The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1890-01-09
THE CASTE SYSTEM.


One Of the Great Obstacles to the Mate
rial Progress Of India.
The Brahman, of course, must be
found wherever there Is temple; and
the Rajput will be found in secular alli-
ance with the service. Then, wherever
there are few houses clustered to-
gether will be found the Banirja, or
money lender. The Tell caste supplies
the Gilman, and the Barbi the carpenter,
without which no village can get along.
The cobbler, who also skins the carcasses
Of the cattle, is Chamar; the washer
man is Dhobi; the barber is Nnpit,
and the scavenger is Dom. Besides
these castles are represented Karmakar,
the blacksmith; Kulnbar, the potter;
Madak and Kandu, the confectioners,
who make up the farinaceous food Of the
people; Sunri, the wine seller; Barni
and Tamoli, who prepare and sell the
pan-leaf and betelnut; Tanti and Jugi,
weavers; and Mali, the flower and veg
etable dealer. These are the artisans of
the community, and the agriculturists
are Kaibarthas, the cow-keepers are
Gwa1la, the boatmen are Maliah, and
the fishermen are Teyi. Intcrcom-
munication rests with the Kahar
or palkie bearers. Learning is the
province of the Kayastha, who furnish
the schoolmaster, the village account
ant, and the landlords secretary or
clerk. The day laborers and field hands
ARE Bhninyas and Khawars. The most
respectable families of Calcutta belong
to the Pr Ali subdivision of the Brah-
mans, and the origin of this sub-caste is
ago one Of their ancestors went to the
house of Mussulman law officer, where
trick was played upon him. The Mus
sulman had heard W said that to SIN ell
food was half eating it, and in the wish
to convert some of the Brahmans In his
gfberheodE he-inyited them ezhis:
house; and while they were seated there
he ordered his dinner to be served. They
smelled the food, and their caste was
gone-so it was decided. Some of them
became Mussu1mans; but one who pre-
ferred to remain Hindu, though his
caste was injured, became the founder OF
another class, called the Pr Ali, after
the man who had played the trick
upon him. That caste is still regard
ed as divine institution by the lower
orders is, of course, we'll known; and
the strictly orthodox will prefer
death to eating forbidden food
or doing any thing contrary to the tenets
oftheir particular caste. The result Is
one involving great expense and incon-
venience to Europeans, who are obliged
to have great number of servants for
the different departments of domestic
arrangements. Thus, If a low-caste
servant brings letter or any thing, the
superior-caste servant will not take it
from his hands or touch it simultaneously
with him; it must be laid on the ground
and taken up thence by the superior one.
In fact, the orthodox Hindu will not join
in any work whatever In which Sweep
ers or low-caste men are employed. No
doubt, however, caste difficulties are
often conveniently -interposed when a
man doesn't want to do something which
is asked Of him. The caste system Is
the great obstacle to the material prog
ress of the country. Until it is broken
down India can never take her rightful
place among the nations, for she can not
be nation in the true sense of the
term. Like totemism, IN short, caste is a
relic of barbarism, but also an evolution
of barbarism, struggling toward light.
Both systems have had their uses, and
both systems have left their marks,
even in the most civilized and enlight-
ened communications bers' journal.