720 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
That the inequality laid down by Manu was the law of the land under the pre-British days may not be known to many foreigners. Only a few instances will show that such was the case.
Under the rule of the Marathas and the Peshwas the Untouchables were not allowed within the gates of Poona city, the capital of the Peshwas between 3 p.m. and 9 a.m. because, before nine and after three, their bodies cast too long a shadow; and whenever their shadow fell upon a Brahmin it polluted him, so that he dare not taste food or water until he had bathed and washed the impurity away. So also no Untouchable was allowed to live in a walled town ; cattle and dogs could freely enter but not the Untouchables [1] .
Under the rule of the Marathas and the Peshwas the Untouchables might not spit on the ground lest a Hindu should be polluted by touching it with his foot, but had to hang an earthen pot round his neck to hold his spittle. He was made to drag a thorny branch of a tree with him to brush out his footsteps and when a Brahman came by, had to lie at a distance on his face lest his shadow might fall on the Brahman [2] .
In Maharashtra an Untouchable was required to wear a black thread either in his neck or on his wrist for the purpose of ready identification.
In Gujarat the Untouchables were compelled to wear a horn as their distinguishing mark [3] .
In the Punjab a sweeper was required while walking through streets in towns to carry a broom in his hand or under his armpit as a mark of his being a scavenger [4] .
In Bombay the Untouchables were not permitted to wear clean or untorn clothes. In fact the shopkeepers took the precaution to see that before cloth was sold to the Untouchable it was torn & soiled.
Dr. Murray Mitchell-Great Religions of India, p. 63
Bombay Gazetteer. Vol. XII. p. 175.
Ency R &. E. Vol. IX p. 636 (b).
Punjab Census Report 1911 p. 413.