What do you think?
Rate this book
Growth of Scheduled Tribes and Castes in Medieval India
An extremely important book on why and how the number of Scheduled castes and Scheduled tribes grew during the period of Islamic invasion of Bharat.
Opening a new vista, what this work is about is contrary to modern-day make-believe, there is no evidence to show that the lower classes suffered from the tyranny of the Hindu upper classes in the medieval period. The case being exactly opposite, throughout the medieval period, the so-called lower castes fought shoulder to shoulder with the so-called upper castes against the foreign invaders and tyrannical rulers. Present study is only a beginning in this direction, based for the most part on medieval Muslim chronicles.
Opening a new vista, what this work is about is contrary to modern-day make-believe, there is no evidence to show that the lower classes suffered from the tyranny of the Hindu upper classes in the medieval period. The case being exactly opposite, throughout the medieval period, the so-called lower castes fought shoulder to shoulder with the so-called upper castes against the foreign invaders and tyrannical rulers. Present study is only a beginning in this direction, based for the most part on medieval Muslim chronicles.
196 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1995
84 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 21, 2021
Comprehensive coverage of political, social and cultural aspects, what comes across most strongly is the author's clarity in writing this book. Virtually every idea mentioned is supported by various set of references and sources. And unlike many "eminent" historians he himself has been involved in finding sources, before commenting on it. And author is fluent in Persian, Old Persian, Urdu, and other languages. This book is for those who believe caste system is rigid. To understand how Islamic invasions impacted social order read this book. This book explains why the Islamic invasions forced fissures & caste dichotomies in Hindu society. Today the people we call as 'tribals' / 'adivasis' were urban dwellers like us till islam captured India. These people ran into forests to protect themselves & their dharma and later they use to fight back against these invaders. It exposes the narrative that upper castes bullied lower castes. Instead it was more like the lower castes fought shoulder to shoulder with the upper castes against the Islamic invaders. The credit for the growth of India's Untouchables and tribal population goes to the centuries-long Muslim rule in India. Book also talks about untouchability, growth of tribes and castes under Turks, Afghans and Mughals. It also goes into detail about backward castes contribution to Hindu society. Kishori Saran Lal is someone you can easily rely on. He is not like those left historians who distort our histories in the name of appeasement and called them genuine work. Each one of his book is eye opening and written with an incisive clarity and attention to detail.
This book is also available in Kannada, it goes by the name of ಮಧ್ಯಯುಗೀನ ಭಾರತದಲ್ಲಿ ಪರಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ವರ್ಗ-ಜಾತಿಗಳ ವೃದ್ಧಿ (Madhyayugeena Bharatadalli Parishishta Varga Jatigala Vruddhi).
This book is also available in Kannada, it goes by the name of ಮಧ್ಯಯುಗೀನ ಭಾರತದಲ್ಲಿ ಪರಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ವರ್ಗ-ಜಾತಿಗಳ ವೃದ್ಧಿ (Madhyayugeena Bharatadalli Parishishta Varga Jatigala Vruddhi).
July 9, 2020
As usual Kishori Saran Lal at his best. Brilliant accounts on S.C. and S.T. in India. Book like this need to be promote. Its so sad to see how historians (and politicians) show S.C. and S.T. as oppressed one. This book will make them proud and how glorious they were.
Read this review(not mine) to know more.
https://www.hindupost.in/review-of-gr...
Read this review(not mine) to know more.
https://www.hindupost.in/review-of-gr...
December 29, 2019
"A knowledge of history teaches us that civilization is a co-operative product, nearly all peoples have contributed to it; it is our common heritage and debt; and the civilized soul will reveal itself in treating every man or woman, however lowly, as a representative of one of these creative and contributory groups." This applies to the Hindu civilization more than any other.
July 9, 2020
A must read book.
April 28, 2022
Who are the scheduled caste ? Who are the scheduled tribes? If they were being oppressed by brahmins (who dominated the hindu religion according to claims) then why all of them didn’t convert even after all odds? Why didn’t SCs n STs side with invaders to liberate the land from oppressors? If These are some questions which anyone has then this is a book for them. Author has relied on data and some authentic sources to answer these questions . A lot of myths can be bursted after reading the arguments of the author.
September 15, 2020
Review on Growth of Scheduled Castes and Tribes in Medieval India by Dr K S Lal.
This well researched book is a gem for all those who are curious to learn the actual state of the present day STs/SCs during Medieval Ages, especially in Hindu Society. This book challenges and devastates the false extreme narrative built first by colonial Western Indologists and was later popularised by Marxists Historians, that Hindu upper castes used to unleash unimaginable amount of inhuman atrocities on lower castes and hence are the major reason for the widespread poverty among lower castes.
It mainly explains the following salient points which the historian has quite lucidly and convincingly proved backed by countless primary sources from contemporary times :-
1. The primary reason for rapid increase in massive number of SCs and STs in medieval india is large scale fleeing of city and village dwellers to deep forests and mountains, on account of oppressive Islamic tax collectors and rulers. Upon staying disconnected from their original culture, these fleeing communities developed new set of their own rites, rituals etc which shaped their new culture in forests.
2. Upper and Lower castes have always fought shoulder to shoulder against the Islamic invasions, for the Islamic forces did not distinguish between the difference castes/classes in Hindi society. Hence, there tenet commanded them to look down on all as kaafirs and thus they have the right to force convert or butcher them all.
3. Statistics say while mostly the upper caste converted under different circumstances, the lower caste had pride in their culture and community and avoided adopting Islam.
4. Untouchablity was primarily due to the abhorrence of most of Hindus population towards anybody who takes beef or any similar animal, irrespective of caste, religion etc. (including Westerners and Islamists).
5. Restrictions on entry of lower castes into temples was never a widespread phenomenon. In the book, the author has talked about the basic design of most of the major temples in India which does not allow much of public space for masses and thus restricts most of the people in the city or village. However, in all public events like Rath Yatra, or any event where God or Goddess is taken around in a religious procession, there is not historical evidence of any restrictions on basis of caste or creed.
6. Most importantly, it should be noted whatever disabilities we read about were imposed on lower castes, it is primarily due to the foreign regimes who caused it through their religious, social and political discriminations and atrocious polices towards Hindus in general.
7. In those times too like now, there were some orthodox narrow minded Who discriminated against lower castes but their population was alway minimal and their action was never in vogue.
Overall, quite informative and thought provoking book by Dr K S Lal.
This well researched book is a gem for all those who are curious to learn the actual state of the present day STs/SCs during Medieval Ages, especially in Hindu Society. This book challenges and devastates the false extreme narrative built first by colonial Western Indologists and was later popularised by Marxists Historians, that Hindu upper castes used to unleash unimaginable amount of inhuman atrocities on lower castes and hence are the major reason for the widespread poverty among lower castes.
It mainly explains the following salient points which the historian has quite lucidly and convincingly proved backed by countless primary sources from contemporary times :-
1. The primary reason for rapid increase in massive number of SCs and STs in medieval india is large scale fleeing of city and village dwellers to deep forests and mountains, on account of oppressive Islamic tax collectors and rulers. Upon staying disconnected from their original culture, these fleeing communities developed new set of their own rites, rituals etc which shaped their new culture in forests.
2. Upper and Lower castes have always fought shoulder to shoulder against the Islamic invasions, for the Islamic forces did not distinguish between the difference castes/classes in Hindi society. Hence, there tenet commanded them to look down on all as kaafirs and thus they have the right to force convert or butcher them all.
3. Statistics say while mostly the upper caste converted under different circumstances, the lower caste had pride in their culture and community and avoided adopting Islam.
4. Untouchablity was primarily due to the abhorrence of most of Hindus population towards anybody who takes beef or any similar animal, irrespective of caste, religion etc. (including Westerners and Islamists).
5. Restrictions on entry of lower castes into temples was never a widespread phenomenon. In the book, the author has talked about the basic design of most of the major temples in India which does not allow much of public space for masses and thus restricts most of the people in the city or village. However, in all public events like Rath Yatra, or any event where God or Goddess is taken around in a religious procession, there is not historical evidence of any restrictions on basis of caste or creed.
6. Most importantly, it should be noted whatever disabilities we read about were imposed on lower castes, it is primarily due to the foreign regimes who caused it through their religious, social and political discriminations and atrocious polices towards Hindus in general.
7. In those times too like now, there were some orthodox narrow minded Who discriminated against lower castes but their population was alway minimal and their action was never in vogue.
Overall, quite informative and thought provoking book by Dr K S Lal.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews