The rule about Brahmans taking water from the good agricultural and artisan castes obtains, for instance, only in northern India.

Maratha Brahmans will not take water from any but other Brahmans, and in Chhattisgarh Brahmans and other high castes will take water only from the hands of a Rawat (grazier), and from no other caste.

But nevertheless the Kunbis, the great cultivating caste of the Maratha country, though Brahmans do not take water from them, are on the same level as the Kurmis, the cultivating caste of Hindustan, and in tracts where they meet Kunbis and Kurmis are often considered to be the same caste.

The evidence of the statements made as to the origin of different castes in the following account will be found in the articles on them in the body of the work.
19.

Castes ranking above the cultivators.
The castes of the first group are noted below: Bania.
Bhat.
Brahman.
Gurao.
Karan.
Kayasth and Prabhu.
Khatri.
Rajput.
The Brahmans are, as they have always been, the highest caste.