Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern AgeThe phenomenon of caste has probably aroused more controversy than any other aspect of Indian life and thought. Susan Bayly's cogent and sophisticated analysis explores the emergence of the ideas, experiences and practices which gave rise to the so-called 'caste society' from the pre-colonial period to the end of the twentieth century. Using an historical and anthropological approach, she frames her analysis within the context of India's dynamic economic and social order, interpreting caste not as an essence of Indian culture and civilization, but rather as a contingent and variable response to the changes that occurred in the subcontinent's political landscape through the colonial conquest. The idea of caste in relation to Western and Indian 'orientalist' thought is also explored. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Historical origins of a caste society | 25 |
kings and service people c 17001830 | 64 |
Western orientalists and the colonial perception of caste | 97 |
incubus or essence? | 144 |
The everyday experience of caste in colonial India | 187 |
Caste debate and the emergence of Gandhian nationalism | 233 |
Other editions - View all
Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the ... Susan Bayly No preview available - 1999 |
Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the ... Susan Bayly No preview available - 1999 |
Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the ... Susan Bayly No preview available - 1999 |
Common terms and phrases
all-India Ambedkar anti-Brahmanical areas arms-bearing Arya Arya Samaj Aryan B. R. Ambedkar Backward Classes Bayly Bengal Bhumihar Bihar Brahman Brahman-centred British campaigns caste Hindu caste society caste title caste-based casteless castelike Census Chamar Chapter claims clean-caste colonial period commercial Congress contemporary conventions Dalit debates defined depressed dharmic Dumont dynasts early eighteenth century electoral elites ethnographic ethnological exalted faith forms Gangetic groups Gujarat Harijan Hindu nation Hindu supremacist Hinduism Hindutva Holeya Ibid ideals identified jati and varna Koli Kshatriya Kurmi labourers landed lordly low-caste Maharashtra Maratha marriage modern moral Mughal Muslim nation nationalist nationhood nineteenth century non-Brahman non-elite norms north Indian notably officials organisations orientalist origin Patidar peasant pious political populations purity race racial Rajput realms recruitment reformist regional ritual rulers rural Samaj schemes seen so-called caste social specialists subcontinent superior Tamil tillers tion traditional tribal tribes unclean untouchable uplift values widely