The Castes of Marwar: Being Census Report of 1891

Rai Bahadur Munshi Hardayal Singh was Census Superintendent of erstwhile Marwar State who was entrusted this task of preparing his work on Castes of Marwar. He completed his work in 1894 which means that the exercise to collect information on castes must have begun between 1881 and 1891. The basic material was collected under Munshi Devi Prasad, Deputy Superintendent of Census through the Hakims and Patwaris of that period. Munshi Devi Prasad’s work has been published in Hindi which contains larger information on castes. The work has remained in oblivion for a long period. Present day disciplines like Anthropology, Sociology and Ethnology are closely following the basic structural constituents of Indian society which can hardly do away with discipline and organizational aspects of castes and its manifestations in different forms. This work has not only the historical value but has also throw light on continuity and change. Recent political scenes has seen immense turmoil in Indian society due to Mandal commission and its acceptance at highest level of constitutional legitimacy or administrative implications proves the importance of such works.