London Patidars: A Case Study in Urban Ethnicity

First Published in 1980, London Patidars presents the case study of the Patidars, a landowning caste from the Indian state of Gujarat, in London. Patidars being the landowning caste has taken over much of the ideology of the merchant castes. This ‘merchant ideal’ is a central part of their self-image. It is an incitement to initiative in business and to some extent their actual economic behaviour does reflect the ideal. But the cases studied do not all conform to this ideal, and they pose q...