146 On the Creed^ Customs and Literature of the Jangams. [Jak. 



At his death his nephew Chenna Basava became the principal teach- 

 er of this sect, which has in the following six centuries spread very 

 widely among the Canarese, Telugus, Tamils and Mahrattas. The 

 books concerning this sect were originally written in Canarese, but have 

 been translated into the languages now named. Those which I consult- 

 ed are written in very elegant Telugu verse. 



By perusing their books and observing their customs, we may plainly 

 see the grounds of that hatred in which Bramins hold the Jangams. — 

 Their leader Basava was the resolute opponent of every braminical 

 principle. The Bramins inculcate the adoration of many gods. He 

 declared that there is one sole deity. They venerate goddesses and 

 subordinate beings. They reverence cows, hawks, monkeys, rats and 

 snakes. They use fasts and feasts, penance and pilgrimtige, rosaries 

 and holy water. All these he renounced. He set aside the Vedas 

 which they venerate. They declare Bramins to be literally gods upon 

 earth, women to be vastly inferior to men in all things, and parias to 

 be utterly abominable. Basava abolished these distinctions. He taught 

 that all men are holy in proportion as they are temples of the great 

 spirit ; that by birth all are equal ; and among those whom the Jangam 

 books describe as saints, we find not a single Bramin but many pa- 

 rias and many women. In the braminical writings, the gentle sex are 

 usually treated in a manner abhorrent to European feelings. But in 

 the Jangama books we find a very different temper. Here we find 

 woman raised to her proper station in society, such as she holds among 

 Christians, being treated honourably with a respect and delicacy which 

 form a strong contrast to the modes of expression we find in the brami- 

 nical volumes. 



Indeed the considerate and decent behaviour of the Jangams 

 toward the female sex, is a very pleasing peculiarity which entirely di- 

 vides them from other classes of Hindus. A Jangam once pointed out 

 to me that the manners of the native Christians towards women exactly 

 resemble those of the Jangams. In the eighth chapter of his work, 

 the Abbe Dubois has spoken with indignation of the impure customs, as 

 he calls them, of this sect ; but strongly as he speaks against Bramins 

 he evidently wrote under their influence ; and in thus condemning the 

 Jangam customs regarding women, he omits to observe that in these 

 very respects Christians are equally reviled by Bramins : who cer- 

 tainly are much more scrupulous in their pharisaical precision re- 

 garding the outside of the cup and the platter than are either Christians 

 or Jangams. 



The following particulars regarding marriage, may give some insight 

 into the social state of the Jangams. 



