Origin and Growth of Caste in India Vol. I

The purpose of this book is to present a systematic and comprehensive history of caste and caste rules tracing as far as possible the successive stages of development from the early Vedic age to recent times, and also the fundamental principles of social psychology which have been at work behind the apparently diverse and sometimes inexplicable manifestations of caste spirit with regard to the various institutions of Hindu society. In this first volume, the history has been brought down to B. C. 300, by which date the caste-rules had in their main outlines assumed their present shape but had at the same time not been influenced by the spread of Buddhistic principles and the clash with foreign ideas in Maurya and post-Maurya times.