William Ward
A View of the History, Literature, and Mythology of the Hindoos (1822)
MissionaryBaptist
Vol. II, Chapter I
The Brahmins have, from the earliest ages, claimed the highest rank among men. They have taught that they proceeded from the mouth of God, while the inferior castes sprang from His lower members. By this fraud they have maintained their ascendancy over millions of their fellow creatures.
✦ Commentary
Ward frames the Purusha Sukta purely as a Brahminical conspiracy — a "fraud" designed to maintain power. The theological concept of cosmic hierarchy is reduced to a political lie. This reading was adopted almost verbatim by Phule in "Gulamgiri" and became foundational to anti-Brahmin movements. Notice how Ward separates "Brahmins" from "their fellow creatures" — the Brahmin is already being constructed as the oppressor-alien.
Themes
Brahmins as Inventors of Caste OrderBrahmin as Social OppressionBrahmins as the Top of Hierarchical OrderBrahminism as a System
Discursive Strategies
Moralizing Discourse
Source Type
Published Book
↯ Tracing the Causal Chain
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Bureaucraticcodified
Government of India, Census of India, 1871-72: General Report
“The Brahmins form a priestly class which exercises considerable influence over the religious and social life of the Hindu population. They are the custodians of sacred learning and perform all the pri...”
The census transforms Ward's moral judgment ("fraud," "ascendancy over millions") into apparently neutral sociological observation ("exercises considerable influence"). The content is identical — Brahmins control religion — but the bureaucratic language strips the missionary hostility, giving it the authority of state data.
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Reform / Responseadopted
Jotirao Phule, Gulamgiri (Slavery)
“The Brahmin has been the curse of India. For thousands of years, these cunning men have used religion as a tool to maintain their supremacy over the Shudras and Ati-Shudras. They invented the caste sy...”
Phule adopts Ward's framework nearly verbatim: Brahmins are "cunning," religion is their "tool," caste is their "invention." The missionary diagnosis survives unchanged; only the prescription changes — Phule argues for social revolution rather than Christian conversion.