4 Dr. J. Wise — The Hindus of Eastern Bengal. [No. 1, 



among the " ISTava-Sakha." Both, are satisfied to rest their title of 

 superiority on the fabulous births of their reputed ancestors. Ballal 

 Sen belonged to the Vaidya caste, and it is to his partiality that it 

 secured pre-eminence. On one section the Brahmanical cord was be- 

 stowed, although the caste profession was a dishonourable one, and 

 Ghataks were engaged to preserve the family purity. There has al- 

 ways existed much latent jealousy between the Vaidya and Kayath, but 

 the latter acknowledge some inferiority, although the cause of this 

 difference is never defined. 



The Kayath is undoubtedly one of the oldest tribes in Bengal, but it 

 is unnecessary to believe all that is said of Adisiira and the five servants 

 of the five Kanaujiya Brahmans. Ozie branch, the Bangaja, 1 has been 

 settled for many generations at Edilpur, along with the caste Ghataks, 

 and Kulin Kayath families are as punctilious and as vain of their birth 

 as any Ganguli, or Mukharji, although the Lalas of Mathura and Agra 

 laugh at such pretensions, and will not recognise them as Kayaths at 

 all. 



The Kevala, or pure Sudra, does not exist in Bengal. All castes 

 below the Brahman belong to the " Varna Sankara," being the offspring 

 of parents of different tribes. 



The recognised authorities on castes are the Institutes of Manu, the 

 Jati Nirnaya chapter of the Brakma-Vaivartta Purana, 2 and the Jatimala. 

 According to the Brahmans it was the wickedness of Vena, the Bijarshi, 

 who ordered that no worship should be performed, no oblations offered, 

 and no gifts bestowed on Brahmans, and caused the people to disobey 

 the laws and intermarry with prohibited classes. Until his era 

 Brahmans only manned Brahmans, Sudras, women of their own rank, 

 and Chandals followed their own tribal customs. It was natural for 

 the priests to attribute the irreligious propensities of the people to a 

 cause like this ; but there is no doubt that laws prescribed by the Brah- 

 mans for maintaining the purity of their order must have been soon 

 violated by those in whose favour they were enacted. Although marri- 

 ages between individuals of different tribes gave origin to the Varna- 

 Sankara, or mixed castes, the Puranas give other explanations. Accord- 

 ing to the Brahma-Vaivartta Purana, the gardener, blacksmith, shell- 

 cutter, weaver, potter, and brazier are descended from the offspring of 

 Visvakarma, the celestial architect, and Ghritachi, an Apsara, or nymph 

 of heaven, and hence it is that all Karus, or artisans, worship their 

 progenitor with exceptional reverence. The reasons, again, why certain 



1 Banga, or Vanga-ja, Bengali born. 



2 A synopsis of this is given in the Calcutta Revieiv, vol. xv, p. 60. 



