  The standard authority on the Hindu literary theory of Caste is M. Emile Senart's Les Castes dans l'lnde. Paris. Ernest Leroux. 1896. Probably the best succinct account of Caste is Mr E. A. Gait's article in Dr Hastings' EncyclopÆdia of Religion and Ethics. This will, of course, be brought up to date in the forthcoming Report on the Indian Census of 1911. Sir A. C. Lyall's Asiatic Studies. London. John Murray. Contains a sympathetic and learned account of Hindu social life and of the workings of Caste in Upper India. M. C. BouglÉ's Essai sur le RÉgime des Castes. Paris. Felix Alcan. 1908. Contains much interesting matter taken from many sources, but sometimes, from want of local knowledge, does not sufficiently discriminate between different developments of the caste system. There is an enormous literature on the races, tribes, and castes of India, but references to the most important books will be found in the above authorities. Chapter I is, in the main, a summary of Sir H. H. Risley's views as expressed in Chapter VI of Vol. I of the Imperial Gazetteer. That is inevitable, since the Gazetteer contains necessarily the most authoritative summary of what is known on the subject, pending the appearance of Mr Gait's forthcoming Census Report. CHAPTER IIThe standard authority on the modern languages of India is Sir G. A. Grierson's work on The Languages of India (Calcutta, 1903). It will, however, be superseded by the book which Sir G. A. Grierson is now writing on the basis of the further materials collected in his Linguistic Survey, and in the Census Reports of 1911. The eleven volumes hitherto published of the Survey itself give specimens of the Indian languages and skeleton grammars. CHAPTER IIIProfessor Macdonell's History of Sanskrit Literature (Heinemann, 1905) contains a fascinating and readable account of the Hindu scriptures from the Vedic ages up to modern times. Professor Hopkins' Religions of India and India Old and New deal with both the literature and the actual working of Indian religions. Mr W. Crooke's Native Races of Northern India is a popular account of the Aryan region, and Mr Thurston's Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Madras, Government Press. 1908. Though it is more elaborate and scientific in its treatment, is full of matters which are interesting not only to the specialist. Meredith Townsend's Asia and Europe. London. Archibald Constable. 1905. Is still an interesting and suggestive study of the differences between East and West, and Sir A. C. Lyall's Asiatic Studies are the even more illuminating results of a long, intimate, and sympathetic familiarity with Indian religious thought. The chapter on Religion in the forthcoming Census Report for 1911 will contain the latest fruits of research, statistical and other. There is an enormous mass of literature dealing in detail with the religions and sects of India. A selected list of books will be found at p. 446 of the Imperial Gazetteer. |
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