DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31218#0009
PREFACE
When I was superintendent of the census operations of
1911 in the United Provinces, one of my duties was to
make investigation into certain specific aspects of the caste
system. I accordingly collected books that dealt with this
subject, but quickly discovered that though there was a
considerable quantity of literature available, its nature was
such as to make study of that subject difficult. There
were firstly numerous books in several languages which
related to the origins of caste, and were mostly designed
either to prove or to disprove some theory of that origin.
Secondly, there were numerous discussions on particular
caste problems scattered through the various census
reports or in such books as Risley’s People of India,
or in the introduction to such works as Crooke’s Tribes
and Castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh.
Thirdly, there were brief accounts of the caste system
in various encyclopaedias, or in such general works
on India as Fuller’s Empire of India, or Crooke’s
Natives of Northern India. Fourthly, there was much
relevant material in ethnographical books such as Wester-
marck’s History of Hwiian Marriage, Fraser’s Totemism
and Exogamy, and Hartland’s Primitive Paternity.
Finally, there were caste dictionaries, of which Crooke’s
Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces and
Oudh, already mentioned, is a typical example; for every
important caste it gives the fullest possible information re-
garding its history, divisions, manners, customs, cere-
monies, and occupations. But there was not then and, so
far as I am aware, is not yet, any book which gives a full
and connected account of caste as a system, which des-
cribes the factors which brought caste into existence, the
evolution of the present system, the nature of the customs
common to all castes, the principles which underlie those
customs, and the reasons for similarity or difference be-
tween caste and caste. And my object in writing this book
is, to the b.est of my ability, to supply that want.
y
When I was superintendent of the census operations of
1911 in the United Provinces, one of my duties was to
make investigation into certain specific aspects of the caste
system. I accordingly collected books that dealt with this
subject, but quickly discovered that though there was a
considerable quantity of literature available, its nature was
such as to make study of that subject difficult. There
were firstly numerous books in several languages which
related to the origins of caste, and were mostly designed
either to prove or to disprove some theory of that origin.
Secondly, there were numerous discussions on particular
caste problems scattered through the various census
reports or in such books as Risley’s People of India,
or in the introduction to such works as Crooke’s Tribes
and Castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh.
Thirdly, there were brief accounts of the caste system
in various encyclopaedias, or in such general works
on India as Fuller’s Empire of India, or Crooke’s
Natives of Northern India. Fourthly, there was much
relevant material in ethnographical books such as Wester-
marck’s History of Hwiian Marriage, Fraser’s Totemism
and Exogamy, and Hartland’s Primitive Paternity.
Finally, there were caste dictionaries, of which Crooke’s
Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces and
Oudh, already mentioned, is a typical example; for every
important caste it gives the fullest possible information re-
garding its history, divisions, manners, customs, cere-
monies, and occupations. But there was not then and, so
far as I am aware, is not yet, any book which gives a full
and connected account of caste as a system, which des-
cribes the factors which brought caste into existence, the
evolution of the present system, the nature of the customs
common to all castes, the principles which underlie those
customs, and the reasons for similarity or difference be-
tween caste and caste. And my object in writing this book
is, to the b.est of my ability, to supply that want.
y