Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 February 1893 — How Caste Affects Trade in India. [ARTICLE]

How Caste Affects Trade in India.

The trades in India are governed to a great extent by the castes, and, to a certain extent, each caste is limited to a certain choidb of trades. Thus a Brahmin may be a carpenter or a mason, but he may not' be a waterman or a sweeper. If a chow, kidar, for instance, belongs to the Brahminical caste, lie has his own cooking utensils, and if a Mussulman should touch them under any circumstances they would be defiled, and before they could be used again would have to be purified by some mysterious and tedious process before the Brahmin could use them without himself losing caste. A chowkidar could not be induced to use a sweeper’s broom. It would be defilement for a Hindu to receive food or water from the hands of one of lower caste than himself, and drinking water may only be received from one of a higher caste. A carpenter will not take drinking water from the water carrier who supplies the kitchen, and a Brahmin must be employed for the special purpose of bringing water to the workmen. Each servant may get his own water, hut need not bring any to the others, as they would not taxe any from him. They would dry up and blow away first.