The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-13
CASTE IN INDIA
THE BRAHMINs ARE TROUBLE
 BREEDERs.
They Have Been for Centuries the Privileged Ciass and Would
 Pront by EsKiand's
 Loss.
BY PERCIvAL LANDoN.

q
 simla. India. Dec 1.-The anti-for- eign movement was originally con ceived and organized, and Is now being carried out, by the Brahmins of India. In no part of the country, north, south. east or west have the Mohammedans had part or let with the agftators. The lower castes have been content to al low their acqufescence to be assumed, rightly or wrongly. The country dls- tricts are entirely unaffected. Reiig- ion so far plays an insignificant part In the agitation. It Is not necessary 10 labor over the vital differences which are to be noticed at first glance be- tween the present dfsquiet and that which preceded the Indian Mutiny of 1851. Then the two great warning creeds Joined forces for a moment in q manner that was as remarkable as 1t was unexpected. Long, indeed, this unnatural alliance could not last. but even this momentary rapproehement for a common purpose has formed the text of many who wished to prove that there must have been good grounds for the joint action of such eternal ene- mics. Moreover. in 1857, the religious expectations of both Islam and Him duism were played upon with unfail- ing assiduity, and throughout Hindu stan all castes, in town and country alike were stirred up by the wander ing sunyas sis and bhairagis, whose CO., operation. in spite of reckless mis- statements has been conspicuously ab- sent from the present movement
 But. 1t may be aemurred. If religion plays little or no part in the present agitation, how comes 1t that the Brah- ming are at the root of 1t all? The answer to this is that the religious functions of the Brahmin, though in- herent in his caste, are not, and never have been, the most important or re- spected attributes of the class. That the moral supremacy enjoyed by the Brahmins is based upon and enforced by their control of the religious office is indisputable. It is quite another thing to assume that when the politi- cal leaders of the Brahmins wish to agitate for reforms they necessarily have behind them the ecclesiastical or ganization of their order. If nothing else could be cited in proof of this, the bare facts that in Benares, Puri Szir- angam (Triehinopoly), and the other places of pilgrimage or religious au- thority in India. not even a passing breeze of sedition has ever arisen while the action of the priests of Kali Temple in Caicutta-the 'muJteheds'' of Eastern Bengal--in publicly disown- ing and dencuncing the agitation, has a significance that the most versatile of Bengalis is put to 1t to explain away.
 The Caste Question.
 The truth is that between the high. ly-edueated and mentally brilliant Brahulln of political life and his relig- ious brother a daily widening gulf fs fixed The curious part of 1t is, that the old weapon of superstition seems to have broken in the hand of the priest. and there is no class of Brah- min so despised and socially degraded in the caste as he who ministers at any, but especially at a great centre, of public worship. or performs relig- ious offices. even in private except in the exclusive circle of a private house of which the owner is at the lowest member of the Vaisya caste. As matter of fact the leading Brahmins of Bengal or Poona, the centres of dis- affection, have never had any connec- ton whatever with the performance of any religious function, In that they are strictly within their rights. The supremacy of the Brahmin was due from the first to the fact that scholar ship was their especial privilege, and, as elsewhere In the world. scholarship and ecclesiastical Influence have zone hand in hand. Especially was this bound to be the case in India. where untutored men were excluded from the PtISAtuVOu UJs D6llSI of laymen that they wene ignorant of the all-necessary formulae as by the deliberate disqualification imposed by the popular hierarchy. But the priest hood has generally found the mnnopo- ly of scholarship to be of a dohble- edged nature. and India is no exception to the rule. Today the cleverest among this clever race have chosen politics rather than religion as a field for their energies, and we shall make a serious mistake If we do not separate the ec- clesiastical aspect of Brahminism from their political activities. s
 The true causes of the Brahmin agi- tation are to be found in the fact that before the English administration of Bengal and other parts of India, the Brahmin was all-important in civil as well as religious affairs. The vast ad- vantage which education conferred up- on him made his services indispensable. Whatever the nominal sovereignty of the state. 1t was the Brahmln vicege- rent who actually governed, even in Mohammedan courts, and this double advantage made it impossible for any one of e lower caste to rise to any po- sltion of real importance In the admin
 stration of India The great weapon in the hands of the Brahmins, the power of decision in all matters touch- ing caste, was used relentleSsly against adventures. both civil and religious There were of course exceptions. Low