DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0483
Caste in relation to Trades and Industries, 473
sentenced to complete excommunication. No one, either of
his own or any other caste, was to be allowed to associate |
with him; no one was to eat with him; no one was to
have any trade-dealings with him; no one was to marry
any of his children; no temple was to receive him as a wor-
shipper ; and, if he died, no one was to carry his body to the
burning ground. On the morning after the sentence was J
passed, he went into the bazaar as usual, but not a person I
would buy from him or sell to him; he could get no home j
to live in; and none of his debtors would pay him their \
debts. It was impossible to sue them, as no one would give \
evidence. He was a ruined man, and had to leave the f
country, and obtain Government employment in a distant \
city.
This may seem an extreme case, but it would be easy to
multiply similar instances of the tyranny and terrorism of
caste-leagues in our Indian Empire. Yet, it cannot be
doubted, that as a matter of fact, the caste system of India
really resulted from a natural and beneficial process of de-
velopment. Nor can there be a greater mistake than to
conclude that the lower castes and trades are in a condition
of unhappiness or oppression. They all take a pride in their
own work, and their own caste, and are not the despised
creatures they are usually represented to be; though here
and there an arrogant Brahman may look down upon them.
The truth is, that of all masters, caste is the worst when
allowed to become a despot. It is then a league of the worst
kind ; and we have not far to look, even in our own favoured
country, if we wish to see the tyranny and terrorism such
a league may establish. Its action tends to arrest progress,
to paralyse energy, to crush manly independence, to stifle
healthy public opinion, to make nationality, patriotism, and
true liberty almost impossible. At the same time caste-
leagues have their good as well as their bad side, and at
a particular stage of a nation's life may do good service. In
sentenced to complete excommunication. No one, either of
his own or any other caste, was to be allowed to associate |
with him; no one was to eat with him; no one was to
have any trade-dealings with him; no one was to marry
any of his children; no temple was to receive him as a wor-
shipper ; and, if he died, no one was to carry his body to the
burning ground. On the morning after the sentence was J
passed, he went into the bazaar as usual, but not a person I
would buy from him or sell to him; he could get no home j
to live in; and none of his debtors would pay him their \
debts. It was impossible to sue them, as no one would give \
evidence. He was a ruined man, and had to leave the f
country, and obtain Government employment in a distant \
city.
This may seem an extreme case, but it would be easy to
multiply similar instances of the tyranny and terrorism of
caste-leagues in our Indian Empire. Yet, it cannot be
doubted, that as a matter of fact, the caste system of India
really resulted from a natural and beneficial process of de-
velopment. Nor can there be a greater mistake than to
conclude that the lower castes and trades are in a condition
of unhappiness or oppression. They all take a pride in their
own work, and their own caste, and are not the despised
creatures they are usually represented to be; though here
and there an arrogant Brahman may look down upon them.
The truth is, that of all masters, caste is the worst when
allowed to become a despot. It is then a league of the worst
kind ; and we have not far to look, even in our own favoured
country, if we wish to see the tyranny and terrorism such
a league may establish. Its action tends to arrest progress,
to paralyse energy, to crush manly independence, to stifle
healthy public opinion, to make nationality, patriotism, and
true liberty almost impossible. At the same time caste-
leagues have their good as well as their bad side, and at
a particular stage of a nation's life may do good service. In