Caste and Capitalism in Colonial India: The Nattukottai ChettiarsDavid Rudner's richly detailed ethnographic and historical analysis of a South Indian merchant-banking caste provides the first comprehensive analysis of the interdependence among Indian business practice, social organization, and religion. Exploring noncapitalist economic formations and the impact of colonial rule on indigenous commercial systems, Rudner argues that caste and commerce are inextricably linked through formal and informal institutions. The practices crucial to the formation and distribution of capital are also a part of this linkage. Rudner challenges the widely held assumptions that all castes are organized either by marriage alliance or status hierarchy and that caste structures are incompatible with the "rational" conduct of business. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1994. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Conceiving Caste 15 556 | 15 |
The MerchantBanker Nakarattars Contrasted | 29 |
The Colonial Expansion | 53 |
Malaya in the Late Nineteenth and Early | 85 |
A Collectivist Spirit of Capitalism | 104 |
Nakaravitutis | 124 |
The Magic of Capitalism and the Mercantile Elite | 133 |
A Note on Ethnographic Reports | 186 |
22 | 188 |
Social Structure as Social Investment | 213 |
Hierarchy Territorial Precedence and Royal | 222 |
CrossCut Segmentation and Equality | 228 |
Appendix A Interest Rate Tables | 237 |
Glossary | 285 |
References | 299 |
Other editions - View all
Caste and Capitalism in Colonial India: The Nattukottai Chettiars David West Rudner Limited preview - 2022 |
Caste and Capitalism in Colonial India: The Nattukottai Chettiars David West Rudner Limited preview - 2023 |
Caste and Capitalism in Colonial India: The Nattukottai Chettiars David West Rudner No preview available - 1994 |
Common terms and phrases
adathis affinal kindred agent Annamalai University Appadurai Banking Enquiry Committee British Burma Cambridge capital century ceremonies Ceylon Chapter Chetti Chettiar Chettinad Chidambaram clan temples colonial commercial cults deity deposits descent groups dowry Dumont economic elite endowment exchange funds groom's Hindu hundis Ilayathakudi Indian society institutions investment joint family Kaikkolars Kallar Karaikudi kinship Kumarappan land lineage segment loans Madras Madras Presidency Madurai Mahadevan Maravar marriage alliance marriage rule mercantile merchants moneylenders murai Muthia nadappu Nadu Nagarathars Nakarat Nakarattar bankers Nakarattar business Nakarattar caste Nakarattar firms Nakarattar house Nakarattar marriage non-Nakarattar operation Palani panam Peter Nabokov Plate political prestations Pudukottai pulli Raja Sir Muthia Rangoon relationship religious gifting ritual role segmentary social South India studies Tamil Tamil Nadu tayatis term thavanai tion trade transactions trust valavu varalaru vattakai village temples virtual affines vitutis Washbrook wedding worship zamindars