Caste and Race in India c9.40.1

c9.40.1

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.