000			01775 a2200229 4500
003			OSt
020			_a9780521798426
040			_cIIT Kanpur
041			_aeng
082			_a305.51220954 _bB344c
100			_aBayly, Susan
245			_aCaste, society and politics in India from the eighteenth century to the modern age _cSusan Bayly
260			_bCambridge University Press _c1999 _aCambridge
300			_axi, 421p
440			_aThe new Cambridge history of India
490			_a/ edited by Gordon Johnson _v; v. iv.3
520			_aThe 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. A wide-ranging study of caste which covers 350 years from pre-colonial period to present day and offers an historical/anthropological approach to interpretations Interdisciplinary study appealing to students of Indian history, as well as to anthropologists, colonial historians and religious studies students Very accessible and beautifully written
650			_aCaste
650			_aSocial classes
650			_aIndia
942			_cBK
999			_c565877 _d565877