Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/347

* CASTE. 295 CASTEL. produce evil both in this life and after death." These and oilier provisions and descriptions il- lumine the entire subject of castes, and i)rove that, whatever the origin of the distinctions, they are now i)riniarily ecclesiastical, in some- what less degree connected with occupation, and only suliurdinately ethnic (racial or tribal). True, IJalhed (.1 Code of Gcntoo Lairs, 1770), writinj; early and with good opportunities for observation, assumed the division to represent tribes, and Kisley (The Tribes and Castes of lleiigal, !S!V2) more recently correlates caste with pliysical type, and the ethnic hypothesis seems to find support in the native term con- noting easte and color; but it is manifest in the first place that the Code of JIanu is not directed primarily toward the preservation of distinct race-types so much as toward collective preserva- tion of physique and elimination of the supposed- ly barbaric custom of totemism, etc., and in the second place that no aboriginal distinctions of type could survive the constant blending sanc- tioned by immemorial laws governing intermar- riage, iloreover, the four or five castes common- ly recognized represent but a small part of the classes agtUally established by Brahmanical law in difierent parts of India; each province has its own more or less distinct groups defined by craft and fixed by custom, the aggregate reaching many liundreds in number — no less than 2000 according to some students. ( See Crooke, Trihes and Castes of the Sorttiiiestern Provinces and Oude, 1896.) Still further, it is evident that the development of castes is long past its prime; for not only were the easte lines weakened by every foreign invasion from the time of Alexander to that of Warren Hastings, but they were burst from within by ecclesiastical schisms, and most notably by the rise of Buddhism, itself a reaction from, and protest against, the intolerable bond- age of the caste sy.steni, as shown by Rliys-Davis, and. still more recently, by Porter ("Caste in India," American Antliropologist, Vol. VIII., 180,5, p. 2.3). While there is a presumption that the custom of caste was rooted in tribal or racial distinctions, it is inconceivable that such distinc- tions were ever so numerous and diverse as the arbitrary classes into which Indian society was divided before Buddhism arose. With reference to easte at the present day in India, it may be added that English rule and Occidental influences have done much to break down the stringency of the easte system of the Hindus. The obligation of the sim to follow the calling of his father is no longer so binding as it once was, xinless it be in the ease of a Brahman, and yet a Brahman may serve to-day as a soldier and some even have become cooks. ^len of lower castes have risen to higher ranks and to positions of power; and loss of caste is not so serious as it may once have been. In most cases it may be recovered and without much ado. W ith the spread of Christianitj', the advance of education, and the extension of the railway sys- tem throughout India, the barrier of caste tends to give way. and the difficulties that arise from the old Brahmanical legislation are no longer so exaggerated but that certain points may not be brought out in its favor, whatever may rightly be urged against caste as an institution. While the system of caste attained its highest development in India in prc-liuddhistic times. it was by no means confined to that country and period. The Avesta (q.v.) shows for ancient Iran a like division of the community into priest, warrior, and husbandman. Alharian, Ualhwsh- iar, ] astrya Tsliui/ant. (See Geiger, Cicilization of the Eastern Iranians, Knglish translation, 188.5.) Indeed, the caste sentiment prevails in greater or less intensity among all peoples, in all monarchical countries there are class dis- tinctions more or less closely analogous to the Hindu castes; in medioeval Europe class senti- ment gained a hold, the strength of which may be measured by the persistence of the guilds "into which it grew on the one hand, and the secret orders (Kosicrucians, Freemasons, etc.) on the other; yet here the sentiment was not inculcated by law and literature, and seldom crystallized bj' belief. The most instructive analogues of the In- dian castes are found in still lower culture than that of the half-literary Hindus. The Blackfel- lows of Australia have an elaborate system of social regimentation, maintained by intricate mar- riage regulations and other ceremonies, all express- ing a sort of instinctive law so complete that Cau- casians find difficulty in following its ramifica- tions. Various African tribes have social cus- toms of nearly as great com])lexity interwoven with crude beliefs. The native tribes of the Western Hemisphere are much given to jihra- tries, 'medicine societies,' and other intra-tribal organizations of primarily ecclesiastical charac- ter which correspond almost exactly with certain of the Hindu caste distinctions. The social classes of China are suggestively similar to those of the neighboring country. It is notable that, in the successive culture stages, from that represented by the Australian Blaekfellows up- ward, the laws crystallized by the ceremonial observances grow simpler, more intelligible, and, excepting among the Hindus, where theprimitive character is retained in social ordination by caste, more lax, or rather more subservient to current judgment. Accordingly, caste may be defined as a primitive device for maintaining social organization by means of ecclesiastical ordinances. BiBLioGBAPiiY. The literature of caste is volu- minous. In addition to the works above men- tioned, attention may be directed to Sevort, Les castes dans I'Inde (Paris. 1896) ; Muir, Original Sanscrit Texts on the Origin and Progress of the Religion and Institutions of India (London, 187-75) ; and the several standard works re- ferred to in these publications, notably the translations of the Laws of Manu, by Biililcr in the Sacred Books of the East, Vol. XXV. (Ox- ford, 1886), and by Burnell and Hopkins, The Ordinances of Manu (London, 1884). CASTE. A sentimental comedy by F. W. Robertson, produced at the Prince of Wales's Theatre on April G, 1867, and published in Lon- don, 1889, in his son's edition of his principal dramatic works. It was originaly presented by iMarie 'ilton (Mrs. Bancroft) anil her company. F. C. Robertson, the author's brother, played the part of Captain TLiwtree in a later inoduction of the piece, and it was in the repertory of Mr. Hare on his American tour in 1897-98. It is regarded as the author's must successful work. CASTEGGIO, kas-te'jA. See Montebeli.0. CASTEL, kiistM' (Fr, It. castello, Sp. eas- tillo. Portug. eastelh. from Lat. castcllnm. dim. of castrum, camp). A name prefixed to various places in Ital}', France, Spain, and Portugal.