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Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development
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<p><i>Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development</i> was a paper read by <a href="/facts/B._R._Ambedkar/TH8yhMN8">B. R. Ambedkar</a> at an anthropological seminar of <a href="/facts/Alexander_Goldenweiser_(anthropologist)/RAv8Dz7v">Alexander Goldenweiser</a> in New York on 9 May 1916. It was later published in volume XLVI of <i><a href="/facts/Indian_Antiquary/sLueudYl">Indian Antiquary</a></i> in May 1917. In the same year, Ambedkar was awarded a PhD degree by <a href="/facts/Columbia_University/Hlf1gw53">Columbia University</a> on this topic. In 1979, the Education Department of the Government of <a href="/facts/Maharashtra/4hAVYlb4">Maharashtra</a> (Bombay) published this article in the collection of Ambedkar's writings and speeches Volume 1; later, it was translated in many languages. </p><p>In the paper, Ambedkar made a presentation a social phenomenon that emerged from the strategy of the <a href="/facts/Brahmin/V3qxzHAP">Brahmins</a> who adopted a strictly endogamous matrimonial regime, leading the other groups to do the same in order to emulate this self-proclaimed elite. He said that "the superposition of endogamy on exogamy means the creation of caste". </p>