This book has been out of print for more than forty years. Some years ago the Government of India selected it for translation in Hindi and I took this opportunity of revising it by incorporating new epigraphic data published during this long period. At the suggestion of some friends who thought that the book had not yet outlived its utility-a fact demonstrated by re-peated inquiries about the book from many quarters-I have brought out this new edition, thoroughly revised and considerably enlarged in the light of the new documents published since 1920. It has been no easy task at the fag end of my life, but I shall consider my labour amply rewarded if this book serves any useful purpose to the present generation of readers.
The Index has been prepared by my daughter Sumitra Chaudhuri, B.A.
At the end of the second edition of the book were printed some extracts of letters received by the author from distinguished scholars and some reviews published in well-known Journals, shortly after the first edition was published in 1918.
I have retained only a few of them in the present edition,as a memento of the eminent. Indologists who died long long ago.
The spirit of co-operation has contributed more than anything else to the present highly developed stage of civilisation. The gigantic experiments in popular government and the huge economic organisations spreading over the whole world, such as we see to-day all around us, have made the modern age what it is. The corporate activity to which they owe their origin and the present high level of success, may therefore be justly looked upon as the distinctive element in the culture of the day. It is rightly believed that no nation that lacks in this essential element of culture can hope to keep pace with the progress of the world.
In consideration of this high importance of corporate life to a nation, I need scarcely offer any apology for the subject matter I have chosen. India at present is very backward in this particular aspect of culture, but the following pages are intended to show that things were quite different in the past. The spirit of co-operation was a marked feature in almost all fields of activity in ancient India and was manifest in social and religious as well as in political and economic life. The well-known 'jati (caste) and the Samgha (the community of the Buddhist monks) are the most notable products of this spirit in the first two spheres life. The same spirit, however, played an equally important part in the remaining ones, and its on the latter work by Jolly and Oldenberg in Z. D. M. G., Vols. 50 and 51. My indebtedness is, however, confined merely to the data they supplied on the subject, for my conclusions are different, and the treatment of the subject, as already indicated above, is entirely new. I have similarly used Fick's work, Die Sociale Gliederung Im Nordostlichen Indian Zu Buddha's Zeit, as a source of information for the Buddhist period, but I have also gathered fresh data, and the collection of Buddhist texts on the subject of 'caste,' included in the last chapter, may claim to be the most comprehensive of its kind. My theory of the origin of Brahmaņa caste may appear to be singular in some respects, and although I do not claim that it can be said to be a conclusive one, it appears to me to be the best, with regard to the evidence at present at our disposal. The acceptance or rejection of the theory does not, however, affect the general development of the subject, which is the more important point at issue. I have refrained from all discussions on the merits or defects of the caste system, as that would have involved me in one of the most controversial questions of the day which I have, as a rule, tried to avoid as far as possible. There can be hardly any doubt that the caste organisation assured the advantages of corporate life to its members, although it may be difficult to support the system as it exists at present. I have not offered any suggestions for its modification as I have avoided, on principle, all philosophical disquisitions throughout this work.
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