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The  Cambridge  Manuals  of  Science  and 

Literature 


THE    PEOPLES    OF    INDIA 


CAMBRIDGE   UNIVERSITY   PRESS 

ILon^jon:   FETTER  LANE,  E.G. 

C  F.  CLAY,  Manager 


CPtiinburgf):   loo,  PRINCES  STREET 

Berlin:  A.  ASHER  AND  CO. 

Ifipjig:    F.  A.  BROCKHAUS 

^tto  Borh:   G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

»ombag  anU  ^Talcutta:   MACMILLAN  AND  CO.,  Ltd. 


Ail  rights  reserved 


^^^ 


'% 


Brahmans 
{Mirzapur  district) 


(Cambridge : 


/7 


\ 


PRINTED    BY  JOHN   CLAY,    M.A. 
AT   THE   UNIVERSITY    PRESS 


D5 


With  the  exception  of  the  coat  of  arms  at 
the  Joot,  the  design  on  the  title  page  is  a 
reproduction  oj  one  used  by  the  earliest  known 
Cambridge  printer,  John  Siberch,  i  5  2 1 


PREFACE 

THE  writing  of  this  little  book  has  been  delayed 
by  the  hope  I  once  cherished  of  incorporating 
in  it  some  of  the  results  of  the  Indian  Census  of  1911. 
This  desire  was  inevitable  in  the  case  of  a  retired 
Indian  official,  who,  like  most  of  his  kind,  has  taken  a 
small  part  in  one  or  more  of  the  decennial  numberings 
of  the  Indian  people.  In  this  country,  a  Census  affords 
material  chiefly  for  the  calculations  and  theories  of 
the  statistician,  and  the  Registrar-General  is  not 
regarded  as  an  expert  in  Anthropology  or  Linguistics. 
But  in  India  the  case  is  very  different.  If  the  district 
officer  is  always  glad  to  learn  as  much  as  possible  of 
the  people  with  whom  he  is  brought  into  contact,  his 
official  duties  often  reveal  only  the  seamy  side  of 
Indian  life,  and  it  is  only  when  he  is  in  camp,  or 
snatching  a  rare  and  hurried  lioliday  in  shooting,  that 
he  gets  to  see  something  of  the  people  otherwise  than 
as  litigants  or  payers  of  revenue.  A  census  is  an 
agreeable  and  welcome  opportunity  for  looking  at 
India  from  another  and  more  genially  human  point 
of  view.     In  the  first  place,  it  is  one  of  the  least 


vi  PREFACE 

expensive  (»t"  official  o])erations,  since  it  is  chiefly 
pert'ornied  In  unpaid  and  volunteer  agency.  Hence 
the  orticial,  a  little  weary  of  litigants,  touts,  i)leHder8, 
and  subordinates,  who,  however  annable  in  their 
j)rivate  lives,  are  apt  to  be  indolent  and  obstructive 
in  office,  is  glad  to  make  acquaintance  with  new 
ft-iends,  who,  for  the  most  ])art,  take  an  intelligent 
and  amused  interest  in  the  unfamiliar  task  of  number- 
ing. For  many  busy  weeks  before  the  actual  counting 
takes  i>lace,  the  district  officer  has  to  ride  far  and 
near,  to  satisfy  himself  that  all  necessary  pre})aration8 
have  duly  l>een  made,  to  issue  the  instructions  that 
may  be  called  for  by  the  zeal,  in»juisitivenes8  or 
density  of  his  volunteer  colleagues.  In  the  process, 
lie  has  many  pleasant  and  some  amusing  experiences. 
On  one  occasion  I  rode  into  a  little  village  on  the 
north-eastern  frontier,  inhabited  by  semi-savage 
Tibeto- Burmese  people.  Official  orders  as  to  the 
numbering  of  all  the  house  in  legible  figures  had 
appai'cntly  not  been  obeyed.  I  simulated  wrath  and 
disai)i)ointment,  but  the  worthy  headman  on  whom 
I  vented  my  (purely  official)  indignation  was  not 
dismayed.  "  Bring  out  your  drums  !  "  he  shouted. 
Every  householder  produced  the  family  kettle-drum, 
on  the  head  of  which  the  number  of  his  house  had 
been  duly  inscribed  in  large  figures.  There  was  no 
paper  in   the  village,  but  parchment  was  invented 


PREFACE  vii 

before  paper,  and  the  headman  deserved  the  commen- 
dation I  was  glad  to  bestow.  On  another  occasion, 
I  found  a  house  numbered  indeed,  but  grievously 
dilapidated  and  obviously  deserted.  "^Vhy  is  this 
empty  house  numbered?"  I  asked.  "It  is  haunted 
by  a  ghost,  sir,"  answered  the  enumerator.  I  confess 
I  felt  sorry  not  to  allow  him  to  include  this  ghostly 
visitant  in  a  census  of  living  men.  Other  incidents, 
more  ethnologically  important  than  these,  will  fi'e- 
quently  occur.  In  any  case  the  Census  Report  of  an 
Indian  province  is  by  far  the  most  interesting  official 
document  in  existence,  and  each  census  adds  some- 
thing to  our  knowledge  of  Indian  humanity,  if  only 
because  each  Census  Commissioner,  always  an  officer 
of  unusual  ability  and  attainments,  looks  at  his  task 
from  a  point  of  view  somewhat  diffiirent  fi-om  that  of 
his  predecessors,  and  stamps  his  individuality  on  the 
work  of  his  subordinates.  Those  who  have  read 
Mr  E.  A.  Gait's  article  on  Caste  in  the  Dictionai^ 
of  Ethics  and  Religion  will  expect  the  census  of  1911 
to  contain  new  views  and  fresh  information  as  to 
the  actual  working  of  the  caste  system  in  various 
provinces,  and  its  relation  to  the  religious  ideas  of 
the  people. 

It  was  natural,  then,  that  I  should  wish  to  learn 
from  a  new  tapping  of  the  source  from  which  has 


viii  rUEFACE 

l)ocn  compiled,  for  tlie  most  part,  the  ethnical  i)ortion 
of  the  first  volume  of  the  Imperial  (Gazetteer  of  lii'Iia, 
which  has  l)eeii  my  chief  authority  in  comjtiliii^';  thiH 
little  hook.  Hut  I  know  not  when  Mr  Gait'n  Jieport 
for  all  India  will  be  ready,  and  even  the  Provincial 
Reports  come  hut  slowly  from  the  Press,  Most  of 
them  are  full  of  tlie  most  interesting  and  valuable 
information,  but  it  takes  time  to  assimilate  so  much 
new  matter,  and,  in  any  case,  not  nuich  of  it  could 
have  been  utilized  for  so  small  and  elementary  a 
book.  Hence  I  liave  simply  to  state  my  debt  to  the 
late  Sir  H.  H.  Risley  and  Mr  E.  A.  Gait  for  the 
chapter  on  Race  and  Caste  ;  to  Sir  G.  A.  Grierson 
for  the  chapter  on  Languages,  and  to  Mr  William 
Crooke  for  enabling  me  further  to  summarise  his 
masterly  sunmiary  of  what  is  known  about  Indian 
Religions.  It  is  a  particular  ])leasure  to  acknowledge 
my  indebtedness  to  my  friend  Sir  G.  A.  Grierson. 
Years  ago,  when  we  were  young  men,  it  was  known 
that  in  him  the  Indian  Civil  Service  possessed  a 
scholar  and  a  linguist  of  most  unusual  industry  and 
ability.  But  few  knew  that  there  was  germinating  in 
his  mind  the  scheme  for  the  great  Ldtiguistic  Survey 
of  India,  the  most  remarkable  feat  of  administrative 
scholarship,  i)erhaps,  that  has  ever  been  attempted,  a 
feat  that  has  won  him  the  Prix  Volney  and  I  know 
not  what  other  appreciations  of  his  w  ork  in  France 


PREFACE  ix 

and  Germany.  His  learning  and  linguistic  skill  are 
widely  known,  but  I  must  seize  the  opportunity  to 
tell  of  another  feature  of  his  achievement.  Of  course 
no  man  knows  more  than  a  few  of  the  hundreds  of 
Indian  languages,  but  there  is  one  man  who  knows 
something  of  the  working  and  mechanism  of  them  all, 
and  that  is  Sir  G.  A.  Grierson.  I  had  the  privilege  of 
helping  him  with  part  of  the  Bodo  volume  of  his 
Survey,  having  had  occasion  to  learn  one  or  two 
Tibeto-Burman  languages  in  the  course  of  official 
duty.  The  practised  ease  with  which  he  acquired  the 
syntactical  and  phonetic  peculiarities  of  languages 
with  which  he  had  no  previous  acquaintance  was  the 
most  surprising  and  delightful  intellectual  perform- 
ance I  have  ever  witnessed. 

I  have  ventured  occasionally  to  enliven  my  chiefly 
borrowed  narrative  with  personal  ideas  or  reminis- 
cences. Such  digi-essions  have  however  been  few  and 
brief,  and  I  do  not  think  I  need  apologise  for  them. 

I  have  to  thank  Miss  Lilian  Wliitehouse  and  my 
son,  Lieut.  Isl.  A.  Anderson,  R.E.,  for  the  two  diagi-am- 
matic  maps  which  will,  I  hope,  clear  up  any  geo- 
grapliical  difficulties  created  by  a  necessarily  brief 
account  of  a  large  and  complicated  subject. 

I  owe  the  illustrations  of  caste  types  to  the 
kindness  of  Mr  William  Crooke.  They  are  from 
photographs  of  inhabitants  of  one  single  district  of 


X  rilEFACE 

the  United  Piovinces  and  are  interesting  as  showing 
how  in  a  single  small  area  racial  ditterences  show 
themselves  in  snch  a  way  as  to  be  recognisable 
by  the  most  careless  observer.  They  prove  once 
more  how  stratified  Indian  humanity  has  become 
under  the  influence  of  caste  rules  of  marriages. 

J.  D.  A. 

Sejdember,  lUl'S. 


CONTENTS 


;hap 

PAGE 

Preface      

V 

Introduction 

1 

I. 

Race  and  Caste        .... 

13 

II. 

The  Languages  of  India 

54 

[II. 

The  Religions  of  India  . 

81 

Bibliography 

.       113 

Index  

115 

ILLUSTRATIOXS 

PLATE 

Brahnians  {Mirzapur  district)  . 

I.  Mahaliriihmaus  {Mirzapur  district)  . 

I I.  Kaviisthas— the  writer  caste  {Mirzajmr 

district) 

III.  Dharkfirs  {Mirzapur  district)    . 

lY.  Banjara  women  {Mirzapur  district)  . 

V.  Seoris  or  Savaras  {Mirzapur  district) 

VI.  A  Bhuiyar  {Mirzapur  district). 

VII.  A  Ghasiya  {Mirzapur  district). 


.   Frontispiece 

Vo  face 

page  12 

„      24 

„       36 

„       48 

„       60 

»       72 

„       84 

MAPS 

The  Indian  Empire — Distribution  of  Population   At  end  of  book 

The  Indian  Empire — Distribution  of  Prevailing 

Languages »         » 


INTRODUCTION 

It  is  necessary,  once  more,  to  remind  the  reader 
that  the  peninsula  of  India  has  an  area  and  popula- 
tion roughly  equal  to  the  area  and  population  of 
Europe  without  Russia.  Everyone  who  has  learnt 
geography  at  school  is  familiar  with  the  great  triangle, 
its  base  in  the  soaring  Himalayan  heights  in  the 
north,  its  apex  jutting  into  the  Indian  Ocean,  and 
marked  by  the  satellite  island  of  Ceylon.  To  the 
north,  then,  is  the  great  mountain  barrier,  a  tangled 
mass  of  snowy  peaks,  glaciers  and  snowfields,  separat- 
ing the  sunny  plains  of  India  proper  from  the  plateaux 
of  Central  Asia.  Beneath  them  lie  wide  river  basins, 
sandy  and  dry  as  unirrigated  Egypt  to  the  west ; 
moist,  warm,  and  waterlogged  to  the  east.  To  the 
south  of  the  valleys  of  the  Indus  and  the  Ganges  is 
the  central  plateau,  home  of  many  aboriginal  races. 
This  rises  on  the  west  into  a  castellated  rampart  of 
hills  facing  the  Arabian  Sea,  and  on  the  south  slopes 
away  into  green  undulating  uplands.  So  much,  at 
least,  of  geographical  description  must  be  given  as 
a  clue  to  the  distribution  of  the  peoples  of  India. 

A.  1 


2  THE  I'EOPLES  OF  INDIA 

Along  the  Himalayas,  growing  stronger  in  iunnl)er8 
as  we  go  ejistwards,  are  races  mostly  of  a  Mongolian 
type,  mingled  with  purely  Indian  elements.  In  the 
Panjab  and  the  United  Provinces,  sending  offshoots 
southwards  along  the  well-watered  west  coast,  are 
the  peoples  in  whom  the  traces  of  Aryan  innnigration 
are  most  visible.  In  Bengal  we  find  a  duskier  race, 
provisionally  termed  Mongolo-Dravidian,  but  with 
a  strong  infusion,  in  the  upper  classes,  of  western 
blood.  In  the  south  are  a  stiU  darker  population 
almost  wholly  Dra vidian.  It  is  in  the  most  ancient 
part  of  India,  in  the  high  plateau  of  the  Deccan,  that 
there  still  dwell  the  peoples  who  are  probably  the 
aborigines  of  the  land  and  use  the  most  purely  Indian 
languages,  the  various  Dravidian  dialects.  The  geo- 
logically recent  valleys  of  the  Indus  and  Ganges  are 
the  home  of  races,  mingled  with  aboriginal  peoples, 
whose  language  and  physical  features  show  that  in 
them  is  a  strong  strain  of  immigrant  blood. 

On  the  Himalayan  slopes,  in  Assam,  and  especially 
in  Burma,  are  Tibeto-Burman  peoples,  with  some- 
thing of  a  Japanese  aspect.  Intermingled  with  all 
these,  in  forests  and  on  rough  and  hardly  accessible 
hills,  are  scattered  many  groups  of  semi-savage  folk, 
of  whom  little  was  known  till  the  gradual  spread  of 
British  rule  carried  the  administrator,  the  missionary, 
and  finally  the  anthropologist,  into  regions  once  con- 
sidered unfit  for  the  presence  of  civilised  men. 


INTRODUCTION  3 

So  far,  it  may  be  said,  the  distribution  of  Indian 
humanity  is  not  very  unlike  that  of  the  races  of 
Europe.  Even  this  very  crude  summary,  it  is  true, 
allows  at  least  three  great  groups  of  languages, 
Dravidian  in  the  south,  Indo-European  in  the  west 
and  north-west,  Tibeto-Burman  in  the  north  and  the 
north-east.  There  are  in  fact  five  separate  families 
of  human  speech  which  have  their  homes  in  India  ; 
the  Aryan,  the  Dravidian,  the  Munda,  the  Mon- 
Khmer,  and  the  Tibeto-Chinese.  The  lateral  spread 
of  these  is,  of  course,  no  real  indication  of  the  present 
habitat  of  five  difierent  races  of  men.  But  they  do 
indicate  the  existence,  in  varying  degrees  of  purity, 
of  five  different  origins,  of  which  the  Dravidian  and 
Munda  alone  can  be  said  to  be  purely  indigenous 
and  confined  to  the  Indian  peninsula.  Nowhere  is 
it  more  easy  than  in  India  to  see  how  languages 
spread  from  race  to  race,  from  tribe  to  tribe,  with 
a  sort  of  linguistic  contagion  ;  the  stronger,  more 
supple,  more  copious,  more  cultivated  languages 
replacing  and  gradually  destroying  weaker  forms  of 
speech.  Something  of  the  same  sort  has  occurred, 
and  is  even  now  happening,  in  Europe.  But  the 
surviving  European  languages  are  mostly  sturdy  and 
vigorous,  and  do  not  readily  yield  place  to  one  an- 
other. In  India  the  process  of  linguistic  invasion  is 
going  on  before  our  eyes,  attendant  on  the  gradual 
gi'owth   of    Hindu   civilisation    and   religion,   which 

1—2 


4  THE  PEOPLES  OF   INDIA 

disdains  to  practise  open  and  reasoned  proselytism, 
but  extends  its  borders  nevertheless,  and  carries  with 
it  one  or  another  of  the  Aryan  dialects. 

In  spite  of  the  spread  of  the  stronger  languages, 
the  five  great  families  of  Indian  speech  remain  and 
testify  to  more  varied  origins  than  those  of  Europe. 
One  of  the  first  results  of  familiarity  with  Indian 
peoples  is  a  sense  of  their  remarkable  variety  of 
aspect  and  culture.  When  the  stranger  lands  in 
India,  his  first  feeling  is  one  of  bewildering  sameness; 
the  dusky  beings  that  surround  him  seem  as  like  one 
another  as  sheep,  or  peas.  But  that  sensation  is 
merely  due  to  the  predominance  of  unfamiliar  colour, 
and  soon  gives  way  to  an  impression  of  astonishing 
and  most  interesting  variety.  Tliis  variety  is  ex- 
hibited by  the  careful  anthropometric  investigations 
of  the  ethnologist.  But  there  is  more  variety  than 
average  measurements  show,  and  the  rough  impres- 
sions of  the  experienced  administrator  and  traveller 
are  not  without  their  value.  For  instance,  Sir  William 
Hunter,  in  his  work  on  Tfie  Indian  Empire,  classified 
the  highlanders  of  Chota  Xagpore  as  a  race  apart, 
whom  he  called  Kolarians.  Sir  H.  H.  Risley  says 
that  "the  distinction  between  Kolarians  and  Dra- 
vidians  is  purely  linguistic,  and  does  not  correspond 
to  any  differences  of  physical  type."  As  a  matter  of 
average  physical  measurements,  this  criticism  is  just. 
The  average  dimensions  of  Sonthal  skulls  are  the 


INTRODUCTION  5 

same  as  those  of  otlier  Dravidian  races.  But  he 
would  be  a  poor  observer  of  racial  characteristics, 
who  could  not  pick  out  a  typical  inhabitant  of  Chota 
Nagpore  from  a  crowd  of  southern  Dravidians.  Even 
in  pai'ts  of  Bengal  where  such  "  Kohlrian  "  folk  have 
settled  some  generations  ago,  and  have  acquired  the 
local  language  and  dress,  they  are  almost  as  easily 
distinguished  as  a  Hindu  undergraduate  in  Cambridge. 
If  physical  characters  are  rightly  divided  into  "  inde- 
finite" signs  of  race,  which  can  only  be  described 
with  difficulty  and  hesitation  in  ordinary  language, 
and  the  "  definite  "  signs  which  can  be  measured  and 
reduced  to  figures,  yet  the  general  aspect  of  a  tribe 
or  caste  is  the  first  thing  which  strikes  an  experienced 
enquirer's  eye,  and  leads  him  to  make  further  and 
more  detailed  investigations. 

So  is  it  also  with  those  divisions,  peculiar  to  India, 
which  are  known  to  us  by  the  Portuguese  name  of 
caste.  The  Indian  name  for  caste  is  varna,  or 
'*  colour,"  and  physical  difl'erences  between  different 
castes  were  fairly  obvious  even  before  accurate 
averages  were  struck  between  many  individual 
measurements.  Caste  has  undoubtedly  tended,  and 
for  similar  reasons,  to  perpetuate  such  differences 
between  classes  of  men  as  we  readily  recognise  be- 
tween different  breeds  of  horses  or  cattle.  The  ages 
of  men  succeed  one  another  more  slowly  than  the 
generations  of  domestic  animals,  and  segregation,  in 


6  THE  PEOPLES  OF   INDIA 

spite  of  caste  rules,  has  probably  at  no  time  been  so 
rijj^id  as  in  the  case  of  pure-bred  animals.  But  there 
is  a  restriction  in  the  matter  of  marriage  which  has 
l)een  more  or  less  efficacious,  and  especially  so  in  the 
case  of  the  higher  castes,  where  the  women  are  more 
carefully  guarded,  and  pride  of  birth  influences  the 
future  mothers  of  the  race.  In  some  rare  instances, 
castes  are  still  racial,  preserved  from  immixture  by 
much  the  same  feeling  which  leads  the  white  American 
to  protect  his  race  from  a  mingling  of  Negro  or  Red 
Indian  blood.  Other  castes  are  still  recognisably  the 
result  and  record  of  such  forbidden  mixtures.  Some- 
times the  resulting  difference  is  so  great  as  to  be 
visible  in  actual  measurements.  Often  the  result  is 
a  mere  peculiarity  of  aspect,  such  as  enables  an 
expert  to  identify  a  mongrel  or  a  crossbreed  among 
domesticated  animals.  In  any  case,  once  a  caste  is 
formed,  it  is  fenced  in  by  matrimonial  rules,  strict  in 
proportion  to  the  social  status  and  consideration  of 
the  gi'oup.  Not  only,  then,  are  the  racial  origins  of 
modern  India  more  various  than  those  of  Europe,  but 
such  varieties  of  colour,  stature,  and  culture  as  exist 
tend  to  be  perpetuated. 

It  has  been  said,  somewhat  paradoxically,  that 
whereas  in  Europe  the  divisions  between  races  of 
men  cut  perpendicularly,  as  it  were,  so  as  to  be  more 
or  less  local  and  geographical,  in  India  the  separating 
lines  run  horizontally,  and  represent  social  strata 


INTRODUCTION  7 

This,  of  course,  is  only  partly  true.  The  ancient 
Hindu  theory  of  caste  assumes  the  existence  of  four 
great  divisions  of  Hindu  humanity,  extending  all  over 
India  ;  namely,  Brahraans  or  priests,  Ivshatriyas,  or 
warriors  ;  Vaicyas,  or  trading  and  professional  folk  ; 
and  Sudras,  who  are  most  justly  and  aptly  to  be 
described  as  "  the  remainder."  In  all  parts  of  Hindu 
India  may  be  found  representatives  of  this  ancient 
and  theoretical  division  of  humanity,  the  first  two 
usually  claiming  a  western  origin  as  eagerly  as  some 
of  us  claim  a  tincture  of  Norman  blood.  But  it 
would  be  incorrect  to  say  that  even  the  highest  and 
purest  of  these  four  divisions  is  of  uniform  race,  or 
anything  approaching  to  it,  all  over  India.  A  Bengali 
Brahman,  for  instance,  can  be  more  or  less  easily  dis- 
tinguished from  other  Bengalis,  if  he  has  the  typical 
appearance  of  his  caste.  But  he  is  even  more  easily 
distinguished  from  Brahmans  of  other  Provinces. 
How  much  of  this  last  difierence  is  due  to  mixture 
of  blood,  how  much  to  difterence  of  food  and  climate, 
it  is,  of  course,  difficult  to  say.  But  certainly  caste 
produces  a  difference  of  breed  in  addition  to  the 
ethnical  varieties  of  origin  which  differentiate  the 
Indian  populations  from  those  of  Europe. 

Thirdly,  some  clue  to  Indian  racial  differences 
may  be  found  in  the  religions  of  the  peninsula.  The 
greatest  of  these  is  still  the  Indian  religion  /?m*  excel- 
lence, the  wonderful  collection  of  varied  speculations, 


8  THE  PEOPLES  OF  INDIA 

l)eliefs,  and  practices  known  to  us  Jis  Hinduism,  and 
its  daughter,  the  religion  of  Buddha.  The  latter 
has  spread  far  and  wide,  has  subjugated  Ceylon  and 
l^urma,  and  is  the  leading  religion  of  the  Far  East. 
At  one  time,  it  was  supposed  to  l>e  entirely  or  nearly 
extinct  in  India,  although  students  had  discovered 
traces  of  its  influence  in  the  Vishnuvite  sects  of 
Hinduism.  Recent  researches  have  shown  that  an 
almost  unaltered  form  of  Buddhism  survives  in  the 
very  bosom  of  Hinduism,  and  is  practised  under 
Hindu  names  among  certain  castes  of  Bengal  and 
Orissa.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  investigations  into 
these  survivals  have  been  for  the  most  part  conducted 
by  Bengali  Hindus,  among  whom  is  springing  up  a 
school  of  ethnologists  and  comparative  linguists,  who 
only  need  a  better  knowledge  and  understanding  of 
European  methods  to  be  invaluable  aids  to  western 
research  in  such  matters.  In  Bengal,  a  work  of 
purely  anthropological  interest  has  actually  been 
published  in  the  vernacular,  an  interesting  account 
of  the  Chakmas,  a  Tibeto-Burman  but  partly  Hindu- 
ised  race  on  the  eastern  border  of  Bengal.  Closely 
akin  to  the  lower  forms  of  Hinduism,  and  often  subtly 
blending  with  them,  are  many  Animistic  religions, 
most  of  them  professed  by  aboriginal  tribes,  speaking 
one  or  other  of  the  aboriginal  languages. 

Islam  and  Christianity  are,  of  course,  imported  and 
proselytising  religions,  and  yield  few  if  any  clues  to 


INTRODUCTION  9 

racial  or  social  origins.  Many  Muhammadans  profess 
to  be,  and  not  a  few  are,  of  autlientic  foreign  origin. 
But  during  the  seven  hundred  years  of  Muslim  rule 
in  India,  there  was  much  intermarriage  with  native 
races,  and  even  more  conversion.  It  is  curious  that, 
as  in  the  case  of  Christianity,  the  conversions  have 
been  mostly  among  tribes  and  classes  of  the  humbler 
sort.  These  were  not  denied  admission  into  Hinduism, 
but  they  were  only  admitted  on  terms  of  social  and 
racial  degi-adation.  Islam  and  Christianity  alike  claim 
to  overlook  the  accidents  of  birth  and  status,  and 
hence  attract  those  to  whom  Hinduism  only  offered  a 
place  among  the  lowest  ranks  of  its  social  hierarchy. 
But  even  in  the  case  of  the  religions  of  Christ  and 
Muhammad,  the  inveterate  Indian  tendency  to  recog- 
nise and  insist  on  breed  and  social  status  has  asserted 
itself  again  and  again.  Among  Muhammadans,  the 
Arabic  tribal  names  have  come  to  be  the  designa- 
tions of  social  units  which  differ  but  little  from  the 
endogamous  castes  of  Hinduism,  and  the  same  ten- 
dency is  already  evident  among  Christian  converts. 
There  is  a  marked  reluctance  in  some  quarters  among 
ex-Hindus  to  intermarry  with  ex-Muslims,  or  even  to 
participate  in  sacramental  Communion  with  them. 

As  with  caste,  so  with  religion,  the  divisions  are 
not  strictly  horizontal.  As  Christianity  is  not  one 
thing  all  over  Europe,  but  has  differences  of  creed, 
ritual,  and  practice  corresponding  to  racial  differences. 


10  THE   PEOPLES  OF  INDIA 

80  the  Hinduisin,  and  even  tlie  Muhammadanism,  of 
different  provinces  varies.  There  is  no  sharp  bound- 
ary ;  there  are  elements  in  common  wherever  we  ^o. 
But  just  as  Dravidian  temple  architecture  can  l>e 
easily  distinguished,  even  by  the  unpractised  eye, 
fi'om  tliat  of  the  edifices  of  the  Gangetic  plains,  so 
local  peculiarities  of  belief  or  ritual  may  come  to  the 
aid  of  the  anthropologist,  and  may  suggest  or  confirm 
distinctions  more  easily  verified  and  more  capable  of 
scientific  proof. 

The  study  of  all  these  matters  is  not  without  a 
practical  and  administrative  interest  at  the  present 
time.  A  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  to  the  racial, 
tribal,  and  caste  differences,  accompanied  by  differ- 
ences of  language  and  religion,  were  added  political 
divisions,  accentuated  by  frequent  dynastic  or  pre- 
datory wars.  British  rule  has  introduced  two  power- 
fid  unifying  influences.  Our  system  of  administration, 
while  it  is  adapted  more  or  less  eft'ectively  (more  in 
some  cases,  less  in  others,  according  to  the  talent  and 
character  of  local  officers)  to  local  precedents  and 
local  needs,  is  moulded  by  the  great  supervising 
and  consolidating  authority  of  the  Governor-General 
in  Council. 

Secondly,  higlier  education  in  India  is  conducted 
for  the  most  part  in  English,  and  educated  India, 
rapidly  growing  in  numbers,  has  English  for  its 
second    language,    and    is    modifying    local    beliefs, 


INTRODUCTION  11 

usages,  aspirations,  patriotisms  in   accordance  with 
ideas  more  or  less  consciously  assimilated  from  Euro- 
pean teachers  and  models.     No  one  can  deny  that 
this  new  unity  of  India  is  the  direct  result  of  central- 
ised British  rule.     In  the  far  distance  of  time,  all  or 
nearly  all  India  would,  for  a  while,  accept  the  domina- 
tion of  some  Hindu  ruler  or  dynasty.      Under  the 
Muhammadans,  similarly,  there  were  times  when  the 
Emperor  at  Delhi  was  the  ruler  of  all  or  nearly  all 
India.     Under  British  rule,  a  much  wider  and  more 
populous  India,  ranging  from  Baluchistan  to  Burma, 
and  only  excepting  the  semi-independent  states  which 
have  been  allowed  to  retain  sovereign  powers,  is  really 
and  for  the  first  time  part  of  the  greatest  administra- 
tion on  earth  except  that  of  China,  if  we  look  to 
numbers.    It  is  a  result,  as  the  history  of  British  India 
shows,  for  which  we  cannot  claim  the  whole  credit. 
The  direction  of  the  great  work  of  unification  has 
been  in  British  hands  ;  it  has  chiefly  been  carried 
out  by  indigenous  agency,  and,  in  matters  of  detail, 
in  deference  to  Indian  ideas  and  Indian  suggestions. 
Even  fifty  years  ago,  few  Indians  supposed  that  the 
wide  Empire  of  India  could  be  governed  save  under 
British  guidance,  or  without  the  aid  of  British  bayonets. 
The  old  habitual  forces  of  disruption  were  too  obvious ; 
the  distrust  of  one  race  for  another  was  still  too 
keenly  felt   to   allow  Indian  politicians  to  imagine 
a  united  India  under  indigenous  rule.     But  as  the 


12  THE  PEOPLES  OF   INDIA 

educated  classes  grow  in  power,  in  iiuinbers,  in  self- 
reliance,  and  reliance  on  one  another  ;  as  some  of 
them  are  piomoted  to  posts  of  higher  trust  and 
anthority  in  India,  and  even  in  England,  it  is  perhaps 
only  natnral  tliat  Indians  slionld  snppose  that,  S(>  far 
as  jiolitics  an<l  administration  are  concerned,  the  old 
divisions  and  dissensions  are  obsolete,  and  that  nnited 
India  can  in  fntnre  be  governed  by  native  agency. 
That  is  not  a  matter  with  which  ethnology  has  any- 
thing to  do.  It  is  the  ethnologist's  business  merely 
to  i-ecord  impartially  what  i-acial,  tribal,  social,  and 
religious  differences  still  survive,  and,  if  he  am,  to 
show  how  far  they  have  been,  and  are  being,  ob- 
literated by  the  spread  of  education,  and  by  growing 
self-confidence  and  ambition  among  educated  Indians. 
^Mi ether  the  information  the  ethnologist  collects  can 
be  put  to  any  administrative  use  does  not  concern 
him,  nor  does  he  desire  that  his  impartiality  shall  be 
affected  by  these  considerations.  But,  in  a  little  book 
of  this  kind  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  point  out  that  one 
result  of  British  rule  has  been  the  growth  of  a  new 
type  of  Indian,  the  educated  Indian  ;  who,  whether  he 
be  Hindu  or  Muhammadan  or  Buddhist,  is  at  least 
inclined  to  subordinate  the  old  hereditary  divisions 
to  common  political  ambitions.  These  ambitions 
affect  the  fortunes  and  the  future  of  some  three 
hundred  millions  of  humbler  Indians,  at  present  only 
linked  by  the  accident  of  common  British  rule,  and, 


Plate  I 


Mahabrahmans 
( Mirzapur  a  is!  rid) 


INTRODUCTION  13 

so   far   as   they  are   Hindus,  by   a   common    Hindu 
sentiment. 

In  the  following  chapters,  it  wiU  be  my  business 
to  tell,  as  briefly  and  clearly  as  possible,  of  (1)  the 
Ethnology  and  Castes  of  the  Indian  Peoples ;  (2)  the 
Languages  of  India ;  (3)  the  Religions  of  India.  I  hope 
what  I  have  already  said  will  sufficiently  show  why 
these  three  subjects  are  treated  in  this  order. 


CHAPTER   [ 

RACE  AND  CASTE 

Curiously  enough,  the  systematic  enquiry  into 
the  physical  race-characteristics  of  the  Indian  peoples 
was  due  to  a  daring  assertion  by  Mr  Nesfield,  of  the 
Indian  Educational  Service,  to  the  effect  that,  so  far 
as  physical  signs  go,  there  is  practically  only  one 
Indian  race  and  one  Indian  caste.  This  was  a  hasty 
but  quite  natural  generalisation  from  experience  of 
a  part  of  India,  the  United  Provinces,  which  is  in  the 
heart  of  the  Aryan  settlement  in  the  Gangetic  do-Cib 
(the  area  between  "two  rivers").  Here  caste  has 
long  been  a  settled  institution,  and  innumerable  sub- 
castes,  professional  or  the  result  of  outcasting,  have 
come  into  existence.  Mr  Nesfield  was  driven  by  his 
local  observations  to  assert  the  unity  of  one  great 


14  THE  PEOPLES  OF  INDIA  [ch. 

Indian  race  ;  lie  denied  the  truth  of  "  the  modern 
doctrine  which  divides  the  population  of  India  into 
Aryan  and  aboriginal " :  he  sturdily  declared  that  it 
was  impossible  to  distinguish  a  scavenger  from  a 
Brahman,  save  by  costume  and  other  artificial  and 
accidental  marks.  Even  in  the  United  Provinces 
this  uncompromising  statement  awoke  dissent.  In 
other  parts  of  India,  as,  for  instance,  on  the  noith- 
eastern  frontier,  the  crowded  home  of  many  races 
and  languages,  dissent  was  eager  and  loud.  It  was 
evident,  on  the  face  of  it,  that  Mr  Nesfield's  new 
dogma  was  based  on  too  limited  a  study.  Caste,  for 
him,  was  a  mere  matter  of  hereditary  function  and 
profession;  since  most  castes  in  the  sacred  "midland" 
of  Hinduism  have  assumed  that  guise.  There  is  no 
reason  to  suppose  that  castes  have  usually  or  even 
often  been  formed  as  professional  guilds.  They  come 
into  being  for  many  reasons,  some  of  which  will  be 
presently  stated ;  and  in  civilised  communities,  where 
the  division  of  labour  and  specialisation  of  profes- 
sional skill  are  mcII  established,  a  caste  gradually 
assumes  some  distinctive  means  of  livelihood.  But 
on  the  borders  of  Hinduism,  where  the  Hindu  social 
system  is  still  assimilating  new  races,  instances  abound 
of  racial  castes,  tribal  castes,  perhaps  even  (though 
this  is  a  more  doubtful  matter)  totemistic  castes. 

Those  w^ho  had   the   widest   experience   of   the 
Peninsula   were   convinced   that  its  races   were  at 


I]  RACE  AND   CASTE  15 

least  as  varied  as  those  of  Europe:  those  who,  like 
Mr  Nesfield,  had  made  a  close  study  of  one  limited 
tract,  might  have  continued  to  believe  that  under  the 
superficial  distinctions  of  caste  and  class  lay  a  real 
unity  of  race.  But  Mr  (afterwards  Sir  H.  H.)  Risley 
had  spent  the  early  years  of  his  Indian  service  among 
the  Dravidian  tribes  of  Chota  Nagpore,  and  was 
aware  that  they  differ  more  widely  fi-om  the  people 
Mr  Nesfield  had  studied  than  an  Englishman  diff"ers 
from  a  Turk.  The  'diflerence,  indeed,  was  almost  as 
great  as  that  between  a  European  and  a  Chinaman. 
Could  such  differences  be  registered  and  described 
in  such  a  way  as  to  convince  minds  accustomed  to 
scientific  accuracy  in  statement  ?  Mr  Risley  thought 
he  saw  his  way  to  an  ethnological  classification  of 
Indian  races  and  castes  by  means  of  the  then  com- 
paratively new  methods  of  anthropometry.  In  1891, 
he  published  in  the  Jouriial  of  the  Anthropological 
Institute  a  paper  which  marked  the  beginning  of 
systematic  ethnological  studies  in  India.  It  con- 
tained a  summary  of  the  measurements  of  eighty- 
nine  castes  and  tribes  of  Bengal,  the  United  Provinces, 
and  Bihar.  It  dealt,  therefore,  with  the  gi'eat 
alluvial  plain,  created  by  the  Ganges  and  Indus, 
which  lies  between  the  Himalayas  and  the  massif 
central  of  the  Deccan.  Here  is  the  home  of  the 
Aryan  immigrants,  where  the  great  Indo-European 
languages  are  spoken  by  communities  as  numerous 


IG  THE   PEOPLES  OF   INDIA  [cH. 

as  the  larger  European  nations.  Anthropometry 
showed  in  the  plainest,  the  most  incontrovertible 
way,  that  the  caste  system  of  marriages  had  sorted 
out  men  into  classes  possessing  definite  and  recog- 
nisable physical  characteristics.  There  were  local 
differences,  and  caste  differences.  It  only  remained 
to  extend  anthropometrical  measurements  to  other 
parts  of  India  to  prove  that  the  many  languages  and 
religious  beliefs  of  India  are  associated  with  an  even 
greater  variety  of  physical  qualities.  Such  enquiries 
are  still  in  progress,  but  many  notable  results  have 
already  been  obtained,  especially  by  Mr  Edgar 
Thurston,  in  his  now  famous  investigations  into 
Dravidian  ethnography. 

The  most  important  and  significant  measurement 
is  that  of  the  shape  of  the  head.  It  is,  of  course, 
imi)ossible  to  take  a  man  at  random  and  to  say  with 
certainty  that  the  excessive  length  or  breadth  of  his 
skull  proves  him  to  belong  to  a  given  race.  But  the 
average  skull-measurements  of  a  race  are  distinctive, 
and  confirm,  on  the  whole,  the  impressions  created 
by  general  aspect,  colour,  language  and  other  vaguer 
indications.  The  general  result  is  as  follows.  At 
either  end  of  the  Himalayan  range,  in  Baluchistan 
on  the  west,  and  in  Assam  and  Burma  on  the  east, 
broad  heads  prevail.  Broad  too  are  the  heads  of  the 
mostly  Mongolian  races  inhabiting  the  valleys  of  the 
southern  slopes  of  the  Himalayas,  and  in  a  belt  of 


I]  RACE  AND  CASTE  17 

country  running  down  the  western  coast  at  least  as 
far  south  as  Coorg.  In  the  Panjab,  Raj pu tana,  and 
the  United  Provinces,  tracts  where  the  climate  is  dry 
and  healthy,  where  great  summer  heat  is  compensated 
for  by  a  bracing  winter,  where  wheat  is  for  the  most 
part  the  staple  food,  long  heads  predominate.  In 
Bihar,  travelling  eastwards,  medium  heads  are  most 
common.  In  the  damp  and  steamy  delta  of  Bengal, 
inhabited  by  over  forty  millions  of  rather  dusky  rice- 
eating  people,  there  is  a  marked  tendency  towards 
the  Mongolian  brachy-cephaly  of  Tibeto-Burman 
races.  It  is  visible  among  the  Muhammadans  and 
Chandals  of  Eastern  Bengal,  people  who  are  probably 
indigenous  in  this  tract,  it  is  more  marked  among  the 
Kayasthas,  the  writer-caste  of  Bengal,  which  claims 
a  western  and  Aryan  origin.  It  reaches  its  maximum 
development  among  the  Bengali  Brahmans.  South 
of  the  Vindhya  mountains,  where  the  population  is 
chiefly  Dravidian,  with  a  comparatively  small  and 
ancient  mixture  of  northern  blood,  the  prevalent 
type  is  mainly  long-headed  or  medium-headed.  The 
coast-population  has  been  much  affected  by  foreign 
influences.  On  the  east  coast  Malayan,  Indo-Chinese 
and  even  Portuguese  settlers  have  altered  the  local 
type.  On  the  west  coast,  Arab,  Persian,  African, 
European,  and  Jewish  immigrants  have  mingled  with 
local  races,  and  have  changed  their  physiognomy, 
stature,  and  character  of  mind  and  body. 

A.  2 


18  Tllb:   PEOPLES   OF   INDIA  [ch. 

It  is  still  a  moot  point,  which  the  IMendelists  may 
some  (lay  settle  for  us,  whether  head-form  is  a  true 
hereditary  race-characteriHtic,  whether  the  osseous 
structure  of  the  body  generally  is  not  a  result  of 
climatt.',  food  and  other  such  circumstances  of  en- 
viromnent.  Yet  the  shape  of  the  head  as  shown  by 
average  measurements  does  mark  off  races  of  men 
which  are  separated  by  other  differences  than  those 
of  habitat.  They  do  coiTespond  to  those  vaguer  yet 
unmistakeable  charactei-istics  which  enable  us  to  tell 
one  race  from  another.  The  Mongolian,  even  when 
he  settles  in  the  plains  of  Assam,  Bengal,  or  Burma 
and  tiikes  to  a  diet  of  rice  and  fish,  keeps  his  rouml 
head  and  his  smooth  hairless  face.  The  Aryan  of  the 
north-west  has  a  markedly  long  head,  which,  in  his 
case,  goes  with  a  fair  complexion  and  luxuriant 
beard.  The  Di-avidian,  darkest  of  Indian  races,  with 
a  tendency  to  crinkly  or  curly  hair,  has  also  a  long  or 
medium  head.  The  mixed  laces  of  Bengal  have,  it 
is  not  surprising  to  find,  medium  heads,  which  tend 
in  the  upper  castes  to  become  broad. 

Another  significant  index  to  race  is  the  measure- 
ment of  the  nose.  The  results  of  nose-measurements 
roughly  divide  the  peoples  of  India  into  three  classes 
— those  having  narrow  or  fine  noses  (leptorrhine),  in 
which  the  width  is  less  than  70  per  cent,  of  the  height ; 
those  having  medium  noses  (mesorrhine),  with  an 
average  index  of  fi-om  70  to  85;   and  broad-nosed 


I]  RACE  AND  CASTE  19 

(platyrrliine )  people,  the  width  of  whose  noses  exceed 
85  per  cent.  Here  we  get  a  physical  means  of  dis- 
tinguishing between  the  long-headed  people  of  north- 
western India,  fair  and  stalwart,  and  the  almost 
equally  long-headed  dusky  folk  of  the  south.  For 
the  average  nose  of  southern  India,  in  Madras,  the 
Central  Provinces,  and  Chota  Nagpore,  is  broad.  In 
the  Panjilb  and  Baluchistan  we  get  fine  noses  of  what, 
to  us  Europeans,  seems  an  aristocratic  type.  In 
Afghanistan,  noses  are  so  long  and  hooked  as  to  give 
the  tall  and  vigorous  Afghan  a  Jewish  aspect.  In  the 
rest  of  India,  and  especially  down  the  west  coast, 
noses  are  of  medium  type.  A  still  more  interesting 
discovery  is  the  fact  that  anywhere  outside  the  Aryan 
tracts  of  the  north-west,  the  broad  nose  is  a  distinct 
sign  of  aboriginal  blood.  In  Bengal,  for  instance,  the 
lower  castes  have  broad  noses.  The  priestly  and 
writer  castes,  for  all  tlieir  broad  heads,  have  fine 
noses,  which  support  their  claim  to  a  western  origin. 
Roughly  speaking,  the  broad  nose  goes  with  primitive 
forms  of  social  organisation,  with  totemistic  exogam- 
ous  clans.  Finer  noses  are  usually  associated  with 
communities  of  a  more  modern  type ;  and  above  these 
again  come  social  units,  castes  and  tribes,  which  claim 
descent  from  eponymous  saints  and  heroes. 

A  third  physical  measurement  enables  us  to  effect 
a  further  sorting  out  of  Indian  races.  What  is  called 
the  "flatness"  of  the  Mongolian  face  is  ])lain  to  the 


20  THE   PEOPLES   OF   INDIA  [cH. 

most  careless  observer.  This  is  due  chiefly  to  the 
forinatioii  of  the  cheekbone,  and  its  relation  to  the 
socket  of  the  eye  and  the  root  of  the  nose.  This  can 
be  measured  and  expressed  in  figures,  with  the  result 
that  the  Mongoloid  people  of  the  north-east  and 
the  Himalayan  region  can  be  definitely  distinguished 
from  the  broad-headed  races  of  Baluchistan,  Bombay, 
and  Coorg. 

Finally,  it  is  possible  to  arrive  at  the  average 
stature  of  various  Indian  races  and  communities. 
The  tallest  races  are  found  in  the  north-west,  in 
Baluchistan,  the  Panjab  and  Rajputana.  A  pro- 
gressive diminution  is  seen  as  we  go  down  the  valley 
of  the  Ganges,  until  we  find  very  short  folk  among 
the  Assam  hill  tribes.  Tlie  Dravidians  of  the  south 
are  shorter  than  the  Aryans  of  the  north.  The 
smallest  Indian  tribe  is  that  of  the  Negritos  of  the 
Andaman  Islands,  whose  average  height  is  only  4  feet 
10^  inches. 

From  a  careful  comparison  of  these  measurements. 
Sir  Herbert  Risley  arrived  at  the  classification  of 
Indian  humanity,  which,  for  the  moment,  is  the 
accepted  division,  into  seven  main  physical  types. 
Beginning  with  the  north-western  frontier,  these  are 
as  foUows: — 

(1)  The  TurTco- Iranian  type,  which  comprises 
the  Baloches,  Brahuis  and  Afghans  of  Baluchistan 
and  the  north-west  Frontier  Province.      These  are 


I]  RACE  AND  CASTE  21 

probably  the  result  of  a  fusion  of  Turki  and  Persian 
blood,  and  are  all  Muliammadans.  The  general  aspect 
is  wholly  different  from  that  of  other  Indian  races, 
and  no  one  who  has  ever  seen  an  Afghan  or  Baloch, 
with  his  long  Jewish  nose  and  plentiful  hair  and 
beard,  can  ever  confuse  this  type  with  any  other. 
In  temperament  also  these  men  of  the  border  differ 
from  other  Indians.  They  are  a  fierce  and  warlike 
race,  engaged  in  constant  blood-feuds  with  one  an- 
other. 

(2)  The  Indo-Aryan  type,  with  its  home  in  the 
Panjab,  Hajputana  and  Kashmir,  has  as  its  most 
conspicuous  members  the  Rajputs,  Khattris  and  Jats. 
These,  in  all  but  colour  (and  even  in  colour  they  are 
hardly  more  dusky  than  the  races  round  the  Mediter- 
ranean) closely  resemble  the  well-bred  European  in 
type.  Ip  stature  they  are  tall,  their  complexion  is 
fair  ;  "  eyes  dark  ;  hair  on  face  plentiful ;  head  long  ; 
nose  narrow  and  prominent,  but  not  specially  long." 
One  significant  peculiarity  of  this  group  is  that  there 
is  little  difference  in  physical  character  between  the 
upper  and  lower  classes.  This,  as  we  shall  presently 
see,  is  what  we  should  expect  from  what  is  known  of 
the  history  of  these  peoples.  The  upper  social  ranks 
probably  represent  the  blood,  but  little  diluted  with 
indigenous  mixture,  of  the  Aryan  innnigrants.  Even 
in  the  lower  classes,  the  typical  Aryan  characteristics 
are  now  so  prominent  that  any  indigenous  strain  that 


22  THE   PEOPLES   OF   INDIA  [ch. 

exists  is  no  longer  noticeable  in  average  measure- 
ments. Only  in  height,  a  quality  especially  sensitive 
to  differences  of  food  and  sanitation,  are  the  lower 
castes  inferior.  Here  we  get  a  remarkable  modern 
instance  of  transformation  of  type.  The  preaching 
of  the  Sikh  reformers,  involving  a  change  of  food 
and  the  inculcation  of  martial  discipline  and  fervour, 
has  converted  the  despised  scavenging  Chuhra  into 
the  soldierly  Mazhabi,  once  a  redoubtable  foe  of  the 
English,  and  now  one  of  the  finest  soldiers  in  the 
British  army, 

(3)  The  ScytJiO-Dravidiau  type,  including  the 
Maratha~Errihmans,  the  Kunbis,  and  the  Coorgs  of 
western  India.  These  peoples  differ  from  the  Turko- 
Iranian  races  in  being  shorter,  in  having  longer  heads, 
higher  noses,  and  flatter  faces.      '*"' 

(4)  The  Arijo-Dravidian  or  Hindostani  type^ 
which  exists  in  the  United  Provinces,  in  parts  of 
Raj pu tana,  and  in  Bihar.  This  type  api)ear8  to  be 
due  to  a  mixture  of  Indo-Aryan  and  Dravidian 
strains.  The  higher  classes  resemble  Indo-Aryans, 
tlie  lower  have  a  distinctly  Dravidian  aspect.  Yet, 
even  to  the  eye,  they  form  a  type  apart  and  are  easily 
recognised.  In  this  type,  the  average  nose-index 
corresponds  exactly  to  social  status.  The  noses  grow 
broader  as  we  go  downwards  in  the  social  scale. 

(5)  The  very  interesting  Moiigolo-Dravidian  or 
Beiigcdi  type  which  is  found  in  Bengal  and  Orissa. 


I]  RACE   AND   CASTE  23 

Here  Aryan  influences  may  still  be  detected  in  the 
upper  classes,  but  there  has  been  extensive  mingling 
with  Tibeto-Burman  and  Dravidian  peoples,  and  other 
aboriginal  inhabitants.  The  main  distinguishing 
feature  is  the  broad  head,  which  is  most  conspicuous 
in  the  upper  classes.  It  is  shared  equally  by  the 
Bengali  Bnihrnan,  who  claims  a  western  origin,  and 
the  Chittagong  Mag,  whose  Tibeto-Burman  origin 
is  not  denied.  The  Brahman,  on  the  other  hand, 
inherits  a  fine  and  narrow  nose,  which  may  very  well 
be  due  to  Indo-Aryan  ancestry.  Recent  investiga- 
tions tend  to  show  that  Buddhism  survived  till  a 
comparatively  recent  date  in  Bengal.  Hence,  no 
doubt,  a  temporary  disregard  of  caste  restrictions 
and  a  freer  mixture  with  local  strains. 

(6)  The  Mongoloid  type  of  the  Himalayas,  Nepal, 
Assam,  and  Burma.  "The  head  is  broad :  complexion 
dark,  with  a  yellowish  tinge ;  hair  on  face  scanty  ; 
stature  short  or  below  average  ;  nose  fine  to  broad  ; 
face  characteristically  flat ;  eyelids  often  oblique." 
Here  we  have  races  which,  if  somewhat  dark,  corre- 
spond to  the  ideas  most  of  us  entertain  about  the 
external  aspect  and  temperament  of  the  Siamese  or 
Japanese.  In  intellectual  ability,  and  what  we  may 
call  the  artistic  faculty,  they  are  inferior  to  the 
Bengali.  Most  Europeans,  however  (or  is  it,  there- 
fore ?)  find  them  among  the  most  congenial  of  Indian 
races.   They  are  social,  good-natured,  straightforward 


24  THE  PEOPLES  OF   INDIA  [ch. 

people.  In  the  western  Himalayas,  there  has  been 
intermixture  with  Aryan  invaders,  as  in  the  Kangra 
Valley  and  Nepal,  and  the  ruling  dynjisties  claim 
Rajput  origin,  for  the  Indo-Aryans  loved  to  settle 
in  the  cool  hills,  much  as  the  Anglo-Indian  does  to 
this  day.  But  on  the  mountainous  frontiers  of  North- 
East  Bengal  and  Assam,  the  Mongoloid  peoples  have 
remained  undisturbed  till  our  own  time.  Linguistic- 
ally, this  group  is  peculiarly  interesting,  since  they 
speak  many  tongues,  many  of  which  still  remain  to 
be  recorded  and  studied  by  European  scholars. 

(7)  The  Dracidlmi  type,  which_extfijuda.  ii'om 
Cejlou  to  the  Talley  of  the  Gauges  and  covers  all, 
South-Eastern  India.  It  is  found  in  Madias,  Hyder- 
abad, the  Central  Proviucta,  most  of  Central  India, 
and-Chota.  Xagpnre.  Its  purest  representatives  dwell 
on  the  Malabar  coast  and  in  Chota  Nagpore.  Here 
wTKave  probably  the  original  inhabitants  of  India, 
now  modified  in  some  degree  by  an  infiltration  of 
Aryan,  Scythian  and  Mongoloid  elements.  '^he 
stature  is  short  or  below  mean ;  the  complexion  very 
dark,  approaching  black ;  hair  plentiful,  with  an 
occasional  tendency  to  curl ;  eyes  dark  ;  head  long ; 
nose  very  broad,  sometimes  depressed  at  the  root, 
but  not  so  as  to  make  the  face  appear  flat'' 

It  must,  of  course,  be  understood,  that  these  types 
and  the  names  allotted  to  them  merely  show  that  in 
certain  areas  the  average  characteristics  of  the  peoples 


Plate  II 


.^,   W'%'^  Vim"    >    "-^ 


.'•■»VV:^'* 


*■  ,*» 


,<?• 


Kayasthas — the  writer  caste 

(Mirzapii)-  dislrict) 


I]  RACE  AND  CASTE  25 

dwelling  there  can  be  sufficiently  separated  to  be 
recognisable  not  only  by  eye  but  by  the  callipere  of 
the  anthropologist.  The  names,  it  will  be  noticed, 
in  some  cases,  imply  theories  as  to  the  origin  of  the 
races  thus  grouped  together.  These  theories  are 
partly  based  on  measurements,  partly  on  tradition, 
partly  on  linguistic  considerations.  It  remains  for 
me  to  state,  very  rapidly,  what  these  theories  are. 

That  the  Dravidians  are  the  oldest  race  in  India 
is  rendered  primd  facie  probable  by  the  fact  that 
they  inhabit  the  southernmost  part  of  the  peninsula, 
between  races  who  can  with  some  certainty  be  called 
invaders — and  the  deep  sea.  There  is  a  remarkable 
uniformity  of  physical  characteristics  among  the  lower 
specimens  of  this  type.  They  have  in  common  an 
animistic  religion,  their  distinctive  language,  their 
peculiar  stone  monuments,  and  a  primitive  system 
of  totemism.  They  do  not  resemble  Europeans  on 
the  one  hand,  or  the  races  of  the  Far  East  on  the 
other.  Until  proof  to  the  contrary  is  forthcoming 
they  may  well  be  regarded  as  the  autochthones  of 
India. 

There  is  more  room  for  difference  of  opinion  as  to 
the  origins  of  the  brilliant  and  highly  civilised  Indo- 
Aryans  of  the  Panjab  and  Rajputiina.  As  I  have  said 
before,  we  have  here  a  population  closely  resembling 
that  of  modern  Europe  in  many  respects.  I  might 
have  added  that  it  still  more  closely  resembles  the 


2()  THE   PEOPLES   OF   INDIA  [CH. 

Iliirope  of  tlie  Roman  empire.  Nowhere  else  in 
Hindu  India  doea  caste  sit  so  lightly,  or  approacii 
so  nearly  to  the  social  classes  of  Europe.  Though 
there  are  rules,  or  rather  customs,  forbidding  inter- 
marriage between  different  castes,  yet  these  are 
mitigated  by  the  custom,  not  unknown  to  ourselves, 
of  hijpei'fjmny.  This  simply  means  that  a  man  may 
take  a  wife  from  a  lower  caste,  but  will  not  give  his 
daughtei-s  to  men  of  that  caste.  The  result  is  a 
uniformity  of  physical  type  found  nowhere  else  in 
India.  Moreover  these  people  speak  a  language  of 
the  Indo-European  family,  and  have  many  words  and 
idioms  in  common  with  ourselves.  The  present  theoi-y 
of  their  origin  is  simply  that  they  are  in  the  bulk 
immigrants  into  India,  immigrants  who  came  into 
the  land  from  the  north-west  with  their  herds  and 
families,  as  the  Jews  entered  into  and  possessed 
Palestine. 

One  chief  objection  to  this  theory  is  that  the 
lands  through  which  they  must  have  passed  are  in 
no  way  fitted  to  be  an  offi,cina  gentium,  being  now 
dry,  barren,  and  all  but  deserted.  But  abundant 
indications  remain  to  show  that  the  climate  of  South- 
Eastern  Persia  and  the  tracts  to  the  north  has 
changed  within  comparatively  recent  times.  The 
relics  of  crowded  populations  and  ancient  civilisa- 
tions abound  in  regions  now  sandy  desert,  and  there 
is  evidence  in  the  tales  told  by  Greek  and  Chinese 


I]  RACE  AND  CASTE  27 

travellers  that  the  Panjab  itself,  most  of  it  com- 
paratively arid,  was  once  well  wooded.  The  theory 
then  is  that  th«  homogeneous  and  handsome  popula- 
tion of  the  Panjiib  and  Kajputrma  represents  the 
almost  pure  descendants  of  Aryan  settlers,  who 
carried  the  Indo-European  languages  now  prevailing 
over  Northern  India,  just  as  our  own  emigrants  took 
the  English  language  to  America. 

But  we  have  also  to  account  for  the  Aryo- 
Dravidians  who  inhabit  the  sacred  "  midland  "  country 
of  Hinduism,  and  here  we  have  Dr  Hoernle's  now 
famous  theory,  remarkably  confirmed  by  the  re- 
searches of  Sir  George  Grierson's  Linguistic  Survey. 
This  theory  supposes  that  a  second  swarm  of  Aryan- 
speaking  people,  perhaps  driven  forward  by  the 
change  of  climate  in  central  Asia,  entered  India 
through  the  high  and  difficult  passes  of  Gilgit  and 
Chitral,  and  established  themselves  in  the  fertile 
plains  between  the  Ganges  and  the  Jumna.  They 
followed  a  route  which  made  it  impossible  for  their 
women  to  accompany  them.  They  took  to  themselves 
wives  from  the  daughters  of  dusky  Dravidian  ab- 
origines. Here,  by  contact  with  a  different,  and  in 
their  sentiment,  inferior  race,  caste  came  into  being. 
Here  most  of  the  Vedic  hymns  were  composed.  Here, 
by  a  blending  of  imported  and  indigenous  religious 
ideals,  the  ritual  and  usages  of  Hindu  religion  came 
into  being,  to  spread  in  altered  forms  east  and  west 


28  THE  PEOPLES  OF   INDIA  [CH. 

and  Roiith.  The  necessity  for  this  second  hypothesis  is 
twofold.  It  accounts  for  the  marked  etlmical  barrier 
which  separates  western  from  eastern  Hindustan. 
Elsewhere  the  various  types  melt  imperceptibly  into 
one  another.  Here  alone  is  a  definite  racial  border 
line.  Again,  the  theory  accounts  for  the  fact  that 
the  Vedic  hjmns  contain  no  description  whatever  of 
the  earlier  Aryan  migration,  and  for  tlie  fact  that  the 
inhabitants  of  the  middle  land  always  felt  a  dislike 
for  the  early  immigrants  as  men  of  low  culture  and 
barbarous  manners.  For  the  present,  at  all  events, 
and  perhaps  for  all  time,  Dr  Hoernle's  ingenious 
theory  holds  the  field. 

No  special  theory  is  required  to  account  for  the 
physical  and  mental  qualities  of  the  Mongolo-Dra- 
vidians  of  Bengal.  No  doubt  the  original  population 
was  Dravidian  with  a  strong  intermixture  of  Tibeto- 
Burmese  blood,  especially  in  the  east  and  north-east. 
But  the  Hindu  religion,  developed  in  the  sacred 
Midlands  round  Benares,  spread  to  Bengal,  bringing 
with  it  the  Indo-European  speech  which  in  medieval 
times  became  the  copious  and  supple  Bengali  tongue. 
From  the  west  too  came  what  we  in  Europe  would 
call  the  gentry,  the  priestly  and  professional  castes. 
These  have  acquired  most  of  the  local  physical 
characters,  dusky  skin,  low  stature,  round  heads. 
But  in  nearly  all  cases,  the  fineness  and  sharp  outline 
of  the  nose  shows  their  aristocratic  origin,  and  in 


I]  RACE  AND  CASTE  29 

some  instances  a  Bengali  Brahman  has  all  the  physical 
distinction  of  a  western  priest  or  sage. 

When  we  turn  to  the  Scytho-Dravidian  group  we 
have  again  to  fall  back  on  records  of  ancient  invasions 
fi'om  the  north.  Ancient  some  of  them  were,  but  far 
less  ancient  than  the  settlement  of  the  Aryans  in  the 
north-west.  The  Sakas  have  provided  India  with 
one  of  its  many  "chronological  eras  ;  they  founded 
dynasties  which  have  left  coins  behind  them,  they 
have  left  vague  but  Avidely  spread  traditions.  They 
were  what  we  Europeans  call  Scythians.  They  were 
known  to  the  Persians,  the  Parthians,  and  the  Chinese. 
Their  original  home  seems  to  have  been  in  the  south 
of  China,  a  land  of  pre-eminently  round-headed  races. 
We  know  that  they  established  their  dominion  over 
portions  of  the  Panjab,  Sind,  Gujarat,  Rajputana  and 
Central  India.  If  they  have  left  traces  of  their 
settlement  on  their  descendants  we  may  reasonably 
expect  to  find  round-headed  races  and  tribes  in 
regions  mostly  surrounded  by  long-headed  peoples. 
Such  a  zone  of  broad-headed  people  does  in  fact 
extend  from  the  western  Panjab  right  through  the 
Deccan,  till  it  finally  ends  in  Coorg.  Sir  H.  H. 
Risley's  theory  is  that  the  Scythians  first  occupied 
the  great  grazing  country  of  the  western  Panjab,  and 
finding  their  progress  eastwards  blocked  by  the  Indo- 
Aryans,  turned  southwards,  mingled  with  the  Dra- 
vidians,   and  became  the  ancestors  of  the  warlike 


•M)  THE   PEOIM.ES  OF  INDIA  [ch. 

-Munitha  race.  Such  an  oi-igin  foiins  a  tempting 
explanation  of  the  well-known  j)reflatory  habits  of 
the  Maratha  hordes,  and  of  their  frequent  raids  all 
over  the  peninsida  under  the  decaying  administration 
of  the  later  Mogul  JOmperors.  It  is  an  interesting 
and  fascinating  si)eculation,  since  it  accounts  not 
only  for  the  physical  aspect  of  the  Manithas  but 
for  their  characteristic  political  genius,  for  their 
wide-ranging  forays,  their  guerilla  warfare,  their  un- 
scrupulous dealings,  their  inveterate  love  of  intiigue, 
their  clannish  habits. 

I  must  here  boldly  borrow  Sir  H.  H.  Risley's 
summary  of  the  historical  record  of  Scythian  in- 
vasions into  India,  since  that  is  the  main  justification 
for  his  theory.  "  In  the  time  of  the  Achaemenian 
kings  of  Persia,"  he  says,  "the  Scythians,  who  were 
known  to  the  Chinese  as  Sse,  occupied  the  regions 
lying  between  the  lower  course  of  the  Sillis  or 
Jaxartes  and  Lake  Balkash.  The  fragments  of  early 
Scythian  history  which  may  be  collected  from  classical 
writers  are  supplemented  by  the  Chinese  amials, 
which  tell  us  how  the  Sse,  originally  located  in 
southern  China,  occupied  Sogdiana  and  Trans-oxiana 
at  tiie  time  of  the  establisTiment  of  the  Graeco- 
Bactrian  monarchy.  Dislodged  from  these  regions 
by  the  Yueh-chi,  Mho  had  themselves  been  put  to 
flight  by  the  Huns,  the  Sse  invaded  Bactriana,  an 
enterprise  in  which  they  were  frequently  allied  Mith 


I]  RACE   AND   CASTE  31 

the  Parthians.  To  this  circumstance,  Ujfalvy  says 
may  be  due  the  resemblance  which  exists  between 
the  Scythian  coins  of  India  and  those  of  the  Parthian 
kings.  At  a  later  period,  the  Yueh-chi  made  a  further 
advance,  and  drove  the  Sse  or  Sakas  out  of  Bactriana, 
whereupon  the  latter  crossed  the  Paropamisus  and 
took  possession  of  the  country  called  after  them 
Sakastan,  comprising  Segistan,  Arachosia,  and  Dran- 
giana.  But  they  were  left  in  possession  only  for  a 
hundred  years,  for  about  25  B.C.  the  Yueh-chi  dis- 
turbed them  afresh.  A  body  of  Scythians  then 
emigrated  eastwards,  and  founded  a  kingdom  in  the 
western  portion  of  the  Panjab.  The  route  they 
followed  in  their  advance  upon  India  is  uncertain  ; 
but  to  a  people  of  their  habits  it  would  seem  that  a 
march  through  Baluchistan  would  have  presented  no 
serious  difficulties. 

"  The  Yueh-chi,  afterwards  known  as  the  Tokhari, 
were  a  power  in  Central  Asia  and  the  north-west  of 
India  for  more  than  five  centuries,  from  130  B.C.  The 
Hindus  called  them  Sakas  and  Turushkas,  but  their 
kings  seem  to  have  known  no  other  dynastic  title 
than  that  of  Kushan.  The  Chinese  annals  tell  us 
how  Kitolo,  chief  of  the  Little  Kushans,  whose  name 
is  identified  with  the  Kidara  of  the  coins,  giving  way 
before  the  incursion  of  the  Ephthalites,  crossed  the 
Paropamisus,  and  founded,  in  the  year  425  of  our 
era,  the  kingdom  of  Gandhara,  of  which,  in  the  time 


32  THE  PEOPLES  OF   INDIA  [CH. 

of  his  soil,  Peshawar  became  the  capital.  About 
the  same  time,  the  Eplithalites  or  Ye-tha-i-li-to  of 
the  Chinese  annals,  driven  out  of  their  territory  by  the 
Yuan-yuan,  started  westward,  and  overran  in  succes- 
sion Sogdiana,  Khwarizan  (Khiva),  Bactriana,  and 
finally  the  north-west  portion  of  India.  Their  move- 
ments reached  India  in  the  reign  of  Skanda  Gupta 
(452 — 80)  and  brought  about  the  disruption  of  the 
Gupta  empire.  The  Ephthalites  were  known  in  India 
a^  Huns.  The  leader  of  the  invasion  of  India,  who 
succeeded  in  snatching  Gandhara  from  the  Kushans 
and  established  his  capital  at  Silkala,  is  called  by  the 
Chinese  Laelih,  and  inscriptions  enable  us  to  identify 
him  with  the  original  Lakhan  Udayaditya  of  the 
coins.  His  son  Toramana  (490 — 515)  took  possession 
of  Gujarat,  RajpulTua,  and  part  of  the  Ganges  valley, 
and  in  this  way  the  Huns  acquired  a  portion  of 
the  ancient  Gupta  kingdom.  Toramana's  successor, 
Mihirakula  (515 — 44),  eventually  succumbed  to  the 
combined  attack  of  the  Hindu  princes  of  Malwa  and 
Magadha." 

I  now  come  to  tlie  ethnography  as  distinguished 
fi*om  the  ethnology  of  India.  Of  anthropometry  and 
the  lessons  to  be  learnt  fi-om  it,  I  have  no  personal 
experience,  and  have  had  to  borrow  my  materials  at 
second-hand.  But  with  the  great  system  of  caste,  its 
workings,  its  manifold  ramifications,  everyone  who 
has  lived  in  India  has  come  into  more  or  less  close 


I]  RACE  AND  CASTE  33 

contact.  How  important  caste  is  in  the  social  life 
of  the  country  may  be  easily  inferred  from  this  little 
fact.  I  once  asked  the  late  Navin  Chandra  Sen,  then 
the  most  popular  of  Bengali  poets,  if  he  would  attempt 
a  definition  of  what  a  Hindu  is.  After  many  sugges- 
tions, all  of  which  had  to  be  abandoned  on  closer 
examination,  the  poet  came  to  the  conclusion  that  a 
Hindu  is  (1)  one  who  is  born  in  India  of  Indian 
parents  on  both  sides,  and  (2)  accepts  and  obeys  tlie 
rules  of  caste.  Hinduism  is,  roughly  speaking,  the 
religion  of  the  Aryo-Dra vidians,  the  upper  and  fairer 
classes  among  whom  regarded  the  aborigines,  matri- 
monially, much  as  white  Americans  regard  their  negro 
fellow  citizens.  It  has  spread  over  nearly  the  whole 
of  India  and  is  still  spreading,  usually  but  not  always, 
carrying  with  it  one  of  the  Indo-European  languages 
of  India.  It  is  the  religion  and  social  system  of  races 
and  classes  which  consider  themselves  intrinsically 
superior,  and  practise  a  traditional  kind  of  eugenics, 
of  race  preservation.  Humbler  or  more  barbarous 
races  are  admitted  on  various  conditions  into  caste, 
sometimes  into  higher,  sometimes  into  lower  positions. 
The  process  is  one  of  that  kind  of  "legal  fiction" 
with  which  students  of  Roman  law  are  familiar.  It 
is  a  process  of  unification  and,  at  the  same  time,  of 
social  segregation.  I  have  already  alluded  to  the 
suggestion  that  caste-divisions  are  horizontal,  as  it 
were,  compared  with  the  geographical  divisions  of 

A.  3 


34  THE   PEOPLES   OF   INDIA  [CH. 

races.  But  it  is  always  dangerous  to  make  general 
statements  about  three  hundred  millions  of  people 
scattered  over  so  large  an  area  as  India.  There  are 
Brahmans  in  every  part  of  India,  and  these  usually 
trace  their  origin  back  to  the  sacred  midland  where 
Hinduism  came  into  being.  They  may  be,  and  prob- 
ably are,  the  descendants  of  the  missionaries  by 
whom  the  religion  of  the  Hindus  is,  imperceptibly 
and  without  open  proselytism,  spread  abroad.  Some- 
thing corresponding  to  a  warrior  caste  and  a  caste  of 
scribes  is  to  be  found  in  most  provinces,  and  many 
of  these  either  claim  to  be  migrants,  or  have  been 
admitted  by  adoption  into  the  privileges  of  warrior 
or  writer  blood. 

But  there  are  many  castes  which  are  purely  local, 
even  in  name,  and  are  not  found  elsewhere  than  in 
the  places  where  they  were  admitted  into  the  Hindu 
community.  Many  closely  printed  pages  in  the 
Census  Reports  of  each  province  and  state  enumerate 
and  describe  the  thousands  of  castes  revealed  by  the 
numbering  of  the  people.  It  is,  of  course,  only 
possible  to  give  a  very  vague  and  general  idea  of 
some  of  the  classes  into  which  the  castes  of  India 
ma}'  conveniently  be  divided. 

I  am  tempted  here  to  borrow  Sir  Herbert  Risley's 
definition  of  caste.  But  it  is  a  highly  abstract  defini- 
tion, and  one  that  cannot  be  easily  carried  in  the 
head,  even  by  those  who  have  a  practical  and  familiar 


I]  RACE  AND  CASTE  35 

acquaintance  with  members  of  Indian  castes.  Roughly 
a  caste  is  a  group  of  human  beings  who  may  not 
intermarry,  or  (usually)  eat,  with  members  of  any 
other  caste.  There  are  also  sub-castes  which  are 
also  endogamous.  Very  frequently,  especially  in  the 
parts  of  India  where  caste  is  already  an  institution 
of  immemorial  antiquity,  a  caste  has  allotted  to  it  a 
profession  or  occupation. 

Before  we  discuss  castes  properly  so  called,  it  is 
convenient  to  speak  of  the  trilies  of  India,  since  tribes 
have  a  tendency  to  become  castes  when  they  come 
under  the  pervasive  influence  of  Hindu  social  ideas. 
In  the  south  of  India  are  Dravidian  tribes,  of  which 
the  best  example  are  the  tribes  of  Chota  Nagpore. 
These  are  divided  into  a  number  of  exogamous 
groups  or  clans,  calling  themselves  by  the  name  of 
an  animal  or  plant,  which  may  be  regarded  as  their 
totem.  The  Khonds  of  Orissa,  who  once  bore  an  evil 
name  for  their  practice  of  human  sacrifices  to  pro- 
pitiate the  earth-goddess,  are  divided  into  fifty  gochis 
or  exogamous  clans,  each  of  which  bears  the  name  of 
a  village,  and  believes  itself  to  be  descended  from  a 
common  ancestor.  These  gochis  are  the  nearest 
known  approach  to  the  local  exogamous  tribe  which 
Mr  McLennan  and  the  French  sociologists  believe  to 
be  the  earliest  form  of  human  society. 

Tlie    Mongoloid   tribes   of    Assam   are   nmch   of 
the   same   kind,  but   in   many  cases,  as  among  the 

3—2 


36  THE  PEOPLES  OF  INDIA  [ch. 

head-hunting  Naga«,  live  at  i)erj)ctual  warfare  with 
one  anotlier.  In  such  ctuses  they  usually  cajiture  their 
wives  in  war.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  when 
I)opulation  grows  too  dense  for  the  profitable  j)urKuit 
of  the  cha.se,  their  principal  means  of  livelihood,  such 
a  tribe  breaks  up  into  two  or  more  "  villages,"  which 
immediately  begin  waging  war  with  one  another, 
which  is  ((uite  what  a  French  sociologist  would  exjK'ct 
them  to  do.  I  can  tell  of  a  case  within  my  own 
experience  in  which  the  headman  of  a  jiarent  village 
invited  the  chief  of  a  colony  village  (his  own  nephew) 
to  a  feast  and  palaver  with  his  young  warriors.  The 
guests  were  all  treaclierously  put  to  the  sword,  as  a 
means  of  acquiring  heads  and  concubines.  I  could 
not  get  the  headman  to  see  that  he  had  been  guilty 
of  an  atrocious  crime.  For  him,  it  was  lawful  8trateg}\ 
And  indeed  Naga  warfare  is  merely  a  series  of  artfully 
planned  ambushes  in  which  not  a  few  of  our  own 
officers  perished  before  we  undertook  the  direct 
administration  of  the  Naga  Hills.  Sir  H.  Risley 
remarks  of  this  grouj)  of  tribes  that  "no  very  clear 
traces  of  totemism  have  been  discovered  among  them." 
Subsequent  enquiries,  however,  show  that  totemistic 
clans  do  exist  in  some  of  the  Assam  tribes. 

Of  the  Turko-Iranian  tribes  of  the  north-western 
frontier  I  need  not  speak  at  any  length,  since  these 
tribes  are  all  sturdy  followers  of  the  Prophet,  and 
save  that  they  are  under  British  rule  can  hardly  be 


PlcUe  III 


n 


'-<i^-  \x^> 


Dharkars 

{Mirzapiir  distric!) 


I]  RACE  AND   CASTE  37 

said  to  belong  to  India  at  all.  There  is  no  likelihood 
that  they  will  ever  be  received  into  the  tolerant  bosom 
of  Hinduism,  since,  to  the  Indian  proper,  the  Baloch  and 
the  Afghan  are  disagreeable  and  swaggering  caterans, 
who  have  an  innate  scorn  for  the  typical  Hindu  hier- 
archy of  caste.  Among  these  tribes  it  is  martial  ability 
and  valour  that  win  a  man  consideration  and  wives. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  caste  properly  so  called,  the 
traditional  social  divisions  of  the  Hindus.  And  first  it  is 
necessary  to  say  something  of  the  ancient  Hindu  theory 
of  what  caste  is,  and  how  it  came  into  existence. 

As  with  the  Hebrews,  the  religious  literature  of 
India  contains  a  vast  mass  of  what  can  only  be  called 
law,  and  perhaps  the  most  famous  of  Indian  law  books 
is  the  Institutes  of  Manu,  a  compilation  of  rules 
relating  to  magic,  religion,  law,  custom,  ritual  and 
metaphysics.  Even  to  this  day,  these  branches  of 
speculation  and  enquiry,  so  distinct  to  western  imagi- 
nations, are  apt  to  be  confused  together  as  a  result  of 
the  pantheistic  feeling  which  pervades  Hinduism. 
The  Institutes  is  a  comparatively  modem  book,  but 
it  repeats  ideas  which  are  found  in  a  more  or  less 
explicit  form  in  early  authorities \  In  this  book  we 
are  told  that  in  the  beginning  of  things  the  Pan-theos 
who  "contains  all  created  things  and  is  inconceivable" 

^  The  actual  date  is  very  uncertaiu.  Dr  Burnell  thinks  the 
book  was  composed  so  late  as  a.d.  500,  but  it  was  probably  much 
older. 


38  THE   PEOPLES   OF  INDIA  [ch. 

]>r()duced  bv  effort  of  thouglit  a  j^olden  egg,  from 
which  he  himself  was  born  as  Brahma,  the  creator  of 
the  known  nniverse.  From  his  moiitli,  his  arms, 
his  thighs,  and  his  feet  respectively  he  created  the 
four  great  leading  castes,  the  Bnihnian,  the  Kshatriya, 
the  Vaieya,  and  the  Sfidra.  These  were,  briefly,  the 
])riests,  the  warriors  and  gentlefolk,  the  traders,  and 
the  servile  classes  of  human  society.  The  other  castes 
were  gradually  formed,  the  theory  states,  by  inter- 
marriages between  these.  The  three  higher  castes  were 
allowed  to  take  wives  from  lower  castes.  When  the 
caste  of  the  mother  was  next  below  that  of  the  father, 
the  child  took  the  caste  of  his  mother  and  no  new  caste 
was  formed.  But  where  tlie  difference  of  condition 
was  gi'eater  than  this,  new  castes  were  formed,  lower 
than  those  of  either  parent.  Some  discrepancies  of 
rank  ])roduced  unions  which  were  regarded  as  peculi- 
arly offensive  to  human  feelings  and  as  tantamount 
to  incestuous  intercourse.  These  resulted  in  very 
degraded  castes.  Where  the  father  married  beneath 
him,  the  marriage  was  described  as  aunloma  or  "with 
the  hair."  \\lien  a  woman  was  guilty  of  a  mesalli- 
ance, the  marriage  was  called  pratiloma  or  "  against 
the  hair."  The  most  disgraceful  union  of  this  kind 
was  that  between  a  Bnihman  woman  and  a  Sudra 
man,  the  resulting  offspring  being  relegated  to  the 
caste  of  Chandal.  The  unfortunate  Chandal  is  de- 
scribed as  "that  lowest  of  mortals,"  and  is  condemned, 


I]  RACE   AND   CASTE  39 

as  Sir  H.  Risley  says,  to  live  outside  the  village,  to 
clothe  himself  in  the  garments  of  the  dead,  to  eat 
from  broken  dishes,  to  execute  criminals,  and  to  carry 
out  the  cori^ses  of  friendless  men. 

The  most  superficial  acquaintance  with  existing 
caste  divisions  shows  that  this  theory  is  not  so  much 
a  hypothesis  as  a  fanciful  fiction.  In  eastern  Bengal, 
for  instance,  the  Cliandfil  is  evidently  a  Mongoloid 
aboriginal,  with  a  considerable  strain  of  Dravidian 
and  perhaps  even  of  Aryan  blood.  Yet  the  fiction 
shows  plainly  enough  the  estimation  in  which  one  of 
the  numerically  largest  divisions  of  local  society  is 
held.  Some  thirty  years  ago,  when  I  was  a  young 
magistrate,  a  comely  Chandfd  girl  appeared  before 
me,  her  face  streaming  with  blood  from  a  scalp 
wound.  She  asserted  gravely  that  a  Sudra  of  higher 
caste  iiad  struck  her  on  the  head  with  a  stick,  because 
he  had  found  her  reading  a  book  as  she  sat  in  the 
doorway  of  her  father's  cottage.  I  was  disinclined 
to  believe  this  story,  but  her  assailant  was  promptly 
sent  for,  and  being  brought  straight  to  me,  admitted 
the  truth  of  the  charge,  and  seemed  surprised  at  my 
indignation  at  a  cowardly  assault. 

As  an  attempt  to  account  for  the  origin  and 
explain  the  nature  of  caste  the  theory  of  Manu  is 
obviously  a  failure.  But  it  contains  a  picture  of  the 
early  castes.  It  is  also  interesting  because  the  idea 
of  four  original  varuas  or  "  colours  "  of  men  may  have 


40  THE   PEOPLES   OF   INDIA  [ch. 

been  borrowed  from  the  old  Persian  aocial  orgaiiiHa- 
tion.  The  early  scriptures,  the  Vedas,  show  that  this 
conception  of  four  original  castes  was  not  brought  to 
India  by  Aryan  immigrants.  But  when  caste  came 
into  being  as  a  result  of  the  contact  of  Aryan  settlers 
with  Dravidian  aborigines,  this  mythological  expla- 
nation, which  gave  such  conspicuous  eminence  to 
priests  and  warriors,  an  eminence  already  conceded 
to  them  on  account  of  the  importance  of  their  func- 
tions, was  readily  accepted  as  a  convincing  explanation 
of  the  hereditary  differences  between  men  in  society, 
a  difference  not  merely  of  function,  but  of  colour, 
aspect,  gesture,  speech,  breeding,  and  intelligence. 
It  is  necessary  to  mention  this  theory,  however  briefly, 
since  it  still  holds  ground,  except  among  those 
Indians  who  have  had  a  European  education  and 
even  among  them  has  the  interest  of  early  and 
sacred  associations  which,  in  Europe,  belongs  to  the 
cosmological  speculations  of  the  book  of  Genesis. 

What,  next,  are  castes  as  they  appear  to  the  eye 
of  the  European  ethnologist,  free  from  preconceived 
prejudice,  and  only  anxious  to  come  as  near  the 
truth  as  is  possible  in  his  dealings  with  ancient 
institutions  round  which  has  gathered  a  vast  mass 
of  venerable  superstition  and  religious  speculation  ? 
In  the  first  place,  castes  are  often  still  recognisably 
tribes.  Sometimes  the  leading  men  of  an  aborigi- 
nal  tribe  will  acquire   sufficient  wealth   and   social 


I]  RACE  AND  CASTE  41 

consideration  to  wish  to  obtain  the  stamp  of  recogni- 
tion as  reputable  Hindus.  They  will  call  themselves, 
for  example,  and  induce  their  neighbours  and  the 
priests  of  these  to  call  them,  Rajputs.  They  may  not  at 
first  succeed  in  intermarrying  with  true  hereditary 
Rajputs,  but  in  time  they  will  be  just  Rajputs  like  any 
other  Rajputs.  Or,  again,  a  number  of  non-Hindus, 
animists,  will  join  one  of  the  many  Hindu  sectsor  frater- 
nities and  will  intermarry  with  Vaishnavas,  Lingayats, 
Rjlmayats,  or  other  devotees  of  some  favourite  deity. 
Or  again,  a  whole  tribe  or  a  considerable  portion 
of  a  tribe,  usually  one  of  some  political  importance, 
will  enter  Hinduism  by  means  of  some  plausible 
fiction.  The  instance  quoted  by  Sir  H.  Risley  is  that 
of  the  Koches  of  north-eastern  Bengal.  These  people 
are  Tibeto-Burmans  and  until  recent  times  spoke  a 
dialect  of  the  agglutinative  Bodo  language.  They 
now  call  themselves  Rajbansis,  "of  royal  birth,"  or 
Bhanga  Kshatriyas,  "broken  warriors,"  names  which 
enable  them  to  claim  an  origin  from  the  traditional 
dispersion  of  the  Aryan  warrior  caste  by  the  hero 
Parasu  Rama,  "Rama  of  the  battle  axe."  They 
claim  descent  from  the  epic  monarch  Dasarath,  father 
of  Rama,  have  their  own  Brahmins,  and  have  begun 
to  adopt  the  Brahminical  system  of  exogamous 
ffotras.  But,  as  Sir  H.  Risley  remarks,  they  are  in 
a  transitional  state,  since  they  have  all  hit  upon  the 
same  gotra,  and  are  therefore  compelled  to  marry 


42  THE  PEOPLES  OF  INDIA  [ch. 

within  it,  except  in  the  rare  instances  in  wliicli  tliey 
contract  unions  with  Bengali  women. 

A  still  more  interesting,  because  more  recent, 
instance  of  this  sort  is  that  of  tlie  Meithei,  now 
known  to  Hindus  as  Manipuris.  In  the  Mahabharata 
is  told  the  tale  of  how  the  hero  Arjuna  wandered 
from  his  brethren  into  Southern  and  Eastern  India, 
and,  among  other  adventures,  met  (as  ^Eneas  with 
Dido)  with  Chitrangada,  the  fair  daughter  of  the 
King  of  Manipur,  someM'here  near  the  eastern  coast. 
Some  150  years  ago,  the  then  king  of  the  beautiful 
valley  of  Imphill,  between  Assam  and  Burma,  was 
thinking  of  becoming  a  Muhammadan,  by  way  of 
courting  the  favour  of  the  Muhammadan  rulers  of 
Bengal.  But  Hindu  priests  persuaded  him  tliat 
a  better  way  of  linking  his  fortunes  witli  those  of 
India,  rather  than  with  Ava  (with  whose  royal  family 
his  dynasty  had  usually  intermarried),  was  by  be- 
coming Hindu  with  all  his  people.  Imphfd  was 
identified  with  Manipur,  and  many  of  the  Meithei 
race  became  Vishnuvite  Hindus  with  their  ruler, 
though  they  retain  their  primitive  Tibeto-Burman 
language.  I  may  mention  a  little  personal  reminis- 
cence to  show  how  completely  the  change  by  fictitious 
adoption  was  accepted  in  Bengal.  In  1891,  my  old 
friend  and  chief,  Mr  Quinton,  with  all  his  staff,  was 
treacherously  murdered  at  Manipur.  Subsequently 
when  I  was  magistrate  of  Chittagong,  I  found  that 


I]  RACE  AND  CASTE  43 

my  head  clerk,  an  extremely  mild  and  intelligent 
Bengali  Kayastha,  had  celebrated  the  easily  sup- 
pressed mutiny  at  Manipur  by  writing  a  drama 
based  on  the  ancient  legend  of  Arjuna's  amours 
with  Chitrangada  ! 

Sometimes  an  aboriginal  tribe  will  become  a 
Hindu  caste  without  losing  its  old  tribal  designation. 
They  will  worship  Hindu  gods  without  daring  wholly 
to  neglect  tribal  deities,  which,  as  might  perhaps  be 
expected,  are  left  chiefly  to  the  women  of  the  tribe. 
Such  a  tribe  will  rapidly  assimilate  itself  to  the 
beliefs  and  practices  of  Hindu  neighbours,  and 
finally  only  its  name  and  (except  in  case  of  occasional 
intermarriage  with  other  castes)  its  physical  aspect 
will  remain  to  testify  to  its  origin. 

Castes  are  at  present  classified  as  follows  : 
(1)  What  Sir  H._Risley__calls  the  tribal  type, 
instances  of  which  have  been  given  above.  Such 
tribal  castes  abound  in  all  parts  of  India.  It  is  not 
improbable  that  the  gi-eat  Sfidra  division  of  Hindu 
tradition  was  originally  the  whole  mass  of  Dravidian 
aboriginals  as  they  came  into  contact  with  Aryan 
immigrants,  and  were  conceded  a  subordinate  place 
in  their  social  system.  It  would  be  useless  to  give 
a  list  of  the  names  of  such  castes,  but  I  cannot 
refrain  from  mentioning  the  excellent  Doms  of  the 
Assam  Valley,  Avhose  name  unfortunately  associates 
them   with    very   diff"erent   people   in    India  proper. 


44  THE   PEOPLES  OF   INDIA  [ch. 

They  are  obviously  of  Tibeto-Burman  origin,  and 
deserve  closer  study  than  they  receive.  Their  long 
thatched  places  of  worship,  true  synagogues  for 
meeting  together  and  curiously  unlike  the  tiny  c^Uxb 
of  Hindu  temples,  are  among  the  most  conspicuous 
features  of  Assam  villages.  They  have  no  idols,  and 
place  a  piithi,  a  holy  book,  on  what  may  pass  for  the 
village  altar.  They  are  vaguely  Hinduised,  but  will 
humbly  declare  "ami  hindu  na  h6,"  "we  are  not 
Hindu  folk."  Yet  they  are  well  on  their  way  towards 
acceptance  into  caste,  and  have  already  a  strong 
infusion  of  Hindu  blood. 

Other  border  races,  though  they  are  still  too 
savage  and  independent  to  become  Hindu,  are 
marked  down  for  absorption.  Such,  for  instance, 
are  the  Daflas  of  the  northern  border  of  Assam, 
cousins  of  the  Abors  to  whom  attention  has  been 
drawn  by  recent  events.  The  Daflas  are  still  frankly 
animistic  ;  their  love  of  strong  spirits  and  other 
intoxicants,  their  addiction  to  their  favourite  diet 
of  roast  pork,  their  extremely  uncleanly  habits  and 
barbarous  speech,  all  make  them  very  offensive  to 
the  gentle  vegetarian  Hindus  their  neighbours.  But 
it  happens  that  the  tribal  costume  closely  resembles 
the  traditional  dress  of  Mahadeva,  the  Destroyer,  the 
most  active  and  formidable  member  of  the  Hindu 
Trinity,  and  already  some  Hindus  speak  of  these 
genial  Highlanders  as  Siva-bansa,  as  "of  Siva's  race." 


I]  RACE  AND   CASTE  45 

Many  other  examples,  with  interesting  details  of 
fictional  methods,  will  be  found  in  Mr  E.  A.  Gait's 
admirable  History  of  Assam. 

(2)  The  functional  or  occupational  type  of  caste. 
This  is  the  form  of  caste  best  known  to  Europeans, 
because,  since  the  first  European  missionaries  and 
traders  visited  those  parts  of  India  where  the  caste 
system  has  had  the  longest  opportunity  to  evolve, 
they  came  most  into  contact  with  this,  which  is 
probably  the  oldest  and  most  elaborated  form  of 
caste.  The  Hindu  theory  of  caste  encouraged  the 
adoption  of  special  occupations,  and  now  the  evolu- 
tion has  proceeded  so  far  that  change  of  occupation 
may  usually  result  in  a  change  of  caste.  A  remark- 
able instance  of  this  is  found  in  the  Marathi  districts 
of  the  Central  Provinces.  Here  is  a  separate  and 
newly  formed  caste  of  village  servants  called  Garpa- 
gari,  '' hail-averters,"  whose  business  it  is  to  protect 
the  village  crops  from  hailstorms.  Shepherds  who 
take  to  tillage  break  away  from  their  pastoral 
brethren,  and  so  on.  Even  those  who  retain  their 
traditional  occupations  are  wont  to  adopt  more 
seemly-sounding  names  than  those  that  belong  to 
their  trade.  I  have  known  barbers  who  called 
themselves  Chandra- vaidyas\  which  is  a  promotion 

^  "  Moon-physicians,"  an  allusion  to  the  crescent-shaped  briuss 
basin  of  the  barber,  such  as  the  helmet  of  Don  Quixote,  familiar 
to  us  all. 


46  THE   PEOPLES   OF   INDIA  [CH. 

more  subtle  than  a  mere  ascent  to  the  status  of 
"  hair-dresser,"  and  washermen  who  have  followed 
suit  by  dubbing  themselves  Sukla-vaidya,  a  word 
of  which  "white- worker"  is  a  crude  but  sufficiently 
suggestive  translation. 

(3)  The  sectarian  type  is  a  singularly  interesting 
example  of  the  strong  social  influence  of  Hindu 
sentiment.  Xearly  all  new  Hindu  sects  begin  by 
renouncing  caste  in  the  enthusiastic  following  of 
some  single  deity,  some  new  explanation  of  the 
mysteries  of  life,  and  love,  and  death.  These  sects 
are  usually  the  followers  of  some  reforming  theorist, 
whose  leadership  is  apt  to  become  hereditary.  Such 
sects  almost  always  believe  that  all  men  are  equal, 
or  at  all  events,  that  all  who  accept  their  doctrines 
are  equal.  One  of  my  most  interesting  recollections 
is  of  a  now  distant  interview  with  a  buxom  middle- 
aged  lady,  the  hereditary  leader  of  the  Karta-bhajas 
of  Central  Bengal.  She  sat  unveiled,  and  was 
accessible  to  all  who,  like  myself,  were  interested 
in  the  community  over  which  she  exercised  a  firm 
but  good-natured  control.  It  is  a  picturesque  detail 
that  her  chosen  seat  when  receiving  visitors  was 
an  ancient  European  four-poster  bedstead.  Her 
followers  (and  revenues)  were  growing  rapidly,  in- 
creased chiefly  by  the  democratic  instinct  which, 
even  in  India,  revolts  against  social  prestige.  But 
it  would  seem  that   when   such   a  sect  grows  and 


I]  RACE  AND  CASTE  47 

spreads,  the  old  separatist  ideas  reassert  themselves, 
and  the  sect  breaks  up  into  smaller  endogamous 
communities,  whose  status  depends  on  the  original 
position  of  the  members  in  Hinduism.  The  most 
remarkable  instance  of  this  kind  is  furnished  by 
the  great  Lingayat  caste  of  Bombay,  which  contains 
over  two  and  a  half  millions  of  members.  In  the 
twelfth  century  the  Lingayats  were  a  sect  who 
believed  in  the  equality  of  all  men.  In  Mr  P.  J. 
Mead's  Bombay  Census  Report  for  1911  is  a  very 
interesting  account  of  the  present  condition  of  the 
Lingayats,  an  account  which  shows  how  the  scholar, 
the  linguist,  and  the  administrator  can  work  together 
to  find  materials  for  the  anthropologist.  Dr  Fleet's 
examination  of  ancient  inscriptions  has  thrown  much 
light  on  the  origin  of  the  sect,  but  the  author  of  the 
Report  holds  that  there  may  be  some  reason  to  think 
that  the  sect  is  much  older  than  is  commonly  sup- 
posed. In  any  case,  they  are  already  divided  into 
three  great  groups,  comprising  many  subdivisions. 

(4)  Castes  formed  by  crossing  come  aptly  to 
show  that  there  was  some  basis  for  Manu's  theory 
of  caste  after  all.  Castes,  nowadays,  increase  by 
fission,  by  throwing  off  sub-castes,  and  one  species 
of  these  sub-castes  is  created  by  mixed  marriages. 
This  tendency,  curiously  enough,  is  most  evident 
in  Dravidian  tribes,  such  as  the  Mundas,  which 
are    not    yet    wholly    Hinduised,    but    have    been 


48  THE  PEOPLES   OF   INDIA  [ch. 

attected  by  Hindu  example.  So  far  as  I  know, 
these  mixed  castes  do  not  occur  among  the  Mon- 
goloid peoples,  and  I  have  come  across  cases  wlierc 
a  member  of  an  aboriginal  tribe  has  been  accepted 
into  the  caste  of  a  Hindu  girl  he  has  married.  In 
one  case,  within  my  own  experience,  the  bridegroom 
had  begun  as  an  animist,  had  become  Christian, 
and  finally  entered  by  marriage  into  the  quite 
respectable  Koch  caste.  One  interesting  caste  in 
Bengal,  that  of  the  Shagirdpeshas,  ewes  its  origin 
to  concubinage  with  the  so-called  slaves,  the  women 
of  tenants  surroimding  a  homestead  who  pay  their 
rent  in  service.  This,  it  will  be  observed,  is  a  caste 
of  illegitimacy,  in  which  the  relationship  between 
the  legitimate  and  illegitimate  children  of  a  man 
of  good  caste  is  recognised,  but  the  two  are  not 
allowed  to  eat  together.  The  classical  instance  of 
a  mixed  caste  is  the  Khas  of  Nepjll,  said  to  be 
the  result  of  very  ancient  intermarriages  between 
Rajput  or  Brahman  inmiigrants  and  the  Mongolian 
"  daughters  of  men." 

(5)  Caates  of  the  natvoiud  type.  This  somewhat 
daring  title  we  owe  to  the  great  authority  of  Sir  H. 
Risley.  As  one  instance,  he  mentions  the  Newars, 
a  Mongoloid  people,  who  were  once  the  ruling  race 
in  Nepal,  till  the  Gurkha  invasion  in  1709,  and  have 
now  become  a  caste.  Other  instances  might  be 
found  on  the  north-eastern  frontier.    But  the  people 


Plate  IV 


Banjara  women 

{Mirzapur  district) 


I]  RACE  AND  CASTE  49 

Sir  Herbert  Risle}'  had  in  mind  when  he  invented 
this  term  was  undoubtedly  the  remarkable  Maratha 
race,  once  the  most  daring  warriors  and  freebooters 
in  India,  and  now  the  rivals  of  the  Bengalis  in  in- 
tellectual ability,  and  probably  more  than  their 
equals  in  political  sagacity.  Sir  Ramkrishna  Gopal 
Bhandfirkar  is  our  authority  for  the  statement  that 
the  Rattas  were  a  tribe  who  held  political  supremacy 
in  the  Deccan  from  the  earliest  days.  In  time  they 
became  Maha-rattas,  "Great  Rattas,"  and  the  land 
in  which  they  lived  was  called  Maharattha,  which, 
by  a  common  linguistic  habit  of  mankind,  was 
Sanskritised  into  Maha-rashtra.  Their  marriage 
customs  show  marked  traces  of  totemistic  institu- 
tions. An  extremely  interesting  account  of  the 
present  condition  of  this  warlike  and  enterprising 
race  will  be  found  at  pp.  289,  290  of  the  Bombay 
Census  Rejwrt  for  1911.  It  neither  supports  nor 
discourages  Sir  H.  Risley's  ingenious  theory  of  the 
Scythic  origin  of  the  Marilthas,  which  is  at  least 
a  theory  which  recognises  the  respect  in  which  our 
ancestors  held  their  martial  prowess  and  talents ^ 

(6)  Castes  formed  by  migration.  These  are  new 
castes  which  serve  to  enforce  the  warning  against 
a  too  ready  acceptance  of  the  definition  of  caste  as 
a  "  horizontal "  division  of  humanity.  It  is  a  method 
of  forming  new  connnunities  of  Hindus  which  is  very 
^  But  sec  the  postscript  to  this  chapter. 

A.  4 


50  THE  PEOPLES  OF  INDIA  [ch. 

easily  intelligible  to  us,  seeing  that  our  own  race 
is  split  into  sections  only  differing  from  castes  in 
not  being  strictly  endogamous,  such  as  Anglo-Indians, 
Australians,  New  Zealanders,  and  so  forth.  Members 
leave  home  and  settle  among  strangers.  They  are 
assumed  to  have  formed  foreign  habits,  eaten  strange 
food,  worshipped  alien  gods,  and  have  a  difficulty — 
an  expensive  difficulty — in  finding  wives  in  the  parent 
caste.  After  a  time  they  marry  only  among  them- 
selves, become  a  sub-caste,  and  are  often  known  by 
some  territorial  name,  Biirendra,  Rarhi,  or  wliat  not. 
Such  seemingly  are  the  remarkable  Nambudri  Briih- 
mans  of  Malabar,  and  the  Rarhi  Brahmans  of  Bengal. 
Sometimes  change  of  habitat  brings  about  loss  of 
rank,  sometimes  promotion.  These  are  matters  on 
which  the  Census  Reports  now  being  published  are 
full  of  interesting  details.  But  they  arc  matters 
"vvhich  are  not  easily  summarised.  No  doubt  Mr 
Gait's  Report  on  the  combined  results  of  Census 
operations  in  India  will  show  the  progress  of  castas 
of  this  type  during  the  last  ten  years. 

(7)  Castes  formed  by  changes  of  cvMom.  This 
is  a  fruitful  cause  of  new  divisions  of  Hindu  society. 
It  is,  for  the  moment,  more  than  usually  operative, 
owing  to  the  spread  of  education,  and  often  repre- 
sents a  difference  of  social  opinion  which  corresponds, 
more  or  less  closely,  to  Conservative  and  Radical 
ideas  among  oui*selves.     It  evidently  was  always  a 


I]  RACE  AND  CASTE  51 

cause  of  fissi  parous  tendencies.  The  most  notable 
instance  is  the  distinction  between  Jats  and  Rajputs, 
both  apparently  sprung  from  the  same  stock,  but 
separated  socially,  amongst  other  causes,  by  the  fact 
that  the  former  practise  and  the  latter  abjure  infant 
marriages. 

This  is  a  very  rapid  and  highly  summarised 
account  of  the  races  and  castes  of  India.  There 
are  many  obvious  omissions.  NothiMg  has  been  said 
of  the  Sikhs,  little  or  nothing  about  the  numerous 
races  of  the  north-eastern  frontier.  But  enough  has 
been  said  to  give  a  fair  general  impression  of  what 
the  physical  characters  of  the  Indian  peoples  are, 
and  what  kind  of  institution  caste  is  in  its  practical 
working.  More  might  have  been  said  about  totem- 
istic  clans,  but  on  this  subject  those  who  would 
pursue  their  studies  further  have  only  to  turn  to 
Dr  J.  G.  Frazer's  work  on  the  subject.  In  the  next 
chapter,  I  have  to  borrow  my  materials  from  Sir 
G.  A.  Grierson,  and  show  how  the  peoples  of  India 
are  divided  by  differences  of  language.  On  the 
whole,  those  linguistic  divisions  correspond  with 
remarkable  accuracy  to  the  orographical  and  climatic 
structure  of  the  country  and  the  racial  divisions 
which  we  owe  to  the  learning  and  ingenuity  of  Sir 
H.  H.  Risley.  Where  there  are  great  open  plains, 
watered  and  fertilised  by  mighty  rivers,  we  get  large 

4—2 


52  THE   PEOPLES   OF   INDIA  [ch. 

populations  speakiii<;  tlie  great  literary  languages  of 
India.  In  the  rugged  recesses  of  the  mountains  we 
find  small  communities,  divided  from  one  another  by 
physical  obstiicles  Mhich  have  j)roduced  rigid  local 
patriotisms  and  emuities,  and  a  wonderful  variety 
of  savage  speeches.  The  linguist  has  usually  worked 
independently  of  the  ethnologist,  and  has  come  to  his 
own  unjH'ejudiced  conclusions.  It  is  interesting  to 
find  how  closely  the  results  of  their  separate  enquiries 
agree. 

Postscript. 

Sir  H.  H.  Risley's  theory  as  to  the  Scythian  origin 
of  the  Marathas  has  not  passed  unquestioned,  and 
those  who  wish  to  see  a  brief  and  clear  account  of 
the  latest  theories  on  the  subject  should  read  Mr 
Crooke's  |)aper  on  "Rajputs  and  Marathas"  in 
Vol.  XL.  (January — June,  1910)  of  the  Journal  of 
the  Royal  Anfhropolor/ical  Insfifntc.  Mr  Crooke, 
who  gives  copious  references  to  the  latest  literature 
on  the  subject,  holds  that  "the  theory  that  a  Hun 
or  Scythian  element  is  to  be  ti'aced  in  the  population 
of  the  Deccan  is  inconsistent  with  the  facts  of  tribal 
history,  so  far  as  they  can  now  be  ascertained."  Mr 
Crooke  thinks  that  the  anthropometrical  facts  can 
be  explained  otherwise  than  by  Saka  invasion  and 
an  infusion  of  Scythian  blood.  "The  presence  of 
a  brachycephalic  strain,"  he  says,  "in  Southern  and 


ij  RACE   AND   CASTE  53 

Western  India  need  not  necessarily  imply  a  Mongo- 
loid invasion  from  Central  Asia.  The  western  coast 
was  always  open  to  the  entry  of  foreign  races.  Inter- 
course with  the  Persian  Gulf  existed  from  a  very 
early  period,  and  Mongoloid  Akkads  or  the  short- 
headed  races  from  Baluchistan  may  have  made  their 
way  along  the  coast  or  by  sea  into  Southern  and 
Western  India.  But  it  is  more  probable  that  this 
strain  reached  India  in  prehistoric  times,  and  that 
the  present  population  is  the  result  of  the  secular 
intermingling  of  various  race  types,  rather  than  of 
events  within  the  historical  period."  Mr  Crooke's 
view  is  supported  by  the  recently  issued  Census 
Report  of  the  Bombay  Presidency,  which  says,  "  the 
term  Maratha  is  derived  by  some  from  two  Sanskrit 
words,  mahd,  '  great,'  and  rathi,  '  a  warrior.' " 
According  to  Sir  Ramkrishna  Gopfd  Bhandfirkar  it 
is  derived  from  Rattas,  a  tribe  which  held  political 
supremacy  in  the  Deccan  from  the  remotest  time. 
"  The  Rattas  called  themselves  Maha  Rattas  or  Great 
Rattas,  and  thus  the  country  in  which  they  lived 
came  to  be  called  Maharattha,  the  Sanskrit  of  which 
is  Maha-rashtra." 

Indigenous  names  are  frequently  Sanskritised, 
much  as  we  turn  French  chmiss^e  into  "causeway." 
Sometimes  the  change  is  so  complete  that  the 
original  cannot  be  identified.  In  some  cases  the 
alteration  is  easily  recognised.     In  Northern  Bengal, 


64  TPIE   PEOPLES  OF   INDIA  [cH. 

for  instance,  is  the  river  Ti-std,  a  name  which  belongs 
to  a  large  group  of  Tibeto-Burman  river  names  be- 
ginning witli  Ti-,  or  Di-,  such  as  I'i-jyai,  Di-hr% 
Di-kho,  Di-scnu/,  etc.,  etc.  Hindus  say  the  name 
Ti-xtd  is  either  a  corruption  of  Sanskrit  Trl-srotas, 
"  having  three  streams,"  or  of  Trsna, "  thirst."  Etymo- 
logy and  legend,  in  fact,  give  but  doubtful  guidance 
to  the  ethnologist,  and  the  best  hope  of  acquiring 
some  real  knowledge  of  l^ijput  and  Maratha  origins 
lies  in  the  possible  discovery  of  coins  and  insciip- 
tious  in  the  absence  of  direct  historical  records. 


CHAPTER  H 

THE   LANGUAGES  OF   INDIA 

It  is  quite  possible  to  live  many  years  in  one 
province  or  another  of  India  without  obtaining  more 
than  the  vaguest  conception  of  the  linguistic  riches 
of  the  country.  It  was  Sir  G.  A.  Grierson  who 
rendered  it  impossible  for  any  but  the  most  careless 
to  ignore  the  fact  that  India  has  not  only  more 
languages  than  Europe,  but  many  more  kinds  and 
families  of  speech.  Most  Europeans  in  India  live  in 
the  populous  areas  where  ethnical  and  geographical 
conditions  are  favourable  to  the  evolution  and  spread 
of  one  of  the  great  literary  languages.  In  Madras, 
the  European  comes  into  contact  with  one  or  other 


II]  THE  LANGUAGES  OF   INDIA  55 

of  the  cultivated  Dravidian  tongues.  In  Bombay,  he 
learns  that  Marathi  and  Gujarat!  have  ancient  and 
interesting  literatures.  In  Calcutta,  he  is  surrounded 
by  millions  of  Bengalis,  who  in  modern  times  have  as 
many  varieties  of  literary  expression  as  the  most 
advanced  of  European  races.  In  Rangoon,  he  hears 
the  most  highly  organised  of  Tibeto-Burman  speeches. 
In  Allahabad,  Benares,  Lahore,  Patna,  he  acquires 
some  smattering  of  the  beautiful  and  expressive 
languages  which  are  closest  to  the  model  of  the 
original  Indo-Aryan  idiom.  These  are  the  exact 
counter  parts  of  the  great  literary  languages  of 
Europe,  of  English,  French,  German,  Italian,  etc. 
But  while  the  European  mountains  contain  one  or 
two  shy  survivals  at  most  of  primitive  ways  of  talking, 
India  has  many  languages  of  the  type  of  Basque.  In 
the  little  frontier  province  of  Assam  alone,  dozens  of 
grammars  and  vocabularies  have  been  printed,  and 
much  more  remains  to  be  done.  Happily,  an  appetite 
for  more  information  has  been  aroused  by  the  feast 
spread  before  linguists  in  Sir  G.  A.  Grierson's  great 
Survey.  He  himself  is  at  work  on  a  book  which  will 
tell  us  all  that  is  at  present  known  about  the  many 
languages  of  India,  and  their  relations  with  one 
another.  But  in  addition  to  his  own  labours.  Sir 
George  Grierson  has  been  an  apostle  of  linguistic 
research  and  has  gathered  round  him  many  disciples, 
not  all  of  whom  recognise  whence  came  the  impulse 


66  THK   PEOPLES  OF   1X1)1  A  [ch. 

that  has  set  them  to  an  examination  of  tlie  history 
and  growth  of  Indian  bmgiuiges.      Most  promising 
sign   of  all,  native   scholars  no   longer  disdain   the 
living  tongues  of  India,  nor  confine  their  studies  to 
the   classics   of  Sanskrit,  Arabic,  and  Persian.      In 
Bengal  alone,  the  Proceedings  of  the  Vanglya  tidhitya 
Parisaf,  a  society  for  the  pursuit  of  linguistic  and 
ethnological  research,  now  form  a  goodly  library  of 
books,  and  the  poet,   Kabindranath   Tagore,  whose 
own  English  version  of  his  charming  Gitanjali  is  in 
the  hands  of  all  who  love  poetry  or  are  interested 
in  Indian  matters,  is  also  a  very  keen  and  competent 
student  of  his  native  language  on  lines  suggested  by 
the  enquiries  of  European  scholars.     Much  has  been 
learnt,  but  linguistic  research  in  India  has  still  many 
interesting  secrets  for  the  zeal  of  European  students  to 
reveal.    In  Scandinavia,  Germany,  France,  a  new  sense 
of  the  value  of  such  studies  has  been  aroused.     All 
that  can  be  attempted  in  the  following  pages  is  to  show, 
very  summarily  and  briefly,  what  is  known  at  present. 
We  have  already  seen  that  there  are  seven  more 
or  less  recognisable  types  of  Indian  humanity.     To 
these  roughly  correspond  five  gi-eat  families  of  living 
vernaculars.   The  Turko-Iranian,  the  Indo-Aryan,  the 
Scytho-Dravidian,  the  Aryo-Dravidian,  and  the  Mon- 
golo-Dravidian  races  have  for  the  most  part  acquired 
Aryan  languages  which,  in  their  relations  to  Sanskrit 
and  Persian,  may  be  compared  with  the  Romance 


II]  THE  LANGUAGES  OF   INDIA  57 

languages  of  Europe  in  their  relations  to  literary 
Greek  and  Latin.  The  Dravidian  races  speak  one 
or  other  of  the  great  Dravidian  dialects,  or  some 
idiom  of  the  Munda  languages  of  Chota  Nagpore. 
Among  the  Mongoloid  races  of  the  extreme  north 
and  east  of  India,  we  find  the  Mon-Khmer  and  the 
Tibeto-Chinese  families  of  speech.  Of  these,  the 
Dravidian  family  seems  to  be  confined  to  India — to 
the  high  tablelands  of  Southern  India,  with  one  out- 
lying settlement  among  the  Brtlhuis  of  Baluchistan. 
This  Dravidian  speech  would  seem  to  be  the  original 
and  indigenous  language  of  India.  The  Munda 
languages  of  Chota  Nagpore,  again,  are  plainly  very 
ancient  Indian  tongues  and  are,  in  all  probability,  as 
aboriginal  as  the  true  Dravidian  speech.  But  Munda 
tongues  have  elements  in  common  with  the  Mon- 
Khmer  languages  of  Further  India,  Malacca,  and 
Australonesia.  The  present  explanation  of  this  fact 
is  provided  by  the  supposition  that,  in  prehistoric 
times,  these  distant  regions  shared  a  common  language 
with  great  part  of  Northern  India.  But,  for  all 
practical  purposes,  the  relations  of  the  Munda 
languages  with  the  Far  East  are  still  so  vaguely 
defined,  that  they  may  be  provisionally  regarded  as 
being  as  indigenous  as  their  neighbours,  the  Dravidian 
languages.  The  connection  of  the  Mon-Khmer  lan- 
guages with  Further  India  and  the  Pacific  have  formed 
the  subject  of  the  now  famous  researches  of  Pater 


58  THE  PEOPLES  OF  INDIA  [CH. 

Schmidt  of  Vienna  and  otlier  German  investigfitors. 
Tlie  Indo-Chinese  family  of  languages  is  obviously 
connected  with  the  many  dialects  of  Southern  China. 
An  Indian  journalist  once  told  me  that  he  thought 
that  the  tumbled  mountain  ranges  which  separate 
India  fi-om  China  and  form,  for  the  time,  a  semi- 
savage  "no  man's  land''  of  primitive  social  customs 
and  administration,  are  the  most  interesting  area  on 
earth.  It  is  an  Asiatic  and  a  huger  Albania,  of  whose 
ethnological  and  linguistic  condition  much  has  yet  to 
be  learned.  Those  who  heard  Mr  Archibald  Rose's 
lectures  in  London  and  Cambridge  on  his  travels  in 
these  regions  will  easily  realise  how  much  room  there 
is  here  for  anthropological  and  linguistic  research 
among  the  rough  but  attractive  races  of  this  (juarter. 
Lastly,  in  the  great  alluvial  plain  which  separates 
the  Himalayas  from  the  tableland  of  the  south,  and 
along  the  western  coast,  are  the  peoples  who  use  one  or 
otherof  the  great  Aryan  vernaculars,  languages  of  much 
the  same  type  as  the  modern  languages  of  Europe, 
sharing  much  of  their  vocabulary,  and  ultimately 
derived  from  similar  if  still  obscure  origins.  It  is  of 
all  these  languages,  and  of  some  of  their  innumerable 
dialects  (not  all  of  them  even  now  known  by  name), 
that  some  account  must  be  given  in  this  chapter. 

The  history  of  the  languages  of  India  has  reflected 
the   long   struggle   for   pre-eminence   between    the 


II]  THE  LANGUAGES  OF  INDIA  59 

indigenous  Dravidian  culture  of  the  south  and  the 
Aryan  civilisation  of  the  north.  The  Munda  languages 
are  those  of  an  isolated  group  of  highlanders,  who,  till 
quite  recent  times,  hardly  came  into  contact  with  or 
were  influenced  by  the  speech  or  thought  of  other 
races.  The  Mon-Khmer-speaking  people  of  the  Khasi 
Hills  were  similarly  wholly  isolated,  and  were  long 
supposed  to  be  absolutely  aboriginal  and  separate 
from  other  races  of  men,  till  quite  recent  investiga- 
tions discovered  their  linguistic  affinities  with  the 
Mons  of  Southern  Burma  and  races  in  French  Indo- 
China.  The  Tibeto-Burmau  languages  of  the  north- 
eastern frontier  are  the  simple  and  primitive  speech 
of  semi-savage  men.  For  such  languages,  contact 
witii  the  Aryan  languages  means  rapid  decay  and 
dissolution. 

Hindu  civilisation  and  Hindu  religion  find  easy 
converts  in  the  rude  and  simple  Mongoloid  people 
of  the  north-east,  and  acceptance  of  Hindu  manners 
and  customs  almost  always  results  in  a  rapid  change 
of  language.  So  again,  the  Iranian  languages  re- 
present the  final  stage  in  the  advance  of  Islam  and 
its  languages  as  a  conquering  religion.  The  Iranian 
tongues  of  the  north-western  frontier  are  only  Indian 
in  the  fact  that  they  happen  to  fall  within  the  ad- 
ministrative border  of  British  India.  If  we  omit  all 
consideration  of  these  races  and  languages  for  the 
present,  we  shall  be  free  to  consider  the  long  struggle 


GO  THE   PEOPLES   OF   INDIA  [ch. 

between  the  Aryan  and  the  Dravidian.  The  Aryan 
religion,  the  reli<j;ion  of  the  Hindus,  has  spread  all 
over  India,  and  as  the  Dravidian  temples  of  the  south 
are  among  the  glories  of  Hindu  religious  architecture, 
so  the  Hinduism  of  the  south  is  now,  in  many  ways, 
the  most  typical  and  interesting  form  of  the  religion. 
The  spread  of  the  Aryan  blood  has  been  far  less  wide 
in  extent,  as  the  previous  chapter  sufficiently  shows. 
The  Aryan  languages  have  spread  all  over  the  north 
of  India,  up  to  an  irregular  line  running  obli(piely 
across  the  peninsula  from  near  Vizagapatam  on  the 
east  coast  to  near  Goa  on  the  west  coast.  Into  the 
Aryan  area  projects  the  rocky  plateau  of  Chota 
Nagpore,  where  the  Mundfi  dialects  still  survive, 
and  there  are  a  few  other  outlying  areas  where 
Dravidian  tribes  still  use  the  original  language  of 
India.  With  these  exceptions,  Northern  India,  from 
Bombay  to  Calcutta  now  speaks  Aryan  languages. 

Let  me  then  begin  by  giving  a  brief  account  of 
the  two  ancient  and  indigenous  families  of  language 
hi  India,  the  Dravidian  and  Munda  families.  Sir 
G.  Grierson's  Survey  has  definitely  established  the 
fact  that,  in  spite  of  the  close  physical  resend^lance 
between  the  Dravidian  races  properly  so  called  and 
the  inhabitants  of  Chota  Nagpore,  there  is  no 
linguistic  affinity  l^etween  them.  In  Sir  George 
Griersons  own  words  "they  differ  in  their  proimncia- 
tion,  in  their  modes  of  indicating  gender,  in  their 


Plate    V 


Seoris  or   Savaras 

( Mirzapiir  distritt  I 


II]  THE  LANGUAGES  OF  INDIA  61 

declensions  of  nouns,  in  their  method  of  indicating 
the  relationship  of  a  verb  to  its  objects,  in  their 
numeral  systems,  in  their  principles  of  conjugation, 
in  their  methods  of  indicating  the  negative,  and  in 
their  vocabularies.  The  few  i)oints  in  which  they 
agree  are  points  which  are  common  to  many  lan- 
guages scattered  all  over  the  world." 

(1)  The  Dravidian  languages.  These  are,  as 
aforesaid,  the  languages  of  Southern  India.  Two  of 
them  survive  further  to  the  north  in  Chota  Nagpore 
and  the  Sonthal  Parganas,  where  they  exist  side  by 
side  with  Munda  dialects.  One  curiously  isolated 
Dravidian  language  is  Brahui,  an  extraordinary  sur- 
vival, far  to  the  north-west,  in  the  midst  of  the 
Iranian  and  Muhammadan  languages  of  Baluchistan. 
The  Sanskrit  writers  knew  of  two  great  southern 
languages  which  they  named  the  Andhra-bhasha  and 
the  Dravida-bhasha.  The  first  corresponded  to  what 
is  now  Telugu  and  its  cognates,  the  latter  to  the  rest 
of  the  southern  languages.  Sir  George  Grierson 
classifies  the  Dravidian  family  thus  : 

Number  of  speakers 
(1901) 

A.     Dravida  group : 

Tamil 16,525,500 

Malayalam   ....  6,029,304 

Kanarese      ....  10,365,047 

Kodagu        .         .        .         .  39,191 


62 


THE  PEOPLES  OF   INDIA 


[CH. 


Number  of  speakers 

(1901) 

Tiilu     . 

535,210 

Toda     . 

805 

Kota    . 

1300 

Kurukh 

5i^2,351 

Malto  . 

mrm 

3.    Intermediate  languages : 

Gond,  etc.    . 

• 

• 

.      1,123,974 

Z!.     Andhra  group : 

Tehigu 

. 

. 

.    20,096,872 

Kandh 

. 

• 

494,099 

Kolanii 

• 

• 

1505 

.     lindiui 

• 

• 

48,589 

56,514,524 

Sir  G.  Grierson  borrows  the  following  general 
account  of  the  main  characteristics  of  the  Dravidian 
forms  of  speech,  with  slight  verbal  alterations,  fi-om 
the  Maniud  of  the  Administration  of  the  Madras 
Presidency : 

"  In  the  Dravidian  languages  all  nouns  denoting 
inanimate  substances  and  irrational  beings  are  of  the 
neuter  gender.  The  distinction  of  male  and  female 
appears  only  in  the  pronoun  of  the  third  person,  in 
adjectives  formed  by  suffixing  the  pronominal  termina- 
tions, and  in  the  third  person  of  the  verb.     In  all  other 


II]  THE  LANGUAGES  OF  INDIA  63 

cases,  the  distinction  of  gender  is  marked  by  separate 
words  signifying  'male'  and  'female.'  Dra vidian 
nouns  are  inflected,  not  by  means  of  case  terminations, 
but  by  means  of  sufiixed  postpositions  and  separable 
particles.  Dravidian  neuter  nouns  are  rarely  plural- 
ized;  Dravidian  languages  use  postpositions  instead 
of  prepositions.  Dravidian  adjectives  are  incapable 
of  declension.  It  is  characteristic  of  these  languages, 
in  contradistinction  to  Indo-European,  that,  wherever 
practicable,  they  use  as  adjectives  the  relative  parti- 
ciples of  verbs,  in  preference  to  nouns  of  quality  or 
adjectives  properly  so  called.  A  peculiarity  of  the 
Dravidian  (and  also  of  the  Munda)  dialects  is  the 
existence  of  two  pronouns  of  the  first  person  plural, 
one  inclusive  of  the  person  addressed,  the  other 
exclusive.  The  Dravidian  languages  have  no  passive 
voice,  this  being  expressed  by  verbs  signifying  'to 
suffer'  etc.  The  Dravidian  languages,  unlike  the 
Indo-European,  prefer  the  use  of  continuative  parti- 
ciples to  conjunctions.  The  Dravidian  verbal  system 
possesses  a  negative  as  well  as  an  affirmative  voice. 
It  is  a  marked  peculiarity  of  the  Dravidian  languages 
that  they  make  use  of  relative  participial  nouns 
instead  of  phrases  introduced  by  relative  pronouns. 
These  participles  are  formed  from  the  various  parti- 
ciples of  the  verb  by  the  addition  of  a  formative  suffix. 
Thus 'the  person  who  came'  is  in  Tamil  literally  'the 
who-came'." 


64  TIIK   PEOPLES  OF   INDIA  [ch. 

It  is  worth  while,  for  once,  to  quote  this  soiiiewlmt 
technical  description  because  it  shows  that  though 
the  Aryan  languages  have  driven  the  Dravidian 
languages  out  of  Northern  India,  the  latter  may 
have  aflected  the  Aryan  speech  in  the  transition 
which,  in  conunon  with  the  corresponding  speeches 
of  Europe,  it  has  undergone  from  inflected  to  analytic 
ways  of  talking. 

Tamil.  Tamil,  or  Arava,  is  spoken  all  over  the 
south  of  India  and  the  northem  part  of  Ceylon. 
It  extends  as  far  as  Mysore  on  the  west  coast  and 
Madras  on  the  east  coast  It  has  been  carried  all 
over  Further  India  by  emigi-ant  coolies.  As  might 
be  expected  from  its  geographical  position,  it  is  the 
oldest,  richest,  and  most  highly  organised  of  Dravidian 
languages.  It  has  an  extensive  literature  written  in 
a  literary  dialect  called  "  Shen "  or  "  perfect "  as 
compared  with  the  colloquial  "  Kodum  "  or  "  rude " 
speech  of  ordinary  men.  The  words  "  Tamil "  and 
"Dnivida"  are  both  corruptions  of  an  original 
"  Driinida."      Tamil  has  an  alphabet  of  its  own. 

Malayalam.  Malayalam  is  a  branch  of  Tamil 
which  came  into  existence  in  the  ninth  century  a.d. 
It  is  the  language  of  the  Malabar  coast,  and  has  one 
dialect,  Yerava,  spoken  in  Coorg.  This  language  has 
borrowed  its  vocabulary  freely  from  Sanskrit.  It 
difl'ers  from  the  mother  tongue  in  having  dropped 
the  personal   terminations   of  verbs.      Its   alphabet 


II]  THE   LANGUAGES   OF   INDIA  65 

is  the  Grantha  character,  much  used  in  Southern 
India  for  writing  Sanskrit. 

Kanarese.  Kanarese  is  the  language  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Mysore  and  the  adjoining  British 
territory.  It  has  an  ancient  literature  written  in 
a  character  resembling  that  of  Telugu.  Its  dialects 
of  Badaga  and  Kurumba  are  spoken  in  the  Nil- 
giri  hills.  Kodagu,  the  language  of  Coorg,  is  said 
by  some  to  be  a  dialect  of  Kanarese,  and  is  the 
link  between  it  and  Tulu,  the  language  of  part 
of  South  Kanara  in  Madras.  Toda  and  Kota  will 
always  have  an  interest  for  anthropologists  in  con- 
nection with  Dr  Rivers'  now  classical  investigation 
into  the  social  life  of  the  Todas. 

Gond.  The  Gond  language  is  spoken  outside  the 
true  Dravidian  area,  in  the  hill  country  of  Central 
India.  It  is  intermediate  between  the  Dravida  and 
Andhra  languages,  and  like  most  hill  languages  has 
many  dialects.     It  is  unwritten  and  has  no  literature. 

Tdugn.  Telugu  is  the  only  important  Andhra  lan- 
guage now  surviving.  It  is  the  language  of  the  eastern 
coast  from  Madras  to  near  the  southern  border  of 
Orissa.  It  has  an  extensive  literature  written  in  a 
character  of  its  own,  adapted  from  the  Aryan  Deva- 
nagari.  This  character,  like  the  writing  of  Orissa,  is 
easily  recognised  by  its  loops  and  curves,  said  to  be 
due  to  the  difficulty  of  writing  straight  lines  with  a 
stylus  on  a  palm  leaf  without  splitting   the  leaf. 


66  THE  PEOPLES  OF  INDIA  [ch. 

Finally  there  remains  the  isolated  and  distant 
Brfdnii  language  in  Baluchistan.  Its  8ei)arate  exist- 
ence has  led  to  a  very  pretty  quarrel  between  linguists 
and  ethnologists.  Dr  Haddon  in  his  work  on  the 
Wanderings  of  Peoples,  in  this  series,  says  that 
"  the  Dravidians  may  have  been  always  in  India : 
the  significance  of  the  Brahui  of  Baluchistan,  a  small 
tribe  speaking  a  Dravidian  language,  is  not  under- 
stood, probably  it  is  merely  a  case  of  cultural  drift." 
Sir  George  Grierson  says  "if  they  (the  Dravidians) 
came  from  the  north-west,  we  must  look  upon  the 
Bnihuis  as  the  rear-guard;  but  if  from  the  south, 
they  must  be  considered  as  the  advance  guard  of  the 
Dravidian  immigration.  Under  any  circumstances 
it  is  possible  that  the  Brahuis  alone  retain  the  true 
Dravidian  ethnic  type,  which  has  been  lost  in  India 
proper  by  admixture  with  other  aboriginal  nation- 
alities such  as  the  Mundas."  My  own  diffident  sug- 
gestion is  that  the  Brahuis  may  be  a  Dravidian  race  as 
a  survival  of  emigration  when  Northern  India  was 
also  Dravidian,  as  the  French  are  a  "  Latin  "  race. 

Of  the  Mundii  languages  I  need  not  speak  at  any 
length,  interesting  as  they  are  to  students  of  spoken 
speech.  They  are  spoken  by  over  three  millions  of 
people,  and,  besides  numerous  dialects  of  each,  are 
six  in  number.  They  have  been  carefully  studied  by 
missionaries  and  others,  and  many  of  them  are  now 
recorded  in  the  Roman  character. 


II]  THE  LANGUAGES  OF  INDIA  67 

I  must  apologise  for  a  somewhat  dull  and  detailed 
account  of  the  Dravidian  languages.  It  seemed 
necessary  to  explain  what  manner  of  languages  they 
were  that  fought  an  unequal  and  not  always  losing- 
fight  with  the  great  Aryan  languages  of  the  north. 
The  account  of  the  struggle  between  the  two,  on 
the  other  hand,  has  an  enduring  interest.  Dravidian 
and  Aryan  languages  now  face  one  another  much  as 
do  French  and  Breton  in  Brittany,  English  and  Gaelic 
in  the  Highlands,  Flemish  and  French  in  Belgium. 
But  in  the  Indian  plains  the  contest  was  waged  on 
a  much  vaster  scale,  and  some  of  the  incidents  of  the 
long  struggle  can  still  be  recovered.  One  point 
should  be  carefidly  borne  in  mind.  In  Northern 
India  the  Aryan  languages  and  the  Hindu  religion 
are  openly  and  completely  victorious.  The  peculiar 
philosophic  and  religious  ideas  of  Hinduism  find  apt 
and  copious  expression  in  the  Aryan  vocabulary  of 
the  north.  But  Dravidian  India,  too,  in  accepting 
Hinduism,  perforce  accepted  with  it  much  of  the 
Aryan  vocabulary.  It  is  Dravidian  still,  as  England 
is  still  mainly  Germanic.  But  without  Aryan  words 
it  could  hardly  give  expression  to  Hindu  speculations 
and  aspirations.  As  our  own  language,  as  these 
words  I  write,  have  a  strong  intermixture  of  Latin 
phrase  and  idiom,  so  the  Aryan  influence  has  in 
a  greater  or  less  degree  penetrated  to  Ceylon  itself, 
once  held  by  Aryan  poets  to  be  the  home  of  demoniac 

5—2 


68  THE   TKOPLES   OF   INDIA  [ch. 

and  harbiuian  races.  There  are  Dravidian  traces 
in  the  north,  survivals  of  old  days  of  Dravidian 
supremacy.  In  tlie  soutlj,  a  veneer  of  Aryan  culture 
has  been  added  to  the  ancient  Dravidian  civilisation. 
Tliis  was  strong  to  resist  a  change  of  idiom  :  it  clung 
sturdily  to  most  of  its  vocabulary  ;  but  there  has 
been  an  infusion  of  Aryan  words,  needed  for  ritual 
and,  in  some  cases,  for  administrative  purposes.  The 
use  of  the  word  "  administrative  "  reminds  me  to  say, 
before  passing  on,  that  nowhere  in  India  is  English 
so  freely  used  as  in  the  Dravidian  south.  Originally 
Englishmen  seem  to  have  found  Dravidian  languages 
too  difficult  a  means  of  conununication.  lint  Di'a- 
vidians  themselves  soon  discovered  that  English  was 
a  convenient  It  tig  na  franca.  All  India  is  now  making 
the  same  discovery,  and  English  is  binding  the  educated 
<;lasses  into  a  new  pan-Indian  race. 

The  Art/an  Languafjef^. 

"NVe  now  return  to  the  fascinating  story  of  the 
spread  of  the  Indo-Aryan  languages  over  the  north 
and  west  of  the  peninsula.  In  the  tale,  captured 
fi"om  the  patient  study  of  words  and  idioms,  and 
finding  only  occasional  support  from  legend,  and 
practically  none  from  history,  since  history  had  not 
yet  begun  to  exist,  we  get  a  singularly  moving  and 
interesting  picture  ot  the  social  existence  of  vanished 


II]  THE  LANGUAGES  OF  IXDIA  69 

tribes  of  men.  We  partly  know  and  partly  conjecture 
that  there  was  once  a  race  of  men  whom  we  may  con- 
veniently call  Indo-Europeans  who  spoke  the  parent- 
speech  of  the  modern  languages  of  Europe,  Armenia, 
Persia,  and  northern  India.  Probably  the  Panjab  in 
very  early  times  was  occupied  by  several  immigrations 
of  Indo-European  folk,  for  in  the  earliest  days  of 
which  we  have  any  knowledge,  the  land  of  the  Five 
Rivers  is  already  the  home  of  many  Indo-Aryan 
tribes,  who  live  at  enmity  with  one  another,  and 
have  a  fraternal  habit  of  speaking  of  one  another 
as  unintelligible  barbarians. 

In  the  Sanskrit  geography  of  somewhat  later 
times,  India  is  divided  into  the  sacred  Madhya-deea, 
the  "Midland,"  and  the  rest.  Already  this  Midland 
country,  the  home  of  the  latest  immigrants,  is  con- 
sidered to  be  the  true  habitat  of  civilised  Ai-yans,  all 
the  rest  of  the  peninsula  being  more  or  less  barbarous. 
It  is  important  that  the  readei*  should  understand 
exactly  where  this  Midland  lay.  On  the  north  it 
ended  below  the  foot-slopes  of  the  Himalayas.  On 
the  south,  it  was  bordered  by  the  Yindhyfi  hills,  the 
southern  boundary  of  the  Gangetic  plain.  On  the 
west  it  extended  to  Sirhind  on  the  eastern  limits  of 
what  is  now  the  Panjab.  On  the  east  its  limit  was 
the  confluence  of  the  Ganges  and  Jumna.  Its  in- 
habitants, of  mixed  Aryan  and  Dravidian  origin,  had 
si>read  eastwards  from  the  upper  part  of  the  do-db, 


70  THE  PEOPLES  OF   INDIA  [ch. 

the  watershed  between  the  two  rivers.  Their  lan- 
guage gradually  became  the  current  speech  of  the 
Midland.  It  was  cultivated  as  a  literary  tongue 
from  early  times  and  came  to  be  known  as  Sanskrit, 
the  "  purified  "  language.  Purified  and  systematised 
it  was  by  the  labours  of  grammarians  and  phone- 
ticians, the  most  famous  of  whom  is  Panini,  who 
lived  and  wrote  about  300  B.C. 

To  the  phonetic  acumen  of  these  early  giam- 
marians  the  existing  alphabets  of  northern  India, 
singularly  different  in  arrangement  from  the  confused 
order  of  European  and  Semitic  letters,  bear  testimony. 
In  the  Indian  alphabets  the  letters  are  arranged  in 
order,  according  to  the  vocal  organs  chiefly  used  in 
their  pronunciation,  as  Gutturals,  Palatals,  Cerebrals, 
Dentals,  and  Labials.  All  the  phonetic  changes 
which  occur  in  the  formation  of  the  numerous  com- 
pound words  are  carefully  reduced  to  rule,  and  the 
spelling  professes  to  be  (what  perhaps  no  spelling 
ever  has  been  or  can  be)  phonetic. 

It  is  a  moot  point  whether  Sanskrit  was  in  Panini's 
time  a  spoken  vernacular.  It  is  more  probable  that 
it  was,  what  it  still  remains  in  most  parts  of  Hindu 
India,  a  second  and  literarj'  language,  used  much  as 
Latin  was  used  in  medieval  Europe.  The  spoken 
form  of  the  archaic  language  found  in  the  older 
Vedas  developed  into  Prakrit,  which  existed  side 
by  side  with  Sanskrit  as  the  spoken  dialects  of  Italy 


II]  THE  LANGUAGES  OF   INDIA  71 

existed  side  by  side  with  literary  Latin.  As  the 
Italian  dialects  developed  into  the  modern  languages 
of  Europe,  so  the  Prakrits  gave  birth  to  the  Aryan 
modern  languages  of  India.  Thus  the  latter  were 
not  in  any  accurate  sense  derived  from  Sanskrit,  but 
only  shared  a  common  origin  with  [t\  It  remained, 
however,  as  a  standard  of  literary  perfection  and 
was  destined  to  play  an  important  pari;  in  the  en- 
richment of  many  of  the  modern  languages  of  India, 
when  contact  M'ith  western  culture  brought  about 
what  may  fairly  be  called  a  literary  renaissance. 
This  was  particularly  the  case  with  Bengali.  Its 
medieval  literature  was  allTiiit  confined  to  rhymed 
hymns  and  tales.  English  education  led  to  a  revival 
of  Sanskrit  studies.  From  England  Bengal  learnt 
that  it  was  possible  to  write  prose  in  many  varied 
forms,  in  novels,  essays,  histories,  journalism,  and  so 
forth.  The  medieval  literary  language,  derived  from 
the  Prakrit,  had  grown  insufficient  for  the  expression 
of  anything  but  the  simplest  devotional  or  amatory 
emotion,  and  Bengali  borrowed  freely  from  the  rich 
treasury  of  Sanskrit. 

In  the  "Midland,"  then,  were  various  forms  of 
Prakrit,  side  by  side  with  the  sacred  and  literary 
Sanskrit.     Round  the  Midland,  on  the  west,  south, 

^  As  in  Europe,  the  modern  Aryan  languages  diflFer  from  one 
another  chiefly  in  survivals  from  the  indigenous  earlier  speech 
which  preceded  each  of  them. 


72  THE   PEOPLES  OF   INDIA  [oh. 

and  east  lay  territories  inhabited  by  other  Indo-Aryati 
tril)es.  This  country  inchided  what  is  now  the  Panjab, 
Sind.  (iiijarat,  HajpiiUlna  and  the  country  to  its  east, 
Oiidh  and  Bihar.  The  tril)es  inhabitin/j^  tliis  senii- 
circnlar  tract  had  each  of  them  its  own  dialect.  Hut 
it  is  important  to  note  that  the  dialects  of  this  "Outer 
Band'  were  much  more  closely  related  to  one  another 
than  to  the  spoken  language  of  the  "Midland."  It 
was  this  circumstance  which  suggested  Dr  Hoernle's 
ingenious  theory,  alieady  mentioned,  of  the  second 
ind  separate  invasion  of  Aryans  into  the  Midland 
over  the  mountainous  passes  of  Gilgit,  too  high, 
arduous,  and  difficult  to  be  traversed  by  the  families 
and  herds  of  the  nomad  newcomers. 

In  course  of  time  the  population  of  the  Midland 
grew  in  numljers  and  valour  an<l  pressed  closely  on 
the  food  supplies  of  the  tract.  It  was  already  the 
centre  of  a  vigorous  and  widely  influential  civilisation. 
It  contained  the  imperial  cities  of  Delhi  and  Kanauj, 
and  the  sacred  city  of  Mathura  {^\6hovpa  r)  jwv  dewv, 
as  Ptolemy  calls  it).  This  crowded,  vigorous,  and 
martial  population  Mas  bound  to  expand.  It  spread 
into  the  eastern  Panjab,  Rrgputana,  Ciujarat  and 
Oudh,  carrying  with  it  its  language.  Hence,  as  Sir 
George  Grierson  points  out,  we  get  in  this  "Outer 
Band "  mixed  languages,  of  the  Midland  type  near 
the  "Midland"  centre,  but  fading  into  local  dialects 
as  we  go  further  west,  south,  and  east.    Finally  as  the 


Plate   VI 


-I  M 


A  Bhuiyar 

{Mirza/'nr  dist)  iit) 


II]  THE   LANGUAGES  OF   INDIA  73 

]Mi( Handera  crowded  into  the  territories  of  the  Outer 
Band,  the  inhabitants  of  these  took  refuge  among  the 
Dravidians  of  the  south  and  east,  and  so  gave  birth 
to  dialects  which  ultimately  became  Marathi  in  the 
south  and  Oriya,  Bengali  and  Assamese  on  the  east,  all 
of  them  characteristic  languages  of  the  "Outer  Band." 
I  am  borrowing  so  freely  and  unscrupulously  from 
Sir  George  Grierson  that  it  is  a  relief  to  pause  for  a 
moment  to  interpose  a  very  diffident  suggestion  of 
ray  own.  Vocabulary,  and  even  idiom,  have  become 
a  dubious  guide  to  the  constituent  elements  of  the 
"  Outer  Band  "  languages  which  have  almost  entirely 
destroyed  the  original  vocabularies  of  the  IJravidian  or 
Mongolo-Dravidian  races  who  use  them.  But  it  is  just 
possible  that  accentuation,  rhythm,  metre  may  furnish 
some  clue  to  these  vanished  dialects,  which  may  have 
bequeathed  a  characteristic  tone  of  voice  to  their 
Aryan  successors.  Bengali,  foi-  instance,  has  a  very 
peculiar  initial  phrasal  accent  which  strongly  dis- 
tinguishes it  from  the  etymologically  cognate  speech 
of  Bihar,  much  as  the  characteristic  accent  tonique 
of  French  distinguishes  it  from  Italian  and  Spanish. 
Native  scholars  in  Bengal  are,  I  am  glad  to  say, 
beginning  to  work  at  the  Dravidian  elements  in  their 
expressive  and  copious  language,  and  will,  I  hope, 
soon  investigate  the  Mongolian  elements,  whether  of 
idiom  or  pronunciation,  in  the  liengali  of  the  north- 
eastern part  of  the  province. 


74  THE  PEOPLES  OF   INDIA  [ch. 

To  return  to  .Sir  George  Grierson,  he  holds 
tliat  the  present  linguistic  condition  of  northern 
India  is  this : — there  is,  firstly,  a  Midland  Indo- 
Aryan  language  which  holds  the  Gangetic  Dofib. 
Round  it  on  three  sides  is  a  band  of  Mixed  lan- 
guages, in  the  eastern  Panjab,  (iujarat,  llajputilna 
and  Oudh.  With  these  Sir  George  includes  the 
Indo-Aryan  languages  of  the  Himalayan  slopes 
north  of  the  Midland,  which  have  been  introduced 
in  comparatively  recent  times  by  inunigrants  from 
Rajputana. 

The  Prakrits.  Before  I  leave  the  Aryan  languages 
of  India,  I  nmst  give  a  brief  summary  of  what  Sir 
George  Grierson  says  of  the  Prakrits,  the  spoken 
speeches  which  have  always,  implicitly  or  ex- 
plicitly, Ixsen  distinguished  from  the  artificial  and 
literary  Sanskrit.  The  Primary  Prakrits  of  the 
Midland  and  Outer  Band  (of  which  latter  no  record 
survives)  were  of  the  same  type  as  the  Latin  known 
to  us  in  literature.  They  were  synthetic  and  inflected 
languages.  These  gradually  decayed  (or  developed) 
into  what  Sir  G.  (jlrierson  calls  the  Secondary  Prakrits. 
Tliese  are  still  synthetic,  but  diphthongs  and  harsh 
combinations  of  consonants  are  avoided,  "till  in  the 
latest  developments  we  find  a  condition  of  almost 
absolute  fluidity,  each  language  becoming  an  emascu- 
lated collection  of  vowels  hanging  for  support  on  an 
occasional   consonant."      These   Secondan'   Prakrits 


II]  THE  LANGUAGES  OF  INDIA  75 

lasted  fi-oin  the  days  of  the  Buddha  (550  B.C.)  to 
about  1000  A.D. 

One  at  least  of  these  Secondary  Prakrits,  Pali^ 
has  obtained  world-wide  fame  as  the  language  of  the 
Buddhist  scriptures.  Thus  crystallised,  it  underwent 
the  same  fate  as  Sanskrit  and  became  more  or  less 
what  we  call  in  Europe  a  "  dead  "  language.  In  the 
Midland  was  a  great  and  famous  Prakrit  called 
Sauraseni,  after  the  Sanskrit  name,  Surasena,  of  the 
country  round  Mathura.  In  Bihar  was  Magadhi ; 
in  Oudh  and  Baghelkhand  was  Ardha-magadhi  or 
"  half  Magadhi "  ;  south  of  these  was  Maharashtri, 
which  is  best  known  to  students  of  the  ancient  Indian 
drama  as  the  vehicle  of  the  lyrics  with  which  tlie 
plays  are  studded.  Kings,  sages,  heroes  and  other 
noble  characters  speak  Sanskrit.  Inferior  personages 
use  Sauraseni. 

The  Secondary  Prakrits  themselves  degenerated 
into  what  Indian  grammarians  call  Apabhramsas, 
"corrupt"  or  "decayed"  tongues,  which  were  used 
for  literary  purposes  and  finally  became  the  parents 
of  the  great  Aryan  languages  of  the  present  time. 

For  comparison  with  the  preceding  table  of  the 
Dravidian  languages,  1  give  below  the  census  table  of 
the  Aryan  languages  as  recorded  in  1901  : — 

Number  of 
speakers 
A.     Language  of  the  Midland; 

Western  Hindi 40,714,925 


76  THE   PEOPLKS  OF   IXDIA  [ch. 

Number  of 
speakers 
15.      Iiitennediatc  hmguitges. 

a.     More  nearly  related  to  the  Midland  language: 

RajiLstliiini 10,917,712 

The  I'aliarl  (or  'mountain')  langu;iges  of  the 


Himalaya 
Gujarati 
Panjahi  . 
More  nearly  related  to  the 
Eastern  Hindi 


.  3,124,9.S1 

.  9,4.3H,92r> 

.  17,070,961 
t)uter  languages : 

.  22,136,358 


C.     Outer  languages. 

a.  North-western  groui»: 

KashmTn 1,007,957 

Kohistfinl 36 

Lahnda 3,337,917 

Sindhi 3,494,971 

b.  Southern  language: 

Marath! 18,237,899 

c.  Eastern  group: 

Bihari 34,579,844 

Oriya 9,687,429 

Bengali 44,624,048 

Assamese 1,350,846 

Of  all  tliese  modern  languages,  their  idioms,  their 
characters,  their  literature,  I  do  not  venture  to  give 
even  a  summarised  account.  Those  who  have  any 
curiosity  to  leani  more  about  them  cannot  do  l>etter 
than  consult  Sir  George  (irierson's  work  on  Tlie 
Languages  of  India,  until  it,  in  its  turn,  is  suj)erseded 
by  the  book  he  is  now  writing  from  the  materials 


ii]  THE  LANGUAGES  OF  INDIA  11 

collected  in  his  Linguistic  Survey.  But  everyone 
who  has  read  The  Newcomes  will  want  to  know  what 
Hindustjini  is,  e8i>ecially  as  it  is  one  of  the  languages 
prescribed  for  the  study  of  probationers  for  the 
Indian  Civil  Service  and  is  taught  at  the  universities 
of  Oxford,  Cambridge,  London,  and  Dublin.  In  the 
strictest  sense  Hindustani  is  the  dialect  of  western 
Hindi  spoken  between  Meerut  and  Delhi.  It  was 
much  cultivated,  as  a  literary  dialect,  by  both  Hindus 
and  Musalmans.  The  latter  wrote,  and  write  it, 
in  the  Persian  character,  and  have  added  a  large 
number  of  Persian  and  Arabic  words.  In  this 
Persianised  form  it  is  known  as  Urdu,  "a  name 
derived  from  the  Urdn-e  mu  'alia,  or  royal  military 
bazaar  outside  the  imperial  palace  at  Delhi,  where  it 
is  supposed  to  have  had  its  origin. '  Under  Muhamma- 
dan  rule  Urdii  was  almost  as  much  the  lingua  franca 
of  India  as  English  has  come  to  be  in  modern  times. 

Another  point  is  worth  noting  here.  The  Aryan 
languages  of  northern  India  are,  in  a  very  real  sense, 
Hindu  languages.  Perhaps  I  shall  make  myself  clearer 
by  asserting  that  the  languages  of  Western  Europe 
are  Christian  languages.  For  historical  reasons,  their 
religious  phraseology  has  a  Christian  connotation  and 
allusiveness.  But  in  the  west,  the  distinction  between 
things  secular  and  things  religious  has  l)ecome  so 
familiar  that  the  Christian  element  in  our  speech  is 
not  recognisable  in  our  ordinary  talk.     In   Hindu 


78  THE   PEOPLES  OF  INDIA  [ch. 

India,  on  the  other  hand,  ahnost  every  act  of  a  man's 
life  has  some  religious  or  superstitious  significance, 
and  hence  all  the  Aryan  languages  in  the  mouths  of 
Hindus  are  markedly  different  from  the  shape  they 
assume  when  spoken  by  Musalmans.  In  the  case  of 
western  Hindi  we  have  the  recognised  Muhammadan 
dialect  of  Urdu,  but  in  other  languages  too  there  is 
a  Muhammadan  dialect  or  patois,  even  if  it  has  no 
separate  name.  A  curious  exception,  however,  occurs 
in  eastern  Bengal,  where  the  bulk  of  the  population 
is  Musalman.  In  this  region  the  Muhammadans  are 
comparatively  recent  converts  from  the  lower  ab- 
original or  Mongoloid  castes,  whose  Muhammadanism 
sits  very  lightly  on  their  habits  and  consciences,  and 
so  far  as  my  own  experience  goes,  there  is  little 
difference  between  the  speech  of  the  lower  Musal- 
mans and  their  friends  and  cousins  the  Chandals  and 
other  indigenous  castes. 

The  Indo-Chinese  Languages. 

Finally,  I  must  say  a  few  words  about  the  Indo- 
Chinese  and  Mon-Khmer  languages.  I  spent  most  of 
my  official  life  among  people  speaking  these  languages, 
and  find,  somewhat  shamefacedly,  that  Sir  G.  A. 
Griersou  makes  me  responsible  for  sundry  vocabu- 
laries compiled  in  my  distant  youth.  Naturally,  I 
feel  a  personal  interest  in  the  people  of  the  north- 


II]  THE  LANGUAGES  OF  INDIA  79 

eastern  border,  and  am  tempted  to  enlarge  on  their 
qualities  of  speech  and  character.  But  I  have  left 
myself  little  space,  and  the  Mongoloid  races  of  the 
frontier  are  hardly  Indian  in  any  proper  sense  of  the 
word.  Moreover,  though  their  total  number  is  not 
great,  they  speak  many  languages.  The  Census  of 
1901  recognises  119  such  languages.  The  most  im- 
portant of  them  all  is,  of  course,  Burmese,  which  is 
spoken  by  about  seven  and  a  half  millions  of  people. 
There  are  nearly  900,000  Karens  in  Burma,  and 
about  750,000  Shans.  The  Meithei  (now  Manipuris) 
mentioned  above  are  272,997  in  number.  The  Boro 
or  Kachari  people  of  the  Assam  valley,  a  most  attrac- 
tive and  deliglitliil  race,  number  somewhat  less  than 
250,000.  The  other  languages  of  this  type  have 
mostly  a  much  smaller  number  of  speakers  than  these. 
But  mention  should  be  made  of  250,000  Mons,  Pa- 
lungs  and  Was  in  Burma,  and  177,827  Khasis  in 
Assam,  since  these  constitute  the  only  members  of 
the  Mon-Khmer  family  still  found  within  the  limits 
of  British  India. 

These  people,  speaking  Indo-Chinese  languages, 
surround  India  proper  on  the  north  and  east  in  a 
crescent-shaped  curve,  mostly  in  the  valleys  of  lofty 
and  rugged  mountains.  From  the  eastern  mountains 
projects  into  the  midst  of  the  modern  province  of 
Assam  a  range  of  hills,  dividing  the  valley  of  the 
Brahmaputra  from  that  of  Sylhet,  which  is  watered 


«()  THE   PEOPLES  OF   INDIA  [ch. 

bv  the  Surnui,  Headers  of  Sir  W.  W.  Hunter's 
<leli^htful  little  book  on  The  Tlmckerajfs  in  Imlia  will 
not  need  to  be  told  Mhere  Sylhet  is,  or  what  sort  of 
a  place  it  is.  This  range  of  hills  is  inhabited  by  the 
(iaros  on  the  west,  and  the  Nagas  on  the  east,  both 
Tibeto-Burman  races.  Between  them,  on  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  plateaus  in  the  world,  are  the  Khasis, 
once,  as  I  have  said  elsewhere,  regarded  as  being  as 
isolated  and  unic^ue  as  our  European  Basques,  but 
now  proved  to  be,  linguistically  at  least,  connected 
with  the  Mons  in  Burma,  and  many  races  and  tribes 
in  Further  India  and  Australonesia, 

All  these  Indo-Chinese  people  seem  to  have  come 
originally  from  north-western  China,  following  the 
beds  of  great  rivers  in  their  travel ;  down  the  Chind- 
win,  the  Irrawaddy,  and  the  Salween  into  Burma, 
down  the  Brahmaputra  into  Assam,  and  up  the  Brah- 
maputra into  Tibet.  There  seem  to  have  been  at 
least  three  waves  of  migration.  Fij'st,  in  prehistoric 
times,  there  was  a  Mon-Khmer  invasion  into  Further 
India  and  Assam.  Next,  also  at  an  unknown  date, 
was  a  Tibeto-Burman  invasion  into  the  same  regions 
and  Tibet.  Next  the  Tai  branch  of  the  Siamese- 
Chinese  entered  eastern  Burma  about  the  sixth 
century  a.d.  A  fourth  Tibeto-Burmese  invasion, 
that  of  the  Kachins,  when  in  Lord  Dufferin's  time, 
the  British  annexed  Upper  Burma. 

I  think  I  have  now  said  enough  to  show  how  the 


II]  THE  LANGUAGES  OF  INDIA  81 

languages  of  India  are  distributed.  It  only  remains 
to  give  a  brief  and  cursory  account  of  the  Indian 
Religions.  This  is  a  subject  on  which  big  books 
might  be,  and  have  been,  written.  But,  even  in  so 
small  a  book  on  the  Peoples  of  India  it  seems  neces- 
sary to  give  some  account  of  their  religious  divisions. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  RELIGIONS  OF  INDIA 

(1)  Animism.  At  the  base  of  all  the  religions, 
perhaps  at  the  base  of  all  religions  all  over  the 
world,  lies  a  mass  of  primitive  beliefs,  not  perhaps 
yet  consciously  classed  by  the  holders  of  them  as 
distinctly  religious,  which  are  called  by  the  question- 
begging  name  of  Animism.  By  this  statement,  I  mean 
merely  that  many  of  the  more  ignorant  and  simple 
folk  who  profess  and  call  themselves  Hindus,  Bud- 
dhists, Jains,  Muliammadans,  or  Christians,  are  in 
fact  at  the  animistic  stage  of  intellectual  evolution. 
The  religious  impulse  is  there,  but  has  not  become 
specialised.  There  is  no  religious  theorising,  but 
merely  communal  and  transmitted  beliefs  about  the 
nature  of  things  in  general.  Perhaps  I  had  better 
quote  Sir  H.  H.  Risley's  definition  of  Hinduism  as  it 
exists  in  India.     "It  conceives  of  man,"  he  says,  "as 

A.  6 


»2  THE  PEOPLES  OF   INDIA  [ch. 

pasjiing  tluough  life  surrounded  In  a  );>;]iostly  company 
of  powers,  elements,  tendencies,  mostly  impersonal  in 
their  character,  shapeless  phantasms  of  which  no 
image  can  be  made  and  no  definite  idea  can  be 
formed.  Some  of  these  have  departments  or  spheres 
of  influence  of  their  own  :  one  presides  over  cholera, 
another  over  small-pox,  another  over  cattle  disease; 
some  dwell  in  rocks,  others  haunt  trees,  others,  again, 
are  associated  with  rivers,  whirlpools,  waterfalls,  or 
strange  pools  hidden  in  the  depths  of  the  hills.  All 
of  them  require  to  be  diligently  propitiated  by  reason 
of  the  ills  which  proceed  from  them,  and  usually  the 
land  of  the  village  provides  the  means  for  their 
propitiation.' 

If  this  definition,  that  of  a  kindly  and  experienced 
student  of  primitive  thought  and  emotion,  be  correct, 
there  is  already  an  attemjit  at  analysis  and  classifica- 
tion. But  the  analysis  is  feeble,  the  classification 
very  elementary.  The  differences  which  seem  obvious 
to  the  civilised  man,  who  inherits  the  analytic  inven- 
tions and  investigations  of  long  series  of  ancestors,  are 
not  yet  realised.  There  is  practically  no  distinction 
between  things  animate  and  inanimate,  since  all  may 
be  maleficent  and  must  therefore,  on  occasion,  be 
propitiated.  There  is  no  sense  of  things  subter-human, 
human,  and  superhuman.  Still  less,  of  course,  is  there 
any  recognition  of  the  difference  between  things  re- 
ligious and  things  secular.    Grown  men  face  the  facts 


Ill]  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  INDIA  83 

of  life  as  children  do,  and  receive  the  impressions 
life  conveys  to  them  en  masse,  without  making  much 
effort  to  sort  tliem  out.  In  our  own  case,  we  learn 
to  classify  from  our  elders,  and  classification,  literary, 
scientific,  social,  religious,  is  a  large  part  of  what  we 
call  education.  How  does  primitive  man  begin  to 
sort  out  the  facts  of  life,  to  remember  thom  in  classes, 
to  discriminate  between  human  beings  and  other 
animals,  to  place  animals  above  inanimate  things, 
himself  above  animals,  and,  finally,  the  gods  above 
himself?  The  history  of  the  evolution  of  Hinduism 
throws  some  light  on  this  evolution  as  it  occurred  in 
India. 

Meanwhile,  it  is  worth  noticing  that  the  Census 
returns  of  1901  returned  the  Animists  of  India  at 
only  about  H^  millions,  or  less  than  3  per  cent.  Those 
who  returned  themselves  as  Hindu  or  Musalman 
were  so  recorded,  whatever  their  degree  of  mental 
and  social  culture.  An  attempt  has  been  made  in  the 
Census  of  1911  to  distinguish  between  true  Hindus 
and  Animists  Mho  call  themselves  Hindu.  How  far 
the  attempt  was  successful,  I  do  not  know.  I  can 
well  believe  that  it  was  not  welcomed  even  by 
educated  and  intelligent  Hindus.  Many  years  ago, 
I  remember  a  highly  educated  Hindu  in  Bengal  tell- 
ing me  that  there  is  no  distinction  between  Animists 
and  Hindus ;  that  an  Animist  is  merely  a  Hindu  "  in 
the  making  "  as  it  were.     But  perhaps  that  assertion 

6—2 


84  THE  PEOPLES  OF  INDIA  [CH. 

only  amounted  to  an  admission  that  the  lliufhi  mind 
is  averse  from  the  kind  of  intellectual  evolution  by 
conscious  analysis  and  classification  which  is  dear  to 
Western  imaginations.  Yet  the  history  of  Hinduism 
and  its  branches  shows  that  such  an  evolution  has 
taken  place. 

I  should  like  to  suggest  that  at  the  stage  of 
human  evolution  which  we  call  animistic,  man  takes 
the  facts  of  life  in  the  lump,  as  it  were,  and  does  not 
sort  them  out  into  classes.  If  we  are  to  judge  by 
what  we  know  of  the  history  of  llindui.sm,  the  evolu- 
tion of  i)rimitive  man  from  this  unclassifying  stage 
is  something  as  follows.  Art  comes  into  play.  The 
practice  of  song  and  draughtsmanship  introduces 
specialisation.  From  singing  comes  verse,  from 
drawing  comes  some  kind  of  rude  writing.  The  first 
trains  the  memory,  the  second  aids  memory.  Then 
comes  the  social  classification  which  results  from  the 
breaking  up  of  clans,  and  contact  with  other  clans 
and  communities.  All  men  are  not  the  same,  and 
the  diflerence  is  grasped  and  finds  expression  in 
language.  The  new  power  of  classification  is  ex- 
tended to  other  things.  The  difference  between 
animate  and  inanimate  things  is  understood,  and 
their  relative  powers  of  helping  or  hurting  the  tribal 
community.  When  classification  has  proceeded  thus 
far,  the  inference  is  easy  that  as  what  is  known  of 
the  faculties  of  subter-human  beings  and  things  to 


Plate   VII 


% 


ifT^r'-^^^'^^^ 


i. 


A  Ghasiya 

(J/irza/'itr  district) 


Ill]  THE   RELIGIONS   OF   INDIA  85 

benefit  or  hurt  humans  does  not  by  any  means 
account  for  tlie  joys  and  calamities  of  life,  there 
must  be  a  class  of  superhuman  beings  who  are  to 
be  conciliated.  By  their  supposed  deeds  they  are 
judged.  If  they  are,  on  the  whole,  kindly  and  easily 
placated,  they  will  be  classified  by  some  title  which 
they  will  usually  share  with  great  and  good  men.  If 
their  action  on  mankind  be  harmful,  they  will  bear 
the  names  given  to  malicious  or  inimical  races  or 
individuals.  At  a  subsequent  stage  of  analytical 
evolution  their  generic  names  will  be  confined  to 
their  own  class ;  they  will  be  gods  or  demons.  Many 
Hindus  have  hardly  gone  beyond  this  stage,  and  we 
can  hardly  be  surprised  that  some  objection  should 
be  taken  to  too  rigid  a  distinction  between  Hindus 
and  Animists.  In  practice,  it  is  often  diflicult  to  say 
whether  a  given  observance  is  Animistic  or  Hindu. 
Here  is  one  case,  out  of  thousands  that  occur  in  India, 
from  my  own  experience.  In  the  seaport  town  of 
Chittagong  is  the  shrine  of  the  famous  Muhammadan 
saint  Pir  Badr,  a  holy  man  often  invoked  by  travellers 
on  sea  or  river.  In  a  niche  in  a  little  pillar  in  the 
open  air,  Christians  and  Buddhists,  Hindus  and 
Musalmans  alike  place  lighted  candles  by  way  of 
propitiation.  This,  surely,  is  an  observance  of  the 
Animistic  type.  It  has  no  part  in  any  theorised  or 
classified  religious  system.  It  is  merely  the  attempt 
to   gratify   an   influence   which   may  help  or  harm. 


86  THK   PEOPLES  OF   INDIA  [ch. 

Animism  is  consistent  with  the  most  vivid,  if  child- 
like, curiosity.  All  is  jurist  that  comes  to  that 
primitive  mill.  Hut  the  resulting  flour  of  thought 
is,  as  it  were,  coarse  and  unsifted.  Artistic  speciali- 
sation, the  birth  of  literature,  brings  a  need  of 
classification.  Out  of  propitiation  comes  ritual,  a 
belief  in  the  efficacy  of  sacramental  gestures,  oftei'- 
ings,  fornniUo.  But,  as  time  goes  on,  they  are 
appropriated  to  the  service  of  highly  specialised 
deities.  As  man  learns  the  advantage  of  a  division 
of  labour  and  a  specialisation  of  function,  so  his  gods 
become  "departmental."  The  classification  will  not 
be  that  of  modern  times.  Among  animate  things 
will  be  reckoned  fire,  and  air,  the  sun  and  moon  and 
the  twinkling  stars.  But  the  process  of  analysing 
and  sorting  will  have  begun. 

(2)  T}ie  Vedas.  The  Aryan  immigrants  seem  to 
have  brought  a  scanty  and  sununary  theology  with 
them,  or  it  may  be  that  in  different  surroundings 
they  forgot  their  old  religious  ideas,  and,  with  the 
help  of  Dravidian  and  other  aboriginal  speculations, 
evolved  new  ones.  Sir  G.  Grierson  has  suggested 
that  the  fact  that  they  migrated  in  two  afterwards 
hostile  bodies  finds  its  reflection,  in  the  Vedas,  in  the 
fabled  antagonism  of  the  rival  priests  Visvamitra  and 
Vasishta;  in  the  Mahabharata  in  the  famous  war 
between  the  Kauravas  and  Pandavas,  the  Eastern 
counterpart  of  the  siege  of  Troy. 


Ill]  THE  RELIGIONS   OF  INDIA  ^7 

The  Vedas  are  four  collections  of  ritual  hymns, 
used  in  connection  with  the  oblation  of  the  intoxi- 
cating juice  of  the  Soma,  the  moon-plant,  or  with  the 
sacrificial  Fire.    The  Rig-veda  (the  oldest)  and  its 
supplement  the   Sfima-veda  are  now  held  to  have 
been  composed  when  the  Aryans  had  reached  the 
junction  of  the  Fanjab  rivers  with  the  Indus  :    the 
Black    and   White   Yajur-veda   when   they   reached 
the  Sutlej  and  the  Jumna;  the  Atharva-veda,  which 
contains  the  lower  beliefs  of  aboriginal  races,  when 
they  had   reached  Benares.      There   are  gods  and 
goddesses  of  the  sky,  the  most  important  being  the 
Sun,  and  Yaruna  (the  Greek  ovpav6<i),  afterwards  a 
kind  of  Hindu   Neptune,   but   in  these   early  days 
represented  as  sitting  in  the  vault  of  heaven,  and 
having  the  sun  and  stars  as  the  eyes  with  which  he 
watches  the   doings  of  men.     His  function  was  to 
encourage  personal  holiness  as  a  human  ideal.     In 
the  mid-air  Indra  became  pre-eminent  on  Indian  soil, 
where  the  dependence  of  an  agricultural  people  on 
periodical   rains   made   the   rain-god   an    important 
deity.      On   earth   the   most   important  deities  are 
Soma  and  Agni  (fire)  already  mentioned.     There  was 
also  Yama,  the  beautiful  and  stately  god  of  death, 
who   though   naturally  immortal  chose  to  die,  and 
lead  the  way  for  mortal  successors  to  the  abodes  of 
the  dead.    Besides  the  departmental  gods,  there  is  in 
the  Vedas  a  distinct  foreshadowing  of  Pantheism. 


88  THE  PEOPLES  OF  INDIA  [cH. 

(3)  The  Brahmauas.  When  the  Aryans  readied 
the  "Midland, "  tlie  upper  (langetic  valley,  the  Vedic 
hymns  were  supplemented  by  new  Scriptures,  called 
lindnnanas,  which  were  digests  of  dicta  on  matters 
of  ritual  for  the  guidance  of  priests.  These  were  the 
beginning  of  Brrdnnanism.  Tlie  elementary  Panthe- 
istic theory  of  the  Vedas  was  developed  into  a  belief 
in  one  Spiritual  Being  or  Atman.  When  manifested 
and  impersonal,  this  Being  was  the  neuter  Brahma  ; 
when  regarded  as  the  Creator,  he  was  the  masculine 
Brahma  ;  but  when  manifested  in  the  highest  order 
of  intellectual  men,  he  was  Brahman,  the  Brahman 
priestly  class.  Following  the  Brahmanas,  was  a 
third  order  of  religious  literature,  the  Upanishads. 
Dr  Hopkins  has  thus  summarised  the  teaching  of 
these  three  Scriptures.  "  In  tlie  Vedic  hynnis,  man 
fears  the  gods.  In  the  Bnlhmanas  man  subdues  the 
gods,  and  fears  God.  In  the  Upanishads  man  ignores 
the  gods  and  becomes  God."  Not  that  these  three 
kinds  of  Scripture,  these  three  evolutions  of  religious 
speculation,  followed  one  another  in  chronological 
order.  But  this  was,  roughly,  the  logical  evolution. 
Finally  the  doctrine  was  established  that  knowledge 
leads  to  the  supreme  bliss  of  absorption  into  Brahma, 
and  with  this  was  combined  the  theory  of  trans- 
migration. 

Even  from  this  extremely  crude  and  simplified 
statement,  it  will  be  evident  that  the  priesthood  had 


Ill]  THE  RELIGIONS  OF   INDIA  89 

secured  for  themselves  an  unexampled  supremacy, 
and,  in  the  Midland  at  least,  had  placed  the  admini- 
strator and  warrior  in  a  state  of  marked  inferiority. 
But  in  the  surrounding  territories,  success  in  arms 
and  government  won  men  the  consideration  still  con- 
sidered their  due  among  ourselves.  In  the  Midland 
itself  the  territory  was  divided  among  a  number  of 
petty  chiefs,  who  waged  perpetual  warfare  with  one 
anotlier.  They  were  not  likely  to  ignore  the  prestige 
won  by  valour  and  warlike  skill.  One  of  them  was 
Gautama,  the  Buddha  (c.  596-508  B.C.).  Another 
was  Vardhamana,  his  contemporary,  the  founder  of 
Jainism.  This  is  not  the  place  to  tell  of  Buddhism, 
Avliich,  as  a  recognised  creed,  though  it  has  spread 
far  to  the  north  and  east,  and  is  the  religion  of 
Ceylon  and  Burma,  only  survives  in  India  proper  in 
faint  influences  on  the  belief  and  practice  of  various 
Hindu  sects. 

(4)  Jainism.  The  Jain  Reform  still  exists  and 
numbers  over  a  million  of  followers.  Its  doctrines 
have  a  vague  and  general  resemblance  to  those  of 
Buddhism,  not  because  either  copied  the  other,  but 
because  they  sprang  from  a  common  origin.  In  both 
Nirvana,  the  "blowing  out,"  as  it  were,  of  the  lamp 
of  life  is  the  goal  aimed  at.  But  to  the  Buddhist, 
Nirvana  means  the  peace  of  extinction ;  to  the  Jain, 
it  is  final  escape  from  the  body  after  various  meta- 
morphoses.    Mr  Crooke  defines  the  fivefold  vow  of 


90  THE   PEOPLES  OF  INDIA  [ch. 

the  Jains  as  preKtTibiii<:;  (1)  the  sanctity  of  human 
life;  (2)  renunciation  of  lying,  which  proceeds  from 
anger,  greed,  fear  or  mirth;  (3)  rcfustil  to  take  things 
not  given;  (4)  chastity;  (5)  reininciation  of  worldly 
attachments.  The  Jain  pantheon  consists  of  deified 
saints  who  are  either  Tirthan-kara,  "  making  a  passage 
through  the  circuit  of  life,"  or  Jina,  "the  victorious 
ones." 

(.5)  Hinduism  Proper.  These  reforms,  joined 
with  the  spread  of  the  Brrdnnanical  faith  into  lands 
where  the  autluii'ity  of  Aryan  priests  was  not  recog- 
nised, produced  something  which,  in  its  way,  resembles 
the  Protestant  Reformation.  The  Vedic  religion  had 
come  to  be  the  monopoly  of  a  limited  order  of 
hereditary  priests.  This  ritual  supremacy  was  broken 
up  by  two  influences.  A  new  national  ideal  of  worship 
found  expression  in  the  Ijl^cs,  which  to  this  day,  in 
metrical  translations,  ai'e  the  layman's  scripture  all 
over  India.  Secondly,  the  Vedic  pantheon  was 
enormously  enlarged  by  the  admission  of  non-Aryan 
deities  and  aboriginal  modes  of  worship.  Hence  aiose 
the  body  of  writings  known  as  the  Puranas,  or  "ancient" 
books,  not  all  really  old  in  the  trace  of  their  composi- 
tion, but  perhaps  deserving  their  title  as  containing 
very  old  beliefs.  Of  all  these  books  and  their  teaching 
other  authorities  have  written  recently  in  various 
works  on  the  early  history  and  religious  poetry  of 
India,  and  it  would  therefore  be  presumptuous   for 


Ill]  THE  RELIGIONS  OF   INDIA  91 

me  to  say  anything  about  the  religious  literature  of 
Hinduism.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  the  Epics  intro- 
duced, in  place  of  the  vague  and  shadowy  Vedic 
gods,  heroic  incarnations  of  divine  virtue,  wisdom  and 
valour,  and  thus  led  to  the  sectarian  worship  of  the 
two  active  members  of  a  new  supreme  triad  of  gods, 
Brahma,  the  creator,  Vishnu,  the  preserver,  and  Siva, 
the  destroyer.  Most  Hindus  are  now  followers  of  one 
or  other  of  the  two  latter  in  some  incarnation.  In 
early  times  this  sectarian  rivalry  led  to  wars  and 
persecutions,  but  Hinduism  is  singularly  tolerant  in 
matters  of  belief  and  doctrine.  A  Saiva  is  not  a 
disbeliever  in  the  divinity  of  the  incarnations  of 
Vishnu  ;  a  Vaishnava  recognises  the  ascetic  powers 
of  Siva.  But  each  has  his  favourite  deity  and  chiefly 
studies  the  scriptures  relating  to  him.  The  principal 
incarnations  of  Vishnu  are  Krishna  and  Rama,  who 
seem  to  have  been  originally  deified  heroes  of  the  Mid- 
land. There  were  many  Vishnuvite  reformers,  some  of 
whom,  it  is  interesting  to  note,  may  have  derived  sug- 
gestions from  tlie  early  Christianity  of  Southern  India. 
The  first  of  these  was  Ramanuja,  who  lived  in  the 
eleventh  century  A.1).  Fifth  in  succession  to  him  was 
Ramananda,  who  lived  in  the  fourteenth  century  and 
was  the  missionary  of  popular  Vaishnavism  in  Northern 
India.  To  him  that  tract  owes  the  prevalence  of  the 
cult  of  Rama  and  his  wife  STta,  the  hero  and  heroine 
of  the   Epic   known   as  the   Ramiiyana.     His   chief 


93  THE   PEOPLES  OF   INDIA  [ch. 

innovation  was  the  admission  of  low-caste  disciples 
into  the  coniniunion.  His  disciple,  the  famous  Kabir 
(1380-1420  A.D.),  went  further.  He  even  linked 
Hinduism  with  Islam.  Himself  a  humble  weaver, 
he  taught  the  spiritual  equality  of  all  men.  God  is 
one,  he  argued,  by  whatever  name  men  choose  to  call 
Him.  The  accidents  of  life,  social  station  and  caste, 
happiness  and  grief,  prosperity  and  misfortune,  are 
all  the  results  of  Maya  or  Illusion.  Happiness  comes 
not  by  formula  or  sacrifice  but  by  passionate  adora- 
tion {bluihti)  of  God.  Kabir's  chief  importance  in 
the  history  of  Hindu  evolution  is  in  the  fact  that  his 
doctrines  were  the  origin  of  Sikhism. 

Another  gi'eat  name  in  the  democratic  Vaishnava 
reformation  was  that  of  Chaitanya  (1485-1527  A.i).). 
Mr  E.  A.  Gait  writes  of  him  tliat  he  was  "  a  Baidik 
Brahman.  He  preached  mainly  in  Central  Bengal 
and  Orissa,  and  his  doctrine  found  ready  acceptance 
among  large  numbers  of  the  people,  especially  among 
those  who  were  still,  or  had  only  recently  ceased  to 
be,  Buddliists,  This  was  maiidy  due  to  the  fact  that 
he  drew  his  followers  from  all  sources,  so  much  so 
that  even  Muhammadans  followed  him.  He  preached 
vehemently  against  the  immolation  of  animals  in 
sacrifice,  and  the  use  of  animal  food  and  stimulants, 
and  taught  that  the  true  road  to  salvation  lay  in 
bhakti,  or  fervent  devotion  to  God.  He  recommended 
Radlia  worship,  and  taught  that  the  love  felt  by  her 


Ill]  THE  RELIGIONS   OF  INDIA  93 

for  Krishna  was  the  highest  form  of  devotion.  The 
acceptable  offerings  were  flowers,  money,  and  the 
like  ;  but  the  great  form  of  worship  was  the  Sankirtan, 
or  procession  of  worshippers  playing  and  singing.  The 
peculiarity  of  Chaitanya's  cult  is  that  the  post  of 
spiritual  guide,  or  Goshain,  is  not  confined  to  Brah- 
mans,  and  several  of  those  best  known  belong  to  the 
Baidya  caste  ^." 

The  Sikhs.  As  a  religious  system,  the  creed  of 
the  Sikhs  originated  from  the  Hindu  teaching  of 
Kabir,  and  may  yet  be  reabsorbed  into  Hinduism, 
though  the  Census  of  1911  shows  that  it  still  flourishes 
as  a  separate  religion.  It  began  as  a  religious  reform 
and  ended  by  being  a  political  organisation.  It  was 
founded  by  the  Guru  Nanak  (1469-1538  A.D.)  in  the 
Panjab.  Its  formula  was  the  Unity  of  God  and  the 
Brotherhood  of  Man.  Ultimately  it  became  a  martial 
brotherhood,  one  of  whose  objects  was  by  training, 
diet,  and  self-denial  to  present  a  strong  front  to  the 
encroachments  of  Muhammadan  invaders  from  across 
the  north-west  frontier.  Circumstances  led  the  Sikh 
confederacy  to  try  its  fortune  in  arms  in  two  fiercely 
fought  campaigns  with  the  growing  power  of  our  East 
India  Company.  Defeat  was  followed  by  a  loyal 
acceptance  of  British  supremacy,  and  the  Sikhs  rival 

1  Some  account  of  the  development  of  Cliaitanya's  teaching  in 
Assam  may  be  fomid  in  an  article  of  mine  in  Dr  Hastings' 
Dictionary  of  Religion  and  Ethics. 


94  THE    PEOPLKS   OF   INDIA  [cH. 

the  (iurkluu?  as  the  Iwst  soMiei>i  in  the  Iiulijiii  army. 
'ITleir  serviccfs  duriiiy:  the  mutiny  of  1H.>7  will  never 
1k'  for^rotten. 

The  SCiktaa.  One  other  great  llin«lu  sect,  that  of 
the  Saktas,  nmst  be  briefly  mentioned.  It  worships 
the  active  female  principle  ( prahriti)  of  one  or  other 
of  the  fonns  of  the  Consort  of  Siva — Durga,  Kali,  or 
Parvati.  This  cult  arose  in  Eastern  Bengal  or  Assam 
about  the  fifth  century,  A.I).,  and  has  its  own  scriptures 
in  the  Tantras.  This  sect  is  probably  due  to  the 
recrudescence  of  very  ancient  aboriginal  cults.  It 
is  assfxjiated  with  h»lood-offerings  and  libidinous  rites. 
It  was  denounced  by  the  Vaishnava  reformers,  but 
still  survives,  even  among  educated  men.  It  affected 
the  later  forms  of  Buddliism. 

Finally,  by  omitting  all  mention  of  numerous 
modem  Vaishnava  sects,  we  come  to  the  modern 
Theistic  sects.  The  Brahmo  Samaj  of  Bengal  was 
founded  by  the  celebrated  llaja  Bam  Molian  Roy 
(1774-183.3)  who  died  and  was  buried  at  Clifton. 
His  teachings  were  continued  and  developed  by  his 
successors  Maharshi  Devendranath  Tagore  (the  father 
of  the  poet  Rabindranath  Tagore),  Keshav  Chandra 
Sen,  and  Pratiip  Chandra  Majumdar.  All  of  these 
were  men  of  much  piety,  eloquence,  and  learning. 
Sir  Alfred  Lyall  says  tiiat  "  Brahmoism,  as  propagated 
by  its  latest  expounders,  seems  to  be  unitarianism  of 
a  European  type,  and  as  far  as  one  can  understand 


Ill]  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  INDIA  95 

it«  argument,  appears  to  have  no  logical  stability  or 
hcNs  standi  between  revelation  and  pure  rationalism; 
it  propounds  either  too  much  or  too  little  to  its 
hearers."  It  has,  however,  been  an  effectual  bar 
to  the  spread  of  Christianity  among  the  educated-' 
classes  in  Bengal.  It  enables  them  to  remain  in 
touch  with  Hinduism,  from  which  an  adoption  of 
any  European  creed  would  effectually  divide  them. 
It«  services  of  praise  and  prayer,  witli  a  sermon  or 
discourse,  are  held  on  Sundays,  and  in  form  resemble 
those  of  the  Christian  free  churches.  Its  creed  con- 
sists in  a  belief  in  the  Unity  of  God,  the  brotherhood 
of  man,  and  direct  communion  with  God  without  the  ^ 
intervention  of  any  mediator.  It  may  fairly  be 
claimed  for  it  that  it  has  satisfied  the  religious  needs 
of  men  most  of  whom  lead  exemplary  and  in  some 
cases  saintly  lives,  without  compelling  them  to  join 
what  is  reg;\rded  as  a  foreign  and  uncongenial 
religion.  But  for  Bam  Mohan  Boy,  educated  Beng-al  . 
might  M-ell  have  furnished  the  nucleus  of  a  Christian  *^ 
Church  of  India,  since,  before  his  time,  many  dis- 
tinguished and  able  converts  were  made.  I  need 
only  mention  the  late  Bev.  K.  M.  Bannerjee.  The 
Brahmo  Samaj  is  divided  into  three  sections.  The 
Adi  Samaj,  as  its  name  indicates,  is  the  original 
church.  It  is  the  most  conservative  of  the  three, 
and  takes  its  inspiration  wholly  from  the  Hindu 
scriptures,  and  especially  from  the  Upanishads.    The 


96  THE  PEOPLES  OF   INDIA  [ch. 

Xavavidhan  Samaj,  founded  by  Keshav  Chandra  Sen, 
"the  Church  of  the  New  Dis})en8ation,"  is  nuich  more 
eclectic  and  has  borrowed  what  it  considers  accept- 
able, not  only  from  the  holy  books  of  Hinduism,  but 
from  Christianity,  Buddhism,  and  Islam.  The  Sad- 
haran  (or  "general")  Brahmo  Samaj  is  the  most 
advanced  of  the  three  Churches.  It  rejects  caste 
and  the  seclusion  of  women,  allows  inter-caste 
marriages,  and  is  seemingly  as  far  from  orthodox 
Hinduism  as  from  orthodox  Christianity.  It  has 
even  allowed  one  of  its  lady  members  to  be  married 
to  an  Englishman  by  Brahmo  rites.  If  it  can  hardly 
be  called  Hindu  in  ritual  or  in  belief,  it  is  Hindu 
in  what  is  probably  regarded  as  the  more  important 
sense  of  being  a  purely  Indian  sect  and  not  a  direct 
product  of  European  missionary  zeal. 

Another  new  sect,  the  Arya  Samaj,  or  Aryan  Society, 
has  much  influence  in  the  Panjab  and  North-Westem 
India  generally.  It  was  founded  by  Dayanand  Saras- 
wati  (1827-53).  Its  only  scriptures  are  the  Vedas. 
It  professes  pure  monotheism,  repudiates  idol  worship, 
and  is  much  interested  in  social  reform.  It  has  also 
at  times  been  mixed  up,  more  or  less  directly,  with 
political  agitation.  Like  the  Brahmo  Samaj,  it  is 
probably  due  in  its  inception  to  the  influence  of 
European  religious  teaching,  but,  as  is  perhaps 
natural,  its  acceptance  of  European  ethics  is  marked 
by  a  sturdy  resistance  to  European  dogma. 


Ill]  THE   RELIGIONS  OF  INDIA  97 

The  great  bulk  of  Hinduism,  however,  remains 
still  but  little  removed  from  the  Animistic  stage 
of  religious  evolution,  and  one  of  the  results  of 
the  spread  of  British  rule  into  wild  and  savage  tracts 
has  been  the  extension  of  the  borders  of  Hinduism 
in  competition  with  Christianity.  In  the  rougher 
and  wilder  races,  not  yet  sufficiently  softened  and 
civilised  for  the  acceptance  of  the  Hindu  social 
system,  the  Christian  missionary  prevails.  He  has 
been  most  successful  among  the  Gonds  of  Central 
India,  among  such  savage  tribes  as  the  Nagas,  Garos, 
and  Lushais  on  the  Assam  border.  Elsewhere 
Hinduism  pursues  its  quietly  imperturbable  course 
and  admits  savage  races  to  its  lower  castes  as  it 
has  always  admitted  them  during  the  last  two  yj 
thousand  years. 

Islam  in  India.  Since  King  George  V  has 
more  Muhammadan  subjects  than  any  other  ruler 
on  earth — some  75,000,000  in  number,  it  would  not 
be  proper  to  close  a  little  book  on  the  Peoples  of 
India  without  saying  something  of  those  of  their 
number  who  are  Musalmans.  The  early  Muhammadan 
invasions  of  the  tenth  century  were  mere  predatory 
raids,  and  were  attended  neither  by  settlement  nor 
conversion.  But  at  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century 
Muhanmiad  Ghori  overthrew  the  Hindu  dynasties 
of  Delhi  and  Kanauj  and  thus  opened  the  way  to 
future   Muhammadan   conquests.     In  the  sixteenth 


98  THE  PEOPLES  OF  INDIA  [ch. 

century  Moglial  rule  was  establislied  under  Babar 
and  his  successors.  During  the  preceding  five 
centuries  Hindu  India  suffered  mucli  oppression 
and  wrong  at  the  liands  of  Muhammadan  invaders, 
but  Islam  had  made  no  attempt  to  become  an 
-^Indian  religion.  The  early  Moghal  emperors  were 
too  busy  in  consolidating  their  concjuests  and  organ- 
ising their  administration  to  have  nnich  leisure  or 
inclination  for  proselytising.  Tlieir  policy  depended 
largely  on  co-operation  with  Rajput  princes,  whose 
daughters  they  married.  The  influence  of  Rajput 
empresses  and  princesses  made  for  kindly  tolerance. 
It  was  only  under  the  zealot  Aurangzeb  that  any 
tendency  to  forcible  conversion  showed  itself. 

The  final  result  of  some  seven  hundred  years  of 
Muhammadan  rule  in  various  parts  of  the  country  is 
that  Musalmans  are  in  excess  of  Hindus  only  in  the 
Western  Panjab,  which  is  in  contact  with  a  purely 
Muhammadan  country,  and  in  Eastern  Bengal,  where 
the  aboriginal  low-caste  Hindu  was  glad  to  get  social 
promotion  by  accepting  Islam,  and  where  he  thrives 
and  prospers  at  the  expense  of  his  Hindu  brother, 
partly  because  his  diet  is  more  nutritious,  partly 
because  he  does  not  practise  infant-marriage  and 
other  debilitating  customs. 

As  has  been  said  above.  Animism  has  affected 
Islam  as  well  as  Hinduism.  From  the  old  religion  of 
the  country  Musalmans  have  borrowed  demonology, 


Ill]  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  INDIA  99 

a  belief  iu  witchcraft,  and  the  worship  of  departed 
Pirs  or  saints.  The  most  remarkable  instance  of  the 
latter  is  the  sect  of  the  Pachpiriyas  of  Bengal,  the 
worshippers  of  the  Five  Saints,  a  cult  which  some 
have  traced  to  the  cult  of  the  five  Panda va  heroes  of 
the  Mahabharata.  The  five  Pirs,  however,  vary  in 
name  from  district  to  district.  In  Eastern  Bengal, 
no  one,  whether  Hindu  or  Musalman  (or,  I  had 
almost  said,  Christian),  begins  a  journey  by  boat 
without  a  loud  and  hearty  invocation  of  the  Ganges, 
the  Wind,  the  Five  Pirs,  and  Pir  Badr  before 
mentioned. 

Of  the  two  great  sects  of  Islam,  the  Sunnis  and 
the  Shias,  the  former  are  by  far  the  most  numerous 
in  India.  The  Sunnis  or  Traditionalists  accept  the 
Sunnat  or  collected  body  of  Arabic  usage  as  pos- 
sessing authority  concurrent  with  that  of  the  Koran, 
which  is  the  sole  scripture  of  the  Shias.  Yet  in 
Eastern  Bengal  the  annual  procession  of  the  Tazias, 
or  representations  of  the  tombs  of  the  martyred 
grandsons  of  the  Prophet,  is  nmch  attended  by 
Sunnis  (though  for  them  the  practice  is  unortho- 
dox), and  indeed  by  Hindus  also.  In  other  parts 
of  India,  the  Mohurram  festival  has  often  led  to 
serious  encounters  between  Hindus  and  Musalmans, 
and  even  in  Calcutta  and  Bombay  has  been  the 
cause  of  dangerous  riots. 

The  sects  of  Islam  in  India,  unlike  the  Hindu 

7—2 


y 


100  THE   PEOPLES  OF   INDIA  [CH. 

sects,  are  not  due  to  the  iiintinct  for  differentiation, 
for  obvious  reasons.  They  are,  in  Mr  Crooke's 
words,  either  i)uritanical  or  pietistic.  Consequently, 
foUowers  of  them  are  apt  to  show  a  tendency  to 
fanaticism.  The  Hindu  sectarian  adores  some  fa- 
vourite deity,  but  does  not  deny  the  merits,  or  the 
Hinduism,  of  other  deities  or  their  followers.  The 
Musalman  sectarian  is  one  who  has  discovered  a 
hij^her  orthodoxy  than  others,  or  a  straighter  road 
to  religion,  and  regards  those  who  do  not  share  his 
views  as  an  enemy  of  <iod  and  the  true  faith.  Of 
the  puritanical  sects,  the  best  known  is  that  of  the 
Wahabis,  founded  by  Ibn  Abdul  Wahab  at  Nejd  in 
Arabia,  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
It  was  an  attempt  to  revive  primitive  Muhammadan- 
ship  without  the  corruptions  and  accretions  of  later 
ages  and  foreign  lands.  It  was  brought  into  India 
by  Sayid  Ahmad  Shah,  who  proclaimed  a  Jihad,  or 
holy  war,  against  the  Sikhs  in  \H2G.  The  Wahabis 
hold  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Urjity  of  God  has  been 
endangered  by  the  excessive  reverence  paid  to  the 
Prophet,  to  his  successors  the  Imans,  and  to  shrines. 
At  times  Wahabis  have  given  trouble  to  the  ad- 
ministration, especially  in  Bengal.  In  recent  years, 
however,  they  call  themselves  Ahl-i-hadls,  or  "fol- 
lowers of  tradition,"  and  employ  themselves  chiefly  in 
endeavouring  to  eradicate  modern  superstitions. 
The    pietistic    sects    tend    towards    Sufi -ism,    a 


iTi]  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  INDIA  101 

combination  of  Aryan  pantheism  with  Semitic  mono- 
theism, which  takes  the  form  of  ecstatic  devotion. 
Something  of  the  same  kind  may  be  found  in  the 
Vaisnav  sects  of  Hinduism,  and  in  both  cases  ultimate   / 
absorption  in  the  divinity  is  the  goal  aimed  at. 

Very  interesting  local  communities  of  Muham- 
madans  are  the  Moplahs  of  the  Malabar  coast, 
descendants  of  Arab  settlers;  the  Bohras  or 
"traders"  of  Western  India;  and  the  Khojas,  fol- 
lowers of  the  "Old  Man  of  the  Mountain,"  whose 
present  representative  is  H.H.  the  Agha  Khan  of 
Bombay,  who  has  many  friends  in  England. 

The  P arsis.  The  word  Pars!  simply  means  Persian, 
and  the  Parsi  religion  is  the  dualistic  faith,  combined 
with  fire-worship,  of  the  ancient  Persians.  It  is  also 
called  Mazdaism  from  Ahura  Mazda  (Ormuzd),  who 
is  in  perpetual  conflict  with  Angro  Mainyush  (Ahri- 
man),  the  spirit  of  evil.  It  is  also  called  Zoroastrian- 
ism,  from  the  reformer  Zoroaster,  the  Greek  form  of 
the  old  Iranian  Zarathushtra,  the  modern  Persian 
Zardusht.  The  religious  phraseology  of  the  Parsis 
shows  that  their  faith  must  have  had  a  common 
origin  with  the  Aryan  religion  of  India  before  the 
Iranian  and  Indo-Aryan  migrations  parted  company. 
By  a  curious  trick  of  language,  the  Devas,  who  in 
India  and  Europe  are  beneficent  gods,  in  Persia 
become  evil  spirits.  In  India  by  a  corresponding 
inversion,  the   word   Asura,  which  in  the   llig-veda 


102  THE  PEOPLES   OF   INDIA  [ch. 

is  still  a  name  of  gods,  was  applied  to  hostile  (gene- 
rally aboriginal)  demons.  By  a  further  process  Asura 
was  regarded  as  a  negative  word,  and  gave  birth  to  a 
tribe  of  beneficent  Suras.  In  the  earlier  times,  there 
were  both  Ahura  and  Daeva  worshippers,  the  former 
being  socially  superior,  cattle-bree<lers,  Miio,  like  the 
Indian  Hindus,  venerated  the  cow.  It  was  Zoroaster's 
mission  to  fuse  these  two  cults  into  a  dualistic  creed, 
whose  main  principle  was  the  continuous  struggle 
between  the  powers  of  good  and  evil.  Submerged 
for  a  time  during  the  Greek  occupation,  the  Mazdaist 
faith  revived  under  the  Sassanids,  but  M^as  finally 
overthrown  by  the  advent  of  Islam,  M'hich  persecuted 
and  strove  to  extirpate  the  worship  of  fire. 

Many  of  the  survivors  migrated  to  India,  where 
they  secured  the  tolerance  of  Hindu  and  Muhammadan 
rulers  alike,  and  increased  and  multiplied.  Up  to 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  Surat,  Nausari, 
and  the  neighbouring  parts  of  Gujarat  were  their 
home.  When,  under  British  rule,  Bombay  became 
a  great  commercial  port,  large  numbers  of  Parsis 
migrated  thither,  and  in  many  cases  won  great 
wealth  and  influence. 

In  the  early  days  of  their  dispersion,  the  weak 
colonies  of  Piirsls  assimilated  themselves  with  the 
lower  classes  of  Hindus  by  whom  they  were  sur- 
rounded. But  fresh  accessions  from  Iran,  and  a 
growth   of   national  prosperity   and  self-confidence 


Ill]  THE  RELIGIONS  OF   INDIA  103 

brought  about  a  restoration  of  the  ancient  faith.  On 
Indian  soil,  the  Parsis  now  number  94,000.  But  owing 
to  their  intelligence  and  wealth,  due  to  their  remark- 
able success  in  trading,  the  Pa,rsTs  command  a  much 
wider  political  and  social  influence  than  their  numbers 
would  seem  to  show.  According  to  Parsi  belief,  the 
soul  passes  after  death  to  paradise  (Bihisht)  or  a 
place  of  punishment  (Dozakh)  according  to  a  man's 
conduct  in  life.  Much  importance  is  attached  to  the 
performance  of  rites  to  the  manes  of  ancestors.  Fire, 
water,  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  were  created  by  Ahura 
Mazda,  and  are  venerated,  as  is  Zarathushtra  the  Pro- 
phet. Soshios,  his  son,  will  some  day  be  reincarnated 
as  a  Messiah,  and  will  convert  the  world  to  the  true 
faith.  As  with  other  Indian  religions,  contact  with* 
Europeans  tends  to  produce  laxity  of  belief  and] 
conduct. 

Christianity.  It  is  interesting  to  remember  that 
there  were  Christians  in  India  before  the  Christian 
faith  reached  our  islands.  The  tradition  that  St 
Thomas  was  the  Apostle  of  India,  and  suffered 
martyrdom  there,  is  indeed  discredited.  This  tradi- 
tion originated  with  the  Syriac  Acta  Thomae,  and 
was  accepted  by  Catholic  teachers  from  the  middle 
of  the  fourth  century.  The  Indian  King  Gundaphar 
of  the  Acta  is  undoubtedly  the  historical  Gondophares, 
whose  dynasty  was  Parthian,  though  his  territories 
were  loosely  considered  to  extend  to  India.    A  full 


104  THE  PEOPLES  OF  INDIA  [ch. 

account  of  the  traditions  connecting  St  lliomae  with 
India  (by  W.  R.  Pliilipps)  will  be  found  in  vol.  xxxii. 
of  the  Indian  Antu/nary,  1903,  pp.  1-15,  145-160. 

The  term  "Christians  of  St  Thomas"  is  often 
applied  to  the  members  of  the  ancient  Christian 
churches  of  Southern  India  which  claim  him  as  their 
first  founder,  and  honour  as  their  second  founder  a 
bishop  called  Thomas,  wlio  is  said  to  have  come  from 
Jerusalem  to  Malabar  in  345  a.d.  According  to  local 
tradition,  St  Thomas  went  from  Malabar  to  Mylapur, 
now  a  suburb  of  Madras  and  the  seat  of  a  Roman 
Catholic  bishop.  Here  still  exists  the  shrine  of  his 
martyrdom  on  Mount  St  Thomas.  A  miraculous  cross 
is  shown  with  a  Pahlavi  inscription  which  is  said  to 
be  as  old  as  the  end  of  the  seventh  century.  The  old 
churches  of  the  south  wei-e  certainly  of  East  Syrian 
origin.  Tliey  never  wholly  lost  their  sense  of  con- 
nection with  their  mother  church,  for  it  is  known  that 
they  sent  deputies  in  1490  to  the  Nestorian  patriarcli 
Simeon,  who  provided  them  with  bishops.  Under 
Musalman  rule,  they  suffered  severely,  and  welcomed 
the  advent  of  the  Portuguese  to  India.  They  were, 
however,  recalcitrant  to  Roman  influence,  and  it  was 
with  much  diflficulty  that  in  1599  they  were  induced 
to  submit  to  a  formal  union  with  Rome  at  the 
synod  of  Diamper  (Udayamperur  in  Cochin).  During 
the  following  century  and  a  half  the  Thomasine 
churches  were  under  foreign  Jesuit  rule,  but  yielded 


Ill]  THE  RELIGIONS   OF  INDIA  105 

an  unwilling  and  intermittent  obedience.  In  1653, 
there  was  a  great  schism,  and  of  about  200,000  Chris- 
tians of  St  Thomas  only  400  remained  loyal  to  Rome, 
though  some  of  their  churches  were  soon  won  back 
by  the  Carmelites.  The  remainder  fell  under  the 
influence  of  the  Jacobite  Mar  Gregorius,  styled 
patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  who  reached  Malabar  in 
1665  as  an  emissary  from  Ignatius  patriarch  of  An- 
tioch.  From  this  time,  the  independent  churches  of 
Southern  India  have  been  Jacobite.  At  the  present 
time,  they  are  on  friendly  terms  with  the  Anglican  / 
church  in  India,  and  are  loosening  their  dependence 
on  the  Jacobite  patriarch  of  Antioch. 

Of  missionary  work  in  India  I  need  not  speak  in 
a  book  of  this  size.  There  are  nearly  three  millions 
of  Christians  in  India,  of  whom  two  and  a  half  millions 
are  native  converts.  Seeing  that  missionary  work 
has  been  in  operation  since  1500,  a  tale  of  converts 
amounting  to  less  than  one  per  cent,  may  seem  a 
discouraging  result  of  over  400  years  of  contact  with 
European  religious  thought.  But  actual  conversion 
has  taken  place  chiefly  among  the  lower  classes  and 
least  advanced  races.  Among  the  educated  classes 
the  influence  of  Christianitv  has  been  indirect,  and 
in  many  cases  has  produced  a  transformation  in 
ethical  belief  and  social  conduct  as  complete  as  could 
have  been  wrought  by  open  conversion.  The  IBrahmo 
Samajj^  for  instance,  remains  Hindu  in  a  sense,  because 


106  THE   PEOPLES  OF   INDIA  [ch. 

it  refuses  to  sever  its  connection  with  India,  or  to 
acknowledge  European  authority  in  matters  of 
religion.  Hut  the  Brahnio  Samaj  could  not  have 
come  into  existence  but  for  Ram  Mohan  Roy's 
friendly  and  intimate  acquaintance  with  European 
Christians  and  Unitarians.  Even  in  the  matter  of 
conversion,  the  i-ate  of  progress  is  increasing  rapidly, 
partly  because  missimiary  effort  is  being  directed  to 
savage  tracts  hitherto  unvisited  by  civilised  men,  but 
partly,  also,  because  the  native  Christian  comnmnity 
is  beginning  to  have  sufficient  self-confidence  and 
status  to  proselytise  in  its  turn.  The  multiplicity  of 
missionary  agencies,  due  to  the  accidents  of  European 
history  and  development,  has  been  an  impediment. 
Such  terms  as  the  Church  of  England,  Church  of 
Scotland,  Welsh  Baptists,  American  Baptists,  etc., 
can  have  little  signification  for  races  who  cannot  be 
expected  to  know  the  historical  causes  which  brought 
about  these  local  varieties  of  Christian  doctrine  and 
practice.  There  may  yet  arise  among  one  of  the  rival 
churches  in  India  a  Christian  Ramanuja  or  Chaitanya, 
who  may  found  a  great  Church  of  India,  with  a  ritual, 
and,  perhaps,  doctrines  of  its  own.  The  most  suc- 
cessful of  the  Jesuit  missionaries,  Robert  de  Nobili  ^ 
for  instance,  and  such  men  as  the  Abbe  Dubois  in 

1  In  1606,  R.  de  Nobili,  a  nephew  of  Bellarmiiie,  was  in  charge 
of  the  Jesuit  mission  at  Madura,  and  adopted  the  costume  of  a 
Drandian  Brahman. 


Ill]  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  INDIA  107 

later  times,  owed  their  success  to  the  fact  that  they 
assumed  the  habits,  dress,  and  often  the  titles  of 
Brahmanic  ascetics.  They  could  not  assume  the 
>^  dusky  skin  which,  after  all,  is  the  first  and  easiest 
means  of  gaining  an  Indian's  confidence.  They  could 
not  wholly  accept  caste,  they  could  not  wink  at  poly- 
gamy in  the  case  of  men  whose  first  wives  were 
infertile,  and  who  had  an  hereditary  sense  that  the  ^ 
lack  of  an  heir  is  socially  and  religiously  repre- 
hensible. Perhaps  a  truly  indigenous  Church  of 
India  may  deal  with  such  difficulties  more  successfully 
than  men  who  are  compelled  to  teach,  not  only  the 
elements  of  the  Christian  faith,  but  the  ethical 
traditions  belonging  to  their  own  race. 

In  this  connection,  I  may  be  allowed  to  conclude  my 
necessarily  brief  story  of  Indian  races  and  religions 
with  an  anecdote.  Just  thirty-five  years  ago  I  was  in 
charge  of  a  "  subdivision  "  in  Bengal  which  contained 
a  large  number  of  native  Christians  belonging  to  the 
Church  of  England  There  were  several  churches 
with  parsonages,  and  the  nearest  of  these  to  my  head- 
(piarters  was  in  the  charge  of  a  young  missionary  who 
was  glad  to  have  an  occasional  chat  with  a  young 
magistrate.  One  day  my  missionary  friend  told  me 
that  he  had  discovered  with  dismay  that  his  flock 
were  in  the  habit  of  attending  the  Communion  Service 
in  batches,  according  to  their  castes,  so  as  not  to  be  , 
obliged  to  drink  out  of  the  cup  with  men  of  alien  caste.  ^^ 

-fl  .K.I  / 


t^'^08  A-^^^'^^THfe"  PEOPLES  OF  INDIA  [ch. 

'  J,  '^Tliere  wore  Hindu  ChristiaiiH  and  Muliamrnaduu 
j  "^  Christians  wlio  could  not  eat  or  drink  together.  He 
y^decided  that  this  state  of  things  must  be  stoj»i)ed  at 
,11  costs,  fis  being  wholly  contrary  to  Christian  teaeh- 
ing.  I  ventured  to  suggest  that  spiritual  ecjuality  iiV;  ^ 
not  tlie  same  tiling  as  social  equality,  but  had  t^j  {^^i 
admit  that  caste  is  not  usually  recognised  as  a  Chris-  ;^ 
tian  institution,  A])])arently  the  C-hristians  listened 
to  their  i)astor's  admonition,  for,  a  few  days  after,  he  ^^ 
rode  over  to  say  that,  in  consecjuence  of  ex-scavengers  \^\ 
and  ex-Brahmans  having  communicated  together,  his 
whole  congregation  had  been  put  out  of  caste  by  their 
Hindu  neighbours.  This  may  not,  at  first  sight,  seem 
a  very  serious  calamity.  But  it  haj>pened  that,  in  the 
ca.ste  specialisation  which  had  survived  among  the 
Christians,  there  wei'e  none  of  the  community  wlio 
were  barbers  or  mid  wives  by  caste.  Christian  men 
were  going  alx)ut  with  stubbly  chins :  worse  still, 
Christian  women  were  in  need  of  help  which  their 
Hindu  sisters  refused  to  supply.  It  was  a  difficult 
situation  for  two  young  Vjachelors.  However,  I 
now  confess,  after  all  these  years,  that  I  brought  a 
little  official  pressure  to  lx;ar  on  the  midwives,  and 
the  situation  was  saved  for  the  moment.  In  those 
days,  the  educational  policy  of  Government  was  to 
give  grants-in-aid  to  i)rimary  schools,  most  of  which, 
in  this  very  Christian  "  sub-division "  were  either 
Roman  Catholic  or  Anglican.    \Vhen  next  I  proceeded 


Ill]  THE  KELIGIONS   OF  INDIA  109 

to  issue  my  doles  according  to  school-population  and 
other  educational  results,  I  was  astonished  to  find 
that  the  Roman  Catholic  grant-in-aid  had  increased 
greatly  and  the  Anglican  grant-in-aid  had  propor- 
tionally diminished.     This  was  the  immediate  (and  no 
doubt  temporary)   result  of  my  missionary  fi-iend's 
zeal.     Such  survivals  of  old  beliefs  are  common  in  all 
the  religions  of  India.     The  main  social  impulse  of 
the  people  was  implanted  on  their  minds  atthe  distant   y^ 
epoch  of  the  Ary^Bii^fittLement,  the  sense  of  social  and  ^^^-^ 
racial  inequality  which  has  now  hardened  into  the    \, 
caste  system.     To  most  Indians  a  recognition  of  the   /^ 
importance  and  value  of  caste  is  the  first  step  towards      ^ 
decent  and  seemly  conduct,  towards  civilised  morality,  r^  ^ 
When  a  semi-savage  hill-man  begins  to  recognise  his  ^^^^^ 
inferiority  to  his  Hindu  neighbours  and  makes  tenta-    ,£,.^ 
tive  approaches  with  a  view  to  inclusion  in  civilised  ^^yl^ 
society,  his  first  duty  is  to  abjure  the  diet  of  pork  ^^^ . 
and  rice-beer  which  his  unregenerate  appetite  loves,    c^^ 
since  these  indulgences  stand  in  the  way  of  sharing  /^^^^ 
a  meal  with  Hindu  folk.     (In  other  parts  of  India,  <:5,^^ 
liquor  and  meat  are  consumed  by  low-caste  Hindus  j^^^^ 
of  aboriginal    origin.)      In   Assam,   a   Kachari   first     *— 
accepts  the   mrana    or   "  protection "   of   a    Hindu  '-"^^ 
Goshain.     He  is  then  called  a  Saraniya  Koch.     His  ^^ 
next  step  is  to  abandon  strong  drinks,  on  which  he  is 
promoted  to  the  status  of  a  Modahi  Koch.     At  this 
stage,  he  may  be  fortunate  enough  to  win  the  hand 


110  THE  PEOPLES  OF  INDIA  [ch. 

of  a  bride  of  pure  Koch  family,  and,  under  lier 
jiTuidance,  ac(|uire8  enough  of  conventional  habifH  and 
beliefs  to  be  recognised  as  a  Kanitali  or  Bor  Koch, 
and  is  a  true  Hindu,  a  member  of  a  genuine  Hindu 
caste.  Musalmfms  and  Christians  have  other  social 
conventions,  and  do  not  usually  regard  them  as 
essential  to  good  manners  or  godliness.  But  their 
converts  retain  their  social  superstitions  and  carry 
them  into  the  new  surroundings,  where  they  some- 
times come  into  disagreeable  contact  with  the  ethical 
ideas  belonging  to  imported  religions. 

The  contact  of  Aryan  with  Dravidian  races,  some 
three  thousand  years  ago,  brought  about  the  begin- 
nings of  caste,  which,  from  one  point  of  view,  may  be 
regarded    as   a  rude    form    of  "race-protection,"   a 
.    primitive  system  of  eugenics.     It  is  still  most  rigidly 

^enforced  in  the  south,  where  tlie  semi-Aryan  classes 
are  in  a  great  minority.  It  is  most  relaxed  in  the 
Panjab,  where,  though  caste  rules  exist,  the  population 
is,  and  i)robably  always  has  been,  as  homogeneous  as 
our  own  race.     French  travellers  in  India  have  some- 

.  times  said,  haif-humorously,  that  the  Anglo-Indian  '^ 
administrators  and  merchants  are  practically  a  caste 

I, unto    themselves.      Bengalis  have   made   the    same 

fremark  and  have  said  that  our  Civil  Service  is  com- 
posed of  Kali  Yuger  Brahman,  "the  Brahmans  of 
the  Iron  Age."     There  wasjog^^ome  truth  in  thez  /jv/ 

^accusation,   if   accusation   it  T)e!      It  was   not   onv^iCJiM 


Ill]  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  INDIA  111 

business  to  interfere  deliberately  with  caste,  since 
British  policy  fi'om  the  first  has  been  one  of  kindly 
neutrality  and  toleration.  AVliether  indirect  influences 
have  mitigated  the  effect  of  the  sentiment  of  caste  is 
a  moot  point.  Educated  Indians  who  have  lived  in 
Europe  see  its  irksomeness,  and  in  some  cases 
denounce  it  more  vigorously  than  most  Europeans 
will  care  to  denounce  a  system  due  to  historical 
causes  which  are  still  partly  operative.  On  the  other 
hand,  railways  and  other  facilities  for  travel,  though 
they  have  necessarily  introduced  laxity  in  matters  of 
food  and  contact,  have  probably  heightened  the  caste 
feeling  by  emphasising  the  variety  of  Hindu  humanity 
and  of  the  customs  and  habits  of  its  many  races. 
Hence  the  evolution  of  Indian  society  remains  as 
*  interesting  and  as  incalculable  as  ever. 

In  a  little  book  of  this  sort  it  has  been  necessary 
to  make  many  general  and  sweeping  statements  which 
are  not  always  literally  true  of  any  given  part  of  India. 
But  perha])s  en<Migh  has  been  said  to  show  the  inter- 
esting and  significant  differences  between  the  three 
hundred  odd  millions  of  Western  Europe  and  the  three, 
hundred  odd  millions  of  India.  Our  business  in  India 
has  been  primarily  to  keep  the  peace,  to  provide  a 
breathing-space  after  the  social  and  political  turmoil 
that  followed  on  the  breaking-up  of  the  Moghal 
empire.  The  principal  result,  so  far,  has  been  a 
notable  increase  in  Hindu  self-confidence  and  ambition, 


112  THE  PEOPLES  OF   INDIA       [ch.  iii 

and  a  growing  Ixilief  among  Hindus  that  their  ancient 
social  system  is  not  incom])atible  with  industrial, 
commercial,  and  politicul  advance  on  European  lines. 
Tliis  belief  has  been  much  strengthened  by  the 
modernisation  of  Japan,  and  its  results.  It  has  been 
fostered  by  the  free  admission  of  educated  Hindus  to 
the  highest  and  most  responsible  posts  in  the  King- 
p]mperor's  administration.  Inasmuch  as  that  state- 
ment brings  me  to  the  most  modern  development  of 
Hindu  life  and  thought,  I  cannot  do  better  than  end 
at  this  point. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

CHAPTER   I 

The  standard  authority  on  the  Hindu  literary  theory  of  Caste 
i.^  M.  Eniile  Senart's  Les  Castes  dans  VIvde.  Paris.  Ernest 
Leroux.     1896. 

Probably  the  best  succinct  account  of  Caste  is  Mr  E.  A.  Gait's 
article  in  Dr  Hastings'  Encyclopa'dia  of  Religion  and  Ethics. 
This  will,  of  course,  be  brought  up  to  date  in  the  forthcoming 
Report  on  the  Indian  Census  of  1911. 

Sir  A.  C.  Lyall's  Asiatic  Studies.  London.  John  Murray. 
Contains  a  sympathetic  and  learned  account  of  Hindu  social  life 
and  of  the  workings  of  Caste  in  Upper  India. 

M.  C.  Bougie's  Essai  sur  le  Regime  des  Castes.  Paris.  Felix 
Alcan.  1908.  Contains  much  interesting  matter  taken  from 
many  sources,  but  sometimes,  from  want  of  local  knowledge,  does 
not  sufficiently  discriminate  between  different  developments  of 
the  caste  system. 

There  is  an  enormous  literature  on  the  races,  tribes,  and 
castes  of  India,  but  references  to  the  most  important  books  will 
be  found  in  the  above  authorities. 

Chajjter  I  is,  in  the  main,  a  summary  of  Sir  H.  H.  Risley's 
views  as  expressed  in  Chapter  VI  of  S'ol.  I  of  the  Imperial 
Gazetteer.  That  is  inevitable,  since  the  Gazetteer  contains 
necessarily  the  most  authoritative  sumniiiry  of  what  is  known  on 
the  subject,  pending  the  appearance  of  Mr  Gait's  forthcoming 
Census  Report. 

A.  8 


114  BIBLIOGRAPHY 


CHAPTER  II 


The  stiindard  autlutrity  on  the  modern  huiguages  of  India  is 
Sir  G.  A.  Grierson's  work  on  The  Languagen  qf  India  (Cfdcutta, 
1903).  It  \.'ill,  however,  })e  superseded  hy  the  book  whieh 
Kir  G.  A.  Grierson  is  now  writing  on  tlie  basis  of  the  furtlier 
materials  collected  in  his  Lingautic  Surrey,  and  in  the  Census 
Report*  of  1911.  The  eleven  volumes  hitherto  published  of  the 
Surrey  itself  give  specimens  of  the  Indian  languages  and  skeleton 
gnimnuirs. 

CHAPTER  III 

Professor  Macdonell's  History  of  Sanskrit  Literature 
(Heinemann,  1905)  contains  a  fascinating  and  readable  account 
of  the  Hindu  scriptures  from  the  Vedic  ages  up  to  modem  times. 

Professor  Hopkins'  Religions  of  India  and  India  Old  and 
Neic  deal  with  both  the  literature  and  the  actual  working  of 
Indian  religions.  Mr  W.  Crooke's  Native  Races  of  Northern 
India  is  a  popular  account  of  the  Aryan  region,  and  Mr  Thurston's 
Castes  and  Tribes  of  Southern  India.  Madra.s,  Government 
Press.  1908.  Though  it  is  vnore  elaborate  and  scientific  in  its 
treatment,  is  fidl  of  matters  which  are  interesting  not  only  to 
the  specialist. 

Meredith  Tomisend's  Asia  and  Europe.  London.  Archibald 
Constable.  1905.  Is  still  an  interesting  and  suggestive  study  of 
the  differences  between  East  and  West,  and  Sir  A.  C.  Lyall's  Asiatic 
Studies  are  the  even  more  illuminating  results  of  a  long,  intimate, 
and  sympathetic  familiarity  with  Indian  religious  thought. 

The  chapter  on  Religion  in  tlie  forthcoming  Census  Repurt 
for  1911  will  contain  the  latest  fruits  of  research,  statistical  and 
other. 

There  is  an  enormous  mass  of  literature  dealing  in  detail  with 
the  religions  and  sects  of  India.  A  selected  list  of  books  will  be 
found  at  p.  446  of  the  Imperial  Gazetteer. 


INDEX 


Abor  race    44 

Accent  iu  Indiau  languages    74 
Adi  Brahrao  Samaj     96 
Alphabets  of  India    70 
Animism    among    Muhamma- 

dans    99 
Animistic  religions  of  India   81 
Animists  as  potential  Hindus 

83 
Anu-loma  ctistes    38 
Apabhramsa  or  "decayed"  lan- 
guages   75 
Arjuua,  supposed  ancestor  of 

Manipur  dynasty    42 
Aryan  settlement  in  Gangetic 

do-ab    27 
Aryan  settlement  in  the  Panjab 

26 
Aryo-Dravidian  type  of  nice  22 
Assam,  History  of,  by   E.  A. 

Gait    45 
Assamese  language    76 

Bannerjee,  Rev.  K.  M.     95 
Bengali  language    76 
Bengali  race,  origins  of    28 
Biharl  language     76 
Bohra  Muhammadans     101 
Brachycephalous  races     17 


Brahma,    one    of    the    Hindu 

Trinity     91 
Brahmanas,  sacred  books     88 
Brahmans  of  Bengal     17 
Brahmo  Samaj  in  Bengal    94 
Brahui  language     62,  66 
Buddha  (Gautama)  and  Bud- 
dhism   89 

Caste,  definition  of  35 ;  func- 
tional type  of  45 ;  as  divided 
m  gotras  41;  as  a  result  of 
migration  49 ;  as  resulting 
from  change  of  custom  50 ; 
as  foniied  by  mixture  of 
blood  47 ;  of  the  national 
type  48  ;  sectarian  type  46  ; 
tribal  castes  40,  43  ;  as  in- 
cluding Koches  and  other 
indigenous  tribes     109 

Chaitanva,  Hindu  reformer   92 

Chandals     38 

Chitrangada,  supposed  ances- 
tress of  Manipur  djTiasty   42 

Clans,  exogamous    35 

Crooke,  Mr  W.,  on  "Rajputs 
and  Marathas"    52 

Dafla  race    44 


IK) 


INDEX 


Dolicoccphalous  races     17 
Doins  ill  Assam     44 
Dpavidian  languages     61,  62 
I)ravi(lian  tyi>c  of  race     24 
l>r<iviiliaiis  as   prt)bable   auto- 
chthones    25 
Dubois,  Abbe     106 

Fiction  as  an  origin  of  caste  33 
Functional  type  of  castes    45 

Gait,  E.  A.,  Hiitory  of  Assam 

45 
Gandhara,  kingdom  of    31 
Garpagari    (hail    averters)    as 

functional   caste     45 
Goud  language     62,  65 
Gotras,  5is  branch  of  caste    41 
Gujarati  language     76 

Hindi  (Easteni)  language  76 
Hindi  (Western)  language  75 
Hindustani  or  Urdu  language 

77 
Hoenile's  theory  of  Aryan  set- 
tlements   28 
Hyj>ergamy    26 

Indo-Arj-an  type  of  race    21 
Indo-Chinese  invixsions     80 
Islam  in  India     97 

Jains,  their  religion     89 

Kabir,  Hindu  reformer    92 
Kachari  race     109 
Kali,  worship  of    94 
Kanarese  language     61,  64 
Kandh  language     62 


Karta-bhajas,    sectarian    caste 

4(> 
Kashmiri  language     7'> 
Kiiyasthas  of  Hengal     17 
Khoja  Muhammadans     101 
Kocii  race    41 

Koches  tw  Hindu  caste     109 
Kodagu  language     HI 
Kohistani  language     76 
Kolami  language    62 
Kota  language     62 
Kurukli  language    62 

Lahnda  language     76 

Languagesof  India  generally  56; 
Apabliran)sa  75 ;  Assamese 
76  ;  Bengali  76  ;  Biharl  76  ; 
Brahui  62,  66 ;  Dravidian 
61,  62  ;  Gond  62,  65  ;  Guja- 
rati 76;  Hindi  (Westeni)  75; 
Hindi  (Eastern)  76 ;  Hin- 
dustani 77;  Kanarese  61,  65 
Kandh  62 ;  Kashmiri  76 
Kodagu  61 ;  K«»histani  76 
Kolami  62 ;  Kota  62 ;  Ku- 
rukli 62;  Lahnda  76;  Maga- 
dhi  Prakrit  75;  Maharashtri 
Prakrit  75 ;  Malavalam  61, 
64  ;  Malto  62  ;  Marathi  76  ; 
Mon-Khmer  78,  79;  Munda 
66;  Orivfi  72,76;  Pahari  76; 
Pali  75;'  Panjabi  76;  Prakrit 
71;  "Primary'"  Prakrits  74; 
Raja.sthani  76  ;  Sauraseni  75 ; 
Sindhi  76;  Tamil  61,  62; 
Telugu  62,  65;  Toda  62; 
Tulu    62 

Lingayats  as  a  sectarian  caste 
47  ■ 


INDEX 


117 


Madliya-dc(,!a,     the     linguistic 

Midland     69 
Magadhi  Prakrit  language    75 
Mags  of  Cliittagong    23 
Maharaslitri  language     75 
Malayalam  language    61,  64 
Malto  language    62 
Manipur  and  the  Meithei  race 

42 
Manu,  Institutes  of    37 
Maratha  race   and  its   origins 

29,  48 
Marathi  language     76 
Meithei  race  of  Manipur    42 
Migration  as  a  cause  of  caste 

49 
Mixed  castes    47 
Mongolo-Dnividian  race   23 
Mongolian  races  brachvcepha- 

lous     18 
Mongoloid  tyi)e  of  race    23 
Mon- Khmer  languages    78,  79 
Moplah  Muhanunadans     101 
Mundfi  languages     66 

Nanak  (Sikh  reformer)     93 
JVational  castes     48 
Navavidhan  Brahmo  Samaj   96 
Is'avin   Chandra  Sen,  his  defi- 
nition of  Ciistc     33 
Nesfield,  Mr,  Brief  Vieip  of  the 
CaHe  Si/afem  of  the  N.  fV.  P. 
and  Oude  quoted    13 
Nestorian  Christians     103 
Newar  tribe  in  Nepal     48 
Nirvana    as    a    Buddhist,    and 

Jain  duftrine     89 
Nobili,  Robert  de     106 
Nose-measurements     19 


Orbito-nasal  index     19 
Oriya  language     72,  76 

Pahfirl  language     76 

Pali  language     75 

Panini  and  other  granuuarians 

70 
Panjabi  language     76 
Pantheism     37 
Parasu  Rama     41 
Parsis  and  their  religion     101 
Pir  Badr  of  Chittagong    85 
Pirs  (Muhammadan  saints)    99 
Prakrit  languages     71 
Prati-loiaa     (see    Anu-loina) 

castes     38 
Primary  Prakrits     74 
Puranas  (sacred  books)    90 

Rajputs  in  Nepal,  etc.     24 
Ramfinuja  ( Hindu  reformer)  9 1 
Risley,  Sir  H.  H.,  his  account 
of  Maratha  origins  30 ;   Ar- 
ticle  in  Journal  of  R.  A. 
Institute  quoted     15 
Roy,  Raja  Ram  Mohan     94 

Sadharan  Brahmo  Samaj     96 
Sfiktas,  a  Hindu  sect     94 
Saraswati  (Dayanand)     96 
Sauraseni  language     75 
Scytho-Dravidian  tvpe  of  race 

22 
Scytho-Dravidian,  supposed  ori- 
gin    29 
Sectarian  type  of  caste     46 
Sen  (Keshav  Chandra)    94 
Shagird-peshas     as    a    mixed 
caste    48 


118 


INDEX 


Shiii  Muliammadans     OH 
Sikhs  and  tlie  Sikh  religion    93 
Sindhi  hinguage     76 
Sivji,    as    a    member    of    the 

Hindu  Trinity 
Sse  or  Sakiis  (Scytliians)    30 
JStatiirc  :iK  an  index  of  nice    20 
Snnni  Mnlianimadans     99 

Tagore,    Maliarshi    Devendra- 

nath     94 
Tagore,  Rabindranath     94 
Tamil  language     61,  *»4 
Tantras  (sacred  books)     94 
Telugu  language     62,  65 
Thonnisine  Christians     103 
Tirthan-kar:u5  (Jain  saints)    90 
Toda  language     62 
Totems  and   Totemistic   clans 

in  Assam     36 
Tribal  castes     40,  43 
Tribes  in  Assam     35 


Tribes,  Turko-Iranian     37 
Tulu  language     62 
Turko-Iranian  type  of  race    20 
Turushka  race    31 

Upanishads  (sacred  books)    88 

Vangiya  Sdhitya  Paritat 
(Bengal  Aciulemy  of  Litera- 
ture)    56 

Vardhamana,  the  founder  of 
.Jainism     89 

Vedas,  the  four  sacred  books 
86 

Vedic  deities    87 

Vishnu  as  one  of  the  Hindu 
Trinity    91 

Wahabi  Muhammadans     100 

Yueh-chi  race    31 


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4.30  The  peoples  of  India 

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