Caste consciousness entirely replaces any Hindu consciousness of kind

Evidence

Each caste not only dines among itself and marries among itself, but each caste prescribes its own distinctive dress. What other explanation can there be of the innumerable styles of dress worn by the men and women of India, which so amuse the tourists? Indeed the ideal Hindu must be like a rat living in his own hole, refusing to have any contact with others. There is an utter lack among the Hindus of what the sociologists call ‘consciousness of kind’. There is no Hindu consciousness of kind. In every Hindu the consciousness that exists is the consciousness of his caste. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 873

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces and applies the sociological term ‘consciousness of kind’ to the Indian situation.
• QUESTION: Whether dress as caste-marker predates colonial codification of ‘caste dress’ is worth chasing.