Page:An Essay On Hinduism.pdf/187

there is very little motive for the members of various tribes to seek an alliance with people outside the group. Every tribe hating a sister-tribe and feeling its own self-sufficiency will not contract alliances with outsiders. In India, with all the work of the caste system, the formation of genuine aristocracy never took place. There is no caste in India with universal prestige except the castes of Brāhmaṇas. The Kshatriyas never formed a caste. The ruling families of various states in India belong to various tribes of several grades. The Rajputs are considered the highest among all. The Marathas also have good prestige. There are several princes who call themselves Rajput, but are not recognized as Rajputs, and there are several who are regarded merely as jungle chiefs. There are also some principalities which are ruled by men of very low caste.

India had and has various aristocracies, but these aristocracies have been either local or tribal. Take for example the caste of the Marathas. This is a caste divided into two classes, namely, the Kunbis and the Marathas. There is no sharp separation between them, to consider them two different castes. These classes dine with each other freely and occasionally inter-marry. When a Kunbi becomes educated, and begins to wear better dress, he calls himself a Maratha; and such a claim generally goes unchallenged unless he has any well-known blemish in the family like a descent from a bastard. Among Bengali Brāhmaṇas and Kāyasthas there have been what is called "Kulîna" families. There are several classes like the Khatris and the Rajputs in Northern India, both of whom claim to be Kshatriyas. But a caste or class of people of Indian prestige instead of tribal or local prestige never issued forth from Indian Kshatriyahood. In fact, Kshatriyahood