ABSTRACT
The localized system of production of food grains and other necessities based on a caste-wise division of labour is fast breaking down all over rural India, and is likely to disappear in the near future. An understanding of urban caste is therefore imperative for a comprehensive understanding of caste. Many considered caste as essentially rural, or as having its origin in rural society, and therefore rural even if it occurred in cities. The village was a small community divided into a relatively small number of castes; the population of each caste was also small, sometimes only one or two households, with little possibility of existence of sub-castes. With the growing emphasis on individual caste, its identity emerged as the prime characteristic of caste during the 20th century. What shape it takes during the 21st century should be considered a prime sociological problem.
