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INDIA

on the banks, or the overhanging spurs of this sacred
river, the Bhil cares little or nothing, although he is not
untouched by Hindu influences ; but the river itself he
‘‘regards with veneration and terror.” ‘The Bhils” (says
Sir Lepel Griffin) “are held by the Hindus amongst whom
they live in profound contempt. The Brahmanical creed
with its caste exclusiveness, and its insistence upon purity
of blood in the male line, gives it a contemptuous air
towards all aliens . . . which is the real cause of the
estrangement between English and Indians, which is often
erroneously attributed to the coldness and reserve of
the former, But the attitude of the Hindu towards the
English is rather that of the Pharisees of Jerusalem
towards Pilate and the Roman legions. The contempt is
mingled with a very strong proportion of respect, fear,
and esteem. But towards the Bhil, the slave of slaves,
the outcast of centuries, the very refuse and waste of the
old world before the Aryans arose and gave it the rudiments
 of civilisation, the sentiment of the Hindus is
unmitigated scorn.” But the Rajput chiefs and their
ministers who overlord the Bhils have been compelled
by the British Government to relax the burden of their
oppressive taxation, and to observe the rights of the Bhils,
and there has thus sprung up a spirit of confidence in
English justice amongst these savages which has gradually
ripened into mutual respect and liking between English
and aborigines.
In spite, however, of Rajput scorn for the Bhil, the
original proprietary rights of the latter over the soil is
recognised in a singular custom. The coronation ceremony
 of a Rajput chief in any state where there is a Bhil
population is not considered complete unless the “ Tika”
—or mark of kingship—is impressed “upon the forehead
 of the new chief by the head of the Bhil family to
which this hereditary privilege belongs. . . . The Maharana
 of Udaipur is the highest in rank and descent of all
the princes of India, tracing his lineage to the Sun, yet on
the day of his installation it is the despised Bhil who
places the sign of kingship on his forehead.”