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The Formation of New Castes: A Probable Case from North India 1
Author(s) -
SEBRING JAMES M.
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1525/aa.1972.74.3.02a00230
Subject(s) - caste , sociology , process (computing) , genealogy , history , political science , law , computer science , operating system
There is a persistent notion in the literature on caste in India that new castes tend to develop within the caste system. Heretofore largely unsubstantiated, this notion receives support from the data of the present paper, which argues that a new caste is in the process of formation in an area of north India. The inevitability, given certain conditions, of new caste formation within an established caste system is posited, and such formation is hypothesized as both a reflection and one of the chief causes of the great stability of the Indian caste system.