[28] "The Kolar Gold Field in the State of Mysore." Reprinted from the "Madras Mail," December, 1885; Madras, the Madras Mail Press. London, Messrs. H. S. King and Co., 1885.
[29] Those who desire detailed information are referred to Mr. P. Bosworth-Smith's "Report on the Kolar Gold Field and its Southern Extension." Madras, Government Press, 1889. Mr. Bosworth-Smith writes as Government Mineralogist to the Madras Presidency.
[30] "Selections from the Records of the Mysore Government. Reports on Auriferous Tracts in Mysore." Bangalore. Printed at the Mysore Government Press, 1887.
CHAPTER VIII.
CASTE.
In Krilof's fable of "The Peasant and the Horse," the latter murmurs at the way his master throws oats broad-cast on the soil. "How much better," argues the horse, "it would have been to have kept them in his granary, or even to have given them to me to eat!" But the oats grow, and in due time are garnered, and from them the same horse is fed the year following. The horse, as we have seen, was unable to comprehend the working and the meaning of his master's acts; and, in the same way, we often see that man equally fails to comprehend the nature and effect of things around him. And thus it is, and for long has been, as regards the institution I am now about to consider. People in general have ignorantly murmured at the institution of caste; and, having ever looked at it with highly-civilized spectacles, and having seen especially a number of the inconveniences it has caused to the educated population of the towns, it has been argued that caste is the curse of all India. But it seems to me that an attentive, unprejudiced examination tends to prove that in former times it was exactly the reverse, and that at the present moment, as far as all the ignorant rural population is concerned, it may be considered, with reference to the state of the people, as a valuable and useful institution.
And here, at the outset, I wish it to be clearly understood that an immense divergence has taken place between the town and country populations of India. The former have advanced with rapid strides on the paths of enlightenment and progress, while the latter, it is hardly too much to say, have remained almost universally stationary. To argue, therefore, from one to the other is not only impossible, but absurd; and it is merely a waste of time to point out, at any length, that what may be admirably suited to one set of people may be a positive nuisance to another. With reference, then, to this question of caste, instead of treating India as a whole, I shall divide it into town and country populations. In the first place, I shall treat of the effects of caste on the country populations, amongst whom I have lived; and, in the second place, I shall offer some considerations regarding the effects of the institution amongst the people of the towns.
And, first of all, as to its effects on the rural population.
In these observations on caste I shall not commence with any attempt to trace its origin, nor shall I endeavour to enumerate the countless forms it has assumed amongst the peoples of the great peninsula. My aim is to direct the attention of the reader not to the dry bones of its history so much as to the living effects of the institution. It is certainly a matter of interest to know something of the peculiar customs of the various tribes and races; but it is to be regretted that people generally have rested content with information of that sort, and have seldom attempted to investigate those points which are, I conceive, mainly of use and interest. What Indians may or may not do—what they may eat, what they may drink, and what clothing they may put on—are not matters on which inquirers should bestow much time. The information most needed, and which has not yet, or only in the most imperfect sense, been acquired, is as to what caste has done for good or evil. It shall be my endeavour to solve that question; and I imagine the solution would be in a great measure effected if I could, in the first instance, answer the following questions: