The Peoples of IndiaAnderson, J. D. (James Drummond)
Religion
The Peoples of India
Anderson, J. D. (James Drummond)
Caste -- India; Ethnology -- India; India -- Languages; India -- Religion
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. 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, Brāhmans or priests, Kshatriyas, or warriors; Vaiçyas, or
trading and professional folk; and Sūdras, 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
Brāhman, for instance, can be more or less easily distinguished from
other Bengalis, if he has the typical appearance of his caste. But he is
even more easily distinguished from Brāhmans of other Provinces. How
much of this last difference is due to mixture of blood, how much to
difference 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 _par excellence_, the wonderful collection of varied
speculations, beliefs, and practices known to us as Hinduism, and its
daughter, the religion of Buddha. The latter has spread far and wide,
has subjugated Ceylon and Burma, and is the leading religion of the Far
East. At one time, it was supposed to be 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 Hinduised 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,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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