The Individual and the Group

First published in1939, The Individual and the Group provides a social and historical study of Hindu-Mohammedan and Anglo-Indian relations. The work’s novelty lies in its analysis demonstrating the intimate interconnection between these two problems. The author feels convinced that a system can be suggested which will eliminate the compromise previously necessitated by the mutual incompatibility of class and caste systems, and he further indicates the lines on which each problem ought to be addressed.

Following responsible administrative experience as a young man in one of the independent states of India, B.K. Mallik spent twelve years at Oxford engaged in philosophical studies in companionship with the best minds of the English post-war generation. He returned to India in 1923 to reassume social and administrative responsibilities. Upon returning to England just over a year later, he wrote this book as preliminary to the metaphysic of his philosophy, which he was then preparing for publication.

Although in close intellectual sympathy with leaders of modern Indian life and thought, such as Professor Radhakrishnan and Jawaharlal Nehru, Mallik’s own position remains quite distinct from that of any of them.