Hindu Kinship

Abstract

INDIAN sociology has for long been a subject of lively activity among anthropologists working in the field. Their activities have been devoted the study of existing institutions, in all their variety, on the Indian sub-continent. Historical studies based on the study of literary documents, and so forth, have been pursued to a much less extent in this field. Yet it is important that such investigations should not be neglected, since these social organisms can only be fully understood in the light of their historical evolution and by the analysis of their diverse origin. Dr. K. M. Kapadia's book is therefore to be welcomed. It consists of a detailed and careful analysis of the data to be found in Sanskrit literature dealing with the family and its organisation. The author has decided to call his book "Hindu Kinship" rather than "Brahmin Kinship" because of the Brahmin habit of setting "the stamp of orthodoxy wholesale on many religious beliefs and social relationships that were alien to their own culture". Nevertheless, the subject-matter of the book corresponds more to a title "Brahmin Kinship". This is mainly what is dealt with in the law books and other literature which are analysed here. Practices outside the orthodox field are referred to casually, rather than systematically, and as exceptions to the norm rather than as constituents of different systems.

Hindu Kinship

An Important Chapter in Hindu Social History. By Dr. K. M. Kapadia. Pp. xvi+320+xxxv. (Bombay : Popular Book Depot, 1947.) 15 rupees.