1893.] Dr. J. Wise— The Hindus of Eastern Bengal. 5 



castes are degraded are often quite ludicrous, but this does not cause 

 their rejection. The Sutradhara lost rank for refusing to supply the 

 Brahman with sacrificial wood ; the Chitrakara for painting execrably ; 

 and the Suvarnakara for stealing gold given him to mould an idoL 

 The modern Sunri moreover, does not resent being told that his ancestor 

 was created from the chips of the mutilated trunk of Ganesa, nor the 

 Kumar that Siv transformed a waterpot into the first potter. 



According to the classification of Ballal Sen, as interpreted in Eastern 

 Bengal, the nine following castes are considered pure, and the so-called 

 Sudra Brahman officiates for all : — - 



Sa.nkka.ri. Kumar. Gop-Goala. 



Tanti. Malakar, Madhu JSTapit. 



Kamar. ISTapit. Baaai 



Judging, however, by traditions still surviving, the position of a 

 caste in the new roll depended chiefly on its usefulness and importance 

 to the community at large. The profession which had proved itself 

 essential to the comfort or welfare of the Hindu hierarchy was at once 

 promoted to a higher level, while the less important was reduced. Thus, 

 the Tanti, unclean in Bihar, became clean in Dacca, and the indispensable 

 barber was raised to the same social level as the Kayasth. The relative 

 position of the various castes is still a burning question in Bengal, and 

 in large villages where any caste predominates, its claims to superior 

 rank are usually conceded. For instance, the Gandha-banik, Telf, 

 Tambuli, and Kansari often assert, to good purpose, the right of being 

 enrolled among the nine, and if their voice be sufficiently loud and in- 

 fluential it will be heard. 



The Nava-Sakha have five servants, or Pancha-vartta, attached to 

 them in common, who possess the prescriptive right of attending at all 

 caste and family celebrations. The five servants are the Brahman, 

 Malakar, Dhoba, JSTapit, and Nata, or musician, who are presumed to be 

 exclusively engaged in the service of the Sudras, but they also earn 

 money by waiting on lower castes. Even now-a-days some work for the 

 Surya-vansi, who ten years ago were not Hindus in name, while others 

 readily work for the Baoti, Kapali Kawali, Parasara Das, and other 

 tribes of doubtful origin. Where the fisher castes are numerous and 

 cannot be overlooked, no difficulty is found in engaging their services. 

 They work indeed for all castes employing a Patit Brahman, but the 

 utterly vile tribes, the Bhuinmali, Chamar, Patni, and Sunri, haviuq- 

 Brahmans of their own, are not served by the Pancha-vartta. To this 

 general rule, however, there are exceptions. The worshipful barber, 

 for instance, condescends to shave, but will not pare the nails of the 

 Saha rice merchant. 



