Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development
Paper read before the Anthropology Seminar of Dr. A. A. Goldenweizer at The Columbia University, New York, U.S.A. on 9th May 1916.
From : Antiquary, May 1917, Vol. XLI
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar : Writings and Speeches Vol. 1 India
Now apply the same logic to the Hindu
society and you have another explanation of the “fissiparous” character of
caste, as a consequence of the virtue of self-duplication that is inherent in
it. Any innovation that seriously antagonises the ethical, religious and social
code of the Caste is not likely to be tolerated by the Caste, and the
recalcitrant members of a Caste are in danger of being thrown out of the Caste,
and left to their own fate without having the alternative of being admitted
into or absorbed by other Castes. Caste rules are inexorable and they do not
wait to make nice distinctions between kinds of offence. Innovation may be of
any kind, but all kinds will suffer the same penalty. A novel way of thinking
will create a new Caste for the old ones will not tolerate it. The noxious
thinker respectfully called Guru (Prophet) suffers the same fate as the sinners
in illegitimate love. The former creates a caste of the nature of a religious
sect and the latter a type of mixed caste. Castes have no mercy for a sinner
who has the courage to violate the code. The penalty is excommunication and the
result is a new caste. It is not peculiar Hindu psychology that induces the
excommunicated to form themselves into a caste ; far from it. On the contrary,
very often they have been quite willing to be humble members of some caste
(higher by preference) if they could be admitted within its fold. But castes
are enclosed units and it is their conspiracy with clear conscience that
compels the excommunicated to make themselves into a caste. The logic of this
obdurate circumstance is merciless, and it is in obedience to its force that
some unfortunate groups find themselves enclosed, because others in enclosing,
themselves have closed them out, with the result that new groups (formed on any
basis obnoxious to the caste rules) by a mechanical law are constantly being
converted into castes to a bewildering multiplicity. Thus is told the second
tale in the process of Caste formation in India. Now to summarise the main
points of my thesis. In my opinion there have been several mistakes committed
by the students of Caste, which have misled them in their investigations.
European students of Caste have unduly emphasised the role of colour in the
Caste system. Themselves impregnated by colour prejudices, they very readily
imagined it to be the chief factor in the Caste problem. But nothing can be
farther from the truth, and Dr. Ketkar is correct when he insists that “All the
princes whether they belonged to the so-called Aryan race, or the so-called
Dravidian race, were Aryas. Whether a tribe or a family was racially Aryan or
Dravidian was a question which never troubled the people of India, until
foreign scholars came in and began to draw the line. The colour of the skin had
long ceased to be a matter of importance.”6 Again, they have mistaken mere
descriptions for explanation and fought over them as though they were theories
of origin. There are occupational, religious etc., castes, it is true, but it
is by no means an explanation of the origin of Caste. We have yet to find out
why occupational groups are castes ; but this question has never even been
raised. Lastly they have taken Caste very lightly as though a breath had made
it. On the contrary, Caste, as I have explained it, is almost impossible to be
sustained : for the difficulties that it involves are tremendous. It is true
that Caste rests on belief, but before belief comes to be the foundation of an
institution, the institution itself needs to be perpetuated and fortified. My
study of the Caste problem involves four main points : (1) that in spite of the
composite make-up of the Hindu population, there is a deep cultural unity; (2)
that caste is a parcelling into bits of a larger cultural unit; (3) that there
was one caste to start with and (4) that classes have become Castes through
imitation and excommunication.
Peculiar interest attaches to the
problem of Caste in India today; as persistent attempts are being made to do
away with this unnatural institution. Such attempts at reform, however, have
aroused a great deal of controversy regarding its origin, as to whether it is
due to the conscious command of a Supreme Authority, or is an unconscious
growth in the life of a human society under peculiar circumstances. Those who
hold the latter view will, I hope, find some food for thought in the standpoint
adopted in this paper. Apart from its practical importance the subject of Caste
is an all absorbing problem and the interest aroused in me regarding its
theoretic foundations has moved me to put before you some of the conclusions,
which seem to me well founded, and the grounds upon which they may be
supported. I am not, however, so presumptuous as to think them in any way
final, or anything more than a contribution to a discussion of the subject. It
seems to me that the car has been shunted on wrong lines, and the primary
object of the paper is to indicate what I regard to be the right path of
investigation, with a view to arrive at a serviceable truth. We must, however,
guard against approaching the subject with a bias. Sentiment must be outlawed
from the domain of science and things should be judged from an objective
standpoint. For myself I shall find as much pleasure in a positive destruction
of my own ideology, as in a rational disagreement on a topic, which,
notwithstanding many learned disquisitions is likely to remain controversial
forever. To conclude, while I am ambitious to advance a Theory of Caste, if it
can be shown to be untenable I shall be equally willing to give it up.
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