Educated Chinaman, ManchuFIG.118.—Educated Chinaman of Manchu origin,interpreter to Embassy, twenty-one years old, height1 m. 75.(Coll. Mus. Nat. Hist. Paris.)
FIG.118.—Educated Chinaman of Manchu origin,interpreter to Embassy, twenty-one years old, height1 m. 75.(Coll. Mus. Nat. Hist. Paris.)
While this work of driving back was carried on in the south, the Turkish tribes, the Tunguses, the Mongols, the Manchus,invaded in turn the north of the country. Thence resulted a marked difference between the northern and the southern Chinese, while the Chinese of the central parts have perhaps best preserved the original type (Fig.119). The Chinese of the south belong very largely to the southern Mongolian race (p.293); they are short, sub-brachycephalic, except in Kwang-si, where mesocephaly predominates, in consequence, probably, of intermixtures with the aborigines of Indonesian race (H. Girard); while the Chinese of the north are on the contrary almost tall of stature; the head is sub-brachycephalic with a tendency towards mesocephaly in the north, towards brachycephaly in the south (Fig.118). The skin is lighter among the former than among the latter, the face more elongated, etc. One of the peculiarities of the Chinese skull isthe retreating forehead, and the contraction at the level of the temples.[427]
Chinese Woman, born at Foo-chowFIG.119.—Leao-yu-chow, Chinese woman,born at Foo-chow, eighteen years old, height1 m. 52.(Coll. Mus. Nat. Hist. Paris.)
FIG.119.—Leao-yu-chow, Chinese woman,born at Foo-chow, eighteen years old, height1 m. 52.(Coll. Mus. Nat. Hist. Paris.)
The multiplicity of dialects is equally great. The Chinese of the various provinces would have long since ceased to understand one another had they not possessed as a medium of communication the common signs of the written language (p.141), which the mandarins read in their own dialects and languages not only in China but also in Corea, in Japan, and Indo-China. We distinguish theMandarin, ornorthern, dialect(with which we connect the Hakka speech employed in Kwang-tung) and that of thesouth, then the dialects of Fu-Kian, of Che-Kiang, etc. The peculiarities of the Chinese character—filial love, attachment to the soil, aptitude for agriculture and commerce, peaceful disposition, love of routine, respect for letters, observance of form, etc.—are sufficiently known.[428]Most of them are the corollaries of ancestor-worship, of the very rigorous patriarchal régime and the constitution of the commune (p.248), the basis of the whole social fabric of the Chinese Empire, which, let it be said by the way, exhibits less organic cohesion than is generally supposed. The frequent co-existence of belief in three religions, Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism or Foism, in one and the same individual is one of the remarkable facts of Chinese sociology. Another fact, not less interesting, is the administrative and political mechanism inspired theoretically by very wise and moral ideas, but leading in practice to peculation and carelessness on the part of public officials of which we find it difficult to form any idea in Europe.
2. TheCoreans, who by their civilisation are connected with China, have in all probability sprung from the intermixture of Tunguse, Indonesian, and Japanese elements. The men are of tall stature,[429]strong, with sub-brachycephalic head (ceph. ind. on the liv. sub. 82.3, according to Elissiéef, Koganei, and Bogdanof). The women are more puny, and are not conspicuous for beauty; they have a yellowish complexion, small eyes, prominent brow, and very small feet, but not deformed like those of the Chinese (p.175). The Corean values only one physical charm in woman, and that is her abundant head of hair and eyebrows, “fine as a thread” (Mme. Koïke). Besides, woman is of no account in Corean society; sheis an instrument of pleasure or work; she is kept strictly apart from men, rarely leaves the house, and must veil her face.
The Corean language belongs to the Uralo-Altaic family, and is closely related to the Southern Tunguse dialects. Its mode of writing, calledwen-mun, differs from the Chinese, and appears either to have been invented or derived from the Sanscrit by the Buddhist monks (M. Courant).
The Coreans have no state religion. Buddhism, introduced towards the close of the fourth century, has not taken root among them, and is more and more in danger of extinction. Most Coreans live in a sort of irreligion tempered with some animistic practices: sacrifices to the spirits of the forests and mountains, etc. The Corean civilisation was borrowed entire from China of the fifth or sixth century. The associative tendency, and regard for form and ceremony, are perhaps stronger in Corea than in China. Further, enslavement for debt, crime, etc., exists as a regular thing in the country.[430]
3. TheJapaneseexhibit, like so many other peoples, a certain diversity in their physical type; the variations fluctuate between two principal forms. Thefinetype (Figs.16and120), which may chiefly be observed in the upper classes of society, is characterised by a tall, slim figure; a relative dolichocephaly, elongated face, straight eyes in the men, more or less oblique and Mongoloid in the women, thin, convex or straight nose, etc. Thecoarsetype, common to the mass of the people, is marked by the following characters: a thick-set body, rounded skull, broad face with prominent cheek-bones, slightly oblique eyes, flattish nose, wide mouth (Bälz).[431]Thesetwo types may have been the result of crossings between Mongol sub-races (northern and southern) and Indonesian or even Polynesian elements. The influence of the Ainu blood is shown only in Northern Nippon.[432]
Young Japanese WomenFIG.120.—Young Japanese women taking tea;finetype.(Phot. lent by Collignon.)
FIG.120.—Young Japanese women taking tea;finetype.(Phot. lent by Collignon.)
In a general way the Japanese are of short stature (1 m. 59 for men,1 m. 47 for women), rather robust and well proportioned. The colour of the skin varies from pale yellow, almost white, to brownish yellow. The Japanese have no colour in their cheeks, even when their skin is almost white; at birth there is an accumulation of pigments on the median line of the belly and pigmental spots (see p.51). The pilous system is scantily developed, except in cases where an admixture of Ainu blood may be suspected. The head is mesaticephalic as a rule (ceph. ind. on the liv. sub. 78.2), with a tendency to brachycephaly in the gross type, to dolichocephaly in the fine type. The skull, which is capacious, exhibits two peculiarities: theos japonicum(p.68) and the particular conformation of the upper jaw, which is very low and broad, without the canine fossa. With regard to Japanese writing, see p.141.
Tong King artisan, Son-taiFIG.121.—Tong King artisan of Son-tai,twenty-three years old.(Phot. Pr. Rd. Bonaparte.)
FIG.121.—Tong King artisan of Son-tai,twenty-three years old.(Phot. Pr. Rd. Bonaparte.)
The most striking traits of the Japanese character are politeness and aptness in concealing the emotions; it must not be inferred from this that their nature is bad; on the contrary, they are honest, hard-working, cheerful, kind, and courageous (Mohnike, Mechnikof).[433]European civilisation and the reforms introduced into Japan since 1868 have appreciably modified the manners and customs, but the essential traits of the national character remain unaltered, as they were previously unmodified by the introduction of the Chinese civilisation. The ancient chivalrous spirit of the aristocracy, holding trade in contempt, still survives at the present day, and partly explains the ardour with which persons of this class have flung themselves into political life, since Japan obtained a parliamentary administration (1889). The Japanese have two religions,Shintoism, or the national worship of theKami(nativedivinities), and Buddhism; but they are fundamentally very sceptical on the subject of religion.[434]
Theislandersof theLiu-KiuorLoo-chooarchipelago resemble the Japanese (Chamberlain), but they have a thicker beard and a darker complexion (Bälz); they are of short stature (1 m. 58, according to Dr. Furukawa), and Wirth has even noted among them a tribe of pigmies1 m. 30 in height in the island of Okinava.
As to thenatives of Formosa, the Chinese, who have colonised half of the island, divide them intoPepo-hoan(“mellowed” or tamed savages) andSek-kuanorChe-hoan(raw or uncivilised savages). The former are met with almost everywhere, but chiefly in the north and west of the island, the latter have been driven back into the mountains of the interior and to the south coast. The Che-hoan are split up into several tribes (Atayal,Vonumin the north,Pai-wan,Sarisen,Butanin the south,Amiaon the east coast, etc.), and remind us of the Indonesians by their type as well as by several customs (skull-hunting, tattooing, ear-ornaments, house in common or “Palankan”). Some of these “savages” are acquainted with agriculture, others live by the product of the chase. The languages of all these Formosans belong to the Malay family, especially approximating to the Tagal.[435]
IV. POPULATIONS OFINDO-CHINA.—We must distinguish in the transgangetic peninsula the probableAboriginesand the peoples sprung from the interminglings of these aborigines with the invaders coming from the adjoining countries, and whose migrations are at least partly known to history. Thesemixed populations are theAnnamese, theThais, theKhmersorCambodians, theBurmese, and theMalays.
(1)The Aborigines.—The numerous populations scattered almost all over Indo-China having a right to this name may be mustered into eight groups, of which I proceed to give a short account.
a. The Mois.—We designate by this name the numerous so-called “savage tribes” dispersed over the table-lands and mountains between the Mekong and the Annamese coast, from the frontiers of Yun-nan to Cochin-China (district of Baria). In spite of the various names given to the Mois by the adjoining nations (they are calledMoisin Annam,Peu-nongsin Cambodia,Khasin Laos, etc.), and of the multitude of tribes into which they are divided (theMo, theSas, theBruns, theBolovens, theLové, theBannars, theRdé, theLaté, theThioma, theTrao, etc.), the Mois exhibit a remarkable uniformity in physical type and manners (Neïs). They are as a rule short (1 m. 57), and dolichocephalic (ceph. ind. on the liv. sub. 77); their skin is tan-like white in colour, reddish; their hair is more or less wavy, they have straight eyes, etc. In short, they differ as much from the Annamese as the Thai, and in all probability belong for the most part to the Indonesian race. Hunters or primitive husbandmen (the crop is gathered by picking with the hand the rice from the stalk; the cooking of the rice is effected in bamboos, which roast on the fire, etc.), they go almost naked and use only primitive arms, spears, poisoned arrows, etc. They are of fairly peaceful habits.[436]
b. The Kuis.—This name distinguishes two ethnic groups of Indo-China: one in the south-east of Siam and the north-west of Cambodia, the other in the country of Kieng-Tung or Xieng-Tong (Shan States, under British protection). The former appear to be aborigines like the Mois; the latter are simply abranch of theLo-loorMosso(see p.381). The Kuis of Cambodia are in stature under the average (1 m. 63), sub-brachycephalic (ceph. ind. on the liv. sub. 82), and have a darker skin than the Laotians (Harmand). Nearly all of them can speak Cambodian and are forgetting their mother-tongue; they have the reputation of being skilful smiths.[437]
Khamti, Lower BurmaFIG.122.—Khamti of Lower Burma, Assam frontier.(Coll. Ind. Mus., London.)
FIG.122.—Khamti of Lower Burma, Assam frontier.(Coll. Ind. Mus., London.)
c.TheMonsorTalaingare the remnants of a population which formerly occupied the whole of lower Burma, and have been driven back into the unhealthy region of the deltas ofthe Irrawaddy, Sittong, and Salwen rivers; their territory has mostly been taken by a population sprung from the intermingling of the Mons with the Burmese.
The three groups of tribes which we have just enumerated speak monosyllabic dialects correlated as regards their vocabularies, at least so far as the words indicating numbers, the parts of the body, trades, etc., are concerned. These dialects further present analogies with the Khmer (p.398) and Khasia languages (p.380).[438]
d.TheTziamorChiam, on the other hand, are closely allied to the Malaysian linguistic family. Their language, fixed by writing of Indian origin, reminds us of the dialects of the Philippines. About 130,000 in number, they inhabit the province of Binh-Tuan and several other points of Southern Annam, as well as Cochin-China (province of Baria, etc.) and Cambodia. They represent all that remains of a once powerful people, the founders of the empire ofChampa, which extended over the whole of Annam, as it now is, and the southern part of Tong King. A section of the Tziam are Mussulmans, but the majority are animist. The physical type is handsome; nose almost aquiline, eyes without the Mongoloid fold, wavy or frizzy hair, dark skin. Contrary to what exists among other peoples of Indo-China, among the Tziams it is the woman who asks the hand in marriage.[439]
e.TheKarens, who inhabit the upper valley of the Me Ping and the mountainous districts of Arakan, Pegu, and Tenasserim, the country between the Sittong and the Salwen (red Karens), probably came into Burma at a later date than the Mons; they maintain that they came thither from Yunnan about the fifth century of the present era. In stature they are under the average (1 m. 64, according to Mason), and they exhibit traitsintermediate between those of the Malays and the Thai (see below). Numbering about a million, they are speedily becoming civilised while striving at the same time to preserve their independence.[440]
TheKhyensorChinof the mountains of Arakan and theTung-tuof Tenasserim are Karens crossed with Burmese and Shans (p.401). TheLemets, theDoes, and theKhmusof Fr. Garnier (KamuandKametof MacLeod) who inhabit the east of Luang-Prabang (French Laos), and perhaps theLavasorDoesof H. Hallet, mountaineers of West Siam, are related to the Karens or Khyens.
f.TheNagasof Manipur and the mountains extending to the north (Patkoi, Barai) of this country are Indonesians more or less pure both in physical type (Frontispieceand Fig.17) and manners and customs. They may be sub-divided intoAngami,Kanpui, etc., wearing the petticoat or apron, of the west; intoLhota,Ho, etc., wearing the plaid, of the centre; and intoNangta, or naked, of the east. Various ethnic peculiarities, skull-hunting and multicoloured hair or feather ornaments, long shields (Frontispiece), breast-plates, method of weaving, and houses in common (Morong), connect them with the Dyaks and other Indonesians. Tattooing prevails only among the tribes with a monarchical organisation (Klemm). TheLushai, who live at the south of Manipur, are Nagas mixed with Kyens and Burmese of Arakan. They may be sub-divided into several tribes: theKuki, subject to the English, very short (medium height1 m. 57); theLushaiproperly so called, partly in subjection (41,600 in Assam), somewhat slender (1 m. 63), with brown skin, flat nose, prominent cheek-bones, husbandmen;[441]theSaks,Kamis, andShendonsorShaws. West of theLushai dwell theTipperaand theMrows, tribes of short stature (1 m. 59), still more pronouncedly intermingled with the Burmese.[442]
Black Sakai of Gunong-InasFIG.123.—Black Sakai of Gunong-Inas(Perak, Malay Peninsula).(Phot. Lapicque.)
FIG.123.—Black Sakai of Gunong-Inas(Perak, Malay Peninsula).(Phot. Lapicque.)
g.TheSelungsare also regarded as Indonesians; numbering but a thousand in all, they live in their canoes in theMerguiarchipelago, wandering from island to island like veritable gypsies of the sea, after the manner of theOrang-Sletarof the Straits of Singapore, now quite disappeared. In the same category we may also place the natives of theNicobarislands,though among the latter we must distinguish (1) theNicobareseof the small islands and the coasts of Great Nicobar who have intermixed with the Malays, and (2) theShom-Penof the interior of the latter island, savages of a somewhat pure Indonesian type.[443]
h.We must also include in this long list of the aboriginal peoples of Indo-China theNegritoes,[444]belonging to a distinct race, chiefly characterised by short stature, black skin, and frizzy or woolly hair (see p.288). As genuine representatives of this race, only three tribes are known: theAeta, who inhabit the Philippine islands (p.483); theSakaiof the interior of the Malay peninsula; and theMinkopisof the Andaman islands.
TheMinkopisorAndamanese(Fig.124), of very short stature (1 m. 49), sub-brachycephalic (ceph. ind. 82.6 average on the skull and on the liv. sub.), are in the lowest scale of civilisation. They live in “chongs”—small roofs on four stakes (p.160), go naked, and procure the strict necessaries of life by hunting, making use of a peculiar kind of bow (p.263). In number they scarcely exceed five thousand (E. Reclus).
i.The pureSakai,SemangsorMenik(as for example those of Gunong-Inas, Fig.123) are the same height as the Minkopis (1 m. 49), but their head is less round and their face more angular than those of the latter; they live likewise by hunting and by the gathering of honey, camphor, india-rubber, and other products of tropical forests, which they exchange with the Malays for tools, arms, etc. Several populations of the Malay peninsula, particularly theMintra, theJakhunsof Jokol, are Sakai-Malay half-breeds, as is shown by the light colour of their skin, their stature, higher than that of the Sakai, but still very short (1 m. 54), their frizzy hair, etc.
2. Let us pass on to themixed populationsof Indo-China, springing from the probable cross-breeds of the autochthones and the invaders.
Chief, Middle AndamanFIG.124.—Negrito chief of Middle Andaman,height1 m. 49; cephalic ind. 83.4.(Phot. Lapicque.)
FIG.124.—Negrito chief of Middle Andaman,height1 m. 49; cephalic ind. 83.4.(Phot. Lapicque.)
TheCambodiansorKhmershave the first place by seniority. At the present day they inhabit Cambodia, the adjoining parts of Siam, and the south of Cochin-China, but they formerly extended much farther. Two centuries ago, before the arrival of the Annamese, they occupied the whole of Cochin-China, while to-day they are found in any considerable number only in the unhealthy and marshy regions of the Rach-gia, Soktrang, and Tra-Vinh districts, where their number equals or exceeds that of the Annamese. It may be conjectured that the Khmers have sprung from the intermixing of the Malays and Kuis, with an infusion of Hindu blood at least in the higher classes of society. The Cambodians are taller (1 m. 65) than the Annamese and the Thai, but almost as brachycephalic (ceph. ind. on the liv. sub. 83.6); their eyes are rarely oblique, their hair is often wavy, etc. This population has preserved much of its primitive savagery in spite of the influence of several successive civilisations, of which remain the splendid monuments of Angkor-Vat, Angkor-Tom, etc.[445]
The population which chronologically succeeds the Cambodians is that of theAnnamese(Fig.121), the inhabitants of the delta in Tong King, of the coast in Annam, and most of Cochin-China. Some Annamese colonies are also found in Cambodia, in Laos, and among the Mois. The Annamese people, fifteen to seventeen millions strong at the present time, is the outcome of numerous interminglings. Of western origin, according to its traditions, that is to say akin to the Thai peoples, it came at an early period into the country which it now occupies. It found already installed there the Mois, the Khmers, and the Malays, which it succeeded in assimilating or pushing back into the mountains and the unhealthy regions; but it has had to support in its turn the continual immigrations of the Chinese who brought their civilisation to it. In spite of these complex interminglings the Annamese type is very uniform (Harmand). The men are short in stature (1 m. 58), with slender limbs, brachycephalic head (ceph. ind. 82.8), of angular visage with prominent cheek-bones, and Mongoloid eyes.
The Annamese of Tong King are a little taller (1 m. 59) and darker than those of Cochin-China and Annam (height1 m. 57); they have also a broader and flatter nose, the result perhaps of intermixture with the Thos mountaineers (p.401) who live near them.[446]The social life of the Annamese is modelled on that of the Chinese; the village community and the patriarchal family form the base of it, in the same way as ancestor-worship is the religious foundation. Annamese Buddhism is only a colourless copy of Chinese Foism and has no great hold of thepeople. Very docile, the Annamese are intelligent, cheerful, and well gifted, without being exempt from certain defects of character, common to all Asiatics of the far East, such as dissimulation, hypocrisy, and perfidy.
TheBurmeseorMrammamade a descent on Indo-China perhaps at the same time as the Annamese, from their original country, which is supposed to be the mountains of the south-east of Thibet. To-day they occupy Upper Burma, Pegu, and Arakan. In the last-mentioned country they bear the name ofMagorArakanese, and differ a little from the true Burmese of Upper Burma, who are the purest representatives of the Burmese people. Like the Annamese, they have attained a certain degree of civilisation, mainly due to the influence of India. We find existing among them monogamy, the order of castes, and Buddhism of the south but slightly altered. The Mag are mesocephalic (ceph. ind. 81.8) and of short stature (1 m. 61).[447]
The Thai.—The numerous peoples speaking different Thai dialects were the last arrivals in Indo-China. Their migrations may be followed from the first centuryB.C., when thePa-ytribes came from Sechuen into Western Yunnan to found there the kingdom of Luh-Tchao. Another kingdom, that of Muang-ling, was founded more to the south-west in Upper Burma, etc. The recent researches of Terrien de Lacouperie, Colquhoun, Baber, Hosie, Labarth, Billet, H. Hollet, Bourne, Deblenne, and of so many others besides, enable us to show the relations which existed between these various Thai peoples and to assign the limits with sufficient exactitude to their habitat, which extends from Kwei-chow to Cambodia, between the 14th and the 26th degrees of N. latitude.[448]
Four principal Thai peoples may be distinguished in this territory: theThos-Muongin the north-east (Tong King and China), theShansin the north-west (Upper Burma), theLaotiansin the south-east (French Laos), and theSiamesein the south-west (Siam).
We put together, under the name ofThos-Muong, all the natives of Upper Tong King and the Tong King hinterland (except the mountain summits occupied by theMans, allied probably to the Lo-lo), as well as the primitive inhabitants of Kwang-si, Southern Kwei-chow, and Eastern Yunnan, now driven back to the mountains. The Thos inhabiting Tong King to the east of the Red River (basin of the Claire River), are sub-brachycephalic (ceph. ind. 82.5), of lofty stature (1 m. 67),[449]having elongated face, straight non-Mongoloid eyes, and brownish complexion. They partly recall the Indonesians, and partly the still mysterious race to which the Lo-lo belong (p.381). They are husbandmen, living in houses on piles, and wearing a very picturesque costume different from that of their ancient masters the Annamese. TheMuongsof Tong King to the west of the Red River (basin of the Black River), thePueunand thePu-Thaiof Annamese Laos resemble them both in type and in language, which is a Thai dialect very much altered by Chinese and Annamese. TheTu-jen, thePe-miao, thePa-i, forming two-thirds of the population of Kwang-si, and found in the south of Kwei-chow and the north-west of Kwang-tung, as well as thePe-jenorMinkiaof Yunnan, are Thos slightly crossed with Chinese blood in the same way as theNongsof Tong King, the neighbours of the Thos. Most of these peoples have a special kind of writing, recalling that of theLaotians. The latter, as well as theShans, differ somewhat from the Thos in regard to type, in which we may discern interminglings with the Indonesians, Malays, Mois, and Burmese. Among the Shans we must distinguish theKhamti(Fig.122), a very pure race, and theSing-powith theKackyenorKatchin, somewhatintermixed with the Burmese, both of them races of mountaineers of the northern parts of Upper Burma, between the Lu-Kiang (upper Salwen) and the Lohit-Brahmaputra. The upper valley of the latter river is inhabited by theAssameseorAhoms, cross-breeds between the Shans and Hindus, speaking a particular dialect of the Hindi language. TheLaotiansare sub-brachycephalic (83.6) and of short stature (1 m. 59); those of the north tattoo their bodies like the Shans. They are husbandmen, shepherds, and hunters.[450]
It is perhaps among theSiamesethat the primitive Thai type has been most changed by intermixture with the Khmers, Kuis, Hindus, and Malays. In stature above the average (1 m. 61), very brachycephalic (ceph. ind. 85.5) with olive complexion, they have prominent cheek-bones, lozenge-shaped face, and short flattish nose. They are fervent votaries of southern Buddhism, and are the most civilised of the Thai. They have succeeded in preserving their relative independence and forming a state in which several reforms of European character have been attempted in recent times.
V. THEPOPULATION OFINDIArepresents about a third of the inhabitants of Asia (287,223,431 inhabitants according to the census of 1891). It is sub-divided into a hundred tribes or distinct peoples, but this multiplicity of ethnic groups is rather apparent than real, and they may easily be incorporated into a small number of somatic races or linguistic families; these groups frequently represent castes alone.
Casteis indeed an institution peculiar to India. Of ancient origin, this institution has developed very considerably, assuming the most varied forms. Springing from a Hindu or Brahman source, it penetrated little by little the other ethnic and religious groups of the peninsula, and one might say that it is the basis of the social organisation for four-fifths of the population of India, despite of the fact that its power is declining at the present day beneath the strong hand of British rule. About 2000 castes may be enumerated at the presentday, but year by year new ones are being called into existence as a certain number disappear.[451]
Gurkha, NepalFIG.125.—Gurkha of the Kus or Khas tribe, Nepal;mixed Indo-Thibetan type.(Coll. Ind. Mus., London.)
FIG.125.—Gurkha of the Kus or Khas tribe, Nepal;mixed Indo-Thibetan type.(Coll. Ind. Mus., London.)
The names of these castes are derived either from hereditary occupations (tanners, husbandmen, etc.); from a geographical source (Pathani, etc.), or a genealogical one—from a supposed common ancestor; or, especially among the Dravidians, from objects or animals singled out astotems(p.247). The essential characteristics of all castes, persisting amid every changeof form, are endogamy within themselves and the regulation forbidding them to come into contact one with another and partake of food together (Sénart). Endogamy within the limits of the caste implies, as a corollary, exogamy among the sections of the caste. The typical form of these sections is the “gotra,” an eponymous group reputed to be descended from a common ancestor, usually from arishi, a priest or legendary saint.
Outside of this endogamic rule marriage is forbidden in all castes between relatives to the sixth degree on the paternal side and to the fourth degree on the maternal side. Caste has no religious character; men of different creeds may belong to it. It is ruled by a chief and a council (panchâyet), and has not limits as rigid as is commonly supposed; the way is smoothed by compromises and liberal interpretations of rules for rich and clever people to pass from a lower to a higher caste.
In this way or some other a man may rise from one caste to another: in Mirzapur many Ghonds and Korvars have become Rajputs, etc. (Crooke). Employment is by no means the criterion of caste, as is very often supposed. “Those who have seen Brahmans,” says Sénart, “girdled with the sacred cord, offer water to travellers in the railway stations of India, who have seen them drilling among the sepoys of the Anglo-Indian army, are prepared for surprises of this kind.”[452]And in conclusion the castes do not always agree with ethnic and somatic divisions.[453]
Paniyan Men and Children, MalabarFIG.126.—Group of Paniyan men and children of Malabar.(Phot. Thurston.)
FIG.126.—Group of Paniyan men and children of Malabar.(Phot. Thurston.)
Side by side with caste another characteristic institution ofthe Cisgangetic Aryan or Aryanised peoples must be noted; it is the village (grama) with common proprietorship of the soil and family communities, on which I cannot dilate for want of space (see p.247).
Young Irula GirlFIG.127.—Young Irula girl.(Phot. Thurston.)
FIG.127.—Young Irula girl.(Phot. Thurston.)
India was the cradle of two great religions which havebecome international, Brahmanism and Buddhism. This fact deserves to be borne in mind on account of the impress left on these two religions by the national Hindu character. The foundation of both is formed of those characteristically Hindu beliefs,—the ideas of metempsychosis, final deliverance, and the doctrine of the moral world, which form a contrast with the Semitic religions. Brahmanism is professed by about three-fourths (72 per cent.) of the inhabitants of India, while Buddhism and its derivative Jainism only number, apart from the island of Ceylon, three per cent. of the total population of the peninsula. The most widespread religion after Brahmanism is Islamism (20 per cent. of the whole population of India).
Santal, Bhagalpur HillsFIG.128.—Santal of the Bhagalpur hills.(Coll. India Museum, London.)
FIG.128.—Santal of the Bhagalpur hills.(Coll. India Museum, London.)
From the somatological point of view it may be affirmed to-day, after the excellent works of Risley, Crooke, Thurston, Sarasin, Schmidt, Jagor, Mantegazza, etc., that the variety of types found in the country is due to the crossing of twoindigenous races, Indo-Afghan and Melano-Indian or Dravidian, with the admixture here and there of foreign elements: Turkish and Mongol in the north, Indonesian in the east, Arab and Assyroid in the west, and perhaps the Negritoid element in the centre. The Indo-Afghan race, of high stature, with light brown or tanned complexion, long face, wavy or straight hair, prominent and thin nose, dolichocephalic head, predominates in the north-west of India; the Melano-Indian or Dravidian race, also dolichocephalic but of short stature, with dark brown or black complexion, wavy or frizzy hair, is chiefly found in the south. In it two sub-races may be distinguished: aplatyrhinianone, with broad flat nose, rounded face, found in the mountainous regions of Western Bengal, Oudh and Orissa, also at several points of Rajputana and Gujarat, then in Southern India, and in the central provinces to the south of the rivers Narbada and Mahanadi. The other sub-race,leptorhinian, with narrow prominent nose, and elongated face may be noted in some particular groups, especially among the Nairs, the Telugus, and the Tamils.[454]
1.Melano-Indians or Dravidians.—This group, at once somatological and linguistic, includes two sub-divisions, based on differences of language: the division of Kolarians, and that of Dravidians properly so called.
a.Kolarians.[455]—The numerous tribes speaking the languages of the Kol family and belonging to the platyrhinian variety of the Melano-Indian race, more or less modified by interminglings, occupy the mountainous regions of Bengal and the provinces of the north-west. Certain of these tribes, of the purest type, like theJuangorPatuaof Keunjhar and Dhenkanal (Orissa), are distinguished by very short stature (1 m. 57),zygomatic arches projecting outwards, and flat face, as well as by certain ethnic characters; they go nearly naked, live on the products of the chase and the fruits and roots gathered; they also practise a little primitive cultivation by burning the forests, etc. TheKhariaof Lohardaga (Chota Nagpur), who resemble the Juang in type, language, and tattooings (three lines above the nose, etc.), are partly civilised; some cultivate the ground with a plough, have a rudimentary social constitution, etc. The other Kols are, for the most part, still further advanced. Such are theSantalsorSonthals(Fig.128) of Western Bengal, of Northern Orissa, and of Bhagalpur, who call themselves “Hor”; theMundaorHoro-huof Chota Nagpur; theHoorLurka-Kolsof the district of Singbhum (Bengal); lastly, theBhumijof Western Bengal, all probably sections of one and the same people, formerly much more numerous.[456]The Kols of the north-west provinces (height1 m. 64; ceph. ind. 73.2, according to Risley and Crooke) are closely allied to the groups which I have just mentioned. TheSavarasorSaoras, scattered over Orissa, Chota Nagpur, Western Bengal, and as far as the province of Madras, speak a language which Cunningham, Cust, and Fr. Müller consider Kolarian, while, according to Dalton, it belongs to the Dravidian family properly so called. Physically, they resemble the Malé Dravidians, and exhibit the tolerably pure type of the platyrhinian sub-race of the Melano-Indians.[457]The samedoubt exists in regard to the linguistic affinities of theBhilsof Central India and the north-west provinces.
b.Dravidians properly so called.—They may be divided into two groups, those of the north and those of the south.
Dravidians of the North.—These are in the first place theMalé(pluralMaler) orAsal Pahariaof the Rajmahal hills (Bengal), probably one of the sections of the Savara people (see above);[458]theOraons(523,000 in 1891), several tribes of which are also found in the north-west of Chota Nagpur; lastly, theGonds(three millions) of the Mahadeo mountains and part of the central provinces situated farther south, between the rivers Indravati and Seleru, tributaries of the Godavari. To the east of the Gonds dwell theKhandsand theKhonds(600,000), who have spread into Orissa.
All these tribes have scarcely got beyond the stage of hunters or primitive husbandmen, who set their forests on fire in order to sow among the ashes. In this respect theKorwaof Sarguja, of Jashpur (Bengal), and Mirzapur (north-west province) resemble them, if they are not even more uncivilised. They are unacquainted with clothes of any kind, obtain fire by sawing one piece of wood with another, and have an animistic religion much less developed than that of the Gonds or Oraons.[459]
Dravidians of the South.—To the south of the Godavari dwell five black, half-civilised peoples, having a particular form of writing, professing Brahmanism, and showing an intermingling of two varieties of the Melano-Indian race. Side by side with them, and among them, are found a number of smalltribes more or less uncivilised and animistic, having somatic types of considerable variety.
The five half-civilised Dravidian peoples are theTelingasorTelugusof the Coromandel coast, of Nizam and Jarpur (some twenty millions); theKanarasof the Mysore table-land (about ten millions); theMalayalimof the Malabar coast (nearly six millions); theTulusof Mangalore (350,000); lastly, theTamils, occupying the rest of Southern India and the north of Ceylon (about fifteen millions).
As to the uncivilised tribes, some occupy the Anamalli hills (theKader, theMadavars), others inhabit Travancore (Pulaya,Paligars,Tir,Shanar, etc.). Also to be noted are theCholigha, at the foot of the Mysore hills, thePaniyans(Fig.126) of Vaïnad or Vinad (Malabar coast), very short (1 m. 57), dolichocephalic (ceph. ind. on the liv. sub. 74), and very platyrhine (nas. ind. 95.1); lastly, the very interestingtribesof theNilgiri hills; theIrulas(Fig.127) and, above these, theKurumbas(Fig.8), on the southern and northern slopes; theBadagas, theKotas, and theTodason the plateau crowning these heights.[460]
TheKurumbasand theIrulas(58,503 in 1891) are of short stature (1 m. 58 and1 m. 60), dolichocephalic (ceph. ind. on the liv. sub. 75.8), and platyrhine (nas. ind. 87 and 85). They are the half-savage tribes of the jungles.
As to the tribes of the plateau, they are distinguished according to their occupation and type. TheBadagas(29,613 in 1891) are husbandmen, theKotas(1,201) are artisans, and theTodas(Figs.7,129, and130) shepherds. The two former approximate to the other Dravidians in type; they are of average height (1 m. 64 and1 m. 63), hyper-dolichocephalic (ceph. ind. on the liv. sub. 71.7 and 74.1), and mesorhine (nas. ind. 75.6). But the Todas present a particular type:high stature (1 m. 70), associated with dolichocephaly (ceph. ind. on the liv. sub. 73.1) and mesorhiny (nas. ind. 74.9), somewhat light tint of skin, and the pilous system very developed (Figs.129and130). In short, they appear to belong to the Indo-Afghan race, with perhaps an admixture of the Assyroid race. Besides, a number of customs and manners (group marriage, aversion to milk, rude polytheism, etc.) differentiate them from the other populations of India. They are a very small tribe, which, however, increases from year to year (693 individuals in 1871, 736 in 1891).