A History of the Mahrattas v1.c5.s3.20

v1.c5.s3.20

‘In the process of evolution a religious group or sect may develop into a congeries of occupational groups or castes, as we find in the case of the Lingāyats, a religious community found in the Bombay and Madras Presidencies, peculiar for the worship and wearing of the *linga*.¹ A tribe may similarly evolve caste-divisions. Marāthās are neither a caste nor a sect. They are more correctly a tribe in origin, which has developed caste divisions.²