ing evidence to the contrary, that the
south is their home and that they have spread thence as far north as
the Central Provinces. The Gonds and Oraons, too, have stories to the
effect that they came from the south. The belief has hitherto been,
at least in the Central Provinces, that both the Gonds and Baigas have
been settled in this territory for an indefinite period, that is, from
prior to any Aryan or Hindu immigration. Mr. H.A. Crump, C.S., has
however pointed out that if this was the case the Munda or Kolarian
tribes, which have lost their own languages, should have adopted
Dravidian and not Hindu forms of speech. As already seen, numerous
Kolarian tribes, as the Binjhwar, Bhaina, Bhuiya, Baiga, Bhumij,
Chero, Khairwar and the Kols themselves in the Central Provinces have
entirely lost their own languages, as well as the Bhils and Kolis,
if these are held to be Kolarian tribes. None of them have adopted a
Dravidian language, but all speak corrupt forms of the ancient Aryan
vernaculars derived from Sanskrit. The fact seems to indicate that
at the time when they abandoned their own languages these tribes were
in contact with Hindus, and were not surrounded by Gonds, as several
of them are at present. The history of the Central Provinces affords
considerable support to the view that the Gond immigration occurred at
a comparatively late period, perhaps in the ninth or tenth century,
or even later, after a considerable part of the Province had been
governed for some centuries by Rajput dynasties. [76] The Gonds
and Oraons still have well-defined legends about their immigration,
which would scarcely be the case if it had occurred twenty centuries
or more ago.

Any further evidence or argument as to the date of the Dravidian
immigration would be of considerable interest.

40. Origin of the impure castes.

The fifth or lowest group in the scheme of precedence is that of the
impure castes who cannot be touched. If a high-caste Hindu touches one
of them he should bathe and have his clothes washed. These castes are
not usually allowed to live inside a Hindu village, but have a hamlet
to themselves adjoining it. The village barber will not shave them,
nor the washerman wash their clothes. They usually have a separate
well assigned to them from which to draw water, and if the village
has only one well, one side of it is allotted to them and the Hindus
take water from the other side. Formerly they were subjected to mo