To Plough or Not To Plough? A Newar Dilemma

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Pacific ViewpointVolume 22, Issue 2 p. 99-131 ArticleFree Access To Plough or Not To Plough? A Newar Dilemma Taboo And Technology in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal* Peter Webster, Peter WebsterSearch for more papers by this author Peter Webster, Peter WebsterSearch for more papers by this author First published: 01 May 1981 https://doi.org/10.1111/apv.222001Citations: 1 † * This article is a revised and lengthened version of a paper given on 19 October 1978 to a seminar at the Institute of Nepalese and Asian Studies, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal by kind invitation of the Director, Professor Dor Bahadur Bista. The paper generated some very helpful discussion, and I am indebted to many of the participants, some of them Newars, for their most constructive criticism and suggestions. Another draft was read to the Department of Sociology and Anthropology while on a brief visit to the University of Kent in February 1979 and I am grateful to Professor Paul Stirling for arranging this. I must also thank the History Department, Victoria University of Wellington, for a lively seminar with participants from a number of disciplines shortly before the paper was submitted for publication. The fieldwork was carried out in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. One complete agricultural year was spent in the valley: six months in 1972/73, and six months in 1978, on Refresher Leave from Victoria University of Wellington with grants from the Internal Research Committee. AboutSectionsPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat References 1Bista, Dor Bahadur, 1967, People of Nepal, Kathmandu, Ratna Pustak Bhandar. 2Bhatt, D.D., 1970, Natural history and economic botany of Nepal, Kathmandu, H.M.G. Press. 3Brook-Northey, W. and Morris, C.G., 1928, The Gurkhas, their manners, customs and country, London, The Bodley Head. 4Campbell, A., 1834, The agriculture and rural economy of the Valley of Nepal, Transactions of the agricultural and horticultural society of India, 4, 59– 175. 5Chattopadhyay, K.P., 1923, An essay on the history of Newar culture, Journal and Proceedings of the Asiatic society of Bengal, 19, 465– 560. 6Diener, P. and Robkin, E.L., 1978, Ecology, evolution and the search for cultural origins: the question of Islamic pig prohibition, C.A., 19, 493– 540. 7Dumont, L.1972, Homo Hierarchicus, London, Paladin Books. 8Hamilton, R.D., 1818, An account of the kingdom of Nepal, Edinburgh. 9Harris, Marvin, 1966, The cultural ecology of India’s sacred cattle, Current Anthropology, 7, 51– 66. 10Harris, Marvin, 1977, Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches, London, Fontane. 11Harris, Marvin, 1978, Cannibals and Kings: the Origins of Cultures, New York, Vintage Books. 12Harris, Marvin, 1979, Cultural Materialism, New York, Random House. 13Hosken, Fran, P., 1974, The Kathmandu Valley Towns, New York, Weatherhill. 14Hunter, WW., 1896, Life of Brian Houghton Hodgson — British Resident at the Court of Nepal, London, John Murray. 15Kirkpatrick, Col., 1811, An Account of the Kingdom of Nepal, London. 16Lévi Strauss, Claude, 1968, Structural Anthropology, London, Allen Lane. 17Malla, U.M., 1972, Agricultural conditions in the Kathmandu Valley for the last 150 years, Himalayan Review, 5, 61– 72. 18Malla, U.M., 1971, Geomorphology of the Kathmandu Valley, Himalayan Review, 4, 61– 76. 19Miles, Douglas, 1979, The Finger knife and Oskham’s razor: a problem in Asian culture history and economic anthropology, American Ethnologist. 20Nepali, Gopal Singh, 1965, The Newars — an Ethno-Sociological Study of a Himalayan Community, Bombay, United Asia Publications. 21 Physical Development Plan of the Kathmandu Valley, 1969, H.M.G. of Nepal. 22Ross, E.B., 1978, Food taboos, diet, and hunting strategy: the adoption to animals in Amazon cultural ecology, C.A., 19, 1– 36. 23Rosser, Colin, 1966, Social mobility in the Newar caste system, in C.Von Furer-Haimendorf ed., Caste and Kin in Nepal, India and Ceylon, Bombay, Asia Publishing House. 24Simoons, F.J., 1979, Questions in the sacred cow controversy, C.A., 20, 467– 493. 25Srinivas, M.N., 1952, Religion and society among the Coorgs of South India, Oxford Univ. Press. 26Srinivas, M.N., 1967, Social change in modern India, Berkeley, Univ. of California Press. Citing Literature Volume22, Issue2May 1981Pages 99-131 ReferencesRelatedInformation