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1 results

  • 1 - Historical origins of a ‘caste society’

  • Susan Bayly, University of Cambridge
  • Book:
    Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age
    Published online:
    28 March 2008
    Print publication:
    15 July 1999, pp 25-63

  • Summary

    This chapter focuses the spread of the lordly or Kshatriya-centred manifestations of caste values. It discusses three important elements of change in the new states and dominions of the post-Mughal period: first, the emerging courtly synthesis between Kshatriya-like kings and Brahmans, later the diffusion of these values and practices into the world of the upper non-elite 'peasantry', and finally the continuing power and importance of martial 'predators' and so-called tribal peoples. The chapter explores the significance of these trends, and particularly the importance of individual agency in the forging of more castelike forms of social order through an account of the rise of the great Maratha-dominated polity of Shivaji Bhonsle. It certainly focuses on the many ways in which the experience of caste has taken root, often being forcibly challenged, and yet still spreading and diversifying in ways which had far-reaching effects across the subcontinent.