A Dying Race

Front matter

A DYING RACE

by U. N. MUKERJI.

published by MUKERJEE & BOSE, college square, Calcutta. 1909.

1

A DYING RACE.

I.

The first census of India was taken in 1872. It was found out that in Bengal Proper there were a little over 171 lakhs of Hindus and nearly 167 lakhs of Mahomedans. So that the Hindus were 4 lakhs greater than the Mahomedans in numerical strength. The next census was taken in 1881. It was discovered that the Mahomedans had increased from a little under 167 lakhs to nearly 179 lakhs, while the Hindus had increased from 171 lakhs to only about 1721/2 lakhs. The numerical supremacy of the Hindus had not only disappeared but they were in a minority by over 6 lakhs. The third census was taken in 1891. The Mahomedans had in the course of the previous ten years, increased from 179 lakhs to nearly 196, while the figures for the Hindus stood at 180. The Mahomedans had therefore increased their majority over the Hindus by over 15 lakhs. The fourth census was taken in 1901. The Mahomedans had increased from 196 lakhs to about 220 lakhs, while the number for the Hindu Bengalis was about 194 lakhs. So that in the space of 30 years, the Mahomedans who were at the start in a minority of 4 lakhs had not only made up the deficiency, but were nearly 25 lakhs more numerous than the Hindus.

In 30 years' time the Mahomedans of Bengal increased by over 33 per cent. the Hindus by about 17,—where there have been two Mahomedans there has been only one Hindu. In 1891 Mr. C.J.O'Donnell was the Census Commissioner for Bengal. He calculated the number of years it would take the Hindus to disappear altogether from Bengal if the Mahomedan increase went on at the rate it was doing. In the next decade the difference in the rate of increase was not only maintained but it was increased, and it is fully expected that at the next census it will be found to have increased further. The question that strikes one is, why two communities, living side by side, practically under the same conditions, should show such disparity in their respective rates of growth.

The old official Bengal included Bengal Proper or the land of the Bengalis, Bihar, Orissa, and Chota Nagpur. In the figures quoted above the term Bengal has been taken to mean the part where Bengali is spoken. The total number of men who speak the Bengali language is a little over 414 lakhs of whom, as mentioned above, nearly 220 lakhs are Mahomedans and about 195 lakhs are Hindus. These are distributed over 30 districts of what now may be called United Bengal. There are four natural divisions—first, East Bengal which comprises Dacca, Mymensing, Faridpore, Backergunj, Tipperah, Noakhali, Chittagong; second, North Bengal which includes, Rajshahi, Dinajpore, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Rangpore, Bogra, Pabna, Cooch Behar; third, Central Bengal under which come, the 24-Parganas (with Calcutta), Nadia, Murshidabad, Jessore, Khulna; and West Bengal which includes Burdwan, Birbhum, Bankura, Midnapore, Hughly and Howrah. Bengali is spoken in parts of Purnea and Malda districts of Behar and in parts of Manbhum and of Singbhum districts of Chota Nagpore. The districts vary in size and population. Mymensing has a population of over 36 lakhs, while the Darjeeling district has a little over one lakh of people.

There are various ways peoples have dwindled and finally disappeared from their own country, and we are in a fair way of sharing their fate. How do we Bengali Hindus compare with them? Let us take the case of a few.

"The first place in which the Spaniards established their power was the large island of Hayti or Hispaniola which was inhabited by a numerous race of Indians of a mild and gentle character, a third part of whom are said to have perished within two or three years after the Spaniards conquered them." There is no further need of looking for the cause of disappearance.

The population of Ireland in 1841 was 8 millions; at the end of the century it stood at about 4. As the English historian learnedly observes: "The population of Ireland has at various periods been considerably diminished by outbreaks of pestilence and by famine, but its decrease is chiefly attributable to emigration." The population of Ireland may have diminished, but the number of Irishmen has not decreased. There are supposed to be 20 millions of Irishmen outside Ireland.

The aborigines who inhabited the part of the American continent, now known as the United States, have practically disappeared from their own country. They scarcely number two hundred thousand, while the white population has increased from 5 to 70 millions in course of the 19th century.

The Maoris of New Zealand are another disappearing race. They are not dying out for want of food—they still own 5 million acres of land, nearly half of which are leased out to the white settlers. Their chief scourge is drink which brings on pulmonary consumption. In 1896 their number was about 42 thousand; in five years they increased by about five thousand more. The white population in 1880 stood at nearly 5 lakhs; in twenty years' time it rose to about 8. At present the Maoris are a negligible factor in the population and will very probably disappear in a few more years.

We are also a decaying race. Every census reveals the same fact. We are getting proportionately fewer and fewer. There is no actual decrease; but the rate of increase compared with that of the Mahomedans is extremely small. In the nine years from 1881 the Mahomedans increased by nearly 12 lakhs, while the increase of the Hindus during the same period was one and a half lakhs. In the decade ending 1891 the Mahomedans gained 11 lakhs while the Hindus increased by 7. In the next decade the Mahomedans had added nearly 25 lakhs to their number, while the Hindus showed an increase of 10. The Hindus started 40 years ago, with an absolute majority of 4 lakhs. Year after year they are being pushed back, the land once occupied by them is taken up by the Mahomedans and their relative proportion to the population of the country is getting smaller and smaller. Why should it be so?

The explanation that is lkely to be given is that it is a case of the survival of the fittest. In a sense, it is true—it cannot be otherwise; but with the majority of the people, such an expression is more an attempt to take shelter behind a convenient phrase than the result of thought out reasoning. A stand may equally be made behind a similar dictum—nothing succeeds like success. It is equally true; and so far as the present question is concerned it is equally apt and equally illuminating. Is it a question of survival or of comparative progress—is it a question of extinction or of relegation to a negligible position?

In the following articles an attempt has been made to follow the nature of the changes that have been going on around us and to trace some of the causes that have been at work and whose result we notice now.

I should mention here, that I am solely responsible for the opinions expressed in these articles and that they do not represent the views of the paper in which they are published, nor of any public body with which I may be connected.

3

III.

It is a well-known fact that no business can flourish without a well-established system of banking. It is true in the case of every business, it is specially so as regards agriculture. In England large farms are the rule. A holding of a thousand bighas—330 acres—will be considered a small farm. A man who starts such a farm may have money of his own but generally he borrows a portion of his capital from a local Bank. The interest the Bank charges may be 4 or 5 per cent., he expects to make more from his farm. If things go on well, he pays off his debts in time and becomes its undisputed possessor. There may be good seasons and bad seasons but whenever he wants money he looks to the Bank for help.

In this country capitalist farming is not known. The system that is universal here is what is called tenant farming. I think peasant-proprietor farming will be a more appropriate expression. The cultivating ryot is nominally a tenant as that term is popularly undersrood, the patch of land that he cultivates is practically his own so long as he pays his rent. The zemindar or land-owner as he is curiously called is really a tax-gatherer and has just as much power to evict a tenant as the Government Tehsildar. In fact a khas mahal Deputy Magistrate has infinitely greater powers than the biggest zemindar in United Bengal.

The chief industry—practically the only industry of Bengal—is agriculture. Here as elsewhere, the help of the Banker is just as indispensable. Here a ryot when he is in need of money does not go to a Bank, but goes to the village mahajan. This has been going on here—as elsewhere in India—as long as agriculture is going on. There can not be an agricultural class without a banking class. With the exception of the Burdwan Division and parts of the Presidency Division agriculture is practically in the hands of the Mahomedan agriculturists. The cultivating ryot is a Mahomedan and the man who stands to him in the relation of the Bank, and finances him when he is in need of money, is a Hindu.

There is a marked difference, however, between a Bank and a mahajan. A Bank cannot let its dues wait for long—it has to pay dividends to its shareholders. Realisation may be deferred, when the security is good, and there is expectation of larger payment, but it cannot be indefinitely postponed. In England it is a well-known saying, that three bad seasons will break a farmer. In fact, agriculture there is not looked upon as a lucrative investment. For the farmer there is no insurance against failures, solvent and insolvent are the two words that the Bank understands. Either pay when payment falls due or you will be sold up. Discounting may procure a brief respite if the Bank is convinced that the farm can stand the additional burden, but the usual alternatives are pay or break.

The much-maligned mahajan is a somewhat different person. He does banking business—there is no doubt of it. His rate of interest is sometimes very high at least on paper and especially when he can get it. But he seldom sells up his debtors as a Bank will do unhesitatingly, when it thinks that its demands have not been met. The mahajan serves another purpose. He is the great insurance agency to whom the ryot looks whenever there is failure of crops or a sudden demand for money. A succession of bad crops may increase the hardships of the ryot, but it does not mean eviction or the workhouse or their equivalent in this country—starvation. Putting the lowest construction on the matter, it will not pay the mahajan to ruin his debtors. In England a Bank has hundreds of outlets for its money. It lends money to a farmer, that is one business. If it finds that such a transaction is not likely to be paying, it will find other outlets for its funds. A mahajan has no other way to invest his money, and he is not likely to destroy his only source of livelihood.

Upto very recent times the Hindus alone were the mahajans; but recent enquiries have made it abundantly clear that the Mahomedans have taken extensively to mahajani business. The increasing wealth of the community has made this change inevitable. They charge and receive just as much interest as the Hindus do. Their number at present may not be large but it is on the increase.

The introduction of the co-operative credit system is going, however, to introduce a new social factor, whose far-reaching effects it is difficult to foresee at the present moment. When the system is completed, the Government, and neither the Hindus nor the Mahomedans, will have any economic relation with the cultivating class. As it is, the Government is really the landlord. Every cultivator has a clear idea of the status of the so-called zemindar whether he is a Hindu or a Mahomedan. Under the new system, the bankers will be practically the Government. So that the agricultural classes who form more than three-fourths of the population will have the same relation with the Government as they used to have with the Zemindar and mahajans—Hindu or Mahomedan.

Two facts stand out clear. First, the agriculturists who are mainly Mahomedans were connected by the closest of economic ties with the Hindus, and secondly, as an agricultural class they could have existed only on account of this banking class who were practically all Hindus.

4

IV.

If one watches any train that comes to Calcutta from East or North Bengal, he will find every day a number of young Mahomedans arriving in town in search of employment. As a rule they all belong to the agricultural class, having their homes in distant Noakhali, or Chittagong—Rajshahi or Pabna. Hitherto they have worked on the land, but their number is increasing. Some of them must take to other occupations. Their health is their only capital. They are perfectly willing to turn their hands to any work. They have come for it and so long as it pays or there is reasonable prospect of paying—they are willing to wait. Bookbinders, tanners, masons, boatmen, sailors, machine-room-workers, cooks, waiters, coachmen, shopkeepers, tailors, it is immaterial what they become. Their choice is generally decided by the fact that some of their co-villagers may be working at some trade or occupation and he gives the newcomer a helping hand. There is always opening for a strong, willing, active young man and after a few applications he is generally successful in securing a job.

Similarly if any one watches the trains that arrive at Howrah, he will find that pretty nearly every one of them brings to town a large number of men, who come from all parts of India to seek their fortune. The fact is not known to many that fully half the population of Calcutta do not speak Bengali. Practically every one of these four hundred thousand persons is either engaged in or connected with business. Add to these, the number of Bengali Mahomedans, who are here for the same purpose—and one would get some idea of the almost negligible fraction of the business that passes through the hands of the Bengali Hindus in the capital of Bengal.

It is not Mahomedans alone, or inhabitants of provinces outside Bengal, who come from their villages in search of employment. A certain number of Hindu Bengalis also come as well, but the proportion will be about one Hindu to 25 Bengali Mahomedans and to about 100 up-country men. In the choice of occupation a Hindu has a great deal to think about before he can decide as to what he is going to do. All the trades and occupations that are open to a Mahomedan are as much open to him. A Chamar or a Muchi can have no objection to work in skin or leather. Haris are in great demand as cooks, Hindu masons are still common in the villages, Hindu "Mallas" and "Patnies" have always been boatmen. The Namasudras have no objections to be sailors. Hindu coachmen or Hindu machine-room-workers are rarely to be met with, yet there is nothing in their religion to prevent them from following these two occupations. Why is it that the Hindus have been practically ousted from these occupations by the Mahomedans.

Let us take the history of one trade—carpentry. In building works such as making doors, shutters, windows, door-frames, the workmen are almost entirely Mahomedans. In furniture shops—boat building—the proportion will be about equal between the two races. In most places Bengali Hindus have been entirely supplanted or are being pushed back every day. In higher workmanship the Chinese have taken the place of Bengali workmen. All this has taken place within the last 30 years. What are the causes that have been at work?

In the first place, it is obvious that the Hindus have been crushed down by the numerical superiority of the Mahomedans. The total strength of the carpenter caste stood at the last census at 1,72,200 and that is including men, women and children. Hitherto the men who worked as carpenters came practically from this class alone. On the above computation there would be about 40,000 working carpenters in the whole country, and the competition lay so long among these men. The work was divided among these 40,000 men and there was no outside competitor. Taking the agricultural Mahomedan population to be nineteen millions, there would be about five millions of men from whom the carpenters can be recruited. As the pressure on the land increases, an increasing number of men from this class will take to other occupations, carpentry being one of them. So that while the entire stock from which a Hindu carpenter can come numbers barely 40,000, there are five millions of Mahomedans who can furnish competitors for that purpose. The odds against the carpenters by caste would be something like one against one hundred and twenty-five. It is quite true that Hindus from other castes can take to the work of carpenters, and as a matter of fact there are carpenters who are Namasudras and Bagdis by caste. A Pod, Kaora, Hari, Dome will rise in the social scale if he becomes a carpenter by profession, but the fact shows that he seldom takes to it. Why should it be so? The second disadvantage is that the Mahomedan workmen can work at a lower rate of wages or for less profit than the Hindu. The latter has an idea that he is the better workman of the two, and that his remuneration should be proportionately higher. To a certain degree, the claim is not altogther groundless, but not to the extent that he imagines it himself or in the sense that he expects it to be accepted by others. Hereditary dexterity, if not an entire myth, has been greatly exaggerated. A similar idea long prevailed among the English that trade cannot be learned in schools. The Germans and Austrians have demonstrated how schools can supplement if not supersede shops. A similar thing is happening in this country. Like every other thing carpentry can be learned by application, and in time. The Hindu carpenters hitherto lived in fancied security, they thought that their monopoly was safe; they kept out every other Hindu caste from their guild. They did not think of the Mahomedans.

Another reason why the Hindu carpenter demands greater remuneration is, that his wants are greater. He does not spend more money on his food or clothes than the Mahomedan. The opposite is generally the rule. If we except cheap finery the Mahomedan workman wears better clothes. As to food the Mahomedan is certainly the more sensible of the two. He has got a clear idea, that the best asset he possesses is his health, and so far as food is concerned, he habitually enjoys better and more nutritious food than Hindus belonging to a much higher class than carpenters.

Still the Hindu carpenter needs more money. His thriftlessness has given rise to a proverb. Thriftless as a carpenter means the worst form of improvidence. It is not waste of money on food and clothes when money is cheap. That is common enough with every class of wage-earners, but it is something considerably worse.

5

V.

Where I live, I have for my neighbours a colony of Mahomedan duftries. They will be about 5,000 in number. These men mostly come from East Bengal. The Naraingunge Sub-division of Dacca is their chief centre. They usually earn from 15 to 20 rupees a month. They take their meals at eating houses, and are out the whole day at their work. Three or four of them occupy a room where they sleep at night. Most of them are deeply religious. Early in the morning and in the evening when they come back from their work, one can hear them reading their sacred books from almost every hut. The accommodation inside a hut is limited and they are a thrifty lot. In warm nights some of them may be seen seated on a mat playing cards under a street lamp. Their great ambition is to buy land, build a house in their distant home, and every pice they save they send home for that purpose. But they never stint themselves, so far as food is concerned. I have seen their food and it will compare favourably with what a Hindu with ten times their income usually takes. Fish and flesh they eat regularly often twice a day. There may be not much variety or anything in the way of luxury, but what they eat is both healthy and substantial. They are a clean and a healthy lot. They work hard and after necessary expenses save every pice of their hardearned money. Their ultimate hope is to return and live on their savings in their distant home. That there are not black sheep amongst them I do not for a moment assert but I think they form the exceptions.

Not far from where I live is the Chutarpara or the carpenters' quarters. Things are very different there. Visit their quarters at any time, you will find groups of young men loitering in street corners, with fine dhuties, generally "belati ", patent leather slippers, plated shirts, well greased and wonderfully brushed hair and the inevitable cigarette. They work when it pleases them, or the work suits their lazy habits, spend the wages in brothels where many of them live, borrow when they are out of funds, if they can find anybody to lend them money. They are practically all illiterate, have no idea of religion, most of them drink. I have special facilities for seeing both the Hindu carpenters and the Mahomedan duftries, as I have been seeing them as outpatients in a dispensary for some years. By 30 the Hindu mechanic is a physical wreck, broken down by disease and drink, by the inevitable consequences of scanty food and ill-regulated life. That there are not many exceptions I do not for a moment state, but the majority belong to the class that I have just described.

Out of 100 Hindu Bengalis six are Brahmans—they number, roughly speaking, about eleven lakhs—five are Kayesthas. There is one Rajput (and Khatriya) among about 200 Bengalis. Their ancestors had immigrated to Bengal years ago and they are just as much Bengalis as Kanyakubja Brahmans. The Baidyas number somewhat less than the Rajputs, so that the Brahmans and the high castes form about 12.8 per cent. of the entire Hindu community of Bengal. After them come the Navasakhs and other clean Sudras. They include Barui, Gandhabanik, Kamar, Kumher, Malakar, Maira, Napit, Sadgop, Sudra, Tambuli, Tanti, Teli and others totalling about 31 lakhs of persons and forming about 16.4 per cent. of the Hindu population of United Bengal. The most numerous caste belonging to this class are the Sadgops, who number about 6 lakhs, and the least numerous are the Malakars who are about 36 thousand all told. The Nabasakhs are regarded as clean Sudras. They have secured the services of Brahmans, but the ministering priests are looked down upon by their brethren who will not have anything to do with them socially. Water touched by this class is not regarded as polluted.

The next group contributes about 13.4 per cent. to the total Hindu population of Bengal. The Chasi Kaibartas form about 10.1 per cent. of the Hindus and number nearly two millions. They come principally from West Bengal. The Goalas number about six lakhs, and are just about a third as numerous as the Chasi Kaibartas. Brahmans minister to these two castes, but are in consequence ranked very low among their fraternity. Water touched by these two castes can be accepted for use by the Brahmans and the high castes.

Below these classes come the Baisnab, Jugi, Sarak, Subarnabanic, Sunri, Shaha, Sutradhar and others. They number nearly 17 lakhs of persons, and contribute 8.8 per cent. to the entire Hindu community. There is a great deal of divergence about their social positions. The rich and cultured among the Shahas and Subarnabanics command as much influence and obtain as much respect as any Brahman or high caste; while the Baisnab and Jugi occupy a very distant fringe of the social circle. These last two have no Brahmans of their own, while the others possess what are called 'degraded Brahmans.' One thing is common to all of them and that is—water touched by any of them is regarded as impure.

After them come the large "low castes." They are Bagdis, Chasati, Dhoba, Jelia Kaibarta, Kalu, Kapali, Malo, Namasudra, Paliya Patni, Pod, Rajbansi, Sukli, Tipara, Teyar and others. They total seventy-six lakhs and form 39.7 per cent. of the total Hindu population of Bengal. The Rajbansis are numerically the largest caste among the Hindus. They number over twenty lakhs, and contribute about 11 per cent. to the total Hindu population; the Namasudras follow closely with their 18 lakhs; while the Bagdis number about 11 lakhs. The Rajbansis are confined chiefly to North Bengal. The Namasudras are found in largest numbers in East Bengal, the Bagdis are more evenly distributed. All these are acknowledged low castes. The Brahmans and the other high castes, the Nabasakhs, the Sutradhars and Goalas all look down upon them. Some of them have found Brahmans to minister to them, but these Brahmans are outcastes from society. Water touched by any of these castes is regarded as polluted.

There is a lower group still. They are the Bauri, Chamar, Dom, Harhi, Bhuinmali, Kaora, Kora, Mal, Muchi and others. Their total number is about 17 lakhs and they form 8.9 per cent. of the total Bengali Hindus. There are over 4 lakhs of Muchis, the Harhis number two lakhs and a half, the Doms nearly two lakhs and the Chamars a lakh and a quarter. Some among these castes possess Brahmans. These are comparatively better off than their castemen, but the total number of such fortunate individuals is extremely small. No body will think of touching the water that has been touched by them. Their presence will not be tolerated in any room where other Hindus sit.

Let us sum up the above. There are about 191 lakhs of Hindus in United Bengal; in every hundred amongst whom less than 13 are Brahmans and the "high castes", a little over 16 are Navasakhs and other clean castes, 13 more are tolerated as sufficiently clean, 9 more are decidedly low caste—water touched by them is regarded as pollution—the remaining 48 are so low that Brahmans are seldom found to minister to them and the very presence of a good many of these will be regarded as contaminating.

As to religious help a Brahman will be outcasted if he ministers to the Navasakhs and Kaibartas, i. e., to 30 per cent. of Hindus belonging to the so-called clean castes. As regards the remaining 57 per cent. of the Hindus few Brahmans will be found who would consent to help them in their religious duties. Those that could be tempted to do so are looked upon by the High class Brahmans as equally inferior as the castes to which they minister.

The so-called high castes who form less than 13 per cent. of the total number of Hindus regard any association, such as sitting together, with 30 per cent. of their co-religionists as degrading, with the majority of 57 per cent. of the remaining Hindus as contaminating. Any water touched by 57 out of 100 Hindus will be regarded as polluted by the remaining 43.

The question must have occurred to many as to what is it that decides the relative superiority or inferiority of castes. Why are certain castes looked down upon as degraded while others are regarded as superior. There is an idea that there is Shastric authority, but the details, whatever they are, are known to very few. It will be certainly interesting to know what the authorities say. Generally things are taken for granted because they have been like what they are now so far as one can remember. At the same time there is a general impression that it is the occupations which the different castes follow that are responsible for the gradation. A large number of Harhis and Kaoras are swineherds by profession, Doms remove dead bodies, Chamars and Muchis deal in skin and leather and Dhobies wash clothes. But it does not explain why a Namasudra, Pod or Rajbanshi should be classed as a degraded caste. It will be interesting to look to the occupations of some of the castes as they were returned in the last census.

Out of 100 Brahmans in United Bengal 48 return agriculture as their profession, 34 depend on learned and artistic professions as their means of livelihood, while 18 follow other professions. A Bengali Brahman seldom or never tills the soil himself. In that he differs from Brahmans from every other part of India. Still it will be news to many that nearly every other Brahman lives by agriculture. Let us take a very humble caste—Bagdi. In West Bengal where they are chiefly found, out of every 100 Bagdis 50 live by agriculture, 20 by dealing in food, drink and stimulants, 18 as day-labourers and 10 by various other occupations. Out of 100 Bauris, another very humble caste, 36 live by agriculture, 43 are day-labourers, 7 tend cattle and the rest follow other occupations. Out of 100 Chamars and Muchis, 33 live by agriculture, 23 deal in leather, 22 work as day-labourers, 3 live by following learned and artistic professions, and 19 follow other occupations. Out of 100 Namasudras in East Bengal, 82 live by agriculture and 18 by other means; of 100 Dhobies, 60 live by following their trade, 31 by agriculture; of 100 Kamars, 30 live by agriculture, 47 work in metals, and 7 follow learned professions; 66 out of every 100 Kayesthas follow agriculture and 8 live by following learned and artistic professions. 85 Pods out of 100 are agriculturists and 92 out of 100 Rajbansis follow the same occupation.