358 Letter from Mr. Ihlcfso'n on the I^tlmology of the Panjnh. [Dec, 



" My object in addressing j^ou is to ask you to help me in the 

 inquiry I have undertaken, — an inquiry which will probably occupy my 

 leisure for several years. What I would beg you to do is this : whenever 

 you come across any interesting facts regarding any caste or clan or its 

 customs, maTce a rough note of them at once and on the spot, lefore they are 

 forgotten, and send it to one. It does not matter how rough the notes are ; 

 but notes regarding separate castes or clans should be, it" possible, on sepa- 

 rate pieces of paper. It does not matter how absurd the story told you, or 

 how seemingly trivial the facts collected. Caste legends generally have 

 some substratum of truth, which can often be eliminated by comparing 

 different forms of the same story derived from various sources ; and an 

 independent confirmation of even the smallest detail is often valuable. 



" It is in the power of every one to help, if he cares to do so. Even 

 officers who do not travel about among the people constantly come across 

 curious facts and customs in the course of trials and investigations, while 

 the natives are often more communicative to those who do not hold an 

 official position than to those who do. 



"The following are some of the points which may usefully be noted: — 



"Name of the tribe or caste ; names of its sub-divisions; localities in 

 which it is found in largest numbers ; different names by which it is known^ 

 often varying with the religion ; its traditional mode and place of origin ; its 

 course of migration, and especially the place whence it came direct to its 

 present home ; the religions followed by its members ; whether, if not 

 Hindus, they employed Brahmans, and in what manner; any traditions or 

 customs connecting them with, or involving reverence for, any particular 

 plant or animal ; whether they practise Jcarewa or widow-marriage ; what 

 castes or tribes they may or may not intermarry with ; what their position 

 is in the social scale ; what occupations they principally follow, and whe- 

 ther they vary with the religion. 



" Information regarding the vagrant, servile, and out-caste tribes and 

 the people of the hills is especially needed ; while little is known of the 

 internal constitution, and government by means of standing panchdyats, of 

 the menial and artisan castes and trade-guilds. 



" The religion of the peasantry is something very different from the 

 Hinduism of books ; while their social customs have been handed down 

 almost unaltered from remote ages. All facts regarding their gods and 

 saints and the mode in which they worship them, the omens they regard, 

 the superstitions they are ruled by, their ceremonial at births, deaths, be- 

 trothals, marriages, and adoption, the relations between members of a family, 

 and in fact their customs and ways of life generally, are always most inter- 

 esting and often exceedingly valuable. The inhabitants of the Punjab 

 have been drawn from many sources at various periods ; and our best hope 



