Tamil - Dramila - Dravida

"The word Dravida comes from an older form Damila

or Dramila, and was used in ancient Pali and Jain literature as a name for the people of the Tamil country."

-R.V. Russell -

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Excerpts from the book, "The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India--Volume I (of IV)" by R. V. Russell, published in 1915.

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Chapter 39:

39. Of the Dravidian tribes.

The Dravidian languages, Gondi, Kurukh and Khond, are of one family with Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Canarese, and their home is the south of India. The word Dravida comes from an older form Damila or Dramila, and was used in ancient Pali and Jain literature as a name for the people of the Tamil country. [75] Afterwards it came to signify generally the people of southern India as opposed to Gaur or northern India.....

The Dravidian languages occupy a large area in Madras, Mysore and Hyderabad, and they extend north into the Central Provinces and Chota Nagpur where they die out, practically not being found west and north of this tract. As the languages are more highly developed and the

culture of their speakers is far more advanced in the south, it is justifiable to suppose, pending evidence to the contrary, that the south is their home and that they have spread thence as far north as the Central Provinces. The Gonds and Oraons, too, have stories to the

effect that they came from the south. ....

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Chapter 40: Origin of the impure castes.

....This was the position of the indigenous Indians who were subjugated by the Aryan

invaders and remained in the country occupied by them.....The proper course prescribed by religion towards the indigenous residents was to exterminate them, as the Israelites should have exterminated the inhabitants of Canaan. But as this could not be done, because their

numbers were too great or the conquerors not sufficiently ruthless, they were reduced to the servile condition of impurity and made the serfs of their masters like the Amalekites and the plebeians and helots.

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Chapter 90: The Hindu deities and the sacrificial meal.

Amongthe Vedic Aryans that country only was considered pure and fit for sacrifice in which the Aryan gods had taken up their residence. Hindustan was made a pure country in which Aryans could offer sacrifices by the fact that Agni, the sacrificial god of fire, spread himself over it. But the gods have changed. The old Vedic deities Indra, the rain-god, Varuna, the heaven-god, the Maruts or winds, and Soma, the divine liquor, have fallen into neglect. These were the principal forces which controlled the existence of a nomad pastoral people, dependent on rain to make the grass grow for their herds, and guiding their course by the sun and stars. The Soma or liquor apparently had a warming, exhilarating effect in the cold climate of the Central Asian steppes, and was therefore venerated. 

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Chapter 93. The caste panchayat_and its code of offences.

The tribunal for the punishment of caste offences is known as the

panchayat, because it usually consists of five persons (_panch_,

five). As a rule a separate _panchayat_ exists for every subcaste over

an area not too large for all the members of it to meet. In theory,

however, the _panchayat_ is only the mouthpiece of the assembly,

which should consist of all the members of the subcaste. 

Some castesfine a member who absents himself from the meeting. The _panchayat_may perhaps be supposed to represent the hand acting on behalf of the subcaste, which is considered the body. The _panchayat_, however,

was not the original judge. It was at first the god before whom the

parties pleaded their cause, and the god who gave judgment by the

method of trial by ordeal. This was probably the general character

of primitive justice, and in some of the lower castes the ordeal is

still resorted to for decisions. The tribe or subcaste attended as

jurors or assessors, and carried out the proceedings, perhaps after

having united themselves to the god for the purpose by a sacrificial

meal. The _panchayat_, having succeeded the god as the judge, is

held to give its decisions by divine inspiration, according to the

sayings: 'God is on high and the _panch_ on earth,' and 'The voice

of the _panchayat_ is the voice of God.' 

 The headship of the_panchayat_ and the subcaste commonly descends in one family, or did so till recently, and the utmost deference is shown to the person holding it, even though he may be only a boy for the above reason. Theoffences involving temporary or permanent excommunication from caste

are of a somewhat peculiar kind. In the case of both a man and woman,

to take food from a person of a caste from whom it is forbidden to

do so, and especially from one of an impure caste, is a very serious

offence, as is also that of being beaten by a member of an impure

caste, especially with a shoe. It is also a serious offence to be

sent to jail, because a man has to eat the impure jail food. To be

handcuffed is a minor offence, perhaps by analogy with the major one

of being sent to jail, or else on account of the indignity involved

by the touch of the police. 

Chapter 95. Caste and Hinduism.

In _The Religions of India_ M. Barth defined a Hindu as a man

who has a caste: 'The man who is a member of a caste is a Hindu;

he who is not, is not a Hindu.' His definition remains perhaps the

best. There is practically no dogma which is essential to Hinduism,

nor is the veneration of any deity or sacred object either necessary

or heretical. As has often been pointed out, there is no assembly more

catholic or less exclusive than the Hindu pantheon. Another writer

has said that the three essentials of a Hindu are to be a member

of a caste, to venerate Brahmans, and to hold the cow sacred. Of

the latter two, the veneration of Brahmans cannot be considered

indispensable; for there are several sects, as the Lingayats, the

Bishnois, the Manbhaos, the Kabirpanthis and others, who expressly

disclaim any veneration for Brahmans, and, in theory at least, make

no use of their services; and yet the members of these sects are

by common consent acknowledged as Hindus. The sanctity of the bull

and cow is a more nearly universal dogma, and extends practically

to all Hindus, except the impure castes. These latter should not

correctly be classed as Hindus; the very origin of their status is,

as has been seen, the belief that they are the worshippers of gods

hostile to Hinduism. But still they must now practically be accounted

as Hindus. They worship the Hindu gods, standing at a distance when

they are not allowed to enter the temples, perform their ceremonies

by Hindu rites, and employ Brahmans for fixing auspicious days,

writing the marriage invitation and other business, which the Brahman

is willing to do for a consideration, so long as he does not have to

enter their houses. Some of the impure castes eat beef, while others

have abandoned it in order to improve their social position. At the

other end of the scale are many well-educated Hindu gentlemen who

have no objection to eat beef and may often have done so in England,

though in India they may abstain out of deference to the prejudices

of their relatives, especially the women. And Hindus of all castes

are beginning to sell worn-out cattle to the butchers for slaughter

without scruple--an offence which fifty years ago would have entailed

permanent expulsion from caste. The reverence for the cow is thus not

an absolutely essential dogma of Hinduism, though it is the nearest

approach to one. As a definition or test of Hinduism it is, however,

obviously inadequate. Caste, on the other hand, regulates the whole of

a Hindu's life, his social position and, usually, his occupation. It

is the only tribunal which punishes religious and social offences,

and when a man is out of caste he has, for so long as this condition

continues, no place in Hinduism. Theoretically he cannot eat with any

other Hindu nor marry his child to any Hindu. If he dies out of caste

the caste-men will not bury or burn his body, which is regarded as

impure. The binding tie of caste is, according to the argument given

above, the communal meal or feast of grain cooked with water, and this,

it would therefore seem, may correctly be termed the chief religious

function of Hinduism. Caste also obtains among the Jains and Sikhs,

but Sikhism is really little more than a Hindu sect, while the Jains,

who are nearly all Banias, scarcely differ from Vaishnava Hindu Banias,

and have accepted caste, though it is not in accordance with the real

tenets of their religion. The lower industrial classes of Muhammadans

have also formed castes in imitation of the Hindus. Many of these

are however the descendants of converted Hindus, and nearly all of

them have a number of Hindu practices.

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Complete ebook available in Project Gutenberg.