Cambridge Histories Online

Home

Browse

News

About

Subscribe

Help/FAQs

Home

»
Browse
»
The New Cambridge History of India Vol. 4.3: Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age

Previous

Next

Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age

Series The New Cambridge History of India, Volume 4.3

Edited by Susan Bayly

Publication Date 1999

Hardback ISBN-10
0521264340

Hardback ISBN-13
9780521264341

Digital Object Identifier (DOI) 10.1017/CHOL9780521264341

Overview

The 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.

For more details of the
print book, and how to buy it online, please see
Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age in the Cambridge University Press online
catalogue.

Search

Select the scope of your search

All Content

This Volume

or advanced search

Subscriber log in

You are not currently logged in.

Log in.

This Volume is in

Complete Cambridge Histories Online

Regional History

The New Cambridge History of India

Table of Contents

Frontmatter

Introduction

Historical origins of a ‘caste society’

The ‘Brahman Raj’: kings and service people c. 1700–1830

Western ‘orientalists’ and the colonial perception of caste

Caste and the modern nation: incubus or essence?

The everyday experience of caste in colonial India

Caste debate and the emergence of Gandhian nationalism

State policy and ‘reservations’: the politicisation of caste-based social welfare schemes

Caste in the everyday life of independent India

‘Caste wars’ and the mandate of violence

Conclusion

Glossary

Bibliography

©2011 Cambridge University Press.
Terms of Use

Privacy Policy

Contact Us

Subscribe

Credits