Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c5.s4.t5.4

c5.s4.t5.4

³ Compare I.G.I.: Vol. II, 329 for modern conditions in Muslim society of India :---After emphasizing the democratic nature of the teachings of Islam, the writer proceeds :---‘In India, however, caste is in the air; its contagion has spread even to the Mohammedans, and we find its evolution proceeding on characteristically Hindu lines. In both communities foreign descent forms the highest claim to social distinction; in both promotion cometh from the west. As the twice born Aryan is to the mass of Hindus, so is the Mohammadan of alleged Arab, Persian, Afghan, or Mughal origin to the rank and file of his co-religionists. And just as in the traditional Hindu system men of the higher groups could marry women of the lower, while the converse process was vigorously condemned, so within the higher ranks of the Mohammadans, a Sayyid will marry a Sheikh’s daughter but will not give his daughter in return; and intermarriage between the upper circle of soi-disant foreigners and the main body of Indian Mohammadans is generally reprobated, except in parts of the country where the aristocratic element is small and must arrange its marriages as best it can......the lower functional groups......are organized on the model of regular castes, with councils and officers which enforce the observance of caste rules by the time-honoured sanction of boycotting.’ Compare also the estimate of Senart, 219; of Havell, History of Aryan Rule, 162-163.