therefore, they do so in theoretical terms which may not be easily related to the
realities of caste in the region where they live.
In south India, the most fiercely contested intercaste issue was between the
Dalits and the rest. The boundaries were clearly marked, socially, ritually, and
spatially: members of Dalit castes had to keep a certain distance from others, and
not walk on the same road. When economic advancement encouraged a low-
caste group to transgress these boundaries, fighting broke out; another possible
outcome was a mass religious movement. Such movements include the conver-
sion to Christianity of many of the Nadar caste, first by Jesuits in 1680, and later
by Anglicans from 1784 onwards (Jones 1989: 156–60). The traditional occu-
pation of the Nadars is to tap juice from palmyra palms and ferment it into a
liquor known as toddy; their economic dependence on this disreputable trade,
and their personal dependence on toddy, justify their low status in the eyes of
higher castes, while the Christian Nadars set great importance on abstinence. A
caste of similar status and occupation, the Izhavas of Kerala, was transformed
by a movement initiated by one of its members, Na ̄ra ̄yan.a Guru (1854–1928).
This too sought independence from toddy, but it was also a Sanskritizing move-
ment, using Advaita Veda ̄nta to show that caste is not essential to a person (Jones
1989: 179–82, 203–7; Samuel 1977).
The most radical attack on caste using arguments from the Sanskrit tradition
was made by Daya ̄nanda Sarasvatı ̄ (1825–83). Daya ̄nanda was a Brahman from
Kathiawar in Gujarat, but spent much of his life wandering as a sam.nya ̄sin over
north India; the A ̄rya Sama ̄j, which he founded in 1875, had its greatest success
in the Panjab, a region where Brahman authority was weak. Though he learned
from pandits, knew no English, and appealed to the Veda as his authority, he was
influenced by modern ideas, especially after a visit to Calcutta in 1872 (Jordens
1978: 75–98). He denounced the worship of images and elaborate rituals, and
taught the worship of one God through homa, the Vedic offering of ghi and plant
products in a fire. He aimed to restore the practices of the ancient A ̄ryans (hence
the name of his society); people should therefore be divided not into hundreds
of castes but into the four varn.as known in the Veda. Moreover, membership of
the varn.as should not be hereditary, but should be decided by public examina-
tion at the age of 16 for girls and 25 for boys (Sarasvatı ̄ 1972: 87). On
intermarriage and interdining, Daya ̄nanda was conservative: they should be
prohibited between the true, nonhereditary varn.as (Killingley 1991: 27f.). His
proposals have never been put into practice, but the idea of four varn.as, based
on merit and not birth, has become generally accepted in modern Hindu dis-
course (Killingley 1991: 30f.).
Reform of the position of women again involved several issues. After sahama-
ran.awas made illegal, attention focused on the situation of widows. According
to the dharma books widowers can remarry, but a woman can only be one man’s
wife; and since girls could be married at five or even younger, they could become
widows at any age. A widow, being neither an actual nor a potential wife, was
a person without status, an unwanted burden on her marital family. The voice
which was heard most clearly on this subject was that of I ̄s ́varcandra Vidya ̄sa ̄gar
520 dermot killingley