Emergence of States in a Tribal Society: Oman Under Sa'id Bin Taymur, 1932 1970

This book is a detailed account of how hierarchy has been maintained historically by the Nepali state, affirming the uniqueness of a caste-based social order by bringing outsiders, especially ethnic groups and religious minorities, into the caste fold. Focusing on the contemporary state of Dalits, the community that was and is put at the bottom of a very hierarchical social order in Nepal, the author argues that the traditional caste-based social order is still prevalent in the “new” Nepal even after the recent socio-political and constitutional changes.

This book is a detailed account of how hierarchy has been maintained historically by the Nepali state, affirming the uniqueness of a caste-based social order by bringing outsiders, especially ethnic groups and religious minorities, into the caste fold. Focusing on the contemporary state of Dalits, the community that was and is put at the bottom of a very hierarchical social order in Nepal, the author argues that the traditional caste-based social order is still prevalent in the “new” Nepal even after the recent socio-political and constitutional changes.