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155 to believe with Manu that this solid and numerous race of men, possessing the same features and characteristics, and mostly inhabiting one definite part of Bengal, is descended from children borne by Ayogava women who deserted their own husbands and yielded themselves, — by the hundred thousand, — to the embraces of Nishadas ! Where are the traditions of this strange and universal elope- ment, this rape of the Ayogava women by Nish&das, compared to which the rape of the Sabine women was but child's play? Common-sense brushes aside such nursery-tales and recognizes in the millions of hard- working and simple Kaivartas, one of those aboriginal races who inhabited Bengal before the Aryans came to the land, and who submitted themselves to the civiliza- tion, the language and the religion of the conquering Hindus, and learnt from them to till the land where they had previously lived by fishing and hunting. Let us next turn to the Chandalas of Bengal. They too form a solid body of people numbering a million and a half, and inhabiting mostly the south-eastern dis- tricts of Bengal, Backergunj, Faridpur and Dacca, Jessore and Khulna. They are patient and hard-work- ing and unrivalled in boating and fishing ; and land- lords like to have them as tenants for bringing waste and marshy lands under cultivation.* But neverthe- • The present writer has often witnessed the curious way in which the Chandalas of some parts of Backergunj District turn beds or marshes into solid cultivable lands. They either connect the beds with tidal rivers by Digitized 156 BUDDHIST PERIOD. [BOOK IV. less the Chanddlas are a soft, timid and submissive race, and bear without a complaint many wrongs from the sturdier Mussalmans of East Bengal. There is a marked family likeness, both physical and mental, among the Chand&las, which shews them to be one distinct race. And how was this race formed ? Manu has it that they are the issues of Br&hman women who yielded themselves to the embraces of Stidras. As the number of Brdhmans in South Eastern Bengal was never very large in olden times, and does not even in the present day come to even a quarter of a million in the five dis- tricts named above, it is difficult to account for the presence of a million Chanddlas in those districts on Manu's theory. Shall we suppose that fair-skinned Brdhman Desdemonas habitually bestowed their hands on swarthy Sfldra swains ? Shall we suppose that beau- teous but frail Br&hman matrons were seduced from their lords — by the hundred thousand, — by gay Sfidra Lotharios intent on creating a new caste ? And shall we further suppose that the children begotten of such unions thrived and multiplied in marshes and fishing villages, amidst toil and privations, — more than true- born Br&hman children basking in the sunshine of royal artificial canals, so as to induce a deposit of silt on the bed of the marshes day by day and year by year ; 'or they collect a kind of weed growing in the marshes, and lay them stratum upon stratum, until the lowest stratum reaches the bottom. The present writer has seen houses and trees on lands thus manufactured. Digitized by Go CHAP. IX.] SOCIAL MANNERS, &C. favour and priestly privileges ? We have only to state such suppositions to shew their utter absurdity ; and with these suppositions, Manu's theory of mixed castes is brushed aside to the region of myths and nursery- tales ! Common-sense will tell every reader who knows anything of the Chandalas of Bengal that they were the primeval dwellers of South-Eastern Bengal, and lived by fishing in its numerous creeks and channels, and they naturally adopted the religion, the language, and the civilization of the Hindus when the Aryans came and colonized Bengal. We have shewn that the Kaivartas and the Chan- dalas were distinct primeval races, and that they form- ed Hindu castes when they were Hinduized by the conquering Aryans. There are other similar race- castes in Bengal. The reader will find in the list given above the names of the Koch, the Bagdi, the Pod, the Bauri, and the Teor, which are all race-castes. They formed distinct aboriginal races before the Hindus came to Bengal ; and from century to century in the long-forgotten ages, they submitted to the conquering Hindus, adopted their language and religion and mode of tillage, and formed low castes in the Hindu con- federation of castes. The names of many of these Bengal races were unknown to Manu ; those which he knew, he tried to account for by his own theory in the absence of all historical and statistical facts. Let us now turn from race-castes to profession-castes. Digitized by Google 158 BUDDHIST PERIOD. [BOOK IV. In the list given above the reader will find mention of the K&yastha or scribe, the Goala or cowherd, the Napit or barber, the Teli or oil-manufacturer, the Jeleya or fishermen, the Tanti or weaver, the Baniya or trader, the Kamar or blacksmith, the Kumar or potter, the Dhobi or washerman, &c. It is remarkable that while some of the race-castes find mention in Manu's list of mixed castes, not one of tlu profession-castes finds mention in that list. Were the professions un- known in Manu's time? Were there no scribes and traders, no blacksmiths and potters, no barbers and washermen in Manu's time? The supposition is absurd, for Manu lived at a time of high civilization in India, and speaks of those professions in his Code. But he does not mention them in his list of mixed castes, and does not speak of them as castes. And this demonstrates with mathematical certainty that the different professions in Manu's time were yet profes- sions only, and had not yet been formed into distinct and inviolable castes. The Vaisyas were still a united body, and so were the Sudras, although they followed different professions and trades. We now know the true origin of the profession- castes which were unknown to Manu, and have been formed since. We know also the origin of the race- castes which were formed before Manu's time; and were known to Manu. And lastly, we know now what to think of Manu's theory of mixed castes. Manu's mis- Digitized by Google CHAP. IX.] SOCIAL MANNERS, &C. 1 59 take was unavoidable. He saw distinct castes like the Kaivartas and the Chand&las, and did not know their historic origin. The religious traditions of his time traced all mankind from the four parent castes, and he was compelled therefore to stretch the old theory of permutation and combination among the men and women of the parent castes in order to account for the new castes of his time. All this is intelligible. What is not intelligible is, that the old theory should still find acceptance among some Hindus in these days of statis- tics and historical inquiry. But the very sanctity of the Dharma Sastras disarms historical inquiry, repels careful examination, silences criticism. It is for this reason that the ancient theory of mixed castes has been upheld and accepted and venerated for centuries in the face \ of all facts and all probabilities. Never questioned, never criticised, never tested by facts, the theory has floated in the imagination and belief of orthodox Hindus, an object of admiration and blind faith. And yet this theory, so symmetrical and comprehensive, so perfect and complete, vanishes like a beauteous soap-bubble into nothingness, the moment it is touched by the finger of criticism. Digitized CHAPTER X. DOMESTIC LIFE. THE POSITION OF WOMEN. MANU'S account of domestic rites is based on the accounts of the old S&trak&ras, and much the same rites are described. The Jdtakarman must be perform- ed immediately after the birth of a child and before the navel-string is cut. On the tenth or twelfth day after birth, or on a luckyday, in a lucky muhftrta, under an auspicious constellation, the Ndmad/ieya rite should be performed, and the child should be named. In the fourth month the Nishkramana should be done, and the child taken out of the house, and in the sixth month the child should have his Annapr&sana or first meal of rice. The Upanayana or initiation should be performed in the eighth year for a Brahman, in the eleventh for a Kshatriya, and in the twelfth for a Vaisya ; and then the boy, invested with the holy thread, is to be made over to his instructor. The rules of the student's life are much the same as those laid down in the Dharma Sfttras. The student should have a girdle, a staff and one or two garments ; he should be obedient and respectful to his teacher ; he should beg from door to door every day, and bring the proceeds to his teacher's house; and he Digitized by Google CHAP. X.] DOMESTIC LIFE, &C. l6l should live there and serve him menially, while receiv- ing instruction from day to day and from year to year. The ceremony of Kesanta or shaving was performed for a Brahman in the sixteenth year, for a Kshatriya in the twenty-second, and for a Vaisya two years later. The time for learning the three Vedas is 36 years or 18 years or even 9 years or until the student has per- fectly learnt them. We are not told of any fourth Veda here (III, 1), nor is any time allotted for learning the Atharvan. And having concluded his studies and bathed, the student became a Sn£taka, returned home, married and settled down as a householder. The sacred fire was to be lighted at the wedding ; and the householder was enjoined to perform his domestic ceremonies, and the five great sacrifices all through his life.