Synopsis The caste system persists. Today, inspite of the great advances in education and knowledge, the majority of Hindu society follows the system of caste based marriages which are witnessed in thousands of advertisements in the newspaper. Again, political exploitation of caste has resulted in serious division among people of various communities with economic implications evident in the policy of job reservation for such groups as schedule caste, schedule tribes, other backward classes (OBC) and so on. To enable the sociologist, the social scientist, the research scholar and the interested reader acquire a comprehensive view of the caste system as it has existed in India for all these centuries and the shape it has taken in modern times, the present publication in four self-sufficient volumes provides a holistic view that will prove of immense value in any social analysis of this phenomenon. The volumes also cover a complete classification of the caste and include commentaries on the political and economic status of caste based society. It will be of particular use to academics and the student communities in arriving at balanced judgements on the form, character, present and future of this permanent feature of Indian society.