Aspects of Caste in South India, Ceylon and North-West Pakistan

by Edmund Leach

When this book was originally published in paperback in 1971, one of the most hotly debated themes in Indian sociology was the meaning of the term caste. At one extreme Professor Dumont argued caste is an aspect of Hinduism that cannot be isolated from its religious matrix; on the other, certain American-trained sociologists represented the caste order as a specially rigid form of social class hierarchy. Aspects of Caste endeavoured to test these two hypotheses against the data. The first paper, by E. Kathleen Gough, describes the caste order of a village in Tanjore that corresponds closely to Dumont's ideal type. The second paper, by Michael Banks, relates to a Jaffna Tamil community in Northern Ceylon. Nur Yalman's paper describes a Buddhist Sinhalese community in Central Ceylon. Fredrik Barth's study of Swat in Northwestern Pakistan exhibits an even more divergent case. Edmund Leach's introductory essay discusses the general theoretical issues raised by these examples and their importance for an understanding of social issues in South Asia.

160 pages, Paperback

First published December 2, 1969

About the author

Sir Edmund Ronald Leach was a British social anthropologist.

Reviews

[André · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic work in Anthropology and a must-read for anyone interested in caste systems. Keep in mind all of the information on the book was true in the 1950s, before major events changed the face of all the places mentioned - especially Swat valley, which fell under Taliban rule. But even though these articles were originally published in 1960, they still offer poignant remarks on the structural aspects of caste, combined with interesting insights on life in India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan at the time. The courage and resilience of these brave researchers, who conducted diligent fieldwork on a time when communications were extremely difficult, most likely under extreme isolation, cannot go unmentioned. These were the pioneers who paved the way for contemporary Anthropologists.