The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-01-28
FRED. J. HASKIN ARRIVES IN BRITISH INDIA
The Caste System and
Ancient Tribal
Laws.

rAL.CUTTA-Whil the government
of man has reached an advanced stage
among most of the nations, the tribal
law of India antedates that which
Moses gave to the Hebrews. Although
the holy law-giver of the Israelites was
undoubtedly wise in decreeing that the
caste system was a safe method Tor
ruling, an ignorant and numerous pop
ulation, it seems marvellous that any
plan or scheme of those old days
should endure through all the chang
ing centuries. Yet we find code here
in India almost as unaltered as when
it was established to meet the require
1nents of the early branches of the
human race.
The Hindu rnarries in his own fam
ilv, even as Abraham espoused his
niece. The young Indian must seek
wife among his tribe, like Isaac VINO
iourneyed into a far country to wed
maiden of his own family. Any young
man of modern India who should dis
obev his caste rules of wedlock would
displease his parents equally as n1uch
as Esau offended Isaac and Rebecca
by marrying among strangers. Inc
caste system as practiced in INDIA at
the present time, and as ordained py
Moses, means a social and economic
division of the population according
to profession.
RULES OF LIFE ARE FIXED.
No person is allowed to exercise
more than one calling at a time, and
no individual is ever permitted 10
change his occupation. 1t is a case or
once a fiddler always fiddler. Hence
the son of a shoemaker must be COD
bier, and the daughter of barper
must marry a man who follows that
trade In most instances man is not
even allowed to travel about, but must
work and live in the place where he
was born.
There are four main castles in India, |
and the explanation of how they were
formed is that the original members
were made from the body Of the god, |
Brahma. The Brahmins, or priests
came from the head; the rajahs, or
soldiers, from the shoulders; the asfl-
culturists from the stomach; while
those devoted to servitude came from !,
the feet. These four main castles have
been divided and subdivided into sew |
eral hundred different factions, and the
distinctions are so numerous that only |
a student can understand all the differ /
ences that exist.
The Brahmins consider themselves
so superior to other castles that they
observe the most ridiculous measures
to preserve themselves from bodily
contamination. One of them would
no more think of touching the person
of a member of q lower caste than he
would of cutting his own throat. In
the oIden times if person without
caste entered a Brahmin's house ne
was murdered on the spot, and even
now if this should happen the offender
would meet with rough treatment. In
the villages the outcastes are not al
lowed to pass in front of a BrahmIn $
house because one of their footprints
is supposed to contaminate the whole
neighborhood. +
FEAR OF DEFILEMENT.
This fear of personal defilement is
so great that the most absurd pre-
cautions are employed to prevent it.
The Brahmins use plate made OF
banana leaves, because one made OF
metal which had been used by someone
else would be unfit for their use, no
matter how carefully it might have
been cleaned. To offer Brahmin
anything to eat that has been touched
by anyone else would be nothing short
of an insult. If a Hindu eats fruits or
dry food between meals he breaks it
off in bits and throws it into his
mouth to keep his fingers from being
defIed by saliva. For this reason he
will not place a cup to his lips, but