Caste and Race in India c9.40

Language: English

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Risley, after comparing the nasal indices of some of the castes of Hindustan, says that the order of gradation established by means of the nasal index is " substantially " the same as that of social precedence.¹ This mild statement has been reproduced in an exaggerated form in an authoritative book on ethnology. It is said in Keane's *Man Past and Present*² that the Hindustani type of the United Provinces has " a nose index exactly corresponding to social station ". We shall presently show that Risley's statement is only partially true, and that Keane's generalization has no ground. The following is the order in which some of the typical castes of the United Provinces stand according to their nasal index as given in our table for the province : Babhan, Brahmin, Chhatri, Kayasth, Kurmi, Tharu, Bania, Bhar, Kol, Lohar, Dom, Pasi, Musahar and Chamar. The order of social precedence as given in the *Census Report of 1901*³ is as follows : Brahmin, Babhan, Rajput, Kayasth, Bania, Kurmi and Lohar, Mallah and Bind, etc., Bhar and Tharu, etc., Kol and Muchi, etc., Pasi and Dosadh, etc., Chamar, Musahar and Dom, etc. To these we may add Kachhi, Lodha, and Koiri. Risley's⁴ averages for these are: 82·9, 83·4, and 83·6. In our list the first two will rank after Kol and the third after Lohar. But in the scheme of social precedence they are grouped together with Kurmi. These comparisons prove that the statement of Keane is baseless and that of Risley is true only in a broad sense.

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For Bengal Risley's⁵ averages give us the following order : Brahmin of Eastern Bengal and Kayasth, Brahmin of Western Bengal, Chandal and Sadgop, Goala, Muchi, Pod, Kaibart, and Rajbansi Kochh. These castes may be arranged according to social status as : Brahmin, Kayasth and others, Sadgop and others, Kaibarta and Goala, Bhuiya and others, Kochh, and Pod, Chandal, Muchi and others.⁶ It is evident that these lists disprove Risley's statement. From Risley's⁷ averages for Orissa some of the castes rank as below : Shashan Brahmin, Panda Brahmin and Teli, Khandait, Mastan Brahmin and Guria, and Chasa, Karan, Pan, Kewat, and Bauri. The social order of precedence is : Brahmin, Karan, Khandait and others, Chasa, Guria and others, Gola and others, Teli and Kewat, etc., Chamar, Bauri and others, Pan and others.¹ We leave out Bombay, as it is not included in Risley's observation. By looking at the table the reader can satisfy himself that the figures for Bombay are more telling than in the case of the provinces so far dealt with. Finally we come to Madras. Here we must treat of the different linguistic areas separately for the schemes of social precedence in the various areas are different. We shall begin with the Telugu region. According to the averages given by Risley (p. 398) and by E. Thurston (vol. i, pp. lxviii-lxxiii) the order of castes is as follows: Kapu, Sale, Golla, Mala, Madiga and Togata, and Komati. According to their social status they are ranked as below: Brahmin . . .

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Komati, Golla and Kapu and others, and Sale, Togata and others. Mala and Madiga occupy the lowest rank, being the Pariahs of the Telugu country.² In the Canarese region the nasal index gives the following order: Karnatak Smarta Brahmin, Bant, Billava, Mandya Brahmin, Vakkaliga, Ganiga, Linga-Banajiga, Panchala, Kuruba, Holeya, Deshasth Brahmin, Toreya, and Bedar. In the scheme of social precedence the castes take the ranks as under: Brahmin . . . Bant and Vakkaliga, Toreya, etc., Kuruba and Ganiga, Badaga and Kurumba and Solaga, Billava, Bedar and Holeya.³ The significance of the comparison is enhanced when we remember that the nasal index of the Holeya, the untouchable of the Canarese region, is 75·1, that of the highest sub-caste of the Brahmin being 71·5, while those of the jungle Kurumba and the Solaga, who when Hinduized, occupy the rank allotted to them in the list, are 86·1 and 85·1 respectively. The ranks of the Linga-Banajiga and the Panchala cannot be determined, as they do not recognize the authority of the Brahmin. The Tamil castes may be arranged according to their nasal index as follows: Ambattan, Vellal, Idaiyan, Agamudaiyan, Tamil Brahmin, Palli, Malaiyali, Shanan, Paraiyan, Irula, and Malasar. The social status of these castes is: Brahmin, Idaiyan and Vellala, Agamudaiyan and Palli, Ambattan and others, Irula and Malasar and Malaiyali, Shanan and others, Paraiyan.⁴ The nasal indices of four typical Malayalam castes are: Tiyan, 75; Nambudiri Brahmin, 75·5¹;

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Nayar, 76·7; Cheruman, 77·2. The order of social precedence among these is: Nambudiri, Nayar, Tiyan, and Cheruman. The nasal index of the Kanikar, a jungle tribe of Travancore, is 84·6. Thus the Cheruman belongs to the same race as the Brahmin rather than to that of the Kanikar. We hope that these comparisons will have made it abundantly clear that the proposition of Risley has almost no basis in fact outside Hindustan.