Caste and Race in India c8.213

c8.213

A "Gauḍakaraṇika" (writer from the Gauḍa country) is mentioned in a North Indian inscription of the end of the tenth century.⁷ In an inscription from Dharwar District belonging to the eleventh century occurs a clear reference to the division of the non-Brahmin castes of Madras into those of the right hand and those of the left.⁸ Another reference to this well-known but not properly understood distinction occurs in a Madras inscription of about the same time.⁹ Another inscription mentions some persons who refer to themselves as Śiva-Brāhmaṇas.¹⁰ Kaṇmāḷar (artisans of Madras) are allowed certain rights, which were evidently not enjoyed by them previously. They may blow double conchs and drums at their marriages and funerals; they may wear sandals, and cover their houses with plaster.¹ In an inscription from Chingleput District, ascribed to the middle of the twelfth century, a witness to a document refers to himself as "I, the carpenter So-and-so, who possesses the better half of the land of the carpenters in the village".² Nagar Brahmins are mentioned in an inscription from Gujarat belonging to the middle of the twelfth century. An inscription from Orissa, ascribed to the end of the twelfth century, mentions a class of Radhiya Brahmins.³ Maga or Sakadvipiya Brahmins were known as such about the same time.⁴ Jaina inscriptions from Mount Abu of the first and second quarters of the thirteenth century mention the following castes: Pragvata, Dharkatta, Shrimala, Oswala, Modha, and also Guguli Brahmins, who are found at present chiefly at Dwaraka.⁵ Two Maudgala Brahmins are mentioned in one inscription of A.D. 1240 as ministers of one of the Yadava kings. They also served their master in military capacity.⁶ A family of Kayastha race, whose occupation is that of writing, is referred to in a North Indian inscription belonging to the end of the thirteenth century. Some members of this family distinguished themselves as warriors, while one was the governor of a fort.⁷ A "Mochi" (shoemaker) founded a temple of Vishnu at Raipur in the Central Provinces in about A.D. 1415.⁸ In a Sanskrit inscription at Chitorgarh belonging to about A.D. 1420, the composer of the eulogy described himself as the son of one Vishnu Bhatt of the Dasapura caste.⁹