Under the Shadow of the Cross
Subtitle: A Study of the Nature and Processes  of Christianisation among the  Uraon of Central India
Contributors: Besides, you may refer to  two other similar contributions : 1/ Impact of Christianity on the Uraon of the Chainpur Belt in Chotanagpur : An analysis of Its Cultural Processes -- By Keshari N. Sahay, American Anthropologist, Vol.70, No.5, October,1968; ,The Council of Social and Cultural Research, Bihar and UGC's Centre of Advanced Study, Department of Anthropology, Ranchi University, Ranchi, 1994
Edition: First edition
Publisher: Institute of Social Research and Applied Anthropology
Published: 1976
Place of publication: Calcutta
Number of pages: 539
Work titles: The study of Christianization process on the Uraon (Oraon) of Ranchi District, Chotanagpur (Bihar), India.
Description: (Dr. Vidyarthl's brief comments from Foreword) : 
'Even though Christianity has been one of the oldest as well as a powerful agency of culture change among the tribals, unfortunately, any anthropological work relating to this aspect of change has beeen terribly lacking. In this background, Dr. K.N.Sahay's book makes a pioneering attempt to present the first authentic, systemetic and scientific account of the working of Christian Missionaries among the Uraon (Oraon), a major tribe of Chotanagpur  in Central India. 
In fact, the Uraon has been one of the most studied tribes of Chotanagpur. It was in 1915 that S.C.Roy presented the first monograph on this tribe (The Oraon of Chotanagpur) followed by another detailed study of the religious customs of the tribe in 1928 (Oraon Religion and Customs) by the same author, and some other authors. 
Dr. Sahay's book constitutes the latest monograph  on the Uraon but it makes a significant departure from the earlier traditional studies. It is a problem-oriented and thoroughly analytical study which makes a most comprehensive appraisal of the impact of Christianity on the life and culture of the Uraon. It is a study which is rich not only in ethnography and substantive details but also in its methodological and theoretical leads. It has used several new field techniques like detailed biographies, and Schedule--cum--questionnaires, with great success.   
Dr. Sahay's book is a revised and compressed version of the Doctoral thesis  submitted to Ranchi University in 1963. Being myself a guide, of this thesis, I had the opportunity to watch it closely in its various stages of preparation and I have no hesitation in stating that the substantive data and the methodological and theoretical leads and explanations given in this work are of an exceptionally hidh order and it can be rated with any other first-rate thesis presented in any of the Indian or foreign Universities. It was such an appraisal that the late Professor E.E. Evans-Pritchard of Oxford University, rated it as an "outstanding contribution to Indian ethnography", which Professor S.C.Dube, another examiner, labelled it as an "original work which breaks new ground". 
Dr. Sahay's book is based on an intensive and microscopic study of a set of four Uraon villages -- Roman Catholic Uraon convert, Lutheran (Protestant) Uraon convert, Predominant Sarna (non-Christian) Uraon village, and a mixed village inhabiting all the three and  few other communities -- from interior Gumla area under Ranchi district (Bihar).  To his great credit the author did field-work and stayed right in these villages for more than eighteen months. 
The book makes an exhaustive and rich treatment of the subject-matter and runs fifteen basic chapters besides an useful Introduction. It makes a very wide range of coverage of the life and culture of the Uraon right from the early Christian movement in Chotanagpur to the transformations ... To be precise, this study is rich both from substantive and theoretival points of view and the author has definitely made a very positive contribution to the science of man in general and to Indian  Tribal Ethnography in particular ...
(Besides the substantive study), speaking at the level of abstraction and generality, this study leads to discover a series of five cultural processes viz. Oscillation, Scruitinization, Combination, Indigenization and Retroversion.  An attempt has been made to associate these processes loosely with beginning or later  phases in the growth of Christianity. 
Lastly, it must be said that  it is a meticulous piece of original and pioneering research in the field of Indian Social  Anthropology bearing the mark of impressive field-work and analytical orientation. Written in an uniformly mature, lucid, and graceful style, one also gets impressed by the extent of restrain and caution which the author has maintained in dealing with sensitive themes connected with Christianity.
Notes: Contents --
Foreword (Dr. L.P.Vidyarthi, Guide); Acknowledgement; Introduction
Chapter I Genesis and Development  of the Early Christian Movement in Chotanagpur;
Chapter II From the Sarna Religion to Christianity : A Phase of Transformation;
Chapter  III Spiritual Belief;
Chapter IV Festivals and Religious Processions; 
Chapter V Socio--Religious Organization  in Christian Villages;
Chapter VI Life Cycle : Birth Rites and Infancy; 
Chapter VII Life Cycle : Childhood and The Process of Socialization;
Chapter VIII Life Cycle :  Marriage  and Ceremonies;
Chapter IX Life Cycle : Family Life;
Chapter X Life Cycle : Death Rites and Conception  of the After life;
Chapter XI Personal and Social Life;
Chapter XII Dance, Dormitory and Sex Life;
Chapyer XIII Economic Life; 
Chapter XIV Mutual Attitudes  and Social Interactionns among the Catholics, Lutherans, and the  Sarna Uraon;
Appendices: Life Histories (10); The Bhajan (9) ; Bibliography; Index
Table of contents: class: section