The Ancient and Medieval Architecture of India: A Study of Indo-Aryan Civilisation c22.15

c22.15

culture from degradation by contact with the semi-civilised races which formed the substrata of the population. All systems have their abuses, but without the caste system Indo-Aryan civilisation would probably have been obliterated long ago. Whether the rigidity of the system, which became more intense as the forces which tended to disintegrate Indo-Aryan society grew stronger, should under modern conditions be relaxed, is quite another question.