Caste in India: The Facts and the System c6.s4.1

c6.s4.1

A RECENT theory, supported by an exceedingly shrewd and expert judge, has claimed that common occupation forms the very foundation and principle of the caste. This is perhaps the conception which remains uppermost in the minds of those who content themselves with a certain amount of approximate ideas on the subject. But it would be an exaggeration to imagine Hindu society as enclosed according to the occupations of its members in a chessboard of unchangeable and impassable squares. It is true that many castes are called by the name of the profession which in general they follow: potters, blacksmiths, fishermen, gardeners, etc. It is necessary to remember that the names of trades which are presented to us as caste-names really embrace a larger area, and that the true caste, characterized and limited by the marriage laws, is much more restricted. Thus Banyas, or merchants, in the Panjab,¹ to take only one example, are split up into sections under geographical names such as the Agarwals, the Oswals, etc., which, being endogamous, clearly form as many distinct castes. A professional caste therefore does not embrace in one single unit all the people who live by the calling from which it takes its name. It is even a common experience to find gathered under a single trade-name people who very obviously derive from distinct castes and tribes.¹