Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c47.s2.4

c47.s2.4

§ 23. At the head of the list are placed certain groups of an exceptional character, whose position differs somewhat from that of the rest. The Brāhman naturally stands first, as the keystone of the whole social scheme. The Rājput, again, is an order of nobility rather than a caste in the ordinary acceptation of the term. With, but after, them may be taken the trading and writing classes, both of which in Upper India, though not in the South, claim distant connection with the Rājput, and who, with the Brāhman, constitute what are known as the Educated classes of India. Here, too, may be placed the religious devotee, or mendicant orders, who, by virtue of their profession have abjured caste, though in more than one instance only to re-form themselves into something very like a caste of their own.