_Classes or Families of the Indians._
Of these classes, called by the Indians _Giadi_ or _Varna_, and by
the Europeans, very improperly, _casts_[167], there are a great
many. The principal are: _Brahmana_, _Kshetria_, or _Ràgiaputra_,
_Vayshya_, and _Shudra_. Their origin is lost in the period of Noah,
whom the Indians call king _Menu_[168]. The Brahmans form the class
of priests. Their high-priest _Sarvavèda_, that is, a man who has
performed all the duties of the law, has the superintendance of the
public worship, and no offerings are ever presented without his
order. All the Brahmans in general, who have ever brought to the gods
a public offering, are called _Eburandiri_. In this respect, however,
they are divided into several classes. Those who have been present at
the grand festival of oblation, which I have described in my _Systema
Brahmanicum_[169], are called _Yagiamàna_ or _Yashda_. Others who
have brought solemn offerings to the god _Sòma_ (the moon) are called
_Sòmàdri_, _Sòmabadi_, or _Dikshida_. _Guru_ is the appellation of
those persons who teach morality and other philosophical sciences.
Those who instruct the people in what manner to pray in the temples,
and on other solemn occasions, are called _Shrotria_. Those, on the
other hand, who give precepts respecting the so called _Mandra_,
or meditation of the heart, are called _Aciàrya_. The title of
those who employ themselves with astronomy is _Grahashastri_; but
the astrologers, who form a class entirely distinct, are called
_Giòdishyashàstri_.
Among these Brahmans there are several philosophical sects:
1st, The _Brahmaciàri_, that is, the continent, the unmarried.
2d, The _Grahasta_, that is, the married.
3d, The _Vanaprasta_, that is, the hermits, the anchorets. To these
belong, besides others, the _Muni_, or _Mauni_, that is, the silent,
for they speak only very seldom.
4th, The _Bhikshu_, or begging monks, who live merely on alms.
These are the most numerous of all[170]. To their sect or order
belong those philosophical begging monks known under the name of
_Talapoins_, who in the first century of the Christian æra emigrated
from India, and introduced the religion of _Budha_, or _Gòdama_, in
Pegu, Siam, China, and Japan. They believe neither in the Trinity of
the Indians, that is, _Brahma_, _Vishnu_, and _Shiva_--nor in the
goddess _Bhavani_, who represents nature personified; nor do they
ever worship the Elements, to which the Brahmans pay divine honours
under the symbols of various sacred animals. Their religious worship
is somewhat less familiar to the senses. The highest deity to whom
they pay divine honours is called _Budha_, _Shakya_, _Gòdama_, or
_Amida_. These are pure Samscred appellations, which signify Mercury;
for _Budha_ means as much as wise, skilful; _Shakya_, cunning,
crafty, acute; _Gòdama_, a cowherd; _Amida_, immense. The opposer
of the god _Gòdama_, or the wicked dæmon, they call _Dèvada_. They
believe in the immortality of the soul, as well as in transmigration;
are much attached to fasting and ablutions; read carefully the sacred
books; live in a state of celibacy; and observe the beforementioned
five commandments in the same manner as the Indian Budhists. This
sect, who are extremely numerous, and who every where live by
begging, have diffused themselves from Cape Comari to Thibet among
the Calmucks, and even to Siberia[171].
Diodorus Siculus[172], however, asserts that the Brahmans engaged
in no public business, and accepted no dignified places; but this
is a palpable falsehood. The kings who hold the reins of government
at _Edapalli_, on the coast of Malabar, and also at _Parur_ and
_Aracèri_, are certainly Brahmans; and the king of Travancor, in the
year 1776, had a _Dalava_, or prime minister, who also belonged to
that cast. In states which are under the dominion of Pagan princes,
they are still, as in the time of Diodorus Siculus, overseers of
religion, high-priests, instructors of the people, observers of
eclipses of the sun and moon, and the king’s counsellors. They are
formally consecrated to the priesthood; and for that purpose certain
forms of initiation are appointed. In Malabar they go barefooted;
and the upper part of their body is quite naked to the girdle. Their
dress consists of a piece of muslin fastened round their loins,
which hangs down to the feet, and entirely covers them. In one hand
they generally bear an umbrella of palm-leaves, and in the other
a stick. For the most part also they wear a ring on one of their
fingers, and have a _Grantha_ (book) under the arm. Some, besides the
above-mentioned piece of muslin, have also another which hangs over
their shoulders; and which, according to every appearance, is the
_superhumerale_ mentioned by Apollonius of Tyana[173].
When we reflect that these philosophers retain the same principles,
manners and customs as they had in the time of Alexander the Great,
this perseverance appears really astonishing. No person can remember
an instance of their ever having admitted into their cast a man
of the common class, or chosen such a one for their chief. When a
Brahman comes into the world, his parents immediately hold a feast,
or rather solemn festival, which, in the Samscred language, is called
_Giàtaga Karma_, that is, the birth-feast. _Giàtaga_ signifies
birth, the star of one’s nativity; and _Karma_, a ceremony. The
object of this festival is to examine under what constellation the
child was born, and thence to foretell its future destiny. Eleven
days after, the _Nàma Karma_, or name-feast, takes place. The name
given to the child is commonly borrowed from some of the principal
deities, as _Krishna_, _Rama_, _Govinna_, &c. On the hundred and
fiftieth day after birth, a solemnity called the _Carnakarma_, or
_Ceutakarma_, is celebrated, because on that day holes are bored
in the ears of the young Brahman, and a pair of gold earrings put
into them. In the seventh year he becomes a real _Brahmaciàri_,
that is, continent, or chaste; and in the twelfth he is made a
_Grahi_, _Grahasta_, that is, betrothed, a husband. For all these
solemnities, particular libations, offerings, purifications and
festivals are instituted. In the seventh year such a child receives
a kind of sash, called _Yagnapavada_, which forms the distinguishing
badge of the priesthood. It consists of a hundred and eight threads
knit into each other, and passes from the right shoulder under the
left arm, where it is fastened with three knots. In virtue of this
badge the initiated person obtains, besides other privileges, that
of assisting at grand offerings, called _Yaga_, or _Yagna_, which
are presented to the Sun; and he is ever after authorised to read
in the three _Vedas_, or books of the law, known under the names of
_Ircu_, _Sàma_, and _Yagiurveda_. He also bears the _Cudumi_, or
_Curumbi_, or tuft of hair left by the Brahmans on the crown of their
head, which every where else is close shaved. This tuft is likewise
a distinguishing mark of their cast, and shows that the person who
bears it is consecrated to the priesthood. When a Brahman by his
own fault has forfeited his sash, or his tuft of hair, he loses all
his privileges, and can no longer discharge any of the sacerdotal
functions. If he wishes to be restored to his former condition,
various acts of humiliation and penance are prescribed to him; and,
in particular, strict fasting and abundant alms-giving. When he
has performed all these, he is received by nine Brahmans with the
same forms and ceremonies as when first admitted to the priesthood.
All mutilated, blind, squint-eyed, or deformed persons, as well as
all those who have any kind of scab or eruption on the skin, or
white spots in the eyes, are totally excluded for ever from the
priesthood[174].
If it is proved that a Brahman has killed a man or a cow, all the
other Brahmans of the same _Gràma_ or district unite against him;
cut off his _Curumbi_; take from him his sash; deprive him of the
sacerdotal dignity, and expel him from the cast. He is then put upon
an ass with his face towards the tail, and in that manner conveyed
beyond the boundaries of the place. As I have already given, in my
_Systema Brahmanicum_[175], a full account of the condition, as well
as of the different classes, customs, consecration and institutions
of the Brahmans, it would be here superfluous to repeat them. One
time when the king of Travancor made a tour in order to inspect the
state of his fortresses, and passed through _Parur_, he was attended
by more than a thousand of these Brahmans. On that occasion I
observed that eight of them bore a square tabernacle suspended from a
long pole. Within it stood a small statue of the goddess _Bhagavadi_,
for which the Indians have a particular veneration; and it was
covered with a piece of yellow cloth, because yellow is in as high
esteem among the Indians as red formerly was among the Egyptians.
The rest of the Brahmans walked on each side of the tabernacle, and
recited, in the Samscred language, a number of prayers. No person
belonging to the inferior classes durst approach this sanctuary; for
two of the Brahmans who walked at the head of the procession cried
out continually, in the Malabar dialect, _Po! Po!_ that is, Away!
Away!--as if they meant to say: Keep at a distance, ye contemptible,
unclean, profane wretches! At certain times the Brahmans described
a circle on the ground, placed the statue within it, and, standing
close to each other, formed themselves into a ring around it. They
then repeated, all together, certain prescribed forms of prayer;
and the _Sarvavèda_, or Brahman whose business it was, bestrewed
the statue with flowers. This ceremony is called _Archyapugia_, the
offering of flowers. On other occasions they make a like circle on
the ground, but place eight smaller statues on its circumference, in
such a manner that they stand at a certain distance from each other,
and look towards the eight points of the heaven from which the winds
blow. The Brahmans entertain an opinion, that the eight subordinate
deities, whom they call _Indrà_, _Aghni_, _Yama_, _Nirudi_,
_Varunna_, _Vàgu_, _Vaishrava_, and _Shiva_, have the care of these
eight districts of the heavens; and for this reason they place the
above eight statues at an equal distance from each other, and request
them to take the world under their protection, that it may not vary
in its course.
The second noble cast consists of the _Kshetria_, or _Ragiaputra_,
that is, the children of kings; for _Ragia_ signifies a king, and
_Putra_ a son or child. Father Marcus à Tumba says, very erroneously,
in, his manuscript that _Ragput_ are a kind of Brahmans who devote
themselves to the military state. The word _Ragput_ is properly
nothing else than the Samscred _Ragiaputra_, which has been most
wretchedly corrupted; and these _Ragiaputra_ are not Brahmans,
but warriors, from whose cast the Indian kings are chosen. Father
Norbert, the missionary, who examined this point better than Father
Marcus, explains himself respecting it as follows, in a manuscript
which I have now before me: “The second cast, which is called
_Satrias_ (_Kshetria_), consists only and exclusively of the royal
family.” And indeed this is actually the case: the true and lawful
sovereigns are all descended from the cast of the _Kshetria_, though
Brahmans also reign in some provinces, such as _Edapalli_, _Parur_,
_Pandalam_, &c. The _Kshetria_ are educated from their infancy in
the schools and academies of the Brahmans. They wear likewise the
sash, but are not authorised to read or explain the _Vèda_. This
sash serves merely as a memorandum to the members of the cast, that
it is the duty of a king to sway the sceptre with wisdom, and to
behave with the strictest justice towards his subjects. The art of
government is, therefore, the principal science which the _Kshetria_
must study in the schools of the Brahmans. _Perumpadapil_ the king of
Cochin, the old king of Madura, king _Colatiri_ or _Colastri_, and
_Rama Varmer_ the king of Travancor, were all educated by Brahmans
in such temples. Every reigning prince has around him priests and
philosophers of this kind, who must assist him by their service
and advice, in order that he may undertake nothing contrary to the
religion or laws of the country. When the dominion of a sovereign
extends over a district confiding of a hundred provinces, and called
_Ràshtra_, he is a _Ciacravartti_, or _Maharagia_: if it consists
of twelve provinces, he is called _Ishvara_, master; or _Duàdasha_
_Mandaleshvara_, master of twelve provinces; or _Nrba_, king: but
if he possesses only one province, he is called _Ragia_, king;
_Adishvara_, illustrious lord; _Náyaga_x, lord; _Pála_ or _Pálaga_,
regent; _Karta_, a reigning lord.
From the word _Nayaga_, which is originally Samscred, ignorant
geographers and travellers have made _Naik_; from _Pálaga_, the
corrupted _Paleagar_; and from _Ragia_, the equally distorted _Naza_,
_Rag_, or _Rajah_. The king’s court is called _Ràgiadhani_; a privy
counsellor of the king, _Mandri_ or _Amàdya_; the king’s favourite,
_Mitra_, _Sagghi_, or _Suhrl_; his mistress, _Bhògynya_; the place
where the _Kshetria_ deliberate on state-affairs, _Ragiasabha_;
the secret objects of these deliberations, _Rahasya_; the throne,
_Sinhàsana_; the inspector-general, _Mahà Kárta Kritaga_; the
minister of justice, who has the care of criminal affairs, _Mahá
Danda Náyaga_; the generalissimo, _Mahásèna_; the tutor or preceptor
of the royal children, _Mahácumáramatya_; the warden of the privy
chambers, _Dvadsta_, _Darshaga_, or _Dvárapála_; the commandant of
a fortress, _Cottapala_; the governor of a city, _Purapala_; the
overseer of the sea-coasts and rivers, _Turapala_; the overseer of a
district, _Adhigari_; an embassador, _Sandeshaciara_, or _Duda_; the
king’s private spy, _Abasarpa_, or _Ciara_; the court-astrologer,
_Giòdisha_; the lord steward of the king’s household, _Cangiuguia_;
and the treasurer, _Coshadhyaksha_. All these appellations occur
in the _Amarasinha_, the _Vyagarina_, and also in the inscription
of _Monguir_. And as these books were written a hundred or two
hundred years before the birth of Christ, it thence follows, that
all these offices and places actually existed at that period in
the courts of the Indian princes. In Malabar the following royal
officers are still in existence: The _Torakáren_, intendant of the
sea-coasts and rivers; the _Sènabadi_, generalissimo of all the
military forces; four _Sarvadis_, or governors, each of whom has the
superintendance of four provinces; a great many _Kariakarer_, or
superior magistrates; the same number of _Adhigari_, or overseers
of districts; together with a multitude of _Pravartikarer_ or
tax-gatherers, and _Pullas_ or writers.
The first and earliest Indian princes were _Egàvagi_, that is,
monarchs; from _èga_, one, and _vàgi_, a reigning king. As a proof
that the monarchical form of government has been preserved till the
present period among the Pagan Indians, I need only refer to the
princes of the _Marashdi_, who are very improperly called _Marattas_;
to some kings of _Nepal_; to the king of _Candia_ in the island of
Ceylon, and to the king of Travancor, who all now rule as unlimited
sovereigns. According to tradition, _Menu_ was the first king of
the Indians. This _Menu_, who in some Indian works is called _Menu
Mahusha_, was certainly the patriarch Noah, as Sir William Jones
acknowledges. Anquetil du Perron, Father Tiefenthaler, and the editor
of the _Asiatic Researches_, have given us different catalogues of
the oldest Indian kings; and I myself was induced to give, in my
_Systema Brahmanicum_, the commencement of a nomenclature of the like
kind. They are all transcribed from the _Mahabhàrada_, that is, the
_Great History_, which is written in Malabar verse, and consists of
eighteen books. But the reader will perceive, on the first view, that
these catalogues are in open contradiction with each other, and that
they contain the names of kings whose descent is deduced from the sun
and the moon.
All that can be gathered from my copy of the _Mahabhàrada_, and
the pretty long catalogues of the Indian kings in the _Asiatic
Researches_, is as follows: _Menu_ the 1st, or Adam, lived 5794 years
before the year 1788 of the Christian æra. _Menu_ the 2d, or _Menu
Mahusha_, the _Nochos_ of the Greeks, and the Noah of the Israelites,
lived 4737 years before that period. Under the government of this
king happened the _Vellapralaya_, that is, the deluge or devastation
of the earth by water. Then comes _Hirannyacasipu_, perhaps Nimrod,
whom the Brahmans class among the wicked dæmons, and who lived 4006
years before the birth of Christ. _Bali_, or _Mahábali_, the Belus
of the Assyrians, lived 3892; and _Budha_, the _Thaut_ of the
Egyptians, and _Hermes_ of the Greeks, 2815 years before the year
1788. Next follow _Vikramàditya_, _Devapàla_, and _Salbahin_, or
rather _Salivahan_. The first lived 1844, the second 1811, and the
third 78[176] years before 1788. With the death of the last begins
the _Salivàhana Sagàptam_, that is, the new Brahmanic period of the
Marattas, Canarians, Malabarians, and Tamulians. _Bharaden_, or
_Bharata_, is the head or chief, from whom the Indians deduce the
descent of their national kings. He lived 1600 years before the birth
of Christ.--Kings who actually existed are:
I. _Ciassar_, a cotemporary of Cyrus, to whom he wrote a letter, and
sent money. Cyrus in all probability had conquered that part of India
which extends from the _Sindhu_ towards the north-west, and at that
period was sometimes under the dominion of the Persian, and sometimes
under that of the Indian kings. _Candahar_ was the metropolis.
II. At the time when Alexander the Great conquered a part of India,
there existed a certain queen named _Cleophidis_, who put herself
at the head of a considerable body of the chief women of India,
and went to oppose that hero. King Porus, or more properly _Puru_,
also opposed that conqueror; as did likewise _Abisar_, but _Omphis_
surrendered at discretion. More information on this subject may be
found in D’Anville’s _Antiquité Géographique de l’Inde_, published at
Paris in 1775.
III. _Sandracoto_, or rather _Ciandracotta_. This prince, after the
death of Alexander the Great, brought under his dominion all the
Indian provinces which had been conquered by the Macedonian hero.
He also entered afterwards into a treaty of alliance with Seleucus,
who wished to recover them; but this treaty extended only to places
_qui secus Indiam sunt_, that is, which lay on the north-west side
of the _Sindhu_. His son, _Allitrocates_, repelled the incursions of
the Greeks with such happy effect, that they were never again able to
penetrate into India. Antiochus, indeed, made some attempts to enter
the country, and laid the _Sopagases_ under contribution; but this
prince remained independent and free.
IV. _Porus_, or _Pandi_, by Strabo called _Pandion_. He was king of
Madura; and, when the Greeks were driven entirely from India, sent an
embassy to Augustus, to propose entering into an alliance with him.
V. _Cemproboto_, or _Cermbotti_, a cotemporary of the above-mentioned
_Pandi_, possessed, besides other places, _Calianapur_ and
_Baliapatna_, two considerable cities on the coast of Malabar.
VI. _Vikramàditya_, by some called _Bekermadiit_. He succeeded
his brother _Sughàditya_, and died fifty years before the birth
of Christ. A new æra, by which the chronology of the history of
India can with certainty be determined, begins at the death of this
sovereign. Before that period many of the Indians reckoned according
to the epoch of king _Yudhishthira_, of the family of the _Pandos_,
whom Anquetil calls improperly _Djetaschter_. Between that epoch and
the death of _Sughaditya_ there are reckoned to be 3044 years. The
Carnadians, Tamulians and Malabarese adopt this mode of reckoning
also; but use much oftener the _Salivàhana Sagàptam_, which, as
already said, begins at the death of _Salivahan_ or _Salbahin_, the
sovereign of the Dekan, who died 78 years before the birth of Christ.
From this epoch also the Brahmans at _Cangipuri_, _Tiruvatur_, and
_Triciur_, date all their astronomical calculations.
Some pretend that the family of the real _Kshetrias_ is totally
extinct in India; but I can, on the other hand, assert, that I
found among the Gauts, not far from _Vaipur_, a town, together with
a temple, which belonged to these _Kshetrias_, who cultivated the
surrounding fields, and lived on their produce. I was assured also
by Father Pavone, who for thirty years had been superintendant of
the missionary establishment at Madura, that a great many of the
_Kshetrias_ had fled to these mountains from Madura, in order to
avoid falling into the hands of Hayder Aly Khan, Tippoo Sultan,
Mohamed Aly, and the English.
The third noble class of the Indians consists of the _Vayshya_,
who are never distinguished by the name of _Bice_, as Hodges and
Robertson pretend. This cast was founded also by _Menu_ or Noah,
if we can confide in the book _Manushastra_, and the traditions
of the Indians. The employments of the _Vayshya_ are: _Krshi_, or
agriculture; _Pashupalya_, breeding of cattle; and _Vànigiya_, the
sale of their productions. They supply the public with rice, corn,
mustard, ginger, pease, millet, maize, and other articles of the like
kind; but they preserve their butter and milk entirely for their
kings, their Brahmans, and their temples, that the gods may never be
in want of such offerings.
The _Vayshya_, with their families, generally live in the country,
where each has his own house and separate grove. In the latter stands
a small temple, with an image of _Shiva_, or of some other deity, to
which flowers are presented every morning after they have performed
their ablutions. According to the appointment of _Menu_, the king
is the sole lord and proprietor of all the land in the kingdom; and
this rule prevails in Malabar to the present day. Anquetil du Perron
is, therefore, entirely wrong when he contradicts Mr. Dalrymple, who
asserts the same thing[177]. That this assertion is well founded,
appears, to omit other testimony, from an old inscription found among
some ruins near the old city of _Monguir_, in which it is expressly
said, that king _Dèvapàla_ lets a certain piece of land to an Indian
family. Mr. Wilkins translated this inscription, which was cut out
in stone twenty-three years before the birth of Christ, and inserted
it in the first volume of the _Asiatic Researches_. King _Dèvapàla_
there says: “Be it hereby known, that I give up the city _Meseeka_,
&c.” and it appears from the connection, that he let the piece of
land in question, and for that purpose resigned his territorial
right for a certain time specified. Temples next to kings are also
considered as proprietors; for a belief prevails in India, that the
piece of ground which they occupy belongs to the gods. For this
reason they are excepted from the lease, by king _Dèvapàla_, in the
before-mentioned inscription.
That the overseers of temples on the coast of Malabar have still
the power of letting such pieces of ground, appears from this
circumstance, besides others, that our convent at _Verapole_ had
actually a lease of part of a field which belonged to a Pagan temple.
No private person, whether noble or not, can pretend to any such
property in land. On the contrary, every ten years the _Nilavarì_, a
tax established at the first measurement of lands, must be paid for
all fields and pieces of ground every ten years. Besides this tax, a
third or fourth part of the rent is also sometimes imposed according
as the contracting parties have agreed.
From the palm-gardens the _Ettona_, that is, the eighth palm, is
exacted. The poorer classes must pay the _Talapanam_, an impost
which amounts to five _Panam_ for each head, and is equivalent to
the poll-tax introduced into some of the countries of Europe. The
_Mucaver_, or fishermen, pay a tax called _Valà_, that is, net-money;
and consists of a _Ràgi_ of gold, or ten _Ciacras_, twenty-six of
which are equal to a florin. It is unfortunately too true, that
the Indians live in a state of oppression, and in time of war are
treated with particular severity. Robertson, however, has drawn a
very flattering picture of the humanity and mildness of the Indian
princes and British governors; but it is much to be lamented that it
is contrasted, in so striking a manner, with the conduct of a Moens
and many others.
The fourth noble cast consists of the _Shudra_. To these belong
the _Citracàra_, painters; the _Tunaciaya_, dyers of cloth; the
_Pushpaga_, garland-makers; the _Shastramagia_, smiths; the
_Ciaruna_, singers; the _Ciarmacàra_, coblers; also the weavers,
taylors, carpenters, silver-smiths, clockmakers, and other artisans.
All these people form separate classes, the members of which cannot
eat with each other, and much less intermarry.
The meaner casts are called _Nisha_, or _Ciandala_; that is, the
contemptible, low, impure. To these belong the fishermen; the
_Cianas_, or labourers in gardens, who carry water, and water the
young palm-trees; the _Parreas_, or skinners; those persons who
cleanse ponds; barbers, potters, and the Malabar _Pelleyas_. The last
are only slaves, but a very useful kind of men; for they guard the
fruits of the earth, keep the buffaloes employed in ploughing, take
care of the crops, and separate the rice from its husks.