DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31218#0010
PREFACE
In a sense this book is a sort of synopsis of Crooke’s
work; for my description of a particular custom is based
on collection and collation of the material to be found in
Crooke’s accounts of the castes which observe that custom.
And my hope that the book will prove useful depends on
the fact that it is for the most part merely Crooke’s work
re-arranged.
There is, however, also a good deal of fresh material.
Most of this is derived from the various census reports
of igoi and 1911, which are subsequent to the date of
publication of Mr. Crooke’s work. (At the census of 1921
no ethnographical enquiries were made, which explains
why I have so seldom referred to that report.) The rest
of the new material is derived from information which has
come into my possession since 1911, either in the course
of my other duties or which I have specially collected
for this book.
The name of this book is ‘The Caste System of
Northern India, with special reference to the United Pro-
vinces of Agra and Oudh’. The twin provinces form a
tract which, from the dawn of history, has been the home
of Hinduism, the centre of Hindu civilization and culture
at their best—in a word, ‘Hindustan’, the country of the
Hindu. And its Hindu social system is the Hindu social
system of northern India : if there are variations elsewhere,
they are not in essentials. It is this fact which justifies the
first part of this book’s title. But the second part is
equally important, for it defines the scope both of the
book and of the author’s personal knowledge. And,
indeed, some fifty millions of people form a sufficient
basis for generalization.
I first began this book when I was on leave in 1913.
I completed it when I again went on leave in 1922 ; during
the interval there was a war on, and those of us who,
like myself, had to remain in India, had no time to spare
for any piece of work that could wait. When T was a
third time on leave in 1927, and at intervals during the
next two years, I revised the book completely and re-wrote
certain parts of it. Finally, in 1930, I added the chapter
which is based on certain parts of the report of the
VI
In a sense this book is a sort of synopsis of Crooke’s
work; for my description of a particular custom is based
on collection and collation of the material to be found in
Crooke’s accounts of the castes which observe that custom.
And my hope that the book will prove useful depends on
the fact that it is for the most part merely Crooke’s work
re-arranged.
There is, however, also a good deal of fresh material.
Most of this is derived from the various census reports
of igoi and 1911, which are subsequent to the date of
publication of Mr. Crooke’s work. (At the census of 1921
no ethnographical enquiries were made, which explains
why I have so seldom referred to that report.) The rest
of the new material is derived from information which has
come into my possession since 1911, either in the course
of my other duties or which I have specially collected
for this book.
The name of this book is ‘The Caste System of
Northern India, with special reference to the United Pro-
vinces of Agra and Oudh’. The twin provinces form a
tract which, from the dawn of history, has been the home
of Hinduism, the centre of Hindu civilization and culture
at their best—in a word, ‘Hindustan’, the country of the
Hindu. And its Hindu social system is the Hindu social
system of northern India : if there are variations elsewhere,
they are not in essentials. It is this fact which justifies the
first part of this book’s title. But the second part is
equally important, for it defines the scope both of the
book and of the author’s personal knowledge. And,
indeed, some fifty millions of people form a sufficient
basis for generalization.
I first began this book when I was on leave in 1913.
I completed it when I again went on leave in 1922 ; during
the interval there was a war on, and those of us who,
like myself, had to remain in India, had no time to spare
for any piece of work that could wait. When T was a
third time on leave in 1927, and at intervals during the
next two years, I revised the book completely and re-wrote
certain parts of it. Finally, in 1930, I added the chapter
which is based on certain parts of the report of the
VI