The Brahmin, the Aryan, and the powers of the priestly class : puzzles in the study of Indian religion

The classical account of the Brahmin priestly class and its role in Indian religion has seen remarkable continuity during the past two centuries. Its core claims appear to remain unaffected, despite the major shifts that occurred in the theorizing of Indian culture and in the study of religion. In this article, we first examine the issue of the power and status of the Brahmin and show how it generates explanatory puzzles today. We then turn to 18th- and 19th-century sources to identify the cognitive conditions which sustained the classical account of the Brahmin priest and allowed for its transmission. Three clusters of concepts were crucial here: Christian-theological ideas concerning heathen priesthood and idolatry; racial notions of biological and cultural superiority and inferiority; and anthropological speculations about ‘primitive man’ and his ‘magical thinking’. While all three clusters were rejected by 20th- and 21st-century scholarship, the related claims about Brahmanical ritual power continue to be presented as facts. What accounts for this peculiar combination of continuities and discontinuities in the study of (ancient) Indian religion? We turn to some insights from the philosophy of science to sketch a route toward answering this question

Genetic Analysis of ABO and Rh Blood Groups in Brahmin Population of Uttar Pradesh, India”

A series of glycoprotein and glycolipids on the red blood cell surface constitute blood group antigens. These are A, B, AB and O in ABO blood group system and Rh in rhesus blood group system. These antigens are genetically controlled. Certain diseases have been shown to be associated with certain blood groups. In the present study an attempt is made to study the distribution of ABO and Rh. (D) blood group systems among the Brahmin caste population of Uttar Pradesh State. A total of 200 unrelated Brahmin individuals from Uttar Pradesh were studied for the phenotype and allele frequency distribution of ABO and Rh (D) blood groups. The order of occurrence of ABO phenotypes is B>O>A>AB. The corresponding allele frequencies of O, A, and B alleles are found to be 0.5790, 0.1510 and 0.2697 respectively. The allele frequency of D (0.735) is more than d (0.265). The present study was compared with the other studies reported to understand the affinity between them

Gene diversity among some endogamous population of Amravati District, Maharashtra, India.

The present work deals with the distribution of ABO, Rh and sickling alleles as markers to study the genetic structure and micro-demarcation among castes and tribal populations from the Amravati district of Maharashtra. Three loci namely, ABO, Rh and sickling were selected to measure the relative frequency of respective alleles in ten (10) endogamous populations inhabiting the Amravati District. The ABO locus was found to be less polymorphic when compared with other loci. On the other hand, Rh and sickling loci were found to be more polymorphic. Construction of a dendrogram using allele frequency data reveals an interesting relationship among the caste and tribe. An analysis shows three major clades comprising A, B and C. Clade A comprises Islamic Dawoodi Bohra and Hindu Gujrati. Clade B comprises the upper castes, Brahmin, Jain, Kashmiris and Kunbis, while Clade C shows Gonds and Katchhi. This study is a first attempt to provide a genetic landscape of castes and tribes inhabiting the Vidarbha region. The findings are discussed in light of the historical, anthropological and genetic data available for the studied group

Integral Samnyasa ? Adi Shankaracharya and Liberation Hermeneutics

Writing in the Women\u27s Bible Commentary, Carolyn Osiek offers five conflicting interpretations of this controversial passage and its significance for women\u27s liberation. At one end of the spectrum stand those who insist that the text endorses an end to sexism of every kind, a difficult view to square with other statements of the apostle Paul. At another extreme stand those who ascribe it exclusively to a future transformation at the end of time, with no contemporary relevance

Smart, Responsible, and Upper Caste Only: Measuring Caste Attitudes through Large-Scale Analysis of Matrimonial Profiles

Discriminatory caste attitudes currently stigmatize millions of Indians, subjecting individuals to prejudice in all aspects of life. Governmental incentives and societal movements have attempted to counter these attitudes, yet accurate measurements of public opinions on caste are not yet available for understanding whether progress is being made. Here, we introduce a novel approach to measure public attitudes of caste through an indicator variable: openness to intercaste marriage. Using a massive dataset of over 313K profiles from a major Indian matrimonial site, we precisely quantify public attitudes, along with differences between generations and between Indian residents and diaspora. We show that younger generations are more open to intercaste marriage, yet attitudes are based on a complex function of social status beyond their own caste. In examining the desired qualities in a spouse, we find that individuals open to intercaste marriage are more individualistic in the qualities they desire, rather than favoring family-related qualities, which mirrors larger societal trends away from collectivism. Finally, we show that attitudes in diaspora are significantly less open, suggesting a bi-cultural model of integration. Our research provides the first empirical evidence identifying how various intersections of identity shape attitudes toward intercaste marriage in India and among the Indian diaspora in the US.Comment: 12 pages; Accepted to be published at ICWSM'1

Consumption and Social Identity: Evidence from India

We examine spending on consumption items which have signaling value in social interactions across groups with distinctive social identities in India, where social identities are defined by caste and religious affiliations. The classification of such items was done by eliciting responses to a survey in India. We match the results of our survey with nationally representative micro data on household consumption expenditures. We find that disadvantaged caste groups such as Other Backward Castes spend nine percent more on visible consumption than Brahmin and High Caste groups while social groups such as Muslims spend eleven percent less, after controlling for differences in permanent income and demographic composition of households. These differences are significant and robust. Additionally, we find that these differences can be partly explained as a result of the status signaling nature of such consumption items.households, consumption, India