Social Institutions - Continuity and Change Test - 1

Like any Indian, you already know that caste is the name of an ancient social institution that has been part of Indian history and culture for thousands of years. But like any Indian living in the twenty-first century, you also know that something called caste is definitely a part of Indian society today. 

Jati is the word most commonly used to refer to the institution of caste in Indian languages. However, it is interesting to note that, increasingly, Indian language speakers are beginning to use the English word caste. The precise relationship between varna and jati has been the subject of much speculation and debate among scholars.

These divisions were not very elaborate or very rigid, and only four major divisions were not determined by birth.

Caste groups are endogamous, i.e.marriage is restricted to members of the group.

Castes also involve sub-divisions within themselves, i.e., castes almost always have sub-castes, and sometimes sub-castes may also have sub-castes.

Further, this societal whole or system is a hierarchical rather than egalitarian system. Each caste occupies a distinct place, and an ordered rank a particular position in a ladder-like arrangement going from highest to lowest. The hierarchical ordering of castes is based on the distinction between purity and pollution.

In 1947 India got independence.

Some scholars argue that what we know today as caste is more a product of colonialism than of ancient Indian tradition.

The 1901 census under the direction of herbert Risley was particularly important as it sought to collect information on the social hierarchy of caste, i.e., the social order of precedence in particular regions, as to the position of each caste in the rank order.

Colonialism brought about major changes in the institution of caste. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the institution of caste underwent fundamental changes during the colonial period.

Urbanization and the conditions of collective living in the cities made it difficult for the caste-segregated patterns of social interaction to survive.

Perhaps the most common of these are Sanskritisation and dominant caste, both contributed by m.n Srinivas but discussed extensively and criticized by other scholars. Sanskritisation refers to a process whereby members of a (usually middle or lower) caste attempt to raise their own social status by adopting the ritual, domestic and social practices of a caste (or castes) of higher status.

The capitalist economy ’s drive to exploit forest resources and minerals and to recruit cheap labor brought tribal societies in contact with the mainstream society a long time ago. However, the colonial era ’s early anthropological work had described tribes as isolated cohesive communities. Colonialism had already brought irrevocable changes in their world.

The industrial areas of Jharkhand have suffered a dilution of the tribal share of the population. Similar pressure is being felt in Arunachal Pradesh. Today, this interactional process is formed rather than any primordial (Orginal, ancient) characteristics peculiar to tribes. Because the interaction with the mainstream has generally been on terms unfavorable to the tribal communities, many tribal identities today are centered on ideas of resistance and opposition to the overwhelming force of the non-tribal world —the positive impact of successes.