The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India, Volume 3 is part of R. V. Russell’s comprehensive ethnographic survey of the peoples of central India. This volume continues the systematic description of individual tribes and castes, recording their origins, occupations, customs, religion, and social organization.
Compiled during the colonial period, the work is a vast storehouse of ethnographic detail, drawing on official inquiry and local informants. Like other administrative ethnographies of the era, it must be read with awareness of its colonial framework and assumptions. Nonetheless, its wealth of documentation has made it a standard reference for the study of Indian social structure. It remains a major source for the anthropology of South Asia.