The Mysore Tribes and Castes

Abstract

THOSE interested in Indian ethnography will welcome the appearance, after an interval of twelve months, of vol. 3 of the Mysore Survey Records, carrying the reader from C to K. The volume opens with a somewhat lengthy article on Christians (Roman Catholic and Protestant), which might clearly have been very considerably curtailed. In a work such as this, which deals primarily with tribes and castes, any attempt to convey the essentials of the Christian creed and ritual seems at first sight a little out of place. We are given parts of the marriage service, and certain well-known prayers which are obviously available else where; whereas, a detailed description of such caste distinctions as the Roman Catholic Church has thought it wise to tolerate as a concession to the engrained prejudices of converts is unfortunately not to be found. In Goa and the adjacent Portuguese territory, it has been found that three classes, Brahman, Charado (that is, Kshattriya), and Sudra Christians, remain as an indication of the converts' former Hindu status. We should have been interested to learn whether, in Mysore, the caste distinctions permitted, as indicated on p. 56, take a similar or a more detailed form.

The Mysore Tribes and Castes.

By H. V. Nanjundayya Rao Bahadur L. K. Ananthakrishna Iyer. (Published under the auspices of the Mysore University.) Vol. 3. Pp. viii + 619 + 76 plates. (Mysore: Government Oriental Library; Bangalore: Government Book Depot, 1930.) 12.8 rupees.