Caste and Race in India c10.44

c10.44

The tribunal that adjudicated on matters relating to temples and shrines was distinct from that which had jurisdiction in the case of artisans, merchants, and others, and there was yet another tribunal to try questions relating to the agriculturists. During the latter part of the seventeenth century separate jails were built: one for the Samurai and priests, another for the merchants and peoples, and a third for the farmers. Till the latter part of the seventeenth century it had not been usual to send a Samurai to gaol for any crime.¹ The Eta had to live on the outskirts of towns and villages and were governed by their own headmen. Prejudice against this unfortunate class of people was so great that it long survived the removal of their legal disabilities in 1871, serving as a theme for novelists.²