Corresp07idence. 5 1 9
conclusive evidence of actual occurrences. What they do prove is the habit of mind of the people who invent them and accept them as gospel truth. They indicate that the institution or custom which the legend explains and justifies has come to be recognized as standing in need of an explanation or of justification. What has forced this on their notice is not infrequently contact with some alien culture.
I now come to the second and much more difticult matter. Let me quote a passage from The Meitheis (p. 96), where I said that " It is not sound to regard these beliefs as " survivals " despite the official superstratum of Hinduism which exists in Alanipur, solely in its exoteric form, without any of the subtle metaphysical doctrines which have been elaborated by the masters of esoteric Hinduism. The adherence of the people to the Vaishnavite doctrines which originated in Bengal is maintained by the constant intercourse with the leaders of the community at Nadia. It is difficult to estimate the precise efiect of Hinduism on the civilisation of the people, for to the outward observer they seem to have adopted only the festivals, the outward ritual, the caste marks, and the exclusiveness of Hinduism, while all unmindful of its spirit and inward essentials." Finally, after a passage which I quote with complete agreement from the high authority of Colonel McCuUoch, for 27 years Political Agent at Manipur, who married a Manipuri lady and was a most competent linguist, I make the statement to which Colonel Shakespear objects, that " In INIanipur, where Hinduism is a mark of respectability, it is never safe to rely on what men tell of their religion ; the only test is to ascertain what they do, and by this test we are justified in holding them to be still animists."
In order to demonstrate to me the error of my ways Colonel Shakespear has collected a singularly valuable mass of facts, some entirely new to me. He admits that the Manipuris differ from the orthodoxy of Hinduism in : (i) child marriage, (ii) widow marriage, and (iii) the freedom of women. Divorce is common in Manipur. After all, Hinduism still attaches great importance to these points. Only on their own definition of caste can the Manipuris be considered within caste. Babu Jogendra Nath Bhattacharya in his great book on Indian castes does not mention the Manipuris,
