India's social heritage

This valuable work analyzes the principal features of the social system of India and asserts that Indian society retains many features. characteristic of an early stage of social growth. The author's thesis is that the Indian society is still largely communal in the sense that it is organized in groups. Individual life is based on collective standards and has to be in harmony with the life of the group. A man is not so much an independent individual as a unit in a group, to whose interests his own are subordinate, and the social organism may be described as a synthesis of groups rather than of persons.

The author makes valuable observations regarding the vitality of village communities and the existence of innumerable tribes. The caste system as a peculiarity of Indian social institution is dealt with at length. Another aspect covered is the joint family system and the basis of property-ownership under Hindu law. The author's observations regarding social changes will be of immense interest to sociologists.