Lionel Caplan – författare

This book, which brings together nine studies of fundamentalism in disparate religions and regional contexts, examines the specific circumstances nurturing such beliefs and practices, and explores the possibilities for cross-cultural insights into this widespread phenomenon in the contemporary world.

This book examines the relations between the Limbus, an indigenous tribal people in East Nepal, and the Hindus who have entered their region during the past two hundred years. Describing the divisions which have arisen between the two groups as a result of confrontation over land, the book nonetheless stresses how they are linked by ties of economic and political interdependence and in so doing, explores the link between culture and politics.First published in 1970.

Land and Social Change in East Nepal: A Study of Hindu-Tribal Relations explores the intricate dynamics between the indigenous Limbu population and Hindu settlers in East Nepal, with a particular focus on the contentious struggle over land. Set in the context of Nepal's unification under a Hindu monarchy in the late 18th century, the book examines the kipat system of collective tribal land ownership, a cornerstone of Limbu identity, and its tension with the raikar system introduced by the state, which facilitated land acquisition by Hindu immigrants. This conflict reveals broader themes of cultural division and economic interdependence, as the Limbus and Hindus coexist in roles of creditors, debtors, landlords, and laborers. By linking land tenure to kinship structures and political hierarchies, the author provides a vivid account of how land disputes have shaped the socio-political landscape of the region.Through meticulous fieldwork, archival research, and comparative analysis, the study situates the Limbu experience within the broader South Asian context of Hindu-tribal relations. It highlights how economic pressures, state policies, and migration have marginalized indigenous communities while simultaneously sparking movements to defend cultural identity and ancestral lands. This work offers valuable insights into the resilience of the Limbus and the enduring ties between culture and politics in a rapidly changing environment. It is an essential resource for scholars of anthropology, history, and South Asian studies, offering a compelling narrative of adaptation, resistance, and survival.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 1970.

Land and Social Change in East Nepal: A Study of Hindu-Tribal Relations explores the intricate dynamics between the indigenous Limbu population and Hindu settlers in East Nepal, with a particular focus on the contentious struggle over land. Set in the context of Nepal's unification under a Hindu monarchy in the late 18th century, the book examines the kipat system of collective tribal land ownership, a cornerstone of Limbu identity, and its tension with the raikar system introduced by the state, which facilitated land acquisition by Hindu immigrants. This conflict reveals broader themes of cultural division and economic interdependence, as the Limbus and Hindus coexist in roles of creditors, debtors, landlords, and laborers. By linking land tenure to kinship structures and political hierarchies, the author provides a vivid account of how land disputes have shaped the socio-political landscape of the region.Through meticulous fieldwork, archival research, and comparative analysis, the study situates the Limbu experience within the broader South Asian context of Hindu-tribal relations. It highlights how economic pressures, state policies, and migration have marginalized indigenous communities while simultaneously sparking movements to defend cultural identity and ancestral lands. This work offers valuable insights into the resilience of the Limbus and the enduring ties between culture and politics in a rapidly changing environment. It is an essential resource for scholars of anthropology, history, and South Asian studies, offering a compelling narrative of adaptation, resistance, and survival.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 1970.

This book examines the relations between the Limbus, an indigenous tribal people in East Nepal, and the Hindus who have entered their region during the past two hundred years. Describing the divisions which have arisen between the two groups as a result of confrontation over land, the book nonetheless stresses how they are linked by ties of economic and political interdependence and in so doing, explores the link between culture and politics.First published in 1970.

This book, which brings together nine studies of fundamentalism in disparate religions and regional contexts, examines the specific circumstances nurturing such beliefs and practices, and explores the possibilities for cross-cultural insights into this widespread phenomenon in the contemporary world.

Of late, there has been a growing interest in how non-Western peoples have been and continue to be depicted in the literatures of the West. In anthropology, attention has focused on the range of literary devices employed in ethnographic texts to distance and exoticize the subjects of discourse, and ultimately contribute to their subordination. This study eschews the tendency to regard virtually all depictions of non-Western "others" as amenable to the same kinds of "orientalist" analysis, and argues that the portrayals found in such writings must be examined in their particular historical and political settings.These themes are explored by analyzing the voluminous literature by military authors who have written and continue to write about the "Gurkhas", those legendary soldiers from Nepal who have served in Britain's Imperial and post-Imperial armies for more than two centuries. The author discovers that, instead of exoticizing them, the military writers find in their subjects the quintessential virtues of the European officers themselves: the Gurkhas appear as warriors and gentlemen. However, the author does not rest here: utilizing a wealth of literary, historical, ethnographic sources and the results of his own fieldwork, he investigates the wider social and cultural contexts in which the European chroniclers of the Gurkhas have been nurtured.

Among the legacies of the colonial encounter are any number of contemporary ‘mixed-race' populations, descendants of the offspring of sexual unions involving European men (colonial officials, traders, etc.) and local women. These groups invite serious scholarly attention because they not only challenge notions of a rigid divide between colonizer and colonized, but beg a host of questions about continuities and transformations in the postcolonial world. This book concerns one such group, the Eurasians of India, or Anglo-Indians as they came to be designated. Caplan presents an historicized ethnography of their contemporary lives as these relate both to the colonial past and to conditions in the present. In particular, he forcefully shows that features which theorists associate with the postcolonial present — blurred boundaries, multiple identities, creolized cultures — have been part of the colonial past as well. Presenting a powerful argument against theoretically essentialized notions of culture, hybridity and postcoloniality, this book is a much-needed contribution to recent debates in cultural studies, literary theory, anthropology, sociology as well as historical studies of colonialism, ‘mixed-race' populations and cosmopolitan identities.

Among the legacies of the colonial encounter are any number of contemporary ‘mixed-race' populations, descendants of the offspring of sexual unions involving European men (colonial officials, traders, etc.) and local women. These groups invite serious scholarly attention because they not only challenge notions of a rigid divide between colonizer and colonized, but beg a host of questions about continuities and transformations in the postcolonial world. This book concerns one such group, the Eurasians of India, or Anglo-Indians as they came to be designated. Caplan presents an historicized ethnography of their contemporary lives as these relate both to the colonial past and to conditions in the present. In particular, he forcefully shows that features which theorists associate with the postcolonial present — blurred boundaries, multiple identities, creolized cultures — have been part of the colonial past as well. Presenting a powerful argument against theoretically essentialized notions of culture, hybridity and postcoloniality, this book is a much-needed contribution to recent debates in cultural studies, literary theory, anthropology, sociology as well as historical studies of colonialism, ‘mixed-race' populations and cosmopolitan identities.