chap, iii CASTES
143
Benares,1
where they study astrology principally, but they also have doctors who
teach the Law, which is observed with very great strictness. This caste
is the most noble of all, because it is from among the Brahmans that
the priests and ministers of the law are selected. But as they are very
numerous and cannot all study in their university, the majority of them
are ignorant and consequently very superstitious, those who pass as the
most intellectual being the most arrant sorcerers.
The second caste is that of the Rajputs or Ketrls,a
i. e. warriors and soldiers. These are the only idolaters who are
brave, and distinguish themselves in the profession of arms. All the
Rajas, of whom I have often spoken, are of this caste. They are like so
many petty kings, whose disunion has made them tributaries to the Great
Mogul; but as the majority are in his service, they are highly
recompensed for the small tribute which they pay him by the large and
honourable salaries which they receive from him. These Rajas, and the
Rajputs their subjects, are the most firm supports of the Great Mogul's
kingdom; and it was the Rajas Jaisingh and Jaswantsingh who placed
Aurangzeb on the throne. But it should be remarked that this second
caste does not exclusively consist of people who follow arms as a
profession. It is only the Rajputs who go to war, and who are all
cavaliers ; but as for the Ketris they have degenerated from the
bravery of their ancestors, having quitted arms for merchandise.3
The third caste is that of the Banians,4 who attach them-
1 Benarez in the original, elsewhere written Benarow or Banarons.
8 Kshatriya, Chhatri.
3 He refers to the Khatri caste of Northern India, who claim Kshatriya descent, but are merchants (Rose, Glossary of Tribes and Castes, Panjab, ii. 501 ff.).
*
Tavernier spells this word Baniane, which has been altered in the text
to Banian. It is otherwise, and perhaps more properly, spelt Banyan, or
Vanya in Western India. It signifies a trader or merchant, especially
in Gujarat. In Calcutta it is a title still used for the Indian brokers
attached to houses of business. It is derived from Vanya (Gujarati
Vaniyo), and that from the Sanskrit Vanij, a trader. Our author's
testimony as to the astuteness of the men of this caste is borne out by
many authors, notably P. F. Vincenzo de Maria, who says to make one it
takes three Chinese, and three Hebrews to make a Chinese,
