Collier's New Encyclopedia

A complete general encyclopedia of 1921 — the world as it was understood just after the Great War, from Aachen to Zwingli, across twelve volumes and six thousand pages.

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Pariah

in southern India, one of that section of the community with which even the lowest recognized castes will not eat, though there are Hindus inferior even to the pariahs. The latter are Turanian, and originally constituted that section of the aborigines of the S. of India who submitted to the Aryan and other conquerors during the successive invasions of the land. Many pariahs are servants of Europeans, hence more civilized than the castes above them; and a number of them have embraced Christianity.

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