Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c4.s2.t5.4

c4.s2.t5.4

With such materials as are enumerated above it is obviously impossible to give a complete picture of the society in Hindustan. A consoling thought under such conditions suggests itself, that in the more or less static condition of Indian society a student of social history can always check his facts and conclusions by comparing them with present-day survivals, and thus succeed in giving a more complete picture of the past in the light of the present observations. Though generally helpful, such a view of Indian history is subject to two reservations. The intervening period in our case covers the social developments of about four centuries and includes the operation of a new social force from the industrialized West. It is not unlikely that the events of the intervening period have succeeded in giving a new social meaning and content to the growing complexity of social phenomena in India. Secondly, except for the Imperial Gazetteer of India, a few writers like Crooke and Grierson and a few government reports, no systematic and scientific social survey of India has been undertaken. This work awaits the attention of experienced folklorists and of sociologists in general. I have given references to present-day survivals from the modern works in footnotes where necessary.