Caste and Race in India c9.57.3

c9.57.3

for the Gurjaras are believed to be allied in blood to the White Huns,⁵ who seem to have been a brachycephalic people.⁶ It is reasonable therefore to assume that a few ruling families of the Gujaras with a small band of followers succeeded in gaining ascendance and imposing their culture over the then population of Rajputana. It is also urged that some of the Rajput clans "are descended from the so-called aboriginal tribes—Gonds, Bhars, Kols and the like",¹ apparently because both the Rajputs and the aboriginal tribes have certain clan-names in common. In physical characteristics these tribes are sharply distinguished from the Rajputs, and yet we are asked to believe that they are essentially the same because some features of social organization are common to both. The common clan-names can better be explained as a borrowing by the lowly castes or tribes from the dominant Rajputs. Thus there does not appear to be any serious objection to the Rajputs being classed as Indo-Aryans. Thirdly, there does not seem to be any foundation for Risley's classification of the Kashmiris as Indo-Aryans. The Kashmiris appear to be a mesaticephalic people, perhaps a mixture of the Alpine folk of Central Asia and the Indo-Aryans of the Punjab. Lastly, we have made it clear that Risley was not right in restricting the type to the Punjab and Rajputana. The type includes one or two high castes of Hindustan as well.