s as well as Krishna. Little is known of
their religious teaching, if indeed they have anything worthy of the
name, but in the latter half of the eighteenth century they distracted
the kingdom of Assam with a series of rebellions which were suppressed
with atrocious cruelty.

Caitanya is said to have admitted some Mohammedans as members of his
sect. The precedent has not been followed among most branches of his
later adherents but a curious half-secret sect, found throughout
Bengal in considerable numbers and called Kartabhajas,[648] appears to
represent an eccentric development of his teaching in combination with
Mohammedan elements. Both Moslims and Hindus belong to this sect. They
observe the ordinary social customs of the class to which they belong,
but it is said that those who are nominal Moslims neither circumcize
themselves nor frequent mosques. The founder, called Ram Smaran Pal,
was born in the Nadia district about 1700, and his chief doctrine is
said to have been that there is only one God who is incarnate in the
Head of the sect or Karta.[649] For the first few generations the
headship was invested in the founder and his descendants but
dissensions occurred and there is now no one head: the faithful can
select any male member of the founder's family as the object of their
devotion. The Karta claims to be the owner of every human body and is
said to exact rent for the soul's tenancy thereof. No distinction of
caste or creed is recognized and hardly any ceremonies are prescribed
but meat and wine are forbidden, the mantra of the sect is to be
repeated five times a day and Friday is held sacred. These observances
seem an imitation of Mohammedanism.[650]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 604: See Bhandarkar, _Vaishn. and Saivism_, pp. 66 ff.,
Grierson in _Ind. Ant._ 1893, p. 226, and also in article Ramanandi in
_E.R.E._; Farquhar, _J.R.A.S._1920, pp. 185 ff. Though Indian
tradition seems to be unanimous in giving 1299 A.D. (4400 Kali) as the
date of Ramanand's birth, all that we know about himself and his
disciples makes it more probable that he was born nearly a century
later. The history of ideas, too, becomes clear and intelligible if we
suppose that Ramanand, Kabir and Nanak flourished about 1400, 1450 and
1500 respectively. One should be cautious in allowing such arguments
to outweigh unanimous tradition, but tradition also assigns to
Ramanand an improbably long life, thus indicating a feeling that he
influence