ClassLanguageNumber of subjects examinedCephalic IndexNumber of times index was 80 or aboveAverageMaximum, cm.Minimum, cm.Sukun SālēMarāthi3082.290.073.921Suka SālēDo.3081.888.276.122VakkaligaCanarese5081.793.872.527BillavaTulu5080.191.571.027RangāriMarāthi3079.892.270.714AgasaCanarese4078.585.773.213BantTulu4078.091.270.812KāpuTelugu4978.087.671.616Tota BalijaDo.3978.086.073.310BoyaDo.5077.989.270.514Dāsa BanajigaCanarese4077.886.272.011GānigaDo.5077.685.970.511GollaTelugu6077.589.370.19KurubaCanarese5077.383.969.610BesthaTelugu6077.185.170.59PallanTamil5075.987.070.16MukkuvanMalayālam4075.183.568.62NāyarDo.4074.481.970.01VellālaTamil4074.181.167.92AgamudaiyanDo.4074.080.966.71ParaiyanDo.4073.678.364.8PalliDo.4073.080.064.41TiyanMalayālam4073.078.968.6The difference in the character of the cranium is further brought out by the following tables, in which thedetails of the cephalic indices of typical classes in the five linguistic areas under consideration are recorded:—(a)Tulu. Billava.71◆◆72◆◆73◆747576◆◆◆77◆◆◆◆◆78◆◆◆◆◆◆79◆◆80◆◆Average.81◆◆◆82◆◆◆◆◆83◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆84◆◆◆◆85◆◆◆◆86◆87888990◆91◆(b)Canarese. Vakkaliga.73◆7475◆◆76◆◆◆◆◆77◆◆78◆◆◆◆◆79◆◆◆◆◆◆◆80◆◆81◆◆◆82◆◆◆Average.83◆◆◆84◆◆85◆◆◆86◆◆◆87◆◆88◆◆89◆9091◆92◆93◆94◆(c)Telugu. Kāpu.72◆73◆◆◆◆◆◆◆74◆◆75◆◆76◆◆◆◆◆◆◆77◆◆◆◆◆◆78◆Average.79◆◆◆◆80◆◆◆◆81◆◆◆◆◆◆◆82◆◆83◆◆◆84◆85◆868788◆(d)Vellāla. Tamil.68◆6970◆71◆◆◆72◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆73◆◆◆◆◆◆◆74◆◆Average.75◆◆◆◆◆◆76◆◆◆77◆◆◆◆787980◆◆81◆(e)Malayālam. Nāyar.70◆◆71◆◆◆◆◆72◆◆◆◆◆73◆◆◆◆◆◆74◆Average.75◆◆◆◆◆◆76◆◆◆◆77◆◆◆◆78◆◆◆79◆◆808182◆These tables not only bring out the difference in the cephalic index of the classes selected as representative of the different areas, but further show that there is a greater constancy in the Tamil and Malayālam classes than in the Tulus, Canarese and Telugus. The number of individuals clustering round the average is conspicuously greater in the two former than in the three latter. I am not prepared to hazard any new theory to account for the marked difference in the type of cranium in the various areas under consideration, and must content myself with the observation that, whatever may have been the influence which has brought about the existing sub-brachycephalic or mesaticephalic type in the northern areas, this influence has not extended southward into the Tamil and Malayālam countries, where Dravidian man remains dolicho- or sub-dolichocephalic.As an excellent example of constancy of type in the cephalic index, I may cite,en passant, the followingresults of measurement of the Todas, who inhabit the plateau of the Nilgiri hills:—69◆◆70◆◆◆◆◆◆◆71◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆72◆◆◆◆◆◆◆73◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆Average.74◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆75◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆76◆◆◆◆◆◆77◆78◆79◆8081◆I pass on to the consideration of the type of cranium among various Brāhman classes. In the following tables, the results of measurement of representatives of Tulu, Canarese, Marāthi, Tamil and Malayālam Brāhmans are recorded:—ClassLanguageNumber of subjects examinedCephalic IndexNumber of times index was 80 or aboveAverage.Maximum.Minimum.ShivalliTulu3080.496.469.417MandyaCanarese5080.288.269.831KarnātakaDo.6078.489.569.819Smarta (Dēsastha)Marāthi294376.987.1719Tamil (Madras city)Tamil4076.584693NambūtiriMalayālam3076.3PattarTamil312574.581.469.12(a)Tulu. Shivalli.69◆707172◆73◆747576◆◆◆◆7778◆◆◆79◆◆◆80◆◆Average.81◆◆◆82◆◆◆◆83◆◆84◆◆8586◆8788◆89◆90919293949596◆(b)Canarese. Karnātaka Smarta.70◆71◆◆72◆◆73◆◆74◆◆◆◆◆◆75◆◆◆76◆◆◆◆77◆◆◆◆◆78◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆Average.79◆◆80◆◆◆◆◆81◆◆◆◆82◆◆◆◆83◆◆84◆◆85◆86◆87◆88◆◆89◆(c)Tamil. Madras City.69◆70◆◆71◆72◆73◆◆74◆◆◆75◆◆◆◆76◆◆◆◆Average.77◆◆◆◆◆◆78◆◆◆◆◆79◆◆◆◆◆80◆◆8182◆◆83◆84◆(d)Tamil. Pattar.69◆◆70◆71◆◆◆72◆◆73◆◆◆74Average.75◆◆◆◆76◆◆◆◆◆7778◆79◆◆80◆81◆Taking the evidence of the figures, they demonstrate that, like the other classes which have been analysed, the Brāhmans have a higher cephalic index, with a wider range, in the northern than in the southern area.There is a tradition that the Shivalli Brāhmans of the Tulu country came from Ahikshetra. As only males migrated from their home, they were compelled to take women from non-Brāhman castes as wives. The ranks are said to have been swelled by conversions from these castes during the time of Srī Mādhvāchārya. The Shivalli Brāhmans are said to be referred to by the Bants as Mathumaglu or Mathmalu (bride) in allusion to the fact of their wives being taken from the Bant caste. Besides the Shivallis, there are other Tulu Brāhmans, who are said to be recent converts. The Matti Brāhmans were formerly considered low by the Shivallis, and were not allowed to sit in the same line with the Shivallis at meal time. They were only permitted to sit in a cross line, separated from the Shivallis, though in the same room. This was because the Matti Brāhmans were supposed to be Mogers (fishing caste) raised to Brāhmanism by one Vathirāja Swāmi, a Sanyāsi. Having become Brāhmans, they could not carry on their hereditary occupation, and, to enable them to earn a livelihood, the Sanyāsi gave them some brinjal (Solanum Melongena) seeds, and advised them to cultivate the plant. From this fact, the variety of brinjal, which is cultivated at Matti, is called Vathirāja gulla. At the present day, the Matti Brāhmans are on a par with the Shivalli Brāhmans, and have become disciples of the Sodhe mutt (religious institution) at Udipi. In some of the popular accounts of Brāhmans, which have been reduced to writing, it is stated that, during the time of Mayūra Varma of the Kadambadynasty,32some Āndhra Brāhmans were brought into South Canara. As a sufficient number of Brāhmans were not available for the purpose of yāgams (sacrifices), these Āndhra Brāhmans selected a number of families from the non-Brāhman caste, made them Brāhmans, and chose exogamous sept names for them. Of these names, Manōli (Cephalandra Indica), Pērala (Psidium Guyava), Kudire (horse), and Ānē (elephant) are examples.A character, with which I am very familiar, when measuring the heads of all sorts and conditions of natives of Southern India, is the absence of convexity of the segment formed by the posterior portion of the united parietal bones. The result of this absence of convexity is that the back of the head, instead of forming a curve gradually increasing from the top of the head towards the occipital region, as in the European skull figured in plate IIIa, forms a flattened area of considerable length almost at right angles to the base of the skull as in the “Hindu” skull represented inplate IIIb. This character is shown in a marked degree inplate IV, which represents a prosperous Linga Banajiga in the Canarese country.a.European Skull.b.Hindu Skull.In discussing racial admixture, Quatrefages writes as follows.33“Parfois on trouve encore quelques tribus qui ont conservé plus on moins intacts tous les caractères de leur race. Les Coorumbas du Malwar [Malabar] et du Coorg paraissent former un noyau plus considérable encore, et avoir conservé dans les jungles de Wynaad une indépendence à peu près complète, et tous leurscaractères ethnologiques.” The purity of blood and ethnological characters of various jungle tribes are unhappily becoming lost as the result of contact metamorphosis from the opening up of the jungles for planter’s estates, and contact with more civilised tribes and races, both brown and white. In illustration, I may cite the Kānikars of Travancore, who till recently were in the habit of sending all their women into the seclusion of the jungle on the arrival of a stranger near their settlements. This is now seldom done, and some Kānikars have in modern times settled in the vicinity of towns, and become domesticated. The primitive short, dark-skinned and platyrhine type, though surviving, has become changed, and many leptorhine or mesorhine individuals above middle height are to be met with. The following are the results of measurements of Kānikars in the jungle, and at a village some miles from Trivandrum, the capital of Travancore:—Stature cm.Nasal Index.Av.Max.Min.Av.Max.Min.Jungle155.2170.3150.284.610572.3Domesticated158.7170.414881.290.570.8Some jungle Chenchus, who inhabit the Nallamalai hills in the Kurnool district, still exhibit the primitive short stature and high nasal index, which are characteristic of the unadulterated jungle tribes. But there is a very conspicuous want of uniformity in their physical characters, and many individuals are to be met with, above middle height, or tall, with long narrow noses. A case is recorded, in which a brick-maker married a Chenchu girl. And I was told of a Bōya man whohad married into the tribe, and was living in a gudem (Chenchu settlement).Stature cm.Nasal Index.Av.Max.Min.Av.Max.Min.162.5175149.681.995.768.1By the dolichocephalic type of cranium which has persisted, and which the Chenchus possess in common with various other jungle tribes, they are still, as shown by the following table, at once differentiated from the mesaticephalic dwellers in the plains near the foot of the Nallamalais:—Cephalic Index.Number of times the index was 80 or over.40 Chenchus74.3160 Gollas77.5950 Bōyas77.91439 Tōta Balijas78.01049 Kāpus78.81619 Upparas78.8416 Mangalas78.8717 Verukalas78.6612Mēdaras80.78In a note on the jungle tribes, M. Louis Lapicque,34who carried out anthropometric observations in Southern India a few years ago, writes as follows. “Dans les montagnes des Nilghirris et d’Anémalé, situées au cœurde la contrée dravidienne, on a signalé depuis longtemps des petits sauvages crépus, qu’on a même pensé pouvoir, sur des documents insuffisants, identifier avec les negritos. En réalité, it n’existe pas dans ces montagnes, ni probablement nulle part dans l’Inde, un témoin de la race primitive comparable, comme pureté, aux Andamanais ni même aux autres Negritos. Ce que l’on trouve là, c’est simplement, mais c’est fort précieux, une population métisse qui continue au delà du Paria la série générale de l’Inde. Au bord de la forêt vierge ou dans les collines partiellement défrichées, il y a des castes demi-Parias, demi-sauvages. La hiérachie sociale les classe au-dessous du Paria: on peut même trouver des groupes ou le facies nègre, nettement dessiné, est tout à fait prédominant. Ehbien, dans ces groupes, les chevelures sont en général frisées, et on en observe quelques-unes qu’on peut même appeler crépues. On a donc le moyen de prolonger par l’imagination la série des castes indiennes jusq’au type primitif qui était (nous n’avons plus qu’un pas à faire pour le reconstruire), unNègre.... Nous sommes arrives à reconstituer les traits nègres d’un type disparu en prolongeant une série graduée de métis. Par la même méthode nous pouvons déterminer théoriquement la forme du crâne de ce type. Avec une assez grande certitude, je crois pouvoir affirmer, après de nombreuses mesures systématiques, que le nègre primitif de l’Inde était sousdolichocéphale avec un indice voisin de 75 ou 76. Sa taille, plus difficile à préciser, car les conditions de vie modifient ce caractère, devait être petite, plus haute pourtant que celle des Andamanais. Quant au nom qu’il convient de lui attribuer, la discussion des faits sociaux et linguistiques sur lesquels est fondée la notion de dravidien permet d’établir que ce nègre était antérieur aux dravidiens;il faut done l’appellerPrédravidien, ou, si nous voulons lui donner un nom qui ne soit pas relatif à une autre population, on peut l’appelerNègre Paria.”Linga Banajiga.Linga Banajiga.In support of M. Lapicque’s statement that the primitive inhabitant was dolichocephalic or sub-dolichocephalic, I may produce the evidence of the cephalic indices of the various jungle tribes which I have examined in the Tamil, Malayālam, and Telugu countries:—Cephalic Index.Average.Maximum.Minimum.Kadir72.980.069.1Irula, Chingleput73.178.668.4Kānikar73.478.969.1Mala Vēdan73.480.968.8Panaiyan74.081.169.4Chenchu74.380.564.3Shōlaga74.979.367.8Paliyan75.779.172.9Irula, Nilgiris75.880.970.8Kurumba76.583.371.8It is worthy of note that Haeckel defines the nose of the Dravidian as a prominent and narrow organ. For Risley has laid down35that, in the Dravidian type, the nose is thick and broad, and the formula expressing the proportionate dimension (nasal index) is higher than in any known race, except the Negro; and that the typical Dravidian, as represented by the Mālē Pahāria, has a nose as broad in proportion to its length as the Negro, while this feature in the Aryan group can fairly bear comparison with the noses of sixty-eight Parisians, measured by Topinard, which gave an average of 69.4.In this connection, I may record the statistics relating to the nasal indices of various South Indian jungle tribes:—Nasal Index.Average.Maximum.Minimum.Paniyan95.1108.672.9Kādir89.8115.472.9Kurumba86.1111.170.8Shōlaga85.1107.772.8Mala Vēdan84.9102.671.1Irula, Nīlgiris84.9100.72.3Kānikar84.6105.72.3Chenchu81.995.768.1In the following table, I have brought together, for the purpose of comparison, the average stature and nasal index of various Dravidian classes inhabiting the plains of the Telugu, Tamil, Canarese, and Malayālam countries, and jungle tribes:—Linguistic area.Nasal Index.Stature.PaniyanJungle tribe95.1157.4KādirDo.89.8157.7KurumbaDo.86.1157.9ShōlagaDo.85.1159.3Irula, NīlgirisDo.84.9159.8Mala VēdanDo.84.9154.2KānikarDo.84.6155.2ChenchuDo.81.9162.5PallanTamil81.5164.3MukkuvanMalayālam81.163.1ParaiyanTamil80.163.1PalliDo.77.9162.5GānigaCanarese76.1165.8BesthaTelugu75.9165.7TīyanMalayālam75.163.7KurubaCanarese74.9162.7BōyaTelugu74.4163.9Tōta BalijaDo.74.4163.9AgasaCanarese74.3162.4AgamudaiyanTamil74.2165.8GollaTelugu74.1163.8VellālaTamil73.1162.4VakkaligaCanarese73.167.2Dāsa BanajigaDo.72.8165.3KāpuTelugu72.8164.5NāyarMalayālam71.1165.2This table demonstrates very clearly an unbroken series ranging from the jungle men, short of stature and platyrhine, to the leptorhine Nāyars and other classes.PLATE V.PLATE V.DIAGRAMS OF NOSES.Inplate Vare figured a series of triangles representing (natural size) the maxima, minima, and average nasal indices of Brāhmans of Madras city (belonging to the poorer classes), Tamil Paraiyans, and Paniyans. There is obviously far less connection between the Brāhman minimum and the Paraiyan maximum than between the Brāhman and Paraiyan maxima and the Paniyan average; and the frequent occurrence of high nasal indices, resulting from short, broad noses, in many classes has to be accounted for. Sir Alfred Lyall somewhere refers to the gradual Brāhmanising of the aboriginal non-Arayan, or casteless tribes. “They pass,” he writes, “into Brāhmanists by a natural upward transition, which leads them to adopt the religion of the castes immediately above them in the social scale of the composite population, among which they settle down; and we may reasonably guess that this process has been working for centuries.” In the Madras Census Report, 1891, Mr. H. A. Stuart states that “it has often been asserted, and is now thegeneral belief, that the Brāhmans of the South are not pure Aryans, but are a mixed Aryan and Dravidian race. In the earliest times, the caste division was much less rigid than now, and a person of another caste could become a Brāhman by attaining the Brāhmanical standard of knowledge, and assuming Brāhmanical functions; and, when we see the Nambūdiri Brāhmans, even at the present day, contracting alliances, informal though they be, with the women of the country, it is not difficult to believe that, on their first arrival, such unions were even more common, and that the children born of them would be recognised as Brāhmans, though perhaps regarded as an inferior class. However, those Brāhmans, in whose veins mixed blood is supposed to run, are even to this day regarded as lower in the social scale, and are not allowed to mix freely with the pure Brāhman community.”Popular traditions allude to wholesale conversions of non-Brāhmans into Brāhmans. According to such traditions, Rājas used to feed very large numbers of Brāhmans (a lakh of Brāhmans) in expiation of some sin, or to gain religious merit. To make up this large number, non-Brāhmans are said to have been made Brāhmans at the bidding of the Rājas. Here and there are found a few sections of Brāhmans, whom the more orthodox Brāhmans do not recognise as such, though the ordinary members of the community regard them as an inferior class of Brāhmans. As an instance may be cited the Mārakas of the Mysore Province. Though it is difficult to disprove the claim put forward by these people, some demur to their being regarded as Brāhmans.Between a Brāhman of high culture, with fair complexion, and long, narrow nose on the one hand, and a less highly civilised Brāhman with dark skin and short broad nose on the other, there is a vast difference, whichcan only be reasonably explained on the assumption of racial admixture; and it is no insult to the higher members of the Brāhman community to trace, in their more lowly brethren, the result of crossing with a dark-skinned, and broad-nosed race of short stature. Whether the jungle tribe are, as I believe, the microscopic remnant of a pre-Dravidian people, or, as some hold, of Dravidians driven by a conquering race to the seclusion of the jungles, it is to the lasting influence of some such broad-nosed ancestor that the high nasal index of many of the inhabitants of Southern India must, it seems to me, be attributed. Viewed in the light of this remark, the connection between the following mixed collection of individuals, all of very dark colour, short of stature, and with nasal index exceeding 90, calls for no explanation:—
ClassLanguageNumber of subjects examinedCephalic IndexNumber of times index was 80 or aboveAverageMaximum, cm.Minimum, cm.Sukun SālēMarāthi3082.290.073.921Suka SālēDo.3081.888.276.122VakkaligaCanarese5081.793.872.527BillavaTulu5080.191.571.027RangāriMarāthi3079.892.270.714AgasaCanarese4078.585.773.213BantTulu4078.091.270.812KāpuTelugu4978.087.671.616Tota BalijaDo.3978.086.073.310BoyaDo.5077.989.270.514Dāsa BanajigaCanarese4077.886.272.011GānigaDo.5077.685.970.511GollaTelugu6077.589.370.19KurubaCanarese5077.383.969.610BesthaTelugu6077.185.170.59PallanTamil5075.987.070.16MukkuvanMalayālam4075.183.568.62NāyarDo.4074.481.970.01VellālaTamil4074.181.167.92AgamudaiyanDo.4074.080.966.71ParaiyanDo.4073.678.364.8PalliDo.4073.080.064.41TiyanMalayālam4073.078.968.6The difference in the character of the cranium is further brought out by the following tables, in which thedetails of the cephalic indices of typical classes in the five linguistic areas under consideration are recorded:—(a)Tulu. Billava.71◆◆72◆◆73◆747576◆◆◆77◆◆◆◆◆78◆◆◆◆◆◆79◆◆80◆◆Average.81◆◆◆82◆◆◆◆◆83◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆84◆◆◆◆85◆◆◆◆86◆87888990◆91◆(b)Canarese. Vakkaliga.73◆7475◆◆76◆◆◆◆◆77◆◆78◆◆◆◆◆79◆◆◆◆◆◆◆80◆◆81◆◆◆82◆◆◆Average.83◆◆◆84◆◆85◆◆◆86◆◆◆87◆◆88◆◆89◆9091◆92◆93◆94◆(c)Telugu. Kāpu.72◆73◆◆◆◆◆◆◆74◆◆75◆◆76◆◆◆◆◆◆◆77◆◆◆◆◆◆78◆Average.79◆◆◆◆80◆◆◆◆81◆◆◆◆◆◆◆82◆◆83◆◆◆84◆85◆868788◆(d)Vellāla. Tamil.68◆6970◆71◆◆◆72◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆73◆◆◆◆◆◆◆74◆◆Average.75◆◆◆◆◆◆76◆◆◆77◆◆◆◆787980◆◆81◆(e)Malayālam. Nāyar.70◆◆71◆◆◆◆◆72◆◆◆◆◆73◆◆◆◆◆◆74◆Average.75◆◆◆◆◆◆76◆◆◆◆77◆◆◆◆78◆◆◆79◆◆808182◆These tables not only bring out the difference in the cephalic index of the classes selected as representative of the different areas, but further show that there is a greater constancy in the Tamil and Malayālam classes than in the Tulus, Canarese and Telugus. The number of individuals clustering round the average is conspicuously greater in the two former than in the three latter. I am not prepared to hazard any new theory to account for the marked difference in the type of cranium in the various areas under consideration, and must content myself with the observation that, whatever may have been the influence which has brought about the existing sub-brachycephalic or mesaticephalic type in the northern areas, this influence has not extended southward into the Tamil and Malayālam countries, where Dravidian man remains dolicho- or sub-dolichocephalic.As an excellent example of constancy of type in the cephalic index, I may cite,en passant, the followingresults of measurement of the Todas, who inhabit the plateau of the Nilgiri hills:—69◆◆70◆◆◆◆◆◆◆71◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆72◆◆◆◆◆◆◆73◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆Average.74◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆75◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆76◆◆◆◆◆◆77◆78◆79◆8081◆I pass on to the consideration of the type of cranium among various Brāhman classes. In the following tables, the results of measurement of representatives of Tulu, Canarese, Marāthi, Tamil and Malayālam Brāhmans are recorded:—ClassLanguageNumber of subjects examinedCephalic IndexNumber of times index was 80 or aboveAverage.Maximum.Minimum.ShivalliTulu3080.496.469.417MandyaCanarese5080.288.269.831KarnātakaDo.6078.489.569.819Smarta (Dēsastha)Marāthi294376.987.1719Tamil (Madras city)Tamil4076.584693NambūtiriMalayālam3076.3PattarTamil312574.581.469.12(a)Tulu. Shivalli.69◆707172◆73◆747576◆◆◆◆7778◆◆◆79◆◆◆80◆◆Average.81◆◆◆82◆◆◆◆83◆◆84◆◆8586◆8788◆89◆90919293949596◆(b)Canarese. Karnātaka Smarta.70◆71◆◆72◆◆73◆◆74◆◆◆◆◆◆75◆◆◆76◆◆◆◆77◆◆◆◆◆78◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆Average.79◆◆80◆◆◆◆◆81◆◆◆◆82◆◆◆◆83◆◆84◆◆85◆86◆87◆88◆◆89◆(c)Tamil. Madras City.69◆70◆◆71◆72◆73◆◆74◆◆◆75◆◆◆◆76◆◆◆◆Average.77◆◆◆◆◆◆78◆◆◆◆◆79◆◆◆◆◆80◆◆8182◆◆83◆84◆(d)Tamil. Pattar.69◆◆70◆71◆◆◆72◆◆73◆◆◆74Average.75◆◆◆◆76◆◆◆◆◆7778◆79◆◆80◆81◆Taking the evidence of the figures, they demonstrate that, like the other classes which have been analysed, the Brāhmans have a higher cephalic index, with a wider range, in the northern than in the southern area.There is a tradition that the Shivalli Brāhmans of the Tulu country came from Ahikshetra. As only males migrated from their home, they were compelled to take women from non-Brāhman castes as wives. The ranks are said to have been swelled by conversions from these castes during the time of Srī Mādhvāchārya. The Shivalli Brāhmans are said to be referred to by the Bants as Mathumaglu or Mathmalu (bride) in allusion to the fact of their wives being taken from the Bant caste. Besides the Shivallis, there are other Tulu Brāhmans, who are said to be recent converts. The Matti Brāhmans were formerly considered low by the Shivallis, and were not allowed to sit in the same line with the Shivallis at meal time. They were only permitted to sit in a cross line, separated from the Shivallis, though in the same room. This was because the Matti Brāhmans were supposed to be Mogers (fishing caste) raised to Brāhmanism by one Vathirāja Swāmi, a Sanyāsi. Having become Brāhmans, they could not carry on their hereditary occupation, and, to enable them to earn a livelihood, the Sanyāsi gave them some brinjal (Solanum Melongena) seeds, and advised them to cultivate the plant. From this fact, the variety of brinjal, which is cultivated at Matti, is called Vathirāja gulla. At the present day, the Matti Brāhmans are on a par with the Shivalli Brāhmans, and have become disciples of the Sodhe mutt (religious institution) at Udipi. In some of the popular accounts of Brāhmans, which have been reduced to writing, it is stated that, during the time of Mayūra Varma of the Kadambadynasty,32some Āndhra Brāhmans were brought into South Canara. As a sufficient number of Brāhmans were not available for the purpose of yāgams (sacrifices), these Āndhra Brāhmans selected a number of families from the non-Brāhman caste, made them Brāhmans, and chose exogamous sept names for them. Of these names, Manōli (Cephalandra Indica), Pērala (Psidium Guyava), Kudire (horse), and Ānē (elephant) are examples.A character, with which I am very familiar, when measuring the heads of all sorts and conditions of natives of Southern India, is the absence of convexity of the segment formed by the posterior portion of the united parietal bones. The result of this absence of convexity is that the back of the head, instead of forming a curve gradually increasing from the top of the head towards the occipital region, as in the European skull figured in plate IIIa, forms a flattened area of considerable length almost at right angles to the base of the skull as in the “Hindu” skull represented inplate IIIb. This character is shown in a marked degree inplate IV, which represents a prosperous Linga Banajiga in the Canarese country.a.European Skull.b.Hindu Skull.In discussing racial admixture, Quatrefages writes as follows.33“Parfois on trouve encore quelques tribus qui ont conservé plus on moins intacts tous les caractères de leur race. Les Coorumbas du Malwar [Malabar] et du Coorg paraissent former un noyau plus considérable encore, et avoir conservé dans les jungles de Wynaad une indépendence à peu près complète, et tous leurscaractères ethnologiques.” The purity of blood and ethnological characters of various jungle tribes are unhappily becoming lost as the result of contact metamorphosis from the opening up of the jungles for planter’s estates, and contact with more civilised tribes and races, both brown and white. In illustration, I may cite the Kānikars of Travancore, who till recently were in the habit of sending all their women into the seclusion of the jungle on the arrival of a stranger near their settlements. This is now seldom done, and some Kānikars have in modern times settled in the vicinity of towns, and become domesticated. The primitive short, dark-skinned and platyrhine type, though surviving, has become changed, and many leptorhine or mesorhine individuals above middle height are to be met with. The following are the results of measurements of Kānikars in the jungle, and at a village some miles from Trivandrum, the capital of Travancore:—Stature cm.Nasal Index.Av.Max.Min.Av.Max.Min.Jungle155.2170.3150.284.610572.3Domesticated158.7170.414881.290.570.8Some jungle Chenchus, who inhabit the Nallamalai hills in the Kurnool district, still exhibit the primitive short stature and high nasal index, which are characteristic of the unadulterated jungle tribes. But there is a very conspicuous want of uniformity in their physical characters, and many individuals are to be met with, above middle height, or tall, with long narrow noses. A case is recorded, in which a brick-maker married a Chenchu girl. And I was told of a Bōya man whohad married into the tribe, and was living in a gudem (Chenchu settlement).Stature cm.Nasal Index.Av.Max.Min.Av.Max.Min.162.5175149.681.995.768.1By the dolichocephalic type of cranium which has persisted, and which the Chenchus possess in common with various other jungle tribes, they are still, as shown by the following table, at once differentiated from the mesaticephalic dwellers in the plains near the foot of the Nallamalais:—Cephalic Index.Number of times the index was 80 or over.40 Chenchus74.3160 Gollas77.5950 Bōyas77.91439 Tōta Balijas78.01049 Kāpus78.81619 Upparas78.8416 Mangalas78.8717 Verukalas78.6612Mēdaras80.78In a note on the jungle tribes, M. Louis Lapicque,34who carried out anthropometric observations in Southern India a few years ago, writes as follows. “Dans les montagnes des Nilghirris et d’Anémalé, situées au cœurde la contrée dravidienne, on a signalé depuis longtemps des petits sauvages crépus, qu’on a même pensé pouvoir, sur des documents insuffisants, identifier avec les negritos. En réalité, it n’existe pas dans ces montagnes, ni probablement nulle part dans l’Inde, un témoin de la race primitive comparable, comme pureté, aux Andamanais ni même aux autres Negritos. Ce que l’on trouve là, c’est simplement, mais c’est fort précieux, une population métisse qui continue au delà du Paria la série générale de l’Inde. Au bord de la forêt vierge ou dans les collines partiellement défrichées, il y a des castes demi-Parias, demi-sauvages. La hiérachie sociale les classe au-dessous du Paria: on peut même trouver des groupes ou le facies nègre, nettement dessiné, est tout à fait prédominant. Ehbien, dans ces groupes, les chevelures sont en général frisées, et on en observe quelques-unes qu’on peut même appeler crépues. On a donc le moyen de prolonger par l’imagination la série des castes indiennes jusq’au type primitif qui était (nous n’avons plus qu’un pas à faire pour le reconstruire), unNègre.... Nous sommes arrives à reconstituer les traits nègres d’un type disparu en prolongeant une série graduée de métis. Par la même méthode nous pouvons déterminer théoriquement la forme du crâne de ce type. Avec une assez grande certitude, je crois pouvoir affirmer, après de nombreuses mesures systématiques, que le nègre primitif de l’Inde était sousdolichocéphale avec un indice voisin de 75 ou 76. Sa taille, plus difficile à préciser, car les conditions de vie modifient ce caractère, devait être petite, plus haute pourtant que celle des Andamanais. Quant au nom qu’il convient de lui attribuer, la discussion des faits sociaux et linguistiques sur lesquels est fondée la notion de dravidien permet d’établir que ce nègre était antérieur aux dravidiens;il faut done l’appellerPrédravidien, ou, si nous voulons lui donner un nom qui ne soit pas relatif à une autre population, on peut l’appelerNègre Paria.”Linga Banajiga.Linga Banajiga.In support of M. Lapicque’s statement that the primitive inhabitant was dolichocephalic or sub-dolichocephalic, I may produce the evidence of the cephalic indices of the various jungle tribes which I have examined in the Tamil, Malayālam, and Telugu countries:—Cephalic Index.Average.Maximum.Minimum.Kadir72.980.069.1Irula, Chingleput73.178.668.4Kānikar73.478.969.1Mala Vēdan73.480.968.8Panaiyan74.081.169.4Chenchu74.380.564.3Shōlaga74.979.367.8Paliyan75.779.172.9Irula, Nilgiris75.880.970.8Kurumba76.583.371.8It is worthy of note that Haeckel defines the nose of the Dravidian as a prominent and narrow organ. For Risley has laid down35that, in the Dravidian type, the nose is thick and broad, and the formula expressing the proportionate dimension (nasal index) is higher than in any known race, except the Negro; and that the typical Dravidian, as represented by the Mālē Pahāria, has a nose as broad in proportion to its length as the Negro, while this feature in the Aryan group can fairly bear comparison with the noses of sixty-eight Parisians, measured by Topinard, which gave an average of 69.4.In this connection, I may record the statistics relating to the nasal indices of various South Indian jungle tribes:—Nasal Index.Average.Maximum.Minimum.Paniyan95.1108.672.9Kādir89.8115.472.9Kurumba86.1111.170.8Shōlaga85.1107.772.8Mala Vēdan84.9102.671.1Irula, Nīlgiris84.9100.72.3Kānikar84.6105.72.3Chenchu81.995.768.1In the following table, I have brought together, for the purpose of comparison, the average stature and nasal index of various Dravidian classes inhabiting the plains of the Telugu, Tamil, Canarese, and Malayālam countries, and jungle tribes:—Linguistic area.Nasal Index.Stature.PaniyanJungle tribe95.1157.4KādirDo.89.8157.7KurumbaDo.86.1157.9ShōlagaDo.85.1159.3Irula, NīlgirisDo.84.9159.8Mala VēdanDo.84.9154.2KānikarDo.84.6155.2ChenchuDo.81.9162.5PallanTamil81.5164.3MukkuvanMalayālam81.163.1ParaiyanTamil80.163.1PalliDo.77.9162.5GānigaCanarese76.1165.8BesthaTelugu75.9165.7TīyanMalayālam75.163.7KurubaCanarese74.9162.7BōyaTelugu74.4163.9Tōta BalijaDo.74.4163.9AgasaCanarese74.3162.4AgamudaiyanTamil74.2165.8GollaTelugu74.1163.8VellālaTamil73.1162.4VakkaligaCanarese73.167.2Dāsa BanajigaDo.72.8165.3KāpuTelugu72.8164.5NāyarMalayālam71.1165.2This table demonstrates very clearly an unbroken series ranging from the jungle men, short of stature and platyrhine, to the leptorhine Nāyars and other classes.PLATE V.PLATE V.DIAGRAMS OF NOSES.Inplate Vare figured a series of triangles representing (natural size) the maxima, minima, and average nasal indices of Brāhmans of Madras city (belonging to the poorer classes), Tamil Paraiyans, and Paniyans. There is obviously far less connection between the Brāhman minimum and the Paraiyan maximum than between the Brāhman and Paraiyan maxima and the Paniyan average; and the frequent occurrence of high nasal indices, resulting from short, broad noses, in many classes has to be accounted for. Sir Alfred Lyall somewhere refers to the gradual Brāhmanising of the aboriginal non-Arayan, or casteless tribes. “They pass,” he writes, “into Brāhmanists by a natural upward transition, which leads them to adopt the religion of the castes immediately above them in the social scale of the composite population, among which they settle down; and we may reasonably guess that this process has been working for centuries.” In the Madras Census Report, 1891, Mr. H. A. Stuart states that “it has often been asserted, and is now thegeneral belief, that the Brāhmans of the South are not pure Aryans, but are a mixed Aryan and Dravidian race. In the earliest times, the caste division was much less rigid than now, and a person of another caste could become a Brāhman by attaining the Brāhmanical standard of knowledge, and assuming Brāhmanical functions; and, when we see the Nambūdiri Brāhmans, even at the present day, contracting alliances, informal though they be, with the women of the country, it is not difficult to believe that, on their first arrival, such unions were even more common, and that the children born of them would be recognised as Brāhmans, though perhaps regarded as an inferior class. However, those Brāhmans, in whose veins mixed blood is supposed to run, are even to this day regarded as lower in the social scale, and are not allowed to mix freely with the pure Brāhman community.”Popular traditions allude to wholesale conversions of non-Brāhmans into Brāhmans. According to such traditions, Rājas used to feed very large numbers of Brāhmans (a lakh of Brāhmans) in expiation of some sin, or to gain religious merit. To make up this large number, non-Brāhmans are said to have been made Brāhmans at the bidding of the Rājas. Here and there are found a few sections of Brāhmans, whom the more orthodox Brāhmans do not recognise as such, though the ordinary members of the community regard them as an inferior class of Brāhmans. As an instance may be cited the Mārakas of the Mysore Province. Though it is difficult to disprove the claim put forward by these people, some demur to their being regarded as Brāhmans.Between a Brāhman of high culture, with fair complexion, and long, narrow nose on the one hand, and a less highly civilised Brāhman with dark skin and short broad nose on the other, there is a vast difference, whichcan only be reasonably explained on the assumption of racial admixture; and it is no insult to the higher members of the Brāhman community to trace, in their more lowly brethren, the result of crossing with a dark-skinned, and broad-nosed race of short stature. Whether the jungle tribe are, as I believe, the microscopic remnant of a pre-Dravidian people, or, as some hold, of Dravidians driven by a conquering race to the seclusion of the jungles, it is to the lasting influence of some such broad-nosed ancestor that the high nasal index of many of the inhabitants of Southern India must, it seems to me, be attributed. Viewed in the light of this remark, the connection between the following mixed collection of individuals, all of very dark colour, short of stature, and with nasal index exceeding 90, calls for no explanation:—
ClassLanguageNumber of subjects examinedCephalic IndexNumber of times index was 80 or aboveAverageMaximum, cm.Minimum, cm.Sukun SālēMarāthi3082.290.073.921Suka SālēDo.3081.888.276.122VakkaligaCanarese5081.793.872.527BillavaTulu5080.191.571.027RangāriMarāthi3079.892.270.714AgasaCanarese4078.585.773.213BantTulu4078.091.270.812KāpuTelugu4978.087.671.616Tota BalijaDo.3978.086.073.310BoyaDo.5077.989.270.514Dāsa BanajigaCanarese4077.886.272.011GānigaDo.5077.685.970.511GollaTelugu6077.589.370.19KurubaCanarese5077.383.969.610BesthaTelugu6077.185.170.59PallanTamil5075.987.070.16MukkuvanMalayālam4075.183.568.62NāyarDo.4074.481.970.01VellālaTamil4074.181.167.92AgamudaiyanDo.4074.080.966.71ParaiyanDo.4073.678.364.8PalliDo.4073.080.064.41TiyanMalayālam4073.078.968.6The difference in the character of the cranium is further brought out by the following tables, in which thedetails of the cephalic indices of typical classes in the five linguistic areas under consideration are recorded:—(a)Tulu. Billava.71◆◆72◆◆73◆747576◆◆◆77◆◆◆◆◆78◆◆◆◆◆◆79◆◆80◆◆Average.81◆◆◆82◆◆◆◆◆83◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆84◆◆◆◆85◆◆◆◆86◆87888990◆91◆(b)Canarese. Vakkaliga.73◆7475◆◆76◆◆◆◆◆77◆◆78◆◆◆◆◆79◆◆◆◆◆◆◆80◆◆81◆◆◆82◆◆◆Average.83◆◆◆84◆◆85◆◆◆86◆◆◆87◆◆88◆◆89◆9091◆92◆93◆94◆(c)Telugu. Kāpu.72◆73◆◆◆◆◆◆◆74◆◆75◆◆76◆◆◆◆◆◆◆77◆◆◆◆◆◆78◆Average.79◆◆◆◆80◆◆◆◆81◆◆◆◆◆◆◆82◆◆83◆◆◆84◆85◆868788◆(d)Vellāla. Tamil.68◆6970◆71◆◆◆72◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆73◆◆◆◆◆◆◆74◆◆Average.75◆◆◆◆◆◆76◆◆◆77◆◆◆◆787980◆◆81◆(e)Malayālam. Nāyar.70◆◆71◆◆◆◆◆72◆◆◆◆◆73◆◆◆◆◆◆74◆Average.75◆◆◆◆◆◆76◆◆◆◆77◆◆◆◆78◆◆◆79◆◆808182◆These tables not only bring out the difference in the cephalic index of the classes selected as representative of the different areas, but further show that there is a greater constancy in the Tamil and Malayālam classes than in the Tulus, Canarese and Telugus. The number of individuals clustering round the average is conspicuously greater in the two former than in the three latter. I am not prepared to hazard any new theory to account for the marked difference in the type of cranium in the various areas under consideration, and must content myself with the observation that, whatever may have been the influence which has brought about the existing sub-brachycephalic or mesaticephalic type in the northern areas, this influence has not extended southward into the Tamil and Malayālam countries, where Dravidian man remains dolicho- or sub-dolichocephalic.As an excellent example of constancy of type in the cephalic index, I may cite,en passant, the followingresults of measurement of the Todas, who inhabit the plateau of the Nilgiri hills:—69◆◆70◆◆◆◆◆◆◆71◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆72◆◆◆◆◆◆◆73◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆Average.74◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆75◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆76◆◆◆◆◆◆77◆78◆79◆8081◆I pass on to the consideration of the type of cranium among various Brāhman classes. In the following tables, the results of measurement of representatives of Tulu, Canarese, Marāthi, Tamil and Malayālam Brāhmans are recorded:—ClassLanguageNumber of subjects examinedCephalic IndexNumber of times index was 80 or aboveAverage.Maximum.Minimum.ShivalliTulu3080.496.469.417MandyaCanarese5080.288.269.831KarnātakaDo.6078.489.569.819Smarta (Dēsastha)Marāthi294376.987.1719Tamil (Madras city)Tamil4076.584693NambūtiriMalayālam3076.3PattarTamil312574.581.469.12(a)Tulu. Shivalli.69◆707172◆73◆747576◆◆◆◆7778◆◆◆79◆◆◆80◆◆Average.81◆◆◆82◆◆◆◆83◆◆84◆◆8586◆8788◆89◆90919293949596◆(b)Canarese. Karnātaka Smarta.70◆71◆◆72◆◆73◆◆74◆◆◆◆◆◆75◆◆◆76◆◆◆◆77◆◆◆◆◆78◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆Average.79◆◆80◆◆◆◆◆81◆◆◆◆82◆◆◆◆83◆◆84◆◆85◆86◆87◆88◆◆89◆(c)Tamil. Madras City.69◆70◆◆71◆72◆73◆◆74◆◆◆75◆◆◆◆76◆◆◆◆Average.77◆◆◆◆◆◆78◆◆◆◆◆79◆◆◆◆◆80◆◆8182◆◆83◆84◆(d)Tamil. Pattar.69◆◆70◆71◆◆◆72◆◆73◆◆◆74Average.75◆◆◆◆76◆◆◆◆◆7778◆79◆◆80◆81◆Taking the evidence of the figures, they demonstrate that, like the other classes which have been analysed, the Brāhmans have a higher cephalic index, with a wider range, in the northern than in the southern area.There is a tradition that the Shivalli Brāhmans of the Tulu country came from Ahikshetra. As only males migrated from their home, they were compelled to take women from non-Brāhman castes as wives. The ranks are said to have been swelled by conversions from these castes during the time of Srī Mādhvāchārya. The Shivalli Brāhmans are said to be referred to by the Bants as Mathumaglu or Mathmalu (bride) in allusion to the fact of their wives being taken from the Bant caste. Besides the Shivallis, there are other Tulu Brāhmans, who are said to be recent converts. The Matti Brāhmans were formerly considered low by the Shivallis, and were not allowed to sit in the same line with the Shivallis at meal time. They were only permitted to sit in a cross line, separated from the Shivallis, though in the same room. This was because the Matti Brāhmans were supposed to be Mogers (fishing caste) raised to Brāhmanism by one Vathirāja Swāmi, a Sanyāsi. Having become Brāhmans, they could not carry on their hereditary occupation, and, to enable them to earn a livelihood, the Sanyāsi gave them some brinjal (Solanum Melongena) seeds, and advised them to cultivate the plant. From this fact, the variety of brinjal, which is cultivated at Matti, is called Vathirāja gulla. At the present day, the Matti Brāhmans are on a par with the Shivalli Brāhmans, and have become disciples of the Sodhe mutt (religious institution) at Udipi. In some of the popular accounts of Brāhmans, which have been reduced to writing, it is stated that, during the time of Mayūra Varma of the Kadambadynasty,32some Āndhra Brāhmans were brought into South Canara. As a sufficient number of Brāhmans were not available for the purpose of yāgams (sacrifices), these Āndhra Brāhmans selected a number of families from the non-Brāhman caste, made them Brāhmans, and chose exogamous sept names for them. Of these names, Manōli (Cephalandra Indica), Pērala (Psidium Guyava), Kudire (horse), and Ānē (elephant) are examples.A character, with which I am very familiar, when measuring the heads of all sorts and conditions of natives of Southern India, is the absence of convexity of the segment formed by the posterior portion of the united parietal bones. The result of this absence of convexity is that the back of the head, instead of forming a curve gradually increasing from the top of the head towards the occipital region, as in the European skull figured in plate IIIa, forms a flattened area of considerable length almost at right angles to the base of the skull as in the “Hindu” skull represented inplate IIIb. This character is shown in a marked degree inplate IV, which represents a prosperous Linga Banajiga in the Canarese country.a.European Skull.b.Hindu Skull.In discussing racial admixture, Quatrefages writes as follows.33“Parfois on trouve encore quelques tribus qui ont conservé plus on moins intacts tous les caractères de leur race. Les Coorumbas du Malwar [Malabar] et du Coorg paraissent former un noyau plus considérable encore, et avoir conservé dans les jungles de Wynaad une indépendence à peu près complète, et tous leurscaractères ethnologiques.” The purity of blood and ethnological characters of various jungle tribes are unhappily becoming lost as the result of contact metamorphosis from the opening up of the jungles for planter’s estates, and contact with more civilised tribes and races, both brown and white. In illustration, I may cite the Kānikars of Travancore, who till recently were in the habit of sending all their women into the seclusion of the jungle on the arrival of a stranger near their settlements. This is now seldom done, and some Kānikars have in modern times settled in the vicinity of towns, and become domesticated. The primitive short, dark-skinned and platyrhine type, though surviving, has become changed, and many leptorhine or mesorhine individuals above middle height are to be met with. The following are the results of measurements of Kānikars in the jungle, and at a village some miles from Trivandrum, the capital of Travancore:—Stature cm.Nasal Index.Av.Max.Min.Av.Max.Min.Jungle155.2170.3150.284.610572.3Domesticated158.7170.414881.290.570.8Some jungle Chenchus, who inhabit the Nallamalai hills in the Kurnool district, still exhibit the primitive short stature and high nasal index, which are characteristic of the unadulterated jungle tribes. But there is a very conspicuous want of uniformity in their physical characters, and many individuals are to be met with, above middle height, or tall, with long narrow noses. A case is recorded, in which a brick-maker married a Chenchu girl. And I was told of a Bōya man whohad married into the tribe, and was living in a gudem (Chenchu settlement).Stature cm.Nasal Index.Av.Max.Min.Av.Max.Min.162.5175149.681.995.768.1By the dolichocephalic type of cranium which has persisted, and which the Chenchus possess in common with various other jungle tribes, they are still, as shown by the following table, at once differentiated from the mesaticephalic dwellers in the plains near the foot of the Nallamalais:—Cephalic Index.Number of times the index was 80 or over.40 Chenchus74.3160 Gollas77.5950 Bōyas77.91439 Tōta Balijas78.01049 Kāpus78.81619 Upparas78.8416 Mangalas78.8717 Verukalas78.6612Mēdaras80.78In a note on the jungle tribes, M. Louis Lapicque,34who carried out anthropometric observations in Southern India a few years ago, writes as follows. “Dans les montagnes des Nilghirris et d’Anémalé, situées au cœurde la contrée dravidienne, on a signalé depuis longtemps des petits sauvages crépus, qu’on a même pensé pouvoir, sur des documents insuffisants, identifier avec les negritos. En réalité, it n’existe pas dans ces montagnes, ni probablement nulle part dans l’Inde, un témoin de la race primitive comparable, comme pureté, aux Andamanais ni même aux autres Negritos. Ce que l’on trouve là, c’est simplement, mais c’est fort précieux, une population métisse qui continue au delà du Paria la série générale de l’Inde. Au bord de la forêt vierge ou dans les collines partiellement défrichées, il y a des castes demi-Parias, demi-sauvages. La hiérachie sociale les classe au-dessous du Paria: on peut même trouver des groupes ou le facies nègre, nettement dessiné, est tout à fait prédominant. Ehbien, dans ces groupes, les chevelures sont en général frisées, et on en observe quelques-unes qu’on peut même appeler crépues. On a donc le moyen de prolonger par l’imagination la série des castes indiennes jusq’au type primitif qui était (nous n’avons plus qu’un pas à faire pour le reconstruire), unNègre.... Nous sommes arrives à reconstituer les traits nègres d’un type disparu en prolongeant une série graduée de métis. Par la même méthode nous pouvons déterminer théoriquement la forme du crâne de ce type. Avec une assez grande certitude, je crois pouvoir affirmer, après de nombreuses mesures systématiques, que le nègre primitif de l’Inde était sousdolichocéphale avec un indice voisin de 75 ou 76. Sa taille, plus difficile à préciser, car les conditions de vie modifient ce caractère, devait être petite, plus haute pourtant que celle des Andamanais. Quant au nom qu’il convient de lui attribuer, la discussion des faits sociaux et linguistiques sur lesquels est fondée la notion de dravidien permet d’établir que ce nègre était antérieur aux dravidiens;il faut done l’appellerPrédravidien, ou, si nous voulons lui donner un nom qui ne soit pas relatif à une autre population, on peut l’appelerNègre Paria.”Linga Banajiga.Linga Banajiga.In support of M. Lapicque’s statement that the primitive inhabitant was dolichocephalic or sub-dolichocephalic, I may produce the evidence of the cephalic indices of the various jungle tribes which I have examined in the Tamil, Malayālam, and Telugu countries:—Cephalic Index.Average.Maximum.Minimum.Kadir72.980.069.1Irula, Chingleput73.178.668.4Kānikar73.478.969.1Mala Vēdan73.480.968.8Panaiyan74.081.169.4Chenchu74.380.564.3Shōlaga74.979.367.8Paliyan75.779.172.9Irula, Nilgiris75.880.970.8Kurumba76.583.371.8It is worthy of note that Haeckel defines the nose of the Dravidian as a prominent and narrow organ. For Risley has laid down35that, in the Dravidian type, the nose is thick and broad, and the formula expressing the proportionate dimension (nasal index) is higher than in any known race, except the Negro; and that the typical Dravidian, as represented by the Mālē Pahāria, has a nose as broad in proportion to its length as the Negro, while this feature in the Aryan group can fairly bear comparison with the noses of sixty-eight Parisians, measured by Topinard, which gave an average of 69.4.In this connection, I may record the statistics relating to the nasal indices of various South Indian jungle tribes:—Nasal Index.Average.Maximum.Minimum.Paniyan95.1108.672.9Kādir89.8115.472.9Kurumba86.1111.170.8Shōlaga85.1107.772.8Mala Vēdan84.9102.671.1Irula, Nīlgiris84.9100.72.3Kānikar84.6105.72.3Chenchu81.995.768.1In the following table, I have brought together, for the purpose of comparison, the average stature and nasal index of various Dravidian classes inhabiting the plains of the Telugu, Tamil, Canarese, and Malayālam countries, and jungle tribes:—Linguistic area.Nasal Index.Stature.PaniyanJungle tribe95.1157.4KādirDo.89.8157.7KurumbaDo.86.1157.9ShōlagaDo.85.1159.3Irula, NīlgirisDo.84.9159.8Mala VēdanDo.84.9154.2KānikarDo.84.6155.2ChenchuDo.81.9162.5PallanTamil81.5164.3MukkuvanMalayālam81.163.1ParaiyanTamil80.163.1PalliDo.77.9162.5GānigaCanarese76.1165.8BesthaTelugu75.9165.7TīyanMalayālam75.163.7KurubaCanarese74.9162.7BōyaTelugu74.4163.9Tōta BalijaDo.74.4163.9AgasaCanarese74.3162.4AgamudaiyanTamil74.2165.8GollaTelugu74.1163.8VellālaTamil73.1162.4VakkaligaCanarese73.167.2Dāsa BanajigaDo.72.8165.3KāpuTelugu72.8164.5NāyarMalayālam71.1165.2This table demonstrates very clearly an unbroken series ranging from the jungle men, short of stature and platyrhine, to the leptorhine Nāyars and other classes.PLATE V.PLATE V.DIAGRAMS OF NOSES.Inplate Vare figured a series of triangles representing (natural size) the maxima, minima, and average nasal indices of Brāhmans of Madras city (belonging to the poorer classes), Tamil Paraiyans, and Paniyans. There is obviously far less connection between the Brāhman minimum and the Paraiyan maximum than between the Brāhman and Paraiyan maxima and the Paniyan average; and the frequent occurrence of high nasal indices, resulting from short, broad noses, in many classes has to be accounted for. Sir Alfred Lyall somewhere refers to the gradual Brāhmanising of the aboriginal non-Arayan, or casteless tribes. “They pass,” he writes, “into Brāhmanists by a natural upward transition, which leads them to adopt the religion of the castes immediately above them in the social scale of the composite population, among which they settle down; and we may reasonably guess that this process has been working for centuries.” In the Madras Census Report, 1891, Mr. H. A. Stuart states that “it has often been asserted, and is now thegeneral belief, that the Brāhmans of the South are not pure Aryans, but are a mixed Aryan and Dravidian race. In the earliest times, the caste division was much less rigid than now, and a person of another caste could become a Brāhman by attaining the Brāhmanical standard of knowledge, and assuming Brāhmanical functions; and, when we see the Nambūdiri Brāhmans, even at the present day, contracting alliances, informal though they be, with the women of the country, it is not difficult to believe that, on their first arrival, such unions were even more common, and that the children born of them would be recognised as Brāhmans, though perhaps regarded as an inferior class. However, those Brāhmans, in whose veins mixed blood is supposed to run, are even to this day regarded as lower in the social scale, and are not allowed to mix freely with the pure Brāhman community.”Popular traditions allude to wholesale conversions of non-Brāhmans into Brāhmans. According to such traditions, Rājas used to feed very large numbers of Brāhmans (a lakh of Brāhmans) in expiation of some sin, or to gain religious merit. To make up this large number, non-Brāhmans are said to have been made Brāhmans at the bidding of the Rājas. Here and there are found a few sections of Brāhmans, whom the more orthodox Brāhmans do not recognise as such, though the ordinary members of the community regard them as an inferior class of Brāhmans. As an instance may be cited the Mārakas of the Mysore Province. Though it is difficult to disprove the claim put forward by these people, some demur to their being regarded as Brāhmans.Between a Brāhman of high culture, with fair complexion, and long, narrow nose on the one hand, and a less highly civilised Brāhman with dark skin and short broad nose on the other, there is a vast difference, whichcan only be reasonably explained on the assumption of racial admixture; and it is no insult to the higher members of the Brāhman community to trace, in their more lowly brethren, the result of crossing with a dark-skinned, and broad-nosed race of short stature. Whether the jungle tribe are, as I believe, the microscopic remnant of a pre-Dravidian people, or, as some hold, of Dravidians driven by a conquering race to the seclusion of the jungles, it is to the lasting influence of some such broad-nosed ancestor that the high nasal index of many of the inhabitants of Southern India must, it seems to me, be attributed. Viewed in the light of this remark, the connection between the following mixed collection of individuals, all of very dark colour, short of stature, and with nasal index exceeding 90, calls for no explanation:—
ClassLanguageNumber of subjects examinedCephalic IndexNumber of times index was 80 or aboveAverageMaximum, cm.Minimum, cm.Sukun SālēMarāthi3082.290.073.921Suka SālēDo.3081.888.276.122VakkaligaCanarese5081.793.872.527BillavaTulu5080.191.571.027RangāriMarāthi3079.892.270.714AgasaCanarese4078.585.773.213BantTulu4078.091.270.812KāpuTelugu4978.087.671.616Tota BalijaDo.3978.086.073.310BoyaDo.5077.989.270.514Dāsa BanajigaCanarese4077.886.272.011GānigaDo.5077.685.970.511GollaTelugu6077.589.370.19KurubaCanarese5077.383.969.610BesthaTelugu6077.185.170.59PallanTamil5075.987.070.16MukkuvanMalayālam4075.183.568.62NāyarDo.4074.481.970.01VellālaTamil4074.181.167.92AgamudaiyanDo.4074.080.966.71ParaiyanDo.4073.678.364.8PalliDo.4073.080.064.41TiyanMalayālam4073.078.968.6
The difference in the character of the cranium is further brought out by the following tables, in which thedetails of the cephalic indices of typical classes in the five linguistic areas under consideration are recorded:—
(a)Tulu. Billava.
71◆◆72◆◆73◆747576◆◆◆77◆◆◆◆◆78◆◆◆◆◆◆79◆◆80◆◆Average.81◆◆◆82◆◆◆◆◆83◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆84◆◆◆◆85◆◆◆◆86◆87888990◆91◆
(b)Canarese. Vakkaliga.
73◆7475◆◆76◆◆◆◆◆77◆◆78◆◆◆◆◆79◆◆◆◆◆◆◆80◆◆81◆◆◆82◆◆◆Average.83◆◆◆84◆◆85◆◆◆86◆◆◆87◆◆88◆◆89◆9091◆92◆93◆94◆
(c)Telugu. Kāpu.
72◆73◆◆◆◆◆◆◆74◆◆75◆◆76◆◆◆◆◆◆◆77◆◆◆◆◆◆78◆Average.79◆◆◆◆80◆◆◆◆81◆◆◆◆◆◆◆82◆◆83◆◆◆84◆85◆868788◆
(d)Vellāla. Tamil.
68◆6970◆71◆◆◆72◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆73◆◆◆◆◆◆◆74◆◆Average.75◆◆◆◆◆◆76◆◆◆77◆◆◆◆787980◆◆81◆
(e)Malayālam. Nāyar.
70◆◆71◆◆◆◆◆72◆◆◆◆◆73◆◆◆◆◆◆74◆Average.75◆◆◆◆◆◆76◆◆◆◆77◆◆◆◆78◆◆◆79◆◆808182◆
These tables not only bring out the difference in the cephalic index of the classes selected as representative of the different areas, but further show that there is a greater constancy in the Tamil and Malayālam classes than in the Tulus, Canarese and Telugus. The number of individuals clustering round the average is conspicuously greater in the two former than in the three latter. I am not prepared to hazard any new theory to account for the marked difference in the type of cranium in the various areas under consideration, and must content myself with the observation that, whatever may have been the influence which has brought about the existing sub-brachycephalic or mesaticephalic type in the northern areas, this influence has not extended southward into the Tamil and Malayālam countries, where Dravidian man remains dolicho- or sub-dolichocephalic.
As an excellent example of constancy of type in the cephalic index, I may cite,en passant, the followingresults of measurement of the Todas, who inhabit the plateau of the Nilgiri hills:—
69◆◆70◆◆◆◆◆◆◆71◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆72◆◆◆◆◆◆◆73◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆Average.74◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆75◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆76◆◆◆◆◆◆77◆78◆79◆8081◆
I pass on to the consideration of the type of cranium among various Brāhman classes. In the following tables, the results of measurement of representatives of Tulu, Canarese, Marāthi, Tamil and Malayālam Brāhmans are recorded:—
ClassLanguageNumber of subjects examinedCephalic IndexNumber of times index was 80 or aboveAverage.Maximum.Minimum.ShivalliTulu3080.496.469.417MandyaCanarese5080.288.269.831KarnātakaDo.6078.489.569.819Smarta (Dēsastha)Marāthi294376.987.1719Tamil (Madras city)Tamil4076.584693NambūtiriMalayālam3076.3PattarTamil312574.581.469.12
(a)Tulu. Shivalli.
69◆707172◆73◆747576◆◆◆◆7778◆◆◆79◆◆◆80◆◆Average.81◆◆◆82◆◆◆◆83◆◆84◆◆8586◆8788◆89◆90919293949596◆
(b)Canarese. Karnātaka Smarta.
70◆71◆◆72◆◆73◆◆74◆◆◆◆◆◆75◆◆◆76◆◆◆◆77◆◆◆◆◆78◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆Average.79◆◆80◆◆◆◆◆81◆◆◆◆82◆◆◆◆83◆◆84◆◆85◆86◆87◆88◆◆89◆
(c)Tamil. Madras City.
69◆70◆◆71◆72◆73◆◆74◆◆◆75◆◆◆◆76◆◆◆◆Average.77◆◆◆◆◆◆78◆◆◆◆◆79◆◆◆◆◆80◆◆8182◆◆83◆84◆
(d)Tamil. Pattar.
69◆◆70◆71◆◆◆72◆◆73◆◆◆74Average.75◆◆◆◆76◆◆◆◆◆7778◆79◆◆80◆81◆
Taking the evidence of the figures, they demonstrate that, like the other classes which have been analysed, the Brāhmans have a higher cephalic index, with a wider range, in the northern than in the southern area.
There is a tradition that the Shivalli Brāhmans of the Tulu country came from Ahikshetra. As only males migrated from their home, they were compelled to take women from non-Brāhman castes as wives. The ranks are said to have been swelled by conversions from these castes during the time of Srī Mādhvāchārya. The Shivalli Brāhmans are said to be referred to by the Bants as Mathumaglu or Mathmalu (bride) in allusion to the fact of their wives being taken from the Bant caste. Besides the Shivallis, there are other Tulu Brāhmans, who are said to be recent converts. The Matti Brāhmans were formerly considered low by the Shivallis, and were not allowed to sit in the same line with the Shivallis at meal time. They were only permitted to sit in a cross line, separated from the Shivallis, though in the same room. This was because the Matti Brāhmans were supposed to be Mogers (fishing caste) raised to Brāhmanism by one Vathirāja Swāmi, a Sanyāsi. Having become Brāhmans, they could not carry on their hereditary occupation, and, to enable them to earn a livelihood, the Sanyāsi gave them some brinjal (Solanum Melongena) seeds, and advised them to cultivate the plant. From this fact, the variety of brinjal, which is cultivated at Matti, is called Vathirāja gulla. At the present day, the Matti Brāhmans are on a par with the Shivalli Brāhmans, and have become disciples of the Sodhe mutt (religious institution) at Udipi. In some of the popular accounts of Brāhmans, which have been reduced to writing, it is stated that, during the time of Mayūra Varma of the Kadambadynasty,32some Āndhra Brāhmans were brought into South Canara. As a sufficient number of Brāhmans were not available for the purpose of yāgams (sacrifices), these Āndhra Brāhmans selected a number of families from the non-Brāhman caste, made them Brāhmans, and chose exogamous sept names for them. Of these names, Manōli (Cephalandra Indica), Pērala (Psidium Guyava), Kudire (horse), and Ānē (elephant) are examples.
A character, with which I am very familiar, when measuring the heads of all sorts and conditions of natives of Southern India, is the absence of convexity of the segment formed by the posterior portion of the united parietal bones. The result of this absence of convexity is that the back of the head, instead of forming a curve gradually increasing from the top of the head towards the occipital region, as in the European skull figured in plate IIIa, forms a flattened area of considerable length almost at right angles to the base of the skull as in the “Hindu” skull represented inplate IIIb. This character is shown in a marked degree inplate IV, which represents a prosperous Linga Banajiga in the Canarese country.
a.European Skull.b.Hindu Skull.
a.European Skull.
b.Hindu Skull.
In discussing racial admixture, Quatrefages writes as follows.33“Parfois on trouve encore quelques tribus qui ont conservé plus on moins intacts tous les caractères de leur race. Les Coorumbas du Malwar [Malabar] et du Coorg paraissent former un noyau plus considérable encore, et avoir conservé dans les jungles de Wynaad une indépendence à peu près complète, et tous leurscaractères ethnologiques.” The purity of blood and ethnological characters of various jungle tribes are unhappily becoming lost as the result of contact metamorphosis from the opening up of the jungles for planter’s estates, and contact with more civilised tribes and races, both brown and white. In illustration, I may cite the Kānikars of Travancore, who till recently were in the habit of sending all their women into the seclusion of the jungle on the arrival of a stranger near their settlements. This is now seldom done, and some Kānikars have in modern times settled in the vicinity of towns, and become domesticated. The primitive short, dark-skinned and platyrhine type, though surviving, has become changed, and many leptorhine or mesorhine individuals above middle height are to be met with. The following are the results of measurements of Kānikars in the jungle, and at a village some miles from Trivandrum, the capital of Travancore:—
Stature cm.Nasal Index.Av.Max.Min.Av.Max.Min.Jungle155.2170.3150.284.610572.3Domesticated158.7170.414881.290.570.8
Some jungle Chenchus, who inhabit the Nallamalai hills in the Kurnool district, still exhibit the primitive short stature and high nasal index, which are characteristic of the unadulterated jungle tribes. But there is a very conspicuous want of uniformity in their physical characters, and many individuals are to be met with, above middle height, or tall, with long narrow noses. A case is recorded, in which a brick-maker married a Chenchu girl. And I was told of a Bōya man whohad married into the tribe, and was living in a gudem (Chenchu settlement).
Stature cm.Nasal Index.Av.Max.Min.Av.Max.Min.162.5175149.681.995.768.1
By the dolichocephalic type of cranium which has persisted, and which the Chenchus possess in common with various other jungle tribes, they are still, as shown by the following table, at once differentiated from the mesaticephalic dwellers in the plains near the foot of the Nallamalais:—
Cephalic Index.Number of times the index was 80 or over.40 Chenchus74.3160 Gollas77.5950 Bōyas77.91439 Tōta Balijas78.01049 Kāpus78.81619 Upparas78.8416 Mangalas78.8717 Verukalas78.6612Mēdaras80.78
In a note on the jungle tribes, M. Louis Lapicque,34who carried out anthropometric observations in Southern India a few years ago, writes as follows. “Dans les montagnes des Nilghirris et d’Anémalé, situées au cœurde la contrée dravidienne, on a signalé depuis longtemps des petits sauvages crépus, qu’on a même pensé pouvoir, sur des documents insuffisants, identifier avec les negritos. En réalité, it n’existe pas dans ces montagnes, ni probablement nulle part dans l’Inde, un témoin de la race primitive comparable, comme pureté, aux Andamanais ni même aux autres Negritos. Ce que l’on trouve là, c’est simplement, mais c’est fort précieux, une population métisse qui continue au delà du Paria la série générale de l’Inde. Au bord de la forêt vierge ou dans les collines partiellement défrichées, il y a des castes demi-Parias, demi-sauvages. La hiérachie sociale les classe au-dessous du Paria: on peut même trouver des groupes ou le facies nègre, nettement dessiné, est tout à fait prédominant. Ehbien, dans ces groupes, les chevelures sont en général frisées, et on en observe quelques-unes qu’on peut même appeler crépues. On a donc le moyen de prolonger par l’imagination la série des castes indiennes jusq’au type primitif qui était (nous n’avons plus qu’un pas à faire pour le reconstruire), unNègre.... Nous sommes arrives à reconstituer les traits nègres d’un type disparu en prolongeant une série graduée de métis. Par la même méthode nous pouvons déterminer théoriquement la forme du crâne de ce type. Avec une assez grande certitude, je crois pouvoir affirmer, après de nombreuses mesures systématiques, que le nègre primitif de l’Inde était sousdolichocéphale avec un indice voisin de 75 ou 76. Sa taille, plus difficile à préciser, car les conditions de vie modifient ce caractère, devait être petite, plus haute pourtant que celle des Andamanais. Quant au nom qu’il convient de lui attribuer, la discussion des faits sociaux et linguistiques sur lesquels est fondée la notion de dravidien permet d’établir que ce nègre était antérieur aux dravidiens;il faut done l’appellerPrédravidien, ou, si nous voulons lui donner un nom qui ne soit pas relatif à une autre population, on peut l’appelerNègre Paria.”
Linga Banajiga.Linga Banajiga.
Linga Banajiga.
In support of M. Lapicque’s statement that the primitive inhabitant was dolichocephalic or sub-dolichocephalic, I may produce the evidence of the cephalic indices of the various jungle tribes which I have examined in the Tamil, Malayālam, and Telugu countries:—
Cephalic Index.Average.Maximum.Minimum.Kadir72.980.069.1Irula, Chingleput73.178.668.4Kānikar73.478.969.1Mala Vēdan73.480.968.8Panaiyan74.081.169.4Chenchu74.380.564.3Shōlaga74.979.367.8Paliyan75.779.172.9Irula, Nilgiris75.880.970.8Kurumba76.583.371.8
It is worthy of note that Haeckel defines the nose of the Dravidian as a prominent and narrow organ. For Risley has laid down35that, in the Dravidian type, the nose is thick and broad, and the formula expressing the proportionate dimension (nasal index) is higher than in any known race, except the Negro; and that the typical Dravidian, as represented by the Mālē Pahāria, has a nose as broad in proportion to its length as the Negro, while this feature in the Aryan group can fairly bear comparison with the noses of sixty-eight Parisians, measured by Topinard, which gave an average of 69.4.In this connection, I may record the statistics relating to the nasal indices of various South Indian jungle tribes:—
Nasal Index.Average.Maximum.Minimum.Paniyan95.1108.672.9Kādir89.8115.472.9Kurumba86.1111.170.8Shōlaga85.1107.772.8Mala Vēdan84.9102.671.1Irula, Nīlgiris84.9100.72.3Kānikar84.6105.72.3Chenchu81.995.768.1
In the following table, I have brought together, for the purpose of comparison, the average stature and nasal index of various Dravidian classes inhabiting the plains of the Telugu, Tamil, Canarese, and Malayālam countries, and jungle tribes:—
Linguistic area.Nasal Index.Stature.PaniyanJungle tribe95.1157.4KādirDo.89.8157.7KurumbaDo.86.1157.9ShōlagaDo.85.1159.3Irula, NīlgirisDo.84.9159.8Mala VēdanDo.84.9154.2KānikarDo.84.6155.2ChenchuDo.81.9162.5PallanTamil81.5164.3MukkuvanMalayālam81.163.1ParaiyanTamil80.163.1PalliDo.77.9162.5GānigaCanarese76.1165.8BesthaTelugu75.9165.7TīyanMalayālam75.163.7KurubaCanarese74.9162.7BōyaTelugu74.4163.9Tōta BalijaDo.74.4163.9AgasaCanarese74.3162.4AgamudaiyanTamil74.2165.8GollaTelugu74.1163.8VellālaTamil73.1162.4VakkaligaCanarese73.167.2Dāsa BanajigaDo.72.8165.3KāpuTelugu72.8164.5NāyarMalayālam71.1165.2
This table demonstrates very clearly an unbroken series ranging from the jungle men, short of stature and platyrhine, to the leptorhine Nāyars and other classes.
PLATE V.PLATE V.DIAGRAMS OF NOSES.
PLATE V.
DIAGRAMS OF NOSES.
Inplate Vare figured a series of triangles representing (natural size) the maxima, minima, and average nasal indices of Brāhmans of Madras city (belonging to the poorer classes), Tamil Paraiyans, and Paniyans. There is obviously far less connection between the Brāhman minimum and the Paraiyan maximum than between the Brāhman and Paraiyan maxima and the Paniyan average; and the frequent occurrence of high nasal indices, resulting from short, broad noses, in many classes has to be accounted for. Sir Alfred Lyall somewhere refers to the gradual Brāhmanising of the aboriginal non-Arayan, or casteless tribes. “They pass,” he writes, “into Brāhmanists by a natural upward transition, which leads them to adopt the religion of the castes immediately above them in the social scale of the composite population, among which they settle down; and we may reasonably guess that this process has been working for centuries.” In the Madras Census Report, 1891, Mr. H. A. Stuart states that “it has often been asserted, and is now thegeneral belief, that the Brāhmans of the South are not pure Aryans, but are a mixed Aryan and Dravidian race. In the earliest times, the caste division was much less rigid than now, and a person of another caste could become a Brāhman by attaining the Brāhmanical standard of knowledge, and assuming Brāhmanical functions; and, when we see the Nambūdiri Brāhmans, even at the present day, contracting alliances, informal though they be, with the women of the country, it is not difficult to believe that, on their first arrival, such unions were even more common, and that the children born of them would be recognised as Brāhmans, though perhaps regarded as an inferior class. However, those Brāhmans, in whose veins mixed blood is supposed to run, are even to this day regarded as lower in the social scale, and are not allowed to mix freely with the pure Brāhman community.”
Popular traditions allude to wholesale conversions of non-Brāhmans into Brāhmans. According to such traditions, Rājas used to feed very large numbers of Brāhmans (a lakh of Brāhmans) in expiation of some sin, or to gain religious merit. To make up this large number, non-Brāhmans are said to have been made Brāhmans at the bidding of the Rājas. Here and there are found a few sections of Brāhmans, whom the more orthodox Brāhmans do not recognise as such, though the ordinary members of the community regard them as an inferior class of Brāhmans. As an instance may be cited the Mārakas of the Mysore Province. Though it is difficult to disprove the claim put forward by these people, some demur to their being regarded as Brāhmans.
Between a Brāhman of high culture, with fair complexion, and long, narrow nose on the one hand, and a less highly civilised Brāhman with dark skin and short broad nose on the other, there is a vast difference, whichcan only be reasonably explained on the assumption of racial admixture; and it is no insult to the higher members of the Brāhman community to trace, in their more lowly brethren, the result of crossing with a dark-skinned, and broad-nosed race of short stature. Whether the jungle tribe are, as I believe, the microscopic remnant of a pre-Dravidian people, or, as some hold, of Dravidians driven by a conquering race to the seclusion of the jungles, it is to the lasting influence of some such broad-nosed ancestor that the high nasal index of many of the inhabitants of Southern India must, it seems to me, be attributed. Viewed in the light of this remark, the connection between the following mixed collection of individuals, all of very dark colour, short of stature, and with nasal index exceeding 90, calls for no explanation:—