This prepares us for—
GROUP II.
EAST INDIANS. (See [p. 82].)
The Tibetan (the figure on the left) we have seen before. He differs from those of Group I. only in belonging to the southern side of the Himalayas;—to the parts drained by the Sutlej; to the water-system of the Indus.
In India Proper the languages fall into two divisions: those akin to the Tamul, spoken in the Dekhan, or Southern India, and those akin to the Hindúi, spoken along the northern bank of the Ganges; in Oude, &c.
There are also in India Proper two types of physical form; in one the colour is dark, or even black, the skin coarse, the face flattened, the lips thick; in the other the colour is brunette, the nose aquiline, the eyebrows arched, regular, and delicate, the lips of moderate thickness, the face oval, the features intelligent. Each is represented in the present group, though neither in the extreme form.
As a general, but by no means as an invariable, rule, the darker complexions preponderate over the lighter ones as we go southwards, except in the mountains, where the skin becomes fairer.
It is not considered necessary to enlarge upon what is called the system of caste in India. It means that the son follows the business of the father, so that the descendants of (say) a blacksmith will be blacksmiths, and so on. It also means that between individuals of different castes there are certain prejudices; certain points whereon there is a reluctance to intermix. Hence, individuals of a higher, refuse to intermarry with those of a lower caste. They refuse also to take their meals with them.
Now, as a general, but by no means as an invariable, rule, the higher the caste the greater the predominance of the second type of form, i.e., the finer the features, the clearer the complexion.
India and China, we must remember, are countries that have long been civilised—civilised after their own peculiar fashion. More than this, they are countries from which a civilisation has been diffused over districts more or less barbarous. On the other hand, the Mahometan creed has diffused, and is diffusing itself, over India, at the expense of the original (so-called) Braminical and Buddhist religions.