Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c5.s4.t6.3

c5.s4.t6.3

It is difficult to give the exact number of castes which existed in the early Muslim period. Nicolo Conti puts the number of groups wherein no man of one creed will drink, eat or marry with those of others' at eighty-four.² The orthodox and popular tradition of Hindustan counts thirty-six such castes which include, besides the sub-castes of the Brahmans, the Kshatriyas and the Vaisyas, other separate occupational castes namely, those of brewers, goldsmiths, weavers, betel-leaf sellers, tin-workers, shepherds, milkmen, carpenters, smiths, *bhats*, ahirs, Kayasthas, dyers, flower-sellers, calico-painters, barbers, oilmen, jugglers, mountebanks, musicians and still others.¹ This, however, does not exhaust the enumeration of the castes, for, in some cases, the fact of residing in a certain locality gave the features of a caste to a group of people²; in others the mutual contact of Hindus and Muslims led to the formation of separate and new castes.³ Of the principal castes, numerous subdivisions began to develop the leading features of a distinct caste. As many as twenty sub-castes existed among the Rajputs alone.⁴