Description of the Character, Manners, and Customs of the People of India, etc

Front matter

• FMOM.THL flFIC/NAL Oil PutNl iryc- >fi "" COLLEGF *Alt _ • / . ' . "Daring the long period that I remained amongst the Natives (between seventeen and eighteen years) I made it my constant rule to live as they did, conforming exactly in all things to their manners, to their style of living and clothings and even to most of their prejudices. In this way I became quite familiar with the various tribe3 that compose the Indian nation, and acquired the confidence of those whose aid was most necessary for the purpose of my work." — Extract from Men Whom India has Known, 2nd edition. THE PEOPLE OF INDIA PRINTED BY H IGGINFOTH AM AN]' in., 165, MOUNT ROAD — MADRAS. DESCRIPTION OF THE CHARACTER, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS 0¥ THE PE.0_P_L._E OIF INDIA; AND OF THEIR INSTITUTIONS. RELIGIOUS AND CIVIL. By the Abbe' J. A. DUBOIS, MISSIONARY IN THE MYSORE.

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH MANUSCRIPT, (Reprinted from the Original Edition.) LONDON, 1817. MADRAS: HIGGINBOTHAM AND CO., LONDON— TRUBNER AND CO., LUDGATE HILL. CALCUTTA— THACKER, SPLNK AND CO. BOMBAY— THACKER AND CO. 1879. TO THE HONOURABLE THE COURT OF DIRECTORS OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY; BY WHOSE ACCUSTOMED LIBERALITY AND GENEROUS ZEAL FOR THE DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE, TIHCIS INTERESTING- WORK ON THE PEOPLE OP INDIA, UNDER THEIR PROTECTION; HAS BEEN PROCURED AND GIVEN TO THE WORLD: THE TRANSLATION IS, WITH THEIR PERMISSION, MOST HUMBLY AND GRATEFULLY DEDICATED.

ADVERTISEMENT.

Preface

. The valuable information regarding the manners and customs of the people of Southern India, contained in the Abbe Dubois' work, has, since the time it was brought to the notice of Major Wilks in 1806, won for it a high and well-merited reputation. In 1862 we brought out an edition carefully revised, and annotated by the Rev. G. U. Pope, D.D., nevertheless the demand for the original edition still continues ; and as copies of the edition of 1817 are very scarce, we have undertaken to meet this demand by producing a verbatim reprint of it. We trust the manner in which this work has been executed in regard to the size, price, and general appearance of the present volume, will cdmmend it to the public. The Index accompanying this edition has been expressly prepared for it. THE PUBLISHERS, Madras, | January 1879. J

PREFACE.

. Though Europeans have been in possession of regular and permanent establishments amongst the people of India for more than three hundred years, it is wonderful to observe how little authentic information they have collected respecting the various nations which inhabit that vast region. We possess many details concerning several of the savage tribes of Africa, and also concerning the hordes of beings in the shape of man that are scattered over the vast continent of the new world ; a race apparently formed by nature, nurture, and manners, to humble and degrade the whole of the human species. Yet a certain nation exists, cultivated from the earliest ages, the only one perhaps in the universe which has never sunk into barbarism, and which, of all ancient nations, may most deserve to fix the attention of the philosopher ; one which attracted the admiration of antiquity by its successful cultivation of the sciences and arts, and by the admirable system which it invented for the maintenance of subordination in the community as well as of good order in private life.

This nation spread its renown over the whole extent of polished antiquity, compelled the most enlightened of all people to confess its pre-eminence by alluring into its bosom the wisest of the philosophers of Greece. These, in spite of their pride and high pretensions, felt not degraded by pursuing a long and dangerous journey into India to consult the wisdom of its Brahmans, who had flourished there in long succession, and to acquire from them a knowledge of the philosophy and the sciences which they had cultivated until their fame extended even into Europe. How wonderful, then, that such a nation remains almost unknown to the Europeans, who dwell in the midst of it, and who bear rule over a large portion of its soil ! The greater part of the ill-informed and often contradic tory narratives that have been left us by travellers and other modern authors respecting the nations of India, has deservedly fallen into discredit and contempt. This has,

PREFACE.

. XVI in a great measure, been brought about by the literary associations which have been established in the country itself, consisting of a great number of persons of real judgment and learning, who have made a particular study of the language, the religion, the manners, education, and domestic economy of these people. They have had access to the first sources of information, and have been able to avail themselves of numerous interesting documents, derived from sources, or drawn from records held in high and sacred estimation by the native sages of the country. Still, though what we have yet learned with certainty, concerning the people of India is but little in comparison with what remains to be known on so interesting a subject, it is not to be concealed that all the writings and documents to be met with amongst the Hindus are unfortunately blended with the most extravagant fables ; so that there is little hope of our being able to draw from such authorities a true and connected history of the country and of the various nations that inhabit it.

Among the ancient historical works still to be found in the country, the most esteemed and the most generally known are the Ramayana, the Bhagavata, and the Maha- Bharata ; but the history which these books give us of the epochs of the dynasties of kings, of the series of wars, of battles, and of heroes, in the various revolutions which the country has undergone, as well as what relates to the intro duction of arts and sciences, are so enveloped in darkness and intermixed with innumerable fables, each more incredible than the preceding, that the most skilful author would in vain attempt to avail himself of such faithless guides. We shall see in the course of this work, how incredibly far the Hindus carry their love of the marvellous. Their early historians, and especially their poets, in their enthusiasm, took advantage of this disposition of the people in writing their narratives, because they well knew they could not interest their readers, or fix their attention without recounting abundance of wild and surprising adventures • and accordingly they sacrificed all regard for truth to the desire of raising a name by humouring the taste of the public.

Succeeding writers outdid their predecessors by constantly adding to the ancient fables innumerable inventions still more absurd. PREFA CE. XVII Now, however, the attention paid to the Eastern tongues by the many learned Europeans who reside in the country, the progress they have made in Indian literature, the successful researches they are continually making into the books and other ancient remains of the nation ; together with the ample means which a liberal and enlightened government possesses for collecting together the documents furnished by many well informed individuals who labour under its direction, the encouragement and rewards which it holds out to persons of every class who have it in their power to discover authentic and interesting memorials : all these considerations would lead us to hope that we may at last behold the reality of Indian history through the thick clouds which still obscure it.

We may at least be enabled to separate what is credible from the mass of absurdity and fable, with which the Indian authors abound j and an able compiler may surely find sufficient materials to construct a full and authentic history of a nation, whose undoubted antiquity, the success with which it cultivated the arts and sciences in the remotest times, the wise domestic controul which it established at its origin, through which it has to this hour maintained an admirable police, render it an object of the highest interest, independently of the peculiar nature of its idolatry and superstitious rites. But while such a work is only hoped for, I may be allowed, though incompetent for so great a task, to offer the present details, which will be found to contain many interesting particulars that are but imperfectly known to most readers, and may even be useful to any author who shall undertake a more methodical and comprehensive history of the Indian nations.

It was chiefly with this view that I was led to collect the numerous details of which this work is composed ; for I aim not at the rank of an author, which is neither suited to my talents nor the secluded state to which my profession confines me amongst the natives of the country. It will be readily perceived by the reader that the arrangement of the various subjects on which I have treated, was formed before the commencement of those last revolutions by which the people of the peninsula have been deliveied from the iron yoke of that long succession of tyrants who oppressed them for so many ages, and before c

PREFACE.

. they had passed under the rule of a nation distinguished throughout the world for its beneficence, its moderation, its generosity, and above all, for its impartial administra tion of justice to all classes of people who live under its sway. The spirit of justice and of prudence with which that nation rules the people of India who have become its subjects, and particularly the inviolable respect which she has constantly shewn for the customs and prejudices, civil and religious, which are inherent in every district and cast, together with the impartial protection which she extends alike to the feeble and the strong, to the Brahman and the Pariah, to the Christian, the Mahometan and the Pagan ; have more exalted her name and established her power in the east than even her victories and her extensive conquests.

The wonderful revolution effected of late years for the advantage of the people of the south of the peninsula has not induced me to alter the original plan of my work, where I treated of them as living under the arbitrary government of their despotic Princes. It is a number of years since I first formed my design, in consequence of notices in the public papers calling for authentic documents regarding these people, for the use of the historiographers of the Honourable Company engaged in writing a history of India. From that period, I have employed my leisure in ac cumulating materials and authentic documents for my work. My information has been drawn from the diligent study of some of the works in greatest estimation among the Hindus, and some detached memoirs that accidentally fell into my hands, the veracity of which I am well assured of by personal observation.

But I am chiefly indebted to an exact and regular system of inquiry which I was enabled to maintain by a residence of between seventeen and eighteen years among the people whom I describe, and a close and familiar intercourse with persons of every cast and con dition of life through the great number of districts which I have traversed. During the long period that I remained amongst the natives, I made it my constant rule to live as they did, con-

PREFACE.

. XIX forming exactly in all things to their manners, to their style of living and clothing, and even to most of their prejudices. Iu this way I became quite familiar with the various tribes that compose the Indian nation, and acquired the confi dence of those whose aid was most necessary for the purposes of my work. My great object was to gain authentic information; which I here communicate in a style simple and unadorned. If, in the great variety of subjects on which I treat, I have at any time ventured to hazard an opinion of my own, and to enter upon discussions which neither my abilities nor opportunities of investigation qualify me for, I entreat my readers not to impute such digressions to ostentatious vanity, or to any affectation of learning, in which I feel my deficiency, but merely to the desire which I entertain of affording to other authors, better qualified than myself, occasional hints on subjects fit to exercise the genius of the profoundest inquirer.

The work would have been more complete and more satisfactory to most readers, if I had had the means of refer ring to the ancient authors, or to their European commenta tors, with regard to the quotations I make, and the compari sons I draw between the Indians and other ancient nations as to their religious and civil customs. But here I found myself destitute of all help but what I received from my Bible, or some modern authors whom chance rather than preference put into my hands ; or, finally, in the imperfect traces which my memory supplied of books I had consulted in my early years. I hope my readers will be indulgent to me in this par ticular, and attribute the inaccuracies they will discover in my references, and the imperfect parallels I sometimes attempt to draw, to my exclusion during so many years from every resource but what my limited understanding could supply.

In my description of the Indian casts, I must be under stood to have in view chiefly those that people the southern provinces of the peninsula, within the Krishna. It is not unlikely that the habits and customs on this side of that river may differ from those beyond it, or that the provinces of the north may have some peculiar to themselves.

PREFACE.

. XX The religious and civil regulations which I describe in this work form a general bond of social union among the Hindus in the south of the peninsula ; and nearly the whole of them are of indispensable observance. But there are also many other rules peculiar to each several cast, people, and district. Indeed there is no tribe of Hindus that has not, in addition to the general rules of the society, some domestic usages peculiar to itself. Some have customs that are merely local and followed only by a few. A perfect acquaintance with such customs is not to be attained, because they defer in every part, and are brought to no standard by the natives themselves. A more interesting and a more useful study than that of the peculiar usages of the cast, would be to trace the various nations that people the vast empire of India ; for, although these nations are all united together by the bands of the same religion, and also by those of the same education, as far as good behaviour and decent intercourse in society go, yet great differences appear amongst them, in language as well as in character, in manners, inclinations, and habits.

A good observer will remark, under all general points of resemblance, as much difference between a Tamul and a Telinga ; between a Canara and a Mahrata, as one would perceive in Europe between an Englishman and a Frenchman, an Italian and a German. There are some countries in India peopled from time immemorial by different nations, who, though mixed together in the same province and even in the same district, still preserve their distinct language, character, and national spirit. On the Malabar coast, for example, within a space of forty or fifty leagues from north to south, from Telichery to Onore or to Nagara, there are no less than five different nations peopling that small territory ; and all of them appear to have been settled there upwards of a thousand years. These five nations are the Nairs, or Naimars, the Kurga or Kudagu, the Tuluvu, the Kaunguni, and the Canara.

These are not merely names of casts, as might be supposed, but they distinguish five different nations, each of which is divided, like all other Indian nations, into a variety of cast; and although these five races dwell in the same district, each has its peculiar

PREFACE.

. XXI language, by which it is as much discriminated as by its national customs, spirit, and character. In every country of the peninsula great numbers of foreign families are to be found whose ancestors had been obliged to emigrate thither, in times of trouble or famine, from their native land, and to establish themselves amongst strangers. This species of emigration is very common in all the countries of India ; but what is most remarkable is, that in a foreign land, these emigrants preserve from generation to generation their own language and national peculiarities. Many instances might be pointed out of such foreign families settled four or five hundred years in the district they now inhabit, without approximating in the least to the manners, fashions, or even to the language of the nation where they have been for so many generations naturalized.

They still preserve the remembrance of their origin, and keep up the ceremonies, the usages of the land where their ancestors were born, without ever receivingjmy tincture of the particular habits of the^ country where they live. Under all the circumstances that have been mentioned, there is nothing to be seen but the most absolute toleration amongst the aboriginal inhabitants of every district ; and so long as the stranger settled amongst them conforms to the accustomed rules of decorum, each may follow his own national customs, preserve his native language in his family, and in aU things follow the usages of his ancestors, without any man attempting to find fault with the singu larity of his manner of living. The facility of intercourse which the Europeans now enjoy with the different nations which people the peninsula of India, will no doubt soon afford us interesting details on the various subjects which do not fall within the scope of this work, and which indeed would require the labour of more than one author.

In attempting a description of the Indian casts, and of the customs and usages which unite them together, I have been most solicitous to pourtray that discriminating peculiarity, which though the most curious of all, is still the least understood. Those who have visited India will appreciate the difficulty of holding any communication with the Brahmans. They know the vast distance at which this

PREFACE.

. XXII class holds itself from the rest of the community. They know their hatred and sovereign contempt for all strangers, but particularly for Europeans, their close reserve and their jealous caution to prevent the mysteries of their religion, or of their science, or even of their domestic discipline from being divulged to other men. By various means I surmounted many of the obstacles which have effectually opposed other authors in this career. If my details on the Brahmans and the other casts of Hindus, are not in general so full as many readers would desire, and as I myself would have expected, if I could have had all the aid I required, I have yet the vanity to think they will appear interesting, and even satisfactory to many readers who have learned nothing on the subject but from ill-informed authors.

I have subjoined to the whole an Appendix, containing a brief account of the sect of the Jainas, of their doctrines, the principal points of their religion, and their peculiar customs. Other writers possessing more information than I do, will hereafter instruct us more fully concerning this interesting sect of Hindus, and particularly respecting their religious worship, which probably, at one time, was that of all Asia, from Siberia to Cape Comorin, north to south : and from the Caspian to the Gulf of Kamtchatka, from west to east; and which was probably one of the earliest kinds of idolatry which appeared on the earth, at the time when men, forgetting the idea of their Creator, deified the stars, the elements, and other striking objects, and even mortals like themselves ; fashioning images to preserve their memory by clothing them with a visible form. CONTENTS.

Part I. General View Of Society In India

CHAP. I. Page. Division and Subdivision of Casts. — Distinction of Right Hand and Left ... ... ... 1 CHAP. II. Advantages resulting from the Division of Casts ... 13 CHAP. III. Expulsion from the Cast ... ... ... 23 CHAP. IV. Restoration to the Cast ... ■•• ... 27 CHAP. V. Antiquity and Origin of the Casts ... ... 31 CHAP. VI. The fabulous Origin of the Brahmans. — On their Name and original Founders. — Conjectures on their real Origin ... ••• •■• ...34 CHAP. VII. Of the different Kinds of Brahmans ... ... CONTENTS. XXIV Page. CHAP. VIII Of the sects of Vishnu and Siva. — Causes of the Opposition of the ordinary Brahmans to the Vishnu Brahmans and other Sectaries ... ... 49 CHAP. IX. Of the Gurus or Priests of India. ... ... 62 CHAP. X. Of the Purohitas or Masters of the Ceremonies ... 70 CHAP. XI.

Of the Mantras, or Forms of Prayer ... ... 74 CHAP. XII. Of the Ceremonies practised on the Brahman Women when brought to bed, and on Infants of tender Age. 80

Part II. Of The Four Stages In Life Of The Brahmans

CHAP. I. State of the Brahmachari 87 CHAP. II. Of the conduct expected from the Brahmachari, and the rights he acquires by receiving the Cord 96 CHAP. III. Of the exactness with which a young Brahman must shun external Defilement, and the different Practices in this respect ... ... ... CONTENTS. XXV Page. CHAP. IV. Of the interior Defilement of the Body; of the Abstinence of the Brahmans, and the particular horror of the Hindus for the flesh of the Cow ... 109 CHAP. V. Of the Defilement of the soul, and the Remedies used to efface it ... ... ... ... 118 CHAP. VI. Conjectures respecting the Origin of the rites of the Brahmans concerning Uncleanness and Purity ... 122 m / CHAP. VII. Of Marriage among the Brahmans ... ... 126 CHAP. VIII. Of the second Degree of Brahmans ; that of Grihastha, and the duties which it imposes ... ... 141 CHAP. IX.

The Triple Prayer of the Brahmans ... ... 148 CHAP. X. Of the Fasts and Festivals of the Brahmans ... 154 CHAP. XI. Of certain prohibited sorts of food amongst the Brahmans; and their secret and nocturnal sacrifices. 161 CHAP. XII. The different Avocations of the Brahmans ... 167 d CONTENTS. XXVI Page. CHAP. XIII. Of the Toleration of the Brahmans in Religion, and their Bigotry in Political Affairs. — Their Contempt of Strangers ... ... ... ... 172 CHAP. XIV. Of the Manners of the Brahmans ... ... 182 CHAP. XV. Of the exterior Qualities of the Brahmans and other Hindus ; their bodily and mental Weakness ; of their Language, their Dress, and their Houses ... 191 CHAP. XVI. Of the Rules of Politeness in use among the Brahmans and other Hindus. — Of their Visits and Presents ... 200 CHAP. XVII.

Of the Decorations worn by the Hindus, and the different Emblems with which they adorn their Persons ... ... ... ... 205 CHAP. XVIII. Of the married Brahman Women; their Dress and Ornaments ... •... ... :.. 209 CHAP. XIX. The State of Widowhood. Second Marriages not permitted ... ... ... ... 216 CHAP. XX. Rules and Precepts for the conduct of Married Women 221 CHAP. XXI. Of the custom of Women allowing themselves to be Burned with the Corpses of their Husbands ... CONTENTS. XXVII Page. CHAP. XXII. Of Adoption among the Brahmans and other Hindus. 239 CHAP. XXIII. Partition of Property in certain Cases ... ... 244 CHAP. XXIV. Of the Literature of the Brahmans and particularly their Poetry ... ... ... ... 248 CHAP. XXV. The Epistolary Style of the Brahmans ... ... 259 CHAP. XXVI. On the Hindu Hand-Writing. . . ... ... 263 CHAP. XXVII.

Death and Obsequies of the Brahmans ... ... 275 CHAP. XXVIII. The Ceremonies practised by the Brahmans for the Dead, after the Obsequies ... ... ... 283 CHAP. XXIX. Of the Third Condition of the Brahmans, that of Vanaprastha or Inhabitants of the Desart ... 291 CHAP. XXX. Rules of the Vanaprasthas ... ... ... 296 CHAP. XXXI. Of the Sacrifices of the Anchoret Brahmans ; particularly the Yajna ... ... ... 302 CHAP. XXXII. Of the Giants, the Adversaries of the Anchorets . . . Page. CONTENTS: xxviu CHAP. XXXIII. Opinions of the Hindu Philosophers on the Nature of God, of the Different Beings in the Universe, and particularly the Soul' ■. ■ ... ... ... 311 CHAP. XXXIV. On the Influence of Penitence in purifying the Soul ; and on Purification by Fire... ... ••• 318 CHAP. XXXV. Of the Learning of the Solitary Brahmans and of the Epoch of the Flood ... ... ...323 CHAP. XXXVI.

Of the Magic practised by the Vanaprastha Brahmans, and still in use among the -Hindus ... * ... 329 CHAP. XXXVII. Of Sannyasi, the Fourth State of the Brahmans : the Manner of Inauguration and the Rules. . . ... 337 CHAP. XXXVIII. The various Duties of the Sannyasi, particularly Contemplation ... ... ... ... 342 CHAP. XXXIX. Of the Funerals of the Sannyasi Brahmans . . . 349

Part III. Religion

CHAP. I. The Origin of the Trimurti, and the Primitive Idolatry " of the Hindus ... ... .... 353 CHAP. II. The principal Festivals of the Hindus, particularly that of the Pongol or Sankranti . . . CONTENTS. XXIX Page. CHAP. III. Of the Temples of the Hindus and the Ceremonies there practised .. . ... ... ... 379 CHAP. IV. Of the principal Divinities of India ... ... 414 CHAP. V. Of the Worship of Animals, and that of the Butam or Malevolent Beings ... ... ... 429 • CHAP. VI. Of the Pariahs and other Inferior Casts of Hindus . . . 438 CHAP. VII. Of the Metempsychosis. The Hindus the Inventors of the Doctrine. Causes and Number of the Transmigrations. Of the Pains of Hell and their Duration. Abodes of Bliss ... ... ... 460 CHAP. VIII. Exercise of Justice, Civil and Criminal ... ... 475 CHAP. IX. Of the Hindu Fables ... ... ...484 CHAP. X. Hindu Tales ... ... ... .... 489 CHAP. XL Of the Military System of India ... ••• 511

Appendix

. On the Sect of the Jainas and the Principal Differences between them and the Brahmans ... ... 529 INDEX. A 1 DESCRIPTION OP THE PEOPLE OF INDIA.

Chapter I. Division And Subdivision Op Casts

DISTINCTION OF EIGHT HAND AND LEFT. The word Cast is a Portuguese term, which has been adopted by Europeans in general, to denote the different classes or tribes into which the people of India are divided. The most ordinary partition, and at the same time the most ancient, is that which arranges them in four principal tribes. The first and most distinguished of all is that of Brahmana or the Brahmans: the second in rank is that of Kshatriya or Rajas : the third the Vaisya or merchants and cultivators and the last that of Sudras or cultivators subordinate to the others. Each of these four principal tribes is subdivided into several more, of which it is difficult to determine the number and the sort ; for this division varies in the different countries, aud several casts known in one pro vince do not appear in another.

Among the Brahmans, for example, there is ODe for each Vedur. They admit also of several subdivisions among them, which prevent them from making a close union with each other in many cases, and particularly in that of marriage. [part i, DIVISION OF CASTS. 2 The tribe of Rajas and that of Merchants are likewise split into many divisions and subdivisions : but the tribe of Sudras is that in which they are multiplied most of all. I have never found any man in the provinces where I have lived, able to fix with precision on the number and the species of them, although it is often, and indeed proverbially repeated, that there are eighteen chief sub divisions, and one hundred and eight others. The most numerous of the four principal tribes, then, is that of the Sudras or cultivators, and I think it no exaggeration to reckon them to amount at least to five sixths of the population of India.

Most of the professions, and almost all the trades, with the arts and employments which are indispensable to civilized societ}', belong to the tribe of the Sudras : and as, by the prejudices of the country, no cast and no individual can be of two trades, a particular tribe being exclusively set apart for each , occupation and each trade, so it is not surprising that the divisions and subdivisions of the casts should be so exceedingly numerous in this tribe, or that it should stand so high in point of number in the general scale of society. But there are several casts of cultivators not known but in particular countries. Of those elsewhere unknown, the country of Tamul appears to me to have the most sub divisions. There are not nearly so many even in the Decan, nor in the Mysore, nor on the coast of Malabar.

In none of those parts have I found any casts correspond ing to those in the territory of Tamul, known in their dialect, under the names of Mandeli, Agambadeya, Natta man, Udyan, Totiyar, Ventuven, Valeyen, Upiliyen, and several others. It is to be observed however, that the tribes of the Sudras, to which those employments belong which are every where indispensable, must necessarily be found in all the countries, under the different appellations used in their respective tongues. The most considerable of the casts that are universally spread are the following The Herdsmen who keep the cows ; the Shephenls who tend the sheep ; the Weo.vers ; the Panchalas, meaning the five casts of artizans, which comprehend the carpenters, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, stone-cutters, founders, and in general CHAP. I.] DIVISION OF CASTS. 3 all workers in metals ; the Barbers; and the Utarans, whose chief employment is to excavate tanks, repair their banks, erect mud walls, and the like.