and laws of country, caste, and family (for the content of the people), it mentions that the Dvijas of the South take the daughter of a mother’s brother in marriage ; that those of the Middle-country act as artizans and eat kine ; that those of the East eat fish and have wives who are pros- titutes; and that those of the North drink intoxicating liquors, and approach their women when they should not be touched : and it holds that they are not deserving of punishment on these accounts.* The evidence of parties connected with particular Vargas (classes) is to be taken in cases in which these Vargas are concerned. The evidence of foreigners and women is to be taken, too, in their special afl’airs. The evidence of a person fallen from caste is not to be taken. f Outcasted persons have no share in inheritance. J Caste-communion, it is maintained according to injunctions of the Smritis already noticed, is not to be held with a person who has passed the sea in a ship, even though he may have performed penance for it ; and therefore connexion with such a person in this Yuga is reprehensible. Ndrada is quoted as saying that a woman left to her own will (svairini) who is not a Brahmani, may have connexion with a man of higher caste than herself, though not of a lower, though the man himself is reprehensible. § Yama is quoted as teaching that a Brah- mani, having connexion with a Shudra, is to be devoured by dogs, and having connexion with a Kshatriya or a Vaishya is merely to have her head shaved and to be carried round on an ass. || A creditable translation of the Vyavahara Mayiikha was published by Mr. Borrddaile of the Bombay Civil * Vyavahdra Majiikha, i. 1.1 3. t W n- 3. 6-7. J V. M. iv. 11. 3. This law of mkeritance is now disavowed under the British Government. § V. M. iv. 29. 11. II V. M. iv. 19. 12. 404 WHAT CASTE IS. Service in 1827. The work, too, was translated into ]\Iarathi by Raghunatha Shastri Date. (4.) Iwihe PrdyascJiitta Mayiikha^ after general state- ments on the nature and objects of atonements and pen- ances, prescriptions are made for sins committed in a former birth, (indicated by diseases, ailments, etc.) ; di- rections are given for ablutions by sand and by water ; the specific acts of general penances are mentioned ; and the distmctions of offences are enumerated. Penances are prescribed for a party falsely accused of offences ; for a man cut short m his days ; for drunkemiess ; for eatuig what is forbidden ; for eating flesh ; for takmg food with a person engaged with a sacrament ; for eating food uijured by keepmg ; for theft of gold ; for inter- course with low-caste women ; for adultery ; for mter- course with beasts ; for gambling ; for familiarity with parties guilty of offences ; for touching the lea\fings of meals ; for muior sins ; for sacrificing for the unworth}'' ; for abusing virgins ; for abandonmg the household fire ; and for miscellaneous faults. (5.) In the Shrdddha MayuJcha the general doctrme and practice of Shraddhas is treated of. But this subject, as far as caste is concerned, has been already exhausted in the precedmg pages. (6.) The Samaya Mayuhha^ which treats of the times and seasons of religious serwces, and the duties of days and months, does not bear upon Caste, though it strikmgly illustrates the formality and bondage m which the Hindu worshipper is constantly kept. The Mann Sanliita, it tells us, prevails in the Krita Yuga ; the Gautama, in the Treta ; the Shankha and Likhita CASTE IN THE LAW-BOOKS. 405 in the Dvapara ; and the Pardshara in the Kali. The following laws, formerly current, it also tells us, have been repealed in the Kali Yuga. The law pemiitting the raising up of issue upon the widow of a deceased brother. Tile law allowing a girl mentally intended to be given to a particular husband to marry another husband should he die. The law allowing Brahmans to have four wives, (one of each of th e primitive castes), Kshatriyas to have three, and Vaishyas to have two. The law allowing the killing of Brahmans in the act of attempting murder. Tlie law allowing Dvij as who may have passed OA’er the sea to be received into caste on their performing penance. The law allowing the performance cf Satradikshd (sacrificing) for all classes of men (not lower than Shudras). The law allowing the caiTying of a water-pot (the emblem of enter- ing into the Sanyasashrama.) The law allowing Mahdprasthdnagamana (walking on pilgrimage, in the direction of the Himalaya, till the pilgrim be carried ofi" to heaven). The slaughter of a bull for sacrifice. The drinking of spirits, even at the Sautramani (the sacrifice to Indra). The law allowing enti’ance into the Vdnaprasfhdshrama. The law forbidding the capital punishment of Brahmans deliberate- ly committing a Mahapataka. The law requiring the exaction of atonements for familiarity ( sansar- ga) with sinners. The law requiring penances for sins committed in secret, with the exception of theft. The law allowing the use of flesh in Shraddhas. The law pennitting filiation by other ways than by birth or adoption. The law requiiing the abandonment of a wife for common sins (smaller than adultery). The law requiring one to give up his own life in the protection of cows and Brahmans, 406 WHAT CASTE IS. The law allowing the sale of the Soma juice. Tlie law requiring the killing (by officiating Brahmans) of animals in sacrifice (the deed being now done by Shudras). The law allowing a householding Brahman, on a long pilgrimage, in difficulties, to eat from a Dasa, Gopala, Kulamitra, Ardhasiri. The law allowing Brahmans to obtain a livelihood in times of difficulty by doing the work of Kshtriyas, Yaishyas, and Shudras. The law allowing a Sanyasi to beg and receive Dakshina from all castes, to stay ten days anywhere as a guest, and to lodge wherever he might be found at sunset. The law forbidding the wandering of Brahmans, The law forbidding a Brahman to blow into fire with his mouth. The law interdicting the giving of evidence in cases between a father and a son. The law requiring the Brahmacharya A'shrama to last for forty-eight years (from the binding of the sacred string, being twelve years for the study of each Veda). The law allowing the marriage of maternal cousins. The law allowing the killing of cows. The law allowing the sacrifice of men and horses. The law allowing the re-marriage of females. The gift of a larger share (in inheritance) to the eldest son. The law sanctioning the performance of the Eajasuya. The law ordering the practice of ordeal (which some nevertheless think advantageous). These thirty-four instances of repeal very decidedly prove the mutability of the Hindu laws, a fact which should not be overlooked by native reformers.* In quali- fication of the repeal of the laws respecting Agnihotra and Sanyasa, it is added that they may be practised while the distinctions of Caste and the Vedas are acknowledged. (7.) In the Niti Mayiikha the duties of kings are treated of much as in the Law-book ascribed to Manu. * The list here given is considerably larger than that found in the General Note appended to Sir William Jones’s translation of Manu. CASTE IN THE LAW-BOOKS. 407 (8.) The Pratislitlid Mayuhha treating of the con- secration of temples, houses, fortifications, images, etc., deals with religious and not caste observances. (9.) The Utsarga Mayuhha treats of celebrations connected with shrines, idols, tanks, wells, etc. (10.) The A'chdra Mayuhha treats of the practical religion of life, and is very extensive and comprehen- sive. Much of it is devoted to caste-matters, but to caste-matters more as they affect indi\fiduals than as they affect social intercommunion. The following are the principal subjects of which it treats, dra^ving its materials principally from the Smritis andthePuranas : — How the Dvija should get awake at the BrsOima Muhurtta (the last Muhurtta of the night). How the natural evacuations should he effected ; how the parties seeking relief should turn to the north during the day, and to the south during the night ; how silence should be observed, and solitude sought ; and how cleansings should be effected by water or earth, etc. How dchamana (the sipping of water, and spitting it out again) should be performed — on relieving nature ; on dining ; on touching the leavings of food ; on the passing of ivind ; on being touched by cats, and other impure animals ; on uttering falsehood ; on commencing any religious work ; on seeing a crow, a washerman, a musician (vena), a fishennaa, or a dancer ; on speaking with a chandala or mlenchlia ; on speaking with a woman or Shudra ; before washing the hands after dinner ; on shedcUng tears or blood ; on touching a place where cows. Brahmans or women are killed; on dreaming ; on sneezing or spitting ; on seeing persons defiling themselves ; on falling before a guru ; on eating leaf and betelnut ; on putting on new clothes ; and on touching a woman during her sutika (of ten days after a birth). The number of achamanas needed on particular occasions is also stated. How, and when, and with what kind of wood, the rinsing of the teeth is to be performed, and not performed. The stick of a Brahman 408 WHAT CASTE IS. ought to be of twelve finger breadths ; of a Shudra, Vaishya, and Kshatriya, of six finger-breadths ; and of a woman of four finger- breadths. Particular woods used are lucky, and others imlucky. How the pavitra, or ring of Kusha grass, to be worn on the fourth finger, is to be worn at certain religious and other services. A Brah- man should use four blades of grass ; a Kshatriya, three ; and a A'aishya, two. How ablutions should be performed. They are classed into the necessary, the voluntary, the occasional, tliose needful for cleanliness, and the secondary. The first season for them is the morning. The gradation of merit of waters rises as follows : — still waters, flowing waters, the ocean, tirthas, the Ganges. The face should be turned to the east in bathing. After ablution a Brahman should clothe him- self in white vestments ; a Kshatriya, in red ; a Vaishya, in yellow ; and a Shudra, in blue. The Dvijas should use mantras in bathing, but Shudras should not use them. Ablution should follow the touch of a Chandala, a woman in her courses, an out-caste, a Sutika, a corpse, or the touch of a person defiled by touching any of these objects, a Devalaka (dresser of images) when out of a temple, a Bud- dhist, a Pashapata, a follower of Kapila (according to some testimo- nies), an ill-behaved Dvija, any person who should not be touched, one shedding tears, and a newly shaved person. How the tilaJca* or religious mark, is to be applied to the body. The clay to be preferably used is to be that of the top of a momitain, of the bank of a river, of the Brahmakshetra, of the coast, of the sea, of an anthill, of the roots of the Tulasi plant, and of Gopichandana from Dvaravati (Dvaraka). It is to be daily applied for the destruction of sin. A black tilaka is favourable to peacefulness ; a red one, to bringing parties into one’s power ; and a yellow one, to wealth. The V aishnavas (sectarial followers of Vishnu) ought to have a white tilaka. The ap- plication of the tilaka by the thumb, produces fatness ; by the middle- finger, water or heaven ; by the next finger, food ; and by the fore-fin- ger, liberation (from births). According to the Vaishnavas, there are twelve places for applying unguents, — the forehead, the belly, the region of the heart, the neck, the two sides of the belly, the middle arms, the tips of the ears, the elbows. "When applying them to the forehead, * The root of this word is tUn, to be unctuous. CASTE IN THE LAW-BOOKS. 400 (daring the hrightening half of the moon) the name Keshava is to be prononneed ; wlren to the belly, Narayai^ ; when to tlie heart, ^lad- hava ; when to the throat, Govinda ; when to tlie sides, Vishnu and Vamana ; when to the arms, Madhusiidana ; when to tlie ears, Trivik- rama ; when to the elbows, Shridliara and Hrishikesha ; when to the back, Padmamibliia or Difmodara; and when to the cerebral region (not mentioned above), Vasudeva. When the unguents are applied during the darkening half of the moon, the preceding names are to be taken in the reverse order. The forms of the unguents should be as follows : — on the forehead, that of an upper arm ; on the ear, that of a rod ; on the breast, that of a lotus ; on the belly, that of a flame ; on the arm, that of the leaf of a bambu ; on the back, that of the rose-apple. The best tilaka, from the tip of the nose to the hair, is of ten finger-breadths ; that of middle worth, of nine ; and the lowest in value, of four, three^ or two finger-breadths. Without attention to these matters, Karmma (the fruit of works) is lost. Figures of the conch-shell, and chakra (sacred discus) should be applied to the body of the Vaishnava. The leaves of the tulasi should also be ate by him. These injunctions are said to be according to the Bi-ahma Parana. [According to A'shvahiyana here also referred to, sectarial marks should not be used during V edic ceremonies.] According to the Brahmanda Purana, the Urdhva-pvn- (Iru (the upper marks of Shiva) are to be made by clay, sandalwood, ashes, and water ; — after bathing, by clay; after the homa, by ashes; after the worship of the gods, by sandalwood ; on doing any ceremony con- nected with water, by water. If the unguent be by clay, its lines are not to be horizontal, but vertical; if by a.shes, they are not to be vertical but horizontal. They are to be used, according to Katyayana, at shraddhas, sacrifices, japas, homas, the oblation to the Vishvedevas, and the worship of the gods (suras). The places for applying ashes are the forehead, the breast, the navel, the throat, the shoulder and upper arm, the back, and the head. The Shivamantra or Gayatri of the Atharvaveda is to be used when the application is made. A householder should apply the ashes with water ; and the Vanaprastha and Sanyasi should apply them without water. The horizontal marks of a Brahman sliould be six finger-breadths long ; of a Kshatriya, four ; of a Vaishya, two ; and of a 8hudra and others beloAV him, of one. If the (Shaiva) Bjahman make not the trlpuvdra 52 410 WHAT CASTE IS. (the ternary of lines) he becomes patita (fallen). Those who mock the parties wearing these marks are the offspring of Shudras. From these notices, it is apparent that the tilaka marks are chiefly of a sectarial character. How and where the ceremonies of Sandhyd at morn, noon, and even- ing are to be performed. How the Homa is to be perfonned ; how charity is to he dispensed ; how the five great A’ajnas are to he managed ; how libations are to be poured out to ancestors, to Bhishma, to Yama, and to the gods. How Pujd (material worship) is to be given to the gods ; and what flowers and leaves are acceptable or unacceptable to various gods; and what are the suitable objects and places ior pujd. In connexion with this matter, it is said that a Brahman ought to worship Vishnu as Yii- sudeva ; a prince, as Sankarshana ; and a Yaishya, as Pradyumna ; and a yiuidra, as Aniruddha. A Brahman ought to have four images ; a Kshatriya, three; a Yaishya, two; and a Shudra, one. The worship of the Shaligrama ought to be confined to Brahmans. A Shudra pro- nouncing the sacred sjdlable Om, worshipping the Shaligrama, or going to the wife of a Brahman, becomes a Chandala. A Brahman, whether ])ure or impure, ought, according to the Linga Purana, to be the agent in worshipping the Shaligrama. If a Shudra or a woman touch it, its touch will prove like that of a thunderbolt. Women, noninitiated Briilimaus, and Shudras have no right to touch the emblems of Yi.shnu or Shiva. How is to be performed. A Brahman teaching a Shiidra to pronounce the sacred Om or svdhd, becomes a Shudra, and the Shiidra goes to hell. How the worship of clay images (of the linga, etc.) should be performed. How at the worship of gurus, gifts should be given to them. How the homa of the Yishvedevas is to be perfonned. How the five mahayajnas ai’e to be performed. How Bhojanas (feedings) are to effected. The mandala (enclosure) formed by water on the ground for the vessel of a Brahman, ought to be quadrangular ; of a Kshatriya, triangidar ; of a Yaishya, circular ; and of a Shudra, semicircular. The vessels used ought to be of gold, silver, copper, bell-metal, or of the leaves of the lotus, or the palasha CASTE IN THE LAW-BOOKS. 411 ( Bntca froiulosa). ITowevcr, a Brahmaclum, Yati, or wkl ow , should not dine either from bell-metal or the palasha leaf. Nothing is to he ate of animals with five toes. Numerous and miimte rn les are to be observed in the further proceedings. The three first classes must neither eat nor drink with the left hand. Should a Dvija v iolate this rule, his offence will be like that of drinking ardent spirits. A Shudra, however, may drink water with that dishonoured organ of the body. Nothing is to be taken which has fallen from the mouth. Animal food is to be avoided. A Dvija, when eating, should not listen to a Chandala, an outcaste, or a woman in her courses. The times of eating are midday and the evening. Other injunctions, which we have already extracted from the Law-books, are to be observed. How the evening is to be spent after lamplighting ; how beds are to be arranged ; and how strikritya is to be performed, except on forbidden days. What places for sleeping are forbidden ; — such as empty houses ; graveyards ; the place where four roads meet ; places under trees ; the shrines of Mahadeva and Devi ; places frecpiented by Niigas and A'akshas ; mounds of sand or earth ; and Darbha grass, when the Diksha is being performed. Sleep is to be taken during the second and third of the four praharas of the night. How dreams are to be interpreted, and their bad omens averted. (11.) In the Dana Mai/ukha^ the duty and privilege of giving gifts, especially to Brahmans, are amply and keenly treated of. It Avell proves the fitet, Avhich Ave have already noticed, that the imparting of gifts to the priestly class is quite a science in the institutions of caste.* Tiie folloAving is a general AueAV of its contents : — What ddna (donum) is. Brahmans, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas have the right of giving dana according to the Vedas ; Shudras and women, according to the Pura- nas. Gifts to Shiidras should be confined to food and clothing. The merit of giving to Shudras is of the ratio of one ; to Vaishyas, of two ; to Kshatriyas, of three ; and to Bralnnans, of six. * See before p. 27. 412 WHAT CASTE IS. 'Of acquisitions made, one-tliird should be reserved for a livelihood, and two-thirds for dana, according to the work called Shivadharma. Of cows every tenth should he given, according to tlie Bharata. Oold, silver, or copper, given to a Yati (Sanyasi) consigns both the giver and receiver to hell. No person who has offspring should part ndth all his property, or with his Avife, a dependent, what is held in loan or paAvn, what belongs to other members of a family as well as one’s self, a pledge, AA'hat is included in stndhana, and a son. Certain times are appropriate for gifts, such as Sundays, the day of the sun entering into a new sign of tlie zodiac, eclipses, festivals, etc.. Gifts at holy places are peculiarly meritorious ; yet those receiv- ing them there (from a spirit of covetousness) have to perform penance. Both givers and receivers have to perform numerous ceremonies. Gifts from Brahmans are to be acknowledged in a loud voice ; from Kshatriyas, in a gentle voice ; from Vaishyas, in a Avhisper 5 and from Shudras, in a silent acknoAvledgment. Methods of measuring and weighing in dana, in the cases of money, grain, land, etc., are prescribed. Mundapas, or tabernacles, when erected by the givers of largesses, are to he of a particular form, and of particular Avoods. Directions are given for the construction of the sacrificial Kundas, or holes, Avhich may be made in these Mandapas, some of them being of the form of the vulvus, triangular, quadrangular, sexangnlar, lotus formed, etc. etc., the shapes being different according to the castes, a Brah- man’s being quadrangular, a Kshatriya’s, circular, a Vaishya’s, semi- circular, and a Shudra’s, triangular. The depth of the Kundas is also prescribed. The planets, the Lokapalas, or guardians of the eight directions, and Vinayaka (Ganapati) and other gods, are to be invoked. Holy mantras are to be recited. Puja to houses and doors is to be perform- ed. The holy fire is to be kindled. FloAvers are to be selected, fitted to please individual gods. Particular mantras are to be repeated, those of the Eig-Vedi and Yajur-Yedi, and Sama-YedI Brahmans being different. When all things are ready, the pi-ince proceeds to bestoAv his largesses. CASTE IN THE LAW-BOOKS. 413 on the Bmhmaus. The Sixteen-Great-Gifts ( ShorlasJta-3rahdddndni) according to the IMatsya Purapa, are the following* ; — The Tulapurusliaddnct, the weight of a man or woman in any of the precious metals, ghi, etc.; Hiranjjagarhhaddna, a golden fadus; the Bruhmdndaddna, the gift of gold, in the form of the mundane egg ; the Kalpataruddna, the gift of a golden tree, like that which satisfies all human desires ; the Gosahasraddna, the gift of a thousand cows ; the HiranyakdniadlLeiiuddna, the gift of a golden cow and calf, like the cow which yields what may be desired; the Hirnaijdshvaddna, the gift of a golden horse ; the- Iliranydshvarathaddna, the gift of a golden chariot with (golden) horses ; the Ilemahastiddna, the gift of a golden elephant, the Panchaldngaladdna, the gift of five plows of wood, and of gold, with the bullocks added ; the Dhardddna, the gift of gold in the form of the earth, a mountain, etc.; the Vishvachakraddna, the gift of a golden wheel, or discus ; the Kalpcdatdddna, the gift of ten golden creeping plants, with flowers ; the Suptasdgaraddna, the gift of seven large oceanic golden vessels, of a cubit in diameter and depth; the Ratnadhenuddna, the gift of a cow formed of set jewels; the Malidiblm- taghataddna, the gift of a large golden vessel, of a hundred finger- breadths, filled with milk or clarified butter. Minute rules are laid down about the times and places at which and the methods by which these gifts, so acceptable to the Brahmans and meritorious before the gods, are to be given. Besides these Sixteen-Great-Danas, there are also the Ten-Great- Danas of the Kurmma Purana, the DashdmahdddndiKi. They are as follows: — gold, a horse, tila, anaga (cobra serpent in gold), a slave girl, a chariot, land, a house, a daughter, and a tawny-coloured cow. Other Ddtias (with notices of some of the preceding) are treated of according to various authorities, — as those of a white horse, of a copper vesselful of sesamum seeds, of a waterpot of a student filled with these seeds, of an elephant, of a chariot, of land, of a house, of sheep, of a shelter, of ten cows (of molasses, ghrita, water, milk, curds, honey, sugarcane juice, sugar, cotton, salt, and gold), of a golden- horned cow, of a cow and a calf when the birth is taking place, (which * The Shodasha ^lahadanas are, with a few variations from the Matsya, treated of in the Linga and other Piiraiias. See Linga Purana, second part, pp. 5G-75. Puna edition. 414 WHAT CASTE IS. will secure a safe passage across tlie infernal river Vaitaraui), of a female buffalo, of a goat, of odoriferous substances (from the mountains Gandhamadana, Vipula, and Suparsliva), of a bhndmnklhi, an ocean of happiness, of an anandanidhi, (an ocean of joy, a vessel of the ficus glomerata, with a silver cover, and filled with gold), of images of the gods and ten Avataras, of the twelve Adityas, of the ^loon and Sun, of the nine planets, of golden images of the donor and of Kuvera (the god of riches), of golden Shaligramas, and of the golden image of Kalapurusha Yama (the god of death). Respecting Kdmijaddna or optional or discretional gifts, much is said. The Kdlapurti.shadd?ia, and Kdhichakraddna, made preparative to death, may be of an image with golden eyes, or of a silver discus, silver teeth, etc. They are said to remove the fear of death and pain, to secure the full complement of life, and to merit heaven. Similar in their objects and effects, are the Yamaddnas and Puskaraddnas. The Krishndjinaddna, the gift of the skin of a black antelope, with accom- paniments, destroys the sin of seven births. The Shai/addina, or gift of a bed, confers beauty, riches, a ten thousand years’ lease of heaven, .and other benefits. The Vustraddnn, or gift of clothes, confers, when the dresses are of cotton, entrance into Svarga ; when they are of wool, entrance into the abode of the Rishis; when they are of the kusha grass, or of silk, entrance into the abode of the Vasus. The A'sanaddna, the gift of a seat, keeps disease away, and gives a taste of heaven. The Bhajanaddna, the gift of vessels, when they are of gold, procures the heaven of Indra ; Avhen of silver, the abode of the Gandharvas ; when of copper, the abode of the Yakshas and Rakshasas, when of wood, iron, etc., lesser benefits. The SthdUddna, the gift of a tray, gives fatness and pleasui’e. The Pdkaddna, the gift of cooked food, is favourable to the acquisition of power. The Vidiidddna, or gift of learn- ing, consists principally in presents of books. Those enumerated are the Eighteen Puranas (according to the Yanilia) — in their adjective names — as follows: — The Brahma, Pudma, Yaishnava, Shaiva, Bhaga- vata, Xaradi'ya, Markandeya, Agneya, Bhavishya, Brinuna-Yaivartta, Laiuga, Yaraha, Skanda, Yamana, Kaurmma, ^latsya, Garuda, and the Brahmanda ; the Upapuranas ; the Ramayana, Bharata, and books of the Tarkashiistra (logic), Chanda, Alankara, of the Yedas, IVIimansa and Dharmashastra. Power on earth, and glory in heaven. CASTE IN THE LAW-BOOKS. 415 are the consequences of liberality in this fonn. Chatropdnacldna, the gift of umbrellas ami shoes, will give freedom from scorching heat, ar.d from pain in walking, in the other world. Annoddna, the gift of grain, (to serve a year) secures freedom 'from disease and pain. Tdnihula- ddna, the gift of leaf and betelnut, secures luck. Gandhadravjjaddna, the gift of odoriferous substances, keeps the body in health. Ratnaddna, the gift of gems, keeps off pain, sin, and secures freedom (from births) at death. Vidnnnaddna, the gift of coral, has similar effects. Udakaddna, the gift of water, accortling to many authorities, is very meritorious, giving happiness in heaven for a hundred yugas, etc. JJharminaghataddn'z, the gift of a supply of vessels full of water, is like the gift of a thousand cows, and secures heaven. YadnopavUaddaa, the gift of the sacred string,* has the merit of the Agnishtoma. Yashtiddna, the gift of a staff to one needing it, keeps off disease, and a beating from Yama. Agnishtakaddna, the gift of fuel, secures the Brahmaloka. The Dipaddna, the gift of a lamp, improves the eyes, and gives prosperity, both in this life and that which is to come. Ahhijaddna, the gift of shelter to the fearful, fulfils human desires. Mdseshuddnas, gifts fit for the twelve months, keep the body sound, prevent entrance into Yainaloka, and effect direct entrance into Svarga. Ashvntliaseoana, the care of the holy fig-tree, destroys disease. Pdnthopnchdra, feeding travellers, destroys sin, and aids in acquiring wealth. GoparicJtarga, the service of cows, procures felicity in Goloka (the heaven of Krishna). Ndnddravnjaddna, dis- tributing of money in various forms, has many wonderful effects in both worlds. NotAvithstancling the precise nature of the injunctions of the books, on the kinds, seasons, and modes of gifts, there is in modern times much that is arbitrary in the disposal of gifts. The great object of the legislation respecting them is the encouragement of liberality to the llrahmans by all imaginable ingenious devices, and exorbitant promises both for this life and that which is to come. Though the formalities prescribed are often * Licluding the expenses of its assumption. 416 WHAT CASTE IS. neglected, they are sometimes attended to, even in dis- j)ensing largesses according to the highest scale. Fre- quently the native princes of India are brought to notice as more or less satisfying the high demands of the parties who have the privilege of seeking alms. The calls made at marriages by Brahmans, Bhats, and Charans (or family bards) in the case of the Rajputs, were often viewed as inducements to infanticide. ]\Iost enormous sums are given away in the hope of getting sons and heirs, throughout the country. “ About the year 1794, Chanaghosha, a Kayastha of IMidnapur,” saj's Mr. M’^ard, “ gave to the Brahmans an artificial moun- tain of gold. A little before this Gopala Krishna, a A'aidya of Rajanagar, presented to the Brahmans three mountains, one of gold, one of rice, and another of the seeds of sesamum.”* These mountains, he adds, need not be very large ; but it is necessary that figures of trees, deer, etc., should be seen on them. Sometimes effects not recognized by the Smritis, are alleged to fol- low munificent gifts. “ Shiidras,” it is asserted, “ cannot ]>ass from a lower grade to a higher ; but the Rajas of Travankur are always manufactured into Brahmans on ascending the masnad, an important part in this transmi- gration being sometimes played by a golden cow, at the mouth of which the Raja enters a Shiidra, and having crawled along its interior arrangements, emerges under the animal’s tail as one of the tAvice-born : otherwise he ])athes in a golden lotus. The gold figures are sub- sequently diA'ided amongst the officiating Brahmans. * Ward's View of tlie History, Literature, and Mythology of the Hindus. Vol. III. p. 292. CASTE IN THE LAW-BOOKS. 417 During the last century, two Travanknr Brdhmans visited England, thereby, of course, losing their caste, which was only I’estorcd by their passing the sacred Yonimade of the finest gold, which afterwards, with many other valuable gifts, were presented to one of the temples.”* The Raja of Mahishur (Mysore), notwith- standino; the embarrassed state of his finances, is said to have often given magnificent presents to Brahmans, as well as to the temples of the gods. Among others tnentioned to me by parties acquamted with his country, are a golden mandapa and cradle, with pearls and precious stones, to the chief Yaishnava Svami ; a thousand golden rings set with precious stones, to as many members of the priestly caste; the weight of his own body in silver (on his completing his sixtieth year) ; and liberal dakshi'na to learned men. Similar presents have been given in our oAvn day by some of the Maratha and Rajput princes. F east- ings of Brahmans are reckoned meritorious throughout the country. In expectation of them, and with a vie^v to do justice to them, those of the old school sometimes fast the day preceding them, and eat so copiously that they need feAv additional supplies the day following. (12.) The Shuddlii-Mayibkha treats of the removal of ceremonial and other impurities. But I have ex^ tracted so much on this subject already, from Angira, Manu, Yajnavalkya, and Parashara,f that it is not necessary here again to attempt its exhibition.]; * Davy’s Land of the Permauls, p. 314. Compafe with this Forbes’s Oriental Memoirs, vol. ii (2nd edit,) pp. 239-40. t See before pp. 360 et serj^ I In the examination of the Mayukhas, I hare used my own manuscripts and those of Ganpatnio Gadagil, Inamdar, of Wai, 418 WHAT CASTE IS. By the Smritis the Caste-s3"stem was brought to its full maturit}’, and stereotyped for ever, except in so far as it is expected to be influenced what is held to be the lamentable and destructive progress of the Kaliyuga. In consequence of this circumstance, we need say very little, comparatively, respecting Caste as it appears in the later literature of the Hindus. X. — Caste in the Harivansha. The Ilarivanslia^ which is sometimes called a sup[)le- ment to (khila)^ and sometimes a portion of, the IMahabharata, is generall}^ considered as intermediate between the Smritis and the Puranas, to which, never- theless, it is sometunes made to refer. It treats, especially in its earlier portions after its mtrodnctoiy matter, of the glory of Hari, particular!}" in the form of Krishna. It contains man}" curious legends. It is scarcely necessary to say that it recognizes the caste- system in its integrity, though it does not mention it an}’ where at any considerable length. Of Yeua, the prince reputed to be so rebellious against the Brah- mans, it is there said that he was laid hold of by the great Ri.sliis, Avho rubbed his left tliigh. From this rubbing a chmiuutive and black man came forth, who, being afraitl, remained standing with joined liands. Atri (the Rishi) seeing him afraid, said to liim, Xishida (sit doAA'ii). He became the establisher (Jcarttd) of the race of the Xishddas* The Harivansha recognizes Sutas and Mdgadhas, in their caste occupations of encomiasts and bards. It says that Prishadra, originally a Kshatriya, became a Shudra for killing his guru’s cow ; and that two sons of Nabhagarishta, originally A’^aishyas, became Brahmans. f It also alleges, like Mann, that the Shakas, Yavauas, Kambojas, Paradas, Pahlavas, Haihayas, Talajanghas, * Harivansha V. v, 325 et seq. t II. V. xi. V. C58-9. CASTE IN THE llARIVANSIIA. 419 etc., lost their caste of Kshatriyas for rebelling against the descendant of llarischandra.* * * § These traditions, and others of a like character, found in the Piiranas, deal with the fact that position in Aryan society was not originally wholly dependent on birth. To the various and contradictory accounts of the origin of Caste, the following is added : — “ The renowned Sunahotra [a king of the Lunar race] was the son of Kshatravrickllia, and had three very righteous sons. Kasha, Shala, and the mighty Ghritsaniada* The son of Ghritsamada was Shunaka, from whence sprang the Shaunakas, Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras.”f Shaunaka is also spoken of in the Yishnu Purana,| as having “ originated the four castes.” Perhaps this prince had some hand in framing laws for their distinct recognition, as is onwards said to have been the case with king Bali.§ In the context of the passage now cpiotcd, the jMaitreyas are said to have assumed the part of the descendants of Bhrigu (the duties of the Brahmauhood,) though they had the character of Kshatriyas (as warriors ?).|| Children of [the Rishi Angiras] are also said to have been “ born in the family of Bhngu, Brahmans, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas, three kinds of dcscen- * II. Y. xiv. See Muir's Texts i. 45. et seq. 5Ir. Muir thus translates the passage in the Harivansha, to which I refer : — “ Aurva havinjj performed Sagara’.-i natal, and other rites, and taught him all the Ye'das then provided him with a fiery missile, such as even the gods could not withstand. By the power of this weapon, and attended by an army incensed and fierce, Sagara speedily slew the Ilaihayas, as if they had been beasts ; and acquu’ed great renown throughout the world. lie then set himself to exterminate the Shakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, l*aradas, and Pahlavas. But they when on the point of beingslaughtered by Sagara, had recoiuseto the sage VashishHia, and fell down before him. Ya.shishtha beholding them, by a sign restrained Sagara, giving them assurance of protection. Sagara after considering his ovm vow, and listening to what his teacher had to say, destroyed their caste (dharma), and made them change their cu-stoms. He released the Shakas, after causing the half of their heads to be shaven ; and the Yavanas and Kambojas, after having had their heads entirely shaved. The Paradas were made to wear long hair, and the Pahlavas to wear beards. They were all excluded from the study of the Ye'das, and from oblations bv fire. The Shakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Paradas, Pahlavas, Kolisarpas, Mahishas, Diirvas, Cholas and Ke'ralas, had all been Kshatriyas, but were deprived of their social and religious position bj' the gi’cat Sagara, according to the advice of Yashishtha.’’^ t H. Y. xxix. V. 1518-20. Muir’s Texts, I. 49. J Y. P. iv. 8, § H. Y. .xxxi. V. 1684. 11 xxxii. re. 1789-90. ^ Harivaubha, xiv. rv. 773-83. Muir's Texts, Yol. i. p. 182. 420 WIIAT CASTE IS. daiits in thousands.”* In a neighbouring pt^ssage Shudras are said to have also had tire same descent.^ As in the Ramayana, it is said that in the reign of Rama the Kshatriyas were subject to tlie Brahmans; the Vaishyas to the Ksha- triyas ; and the Shudras to the three other castes. | Even the wild Shabaras, Barbaras, and Pttlindas are represented as praising A'rya (the wife of Shiva). § Of a woman performing the Umdarata (the vrata of the goddess Uma, wife of Shiva) it is said that she will give most magnificent presents to a pure Brahman, such as two suits of clothing, a bed, a conveyance, a house, grain, slaves, male and female, jewels, a mountain of jewels, elephants, horses, cows, etc. etc.|| The Brahmans, in other circumstances, are represented as receiving similar- presents.^ Tlie reading of the Mahdbharata should, at its diflferent stages, be accompanied with most liberal largesses.** Inattention to Brahmanical institutions is represented as the grand cause of the progress of the evil Kali Yuga, a most conspicuous sign of which is the usurpation by one caste of the duties of another, parti- cularly as far as the four primitive castes are concerned. j’j’ A shrewd guess has been made at the probable issue of the tyrannical system of caste; but this guess is associated with great blunders as to the material depravation of India, of Tyhicli no sign yet begins to appear. A mystical origin of the Brahmans, according to their sacrificial dis- tribution, is thus spoken of (I quote the translation and interposed notes of Mr. Muir, subjoining a note respecting the text) : — “ The Lord created the Brahma, who js the chjef, as well as the udgdtri, who cliauuts the Bama Veda fr-om his mouth ; and hotri and adhvargu from his amis.” [The text of the next verse seems to be corrupt, but it appears to refer to four kinds of priests, the brdhmandchhamin, the prastotri, the inaitrdvaruna, and the pratishtdtri.'] He formed the pratihartri and fke pofri from his belly, the adhijapaka [query ach- * II. V. xxix. r. 1.59C-7. X H. Y. xlii. V. 2347-8. II H. V. cxxxviii. v. 7805 et seq. ** H. V. cclviii. near the eud. t H. V. xxxii. V. 1754. § H. V. lix. V. 3274. ^ H. V. clxxxi. near the end. tt See II. V. adh. 194-199. CASTE IN THE IIAKIVANSIIA. 421 and the neshtri from his thighs, the agmdhra and the sacrificial brahmanija from his hands, the grdvan and the sacrificial siuietri from his arms. Thus this divine lord of the world created these sixteen excellent ritviks, the expounders of all sacrifice. Hence this Purusha called the Veda is composed of sacrifice ; and all the Vedas with the A'edangas, Upanishads, and ceremonies, are fonued of his essence.”* This differs much from foiiner notices of the priestly generation. There is no consistency in the accounts of the origin either of the Brahmans or of the other castes, Further proof of this we haye in the Harivansha, “ Vi.shnu, sprung from Brahma, exalted above the power of sense, and absorbed in devotion, becomes the patriarch Dakslia, and creates numerous beings. The beautiful Brahmans were formed from an unchangeable element (^akshara), the Kshatriyas from a changeable substance (kshara), the Vaishyas from alteration {yikdra), and the Shudras from a modifi- cation of smoke. \Vlren Vishnu was contemplating colors [or castes, the word variia having both significations]. Brahmans were fashioned with white, red, yellow, and blue colours, Thence his creatures attained in the world the state of fourfold caste, as Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras ; — rbeing of one type, but with different duties, two-footed, very wonderful, full of energy, and acquainted with the means of success in all the works they had to perform. There are declared to be ceremonies prescribed by the Vedas for the men of the three (highest) castes. By this union of Vishnu with Braluna [?], by wisdom and energy, the divine son of the Prachetasas [Daksha], who was, in fact, Vishnu, the great devotee, passed, by means of that contemplation, [or union] into the sphere of action. [?] Hence the Shudras, sprung froip vacirity, are destitute of ceremonies, and so are not entitled to the rites of initiation (sanskdrci) ; nor have * H. V. adh. cc. v. 11358 et, seq. (Muir's Texts I. p. 36.) My manuscript of the orijjinal seems more correct than that of the Calcutta printed edition used by M. Muir. For it has actually Achdvaka, which confirms the conjectural emendation of Mr. Muir. For Sunetri it has Unnetd (the equivalent of Unnetri). The sixteen classes of priests are thxis given in the manuscript commentary of Nilakantha Govinda, associated with my copy of the text : — Brahma, Udgata, Hota, Adhvaryu, Brahmanachhansi, Prastota, Maitravaruna, Pratiprasthdta, Pratiharta, Pota, Achavaka, Xe'shta, Agnidhra, Subrahmanya, Gravastota, and Uune'ta. 422 WHAT CASTE IS. tliey a knowledge of tlie Vedas. Just as, upon the friction of wood, tlie cloud of smoke which issues from the fire and spreads around, is of no service in the sacrificial rite, so too the Shudras spread over the earth (are uuservicealJe), owing to their birth with all its circum- stances [?], to their want of initiatory rites and the ceremonies ordain- ed by the Vedas.”* XI, — Caste in the Pur anas. AVe now proceed to the Piirdnas (or Malidpurdnas as they are usually called), which accordmg to the usao'e of speech are stated to be eighteen, the Upapurd- vas, or inferior works of the same class, amomitmg to the same number. The following Shloka, which is often quoted by the I’andits, is said to contain the names of the recognized Puranas : — Hhj RTirWir hjrtTt ^it ifc? 3T?ifjJTgrT5r ii These in their order, in the nominal form, are the hdlowing — Brahma, Ambhoruha (Padma or Lotus), A ishnu, Shiva, Bhagavata, Xarada, Alarkandeya, Agni, Bhavishyottara, Brahma- AAivartta, Skanda, AAraha, Linga, A^amana, Alatsya, Kiirma, Garuda, Brahmanda. This list, with one or two differences in the order of the names, agrees with those contained in the Bhaga- vata,f now a principal authority, especially in the west of India, and in the A ishnu and Linga Puranas. J In other * II. V. ccxi. V. 11815 seq. I have ailoptecl the exact translation of Jlr. Muir’s Texts, I. p. 35. I Ehugavata, sk. xii. adh. 7. f Wilson’s V. Purana, p. 284. CASTE IN THE PUKANAS. 423 authorities, as mentioned by Professor PI. II, Wilson, there are a few variations. The list of the Kiirma omits the Agni, that of the Agni, the Shiva, for which it substitutes the Vayu ; that of the A'araha, the Garuda and the Brahmanda, for which it inserts the Xarasmha. The Markandeya, with the Vishnu and Bhagavata, omits the Vayu. The Matsya, with the Agni, leaves out the Shiva.* Other variations are elsewhere apparent. In the Padma Purana, a list is given of twenty-one I^ura- nas, includmg some elsewhere given as Upapuranas, viz,, the Brahma, Padma, Vishnu, Martanda, Xarada, Mar- kaudeya, Agni, Kiirma, Vamana, Garucla, Lmga, Skan- da, ^latsya, Xarsinha, Kapila, Varaha, Brahma- Vai- vartta, Shiva, Bhagavata, Bhavishjmttara, BhaOsh^va. These differences, in a professedly diiinely revealed canon, are rather puzzling. The Puranas mentioned in the different lists, however, are forthcoming. They are all posterior in their composition (whatever they may be in some of their legendary and speculative materials) to the breaking np of Hmdnism into the different modern sects which now prevail throughout the coimtiy. Some of them are of a Va^hnava^ and some of them of a Shaiva character, while some of them favour Brahma, or the worship of the Shaktis, or female principles. f * AYilsoii’s V. P. p. xiv. I “ It is said in the Uttarakhanda of the Padma that the Puranas, as well as other works, are divided into three classes, according to the qualities which prevail in them. Thus the Vishnu, Naradi'ya, Bhaga- vata, Garuda, Padma, and Varaha Puranas, are SdtviJca or pure, from the predominance in them of the Satva quality, or that of goodness and purity. They are, in fact, Vaishnava Puranas. The Matsya, Kurma, 424 WHAT CASTE IS. The following Shloha is said to embody the names of the Upapurdnas: ir^5T JTRr=# »rrifT trtf mrr5iT^ ^furc^ niTiq^ Ni aiST?5r ^TfR ?Iirr^T;’ll The names here given are in the nominal form as follows : — the Ganesha, Xarada, Xarsinha, Kapila, Xandi, Liuga, Shiva, Skanda, and Agni Puranas are Idmasa or Puranas of darkness, from the prevalence of the quality of Tamas, ‘ ignorance,’ ‘gloom.’ They are indisputably Shaiva Puranas. Tlie third series, com- prising the Brahmanda, Brahma- Yaivartta, Markandeya, Bhavishya, A'amaua, and Brahma Puranas, are designated as Rajasa, ‘ passionate,’ from Rajas, the property of passion, which they are supposed to represent. The Matsya does not specify which are the Puranas that come under these designations, hut remarks that those in which the Mahatmya of Ilari or Vishnu prevails, are Sdtvika ; those in which the legends of Agni or Shiva predominate are Tdinasa ; and those which dwell most on tlie stories of Pralima are Rdjasa. I have elsewhere stated that I considered the Rajasa Puranas to lean to the Shakta division of the Hindus, the worshippers of Shakti, or the female principle ; founding this opinion on the character of the legends which some of them contain, such as the Durga Mahatmya, or celebrated legend on which the worship of Dnrga or Kali is especially founded, which is a principal episode of the Markandeya. The Brahma- Yaivartta also devotes the greatest portion of its chapters to the celebration of Radha, the mistress of Krishna, and other female divinities.” Wilson’s Y. Purana, pp. xii. xiii. The Brahma Y aivartta Puraqa was appealed to during the celebrated ^laharaja Libel Case, it liaHng been acknow- ledged as a special authority by Jadunathji himself. It sets forth Krishna (to use the appropriate denomination given by Sir Joseph Arnould) as the “ love hero.” CASTE IN THE PUKANAS. 425 Varniia, Durvasa, Arabd (Devi Bhdgavata) Kalika, Maricha, Ushanas, Blirigu, Maheshvara (Shiva), Siiiya, Parashara, !Mudgala, Sanatakumara, Kiimara, Upa- puranas. The lists quoted by Professor H. H. Wilson do not altogether agree with this. He is certainly correct, however, in saying that, “ Of these Upapuranas few are to be procured.” Those in his possession were the Shiva, as distinct from the Vayu, (a copy of Avhich I also have,) the Kalika, and perhaps one of the Naradi- yas. The Ganesha and Narada are well-knovm in the West of India; and so, it is said, is the Mudgala. To the list given in the Shloka above quoted, Shamrao ]\Ioroji adds the following names : — Atri, Tshvara, Kali, Devi, Bhava, Manava, Vayu and Samba."'" The Vayu is often a substitute for the Shiva. In none of the Puranas, whatever may be their character in a sectarial point of view, is there the slight- est relaxation of the system of Caste, viewed in its general aspects. Yet occasionally we find in them certam intimations and assertions worthy of notice. 1. In the Brahma Parana^ the following passage occurs ; — Reverence to thee, 0 tree ; the Brahmans are thy root ; the Kshatriyas are thy trunk ; the Vaishyas thy branches; and the Shiidras thy bark. The Brah- mans with (then’) fire issued from thy mouth ; the kings (nripas) from thy arm ; the Vaishyas from thy thigh, and the Shiidras from thy feet.f 2. In the Kriyd-Yoga-Sdra of the Padina Purdna, * Granthalaya of Shamrao Moroji, p. 59. f Papaprashamanastava of Brahma Parana, quoted in Calcutta Revietv, 1851. 54 42G WHAT CASTE IS. the glory and dignity of the priestly class are most emphatically set forth. “ The Brahman is the supreme lord of all the Yarnas. To him should largesses be given with worship and reverence. The Yipra is the sanctu- ary {dsliraya) of all the gods, a visible divinity {irida- sha) on the earth, who ferries across the giver in the difficult ocean of the world.” “ All Brahmans are most exalted, and always to be worshipped whether learned or unlearned, of this there being no question. Those excellent Brahmans who are guilty of theft and the like, are offenders of themselves, not of others. BiAhmans are lords of the Kshatriyas, Yaishyas, and Shudras. They are lords of one another, and to be worshipped, being gods upon earth.” “YTiatever good man bows to a Brahman, worshipping him as Yishnu, is blessed with long life, sons, fame and wealth. But whatever foolish one does not bow to a Brahman on the earth, Kesha- va (Yishnu) desffes to strike off his head with his chakra. The bearer of a drop of water which has been in contact with a Brahman’s foot has all the sms of his body thereby destroyed. Whoever carries on his head the holy things touched _ by a Brahman’s foot, veril}', verily I say, he is freed from all sins. Whatever good man .worships a Brahman going round him, obtains the merit of going round the world with its seven Dvipas.”* In the Blmmi Khanda of the same Purana, the duties of the three highest castes are declared to remain obligatory, notwithstanding the progress of the Kali Yuga.f * Padma P. Kriya Yoga Sara, xx. t B. P. Bhiiuii Khanda, adh. 10. Dr. Bliau Daji's MS. CASTE IN THE PUKANAS. 427 3. Somewhat contradictory accounts of the origin of Caste are given in the Vishnu Purdna. These have been evolved by Mr. Muir with his usual accuracy and ability. “ ‘ While Brahma was meditating on creation^ as formerly at the beginning of the Kalpas, there a^jj^eared an inanimate creation, compos- ed of gloom’. ..This is the first creation of immoveable things. It was followed by the second, that of irrational animals... It was followed by tliat of the urddhvasrotasas {i. e. whose nutriment proceeds upwards) or Deyas.. ..Brahma proceeded to create the arvdksrotasas (so called from the downward current of their nutriment). ‘ These had abun- dant illumination both externally and internally; but were also full of darkness and passion.... These were men, and they fulfilled Brahnjd' s purpose.' (V. P. 34-8.) [A more ample account has its variations.] ‘ While Brahma was deeply meditating, his body became pervaded with darkness, and the demons issued from his thigh. He abandoned tliat body, and took another’, whfen the gods proceeded from his mouth. He then assumed a third body, also pure, from which sprang the Pitris. ‘ He next took a body distinguished by passion from which were produced ?nea.’ From another body were formed sheep from his breast ; goats from his mouth; kine from his belly and sides; horses ^ elephants, etc. etc., from his feet ‘ These creatures as they are reproduced time after time discharge the same functions as they had fulfil led in each previous creation.’ [Again another account of matters is given.] ‘ AVhen Brahma, meditating on truth, became desirous to create the world, creatures in whom goodness prevailed sprang from his mouth ; others in whom passion predominated came from Jiis breast ; others in whom both passion and darkness prevailed sprang from his thighs. All these, therefore, constituted the system of the four castes, Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Sluidras, who issued from his feet, thighs, breast, and mouth But the particle of sin created by time increased in their hearts, and they paid no regard to sacrifice. Ecviling belief in the Vedas, and the Vedas themselves, the gods, and all sacrificial and other ceremonies, these obstructors of sacred rites and subverters of all religious action, became wicked, vicious, and perverse in their designs.’ From the next verses it would appear that up to this time the duties of the different classes had not been dis- criminated; the means of subsistence being provided, Brahma, who had 428 WHAT CASTE IS. formed liHng creatures, established ordinances for them according to their station and qualities, and the duties of the castes and orders, and the future abode of the castes who completely fulfil their duties. ”* It is in vain, in cases of this kind, to ascribe the differ- ences to descriptions of different processes in different Kalpas. “ This explanation,” it is properly stated by i\Ir. !Muir, “ can only avail if the Puranas themselves declare these discrepant accoimts to refer to different Kalpas. A^dtere this is not stated, the details must naturally be understood as relatmg to the Kalpa now existmg.” Other discrepancies appear in the same Pnrana connected vith the mmd-born offsprmg of Brah- ma, who are said not to have propagated and with the other nine mmd-born sages (really Rishis of the Yedas) — Bhrigu, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Angiras, Marichi, Daksha, Atri and Yasishtha, who are said to have after- Avards developed the male Svayambhuva, and the female Shatarupa, and their off-spring — the sons Pri}'aA’rata and Uttanapada, and the daughters Prasnti and ATciiti, said to be given to Daksha and to Ruchi [reckoned in some authorities a Prajapati].'}' Daksha afterwards ap- pears Avith a different parentage and progeny. “The illnstrions prajapati Daksha, who formerly sprang from Brahma, was born of ]\Iarisha to the ten Prachetasas. This illustrious Daksha, fulfiUmg the command of Brahma, sunk in contemplation, AAuth the vieAV of creating progeny for himself, produced offspring inferior and superior.” Though the traditions, myths, and legends of this Purana thus differ from one another, they haA'e probably been collected from older sources. * Muir's Texts, i. pp. 20-21. t See Wilson’s V. P. p. 49, et seq. CASTE IN THE PURANAS. 429 The Vishnu Purana, whatever may he its views of the origin of caste, very warmly mamtains its importance, and clearly states its laws : — “ Tlic supreme Vishnu is propitiated by a man who observes the institutions of caste, order, and purificatory practices : no other path is the way to please him.” (Here caste, it will be observed, takes the precedence.) “ Jauarddana (Vishnu) is propitiatfed by him who is attentive to established observances, and follows the duties prescribed for his caste.” These duties are laid down as in the Law-books. The Shiidra, however, has the extended privilege (the reason of which is easily understood in the present state of Indian society) of giving pre- sents to Brahmans, and of offering funeral cakes without mantras.* Brahmans, though they may be forced by poverty to descend to the fimctions of the Shudra, “ must at least share the functions of the mixed classes.”! Tlie four A'shramas this Purana describes as in the Smritis. Tlie rules laid down for the personal cleanness of the Householder ai-e exceedingly minute and absurd. So are those which pertain to his domestic movements. J The monthly and annual Shraddhas are to be conducted mth all deference to caste and its customs. Tlie castes must not too much intermingle together. “ Remaining in a place where there is too great an intermixture of the four castes is detri- mental to the character of the righteous. Men fall into hell who converse with one who takes his food without offering a portion to the gods, sages, the manes, spirits, and guests. Let therefore a prudent person carefully avoid the conversation, or the contact and the like, of those heretics who are rendered impure by their desertion of the three VMas.” “ Let not a person treat with even the civility of speech, heretics, those who do forbidden acts, pretended saints, scoundrels, sceptics and hypocrites. Intercourse ivith such im'quitous wretches even at a distance, all association -with schismatics, defiles ; let a man therefore carefully avoid them.” § Of the passage of persons from one caste to another caste, * Vishnu Purana, II. 8. Wilson, p. 290-2 ; 341. + Wilson’s V. P., p. 293. X Wilson, p. 301, 311, etc. § Wilson's P., pp. 342, 345. 430 WIIAT CASTE IS. the A'ishuu Purdiia contains some legends "which will be noticed onwards in connexion with the Bhdgavata. 4. In the Shiva Purdna^ which has been composed for the purpose of magnifying the god of that name, it is said that Shiidras as well as the three higher castes are entitled to worship him. This is done in the temples only through the Piija of his emblem the Linga and (subordinately his conveyancer) the bull Nandi.* * * § In the eighth chapter in which the pri\ileges of the Brah- man, Kshatriya, A'aishya, and Shiidra worshipper are lirought to notice, their daily duties are summarily stated. I have already referred to the graduation in caste- observances prescribed by it in the relief of nature, and the purification of the body.f In the Dharma Sanhita appended to this Purana, J the clothing, feeding, and enriching of Brahmans are held to be proper and meritorious ; and the good castes are to gi^'e Dakshina to Brahmans, when attending readuigs at the temples of Shiva, and on other occasions. § The following precious information on Geography m con- nexion Avith the castes is gh'en m the same supplement. “ The land of (holy) Avorks (karmmabhumi) stretches * Tliis fact should be borne in mind in judging of the cave-temples of Elephanta. The groups of figures on the walls are to be considered as there only for the purposes of ornament and illustration. f See above, p. 48. J Tlie MSS. of this Purana in the possession of Dr. Bhau Daji and myself seem to agree vrith that examined by Professor H. H. Wilson. That of Dr. Bhau hoAvever has the following Sanhitas appended to it — the Vidyeshvara, Kailasa, Dharma, Sanatakumara, and Vayu. § Dharma Sanhita, adh. xx.; xxix. pp. 70, 87, 03 of Dr. Bluiu’s MS. CASTE IN THE PURANAS. 481 9,000 yojanas (of our kroshas or kosas) to the South of the Hemadri range. In the remote thousand y6janas of this district the Kiratas and Yavanas are established. In the intervening districts the Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras dwell. In the Plaksha Dvipa, where the dchara of the Treta Yuga prevails, and peo- ple live ten thousand years, the castes exist in excellent state. Of the other Dvipas similar marvels are told.* In this appendix as m the Purana itself it is mentioned that the four primitive castes have the right of worship- ping the Linga.f 5, The Bhdgavata Purana is de facto the work of greatest authority among the Hindus of the present day, especially among those of the northern, western, and eastern parts of the country. Its popularity has arisen not only from the superiority of its style, but from its exposition and advocacy of Yeddnta doctrines ; and from its containing, in its tenth skandha, a summary of all the legends associated with the god Krishna. Professor H. H. Wilson says of it : — “ The Bhdgavata is a work of great celebrity in India, and exercises a more direct and powerful influence upon the opinions and feelings of the people than perhaps any other of the Purauas.”! For “ Puranas” here he might almost have substituted the words “ sacred books for the majority of the Brahmans seek to interpret even the Vedas and Upanishads according to its teachings. Its importance has been well pointed out by the learned Mons. E. Bur- nouf, the able translator of its first nine skandlias. * Dharma-Sanhita, adh. xxxiii. t Wikon’s Visliuu Parana, p. xxv. t Ib. xxxvi. 432 WHAT CASTE IS. “ This Purdna,” he says, “ being compiled from ancient documents, has preserved much information which we cannot find elsewhere ; and the genealogical lists which are in it are those which according to the opinion of such able orientalists as Jones, Buchanan, and Cole- Iji’ooke, are most to be depended upon. In fine we find either entire or partial translations of the Bhagavata in several of the common Indian dialects, such as the Tamul, Telugu, and the Canarese.” The tenth skan- dha of the work has been translated into Marathf. It is a principal font, too, of much of the Marathi poetry. All the influence which it has acquired is in spite of its modern origui. Burnouf acquiesces in the opinion that it was composed by Vopadeva, a learned Brahman patro- nized by Hemadri, minister of Eamachandra, the last king but one of Devagiri, whose inscriptions, as shown by Mr. Walter Elliot, are dated towards the close of the thirteenth century of the Christian era.* Several legendary notices of the origin of caste are found in the Bhagavata. Two of these resemble what we have in the Purusha Sukta.f Tlie Brahman [was] the mouth of Purusha, the Kshatriya his ai’ms : the Vaishya sprung from the thighs, and the Shudra from tlie feet of Bhagavan.J “ The Brahman is his mouth : he is Kshatriya-armed, that great one Vaishya-thighed ; and has the black caste abiding in his feet.” § Another mystical view of the case is elsewhere presented, “ Brahma, who consists of the Veda(C'/i/ia/icZ2sa), for his own preserva- tion created you [Brahmans] who are characterized by austerity, knowledge, devotion, and chastity. For your protection the thousand- * See Burnouf s Introduction to his Bhag. Purana, which is well worthy of special study. An English translation of it is published in the Oriental Christian Spectator, of Bombay, for 1849. t See before p. 118. J Bhagavata, ii. 6,37. § Bh.agavata, ii. 1, 37. CASTE IN THE PUEANAS. 433 footed created us [Ksliatriyas] from his thousand arms: the Brahman is called his heart and the Kshatriya his body.”* An expansion of the commonly received view of the case is given in what follows : — “ From the mouth of Purusha, O son of Kuru, came the hrahma (sacred word), and the Brahman who, owing to his production from the same organ, became the chief and preceptor of the castes. From his arms came the Kshattra (protection). The Kshatriya devoted himself to that duty, and being formed from Purusha, defends the castes from the injury of their enemies. The arts which afford subsist- ence to the world sprang from the thighs of the Lord : and thence was produced the Vaishya, who provided the maintenance of mankind. From the fear of Bhagavan sprang service for the fulfilment of duty : from it was formerly produced the Shudra, with whose occupation Plari is well pleased.”f A transition from caste to caste seems recognised in several passages. Prishadhra, it tells us, was guarding cows, and killed one of them by mistake, instead of a tiger which was carrying her away. “ The family teacher cursed him, though he had transgressed involuntarily, to be in consequence of this deed no longer a Kshatriya, but to become a Shudra.”X This story, with variations and inconsistencies in the details, is found in several of the sacred books of the Hindus. “ In regard to the sons of Manu,” says Mr. Muir, “ we find in the Puranas the following particulars : Prishadhra, the Vishnu Purana says, “ became a Shudra in consequence of lulling his religious teacher’s cow.”§ In a note Professor Wilson states that there are different versions of the offence in different Puranas : ‘ The Vayu,’ says he, was hungry, and not only killed but ate the cow’ Tlie Harivansha, too, states that Prishadhra having killed his Guru’s cow, became a Shudra. || ‘ The obvious purport of this legend and of some that follow,’ remarks Professor AVilson, ‘ is to account for the origin of the different castes from one common ancestor.’ ‘ From Karusha (another son of Manu) sprang the Karushas of the Kshatriya caste, the protectors of the * Ib. iii. 23, 2-3. -j- Bhagavata. iii. 6, 30, 33. Muir’s Texts i. p. 12. t Bhagavata, ix. 2-9. § V. P. iv. 1. 12. || H. ix. v. 659. 55 434 WHAT CASTE IS. Northern region, pious and devoted to duty.’* From Dhri.sh^ (another son of Manu) sprang the Dharshtaka race of Kshatriyas, who attained Brdhmanhood on earth as the Bhagavata tells ns.f Another son, or grandson, of Manu, was Nabhaga, who, the Vishnu Purina says, ‘was tlie son of Nedishtha, and became a Vaishya.'^ The Bhagavata also says that ‘ another Nabhaga, the son of Dishta, became a Vaishyahj his works.’ § The Harivansha declares that two ‘sons of Nabhagarishta, who were Vaishyas, became Brahmans.’ || In the next section of the Vishnu Parana another (?) N4bhdga is thus mentioned (Wilson, ]). 358) : ‘ The son of Nabhaga was Nabhaga; his son was Ambarisha ; his son was Virupa ; from him sprang Prishadashva, and from him Eathi- nara.’ On this subject there is this verse: ‘These persons descended from a Kshatriya stock, and afterwards known as Angirasas, were the chief of the Rathmaras, Brahmans possessing also the character of Ksha- triyas.'*l[ On this Professor Wilson annotates : ‘ The same verse is cited in the V ayu, and affords no instance of a mixture of character, of which several similar cases occur subsequently. Kshatriyas by birth became Brahmans by profession; and such persons are usually con- sidered as Angirasas as followers or descendants of Angiras, who may have founded a school of warrior-priests. This is the obvious purport of the legend of Nabhaga’s assisting the sons of Angiras to complete their sacrifice, although the same authority (the Bhagavata Parana) has devised a different explanation. On this subject that authority says : ‘ Angiras, being solicited for progeny, begot on the wife of the childless Ratlnnara sons having the sanctity of Brahmans. These persons being born of a [Kshatriya’s] wife, but afterwards known as the sons of Angiras, were the chiefs of the Rathitaras, Brahmans possessing also the character of Kshatriyas.** Among the descendants, in the 21st generation, of Ikshvaku (the most renowned of the sons of Manu) was Harita, son of Yavanashva, grandson of Ambarisha, and great grandson of Mandhatri, of whom the Vishnu Purdna says that from him sprang the Angirasa Haritas.’ff On this Professor Wilson observes (V. P. p. 369, note 3) : “The commentator explains the phrase ‘ The Angirasa Brahmans, of whom the Harita family was * V. P. iv. 2-2. t Bhag. ix. 2-17. J V. P. iv. 1-14. § Bliag. ix. 2, 23. |1 II. V. xi. v. 638. ^ V. P. iv. 2, 2. ** Bhag. ix. 0. 2-3. ft V. P. iv. 3. 5. CASTE IN THE I'UllANAS. 435 the cliief.’ Tlie Liuga reads, ‘ Harita was tlie son of Yiivaiiiisliva, whose sons were the Haiitas; they were on the part (or followers) of Angiras, and were Brahmans with the properties oj Kshatripas* The A’’ayu has ‘ Haidta was the son of Yuvanashva [from whom were] many called Haritas ; they were sons of Angiras, and Brahmans with the properties of Kshatriyasf...lt may be questioned if the com- pilers of the Puranas or their annotators, knew exactly what to make of this and similar phrases. The great-grandfather of Harita... Man- dhiitri himself, is the anthor of a hymn in the Eig-Veda.’”J The preceding legends refer to transits in caste in the solar dynasty. Similar instances are found in the Bha- gavata, as in other Puranas, as taking place in the lunar dynasty. Indeed the Bhagavata speaks of there having been origmally only one caste ( Varna), “ There was for- merly only oneYeda, only one utterance, the prana va (om) the essence of all speech, only one god Narayana, one Agni (lire), and (one) Caste. From Paruravas came the triple A'eda in the begmning of the Treta age.”§ This Paru- ravas, a kmg, is said to have had a contest Avith the Brah- mans, and to have had offspring Avho iDecame Brahmans and even Rishis. The legends respectmg this and similar matters Avhich have been diligently collected and collated by Mr. Muir|l are very mconsistent Avith one another ; but they all testify to the fact that of old Am*ious persons, in consec^uence of alleged merit or demerit, passed from one caste to another. But the most important matter to notice in connexion Avith our subject is the unmitigated spirit of Caste, and of Brahmanical pre-eminence and domination, Avhich ap- pears in the Bhagavata. * Linga Parana. t A''ajm Parana. J Muir's Texts, i. pp. 45-48. § Bhagavata ix. 14, 48-49. || Muir’s Texts, i. i)p. 48-58. 436 WHAT CASTE IS. “ The property of Brahmans is harder of digestion than flaming fire, when taken little by little, much more by Bangs esteeming them- selyes god-like. I do not esteem that venom to he poison for which there is an antidote. The property of Brdhmans is real poison, of which there is no antidote in the world. Poison hurts only the eater. Fire may be quenched by water; but the fire produced from the flint of a Brahman consumes a tribe to its (very) root. “ The property of a Brahman acquired with reluctant consent destroys three generations. If taken by force it destroys the ten preceding and the ten succeeding generations. The foolish Idngs who blind by royal wealth covet Brahman property do not look to hell the destroyer of themselves. As many as are the grains of sand wet with tears dropping from weeping Brahmans who are liberal givers and with families, but deprived of their properties, so many years are kings with their relatives who have alienated Brdhman property cooked in the kumhhipdka-heU. He who carries off Brahman property given by himself or given by others is born a worm , -on a dunghill for sixty thousand years. Let me not take possession of Brahman property by seizing which kings have become short-lived, been defeated and deprived of their sovereignty, and been bom again. O my followers, do not hurt a Brdhman even though he may be a delinquent. Rever- ence him constantly though he may be a murderer (glmantam) or addicted to much, swearing. As I devotedly bow to the Brahmans at all times, so do you; whoever does otherwise shall be punished. If Brahman property be taken even unwittingly, it thrusts the holder of it down to hell as the Brahman’s cow did to Hriga.”* This remains the spirit of caste till the present day. 6. What passes as the JSidrada Pur ana seems quite a fragmentary and modern work. Professor H. H. AVilson says that “it is possibly a compilation of the six- teenth or seventeenth century. ”f Its contents are given by Professor Aufrecht m his Catalogue of the Postvedic * Bhagavata, x. 64. 32-43. This passage, with the exception of a single shloka, is quoted in the Calcutta Beview for 1856. Reprinted article, pp. 20, 21. t "Wilson’s "V. P. p. xxxiii. CASTE IN THE PURANAS. 437 Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library.* It appears from them that it does not call for examination on the subject of Caste. 7. In the curious conversations of the Marhart/Uya Parana^ several Caste notices occur ; but generally speaking there is nothing pecuhar in them. The preservation of one’s own truthfulness (^svasatyaparipdlancmi) is declared to he the brahmanhood (brdhmanatvam) of the Brahmans (Vipra).f A bird (formerly and still a learned sage) when discoursing of transmigration, alludes to its birth at different periods, as a Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra, as well as a worm, brute, and bird.J In a conversation between a father and a son, the precocious youth thus traces the course of transmigration upwards — a worm, a chrysalis, a butterfly, a beast, a fly, an elephant, a tree, a cow, a horse, a humped- back accursed man, a dwarf, a Chandala, a Pukkasha, a Shudra, a Vaishya, a King, and possibly a Brahman, the highest species of mundane being. § Li a reported conversation between Vishvamitra and the king Harishchandra, the sage is represented as saying, that “ imfidfilled promises to Brahmans are most destructive.” || In a dispute between Vishvamitra and Vasishtha, Brahma says: “The Brahma-power is transcendant.” The importance of Caste-observances is thus set forth : — “ A man obtains ultimate perfection {Siddhi) from the duties of his own caste. He does not, if fallen, but goes to hell on death for doing what is forbidden.”^ A Brahman discharging his duties is said to go to the abode of Brahma {Prajdpati) ; a Kshatriya, to that of Indra ; a Vaishya, to that of the Mdrats ; and a Shudra to that of the Gandhaiwas.** Lists of peoples and countries within the Bharatakhanda, or India, * Cat. Cod. Man. Sans. pp. 8-9. + Markand^ya Parana, i. 3. 47. Rev. Krishna Mohan’s Banarjea’s, ed. p. 18. t M. P. X. 20-21, p. 75. § M. P. i. 10, 86-90. 11 M. P. i. 7. 38. p. 38. M. P. i. 9. 29. p. 72. For a summary of these legendary diseussions, see Muir’s Texts, vol. i. pp. 85-94. t M. P. ii. 28-9. p. 180. ** M. P. iii. 49. 77-8, p. 281. 438 WIIAT CASTE IS. similar to those of the Eamayana and the Dig-Vijaya of Arjuna in the Mahabhdrata,* are given. They are somewhat confused in their arrangement, and do not sufficiently distinguish between more ancient and more modern divisions and enumerations ; but geographically and ethnologically they are still of some use. When I finally review the Indian castes and tribes as they now exist, a few of them may come under notice. 8. The Agni Purdna notices the Castes, including those of the Anuloina and Pratiloma, but only ui a general way.;j; In the Bhavisliya Purdna^ as mentioned by Professor H. H. 'Wilson, there is some curious matter (in the last chapters,) relating to the Magas^ silent worshippers of the sun, from Shakad\dpa, “as if the compiler had adopted the Persian term and comiected it t\dth the fire- worshippers of India.”§ This matter has been extract- ed by Professor Aufrecht.|| The Brahmans, it tells us, are in the country of the Shakas called Magas ; the Ksha- triyas, Magasas; the Yaishyas, Mdnasas; and the Shudras, Ma?idagas. There are no mixed castes con- nected Avith them. It has been the object of the ■s\u'iter to support the practice of the Hmdu solar worship by that of Persia, without imposing a geographical limit to the Hmdu worship. In other portions of this Purana the duties of the four primitive Castes are laid do'wn much as m the Law Books. ^ It extends the mstitution of Caste even to serpents, among which are Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Yaishyas, and Shudras, — the serpentme Brah- * See before pp. 218-19, 226-28, 240,246-50,260-62,266. t M. P. iv. 75, 32-64, pp. 322-24. I Agni Purdna, adh. 146. fol. 141 of MS. of Dr. Bhaii Daji. § Wilson’s V. P. p. xi. || Cat. Cod. Man. Sans. p. 33. ^ Bhavi.shya Purdna, Dr. Bhaii Daji’s MS. fol. 76. CASTE IN THE PURANAS. 439 mans maintaining their superiority, being either -white or ta-wny, the Kshatriyas red or yello-w, the Yaishyas black or like the breast of a cro-w, and the Shiidras like a snake.* In one portion it represents Brahma as protest- ino" ao-ainst the idea of caste being founded on mere birth. Its reasonings on this subject are some-what similar to those of Ashva Ghosha the Buddhist. Brahmanhood it attributes to tapa and the sansTcdras. Parashara, it says, -was born of a female Shvapaka (dog-eater), Yyasa, of a fisherman’s daughter ; Rishishringa, of an antelope ; ^Ianda\ya, of a female frog ; Yashishtha, of a courtesan ; Kanada, of an uliika (an o-wl) ; Mandapala, of abufialo.f 9. In the portions of the Bliavifiliyottara Purdna which I have seen, there is nothing worth extraction in this place. This work appears to be undetermined in its size, apocryphal additions to it being current in various parts of India. 10. Th-Q Brahma- Vaivartta Purdna^ which consists of the Brahma, Prakriti, Ganesha, and Krishna Khandas, has some caste notices which require attention. In the account given in it of creation, we find the usual statement of the origui of the four principal castes. To mixed intercourse -with one another, the Varnasan- karas, or those of mixed caste are (fictionally) attri- buted. The Gopa (cowherd). Barber, Bhilla, Moclaka^ Kubaras, Tdmhiilas, and the Vanihjdtayah (mercantile classes) are declared to be “ pure Shiidras.”| The * Bhavishya Parana, Dr. Bhau Diijfs MS. fol. 67. t Bhavishya Parana, Kalpa. ix. fol. 73. of MS. J Bat the Bhilla is in the Smriti of Yama ( Aathor’s MS. p. 4) reckoned one of the Antyaja (or one of the classes exterior by birth). See passage quoted in Goldstiicker’s great Dictionary, under Antyaja. 440 WHAT CASTE IS. following table, formed from what follows, gives the alleo:ed orio;in of the mixed classes : — O o Caste. Father. Blather, Explanations. Karana Vaishya ... Shudra ... Kdyastha. Ambashta Vaishya ... Shudra ... Physician. Malakara Vishvakarma ... Shudra ... Gardener. Karmakara Vishvakarma ... Shudra ... Artisan-Blacksmith Shankhakara Vishvakarma ... Shudra ... Shell-dresser. Kuvindaka Vishvakarma ... Shudra ... Weaver. Kumbhakara Vishvakarma ... Shudra ... Potter. Kansakiira Vishvakarma ... Shudra ... Brazier. Siitrakdra Vishvakarma ... Shudra ... Carpenter.* Chitrakdra Vishvakarma ... Shudra ... Painter. t Svarnakara Vishvakarma ... Shudra ... Goldsmith. J Attdlikakara 7. Chitrakdra ... Shudra harlot ... Architect.§ Kotika Attalikdkdra ... Kumbhakdra ... House-builder. Tailakara Kumbhakdra ... Kotaka ... Oilman. Ti'vara Kshatriya ... Rajaputra ... Fisherman. Nata and Dasyu .. . Dhivara ... Tailakdra Malla Nata ... Dhivara ... Wrestler. Kola . Nata ... Dhivara ... Jimgle-tribe. Matara . Nata ... Dhivara Bhaja(or Bbanda).. Nata ... Dhivara Kalandara . Nata ... Dhivara Chdndala . Shudra ... Brdhman Charmakdra Dhivara ... Chdnddla ... Dresser-of-skms. Mdusachddl . Chdnddla ... Charmakdra ... Flesher. Koclia . Dliivara ... Mdnsachedi Kdnddra Kaivartta ... Kocha Uadi, or Dima . Nata ... Chdnddla ... Sweeper. Vanacharas . Chdnddla ... Hadi' ... Dwellers in the wile Gangaputra . Nata ... Tivara ... Sons of the Ganges. Yogi . Veshadhari ... Gangaputra Sbundi . Vaishj'a ... Tiwar Paundi'aka . Vaishya ... Shundi Rajaputra . Kshatriya ... Karana A'gari Karana ... Rdjaputra ... Maker of Salt. Kaivartta . Kshatriya ... Vaishya ... Fisherman. » The SiitrakSra, literally “a maker of string,” or “a worker by string,” (inMardthi Sutdi'), gets his designation probably either from sometimes joining planks by string, or from his using a sti-ing in planning or measuring. In the text he is said to have become degi'aded (from his position as a pure Shddra) by the curse of a Brdhman (for refusing wood for a sacrifice). t Also said to be degraded by the curse of a Brdhman (for his caricatures). t Said to be degraded for stealing Brahmauical gold. 5 Degraded lor his parentage. CASTE IN THE PURANAS. 441 Caste. Father. Mother. Explanations. Vyddha ... Kshatriya Sarvasvi ... Him ter. Saptaputraka ... Tivara Sliundf ... Of Seven-Sons. Kudara ... Rlshi Brahmanf ... From-a-bad-womb.* Vigati'ta ... Kshatriya Vaishya ... Forbidden-by-the- Voice.f Mle'chha . . . Kshatriya Sliudra ... Tribe so called. { Jola ... Mlechha Kuvinda ... Weaver? Sharaka ... .lola Kuvinda Vaidya ... Ashvani Kumara .. Vipra ... Mantra-physician. Vyahagrahi ... Vaidya Shudra ... Serpent-seizer. Raj aka ... Dhi'vara Tivara ... Washerman. Kapalf ... Tivar Raj aka ... Coarse-weaver ? Sarvasvf ... Napita Gopa ... For purposes of comparison this list is interesting*. It varies considerably from the lists of Manu,§ that presented to the British Government by the Puna Brah- mans, || that given by Colebrooke in the fifth volume of the Asiatic Researches, and that found in the Jati-Vives, no Brahman of acknowledged standing can marry a wife of his o'wm gotra, or of one of his own pravaras, or of his sapinda relatives extending to seven generations. ' All the Sutras and law-books from the times of A'sh- valayana are unanimous about this matter. The various Castes of Brahmans at present existing have originated not only in the shakhas, charanas, and gotras, now referred to, but in the varied occupations of these castes, their places of residence, their adherence to custom, de- parture from custom, quarrels, compromises, defilement, suspension, excommunication, etc., etc. After much re- search, inquiry, and correspondence, I have found it quite impossible to make out a complete list of these Castes; but the vastness of their numbers and their leading peculiarities mil sufficiently appear from what follows. • Nirnaya Sindhu, Parichhdda, iii. pp. 27, 29, of Bombay Lithographed Edition. The author founds principally on the Baudhayana Sutras. THE GENERAL DIVISIONS OF THE BRAHMANS. 1 7 General Divisions of the Brahmans. The Brahmans of India are generally divided into two great classes of five Orders each, according to the following Shloka: — : ^trrrr^ jrairr : i 5iff3T : qfwr fritT : || ifr?r: : ii This passage may be thus tabulated and explained : — (I.) — The five Dravidas, south of the Vindhya range. 1. The Mahdrdshfras, of the country of the Marathi language. 2. The Andhras, or Tailangas, of the country of the Telugu language. 3. The Dravidas, of the country of the Dravida, or Tamulian language. 4. The Karndtas, of the Karnatika, or Kana^, or Canarese lan- guage. 5. The Gujjaras, of the Gurjardshtra, or Gujardti language. (II.) The five Gaudas, north of the Vindhya range. 1. The Sdrasvatas, so called from the District oftherirer Sarasvati. 2. The Kdnyakuhjas, so called from the Kanyakubja or Kanauj Districts. 3. The Gaudas, so called from the District of Gauda, the country of the Lower Ganges. 4. The Utkalas, of the Province of Utkala, or Odra (Orissa).* 5. The Maithilas, of the Province of Mithila. I take up these great classes of Brdhmans in the order here given. (I.) — The Five Dravi'das. 1. The Maharashtra Brahmans. The Mahdrdshira Brahmans now claim the first posi- tion in India ; and judging from Mr. Prinsep’s Census of * Formed from Odbadesha. 3 18 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. Bauaras,’* the religious capital of India, it seems to be conceded to them. They have no such thing, however, as unity among themselves. Their distinctions, in fact, are prominently marked. They embrace the following Castes : — (1.) The Desha St has. The Deshasthas are the Brahmans of Desha, the country above the Sahya Ghats, in which the Marathi language is spoken. Numbers of them are to be found, however, wherever the arms and rule of the Marathas have been carried : — in the Konkana, Tailangand, and Karnatika ; in the Baroda, Indur, Gvaler (or Gwalior), Tan- jur, and other States ; and at the principal Tirthas, or holy places of the Hindus, as Banaras, Gaya, Prayaga, etc. Most of the Marathi poets have belonged to their order. f The majority of them follow secular employments, ( laukikakarmma ) as agents, writers, accountants, merchants, cultivators ; and call themselves by the honorary titular afihx of Pant, Rao, Deshai, Deshpande, Deshmukha, Kulkarni, Patil,| etc., according to their position and the former occupations of their families. Those of them who receive no dakshina are called Grihasthas, (householders). Those who receive dakshina are called Bhikshukas (mendicants), among whom are Vaidikas (reciters of the Vedas), Sh^tris (expounders of law), Joshis (astrologers), Vaidyas (physi- cians), Puranikas (readers of the Puranas), Haridasas (singers and story-tellers), and Brahmacharis. Generally speaking, they are of darker features than the Konkanasthas, though the principal habitat of the latter is near the sea. This is not entirely owing to their southern position. Their ancestors have probably to a considerable extent availed themselves of the old Brahmanical law authorizing a Brahman to marry the daughter of a Shiidra, as well as of the three A'rya castes, the issue of this marriage having been admissible to the Brahmanhood in the seventh generation. The Deshasthas are gene- rally Rig-Yedis, belongingto the Smartta, Bhagavata, and Vaishnava * As. Trans., vol. xvii. p. 491. t See Notes oa the Marathi Language by the author, prefixed to Molesworth’s Dictionary. X See for the meaning of these terms Molesworth’s Dictionary. THE MAHARASHTRA BRAHMANS. I if sects ; but some of them read the Samaveda and also the Atharvaveda. The Samavedis and Atharravedis (whose special Shakhas have perished, in the Maratha Country) intermarry with the Rig-Vedis. The Kshetra of the Deshasthas, it may be added, is said in the Sahyddri Khanda,* to extend from the Narmada to the Krishna and the Tungabhadra rivers, excluding the Konkana, and the seat of the Karhadas, to be afterwards mentioned. I am not aware that any list of their Gotras has been prepared. (2.) The Konkauasthas. The Konkanasthds belong to the British Konkana. They are otherwise designated Chittapdvanas, or the “ pure-in-heart.” In the Sahyadri Khanda, of the Skanda Purana, — which bears marks of the composition or interpolation of some Deshastha of Kolapur, (which city is much bepraised in it,)f they are absurdly enough said to have been made by the, Avatara Parashnrima, (in want of Brahmans to per- form for him a shraddha) from the ckitd, or funeral pile, of sixty men, whom he consecrated and endowed with the Brahmanhood, bestowing on them learning and beauty, and conferring on them fourteen gotras, and sixty upandmas (surnames). J Their allotted residence {kshetra) is called the Surpdraka, extending from the Vaitarani river on the north to the Subrahmanya on the south, and from the sea on the west to the Sahya range on the east, its capital being Chittapolana or Chiplun.§ Like the Deshasthas, however, they proceed for employment to many of the distant provinces of India. They are greatly distinguished for * Sahyadri Khanda, ch. 82. t Sahyadri Khanda, adh. 81. t The fourteen Gotras of the Konkanasthas are those of K^shyapa, Shandilj'a, Vdsishtha, Vishnuvardhana, Kaundinya, Nittundana, Bhdradvdja, Gdrgya, Kapi, Jdni- dagnya, Vatsa, Bdbhravya, Kaushika, Atri. Their sixty ancient surnames are the following. Of the Kdskyapas — Le'le, Gdnu, Joga, Lavathe, Gokhale ; of the Shdndilyas — Somana, Gdngala, Bhd^, Ganapuld, D.imale' Joshi, Parachure' ; of the Vdsishthas — Sdthe, Bodasa, Voka, Bapata, Bdgula, Dhdru, Gogate', Bhdbhe, Pongashd, Vinjhd, Sathaye, Gonvadye ; of the Vishnuvardhanas — Kidamide, Nene, Pardujapye, Menhadale' ; of the Kaundinyas, Patavardhana, Phana- shd; of the Nittundanas — Vaishampayana, Bhddabhoke ; of the Bhdradodjas — A'chavala, T&e, Darvd, Gdndhdrd, Ghanghuradd, Ranadye'; ot t\ie Gdrgyas — Karve', Gadagila, Londhe, Mate, Ddbake'; of the Kapis — Limaye, Khdmhe'te', Jaila, Mdila ; of the Jdviadaynyas — Phdndasd, Kunte ; of the Vatsas — Malashe ; of the Bdbhravyas — Bala, Behere; of the Kaushikas — Gadrd, Bima, Bhdvye, Vdda, A'patd; of the Atris — Chitale', A'thavele', Bhddabhokd. — Gotriradlika (lithographed in Bombay), p. 2 § Sahyddri Khanda, adh. 81. 20 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. their talents and administrative capacity, (as lately exemplified in the case of Raja Dinkar Eao of Gvaler), and are often the ministers of the native States. Sir George Clerk, who has a most extensive acquaint- ance with the natives of India, thinks them the cleverest class of men in the country.* They are among the fairest (probably the fairest) of the Hindu races. They met with great favour from the Peshwahs, who, with their distinguished chiefs — the Patavardhans, Gokhales, Rastyas, etc., belonged to their caste. A considerable number of them, bearing the designation of Khots, are hereditary farmers of land revenue in their Konkana villages.f The Konkanasthas are either Rigvedis, of the A’shvalayana Shdkha, or Yajurvedis of the Taittiriya Sh^khi, who respect the Sutras of Hiranyakeshi and A'pastamba. Besides the 60 ancient surnames specified in a preceding note, there are 240 modem surnames current among them, making a total of 304. Of the ancient surnames 37 belong to the A'shvalayanas and 23 to the Taittiriyas ; while of the modem surnames (including that of Bhatta, by which the family of the Peshwahs of Puna) was denomi- nated) 178 belong to the A’shvalayanas and 66 to the Taittiriyas. J Intermaniages take place between both Shakhas, regard being had to the law about the avoidance of marriage in the gotra and pravaras of the husband. If by ignorance a mistake occurs as to the non-avoidance of marriage with a party having the same pravaras, the parties guilty of the mistake are called ‘ Sapravaras.’ The Konkanastha Atris as “ friends of all,” are allowed to intermarry with the other thirteen gotras.§ The various legends about the acquisition by the Brahmans of the Konkana (embracing all the country between the Sahyas and the ocean from the Tapti to Cape Comorin) seem to indicate that their settlement in it occurred posterior to the spread of the A’ryas through other parts of India. Rao Saheb Vishvanath Narayan Mandalik, (probably the best educated man of their community) in an interesting communica- tion lately presented to the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, says, that “ the first ancestors of this tribe have probably come by ships, either from some other port in India, or from the opposite coast of * A similar testimony is given by Grant DuS in his History of the Marithds (vol. 1 p. 77J. t See Col. T. B. Jervis's valuable Geographical and Statistical Memoir of the Kon- kan, p. 75, et seq. t Gotramiliki, p. 17. § Gotram^lika, p. 3. THE MAHARASHTRA BRAHMANS. 21 Africa.” That they come to the Koiikana by sea, from a province in the North-West ot India, I have little doubt. Perhaps it was under the patronage of the Sinhas of Gujarat, before the Christian era, that they began to settle in their present habitat. Many of their villages may be of a much later origin. Mr. Mandalik gives documentary evi- dence that Murud, near Harnai, was founded about four hundred years ago. The study of their more ancient surnames (given in a note above) may throw light on the question of their olden places of abode. Some of their modern surnames are evidently derived from the villages in which they are now found. The Konkanasthas were greatly addicted to Sati ; but when that horrid rite was interdicted by Government in 1830, they discontinued it without any remonstrance. One of their number assured me, in 1829, that they were more inclined to solicit than to resist the interference of Government in the matter. “ Our families, who have long practised the rite, but wh» acknowledge its inhumanity,” he added, “ will be glad of any excuse for its discontinuance.” Whenever the Government has humanity palpably„on its side, it may safely interfere for the benefit of the people of India. Some of the Konkanasthas would be glad to exculpate their fellow-casteman “ Nana Saheb” from the atrocities laid to his charge ; but this is more creditable to their feeling of shame on account of these atrocities, than to the soundness of the judgment which they form of their perpetrator. (3.) The Karhddas. The Karhdtakas or Karhddas receive their designation from the town of Karhad near the junction of the Krishna and Koyana rivers, about fifteen miles to the south of Satara. In the Sahyadri Khar da, which shows a spirit of violent hostility to them, they are said to have been made by Parashurama from camel’s bones. They have ten Gotras.* Their Kshetra, or allotted settlement, is said to extend from the junction of the Koyana on the south to the Vedavati on the north ; but they are now nearly as widely scattered as the other Maha- ra.=ib < ra Brahmans. Considerable numbers of them are found especially in the Ratnagiri Collectorate of the Konkana. The bad character given to them in the Brahmanda Puraua I have already alluded to.f In the * Bharadvija, Kaushika. Yatsa, Kaundinya, Kashyapa, Vasishtha, Jamadagni, Viah- vamitra, Gautama, Atri. t See before, vol. i. p. 448. 22 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. Sahyadri Khanda they are broadly accused of the horrible practice of human sacrifice, even in the aggravated form of Brahmahatya, or Br^man murder,* and there is too good reason to believe that till near our own day the charge was a truthful one. The following narrative was given to Sir John Malcolm by a Karhida Brahman friend in 1799. “ The tribe of Brahmans called Karhadi had formerly a horrid custom of annually sacrificing to their deities (Shaktis) a young Brahman. The Shakti is supposed to delight in human blood, and is represented with three fiery eyes, and covered with red flowers. This goddess holds in one hand a sword, and in the other a battle-axe. The prayers of her votaries are directed to her during the first nine days of the Dasara feast ; and on the evening of the tenth day a grand repast is prepared, to which the whole family is invited. An intoxicating drug is contrived to be mixed with the food of the intended victim, who is often a stranger whom the master of the house has for several months, perhaps years, treated with the greatest kindness and attention ; and sometimes to lull suspicion, given him his daughter in marriage. As soon as the poisonous and intoxicating drug operates, the master of the house, unattended, takes the devoted person into the temple, leads him three times round the idol ; and on his prostrating himself before it takes this opportunity of cutting his throat. He collects with the greatest care the blood in a small bowl ; which he first applies to the lips of this ferocious goddess, and then sprinldes it over her body ; and a hole having been dug at the feet of the idol for the corpse, he deposits it with great care to prevent discovery. After perpetration of this horrid act, the Karhadi Brahman returns to his family, and spends the night in mirth and revelry, convinced that by this praiseworthy act he has propitiated the favour of his blood-thirsty deity for twelve years. On the morning of the following day, the corpse is taken from the hole in which it had been thrown, and the idol is deposited till next Dasara, when a similar sacrifice is made. The discontinuance of this horrid custom, however, of late years, is said principally to have arisen from the following circumstance : — At Puna a young and handsome Karnatik Brahman, fatigued with travel and oppressed by the scorching heat of the sun, sat himself down in the verandah of a rich Brahman who chanced to be of the Karhadi sect. The Brahman shortly after passing by, and perceiving that the youth was a stranger, kindly invited him to * Sah}-adri Khanda. Chap. 82. THE MAHARASHTRA BRAHMANS. 23 his house, and requested him to remain till perfectly recovered from the fatigues of his journey. The unsuspecting Brahman youth readily accepted this apparently kind invitation, and was for several days treated with so much attention and kindness, that he showed no inclination to depart. He had seen also the Karhddi Brahman’s beautiful daughter, and conceived for her a violent attachment. Before a month had elapsed, he asked and obtained her in marriage. They lived happily together till the time of the Dasara arrived, when the deceitful old Brahman, according to his original intention, determined to sacrifice his son-in-law to the goddess of his sect. Accordingly on the tenth day of the feast he mixed an intoxicating poisonous drug in his victuals, not however unperceived by his daughter. She being passionately fond of her husband, contrived unobserved to exchange the dish with that of her brother, who in a short time became senseless. The unlucky father seeing the hapless state of his son, and despairing of his recovery^ carried him to the temple, and with his own hands put him to death, and made to his idol an offering of his blood. This being perceived by the young Brahman, he asked his wife the meaning of so shocking and unnatural an action. She replied by informing him of his recent danger, and the particulars of the whole affair. Alarmed for his own safety, and desirous that justice should be inflicted on the cruel Brahman, he effected his escape, and repairing to the Peshwah [Balaji Bajiraoj fell at his feet, and related the whole affair. Orders were instantly given to seize every Karhadi Brahman in the city of Puna, and particularly the infamous perpetrator of the horrible deed. He was, with a number of others similarly convicted, put to death ; and all the sect were expelled the city, and strict injunctions laid on the inhabitants to have in future as little connexion with them as possible.”* That a Karnatika Brahman fell a victim to Karhadi fanaticism on such an occasion as that now referred to is probable, for no Karnatika Brah- man will now lodge in a Karhadi house even for a single night ; but the story of the marriage, as related, is to be discredited, as the different castes of Brahmans do not intermarry with one another, and girls in the different castes are married only in their infancy. The charge of human sacrifice, however, much in the form alleged, is repeated by Colonel Alexander W alker in a letter addressed to the Bombay Govern- ment in 1808. Major Moore, in commenting on the communication of * Trans, of Bombay L. Society, vol. iii.. pp. 86-87. 24 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. Colonel W alker, refers to three instances of human sacrifice brought to his notice by Vishnu Pant, a Karhada Brahman, who was agent to a respectable mercantile house in Puna.* Of the horrible custom now noticed no instance has been brought to the notice of the British Government since the assumption of the Peshwah’s territories in 1818. There is every ground to believe that the custom, (which was probably confined when it did exist to such of the Karhadas as worship one or other of the Shaktis, — as Matrika Devi mentioned in the Sahyadri Khanda, and there described as a hideous deity) has been totally abandoned ; and that there is no reason to charge any of the Karhadas of the present generation with the guilt of its observance. They appear in every way as respectable as their neighbours. The great Marathi poet Moropant belonged to their caste. To them, too, belonged one of the most learned natives who has yet appeared in Western India, the late distinguished Bala Gangadhar Shastri Jambhekar, professor in the Elphinstone Institution. What is generally said of the intelligence of the Konkanasthas is applicable to the Karhadas, with whom they are generally on friendly terms . (4.) The Kan V as. The Kdnvas we have already noticed as forming, according to the Charanvyuha, a Shakha of the White Yajur-Veda.f Their Brdh- mana is the Shatapatha ; and their Shrauta Siitras those of Katyayana. A few houses of them are in Puna. Considerable numbers of them are found in the Kolapur State and other parts of the Maratha Country, where they frequently go by the name oiPrathamshdkht, mean- ing the first (surviving) Shakha of the White Yajur-VMa. The Badavas (or cudgelists) who strive to preserve order at the Pandhurpur temple are of their caste. (5.) The Mddhyandinas. The Mddhyandinas are also mentioned in the Charanavyuha as a Shakha of the White Yajur-Veda, using also the Shatapatha Brah- mana and the Katyayana Sutras. Their name is derived from the sandhyd (junction) or season of worship at noon, to which they attribute much importance. They are numerous at Nasik and its neighbourhood, but extend to Kolapur and the Southern Maratha Countiy. Some of the other Brahmans consider it unlucky to see their Moore’s Hindu Infanticide, pp. 196-198. t See p. 11, above. THE MAHARASHTKA BRAHMANS. 25 faces before noon. The guru of the Maharaja of Kolapur and the titular Pratinidhi of Satara belong to their community, and have Jagirs- Their employments are similar to those of the Deshastha Brahmans. The five classes of Brahmans above mentioned gene- rally freely eat with one another, though they do not intermarry. It was to them principall}" that the Pesh- wahs of Fund, distributed their dakshind^ or honorary alms, nominally in acknowledgment of literary attainments.* (G.) The Pddhyas. The Padyas or Pddhyas are a very small community of Bi'ah- mans. Their Kshetra is said to be on the Ghata-Matha (the highlands above the Konkana) ; but they are also found in the low country. The Sahyadri Khanda calls on other Brahmans to avoid them, and to refrain even from tasting their water. j" Mor&hvar Shastri Tu]u, an intelligent Brahman, says they are sprung from the Karhadas, and have received the name of Pddhya from their having acted as the Upddhyas (family priests) of the rude tribes on the Ghat summits. (7.) The Devarukhas. The Devarukhas are found at Devarukha, Rajapur. and other places in the Ratnagiri Districts. I A few of them are in the Alibagh * This dakshind, as is well known, is still partially continued (but now with salutary modifications) by the British Government. On the 30th July, 1841, as then intimated tome by a letter from Major Candy, who has had much to do with its improved application, its recipients, in caste and numbers, stood thus : Konkanastha, 1036; Deshastha, 515; Yajur-Vedi (Mddhyandina ?), 1^^-, Karhdda, 100 \ Tailanga- Dravida, 14; i?d?«da«j%a, [probably Karndlikas and Dm2;2(fas belong- ing to the order of RamanujaJ, 6 ; Kdnva, 2 ; and Maithila, 3. It should be here noticed that as the Peshwahs, as likewise the Patavar- dhanas, Rdstyds, and others of their Brahmanical Generals and .Jagir- dars, were Konkanasthas, the Chittapavanas had got the pre-eminence here brought to notice. t Sahyadri Khanda, chap. 82. They are Rigvddi's. J Deoarukha comes from the Sanskrit Deva-Rishi or Devarshi. The Devarshis (see above, p. 12) were a shakha of the Atharva-Veda. The Devarukhas may be a remnant of this shdkhA. 4 2G WHAT THE CASTES AEE. Sub-Collectorate and in the Northern Konkana, in ■which they were encouraged to settle by the Peshwahs. Some of them have got as far as Baroda. They now consider themselves a shakha of the Black Yajur- Yeda. They are generally in poor circumstances. The Konkanasthas drink water at their hands, but they are rather shy of eating with them. AVhen they do dine with them, they generally avoid sitting in the same line with them, lest they should be involved m poverty. (8.) The P ala slid s . The P ala s has are the Brahmans first mentioned in connexion with the population of Bombay.* They are, they say, of the Vajasa- neya shakha, devoted to the AVhite Yajur A^eda. They act as famil}'^ priests, physicians, and astrologers to Parbhus, Sutars, Bhandaris, So- nars, etc. etc. in Bombay, in which their population is reckoned at about 1,500 souls. Their Kshetra is said by them to be in the en- virons of the village of Palasa near Panvel. They seem, too, to have had some connection with the island of Salsette. No substantial reason is known for their disparagement by other Brahmans. (9.) The Kirvantas . Kirvantas are said in the Sahyadri Khanda of the Skanda Purana to have their Kshetra, of five Kroshas, near the Gomanchala (region of the Gomanta mountain), and to have sprung from “ twelve Bralimans.”f They are also found in the Alibagh Districts, and other places of the Northern and Southern Koukanas. They say tliey are Rig-A'^edis, attached to the Aitareya Brahmana, and of the A'shvalayaiia Shakha. Many of them are cultivators, and have considerable property. They are now gaining favour from the Konkanasthas, who long stood aloof from them. Some of them are good Sanskrit scholars. (10.) The Tirgnlas. The Trigulas or Tirgulas emjdoy themselves in planting the piper-betel. They are principally found at Miraj and other places on the banks of the Krishna, at IndajDur, Solapur, etc. They seem to resemble the Haika Brahmans of the AVest of the Karnatika. In the defence of the products of their fields, they kill insects, and other Brahmans consequently refuse to eat with them. Tliey hold themselves * See R. X. Murphy in Trans, of Bombay Geo. Soc. vol. 1. p. 131. t Sahyadri Khaijda, Adh. 81. THE MAHARASHTRA BRAHMANS. 27 to be Shukla Yajurvedis ; but they are little known among the peojjle for their scholarship. (11.) The Javalas. The Javalas are perhaps the representatives of the Jdhdlas the Vajasaneyins mentioned in the Charana-Vyuha.* Their claim to the Br;nimanhood, however, is not admitted by the Brahmans in gene- ral. Tlie following account of them is given in the appendix to the datibhcda Yivekasara : — “ These people reckon themselves Brahmans. They are abundant in the Konkana [near Suvarnadurga]. They were originally Kunabis ; but Parashurama Bhau (Patavardhaiia) the Pesh- wah’s relative made them Brahmans for his own convenience.f They l)crform menial services connected with the hearths of the Brahmans. But the Brahmans acknowledge them not as Brahmans. They eat hsh.”f Some other Brahmans take water at their hands, but don’t eat or intermarry with them. (12.) The A' bhiras . Tlie A'hhiras receive their designation from their being ministering priests to A’bhiras (now A'hirs) herdsmen and cultivators. Some of them have settled in Khandesh from Gujarat and Eajputana, in con- nexion with which provinces they will be noticed onwards. (13.) The Sdvashds. The Sdvashds are said to have oi-iginated in a hundred and twenty-five (savasheu) Brahmans defiled by partaking of a funeral shrdddha given by a Brahman, who had been living with a Chambharin. They engage in merchandise, and seem to be pro.spering in their worldly affairs. Tliey are now found in considerable numbers in the Southern Maratha Country ; but they are said to have originated at Chiimbharagondi, in the Ahmadnagar Zillah. They are Rigvedis. (14.) The Kdstas. The Kdstas found in' Puna, Khandesh, and other places, reckon themselves Brahmans; but they are not acknowledged as such by the ordinary IMaratha Brahmans. They did not receive Dakshina * See before p. 11. t This, I think, would not have been done without their having had previous Brahmanical pretensions. J This custom they seem now abandoning. 28 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. undei’ the Peshwah’s goTerument. Have they had any connection with the Kayasthas ? They rank lower than the Savashas. In Puna, they pride themselves on being shi'ghrakavis, or extemporizing poets. Their attempts at versification are in the Marathi language. (15.) The Kunda Golakas. TheKunda Golakas, who are numerous in the Dakhan, claim to be Brahmans ; but they are held to be the offspring of the adultery of a Brahman father with a Brahman woman, not his wife.* They act as money-changers, shopkeepers, astrologers and cultivators. As we have already seen, they are mentioned with disparagement in the Smritis. They do not admit the bastard Brahmans of the present day into their caste. (16.) The R an d a-G 0 I ak a s . The Rdnda-Golakas are said by the Brahmans to resemble the Kunda-Golakas in their origin, with this difference that their first female parents were Brahmaiji widows. The Kunda-Golakas consider themselves their superiors. Like the Kunda-Golakas, they do not admit bastard Brahmans into their caste. They are sometimes called Gomukha Brahmans. Their employments are the same as those of the Kunda-Golakas. (17.) The B r dhman a-J at s . The Br dhman a-J dis are held to be sprung from the inter- course of Brahmans with women of inferior castes ; but they do not admit into their community persons having this origin at present, who are generally viewed as having only the rank of Shiidras. (18.) The Sopdrds. The Sopdrds are denominated from the village of Sopara, north of Basai or Bassein, in which district alone they are found. They consider themselves Samavedis ; but their achara is like that of Shudras. They are cultivators of the palm-tree. The Brahmans take water at their hands, but don’t eat with them.']' (19.) T h e Khi s ti s , The Khistis are most numerous in the towns of Ahmadnagar and Paithan, where they amount to a few hundred families. They * See above, p. 65. f Information of Rao Bahddur Dddobd P-andurang. THE MAHARASHTRA BRAHMANS. 29 are said to be a colony of the Gujarat Kliedavala Brahmans, who since their immigration into the Dakhan (through Khandesh, where some of them are still found), have adopted the dress, manners and customs of the Deshasthas. They principally engage in money-lending. They use the Gujarati language in their own houses.* (20.) The Huseints. TheHuseint Brahmans are found near Ahmadnagar, former- ly the seat of a Muhammadan dynasty. They are half converts to the Muhammadan faith and observances, though they retain some of their Brahmanical practices, and generally intermaiTy only among themselves. f They ask alms both from Muhammadans and Hindus. Persons with the same designation wander through most of the pro- vinces of India. One of them, vrith whom I have conversed as this sheet goes through the press, says he is a Brahman who acknowledged the Muhammadan creed at Jaganuatha-Puri, but preserves much of his Brahmanical achara, eating only with Brahmans (?) and Sayyids. (21.) The Kalankzs. The Kalanki Brahmans are found in the Nagpur districts. They are reformers, but are viewed by other Brahmans as ‘ contami- nated,’ according to the name which they have received. They have a good many followers among the people of the province to which they belong. J (22.) The Shenavis. The Shenavis^ or Sdrasvata Brahmans have been re- served to the end of this list, for though they are abundant on the coasts of the Konkana and the Goa territories, as well as the island of Bombay, they belong to the Pancha-Gauda, and not to the Pancha- Dravida. According to the researches of the learned Dr. Bhau Daji, who in Brahmanical reckoning belongs to their community, they have been settled there for six or seven centuries. Though officiating priests have not been wanting among them, they are nearly entirely secular- * Information of Mr. Diidobd Pandnrang. + Inform ation of Mr. Dadobd Pandurang. J Information of Edojf Shdstri Bdpat. § This name is probably a nickname. Some will have it that it originates in a sectarian fable that the She'navis are the offspring of a Brahman, and a girl who was found by him gathering shen or cow-dung, whom he made a mother. Perhaps the word is a corruption of the Elanarese shdnbhog, a village-accountant. 30 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. ized, as writers, accountants, and general men of business, 2>iirticularly now in connexion with the English and Portuguese governments. Like the other Sarasvata Brahmans (so named from the river Saras- vati), scattered throughout India, they make a free use of animal food, particularly of fish, which they jocularly denominate jalashuka, or water-vegetable. By the other Brahmans, three of the six works of the Brahmans are withheld from them in theory ; but for this no adequate authointy on caste-principles is forthcoming. Some of them are follower’s of the Vai.shnava Madhvacharya ; and some few of them are Smarttas, (observers of the Smritis), or followers of Shankara- charya. Various factions, now distinct from the followers of these two sects,- hav£ during the last century broken out among them, which have led to the formation of some thirteen or fourteen tatas, such as (’22) the I^arvdnJcar,{'23') Keloskar, (24) Bdrdeshkar, (25) Kuddldesh- kar, (26) Pednekar, (27) Bhdldvdlekar, (28) Kushasthali, (29) Khadape, (30) Ehajule. These tatas, which are named from the districts to which they primarily belonged, — are so affected to one another that their members do not even take a social meal together, or with the Smarttas and Vaishnavas. A spirit of reform is happily rising among the Sheijavis which, it is hoped, will put an end to this and much older folly. The influence among them of Dr. Bhau Daji is of a reformatory character. So was that of the late Mr. Govind Narayan, of the Free General Assembly’s Institution, whose numerous works have proved a valuable accession to popular Marathi literature. The classes which stand aloof from the tatas above-mentioned are called Kevala-Shenavis, or pure Shenavis. The part acted by the ]\Iaratha Brahmans in the poli- tical history of India, especially during the last three hundred years, is well knomi. They were extensively employed in public sendee during the existence of the Muhammadan kingdoms of the Dakhan. “ About the year 1529,” says Captain James Grant Duff, “it is par- ticularly deserving of notice that Burahan Nizam Shah bestowed the office of Peskwali, or prime minister, on a Brahman whose name according to Ferishta was Kawer- sen(?), and from that period Hindus acquired great THE MAHARASHTRA BRAHMANS. 31 influence in the Kizara Slidhi government. Ibrahim ’Adil Shah, upon his accession to the throne of Bijdpur in 1555, likewise showed a great preference for the natives of ]\lahara.«htra, both as men of business and as soldiers. He discontinued keeping the accounts in Per- sian, for Avhich he substituted Marathi, though deeds of importance were written in both languages. This regu- lation tended to increase the power and consequence of IMaratha Brahmans.”* When the rebellion against the ^luhammadan power headed by Shivaji became success- ful, and the Maratha kingdom was estabbshed, that energetic, enterprizing, cunning, and treacherous !Mard- tha soon selected a large, nay the larger, portion of his Councillors from the Brahmans, while he made great demands on their fraterinty for conducting the general business of his kingdom, and even for military commands, small and great. The founder under him of Pratapagad, the well-knovm isolated hill-fort fronting Mahabaleshwar to the West, was a Deshastha Brahman named ]\Ioro Tirmal Pingle, who had formerly been in the service of his father in the Karnatika. His principal minister at this time was Shamaraj Pant, also a Brahman; and to him li3 for the first time gave the title of Peshwah, and a considerable military command. f A succession of Brahman Peshwahs, or Mukhja Pmdhdnas^ prime ministers, continued after the death of Shivaji, and with their associates in the Council they soon became more important personages than their royal masters. One of them, Balaji Yishvanath, originally an humble karkun or * Grant Duff’s Hist, of the Marathiis, vol. i. p. 75. t Grant Duff's Plist. vol. i. p. 150. Pant is a diminutive name formed from Pandit. Peshwah, wliich is a Persian vord, means literally a ‘ frontman’ or ‘ leader.’ 32 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. clerk, who was appointed Peshwah by Shahuji in 1714, proved a very able administrator, and contributed much, by the combinations which he formed and the move- ments which he directed, to the expansion of the Maratha power, and the unwarrantable exactions which it made from so many of the provinces of India. His son, who after a short interval succeeded him, was a man of distinction. “ Bred a soldier as well as a statesman, Bajirao united the enterprize, vigour, and hardihood of a Maratha chief, with the polished manners, the sagacity, and address which frequently distinguish the Brahmans of the Konkana. Fully acquainted with the financial schemes of his father, he selected that part of the plan calculated to direct the predatory hordes of Maharashtra in a com- mon effort.” He had a rival in Shripat Rao, a Yajur- vedi Deshastha ; but ere lonjj he o'ained a decided ascen- dancy. Before his death the Marathds under leaders, often acting an independent part for themselves, had not only “overturned ancient monarchies,” but were “plunder- ino; and burnm^ on the east and on the west, from the Hughli to the Banas and from Madras to Delhi.” He was too much of a rapacious soldier to maintain regu- larity m his mternal administration, and to do justice to his financial arrangements and the maintenance of an impartial jurisprudence. Yet, “ if he inherited some of the defects of his caste, he was free from their bigotry, and but slightly tamted with the meaner vices which render the general character of Brahmans when in power despicable.”* He was succeeded, not without a struggle, however, by his eldest son Balaji Baji Rao, who in 1750, ■with the connivance of the principal Maratha chieftains, * Grant Duff’s Hist, of Mar., vol. i. pp. 483-571. THE MAHARASHTRA BRAHMANS- 33 — such as Bhonsle, the founder of the Xagpur State, and Yashvant Rao Dabhade,* and ultimately of Shindya (“Scindia”) and Holkar, — made Puna the de facto Maratha capital, while the descendants or representatives of Shivaji, male and female, lived Avith the mere semblance of royalty at Satara. From that time till the English conquest of the Dakhan in 1818, the Marathas, notwith- standing the great liberties used by their chieftains (often making conquests for themselves) had a Brahman Raj for their guidance in all matters religious, social, and political. The general character of the heads of that Raj Avas such as cannot be admired. Balaji Baji Rao Avas indolent and inacth^e, and the principal military arrangements Avere left to his brother Raghunatha Rao, Avhile the chdl administration Avas de- volved on his cousin Sadashh’a Chimnaji,f who had an able coadjutor in Ramachandra Baba, a ShenaAU. The Maratha power reached its zenith during his reign, in Avhich also, in consequence of the disastrous battle of Panipat, fought in 1761, it began in reality to declme, though many of its movements throughout most of the proAunces of India continued for long to be of a very vigorous though irregular character. Balaji Baji Rao Avas so affected by his losses at Panipat that he sank under his grief. Speaking of him generally. Grant Duff says: “ Balaji Baji Rao Avas a man of considerable poli- tical sagacity, of polished manners, and of great address. His measures are marked by an excessive cunning, Avhich Brahmans, in general, mistake for AAnsdom ; he practised all the arts of dissimulation, and AA^as a perfect adept in * The Senapati and employer of Damaji Gaikawad in Gujarat. t Grant Duff, A'ol. ii. pp. 73, 119. 5 34 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. every species of intriiTue. A strong example of the worst species of Brahman character is shovni in the manner in which he compassed the destruction of Saka- war Bai Shirke (a ^laratha lady). The private life of Balaji Rao was stained Avdth gross sensuality ; but, though indolent and voluptuous, he was generous and charitable, kind to his relatives and dependants, an enemy to external violence, and to that sort of oppres- sion which such violence unplies; on the whole, he may be regarded as rather a favourable specimen of a Brahman in power.”* IMadhava Kiio Ballal, his second son, who received investiture as Peshwah from the nominal Raja of Satara in September 1761, Avhen he was only seventeen years of age, bore a much better character both as a man and a prince. He Avas distinguished for his equity and the support of the Aveak against the strong. The Brahmans had a marked position in his goA^ernment, eA^en in his array. It appears from an official list that of 449 officers in that army, 95 (holding high appointments) were Brah- mans, 8 Rajputs, 308 Mariithas, and 40 Muhammadans.f Aiirayana Rao, his brother, AA'as the next PeshAAffii, receiving the iiwestiture in December 1773. Raghunatha Rao, his uncle, AV'as confined by the general ad A'ice of his counsellors, in the palace of Puna. The celebrated Konkanastha Brahman XanaPhadnaAfis stood high in his estimation, butBajaba Purandare,a Madhyandina, and Hari l^ant I^hadake, a Konkanastha, Avere his chief confidants. He AA’as cruelly murdered in his ‘palace on the 30th August 1773, a conspiracA^ for his seizure haA’ing been formed under the direction of his uncle Raghunatha, or * Grant Duff, vol. ii. p. 158. f Grant Duff, vol. ii. p. 228-240. THE MAHARASHTRA BRAHMANS. Raglioba, "svliich appears to have gone farther than was at first intended. In connexion with the inquiries which were instituted about this atrocity, one court Brahman acted a most commendable part. He instituted a search into the whole transaction. “ About six weeks after the event, havmg obtamed proofs agamst Raghunatha Rao, the Shastri waited upon him, and accused him of havmg given an authority to Somer Suiha and Muhammad Yusif to commit the deed. Raghunatha Rao is said to have acknowledged to Rama Shastri that he had written an order to those men, authorizing them to seize Nara- yana Rao, but that he never had given the order to kill him. This admission is generally supposed to have been literally true ; for by the original paper, afterwards re- covered by RMna Shastri, it was found that the word dharawen to seize, was altered to mdrdiceh to kill. It is universally believed, that the alteration was made by the infamous Anandi Bai (his wife), and although Raghunatha Rao’s own conduct, in subsequently withholding protec- tion, even at the hazard of his life, sufficiently justifies the suspicion of his being fuUy aware of it, the moderate and general opuiion in the Maratha country is, that he did not mtend to murder his nephew ; that he was exas- perated by his confinement, and excited by the desperate counsels of his wife, to whom is also attributed the acti- vity of the domestic Tulaji Pavar, who was set on by the vindictive malice of that bad woman. After Raghunatha Rao had avowed his having so far participated in the fall of his nephew, he asked Rama Shastri what atonement he could make. ‘ The sacrifice of your own life,’ replied the undaunted and virtuous Shastri, ‘ for your future life cannot be passed in amendment ; neither you nor 36 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. your government can prosper ; and for my own part, I Avill neither accept of employment, nor enter Puna, whilst you preside in the administration.’ He kept his word, and retired to a sequestered village near AVai.”* Raghunatha Rao, however, ha\ing received also the clothes of investiture from Satara, was proclaimed Pesh- wah. He had his measures and partizans; but the birth on the 18th April 1774 of a posthumous son, Madhava Rao Xarayana, of his murdered nephew, “gave a finish- ing blow to his ever being recognized as Peshwah,”f though he made several military movements in the sup- posed interests of the Maratha States, and concluded a treaty with the English at Bombay, ceding to them Bassein, Salsette, etc., in 1774. The Supreme Council in Bengal disapproved of the Bombay Alliance with him, and adopted several measures for its counteraction; but the Court of Directors was not unfavourable to the measures adopted by the W estern Presidency. F rom both Raghoba and the partizans of the youthful Peshwah territorial concessions were obtained by the English, not altogether creditable either to those demanding them, or to those imparting them. It is rather remarkable that after an insurrection raised in the Konkana by a Kanoja Brahman, pretending to be Sadashiva Chimnaji, who had fought and fell at Panipat, that impostor was contrary to the Brahmanic institutes;|; executed at Puna by being bound to the foot of an elephant, and trampled to death. § * Grant Duff, vol. ii. pp. 249-250. f Grant Duff, vol. ii. p. 264. J See Tol. i. pp. 22, etc. § “ The Brahmans of Puiia have two stories respecting the fate of this criminal, both intended as apologies for the execution of a Brah- man, under a Brahman government. One is, that the impostor was THE MAHARASHTRA BRAHMANS. 37 Genera] political and military events at this period we are not called to notice in connexion with this work. It is sufficient to remark that the education of the young Peshwah was directed by Nana Phadnavis. His uncle died when he was only nine years old; but Nana main- tained his interests in opposition to a faction formed in behalf of the two sons of Raghoba, Baji Rao, and Chim- naji A'pa who was born of Anandabai after his father’s death in 1784.* In 1795 the young Peshwah was in his twenty-first year ; but Nana Phadnavis relaxed nothing of the watchfulness with which he had reared him. The sons of Raghoba he kept at a distance from court. In 1794, when Anandabai died, they were confined in the fort of Shivanirnear Nasik. The condition of these young men excited throughout the Maratha country strong feelings of general commiseration. But this only increased the not a Brahman, but a goldsmith ; and the other is, that he was secret- ly removed and immured in a dungeon at Ahmadnagar, where he was starved to death, and a condemned criminal, by trade a goldsmith, substituted to deceive the populace. Starvation, insufficient, unwhole- some food, and a damp dungeon, was really the dreadful execution frequently reserved for Brahmans, and practised by the Brahman government by way of evading the inexpiable sin of deprinng one of that sacred class of life. Amongst other stories, raised by the Pesh- wahs to prejudice the vulgar against the race of Shivaji, it was pre- tended that the boon of the goddess Bhavani, the truth of which no one could deny, which granted the Margtha sovereignty to his lineal descendants for twenty-seven generations, had been taken away because Shivaji killed two Brahman spies with his own hand, having shot them with arrows, by means of that unerring aim which was one of the gifts of the goddess, and impiously hit them in the forehead, right through the distinguishing mark of their caste.”f • * Raghoba had also an adopted son called Amnt Rao. Grant Duff, vol. iii. p. 123. t Grant Duff, vol. ii. p. 331. 38 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. weary circumspection of Xana Phadnavis, the minister, to whom the elder of the legitimate sons of Raghunatha Rao had early become an object of jealousy. “ Graceful in his person, with a handsome and youthful countenance which ensured favourable impressions, Baji Rao had the mildest manner, and an address so insinuating, that he gained the goodwill of all who approached him. His l)odily and mental accomplishments were equally extol- led ; at the age of nineteen he was an excellent horseman, skilled in the use of the sword and bow, and allowed to be the most expert spearsman in (the) Gangatir.* He was deeply read in the Shastras, particularly in such parts as regards the observance of caste ; and of his age, no Pandit so learned had been known in Maharashtra.” The young Peshwah, free from jealousy of his cousin, frequently expressed a strong desire to procure his enlargement, and cultivate his friendship ; but Madhava Rao himself was watched, while Baji Rao was stiU kept a close prisoner. “ The latter, however, having dis- covered the favourable disposition of the Peshwah towards him, and havmg at last gained Balwant Rao Xiiganatha, he conveyed a message Avith assurances of respect and attachment, adding that ‘ he was in confinement at Shiva- neri, and the PesliAvah under the control of his mmister ; — that their condition as prisoners was nearly similar, but that their minds and atfections Avere free, and should be deAmted to each other ; — that their ancestors had dis- tmo-uished themseh'es, and that the time Avould arrive when his cousin and himself might hope to emulate their deeds, and raise for themselves a lasting and honourable name.’ This message Avas the commencement of a cor- . * The country on the banks of the Godavari, held to be a Ganges. THE MAHARASHTRA BRAHMANS. 39 res])oiidence, Avhich began shortly after the return of the army to Puna, and continued for some time, till at length it came to the knowledge of Xana, who betrayed a rage, altogether unusual, at the discovery. He immediately threw P)alwant Rao Xaganatha into a hill fort loaded Avith irons, severely reproached iMadhava Rao, and ren- dered the strictness of Raji Rao’s confinement far more rigid than before. Madhava Rao already galled by re- straint, and irritated by ' the insiduous messages of his cousin, Avas overAvhelmed with anger, disappointment, and grief ; he refused, absolutely, to quit his apartment, and his absence from his usual place at the Darbar, was imputed to fever. At the Dasani Avhich happened on the 22nd October, and Avas conducted Avith great splendour, he appeared amongst his troops, and, in the evenmg, received his chiefs and the ambassadors at his court m his accustomed manner; but his spirit Avas AA'ounded- to desperation, a fixed melancholy seized on his mind, and on the moiTung of the 25th October, he deliberately threAv himself from a terrace in his palace, fractured tAvo of his limbs, and was much AA'ounded by the tube of a fountam on Avhich he fell. He surA’i\"ed for two days, and having particularly desired that Baji Rao should be placed on the masnad, he expired m the arms of Baba Rao Phadake, for Avhom he had entertained a strong affection.”* So perished the PesliAvah Madhava Rao Xarayana.f Xanii Phadnavis resorted to most dishonorable intrigues to prevent Biiji Rao, whose retaliation was dreaded, from suc- * Grant Duff, vol. iii. pp. 124-12G. t A remarkable painting of the unliappy young prince, of his wily and able minister Nana Phadnavis, and of the cunning and unconstant Daulat Rao Shiiidya (Scindia) is in the possession of the Bombay Government. 40 ^YHAT THE CASTES ARE. ceedingtothePeshwahsliip ; but they were ultimately abor- tive. Baj 1 Rao was seated ou the masnad on the 2 7th October 1796, the Xana at first contrhdng to retain his position as prime-minister, in which ofiice he contmued, except for a short interval, displaying wonderful talent, modera- tion, and accommodation in very troublous times, till the day of his death, which occurred on the 13 th March, 1800. Baji Rao was the last, and, all things considered, the worst of the Peshwahs. “ To trust none, and to deceive all, was the game he invariably played, and like all who have ever done so, he never failed to lose.”* He connived at the destruction, cruelly effected by Shindy^, of three Shenavf Brahmans, high in power.f To other murders he was a party, the last being that of Ba]a- Gangadhara Shastri, (a Konkanastha), the envov of the Gaikawad, which occurred at the tirtha of Pandharpur in 1815, a little before his own fall. His treachery Avith the native powers, and especially Avith the English, — in executmo: wliich he found willing agents both in the priestly and in other castes, was unbounded. “ His court, which was gay and licentious bejmnd that of any other Peshwah, soon became agreeable to the generality of Brahmans in Puna, and a high offer for a district Avas a sure way to the temporary notice of the prince. All his expenditure was regulated by contract. The net revenue of the state was about one hundred and twenty lakhs of rupees, of which Baji Rao saA'ed annually about fifty lakhs, and he had, at this period, collected treasure exceeding fifty millions of rupees. Whilst thus intent on amassing wealth, his time Avas diAuded in the encourage- ment of the grossest debauchery, and the practice of the f Grant Duff, yoI. iii. p. 149. ♦ Grant Duff, vol. iii. p. 140. THE MAHARASHTRA BRAHMANS. 41 most absurd superstitions. He aspired to a character for sanctity; was rigid in the observance of every form required by the rules of caste ; and the murder of Narayana Rao, attributed to his parents, was a subject of inquietude and remorse. To atone for their crime, he planted several hundred thousand mango trees about Puna ; gave largesses to Brahmans and religious establishments, and was particularly generous to the temple at Pandharpur. As an instance of his superstition, may be mentioned a dream of one of his religious attendants, who declared he * saw the ghost of Xarayaiia Rdo, and that it had ordered a dinner for one hundred thousand Brahmans ; ‘an enter- tauiraent which was immediately provided. To the complaints of his subjects he never listened; and if the villagers endeavoured to approach his presence, they were driven away by the attendants. The farmers of the districts had generally the superintendence of civil and criminal justice, and their powers in this respect enabled them to increase their collections by fines and exactions. There was a nominal court of justice at Puna, under a Shastri, who had a very large establish- ment. It was supported entirely by the corrupt emolu- ments which power enabled its members to draw from the public, and was so notoriously corrupt, that the poorer suitor, unless he had interest, or could bribe some great man of whom the Shastri stood in awe, Avas certain to lose his cause.”* Among the places exterior to the Maratha country in which Baji Rao laboured most assiduously to establish his ascendancy was Gujarat. It Avas in connexion with the affairs of that proA^ince that Bala-Gangadhara Shastri * Grant Duff, vol. iii. pp. .361-303. 42 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. was sent by the Gaikawad as envoy to the court of Puna. He accompanied Baji Kao to Pandharpur, where he was murdered by the hired assassins of Trimbakji Denglya, originally employed by the Peshwah as a spy and a panderer to his vices. The Peshwah, “ if he did not instigate, approved of the murder.”* His subsequent intrigues at Puna; his rising against the British, even when their affairs were admirably well conducted at his court by the Hon. Mountstuart Elphinstone ; his subse- quent defeats ; his surrender to Sir John IMalcolm; and his banishment to Baithur, with far too liberal a pension, which ultimately gave the power of mischief to his adopted son the Nana Saheb, of undying mfamy, are so well known that they need not be dwelt on in this place. His downfall was the commencement of the abiding rise of the Maratha country. The deliverance of the Maharashtra Brahmans from his leadership, think of it what they may, was an event calling for their highest congratulations. The result of the experiment of a purely Brahman Raj in IMaharashtra, which was in all probability the last which on any considerable scale Avill be Avitnessed in India, Avhen looked to in its political relations, reflects no credit on the Brahmanical order. In its social and religious aspects, also, it is deserving of grave reprobation, Avhen seen either from an Indian or a general point of \deAV. The Brahmans in becoming de facto kings acted in direct opposition to the Indian laAv-books.f It could not be distress for a mere livelihood, Avhich, as Ave have seen, forms an exceptional circumstance Avarranting * Grant Duff, vol. iii. p. o75. f See, for example, Mann. h-. 84-86. THE MAHARASHTKA BRAHMANS. 43 a Brahman, to discharge the duties of another caste, Aviiich drove them to the assumption of sovereign power, which by the laws they have to counsel and not to exercise. It was doubtless the sheer love of grandeur and wealth. One little semblance of apology they Avere ahvays careful to mauitam. “ The Puna government,” says Major E. Moore, Avho himself Avitnessed the state of matters Avith the last PeshAvahs, “ have a little reserA^e, or salvo, in the existence of a nominal legitimate Raja at Siitara. And the Peslnvah professes, as the title im- plies, to be only his first servant, although he be to all intents and purposes a sovereign as far as he can enforce its acknowledgment.”* Transo;ressors them- selves in most important respects of the laAV of caste, for Avhich certaiidy they are not to be blamed, they Avere strict upholders of what they considered to be its general interests. The Antyajas, or loAver than caste - people, they kept in a state of great depression. “ Un- der the Brahmanical rule of the PesliAA^ahs in the Dakhan any Pariah [Paiwari, Mang, etc.] Avas liable to severe punishment Avho Avalked anyAvhere betAveen a Brahman and the sun, so near that a portion of his shadoAv should fall on any part of the holy man’s person. Consequently, in the mornmg Avhen the shadows Avere long, a Pariah Avas obliged to use great caution if he met a Brahman on the road, and on no account to pass him on the eastern side.”f Similar precautions Avere observed in the evening. Even after the acquisition of the Maratha country by the British, I have myself seen mendicant * Moore’s Hindu Pantheon, p. 351. t Letter signed Judicus, and dated March 17, 1858, published in the Record newspaper. 44 WHAT THE CASTES ABE. Brahmans ordering the low-castes to jump mto the hedges or ditches to allow them to pass them without contami- nation. Altogether the low-castes suffered many indig- nities at the hands of the Peshwahs and their agents. The wild tribes, such as the Kulis and Bhills, also expe- rienced from them an extremely harsh treatment. To these tribes, indeed, their tender mercies were cruel, as onward we may have an opportunity of noticing.* Of the general character of the Maratha Brahmans, as noticed after the conquest of the ^larktha country above the Ghats, in 1818, the Hon. Hountstuart Elphin- stone thus wrote : — “ The Brahmans, who have long conducted all the business of the country, are correctly described by Mr. Chaplm as an ‘ intrigumg, l}dng, corrupt, licentious and unprincipled race of people’ ! to which Captam Grant adds with equal truth, ‘ that when in power they are coolly unfeeling, and systematically oppressive,’ and now ‘ generally discontented, and only restrained by fear, from being treasonable and trea- cherous.’ They are superstitious and narrow in their attachment to theii’ caste, to a degree that has no example elsewhere ; but they are mild, patient, intelli- gent on many subjects, even liberal and enlightened ; and, though regardless of sufferings which they may indirectly produce, they are naturally very averse to * Take in passing the following example : — “ Balaji Lakshuman, the divan of Vithal Narsinha Vinchorkar, and a personal favourite of Bdji Rao, finding it impracticable to reduce the Bhills (of Khandesh), by force, inveigled a whole tribe of them, with their wives and fami- lies, to an interview at Kopargaum, on pretence of affording them a settlement, when they were treacherously seized, and most barbarously precipitated into wells, where the whole perished.” — Grant Dull’, vol. iii., p. 338. THE MAHARASHTRA BRAHMANS. 45 cruelty and bloodshed : there are among them many instances of decent and respectable lives, and although they are generally supple and insincere, I have met with some, on whom I could depend for sound and candid opinions.”* I here record this statement merely because it is valuable in a historical point of view. The Mara- tha Brahmans, as they are now found by Europeans, present themselves in a greatly improved aspect. By no class of the inhabitants of India is European educa- tion so much prized as by them. Its liberalizing effects are apparent among those who have been participants of its blessings. From them are dravui a large number of government officials, who m a satisfactory way dis- charge their duties. Many of them act as teachers in vernacular and anglo-vernacular schools, in which they often creditably acquit themselves, showing no great desire, however, to extend education to the lower strata of the Indian community, or even to the agricultural classes, the most important m some respects in the whole country, f It is to theh’ disadvantage that so many of * Elphinstone’s Report on the Territories conquered from the P&hwah, 2d. ed. p. 6. I Few, if any, of the Antyaja are found in the Government schools. This is to be ascribed not only to the Brahmanical fear of contamina- tion and the general caste prejudices of the people, but to the want of firmness on the part of the government educational authorities as has been the case in some instances of the agents of the missionary bodies. I once noticed, with much satisfaction, two boys of the Ramushi tribe in a Government village school. Tlie teacher gloried in them as trophies of his own rare liberality. I was told, however, by the late devoted Mr. Adam White, who officiated for some time as a missionary in the district to which they belonged, that this bold son of Brahma durst not touch them even with the rod of correction, but furnished himself with some half dozen balls of clay to pelt at them with when they needed punishment ! 46 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. them, laudably seeking to secularize themselves, contmue to depend on government ser\dce. In the general busi- ness of life they might be far more successful. To this department of work increased numbers of them, as well as of the Gurjarashtra Brahmans, have of late years begun to look. In Dr. Leith’s interesting analysis of the Census of Bombay taken in 1864, the following noticeable passage occurs : — “ The Brahman caste is the one above all others in which strictness of rule is most likely to be observed, and it may very well be taken as an index of how much the Institutes of Manu and tradition are followed. Of the seventy-six occupations in the table, there are but eighteen in which Brahmans were not found enjras’ed, and of these there are five at least in which it is only a fortuitous occurrence that they were not so; such as those of civil engineer, photographer, gramparcher, dyer, umbrella- dealer. The occupations in which they will not engage, are the supply of aiumal food, working in leather, basket-making, scavenging, and washing clothes. Of the 30,604 Brahmans* enumerated in Bombay, there were returned as beggars and paupers 10,370, or one- third of the whole, as ^vriters and accountants 5,973, priests 2,606, schoolmasters and teachers only 720, merchants and bankers 1,728, domestic servants 1,795.” There is no obstacle in the way of Brahmans -wishing to secularize themselves acting as ci\dl engmeers or photographers. Dyers they camiot be while they re- spect such injunctions of the Smritis on the subject of raisinof and using mdigo as we find in the work of * [That is of the Brahmanical caste old aud young.] THE MAHARASHTRA BRAHMANS. 47 Angii’as, the substance of which I have given already.* Grainparching they avoid, from the killing of small insects associated with the work. In some Brahman shops umbrellas are sold without scruple ; but no Brahmans are fond of being recognized as distinctive “ umbrella-dealers,” as the native leaf- umbrellas are generally woven and otherwise constructed by the low- caste of buruds or basket-makers. They have a great repugnance to the present day, to all the pursuits men- tioned in the list of Castes given in our first volume between 93 and 134.f Their connection with the work of the mixed castes even is very much only that of clerksliip or superintendence. Many of them, I learn from Colonel Ballard, were lately em^^loyed in the Bom- bay mbit in the examination and countmg of rupees. As the material improvement of India advances, and oppor- tunities of remunerative labour occur, the work of Caste- emancipation will advance. It is proper to add, in concluding this section, that some of the most respectable converts to Christianity in the Maratha Country have originally belonged to the Brahmanical classes. Though at first they Avere treated Avith intolerance, they are generally noAv viewed AAuth respect by their former associates. It Avas ruled by the majority of the Brahmans of Bomba}^, N asik, and Bana- ras, in the case of a young Brahman boy who had ate Avith one of these converts, that he could not be restored to caste, even though he shoidd profess to be ready to take any atonement prescribed in the Hindu laAv-books. 1 refer to the case of Shripat Sheshadri, the brother * See vol. i. p. 302. t See first volnnie pp. G8-70. 48 WIIAT THE CASTES ARE. of the zealous native missionary, the Rev. Xarayana Sheshadri. On the origin of the name Maharashtra as applied to the provinces of India, from which the Maratha Brdh- mans now noticed have received their designation, vari- ous opinions have been formed. The Brahmans them- selves, with etymological propriety, render the word Maharashtra by “great country” ; but neither in its ancient geographical extent nor in its historical importance is any very good reason found for such a designation. The Mahars, who form one of its old degraded tribes, and are everywhere found in the pro\ince, say that MahM’ashtra means the “ Country of the Mahars.”* The Marathi language is spoken on the West along the Indian Ocean from the Portuguese territories of Daman on the north to the Portuguese territories of Goa on the south ; and it runs eastward, with a varying and lessening width, till it extends about half way to the Bay of Bengal.f This language, owing to its comparative purity and copious- ness, the energy and conquests of the Maratha people, the exigencies of commerce, and the influence of certain political arrangements, has in late times proved an ad- vancing language. It is making ground against the cognate Konkani in the country of Goa, where it is now used in public schools. It is advancing from the banks of the Krishna into the proper territory of the Kanarese. It is gaining ground on the Gondi in the Nagpur Dis- tricts. It is encroaching both on the Nimadi and Ran- gadi on the banks of the Narmada. With its expansion * See Notes on the Marathi Language, by the Author, prefixed to the second edition of Molesworth’s iNIarathi Dictionary, p. xxiii. f Ib. pp. xxiv-xxv. THE MAHARASHTRA BRAHMANS. 40 there is of course an increase of the influence of the Maratha, l>raliinans, though that influence is not Avhat it was in the day of their political poAver. It is a matter of congratulation that they continue to cultivate their vernacular tongue, Avhich is both pure and copious. In connexion Avith the Maharashtra Brahmans, a very small section (apparently near extinction) requires to be separately noticed. (31.) The M aitray aniy as. TXxeMaitrdyaniyas* have still a few representatives at Nasik, and perhaps at a few other places on the hanks of the Godavari. They are in possession of complete copies of the M:inava Kalpa Sutras, of which the fragments in Europe were lately ably edited by Dr. Gold- stiicker. They do not intermarry with other classes of MaraBia Brahmans, though they may eat with them. Associated Avith the Maratha Brahmans, as speaking their language, but keeping aloof from them in caste intercourse, are the two classes Avhich folloAV : — (32-33.) The Varddis, or Berdr Brdhmans . T\\QVarddis,orBarddis, are the Brahmans of the province ofBerar. They are principally of the White Yajur-Veda, of t\xe Mddlnjandina Shdkhd, but some of them also are (33) Rig-Vedi s. These two sections do not intermarry, and are in fact two castes claiming the same position in the Brahmanhood. Having been long under a Muhammadan government (that of the Nizam), they are in a state of comparative depression. It must not be supposed from this fact, how- ever, that they are destitute of Brahmanical pride. At Badnera, near Amravati, I lately observed one of them most furiously buffeting a “ Dhed,” as he called him, with his shoe, for having incidentally touched him in a crowd in the public market place. The Brahmans near him so much sympathized with him, that they were quite surprised when I expostulated with him for his violence and inhumanity. IMost of the Bcrar Brahmans follow secular engagements, as those of clerks, shop- keepers, and cultivators. The Maratha Brahmans often travel in their. * See above, pp. 9-10. 7 50 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. country for the purpose of reading the Puraiias to the people, of whom the Varadls might naturally be supposed to be the instructors. (34.) The Jhdde, or Nagpur Brahmans . Many Maratha Brahmans are settled in the Nagpur Territories, their forefathers having been introduced into these regions principally by the conquest of the country by the Maratha Bhohsles. The proper Brah- mans of the Nagpur territories, however, call themselves Jhdde Brah- mans, or Bnihmans of the Forest. They are divided into four or five castes, according to the Vedas which they profess ; but most of them profess the White Yajur-Veda, according to the Madhyandina and Kanva Shakhas. They may eat Avith the Maratha Brahmans, in differ- ent panktis ; but they do not intermarry with them, or with the differ- ent Shakhas among themselves. Considerable numbers of them follow secular employments ; but they are not wanting in Vaidiks, Pauraniks, and Astrologers. The state of education amoiiar the Brahmans of the a Berar and Nagpur territories, which Avas long very much depressed, is notv rapidly improving under European auspices. Fetv of our public administrators have shown such zeal in this good cause as Mr. Temple, the Chief Commissioner of the Central Provinces. 2. Tlie A'ndhra^ or Tailanga Brdhnians. The A'ndhra Brahmans have their home in the A' ndhra Desha of the Hindu Avritings, noAV called the Tailanga (from Trilinga?)t\\Q. country in Avhichthe Tailanga (or Tailinga, or T elugu ) language is spoken. T heir territory lies to the south-east of the iMarathii country, and extends to the eastern shores of the peninsula from the neighbourhood of IManipura on the north to the Pulikat Lake on the south, bemgthus intermediate betAveen the Odra (or (Jrissa) language and the Tamil. They have been instrumental in the successful culture of that tongue, Avhich A^ery dis- thictly belongs to the DraA'idian famih', and Avhich, as THE ANDHRA, OR TAILANGA BRAHMANS. 51 well shown by Mr. C. P. Brown, possesses a vernacular literature of considerable interest.* Of the A'ndhra Brahmans no very definite account has yet been published. The following notices of them rest principally on a Statistical Report of the Eastern Districts of Haidarabad by the late Dr. A. ^7alker;f my own personal conversations with Tailanga Brahmans at Bombay and Xagpur; and my correspondence with friends, particularly Captain W. Tweedieof the Residency at Haidarabad, and the Rev. J. G. Cooper, of Nagpur. * ^Madras Journal of Science and Literature, vol. x. pp. 43-59. “This language was sometimes called by the Europeans of the last generation the ‘ Gentoo,’ from the Portuguese word for heathens, or ‘ Gentiles.’ The Telugu is spoken all along the eastern coast of the Peninsula, from the neighbourhood of Pulikat, where it supersedes the Tamil, to Chikakol, where it begins to yield to the Uriya; and inland it prevails as far as the eastern boundary of the Maratha Country and the Mysore; including within its range the ‘Ceded districts’ and Karnnl, the greater part of the territories of the Nizam, or the Hy- derabad country, and a portion of the Nagpore country and Gondwana. Formerly Telugu appears to have been spoken as far north as the month of the Ganges. This appears both from the geographical limits which are assigned by the Greeks to the territory of the A'ndhras, or Northern Telugus, and from many of the names of places mentioned by Ptolemy as far as the mouths of the Ganges being found to be Telugu. The Telugu people, though not the most enterprising or migratory, are undoubtedly the most numerous branch of the Dravidian race. Includ- ing the Naiks or Naidoos (‘Nayakas’), Reddies, and other Telugu tribes settled in the Tamil country, who are chiefly the descendants of those soldiers of fortune by whom the Pandiya and Chola kingdoms were subverted, and who number not much less than a million of souls; and including also the Telugu settlers in Mysore, and the indigenous Telugu inhabitants of the Nizam’s territory and other native states, the people who speak the Telugu language may be estimated as amounting to at least fourteen millions.” Caldwell’s Dravidian Grammar, pp. 5-6. t Madras Journal of Literature and Science, vol. xvi. pp. 195-198. 52 WH'AT THE CASTES ARE. (1.) The Varnasdlus. The Varnasdlus profess the Rig- Veda and belong to the Snuirta sect. The}' are found near Medak and in other districts. (2.) The . Kamarulculu. Tlie Kamaruk'ulu belong to the same Veda and sect as do the Varnasalu, with whom they eat, and sometimes intermarry. (3.) The Karnahamalu. Tlie Karnahamalu are also Rigredis and Smartas. Tliey are said to have been originally from the Kamatika. They do not intermarry with the Varnasalu, though they eat with them. (4.) The M d dh y an dina s. Tlie Mddhyandinas of Tailangana have the same reli- gious position as those of the Maharashtra, and profess like them the V hite Yajur-Veda. They are found near ^ledak and in other places- Dr. Walker says, “ They make puja to the sun when they bathe, and also to the full moon but so do most other Brahmans. (5.) The Tailangas. Tlie Tailangas, or T ail in g dni , or Taligdnis also prin- cipally profess the White and Black Yajnr- Vedas. Representatives of the other Vedas are also to be found among them. Many of them are settled in the Guntur country. (6.) The Murahanddus. Tlie Murahanddus get their denomination from the district of IMuraka, nadu meaning country. They are found to the south of the river Krishna. They profess the White A’ajur-Veda. (7.) The Arddhyas. The Arddhyas (or Venerables), though White Yajurvedis, belong to the sect of the Lingayats, to which they were introduced by Basava, its founder, in the middle of the twelfth century. They do not inter- marry with any other classes of Brahmans in the province to which they belong. They, nevertheless, act as gurus (personal or family instructors) of the higher classes of natives, avoiding altogether the lower castes, who resort for spiritual advice to Jangams, Dekknlwars, and other mendicants. They adhere to caste ; and thougli they believe in the unity of the deity as Mahadeva, symbolized by the linga, they observe the Braluiianical initiation, and worship the sun by the repeti- tion of the gayatri. On this account they are treated as idolaters hy the Jangams, the principal mendicant priests of the Lingadharis, who violently oppose caste and every form of idolatry but that which recoo ' 'THE ANDHRA, OR TAILANGA BRAHMANS. 53 nizcs the symbol of Shiva. They practise infant marriages like other Brahmans. The Jangams refuse to eat with them ; and they refuse to eat with the Jangams. They are kept in a state of isolation by other Brahmans ; and they are consequently obliged to act as gurus of their own children, which the. Brahmans in general never do. Yet they view themselves as of great importance in the Indian community. By the Lingayats in general they are considered only half converts to their peculiar system of Shaiva worship. They have but a slight knowledge of any portion of the Vedas, to which they refer principally for sectarial purposes, putting upon them a forced allegorical meaning.* (8.) The Y djnavalkyas . This name might comprehend all the professors of the White Yajm-Veda, which is said to have been at first revealed to the sage Yajuavalk}\a but in Tailangand it is given to the division of Brah- mans who in the Maharashtra arc called Kdnvas (from Kanva a reputed disciple of Yajnavalkya)f or Prathama Shdklus, and whose principal habitat is at Masulipatam and its neighbourhood. * See an excellent paper by Mr. C. P. Brown, on the Creed, Customs, and Litera- ture of the Jangams, in the Madras Journ. of Lit. and Science, vol. xi. pp. 143-177. t The legend of the revelation alleged to have been given to Yajnavalkya, is thus found in the Vishnu Puraiia. The Munis called their fi-aternity to an assembly on Mount Me'ru, with the intimation that any of them absenting themselves should within seven nights be guilty of the crime of Brahmahatya. Vaishampayana alone failed to keep the appointment, and as a consequence he killed the child of his sister by an accidental kick of his foot. He called upon his disciples to aid him in performing the necessaiy penance ; but one of them, Ydjnavalkya, refused to take part in the prescrib- ed tapa. Vaishampayana in a rage commanded him to disgorge all the knowledge which he had received from him ; which he immediately did, out-vomiting the texts of the Yajush stained with blood. These texts, dirty though they were, were gobbled up by other disciples in the form of partridges (Tittiri) ; and collected together they form the Taittiriya Sanhita of the Black Y'ajur-Veda. Deprived of them Yajnavalkya ])raised the sun, who appeared to him in the form of a horse, and offered him as a boon whatever he might desire. ‘ Give me,’ he said, ‘ a knowledge of those texts of the Yajush with which even my preceptor is unacquainted. The Sun complied with his wishes, and gave him the texts which were unknown to Vishampayana. Because they were revealed by the Sun in the form of a horse (Vaji), the Brahmans who study this portion of the Yajush are called Vajis (or Vajasam'yas). Fifteen branches of thi.s school sprang from Kanva and other pupils ol Yajnavalkya. [See Charanavyuha, at p. 1.5 above, and note in Wilson ’.s Vishnu Purana, p. 281.] No notice of this legend occurs in the Veda itself. The term Taittiriya is more rationally accounted for in the index of the Black Yajush, in wdiich it was said that Vaishampayana taught it to Yaska, who taught it to Tittiri, who taught it to others. “ The Taittirij'as,” says Piinini, “ arc those wdio repeat (or read) what was taught by Tittiri.” See Wilson’s V. P. pp. 279-281. 5i WHAT THE CASTES ARE. (9.) The Kdsaranddu. The Kdsaranddu likewise profess the White Yajur-Yeila. (10.) 'The Velanddus. The Velanddus, who piincipally profess the White and Black A"ajur-Yedas, are numerous in the XizauTs portion of the A'ndhra teiTitory. They marry in their own body and sometimes with the Tailangas. From them was sprung Lakshmana Bhatta, the father of Yallabha, the founder of the infamous Vallabhacharya sect ; but his descendants of the present day (the Maharajas !) have no caste intercourse properly so called, except with the meanest or most unworthy portion of that community. (11.) The V enginddus . The Venginddiis (or Veginddus) receive their name from the dis- trict of Yengipura, which in olden times comprized the territory between the Godavari and the Krishna below the Eastern Ghats.* Most of them are said to profess one or other of the A'ajur-Vedas ; but the reciters of the other Yedas are not wanting among them. With the Velanadus they form the most important Brahmans of the province in which they are found. They are now widely distributed. (12.) The Vedinddus . The FecZfnrtfZus profess the Kig-Yeda. They are found principally in the country near Gantur and Masulij)atam. (13.) The Tailanga Sdmavedis . The Tailanga Sdmavedis are not a numeroiis class of Brahmans. They consider themselves Randganigas.\ In sect they are Smirtas. They have seven Gotras — those of Bharadvaja, Yadhulusha, Gautama Atri, Nityundina, Yasishtha, and Kaundinya.J (14.) The ltdmdnuj . The ltdmdnuj in the Tailinga country are so much under the influ- ence of sectarial feelings that they form a caste of their own. There are two divisions among them — (13) the Vadagadalu emd (14) the Tryan- gadalu, who eat but do not generally intermarry together. They take their meals in secret, according to the custom of their sect. They are strict Purists, and do religious service only to persons of high caste. From their jealousy of the Madhavacluiryas, who in the Tailinga coun- try are principally Karnatikas, they refrain from all worship of Hanu- raan. Both Big-vedis and Yajur-vedis are to be found among them. * !Mr. Walter Elliot. See J. of R. A. S. vol. iv., and vol. 1, X. S. p. 251. t Sec p. 11 above. j Information of Subha Avadham". THE ANDIIKA, OR TAILANGA BRAIDIAXS. 55 (15.) The Jrddhavdchdrijas. The Mdtdhavdichdr>/as in the Tcliigu country, as now intimated, are princi{)ally from the Karnatika. They are noted for the worship of Hanuman. They profess tlie Rig- Veda. (16.) The Niyogis. The secidarized Brahmans of Tailingana are called iVryoye's, or the ^ “Occupied.” Many of them are engaged as writers and village ac- countants. They eat with most of the classes of Vaidiks, but do not intermarry with them. Those of them with whom I have met profess the Black Yajur-Veda. Of theTailanga Brahmans, the different castes of Yajnr- vedis do not intermarry -with one another, except sometimes in the case of the Tailingas and Yelanadus; but gene- rally speaking they are at liberty to form matrimonial con- nexions with the Rigvedi's, when they are of the same sect. The AY'dic learning of all classes of the Tailantra Brahmans at the present day is but of a limited character. The few Brahmans who live by the Vedas, says Mr. C. P. Brovm, commit twenty or thirty chapters to memor}^, Avhich are recited at certain ceremonies in weddimrs. funerals and yajnas ; but they never pretend to know their meaning. Yot even ten Brahmans, he adds, could be found throughout the peninsula who are really skilled in the AYdas. The arrogance and violence of caste are but little mitigated among them. When one of their number loses caste (and this he may do from accident as well as from fault), his co-religionists ‘Mmmediately turn upon him as fish or savage beasts do on a wounded member of their communities.”* The Tailanga Brahmans usually visiting the Maratha Country are generally considered poor, illiterate, and superstitious. They are viewed, however, as careful of their Brahmaiiical acluira. In reference to the sweet- * C. P. Brown in Madras Journal of L. and S. vol. xi. p. 154. 5G WHAT THE CASTES ARE. ness of their language the following verse, which I first heard from the Rev, J. van S. Taylor (an excellent ver- nacnlarist) is repeated by them : — Tlie Marathi is sand ; theTarukn( Hindi) is d'nst ; the Kanadi is musk ; The Tenugu (Telugu) is honey; the Odii (Odra) is strength. 3. The Drdmdian Brahmans. The Drdvida Brahmans properly so called are found in the countries in which the Tamil or Tamir, the most southern of the Indian languacfes east of the West- ern Ghats is spoken. Their country lies to the south of Tailangana and Mahishasur (Mysore) and the east of the Cochin and the Travankur, or more properly the Tiravanakudi* territories.f They are more united * laterally “the abode that has become holy,” alleged to be the re- sult of Parashurama’s sanctification of it for holy Brahmans. t “ The Tamil language is spoken throughout the vast plain of the Carnatic, or country below the Ghauts, from Pulicat to Cape Comorin, and from the Ghauts, or central mountain range of Southern India, to the Bay of Bengal. It is also spoken in the southern part of the Tra- vancore country on the western side of the Ghauts, from Cape Comorin to the neighbourhood of Trivandrum ; and in the northern and nortli- western parts of Ceylon, where Tamilians commenced to form settle- ments prior even to the Christian era, and from whence they have gradually thrust out the Singhalese. All throughout Ceylon the coolies in the coffee plantations are Tamilians ; the majority of the money- making classes even in Colombo are Tamilians; and ere long the Tamilians will have excluded the Singhalese from almost every office of profit and trust in their own island. The majority of the domestic servants of Europeans and of the camp-followers in every part of the presitlency of Madras being Tamil people, Tamil is the prevailing lan- guage in all military cantonments in Southern India, whatever be the vernacular language of the district. Hence, at Cannanore in the IMalayfda covmtry, at Bangalore in the Canarese country, at Bcllary in the Telugu country, and at Secunderabad, where Hindustani may be considered as the vernacular, the language which most frequently meets the ear in the bazaars is the Tamil.” Caldwell's Grammar, p. 4. THE DKAVIDIAN BRAHMANS. 57 together tlian even the A'nclhras. Their principal divi- sions are connected either rvith their respective Shtlkhas or their Sects or Religious Orders. Connected with their Yedic relations they have the fol- lowing divisions : — (1.) The Rig-Vedis . The Rig-Vedis are the most numerous class of the Tamilian Bralimans. They are all of the Shakala Shakha, followed by Shaunaka.* They may intermarry with the class which follows, as is the case with their denomination in the Marathi country. (2.) The Krishna Yajur-Vedis. These, as now elsewhere, are now all of the Taittiriya Shakha. (3-4.) The Shiihla Tajur- Vedis. Those in the Tamil country are either M d d hy an d in as or K a n V as, who eat together hut do not intermari'y. (5.) The Sdma-Vedis. Tliose in the Tamil country are but few in number, and do not inter- marry with other classes. (6.) The Drdvida Atharva-Vedis. The Atharva - Vedis are also but few in number. Tliey conceal themselves, says the Abbe Dubois, with more caution than the others from the fear of being suspected to be initiated in the magic mys- teries and other dreaded secrets which this work (the Atharva- Veda) is supposed to teach. f (7.) The Numhi Brdhnians. The Numbi , wdio are found both in the Tamil and Kanarese dis- tricts, are Vaidik Brahmans, who all act as pujaris in the temples, and are consequently_ degraded. | In reference to sect the Dravidian Brahmans are either — (1.) Smdrtas, followers of Shankarachiirya, in the sense of up- holding the Smriti, from which their name is derived, and compre- * For the names of the Rig-Veda Shakhus, see above, p. 9. Shaunaka is said to have united the Shakala and Bashkala Shakhas. Ur. Max Muller (Hist, of S. L. p. 1 18) says, that as far as the Sanhita of the Ve'da, he was a follower of the Shaishira Shakhd. t Abbe' Dubois on the Manners and Customs of the People of India, p. 37, Dr. Pope's edition, t F. Buchanan’s Journey, vol. i. p. 333. 8 58 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. hcnding according to Dr. Francis Buchanan about a half of all the Brahmans of the lower Karnatik.* (2.) Vaishnavas, or Vira-Vaishiiavas, followers of IMadlivacharya, who occasionally take wives from the Sinartas, but who refuse to give them their own daughters. They eat with the Smartaa. (3.) The Shri-Vaishndvas, or followers of Raman ujacharya, who wont even eat with other classes of Br.ahmans. They form accord- ing to Dr. F. Buchanan about three-tenths of the Brahmanhood of tbeir district.]" (4.) The Bhdgav a tas hold the views of the Sraartas with some modifications, and profess to view Shiva and Vishnu with equal favour. They bear, however, the marks of Vishnu, and in some of their festivals follow the customs of the Vaishnavas rather than those of the SmArtas. (5.) The Shdktas, or worshippers of the female energies, are not perhaps so numerous in the south as in the north of India ; though it is feared they are there an increasing body, where in some districts the Vdma-Marga, or left-handed path, seems to be becoming popular in certain districts. These sects I shall afterwards have occasion to notice. They have undoubtedly to a good extent atfected the relationship of caste, practically imposing restraints on Hrahmanical social intercommunion and intermarriage. The Dravida Brahmans profess to be the most scrupu- lous ill India in reference to caste observance and prac- tice, and in support of their pretensions in this respect they exhibit all kinds of absurdities and puerilities. They are great opponents of the remarriage of widows and other proposals of reform. In regard to Sanskrit learning, they have been far from being contemptible for many centuries. The vernacular Tamilian literature is the most varied and interesting in India ; but others besides Brahmans have contributed to its formation. The Abbe * .loiirney through Mj-sorc, etc., vol. i. p. 13. t Bucli.man’s Journey, vol. i. p. 14. Ur. B. mentions an ignorant division of them called Sankhc'tl Bnihmans, the proprietors of betel-nut gardens near Ilaltore, vol. iii. p. 401. THE DKAVIDIAN BRAUMANS. 59 Dubois says, “it has been chiefly cultivated by the Shiidras.”* A great many of the Dravida Brahmans, as those of their brethren in other parts of India, are now completely secularized. “ The greater part of the Brahmans in the lower Karnatika,” says Dr. F. Buchanan, “ follow secular professions. They almost entirely fill the different offices in the collection of the revenue, and the administration of justice ; and they are exclusively employed as Hirkarahs, that is guides and messengers, and as the keepers of inns or choltris. Much of the land is rented to them ; but like the Jews they seldom put their hand to actual labour, and on no account will they hold the plough.”f Their farms they chiefly cultivate by persons of the mferior castes. Their aversion to hold the plough arises from their aver- sion to take animal life. “ Qui facit per alterum facit per sc” has not yet become a maxim of caste life. There is but little intermarriage between Tamilian laukika and vaidik families. Some of the Dravida Brahmans are found in the Ka- narese country. Referring to the Nagara division of the Mysore, Mr. Huddlestone Stokes, late of the M. C. S., * Abbe Dubois, p. 189, Pope’s edition. The existing works of the Pariahs certainly substantiate the remark; but no poet of conserpience lias appeared among them in modern times. See Address of Sir Alex. Johnston in Journal R. A. S. vol. i. p. 159. The Rev. Josiah Rhenius, the author of the instructive Memoir of his distinguished father, on the authority of Dr. B. Schmid, ascriljes the culture of the Tamil language to the Pandian Princes of Madura, who were long Buddhists. When these princes afterwards patronized the Briilimans the Tamil literature declined. — Memoir of C. T. E. Rhenius, p. 561. Mr. John Murdoch, of the Christian Vernacular Society, has just compiled a full Catalogue of Tamil publications, carefully arranged. t Buchanan’s Journey, vol. i pp. 18-19. 60 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. says, “ The Dravida or Southern Brahmans, including the Sankhetegalu, are chiefly found in Agraharas, Avhere they have been invited by the sovereigns of former times, and induced to settle by grants of land. They still retain a colloquial knowledge of Tamil, though they mostly use Kanarese. Tlieir books are in the grantha character. Some say they came originally from Tinne- velly (Trinavali), and others from Kanchi. The Kiidali Shringiri Svami is of this tribe, and most of the caste are Smartas.”* 4. The KarndHka Brahmans. The Karndtika Brdhmans are the predominatmg Brahmans of the Karnatika country or the districts in which the Kanarese language is spoken. “ The boun- dary of the Kanarese tongue on the W. and X.,” says ]\Ir. Walter Elliot, in one ofhis numerous valuable contri- butions to our Asiatic Societies, “may be designated by a line drawn from Sadashivagadh, on the ^lalabar Coast, to the Avestward of Dharwar, Belgaum, and Hiikeiri, throimh Kao;al and KarandAvar, passing between Kcli- gaum and Pand4gaiim, through Brahmapuri on the Bhima and Solapur, and thence east to the neighbour- hood of Beder. From SadashKagadh, folloAAung the southern boundary of Sunda to the top of the Western Ghats, it comprehends the whole of Mysore and Koim- batiir, and the line of Eastern Ghats, — including much of the Chola and Belala kingdoms, and eA^en DAara- Samudra, the capital of the latter, A\diich AA^as never sub- dued by the Chalukyas.”f In certain portions of this extensive territory, hoAvever, the Karnatika Brahmans * MS. paper sent to the autlior. t Hindu Inscriptions, J. R. A. S., vol. iv. pp. 3-1. THE KARNATIKA BRAHMANS. (51 are commingled with other classes, — above the Western Ghats especially, -svdth Maratha Deshasthas and Karlia- (las, and on the shores of the Indian Ocean with other classes which will be immediately mentioned. Some of them, indeed, are now settled in the commercial capital of the West of India. The Karnatika Brahmans in appearance differ but little from the Deshasthas, whom they resemble in dress, except in the turban, which they AV'ear in a lower and less rounded form. In the Belgaum and Dharwar Col- lectorates some of them, who are cultivators, are but little to be distinguished in apparel from the common peasantry. They have generally their abodes in parti- cular portions of the villages in which they reside, chosen for purposes of caste purity. As among the other Dra- vidians but few distinctions are recognized among them. They have the exact differences founded on their re- spective Vedas and sects which the Tamihan Brahmans have ; so a particular enumeration of them need not here be made.'" Yet some distmetive classes of them may be mentioned, in addition to the five classes (1-5) formed by the distinctions of the Vedas. (G.) The K uvie Brahmans. Th&Kume (or Cummays) are, says Dr. F. Buchanan, a kind of Brahmans differing from the others. They consist of four divisions nliich never intermarry — the Kanada, Arava Tokal, Urichi, and Bobora Kume. The tliree first are said to be of Karnata descent, the last of Tailinga extraction. (7.) The N a gar a Brahmans. Speaking of those in the Nagara districts (including the Badugandd, Vaishgamd, and the Aruvuitu Wokkal), Mr. Stokes says, “ They * The Atharvii-Vedis among them arc found jnincipally at lIuLali and Ilyabhalli. t Buthauau, vol. ii. p. Cl. 62 WIIAT THE CASTES ARE. appear originally to have come from the countries north-cast of Nagara, and to have settled here under the A'nagundi and Vijayana- gara kings. They are mostly Smartas of the Shringiri Svami, but not all of them. They speak Kanarese only, but their books are in the Niigari and Balabodha character. They are found chiefly in public offices.” “ There are many learned men among them, and generally they are respectably educated, good accountants and intelligent men.” The Karnatika Brdhmans in general have not in inoclern times been remarkable for learning, on which account, perhaps, the Lingayats (forming a comparative- ly lately instituted Shaiva sect) have made great pro- gress in the territories with which they are most inti- mately connected. The great majority of them follow secular pursuits. Many of them rent lands and engage in agriculture. It was principally with the Karnatika Brahmans that the Abbe J. A. Dubois had his experi- ences. Their character, as practically exhibited, he has drawn in too dark lines. “ Besides that great con- necting link of human society, filial reverence, a virtue so little appreciated among the Hindus, the Brahmans are likeAvise destitute of the other high moral sentiments which infuse the spirit of mutual agreement and union into the social body, moulding it into a large community of brothers, aiding one another in every difficulty, and mutually contributing Avhatever is in their power to each other’s welfare. The Brahman lives but for himself. Bred in the belief that the whole world is his debtor, and that he himself is called upon for no return, he con- ducts himself in every circumstance of his life with the most absolute selfishness. The feelings of commisera- tion and [)ity, as far as res[)ccts tlie sufferings of others, never enter into his heart. He \vill see an unhappy being perish on the road, or e\'cn at his o^vn gate, if THE KARNATIKA BRAHMANS. r.3 belonging to another caste ; and will not stir to help him to a drop of water, though it were to save his life.”* iUore to the same effect follows. Though the tendency of the caste system in the case of the Brahman does encourage such results (except in the matter of filial reverence which he really cultivates and practises), its evils, counteracted by other circumstances, certainly do not in general reach the extremity here indicated. More considerate and sympathizing are the observations made upon them by the great missionary Rhenius, who, however, justly says (Memoir, p. 187) : — “ Nothing, per- haps, is so difficult to be understood and fully compre- hended as a Brahman’s mind.”f The Yaidik Karndtika Brahmans, viewed as a low and u.seless class, were much persecuted under the govern- ment of Tippu Sultan, which, however, favoured their Ijaukika brethren as the only men of business in the country. J More fortunate they Avere under the ancient ^^ijayanagar Rajas, Avho had very extensive dominions. Kri.dina Rayalu is said to have granted them a tenth of his land revenue. § They are still the only Brahmans employed in their oa\ti districts in connexion Avitli births, marriages and deaths, the great occasions throng! i- out India for the employment of the priestly caste. According to the Shloka enumerating the Yidhis, or * Abbe Dubois, pp. 144-145, Pope’s Eel. f Speaking of tbe revenue officers under Tippu, Dr. Buchanan says, “ These were all Brahmans, and spent the wliole of their money on dancing girls, and in what they called charity, that is money given to men reputed holy.” Buchanan’s Journey, vol. ii. p. 231. J Journey of Dr. F. Buchanan, vol. i. p. 47. § Tb., p. 195. 64 WUAT THE CASTES ARE. great Divisions of the Brahmans, the Gurjara Brdhmans would here fall to be noticed. But they must be reserved for the present. Few of the generalizations m the Hin- du literature are either accurate or sufficiently compre- hensive. This is the case -with that of the Pancha- Drdvidas applied to the Brahmanical bodies south of the A'indhya range. They are not all comprehensible in those of the Malidrdf<]itra^ A’ndliras^ Dravidas (or Tamilians), Karnatihas and Gurjaras. In the country west of the Sah34dri Ghats, there are several large Brahman communities which are not mcluded m this enumeration. These it remains for us to notice before we leave in this brief survey the southern penmsula of India. 5. The KonJcani Brdhmans. The Konkani Brdhmans are to be distinguished from the Konkanasthas of that part of the Konkan in which the pure Marathi language is spoken, which extends from the Portuguese settlement of Daman on the borders of Gujarat to the Portuguese territories of Goa beginning at Terakol, fourteen miles north of the Goa river, and runs on to Sadashivagadh or Karwar and partially even to Ilonawar. Their original language belongs to the iVr3'an famil3' ; but it has peculiarities of grammar, and an infusion of Kanarese and Tulava words, which distin- guish it from the Marathi which it much resembles.* Though their first establishment seems to have taken place in the district here indicated, the3^ are scattered * Tliis remark I make from personal knowledge ; but sec on this language the opinions of the Rev. Dr. Mdcgling and the late R. X- iMurphy, Esq., in an interesting paper hy Sir Enskine Perry in Journal of R. R. R. A. S., vol. iv. p. 300. THE HUBU BRAHMANS. 65 over the whole country extending from Goa to Cape Comorin.* From among them were considerable num- bers of converts to the Romish church in the early Por- tuguese times. Most of them who are still adherents of Hinduism have entirely secularized themselves ; and many of them are engaged particularly as shopkeepers, Avriters, and cultivators. They have not much inter- communion Avith Brahmans of other classes. They belong to the Pancha-Gauda division of the Brhhmans ; and are Sarasvatas of kin to the Shenavis already noticed. f Goa AA"as originally their principal seat.| With them are associated the Huhu Brdlimans^ holders of some of the lands near Karwar.§ 6. The Huhu Brahmans. Speaking of Sadashivagad, or Karwar, Dr. F. Bucha- nan says, “ It A\muld appear that all the lands of this district belonged to Jaina landlords; but all these haAm been either killed, or so oppressed that they haA^e dis- appeared. After their expulsion, part of the lands Avere annexed to the GoA^ernment, and part gh’en to landlords * Of the Konkanis in the Cochin State, Mr. Day writes : — “ They are nearly twice as numerous as the Namburi Brahmans. They are not allowed to officiate in the temples of the latter, or the Namburis in theirs, whilst many deny them the title of Brahmans, to which they are un- doubtedly entitled. They came originally to Malabar from the Konkan, from which their name is derived.” Land of the Permauls, p. 208. I See above, p. 29. J “ After being expelled thence by the Portuguese, they dispersed, and are now mostly become traders. A few are still priests (Pujaris), and a very small number call themselves Vaidikas.” Dr. F. Buchanan’s Journey, vol. iii. p. 194. There are Konkani Shiidras as well as Kon- kaiu Brahmans on the Malabar Coast. § F. Buchanan, vol. iii. p. 179. 9 66 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. called Huhu Brahmans. These are of the Pancha- Dravida division; but are considered as degraded by Shankaracharya, and are now reduced to a miserable state of ignorance. None of them here can give any account of the tune when they came into the country, who brought them, or whence they came. They are the common almanac-keepers of the country, and in some temples are priests (pujaris). The lands formerly granted to the Hubu Brahmans, and which form by far the greater part of the country are called mula lands, and may be transferred by sale whenever the proprietor pleases. The Hubus have indeed alienated a great part of it.”* 7. The Gaukarna Brdhmans. The Gaukarna Brdhmans profess to be of the Pancha- Dravida, being a colony from Chichaitra, and despise the Haiga Brahmans seated in their neighbourhood. They say they were brought to their present position by Mayura Varma. They are all Smartas,f and are in pos- session of a Imga feigned to have been brought to the place by Ravana. Gokarna (Cow’s Horn) is mentioned in early Indian history. J 8. The Haiga Brdhmans. ( 1 . ) The Haigas., or rather Havikas, are scattered over the country extending through the region of the now perish- ing Tulava language, to the neighbourhood of Telichari on the coast, and even beyond the top of the Ghats. They rank themselves among the Gaudas., and generally speak the Kanarese language. Like the Tirgulas or * Dr. F. Buchanan’s Journey, vol. iii. pp. 179-180. t Buchanan’s Journey, vol. iii. p. 166. J See vol. i. p. 248. THE GAUKAKNA AND HAIGA BRAHMANS. 67 Irigulas of the Maharashtra, they are cultivators of the pepper-vine, and of the betel-nut palm. Speaking of them, ]\Ir. H. Stokes says : “ They are of the Smarta sect, and acknowledge the Ramchandrapura and other gurus. They state that they came originally from A'ndhra; but have been long settled in the North-West of Nagara, Soda, and Honavar, which is from them properly called Haiga. They have no language but Kanarese. They are very fair, with large eyes and aquiline noses. They hold much of the land in Sagara, Nagara, Chan- draguti, and Sorab, and are the great proprietors of betel- nut gardens.* They perform the different kinds of agri- cultural labour except holding the plough. Among them are a few rich traders and public servants ; but generally their education is much neglected.f Their number may be estimated at 12,000.” My own intercourse ■with them in a journey through their country led me to the inferences here stated. Dr. F. Buchanan gives similar information respecting them -with a few additions: — “ The Haiga Brahmans seem to have changed countries with the Karnatika, who in Haiga are in greatest estimation, while the Brahmans of that country have all the valuable property in Sudha (Soda), and their guru has taken up his abode in its capital at Honavali Matham, or the golden convent. Whatever truth may be in the story of Mayura Varma, the Haiga * “ The Haiga Brahmans say that all the forests spontaneously producing pepper, with the gardens and rice fields intermixed, are their private property.” Dr. F. Buchanan’s Journey, vol. iii. p. 208. This sweeping claim has not been admitted in any case without the examina- tion of actual tenures. t MS, of Mr. H. Stokes. See also Report, p. 79 in Mysore Collections. 68 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. Brahmans were certainly the first of the Pancha-Dravida division, Avho penetrated among the Jainas of these parts. It seems to have been with the view of depriving them of their property, that the pretence of their having lost a part of their caste, or rank, was set up by the subsequent intruders, who followed the conquests of the Yijayanagar monarchs. The character which the Haiga Brahmans use in writing books on science, is the Grantha of Kerala, Avhich they say includes all the countries created by Parashu- Rama. The Haiga Brahmans, however, consider the Kar- natika language as their native tongue ; and accompts and inscriptions on stone, whether in the vulgar language or in Sanskrit, are 'written in the Karnatika character, which is nearly the same with the A'ndhrf, or old writing of Telingana,”* The Hama Brahmans have the good sense to use animal food, in the form of fish. Some of my German friends visiting their country have doubts of them original Brahmanhood. They claim to be Rigvedfs and Yajurvedfs, but specify no Shakhato which they belong.f 9. The Tiilava Brahmans. The Tulava Brahmans receive their designation from the Tulava country and language. “ Tulu,” says Sir Erskine Perry (who received precise information from Dr. Moegling respecthig it), “ is spoken in the very limited district extending from the northern limits of Malayalam at the Xileshvara river, lat. 12° 10’ X. to the Bhahavara (Brahmavara) river four miles north of Upi (Udapi) 13° 30’. It is broken in upon by many lan- guages, both north and south, and appears to be in a * F. Buchanan’s Journey, vol. iii. p. 213. f Letter of L. B. Bowring, Esq., Commissioner of Mysore. THE TULAVA BRAHMANS. 69 state of progressive decay. To the humbler classes at Mangalur, the German missionaries find it is the only language in which they can make themselves intelligible, though they preach in Kanarese to the upper classes ; and it ascends to the mountains in Coorg (Kodaga) 6,000 feet high.”* The Brahmans taking to themselves the designa- tion of 2\dmmsnxQ scattered not merely through this pro- vince, but through some of the territories above the Ghats, where they have nearly forgotten their original language. f ^Ir. Stokes mentions the following local varieties of them as found in the Nagara districts: — (2 — 5.) Shiv all, P anc hagrdm a dava ru^ Kota^ and Kandav aru. “ These are all varieties,” he adds, “ of Tulava Brahmans, and appear to be almost aboriginal (in a certain sense). They are very numerous in the south of Nagara, Kaula- durga, Koppa, and Lakavali, where they hold the great- est portion of the betelnut gardens. They are mostly of the Smarta sect, and disciples of the Shringiri and its subordi- nate Mathasof Tirtha, jMuthar, Hariharapura, Bhandigada, * Journal of B. B. R. A. S. No. xvii. p. 308. f The translation of a curious Malayalam MS. called the Keralod- Ihava, by the Rev. Dr. Gunclert, is found in the O. C. S. for 1840, pp. 305-315. It throws some light on the Brahmanical history of Tulava and the more southern provinces of the Malabar Coast. After noticing the introduction by the Brahmans of various Perumal rulers into the country (the Reya,Chola,Panclya, etc.,)itcomesto AryaPerumal, of whom it says, “ He travelled through the whole of Kerala, a way of 160 kathas, and divided it into four provinces, and named this country from Gokarna to Perumpula, the Tulu kingdom ; the next part, be- tween Perumpula and the Puthnpatna (new-town), estuary, Kumbala or Kuva ; the country between Puthnpatna and Kunnati (near Quilon) was to be the Kerala Proper ; and the southern end, from Kunnati to Kanya-Kumiiri (Cape Comorin) received the name Musliika." Other ^ISS. transpose Kuva and Mushiha. 70 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. Mula vagal, etc. They speak Kanarese only, but their books are written partly in the Grantha and partly in the Balbodha character. Some sign their names in the Tulava character. They are inditFerently educated, ex- cept a few who are either brokers or in public employ.”* The Tulava Brahmans do not intermarry ^vith the other Brahmans on the Malabar Coast. In the Regulations attributed to Shankaracharya possessed by the Namburi Brahmans, “ it is decreed that intermarriages among the Brahmans north of Parampol, forming thirty -two gramas of Tulanad with the Brahmans of thirty-two gramas to the south called Malayalam are forbidden.”f A synonym of the Tula Brahmans is Imhran or rather Tamharan. They have classes (6 — 7 ) among them who profess respectively the Rig, Sama, and Yajur Vedas. | The Tulava Brahmans resemble the Namburis, and consider themselves as the proper lords of their country, pretending that it was created expressly for their use by Parashurama. They are polygamists. They cohabit, too. Dr. F. Buchanan tells us, -with the daughters of Rajas. Speaking of the Kumali Raja, a professed Kshatriya, he says, “ The eldest daughter in the female line cohabits with a Tulava Brahman; her sons become Rajas, and her eldest daughter contmues the line of the family. Whenever she pleases, she changes her Brahman.”§ They prevent widow remarriage, but promote widoAV jji’ostitution in the name of religion ; and ’with widows * Manuscript Notes. Report, p. 79. F t MS. of Col. Mackenzie, quoted in S. Indian Christ. Repository, vol. ii. p. 408. I Letter from L. B. Bowring, Esq. § Buchanan’s Journey, vol. iii. pp. 31, IG. THE TULAVA BRAHMANS. 71 and women who may have forsaken then* husbands and become “Moylar ” and attached to the temples, they hold intercourse. They burn their dead. They abstain from animal food and spirituous liquors.* Of some of the illegitimate olFsprmg of the Tulava Brahmans, the follovdng account is given by Dr. F. Buchanan : — “ In the temples of Tulava there prevails a very singular custom, which has given origin to a caste named (8) Moylar. Any woman of the four pure castes — Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya, or Shudra, who is tired of her husband, or (who being a widow, and consequently incapa- ble of marriage,) is tired of a life of celibacy, goes to a temple, and eats some of the rice that is offered to the idol. She is then taken before the officers of government, who assemble some people of her caste to inquire into the cause ot her resolution ; and, if she be of the Brahman caste, to give her an option of living either in the temple or out of its precincts. If she choose the former, she gets a daily allowance of rice, and annually a piece of cloth. She must sweep the temple, fan the idol with a Tibet cow’s tail (Bos gruniens), and confine her amours to the Brahmans. In fact, she generally becomes a concubine to some officer of revenue, who gives her a trifle in addition to her public allowance, and who will flog her severely if she grant favours to any other person. The male children of these women are called Moylar, but are fond of assuming the title of Sthanikas, and wear the Brahmanical thread. As many of them as can procure employment live about the temples, sweep the areas, sprinkle them with an infusion of cow-dung, carry flambeaus before the gods, and perform other similar low offices. The others are reduced to betake themselves to agriculture, or some honest employ- ment. The daughters are partly brought up to live like their mothers, and the remainder are given in marriage to the Sthanikas. The Brahmani women who do not choose to live in the temple, and the women of the three lower castes, cohabit with any man of pure descent that they please ; but they must pay annually to the temple from one- sixteenth to half a pagoda. Their children are also called Moylar ; those descended from Br^man women can marry the daughters of the Moylar who live in the temples ; but neither of them ever intermarry * F. Buchanan, vol. iii. pp. 65, 95. 72 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. with persons descended from a woman of inferior caste. It is remark- able in this caste, where, from the corrupt examples of their mothers, the chastity of the women might be considered as doubtful, that a man’s children are his heirs ; while in most other castes the custom of Tulava requires a man’s sister’s children, by way of securing the suc- cession in the family. The Moylar differ much in their customs, each endeavouring to follow those of the caste from which his mother derived her origin. Thus the descendants of a Brahmani prostitute wear the thread, eat no animal food, drink no spirituous liquors, and make marks on their faces and bodies similar to those which are used by the sacred caste. They are not, however, permitted to read the Vedas, nor the eighteen Puranas.”* The Tulava Brahmans are divided between the sects of Shankaracharya and iMadhvacharj^a. They hold that the former guru was first born at SivuH in Tulava; and the latter at Padukachaitra. The principal Mathas, or monasteries, of the Madhavas are near the great temple of Krishna at Udapi (or Udipi), tvhere their eight great Gurus officiate successively for a course of two years.f 10. Amma Kodaga or Kdveri Brahmans. It is a curious fact that in Kodaga (or “Coorg”) where only a few Havika, Tulu, and Marka or old Canarese Brahmans have as yet been able to establish themselves, a class of people called Amma Kodaqas (devotees of the goddess Amma) have put themselves forward with priestly pretensions, and are in this patronized b}" a Brahmanical family.| Of these curious people, the Rev. G. Richter writes : — “ The Amma-Kodagas live principally in the S. W. parts of Coorg, and are the indigenous priesthood * Journey of Dr. F. Buchanan, vol. iii. pp. 65-66. I See the specification of their arrangements in Buchanan’s Journey, vol. iii p. 93. See also p. 99 of that work for notices of other Mathas. if Moegling’s Coorg Memoirs, in 0. C. S. 1856, p. 82. THE NAMBURI BRAHMANS. 73 devoted to the worship of Amma, the Ivaven Goddess. They are of a quiet unobtrusive character ; do not inter- marry with other Coorgs, and are generally speakmg inferior to them in personal appearance, and strength of body. Their number is about 50. They are unlettered, and devoid of Brahmanical lore. Their diet is vegetable food only, and they abstain from drinking liquor. Their complexion is rather fair, their eyes dark bro’wn, and their hair black and straight.”* They do not profess to belong to any Shakha of the Yedas. They do not exercise any sacerdotal functions, though sometimes they officiate at marriages. They are probably the ori- ginal priestly class of the Kodagas. 11. The Ndmhuri Brahmans. The Ndmhuri Brdhmans are the principal Brahmans of the country in which the Malay alam (cognate with the Tamil) is spoken. That language commences where the Tulava ends, and extends to Cape Comorin, em- bracing the western face of the mountainous range to the east as well as the southern shores of the Malabar Coast although the Tamil, especially near the Palghat and Cape Comorin, seems to be encroaching upon it. The Namburis are not less proud and pretentious than most of their compeers in other parts of India. They absurdly hold that the Keraladesha, in a portion of which they reside, Avas made for them by Parashurama himselt' ; and that they are the descendants of Brahmans introduced by him into that land from the pure A'ryavarta, and that * Descriptive Sketch of the various Tribes and Castes in the Province of Coorg, p. 1. For this small pamphlet, I am indebted to L. B. Bowring, Esq., Commissioner of Mysore, who has Idndly furnished me with the information following the quotation. 10 74 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. they received the name of Nambutari, (the faithless, so called for forsaking their original inheritance), which has been contracted into Ndmhuri* They have a good many marked peculiarities of their own. They wear the chuda or sacred tuft of hair not on the crown of the head but on the forehead. They are averse to leave their na- tive country, and favour only local pilgrimages. In these respects they are unlike the great Shankaracharya, whose father is said to have belonged to their community. “A Shiidra is not to approach a‘(Namburi) Brahman so as to touch him, or even within three feet of him. It is considered a defilement if a Brahman performs his ablution within the precincts of the Shiidra’ s habitation. An Elaven or Shanar is to keep at the distance of twenty- four paces from him: and the slaves thirty-six paces, f If a Pulyar or slave touch a Brahman, the Brahman must immediately bathe, and change his Brahmanical thread and clothes, and absolve himself by reading the Vedas * Another origin is given to the name. The term Namburi is said to be derived from namhu, a paddle, which is used in this part of India to steer boats with, and is believed to signify, that these priests can steer persons, free from the shoals and quicksands on which others less favoured are recked.” Day’s Land of the Permauls, pp. 299-300. For other explanations, see Asiatic Researches vol. v. p. 29. “ The system of observation in regard to distance to be observed by the several castes in Malabar, is (according to the Raja of Karti- mid’s explanation,) as under specified : — “ A Ndyar [highest caste Shiidra] may approach, but must not touch, a Namburi Brahman. “ A Tir [cultivator] is to remain thirty-six steps off from one. “ A Malatjar [hillman ?] three or four steps further. “ A Pulyar [of a degraded caste] ninety-six steps. A Tir is to remain twelve steps distant from a Nayar. “ A Malayar may approach, but is not to touch the Tir. THE NAMBURI BRAHMANS. 75 before he dares to enter his house : and the life of the Pulyar is at stake. The Namburi Brahmans seldom go abroad without holding a chhatra or large umbrella: their women especially in all their excursions screen themselves with a large chhatra, ha\dng one or more Shiidra women to accompany them. The wife of a Namburi is restrained from appearing before any of her own, or her husband’s brothers, or strange visitors, and many are said never once to have been out of their doors. None of the brothers in a Namburi family are allowed to marry, but the eldest ; but if it is declared that his wife is barren, the next in rank is permitted to marry, and the heirs male of their body become the sole inheritors of their property. Widows are not permitted to marry. Celibacy amongst the women is not uncom- mon among the Namburis. If a woman dies before she has been betrothed by the Talli, it is considered impure and sinful to commit her body to the funeral pile with- out the ceremony of the nuptial rites ; an Aurea Pattar Brahman is engaged for eight or sixteen fananis to per- form the ceremony of the Talli, before the body is com- mitted to the flames. The poorer classes of Brahmans, however, are said to burn the body ■without the cere- “ A Pulyar is not to come near even to a Malayar, or any other caste but a Mdpilla, the name given to the Mahomedans who are natives of Malabar. If a Pulyar wishes to speak to a Brahman, or Nayar, or Tir, or Malayar, he must stand at the above prescribed, and cry aloud to them. “ If a Pulyar touch a Brahman, the latter must make expiation by immediately bathing, and reading much of the divine books, aud chang- ing his Brahmanical thread. If a Pulyar touch a Nayar he has only to bathe, and so of the other castes.” Jonathan Duncan in Asiatic Re- searches, vol. V. p. 5. 76 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. mony of the Talli.”* The Nambims do not intermaiTy with other Brahmans. Their women may be married long after they have arrived at puberty ; but they are not remarried after being widows. The younger brothers of their families who, as above said, are forbidden marriage, form connexions with Kshatriya and Nayar women. The men among them eat with Kshatriyas; but the women do not. They abstain from all animal food. They exact great deference from other classes of natives whom they meet.f They are dhdded into the usual classes founded on the Yedas ( 1 — 5 ) ; but only a small number of them are attached to the Atharvaveda. The Raja of Travankur is invested by one of them (a tantri or priest of a temple) with the sword of state on the occasion of his inauguration. They profess to be guided by certain rules prescribed for them by Shankaracharya. Some of the most curious of these are the following : — “ The Antarjauma or Brahmani woman is strictly prohibited from having access to or seeing any other man besides her lawful husband : and lilvewise her own male children are restricted from having access to her after they have attained the age of fourteen years. Such women are moreover stidctly enjoined, when any of them have to go abroad, to * MS. of Col. hfackenzie, in S. I. Christ. Repository, vol. ii. p. 401. f “ Arrogant and oppressive, vindictive and grasping, these Brah- mans will turn aside sooner than tread on a worm or any other insect, but think the murder of a slave no crime, should he provoke his death by too near an approach to one of their bigoted race, or by showing tliem any impertinence. They raise temples in which to feed animals, but will let a Charamara die sooner than give him a morsel of food to save him from starvation. When they walk along a road, runners always precede them, to drive away all low-caste persons ; in olden times, certain roads were exclusively appropriated to them. Every one must alight from his carriage or horse before passing into a temple which is usually surrounded by a wall.” Land of the Pcrmauls, p. 30G. THE NAMBURI BKAIIAIANS. 77 screen themselves by holding a large chhatra, and be accompanied by a Sbudra woman, as it will otherwise be accounted abominable. “ It is decreed that all unmarried women among the Antarjanmas, who die, are not to be burned, without the ceremony of the Talli, which ceremony must be performed by a hired Brahman ; as without this, it will be an abomination. “ In an Illam, (or house of the Namburi,) no Karmas or cere- monies are to be performed without the attendance of a Shudra; there- fore it is decreed, that in all Illams Shudras must be employed as servants to the Namburis. “ It is decreed that none but the genuine Brahmans of Kerala alone are permitted to enter into the Ambalam of a Devasthunam, where the god is placed. The Antarjanma xVmbalawasi girls and Shudras only are to have access to the Sannidhi, and all other inferior castes are strictly enjoined to stand without at certain distances according to their several distinctions of caste and profession. “ It is decreed that Illams and baranams (the houses of the Shu- dras) must not be constructed so as to form regular streets and lanes, but they are to be scattered, and every individual is permitted to build at his own convenience and pleasure. “ Brahmans alone are permitted to sit on boards formed in the shape of a tortoise shell, and it is decreed that if any of the other castes are found to use such boards, as seats, they will be liable to be capitally punished.* “ It is decreed that Shudras in their baranams or houses, who have a desire to keep their favourite deities as objects of their adoration, must have Brahmans, at least once or twice in the year, to perform certain ceremonies. “ With reference to the sixth law, allowing the younger sons of an Illam to form connexions with the Shudra woman, it is decreed that the latter are not considered pure. “ It is decreed that Brahmans are prohibited from the observance of one of the six actions or Karmas called bhikshadanam, by which they are restricted from the practice of receiving alms. “ It is decreed that the Rajastris of the Kshatriya tribe are pure : Brahmans alone may cohabit with them, and eating what is cooked by these women in their house, will not be considered an abomination. * This is according to the Smvitis. See vol. i. p. 22. 78 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. “ Wlien a Brahroam woman has children, tlie eldest of them alone is eligible to marry, and his son and heir must consider all his uncles Ijy the father’s side, and revere them as his own father ; and to each of these he is bound to perform the Karma, as the presumptive heir. “ It is decreed that Brahmans have the right of preventing a Raja or Prince of the country from putting any individual to death, and his right is derived from a pre-eminence of holding the birth-right inheri- tance as a gift from Parashurama.* “ Certain Brahmans have studied surgical operations, which is an abomination to a Brahman ; it is therefore decreed that those persons be ranked among an inferior class, and be called Muttadu or Elder. “ Certain Bra'hmans having attended on the Shudras, and performed the office of Purohita ; it is therefore decreed, that those persons also rank among the low class of Brahmans, and be called Eledu or Younger. “ Certain Brahmans, having made their confession and drank of the water, and received the flowers to make an atonement for the bloodshed committed by Parashurama [in his supposed slaughter of the Ksha- triyas], it is decreed, that those persons also be ranked below the genuine Brahmans of Kerala, and be called Ramnadakira- Uril-Pardsha [not now found in Travankur proper]. “ It is decreed that a Brahman must wear unbleached cloths whilst performing the office of Karma among them ; otherwise it would be an abomination. “ It is decreed that it is not considered a violation of the law for a Brahmani woman to marry, after she attains the age of puberty. “ It is not considered impure for a Brahman not to clean his teeth or for him to let his nails grow to a prodigious length, nor is it un- comely for them to shave every part of their body with the exceptft»n of the hair on their head. “ It is decreed that the right of inheritance among the Princes of the country, Shudras, etc., must descend to their sisters’ children ; but that of Brahmans must follow the direct male line. “ It is not an abominable thing for a Brahman to eat of the pic- kle made by the Ambalavasi and Shiidra castes, and the Papadas, or light fried cakes, made by Konkanis and Kshatriyas. * Visscher in his letters from India, which will immediately be mentioned, says they have their own subjects sometimes, over whom they have “the power of capital punishment.” Letters from Malabar, p. 84. The authority ■which they had in this matter is now circumscribed. TUE NAMBURI ASSOCIATE BRAHMANS. 79 “ It is decreed that Brahmans of whatever denomination and rank who are natives of Kerala may perform the office of Sandhyds or Pu- jdris in all Devasthana Chaitras. “ Besides the Brahmans, all other castes of whatever description, are expressly forbidden to cover the upper part of their body above the navel. “ Brahmans, Shudras and other castes indiscriminately are forbid- den to wear a covering on their head, or a covering to the foot. “ It is decreed by these precepts that the regulations of the Brah- mans are never to be altered.”* In these specimens of legislation the presumption of the Namburi Brahmans appears with a witness ! The Namburi Brahmans are said to acknowledge a chief with eight councillors ; but this is probably only for consultation. In Travankur, in 1854, their popula- tion was estimated at 10,238 souls. In the Cochin State, in 1849, it amounted to 3,764. f These numbers perhaps include the three classes of Brahmans about to be men- tioned. The Namburis devoted to Vishnu, it is right to mention, are sometimes called P any an, and those devoted to Shiva, Chovar. Associated with the Namburis are other classes of Brahmans requiring distinctive notice : — (12.) The Pottis. The Pottis are mentioned in the above notice of the Namburis, with whom they are much associated in temple services. They are found more in the south than in the north of Travankur. They eat, but do not intermarry with the Namburis. “Their Vedas and doctrines of religion, service, laws, morals, and rank and hereditary possessions do not differ.” J Among themselves their families avoid intermarriage in their own gotras. * Mackenzie MS. ut Sup. pp. 406-409. ■j- Trevandrum Calendar, for 1858, forwarded by J. A. Broun, F.R.S., Astronomer to H. H. the Baja of Travankur. J Mackenzie MS. ut Supra, p, 406. 80 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. (13.) The Muttadus. The Muttadus seem, according to the regulations quoted above, to be merely a portion of the original Brahmans of the Keraladesha, degraded for their (really laudable) study of surgery. (14.) The Eledus. The Eledus are represented above as having had a similar origin, and having been degraded for attendance on Shudras. Though the Namburis act as the gurus of the Nayars, Eledus perform many of their religious ceremonies. (15.) The Ramanad- Uril - Pardsashas. The Ramanad- Ur il - P ar a s asha s , probably found near Cape Comorin, have a degraded position, also alluded to above, pro- fessedly founded on an entire fable. (16.) The P attar as. The Pattaras are the foreign Brahmans without distinctive ap- pellations resident in Malayalam. Speaking of those of the Cochin state, Mr. Day says, “ They are all foreign Brahmans, in fact all those in the country excepting the Xamburis and Konkanis.* They amount to about six thousand, and often reside in a room of a Nair’s house. They are mostly worshippers of Shiva.”f The population of the foreign Brahmans in the Travankur census for 1854 is stated at 24,409 souls. They seem to be of the pure Dravida stock. The Rev. Jacob Canter Visscher, Dutch Chaplain at Cochin, whose interesting letters from Malabar were published in 1743, and lately translated by Major Heber Drury, says, “ Their native country is the district round Tuta- corin, Coromandel, Madura, Kotur and the neighbourhood. They hold themselves higher than the Malabar Brahmans and Namburis ; their occupation is trading, and the conveyance of commodities into the in- terior.” “They are divided into three castes, which differ but little in rank, though the respective members refuse to eat out of the same dish, or to intermarry with each other.” The names of these castes are thus given by the Dutch minister : — “ Pandy or Tanlour ; Toele or Choolia ; Toelegen or Mocker amhy.'''X * On the Konkanis, see above p. 64. f Land of the Permauls, p. 308. J Letters from Malabar pp. 130-131. THE SOUTHERN BRAHMANISM. 81 (17.) The Amhalavdsis or Amalavdsis . The Amhalavdsis are principally employed as Pujaris in the temples of Malayalam. They are said to be descendants of Nambnri fathers. There are eight or nine snb-divisions among them resembling castes founded on the special duties which they may have been dis- charging for some generations.* They are held in no great respect by the Nambnri and their associated Brahmans, for whom in fact some classes of them discharge rather menial offices. They resemble even in their higher employments the Devalakas, whom we have found disparaged in the law-books, and the Guravas (formerly a pastoral people), who generally act as Pujaris in the Shaiva temples of the Maratha country. The population of them in the Cochin territories in 1849 amounted to 4,796, and in the Travankur State, in 1854, to 18,870 souls. They get the offerings made in the Shaiva temples which the Nambnri Brahmans will not touch. Little light can be thrown on the entrance of the Brahman.s into Southern India, into which, as we have seen, the A'ryan religion had not spread in very early tiines.f The oldest A'lyan colonies of which we read connected with that part of India were those of the Pandyas, Cholas, and Cheras, of which very ancient dynastic lists (extending probably to pre- Buddhist times) exist, but without dates, and which are alluded to by the geographer Ptolemy of the second century. The localities of the Pandyas in particular were probably first reached by the Western Coast, by the Sihhas, from * These are (1) the Namhadi^yrho are accountants and superintendents of the others; (2) the Pishiroti-, (3) the Varyan; (4) the Pushpattu or Nambydr, who make garlands for the idols; (5) the Pudaval, who are sweepers; (6) the Muttadu \ (7) the Mussattadu, who are the Brahman’s barbers ; (8) the £7«ni, who may follow almost any employment ; and (0) the J/drdns or jSAiofran, who are tom-tom beaters. Day’s Land of the Per- mauls, p. 308. I suspect that the difference of rank and employment of these Ambala- vdsis indicates a difference in parentage, either on the part of the father or mother. t See vol. i. pp. 82-87, 226-228, 224-250. i Prinsep’s Indian Anticpiities (by Thomas) vol. ii. pp. 275, 279- 280; Buchanan’s Journey, vol. iii. p. 472. Ptol. Geog. cap. vii. li 82 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. Siuhapur (now Sihor) in Saurashtra,* who gave their name to Ceylon (Sihhaladvipa),f and who, aided by emigrants from the north-east coast of the Indian Penin- sula, ultimately extended their settlements to Sihhapur and various other places in the Straits leading to the Chmese Seas. They were doubtless the great naviga- tors of the western shores of India, and the portion of its southern shores most accessible from the West and from Ceylon. Their original country Saurashtra, as indicated by its name, was early brought under A'lyan influence. | They must have had the tolerably good seaports of the penhisula of Gujarat and the Gulf of Cambay on the west, from which to commence their navigation. Prabhasa, identified locally with Yiraval Patan, contiguous to Somanath, and which is early mentioned, was probably of their founding. At any rate it was in their possession. Gokarna, too, (north of Honfivara) would be accessible to them as they would pass along the western coast of India. Rounding Cape Comorm, they would have the low country, east of the Ghats, also accessible to them, either from the north or from Ceylon when possessed by them. Mathura, a name which had become classical from the legends about the deified Kri.shna, was in the smooth- er form Madura, an early capital of the Pandyas. It reappears near Dondra Head in Ceylon, and in one of the islands contiguous to Java. It may have been be- cause of some connection with the Dravida country that the Gujarat Brahmaus generally (by no means miiver- * See Author’s Second Memoir on Cave Temples in Journ. B. B. R. A. S. Jan. 1853. t The island of the Sinhas. I See vol. i. pp. 228, 248. THE SOUTHERN BRAHMANISM. 83 sally, as we shall soon see) rank themselves among the Pancha-Draviclas. I make these remarks with great deference, particularly as some orientalists are of opinion that the Pandyan colony must have been established by navigation in the Bay of Bengal. But be the state of matters what it may, the early A'ryan colonies in the South of India must have been favourable to the spread of Brahmanism and Brahmanic influence. Next, if not superior, in importance to the settle- ments now referred to, connected with which there were probably several extended dynasties, was in the A'ndhra Bhritya dynasty, the seat of which was in the A'ndhra-desha, now Telingana. Its chronological position, commencing with the twentieth year preceding the Christian era, is approximately reached by the help of the Pauranika tables.* In early times its sovereigns were patrons of Buddhism, as we learn from the Cave inscriptions of Western India; but before it expired it had returned to the profession of Brhhmanism. Of Brahmanism, too, the Chalukyas, who about the end of the third century after Christ entered the penin- sula of India from the north, and became the dominant race in succession to the Pallavas, of whom little is known, f were the professors and supporters, as abun- dantly appears from their numerous inscriptions collected by Sir Walter Elliot. Pulakeshi, the fourth in the list of this dynasty, is mentioned under the date of A.D. 489. He is said to have “ reconquered his own dominions, and (afterwards) the three kingdoms of Chera, Chola, and * See Wilson’s Vishnu Parana, p. 472, et seq. t The Pallavas were perhaps identical with the Pahlavas, a Persian tribe, which have been already noticed in our first volume. 84 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. Pandya.”* The Chalukyas soon separated into two branches, the Western and the Eastern ; the latter of which was established by Yishnii Yardhan the Second at Yen- gipnra, the capital of Yengidesha in Telingana, when he conquered that district A. I). 605 ; while the former continued at Kalyan in the Dakhan. Both of these branches, which continued in power till about the close of the twelfth century, appear to have cleaved to Brah- manism, their principal God being Yishnn. Most of their existing grants on copper-plates contam assignments of lands to the priestly caste. The oldest of these existing grants was found by my friend Dr. Alexander Burn at Kheda (Kaira) in 1837. It is dated Samvatsara 394, shown by Professor Dowson, who has published a satisfactory decipherment and translation of it, to corres- pond with A. D. 338. Its substance is this : “ He (Shri Yijaya Raja Sarvva) announces to all governors of pro- vinces, chief men of districts, heads of villages, and others (as follows) : Be it known to you that we have granted, Avith the pouring out of Avater, in the full moon of A'^aishakha, for the increase of the merit and fame of ourself and parents, to the general body of priests (adhvar.yus) and students {hrahmachdns) belonging to the KauA'a school of the A^ajasaneya (division of the Yajur-veda) in the tOAvn of Jambusara, for the perfor- mance of the Bali, Charu, A aishvadeva, Agnihotra, and other rites, the village of Paryachasa, etc.” This Aullage, Avhich must have been in the Bharoch collectorate in Gujarat, shoAvs hoAV extensAe was the Chalukya king- dom at the time of this grant. * See Six’ W. Elliot’s paper in Journ. of R. A. S. vol. iv. THE SOUTHERN BRAHMANISM. 85 For the sake of connexion and. illustration of the royal patronage, which must have been long extended to Brahmanism by the Chalukyas, and later Cholyas, I here give the valuable historical findings connected with them of Sir AV. Elliot : — “ Previous to the arrival of the first Chalukya in the Dakhan, the Pallavas were the dominant race. In the reign of Trilochana Pallava, an invading army, headed by Jaya Sinha, surnamed Vijayaditya, of the Chalukya- Kula, crossed the Nerbudda, but failed to obtain a permanent footing. Jaya Sinha seems to have lost his life in the attempt, for his queen, then pregnant, is described as flying after his death and taking refuge with a Brahman called Vishnu Somayaji, in whose house she gave birth to a son named Raja Sinha, who subse- quently assumed the titles of Ranaraja and Vishnu Vardhana. On attaining to man’s estate, he renewed the contest with the Pallavas, in which he was finally successful, cementing his power by a marriage with a princess of that race, and transmitting the kingdom thus founded to his posterity. His son and successor was named Pula- keshi, and his son was Vijayaditya II. A copper Shasanam, recording a grant made by Pulakeshi, which bears date S.S. 411 or A.D. 489, is extant in the British Museum. The next prince was Kirtti Varma, who left two sons, the elder of whom, Saty4shraya, succeeded him in the kingdom of Kuntala-desha, the capital of which was Kalydn, a city still existing under the same name, about one hundred miles west and a little north of Hyderabad ; while the younger, Kubj a Vishnu Var- dhana or Vishnu Vardhana the Little, established anew seat for him- self in Telingdna by the conquest of Vengipuram, the capital of the Vengi-desham, which comprised the districts between the Godavari and the Krishna below the Ghats. This event appears to have taken place about the end of the sixth or the beginning of the seventh century. “ The two families ruled over the whole of the table-land between the Nerbudda and the Krishna together with the coast of the Bay of Bengal from Ganjam to Nellore, for about five centuries. The power of the Kalyan dynasty was subverted for a time in the end of the ninth or beginning of the tenth century, and the emigrant prince or his son succeeded by marriage in A. D. 931 to the throne of Anhilwara 86 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. Pattan in Gujarat, which his descendants occupied with great glory till A. D. 1 145. But in A. D. 973 the dynasty of Kalyan was re- stored in the person of Tailapa Deva, and ruled with greater splendour than before till its distinction in A. D. 1189 by Bijjala Deva, the founder of the Kalabhuriya dynasty. “The junior branch extended their territories northwards from Vengi to the frontiers of Cuttack, and ultimately fi.xed their capital at Rajamahendri, the modern Rajamundry. More than one revolution appears to have occurred in the course of their history, but the old family always contrived to regain its power, until the kingdom passed by marriage to Rajendra Chola, the then dominant sovereign of Southern India, in whose person the power of the Cholas had reached its zenith. Whether the acquisition of Telingana was due entirely to inheritance or to the joint influence of force cemented by matrimonial alliance, is not clear. The fact, however, is certain, that the Chola power was established in the eastern Chalukya territories for upwards of a century and a half, and has left permanent traces of its existence. Rajendra Chola was succeeded by his son Vikrama Deva, surnamed Kulottunga Chola. On the death of his uncle Vijayaditya, who had been Viceroy of Vengi-desham, the king deputed his son Raja Riija to assume the office ; but after holding it for one year, xi.D. 1078, he resigned it in favour of his younger brother, Vira Deva Chola, who assumed the title of Kulottunga Chola. His grants are found in great numbers from A. D. 1079 up to the year 1135, when a partial restoration of the Chalukya line appears to have taken place, and they maintained a feeble and divided influence till the latter part of the twelfth century, when the country fell under the sway of the Kakatiya dynasty of Warangal.”* The Chola dynasty here referred to was a revival of the more ancient one. To it we are indebted for the magnificent Pagoda at Tanjur or Tangapiir, dedicated to the god Shiva. With one of its members, Yira Chola, I have ventured to connect the great Brahmanical Excavations at Elora, denominated on one of its Jaina Journ. of R. A. S. voU iv. and vol. i. N. S. pp. 251-2. THE SOUTHERN BRAHMANISM. 87 inscriptions, Virola^ quasi Vira + Chola{hy contraction), as the magnum opus of that king.* This would account for the Brahmanical Excavations now mentioned belong- ing to the Shaiva form of Hinduism, patronized by the Cholas, and not by the Chalukyas, who, as we have seen, were Yaishnavas. Grants of Yira Chola above referred to, and extending from A.D. 1079 to A.D. 1135, are made to Brahmans and temples. f The Kalabhuriya dynasty, also referred to above, seems to have been connected with the Chalukyas, the surname of its kings being Malla, in common with that of the later Chalukyas. It was succeeded by the Yadava dynasty of Dvara Samudra, and afterwards by the Yadava dynasty of Devagiri (postea Daulatabad). Khanderdya (or Khandoba) of this dynasty fought against and overcame some of the successors of the Mallas, hence called Malldri^ the enemy of the Mallas, and got from the Brahmans of the Maratha Country, the apotheosis as an incarnation of Shiva. J Among all the changes which took place there was no intermission in the patronage of Brahmans and Brahmanism in some form or other, especially after the overthrow of Buddhism and the de] ression of Jainism. * Second Memoir on Cave-Temples of Western India, p. 31, also in Joum. B. R. A. S., Jan. 1853. Some of the names of Vira Chola seem to be given as those of different kings in Prinsep’s Lists. See Essays on Indian Antiquities, ably edited by Thomas, vol. ii. p. 279. I See Mr. Elliot’s paper ut sup., and Prinsep’s Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 277. J See note by the Author, in Notes on the Marathi Language pre- fixed to second edition of Molesworth’s Maratiii Dictionary, p. xxvi. 88 WHAT THE CASTES AEE. This remark is applicable to all the later dynasties in the South of India as well as to those of an earlier date. The grants of the Kakatiya d3masty of Yaraugal, — Avhich as found in Vengidesha, now the Northern Sir- kars, extend from A.D. 1175 to 1336, — are of the usual character. Pratapa Rudra, one of the Kings of that dy- nasty, is mentioned as building a temple. Learned Brah- mans,as Vidyaranya ( Madhavacharya, and Sa3^anacharya) the great commentators on the Vedas, (if indeed these names apply to different persons) raised to the throne of Vija3'anagar* (cir. 1334) Bukka, Avho afterwards became their great patron. The names and temples of this d3masty show their attachment to the Vafshoava form of Brahmanism, which thc3" largely supported. One of them, Krishna Deva (cir. 1524), extended his sway to Gujarat.f It was one of his officers, Nagama Na,3^ak, who founded the Na3^ak dynasty at Madura, (which assumed inde- pendence on the fall of the Vijayanagar d3mast3’’) fertile of Brahmanical works, till it fell into the hands of the Nawab of the Karnatic, and afterwards into those of the British, Similar zeal was all along sho-wn by the VadKar d3masty of Mysore or Mahishasur, and which, though commencinty about the beginnino^ of the sixteenth centuiy, had no difficulty of getting certification of the most ancient descent even from the Yadava line. On the Western Coast, the Cheraman Perumals, or gover- nors from Chera, Avho afterwards became independent, and the Rajas of Travankur, who together were the great patrons of the Tulava and Namburi Brahmans, were * As. Res. vol. XX. and Prinsep’s Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 281. Bukka is mentioned at the end of the commentaries of Madhava and Sayana as their patron. t F. Buchanan’s Journ. vol. iii. p. 174. THE XAilBUKI BRAHMANS. 89 pfreat supporters of the Indian priestly cl.ass. The Brahmans of the Western Coast, indeed, claim all the countiy as a sj)ecial gift to them by Parashurama. Mala- bar is distinguished to the present time by the name of the Karmmo. Bhumi, the land of (good) works;* and Travancore bears as its proper name Tiravdnakudi^ or the land that has become holy. The great temples and religious establishments of the South of India, — at ]\Iadura, Tanjur, Kanchi, Seringham, Halibid, Vijayapur, Anagundi, Belur, etc., all bear overwhelming testimony to the importance and influence of the Southern Brahmans. f This circumstance, and the connexion of these Brah- mans with the origin of the greatest of the Hindu sects, give countenance to their pretensions to be now primi in Indis, though the}^ themselves, — as is evident from the decay of their religious structures, and the decline of their influence, as marked by the growth of the Lin- gayats, the advancing courage of the lower castes, tlie weakening of their political power, and many other cir- cumstances| — are undoubtedly in manifest decadence. * Day’s Land of the Peraiauls, p. 40. * f Of the more important of these temples, admirable photographs, by Col. Tripe, were exhibited at the Nagpur Exhibition of 18C6. J As an illustration of the advancing courage of the lower castes in the South of India, see a curious petition of the Panchalars (ironsmiths, carpenters, braziers, masons, and goldsmiths) of Salem, addressed to the Board of Revenue in i^adras on the 17th February 1840, and I>ublished in the appendix to the excellent Essay on Hindu Caste by the Rev. H. Bower. This petition sets forth that the Panchalas (as artizans) are the descendants of the Brahma Rishis; that the Brahmans are the descendants of Rishis of mongrel tribes; that the Polygars were deprived of their authority for showing favour to Brahmans ; and that all classes of men, to the destruction of Bnlhmanical monopoly, should be appointed to public offices without distinction. 12 5)0 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. To this, it has to be added, that seme very pungent satires on Brahmanism have appeared in the vernacular poetry of the South of India, both East and West. Vemana, the most popular of the Telugu poets, says : — “ The daily prayers and the Brahmanical cord are wanting both at birth and at the time of death ; his mother never enjoyed either of these, and if his mother be a Shudra, how can he be a Brahman ?” “ If we carefully observe and examine the universe, we shall see that all castes equally originated therein ; then all are equal ; surely all men are brothers.” “ Disputations as to which caste is the best, are all fruitless ; all the tribes originated in the same origin, who can decide as to the superiority or inferiority of any one? ” “ Why should we constantly revile the Paryar ? Are not his flesh and blood the same as our own ? And of what caste is he who pervades the Paryar as well as all other men ?” “ Place one dish before all men in the world, and let them eat together, abolishing their castes ; lay thy hands on their heads, and convince them that their present distinctions are absurd.” The following passage occurs in the ancient Tamil work attributed to Agastya : — “ Knowthat the distinctions of high and low caste were made for men to get a livelihood. The Vedas were made the support of Brah- mans.” Subramanyar the poet, in his jnanam, says, “ Hear this, the birth of all is alike, and all are subject to death. The life that leaves the body mingles with the other. All life proceeds from one source. Do not therefore speak ill of castes. All are alike. There is no dis- tinction.” In the Sukshma Vedanta, it is said : “Men, after exercis- ing particular trades and professions, divide themselves accordingly into as many castes. But if we properly consider the matter, we shall find that the nature of man is the same. If so, how is it then that one man considers himself of superior caste to another ? These distinctions only become demons, not men, who are of one origin.”* The effect of such passages as these occurring in the popular literature is not inconsiderable. * Bower’s Essay on Hindu Caste, pp. 19-23. Mr. Bower quotes the following prose passage to the same effect from the Sapta-prakaranam : — “ The title Brahman is similar to the names given by children to toj-s in play ; it is nothing in reality. So said VdsudeVa.” TriK GUHJJARA BRAHMANS. 91 12. The Gurjjara Brdhmans. The Gurjjara or Gurjard.^htra Brdhmans get their de- signation from Gurjard-'^htra^t\\Q “country of theGurjaras” ( now known by the name of Guj arat) , wliich has received its designation not from a great influx into it of the Scythian tribe called Gurjjara^ but from the fact that a dynasty belonging to these Gurjjaras (or Gurjaras) was at one time established in a portion of it territories.* Their general habitat is that of the Gujard,tilanguage, which is supposed to be spoken by six millions of people. Its northern boundary is the Gulf of Kachha (Kutch), and a line dravmfrom the extremity of that gulf, and pass- ing near Disa to the south of the A'bu mountains, and to the Aravali range on the east. Its eastern boundary is the range of hills running from the shrine of Ambabhavani, through Champaner to Hamp on the Narmada, which forms its southern boundary, and from Hamp to the jungles of Rajpipala ; from whence it extends again to the south, its eastern line being that of the Sahyadri Ghats till opposite Daman, near which its extension to the south terminates, its southern boundary in this direction being the Daman-Ganga river. From Daman to the Gulf of Kachha includmg the peninsula of Gujarat, — * In the lack of Gurjaras in Gujarat at present, the question, “ How did this part of India get its present name ?” has hitherto been a puzzling one. The solution, I think, is that which I have here given. Two coppei’plate grants, assigning land to Brahmans of Jam- busar, were found by Dr. Burn at Kheda in 1837 (along with the Chalukya plates referred to above). They are by the royal race of Gurjjara ({juijjaranripativansha), dated Samvat 380 and 385 (A. D. 305 and 310,) and mention Samantadatta, Shri Vitaraga (alias Shri .Jaya Bha^), and Shri Datta Kushali of this dynasty. See Professor Dowson’s paper in .Journal of R. A. S. vol. 1. N. S. 92 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. the Saurashtra of the ancient Hindus, and the Kathia- Avad of the Marathas and English, — the ocean is its boundary. It is spoken, too, to a considerable extent in Kachha, and among the Banias and other merchants, originally from Gujarat, Avho are so Avidely scattered throughout Western and Central India and the shores of the adjoining countries.* It is also spoken by the G urjjara Brahmans in the provinces of their peregrinations. In the general classification of the Brahmans usually current among the Natives, the Gurjjara Brahmans are said to belong to the Pancha Dravida,f though the greater portion of Gujarat lies to the north of the river Narmada and the Yindhya range. An examination of them in detail, hoAvever, shoAvs that not a feAv of their castes belong to the Pancha-Gauda ; AA'hile some of them haA’e been so long isolated from the other Brahmanical fraternities that they haA’e lost sight altogether of their former connexions. They are generally estimated at eight}^-four in number. Various lists professedly framed on this theory are at present before me ; but an examina- tion of them shoAA^s that A'ieAA'ed collectively they com- prehend many more than this estimate. It is correctly said bA’’ i\Ir. Kinloch Forbes that “ the Brahmans of Gujarat are belie A’ed to be subdiAuded into more castes than those of an}' other part of India.”! In here treat- ino: of them, I shall first exhaust the list of the intelligent Dalpatrama Daya, contained in his Jn4ti-Nibandha, published by the Ahmadabad Vernacular Society, giving A\diat information I haA'e been able to collect respecting them indiA'idually from intercourse Avilh their oaa'u * Histoncal View ( by the authoi') of the Operations of the Bombay Anx. Bible Society in 0. C. S. 1854, pp. 398-99. f See before, p. 1. + Rasmala, rol. ii. p. 232. THE GURJJARA BRAHMANS. 93 members and other sources of information, which will be mentioned as I proceed. Some of them have baffled alike my OMm research and that of the friends whose kind assistance I have solicited. (1-11). The Audichya Brahmans . The Audichy a Brahmans are the most mimerons class of Brahmans in Gujarat. They probably derive their name from the Amlichyas (the northerners) of old situated in the ancient province of Ayodhya (^Audh or Oude).'^' They are now divided into three great separate local castes: (1) the Siddhpur a Audichya, (2) the Sihor Audichya, and (3) the Tolkiya Audichya, who may eat but not intermarry with one another. Other caste factions, also standing socially aloof from one another, are to be found among them, as (4) i\xa Kunhigor, who act as gurus to the cultivators ; (5) the Mochigor , so called from their officiating as gurus to shoe- makers ; (6) the Barjigor, who render their services to tailors; (7) the Or andhr apagor , thegurus of players; and (8) the 7u>%o?’, who offi- ciate among the Kolis. New provincial divisions have appeared among them, as (9) Mar wadi Audichya, (10) the Kachh i Audichya, and (11) the Vdgadiya Audichya. ■\ The Vdgadiyas, here referred to, are treated almost as out-castes. Even Vanyas and Ku- lambis (merchants and cultivators) will not take water at their hands. Yet, with other supposed-to-be degraded Brahmans, the Audichyas effect marriages with them for their daughters. Unitedly viewed they are the most numerous class of Brahmans in Gujarat. They are principally found inthenorth of Gujarat, in Kachh, and on the western coast of the Gulf of Cambay. When they first settled in these parts large endowments in land were conferred upon them ; but they have mostly all been resumed by the native princes, the successors of the donors. They are said to have among them numerous hereditary professors of the four Vedas, par- ticularly of the Sama and Yajush. Besides performing the common religious services, they act as clerks, astrologers, mendicants, and domestic servants, particularly water-carriers for the higher classes of * Udichya is thus correctly rendered in Ben fey’s Dictionarj- “ f/t/i'e/iyo, i. e. Udanehya I. adj. Northern II. in the countiy to the north and west of the river Sharavati, M. Bh, 3, 1-1774. pi. Its inhabitants, Ram. 2, 82. 7.” t Dalpatrara’s Jndti-Nibandha, pp. 80-81. Vagad is, anglice, the “ Waghar” pro- vince of Kutch. 94 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. native families, who escape defilement by receiving it at their hands. They are worshippers of Shiva, and generally wear, when they wish to be thought in a state of purity, the horizontal sectarial marks of that deity. The Marwadi Shrimali Brahmans decline to take water at their hands, from its being believed that they have come from the north of the Vindhya range. The Bhikshukas, or alms-seekers, are very numer- ous in their community. They are said to tolerate widow remarriage. The Audichyas preserve among themselves various traditions, which, though not altogether worthy of confidence, contain some grains of historical truth. The following is the substance of them as extracted from the Audichya Prakasha (a reputed section of the Skanda Purana) by the poet of Gujarat, Dalpatrama Daya. Mulraj, king of [Anhilwada] Pattana, the Hindu capital of Gujarat, collected the following numbers of Brahmans from the different sacred places men- tioned:— from the junction of the Ganga and Yamuna, 105 ; from the Chyavanashrama, 100, Samavedis; from the country of Kanyakubja, 200 ; from Kashi, 100 ; from the Kurukshetra, 272 ; from Ganga- dvara, 100 ; from the Xaimisha Forest, and from Kurukshetra, an additional supply of 132, making a total of 1,109. He conferred upon them as a Krishnarpana, the town of Sihor, with 150 adjoining villages, and the town of Siddhapura with 100 adjacent villages. By this libera- lity he did what satisfied these Br.4hmans denominated the Sahasra (thousand) Audichyas. But other intelligent Audichyas did not accept his dana (largesses), but forming a toU (of their own) became the lolahjd Audichya, who acquired for themselves Khambhat (Cam- bay) and twelve other villages, while of the other, 500 were of Sid- dhapura and 500 of Sihor. Dalpatrama says that the date of the reign of this Mulraj, the first of the Chavadas of Gujarat, is not given in the Skanda Purana, lest its modern character should appear ; but that that date e.xtended from Samvat 998 (A. D. 911), and continued for 55 years.* * Jnati-Xibandha, pp. 35-37. Dalpatrdraa gives as his principal authorities for the date the Jaina works the Prabandha Chintdmana and the Kuraarapala-Charitra, but •without marking the chapters from which he extracts. He gives in full those of the Chavadas and Solankis (from the Chdlukyas). There are a few (not great) differ- ences between his lists and those of Col. Tod. in his Travels in Western India, p. 150 ; but both authors agree as to the commencement of the reign of Mulrdj, the first of the Solankis at Pattan. Mr. Kinloch Forbes (Ka-s-Mald, vol. i. p. 40) says, “ Vana Rdj, the first of the Chavadas, w,is born in A. D. 096, and reigned sixty years in Anhilaw4d4. He died in (Samvat 806).” The chronology of the kings of Gujarat may probably yet be correctly set forth from tabular inscriptions. THE GURJJARA BRAHMANS. 95 Probably all that can be safely inferred from these notices is, that Miilnij was very liberal in his favours to the Aiidichya Brahmans, Many Brahmans must have been settled in Sihor long before his day, if we take, as we do, Sihor to have been Sifihapur, the capital of the ancient Siiihas of Gujarat. Speakingof Sihor, Colonel Tod says: “Its original sanctity arose from a fountain of medicinal virtue, sacred to Gotama (one of the great sages of antiquity) and from the use of whose waters Mulraj was cured of some inveterate disorder, on which occasion he made a grant of Sihor and its lands to the Brahmans. With them it remained, until internal dissensions arose, ending in a political conflict, when the survivors of these Church militants determined to give themselves a master. They made choice of the Gohil of Ghogho, but while they invested their new lord with all the rights that regarded the defence and political control of the com- munity, with the exception of sufficient ground for a garden, they reserved all its lands for themselves ; and the Gohil, not having yet overcome early prejudices, has not dared to abrogate the Shasana or religious grant of eight centuries’ duration, the punishment for which act would be sixty thousand years’ residence in hell.”* Much further back than this Colonel Tod might have gone had he recognized the derivation of Sihor from Sihhapur, as I have found done by the Brahmans resident in the locality. Very great social inconveniences have occurred among the Audi- chyas from the divisions which have arisen among them, now referred * Tod’s Travels in tVestern India, p. 269. t ‘‘We are disposed to consider it the capital of the Sinhas, who made the first A'ryan invasion of Ceylon, from which it, perhaps, received the name of Sihhaldvipa, — and the seat of whose authority, we agree with Professor Lassen in thinking, must have been in Gujarat. We make another conjecture respecting it. It was probably the capital of the Sah kings {Sinha, as Mr. E. Thomas supposes) of Saurdshtra. Their coins we found wholly unknown in the locality. Though they have been pro- cured in many parts of India, from Kachha, — where they have again been lately found by Major LeGrand Jacob, — to Elichpur and Nagpur, from which places specimens have been forwarded to us by Brigadier Mackenzie, N. A., and the Rev. Stephen Hislop, — it is remarkable that none of them have been known to have been found in the peninsula of Gujardt till a few months ago, when some were brought to the notice of Colonel Lang, who has sent them to us for inspection. These coins, which have been so ably dealt with by Mr. Thomas, bear evident marks of Grecian influence.” Author’s Second Memoir on the Cave-Temples, etc. in Jour. B. B. R. A. S. January 1853. The coins of the Siiihas, and also of the Vallabhis have again been reviewed (in a very able and satisfactory manner) by Mr. Justice Newton, in No. xxii. of this Jourii.al. 96 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. to. These particularly appear in the matter of their marriages and eating and drinking, as may be easily understood. They are not confined, however, to the Audichyas.* “ The Shrimali Brahmans treat the Audichyas as belonging to the Pancha-Gaudas, who do not observe the rule of Shankaracharya as to abstinence from flesh meat.”| (12-21.) The Ndgara Brahmans. Tlieword N agar a is the adjective form of wayar, a city. It is applied to several (six) principal castes of Brahmans in Gujarat, getting their designations respectively from certain towns in the north-eastern portion of that province. They have great influence in Gujarat, particularly in its peninsular portion, where they are largely employed by the native chiefs. They consider themselves Dravidas, but without any reference to the languages spoken in the south of India. (12.) The Vadanag ara Brahmans receive their designation from the city of Vadanagara Ijing to the east of Anlnlavada Pattana. They are mostly found in the peninsula of Gujarat, former- ly Saurashtra, now Kathiawad, where the business of the native states is«principally in their liands ; but individuals of them are scattered over nearly the whole of the province of Gujarat, being found at Nadiyad, Ahmadabad, Baroda, Surat, etc. Most of them are Rig- Vedis, following the Shakhayana Sutras ; but some of them profess the other three Vedas, particularly the White A'ajur-Veda. The majority of them are Smartas ; but an inconsiderable number of them are Vaishnavas of the sects of Svaini Narayana and Vallabhacharya. None of them are practical cultivators ; but a few of them act as Desais. The mendicants among them are few in number. They do not eat even with the N%ars of other denominations. One of their number, Mr. Mahipatram Rupram, a well-educated young man, had the courage a few years ago to visit Europe. An atonement, however, was demanded of him for this caste offence; but happily he has not so far complied with the exactions made of him as to be restored to free intercourse with the Vadanagaras. He is now lending his efforts to the cause of reform, particularly in social worship, in which many wish him abundant success. * For some curious illustrations of this matter, see Dalpatrama s Jn:iti-2\ibaudha, pp. 90-yi. t Kcv. Dunlop Moore. THE GURJJARA BRAHMANS. 97 (13.) The Vishalanagara jRrd^ maws receive their name from the town of Vishal, — founded by Vishal, the first king of the V/ighela dynasty of Gujarat, sometimes called Visaldeva, (said by Colonel Tod* to have been installed in Samvat 1249, A. D. 1192), — and which lies a little to the south-west of Vadanagara. Tliey are principally Rig-VMis, and are either Smartas or Vaishnavas of the sect of Svami Naniyana. They are mainly either public servants or agriculturists. It is said that they would willingly eat of food prepared by the Vada- nagaras, if the Vadanagaras would eat with them. (14.) The Sdthodra Brahmans get their name from the town of Satliod on the Narmada. There are some Rig-Vedis among them ; but they are principally of the Madhyandina Shakba of the White Yajur-VMa. They are found at A'nanda, Naliyad, Ahmaddbad, Dabhoi, and other places. Some of them are in piiblic service, or engaged in buying and selling ; but a good many of them are still Bhikshukas, or act as gurus. They are principally, if not wholly, Smartas. (15.) The PrasA woras are said to belong to Prashnora. They are Rig-Vedis, and of the Vallabhacharya sect, their chief residence being in Kathiawad. They are principally mendicants, though a few of them are in service, or are buyers or sellers. (16.) Tlie A’'7’fsA nor as, of /msAnopwra, are of the Rig, Sama, and Yajur-Vedas. Most of them are Bhikshukas, but, as my infor- mants say, of a “ kind respectable for learning.” (17.) The Chitrodas are of the town of Chitrod.f They are found at Bhavauagar and Baroda. They say they have among themselves professors of each of the Vedas, who confine themselves to the service of the gods of the Vedas. But this matter is doubtful. They are not a numerous body. (18.) The Bdradas are a split from the Vishalanagaras and Vadanagaras, who, from difficulties found by them in marrying in their own castes, take wives from another. Mr. Kinloch Forbes says, “ They * Travels in Western India, p. 151. Vishvalanagara is the Sanskrit form. t This is not Chitrod in the eastern part of Wagar in Kachh ; but as my learned friend Mr.DunlopMoorethinks.it lies south-east of Palanpur. Sathod is thought by an intelligent Sdthodra Brahman to be near Shuklatirtha in the zilla of Bharoch. Priashnor is thought by Mr. Dalpatriiin Daj'a to be near Bhavanagar. These localities seem too remote, however, from the other Ndgara towns. The situation of Krishnor is now unknown. 13 98 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. are much despised after such a marriage, and compelled to quit their native village ; but the sect continues, notwithstanding, to increase. Tlieir women, contrary to ordinary practice, are permitted to remarry.”* According to Dalpatrama, founding on the Nagara Pravaradhydya, many Nagaras of different gotras were resident at A'nandapur in Samvat 283 (A. D. 226). In subsequent times, the divisions now existing were formed. When Visaldeva built Visalnagar, he called many Brahmans to a sacrifice. Many of those of Vadanagar obeyed his summons, but declined to take dakshina at his hands. Some of them, however, received from him rolled-up leaves upon which the names of villages were written, which they ultimately accepted. On this account they were outcasted, and became Visalnagara Brahmans. In a similar way were originated by Visaldeva, those of Sathod and Chitrod, and the Prishnoras and Krishnoras.j This story looks as if intended to vindicate the Vadanagaras for their nearly entire secu- larization of themselves and consequent declinature of religious alms, and to disparage the other Nagaras for accepting of them. Many modern local divisions have originated among the Nagaras. For marriage and other purposes they have arranged themselves into the following consociations of villages (sanvagamas) : — (19.) Gujaratis. Ahmadabad. Petlad. Nadyad. Vadodra. Khambhat. Sojitra. Kanyalf. Sinor. Dholka. Viramgam. Mumdha ? A'shi. (20.) Sorathis. J unagadhamukhy a. Mangarol. Porbandar. Navanagar. Bhuj. U'nd. Delvada. Prabhasapatan. Mahuva. Vasavada. Ghogha. Amreli. (21.) Of Various Towns. Surat. Dungarpur. Vaiisavada. Patan (or Pattana). Mathura. Kashi (Surat, Burhdn- pur, and Kashi keep- ing apart, and Patan and the others of the six keeping apart.|) Other splits are threatened, if they have not actually occurred, as is the case with Junagadh and Ghogha, and Patan and Dongarpur, the * Rasmala, vol. ii. p. 233. t Juad-nibandha, pp. 87-88. t Jnati-nibandha, pp. 48-50. THE GURJJARA BRAHMANS. 99 Nagaras of whom will have no intercommunion with one another in marri- age. Grihastha and Bhikshuka families are similarly affected. All this among a people reckoned so sensible in secular matters as the Nagaras ! Speaking of the Gujarat Br^mans in general, and of the Nagara Brdhmans in particular, General LeGrand Jacob, C.B., a close observer of the state of Indian society, says : “The Brahmanical priesthood, as a body, can scarcely be said to have any weight in the country ; there are no colleges for their education. The father gives the son such smattering of spiritual matters as may suffice to gain his bread ; some pretend to cast horoscopes, and are consulted on births for the purpose ; a few are sufficiently versed in the Hindu astronomical tables to be able to calculate eclipses, and some three or four of these are well acquainted with Sanskrit ; but I doubt whether the whole province could produce one person coming under the denomination of a learned Pandit. The late Ranchodji of Junagadh, a Nagara Brahman, to whose family, as Omras of the Nawab, the Junagadh dynasty owes much of its present power, was the nearest approach to an educated native gentleman the country contained. His tastes and habits of thought were above his age ; but he departed without casting his mantle on a successor. The Nagara community is very powerful in the peninsula ; they are by profession a corps diplomatique, and devot- ed to the arts of government; their principal residence is Junagadh, but there are many families at Nawanagar, Bhawanagar and other large towns. One family received a grant of land during the time of the Subahs, and are the present Chiefs of the Vasavadh Taluka, but these have given up the industrious habits of their race, and taken to opium and indolence, in imitation of the other lords of the soil. The Nagars are a shrewd race, and work their way into almost every Darbar by their ability and tact : most of the native servants of Govern- ment are of this class. The number in the peninsula is estimated at 1,263 families, of which 920 call themselves simply Nagars, in contra- distinction to the remaining 343, who are termed Brahmans. The caste is, however, the same, but the habits of the more numerous body are purely secular, whilst the others live by alms and the practice of their religion. The above estimate is exclusive of numerous Nagar families from Ahmadabad, and other parts of Gujarat, temporarily residing within the province.”* ♦ Bombay Government Selections, Province of Kathiawafl, p. 29. f 100 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. r (22.) The S dc h or a Brahmans . The S dehor a B r dhm a n s , named from the village of S d- chora in the south of Marwad, profess the four Vedas ; but they devote little attention to any of them. They should perhaps be viewed as belong- ing to Rajputana, where (at Jodhpur in 1835) they acted, according to Gen. Boileau, as “ officers of state.”* They are, however, always found in the Gujarat lists. They are Vallabhacharyas, and are cooks to the households of the Maharajas in Bombay, Surat, Ahmadabad and other places. (23.) The Udambaras. The Udambaras are said to have received their name from the sage called Udambara. But some think they get their denomination from their “high,” or light, “clothing.” They officiate among the lower castes ; and in no part of Gujarat are to be found in considerable numbers. I have heard of individuals of them being in the Ahmadabad and Kheda Zillahs, and in the districts of Khambhat or Cambay. Capt. E. Conolly mentions them among the mendicant Brahman guides (from Gujarat) at Ujjayin in Central India. | A few of them were found at Banaras in 1823, when Mr. James Prinsep’s census of that city was made.J (24.) The Narsiparas. The N arsiparas said to get their name from the village of Narsipura (from Narsihhapura) in the Palanpor Zillah. [?] They are of two kinds, the Rig-vedi and (White) Yajur-vedi. They are Vallabhacharyas, and act as Pujaris at the shrine of Krishna at Dakor (in the Kheda Collectorate.) (25.) The Valddras or Vadddras . The Valddra Brahmans receive their designation from the village of Valdd, or Vaddd, about fourteen miles from Ahmadabad, in the zillah of which, and in the adjoining one of Kheda, they are principally to be found. Their families, with thirteen gotras, afe estimated at about 1,500. They are Yajur-vedis ; but they do not devote them- selves to study or religious services. In sect, they are Devibhaktas ^ Personal Narrative of a Tour through, the Western States of Eajwani, p. 238. Their houses in Jodhpur were reckoned at 100. t Journ. of As. Soc. for 1837, p. 822. I Asiatic Res. vol. xvii. p. 492. THE GUEJJARA BRAHMANS. 101 ami Simirtas. Many of them are mendicants, formerly of no great repute. Considerable numbers of them are nofv cultivators or mer- chants. One of their number, Hargovind Girdharlal, is reckoned a staunch reformer in Gujarat, often taking due liberties in the matter of eating and drinking. He is a large farmer on the banks of the Vatrak. (26.) The P angoras . T\\q Pangoras are said to belong to Miirwad. I have not been able to hear of any of them being at present in Gujarat, though they remain on the lists of the Gujarat Brahmans. (27.) The Ndndodras . The iVarerforfr as get their name from the village of Ndndod, above Bharoch on the Narmada river, and near Rajpipala. They profess all the Vedas but the Atharvan. Most of them are mendicants, while a few are cultivators. They are said to be gurus to the Rajas of Rajpipala, and Dharampur. (28-o0.) The Girndras . The rad »• as derive their name from the ancient mountain city of Girinagar, now represented by Junagadh, the old fort, at the root of the celebrated Girnara mountain. They nevertheless reckon themselves to belong to the Pancha-Gaudas. In this locality they are principally to be found. They are also met with in other towns of the peninsula of Gujarat. A few of them are in Bombay. They are divided into the following castes : — (28.) The Jundgadhya Girndr as, oi Junagadh, novi mentioned. (29.) The Chorvddd Girndras,* of the town of Chorvad, on the coast between Pattana-Somnath and Mangrol. (30.) The A'jakiyas, so called from the village of A'jalc. These three castes readily eat together, but do not intermarry. They now rank low in the Brahmanhood, from their acting as gurus to Kolis, and having a variety of occupations, as those of administrators to native chiefs, clerks, astrologers, cultivators, men- dicants. They are of various sects as suits them for the time being. They are said to profess all the Vedas but the Sama, but are prin- cipally of the White Yajur-veda. They must be a very ancient con- federation of Brahmans. On a granite rock near Girnara are en- * So named from the town of Chorwad, lying on the coast of the Peninsula of Gujar.dt, between Mangrol and Viiaval-Pattana. 102 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. graven the now well-known Buddhist proclamations of the Emperor Ashoka, first copied for myself under the direction of my friend Gene- ral Lang. - (31.) The Somaparas. The Somaparas ov Som ap ddas (for their name is spelled in both ways) receive their denomination from the celebrated iSomanatha, the great temple of which was destroyed by Mahmud of Ghazni.* They are principally Smarttas, followers of Shiva, and are in charge of the tem- ples of that deity in their original locality, the principal of which now in use was built by the famous lady of the Indor Court, Ahalya Bai. They are well skilled, however, as I have found from their guidance, in pointing out the spots in their neighbourhood sacred to the god Krishna, who is feigned to have terminated his earthly career in that locality. In an inscription of Shridhara Rajd [A. D. 1215] on a pillar at Somanatha, found by Colonel Tod and translated by Mr. Wathen, the “ Sompara Brahman” is spoken of as “ perfect, and well acquainted with the rites of sacrifice, and the rules of meditation, worship, and the cere- monies of making offerings.” Of the temple of Somandtha, it is said in the same inscription, “ This temple is the abode of saints ; it is inhabited by Lakshmi; by worshipping this Shiva’s feet all sin is removed. By sight of this temple even the stain of evil deeds becomes effaced ; pain and disease also disappear.” A temple to Krishria is also mentioned in the inscription. It is difficult to say whether it praises most the gods or the Brahmans. f (32.) The Har soras . The Harsoras derive their name from Harsor or liar sol, south-east of Parantej, on the Mesva river. They are only a small body of Brahmans. They are said to profess the Yajur-Veda. They are the gurus of the Harsora Vanyas, whom they follow in all their mercantile wanderings. * The remains of the temple shown by the Somapara Brahmans as those of the temple injured by Mdhmud are shown by Mr. Kinloch Forbes, in a paper read before the B. B. R. Asiatic Society, to have belonged to a temple “ constructed by Bhi'ma Dciva I. and which was at last destroyed b5' the zeal of the renegade Hindu SulUn MuzafEar I.” The rebuilding of the temple by Bhi'ma Ddva is referred in one of the Somandtha inscriptions given in the appendix to Tod’s Travels in Western India. A Kinojya (Kanyakubja) Brdhman seems then to have been in the favour of the Pramara prince. t See 'rod’s Tr.avcls in Western India, pp. 513-51G. THE GURJJARA BRAHMAlf^. 103 (33.) The Sajodhras . The Sajodhras are named from the town of Sajodh, south-west of Bharoch. They eat with the agricultural Bhat^li^.' (afterwards to be mentioned), with whom they are sometimes confounded, though they do not intermarry with them. They are said to be Sama-Vedis; but their employment is that of cultivation. (34.) The Gangdputras . The Gangdputras are represented as a detachment of the Tirtha mendicants of the Kanyakubja Brahmans, who have found their way to Gujarat from the banks of the Ganges and Yamuna, and who have consequently become isolated from the main body of their caste. They are said to be Sama-Vedis, like many other Brahman communities who cannot give a definite account of themselves. (35.) The Modha-Maitras . Of the Modha-Maitras but little is known. Perhaps, they are some isolated body from the East of India now associated with the Modhas. They are said to be found in the Kheda Zillah. (36.) The Gomitras . The Gomitras are said to be of Kanyakubja, or Sarasvata origin ^ and to be Rig-vedis. They are found at A'mbaji Mata, south-east of Mount A bu. (37.) Shri-Gaudas . The (SArj-GaMcZa s in Gujarat are a body isolated from the Shri- Gaudas of the East of India. They are principally found in the Kheda and Ahmadabad zillahs and in Bombay. Most of them are followers of the new Vaishnava sect of Svami Narayana. (38.) Gurj ara-Gaudas . The Gary a r a- (? aw as get their denomination either from their acting as priests of the Gurjara tribe, or from their having been isolated from the other Gaudas because of their residence in Gujarat, in which many ot them are found, as well as in the different provinces of Eaj- putana and Malwa. Both Rig-vedis and Yajur-vedis are to be found among them. Some of them are denominated Se'vdlas, and some Upddhyas. (39.) The Karedas. The Karedas or Karethas are an off-set of the Maratha Karhada Brahmans, said to be found in the I'dar Pargana. 104 WHAT THE CASTES ARE- » (40.) The Vdyadas. The V dy adas are the Gurus of the Vdyadd Vanyas, said to be originally from the “ land of Bet. They are not very numerous, but are found in the Kheda and Ahmadabad zilla and in Bombay and other towns. They are mostly of the Black ¥ajur-Veda. Rig-vedis and Atharva-vedis are also said to be among them. (41-43.) The Mevddds. The Mevddds properly belong to the province of Mevad in Raj- putana. The following offsets from them, forming distinct castes, are> however, found in Gujardt. (41.) The Rdaia-Afevarfas, who professthefour Vedas, especially the Sama and Yajush, and who are principally found in the Kheda zillah and Khambat. (42.) The Trivddi Mevddas are also found in the Kheda Col- lectorate, particularly at Kadyad, Kapadwanj, and Dakor, but though not very numerous they are widely scattered. They are mendicants principally, and profess the four Vddas. Some of them I have found^ acting as grocers and tobacconists in the Maratha country, south of Puna. (43.) The Chordsi M evddds, who are also principally mendi- cants, are found in the Kheda zillah and the territories of the Gai- kawad. They profess all the Vedas, particularly the Yajush and Sama- * (44.) The Drdvidas. The Drdvidas stand in all the Gujarat lists ; but I have heard of none of them in that province who are now isolated from their brethren in the south of India. Travelling Dravidas frequently visit Gujarat. (45-46.) The Deshdvdlas. The Deshdvdlas receive their name from desha a country, and have some pretensions to be, par excellence, the Brahmans of the country of Gujarat. They are principally found, however, in the Kheda zillah. Those of them who reside at Surat form a distinct caste of their own, named Deshdvdla B r dhm an S ur at i . They profess all the Vedas but the Atharvan. They are, probably an ancient caste. (47-48.) The Rdyakavdlas. The Rdyakavdlas are now divided into the following non- intercommuning castes : — (47.) The as or Navas, the Little-ones or New-ones. THE GURJJARA BRAHMANS. 105 (48.) The M otlias or Jun a s , the Great-ones or Olcl-ones. They are found not only in Gujarat (especially in the Kheda zillah) but in Kachha, where they act as gurus to His Highness the Rao. They are said to be Yajur-Vedis. (49.) The Rodhavdlas. The Rodhavdlas are found in tlie Mahikanta and in the neigh- bourhood of Vankanir, and are principally cultivators and mendicants. A few of them are merchants and servants. Not long ago they were supposed to be inclined to act occasionally as freebooters. A few of them were at Banaras in 1823. 150-53.) The Kheddvdlas. The Kheddvdlas receive their designation from the ancient town of Khedd (Kaira). They have the following divisions : — (50.) The Khedavdla Bdjas. (51.) The Khedavdla B hi tar as. (52.) The Khedav a Bdjas. (53.) The Khedav a Bhitaras. The Baj as eat with Bajas, and the Bhitaras with Bhitaras, of both kinds. They embrace professors of the four Vedas, particularly of the Yajush. They are 23rincipally found in their original habitat. (54.) The S indhuvdlas , or Sindhava Sdrasvatas . The only Brahmans of Sindh federation known in Gujarat are the Sindhava Sdrasvatas . Kathiawad is their principal habitat. They are also found in Kachha. They are the priests of the Lohana and Bhanasali merchants, with whom they do not scruple to eat. In Gujarat they abstain from animal food, though their brethren in Sindh freely indulge in it. They wisely permit the remarriage of widows. They profess the White Yajur-Veda. (55.) The P admivdlas . The P admivdlas are now little known in Gujarat, in which even the origin of their name does not seem to be known. Perhaps it has a reference to theparfma, or lotus-flower sacred to Vishnu. Some ,of them are said to be found in Malva, especially at Ujjayin. (56.) The Gomativdlas. The Gomativdlas are said by some to get their name because of their alleged descent from Gotama Rishi, and by others from Gomati, 14 106 WPIAT THE CASTES ARE. the name of several rivers in different provinces. They are mendicants, found in the I'dar districts, and are mostly Yajur-VMis. (57.) The r tdvdlas . The I'tavalos, though still on the Gujarat lists, appear to have entirely or nearly entirely disappeared from the country. (58.) The Medatavdlas . The original consociation of the Medatavdlas took place at Medat in the Jodhpur State. Offsets from them are found in Gujardt as the ‘■^Shri-Gauda Brahman Meratavdla Sura it," found in Mr. Borrodaile’s Surat Census List.* (59.) The Gayavdlas. The Gayavdlas are an offset from the Mendicant Brahmans of Gaya. They are Yajur-Vedis, and are foimd in the Kheda zillah, in the villages of Adas and Nadyad. (GO.) The Agastyavdlas. The Agastyavdlas derive their name from the Rishi Agasti. They are said to be Y^ajur-Vedfs, found at Nimadf and Vadavan in Kathiawad, and at Ahmadabad and Dholka. (G7.) The Pretavdlas. The Pretavdlas are also Y'ajur-Vedfs found in Kathiawad, They are now cultivators. (68.) The Y dj nikv a las . The Yajnihvdlas are Rig- Vedfs and Yajur-Vedis. Surat and the neighbourhood of A'bu are mentioned as places of their residence. (69.) The Ghodavdlas. The Ghodavdlas are said to be from Manvad, and to act as priests to Shravaks, or Jaina laymen. (70.) The Pudavdlas. The Pudavdlas also act as priests to Jainas, though they pro- fess the Sama and Yajur- Vedas. (71.) The Unevdlas. The Unevdlas, though professing the four Vedas, particularly the Yajur-Veda, are principally cultivators and mendicants. They are said to be found at Vatadara, Khambhat, and Surat. * Jnati-nibandha, p. 111. THE GURJJARA BRAHMANS. 107 (72.) The Raj aval as. The Rajavdlas are found in the Kheda zilla, particularly at Kapadwanj. They profess the Yajur-Veda. (73.) The Kanojiyas. The Kanojiyas are an offset from the Kanyakubjyas of the East, who do not, however, eat with them. Some of them are in Bombay. They belong to the Pancha-Gauda, as do the three castes which follow : — (74..) The Sarvariyas. The Sarvariyas get their name from the ancient river Saryu. They are of the Kauthami Shakha of the Sama-Veda, and of the sect of Svami Narayana, who belonged to their caste. They are found at Vartal in the Kheda zillah. (75.) The Kandoliyas. The Kandoliyas are named from the town of Kandol in the j\Ialukanta agency. They act as cooks to Thakurs, and as family priests to Kapola and Sorathiya Banyas. They are worshippers of Devi-Samudri. They profess the White Yajur-VMa. It is said in the Kandol Purana that 18,000 of them wore the Brahmanical thread. (76.) The K h ar h h e I i y a s . The K h ar hh e I i y a s are sometimes called Pardeshis of Mevad, and may have come from that province. With the three last men- tioned castes, they are sometimes denominated Kapola Kagaras. (77.) T he P ar V aliy a s. The Parvaliyas (perhaps the name should be written P ur v a- liyas ) are a class of eastern Brahmans said to have of late years disappeared from Gujarat. (78.) The S or athiy as. The S or athiy as are of Sorath, the ancient Saurashtra. Their principal habitat is the Junagadh territories. They profess the Sama and Yajur-V4das. (79.) The T ang amo d i y a s. The T ang am odiy a sa.YQ Brahmans of dubious position, perhaps on account of the liberties which they have taken when in straits for a livelihood. 108 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. (80.) The S anodhy as. The Sana d Ji y a s are an offset from the Gauda caste of the ■ S a H 0 d h y a s, abundant in Central India and the Rajput States. (81.) The Mo talas. The Motdlas derive their name from the town of Mota, eighteen miles south-east of Surat. They are found in various places of that zillah, as at Saras and Ulpad, and also in Bombay. They are principally Yajur- A'edis ; but some Eig-Yedis are found among them. They act as clerks, Shastris, Joshis, and mendicants. Their most learned man is Bhaskar Bhatta of ilota. (82.) The Jar 0 las. Tlie Jdrolas, or more properly the Jhdloras, are said to derive their name from Jhalor, south of Udayapur in Rajputaua. They are generally Yajur-Vedis. (83.) The Rdyapulas. The Rdyapulas are said to derive their name from Rayapur, a suburb of Ahmadabad. (84.) The Kapilas. The Kapilas are named from the sage Kapila, and profess to belong to his gotra. They are worshippers of Devi, and are principally Sama-Vedis. They are found in the Surat and Bharoch zillas, particu- larly Jambusar. (85.) The Aksh ay amang al as . The Ak sh ay amang alas the “ Indestructible Puritans,” are found at Palanpur, and Pali, and Bhinmal in Marwad. (86.) The Gugalis . The Gugalis are said to derive their name from Gokula, sacred to Krishna. They are the Pujaris of this god at Bet, Dvarika, and Dakor ; and numbers of them are in Bombay, servants of the Val- labhacharyas, of whom they are enthusiastic supporters. They are not much respected by other Brahmans. (87.) The N dp a I as. The N dp alas get their name from the village of Napa near Borsad. They are cultivators, and famous for their raising tobacco. They are now comparatively few in number. THE GUEJJARA BRAHMANS. 109 (88.) The Andv al as or Bhdtelas . The Andvalas are named from the village of Andval, near AVasda, about forty miles from Surat. They are called Bhdtelas from their raising of ric^. Sometimes they are called Mastdnas (quasi Mahdsthdai, of great territory), a name applied to cultivating Brah- mans in many parts of India. They are settled between the rivers Kim (south of Bharoch) and the Daman-Ganga (South of Daman).* The late well-known and amiable Desm of Gandavi was a great ornament of their community.f They are principally cultivators and dealers in country produce, though some of them act as Government servants and mercantile assistants. (89-98.) The Shrimdlts. The Shrimdlts derive their designation from the town of Shrimdl, now called Bhinmdl, lying to the N. W. of A'bu and intermediate between that mountain and the river Loui. Their first representa- tives are said to have been collected by a local prince from no fewer tlian forty-five of the most sacred places of the north, west, south, and east of India ; but to the traditions to this effect little importance is to be ascribed. The A'ryan physiognomy is perhaps more distinctly marked in them than in any other class of Brahmans in India ; and this indicates but little mixture of blood connected with them since * The Dunga, I think, of Ptolemy. t In one of my missionary journals (under date the 26th December 1831), I find the following note of interviews with this gentleman at his own residence : “ In the morning I had very large congregations m the bazdr. On returning from it, I was invited to visit the De'sai, which I accordingly did. He proved very affable and kind, and what was of more consequence, very desirous of hearing the Gospel. When 1 was leaving him, he urged me to renew my visit, which accordingly, along with Dr. Smyttan, I did. We found him candid and intelligent, but quite a native in his manners, mode of living, etc. He spoke several languages, and was very desirous to hear all that could be said respecting his own and other religions This Sirdar has an income of about a Idkh-and-a-half rupees per annum. He is the Chief of the Bhdtela Brahmans, who are nothing but agriculturists, with the adhikdr (authority) of reading the Ve'das, and performing all priestly acts, which, they say, they obtained from Eiima Chandra on his journey to Lankd. I would infer from the situation they hold, that they proved rather refractory when Hinduism was originallj' propagated in this province, and that they obtained their peculiar privileges as a bribe to obedi- ence,” Whether they are cultivators, or proprietors of the soil, raised to the Brdhman- hood, or Brahmans who have become cultivators, it is of course difficult to say. Their A'ryan form is not so marked as that of the generality of Brahmans. Perhaps they arc a mixed race. I 112 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. From these two classes of Modhas have sprung the following addi- tional castes : — (101.) The A g ih an a {(\viQry A' g i a s ana , ox A'gy ar a ksh a- na?*) Mo dll as. (102.) The T rip ala Mo d has . (103.) TAio Khij adi y a S ah van a Modhas. (104.) Tho E k dda sh d dh r a Modhas. (105.) The Tdndulotha Modhas, and JJtanjaliya Mo- dhas. (106.) The Jet hi mala Modhas, and Chdturv edi Dhi- n oj a Modhas. (107.) The Dhinoja Modhas. Besides these castes of Modhas there are various provincial associa- tions of Modhas forming other distinct castes in the matter of food and intermarriage.| The Modhas reckon themselves Dravidas. They are now found principally in the Ahmadabad and Kheda zillahs ; but are widely scattered in other districts, coming as far as Bombay, following the Modha Banyas, to whom they act as Gurus. The Sama-Vedis are the most numerous among them. Considerable numbers of them are idlers and unscrupulous mendicants. (108.) The Vdlmikas. The Vdlmikas take their name from the "Rislii Yalmika. They are found in the Kdieda, Khambhat, and I dar districts. A few of them were at Banaras in 1823. Professors are found among them, it is said, of the four Vedas. They are Bhikshukas and cultivators. They j)rofess to be strict observers of caste. (109.) The N dradik as . The Ndradikas (so named from the sage Narada) are located in Khambhat, and its neighbourhood. A few of them were at Banaras in 1823. They profess the Sama and Black Yajur-Vedas. They are cultivators, mendicants and servants. They are not a numerous body of Brahmans. (110.) The K a ling as. The Kali ng as axes, division of the Pancha-Gauda Brahmans, now principally settled at KalingaiDatan on the southern coast of Orissa, * Fire-keepers. See Asiatic Researches, vol. xvii. p. 490. f Jnati-nibandha of Dalpatram Daya, pp. 54-50. THE GURJJARA BRAHMANS. 113 who will be onwards mentioned. They have certainly now no recog- nizable settled offsets in Gujarat, whatever they may have had in the time of the Gujarat princes of Anhllapur. Individuals of the original stock may still be visitors or pilgrims in Gujarat. (111.) The Tilin g as . The T ilin g a s are the same as the Tailangas already mentioned.* * * § Their settled offsets in Gujarat are now extinct, though individual Brahmans of the Tailanga country visit the principal places of Hindu pilgrimage in Gujarat as Siddhapur, Dvaraka, Pattan Sonmath, Dakor, &c. (112.) The Bhdrgavas. The Bhdr gavas derive their designation from the adjec- tive form of Bhrigu, the name of one of the ancient Rishis. Their chief habitat is the district of Bharoch, which must have got its name from a colony of the school of Bhrigu having been early established in this Kshetra, probably granted to them by some conqueror of the district. In the name Barygaza given to it by Ptolemy,"}' we have a Greek cor- ruption of Bhrigukshe'tra, (the territory of Bhrigu) or Bhrigukachha (thetongueland of Bhrigu). Speaking of the Bhdrgavas Dr. Drummond,f in his Grammatical Illustrations, says : — " These Brahmans are indeed poor and ignorant. Many of them, and other illiterate Gujaratis, would in attempting to articulate Bhrigukshe'tra, lose the half in coalescence, and call it Barygacha, whence the Greeks, having no ch, wrote it Barygaza.” The Bhdrgavas are certainly rising under the British government. One of them, Kishandds Jogaldas, was reckoned the best pleader in the Saddar Adalat at Bombay in 1830. He took an active part in the public discussions held in the Scotch Mission- house that year, in which he certainly showed more truthfulness and honesty than some of the other advocates of Hinduism. § These discussions were renewed with me by the Bhdrgavas in Bharoch in January 1835. On that occasion they quoted the Vedas without scruple, and candidly admitted that the Gdyatri is addressed simply * See above, pp. 50-55. t He denominates it Ba^vyd^a IfAiro^tov, and speaks of it as on the Namad (Narmada) river. Ptol. Geo. lib. vii. Ed. Bertii. p. 203. t Drummond’s Glossary appended to Illustrations of the Mar., Guj., and Eng. Lan- guages. § See Oriental Christian Spectator, vol. i. p. 18G. 15 114 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. to the sun, without a resort to any of the usual far-fetched Vedantist deductions. They are of the Madhyandina Shakha of the White Yajur-Veda. (113.) The M dlavi s or Mdlavikas. This is a name which has arisen from the province of M dlwd, oi which Sir John Malcolm says, “ There is perhaps no part of India where the tribes of Brahmans are so various, and their numbers so great, as in Central India.”* Many of the Gujarati Brahmans of different castes have settled in Malwa, and many of the Malwa Brah- mans in Gujarat. There is, nevertheless, a caste of Brahmans called Miilavis, par excellence, some of whom have entered Gujarat. (114.) The N andudnas. The N andudnas or Nandavdnds are named from the village oiNandavdna, in Marwar ; hut an offset of them is said to be found in a village near Bharoch. They are said to be principally Yajurvedis.f (115.) The Bharathcinas. The Bharathdnas are also named after their village in Marwar. An offset from them is found on the banks of the Narmada above Bharoch. (116.) The Pushkaranas . The Pushkaranas, or Pokharanas, derive their name from the Pushkara, or Pokhar Lake, near A'jmir.J They are scattered over all the Rajputana states, and the neighbouring provinces. “ The Pokharna Brahmans,” says Dr. Irvine, “ are said to have been Beldars who dug out Pushkar lake, and in consequence were created Brahmans. * Memoir of Central India, vol, ii. p. 124. f See under Pallivalas, in advance. J “ Pushkar,” says Colonel Tod, “ is the most sacred lake in India ; that of Manusarovar in Thibet may alone compete with it in this respect. It is placed in the centre of the valley, which here becomes wider, and affords abundant space for the numerous shrines and cenotaphs with which the hopes and fears of the virtuous and the wicked amongst the magnates of India have studded its margin. It is surrounded by sand-hills of considerable magnitude, excepting on the east, where a swamp extends to the very base of the mountains. The form of the lake may be called an irregular ellipse. Around its margin, except towards the marshy outlet, is a display of varied architecture. Every Hindu family of rank has its niche here for the pur- poses of devotional pursuits when they could abstract themselves from mundane affairs. The most conspicuous are those erected by Raja Man of Jayapur, Ahilya B41, the Holkar Queen. Jowahir Mai of Bhartpur, and Biji Singh of Marwtir. The THE GURJJARA BRAHMANS. 115 They still worship the Kodhali or pickaxe at the Dasara ; they are most numerous atPokharn in Marwar.”* Buyingand selling are now their main concern ; and they ai'e much employed by the Marwadi merchants. Some of them are settled in the Kheda zilla in Gujarat ; and some of them visit Bombay. (117.) The Sarasvatas . Sdrasvata is a generic name of one of the Pancha-Gauda classes, to be afterwards noticed. There are two castes of them in Gujarat, the Sorathiy a Sarasvatas , and the Sindhava-Sdrasvatas (already noticed). f They are principally found in Kathiawad, though they are widely scattered and extend even to Bombay. They profess the White Yajur-veda. The Sorathiyas are the priests of the Khatris (remnants of the Kshatriyas) and the Parajya goldsmiths ; and the Sindhavas (as already said) of the Lohanas, and Bhanasalis. Some of them are schoolmasters. But few of them engage in secular em- ployment. The two castes don’t eat together, or intermarry with one another ; though the Sindhavas (as formerly noticed) eat with Lohanas and Bhanasalis. Neither of the castes uses animal food in Gujarat, though the Sindh Sarasvatas do so in their own country. They are both Smarttas. The Sorathiya Sarasvatas don’t eat with the Sarasvatas of other provinces. Some of them are settled in Rajputana.f cenotaphs are also numerous. The ashes of Jaya Appa, who was assassinated at Ndgor, are superbly covered ; as are those of his brother Santaji, who was killed during the siege of that place. By far the most conspicuous edifice is the shrine of the creator Brimha (Brahma), erected about four years ago, by a private individual, if we may so designate Gokul Pak, the minister of Sindya; it cost the sum of 1,30,000 rupees (about £1.5,000) though all the materials were at hand, and labour could be had for almost nothing. This is the sole tabernacle to the One God which I ever saw or have heard of in India. The statue is quadrifrons ; and what struck me as not a little curious was that the sikra, or pinnacle of the temple, is surmounted by a cross." Tod’s Rajasthan, vol. ii pp. 773-74. The shrine here referred to did not appear to me, when I visited it in 1860 with my kind friend Dr. Small, to be of the costly character here indicated. It is dedicated not to Brahma, the fountain of deity in the Veddntic sense ; hut to Brahma, the consociate of Vishnu and Shiva. There is one other temple de- voted to Brahma in the Panjdb. Very few Pokharna Brahmans are now found at Pokhar. The temples are in charge of Brahmans of other castes, except that of Brahmd, which is cared for by devotees. * Topography of Ajmere, p. 90. t See p. 105, above. J Information of Narayana Ramachandra Bhatta. 116 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. (118.) The Kh addy ata s. The Khaddyatas get their name from the town of Khadat, on the banks of the Vatrak in the Kheda Collectorate, in which they are still found, as well as in the Ahmadabad and Bharoch zillahs. They are principally Rigvedis and Yajurvedis, and act as priests and gurus. (119.) The Mdrus. The Mdrus derive their name from M dru ox M drwdd (the region of death, from its great deserts); but there are not now many Brahmans in Gujarat who go under this general designation. A few are mentioned by the Rev. J. V. S. Taylor as being at Kheda. (120.) The D dhimas . The D dhimas get their name from the tribe of Rajputs so- called (to be afterwards noticed), with which they are associated. The offset of them in Gujarat is known by its wandering propensities. They belong to the A'di-Gauda, and are Yajurvedis. (121.) The Chovishas, The Chovishas are of high pretensions, of the “ twenty-fourth grade ” in dignity. They are divided into M ota s and N h dnds “ Great ones,” and “ Small ones.” They are found at Baroda, and at Siuor and Janor near the Narmada. They profess the Sama, Black Yajur, and Rig-Vedas. (122.) The Jdmb u s. The Jd mhu s are the Brahmans of the town of Jamhusara in the Bharoch Collectorate near the Gulf of Cambay. Priestly frater- nities seem to have existed at this place in early times ; for, according to Dr. Burn’s Copperplate Grants, translated by Professor Dowson,* the villages and grounds, in certain measurements, of Pariyachasa and Shirisha Padraka, and of Jambusara itself, were granted by Chalukya and Gurjjara princes in Samvatsara 380, 385 and 394, (A. D. 322, 328, and 337). The Brahmans of these fraternities (whose gotras are mentioned) are said to be of the Kanva, A'shvalayana, Kauthuma, and Pippalada Shakhas, to which I believe their local suc- cessors still more or less belong. These Brahmans are now principally astrologers, mendicants, or cultivators. A very bad character has been given of them by Surgeon Thomas Marshall in his excellent statistical • Journ. of R. A. S., New Series, vol. i. p. 268-283. THE GURJJAllA BRAHMANS. 117 report of the Jambusar Pargana; but his eyidence has been mitigated by the not less excellent “ Memoir of the Zillah of Baroche,” by Lieut.- Colonel Monier Williams, from which the following is a quotation, re- ferring not only to the Jambu but other Brahmans of this part of Gu- jarat : — “ Brahmans of different sects are found in this collectorate, as Patels, Bhagdars, and cultivators ; performing, like other cultivators, the manual labour of tilling the ground. The villages where this is the case indicate, perhaps, in general, inferior management ; and it is, there is reason to believe, more difficult to preserve the rights of Government unencroached upon, where the Patels and Bh^dars are Brahmans, than in other villages. These Brahmans differ little or nothing in dress and appearance from their brother husbandmen of the country ; they are sunburned and rugged, and exhibit not the sleek skin or pampered person, which many people associate with the word ‘ Brah- man,’ in the notion that they are all of the sacerdotal order. A large proportion of the Brahmans of Gujarat are metahs, writers, revenue officers, desais, etc. ; they are, indeed, an highly useful race of people in this quarter. It is rare to see any of them engaged in a military life, although there are instances of it. In a paper of Mr. Marshall, which I have only very lately seen, and which is, I believe, likely to be published in the transactions of the Bombay Literary Society, the very worst character is given to this caste ; and I think it but fair to say, that my experience does not at all corroborate the statement.”* (122.) The Marethas\ or M ahdr d slitr as . There are numerous M ar dthd Brahmans resident in Gujarat, especially since the establishment of the Gaikawad Government at Baroda ; but they are all now in social and religious fellowship with the respective castes in the country from which they take their name. (123.) The Dadhichas. The Dadhichas take their name from one of the Rishis. They beg, cultivate land, or act as Gurus. They are found at Valavad on the Mahi. Speaking of them, the Napalas, and others already men- tioned, the Rev. Mr. Taylor thus writes to me : “ Many of the castes are numerically insignificant. In such there is a tendency to dwindle away. This is the case with the Napalas, and I think also with the Dadhichas.” * Colonel Monier Williams, p. 96. t So, often thus pronounced and written in Gujarat. 118 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. (124.) The Laldtas. The Laldtas said by some to be in Kacbha, near Lakhpat; but I did not recognize any of them in that locality, when I yisited it with Dr. Duff in 1840. By others, but their opinion is probably incorrect, they are said to be denominated from the ancient province of Lata, located by Ptolemy (under the name of Larikd) near the Narmada and Baragaza.* In lists of the Eighty-four Castes presented to me in 1841 by the Darbar of Eajkot, andby a learned Brahman of the same place, the following castes, not inserted in other tables, occur : — (125.) The Vatulas. Tlie Vatulas are said to belong to the neighbourhood of Amreli in Kathiawad. (126.) The Borsidhas. The Borsidhas, who profess the White Yajur-Veda, are named from their ancestor Varahsiddhah, of whom the Rev. J. V. S. Taylor, of Borsad, thus writes to me : — “ He founded a settlement in these parts which was named after him, and is now corrupted into Borsad. They say this was about Samvat 712, when this part of the country was cleared of jungle, and settled by Varahsiddha and several other Siddhas, who have left their names in other places ending with s a d." Some of the neighbours of these Borsad Brahmans don’t assent to this dignified account of their origin, but say they were originally only Rabadis, or camel herdsmen. Perhaps this belief may have originated in their having married some- time or other, women of that caste. I am not able to make an adjudi- cation between the parties in this case. (126.) The Golavdlas. The Golavdlas perhaps correspond with the Golds of other districts, as being of mixed origin. Some would make them Gohila- vdlas, from an alleged connexion with the Gohil Rajputs. I have been told that they are found at Barya in the Kheda zillah, and, as strag- glers, in Khandesh. * Ptol. Geo. ib. vii. Bert. p. 203. The few natives, who know anything of Lata, place it farther to the East, as in the Dasha-Kumara Charitra. From Lata, the Lad Vanyas receive their designation. THE GURJJAKA BRAHMANS. 119 (127.) The Praydgavdlas. The Praydgavdlas are from the junction of the Ganga and Yamuna. I have known of the designation in Gujarat merely as ap- plied to Brahmans who have become wandering devotees and solicitors for the Prayaga pilgrimage. (128.) The N uy alcav alas . The N dy ak av dl as may have got their designation from officiat- ing for Roll Nayaks. They are found near Dvarika. (129.) The Utkalas. The Utkalas are the Brahmans of Orisa. An offset of them is said to be found at Dehagaum, north of Ahmadabad. They act as gurus to cultivators, and have not a high standing in their neighbourhood. (129.) The P alliv alas . The P alliv ala Brahmans receive their name from the town of Pdli, the commercial capital of Marwad in Rajputana. They have twelve gotras. My informant was a Sama-Vedi.* They are shrafs, merchants, and cultivators, but serve only in their own caste. They don’t eat or intermarry with other Brahmans. They are found in Jodhpur, Bhikanir, and Jaisalmir, and some others of the Rajput states. A few of them are at Dilli, Agra, and in the Panjab, Gujarat, and Mewad. Only one or two of them are in Bombay. They are Smartas, and don’t use animal food. They don’t drink the water of the houses of their own daughters, or any persons not belonging to their own castes. They don’t eat with those of their own caste, who have got isolated from them as with the Gurjas and Mewad Palivalas. They belong to the Kanyakubja division of the Brahmans. “ The Nandavana and Pallivala Brahmans are traders ; were formerly located at Nandavana and Pali, and were there chiefly robbers, conducting their excursions on horseback. They subsequently became traders. They are said still to worship a bridle on the Dasara, in memory of their former state.”! They are scattered through the north of India as Bohras, or middlemen between the cultivators and Government.” (130.) The Mathur as . The M dthur a s, ox M athvlas, are named from the city of Mathura. I have not been able to hear anything satisfactory respect- ing their location in Gujarat. * Chnnildl Bastarama. t Irvine’s Topography of Ajmer. 120 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. (131.) The M aithilas. The Mail hi las, or Br^mans of Mithild, are now only known in Gujardt as visitors from the East of India. (132.) The Kulabhas. This is a name obviously given to a certain class of Brahmans not born in lawful wedlock. (133.) The Beduds. The Beduds get their name (or nickname ?) from Bedu, a waterpot. (134.) The Ravavdlas. The Ravavdlas {Ravdlas ?) are said to get their names from a village named Rava. They are found at Nadyad and other places in the Kheda collectorate. (135.) The Dashaharas. The Dashaharas are said to be found near Anhilwadd Patan. They are worshippers of Ddvi. (136.) The Karndtikas. The Karndtikas are now known in Gujardt only as visitors from the Kanarese country. (137.) The Taldj ty as . The Taldjiyas get their name from the ancient town of T aldj d , lying on the coast of the peninsula of Gujarat, to the south-west of Ghoghd.* They are principally Yajur-vedis of the Mddhyandina Shakha. They are now found at Jambusar, Surat, Bom- bay and Nasik. Many of them are shopkeepers. (138.) T h e P dr a s h art y a s. The P dr dshariyas are named from the sage Pardshara. They are said to be found in the south-east of Kathidwad, and in the Jodhpur State. (139.) The A'bhiras. The A' J /i zV a s are of Rajput origin. They have got their name, as already mentioned, from their acting as priests to A'bhiras, now popularly called A' hir s * There are Buddhist caves in the neighbourhood of these towns, first brought to my notice by H. Young, Esq., and the Rev, James Wallace. See Journ. of B. B. R. A. S. 1850. t See before p. 26. THE GURJJARA BRAHMANS. 121 (140.) The Ku n d u s . Of the K u ndu s I have not been able to hear anything. The word K%i n dll n in Gujarati means either a vessel, or an ornament of the ear. (141.) The H i r any aj i y as . The Hiranyajiyas seem now unknown in Gujarat, though they are said to be found in Hajputana and at Banaras. (142.) The M as t anas. The M d s tana s (J/ ahdsth uni?') are cultivators like the Bhatelas.* I found great numbers of them at Siddhapura, the religious capital of Gujarat, in 1859. They have abandoned Brahmanical rites, if indeed they ever practised them. (143). The Sthitishas. Of these so-called Brahmans nothing certain can now be, heard. The foUot\dng additional castes are named in a list of the “ eighty-four” furnished to Dr. Drummond by Bha- vanishankar of Bharoch : — (144) Predatavdlas; (145) 72 d ^ m r a s, of the village of Eampur, now found in the Pargana of Dakor, and professing the Sama Veda ; (146) Jilas; (147) T2 2 o a s , said to be found at Umra in the Kheda zillah; (148) Durmalas; (149) K od av a s, belonging to the village of Koda, near Cambay; (150) H unushuna s (query, Andushi ?) said to be found near Cambay ; (151) Shevadds, a class of Rdjgurus (to be afterwards noticed), who occupy themselves not only in the usual services of the Edjgors, but perform literary and priestly labour for the Jainas ; (152) Titragas; (153) B a s ul d da s (?) ; (154) M a g ma r y a s ; (15b) E d y at h a I a s ; and (156) Chapilas, some of whom were at Surat in 1827. Of these Brahmans, it will be noticed, little is now known. Of the following castes of Gujarat Brahmans I have heard, though I have not found their names in any of the lists usually circulated. (157.) The Bdradds. The Bdradds are the ancient Brahmans of the province of Baradd, now possessed by the Jaitva Rana of Porbandar. * See before p. lOD. l(j 122 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. (158.) The Bhukantyas. The Bhukaniyas are said to be in KsUhiawad. (159.) The Gar od as. The G ar 0 d as are the priests of the Antyaja Dheds, with whom they eat, but don’t intermarry. They look like Brahmans, and speak Gujarati. (160.) The T ap odana s. The T ap odana Brahmans are found on the banks of the Tap ti near Surat. Most of them are cultivators ; and many of them act as Pujaris of the temples of Shiva, the offerings at which, contrary to general usage, they accept. They have consequently not the respect of the local Brahmanhood. They are much in the position of the Gaurava Pujaris of the Maratha Country. The R djg iirus,Bhdttas., and Chdranas will be noticed in connexion with Rajputana. Speaking of the Gurjjara Brahmans in general, my obser- vant friend the Rev. J. Van S. Taylor writes as follows : — “ Many of the castes are numerically insignificant. In such there is a tendency to dwindle away. This is the case -with the N dp alas., and I think also with the Dad hichas. Frequent intermarriage, producing physical deterioration, especiall}'^ when the blood is poisoned by disease, is one cause of this. Another cause is the non-marriage of widows. Widotvs are at once a loss to the population and their own caste. But Brah- manls sometimes become feeders to other castes. Many Rajputs, Kolis, Kulambi's, and Musalmans (I know of one case, even of a Bhangi, ) get Brahmanic widows as either their second or secondary wives !” “ From the same cause B h dr av a or Bhdravada castes spring up. These are the progeny of mixtures between persons of different Brahmanical castes. They are strictly out-castes, and sometimes are numerous enough to form a little community among themselves. THE GURJJAKA BRAHMANS. 128 But there is a great temptation on the part of the small castes to smuggle in Bhdravas, the children of their own caste widows. The Ndgaras are said to do this more than the others. Their desire to maintain their provin- cial strength is given as the reason. Natural affection and natural resistance to the unnatural restrictions of caste may also have their share in inducing to this course. “ Brahmans in these parts do not give in to the preten- sions of the [Yallabhacharya] Maharajas. They consider themselves superior to the Maharajas, who are only the gurus of the Bhatyas, etc. But Sachora Brahmans act as cooks to the Maharajas, that is to their attendants. The Maharajas do their own cooking.” In the early days of the A’ryas both in continental and peninsular Gujarat, and in the days of the Hindu kings of Anhilavada Pattan, the Chavadas (or Sauras), the Solankis (or ChMukyas), and the Vaghelas, — the Brah- mans must have had great political influence, though it must have been considerably impaired when Kumarapala (of the Solankis) and some of his successors became professors and supporters of the Jaina faith. The long- maintained connection (both friendly and hostile) of Rajputana and Central India with Gujarat explains the introduction into Gujarat of various classes of Brahmans from those provinces. That connection, now, is principally of a mercantile character. The mercantile classes of Gujarat, in modern times, do more for the Brahmans than the Rajas or Chiefs who are still in power in ihe districts to which they belong. Consider- able numbers of Gurjjara Brahmans now seem inclined .to become the rivals of the Vanyas in trade. Ui WHAT THE CASTES ARE. (11.) — The Five Gaedas. The Pancha-Gaudas, or Five Classes of Xorthern Brah- mans, are, from a Hindu point of view, more corrupted, broken, and scattered than the Pancha-Dravidas, or Five Classes of Southern Brahmans. The deterioration of the more remote of them (as vieAved from a Brahmanical point of view) occurred, as we have seen in early times.* That deterioration, in whatever it may have originated, must have been much increased, not only by the great wars of the Pandavas and Kauravas, and of the Solar and Lunar Races, carried on between the A 'ryan tribes, but by the numerous invasions from the exterior of India by Scythians, Persians, Greeks, Parthians, Bactrians, Indo- Scythians, Shakas, Hunas, Arabs, Tartars, Moghals, and other peoples and tribes; not to speak of the rise and development of Buddhism, and the interior military and political contests of later times. In treating of the Pancha-Gaudas, consequently, we cannot so distinctively refer to them geographically as we have been able to do in the case of the Pancha-Dra\ddas. (1.) The Sdrasvata Brahmans. The Sarasvata Brahmans receive their name from the river Sarasvati which belongs to the north-western system of rivers, though it loses itself in the sands of the deserts north of Rajputana.f The A'ryas reached * See vol. i. pp. 261-2, in which the SannTas and the people of the Panchanada are held up to shame as well as those dwelling beyond the Indus. t Referring to the Sarasvati, (under the barbarous name of Caggar, which it bears on our olden maps, as noticed by Prof. H. H. Wilson in V. Purana, p. 181), Colonel Tod says; “ the Caggar, which rises in the Sivalik, passes Hansi Hissar, and flowed under the walls of THE SARASVATA BHAHMANS. 125 its banks, and settled on them, even in Vedic times. “ The Sarasvata,” it is correctly remarked by Colebrooke, “ was a nation which occupied the banks of the river Sarasvati. Brahmans, who are still distinguished by the name of their nation, inhabit chiefly the Panjab or Panchanada, Avest of the river from which they take their appellation. Their original language may have once prevailed through the southern and Avestern parts of Hindustan proper, and is probably the idiom to Avhich the name Prakrit is generally appropriated. This has been more cultivated than any other among the dialects Avhich Avill be here enumerated [in the paper on the Sanskrit and Prakrit languages], and it occupies a principal place in the dialogue of most dramas. Many beautiful poems composed Avholly in this language, or intermixed Avith stanzas of pure Sanskrit, have perpetuat- ed the memory of it, though it may have long ceased to be a vernacular tongue. Grammars have been compiled for the purpose of teaching this language and its prosody, and several treatises of rhetoric ha\’e been Avritten to illustrate its beauties.”* It is certainly no longer spoken as it is found in books ; and the Sarasvata Brahmans form the only class of natives of India noAv Bhatner, at which place they have yet their wells in its bed” (Rajasthan, Tol. ii. p. 295). The river which passes Hansi and Hissar is not the Sarasvati but its associated river the Drishadvati, forming with it the boundary of the Brahmavarta of Manu (ii. 17). The Sarasvati is the Sarsuti near Thanesar (Sthaneshvar). Vasishtha devotes to it two hymns, in the Fifth Ashtaka of the Rig- Veda. Its disappearance [in the sands] is noticed in the Mahabharata, and attributed to its approach to the [non-A'ryan] Nishadas. See vol. i. p. 251 of this work. See on the agreement of the Zend word Haraquaiti v^ith Sarasvati, India Three Thousand Years Ago, p. 23. ^ Asiatic Transactions, vol. A'ii. pp. 21»-19. 126 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. distinctly recognized as connected with the Sarasvata nation. They are found, not only in the Panjab and Sindh, where they abound, but in Rajputana, Gujarat, the North West Provinces, and even, as we have seen, throughout the southern provinces of India.* (A.j The Panjab and the adjoining territories form at present the principal habitat of the Sarasvatas. For the following list of them I am indebted to Pandit Radhd Krishna, who is so favourably known for his zealous and effective efforts for the advancement of female education. He most kindly prepared it for me, after no little trouble and research, on his learning my need of such a reliable document from Sir Donald F. McLeod, the present energetic and philanthropic Lieuten- ant-Governor of the Panjab. I have added to it a few notes, some of which are on his own authority. “ I submit,” says the learned Pandit, “ a list of the different sections of the Sarsut ( Sarasvata) Brahmans. The total number, as far as I have been able to collect it, after consultation with a good many Brahmans, is 469. A complete and accurate list can only be prepared from the records and registers of the Pdndasf of Hardwar, Thdnesar, and Mathurd. These contain the genealogies of every family of note, any member of which has visited the holy places within the last three or four centuries. 1 have compared my list with the books of two Pandas of Hardwar who had lately come here (to Labor). It will be observed that a large number of the sects have derived their names from those of the localities in which their ancestors had settled or from the nicknames given to ® See pp. 29-30, 65 above. I Pandei’ers for pilgrims, who wander about extolling the Hindu Tirthas. THE SARASVATA BRAHMANS. 127 individuals.* * * § In a book named the Bhaktam^a,f written by Nabhaji about 400 years ago, the name of Ndrdyanadas Navale, one of my ancestors, is mentioned. I cannot find mention of any other sect of Sarasvata Brfihmans in any other book.” “ There are four great classes of Sarasvata Brahmans in the Panjab, according to locality as shown in the list.” In this province they occupy the highest place in the Brahmanhood. Connected with these classes, Radha Kishan makes the two following general observations, which quite agree with information which I have received from other quarters. 1. “As a general rule Brahmans of one class do not inter- marry with those of another. But whenthey settle in differ- ent districts for a long time, they are compelled to contract- marriages with those around them, and in course of time become intermixed with them. 2. Tribes having nu- merical values marry their daughters among themselves, but they take the daughters of lower classes in marriage.” (1.) Sarasvata Brahmans of the districts of Labor, Amritsar, Bat did, Gurddspur , Jalandar, Multdn, Jhang, and S hd hp u r .J {High Caste.') 1 Navale.§ 4 Sarvaliye. 6 Tikhe. 2 Chuni. 5 Pandit. |j 7 Jhingan. 3 Ravade. 8 Kumadiye.if * Some of them, it will also he seen, are named from their ancient gotras. f Of this ,work a lithographed edition was published a few years ago in Bombay. Manuscripts of it are abundant among the Marathas. t The names in the lists occur in the plural. § Panjdti, or of the numerical value of five, from the classes with whom thej- intermarry. II In the districts of Multan, Jhang, and Shdhpur the tribe of Lamb is included instead of Chuni. ^ To the Kumadij'e' belonged the Raja Stiheb Dayal, celebrated in the service of the Sikh Government. 128 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. 9 Jetle. 2 1 Pathak. 36 Shame-Potre. 10 Mohle or Mole.* * * § 22 Kural. 37 Bhoja-Potre. 23 Bharadwaji. 38 Singhe-Potre. 11 Tikhe-A'nde. 24 Joshi. 39 Vatte-Potre. 12 Jhingan-Pingaii. 25 Short. 40 Dhannan-Potre. T 13 Jetli-Petli. 26 Tiwadi. 41 Druvade. 14 Kumadi'ye-Lumadiye 27 Marud.§ 42 Gaindhar. 15 Mohle-Bohle.f 28 Datta. 43 Takht Laladi. 44 Shama Dasi. 16 Bage. 29 Mujhal. 45 Setpal (or Shetpal) 17 Kapunye. 30 Chhibar. 46 Pushrat. 18 Bhaturiye. 31 Ball. 47 Bharadvaji.** * * §§ 19 Maliye. 32 Mohana. 48 Katpale. 20 Kaliye.J 33 Lava. 49 Ghotke. 34 Yaidya. 50 Pukarne. ff 20| Sanda. 35 Prabhakar. II (Lower Classes.) 51 Tiddi'. 59 Parashara. 67 Sangad. 52 Shridhara. 60 Mohana. 68 Bharadyaji.§§ 63 Vinayaka. 61 Panjan. 69 Nage. 54 Majjii. 62 Tivdra. 70 Makavar. 55 Khindariye. 63 Kapala. 71 Vashishtha.|||| 56 Harad. 64 Bharkhari. 72 Dangaval. 57 Prabhakar.;j;J 65 SodW. 73 Jalap. 74 Tripane. 58 Vasudeya. 66 Kaijar. 75 Bharathe. * Panj^ti. — The tribe of Pambu was former!}' one of these five, but owing to some quarrels the}' were excluded, and the Mohle were admitted in their stead. t Panjfitf. — “These five are descended from those immediately preceding, to whom however they are considered a little inferior.” X Panjati. § Ashta Vanshi or of the numerical value of eight. || The Prabhakar served as soldiers, and were styled Khan during the Muhammadan rule. They never received charitable gifts like other Brdhmans. ^ Potre is from Putra, a son. ** Different from that at Xo. 23. tt From No. 36 to 50 are purohits of the Aror-4 (Vaishya) caste. U Different from that at No. 35. To some lists the Purtye are added. §§ Different from those numbered 23 to 47. nil So named from their Gotra. THE SARASVATA BRAHMANS. 129 76 llansale. 114 Manid. 152 Sallvahan. 77 Gangahar. 115 Laladiye. 153 Dbande. 78 Jotashi'. 116 Tote. 154 Marud . 79 Rikbi (or Rishi). 117. Kusarit. 155 Bature. 80 Mandilr. 118 Ramtal. 156 Joti. 81 Bralimt. 119 Kapdle. 157 Soyari. 82 Tejpal. 120 Masodare. 158 Tejpal. 83 Pal. 121 Ratniye. 159 Kuralpal. 84 Rupal. 122 Chandan. 160 Kalas. 85 Lakhanpal. 123 Chiiravan. 161 Jalap. 86 Ratanpal. 124 Mandahar. 162 Tinmani. 87 Shetpal. 125 Madhare. 163 Tanganivate. _88 Bhinde. 126 Aire. 164 Jalpot. *89 Dhanii. 127 Lakarphar. 165 Pattu. 90 Chaiian. 128 Kund. 166 Jasrava. 91 Randeha. 129 Kardam. 167 Jayachand. 92 Bhiita. 130 Dhande. 168 Sanwal. 93 Rati'. 131 Sahajpal. 169 Agnihotri. 94 Kundi. 132 Pabhi. 170 Agraphakka. 95 Hasadhi'r. 133 Rati. 171 Rutbade. 96 Punj. 134 .Jaitke. 172 Bhajf. 97 Sandhi, 135 Didriye. 173 ICuchbi. 98 Bahoye. 136 Bhatare. 174 Sail!. 99 Virad. 137 Kali. 175 Bharabl. 100 Kaland. 138 Jalpot. 176 Medu. 101 Suran. 139 Maitra. 177 Mehad. 102 Sudan. 140 Sankhatre. 178 Yamye. 103 Ojhe. 141 Lndra. 179 Sangar. 104 Bramha-Suknl. 142 Yyasa. 180 Sang. 105 Hariye. 143 Paltu. 181 Nahar. 106 Gajesu. 144 Kirar. 182 Ghakpaliye. 107 Bhanot. 145 Puje. 183 Bijraya. 108 Tinuni. 146 Isar. 184 Narad. 109 JalH. 147 Lattn. 185 Kutwal. 110 Tole. 148 Dbami. 186 Kotpal. 111 .Jalap. 149 Kalhan. 187 Nabh. 112 Chitchot.* 150 Madarkbamb. 188 Nad. 113 Padhe or Pandhe. 151 Dabesar. 189 Parenje. * Puroliits of the Rajas of Nabhii, Patiala, Jiiul and Kaitbal. 17 130 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. 190 Kheti'. 201 Karddam. 212 Lahad. 191 A'ri. 202 Jhaman. 213 Tad. 192 Chavhe. 203 Edngade. 214 Kayf. 193 Bibde. 204 Bhog. • 215 Ludh. 194 Bandu. 205 Pande. 216 Gandar. 195 Machh. 206 Gande. 217 Mahe. 196 Sundar. 207 Pante. 218 Saili. 197 Karad age. 208 G4ndhe. 219 Bhagi. 198 Chhibbe. 209 Dhinde. 220 Pande. 199 Saddi. 210 Tagale. 221 Pipar. 200 Tallan. 211 Dagale, 222 Jathre. (2.) Sarasvata Brahmans of Kang add and the adjacent Hill Country. ( High Caste.) 1 Osdl. 5 Naga. 9 Panchkarn. 2 Pandit Kashmiri. 6 Dikshit. 10 Raine. 3 Sotri. 7 Misri Kashmiri. 1 1 Kurudu. 4 VMve. 8 Madihatu. 12 A'chariye.* (Lower Classes.) 13 Chithu. 2 1 Maite 28 Chhutwan. 14 Panyalii. 22 Prot (Purohita) 29 Bhanwal. 15 Dumbu. Jadtotrotiye. 30 Rambe. 16 Dehaidu. 23 Visht Prot. 31 Mangrudiye. 17 Rukhe. 24 Padhe Saroj. 32 Khurvadh. 18 Pambar. 25 Padhe Khajure. 33 Galvadh. 19 Gutre. 26 Padhe Mahite. 34 Dangmar. 20 Dyabhudu. 27 Khajure. 35 Chalivale. (3.) Sarasvata Brahmans of Dattdrpur, Hoshydrpur, and the Adjacent Country. (High Caste.) 1 Dogre. 4 Lakhanpal. 7 PMhe Dadiye. 2 Sarmayi. 5 Padhe DholbalvaiyA 8 PMhe Khindadiye. 3 Dube. 6 Padhe Ghohasniye. 9 Khajuriye. * “ A Katoch Rdja, one of the ancestors of Sansdr Chand, had, it is said, a quarrel with the Brdhmans of bis own country. He therefore caused the above twelve sects to settle in his dominions, and highly honored them. They do not partake of the food prepared by other Brdhmans.” [Some of them, it appears, are of Kashmir origin.] The Osdl are subdivided into the Chandydl, Kaphuridldl and Chitu. The Naga are subdivided into Pundarik, Khadapd, and Gosle. THE SARASVATA BRAHMANS. 131 ( Lower Classes.) 10 Kapahatiye. 26 Madote. 42 Patdu. 11 BharadMyal. 27 Misar. 43 Juwal. 12 Chaprohi'ye. 28 Chhakotar. 44 Maite. 13 Makade. 29 Jalreiye. 45 Kakliye. 14 Kutallaidi'ye. 30 Lahad. 46 Tak. 1 5 Sarad. 31 Sel. 47 Jhol. 16 Dagadu. 32 Bhasiil. 48 Bhadoe. 17 Vantade. 33 Pandit. 49 Tandi. 18 Muclile. 34 Changhial. 50 Jhummutiyar. 19 Samnol. 35 Lath. 51 A'l. 20 Dliose. 36 Sand. 52 Mirat. 21 Bhatol. 37 Lai. 53 Mukati. 22 Rajohad. 38 Gadottare. 54 Dalohallie. 23 Thanik. 39 Chirnol. 55 Bhatohaye. 24 Panyal. 40 Badhle. 56 Tyahaye. 25 Chibbe. 41 Shridhar. 57 Bhatare. (4.) Sarasvata Brahmans of Jammu, Jasr 0 ta , and the neighbouring Hill Country. (High Castes.) 1 Amgotre. 7 Nadh. 12 Chibar. 2 Thappe. 8 Khajure Prahot. 13 Baliye. 3 Dube. 9 Jamval Pandit. 14 Mohan. 4 Sapoliye Padhe. 10 Vaidya. 15 Bambhaval. 5 Badiyal. 10^ Lat. 6 Kesar. 1 1 Lava. ( Middle Castes.) 16 Raine. 24 Vilhanoch. 32 Adhotre. 17 Satotre. 25 Badu. 33 Mishra. 1 8 Katotre. 26 Kernaye Pandit. 34 Parashara. 19 Lalotre.* 27 Banal Padhe. 35 Bavagotre. 20 Bhangotre. 28 Mahite. 36 Mansotre. 21 Samnotre. 29 Sudhraliye. 37 Sudathiye. 22 Kashmiri Pandit. 30 Bhatiad. 23 Pandhotre. 31 Puroch. " Jalla Pandit was of this class.” 132 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. {Lower Classes.) 38 Sudan. 75 Rajiiniye. 112 Fatal. 39 Sukhe. 76 Badakuliye. 113 Kamaniye. 40 Bhure. 77 Sirkhandi'ye. 114 Gandbargal. 4 1 Chandan. 78 Tirpad. 115 Pritbvipal. 42 Jalotre. 79 BiUli. 116 Madbotre. 43 Nabhotre. 80 Salurn. 117 Kambo. 44 Khadotre. 81 Ratanpal. 118 Sarmayi'. 45 Sagdol. 82 Banotre. 119 Bacbbal. 46 Bhunye. 83 Yantradhan. 120 Makbotre. 47 Baganaclibal. 84 Dadorich. 121 Jad. 48 Eajuliye. 85 Bhaloch. 122 Batialiye. 49 Sangde. 86 Chhachluale. 123 Kudidab. 50 Munde. 87 Jhangotre. 124 Jambe. 51 Surnaclial. 88 Magdol. 125 Karanatbiye. 52 Ladhanjan. 89 Phaunphan. 126 Sutbade. 53 Jakhotre. 90 Saroch. 127 Sigad. 54 Lakhanpiil. 91 Gudde. 128 Garadiye. 55 Gauda Purohita. 92 Kirle. 129 Macbbar. 56 Shashgotre.' 93 Mansotre. 130 Bagbotre. 57 Khanotre. 94 Thamnotre. 131 Sainbasan. 58 Garocli. 95 Thanmath. 132 Utriyal. 59 Marotre. 96 Bramiye. 133 Subandiye. 60 Upadhe. 97 Kundan. 134 Jbiudbad.. 61 Khindhai'ye Padhe. 98 Gokuli'ye Gosain. 135 Bat^l. 62 Ivalandan. 99 Chakotre. 136 Bbainkbare. 63 Jarad. 100 Bargotre. 137 Bisgotre. 64 Udihal. 101 Dliamaniye. 138 Jbalu. 65 Ghode. 102 Karde. 139 Dabb. 66 Basnotre. 103 Magdiyah'ye. 140 Bbuta. 67 Barat. 104 Miithar. 141 Katbialu. 68 Chargat. 105 Mahiji^'e. 142 Budbar. 69 Lavauthe. 106 ThakurePurobita 143 Paladlm. 70 Bharangol. 107 Galbal. 144 Jakbotre. 7 1 Jaranghal. 108 Cbam. 145 Pange- 72 Guhaliye. 109 Rod. 146 Solbe. 73 Dhariaucha. 110 Labbotre. 147 Saguuiye. 74 Pindliad. Ill Eedatlu'ye. 148 Sanbocb. THE SARASVATA HiiAHMANS. 133 149 Duliiil. 150 Bando. 151 Kiinungo. 152 Jhiivdu. 153 Jliapliadu. 154 Kaliye. 155 Kliaphanklio. In these lists I have followed the manuscripts (Roman and Nagari) of Radha Krishna, comparing them sometimes with my own less copious lists. For some of my lists I have been indebted, through Sir Donald McLeod, to Kavin Chandra, a promising and amiable Pandit from Bengal. The lists given above, there is reason to believe, are nearly complete. I have found it impossible to keep separate in them all the marriage caste associations of the Sarasvatas of the Panjab. Some of these, ‘ like those of the commencement of the lists, consist only of parties connected with five family designations, a circumstance which, however gratifying to the pride of their castes, must be very inconvenient in a social point of view. The Ndgas, for purposes of intermarriage, are said to number twelve families, and the Babe even fifty-two. Though in these cases there is a wider latitude, the restriction of choice which exists is to be regretted. There are some classes of Brahmans, of equivocal standing among the Sarasvatas of the Panjab, which, with the exception of the Dattas, are not included in the preceding lists. (1.) Among these are the Bhojakas, worshippers of Devi, who are most numerous at Jvalamukhi (where streams of natural gas are kept ignited). Respecting them R.adha Krishna says : “ It must be stated that the other Brahmans of Jvalamukhi do not recognize them as Brahmans, but say they are descended from a servile class of agriculturists, who from their own connexion with the temples have declared themselves Brahmans.” Possibly the degradation of these Bhojakas may have originated in the possession by their ancestors of the Jvalamukhi temjdes when they were connected with Buddhism.* * On the Jvalamukhi' temples and the connexion of some of them with Buddhism, see the interesting and instructive “ Travels in Kashmir and the Panjab of the Baron Charles Ilugel (Col. Jervis’s translation), pp. 42-17. 134 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. (2.) Another class of the character referred to is that of the M 0 y al s , ox M aval as , said to derive their name from a place called Mava, now desolate. They are extensively scattered over the Panjab, especially near Amritsar, They are expensive in their marri- age habits, and were suspected of female infanticide.* The fears of the practice of this great atrocity are not confined to them. “ The sus- picion of female infanticide,” says the Pandit Radha Kishan, “ is not confined to the Moyals. Though much has been done by the Govern- ment to put a stop to this most heinous social crime, yet the cause which mainly leads to it (i. e. the high expenses of marriage) has not yet ceased to operate.f” (3.) With the Sarasvata Brahmans of the Panjab have been associated many immigrant Brahmans from Kashmir, as partly appears from the preceding lists. Among these immigrant Kashmiri Brahmans, was the celebrated Raja Dinanath Diwan, the Talleyrand of the Panjab, and his brother-in-law Pandit Shankarnath.J (4.) The Tage Brahmans of the Panjab are generally cultivators. They belong to the Gauda division of the Brahmanhood. They care little about religious rites of any kind. Yet, as if compensating for their indifference in this matter, they profess to abstain from flesh and fish, in which Gauda as well as Sarasvata Brahmans freely indulge. They take widows as concubines. They are found principally on the banks of the Sarasvati, near Thanesar. (5.) Huseini Brahmans, who have partially conformed to Muhammadanism, are here and there found wandering about the Panjab. Since I wrote the notice of them (under the Brahmans of the Maha- rashtra, § I have begun to suspect that their origin may have been connected with the Brahman to whom the Muhammadan founder of the Bahmani dynasty of the Dakhan was so much indebted. (6.) The Datta Brahmans employ themselves in agriculture and serve as soldiers. They are widely scattered. (7.) The B a g V an ta Brahmans are religious mendicants calling themselves Brahmans and abstaining from animal food. (8.) The Achdrja Brahmans perform funeral rates, and are consequently considered impure.|l * Cave Brown’s Indian Infanticide, p. 125. t Notes forwarded to the author. X Griffin’s Panjab Chiefs, p. 253. Divan Ajodhya Prasdd was also from Kashmir; but judging from his name, he probably belonged to the Kanyakubja Brahmanhood. § See above p. 29. || Notes on PanjAb Photographs. THE SARASVATA BRAHMANS, 135 The Sdrasvatas of the Panjdb have no diversity in regard to their Vaidik profession. They all belong to the Madhyandina Shakhd of the Shukla Yajurveda. Hindu sectarianism, however, is apparent among them, though not to the extent that it is in Southern and Western India. The most learned man connected with them is the philanthropical Pandit Padh4 Kishan, to whom I have been so much indebted in connexion -with these notes. AVriting of him, Mr. Griffin says : “ Radha Kishan resides at Lahore, where he is much respected. His exertions in the cause of edu cation have been great. He was one of the first to advocate female education, and when the American Mission opened an English School at Lahore, the sons of Pandit Radha Kishan were among the first scholars. In the same way he sent one of his sons to study at the Lahore Medical College, when it was first opened, and when the preju- dices of the Natives against it were very strong. The Pandit is distinguished as a Sanskrit scholar, and is well versed in Hindu law.”* He was chosen by His Highness Ranjit Singh to be the tutor of the young prince Dalip Singh; but an instructional course difierent from what he would have observed (even though liberality would in all probability have been its characteristic) was destined for that ingenuous and clever youth. The Bible when read to him, even by a Hindu, excited his attention and interest; and illustrated, as it was, by the Christian example of Sir John Login and others around him, was brought home to his heart in demonstration of the Spirit and with power. The embracement of * Panjdb Chiefs, p. 263. In the context Mr GrifiBn gives an interesting account of the family of the Pandit. 13G WHAT THE CASTES ARE. Christianity, in its simplicity^ and purity, was tlie consequence.* The Sarasvata Brahmans of the Panj4b are in regard to secular industry very unlike their brethren of the same denomination in Southern India. Many of them are Purohitas,f or family priests. Great numbers of them are said to be rapacious mendicants and astrologers. Their character in these respects is noticed by Sir Alexander Bunies, the Baron Hligel, and other travellers in the Land of the Five Rivers. Under the British Govern- ment, with a wide diffusion of education, and with the extension of Christian influence by missionary effort, it is improving. The Brahmans will doubtless largely avail themselves of the advantages of the University of Lahore, when it is established. Extensive reformation in social as well as in religious, intellectual, and spiri- tual life will probably soon appear among them. The Hill Brahmans (including those of Simla) devote themselves to agriculture and even the carriage of burdens. They freely use animal food, 'fhe Brahmans of the plains neither eat nor intermarry with them. ]\Iany of them have lost all knowledge of their nominal Shakhd, (B.) The Sarasvatas are the principal Brahmans of SiNDii as well as of the Panjdb. They are there divided into the following classes : — ( 1 .) The Sliri haras, or as they are called by some S h i h d v - pur is, who are A^aishnavas of the Vallabhacharya sect. Only a single individual of their number is said to abstain from eating animal * For an interesting account of the conversion of H. H. the Maha- raja Dulip Singh, see a most interesting work entitled “ The Martyred Missionaries” (published at New York), by the Rev. Mr. Walsh, of the American Presbyterian Mission. j- Notes on Panjab Photographs sent to Government. THE SARASVATA BRAHMANS. 137 food, and from eating, too, at the hands of Banya (mercantile) consti- tuents. (2.) The B dr i s , or B ar 0 vi s, who are also Vaishnavas of the same sect ; they, too, freely use animal food. (3.) The R d V a n aj dill s , who are Shaktas, or worshippers of the female energies, particularly of the consort of Shiva, known among them by her usual names, and especially by that of Sinhavahini (or rider of the lion used here for the tiger.)* They drink litpior as well as eat flesh. (4.) The S h e t ap d I a s , so named from their engaging in cul- tivation, are partly Vaishnavas, using animal food, but abstaining from liquor, and partly Shaktas, taking liquor as well as flesh. They fur- nish water to Banyas, merchants or shopkeepers. (o.) The Kuvachandas resemble the Musalmans in their habits, although they do not eat from their hands. All these classes of Sarasvatas are Shukla Yajur- Vedis. In using animal food they abstain from that of the cow and tame fowls ; but eat sheep, goats, deer, wild birds of most species, and fish, killed for them by others. They also eat onions and other vegetables forbidden in the Smritis. They are generally inattentive to sectarian marks. The}^ dress like the Hindu merchants and Amins of Sindh, though using white turbans. They shave the crovm of their heads, but have two tufts of hair above their ears. Their physiognomy is supposed by some to be not so distinctly of the A’lyan type as that of other Brahmans. They are partial to the Gurmukhi written character used in the Panjab. f They are the priests of the mercantile Lohanas, or Lowanas, and according to the late Captain James MacMurdo, * Captain Burton informs us that most of the Ti'rthas in Sindh, as Ilioslaj, the Maklf hills near Thatha, and Dhara near Sehwan,are s.acred to this gmldcss. JJomhay Selections on Sindh, p. 649. f See Burton, in Bombay Sindh Selections, p. 649. 18 138 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. to whom we are indebted for our first notices of them, “ differ little from the people of that caste.” “ They have many small pagodas dedicated to the worship of the ocean, or rather the river Indus, for a pot of fresh water is indispensable in the ceremonies of worship,”* Their fees are derived principally from their ser\dces at the marriages, births, and deaths of their followers. Though they obviously make light of many of the institutes of Hinduism (for which they are not to be blamed), they are partial to popular astrolog}", as far as easy prognostication is concerned. They pretend to know where articles lost are to be found. They are often household visitors, desiring to share in the family meals. They officiate at births, marriages, deaths, and shraddhas. They also cultivate land, aijd sometimes act as petty shopkeepers. (6.) Associated with the Sarasvatas in Sindh are the P olcharna Bruhinaiis. Of them Captain MacMurdo correctly says: “The Pokharna Brahmans are the original priests of the Bhatyas, and are somewhat more Hindu in reality than the Sarsut, although still inferior in that respect to their Indian disciples.” Captain Burton thus writes of them : “ They eat no flesh, and wear the turban, not the Sindh cap ; they shave their beards, tmd dress very like the common traders, or Saukars. The Pokharno considers himself superior to the Sarsudh, as the latter will eat from his hand ; moreover, the Pokharno generally can read, if not understand Sanskrit, and is skilled in drawing out the Janmapatris or horoscopes of children, &c. His knowledge of astro- logy is, however, very confined. Few of this caste learn Persian, or undertake business of any kind, public or private. The Pokharno takes the affix Das, Rum, Chand, Rdi/, Mai, Ji, and Misra, before or after his name ; as Misra Sukhdevajl, Taro Misra. They live by instructing the Hindus in their Dharma or religious duties, by deciding * MacMurdo, in Journal of the E. As. Soc. vol. 1 p. 248. THE SARASVATA BRAHMANS. 139 horary questions, writing out the Tripno, or astrological aspect of a man’s fortunes, and other such impositions. They are much respected by their inferiors in caste, and even by those who profess the Sikli faith. To tlie sanctity of their name and origin, they add the prestige of a tolerably strict life, never drink spirits, and never marry out of their own caste.”* Their turbans, though small, resemble those of the Dakhani Brahmans. Their physiognomy is distinctively of the A'ryan type. They form only about one-twentieth gf the Hindu population in Sindh. They do not enter into the service of Government. Considerable numbers of Brahmans (including Sa- rasvatas) are found in the wilds intermediate between Sindh and Rajputana. “ The doctrines of Mann, with them,” says Colonel Tod, “go for as much as they are worth in the desert, Avhere ‘ they are a laAV unto themselves.’ They Avear the Janv. (Jdnav'b) or badge of their tribe ; but it here ceases to be a mark of clerical distinction, as no drones are respected ; they cultivate, tend cattle, and barter their superfluous ghi for other necessaries... They do not touch fish ( ?), or touch tobacco, but Avill eat food dressed by the hands of a mdli (gardener) or even a ?idi (barber) ; nor do they use the cliaukd or fire-place, reckoned indispensable in more civilized regions.”f As the caste system Avas fully developed, at Hdstinapura, Indraprastha, Ayodhya, and other places to the south- east of the primitive settlements of the Sarasvatas, they were perhaps never so much its generators and dupes as their Brahmanical brethren in other parts of India. What appears to the Hindu eye to be corruption in them may all along ha\^e only been both primitHe simplicity and liberty. * Burton in Bombay Sindh Selections, p. 648. Krishna Shastn' Godhole. t Tod’s Rajasthan, vol. ii. p. 321. 140 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. (2.) The Kashmiri Br dh mans . The Brahmans of Kashmira are so much isolated from other Brahmans and so peculiar in their position and circyimstances that they require to be separately noticed. The valley of Kashmira in which they are found, though remote and surrounded by mountains except at the emerg- ence of the Jhelum, must in ancient times have been brought under the influence of the immigrant A’ryas, if indeed some of them did not early enter it from the high- lands lying to its north. The Kashmiras are mentioned as a people in the Ramayana and the j\Iahabharata.* The earliest legends of Kashmira are associated with the Praja- pati Kashyapa, (“the son of Marichi the son of Brah- ma”) to whom is attributed the draining of its great lake ; and some Brahmans claiming descent from that Rishi may have been among the first of its A'ryan settlers. Professor \V’ilson is inclined to the idea that it was the native seat of the Pandavas celebrated in the Hindu epic poetry, f After being for a lengthened time under a series of Tartar Kings, it came under the sove- reignty of the Hindu prince Gonardda, or Gonanda, said to have been a relation of Jarasandha of Maghada, and to have joined him in his opposition to Krishna. If there is any truth in this allegation, Brahmanical influ- ence must have then been at work in the provmce, which must afterwards have been sustained by other Hindu kings. Ashoka, mentioned as one of the kings, if the Ashoka of Indian history and his authority extended to Kashmira, must have been favorable to the intro- * See before (for Ramayana) vol. 1. pp. 228, and the Digvijaya of the Sabhaparva of the Mahabharata. f Essay on the History of Kashmir in As. Res., vol. xv. p. 11. THE KASHMIRI BRAHMANS. 141 duction of Buddhism into that pro\dnce, Jalaiika, the son and successor of Ashoka, was a prince of great prowess : he overcame the Bauddha heretics, and subdued the country of Kanauj. “The conquest of Kanyakubja by this prince,” says Professor Wilson, “is connected with an event not improbable in itself, and which possibly marks the introduction of the Brahmanical creed, in its more perfect form into this kingdom. Jaloka is said to have adopted thence the distinction of castes, and the practices which were at that time established in the neigh- bouring districts.”* Turushka, or Tartar, princes again came into power in Kashmir. Abhimanya, a Hindu king, followed, who by the aid of the Grammarian Chandra, a professed descendant of Kashyapa, re-established Brah- manism according to the Xlla Purana, said to be a great authority with the Kashmiris. His successors also opposed Buddhism. One of them ( Mahirakula), however, who had carried his arms to the south of India and Lanka, was favourable to the low Gandhara Brahmans. Ultimately, he revoked his grants to these Brahmans, and invited those of A’ryadesha to come to the country. His example in this respect was followed by Aksha,one of his successors, who “ removed those Brahmans who had adopted im- pure practices from their endowments, and invited others from distant places to replace them.”f After a long interval. King Pratapaditya founded a college for the residence of Rauhitya Brahmans. | Liladitya conquered Kanauj, the kingdom of Gauda, and the Karnata and Western India, and must have extensively brought the * Ut supra, p. 20. t H. H. Wilson, ut supra, p. 30. i Ibid p. 43. 142 WHAT THE CASTES AKE. Brahmanhood into connection with Kashmir, After- wards Jayapida “invited scholars from foreign countries, and so many flocked to him as to occasion a dearth of Pandits everywhere except in Kashmir,” Intoxicated by riches he afterwards became their persecutor,* * * § His successors were patrons of vice and perished, Avanti Yarma, of a new dynasty, then came into power, and he and his Yuvaraja favoured the Brahmans, and erected and endowed temples. After much civil discord during several reigns the mother of Abhimanya founded the towns of Kankapur and Diddapur for the Saura and Lata Brah- mans (of Middle India), In the view of these notices extending over many hundred years, Avhich are univer- sally supposed to have a considerable amount of truth in them, it may be safely inferred that the present Brahmans of Kashmir are of mixed descent. Colebrooke says : “ There is reason for doubting whether Kashmira be occupied by a distinct nation or whether the inhabi- tants of it be not rather a tribe of Kanyakubjasf” “ The Kashmiri,” says Pandit Radha Kishan, “ are not Sarasvata Brahmans, They follow the Laugdkshi Sutra and the Shakha of the Rig-Yeda (Black Yajur- Yeda.)”t It was in the reign of Sultan Sikandar, it is said, that the inhabitants of Kashmir generally embraced the Muhammadan religion,§ though it had Muhammadan chiefs before this ruler came into power, A,D, 1386, about * Ibid pp. 55-59. t Asiatic Res. vol. 7 (8to) p. 226. J MS. forwarded by Sir D. F. McLeod. § Bland’s Account of the xAtish Kedah, in Journ. of R. A. S. Vol. vii. p. 370. THE KASHMIRI BRAHMANS. 143 200 years before it was annexed to the Moghal empire under Akbar.* Muhammadanism continues predominant, there to the present day notwithstanding the Sikh influence introduced into it by Ranjit Singh. It is a curious fact that the portion of its population still adhering to Hindu- ism is almost entirely Brahmanical. Of the origin of this population Pandit Radha Kishan thus writes : — “ It is related that when the Muhammadans had converted, or })ut to the sword all the inhabitants of the valley, only eleven families remained true to their religion. These imported Agnihotri Brahmans of the Dnivida country with whom they mtermarried as being of the same origin. Had the Kdshmiri been of the Sarasvatasor Gaudas, their Veda or Shakha would have been one of the latter. The descendants of these eleven families are called Mdlmdshh while those of the Dravida settlers are called Bhanmdshi. Some Kashmiri Brahmans were obliged by the persecu- tions of the Musalmans to come down to Jammu, Kashta- var, and other low hills, where they were settled and intermarried with* the Sarasvata Brahmans, and m process of ^ime became intermingled with them.”f Mr. George Campbell, in his interesting, though rapid, sketch of the Ethnology of India, thus writes of Kashmira and its Brahmans ; — “ Kashmir is a Brahman country. The lower classes have long been converted to Muhammadanism, but they seem to he ethnologically identical with the Brahmans, and tradition also asserts that they are of the same race. At the present day no other Hindu caste save the Brahman is known,f nor is there is any trace (so far as I could find) * See Prinsep’s useful Tables by Thomas p. 247. f MS. of Pandit Radha Kishan. [J I have seen Kashnun's, alleged to be of the oldeu stock of the province, who called themselves Kshatrijas.] 144 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. that there ever was any other in the country. The Brahman popula- tion is numerous, hut it would seem as if, while the illiterate multitude adopted the religion of the ruling power, the better educated and superior class maintained their own tenets ; and at this day the Brahmans (or Pandits, as they are usually called) form quite -a sort of aristocracy. They are almost all educated and exceedingly clever, and so, being to a great degree above manual labour, they are an excessive and somewhat oppressive bureaucracy, which not only has ruled Kashmir under every successive Government, but sends out colonies to seek a livelihood throughout Northern India. The Kashmir Brahmans are quite High Aryan in the type of their features, very fair and hand- some, with high chiselled features, and no trace of intermixture of the blood of any lower race. It may be partly race and partly occupation, but they have certainly a greater refinement and regularity of feature than the Afghans and others of a rougher type ; with, however, a less manly-looking physique and a colour less ruddy and more inclining to a somewhat sallow fairness. The high nose, slightly aquiline, but by no means what we call Jewish or Nutcracker, is a common type. Raise a little the brow of a Gi’eek statue, and give the nose a small turn at the bony point in front of the bridge (so as to break the straightness of line) you have then the model type of this part of India, to be found both in the living men and in the statues dug up in the Peshawur valley. There are also a good many straight noses, and some varieties as in all places, but much less departure from an ordinary handsome standard than in most countries. The figure of the ordinary working Kashmiri is strong and athletic. But none of them are martial, and the Brahmans are in this respect no exception. They rule by the brain and the pen, and not by the sword. It is this character that has gained them the favour of so many rulers of a different faith. Kashmir long belonged to the Cabul Kingdom, but it was never in any degree colonised by Afghans, and is singularly free from any modern intermixture of foreign races. The fact seems to be that the valley never belonged to the Afghan nation, but was always retained as a Crown Appanage of the Kings, who were very jealous of admitting into it subjects whom they might find it difficult to turn out again, and much preferred to govern through the Pandits. Others have to a great extent followed the same policy. From a Hindu point of view, the Kashmir Brahmans do not rank well. As they are priests to no one but themselves, they are necessarily much THE KASITMIIir BEAimANS. 145 more secular than Brahmans, who among other Hindus claim to be a priestly class, while they eat meat and are altogether loose in their observances, to an extent which makes them very far short of the modern Hindu standard. The Kashmiri Pandits are known all over Northern India as a very clever and energetic race of office-seekers. As a body they excel in acuteness the same member of any other race with whom they come in contact. Probably they are in no respect inferior to the Maratha Brahmans, but they have not in Hindustan the same advantage as the latter have had in their own country among inferior races. The Kashmiris, as foreigners among energetic races, have a much harder struggle, and though they get a good share of good things they are nowhere dominant, nor have they usually risen to such high stations as many Maratha Brahmans. The most conspicuous man whom I recollect was Raja Dinanath, Ranjit Singh’s Financier, and in some respects Chief Minister. Although the Kashmiris seldom find their way as far as Calcutta, it is somewhat singular that in Bengal the first native to attain very high office is a man of this race, viz. Sam- bhunath Pandit, Judge of the High Court. Almost all the secular Pandits use the Persian character freely ; they are perfectly versatile, and, serving abroad, will mount a horse, gird on a sword, and assume at a push a semi-military air.”* In the article from which the preceding passage is quoted, Mr. Campbell speaks of the Kashmira Brahmans as Sarasvatas ; but he will probably defer to the informa- tion of Radha Kishan on this matter as far as their pre- sent relio;ious connections are concerned. The Baron lliigel’s notice of the physiognomy of the Kashmiris sub.stantially agrees with that of Mr. Campbell. “ Who- ever has seen this race of men will never fail to recognize them by their Avhite skin, their clear though colourless complexion, their long projecting almost JeAvish features, Avith dark brcAvn and black hair and beard, Avhicli dis- tinctly point them out.”| It is difficult to believe that * .Journ. of Bengal Asiatic Society, N. S. 186fi, p. .oT-.AS. t Travels in Kashmir and the Panjab, p. 55. 19 146 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. the ancestors of a people of this physiognomy have had much to do with the South of India. Pandit Rddha Kishan has very kindly furnished me with the following list of the different classes of Kash- miri Brdhmans: — List of the different Classes of Kdshmin Brahmans. 1 Kaul. 31 Madan. 61 Nduri. 2 Eajdan 32 Dina. 62 Masaldan. 3 Guriti. 33 Shargal. 63 Mushran. 4 Jitish. 34 Hakchar. 64 Turki. 5 Dar. 35 Hak. 65 PhotedAr. 6 Trakari 36 Kukar. 66 Kharu. 7 Mujhi. 37 Chhatari. 67 Karbangi. 8 Munshi. 38 Saunpuri. 68 Bhath. 9 Butal. 39 Matti. 69 Kichilu. 10 Javi. 40 Khush. 70 Chhan. 11 Bajaj. 41 Shakdar. 71 Mukdam. 12 Rei. 42 Vaishnava. 72 Khapari. 13 Hiindo. 43 Kotar. 73 Bulaki. 14 Dipti. 44 Kak. 74 Kdr. 15 Chhichvall, 45 Kachari. 75 Jelali. 16 Rugi. 46 Tote. 76 Saphayu. 17 Kalla. 47 Saraph. 77 Batphali. 18 Sum. 48 Gurah. 78 Hukhi. 19 Hanji. 49 Thanthar. 79 Kukpari. 20 Hastivali. 50 Khar. 80 Kali. 21 Mutu. 51 Thaur. 81 Jari. 22 Tikku. 52 Teng. 82 Ganj. 23 Gais. 53 Saiyad. 83 Kim. 24 Gadi. 54 Trupuraya. 84 Mundi. 25 Brari. 55 Muthl. 85 Jangal. 26 Ganj. 56 Saphai. 86 Jati. 27 Vangan. 57 Bhan. 87 Rakhyas. 23 Vagana. 58 Vanya. 88 Bakayl. 29 Bhtit. 59 Garial. 89 Geri. 30 Bhairava. 60 Thapal. 90 Gari. THE KASHMIRI BRAHMANS. 14 91 Kali. 92 Panji. 93 Bangi. 94 Sahib. 95 Belab. 96 Rdyi. 97 Galikarap. 98 Chan. 99 Kababi. 100 Yadih. 101 Jalpun. 102 Navashahari. 103 Kisi. 104 Dhusi. 105 Gaojkhar. 106 Thojal. 107 Pista. 108 Badam. 109 Trachhal. 110 Nadir. 111 Lidarigari. 112 Pyal. 113 Kabj'. 114 Chhiltri. 115 Vauti. 116 Vatiilu. 117 Khari. 118 Vas. 119 Lati. 120 Sabanj. 121 Dandi. 122 Eaval. 123 Misari. 124 Sibbi. 125 Singari. 126 Mirje. 127 Mai. 128 Variki. 129 Jan. 130 Lutari. 131 Parim. 132 Hall. 133 Nakaib. 134 Main. 135 Ambaradar. 136 UkhM. 137 Kanth. 138 Bali. 139 Jangali. 140 Dull. 141 Parava. 142 Harkar. 143 Gagar. 144 Pandit. 145 Jari. 146 Laugi. 147 Mukld. 148 Bihi. 149 Padaur. 150 Pade. 151 Jand. 152 Teug. 153 Tund. 154 Drabi. 155 Dral. 156 Phambbi. 157 Sajavul. 158 Bakhshi. 159 Ugra. 160 Nichvi. 161 Pathan. 162 Vichari. 163 Unth. 164 Kucliari. 165 Shal. 166 Babi. 167 Makhani. 168 Labari. 169 Khanya. 170 Khanyakati. 171 Shah. 172 Pir. 173 Khurdi. 174 Khunki. 175 Kalposh. 176 Pishan. 177 Bishan. 178 Bui. 179 Choki. 180 Chak. 181 Eai. 182 Priti. 183 Pati. 184 Kichili. 185 Ka hi. 186 Jiji. 187 Kilmak. 188 Salman. 189 Kadalbaju. 190 Kandahari. 191 Bali. 192 Manati. 193 Bankhan. 194 Hakim. 195 Garib. 196 Mandal. 197 Maujaha. 198 Shair. 199 Nun. 200 Teli. 201 Khalasi. 202 Chandra. 203 Gadir. 204 Jarabi. 148 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. 2U5 Siliari. 206 Kalvit. 207 Nagari. 208 Mungvucli. 209 Khaibari. 210 Kulli. These “ classes”' 211 Kahi'. 212 Kliosa. 213 pnraiii. 214 Tuli. 215 Garib. 216 Gatli. correspond very much witli the clan or family distinctions of the Manitha and other Brahmans of Southern India. Consociations of them have been formed for the formation of marriage 217 Jati. 218 Rakhsas. 219 Harkar. 220 Grad. 221 Vagari, etc. etc. alliances and even for social meals, as in the case of the Sarasvata Brahmans. It is a curious fact that almost all the Hindu non-Briih- manical inhabitants of Kashmir call themselves Kshatriyas. At least so I have been informed by some of their number visiting the Maratha country as traders. The Kashmiri Pandits generally come as far as Bom- bay principally as vendors of manuscript books in the Persian and Nagarf characters. The Maratha Brahmans keep entirely aloof front them in religious services. This is solely owing to what appears to them their dubious dchdra, or religious and social course of conduct. A considerable number of the designations of the Kashmiri Brahmans, it will have been seen from the list given above, must have been assumed posterior to the times of the Muhammadans . The Kashmiri Brahmans claim the adhikara (or authoritative use) of the four Vedas ; but this they do simply as scholars. The Raja Tarangmi and its accom- paniments are the nearest to credible historical docu- ments yet found in India 3. T h e K d n y a k u h j a Brahmans. “ The Kdnyakubjasj' says Colebrooke, “ possessed a great empire, the metropolis of which was the ancient city of Kdnyakuhja or Kanoj. Theirs seems to be the language which forms the groundwork of modern Hin- dustani, and which is known by the appellation of Hindi or * Copies of these works of the edition of 1835 are still procurable in the Asiatic Society’s Rooms at Calcutta. THE KANYAKUBJA BRAHMANS. 1 49 I lindcvi. Two dialects of it may be easily distinguished, one more refined, the other less so. To this last the name of Hindi is sometimes restricted, while the other is often confounded with Prakrit. Numerous poems have been composed in both dialects, not only before the Hindustani was ingi'afted on the Hindi by a large inter- mixture of Persian, but also in very modern times, by Muhammadan as well as Hindu poets. Dohrds or de- tached couplets, and cabits or stanzas, in the Hindevi, may be found among the works of Musalman authors. It will be sufficient to instance those of Melik Muhammad Jaisi, Muhammed Afzel, and Amirkhan Anjam. Most poems in this dialect are, however, the exclusive produc- tion of Hindu poets. On examining them the affinity of Hindi with the Sanskrit language is peculiarly strik- ing ; and no person acquainted with both can hesitate in affirming that Hindi is chiefly borrowed from Sanskrit. Many words of which the etymology shows them to be the purest Sanskrit, are received unaltered ; many more undergo no change, but that of making the final vowel silent ; a still greater number exhibit no other differ- ence than what arises from the uniform permutation of certain letters ; the rest too, with comparatively few exceptions, may be easily traced to a Sanskrit origin. Tliat this is the root from which Hindi has sprung (not Hindi the dialect whence Sanskrit has been refined) may be proved by etymology, the analogy of which is lost in Hindi and preserved in Sanskrit.”* Soon after the ATyas reached the valleys of the Ganga and Yamuna, the site of Kanyakubja must have been in their possession. The town itself, though old, is probably posterior to the three other classical cities of Northern * Transactions of the Asiatic Society, vol. vii. pp. 220-1. loO WHAT THE CASTES ARE. India — Hastinapura, Indraprastha, and Ayodhya, from which it is at no great distance. It is possible that some hump-backed princess may have been connected with it contemporaneously with the deified king Krishna, by whom, as the legend goes, she was miraculously rectified. Considerable light is thro^vn on its history posterior to the Christian era by coins and inscriptions; but the date of the consociation of its Brahmans is altogether unknown. It is now in a greatly reduced and decayed state ; and its antiquities are greatly more Musalman than Hindu.* It is scarcely now the centre of the Brahmanical classes to whom it s:ives their denomination ; for they are found principally in the lower part of the Antarveda (the country intermediate between the Ganges and Jamna) and the districts of Audh,f * For an interesting account of Kanoj, (with valuable historical notices) see the report of the Archseological Surveyor to the Govern- ment of India for 1862-63. “Of the great city of Kanoj,” says Major General Cunningham, “which for many years was the Hindu capital of Northern India, the existing remains are few and unimport- ant. In comj^aring Hwen Thsang’s description of ancient Kanoj [of the seventh century A. I).], with the existing remains of the city, I am obliged to confess with regret that I have not been able to identify even one solitary site with any certainty ; so completely has almost every trace of Hindu occupation been obliterated by the Musalmans. The only remains of any interest are — 1st, the ruins of the old palace, now called the Kang Mahal; 2nd, the Hindu pillars of the Jumma Masjid ; 3rd, the Hindu pillars of the Masjid of Makhdam Jahaniyab ; and 4th, the Hindu statues in the village of Singh Bhavanf.” Journ. As. Society of Bengal, 1865, p. 209. I By many this name (our own Oude) is supposed to be a corrup- tion of Ayodhya. This, however, is not the case. The native popular form of Ayodhya is Ajodyd. Audh is from Audichya, the “ Northern Country.” See note at p. 39, above. Saketa and Ayodhya have for some time been viewed as identical, and General Cunningham has put this beyond doubt. See, ut supra, p. 238 et seq. THE KANYAKUBJA BRAHMANS. i.n incliidinof the native divisions of Baiswiida and Sarvar (of the river Sarjit). They are nevertheless -widely scattered. The occupation of great numbers of them in military service, in later times, has contributed much to their diffusion in Northern, Central, and to a certain extent even in Western India. Wherever they may settle, they have a peculiar regard for their ancient habitat, which they frequently visit. The physical appearance oftheKanauj Brahmans, com- pared with that of many other classes of natives of India, is very imposing. They are tall and athletic, though coarser in the features and grain than many other repre- sentatives of the Brahmanical brotherhood in other parts of India. In their stature, strength, and carriage they were as sipahis, the pride of the keen- eyed Sir Charles Napier, Avho declared, however, that their attachment to caste constituted them the danger of the Bengal Army, as was so distinctly evinced during the fearful mutiny and revolt of 1857-58. Though they are all matsyahdra^ or feeders on ffsh, so abundant in their native provinces and suitable for food, and though generally at their own homes they are amishahdra or feeders on flesh, they are immoderately scrupulous about their ceremonial purity in eating and drinking, as if by strictness in one direction compensating for laxness in another, according to Hindu law. In reference to their eating, the proverb has passed among them; — A'th Kanojyd nava chulhd hain, “For eight Kanojyas there are nine cooking hearths!” I have heard them, when irritated by their neighbours, exclaim. Ham Kshatriya-Brdhman liain! — “ We are Brahmans-of-power,” the equivalent of our “ High-caste- BrdhmaiiS.” By the use of this epithet of Kshatriya 152 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. many of them got into the Bengal Army, after their numerical complement (injudiciously large) was filled up. The divisions of the Kanojya Brahmans are very numerous. Considerable light has been thrown on them by Dr. Donald Butter in his “ Outlines of the Topo- graphy and Statistics of the Southern Districts of Oudh.” The following notes I have prepared from his interesting Report, and from the notes of my own numerous con- versations Avith intelligent and learned Kanojyas. ( 1 .) The M tshra Kan y k u hj a s. The Mishras or Mishris claim the first rank among the Kanojyas. The following species of them, denominated principally from families or houses of rank, occur in the Audh territories : — 1 The Madhbani.* 12 The Marjani. 28 The Belva. 2 The Champaran.j' 13 The Gurha. 29 The Usraind. 3 The Patliil, or 14 The Markara 30 The Kodiya. Patlayjila.| 15 The Jignya. 31 The Tavakpuri. 4 The Ratanvala. IG The Parayana. 32 The Himalpuri. 5 The Bahdol. 17 The Pepara. 33 The Shringarpnri. G The Matol or Ma- 18 The Aterva (or 34 The Sitapuri. te val a. § Atharva?) 35 The Putavha. 7 The Katariya, of 19 The Hathepani. 3G The Sirajpuri. the Sama Veda. 20 The Suganti. 37 The Bhanpuri. 8 The Nagariya, of 21 The Kheta. 38 The Teraka. the Vatsa Gotra ? 22 The Grambasi. 39 The Diidhaganmi. 9 The Payasi of 23 The Birha. 40 The Ratn.apur!. the Vatsa Gotra. 24 The Kausi.|l 41 The Sunhanla. 10 The Gana 25 The Kevati. 11 The Teunta, or 26 The Baisi. Tevanta. 27 The Bhabajiya. ^ * Principally of the Sama-Veda, with a few of the Rig- -Veda. t Of the Si'mia-Ve'da. J Of the Siiina-Veda. § Of the Siima-Ve'da. II From the Rishi Kausika. H The preceding are from Dr. Butter’s list. Those which follow, said to he all of the S:lma-Veda, have been mentioned to me by Kanojya Pandits. THE KANYAKUBJA BRAHMANS. 153 For the following note I am indebted to a Kanojya Pandit : — “ The Mishri intermarry with the Shukla, Tevdri, Dobe, and Pande. They give their daughters to the Phdtak, Upddhya, and Chaube, but do not accept theirs in return. They principally belong to the White Yajur-Veda and the Kapva Shakha. A few of them are Eig-Vedis. They eat only in a limited degree with Brahmans whose achara is unknown.” In the Mishras, several new matrimonial divisions have appeared. According to Dr. Butter those of Kanauj (properly so called), consist- ing of the H e n i k a 7', P arsu, and Gopindth, are “ restricted in their matrimonial alliances to each other’s families;” and those of Muradabad, consisting of the M dj g aum , Ankin , and S ont h i an va, are under a similar restriction. (2.) The Shuklas. The Shukla division follows the Mishra. It contains the following sections, many of whom are Shaktas, or worshippers of the female energies. 1 The Khakhayij- khor, named from two villages. 2 The Mamkhor, named from two villages. 3 The Tipthi. 4 The Bhedi. 5 The Bakaruva. 6 The Kanjahi. 7 The Khandail. 8 The Bala.* 9 The Change. The Avasthi. 10 The Tevarasi Parbhakar. 11 The Mehuliyar. 12 The Kharbahiya. 13 The Chanda. 14 The Gargaf 15 The Gautami'.| 16 The Parasa. 17 The Tara. § 18 The Barikhpuri. 19 The Karyava. 20 TheAjmadga- dhya. 21 The Pichaura. 22 The Masauvas. 23 The Sonthianva. 24 The Aukin. 25 The Bir. 26 The Gopinath. These are said to be all of the “Chakarayana Shakha’' (?) and of the Gautama Gotra. One of my authorities says they are all of the Madhyandina Shakha of the White Yajur-Veda. (3.) The Tivdiis. The T iv dr i Brahmans are said to get their denomination from their * The Bdla intermarry with the three following, said to be of the BharAddvaj Gotra. t Said to be from Garga Rishi. 1 From Gautama Rishi. § Named from a village so-called. 20 154 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. former profession of three Vedas. They say they now belong only to the Kauthuma Shakha of the Sama-Veda, and follow the Gobbila- Sutra. They have many divisions (among which are the following), who may intermarry with one another when their gotra is different, but who, owing to the family pretensions of each of their sections, have often difficulties in affecting their matrimonial engagements. 1 The Lonakhar. 2 The Lonapar. 3 The Munjauna. 4 The Mangraich. 5 The Jhunadiya. 6 The Sobgaura. 7 The Tara. 8 The Gorakhpu- riya. 9 The Daurava. 10 The Pendf. 11 The Sirjam. 12 The Dhatura. 13 The Panauli. 14 The Nandauli, or Tandauli. 15 The Burhiyabari. 16 The GurauH. 17 The Jogiya. 18 The Dikshita. 19 The Sonaura. 20 The Agori. 21 The Bhargava. 22 The Baldya. 23 The Kukurgariya. 24 The Dama.* * * § 25 The Gopala.'l' 26 The Govardhana.J 27 The Tuke.§ 28 The Chattu. 29 The Shivali. 30 The Shakharej. 31 The Umari. 32 The Manoha. 33 The Shivarajpur. 34 The Mandhna. 35 The Sape. 36 The Mandan Tir- vedi. 37 The Lahari Tir- vedi. 38 The Jethi Tirvedf. The majority of the Tivari are now cultivators, horsekeepers, shop- keepers, and soldiers. (4.) The D uhe,or D oh e . The following are among the divisions of the Dub e: — 1 The Kanchani. 2 The Singh va. 3 The Belava. 4 The Parava. 5 The Keraiya. 6 The Bargainya, 7 The Panchani. 8 The Lathiahi. 10 The Gurdvan. 11 The Methiber. 12 The Barham- puriya. 13 The Singilava. 14 The Kuchalva. 15 The Munjalva. 16 The Paliya. 17 The Dhegava. 18 The Sisira. 19 The Sinani. 20 The Kudavarya. 21 The Katffiya. 22 The Panva. * The Dama of the Antar-ve'da are Shaivas, and of the Kashyapa e;otra, and Kauthuma shakha. t The Gopala of the Antarveda are also Shaivas. I Of the Antarve'da, Shaivas. § Of the Antarv61a. THE KANYAKUBJA BRAHMANS. 1 55 The Dube in some places are of the Madhyandina Shakha of the White Yajur-Veda, and follow the Gobbhila Sutra. In others they are Sama Vedis. (5.) T he P d tha k or (according to Dr. Butter*) the Phdtak. ThePdthaks are said to be Yajur-yedis, and comprehend the following among other subdivisions. 1 The Sonaura. 3 The Patakhava- 4 The Dhigavach. 2 The Ambatara. liya. 5 The Bhadari. Some absurd legends in disparagement of the Pathaks are in cir- or culation as that they were made from a Lodha tree (Symplocos race- mosa). (6.) ThePdnde. 10 The Khon'yaJ 11 The Pichaura. 12 The Pichaura, or Payasi. 13 The Jutiya or Jatya. 14 Theltaror Intar § 15 The Beshtaul or Beshtavala. 16 The Charpand. “ A Pande,” says Dr. Butter, “ cannot marry a Pandin (fem.), nor, in general, can any Brahman intermarry with his own genus.” Some exceptions to this rule, however, are found.** The P&nde are very cautious, too, about eating with one another. Great numbers of the Pande were found in the Bengal army. With reference to this fact, Delhi, when in possession of the rebel sepoys, was jocularly called Pandemonium. 1 The Tirphala, Triphala. 2 The Jorava. 3 The Matainya. 4 The Toraya. 5 The Nakchauri. 6 The Parsiha. 7 The Sahankol. 8 The Barhadiya. 9 The Gegas.j" 17 The Sila. 18 The Adhurj. 19 The Madariya. 20 The Majgaum. 21 The Dilipapar. 22 The Payhatya. 23 The Nagava. 24 The Talava. || 25 The Jambu.^ (7.) The Upddhya. The Upddhya s are said to be Yajurvedis, and to be looked down upon by the other Kanaujyas for their taking of dana or gifts, (in * P. 143. t They intermarry only with one another. I They intermarry only with one another. § Of the Sama Veda. II This and the five preceding are said to be of the Sama-Ve'da. ^ Of the Rig-Ve'da. ** Butter’s Report, p. 149. 156 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. which they are not singular,) and for their personally holding the plough. Among their varieties are the following : — 1 The Harainya or Hiranya. 2 The Devarainya. 3 The Khoriya. 4 The Jaithiya. 5 The Dahendra. 6 The Gorat. 7 The Ranisarap. 8 The Nizamabad. 9 The Dudholiya. 10 The Basgava. of the The five last mentioned belong to the Sarvariya division Kanyakubjas. (8.) The Chaube', or Chobe. The accounts given of the origin of the denomination of the Chobe differ. Some of them hold, what is likely correct, that it is owing to the former profession by them of the Four V^das. Others of them say that it is owing to the use by them of Four Vedis or sacrificial pits. At present they principally profess the Sama and Yajur-Vedas. Their principal sub-divisions are : — 1 The Nayapuras. 5 Tlie Rampuras. 9 The Jamaduvas. 2 The Hargadis. 6 The Paliyas. iQ The Gargeya.* 3 The Chaukhar. 7 The Hardaspuras 4 The Katayas. 8 The Tibaiyas. (9.) TheDikshita. The Dikshita receive their denomination from the dikshd, a par- ticular religious ceremony of initiation (or practice) performed by their ancestors. They are Yajur-Vedis. They have the following among other varieties : — 1 The Devagaum. 4 The Anter. 7 The JujatvatiyasJ 2 The Kakari. 5 The Sukanta. 3 The Nevarshiya. 6 The Chaudhari.f (10.) The Lakhnau Vdjayapeyi. These Brahmans profess the Shukla Yajur-Veda, and are of the Upamanya Gotra. They are divided into two sections : — 1 The Unche, or the High. 2 The Niche, or the Low. * From Garga Rishi. They are said to be Yajur-Vedis. t The Chnudhari are found near Agra, Mainpuri, etc. They are generally cultivators, shop-keepers, and agents, few of them acting as priests or mendicants. They are probably Yajur-Ve'dis. They receive their denomination from their acting as Chaudbaris. t The Jujdvatiyas are said to be named from their patron JujAva^ King of Bundelakhanda. Their engagements are similar to those of the Chaudhan's. THE KANYAKUBJA BRAHMANS. 157 (11.) The Sarvariyas, S dryupdris . The Sarvartyas get their denomination from the ancient river Saryu, to the east of which they are principally found. They are a provincial offset from the Kanaujyas, with whom they do not now intermarry. Their general divisions are said to be the same as those of the Kanaujyas now given, in connection >vith which some of their sub-divisions have been already mentioned. (12.) Isolated Kanaujyas. The following are mentioned by Dr. Butter as “ of inferior genera, of one species only.” 1 The Samdariya. 2 The Tirguvait. 3 The Bhaurha. 4 The Kabisa. 5 The Kevati. 6 The Chandravala. 7 The Kusumbhiya. 8 The Bisohya. 9 The Kanhali. 10 The Khajuvdi. 11 The Misirman. 12 The Paihtiya. 13 The Masonad. 14 The Bijara. 15 The Ansnaura,etc. (13.) Dr. Butter also mentions the “undermentioned six classes of Brahmans as restricted in their matrimonial alliances to each other’s families.” 1 . Kanauj ke Mish- ri, including — Henikar, Parsa, Gopinath. 2. Muradabad ke Mishri, includ- ing— Majganm, Ankin, Sonthianva. 3. Yajapeya Na- khlau ke (men- tioned above.) 4. Pande Gegason ke. 5. Pande Khor ke. 6. Sukul Bala Change, and Avasthi, and Tevarasi Pra- bhakar.* In regard toBainswada or rather Bais wad a, (which gets its name from the Bais tribe of Rajputs to be afterwards noticed, who are said to have come to this locality from Ujjayin, when Malwa was governed by Yikramaditya) its people have a tradition, that the Kanyaknbja Brah- mans, now so numerous in its borders, had no settlement in it before the time of Tiidog Chand. The Brahmans * Outlines of the Topography of Southern Oude, p. 149. 158 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. of this district vie mth the Rajputs in the expence of their marriages.* “Among these families,” says Dr. Butter, “ no marriage can take place without an ex- penditure of 700 rupees; of which 100 are laid out in gold and silver ornaments for the bride ; fifty for culi- nary vessels; fifty for clothes; 100 rupees to be given to the boy, who is to be married, by the head of his bride’s family; 101 presented by the same person to the boy’s father, at the termmation of the latter’s visit of four days; at the marriage 150 rupees are distributed to the relations of the boy who accompany him, four rupees to each person; and the remainder is expended in bread, ghi, dal, sugar, etc. to supply a feast which continues five days. No other class of persons is obliged to incur such an expense in getting a daughter married.”t Of the distribution, engagements, and character of the Kanaujya Brahmans, Mr. George Campbell gives the folloAving information : — “ Further east, in the lower Doab, Eastern Oude, and the adjoining districts, is the great country of the modern Hindustani Brahmans. Kanauj, the ancient head-quarters of the race, is on the old Ganges, 50 or 60 miles above Cawnpore. It is now an insignificant place, and the mass of the Brahman population lies to the east of it. In the districts of Cawnpore and Futtehpore I believe that the Brahman culti- vators far exceed in number any other class ; in Cawnpore alone there are some 250,000 of them. It is much the same immediately on the other side of the Ganges, in the adjoining parts of Oude. “ Whether from the example of the Eajputs, or for other reasons, these Brahmans of the Antarveda and Oude have taken largely to the profession of arms, not usually much followed by them in other parts of the country ; and beyond their own boundaries in their military * Butter’s Topography of S. Oudh, pp. 145-6. f Butter’s Topography and Statistics of S. Districts of Oudh, pp. 149-50. THE KANYAKUBJA BRAHMANS. 159 character they are reputed the most overbearing and disagreeable of their race. Yet I fancy that it is rather their profession than their natural character, which has attached to them this bad name. Numer- ous as they were in the sepoy army, and foully as that army behaved, I cannot find that the Brahmans were really by any means worse than others ; some of the most Brahman regiments stood the best. And at home they seem to be quiet and peaceable enough. The Brahman dis- trict of Cawnpore pays, I think, a higher revenue rate than any other in India, except the peculiar Delta of the Cauvery about Tanjore. Numerous as the Brahmans are in this part of the country and apt as soldiers, they have not been the dominant race. I do not know much of the history of the Cawnpore district, but I have never heard of Brahman rule; and certainly over the river, in Oude, the rule is with the Rajputs, not with the Brahmans. All the really old Talukdars are Rajputs, as are the Rajas of Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand beyond the Jamna.* Yet the Brahman Talukdars are certainly increasing in the districts to which Mr. Campbell here refers. It is still generally believed that the Kanaujya Brahmans formed the first poAver in the Bengal regiments which muthiied. Considering their numbers and influence, they are to be held chiefly responsible for the atrocities which Avere committed in Eastern India. The Gauda Brah- maiis (Avho were not in the army) exhibited everyAvhere a very different spii-it. The Brdhmans of XipM and Bengal, it may be here mentioned in conclusion, are principally of the Kanya- kubja stock; but they Avill be onAvards separately noticed. (4.) The, Gauda Brahmans. The Gauda Brdhmans derive their name from the province and (now ruined) city of Gauda., long the capi- tal of Behar and Bengal (the seat of the Angas and Vamjas or Bangas., a non-A'ryan people mentioned in Ethnology of India, pp. 63-64. 160 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. early Indian history.'" According to Colebrooke the Bengali language was spoken in the provinces, of which the ancient city of Gauda was once the capital. “ It still prevails,” he adds, “in all the provinces of Bengal [that is when Mr. Colebrooke wrote], excepting per- haps some frontier districts, but is said to be spoken in its greatest purity in the eastern parts only, and as there spoken contains few words, which are not evidently derived from Sanskrit. This dialect has not been ne- glected by learned men. Many Sanskrit poems have been translated, and some original poems have been composed in it.”f The character generally used for it is a script form of the Nagari. The language was first made access- ible to Europeans by Messrs. Halhed and Forster, and Drs. Carey, Marshman and other missionaries. A pro- fusion of books has appeared in it in modern times. | Mr. Colebrooke in a note to his reference to Gauda makes the following important observations : — “ It is * See vol. i. pp. 141, 227. Mr. Pemberton, the recent surveyor of the Malda district, in which Gauda is situated, says “ Major Kennel in his Memoir of a Map of Hindostan gives the best modern account of the city that is to be found in print. Gaud, called also Lakhnauti, the ancient capital of Bengal, and supposed to be the Gangia regia of Ptolemy, stood on the left bank of the Ganges, about 25 miles below Rajmahal. It was the capital of Bengal 730 years before Christ, and was repaired and beautified by Humayun, who gave it the name of Jannutiabad, which name a part of the Sirkar in which it was situated still bears. According to Feri-shta’s account, the unwholesomeness of its air occasioned it to be deserted soon after ; and the seat of Govern- ment was removed to Tauda or Taurah, a few miles higher up the river.” This city must have been at least sixteen miles in length, and from two to three in breadth. Geo. and Statist. Report of Maldah, pp. 40-41. f On the Sanskrit and Prakrita languages, A. S. Res. vol. vii. pp. 223-4. J See Long’s Catalogue. THE GAUDA BRAHMANS. IGl necessary to remark that although Gaiida be the name of Bengal, yet the Brahmans who bear that appellation are not inhabitants of Bengal but of Hindustan proper. They reside chiefly in the Suba of Delhi ; while the Brahmans of Bengal are avowed colonists from Kanoj. It is difficult to account for this contradiction. The Gauda Brahmans allege a tradition, that their ancestors migrated in the days of the Pandavas, at the commence- ment of the present Kali Yuga. Though no plausible conjecture be founded on this tradition, yet I am induced to retract a conjecture formerly hazarded by me that the Gar of our maps was the original countr}^ of the Gauras.” The difficulty in reconciling the present habitat of the Gauda Brahmans with the place of their original consociation thus referred to by Colebrooke, has often attracted attention since his day. It has been notic- ed by Sir Henry Elliot, Colonel Cunningham, and Mr. George Campbell. General Cunningham supposes that the more ancient Gauda is “ only a sub-division of the U ttara Koshala,” and “ that the ruins of Shravastf [said to have been in Gauda] have been discovered in the district of Gauda^ which is the Gonda of the maps,” and that “ both the Gauda Brahmans and the Gauda Tagas must have belonged to this district originally, and not to the mediaeval city of Gauda in Bengal.”* This is an ingenious supposition. Mr. George Campbell thus writes : — “ Sir H. Elliott has remarked on the dif- ficulty of accounting for the fact that all the Delhi country is occupied by ‘ Gour’ Brahmans. They can hardly, he thinks, have come from Gour in Bengal, from which * Journ. Beng. As. Soc. I860, p. 218. 162 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. they are separated by great tribes of Kanojyas and others, and their own traditions point to Hariana as their original country. 1 would suggest the following explanation. The principal tributary of the Sarasvati is the Guggur' or Gkargat\ which now gives its name to the main channel where it passes through the Hariana district. May not the name of Gauda^ borne by the Brdhmans of HarianA, be a new abbreviation of Guggur^ or Lower Sarasvati Gauda from Gnggur or Ghargar^ however, is rather a harsh derivation according to the principles of Indian orthoepy. The Gauda Brahmans of all the provinces of India, Avhom I have personally examined respecting their general designation, unanimously testify that it originated with Gauda in Bengal. They are unable, however, to account for their present remoteness from that locality, and mde dispersion in Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western India. Before giving a confident ' decision in this matter, we should require to know, not only the history of their movements but the original principles of their consociation. They, with the Sarasvatas, are in a certain sense the most liberalized and the least regardful of Brahmanical institutes of all the Brahmans in India; and the Brahmans intermediate between them and Gauda may be mainly seceders from the position which they have assumed. Religious accordance and sympathy with the practices of the ancient Gauda Brahmans may be the real reason of the appropriation which they have made of the title of Gauda, and not any descent by generation. A case parallel to this supposition is found in the majority of the Brahmans of Gujarat, and even in some instances in * Ethnology of India, Journ. B. A. S. part II. 1866, pp. 63-64. THE GAUDA BRAHMANS. 163 those of Rajputana, as the ShrimMi',* who take their general denomination from the Pancha-Drdvida (mainly from their avoidance of the taking of animal life,) although they have no ethnical connexion whatever with the south of India. The comparative liberality and common sense of the Gauda Brahmans (including the Sdrasvatas associated with them), it may be safely said, has been noticed in many districts of India. Mr. Campbell gives of it the following pleasing illustration connected with the Brahmans near Delhi : — “ Wher- ever they are found in this country they are capital cultivators, quiet, industrious, intelligent ; there is no better population, and the women work as well as the men. It was remarked by the fugitives from Delhi at the time of the mutiny, that whenever they came to a Gujar village they were always plundered ; whenever they came to a Brahman village, they were always kindly treated ; while at any other village their treat- ment was uncertain.! Some of the less pure agricul- tural Brahmans of these villages are called Tagas or Gauda Tagas.” The Gauda Brahmans in Central India were noticed for their liberality by the troops under Sir Hugh Rose, now Lord Strathnairn. In a letter, kindly addressed to me by Dr. Lumsdaine of the Bombay Medical Service, attention was directed to their free use of animal food and to their readiness to prepare it for the use of others. The divisions among the Gauda Brahmans are very considerable in number, though they are not so numerous as those of some other classes of Brahmans which we * See before pp. 109, et scq. f Ethnology of India, p. 63. 164 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. have already noticed. The most conspicuous of them are the following : — (1.) The Gaudas or Kevala Gaudas. The Gaudas or Kevala G audas, Gaudas simply so called, are said to be of the Yajur-veda and to have their head quarters at Haradwar.* (2). The Adi-Gaudas. The A' di-G audas, or “Original Gaudas.” They are of the Shukla Yajur-veda; but some of them profess to have among them- selves individual professors of each of the four Vedas. Many of them, on the other hand, know nothing of their connexion with any Veda whatever. Many of them visiting Bombay, who are principally men- dicants, are from Kurukshetra and the countries bordering on the Satlej, Haradwar, etc. In some districts they abstain from animal food, though they profess to have permission to take it. Near Amballa, some of them are students of the Vedanta, and of the Nyaya (“ for exercise.”) There they don’teat or intermarry with other Gaudas. Their sects are principally the Smartta and Shakta. Some of them at Vindravan near Mathura are Vallabhacbaryas. (3-4.) TheShukalvdla Ad i-G audas. A variety of the A' d i-G a u d a s are the (3) Shukalvdlas of the Jayapur State in Rajputana. They get their name from their professing the Shukla, or White Yajur-veda. They have two divisions among them, the Joshts (so named from the connexion of their ances- tors with astrology and astronomy) who are Shaivas ; and the (4) Ojhas, part of whom are Shaktas, and part of whom are Shaivas. Their employments are public service, mendicancy, agriculture, and merchandize. (5-8.) The Sanddhya Gaudas. (5.) The Sanddhyas, numerous in the east of Rajputana, Central India, upper Hindustan, Agra, Mathura, and even to a certain extent in the Antarveda, also reckon themselves A’di-Gaudas. They are Yajur-Vedis, and gain their livelihood by service, mendicancy, cultivation and merchandise.! * So called by the followers of Shiva. The Vaishnavas call it Haridwar, but with little support from Hindu tradition. t Information of Ramasahaya, one of theh community. THE GAUDA BRAHMANS. 165 (6.) The C king alas are a division of the Sanadhyas. They are found at Alwar, Tijara, etc. (7.) The Z) d y i a s and (8) Khandelvdlas, mentioned on- wards in connection with Rajputana, also claim to be A'di-Gaudas. (9-11.) The Shri- G audas. (9.) The Shri- Gau das, “the Sacred or Honorable Gandas,” are constantly mentioned ; but the other Gaudas often do not admit that they originally belonged to the Gauda fraternity. I remember having seen only one of them in Bombay. He was a Samavedi, of the Bharadvaj Gotra. They are the first of their class in Mr. Prinsep’s list at Benares ; but only twenty of them are there mentioned as resident at that cele- brated tfrtha. Considerable numbers of them are found in Malwa. Of the Shri-Gaudas there is a division called (10) T amh oli , who deal in the betel-leaf and other similar articles ; and another called the (11) A'di Shri- Gauda found at Delhi, Mathura and Vrindavan. (12.) The Gurjar Gaudas. The G u rj ar a-G au d a s, we have already mentioned.* They are so widely scattered now, especially in Rajputana and Central India, that they can scarcely be reckoned a compact community. (13.) The Teh Bard Gaudas. The Teh B dr d I have heard mentioned only by name. (14.) The Cham dr Gaudas. The C hamdr Gaudas get their designation from ofiSciating for Chamdrs,^ or dealers in leather, who are considered a low caste. (15.) The Hariydna Gaudas. The H ar i y dn a s are Gaudas taking their name from the province of Hariana. They have found their way to Rajputana, especially its eastern states. (16.) The Kir t any a Gaudas. The Kir t any a s are Gaudas who wander about the N. W. Pro- vinces and Rajputana as singers, reciters and players on instruments. * See p. 103, above. t The Charmakdras of the Sanskrit books, and the Ckambhdrs of the Marathas, many of whom in Northern and Central India are now engaged in agriculture. 166 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. (17.) The Suhul Gaud as. The Sukul Gaud as live by mendicity, accepting alms from Brahmans, bat not from Kshatriyas, Banyas, or people of other castes. In the Benares lists of Mr. Prinsep, a few Ganda Brahmans are given under the designation of the Bireshvdld, and Silujana.* Lieut. Boileau mentions the C h umu v dl a Gaud as in Marwad.l The Gaudas are more liberal in their intercourse with the Brahmanhood in general, so far as permitted, than any other confederation of their brethren in India. Hence they have formed in Rajputana and Central India an asso- ciation, entitled the Chandyat (“ of six castes”) for the promotion of social intercourse by eating and drinking together. It consists of the following classes: — the Gauda.1 the Gurjar- Gauda, the Diva, the Sdrasvata, the Sikdvar, and the Pdrihha. In the South and West of India, they often show considerable liberality in the matter of their meals, without having resorted to any express agreement on the matter. In these provinces many of them are engaged as -writers, agents, shop- keepers, and agriculturists. 5. The Rajpuidna Brahmans. Many classes of Brahmans have entered Rajputana (iuAvhich they are now found) from other parts of India; but in this large division of Northern India, particularly in the province of Marwad, several important consocia- tions of Brahmans have been formed and established, which deserve notice in the first instance. (1.) The Shrimdlis. The peculiarities, religious and social , of this great confederation of Brahmans, I have already mentioned in connexion with its important branch in Gujarat and they need not be here again repeated. Bhin- * As. Res. vol. xviii. p. 493. t Pers. Nar, p. 237. I See above, pp. 109-111. THE RAJPUTANA BRAHMANS. 167 mdl is in the district of Jhalod in the South of Marwad. Speaking of it^ and Sdckod, which we shall soon have occasion to notice, Colonel Tod says: — “These towns are on the highroad to Kaclih and Gujarat, which has given them from the most remote times a commercial cele- brity. Bhinmal is said to contain about fifteen hundred houses, and Sauchore (Sachod) about half the number. Very wealthy Mahajansor ‘ merchants’ used to reside here, but insecurity within and without has much injured these cities. There is (in Mai) a temple of Baraha (Varaha), the incarnation of the hog, with a great sculptured boar.”* It is on the mercantile community that the Shrimalis are mostly dependent for support, both as priests and mendicants ; and in conse- quence of this circumstance they have wandered far from Bhinioal, their original home. They are to be found, especially, in most of the Western States of Rajwada, in Central India, and in Bombay. They claim to be the priests of the Shrimali and Shri-Shri-Mali Banyas. (2.) The Sachodas. 1l\x& Sachod a Brahmans, I have also already noticed, f Colonel Tod mentions them as “ the officiating priests of some of the most cele- brated temples in these regions, as that of Dvarika, Mathura, Pushkar, Nagar-Parkar, etc.”J The temples to which he here refers are those of Krishna belonging to the libidinous Vallabhacharya Maharajas, to whom they act as servants. In the celebrated Maharaj Libel case, one of them gave the following evidence in the interest of the prosecutor Jadunathji Bfijaratnaji Maharaj. “ It is usual to pay three rupees a month [besides food] to servants of my class. I put in order the Maharaja’s clothes after he has taken them off. I did not leave him for five minutes. It is my custom to sleep outside the door when the Maharaj sleeps in his bedroom. I will not leave the Maharaj alone, even if he told me, I would not go ; not that we suspect him, but because some one must be constantly within call.”§ (3.) The Pallivdlas. The Pallivdld Brahmans have likewise been mentioned || They derive their name from PalH, which, though now much reduced, * Tod’s Rajasthan, vol. ii. p. 209. t See before, p. 100. J Tod’s Rajasthan, vol. ii. p. 299. § History of the Maharaj Sect, Appendix. II See before, p. 119. 168 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. is still the commercial capital of Marwad. In A.D. 1212, eighteen years subsequent to the overthrow of Kanauj by the Ghori Shabuddin, Shivaji and Saitrara, the grandsons of its last Hindu Khatod king, with a band of followers, on a pilgrimage to Dvarika, or on the look out for a new settlement, were invited by the Brahmans of this place to assist them in repelling the inroads of the hill Mainas and Mers and of the wild beasts of the forests. They complied with the call made to them ; and were invited to settle at Palli. Here Shivaji had a son by a Solankhi Rajputni ; and at her advice he resolved to possess himself of the lands of these Brahmans. “ It affords,” says Colonel Tod, “ another example of the disregard of the early Rajputs for the sacred order that, on the Holi or Saturnalia, he found an opportunity to ‘obtain land,’ putting to death the heads of his community, and adding the district to his conquests.* The Pallivala Brahmans now principally devote themselves to merchandise. After alluding to the Rajputs of Jesalmer, Colonel Tod writes, “ Next to the lordly Rajputs, equaling them in numbers, but far surpassing them in wealth, are the Pallivalas. They are Brahmans, and denominated Palivdla from being temporal proprietors of Palli, and all its lands long before the Rhatods colonized Marwad.” Their introduction into Jesalmer he attributes to their banishment from Marwad on the occasion of some Muhammadan mili- tary exaction, for non-compliance with which they pleaded their caste. Many of them, he also says, at the same time settled in Bikaner, Dtiat, and the valley of Sindh (?). About all the internal trade of the coun- try, he goes on to say, passes through their hands. They are the Metayers of the desert, advancing money to the cultivators, on the security of the crop ; and they buy up all the wool and ghi of the country, which they transport to foreign parts. They never marry out of their own tribe ; and contrary to the law-books, give a consideration for their brides. They worship among other things the bridle of a horse. Colonel Tod thinks them the remains of the priests of the Palli Scythian race ;f but this is rather a wild conjecture. Speaking of Ka- thodi, near Jesalmer, Lieut. Boileau says, “The village of Kathodiis chiefly inhabited by Pallivalas, called elsewhere Boras; a tribe of Brah- mans who engage in mercantile pursuits. A large body of these people, some of whom were from this particular place, runaway to Ajmer some * Tod’s Rajasthan, vol. i. p. 700 ; vol. ii. p. 13. t Rajputdna, vol. ii. p. 287. THE RAJPDTANA BRAHMANS. 169 time ago, in consequence of fines being levied from them by the Rawal, but not being permitted, or not having an opportunity of carrying their wives and families out of the Jesalmer territory, they were obliged to return to the place from whence they came, and chew the cud of bitter discontent as well as they were able.”* The Pallivalas are numerous in Jesalmer, Bhikaner, Marwa l, Jayapur, and other states. Considerable numbers of them visit Bombay on business. (4.) The N an cl d V d n a s. Of these Brahmans I have not been able to find more information than that given in connexion with Gujarat. | (5.) The Pushkaras or Pokharnas. The Pushkara or P okh ar n a Brahmans get their name from the lake of Pushkar or Pokhar, near Ajmer, a tirtha men- tioned in the first Khanda of the Padma Purana, and now celebrated throughout the whole of India. They have now, however, but little connection with that locality, their comparative indifference about it perhaps originating in the sectarial incidents connected with it in latter times. As they all trace to it their designation and original consocia- tion, I may be excused for here inserting the notes of a hasty visit which I paid to it on the 25th February 1860. “ Went with Dr. Small to the Pokhar town and lake, about six miles W. by N. of Ajmer. To get into its basin, we had to pass over two Ghats, the first of which borders the Anasagar artificial lake of Ajmer. Found the town much submerged in consequence of the fall of rain last season and the im- perfect drainage of the water of the lake, which is esteemed so sacred that it is considered a sin to aid its flow by artificial means by an enlargement of the opening at its margin (where there are traces of a band), and from which there issues a small stream called the Sarasvatf. The under rooms of the Government office were filled with water to the ceiling, and we had to mount a wall to get to the upper rooms. Many shops and houses were unusable from the entrance of the holy fluid, supposed to be indicative of good fortune in the future. It is * Tour through the Western States of Rajw^iil, in 1835, p. 45. Of the Pallivalas the Rev. John Robson writes thus to me : — The Pallivdls, the pandits here say, have sprung originally from the Shn'mah's of Gujarat. There are none of them in Ajmer; but there are three families in a village near it. They are engaged in traffic, and know nothing about the points you ask. They also go by the name of RoAra. They and the Sacho- das and Hariyanas are not to be met with in Aj mdr, but they are in Kishangarh. + See above pp. 114, 119. 22 170 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. difficult to account for the origin of the tirtha, except when it is viewed as an oasis in the desert, as the scenery around it is neither very wild nor very sublime. Colonel Morrison, whose acquaintance we had the pleasure of making at Erinpura, is probably correct, when he thinks that the lake, being originally a natural one (notwithstanding subse- quent enlargements by the Parihar chiefs of Mandor), must have been viewed with great wonder in India, where there are few or no other lakes of similar character. The temple of Brahma, so often noticed in connexion with it, is not an affair of much consequence, except in the fact of its being dedicated to that deity, whose worship is discarded by modern Hinduism. It is said to have been built by Gopal Parikh, minister of the Maratha Raja of Gwalier, at the cost of Rs. 130,000, which must be an exaggeration.* The Brahmans don’t directly compromise themselves by taking care of the temple (which in point of fact is under the charge of Gosavis) ; but they lay claim to a share of the offerings presented at the shrine. The four faces of Brahma on the image are uniform, but they have a lengthened chin in place of a beard. The temple is exteriorly associated with an image of Shiva with four visible heads placed on a linga, and must there- fore be principally frequented by the votaries of that God.f There are various other temples on the margin of the lake, built by Rajput grandees, as Biji Singh of Jodhpur, Raja Man of Jayapur, and Jawalur Mai of Bharatpur. There is also one erected at the cost of the famous Ahalya Biii of Indur. I was surprised to find only two Pokharna Brahmans at the place. Their head- quarters are now at the town of Pokharna, N. W. of Jodhpur. The resident Brahmans, who occasionally saluted us by holding out their hands (as if for gifts), according to the prescriptions of the law-books, belong to the Gaudas, Sanavadas, Gurjara (query, Gurjara Gaudas?), Sachodas, Parikhas, and Purohitas. The town is said to contain about 2,000 houses, of which two or three hundred are shops. It is visited by numerous pilgrims, seeking to bathe in the lake ( ‘ holy poker’ ! as a friend denominates it) particularly at full moons, and at its festivals and fairs. ”J * Silrasvali (the ‘lady of the lake’) to whom the lake is dedicated, having been assigned to Brahma as a spouse, probably suggested the idea of having a shrine here in honour of her husband. t One of the five heads of Shiva is supposed to be invisible in cases of this kind. 'I’liis image probably owes its e.xistence to the presence of the Gosavis. J Compare with this. Tod (Rajasthan, vol. i. p. 773 et seq.) and Dr. Irvine (Topo- graphy of Ajmere, p. 48.) THE RAJPUTANA BRAHMANS. 171 The Pokbarna Brahmans we have already noticed in connexion with Gujarat and Sindh. Speaking of them, Colonel Tod says : “ Another singular tribe, also Brahminical, is the Pokharna, of whom it is cal- culated there are fifteen hundred to two thousand families in Jesalmer. They are also numerous in Marwar and Bikaner, and are scattered over the desert and valley ot the Indus. They follow agricultural and pastoral pursuits chiefly, having little or no concern in trade. The tradition of their origin is singular; it is said that they were Beldars, and excavated the sacred lake of Pushkar or Pokhar, for which act they obtained the favour of the deity and the grade of Brahmans, with the title of Pokharna. Their chief object of emblematic worship, the Khoddhi, a kind of pick-axe used in digging, seems to favour this tradition.”* In the population tables of Lieut, (afterwards Major-General) Boileau of the Bengal Engineers, we find the population of these Brahmans, 150 at Bandar- Sindri in Kishangadh ; 400 at Bikarapur in Jesalmer ; 1,500 at Jayapur ; 5,000 at Jeselmer itself ; 10,000 at Jodhpor ; 1,500 at Medata ; and at Pokharn, in Marwad, 1,500. He also noticed them in many villages through which he passed. There can be no doubt that they are a numerous body in the northern and western states of Rajputana, where, however, they are less devoted to religious rites than in Sindh. (6.) The Pole liar S ev aha s. Besides the Pokharna Brahmans, or Brahmans of Pokhar pro- perly so called, there are found at the lake itself and at some other places a consociation of Brahmans called Pokliar- S e V a k a s , who devote themselves to temple service and to cooking for the Vallabhacharya Maharajas, and are consequently looked down upon by their more independent brethren. My observant friend the Rev. John Robson, M. A., A jmer, thus writes of them : — “ They are called Pokhar Sevag, though they call themselves P a rd- s liar i, the descendants of the Rishi of that name, in order to exalt themselves. They are a comparatively modern class of Brahmans, The following is the account of their origin. A Mer, whose name I have not been able to find out, had three sons, Bhupal, Narpat, and Gajpal. The Sewags are descended from Bhupal, whom they call * Rajasthan, vol. ii. p, 287. t Appended to his Personal Narrative of a Tour through the Western States of Rajputana, a work in which there is much valuable geographical information. 172 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. Pota ; from Narpat are descended the Lodya Banyds ; and from Gajpal the Mers that inhabit the Pokhar valley. At the time that these three brothers lived the hill of Badrinath was thickly wooded, and in the grove there lived a great muni ( I have not yet learned his name) to whom Bhupal brought rice and fruit every day, and in whose service he was constantly employed. One day the muni asked him what he wished in return, and Bhupal told him he did not wish great wealth or power but just enough to keep himself alive, and that he might gain wisdom. The muni asked him whether he would like to become a Bnibman, and he said he would, on which the muni taught him the Yajurveda, in virtue of which he was elevated to the rank of a Brahman. The Lodya Banias and Mers of Pokhar worship them, and they direct strangers in their ablutions at Pokhar, for which they receive charity. They are looked down on by other Brahmans, and for a long time were not admitted to any of the offices connected with Brahminical temples, being employed more by the Saraojis, (who are Jainas), but now they are pretty generally admitted as blowers of the shankh (conch). They are widely spread in Rajputami, and do not intermarry with other castes. Their gotra is that of Vasishtha, their Shakha the Madhyandina, and their sitra the Kalayini. An incident that occurred in the reign of ISawai Jaya Singh of Jayapur will show that at that time they were not considered regular Brahmans. That king had gone to Pokhar, and been directed in his ablutions by one of the Sewags whom he worshipped and to whom he gave a fine dress, and for whom he built a temple, I think. One of the same caste in Jaipur married the daughter of that Sewag, and got from him the dress which Jaya Singh had given. Some time after Jaya Singh saw the dress on the Jaipur Sewag, and asked him whence he had gotten it. He told him that he had got it from his father-in-law in Pokhar. As soon as Jaya Singh learned that the Pokhar Sewags were the same caste with those of Jaipur he hastened thither, turned the Sewags out of the temples, and put in their place Gauda, Sanavada, and Gujarati Brahmans, who now worship in the temples. Such are the principal facts I have learned with regard to the Pokhar Brahmans. The Pokhar Mahatmya says nothing concerning them, e.vcept that by the curse of Savitri they were condemned to be poor.” (7.) The Medatavdlas. The Medatavdlas, as we have already noticed under the THE BAJPUTANA BEAHMANS. 173 Gurjjara Brahmans,* were originally consociated at the town of Medata or “ Mairta” in the Jodhpur State. They rank themselves among the Shrl Gaudas f They are well known in Marwad, but are not very numerous in that or any of the other provinces of Rajwada, except at the town from which they derive their name. (8.) The P dr ihli a s. The Pdrihh as, usually called the Pur o hit a-P d r i h h a s, are the family priests of the Jayapur, or Dhundhar Kings, in whose territory especially they are abundant. They claim to be the hereditary priests of the Surya-Vansha Kshatriyas ; but are said to get their name from their judging of pearls. They profess to be of the Ma- dhyandina Shakba of the Wliite Yajur-veda, their Rishi being Garga. Yet they claim to be descended from Vasishtha. When his hundred sons with their wives were destroyed through the jealousy of his rival Yishvamitra, a son, called Sava, fell from the womb of one of these wives, who had Parashara as his son, the father of Yyasa, the father of Shak and Yhayashak, from whom, as their progenitor, the Parikhas have their name.”J (9.) The L av d n a s. The Brahmans of this name are to a small extent found in Marwad. Perhaps they get their name from officiating among the mercantile Havanas. Lieut. Boileau calls them “ camel-loaders. § (10.) The Dakotas. The D dk 0 t B r dhmans , of Bhikaner, Marwad, Kishanagadh, Upper Sindh, Jayapur, etc. are mendicants, said to be the offspring of a Brahman and an A'hir woman. They eat impurely, and receive impure articles, such as oil, in charity. They worship the God Shani (the Hindu Saturn), and their favourite day for asking alms is Saturday. They profess astrology. The following interesting notice of their traditions and habits is by Mr. Robson; — “ There are numbers of them in Ajmer. They are worshippers of Sanichar (S'/iawafs/ic/iara)and receive all the gifts given to that God. They are as a rule very ignorant and subsist chiefly by begging. I have heard of only one who had read any- * See above p. 106. t For an account of this town, see Tod’s Rajasthan, vol. i. p. 712, et seq., and Boileau’s Personal Narrative p. 147. J Letter of Mr. Robson. § Boileau's Personal Narrative, p. 225. 174 ' WHAT THE CASTES ARE. thing, and he is in the village of Lamba in Jayapur. The account they give of themselves is mainly from tradition, as they have no books. They say that in the Treta Yuga when Rama invaded Lanka he sat one day on the seashore, and gave a gift to Sanichar (Sanichir ka dan consists of black cloth, til, oil, iron, charcoal, buffaloes, salt). The gift he divided among some Rishis who were there ; but they refused to take it, as it is thought an unworthy thing to accept it. Then a Rishi called Danka made an image of Kusha, and having given it life said, “ This, my son, will take thy gift.” Rama gave it to him, and said ‘ for a watch and a quarter of the day Sarasvati shall remain in thy memory.’ From being the sons of Danka Rishi, they are called Ddkots. Their Rishi is Danka ; their Veda, the Atharvan ; their Slnikha,* the Madhyandina ; their Gotra, Kashyapa. They marry only among them- selves. The other Brahmans consider it pollution even to touch them, as also the Rajputs and Banias, and even some of the lower castes. On the other hand, their society is secretly sought for by many of the Brali- mans, on account of their being the priests of Sanichar. The worship of this God is increasing chiefly among the Banias, who fear his poAver greatly. They often give gifts of great value to him, substituting good sterling rupees for the other more appropriate gifts. Some of the Brahmans take the cash but always through means of a Dakot who generally divides the spoil with them. My pandit told me that some months ago a Dahima had come to him, and being of the same caste, he gave him a room in his house. But his (the pandit’s) father saw a Dakot come in, and give him some rupees, on which he Avent up to him, charged him with receiving a “ gift from Saturn, and turned him out of the house. The story, whether true or not, shows the low posi- tion of the Dakots in society, and the disgrace that seems to attach to the priesthood of Saturn.” (11.) The Garudyas. In places where the Dakots do not exist, a mixed caste called Gar u, xalg&rly G a r u d y a, receive Saturn’s gifts. They are said to be de- scended from a Brahman and Chambharanf of Doraf near Ajmer. They are the priests of the Chambhars and Balais. These Garudyas seem to correspond with the Garodas, the priests of the Dheds of Gujarat. f * If they are of this Shukha they must belong to the White Yajur-Veda. See above p. 11. t See above, p. 122. THE KAJPUTANA BRAHMANS. 175 (12.) The A'chdrjas. The A'c h d rj a s are also a low Bralimanical caste found in Marwacl and Ajmer. They get their name from a prakrit corruption of A'chdrya, an instructor in duty, but applied to a class of Brahmans in Rajputana who are set apart for conducting funeral ceremonies, and who, on account of the degradation of their office, have become for generations isolated from their brethren. Similar degraded classes of Brahmans are found in almost every province of India. “ The story of their origin is that when Dasharatha died no one of his sons was present, and a Brahman who was there took care of the body till Bharata came. Bharata burned the body, and performed the Karmma Kunda till the eleventh day, when he gave all Dasharatha’s clothes and jewels to the Brahman. The Brahman at first refused to take them, but Vasishtha Rishi bade him do so. When Rama came and heard what had happened, he bestowed on him this blessing, whosoever shall not worship you on the eleventh day, his ceremonies for his father shall not be complete. The Purohita may take gifts on other days after a death, but on the eleventh none but an A'charja may take them. On that day he takes some Kusha (grass), dips it in cow’s urine, repeats a mantra received from Ramachandra, and sprinkles the house, which then becomes clean. The A'charjas are generally an ignorant unread class, and know nothing but this one mantra, which they will not reveal. Some of them work as sihiwats and others in the fields. Their Gotra is the Bharadvaja, and their Rishi Vasishtha. 1 have not been able to meet any who can tell me their Veda.”* (13.) The Burd Brdhmans. The Burd Brdhmans (Evil Brahmans ?) are found in great numbers in the Rajput States, and extend to Upper Sindh. They are mendicants, much dreaded by the people. They claim the clothes, bedding and lotd of the dead, especially of the rich. Their usual cry is, A'i, Mata, mdro motjid, 'Tab mvjkho mild rodd, “ Oh ! M4ta, fat and rich ones slay, To grant me food enough this day.”f “ This people,” says Dr. Irvine, “ is rather numerous in Rajputana, and forms the terror of fat Shets and Banyas, especially if one be met with in the morning.” *MS. of Mr. Kubson. t Irviue’s Topography of Ajmer, p. 9. 176 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. (14.) The K dp ad is. There are also low mendicant Brahmans who beg from Banyas. They are found principally in the Jodhpur and Jayapur States. , (15.) Dahimas or Ddyimas. The Dahimas or Ddyimas are named from the Dahima Raj- puts to be onward mentioned. They are very extensively spread in j\Iarwiid and Kishangadh, Dhundhar and other parts of Rajputana.* They consider themselves to be descended from the twelve sons of “ Pipyalayan, son of Dadhicha.” “ The account of their origin which I have from my pandit, himself a Dahima and a tolerable Sanskrit scholar, is as follows : — Wan Dhata, King of Marwar (a Parihar he must have been) wished to perform sacrifice and went to Haradwar where Pipyalayan was doing tapa in order to get him to take part in the sacrifice. He refused to take part himself, but sent his twelve sons with the King to perform all that was necessary, enjoining them at the same time not to take any reward, as both he (Pipyalayan) and his father Dadhicha had lived without gifts. They went with Man Dhatu and directed him in performing the sacrifice, but retused to take the gifts which he offered. The king after much entreaty persuaded them to take the pan supari, and on each leaf of pan he inscribed the name of a village. They suspecting nothing returned to their father who cursed them, saying, you have become yjat/myn'/i, and spurned them from him. They went back disconsolate to the king of Marwad, who gave them his twelve daughters in marriage, and confirmed them in possession of their villages. They had 172 sons, from whom are the different subdivisions of the caste. Many of them must have become extinct. My pandit could enumerate only ten or twelve of them. He is himself a Mandola from Mandor, the ancient capital of Marwad. They seem to be mostly pandits, and their income seems to be derived principally from reading the Bhagavata and other Kathiis. Their Rishi is Dadhicha ; Gotra, Kaushika; Veda, White Yajush ; Shakha, Madhyandina ; and their Pravaras, three. With regard to the marriage between the Brahmans and the Raja’s daughters, I asked the pandit why that was given up. He said that the Rajas had given it up because the Brahmans were poor, and the Brahmans in revenge declared that the Rajas had lost caste.”f The story is a very improbable * The Rev. John Robson. t They are said to profess both the Rig-ve'da and the Yajur-ve'da, and to he engaged in public service, agriculture, mendicancy, and merchandise. Information of Pandit Rdmasabaya. THE RAJPUTANA BRAHMANS. 177 one. It is not unlikely that the Dahimas have got their name from the Dahima Rajputs of Biana, whose decay from great splendour is noticed by Colonel Tod.* (16.) The Khandelavdlas. The Khandelavdla Brahmans get their denomination from the town of Khande’la, one of the most northern towns of the Jayapur State near the borders of Shekhavati. They abound in the Jayapur territories, and are found in some of the other Rajput states. They claim connection with the A di-Gaudas, with whom we have already associated them as mentioned above.f They are said to be Yajur-Vedis, and mostly followers of Shiva, who is generally viewed as the tutelary god of the Rajputs. Some of them whom I have met are Vallabhacharyas, and Rig-Vedis. They engage in public service, merchandise, agriculture, and mendicancy. (17.) The Divas. The Diva Brahmans are numerous in Bhikaner, Marwad, and es- pecially at Nathadwara in Mewad, where they conduct the Vallabhacharya worship of Krishna and (with the Maharajas so-called) glory in the gifts and endowments which are presented to the Hindu god of lust. It is much to be regretted that the keen (though indulgent) eye of Colonel Tod did not penetrate the iniquitous system of this shrine.| (18-23.) The Sikuvadas, the Chamatavalas, (from Bharatpur ?) the Mdru s, the Shrivantas, the A' b hi r a s, the B h a r at d nd s. These Brahmans are found principally in Western Rajputana and especially the Jayapur territories. I have not been able to learn anything respecting them, except in the case of the A'bhiras elsewhere noticed, but the fact now mentioned. (24.) The S an dv ad a s. The Sandvadas are pretty numerous in the same and other dis- tricts of Rajputana. The place of their original consociation is un- known. Perhaps they are the same as the Sanddhyas, or Sanodhyas of other districts. * Rajasthan, vol. i. p. 119. t See before, under Gauda Brahmans. J See his romantic description of it and its incidents, in his first volume, pp. 521, 662. 23 178 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. (25.) The Vdg adi s . The V dg adi ^ ox Bdg adi Brahmans are of ancient date, and are the priests of the Vagadis and the wild tribe of the Minas.* They have a very low standing in the Brahmanhood. They will be after- wards mentioned in connexion with Central India. (26-28.) The Mewddas. Of these there are three divisions, already mentioned in con- nexion with Gujarat : the Trivddi Mevddis (sometimes called Joshis) B halt a Mevddifi, and the Vava or Chorasi Mevddis. They were all originally consociated in the province of Mewad, in which many of them are now cultivators, public ser- vants, priests and mendicants. (25.) The a uj gurus or Edjgors. The R dj gurus, or as they are more commonly called the Rajgors, are not confined to Rajputana, but are found wherever the Rajputs are scattered. In the State of Jodhpur they have the proprietory of no fewer tlnan 300 villages, which have in different reigns been allotted to them. This fact I learned at one of these villages named Porara, almost the whole population of which consisted of Rajgurs and the members of their families. In other States, too, they have large possessions. They call themselves, as I have found in Rajputana, Brihat (Brishtha), or Broken Brahmans. They say they fell into their present position from having officiated among the Rajput princes and chiefs after these professed Kshatriyas had departed from the dchdra (or line of life) prescribed to them in the Hindu law-books. By the regular Brahmanhood they are despised ; but they have great influence wherever they are found, as family priests, astrologers, securities for life and property, collectors of debts, and substitutes in moral responsibility (!) for the sins of their clients. Their connection with Rajput infanticide was long of an appalling character.J They are the priests of the Chdrans, about to be mentioned, and give much literary assistance to the Jainas. Some of them are good practical readers of Sanskrit, though they have devoted comparatively little atten- tion to its grammar. The most learned individual of their number with * Irvine’s Topography of Ajmere, p. 21. t See above, p. 104. X See author’s work on Infanticide, pp. 57, 66, 70\ 327. THE RAJPUTANA BRAHMANS. 179 whom I have met (who was introduced to me by Dr. Bhaa Daji) has a most extensive acquaintance with the Jaina literature. He mention- ed to me that they have a great many subdivisions among themselves, as the She'vada, Meta, Gundecha, Shti/a, Chdvindya, Pancha-Lada, etc. It is rather remarkable that Col. Tod should have taken but little notice of the Rajgurs in his nearly exhaustive work on Rajputana. In many respects they resemble the Bhiits and Chiirans, the Bards of Rajputana, whom I shall now notice, though they do not themselves distinctly claim descent from the Brahmans, though they largely share in the honours accorded to a priesthood esteemed absolutely sacred. (30.) The Bhdt«, Bhdt tas, or Bhdrats. These names seem to be etymologically the equivalents of the San- skrit Bhata or Bhatta, popularly formed from Bhartri, a nourisher or protector, and figuratively applied to mendicant and learned Brah- mans. Wherever Rajputs are settled, however, they are used to designate a class of eulogistic bards, genealogists, and chroniclers, very abundant among those reputed descendants of the ancient Ksha- triyas. Their name and occupation suggest the Latin votes. Their engagements are partly the same as those of the Sutas and Bandijanas of the Sanskrit books.* It is possible that they may have been originally Brahmans cleaving to the Rajputs like the Rajgurs, though of an earlier confederation, or perhaps the irregular descendants of Rajputs themselves ; for in physiognomy they seem to be of the A'ryan type, and claim and receive civil and religious honour of a very extravagant character. “ The Bhats or Raos,” says Sir John Malcolm, “ seldom sacrifice themselves ; but as chroniclers or bards, they share power, and sometimes office with the Charans.f Among the Bhiialas and lower tribes they enjoy great and exclusive influence ; they give praise and fame in their songs to those who are liberal to them, while they visit those who neglect or injure them, with satires, in which they usually reproach them with spurious birth and inherent meanness. Sometimes the Bhat, if very seriously offended, fixes the figure of * See vol. i. pp. 57, 65, 66, 127, etc. t “According to the fable of their origin,” says Sir John, “ Mahadeva first created Bhats to attend his lion and hull ; but these could not prevent the former killing the latter, which was a source of infinite vexation and trouble, as it compelled Mahadeva to create new ones. He therefore formed the Charan.” Central India, vol. ii. p. 132. 180 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. the person he desires to degrade on a long pole, and appends to it a slipper as a mark of disgrace. In such cases the song of the Bhat records the infamy of the object of his revenge. This image usually travels the country, till the party or his friends purchase the cessation of the ridicule and curses thus entailed. It is not deemed in these countries in the power of the prince, much less any other person, to stop a Bhtit, or even punish him for such a proceeding ; he is protected by the superstitious and religious awe, which, when general among a people, controls even despotism.”* They hold that their own lives are sacred, and by the people in general it is believed that this is the case. Their extravagant demands for ddna, or largesses, on the occasion of Rajput marriages (as well as those of the Charans) were among the most powerful inducenients to infanticide in Kathiawad. It was proposed by some philanthropists to put an authoritative limit on these demands. This proposal was very properly condemned by Major, now Major-General, Sir G. LeGrand Jacob. “ I doubt the expediency,” he wrote, “ of introducing any such rule under British sanction.... We might slightly diminish present mischief by fixing a standard, but the doing so would only give perpetuity to an evil that the hand of time is gently eradicating.” These views were approved by the Bombay Government.f The Bhats in Rajputana frequently act as conveyors of goods, and drovers of cattle for hire, trusting to the reputed sacred- ness of their persons for the safety of their charge, and to their escape (to a certain extent at least) of toll and fiscal duties. But who shall protect one baud of Bhats from another ? A curious case of an onset between two of their tandas, or caravans, is recorded by Colonel Tod.J He also mentions a voluntary sacrifice of eighty souls of their commu- nity, when seeking to enforce a claim on the Maharaja Umra of Marwad, who, on a certain occasion, had resisted their extravagant demands. § This is the most fearful case of trdga, or tydga (abandon- ment of life) with a view to frighten the superstitious of which we have any authentic notice in modern times. Another of the customs of the Bhats, and also of the Charans, that of dharand or extortion is practised by their sitting for hours, and days if necessary, for the * Malcolm’s Central India, vol. ii. pp. 37-8. + Author’s Infanticide in Western India, p.250. J Rijasthan, vol. i. p. 702. § 10. THE RAJPUTANA BRAHMANS. 181 enforcement of the payment of debts and other claims of themselves and clients. (27.) The C h dr anas. The Cbaranas are commonly supposed to get their name from the feeding and rearing of cattle. It is possible, however, that they may be the debris of some of the ancient Brahmauical Chdranas.* The most interesting notices which we have of them are probably those from the pen of Sir John Malcolm. “ They are divided,” he says, “ into two tribes, the Kachili, who are merchants, and the Maru who are bards.f These again branch out into one hundred and twenty other tribes, many of whom are the descendants [in the female line] of Brahmans and Rajputs. The Kachili and Maru Charans do not intermarry ;]but the latter intermarry with Rajputs.” “ The Brahman priests, who were the religious guides of the Rajputs while they remained on the banks of the Ganges, do not appear to have followed them, in any numbers, to their remote habitations on the verge of India. Beings were therefore wanted, on whose sanctity weak and superstitious minds could repose, who had, or pretended to have, knowledge ; whose faith was trusted, and who would constitute a link between men who could not confide in each other. Such the Charans soon became, and the usages they adopted give a singular picture of the society which they may be said in a great degree spiritually and morally to govern. The Charans must understand the rites of worship, particularly those of Shiva and Parvati, the favourite deities of the Rajputs. They are taught to read and write, and the class who traffic (generally in camels and horses) are shrewd men of business; while the Maru Charans apply their skill to the genealogy of tribes, and to the recital of numerous legends (usually in verse), celebrating the praises of former heroes, which it is their duty to chant, to gratify the pride and rouse the emulation of their descendants. The Charan’s chief power is derived from an impression, that it is certain ruin and destruction to shed his blood, or that of any of his family, or to be the cause of its being shed. They obtain a high rank in society, and a certain livelihood, from this superstitious belief which they are educated to inculcate, and which they teach their children to consider as their chief object in life to maintain. A Charan becomes the safeguard of travellers and the security for merchants ; and his bond * See above p. 9 et seq. t Besides these two classes of Charans there is another in Kachh, called Tumar. Infanticide in Western India, by the author, p. 338. 182 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. is often preferred among the Rajputs, when rents and property are con- cerned, to that of the wealthiest hankers. When he trades himself, he alone is trusted and trusts among the community to which he belongs. The Charan who accompanies travellers likely to be attacked by Rajput robbers, when he sees the latter approach, warns them off by holding a dagger in his hand ; and if they do not attend to him, he stabs himself in a place that is not mortal, and taking the blood from the wound, throws it at the assailants with imprecations of future woe and ruin. If this has not the desired effect, the wounds are repeated ; and in extreme cases one of the Charan’s relations, com- monly a female child or an old woman, is made a sacrifice. The same process is adopted to enforce the payment of a debt to himself or a claim for which he has become security. It is not unusual, as the next step, to slay himself ; and the catastrophe has been known to close in the voluntary death of his wives and children. The females of the Charans are distinct from all the other population, both in dress and manners. They often reside in separate villages, and the traveller is surprised to see them come out in their long robes, and attend him for some space, chanting his welcome to their abode. The Charans are not only treated by the Rajputs with great respect (the highest rulers of that race rising when one of this class enters or leaves an assembly), but they have more substantial marks of regard. When, they engage in trade, lighter duties are collected from them than others. They receive at all feasts and marriages presents that are only limited by the ability of the parties. The evil consequences of a Charan being driven to undergo a violent death, can be alone averted by grants of lands and costly gifts to surviving relations ; and the Rajput chief, whose guilt is recorded (for all these sacrifices are subjects of rude poems) as the cause of such sacred blood being shed, is fortunate when he can by any means have his repentance and generosity made part of the legend.”* From an intelligent and educated Charani (female Chfiran) from Jamanagar, I have received, as this sheet is passing through the press, the following reliable information. “ The Charans of Raj- putaua, Kathiawad, Malwa, etc. ‘are composed of three castes which may all eat together — the Pradhja^ the Tiimbela, and the Sndard. The Pradfyas give their daughters only to their own caste, but receive daughters also from the other castes. The two other castes give * Malcolm’s Central India, vol. ii. p. 133, et. seq. THE RAJPUTANA BRAHxMAXS. 183 their daughters freely to the Pradiyas, but not to one another. The favourite divinity of them all is Devi, the consort of Shiva. Ill the course of own missionary journeys, 1 have frequently come in contact both with Charans and Bhats, and have had a good deal of conversation Avith them, confirming the views taken of them by Colonel Walker,* Sir John Malcolm, and Col. Tod, to whom we are indebted for the fullest notices of them. The first reference to them which I find in my journals is under the date, of Babara (in Kathiawad) Feb. 10, 1835 : — “ When we asked the chief some questions about his family, he called forward his Charan or domestic bard, who repeated a poem, in which the deeds of his forefathers were most extravagantly ex- tolled, and their various genealogies recorded. The bards are a sme qua lion in all the establishments of the chiefs in this part of the world. Sometimes they are Bhats, sometimes Charans. They have almost unbounded influence over those who retain them, and in a worldly point of view they are well provided for. They are ready to disfigure and dismember themselves, and even to take their own lives when their wishes are opposed. They seem to be more regarded than the Brahmans.’’ Subsequent visits to the same province led me to notice the mitigation of their pretensions and influence as far as founded on superstition and fear. Some years ago I was intro- duced by my friend Dr. Glasgow, to two or three of them in a village near Eajkot, who had embraced Christianity. On visiting Jodhpur (in February 18G0) I found that Capt. Nixon, the Political Agent at the capital of Marwad, was investigating, in the neighbourhood, a case of trdga, in which a Charan had killed his mother, in a local quarrel, to bring her blood upon an opposing party. The inquiry which he was conducting was agreeable to the engagements of H. H. the Maharaja of that province, who, with the Rajput princes in general, has come under obligations to the British Government to suppress tniga and all other forms of Hindu suicide. While I was at Jodhpur at the time mentioned above, I had much interesting conversation with the most learned Brahman of the Darbar, Prabhulal Joshi, who * In his Reports on Kathiawad and Papers on Lifanticide. 184 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. sho-wed that he had a great deal of Yedic and philological knowledge, and the most learned Charan, also of the court, Bharata Dana, who seemed to hare mastered the whole of the legendry of the Mahabharata, as well as that of the local chronicles of the Rajputs. It is much to be regretted that no systematic attempt has yet been made to collect and publish the bardic poems of Rajputana, which in a historical, if not in a literary, point of view have great interest, as well shown by Col. Tod and Mr. Kiuloch Forbes. The latter gentleman thus writes of the Bardic Chronicles : — “ Of the poetic value of the bardic chronicles we have in some degree enabled our reader to form his own estimate. Perhaps it may be thought of them (as Johnson thought of the so-called ‘ Poems of Ossian’) that ‘ nothing is more easy than to write enough in that style if once you begin.’ Where poets form an hereditary profession, the character of the poetry can scarcely be secure from this criticism. Their exaggerations are awkwardly great, and all their little fishes are apt to speak like great whales, their descriptions and their similes have so little variety that they might almost be stereotyped. Still it must, we think, he admitted that there is often in the bardic sketches much of spirit and of effective, however rude, colour and drawing. Their historical value may be accurately measured by a rule with which the biographer of the ‘ Queens of England’ furnishes us ; ‘No one,’ says Miss Strickland, ‘who studies history, ought to despise tradition, for we shall find that tradition is, on the whole, accurate as to fact, but wholly defective and regardless of chronology.’ The bardic accounts, where they are written, and are intelligible without oral expla- nation, may rank with the contemporaneous ballad poetry of other nations : where unwritten, they approximate to common oral tradition. The written genealogies, where they do not ascend to fabulous periods, are doubtless correct in the main. In matters of less strictness, even the bards themselves, though they admit a certain laxity, assert their material accuracy. The following is their canon : — “ ‘ Without fiction there will be a want of flavour, But too much fiction is the house of sorrow. Fiction should be used in that degree, That salt is used to flavour flour.’ “And in another couplet they assert that, — “ ‘ As a large belly shows comfort to exist. As rivers show that brooks exist. As rain shows that heat has existed. So songs show that events have happened.’ “ There is one subject, at least, upon which bardic testimony cannot be im- pugned— the subject, we mean, of manners and customs ; and without contend- ing for what is extravagant, we may remark that the bards, even if by an THE RAJPUTANA BRAHMANS. 185 operation the very reverse of that which is performed I)y amber, have enshrined in the rude casket of their traditions much of that for which history is more especially valuable The bardic song, with all its virtues and its vices, its modicum of truth and its far larger mass of worthlessness, is now nearly silent, and can never revive ; the swords which it celebrated are broken or rusted, the race by whose deeds it was inspired is fast passing away. Perhaps it may be the fate of even these poor unworthy pages to call attention, for really the last time, to the verse which has been, for so many centuries, alike a solace in peace and stimulant in danger to the sons of the Kshatn's.”* This estimate is as correct as it is happily expressed. It may be coupled with the following notice by Mr. Forbes of the peregrinations of the bards among the minor chiefs of Gitjarat and Kiithiawad, applicable also to those in Eajputana and Central India : — “ When the rainy season closes, and travelling becomes practicable, the bard sets off on his yearly tour front his residence in the ‘Bha^wdra’ of some city or towm One by one he visits each of the Rajput chiefs who are his patrons, and from whom he has received portions of land, or annual grants of money, timing his arrival, if possible, to suit occasions of marriage or other domestic festival. After he has received the usual courtesies, he produces the ‘ Wahi,’ a book written in his own crabbed hieroglyphics, or in those of his fathers, which contains the descent of the house, if the chief be the Tilayat or head of the family, from the founder of the tribe ; if he be a ‘ Phatayo,’ or cadet, from the immediate ancestor of the branch, interspersed with many a verse or btillad, the ‘ dark sayings’ contained in which are chanted forth in musical cadence to a delighted audience, and are then orally interpreted by the bard, with many an illustrative anecdote or tale. The Wahi is not, however, merely a source for the gratification of family pride, or even of love nf sohg; it is also a record of authority by which questions of consanguinity are determined when marriage is on the tapis, and disputes relating to the division of ancestral property are decided, intricate as these last necessarily are from the practice of polygamy, and the rule that all the sons of a family are entitled to a share. It is the duty of a bard at each periodical visit to register the births, marriages, and deaths which have taken place in the family since his last circuit, as well as to chronicle all the other events worthy of remark which have occurred to affect the fortunes of his patron ; nor have we ever heard even a doubt suggested regarding the accurate, much less the honest, fulfilment of this duty by the bard.”t This may well illustrate the interest of many of the documents in the possession of the bards, especially those connected with later timeSi Many of the reputed ancient genealogies in their possession are not trustworthy ; but, by their comparison, historical facts may be elicited, it is to the credit of the bards that, on proper acknowledgment being made, they are generally willing to furnish copies erf their manuscripts to worthy desiderants ; copies of the older and more extended poems, as those of Chanda, should be procured from different provinces for the purpose of collation for a standard text. * Rasmala, vol. ii., pp. 2G5-6G. t Rasmala, vol. ii., pp, 2G.3-G!. 186 WHAT THE CASTES AEE. lu concluding our notice of the Brdhmans of Raj- putand, the following testimony of Colonel Tod, the warm and generous friend of all its provinces, is worthy of particular attention : — “ There is scarcely a State in Rajputana in which one-fifth of the soil is not assigned for the support of the temples, them ministers, the secular Brahmans, bards, and genealogists. But the evil was not always so extensive ; the abuse is of modern growth.” “ The Brahmans, Sanydsis, and Gosains are not behind those pi’ofessional flatterers, the bards ; and many a princely name would have been forgotten but for the record of the gift of land.” It is to land that the avarice of those of whom he complains is principally directed. It is, however, not bounded by land. “ The political influence of the Brahmans is frequently exemplified in cases alike prejudicial to the interests of society and the personal welfare of the sovereigTi. The latter is often sur- rounded by lay Brahmans as confidential 'servants, in the capacities of butler, keeper of the wardrobe, or seneschal, besides the guru or domestic chaplain, who to the duty of ghostly comforter sometimes adds that of astrologer and physician, in which case God help the prince.”* He also accuses the Brahmans of sometimes forgmg charters in their own favour, stating in illustration that “ there is not a doubt that the grand charter of Ndthadwara was a forgery, in which the prince’s butler w^as bribed to aid.” Speaking of the Jayapm- State, he says — “ Of Brahmans following secular as well as sacred employments, there are more in Amber than in any other State in Rdjwada ; from which we are not to conclude that her princes were more rebgious than their neighbours, but, on the contrary, that they were greater sinners.” * Eajasthan, vol. i., pp. 507-514. CENTRAL INDIA BRAHMANS. 187 In all this there is much truth, while no doubt consider- able benefit often arises from the secularization of the Brahmans, who are often the only parties in particular provinces Avho are capable of conducting public affairs. A distinct attempt should everywhere be made, by educa- tion and instruction, for the amelioration of their circum- stances. No monopoly of business should be allowed to remain in their hands, while no work for which they are better qualified than others should be withheld from them simply because they are Brdhmans. Their capacity for thought, and for labour requiring thought, cannot be doubted, but them moral character in individual cases should always be inquired into. 6. — Central India Brdlimans. The following general account of the Brahmans of Central India* is from the pen of Sir John Malcolm : — “Besides the various tribes of Brdhmans from the Dak- han [particularly those of the Maharashtra], there are no less than eighty-fourf sects in Central India ; but almost all these trace, or pretend to trace, the emigration of their ancestors, and that at no distant period, from neighbouring countries. The six sects, or Chandti tribe of Brahmans,! alone claim the province of Malwfias their native country, and even they refer back to a period of twenty or thirty generations, when their ancestors came into it ; but still they have a pride in being termed IMalwfi Brahmans, which to the rest would be a reproach. * In this notice, by ‘ Central India’ is to be understood the districts lying to the south of Eajputana and the north of the Satpuda range of mountains. f That is simply a large number. X This is a consociation of six castes of Brahmans, 188 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. The Gujarat Brahmans are very numerous ; some of these are employed in the offices of religion, while others trade, and gain a respectable livelihood as -writers and accountants. Many of the IMarwm* or Jodhpur Brahmans are also traders ; but the great mass from that country, as well as from Udayapur, are labourers and cultivators, forming, indeed, a very considerable proportion of the most industrious husbandmen of Central India. The Hindustan Brahmans are not so numerous, and a considerable proportion of them are concerned in trade. Those from Oude (classed with the natives from Behar, and known by the general name of Purabis, or Eastern Brahmans) are almost all soldiers, and seldom, if ever, settle in this country. A few of the military Brahmans of the above tribes, and of those from Benares and Kanoj, are supported by the charity of the Maratha princes and chiefs, while many have found employment as servants of the rich Southern (Dravida) Brahmans ; and the latter, though they will neither eat nor intermarry with these sects, have studied their convenience by coming to the conclusion that they are not defiled by the lowest Purabis giving them water, washing their clothes, and performing other menial offices. “ All the Brahmans of Central India, excepting the Southern, are classed by the conquerors under the gene- ral head of Rdngadi, or rustic. They are in general a (juiet, submissive race, with the exception of the Purabi or Eastern Brahmans, who, coming from Oude and Behar, filled the ranks of the insubordinate corps of regular infantry which for so many years domineered over this country, and treated its inhabitants with such insolence and rapacity, as to render them equally dreaded and hated as the Pathiins. CENTRAL INDIA BRAHMANS. 18a “ The Bundelakliand Brahmans, and some of the lower orders from Kanoj, who come annually to Central India, wiU be noticed amons; the classes to whose level and association their impure habits and crimes have degraded them. “ There is, perhaps, no part of India [if we except Gujarat] where the tribes of Brahmans are so various, and their numbers so great, as in Central India ; but there is certainly none where there are so few of them either wealthy, learned, or where there is less attention paid to the religious rites of the Hindu faith, or to its priests, by the rest of the population.”* These statements, both as far as myo^vn observations in Central India, and enquiries respecting it, are concerned, appear to me to be very correct. I have found only the following classes of Brahmans originally consociated within its boundaries : — (1) The Mdlavis. The Malavi Brahmans are the proper Brahmans of the pro- vince of Mdlwd and the adjoining country. They principally belong to the Madhyandina Shakha. They are found not only in their own special habitat, but in smaller numbers in the Nag2)ur and Berar territories. Those of them who have been long settled in provinces exterior to Malwa, as in Gujarat, are isolated in caste from their main body. Their achara is not approved of by the Maratha Brah- mans. They are often shopkeepers and cultivators. (2) The Ndrbadis or Nemddis. The Ndrbadis or Nemddi Brdhmans are the Brahmans of the country lying on the banks of the Narbada or Narmada river, between the Vindhya and Satpuda ranges. Those of them with whom I have conversed are Yajur-vedis, but of which recension of the Yajur- veda they could not tell me. They often wander, into the provinces contiguous to their own, as mendicants. Their language is interme- diate between the Gujarati, the Malavi, and the Marathi. * Central India, vol. ii., pp. 122-24. 190 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. (3) The Hdngadis. While it is a fact, as mentioned above by Sir John Malcolm, that the Marathas apply the term Rdngadi to all the established Brahmans of Central India, there is a consociation to whom the designation belongs by way of distinction. It is that which is found in the mountain and hilly tracts to the west. Its members officiate particu- larly at mamages among the Bhils and other wild tribes there located. They correspond with the Vdgadi or Bdgadi Brahmans, who are found among the same tribes, as in Eajputana among the Minas. (4) The Bdgadis. These Brahmans have got their name from their ministering to* the cultivating, warlike, and thievish caste of Bagadis. They are not held in repute among the general Brahmanhood of any part of India. On one occasion I asked a Brahman to furnish me with a list of the most common castes of Brahmans found in j\Ialwa ; he complied with my request by giving me the following brief list : — The Shri- Gau Gurjar-Gauda of two distinctions, B a ^i-Samd- javdle (those of the great association, perhaps the Chandd), the Chhotii Samdjavdle^ Parikha^ D aimd^ Khan delv dla ^ Audichy a , Audum^ bar^Pallivdla^Dashora, B a vis ha ^ C hau- visha, and Jujoty a. These we have already noticed in connection with other provinces (Kanyakubjas, said ta be named from Jijanta Singh, who befriended them), Kespecting the Brahmans at the “ sacred” and classical tirtha of Central India, Ujjayin, Lieutenant Edward Conolly thus mutes in his animated and interesting account of his visit to that locality : — “ The Brahmans of large towns are proverbially avaricious and quar- relsome. Those of Ujjayin, being perhaps worse than elsewhere, are consequently held in little esteem. I gave a rupee to one of the attendants at Bhairava’s temple; hardly had we crossed the threshold before the usual wrangling commenced. Am I not so-and-so ? “ Am not I a Brahman V shouted one voice, ‘ You may be a Brahman, or any- CENTRAL INDIA BRAHMANS, 191 tiling else,’ was the retort, ‘ but we’ll share the money for all that.’ La- menting to a Kanoj parnlit at my side the degradation of his sect, lie explained that nearly all the Bnihmans of Malwa are of the Guja- rilti classes, which are looked down upon by those of Hindustan, and are notorious for their rapacity and avarice : he assured me that, in the ' larger temples, not one even of his own class could escape their ■extortions, for that they would not let a visitor quit the shrine without his leaving what they chose to consider a donation propor- tioned to his means : but perhaps, added he, they are not so much in fault as the people amongst whom they dwell — Jaisd desk, taisd besh. Pilgrims, on arriving at Ujjayin, hire guides to go with them the rounds of the holy places. These cicerones (Audichya Brahmans*) sit at the ghats expecting their prey. They require from any Brahman or respectable person whom they have escorted, a certi- ficate to that effect, in which they are very particular in inserting the name, family, habitation, &c., of the visitor. He who can show the greatest and most respectable budget of these documents takes a sort of lead amongst his fellows, hcBc dignitas, hce vires. When a well-dressed Hindu stranger approaches the ghats, the guides press round him : ‘ Take me, I have read,’ cries ones ; ‘ I have been here for thirty years, and know every comer,’ pleads another ; while a third holds aloft a dirty piece of paper, and shouts in his ear, ‘I escorted Shastri so-and-so — here’s his certificate.’ These pious men then push,f bawl, and abuse, while the puzzled visitor, alarmed at the hubbub, with difficulty extricates himself from their clutches, and must wonder in silence at this first specimen of the holiness of Ujjayin.”:}: This experience is probably consistent with that of every visitor of any of the celebrated Hindu tirthas of India ; but it must be remembered that they are mendi- * •“ These are the more numerous ; but poor Brahmans of other Gujarati classes are found, as the Ndgdr, Audambar, &c. Maharashtra Brdhmans also may be met with ; my guide was of this jdt, a very ignorant old man (I chose him for his wrinkles) who could do nothing hut mutter mantras, and, when asked a question, kept his teeth closed and shook his head.” •f “ As long as there is no gold or silver before them (says Lucian of some similar hypocrites), they are very good friends ; but show them a single farthing, and the peace is broken immediately ; there is no longer any order or agreement amongst them; they are just like the dogs ; throw but a bone, they all sally out, bite one another, and bark at him that carries it off.” — Franklin’s Translation, X Jontn., As. Soc. of Bengal, 1837, pp. 821-22. 192 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. cant Brdhmans who at such places principally present themselves to view. Y et it can easily be supposed that great changes have come over the priesthood of these provinces since the days of Vikramaditya, and the Rtija Bhoja so famous as a patron of literature. Even a worse charge than mendicancy, however, is to be pre- ferred against the Br4hmans of Central India. Speaking of the wondrous professional bands of that part of the country, Sir John Malcolm says — “ The Thags are com- posed of all castes ; Muhammadans even are admitted : but the great majority are Hindus ; and, among these, the Brdhmans, chiefly of the Bundelakhand tribes, are in the greatest numbers, and generally direct the operations of the different bands.” The Thao-s have been well- O nigh extirpated by the British Government ; but not a few of the Brahmans of Central India are still understood to be dexterous thieves and robbers. As, with few exceptions, particularly among the Brahmans of the Maharashtra, the Brahmans of this part of India belong to the Panchagauda, they freely use animal food. Some of them, indeed, did not refuse to act as cooks to the British soldiers engaged in suppressing the Mutiny of 1857.* 7. — The Maithila' Brdhmctns. The Maithila Brahmans derive their designation from Mithila, an ancient division of India, the king of which was Janaka, the father of Sita, the wife of lldma, the hero of the Rdmayana. It comprehended a great portion of the modern districts of Tirhiit (olim, Tira- bhukti, ‘ bank boundary’), Sdran and Purniya, and also * This fact was first brought to my notice by an able medical officer of the Bombay Army, Dr, Lumsdaine. THE iVIAITtllLA BRAHMAHS. 19B part of the adjacent tracts of Nepdl.* • Of the language of this province Colebrooke thus writes : — Maithila, or Tirhuiiya^ is the language used in Mithila^ that is, in the Sirkdr of Tirhiit, and in some adjoining districts, limited however by the rivers Kushi (Kaushiki) and Gandak (Gandaki), and by the mountains of Nepdl. It has great affinity with the Bengali ; and the character in which it is written differs little from that which is employed throughout Bengal. In Tirhdt, too, the learned write Sanskrit in the Tirhutiya character, and pronounce after their own inelegant manner. As the dialect of Mithila has no extensive use, and does not appear at any time to have been cultivated by elegant poets, it is unnecessary to notice it farther in this place.”f Three Maithila dramas of considerable merit in a poetical point of view have been brought to light since Colebrooke’s time. They are the Gauri-Parinaya by Shivalala, the Parighata-Harana by Umdpati, the Prabhdvati Harapa by Vandghu. Another poem is valued among them, called Bihdri, by Bihdri Mishra. Speaking of the divisions and nominal divisions of the Bengal Brahmans (to be afterwards noticed), Mr. Colebrooke says — “In Mithila the additions are fewer, though distinct families are more numerous : no more than three surnames are in use in that district, Thdkura^ Mishra^ and Ojha, each appropriated in any families.”! Besides these, there are the Chaudharl, Raya, Parihasta Khan, and Kumdra. * F. Hamilton’s Nepal, p. 45. Hamilton’s Gazetteer, vol. ii., p. 663. I On the Sanskrit and Prakrita Languages, in As. Res,, vol. vii., p. 225. On the District of Tirahut, see Report by A. Wyatt, Esq., Calcutta, 1854. f As. Res., vol. V., p. 66. 194 WHAT THE CASTES ARE, There are certainly fewer distinctions recognized among the Maithilas than among any other of the great divisions of Brdhmans in India. Those mentioned to me in Bombay, Calcutta, and Benares are the following — (1) The Ojhds, Ujhds, or Jhds. This denomination is said by my informer (Saddnanda Upadhydya) to be derived from Upddhydya, the process being — (&)Updjjhd,(h)Ojhd, (c) Jhd. They are of the Mddhyandina and Kdnaniya Shdkhds of the White Yajur-veda, and are Shdktas, worshippers of Kali or Devi, and other Shdktis or female energies of the Hindus. (2) The Thdkuras. The Thdkuras are only the superior classes of the who have assumed their denomination for titular purposes. (3) The Mishras. In this division are found both Vaidik and Tdntrik Brdhmans, and also the following Bhedas or distinctions : — 1. The Chaudharis, who get their name from their claim- ing the adhikara of the four Vedas, though in point of fact only Sama-vedis and Shukla Yajur-vedls are found among them. 2. Rdyas, who are Sama-vedis and Shukla Yajur-vedis, 3. Farihastas, who are Sama-vedis and Shukla Yajur- vedis. 4. Khdnas, who are of the Madhyandina Shakha of the White Yajur-veda. 5. Kumdras, who are of the Stima-veda, or of the White Yajur-veda. (4) The P ur a s. The P?j ado shi, nominally drunkard Brahmans, are said to be the descendants of Vinipaksha, a Virahhumi Brahman, who, althongh notoriously addicted to intoxication, was famous as a religious mendicant to whom the working of miracles was attributed. They are not a numerous body of Brahmans. (14.) VydsoJeta Brahmans. The Vydsokta Brahmans are said to be the descendants of a Shudra who was constituted a Brahman by the word of Vyasa. They are numerous in Bengal, and form a distinct class by themselves, not much respected by the other Brahmans. (15.) The Pir A' It Brahmans. The story of the present caste position of these native gentlemen (among the most considerate and honorable of Indian patriots), though most ridiculous, is yet so characteristic of the spirit of caste, that a place must be here found for its insertion. I give it as pre- pared, in answer to my inquiries, by Mr. Shib Chandi-a Banaiji at the request of the Rev. W. Fyfe. What is the Tagore family ? Why is this family known amongst the Hindu community as “ Pir Ali” ? Why is such an illustrious family separated from the Brahmans, from amongst whom alone they must receive their daughters-in-law and their sons-in-law, and yet these latter must consider themselves as lowered in the estimation of other Brahmans the moment they form matrimonial alliances with the Tagore family ? “ In the year 994 of the Bengal era, Adishura, the first king of the illustrious race of Sinas who swayed the sceptre of Bengal, invited five Brahmans of Kanauj to come and settle in Bengal, and teach his subjects to be truly religious according to the precepts of Hinduism. Of these five Brahmans, Bhattanarayana is the pro- genitor of the present Tagore family. “ Bhattanarayana had sixteen sons. Nam or Narasingha (one of the sixteen) is the one from whom the Tagore family are descended. “ The eighth in descent from Nam (Narasingha), or ninth from Bhattanarayana, was Dharanidhara. “ The grandson of Dharanidhara was Dhananjaya, who held the office of judge in the reign of Zakhan Sen. “ The tenth in descent from Dhananjaya was Purushottama, to 216 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. whom the name ‘ rh- Ali’ was first applied, and that for the follow- in^ reason • Puiiishottama was an inhabitant of Jessore, where there was a case which was to be investigated by an Amin named Pii Ali Khan. Those who were interested in this investigation, and all the well-to-do inhabitants of Jessore, flocked round this Amin Pii‘ Ali Khan, to see how he would conduct his investigations, and to aid him with any information that might be needed for the occasion. It so turned out that some of the gentlemen of Jessore said to Pir Ali Khan that ‘ smelling is half-eating.’ A few days after, Pir Ali Khan asked some of the gentlemen who had enlightened his mind with the Hindu belief that ‘ smelling is half-eating,’ to see him at his house. When the gentlemen of Jessore had all assembled in Pir Ali Khan’s house, that pious Muhammadan, fired no doubt with the sincere zeal of propagating his faith, ordered his savoury dinner to be served up, so that the Hindu gentlemen of Jessore might have their nostrils regaled with the odours of a Muhammadan dinner, and this being tantamount to ‘ half-eating,’ as a matter of course the Hindus would lose their caste ! “ Those who thus lost caste by being entangled in the wily meshes of Pir Ali Khan, are called ‘ JPtr A'U.' Some of those who thus lost caste became converts to the Muslim faith, but Purushottam chose to remain as an outcaste Hindu ‘ Pir Ali.’ “ The fifth in descent from Purushottam (i.e., the twenty-sixth from the parent stock Bhattanarayana) was Panchanan, who left his paternal seat in Jessore, and settled in Govindpur, the name then given to the place where Fort William now stands. Panchanan was one of the most distinguished officers of the British Government in those days, and, by dint of energy and prudence, probity and industry, accumulated a competence, and earned for himself the title of Thdkar, which literally means a god or baron, and has been corrupted iii English into ‘ Tagore.’ “ Jayaram (the son of Panchanan) was appointed Settlement Amin of the 24-Pargannas, and, having conducted his duties with great credit to himself, and great profit to his employers, accumulated wealth, the whole of which, however, he lost (with the exception of Rs. 13,000 in cash) at the time of the capture of Calcutta. “ The British Government bought the house of Jayaram Tagore of Govindpur, as the site of the present Fort William, and so he had to take up quarters elsewhere. THE BENGALI BRAHMANS. 217 “ Jayaram Tagore removed to Pattoriaghatta, He departed this life in the year of our Lord 1762. He is the great-grandfather of Dwarkanatli Tagore and Prasanna Kumar Tagore. The former was the son of Rammani Tagore, and the latter of Gopimohan Tagore.” From all this it would appear that the Tagores, in the course of time, have smelt something better than the savoury dinner of a Muhammadan Amin. It is not to be wondered at that they should be among the first in Bengal to seek to loosen the bonds of caste. Besides the classes of Brdhmans noticed, there are in Bengal considerable numbers of Kdnyakubja, Sanadhya, Sarvariya, Maithila, and XJdiya Brahmans, who have in late times come from the provinces to which they properly belong. On the Brahmans of Bengal Mr. Ward makes the following general remarks : — “ Not only in these last instances are many of the Brahmans fallen into disgrace, but, if this order is to be judged by the Hindu law, they are all fallen. We are assured that, formerly. Brahmans were habitually employed in austere devotion and abstinence, but now they are worldly men, seeking service with the unclean, dealing in articles prohibited by the Shastra, &c. This general corruption of manners . is, in a great measure, to be attributed to the change of Government : the Hindu kings used to enforce upon all castes a strict attention to idolatrous ceremonies, on pain of corporal punishment ; and they supported great multitudes of Brahmans, and patronized them in the pursuit of learning. Having lost this patronage, as well as the fear of losing their honour and of being punished, they neglect many of the forms of their religion, and apply themselves to things, in their apprehension, more substantial. A number of Brahmans, however, may be found, especially at a distance from large towns, who despise worldly employments, and spend their lives in idolatrous ceremonies, or in visiting holy places, repeating the name of the god, &c. “ As respects learning also, the Brahmans are equally sunk as in ceremonial purity : they are, it is true, the depositaries of all the knowledge their country contains, but it must be remembered that a Brahman who can read what his forefathers wrote, is now scarcely to be found in Bengal. 28 218 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. “ Many Brahmans are employed by Europeans and rich Hindus ; rAj as still maintain a number ; others are employed in the courts of justice ; some find a subsistence from the offerings where a celebrated image is set up ; many are employed as pandits to Europeans ; others pursue a mercantile life ; while a number become farmers, employing Shiidras to cultivate their fields, that they may avoid the sin of killing insects with the ploughshare ; others are drapers, shopkeepers, &c. The Shastra expressly forbids their selling milk, iron, lac, salt, clarified butter, sesamum,^ &c. ; yet many Brahmans now deal in these things without regard to the Shastra, or the opinions of stricter Hindus, and add thereto the sale of skins, spirits, and flesh. A Brahman who is accountary will write the accounts, and receive the allowance called dustiirrf upon every joint of beef purchased by his employer, without a qualm, but if you mention his killing a cow, he claps his hands on his ears in , the utmost haste' as though he were shocked beyond exju'ession. I have heard of a Brahman at Calcutta who was accustom- ed to procure beef for the butchers ; many traffic in spirituous liquors. “ It has become a practice in Bengal for men of property to promise annual presents to Brahmans, especially to such as are reputed learned ; these presents very frequently descend from father to son ; they consist of corn, or garments, or money, according to the promise of the giver; and instances occur of a Brahman’s receiving as much as a thousand rupees from one donor. These annual donations arc gene- rally given at the festivals. “ Other sources of support arise from collecting disciples and becoming their spiritual guides ; from pretending to remove diseases by incantations, repeating the name of some god, &c. ; many are employed as ghatffikas in contracting marriages. Large presents are also received at the numerous festivals, and it is said that no fewer than five thousand Brahmans subsist in Calcutta on the bounty of rich Hindus. “ But the greatest means of support are the Devottaras, viz., houses, lands, pools, orchards, &c., given in perpetuity to the gods ; and the Brdhmottaras, similar gifts to the Brahmans. The donors were former kings, and men of property, who expected heaven as the re- ward for their piety. It is still not uncommon for houses, trees, pools, &c., to be offered to these celestial and terrestrial deities ; but it is far from being so frequent as formerly ; and, indeed, the Honourable Company, I am informed, forbid this appropriation of lands, as the revenue is THE BENGALI BRAHMANS, 219- thereby injured. When a gift is made as a devottara, the donor, in presenting it, entreats the officiating priests who own the image to worship the god with the produce of what he gives. Sometimes a soar on the death of his father and mother, to rescue tliem from misery, presents to his sjiiritnal guide, or to the Brahmans, a house, or some other gift. Formerly poor Brahmans solicited alms of rich land- owners, who gave them portions of land in perpetuity. In these ways, the dcvottaras and Brahm have accumulated till the produce amounts to an enormous sum. I have been informed that, in the district of Bui’dwan, the property applied to the supjxirt of idolatry amounts to the annual rent of fifteen or twenty lakhs of rupees. It has been lately ascertained, as my native informants say, that the lands given to the gods and Brahmans by the different rajas, in the zilla of Nadia, amounts to eighteen lakhs of bigas, or about 000,000 acres. AVhen all these things are considered, it will appear that the clergy in catholic countries devour little of national wealth compared with the Brahmans.”* As Mr. Ward had a minute and accurate knowledfrc of the dilFerent classes of natives in Bengal, these state- ments are to be depended upon as descriptive of the Brahmans of liis time and his locality. Considerable improvement, however, has occuiTed in the Bnilimanical classes near the mouths of the Ganges during the last two-score years. This is the result of the diffusion among them of education, of the government of the English, of intercourse with Europeans, and last, but not least, of the influences of the Christian Missions. Some of the Bengal Brahmans are distinguished for their learning, and are palpably advancing in cidturc and civilization. It was said by the saintly Henry ]\lai*tyn that “ if ever he lived to see a native Bengali Brahman converted to God, he Avould see the nearest approach he had yet witnessed to the resurrection of the dead.” Even this great phenomenon has been repeatedly * Ward, voL i., pp. 85-88. 220 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. witnessed — in connexion with the labours of Carey, Marshman, and their successors of the Church of Eng- land and London Society’s Missionaries, and more espe- cially of Dr. Duff, and the Scotch Missionaries associated with him in his great evangelistic and educational enter- prize at Calcutta.* 10. — The Assamese and South-East Border Brahmans. The province of Assam was late in being brought under Aryan influence. The tribes by which it is inhabited are almost all of Turanian origin, and belong to the Sub-Himalayan immigration, the languages of which began some years ago to attract particular attention. Large numbers of them, notwithstanding this fact, have entered within the pale of Hinduism, propagated among them in modern times by Brahmans and devotees. Speaking of the province of Assam, a writer well acquainted with its population gives the following information : — 1. “A number of the JR d d hi Brahmans of Bengal have immigrated into the province.” 2. “ Those usually known as the Assamese Brahmans arc V aidihas of the ancient kingdom of Kamrup. Some of the Vaidiks have become Farn a [that is, ministrants to the mixed classes], and in consequence have degraded themselves in the eyes of their brethren. They instruct the impure tribes, which is considered a great piece of meanness to which none of the Vaidiks of Bengal have submitted. 3. “ There is also a class of Brahmans usually known as Maro- * For a list of the converts of this Mission up to 1854, see the graceful and interesting memorial of the Kev. John Pousie prefixed to a selection of his discoiuses lately published at Calcutta. THE BOEDER BRAHMANS. 221 Singlio Briihtnans. They are commonly employed in all low offices, totally unconnected with religion.”* The Brdhmans of the adjoining territories are much in the same position as those now mentioned. While they propagate Brahmanism, after a sort, they sacrifice many of its institutes to obtain a livelihood. Referring to those of Kachdr^ it is said, in a valuable report lately published, “ there are a few Brdhmans, the purity of whose caste is generally doubtful, and some families of Dattas and Devas” [from Bengal]. f Among the tribe of Kashyas alone, the Brdhmans seem to have made no progress.]; On the propagation of Hinduism by Brahmans, and devotees among the border tribes now referred to, the following passage throws some light : — The Manfpuris became Hindus about one hundred years ago, when Ghorit Nawarj, the founder of the family of the present rdja, was converted by a wandering Sanydsi, who then discovered the purity of the origin of the Manipuri people. As, however, they had fallen away from the orthodox faith and practice, he caused the raja and his principal adherents to make expiation, and to bathe with certain ceremonies in a river which flows near the capi- tal ; after which he declared that the whole people were received back into the Kshatri caste, to which they had formerly belonged. This conversion, and a similar occm’rence among the Kachdris mentioned below, are curious instances of a kmd of fiction which probably was in more common use in the earlier ages of Hinduism, * Rushton’s Gazetteer for 1841, vol. ii., p. 86. t Principal Heads of the History and Statistics of the Dacca Divi- sion, &c., p. 329. X Ibid, p. 285. 222 WHAT THE CASTES ARE, and without which, perhaps, it could not have relaxed its rigid principles, nor received within its pale the indigenous races of India its adherents had conquered.* There are but few Brdhmans in any of the districts of Kachar ; and in the hill portions of that province there are said to be none.f 11. — The Odradesha or Utkala Brdhmans. The Odras are mentioned in the Smriti of Manu as Kshatriyas who had gradually sunk into the lowest of the four classes “by their omission of holy rites and seeing no Brdhmans.”J The inference to be made from the notice taken of them (especially when they are viewed in connexion with the other peoples there men- tioned), is that they were long in being brought under Aryan influence. Their country, however, in conse- quence of its numerous tirthas and temples, has become “ exalted” or “ famous,” a quality supposed to be indi- cated in its synonym of Utkala. The boundaries of the Udiya language are but imperfectly known. Dr. George Smith, in his well-digested and highly useful Annals of Indian Administration, says — “Uriya extends along the sea-coast from the Subanrikha to near Ganjam; landwards its boundary is uncertain, it melts gradually into the Khond and other rude hill dialects, and co-exists with them. In Bastar and the neighbourhood, some classes speak Uriya and some Khond.”§ “Or Des or 0) •esa, the old original seat of the or or odra tribe,” says Mr, A. Stirling, Avhose “ Description of Orissa * Principal Heads and Statistics of the Dacca Division, p. 331. t Ibid, p. 334. J See vol. i. of this work, pp. 5i)-G3. § Transactions of the Asiatic Soc., vol. xv., p. 1G3. THE UTKALA BRAHMANS. 223 Proper or Katmh" is both an able and interesting docu- ment, “ (had) the Rasikalia river marking its southern, and the Kans Bans, which passes near Soro, in latitude about 21° 10' N., its northern, extreme ; but in the process of migration and conquest, the Uria nation carried their name and language over a vast extent of territory, including, besides Orissa properly so-called, a portion of Bengal and Telingana,”* ]\Ir. Stirling says further on — “ The Puranas and Upa- puranas are lavish in their praises of Utkal Khanda, the real etymology of which word I apprehend to be ‘ the famous portion or country,’ and not ‘ the famous country of Kala,’ as rendered by a very high authority. It is declared to be the favorite abode of the Devatas, and to boast a population composed, more than half, of Brah- mans. The work called the Kapila Sanhita, in which Bharadwdja Muni explains to his inquiring pupils the origin, history, and claims to sanctity of all the remark- able Khetras of Orisa, opens Avith the folloAving pane- gyric— “ Of all the regions of the earth, Bharata Kohand is the most distinguished, and of all the countries of Bharata Kohand, Utkala boasts the highest renoAvn. Its Avhole extent is one uninterrupted tirtha (place of pil- grimage). Its happy inhabitants live secure of a recep- tion into the world of spirits, and those who even visit it, and bathe in its sacred rivers, obtain remission of their sins, though they may Aveigh like mountains. Who shall describe adequately its sacred streams, its temples, its Khetras, its fragrant flowers, and all the merits and advantages of a sojourn in such a land ? What necessity, indeed, can there be for enlarging on the praises of a * Annals (1866-67), p. 61. 224 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. region which the Devatas themselves delight to inhabit V Hindus of modern times, however, freely admit that the estimation in which Orissa is or was held is to be ascribed entirely to its temples, places of pilgrimage, and itsBrahmanical institutions. At all events, the Euro- pean observer will soon discover that, notwithstanding its Puranic celebrity, the soil of the country is generally poor and unfruitful, all its natural productions of an inferior quality, and that its inhabitants rank the lowest, in the scale of moral and intellectual excellence, of any people on this side of India.”* Of the language of Orissa, Mr. Sterling gives precise information. It is a “ tolerably pure bhdshd (dialect) of the Sanskrit, resembling closely the Bengdli, but far remote apparently from any affinity with the Telinga. Most of the titles of which the natives are so fond are pure Sanskrit ; more than three-fourths of the nouns and roots of verbs may be traced to that language, and its few simple inflections are obviously founded on the rules of the Vydkarana. The basis of the alphabet is the common Hindi or Nagari character, somewhat disguised, however, by a peculiarity in the mode of writing it. In the direction of Bengal, the Uria lan- guage is used tolerably pure, following the line of the coast, as far as the Hijelli and Tamluk divisions at least. I have been credibly informed that in the Misadal par- ganna all revenue accounts are written on tal-patra, or leaves of the palmyra tree, in that dialect. On the wes- tern side of the’Midnapur district, the two languages begin to intermingle, at Rani Sarai about twenty miles north of the Subanrekha. A very mixed and impure * Asiatic Researches, yol. xy., pp. 1G6-7. THE UTKALA BRAHMANS. 225 bhdslia is used in the zemindari of Naraingadh and the hill-estates beyond it, Avhich improves a little at Mid- napur (itself situated in a Jangle Mehal called Bhanja- bhum), and at that town becomes more decidedly Bengali. The inhabitants of the country on the north of Kirpoy (officially termed the Jangle Mehals) pro- bably speak the language of the Bengal province quite correct and unmixed. To the westward the Gond and Uria languages pass into each other on the estates of Sonepiir, the raja of which country informed me that half his people speak one, and half the other dialect. On the south we find the first traces of the Telinga about Ganjam, where a different pronunciation may be obser- ved. The people there call themselves Udias and Wo- dias, instead of Urias.” The language of Orissa Proper still, however, prevails at Baurwa, forty-five miles south of Ganjam, on the lowlands of the coast, and as far as the large estate of Kimedi in the hills, beyond which the Telinga begins to predominate, at Chikakol it is the pre- vailing dialect, andin Vizagapatam Telinga only is spoken in the open country. In the mountains of the interior, however, the dialect of the Odraf is used by the bulk of the inhabitants, from Gumsar down to Palcondah, Brastar, and Jayapur. “ I know of no original composition deserving any notice in the language of Orissa, excepting the epic poem called the Kanji Kaviri Pothi, which celebrates the conquest of Kanchwaram, one of the most distinguish- ed events in the modern history of the country. There is no deficiency, however, of translations of the more esteemed writings of the great Hindu authors, both reli- gious and scientific, and every temple of importance has its legend or Sthan Puran, every almanac-maker his Panji, and Bansabali, composed in the local tongue.”* * Asiatic Kesearches, vol. xv., p. 11. 29 226 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. Of the dmsions of the Udiya Brahmans, I have found it extremely difficult to obtain reliable information, though at various times and places I have examined consider- able numbers of them respecting this matter. The following account of them, I have drawn up principally on the authority of Shrimukha Lamanta, a learned member of their community whom I had lately the pleasure of meeting at Calcutta. (1.) The Sha shard. These are Kulinas, principally of the Shukla Yajur-veda and Madhyandina Shakha, -while there are among them a few of the Krishna Yajur-veda. There are among them the following twelve sub-divisions : — 1. The Savaata. 5. The Kara. 9. The Senapati. 2. The klishra. 6. The Acharya. 10. The Pcirnagrahi. 3. The Kanda. 7. The Satapasti. 11. The Nishank. 4. The Pate. 8. The Bedi. 12. The Bainipati. They eat with one another in the same pankti, or row, on equal terms ; but with other Brahmans they only eat sweetmeats. Many of them are holders of land. The Kanda Brahmans on the southern coasts of Orissa and the Telingdna country occupy an important position. (2.) The Shrotriyg, These Brahmans perform religious services and ceremonies for others. They have the four following sub-divisions : — 1. Shrotriyas, properly so-called, who confine their services to other Brahmans and Kayasthas. 2. Sonarbani Brahmans, who officiate among the lower class of goldsmiths called Sonarbani. 3. Teli Brahmans, who officiate among Tells (oilmen), Tamulls (dealers in pan-siipare), and Dhobis (washermen), &c. 4. Agrabahsha Brahmans, who, in their unscrupulous accept- ance of gifts, especially of the first offerings at Shradhas, resemble the Agradani Brahmans of Bengal. They are probably the Brahmans of whom Mr. Stirling writes : — “ Inferior Brahmans are those called Devalaka and Grama Yajak, who attend the village gor, and perform funeral obsequies for hire.”* A. Tracey, vol. sv., p. 198. THE UTKALA BRAHMANS. 227 Xone of these Brahmans either eat or intermarry with one another because of their supposed difference in rank. (3.) The Panda. They are divided into two sub-divisions — the Pandas, who are the encomiasts of the great religious shrines of Orisa, and the ofScious guides of pilgrims ; and the Padahari, who live in Mathras, like Mahantas or superior devotees, and who are consequently more restricted in their wandermgs. The principal names of the Pandas are Baja and Tipadi, Paya, Vaghi, Muori, Devata, Pani, Padha, Vahali, Salii. (4.) The Ghdti y a . The Ghitiya get their livelihood from their services at the holy rivers to which pilgrims proceed for ablution. They are divided into two classes — those who live near Ghats, and those who conduct pilgrims to Xavi Gaya, and to the river Vaitarani, &c. (5.) The Mahasthana. The Mahasthan or MastAn Brahmans. — “ There is another class,” says Mr. Stirling, “ known commonly in Orissa by the name of Mahasthan or Mastan Brahmans, who form a very considerable and important class of the rural population. Besides cultivating with their own hands gardens of the kachu (Arum Indicum), cocoanirt, and Areea, and the piper betel or pan, they very frequently follow the plough, from which circumstance they are called Halia Brahmans, and they are found everywhere in great numbers in the situation of mukadams and serberakars, or hereditary renters of villages. Those who handle the plough glory in their occupation, and affect to despise the BM or Veda Brahmans who live upon alms. Though held in no estimation whatever by the pious Hindu, and although not free from some of the vices of the Brahman character, viz., audacity, stubbornness, and mendacity, they are unquestionably the most enterprizing, intelligent, and industrious of all the Company’s ryots or renters of malguzari land in Orissa. Their moral and intellectual worth, indeed, seems to rise exactly in proportion to their emancipation from those shackles of prejudice and superstitious observances which narrow the minds and debase the natures of the higher orthodox class. I have not been able to trace satisfactorily the origin and history of these Mastan Brahmans, who, I am informed, resemble exactly the cultivating Brahnaans of Tirahiit and Behar, but 228 WHAT THE CASTES ARE. the point is one well worthy of investigation.”* These cultivating Brahmans, it will have been seen, have their congeners in most of the provinces of India. (6.) The Kalingas. An ancient people called the Kalingas are mentioned as connected with the countries near the sources of the Ganges. f The Kalinga B r d hm ans , however, belong in designation to the newer though stUl ancient Kalinga, extending along the coast of South-Eastern India from the lower portions of the Krishna to Kalingapattana, at which last-mentioned place they are still to be found. My learned friend Dr. Bhau Daji, who lately visited them in their habitat, has informed me that they profess to belong to the Kanva Shakha of the white Yajur-veda ; but that they have almost altogether abandoned Brahmanical dchdra. They support themselves by agricultural opera- tions, driving of bullock-carts, and other similar employments, and speak the Orisa or Udiya language. The sects prevalent among the Udiya Brdhmans are the Shalva, the Ganapatya, the Madhava, the Shdkta, and the Vallabhacharya to a small extent. These castes do not intermarry. Of the Orissa Brdhmans in general, Mr. Stirling expresses an unfavourable opinion: — “If they cannot gain an adequate livelihood by the regular modes, they may eat at a feast in the house of a Shiidra, or receive charity from one of that class ; also they may cut firewood from the hills and jungles, and sell it. Should these resources fail, they may, after fasting: for three days, steal a little rice from the house of a Brahman or any other, in order that the king, hearing of their distress by this means, may assign something for their maintenance. Should all these expedients prove insuffi- cient, they may engage in the duties of the Kshatriya and Yaishya, but as soon as they have collected a little property, they must repent and return to their original occupation.”! * Asiatic Researches, vol. xv., p. 199. t See vol. i., p. 186. f Asiatic Researches, vol. xv., p. 198. INDEX A Abhira, i. 57, 66, 111 Abhiras. ii, 27, 177, 120 Abhisbeka, i. 158 Abira, i. 57 Abiria, i. Ill Aborigines. Notices of, in Ka- mayana, i. 226. Acbaryas, ii. 134, 175, 202, 226 Acbariye, ii. 130 Adi Gaudas, ii. 164 Adi Shri Gaudas, ii. 165 Adhikari, ii. 202 Adhiirj, ii. 155 Adhotre, ii. 131, 157 Agari, i. 440 Aeasti, ii. 14 Agastyavalas, ii. 106 Agibana Modas, ii. 112 Asjnihotri, ii. 129 Agni Purana, i. 438 Agori, ii. 154 Agrabak^ha8, ii. 226 Agradanis, ii. 213 Agraphakka, i 129 Ahalya. i. 275, ii. 102 Abiudika, i. 59 Abir, i. 57, 112 ii. 120 Ahmadabadi Shrimali, ii. 110 .Aiiyana V«ejo, i. 80 Aire, ii. 129 Aitareya Brahmana, quoted or referred to, i. 145, 156, ii. 1, 6 Ajakiyas, ii. 101 Ajraadgadbya, ii. 153, 157 Akshayamangalas, ii. 106 A’l, ii. 131 Alexander in India, i. 331 Amalavasis, ii. 81 Ambaradar, ii. 147 Ambasbiha, i 55 65, 440 Ambaslai of Ptolemy, i. 55 Ambatara, ii. 156 Amgotre, ii. 131 ^ Amnia, ii. 72, 73 a ^ ^ Aininakodaga, ii. 72j' Analoina, i. 63 /n.*, /A 4 S'- Anavalas, ii. 109 ^ Andbasyaka, i. 66 Andhra Bbritya Dynasty, ii. 83 Andhra Brah.mans. ii. 50 — 56 Andhra Desha, ii. 50 Andhras.i. 59.155, 228,247, 266, ii 17,50—56 Angas, i. 227, 274, ii. 10 Angiras, i. 274 Angirasa, ii. 14 Angirasrariti, i. 360 Animal Life — Sacredness of, i. 329 Ankin, ii. 153 Ansnaura, ii. 157 Antarvedas, i. 228 Anter, ii. 156 Antyavasayi, i. 59 Apara Kayastba, i. 66 Apasada, i. 56, 58 Apastamba Sutras, i. 196 Apaya, The, i. 84 Aradhx as, ii. 52 Akanyakas — Notices of caste in the, i. 172—178 and Upanishads — Philosophy of, opposed to caste, i. 207 Arjal, ii. 202 Arjnn, i. 274 Ari, ii. 130 Arrian, i. 331 A rya. The Etymology of, i. 79, 82 Ary as, i. 59 Aryan Cob nies, ii. 81 Conquerors not the first immigrants in India, i. 325 Physiognomy, ii. 109 Priesthood — Position and Authority of, in Vedas, i. 101 ii. INDEX Aryans Traces of Entrance into India of the, i. 87 and Iranians, i. 89 Caste unknown to, i. 203 Early Notices of the Spread of, i. 170, 246 Growth of the Doctrine of Caste among the, i. 204 — ■— Settlement of the, in Vedic times, ii. 125 Language and Origin of, i. 201 State of Society among the, i. 100 Aryavarta, i. 69, ii. 74 Ashmakas, i. 228 Ashoka, i. 294 Ashva Ghosha, i. 295, 305 Ashvalayana Sutras, i. 198 Assamese and Border Brah- mans, ii. 220 — 222 Asura, i. 99 Aterva, ii. 152 Atharva Veda, i. 74 Atharva Vedia Dravidian, ii,'57 Atreya, ii. 6, 7 Atri, ii. 14 Atris, Konkanastha, ii. 20 Attalikakara, i. 440 Audichya Brahmans, ii. 93 Audichya, ii. 190 Audumbar, ii. 190 Aundras, i. 228 Aurabhra, i. 67 Aurva, i. 275 Avantya, i. 58 Avartaka, i. 58 Avastlii, ii. 153 Avrita, i. 57 Ayoga^a, i. 57, 67 B Babi, ii. 147 Bachhal, ii. 132 Badakuliye, ii. 132 Badam, ii. 147 Badavas, ii. 24 Badhle, ii. 131 Badisamajvale, ii. 190 Badiyal, ii. 131 Badu, ii. 131 Bagadi Brahmans, ii. 178, 190, 214 Bagalya, ii. 202 Baganachhal, i. 132 Bage, ii. 128 Baghotre, ii. 132 Bahdol, ii. 152 Bahikas, i. 260 Bahoye, ii. 129 Bainipati, ii. 226 Baisi, ii. 152 Bajaj, ii. 146 Baj Gai, ii. 202 Bakaruva, ii. 153 Bakayal, ii. 146 Bakiya, ii. 154 Bakriyar, ii. 194 Bakshi, ii. 147 Bala, i. 153 Bali, ii. 128, 147 Baliye, ii. 131 Balli, ii. 132 Bambhaval, ii. 131 Banal Padhe, ibid, Bandhulaka, i. 185 Bando, ii. 133 Bandu, ii. 130 Bangas, i. 247 Bangi, ii. 147 Banias, ii. 169 Banjara, ii. 202 Bankhan, ii. 147 Banotre, ii. 132 Baradas, ii. 97, 121 Baradis, ii. 49. Baral, ii. 202 Barat, ii. 132 Bardeshkar, ii. 30 Bargotre, ii. 132 Barhaduja, ii. 155 Barikhpuri, ii. 153 Baris, ii. 137 Barovis, ii. 137 Basgava, ii. 156 Basnotre, ii. 132 Basuladas, ii. 121 Batialiye, ii. 132 Battal, ibid. Bature, ii. 129 Baushaja, ii. 206 Bavagotre, ii. 131 Bavisha, ii. 190 Bedi, ii. 226 Beduas, ii. 120 INDEX 111. Belap, ii. 147 Belava, ii. 154 Belva, ii. 152 Bengali Brahmans, ii. 203—220 Bengali Language, ii. 160 Berar Brahmans, ii. 49 Bhabajiya, ii. 152 Bhadari, ii. 155 Bhadve, ii. 131 Bhagadugha, i. 124 Bhagavad-Gita, quoted or refer- red to, i. 38, 45, 257, 432, 433, 434, 435, 436 Bhagavat Parana, quoted or re- ferred to, i. 18,24,131,431,308 Bhagavatas, ii. 58 Bhagi, ii. 130 Bhainkhare, ii. 132 Bhairava, ii. 146 Bhaja, i. 440 Bhaji, ii. 129 Bhakhtamala, ii. 127 Bhalavalekar, ii. 30 Blialoch, ii. 132 Bhambi, ii. 127 Bhan, ii 146 Bhanda, i. 440 Bhanga Kulinas, ii. 206, 207 Bhangotre, ii. 131 Bhanmashi, ii. 143 Bhanot, ii. 129 Bhanpuri, ii. 152 Bhansalis, ii 115 Bhanval, ii. 130 Bharadhiyal, ii. 131 Bharadvjas, ii. 14. Bharadvaji, ii. 128 Bharangal, ii. 132 Bharari, ii. 202 Bharats, ii. 179 Bharata Khand, ii. 223 Bharatanas, ii. 177 Bharathanas, ii. 114 Bharathe, ii. 128 Bhargava, ii. 154 Bhargavas, ii. 113, 154 Bharkhari, ii 128 Bharuda, i. 66 Bhasma Sankara, i. 67 Bhasul, ii. 131 Bhata Mevadas, ii. 104 Bhataref, ii. 129, 131 Bhath, ii. 146 Bhatiad, ii. 131 Bhatohaye, ihid. Bhatol, ii. 131 Bhatphali, ii. 146 Bhatt, ii. 202 Bhattas, ii 122, 179 Bhatturigi, ii. 202 Bhattval, ii. 202 Bhaturiye, ii. 128 Bhaurha, ii. 157 Bhavishya Purana, i. 438 Bhavishyottara Purana, i. 439 Bhedas (Shakhas) of the Vedas, ii. 7, 9, 11, 12 Bhedi, ii. 153 Bhilla or Bhills, i. 56, 57, 439 Bhinde, ii. 129 Bhinharas, ii. 195 Btiishukas, ii. 188 Bhog, ii. 130 Bhojakas, ii. 133 Bhojapotri, ii. 128 Bhojas, i. 228 Bhoteas, ii. 200 Bhrigu, ii. 14 Bhudar, ii. 132 Bhukaniyas, ii. 122 Bhure, ii. 132 Bhuriye, ibid. Bhurtyal, ii. 202 Bhiit, ii. 146 Bhuta, ii. 129, 132 Bibde, ii. 130 Bihi, ii. 147 Bijara, ii. 157 Bijraya, ii. 129 Bikral, ii. 202 Bir, ii. 153 Birantis, ii. 202 Birha, ii. 152 Biegotre, ii. 132 Bishan, ii. 147 Bisohya, ii. 157 Bohras, ii. 119 Border (Sodth-East) Brah- mans, 220—222 Borsidhas, ii. 118 Brahampuriya, ii. 154 Brahma, i. 124, 125 Etymology of, i. 101, ii. 4 No god in the Vedas, i. 114 Single temple to, i. 115, ii. 169 IV. INDEX Brahma, Parana, i. 426 Brahmachari, i. 27 Brahmana, i. 65 Jais, ii. 28 Brahmanas, Caste in the, i. 142-172, 205 Brahmanda Parana, i. 447 Brabmanhood — A profession not a caste in the Vedas, i. 101 Brahmanical or Priestly Castes, ii 1 — 228 Brahmanism — The introduction of, into Assam, ii. 220 into Nepal, ii. 196 and Brahmanical influence — thespreadof, ii. 83 Royal patronage of, by Chaliikyas and later Cholyas, ii. 85 Brahmans, Converts to Chris- tianity, ii. 46 Discipline of the, i. 27, 37 Entrance into South- ern India of • First distinctions among the, 3—13 • General Divisions of the, ii. 17 Gifts to the, i. 416 • Gotras and Pravaras of the, 13 — 16 Intermarriage of, ii 16, 20, 25, 50, 52 115. 188, 195, 49, 196, 202, 205, 206, 227 — and Kshalriyas, Struggle bcitween, i, 237, 253 | Origin of existing Castes of the, ii. 10 Oithodox view of the, i. 19 — 37 Present pretentions of the, i. 35 (Karhadi) Sacrifice of, ii. 22 Secularization of, ii. 46 Brahmanas — Position of the Brahmans in the, i. 205 Brahmarshi, i. 104 Bralimavarcliasi, i 126 Brahma-Vaivartta Parana, i.439 Brahmi, ii. 129 Brahmiye, ii. 132 Brahuis, i. 325 Bramha Suku), ii. 129 Brari, ii. 146 Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad, i. 174 Brihat Brahmans, ii. 178 Brijjakuntha, i. 65 Brikunsha, i. 68 Buddha, Account of, i. 279 Literature, i. 284 Buddhism, i. 278, ii. 87 Bui, ii. 147 Bulaki, ii. 146 Bundelakhanda Brahmans, ii 190. Bura, ii. 175 Burhiyabari, ii. 154 Butal, ii. 146 C Cannibals, i. 328 Caste — The Meaning, Sphere, Authority and Symbols of, i. 12-17 Buddha’s relations to, i. 287 Buddhist. View of, i. 278, 313-315 ' Change of, i. 413, 433, ii. 194 Deterioration of, ii. 124 in the Epics, i. 212 — 277 in the Law Books and later Indian Literature, i. 354 —418 Account of the origin of in the Harivansha. i. 418 Account of the origin of — in the Mahabharata, i. 268 in the Puranas, i. 422 — 450 in the Sutras, i. 183 Origin of, i. 73, 208,209, 427, 432 Unknown to the Ancient Aryss, i. 116 Jaina, View of, i. 315 Castes — Orthodox View of the Four original Hindu, i. 17 — 53 Tabular View of the Marathi, i. 60—70 INDEX V Cistes 145 Recognized in the Marathi Country, i 70 Central India Brahmans, ii. 187 192 Chak, ii. 147 Chakotre, ii. 132 Chalivale, ii. 130 Chalukya Dynasty, ii. 83 Cliatn, ii. 132 Chaniar-Gaudas, ii. 165 Chainatavalas, ii 177 Cliainkasaine, ii. 202 Champa Gai, ibid. Champaran, ii. 152 Chamuvalla Gaudas, ii. 16G Chan, ii. 147 Chanao, ii. 129 Chanati, ii. 187, 190 Chanayat, ii. 166 Chanda, ii. 153 Chandala, i. 57. 227, 440 Chandan, ii. 129 Chandojiya Upaniehad, i. 178 Chandra, ii. 147 Chandragupta, i. 294 Chandravala, ii. 156 Change, ii. 153, 157 ChauKhial, ii. 131 Chankhar, ii. 156 Chapilas, ii 121 Chaprohiye, ii. 131 Charakas, ii. 9 Charanas, ii. 7 — 13, 181 Etymology of, ii. 7 Charanavyuha, The, ii. 7 — 12 Etymology of, ii. B Chargct. ii 132 Charmakara, i. 440 Charpand, ii. 155 Charyya, i. 58 Chattu, ii 154 Chatur Vedi Dhinoia Modhas, ii. 112 Modhas, ii. Ill Chaturtha purusha Bhanga, ii. 206 Chaube, ii. 153, 156 Chaudharis, ii. 156, 194 Chauvisha, ii. 190 Chavala Gai, ii. 202 Chavanas, ii. 122 Chavhe, ii. 129 Chedas, i. 227 Cheras, ii. 81 Cherviyar, ii. 194 Chhachhiale, ii. 132 Chhakotar, ii. 131 Chhan, ii. 146 Chhatari, ii. 146, 147 Chhibar, ii. 128 Chhibbe, ii 129 Chhichvali, ii . 146 Chhotti Samajavale, ii. 190 Chhutivan, ii. 129 Chibar, ii. 131 Chibbe, ibid. Cliilisya, ii 202 Chinas, i 59, 266 Chingalas, ii. 165 Chirnol ii. 131 Chitchot, ii. 129, 132 Chitrapara, i. 67, 440 Chitrodas, ii. 97 Chittapavanas, ii. 19 Chitu, ii. 129 Chobe, ii. 156 Choki, ii. 147 Cholas, i 228, ii. 81 Cholya Dvnasty, ii. 85 Chorasi Mevadae, ii. 104 Chorvada Giruaras, ii. 101 Chovar (devotee to Shiva), ii. 79 Chovishas, ii. 116 Chuni, ii. 127 Churavan, ibid. Coorg, ii. 72 D Dabb, ii. 132 Dabe, ii 133 Dabesar, ii. 129 I>adhichas, ii. 117 Dadorich, ii. 132 Dagadi, ii. 131 Dagale, ii. 130 Dagvanta, ii. 134 Dahendra, ii. 156 Dahimas, ii 176 Dahyas, i. 88 Daima, ii. 190 Daivajnas, ii. 214 Daji, ii. 202 Dakhal, ibid. Dakotas, ii. 176 Dakshinatya, ii. 212 INDEX vi, Dalohallie, ii. 131 Datna, ii. 154 Dandakulas, i. 227 Dandi, ii. 147 Dangaval, ii. 128 Dangmar, ii. 130 Darijal, ii. 202 Daqyus, i. 88 Dar, ii. 146 Daradas, i. 59, 228, 247 Darius in India, i, 320 Darjigor, ii. 93 Dasha, i. 59 Dashaharas, ii. 120 Dasharnas, i. 227 Dashora, ii. 190 Daskori, ii. Ill Dasyu, i. 58 Etymology of, i. 99 Datta, ii. 128, 134 Dattas, ii. 133 Daurava, ii. 154 Daymias, ii. 116, 165, 176 Dehaidu, ii. 130 Deluge — Account of a, i. 167 445 Deshasthas, ii. 18 Desbavala Brahman Surati, 104 Deshavalas, ii. 104 De^'agaum, ii. 156 Devakotya, ii. 202 Devarainya, ii. 156 Devari, ii. 202 Devarukhas, ii. 25 Etymology of, ibid. Dhamaniye, ii. 132 Dhami, ii. 129 Dhande, ibid. Dhannan Potre, ii. 128 Dhariancha, ii. 132 Dharma Shastras, i. 188, 354 Dhatura, ii. 154 Dhegava, ibid. Dhigavach, ii. 155 Dhigvana, i. 57, 68 Dhinde, ii. 130 Dhoba, ii. 214 Dhongana, ii. 202 Dhose, ii. 131 Dhungial, ii. 202 Dhurari, ii. 202 Dhusakara, i. 68 Dhusi, ii. 147 Didriye, ii. 129 Diksha, i. 146 Dikshita, ii. 130, 154, 156 Dilipapar, ii. 155 Dima, i. 440 Dina, ii. 146 Dipti, ibid. Divas, ii. 177 Dobe, ii. 153 Doeja, ii. 202 Dogre, ii. 130 Dohol, ii. 202 Doma, ii. 214 Dotiyal, ii. 202 Drabi, ii. 147 Dral, ibid. Dravid Atharva Vedis, ii. 57 Dravidas, The Five, ii. 17 — 123 Dravidas, i. 58, 59, 228, 247, ii. 17, 104 Dravidian Brahmans, ii. 56 — 60 Drishadvati, The, i. 59, 245 Druvade, ii. 128 Dube, ii. 130, 131 Dudhagammi, ii, 152 Dudhoyliya, ii. 156 Dubai, ii. 133 Dulal, ii. 202 Duli, ii. 147 Dumbu, ii. 130 Durani, ii. 148 Durmalas, ii. 121 Dyabhudu, i. 130 £ Ekadashadhra Modhas, ii. 112 Ekapurusha Bhanga, ii. 206 Eledus, ii. 80 Elora — Brahmanical Excava- tions at, ii. 86, 87 Epics, Caste in the Indian, i. 212—277 P Foreign Tribes, how incorpo- rated, i. 267 G Gadi, ii. 146, 148 Gadir, ii. 147 Gadottare, ii. 131 Gagar, ii. 147 INDEX VII. Gaindhar, ii. 128 Gairaha Pipli, ii. 202 Gais, ii. 146 Gajesu, ii. 129 Gajaiyal, ii. 202 Galhal, ii. 132 Galikarap, ii. 147 Galvadh, ii. 130 Gamkhar, ii. 147 Gana, i. 152 Gandar, ii. 130 Gande, ihid. Gandhaka, i. 67 Gandharas, i. 260 Gandhargal, ii. 132 Gandhe, ii. 130 Gangahar, ii. 129 GaDgaputra, i. 440, ii 103 Ganj, ii. 146 Ganpatya, ii. 128 Garadiye, ii. 132 Garga, ii. 153 Gargeya, ii. 156 Gari, ii. 146 Garial, ihid. Garib, ii. 147, 148 Garoch, ii. 132 Garodas, ii. 122 Garuda Parana, i. 445, 448 Garthanla, ii. 202 Garudya, ii. 171 Gaudas, Tbe Five, ii. 124—226 Gaudas, Language of the, 100 Gadda Brahmans, ii. 159—166 Purohita, ii. 132 Gaudas, ii. 164 Gautama, i. 275 Gautami, ii. 153 Gayavalas, ii 106 Gegas, ii. 155 Geography of India in the Mahabharata, i. 245 Geri, ii. 146 Ghartmet, ii, 202 Gbartyal, ihid. Ghatiya, ii. 227 Ghattakas, ii. 206, 213 Ghimirya, ii. 202 Ghodavalas, ii. 106 Ghode, ii. 132 Ghoghari Shrimali, ii. 110 Ghokpaliye, ii. 129 Ghorasaine, ii, 202 Ghotke, ii. 128 Ghurcholi, ii. 202 Gila], ihid. Girnara or Gimaras, ii. 51 Gohilas, ii. 118 Gokarna Brahmans, ii. 66 Gokuliye Gosain, ii. 132 Golaka Kunda, i. 65 Kanda, ihid. Golas, ii. 118 Golavalas, ii. 118 Gomitras, ii, 103 Gomtivalas, ii. 105 Gondalis, i. 57 Gondaloi, i. 227 Gondhalis, i. 57 Gonds, ihid. Gopa, i. 439 Gopala, ii. 154, 214 Gopinath, ii. 153, i. 157 Gorakhas, ii. 199 Gorakhpuriya, ii. 154 Gorat, ii. 156 Gotamas, ii. 14 Gotanya, ii. 202 Gotras, ii. 13, 14, 21 List of, ii. 14 and Pravaras, i. 198 Govardhana, ii. 154 Grad, ii. 148 Grahapati, ii. 6 Gramani, i. 124 Grambasi, ii. 152 Grandharpagor, ii. 93 Greek — Notices of India, i. 315 —354 Grihasthas, i. 28, ii. 18 Grihya Sutras, i. 183, 199 Gugalis, ii. 108 Guha, i. 56 Guhaliye, ii. 132 Gujarat, Why so called, ii. 91 Gujarat Brahmans, ii. 188 Gujarati language, limits of ii. 91 Gujarathi Shrimale, ii. 110 Gurjar Gaud, ii. 190 Gurjara Brahmans, ii. 91 — 123 Gaudas, ii. 103, 165 Gura Gai, ii. 202 Gurah, ii. 146 Gurauli, ii. 154 Gurdvan, ihid. Gurha, ii. 152 Guriti, ii, 146 VIll. INDEX Gurungs, ii. 200 Gutre, ii. 130 H Hadi, i. 440 Haihayas, i. 448 Hak, ii, 146 Hakchar, ibid. Hakim, ii. 147 Halia Brahmans, ii. 227 Halli ii. 147 Hanji, ii. 146 Hansale, ii. 129 Hanushunas, ii. 121 Haoma, i. 90 Harad, ii. 128 Harainya or Hiranya, ii. 156 Hardaspuras, ibid. Harga Brahmans, ii. 66 Hargadis, ii. 156 Haritas, i. 226 Harivansha, The, i. 418 Hariyana Gaudas, ii. 165 Hariye, ii. 129 Harkar, ii. 147, 148 Hasadhir, ibid. Haslivali, ii. 146 Hathepara, ii. 152 Havikas, ii. 66 Helots, The, compared with the Shudras, i. 50 Henikar, ii. 153 Herodotus, i. 318, 329 Hill Brahmans, ii. 135 Himalpuri, ii. 152 Himya Gai, ii. 202 Hindi Dialect, ii. 149 Hindu Dharma Tatva, i. 71 Hindustan Brahmans, ii. 188 Hiranyajiyas, ii. 121 Hiranyakeshi Sutras, i. 186, 188 Hubu Brahmans, ii. 65 Hukhi, ii. 146 Hundo, ibid. Hursoras, ii. 102 Husseinis, ii. 29, 134 Hyphasis, i. 85 I Imbran, ii. 70 Intar or Itak, ii. 155 Iranians and Aryas, i. 89 Isar, ii. 129 Ishukara Mandalik, i. 67 i. 68 Itar or Intar, ii. 155 Itavalas ii. 106 J Jad, ii. 132 Jainas — Their Views of Caste, 315 Jainism, ii. 87 Jaitke, ii. 129 Jaithiya, ii. 156 Jakhotre, ii. 132 Jalap, ii. 128, 129 Jalika, ii. 214 Jalli, ii. 129 Jalotre, ii. 132 Jalpot, ii. 129 Jalpuri, ii. 147 Jalreiye, ii. 131 Jamadagni, i. 104 Jamaduvas, ii. 156 Jambe, ii. 132 Jambu, ii. 155 Jambus, ii. 116 Jan, ii. 147 Jand, ibid. Jangal, ii. 146 Jangali, ii. 147 Jansis, ii. 199 Jarabi, ii. 147 Jarad, ii. 132 Jaranghal, ibid. Jari, ii, 146, 147 Jarolas, ii. 108 Jasrava, ii. 129 Jate, ii. 146, 148 Jathre, ii. 130 Jatimala, i. 18 Jativiveka, i. 56 Jatya, ii. 155 Javalas, ii. 27 Javi, ii. 146 Jayachand, ii. 129 Jayaka, i. 67 Jelali, ii. 146 Jethimala Modhas, ii. 112 Jethi Tirvedi, ii. 154 Jetle, ii. 128 Jetli-petli, ibid. Jhade, ii. 50 Jhalla, i. 58, 66 INDEX IX. Jhalu, ii. 132 Jhainan, ii. 130 Jhangotre, ii. 132 Jhaphadn, ii. 133 Jhae, ii. 194 Jhavdu, ii. 133 Jbiudbad, ii. 132 Jbingan, ii. 127 PingaD, ii. 128 Jbol, ii. 131 Jbummutiyar, ihid. Jbunadiya, ii. 154 Jignya, ii. 152 Jiji, ii. 147 Jilas, ii. 121 Jitish, ii. 146 Jodbpur Brahmans, ii. 188 Jogiya, ii. 154 Jola, i. 440 Joravar, ii. 155 Josbi, ii. 128 Jotashi, ii. 129 Joti, ihid. Jujatvatiyas, ii. 156 Jujotya, ii. 190 Junagadhya Girnaras, ii. 101 Junas, ii. 105 Jutiya or Jatya, ii. 155 Juwal, ii. 131 Jvalamukhi, ii. 133 K Kababi, ii. 147 Kabi, ii. 147, 148 Kabisa, ii. 157 Kachar, ii. 200 Kachari, ii. 146 Kacharis, ii. 221 Kacbi Audichya, ii. 93 Sbrimali, ii. 110 Kachili Charans.ii. 181 Kadalbaju, ii. 147 Kagalika, i. 67 Kagas, ii. 212 Kabi, ii. 147 Kaijar, ii. 128 Kaivarta. i. 59, 440 Kaivartaka, i. 68 Kak, ii. 146 Kakari, ii. 156 Kakatiya Dynasty, ii. 88 Kakliye, ii. 131 Kakshivat, Etymology of, i. 106 Kalabhudriya Dynasty, ii. 87 Kaland, ii. 129 Kalandara, i. 440 Kalandari, ii. 132 Kalankis, ii. 29 Kalas, ii. 129 Kalavanta, i. 68 Kalhan, ii. 129 Kali, ii. 129, 147 Kalingas, i. 227, 228, 247, ii. 112, 228 Kaliye, ii. 133 Kaliyuga, Laws repealed in, i. 405 Kalla, ii. 146 Kalpa Sutras, i. 183 Kalposh, ii. 147 Kalvit, ii. 148 Kamadhenu, i. 20 Kamaniye, ii. 132 Kamarukulu, ii, 52 Kambo, ii. 132 Kambojas, i. 59, 226, 266, 418 Kamiya, ii. 198 Kanarese Language, limits of, ii. 60 Kanauj Mishri, ii. 157 Kanaujyas Isolated, ibid. Kanchakara, i. 68 Kanchani, ii. 154 Kancbivararo, ii. 225 Kandahari, ii. 147 Kandali, i. 57 Kandari, i. 440 Kandaria, ii. 202 Kandavarn, ii. 69 Kandoliyas, ii. 107 Kanhali, ii. 157 Kankas, i. 226 Kanojiyas, i. 107 Kansakara, i. 440 Kansykara, i. 65, 66 Kanth, ii. 147 Kantakdbja Brahmans, ii. 148—159 Kanungo, ii. 133 Kanvas, ii. 24, 153 language of, ii. 149 Kanyakubjas, ii. 17,140,205, 207 Kapadis, ii. 176 Kapahatiya, ii. 131 Kapale ii. 128 Kaphalya, ii. 202 Kapila, i. 280, 440 X. INDEX Kapilas, ii. 108 Kapola Nagaras, ii. 107 Kapuriye, ii. 128 Kar, ii. 146 Kara, ii. 226 Karadage, ii. 130 Karainari, i. 68 Karana, i. 55, 58, 440 Karanathiye, ii. 132 Karavara, ii. 59 Karbangi, ii 146 Karbukas, i. 227 Kardam, ii. 129 Karddam, ii. 130 Karedas, ii. 103 Karethas, ibid. Karhadas or Karhatakas, ii. 21 Karmakara, i. 440 Karmina-Bhumi, ,ii. 89 Karm-Chandala, i. 69 Karnakuinalu, ii. 52 Karnatika Brahmans, ii. 60 — 66 Karnatikas, ii. 120 Karusha, i. 58 Karyava, ii. 153 Kasaranadu, ii. 54 Kashikoshaldas, i. 227 Kashmiri Brahmans, ii. 140 — 148 • List of diflEereut Classes of, ii. 146 Pandit, ii. 131 Kasbtapatri, i. 68 Kashyas, ii. 221 Kastas, ii. 27 Katadhana, i. 65 Kataiya, ii. 154 Katariya, ii, 152 Katayas, ii. 156 Katliialu, ii. 132 Katbiavadi Shrimali, ii. 110 Kalotre, ii. 131 Katpale, ii. 128 Katu, ii. 214 Katya], ii. 202 Kaul, ii. 146 Kauravas and Pandavas, Wars of the, i. 236, 241, ii. 124 Kausi, ii. 152 Kaushika, i. 444 Kavasha-Ailusha, i. 147 Kavde, ii. 132 Kaveri Brahmans, ii. 72 Kajastba, i. 55, 66 Kayi, ii. 130 Keloskar, ii. 30 Keraiya, ii. 154 Keralas, i. 228 Kernaye Pandit, ii. 131 Kesar, ibid. Kevala Gauds, ii. 164 Kuiinas, ii. 205 Sbenavis, ii. 30 Kevati, ii. 152 Khadape, ii. 30 Khadotre, ii. 132 Khadayatas, ii. 116 Khaibari, ii. 148 Khajule, ii. 30 Khajure, ii. 130 Prahot, ii. 131 Khajuriye, ii. 130 Kbajuvai, ii. 157 Khakhayijkhor, ii. 153 Khakheliyas, ii. 107 Khalasi, ii. 147 Khambati ^brimali, ii. 110 Khamiya, ii. 198 Khanal, ii. 202 Khanas, ii. 194 Khandaii, ii. 153 Khandelvalas, ii. 165 Khandyal, ii. 202 Khanjahi, ii. 153 Khanotre, ii. 132 Khanphankho, ii. 133 Khanya, ii. 147 Kbanyakati, ii. 147 Khar, ii. 146 Kharbabiya, ii. 153 Khari, ii. 147 Kbarpari, ii. 146 Kharu, ii. 146 Kbas, ii. 197, 198, 199 Khasa, i. 58, 59 Khasbas, i. 59 Kbedava Bajas, ii. 105 Britaras, ibid. Kbedavala Bajas, ibid. Britaras, ibid. Kbedavalas, ii. 29, 105 Kheta, ii. 152 Kheti, ii. 130 Khijadiya Sanvana Modbas, ii. 112 Khindariye, ii. 128 Kbindbaiye Padbe, ii. 132 Kbistis, ii. 28 INDEX XI. Khoriya, ii. 155, 156 Khosa, ii. 148 Khota, ii. 20 Khunki, ii. 147 Khurdi, ihid. Khurvadh, ii. 1.30 Khush, ii. 146 Kichili, ii. 146, 147 Kilmak, ii. 147 Kim, ii. 146 Kinasava, i. 66 Kirar, ii. 129 Kiratas, i. 59, 226, 227, 266, ii. 196, 200 Kirle, ii. 132 Kirtanya Gauds, ii. 165 Kirvantas, ii. 26 Kisi, ii. 147 Kocha, i. 440 Kodaga Amm4 Beahmans, ii. 72 Kodavas, ii. 121 Kodiya, ii. 152, 157 Koikyal, ii. 202 Koinrala, ihid. Koliyar, ii. 93 Konkanasthas, ii. 19, 20, 21 Konkani Brahmans, ii. 64—65 Kota, ii. 69 Kotar, ii. 146 Kotika, ii. 440 Krishna, i. 340, 352 Yajur Vedis Dravinian, ii. 57 Krishnoras, ii. 97 Krodhakukuta, i. 68 Kshatra, i. 125 Kshatriya, i. 37 Etymology of, i. 106 Kshatriy^as and Vaishyas exinct, i. 50 and Vaishyas, His- torical facts with regard to the position of, i. 51 Kshatta, i. 124 Kshattri, i. 56, 57 Kshetrapati, i. 126 Kshimaka, i. 67 Kubaras, i. 439 Kuchalva, ii. 154 Kuchari, ii. 147 Kuchhi, ii. 129 Kudaleshkar, ii. 30 Kudara, i. 440 Kudavarya, ii. 154 Kudidab, ii. 132 Kukar, ii. 146 Kukhutaka, i. 58 Kukpari, ii. 146 Kukuras, i. 228 Kukurgariya, ii. 154 Kulabhas, ii. 120 Kulala, i. 126 Kulina Brahmans, ii. 205, 212 Kulindas, i. 246 Kulli, ii. 148 Kullunchpati, i. 126 Kumadiye, ii, 127 Kumadiye-Lumadiye, ii. 128 Kumaras, ii. 194 Kumaris, i. 247 Kumbhakara, i. 440 Kume Brahmans, ii. 61 Kunbigor, ii. 93 Kund, ii. 129 Kunda-Golakas, i. 65, ii. 28 Kundan, ii. 132 Kundi, ii. 129 Kundus, ii. 121 Kura), ii. 128 Kuralpal, ii. 129 Kuravanda, i. 68 Kurma Puraana, i. 445 Kurmara, i. 126 Kurudu, ii. 130 Kusarat, ii. 129 Kushathali, ii. 30 Kushilava, i. 215 Kusumbhiya, ii. 157 Kutallaidiye, ii. 130 Kutwal, ii. 129 Kuvachandas, ii. 137 Kuvindaka, i. 440 L Labari, ii. 147 Labhotre, ii. 132 Ladhanjan, ihid. Lahad, ii. 130 Labari Tirvedi, ii. 154 Lahoni, ii. 202 Lai, ii. 131 Lakarphar, ii. 129 Lakhanpal, ii. 129, 130, 132 Lakhnan Vajayapeyi, ii. 156 Laladiye, ii. 129 Lalatas, ii. 118 Xll, INDEX Lalita-Vistara quoted or refer- I red to, i. 279, 288 Lalotre, ii, 131 Lamsal, ii. 202 Langi, ii. 147 Lat, ii. 131 Lath, ihid. Lathiahi, ii. 154 Lati, ii. 147 Lattu, ii. 129 Lava, ii. 128, 138 Lavanas, ii. 139, 173 Lavanthe, ii. 132 Lichava, i. 58 Lidarigari, ii. 147 Lingapurana, i. 442 Lingayats, ii. 52 Lohonas, ii. 115, 137 Loityal, i. 202 Loiyal, ii. 202 Lonakhar, i.i. 154 Lonapur, ih^'d. Ludh, ii. 130 Ludra, ii. 129 Lutari, ii. 147 M Machh, ii. 130 Machhar, ii. 132 Madao, ii. 146 Madariya, ii. 155 Madarkham, ii. 129 Madhare, ihid. Madhave, ii. 228 Madhavacharya, ii. 55, 72, 88 Madhbani, ii. 152 Madhotre, ii. 132 Madhyandinas Maharashtra, ii. 24 Talanga, ii. 52 Madihatu, ii. 130 Madote, ii. 131 Madras, i. 266 Madyadoshi, ii. 215 Magadha-Bandijana, i. 66, 67 Magars, ii. 200 Magas, i 438 Magdiyaliye, ii. 132 Magdole, ibid. Maghadhus, i. 227, 418 Magmaryas, ii. 121 Magutavalla, i. 67 Mahabharata, The, i. 229—277 Mababharata quoted or referred to, i. 18, 56, 57 • Etymology of, i. 229 Polyandrism in the, i. 231, 248 Exaltation of Caste in the, i. 236 Maha Guru, i. 67 Maharajas, ii. 54, 123 Maharashtra Brahmans, ii. 17 — 50 Maharashtra, Etymology of, ii’. 48 Malia Sammata, i. 314 Mahasthana, ii. 227 Mahe, ii. 130 Mahiji}"e, ii. 132 Mahishi, i. 124 Mahishya, i. 55, 65. Mahite, ii. 131 Main, ii. 147 Maite, ii 130, 131 Maithila Brahmans, ii. 192 — 196 Maithilas, i. 17, 120,130, 131 Maitila language, ii. 193 Maitra, i. 58, ii. 129 Maitrayaniyas, ii. 10 Maitreya, i. 66, 67 Maitreyaka, i. 59 Majgaum, ii. 153, 155, 157 Majju, ii. 128 Makade, ii. 131 Makavar, ii. 128 Makhani, ii. 147 Makhotre, ii. 132 Mai, ii. 147 Malavikas, ii. 114 Malavis, ii. 189 Malayalam Language, limits of, ii. 73 Malayar, ii. 74 Maliye, ii. 128 Malla, i. 58, 66, 440 Mallakara, i. 67, 440 Malmashi, ii. 143 Malwa Brahmans, ii. 187 Mamkhor, ii. 153 Man, Views of the Origin of, i. 62 Manati, ii. 147 Manava Kulpa Sutra, i. 200 Mandahar, ii 129 Mandal, ii. 147 INDEX XIII, ^landan Tirvedi, ii. 154 Mandar, ii. 124 MandhaD, ii. 154 Mangraich, ii. 154 Mangrudiye, ii. 130 JIangushtha, i. 69 Manikara, i. 66 Manipuras, ii. 221 Manjusha, i. 69 Manoha, ii. 154 Mansachedi, i 440 Mansotre, ii. 131, 132 Manu, Date of, i 368 Abstract of, i. 371 — 390 quoted or referred to, i. 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44, 47, 48, 53, 54. 57, 68, 59, 60, 62, 64, 356, 368 Maraiporas, ii. 214 Marans or Shidrans, ii. 81 Maratha Brahmans, Political career of, ii. 31 — 49 General Character of, ii. 44 — 45 Marathi Language, li- mits of, ii. 48 Margaya, i. 59 Marjani, ii. 152 Markandeya Purana, i. 437 Markara, ii. 152 Maro Singho Brahmans, ii. 221 Marotre, ii. 132 Marriage, Eight kinds of, i. 239 Customs among the Bengal Brahmans, ii. 207 Maru Charans, ii. 181 Marud, ii. 128, 129 Marus, ii. 116, 177 Marwadi Audichya, ii. 93 Shrimali, ii. 110 Marwar Brahmans, ii. 188 Masaldau, ii. 146 Masauvas, ii. 153 Masodare, ii 129 Masonad, ii. 157 Mastanas or Mastan Brahmans, ii. 109, 121, 227 Matainya, ii 155 Matara, i. 440 Matevala, ii. 152 Mathar, ii. 132 Mathas (or Monasteries), ii. 69, 72 1 Mathura (Madura), ii. 82 I Mathuras or Mathulas, ii. 119 Matol, ii 152 Matsya Purana, quoted or re- ferred to, i. 18, 443, 445 Matti, ii. 146 Maujaha, ii. 147 Mausalika, i. 68 Mavalas, ii. 134 Maya, i. 279 Mayukh, i. 368, 401 Med a, i. 59 Medatavalas, ii. 106, 172 Medu, ii. 129 Megasthenes quoted or referred to, i. 116, 336, 338 Mehad, ii. 129 Mehuliyar, ii. 153 Mekalas, i. 227 Methiber, ii. 154 Mevadas, ii. 104 Mevadi Shrimali, ii. 110 Mewadas, ii. 178 Mirat, ii. 131 Mirji, ii. 147 Misari, ihid. Mishra, ii. 131, 153, 194, 226 Mishra Kanyakubjas, ii. 149 Mishri, ii. 153 Misirman, ii. 157 Misr, ii. 202 Misra, ii. 131 Misri Kashmiri, ii. 130 Mitakshara, i. 368, 391 Mixed Classes, List of, i. 440 The present, i. 60 Mixed Castes, Orthodox View of, i. 53—73 True view of the Origin of, i. 54 Mlechchhas, i. 56, 59, 227, 241, 440 Mochigor, ii. 93 Modaka, i. 439 Modha-Maitras, ii. 103. Modhas, Trivedi and Chaturvedi, ii. Ill Mohan, ii. 131 Mobana, ii. 128 Mohle, ibid. Mohle-Bohle, ibid. Mole, ibid. Monasteries (or Mathas), ii. 69 XIV. INDEX Motalas, ii. 108 Motha Rayakavalas, ii. 116, 105 Moyals, ii. 134 Moylar, ii. 71, 72 Muchle, ii. 131 Mujhal, ii. 128 Mujhi, ii. 146 Mukati, ii. 131 Mukdam, ii. 146 Mukki, ii. 147 Munde, ii. 132 Mundi, ii 146 Mungvuch, ii 148 Munjalva, ii. 154 Munjauna, ibid. Munshi, ii. 146 Muradabad Mishri, ii. 157 Murakanadus, ii. 52 Murdhabhiahitka, i. 55, 65 Muriins, ii 200 Mushran, ii. 146 Mussattadu, ii. 81 Muthbari, ii. 202 Muthi, ii. 146 Muttaduor Muttadus, ii.80, 81 Mutu, ii. 146 N Nabh, ii. 129 Nabhotre, ii. 132 Nad, ii. 129 Nadar, ii. 147 Nadh, ii. 131 Nagara Brahmans, ii. 61, 96 Etj^mology of, ii. 96 Nagari, ii. 148 Nagariya, ii 152 Nagas, ii. 130,, 133 Nagava, ii. 155 Nagavalli Vikrayi, i. 68 Nage, ii. 128 Nagpur Brahmans, ii. 50 Nahar, ii. 129 Nakaib, ii. 147 Nakchauri, ii. 155 Nambodi, ii. 81 Origin of the term, ii. 74 Namburi Brahmans, ii. 73 — 78 Nambnri Associate Brahmans, ii. 73 Nambutari, ii. 74 Nambyar, ii. 81 Nana Rayakavalas, ii. 104 Nanda, ii. 226 Nandauli orTandauli, ii. 154 Nandavanas, ii. 114, 169 Nandoras, ii. 101 Napalas, ii. 108 Napita, i. 66 Narad, ii. 129 Narada Purana, i. 436 Naradikas, ii. 112 Narbadis, ii. 189 Narola, ii. 202 Narsiparas, ii. 100 Narvankar, ii. 30 Nanri, ii. 146 Navale, ii. 127 Nava Ragakavalas, ii. 104 Navashahari, ii. 147 Nayak, i. 99 Nayakavalas, ii. 119 Nayapuras, ii. 156 Nayor, ii. 74 Nemadis, ii. 189 Nepal Brahmans, ii. 196 — 203 Nepaliya, ii 202 Nevarshiya, ii. 156 Newars, ii. 199 Nichhavi, i. 58 Nichvi, ii. 147 Nilikara, i. 68 Nirnaya Sindhn, quoted or re* ferred to, i. 368, 401, ii. 14 Nirvana, i. 282 Nishada, i. 55, 62, 126 Nishadas, i. 226, 241, 418 Nivipanya, ii. 202 Niyojis, ii. 55 Nizamabad, ii. 156 Numbi Brahmans, ii. 57 Nun, ii. 147 O Odradesha or Utkala Brah- mans, ii. 222 — 228 Odras, i. 59, ibid. 0,ihas, ii. 194 Ojhe, ii. 129 Om, Mystic Syllable, i. 146 Orissa Brahmans, ii. 222 — 228 Orissa, Language of, ii. 229 Osdi, ii. 130 Osti, ii. 202 i Osvala Brahmans, ii. Ill INDEX XY. P Pabhi, ii. 129 Padadhari, ii. 227 Padaur, i. 147 Pade, ihid. Padhe, ii. 129 Dadiye, ii. 130 Dholbalvaidye, ihid. Ghohasniye, ihid. Khajure, ihid. Khindadiye, ihid. Mahite, ihid. Saroj, ihid. Padhyas, ii. 25 Padma Parana, quoted or refer- red to, i. 23, 125, 426, 440 Padmivalas, ii. 105 Padoeans, i. 327 Pahadi, i. 396 Pahlavas, i. 60, 216, 226, 266, 418 Paihtiya, ii. 157 Pakonyal, ii. 202 Pal, ii. 129 Paladhu, ii. 132 Palashae, ii. 26 Paliya or Paliyas, ii. 154, 156 Pallava Dynasty, ii. 83 Pallivalas, ii. 119, 167, 190 Palyar, ii 74 Pambar, ii. 130 Panaule, ii. 154 Panchjana, i. 116 Panchakshiti, ihid. Panchanada, ii. 125 Pancha Dra VIDAS, ii. 17—123 Pancha Gandas, ii. 123—228 Panch Graraadavaru, ii. 69 Panchani, ii. 154 Panchapurusha Bhanga, ii. 206 Panchakarn, 130 Panda, ii. 227 Pandavas and Kauravas, Wars of the, i. 230, 241, ii. 124 Pande, ii. 130, 153 Gegasonke, ii. 157 Khorke, ihid. Pandhe, ii. 129 Pandbotre, ii. 131 Pandit, ii. 127, 131, 147, 202 Kashmiri, ii. 130 Pandusopaka, i. 59 Pandyas, i. 228. Paneru, ii. 202 Pange, ii. 132 Pangoras, ii. 101 Panjan, ii. 128 Panji, ii. 147 Panti, ii. 130 Panva, ii. 154 Panyal, ii. 131 Panyalu, ii. 130 Panyan (devotee to Vishnu), ii. 79 Parabha, i. 65 Paradas, i. 59, 418 Parajule, ii. 202 Paranje, ii. 129 Parasa, ii. 153 Parashara, ii. 171 Smriti, i. 396 Parashari, ii. 171 Parashariyas, ii. 120 Parashava, i. 56, 65 Parashuram, ii. 73, 89 Legend of, i. 50, 251, 253 Meaning of the Legend of, i. 265 Parava, ii. 147, 154 Parayana, ii. 152 Parbatyas, ii. 200, 201, 202 Parbatyavash, ii. 202 Parihitas, ii. 194 Parijai Kavala, ii. 202 Parikas, ii. 227 Parikhas, ii. 173, 190 Parim, ii. 147 Parivrikti, i. 124 Parnagrahi, ii 226 Parsi Religion — Author’s Work on, i. 79, 90, 91 Parsiha, ii. 155 Parsu, ii. 153 Parvaliyas, ii 107 Paschatya, ii. 212 Pashupalya, i. 68 Pashu Vikrayi, ihid. Patakhavaliya, ii. 155 Patal, ii. 132 Patdu, ii. 131 Pate, ii. 226 Pathak, ii. 128 Pathan, ii. 147 Patharas, ii. 80 Pati, ii. 147 Patini, ii. 214 INDEX xvi. Patha, ii. 129 Patlal, ii 152 Patlayala, ibid. Patula, i. 68 Paundras, i. 226 Paundrikas, i. 59, 440 Pausetika, i. 68 Payasi, ii. 152, 155 Payhaty, ii. 155 Pednekar, ii. 30 Pendi, ii. 154 Pepara, ii. 152 Peshwas, Rule of the, ii, 30 — 42 Phala-Yikrayi, i. 67 Phambbi, ii. 147 Phatak, ii. 153, 155 Phaunphan, ii. 132 Photedar, ii. 146 Phunval, ii. 202 PhyllitcE, i. 57 Pichaura, ii. 153, 155 Pindhad, ii. 132 Pipar, ii. 130 Pin, ii. 147 Pir-Ali Brahmans, ii. 215 Pishan, ii. 147 Pishoroti, ii. 81 Pista, ii. 147 Pokhar Sevakas, ii. 171 Pokharanas or Pushkaranas, ii. 114, 139, 169 Pokhoryal, ii. 202 Pondyal, ii. 202 Pottis, ii. 79 Prabhakar, ii. 128 Pradiya Charans, ii. 182 Prasadika, i. 67 Prashna Upanishad, i. 181 Prashnoras, ii. 97 Prathamashakhi, ii. 24, 53 Pravaras, i. 199. ii. 13 Prayagvalas, ii. 119. Predatavalas, ii. 121 Pretavalas, ii. 106 Prithvipal, ii. 132 Priti, ii. 147 Prot (Purohita) Jadtotroliye, ii. 130 Ptolemy, quoted or referred to, i. 56, 57, 58, 353, ii. 81 Pudaval, ii. 81 Pudavalas, ii. 106 Pudras, i. 155, 266 Puje, ii. 129 Pukarne, ii. 128 Pukkasa, i. 56 Pulandas, i. 440 Pulindas, i. 155, 227, 228 Pundras, i. 228, 247 Punj, ii. 129 Purabis, ii. 188, 198 Puranas, List of, i. 422 Purandhara, i. 275 Puras, ii. 194 Purasaini, ii. 202 Puroch, ii. 131 Purushamedha, The, i. 126 Purusha Sukta, The, i. 118—121 Purva Parana, quoted or re- ferred to, i. 18 Pushkar, Temple of Brahma at, ii. 169 Pushkaras or Pokharnas, ibid, Pushpadha, i. 58 Pushpashekhara, i. 65 Pushpattu, ii. 81 Pushrat, ii. 128 Putavha, ii. 152 Pyal, ii. 147 R Radha Kulina Brahmans, ii. 205 Radhis or Radhi Brahmans, ii. 211, 212, 220 Radhya Shrotriya Brahmans, ii. 211 Rai, ii. 147 Raine, ii. 130 Raj aka, i. 440 Raj any a, i. 55, 124 Rajaputana Brahmans, ii. 166 —187 Rajaputra, i. 440 Rajarshi, i. 104 Rajavalas, ii. 107 Rajdan, ii. 146 Rajgors or Rajgurus, ii. 122, 178 Rajohad, ii. 131 Rajuliye, ii. 132 Rajuniye, ii. 132 Rakhyas, ii. 146 Rakshasa, i. 99, ii. 147 Ramanand-Uril-Parasashas, ii.80 Ramanuj, ii. 54 Ramathas, i. 266 Ramavats, ii. 195 Ramayana, i. 212 — 228 INDEX ivn. Ramayana has undergone revi- sion, i. 216 - List of Professions in the, i. 224 — Position of Brah- mans and of Kshatriyas in the, i. 220, 222 Rambe, ii. 130 Rainpuras, ii. 121, 156 Raintal, ii. 129 Banadis, ii. 190 Randa-Golakas, i. 65 Randeha, ii. 129 Rangade, ii. 130 Rangadie, ii. 188, 190 Ranisarap, ii. 156 Rankika, i. 68 Ratanpal, ii. 129, 132 Ratanval, ii. 152 Rathakara, i. 66, 126 Rati. ii. 129 Ratnapnri,ii. 152 Ratniye, ii. 129 Ravade, ii. 127 Raval, ii. 147 Ravanajahis, ii. 137 Ravavalas, ii. 120 Rayakavalas, ii. 104 Rayapulas, ii. 108 Rayas, ii. 194 Rayathatas, ii. 121 Rayi, ii. 147 Redathiye, ii. 132 Regni, ii. 202 Rei, ii. 146 Relatoni, ii. 202 Repalis, ii. 214 Eephaim, i. 99 Eig-Veda, i. 74,93,110 Rig-Vedis Dravidian, ii. 57 Eijal, ii. 202 Rikhi or Rishi, ii. 129 Eimal, ii. 202 Eishikas, i. 228 Eishis, i. 106 Seven Great, ii. 14 Risyal, ii. 202 Rod, ii. 132 Eodhavalas, ii. 105 Eugi, ii. 146 Rukai, ii. 202 Rukhe, ii. 130 Rupakheti, ii. 202 Rupal, ii. 129 S Sabanji, ii. 147 Sachodas, ii. 167 Sachora Brahmans, ii. 100, 123 Sacraments, Sixteen, i. 60 Sacrifice, M. Haugon, ii. 1 Note Sadasya, ii. 6 Saddharma Pandarika, i. 284 Saddi, ii. 130 Sadgol, ii. 132 Saguniye, ibid. Sahajpal, ii. 129 Sahankol, ii. 155 Sahib, ii. 146 Sahyadrikanda, quoted or refer- red to, ii. 19, 21, 22, 25 Saile, ii. 129, 130 Sainhasan, ii. 132 Sairindra, i. 58 Saival, i. 202 Saiyad, ii. 146 Sajaval, ii. 147 Sajodhras, ii. 103 Salivahan, ii. 129 Salman, ii. 147 Salotre, ii. 131 Salurn, ii. 132 Sama-Veda, i. 74 Notices of Caste in, i. 124 Sama-Vedi Telanga, ii. 54 Sama-Vedis Dravidian, ii. 57 Gurjara, ii. 110 Samayacharika Sutras, i. 183 Samdariya, ii. 157 Sainnol, ii. 131 Samnotre, ibid. Sanadhya Brahmans, ii. 217 Gaudas, ii. 164 Sanavadas, ii. 177 Sand, ii. 131 Sanda, ii. 128 Sandhi, ii. 129 Sandra Cottus, i. 294, 336 Sanga, ii. 129 Sangad, ii. 128 Sangar, ii. 129 Sangara, i. 67 Sangde, ii. 1.32 Sangrahita, ii. 124, 126 Sanhoch, ii. 132 Sankhatre, ii. 129 I Sannyasis, i. .34 XTIll. INDEX Sanodhyas, ii. 108 Sanwal, ii. 129 Sapankotya, ii. 202 Sape, ii. 154 Sapliai, ii. 146 Saphaya, ibid. Sapoliye Padhe, ii. 131 Saptamipurusha Bhanga, ii. 206 Saptaputraka, i. 440 Saptashatis, ii. 211, 212 Sarad, ii. 131 Saraph, ii. 146 Sarasvata Brahmans, ii. 124 — 139 Sarasvata Etymology of, ii. 124 Sarasvatas, ii. 17, 29, 115 Sarasvata, Language of, ii 125 Sarasvati, The, i. 84, ii. 135 Sarmayi ii. 130, 132 Saroch, ii. 132 Sarvaliye, ii. 127 Sarvariyas or Sarvariya Brah- mans, ii. 107, 157, 217 Sarvasve, i. 440 Saryaparis, ii. 157 Satapasti, ii. 226 Sathodra Brahmans, ii. 97 Satola, ii. 202 Sattyal, ibid. Satvata, i. 58 Saunpuri, ii. 143 Saurashtra, ii. 82, 92 Sauvira, i. 219 Savanta, ii. 226 Savashas, ii. 27 Savrita, i. 66 Sel, ii. 131 Sena, i. 126 Senani, ibid. Senapati, ii. 226 Setpal, ii. 128 Shabala, i. 67 Shabaras, i. 155 Shah, ii. 147 Shaikha, i. 58 Shailika, i. 69 Shair, ii. 147 Shaiva, ii. 228 Shakdar, ii. 146 Shakha, Etymology of, ii. 7, 13 Shakharej, ii. 154 Shakhas, ii. 7, 13 i. 59, 216, 226, 227, 266, 418 Shaghilya, i. 68 Shaktas, ii. 58, 195, 228 Shakya Muni, i. 278 Shal, ii. 147 Shalikana, i. 66 Shama Dasi, ii. 128 Shambara, i. 68 Shame-potre, ii. 128 Shandika, ii. 214 Shankaracharya, ii. 57, 70, 74, 76 Kules of, pres- cribed forNamburi Brahmans, ii. 70, 76 Shankarghna, i. 67 Shankhakara, i. 440 Shannaka, ii. 57 Shanshira. i. 68 Sharaka, i. 440 Shargal, ii. 146 Sbashani, ii. 226 Shas-gotre, ii. 132 Shasht'apurush Bhanga, ii. 206 Shasvatika, i . 66 Shavaras, i. 266 Shayapala, i. 67 Shenavis or Sarasvata Brahmans, ii. 29 Shetapalas, ii. 137 Shetpal, ii. 128, 129 Shevadas, ii. 121 Shikarpuris, ii. 135 Shiva Purana, i. 430 Shivali, ii. 69, 154 Shivarajpur, ii. 154 Shori, ii. 128 Shradhas performed in Bengal, ii. 213 , Shrikaras, ii. 135 Shri Gauda Brahman Merata- vala Surati, ii. 106 Gaud as, ii. 103, 165, 190 Shri-Vaishuavas, ii. 58 Shridhar or Shridhara, ii. 128, 131 Shrimalis, ii. 109, 166 Kajputana, ii. 166 Shringarpuri, ii. 152 Shringiri Matha and others, ii. 69, 72 Shrivautas, ii. 177 Shrotriya, Etymology of, 211 Shrotriyas or Shrotriya Brah- mans, ii. 195, 206, 226 Shuddha Margaka, i. 68 INDEX XIX. Shudra, The, i. 46, 66 Compared with He- lots, i. 50 Etymolog:y of, i. Ill Shudras not mentioned in the Vedas, i. Ill Shukalvalas Adi Gaudas, ii. 164 Shukla Yaiur Vedis Dravidian, ii. 57, 137 Shuklas, ii. 153 Shundi, i. 440 Sliura, i. 126 Sihbi, ii. 147 Sidhyal, ii. 202 Sigad, ii. 132 Sihari, ii. 147 Sihor, ii. 95 Sihor Audichya, ii. 93 Sikavadas, ii. 177 Sila, ii. 155 Silindra, i 67 Sinkhara, ii. 202 Sinani, i. 124, ii. 147 Sindhava Sarasvatas, ii. 105, 115 Sindhuvalas, ii. 105 Sindolaka, i. 67 Singari, ii. 147 Siughe-potre, ii. 128 Siiighva, ii. 154 Singilva, ibid. Singyat, ii. 202 Sinhaladvipa, ii. 82 Siuhapur, ii. 62, 95 Sirajpuri, ii. 152 Sirjam, ii. 154 Sirkhandiye, ii. 132 Sisira, ii. 154 Sitapuri, ii. 152 Siwavuakara, ii. 214 Skanda Purana, quoted or refer- red to, i. 18, 55, 56, 310. 442 Smarttas, ii. 30, 57, 66, 96, 97, 102 Smritis, List of, i. 355 Sodhi, ii. 128 Sohgaura, ii. 154 Solar and Lunar Races, Wars of the, ii. 124 , Solhe, ii. 132 Soma, i. 90 Somaparas, ii. 28 Sonabani Brahmans, ii. 228 Sonar, i. 56 Sonaura, ii. 154, 155 Sonthianva, ii. 153, 157 Sopaka, i. 59 Soparas, ii. 28 Sorathiya-Sarasvatas, ii. 115 Sorathiyas, ii. 107 Soti, ii. 202 Sotri, ii. 130 Soyari, ii. 129 Sthitishas, ii. 121 Strabo, quoted or referred to, i. 338 Suberi, ii. 202 Suchala and Kuchala, i. 67 Suda, i. 66 Sudan, ii. 129, 132 Sudara Charans, ii. 182 Sudathiye, ii. 131 Sudhanva, i. 58 Sudhanvacharya, i. 66 Sudharliye, ii. 131 Suganti, ii. 152 Suhandiye, ii. 132 Suhmas, i. 247 Sukanta, ii. 156 Sukhe, ii. 132 Sukul Bala change, ii. 157 Gaudas, 166 Sum, ii. 146 Sumbhas, i. 227 Sunashepha, Legend of, i. 149 Sundar, ii. 130 ^ Sunhanla, 152 Suran, ii. 129 Suranachal, ii. 132 Suras, i. 100 Surashtra, i. 219 Surati Shrimali, ii. 110 Sutas, i. 57, 65, 124, 125, 418 Suthade, ii. 132 Sutradhara, i. 69, ii. 214 Sutrakara, i. 440 Sutras, Notices of Caste in, i. 182 Vedic Development of Caste in, i. 208 Svabhava Kulinas, ii. 205 Svakrita Bhanga Kulinas, ii. 206, 207 Svapaka, i. 58 Svarnakara, i. 440 T Tad, ii. 1.30 Tagale, ibid. INDEX Tasas, ii. 163 Tage, ii. 134 Tagores, The, ii. 215, 217 Tailakara, i. 440 Tailanga Brahmans, ii. 50 — 56 Tailiugas, Sama-Vedis, ii. 54 TailingaDi, ii. 54 Taittariya Braliniana, Notices of Caste in, i. 159 Upauishad, i. 180 Tak. ii. 131 Takht Laladi, ii. 128 Taksha, i. 126 Talajanghas, i. 418 Talajiyas, ii. 120 Talava, i. 155 Tallan, ii. 130 Tambaran, ii. 70 Tambulas, i. 439 Tandi, ii 131 Tandulotha-Modhas, ii. 112 Tangamodiyas, ii. 107 Tanganivate, ii. 129 Tapodanas. ii. 122 Tara, ii. 153, 154 Taskarapati, i. 418 Tavakpuri, ii. 152 Tejpal, ii. 129 Tek Bara Gaudas, ii. 165 Teli, ii. 147 Brahmans, i. 226 Temrakoti, ii. 202 Teng, ii. 146, 147 Teraka, ii. 152 Teunta or Tevanta, ibid. Tevarasi Prabhakar, ii. 153, 157 Tewa Panya, ii. 202 Thags, The, ii 192 Thakuras, ii. 194 Thakure Purohita, ii. 132 Thanik, ii. 131 Thanmath, ii. 132 Thanthar, ii. 146 Thappe, ii. 131 Thaur, ii. 146 Tholal, ii. 147 Tibaiyas, ii. 156 Tidde, ii. 128 Tikhe-Ande, ii. 128 Tikbe, ii. 127 Tikku, ii. 146 Tilingas, ii. 113 Tilotyas, ii. 121 Timani, ii. 129 Timil Sina, ii 202 Tinuni, ii. 129 Tipthi. ii. 153 Tir, ii. 74 Tiravankudi, ii. 89 Tirgulas or Trigulas, ii. 26 Tirguvait, ii. 157 Tirhutiya Language, ii. 193 Tirpad, ii. 132 Tirphala or Tripbala, ii. 155 Tirtha Mahatinya, quoted or referred to, i. 20 Titragas, ii. 121 Tivara, i. 440 Tivaris, ii. 153 Tiwadi, ii. 128 Travancore Brahmans, ii. 89 Trigulas, ii. 26 Tiilava Language, limits of, ii. 68 Tusharas, i, 226 U Udambaras, ii. 100 Udias and Wodias, ii. 225 Udichya, ii. 93 Udihal, ii. 132 Udiya Brahmans, ii. 222—228 Sects prevalent among the, i. 228 Ugra, i. 56, ii. 147 Cjhas, ii. 194 Ukhal, ii. 147 Ukniyal, ii. 202 Ulmuka, i. 67 Umari, ii. 154 Unevalas, ii. 106 Unni, ii 81 Upadhe, ii. 132 Upadhya, ii. 153, 155, 198 Upanayana, i. 188, 196 Upangas, Eight, ii. 10 Lfpanishad, Etymology of, i. 172, 173 Philosophy of, op- posed to, i. 207 Upa-Puranas, ii. 223 List of, i. 424 Upa- Vedas (Sub-Vedas), ii. 12 Uphaltopi, ii. 202 Uria, Uriya or Orissa, ii. 222, 223, 224, 225 Ushtrapata, i. 67 Usraina, ii. 152 INDEX. ZXl. Utanjaliya-Modhas, ii. 112 Dtaraka, i. 68 Utara Kurus, The, i. 169 Utkala Brahmans, or Odresha Brahmans, ii. 222 — 228 Dtkalas, i. 227, ii. 17, 119 Utkali, i. 202 Utriyal, ii. 132 V Vadagadalu, ii. 54 Vadanagara Brahmans, ii. 96 Vagadi, ii. 136, 228 Vagadiya Audichya, ii. 93 Vagadiyas, ibid. Vagana, ii. 146 Vagari, ii. 148 Vagatita, i. 440 Vaibhojas, i. 240 Vaideha, i. 57 Vaidehika, i. 67 Vaidik Karnatika Brahmans, ii. 63 Vaidiks, ii. 195 Vaidikas, ii. 211,212,213 Vaidya, i. 55, 440, ii. 128, 131 Vaijra Shuchi, i. 296, 306 Vaishnavas, ii. 18, 58, 96, 97, 146 Vaishya i. 44 and Kshatriya extinct, i. 50 Etymology of, i. 109 Vaitalika, i, 66 Valadras, ii. 100 Vallabhacharya, ii. 136, 228 Valmikas, ii. 112 Vamacharis, ii. 212 Vamana Purana, i.448 Vanacharas, i. 440 Vanaprastha, i. 33, 343 Vandidad, The, i. 80 Vangar, ii. 146 Vangas or Vanga Brahmans, i. 227, ii. 203 Vanikjatyah, i. 439 Vantade, ii. 131 Vanti, ii. 147 Vanya, ii. 146 Varadis, ii. 49 Varaha Purana, i. 443 Varasiddhah, ii. 118, Varendra Shrotriyas, ibid. Varendras, ii. 212 Variki, ii. 147 Varna, ii. 220 Vamas, Four, i. 166, 197 Varnasalus, ii. 52 Vamasankara, i. 54 Varvaras, i. 226, 266 Varj’an, ii. 81 Vas, ii. 147 Vashistha, i. 220, 241, ii. 14, 121 Vasta Gai, ii. 202 Vastra-Vikrayi, i. 67 Vasudeva, ii 128 Vatadhana, i. 58 Vatsala, i. 67 Vatte-potre, ii. 128 Vattilu, ii. 147 Vatulas, ii. 118 Vaushaja, ii. 206 Vayadas, i. 104 Vayu, i. 274 Purana, i. 448 Veda, Etymology of, i. 73 Vedas, i. 73, 142 Caste in the, ii. 1 Language of the, i. 76 Vedanta, The, i. 115, 181 Vedic Relations, ii. 57 Vedinadus, ii. 54 Vedve, ii. 130 Velauadus, ii. 54 Vena, i. 56, 58, 68 Venginadus or Veginadus, ii. 54 Vichari, ii. 147 Vichuka, i. 66 Videhas, ii. 227 Vidharbhas, i. 228, 248 Vidyarnya, ii. 88 Vijanma, i. 58, 66 Vilhanoch, ii. 131 Vinayaka, ii, 128 Vipasha. i. 85 Vipat, ibid. Vira Bhumi Brahmans, ii. 215 Vaishnavas, ii. 58 Virad, ii. 129 Virupaksh, ii. 215 Visha, i. 109 Vishalnagar Brahmans, ii. 97 Vishnu Parana, i. 427, 429 quoted or refer- red to, i. 35, 51, 434 Vishvamitra, i. 220, 241, 268, 271, ii. 14 Story of, i. 104 V isht-Prot, ii. 130 XXll. INDEX Vivashvat, i. 90 Vratapati, i. 126 Vratya, i. 58, 64 Vratya-Santati, i. 64 Vyadha, i. 440 Vyala^rahi, ibid. Vyas, ii. 129 Vyasokta Brahmans, ii. 215 W Wilson’s India Three Thousand Years Ago, i. 87, 88, 89, 93 Parsi Religion, i. 79, 90,91 Notes on Molesworth’s Marathi Dictionary, ii. 87 Second Memoir on Cave Temples, ii. 82, 87 Historical View of the Operations of the Bombay Auxiliary Bible Society, ii. 92 Y Yachh, ii. 147 Yadava Dynasty, ii. 87 Yadavas, Destruction of, by Krishna, i. 50 Yajnavalkya, i. 358, 391 Yajnavalkyas, Tailanga, ii. 53 Yajnikvalas, Tailanga, ibid., ii. 106 Yajur Veda, i. 74 Notices of Caste in, i. 124 30th Adhyaya of, i. 127 Yajur Vedi, ii. 110, 198 Yama, i. 90 Yamuna and Gomati, i. 86 Yamye, ii. 129 Yantrodhari, ii, 132 Yavasika and Shaklya, i. 68 Yavanas, i. 59, 216, 226, 240, 266, 418 Yimo, i. 90 Yogi, i. 440