ABSTRACT
This chapter presents what is probably the first attempt at regionalization of the pattern of caste for any large area of India. It explains and illustrates some key variables associated with caste which were considered in the regionalization process and which are regarded as important in and of themselves. The chapter presents what is thought to be the first systematic attempt at a holistic mapping of those variations in the important, but arbitrarily delimited, area of the North Indian Plain. The number of variables—of kind and of degree—which have potential utility in the study and delimitation of caste regions is quite large, and choices of those which are most significant are bound to be more or less arbitrary. The major caste regions recognized are identified by letters A through E and the subregions by suffixed Arabic numerals.
