Chapter XV · (continued 2)

The Dravidians occupy the greater part of the Deccan, where they are constituted in a few great nations—Telugus (Telingas), Tamils (numbers of whom have crossed into Ceylon and occupied the northern and central parts of that island, working in the coffee districts), Kanarese, and the Malayalim of the west coast. These with some others were brought at an early date under Aryan (Hindu) influences, but have preserved their highly agglutinating Dravidian speech, which has no known affinities elsewhere, unless perhaps with the language of the Brahuis, who are regarded by many as belated Dravidians left behind in East Baluchistan.

Dravidian and Aryan Languages.

But for this very old, but highly cultivated Dravidian language, which is still spoken by about 54 millions between the Ganges and Ceylon, it would no longer be possible to distinguish these southern Hindus from those of Aryan speech who occupy all the rest of the peninsula together with the southern slopes of the Hindu-Kush and parts of the western Himalayas. Their main divisions are the Kashmiri, many of whom might be called typical Aryans; the Punjabis with several sub-groups, amongst which are the Sikhs, religious sectaries half Moslem half Hindu, also of magnificent physique; the Gujaratis, Mahratis, Hindis, Bengalis, Assamis, and Oraons of Orissa, all speaking Neo-Sanskritic idioms, which collectively constitute the Indic branch of the Aryan family. Hindustani or Urdu, a simplified form of Hindi current especially in the Doab, or "Two waters," the region between the Ganges and Jumna above Allahabad, has become a sort of lingua franca, the chief medium of intercourse throughout the peninsula, and is understood by certainly over 100 millions, while all the population of Neo-Sanskritic speech numbered in 1898 considerably over 200 millions.

The Hindu Castes.

Classification derives little help from the consideration of caste, whatever view be taken of the origin of this institution. The rather obvious theory that it was introduced by the handful of Aryan conquerors to prevent the submergence of the race in the great ocean of black or dark aborigines, is now rejected by many investigators, who hold that its origin is occupational, a question rather of social or industrial pursuits becoming hereditary in family groups than of race distinctions sanctioned by religion. They point out that the commentator's interpretation of the Pancha Ksitaya, "Five Classes," as Bráhmans (priests), Kshatriyas (fighters), Vaisya (traders), Sudra (peasants and craftsmen of all kinds), and Nisháda (savages or outcasts) is recent, and conveys only the current sentiment of the age. It never had any substantial base, and even in the comparatively late Institutes of Manu "the rules of food, connubium and intercourse between the various castes are very different from what we find at present"; also that, far from being eternal and changeless, caste has been subject to endless modifications throughout the whole range of Hindu myth and history. Nor is it an institution peculiar to India, while even here the stereotyped four or five divisions neither accord with existing facts, nor correspond to so many distinct ethnical groups.

All this is perfectly true, and it is also true that for generations the recognised castes, say, social pursuits, have been in a state of constant flux, incessantly undergoing processes of segmentation, so that their number is at present past counting. Nevertheless, the system may have been, and probably was, first inspired by racial motives, an instinctive sense of self-preservation, which expressed itself in an informal way by local class distinctions which were afterwards sanctioned by religion, but eventually broke down or degenerated into the present relations under the outward pressure of imperious social necessities[1344].

Oceanic Indonesians.

Micronesians.

Beyond the mainland and Ceylon no Caucasic peoples of Aryan speech are known to have ranged in neolithic or prehistoric times. But we have already followed the migrations of a kindred[1345], though mixed race, here called Indonesians, into Malaysia, the Philippines, Formosa, and the Japanese Archipelago, which they must have occupied in the New Stone Age. Here there occurs a great break, for they are not again met till we reach Micronesia and the still more remote insular groups beyond Melanesia. In Micronesia the relations are extremely confused, because, as it seems, this group had already been occupied by the Papuans from New Guinea before the arrival of the Indonesians, while after their arrival they were followed at intervals by Malays perhaps from the Philippines and Formosa, and still later by Japanese, if not also by Chinese from the mainland. Hence the types are here as varied as the colour, which appears, going eastwards, to shade off from the dark brown of the Pelew and Caroline Islanders to the light brown of the Marshall and Gilbert groups, where we already touch upon the skirts of the true Indonesian domain[1346].

Polynesians.

A line drawn athwart the Pacific from New Zealand through Fiji to Hawaii will roughly cut off this domain from the rest of the Oceanic world, where all to the west is Melanesian, Papuan or mixed, while all to the right—Maori, some of the eastern Fijians, Tongans, Samoans, Tahitians, Marquesans, Hawaiians and Easter Islanders—is grouped under the name Polynesian, a type produced by a mixture of Proto-Malayan and Indonesian. Dolichocephaly and mesaticephaly prevail throughout the region, but there are brachycephalic centres in Tonga, the Marquesas and Hawaiian Islands. The hair is mostly black and straight, but also wavy, though never frizzly or even kinky. The colour also is of a light brown compared to cinnamon or café-au-lait, and sometimes approaching an almost white shade, while the tall stature averages 1.72 m. (5 ft. 7¾ ins.).

Migrations.

Migrating at an unknown date eastwards from the East Indian archipelago[1347], the first permanent settlements appear to have been formed in Samoa, and more particularly in the island of Savaii, originally Savaiki, which name under divers forms and still more divers meanings accompanied all their subsequent migrations over the Pacific waters. Thus we have in Tahiti Havaii[1348], the "universe," and the old capital of Raiatea; in Rarotonga Avaiki, "the land under the wind"; in New Zealand Hawaiki, "the land whence came the Maori"; in the Marquesas Havaiki, "the lower regions of the dead," as in to fenua Havaiki, "return to the land of thy forefathers," the words with which the victims in human sacrifices were speeded to the other world; lastly in Hawaii, the name of the chief island of the Sandwich group.

Polynesian Culture.

The Polynesians are cheerful, dignified, polite, imaginative and intelligent, varying in temperament between the wild and energetic and politically capable Maori to his indolent and politically sterile kinsmen to the north, who have been unnerved by the unvarying uniformity of temperature. Wherever possible, they are agriculturalists, growing yams, sweet potatoes and taro. Coconuts, bread-fruit and bananas form the staple food in many islands. Scantily endowed with fertile soil and edible plants the Polynesians have gained command over the sea which everywhere surrounds them, and have developed into the best seamen among primitive races. Large sailing double canoes were formerly in use, and single canoes with an outrigger are still made. Native costume for men is made of bark cloth, and for women ample petticoats of split and plaited leaves. Ornaments, with the exception of flowers, are sparingly worn. The bow and arrow are unknown, short spears, clubs and slings are used, but no shields. The arts of writing, pottery making, loom-weaving and the use of metals were, with few exceptions, unknown, but mat-making, basketry and the making of tapa were carried to a high pitch, and Polynesian bark-cloth is the finest in the world.

Throughout Polynesia the community is divided into nobles or chiefs, freemen and slaves, which divisions are, by reason of tabu, as sharp as those of caste. They fall into those which participate in the divine, and those which are wholly excluded from it. Women have a high position, and men do their fair share of work. Polygyny is universal, being limited only by the wealth of the husband, or the numerical preponderance of the men. Priests have considerable influence, there are numerous gods, sometimes worshipped in the outward form of idols, and ancestors are deified.

Polynesian culture has been analysed by W. H. R. Rivers[1349], and the following briefly summarises his results. At first sight the culture appears very simple, especially as regards language and social structure, while there is a considerable degree of uniformity in religious belief. Everywhere we find the same kind of higher being or god and the resemblance extends even to the name, usually some form of the word atua. In material culture also there are striking similarities, though here the variations are more definite and obvious, and the apparent uniformity is probably due to the attention given to the customs of chiefs, overlooking the culture of the ordinary people where more diversity is discoverable.

There is much that points to the twofold nature of Polynesian culture. The evidence from the study of the ritual indicates the presence of two peoples, an earlier who interred their dead in a sitting posture like the dual people of Melanesia[1350], and a later, who became chiefs and believed in the need for the preservation of the dead among the living. All the evidence available, physical and cultural, points to the conjecture that the early stratum of the population of Polynesia was formed by an immigrant people who also found their way to Melanesia.

The later stream of settlers can be identified with the kava-people[1350]. Kava was drunk especially by the chiefs, and the accompanying ceremonial shows its connection with the higher ranks of the people. The close association of the Areoi (secret society) of eastern Polynesia with the chiefs is further proof. Thus both in Melanesia and in Polynesia the chiefs who preserved their dead are identified with the founders of secret societies—organisations which came into being through the desire of an immigrant people to practise their religious rites in secret. Burial in the extended position occurs in Tikopia, Tonga and Samoa—perhaps it may have been the custom of some special group of the kava-people. Chiefs were placed in vaults constructed of large stones—a feature unknown elsewhere in Oceania. It is safe also to ascribe the human design which has undergone conventionalisation in Polynesia to the kava-people. The geometric art through which the conventionalisation was produced belonged to the earlier inhabitants who interred their dead in the sitting position.

Polynesian Communism.

Money, if it exists at all, occupies a very unimportant place in the culture of the people. There is no evidence of the use of any object in Polynesia with the definite scale of values which is possessed by several kinds of money in Melanesia. The Polynesians are largely communistic, probably more so than the Melanesians, and afford one of the best examples of communism in property with which we are acquainted. This feature may be ascribed to the earlier settlers. The suggestion that the kava-people never formed independent communities in Polynesia, but were accepted at once as chiefs of those among whom they settled would account for the absence of money (for which there was no need), and the failure to disturb in any great measure the communism of the earlier inhabitants. Communism in property was associated with sexual communism. There is evidence that Polynesian chiefs rarely had more than one wife, while the licentiousness which probably stood in a definite relation to the communism of the people is said to have been more pronounced among the lower strata of the community. Both communism and licentiousness appear to have been much less marked in the Samoan and Tongan islands, and here there is no evidence of interment in the sitting position. These and other facts support the view that the influence of the kava-people was greater here than in the more eastern islands: probably it was greatest in Tikopia, which in many respects differs from other parts of Polynesia.

Magic and Religion.

Magic is altogether absent from the culture of Tikopia and it probably took a relatively unimportant place throughout Polynesia. In Tikopia the ghosts of dead ancestors and relatives as well as animals are atua and this connotation of the word appears to be general in other parts of Polynesia. These may be regarded as the representatives of the ghosts and spirits of Melanesia. The vui of Melanesia may be represented by the tii of Tahiti, beings not greatly respected, who had to some extent a local character. This comparison suggests that the ancestral ghosts belong to the culture of the kava-people, and that the local spirits are derived from the culture of the people who interred their dead in the sitting position, from which people the dual people of Melanesia derived their beliefs and practices.

To sum up. Polynesian culture is made up of at least two elements, an earlier, associated with the practice of interring the dead in a sitting position, communism, geometric art, local spirits and magical rites, and a later, which practised preservation of the dead. These latter may be identified with the kava-people while the earlier Polynesian stratum is that which entered into the composition of the dual-people of Melanesia at a still earlier date, and introduced the Austronesian language into Oceania[1351].

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