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Vol.
i Anthropology for Civil Services EXamination

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' <Socio-Cultural, Phy$i¢ 1
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G. Kar -,c, M.A., f Ph.DJ ;\nthroµojogy

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Indian Arithropology
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Table of Contents
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1.1 EVOLUTION OF INDIAN CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION ......... ;...................................................................... 7

PREHISTORIC - PALEOLITHIC, MESOLITHIC, NEOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC-CHALCOLITHIC ..................................................... 7
/.
;_.-· PALEOLITHIC CUL TURES ....................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Lower Paleolithic ................................................................................................................................................................................ 7
Middle Paleolithic ..................................................................................... ;.......................................................................................... 9
Upper Paleolithic......... :......... :................... :...................................................................................................................................... 1O
........................................................................................................................................................................
fy1ESOLITHIC CULTURE 11
.. : NEOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC - CHALCOLITHIC CULTURE-............................................................................................................. 12
PROTOHISTORIC- INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION: PRE-i-IARAPPAN, HARAPPAN AND POST-HARAPPAN CULTURES ..... 16
Pre or Early Harappan Cultures ........................................................................................................ :....................................... 18
Harappan Culture ......................................................... :.................................................................................................................. 21
Post or Later Harappan Cultures ..................................................................................................................................... ·......... 29
, / 6 N T R I B U T I O N O F T R I B A L CULTY!\Js, JO INDIAN CIVILIZATION ......................................................................... 33
: 1.2 PALEOANTHROPOLOGICAL EVIDENCES FROM INDIA WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SIWALIKS

AND NARMADA BASIN .................................. -............................................................................................................. 34
RAMAPITHECUS .................... ·.................................. ·.............................................................................. -. ................... ·....................... 34
·
SIVAPITHECUS ........ ..-.· ........................................................ ............................................ ·......................... ·.................. ·................. ·.... 35
NARMADA MAN ........................................................................................................................................ -. ......................................... 3 6
1·.3 ETHNO:..ARCHAEOLOGY IN INDIA ......................................................................................................... .......... 38

THE CONCEPT OF ETHNOARCHEOLOGY ................................................. ;.................................................................. ....... :........ _.. ... 38
2. DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF INDIA .................................................. ................................................................. 40

ETHNIC AND LINGUISTIC ELEMENTS IN INDIAN POPULATION AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION ................... , ............................... 40
ETHNIC E L E M E N T S IN I N D I A N P O P U L A T I O N ............................................................................................... ;................... 42
LINGUISTIC. E L E M E N T S IN INDIAN O P U L A T I O N .................................................................................................. :..... '... 48
INDIAN P O P U L A T I O N - F A C T O R S I N F L U E N C I N G ITS STRUCTURE A N D G R O W J ' H ........................................... 50
EVALUATION O F I N D I A ' S P O P U L A T I O N P O L I C Y :............................................................ ..... :............................. ·.............. 65
3.1 STRUCTURE AND NATURE OF TRADITIONAL INDIAN SOCIAL SYSTEM ............................. ................ 79.
VARN.A ...................................................................................................................................................................... ·.·· ........... ·........... 7 9 .
ASRAMAS·AN·D P U R U S H A R T H A S ................................................................................................................................................ 82
K A R M A A N D R E B I R T H ............................................................................. ·............................. :....... .- ·.. .-....................................... 87
R I N A .................................. ·................. -.. ..... ,.,,· j· ;.,,\..,. . .· . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .-.. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .·. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,.....·.. . . . 1............................ 90
3.2 CASTE SYSTEM IN I.NDIA ................................................................... ·....................... ................. ;..... ·...'................ .91
STRUCTURE AND CHARACTERISTICS ............. :.. :............ :........................................................... :........................... :.... -. ........................ 9 i
FEATURES OF CASTE SYSTEM ................. '.......... H. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .; . . . . ....93
..
VARNA AND CASTE ................... ·.............................................................................. ,, .............................................. ·............................. 94

THEORIES OF ORIGIN OF CASTE-. ..................................... ;.......... , ........................................................................... ................... '.;... ... 5
·
DOMINANT CASTE ............. ·................................................................................................... ·............................................................. 97
CASTE MOBILITY - CONTINUITY AND CHANG ........................ ................... ... '...... :.: .. :........ ........................ ....... ;.............. :........ 99
THE FUTURE OF CASTE SYSTEM ...................................................................:� ... :. uo;····'°·············· .. ····'.··· ............................... ou.... 102
THE JAJMANI SYSTEM .......... · ........................ : ....................................... ··...:··:... ·. .-· .•·.. .- .. ·..• ·..• .... ·............... ·.................................. 105.
·
TRIBE CASTE CONTIN{JUM ......................................................... ·... ·.. .: .. ·.. -.:... ·................................................................................. 109
3.3 SACRED COMPLEX AN:µ NATURE MAN sr1mTcoMPLEx. ................................................................ ••114

SACRED COMPLEX· ................................ - ·.... ..-.......... ·............................................................................................................ :........... 114
NATURE MAN SPIRIT COMPLEX .......... :.:;:•..: :... :m'........ : . .................................... :·............ ;........................... ,.............................. 116
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Anthropology Paper 02 - Volume 03
3 . 4 I M P A C T O F B U D D H I S M , J A I N I S M , I S L A M A N D C H R I S T I A N I T Y p N I N D I A N S O C I E T Y ..................... 1 1 9
I M P A C T OF B U D D H I S M ................................................................... ;........................ _................................................................ 1 1 9
I M P A C T OF JAINISM .............................................................................. ................................................................. ................... 121
I M P A C T OF ISLA.M ........................................................................................................................................................................ 122
I M P A C T OF CHRISTIANITY ...................................................................................................................................................... 125
4. EMERGENCE AND.GROWTH OF ANTHROPOLOGY IN INDIA ........................................................... ........ 127

5.1 VILLAGE STUDIES IN INDIA .................................................................................................... ......................... 133
SiGN.IFICANCE OF VILLAGE STUDIES IN INDIA ............................................................................................................ :................ 13;3
INDIAN VILLAGE AS A SOCIAL SYSTEM ......................................................................................................................................... 1 3 6
TRADITIONAL AND CHANGING PATTERNS OF_SETTLEMENT AND INTER-CASTE RELATIONS ............................................ 141
AGRARIAN RELATIONS IN INDIAN VILLAGES AND CHANGES .................................................................................................... 145
IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON INDIAN VILLAGES .................................................................................................................... 1 4 6
5.2 LINGUISTIC AND RELIGIOUS M NORITIES: THEIR SOCIAL, POJ_.ITICALAND ECONOMIC STATUS
........ :............... ·................................... ·........... ·......... · .. ·.............................. ,__.. ,......... · ....... -.......................... ·.- ............ 150
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5.3 iNDJGI;:NOUS \ ND EXOGENOUS PROTISSES OF SOCIAL CHANGE IN INDIA ...................................... 163
· ·sA.NsKR1t1ZAT1o·N·· ... ·......................... · .... ·............ · .................................................................. ·. _:......... ·................................... 163
·. W E S T E R N I Z A T I O N ............... •.. ·...... ·•. ·............................................................. ·...... ·...... ·.... · ..................................................... 165
MODERNIZATION ............................................................................................................................................................................. 1 6 6
INTERPLAY OF LITTLE AND GREAT TRADITIONS ........................................................ .... :.. ;.-: ........ :................................. .......... 1 6 9
PANCHAYATJ.RAJ AND SOCIA CHANGE .................................................................................... ... ............................................... 172
MEDIAAND SOCIALCHANGE ................................................................................................................................................. ........ 1 7 5
· 6.1 TRIBAL SITUATION IN INDIA ................. _................................. ....................................................................... 177

B I O G E N E T I C V A R I A B I L I T Y O F T R I B E S I N I N D I A ........................................................................................................... 1 7 7
LINGUISTIC C L A S S I F I C A T I O N ........................... _...................... ;......................................... :....... .......... , .................................. 17 8
S O C I O - E C O N O M I C C H A R A C T E R S T I C S O F T R I B A L POPULATIONS IN I N D I A ................... :................................. 179
6.2 PROBLEMS OF TRIB_AL COMMUNITIES .......................................................... ................·.. ;......... ....·....... ...... 18.6
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LAND ALIENATION ............................................................................................................................. _............................................. 1 6
POVERTY AND INDEBTEDNESS ............... ;.................................................. ............................................ :................... :................... 1 9 2
•. L o w LITERACY AND POOR EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES ............................................................................................. , ................ 1 9 4
UNEMPLOYMENT.AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT ............................................................................. ................... , .................... , ....... 1 9 7
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P R O B L E M S O F H E A L T H A N D H Y G I E N E I N T R I B A L POPULATIONS ...................................................... :•. L ........... 1 9 9
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6.3 DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS, FOREST POLICY, URBANIZATION'& INDUSTRIALIZATION ...:..-· ....... 201
DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS, THEIR IMPACT ON TRIBAL DISPLACEMENT AND REHABILITATION .......................... ;............. 2 0 1
DEVELOPMENT OF FOREST PO.LICY AND.TRIBES ............................. .................. :........................................ .............................. 206_
IMPACT OF URBANIZATION AND INDUST IALIZATIONON.TRIBAL POPULATIONS .............................................................. 2 1 6
7.1 PROBLEMS OF EXPLOITATION AND DEPRIVATION & CONSTITUTIONAL SAFEGUARDS ............ 221
· -
. TRIBES.........................................................
C ONSTITUTIONAL AFEGUARDS ..FOR SCHEDULED CASTES AND SCHEDULED . 227
CONSTITUTIONAL SAFEGUARDS AND WELFARE OF OTHER BACKWARD CLASSES IN IN DIA ......................... ..................... 2 4 3
W E L F A R E O F D E N O T I F I E D C O M M U N I T I E S I N I N D I A . ..................................................... :........................................... 2 4 7
7.2 SOCIAL CHANGE AND CONTEMPORARY TRIBAL SOCIETIES ................................................................. zso

IMPACT OF MODERN DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS, DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS AND WELFARE MEASURES ON TRIBAL
AND WEAKER SECTIONS ........... ;...................................................................................... _ ....... _ _ _ _ _ _ ....... :............. 2 5 0
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7.3 ETHNICITY, E T H N I C C O N F L I C T S A N D P O L I T I C A L D E V E L O P M E N T S .................................................. 254

CONCEPT OF ETHNICITY ........................ :: :.. :.. :'.'.' ... !'.......................................................................................................................... 254
ETHNIC CONFLICTS AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS ............. :................ ................................................................................ 256
REGIONALISM ANO DEMAND FOR AUTONOMY ........................................................ :.................................................................. 258
TRIBALISM AND PSEUDO-TRIBALISM ................................... :....................................................................................................... 260
UNREST AMONG TRIBAL COMMUNITIES....................................................................................................................................... 261
SOCIAL CHA_NGE A 0NG TRIBES DURING COLONIAL AND POST INDEPENDENT INDIA ............................................... , ...... 272
8.1 IMPACT O F H I N D V I S M , B U D D H I S M , I S L A M A N D C H R I S T I A N I T Y O N T R I B A L S O C I E T I E S ........... 273
8.3 TRIBE 1ND NATION-STATE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TRIBAL COMMUNITIES IN INDIA AND
OTHER·COUNT·RIES ............................................................................ ;........................................ :............................. 276
9.1 TRlBALADMINISTRATION .............................................................................................................................. 290
HISTORY OF ADMINISTRATION OF TRIBAL AREAS ..................................................................................................................... 290
PROGRAMS. F O R . D E V E L O P M E N T O F S C H E D U L E D TRIBES ....................................................................................... 295
APPROACHES T O T R I B A L W E L F A R E A N D DEVELOPMENT .................. :.................................................................. 307
AN-ANA YT{CAJ;REYIEWOFTRIBAL OEVELOPMENT .............................................................................................. 313
PRfMI:T!YE T iB rp o'.UPS
•. ;............:;.................................. :................ :... ···············-··; .................................................................. 318
ROLE:pf.NGOsJN_TRIBAL I>EV LOPMENT ................................ -. ..................................................................................... 326
9.ZRdL btA1ff 'ilhP0Locv1N TRIBAL AND RURAL D E V E L O P M E N T ................................................. 3 3 6

9.3 CbNTRIBfrtIONS·OFANfiiROPOLOGYTO THE.UNDERSTANDING.OF REGIONALISM,
·COM UNALiSM A N h ETHNIC AND. POLITICAL MOVEMENTS ..................................................................... 343
REGIONALISM.· ....... · ......................... .-· ........................................................................................................ ·.................................... 343
COMMUNALISM ................................................................. ·................................................ : .. ·.......................................................... 3 45
ETHNIC AND·.P0LITICAL MOVEMENTS. ................................................................. ;... ;................................................................... 351 . ·.
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1.1 EVOLUTION OF INDIAN CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION . , ?-· ..
Ever since the human beings have evolved, 99% of their existence on the earth is characterized by
hunting and gathering. This implies that humans were living off the resources of nature before they
started producing food, about 10000 years ago. This total dependence of human beings on nature during
a major part of their existence had resulted in group-living.
There are many areas in the world today where certain populations still live as hunter-gatherers. The
study of such simple societies in the present day by anthropologists has enormously helped the
archeologists who try to reconstruct extinct Paleolithic cultures. Ethnographic research in the present
primitive societies has provided useful insights into the lifestyles and living conditions of
hunting/gathering societies. Reconstruction of extinct cultures requires a multidisciplinary
l
approach and
as such the study of stone tools, the technology used to manufacture them:1Ie f oral and fauna((animal)
remains and art ap.d architecture provide us with meaningful insights into the economy and society of the
prehistoric peoples.
Prehistoric - Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic and Neolithic-Cha/eolithic

'·':·' ·: !,
Paleolithic Cultures
Palaeolithic culture can be defined as the cultural debris recovered from the entire period of Pleistocene,
i.e., approximately 3 . million years to 10000. B.C. There is no concrete evidence as to when exactly the
Pleistocene periodh a s begun::=fne Pleistocene'7'°'which precedes ·the Holocene,· the current geological
period, is charact rized by major climatic fluctuations.
Once our sub-human ancestors had acquired the knowledge and skill to produce crude tools that often
looked like stones shaped under the natural condition and chipped, we can say that the process of
. cultural development has started.
Man was in the form of a semi-erect, ape-like creature in more or less similar statistics of
Australopithecus africanus.
The research in Palaeolithic cultunds more than a century old since Robert Brucefoot discovered f![ t
stone tool in 1863. The research corn:erning the stone cultures in' Itidia de elop d only after the Yal -
Cambridge expedition in 1935 led by De Terra and Patterson .
The Palaeolithic in India, for quite some time, is considered to have only two divisions:
1) Early Stone Age or Lower Palaeolithic.
2) Middle Stone Age or Middle Palaeolithic. J
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The description of the stone ctilture.s'.will not hold· true for the Indian context This i mainly because,
though the equivalents o f the Lower and Middle Pala olithic are discovered in major parts of the India,
the cultures that followed have no evidences whatsoever in. this country; Many hypotheses have been
made regarding the absence o f some· tools· characteristic of the· Upper Palaeolithic; especially the ·ban
.tools found in Europe.
Lower Paleolithic
Archaeological evidences for Lower Paleolithic were discovered from all over the country with some
exceptions like· the Northern all ial corridor and Kerala. All these evidences were o f stone too is and .no
human fossil evidence has been so far discovered. The L we·r Paleolithic tools were discovered in all sorts
o f geographical terrains like Plateaus, river terraces and ·even hilly slopes.
One characteristic feature· o f Indian Lower Palaeolithic is that there is no uni(o·rmity in the time seql:!ence
o f Q. §.J:lL J!!! ence,
.!ruliI!
bower PalaeoHt k cannot be assigned a_ c, _ ?-11914gLc
sequence
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nor it can be considered as tage cha(acter
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Anth opology Paper 02 · Volume 03
to
The data and information gathered o n the Indian Lower Palaeolithlc is based or:i the study of following fiE
sites: ha
1. Soan valley in the Potwar plateau o f North coast.
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2. Sabarmati Valley, Nagri, Chittorgarh and Didwara in Western India. •• , ' •. ,_.,. .. - • • .., • •• to
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3. Narsingpur and Hoshangabad in Narmada valley o f M.P. ill'

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4. Singrawli basin of U.P. In

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5. Kubara and Kamarpada in Orissa, Sisunia Hills o f Barkura
.. in West Bengal. ; .··. - .. •'" ,··---- --
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6. Kurnool, Giddalur, Karempudu, Nagarjuna Konda and Chinglepet of the Peninsular India. Br
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Amongst all these sites, Soan valley in the Potwar plateau has provided very important evidences o f
Ri
,, . Lower Palaeolithic in India. Deterra and Patterson have excavated. the valley o f Soan River, which is a
. ar
triputary t o - Later on: many resear hes have followed in this r gion. C 2!: pping o_?! _i Q- . Ch
out o f pebbl ere predominant along with a large number of hand\axes and also s_Oine flal.<es.
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The Palaeolithic tools o f the Soan Valley may be divided into four main phases. an
'1) Pre-Soan Af
Pa
'2) Early Soan I11;
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3) .Late Soan na
as
4 J Evolved Soan.
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The ·pre-Soan stratum has r.evealed numerous l1e vily_,,rolled an blonded p_ebbles o f quartzite f
_rock. A cfi
majority o f the·se are split and are in a variety oTshapes Sirice the p r e s e h c e o T m a n a n < h 1s existence a t ot
such a n early date is still not confirmed, the humanworkmanshipon these tools is doul>tf1;1l. There are ev
m a n y schools o f thought regarding t h e contours"oftn'ese'toois wlieth-erthese h vily rolled and blun1, ' an
pebbles are the result o f certain,natural factors or the earliest manifestation ofthi:tnufrian workmanship, In
f
is"s'ilf a .n en ig m a. Tne·e.affy Soari· were resources o f important tools, which 'to.tn_pris d mainly two l\{
types - cho pers a , J>Jlll.!&JJU>ls. T h e choppers and chOPP,,i. g
f if
1ff f i ! J .f! ½ing one sided in_ Tt; -i
cho pp e ·f i foc f'f w o-sig g j p J !t fhOpping t9ols7'lfe i crff n cfio ppers are unifacial while the chopping tools
Lo
are bifrfdal:These ·tools were-used "essentially for chopping and cutting purp.o' es.
Cl:
The fabrication o f these tools -reveals a n unsophisticated technology and. they w e r e also very crude to se
look:at. Early Soan tools are f a d n o r e neqtlJ1a6ric tecI "'a] l t l'.igl'fr 2 Le to the too.ls o f P! J.?,. !.1 ones. an
Moreover, in the Early Soan strata,· t".nf!·1num:lte4t*'ot flake- t.ools has ncreased a n d blades "'"e e alsn ]o,
alt .,
dis o_y ,_ ed, th.ough the i f n il'iftETTr t ) -- '. gh ateanfdh E.g ll Tft t t . of: t , p op le.
fn a_,de to ls. <?f. E !.¥. e cannot b e compared to those o f . '::: E.:an llp per. Pal ?hth1c be -:'!.se the
latter were m n e and other non-lithic materials. · M
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An Early Soan site C aunfra is characterized by the presence o f hand axes, clec3:v., rs · and also cp.oppers
made o u t o f pebbl : tfaf1i es have added an elemenf-of"'linf to Indiafi· Palaeolithic 'f>ecause de
ch
. nowhere, in t h e W<irld choppe·r:c ppin?tools made. o f peb l s. hand aX Sf!!l,4·.-de y rs Wen _Jound
. together .. In the Indian context;'witli''the excepffon"of Soan a discovery has· never been m a d e vaHey:·such nc
Pa
aga'firsome view this feature af-an indication ofco-existence
· · · o f ·
differ nt population :groups characterized
'"··-····· ,. ..... · · ·
b y different tool technologies. - ev
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M\
T e Western part o f the Indian subcontinent has also provided important information on Palaeolithic
ex
Culture in India. Majority o f excavations were carried o·ut in ........,,. .. .,,'"'h"....... cind Raj $ han. Lmver Palaeolithic
tools were found to a large extent in the Chambal valley ........ u... ,• settlements. w e r e discovered in ·an
M'.
excavation carried out in Didwara near Jodhpur'. f'heYools mainly comprised o f choppers. and chopping
. . . .
·,:. .. : ;!\.
.8
3
tools and large hand axes; but there were no evidences of cleavers. The presence of a majority of sites
7
:, near the rivers in Gujarat reveals that-eriVi,r n..,m . JlJ _p_l_qyJ !!.an important role in the choices our ancestors
had for their settlements. · · ·- · · ·
The Soan valley was characterized by glaciations punctuated by inter-glacials, whereas the Narmada
valley was characterised by pluvials a n f interpluvial . In order to do a comparative study, and in order
to understand the influence o'f
'tlie climatic· co-;;ditio. s on human existence, Deterra shifted his area of
interest from Soan to Narmada valley.
In the Narmada Valley, excavations were carried out in the region o f Hoshangabad, near }!1g ?- r. flc t .s t
cleavers,
i
choppe /c qpping tools and large hand axes characterized the tool industry o f Narmada Valley.
i nmpo.rt·a t r-i{il stone .in Indian archaeology is the' discovery o f the skeletal remains o f Homo erectus,
which now is called the N a r m a d a m a n . This is the only skeletal remain of the lower Palaeolithic in India.
"'
Bhimbetka and Adamg rvi." 'iso rev ealed Lower Palaeolithic sites, but were"oITater"cuTiural stages.
PaTaeolithic siteswere also discovered in the Eastern part o f the sub-continent, mainly along the Hill
. Rivers and slopes. In Orissa, two to three sites in the regions o f Mayurganj, Hubara and Kumarpada are of
l . ·
. archaeological significance. Lower Palaeolithic tools found ifl'"'1r:t · pits were discove,red here.
1 . . . ,.v. .. .... :- .. ---:_,,
-Chopper/chopping tools form. a major. itJ -:tif these tools but certain 1ianct'axes a i ,r --sfrrdia'flo
,.:: n· r, . ·r····:"-·J>·.,._-·.-.1-•-_ei•, ..:_o;.,.· ...._,___ f
• _., -· . ·•· ·. :. ·. ---. .,,.·, ··· ···.•.- · •· .•····.· _. • . .·.·· . ,. .- • •* ·• __ .,., ,...,..1...--,---1. ...
e also found. Lower Palaeolithk'site{ we·re also 'd1scoveref '"in Meghalaya

.
1c U n,;,.tool. tec olo· g y
-. .
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and WestBengal (B _nkura ana Birbhun) .
. After the Soan Valley, Peninsular India forms another important source o f information on the Lower
Palaeolithic industry. Since these sites were discovered near Madras, the industry is called M,gs! n c..
ll\, t!Y,.,(4t!ifAW J1 g!-<IJ);<,f'1, g ). It was in 1938 that the first Lower Palaeolithic tools were
discovered from N £,!:.,j.li,¼ ,.Y.. J! X-" £Ch!Qgle ..,,et qJ§.Srtg: of Tamil Nadu. Though many tools similar in
nature to those found in peninsular India were discovered from all over the country, they are still termed
-u
· as the Madrasian industry. This region ·of the sub-continent is characterised by heavy tropical rainfall.
Heavy hand axes and deavers are characteristic to l\1adrasian Industry. Tools like cleavers were
di[f wr; 7b dy;·:.s "g&:Stf;'g}1 _ractice o f hafdngthtrrt l��b�'rri,t>oo" or.
ther ·w oden r
''fra'cie's. This fi'is"'lec o inten·s - re earch.
bec use if hatfing is "sµt>sfail 1atea-wtifi' "'other
evidences, the Madrasian Industry can prove itself to be the first i- - -iest hafting from .'f'n' t nce o'r
anywhere in the world. Andhra Pradesh can be called the "Treastfre'' I I o u s e':···of t"o w e r f_ lae"t>lfthirin
f
lndia""heca·use'·the-·s t es in N garjun K nda and Kareump\ictt'flrve'.;;y1e a e d l r g e deposits· o f \ypicaf
Ma'. rasian industry. tools. Pebbl;·tools were· also· foun o m fie si'tes 1n M;;ilprabha, Ghatprabha and
Tungabhadra in Karnataka, but these tools lacked the sophistication. of.Madrasianin.dustry.
Lower Palaeolithic cultures must have emerged from the earliest days o f the Upper Pleistocene epoch.
CHrt1atic c·onditions s e e m-, tff haye"' ·hecivily influen,ced the choice o f hurrian·settle e'n'ts: A majority o f these
s tti'e-rrienis were fourid
f
- ; i; iy ·rt·; ;i ; -th ; ·· ; t / s ·u·i-ce :-r he ava iG 'b il ti y r a ; ; ater1als seems to be r"
another]mportanf a "c f o r"Triffifo rid r g ·o u r aricestdrs'choice 9f,bahitat. Majority o f the sites reveal that the
altitudes a·n i---·cten·

se·rorestS-. . . ., · ·
lower, .Po.laeolithic II1an preferred: to .!i.Yt:! ear pebble deposits and forest peripherief and never high
v. ·, ¥ .."6Y»/·· .... :,···/¼.
Middle Pa1eolithic
The culture phase that followed the Lower Palaeolithic is termed as Middle Palaeolithic. A clear line of
demarcation between the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic could not be drawn because there is a dearth o f
cle J,._ d. !finite stratig ap y betwe e.nthe two phc1ses. Owing to this reason. the Middle Palaeolithic was
not consider'edas-aiiTndependenrcufiura'fi5'nase1or-afoIJgtime. The time.period during which the Middle
Paleolithic cultural phase extended w a s around 1,00,0QO R C . to 36,000 · B.C. This stage o f the.· human
,.---0
evolution is dominated b y the Neanderthal Man. v.a · ' ·.. ·. . .; • ...,.,.,,,
Middle Palaeolithic i n India was recognised as an independent culturai phase only a f t e r - The
excavations at ya :1;,.!!!. C !Jl ,A?..J!t!>.iYJ-1.__A kal !-2 ;.9_.
were a breakthrough in the recognition of
Middle Palaeolithic. A majority o f the Middle Palaeoifi:nic sites were discovered in the State of
. - "
dif
Maharashtra, especially in the river valleys o f Godavari and its tributaries and these revealed a number o f
cu·
flake tools. Some important sites are s a , adh. !2 h\\' ..r, !t J.p, rc;lh.eI! and .? E _: on .,:. In ga:
addition to these, West Bengal (Barkura-a-nd Purrlia) and Madhya Pradesh are other states that reported
re1
Middle Palaeolithic sites.
A n important r a w material f o r m a k i n g the tools of Lower Palae()Hthic _y..r,..as.,.,_Quar Lt --Jhe Lower M

Palaeolithic cores were made on Ja.sper.,an - chalcedony arid as the M icidh:Palaeolithic m a n s ; i t c h e d his Th
cufff g-pu poses: ._,.,____
, ,-
tool technology to flakes, he star'tecl smootltaruf1igftter material lik_e fl!nt. Hence the resultant tools
th<
were smaller in size''"an'ct'lighter and were usea'?or'
Pie
t
T h e best represented Middle _Palaeolithic regions were M.P. and Bundelkhand where this culture is s)
revealed in its richest form. The cultural remains were discovered from the deposits o f Narmada, Betwa, cu
Shruti, Chembal and .9ther rivers. Scrapers, smaller hand axes cleavers and choppers w e r e some of the Mi
...,., ,, -.,,:;-; .,,,,,_.,,,._.,.. . ·..
..,;;,_,;:,.
stone tools discovered from these regions. Th
··. T h e slopes and cave shelters. in Bhimbetka o f Vindhyachal in. M.P: revealed rich Middle Palaeolithic .Ta
cultural r mains. Bhimbetka was Jirs.L.dl ¼ fL. nd studied ,by V.N. Mishra, an e m i n f J J t J . n Ad
"'
archaeol()gi_st. Around 500. caves ·domed with paintings were d'iscov'eretfnere': ;i:"'ric he sts ou rce or' rock PB ii.
pairi'ffr1gs'.in....the world. 'From the presence o f fabrication debris reveal that the tools w e r e made in the
rock shelters; , - '"t! }IJ ci er w e r e made 0 i; ? S !!: .rtnd other tools f yeBow_quartzite.
Belan valley, ne fal a a .1
1
radesh, also y1e1a'ea a number o f tools belongmg to this cultural us
...... ' .
pnase.. -· Th
Middle Palc!.eolithic tools include scrapers, bores, points. hand axes, ·chopper-chopping. tools along with sp
""
cle_avers and blades. Different assumpfioils have resltl cf" ue to the djscovery o f borers a n d scrapers in a> Or
food gathei·ing cultural phase. H.b. Sankalia believes that these tools might have b e e n used i n the hu
fabrication o f other tools .rriade o f wood, b o n e and antlers and the Indian soil conditions could not have
. . . .. "I.fl:: lJ!,•.c,.Gg:..'.lf(: .¥.,Q . . st1
retained.the fossils o f such. tools. D,,. Penderi :- 01: nature, k owledge o f fire and group hunting are other an
characteristics o f the Indian Middle ITi:liti:: : , ,.,,,,.,1": "! ,,...,_-:- · ·• ·*"••-td·
50
·Upper Paleolithic A
Bt
· T h e cultur l phase that extended between 36000 B.C. to 9000 B.C. is onsidered the U p p e r Palaeolithic. rh
Knowledge on Indian Upper Palaeolithic.is in.adequate and considered only as a technological entity. This
culture period had a warmer climate a n d h a s shown the presence o f fully·evolved humans - H o m o sapien Tt
w h o s e dQ,!!ltIJe!!.Q_J],Ied* f o t h e ' disappeara ce. o f e
fyiiddle 'Palaeolithic Neanderthal M a n . These \.early ec
forms o f Ho mo iai Tens '"were t rm ct:t'fo':?vfagno·rtaf 't thtf Tte: m:E.t o d w.:Wnere th ey_ were·,J t dv
d ,Di tinctive human aces. both cul urallyaµd,biologkally, were e_merging; There w a s a_ wide
range o f bone tool-techqolqgy ,harpoons a n d other fishing tools. Accord.ing to D . K Bhattacharya, m the Tl
1JJ)i) rrat"aeolifllrccultui1iiphas tnere_,, .....lw co
, . . a, s.- .,... e·"·c.i s i v f s t- · r.d. s . . . organisini
. .... hu.rnafr:'group's,in:closeIY'
\/ ecilfns1i1itorganizaHon . . , -.......,. ,,..., ....
\P· ,,__ . It
Wt
T h e sites re ealing the Upper Palaeolithic culture a:re nJgunta.in,.Chitto. o ( gis:triS!..£ f A.P., Bhi betka and
Wt
B a g o r in M P. and Belan valley o f U.P. Blades characteristic to the Upp.er Palaeolithic phase are found in
St]
Reriig nta· and among t h e m are scrapers, borers, points and small choppers. A site in Kurnool ciI r.h::t..of
AJ> : as the fir5.t place where the bone tools were discover d. Around 90%' o f tools in thi's'"sfi:e.were made La
o f hon.es and' other'non·.:fithic m-aterials, like a Efa. !,,w hk h_we're made into scrapers, chisels, borers ! and e
barbs. The "Venus" - a female figure made into a n artefact:, characteristic to European Upper· Palaeolithic, Ni
w a s also discovered in Belan vaUey, though a debatE(about its nature and ingenuity is still going on. co
' t " - . . . ; . . ; .• .,:. -·· ....... -
m
- - - - " -
A n important change in the tool technique in Upper Palaeolithic is the manufacture 9.LP-¥- HgJ: i!l g_
blacle'."flakes from a prepared core, a feature that-·vita-s·'µratri"setrTniafer ciiifiiraf phases>rhis change in the
tooTt i ereTiects"tllecfiange in the lifestyles o f the then people., . ·
" . • <
• ., -
:.,,,t
. ... ... ... - .........,., ... -,., _ • ,.
T h e r e is.no authentic explanation for the u s e o f tools fabricated b y the Palaeolithic man,·but for'the given
clues b y Patterson for those found in Soan xalley; they must have b e e n used for cutting a n d chopping,
10
··'
(.".:.
M
:
.. ·:§: '
13
digging and skinning. The various types of hand axes must have b een used for digging edible roots,
)f cutting, boring and piercing, c_hopping anct.,dearing and skinning purposes. Man was nak°ed and a huri-ter-·
n gaiKere"r. Evfd{tnces ..rega"rding th physic.al features are nearly a b s e nt. The a b senc e o f the fossil sk e letal
d remains may b e assign e d to the high acidity of Indian soil.
.:r"" __
Mesolithic Culture
" • f . ; ,
!r
is The transitional stag e b e tw e e n Pala e olith ic and Neolithic, betw e e n the p e riods 10000 B.C and 4000 B.C. is
ls the Mesolithic cultural phase. Th e M e solithic culture started as the pper Pal woHtb,Jc:, JtbA- - __,.,1;>;[
a
. Pleistoc e n e age cam e to an e nd witftlfi'e Great Ice Ag · a n - 'the ·'o riset o f dry perio·d .. A chang e in the life
styles·-nf"th'e r-p e op l e -w h e n e v e r t here-·is"'"a ·t rtassive ··shifr tn ·t he e ·nvir oriirierit ·stands as a testimony to
is
culture's adaptiv e capabilities. Th e Mesolithic period witnessed the emerg e nce o f n e w tools, called
a,
Mfctolith"sthatWere smaller in size and w e re finely made by pressur e flaking.
1e " " , . , .. · " .-..: . •...
. . . . .. . . .. __,. . .-.,
The knowl e dg e on th e Indian Mesolithic is based on the excavatio n carried out in a few sites - T e ni in
1 . Tamil Nadu, La n ghnaj in Gujarat, Bag A Rai st.hanJ Birbhanpur in West Bengal, Bhimbetka and
ic
Ada_mgarh in M.P_ _ and Sarai-Nc1 ar i_Q J J & These excavat e ct. sites .,r:eve-a l--that d ur ing _the M e solithic
.n
Pnasrrliere-was a total actaptation't Mi liths ,s, and h avy\ools such as hand axes were abs Of1bThere
_.:k
1e: :]
-� .
1 ilc
was a dominance o f n o n -llthic ubst,mces Tilre Bone (shbulcter l Jta a e O, ·mo in·Lan_ghnaj}
..+.-!'---:if.-•···.,.,.-
stone.in. "
. ,; ... , • , . . ,.. • • ."f •• ··-
oier .,
o asi?paPi tJ e_d. A sph e n cal -sto n e ·
- -:!'·"' - ,. .-.-
m a n ufacturi n g_th e tools.· A LEJE - af!,cl 1 2,.! re,_ lso__ , pro b ably
e.
used as sling in hu n tin g, is another important aspect of Indian M e solithic.
3.{ ,,..- ,. ••-..•; • ,. ... ;o:;c. .· • . ;:;,.:·"-,.- .•.•.•. :;··, .. ·.-·,·•.'
Th e rock pai n tings o f irzapur in U.P. a n d Bh!mbetka in M.I . reveal hunti n g an fishi n g. !th help of
'f ""
spears with n um e rous 6'trt s:T ' r tG Iy po ri"h'1e b/"attaching nu rm.i's tficrofitns to71le'shaft . .
:h
cP One important featur e of th Mesolithic cultural phase was th e evidence of artificial construction that
1e humans during this p e riod got acquainted with. There is an evidenc e of man living in artificially er e cted
·e structures as e a rly as 8000 B.C. This fe atu re shows the synchrony of Indian Mesolithic with. th e European
ff and African cultural phases. Sarai-N.ahar Rai is the-only site that dates back to 8 0 0 0 B . C while Sagon . . to_
-·-· ·- .. , . . ·- . ''"'""'' ,.-.-- -
5000 BC nd L , gi H J c..,:. --
· A sp e cially erected structure, probably obstruct wind in front o f a cav e mouth, was discovered rn
Bhimbetka. A n e v id e nc e of p e opl e pavi n g their living floor with the h e lp o f natural concret e from the
c. riverbed was discover e _d from th e sit e in Bagor.
is
i The .site in Adamgarh r e veal e d th e ' pres e n ce of. numerous animal bones, an e vid enc e of a pastoral ·
-Y e conomy. But later r e s e arch e s and other data do not compiy·with such an e conomy amorigst"iffie cave
�t dw-ellers. Th e i n format io n r e gardin g this sit e is still incomplete.
:e i
·-- .•y:;-.",,' .;; ;J ;f._
.e The Microliths ra n ged f a th e ir siz e s from 1 to 8 crr1. The size o f thes e tools point to th e fact that these
y' composit e tools could hsive only, b e e n used with haf.iliLJn
or bones an they cannqt : US:, , ¥·
It was_"in t (i7 t _a_F;Car!:X_ irst disco e Microliths from the Vindhyan rock shelters,, Later on, there·
d w e re more discov e rie s b y Cockborn a n d Carnac in the 19th c e n tury; Microliths from all ov e r the country 1
n w e re discov e re d b y Ca n n iacte Todd, Hunt e r ancf Gorden in the beginning of 19th century. A scientific and
)f structural r e s e a rch in Indian Mesolithic was started only aft e r H.D. Sankalia's e xcav at io n s carri e d out at
,e Langh n aj in -Gujarat i n e arly 1940's. T h e sites in Mirzapur distrkt w e re excavat e d b y Verma
r
. and the
d ex cav atiorfs·t r M :P:'We re ·c ar i; -d o t b y U. . Joshi_ _ d Khare. -
_
C,
. Numerous Microliths w e re e xcavat e d from th e rnck shelte rs a n d cav e s in M.P. Accordi n g to Sankalia, the
complete rang e o f Vi n dhyas from East and W e st holds th e k e y to Indian M Q}ithic;,. In Bhimbetka and ·
d Hosha n gab ad ther e w e r e evide n c e s o f geometric Micrnliths.
.e A n e xte n sive a n d important sit e o f I n dia n M e solithk is Bagor o n Kothari rive r in th e Bhilwara district of
n
g,
----
Rajasthan (460013C). Rich coll e ctio n o f M e solithic cultural re ma ins was r e cov e r e d from this sit e . This site · ·
was discov e r e d in 1967 b y Misra. T h e s e tt l e m e n ts wer e charact e riz e d b y ston e -pa v e d floors, r i c h
.
-- . .
.
11
.--J
!--•
industry and more substantial structures of the settlements. According to Agarwal, Bagor is considered as
the ·: est studied-iies lith!.£ .. i.!e \!!l!t<i@• The main ·raw"·matedai )n "Mfrrolith industry was_ quartz ar. I
chert. The Microlith . i stry is geared towards hunting needs. Sometimes bone was ai;o· u s e a - i n
manufacturing the Microliths. The industry is characterised by perfection in symmetry o f the tool and
high craftsmanship.
Neolithic and Neolithic - Chalcolithic Culture.

Neolithic stage of culture is characterized byyoll)estic_Q.Le!al}! Jm?.. n f!Ials. The term "Neolithic" was
coined b y Sir John Lubbock in his book "Prehistoric Times" in 1865. He used this term to denote an Age
in which the stone-i -pl;; nts were n:ior.is'igUfully made more varied in form and often polished.
. . . . .- ; . "'!'r"-- .. IJ-!-
"'"'" . . . . . .-. ·- f·:-·- . -._, ..... ·-·- -·,- . -..... - • . • . - . . .
.-'""--. <>.7- ... .. .,..,.,----·--·--; .... ·. , . -- .
Gordon Childe defined Neolithic-Chalcolithic culture as a s.fil[:-s ffid ntfo.o,d,_producip_g economy. Miles
Burkitt stressed that the following characteristic traits should_ b_ considered. to- represe"r1tlne··Neolithic
Culture:
P ., c f ag_ icultvre ·
-2!E J! - .!.l9.n.qf. mJm t
'·f.
r..;J:;,_
. ..
Griinc!_i_ng and po i?hing of.stone tools, and also
;1 .... \C llf: - :-.,
The manufacture o f pottery

C···.:ii:,.. ·,·:-,•7. • • ; • 4 - , ' , ···, .'··· ·.-.· ... . , . . . ° t • ' : ° I '
>
• ., . ;_. . ·-'··"
A recent·reinterpretation o f what is considered Neolithic mentions that it should represent a culture o f

the -pre-metal ...§.tage where ·the inhabitants had assured supply ()f food by_ cultivatio_n _o_f cereals and
d,21.!t ,$..!i_<;_ io of animals a n led asecfe'fita-tyT1re: ·"Ifo-wever, tnegtound / polished stone tools r_emain the
ost essential cha.racteristics-'o(a}.J'eofiffirc -·=·····--... ,.,.. ,. culture.
. .
Domestication of plants and animals led to
The emergence o f village communities based o n sedentary life
- . The beginnings of agricultural tec nology and
Greater control. over .nature
. . . . b' y exploitation of natural resources.
. ---·--·-··- #·,- ---·/--:-'>-·... "" - --i,..,.-
The Neolithic cultures in the Indian sub-continent can be classifieq into the following geog aphical
regions.
Northwestern Region ---·Including Afghanistan and Western. Pakistan
Northern Region:-- Covering the Kashmir Valley
Southeastern UP - V i n d h y a n outcrops in the districts of Allahabad, Mirzapur, Reva nd Sidhi -
particularly the Belan Valley.
_Mid-eastern Region - Northern Bihar
,. Northeastern Region ..::·Covering Assam and adjacent sub-Himalayan region
-·. Central-eastern
. Region - Covering Chota Nagpur Plateau with extensions i n Orissa. and West
Bengal
Southern Region.., Covering the Peninsular India

Nort_hwestebl-Region
In w a s in this region comprising Afgha istan and Pakistan that we find the earliest evidence o f the origin
o f wheat and barley cultivation. In northern Afghanistan caves occupied b y hunters and gatherers have
12
been discovered. These caves contained the bone remains of wild sheep, cattle and goat.'"'
By about 7000
BC sheep and goat were domesticated-.in Atghanistan. It is believed that the Central A ia n region and its
peripheries comprising the present day Punjab, Kashmir, West-Pakistan, Afghanistan and Soviet
Republics of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan were the original places o f wheat cultivation.
Archeological excavations have attested the beginning of agriculture and domestication o f animals in
Baluchistan (now in Pakistan). The Kachi PJ irrs_(g_ "' 13aluchi.$ cmhave several advantages that contributed
to- fffe a ppearance o f eariy farming e·conorriy-i J; ·; "g[ n.· Located between the barren ranges o f inner
Baluchistan, the small valleys consisting o f fertile alluvium brought b y the streams from the hills and
perennial river systems make irrigation easy on stretches of land which had veg n.
-----
The ancient site o f Mehrgarh is located in this ecological setting, at about 150 K M from Qu.et a.
Excavations at the sitenave 'r"evealed a long hculturaCfifsfory for the
region ranginrfrom-thtitp ;:"pott;ry
Neolithic to the mature Harappan Periocr···t
f
e ' F:f eoHth ic levels at
Mehrgai:h·
t
have been classifiecrintc the"'
early a ceramic without-pot:"tery c "r"h ·e ·Yater ceramic phase. Two varieties o f lJ rley and three varieties of
wheat were cultivated mtlitsregion. c - r ?. seecttclphim anctdat t ·e;e ls found. -
The earliest layers o f the Neolithic (Phas. 1) in this region yielded bones of wild animals like gazelles,° 0
swamp d - • . ,.antelopes, sh p; goat and c°:t;t:re. But the top laye;s"(later phase-s) y 1elded bones o f
e
dtfmesticated caTIIe;sn e p and goalbesides the bones,ofwild gazelles and pig etc. Thus, there is a clear
f r
cult evidenc<it"that···th'e··pr.ocess···orthe·· f om estic at.i on of sne·ep· a i d ''goat w a s done locally. Here, the
beginning o f the pre,-pottery settlement phase has been fixed to about 6000 BC.
The subsistence pattern o f the Neolithic period is characterized b y a mixe economy based ·on a m
supplemente ?Y h nting.. The inhabitants lived in r s! rtg r
"1
-·. ... ·-······: . .·.:i.·;·,:--::.-:{
'-. :
fi-
.'-
·. ..
f i a J1 and do ;S.B£ tJ2!! ..2!:, , j., s ·

houses o f muct-bnclcs.- Some o f tne structures were d1v1ded mto s all_ re compartments· a d used for
stqrage. The tool kit included o!l_e. SJ2,I\ , ....axe, t - nJY fiY. . Kt:ir_ding stones and si te.en mu_lers
supplemented e
b y abundant Mic oliths o f typical blade industry. Some o f the blades show sheen that is
c h a r a c f dstfC'of flint used to cut the.grains.
On the basis o f evidence from Mehrgarh it appears that Kachi plains may have been an independent
eRicenter for cattle. . .and
--········,··,
shee domestication and for cultivation o f wheat and barley. · Period II at
......... · •
M !] represents the _C!t lcolit .i se . SOO_O. RC.),_ from.whkh cultivation of r t <? ) ,nd g r is
attested in addition to· the cultivation o f wheat and baflgy. Probably t h e Harappans,,,.Jv!1eriteV!te
knowledge o f wheat, barl nd cotton cultivation from their early ancestor P;t M h_rgarh. The idea .that
farming and domesti tion or;;nimafs-spread form West A ia to the di ction o f th Tirdian· subc.ontinent
·
m a y thus have to b e given up in the light o f the evidence which Mehrgarh provides.
Village settlements .appeared in the Kashmir Valley by about 2500 BC. Excavations at BuI"Za_ .? and
Gufkra\ throw significant hght on the Neolithic culture of this region. The Neolithic stage o f t h i s region
lfasbeen classified,into two
phases_ at Bui\lwm anq three at Gufkral. A t the latter site.the eqrliest phase is
<!;2,.CU!C, The Neol_ithic cult :·· fi< shm'.ffvalley is ch ratt ;iz';ct b y :,_<,! gs -«.rith ll;m J1 AArS
.
smeared with red-ochre as well as dwellings ii) t_h J2n.en. The presence ·of a large number d',fH !9 e ?<!
. "--·-"· ... . "t
to l g S, ---f : ,- ,e: :onomy w s·pf Qj} nt.ly_ j) !i[ .ec? .?,1J Y-
·r
A t Gutkral,_ in P ase I ch rreci wild grains o f .\ : n: - !!t•
P ,w ;5,,and barl ere. fQ.und esides
hones o f wild animals such as cattle, sheep, goat,·reo deer and wolf. Phases II and HI are charactenzed by
the presence o f domesticated plants and animals. Other notable objects found from the later phases are
long celts, stone points, and sophisticated bone tools Hke harpoons, arrowheads and perforated
harvesters. oo·g burfals placed along some o f the human burials have also b_een reported .. These findings
indicate how aries'sentiaUy1ffffi'fi g-]. Jff§fmJI.ef iriy ·orPh li racfuafiy devefop. e .d. il)tQ. a "V ll s , -
agricultural economy fi-i'"Phase i t . . . ·.
-. .
The Neolithic Culture o f Burzahom displays affinities with Sarai Khol.a and Ghaligai o f Swc1 .• y n.
""
pottery, bone and stone objects. Pit-dwellings and dog buri:iisare cl l aracte rlst i cs o f .1:n e N grtji _Chinese
. -·w-
Neolithic c lture. Contact witn pre-Hara pans 1s also indicated b y tliepottery found at Burzahom. - · · ·
. - - s--- ..:.·-···: . . ,..-.,;,:,:-..,..>_
13
The available C-14 dates from the two sites indicate a time range of 2500-1500 BC for the Neolithic
culture of t.h".', Kashmir Valley.
Belan Valley
The river Belan flows down from east to west along the edge of the Vindhyan plateau outcrop. It is a
tributary oftfie ,Tons, which joins the Ganga near Allahabad. This region is the part o f monsoon belt. The
entire area is c = d with thick forestoitealt"ancr6amooo. The forests are the natural habitat for wild
animals like Tiger, Nilgai, Chital etc. Thickly grown grasses including wild rice provide the veg!:!tal cover.
The area was a favorite hunting ·ground o f early Stcme Age people down to the Paleolithic period.
Important sites of the Belan Valley that indicate transition from the food-gathering s t a g food
producing stage are Chopani-Mando, Koldhihawa and Mahagara.
"'fil;J%
:'t g&
:"
9
' ,e --;t,f,,.fjl'e
.i:.1
:: -
.,,
A t Choani-Mando a three-phase sequence from Paleolithic to late Mesolithlf.2r Prnto-:Neolith!c period has
been established by archeologists. Phase III (advanced Mesoiithic) haracterized by femFsedentary
,, . community life ariaspeciahzed }ranting-gathering economy. B ive tyP,e of hutments, comtnon hearths,
unportable. anvils, geometric Microliths, large number o f ring-stones and hand-impresseaepottery were
• : . •..
'tml. ;i!,, ,v.,,..- ,; n
found here. The.phase also yields· significant evidence of the p·resence o f wild rice and 1bo nes o f wild
<J
cattle,: h ep and goat.

The ·excavations at Koldihawa rnvealed a three-fold cultural sequence (Neolithic, Chalc6lithic and Iron
Ag ). Mahagara is a'.sin fe5"cuitu're (Neolithic) site. The combined evidencefro; th b7ites i dfm"tes
sedentary.life, domestication o f rice an o cattle and sheep / goat. Other objects thrm&ring light on the
life o f peQple living in this ar a include. cord-impressed pottery, chalcedony blades, circµlar
., / oval floors
littered with artifacts, a large cattle pen with hoof-marks of cattle etc.
The Neolithic culture o f the Belan Valley shows a developed and advanced sedentary life with defined
family units, standardi ation o f pottery forms, portable size of food processing unit;h like querns and
mullers, specialized tools like chisels, celts and adzes, cultivation of domesticated rice and domestication
o f cattle, sheep/goat and horse.
It has b en _sugge ted that_ N h!.c,. '!i;me g J &ed as the 1arliest r
community m In (6 t h M1llenmum BC), although the suggest10n 1s not accepted b f all. The transition .•
from gatheri_ng to farming_ec n my is also clea:IY._documented in th_is region. oweve,r, pot ery akes its
appearance m the late MesohthJc / proto Neohth c phase at Chopm Manda (circa ·9 t h -8 t h M1llenmum BC).
(C?opni-Mando provides the earliest evidence _-of he use o f pottery i_n the world). t h i s is indicative o f
pnmacy o f manufacture o f pottery over domest1cat1on o f plants and animals. \
Neolithic c.ultures of Bihar / Mid Ganga Valley
The lowercentral Garigetic Valley with aUits f\9ra and faunal resources was occupied by sedent ry village
settlements much later. (2000 1600 · BC). Excavations in Chiand, Ghechar, Senuwar and Tat:,adib, etc.,
thrpw light on the life pattern o f the Neolithic people o f this. region. A t Senuwar (Rohtas o· trict) the
Neolithic farmers cultivated rice, barley, field pea; lentil and some millets. From this site, a variety o f
wheat and grass pea have also been.found from upper levels ofhabitatiQn. The Neolithic levels at Chir.and
(Saran District) situated on· the left bank o f the <;;anga revealed the s_tructural remai s o f mud floors,
pottery, Microliths, ground celts, bone fools and beads of semi-precious stones, besides terracotta human
figurines. Both Chirand and Senuwar are known for their remarkable bone tools. The grains cultivated at.
Chirand were wheat, barley, rice and lentil.
Neolithic .:. Chalcolith ic people Senuwar also sta;rted cultivating gra s in addition to t h e crops raised by
earlier people.
Eastern.India
Eastern Indian sites include the area comprising the hHls o f Assam including north Cachar, the Garo and
the Naga hills. Ecologically the area falls in the,monsoon zone with heavy rainfall.
14
The Neolithic culture of this region is characterized by shouldered celts, small ground axes of rounded
form and cord-impressed pottery, heavily tempered with quartz particles. Excavations at Deojali Hading
in north Cachar hills have yielded all the objects noted above. These objects are extensively distributed in
China and South East Asia with a long ancestry. Yet the affinity o f Assam Neolithic traits with China or
South East Asia has not been finally settled as there is a wide chronological gap. The Assam Neolithic
culture phase has been tentatively dated around 2000 BC.
South India
The problem of transition from the stage of advanced hunting to that of food producing economy in South
India has not· yet been clearly established. The Neolithic settlements are found on the hilly and dry
Deccan Plateau drained by the Bhima, Krishna, Tungabhadra and Kaveri Rivers. These settlements
flourished particularly in those areas where the normal rainfall is below 25 cm per annum. Excavated
sites, which throw light on the various aspects of the Neolithic culture, of South India are Sangankallu,
Nagarjunakonda, Maski, Brahmagiri, Tekkalakota, Piklihal, Kupgal, Hallur, Palavoy, Hemmige and T.
Narsipur. ·
r
South Indian Neolithic culture has be_en-,9l s$ified into three phases by archeologists. The earliest phases
is represented at Sangankallu and Nagarjunakonda. The fainttraces of dwellings, crude handmade pale·
reddish brown pottery with slipped outer surface, blade tools of chert and ground stone tools found at
Nagarjunakonda demonstrate that the people had only rudimentary knowledge of cultivation. Probably
they did not domesticate· animals. This phase can be dated to 2500 BC or earlier.
In Phase II, besides the continuation o f the features of Phase _I, the pottery is mainly o f red ware fabric .
. However, Lapidary art and domestication o f animals are the new features. In this phase the microliths
are made of quartz crystals.
In Phase III at about 15.00 BC, grey ware pottery·is predominant. The red ware and short blade industry
o f quartz- crystals o f Phase II continued into this phase. Neolithic tools of various types are also found in
this phase. These indicate greater practice of agriculture as food gathering and hunting assuming
subsidiary role. Dwelling pits at Nagarjunakonda characterize the last two phases with roofs supported
by wooden poles. ·
Ragi (Millet) was one o f the earliest crops cultivated by the Neolithic farmers o f South India. It is
cultivated even today and forms an important source of food f o r the poor classes.· 1t is also used as fodc:ler
for the cattle. It is generally believed that the domestic;ited Ragi came from East Africa. Other crops
cultivated by the Neolithic farmers include wheat, horsegram and green gram. Date palm was also grown.
Terracing seems to have been an important feature of the method o f cultivati'0n during this period. It was
f
employed o r roaking tiny fields for growing crops. ·
Animals s_eem to have been used for draught-war and ploughi g fields. It is clear from the ·excavations
1
at Nagarjunakonds that domesticatiotj ,qCpl nts preceded the domestication of animals; Domesticated
animals like cattle, sheep and goat, buffalo, ass, fowl, swine ahd hqrse are also reported from.some sites.
Sambar, deer,. spotted deer and gazelle were hun ed and the peopl caught pond snails and tortoise for
food.
·Abundance o f cattle and other kinds o f food articles suggest sedentary agriculture and pastoral economy
o f the Neolithic people. On the basis b f C-14 _dating, the Neolithic culture of south I n d i a has
· been placed
between 2600·and 1000 BC.
Many mounds o f ash are found in the vicinity of Neolithic sites like Utnur, Kodekal and Kupgal. Some bf
them are also found in forests, remoter from any settlements. It has been suggested thatthese mounds-of ·
sh were the sites o f the Neolithic ·cattle pens. Form time to time the accumulated· dung was burned -
either by design a a part o f some ritual or b y accident Some of the mounds in remote areas may suggest·
seasonal migration to the forest grazing grounds by the people.
<""\
15
Upper Central and Western Deccan
In the middle and the upper reaches of the Krishna and the Godavari and their tributaries, the Neolithic
picture is somewhat different. ln these regions, besides the ground stone tools made on black trap, a
large number of parallel-sided blades and microliths of agate, chalcedony and carnelian were found along
with grey ware ap.d Chalcolithic-type painted pottery. No clear-cut Neolithic phase has been recorded in
this region. But the evidence from Chandoli on the Bhima, a tributary of Krishna and from Nevasa and
Daimabad, sites on the Pravara, a tributary of the Godavari, suggests that Neolithic farmers in this region
had moved into the Chalcolithic phase.
Further northwards in the Tapti and Narmada valleys of north Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat
no clear-,.cut Neolithic phase was found. Only a small number of triangular axes with pointed butt-end of
South Indian affiliation found at Eran in the Bina Valley and at Jokha in SotJth Gujarat are Neolithic finds
form this region.
1
,,_ In the Chambal, the Banas and the Kali Sindh Valleys there is scarcely any evidence of the presence of
ground stone tools. In spite of the fact that durin,g an earlier Mesolithi context domestication of animals
_ h_ad started, sedentary settlements started in this region only after topper-bronze implements became
known.
Protohistoric- Indus. Valley Civilization: Pre-Harappan, Harappan and Post-

Harappan Cultures
Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) was an ancient civiUzation in the Indian 'subcontinent that flourished
around the Indus River basin. Primarily centered along the Indus River, the civilization encompassed
most of what is now Pakista.n, mainly the provinces of Sindh, Punjab and ·Balochistan, as well as extending
into modern day Indian states of Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan. Remains have been excavated
from Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Iran·, as well. The mat re phase of this civilization is technically
known as the Harappan Civilization, after the first of its cities· to be unearthed: Harappa in Pakistan.
Excavation of IVC sites has been ongoing since 1920, with important breakthroughs occurring as recently
as 1999 .. The civilization is sometimes referred to as the Indus Ghaggar-Hakra civilization or the Indus-
. Sarasvati civilization.
Discovery: The ruins of Harappa were first described in 1842 by Charles Masson in his Narrative o f
Various journeys in Balochistan, Afghanistan and the Punjab; where locals talked o f an ancient city
extending about _25 miles, b u t no archaeological interest Was attached to this. for nearly a century. In
1872-75 Alexander Cunningham published the first Harappan seal (with an erroneous identification as
Brahmqetters). It was half a century later,in 1912, that more Harappan seals were dis,covered by J. Fleet,
promptini a.n: excavation ·ca paign under Sir John Hubert Marshall in 1921...:22 and resul ing in the
discovery of the hitherto unknown civilizatibn ·a,t Harappa by Sir Johq Marshall, Rai Bahadur Daya Ram
SahnFand fl.fadho ,.SarupVats, and at Mohenjo-daro by Rakhal Das Ban£frjee," E. J. H. MacKay, aad Sir Jolm t
Marshalf:By 1931, much of Mohenjo-Daro had .been excavated but excavations continued, such· as that
led by Sir ortimer .Wheeler_, director of the Archaeological Survey of India in 1944. Among other
archaeologists Who worked on IVC sites before the partition of the subcorit_i_nent in 194 7 were Ahmad
Hasan Dani, Brij Basi Lal, Nani Go pal Majumdar, and Sir Marc Aurel Stein. Following the Partition of India,
the bul :of the a chaeologicaLfinds were inherited by Pakistan where most of the IVC was based, and
excavattons from this time include those led by Sfr Mortimer Wheeler in 1949, archaeological adviser to
the Gov;ernme t. o f Pakistan. 'outposts of the Indus· Valley civilization were excavated a:, far west as
Sutkagiinj)or in Baluchistan,.as
· .far north as at Shortugai on the Amudarya
· or Oxus River in currertt
·
Afghanistan.·
Pe,dodization: The mature phase of the Harappan civilization lasted from c. 2600 to 1900 BCE. With the
inclusion of the_ pre ecessor and· successor cultures-Early Harappan and Late Harappan, respectively-
the entire Indus Valley Civilization may b(:! taken to have lasted from the 33rd to the 14th centuries BCE.
Two terms are employed for the periodization of the IVC: Phases and Eras. Th Harappan, .Mature
16
Harappan, and Late Harappan phases are also called the Regionalization, Integration, and Localization
eras,_ respectively, with the Regionalization era reaching bacl< to the Neolithic Mehrgarh II period.
The Indus Valley Tradition is divided into four eras, and each era can be divided into various phases. A
phase is an archaeological unit possessing traits sufficiently characteristic to distinguish it from all other
units similarly conceived. Each phase can be subdivided into interaction systems.
Date Range Phase Era
7000 - 5500 BC Mehrgarh I (aceramic Neolithic) Early Food Producing Era
5500:-3300 M hrgarh II-VI (ceramic Neolithic) Regionalization Era
3300-2600 Early Harappan -(Early Bronze Age) 5500 - 2600
3300-2800 Harappan 1 (Ravi Phase)

2800-2600 Harappan 2 (Kot Diji Phase, Nausharo I, Mehrgarh
VII) f t·
2600·1900 Mature Harappan-(Indus Valley Civilization) Integration Era
2600-2450 Harappan 3A (Nausharo II)

2450-2200 Harappan 3B
2200-1900 Harappan 3C
1900·1300 Late Harappari {Cemetery H); Ochre Colored Localization Era
Pottery
1900-1700 Harappan 4
1700-1300 Harappan 5
1300-300 Painted Gray Ware, Northern Black Polished Ware (Iron Age) lndo-Gangetic T:raclition
_Geographical Spread: The_ Indus ·valley Civilization .encompa$_Sed_.inost of Pakistan .extending. from
Balochistan to Sindh, with an upward reach to. Punjab from east o O h e Jhelum Rjver to Ru.par on .the
upper S_µJlej; r cent1y, Indus sites have b.een· discovered in Pakistan's northwestern Frontier Province.,as ·
wen. Oilier WC-colonies can be found in Afghanistan w}lile smaller _isolated ·colonies,can.:b·e _found as far
away as. Turkmenistan and in a t J «)as:tal settle_ments extende·d from Sutkagan :Dhr- .in Westerµ.
Baluchistan to LothaHn Gujarat An site.has been found.on the Oxus River at·ShortughaPn
northern Afghanistan, in-the Gornal River. valley in northwestern Pakistan,:at Manda on the_Beas -River
near Jam mu, India, and at Alarngirpur on the Hin don River, only 28 km from lhi. Indus Vallf:Y si.tes have
been found most often on rivers, but also on the ancient seacoast, for example, Balakot,·. and ·Qn_islands, for
example, Dholavira.
Th re is evidence of dry riverbeds overlapping ith the Hakra channel in Paki tan and the .s aso#'al
Ghaggar River in Ind a. Many Indus Valley (o_r Harappan)sit:es.have been discovered along the Ghaggar
Hakra bi ds. Among them are: Rupar, Rakhigarhi, Sothi, l{alibangan, and Gailwariwala. According t f·
G.
Shaffer and D. A . Lichtenstein, the Harappan Civilization "is a "ftisfon o f the Bagor, Hakra, and ·xoti_"Dij.
traditions or 'ethnic groups' in the Ghaggar-Hakra valley on the borders o f Indi_a and Pakistan."
Origins of_IYC: There re several .theories as t the ori,gin o(the Indus Valley. ciyiJiza_tion. J'h : earli, t . .
hypothesis was that it was an
early form of a Vedic.tiVilization that would com·e o·. domi ate. II!0St .of
5. Tarkai Qila: In the Bannu area, in the northwest frontier province the site of Tarkai Qila has also
yielded evidence of fortification. Archaeologists have discovered large samples of grains which
included many varieties of wheat and barley, lentils and field pea. Tools for harvesting have also been
found. In the same area, at a site called Levan, a huge factory site for making stone tools was '
discovered. Most of the people used tools made of stone. That is why in some places where good
quality stone was available tools would be made on a large scale and then sent to distant towns and
villages. The people in Levan were making ground-stone axes, hammers, querns, etc. For this they
were importing suitable rocks from the surrounding areas too. The presence of lapis lazuli and
terracotta figurines indicafos links with Central Asia. At the site of Sarai Khola, which is located on the
northern tip of western Punjab, another 'Early Harappan', settlement has been discovered. Here too
th .people were using the pottery of Kot Dijian type. ·
6. Punjab and Bahawalptir: In western Punjab, Harappa is well known. During one of the excavations,
habitations preceding the urban phase have been discovered. Unfortunately they have not been
excavated as yet. The pottery found here seems to have similarities with the Kot Dijian ware. Scholars
believe that these habitations represent th!;! 'Early Harappan' phase in Harappa. In the Bahawalpur
area about 40 sites of the 'Early. Harappan' period have beenJoqtted in the dry bed of the Hakra River.
· Here too· the Kot Dijian type·of pottery characterizes the 'Early Harappan'. A comparative analysis of
th'e:}settleinent pattern -of.these sites shows that in the 'Early Harappan' period itself a variety of
habitations had come up. Whereas most of the sites were simple villages, some:ofthem were carrying
out sp!:!dalized industrial a tivities. That is why we find that most of the sites averaged about five to
. six hectares in size; G manwala spreads over an area of 27.3 hectares - larger than the Harappan
·township of Kalibangan. These larger townships must have carried administrative and industrial
· activiti s apart from agricultural activities.
7. · Kalibangan: The site: o f Kalibangan in north Rajasthan has also yielded evidence of the 'Early
·-Harappan' period. People lived in houses of mud bricks. The mud bricks had standard sizes They also
had a rampart around the settlement. The pottery used -by them· was different in shape and design
·from that of other area·s However, some of the pottery was similar to that of Kot Diji. A few varieties
· o f potteri s like the 'offer.ing stand' continued to be u ed during the urban phase. A remarkable find
was-that of ·a ploughed field surface. This proves that even at this stage the cultivators already knew
about the plough. In more primitive situations the farmers either simply broad ast the seeds or used
hoes for digging the fields. With pl_ough one can dig deeper using much less energy. That is why. it is
conside ed an advanced tool of cultivation having potentialities o f increasing the· food production. In
the .dry bed of Ghaggar, o n the_ lridian site, several 'Early Harappan' settl ments have been found
.· They seem to }ine the now extinct waterways of the region. Sites like Sothi Bara and Siswal have
, reported ceramic' styles similar to those or'Kalibangan. The exploitation of the Khetri copper mines in
· RJfiisthan might have beg ·n i n the 'Early Harappa · period itself. · · · ·
. . . J
Till now we have stressed _the similarities: found in the culturijl traditions -of diverse agri ultural
comrnu.nities living in and around the Indus regions in the Early H1arappan period. Beginning with small
agricultural settlements the . areas of Baluchistan, Sind, Punjab and Rajasthan saw the emergence of
distinct regi.onal traditions. However, the use .of similar kinds ofpotteries, representations of a horned
deity and finds of-terracotta mother goddesses show the way to the .emergence of a unifying tradition.
The p pple o f Baluchista·n had already established trading relations witb the towns of Persian Gulf and
Cent;afAsia. T_hus, the 'Early Harappan' had · the seeds many o f the achievements of the Harappan
civilization. ·
. ··:····
ThisJ - marizes the developments that took place over 3000_ years. Cultivators colonized the alluvial
plains· o f the Indus during this period. These communities were using tools o f copp_er, br nze and stone.
They were using plough and wheeled transport for the greater productivity of labor. Also unlike in Iran,
where sheep· and_ goa_t rearing· wa.s prevalent, the Indus people reared cattle. ·This gave them better
possil;>ilitie_s·of-ha_rr1essing animal power for transportation and possibly tultivatio·n. At the same time a
gradu!3l unification too took place in the pottery tradition. In the 'Early Harappan' period a particular kind
o f pottery first identified in. Kot Diji spread,, over almost the entire area o f Baluchistan, .Punjab and
20
Rajasthan. Terracotta mother goddesses or the motif of horned deity could be seen in Kot Diji or
Kalibangan. Some of the communities surrounded themselves. with defensive walls. We do not know the
purpose behind the construction:of these walls. lt could be defense against other communities or it could
be simply a bund against flooding. All these developme ts were taking place in the context of a much
larger network of relationships with the contemporary sites of Persian Gulf and Mesopotamia.
Harappan Culture
For a long time it was believed that Indians are stay at home people and our civilization was only of
recent origin. But the excavation at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, which led to the discovery of Indus Valley
Civilization, has set all these doubts at naught. It has now been established beyond all doubts that India
possessed one of the advanced. Daya Ram Sahni and R.D. Banerjee discovered this unique and important
civilization of the pre-historic times in India in 1921 and 1922. Further excavations were carried out
along the Indus between Rupar at the foot of Simla hills and Sutkagendor, 300 miles close to Karachi,
where similar remains were discovered. In recent years excavation at village Alamgirpur near Meerut and
in Saurashtra have also revealed the_similar remains. All these discoveries point to the existence of an
advanced civilization in pre-historic India, which is now popularly known ·as Indus Valley Civilization or
i's l
Harappa Culture. Though this civilizatibri r rmed as Indus Civilization it covered even area beyond the
Indus Valley It-extended from the upper Sutlej to the Gulf of Cam bay in the South and from Makran coast
ofth _A1abian Se in the west to the Jamum{;Gang s country in the east. Thus the Indus Civilization :vvas
the largest of the early civilizations.
. . .
.
RaCe o f Indus Civ1liz.atioi1: There has been much controversy amongst the historians regarding .-the race
to which the pea.pie of Indus Valley civilization belong d. Different scholars have tried to speculate,
mainly on the basis of human skeletons and skulls found in the ruins, about their race. While some
scholars are of the opinion that they were Aryans, this point is not acceptable to Sir Jo.hri Marshall.
Marshall holds that this civilization was quite different froin the earlier Vedic civilization and that it was
quite different from that of the Aryans. According to Gordon Childe, the people of Indus Valley were of
Sumerian race. However he fails to give convincing and substantial proof in· support of this view. R.D.
Banerjee has expressed the view that the peop.le of the Incius Valley Civilization were Dravidians.
However; if we t ke the funeral customs of the people ·of Indus Valley, it would be difficult to accept this
contention. On the basis of the finds discovered, Dr. Guha has expressed the view that the people
belonged to a mixed race.
Thus we find ·that there is great difficulty in ascertaining the race t(? which the .people o f Indus Valley
civilization belonged. Most probably many races ·contributed to the evolution of Indus Valley culture and
perhaps Aryans also formed ari important part of them. There is every reason· to believe that the Indus
Valley culture was a synthesis o f the Aryan and non :.. Aryan cultures and its· authorship cannot be asfribed
to anypartictJJar race.
·But
one thing can be said with certainty that the Indus Valley civilization was
· of,
very high order.·
Town Planning and Archite·cture
AU the Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization such as Mohenjodaro, Har ppa, Chanhudarn)Lohumjudaro
etc., display the Temarkable skiU of the Indus Valley civilization in town planning and. sanitati6n. Of air
the e cities, Mohenjodaro is better preserved' and its. excavation has revealed that city was built after'
careful planning, as is clear from the streets, which though vary in width, yet intersect at right angle ·-
These streets thus divide the entire city into square or rectangular blocks, which are further· intersected
by narrow lanes. Some of the streets are very long and wide. At least one street has been traced w h k h is
more tha.n half a mile long and at places over 30 feet wide All the roads are align d east to the wes a ·d
·
nortf rt o south. The corners o f the streets were roun.ded so that loads should not get dislodged.
o
The bricks used f r the pavements were comparatively of small size and were plain surfaced. L-s.haped ·
bricks were occasionally used f or corners. Mud mortar was universally used. The plaster of the .walls \Vas
mainly o f mud or gyps m. The d t y had a elaborate·drainage system, consisting o f horiz? t l and vertica
21
drains, street drains, soak pits, etc. The architecture of Mohenjodaro, though not quite artistic and
beautiful, was quite utilitarian. The peoples v·: d b rnt bricks in building walls, pavements, bathrooms,
drains, etc. Some sun-baked bricks were used for the foundation. The foundations were usually very deep.
T h e buildings were generally erected on high platform to protect them against floods, which seem to have
been quite common.
Dr. A.D. Pusalker has greatly admired the town planning of the Indus Valley people and says, "A visitor to
the µins of Mohenjodaro is struck by the remarkable skill in town planning and sanitation displayed by
the ahcients, and as an English writer has observed, feels himself surrounded by ruins o f some present-
day working town in Lancashire". He has divided the buildings unearthed into three categories: 1)
Dwelling houses or residential buildings, 2) Larger buildings and 3) Public baths.
The. size of the Dwelling houses differed from one and another. The small houses consisted of minimum
two rooms while the big ones had large number of rooms·and often could be mistaken for the palaces.
Each house had a wall and drain that were connected with the main street drain. Vertical drainpipes
sugg _?.t. that bathrooms were constructed in upper storeys also. The. presence. of the stairways also
suggests that the houses used to be double::-storied. The entrancesfto the houses were placed in narrow
by-ways and windows .were non-existent. The roofs were floored"by_placing reed matting o f veins and
coverfog the:m with.mud. T h size f the doors used in the houses varied.fr.om 3 feet and 4 inches to 7 feet
and 10' inches.
In a. ciition to the d\<Velling :houses certain spacious and large buildings also existed. Some o f these
pos.sessed .large pillared halls about 80 ft. square. These buildfogs were probably tem.ples, municipal or
ass Illl:>ly halls._
. .
Another Jmportant feature o f the houses that deser_ves mention was that the people were very fond of
baths. In·. every ·hoil e a special place was set" aside for a bathroom. The floor of the bathroom was
watertight with a clear slope towards one corner., The water of the bathroom would pass to the latrine,
w h k h was generally situated, between bathroom and t_he outer wall o f the house. People were probably
in he:habit of ta ing bath daily. The love o f the people for bath is further confirmed from the discovery of
a p11,blic bath_ t Mohenjodaro .._This bath was 30_x 23 x 3 feet and was surrounded by veranda, galleries
and rooms on all sides. It was constructed of the burnt britks and·was connected with a fine drainage
system for filling nd emptying it. The swimming baths were filled with water from the wells, which were
built o f burnt bricks. With a view to keep the wells· neat and clean, steps .were_ provided. In additio to the
Great -Bath at Mohenjodaro, a bath has also been dis.covered at Harappa with measures 39x13x8 feet. The
walls o f this bath were. p:lastered with gypsum and lime· mortar. ·People used th_ese baths on religio_us
OCGasicms as ·well as otherwise. Thus we find that the people of Indus Vailey civilization attached great
significance to bath llke the Hindus.
Caref.µ_l study o f the above features of toyvn planning viz. adequate water supply, efficient drainage
system, and· existence of pucca houses sh·ows that the art of t9wnwlanning_ ancl.architecture was quite
advanced. The presence o f lampposts at intervals indicates that a system of street lighting als existed. In
short w e can agree with Dr. R.C. Majumdar and say that the ruins of he city o f Mohenjo_daro" reveal that
"on >this site a ·large, populous ·and ·flourishing town; whose· inhabitants freely- enjoyed, to a degree
unknown elsewhere in 'the ancient world, ·not only the s'anitary conveniences·but also the luxuries and
comforts of a highly developed municipal li e."
¥ '* : ·, .
'::·"'
¥
SOCjALLIFE . .
I t ha .,-c;1lready_been observed that the people of Mohenjodaro were of cosmopolitan character. Evidently
these people were attracted b y the fertility and productivity of the area and came from diff rent parts o f
Asia. ·
F0<fd 'and o·rinks:· The people o f the Ind4s:_·y ley were_·both vegetarian al}d non:-v_egetc1rian. They
cultivated wheat, barley, ri e and bred, ca le sheep, and poultry for food. They were in the habit. of faking
fruits and vegetables· and date was the most favourite fruit of the people. As regards the non-vegetarian
22
Anthropology Paper 02 Volume 03
food, they consumed beef, mutton, poultry, fish etc. This has been proved by the discovery of half-burnt
bones, found in the houses, lanes and stre ts:
Domestication of Animals: The Indus Valley people domesticated various types of animals. The most
common amongst them were the buffalo, sheep, goat, camel and cow. They worshipped the humped bull
that has been-proved by the various seals. It is not fully known whether the people of Indus Valley knew
about the horse. However, certain scholars have taken _some bones recovered on the upper-most layer as
bones of the horse, while the others have denied. The people also knew about wild animals like lion,
rhinoceros, tiger, monkey, bear etc. In addition they also knew about animals like mongoose, squirrel,
parrot, peacock, cat etc., which is obvious by the presence of large number of clay models or toys of these
animals.
Dress and Ornaments: As regards the dresses no actual specimens of clothing have fallen into the hands
of the excavators and we have to make conjectures about their dress from the various figures. Most
probably-the people used both cotton and woollen clothes. The clothes were sewn as has been indicated
by the discovery of needles. We can form an idea about the dress used by the people from the various
sculptures of the age. It appears that the women used loincloth bound by a girdle. In fact there was very
little difference between the dress of the'males and the females. Most of the people used lower garments·
that resemble the modern dhoti along with the upper garments whkh was a type of a shawl:
The peupte o f lndus Valley were great lovers offashion. Men kept various types of beards and Whiskers. . .
The women were also very fashion conscious and bore fan-shaped hair dress. Various objects of head
dressing like ivory combs and bronze mirrors have been discovered. The discovery of various toilet jars
made of ivory, metal pottery and stone has led the scholars to the conclusion that the people were in the
habit of using some form of powder. The authors of Vedic age have also observed: "small cockle shells
containing a red ochre rouge, lumps of green earth. white face paint, and a black beauty substance show
that ·the belles in ancient Sind attended to beauty and toilet culture. It is interesting to note that
Chanudaro finds indicate use o f lip-sticks."
Both men and women were in the habit of using ornaments. These ornaments were made of clay and·
various metals like gold, silver, 'copper, bronze etc. Both· men and women used certain ornaments like
necklcices, fillets, armlets, finger-rings and bangles. On the other hand, women used ornaments like
girdles, nose studs, earrings and anklets alone.
Sports and. Ga·mes: The people had great· love for- ports and games nd a number, of eviqences are: ·
available to this effect :some of the prominent games of the time were dice playing. ThLs is in icated·by .·
the presence oflarge number of dices during the course of excavation. People were also fond of hunting.,,.
The various seals on which men are shown .as unting wild _goats. and large antelopes with bows an,d _
. arrows prove this fact People also were delighted in bird fighting. Fishing was used both as .gaine as well.· .
as regular profession. The children had special love for clay modelling as is proved by the presence of
large number of crude models o f men and., women and animals, whistles, cattle· etc. But probably the
greatest source of amusement for the pet>ple 'was music and dance. This is proved- by the figure o f a
,
bronze-dancing girl and terracotta figures.
Disposal of the Dead: FrQm the evidence we find thatthree methods were used for the-d1sposa1·ofthe
dead -person. Firstly, the dead body was buried. Secondly, after burning the dead body the remains. of t_he
dead body were buried under earth. Thirdly, the dead bodies were left for. the wild ani111als.· Almost.all the
three methods have been discovered, but according to Sir John Marshall, the second method was the most
popular.
Household Articles: A number of household articles have been unearthed at Mohenjodaro; These
articles include cake moulds, dippers, breakers, bowls, dishes, gables, basins, pans, saucers, etc. These
articles are made of stone, shell, ivory, metal etc. It is noteworthy that during this period copper and
bronze replaced stone models for the manufact re· of hQusehold objects. In addition certain needles,
sickles, knives, fishhooks and chisels have also beeii discovered.
23
ECONOMIC LIFE
The various objects recovered a t the site of Mohenjod a ro suggest th a t it w a s a prosperous city. The
people were fully a cqua inted with different types of a griculture. Implements like sickles have been
discovered. The common a gricultura l products of the time were whe a t, b a rley, veget a bles, cotton etc. As
the l a nd of the Indus V a lley w a s quite productive a nd h a d sufficient irrig a tion facilities, a griculture seems
to h a v e been the m a in stay of the people. In a ddition to this people domesticated animals for economic
purposes. The m a in a nimals which were domestic a ted by the people of Indus V a lley included cow, -bulls,
buffaloes, sheep, goat, ca mel etc.
Industry: Mohenjodaro w a s a gre a t industri a l centre and a number of industries were practised here. But
probably the most import a nt of these industries. was we a ving. This is· proved by the discovery of a
number o f spindles and spinning wheels in the v a rious houses of Indus Valley. This suggests that spinning
of cotton and wool w a s quite common. In a ddition, the people of Indus V a lley a lso knew the pra ctice of
dyeing. People a lso knew the a rt of using metals -like gold, silver, bronze, copper, tin, led etc. a nd they
produced v a rious a rticles with these met a ls. Pottery seems to have been a n import a nt industry during
this period. The earthen pots of those -d a ys, which ha ve been d,is<1overed, now c a n be bro a dly cl a ssified
·into two ca tegories - ha nd m a de a·nd wheel m a de. The discovery of number. of pottery kilns shows that
the .pots·were burnt. People, produced a v a riety of pots, certa in pots were me a nt for d a ily use and were
pla-in·whffe:other pots were meant for the·preserv a tion of v a lua bles a nd were pa inted.
Trade an.<l ·commerce: The ,c:ity of Mohenjod a ro wa s a great tra ding centre a nd both internal a nd
extern a l tra d .w a s ca rried. on from there. Internation a l tra de was ma inly ca rried on by the la nd routes 'in
which _bull.ock-carts wer used. ·Tha t the people of Mohenjod a ro had tra de rel a tions with the people
living in South Indi a , Centra l India. a nd Northwestern Indi a , is proved by the common use of precious and
semi.::p{'.ecious stones. The trade with foreign countries w a s ma inly carried through w a ter routes. This has
been proved by the representa tion of a boat on a se a l. Tra de was pa rticula rly -ca rried with countries of
Western Asi a . The chief a rticles sent to _the foreign countries were the clothes. The presence of cert.a in
objects of Indus Valley civilization· in Sumeri a suggests that India ha d tra de relations with that country
also. Scholars have expressed the opinion that Mohenjodaro w a s economic a lly prosperous city only
because it was a·. flourishing·centre of tra de nd commerce.
Weights and· M asures: A l a rge number of weights ha ve been discovered from Mohenjodaro and
H a rapp a . These weights differ a gre a t de a l in size. While-some of the weights a re so heavy th a t they could
not:be picked· up with ha nds a nd were used with the help of ropes, while the others were_ so small th a t it
appe a rs that they Were used ·exclusively b y the jewellers. ·But t_he most common weight that w a s used by
the people of Indus V a lley is .cubica l in shape. The people of Indus V a lley also knew about the foot a ge
systein. It at1pe a rs that tht rState exercised strict ·control over weights and me a sures.
RELIGION
As r gards- the religion: of the Indus Valley people n(?thing ican:· be sa id with cert a inty bec a use the
excav a tions h a ve not revealed :any temples, shrines, a ltars or cult objects.. However, we can make some
conj ctures aboµt their religious -beliefs fr<;>mthe various seals and o_bjects 9'r sculptures.·These people
h a d quite an adv a nced type of religious faith. At least one thing is quite cle a rt ha tt he iconic a nd a niconic
cults,:J xisted side by side. The principal deity ·- f the people was Mother-Goddess, a prototype of the
'Pow. r. ·,(W:hictl la ter developed into. Shakti). A number of standing and semi-nude:fem a le figure, we a ring
oil
a girQle or. a b a nd around her loins, with an el a bora te he a ddress c,1nd coll a r, h a ve been discovered.
M a ckkry ha s suggested th a t ·some sort of or intense was burnt before this goddess to ple a se her.
Human sa crifices were offered to the Mother-Goddess a s is proved by the seal. The animal s a crifices were
quite common.
In .add_ition to t h e Mother-Goddess,· people worshipped a three-he a ded deity t h a t can b e recognised as a

prototype·or historic Shiva . It has been ·suggested by certain schol a rs tha t the Aryans borrowed Shiva cult
om the Indus Vallejrpeople. The cult ·of animal worship was a lso quite common. The a n i ma ls were not
·only worshipped but were a lso regarded as·Vah a na or vehicles of the gods, like bull was regarded a s the
24
- ·-- -::;- _._.. -. --, -
vehicle of Lord Shiva. At Mohenjodaro we also get a number of evidences for animal, tree and image
worship. Image worship was certain i f l<riow'r.1 to the people oflndus Valley as is indicated by the crossed-
legged figure on a table. On this tablet devotees are shown kneeling to the right and left of the figure and a1 '
snake behind the figure.
Water played an important role in the religious beliefs of the people, as is evident from the presence of
the Great Bath. Certain scholars have suggested that the Great Bath was a temple of the River God. Some
scholars have even suggested that before performing any rituals people used to take a dip in the Great
Bath for their purification. ·
ARTS AND CRAFTS

The people of the Indus Valley did not make uch progress in the field of the fine arts and crafts. The
various tools, weapons, vessels, houses and public buildings that have been discovered lack artistic touch.
We have also not come across any monumental sculpture in any of the remains. Although the people of
Indus Valley could not produce works of art on a large scale, they displayed notable artistic achievement
at lt:!ast in seal _engravings, especially those of animals. The various figurines and amulets also show their
art.at great height A few stone image Jopn.d at Harappa are specimens o f an excellent finish and show a
high. degree of development in .th . art o f the sculpture_. But probably most. outstanding artistic work .: .
pro;duced by the 'Indus Valley people-is the bronze "dancing girl", as one writer has said: "She is nakedb:ut
wears bracelets -- ight up to the shoulder. .She is standing· in a provocative posture.with one-arm on her
i.
hip· and one lanky leg half-bent. This young woman has an air of Hvely pertness quite unlike anything in
the work ofother ancient civilizati rts. It ha.s qeeh suggested that this dancing girl' is q· representative-of·
j'." ..
I
a class of temple dancers and prost_itutes, such as existed in contemporary Middle Eastern civilization and
were an important feature of later Hindu culture." Some ofthe important crafts that flourished during the·
Indus Valley civilization period were that of pottery, carpentry, masonry, blacksmith work, ivory work;
stone cutting etc. These people also knew about spinning as is proved by the presence of large .- number of
spindle wheels.
The A r l o f Writing and Script: .The inscriptions on the eals discovered at Harnppa ·and Mohenjodaro
prove that the people of Indus Valley knew some sort of writing.. nieir script has been characterised as ··
pictographic, each sign s_tanding for a particular word or object It appears that the people wrote from l ft . . ·
According to Basham, ''The Indus script may have been inspired by the earliest. Sumerian script which
probably antedates it slightly, but it_ bears little resemblance to any of the scripts of ancient Middle East". ·
Nothing can be said with certainty about the language or the script used by the Indus Valley people,
because the script has not been deciphered. However, certain scholars regard this script as Sanskrit ·
while other considers it as Dravidian. But R.B. Dikshit is of the view. that the people o f Indus Valley.·
deyelope9 an i q pendent script and was identical.to the one used by the people i n Egypt; Sumeria cind .
other co1,.mtries of West Asia. However, nothing can be said for certain about. the· script of the Indus
Valley people except that it was pictogr p.hic.i: t 1
_ · - ·,;._;f ---1t;
TheJndus Valley Civilization had made a very rich contribution to the Mod rn Hindu cultu(e. In· fact many·
of the features found in the Indus Valley Civilization have been adopted b y ·Hinduism. Shiva as a deity is
as popular With people today· as it was during the
time of the Indus Valley Civilization. Sfotilarly;·the cult
ofLinga and Yoni was taken from Indus Valley people_. The worship of trees ·and plants, animal worship
and. sacrifices, the concept of "Vaharia" - the vehicles· of Gods, are· alf adopted· from lndus Valley
Civilization. Therefore, we can conclude that there is an organic-relationship between the andertt culture
of-Indus Va ley and Hinduism of today. · thus, the. religion of Indus Valley is a lineal progenitor· of
Hinduism.
Decline of Harappan Civilization.
Cities like Harappa, Mohenjodaro. and Kalibangan experienced gradual decline iR_ ur an pl nning an .
construction '. Houses m_ade of old dilapidated :bi-i ks. and hoddy construction encro_ach_ed _upo _th ro ds . . .
and str ets of the towns. Flimsy ·partitions sub-divided the courtyards of the houses. The Cities were fast ·
25
turning into slums. A detailed study o f the archi ectures of Mohenjodaro shows that many entry points to
the 'Great Bath' were blocked. Sometimes later the 'Great Bath' and the 'Granary' fell into total disuse. At
the same time the late levels (i.e. later habitations) at Mohenjodaro showed a distinct reduction in the
number of sculptures, figurines, beads, bangles and inlay works. Towards the end, the city of
Mohenjodaro shrank to a small settlement of three hectares from the original eighty-five hectares.
Before its abandonment Harappa seems to .have witnessed the arrival of a group o f people about whom
w e know through their burial practices. They were using pottery which was different from those of the
Harappans. Their culture is known as the 'Cemetery H' culture. Processes of decline were in evidence also
in places like Kalibangan and Chanhudaro. We find that buildings associated with power and ideologies
were .decaying and goods related to displays of prestige and splendor were becoming increasingly scarce.
Later.on, cities like Harappa and Mohenjodaro were abandoned altogether.
A study of the settlement pattern o f the Harappanand Late Harappan sites in the Bahawalpur area also
indicates a trend o f decay. Along the banks o f the Hakra river the number of settlements came down to SO
in the:Late Harappan period from 17 4 in the Mature Harappan period. What seems likely is _that in the last
two :.. three hundred years o f their life, the settleqients in the core region of the Harappan civilization were
declining.- The population seems to have _.either perished or moved away to other areas. Whereas the
number ·of sites in the triangle of Harappa, Bahawalpur and Mohenjodaro declined, the number of
settlenients in the ·outlying-'areas o f .Gujarat, East ·Punjab, Haryana and upper Doab increased. This
indicates a phenomenal increase in the number of people in these areas. This sudden increase in the
population of those regions. can be xplained by. the emigration o f people from .tne core regions of
Harappa. ) n the outlying regfons o f the Harappan civilization, i.e. the areas of Gujarat, Rajasthan and
Punjab; people continue to live. But life had changed for them. Some o f the important features associated
with the Harappan civilization - writing, uniform weights, Harappan pottery and architectural style had
disappeared.
The abandonment o f the cities of the Indus is roughly dated to about 1800 R C . This date is supported by
the· fact that the Mesopotamian literature stops referring to Meluhha by the end -of 1900 B.C. However,
even now the chronology.of th_e end o f Ha_rappan cities remains tentative. We do not as yet know whether
the ·maj_or settlements were. abandoned at one· .and the same or at clWerent per ods. What is certain,
however, is the fact the abandonment o f the major cities and the de-urbanization o f other settlements
indicates the decline· o f the Harappan civilization.
Theories of Decline
There is no agreement amongst the scholars on what probably caused the decline. o f the Hatappan
Culture. Some scholars, believing in a dramatic collapse of the civilization, have fooked for evidences o f a
calanifty . of· catastrophic proportions; which wiped out the urban communities. Some important
speculations in this regard are discussed he e.
Floo4 and Earthquakes
Among the causes spelled.out

j for the d_edine of the Harappan civilization schola s have used the evidence
o f .floodi 1g in_ Mohe_n odaro: It appears,from the _record of 1he principal e_xcavators. that in Mohenjodaro
evidences o f deep flooding separate·d various periods o f occupation. This can be inferred from the fact
that t;lie_ houses and streets· qf Mohenjodaro were covered with silt clay and collapsed building material
man./:thnes in its long his,tory. This silt ·clay seems .to have been left b y t h e floodwaters that had
subr ;rged the streets and houses. The people_ o f Mphenjodaro again built up houses and streets on top o f
the-4 1.?ris. o f the previous buiJdings, after the_floods had receded. This kind o f catastrophic flooding and
rebuilding on top· o f the debris seems to have happened at least thrice. Silt deposits divided many
occupation deposits. Thus, inany scholars believe that the evidences are indicative o f abnormal floods in
Mohenjodaro. These floods led to the temporary desertion and reoccupation o f the city throughout its
history. Silt deposits show that these floods were Catastrophic 80 feet.above the present ground lev l,
meaning that the floodwaters rose to such height in this area. The Harappans at Mohenjodaro tired
26
themselves out, trying to overcome the recurring floods. A stage came when the impoverished Harappans
could nQt take it any more and they sfmplyabandoned the settlement.
s Hypothesis
The theory of catastrophic flooding has been carried further by a famous hydrologist R.L. Raikes. He
argued_ that such flooding which could drown buildings 30 feet above the ground level o f the settlement
could not be the result of normal flooding in the river Indus. He beli ves that the Harappan civilization
declined because of catastrophic flooding causing prolonged submergence of the cities located on the
bank of the river Indus. Geomorphologically speaking the Indus area is a disturbed seismic zone.
Earthquakes might have raised the level of the flood plains of the lower Indus river. This uplift of the plain
along an axis roughly at right angles to that o f the river Indus blocked the passage of the river water to
the,sea. This led to the ponding of the waters of the river Indus. A lake was formed in the area where
cities of the Indus had once flourished. And thus, the.rising water levels of the river swallowed cities like
Mohenjodaro.
It h s b_een pointed out those sites like Sutkagedor and Sutka-koh on the Makran Coast.and Balakot near
Karachi ·were. seaports o f the Harapp ns,f However, at present, they -are ·located far away· from the
seacoas,t. This ·has happened bec use of .the upliftment of the land _on the sea-coast possibly caused by:.
vioJeht tectonic. activity. These violent earthquakes, damming rivers and burning towns destroyed the
Harapp_an civilization. This led to the disruption of the commercial life based on river and coastal
communication ..
This grand theory.of the ca astrophit fall o f the Harappa·n civilization is not accepted b y many scholars.
H.T. Lambrickpoints out that the idea that a river would be dammed in such a manner even by tectonic
uplifts is incorrect due to two reasons:
• Even if an earthquake artificially raised a bund down stream, the large volume of water from: the
Indus would easily breach it. "In recent times in Sind, a swell o f ground raised by the earthquake of_
1819 was breached by the first flood it faced from one of the smaller streams of the Indus called Nara.
• Silt deposition would parallel the rising surface of water in the hypothetical lake. I t would take place
along the bottom of the former course of the river.
· Thus, the ·silt of Mohenjodaro
· might.
· not be
· "the··
depositfon of a flood.
Another criticism o f this theory is that it fails to explain the decline of the settlements outside the Indus
system.
The Shifting Away of the Indus
Laqibr:icl< has offered his own explanation fo r the decline. He believes that changes in the.course'ofthe:
river Indus could be the cause of the d struction of Mohenjodarn, The· Indus is an unstable river system ·
which keeps shifting its bed. App·arJ·ht1y/ the river. Indus shifted about thirty miles away from
Mohenjodaro. The people of the city and the surrounding food production villages des rted the area ·
becaµse they wen starved of water.- This kind of thing -happened many times f f ·the history s
f
Mohenjodaro. The silt observed in the city ·is actually the product o f wind action blowing i n l o t of sand·
and silt This,:combined with disintegrating mud, m·uct brick and baked brick structures, produced what · ·
. has been mistaken for silt produced b y fl ods.
This theory too cannot explain the dedine o f the Harappan civilization-in totality. At best, it can explain
the-desertion of Mohenjodaro. And i f the people of Mohenjodaro were familiar with those kirids of shifts
in the river course why could not they themselves shift to some new settlenie.rit and establish another city
like Mohehjodaro? Obviously, it:appears'thatsome o·the-r factors were at war
27
Anthropoiogy Paper 02 Voiume 03
Increased Aridity and Drying Up o f the Ghaggar

D.P. Agarwal and Sood have introduced a new theory for the-decline of the Harappan civilization. They
believe that the Harappan civilization declined because of the increasing aridity in this area and the
drying up of the river Ghaggar-Hakra. Basing their conclusions on the studies conducted in the U.S.A.,
Australia and Rajasthan they have shown that there was an increase in the arid conditions by the middle
o f the second millennium B.C. In semi-arid regions like those of the Harappa, even a minor reduction in
moi ture and water availability could spell disaster. It would 9-ffect agriculturarproduction, which in turn
wou_ d put the city economies under stress . .
These scholars also discussed the problem o f unstable river systems in western Rajasthan. As stated
earlier the Ghaggar-Hakra area represented one of the core regions of the Harappan civilization. The
Ghaggar was a mighty stream flowing through Punjab, Rajasthan and the Rann o f Kutch before
debouching into the sea. Rivers Sutlej and Yamuna used to be the tributaries of this river. Because of
some tectonic disturbances, the Sutlej stream was captured by the Indus River and the Yamuna shifted
east to join the Ganges. This kind of change in the river regime, which left the Ghaggar waterless, would
hav'e''catastrophic implication for the townsdocated in this area. Afpparently, the ecological disturbances
brought by the increased aridity crnd the shift in the drainage pattern led to the decline o f the Harappan
civilization.
Interesting th.ough this theory is, it has some problems. The theory about the onset of arid conditions has
not.been" fully worked out and one needs mor information. Similarly, the drying up o f the Ghaggar has·
n o f been dated properly as yet.
Barbarian Invasions
Wheeler believed that the.Harappan civilization was destroyed by the Aryan invaders. It has been pointed
out that in the late phases of 9ccupation at Mohenjodaro there are evidences o f a massacre. Human
skeletons have been found lying on the streets. The Rig Veda time and again refers to the fortresses of the
Dasa$ and· Dasyus. The Vedic god Indra. is called 'Purandara' meaning 'the destroyer of forts'. The
geographical area qf the habitation of the Rig Vedic Aryans included the Punjab and the Ghaggar-Hakra
·region . Since there are no remains oJ other cultural groups having forts in this-area in this historical
phase, wheeler believed that it was the Hara pp an cities that were being described iri the Rig Veda. In fact,
the R i g Veda mentions a place called Hariyupiya This place was located·on the bank of the river Ravi. The
Aryans fought a battle here: The· name· of the place sounds very similar to that of Harappa. These
evidences led Wheeler to conclude that it was the Aryan invaders who destroyed the cities of Harappa.
Attractive though this theory is, it is not a ceptable to. a host o f scholars. They .point o u t that the
pro {sjonal date for the decline of the Ha rap pan civilization I s believed to be 1800 B.C. The Aryans on the
other.(hand are beli ved to'have arrived here not·earlier _than a period around 1500 B.C. A the present
state';of knowledge it is difficult to revise ¢ither of.the dates and $0, the· Harappans and the Aryans are
unlikeiy to have met each other .. Also, neither Mohenjodaro no}\H rappa yielded any other _evidence of a
military assault The evidence of the human bodies lying exposed in the streets is important. This
however could have been caused by raids b y bandits from the surrounding hilly tracts. In a n y case, the big
cities were al eady in a st;ate of decay. rhis cannot be explained by the invasion hypothesis.
Ecolpgical Imbalance
;•.
Sch \ ts like Fairservis trie' to ex.plain th decay of the. Harappan civilization in terms of the problems of
ecol?gy. He computed t h e population of the i-Iarapp fo cities and· worked out the food requirements o f the
town'smeh. He ·also computed· that the villagers in these areas consume abo.ut 80% o f their produce
leaving about 20% for the market I f similar patterns of agriculture existed' in the past, a city like
Mohenjodaro, :having a population of about 35 thousand, would require .very large number o f villages
·producing food. According to Fairservis's calculation the -delicate e<;:ological balance o f these semi-arid
areas was being disturbed because the human and·cattle population in these areas was fast depleting the
scanty forests, food and fuel resources. The. :ombined needs of the Harappan townsmen, peasants and
28
pastoralists exceeded the limited production capacities o f these areas. Thus, a growing population of men
and animals confronted by scanty reso\irces wore out the landscape. With the forests and grass cover
gradually disappearing, there were more floods and droughts. This depletion 'of the subsistence base
caused strain on the entire economy o f the civilization. There seems to have been a gradual movement
away to areas which offered better subsistence possibilities. That is why the Harappan communities
moved towards Gujarat and the eastern areas, away from the Indus.
Of all the theories discussed so far Fairservis's theory" seems to be the most plausible one. Probably the
gradual deterioration in the town planning and the living standards was a reflection of the depleting
subsistence base of the Harappans. This process of decline w;:is completed by the raids and attacks of the
surrounding communities.
However, the theory o_f environme tal disaster also has some problems.
• The enduring fertility of soils o f the Indian sub-continent over the subseq ent millennia disproves the
hypothesis o f soil exhaustion in this area.
Also, the computation of the needs ofJhe Harappan population is based on scanty information and a
lot more information would be ne, d d to make a calcula ion of the subsistence needs of the
Harappans.
The emergence o f the Hara.ppan civilization involved a delicate balance o f relations between cities, towns
and vill.:iges, rulers, peasants and ·nomads. I t also means a fragile but important relationship with. the
communities o f the neighboring areas who-were in possession o f minerals crucial for trade.-Sinillarly,_it
meant maintenance of contact with the contemporary civilizations and cultures. Apart from this, we have
to take into account the ecological factor of relationship with nature. Any breakdown in these chains. of
relationships could lead to the decline o f the cities.
Contribu ions of Harappan Culture to Indian Civilization
The cults of Pasupati (Siva) and o f the mother goddess and phallic worship seem to have come dow_n to us
from the Harappan tradition. Similarly, the cult of sacred places, rivers or trees and sacred anim_als show
a distinct con,tinuity in the subsequent historic civilization of India. The ·evidence o f fire worship and
sacrifice- in Kalibangan. and Lothal is significant These .were the most significant elements- of the V e d k .
religion. Could the Aryans have- learnt these practices from the Harappan priesthood? This hypothesis ,.
would fequire more evidence ·but-it is. not unlikely Many aspects of domestic life like the house plans,
disposition o f water supply and attention to bathing survived in the settlements o f the· subsequent
periods. The traditional weight and currency system o f Inqia, based on a ratio of sixteen as the 'unit, was.
already pr _sentin_ the Harappan civilization. It mightw.ell·have been derived from them. The .technique o f
m i,-t1g potter swheel.in.modern India is similar to those used bytheHarappans. Bullock-carts and boats
used in modem India were already pres.ent in the Harappan cities. As such we can say that many el rnents
ofthe Harappan civilization survived J u to;, subsequent hi torical tradition. . '
Post or Later Harappan .Cultures

By the second ·millennium B.C . . several regional cultures sprang up in different_ parts o f the· Indiari
subcontinent .These were-non-urban non-Harappan and were characte"rized by-the use o f stone and
copper tools. Hence, these cultures are termed as Chalcolithic cultures .
,... .i i
In addition to other cultural material huge· caches o f copper·and bro·nze objects were fo nd at excavated
site dn parts of-Uttar Pradesh, Harya·ria,·Rajasthan, Bihar, W e s t Bengal, Orissa and Karnataka. As thes_e
have be_en found in hoards.(about a thousand objects altogether from 85 sites) these sites were tho,ugn
to represent a di inct Copp r H'.oard culture. At·Saipai (Etawah .Qistt)" a site in. ttar_ Pradesh, a c_op _r,
h :}?.2.Q!l was found in ass ciation wit:l:i: pottery known a_s .Ochre Colored Pottery: c·ocP). houg s9my f
tlie other Copper Hoard sit s h,:iye yj lded OCP, the copper objects are not found in d_i ect,_a_ss9_c tj(?_J) __. ·
with OCP. As more than a hundred sites have yielded this characteri tic pottery ip- t e Ganga-Yarnuna , ·
29
Doab, these sites are described as belonging to the OCP culture.

The OCP culture is succeeded by Black and Red Ware (BRW} and Painted Grey Ware {PGW) cultures,
which are distinguished by diagnostic pottery types. In North India, there is a distinct concentration of
Painted Grey Ware sites in Haryana and Upper Ganga Valley, of which 30 have been excavated. Iron
makes its appearance in the Painted Grey Ware culture, and in the ensuing phase, known as the Northern
Black Polished Ware (NBP) culture, its use becomes more widespread. Starting from the sixth century B.C.
we al o see the beginnings o f urbanization.
Ochre Colored Pottery Culture
A new pottery type was discovered in trial excavations conducted in 1950 at Bisauli (Badam district) and
c!iIHI!' tar :µ_ (Blru2r,..,gJ§!!j,ct) in Uttar Pradesh, both of them being CopperHoartrs-ites. This -pottery is
made of medium grained clay, under-fired and has a wash of ochre (which has a tendency to rub oft)
ranging from orange to red. Hence, those sites associated with this ware are ascribed to Ochre Colored
Pottery culture (OCP culture}. So far more than 100 sites which extend from Mayapur in Saharanpur
distrtctto Saipai in .Etawah district (U.P.) have,be,;en discovered.
' '
Oehm Colored-Pottery sites are .generally located on riverbanks. These sites are small in size and the
mounds have a low-height-at many of the sites ( e.g. Bi"hadara.bad, Bisauli, Rajpur Parsu, Saipai). This
indicates a:relatively shQrt duration ofthese settlements. The distance between.settlements varies from 5
k m to 8 km. At some o f .the OCP sites· (e g. Ambkhert Baheria·, Bahadarabad, Jhinjhana, Lal Qila,
Atttrartjikbera, Saipai) excavations have· revealed ·no signs o f regular habitation. At Hastinapura and
Ahfchchatra there is a break· in occupation between the oc·P culture and the succeeding PGW culture,
while a t Atranjikhera the OCP settlements are succeeded by Black and Red Ware Pottery.
The material remains of QCP culture are mostly in the form of pottery These consist o f jars (including
storage jar$), bowls, ring-footed bowls, flasks, handled pots, miniature pots, basins spouts, etc. The other
objects compl'ise terracotta bangles; beads of terracotta and carnelian; terracotta animal figurines and
cart wheels with a central knob; stone querns and pestles; and bone points. A copper harpoon has beeri
fotind in the OCP stratum ·at Saipai.
Not much evidence ·is ·available regarding structures; From th.e evidence recorded at Lal Qila, which is
sc nty,·it is known that floors were made of rammed earth. The structures consiste.d of wattle and daub
houses This· is suggested on the basis o f burnt mud ·plaster and mud. clods with reed and bamboo
impressions.
Archae_obotanical re ains recov red at Atranjikhera indicate that rice barleyand grain were grown. On
the l:lpsis of similarity in pottery types some s·cholars believe that the OCP represented a degenerate,d
.
form:o(thefate· Ha·rappan pottery. .
l
On the basis of Thermoluminiscence .dates ob,tained from OCR. pptte-ry, the culture has bee11: ascribed to
,
200O:B.C. to 1500 B.C. . .
BI.J.ck and Red Ware Culture
Excayations at Atranjikhe.ra in the eariy 1960s revealed a distinct horizon, sandwiched· between OCP and
· PGW)evels. This horizon ·has a characteristic pottery called Black and Red Ware (BRW). A similar
strati$raphic sequence has been discovered in· the 1970s at Jodhpura and Noh in Rajasthan. But at
Ahicta:chhatra; Hastinapura and Alarrigirpur; BRW is:found associated with PGW.
--"'..
·.':
The haracte istic features o f this pottery are the black c_olor inside and near the rif:11 on outside, and red
color, over the rest of the body. Inverted firing, it is believed, has produced this color combination. The
p_ottery is mostly wheel turned, though some pots are also handmade. It is made o f fine clay and has a fine-
. fabric with-thin. walls. Black and Red Ware pot_tery with paintings has _also ·been found at sites in
Rajasthan,.Madhya Pradesh,_.Bihar and W e s t Bengal.
30
The excavations at Atranjikhera have revealed fragments of stones, waste flakes, chips, cores o f quartz,
chalcedony, agate and carnelian; one be.ad ·each of carnelian, shell and copper; a copper ring; and a
fragment of comb made o f bone. No stone or m tal tools have been found. Jodhpura has yielded a bdhe
spike. From Noh shapeless piece of iron, a terracotta bead and a bone spike· have been discovered.
The important feature o f doab BRW (also o f that at Noh) is its plain surface, devoid o f any paintings. The
BRW found at Gilund and Ahar (in Rajasthan), on the other hand, is painted in white on black surface.
There are also typological differences. The painted BRW from Ahar has pronounced carinated concave
sides, and the fabric is coarse. The plain BRW o f the doab has no carination, and the fabric is fine. The disl.1
with featureless rim and concave sides present in large numbers in the B R W o f the doab is absent at Ahar
and Gilund. Bowls with spouts and c;lish-on-stand present at Ahar and Gilund have not been found in the
doabsites.
Painted Grey Ware Culture
Since the first discovery of Painted Grey Ware (PGW) at Ahichchhatra in 1946, a huge number o f sites
have been brought to light in different pa_rt o f north India. Out o f these 30 sites have been excavated.
Some o f the well known excavated sites a n f R u p a r (Punjab), Bhagwanpura (Haryana), Noh (Rajasthan)
Alamgirpur, Ahichchhatra, Hastinapura, Atranjikhera; Jakhe·ra and Mathura (all in Uttar Pradesh).
·.
The on centratfo-n of PGWsites is in the -lndo:.;Gangetic d ivide (Haryana), Sutlej basin and the upper Ganga
0 c
plains. Settlements are located -c1long riverbcinks. The average distance from one site to the other is about
10 km. to 12 km, though in some cases it is also 5 km. The settlements at these sites are mostly smail
villages (1 to 4 hectares) with the exception of. Bhukari (Ambala district, Haryana} which is an extensive
settlement covering 96,193 sq;m.
Pottery is wheal made out o f fine clay and has a thin core: It has a smooth surface Jgrey to ash-grey in
c_olor. It is painted in black and sometimes in a deep chocolate color on the outer as well as inner surface.
It has nearly 42 designs and the most common types are bowls and dishes.
The houses and other structu_res were of wattle and daub. This is indicated b y the occurrence o f patches_
o f burnt earth, mud bricks, burnt bricks, mud platforms and mud plaster pieces, with reed and bamboo
impressions in the excavations at Ahichchhatra, Hastinapu_ra, Atranjikhera ·and Jakhera. Excavations at
Bhagwanpura (Haryana) site revealed different structural phases. PcJstholes in ·the first phase indicate
circular and rectangular huts. In the second phase,_one house has -13 rooms with ·a corridor between-·the ._
two sets of rooms. This house also has a courtyard.
A variety of objects made out o f copper, iron, glass arid bone were found in excavations: These consist of
axes chisels, - ,hhooks and arrowheads. Spearheads are_ made on.ly o f iron. Among the agricultural
implements, onty·a sickle and a hoe made o f iron have been found at Jakhera. Iron objects are found at-all
the sites except Hastinapura, Atranjikhera alone has yielded 135 objects, a furnace, iron. sVag d o s e to the
surface, and a pair of tongs. _ · · -," · · -
,
A t Jodhpura there is evidence of two furnaces. It has been suggested that iron ore was -procured fro.m
other regions. Th_e people were fond o f ornaments. Beads o f terracotta, agate, jaspei:-, carnelian;·-
chalcedony, Iapis lazuli,_ glass and bone have been found. Two glass bangles were found at Hastinapura
and copper bangles have been found at Jakhera. Terracotta objects comprise human (male and female) __
and a"nimal (bull and horse) figurines, discs, balls, potter's stamps, etc were also found. ··
Evidence o f cultivated crops is available only a t Hastinapura and Atranjikhera. A t t h e former site, t emains
o f only rice were found and the latter has yielded the remains of wheat and barley. Bones o f horse, cattle, __ _
pig, goat and deer have been found a t H'.astinapura, Allahpura and Atranjikhera; These include both :wi l d --
as well as domesticated animals ·
Beads made o f a v a r i e t y
o f sein·i-precious stones (like agate, jasper, carnelian, chalcedony; la pis lazuli) are
found at different PGW sites in the doab. None o f these stones, as raw material, are available'in the doab;
31
These items could have been.obtained by trade. Agate and chalcedony are found in Kashmir, Gujarat and
Madhya Pradesh whereas lapis lazuli is to be found in Badakshan province in Afgha "' ,stan. Thus, the
people inhabiting the PGW sites must have obtained these stones through trade or exchange with these
regions. Certain parallels in shape and size have been found between the PGW and potteries found in
north-western India. Especially the Grey Ware found in association with iron seems to.indicate some links
with the PGW cultures.
Northern Black Polished Ware Culture
Like the preceding cultures the Northern Black Polished Ware culture is identified by its distinctive
pottery. This ware was first discovered at Taxila in 1930 and because of its black luster its discoverer
then tcrok it as 'Greek Black Ware'. Since then nearly 1500 NBP sites have come to light. They expand from
Taxila and Udgram in the north-west to Talmuk in east Bengal and Amravati (Andhra Pradesh) in the
south. Out of these about 74 have been excavated. ·
. On the basis of the kind of pottery frequency and associated objects it has been suggested that two phases
can be''distinguished in the NBP Ware Culture:
Phas J: This phase is also referred to.as the pre-defense phase. This is characterized.by a predominance
of NBP,:Ware and presence of shreds o f BRW and PGW, though in meager qu rntities. In this phase there is
an absence of punch mark d -c.oins and· burnt brick structures, which signify a higher level o f
development This phase is represented in Atranjikhera. Sravasti and Prahladpur.
Phas.e lI: Pottery specimens belonging to BRW and PGW are not found in this phase. _NBP Ware is of poor
qucJ.lity (thicker in fabric) and is found in smaller numbers. A coarse grey ware comes into greater use.
Punch marked coins and burnt bricks make their first appearance. This phase is represented in
Hastinapura, Atranjikhera,;Sravasti II and Prahladpur.
From the excavations at Hastinapura. Atranjikhera· and Kausambi it becomes evident that during this
period building activities began on a large scale and that citfos began to emerge. Excellent evidence of a
settlement layout was discovered at Kausambi. Lanes and bylanes of brick flooring were found here. One
road. which was originally l id in 600 BC was relaid several times and continued tQ. function till 300 1\D.
Houses were made of burnt bricks, and use of tiinberin house construction is evidenced by the pqst-hole.s
and sockets-for doorjambs. The roofs of houses were covered ·with tiles. The rooms were square as well as
rectangular. All. this indicates a fairly planned building activity. This is further deinonstrate·d ·from
excav:ations at Hastinapura that have revealed an elaborate drainage system; Some of the settlements
were fortified with a mud. or brick wan and moats were constructed encircling the fortification. The
fortification wall at Kausamb1 had gu rd rooms, towers and gates at regular intervals.
The m,ast characteristic feature of NBP Ware is its glossy surface. It is turned o n a fast wheel a_nd is made.
o f wel --made clay. The core of the pottery in 1 sqme cases _is as thin as 1.5mm. ln addition td the glossy
black$tii:fa ce, the NBP Ware is also found i n golden, silver, white;'prnkish, steel blue, chocolate.and brown
col.ors. :The _recovery of riveted pots.. (i.e. ma e by joining broken pieces) from some sites (e.g. Ro_par,
Sorieptir) indicates how valuable the NBP Ware was. Thfs along with the prese ce of other pottery types
leads us to assume that NBP was a lux4ry ware not accessible to everybody and suggests to us that the
society was unequally divided. Though NBP ware is generally unpainted, some painted shreds to occur.
Painti'.ng _is done using yellow and light vermilion colors. The common designs are simple bands, wavy
lines)g?ts, concentric and intersecting circles, semi-circles, arches and loops.
Sever l kinds of tools, weapons, ornaments and other objects made of copper, iron, gold, ilver, stone,
glass,,,and bone h ve been recovered· from NBP Ware sites. They reveal the technological progress
achieved_ during this period which is further corroborated by early ·Buddhist texts, that mention a number
o f arts and _<;rafts. The Jatakq.s refer to _about 1_8. guilds, for instance,. those o f wo"rkers in wood, metal,
stone, pr:ecious an semi-precious -stqnes; ivory textiles, etc. The.. copper: objects. found at many sites
consist o f chis,els, knives, borers, pins, needles; antimony rods, r els.and bangles.
32
Iron objects not only preponderate but a,so exhibit a great variety in form when compared to the PGW
period. The site of Kausambi alone has Yielded 1,115 iron objects f rom deposits dating between Ca.800
B.C. to 550 A D . These consist o f agricultural implements like hoes and sickles, and tools of craftsman such
as axes, adzes, chisels and screw rods; Weapons like arrowheads, javelin heads and spearheads. And
miscellaneous objects that include knives, handles of different kinds, hooks, na.il;S, rivets, fishplates, rings
and miniature bells. Silver punch-marked coins have been found from the middle phase of NBP culture.
These indicate a possible shift from barter system to a system of exchange o f goods through metallic
currency.
Archaeobotanical remains indicate that rice, wheat, barley, millet, pea and black gram were cultivated.
And the animal remains found from some of the sites suggest dependence on cattle, sheep, goat, pig and
fish. Presence of beads hailing from many different places suggest some form of trade. It has be.en
suggested that trade links existed between Taxila, Hastinapura, Ahich hhatra, Sravasti and Kausarribi
during Ca. 600 B.C. to 200 B.C. Such a view is strengthened by the references made in Buddhist texts to
trade guilds, and the caravans of camels, horses, mules, oxen and buffalos. _Between the 6th and 3rd
centuries B.C. there was trade between India and countries to the west. The main items of export were
textiles, spices, and probably finished . gp,qds of iron and steel. From the Arthasastra (Book-II) it would
appear that the state not only exercised· co'nt'rol over trade but also had - monopoly over industries
· like
· ·
gold, copper, fron, lead,· tin, silv_er,· diamond; gems and precious stones..
CONTRIBi.JflON·oF TRIBAL CULTURES TO IND/AN CIVILIZATION

A study of the various stages. o f Indian prehistory reveals the fact that the Indian tribal population has
been participating in the dynamics o f mainstream social and cultural evolution form the very beginnings.
It is clear from· the archeological record that the aboriginal Indian population was predo·minantly tribal
and they constituted the basic social matrix of this country. The nation further witnessed the migration of
foreign· tribes into the mainland India from various parts of the world. Migration alone can account for
_the awesome complexity in their racial types, as there is no paleontologkal record substantiating their
evolution on the Indian soil. ·
The contributions of the Indian tribes in the evolution of India society a·re not to be underestimated. To
quote Prof. K S . Singh, "The Indian 'trib_es have not lain 'torpid' on the fringe. o f civilization but have
responded to static and dynamic rhythms or'history. Their role is limited not merely to referehce·s to such
of them as Saoras, Kiimaras and Kiratas in ancient texts; it is part of the process o f the fusion of rates and
cultures in the subcontinent, o f the growth of Hinduism and its amorphous mass o f myths and legends,
magic and religion, traditions and customs. Tribal contents in Indian life may be compared to an iceberg
in an ocean and these can be ide_ntified as much as th Aryan or the Dravidian" ..
The origin of Indus Valley Civilization, its gradual expansion and growth.is the ingenious work o f the
Indian tribes. The subsequent invasion of the Aryan tribes and their amalgamation into Indian society and
esta_blishment o f the Rig Vedic and Late.r;Mf!Pkc Civilization,s is again a testimony to the fact'that the tribes·
have been playing a proactive role in the gradual evolution and subsequent crystallization of the Indian
society. Mention ·must-be made to the Later Vedic period that has witnessed two processes that display
the interaction between Aboriginal and Aryan tribes. These are the Aryanization o'f Indian Tribes and
Trib lization o f Aryan people.
The historic epics of India - Ramayana and Mahabharata - mention Indian tribes such _as. Dravida,s,
PuHna·s, Sabaras and Abhiras. In fact, the S baras or Saoras, as they are called today, find their"eaiTfest
meri'ifo'n iri'tlie'·'Aitreya"'Brah ana. According to Verrier Elwin, "Sabari.who offered fruits to Ram ,:has
becom -,,,s f the contributions that tribes can and will make to the life of India". The fam:ous
di cip'f :_ [ > ¼rho gave away his th.um as da shina to his guru Drona.ch rya, is a member of h j l
_
lPP.. .esent day M_unda and Nagatr _b ·clann to hav fo,!).ght,-along-w-1!.luh- - Kauravcls gamst the
Panda s in the famous ·-Kuruksfiei131 war •....Rhfma n1arried aitribalJady:Hh:liitib ':),vhtfeventu.allY gave
1
,9Jr:tl{to.the·famous son o f B h i m a r ·t b tQl ka r A· meiidon is'iii tieuf:!in r y ing a Nag pri cess
/·Ch1trangada. )n fact the accultu-ration«of-·'Naga tribes into the"-ffiainstream Indian -population is so
=
;
- .. -···-
_.,.,...
"'I"
' If',';. :!-.
',, _ _
33
.,;'-.
complete that today w e don't find a n y evidences o f their culture. There is neither historical connection
nor any cultural relationship the present d a y Nagas o f Nagaland have with the ancient N a g a tribe-. w e are
talking about. The influence o f ancient Nagas on the Indian society can be felt in manx._places across the
country and in its culture, architecture a n d festivals.
a
The a?l ilation o f tribe J t LL gt n..- .<?£ ':JY continued for long time. Even today the tij_ba f?.!½! _re is
resplendent with anecdotes ai:id legepds_ from . 1:IJ.Mu .. P)c0ike Ramayana and Mahabharata. In fact, the
M undc1s consider themselves as Manoako, the descendents o f Manu and the Gonds consider themselves
as the. descendents.
l
o f R_c1y na. Ancient Ind.ian literature like Pc:1n hata tra,
. Kathasaritsagara,
. Vi?hnu
Purana anc 'H a rsh a Charita talk enormously o f the Indian tribal p p.ulations. .
T h u s ··we may conclude by saying that the tribal populations in India have contributed enormously
throughout the nation's prehistoric and historic development. The Indian civilization is enriched with the
dynamic participation c:>°ftfloar population:· not" only from times· iriunemorial, but also for a long time to
come. The aura o f Indian diversity is further intensified by.the very presence o f these ancient aµd exotic
· inhabitants o f this subcontinent
I
1.2 ealec,,anthropological ·Evidences fr.om India with special reference to
I
Si.wiliks and Nar ada -Basin ·.
A s .India was assuming its present geographical and biotic features, there evolved various species o f apes
wh ·se fo;sils are found in the Siwalik Hiils bordering the Himalayas. Dating from 15 to 7.5 rriya_, these fre
l
the s.Lm .!Ilbe!_ -· --- ur taxono'mfE··supe Hy
2
Hi e···1:th in oid to appe r in South A s i a . . Their
,,.;.
hr;
olutionaty·relationship to other extinct a n d contemporary ape species recovered in Europe, Africa and
··East Asia give them a significant place in the biological history o f primates in general a n d the ancestry o f
h u m a n s in· particular. (Kenneth A.R. Kennedy) Scief!tists who st{!gJes. the.Siwali cipe fossils assig ed
s o m e o f their species.to fanciful taxonomic·names ·taken··tr·oin"'i-i1 du mythology. T_hus, RamapitJ:i.e.¢ s)
.1
Siy9:pithecus, Brahmapithec·us a n d SugrivapJthecus c a m e t o be.kn6Wrf"COHectively a s the Go Apes_ o f :
J:
·r.·
SJ.\i\T liks.-, tiurfnifthe-co-urs·e···ofp·ast
t
cenhiry and a half this fossiT ec:C>r.c ·o1·M io t n .hq_mLn..Qi!!s h a pg n:
variously interpre ed, a m.ajor,. qu stion being. hE:!.. vo]utionary affinity o f God Apes . t o the earliest
. .
. 1.· .:·.
memb rs,llf -r. o.Y' c) C?fil :r .mfiy. .the:_ii mlnidae. . .-.
Ramapithecus
<
Be'ii°eved to be· one o f the earliest Hominid fossils from the.Siwalik Hills oflndia, Ramapithecus dates back
to 'tl-ie; ume period be ween'j ;JQ;·.triy. . : I t w a s discovered and christened as t J P.- - . :°.:P:.bl' - l D -. ,.
Lewi .Jn the year 1934. The· specimen w a s later analyzed. b y Simons in the year 1964 S i m o n s gave th ji:L
name· Ramapithecus p njabicus to this find, which was for a long time. tho ght to pe. tl:w .highest evolvecL :' ·
form in1:he Rominid--e ;'a;p -,gr P..P.02:fioriitheciis .-'- . . .
ol t , e] ing ····-o.,.. . . .. . .
..........,.............. "··-····-"· ...................... ·-··· . ···•" - .. . . ...
. . t - .. . . ·.·
1
T h e fqs ls·of Ramapithecus (primarily teeth and jaw) co.me from' t 0 o areas·: the Siwalik, Hills itj ln ia d
Fort Ternaii)ri Kenya. Other specimens have been discoveted from Turkey; H u n g a r f a n a G J e e c e . T h e '
ecological sett.1rtg ()'fFo'rt Tern.an and the· Siwalik Hills f ossi i . t .? . . !! - · o l -- - vfronment
T h e h9minid features o f Rarriapithecus include re_duced and vertically implal} is. .. e.!!!LS .!l !J ,s,
littl.e 6i\tlb d-iastema, flattened and thicltenam.eled premolars a n a m o t a r s t h a t appear to b e adapte_<Lfor·
heavy(4hewing · anc(proc ssing o f h e a v y f o o d s t u f f s . -··Moreove'r, th ' placements -o f chewfng.-m:uscles -
i
itra.Ttate·:·an··ihcreased chewing ·pressure···broi gh t -·fo bea·r· on 'the foodoeiii'f'e·aferi:. Thes·e ··reatiires;··
s ttE:Ii fr::S{ff.f r t from-the-earif er Mfoceiie -fossils; indicate RamapitheCus
. direction. to hominid line
...... · . ·- ----·--· . - . - . ...
_pe_ - -t _f(r (HorriTjiT :····--· ·--
Ramapithecus· specimens very strongly suggest the exploitation o f a n e w dietary_J..Q!!r - m.<:>s. . i !Y.
seeds. nuts an'!'._grasses ,.: that indL<: '..c!'. h.tft: . ?. y_frotn the softerhWresffnif.ts rriTvegetables. relied : P. A-.
bf-apes -,.Ii1[!11 J :&."'.shift ·istather d e a r l y c1 s.ocfate-c:Lwtth"ie··dfn:iatic changes in the later. P. t!. ..<?.L
-·-·Miocene that led to an.iiic:'1ias.ehi-open gra slands and the decrease in t h forest habitat o f apes. t h e r e is
34
a greater probability that this hominid form apparently was moving into a n e w ecological niche; it was
beginning to exploit a more open ground environmel)t simil9r to that inhabited by later hominids:
Ramapithecus is also the most likely candidate for the ancestry o f later hominid because of its. presenc<:!..
inari area Where-·tf1e next
·hominids .:·the Ai:istralopithecines·::navebeen"lo·uncC .
The possible daptations that Ramapithecus made to open g_r91:1!}.QJ_i_yi11g. i!!.cl ge an inc_rE:!a ed._g_ _gr ,.,QL.
hand and finger preparation o f food, perhaps more fre-quent use o f tools in such preparati E, a tenci !)SY
tow"afds·-upftgfaposfiireah-d bipedal Iotomotion-formovetrteht Wit -a\vide JfekrofvYsTo·n thrcnlgh-t e· tall.·
grass·es--on the· OP . JJ,lcli_11; P.<?s:s t>:Iflifrige.r perfods·of gr·owth:and.: y fQitnient,
·and perhaps, everi ·a more"
frequent incl us-ion o f meat in the diet. . None o f these adaptations can be clearly demonstrated because· of
lack o f fossil evidences,.but w h a t we do know is that these adaptations were clearly present by the time
the next phase of hominid evolution - the australopithecj.Qes - had begun. It is highly likely that,
Ramapithecus had begun to evolve and acquirethose ..hominid features that led to. the evolution o f
australopithecines.
There is a gtea.t de l f de at,e .s to th.e.exact Phylogene.tic posi io. of. a. ar. . ll :
Sivapithecus
'"' Fragmentary fossil remains o f Sivaplthecus·wer·e yielded from three sites in Italy dating to early Middle.
.t_
--Miocene (16 14 Illya). Foilowing the docking o f the Arabian plate'w1t·E fA <:.<:1 . u .. .1!1Ya, land,
-'·.·-' route.s became available for aniinal migration from Africa into Eurasia. It would thus seem, from these
Turkish remains, that hominoids quickly too advantage of thk_route" and· reached Eurasia . by '16 mya. ·
Most researchers would assign these remains to the genus Sivapithecus. •
ol;rc-. . . , . .• ; . : . : . . , . . . . • • . , · - _ . _
· Far more complete samples o f Sivapithecus have been recovered·from Southern Asia, in the Si a,Jil< I-fill ·
o f India c,1n.d .Pakistan. Most dramatically, over the last 20 years, paleoanthropologists led b y David
. · !_b -o .H _rvar? lJni si X,have recovered numerous e. . llent specimens froqi___! . -.f.. - :.
u f
Pakis _n. Included in this superb Pakistani collection is a multitude o f mandibles (15 in all, soine o f which
.. are-iie'arly intact), many postcranial remains, and a par ial:ct. i!;ll}l, in l clif!g. r p oi t ·o.( t f :fBce . ., ...
-:--· ....... .... ·.··,:·······,: .. . ·. . ,, - -- .·-. ······.--- - . -
, : ·--········ .......... ·,. . . . . . _·
Sivapithecus from Turkey and Pakistan was probably 51.go_o__g:s..iz- g._b_o_mJ09jd, r , $f£!E_J.!!.size ·from 7Q J <}:,.
lb. It probably inhabited a mostly arboreal nkhe, and· fts focorriotion .was "apelike", 'at least in.the.·sen . e. ' .
. .
that Sivapithecus most likely displayed some su·s e- sory abilitie (!>r ;t;i-; I nf :,
·-·- "!":- - • • . , . . . . ··-·- ... ... ... -- :.,-. -
e, ·
Sivapithecus differs morphologically from its predecessors Proconsul and Dryo ithecus in its dentitic\!1
and.facial i n tomy. T h front teeth, especially.the.uppercentr J!! . q_rs ?/ebft ql!}tearge,whii.e
c i hl e ·is fairly good-sizect:· fH :f. L E. ; - 1?. i _, J , ci fsc repan i .j ; !f a mon g : .$1k P I : s : -..
i_!!dividuals, partly because so.!!1 - Q .C::.i . r J .m S. t - vera ll; bu also because there.was coil?iderable
varfatiori (sexuafdimo"i:plffsm) within the same species. In diet ··like most other horninoid Sivapithecus
w a.......s ·-·p'. obably_c1
__ .,. --· .. ,._.:,,. .
fr.µiteater. = ·.,,·•··--··--..-.,-·--·----·-' · J · · · · '
The most distinctiv_e aspect o f Sivapithecus deJ1tition .. is se n in the b a c k tooth. · .· . !Y.h
' -··-----····-···· ·······-·' ,., ·--·.,.-·--··--.- --······-':-····. •'-···---- ___ · -··"--···-----..•...•. .. ,.., -.-. _. ...,, ..... ····---·. . - . .
!!! f _ar:e .
·:
:':Y,.
lc!f Jl-?.!_ g_r_mi. . IHL!hlc:.k .D.a_m le_d
.......
.. .Th .. nr !_}_?_Wer premolar. is
. ,_
.
. . J ,-ggit .Y. fj_g.pJ_e_JILSlrnpg. __._:Th.!L·
, ,. ,
-
thickness o f the enamel cap h a s played a significant. roie·in rec ent Tn terp ret atio ns o f Miocene .hominoid
evolution. Among living hominoids, relative to bo9y size, humans h a v e b y far the thickest ena l ca.-ps
Gorillas a n d chilllpS, have thi11. .m mf.!l, but orangs could be described as--inoc(ira tefy-tfiI ['"''thi.ck,- in fact ·
· veryitJ:ii k, n mel is also seen in e.arly :99.!]llnds As wenave"""see· ini rt lin· PIT.2U?.!thec s,'their
enamel thickness itself varies, bufc{e· tine. usually penetrates into .the cusp so that the enamel wears
through during use. · ·
. . •:
Probably, the most characteristic anatomical aspects o f Sivapfrhecus are seen in the face, especiall/the
area immediately below the nose. Facial remains o f Sivapith.ecus have concave profiles.and projecting.··
incisors (remarkably resembling the modern orang). In particular, the partial ·cranium distovered· in
1980 at the Potwar Plateau bears Striking similarities to the orangutan.· T h e published· description o f this
specimen had a tremendous impact on paleoanthropology. ·Biochemical evidence demonst ates the
35
. ·
·.•-·,i ·,. ·. .-.. ·

distin c tiveness of the orang from the Afri c an apes and humans; here, then, was fossil evidence suggesting
some indent Asian tra c es of the orang lineage. ·
It must be noted, however, that ex c ept for the Jace··,ind jaw, Sivapithe c us is not like an orangutan. In fact,
espe c ially in the post- c ranium (i.e., all the skeletal pa.rts except the head) Sivapithe c us is distinctively
unlike an orangutan, or any other known hominoid, for that matter. In most respe c ts, then, Sivapithecus
· ·
could be des c ribed as highly derived.
Many;\ arlier fossil-based interpretations o f Mio c ene evolutionary affinities had, of c o urse, to be
reevaluated. In the 1960s, Simons and David Pilbeam suggested a Middle Mio c ene fossil, the
Ramapithe c us, as the first hominid, known at that · · from India, with some bits from East
· time mostly
Afri a.>.
New discoveries during 1970s and 1980s seriously questioned Ramapithecus as a definite hominid and
todcJ.y it has been reje c ted . altggether. One primary advo c ate of this revised view is David Pilbeam, an
initial arcf1itect . 6 ( di"e . eai-Yfe"i- widely a c cepted theory. Pilbeam, who has led the .highly su c cessful
paleoanthropological project at the Potwar Pl teau, has been swauyed by the new fossils re c overed there
and elsewhere. These more complete spe c imens are dentally- very similar to what had been called
"Raniapit h ecus' . : Researchers now simply lump R . P,! - c- - !- - -- -! - pi _ll_t!Clls.
·l
•.
' .;;"•
In s·uinmary, then; the foisil remains of Sivapithecus from India / Pakistan are the most clearly derived
large_- ocHed horIJ,ino1ds· w e have from the whole. Miocene. WhHe some forms like Proconsul are
s·ee-inIIiglf·quifiq'>rfffiltive and"otiiers--itke---ti"iyoptthe·cus ar cierived in directions quite unlike any living
form, Sivapithe c us has several derived features of the fa c e, .U - !!:1. .} -- vol .!.i-2Qf: Uy it the ()raqgµJan.
Th .:- - P- J:atiq.µ_ qf.Jhe J\si,!Jl J rg- qqgjeq. .h.o.mtl'!<?.! Ji. - .fr.oil! h -- i.-\f _iqn $tock (leading ultimately to
gorillas,. c h iinps arid humans).thu:s_oJ µrr. c! at le_c1st. lZJP.y_q..
Narmada Man
i
The broken skull spe c imen of Homo erectus, f rst & only of its kind in India, was discovered by Dr. Arun
. Sonakia, Ex-Director, Palaeontology Division, Geological Survey of India, Central Region, Nagpur. This
. in the middle of the Narmada vaHey .in Hathnora, _Madhya
skull" was dis c overed on 5th December, 198.2
,,. .
Pradesh. .
This fossil c arries a double interest:

It is the most an c ient human remnant so far dis c overed in Indian subcontinent and
• __ J t was discovered· ip, jt,y which allow a predse. deterrni? JiQJ:tQf tt stratlgraphic,pala_eontologkal
(. and c ultural c ont t 11 attributable to the'Micfdi'e"'P
,·,' ··· ·teQ'°e'(
,, ... - rp.,.n.d ..5.0.0,OtlO:yga_rs ago) age in·
. the geologi c al time s c ale. J
The aterial is a part of the c ranium which may be ascribed tiifertiale individual at the age o f thirty's.
The skull was studied by Arun Sonakia in 1982 an_d ·Marie-Antoinette de Lumley in .1984 based on
. morphological comparisons with similar fossils dis c overed in Europe· and Asia. The study revealed thp.t
the Narmada Man was a Homo ere c tus i.e. ar c haic man.
A n Inaian anthropologist, who surprised the world last year with his discovery o f a five to seven lakh
year c> .d human clavicle -(collar bone) fossil from Central Narmada Valley, now endeavours· to disprove
the'Known theory o f huma_n evolution by establishingthatNarrri.ada Man represented the c rliest form of
bomo> apieils.
·Dr" AnekRam Sankyan, from the Anthropological Survey of India has later said that the new knowledge
· had giveil'credence to'his belief that.Narmada Valley c ould h ave been the centre of human evolution. He
said: the available eviden c e after the Narmada ·Man discovery points towards the possibility that the
origin o f African and European stone age c ultures was the Narmada Valley. ·
35·
. . . . _::-. <;.·:·'
Sankhyan said that Narmada Man was djfferent frorri extinct African homo erectus as well as from the
European Neanderthals and western arcl1akt,omo sapiens.
Sankhyan had created a sensation with his discovery of clavicle supposed to be that o f a 25-30-year-old 4
ft 4" woman of stocky build belonging to the Stone Age near Hoshangabad in Central Narmada Valley
basin. His findings were reported in the Journal of Human Evolution, which opened up new possibilities
of human evolution apart from giving credence to the theory of parallel evolution.
"There is a great likelihood that modern man had in Narmada Man its closest resembling ancestor and
there 1s likelihood that modern man had its origin here and migrated elsewhere from here," Dr. Sankhyan
said.
Disputing the currently held view that African or European Neanderthal man was the origin o f Narmada
Man, Sankhyan says Narmada Man was different morphologically and ecologically. The Narmada hominid
characterizes an archaic robust and stocky hominid in sharp contrast to the tall and well-built African or
western homo-sapiens.
No hominid fossil clavicle has so far bee9,,reported from Asia except the one in Narmada Valley. It was
sustained ·effort on the p a r t o f the tearri, for over a decade, as it conducted explorations during 1983 to·
199.2- ov·er 50·.sites bettA/e·en )ah lpllr ·and :puriasa, which:-led to· the ,discovery ·of the clavicle fossil. Over
- 7QO iHi_thic artifacts anq .m ritrr.iali 1' n : f() SH - w re also recovered. The specimen was originally
irii 1d ntified anatitet,'afterJ:;Ustaihed t si -rch, Wasrecognised as a hominid;
.
:
. . . -.... ' . . ·,.. . . . . . ... . . ·- . ' . . . . .
. .
Narmada. Valley-,. with its central locatfonbetween the Asian; Afribril and European land masses could
li .
-:-·-.
have been quite a suitable place for .early human origin and thereafter, for easy dispersaL across the
'
continents o f the old world. Earlier, the Indian and particularly• South Indian stone cultures were
supposed to have been extensions of the African or European StoneAge culture. However, Dr Sankhyan
decisiv.ely says that the- Narmada Man was the most appropriate anatomical, geographical and ecological
ancestor of modern man;
Two evolutions, one in Africa and another in Asia in Narmada Valley, may have existed, he claimed while
- disputing the Chinese claims of a separate evolution. He said, Chinese Man{Peking man) was only three- ·
lakh year 9lq; Tile Narmada Man could not have come from Africa as he was distinct iri features from·him. -
The African Man ad a small head an"ci was much nearer to an ape than modern i:nan. On the other hand,
Narmada Man was pigymy-sized
· with large head arid was a much closer versi n of modern man, claims
Dr Sankhyan. ·
37
1.3 Ethno-archaeology in India
The Concept of Ethnoarcheology

Archaeolo g y is the "past tense o f cultural anthropology'\ Whereas cultural anthropologists will often base
their conclusions on the experience o f actually living within contemporary communities, archaeologists
study,past societies primarily through their material remains - the buildings, tools a n d other artifacts that
constitute what is known as the "material culture" l e k o v e r from former socie.ties .
. Nevertheless, one o f the m o s t challenging tests for the archaeologist today is to k n o w h o w to interpret
mate ial culture _i_n human t .r s/HmN·w-ere h ot§. used? W h y are some dwellings ro·und and others
sq -ie'('Here" "the methods o f archaeology_ pd- j_hno_g!:fil)J}y_ q"-- - lap. Archaeoiogists in recent decades
h a v e developed Ethnoarcheology, where, like ethnogrnph_ers, they live a m o n g contemporary
communities, -1:11._w.jt the specific purpos o f _tu:igers a 9-ing h<:>\11/such societies u s e material culture -
h_owthey"make thefr-: - -- -c( f 'apons; w h y they build t _eir.set!lements where they do, and so on.
Ethnqarcheolo g y can_ thus b e defined a s the study of. contemporary cultures with a view to
und i;-st:anqing the behavio-r.al relath:mships which underlie the production o f material culture.
-·- ..:.;::-, ..:.10 ; ' * ; · . . . , . , , - " ' J " " · - - - 1 : · • : ; , , .. _• . • ; _ . . . . . . . , . . •. - : : . , n , •• , . . . . . . . .-:, • - · · - - • •: • • , - - • • • • • _,. _.,
Ethndarche·ology-today:remains a s a major specialization in modern a clm.eology. W e n o w realize that w e

c a n only understand the archaeological record if :we understand.-iri"" mch greater detail h o w it c a m e
about, h o w it was formed. Formation processes -are n o w a major focCts o f study. It is here that
Ethnoarcheology has. come irrtci"'Its f f i e s t u d y o f liv ng people and o f their m a t e r i a l culture own: ..
undetta.ken \Vith "the ai,m_.Qf.irnpwvtng:2,llr under.standin -onffe-archaeologicai r"eco.rd. For instance, the
s t u d y ·o(bufr e"iypmctices a m o n g living'foin.ter ·gatherers, undertaken b y LeVvis Binfo,rd among the
N namui(Eskin1o' rA1a'skti; liasgiven h1m_m.ari/new ide"as about the w a y the archaeoiogical record m a y
havi(be'en "forme.d, allowi g him to r -evaluate the.bone remains o f animals eaten b y very early humans·
elsewhefe in the world.
F r o m its beginning, the N e w Archaeology placed great emphasis on explanation - in particular explaining
h o w the archaeologicalrecor w a s formed,.and w h a t excavated structures andartifacts mighJ m e a n in
t e r m s o. .f.h. u ··t.
m a·"'n behavior. t t caine 1:o·tie'i-e lized th
•
rffiernosrercec1:ive"waYs
.
o¥-; ddres
• ing .
such
questions _would be to study t h e material culture a n d behavior o f living societies. Ethnographic
observation itself was. nothing n e w - anthropologists h a d studied the American Indians and Australian
Aborigines since the 19th ·century. W h a t was n e w w a s the archaeological focus; the n e w n a m e
Ethnoarcheolo g y , emphasized this. T h e work o f ·Richard· Gould among the Austrafurn Aborigines,
R i c h a i : 4 L e e among the !Kung S a n o f southern Africa, a n d Lewis Binford a m o n g t h e Nuna,n.tl!!!. Eskimo
h a s established Ethnoarcheology a s one o f -the most significant recent · developments in the whole
discipline o f anthropolo g y . i
Ethnoarcheo logy i v?lves th': l u d r __o b?th_ !' Erei;. nt d a y uSe 'a m :::__ f __ ti\'! :S:: J?uildi ·
a n d structures w1thm the h v m g societies m question, and the w a y these mater\ii"I thums b e c o m e
. incorporated i-nto t:heafcfiaeolog1carrec'drd. It is thereTore an indirect approach to t h e understanding o f .
a n y past society. There is nothing n e w in the idea o f looking a t living societies to help interpret the p a s t
i
I n t h e ,. 19 th centurya"nctearly"2'.01f century, European- arcfiatfolcfgists· often·turned f o r inspiration t o
reseaiches done b y ethnographers. ·Nevertheless, full-fledged Ethnoarcheology is a development really o f
o n l y \f:1e last 0-3Qy _ars. T h e k e y d i f f e r e n c e is that n e w 'it is archaeolo ists themselves, rather than
ethnographers: h-o carry out the'
,- .... , · -'. ·
>':
·· • • •
among-living societi s" . . . . . . . . . . ' . resear'ch
I f used with care, evidence from Ethnoarcheology can shed light on both general a n d spec_i_fic.q:u - i9.r1
C<?ncernin_g technolo g y . A t the· general level, Ethnoarcheofo · g y and common-seri"selogethe'r suggest that
pepple teD:d t o use what yf:!r m ter_ial$J:lre.. available for everyci_a,y, munda_n. asks,
b u t will i vest time and effort !Ilto tnakiJ;rn)II1pl !J! 11.ts_ they use repe f 4.iy : , t ?rfYJ:tX9t111d_ With
f ······-.
t h e m . T h e a o ur na.a 11ce o f t o o f f o the archaeofogfca rec:"c>rct 1s therefore n o t necessarily a guide t o
1
its intrinsic importance i n the culture; the tool m o s t frequently found m a y well h a v e been quickly make,
38
and discarded immediately. after use, w tl _,the rarer implement was kept and reused several times,
before eventually being thrown away.
·A t the specific level o f perhaps J, _!lgJh Jl.£!!Q!!.,2[ J?.!!E. i- ular It!f t, ethnography can often
prove helpful. For example, large w_inged __p_en ants (lf polished stone were found in sites o f Tairona
lndians of northern Colombia: dating to the I6 t h c turyAD:-Arcfiaeologists could only assume thatTnese·
were decorative, ·and-had been hung on the chest However, it was subsequently learnt that the modern
K_?gi lnd_ r_i_, _.2_( the area, direct descendants o f the Tairona, still use Sll _h. o j. ct J!J_ R?_ir§., ll P. !19, Jrqm
the elbows, as rattles 6r tinkers, during dancing.
__
--- ·-----·-------·-4•····
,__.
.----·- . . ···:· -. .-.,.. -:.,·- .,..,.
._. ·-···-· ..,:,,-4_-, .•
There are innumerable examples of this sort The important point is that the ig_e_11 m ation o f tool forms
through . ethnogr p_hJc_ .a.r1 !9gy . or Ethnoarcheology shot1lcl be _limited to cases where there Is
deinonstralile· continuity. between archaeologkaf c'uiture and modern society, or at least to cultures
withy similar subsistence ·-ievel and roughly the- same ecological background. Ethnoarchaeo1ogical
research / techniques Cati be employed-to understand rtot onli the technology but also sodal,political
and etonomit aspects o f the past societies.
Old Archaeology, which· was purely ges"dfipfive, gave way to the emergence of New Archaeology by
iri 9.· (!o a _in.(: :r e -P; _tsp_e·c: iY $--'__:: 9- n HX Y-: !§.m. · P.t a h;. In.ru-nretlve_4!H!IY is· and. (9 gJ£Y- _· .
- Jt - = r
e : $ a 'ti i ni _- r t_q·i '.theoty ;a· ?-> : .t1 ·
th ".'!'1 fiqifol.9gj l
We:.c r(c ncl de. bY saying· that Ethnoarcheolog is
s:n :n festat10n o f ·Iog1C9"' d educt1ve reasonmg m archaeology and also the general
discipline ·of ahtht6p_ology. . · -·
-·: •' '
39
:.·
2. Demographic profile of India
Ethnic and Linguistic Elements in Indian Population and their Distribution

India is a vast peninsula with a total land area of about 33 million square kilometers and population
exceeding a billion people. Its length from north to south is about 3,200_ kilometers and breadth from east
to west is nearly 3,000 kilometers: Because of its huge size, both in area and population, and also because
of its ge·ographical position, India is generally referred to as a sub-continent. .
:i
India owes its name to the mighty river Sindhu (the Indus, which is now in Pakistan). The huge river,
which ··carries an annual inflow twice that of the Nile and thrice the combined inflow of Tigris and
Euphrates, was the most imposing feature of northwestern part of the Indian sub-continent. The early
I
Aryan settlers in India were amazed at the sight of the huge river and called it Sindhu, meaning "a huge
sheet o f water". Sometimes it is used as a synonym for ocean. In 518 B.C., the Persian Emperor Darius
lI
conquer.ed the area around the river Sindhu and made it a "Satrapy" (capital) o f his empire. The Persians
pronounced "S" as "H" and hence Sindhu tMcame Hindu. Later tl)e· Greek invaders changed "Hindu" to
India._· Sfoce ·then the foreigners have· referred to the entire country from the Himalayas to Kanayakumari
as lnc:U ;;_The early people however called their country "Bharata Varsha", the country o f Bharata and his
pro·geny,· a famous: king· mentioned in the early Puranas. Bharata Varshais supposed_ to b e part o f an
island ·co·ntineht k_nown as Jam b u Dvipa ._ __19e Muslim invaders· called theco-tintry-ifinct.
f
stan. The iti h
rulers c Il d· the country lndi,tancftfit sam'e"name·-was·rtttainedwnef l ffec o"iin fry w a s··µa rtitfoned and
be_came independent on 15 t h August 194 7.
The diversity o f India is unique. Being a huge country with a large population, India presents endless
varieties of physical features and cultural patterns. It is only in India one can find people professing all
· the major religions o f the world. In short India is "the epitome of the world". The impressive fact about
India is its size a n d population. Many states o f India like Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are larger
than countries o f Europe like United Kingdom, France and West Germany. India is the second most
populated country after China. ,!:EY.D.f. , - -g.!y_i _l:1 -?!1 t e. , h is_an lndj n.
An.other unique feature about India is the extreme diversity o f its physicc1l features: Only in India can one
find the world's largest mountafns covered with snow tnrougfi"o'utYhe-y_ear:
1 Tli Jffrt} ' yas-ort e : J?j?, fe
o f 5110\Y" is the source of mighty rivers like ·1ncfus '-Ganga··--a,·1 d"Yain una.- T hese perenni"a"f rivers' irrigate
f
extensive areasTntffeii"orfllfo-stfsfaTf lTienuge··popUfalion· ortlie ·cotintry. A t the same time northern
India contains arid zones and the Thar Desert of Rajasthan where nothing grows except a few shrl!QS.
A g a i n J t is· only in Iridia that one can encounter different types of climates_ like. the polar "(Arctic), the
temp€f#te and the tropical. The climate o f Kashmir, which is cold even· in summer contrasts with that· o f
Kerala s climate that is hot and humid, evenJn.,mid-winter. The states of Northeast India afe noted for
their heavy 'rainfall and. Cherapunji in MeghJiaya· held the world;,s highest record o f "rainfa(l for a long.
time. lts rainfall o f about 500 inches a year contrasts with less than 3 inches o f rain per year in some
areas o f Rajasthan like Jaisalmer and· Barmer.
India is also a n ethnological museum. Majority o f the people o f India are descendants o f immigrants from
across.the world. _People belonging to these different racial stocks have little in common either in physical
appea_rance o r food habits. The racial diversity is very perplexing a s Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru said "In the
)
North:W,est frontier province there is already the breath o f Central Asia, and many a custom there, as in
Kashm.Ir; reminds one o f the countries on the other side ·of the Himalayas. Pathan's popular dances are
singula'Hy like Cossack dancing. Yet with all these differences there is no mistaking the impress of India
and the Pathans"
Despite the above-mentioned-diversities India has never lost the ideal o f unity. From times immemorial it
found its noblest expression in the thoughts o f its sages and poets. The entire country w a s referred b y a
common name "Bharata Varsha" and the people are referred to as "Bharata ·Santatih" (Descendents o f
Bharatha) to emphasize the oneness o f the. couritry and its people. The fundamental unity was reiterated
40
in the Vishnu Purana thus: "The country bounded by the Seas on the south and the Himalayas on the
nor.th is called Bharatam. There live the pl"bg ny of Bharata".
Sir Herbert Risley admitted that, ''Beneath 'the manifold diversity of physical and social type, language,
custom and religion, which strikes the observer in India, there can still be discerned a certain underlying
uniformity of life from the Himalayas to the Cape Comorin. There is in fact, an Indian character, a general
Indian personality, which we cannot resolve into its component elements".
India is a mosaic o f numerous cultures. The people of India have been living under the highly
heterogene,ous and diversified cultural complexities. The complexities of ethnic and racial strains in India
can only be accounted by the migrations o f people from different parts of the world. Migration can be the
only reason because till date emergence o f Homo sapiens on the Indian soil is debatable. Further, such a
mass scale degree o f variation c:;annot b e accounted to parallel evolutionary processes.
His ory o f India was a witness to these migrations. The early migrants to the country were isolated for
quite some time because of India's unique geographical situation. The gigantic range of Himalayan
Mountains in t h e north and oceans ori all the other sides literally made India an impenetrable
geographical entity. Eventual disco.veries·tdf various passes in· the mountain regions and sea trade
developments led to m.igra.tions rnto the subcorttineht
man
The 0e r1Jest pfe sen e·of i n Indici d tes bctc to 400,000 mya, when the olde t Palaeolithic s.tone tools
Wet <i sC9 \Teri d.·t' h pr.e.s nc ofh _rpan s ttlern ntsand dis.coveries of stone tools always near the river
·vaney:sslio rh:at ear\i
the man mig t d arong·the rivercoastsand settled down. ·rhe eventual mi_grants
later'occupied the fertile areas of river regions and this led to the driving away of the earliest inhabitants
to. forest regions and hilly ·areas. This is the reason why the -earliest settlers -· the Adivasis - ·are now
surviving in the hilly regions of the country.
The present situation of.ethnic diversities can also be accounted to the intermixing of various populations
since the beginning. The result o f these intermixing is that today· there is no pure ethnic or racial stock
that can be identified except in some trjbal populations who have been living in' isolation for centuries
and their isolation helped them to m intain such purity.
The archaeological evidences regarding Indian pre history was always stone tools and never were any
skeletal remains discovered. Thfs drawback makes it difficult to.ascertain the racial strains of the original
ha:.bitants r the earliest migrants· to·tne:country It is usu'ally ·considered that the.original settkrs ofthe
country belonged fo the Negroid race. The Negritos of Indian sub-continent who constitute the arHest
· racial_ elements belong to the Negroid stock found.in large n:umhers iri Afriq, Melanesi , Australia and its
neighbouring islands. The Negrifo racial strains arefo nd among the Kadars, Irrulas and the .Plmiyans ·oc
South India. The. morphological features reflected by the people o f this racial element are short stature
darkcoknir'ofskiri and woolly hai_r. The Negritos.o'f India resemble the Negritos o f Melanesia ·
)
I
41
Anthropology Paper 02 • Volume 03
ETHNIC ELEMENTS IN IND/AN POPULATION

Population of a place can be classified in numerous ways by taking into consideration any one ·aspect of
its people like geographical distribution, language, religion, their complexity of social organisation etc.
The most popular and widely accepted classification of the Indian population is their categorization based
on physical and racial features. This categorization into physical or ethnic types is known as Racial or
Ethnic Classification.
i,l;;,,,.
Indiap popul_ation reflect . a variety of ethnic elements due to inhabitancy by people o f diverse ethnic
affiliations. From time which history cannot remember, "People with various ethnic compositions came to
this subcontinent and they subsequently mixed, blended and segregated". This feature resulted in a
difficulty in presenting a definite picture regarding the ethnic composition of the people of India, which is
more aggravated by the fact that evidences regarding these are also very scanty.
Sir Herbert Hope Risley undertook the first scientific racial classification of the people o f India in 1901,
which.is the result of his census operations in 1891. Later on Sir William Crook, 'Giuffrida Ruggeri, Alfred
Cort _Haddon, Baron Egon Von Eickstadt, B S . Guha, James Hunt HuJton, Baron Von Furer Heimendorf,
Dhire.n9,ranath Majumdar and S.S. Sarkar presented many ri w class fications. All these racial
classifications. explained the physical features and ·ethnic compositions of ·both tdbal and non-tribal
cprµ:po tion of Indian population.
SIR HERBERT RISLEY'S CLASSlFICATION

Sir Risley's classification was based on four characteristics, the measurements of which were taken in
large sample of Indian population. These are ...
1. Stature
2. Nasal Index
3. Cephalic Index
· 4. Orbito-Nasal Index
The data on these physical parameters enabled_ him to classify the Indian population into even major
physicc1l types.
1. The Turko-Iranian· Type: Brahui, Baluch and the Pathans of Afghanistan, Baluchistan and North-
West Frontier Province characterize this racial type. They are the results of fusion of Turki and
P ,r$ian elements in which the . Turki element predominates , over the other. This group is:
characterized by an above_ average stature, fair complexion, occasionally grey but mostI:y dark eyes,
he_ad, abundant facial hair and a no· e which is very long, pr9minent and moderately narrow.
'J«lf''::
2. Tli'e Indo-Aryan Type:. The people o f this racial type occupy Punjab, Rajputana and Kasimir, which
are 'il)habited by Rajputs, Khatris and Jats. They are characterized by tan stature, fair complexion, and
dark eyes, abundant facial hair, and long head, narrow.and long nose. This type approaches closelyto
Aryan elements in India.
3. t[ .Scytho-Dravidian Type: This type, as the name implies, is the result of a fusion between the
scthian ·and Dravidian Races. The best examples of this type are the Coorgs and the Marata .
Brahmins. They are distributed.in the regions from Gujarat to Coorg. Among the higher social group,
thif Scythian element dominates the Dravidian elements, whereas in the lower groups, the reverse
being true. The people o f this type are characterised by broad head, medium stature, fair complexion,
scanty facial hair and nose which is, though not conspicuously long but, moderately fine.
4. T h e Aryo-Dravidian Type: Uttar Pradesh (Agra and Oudh), parts of Rajputana, Bihar and Ceylon
show the presep.ce o f population belongjng to this type. The representation b f his type in the upper
42
strata is by Hindustani Brahmins and in the lower strata by the Chamars. A probable intermixture
between lndo-Aryans and Dravidian:,.Type in varying proportions might be the result of this type.
Dravidian type predominates the higher' group and thJ lndo-Aryan predominates in the lower group.
This type is characterized by the people showing a long head with a tendency to medium; nose always
broader than fodo-Aryans but ranges from medium to broad and a below average stature.
5. The Mongolo-Dravidian Type: This type is found in lower Bengal and Orissa among the Bengali
Brahmins and Kayasthas and also among the Muslims of East Bengal. This type resulted as a fusion
between the Dravidian and Mongoloid elements, with the higher groups showing the strain of Indo-
Aryans. The people of this type are characterised by a broad head, dark complexion, usually plentiful
facial hair, medium stature and medium nose showing the tendency to broad.
6. The Mongoloid Type: The people of this type belong to Assam, Burma and Nepal, represented by'the
Kanats of Lahoul, Kulu and Bodo of Assam. The ·people show the presence o f broad head, dark
complexion tending to yellowish tinge, no facial hair, of below average stature, of broad to medium
nose, a characteristically flattened face and oblique eyelids.
7. The Dravidian Type: This type extenµsjfn;,m the Ceylon to the valley of Ganges and extending to the
whole of Madras, Hyderabad, the ·central India an.d Chota Nagpur. The Santhals of Chota Nagpur and·
.typical
Paniyans of South.India can be considered as representatives of the· Dravidian -Types.They.are
characterised by having a below average stature, a very dark complexion tending to black, abundant
hair which shows a tendency to curl, dc1rk eyes, long head which does .not appear to be flat and a very
broad nose which at times is depressed at the root.
Criticism to Risley's Classification
Max Muller criticized this classification because of its flaw in nomenclature where Risley persisted in
using the linguistic terms for dassification of physical aggregates.
Oth:ers criticised Risley's classification because ()f his huge assumptions when historical evidences are
rI
- scanty and they were also arithmetical errors involved iri his classifications. ·
Risley described the -Iranian t y ; e as the ro nd headed men o f North We_stern Fron_tier Provinces
when they are actually long headed. ·
B.N. Dutta criticised the Inda-Aryan classification stating that according to Risley·this group is present in
Punjab, Rajaputana and the Kashmir valley, though many speakers of Aryan languages are widely
distributed along the subcontinent and moreover some people of Kashmir Valley do resemble the peoples
of Turko-Iranian types.
GUHA'S CLASSIFICATION
. . J
Dr. B.S. Guha classified. the Indian pop:ulation ;based on his,. investigation during 1930-1933. Dr. Guha
selected the regions of northwest Himalayas, lndo-Gangetic plain, Central India, Gujarat, Pe insular India,
North-east India, Assam and Burma. Besides these, two other groups were selected. :of thes_e, one
represents. 34 tribal people while the other the women o f various regions.
The inferences wer·e based on 18 measurements taken on the cephalic and facial regions of 2511
individuals, besides the_ observations m_ade n the ski colour, hair and eyes. Other aspects ccmsidered y
Guha for his classification were the depths of nasal-notch, supra orbital development, epicanthicf o ld ·and
also -the texture of hair .. Based on the above data, he dassified tlH- lnd"ian populations into seven broad
groups- Negrito, Proto-Austraidid, Mongoloid, Mediterranean, Western Brachycephals and the Nordic.
1. · The Negrito
The Negritos, according to Guha, constitute the earliest racial elements of India. The Neg it s o f the
Indian subcontinent belong to the Negroid stock found in large numbers· in Africa, Melanesia, AustraHa
43
·· \
<
and its neighbouring islands. The Negrito racial strains are found among the tribes of the Rajmahal Hills,
the Kadars, Irulas and the Paniyans c f South india. The features reflected by the people of this racial
element are short stature, dark colour of skin, frizzy hair with k>hg or short spirals. The head is long,
medium or broad and the lips are everted and thick. The Negritos of India resemble the Negritos o f
Melanesia. Many Anthropologists oppose the presence of this racial strain among the Indian population
vehemently.
Z. The
... :,.,·,
Proto-Australoid
This ,;racial element according to Guha forms the second oldest in the subcontinent The true
representatives of this racial strain are the Bhils, Kols of Central and Western India, the Chenchus, the
Kurumbas, the Badagas and Yeruvas o f South India, the Oraons, the Santhals and the Mundas of Chota
Nagpur region who were characterised by having long head, dark brown to nearly black skin, broad and
. flat nose with little depression at the root, short stature and wavy and curly hair.
3. T e Mongoloid:
Accor-ding to Guha, the Northeast region acted a's a gateway for-1the Mongoloids to enter India at different
tim.e( ,Pro,:ni_nent cheekbones with flat face; obliquely set eyes with epicanthic folds, scanty facial and
bod5 a:irarethe characteristic features of_the Mongoloids.
The Mongoloids can be further divided into two groups - the Paleo-Mongoloid and the Tibeto:-Mongoloid.
A. The Paleo-Mongoloid is in turn divided into two sub-groups, the Long Headed and Broad
Headed types.
i. The Paleo-Mongoloid Long Headed Group is. characterized by having the long to
mediurh headed people with bulging occiput, short and flat face, medium nose, oblique
eyes with Mongolian fold not always prominent The skin is brown to dark and the
type is represented by some tribes of Burma frontier, Assam and the sub Himalayan
regions.
ii. The Paleo·Mongoloid Broad ·Headed Group is characterized by the people having a
broad head, dark skin, medium nose and the eyes with prominent epicanthic fold,
while the face is flat and short, their.hair being straight with a tendency to be wavy.
The representatives of this type are the Lepchas -·of Calimpong, some Hill tribes o f
Chittagong such as Mughs, the Chakmas etc.
R The Tihet·o Mongoloid _group is characterised by broad head, long and flat .face, long t o
mediur n·nose, tali-statureiand oblique eyeswith prominent epicanthic fold There is marked:
a sence of facial and body hair, a d the Tibetans of Bhutan and Sikkim represent th,is group.
4 . T.he Mediterranean
Thi group is further divided into three sub groups.

1. . The Paleo-Mediterranean type: This g·roup is represe·nted by the Tamil Brahmins, the Nairs and
· the Telugu Brahmins o f South India. The peopie ofthis group are characterised by long head with.
high vault and bulbous forehead small and broad nos . dark complexion, medium
· stature, narrow.·
·
·and scanty hair both on face and the body.
· The Mediterranean type: This type is represented by the Maratha ladies of lndore,· Namboodri
Brahmins of Cochin, Brahmins of Allahabad and Bengal. The p ople of this type are characterised
by long head and face, narrow nose, medium to tall stature, dark to olive complexion and._plenty
facial and body hair.
44
3. The Oriental type: The presence of long and convex nose is the only feature that makes this
group different from the Meditertanean type. The Bania of Rajputana and Chettris of Punjab are
tffe representatives of this group.
5. The West rn Brachycephals
This type further consists of three sub types.
A. The Alpinoids: The Bania of Gujarat, -the Kathi of Kathiawar and the Kayasthas of Bengal are
the representatives o f this racial type, who are characterized by a broad head with a rounded
occiput, round face, prominent nose, medium stature and light skin colour. There is an
abundant body and facial hair growth.
B. The Dinaric: The people belonging to this group are characterized by possessing a broad
head with a rounded occiput and a high vault, long and often convex nose, tall stature and
slightly darker skin colour. While the Coorgs represent the pure type, the Bengali Brahmins
and Kanarese Brahmin:s of Mysore show the features of this type. Orissa also shows people of
this racial element.
C. The Armenoid: The' true representatives of this type are the Parsis. of Bombay. The Vaidyas
and the Kayasthas of-Bengal al o sometimes show the features that are broad head, narrow
and quiline nose with depressed tip, tawny white skin and short stature.
6. The Nordics .
Guha believes that these people entereq. India t:hfough North West from Central Asia; Turkey and settled
in Punjab. People having a long head with arched forehead and a protruding· occiput characterize this
group llong with straight nose that is high bridged, long· face and a reddish white complexion. The
stature is moderate to tall with robust body built with either blue or grey eyes. This group is scattered all
over India, especially in the North West regions. It is prominently seen among the Red Kaffirs, the Khalash
o f Rampur and Pathans of Bijapur.
Among many criticisms, Guha was vehemently opposed because of showing a foreign origin to many
Indian races. He d1d not believe in evolution of'many races in India. However, Gulia's classific<:ltion is
widely accepted 'in understanding the ethnic elements in Indian population.
PHYSICAL TRAITS AND CASTE

Sir Herbert Risley has noted that "Caste has a racial basis and the social position of a caste stands in·
inverse ratio with the average nasal index of their menibers". This means that longer noses go wfrh-higher
�ujj�fS .. 66.9. castes and broader noses go with lower castes. This dictum needs clarification; :as ·
the metric measurements do not seem to substantiate 'this hypothesis. An
Sikh 68.8' interesting feature1:1$·- thatithe measuremen,ts taken by Risley himself .do not support
his statement.
Khatri 68.8
According to Risley, Indo-Aryans were dolicocephaHc - leptorrhine and h ; fo und the
Mochi 70.0
traditional Indo-Aryans to exist in North India. On this account, by examining nasal
Arora 71.2 indices or-the tribes arid astes from Punjab and Rajputana, B.N. Dutta enumerated·
the figures according to their increasing order.
Rajput 71.6
But according to Hindu social order, the .serial order of these castes ought to be:
Mina 74.4 Rajp.uts, Khatri, Jats, Mina, Chura. If Risley's -hypothesis is true we would finq
Raj puts as having the. lowest nasal index and Mina to be highest in the list. B u t it is
Mina 74.4 not so. Gujjars a e topping the list and Rajputs are at the sixth position.
45
THE PYGMOID-NEGRITO PROBLEM IN INDIA

One o f the most complicated problems facing Indian ethnology is the association of the pygmc d elements
within the Indian population. The problem o f pygmoid identification is complicated.in the sense that all
pronouncements on race formation in India among the Indian tribes and populations and their
movements are rather weak, because fossil skeletal material of the Pre-Indus Valley levels from well
stratified sites are almost absent. Another aspect to be explained under the so-called "Negrito Problem" is
the or-igin of the pygmoid traits.
Characters: The Negritos are characterized by a very short stature. The term pygmoid is used when the
stature in the males is around 1500 mm. The African pygmies are characterized by black frizzy hair. They
have,qirty yellow skin .colour, brachycephalic head with a vertical forehead. Little or no brow ridges and
short broad face, thick averted lips, wide nose with narrow root also characterize them.
Distribution: The pygmy population is found only in Congo, but the pygmoids are found in many parts of
the 'V\[Orld like Malaya, Melanesia, Polynesia, Australia, New Guinea, Ceylon, India etc. Problem arises
when\iifferent tribes show only one or two characters of pygrnoid type like among the Veddas of Ceylon
and Sakai of Malaya, who have pygmoid stature, but in rest of the characters they are not pygmy. In India,
Onge.f..o f Arida an Island are definite· pygmoid. The important tribes ·.like Kadars and Malars o f
Coini'pitore/Paniyan o f Wyrtac:VKun.imbas andlrulas of Nilgiri Hills are .closely related to Pygmoids. It is
a
possiole that they had wide· di:Stributio ill' pr historic times in India ·and extended towards North and
East, probably' occtipyfag whole o·f the Asian land mass.
As w e trace the history of Negrito racial strain in India, we find that it was De Quatrefages who used the
word "Negrito" in the context of Indian population for the first time 1n the year 1877. He assumed the
Negrito as an indigenous eleme·nt in th [?ravidian and other populations in India and along the Southern
slopes o f Himalayas. Ball, as early as 1885, referred to the meaningless nature o f evidence.relied on by De
Quatrefages, viz., of curly.or woolly qair pre.sent in the Andamanese. The Negrito problem is an artificially
created one. The real problem is to explain the pygmoid physical aggregate.
J.H. Iiutton has also given attention to the Negrito problem of India . . He has referred to the presence o f
woolly and f_rizzy hair_ among th,f Angami Nagas o f Manipurand Cathar hills. Hutton has given a number
o f evidences in support of the Melanesian physical and cultural traits.in the popula ion of India. He has
suggested that the Negrito people may be responsible for the lntroducti n of.cults like_ the disposal of the
dead by exposure and the separation o f the skull, head hunting, the cult of the ficus tree etc in India. But
the different authorities on Indian ethnography do n:ot accept such hypothesis.
According to S rkar i f the above culturc;1l traits have come to India through the Melanesian people then
they lnust have played a greater rol in the .cultural life of India. But. practically it is se n that the ·
distribution o f these types of cultural traits in India is limited. Majumdar is also o f the ·opinipn that the
exposure of the dead, the canoe cult and thet:megalithic cult nee_q. not necessarily be Melanesian in origin
and .the cultural parallels are not always due to the result of diffu'.s1011.
B.S. Guha has traced the Negrito element among the Kadars. On the. basis of his research.es among th.em,
he found 16 individuals showing spiral or woolly hair out of a series of 157 Jndividuals. He concluded
that it is not improbable that the-Negrito element among the Kadars was originally brachycephalic or at
least :m,esocephalic, b.ut in its admixture with the iong headed Vedda like race,which form the dominant
elem ., -t
·.,
among the Kadars today, the head has become considerably elongated .
r,:·
Fische,r postulated the mutation o f the woolly hair from the wavy hair of the Veddas and there were at
least :three such independent mutations in the Australoid strain according to him.
Skeletal remains: Authentic skeletal remains of the Negrito race have not yet been found in India,
although Guha has cited two such instances. In his report, Guba supported Hutton's findings about the
Negrito substratum in Assam with his own findings of a Negroid element in the Naga human relics. Guha
and Basu found two racial types among the Naga human relics - Mongoloid and Australoid. The
46
Australoid strain agrees with the Malenesian and Tasmanian skulls in the formation o f lower forehead
and nasal, showing undoubted Australoic:If:chcfracters. On the basis o f this they opined that the Negroid
element, as evealed in the Papuan and Tasinariian skulls,\ as fairly extensive at one time in India from
the North East frontiers to the South Western extremities and that this element must have been driven
into Oceania by later movements o f people persisting only in a few isolated tracts to which these
movements had not penetrated.
S.S. Sarkar s em to show frizzy hair as derived from Negro slaves imported into this country form 14 th
century onwards by either Muslim rulers or Portuguese.
Genetic Study of the Negrito elements: The detailed genetic marker studies assist in understanding the
complexity of the Negrlto origin and affinities. If African origin is postulated, even if only for a small
proportion of the population, then marker genes specifically restricted to black African populations·might
yield a clue if found in India. O f the few such genes known, only two qualify of being ·among the Indian
population, especially among the Kadars. One, the PGM was discovered in a black African but its
distribution in Africa itself is unknown. In a study of South African Bantu it was not present, so that even
in Africa, it is by no means ubiquitous. The abnormal haemoglobin HBs (Haemoglobin polymorphism due
to Skkle Cell Trait) is wide spread 1n -bla'Ek African populatio11 and in many parts o f lnq_ia. Lehman and
., ;. Huntsman have agreed for a·w1debelt through Saudi Arabia into India to account for the disfribution of
H B . suggesting· t h a t t h f , gene may. have arisen in 5audi Arabia, -and spread into Africa and, .India
. til>s{ciuJntlyi However HBs appe rsto be relatively infrequent aniongtheKadars. l n contrast,_a specific
black African allele, such a s the P fallele intheacid phosphatase system is not present in the Kadars nor
i n any·other Indian population so far tested. Its absence does not rule out possible African admixture.in
the Kadars, but its presence would have made the argument for such admixture more convincing.
Origin ofNegrito elements: Fischer has shown three ways of pygmy formation.
. .
1. Due to direct influence of environment like nutrition and other factors, retardation in growth takes .
place. Such influences are neither racial rror hereditary but are only local i.l1odificatio s.
2. Through the long-standing process o f selection, the taller hereditary lines out o f a medium or tall
population can be more and more reduced and lastly eliminated. Fisher is of the o·piniori that this_
process is involved in many of the pygmoids like the Vep.das. Such individuals constitute a·race.
3. Through mutation in normal populations· that are eventually selected and the non-:mutated
populati ns subs·equently eliminated.
47
LINGU/STICELEMENTS IN IND/AN POPULATION

The ethnic diversity characteristic to Indian subcontinent is -compounded by the existence uf different
languages. It has been a long debate in assigning a basic linguistic division to this diversity.
G.A. Garrison conducted a linguistic survey in 1927, and he reported .179 languages and 554 dialects.
These languages were classified into six families.
1. Austric Family
2. Karen Family
3. Man Family
4. Tibeto-Chinese Family
A. Tibeto-Burman
B.Siamese-Chinese
5. Dravidian Family
6. Inda-European Family
A.Iranian
B.Dardic
C.ln.do-Aryan
DlSTRI UTION OF T!-IEUNGUISTIC FAMILIES
1. THE AUSTll.lC FAMILY
The speakers of these languages are Proto-Australoid and the Australoid types. This is considered to be
the earliest.language spoken in India. The Austric family has two sub-families.
A. Austrauisian: Tnis language is prevalent in fl:1adagascar, Indonesia and Pacific slands, and is.not
spoken in India.
B. Austro-Asiatic: This language is confined to the Indian context and is further sub-divided into
two branches.
i. Mon-Khmer: It incluqes the Mon language of Burma and Khmer languag· . of ·th.e Inda-China.
· The ·I<h er language is spoken by .the Sakal and Clanang tribes of fodo-China, Nkobarese
spoken by the Nicobarese people o f the Nicobar Islands,-the Khasi la.nguage· spoken by the Khasi
tribes of Ass m. This language is considered as the connecting link between the. Mon and the
Munda branch.
Munda Branch: It is the la gest o f the· Austric family and includes 14 tribal languages. The
principal Munda languages are Kerawari, which has a number of dialects among whith the best
known are Santhali and Mundari. The other division ofthe Munda branch is Kur-uku. ,
The distribution o f the Austric languages overlaps with the distribution of the Proto- Australoids ethnic
elements.
2. Ki.\RENFAMILY
--
.}
This i µguage is spoken by the Karen tribe o f South Burma and parts of Thailand and is not sp.oken in the
Indian mainland.
3. MAN FAMILY
This is spoken in China, Inda-China and people of Inda-Burmese border and not in mainland.India.
48
4. TIBETO-CHINESE FAMILY:
It is further:.dassified into Tibeto-Burman sub-family, which in turn has three branches.
A. Tibeto-Himalayan: The languages belonging to this group are Tibetan, Ladhaki, Balti, Purik and
Lhoke, spoken by Gurung, Murni, Sanwar, Magar, Mewari and the Lepcha tribes.
8. North Assam: This language is spoken from West to East in Assam. The languages and the
respective tribes have the same name -Aka, Urgkas or Hrusso, Dafla, Abar-Mir} and Mishni.
C. Assam-Burmese: This language is spoken in hills of Southern side of the Himalayas. The language
is spoken in Naga Hills, Garo Hills and Thippara Hills o f Assam. The language is also spoken in
Manipur.
The Tibeto-Chinese family also includes Siamese-Chinese subfamily, which is represented by only one
.group - Tai Shan or Shar, spoken in China or Burma.
5. DRAVIDIAN FAMILY
Besides the Munda, millions. o f peopl wh·o. bel9ng-to Risley's Dravidian. thnic- group speak these
languages. The Munda and the Ifravidian" la11gtiages show s·ome similarities and some o f the Dravidian
grdu'p:iliembers speakMtinda. The Dravidfan lahgu-age is wide spread in India. There are three schools bf
thought regarding the .origin o f this langmige sorcre consi1er- an. it1digenous origin, while others think
that they came from the North West to India; while still dthers consider an Australian orig in. to this family
o f languages.
The Dravidian.language contains-a number o f groups.
A The Sout Dravidian group: This group includes the major languages like Tamil, Malayalam,
Kannada a_nd minor languages o r dialects like Tulu, Kurgi o r Erukula.
B. The Central Dravidian group: This includes Telugu and Gondi and dialects like Kui, Parji and
Khond.
C. The North Dravidian grot:ip: This consists o f Kurukh, Qraon and Malti.
Among the total population o f Dravidfan .speakers, 96% accounts f or .Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and
Malayalam. These Dravidian languages are less diverse than other l<Jnguages . .
6. INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY
This group o f languages are believed to have come from outside India.
A. Iranian branch: This is spoken,fr9 P,err.sia to easfof Pamirs. .I
'··,.
B. Dardic or Pisacha branch: This language influences the region that includes .Sindh,;Pakistan and
Kashmir. This region is called as Dardisthan and is located in the southeast o f Hindu Kush· ·
Mountains. Kashmir languages belong to this group.
C. lndo-Aryan branch: This branch has three sub;.branches.
a. Outer sub-branch: This has three groups.
i. Northwest group that includes west Punjabi and Sindhi.

ii. Southern group is Marathi.
iii. Eastern group that includes Oriya, Bihari, Bengali and Assamese.
49
b. Intermediate sub-branch: T h i s h a s intermediate groups that include eastern Hindi o r

Purviya languages.
c. Inner sub-branch: It has t w o important groups.
i. Central group that includes Western Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Bhilli, Khandesi and
Rajasthani.
ii. Pahari group that includes· Pahari o r Nepali, Central Pahari, Kumaoni and
Ghadrwali. In the north Punjab Hills, Western Pahari is spoken, w h i c h includes
Kuluhi, Jaunsari, Chameli, Sirmauri and Kivitholi.
T h e foregoing discussion o n linguistic classificatio n and distribution reveals the fact that there s e e m s to
b e a n overlap o f linguistic elements in the Indian population. This situation m a y have risen o w i n g to
w i d e s p r e a d migrations a n d resettlements o f t h e p o p ulation acr o ss t h e subcontinent Further another
i m p o r t a n t feature o f the linguistic diversity is that it does not overlap o r coincide with racial classification
o r diversity ..
/NDJAN;·popLJLA
·· · . .
/ ON ·- FACTORS INFLUENCING
T
. ITS STRUCTURE AND
. GROWTH )...
.
,.
. -:··.... -.,,_:.·· :. .
. - . .
_-
.
T h e s t u q y o f h u m a n resources is v i t a l from the p u r v i e w o f economic welfare a n d social ·development. It is
p a r t i c µ l a d y imQor
.. ;,._,,:,...-.;.,•
.
'
D.-L!?.eca e
•-------• o - -
h_!:I_!}l n .....-.bejngs
.- .. .•....:.:-_.,
a r e not. o n l y instruments o f production
... -:--- -'),lr,c-"_,.,., =-.. .....,,.l,,;.-.•.•:·-"""'......•.r.<>",..-,-._ ..-=--:-r-..•.-wi,,_,,,._.,_,.__ __.,•• - - · - - • T-.,.
b u t also__-c!il ..
.............. - . - -
thems lv s. It is nece·ssary t o k n o w , in quantitative tern s the numoer o f p e o p e Hvmg m a country a t a
pari:Tcuiartime, the --- --··rat-. a_t w h i c h th y_are . .... ... ·- growing9-r1ci,
····- . ......... . . . .
'• ,_
the compositi9n . a n d distributjon - . . o f population.
.
. .
1. THE THEORY OF DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION

T h e theory o f "demographic transiti o n " postu l a t es a three-stage sequence o f birth a n d death rate a s
typically associated w i t h e c o n o m i c deve l o p m e nt .
First Stage of Demographic Transition: A c c o r d i n g to this theory, death rates are high in the first stage
o f a n agrarian economy o n a c c o u n t o f p o o r diets, primitive sanitation a n d absence o f effective medical
aid. Birth rates are also h i g h i n this stage a s a consequenc t widespread w e v a l e n c e o f I l f i t e r e
o w led g e about f a m i l y p l a n n i n g techniques, arly age o f ,ma'rriage' as-a'"co'iisequence o f de.e e:
rooted· social beliefs a n d c u s t o m s a b o u t ·the size o f t h e family, a t t i t u c l i i @ r e n , etc_. __tvroreover ! .:_LI}.__ ,
a primit1ve society there· a r e economic advaqtages o f a large family siz· ! . "C h ild ren contribute-at a n early
age -- anctare thetraillHonal so·urce o f s.e_ ll.rLt.t_!n:., he old ageofpa en!§!_J.Jie .. high death rates, prevafe"i1t
esiJeciiilfflnlnlancy>imp"(y.thafsuc'fi.se.curity c a n b e attained only w h e n m a n y children are·born ... In such
a s o c i !)' the. tt!al rit ,9Lg,rnwJJ1 ..RLR9JJ.}Jlatt i }}_Oj:_h. g inJ: . ig birJ:h,..r.ate._i .:b,a) c b y high d e a t
e.t :..! :! - - 'fhigh_gr()w: !p,ote11ti: l,b u,t. f l w·a l.:igf .Wt:.! ti _ . _ -·· , f
j
Second Stage o f Demographic Transition: ; -Rise in income leyels, , nables t h e people to improve their _ _
d i e t E f o n o m i c d e v e l o p m e n t also bij _gs a b o u it all-round improvement including the i m p r v e m e t i
transport·that m a k e s t h e s u p p l y § ( ! Q O d -. -. e i u E r A U -tn e s e factors tend to r"ealrce·"d ·a-tnYa· - ·Ih s m the
s e c o n d s t a g e , fiirth-raie"remains-high b u t death r a t e begins to dedine rapidlr, This accel r, , s -gn>,lY.!P
i
oTpopulaticHCtligli" gfoWtlr'pdtential.,of-the,,,Hrst-"·stig?Ts"i-e'ali'tea'lr fn e··w g h ·a c tu a f gf ow th i n t h e s e c o n d
s t a g e . a s a · consequence"cWdecHne· in· deatftrafe:·1ngn-6Irtn-rafe a n d faillng d e a t h rate con ribute t o t f i e · ·
growth -·-·-
o( the- average
---- ;-
$ize-o·fth Etfamily7fftlnsstage.
. -·------·.----·--··- ·--··
--·-·--·--··--·-·--·----·--------- ---··--- · .
-- ... ___ ,_____., -- ...__ . . . . -
. -----
- . -·---- .. ......... .
,
The Third Stage "Of Demographic Transition: EC?-_1!}!!:lll ..<l Y. lo.p.ment.furthe.r_,,<;h9: _& - - -e .. h. !:ef.tgLQ.C_
tl1 . p.omyJron1 a n agrarian to c1 p_artiQ,By _iqg strialized one. W i t h the growth o f industrialization,
p.C>P.!!Lc!tio te _ds to sh{n:' i w a y f o·m rural areas to ards i n d u s t ; i a l a n d ··c-o'in'inerciafcenters -qqwt1t-6'f·=· .
u J b a n pc>pu1ation, "with· t11·e __i v 12p_fi!e · _of c o n o m i c ·roles·fifr womei1-ouis1a·it'ttie"fioine;te---nct(-Ia·
in-crease -the ·poss bn[iy 9 l i <;_Q_n o m ic _ab Hty ,th t- in. 6e achievecr w i t h s m a u 1am1hes ( . !1d tends. to· be-tter
decrease· the ·e; - i advanta.ge b f - large fa.mily. brie-01' 'the features· T;cort:o:mf<:. ctex l - - -Ts· -
typTcaIIY fricreasiniurb i11izatfon '
-- .
ancf children 'itsually''nicie··of
.... ,.::,:,.=-""-:..,,-;,,---· .- -. - -
a b u r d e n a n d l ess o f a n asset in a'ii"'-
..,-··- ..--=-·-""-"'·········-·:··--··--·
are ........ ·-. - _,., .,.... ----·-·· ,. ____
...... - - - " ' - - - - · - -
50
Anthropology Paper 02. Volume 03
urban setting than in a rural."' The consc,iou,sness to maintain reasonable standard o f living tends to
reduce the size o f family in an industrialized economy; since the death rate is already low, this is possible
only i f birth rate falls. Thus, the characteristics ofthe.third stage are low birth rate, low. death ra e all
family size and low growth rate of population. This is the stage ofiricipientdecline o f population.
__,..-, . . . .•
,•. . • •. • . "., • •• • • _
,. _
_,.. ......,.,J
,.•
,t
"
; .. .,
.....: ._
.-
.
;
"
?' : ...·
... -"
·:=.:
...". . _
,.:
: ,
-
:
'-
:
' ' ". -
" ..,l.,...'..,
..t. .:.
·
,:.-'- :?
:,:;
::-:-
.:-
......,-..:.. .::..,...:.,t:
"
. -'- -_
-.-..-.i!J._t}! >
"' i
These three stages reveal the transformation of a primitive high birth and high death rate economy into a
low birth and low death rate economy. When an economy shifts from the first stage to the second stage of
transition, an imbalance is created in the economy as a result o f falling death rate but
demographic
relatively stable birth rate. Historically it has been observed that death rate can. be controlled rr1e>re ea,?ilY
because the measures to reduce cteath.rate ·ar·e exogenc;· s-in nat r ·anct hence readily
people. """'·" 0,-· . reduc:t'ion ·of birth ate ca·n be broygbTabout ·by
nn.or.01,.,..,,.,,
.... -acceptable
.
r
t o the
;t_
.._
.,,,.•
·-- 'ra.ctors:-mze·
,, .. ·
- ··
- · --
.·
- ....."
-
·
:"
:
-
"
•
-
.,:
-.,-..... ....... P-
.,-
•
.:,. .-.-.,.--.:'""!-
' *= , "
" ,.. -.• ' { _- .,.,,.,..,,.,';",t,;. · •
c _Ilgin . c_i.al . ............ m_ rrl ,

- a ' . . ., • . • .- ,
at ffii®. .. Dd. c:µstoms. .R 1i .,?J!Q.,QQgffiq ,. QP. L h ,, J. --?.f

, . . . . . ., . .
.:t . -···-·..
etc. tnis r quires a i:nuch)_onge ti e
a time·lag. . tne
n. t J JlJ>J .c:l. . tti.r<:lt. ! ,.C onsequently, birth
'secon_-d. ·stage o f demographic evolution has, therefore, been termed as the ;5tage o f
tends to after
fall
P.- It!il!!l .1.e IJlslon_)fhis stage is the most hazardous period for a developing'e'co ·;my -The decline in-·-
f
d e a t l h tte'·ii( the s cond. stage, therefore, creates an imbalance that requires a period o f transition for
en t. h.u s t·h· e. th. eory i·s rme·d·.as···;,.th eo. ry·o··. f·d em···.·.o·g.r.aph.ic t.ra.nsi.tion e e. rio d o.f
.·. Durin·g·
rai::isitio.n
. . .
• theT demographic
•. . factors g e t out .of harmony. A new constellation
. o f demograph .t·h. ..§...1.L
.p.
Jd···.·J··.u
fe>l;l'ght'abotit .
.. which changes .t·echaracter o( g._£!
the ·.
t h. ty; birth a_i:!Ji d g_t_h r:-?Jes -become Q l.apc d a a l_c:>wer
,··s·.·.t·m··
Ievefois a. stilt 2. ] re .•
w
... [ f c ...f ...QLP.iiriiila .tiQJlfilfill . ..
Jl <;lLI! , ..--
... ..
51
Basic Population Data

Census of India 2001 IClndia, States & Union territori_eS)
PopulaUon by sex and sex ratio
Population
State
India/State/UT Persons Males Females Sex ratio
Code
India 1,028,610,328 532,156,772 496,453,556 933
01 Jammu & Kashmir 10,143,700 5,360,926 4,782,774 892
02 Himachal Pradesh 6,077,900 3,087,940 2,989,960 968 . / " "
03 Punjab 24,358,999 12,985,045 11,373,954 876

04 Chandigarh 900,635 506,938' 393,697 777
OS Uttaranchal 8,489,349 4,325,924 4,163,425 962
06 H.aryana 21,144,564 11,363,953 9,780,611 861
07 Delhi 13,850,507 7,607,2,34 6,243,273. 821
08 Rc:!jasthan 56 507,188 29,420,011 27,087,177 921
09 Uttar Pradesh 166,197,921 87,565,369 78,632,552 898
10 Bihar 82 998,509 43,2_43,795 39,754,714 919
11 Sikkim 540,$51 288,484 252,367 875
12 ArunachalPradesh 1,097,968 579,941 518,027 893
13 Nagaland 1,990,036' 1,047,141 942,895 900
14 Manipur 2,166,788 1,095,634 1,071,154 978
15 Mizoram 888,573 459,109 429,464 935
16 Tripura ·3 199,203 1,642,225 1,556,978 948
17 Meghalaya 2,318,822 1,176,087 1,142,735 972
18 Assam 26,655,528 13,777,037 12,878,491 935
19 West Bengal 80,176,197 41,465,985 38,710,212 934
20 Jharkhand . 26,945,829 13,885,037 13 060,792 941
21 Orissa 36,804,660 18,660,570 18,144,090 972
22 Chhattisgarh 20,833,803 10,474,218 10,359,585 989
:
23 Madhya Pradesh 60,348,023 31,443,652 28,904,3,71 919
24 Gujarat 50,671,017 26,385,577 24,285,440 920
25 D man&Diu 158,204 92,512 65,692 710
1
26 Dadra "& Nagai Haveli' -220,490 121,li66 98,824 812
27 Mahara htra 96,878,627 ?0,400,596 46,478,031 ,,922
1
28 Andhra Pradesh 76,210,007 38,527,413 37,682,594 978
29 Karnataka 52,850,562 26,898,918 25,951,644 965
30 Goa 1,347,668 687,248 660,420 961
31 Lakshadweep 60,650 31,131 29;519 948
32 . Kerala 31,841,374 15,468,614 16,372,760 1058
33 Tamil Nadu 62,405,679 '31,400,909 31,004,770 987
34 P6ndicherry 974,345 486,961 487,384 1001
35 Andaman & Nicobar Islands 356,152 192,972 163,180 846
Source: Primary Census Abstract: Censu_s of India 2001 _,'
52·
2. SIZES AND GROWTH RATE OF PORl Jl_4TION

'i •
IN INDIA
India today possesses about 2.4 per cent <;>f,the t tal lan ,,- re ,of the world but she has to support about
16 per cent of the world population. At the,begirining of this century India's population was 236 mil_lion
and according to 2001 census, the population of India is 1,027 million. A study of the growth. rate_ of
India's population can be made from the Table 1.
TABLE 1. Growth of Population in India {1901-2001)
Increase or Percentage
Census Population
decrease Increase or
Year {Millions)
(Millions} decrease
1891 236 - -
1901 236 0.0 0.0
1911 ·252 +16 +5.7
1921 251 -1 -0.3
(!'891"'.1921) - +15 .,·<' " +0.19
' t
1931 .279 +28. :.-11.Q
1941. 319 . +.40 +14.2
1951- 361 +42- .+13.3
[19.i1·1951) - ·+110 -tJ..2, 2
19(h 439 +78 +21.5
1971 548 ·+ 109 +24.8
1981 683 +135 +24.7
(1951-1981) - +322 +2.14
1991 844 +161 +23.S
2001 1,027 +183 +21.3.
Compound annual growth rate of Populatio·n

1891-1921 0.19
1921-1951 1.22
1951-1981 2.15
1981-1991 2.11
1991-2001 1.93
Sources:Census of India 2001. ),)
-
A Study of growth rate of India's popul tion falls into four phases:
1891-1921: §.!<!gnant po_p3-1lation_
1921-1951: Steady growth
1951 1981: Rapid high growth
1981-2001: High growth with definite signs of slowing down

·,
53
During the first phase of 30 years (1891 to 1921), the population of India grew from 236 million in 1891
to 251 million in 1921 i.e., just by 15 million. The compound annual growth rat was negligible i.e., 0.19
0
percent per annum for the period. The growth of population was held in check by the prevaL::nce ·of a high
death rate against a high birth rate. Birth and death rates were more or less equal during this period.
India was in the first stage of demographic transition in this perio marked by stagnant population.
During the second phase of 30 years (1921 to 1951), the population of India grew from 251 million in
1921 to 361 million in 1951 i.e., by 110 million. The compound growth rate of population was 1.22
percent per annum, which can be considered as moderate. The main reason for the increase in population
growth rate was a decline in death from about 49 per thousand to 2.7 per thousand, but compared with
this, there was a very small decrease in birth rate. The fall in death rate was largely due to the control of
widespread epidemics like plague, small pox, cholera etc. that took a heavy tool of human lives. India had
started its entry into the second phase of demographic transition durfng this period that marked a steady
-but low growth rate of population.
During the third phase of 30 years (1951 to 1981), the population of India grew from 361 million in 1951
to 68 -\nillion in 1981. In other words, there 111as·,a record growth of .population by 322 million in a period
of 30 years. This gives a compound·annual growth rate of2.14 percent,-which is nearly double the growth
_ rate q f t.l-ie previous phase. With the advent of plannin& he extension of hospitals and medical facilities
were undertaken o_n a big scale and these measures of death. control resulted in a further and sharp
decline of death rate, to a level of 15 per thousand but the birth rate fell very slowly from 40 to 37 per
thousand during this period. As a conseq_uence, there was·a population explosion during this period.
During 1981 to 2001, India entered the fourth phase of high population growth with definite signs of
slowing down. Total population increased from 6.83 million in 1981 to 1,027 million in 2001, indicating
an increase of 50.4 per cent during the 20-year period. The annual average rate of growth of population
during 1981-200.1 was of the order 2.05 per cent.
During 1981-91, the population of India grew from 683 million in 1981 to 844 million in 1991 - indicating
an increase of 161 million during the period. The rate of growth slightly declined to 2.11 per cent during
19.81-91 decade. Subsequently,_during the next decade (1991-2001), pop·uiation grew from 844 million to
1,027 million - an increase of 183 million. The annual average rate o f growth registered a qecline to 1.93
per cent This is a welcome ·trend that should be strengthened.
TABLE"Z. Average Annual Birth and Death Rates in India
Decades Births ·Per 1,000 Deaths per 1,000

1891-1900 45.8 44.4
1901.:u:910 48.1 42.6
1911-l920. 49.2 48.6
1921 i930 46.4 36.3 '�
'
'•
1931..:1'940 45.2 31.2

1941;;1950 -39.9 27.4
1951-1960· 40.0 18;0
1961-1970 41.2 19.2
1971-:'1980 37.2 15.0
1985-lj:'986 32.6 11.1
2000:,,;;1: . ·2s.s 8.5
.,
Sources: Census of India, 1971, Age and Life Tables and Census of India 1981, Ministry o f Health and
Family Welfare, Annual Report (2000:-01) and Economic Survey (2002-03) .
Rate of growth of population is a function of birth rate and death rate. C nsequently variations in birth
and death rates can provide an explanation of the acceleration of the population growth experienced in
India. The birth and death rates for India are given in Table 2.
·
54-
Table 2 clearly reveals that the growth qJ_po,pulation was held in check by the high birth and high death
rates prevalent in India ef o re 1921. B'iah :'rate during 1901-1921 fluctuated between 46 and 49 per
thousand and.the death rate between 42 and 48. C o rrespondingly, the growth o f populati o n was little o r
negligible. But after 1921, a clear fall in death rate is no ticeable. Death rate, which st o o d at 48.6 per
thousand in 1911-20, came down t o 18.9 during 1961-70. As against it, the birth rate sh o wed a slight
decline. As a co nsequence o f the family planning drive, birth rate also registered a decline to 25.8 per
thousand in 2000. Death rate has further fallen to a level o f 8.5 per thousand. C o nsequently, the gap
between high birth and failing death rates widened with the passage o f time and this was reflected in a
highsurvival rate. Thus, the high growth rate of population can be explained in terms of a persistently
high birth rate but a relatively fast declining death rate.
Prior to 1921, India was in the first stage o f dem o graphic transiti o n. But from 1921 o nwards it has
ente-red into the sec o nd stage o f dem o graph ic transition in which the high growth p o tential o f the
p o pulati o n was realized as a high actual growth of p o pulatio n. It is expected that sh o rtly India will enter
the third stage.
TAHLE 3. Birth and Death Rates (19? Jrfor 14 major States of India
.... _, .·.,: :
: .· ;!'
State Birth Rate Death Rate _IMR Mean age at marriage

...
(Females)
1. Kerala 18.0 6.4 14 22.3
2. Tamil Nadu. 19.3 80 52 20.2
3. Andhra Pradesh 21.7 8.2 66 17.8
4. Maharashtra 21.1 7.5 48 19.1
s. Karnataka 22.3 7.7 58 . 19.4
6. West Bengal 20.7 7.1 52 19.5
7. Punjab 21.S 7.4 53 20.3
8. Orissa 24.1 10.7 97 19.5
9. Gujarat 25.4 7.9 63 20.4
10. Haryana 26.8 7.7 68 19 2
11. Bihar 31.S 8.9 63 18.6
12. Madhya Pradesh 31.1 10.4 90 18.8
13. Rajasthan 31.1 8.4 81 18.4
14. Uttar Pradesh 32.8 10.5 84 19.3
All India 26.1 8.9 70 19.4
-·
. .
Sources: Planning C o mmission, Ninth Five Y ar Plan (1997- 2002), Office of the Registrar General, India.
.
State wise analysis o f data pertaining to birth and death rates reveals that Kerala, Tamil'Nadu, Andhra
Pradesh, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Gt1Jaf. t a1::1d Assam·.
hcwe achieved a birth rate below 30 ·per th o usand. In this sense, they have entered the third stage .o f
demographic transiti o n. Ironically, Haryana, which occupies a sec o nd place in India in-terms o( per capita
income, is als o far behind in reducing birth. rate. As against it, Utter Pradesh a_nd Rajasth.an, Bihar, and
Madhya Pradesh have a very high birth rate in the range o f 31-34 per thousand. Allthese·states are:stilHn
the second stage of demographic transiti o n; but taken together they account for 44 per cerit o f the total'
Indian population. Unless the fainiiy planning programs in these states make an impact, Ind.ia"as a whole
will not be able to enter the third stage o f demographic transition.
55
BIRTHRATE
Fertility depends on (i) age at which females marry, {ii) duration of the period of fertile union, and (iii)
the rapidity with which they build their families.
In India, mean age at marriage has been low as compared to other countries of the world. {Refer table 4).
However, it has been slowly rising between 1891 and 1981. The passing of the Chiid Marriage Restraint
Act (popularly known as Sharda Act) in 1929 did have some effect and child marriages declined.· This is
evidenced by the fact that whereas 27 percent of girls below the age of 14 were married during 1891-
190i': decade, only 6.6 percent in the age group 10-14 were married in 1991. This is a healthy
development. Mean age at marriage for females was 13.7 years in 1921; it improved to 15.8 in 1961.
During the last 30 years the mean age at marriage of females, improved to 19.4 years in 1994. As against --
it, mean age at marriage of males has improved to 23.3 years in 1994. Social awareness and spread of
education can help raise the mean age at marriage ·in futu·re. Raising the age of marriage is, however,
-likely to be more difficult because in many rural areas, there is a feeling of insecurity about an unmarried
·. girl of-marriageable age. Mean age at marriage is highest among Christians, followed b y Sikhs, Muslims
and Hi_ndus. Among the Hindus, females of depressed castes hay the lowest mean age at marriage. Next
in order are Brahrnins, Kshatriyas and the Vaishyas. It is· commdn khbwledge that higher age at marriage
tend{to reduce fertility and this lowers birth rate.
With an increase· in the mean age at marriage arid theirripc:lct of .famHy planning prngrams, there is an
over'."all decline in general fertility rate from ·111 PC:r thoiJsand. marri 4 women In 1988 to abo'ut 154 in
1993. It may also be noted that the decline is in all age g'to'ups though· it' is sharper in the age groups of
30 34 and above, a s compared with age group 15-:19 There'is a strong need to reduce fertility rates in the
lower age groups, more e_specially 15-29, 20-24 and.25-29, so that general fertility rate registers a sharp
decline.
TABLE 4. Mean age at marriage in Selecte_? Countries
Country Males Females

Norway 28.0 24.4
East Germany 27.4 24.7
France 26.0 22.6-
Japan 25.8 2-3.0
India . [1921) 20.7 13.7
(1961) 21.6 15.8
(1971) 22.4 17.2
(1994) 23.3 19.4
T A B L E 5. Age-Specific Fertility Rates in hiclia

.,
Age 1988 1993 Percentage

Group Decline
(Years)
15-19 259.0 236.1· 8.84
20-24>',;..:
319.8 307.9 3.72
25-t9·. - 227.9 207.6 8.91
30-34' 138.5 121.3 12.41
35-39 81.2 65.7 19.09
40-44 38.9 31.8 18.25
I
TFR 5.4 4.9 9.26
GFR 170.7 153.7 9.96
'
56
Fertility seems to have a strong correlatipn with the educational level of the mother. Average number of
children born to a woman according to' ti-itc nsus of 1991 was 4.3. This figure for illiterates was 4.4, with
those who were Ibiddle but below matric, itdecliiied to 3:8, but those who·got education up to matric but
below graduate, it was 3.0 and those with a graduate degree and above, it was only 2.3. Fertility in every
category was higher in rural areas than in urban areas.
TABLE 6: Number o f Children Ever Born per Woman in the age group 45-49 (1991)
Number of Children Born

Educational Level Total Rural Urban
llliterate 4.4 4.4 4.3
Literate below Middle 4.3 4.4 4.1
Middle Below Mattie 3.8 3.9 3.7
Matrict.but be ow graduate 3.0 3.1 2.9
,·.
Graduate and Above 2.3 2.6 2.2
Total 4.3 4.4 -3.9
Sources: C:ensus qfirtdia Stage Profile-·- p:i9i ;. Inqi;.
, _ . . • . . - .• ·--:·· . . '.".: ' . '
. . . - . .
According to Census :corrimissioner'(ZQ0I), there fs a positive correla"tfor i between population growth

rate and the ·child ·population in the age group o.:.6. hrlildia, the proportion of children in the age group 0-
6 declined from 17.94 percent in 1991 to 15.42 percent in '2001. . A fall in the proportion of children in the
age group 0-6 is indicative of a fall in -fertility. In Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and
Gujarat, the percentage· of population in the age group 0-6 is below the national average while in stat?s
like Haryana, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh, it is much
higher than the national average.
TABLE 7. Percentage of the child population in the ag group 0-6 .to .total population i.n
selected states.
State 1991 2001

Kerala _13.19 11.48
TamilNadu 13.33 10.98
Andhra Pradesh -16.49 12.77
l):arnataka 16.63 12.94
Gujarat 16.48 14.19
Maharashtra · 11.11 13.63
India 17.94 15.42
Haryana 18.98 15.46
Madhya Pradesh 19.94 17.58
R jasthan 20.13 18.51
Bihar 20.7.0 19.59
Jharkhand 20.17 17.82
Uttar Pradesh 20.38 16.35
Meghalaya 22.18 19.84
Source: Census of India Z000, India, Provisional Population Totals.
57
DEATH RATE
In the advanced countries o f the world, in the beginning of the 19th century, death rate ranged between
35-50 per thousand. It has now come down to 7-8 per thousand. This steep fall in death rate is the result
o f provision of better diet, pure drinking water, improved hospital facilities, better sanitation and last but
· not least, the control by wonder medicines of several epidemic and other diseases which took a heavy toll
o f human life. (Refer table 8)
During,Jhe 1891-1901 and 1911-21 decades, the growth of population was insignificant. This can be
attributed to widespread famines and the influenza epidemic of 1918 that killed about a million persons.
_ The death rate during this particular year rose to an astonishing figure o f 63 per thousand, though in the
preceding and succeeding years, it was 33 and 36 respectively.
Another important factor contributing to low death rate is the decline in infant mortality. The infant
1
mortality rate which stood at 218 per thousand in 1916- 20 had come down in 1989 to 58 per thousand
,, , for urban areas and 98 per thousand for rural areas. For the country as a whole, it was 71 in 1997. The
· principc1.l causes of infant mortality are: malnu\ritJon, pneumonia, diarrhoea, and infectious and parasitic
diseases. Infant mortality shows a tendency to increase when mateinity takes place repeatedly and in
quicks.uccessfon. Ali-these causes are being remedied.
: "f; ·
Bes_id s\h_is, mortality n10ng females of reproductive ages is also hig . It ranges between 300-400 .per
1,9_00. omen-pf ages 5-45. lnadequate.pre-nafal anq pO§ natalcare w h k h is the ·result o f poverty and
absenc . of hospital facilities is largely responsible- for this With hnprovements hi diet, hospital and
midwifery facilities, it is reasonable to expect that.infant and maternal mortalities will register a further
decline.
Fevers. (including malaria) cholera, smallpo , plague, dysentery and diarrhea, respiratory diseases, etc.,
also account for a_ large number o f deaths. 9ut o f thes , smallpox, plague and cholera have been, by nd
large, eradicated. With the growth of medical facilities and improvement in living standards, it is hoped
·
that crude death rate will decline considerably
Tr us, over the last s·decades, both birth and death rates have been declining, but the death rate declined
at afaster. rate. Death rate.has already reached very low ebb and whatever the level of health facilities, it
cam:iot faU below 7-8 per thousand. The future growth of India's population shall, therefore, be mainly
depend nt on the level o f the birth rate.
TABLE 8. Cr de Birth and Death Rates for Selected Countries (2000)
Country Birth Rate· Death Rate IMR

Germatiy 9 11 4
U.K . . 11. 11 6 .I
U.S.A. 15 9 7
Canadar, 11 8 5
France 13 9 4
Australia 10 10 5
Japan 9 8 4
·china,'"/;, 15 7 32
'.
India \ , 25 9 69
Sourc i: World Development Indicators (2002).
For purposes ofcomparison, we present in Table 8 the birth, death and infant''rnorta1ity rates in selected
countries.
58
It may be noted that states that have_ acgi ye death rates below a level of 8 per thousand are incidentally
also the state_$ that are moving towards· a lbwer birth rate. The reason being that medical facilities in
terms of hospitals, primary health care dispensaries have been established in them. Once the people are
assured of the survival of their children, the chances of persuading them to go in for sterilization also
improve. Moreover, the family planning staff can be more effective at the primary health centers in
introducing couples to the use of contraceptives and discuss with them the effectiveness of the _yanous'··---
c;ontraceptive devices as also to get feedback from them about the problems faced by the users. The co-
efficient of correlation between death rate and birth rate was as high as +0.67 for the 14 states listed in
tab1e 2.
Correlation coefficient between infant mortality rates and birth rate for 14 major states of India was
+0.83. This underlines the fact that high infant mortality induces couples, more especially among the
·poor, to have larger family size. Consequently, birth rates a_re higher in states that have higher infant
mortality rates. The analysis·underlines the need for enlargement of health facilities so as to reduce infant
mortality rates and over-all death rates as a positive measure both of family planning and family welfare.
3. 'QUANTITATIVE POPULATION G.R<:JV\[;TH DIFFERENTIALS IN'DIFFERENT COUNTRIES

Population growth rates are different in different parts of the world. Taking the world as a whole, the
total population on this planet was 3,696 million in 1970; it rose to 4,426 millionJ.n 1980 and stood,at
6,055 m1lliorf in 2000. ·The annual compound tate of growth during 1980-90 was of the order of 1.7
percent ltshOws tha! the world as a whole was passing through a stage of high growth potential during
1980i90, but the· growth ·Tate started declining thereafter, and was of the order of 1.4 per cent during
1990-2000.
From Table 9 it is obvious that the low-income economies and the middle-income economies, which
comprised about 85 per. cent of the world population, show a high growth potential. During 1980-90, the
growth rate in low_income economies was relatively lower at 2.4 percent and that in middle income
economics·was slightly lower 1,6 percent. This is explained by the fact that the death rates in low-income
economies were higher, though birth rates were also high. Most of the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin
America fall in the categories of low-income groups where poverty, poor health and malnutrition are
widespread. As<against this situation, the middle income economies which were pc1ssing throughthe
stage of popula\ion explosion.due to the prevalence of high birth rates and declinil}g rates during 1980-90 _
decade, experienced a decline of birth rates during 1980-95 and consequently, growth rate of population
in middle income economies got further reduced from 1.6 per cent during 1980-90 to 1.2 per cent during
1990-2000.
TABLE 9. World Population Growth by Groups
Average Annual Growth-Rate

Country Group Population fillilhdns) Percent of total
(%),'.
1980 2000 1980 1998 1980-90 19'90-2000
Low Income 1384 2459 31.3 2.4 2.0
59.6'
Economies
Mid.die Income 2217 "2693 50.0 1.2 1.6 . ··,-
25.4 .,
Economies
High Income 0.7
825 903 ·rn.6 15.0 0.7
Economies
Total 4426 6055 100.0 100.0 1.4 1.7
India 687 1016 15.S 16.7 2.1 1.8
China 981 1261 22.2 20.8 1.5 1.1
Source: Compiled and computed from World Development Report (2002)
59
Anthropology Paper 02-Volume 03
As against them, the growth rate of popula'tion in high-income countries remained unaltered during
1980- n o and 199 0 -20 0 0 at 0 .7 percent. Most of the coun ries of Europe, North America and Japan are
included among them. In these regions, de-ath rates have fallen to the lowesLpossible levels and an
improvement in public health measures will not reduce death rates. The high birth rates have also come
down as a result of the impact of industrialization and urbanization.
China and India, which account for nearly ·3s percent of the world population, show a population growth
of ab0:pJ 2 percent per annum during 197 0 -80 . It may, however, be noted that in China, population
growth, rate has declined to 1.1 per cent during 199 0 -20 0 0 , whereas _in India, it is still quite high at 1.8.
Efforts:_at family planning have begun to yield some results and they need to be intensified, and more
especiaily in middle-income countries.
4. THE, SEX COMPOSITION OF POPULATION

A disturbing revelation of the 1991 census is the decline in the ratio of females per 1, 0 0 0 males. The sex
ratio declined frorri 934 in 1981 to 929 in 1991. However, the over-all trend of sex ratio in the country
sinee,19 0 1 also shows a continuous tr nd towards a decline in sex q:itio, barring a marginal improvement
in 198.LJn 20 0 1, there is a slight improvement in the proportion·of females to 933..
' . ·. ;: .
TABii f:10 Sex Ratio in India

.' . , , , , : ' ...
F m les per
Year
-·1000:niale
19 0 1 972
1911 964
1921. 955
1931 95 0
1941 945
1951 946
1961 941
1971 930
1981 934
1991 927
2001 933
, l " : - , .
Despite.-.our. loud professions of the success of Mother and Child Health (MCH) Program during the
previous decade· and the care of the girl childt. the scenario as presented by the Census in'dicates the
failur .P these programs. . - ·!°' ·t -" i
• I .
Amorig the various_ states of India, Kerala alone shows a higher proportion o f females, 1,058 per 1, 0 0 0
males in 20 01. [n Himachal Pradesh, there ·is a distinct improvements over 1981 level and the sex ratio
has improved from 973 in 1981 to 996 in 1991 but there is a decline in 2 0 01 to 97 0 . The situation in
TamilJNadu, Orissa and Karnataka has slightly deteriorated, but still the number o f females per 1, 0 0 0 .
inales,,.i sufficiently high judged by-all-India level of 933 females per 1,0 0 0 males .. The states that are
lowel;than·the national average areWest.Berigal, -Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar. Pradesh; Punjab:and Haryana ..
There}s a sharp deterioration of sex ratio in Bihar from 946 in 1981 to 921 in 2 0 01. In Punjab, UP and
Haryana, females account for 874 to 898 per 1,0 0 0 males.
There is no doubt that the female fetus has been proved to be biologically stronger than the male fetus.
There is every likelihood of the women to live longer than men. This is evidenced b y the fact _that in the
advanced western countries, the proportion of women in-total population is higher than that of males. In
India, 108 females are born per 100 males, bµt the loss· of more females due to insufficient attention and
' l •• :.:"".;•. '
60
among the poor, were 65 in the case of females as against 55 per thousand in the case of males, even in
the state Punjab that has the highest per capita income. Regarding malnutrition, a study conducted by
CARE (Co-oper tive for American Relief Everywhere) for preschool children in Punjab showed that 29
percent of male children suffered from severe malnutrition, but the proportion was as high as 71 percent
in the case of females.
Besides this, high mortality rates among women in reproductive ages are also responsible for declining
sex ratio. Death rate among women in the reproductive age group of 15-44 was about 30 percent higher
than that of the males as revealed by National Sample. Survey Nearly 2/3rd of the pregnant women suffer
from anemia, which is the direct consequence of malnutrition, more especially among urban poor. As a
consequence, malnutrition anemia contributes to nearly 40 percent of the maternal deaths. Moreover,
facilities of hospitalization for delivery, and pre-natal and post-natal care especially among female .
laborers are conspicuous by their absence. This also leads to more maternal - deaths that tilt the
proportion of females adversely in total population.
It would be relevant to take up some sociological factors that have recently begun to play a very
important role_ in dE!terrnining the composition of the families. It was believed that as a result o f the
spread of education and improvement in the}educational status of the population, our attitude towards·
dowry will undergo a change and. there would be a perceptible decline in dowry. But unfortunately,
dowry sy tem has become much more intensified. Marriages are becoming much-more expensive even .in
middle class and lower middle -class. Obviously, ·this has resulted in a preference of male to female
children. The· recent legislation about Medi_cal Terrllination. of Ptegnancy as embodied in 1971 Act
permits terminatfon ofpregnanc-ies if iflnvolves a risk to a woman's physical or mental health, where the
_pregnancy is a result of rape or failure of contraceptive device and causes great anguish to the woman.
The legislation, therefore, permits co·nsiderable scope for carrying out abortions by distorting the
provisions of law under one pretext or the other. The recent discovery of sex determination tests
(amniocentesis) has made it possible to kill the female fetus before birth. A very large number of private
nursing homes are coming up in various parts of the country; more so in the urban areas, especially big
cities and metropolitan towns that conduct these tests. Our system of reporting being very weak, it is not
possible to determine the exact influence of sex-determination tests in influencing female births, butthe
directional change in favor of male births and destruction of female fetus is quite evident. Although ·
female infanticide was considered to be irrelevant in Indian context iri. the post-independence period; but
the sex- determination tests are a form of neo-female infanticide introduced in our society that has a bias
.against female births. Big advertisements on sex-determination tests pose a choice between-avoidance of
birth of a aughter or. impending liability of dowry payment in the slogan: "Better pay Rs. 500 now than
Rs. 5 lakhs later." Female infanticide prior to birth seems to be getting legalized in Indian society and this_
is bound to exercise an influence on the sex ratio moving against females.
The removal of poverty in the western countries has helped the females to overcome the biological·
disadvantages associated with the life of women, both at the time of puberty an·d at t,he time of
reproduction. A better health standard ofthertefo i les, that is a consequence of the prevalen e of higher
income levels, also provides them internal_resilience against disease. -Low levels o f living are accompanied
by low levels of education poor health, unhygienidiving conditions, etc. .
5. AGE COMPOSITION
The study of age cor:npo ition is helpful in determining the proportion- of the ·labor force in the total •-
population. An estimate of the l_abor force ·i_n India Js made in the 1991 census report. The working age of
the popuiation is· considered as 15-60.·on this basis, percentage distributioP. of India's. population is
shown in Table 12.
··.·: ..:..··.:· .-: .

care to them after birth, a relatively higher proportion of deaths among females at the time of puberty
due to functional derangement and a high death rate among women in the reproductive age bracket 11 -
19 on account of early marriage explains to a sufficient degree the fact that the biologically superior
female is not in a position to maintain the trend of excess of females at birth on account of the prevalence
of social and economic factors which work against it's species. As a consequence females per 1,000 males
were only 933 at the time 0(2001 census in India, while in Russia, it was 1,140, in Japan 1,041 and in USA
1,029.
TABLE 11: Sex Ratio (females Per 1,000 Males) in major states o f India arranged in
descending order on the basis of1991 Census.
State Sex Ratio

2001 1991 1981 1961 1931
Kerala 1058 1040 1032 1022 1022
973 938
. . i.'.-.
Himachal Pradesh 970 996 897
Aridhra Pradesh 978 972 .975 981 987'
';; 'j:,, Tamil Nadu • .
986 972 977 992 1027
Orissa 972 972 981 1001 1067
Karnataka 964 960 963 959 965
. Maharashtra 922 936 937 936 947
•.
. Gujarat 921 936 942 940 945
Madhya Pradesh ·. 920 932 941 953 973
-In.
- - ;:_
Assam
· --( -
. 1.il':-!la
.-
• .ht:·
932
,9 . .7
925
I.
..
.934·
-
910
_tl4l 1.r9?{f
869 874
West Bengal 934 917 911 878 890
Rajasthan 922 913 919 908 907
B.ihar 921 912 946 ·994 994
Punjab 874 888 879 854 815
Uttar Pradesh 898. 882 885 909 904
•• l',
Haryana 861 874 870 868 844
So.frrce: Census of India 200L
Ma Y explanations have been given about the masculine character of ·our population. The ritis.h Census
Commissioners had been talking:about geographical and sociological factors li e climate, r ce, season of
gestatiori, food habits, consanguineous marriages a·nd polyandry as affecting sex ratio, but the· statistical·
evidence could not support their reasoning.
P yerty - The main factor determining Sex Ratio: In fact, the explanation for a declining sex ratio lies
in:xµe poverty of Indian people. In a country where even now nearly 37 percent of the p pulation lives
b Jciw the.poverty line, high infant mortality, extremely poor or non-existent medical facilities, extreme y
un: ygienic conditions of living and absence of pre-natal and post-natai ca.re, high death. rate ainorig
women are all manifestations of the abjectly low level of living of the people. The preference for providing
good food to the breadwinner is again the manifestation of the much sought after modkum of economic
security that breadwinner provides. In the absence of old age social security schen1es, the son is
considered to be the insurance against old age. This also reinforces preference allotment of good diet and
medical care in favor of males. Consequently, d_ifferential mortality rates among the females provide the
most important explanation f or higher proportion of males to females. Infant mortality rates. especially
Anthropology Paper 02.: Volume 03
TABLE 12. Percentage Distribution ofJu ifs_Populationby Age Groups (1911-1991)

Year Age Group
0-14- 15-60 >60
1911 38.8 60.2 1.0
1921 39.2 59.6 1.2
1931 38.3 60.2 1.5
1961 41.0 53.3 5.7
1971 41.4 53.4 5.2
1981 39.7 54.1 6.2
1991 36.5 57.1 6.4
Sources: Census oflndia, 1991.
These figures indicate that the proportion of child population in the 0-14 age group was 36.S percent in
1991. This figure is lower than the figures of earlier three decades. The principal reason for a higher child
population in India is the high birth rate<f,he recent decline in infant mortality has also added to our child
population. A high proportion o f childrert only reflect a large proportion of unproductive co sumers. TO
reduce the percentage o f non-productive consumers,· it is ·essential to bring down the birth rate. The
decline.in child population in 1991 is a reflection of the decline in overall birth rate in India.
6. THE DENSITY OF POPULATION

The term density of population implies the average number of persons living per sq. km. From a small
figure of 77 persons Jiving per sq. km. in 1901, the density of the population of India rose to 90 per sq. km.
in 1931 signifying an increase o f only 17 per cent, but ·during the next 30 years, density went up to 142
persons per sq. km indi atfog a sharp increase of about 58 per cent. But during 1961-81, density jumped
to 216 per sq. km. in 1981 indicating an unprecedented increase of 52 per cent during the last 20 years. In
1991, the· density of population rose to.267 per sq. km. and was 324 per sq. km. in 2001. However, density
o f population is very unevenly distributed. Table 13 brings out the variation observed among the
djfferent states o f I_ndi;3. Kerala, West Bengal, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh are some of the highly
densely populated states, but Madhya Pradesh,· Rajasth n, Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland have a low
density of popuh1tion.
. .
Density· of population figures indicates the man-land ratio. Obvi_ously, India does not either rank ainong
countries with a very high man-land ratio or among those with a very low man-land. ratio. Density of
population- that can be supported in any coµntry depends upon the availability o f natural re$ources and
the extent o f the use of technology to exploit the resources. Tn other words,- natural _resources coupled
with_ the degree o f industrializat on determine, the extent to which a:higher_density o f populatton- can be
supported. For instance, Japan supportsa higher density (336 per sq. km.) at ·:1 higher st npard_ of Uvfog.:
Then;1ain reason-for this is that Japan:ba industrialized herself whereas 68.per cent o f the population of
India draws its livelihood_ from agrkulture. Hpwever, th·e extreinely high standards o f living in U.S.A are
partly the result o f a vefy favorable land.:man ratio and natural endowments.and partly due to the higber
stage o f economic development achieved. In short density of population cannot be "treated as an index
either o f the poverty or o f the prosperity of a country.
63
TABLE 13. Density of Population in lndia according to 2001 Census

State/Union Population Density Density
Territory in millions per sq. km (1991) per sq. km. (2001)
Delhi 13.8 6,352 9,294
Chandigarh 0.9 5,632 7,903
West Bengal 80.2 767 904
Kerala 31.8 749 819
Bihar 82.9 497 880
Jharkhand 26.9 274 338
Uttar Pradesh 166.0 548 689
Tamil Nadu 62.1 429 478
Punjab 24.3 403 482
Haryana 21.1 372 477
Assam 26.6 286 340
Maharashtra 96.7 257 314 ;
Andhra Pr:adesh 75.7 242 275

J<a.r.nataka ,', 52.7 ,.·, 235 275
Gujarat 50.6 211 258
brissa 36.7 203 236
Madhya Pradesh 60.4 149 196
Chathisgarh 20.8 133 154
Raiasthan ·56.5 129 165
Himachal Pradesh 61.0 93 109
Jammu & Kashmir 101.0; 77 99 °
India 1,027.0 267 32 4
Sources: Census oflndia, 2001.
TABLE 14. Relative Growth o f Urban n_d Rural Populat on
Percentage
increase in
..
Percentage of the urban Urban-Rural Ratio
Year .Population in Millions
Total Population population.
during the
decade ,;
.,·. ·Total Rural Urban Rural· .Urban
I
1901 232.9 207.3 25.6 Jl9.0 11.0 . '1:8.1
"
1 9 f l . 246.0 220.4 25.6 ·..., 89.6 . 10.4 + . 9.0 1:8.-6:
'.
192r 244.3 216 6 27'.7 88.7 *-8..25
..
··" .1L3 -·
·l-:-1-J}· .·
f--1%1 --270.if - 2 7 ff 33.0 87.8 12.2 +19.1 1:7 2
1941' 309.0 265 . 5 43.5 85.9 14.1 +32.1 1:6.1
1951 361.1 298.7 62.4 "82.7 17.3 +43.2 1:4.7
1961 439.2 360.3 78.9 82.0 18.0. +25 3 1:4.
1971 ,:·
548'.2 439- 1 109.1 80.1 19.9 +38.0 1:3.7
1 9 8 1 * , . ' 685.2 525.7 159.5 76.7 23.3 +46.8. 1:3-.'3
1991 **· .. 844 3 627.1 217.2 74.3. 25.7 +35.6 1:2.9
2001 ,-;
1 027.0 742.0 285.0 7_2.2 27.8 +31.2 1:2.6
* Includes projected population of Assam

** Includes population projection fo Jammu & Kashmir.
Sources: Registrar General, India.
64
EVALUATION OF IND/A'S POPULAPION f:'Ol/CY

India was one o f the first developing countries to have started the family planning program. A sum o f 2.15
crq_r: -· was allocated_ in t h e second plan for family planning programs. -In 1966, a new Department ·of
Family Pfanning was""creafecf
to give a natfonal administrative focus to the program. In the seventh·plan, a·
s u m o f 3256 cn:_>re was allocat cJ tqJ_h fa111UY. RJEnni,ng,pxo.gram.Jn the eig_hthT plan, the outlay. for Health
a n d Family· w;fr;· ;t;-i ids;t i.f tQ.Q,. tQr . Despite these efforts to-·curtai p o-p u la tio n growth, India's
population continues to g r o w "at a n alarming rate, exposing the inadequacies o f the family planning
program. Despite all the efforts and spending a whopping amount o f money for the program so far, _India,
which began its family planning program w a y back in 1951, lags.behind m a n y developing countries like -
Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia, because o f various reasons. The following account tries to analyze the .
reasons for the _poo.r.p rfor_ma ce ofl.p.q a in man girrn it? pop ation fr<:> t.
Historical Appraisal: While formulating the First Five Year Plan soon after Independence o f the couritry,
the newly appointed Planning Commission recognized that "Population policy is ... essential to planning"
arid that family planning is a step toward improvement in health, particularly that of mothers and
children.
In the Second Five Year Plan, service delivery centers were increased· several fold b u t the approach
_ essentially remained clinical. T h e program introduced cotnmunity· extension;,_ pproach during theThir,d
· · · · · · · ·· · - - ·······-·-·-- -- · · · · ·
Five Year Plan in order to:
'
1. Provide family planning services close to people's homes through a greatly expanded network of·
Primary Health Centers (PH Cs) and sub-centers; and .
.
.
,r,,,,,,,,-?»·--···.
.
..
./ Y _
, _ _.
_ _ ···----·- .
.
..
. ...
·.0.>
. - -
m
a
!
,, _
,
v
.
:
·
-, ..... ,. ; r .
_ '"
... .·
.·
.-
.-·
2. Conduct an intensive educational, motivation·a1 and communication campajgn to lift the taboo o n free
and open.discussi'o ofcHtfei-ent asp'e"cts:9rFcl"i!iTlfPh1nrtin ·· rogram-'(FPP}; ..
Later the government too_ recourse to i t if1:1 . oo'und1' "·.-ancf ''ta-rget' -dri n &a· .a tiVities and w'1He _-.
1
f?Iffl-Pli:ltin :.theJpu' r J -h . fiv. ·¥:e.anf! ecifically laid <l'own-the 'orifet e-:oJ,F-ectudng the crtide)blrth rate_:
f r o m 39 'p er· l,00.0.. :p_qp_µl,atipn·.. fo ; p-.wiUlin ,n·ext.10 .to 12 years>:;fhe Planning Commission did not
however realize the natu f eff ·rts and't:h'e change ·in social ·outio.ok that w e r e necessary to achieve the
above mentioned objective, besides increasing Plan outlay.
Beginning in 1965, for several years the program emphasized the intrauterine
contraceptive method. Although IUD had gained wide acceptance iil e y:e r
not_meet with expe_ct d_s cce,s,s in India and was :;. ;; la i··! a• = ==
choice of'methodto;the coupl_e. ,· .. .
. ,. •
. .. . . , ... -=· ·'·.· !:;
National,Population Policy Sta enients: It was after trying various concepts a n d measures as suggested
b y foreign experts from t i m e t o time over a period _of almost 25 years, the Govetmpent o f India
recognized in 197_5-76 that t o promote·: fahlily planning qt-a faster pace, it w o u l d h a v e t o i n v o l v e more f
directly other development de artm .!lt JitJh_(p '§gram, besiaes·the depart f ! I e·n t ·of Fam!!y]l;rtn! Jk lJ,.Qif
at:tlie-Cent r-andTu the· states. · Acompreliensfve ·f.faf fo nal Populatfon Po icy (Nl>P) was ·drawn ·up nd
"'
presented-to···Papifament b y tlie'i-lealth Minister o n April 16, 1976. Besides emphasizing the t m t i a l rol cl:
fertj_lity_·c9ntrQi' in India's m o v e m e n t towards economic indepe:ndence atid social lransformqtion, the:
Policy state3 mtiie -Government h a s decided o n a series o f fundamental measures.u ·which, it is hoped will ...
enable u s to a_chieve the planned target ofredu_cing the birth rate from an estimated 35 pet 1;-000irt·the ·
beginning o f t h e Fifth Plan· t o 2 S p e r l O O O b y t h e e n d o f theSixth''; These measures included setting _
.
aside ej_Kht percenJ QLthe..._c:e.n_tral'. ssistance ! -- ote·_ plans s tfi. !hUorJ.ainily.4>la.nning,. freezing
representation in Central a n d State legislatures o n the"'fias'is"of"i:he 1971 Census population for the·'.frext_
25 years, raising the age a t ·marriage to 18 years f o r girls and 21 for boys, providing increased monetary·
incentive to sterilization acceptors a s compensation for loss o f wages, and giving high priority to girl's
education up to the middle level a n d to child nutrition. -
,•
., .
•.• • - _
•:· · , . . :•
r, ,•
",•,
,:•
- -
:,"
-,:
v..
-.,
•. .•
.:•
_
.
,-..
.,.,
,•:
.-_
;
_
c;
_
·
-
.,
..
- . · · - · ... -- - - - -
·" t • •
.,,..-,
.
c ,.."
_;:
.'·
;
.S.
_r"
..
-'.;
-.
.
.'l
"
C>•. . ' f , . :
O : ' - ' l ' "_, ...
• •
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; _ . 1' ·
65
T h e policy w a s presented to the Parliament but it could not become an Act. A s this w a s the period o f
"Emergency" in the country, i-nplementation o f this policy was taken up b y _ah1 0._s ?H.Jh.e __ - ?.! .)
earnest. Leaders o f public opin10I1c-,ime-·forwardto-help-th·e-government-to p-romotB the family planning
movement. Development d·epartrnt:! s o f t e "governments. st _rted sharing responsibiiitfes with the
a
health a n a family w e l f re infrastructure a t a1(1eve'fsin- a ·mo-re effective manner. T h e i m p ·ementatfon.oJ ·
the polfry basically focu £ed- on--ihe ste iliz tion program and'involved a certain degree o(compulsi; --
coerd§ - "The· country·
f "'
n o t preparecr o r sllth h af sfiiie ss arid; as a res·ult;'"fner'ewas
a--chaiige-·in was·
'1YoliticaJpower a t the Center in March 1 9 7 7 and subsequently, in many states in July 1 9 _ ? L ,
· .••
,.-•• -:,.,,-,;,,,. _..-•.• --:.·,···:.:· ..... ·r·-:- - -·:·.,.·. _._._.,. •. ,. ............. ...• . .
- ·..... - - . - · · •....:..__ ..... ·-'•-.-.. .•_._ .,._.,_ . ·-,i---.._-....... ,. , • .-:-....... , ••..,.. :•·-.-,--.-..--. ,...... ,._.... ,--.•-,,- ---- ... -:--.,.." ...._ , , , .• -.,--:-. . ,-. ., .... -..- .,.,..._._ ... _, ....
A more· comprehensive population statement made b y the government in June 1977 treated family
planni g as an integral part o f the total welfare program but emphasizeq t at family_pJ.e_n,!l!_!!g_ doQtio_n _______
would'b voluntq,CY,: -..
-· ·..,_-,,....c:,...,----
Nevertheless, because o f severe criticism o f the FPP's coercive tactics during 1 76, the whole program
"'
fell into disrepute and acceptance rate declined sna rply: Tile gov e r"nn l e n t nas s irice· then tried to revitalize
' < t h e program through strengtheningand expanding services through massive. countrywide informadon -
nr0Hvati0n-,--and---educational ·camp-a1gn, in oi-veient o t h e / <levefopmenrde arfrnents
-- - ·
and farg'e,·scaie: or
r,i : cT ;_·a ?: t_t - e\Te!::on 'ii?!!i\ j9 gfJ11.i t.P.i i 1 il,II1 11_katip i :·:: · ·· · - ·
1.. T h e average. size o f the family w o u l d b e reduced from 4.3 child_ren to 2.3 children;
2 . . T h e birth rate per 1,000 po_pulation would be reduced from the level of.33 in 1978 to 21;
3. T h e death rate per 1,000 population would be reduced from about 14 in 1978 to nine and t h e infant
mortality from 129 to 60 o r less;
4. ·. A s against 22 percent o f eligible couples protected with family planning in 1979-80, 60 pe cent w uld ·
. be protected;
5. T h e population o f India w o u l d b e around 900 million b y the turn o f the century a n d will stabilize a t
1,200 million b y t h e year 2050 A D .
".' - . . . J- .
A s is c}ear fr.om the.1991 Census a n d othe't? related demographic al\9Jamily planning data, the above
stated:;gpals are n o t attainable. u n d e r t h e present scenario except prob bly a E_rude qE: th ryrt lp;f _nin
a n d ari fofant mortality-rate b e l o w 60. T h e birth rate l].as changed only b y three points f r o m 33'..3 in 1 9 7 8
fo 30.2 mi99o -----, "·----·---··"-·--- -- .----· - : ·
W h r e s . the Working Group o n Population Policy made specific calculations and w o r k e d out family
plann(&gtargets in terms o f equivalent sterilization for each state. it is fairly cl ar that m a n y of.the states,
partic,µ'l_arly t h e Hindi speaking states, could not get out o f the 1975-7 6 a n d 1 9 7 6- 7 7 E'meq ency_ _r_c:1_ w -
a n d _c'cirf rmaf(e··nnre pfogress;_)n ·effort to iinpfornent 5-teriHzation targets, t h e Central Government -an
iiiicf "i) Jiartme: ror rimffy\Velfare-1zj-stiiiited 'i1efty prizes t o b e given f
o
performinfsfat:es
_6ri
the nest
b a s i s o f target achievement ·:and c o u p l e protection rates.
·
- - ·- · · ·· ------------ · --------- T}:lis whole ·scheme tesultect· HLffiE.& 8'.:QL
pedor-mari e_/afa -: _ - · · · · · -
. . .
. . .
F r o m th-e viewpoint_ofpolicy, t h e adoption o f the ']. tional Hea.lth . sx·· . J}_!_ Y-Ji2!l1 __ggs_es ..of---
P._ _rHament w a s a signi cant step. Health _care programs Were restructured a n d reor.i :f.1: e4 Jc:>ward this
p icy: - r,i_o_r.ity 1J"vas'giveli tq extension a n d expanslon o f the rural health infr tr ture th.r gh·a network
66
..
·.:t
o f Community Health Centers, PH C s a n d,. sub c .nters, on a liberalized population norm. Efforts were made
'.;t.f . . ,
to develop promotion and preventive servkes, along with curative facilities. High priority was given to
the developmedt o f primary health care loc"ated as· 'fo. 'the· people-·as poss.ible. A review o f the ddse
t'!_, Jio.nal Heal-th Policy state ent hardly brings out anything . w h i c h can b e considered as "approved"
Family Planning Program.
The review o f the past SO years o r s o o f policy making in this domain indicates that whert?.c:! . the
government has been saying t h a t continuing high population growth is one o f the m o s t serious problems
ofthe:counfry, tlie country has n o t b e e n able to evolve a meari.ingful popiilc!t(on po.Hey a n d implement it.
TJltJ§La..s.Qf tqd y,J11dic:l ? e s not h a y a..!1 i:l2P 2.Y. !:! .P<?.P. J.i! ion..J!Q.l!fY .<h. Whenever the concerned minister
made a statement, either in Parliament o.. r outside or by other important public personalities regarding
one o r m o r e issues related with continued high population growth, it did not proceed further. There i .a.n
urgent need . for a national consensus o n population policy followed b y a multi-pronged drive to spread
----------:. of
ine rriessage pc,pulatron·co·rifrollo air ecdons off -sociefic--·--· ··- ····· · ·
------- ·- -·
It w a s o n l y in 1. 94 th.,a!. - mJnathgJl ..E P E Eroup prepared the first true dr,aft population pq}\cy
This is based o n the following aspects:. ., · --· __,_ ··
_,..
- Motivate target groups through m e d i a . /
- LiH. ral supply o f contraceptives. .,.-·
- Provide financial and other incentives.
- P _co.uples...thrQ.YgJt5-tE:!riliza_tion,
..... ,.-·-······•-···-······
and .other
··--
measures like IUD's,-· pills and condqms
.,.
->
-.•.-•
. . ·--.-- .. --
.;.-J •. ,• ,_.__.,.,.r·-. ...- ,
- rovide adeq te)1e lth services a n d nutrition to 2 h rAnd .child

...........
: ...... ,., ...... _........ , - ·· . . . . ,. ---- ... , , .......... -- ·- ..•. , ................. ,,,
o.efects in the Conceptual Foundation

1. The population o r the family planning progra o f India is governed b y the concept o f
,poHcy
retatdiJ,i Jioqul ti9Q,,gro\1/th):This is expected to eventually bring pbO t ameliorntion ? J OY !t).',
1.!!14 r.-11iJfa:itii1i1 ansLJlliteracy. T h e prirnanto5Jecfiveislo'controrp·o·puiaH6.ri 'growth and limit
the family size. Improvements in health, nutrition and educatio'ii . arifexp.'e ctedtoemerge 'a·s. spin-
off benefits. r t { ; defect o f this approach is that it never looked· a t famHy planning as f a m i ! L
.-s>Jl!!!Qrovement irt.the._9!-lality o f Ii( . !!:! !£:"?::2£12.: oqg,mif ,q!\(;L,{1,emo,gti;iplliu,u tQr ---·····
fueling popul g.Q.U_gm.w:tlLw,e.r . 9Att - e.g "·
- S.:-"' _ _ _ _,. .
2. 1._he family planning program w a s viewed in isolation o f t e . developmental

. . . prc>gram ; ,e p- _ft lly
· in,_th - social sector viz., educatfori'allffTieaTffi .. .
3. T h e t w o most iinJ? I. _e_!}j:_£ -:i;E: o e !.t -P ?. le to have ! families: !· a,!.!.h .iuf ntJn.?,tt IJ.ty
r?te a n d poverty:d __I) t r:e.ce ve adequate focus. T!ie grngram's impact could h a v e b_E: n 91.ffe,r J:!.t..
i f the 'po11cy:rnakers w e n t into- the-causes-onhe high Tnfant mort 1ffy rate ant-fp·o _ty_and ...thefr
ifnlctofaµTctjiopulaHori i gfowtht hicffcoura fiive'1ecft6'deeper,compreh-ensivep"rogr_ .!?S·. I!!f nt
mortalftjr-r t'te-(ltvHl) l i liidla is. a 1unction orttr.e reracy Ievet especially--fei!J:_ar ·Tfteracy level, •
sociafstafiis oTwomen ··safe f
·drinkfng .water,.sarifratfon···arlrl'-ffiiUtJmmuri.izati.on.sei:y1 -
population-·-olf-1ailec t o -ta-dcle-t fies e-Ii'rob le s- tha t; hav e m a d e a ·PJ;, fo,!!Il9 .. ! ,P. S ".
IMR e ,fue]s·. . . rbe use o f .unce inty; r, ega rdi'n f{ :"· ·,,.ld,.',
Sli""'iyiva
.
:. q.""""'v e e y- compe
'···.·:·: .. •.'I'", 'f ······-·"
,, t),E:<rura
•. 1-l' "•' - =·, L1
?
.,,; ,,..,-• • .f... . morfchH4reµ;,tia:t1_
.·.::· •
.. ·.: . . . · ' · ·;··· :·- · ·
... s : s.
. .·· · ;...; , : ··
f·
inthmoreJarm·hand an(l .also cfre: . . ·. ·. . in,come. In addition poverty
r ,. . ·
' has a direct bearingpn

. . ',,
-·-·
' mater f ! Lh eajth,'m at rna l an'd'chiltl nutrition a·n,f hence o n I M R
.-- . . . . ··-····· -. • - . , ·····- ·-. . .. ,. - . -- _.:._ .,
4. Given the generally l o w levels o f rural and female literacy, poverty in rural· areas, poor socio-
economic status o f w o m e n a n d an environment without access to safe drinking water, poor or
non-existent sanitation in- rural areas and inadequate outreach o f health services, especially f o r
providiqg immunization services, t h e family planning program o f India driven b y the·
67
bureaucracy and based only on meeting physical targets for contraception or sterilization w a s
doomed to fail, since the bure,rncracy driven, target-obsessed ando isolationist program failed to
address itself to the wiJ;; ontexfo'affaEt:ofs -Y.'- frh "p!aya . p r o f un cf ro le in poph;aiiori growth.
Fo"r _example,_Ke _fji·:· b.i - f?s< tJ yfog_'.l f9:_p()Q .! fion_g owth _has th _Iqyv.e tJ .f pt
ortalify rate o f 1-7/100:0 ,while the p !i9» t Y. .r geJt:91/.lq_oo. The female literacy in Kerala is
87%:-:-o.ueto these tactors, tlie·s aJeii { Jg. rt rtfhcy:· )t - o r t z t o n the· other hand, states like
U.P. and Rajasthan with l o w level of.fertj_aie· literacy and high infantmortality rates have high
... fertility rates. For e.g.,.theWertiii,ty,r rb:�d111·c(Rajastlhi�-:"a're·S�l �-n�n1�t ft e' sp.ectiv�lY: Female
·- : literacy, their socialstatus -rid pov rty$ en:i}oJ1ave a direct bearing o n IMR. For e.g., t,he I M R ( o r
-r
- literate mothers was 75/1000 while "for:iiliter;ite mothers itwas 128/1000 in 1978. Though the
_, data is old, it serves to demonstrate the link between female literacy, a n d IMR. [ ..!l !-- q ?._ted
- \Y._9men are more conscious o f the· quality o f life_ fqr themselves o
and their offspring than theTr
nfiterate.counterparts, educatfon f o r w o m e n makes-fteasier f 1:iridersfarid contraception, better
-·better_- e ! h.J2r
.
ch!@ -: -a _!El{'TfIT[@.y n.( Jri.:_iliikrri:aI"_ h?".'·! !.} r _ivMa 9 ___fa.:!11iIY
members.
- ....,.,.,--: . . ...
5 T h e family plannirtg program in Ind ia not only lackeq _dear appreciation o f the variables
:.,r' discussed above but also suffered from another fundamental defect in its approach. Being a
cen t ra liz ed bureaucratrt -program, it failed to address the socio-cultural factors_ involved in
1
_
decisions regarding family size and hence in population growth. In a society with traditions o f
female seclusion, decisions o n f mily size and spacing being taken b y family members (especially.
in-laws; often preva.iling e.ven over the -husbands), the universal desire for the male child a n d
finaHy notions that conceptions re divinely ordained, the famHy planning program called fo a
rnore-imagiffative:"·flexm1€t'·a d<r"clecentralizec l
'ap I'oath·· taking info - account -t:he sodo-cultural
se'nslbilitie�:o,lt e-
0
e·og-ie.
this.wa"s fiiridameiit:ally""absent. instead o f being driven b y t h e center,
a ·m re _·Je:c·entrajtze<i flexil>_lg approach where .formulation o f health policies by directly
addressing the needs o f w o m e n and through women's participation, so crucial tcf·the success o f
if -hQ!!faff e][i !!. t.h.i)iii :- :- · --·
6. Finally, the family planning program in India did not get the adequate thrust from th --
govemment. The belief that _development _ is the best cou!rac ptive m a d e _g_yr..,...plq,nners..,.
complacent "Deveiopment is the best -contra.ceptive" i ; p l i e s de-mographic shifts that-farge___
wouta nave -to b e prececrecrEy substantialprogresnn·aevetopnient
r H cif and llence·th H-. econ·oinfes
renmw·aediiies·can oniy"fo1rnw b u t prece'de 'the'ec6b-bmrc· utility and s6'da1 no a"deciie-fo
secuficy\,alue o f children. T h e demographic miracres·rii-·Hanglade·s1t;··-ieeuya; =--1ferala ·an d ··"T am il
Nad'tf'expose·tne ·madeqTiades o f this notion. Bangladesh and Kenya have experienced steep
·ctrop_s·in fertility without a n y signi fi ant improvement in material conditions o f their societies. So
· ::-,is the case with Tamil N a d u and Kerala in India. Indonesia and China have also demonstrated
t hat high material.living standards are not a pre-cond_ition for a fall in the birth rate. ;
.;i;.; - -
,_. . . . - -
In add1,tion to these inadequacies in its conceptual foundations, tHe family planning program of.India also
could_t:hot make a s rious impact due to several inadequacies o f the program. These ate briefly
.
summarized below: . .
Defects in the Program

. . .
-
1. l ,deq ades in Coupfo _Prote<:tion: The S yeJltlfpJan·· target ·of couple ·prqtectioff.r<;1tig (qP ))?_f"
.4:i1o/o,½'asnea:rlya taj11ed.{At:pn :el\t}he.:CtR:.is 4'89i ·w.liile)rts{jffie_stifre's 1t is·as)ijg -as··69% · whicl1-
W.1')' the' target o°f the· 8th plan in. iis'.termiiiai year. Butln ·spite o" a'c hiev in g a good CPR, the birth rate
i
cc{ptinues t o b e high due to several reasons. T h e proportion T

o f women in the reproductive age grou_p
hJlS been increasi g. T h e__ reerns!IKt e...fuaq1<1lJ i:.o w o m e n :ha; ::·finp.r.9y - .9!!!.?S_! q_1Jtm1:al
t
,,?.:.: !:!! BJ!lJL :d e Jl §.J E!tJ.t S i - 2. - - ? v j?_·_-_' ! ' _id ow remarrj;!ggJ:t.9lL.th ---
!,: C. : a }
mcrease. In addition, there are -certain problems within t he CPR--nself. Around 75%> o f h ,..c .o .uJJ.1 s . 7
protected are above 30 years with 4 or more children. - In fact, ffi¢·tr·R for the rriostf¢fl Jfage group:
, , , . _ . , _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ •• •....a.; . ',
. - .
, . . _ ·4 ... - .... • •
68
Anthropology Paper 02 -Volume 03
i.e., 15-29 is only around 16%. A s a;oepnse,quence o f all these, the family planning program has been
only able o arres t t he bir t h rate since 1980 bu t no t reduce _it . .,.
2. Deplorable conditions at Primary Health Care Centers and Family Welfare Camps: J e f ilitie:5_
at family welfare camps and prin1a_ry h lth _car. centers are depJqr<!\Jl . mmi.c.ul ..rtJ. with resp _ t t o
s t ed liza t ion .. The equipment is Un-s t erilized and. u·nhygienic, ac t ing as. a deterren t to acc'ep t ors. ..
There is inadequa te cold ·stotage f o r vaccines and foadequa t e supply f vaccines -gains t tetanu·s and
oiher·fo-fras"i ruciurai·p-robie"iris·Hkefrai1s·portfrig·vacdnes·an _o"fher-arugtlo··rar -flung-vii) ge ; "'ffie :•_
Auxiliary Nurses andMidwives on whomth,e¥o·t erand Child Health (MCH) prdgiam depends; are.
poorly trained, poorly paid and hence are:rtotrrit>tiva:ted; :-·
3. Female mas: Till very recen t ly, t he focus of t he family planning program was exclusively O_JJ t e
f male (s t e.rilization,. IUD,. Oral pills)while condoms and vasec t omy make up a small propor t ion of
t he pro.grarr:i.Jn fac t , s t erilizatio n is the mains t ay of the prggr.c.UTI.', St_ riliza t io n makes up.75%-·ofofrth
·con t rol ethods adop t ed b y women using .rriode.rn ·meth ds. Neariy. 85°; ·-of. t he. .contr ceptives -used :
.
are for women.
4. Nume'fical Target Approa_ch: Thef 'rii.ily planning program's obsession with numbers led t o fer t ility
con t rol being accorded t he top priority. Be t ter and broader reproductive heal t h services, for women
,,<-in ,particular, empowered community organiza t ions a t the village level a n d lack of emphasis,:on
female li t eracy have-already been pointed out as major concep t ual weaknesses.
Due to t he cumula t ive effec t o f faulty contep t tial. founda t ions arid inadequacies. i n the family welfare
programs, t he impac t o f popula t ion con t rol has been dismal. T six mos t populous s t ates viz., U.P., Bihar,
WJ - pgal,,.M°.e .. ,.M_ Mr:. s.h, I - ,rut A. P.with...6.0.%.9fJP:QLa P P!ll<!tjonllgy J?.. !},sgJf r gg:!t.!" =g J. s.-:; g :.
1
i ,,2. .h I I ! - i -J hese s t ates have not responded t o farniiy pla_nning and d!:!velopment measures. Lack of
- Q.Q. , r- !_ 9m !'1-.!:! P- allyj _y.P .' J_ ih_ar, lc:1ck <?.fla,9y qct.<:>_r t o ) n s ert J U I? 's ares.om s rigtis, ...
problems in the e s tates. . . . ·
The regional impac t o f family planning prograrri can be seen in t he impact o f C P R hd Total Fer· t il ity Ra t e.· ·
Based on these t w o, t he following zones can be delineated in India.
Zone-I: 117 dis t ricts acco nting for. 27% o f India's population in U.P., Rajas t han: Madhya Pradesh have a
low impac t o f family planriing program with high levels offertility.
1
· Zone-II: 67 dis t ric t s accoun t ing for 16% of lndic1 s_ population "in Gujara t and Maharash t ra have· virtually
no impac t o f the family" planning program and hence high levels o f fer t ilit y.
. . .
. . .
.
Zoile-111: 110 dis t ric ts accounting for 3 7_% o f lriclia's popula t ion in" the sou t her n sta t es oflndia and Orissa,
Maharashtra haveresponded t o family planning program in t erms of drop in fertility.
Zone-IV: 56 districts with 19% o f Inq._1 l ·tPOP1:dation in Bihar and U.P. have very low in:lpact f family
planning program wi t h high levels o f fertility.. . •· .. , . . .
-
In the realm o f family planning, the program with its ·tremendous success in Banglade;h has a lot_:o"r -
relevance for Jndia because o f similarities in the socio-economic and ·derriographic profiles:
·
!!Ll-..
, 'gl -ci sh, fertiliij{ J:hJiy.- 30: 0(o :b :n. F-§3 90 \fue to. a series o f factors like massive cons"isterit ·
support b y the government, a verygood service delivery sys t em i.e., a good supply side backed by a mix_c>f
mass communications strategies, delivery o f fema:le family. planning-services- t o homes and clinicaJ·ba k- ·
up. Bangladesh is c:l world leader in non,-forrnal e g * a t i o n witll 2.P,OO hiY Ili:ng schools for·children who
can .a t te nd afterJinishing their f a r m wo'rk Bangladesh hired nearly. 24,000 female workers, trained a9di
equipped them to deliver services to couples at homes. A s a ·result, Bangladesh is t h e only country a m o r g
the 20 poorest countries o f the world that could bring about this .demographic success.
69
The Prospective Strategy

Taking note of the demographic situation in the country as it emerged from the 19 ° 1 census, the
Department of Family Welfare at the Center formulated an "Action Plan" to impart requisite momentum
to the Family
.. _
Welfare· -·Prngr..amtEWP). The main features of this Action Plan are:
.... ·---· ·- ·--,.·----·--
1. ' ovin& th. 'l - itr _and. utre ch o f farnilx w Jf services in the field.
2. A I), W package of compensation/incentive funds to be targeted to reduction in the actual birth r te,
givipg
mo re flex'ibffifyto state govermnent/UTs Administration i n managing the program,. than rather
bei g based only on the figifres of steriiization, etc., furnishe·d by them.
3. Initiating
..
innovative programs
..... -·--·
in the ur1:> n.slums. for' propagating
.····- .,·-·- . .-·:· ·.: .
: .
family welfare
. .
activities !
4. Launching the 1/ h Hq· Sur:v'iy,aT* 4 _fo?Mot:tierhoo'<i Project'', aJming - 2J£!Y.. . t_!: - ncl<? S boo t to the
UniversaL tm mi!rt!Z£1..! .9- L P.E §lm_i nd contr.oLof lsg s:es. -Y:sJi:ig,g - h.s. ()f inf r.i.ts and children, to
· initiate· ·practices
·. ,
for safe motherhood
-t······--·--.-...--·---.
=
for reducjng maternal
. . -.... ,--7·,···--------······•t, "
-
·-
· ....... -
mortality.
, ..,·- ··- ·.,.
< , •
5 • . Adop ing a differential,_s.t.rat gy.J9r_focu ing_atterttion.on9.0Jlistric.ts_of,.the,,.co.untry,.wherethe· <:rude

.,bh:'-th'.,rate was-above.j9°t>er 1,000 as·of the 1981 Census estimate.
.....
-... ··': ;.,;7"t"" -. _._. . . . ·-· · . . . ···-:· ... '
6. Improving the quality o f existi_!lg contrac ptiV E !l -- ! !! !1 o f nevV_ .?.- !! - .etives •. .,
7. : !mproving the disttihufion O(. .Q_I.! @.CeQ!_iVeS thrnugh expanS_lQJ!.Q!..!h .- .fQ.P., f th':._ C, - cl tin __.
scheme.
8. Increased involvement o f voluntary ncies and non-governmental organjzatiQns,Jn the FWP
througff procedqraCs1mpfificatfonari"ct-rlefegatfo-n"aTpower it - a·if<iw.19--making _the ..pr_9gpn}_ -·-· ........-.. · ·-- -- - -..,............--·------------
J?. ?.P.fe·s-rrio ement · ··· ·
9. l.,..J!Er , E_i_!!,f !:rnf.!!!9J!d <J .µ(;c;1,UQ.tt.,u:u:!J::-grn.rmrnit.atioJ1.J.f!E!.': -- ng clf!,sen, r;alization ·of· co_r_i:imunication
·
·S!F t gj J.o. take.fa.tQ.,acco.untth JQc::aJ .s.o,cio::- ultur.aLe.tho.s.
10._.St engthening .the inter-sectoral coordination mec !!_ .!A . YLS. .!!l,!!lL J> a high level b qy_,!Q.r. . h!? .
, purpose at the Center _and involvement o f chief ministers, chief secretaries, and district collectors in·
tfieimplemenfafic>n ot ttje·RQRJ-1l;lffl<iii}on.tr..0Ciiro.g'rams ::: ··" ····
SOME SµGGESTIONS.
1. · · Community participation at the periphe a] level must be strengthened. For this, innovative ideas and
successful past experiences must be considered.
2. : ·. For:,: community participation, teachers o f all educational institutions must be ,given the
responsibility for adopting one villag 'e;adi in and a'roun¢,,. efiucational
. institutions and facilities;
.,
ihCentives an finances ·inust be provided to them.
3. E 9' t_4_!_£al college and· Nu tQ. Co!}ege ffi!! t Q. J iVe_f!_ e,, __,;;;.:i,5-,vu.:i,.u.J>UH. top omote_this progrc1m
_
in .§. [email protected] phical.ar.earl-ike-a---GD-el0Gk-oi:,.even-a.district, .
4. Since there has be n an inordinate delay in taking decisions regarding financial, policy and program
m agement, a u autonomous ·population Comm_ n ofln<! c!.. ho !q_ -t: tablished as a part o f the
• ealth ari .f: !IJ Plan .:__ !l},!E. !Y.:d §!i'? ! : p '. ·ie e .ta: rnahagement-experfiind have a""S'lts·--
rri bers -inte'rdisciplinary
., .... -, .
•" _
_ _
exp·erts.
,,, .......... -.----, ... ,
_,,_., ._, _, -
.•••'.•-••••
,L -•. ••• •• <'
5. ·-.:Indigenous as well as· private medical. practitioners ...!1st be suitably iny_QLY Q in- the promotio .
this program. ,· -· ·· '
_.,.,_...--_,,-.:..-
..
. -----··-,-·- ..
70
------- ..
6. T t ass media should be made I

to ,provide some space/time on a daily basis to disseminate
messages ,on various aspects o f F > in a· culturally effective manner without publicizing the adverse
aspects.
7. Since better infrastructural facilities have the best advantage for the promotion of FP, as seen in
· Kerala, it would not be wise to ignore this item in the .present policy. In fact, a PATH analysis of
major determinants of performance of FP has confirmed this predominant position.
8. Better status of women facilitates early adoption of small family norm. This hypothesis has been
empirically confirmed in several developing countries. Therefore, special non-formal and formal
education to emancipate women should be given highest priority .
. Role of Anthropology
At a conference on Population Studies in Oshkosh, USA in 1973, an international group o f anthropologists
adopted a resolution regarding a position paper spelling out the specific ways in which anthropology can
be helpful to the fertility reduction plans be prepared for presenting to the United Nations sponsored
population conference convened at Bucharest 1 Romania in August 1974 to mark the World Population
Year. The £_eliefs and cus_to111,s concerning. hufrianrerfroduction .have long beeri su l ts ofanrI-ixogo}og!ral
researches, but these remained basically acactemk pursuits. It is only now that anthropologists are also
ad ocating· the problem solving ca:pacity of theitdemographic research firidi,ng .
. . . . . . . - .
' .
The scientific research in fertility cohtrolhas·undoubtedly made notable headway in past several years.
Methods alr6ady developed, experimented, n comme·ndecl and currently in actm l use are almost
foolproof. However, as the experience has shown, the availability o f these facilities has not automatically
been followed by their acceptance globally. In fact, some programs recommending these methods are
reported to have met resistarice.._from the·very people for Whose benefit these were specially· devised.
1
· J
Several international organizations have expressed concern about excessive population growth and are
engaged in establishing family- planning- services o n -an extended sca_le, the Qeople everxwhere t must
respond to those programs. This, 'fiowever,woullnot app M;b;tlnive" 7 fiy v'iTic ss p-ti;-n -As
Burton B nedict has noted: "If there is 001:! thing Which experience with family planning has shown ..., it is
that pg9e!_e re..2!9.! ipotiv ,ted ,.tqJJm .JhE;,irJal!liJJ. J P,.QJ1..lUi! Q,Jl .t ? _or even by the ease and
availability o f contraceptives, but by. a wl!_2 L ..ots.<iciaLfac.tocs.Jmp).!igj,J\g .9n ·th_1:_ir __pe_r, nal 1iV' ,4Jl,C;k
changing over their life cycles".
.
Social Factors and Fertility: What these social. factors are that largely determine the family· size in ·
different cultures? Development workers engaged in the-planning-and administration o f family planning
programs need· to understand and better their work in its socio-cultural context..
The available information on social aspects of. population growth or decl.ine in traditional ode ties is till .
veryJragmentary. Anthropologists havemot1devoted·muc\). attention to this subj.ect. Some data that _th y
have gathered shows that the social factors. related to fertility work both ways: to l as well as to
. promote fertll!!Y, But it is factors promoting fertility that, on the whole, are more operatife than factors
favoring fertility limitation.
. . .
The corporate kin groups, unilineal kin groups in particular, generate strong motives for high fertility. In
societies where there is strong emphasis on the male line of descent, barrenness in women or·evert.the ._
failure to pr:oduce a son may lead to the repudiatimt-of a wife The_ pressures o n women to proctuce
children do not cease after one·ottwo children, andthisis due to the high socialvalueof childrenand·the
way the production o f childr.enJ pilt,_ itc:> t.
,p?l!t,ica.I, C.OJ!O ic aJ!d o if1! Z?.l':1] .9f.tp \ P ! tr- ·Q_ne
of the reasons for this is the hfgn fofant mortality rate in pri_initive and peasant societies. High infant
mortality is not·only" the fact in such' societie's, but ·also the expectation. Due to the spread of _medical
services in recent years, the facts have changed more quickly than the expectations.
71
In most simple societies, the lines o f kinship are the lines of political power, social prestige, and economic
aggrandizement. The more children a man has, the more successful. marriage alliances he can arrange,
increasing his own power and influence by linking himself to men to greater power or to men who will be
his supporters. The man with many children controls much wealth. In terms of economic production,
more children mean an increased food supply and perhaps the production of surpluses for trade. Most o f
the world's religions place great emphasis on the production of children. In many societies fertility cults,
often linking human fertility with that of natural products, abound. These and many similar practices and
beliefs place a high value on children. In primitive and peasant societies, a man with few children is the
man o f rhinor influence and the childless man is virtually a social non-entity.
People 'in India's villages still want more, not less, children. In this androcentric culture they are
particularly eager to have sons. In Se11aQUr, t:_l Jd_ ! l l:!9, - 1-.1. s.c h. ? fa: T? . -·e: ,?J?J .- - rrying _o er
questions _such as these ... "What will happen to my lineage if I have no sons? If I have no sons, who will
care for me in later Years? Daughters go off to other villages to live. I may be ill and feeble in old age. I
want the security of sons".
Sons a r k desired not only as some kind of fi.l ...IJ£e during protract d illness, they are also important
from aT:!igious viewpoint. The Hindu religion _requires that a f!}an's· SQJlJDti.st,perfor9: c. rt . &t!, at his
funeral so that he attains salvation Thus, son survivorship is so vital that the people do not feel satisfied
with ju lone son. They seek ·safety in numbers.
Wqm_en in village India seem t9 have.even more compelling rea ons for desiring children, particularly
so_ns. Reporting ori his study o f another UP vilfage which he calls Madhopur•• ,orri ,f>P.!:: says: "Women
are c r:i i! l)._e !_ e! "l;:, ::, a.fl .?ti lg._JJf 2LP.I on. Once marriage relations a e
initiated, the most ferventnopes o f ffie young woman· is that she proves her worth to. her husband s
family by producing a healthy male child. She knows very well that she will have little standing in her·
husband's home until she ·bears him a son. Nothing is more frightening to her than the specter of
barrenness. It is seldom that a young woman escapes emotional disturbance ·if she has not become
pregnant within five years o f marriage. On the other hand, we noted a number of cases of childless
women who had constantly complained of chronic ill health or persecution by malignant spirits, wh_o
miraculously recovered health, poise, and confidenc after giving birth to a son".
The birth of a son entitles a woman to respect and status and exempts her from much hard work. She and
her baby .are likely to be pampered for some time after parturition. Henceforth she is referred to through
the name of their child; she becomes "the mother o f so and so". The woman who bears no children
receives markedly different treatment and lives n a different atmosphere. Among the low castes, where·
divorc is permitted, barrenness usually terminates in divorce.
In a society where a ·woman's standing in social life. is entirely dependent on such considerations, it is
very unl,kely that the family planning programs would make much headway "until Indian w9man have
some_ ay nue o f ac ieving status and security equivalent to the c,011,s,icteration they· now receive frol_Il
'' ·
demons rating fecundity and ability to bear sons'_'. ·;
Pe.asant)\1otives for Large Families-: The people of India's villages generally tend to favor large families.
Status.religion, and such factors supporting the demand for.more children .are certainly very important.
But important are some practical reasons that strongly motivate the people in favor of having a
Indeed, many people see some clear advantages in their families becoming larger and larger.
1. '!!e,:1;::-: !:!•e!·.... o f life in agrariar \oci ties.. i _such that the problems of. underemployment and
ov ;P.opulation do not come to. the surface. as ,_forcefully as they manifest themselves on urban
metropolitan scene. Even in rural areas where mechanization is moving forward, the people still
prefer ·to ·think in .te_rm_s o f large families. In an Indian village, a rather prosperous farmer who had
p rchased three tractors, .installed pumping sets ori wells, and had ·adopted a host of other
technological innovations was heard bemoaning the fact that he had no brothers and cousins. In the
absence o f support from close family people, it was not possible for him to expand and modernize his
agricultural operations any further.
72
\
2. It is usual for large village families .tC?: e9d some of their members away to w o r k in cities. The people
working in cities do not take their wives with them; they remain tied to the village where they
periodically retifrn for no longer or shorter duration. These families also get regular remittances from
the city. This flow of cash income to-the village enables families to buy new agricultural equipment,
send their children to schools, and spend more money on marriages - things that give prestige. Small
families obviously cannot seize on opportunities that the city offers and the villagers understand this
very clearly. It is then easier for a large family to obtain loans locally. If certain amounts remain
outstanding against a man, his brothers, sons, and other relations can be asked to clear the account.
In village society the debt is regarded a family obligation.
3. As participants in the jajmani system - the network of hereditary work and exchange - larger families
are again in a happier position . . If one member of the barber family is prevented by illness to visit
certain jajmans on a particular day, his father, brother, or son can do the job on his behalf.- This is
essentially an inter-family relationship. A smaller family with just one person would obviously be
severely constrained in fulfil1ing its traditional obligations.
4. Another factor that contributes hnpoftantly to the desire for large families is the fact that the village
life is ridden with strife - the famillst'n; the factionalism, and the political rivalries. As Luschinsky has ·.
observed, "Political emergencies also disruptsvillage life from time to tirrie. Irtdividu_als. or factions
. sometimes express their ill will towards one another by crop cutting, crop burning, or threats of.one
kind or another. Disputes over land rights, loan,s, insubordination, etc., are not uncommon. ·No man
trusts his good nature alone to keep him out of troubles. He wants the security of friends who will
sand by him in times of need, and if he heads a large family with a number of sons, his wishe·s are
more likely to be considered on the village political scene".
5. The new land reform laws, which set limit to the size of the agricultural land that a family can own,
also have helped the large families. By "legally" partitioning the land among family members, ·they.
have in actual fact been able to retain all their land. On the other hand;. it· is the smaller families which
found to the fr dismay that after partitioning ·they were left with lands.in. eicess o f their entitlement.
. . - .
6. The extend_ed family system still prevalent in rural areas favors high fertility. In a nuclear family.
consisting· o f parents and their child/en, the responsibility to· support the family rests entirely on the
principal provider who usually is the father. ·This system encourages late marriages for the reason
that a man must settle in a job and have some assured source of income before taking on familial
responsibilities. Even after marriage the- desire fm; children is not so great b cause they are often
seen as an economic liability. . Such constraints in the case of extended family system do not op·erate.
To quote Davis, "In the exte-nded family, the ·burden of marriage and of children does not fall upon-the
parents, but upon the entire family group and is so diffused that the cost to any one person may be
,;,seen as relatively light. Further, the presence o f numerous relatives means > that , the wife.Js . not
·particularly burdened with the care of the young children. It is possible for. both man nd the woman
to marry at a very youthful age sirtce,ther.e is no requirement that they be economically self-sufficient
before launching a family". Another practical reason for not caring to ·limitthe number.of children in
the extended family system ·is that everybody .is jointly responsible for brining up' children, it is
sometiines disadvantageous to a couple to have fewer children. This may not necessarily relieve them
of responsibilities of caring for other children in the larger family. Those with fewer children o f their
own may be required to contribute to the maintenance of children of other parents.
Anthropologists·in Family Planning.Program: Steven Pol gar does not think that population specialists
l
are right in believing that people will invariably resist any family plamiing program and "that in orr t r to
come to terms with the population problem, one should counteract an ingrained desire of families.to have
a large number of children". Though generally not as important as the factors favoring high fertility, each
society has ·some ideas· o f what the desired family size should be. The villagers usually do not have: a
strongly held belief regarding how many children they actuallf want There is flexibility in their attit de
concerning this matter and certainly local knowledge and beliefs favorable to fortility control:can be used
in the family planning programs to great advantage. Burton B nedict, who was involved fo the· planning
73
and administration of family planning program in Mauritius, says that "the experience in Mauritius shows
that birth control depends on a great many more factors than the availability of easily used
contraceptives. There must be an understanding of the social structure of the community. If family
planning concerns intimate relations between men and women, it also concerns political and economic
relations within the whole community. Family planning succeeds or fails in so far as people see their own
individual life chances in terms o f more or fewer children. These estimates vary not only between groups
and individuals but can change for a given individqal over a course of his life. Governments can influence
these,attitudes and estimates, but not without a thorough understanding of the social milieu in which
they are embedded".
A stu.dy published by David G. Mendelbaum has shown how the government efforts to implement
effectfve family planning in India could considerably profit from knowledge of the socio-cultural factors
involved.
The number of anthropologists who have conducted demographic studies with policy implications is
rathe :.,csmall. Susan C. Scrimshaw's exposition of how socio-cultural factors impinge on the family
plari ing ·programs deserves to be especially noted. She considers, the family planning program as
consi 'ting of two parts: administration and content. Further she tlefines administration as "the way in
whit,;, qiily' plahnfog service·s are delivered", and coriten·t as ltwh_at is delivered". According to her, the
area where knowledge of culture should prove useful to administration of the family planning services
include: location of clinics, clinic hours,. clinic staff,. staff-patient interaction, communication, clinical
procedures, ambience; and type of clin_ic. And the discussion on cultural factors relevant to the content of
the family planning program is subsumed under the following heads: culture and side effects, m_ode of
use, cost, communication, knowledge of methods, practice of methods, and attitudes.
As experience with the operation of family planning programs shows, clinics located close to the people
right in their own village oJten fail to attract many visitors. People sometimes prefer to visit clinics in
cities where they think nobody would see them going. This feeling about being seen visiting a clinic
explains why family planning camps organized in villages with much fanfare do not always succeed. Such
camps seem to be catering to men only, women being most left out. An anthropologist can help locate
clinics in terms of their cultural cceptability. Mencher found in a Sou h Indian village that the clinic
hours just did no_tsuit the convenience of the.people for whom alone they were established. the staff
found timings convenient enough. fA]!!ifi2[fil[g! Lr ]iill,li:2K - :JoO:venient ... ,..,. .
,._,to the
clinics can be helpful. In many climes there are no women physicians, and t is deters women from
visiting the clinics. The anthropologist can also help in suggesting the setting for a clinic, which in a
particular culture, is likely to make the visitors feel most at ease.
What,t}le family planning program administrators have to offer the people must be presented to them in a
w a y culturally familiar to them. On the basis o f his study of a village in UP, India, John F. Marshal has
made certai_n rewmmendations on how the existing network of communications could be erhployed to
C
C1
.1 .l QUI
. •J
the family planning methods to the vdtkge peo'ple:' - - = - ,ac, · i
, " ' - - ' ' ' -. " -'"._.
"'" '•
M-•
'•
·
·
Then, cultures vary with respect to acceptance and the use of family planning methods. In !India, iUD
found greater acceptance among women o f some districts. Anthropological research on attitudes of the
people towards specific family planning programs, as Joan Mencher did in respect of a di trict in South
'India, ould provide useful insights to administrators.
'
'.+,
Anthr6pologists are not the only people who are particularly knowledgeable about the significance of
cultu ftl factors f or the administration of farhily planning programs. Other social scientists -
psychcHogists, sociologists and demographers - also frequently refer to these factors as of vital"
h.:nportance to the operation of a family planning program. What then is the important and specific .
contribution of' anthropologists? Something that they alone can provide? In Susan C. Scrimshaw's
words, the anthropologists' spe ial contribution consists of the following:
. .
"The methodology o f anthropology has some unique asp.ects. Anthropologists spend a rE:latively long
time in a culture and develop a rapport basep on frequent dose contact They are in a position to learn
74
more than an interviewer· in a syrvey;i nthropologists use a combination o f techniques such as

in s, conversations; Hfe histq_·ri ·s; \pattidpa!ion, and observation. The long term use o f such
techniques in a sing}e- nciety- m·akes
in depthI afysis possible".
Anthropology traditionally has included the study o f culture as a whole. While anthropologists working in
large complex societies have often had to specialize, their training encourages them to take the cultural
context into account. Cultural factors which may not appear important at first glance may turn out to
have an unexpected influence later. Many stereotypes about culture and family planning exist which
arrthropolo sts could hel_µ dispel.
The anthropological method is also helpful in conjunction with surveys. An anthropological study
combined with a survey can help to illuminate and validate survey findings. It can identify areas here
people consciously or unconsciously conceal truth. An anthropologist can also help with the design of
survey questions.
To conclude,· controllirig population growth is not a technical problem alone. The human side of
enterprise is alsq extremely important. ... Morris Opler cautioned that "any population control plan that
M e not take these cultµral real!ti jnt'9 C£.¥!1.U!!.lti4lly, and does not respond to whatever changes
occ r inth,em a s t i m e g o e $ o n is addfrigpsythological and cultural difficulti s to the ordip t:Y,,,.W.fh nical
·pr blems._tfrat.cbn(ro:n_Fa Y: 1 1rge.sca1e effdrt"';.th iop iafio "po!'icy··rra1friers' cf a;{\ 'rstrat<>r; vou1d
. .
be ifr1wise to·:disregard th1s··warriing. . . .·
···1.,t
75
•• .. I. -
Ranking of States and Union territories by population size: 1991 and 2001
Rankin Population Percent to Total Rankin

States/ UT*
2001 2001 Population 1991
2001 1991
1 ·Uttar Pradesh 166,052,859 16.17 15.60 1
2 Maharashtra 96,752,247 9.42 9.33 2
3 Bihar 82,878,796 8.07 7.62 5
4 West Bengal 80,221,171 7.81 8.04 3
5 Andhra Pradesh 75,727,541 7.37 7.86 4
6 Tamil Nadu 62,110,839 6.05 6.59 6
·7 Madhya Pradesh 60,385,118 5.88 5.74 7
8 ...
Rajasthan 56,473,122 s so 5.20 9
9 +. Karnataka. 52,733,958 5.14 5.31 8
10 '()'-.:,
_Gujarat 50;596,992 4.93 4.88 10
11 Orissa 36,706,920 3.57 3.74 11
12 Kerala 31,838,619 3.10 3.44 12
-13 Jharkhand 26;909,428 2.62 2.58 14
14 Assc).m 26,638,407 2.59 2.64 13
15 Punjab 24,ZB9,296 2.37 2.40 15
16 Haryana 21,082,989 2.05· 1.95 17
17 Chhatisgarh 20,795,956 2.03 2.08 16
18 Delhi* 13,782,976 1.34 1.11 18
19 Jammu & Kashmir 210,069,917 0.98 0.92, 19
20 Uttaranchal 8,479,562 0.83 0.84. 20
21 Himachal Pradesh 3 6;077;248 0.59 0.61 21
22 Tripura 3,191,168 0.31 0.33 22
23 Manipur 2,388,634 0.23 0.22 23
24 Meghalaya 2,306,069 0.22 0.21 24
25 Nagaland 1,988,636 0.19 0,14 2
26 ,.
,·.·
Goa 1:343 998 _qJ3 0.14 26
27 ArunachalPradesh 1,091,_117 0.11 0.10 27
28 Pondicherry * 973,829 0.09. 0.10 28
29 Chandigarh "' 900,914 0.09 0.08 30
30 Mizoram 891,058 0.09 0.08 29
' " • '
31
•;,
Sikkim 540,493 0.05 O;OS 31
,.:,\,.·,
32 ··'
'
Andaman & Nicobarlslands * 356,265 0.03 . 0.03 32

3'3 Dadra & Nagar Have Ii* 220,451 0.02 0.02 33
34 Daman& Diu * 158,059 0.02 0.01 34
35 Lakshadweep * 60,595 0.01 0.01 35
'
76-

Census of India 2001 (India, States & Union territories)
Population in the age group 0-6 years by sex and sex ratio (0-6)
State Persons Males Females Sex ratio

Code lndia/State/Ut (0-6) (0-6) (0-6) (0-6)
India@ 163,819,614 84,999,203 78,820,411 927
01 Jammu & Kashmir 1,485,803 765,394 720,409 941

02 Himachal Pradesh 793,137 418,426 374,711 896
03 Punjab 3,171,829 1,763,801 1,408,028 798
04 Chandigarh 115,613 62,664 52,949 845
05 Uttaranchal 1,360,032 712,949 647,083 908
06 Haryana 3,335,537 1,833,655 1,501,882 819

07 Delhi 2,0f6,'8'49. 1,079,618 937,231 868
08 Rajasthan 10,651,00 5! 579,6 6 5,071,386 909
09 Uttar P·i-adesh 31,624,628 16,509,033 15,115,595 916
10 Bihar 16,806,063 8;652,705 8,153,358 942
11 Sikkim 78J9.5 39,842 38,353 963

12 ArunachalPradesh 205,871 104,833 101,038 964
13 Nagaland 289,678 147,5'24 142,154 964
14 Manipur@ 308,585 157,.682 150,903 957
15 Mizoratn 143,134 73,176 70,558 964
16 Tripura 436,446 222,002 214,444 966

17 Meghalaya 467,979 237,215 230,764 973'·
18 Assam 4,498,075 2,289,116 2,208,959 9.65:.
19 West Bengal 11,414,222 5,824,180 5,590,042 960
20 Jharkhand 4,956,827 2,522,036 2,434;791 965
21 Orissa 5,358,810 2,744,552 2,614,258 953

22 Chhattisgarh 3,554,916 1,80, ,413 1,754,503 975
23 Madhya Pradesh 10,782,214 5,579,847 5,202,367 932
24 Gujarat 7,S32,404 4,0.00,1_48 3,532,256 883
25 Daman& Diu 20,578 10;685 9,893 926
26 Dadra & Nagar Haveli 40,199 20;308 19,891 979

27 · Maharashtra 13;fr11,Hg 7,l46;43<2 6,524,694 913
28 Andhra Pradesh 10,171,857 5,187,321 4,984,536 961
29 Karnataka 7,182,100 3,690,958 -3,491,142 946
30 Goa 145,968 75,338 70,630 938
31 Lakshadweep 9,091 4,641 4,450 959

32 Kerala 3,79.3,146 1,935,027 1,858,119 960
33 Tamil Nadu 7,235,160 3,r?5,616 3,509,544 942
34 [>ondicheny . . 117,159 59,565 . 57,594 967
35 Andaman & Nicobar 44,781 22,885 21,896 957
Islands
Source: Primary Census.Abstract: Census of India 2001 Note: - Excludes Mao-Maram, Paomafaand Purul
sub-divisions of Senapati distrkt of Manipur.
77

Census oflndia 2001 {India, State.r &: Union territories)
Total Population, Population of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and their proportions to
the total population
Population
Scheduled Scheduled Proportion Proportion
State Castes (SC) Tribes {ST) ofSC ofST
Code India/State/UT Total Population Population population population
Population
India@ 1,0 28,610,328 166,635,700 84,326,240 16.2 8.2
01 Jammu & Kashmir 10,143,700 770,155 1,105,979 7.6 10.9

02 Himachal Pradesh 6,077,900 1,502,170 244,587 24.7 4.0
03 Punjab 24,358,999 7,028,723 28.9 0.0
04 Chandigarh 900,635 157,597 17.5 0.0
05 Uttaran·chal .8,489,349 1,517,186 256,,129 17.9 3.0
06 Haryana ,, : 114,564 4,091,lfO 19.3 0.0

<07 Delhi . 13,aso,so7 . 2,343,255 · 16.9 0.0
08 Rajasthan s6:So7;raa·.•·. •, <J.;6<i4;462 ··. 7;097,706 17.2 12.6
09 Uttar Pradesh 166,1:.97,921 < 35;148,377 107,%3; 21.1 0.1
10 Bihar 82,9,98,509 13,048;608 758,351 15.7 0.9
11 Sikkim 540,851 27,165 111,405 5.0 20.6

12 ArunachalPradesh 1,097,968 6,188 705;158 0.6 64.2
13 Nagaland 1,990,036 1,774,026 0.0 89.1
14 Manipur@ 2,166,788 60,037 741,141 2.8 34.2
15 Mizoram 888,573 272 839,310 0.0 94.S
16 Tripura 3,199,203 555,724 993,426 . 17.4 31.1

17 Meghalaya 2,318,822 11,139 1,992,862 0.5 85.9
18 J\.ssim 26,6'55;52$' ·,1,s25;949 3,308,570 6.9 12.4
19 West Bengal 80,176,197 18,452,555 4,406,794 23.0 5.5
20 Jharkhand 26,945,829 3,189,320 7,087,068 11.8 26.3
21 Orissa 36,804,660 6,0'82,063 8,145,081 16.5 22.1

22 Chhattisgarh 20,833,803 2,418,72 6,616,596 11.6 31.8
23 Madhya Pradesh 60,348,023 9 155,177 12,233,474 15.2 20.3
24 Gujarat 50,671,017 3,592,715 7,481,160 7.1 )14.8
25 Daman & Diu 158,204 4,838 13,Q?? 3.1 8.8
26 Dadrc1 & N:agar HaveH 220,490 4,104 137,225 1.9 :62.2

27 Maharashtra· 96,f;l78,627 9,881,656 8,577,276 10.2 8.9
28 Andhra Pradesh 76,210,007 12,339,496 5,024,104 16.2 6.6
29 Karnataka 52,850,562 8,563,930 3,463,986 16.2 6.6
30 Goa 1,347,668 23,791 566 1.8 0.0
31 Laksh.ad:'}?eep .60,650: . 57,321 0.0 94.5

32 K,erala; 31,841,374 3,123,941 364,189 9.8 1.1
33 TamilNadu 62,405,679 11,857,504 651,321 19.0 1.0
34 Poridicperry 974,345 157,771 16.2. 0.0
35 Andaman & Nicobar 356,152 29,4 9 o.o. 8.3
Islands
Source: Primary Census Abstract: Census of India 20.01 Note: @ - Excludes Mao-Maram, Paomata and
Purul sub-divisions of Senapati district of Manipur
78
3.1 STRUCTURE AND NATUR'FOF TRADITIONAL INDIAN SOCIAL SYSTEM

From times immemorial, in the traditional Indian social system man has been considered a social being
with reference to four factors that influence his life and conduct. They are ...
1. DESA - The Place o r region that constitutes the regional approach to the study of society.
2.
- · .... '"'" __ ---·
KALA - T i m e , historical approach to the study of society.
.....,.,, .. ,.
3. SRAMA - .Effort, a.. study of the society that considers nurture and development in the
,__. .... ..,·
contemr?rary.environment
4. GUNA - Natural traits, which refers to the inherent psychobiological equipment of man .
-. .. ---·! ':'"' ., "• ··
....__,,.. "'
The Hindu thinkers have accurately recognized the significance and the importance of place and time i.e.,
the geography and history in the activities and behaviour of man. However, it is not possible to visualize
and anticipate all the probable variations o f the locale and time that the human beings are likely to be
confronted with during their lifetii;ne,ti=if\cl hence no generalizations have been attempted under such
conditions. Hence, through generali atfons based on Desa and Kala have not been attempted, the Dharma
o f Sratna and Guna have been discussed in detail by the authors of Hindu treatises.
Any plan r scheme o f the social organization, which aims at the best functioning of every hu.man being as
a social unit, must account for two aspects:
1. Consider man as a social being with reference to his training and developfi?.ent in the natural and
social environment, in oraer to enable-him'to fulfirthe"rinal aim of his-existe.nc·e·..
2. ·. Understand and study man with reference to his social endowments, dispositions and attitudes.
The first o f these 1s the problem undertaken in the scheme of the As ram as while the
• second is thought-out
in the scheme of the Varnas.
The two organizations o f Asramas and Varna refer to the problems o f nurture. and· nature o f man
respectively, and they rightly serve as cornerstones of the Hindu theory. o f ·soda!. ornen.i? !Lons: ..,..,,:Ihe
· · scheme of Asramas as devised by the traditionai Indian philosophers is · iqµe- p;tribution to history
o f so.cial thought in the world.
This. philosophical approach to the study o f so ial systems has tome under intense criticism from the
French Schoo.I of Social Science led by Emile Durkhiem and Levy-Bruhh These writers have advocated the
"Scientific" and. empirical approach to soci l sciences
· where the considerations o f ultimate and h.igh
·
vajues of.social life are excluded.
VARNA
Along with Asrama Dharma, which is formulated primarily with reference to the <rnnduct of'the.
individual's life in tfie ·worla, another coordinate system called the Varna Dharma is formulated by ·the
Hindu., with reference to the society in which he. lives. Tqese two Dhannas cqnc.ern the.mselves with the
management and organisation o f t}:Ie individual as well as the group or the society. These two together
are termed as Varnasrama Vyavastha - the organisation of Varna and Asrama. They are to be viewed;:;md
.practised . as .interrelated and inter-coordinated :parts. of a composite whole: The difference between the
tWo·lies; in.the manner o f approach and ,emphasis in.'the·orgartisation ofman's ·life and his activities in
regard to the two kinds o f Dharrnas. In the schemes o f Asramas the:problern is approached frori1the.p.(i)int
o f view of the training or nurture' ·of'the individual through spedfically provided environments at
different stages of his life; on the other hand, in the Varna organisation, the problem is considered from
the point o f view o f the larger group, qnd the individual's· position is defined in this group With reference
to his innate nature, his dispositions ·and tendencies.
79
Origin of Varna
As for th e o rig i n o f th e Varna sch e m e is c o nce rned, th e V e d ic lit e rature d ealt with it i n !>eve ral articles.
The ol d est is the hym n o f Purushasukta in Rig-ve d a. Acc o rd ing to this, th e Brahmana Varna repre se te d
th e mouth o f the Purusha - th e un i v e rsal man, th e Kshatriya, his arms, the Vyshya his thighs an d Sudra his
fe e t. Ther e is h o w e v e r a d ebate regar d ing th e ment i o n o f th e schem e earli e r than Purushasuktha. This
theory i s po pularly call e d th e Divine Theory.
Th e Purushasuktha· has be e n inte r pr e te d as havi n g an alleg o rical sig n ificance behi n d it. The mo uth o f th e
Pu r usha fro m wh i ch the Brahmanas ar e creat e d is the seat o f sp e ech; th e Brahmanas t er e fo re a r e
cr e at e d . to b e t e ach e rs an d in struct o rs of manki n d . The a r ms are symbol of valour and str e n g th ; the_
Kshatriya's missi o n i n this worl d i s t o carry weap o n s an d pr o te ct the pe o ple . It is d ifficult t o int e rpret the
p o rtio n of th e hym n that d e als with the creation o f th e Vysyas fr o m th e thighs of Purusha. But the thigh
may hav e b e e n i n te n d ed to re pre s e n t th e low e r p o rt i o n o f the b o d y, th e p o r tion that consumes foo d and
th e r e fore, th e Vysya may be creat e d to provi d e food to th e p e o ple . The creati o n o f Su d ra from the foot
symbol i z e s th e fact that the Su d ra i s t o b e t_he "footman", the s e rvan t of o th e r Var n as. The whol e social
o rga n isatio n i s c o n ce i v e d symb o l i ally as o i{e '. huma n b e in g - th_:e 'p9py sodal', we may say with its l i mbs
r e p re sen ti n g th e s o c i al class e s bas e d o n the princ i ple o f divis i o n o f labour.
.'
Duri :·t\ e V e dic perio d , _the Varnas s e em to hav e b e e n o pen classes that w e re not watertight
compartm e nts, w h e re the membersh i p in the latt e r was det e rm i n ed by v i rtue o f h e r e d i ty al o ne . Social
Status in the Var n a ·syste m was based on in div id u l tra i ts and le ss up o n d e sc e nt. Th e Var n as gra d ually
cam e t o be d istin gu i sh e d from each o th e r. Each.Var n a becam e m o re a n d m o re mark e d o ff and separated
fr o m th e oth e r. A gra d ual in creas e i n th e distinct i on between th e differe n t Varnas in terms of different
privile ge s a n d rights i s no ti ce able as w e pass o n fr o m the R i gve d ic literatur e t o Th e Brahmi n it literature,
n am e ly the Samh i tas, Upa n i shads and t h e Brahmanas. The Sudra, in th e latt e r per i o d, held the pos i tion o f
a slave an d co n s i d e r e d non-Aryan, away from the sch e me o f th Var n a system.
Dur i ng the p e r i o d o f Brahma n as and Samhitas, there se e ms t o be n o restricti o n regard i ng marriag e s
betw e en th Varnas with an excepti o n o f th o se w i th Sudras. Inter-Varna marriages might n o t have be e n
e xcept i o nal but must have been quite fr e que n t.
Th e re is gr e at deal o f th e o ri z in g i n th e epic and th e Dharma Sastra literatur e o n the pr o bl e m o f origi n and

d evel o pment o f Var n as. Accor d i ng to th e Karma Theory, th e sage Bhr i gu ( i n Mahabharatha) envisages
that only th e great Brahma first cre at e d a few Brahmanas. But latte r on the four divisio n s o f ma n k in d
Were develop e d. Th e c:omplexi o n i .e., Var n a o f the Brahmanas was white, that of Kshatriyas was red, that
of Vysyas was y e llow and that o f Sudras was black. At first the wh o le w o rld co n sist e d o f Brahmanas, who·
wer : :ll cr e at ed equally. Later o n, m e n hav e , o acc u n t of th e ir acts (Karma), b e en d i v ided int o var i ous . .
V a rn a : Th e four Var n as have o r i g i n ated· fr o m· o ne o ri g in a i class o f Dw i 1as - the twic e born. Th o se who.
foundf e xce ssiv e pl e asure in e nj o y me n t .bepc!me_ possesse d with the attributes o f harshness and nger,
e I1dm,y e d With c o urag e a n d unmindful o f their own Dharma,,· tq,Qse. Dw i jas· poss e ssi n g t e quahty o f
redness1becam e th e Kshatr i yas. Those who are unmi n df ul of the duties laid d o w n for tn e m becam e
end o w ed with both the qualities o f r e dn e ss ·and darkn e ss and followed the occupation o f cattl e bre ed ing
and a gricul tu re be.cam e Yysyas. Th o s e who w e re giv e n t o u n truth a n d i n juring other cr e atu r e s, p o ssess e d
of cupid i ty, who i n discrfmin ately follow e d .all s o r ts of occupati o n for they sustena n ·c e ·, with no p u r i ty o f
beha -?llr and who nurs e d th quality o f dark n e ss w i thin. them b e came Sudras.
Mah a ata: an 'Manusrriritihav e also qu o t e d the th e ory of th e o rigi n o f th e Varnas from ·vari o us parts-.
of th c e a t:o r's body. Th e se diffe re nt ia l duties arid occupat:ions have· be e n assign e d to'differ e rit Var n as in
order to p'i·otect this whole u n iv e rs e .
According to Hert,ert·Risl e y, the Var n a system in In d ia was in troduced by Arya n s w h o hav e o rig i n a t e d in
Iran/ Persia who_ alr e ady had a similar system i n their so ciety. Be for e th e ir invas i on o f India, the Aryan
s o ciety was divid e d int o four social class e s - Atharavans,
·· Rathestars, Vastr i a and Hiuti, cor r esp o n d i n g to
· the four Varnas
o
The Triguna T h e o r y maintains that .Jhe;isocial classes have evolved from the inherent qualities, the
gunas, o f mankind. According to the Bhagavadgita, the four Varnas are divinely created on the basis of
inherent qualities and allocation o f w o r k base_d on these qualities. (Karma based on Guna). Ancient
Indian literature talks o f three gunas o f man-_ Sattva, Rajas and Tamas.
Guna Varna Qualities

Sattva Brahmana Noble thoughts and deeds, virtues of high qualities, moral goodness,
wisdom and truth
Rajas Kshatriya & Luxury, exuberance, high-living, indulgence, passion, pride and valor
Vaishya
Tamas Shudra Physical labor, lack of imagination, dullness, etc.
Philosophical literature says "Janmana Jayathe Sudhra" - i.e, everyone is born a Shudra. It is only based
. on one's qualities or Guna one may develop over a period o f time, through socialization, can an individual
·be classified into any one o f the four Varnas.
Classification ofDharmas with Ref / t to Varna-Scheme
The nine· .duties -common to all the four Varnas are control o f anger, speaking the truth, justice,
-·-=- ;;afu
____...,....""""""
fo"t.giyeness, b getting chPdren form o_n ,;.,gwn wife, pure··cond ct, avoiding quarr 1,"upright ';;'ss
ma1nterui'nce ofone S depena """'
The division o f Dharmas among the four Varnas is as follows:
1. Brah min: Teaching, self-control and practice of penance.
2. Kshatriya: Study, making gifts, protecting the people and performing sacrifices.
3. Vaishya: Study, making gifts, celebrating sacrifices and acquiring wealth b y fair means.
4. Shudra: -Created as servant o f other three Varnas - never amass wealth, whatever he possesses
belongs to his master, can pe form sacrifices but cannot recite some yedic mantras.
. .
There are relaxations on the prescribed occupations and duties o f the four Varnas in times·of adversities.
Thus a Brahmana, who cannot maintain himself by means o f the occupations specially prescribed for.him,
. . may adopt the Kshatriya mode o f life. If he still cannotsucceed, may adopt -the Vaishya. mo e o f life:.
_, Kshatriya can adopt the Vaishya mode· o f living in case o f .dire n e s.-. But every V_ar,:na 11:as C(:!,rtain
reservation for the Varna other than its own. According to Manu, there are_ ten sources o f subsistence
common to .. an· in distress, th'ey are, mechanical. ·arts, work for wages, service,
. cattle
. . . rearin·g
- .trade,. .
agriculture, contentment, begging a n d m o n e y lending.
I .
,. . .,__ .
A different meaning to the principle 'dftHe Varna system based on one's karma is w h a t -is suggested. It
. means· that i f o n e is born in a lower Varna, then by.following the Dharma o f his o w n V a r n in this,birth; he
may able to b e born again iri a higher Varriiin the next birth;and one w h o ls born in a higherVatria must
live up to the duties and obligations o f his Varna if he does not w a t tobe degraded in the ne·xtbirth . .
Conclusions
, Though there is a cry for equality a m o n g the humanity, we cann6t-avoid the differences-between m ·naild
mc1,tf in terms . oLnatural abilities, c padties, -intelHgeilce and. c1ptitudes. In social affairs ·and social
coinmunications, such individual differences are apt to give rise to the formation o f social groups, e, ch of
which consist o f individuals w h o find themselves agreeable to each other because o f general si111ilarify o f .
· - ·--
tastes, vocations, likes and dislikes, social status and such other fac ors.
Social classes that are directed towards, or have developed into,. a rigid . stratification, based · on · ii >·
concentration o f power, authority, prestige-and economic and material rewards form th'e higher.classes.
81
Y e t, it should also be d e a r that criticisms, which are applicable to the social classes that have attained
permanence and fixity purely on the basis o f descent or family -Hrieage, cannot b e appli e d to the Varna
th e ory. For, it has to be specially noted that the Varna organization is so conceiv e d that there could b e no
room for any Varna to consider its e lf to be superior over the other or to consider its e lf as being pla·ced in
a position o f greater or le sser advantage with referenc e to oth e r. Each Varna is design e d to occupy a
particular position in the soci e ty, not with reference to any advantage or sp e cial rights, but with r e fe renc e
to its capabilities and like lih oo d t_o carry out a particular position and its social obligations. What m a y
appear to b e advantages or special privil e ges o f a Varna are primarily int e n d e d only to s e cure the b e st
possibl e environment and circumstanc e s in order to e nable that class to carry out its obligations to the
best o f its abilities.
The Varna sch e m e is intend e d to promote the social organization in t e rms o f its se e king to build up and
promote social e quilibrium and solidarity through a special kind o f economic organization. To conclude,
it can b e stated that th e Varna theory might hav e been devised with a view to e ngag ing the diffe re nt types
o f human e nergi e s in diffe r e nt chann e ls suitable to each o f th e m, and all towards the one end o f social
organization, social stability, ultimately leading to social progress .
.\ · ;
ASRAMAS ANDPURUSHARTHAS
Schq1bling a n d self-disciplin e are two ·con_siderations for a Hindu -in th e w h o l e life o f an individuaL To
u nd f!rgo ·this· schooling,: h e has to pass through four stages - the Asramas, the four ·grad e s, o fJ@Lqing. A ·
proper understanding o f th e psycho-moral basis o f th e Asramas ne c e ssitates the study o ( the theory o f
Purusharthas. ... -_..
Management and the conduct o f affairs o f the individual life in re lation to the group in th e Asramas,
manag e m ent, justification and its und e rstanding are the main concerns o f the ·Purusharthas. There ar e
four Purnsharthas viz.
1. Dharma
2. Artha
3. Kama
4. Moksh_a
T h e e. four P u rusharthas form a psycho "" moral basis o f the Asramas b e cause th e indtyig·ip1,.,tt1.t£!i&!t..,, t h e :
Asr_ .f.,.g J _s r.a i_11,e d.J n...tb.e .,u sf i.ll-PJL.t ,q lp,J!?.K has·
! lt,,.g,L th Y.Jl!. ht r t4 arid h e t():· cl al W.i!tl -
society' in a:f.9;>.f,Qgrite.,witb:.thi trc:1.i.Qip..g. A proper outlook and a way for the. manag e ment o f each of. the
Asrarrias can be compreh e nded b y a prop e r understanding o f the meaning and plate·' h f the Purusharthas
in t h e Asrama sch e m e . Morality, Wealth, D e sires o r Passion and: Salvation respectively ar e, th e English
translations o f Dharma, Artha, K a m a and Mbk ha. · ·
,. .
The ,Word "Dharma"is d e riv ed from the Sanskrit root "-Ohri" mearii g ''to hpld togeth e r o r t o p re serve ".
Dharma is 3:.principl e .for, maintaining th e stability o f a s ty Ac <>rding'to· te
h Mahabharata, D}:lanna is
·an
creat e d for the w e ll being o f all th e crea t ion; it is created to 'ke.ep the· creation free from any harm: It is
'the rinciple that is capable o f p r e s erv ing the ':lniverse.
refers t o all the m ans necessa_ty for acquiring wotJdlfp'rqsp rify like pow.er and wealth.
All tlj, desires in m a n for enjoymentand s tisfactidfi'·ofthe se ·sei<'.>flife,'the s�x driv e s are r e ferr e d to a s .
"Kama". It also refers to the natural mental tend e ncies, ins!incts a n d de.sir e s o f man- and his native
Impulses. T h e totality o f innate desires o f manlike· the nee1s;hasicor p marymotives, urges and clriv e s
are referred to as Kama. The moral, m a t rial and· menfal resources, ·energies arid accessories· o f m a n are
respectively referred to as Dhann_<:t.Art -anclK ma..
"Moksha" refers to the appeal of the inne; man to the individual unaffected by the group. "It is perhaps
too personal an outlook that defines the struggle and hope and justification within the individual for
Moksha". Moksha is not to be···pursued exclusively and directly by an individual unless and until he has
duly satisfied all his social obligations and debts. It is the ultimate goal of life - a supreme end. It is a
means to attain a meaning and end o f human existence.
Dharma stands on a higher level while Artha and Kama refer to two of the man's earthly belongings. A
lower level is occupied by Kama and is said to be one of_ the six enemies o f man, collectively called
Arishadvargas, (the other five are Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Mada and Matsarya). The material means of
living (Artha) and the propagation o f the species (Kama) are necessary for the manifestation or conduct
of human life.
This necessitates a correct quality and quantity, the place and time of Artha and Kama, which is done by
Dharma. A proper life can be lived even in terms of Artha and Kama by attending to Dharrna. Iri a proper
coordinated and careful management of the Dharma, Artha and Kama lies the secret o f a good humanity.
The Purusharthas are concerned with both the individual and also the group. The kind of relationships
between the individuals and the ,groygJis defined by the Purusharthas. Improper relationships are
explained so that the individual practises their avoidance; Thus the Purusharthas control the individual
and the gr_oup along with their interrelations;
The word "Asrarna" is originally derived_ from the Sanskrit root "Srama" - to exert oneself. Literally .
Asrama is a halting place. A halt or stop in the journey of life, for rest, in order to. prepare oneself for
further journey is signified by an Asrama. They are the resting places during the journey on the way to
final liberation (Moksha) - the final aim oflife.
Every individual has to train himself for the next stage of life; he has to exert himself in a circuit. This he
does in the circuit provided by the Asramas. There are four Asramas:
1. Brah·macharyasrama
2. Grihastasrarna
3. Vanaprasthasrama
4. Sanyasasrama
The Brahmacharyasrama is that o f a student The Grihastasrarna is ·that of a householder. The·
Vanaprasthasrama is that.of a retired life ·in the forest abandoning.the home, preparatory. to complete
renouncement of the worldly affafrs. The Sanyasasram is the life of complete renunciations of worldly
< rnl tions and attachment
The Concept ofRinas:
Every individual has to pass through. these four.phases.
oflife one after. .the other and pursue
.I
each of "these
. . .
Asramas to obtain Moksha - the salvation. "After passing from Asrama to Asrama, and·after the sacrifices,,_
with senses under control, compreh nding and realising the limitations a11d futility o f iife, depending·
upon alms. and offering, if one goes forth as a wandering medicant and dies·.thereafter, he becoµ1es .
blessed". This is how a person attains Moksha. However, before entering the last phase i.e., Sanyasas a.ma:
e as to pass. through the. three prev ous phases. of life in _th,e proper order; besides he hasto sati?-fY:.
himself that he has carried o u t the du ties a· d ()bHgations faid d'own foreach o f these Asramas; :a d he has
afso to see that he has duly given his dues in connection with. the social obligations-or debts. These <tebts
are.referred to-as "Rinas". The three Rinas are ....
1. The debt to Rish.is (Rishi-Rina)
2. The debt to Ancestors (Pitri-Rina)
3. The debt to Gods (Deva-Rina,)
83
•' ·
The debts to Rish is can be satisfied by studying the Vedas in accordance with the rules laid down for the
study i. P ., by passing through the Brahmacharyasrama.
The debt to ancestors can be satisfied by begetting sons in accordance with the ·Dharma i.e., by going
through the Grihastrasrama.
The debt to Gods can be satisfied by offering sacrifices according to ones capacities, i.e., by performing the
duties of Vanaprasthasrama.
Once ·these duties are carried out in all the three Asramas, the man's mind should concentrate exclusively
towards attainment o f Moksha. Moksha cannot be entitled to any individual if the above duties are not
carried out in their respective Asramas.
Different authorities have prescribed different ages at which man is expected to enter the
Brahmacharyasrama and Grihasthasrama. After the prescribed course o f education is completed, the
young man enters the Grishasthasrama; this is bound to be obviously in the maturity o f the youth, when
he has•completed all the requirements of B ahma.charyasrama, and is fit to marry.
f
A f efc p aying his part as a membe·r· of Grihasth.asrama,·man retires from it, which happens when he starts
becom,!ng old and sees the generation next to his offspring and now takes up a life in- the forest where he
lives ,{simplest life b y receiving alms, performing sacrifices and reading the sacred texts. After spending
the third. part of his life, he may ·liv as an ascetic· during the fourth part of his existence abandoning all ·
attachment to worldly objects and relations
According to some scholars like Vatsayana, owing to uncertainty o f human life, one should follow
Purusharthas as and when ari opportunity comes to him, at any period o f time in his life.
I. Brahmacharyasrama
Brahmacharyasrama concerns itself with the management of education as a social institution. The
Upanayana sacrament is virtually regarded as the second birth of the young boy. Till the Upanayana is not
conducted, every child is considered nature born and as such, as good as a Shudra. After Upanayana, he
becomes a Dwija - a twice born and indeed, he is now born a second time as it were, born into new world
of activities, duties, responsibilities, expectations and aspirations, for all o f whic he has now to begin
training and equipping himself. ·
There are different opinions regarding the age at which the ·pupil has to commence his studies. Some.
authorities prescribed different ages at which. a student has to be initiated according to his Varna. Those
who do not get initiated according to the ages prescribed looses his right of learning. The prescribed ages
are:8 $6 years for a Brahmin, 11-12 years for a Kshatriya and 12-24.years for a Vaishya.
Once the Upanayana ceremony is performed,tqe boy learns his first lessons in simple Iiving'an,d gets his
tra_ining irrespective of the position or s t a t u l o f the family in which1 he is born. With reveren,ce, tije pupU.
whoisJnitiated -h?d to- start begging alms for his teacher. -He is forbidden from accepting _an,yt in: x PfJ
alms. Ther_e are also_ many r_ules laid down in the habits pertaining to the pupil's_ food;·li : a o -i t
overeating, flesh, honey, stale sweet, beetle leaf etc. The dress habits o f the students belo ghi'g t9_d_iff tertf
Varnas also differ, which go according to the script;,_ The Brahmin student wekrs a hertip :rt l t /t: e -:
Kshatriya wears a piece o f silk cloth, while the Vysyas w ars a woollen cloth. Higher the:V:afri't:1 t9 P S
· the stri<i.ent belongs, less luxurious the piece ofg rment he wears.--ln.Brahmacharyasrania'th¢- t11d h s _. ·
to keep',his tongue, arms and stomach unde control and dis ipline to attain his vow. Thus;>t9f·. t '} f>
_,_ · ·-·. _· · · ·•
beinglrained in the habit o f s1mple life, no matter to what family he belonged. ·
Getting up before the sunrise and offering prayers are other important rules o a Hfo d
.'
:.:sttf rit_;pn;e_-:
unique feature about the student's life is _that he has to teside in the .premises o f e_-he I - O.fQl. _/C
teacher. Since-childhood is considered the formative period of.lif , under this sy eri h_e.Y; µragp_ Y: h . . 0 ·<
live .with his teacher - Guru, often f ar away from his nearest relations so tha't the Guru _hi - e : l
,l b. hi0;_·::
absolute mentor.
84.
. .. ·- -
Apart from the Vedas, many other SGi, p es are also stu ied by the student through his Guru and the
latter's duty towards his pupil is to irftpat't to him whatever truth he knows. A very high reverence
towards the teacher is expected from the student. Since the teacher charges no fee from the pupil for his
labour, the moral influence of the teacher upon his pupil has an added weight. Thus an individual learns
his Dharma in this Asrama.
After the student has completed the course of his studies, he leaves the place o f his teacher and journeys
back home. He is now to take a bath symbolising his washing off as it were of the Brahmacharya and now
ready to enter the next Asrama - that of a Grihasta or the householder.
II. Gruhastasrama
The Grihastasrama i.e. the real· family life of a person, who has completed his course of the
Brahmacharyasrama, starts with his marriage. As the man gets wedded, he is to prepare himself to
undertake the activities connected with the household - Grihyam. Following the sacred treatises, the
person now has to practice all those rites intende.d for the preservation and the continuity of his family or
lineage. The Grihasta has to follow, ac.cording to regulations and the directions laid down by the texts,the
domestic activities, the duties and five gteat sacrifices. Thes five sacrifices are intended to nullify the sins
committed by the Grihasta and which he cannot but help committing at the five "slaughter-houses", which
exisfain each home.
They ire:
1. The hearth
2 The grinding stone
3. The broom
. 4. The pestle and mortar and
5. The water vessel.
hile using these,. one would wiUingly or unwillingly destroy many creatures. These sacrifices are the
moral obligations o f the householder. They are ...
1) Brahma Yagna: Which is offered.in the m·emory o f distinguished and learned sages of the past
2) Pitri Yagna: Sacrifice to spirits or memory of ancestors (Sraaddha).
3) Deva Y gna: Sacrifice to the Gods (Homa).
4) Bhuta Yag a: Offerings to spirits that are.suppo ed to influ·ence.·the human beings (Bali).
5) · Nri Yagnaor Manushya Yagnar-Hospitality towards the strangers and t h e guests in terms of'food
and shelter, are to be performed in a spirit of sacrifice to man. J
Performance of these five yagnas gives .permanent happiness. Discipline.of parting with things of worldly
valu·e is sought to· be cultivated .at home. There· are. ceremonies and rituals for ·building house too .. The
home is a dwelling place n·ot only o f living members· ·of the family; but alsq the- forefathers who have ·
passed away, and the _grand children who are yet to-arrive. In such a house, the Grihasta has to·satisfy the
sages by studying and learning, worshipping the Gods, -remem.bering the ancestors, serving men by ·
offering· food and 'appifasing other living .creatures .Having satisfactotiiy fulfilled .them .according. to·
Dharma; he fs to bequeath:every thingto his.·son, arid live without caring for any worldlfconcern. He has
· to do'a!Ltheseactivities as a.matterofduties>By·fu1mlingthese obligations, he enhances his Dharrna,'
which will stay with him even after his dea.th.
The living members of the family are the trustees of the ·home, which belongs· to the ancestors, :fa the
interests ·or'the· future members o f the family. All the property belongs to the home and is not individual.·
The central idea·here·is the worship of the family (Kula) as aterp.ple of sacred tradition.·Ho.me is the-place·
where the Dharmasastra, Arthasastra, and the Kamasastra are practised. It is the place where Dharmas
85
and Karmas are thought out, practised and idealised. Agni that blesses, directs and inspires the Dharma
and Karma of inmates witnesses every action and deed of Grihasta.The Grihasta is asked to live the life o f
non-attachment· in the family. Thus the spirit o f selflessness, even while conducting the affairs o f the
world, restrains and dominates his thought and action.
For an individual, the "Samsara" is a temporary field of action and his life in Grihastasrama must be lived
and directed only in terms o f Dharma and Karma. To the extent to which the individual performs these,
he prepares himself for the next stage of life and then the final goal, the Moksha.
III. Vanaprasthasrama
In the,:.Vanaprasthasrama the individual has to leave the shelter not only o f the family and of the home,
but o f the village too; he must go to the forest and live there, all the while striving to bring under control
his senses of enjoyment, in the following manner . .
He has to eat vegetables and fruits only. He is not to touch sweet things or meat; he must never accept
fruits.;or roots grown in the villages even when he is extremely hungry. Deer skin or bark o f the trees has
to be· used for dothing. No deliber te attempt t o attain comforts as J o be made by him and he should
sleep on the floor and reside under.a tree. He should live without any attachment to the place where he_
happ _ps to reside. ·
Thefive tades of sacrifices performed in the Grihastasrama are to be continued even in this Asrama and
out o f w atever he collects for eating has to be_offered to the guests who may visit him. Performance o f
penances, reading the sacred texts, to el vate his soul to higher levels has to be followed. He must devote
himself heart and soul to his studies and meditation, at the same time, he has to lead a life of self-control
and friendliness. In this manner, if an individual dies in the Vanaprastasrama, he is expected to attain
Moksha by reaching the region of Brahma.
IV. Sanyasasrama
A n entry into the last Asrama of Sanyasa is inevitable if an individual survives the-Vanaprastasrama, b y
casting off all the attachment with the world. According to .Manu, an .individual can enter this last Asrama
even af er the completion o f Grihastasrama ·some authorities even say that an 'individual can enter
Sanya asrama after the Brahmacharyasrama itself.
A n individual in t h i s Asrama· shoulct" be free from everything, posses nothing, should not depend o n
anybody and move around all_. alone.- He should -not feel dispirited when he fails t o procure any alms nor
should he feel elated when he· gets some. H.e should not bother about life or death .. The individual in this
AsraIIla can obtain Moksha b y restraining himself from love and hatred within himself and b y being
harmifss to other living beings. All.the sins·of--a man who passes through this Asrama are 'IJ\Tashed away
and thus attains the ultimate and the final goal of existence-· Moksha. I
Grihast:asrama is given the highest place o f honour in the stb me"of Asramas. According to Indra,
''Acetism is attainable by leading the life of a householder upgn which the proper management o f every
thing-dep·ends. The life of householder itself is very superior and sacred and gives a scope for fulfilment o f
life's mission".
In tertn-s of Dvaipayana Vyasa "the highest Dharma as sanctioned by Sastras consists· in training through
dutiestand living the full life o f a householder. In this Asrama alone can the three Purusharthas Dharma,
Artha\b.nd Kama exists together and can be used towards the end of Moksha. This mode o f life is
considered the very basis o f ali the others. The other three Asramas derive from this Asrama - the means
they live upon ,. the offerings they make to the departed men and the Gods and in short, their entire
support". ·
86
Significance and Position o f the Pur,..usJ:i rthas as Envisaged in Asramas

In the Brahmacharyasrama, the dominating Purushartha is Dharma, which in all its ramifications and
aspects has to be learned. Artha and Kama become the fields of personality in Grihasthasrama, of an
individual who has already acquired the knowledge of Dharma. Dharma and Moksha become the main
concern of life in Vanaprasthasrama, the prime position being that of Dharma. In Sanyasasrama, Moksa
occupies supreme position and it is here that Dharma and Moksa are identified together. In fact,
throughout the Asrama scheme and throughout life in every phase, Moksa always lurks as the ultimate
aim, permitting sometimes explicitly, sometimes implicitly and defining the course of other three -
Dharma, Artha and Kama.
According to Kautilya, "it is the duty of the king to see that his subjects abide by the rules made obligatory·
for persons following each o f the four Asramas". He asserts that the violation of the codes of behaviour for
the Asrama as well as for the Varnas would lead to a confusion of the Varnas and Asramas and hence to
chaotic state of the society such that the world would come to an end. On the other hand, if all people
·follow these regulations, the world would certainly progress. The Asramas and Varna schemes are thus
conceived as means not merely towaqis the pest ends of social organisation, stability and equipoise, but
also of social progress.
KARM.A AND REBIRTH

The Doctrine of Karma is reckoned as one of the most significant contributions of Indian philosophy. This
doctrine was propottnded for the first time in the Upanishads; Its influence is seen in different aspects of
Indian social system, the Indian philosophy, literature and culture. Almost all the aspects of Indian life
have adopted the conception o f Karma in s·ome form or the other. Although Buddhism and Jainism oppose
the Vedic conventions and traditions from many points of view, and refuse to accepf the supremacy of
Brahmins in the social system, yet they recognize the supremacy of the doctrine of ·Karma so far as
·material aspects of life are concerned. The doctrine of Karma manifests the practical uniformity in the
multidimensional Hindu culture and society.
Philosophical Basis of the Doctrine of Karma
According to Hindu philosophy, attairim nt of salvation (Moksha) is the ultimate goal of human life. It
comprises the supreme eternal value. The Buddhist philosophy has called this ultimate goal as Nirvana.
The Mahanirvana Tantra observes ... "That which leads to salvation is also productive of the fulfilment of
dharma, artha and kama". Thus salvation comprises all the values of life.· Bhagwad Gita has i:nentiorn;!d
·
three means for the attainment of salvation - Karma Marga, Gyana Marga and Bhakti Marga
The doctrine o f Karma insists on individual responsibility towards good and bad results. It holds that·
every attion has its own effect Man cannot av id the results of his actions - A s we sow, so we reap?.Good ·
·
actions bring good results, while evil r·;f\fsults fi:om evil actions; 1
I ·,
As the performance· of prescribed action produces merit (Punya), involvement in fqrbidden actions
produce demerit (Papa). As pertinently remarked by Jadunath Sinha, "Merh and demerit are agencies
which nurture in course o f time and bear fruits either in this Ii:Ce or in future life. They are predisposing
causes of happiness and misery. There is.no escape from the consequences of actions". Thus according to
this doctrine our present is the direct outcome of our past deeds.
Meaning of Karma
The word "Karma" has been derived from its Sanskrit root "Kra"which implies all kinds of activities For
example, Karma includes activities such as to sit, to stand, to laugh, to speak; to determine, to prohibit,
giving charity etc. The word "Karma" has been used in Bhag:wad Gita in this general sense. According to
Gita, the word Karma also lncludes life. and death. A t occasions;. man has to choose either life or death
According to Gita, man can attain salvation by performing his prescribed Karma. Karma in -this context
represents duty. On the other hand, karma, according to philosophy o f Yoga Vashistha, is the activity of
87
"Manas". Karma generates the Karta and the Karta b y its activity again produces Karma. Thus, the seed o f
Karma is to be sought in "Manas". Besides this, the following four-deserve special mention.
1. Karta, who does Karma through his activity.
2. Circumstance in which Karma is performed.
3. Inspiration for Karma.
4. . Reaction or results produced b y Katma.

Concept of Karmaphala - the result of action
-:.
While,on one hand the word Karma indicates the performance of some action, on the other hand it also
indicates the action produced b y the Karma. Secondly, according to Hindu philosophy, every Karma
generates a definite result and that is w h y each man is a builder o f his own fate. He gets the results
according to his actions. According to Hindu philosophy, the main aim o f man's life is to remove the
effects l o f bad actions o f earlier life· and to .at ajn salvation. Dr. p;N, Prabhu has also pointed out that
actor< ing t o Hinduviewpoint, the birth o f ea.ch man takes place so 'that he may remove the effects o f the
b f:a. tionf of-his'earlierlife arid rriayauairi saiv·ation. Further, according to Hindu viewpoint, man should
:·r i8'6 tl f MC .aS!ions thatJnaraffect hisf turelife. ..
•Acct>fd1ng:toth - Hind ;:phTlosophy,\ljeco11ceph9n. ,. ()f.Karm phala,J -very·significant. It recognizes that
·each-aitfon:,generc;1t s a definite result' The·present°Itfe·ofrria ·-is;th-e t sult o f Karmaphala o f his earlier
Hfe. Sitnilarly,-his::fµt1:1relife is based:on the Karmaphalpofhispresent life.'
Karma and Rebirth
The tenets o f Karma and· rebirth are based on the theory of survival of the soul upon the death o f the
body. Soul is immortal and indestructible. When the body perishes, it enters in another body and thus
goes on living. The '.'Jiva lf o r soul, during t h cyde o f birth and: rebirth, accurnulates Karma. Action, good
or bad, 'brings ori its trial, reward arid'punishrrient and there is· no escape from i t Thus, soul is inevitably
tieq. to: a··wheel a n d helplessly lllrns:over successive re "'b irths, reapin·g the fruit$ o f past Karma and
perpefuallyisowin-gmoreseeds ofKa ma ndthits perpetuating its bondage. . . .
Elements of Karma
There;ate many important elements o f Karma.

1._ Definite Result: By Karma w e do not mean only physical action. It also includes mental,
,,.it:motio_·naland spiritual -activities. Each action has a definite result and man gets this result either
· in this:life or in his future life. J
2 ·· Immortality: Sfoce each ctiqn has adefini.teresult man carLneither escape f r o m the r. sult o f h i s
. action nor can. he achieve the results without performing t h e action. M a n ·=cannot destroy t h e ·
resul o f his action. Present life o f m a n is the result o f his earlier actions.
3. Continuity: The process o f Karma is,not limited. The cycle of Karma i s infirtite ·or u11l Il}.{t : d . l t i s
·· ·_the cycle that goes on eternally and each man has to face the results ·oLhjs >,actio ns: : A c9rdi._ng:to
. _.-. doctrine. o f Karma Vipak; once the cycle- starts, it goes on perpetually. EVe11 w,hetj: ...w r : J s
.
· to exist or survives i_n the f n· r m ofs· ds., T h e n
.. ·.: a_nn'ihilation o f the universe, the K a r m a continues
.-frhere is again creation o f the universe.
4. Indestructibility o f . Karma: .According to the doctrine. o f K rrna, the:' res.ult 'i?f.:'l( Jllcl:Is
i destructible. Karmaphala influences the'charader, ideas ·and _feelings :9fJh · :r¢su!t 0f H q_iyic,iu aL
I t continues whh 'him through.out -his Hfe. It even contimi'es in.Jiis_·. ext
-
-li_( -: n a J <?} J 'ff he
· actions o f ·1:oaay_or-1:omoirow· arid.those ·of-tomorrow·:tlie· aay afte.r . 9 d q'QP.--A s%d 1ng · to ·
Mahabharatha, the Karmaphala does not end with the i11divid.ualconc·erned but·s'oirietimes his
88:
Anthropology Paper 02 •Volume 03
descendants have also to fac th . res lt o f his actions. That is why if the results of his action do not
come in his lifetime, then they influence his sons ar1d grand sons etc. In the practical life also it is
the belief of the people that the bad actions of man influence his future generations.
5. Immortality of the Soul: The doctrine of karma accepts the immortality and indestructibility of
soul. Soul is immortal. It is only the body that is subject to death or decay. Therefore, creature is
born according to results o f his actions. After leaving its body it attains a new body. ·This is called
rebirth. This cycle o f birth and rebirth moves on continuously till the attainment of salvation.
6. Determination of life conditions: The doctrine of Karma endeavours to clarify the present
conditions and circumstances o f life according to the result of the actions performed in the early
life. The circumstances and conditions o f each individual are different from other individuals.
Some individuals are rich, some are poor, some are happy while others are leading miserable lives.
All this is determined by the results ofactions performed by the individual in his earlier life. As the
actions of each individual are not similar, similarly the conditions or circumstances of each
individual are different from others.
:- : ' ,,, ·' '
. .
7. Supremacy of Karma.: Karma determines the nature o f life. Therefore, it is sometimes believed
. that the doctrint:! o f Karma makes a mart fatalistic. Butthis conception is completely baseless., The.
· doctrine of Karma does not make.a man fatalistic but it rather implies tliatm n isthe:makerDf his
own destiny. He can ch·ange his destiny by his actions. He can determine his future. 'rhis doctrine
also clearly points o·unhat eacµ man gets adequate results for his actr8:ifs. There is no ·such action
that may notproduce any result From this point of view, life is an opportunity for man toperfotrri
actions. Thus, earth is his land.of duty. Wisdom is the director of these actions. It also provides an
inspiration for good actions.
· Criticism to the Doc;trine of Karma
A majority of criticisms came from the Western Scholars.
1. According to MacDonnel, the doctrine of karma tells that man cannot be liberated from
Karmaphala. Disinterested actions inspire man to be contended w i t h present life because· the
present life of maq. is the result o f his actions done. in earlier. life. Moreover, this doctrine lays
more emphasis on the life to come than the present life. Hence, it is· indirectly responsible for
miriimizingthe importance ofpresehtlife. This is detrimental to the idea o f social progress.
2. It is based on superstitions and is responsible for backwardness o f India, both socially and
economically.
\:k·':- ·It supports and justifies caste system.Jt is responsible forminimizipg the eff cts o f effic enqr-.and
aptitude of. man. It is respon ible for inactivity and cowardice among the lgwer castes. The
doctrine supports the main.teitaffCE; fOfiSocia} discrim.igati0).1 and adopts religion for its justifica ion;
Jlmportance ofthe·ooctrine o(Karma:
From the sodal point o f view, the doctrine of karma has its importance.
J.. Jitspiration for good ctions: The doctrine of karma inspires every person to perform good,act ons.
An important con.ception o f this doctrine is that man receives the results acco.rdjng to his.acti{)ns As
a esult o f good actions, he achieves·goodlife 7onditions and· ad,lifeconcHtions in consequenceqfbad
actions .. Besides, the doctrine o f karma ais . teaches m a n not to b{i.na tive and leave everythi g to
fate.
2. Inspiration t o attain moral life: The doctrine o f karma gives great significance to religion. Wh t is
moral from the social point o f view is th religion of the ,persons concerned. Therefore, the di regard ·
· or the violation of religion is strictly prohibited according to this doctrine. Thus, wh"ile on the one
89·
hand, this doctrine preaches man not t o become inactive, on the other hand, it also inspires him to
attain moral life by presenti:r1 before him the fear of Karmaphala.
3. Preaching of Wisdom: According to this doctrine the root cause of all bad actions is illiteracy or lack
of wisdom. Where there is a lack o f wisdom, bad actions are bound to ensue. Where there is wisdom,
there are bound to be good actions. Hence, this doctrine encourages man to understand his own self.
A man can understand this own self when he acquires knowledge.
4. Inspiration for welfare work: This doctrine emphasizes on disinterested action. Disinterestedness
means selfless actions. I n other words, actions that are performed by man according to religion
without hopi_ng its results are the disinterested actions. This conception o f the doctrine of karma
inspires everyone to renounce selfish actions. Persons working for the welfare o f others are referred
to as "Karma Yogis".
Through philosophical interpretations w e can say that the doctrine o f karma teaches every individual his
Purusharthas and inculcates the sense o f ·morality. It encourages every one to do and be good in the
pres ntlife s o t h a t a peaceful.and excellent life can be enjoted in the future. In short, the doctrine of
karnia; by invoking the concept o f rebirth, and convincing mci'r1d'fhis punarjanina; is ensuring a peaceful
andJroly life for the· individual and the group in the present life . . Thus karma philosophy is not just a
dodth1e; but also an effective means o f social control. It contributes t o a nonnative life ·pattern, and at the
sarrie timeto 'grou p cohesivet1e·ss.
RINA
The concept o f rinas is basic to the Indian social system. It reminds one's duty towards his world and the
almighty. A man, in his pursuit to attain salvation - Moksha, must discharge his debts, otherwise which he
may plu.nge into the mass of difficulties. Ri.nas are as important as the Purusharthas and are the part and
parcel of an ind!vidual's social life in the Asrama Vyavastha.
The Satapatha Brahmana mentions four rinas. They are ...
1. The Deva Rina or the debt to the Gods
2. Pitri Rina or the debt to the Ancestors
3. Rishrnina or the debt to the Seers
4. Manushya Rina or the debt to the· fellow beings
How Ner, theJirst three rinas arewidely accepted.
Oev{ Rina: °this social obligation can be d_lscharged by worshiping the d ities through_ thd performance
of XaJna. No man can att::iin moksha. with but repaying these rtna, ·1inJhe prescribed ·manne , i.e. according
to Dfiarina, and no man can escape this rinas sin_ce he is b9rn with.,th _rilla into this worl,d . This is one
way ofliberating oneself from the difficulties of the life. The concept of Rina is introduced by the rishis or
the.saints to instil a serise of duty in man towards the gods.
Pi rt;;Rina: It _is o f prime importance because parents look after a. child since his birth and make
numer.ous..sacrific s to ensure his social and physical continuity. I n fact, every individual owes his debt to
his ahcestors due t o the simple biological/act that he exi.sts due tothem. It is not easy to repay thepitri
rina;.: According tQ the commentators .on Indian way o f life, .one can repay his ancestral o r paternal rina by
doin·g :c1n those works and cdfices for their children as has been done by his parents when he was born.
Rishi Rina: This is the social obligation to the teachers and seers as they impart knowledge and make a
man capable ,of:dischatging his;duties in .the Asrama scheme. One can repay this rina b y devoting orieself
to t h e deep study o f t h e Vedas and .obeying the ode and.conduct ofthe Brahinacharya Asrama. It has
90.
been asserted that without repaying ri lii rir_ia, none can attain moksha. (More on Rinas in the topic on
Asramas)
3.2 CASTE SYSTEM IN INDIA

From the times immemorial, India has been attracting people all over the world, who ranged form
travellers to conquerors, who stayed back to study the Indian society and culture and went to their own
countries carrying with them vivid descriptions of the Indian society and culture. These descriptions may
have been exaggerated, but it shows the interest Indian society and culture have generated among the
people worldwide. What struck most of these voyagers to India was th!..d - 5.tiIJf!i
. ocj _lJ>.rJ1er, which
was later termed as the "Caste System".-
Structure and Characteristics

. "Caste" may be definedas a s. ILf d-
rn d g r o p J f Bers ns.}=J:l . 5 E - - L ndo,_K .!?.Y!J . r. d!!
11J ,n:t9- r.sl}Jp an a t
g Fl S§J:Yl ].<,-mlt ;: ...- -ic1:_:. m'eti n e i , l ; - <.--P. :! S !: it_ <?- - <?-.f. uiec,uliar
OCCUj>atIOn and IS USua1fy assoc1ated:w1tfi·:a"more or less d1stmct'f1tual Status In a h1erarch1calsystem..
r
iHrs'.b -; te ;;,among'othe_r· thr;g·s;·are ·govefiiea-fiy"fflrc-o'ncei,to p-01 u iC>n. 'ind _p -rfty,}nl{
ge ·rally, -i if!Il Jn}}!J.. ns.al_i_ty,.._ rs aroong$t one':sownsaste ·,-,·· . ..... . .. . .. ' .
..
j
• ,· ; -·-- _ ' ..•
" ... 1 ,.,
.-"
' - :"- ·;_i.' ... . - - .\' • ._
, • • ' • ,_
· •,
The ·term "C?ste" has bee:n derived frC>m the original Portuguese.word "Casta "-/ mea ning a grqup,-With;;a
£ftlt fi -d,,.r - ¼ r here tf .lJ¥··$j1U li if§ Thoughthe word "caste" has be n- de ived a
foreign
from
wo'rd/surprisin'gly tne concept o f caste sysrem·is =uni<f 11e to··In:di f-'JO·l:fe·spetiijcftothe'Hindu society. The
.:
English word caste corresponds more or less losely t · hat is locally- k ow'n as tfie:liJJ: 1locart defiries
caste as '_'merely families to whom various offices in the ritual are assigned by heredity".
Senai-t, a French scho)ar, defines caste as a "corporation, in theory a t any rate rigorously hereditary,
equipped with a certain traditional and independent organization, including a chief and-a coundl, meeting
on occasions in assemblies of more or less plenary authority and joining together at certain festivals;
_ bound rt ogether by common occupations, which relate particularly to marriage and to food and to
questions of ceremonial pollution".
According to the Hindu tradition, the caste system owes its origin to the four varnas, which seem to have
been ori"ginally the _four classes into which the Rig Vedic socie·ty was divided i.'e., the thre·e categories of
the twice born the brahmins, the kshatriyas and the vaishyas anc;l a fourth category of the sud s, below
Y(hQm WE;re th'e out'castes. The earlier studies show that it was the purity of the Aryan faith.that gave rise
to'hi s t sy;te : ·: "'
.,..
. ---·--·,-,---- ""'-=-=···- ·-·"""- .,,---, - , -:--"',...... - --,,-----,--.---,
L"r"'?"rE
' .:!,-' 1;3t'l,
According_ to Bougie, caste,· arqse_fi: e..Jd .a., o.f..hgr_e.di.ti1,JY--- -Pg- _i_g}jii;J.tion; P_r.Qf i<J_ s_ c_e>rn /the
obligatory moJ! p_olJ
• ·"·-·····--:--·-,· ----.-,-···--- ·-" . . . . .·
q_Lfamilies - to perform them is not merely_a.
.
-,- . -.
. right but.a d:uty imposec;l b y birth
··-·· ... ·- - I . ..
UP-On them. The word "caste" makes \ts Jhink not only- o f hereditarily appointed work, but also ()f:
unequally divided rights i.e., hierarchy . . Caste is not only !!10J!2£2J.Y....ru!l.il! i ,.<t.12!LYJ le,g . Bybirth, crne
- indiviC,ual is bound to pay heavy taxes while-:anotfier iscapes·them. Perso·nal'..status, according·to Bougie;
is determined b y the rank of the group to which one belongs to; 'hence in quality is als'e a product o f taste;
system.
The -- pirit of caste reigns in a society i.e., differerit grou_ps of which the society is composed repel_·, ach
otherrather than attract One caste tries to isolate itself, makes every effort to prevent its merrtbers·ffom ·
contracting alliances or even from entering into relations with neighbourfog groups. A man refuses to
seek a wife outside his traditional circle; he will more over refuse any food not prepared by his feU?ws
\..:
andreg rds the mere contact of "strangers" as impure_ c1nd degraqlE,,& Thus, says that horr r: f ·•
misalliance, fear o f impure contacts and repulsion For all those who are unrela ed,. are the charactens_t::ic
signs o f the spirit o f caste.· He further emphasizes that the . spirit ·of caste -in India unites t e ·three:.<_, : -·
tend ncies of _repulsion, hierarchy and hereditary specialization, which gives a complete definitionto tpe ( : : ·
caste system.
91
T h e concept o f the caste system, according· to Berreman, is one that is t:omposed o f ranked groups.
Membership in a group is only through birth. T h e groups'are exhaustive,i
exclusive and d_iscrete i.e., every
person is a member o f such a group arictor only_ o.f!e; is clearfy""reco n iz ed "by'others as a member o f his
separate group. Membership in h!s g_roup_infl nce _lllost of_hi ,roles a n d actiV.iti _s.
T h e r e is a high degree o f role summation. No o n e should try QJ:,h,,, r,_g -- i J_l)_h Jjt A.rn ml:>.e_rship and a n y
a t t e m p t b y ind!_v.ictuat -t.<?.. !1ift themselves to a hi er group is str mgty dis_a_ppr<>X P·
Relative ranks affect almost all the social relations. Most interactions a m o n g the people o f different
groups:·involve considera_ti ns of.superiQ.r.ity __an_d_Jnfer.to.ritr, and superior-ity·--m ans greater pri iie· 's,
precedence and a larger share o f good things i n life. Each group is a firm eiit1ty,.namect:-bounded, self
aware1a:rld culturallY'"homogeneous: "Because fr1teraction between different groups is limited and that
with'in ·a group is more intense, the members o f a grnup te11d to share distinctive cultural characteristic.
T h e caste system thus contributes to C!-3ltt.!r?J.P.t r l} : 1;; · ··· · · · ·· · · ·
. T h e groups are interdependent. Each needs the services or goods provided b y others, but they are held
togeth,er ·Jess by'"'"'agreement about mutual pe.eds a n q purposes than b y the coercion wielded b y the
superior groups. The inferior groups conform in their actions,and not necessarily in,tQeJJ.J,9£.,aS, about
_,,
the reasons for the subservient behaviour: ._.. ' · ·· ·-- --
Berreman notes· that a general concomitant o f such a system is that the highe r grouys explain their
s u p e r i o d t y in terms o f a moral evaluation -,, that s h o w s they are intrinsically more worthy. They take a
p ern !s 1st q ,_i2i iifi!K;lqf ;p e p le, considering them'to b e
0
fr e i;-; s le, iti,f§.l£ !?le ciJigU"R:
o f t h e ·nner feelings and higher achievement T h e lower castes do not share these views but adjust to the
superior.power fiy av;idini.coriflfci:;· by apathy a n d psychic withdrawal o r b y over-compliance. Other
concomitants are the restrictions on the relations between people o f different groups. Eating__and sftting
together, marriage and sex relations are rigidlyf controlled or are forb,idden. T h e higher, privileged groups
h o i c f f h a f l : f i i -s ·o ciaF ·o rclcf r· is stat1c/'the· lowe ' " str1ve to. lmprov their status. A n y system o f marked
t
-
stratifkatfmns·1i:selfa ·s-o uFEe ·o f mobilitymoflvation. Such-1? 9.!?}h!¥. .t_r,iy!!.1Jtis a const !'}t dynamic force
i n a caste system. ¾"'
" " ' - - - , - - - . - - . • • • , _ , ,• .......,.,_r•,J'-
T h e principle functions o f a caste system are to per12,.etu _social and c !tt1rn_L_gjyersities J:.d tg_,. _pforce
a n d articulate them. Privilege_ is p..tQJ:,££,te through power. These functions are dysfunctional in the
m o d e r n world, irrelevant to t h e human w TTa: ;;·aruisource·of unnecessary c o n m e t an·d suffering.
A n d r e Betdele is _in a view that caste structure constitutes the basis o f a n y traditional-society. In a n y
socie ty , the rigidity and t h e complexity o f caste structure is highly predominant T h e stratification
resulted b y the caste structure n o t only casted its shadow on the people w h o are divided because o f it ._
caste·i ticins o f unequal ritual status - b u t its influence is dominating t h e economic and political systems
o f t h e - pciety·as well.
BettieXtnotes that caste system i s relatively easy t o represent. ;Jt;,¢aQ b e vie""".'ed a s a system q f enduring
gr mps,'.whose mutual relations are governed b y certain broad principles. Castes as enduring groups· can_
b e located. with relative ease since they a r e na_r.ne and family, well defin_ed boundaries. T h e .,.,..,;"< ..... . . , . ..,k,,
. , .<
tO
••,,h•;.v
:,V
"
<
l:"-::"". ,:•.•-,;,.,_
_
, ,_
principles which govern the mutual relations are complex , .J'"

_
,....... .. ,..'.".._C_'<·'"C-.;.•,,·• ,·• • .. ,---·-·•
,
I n a ca'ste system, social precedence is determined less b y the utility o r the difficulty o f the occupations,
than·Jfyltheir relative purity a n d impurity. Each civilization has its_ preferred manner o f classifying
occup fions. In Hindu civilization, it is above aH the· religious ideas that establish t h e rank o f each group
rathet:'than
. the economic values.
,{ ):-.:.' .
T h o u g h Indian caste society h a s often been depicted a s a static social order, in t lUY..,Jh JJtJ?PJ ,.,9J.,J 11d ia
h a v e keptadjusting their _social syst m.s a n d a t times ave--n'irde fundamental chang ! . .1?- - n;soc1al
s y s t e m s areusfawt1:h·s·omet1 xib1tfiy,Tfoniy·becatise··pe-opie iiave to cope w i t h tfie·seaso Irmmd·ortne
lifetyde. Tlie
biological stages o f the h u m a n lifecycle induce a cycle o f family development a n d t h e cyclicar
pattern o f the family growth, division and reconstitution in India.
92_
Another kind o f repetiti e chang i vo.!,ye _ shifts in ran½_P(), i i9ns. Such shifts typically begin when the
lower groups
°
become strong enough to challengitffie-·superiors. They meet opposition }
an om_e are
·quelled, b ut otfiers succ-eed 1n raisiHg.their ra.nk; tn dping so they r viv t n i p r e y qus order of precedence
-n19µgh not the structure.
Yet another recurrent process in India has typically been started when the followers o f a relig.ious leader
form a sect; at first they deny certain features of the existing system but in time they become reabsorbed
into that system. Tribal groups also have frequently b_een absorbed into caste orders.
In addition to these recurrent changes, there have also been systemic changes. The earliest literary
sources in India, the ,Yedas, reflect a system of relatively open classes in which people carried on a culture
and -society that were basically different from those of latter times, though the later forms were
developed from the earHer ones. According to G.S. Ghurye, the Vedic period, which in his estimate ended
about 600 BC, was succeeded by a period in which the trend towards a rigid caste structure has begun.
· During the next period, a number o f features of "classic" caste society became crystallized. Then, about
the tenth or the eleventh century, a system was developed that remained in operation with considerable
consistency for about a thousand .year . Within the past ceritury, the people o f India have been strongly
\affected by the worldwide tides o f changes: There was a great extent o f systemic chang_ ,!:>t<J. ght p_() yt
--· -- · ·····:--···--------··-------· .,,. . .. · .
by the technologJ£ L P.d.S!tciO..::p.oUt.iJ:..a.lJnnQYcl-,t. ------
Features o f Caste System

The main features ofcaste sy tem are
..
a. Socio-religious Hierarchy,
b. · Endogamy,
c. Association with a hereditary occupation,
d. Restrictions on food arrd social intercourse,
e. Distinction in custom, dress_ and speech, and
f. Civil and religious disabilities and privileges enjoyed b y different sections o f the society.
The Hindu_ so_ciety is_ divided i_nto segmental ivisions of caste._ Caste,js an _: c&ibe_ s ince aste
embersh1p is -acqmred by birth. The hereditary caste groups are arran_ged mto a .social and ritual.
hierarchy, with Brahmans at the top, next the Kshatriyas, then Vaishyas followed b y the Shud-ras. In-the
social hierarchy the lowest rung o f the caste society is of the untouchables who are ritualiy tbe_r11ost
· itii'Jiure.'.tf rus, the concept.of hierarchy forms the crux of the caste society. Each caste ·is consict'ere.c(to:be
more pure or impure than the other in. ttie ritual sense of the term. The• very shadow o f some castes was, ..
: r. ·
-.·.•.: .. /It -- - - . " . . ...................
once considered polluting. For ,example-, in Ia.mi, -N .u .ttt iSlianar 1At ·(J -C?_ y p_p.ers:_we e 1t9 - -e.P:24 ·
-[�'c�s aw.�)'.-�r9�� :�\ B _� �m�P:) n\ ��l i �a i1_; ��r--� •. u ��a�fr��?h�!a:··�
toffth:hiri.i,·and jl member o(tiyy n_caste-.was_isup·posea .to keep.,bims_elL t ois.tance of36:steps fi\om:a.·
am · "YJtf� .T. P.- -�,t · :
'f foara._( rye 1950). Therefore traditionally the castes considered to be un oucha .! v.': E .J ,1:'P.lf en
entry into t _e UP..E_ [:S -! J22H - ...
.,• . i . . '.,:
In. South India, even till the British period, certain :parts b f the town and cities were inaccessible t<fthe ·
.untouchable· castes. · ·
nd_<:>galll).' or marriage within one's own caste or sub-caste grc:rnp is an essential feature o f cc!._St sY. t m.
l t is one o l the main reaso_ns· ·for the persis
· · ence of
· --cast People generalJy married within one's·
·· · - _§.Y.fil ID-
·
own caste g r o u p . - -
Traditionally, each caste was· associ.3:ted with an occupation. Jajm ni system found in rural India enabled
each caste to have a near monopoly over their hereditary occupation. ______,_ . ·--· ·-· ·--·-· · ............. _.. .
. . . . . .. .
.. ..., . .
:
. - - .. . . . .. · - . . ...•.... . . .. ----
. . .. ..
,.......,;,· •,.,. . ' . - . _ :,,• ··.··-· ·-
93
Each caste was also ranked higher or lowernn the basis of the r}tual purity or pollution o f their associated
occupations. Thus, the C_hamar castes of north lnrlia were considered untouchables since their occupation
involved use ofleather. · ·
Each caste had its own caste council or panchayat where the grievances of its caste members were heard.
These caste-councils headed, generally by the elder members of that caste, had the power to
?CCoJ.!l,MP-Wit atea member from his or her caste if they did not accept caste restrictions. Caste restrictions
3- te in marriage,
·--· ....···: . ·-·
.
commensality
..
or inter-dining and general socialintercourse, as well.
. .... . . -. . . . .
These features constitute only a general outline of the caste system. However, owing to its complexity,
the caste system is susceptible to and demonstrates regional variations, especially in three domains - its
r J : i,QI)?.DJ.P.s \'!'.g_h kinship, _occt1pation
· · an? P? - r. We shall discuss these regional variations in the
following pages.
Varna and Caste

' . ·-
The} ':Varna theqryfl Of.JQ..ciety is not to be· confused with the "Jati system" of the Hindu society today,
whkti1s·u ibed as "caste system". The castes (Jatis) -are 1character ized by its members who.
cannot haye matrimonial alliances with any but the me·mbers of their owri caste. In inany cases, there are
fixea::occupations for different castes, a hierarchical gradation with the Brahm ins on the top and it is birth
and only birth which decides a man's connection with his caste. These features into which the original
Varna scheme h_as come to be evolved characterize the caste system, or the jati'"system. The word "jati"
originates from the Sanskrit word ''jan" meaning " b f birth", while the word Varn'a frieans colour. Varna
has nothing to do with the purely rarhlt'y lineage princi
.._, .7>" .--------.vs,r,
involved in the word ·,,jtF:"E.
_ ,.., . ,_..,_
S n rt,
_.,;, .' > . - .. 1
· . . . .< • · -,-:·q
.: -?
4
. .. -"""-'c
-'-;,i"1-!-.½?-f. . ··· · .;••-.-....•:... .i.1•••1- -'t,<..-+,
who viewed that "Yarna" and "Jatifl as distinct and "essential!X..i qep_ef!c! 11:t", though "by the relation of
principles on fact that the _two institutions may have fused together later on".
In theory, the caste system is interlinke.d with the 'Varna' model, which divides the Hindu society into
·.· four orders, viz., Brahinana, (Brahman,· traditionally, priest and scholar), Kshatriya (ruler and soldier),
Vaishya (merchant) and Shudra (peasant, laborer and setvant). The first three castes are 'twice-born' or
· 'dvija' since the men from· these castes are entitled to don the sacred thread at the Vedic rite of
upanayana, which the Shudras. w re ·not ·allowed to yerform: The untot.ich-;:hle castes are outside . . ,__ the.
-·-----···-- - .
varri;fscfierile. . - ·------
.._.......,_.,._,. ... ,............, .. ; ... _>::.-"'•
. ·'
·--- -
The term 'varna' literally means· c and itwas originally sed to refer to the distinctionJ>,£! ;.,1z,x,g
and Dasa, in ancient India. According to the RigNeda, it was not applied to any clas.ses, such as Brahman,
Ksfiaffiyatetc: However, the classes that ·existed at that time later came to b e described· as varna and the
original distinction ·between A r y a and Dasa gave place to the distinction between Arya and Shudra
.
(Ghti,rye 1950). . .· . . . · . ·.
. ... . ' . - ·. .· · · . -. . . . . - . . . . ••
. .'·:· . .. I . (
T h - caste. system is lll__all'-India ..P!!!n m3,.on' o f which the rar ii!lOdE:L2r2vide5. wacr - in; 1C ¥,(al_ t
sche:irte 1.-i other words,· the varna model only provides a frarliework within whi h the _innumerable.
v ns. of-castes throughout India are found. According to M.N. Srinivas (1962) the varna?schemeis a
'hierarchy' -in the -literal sense o f the term because the criteria of rituai purity and pollution a,rC:: a the
basis o f this differ ntiation. Generally speaking the higher castes are also the better off classes, a_nd the
low r castes· are generall/the lower classes. However, this association between caste 'arid _;dass: is· n o t ·
alwc;fy , true. A caste can· be ritually high but ranked lower in the ·local caste hierarchy because this:
hie# rchy is determined b y s:e9:!lar and other non- itu?l ,factors Uke econ<>mic, political, ect.u . tg pa1:
statu s.: thus, one o f the most riking featuresofcaste·;yst Irtha's.been the ..vaguenessirith _higJ:a.rchx,;
especially in the middle rungs. <- 'lt . , ,
. -·. .
"""-{.:.s•. .... - :.<.-_
. p•
. ,X:J.<."•"°!i'"..,. ·-·-·· .. - . t&ijl'· ,_,,..._ . -
According to the varna scheme there are only four categories. This scheme excludes the ti t? :ctiables and
its number is same throughout India. But this is not true in reality since even dudn.g theV¢dic period,
occupational groups existed which were not subsumed b y varna, although one cam_1o_t b ;surewhether .
these groups can be called castes or n o t According to Ghurye, in each linguistic region;there a r e a b o u t
200 caste---·.·-:·-r-..groups
,.
that are further subqivided into· about 3,000 smaller units, each of which are
-.'...;
·"
-
: . ,....
94
endogamous and provides the area of·,eJfective social life for the individual. Therefore, one can say that
the Varna scheme refers at the most only t o th broad categories of th.e soci ty and not to the actual
effecti e··uriifs(Srfnivas i 962). Srinivas-;tates that the V r --sd1 e has certainly distorted the picture of
c'aste but ifha·s·a]so enabled ordinary men and women to understand and assess the general place of _a
caste.withi this fr mework throughout India. lt has provided a common social language, which holds
.;eff in"aH 1iart --of India. This sense ·of familiarity, even when not based on real facts, leads to a sense of
unity amongst the people (Srinivas 1962). It is the varnll frame whichremains more or lessconstant
while castes vary from region to region. Va-rnamay includ diffe ent -castes and these caste·s···m-ay be
·a
furtfiersutr.:·mvraea·Tnio i"ffere n t SU b-castes.
Theories of Origin of Caste

Caste is an institution o f highly complex origin. Its origin is so complex indeed that in its very nature it
must be limited to a single area; and that, no doubt, is why it is only found in India. For although social
institutions that resemble caste in one respect or another are not difficult to find elsewhere, and some of
them undoubtedly have some association with caste in their ultimate origin, yet caste in its fullest sense,
caste, as we know it in India, is an exdti's'ively Indian phenomenon. No comparable institution can be seen.
elsewhere as anything like the· complexity, elaboration and rigidity of caste in India.
• • ., a
.,.x
.:»
.-
·-
_Tcf'd.efihe a caste is harder than to_· give the· deriv'ation of the- term Caste. Herbert Risley defines it J s "a
.groups
co:uiction of families or o f famHiE:!S bearing a coi;nmon name; claiming a common descent from a:
mythical ancestor, human or divine; professing to.follow-the same hereditary calling; and regarded by
those who ar competent to give an opinion as forming a single homogeneous community". ·
One o f the earliest moorings o f the_ origin o f caste system is that it has originated from the yarr:i.e, l.:' .T .:.
-·
Lat_er: on many theories have been put forth to explain the origin of this complex phenomenon.
The earliest European observers o f the caste system were of the opinion that it is a result o f artificia_l
creation, _a devisefor the cl ..c! r_iirlest;_hqog_ f9r the permanent f diyi ion ,and subjection of tht! m·a-s.ses., o t
e h orict-c;;;te a single law giver: ··rlius acco'rc fnif h , -, A bb e-· bub'ais, caste -system is an
irfaigeni:>'us·cfe"v"ise ·ofthe ·s,rahman# i1nd is made by them and. for them. This theory is cdtidzed on the·
basis that a deep rooted and pervasive social institution like the caste system cannot owe its origin to
pure1y·admi 1strative measures:_ Ca . ficial en tit_¥ otgani _P,Een9_m.. n,on:;,.
,but_?!1
Nesfield in his "Brief View o f the Caste System" has advocated the Occupational Theory o f caste. -f-le ·
regards occupation as the exclusive basis of caste distinction and emphasizes the _fact _that artisans
working in metals rank higher. than the basket makers· and. other primitive occupations that. do not .
in_volve the use of metals. He regarded caste as the natural product of the society. In the creation o f rhe ·.
caste system religion had played no role at all. This theory has been criticized on .the following,grounds.· .
T h type of complexity involved in the aste system does not make it easy for its origin; by the virtue o f _·
siJ:npleand superficial criterialike·th'e:"oMupations. Moreovt:;r. he scheme o f occupational status given by - ·.
hini does net ·explain the _situations where in certain parts of-South· Ind.ia though agriculturists belong to.
the lower castes they command respect, whereas iri the Northern part o f the country, they· belong to'··'
generally the ··upper castes. Moreover, if the origins of the caste system -were, a·s· Nesfield maintains/
totally independent of religion, they have undoubtedly received a religious sanction sin<:e.
q hhnann, in his "Das Altindische Volkstum" supports Nesfie d's theory in some measure: He.regards·
. Iri_dian society as organized originally into three natural groups. There are:
1. The priesthood
2. The nobility
3. The bourgeoisie
95
.:. ' : .· .
Anthropology Paper OZ - Volume 03
These three groups are found in every civilized community. These groups represent the divisions o f the
people respectively concerned with the religious, politi,al and economic branches o f life. According to
Dahlmann, these groups correspond to the three twice born Varnas. He conceived that these groups later
split up into smaller groups and communities, some based on relationship and others on community of
occupations. Castes sprang not from the four Varnas but from the infinite number o f groups o f relatives
into which these four Varnas are divided. Dahlmann says that there was a steady progress of
development from classes to corporations and from corporations to castes. Agriculture was originally the
prim Jactor in the economic life of"India; a rival developed in the form o f trade and industry, and the
printiple of division o f labour became so· important that it b came regarded as the duty o f the ruler to
base · economic policy on the division o f labour and distinction of occupations. On the basis o f the old
r1,,nc- nn by classes, corporations gradually arose and guilds o f traders and hand-workers came into
11
existence. Community o f interest among persons following the same craft gave rise to a corporate
prganization, and technical skill was passed on from father to son. Families o f craftsmen thus arose,
bound together by a community o f interest that gave 'rise to a corporate organization and formed a guild.
It is this guild that is really the basis o f the caste system.
Sena:t{in his well-known work "Les CasteJ: dans l'Inde", seeks to account for the caste in an entirely
differ nt way. Fie d es not maintain.that the caste system sprang dniy from primitive Aryan elements but
re acos.them as most important in the creationof.caste system. He regards the Aryan invasion as having
re i:i:rtedJ .: a ·mixed _tace with two o·r ers o(reser-vation·s about purity. One order based on purity of
des·cent arif the other ohpurity o f occu'pation These .reservations led to the formation o f new groups
among which the priestly class alorie maintained a soiid feeling o f esprit de corps, using its moral pow r'
to estaQHsh the caste system. This led to the division into traditional four castes and the classes formed
a s a result o f irregular unions were assigned lower social level. This theory is criticized as postulating
n o n existent simplicity o f the society during the time of Rig Veda. Dalhmann says, this period had no
simple law and customs, but complex civilization with well developed custom and ritual.
Sir Herbert Risley in his book "The people o f India" has relied mainly on theories o f race and hypergamy
· 1 0 explai_n the caste system. He regards the origin o f caste system as primarily due to colour differences
and to a system o f hype_rgamy resulting there from. In order: to base caste on hyperga'my, Risley finds it
ne_ce sary to presuppose a hypotheti.cal point.at which the tesul.t o f intermarriage .between fair invaders
a q d dark.aborigines provides enough women fo_r the socie.ty to close its ranks and become a caste. A.
system of.hypergamy is no doubt explicable as result o f the impact o f colour prejudke on a caste system.
I t is still doubtful h o w hypergamy can give rise to caste system.
Prpf. N.K. Qutt dop · racial theory o f origin· and attaches much more value to the account o f caste in the
Co e of ,Manu. Ghurye em.phasises in particul r the factor of priestly manipulation b y BraI-u.nanas ·
attempting to maintai'n the purity of race. o f Aryan· invaders. Racial exclusiveness and colour prejudice
have ,been common enough in the· history o f the world, but they have nowhere else led to such an
instit tion <:1,s caste. Race and colour prej,udice have no doubt m de an important contribution I to the
f
devel9pment o f the caste system and they"'.have played such a p a f in ,crystallizing this institution that it
could,.-:not haye come _to. posterity. in its .pr:esent form·. · having been subjected to the reagent of
· without
racial prejudice and discrimination. .
Jbbets<m _laid great emphasis on the expfoitation of their'posit1on b y the' Brahmana' caste which :he·
suppp$'es to have degracied all occupations exc pt their own and that o f their patrons o f the ruling clc;1ss.
H e iplains caste as· arising from .a .combination .of tribal, origins, JuIIctional guilds aIIQ_ re!igfo .s
mOI qpoHes . . These featurestribes, guilds.and.religious monopolies havecontributed t o the. growth a_nq
exte,1i ion o f the caste system. They have also contributed to the consolidation and perpetuation of i t But,
o n e cannot consider these as the causes for the origin o f the caste system. These are the features that are
,not unique to India but are also present i n many societies. in many countries, whereas caste system is
-p iqlle to Indian society only. There is nothing in these three, except priestly order which gives. rise to
th t<:aste system.
96
According to Hocart. the whole y t m i:;1of caste originated in ritual. He regards the four Varnas as a
division of the people devised p imarily· for ritualistic purposes. They represent the four points of the
compass as do the colours red, white, yellow and black. The functions or the occupations performed by
the various castes are in fact the aspects of daily ritual.
Slater put forth a theory for the origin of the caste system that combines both functional and racial
origins, in his work "Dravidian Elements in Indian Culture". He emphasizes the fact that caste is actually _
stronger in Southern than in Northern India, and suggests that caste arose in India before the Aryan.
inv sion as a result of occupations becoming _hereditary and marriages being arranged by parents within
the society of the common craft because sexual maturity is early and trade secrets were thus preserved.·
As a result of magic and religious ceremonies also, exclusive occupational groups were built up, marriage
outsjde became contrary to practice. The Aryan invasion had the effect of strengthening a tendency to.
associate difference of caste with a difference of colour and of strengthening also a tendency for castes to
be placed in a scale of social precedence.
Linton draws attention to the probability that India formed at some time in its past, part of the
Austronesian region in which ther . 4JclS been, since Palaeolithic times, a fundamental pattern of.
organization on th_e basis o f sm ll endog1mous groups. This pattern assumes various forms, but it is,.,
Iin ed With a predominant importance of kinship as the basis for organizing the reciprocal behaviour of ·
the>grdup's me·mbers. fo such a system; it would be a_n easy matter for caste to develop in respons to •
fr quent invasions and to the _emergence of an urban culture, as it would provide a flexible mechanism for
encapsulating foreign elements and for developing guild systems to their logical conclusions.
All these theories of the caste system l a t emphasis on the phenomenon rather than the causes of the
system.· None of these theories explain the role played by the primitive conceptions like "mana" and soul- .
substance in. the formation of the caste system. Moreover the importance of understanding the
interactions between the lndo-Aryan Varna system and pre Dravidian occupational class system is not
highlighted.
Hutton in his Census _Report has propounded the theory of Mana. He mentions that there are several
places i_n India where every· village is a political unit and all its members g_enerally practice· a common ,-
occupation. ·' In these areas occupation is the only ba e of social ·st_ratificat.ion. · Such conditions also ·
- ! prevailed in India.before the ·Aryans. Thus.Hutton ·comes to the conclusion that caste elements-existed in:'·
India before the Aryan invasion. When Ary"an settled down, they strengthened the-pre-existing division::· .
o f the society by fixing their position at the top. Further, Hutton mentions that· caste restrictions
- : . developed on the account of Mana. All primitive people believe on· it and regard it as supernatural power.
which possesses a faculty of doing both good and bad. · It is believed that this. power transmits through _·
..
..
contact and social intercourse. Therefore, fear of Mana imposed restrictions upon all members regardi_ng_ .
I . .. '
; food.;drfrrk and marriage.
. Dominant Caste
M.N. Srinivas gave the ·concept o f dominant caste. This ·concep_t is cniciarto t h e ·understanding. of rural. '
social life in most parts of India. A study of locally dominant castes and :their kirid of. dominance is -'
f§. - -n, :i !S - .:1Jr -i.tne__ _ e ,t r-_·tj iw»:fff:f!{t .ififage·. the settleme_nt of a.dispute at th levelarea.
.of village
or caste or to understand the pattern and analysis of Sanskritization among several castes man
. . . . ...
. . .
M;N. Srinivas defined a Dominant.Caste in the f Uowing terms . ." A caste may be setto be dominarttwhen it
pr ponderates ,numerically-over t h e othercastes and also·wields:preponderan_t economicand;political .• .
power. A large and powerful· caste group can most easily dominate if its position in the local. caste··
hierarchy is not too low".
In his eventual publications, Srinivas has identified certain other criteria that he holds are alsoessent}aL: -
for any caste to be "dominant.". These are the number of educat d persons hi" the castes an(l-th"e:
occupations they are involved in. He calls this ctiterion " estern'·' because it is the western non.,_;;·
traditional education that is the means_ of a quiring this dominance.
' 97
.... •,
A caste, if it enjoys-all the elements of domifianc-e, may be said to be dominant in a decisive way. But
decisive dominance is not common. More frequently, the differen·1:-elements o f dominance are distributed
among-different· castes ,;in a village. Thus a caste that is rituallf-·supedor may be poor and lacking
numerical strength, while a populous caste may be poor and ritually inferior.
But when a caste'.-efijoys one form of dominance, in course of time, it will be able to .::icquire the other
forms o f domi ance as well. Thus a caste, which is numerically strong and wealthy, will be able to move
up in. the ritual:hierarchy if it Sansk"ritizes its ritual. and ·way of iife, and aiso loudly and persistently
proclaims itseif to be what it wants to be. That means, the more forms of dominancethat a caste enjoys,
the easietis it for ac:gµiririgthe rest.
The l{i:ttt«?fte1 tiqri$ ;;(ca_ste maintains w,ith other castes is influeri<:ed b y its numerical strength and this,
according· to -M N. Srinivas, is one of the reasons why each mµlti caste village constitutes a unique
h'.i "rar' lty.. No two villages are identical either in the number of astes epresented or in the numerical
st ength ·and wealth of each resident caste. In ·fact, the s me.caste. may occupy different pos_itions in the
n 11gJ:1QQltflng. y@\ges?' There are also where the position of the caste is influenced by
co1ns1.cte_r;:J.tums such as the land owned .:members and th_e degree to which its way of life is
'\
Sanskritized andWesternized.
W h e t ? t h i same caste occupies· aifferent positions i n different villages; the segment of the caste that is
occupyin·g a lower position ·will be· stimulated to move up in the local hierarchy. They will try to identify
with people whom they regard as having higher positions than themselves.
With the. exception of the untouchables, when a caste is numerically strong, its members have the
assurance that the other castes in the village will not be able to subject them to any insult or exploitation -
consideratjons of power do prevail. The members o f the non-dominant castes may be abused, underpaid
for work, or their women a·re required to gratify the sexual desires of the. powerful men in. the dominant
castes. The concentration of the members of a caste in to a ward - a feature o f the village India, adds to
•.
their sense of security.
. .
A patron following, adds M.N. Srinivas, can be made to yield a.member of non-dominant caste economic
and other benefits.Patrons from the dominant c ste can secure a large number of followers than the
patrons fr.om.the -non-dominant castes. The rural patrons are "vote banks" for the politicians during the_
elections as they-.are approached. for the votes. In r turn, the patrons expect favours. This existence o f
links between patrons ·and politidans establishes :a continuum between the rural and the urban forces, .
making them responsive to each other. Disputes are referred to patrons for settlement, and where there
is a dedsively dominant caste,·the biggest patrons usually come from that caste.
Tr ditl,onal councils can be divided into .caste,councils and village councils,. depending upon the.kind o f ·
issue before the patrons. The caste council usually has jurisdiction over disputes among mtjmbers of a
single:c:aste. ln a dispute in which membersY,fdjfferent castes arei,nvolved, patrons from the concerneci. _
castes a:nd a few patrons from dominant caste form the council: THe patrons of the dominant caste have
jurisdiction over-all
o
the castes living in the area. The untouchables are the only people who us:ually .t r y or,_
make an e f f rt to ·settle their disputes among themselves.
The p. tr,on-client tie is of .crucial importance. in the settlement of disputes. It is so powerful that disputes
are alWa:y ·-referred u·pwards from clients to patrons. As the patrons and clients frequently belong to
differ'e)1(castes, there is no .strong sentiment that a dispute should be settled within the caste. "Disputes
are m.cfr .':_easily _settled locally·if··the patrons are powerful and-come-from a caste, which is decisively
dominant,Where a caste .is dominant in a group o f neighbouring villages, the influence of patron extends
far beyond his own village.
The patrons of the dominant caste tend to support, if not create, local· structures f authority. In
conson ance with this principle, they apply to the disputants the customs and rules that the latter
recognize as binding, even when they are different from the_ customs and rules that are binding on the
98
dominant caste. This respect for the mon1l ,code of every caste is one of the reasons, according to M.N.
Srinivas, why the decisions o f the council still continue to be
. r_espected.
. ;I
Thus, the study of locally dominant caste is essential to ·the understanding o f rural society in India. It is
the numerical streng h, economic and political power, ritual status and western education and
occupations that are the most important elements of dominance. Usually the different elements of
dominance are distributed among different castes in a viHage. When a caste enjoys all the elements, it
may be said to have decisive dominance.
Caste Mobility - Continuity and Change

Caste is by definition a dosed social system whose membership is acquired by virtue of birth. Rules of
endogamy and restrictions on social intercourse between castes help to maintain the insularity of such·
groups. From a purely Brah manic or Sanskritic view, it appears as ·if this system is rigid and closed.
However, when we examine historical data ranging back to the Vedic period we find that in reality there
existed a lot of fl il:>Hi_ty. SQflli!-.I1LQb }_Cill£ £!L,_?,£_econorn!s , -1l ,_golitic ,.. g,2 w, ,r.,, .. a
c mon : t e '. 1:!i t ri 1;1,x st ;B gn1 2 ,that in 1nct1an history, the J1(.ta$,"}'.'l J ,t . .l ;St
true R'.sfiatf.1yas (around 5th Century B.c.), and smce then all the so-called Kshatnyas have come mto
'fiemgoy'usurpation o f power by the lower castes that acquired the Kshatriya role and social ·position. -
Ca sys,te i , therefore a dy a :.".E: !- .!Y.!!JL;, ,,.,ru: .,t_ :_,g_ : 70.Qf J l j p_tli.tY., jn r.m . .<?L} !.- !· a! ... • ·.-.
J
s.��:��ftr��:��:<;;i:::�--·-··-··--�
· _ · - .
Social mobility refers to the process by which individuals or groups move from one social status to
another in the social hierarchy. Social mobility- can be ei_ther upward -or downward. Upward social
mobility is one where the individual or group moves from-a lower status in the hierarchy to the upper: -
Downward mobility is when a person or group moves from a higher status to a lower one in the hierarchy_•
(the theory ofsocial mobility is discussed in the topic on Social Stratification in Paper 1). Caste has been
considered· to be a closed system o f stratification However, in reality no system can be absolutely closed;
"" f
In fact, social m Hity''nas a ltva'J s*'oee n'c ha racfe rf'z ing the caste system:"whenwe"laTita'Efo'uCcaste 'an.f "·
social mobility, we are essentially dealing with the processes of social change in Indian society.
Sociologists and anthropologists observe that in spite of t_he dosed nature o f caste system, there have-
been changes in caste hierarchy and. its norms frorn "time to time. For example; the culturally ac_cepted(:
practices-during the Vedic period o f Hinduism became·a taboo in the periods that followed. Some o f th·ese ·'
practices ·were Vedic Hinduism was magico-animistic; Vedic Brahmans· drank soma (liquor); offered ::.
animal sacrifice and ate beef. These
· practices were prohibfted later but they continued amongst the lower:;_•
castes (Singh 1973). ·
Caste mobility as a process o f social and cultural change has been explained by Srinivas in his co_nceptof
f
SafiSkritizatioh. ·-The w i f espt_ead social and cultural process called Sanskritization -is a process :,whe're a·
low Hindu taste changes its customs, _rites, rituals, ideology and way o f life in the direction o f h_igh and
speeifitally twice-born castes This'has pav tl the way for mobility to·occu·r ,within the caste system.Wit:h'
the-advent of the British, ·the opening up o f frontiers by means of roads, and railway and economic"·· · ·
opportunities cutting across caste barriers increased· the process_of caste I_!iooility. · · · ·
. . .. , . . .
.
. . .
-: .
Besides Sanskritization, another major agent o f social. change was· Westernization. Westernization
indudes the influences, which swept' over India during the British rule, bringing in the ideologies or··
El,@riSIJl, !}, ta ,i !sm and- <?..S1:. o/-T_he new opp rtunitie_s in.._e? uc _o n, ·e o .{ a n d
m theory, caste-free and open to all. No one could be de med access by reason of b1rtn m a part1cular,,caste, . :.
- !, !X f;fe _} ,
sect-or rel ion: -: Hov: cv c r, n6"s·otial'change can bring bout total thange'ofa society Therefore;·we find'
that-·the social organization exemplified by the caste system has undergone several _changes andtyef :_
continues to showcase both tradition and modernity.
r , · ,_. . ._, . , . . . ,_, ,_ i : - ·-""" . . . . . , . . . . , :. ,
,::.
.-; ,:
...,
:.;
.
• .;,
..._. . :..
Caste and Ritual Status: The· notions of hierarchical gradation ofcaste groups drawing legitimacy f Jli, ...
religion and the concept -o f purity and pollution liave· changed ·with the passing o f time. The:-·structu1ql' -
distance between various castes has heen defined in-terms of purity arid polhitfon. Correspo"i1dingfofbe-.-::_
99
caste hierarchy are hierarchie s in food, traditional caste occupation, and s tyle s o f life. Endogamy and
s o c ial restraint s regarding commen s a lity and free interaction between different ca s te s in the local caste
hierarchy were clearly defined and ritualized. A s Mshlm anjotJ\2.?fil.P.QJSS-- is. s tu.,d,y of,tkKi,sh n
G h_i, village iri!JJ:., the exchange o f food and drink between different ca s te s w a s patterned within the
framework o f the jajmani s y s tem . The pattern related to who will eat with whom, what kind of food will
be served b y whom, and s o on. T h u s , interaction between ca s te s wa s highly ritualized prior to the impact
.of W e s ternizatio n. During the la s t few decade s , a s a result of the force s of moderr.ization, the ideology o f
ca s t, has become le s s perva s ive in an individual's day-to-day life. Caste ritual s have become increasingly .
a per s o nal affair, rather than public due to changed circum s tance s o f living, force s o f industrialization,
and . _urbanization. Place o f re s id e nce and food habit s are influenced more b y an individual' s workplace
andtpccupation than by hi s or her ca s t e or religion. In a city a person generally doe s not a s k the ca s te o f a
cookwho s erve s in a restaurant A per s o n who might be a Brahman by ca s te may work in a s hoe factory,
and so on. Harold Gould in hi s s tu dy o f the rickshawallahs o f Lucknow (1974) ob s erve d that the rickshaw-
puller s whom he studied belonged to different ca s tes. While working they interacted with each other
without ob s erv ing any ca s te restriction s . However,when these ricks hawpullers went back to their homes
in tlie evening they observed .all. the ritual practices of their ca s te Their kin belonged to their own ca s te
and 'they married within their o w n c a s te. Thi s ' exam-ple illu s trates the point that in workplace the ca s te
norm s are set a s id e but in per s o nal family life t h e caste norms predominate In thi s s en s e, out of the two
ma141Jearures of,ca te ·sys te m idehtified by M a x Weber (1948), namely, commensality and connubium,
thecoinmen s aHty a s pect has di s a pp ea re d but the corinubium, i.e. ca s te and kinship a n d m_arriage link, yet
survives _in spite .of all_ other changes. Connubium refe rs to the right and obligation o f member s o f a
category o f m e n t o choo s e their wives from a pre s cribed category o f women. The two group s are said to
have o r maintain connubium. T h e ritual a s pect of caste is confined to the per s onal s ph ere .
Caste and Economic Sphere: T h e ideology. of ca s te pre s cribed s pecific occupations for specific caste
group s , ·which -had a s pecific place in the social hierarchy. The vocation s of the upper ca s tes w·ere
con s idered to b e the mo s t pre s tig iou s while the occupation s of the lower ca s te s , e s pecially the
untouchable s wer_e-con s idered to be polluting and defiling. The advent of the Briti s h. s a w new economic
opportunities flowing out, and-reaching the ma s s e s . The opening up o f plantation s , development of t wn s
and cities faid the basi s for economic development, which intruded into the functioning o f the ca s te
s y s tem. The gro th o f o n e y economy enabled economic relation s to be governed b y market condition s
a s oppo s ed to inherited s tatu s . Certain caste group s flouri s h ing in the w,ake o f new b us ine s s
.
opportunities inve s ted their profits in land. Becau s e o f ·1and reform s like permanent settle ent
.
introduced during the Briti s h rule, land came into the market and thu s cea s ed to be tied to ca s te.
The s tability o f cc1s t e monopolie s over land, which wa s enforced by family inheritance, came under attack.
Ow.ner s h ip o f land provided a yardstick b y which the focal pre s t ige sy s tem-w a s ·m ea s u req . The low caste
_to
we·r: ;; thu s able s ur mou_nt the ob s ta cle s po s ed by tradition ·and began t o •participate in the economic
proqe s s . The breakdown o f the .traditional eco·nomic- s y s tem and the,.emergence o f lower c ¥ t e :groµps 'in·_
e<;0J}Pmic riva\ry rather than cooperation. undermined the Brah a dominanc _found· in Ta,_nlore, Tamn·
Na :g This has been attributed to the changing village s tru ture from a clo s ed stationary sy s e in _t o that o f -
a relatively open one; The clo s ed s y s t em WclS_ characteri s tic o f feudal ec.ohomy resulting irt.coo_peration
between ranked castes in w a y s ordained b y religious idea s . An open sys tem i s one which is governed by
s ecula r l a w under the influence o f market econo:my.
Th Jajmani system:; which was a hereditarypatron-cli nt relation s h ip, with the worker_ tradi onally tied
to NS..master, lost .mo s t o f its insularity. Market economy, daily wages;"and hired labor steadily eroded the
. fonptio11ing o f the traditionaljajmani s y s tert1.
.traditional
Th{ village s yste m o f economy underwent dra s tic change s with the._ i tro9uction o f
mer_cantilism and has becc>me a part o f larger and wider global economic 'sys tems. T h e s t u 1y 'of Bis i ara
Village in Orissa- b y RG. Bailey (1955) is an important _case in point Bi s ipara i_n Qri s s a Y'i s d changes
due to t h e ·coming o f land ·into the market _as a result o f certain economic fo.rc.es· setirt; moti?Jl. b y the
Bri_tish rule. Introduction o f new transport and communication s ystems, mass media arid othe(economic
reforms, 'comm'.erdalization o f economy ,has taken place. A per s on participated as an individual in
100
commercial economy. The village witn ssed a breakdown of the traditional economic organization in
which there was division o f labor and 'cth1 isidn of wealth according to caste. Bailey noted that the changed
political atmosphere under· the British disturbed the traditional caste hierarchy and the power structure
o f the village. He wrote, "the ultimate seat of political power moved outside the village. At the same time,
redistribution of wealth upset the political structure inside the village. Division of wealth no longer
followed the same lines as caste division" (Bailey 1955). However, B iley also maintains that although
there was an internal reshuffle of positions, the -caste system continued to order political relations
between the groups concerned and to reflect ·their economic status. Thus, in this sense, in spite· of the
tremendous changes that caste had undergone, it continued to exist.
Another important way in which we can see the continuity of caste is that when the new forces of socio-
economic, political and educational changes came, it was the already powerful, wealthy upper castes,
such as the Brahmans, Rajputs and the Vaishyas who benefited initially from these changes. The Brahman
sections responded first to English education and therefore, benefited from political and administrative
power. The same pattern is visible in the commercial sector too. The great business houses like Birlas,
Dalmias, etc., belonged to the traditional commercial castes. In banking the castes like the Chettiars of
South established themselves in the .Il}odern.,systems of banking and commerce that was an extension of
their traditional occupation.
Caste,;md Political.Sphere: A system of social stratification such as the caste rests upon the unequal
distribution of power between· status groups having definite positions in the prestige hierarchy. In any
social strata the upper echelons face the problem of how to maintain their positions that they and their
ancestors at one time achieved against the more socially disabled segments of the population. To
maintain their position of superiority the higher strata must be able to control the mechanism of
coercion. How was this possible? The political system of the pre-British India was characterized by clear
. terri orial changes marking off the territory of one chieftain or Raja from the territories of the other.
These boundaries constituted effective barriers between people living under different chieftains. At the
village level caste panchayats and caste councils functioned as the local governing bodies. Such a political
system imposed severe limits on ·extension of caste ties. Here the cultural and political boundaries
overlapped with each other. The British rule set the castes free from the territorial limitations inherent in
the .Pre-British political system. It is widely held that civil and penal codes introduced by the British over
the sub-continent of India in 1860 took away the power exercised by caste panchayats. The British had
also introduced a new principle of justice wherein all men were equal before faw and that the nature of
wtong is not affected b y the caste of the per mn who is committing it and by ·the caste :of the person ·
against whom it is committed.
Wtih the advent of democracy and decentralized. politics in the form o f the three-tier Panchayati Raj
system- saw politics .carried down to the grassroots level. Caste became a prominent variable in electoral
politics>The demands o f organized party ysteni. in politics have brought about a coalition of castes:Sub-
castes.and s·ub-divisions in sub·castgican find an active field of engagement in village politics. The
introduction. of democratic. decenfral1 atioh and universal suffrage protected the interests of the
backward classes (which include the sched ed castes, scheduled tribes and other bac ard classes) in
· education; employment and political life, against th·e dominance of the traditionally powerful castes:
The d9minant caste was a factor to reckon with in village India. Not all t h e dominant castes were ritually"
superior. Dominance in a sense could be com_bined with land-ownership, political· power, numerical .
strength, and so on. In some r gions of Western and Northern India one encounters dominant" p asan(
castes ·combining land-ownership and political .powec The coming o f market economy; the decline of the
.
traditionareconomic systems (a good exantpte· is that of the decline of Brahman hegemony in Tarijore),
caste-free occupations and mobilization of caste groups. have all resulted in the .decline. of the t d{tiopal
political role of castes. Yet, w e find that caste retains its political significance. This is vident, for ex·amp_le,,, ·
in the case of the political mobilization o f caste groups in Madhopur, U.P. In this village, the ra_n. of.
Noniyas, the· salt-makers and Chamars, thele ther-makers joined hands in opposing the lo,ally domintjnt_·
upper caste Thakurs. Thakurs were the Rajput .landlords an<;! the trpd1tiqnal dispen ers of ju tice ,9f_
erstwhile masters of the lower caste :. of-this village. Thus, caste, hich ·was a dividing-factor, reshaped
101
itself in the new circumstances to form a unifying factor.

It is very clear now that caste as a dynamic reality of Indian society has accomparued changes and in the
process has continued to survive the onslaught o f time. The characteristics o f adaptability to forces of
change have been a feature of the caste in the past and it continues to remain its main characteristic even
today. This pattern o f change therefore constitutes an element of continuity of this system. The changes
introduced dttring the British period and post-independent India have witnessed the changing functions
o f caste and how it has continued to exist as a social institution unique to India.
··";7"·
The Future of Caste System

In o-rder to better appreciate whether caste system survives in the modern society, we need to look at ·
some fundamental changes taking place within the caste system. Apart from ideological changes, the
caste system has also demonstrated changes in its organization, structure and functions.
TraQ.sition from Closed to Open Systems of Mobility
The_.I dfan society has witnessed transitiorri froni closed systems q f social mobility to open systems. A
clos d .system has been described as one in which elem.ents like caste, class and power are combined
tOK J;. In
oth, r. ords, this systfm is. based on "cumulative inequalities" where .higher caste impl_ies.
highef .c,_ass and ccmse_que.ntly higher pow.er. A n open system is one in which inequalities o f caste,. class
and power are dispersed. In this case a person can be of lower caste but can belong to upper class. This
system .has ·more avenues for social mobility open for the lower castes and classes in terms of
employment, education, economic enterprise, politics, etc.
The caste system as a closed system of stratification in pre-British India does n o t mean that there was no
social mobility possible t that time. The change in the caste system today is due to the forces of
mod_ernization s.et free by the British. Another force of change is our ·adoption o f parliamentary
democracy and giving us a constitution that seeks to secure tq all its citizens justice, liberty, equality and
· fra.ternity. · ·
One o f the major consequences o f introducing parliamentary d mocracy was th?t every Indian adult
abqve the-age o f 18. (and since the Elections in 1989 voting age has been reduced to 18 years) has the
rightto vote his ·qr her leader to power. Since, eve r y individual vote counts, it is impe_rative for a leader to
ge the allegiance o f . the people. In this_ sense numerical power and caste identity has become ve r y
important
T h e mod·eril'political system, new market forces, dev·elopment of science and tecbnology has had several"
repercussions on the traditi<>'nal caste structure. The association between elements o f different kinds of·
land-ownership, politkal po_wer and status based on caste is slowly giv"ing w a y to status achieved through
ea1L1ca1uon, new occupations available due >l 9 the opening up .of n e w economic opportu11ities, higher
.111, v1,u_, and so on. In his study o f Caste, Clasi aand Power Changil)g hatterns ·o f Stratification ·;[I a Tanjori:
r;;;,
Vi/lag ; Andre Beteille (1%.6) wrote that earlier (i.e. in pre-British period) education wets -a vi.rtu.al ·
monopoly -of the Brahmans who dominated this area. B u t at the time o f his study; the educational system
had:become far more open, both in prin iple and in practi e. Many nbn-Brahmins and even untouchable
b o y s ··attended the schools at Sripuram (the village studied by Beteille) and the adjacent t o w n , o f
Thi Yc\liyur. Because'ofthis education the non-Brahmans and the Adi-Dravidas (the lowest castes) could
-corrip -te on more· equal terms· with the· Brahmans for white-colfarjobs. It helped. them to· participate in
t h e .R-*l tical affairs more .equally with the Brahmans.
Accofding to Beteille, in the towns and cities white-collar jobs were relatively cas e-ftee. Non-Brahmins
f r o m Sripuram coo.id work as clerks or accountants-in offices at Thiruvaiym: and:Tanjore.alongwiththe
Brahmins. Within he village, land had come into the market due to several factors. This enabled the non-
Brahmins ·an even a ·rew:Adi-Dravidas to ·buy i t Thus, the productive organization o f the vi.l}age tended
t o ·become free from the st:rucaire o f caste (Beteille 1966). Beteille had come to the con·dusion that in a
·way.changes in the distribution o f power we\ , the most radical change in· the traditional social structure.
102
He said that the traditional elites of Srip rqrn, comprising the Brahm in landowners, had lost its grip over
the village and the new leaders of the· vil_iage depend for power on many factors in addition to caste.
Organizations providing new bases o ( power have come into existence. These organizations and
institutions were at least formally free of caste. All these changes in effect altered, if not weakened, the
role of caste in the political arena (Beteille 1966).
Caste and Modern Political Dynamics
Unlike the European experience, political democracy in India did not emerge as a natural development of
ideas, values and technologies. In fact, the notion of political democracy was adopted by the national
leaders to serve the people o f India in the best way possible. Thus, the values and attitudes, which went
with this form o f polity, had to be inculcated in its people. The new political order believes in the ideology
o f universalism and in principle rejects the demands of caste. However, in practice it has accommodated a
variety of interests, in addition to those o f caste. Caste has, in fact, come to terms with the democratic
political process. Political conflicts can almost be seen as conflicts between caste groups or caste alliances.
The beginning of political consciousness on caste lines is evident in references made to caste sabhas or
caste associations. The reason for_ tl)Js 1dev_elopment can be seen in the fact that politics being a
competitive enterprise, its purpose is the acquisition of power for realization of certain· goals. This is
possible through identifying and manipulating the existing, as well as emerging alliances. Politics has
drawh';,faste into its w e b for organizing support and in articulating the needs of the· masse·s. lrt"making ·
politics their sphere o f activity, caste and kin groups attest their identity to strive for positions of power.
Different parties and movements mobilize various social status groups as resources for their political
objectives. Thus, selection of political candidates on the basis o f .caste is still a common practice in the
electoral dynamics o f India. Caste provided for organized party politics a ready-made system of
segments, which could be used to marshal support. Liberal education, government patronage, and an
expanding franchise have been major factors that have penetrated the caste system. Discontent nd
exploitation prevailing within the cas e groups provided a basis for organizing caste factions and
alliances. Thus modern politics found an. on-going vertical network o f caste and made the structure of
caste a political vehicle.
According to Rudolph and Rudolph (1967), caste has in its transformed state, .helped tile Indian masses
(of which nearly 70_ percent live in the vilfa.ges) make a success o f representative d·emocracy. It has
fostered the growth o f equality by making Indians less separate and more·alike. indians are becoming less
separate in the sense that due to the· electoral system numerical strength i.e., the number of votes,· as.
mentioned earlier, makes a lot of difference in power. Thus, it is in the interest o f large majority of castes
to come together to achievetheir political goals. In this.process, caste associations and caste federations
are formed. Formation o f caste federations refers to a grouping together of members 9f di.stinct
endtigamqus groups _into a single oi;-ganization for common objectives. One· of the. most active caste
feqer tion is the Kshatriya Sabha o f Gujar t It dates from 1946 a11d includes several jat;-clusters of the
region, notably the Raj puts, Bariyas'ariiNiHitls. It was not .qnly a caste community but was also a political
community. The Sabha ,had .made use·,9f new avenues.of politics· and· promoted _Rajp t leaders. The
·federation welcomed alljcitis whoJollowe.d the Rajput modeUn th.eir life. style. Even the poor landless and.
Muslim Rajputs (Rajputs who converted to Islam) were takeQ into their fold. The fo nder o f the sabha
believed that Kshatriyas were a 'class' and. _not.just a caste. OTo prove this point many of the rich,.
aristocratic:: Rajputs would even go. to the extent of having a common meal with the .Bariyas and Bhils.
W{th Iltirherical strength ther ·gained poHtical importance-and influen e (Kothari 1970)...
The relationship that caste bears to politics can;be best·understood· in· t:erms\of three type.s o f political"
mobilizations discussed by Rudolph and Rudolph ( i °967) that exemplify different phases_ o f political·
developme t in India. T.hese three.types of political mobilizations are vertical, horizontal and differentiaL
A Vertical Mobilization: This is a process in which political support is acquired by the traditional
. notabi s, such as .th_e erstwhile Rajas, feudatory land ords, locally .dominant ca te elites and so on.
This is possible in a society organized and in_tegrated along caste lines having mutual dependence.
103
and where legitimacy of traditional authority still survives. Due to their traditional authority the
notables are able to get the support of their dependents, socially inferior groups in the traditional
manner where the local Raja or landlord used to protect and pr:omote the interests of his 'pmja'
i.e., the subjects and in return gained their loyalty and respect Rudolph and Rudolph maintain
that vertical mobilization remains a viable strategy for dominant classes and castes until
dependents, tenants, and clients become politicized enough to be mobilized by ideological appeals
to class or community interests and sentiments.
i t Horizontal Mobilization: This is a process in which popular political support is marshaled by
•· class or community leaders and their specialized organizations. As the term horizontal indicates,
the solidarity among classes and caste groups, as provided by the caste federations, introduces a
new pattern of cleavage by challenging the vertical solidarities and structures of traditional
societies. The major diff rence between this form of mobilization and vertical mobilization is,,that
here the agent of mobilization is the political party rather than the local notable. Here political
parties appeal to voters directly as individuals or indirectly through the organized groups to
which they belong. Direct appeals to individual voters may emphasize ideology or issues, on the
one hand, or community identifitatib'.n ,through caste, on th.e rother. This mobilization is possible
o ly as long as internal differentiation has not developed a'n'd caste communities are by and large
homogeneous, cohesive and their interests are _still diffuse _and varied.
, C. Differential Mobilization: This process takes place when the changes that caste has and is
undergo_ing carries it beyond the traditional ascriptive definition. These changes include internal
differentiation or fission, arid integration of several caste groups in caste federations and
associations i.e. fusion which exp_ress the shared interests, symbols and norms of these castes. lt
also brings out the caste from its village frontiers and hence does not remain rooted to the village
social structure alone. W e can explain the differential mobilization through the example of the
Rajputs of Rajasthan. The Rajputs were the rulers, feudal lords, court retainers of princely states
before Independence. At that time they formed an association called the Kshatriya Mahasabha
which initially." represented all ranks within the community. In 1954 a new caste association was
formed called the Bhooswami Sangh. This new association brought into open the conflict between
the "small" Rajputs whose modest landholdings had to be supplemented by income fron1 service
under . the princes and .jagirdars. These princes and jagirdars, however, had in most cases
dismissed them from service with the advent of the land reforms after lndep'endence. T_hus, when
·the rich and powerful Raj puts ·refused t o protect the interests of the "small" Raj puts, they formed
the Bhooswami Sangh. This sangh took up, the task of protecting the interests. of the "small"
Rajputs. Political parties, at this time, were quick to capitalize ·on _these class and ideological
. differe ces ithin the Raj put community. This example illustrates ·the process of differentiation
that occurs within the caste community and is used by the political parties.
F
T I
.D
'>
l "'
f l •ni
f
' 'f
t o f Caste Associations
Cast ,assodatioils are·defined as "paracommunities which enable members of castes to pJrsue social
mobility,· political p'ower, a d economic . adv.antage" (Rudolph and Rudolph 1967) .. Caste associations
resemble in many ways to the voluntary associations or interest groups found in industrially advanced
.i'
societies. However, caste associations or paracomm_unities are distincfin many respects from voluntary
ass·oi;fations; a s well as from natural associations like caste out of which they have developed. The caste
· asso ;iations are more like the v luntary associations at the organizational level than the traditional caste
stru ¥iires 7, It, has offices.memb,ership; incipient bureaucr9tization and. legislative process that can be seen
. thrQµgll conferences, delegates, and r:esolutions. But, unlike the voluntary associations, caste associations
are·' n'.a"racterized.by a 'shared sense of culture, characte.r and status>whfch gives it solidarity not found in
vofo_nfary asso<;iations. .
. ,. . ., . .
The functions o f caste associations are diverse."lt serves the Indian society by both leveling the sacred and
hf rcrr.chical c ste order and also rep)acing it. It initiates·and manages the efforts o f the lower castes to
become twice-born and achieve higher rituaJ rank and culture. This is clear from the case:of the Nadars of
.,
Tamii Nadu, a low caste of toddy_ tap.peJS., who through the efforts of their association, the Nadar
Mahojana Sangarn formed in 1910, acquit ed not only higher status but also a modern organization to
serve their needs.
According to Kothari (1970: 115), some of the objectives of this association are
1. To promote the social, material and general welfare of the Nadars
2. To take practical measures for the social, moral, and intellectual advancement of the Nada rs
3. To start schools and colleges for imparting western education to Nadar children and to help poor but
deserving pupils belonging to the community with scholarships, books, fees, etc.
4. To encourage and promote commercial and industrial enterprise among the members of the
community
These and several other objectives of this caste association and caste associations in general, reveal the
significant contribution that these. organizations
,.,, r ,: :, provided to their communities. We see that the
paracommunities or caste assodations coritribute to fundamental structural and cultural change in Indian
society by providing an adaptive institution in which both the traditional as well as modern features of
society_ canmeet and fuse.
In the 'final· analysis we see that caste is loosing the functions, norm.s, and structures it once had and
acquiring new ones to suit the new demands arid emerging soci9-l conditions. It is today serving the i·itual
and occupational goals o f traditional society more as well as it is helping Indian society to transform itself
from an ascriptive, hierarchical and closed system to one which is achievement oriented, relatively
egalitarian and open (Rudolph and Rudolph 1967).
A small section o f lnd.ian population comprising the educated elites, probably powerful but numerically
insignificant, desires that caste system ought to go. For a vast majority o f the Indian pop.ulation, especially
the Hindus envisaging a social system without caste is impossible. Caste is part of their :social identity a·nd
existence. The joint family and caste system provide the individual in our society some of the benefits,
which a welfare state provides in the i!]dustrially advanced countries; Castes.rands for a certain a:rrtmint
of. cultural homogeneity. However, it has its evil and exploitative side too, whkh .most o f the castes;
especially the upper castes, have not perceived completely. It is essential to. remember that n6thing
effective can be achieved unless and until the people themselves are made to realize t}:le. unjust nature of
caste system. The principle o f caste is so firmly entrenched in our political and sociaUife that everyone,
.including the political leader,_ appears to have accepted tacitly.
Th :_coming o f modern means of.communication has increased the 'horizontal stretch o f caste' Fctf:-:flgng
0
ca te groups are able to interact and communicate with each other and find commonalties· and slfarea ·
interests to form clusters and this 11,q ,:;;.te!iVlted in the increaseof caste solidarity within 'a :region. :One
effect of universal adult franchise is the strJngthening of caste consciousnes.s; PoUticalp°a ties are at pains
to·select candidates who have a social base, usually drawn the locaUy fiomfnarit caste grou.psY-lds
. .
from
obvious that the eradicatio·n o f caste is a distant r ality, desplte the lrtditatfons: to· the· contrary:.
As long as caste performs the functions o f a welfare state in India and provides for the common bonds··of
kinship ties, political groups and alliances, it can be assured ofa continued existence in modern lndia 1t
:-/; .
.The Jajmani System
Tb carry on any civilization men must specialize their work in complex ways a·nd exchange their prddnc_ts
. and services in a regular manner. That is, they are interdependent and they follow.a. characteristic order
o f interdependence.· This is scarcely a new revelation; but.in studying the people of India it is especially
important to clarify the.actual as well as the purported in erdependerice.
The traditional specialisation of a villager follows the specialisation assigned to his jati, which covers
105
preferred, permitted and forbidden occupations. The traditional modes of exchange are the counterparts
of this specialisation; in village society they entail both contract and status relations. That is, they invo]ve
a range of relationships along a scale from purely contractual, individual, impersonal, temporary, limited
transactions at one end to broadly supportive, group-oriented, and long-term, multiple bonds at the
other.
The broader, more durable relations are essentially those between a food-producing family and the
families that supply them with goods and services; These are called "jajmarii" relations, the Hindi word
for them as used in William Wiser's study of the subject (1936). While contractual exchanges have
beconfo· increasingly important in almost all villages, usually displacing some of the jajmani
arrangements, commercial transactions have been part of the traditional economy for many centuries.
Villagers in the region of Totagadde in Western Mysore, for example, have been engaged in the
production and export of a commercial crop, areca nuts, for at least six centuries. Local, regional, even
overseas markets have existed throughout the course of Indian civilization; markets of a traditional kind
are still important Moreover, certain traditional occupations were, in many places, on a contractual
rathe )h n a jajmani basis. The weaver, Baii;ies observed, "is not entitled to a customary share of the
harvest.-but is paid for what he 1akes and s{;lls". Finally, eyep, in jajmani relations there are some
products or services that have to be contracted and paid for separa'tely.
=
Casn\rr· b ter transactions have long been fotegral elements of village economy. Yet th traditionaf
jajmanitelations are more conspicuous in village life because they entail ritual matters and social support
as well ·as co.nomic exchanges. The whole ofa ·local social order, the people and their paramount values,
are involved in such jajmani links.
These links are between families rather than between jatis. Thus a family of farmers gets its metal to_ols
from a particular family of the blacksmith jati and in return the blacksmith family gets a share of the
farmer's crop at, harvest. ·The relationship is supposed to b - and often is - durable, exclusive and
multiple. It is durable in that the link may be inherited on ·both sides. A blacksmith serves the same
farmer family that his father and grnndfa.ther served, and the farmer family gets its tools and repairs from
the descendants .of the blacksmith family whose men made tools for their forefathers. If one of the
associated families dies out, another of its lineage may take its place in the relationship. 1f a blacksmith
family has more sons than its clientele can support, some seek other associate in places where there is a
shortage of smiths. Some take up other employment, often in farming, since men o f any jati may work on
the land.
Jajmani relations are exclusive in that. the farmer family is supposed to carry on such relations with only
one blacksniith family, and those blacksmiths should make tools only for their own farmer families They·
may:Ji,\9i ·e, pine things for sale at a market as well, but they may not poach jajmani associatesfrom other .
· · .·.·.
blacksm1ths. · -
. J
JajmanUie are multiple in that more than cd,nomic exchang i ,involved. There is much .more to the:.
ass cJ tion·than just the exchange of shaves for rice or sickles r8 wheat. The families·of villag officials or':. -
viliage··servants; the watchman for. example, maintain jajmani relations with the whole village rather than
witµ particular families. Each watchman family gets a contribution at harvest time from every farmer
family's cq>p. The ·village officials _and servants may also have the tax-free use of village land. In.some
pa ,i specially f o the Maharashtra region, the artisan and service families ma111tain jajmani relations
with'tsegment:of the:village rather than with individual families. Such families there have rights to serve"
all \.Vht>.Hve.in a pardcular section of the vHlage, or who cultivate a certain section of land.
In all J?jm.ani relations the right to provide goods or services to particular as ociates is vested in t h e
fa ily, i11h rite through the .family o r ·lineage, and enforced. b y the Jatj. If one blacksmith family
att nipts_ t take over .the farmer associates of another, then the injured blacksmiths appeal to the council
o f heir jati .t : call off ,the in.truders. And if the blacksmiths .o'c a village believe that the. farmers are unfair
to tliem, they may try to :have all blacksmiths o f the locality boycott the farmers until they give rip their
unfair practices. ·
10.6·
The term "jajmani" originally referrc5l N the lient, for '1vhom a Brahmin priest performed rituals, but it is
generally used to refer to the patron or recipient of specialised services and the term "jajmani" refers to
the whole relationship. The provider of goods or services is called by a variety of terms, "kamin", "parjan",
''pardhan". "Ba}utedar" is the Marathi word.
Specialized Jatis and Multiple Functions: A patron family must carry on jajmani relations with those
whose s rvices are required for ritual purposes, especially concerning the family's pollution, and also
with those whose services and products are materially useful. A family requires the services of a priest,
often of a Brahmin jati, to maintain or restore the state of ritual purity suitable for its members. Even
more, it must have the services of specialists of lower jatis to perform those necessary tasks that pollute
tho e who do them - the washing o f dirty clothes, the cutting. of hair, the delivery o f the newborn,. the
sweeping away of excreta, and similar defiling chores. All such tasks fall within the basic notion of
pollution; all are ritually required in the traditional order.
The ritual specialists do not work for everyone in the village. Although washer men and barbers are not
ranked among the higher jatis because their jati occupation involves work polluting to those who do it
pro.fessionally, they will not ordinarily 1'-Yash t,he clothes or cut the hair of the lowest villagers. Evet1 they
would be defiled and their jati status degraded by doing so.
This. is also true o f a Brah min jati o f priests, whose services villagers see on a n entirely different pl?:nf::'.
frorr1 ·tho·se rendered .by. the ritual specialists w:ho absorb pollution. They will not usually minister to
families of the lowest jatis. Hence most Harijan families cannot get the .services o f these ritual specialists
and so some o f them perform these tasks for their jati fellows. When low-rankfng families ·prosper,
however, and are able to discard defiling practices, they try to get ritual specialists to serve them.
. ' .
.
The other kind o f jajmani workers is the artisans and the uciskilled laborers. Artisans generally exchange
their" products with anyone in the village. They tend to be more independent o f the patrons than are the
labourers, because a laborer family usually has its jajmani relations with a single family of landowners or
cultivators, while artisans deal with a number of patron families and so are not totally, bound to any one
of them.
Eco omic exchange is only one facet of jajmani relations. A landowner family_ may have only otcasion_al
transactions _with some of its associates, as with a goldsmith family in another village, but with others _·
there is more frequent and many-sided interchange. A family of cultivators exp·ects help on.its ceremonfal.
occasions.ftorirmost of the associated families. There is also an expectation o f mutual personal support in'
family emergencies orfac:tional quarrels. Sometimes the specialist families are pressured to support th
jati of their. patrons when t11at whole jati. is embattled. Such reciprocal services are often formally·
stipulated, especially for life-cycle .rites. ln a village of Lucknow district, for example, _a marr'iage i c1.·.
fam.lly of Thakurs1 the dominant landowners, involves the formal participation o f families from ten o f the
fourteen jatis represented in the village. ·
a I' :
Jajrna,ni associates are expected to be, some are, broadly supportive of each other, w ,th the qua.Hty'of
ready.help that close kinsmeri are expected to.show . Evenwhen a patron s jati is at·odds"witli a clie:nt's_
jati, .personal _relations between. the· two families may well remain friendly, even covertly support iye,
f
despite the antagonism between their ·groups. . In personal em rgencies 1 as wh r a farmer needs help .
qukklyto save his crop, he is likely to call on his jajmani associates for help. A n d w h e n a worker is in din ..
nee_q.,·.he expects his patron t o do something to help him, whether by lo ns or "by supporting him {fpre.
goyf rnment officials or in the· village council. In factional contests each skl.e usually tries to rally its
j a inan.i.assod ates.
Eriforceinent ofJajmani Relations - Coercion and Conserisus: The enforcing of .jajmani rules rests ith
the jatis that are involved in an issue about them
These rules Cail be flexibly"interpreted in various ways
but certain minimum standards are m4intained at any given time in each jajmani relations. Thus a shift in
service arrangements between a blacksmith and. a landowner famjly could. not .be done only by the
families involved, but had to be approved by the ·elders o f each jati ·group.. And when a blacksmith.
usurp.ed clients from another blacksmi !J. f mily, their jati council punishes the offender.
.Ii 107
-
!
].J
'__:'
If the dominant landowners of a village betome convinced that one of their service or artisan groups is
derelir:t in its obligations or threatens the power and status of the ·landovvners, the patron families are
likely to bring collective pressure on them by withholding payment, by beating their men, or through any
number of other means of harassment. The attacked jati-group may retaliate through a boycott, refu sing
to provide their services until the landowners retrace or compromise. Si.1ch ciashes are apt to spread from
one.village to others in the locality where jati felJows of the opposed groups live.
Collective action by either side has to overcome loyalties to jajmani associates in favour of the interests of
the jab. Yet when jati fellows really become convinced that their jati status is in danger, jati solidarity
prevails. Then the united strength of the landowners is usually greater than that which any artisan or
serv!se jati can muster. Historically, however, some artisans have maintained their stand quite well.
Jatis whose men are mainly landless labourers have no such resources and can wage no such struggle.
Some authors have taken the vast diff erential in power between the richest and highest in a village and
the lowest and poorest as the central element in jajmani relations. It is the main reason for their scathing
critiques of jajmani relations. Authors excoriate jajmani arrangements as the means by which the rich and
powirfuJexploit the poor and coerce the w.orkei"s
· into sustaining the power of those who have the upper
hand,;and the higher rank. ' '·
OthffXstiidents of1ndian village life have replied to thes·e critiques, saying that there is consensus as vvell
as ·coercion in jajmani relations, that jajmani exchanges bring solidarity and mutual benefits as well as
conflict. and' exploitation. These observers not that artisans and service workers are not totally helpless
aga'inst the landowners; all jatis seek to maximise their gains, all wield as much power as they can, all
villagers want to avoid pollution insofar as they can, and some coercion and exploitation are inevitable in
all societies. They argue that to condemn jajmani arrangements as brutally exploitative is too sweeping a
generalisation.
Change and Continuity in- Jajmani Relations: The jajmani relationship has by now been_largely
supplanted in many villages; although in relatively few has it completely disappeared. It has been
supplanted mainly because more money is now used in village economy and because modern transport
makes market tr nsactions more feasible._ Cash crops are usually not included in jajmani arrangements.
A worker or artisan who is paid with a load of sugarcane can only try to sell it, and he prefers to get the
money in the first place. Where food grains are raised f or sale, as in irrigated villages in Maharashtra, the
cultivators who have money may prefer to pay for their shaves and pots with cash at a market centre.
Many artisans and specialists have moved to market centres and towns and do their work there.
Moreover, .the power of a local dominant jati has been reduced in many places because their vUlage
dependents can move away more easily than w·as formerly possible, can get some income from out:side
the t:v(l;fage; arid ca:n better S(tmmon political help for their'c6mplaints; Wfrh less isolatfon arid reduc d
conc tration of political power, the coerciv, ele:rnent in jajmani relations has also been reduced.
Yet t1ie advantages o f jajmani for economic st bility and secttrft./'1r still sufficiently great that many
. villag ·rs want to continue with at least some such arrangements. The cultivator gains from /them in that
h e gets better credit and a more certain labour· supply than he u·sually can through cash transactiol).s.
Artisans and service families work for him through the year without much pay and then are given a large·
payinent at the time when the farmer can best· afford to do so, at harvest. At times of peak demarid for
labcnir; a.farmer' is more likely to· get·help ·from jajmani associates than from those who can char e
whc:t ·ver the market will then bear. The workers, n their turn, get more assured employment, and a
vari cy,of gifts and concessions, which together h1ay amount to more than money wages could buy in th(;!
villagi,Jn recent_ decades, when grain has regularly been scarce and the value_ of the rupee whimsical,
pay 1ent ingrain is often preferred.
In ·addition to- the economic benefits, the ritual services that jajmani ssociates provide are stiU in
demand. Soni fa downers in villag¢ o f Poona district keep up jajmanfrelations mainly so· that they may
have-rituaI·services·readily available, as when a washer man must cleanse polluted dothin:gafter a death,
o r when a messenger o f l o w jati must be s nt around to relatives with the news of a death; or when a
108
Anthropology Paper 02 - Voiume 03
goldsmith must purify the househo!d,d:eitie . Presumably all such services can be obtained for hire but
hired persons may not readily be available when needed nor can they be trusted to do their ritual work
thoroughly i f they do not have long-standing ties with the family served. Further, in viHages where
factional struggles are common, a landowner likes to have dependable support from at least some in
other jatis, and worker families like to have a patron's protection.
This is not to say that jajmani relations are on the increase, but rather that this mode of traditional
interdependence still has its uses as is shown in three villages where jajmani relations have been studied,
one in Mysore, one in Rajasthan, and one in Uttar Pradesh.
In the past, a greater part of village economy was probably carried on through jajmani arrangements, but
it is not at all clear that a major part of production and distribution was so channelled. What is clear,
however, is that jajmani relations were and to a degree still are important for the ritual and social order.
.,The jajmani pattern, Gould concludes, "arises from a religious dichotomy between pure and impure
whose implications work themselves out as a complex system of religious and economic relationships
embracing, and indeed in large part defining the dimensions of a locality". Jajmani interchange, in this and
many other villages, still provides a \q1 asure of economic credit and stability; even more, it helps to
define the local social order by defining those who can secure ample ritual services.
Solut Qns to t h e Problems o f Interdependence: All people who maintain a civilization must establish
effective interdependence among specialist groups. Such relations should b e reliable, enduring, and .
trustworthy, but· they sh uld also be flexible, manipulable, and adaptable. The two kinds of qualities .
militate against each other. If a relatfonsllip is easily beguh and readily terminated, it is not likely to be
enduringly reliable. If it is endowed with an aura o f durability, it cannot readily be adapted to changing
circunista nces.
India·n villages have traditionally included both kinds of interdependence in their social repertoire. Some
relationships have been contracttial, limited, and flexible through the use of money, barter ,. and markets.
The other relationships have been broad and durable. Villagers define kiJJShip relations as more broadly
supportive and enduring than are most others and see jati as a unit whose members are or could be .
kinsmen. Jajmani relations provide for non-kinship interdependence in ways that nevertheless have some_
of the same qualities of reliability and end1:1rance. These relations are guided- and enforc d by villagers
acting in their capacities as jati members, but the actual exchanges are made between
· villagers
· acting as
members of their respective families.
Tribal peoples in India remained in smaller, less productive groups because, for one reason, they did not
haveas·effective ways of relating to non-kinsmen. The solution that was developed in Ind an civili_zatfon
remained in u.se for many centuries, until the impact of modern influences became felt.. One response to
the Jnfluences was to shift more exchanges to contractual relations and so to amplify that.tradi i9 al
side of economic activities. But villagers have been inclined to continue with at least s9me jajma hlike
relations for the broader, more persortlaJ,anchsupportive ,bonds that many want to keep.
Tribe
. -
Caste
.
Continuum
. . . . ,;
While working in the Latin American societies, Robert Redfield's attention was drawn to a number of
cultural similarities in rural and urban· life. He found that i t is difficult to draw a neat arid clean line .of
demarcation between folk and urban communities. He explained that it.is.not always prudent to vie;V¥;two
segments of a society as completely distinctive entities. Cultural traits ,should be viewed in terms of
continimm or continua
A similar situation occurred in the Indian context Indian ethnographers were struggling with,< t he .
problem of discriminating between a tribe and a caste. The ethnographers with the census· officials
confronted this problem for the first time in 19th century under the sup rvision of British administrators.
Initially, they used the term "tribe" in a rather loose sense.: Later Hutton took over the Censu_s operations
and more academic rigor was applied. ·rhat is why· we see that the discussion on points of distinction
between a tribe and a caste became an a<;ademic importance
. from 1931 onwards.
,:· .'\; , '
109
If a group could be shown to be clearly Hinduistic in its religious beliefs and practices it was a caste. If it
was animistic it had to be treated as a tribe. Economic, political and ecological conditions were of
secondary importance while differentiating these two human aggregates.
Ethnographers, sociologists, social anthropologists, social workers and others have been struggling with
the problem o f developing a one-way definition to a tribe or a tribal society - a definition that should
command total acceptance. Unfortunately these definitions have been either very broad and loose or very
narrow and restricted.
•
Anci're Beteille
. :. - . --·- ·-. -
,_ ... '-.
enumerates certain commonly observed differences between tribes and castes .
':""
1. ;:;.:The first is the relative isolation of the tribes as compared to the castes. This has tv,,10 facets. First,
the tribes are geographically isolated, being concentrated in areas that are more or less inaccessible.
It also means that a tribe is a world within itself having few external social ties, where as a caste, by
its very nature, is a part of a larger whole being linked by multifarious ties with other castes.
2. ;,:;Second criterion is the language or a dtalect. The tribes speak a variety of dialects that can be shown
to differ on a number of important cotmts from the major Indian languages. This c iterion is
however arb_itrary.
3. Next is the religion. Even if we regard the contrast between animism and Hinduism as too crude, we
. might concede that there are numerous elements of religious beliefs and prnctices common to many
tr:ibes that do not find a place in what is confo1only accepted as Hinduism. But religion, unlike
language, is a loose criterion, for what we encounter in a continuum is without sharp breaks
between tribal ·and non-tribal groups and we must remain arbitrary because, in Hinduism,
particularly in the low castes t one is likely to find elements certainly and possibly with religious
values which are thought to be typically tribal.
Among a vast crowd of scholars workirig in tribal India, F.G. Bailey stands- apart. His major concern was
to create a definition. for certain characteristics of tribal society that are appropriate to Indian context.
The probiem of explaining a tribe or a tribal society in other countries did not create many problems
because the ·cultural proximity o f the trib with any other tribe or segment of the.society did not assume·
the· dimensions o f great similarities. In his important paper "Tribe and Caste in India"> Bailey
discriminated between tribe and caste in structural terms. He suggests that we sho_uld·curbthe tendency
to view tribe and caste distinctively; instead they are to be viewed as a continuum. Bailey argues that a
caste society is organic and .hierarchical while a tribal society is segmentary_ and egalitarian; Thus he
seeks to make the distinction not in terms of totality of the behaviours, but in a more limited way in
relation to the ·politico-economicsystern.
According to G.S. Ghurye; tribes are backward: There are many tribes that_ resemple castes but with
exce'ptions o f the-tribes like the Andamanese,,.that were completely.isolated from ages, we tan see many
of ttie features of a tribal society in a caste society. A distinction bin also be made between a caste and. a
tribe on the basis o f racial criteria. Bailey suggests that one should ·concentrate on a particular area and
on ·particular tribe and its Hindu environment to know the anthropological meaning o f caste and tribe.
Secondly,the enquiry has to be narr.owed down by concentrating·on a particular field o f behaviour in the
sel cted society, rather than on the totality of behaviour. One should neglect the assumption that tribal
so {ety is in every respect is different from the l-lindu society; there are no significant differences between
castes- societies and tribes.
:··:: :".
Bdil y also_ distinguished between castes and tribes by tracing direct access to. land in the tribal
comnmnities; Among the castes-there -is .an unequal access to land and in tribe. there is,a direct access.
Occupational specialization occµrs in the tribal societies as a result of their contact with the urban
societies. Also, there· is a. cultural contact between the tribes and the· non-tribes resulting in cultural
exch.ange and 'cult ral approximation. So -it is· easy to find caste Hke tribes and trib Uke _cast.es. Here the
tribes adopt more non-tribal practices while the non-tribe adapt less to tribal practices. Bailey dearly.
finds that both the caste and tribe are. bei.ng .transformed. Bailey declared, "Bo.th castes and s are
110
·merging into a different system whis}1 i§Jte!lher one nor the other".
ailey says that even the most remote and isolated of the tribal groups in India have certain cultural traits,
in common with the castes. Though Bailey confirms that in such a social scenario, where castes and tribes
are ceasing to be such, according to the classical points of distinction, the practical value of his scheme is
limited.
The following are some important points of distinctio_n between tribes and castes. Please note that even
these differences are gradually ceasing to exist, thus making the concept of Tribe-Caste Continuum less
relevant to the modern society - more so in today's context when vvesternization and urbanization of both
the tribes and castes are providing them with an alternative paradigm for social mobility.
1. Social Factors: A major difference between a tribe and a caste is in the quality of their interpersonal
relationships. In tribal society the relationships are kinship based. Agnatic bonds form the
fundamental web while the affinal ties are of lesser significance. Lineage and clan tend to be chief
corporate units for land, ownership, defence, economic functions etc. Castes, especially of the higher
ranks, support inequality within t\1e society rather than rninimizing the dependency. Caste and tribe
. are similar units in that e,ach consitferecf' by its members to be an endogamous entity composed of
ritual eq_uals.
2. Politkal factors: In political" organisation, tribes do not tisually maintain strong and complex
formations though they h·aveTarelyopted for faithful and-subservient subject-hood. The land-clan
nexus ls the ·most important characteristic of tribal ·societies. Another difference lies in the mode of
incorporating 11ew groups. While this process is quick in castes, it is very gradual among the tribes.
Further, tribal societies are more segmentary. Each of the segments is visualised as an autonomous
group. Caste societies are more organic.
3. Economic factors: The main economic difference between caste and tribe is related to economic
values than to agricultural technology. Tribes a.re generally shifting cultivators and few others are
· hunter gatherers. Tribes place little value on surpltis accumulaticri and the use of capital, as also on -
marketing and trade.
4. Rituals factors: Because of the lack ·of access to scriptures, tribal tel.igion tends to be less
systematized, less specialized and less elaborate. Yet, their beliefs and practices are directly
influenced by scriptures of Hinduism. Ascetism is usually respected by tribesmen, but it is not
elevated as the supreme path to good life after death.
5. Psychological factors: Tribal people take direct satisfaction in: pleasures -o f the senses, whether in
food, drinks, sex, singing or dancing. The twice-born tend to be ambivalent' about such pleasures and
surround them with elaborate rituals.
J . . .
Though we have been successful _,iIJ d,istiqguishing the tr\bes from t!1e. castes, it becoraes increasirrglji
difficult in the years to come and this exercise, only arbitrary;
The impetus tQ the development of the concept of'Tribe-Caste Continuum in Indian context is the tribal
i
population living in-various levels o f absorption in the Hindu social structure and also their d ff erent
stages of culturar development Dr. ve·rrier Elwin divides Tribes into four·classes according to their stage
qfj lturaldevelopment
Tije'Class"I is the "purest of the pure" tribal.groups c;on1prising abo.ut two_o·1· three mi1Hon persfm{''Dr.
El in and a large section of missionary- reformers andanthropologists grOir\f lyrkal over the ro st;-
brant and healthy life of these tribal groups. These are-th·e Highlanders who do not merely exist like so
many villagers, but they really live. Their religion is characteristic and alive; their tribal organisation is.
unimpaired, their artistic and choreographic traditions are unbroken: their mythology ·still vitalizes the
healthy organisation of tribal life. Geographical conditions
· ha_ve largely protected them from the- debasing.
contacts· of the plains. ·
111
However, a section of this category of t1%es has been experiencing "contact with the plains" and
consequently has bee·• undergoing change. This group, Class I F o f Dr. Elwin's classification, though
retaining their tribal mode of living, has been exhibiting the following characteristics. in contrast to the
first group.
1. Instead o f communal life, this group lives a village life that has become individualistic. Their
communal life and traditions are only preserved through their village dormitories;
.In contrast to the Class I tribes, the members of those of Class Il do not share things with one
another;
3.. . Axe cultivation has ceased to be a way of life for them;
4. The members of these tribes are more contaminated by the outside life. They come in contact
with the groups living in the periphery that live a more cqmplex civilized life.
5. The members of, these tribes according to Dr. Elwin are less simple and less honest than the
members o f the tribes belonging't'o Class I. ,,
The trib s belonging to _Class Ill constitute the largest section of the total tribal population, about four,
fifth·dfnt('Membets·of this class o f tribal 'groups are in a peculiar state of transition According to some
investigators, they are tx:ibes in name but have become 0backward Hindus" constituting a sizable section
o f the :lower rung o f the Hi dµ so:dety" or so e further constituting Christia.ns. They have been
appreciably affected by external contacts.· They have been·exposed to the influences o f economic and
socio-cultural forces o f Hinduism and have also been subjected to missionary influences. But, above all,
they have been most adversely affected by the British economic and. political polides which resulted in
dragging- them into the orbit o f colonial capitalist system in India. The members belonging to this
category of tribal groups \ivere uprooted from their tribal mode of production. Durinj5 the British period,
um;ler the impact o f new economic and new politico-administrative measures, these tribesmen lost their
moorings from their tribal economy, tribal social organisation, tribal religion and tribal cultural life.
A la ge section of this population was reduced to the status of bond slaves or serfs o f moneylenders,
zamihdars- and contractors, who emerged in Indian society as a result of the. p·olitical and economic
polides pursued b y the British. They were uprooted from original habitats and have. been living a pitiful
. existence.
The Class IV o f the tribes (a very small minority) consists of the old .aristocrqcy o f the cou try,
repres nted today by great Bhil. and Naga chieftains, the Gond Rajas, a few Binghawar and Bhuyia
landlords, Korld noblemen, wealt y Santhal and Oraon lead rs and some highly c ltured, undas. They
retain!tW old Tribal names ·and their clan and tot m rules and observe elements o f tribal religion, though ·
they ge, 1rally adopt the full mndu faith al\ llive in modem and even European style. Accotding tff_Qr.
Elw'iri;Jhis dass o f tribes have .won the ba'ttle of culture confa -Jt. means that they have acquired,
"aristt>ct tictraditions, .economic stability, affluence, outside encou--;a-gernent, a certain arrogahce and ·self
confidence characteristic alike of ancient f milies and modern en erprise". This class o f tribes has secured.
the benefits o f dvilization, without any injury to themselves.
h
T h e d _ssification o f the tribes into various categories poses a significant is ue viz., what are t e forces
Which-:Co pel the tribes to come under the influence of non-tribal living at a higher stage o f technological
developll\ent?. ff- they come un er the_. influ nceof civjlize societies, how are their Illodes ?f lifo
tnodifl dJAlso, what ar the forni.s·ofculturalcontacts between·civili ed.groups and tribal ·groups? It has::
been · talri'fed that the tribes are absorbed ·aggressively by the Hindu society. Studies of the history of the
Indian civilization reveal how the growth and the expansion of _the Hindu society was a prolon,ged and
complex process o f assimilation, both forcible and peaceful. o f the tribal _people into t h e Hindu Society.
According to Prof. Haimendorf,_ b fore the i 9th century; .there was- more or less ''frictionless coexistence
betWeen tribal folks.and Hindu caste society in the truest sense,of the word". This statement unfolds a
n e w field of inquiry - the Hindu mode of tribal absorption.
112
THE HINDU MODE OF TRIBAL ABSOJlJ flON

In his thought provoking essay "The Hindu Mode of Tribal Absorption", Prof. Nirmal Kumar ·Bose has
drawn the readers' attention to how tribal customs and rites are often modified in the process o f social
absorption. According to him, the caste system is not exactly as immutable as it is generally assumed to
be. There are occasional fissions withl _Q!l .c: -t ,. as well as bsorption o f tribal gro ps_ from outside into
the pail o f Hindu sociaL9marffzatio1 . Many o f the tribes which have reflected Hinduistic social aspects in
tffeii··c·uhuremay not exactly be cailed Hindu castes, for they have retained their independent social rites
which are not ruled by the Brahmins or other highe_r castes. But here perhaps w e see the operation of a
method by the means o f which the Hindus absorbed tribal groups within their o w n system.
Since the ancient Indian times, there are proofs that lend support to the previous observation with regard
to the caste system. From the work o f Sir. R.G. Bhandarkar, we know that the worship o f a particular form
o f the Sun-god (Mithra)
.
w a s introduced l)y immigrants'"from akadwipa into India, Who .were known as
"". :::::.:: . . . . '
the Magas. The cult, after introduction, became fused with Vedic ceremonies connected with the Sun, and
the Magas were also given a place . Hindu society. They were the priests o f the land from which they
- ncl
' - .t: . . :.:::-
. :
came, they were· consequently. r.e,g,1_,rd d as··Brabmins. It was stated that Sakadwipa was the land -
Yatra Viprah Magakhyah - where twice-born men were known as Magas. The Brahmana Varna was thus
enrkhed lJy the iIIclusion o f a least one jati. or caste, which originally came from a land outside Ind,ia . . We -
ao
not know h n_i'mo.re weFe"i6sorb-ed
in a similar manner in the past within the Hindu society:
i
If w e study Manu w e f nd h o w several. tribes o f foreign origin found refuge within the Sudra or fourth
Varna once they became a part o f Hindu society. Thus Manu has described a large number"of Jatis or
castes as bf:.L1:: . aflen (caITeaV atyg as
they did not conform exactly to the codes set for the conduct of
the orthodox Varnas. Thus w e find Vr t:ya Bra manas, Waty Kshatriyas a11 .Y.r.acy _yq,t b Y. flS. A majority
o f th se people belong to tribes a,nd live OLttside °I"ndia. It Is· with th se people that the people o f India
came into contact.
It is therefore clear that the Hindu society had been assigning a certain.place for them within itself, _just as
it has been doing so with regard to some Oraons and Mundas in our own time. It must be· remembered
that it is not the only w a y in which the caste systei11 has been elaborated·. Many jatis have come into being
th.rough differentiation o f the occupation, b y degradation from higher castes, and by intermarriage. But
besides all these, it is absolute_ly certain that some are undoubtedly f triba_tqi;Igjn , .an(;l thJ h .S been
the result o f a cpns ious."pf -;;-··:o(i-fr du s ie·cy- to dominate ave - ( ab rb tribal groups within its
economic and socialframework:)t inay be recalled in this coi1nedi6_11 thatsonie o(theuntouchable castes
.hifve c·u1tura1 traits'wiiich-- t arh/sliow'fneir orrgtnai arhliatio ·\vith trib- forigin. - - . -
. .
It is to be noted that the Hindus society, when absorbing.a e trib or while .crea'ting a lc;l.tUiy
d E:: ! - ?!·"'"£££ P!!l?- · al ays -i!! !l! ?_r_ ! i !L 9 • g·uaranty ,r-JU.OJlO;go!x,J a -· - I; i: _lar·
OC£ J2§!ttmtt<? c:h. s e.Y"It ,i _§l,_giy n l'f:!gion. The social legislators o f ancient.India t_r ed to build_up_a
V7
"
s j l., 9rg 9J Bt\9P- RD.. Sh!L ;°, :1! ned·itary mo_QppqlJ Ji1 0gJ1!W In the modern times the growing
capitalism has completely upset the old productive organization· and hence w e are witnessing t.he fast
decay o f the entire social system of. ancient India. But that apart; it appears that the success· of the _
monopolistic guild organization led to two very important results in Indian history. O,ne was that the poor
tribal people easily came within th fql pfamo:r .successful productive organizatkni ·of the Hindus; and
theseconawas:·matffiey·aiff 1'se m "revolt even when they WEfre· relegafeff"tb a 1awrf p@1tiolfW1thfrl
Hindusoeiecy. W e have to're.memberthat wltfihi. the entire f f a m e w o r k o l the cast 'sy;tem}tli.ereiwas"it·
b·roactcfassd'ivision into those w h o enjoyed privileges incommensurate ·with their services to society and
another who were deprived o f the privileges o f education, legal or s o d al equalit'j in spite of labouring
hard all their lives anq.)n spite o f belonging t o a common social organization. The former m a y have1J .een
the conquerors or the ruling class and the latter,_ the conquered. But still w e fh;1d tfiatthe sti6)ugafecj
da:- : _.di . ti£?. r g _iJl _.rev !!J> C_?,,ll ffi.!!2.lJ.. OCi.ety'' SSUre • t? th.en: a £e;ta ,l} inim.u!1- 0n C
0
911g:;: ;; ;i:s ; i %,e :-!: ri@i !5!!!l e fl1 l :: t ;1: r
Hindus moreover exercised a policy o f laissez fafre with regard to the social and religious practices of
,
......,,........... r - ""!',..._.,
113
tribal peoples even vvhen they came within the fold Hinduism, and this cultural autonomy may partly
have been responsible for keering the subjugated tribes satisfied,,and also for taking the edge off their
discontent to a n:rtain extent. But even so, the Hindu law makers in the ancient times were clearly
conscious of the fact that various jatis had come within their organization and it was necessary to teach
them the Brahminical moral and Brahminical religious ceremonies in order to bring them closer to the
·------· ___ ,_ · -· ·- .,., . - ,· - ----- ·-··
• , c • • • • •
•
r f ll iiiii1w.n:- _
The Hindus hardly left any economic freedom to the jatis, but they left intact the original sot:ial and_
reli -io-us culture o f the tribes in so far as that was possible. Their polfcy iiot 'to eraci"icate the old was
beliefs and practices tvhere they vere not inconsistent with Brahminical moral ideas. But it was
nevertheless necessary to do something in order to bring the tribal cultures in line with Brahminism. So·
they:"J:nade a rule that each caste, on becoming a part of Hindu society, was to e served by Brahmin
priests during marriage, birth, initiation and funeral ceremonies. A close and living connection was thus
established between·'the priestly class and the new recruits, and a means o f direct infiltration of culture
was thus successfully organized. The Brahmins modified the old culture where it vvent against their owr-i.
ideas.and left the rest intact. They added to tribal ceremonies certain elements of their own, which were·
to be:performe_d qy the Brah min priests- 011'.bfliif(gJ thelr-new clie11fa/ ,.;/ _ . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . ... . ... , ... .. . . . . . .
. ··,· .-- ··· ,.-,. ,.,...,,. ., ,. ,;.•. ·.·-:•r· ... ,··...;;,..-....- - -
._ 't·-;_ ;;1- :: -
O n c f f fribe came under the influence of the Brahminical people and was converted into a caste enjoying
mofi·bi:,·o\y in a pa:i:kular oc upat o-11: a :§_ffO,!!& t d ncy was et up within it to\ !!!Q.9. - i,tl.,C t : ---. ?re
and .El?.s Jx :5.2Rfor,mi t • h lli J3E.bJDJR\, J .,.lYflY.,QfJ Jfe. But the unfortunate part of 1t 1s that the .
"
Brahmiris very often put_a stop to such progress on the part of the subjugated peoples towards higher and
higher standards of culture. Thus the cultural progress inevitableamong subjugated tribes was arn; ted ' . ..
· . . .......
..:
.. .
m ancient India.
• • . 11::-."'I" -- ,".'Z":'
Cuh:ure, as we have already indicated, flows from a politically and economically dominant group -to a
subservient one. ln social matters too, the former occupies a higher status in contrast to the latter. From
this we may venture to suggest, with regard to current problems in our natiqnal life, that if we wish to set
the so-called untouchable castes shoulder to shoulder with ourselves in .a democratically organised
society, we should make sure of econo-mic reorganization first if we want to build the new social order on
- a permanent basis. The inertia of the present productive organisation will, once more, set the suppressed
daises back in their old place and thus undo the good that has been achieved in the psychological field of·
social relationship. . .
. . .
The -concept of Tribe-Caste Continuum can also be understood at the level of Uriiversalization and
Parochialization. Due tq this long process of cultural exchange, there is an increasing similarity between
the.. b kamL.tb pstes. Even the socio-cultural processes of Sanskritization and 'westernization are
respo'nsible
"' for the p"resehce o f tribe-like castes and caste-like tribes in Indian So_ciety.
-.:: ,r·:--.
3.3_ :s_?cred Complex and Nature,,Man .Spirit C mplex
. . ' .. ·-r . -·.
• • . \!
. · , .
Sacred Complex
Tribal communities, ·peasant and the urban centres are the three dimensions that together form a
civilisation. Many students o t - have considered these three dimensions to undersiand Ji lo
civill$.tjon. Civilization is a corriple-x o ·treatTraditions and Little Traditions. GreatTraditions are.usually:: ··
'· ·· .. ·,,,., . .,in
obse_ry.ect .;
tfroarrsefrlhgs'-a:ii.aTfftte·
............ ....................... ,, ..... . ..
, ···· -·.
rraffitrons·ffilribararid peasant
, - .· . . . ....
cuftutef, · ·
•...... .•. .. . . . , ·.· . .
Somi - thropologists of Ranchi'universityhave tciken up the study of Indian civilization, vUlages and
tribar c ltures. Out of these observqtions, they developed the oncept of$. t §lUllRJ.$Xes _t6 µri erstand
I tlig/jttt r . B J-ij e }Gf a. c:thct:Li l tr cilt:i?tl w ]!,f re r e_x t The·conc"ept. of sacred complex has
been given explaJri" the role played by the s !_r: {9.Ltb.e . niJgri[!1 .ge the .. -- int E t g!} 2,[,\h -_!!?.! g11 in
----:---- - - ·- -- · · . ·· ·in
-- . .,., ·· ·
the context of India; ............... :, .
114
Indian civilization, according to RcLlJie.lqjsprthogenetic or Endogenous civilization - the one-. where Great .
. ... . . ...
..
Traditions originates from pre-existing folk nciJ!_ l- cultures. A question arises as to how the civilization,
- . ···-... . _,:,._, . . . .... . :;-.: - -
-..... . .. . . . .. ... .
wlllch ae-1110nsfra"tes-s o rrtumccfrrfpTexity o f its cultures, hrings a c o m m o n cultural cdnsdousnessr that

would lead to similarities in the ethos of the people. Usually, same k i n dOo f religious practices- b r f o i a bout
' a common value s:yst_em._ B y and Large, the sacred plac:es a_nd >0<?. r te ts helped in bringing ·s cr l i: kS
some similarity and common cultural consciousness. These have. been placed out as the unifying . foci of
' .. ..
"the civilization.
A Sacred complex includes a Sacred Geography, Sacred Performances and Sacred. Specialists. The masses,
who represent various places o f civilization to the sacred centres, mediate with all these three groups.
The research o f the Rc1nchi univer ity anthropologists started with a_ stuf!y on Gaya by L.P. Vidyarthi,
umgh man_y _othe<c e- tfrsor" Ilgfon.Ti e-iur(hay-e __also__l? n studie_d. J· i e considers the te·mp1es·-51
sacred complexes as a dimension o h h e Indian civilization..
He divided the sacred complex o f Gaya into three divisions as stated above. All these three divisions of a
pilgrim ce_ re _refle5t_ _l_eyel o f continuity between_the_Great-Tradition anQ.__LililG__Traditi_on.
----....----------· - .. •.
. - ;The Sacred Specialists o f Gaya IJl i _ i :- Ji tm . }! sfle and theyitfi. Q§,QtjJ:y ri°:\l§ elements to the rural
population while officiating different rituals and practising certain performance·s. They play an important.
an<l deliberate r o e l½ fJ. iJX -.: ... ert !J!. s Jn
_:and- S;t.11-ea JJ.l..g . - tai}1 -. qt e s. 1!1 .this vay-i;.the _
)a_ce. q .altr hi : . . . ..
"r P.9::
-
fl]_? . ,· : ·: f !a eXE:; tal<es - _the soci ty itself. At
the ' time, there IS a;49Q,.U!R 9I Ol 8-g 1;a - ,_ma
-i-: ..._:.:,
fftal1- r-u _).1 it Jm bt:i,;g_n t2:1,e t: O S. Any er - -
modification or change here·''Is"·ltse_c fd ry · f re'i1clr o 'tli anges hi the' society or in the hinterfanas. As a
r ult "·cl generafdevefoiiments-Tn-the Irn;Iian civilization, modifications and the transformations takes
place, and various rnmmunitieS...fil1QW adius.tro ents according to changes in the soi;j ty. This is h o w the
..,..,._,._,-.-•,.-....,.,..:.·-·--···- ---'9--..-- ... -..,.._,_,.,-_ ,-.,.--..
Sacr_ed Speciali;- h e-b ying
__ ..__ a dynamic 7 spondTii.gto cnangesTff'tf{; society.
v • . . , . ·--·-·······-. .•••
•
N o w a question arises as h o w to view the combination of Great Tradition and Little Tradition. Vidyarthi
classifies the specialists in Gaya ·into Sanskritic. priests, Feudalistic priests and Folk priests. Sanskdtic
priests are very orthodox and rigid to customs and practisei. Over a period. o f time a number o f priests
develop a feudalistic character due to hereditary spedalizations and after sometime t_hey start getting ./'.
large incomes and they appoint a set of disciples. T h e former _comes o u t only at the ?time ofi portant,;
t r
. ritµa:J ; md own large hous·es, servants etc. He is i e- - feudal"a:ppqifi
° i t g ,t Jia rifs iahd ''e rtjoying :p rog uce. Ali
th·e pe ple who are not knowledgeable enough to ·appro di th 'p-;iests g o to the local or Folk priests. He
is a kind of a specialist w h o sells to rural masses. The.hierarchy and social structure o f the society is thus
reflected in this-g iE:! it·h!£X i; _!ly. Each one o f them__at h.eir ownJ Y 1J,P.JlH .n g_§Jh slie-ntele_cq:mJng. to_
them. ,· · . - · · ·. · -· · · .
Even in the-Sacred Geography - the spread o f sacred piaces, b th Great tradition and little tradition are in
cpnHti:vJtYf.:111c;ts_<>ppi11a iqn. In the premises o f the temple (Great Tradition) one cap observe Little . ·
Traditional ieontinuity 'iii terms o f P-1""
!.lti#pimal.and snqke worship
r
Every person offer prayers to all o f
these deities without fail. This is t h ; kind ofcombination of G e at"'t raditib n and Little Tradition in Sacred
'"';,, .. ..,··•":":· .... !.-·;;. ;..- --:-,-:-,:'== \.:c-;_c"!".·.·=--;:;.---":'- -·. . .
Geography. This geographic } c<>mplexity caters to the needs o f various ·1evels o.f piop_l . t11;1 _epal. -
,.
1 J re .}i -:- J i rn. § .!..

animal-
·t11es'ame-'·-e-emp1e
acrificesarifuffaeftaR'en:---,--··" - - - :,. i PJi ..2t
--complex·' another -- _mp 1e o_r
. . - -·-- ,., ···- . iiinfo · ,,-----7
R<:1 arajeshwar IS pr -9.!, ;ti. re
a.
... _ . . . . _ , ,........ ,.,_,. _,_ ·-.....\•.·- .. , ·· •.•..• ,·· . ' . ' . " - · - .). .. 1·.:-. ... ,. ;.,....·.4.!;.;;... _.,. .. ••,;... ,.:t--:-.':"'-e•,.,.;\; .;.,_
;. .... , ,,-:-.,:1,,t.-...... ,.,
Sacred performances are all those religious practises in terms ofAJ!,tt,l . H_ y n, Jap !!}: Y &n ! ·.RE; i.!?JJ\:>.,Q_,:.. ·
etc. It also .includes . -flo_ral. offerings,· meditation ,and ,other:.exercises coupled.. with :ar! ti(._ . worship,-
tformances,·a 9ngm::A?nce.·T:l t:,Sac:red.perforlJ}aµc_ s.·ar ,a!spme 11tJq(giffo ent classes o f people. A
combfoa'ffon o f all th se things offei·ed to the deity 9._cialstructure. tefle;cfs,41_
In this way, a kind o f _co_mprn!TIJs , cqntbirt.atl9ti nd ton ifyJ .: bserved at various levels o f Sacred
Complex. Different castes a n d religious sects s h o w a combination .of various faiths and traditions and. ·
they tend to become compromised. The pilgrimage centres try to overcome the d v _rs,ity 9,t£iYH.iptj,on . .
:: _lrr P. c;_gy __Q(J nmJige . iJicfr on l
barr ers, P, opfe overCO.IJl them and-icy reach the sacred centres
·
to
; like Gaya. · ;i. ,. ,;
In a Sacred complex one can observe lq_q1J ...regional,and civilisation complexities. Local complex includes
the Gods and Godde $ the _local peop_l"! visit. . P.eoP,le who come to visit from far-Ci ff places usually visit
only the ;in-d.eiiy\ _the temple and cannqt underst md the ot}:l_ .r '. syrr.i.bolism, _, .. - . . '
-· . . .-·
Sacred complexes represent '! _,___t_l]_e s q-p !!ure 9.L.c! l- J:ion ,and also the _pJ1 es of dyH zation -
orthodqx, semi-or_thodox and modern. Thus the sacred complexes have intricate . .. and intimate
int:efctependen"'ce/ooffi culturally and' sfructural_ly.
Nature Man Spirit Complex

The concept of Nature Man Spirit Complex (NMS Complex) was propounded by L. P. Vidyarthi in his book
TheJ•4.aler: Nature-Man-Spirit Complex in a Hill Tribe, published in l2,§J. Vidyathi developed the concept/
as practical exigency of arranging the data in a way that will depict the soul of a tribal culture instead of
just the skeleton. It is a methodological framework or a paradigm deployed for the analytical study o !
Maler or the Souria Paharia (also called Maler) tribe in Rajmahal Hills of Bihar.
-· ·-··- -- -.--·····•-•·",f;:r:· ···;)_.- ·- ·,
,1 .-
· -..:
Vidhiarthi defined NMS as "a complex ariifng 'out of man's _do.se,:dnteraction with and dependence on.
---i __hisbelt:_f in_ t e:·supernatu_: l;.!!-. cr.: - _a- .P!,:_:_ - :- x- -:. :P.. .e- ? ? .- ---:- c
_Jo lt!!!!:.
natl!re,· man· ana: .sg1 1t'. re :.. -ttJI .,F fers -- - ;._nv1ro t, man J O soc1et -- ! - l?J!lt to s.ehg1on ..
Acc'ordi g Via tn1µ thtee
. components ·of th_e complex are \12!t f?:! gJy-___n. -twi_ned and.
. . . .. - -.-,=- ----
sorhethiies fused\vith each ·other. ""
_
,. . .,.,...,.,...--..,- ...... . -- .. -·-·--··, - ¢-o
:-·_-. ";
s
The NMS Complex highlights the intimate relationships that exist between the J:2_gJ£§1-l. s2.E and
religious organizations in a tribal society. Most of the social conditions of life are influenced by religious
and ecolo){ical,;conditions ;and· all the three try and maintain some f E!_gf E;Clill.l.ib t.Hill.YY.'JJ!ff=, <;:l other.
i
Any disturbai c in the intimate relationships between these three will cause h.. _r s ips to the people. In
case of some tribal societies, the exigencies of social change and ensuing changes in the lifestyles of the
people have resulted in easing the severity of thes ·· el;tionships between nature,
l
·; d spirit. m ;;
However, the social and economic necess_itfos' i ave been tr'adTifonally directing. man to maintain the
closest possilJ.k2!! g.!l .hJ,P_R-nd liaison with the f ce gf_ll t!lI .. emt .YR J:JJa.tur:e. This relationship
explains why man and his society are s bmissive to and dominated by the forces o f both the supernatural
world and physical environment.
A cultural ecological approach in anthropology, the concept of NM_S Complex marks a departure from
trad Q. al presentation o f anthropological ..works. in the for - .... ,a . monograph. NMS °Complex o f .' f
VidhyJir:thi is a nevy_ dirnen !Qn.,.t.Q,,,qg9Jy_ J _arid presentation of data to enable a meaningful depiction of
---
. . ··-· . . . ,._ .. · ,_-,,. . . - - , . , , . . . .- • .- .. ---.r.....,.-,..- •w • , • ,.._ •:.-.. -. ._ . .,.,_., _
_ . . . . . . . .: · / · ,. , . . . .,-_- ....... ,
.·
tribal.;Ffe ytles - as_ mentioned earlier, ·of·9rranging

.
the data in a rp.eaningful way to depict the· "soul" ·
,,- . ,.';' {t·,. .··i ___.·
instead of just the "bones" of Maler Culture.
·.
.
One the basis of this methodology, Vidyarthi presented the data regarding the.Maler under three different
heads -Nature, Man and Spirk
Na te: ;Vidyarthi analyzed the interaction that. e dsts between Maler and their natural environment He._
has emonstrated how· the ecology'°f thepfoce,the .f?rests.a_11d surroundings, h,we _a ep __infl_u_ence on •.
the: plhire·i of.Maler. 'Th !i: ii6'ti LX --i t tfr 1··! ·-!h
.
as .their tivefrhoods complete·· ·f. fr .s -
. depeoder t on their ecology. Kh_aHu, i.e., shifting cultivation, collection o f fruits, foe!.!, r E_ J!nd - .r.'lJ.al
.
. . . .. .,_. -·r'-'--i.·: .. ----:--.,;o:. :,:;•.;:-.:,; t-""·'•, . ,.. . ., ____ ,.____ -··' -""°
'•·r .• ·. .·
.'
medicines - all activities are forest-based. Apart from being h nting: g ounds, the forests are major
sources f raw materials. for their cottage industries, including th u;· d for building· their houses. ti b;
ro' ;;ts
-
I n a:ddi!ion, -
i i. e ab9_9 <I?r i(, e l?i.· _i_ t11 t,<!r!Y£- .M k!i'ifre. From womb to the tomb, the
survivaf ofa Maler is thus, complet lydepen ent on the forest ecosystems.
11.6
Man: ln this context, Vidyarthi prnv.ic pt} J1,11 indepth analysis o f Maier's social organization, their social
structure, nature o. f social relationships, lif -cycl s. social psychology and per.son.ality ti-aits. According to
-··· . . -... . •. . ., . ·---
Vidyarthi, two essential / basic needs o f a Maler include 11.M,nger for food and h _r_Jor, ex_:, He
elaborates that the entire social organization and social systems_ are adapted towards ensuring_ the .
fulfilment o f these two needs o f a Maler. He maintains that the various social and cultural practices like
marriage, family, kinship, socialization, personality development are all in tune with and· in synchrony to
the ay_ _ilab!}_i r_ t- att ral a,_q_ nvironmental re our es. The kinship system i -9..!1:J - - - - b _!_t !;ln
i1!_t.9....J.h.g ----g .n r. Ji_qp§. Cl<:1:ry .. sy t rp _is m½r:io_\n to them Thus, the Maler restrict their social
relationships and institutions to si_mplicity based on their environmental co ditions and simple needs., __,,
Spirit: This includes the analysis o f the spirit and supernatural world o f Maler. Vidyarthi says that the
Maiers manifest ceaseless anxieties for survival in their environment, a feature essentially attributed to
the spirits that dominate their life,· called Gossayins. r:,: o ·..·
.·
· m
··
· ....
There are both benevolent and malevolent
Gossayings, essentially driving _all the destinies of Maler. While the benevolent Gossayin take care of
health, wealth, productio·n and· procre.atron: the malevolent ones are responsible for sickness, abortions,
th_-and·- ;tm aC aii ities. Placati g th.e Gossayins in integral to Maier's i_ife as the for
'
by and iarge
·. : . ....!'"
r
.:\:.·
:..;·..:...:-
t .,..... .....-
. -..:.·.·
control each and every.aspect of-the:latter's life. :Ritl,lals are the most imp{);rtannymbolic mechani ms
- .
. ..
:.
. . . ..-- ..:.:._
...... ..-:.-: ... , .•,.-,.. •. ·.•.. ,.• ... •. ·:
.•.
.•
•
.
tf,t ...achi ve ttles'fertd .

Malets beii; ;'in the existence of one presiding Gossayin w h o acts as a bddge
with otffer.-spidts and hence is held in highest
· ··--"-- · - ......este
..... m. In fact, nothing moves in Maler's
· · · lJfe v.rithoutan
· · · --·- · ·-·
· ·"
t . ?5- x!n-
ap !?Y l fr,?. - <
Natut·e, Man- and Spirit:· Thus, there is an integral relationship that exists between these three
phenomena. Nature and Spirit thus cast profound influence on the social ·structure, society and
relationships between people. Vidyarthi says that these three interrelated forces .are in -constant
interaction with each other - thus forming a complex the Nature'."Man-Spirit Complex. This cultura_l
ecological approach highlights the importance of an holistic understanding o f all the three together, since
L
-V
r
:-
J
,r
...i7
..\;:: A il'l - - - - ..., - ,-,•,•-"P--1 .,.,
,. " ' - - .- - ,.. - - ,....,_ - --- ,.,. _
._
.
...
the existence o f one in exclusion o f the other is. inconceivable.
t,
Significance o f the Concept
1. The concept o f NMS Complex is a very useful theoretical and ·methodological device for
anthropologists in any holistic understanding o f simple and primiti e sodeties like the tribes.
Many scholars have deployed this· tool to understand tribal modes o f life. Some significant
research works-,include S.G. Morab's _ tudy o f . R K . ·Sirtha's Nicobarese; A N . S@!,!.h ( .
s t u d y o f KoQ;Ya .a nd· RJS- · It has--e erg;d as'" - im_££Tta !-- - - r .
,s d- 9!.JiQg a.
paradigm in anthropology, not1b11lS",}to"study the triqal:societies; • but also rural and modern urban .·
.
'., ..- - - - =
- .,.,_
,..,-.,-
..._
. -. .-.-,.,-,,·
· :-
,....:.-.i ...... •, ....-
C
.-
·
,,n
.,,-
· ,•
,•
•
'·
, •
societies.
>
lf- .s,;.1
"
? ') -
2. It as an important tool for an applied- anthropologist during the forrrtu adtm a n d imple_meutation
o f various developmental programs. It is generally .observed that any, developmental program
aimed at rehabit4taHrig-:Ut€ ti_ibeSaiin7my changes in theirHfe are soni, times subject d t _q;utright
rejection b y the Iibes. According to Vidyc1rthi, their resistance o_r f,ej ction. m a y be. !Q ed -n
.terms o f their· despair or anger : t.9i tgrbariceAn t h e eq1J.ilibrhlm:X fWie. natu·i;er,.m aQ £1nG .·•$pri .
-;pl --
-
'He ce, the con pt.oT t- - --- an sp;it' i - ---i ind of"'c ution to the devel9p1r1 nt
a J_n.: - ?E in all tl1 fr attemp to briµg __ab.oµi any rad!ca} chapg - i "'i:h "ij'f; Tthe tribal
popul t on_in.I_ncH ,
117
3. For rehabilitation planners, this contept-is a caution. It highlights the fact that the little traditions
of a tribal population are not only capaHe of perpetuatintand sustaining themselves, but are also
capable of outrightly rejecting the great traditions tt!rnut getting overawed by the latter. It
essen ti aHy highlights the "fallacyoTemrti ve;;-e,, . n assum p.ti; ·-tii;.iI b·e-eii·-·iiroviri
·wrong,
many a time, in the history-0Frehabilitation ancidevelo_pment economics.
118
3.4 Impact of _Buddhism, Jair1ism, Islam and Christianity on Indian Society
IMPACT OF BUDDHISM
Buddhism made valuable and lasting contributions in the field o f religion, philosophy, literature and art.
Its impact on Indian culture and civilization may be studied under the following heads.
1.. National Unity: One of the biggest contributions of Buddhism to India in the political field was that it
promoted a sense o f national feeling amongst the Indians. It not only shattered the dominance o f the
caste system, which stood in the way of achieving thisunity, but ais·o-gave··a"·-a-eaHihfo·w·fo the
doinmance o f B'rahmffis ·As·a· result; H1e linne-cessai-fi ·ffes ai1-cf°ri"tuals s \, eff'-as-·s-lipe-1·sffi:To11s-galTe:
way to social and political understanding .. lt was mainly due to this unity and social harmony that
· subsequently the Maury?S could found a powerful empire. E.B. Havell has highlighted -this
contribution o f Buddhism thus, "In social and political sphere Buddhism has p1ayeif'the same rnle in
cuTtivating a n·ationaLspjriiln-fndia;;hi, h--Chi-TsHanfffnid-:iff7IIfcenfii-ry}9} te-g1:·at -the:cli
. ............. ·-----e -··
siffe·d'
,. . . . . __ ,
elemei1tsofSaxon Hierarchy".!..,.., __ .,.
;e,;/
·----· -· ..- - » -...:...... .......,._.,_ .., · _ - · 4 4
2; DestructiQn oflVlilitant Spirit: Buddhism laid too much emphasis on the principle o f Ahimsa, which
- gre#ly affected 11 c11_aracter o f the people. In course ftime people ctevelonei£J. - - P! ! :-:-- LoJen
:. ar1d peglJ St :?ag niil_tta:ry activities. It is weU known-thatAshoka, under the influence o f Buddhism,
· . g ve' } w ar _ n a'de ithispplicy ts> winJl1e 4ea· ofthe kiq:gsthrough love. This gave a serious set
backtoth·e· military policy ofthe kings and the° polkyofthe terrifdrial l(J2ansi9._!!_ _e, g_.ixen . up_. Ql:1!!. t°-
this polky_ o(pe <;:e 11q non -"v iolence, th_e n1ili@SJ'; s11irit o f the armies as well as people was greatly
--- ..-:,·.- .-.,;_ ,".. -:. :-. -.·..,;·_·-.=- : ---·--··, :-·.:-...--,-·-------"·-., -· -·_. ... ·. ' - . -"'""....._,.._,·-...:":·'':'-'" ... ............ - . . . . ....... -·.......... ' ,_ .·, . •,.
tg.?.h .d-,a"1lg:1lre..}ccCtiW.Q.Jli>J q_ffe_r, Y e- - tl:!nfg P. ,.th JQf.<;!ign.iov;1ders and fell easy prey to them
subs.........SIM Jitly.,?..,,·
......... . ·. .
.
3. Contac with Outside World: B <!, - -uni l2ijmJ;: JJg,LQJ1 "1. a n _w ith the sup ort o f kings like
Ashokaand Kanish kg, it soon spre <l into J o reign countries like China, aparC M·o tolia·, BLtnnaJava,
mafra, f ib et anctCeylon a·1iffixercfsea:·;l ff l p fe>urffiiimuenc-e
-;
°
i1 f tfitrculhir'e-ai1d·.. dviffzati.on ·of those
countries. ·-AccorcH·afo'J.rt. Sar1cat·';c f e"''tcr s p reai f 'o'f' Ifiid'd'ii' srr t' ffi foreign COlli1tdes, foreigners,
consl ered India ,.as holy place and h . source 'oftllejr religi()n. This contact· with ·the .......().t1tsl [wo,'i:l 4 .
also promoted political an1· -;;f T rehitlohs°wfiKtfiese-co u rifries.
'"•'-···· -- _ _ _ ,;_,,..,.,,+. ,.,._0--·.r._:•"'•·· I• ,·.- •. • • • , ..... - ·-·:-: .....,.. . • ,__,8 -- ·-
4. Blow;to the Ca te System: Bliddhism began as a revolt - lgainst the social and religious malpractices
prevailing in Hindu religi 'ri. It naturaliy c o nthe vanous socia1· and.gave a fatal blow· to eifine evHs.
tfiFamninance-"oTcaste·sfsfumthat was the most outste:rnding evil. Buddhism insisted on the equality
o f manhood and attracted followers from all the castes · A s a result, !h _rigg_µr . .Q.fJhe caste y te_ .
--_----··------- · ·
broke down.
--
. ·
-IU"""...-..--" - _.,-- .
5.- ·simplification o f Religion: 'f.he grr91tc t contribution o f Buddhism was the establishtnent o f a simple
religion which could be easily und1e·rstoo d and followed o y the common people. In th se religion rites,
rituals, yajnas and . caste _had no _Qlac;e :... According to K.M. Panikar, "to· the commOn man this·
(Buddhlsm) was iluieed a n e w g o s p e r There were no secretmantrcis, no expensive yagas o r sacrifices....
" ·-··--·· ...... ,,, ... , .. , · ·-, · · ···· ·· · · · ·
and indeed no difficult doctrines as in theUpanishad : :'-- -,
... .... � - ,.,, ...•.-.......� . . . . . .
......... -#. - ....... :-·.-·,..-.•.:-···--- . ...... , ..... , , .• _!'I,. _ _ _ _ _ _ ... , ......... ,,... �
��- ... .:. •
...
•
6. Improvement o f Moral Standard: Buddhism attached great importance t o the moral upliftm gt of
man and directed the people to lead a moral life;· It insisted on virtues like charicy, puri!Y, se.lf-
··-sacrifice, truthfuln s_s,. control o.ver passions, nqn-injury'fo'11v(ri'g- ; e:;tur s in. nq7c'tio:r'[et
were· not nev/ and 1-iac li ee'ii 'advot.a ted ' fiy .the" lfp; i;hads also, yet ·fr_ was
f
. 'Though ...th -- ;tues
Buddhism which put these - · · · · in· a_ctg
· · · ·virtues · · Jprn_c.tjt --andJhereby ·- · ·, rai
- , - · · -greatly · · ·e.4
· he· · moral- stan.· ?r_·(i,g.f
the people._
7. Effects on Brahmanical Religion: Buddhist thought and ethics exercised a profound influence on the
Brahmanical. religion. It exercised a humani irig effect o n Brahmanism. The Brahmanical religion
which was full o f unnecessary rites and rituals was proving unpopular with the common people,
I 119
.·
l, . 1r-,,;,..•
because they could not undertake thes ;formalities. The ust:; of Sanskrit language was also proving
quite difficult for the pe o ple to understand its teacfiings. The popularity o f the teachings of Buddha
preached in the popular language o f th people, made the Brahm ins realize. tl:i_?t thev must. carry out
necessary_ re! rms in their religion. _(!_!1s_eg_ l ti,y'- 9n 1111be1:-or-i1 faith like Bhagyad ha_n!J. ,
Snaivlsn1-to.6k shape:-These ·new..'to1 ms o f Hindui,sm laid great emphasis o n Ahimsa and Bhakti ans:!
were less do-ghfafi . ··-- ·---- · ·
8. Idol Worship: It is believ_ed that Buddhism also introduced idol worship for the first time. According
to the hist o rians, the practice o f worshiping the images of g o ds and goddesses did not initially exist in
Hinduism. It was only during the reign o f l{ani$hka that idol worship wc1s f i r s t started 'when the
people prepared'fi-ie"1dols o°f Lord Buddha: >The.Se s i10Iars· believe that Hinduisin borrowed idol
worship fr o m Buddh1sndt IS weU"Imown that during the Vedic period pe o p l e worshipped merely the
symbols o f various gods in o pen and idol worship did not exist. In fact the Aryan religion mainly
c_onsisted o f sacrifices performed in the open: It was onl after the s p r e a d o f Buddhism that id o l
· worship. beca'° ; p optl_lar. .P.. .O.J l,_e ill
.r. _e_c[s,ti,p'°'- _vy _ic:.)1 they placed. the iaois. or_Lo d . , q_£tii_.,.
cfus'loffcrwed°"·the example . and stanted_s;.Q.D§t! 1:!f !ng,JggmJ_ s . .f.o.r.thefr__gods. Therefore, we can
very we.iif i!fa3- }ct,oi wor_ h1p arid erec 119lt 01plg wgr_e 1e'ga J QrD.!3 4 ld.ht .W.·
9. Literature: B.uddhismalso made valuable contributions to the field o f literature.· A vast and varied
natu e- r'literature was p.ro du ce d in the p o pular language o f the people. The Tripitakas and Jatakas,
·the most imp o rtant literary w o rk s o f the Buddhists, are held in high ·esteem and have been translated
int o vari o us foreign languages. Originally tl-iese works were wri tt en in Pali, the language of the
masses. They are given the same honourable position b y the Buddhists as given to the Vedas by the
.BE t E- s. .Tl1 - g_r.ks are- f h wrical importaric·e-be_ :- ej elp usfri linkin°g"eaffh!story or·
ancient India. In addition to these w o rks, a numb.er o f Buddhist sch o lars produced other literary
wo fl<s:·--rhese included Amarakosha b y Amar Singh, Sundarananda and Buddha Charita by Asva
Ghoshai etc. Asva. Ghosha is also ..cre.i::lfred·wm1·Two-aramas enfftled ,·itashfrapaia' an·ct-7sariputtra··
A n o f l er ··Buddhist scholar Nagarjuna wrote an important book on 'Ayurveda'. The other important
works produced by the Buddhist sch o lars were Malindpanho, Mahavastu and Dirghanikaya.
10. Education: ·In the field o f educati o n Buddhism made amazing contributions. The Buddhist Sanghas
a n d Viharas served as great centres o f educatiOI!, Students froh1 far off places, 1ndua111g· foreign
countries, ·came here for educati o . . Nalanda, Taxila and Vikramshila, which gained reputations as
gn at educati o nal centres, were actually Buddha Viharas. Nalanda particularly enjoyed great
reputation as an educational centre. It may be n o ted that these · · · ·institutions did not impart __.
instructi o ns Q.IDY.i.Ju. ligiQ!LR.Y.Lals.oJ.o. ..o.th.er.s_ulJ.j.e ts ... ,
11. Developm, nt.of.Art: Thercontribution o f Buddhism t o the d o rnain: o f art, 'architecture and sculptl.1,;e
was.als o r e a rkable. N o doubt these arts flourished even before the rise of Buddhism but l they w re
· mainly us,ed for the const ucti o n ofMa"nd'.:tpas, Yajnashalas, a t: etc. The Buddhists, f o r the f ! f a t
-time, applied art t o religious architecture. A number o f viharas_iy r buUt _fqr the monks all O!'.: [Jh --
r 0
country. ·similarly -. i"iarge'tiUmb.e r o stuJ ia- ;-ofst ; - ·"; ere raised o v er th;-· ;fics-'of Bt«i'dha nd the
T .,
-
Bodhi satvas ·rhe wffore··stOry o f L o rd Buddha's life was express d in tones. Thestupa art at Sancnfis· .
weir.Known all over t h e -world for its_ gateway and· railings \'Vhich are "profusefyc-overed
sculpture, depicting ·sc:"enesJrorn Buddha's life. Buddhists- were ·a1s·o· the first . e·rect cave.temples. ."Y1t1:t to·
these.nionuriie.nts·,were decorated with·ddU:arvings, which possessed a style o f their own. The cave
temples of. Kanheri (Bom?a:y), Karle (Po o n a) and Nasik are pe t spec rriens o f Buddhist a r t Tq,e
. Gandhara ". Sch ool o f A r t Wa5':also·-Ja:rgeiy t h e outcome· o f the ·suddhist patronage. The artists bel o nging
to thiss..cho o l tri.ed to interptet the Indian subject and religi o us c o nceptio ns thr o ugh the §E .B2,ma:n
techniques.
Buddh_ist co ntri b uti o n was not confined t o architecture and sculpture al o ne. It als o made valuable
c o n trib uti o n to the a u . o f paintiJ)g: T - -; H .9.t!h s Y --- E, ! E ? W Rrich}y. e _o ate.d with beautifu.J
- J;, The est specimens o f this art are found at Ajant , Bagh and Sag iriya (Ceylo ), wh!ch are
admired b y artists form all o ver the world even today. Buddhist art was essent1alJy ,n. rty1! . }. e_1.1se • •
... · ··- ·· . . - . . - · . -. . . -·· . . ·.- . . - ............. - , . .• , . . I ; - •
120
feeling for nature and a vivid comprehension. of the unity of all life, human, animal and vegetable. It hacl
spirituality more intended than made m{rnifest It displayed an evident' delight in life as felt by the people.
Life in it had the continuity o f a stream and space was reduced· to a convention. Kings, princes, courtiers,
merchants, hunters, gods, goddesses, men, women, angel, fairies, animals, trees, creepers, !lovvcrs, all
wer"e.spread across the surface of the stone and !use into a dignified cavalcade of life.
IMPACT OF JAINISM
The impact o f Jainism can be discussed under the following heads.
1. Philosophy: Though the teachings o f Jainism were greatly influenced by the Vedic philosophy, it
developed a distinct philosophy o f its own later. For example, "syadavada" was a new and original
philosophy propounded by Jainism. This philosophy. is 1 ..v. in the sense th t. it a ms cJt the welfar_e".·
of both individual as well as the community:····-----··-·· ,. · ·
..... - -- . . . . · . · . ··-··-·--·· · - - , - ........ ,................ ·.
2. Principle of Ahimsa: The principle o f Ahimsa, though not entirely unknown to the Indians, was
popularised b y the Jains. In his teachings, Mahavira laid great emphasis on Ahimsa and opposed all
types o f yajnas and anil!lal sa.cdfices.' He insisted on non-injury, in speech, d e e d or a tion even to
plants and. stones. It .was
- ------- ....___
.,.,".mainly -.'-,,.due
'"'".._.,-_. tothe··fos-1steiic"e··oi1·
., ---- the
. pril1-ciple
r ········-·········--·•·-···-' -., - _.:_,..,.
.--..--,-.-..,,. Ahimsa"'f.,y )a111s "that-the" of
· vanous types o f sacrific,: . r.e gty p,µp.. ·.:.
.
".;.,·-'-._, ....._ ..•.-... - .-.--. . . _,. . . . .
:t Caste: Jainism also re.ndered great service to the Indian society by giving a rude shock to the caste
system. Rigors of the caste system were greatly reduced during the 6th century B.C.
4. Purification of Hindu Religion:. The vehement attack on the perversions o f Hinduism led the
Hindu scholars and informers to devote attention towards the removal o f the evils which had crept
_into its fold. They tried to get rid o f the various evils with a view to regain the lost prestige for
Hinduism.
5. Greater Attention towards Public Utility: Tpe teachings of Jainism i not only insisted on Ahirnsa
butalso laid stress on the greater .service to thecause·:of ifie::hti'in'a"nt f ·: J f'f9lJ'<fyy 1 :-o.(l IfiJ rtL:. ___
opened a rihmber'"cjf_1firis; : .cfsR °fa[s -- SC . 6ols and otb_er.)n.iiifa :ucins 'fo public - !!ity _c::d !h r !JJ..
·nave·g1ve·u·e1frouragement to the'·sp1ritorp"iiolic'utHTiy works. -
6.· Dampening of Military Spirit: Jainism's emphasis on Ahimsa and peace led to the dampening of
the military spirit _of the Indian people. According to certain schol rs, it w a s due to this r 11..thaL
a, number o f foreign invaders could gain easy victoriesovertfie7nclians-aiictestablished thefr
·controTover tfi1 s count iy .·. --·-- -······ ·--··--·· · ······· -----...
-7: Literature: Jainism has also rendered valuable contribution to the growth o f vernacular lite:rature;
While the -':l_c!g.h_ists . Ei. e- . .r hmi11_ E: - -i. .X?.H - ? ..?. -r . .,the) i.!:l_S. P!_: - ?. . the
language o f the people. Most,.ofiJne·· Jain literature was written i n PrakritL 'Large literatu ·-i e was ..
pfoaticea-·rtr-tne'·Vefifa.fii1ai- languages a so. Fo-r exa'inpfe; M havfra' prea'ched j :; -i- 5:.?, . !!CS-t
called Ardha Magadhi so- that people. o f .!!1 -- reLrnJtld__ under,$ t £ d h i s teachir:igs. His teachings,
.
which were subsequently compiledinto12 books under the·title Sniian'gas,'were also composed in
this language. ,.Butthe most important contribution o f -!he Jains t 9 .-lb£ U!J r.?Jl!Ut,.,lt.J.!L!}: .c
Apabhramsa langua'ge. This langu-age· 11nKs tfie . _icaClangua t and Prakrit on the,. one
l
- . fiand .an_<J modern vernacular o n the other. The Jafns a1so i n l uerH:ea ·t ne"K ah ft ese '•h t rature . intlfo
s;uth. It -;°j/6e"rtotecrf1ere-ffi'it- ertain jain works.were also proctu·ced i'n Sz ski 7fliitngt{agetThe.
...,
literature produced 'in Sanskrit inchides not only· philosophical l>Li'°F""Iiiso ub} tts like works
grammar, lexicography and mathematics. The prominent scholars o f the Jain literature,Xwere
Hemchandra, Hari Bhadra, Sidha Senay,·Pujya P a d a -
•
- - , . : ... - - . . . . , - CIII'
8. Architecture; Besides religion and philosophy, Jainism. rendered great contribution to the ·
development o f art and architecture. The Ja1n followers erected stupas iike Buddhists in honour t?f
their saints. These stupas were built o f stone and were decorated with gate-ways, stone-umbrellas, · ·
121
carved-pillars and huge statues. The·followers of Jainism. also built many famous caves such as
Tiger cave of Udaigiri and Indira Sabha.of Eliora. These caves are exce1lent examples of architecttfre
and sculpture of the period. The Jains also C0'.1structed cave-temples. One of the best cave-temples
of the second century B.C. exists in Orissa and is popularly known as Hathigumpha caves. Temples
of Gwalior, 57 feet high statue of Gometeshwar in Shravanbelogola, temples of Khujaraho and
Mount Abu are other marvellous exa.mples of the high standards of Jain art and architecture.
IMPACT OF /SLAM
Religious Field: What was the impact of Islam in the religious field is a matter of great controversy.
Charles Eliot in his book "Hinduism and Buddhism" propounded the thesis that Ramanuja and Shankara
were greatly influenced by Islam. This view is supported by another prominent scholar Dr. Tara Chand
who holds that the concept of the unity of God was a gift of I lam to lng_ia. He says that the grea
Shankaracharya who flourished during the later years of the eighth and early years of the ninth century
A.D. was so much influenced by the Islamic theology as to have borrowed the theory of unity of God from
°
his c<j nt ct with Muslims. This view is not acceptable to Prof. A.L. Srivastava; who poses a question that
"if sft· nkaracharya really borrowed hist t1 io1y o f monism (Ac;lvaita) from Islam, why did he faff to
condellln and denounce image worship -which is a cardinal doctrine of Islamic ideology''? He further
poiJ!_ l 9,Ut- 'can it not be said that .two
different people inight deveiop a similar line .of thought, religious s,
secular, quite independently of each other? How very much can it be true o f Shankaracharya's Advaita
philosophy when ft is realised on all hands th t its gems are found. in our Shrutis and that \-vhat he
preached was only the logical development of the truth embodied in the Vedas and Upanishads".
It is true that the upper class Hindus, both in the north and in the South, extended a very generous
treatment to the Muslims and gave them complete freedom to corivert people to their religion. The Hindu
leaders, 1;eformers and preachers openly advocated that Hinduism and Islam were two paths leading to
the same destination. T.h.ey condemned the priestly rituals in both the religions and laid emphasis on
devotion and piety.
Islam influenced the Hindu society in two ways. Firstly, the missio ary z Dal of Islam which aimed at
conversion o f the maximum number of Hindus to Islam gave rise to conservation. The Hindu leaders
thought that they could save their religion" and culture on_ly b;y ada12tiqg.,m.Q,[§.,,Orj:hoqg2u .utlo.o . Greater.
emphasis was laid on ri id religious life as per S111riti . Strict rules w..ex.e laid ·down regarding diet,
.'
marrifge.mdgef.ifra(conciuct.·Seco.ndT; ; FI S§ 1 7 rifu ra fic p r2 .: . : -?.· -·! . !ounq!h fr. aljnto
the Hinau society; The !!Eakti movem .11t-was to a large extent influenced. · · by Islam and the Hmdu
reformers preached funda ental equality o f all religions and the unity of God. fjs_m ex n;ise_ ,
considerable influence on the Hindu socie!}' and the Sufi saints attracted the attention of the 1-Iindus This
c nt ;g1:;w doser dur.ing th- egim f Akbar .. In s h thcrt the-Hindu leaders 'realisecit:hata. cansaY
' (o . 1ty,''·····• ·····•·'"'"···
liberaf" treatment o f the Sudras and the untouchables was essential in the interest of the Hindu
. ,,.,.-.c-- ...•. , - · - - - - · - " '-::. ;- ,,.-- :·-- ,,. .... , , .., . , , , . _ • . . _ _ _ -·- -·, • "'-· O,. • • . . . . . ,_..-J..-, .... ,_,.,., . ,.,- .
, ...
. .: , .
Soci friiVpa.ct: The coming o f Islam to India also left a d en mar QP. tb..e sodal structure. Wlth a Yi w to
q•i;
meet the)nroads oflslam more effective!Y, the ttinctu leaders made caste system, more w
rigid an.ct laid
greater empfiasis-onth vance .·of caste rule .:. . With a view to... ...tr the, Hindu sodetyl:ney
_ca -! e Smrit_1s thus P Y. , ,t , » t9, fo.i:.,_ - 15.l 2_ .P ? ll ,,} .,!] ; 1 '!., @5} fjT-
whq{: h 1; . Q nJorc1bly removed fro.!!1 . t.-_,Yolummous commentaries .on the Smntls and N1bandhas .
r
.(��1t�f:�Weff=·po aucecf\vfti-t a-� �·�w""'t readjust the social ·relati? hie _Ecor<ling to the. d
,
circumst.ances.
.. ·
The:;.:J:&fr,orfemale infanticide, which was greatly condemned for many centuries, was also to a large
extent the product o f Islam. -!EQq):! g_gpJ 4. t AP!. .C. ic . qf[ !P ! in"ranticide ! h. a _yi !<U ca_pe
the risk of their virgiris losing chastity at the hands of the. Muslims. It is a matter.of historical i formatiol!
f
t f i a f n�Jnyer�ofHindttchiers··ancw'eH::'to.� cfo._.persons wer .· pelf;d b y the Muslim - d.ngl>J ?.
give thei.rdaugfilefs'!ffffiarJ:tage;foescape·arn : :-i·gn'omi i-; ·: -i. : dpractici g infanticide. .
!CJ..
122
The Pardah system was also the resdt;_( f the Muslim rule. This practice was unlrnm,vn in the previous
p'edod·s ofli1sfo1:y and the women could move a out f reely. With the arrival of the Muslims they were
compelled to live in seclusion in their homes and rarely moved outside. Whenever they had to go out
they went either i_f!_J:>aJq!1qui1)S.._coverecl with curtains or used Pardah. According to Yasin Mohammad
during this period kid11apping o f Hindu women was considered to be an act o f Jihad. The Hindu women
took to pardah with a view t protect themselves against this Jihad.
Child marriage was also largely the re ult of the Muslim_ rnl in l:ndia. T e Muslim rulers and other high
oft1cials quite ofte·n--kidnapped beautiful Hindu girls. Under the circumstances the Hindu parents thought
it desirable to take to child marriage. It was emphasized that the proper age for the marriage of girls was
sev..en and that marriage after the age o f eleven or twelve was sinful.
The position o f women in society g1 eatly deteriorated. They were denied the status o f equ.?pty _wit ,, e!?,
which they earlier enjoyed. They were not allowed to participate freely in social functions and.
ceremonies. Though they still enjoyed a position of respect they were rendered completely dependent on_
the men-folk. The women were expected to zealously safeguard their fidelity. To ensure this safety of.
honour and chastity against the Muslill}S/·the
, customs of Jauhar (mass sati) and Sat became current
throughout the country. · ''""·;.:..·.,,.,. ., "'·'"' "'-""·"·""'=··- - ..,_,_ . ..
.
A1idt er evil, which fomu --its.way into Hindu society as a result o f the impact of islam, was laver;,tr.No
doubt the Indians even before the advent of Muslims knew slavery, but the Muslim rulers specially.·
p_atroniz d t. Slavery was a common feature of the Muslim society and kee_E,g g __.f..§J.9.-y_ --- cl: .- P ..<?.1:!JX., ...
f_?. !'?. ..'? !- J q c:1s,x; b£LQL!?£. ill,o!} and,_s aJ ·- The Sultans o f Delhi as well as their nobles and Amirs
kept slaves - both mafes and females. Usuaily the royal family maintained the largest number of slaves. It
is said that Ala-ud-Din ljad 84,000 slay_e$,.. This strength rose to 2,00,000 under the r e i g n of Firoz Tughlaq.
It.may be noted that t e u tans·;;;-r;;t:;ined these slaves at the... of the tate: i h HindLl. fe'ucial lo ds cost
and leaders also started observing the practice of slavery. The Rajput royal families offered women slaves ·
in dowry.
The dress, food and social manners o f the upper sections of Hindu society were also greatly influenced by
Islamic culture. !s_an_. pd :...§.a lw e,I, the popular dresses o f north India, were introduced under the ·
'l
· Islamic influence. Usually the dress fashions were introduced by the Muslim nobles and were copied by .
i the high class Hindus. The Hindu masses and the priestly classes by and large r mained immune from the
impact of Muslims with r gc1 __r. .J<:>_JhJ ic:.dr;eSs,,Jo.o.d ..,;1nd. sodaL.mann r.s.. T\le food habits of high class.
Hindus alsounderwent'a change. They started consuming non-vegetarian di.shes like the. Muslims. _They
also started following social manners and ceremonial aspects o f the Muslims. t_[i;,i!f S of gambl(ng 3snq
drinking which were pfeyalent in the Mµ Um. oci ty_9fJl:1. _9-g were also adoptt:;d b y the Hindus.
C Some o f
.
tiif xfsti "g-games ; n d r - -tion- l activities were .gi; a ncter
· ·· the Musl.imslike
·>.-· · ,-·,·
_ n -;h pe- 1mpac o
hl.i:rtffrig, hawking and other
. garp.e
.. . ·-. · ,
............ -... . ,. . . . . ,;. ........•.

,.._ __
.-·-., ··,····
I . ..
,. . ' . .. .
Economic Impact: Though the Muslin\;Tu'lers established 4eir supremacy in the political sphere the
econo_Ty of the countix continued t g b g,_Qm •.••tll J:!)_ s. No doubt large jagirs were &iven tg_the
Muslim Amirs but they depended for the cultivation of their lands on the Hindu peasants. Therefore the
land system remained intact and there was hardly any change i n the existing arrangement. The only
changewas i
t h a formaf . th·e·lands
ly +;.-,
·ca_rn·e under the
.._,.,. .... , ... ,4-· . • . ··· --.
control o f-J_._the
- - .. _,._,.
' 9
MvS:Ui:n.Ja.gir.d rs.. . . ·
· - · · · · · . . ·· · •. .......
Iri,the sphere o f trade and commerce Hindus continued t o dominate. Muslims w e r e essentfally miIJtary
acJye_pturers_,;yllo_wen;! pot conversant with the commercial practices ofti -;affndu-fNEdcfubTtpe iq'J?lf.Ffi
i IJ. ers heavily crushed the commercial cia'sses,bat·,tli.e',Hindu B riiya continued t o be 2.n esse11tial fe _!t r --:
f t e economk structt:1re in medieval tim_es.The Baniyas advapced nisinex, to,,Jatrners, <!rtisan . nd
s. The Muslim-rulers though quite jealous o f the dominant position o f the Hindus-in the economic
sphere had to depend on them. In other words we can.say that e_ven though the MusHms d r:1- U? --
.
poHtical
,---- . -............. _.....an
,..... _c!q!!}i ! !:r.
. t_iy_e
. machinery,
. . . ... . ..
the..
Hindus continued
..
to control
..
.the economic life._.
....... · ,
.. -__
. . . . .
The coming o f the Islam to India exercised economic impact in anothe w a y too. The Indian :overs:as
commerce, which had virtually come J. o. an end with the decline of t h e 'Ch-olas',-·was--re.vTvecr ·prof..
---- . ..
-.
' .-
123 .-
·-.
--·
Jadunath Sarkar has rightly said that the "restoration of touch with the outer world, the revival of Indian
navy and sea-borne trade both of which had been lost since the decline o f the Cholas was the direct
outcome of the Muslim impact". Ind _t_r ge_ yi_th foreign cou_ntri_e.s, particularly with the countries 9f______
tbe East, tremendously increased \-viii:h exercised profound influence on the economic condition o f the
p ople".
Impact on Culture: Though the initial impact o f Islam on the Hindu culture was negligible and the
Hindus paid no attention to the study of Persian and Arabic, in course of time they took to the study o f
Persiarf>1 h terature. It is s;1id that the °Hindus for the first time took ·to the study of Persian and Arabic
during the regime of Sikandar LodhL Tl:f 'r eal p rog ress 1n the sphere of literary communicatio1i hetwe·en
the two,:communitiestook place under the Tughlc1qs. During the times of Firoz r gll_l_aq _certain MuslTm
scholaistendered certain Sanskrit rnm·a-nces fi1to.I-iin.dC--ar hot1·gh the ·script iised by them ivas P rs.ian.Jt
f
was oriiy under Akbar thafthe real synthesfr.hi.ttie fielcfoff\vo-literitt.11:es--to-ok-place.··Ho\.vever, so far the
Hindu scholars did not produce any independent works in Persian. It was only during the times o f Shah
Jahan th t. i_I1_ -- c_ 9.!. ES .P!5!_duced independent works--···in . Persian.. - --· - t h e w o r k o f Chand a Bha11 _Brahman
an example offfifs'.· ······"· ···:;;::·---'--·-· . --- •' ·- . . . _,_. ,.,. ,-.. ;.,•,oaC•-ec
c·anhej toted.as
Apart from the study of Per_sian literature, the Hindi culture also·1felf -the impact of Islam. .§.. •.?..reg _IJ__g.Ltbe
spread,,,of Bhakti Movement there was a tremend_o_ i11c se in the quantity of words l) JpdJ g
Jtra6Tcan·ctrurkTslrworas1nthelo i fture. -,. . . .,_.... ,.... ,.. · ··· ·-,- ..........,.

iangua'g·es 1 h l. impact o f the· Musiim literature ·bn the=f 'ct'Tgetl'6lis-aiTture-Ts·'evfcfenffromthe
f presence o>""'f"···
t'fielarg� numnerofl'etsian,
_.,.,w_, _ _ •.: ,.-. ·•_,,,,,,.;. ...-i- , -<.
. -
..- .... ,:,;.;i,,,.. -,...... - , -,-r.;,: ..... - .. r" ....
-- , -- ·c+.,.r_T".,ro,..,,..•J"lo"\.:--,,-:e;:_-,Jt- ii('.Ulo:·l:.,:,11;y. ,,.,..J. .., \
.:
The intermingling o f the Hindu and Muslim culfrtre gradually led to the- emergence of a new language
Urdu, which was a sort of linguistic synthesis of Persian, Arabic, Turkish and languages of Sanskrit origin.
. .. .
. --- . . - - . - - · - - - - - « - · - · · · · - · · ' " ' , ' " ' • ' " " " ' ' • • . - . , . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ._, . . . . . . . . . . . .
I n ·course of time Urdu became the lingua franca o f the people.

_ , , , , , , _ .
Impact on Fine Arts: Probably the deepest impact of .Islam was in the field o f fine arts. The spirit o f
assi11Jilation and synthesis between the H ndu and Muslim cultures led to the evc,lution <?.r. !X2E.J:J
- E hi te cture and m i
u. . . .!D,. .b l£h..! h!U i ,§ c . J.€!,,ill. IH-t. Yff, .J;.t J :E:. !- 9J - - -,! ti !2t h.?.D£L9.Y1W. m:l
forrft.was"tnaC<:fflffe··persians.· As Dr. Tara Chand has said, "The craftsm;m·ship, the ornamental richness
and·"'geberal c:iesfgnreinai ri e d" largely Hindu, the arcaded form, plain dome , smooth-faced walls and
spacious interiors were MusHm S\.lperimpositions". Dr. A.L.-Srivastava has also admitted the deep impact
o f Islam in the domain o f fine arts and says that the Hindus did not disdain to borrow freely whatever
appeared to them to be useful and bea:utiful and this trait is reflected- in t h e Hindu buildings erected
during the second half of the sixtee_nth century and the whole of the seventeenth and· eighteenth
centuries. Rajput rulers readily imitated the Mughal style of architecture and introduced it iri their
palaces._Hindu temples could not remainimmune·from the.influence ofthe Mughal architectural forms.
Mu k:::tfi'-!the sphere of Music, the blendi£K .o f the Persianandlndian music-led to the emergenceof ne ' ·
formsU equawwalis, which became more_ u! ,_!:3)ending th lndianVeenaa.ila:tne franiap'tambura
pro uce· some o t e· musical instrument1'hke Sitar. Tablaisalso
--,---·----,--·-·r,·consideredtobe a Muslim mod1ffcat1 ·· ···· n1
of'lHnff musicarMi:l_d g..
.....- . ,. • . .-...... ,., .• ,,.,, . ·- .,........_,.,...,.. , . , _ *
- ---- • "''":··-- ..------· -- ,... -----:;.,--:· :- ,.co-. · - - ..
. .
·
Painting: The· a r L f -P inting prevaiHng in the· c untry was also greatly infl enced by I lam.- This
influence was not only confined to the ideas but also to technique and form. The bl nding of the Persian
and Rajput techniques o f painting led to the emergence o f a new school of µghal art. According to Pro[
Jaduna(h}Sarkar, "The art o f painting in Mughal age; though P·ersh1rtii1 gin w�s .actually the joint
produce ;..bf Hindu and Persian.ideas and developed into,.two schools o f painting known as Mughal arid
Rajput·trtht!J 1 Ja.A. E R rJK\!l tDY'- - Y. ! ped'hl_gq: ?J H i1lt!! :.<:1-Xt2f p2_rtrait and mura,I_p_ - i- _&· Th ---
H ind t Fp ainte rs . adQp_ E!4 b- _minuteness.o.Lthe..P...eI§.i - techniques and _r.g,g_Y-_l=. ..g:g f§._ "dlng·works.
• - · - - · - - · · · .
-
. . • • ,. . - - - - - - - - - - - . . . . · ·:"'!" . . . . , . . W : - ...
. .
. . . . , , . . ._. - : - - - - - · · - . . . - . .
.
T h e Islamic influence was particularly felt in the art ·of layJ!lg_ th ga d ns .;. T.!}.__g__.Myg!rn!? .. - !J_ _ Jp
geometrically designe pl · wit}:l .'provision artificfal rrigc!tign.Jn,.theshape,.,oLtanks,. basins. q11q.
waferfalls ·Thispaftern followed imc>sfaf_forftfie ·parts c_ountry. ·was in ofth - . .: . -. - .
124
IMPACT OF CHRISTIANITY
The impact of the Christianity on Indian society can be best understood b y analyzing the role played by
the Christian Missi_onaries in India during .th 13ritish Raj.
The Charter Act of 1813 had allowed the missionaries their activities unhindered. The Act reversed the
scales in favour of British missionaries already engaged in India Missionary societies used to establish
their missions at various centres within and outside the British controlled territories. Though the main
objective o f these missions was spreading o f Christianity, education was n1ajor curriculum to ·Chrf ti UiZf!..
the Tii'cffa _ :-··si;c·e-·they ·,-vere co"ricerne"d witK soc.i: 1 reqlifreine_ri_t, pj"eaching througfi "the· rnod-l ·r_xongu
se i nti.aL - 1!._t .t e a ch_i . ?.!}_ li_ - Y- - --- _1}1_g tL.ctI1 $$ .nJia.l_ req uire.n1en!.J.Q __qg_apt them to Ch rist n
civHization. Therefore, it was the missions \ hich helped in the growth o f vernacular lan es a s w e l l as
Engfisn.-Besides, the female missionaries helped educating tfie women. Though the Governor General
""
ETientrcfrough saw, "the ···poHtkal rwri'"'of'E'ngffsfi-po·we'i·-as ti iit 'ffiev tfa o"le consequence o f the mission
education of the Hinduism!" the Company Administration was obliged to bear with it, for whole o f the_
European continent in that era was dominated by great reforms and liberal age. Secondly, the favourable
response to the reforms !! trc;> ! S 9J?.Y tlYS -h g_gj§.f_g}:Q§!_c{th .f . !Jny.9.lved <>.ffi<:.l?URt Jf i
inffiereifgfous affairs· m
. .These factors helped the missionaries to expand their.activities and this is rightly
ca.114 ss.:''tne-ageoT i ssJon school" .. .
. . --:·:.: ..... : . _ _
· The figures of the mission education _in 1834 are self indicative:
1. Anglo-vernacular schools and colleges for men - 91 with 18,401 students.
2. Vernacular schools for boys -1,099 with 38,661 students.
3. Boarding schools for boys - 67 schools with 1,788 students.
4. Day schools for girls - 285 with 8,91 students.
In comparison to 67,569 pupils in 1,474 institutions run.or aided by the Administration,the Protestant
Missions were running 3A95 institutions (1,6-28 schools for boys and girls and 1,867 Sunday schools) and
were imparting education to 1,25,231 students (64,043 in regular schools and 61,688 in Sunday schools).
The. total· mission activity was more extensive. Therefore, .it can easily be. said that education t.o. the
,' Indians was provided largely, not by the CorµpJln.iXifmlnistration."but b y the missions. Therefore, the .....
i
cm.iseof the"E_Il ffsh"wc s*afso served mare ... them than .. --,·=v - · '>--·h = - . - . - .... - -, .
The -contact o f the Indian Hindu tradition with the West was a different and radical sociological
significance. ijistorically, it was a contact between a pre-modern and a inodernizing culturai system. By
theltrne··the Western tradition could bear meaningfully upon the cultural, political and sodal>syst ms. o f
India, its own· structure had undergone radical internal metamorphoses; its ttaditionallJ.ierarchical and
holistic .character had br9ken downritstval\}e structure was Jendered more open, liberal, egalitarian aJ1d.
humanistic; and this tradition was imbuecf with a new fou d sense o f confidence in the scientific and
technological wo rldv Ji?.§Jill'.oil.ra.!J.2 f1!.! Q!, eg uali!Y and. free42!!l Jll -yalue;:had-bmh ositi e.;.as
well as negative reactions among the many Western inteUectua.Ts;-yet, the great historical importance that
t att-fonn:maffoitof a new" e·ra:··-ofcha.nge in the-·Inctian · cultural tradition can. hardly b e
overe_mphasized.
. . . ' .
The;. pd_e o f the Western cultural impact on the. Indian tradition had distinctive features, in historical as·
well, as_ substantive terms . . HistoricaJly r the distinctiv·e element w a s i n its·. gradual expansion through
succ ssion and replacement o f various forms o f Western traditions differing in political and<_c\1J J!fal
orientation and influence. The earliest contact, o f which sociological consequences were marginal, was
with the Portuguese. The Dutch and the French followed them. Neither the· Dutch µorthe F .:,n_ad
frl.
Christianization as their main objective. The _Dut_ch were mainly interested £9 W.m r_<;, , Tb. J rench,had"'·--
political &2. ls, 1U:f their-_Influerice · was·rnargfna1:oiilytfie-Britisli
1inally· en:ie.rg Jvlomip J!t IJ9yY r; i. ,
I ! :.!he Western impact on Indfan cuiturehas t efore been primarily o f the Briti b,. .. ,
125
The consolidation of the British power in (ncHa, which statted in early seventeenth century, was complete
only towards the end of the nineteenth century. Behind this pdlitic'al power was t:he cultural tradition of
the West. There were basic differences between this politico-cultural tradition and India.
The cultural traditions of the 19th century West, which overwhelmed the Indian scene, was in its ethos
and structure fundamentally different from the traditional cultural patterns of Hinduism and Is]am. Its
basic tenets were in contradiction with most of· the essential attributes of the contemporary Indian
tradition.
----, The form
. of legal rationalism on which the Western tradition was based, recognized a
.
conffactual individualistic relationship between man and society. In matters of legal justice and civil
dgh'fs it encouraged the values· of equality, equity and universalism and not those o f s atus and hierarchy.
In contrast with communal and familistic status allocation system of India, the Western tradition
introduced new criteria for social stratification which were based on achievement and not ascription and
allocated status only on individu.al performance and not on charismatic qualities. Together, these new
orientations posed a serious challenge to the two cardinal attributes of the Indian tradition - those of
hierarchy and holism.
--- i J f
The fntpact o f Wes!ern culture continued

r
unabated in almost qlJ he sphere of the social life. Some of the
in5-ti l;ltion·a1 developments,
. . .. wh.icf have directly been instruni nfal in the creation of modernization in
Ind
1. The.growth o f UniVersalistic legal superstructure
2. Expansion o f education
3. Urbanization and industri lization
4. Increased network of communication
5. Growth of nationalism and politicization of the society
(Please refer to the notes on impact o f modernization on family, marriage and kinship in Paper I)
126.
4. Emergence and G_rowth 6t'Ahthropology-in India

The s udy_,2Lm.-tni,HSt.,,2.£l?s been the SUBJ _c_ s in l _di _frqn1.tin:t immemorial. In the ancient Indian
context of history, the M 1msmriJi gives an e \.!HlY.:.'t, £lfj L .nfL. ttJtt;J1JJgL<1fJ,QJ!!lt9i.J:lliW?£,9,Ple o f India.
An elaborate account of Indian society and man can be found in Bfil[l na _and J!.h ghpJ.e, - -.The
Bhagawad Gita highlights the individual's character on the axis of self. Buddha's teachings_are part o f the
study of man. '.Ashoka's inscriptions are full o f descriptions about man and the grarnn1aTofnTsso'cTa1 life.
In the medieval period the poets like Surdas, Tulsidas and Kabir made a penetrating study of man -and
came up with substantive mat rial _aboutlI1e··socfaITife.. hfgetre·ral and about the folk people o f India in
particular. · ····-· · ·
· In the modern period, the study of man and his society became the subject matter of anthropology. The
study of man in its totality got a scientific footing through it.
· l dian anthropology h a s isto -y of W?. n urie , which began in 1774 h- e- st b i 'hment o f L!;:.
A. a_ti pg e-\Y pf I3 pgaI,-_wh i<;h m r ftlr.e 1 en.t ifj9; .
:;t ra I
itiqn._ q"IndJa.f or"'t}\ :·st4 y;l)f '._'n_ature· and an'_'.
'ffiecoihlfrff'inctepenct·ence in 194 7 ga·ve it. a tremendous mom'entum an , within a sh'?!..!..EJ?_a,. , o J 9
c!1,1d a half cteca<les, the usefuln - a d_s.tatY.:_ --<?f. n .hr.2milqgyJ.n.t.h .-- £gf! ri1_i _fi. J.#TIF : univer:sitie$ ._and.
te-se rcITTnsntufes ·ancfin
t e . eveloQmental fieldsHke welfare of the SCs and STs have been recognized
ancfan1iii·o-polog}: E EJPi ; i rit tlg,h-Q.lLQJl Qf,,tlt tlhfni rtfa;y''ctlmm'it;iii :x(t ,-i -t l natio
level too Indian anthropOl(?gy has gained recognition - pre ipents .j,p o f the .
n- i-
/·:_· ti' 'na " , ...of the
"A.
.., t .. pJ;S_ o.gt.. _o/·an•a ,t:r;';''"-'?f'"...,.'.' . f.s"""h. §,,.&9JL\
.. . tQ • .
-,r:4.Qd 1a. ··
•>
., 4;-2,
I
-._q.g_,:Q,m..:
, , •
: .' . . ·. ,.(\., .,
The course of development o f social anthropology needs to be studied in three phases: f.2 mf!ti_y -- rigf:1,
•
C..02. tr . }l J r- d and ll.3-J if ,;f,,& MlJl ••
....- While we propose these three stages of development in
anthropology in india, it is not contemplated that one phase has completely been replaced by another. As
•.
a matter of fact there have been strikingly different rates of development o f anthropological researches in
different parts oflndia, and an acquaintance with _this fact needs to be emphasized, and a generaHzation.
on an . all India level needs to be made. with the awareness of the regional distinctiveness and·
l . delimitations. In order to clarify this point, it may be mentioned that though the formative period in
,.
Assam, Meghalaya and other north-eastern border areas started long ago, they have just emerged out of
the constructive phase o f descriptive ethnography. Similarly, in the contemporary social researches
being conducted in different parts of India by various agencies and indiViduals on tribes and castes
through the traditions o f formative phase, theoretically sophisticated researches of the analytical period
are also quite evident.
The Beginning: Formative Period (1774-1919): As already said it is to the Asiatic Society.·of Bengal
that we owe the beginning o f anthropologkal investigation. in India. Credit goes to_,, ,!!} lJj s :who
established this Society in 177 4, bec e }ts founder-president, defined its scope t .,., t!J2l- n,
man" in India and piloted a number·'ofresearches and publications on t h e s e s U ,,,. -- ._ •• ,._.-....._ .......
•• ,_.,.--.,.......,..,....,..""',._ .'.••-,,-,M::,.-: ,...:.
:•.,. .•. - . . ,..,,., .......... ; • •·:s:·:,,.rc,::,,.-,.·.-c:-• -:-·
"'
-.. ..,,·•-...,..·-.-· -·- ... .
' ..•..•. ,1.'.;.·-•.··r· .,:-.......:-:-• ........ _ ·•··• •... ·.• .••i. -· _ .. • ,.r • - -
S_ince·then, the British administrators, missionaries, travellers and a few otheranthropolo;gically-oriented

individuals collected data o n tribal and rural groups and wrote about their life and culture in the Journal__ __,
Asia_tic Soc ety of Ben?_al..Jl I di n .. 1X-U ?2],,-: •nd la e in t ? e Journal of ?- :. !!!. . .!, r .1:1 -.9.: S '
Researcli Soc_1efy_ (T9TSJ anctMan m lndiaJ",!?1.ll {.. Alorig with other h1stoncal, geographical mforma 10n,
<.
they aTsoc:oUecfim-eHmograpiifc "d'afa-·and published a series .of clistrict gazetteers, handbooks on tribes
and castes, and then a number ·of monographs, especially on the tribes.of ·Assam. During the census,
especially in 193 l and 1941, some· British and lndiairanthropologists were associated ·with collecting·
a·nthropologic_al data on tribes and castes o f different parts of India.
'_., These scholarly-or ented sntish administrators posted i different Barts o f Indi lik :3isle}', Oaltc;m· nd}
b'Malley h i eastindfa Rusielfii:mit:Jdfe:Iriclia, thurs°t<>h iffscicith H1aia,· Crooks in. iio'f.tlie?n'india; wrote.
encyclopaedic inventories about the lives and cu( re o(the pe ple o f respective. regions, and their
importance can be judged from the fact that the Anthropological Survey o f India has chalked out _a plan to
127
'••
·. ., .
reprint some of them with suitable adclitioO d notes. In addition to the handbooks on the tribes and castes
o f different regions, general books on Indian ethnology were 'also published by administrators like
Gampbell (1856), Latham (1859) and Risley (1891). Th __purpose . o.L.these volume was to acquaint
government officials and private persons with classified tribes and c:astes in_India, with a view to ensuring
effective colonial administration. .
The above generalised \Vorks about the land and people of the region were followed by their efforts to
prepare detailed accounts of specific tribes (and in some cases castes, i.e., The Chammars by Briggs, 1920)
o f the different regions. Among them, mention may be made of Lushai Kuki by Shakespeare (1912),
Kha'sfa by Gurdon (1912), Lhora Naga by Mills (1917), Lakher by P a n y (1932), Maria Gond by Grigson
(193_8) and a few others who wrote competent monographs on specific tribes. Then a few missionaries
like'Ifodding (1925), Hoffmann (1950) and several others in different parts of India were also attracted to
ethnographic and linguistic researches. All these scholars were especially influenced by such early
British anthropologists as 'River"s U906J, Seligmann (19li),. lfaddiffe Brown (1922) and Hutton (1913)
wh :?'orked on the tr,ibes of India and published their monographs.
_
Early Indian· Anthropologists: The first Ihdian to come under their influence and to write exhaustive
moii'ographs on the tribes in India was Roy, who published hii fitseepoch-making \vork on the Munda
_ trioet - ?l J- _·Thi was fo l?wed l 1e - < E -
--, _ _ . i ilt --u rc>:msf
t?onographs on th ';[5rahh.-( ?J;$:J,jhe Bkh,.gt,,_ ! F
) l . . . {iBJ\lh ··: i .1 _35 ·a -flle l<ha rf :ff f 2;31Y)T hese worksof Roy have
Be irac noW' f g f : y - e _nt1s anthropologists of tliat time as competent studies, and Hutton i n his
presidentfafad<;ttess read. at the annual meeti.ng of the Iridian Anthropological Institute held in Calcutta
on January 5, 1938, desc1 ibed Roy as "the Father of Indian· Ethriology". Roy, under the intellectual
inspiration of British anthropologists and with financial encouragement of the then British Governor o (
Bihar, Sir Edward Gait, did outstanding work for anthropological researches in Bihar. Next t ,.B- hl3::P·
J:liLQg__p,YQ!!§.!!. 90_!< i ?1,§ 9._1:1)he ngo Aryc111 a e which-evoked
--. great il'1terest in the study of the
· -
cultural history of India.
Constructive Period (1920-1949): ·s·ocial anthropology in India definitely witnessed a phenomenal
-----
growth when it was included in the curriculum of the two important universities in Bombay (Sociology in
1919) and Calcutta (Anthropology in 1921). -
These two centres .
for sociologicaian'd"=-;·nthropological
.
researches attracted academicians· and trained scholars to undertake significant. researches. V ry soon,
obscure subjects like kiriship stu s, social _orge:mi ation, etc., w re uridertaken by trained· scholars like
Ghurye (1943, 1952, 1954), Chattopadhyay (1922, 1925) Srinivas (1942, 1946}, Majumdar (1937), Ka_rve
(1940) and a few others.· Anthropologists like P.N. Mishra, L.K.A. Iyer, K.P. Chattopadhyay, T.C. Das, D.N.
Majumdar in the· east and north India, and· G.S. Ghurye, lrawati Karve, L.K. Ananthakrishna Iyer and A.
Aiyappan in the western and southern India provided the initial stimulus to organise scientific.
an_th:r. pological ·researches by conducUng:fie_ld.expeditions,writing, books -and .articles and by traini g
res a_rchers for anthropological studies on :ribal and rural culture.
A bi,! )eap forward came in 1938, when a Jbint se;sion of the Indfon Science Congress Association and th.e
British- Association, on the occasio_n of the Silver Jubilee of the former body, reviewed th progress of
anthropology in Iridia, and·eminent anthropologists from abroad deliberated with Indian anthropologists
and· ·discussed plans for -future - anthropological researches in - India. During this period a few
antJ:ir pologists· provided some theoretical lead in sociai anthropological researches. }1ujufI!cl r's_ Wt½,.
(19$Qfon ·the Changing Ho o f Singhbhum, Srinivas's publication(J.942) pn Mar:r.iage,":ancLf.,gJJlJly_jn
M°; · rNx-fiose's"-·onlHii_<! -Meffiiia. o
· ··- i 1 4,i n·
o.fTrib fAhsorytici ·{f 11f ·i;-;. ,-1ih-t turning ·point
a t r ..iP.Q,IQ.gj{ .:-·-. --·_· . , _-:··.·-·"_ . _ . - - - ·-· - - ·· -.. :- ·· ·
Thih>the entry of Verrier Elwin and a series of his .problem-oriented publications on the tribes of Madhya
Pradesh and Orissa like the Baiga (1939), the Agaria (1943), the Maria (1943), the Muria's Ghotul (194 7)
and then_ n the religion of the Savara of Orissa (1955) brought further recognition to the Indian
anthropolo·gy. Furer-Haimendorfs publication on the tribes -of Hyderabad and other successive
publications provided refined models to works in Indian anthropo_lo gy.
128
Thus, Indian Anthropology, which was: h9r{l and'brought up under the predominant influence of British
Anthropology, matured during the constructive phase on the lines of English Anthropology. During this ·
period, except a few studies b f Indian institutions like Caste, the tradition of tribal studies as the exclusive
focus by the enlightened British scholars, administrators, missionaries and the then British and Indian
anthropologists continued till the end of the forties of the last century. On the lines o f Anthropology as
taught at that time at Cambridge, Oxford and London, Indian Anthropology was characterised by
ethnological
-----
and monographic
#- ···---··--- .. ·············- .. ········ . ..... -.
empliasrs· o-n
studies witi1 a special res·earches ii"i kinship and
. .
social .
organisa iqn.,
Analytical Period (1950): After World War-II and especially after India's independence, there was a
positive increase in the contacts o f the American social anthropologists with India. Some American
anthropologists like Morris Opler o f Cornell University, Oscar Lewis o f the University o f Illinois, Davi
Mandelbaum of the University of California, and many of their students came and stayed in India with
) their research teams and cr ated an atmosphere (1) for the systematic study of Indian village with a view
to testing certain hypotheses, (ii) for refining some of the methodological f rameworks developed
elsewhere, and then (iii) to assist the Community Development Programs in the India·n villages.
• .
I .
.,
Village and Caste Studies: The A1 1eric; scholars not only produced valuable, . theoretically-oriented
wqr s .gn the Indian rural culture, but also inspired anthropologists, young and old, ·to take up s!m:ilar
researches on Indian villages and the caste system. The beginning o f this phase also coincided witiHthe
publication o f Srinivas's, "Religion. and Society Among the Coorgs o f South India" (1952) which in itself i
exemplary in as much as it makes a departure from the descriptive phase to the analytical one as well as
from the tribal studies to non-tribal community studies and which also provides us with a dividing line to
distinguish the constructive phase from the contemporary analytical phase. In addition to Srinivas's work,
Iravati .-:r.ye's £!S.f.19 ],tsm .. !. .Jlind kinship $Y _m.,again marked a turning point in Indian social
aiitnrop61og y " B'esides, iI1 the decade, Dube, Majumdar and a few other anthropologists and sociologists
\Vere stimulated to take up theoretically sophisticated study of rural communities in India, and, in the real
sense of the term, Indian anthropological researches became integrated with the world literature on
ailthropology.
·,
Action Research: The tribal and. rural community development programs of t h e Government o f India.
have further given a fillip. to the Indian social scientists to study and evaluate the process o f .change in
tribal and rural India. In such -developmental programs, th.e concepts o f Action Anthropology, formulated ·
by x , for the first. time, partially ·rep faced the :principles o f Applied Anthropology developed during_
the British colonial.administration. In some o f the later writings ofMajumdar, Dube; Elwin, Vidyarthi and
Jay on tribal policy and programs, the influence of Action Anthropology in India h a s come to be
established as an important discipline from theoretical, substantive and action points of view.
So iti Psychological Research: Under the same American influence, the study of culture and.-perso'ri lfry
found .a place in the Anthropological survey of India under the guidance of B.S. Guha, a former graduate
_ from Harvard University. Two psy'choib- is"ts, Uma Choudhary and P.C. Ray of Anthropologkal Survey of_
India undertook field researches, especially among the tribals· with a view to esf bli_shing r dal
differences, personality types and other socio-psychoiogical characteristics. The psycho cultural
researches received further impetus when an American anthropologist Geei:al P. Steed (19SS)conducted
a field research -in a Hindu village in Gujarat and G.M. Carstairs (1957), a British psychiatrist, conducted
field researches ·among the different communities of Rajasthan. The ·psycho-cultural researches in. g e·
urii ersities like Ranchi and Allahabad received further impetus from the sodal
. - researches o .f .
the
psychologists of some o f these·universities.
. ,. · - . .. . .
···' .-
folklore Researches: The folklore researches, which were at the level of sp lection_of the tfi al
folksongs and folktales to b induded in the monographs, received a systematic treatment with Verner
Elwin under the influence of F. _Boas and Edward Tylor. With the passage of time the social elements.
hidden in the folklore· were unearthed b y a few: anthropologists-and also by several scholars of differerit
literatures specially Bhojpuri, Assame e and Marathi in a number o f publications bringing out the socia ,
historical and behavioural usage o f folklore.
129
Studies of Power Structure and Leadership: The attempt to analyse power structure and decision-
making in Indian rural society is also of recent origin. Here again, credit goes to an American, Prof. Oscar
Lewis, and his Indian collaborator who initiated the study of faction and leadership with their two
volumes on: north and south lndian villages respectively. These two much-talked-of volumes, published
under the auspices of the Planning Commission, brought to light the varied roles of kin and caste-oriented
factions in the decision-making in rural India.· Moreover, these studies inspired a number of American,
British and Indian scholars to take up the study of rur l leadership in different parts of India, e.g.,
Dyn.;imics of Tribal Leadership in Bihar (Vidyarthi, 1973).
;....:>'··
In the field of tribal leadership, the most comprehensive study is of Vidyarthi who studied the pattern of
tribal leadership in Bihar both in terms of diachronic and synchronic levels, sponsored by the ICCSR. This
large.-scale study highlights the dynamics to traditional, modern as well as transitional leadership among
the tribes of various cultural types (Vidyarthi, 1973).
Anthropology of Religion: Another field of social anthropol.ogy which reflects the British and American
influence, and which deserves special mention is religion. An objective study of primitive religio'n in India
watinitiated by Majumdar (1950) and his 'explanation of Bongai m in its final form in the "Affairs of a
Tribe" falls in line with the modern anthropological trends in the sh1dy of religion (Gopaia Sarana, 1961).
Theffull-length study of a tribal religion, however, was published by Elwin {1955) on the Savara tribe of
Oili's'?a'. .fo ·Which he supports the concept of "spiritism" suggested earlier by Roy (1928) ·in his study of
Ora0n religion. The study o f religion in the context of lndian villages was initiated by Srinivas (1952)
who in his book "-Religion and Society among the Coorgs of South India" develops the concepts of
Sanskritisation to explain the process of change in Hindu villages.
The focus of interest of cultural anthropologists in the study of religion is embodied in the preparation of
two volumes, Aspects of Religion in Indian Society, edit_ed by Vidyarthi (1961) and religion in South Asia,
edited by Edward B. Harper (1964). Both volumes include papers on different aspects of tribal and rural
religion based on original investigation. The Majumdar memorial volume appropriately opens with an
essay ·"Professor Majumdar and Anthropology of Religion" by Gopala Sarana (1961). Marriott (1961),
Aiyappan (1961), Sharma (1961) and Srivastava (1961) contributed papers which throw light on some of
the,dominant distinctive characteristics of Indian religion and philosophy. The papers that follow are of
more specific nature and the units of study are mostly limited to respective villc .ges. Carstairs (1961) and
Mathur (1961) descripe the complexes of religious beliefs and practices as studied by them in three
typical villages ofRajasthan and a Malwa village in Madhya Pradesh respectively. Singh (1961) tells us
about religion in a Sikh village while Vidyarthi (1961) describes the sacred complex of a tribal village ..
Then, there are papers that cover still small r units for their study, though their theoretical implications
are o f wi er cons!:!quences. Madan (1961), Atal (1961), Singh (1961), Chattopadhyay (1961), Sahay
(1 - J, nd Sinha (1961) analyse certain. relig-icms features like fe.stivals, cults, deities of Indian villages in
, eaningful manner that they prove to be of great methodological significance Thus Vidyarthi's
as has _been observed by Bose (196.1), ''.,e_overs a wide range, from the way religion t's practfsed by
fol!<;J9 different' parts df India to an analysis of certain complex\b liefs present among trib l people a d
whfcl\ have become modified on account of contact with Hinduism".
Harper's volume ·(1964) originated from a· Conference on Religion in South Asia held in August 1961. It
consists o f nine papers by Mandelbaum, Ames. Berreman, Kolenda, Opler, Gumperz, Beals, Yalman and
H bjff The publication brings to light the variou apprnaches to the anthropologkal leads given by t e
resp ¢tive authors and, in general it was bound t_o stimulate· further researches in Indian religion.
An f (volume, T aditional_ India: ructure and Change: edited by Milton. Singer (1958),has also gre, .t
reI kance to the contemporary study of reljgious traditions in India. This, volume, unlike the other two,
includes papers dealing with both textual and contextual analyses of oral and recorded traditions. Though
the. theme o f the book is to understand the image of "New India" in the light of her rich and deep-rooted
heritage, almost an· P.apers have some bearing on religious. traditions which obviously have been the
conimon id_ioms of l11:pian history. The papers deal with the various diinensions o f Indian civilisation and
analyse some aspects of cultural media and cultural performances including religious ones. However, a
few o f these papers exclusively deal with,, some aspects of the religion o f a specific community, e.g.,
130
McCormack's paper deals with the me_l}J pLcommunication found among the Lingayat sect while a paper
by Raghavan analys_es the methods of religious instruction in south India. There are also papers which
deal with the religious aspects of specific Communities like Anavils of Gujarat by Naik, the Chamar of
Senapur by Cohn, the Nayar by Gough, etc. A full-length study of the sacred city of Gaya as a dimension of
Indian civilisation in the framework of Redfield's and Singer's theories has been attempted by Vidyarthi
(1961). It is an aid to the understanding of religion.in India in terms of the great traditional life of the
communities.
Many of the village monographs referred to earlier include material on religion, and its importance in
village life is evident from all these studies. In one of the village studies, Senapur, Plan alp (195 6) _ lid
extensive researches exclusively on the religious life and values for his doctoral degree of Cornell
University and presented a full-length description of the religious life in a Hindu village.
Urban Studies: The researches of Robert__B .dfield, Milton _gnger, Mc Kim Marri_cm of Chicago University
i
in India gave further theoretical andmethodologicaTTeads in i na e/ sta"nding the folk and peasant
}, communities in India as dimensions of Indian civilisation. The "Great" _and "Little" traditions of India are -
beingreinterpreted, and their studies p qvide a new perspective to understanding Indian civilisation. It
led to.the beginning ofan anthropdlogicat' approach to the study ofcivilisation by studying great and I_ittle
corn.munities of various dimensions. This was not all. The Indian anthropologists, primarily under the ·
influence of the Chicago School of Anthropology, started a study of traditional and moderri Eities, firstly,
with a view to understanding them as dimensions of Indian civilisation and as also to analysing the folk-
urban continuum. Studies of the process of urbanisation, industrialisation
· and city planning have also
·
been undertaken by a few social scientists.
With Milton Singer's methodological study of Madras, Marriott's of Wai Town near Po na, Martin Oraon's
of Jamshedpur, the study of cultural roles of cities attracted attention, and some anthropolugists with the
finandal assistance orthe Planning Comri1ission took up city stttdies and, thus, broadened the scope of
anthropology from isolated primitive tribal communities of rural, and then to urban and industrial
centres; The study of Calcutta by Bose (1958), of Kanpur by Majumdar (1961), of Lucknow by MukMrjee
and Singh (1961), and of Gaya and Ranchi by Vidyarthi (1961, 69) reflect the_· impetus that Indian
t
a11-thropologiss have received from the Chicago anthropolpgists_as well as from the Plannin_g Commission _ _ _ _ _ _ _
in taking up the study of the cultural and economic roles of cities.
Lastly, under the American.influence the India universities have realised the need to integrate the various·
· branches of anthropology for the purpose of training and· researches and now_ in all of them, there is an
integration in the teaching of anthropology with, of course, a bias for specialisation in specific branches of
-anthropology. Then, again need has been felt for collaborati-ort among the social_ scientists for a
comprehensive understanding of the social and cultural phenomena of Indian communities, and in some -
ofcffit}tecent researches and publications in the field of village and city studies, of religion and 'leader$hip
and __of social change and planning, e,tc., these trends of interdisciplinary studies are; conspicuously
reflected. With the recently constitufod'lntlian Council of,Social Sciences Research and currenteffortsof
the· Ministry of Education to reorganise the Anthropologic l Survey of India this trend of irtterdisciplinary
approach to social science research has further been strengthened and is likely to get further established
in India._ ·
On the applicatio:ri l vel, anthropology has come to be recognised in the fields of such new State prngra.:111S
as . pianning, regional development, community development, democratic decentralisation, aqult
educ tion, family planning, mass communication including radio and television, growth and nutrition,
· -p u b h °+iealth, etc · In the field-of tribal v1elfare>it play : an active role; Anthropology ii1 lndia. today shows
deep' concern with the social and cultural problems of the country.
From· this brief survey,· it is evident that anthropological research in India originated and developed
under British influence arid the stimulation received from American and other countri s. While in the ·
study of kinship and marriage, British social anthropology still continues to provide meaningful models to ·
Indian scholars, the_ British functional approach to tribal and rural studies seems· to be getting
131
j
supplemented by the American cultural ahd'·historical approach. Thanks to the increased interest in the
study r f new and emerging India in the context of the traditionai;structure, such an approach has been
greatly necessitated. Along with this f reshness in social anthropological studies, the descriptive phase of
tribal studies has also been replaced by an analytical study of different communities with an attempt to
formulate terry:s and concepts, and to advance theories and methods fot a general understanding of
society and cu ure iri India and elsewhere. The administrative anthropology of the colonial pattern is
getting oriented to a ademic interests, and with this a new quest for interdisciplinary approach to
understand the various dimensions of the complex Indian societies has become evident. Again, in the
light\;f certain leads given by American scholars, there is more of "not work studies" and "part-whole"
analyjes and less of "isolate studies", a trend which has led to emphasise the similarities (rather than
diff¢.rences) among the various communities in India. Taken as a whole, social anthropology in India as,
par(of world literature has made a satisfactory progress during the last two decades and it has been
recognised by the universities and the Government as an important discipline in that it studies people at
all levels of cultural development in their wholeness, with precision and empirical orientation.
The _ }ourney
:._
;-
. . .
of lndia .·anthropology
.
is still qn
' ·
f ..;·
' .- ,... It has gone much ahead under- .·
the i fluence of and 'ip
coll .boration with, British and t en American anthropologists. L-A:nd, of course, they will continue to
influihce, inari incr_eased ·ctegr'Ee, in expanding the scope of anth1:opology in India in future also. Science
r.no batriers arid the scie'nc·e o f m a n J n -India has to·-still ·learn a· lot in the fields of theory and
methods ofsdcial rese rch from other scientifically advanced countries of the world.
Nonetheless it does riot mean that social· a·nthropology in India shoul·d overlook what may be termed
"Indianness" of its science And obviously it has not done so. It is because of this salient feature that
Professor Kroeber has said that India .has listened to England, American and to herself. The result, we
\
may_' say, h"i!ts been ·a synthetic. approach that rnay be "visualised in terms of our unique cultural milieu,
value-attitude system an9- our heritage and historkaJ experiences. Then, we have had our own sets of
social thinkers ,yho have given thought to the social problems from time to time and who have also given
a direction .to them. Arnong. such nunierous social thinkers mention may. be made, for example, of
,a
Mahatma Gandhi 0f1ose teachings and ideals, if looked at in terms ofsocfal sciences, seem to Jayaprakash
Nar_ayctn (1960) the ·submerged part of an "iceberg" which ought to be explored. Besides, ancient
heritages llke the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Srniriti, the Puranas·and epics, etc., are full of social facts and
· they need t_o he studied carefully to develop. "lndianness" in· the social anthropology. of India, which
should be specially used in the study of cultural processes and civilisational history o f India. The
Department of Anthropology, Ranchi University, Ranchi, under the dynamic leadership of Vidyarthi has
taken up a research program (1972) to study the Indian ivilisation through her Sacred Complex, and
different Dha_rmas ·are being studied. It is an epoch-making occasion after independence to introduce
"I ness" in anthropology in India. ·
fY)
I
.:-· \.
.
·' ,:- .
132
5.1 Village Studies in India · ·
Significance of Village Studies in lrldia

Village occupies an important place in the social and cultural landscape o f contemporary India.
Notwithstanding India's significa11t industrialization over the last five or six decades, and a considerable
increase in its urban population, a large majority of Indians continue to live in its more than five lakh
viilages and remain dependent on agriculture, directly or indirectly. Accor i g to the 2001 Cens- is·;-i{1rai
India accounted fo·r-:-nearly n- p·er ·cent o f In<lia's total population, a fact that gave India its sobriquet
f
"Gramavasfrif"Biia"railif';lr'ot'ii"timeTii rriem h ria[ -SfrnHariy ·tho ugh the share of agriculture has corne d9wn
fo around one-fourffi o f the total national iricoi11e, nearly half o f India'_s vVorking population is directly
employed in the agricultural sector. Apart from it being an in1p· -rt ;;t -d Illo·g ap-hic and ·structural reality
.li.a..@S!erizingcontemporary Indra;··vmage"ilas·,-aisohee·ri·an·Imp-01:tant-·id gJ§gi_i; l.C frgo,ry,._.· . category
through whidi Indi"afias· often been ima ined and
imaged-Tn ITH:>. ern tim-es. The village has_ been seen as
,ih ii".tiJJl t¢:: 1gnfie i. i ii. :'·iii}( i ff:a1tit(fili:f(; a pl7i e-wh re one could-see or observe .the "real" IMia
and: develop a'ii 'urfdersfa at'ng oi'; p '/;;a,y-- 6 cal people organize their social relationships and belief
systertis>As : ndre Bet ille writes/the village \iVaSJ).QlJ}lerely a place where:peo le lived; it had a d sign
-:-
i?: if '. ¢_r t e ted'> :,·
b . ,- .: of,;f ma tiy]J -ti{)_Q :,CB t Uk19 8 Q).J.!! !1!1l_tlo.n. Giih x,ris. 9*llte""'
m . . ,J•......•
l,cl ;: g :C:Oll)tnll_IliJi - '\"- -i cultt r }·. yal11es. ¼.'::e S P.:P.2 .9 . . .in...the
.lQ._,Q..e,_ _l}__ a p_Le_ QLY-: h t
t:tye t.ie_ hlM . :f: - '.
t 9 ., -: o
n s he/':t, p. _!!w &
9.cie! Y· . . _ , .·. . . __ .
r
His:torital: Ba;tk llf n d :ri'fVillag Stu"die·;
- ".· . .
.
· ---- -. ·...... -.
In many ways, even in the nationalist disc urse, the ide.a of village as a representative o f uthentic. native
Hfe was derived from the same kind o f imagination. Though-Gandhi was careful enough n:ot to glorify the
. decaying village of, British India, he nevertheless celebrated the s6-called n d a _1!1.:. of
village life an image largely derived f r o m colonial representations o f the Indian village. The decadence of
the village _was seen a s a result o f colonial rule and therefore··village reconstruction was, along y, :rith
y
political independence, an important process for r e c o v e r of the lost self.
ln<the post-Independence· India aiso 'vHlage···has continued to····be· treatedas the·basi.c. ttnit of inq a n
f
society. Among tµe academic traditions, the study of village has perhaps been the m o s t popular arriohg
the sociologists and social anthropologists working on India.They carried-out a large number o f stµdie, : .·..
ofthes-estudie·swerep h lis neG"a uririg "___
U
focusing on the social a n d cultural life o f the village in India. Mos't
f r
the deciidesl:950s and· 1960s. tfie-se ''vHfii"gesfiidie ,;pfayec ardni'pohaiit·rolefogivfog·re·spectabilit}ftf · •·.
. - . . ,_ ..
tli iil' cfpliiie fqfsJfc{QJ9gyJI1}f} icfala 11 th roiiolo f i J @ ) . _
133·
Generally basing their accounts on first-hand fieldwork, carried out mostly in a single village, oda1
anthropologist focused on the structures of sodal relationship_ ,. institutional patterns beliefs and value
sjste:ms -ofthernral people. The publication of these-·stu.dies a·lso markecfthe.beginning o l a new phase 1n
the history ·orlndian sociaf scfen-Ees. They showed, for the first time, the relevance o f a fieldwork based
·
u riderstandfng of Indian society, o r what came to be known as "field -: view" 9_fJhe.. , Q.t frg_!U t _
t{l .11 domina11t "book-view" o f India, which was - ·developed · y the Indologists and orientalists from
classical Hindu scripfores.
After_the colonial administrators/ethnographers, it was the "young" discipline of social anthropology that
took Up the study o f Indian village during 1950s and 1960s in a big way. This new intere?t in the village
sociaflife was a direct offshoot o f the newly emerged interest in the study of the peasantry in the western
acadeirric circles.
Emergence of the so called _''ne s_t_a · - fo}lg ng,_ t! _()loni:z Ji n during the post war period had an
Jgiii§r1iiiil'nfuience_J:>r:tre. iir.ch:pxioxiti . Jri !h -- 9.£.i Lgiili-ft ..,,!he mosfsignificanr-feature oftne·riewly
emetged 'third_ world' countries was th_e dependence of large_ proportions o f their populations on a
stagnant agrarian sector. Thus, apart from , inqustrialization, . on main agenda for the new political
regim'es was the transformation·· o f their "backward" and staghant agrarian economy. Though the
sttat gies and priorities differed, ·modernization' and 'development' became common programs in most
ofth 'Third World·countries.
Understanding the prevailing structures o f agrarian relations and working out ways and means o f
transforming them were recognized as the most important priorities within development studies. It was
in this context that the concept o f 'peasantry' found currency in the discipline b f social anthropology. A t a
time when primitive tribes were either in the process of disappearing or had already disappeared, the
"discovery" o f the peasantry provided a new lease o f life to the discipline of social anthropology.
The 'village community' was identified a the social foundation of the peasant economy in Asia. It is quite
easy to see -this connection between the Redfield's notion of 'peasant studies' and the Indian 'village
studies·. The single most popular concept used by the anthropologists studying the Indian village was
Robert J{edfield's notion of 'little c:on:i,munity'.
Among the first works ori the subject; Village India: Studies in the Lit(:le Community ( edited by M. Marriot,
1955) was brought out under the direct supervision o f Redfield. He even wrote a 'preface to this book.
Having-found a relevant subject· matter in the village, sodal anthropologists (many o f whom were either
from the West or were Indian scholars trained in-the Western universities) initiated field studies in the
early 1950s. During October 1951 and· May 1954 the Economic Week{y (which later became Eco-nomic and
Polit{s_q,l_Weekly) published a number o f short essays·providing brief accounts o f inq.ividual villages that
were)f.eh;g studied .by.differentanthropologists. These essays were later_ put together by M.N. Srinivas in
the form o f a. book with the title India's 'f(fllages. in 1955. As mentioned above Macki\n Mafriot's book
VillagJ!,Jndia also appeared in the same yJ<lir.'foterestingly, \h : 1J i_rst volume o f Rural Profiles by D.N.
Majuinda.r also appea ed in 19S5. S.C. Dube also published his.'full-length study of a V;illage near
··
Hyderabad, Indian Village in the same year.
There· s a virtual explosion o f village studies in the .sixties and seventies. 'Although soc;ial
ani:J\ro_pologists were the first in the field which they dominated throughout, scholar's fr'om other
disd lfries - 1iolitical scie1_1ce, history, economics, and so on - were also attracted to it' (Beteille, 1996).
Though tno t of the studies provided a more general account of social, economic and cultural life of the
rurar;feople, so·me o f the iaterstudies- also focused on specific aspects o f the rural social structure, such
as,-sttatification, kinship, or religion,
Si nificance bf a Vlllage
T h e discovery o f peasantry thus rejuvenated the discipline o f social anthropology. In the emerging
inteilectual and political environment during the post war period, anthropologists saw themselves
playing an 1important role in providing au hentic and scientific account of the "traditional social order",
I
134
the transformation o f which had becorg, global concern. Many of the village monographs emerged
directly from the projects carried-out' by sociologists and social anthropologists for development
age'ncies. These included studies by Dube (1955), Majumdar (1958), and Lewis (1958). Lewis, wnb
studied a village near Delhi writes: Our work was problem oriented from the start. Among the problems
we studied intensively were what the villagers felt they needed in housing, in education, in health; land
consolidation program; and the newly created government-sponsored panchayats (Lewis, 1958). Lewis
was appointed by the Ford Foundation in India to work with the Program Evaluation Organization of the
Planning Commission to help in developing a scheme for the objective evaluation of the rural
reconstruction program.
A typical anthropologist, unlike his/her economist cou'nterpart, saw the village 'in the context of.the
cultural life lived by the people' and the way 'rural life was inter-locked and interdependent' which
'baffled social engineers as it could not be geared to planned economy. It was here that the economists
needed the assistance of sociologists and anthropologists' ·(Majumdar, 1955). Though they were
supposed to only assist the 'big brothers' economists in the planning process, the anthropologist viewed
their perspective as being "superior''. because 'they alone studied village community as a whole, and their
knowledge and approach provided a.n indispensable background for the proper interpretation ofdat,fon
any single aspect o f rural life. Their approach provided a much-needed corrective to the partial approach
o(\ he economist, political sci_entist and social worker (Srinivas, 1955). ·
Anthropologists criticized economists and official planners' view because they tended 'to treat people like
dough hi their hands. T h e fact .that people had resources of their own, physical, intellectual and moral;·
arta that they couldti.se them t o their advantage, was not recognized b y those in power' (Srinivas, 1978)·.
While economists used quantitative techniques and their method was "more scientific", the
anthropological approach had its own advantages. Anthropological studies provided qualitative analysis:
The method of anthropology required that its practitioners selected 'a small universe which could be
studied intensively for a long period o f time to analyze its intricate system of social relations' (Epstein,
1962). However, not all o f them were directly involved with development programs. In fact IpOSt o f them
saw the relevance o f their works ih professional terms. Taking a position against the d o s e involvement
with official ag ncies, Srinivas argued that 'the anthropologist has intimate and first ha·nd knowledge of
one or two societies and he can place hls understanding at the disposal of.the planner. He. may in some·
cases even b e abJe ro anticipate the kind o f reception a Qarticular administrative measure m a y have.But.
he cannot lay down policy bec.ause it is a result of certain decisions about right and wrong' (Srinivas,·
1960). Thus maintaining a "safe' distance from the political agencies was .seen to be necessaiy becau e·, . .
_______
unlike economics, social anthropology did not have a theoretical grounding that could help them become.
applied sciences.
..
Th_e relevance o f studying the village was viewed more in methodological terms. The village 1:$ .
· hamlets re.presented "India in microcosm" {Hoebel n Hiebert, 1971}. For the anthropologist, they · ere
invaluable observation-centers wher he/s}le could study in detail social processes · mdlproblems·to.be
found. occurring in great parts ·of lndia 1\ S rinivas 19S5: 99):Villages were· supposedly flose to :pebple,
their life, livelihood and culture and they were· 'a focal point o f reference for individual prestige··and
identification'. As 'an important administrative and. so ial unit, the village profoundly influenced the
behavior pattern o f its inhabitants'. Villages were supposed to have. been around for 'hundred·s o f years',
having 'survived years o f wars, .making and breaking up o f empires, famines floods and other natural
is ters'. This perceived 'historical continuity and stability Qf villages' strengthened the case for vil\ ge
· · ·· ·
st:µdies (Dasgupta _. 1978).
.
:: {'.:
C _rtying-out viiiage ·studies during t h i fifties and the s1xties was 2!so ·important because the Irtdian
soeiety was changing very fast and the anthropologist needed to record details of the traditional soi:Ia}
order before it was too late. Underscoring this urgency Srinivas wrote 'We have, at the most, another ten
years in which to record facts about a type o f society which is changing fundamentally and with. great
rapidity' (Srinivas, 1955) ·
In addition to these reasons, other scholars have emphasized .on the following.
135
Sir Henry Maine argued that the land w'as held in common by a group of peopl . which reflected _!!le
importance of commr'l habitation which every anthropological enquiry strives to understand and
analyse. - - - - - - - ·
Majumdar believed that an Indian village is not merely a way of life, it is also a concept, a constellation of
values and so long as our value system does not change, or changes slowly and not abruptly, the village
will retain its identity, so as it has done till today.
Sachidananda opines, "in most parts o f India, the village is not merely an administrative or a revenue unit,
but'the basic unit of our social polity. It is enshrined in our tradition from times immemorial. The village
community is a historical as well as a social factor. The inhabitancy of the village had intimate social,
ecc{nomic, ritual and political relationships regulated by age old tradition_s and institutions".
India is a classic land of agricultur,e. Its long past history, its complex social organization and religious life,
its varied cultural patterns can hence be· understood only i f a proper study is made o f the rise, growth,
CfY$.JaBization and subsequent fossilization and break up of the self-sufficient village community, the
prh1cipal pivot o f the Indian societyonly,till recently.
D u t t.to historical reaso s, the Indian rural society has becom; a veritable mosaic of various types ofrural
s<;ig.l_i ies and hence revea,ls a. diversified cultural_ pattern. -The culture of the hunting and food gathering _
tribes, the culture .of the primitive hoe-agriculturists, further, all the varied cultures o f peoples engaged in :;
agrarian productio with the plough and ·the bullock, as also the_ modern cultur·e o f a rural people
influenced by new technical and economic forces - all these cultures ate juxtaposed in the contemporary
rural India. Further, the Indian rural hu_manity is also being influenced by the ideological currents of the
modern e_ra. Gori.sequently we find in the Indian rurc;ll world today, the persistence of primitive cults of
magic .and animism, polytheism, pantheism of the ancient world, monotheism and other idealistic
philosophic world outlooks inherited from the ancient medieval periods as also a. minor current of
modern rationalist world view. This has· transformed it into a veritable museum of different and even
conflicting cults and ideologies.
Indian Village as a Social System

Unlike th tribal communities, the Indian villages had a considerable degree of iversity. This diversity
was both inte"rnal as well as external. The village was internally differentiated in diverse groupings and
had a complex structure of social relationships·and institutional arrangements. There ·were also different
kinds of y_iliages in different parts o f the country. Even within a particular region o f t h e country, not all
villages were alike. The stereotypical image of the Indian village as a self-sufficient <;:ommunity was
C!J,.l!t.ested by anthropological studies. Beteille, for exc1mple,argued 'at least as far back in time as Hying
memory went, there was no reason- to believe that the .village was. fu lly elf-sufficient in the economic
sphii-e (Beteille, 1996). S_imilarly Sriniyas_ too contested the colonial -notion o f the Indian village being a
co:t;µpletely self-sufficient republic. The \,illag , he argued, 'w s ciJ,W ys a part_ of a wider entity (Sririivas,
19'60J. - .- ,
'•.,-
Howe er, despite t is contention about the village having links with the..outc.ide world_ a n d explicatin& the
diversities that marked the rural society ofl ndia, .it was the ' u n i t y of the village that was underlined by
·m9. tanthropologis . The fact that the village interacted with the outside world did not mean i t did not
ha ' a design of:its own or could not be· stgdied as a -representative unit o f Indian social life. ,lYhil
vi ges had· horizontal ties, it was t h e vertical ties within
· the village ·that .governed much o f the life ·? f a n
· ·
av 1 geperson m the vii -
Vill prnvide_d ·an important source _of identity to its resid nts. Different scholars placed different
emphasis on h o w s1gmficant the village _identity was when compared to other sourc·es ·o f identification,
such as those o f caste, class or locality. Srinivas argued that individuals in his ·village had a s pse of
identification with their village and an insult to one's village had to be avenged Uke an insult to on_eself,
one's ife, or ·one's family· (Srinivas, 1976). Similarly, Dube argued that· though Indian villages varied
greatly_in'· their internal structure and qrganization, in their ethos and world-view, and in the IT hfe-ways
136
i
-l-
and thought-ways, on account of variety ,offactors, village communities all over the Indian sub-continent
had a number o f common features. The village settlement. as a unit o f social organ.ization, represented a
kind of solidarity which was different .from that of the kin, the caste, and the class. Each village was a
distinct entity had some individual mores and usages, and possessed a corporate unity:· Different castes
and communities inhabiting the village were integrated in its economic, social, and ritual pattern by ties
o f mutual and reciprocal obligations sanctioned and sustained by generally accepted conventions.
Notwithstanding the existence of groups and factions inside the settlement, people o f the village could
and did, face the outside·world as an organized, compact whole (Dube,1960) .•
It ;,\%.a W.H. Wiser who had initially, in his classic study o f The Hindu Jajmani System, first published in
1 9 3 ( had· conceptualized the social relationships among caste groups in the Indian village in• the
framework o f 'reciprocity'. The framework o f recip.rocity jmplied that though village social organization
was hierarchical, it was the 'interdependence' among different caste groups that characterized the
underlymg s p m t o f the Indian village. Reciprocity implied, explicitly or implicitly, an exchange o f equal
services and non-exploitative relafions. Mutual gratification was supposed to be the outcome of
reciprocal exchange. Each serves the o her. Each in turn is master. Each in turn is servant (Wiser 1969r
Though the later studies were ·much more elaborate and contained long descriptions o f different forms of
so(ial inequalities and differences in the rural society, many o f them continued to use the framework of
rett)'.jtocity particularly while conceptualizing 'unity' o f the village social life. However not eve"ry'Qne .
emphasized the · unity o f the village the w a y Srinivas and Dube or earlier Wiser did. Some of the
anthro-pologists explicitly contested the unity thesis ·while others qualified their arguments by·
xecogniztfig he conflicts within the village and the ties that villagers had with the outside world. For
insti"nce, ·Paul Hiebert in his study o f a south Indian village, although arf>uing that. the caste system
provided a source o f stabthty to the village, also underlined the fact that 'deep seated cleavages underlie
the apparent umty o f the village and fragmented it into numerous social groups' (Hiebert, 1971).:
Similarly, Bete1lle had· argued that his study o f village 'Sripuram as a whole constituted a·unit in a physical
sense a_nd, to a much lesser extent, i f fthe social sense' (Beteille, 1996).
Among those who nearly rejected the idea o f the communitarian unity were Lewis and Bailey. F.G. Bailey
for example provided a radical critique o f the 'unity-reciprocity' -thesis and offered an a. lter.n_a tive
perspective. Stressing on the coercive-aspects of caste relations, he writes: .. those who find the caste
system to tli'eir taste have exaggerated the harmony with. which the system works, b y stressi g the
degree o f interdependence between the different castes. Interdependence mearis that everyone depends
on everyone else: it means _reciprocity. From this _it is easy to slip into ideas p f equality: because men are·
equally dependent on one another, they are assumed to be equal f a other ways. Equality o f r a n k is ·so
manifestly false _whert applied to a caste system that the final step in the argumenfis seldom taken, arid
ex;nosition rests upon a representation f mutual interdependence, and ·the .hint that, because one aste ·
cotild bring the system to a standstill b y refusing to play its part, castes do not .in fact use this sanctiorrto '
maintain their rights against the re? .lntf Q , o f COUf$e, the system is held together not s d mtich b y tieS of.:·
reciprocity, but b y the concentration in one o f its parts J'he-wstem works the way it does ·because}he .
coercive sanctions are an m tfie hands o f a dominant caste The:re is a tie o f reciprocity, but it is not a
sanction o f which the dependent castes can make easy use (Bailey, 1960). However, this kind of a
perspective did not become popular among the sociologists and anthropologists during 1950s· and 1960s. ·
They continued to work largely· within the 'unity-reciprocity' framework with varied degrees of ·
ei;µ.phasis.
ViUage Snda] Structur.e

Th·e intellectual and h_istorical contexts in which social anthropologists worked largely guided the kinds'of
research questions they identified for their studies. The tradition o f studying tribal communities that
emphasized a 'holistic' perspective also had its influence on the way village was visualized. Despite _their
ry preoccupation with kinsh p,_r_eligion and ritual lif o f the 'l ttle c<;>mm nities',_doc me fr
internal structures and village social hfe ould not be completed without lookmg at the prevailmg soqal.
differences. Theoretically also the emphasis oh 'unity' did not mean absence o f differences and soc1al
--- ' -------- c;_;_.,-,:, .. •
137
inequality. Neither did it mean that these questions were not important for social anthropology. Though
not all of them began their wnrk with a direct focus on understanding the structures o f inequalities,
almost every one of them offered detailed descriptions of the prevailing differences of caste, class and
gender in the village social life. Being rich in empirical description, one can construct a p1ctureorffie
social relations, which m a y r i o t necessarily fit within the framework with w h k h these studies were
actually carried out.
The Caste System
Caste and hierarchy have long been seen as the di§tinctive and defining features of the Indian society. It
was .during the colonial period that caste was, for the first time, theorized in modern sociological.
language. The_ colonial administrators also gathered extensive ethnographic detail and wrote detailed ...
accounts of the way systems o f caste distinctions and hierarchies worked in different parts o f the sub-
contine_nt Social anthropology in the post-independence .India continued with a similar approach that
saw caste as the most important and distinctive feature of Indian society. While caste was a concrete
structu ethat guided social relationships in the Indian village, hierarchy was its ideology.
· An· individual in caste society lived in a hiera chical world. Not:.only were the people divided into higher
or fow r .groups, .their food, their dresses, ornaments, customs and manners were all ranked in an order .
o f hi rtµy. ,Anthropologist invariably invoked the varna system o f hierarchy which divided the Hindu
society into .five major ·categories. The first three, viz., Brahmins (the priests or men of learning),.
Kshatriyas {rulers and warriors) and Vai$hyas (traders) were regarded as dvijas or the twice born. The
fourth category was that o f Shudras, composed o f numerous occupational castes that were re_garded as
relati_vely 'clean' and were not classed as "untouchables". In the fifth major category were pla ed all the
1
'untouchable" castes. Hindus all.over India, according to Dube, accepted this classification.
The legjtimate occupations to be followed by people in these major categories (varnas) were defined by
tradition<Within each category there were $everi;!l sub-groups (jati or castes), which could be arranged in •
a· hierarchical· order within them. In this general framework of the varna system, with considerable
variations in different regions there were several socially autonomous castes, each fitting into one o f the
five major divisions but otherwise being practically independent in their socio-reiigious sphere o f life
(Dube 1955). Though the essence o f caste lay in 'the arrangement of hereditary groups in a hierarchy', the
popular impression derived from the idea o f varna that arranged groups in an order..with Brahmins at the
top and Harijans at the .bottom was right o·nly partly. The empirical studies pointed out that 'in ·fact only
the two opposite ends ·of the hierarchy were relatively fixed; in between, and especiaily in the middle
region, th re was considerable room for debate regarding mutual positioq' (Srinivas, 1994).
Caste divisions determined and decided all social relations. Most scholars saw caste as a closed system
wheret?ijYffry into a social status was :a function o f heredity and individualachievement, personal quality''
o r wealth had, according- to the strict traditional prescription, no say in determining· the spcial status'
(Maju : ar, 1958). However, there were sbmi! who admitted thrt,P}r way caste operated a t the local lev l ,
•.
was :'radically different from that expressed in the varna scheme Mutual rank was un ertain and this
stemmed from the fad: that mobility was possible in caste' Srinivas, 1976).
Dube identified six facto.rs t}J.at contributed towards the status differentiation in the village community. of
Shamil'pet: re_ligion and caste; landownership; wealth; position in government service and village
·orgatifsifrion; age;and distinctive personality traits (Dube, 1955). Attempts to claim a higher ritual_status:,
tllrough;,:what Srinivas: called Sanskritization, was not a simple process. It,couid not be achieved only,,
througlf,ntuals and·Hfe'."style irriitatioh The group had to·-also ·negotiate. it a t ·the· local··power ·structure .
Similar[y;-stressing secular facto_rs, Dube pointed t o the mannerin which_the caste panchayat f the lower
o r the mep.ial .castes work_ed as unions_ to sec_ure their employment and · strengthen
· · their. bargam1ng
po}Ver vis.-a-:-v1s the and ownmg dommant castes.
However, a large majority o f them viewed caste system as working within th.e framework o f ·a·mani
system and bound together·different castes living in the village or a c uster o f villages in enduring and
pervasive relationships;
138
Land and Class

As is evident from the above discussion, the social anthropologists studying India duning the fifties and
sixties generally worked in the framework of caste. The manner in which sodal science disciplines
developed in India, class and land came to be seen as the concerns of economists. However, since
anthropologists advocated a perspective that studied "small communities" in holistic terms, agriculture
and the social relations of production on land also found a place in the village monographs. While some of
them directly focused on economic life as one of the central research questions, most saw it as an aspect -
of the caste and occupational structure o f the village. Land relations to them reflected the same patterns
of hi rarchy as those present i n the caste system. 'There was a certain amount of overlap between the
twin hierarchies o f caste and . land. The richer landowners generally came from such high castes as
Brahmins, and Lingayats while the Harijans contributed a substantial number of landless laborers. ·in
contrast to the wealthier household, the poor one was almost invisible (Srinivas, 1976).
Some others underlined the primacy o f land over all other factors in determining social hierarchy in the
village. Comparing a Brahmin dominated village with a Jat dominated village, Lewis argued that 'While
the landowners are generally o f highe_n:ca te in Indian villages, it is their position as landowners, rather
' ' 1 . '
than taste membership per se, which gives them status and power' .(Lewis, 1958). However, despite such
"\
referenc s to the crucial significance o f land ownership in village social life, village studies did not explore
the defails·of agrarian· social structures in diff erent regions of the ·country. Caste, family kinshfp-:atrd
.
religion remained their primary focus.
Gender Differences
It is rather interesting to note that although 'gender' as a conceptual category had not yet been
introduced in the soci_al sciences when the social anthropologists were doing their field studies during
1950s and 1960s, village studies Were not completely ''gender blind". Since the concept o f gender and the
accompanying theoretical issues had yet to be articulated, the social anthropologists did not look at man-
woman ,relations in the manner .in which it was to be conceptualized and studied later. Still, many of the
_yillage monographs provide detailed accounts o f the patterns of social relations between men and women
in the rural society of India. Some o f these monographs even have separate chapters devoted to the
subJett In the absence of a critical theoretical perspective, the village studies- constructed gender and
patriarchy as a··natural social order'. Further, accounts of man-woman relations provided in these studies
were largely based on the data collected from male informants. Most-of the. anthropologists themselves
being males, it would have been difficult for them to be-able to meet and participate in :the "private" life o f --
the village people. Some of them were quite aware of this lacuna in their fieldwork and ·have written -
about it in their reflections on their fieldwork experience:
. . .
.
. . . . .
;
Mostv.illage studies-looked at gender relations within the framework .of the household, and participation
o f wp en in w o r k These""""studies highl. ghted the divisipn o f labour witnin the family nd the o all .
dominance that men enjoyed. in the::p·uoli sphere. om en, particularly among the upper castes, re .
confiljed within the four walls of the house. 'The soda! world of the worrian was synonymous with the
household and kinship group while the men inhabited a more heterngenepus w·orld' (Sriniv s, 1976:137). ·-
Compared to men in the. Central Indian vil age studied by Mayer 'Women had less chance to meet people ·
f om other parts o f the village. The village well provided_ a meeting ph1ce •for all women o f non-Harijan
castes,_and.the opportunity for gossip. But there was a limit to'·the time thatbusy women _could stand an·d
talkwhile they drew theirwater and.afterwards they must-return home, where the occasions for:tcllkirig -
to p.eQple- outside their own household wereJimited to meeting.with other women o f t h e street' (Mayer
19(>.,Q)>Irr the -Telangana village also, Dube observed th at w oineri>Were• sedtided from t h e activities f,the
public space. 'It w a s considered a mark o f respectability in -women if-they- walked with- their- ey.es-
downcast' (Dube, 1955). The rules o f patriarchy were clearly laid o u t After caste. gender was the most ·
important factor that governed the division of-labor in the vma·ge Masculine and feminine pursuits were
clearly distinguished (Dube, 1955).
139·
- --
r
Writing on similar lines about his village ,in' the same region, Srinivas pointed out that the two sets of
occupations were not only separated bttt also seen as unequal. 'H was the man who exercised control o_y_er
thE!._9omestic economy. He made the annual grain-payments at harvest to the members of the artisan and
servicing castes who had worked for him during the year. The dominant 'male view' thought of women as
being 'incapable of understanding what went on outside the domestic wall' (Srinivas, 197 6:140-1 J.--
Men also had a near complete control over women's sexuality. In the monogamous family, popular among
most groups in India, 'a man could play around but not so a woman. A man's sense o f private property in
his wife's genital organs was as profound as in his ancestral land. Apd just as traditionally a wife l ed
any 'right to land, she lacked an exclusive right to her husband's sexual prowess. Polygyny and
concubinage were both evidence o f her lack of such rights. Men and women were separate an unequal.
Patniarchy and male dominance were legitimate norms. 'According to the traditional norms of the society
a liusband is expected ·to be an authoritative figure whose will should always dominate the domestic
scene. As the head of the household he should demand respect and obedfence from his wife and children.
The wife should regard him as her 'master' and should 'serve him faithfully' (Dube, 1955).
Conclusions
T!t t tJJ.dies of Indian .villages carried out. by social anthropologists during the 1950s and 1960s were
uri o.uht dly an··important landmark in the histor1 of Indian social sciences. Even though the primary
· focus o f these studies was ori the social and .ritual life of the village people, there are enough references
that can be useful pointers towards an understanding o f the political and economic life in the rural society
o f India during the first two decades o f independent india. More importantly, these· studies helped in
contestfog_ the dominant stereotype o f the Indian village made popular by the colonial administrators.
The detailed descriptive accounts of village life constructed after prolonged field-works carried out, in
mo t ca$es, entirely by the anthropologists themselves convincingly proved how Indian villages were not
'isolated communities'. Village studies showed that India's villages had been well integrated into the
broader economy and society of the .region even before the colonial rule introduced new agrarian
legislation. They also pointed to the regional differences in the way social village life was organised in
different parts of the country.
Social anthropological studies also offered an. alternative to the dominant "book-view" of India
co·nstructed by Indologists and orientalists from the Hindu scriptures. The "field view" presented in the
village monographs not only contested the assumptions of Indology but also convinci gly showed with
the help of empirical data as. to· how the idealized model of the varna system as theorized in Hindu
scriptures. dfd not match with the concrete realities of village life. While caste was an important
institution in the Indian village and most studies foregrounded caste differences over other differences,
empirical studies showed that it was not a completely closed and rigidly defined system. Caste statuses
weit \also not exclusively determined b y one's position in·the ritual hierarchy and that there were many
gr r·and contestable a_reas within the SY§,,tem. It was from the _village studies that the 1concepts like
sa §.kritisation, dominant caste, segmental structures, harmonic: and disharmonic systems evierged.
Ho-Wever, v llage studies· were also constrained b y a number of factors. The method f participant"
observation that was the main strength of these studies also imposed certain limitations on the
fie-Jdworkers, which eventually proved critical in shaping the image they produced o f the Indian village.
Doing participant observation required a measure o f acceptability o f the field worker in the village tl;iat
hezihe ·chose to study. In a differentiated social context, it was obviously easy to approach the village
tht :ughthe dominantsect,ionst H wever,·thisch,.?ic _proved to.,be of more than just a strategic value. T.he
aq'ire:ty o f the anthropo.logist t6 get ·acce·pted i .the villaiie a s a nierribe'r:of the· "communfry" made· tliefr
acdounts o f the village life conservative in orientation. It also limited their access to the dominant groups
in ·the local society. They chose to avoid asking all those questions or approaching those subordinate
groups, Which they thought, coµld offend the dominant interests in the village. The choices made b y
individual a11thropologists as regard to how they were going to negotiate their own relationship with the
village sigl)ificantly influenced the kind o f data they could gather about village life ·
140
Unlike the "tribal communities", the ,c,onyeµ,tional subject matter of social anthropology, Indian villages
were not only internally differentiated much more tha n the tribes, they also had well articulated world
views. Different sections of the village sodety had different perspectives on wiiat the village was. Though
most of the anthropologists were aware oflhis, they did not do much to resolve this problem. On the
contrary, most of them consci o usly chose to identify themselves with the dominant caste groups in the
village, which apart from making their stay in the village relatively easy, limited their access to the world-
view of the upper castes and made them suspect among the lower castes.
Apartfrom the method of participa n t observation and the anxiety about bei n g accepted in rural society
that made the a n thropologists produce a conservative account of the rural social relations; the received
theqretical perspectives and the professio n al traditions domina n t within the disciplines of sociology.and
social. anthropology during the time of village studies also had their influences on these scholars.
Anthropologist during the decades o f fifties and sixties generally focused oh the structures rather than
changes. This preoccupation made them look for the sou·rces that reproduced social order in the village
and to ignore conflict and the possible sources of social transformation.
Traditiona{_qr,d Changin _Patterns'df Settlement and' Inter-Caste Relations

IncHa':is ·a country o f a_ncient .civilization that goes back to the· Indus Valley Civilization,- which flourished
dufing the third .millennium B.C. Since then except for a· brief interlude during the Rig-Vedic-period i{Cfrca ·
1soo.:1000 "B.C.) when the urban centers were overrun, rural and urban centers have co- existed. in India,
. , . . ,
. , . ·- ...,.:;.tt,,..,,...--- . .
. t
Rural Social Structure

·Rural and urban center..s...share some common facets of lifei T. y show interd...ependence especially in the
sphe_re o f economy, urban-ward migration,. and ·townsmen or city dwellers'. dependence on villages for
various products .(e.g., food grains, milk, vegetables, raw materials for industry) a n d i!! asi n g
dependence o f viHagers on towns for manufactured goods and market._ Despite· this interdependence
between the two there are cercam d1stmctive features ihat eparate them from each other i n terms of
·their size, dem o .g raphic composition, cultural moorings, style of life, economy, employment a n d social
relations.'
Rural peo_ple Hve in settled villages. Three main types of settlement patterns have been e>bserved in rural
areas:
. . '
. . . . .
. . .
o
i) The most comrrio e is the nucleat d village f und all over the country. Here, the fields o f the ·
villagers surr o und a tight cluster o f houses. An outlying hamlet or several satellite hamlets are· also found
to be attached to some villages in this case.
,' . '
·. .
ii},S tondly, there are linear s ttlements in some ·parts o f ·the country, e.g .. i n Kerala, i n .Konkan .a:)jdJ n
the delta. lands of Ben..gal. . In such settle!l}ents,. houses are strung out, each" surrounded by its·. o w n :
com,p_ound. However, there is little to ph#ic1llly demarcate where one village ends and another·begins. .
.,
iii) The third type of settlement is si,mplyascattedilg o f home teads or clusters o f two or three· houses.
In this case also physical demarcatIDn of villages is not clear; Such settlements are found in hill areas,·in.-
the Himalayan foothills, in the h!g!llaru:ls o f Gtijara_t and in theSatpura range o f Maharashtra.
F i-:t.h.er., w e fi.nd that.the size o f village .po pu_lation is small.a d densi . o{ pe>puiation.low incomp.a;t on,
witl.}_ owns and citie . India'is.righ_tly called,a country of.viHages._Ac:c.ordingtp 198 e.nsus,.therey ere
.402 '.:towns and· 5;57 l 37 i rihabited·.villc!ges .in the country.: By thfyear>1991 lhis numb·er. irrcreas. f!". tq
4§.?9towns and s,so,1s1 _villages. AccordingJa-2001 c.ensus tl)ere are 5161 towns anct 6,38,36s:vnL ge5,_
(il)cludfog uninhabited villages) in :1 di {Census _oflndia_ (provisional), 2001). M·oreover,_as _per 2001
census figures about Ti. percent c;,t the total populati o n live in villages. Further, rural life -is charaster z q
by direct relationship of people to · nature. i.e., land, animal. ·and plant iife. Agriculture fs their main.
o ccupati o n. For example, in India agfic_ulture pro vide iivelihood to about 58 percent o f the labor force.,
141
Long enduring rural social institutions in ·India continue to be family, kinship, caste, class, and village.
They have millennia old historical roots and structures. They ericompass the entire field o f life: social,
economic, political and cultural - of the rural people. The complexity o f social norms and values, statuses
and roles, rights and obligations is reflected in them.
Rural Family
Family is one of the most important social institutions that constitutes the rural society. It caters to needs
anc!.0;performs functions, which are essential for the continuity, integration and change in the social
system, such as, reproduction, production and socialization.
Bro Hly speaking there are two types of family: (a) nuclear family consisting of husband, wife and
unm1irried children, and (b) joint or extended family comprising a few more kin than the nuclear type.
Important dimensions o f 'jointness' of family are cohabitation, commensality, coparcenary, generation
depth (three), and fulfillment o f obligation towards kin and sentimental aspect Coresidentiality or
cohabitation means .that members of a family live under the same roof. Commensality implies that they
. eat t<>:gether i.e., have a common kitchen. ccwctr,cenary means that they have joint ownership o f property.
Furtl!.er, generation depth encompasses three generations or mote, i.e., grandfather, father and the son
etc .:l'xlembers .of the family also have obligations toward their kin. Moreover, they have a sentimentaL
attiettmenuo the ideal o f joint-fq.mi}y-:-
Rural fa1mily works as the unit o f economic, cultural, religious, and political activities. Collectivity of the
family is emphasized in social life, and feelings o f individualism and personal freedom ifre very limited.
Marriage is considered an inter-familial matter rather than an inter-personal affair. It is governed by rules
of inship.
Changes -in the T ditio al Family
f
Traditional"joint a mily occupied a predominant position in rural areas in India. It was largely p-revalent
among the landed gentry and priestly taste. But nuclear family also existed in lndfa. Lower caste families·
whose main occupation was agricultural labor were mostly nuclear. However, they appreciated the ideal
of.joint family. Various studies have been conducted to diagnose·the changes taking place in family in
India with i_ncreasi g industrialization and. urbanization, changes in economy,. technology, . politics,
education and law. in modern tim·es: There are two approaches. The first assumes that the family
structure in India has undergone the process o f unilinear change from the joint to nuclear form as in the
West-- t,!
Secondly, LP.Desai (1964),. S.C. Dube (1955), T.N.Madan (1965), and others argue that it is necessary to
observe family as a· process. They adopt developmental cycle approach to understand changes in the
famfl.y1structure in India. _They advocate that the presence ofnuclear family households should be viewed.
as.urits, wJ:lich will be growing into Jointfa:vi,!IJ s when the.sons g ow up and marry. T_he 'developmental
cycle\approach implies t h a t a family structure keeps expanding,i\\'ith birth and marriage, arid depleting,:
with.:death_and partit on in a cyclical order during a period of time·.
Fur_ther, empirical-studies show inter-regional and intra regional variations in the distribution o f family
types. This is evident from the study by Pauli:n.e Kolenda (1967) who has made· a comparative study of
fa !!f structures in thirteen regions of In_dia on the basis_ of_32 publications. In Uttar Pradesb, among the:.
Thak r.s of"Senapur, joint families constitute .74.4 percent and nuclear famil es only 25.5 percent; but
unt .chableshave 34.percentjpintfarriilies . and. 6 per_c nt nuclearfalllilies In._th hill;rregion o f the:,
state :df Utfar Pradesh in Sirkarida' \rillage, wh re· mosf oftbe· population ·is that of Rajputs, the joint/
famifies comprise only 39 percent and there are 61 percent nuclear families. In Maharashtra, Badlapur
village has 14 percent joint and 86 percent nuclear families. ln.Aridhra Pradesh in Shamirpet village the
propottioli of joint families is·18.5 percent and that o f nuclear is 81.5 percent
Here, Kolend,a ha s made a f e w generaHzations. She observes tha between regions, the rural areas of the
Gangetk plains have highe( proportion o f joint. families than those in the Central India, Maharashtra,
142
Andhra and Tamil Nadu. In the Gangetlcpia,Jns itself, joint families are more common among the Rajputs
and nuclear families predominate among the lower castes. For further- etails on the joint and the nuclear
fami1y refer to the relevant chapter in Volume 01. lthas been observed that with the changes in the larger
society, the structure and function o f joint family in India are undergoing a reconciliatory pattern of
change. The traditional world-view o f the joint family still prevails.
Kinship
Within the village, a group o f families tracing descent from a common ancestor with knowledge of alLthe
links constitute a lineage; and the children of the same generation behave as brothers and sisters. They
form a unit for celebrating major ritual events. Sometimes the word Ku/ is used to describe these units.
These bonds o f families may go back to 3 to 7 generations. People do not marry within this group. Such
families use a more generic term like being "bhai-bandh" of one another. Like lineages, even clans exist
and they are also exogamous. The word Gotra may be used for them.
Adrian Mayer (1960) studied a village in Malwa and distinguished between the kindred of cooperation
anq kindred of recognition. The first J ih s:e is the smallt:r unit, where cooperation is offered and taken
without formalities. The second one !is a hirger unit that comes together on specific. occasions through
information and invitation. These relations can be spread over several villages for each caste. This is why
Mayer .studied them within a caste and its region, a point that we need to remember in order>to
undersfan the spread o f a caste/subcaste across villages and towns. This is also known as horizontal
spread o f the caste.
With regard to rules o f marriage there are some differences between the n_orth and south India. Irawati
Karve (1965) noted these differences. Later American anthropologist, David Mandelbaum, included them
in his popular work on Society in India (1972). ·He reiterates the position "broadly put, in the South a
family tries to strengthen existing kin ties through marriage, while in the North a family tends to affiliate
with a separate set o f people to whom it is not already linked". This is witnessed· in the prevalence of the
rules oCvillage exogamy and 'gotra' exogamy in the North but notiri the.South. In the. North, nobody is
permitted to marry in his/her own village. Marriage aliiances are concluded with the people from other
villages belo_nging to similar caste. But no such proscriptions exist in the South. Further, ih the Nqrth one
cannot marry within his/her own gotra.. On yie contrary, cross cousin marriage i.e., ll}arriage between the
sh,ildren o f brother and sister, is preferred in the South. Thus, there is a centrifugal. tendency in North ..
India, i.e., the direction o f marriage is outward or away from the group. In contrast fo South India we find
a centripetal tendency in making marriage alliances and building kinship ties. In other words, marriages·
take place inwardly or wit:hin the group.
Caste Structure
Pebple usually .marry within the caste or sub-caste; Members o f a caste trace their origin from a comill' n
ancestor historical, mythical · or, ,div,ine The properties o f that ancestor · are w6rthy of being
remembered b y people; and these are ·well' known to such ati extent that a mere .mention p f that name is
_ enough to recognize the group to which a person belongs.
Two important criteria (i) it is an ·endogamous grqup; (ii) it has a common ancestor.· As a part o f this ..
arrangement descendents o f a common ancestor are divided into two groups, the smalier exogamous
group,· and the wider endogam us group. The -first o f these groups :knows the stages o f the links;·the
sedmd treats it as given. ·
Th!:::re' are four other characteristics' of· caste as Ghuf} :e::

ideritifiJa: BY dccupat:ion is in som_e V'{ YS
connected with caste, but.not to the ·extent pf prescribingJt·Hence Ghurye psed the phrase- laci(,of
choice .regarding occupation. It ha been known for.Jn tance that agriculturists, soldiers and
confectioners .have come from different castes. In some ways however, occupatfunaI-connect10n_is a T Y,
reference for other groups to identify a person. Each caste has its own social rules regarding_ things it can
take or not take,.use or,not:use. These·relate to dress, o·rnamerits, and-even place for-living. In southern
hitlia, the ecology o f the_!lllag r flects thesaste divisions ,; the status going.down-as one mbves from.the
.. .
.
.- ;, '
143·
north-east to the south or south-west. For,example, in his study o f a village in Tanjore district of Tamil
Nadu, Beteille (1962) has shown that the Brahman live in an .a9raharam located in the north, non-
Brahman somewhere in the middle, and at a distance to the south there is cheri o r the colony for the
lowest castes. Some of the activities of the castes relate to the wider social setting which is based on the
principle of ascription, birth determining the membership of a person and the status of the group. Each
group in certain ways represents a segment of the society, and regulates its affairs. This has been caUed ·
tfie segmental d1v1s10n of society. In case of the caste-based society as a whole, each group is assigned a
partic:ular place on the social iadder. This arrangement reflects the hierarchy of castes, and in that sense
other::·'writers, like Kingsley Davis, say that the caste system represents the extreme degree of
'instfr_utionalized inequality' in the world.
Sub:,-caste
A sub-caste is considered a smaller unit within a ca te. In the village setting usually w e find that there is
only one sub-caste living there. A larger number of sub-castes indicate the late arrivals to a village. Thus
for all -practical purposes a sub-caste represents the caste in the village. In the wider setting of a regjon,
however, we find many sub-castes. One ex rrtple from Maharasht_rfl is ·of kumbhar .(potters). There are
several groups among them; those who tap the clay, those who 'U:se the large wheel, those who use the
sm lL:wheel. All the three are. endogamous groups. Should they be_ called castes o r sub-castes? Ghurye
favtft§1 the second use, Karve the first one. Both agree that the groups are-endogamous; the difference o f
opinion is about origin. If one group broke· into three parts - sub-caste would b e a proper usage, ai1d
Ghurye thought that was .the way things happened. If the three groups had_ iodepeoclent Q..rigin then they
could be called castes - and that is how Kai-ve thought things had occurred. She points out that even
linguistic differences exist among the groups and to the extent physical characteristics could help, they
show a variation. In conclusion it can b e said that sub".'caste is the smallest endog_amous group and it has
some. mechanisms like b-nchayats to regulate the behavior of members in the traditional setting.1n a
village, the difference between caste and sub-caste does not come to the surface but in a region, the
aifference is visible.
,.
Please refer to other topics on caste to gain a wider knowledge on the traditional aspects of the system.
We shall now look a t the changes that are taking.place in the caste system.
-.::::----,
Changes in the Traditional Caste System
Studies by historians and sociologists, namely, Romila Thapar (1979), Burton Stein (1968), Ramkrishna
Mukherjee (1957), A . R Desai (1987) and M.N. Srinivas (1969 and 1978) have-shown that Indian society
was never static. The main traditional avenues of social mobility were Sanskritization, migration and
religious conversion. Lower castes or tribes cou_ld move upward in the caste hierarchy through
acqd'i§1tion o f wealth and political power. They could consequently claim higher caste status along with
Sanslfritizing their way oflife,
.
i.e., emulating the life-style and customs of higher castes. - 1
:·; :-:;·: .. . '} i
Som important changes have taken place iri the caste system intrc/r lareas in the contemporary period
due :ti>· the new forces ·of industrialization, urbanization; politicization, modern educatidn and legal
system, land reforms, development programs and government policy of positive discrimination in favor
·
of the lower castes.
Occ1,(1l' tional association of caste has marginally chan ed i . B ahmins may .-still ·work as
pri¢. 1:5· In a 1 ion, t ey have ta en to agriculture. Landowning dominant castes belonging to both upper
an4,:r#irl:clle rung of caste hierarchy generally,\-VQ['.k as Sl,lpei:yisory farmers .. Other non-landowning lower
cast /including small and marginal peasants, work as wage laborers in agriculture. Artisan castes like
carpehters and ironsmiths continue with their traditional occupations. However, migration to urban
a.n as h<;ls enabled individuals. from all castes including u_ntouchables to ·enter int - ·non-traditional
· --
occupations in industry, trade and commerce, and services.
Further, inter-caste. 1t1arriage is almost non-existent in rural areas. Inter-caste restrictions onfood, drink
and smoking continue but to a lesser degree because o f the presence of tea stalls in villages whicn are
....___
..;,+ _. .
144
patronized by nearly all castes. The hohJ,of ;untouchability has lessened. Distinction in dress has become
ffior'e a matter o f income thari caste affiliation. In traditional India, the upper castes were also upper
classes but it is not absolutely true today because now new occupational opportunities to gain income
have developed in villages. People migrate to cities and bring money back to their villages. This has
changed the traditional social structure.
Caste has acquired an additional role o f operating as interest groups and associations in politics with the
introduction of representative parliamentary politics. This has been noted by M.N. Srinivas (1982),
Rudolph and Rudolph (1967) and Paul Brass (1965). Various caste associations have been formed
transcending sub-caste boundaries to articulate caste interests. Moreover, caste has also witnessed
growth of intra-caste factions with differential support to political parties and· personal interest ofthe
factional leaders. Thus, caste has undergone both the processes o f fusion (merging o f different castes)and
fission (breaking up of a caste into parts) in the arena of politics.
There is a change in rural power structure in. the period since Independence, which has led to some
changes in inter-caste relationship. The Brahmins have lost their traditional dominance in South India.
Karn.ma and Reddi in Andhra, Lingayat·a d Okl<:aliga in Karnataka, and Ahir, Jat and Kurmi. in North India
have emerged as the ne"Y dominant caste at local and regional levelsrhrou.gh acquisition of economic
an .Political power. Some traditional Qackward castes e.g. Nadar, Vanniyar o f Tamff Nadu and. Mah r:.of
Maharashtra also have improved their social status.
In his. study of Srifm,;arri village in Tanjore district, Andre Beteille {1971) noticed th phenomenon of
status incongruence Traditionally,·the upper castes owned land and monopolized political power in the
village .. B.ut now, due to various institutional changes, they have lost control in political affairs to
intermediate castes without losing their land to any substantial extent
Thus, we find that caste has undergoneAdaptive changes. Its traditional basic features, i.e. connubial
(matrimonial), commensal (eating together) and ritual, still prevail in rural areas. The core characteristics
of the castes, which have affected the· social relations, are still operative. However the status quo of the
intermediate and low castes has changed due to ·their acquiring politicat and/or economic power. High
caste, high class and more power went together in the traditional village setting. This hegemony of the
high castes has given way to differentiation of these statuses in some regions -in India (Beteme l 971 &
1986), so that now high caste does not necessarily occupy a higher-class position.or power;
Agra,:ian Relations in Indian Villages and Changes

The traditional agrarian relations in the caste system are discussed under the topic "JajmariLSystem". ln ..
the following paragraphs we shall be focusing. more on the changing agrarian relationships in a rural
sociijI:,nstem.
K.L. Sharma·(1980) elaborates, "caste.,.i11c.orp r,ates the element ·of class and class has a ultural (caste):·
t
style,.J1ence the two systems cannot be easily separatecf .even analytically". In the mod rn .period;:the
pritish land revenue system gave rise to a more orJess similar agrarian class sg:ucture in Villages in- India.
They were the three classes of the landownm(zarnindars), the tenants and the agritultural laborers. The
landowners (zamindars) were tax gatherers and non-cultivating owners of .land. They belonged to the
upper caste groups. The agricultural laborers were placed in a position of bondsmen and hereditarily.
attac.h· d laborers. They belonged to the lower caste gmups. . .
The i pact. of land reforms and I1J.ra} devetoPB t;;programs introdu d ,after independence has. b en
·sigri'ifkant Land reforms led to tlieeviction of smaller tenants n a large scale. But the intermed:i, te
castes of peasants, e.g., the Ahir, Kurmi etc. in. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh benefited. Power of the feudal
landed families started declining all over the country. The onset o f the Green Revolution fo the 1960s l,etl·
to the. emergence of commercially oriented landlords. Rich farmers belonghig· generally to upper ··
intermediate castes prospered. But the fortune of the poor peasantry and the agricultural laborers did not
irfip"rove. This has led to acceJtuation o f class conflicts and tensions. Agtarfan' unrest iri jndia has i!,W
t · · ·· ·
become a common feature m various pat1 o the country. ·
14S
P.C. Joshi (1971) has summarized in the following manner the trends in the agrarian class structure and
relationships. (i) It led to the decline of feudal and customary tyges of tenancies. It was replaced b y a
more exploitative and insecure lease arrangement. (ii) It gave rise to a new commercial based rich
peasant class who were. part owners and part tenants. They had resource and enterprise to carry out
c mmercial agriculture. (iii) It led to the decline o f feudal landlord class and another class o f commercial
f mers emerged for whom agriculture was a busine s. They used the non-customary type o f tenancy._
The process of social mobility has been seen in two direc ions. In his study o f six villages in Rajasthan, K.L.
Sharrna (1980) observed that in some villages, not only the agricultural laborers but q ite a few o f the ex-
landlords have slid down in class status, almost getting proletarianized. On the contrary, the neo-rich
peasantry has emerged as the new rural bourgeoisie replacing the older landlords. Ramkrishna
Muk:tforjee (1957) in his work Dynamics of a Rural Society dealt with the changes in the agrarian structure
suggesting that a number of classes (categories) were reduced, and that small cultivators were becoming
landless workers.
Further, Kotovsky (1964) has noted the process of increasing proletarianization of the peasantry in .
villag s.According to him, "with the agri ':-1:!! re cl,evel (? ping along c, pitalist lines the process o f ruination
""and jjroletariahization · o f the bulk of the· peasantry is growing mbre intensely all the time". This is
sub$}.t. ·naated·by·tht da ct that i n the two decades between 1961 and 1981 the share of ultivators came,
dtnv'fi''ffom 52.3 percent to 41.5_ percent while· during the same period the share of agricultural laborers
increased from 17.2. percent to 25.2 percent o f the total labor force. During the two decades the
proportion· of peasants operatmg less than two hectare increased from 40 percent to 55 percent o f the
total. By the year 2001 the share of cultivators to the total work force further declined to 31.7 percent and
the share of agricultural laborers became 26.7 percent (Census Report (provisional), 2001). The increase
in proportion (and certainly numbers) of agricultural laborers has gone along with a general increase in
wage laborers in the rura! economy.
The process of social mobility and tran formation in rural India has"been explained by sociologists b y the
ter.ms embourgeoisement and proletarianization. Embourgeoisement refers to the phenomenon of
upward mobility o f the intermediate class peasantty i.e., their emergence as new l ndlords .
Proletarianization describes the process o f downward mobility, i.e., depeasantisation of small and
marginal peasants and a few landlords· and their entry
' into the rank o f t h e rural landless agricultural
laborers.
lmpqct
.
of Globalization on. Indian Villages
Economic globalization has achieved a status o f a master .concept in social sciences, albeit an ambiguous
one,.si11ce the turn o f the century. Its .impo'rtance derives from the profound consequences it has f r all
the:fi; tions, consequences which are multifaceted bearing literally on all t h e aspects o f social life In its-.
esse"ti_ce; economic globalization represents J h e sharp and continuing integratior o f the wo:vld economy.·
Glo IJzation inyoives the movement o f people: goods, ideas a d in'fo;r'matioii"ac oss"rtatiO!].al,, boundaries. .
It has:·'.been defined as 'the intensification o f worldwide social relations which link distanUocalities in
such a way that local happenings are shaped b y evenfs.'"occtirringmany miles_ away and: vice versa'.
(Gid ,:ns ,1990: 64)
Aft JlfJndependence, the managers o f the Indian economy took very cautious steps. They found the world:
sharp_lf-:divided into two blocs: the one led b y the.capitalist economies (the.US in particular) and other led·
b y tlfo,,<:ommunist economies, pr Illarily; !he then U S S R T_here -was a CC>l war b.etwee.n. these· M O blocs
LesS.:-.-:(developed.economies had .tio option than to. j 01n either of the. two an·d invite the. ire o f the opposite.·
bloc!., :Especially those economies that were under the British Empire and Woµ freedom in ,the near past
faced a difficult choice. India chose to keep .a safe distance from.both. the.blocs
by inventing the idea o f a.
mixed economy. In doing so; India invited as much favor as suspicion from both the blocs._ -Sor:ne
economists .hold the opinion .that the Indian economy was pro.-capital_ism in its core that wore the fa ade
o f -socialistic economy... The :state-ma:nag d -economic·.endeavors· f a . gt, !J9!:ll! U9J1_J_n the·
_a
private sector, often at the cost o f the pub!1c sector and resources, f>r'epanng for a smooth trans1t1on to
146-
open capitalism in future when the cond.iti-ons were ripe or such a transition.
The efficacy of economic management on socialistic pattern had led to serious malaise. Although we
observe high growth rates o f the Indian economy during the 1980's, much of this owes to very large
amounts of foreign borrowing. Thus, the growth rates of 1980's were unsustainable, fuelled by a build up
o f external debt. Hence, India had no much alternative than to opening o f its economy to the international
market forces. The dawn o f 1990's came with the great debacle of the USSR. This was an ideological
disaster to the princ;iples o f economic management in India and one of the decisive events that brought
India under the gravitational force of the capitalist bloc.
The agriculture sector performed miserably in 1987-89. Following the assassination of Rajiv Gan hi, PV
Narsirrtha Rao came to power in June 1991. At that time, India's condition on foreign exchange reserves
was poor and precarious. India made a proposal for a loan of US$ 2.26 billion from the IMF. In view of the
destitution that the country was in, it had no alternative than to succumb to the World Bank-IMF
prescription in embarking on the so-called stabilization and structural adjustment programs as a
precondition to loan. The World Bank was ready with its proposed 'Strategy for Trade Reform!. As a
result, thus, India introduced the New;E¢oi:io111ic, Poli _ NE_P in l 9 1. The· NEP can be divided into two
parts: the stabilization programs an t e structural adjustment an reform programs. While the former
part basic Jly aims at reducing macroeconomic imbalances (such as fiscal and current account deficits} by
resttainirtg·aggregate demand, the latter essentially aims at increasing growth, by eliminating supply
bottlenecks that hinder competitiveness, efficiency and dynamism to the economic system.
Globalization and Agriculture
The statistics of area under 12 major crops in India covers about 95 percent of area under cultivation. The·
data indicate that. after globalization, the area under cultivation has increased. However, the area under
f od. crops c:1s. percent-to th . tot J area under Cllltivation s .e<::ff:?ieq. More so, the area under coarse·
(food) cro percen1ag;; fo1qtari" ea uiider cufiivatfon
(as well as the total area under food crops) has
decreased. This trend indicates a shift of the Indian Agriculture to cash crops and in the food grain sector
t o the finer,e.0 · As pointed. out by Swaminathan (2002), such charigeshave affected the poorer section
IQR
-
..,
o f the society adversely.
?,11)$
.. . ---- ..,..,,i,.--· ---"'
· ·,""'+ -----.. - . ; , • < ,
_ _ _ · _ _ _ _ . . .,,w,1,,;h._..o.;"'.;.1""t ........-- ·Jt:.",,. -<.111.
· With lndia ts membership in. the WTO, Indian agricultural policies underw:ent signif icant changes;
A cufture m--rm theliber policy
r w m e advocated by the IMF. The gradual abolition of input subsidies on fertilizers, irrigation, electricity
and credit, removal o f trade restrictions on agricultural commodities so that th ·- domestic prices are not·
out o f tune with world prices, unifisation o f prices so that the.current system of dual markets in food
grains and other·agrictiltural commodities disappears, drastic curtailinent o f food subsidy confining the
Public D'istribution System only to·the deserviQg poor, removal ofall restrictions on the choice o f wll,atto
produce, ·'where to sell etc, freedom of operations for agri,tiusiness and so on, the ·1ngian agriculture.
began ·a suming a new structure, fuarlH ·tlly i.n contrast .;With the pre-1990 one. The structural changes
have been 'observed irt the land-use pattern for raising different crops. But fragmented small la_ndholdings
a n d ·poverty among the farmers severely-limit the cultivation o f crops ·for the-;tnarket The infrastructure
f o r storage, transport, processing, grading and rating quality standards are underdeveloped. Farme s are
ignorant of th_e sophistication o f global markets, as their experience is limited-to prim-itive operations. The
dem.andJor mo t of the Indian farmproducts is yery low on account o f po.or quality and:quality cqntrol
syste :Jh:erefore, with the poor prospects and scopidor the export of.-Iridfan.agricultural produce;·the
exporters}) .ce difficult!eS both in th dqm stkanQ foreignII1ar ets J.qrjI1 ta.m:e,lndianfea is. a high-cost
product:;:-Vvher1 cheap:er tea comes_:into the market, the country's high.:.cost tea producers lose o u t Yet,
export oriented agriculture is gradually reducing the .area of food cultivation,
°
.as more and more land is
being used for cash crop production. The growing costs of agricultural input,s and shriqkage qf the market
for agricultural produce are- not only causing· problems for farmers, but are . also affecting· rural
eitP!oyment seve_r,ely, 1here 1s w1dE;_spread migration of agricultural workers to other states:..and to cities.
With these changes,_the a_gro-based industries have not been able to pick up momentum. so as to provide
a thrust tc, the industrialization process.
Globalization is an uneven process, with unequal distribution of benefits and losses, both across the
countries and within a country across different income gro1!£S,
..
,:--
Globalization and Impact on Social Relations
ContelJ!porary globalizat i on - and i ts h andma i den industrial i zation - fosters compet i tion and with it an
i ncrease i n ind i v i dualism bot h lpcally and globally: Wit h individual i sm there i s a weaken i ng o f pre-
ex i ting forms of h i erarchical relat i ons. On the whole th er . i s a general shaking free of group affil i_a ns
and:group controls. W h en social roles become less strongly ascribed, with soc i al pos i tions being 'up for
grabs', there i s an mphasis on entrepreneuriality and i ts runn i ng mate, compet i t i on. This eme.rg_es in a
societal focus on the md1v1duahst's dominant values - th ere is i ncreased emphasis on the importance o f
soc i al mob i lity, on fad, fash i on and conspicuous coosum.ption. As a result, w i th a growth i n ind i vidualism
there i s a greater i nci dence and acceptance of rule bend i ng, sh ort-term i sm, calculateq risk-takfog and tfie
cult i vat i on of ever s h i fti ng and ever more useful networks.
As;;:lnd i vidual i sm -and i ts bye-products; entrepreneur i al i ty- and competit i on - strengthen, they do so at
the1expense of affiliat i on and obHgations to more trad i tional grpupings such as t h e extended family and to
pol i tical · com.munal and rel i gio·us ·author i t i es. Where s h i erarcb it insti tut i ons and groups offer the
s rity ofmutualsupp_ort,
. continu i ty and t h e stabil it y o f tradit i on, Ind i vidualism lacks these benefits.
:·..·.. <=------------ . ......
Glcib Ifa:at iol1 nd il)dustric1lE,·m results in mass i ve rural.:urban m igrat i ons. Relat i onships i n c i ties - bot h
in-the developed :'incfin the develop i ng worlds • are essentially different from those i n smaller scale
tradit i ona l communit i es. The v i llages are character ized by relati onship s that are homogeneous, la ly
based- on kinship, residence and w i!h ties based on s i mple divis i o·ns of labor. The i r moral cohes i o n is
often founded on s h ared rel i g i ous sent i ment. T h e mass ive move to cit i es, which i s suc h a feature of
_global i zat i on/ i ndustr i al i sm, reduces the i mpact of t h ese features: groups are weaker, relationsh i ps more
heterogeneous and largely based on occupation and ·a more .complex divis i on of labor, wh i le moral
cohesion i s more fragmented. Social mobility i ncreases, new middle classe s emerge w i th new values of
aspiration and i deas of ersonal respons i bili ty while an industrial working class expands i n the citi s.
For the major i ty, the 75%.who st i ll l i ve i n v i llages, the effects of global i zat i o n are d i sastroQs. Half o f the
young me from Ind i a's v i llages had migrated to the city creatmg massive problems for t h e women and
ch i ld ren who rema i ned beh i nd. Industrializat i on is drain i ng 60 percent of the villages water supply w h i t h
is vital to their agriculture. S i nce pol i tic l and economic power h as sh i fted strongly to elites in t h e c i t i es,
rural concerns h ave little air i ng.
The emergence of ind ividual i sm is accompanied by a shift. in time percept i on s. H i erarch ies last longer
than ·people - t h ey continue beyond th e life-span o f i ndividuals and i n some respects exi st out o f t i m e.
Cul,iure? strongly b i ased to Hierarchy. t h erefore v i ew ·the future in similar terms to the past and as a
co.ntintJation of the presen!_. Dur i ng the W i th the growth
· o f i ndiv i dual i sm, people
... not i nstitµtlons
· become
-
the focal un i t o f soc i al life. . · · · '. ,· - ' · 1
. ·
:;
lndi:tstrialization and m i ning act i vities, t h e later stages of 'free market' econom i es i n'· globalizat i on
adversely also impact the .ecologies o f ind igenous and rural people d i srupting the econom i c bases o f the i r
habitats. ....
Tli : so.ci al disrupt i on attributable to globalization can be bot h dramat i c and d i sturb i ng. On the whole we
car, say.tliafthe village communities, endowed the i r nldec geoer::iti ons w i th authority and power . _w h i c h
w _s· buttressed by.their control Qfloca1iy derived ·resoun:es.·Butw h en yo.ung people obta i n :resot1rces
a ay from t h e*villages. th.ere is a shift in the community's ecauomic base. T h i s leads to a reduction tn the
a ui:hori ty o f the old, a lessening i n deference and reseect pa i d to them and the creat i on of polit i cal af!d
or1tanizational vacuums that are evident in a lack o f respons ibi lity for communal i nvolv ement Part of
these ·•vacuums' is ev'ident too in those econom i c activities - even at lo c al village levels - are i ncreasingly
in the hands of-multinational compan i es that are not locally accountable. The products o f village based
crafts n and women for instance, are increas i ngly being ·superseded b y imported manufactures and
respect for their skills 1s negated.
148
Glqbalization then, also affects hou£€$old as their members become more privatized and less
incorporated into the wider community. A s competition and consumerism become more widespread, the
traditional household, especially in its extended forms as institutions o f micro-hierarchy, becomes
eroded. Individuals tend to become more autonomous, to exhibit conflicting demands and needs and be
Iess°able to depend o n each other. Internal competition, which echoes the spread o f individualism at
wider levels o f society, then has th effect o f r pucing social bonds and obligations between different
g erations within the same household. It loosens the ties and dependencies that link extended families:'"
Insofar as these. typically provide the b ses o f mutual support in cases o f hardship, this function too is
weakened.
Conclusion
Contemporary processes o f globalization have determined a general erosion o f hierarchy and a growth of
Individualism and Fatalism. The emergence o f individualism is the most evident In this sense, if w e adopt
Tonnies' sociological definitions there is a shift from Gemeineshaft to Gesellschaft, namely between a
social organization based on a.communal sense o f belonging and shared feelings to one characterizeaby
selMnterest and instrumental,,,:beliavi<;rrfi S. a, result, hierarchical social relci ons,. based on regularized
face-toTafe interactions, are:pro·gressively w e akened. Tfiis process has im_portant effects a t tfie.levelsof
.'° illH lty;·:"( rk a?_d.··househol qg trol o ( w o r k te.nds·to. es ape·. frolllth,_e:.cornµmn{ty, w M le : jng
pl*e tf':irC ·the - ,cfA S.- f:delocali !=;;d: *391tii1.a _t ion J o:rganj i tic>ns ·The ri _¢, in complexity iffiln
orga.· t ,ti.Qns, fa v.lii:s:-ais# a ,in te s in: gcc:,urre c:e ·?f deMi nt p it;viors i he·wor pla e. Finally, there is
P?iv tization o ( n d J#cliv. gµflli_ tic.>.1'''. lt.lii,r{th :ht>'li$ bhltl:::$Jiµ,¢,t,Mt, ; Where _I1.1E}fill1. r ;of fomilies are .
drawn into competition and cj_mpetitive consumerism at the expense o f wider fai:nlly onds.;.
149
5.2 Linguistic and Religious M1ribrities: TheirIS9 ial, Political and Economic
Status
Background
India is an assortment o f religious, caste and linguistic groups. It is a unique country which is tolerant and
yieJtijhg. These two features o f the country have, to a large extent, caused a great deal o f racial diversity
and:-fo some extent fusion and synthesis. A natural outcome o f it has been the emergence of minorities
over.two thousand years. Some o f these minorities migrated from abroad, but the large part of it emerged
o u t o f the majority in the country.
Till the Muslim invasion, which began towards the beginning of the second millennium, the concept o f
minority did not exist One religion prevailed all over the country, whatever it w a s at that time. Islam, a s
a forfe, arrived in India at about the end of the 12 th century with the Muslim invader Mahmud o f Ghazni.
Bu_t:the later stream o f invaders, mainly. Mughals from _Central Asia, decided to stay here as the land
offei- d the .prospect of stability and luxury, - om pared to their qrigit)al arid deserts. . .
Ch 1 tic1 s,:now'z.j#per ent o f the total population, came much later. Though one of.Christ's disciples,
'. q as; _as s up - t ?__ a e l d:1 t i in _abou 7th year a r th e_ death· o f Jesus, _the e·arl iest
Ch 1s,t1an 1 ur ,10_ll, l?t?· lnd1a:· as b y Portug ese m .ab9utf6 i1W,.Q' __:J he rea[ encouragement to
the
Chrisi:i inity\vas:whefr thtd3ritish· arrived to set'thelr flag. They·extende"d whole-hearted patronage to the
missionaries. Christ an_ity established itself as the second largest minority in India after Islam.
Sikhism, though an important and powerful minority, evolved within the country. It emerged as a shield
to protect the society from the Muslim onslaughts. It was a strong reaction to the caste system.
Buddhism, another indigenous minority, also was a reaction to the esoteric turn Hinduism was taking at
that time. Though originated in India, it'has ;round eight lakh followers in the country. It has however,
more followers f o Sri Lahka, China, Japan and Thailand.
(.
Jews. arrived 200-300 years before Christ Zoroastrians, the smallest religious minority in the world
(about 1_3000.0,·most o f them in -India),·sought refuge -in India in the 7th Centuty when they were
persec_uted in -Iran. Thus ...!QLI ..i,S:m, .aud_Co.n(R .i n{ ,,Jarg xµ .. ?..i:1. - \t c Ilcl, there -- 1:? .
r_eligfordn the world, which k no·t represented on the Indian soil. All these religions have established
their rootsmariy nu dreffyeaisago, thereby making India an embodiment o f world religions.
Me ning and Nature of-the term "Minority" r

In ·, f tontext : o f India/many scholars narrowly use the term "minority" to refer to those who are n o t
Hindu, a conception which implies tha r s9"mehow the dominant core o f Indian identity is Hinduism.
How ver, it _is not just the religious groups who regard them elve as minorities in this coµntry. Cast ,
trih;i: -linguistic as well as religious groups can be self-defined as minorities for any one of a number o f
rea·soils:
1. They have a distinctive group identity·
J :-They regard themselves as socially and economically subordinate to other
·'-:
;f
':f:They believe that they sufferJrom ·discrimination, ·either. from others in the society or thestate . I
: ; itself.
f
According to Myron-Weiner, "A pt?ople who do not share what they regard as the central symbols ·of
the society invariably view themselves as a minority''.
-
In the.context or"Indfa, th minority and majority status-is a matter of self-ascription. What is a majority
f r o pne perspective is a' ino"rity from ·:nother. For example, Muslims are India's largest religious
150.
minority, but in Jammu and Kashmi -jtJs:. t;he Hindus who regard themselves as a minority. Bengal is and
Tamil are not generally regarded a s minorities, but members o f these communities living outside their
home state often regard themselves, and are regarded b y their hosts, as members o f a linguistic minority.
The Unities Nations Commission o n Human Rights had defined minoritfes as below:
"Only th(Js c<Jmrrmnities other than the ruling national community can- IJe terrn cl,, as minorities,
wlia w.antto.ha,ve.a· languag.e, religion. cfr:r.qie_ d!ff ren{froin''tiui'_ianguage, religion .ancJ race o f the
naticm.al community_. It is essential f o r being recognized as minorities that they should be sufficient
in'ii'iimber
. and
their constituents should be faithful to the nation in which they live"' .
All the nation-states are expected to grant equal legal and human rights to such minorities, and not to
practice any sort of discrimination against them. A reflection of this philosophy can be found in the
various constitutional provisions enacted to provide rights and protections to the minorities in India.
CATEGORIES OF MINORITIES IN INDIA

Broadly, in the ·context o f Indian
. Cons'titlition, there are
. two categories o f minorities - Linguistic and.
Religious.
UNG61'sr1c MINORITIES
India's problem in attaining national integration and ·political cohesion have been complicated by the
existence o f strong sub-national identities based along linguistic and cultural lines. The Constitutionof
India recognizes twenty two major langu ges spoken b y a large majority o f the people and it is estimated
that there are around 1652 other languages_ and dialects spoken in this country.
. . ' , ' , , • . , . ,';/
Linguistic and cultural identities are very strong among the regions that are far removed from the Hindi
heartland o f north India. Hindi, the popular language, was chosen in 1950 b y the ·body that framed the
Constitution o f free India as the official language o f the country; then, in 1965, after the Constitutioi1 haq
been in force for 15 years, Hindi w a s to become the sole official language o f the country. But there was
strong cultural and_ practical opposition to- Hindi in the South, because Hindi is a north Indi_an language.
To south Iodl<!P the adoption o f Hindi symboJized the cultural hegemony l
o f theDravigJ. _Q_S.pu I:i pyth(?_:
Aryan North. Preferring English, the_S,outh_lndia11s therefore resented the o rcec [im-p ositiori o f Hindi, -As a,
i:!:. !,.2f_':.!?..!, § pp§ 1t:iori 'fo 'Hiri Ll . h. ;i_<?, h ,. l1e-go·v rrtmeni'ofindia_- : . } ..
.
to an indefillit ... !2f _
continuation o f English as·the second official language o f the country. --- .,
- - .. -... •.,_.,._.._.....,, - - - . , · · · - - - .... - - , ....... , -....... ,,,. _____ .. .- .....,. ,. ••. , ._.,. ,•.. , ' , .. -· ,.._ .. · -··· ._, ·-- . ' •., •.• ,•. -. · " --····· ................. _ , , .,,_, ·-· .... -. ----· -"""- --···-·---- .. - r -
Since each o f India's states h a s a n official language, those who speak another language as their mother
tongue regard themselves a s belonging to a linguistic minority. In 19·71, for example, in 1 8 o f India's 23 ·
states, along with Union territory o f Delhi, 92.8 mi1lion people or 11 1 percent cif the .popu ation didfn;ot
speak the regional language a s their mother tongue .
. . ;"\1\1.f*:J _::-
1'
The concerns o f these linguistic minorities are quite different Urdu speakers, for example)have called:Jor .
..•
the establishment o f Urdu a s a n official second language' o f the states in which t h e y live. There are large
Urdu speaking communities in U.P., Bihar, Maharashtra,.Andhra Pradesh and Karnafaka. In these states;
an overwhelming majority o f Muslims claims Urdu as its mother tongue;
Som " minorities _speaking unrecognized languages emanded statehoo_d. This .demand. is oft n mad _,by
thos linguistic grnups concentrated in a. particular region o f a state, where the group has a strong se 1se
o f its ,own.
distinctive identity. The· largest "stateless"dingu'istk
·. rriinoriHes'are Horo, N epa!i; Konka· · L :1d
- ·- -------· ·
Santhali etc. .....
_..,.. •• c__._,
'F
···· ·
Another set o f linguistic minority group comprises those who speak an official -,--language other than the
ianguage o f the state in which they live. These mfnorities· are. concentrated in Assam, Karnataka;
Maharashtra; Punjab, Tamil_Nadu a n d West Bengal There are nearly 9 million Bengalis living ou ide o f
West Bengal and Tripura, 2 million Gtijaratis outside o f Gujarat, 1.4 miliion -Malayalis. outside o f Kerala,_ 3
million o f Maharashtrians outside o f MaJ1arashtra and Goa and 11.0 million Hindi speakers living outside·
151
of the Hindi belt.

Since these minorities, unlike the speakers of other "local" languages, are not regarded as "sons of soil",
they are often the target of politifal groups that demand preferences for "local" people in employment
and in education.
LANGUAGES IN THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA-1991 Census
Languages Percentage to the Total Population
Hindi 39.85
Bengali 8.22
Telugu 7.80
Marathi 7.38
Tamil 6.26
Urdu . iS.13 i
4.81
)
Gujarati ;
K ·nnada 3.87
:Malayalam 3.59
Orly ·. .32
Ptitijal>i 2.76
Assamese 1.55
Sindhi 0.25
Nepali 0.25
Konkani 0.21
·Manipuri .0:15.
Kashmiri 0.46 (1981)
.Sanskrit 0;01
Bodo 0.14
Dogri 0.25
Santhali 0.50
Maithili 2.60
RELl'(ft.O.US
· ·1 MINORITIES
. . . . . J
Altho.4_¢h Hinduism is the religion of the m Joiity o f Indians (.$e1 }f!b!e_J, there are importari,t religious.
minoti_ties such as Muslims and Sikhs who have been able to pr sei¥e their group identities. in societies:
such s that of India, minority religions provide each group with a focal point of identity: and social
solidarity, and large areas of its culture are associated with· its religion; Religion and other aspec of
cultural life such as language, art, literature and s_ocial institutions become intertwined and led· to the
deve. 9pment of powerful group identities that often inhibit the development of a cohesive political
co1najJft1ity or .a nation. Unlike .the Musli_ms and Sikhs, other religio s minorities such as- the Jain ,
J3udfl f ts,and ·christiaris .havr· sh.O\,\'P .little or no religious,
.., . . .. fundcimentaHsm:
. . .. . . have stay ctJn_ the.
and·
maif! eam ofindian sodety and Iri'dian politics.
15.2.
Anthropology Paper 02 - Voiume 03
RELIGIOUS DlSTRIBUTION OF THE P<:)PULATION - 200_1 Census
RELIGION 1
No. in millions % of Total Population
Hindus 828 80.S
Muslims 138 13.4
Christians 24 2.3
Sikhs 19 1.9
Buddhists 8 0.8
fains 4.2 0.4
Others (includes tribal religions 6.6 0.6
also)
MUSLIMS
According to the 2001 census, Muslims constituted 13.4 percent of the Indian population. The present
d_ayMuslim population in India cons!s¼ IJ10 tly of smaller peasantry, landless laborers, and artisans ih the
villages and lower middle class in the cities. At prese'nt, Muslims do not constitute a majority of the
population· in any ·state of India except Jammu and Kashmir (67%). Of the 535 districts of India_foto
which the country is divided for administrative purposes, there are only 3 districts (2 in West Bengaf nd
1 in Kerala) in which the Muslims forin a majority, outside of Jammu and Kashmir. Almost half of the
Muslim population lives in the large states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West BengaL They are widely
dispersed. · ·
According to the 2001 census, Muslims constitute 24.7 percent qf Kerala, 25.2 percentof West Bengat
18.S percent of U.P., 16_.S percent o f Bihar and 12.2 ·percent ofKarnataka. In Assa.m, Muslims constituted
30.9 percent of its population. Elsewhere they represent less than 10 percent of the state population.
As per the 1991 census, M·uslims are concentrated in selected districts of these states, and as compared
with Hindus and Sikhs, they are disproportionately urban. ·For example, Muslims are only 8.9% of Andhra
Pradesh's population but they are concentrated in the Teleligana region of the state, with their largest
concentration in Hyderabad where they form 26.4 percent of the district.·· They are a majority in
Malapuram district in Kerala and they are numerous in Western portions o f .P., especially in Rampur,
Aligarh, Moradabad c:1.nd Bijnor districts. It is reported that 34 percent of.the Muslim population is urban
and they are well concentrated in Hyderabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi and Allahabad.
Many Muslims sought the creation o f Palqstan as a Muslim natiori to escape f orm the tyranny of Hindu
majority. Even after the partition o f British India on a religious basis, the Muslim population o f India
co11_stitutes the single most important, minority of. the country. Political ·leadership in India -; ner .
independence· sought to lessen the a xiety of the: Muslim minority by creating a se ular state. The
se_paratjon between religion and s.tate ¥Tas expected to r;ed,uce the Hindu-Muslim antagonism and leac:l to .
the development of greater political and national integration.
As a minority, Muslims are.less cohesive. The Muslim o f Kashmir have a strong Kashmir identity a·nd by
and la.rge speak Kashmiri rather th n Urdu. The Muslims living in :Hindi speaking region mo_stly- speak
Urdu. Bengali_ Muslims speakBengali .rather than Urd_u.
In post-independent India, Muslims have freely participated in the political process ofthe country. f:i1ey
h ve: used their votes_ as. leyerage for: pqliti aLb i-gai, g; .$ ekirtg a ornmo<lat_ion .fr om the .majqtily °
community. Sectarian. hostility betweer.i Hindus and Muslims persist-<,,· however, the . electoraL::and
institutional mechanisms that have been created to reduce group conflict have had only limited ·success.
Despite the fact that Muslims constitute the largest minority of the country, they ·form one of the
depressed segments of Indian society. Nevertheless, they have displayed greater assertiveness as weHas
group awareness in recent years. The orthodox and traditional· Muslim leaders have been_ joiqed by the
more educated _and younger members in seeking to mobilize the community in order both to preserve its
identity and to acquire a greater share o f the society's goods and services.
- .
153
SIKHS
A n overwhelming majority'of the followers of Sikhism came from the fold of Hinduism. Sikhs and tlindus
intermarried and celebrated each others' religious festivals. But the early part or" the 20 th century
witnessed the rise of numerous Sikh sectarian organizations that emphasized the distinct Sikh identity.
Claiming Punjabi as their religious language and looking upon the Punjab as their homeland, the Sikhs
have developed a very strong sub-national identity.
Sikh,s:constitute a majority of around 60% of Punjab. Of India's 13.1 million Sikhs, 2.8 million - more than
one- 'rifth - live in other parts o f India, mostly in Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. In 1982, the
Aka!J Dal, a moderate Sikh political party, launched a peaceful agitation in which they demanded certain
religfous concessions. They also wanted greater political autonomy for the Sikh majority state of Punjab
than had been granted by the Constitution of India. Soon, however, the militant Sikhs, led by a
fundamentalist preacher, Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, resorted to terrorism. The Sikh community felt
alienated and sought the establishment of an independent sovereign Sikh state called Khalistan. The
assassination of Indira Gandhi b y two Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984, resulted in widespread
Hindu retaliation against the Sikhs. In JtilJfil;'J,85, however, an ag eement was signed between Longowal
an<f he P.M. Rajiv Gandhi. The events of the tecent history have :c'i·eated an unprecedented gulf between ·
ff
the ind us and the Sikh , despite_ the close and cordial rela ions they had maintaine in the past.
CHRISTIANS
India's Christians are more numerous but less politically vocal than the Sikhs. The 2001 census reported
19 million Christians - 1.9 percent of the population. Christians are no doubt in a majority in the three
tiny states of Nagaland (90%}, Mizoram (87%) and Meghalaya (70.3%) and have substantial presence in
Kerala but weighted against the Hindus, they are miniscule. In Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, the
community constitutes less than one percent of the population. But since these states are small and
Christians lack cohesion of the Sikhs, neither plays the role that Punjab does for India's Sikhs. The
Christians, by and large, are converts ·from tribes and the Christians of the north-east are culturally
distinct from the Christians o f the South. The organized Christian church in Kerala is a well-knit and
soundly structured interest group, influential enough to have a say of its own in Kerala's politics and
elections.
The. constituent assembly debated the. propriety of imre·gulated onversions and ·there were charges o f
missionaries enticing tribals through allurements. In 1954, the Madhya Pradesh government set up a
committee under Justice B.S. Niyogi-to study Christian Missionary activity. The Niyogi report was harsh
in its fodictment of missionaries. It accused them o f promoting separatism and even creating a "state
within a state". By 1968, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh _and Arunachal Pradesh enacted legistlations to regulate.
conyfrsions. In 1979, Janata Party M P O.P. Tyagi tried to extend the legistlations nationwide. Although
this'failed, it was around this time that the RSS. decided to work systematically among the tri):>als and fight
the :Christian missionaries. In immediate pasf, India has witri s,s<rd ._a steady and systematic attempt on,
Chrfs,tians and their Missionari s. One of the ugliest expressiorts of such an attack is t e murder of
Graham Staines along with his children in Orissa.
JAINS AND BUDDHISTS
JaiIW; (4.2 millions) are so closely associated wi.th Hindus that they are not usually regarded by
the in selves or -by Hindus; as a religious minority. Also clos.ely associated with Hinduism are the
·. Bu h.ists (6.6 million}. ManyBtiddhists.however regard themselves are.different fr om Hindus.
Miri()rity Status for Hindus
Professor Tahir Mehmood, cllairman o f the National Commission For Minorities, that Hindus in Jammu
and -Kashmir, Manipur; Mizoram, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Punjab be granted
minority status, seems plausible l n principle but is unfortunate in i consequences Th!s move envisaged
assumes that. minority status is a statistical phenomenon. Also, many people think o f this constitutional
154
provision in terms of some privilege.&;ato'rl ;, H i s high time we realize that minority rights are meant to
facilitate dynamic and healthy relationships between religious and linguistic minorities and the national
to
mainstream. It is enable· their creatiye participation in the mainstream. It is not a security measure,
though it may result in better security. · Minority status is not a privilege. The problem with minority
status is that it is a concept of fear and security. It cannot but breed negativity ·and fear in those who are
ironically, sought to be protected under its umbrella. That is why all minorities come, sooner or later, to.
suffer from "minority complex".
Granting minority status to Hindus in some parts of our country will have the effect of further
fragmenting the Hindu fold. Unlike the Christian and Muslim communities, the Hindus are not a
homogeneous lot They are, on the contrary, a conglomerate of sects and groups reflecting the
resplendent variety and exuberance of traditions. The temptat on of claiming minority privileges could
make them split apart and become mutually competing. This could devastate the precarious unity that
today exists in this context. Rather than turn the nation into a crowd of minorities, the- need of the hour is
to foster a sense of unity and responsibility vis-a-vis the task of nation building.
PROVISIONS FOR THE PROTECTJdN OF MINORITIES UNDER THE IND/AN

CONSTITUTION:
Th Ct>nstittiti n: is replete with provisions for the welfare of the minorities. Specific articles in this
context are the following.
Article 15 - Prohibition o f Discrimination on Grounds o f Religion, Race, Caste, Sex or Place ·of
Birth:
1; The state shall not discrimimite ag?i.11St,my fitiz:e.non gro1:1I1ds only of r,eHgion,
..... ,.,a_. · · · race, caste,sex, place
·· · · · · · ·
oTorrth'cfr·anfo:nn' ;
2. No citizen shall, on grounds only o f religion,race, caste sex, place of birth or any of them, be subject to.
any disability, liability, restriction or condition wit_h regard to
. .
a. Access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and place of public entertainment; or
b. The use of wells, tanks, bathing gh ts, r()a s ahd places _of public resort maintained wholly· o_r
partly out of State funds or dedicated to the use of general public;
3. Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for women and
children; -
4. Nothip.g in this article or in clause {2) o f Article 29 shall prevent the State• from making any spec-ial
provision for the advancement of cnr· 1 111u arid educationally backward classes of1dtizens (?r for
c::1
···
the scheduled castes.and schedi.ll d
Article 16 - Equality ofOpportunity in Matters of Public Employmen \ ·
1. There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in ·matters relating_to employment or
appointment to any office under the state;
2. N'o citizen shall; on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex descent _plate ofhirth,residence,or•1any
oqh, m, .be ineligible for,·· or disc!iminated. against· in respect .of:a ny.employment· or office under he
·
State;
3. Nothing in this Article shall prevent Parliame.nt from making any law prescribing in regard to a class
or classes of employment or appointment to ari office under the Government o f or any local or other
authority within a State or Union territory, any requirement
· as to residence within theState or Union
territory prior to such empfoyment or appointment;
155
4. Nothing in this Article shall prevent" the State from making any provision for the reservation of
ap ointments or posts in favor of any backward class of citizens which in the opinion of the State is
not adequately represented in the services under thecState;
5. Nothing in this Article shall affect the operation of any law which provides that the incumbent of an
office in connection with the affairs of any religious or denominational institution or any member of
the governing body thereof shall be a person professing a particular religion or belonging to a
particular denomination .
w '
• t ·:·¾
. r
A1 t de 25 - Freedom of Conscience and Free Profession, Practice and Propagation of Religion:

.:
1,<t.'Subject to public order, morality and health, all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience
_and the right freely to profess, practice and propagate religion;
2. N_othing in this article shall affect the operation of any existing law or prevent the State form making
any law;-
·,,a.
, · Regulat_ing or restricting any econqmk, financial, political :pr other secular activity which may be
' ·
associated with rel_igious practice;
Providing,for social welfare and reform ,or the throwing open of Hindu religious institutions of a
public character to all classes and sections of Hindus.
Explariadon 1 - The wearing and carrying of kirparis shall be deemed to be included in the profession of
the Sikh religion
Explanation 2 - In sub-clause (b) of Cl use (2), the reference to Hindus shall be construed as including a
reference to persons professing the Sikh, Jain, or Buddhist religion, and the reference to Hindu religi.ous
institutions shall be construed accordingly.
Article 26 - F r e e d o m fo Manage Religious Affairs
Subject to public order, morality and health, every re. ligious. denomination or any s. 10n thereof shall
- · ·
have the right:
A. To establish :md maintain institutions for religious and charitable pur oses;
B. To manage its own affairs in matters of religion;
C. To own and acquire movable and immovable property; and
D. To administer such· property in acc<;>rdance with law.
. . I
2 7 - Freedom .as to Payment of'taxes for Promotion ofany farticular Religion
; \ ff .' ,.... .·. . ,
NoV::oeirsc,n shall -be compelled to pay any truc s, the proceeds of which are specifically appropriated in
payment of expenses for the promotion or maintenance of any particular. religion or religious
denomination.
28 - Freedom as to Attendance at Religious Instruction or Religious Worship in c;rtain
n.1,L4...,i1
1mucat1iom11 Institutions
religioti·s instructions shaffbe provided' in" ahy- dticational institutions who1ly maintained.tut of
funds
2. Nothing in clause (1} shall apply.to an educational institution which is administered by the State but
has been established under any endowment or trust which requires·that · religious -instruction shall be
imparte(j in such institµtions ·
3. No person attending any educatipnaUµ Jitution, recognized by the State or receiving aid out of State
funds shall be recognized by the State o ; receiving aid mh of State funs shall be required to take. part
in any religious instruction that may be imparted in such institution or any premises attached thereto
unless such person or, if such person is a minor, his guardian has given his consent thereto.
Article 29 - Protection of Interests of Minorities
1. Any section of the citizens residing in the territory qf India or nay part thereof having a distinct
. language, script or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the same;
2. ' No citizen shall be denied admission into any educational institution maintained by the State or
;, receiving aid out of State funds on grounds only of religion, race, caste, language or any of them.
Article 30 Right of Minorities to Establish and Administer Educational Institutions
1. All minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and administer
ed'ucational institutions of their choice;
tlie
.;, ';;J"
2. In. making any law providing far ompulsory acquisition of a.ny property of an educational
institutionestablished and administered by a minority, referred to in clause (1), the State shall ensure
: ;that the amount fixed by or detercm.ined imder such law for the acquisition· of. such as wou!d·:r:wt
restrict or abrogate the right guaranteed under that clause
iI
'··_:_-.-.··
3. The State shalJ-not, in granting aid to educational institutions, discriminate against any educational
I institution on the ground that it is under the management of a minority, whether based on religion or
!IJ··-
I
language.
Article 347 - Special _Provision Relating to Language Spoken by a-Section of the Population of a
State
On a demand being made in thatbehc,1lf the Presidentmay; i f he is satisfied that a substantial proportion
o f the population of State desire the use of any language sp_o_ken by them to be recognized by that State,
direct that such language shall also be officially recognized throughout that State or any part thereof for
such purpose as he may specify.
Article 50 - Language to be Used in.Representations for Red.ress of Grievances
Every person shall be entitled to-submit a representation for the redress of any grievance to any officer or
authority of the Union or a State in any of the language used in the Union or in the ·state, as the case may
be.
Article 350 A - Facilities for Instruction in. Mother Tongue at Primary Stage
, I .
. .-·); ·'-,---t}:f \lt . -· .·
It shall be the endeavor of every State and of every local authority within the State to pr9,vide adequate
fadlities for instructio in the mother-tongue a t the primary stage of education_ to children belonging:_ t o
linguistic minority groups; and the President may _issue ·such directions to any State .as he. considers
necessary or proper for securing the provision of such facilities.
Ai:ticle 350 B - Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities
-. .
1. . There shall be a Special Officer for linguistic minoritfes to be appointed by the President;
2?-:,-.Jt shau be the duty o n h e special officer to 1nves igate an attetsrelatirig to the safeguard.s provided
for linguistic minorities under this Constitution and report. to the President upon those matters at
such intervals as the President may direct, a d the President shall cause all such reports to b e laid
before each House of Parliament, and sent to the Governments of States concerned.
These provisions in the Constitution of India constitute "rnagna carta" or "charter of-rights" for. the
religious and linguistic minorities. They a ,e}ntended for the well being and all round development of the
157-
minority communities. The government at Che center, state and local levels are to comply with them in
·letter and spir:+. Any law made by them in contravention ofthese provisions can be challenged in the
cottrse of law and declared ultravires o f the constitution. The aggrieved minority individuals and
organizations have approached the Supreme Court and various High Courts whenever any act against
their interest has been passed b y the legislatures and the judiciary has undone injustice done to them.
The government has. also constituted Minorities Commission who inter-alia ensures that the
Constitutional provisions and the laws made b y the governments for the welfare of the minority re
properly implemented. The government takes necessary action on the findings o f the Minorities
Commission.
MtNbRITIES COMMISSION
The Minorities Commission was set up by the Government of India Resolution in 1978. The Resolution
provides that the Commission shall consist o f a Chairman and two other Members. However,
subs,e'.quently its strertgth was increased from three to five. The Commission now consists of the
ChaiFman and four other Members. The iRe%1ution also provides that the Officer appointed as Special
Officer 1n terms· of Article .350-8 o f the Constitution will functfolas' the Secretary o f the Commission b:ut
ha ··;nifh
rt·-:·-··,:·en •.:giv n effect to. as,the proposed Co'i-1stitutional amendment to confer. statutory
:' _.__·._·.· _. .,.·.·._ ._. ·> -. . _.·- .' . . _-'·:·. ·... ·_:, _: -- . _·. . . . "• . . :· .
status.• on tbe
. ,·:-
.
c;otrimissfori and.to merge tlie duties o f the Spedal'Officer _.for Linguistic Minorities in India with those o f
the Commission, under a Constitutional provision, have riot yet materialized. Consequently, the
Co mission h s been looking into specific grievances of the linguistic minorities apart from the
provisions of Article 350 B o f the Constitution.
Functions o f the Commission
The Commission was established out of concern for secular traditions and to promote national
integration. Effective enforcement and implementation o f safeguards provided for religious and linguistic
miµorities .in. the Constitutions, in the Central and State laws and in Governmental polides and
adm,}n.istrative schemes, emmci ted from time ·to time.were intended so that feelings o f inequality and
discrimination prevalent amongst minorities, whether based on religion o r language, are removed. The
carry out these objectives, the Commission: was entrusted with the following functfons:
1. To .evaluate the wo,rking o f the various safeguards provided in .the Constitµ.tio for the protection o f
minorities and in laws passed b y the Union and State Governments;
2. To make recommendations with a view to ensuing effective implementation and enforc.ement o f all
the safeguards and the laws;
,.
3. ,T_p, undertake. a review o f the impkmentation of the policies
· pursued b y the Union and State
Government with respect to minorities;· . 1 ·
4. T o lo.ok into specific complaints regarding deprivation of rights a d safeguards o f minoritie ;

5. · T o cqnduct studies, research and analyses o n the question o f avoidance o f discrimination· against
· minorities;
6. :1r,9 suggest appropriate legal and welfare measures in respect of any minorities to b e undertaken b y
\t.l;ie Central orthe State Governments;
',:,-·:·:
7. To'Serve as a national clearing·houseJor information in respectoft e conditions of minorities; and ' ·
8. .T o make periodical reports a t prescribed interval to the Government
COMMISSIONER FOR l/NGU/STICMINORITIES

APticle 350 B of the Constitution provided for the office of the Special Officer for Linguistic Minoritiestin
pursuance of the recommendations of States Reorganization Commission. Accordingly, it was created in
July 1957. The office of the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities (CLM) investigates all matters relating
to safeguards provided for li_nguistic minorities under the Constitution as also those agreed to at the
national level. It also-looks into the representations and complaints received from various institutions,
bod_i s, and individuals belonging to linguistic minorities for redressing their grievances. It submits its
report annually to the Government
A t present the CLM consists of its Headquarters in Allahabad and the three Regional Offices at Kolkata,
Chennai and Belgaum. The post of the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities has not been filled up
regularly. The Deputy Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities is the overall administrative in charge.
The Deputy Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities also acts as the Deputy Secretary of the Minorities
Commission. He is not responsible for. his work in the former capacity to-the Minorities Commission and
reports directly to the President. ,Th_iS·R?fit,ion is very anomalo.us and needs to be rectified either/by_
filling up the post of Commissipner or by transferring his fun-ctions to the M norities Commission. This
will make the Commission wholly responsible for the interests of both religious and linguistic minor ties
inJlli4Ii.-
r
Thts amalgamation would also ens·ure economy and efficiency o f their operations and.enable
i i vestigations simultaneously.
STATUS OF-MINORITIES COMlVIISSi()N AND °THE NEEDTO STREAMLINE ITS OPERATIONS
The Minorities Commission suffers from certain weaknesses and shortcomings in· its organization and
administrative setup and therefore is unable to discharge its functions to achieve its laudable _objectiv_e in
an effici,ent and effectiv manner.
1. The Comrnission has not been granted constitutional status so far. The constitutional (forty sixth)
Amendment Bill, 1978 was introduced in the Parliament to his effect but had failed to be carried
through. Since then, no fresh constitutional amendment bill has been introduced on this subject
Lack of constitutional status to the Co_mmission has hampered its working.
2. The Commission does not enjoy any statutory investigative powers. The government is under the
impression that not only would all government agehdes reasonably and ·effectively will voluntarily
give information whenever the comrriission· requires. But it. has not happened. The commission
therefore needs to be equipped with adequate powers of enquiry under the Commission of Enquiry
Act, 1952.
3. The· post of commissioner o f linguistic minorities should be filled up or .his poy,, rs transferfed
· constitutionally to the Minorities C µim!ssion for removfog the existing anomaly and fulfilling the
obligations of the two institutiohs:' · · ··; ;
4. Some state governments have appointed state minority cominissions to· 1ook fato the
problems of
religious and linguistic minorities in their respective jurisdiction_. It is desirable that every state
should have similar institutions_. Arrangem.ents for coordination between the central and state
commissions are imperative in this context.
s.
1
Ttie
references made by the state anct -central commissions are not attended to. promptly anct the
.;t po_rts received from thern-are f ound to be routine:,· perfunctory and sketchy. Some cases remain
-. pending for years together.
159
15 POINT PROGRAM ON MINORITY WELFARE

The 15-Point Program on Minority Welfare was formulated by Late Prime Minister Mrs. Gandhi,
consequent to the deliberations held by National Integration Council. It is intended to ensure fuller
participation of the minorities in all aspects of national life. These points are list here.
Communal Harmony
1. state governments are advised that in the areas which have been identified as communally
sensitive and riot prone, district and police officials of the highest known efficiency, impartiality and
secular record must be posted. In such areas and even elsewhere, the prevention of communal
tension should be one of the primary duties of DM and SP. Their performances in this regard should
be an important factor in determining their promotion prospects.
2. Good work done in this regard by district and police officials should be rewarded.
3. .Severe action should be taken against all those who incite communal tensions or take part in violence.
4. >Special court or courts specifically ea'tmarked to try communal offences should be set up so that
offenders are brought to book' speedily. ;, '
s;.JJiktims<of communal-r-iots,,should
o
be given immediate re1ief and provided prompt and adequ te
financial assistance- f r their rehabilitation.
6. · Radio and TV must also help in restoring confidence, communal harmony and peace in such affected
areas.
7. It is unfort1.mate that certain sections of the press sometimes indulge in tendentious reporting and
publication of objectionable and inflammatory material which may incite communal tension. It is
hoped that editors, printers, publishers and other concerned will cooperate in finding a way to avoid
publication of such material.
Recruitment to State and Central Services
8. In the recruitment of police personnel, state governments should be advis_ed to give special
onsideration to minorities. For this- purpose, the composition of selection committees should be
. representative.
9. The c ntral government should take similar action in the recruitment of personnel to the central
. police fC>rces.
10. Large scale employment opportunities are provided by the railways, nationalized banks and public
·,sector enterprises. In these cases also the concerned _departments should ensure .that special
,consideration is given to recruitment from minority communities.
. I
11. many areas recruitment is done tht'bugh competitive examinations. Often minority groups have
handicapped -in taking advantage of the educational syJt ein· to compete on equal erms in such
· examinations To help them overcome these handicaps, steps should be taken to encourage the
·starting of coaching· classes in minority educational institutions to train persons to compete
successfully in these examinations.
1z;;i:fhe acquisition o f technical skills b y those minorities who are today lagging behind would also helpin
,=11: tional development Arqmgements .should be made to setup ITis and PoJ_ytechnics by government
;,;,fr
,private. sector. agencies ;irt <predomimmtly, minority areas, t o enccruhge adniission i n such
.)tristitu. t.ions of adequate number o f persons belonging to these communities.
)
Other Measures
13. In various development programs, i_ncluding the 20 point program, care should be taken to see that
minorities secure a fair and adequate measure, the benefits flowing there from. In the various
committees hich are setup to oversee the implementation of such· programs, members of those
160
communities should be actively iQvob.1.et

14. Apart.from the general issues to which reference has been made, there are various local problems
which develop into needless irritants to minorities. For instance, encroachment of Wakf properties
and on grave yards has led to protests and grievances in some places. Suitable steps should be taken
to deal with such problems on an expeditious and satisfactory basis.
15. Problems relating to minorities need to be attended to on a continuing basis of that apprehensions
are allayed and ge·nuine grievances redressed. To facilitate this, a special cell will be created in _the
Ministry of Home to deal with matters relating to minorities.
Implementing Machinery
The progress of the implementation of the program is monitored by the Minorities Cell in the Ministry of
Welfare headed by an Additional Secretary. This cell obtains quarterly reports on progress of the
implementation of all programs from state governments, union territories and central ministries and
departments. The quarterly reports are analyzed and reviewed and the deficiency noticed in -the
implementation of the program are hro.qghJ·. · to the notice of the authorities concerned through meetings,
discussions and field visits etc.·
IJ,1 \COncerned. central ministries, departments-and-state.governments ,have .nominated ·nodaloffi.ce'ri:S,to
coordinate the implementation of the activities connected with the program. All state and union
territories, .with very few exceptions, have also set up Minorities Cells to oversee implementation of the
program. A few state governments have also setup research units to take up random sample surveys to
assess the benefits of development program reaching the minorities. Many states have also established
State Minorities Financial Corporations to help promote economic development amongst them.
NA TiONAL MINORITIES DEVELOPMENT AND FINANCE CORPORA T/ON

The. Government has set up a National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation with an
authorised share capital of Rs.500 crore. The Corporation would provide economic and developmental
activities for the benefit o f backward sections among the minorities, preference being given to
occupational groups and women among minoriti s. The Government of India ,has raised the level of its
cont.ribution from Rs. 125 crore to Rs.3O0 crore subject to pro-rata contribution from the State
governments/UT Administrations towards the share capital of the Corpo_ration. Under State Channelising
Agency program by 31 August 2004, -NMDFC has given financial assistance to 1,45,443_ beneficiaries
spread over 24 States ancl 3 Union Territories with an amount of Rs.-551.05 crore. NGO program is being
implementeq by NMDFC since 1998-99. Till 31 Augusf2004,a total disbursement to the tune of Rs.15.20
crore has been made under the micro financing scheme for 65,329 beneficiaries.
WAKFS ' . .
\IX kfs are a permanent dedication of movabl or immovable"properties for purposes recognised by.the
i
M t slim Law as religious, pious or charitable. Apart from religious aspect, the Wakfs are also instruments
o f social and· economic upliftment ·Better management of these institutions and: fuller realisation o f their
objectives contribute to development and progress of the society. These relate to legislation to·strengtheri
the effectiveness of the Wakf law ensuring early completion of survey of Wakf properties by the State
Governments. ->
Tfi::E
;·, ···
WAKFACT, 1995
'
. . · .- -
Actministration of Central Legislation for Wakfs is the responsibility of the Ministry of Social justice\1nd
Empowerment In order_ to further strength n the administration ofWakfs, a fresh piece o f legislation was
passed by Parliament and enacted during 1995. This. is known as the Wakf Act, 1995. With its
enforcement in the country from 1 January 1995 the earlier Central Laws on Wakf, namely, the Wakf Act,
1954 and the Wakf (Amendment} Act, 1984, stand repealed. The new Wakf Act, 1995 extends to the
whole o f the country except the State of Janmm and Kashmir. It envisages a decentralised set-up and also
, , 1
16i
provides for democratisation of the Wak Boards. While Mutawali (Manager) of each individual Wakf
retains· his autonomy in the di <:harge o f his responsibilities, g· rreral superintendence of all Wakfs in a
state vests in the Wakf Board, set up by each State Government which has to ensure that the Wakfs are
properly maintained and administered and that their income is duly appointed to objectives for which
such Wakfs were created. Overall supervision of the Wakf Boards vests in the concerned State
government, which apart· from appointing members of the Board and its Chief Executive Officer
(Secretary), also receives. the annual budget o f the Board and appoints auditors for auditing its accounts.
It also· has powers to issue ·directions to- the· Board and, in certain cases, supersede it. The Central
gove.rninent has powers to coordinate the functions of the Central Wakf Council and the State Wakf
Boa ds in so far as these relate to secular activities of the Wakfs. The Central Government. is advised 011
matters relating to administration of Wakf and working of Wakf Boards in the country by a statutory
body known as Central Wakf Council which is headed by the Union Minister in charge of the subject of
Wakf. It was constituted on 26 Jun·e 1997 and again on _1st May 2003 with 19 members under the
provision of the Wakf Act, 1995. The Ministry o f Social Justice and Empowerment released a grant- in-aid
o f R,s 158 lakh during the financial year 2003-04 to the Central Wakf Council for the development of the
Ur a:n Wal<f Properties under Non-}?lan.Fp.,r the year 2004-05, the budget estimate for this scheme-is also
Rs)'70 lakh. The Central Wakf COUf!C:H further advances the load t9 the W a k f Properties as. recommended
byJl.ie.State Wakf Boards. The Centrai Wakf Council also runs some Educational Schemes like scholarship
to\jib6r::students; Tech,nicalf, Ptofe-ssionaf Diploma Courses, grantfor tT.Is and.financial ·assistance for
Vocational Training .Centres and-others.
DURGAH KUWAJA SAHEB
The internationally famous Wakf, namely, Durgah of Hazarat Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti at Ajmer is
governed by the Durgah Khwaja Saheb Act, 1955. This endowment is managed by a Centrally appointed
committee known as Durga Committee which·is assisted by an officer known as Nazim. The Committee
has its own funds and, among other.things,Jooks after the welfare o f devotees visiting the Durgah. It runs
two dispensarie and has constructed a multi-storied guesthouse complex to provide accommodation at
economical rates to pilgrims. Up to October 2001 an amount of Rs 10.07 crore was .received b y way of
donations, contributions a d rent from Durgah Guest House. The Durgah Co mittee approvect··,(budget
o f Rs 2.02 crore towards expend(tu e on U:pkeep and maintenance o f Durgah Sha if during 2001-02.
MAULANA AZAD EDUCATION FOUNDATION
Maulana Azad Education Foundation has been set up as a society with the objective of promoting
education amongst the educationally backward se·ctions of the sotlety minorities in particular and others
in gen·eraL The Gov rnment is giving grants-in-aid to the· Founda_tion for. building up a 'Corpus Fund' for
finag i g its different activities.-Presently,the Foundatio. h a corpus fund of Rs 70.0lcrore. Since its
inception, the Foundation has sanctioned grant- in-aid amounting to Rs 68.99 crore to 520 NGOs/Lotal
Bodi¢s all over
f
the country. During the ye. r 2003-04, the Foundation has sanctioned grant-in-aid of Rs
3,8(90,00f for 46 NGOs/Local Bodies. . . ",, .··. . , .
· - 0: •
5.3 Indigenous and Exogenous ,.Processes of Social Change in India

"To €hange" is the norm o f the universe and as a corollary the caste system is not ' n exception. Thus,
cas t e system is a phenomenon under change and this change is. r:ri. _nifested b y J h e t ha t occurs
.moPiJi_ty_
within i t This mobiiity takes different forms and the extent o f mobility var.ies from tim_e to time. .
Mobility in sociological parlance refers to the movemeni t of individu.aLor . oLa-se.ctian. o f a caste or .t h
caste-as·a'wliole afong the hierarchical ranking. Mobff i:y can b e classified into upward and downward
rifobility. Upward mobility is the type o f mobility tha t involves an improvement in the cas t e s t atus o f a
group. Downward mobility is t he kind o f mobility t ha t involves a decline in t h e caste s t atus o f a group.
Mobility can also be classified into inter-cas t e mobili t y and intra-caste mobility: Inter-caste mobility
involves the movement b y caste or a section o f caste from it s1 , resent caste posfdon to the position of
another cas t e. W h e n mobility. involves movement a sub-cas t e or
·· · section
· "-·- · · o f it- to· ·another
.... sub-caste, . then
it is called intra-caste mobility. ,...... ·
The system o f ranking in cas t e hierarchy is multi-dimensional. Ca te 5.nt rr.i)s a. religi<;rnsly ordained
system bas:ed: n the.idea ty ari :p0Jlut o.r14fhus, one aspecf o f !f•1:.t !fJ!YJ$.tli:e'. rituaL:dlme.niion .
whereby differen!.:f. - 1?!. . . d <in the rankln.{£ orcteronw..fli basis-of-!}leir [ _@tJV!! 1:mrity.PqiQ,U!ttto.n-
.
Aifother dimension o f caste . hierarchjns··the'<lfstribution
·: ··· J# ,;ts, . . . • : . .
,•of w ealth espedaliy the ownership.of Jat1d.
. . " • : . . . ··:·,,;,.,. .... :, .
Among the non-land owning castes, the nature o f the occupa t ion associated with the caste· has a bearing
. . . • . • . ; . .'
· on caste s t atus. Next, access to political power constitutes one mqre ·dimension o f the ranking o f caste in
the hierarchy. Q f fate, one more dimension has come to be associated with cas.te_hierarchy - access to
modern education and modern occupation. When all these dimensions overlap Andre Bettiele has
described the situation as a case o f cumulative inequali .?nd on the other hand, if these dimensions_exis t
separately, it is called as d_ispersed .equality : .
N o w for caste to acqui're mobility, it is essential that it mus t change its position along one or more o f these
dimensions. Normally a group improves its position along econ.omic o r political dimensions i.e., either
acquires ·wealth or political power· and then tries to consolidate a higher position for itself in the
hierarchy b y trying to change its ritu l status.
Mobility in the caste system is explained b y the concepts of Sanskritization and Westernization.
SANSKRIT/ZA TION
T e!!ll 1!7kri izatfoI1' Js min 9 !?i,,!v'l ..N- Srinivas t o describe th process o f cultural mobility fa.the.
traditional social structure o f India. According to Srinivas, Sanskritization is;the process·by-whichg "low'.'
Hindu caste o r tribal o r other group changes its customs, d t uals, ideology and w a y o f life to t h a t o f a high_
aiH:l1n particular a "twice-born" (Dwija) caste.
In· Sanskritization it is often the twice·"hol'q?castes which a e localiy doininant that provid the model o.r
reference groups for emulation _to the others. The loW' r caste or the tril: JJE aitn '!tf 21 .f9]llf,!.J.1.g
the status o f the d o m i n a n t caste. M.N. Srinivas called this processasSanskritizatio'n
.farge because Sanskritic
Hino.li m governstlie"·cuffiireand life style o f the twice-born c ste to exte t.· However, l§ _Jl.,Qtr.-
necessary that the lower caste should emulate only the religiousaspects o f the uppe.r ca_st .,....M.P..n::,gft_eJ1-
the sec Iar··asp.ects.
ltke the-·corlspYcucius·sryreof corr umptioli"and1fving orth up·p;r·cast;; -b··· as
c wing, wearing o f ?.ld' rii,f¥ fi : a_p.(j, o.tb, i:far_1_11s or dres -r ¥t £ e,1 @.a2§ •. ,
Ir.iJfally, instead o f the term Sansl{ritization, M.N. Srinivas.usedJheter_m:'Hrahminization'' to describeth,is
pr?cess f social obility. In h s study o f the : in. or.4. ri o
. . . . · · . ,., .. , ;,:. e found tha the low<: t s,
raise their status m the.caste hierarchy, adopted·some cu ms o f the Brahmms 2E.fl..ga'l.e.np...some .0Lthe1r
own. For instance, the).' gave, .iip non-vegetariaJ!_f oQ(L,£[email protected] ·Of liquor and. animal sacrifices to,their
deities-:·Tfiey o i it i te,f th e- Brafiiiifn.s"fn matt ers ' o f dress, food a· d ritu.iii{'By aoini·so,wiihhi. i generation
f
cff-·two, they claimed higher position"sT;-ffi.eliiera e Later on, he replaced the term
Brahminization with Sanskritization w h e n he discovered that the process which motivated the· 1ower
163
castes to imitate the customs o f the Brahmins in Mysore was the specific case o f a general tendency
among the lower castes to imitate the c•{ltural ways "of hightfr castes; in m a n y cases these higher castes
were non-Brahm ins like Kshatriyas and Vaishyas in various parts o f the country.
T h e twice-born caste, which acts as a model for emulation, also varies from time to time. According to
Srinivas, during the firs t 30 years o f 20th cen t ury the census reports shovved that - t<:1:triyas happt!11eq JQ
9_e t h e popular modenor··em @y\loilawea-hyJfrah.ri!} . - - :_y_ fitiias·. fh-e study o f __f\· , a_r1c1 R.& :
Scnfol'rreve-aJflliafTorrn."erly in Gujarat b_qth_ Collies and Patidars used to emula t e the Rajput style. B u t
-with" cnarigirig social situation-·an:ct° values, t h ey n o w ide-ntify _more. ith t h e Vaishya model; the m·a{
re·a-son_ bei_n_g the success· o f v ishyas in acquiring weal t h through-busi_ '.e.§i s .
•........
, - ····- ... ....... .... .. ····-···-··---;--- . -····· ....... --·-·····,._ .. ........ -·--·
-· --··-: ._, . . . ·---·· - .... · - - . . . , , , --·•·.··,,····-- ., ,
Attempts at Sanskritization have been made by the numerous Harijan jatis also. The Chamar leather
workers in nor t he rn lndiahave given up working in some activities like etrieving dead the.ir "anfrnafs"for·
jaJmans: Tfi dvteenas 0of Barisw a ra d1strkt, who-were ··u- tif° tiy- l -s-sified, Bhiirtribe. have 1n-a big as
way.taken ·to--the icfo.ption· or"Rajput ·n;m- s eiements ofRaJp_ut Hfe sfrl.e . .
·•
.·
. .- .....
.· ·
··
-·
·
--
·,._
,;,.
•..;-- ..·
•
t
"
·
_
-
.
"·
'.
,
"'
and-c>the ·--···_
-_
, .................... . -
-.; .
_ • . .
. .- ,.
No_rmally t he adoption o f Sanskritic lif . style i.e., Sanskritization, whkh_haue.e..n.._termeq as :fil!,te

emula t io n" b y O.M.Lynch, is pre c eded by certain preconditions in the lower cas t e. These in c lu de a • NY.!'-'/,:.,C.·-;.'i'.,_·•- .. ...,...,.1.• ...... .:.......,,-_.,__. •·•
--....,, ' . . ,
m1,mmum o f economic and political power a n a a fro t -t o o inferior a ritual s t a t u s. Sanskr ti tion h a _l?,
r., •.
. . ...,,..., . • ;:,; '5i - _: rrl'
siI9te.s ulln c'ase- 0TmTcfi1Terung cas t es,· espectallyfftfie gap 6etween tlieprese·n t sta.tus _and_ i,r Q. the-asp
sfatus is· not too large O n t h e o t h er hand, in case o f c a s f e sw l'fose ''p lac e·T s very ·1ow ui·:t:he'hie·r-ard-iy' like .
Hanjans·;santlcritftation has n o t bee'ri helpful. Only in rare cases could Harijans i"mprove t he status b y
Sanskri t iz ing themselves. This rare success was disclosed when William R o w e discovered hov.r a Sudra
ca te _caHe_d No iy s o f - na LYillage, i,P. 4-. C> :e· nofoITix I Q!l9iiil JJib. f Wa d : - l Q-
ffle"gaps6etween th eir social s"'" t a tu_s _and t he aspired status was very large, c a m e o u t with flying col µ,r _in
1
acqu1rinlfthe1ra:spfred:·sta§'s' c>f ;-Ksli !Ji J ji:E:-1;: ]I:L1!.Q.19.!!gff:J R n g · it ! -!_s.. Eifi - - - , ve:·

a ()P ...... e·e.1ofci isn1,]iaorJleft. t _ e_ C!t!d v"tht!!a4 a!}d .!5ept _th ei __br!q s)n _ es!.u i_p_n, all indications Of
Sanskritization. Similarly Pocock has described t h e successful-· advancement . . --··· in caste rung o f Kanvis, -
traditional peasant-caste· ofCiifaraffo·'ffie-·stat· ;- ·r Patidars - . ... .....•• _., ··,
•··· · · - - · · · · · - · - ......- .-,·r--..... , ,.-.,-,. ......._. _. _, . .
Although Sanskritization was t h e principle idiom o f social mobility ""

t ill the recent decades, it is, at itsl:>est,
r
a v e r y s l o e t h od for a c as t e tor{iise •ts s tus.:· 'ormally"'ff stre fcfi'e s o v e r ·2 fo'3• gerierati-t ris. this" w a s
b e c a u s e M t M prev fenceof llfgli""cieg"i ·ee··ofco·n;ervati e "iclea o :,«t1fe":e'co omy w a s :relatively statff frfcf
f
n
pop7tlad- -mov'ement;·- re-:ffmir t:e . 'thff"iiiade-1t ··an culf f r
i
to-q uicki ·acquir ;conomrc- . . lower'"c"iste· y
an'c po lffical:poWer:"ot;·Ji'a vm j o n c q u ireci tt,-·fo shed-·Jt traditioria i marks oHnferi rttt;_ ·····
· • - _ ... _ _ , _ _ r , , • •· · .'·-·· . !,-:1•.d . ,. • 1
· •
. ;,:,,-:· ··•· · ..... · · -
• ..- \ • ., --,_ _ _ ....,.., , , r . f ; - ... ,,
However, it was during the Bri t ish rule when t h e process of Sanskri t izatio n gathered momen t um w h e n
the backward c lasses, including t he Harijan·s, were released from t h e grip o f many o f t h e obs t a d s
hiri'derihg this process These include improvements i n transport and cohi.munications, greater mobility
i_ ;- a_di l c - .g i -SQre _Qf !!tE:r o/_c1 - i- - !.:1.o g t
-? w -
t
--
: E g -f- e_Y:
a -: : - J _gon,:gf c, ul
_ -1 !$ L prp ef es e t!t n_evy rts g! 1 -E ;2_t . e ogms t h : n g h t s q f
thf,!. UP.per ca:ste's'"lcftne exclusive use o f particular symbols ofsl?itus. Added t o tfus, t he detenmal census
prbviaeatfieni''\vTthopportunit:ies tci'";ep c ''their"traditionariiaiiie's Wi t h n e w a n d high-;ounding ones.
Cas t e associations w e n formed throughout t he country and th s.g_J1o t only p u t forward th .5 {!?: J9
higher social s t atus, b ut also urged t heir members · to ·-abandon
· , m a n y o f t h e .Pr tices - <::c::> s!. r L
- ·•
.
··
g 4 m g _by_ t h e .!!Im .r __cast.e.

0 - • - -- • ··
:;
Th6ti.gh the new courts es t ab lis h e d b y the:British introduced t he principle o f equality before law, a n d b y
da :soren1oved one set"t:>frnstric t io ns againstchange i n t h e ·s.ocial life o f Harijans, however they did. n.o t
automa t ically enable Harijans to exercise their civil rights. Various kinds o f sanctions were applied t o
keep them in the inferior position, large sectiori o f t h e m were and still are economically dependent o n the
upper castes, whom they dared not t o offend b y pressing for their legal claims t o equality. A Harijan
t 3 n t Q.L g.r.L l!! t U Q.QM.L X. h-2.Y -q r._e _ ?.-1! , e,Y -. c!.•t qy J __2_f_hi. -. ,! E-. - -? - J: E. r m.2 J. ·
occasio s__!!_l_ y find himself deprived o f his sou.re _ C>(liy lihood. .
. · . /
..._..,.-, .. __.._,...,... · - - ... - , . .,,.,._..._,,, ........- -..--.-. ··-- , --··· ·····- · ···· . . . . . . . . ,--,, . . . , . _.• v_: --.:t····--- .. --..., ,
164 t__.·
Apart from moral and economic pres u,1te ) physical violence is another threat. It is a very effective
dete_ t-ent, particularly in a village. It .i.?... ot_ 1:1n n·o !1.t?.Y I1-now. fo r .Hc1rij"'ns to be beaten by. caste Hindus
forattempting"fo exercise 'thefr civil rights. . - ··:
Where attempts at Sanskritization fail, the consequence often is a feeling o f deep resentment among the
Harijans and Adivasis against the upper caste, especially among the younger generations of Harijans, who
tiave been exposed to the idea of secularism and derri9cracy. In some places s cial movements o f a fairly
organised nature have nourished it. In Tamil Nadu, a "Self Respect Movement" challenged the traditional
social: and ritual order and sought to emancipate the· lower castes from the domination o f Brahmins:-It
P'! y d_ a_n impoftant role in the creation of'a new climate among the backward classes/i 'ci7idtnt the
Harijans.
Though the process o f Sanskritization has led to hostile relations which were even violent between a low
rung and the other castes, at the instance where Sanskritization succeeded, it has led to the integration of
s&Tiisan,r1:fiewaiofl1le:. · ·· . ·· · ·
·---'" ·· · ··
backward classes with the forward c.a..s.t_e,§, besides motivating the downtrodden ...
· ····- · sodai
tctfrnprov·e-thefr · .,
WES.TERNIZATION
Weit rnization refers to the changes- brought about as a conse.q.u.ence o f contacts with t h e Wes m
culture, particularly with the British. M.N. Srinivas, who has coined the term, defines Westernization in
terms o f the change in lndia l:-- .?_c:_i_: h<l.': to t . - p o_f British_rule)nI!)ftia., ..
According to him, various caste groups, particularly the upper castes, adopted the cultural style of the
British. Besides cultural imitation, lot has been absorbed from the fields o f western science, technology,
education, ideology and values. The values o f humanitarianism c:md.,rationalism are basic to the concept of
Westernization. Westei;nization though began only after the estabt'tshment of the British,rule, it became
an important avenue o f social mobility for the high-ranking Sanskritic castes.
According to Srinivas, the process o f Westernization takes place through three levels namely primary,
secondary and tertiary. The primary level refers to those people who came directly into con.tact with the
British. The seco\1dary includes those who were directly benefited b y those who ere at the primary level
and at the tertiary level are the people who were remotely benefited by the process o f W Jsternizatibn. Its
spread had been uneven and unequal among different sections qf Indian society.
Though Westernization has ushered a new tradition of modern zation, it has certainly posed the pro leni
o f conflict between the indigenous tradition and the Western tradition on Indian soil. A Synthesis
between the two has occurred, particularly in regard to the _elite section o f Indian society, and 'it is the
prC> ., of Westernization, which is responsible for one of the causes o f intergenerational;disaffiliatio pr
generation gap that is prevailing today.
. , I
1
During the initial stages, the Wes&rn iM pJ ct was peripheral and localized, as it remained restrict d
amongst the middle class people in .the cities o f Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. Educatioqal:institutions
were also centred in these three cities. English education has a two-fold impact: 1) lncolcation o f the.
Western vaiues and the ideas among the educated people and_ 2) The rise of social and ·cultural
reformation .movements. Education was confined· to the upper and middle-class urban p ople. It was this
Westernized elite who provided leadership to India's freedom struggle. The rural poor people could J'.,.lOt
benefit from Westernization under the British rule.
· PtofYoginder Singh believes that'Westeini atiori has created the foliowing deveiopments,
1. Expansion o f education
2.· Urbanization and Industrialization
3. Increased network o f communication
4. Growth o f nationalism
. :
165
According to Prof. K L . Sarma, the !=!l ;ments o f Westernization that contributed to modernization
throughout the 'country are judi iary, la ·co•1rts, legislations· (for prohibiting the child marr_iag ,
i fanticid , sati etc.), l a w commissio11s i n d several other· iegal-1nnovations reladng'fo rules ·of marriage,
faWfily; div :rce - tc. . .
M.N. Srinivas opines that increasing Westernization does not retard the process o f Sanskritization; pg h_
g o o n simultaneously_ - - o _s<> ten ! t h increase in Westernization <:celerates _ t h e process o f
sari krfrfiatfon.-·Fo·r Tns.tance, the postal facilities, ranways, buses a n d newspaper, media ·which are the
fi-uffs('b(Wester1:1_.} p -: 91!_ } ia,··. r e f f d e t more .. or·ganized religious pilgriri1ages, meetings, castes
soHcta"rffy etc.:·which are possi le :fiOW, more.than it was possible in the past. , '. . '
After;;independence, the leaders o f the backward classes made demands for the benefits for western
education. In fact, the demand for educational consciousness w a s major -plank in the backward class
movement. The packward classes have b e e n trying consistently to narrow the gaps in western education
between themselves and forward classes. Karnataka State off rt __a stri. Jµ_g_f!X,c;implt:! y..,!) _ e rap d strides
havebeen taken in this directi?n b t t h e t w ? 'pop-ular"backw:ar'c caste s, the Lingayats .a 11 V9 l(aling?_ ;
Tho"rtgh the :-fe.v ef ol Tftera cf a na ·'.e d uc¥itfo:11· m 9 ng theba w 4 ·ca tes
Ts fow'eve ---t -day, w h e n this le el
is 'co1nparedwitfi:'--tiieir literacj/teveEtattf1e-·f1iiie or'inciepencfenie, th·e· progress made
b y t h e m appears
tetrtirka:ble: ---., - ._,_:_ ,,_,,_ .... ---- -·-. .. ' -- - . .. .
• 1-, :_· ('1,··:fr.;:,·· . . . ·. .
M . N. Snnivas equates W¢sterniz tion w i t h the ·British impact o n India, b u t this approach w a s too narrow
sin_ce after independence the irtipad o f Russian and American versions o f modernisation o n India has
b e e n considerable.
(More on these models o f social mobility a n d social change in the topic o n Village Studies}
Modernization
Modernization
. . . .
titn Qlogical Economic Political Social Psychoh>gical ___,,..
. ,.
. .' .
.
Iri.anim_ate Mar:ket p Freedom Mobility Cosmopolitan
{o·urces o f .. . -' i mind
. .
'.
Capital Individualism Occupational

.
,
energy
. Modern
1
Achievement
.
differentiation
Co modity
.
·oemocracy
. orientation
•· machines - Consumerism Political
.
Universalism
. ,.
. -N ivr participation Specificity

Empathy
'
, ;t chnology . Urban-_
°?:'>- -·· industrial.
.
culture
Literacy and
modern
education
i·I.
166
Modernization is a social transform tion,·1which is evolutionary, gradual and linear. It can also be
achieved through revolutionary, planned and intensiv process _S.:_.
In this process of social trans.formation, soci _!I_l.Q:V - .f!.Q!!} __t!'ie traditional to. mo,_d_r.!1 _soc_ic1l structure.
Scholars alsof point out that human societies are becoII1ing IJ!()fe)lJt qiore_glqb }i t:!gJn_th-e w.ak of fast
spread'ofiii o 'rrriaf fo n'. and-
..
communication technology,
.
i dustrial· development,
........ ,.... _.__,_., . , .. ,...... ..... phy
. ...
i.c?:tcommunkation
.. . . . ..
"'-:----,- --·--· ·-··--.·---·
networKs and so on.
, .
\
The .Indian villages is a traditional society characterized by agriculture, villages, small scale undeveloped
technology, customs and simple social structure. In tradition l societies, there is said to be harmony in
social relations and in social institutions. There is consistency between institutions, the accepted norms
and.:patterns of behavior. The mechanism of the social control operates through customs, folkways and
mores. There tends to be a close correspondence between expectations and achievements in traditional
societies.
The modern society is characterized by industry, cities, and heavy technology, rule of law, democracy and
complex social structure. The intr(?cipc i mV of new social relations, new social roles as a result .of
transformation-from the traditional so'det, to modern society tends to make earlier behavior-ineffective
to achieve new goals set as a result o f the movement This results in tensions and frustrations. To meet
the·cµanges, new patterns of behavior emerge. The old established order changes and there is confusion.
The changes in the varioµs cultural items (e.g.. ·acceptance of technology) would mean acceptante of
scientif ic attitude to .life, being punctual at the 'place of work, :new forms of social. organization such as
trade unions that are different frorrt,traditional values. It takes time· for people to adjust to the e·merging-
situations in the phase o f transition when the 'old' is not fully rejected and the 'new' is not fully accepted
In the pre-modernization phase, the people develop their own way o f life, sodal relations, norms, values,
productive system and consumption patt rns. With the process o f transformation, people are required to
adjust themselves to the new requirements. In the transformation phase,· they find difficulties in moving
away from the age old habits.
\
India attained her independence b y following the path of struggles-sometimes by revolutionary methods
(for example the revolts of 1857 and 1942) arid by and large though by peaceftil·means yet determined
resistance to colonialism. India, being ari ancient civilization, is characterized by certain· traditional·
institutions like caste:}dint family and untouchability .. lndian-society is moving from the traditional social
structure to the modern one. Apart from the age old traditional institutions; now, there are certain- new
structures based on constitutional provisions such _as a modern State, parliamentary democracy and
organizations for the planned development of society.
Iii-:tll ·'.,post-independence period, concerted effort has been:made through the. constitutionalprnvisfq s
for· social transformation and planned development, elimination o f untouchability and creation of ,{(ust
and ·equal society in India. Despit_e tfl:l;!pe; ef:forts, even today,' in several parts of'India, uhtouchability is
''
practiced in one pr the other form:·· -· '
. V .
Certa_in social problems ·are directly linked with social transformation. The pr ces:S of rapid ·economic
development and industrialization are· bound to take place in modern· society. They are the indicators ·of
modernization but at the same time, they generate problems o f regional· imbalance, pollution and
·ecological degradation slums linked with violence; crime and delinquency. De:tnocracyis suppose4to·
provide equal opportunities to all citize.ns It believes, in legal and political equality. It is suppose : to
increase human· dignity . But unfortunately, elections':-an :essential part of· demo(:racy:-have ·encouraged
regionalism, communalism and _casteisni in India. Affluence and leisure are the indicators of a mo em
society. At the same time, they are creating problems of loneliness, alcoholism and· drug addiction in
highly industrialized societies as well as in· the rich section of rural Indian ·society.
167
Agricultural Modernization
Apart f.rom widespread agrarian reforms ,.mdertaken after independence, agricultural modernization
included certain other institutional reforms, initiated by Government of India to effectively transform
rural economic systems. Indian government, which committed itself to a democratic system, introduced
several schemes for the welfare o f rural poor, particularly the landless laborers and non-farm workers.
Government also invested heavily on the modernization of agriculture. Several irrigation schemes were
tak n up and improved seed and farming technology were introduced.
The.thrust of the government to change village ec nomy was based on a technological perspective which
was· best reflected in the Green Revolution experiment in Indian Agriculture. India adopted
modernization o f agriculture b y improving technology and other inputs. The Punjab-Haryana Western
U.P experience of dramatic growth in agricultural production· and rural incomes is often cited as evidence
o f the validity of the perspective. Such experiments have shown very encouraging results in these states
and part of Andhra. The country today is in a position to produce more than 170 million tons of food
grai:11s.
Ho.;vever, some experts are skeptical about this 'technologicaFthVust' of agricultural growth. For instance,
aQ<fut th.¢: Punjab-Haryana success story, G. Parthasarthy, an agricultural economist, observes: "It faiJ:s to
no'".: th -- uriiqµe' cit:C.UP1Stances particularly the substantiai public ·investments in irrigation in Punjab
agriculture, .·the relatively fatg·e- size o f holdings and relatively" low demographic pressures, etc.
Technology spreads in high. resource areas and on richer farms by utking t h e resou.rce of the poor areas
and o f the poor people." It is also worth notirig that the higher productivity and more income to big
· landlords· do not· necessarily bring better rewards to the farm laborers whose share in the increase is
negligible as compared to the gains of landlords. High- technology cultivation reduces the intensity of
labor absorption. Equally relevant is the fact that for attaining some kind o f equity in the distribution of
productive resources Indian government needs to allocate more and more funds f o r the backward
regions where the condition o f margin .1 farmers and farm laborers. is patbetic. Overall, the present trends
o f development in agriculture show a highly unequal distribution of resources with its benefits mainly
going to so·me regions only. The rural or are the critical manifestation of this growing imbalance. Several
experts have brought out the fact that iri _the early years o f agricultural growth, in few prosperous zones
like Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh, wages in real terms had declined over a period o f time.
Though the situation shows a positive change in the eighties when th.e real wages increased steadily, the
quantum o f increase particularly in backward agricultural zones is less than satisfactory.
Equally disturbing is the fact that- due to more and more privatization o f land, the common property
resources (bachat _land, grazh1g grounds, forest land, etc.)-which rriainly· used to benefit the poor rural
famflies-have been diminishing fast. This has deprived them of free access to fuel .and grazing grounds
fortlieir cattle.
"
Artisans and Modernization 't
tt." .. :
The artisans . formed the base o f village and urban economy in India during the pre-colonial and early-
colonial periods; All m·einbers o f an· artisan family were usually involved in production with specific
division of labor for males, females and children. Numerous lower caste families have traditionally been
eng ging in various crafts and agriculture-related non-farin activities. The main among them were those
ofy :r:penter, blacksmith, potter:," weaver, leather worker and basket maker. I n addition to these, non farm
la §r rs •'used t o perform jobs r quiring special s ms spr ad J n :various regions o f the c o u n t r y -
deµ@jdiiig on. the availability o f partkuiar raw IJ:1aterials or· natil e o f cultivation. All these skills rnd
activities Were limited to the extent o f either manufacturing articles to meet the local requirements o r to
provide technical services to the local· population. The artisans' products usually remained out o f the
modern market economy confining to the poor village co sumers. Most o f t h e m worked at subsistence
level o f economy and usually did subsidiary jobs to supplement their earnings. Indeed the jajmani system
formed the ·backbone of the rural society of that period It gave them substantial socio economic security
in daily life.
168
In spite of many odds, village artisans,- a n d . craftsmen enjoyed a reasonably good social status in the
society. However, the socio-economic condition o f these artisans and craftsmen deteriorated.sharply with
the introduction o f British rule in India. BE=cause of the impo t-oriented British Policy these artisans and
craftsmen lost their traditional.market. Many o f them also lost these traditional avenues o f employment
This displaced labor force was 'in search o f alternative employment. They were extremely insecure in the
rural economy. M a n y o f them joined either the army of the agricultural laborers or migrated to the urban
areas for the mainstay o f their livelihood. Only those who remained in their old occupation tasted the
pains ofinsecurity, exploitation and alienation in the society.
The post-Independence period changed the situation -rther. T h e growth of urbanization as a

manifestation o f the linkages between society and mod rn technology resulted in the weakening of
traditional bonds o f society. Equally significant was th creation o f new opportunities in non :: farm
occupations. M a n y o f the traditional artisans a n d craftsme either migrated t o ·urbari areas for improving
their incomes, o r shifted from their traditional occupat ns to non farm employment. This further
weakened the traditional 'jajmani' system and caste linkages ccupations. Due to the sharp increase in
rural population, it is considered neces ary to relieve agriculture from the pressure o f e cess labor. This
would check decline in the land man ratids and. thereby increase labor productivity in agriculture. It is
also being realized that urt>ari areas cannot absorb the growing migratory rural labor force due to the
ever gfb ing ni1 ber ofjob se:ekers in both formal and informal sectors. °Therefore, it becomes ess, : tia)
to promote non:- agritulturalemployment in rural areas. Several studies show a slow but ·steady increase .
in the proportion o f non-farm laborers in t h e total rural workforce.
All these situations have time and again resuited in rural unrest a n d politicization o f rural problems.
More information on niodemization a n d impact o f industrialization can be found in the relevant topic in
this volume.
-,nterplay of Little ·and Great Traditions

Cultures of a majority o f tribalsocieties can be viewed as s because they have their o w n m3 l,ly
adjus e _ and in .::,de.P !.!qE;.,I,U l · a n d tpey are autonomous because they do not require another syste
for ·tfieir contmuect functioning. T h e culture of. a peasant comrrrnnity, on the other, h.and, is not
autonomous. It i s an aspect o r t h e dimension o f the civilization o f which it is a .part As a peasant society
is a .half society, so. the peasa,nt culture _is a half-culture. Hence, a peasailt culture cannot be fully
understood from w h a t goes on in the_ minds o f the villagers alone. Moreoyer ther is a long course of
interaction between peasant community a n d centres ofdvilization.
George. M. Foster, with his experie ces in LatinA erican countries, wrote that there is one very clear and ·
oh. iou ., stinctio n between truly primitive societies and p as nt societies (folk societi s). Tli pe. . ant
1
communities, over hundred o f years, have h a d constant contact with the centres o f intellectual thought
and development This kind o f a situation.demands a new approach o f investigation to 'understand the
peasant cultures. It w a s during this tim that Robert Redfield came out with the concepts o f Great
Tradition and the Little Traditions. T h e y are also termed as High Culture and Low
- Culture,· Folk Culture
. and-Classic Culture o r Popular and Learned Traditions. · ·
Redfield uses the term "Great Tradition" f o t the.·culture of those reflective f e w i n a civHization a n d "Little
T ra diti<>n" for- the culture o f largily -;reflective rpan . In order t -understanoJh;se'-c'o'ncepts:fi; tly, an
;,
appri'Gai'o1\iri"evoTutT6 iiaryv1ew"otffie"structu e ftri'°dltio'i-i'shas t o b e made.
T h e Grc;t Tradition is cuhivated i n s c h o o ! s g r t e .t }APJgs;the Little Tradition \vork

T ,itself out_ !lQ.i,ggps
i t s J L g Q ! Q K.!.!1... h- _}! , 2L Yt ,J!l!.t ,Ef i_iCffi tr.Y111 z c m - !IT!t t'lfrea ''1'raaff ionJ i S?.
nscifiR !Y
cultivated and th t o f the "Little people" is for the most part....taken : . for granted and not submitt J, t,tq.,a n y
· ............
scrutiny or -z;;;w fotrefitremenfancl'Tmprov"erti nr---, ·
, ....... •.... ·-
...... - ·- ....
. _.. , . ..... ...........
-- :-:,,·--:.,_ -·--·- .
., , ________
.-. · ·•
: _· - ·
T h e Great and the Little :Traditions are indepe derit and have l o n g aff cted each other a n d . continued to
do so. They c a n b e thought a s two currents o f thought and action, distingui"shable, y e t ever flowing into
169
and out of each other. However these two traditions are not distinguishable in very isolated tribes or
bands.
Milton Singer and McKim Marriot utilized these concepts o f Redfield and have conducted some studies on
social changes in India. As was stated above, there is a continuous flow o f these two traditions into one
another. These notions o f the continuous dynamic interaction.between the Great tradition and the little
tradition have further been made clear through the eminent work o f MEJSL - Qt in an Uttar Pradesh
vi!,lage, Kish,all G E12i. Marr! tf<ilJJl <?Yt \JY{tlt twp pro_<;t=g; ?. c: lleQ. lJ.ntv r§ Jtz ticm,. ·m.g . I?..a rn!=bJ ,l,i, ion .
The Great Tradition o f Robert Redfield is corollary to the Universalization o f Marriot and Little Tradition
to that o f Parochialisation.
Universalization refers to the process involving a movement in the Little Tradition to become a part o f
Great Tradition. Parochialisation is the downward devolution o f Great traditional elements and their
integration with little traditional elements - a process o f localization. The interaction between great and
little traditions is_through these processes o f Universalization and Parochialisation.
The social structure o f Great Tradition includes all those persisting and important arrangements o f roles
and statuses appearing in such corporate'' groups such as castes, :sects or in teachers, reciters, ritual
leaders
f
w
l-
''l,."
I
J
.:!
\
o f . one kind or the
•
" other. T h e social
.
structure o f Little . Tradition consists o f its own role·
. ...
int mbel).ts such a s folk artists, medicine7'!Ien,'t'ellers o f riddles, proverbs and ·stories, poets and dancers
etc.
The growth o f culture follows ·a two-stage model. The first one is Qt_ ? - - - !£ J::yolution and the second
is HeJerogenetic d,ev lopment_ or the development with the help o f encounters with the other cultures or
civiliiatfcini 'cticinges.
in cultural systems occur through the interaction between the Orthogenetic and
Heterogenetic processes. The pattern o f change is generally from Ortl}qg n .tict() Heterogenetic forms o f
differentiation. It is assumed that all the civilizations start from a p;'im.iry or Orthogenetic level o f cultural
organization arid, iri course of time are, diversified through internal growth and also more importantly,
through contact with other civil zations - .a heterogenetic process. The direction . o f this change
presumably is from folk or peasant culture to urban culture and social organ zation. In the final stages
however thi . results into _a global, universalized patterrJ o f culture, especially through increased cross-
cultural contacts amongst civilizations. (Prof. Yogendra Singh). ·
·According to Yogendra ·singh, the concepts o f Universalization an(l Parochialisation also describe the
process o f · culture' change as implied·. b y Sanskritization; especially more s o with the case o f
Uiiiversaiization:. '"'Parochi 'uzation however refers to an inverted. form o f Sanskritization or de-
Sanskritlzation .. The concept o f Sanskr,itization anc;l Westernization cannot offer the possibility for a
comparative study unlike· Great Tradition and.Little Tradition because the former
. is culture
. specific.
J
As :a t ady_ stated; t h e Great and Little Tr9-ditions interact through the processes o f Univer alisation and
Parochialisation. , 1-r i
1
·:_t/
UNIVERSALIZATION
By definition, an indigenou civilization is a one whose Great Traditioi:i originates b y "Universalization",
or carrying forward o f materials which are already present in the Little Traditions which it encompasses.
Suoh n ·indigenous Great Tradition has-a kind o f authority in systematization o f what-is already there'.·
Th 4f'rocess o f Universalization occurs without subsequent secondary transformation o f its contents and
witho, t heterogenetic criticism o f t h e Little Tradition and
. lacks authcn:-ity.to supplant the
. prototypes that:
.·
are tlie sources o f its own sacredness.
Materials suggestive o f such process o f upward Universalization are reported b y Marriot from Kishan
Garhi village. T h e festival o f charm tying can supply an i·llustration. A n all Indian festival coincides and
blends ir:t Kishan Garhi with the festival known regionally as Saluno, a festival which m a r k s the end o f that.
annual fortnight d u d n g which most y o u n g wives return for a visit to their parents a n d siblings. On Saluno
day, many husbands arrive at their wives' villages, ready to carry them off again to their. villages o f
170
marriage. But, before going with thei(Ihusbc1nds, the wives as well as their unmarried village sisters
express their concern for _and devotion to their brothers by placing young shoots o f barley, the locally
sacred grain, on the heads and ears .of their brothers. Since brothers should not accept anything from
their sisters as a free gift, they reciprocate with small coins.
On the same day, the ceremonies o f charm tying are also held. The Brahmin domestic priests of this
village will go to each patron and tie upon his wrist a charm in the form o f a polychrome thread. Each
priest utters a vernacular blessing and is rewarded by his patron with cash, for it is thought impious to
accept anything as a free gift from a priest.
The parallels between the familial festivals of Saluno and the great traditional festival o f Raksha Bandhan
are obvious. There is a likelihood o f charm tying having its roots in some such little-traditional festivals
of Saluno through a process o f primary transformation. A further secondary transformation of the festival
· of charm tying is also beginning to be evident in Kishan Garhi for, the thread charms o f the priests are
now factory made and are in more attractive forms. A few sisters in Kishan Garhi have taken to tying .
these heterogenetic charms o f priestly type onto their brothers' wrist.
PAROCHIALIZA TIO N
If th,eJhdigenous origfo q.nd connections o f the. Great Tradition limits. its authority. to uproot any:Httle
traditi h the e·ssenti lly imlearned and non-literate nature o f the Little Tradition also obstructs the direct
transmission "c:lr spread of elements :downward from Great Tradition to Little Tradition. Downward
spread too is likely to be characteriz d b y transformations.
The festival o f "cow-nourisher"·worship as it is celebrated in Kishan Garhi exemplifies some o f the kinds
o f limits upon, and changes that take place during, the course o f a downward transmission o f the cultural
contents from Great Tradition to Little Tradition. Villagers today know at least two stories to explain:
these festiyals. Both. o f them evidently derived from the Bhagavata Purana, which comprise the_
biography of Krishna, having been popularized among the villagers by a succession .of vernacular
renderings, among which one o f the latest is 19th century Hiridi version entitled" Prem Saga_ra".
The story from ·-this Great Traditional book, which· more generally tries to explain: the cow-nourisher
worship, concerns Krishna's adventures with his cowherd companions at the hill named· Gobardhan,
which k l o c a t e d about 40 miles from Kishan Garhi. In this story, Krishna directs the cowherds of Braj to
worship the hill that is near, rather than such great but distinct Gods as-Indra. The cowherds c9mply with
Krishna's directions. In anger, Indra sen s violent rainstorms to destroy t h e cowherds and their kin;
Krishna ho ever lifts up the hill to provide them shelter and a l l are saved. At the act al hill of Gobardhan
in Mathura district an annual function o f circumambulation and worship is still enacted.
By the time that this Great Traditionalstory has reached ritual enactment in Kishan Garhi, it has take f f on
p a cruder form and accumulated a Il!-\ peJK o f homely details, which have no evident 1t1stificati611 in
_
Sanskritic myth. "Villagers seem to have\aken the story's parochial moral to heart. "Cow Nourisher" (Go+
Vardhan) has become, b y a village etymology, Cow Dung Wealth" (Gobar + Ohan). The sa red hill o f the
Purana has become in each household yard a literal pile of dung .... "
To refer to the kind o f transformation o f the cultural contents, which is apparent in this festival.- the
downward_ devolution. o f Great Traditional .elements and their integration .with- the Little ·Traditional
elements, a term is needed. For this movement, which is reverse .of''Univcrsalization", MarriotsuggE! ted
thetenn_ "ParochiaHzation". Paro hia_lization is a process ofiocaUzation, a process o f limitation'uponthe
scope o f intelligibility, a process o f deprivation of-litera.ry form, a process·,of reduction to less systematic
and less reflective dimensions. It constitutes the characteristic creative work o f little communitiesWfthin
India's indigenous civilization.
Parochialization results in Great tradition when the elements of the Great· Tradition, in order to
perpetuate themselves, go downward and mix with the elements ·of Little Tradition. D spite their limited ·
171
range, the rural or Folk Traditions would sho_w a change in their ultural patterns by assimilating Great
Tradition's elements, without their original cultural elements completely l0osing their identity.
Conception of rationality is less_ important in Parochialization and a rational .explanation is near to
impossible for this cultural process. Generation to generation the Little Traditional elements are followed
though they are less rational. The process of Parochialization gives importance to views, experiences and
beliefs of a small group o r population. Tradition is taken away from the original form because of the
di :tortion of cultural elements.
Pq11chayati Raj and Social Change

History tells us that Local Self-government, as a system, has existed in India since long. Its form may vary,
but its spirit has always been a part of our socio-cultural ethos. In the medieval times, it was seen in the
'Gram Sabha' functioning through its executive committee viz Panchayat, a village body able to govern
and sustain a small community of people. During the British Raj, it became the instrument of the ruling
elit_e, intended to project the interests o f the British Government. After independence, it was in 1959 that
thit Panchayati Raj system took its present ·sltc,ipe. The enthusiasm, generated by t_his new mantle of local
seJf governance, however, did not last long. Conflicting interests at various levels eclipsed the concepfas
w Jl_ as _its pr ctice. After decades of deb te, the Constitutional (73rd Amendment) "Act, 1992 took up tpe
ta k:of rejuvenating this system. The institution of Panchayati Raj is now recognized as an important
mechan.ism for etentralization of power and materiaHz ng people's participation in development
activities. It has been given special emphasis after the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 which
made th - details o f the transfer o f power to the panchaya a part o f the most basic document of this
nation _.:_ The Constitution o f India.
73 rd Amendment to the Constitutionoflndia Salient Features
Local bodies - Panchayats came under Part IX of the Constitution after 43 years o f India becoming a
republic. Parliament passed the 73rd Amendment to the C_onstitution in December 1992 and it became
part IX of the Constitution on 24 April and 1 June 1993"respectively.
1. · Panchayats will be "institutions of self-government"
. 2. Basic Units o f Democratic System - Gram Sabhas (villages) comprising all the adult members
registered as voters.
3. There will be Three tier system o f panchayats at village, interm diate block/taluk.and district levels.
Smaller states with population below 2 million will have only two tiers
4. at all levels in the three tiers to be fiiied by direct election
s.
)
reserved for Scheduled Castes. €-SGsJ.and chairpersons oK the Paiichayats· at all levels also
· shall
reserved for SCs and STs in proportion to their populati.hrl. t. ·
:
6. One-third of the total number o f seats reserved for, women. One-third of the seats reserved for SCs
and also reserved for women. One-third offices of chairpersons at all levels reserved for women.
_STs
7. . ,.. ,., .... ,... five year term and elections to constitute new bodies to be completed before the expiry of
term. In the event of dissolution, elections compulsorily within six months.
8. _ Election Commission· 1n each.
·electoral rolls.
state for: superintendence, direction and control of the
9. Panchayats to prepare plans for economic development and social justice in respect o f 29 subjects
listed in 11th Schedule. 74th Amendment provides for a District Planning Committee to consolidat
the plans prepared b y panchayats and Municipalities.
172
10. Funds: Grants from state governments,, revenue of certain taxes, collect and retain the revenue it
raises, Central Government programs and Grants.
11. In each State a Finance Commission to determine the principles on the basis of which adequate
financial resources would be ensured for panchayats.
Panchayats (Village Councils) are defined as an "institution of self-government" (Part IX Article 243 (c) &
f(e) o f the Constitution of India).
Article 243 expresses the intention that while framing laws, the state legislatures should endow the
panchayats and municipalities with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to
fuAction as institution of self-government.
Although the Constitution has not elaborated the concept of 'self-government' it would mean:
a. Government by the people - a government that is democratically elected by the people.
b. Autonomous - it is ernpow<rr µt9- function without any outside interference.
,, . . s: :-. '
c. Powers and· authorizy to· take decisions independently within the boundary of the 'specific
functions .devolved upon it. .. .'."
d. Autonomy, the focal body should enjoy is a matter of judgment as well as policy.
. .
·, . . · . - .
e. Autonomy should b e as complete as possible and should not get reduced to a situation whe_re
local bodies enjoy only such 'power' and 'authority' as may eriable. them to function merely as
agents of the state government
f. Respective· state legislatures. are expected to adopt their individual policies in this regard
based upon their own judgment of practical situation.·
What Part IX o f the Constitution intends to bring about is 'devolution' type o f d mocratic decentralization
and not the •deconc ntration' or 'delegation' type o f administrative decentralization under which the
superior decision-making body retains various controls; including the power o f withdrawing the
authority given to a lower body for adrr1foistrative convenience.
11 t h Schedule of the Constitution oflndia
29 subjects are suggested for transfer to Panchayats .
1. Agriculture, including agricultural extension
2. Land improvement, implementation ofland reforms, land consolidation and soil conservation . .
,·;};
3. , M.inor irrigation, water management anci°watershed de.velopment

4 . . Animal h1Jsbandry, dairying and poultry
5. Fisheries
6.'( SodaI forestry and farm forestry
7 )<,MiI1or forest produce
,:";:,,;)·
;:..;.;i------
8. Khadi, village and cottage industries
9. Small scale industries, including food processing industries

10. Rural housing
11. Drinking Water
173
12. Fuel and fodder

13. Roads, culverts, bridges, ferries, waterways and other means of cori1munication ·
14. Rural electrification, including distribution of electricity
15. Non-conventional energy sources
16. Poverty alleviation program
17. :Education including primary and secondary schools
18.'lechnical training and vocational education
19. Adult and non-formal education
20 .. Libraries
21.:Cultural activities
22. ·Marketand Fairs
: .:,:·
23. lfealthand Sanitation, including hospitals, primary heaith centres and dispensaries
24. Family welfare
25. Women and child development
. 26. Social welfare, including welfare o f the handicapped and mentally retarded
27. Welfare of the weake·r secti ns, and in particular of the Sch duled Castes and Schedul d Tribes
I
F-:
28. Public distribution system
29. Maintenance o f community assets
Implications and Social Impact
1. Increased participation of hitherto excluded sections of the population {tribals, lower castes, etc.)
2. Women's involvement in public life through elections, opening up a brave new world o f women
3. _Develpping the thinking that democracy at the grass roots. level is. a n e c e s s a r y condition for
·-srrengthening democracy at the·state and natfonal level
. . . J .
4. :Popularization of the concepts of decehtrci\ized· planning and pt!ople's
"' participation 'in development
',, . . . . . . . 1 .Jt: :,.,: •.' . ,
S. Thousands of elected i:n mbers are getting training in local governance, democracy and development
0
. resulting in informed, politically proactive polity ·
6. Local bodies are working as nurseries for future leaders

7. · J _nlightened people showing concerns on corruption and use of public funds-
'tf9Iuritary
8..
.
sector'fdvil ·sodety ·co'rriing :t the· foi'e •.for: shengthenirig· PRis locarhodies· arid foe !
-n'dernoc:racy. .
9. Demystification o{ governance.
10. New,. innovative ideas of people's participation, combating corruption eg. Social audit, people's plan
campaign, ombudsman, fan Sunwai (public hearing) etc.
174.
11. Involvement o f people in their vill,;1g:{;_.d velopment planning

12. Resources Mobilization, cash, kind o r labor fo r local development
13. Increasing the sense of responsibility in people for managing their affairs
14. Administration nearer to people for good governance
Analysis
The basic strengths o f the present local self government through Panchayati Raj include the stability and
continuity of the system which is now empowered by Constitutional sanctity. The provisions for timely
elections, representation of women and other weaker sections is an added advantage. It has provided a
systemic framework for the four "Fs" o f planned and.systematic social change - functions, functionaries,
funds and freedom.
The social change perceived to be ushered by Panchayati Raj can only be possible if the following
weaknesses are addressed.
1; Disparities and stratification systems based on class, caste and gender
2. Lack o f political will to make the provisions work
3. . Politicization o f rural-issues and social life
4. Lack of awareness amongst the rural populations on rules, rights and responsibilities
5. Lack of public awareness and vigilance
6. Influence o f dom"inant castes and other village elite, including contractors, landlords etc. in the
working o f PR institutions
7. Lack of.orientation amongst the government officials _to work along with local bodies
8. Multiplicity:of parallel organizations and government departments, hindering autonomy PR bodies.
Media and Socia/. Change

The media can be a major force for improving the quality of government in develo_ping and transitional
countries - which is criticanf opportunities for the poor.and disadvantaged· are also to improve. To fulfill
this role the media need room to maneuver - tight government re_gulation an'd censorship produce medfa
"Yl:iJ h are ineffective and lacking in credibility. Too Httle regulati(?n, o n the _other hand ·may l ad ,t\? ,t e
domination o f commercial media ruled y advertising, to ·the detriment ·of serious coptent and o'f the
interests o f those without purchasingY:poiver - Le. th·e _pogr., Wh_at is needed re _policies that im,pose
responsibilities as well as freedoms on the commercial sector, and that clarify and facilitate the role qf the
public service media. Effective media also need good management, and good professional arid technical.
skills. ·Media have crucial role in social change - good governa_nce, hurria-u rights and elimina iori· of
poverty.
What is Media
·'s.!,[!·
The; term "media·· in a broader sense includes radio, television;. vi<:ieo,:film, newspapers, rnaga'.?i_nes,
p mphlets, posters, internet,· email and telephones.· This t e n n also implies other communi §a tion
strategies like dance, drama, music, puppetry, meetings of all sorts and other participative techniques:like
Participative Rural Appraisal etc. But here w e shall restrict the term to television, radio and press.
;
175
Role of Media
In any planned social change media occupies a strategic role bec use it can m ke a real difference to the
lives of the poor, disadvantaged people and weaker sections. ·This is possible by
Making people more aware of their rights
• Making people more aware of the political issues _and stimulating participation and debate
amongst them
Drawing attention to institutional failings - corruption, inefficiency, nepotism etc. - which are
detrimental to common good
Creating pressure for increased ·government performance, for exampl in service delivery or
human rights
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides that: 'Everyone has the right to
freedom of opinion and expression;:<i-t1'is right includes
• 1. . .
freedom
> .
to hold opinions without
.
interfe_rence and to seek, receive and impart information through any -media regardless of
< • , • • •
. .. . . .
.fronfi rs/ - .
. - '. ·,::,·/ '
l
'Th:ose" e .ast likely- fo· enjoy their human rights ·are the 'J'.ibor the u·neducated i women, and members of
r ligious, ethnic or caste minorities. Rural people in partictJlar are likely to have difficulty enjoying their
right ofaccess to the·media. ·
. .
The success of media as a change agent depends on number of factors.
1. How pluralistic is media ownership, rtd how in ependeht are the media from national and foreign
governmei;its, political parties and multinational corporations?
2. How representative are the medfa of different opinions and how accessible are they to different
sections of society, including poor and· vulnerable ·groups and political parties?
3. How effective, re the media and other independ nt bodies in inve tigating government and powerful
corporatior:is?
4. How far does media· reporting o f public and political' events remain within acceptable bounds of
accuracy arid balance?.
5. How free are journalists from.restrictive laws, harassment ani:I intimidation?
6. {How free are private.citizens from intrusion and harassment by themediaJ
. . .. . ,; . . .• J.
7. ;i\Nbat measures; if any, are being ta ket ft o remedy publiclf i i:ttified problei;ns in this field, and w h a t
.
):aegree_ of-political priority and-public support do _they have?''..: . ·; .
8. How comprehensive and effective are legi lation and freedom of info mation provisions in giving the
legislature, citizens and the media p.Ccess to·government information?
176
6.1 Tribal Situation in fndia · l
BIOGENETIC VARIABILITY OF TRIBES IN IND/A

DEMOGRAPHIC ASPECTS OF THE TRIBES
Aft_er the partition of the country in 1947, the tribal population,· as determined by the Constitutional
Order 1950, was reduced from 2.47 crore in 1941 to about 1.79- crore. As per the Census report of 1951,
the tribal population was about 1.91 crore, which was 5.36% of the total population of the country. In
1961, the total tribal population rose to 2.99 crore which constitutid 6.87% of the total population. In
1971, their strength rose to 3.8 crore, i.e., 6.94% of the total population. In 1981,; the total tribal
population was 5.38 crore which worked out to 7.85% of the total general populatiqn of.about 68 crore.
In 1991, the population of tribal population was at 6.7 crore, which is about 8.08% of the tofal popu ation.
According to the iQ0i-census;lhe total Schedule Tribe population stood . at 8.4 crore, i.e.- bCJ.ut RZ.°/4 pf the
total population ohndia.' ' ' ' .. -
The Union Territories are Lakshadweep, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and
·
Daman & Diu.
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
Both the geography of India and trib<;1l demography permit a regional grouping and a zonal classification_
of the tribal people:: hf;ij:as demarcated three tribal zones in India
. . . . . .
ZONE1 This zone includes the Northern and North-Eastern areas in the mount .in valleys and
eastern frontiers o f India.
ZONE2 The Central Indian belt which occupies the older hills a:nd plat_eaus along the dividing
line between Peninsular India and the Indo-G.angetic Plains. This zone also includes
the hills and the converging line of. the Western Ghats.
ZONE3 This includ s the peninsular India.
. . . . I
. . ' • . .. . _· .
The rthern and North-Eastern Zone·n s,%is its 2l!!Ro·sts·SJII!l&jr.ith _west .a nd ! Lush t lfil! - "
Mishmi Tract in the
-- g ciS,.l;, The areas o f eastern Jammu and Kashmir, :Himachal . Prade. ar:arare
' r of.
'Utt ; aesh ifurth Eastem region fall in t_his tribal.zone.
The· Central o Middle Zone includes West Bengal, Bihar, Southern Uttar Pradesh,. M dhya ·P:tades.h,
Orissa, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Mahar.ashtra. It is the !:lg _of:!i ll t ethfe Ujbal ·zories. \ .
. . . _.. . _.
The third zone i.e., the Southern Zone includes Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. ·The
,•.
tTiba! .communities of Ai1daman and Nicobar Islands·are 'also the constituents o f this zone.
. ' .
However, L JJ. Vidyarthi has given a new classification in orporating all the earlier classifications and"the_
geographical, ecological, social,- economic, administrative, ethnic and racial ·factors. This is a fourfold
geographical classification along with one distinct sub-region of the-isla ds. These are:
177
1. HIMALAYAN REGION: It has three sub'-re_gions.

;.
1. The North Eastern Himalayan Region: This sub-region includes the states of Assam, Meghc.1laya,
Arunacfia11'raaesI("Nagafa"iiff,"Man1p"ITT, Mizoram and Tripura. ·
__
·-· . ., ·-
2. The Central
'
-
Himalayan
... . '
.... - - . . . . . Region: This sub-region includes the state o f Uttar Pradesh
. -. -··-·· ....
.' .
,• ,'
......
_, - , ,.-;
. -.
3. The North Western Himalayan Region: This sub-region includes the states of Himachal Pradesh
and Jammu Kashmir
··-
More than on th r.1 o_f _tE:! _regJ9.ri.· pC>p _!i?':1 !s :p<1:de of tribes that is almost one"'.eighth of the tribal
India.
2. MIDDLE INDIA REGION: This region includes the states of Bihar, West Bengal, 0rissa, and Madhya
Pradesh with more than 2 crore of tribal people, i.e., 55 percent o f tiJ... .,..tQ.!ill tribes in the country.
3. · WESTERN INDIA REGION: It includes Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, and Dadra and Nagar
,:Haveli with about one crore triba!.Jjopulat i:rn .
.4. : SO),tTH -INUIA REGION: It ctimprises ·Andhra Pradesh, Tamil. Nadu, Karnataka; and Kerala with a
. · :1ffi agre· tribal population i.e., ·1.66% of the region, constituting one-sixteenth of the tribes of the
_________________ --·- · - - - - - , _
. . . ·. . . . .
·. .
(
5. ' ISLAND REGI ) N: The islands of Andaman and Nicobar in the Bay o f Bengal and Lakshadweep in the
Arabian Sea with.54._ % rJbal RQQUlatio titute
____.....;. ·:·--·---·-·
a distinct sub-region.
....... .,.,, . ·.·-... - .. ' . - :- --
RACIAL CLASSIFICATION
According to Guha, the tribal people of India can be grouped into three major categories ..
· 1. THE PROTO-AUSTRALQIDS: This group is characterized by dark, skin colorf sunken nose and
etc. •••."'•. •..,•• ---- ---....._ ...._,..-•

--
lower forehead. Examples for this type include the Munda thEtOra n,tlie'tt;,-the Gond, the · Qnd • -
o, I
2. THE MONGOLOIDS: Tribal people of the Himalayan region, especially of Qr!. ·_Himalaya - rne
--- · · · · · _ ,. .-, ·. . · ··· · ·· · · · ·
under this category. .
3. THE NEGRITO: The Kadars of Kerala and the Andarrianis of the Andaman Island come under this
. · · -- ---·- .
stock.
LINGUISTIC CLASSIFICATION
Looking_ at the linguistic map o f India a d .the languages found among the tribes, we note that the
.,. fl<f' -n) nguage family is in use in the &Avidian region· in · fpqth India and a few pock ts in. i l .
:
lildi 3.'1:n:-_CJ!ote,n_agpur a n d North .Western bo'rder near Baluchis_tan._ Another language faniily, '.IAu tto7
'15B :, fuui'i'J"I ' (e°rtain·poclrets'·1n tiie"·N'ortn:"Eastern- Him·a.1ayan
region in Meghalaya, in 'Nicobar
Ifnds and extensively in Middle India and adjoining Western India. The third language which is traced
··· oil ·th map and is prevalent all along the Himalayan Region is :_:'1JJieto . . th.J11. ¢ (fThe Inclo-European
.
. .
lang age is found in the remaining major parts o f India.
:
.j!
(,'' J
_
:':
.
-
;
'.· . . .
yt
.
Bro !Y/ the languages_ spoke \ trib s, o(India fallJ11_to fo ur ITiain lingui tic families ...
1. A:USTRO-ASIATICFAMILY:
·. . , ! : . .. . .
.
. a) Mon-Khmer Branch: Khasi'and Nicobari

b) Munda Branch: Santhali, Karwari, Ho, Munda, Gondi, Kharia, Savara; Khond, Gadaba etc.
178
2. TIBETO-CHINESE FAMILY!
a. Siamese-Chinese Sub-family: Tai group - Khampti, Phakial, etc.
b. Tibeto.,Burman sub-family:
I. Tibeto-Himalayan Branch - Bhotia of Darjeeling.
II. Western sub-group o f Himalayan Group - Chamba,
III. Lahauli, Sv,rangH, Kanauri etc.
IV. Himalayan Group - Rong or Lepcha, Toto, etc.
i'
V. Arunachal Branch - Aka or Hrusso, Abot, Miri, Dafla, Mishmi, etc.
VI. Assam-Burmese Branch:
a) Bara or B,odo r up - plains Kachari, Dimasa, ·Garo, Tripura etc.
b) Naga Group which includes-
1.The· Naga sub-group, Angami Ao, Serna, Reng a, etc.
2. Naga .;. Bodo su.b--group- Kach cha Naga, Kabtii Naga, etc.
1. Kachin Group - Sirtgpho.
2. Kuki-Chin Group - Manipuri, Thado, Sokte, Ralte, Lushai, etc.
3. DRAVIDIAN FAMiLY: Which includes the Korawa, Yerukala, Yarava, Badaga, Todo, Kota, Kurukh or
Oraon, Malto or Maler, Kui Kam;lhj or i<hondi.
4. INDO EUROPEAN FAMILY: Hajong, Bhili, etc.
SOC/0-ECONOMit CHARACTERSTICS OF TRiBAL

r.. -·· ',i'DPULA
......... , . . . T/ONS
. IN. /NOIA
. , .
SOCIALORGANlZATION
The e are five.factors that constitute the essence of soci i,',orgariiiatitin. ·They ar :
1. Natural Env fonm,ent: The Natural enviro"t\meht is cdnceived as. thelfasis fof any _sodal organisation .
o
. .,,.All the socfoties depend o n it f r their.basic needs such.asfoog, fuel, shelte·r etc -Forthe-:efforts ofJhc
.· · society to procure these basic needs, social life should be well
.
9rganized. · .
. . . . , : . . . ·. . .. I .
2/·. PQpUlation: It is the popula i_?n'' lii ·rov e th J:. ma erial o r a weUorganized-society. T t J. . 1'
f
so because the population is compose 'Of .relationshjps among pe9ple ·c_onstitutmg ).t . ·Tfie etlimc
, ,. , :; , ' , ··:•··--·-.·• •.,:t,,•7\'
•,_•:-,. r •",.!" .-•.-..,..,.,_, ........ ,• ._ • · -"
"'"·--•·· . . ,.,... .,..,, •. '!'"-•"* '1"' '*""tAA<;"··· w,,.,.,--_· -:,.,: '
•• - : ':,,,_,. .' •· ' · • __ -,.,,,,,)4, ,>,' -•
composition, the sex ratio ofpopuratTon,.aruias'pecrs lltrewfse "wiIITiil1.1I n1:eJ fie · odaflire·-or a group
""
to a veiygreatexteiif ---·.... . . ,. - ..... :; ' ". "·,·,·

. - ·
· · - - · · · · · • • ¥ ' - " • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
H u m a n Being: The most important o f all the aspects oL os! UiJ t .fl:i_<:@llii!!}. Ll!g. . .. .
:of'tlie 'inclivjgti:a.twlµclf is":fespi,ffs{f i1¢l . e: ··-·-- --····· · (Fway :or·tir e -in a· sodety .H t i s the coll
-· action oHhi human _bei !is w,hichin' rad gives rise:.t a soci iji. . -._ -.. . . . · . ,:,
4. • Material Technology: Social life i s inseparably linked with material technology; It is this technology
1
which helps man materializes to the maximum his.pn:!conceived ·ideas. It is this·material_tec.hno Q

_ , ,_. .
·which deddeswhether a society is advanced or backward.' ---· - - - ."'- ·re
'llll . *
o
.,-r.r1
,#
'..1
.,;. 1
;,;;, ,.r,-1
- ,· •• .-.r-"7
' _,.v.,-.yAn
' ,.;.,w . .:.N-,-:.:-c,-·t ;J
l, 'l -
179
5. Social Environment: Social environment is a factor of paramount importance. An organized social

life 0ccurs against a background of many elements of soGial environment like social interaction, social
order, its design, cooperation, economic construction, etc.
The social organization of tribes involves methods of grouping and grading people for effectively carrying
out various activities necessary for existence. The tribal populations of India reveal a typical situation.
They form a small community o f their own. Their relationships are direct and intimate.
In 19.53, T . C Das h.as suggested that the tribal organizations reveal seven types of social organizations.
They are: .
-..,.,,-
a
"
-.,.. •
..... _
.... -
-
.
-
1. Family- Local Group - Tribe

2. Family- Moiety - Tribe
3. Family - Clan - Tribe
4. Family- Clan - Phratry - Tribe;
5. Family- Clan - Phratry - Moiety - Tribe
- . .
. 6. 'Fainily- Clan - Sub-tribe -Tribe

7. Family- Sub-clan - Clan -Tribe
In 1971, ·s.c. Dube suggested that in India the tribal design consists of family, clan, phratry and finally a
tribe.
However, we should consider the fact that not all tribes have a similar arrangement of social organization.
The constituent matrices o f social design, whkh make up a tribe from an individual level, may differ from
tribe to tribe, ccording to the way in· which the Cribe in .question has evolved. But at the same tim·e, a
majority of tribes in India fall into the minimum category of "Individual - Family- Clan -Tribe".
A COMMON NAME
A number· of tribes are sometimes known or called by their neighbouring people and outsiders b y a
common name. This generic name is used in a broad sense to include many other types o f tribal
·communities inhabiting a common territory. For example, the communities living on the hills might be
geogra_phicaHy grouped and known·by a:common .term by.the plains' dwellers: _1Urlr. .nf . b i/ '.:t
- nµ ¢ ffur,al,1 d1" "'
1m· ,:d.u Jp
i
r
i q t o f J e _ii' Ol;(p. ig!tt. hav ): e .r._ O,Wi J ingij°i .i OD - he ame' th :'.
1
( _: . ·-- -- i.pl1,1 al tiJ t o roq j;:- l}eyJey ). p.! o -.c_ · ri _culttir l- af 1?'fi - _pparf1 tI_i':Jq k··-
tlie,. . , hey share many cultural and social' customs with their cohorts. Even marital ties among the
f
me o b er tribes, though very rare, are foun,di /
.
·. : : . :. ·. - . .·
. ·• ·. , . H .·. i -., , . -. .·:, ,, . ..
Thisiphenbmenon of grouping o f tribes.designated by a commotriame is a common featur in the North-
. Eastern Himalayan region. The expression"Naga0isa C()ffiffiOn term't? den?te theNagaland )
peo'ple. In
Arunachal Prades , the people li'ving in thei\bor_ Hiff - t k.n·o\Vllby theiname: '!·J\lJ_( e ; This iricludes tribes
lik - - i : H? <yig(_ i;'·:. a ·aj; tc. · · · · · · ·· ·-
·.the
FA tL Y ·•>:..
-. :.i,' , :·,__
.. : ·, . . . ·. - .- .. . : .
. . . . . ..
. .: . , ·:,.' . . . . :· ·- ·: \·--:·-·- ·.·:. ..·-:,
Amp..11g .
the'lndian tribes, rnostiy.
allthe four:Ps te. - Patrilocal,Patr1archal;: PcitrHineal cmd Patrinymic, and
alUtie four Ms, Le., Matrilocal, Matriarchal, Matrilineal and Matrinymic, are found.
In· the North :Western Himalayas, the fan;iilie . f.Sll ..fo!ilg£ 1, _Ga_µd{ ,. . i!n£ .,o.f. .tb J ,g_ ali of_tarin_ny ,nd
KasJ mir.ancLHimachal Pradesh are patrilineaL Joint fa111iiies can also be found. Bu_t n6wadays breaking
up o f <l joint family into a m1clear: famiiyi yisible and is on the increase even amongst the tribal
populations. f.il
K:ha · s ·of Uttar:Pra.cl shp c-t1se poiYar(clcy.arid·are of the patriline.al type ]'he Thar
:
follow the rule. ·-"-"of-•-patriliny
. •··:-"•'u;··, .._-----:--..,
bu. .. . pg itio_[!.pfwomen
- - •-r,-·.,·· ... _
,.,. ..,•. ,.- - , ,-..- ...
_
is strong amongst them and it is they o om.mand
--:_---. .. • • - · • • • .. • • . . • -•.• , .•. ,
·-- ..•., ..... . - • -
t- · - - - • ·-•
180
Anthropology Papei 02 - Volume 03
the family. In North Eastern Him l ay a_ J hg ,Garos and the. Khasis are rpc1trilin e al people. All the members
get the mothe7hood a d claim descent from a cornmon female ancestor. 11 the M1kirs, children belong to
the father's clan and the sons inherit the property. They are genera l ly monogamous but-persons in power
can adopt po l ygamy. The_ Mizos are patriarcfoff and _it__is _a customary aw __that the_younge son - -!1h. ·.its
the property. The Dasama Kacharis fol l ow the rule o f para l lel descent, i.e., son descends orl"tfie father's··
u·r;-e and daughters on the mother's l ine.
Within the Middle Indian tribes, w e can see that the roots o f patri l iny are deep. The major:- tribes like the
Santkal, Munda, Oraon, Ho, Gond, Bhil, Kol, Kharia, Bhumij are all patrilocal, patrilineal, patriarchal,
patrinymic and are monogamous in general with nuc l ear families. 'fhe extend e d fami l ies ar e significantly
present among them. The powerf e!:5Jl1S""of e_ Ho. can _marry more th;n:u;>.n,<;,e . The minor tribes like .
..
the Birhor, Korwa, Pahariya - - ve aH the Ps with nuclear and monogamous family.
f
In Western India, the triba l a m ily which is patriarchal in nature sweeps over the area. The Bhils, the most
-populous tribe, fol l ow more or less complete Hindu law of succession and inheritance through their
·fathers.The family among the Minas, Mahadev Kolis, Varlis, Thakurs, Kothodis, Koli Mathars, Koli Dhors,
Dublas, Gamits, etc., is pitriarchal in hara,cter.
In South India, the tribes o f both patriarchal and·matriatchal family forms are in great number. Most of
•the:Kerala tribes had the sqme form o f family but now the patrilineal rule is foilm,ved. Tue Kl,i,ri. hsh! - ; ...
Kundu Vadians and Malayaurs are still Il_latrili eal. The Kadars, Irulas, Pu l iy ans show an inter!J1b ure 9.f _
dinatriarcJ1y,:. The Nicobarese are patriarcKar·-- . . .
= - , : _ ; : , sI E IP. i J
.. . - . , -
rt(,o; ft ,!<,i::,
_
Monogamous family with a nuc l ea r structure is the main feature of the Indian tribes. But the major tribes
hope, as their economy demanded or permitted, to have a good number o f joint as wel l as ext e nded
families. ·
Please refer the c?apter on Marriage for different ways of acquiring mates in tribal societies in India.
POLITICAL ORGANlZATION
The pofitical life of the tribes o f India reflects a paradoxica l situation in which democracy and monarchy
co-exists. Eve!:l hea ·? f a_ co munity at '=- : ; -.}! £1 "- YiJ.Lc!g_ ,"· '}, ,-- !: OfY j RE: e.E l.ly
honoured, obeyed ana accepted as the head PLtne· gro\le. m s office IS hered1tqry. The supreme and. final
authority is in the hands o f a singie person .. )'he Nagas of N<?r !_l- ast t!LII! @Y.-. :?-h y -: hi ftainship. hl:
entire population of a specific area, mqstly connneato'a-
villa _ o r a small__teu.itory.,cis. kiilff .aJo.gef.Ii :rJn
_·kinship, religion, natural social instinct, or. eco 2 rp. ! qr - Q i;;il . f.ti ities. Every -tribal individual has a
share in· the political ties o f the village and the region. The tribal leader governs the community only
g: c ,, 1.he·is backed by:the majority-or the whole o f the group.;J'h t! ·M- _!\d s of h:gJ g_pp\:el ct_thefr/:
li' _. ) he small wandering bands o f the Birhors_ o f Bihar- la:y·daim to.· distinct·tefritories, arid_ us
recognize the bond of a common,., ..homeland
, '•?JH.:;.,
and
.
are .governed by a headmen. The .for.est ·.
dwe11 [$_.like
.·, ..
. .
Juangs o f Orissa are also governed b y a' combination of secular and r ligious heads. The forest hunti g
types like Chenchus o f Andhra. P ; f; -i;ave--a-. le d r for ·eve·ry local group/ who. fui }qni-asrthe
sp-okesman-i -clealing wfrn'.'the o'iitsfaers:·rnitDaaai-elders
in Cochin arso- a c i manner. Among in"th -sam
th1!-Mal P rn:tatalfoi"or MalarP-afiaafifms--of Kerala the political control lies in the hands of a headman and
a council o f elders.
The tribes have clearly demarcated territorial boundaries. As a rule, the tribes -living i n small groups are
·united by kinship, marriage and frequent .individual contact, and with them it
. . l t to distinguish·
' is diffici.1 .
·'political affairs from domestic affairs.
-ii·':·'
- The tribal political associations are o f various kinds and· incorporate individuals, elders, families, a clan
group, a village, and a tribal territory. Still · they are mi ro political · in nature..- The simple tribal ·
communities o f India have their ownpolitical influences, which may spreadquite beyond the confines of
the small territory. There a r e political assoeiations based on clan ()f Hneage, political associations based
l .. . . . . . . . . . .. . .
on the village as unit-a'ndp fidcafassocfat16ns
.,
i ase'ffcfril
.. . -
er' t9_ry_
...... ,.... -;.,,·,.-- .. ·--. . .
._ .. .
... ·--·- ····· ......... --·-. . __
, ',
181
t .,,,.;.-
The'tribal village works actively a s a politieal unit. This mechanism functions through its officers who are
kno\.Vn by different designations a m o n g the various tribes under,Teview. In the minor tribes like the
Birhor, Juang, etc., the ordering o f the social, political and ritual relations o f the village is in the hands o f
one man. The Malers and the_ Kamars have Manjhi and Biga as their respective heads. But among major
tribes like the Santhal, Bhil, Munda etc., v.v,e find a diff rentiation o f function and a-µthority vested in two
heacrinen eacfr"w1th .thei --own fields_ o f interest ·ana· prescribed duties. A prJm.ary Qi_fferenti ti.911_ o f
ruiictTonspTits· viWage ..a'frairsfotO: secular anct sacred
"'
spheres o f activity with one h e a d m a n responsible.for
ea'c:htr.Among some tribes, this differe1ftfarion i's"'t\1rther emphasized by the appointment o f assistants to
help'.'f ch headman in the discharge o f his duties.
Most·of the tribes have a judicial machinery to deal with disputes, breaches o f pe_ace a n d social offences at
the village level, usually a village council o r assembly o f elders known as Panchayat Some settlements
like the Hill Kharia are so small that they do not have any organizations at the village level. Among the
Malers, tfie counc1r o f elders o f the village is presided over b y the Majhi and the Gorait acts as the public
prosecutor. Among the Mundas, Santhals, Hos, Oraons, Bhils, etc., each village has a Panchayat. Sexual
offe,r,i,es among them are dealt b y thei clan elders. In villages having only o n e clan, the clan elders
coincide with the village elders. In a village consisting o f many cla,ns, the population o f several villages
would be organized into clan units for purposes o f trial o f sex al off nces .
. ge community has some social control over its people. A m o n g all the tribes there are a number o f
negatiye sanctions that follow misconduct o r misdemeanour. Some actions evoke public disapproval in
many tribes like· the Santhal, Munda, H o , Gond, etc. While neglect o f famil_l,_,_,, uties .t d ,!>19JL,of
dependents, intermar iage within the village even when the parties belong to different clans, and
to entertain guests: give rise to gene'rarsocial di approval; such actions as repudiation o f
theft,' w11ful 'destruction o f o t h e i people's ·prope.rty and witchcraft and sorcery, not only
d1sapprovafbufattr·a'ct p;u"rrislimentb;/villagttaiitho:dties.
Another type o f the political association is the territory in which the tribal political affairs go farther. to
from a group o f villages or a territorial group and in some cases the tribe as a whole. Ex. Kumars, Gonds,
HO, Maler etc.
The evidence called for while deciding a criminal case is o f two kinds, either oath ·or ordeal. The oath and
ordeal serve as a means o f voluntary submission o f the accused to law. It is obeyed mainly because o f the
fear o f anger o f the Supreme Being. T h e punishment or award, generally a fine in cash o r in kind, or both,
depending upon the seriousness o f the crime, is embodied in the tribal law itself. This fine is generally
utilized for giving o f a communal feast o r a:5 an offering to the supernatural powers to appease them.
The characteristics- o f primitive l a w a n d justice are given in the chapter on Political Anthropology, Paper
0l;"i;V,&ilime 01.-
Theitraditional political field o f tribes is. ts.mfined to the institutipn_s like the COUJ!Cil o f illage elders,
vill ge headman, and village Panchayat and.so on. All these fhstitulions constituting a sing,le person o r a
gr<;>Up o f persons have interrelated, cr'oss-cutting fields where one surpasses t h e other 1vary ing from
situation to situation. These institutions are mainly o f five kinds.
1. The Council of Eiders, a temporary b o d y o f selected villagers, generally coincides with clan elders to
:'?o? into cases brought before them. Ex.:_!i!!fil!S, Lushais, Tharus, Kamars, Saoras, Koli Mahadevs,
konda Reddis, etc. . · · ·
*, ,.
2. ,[: e Village Headman, a hereditary post and.subjec·t to villagers' opinion i f a n d ·when required. :Ex.
·'"Tankhul NagJ!_s, Purums, Khasas, Munda, Santhal etc.
3. The Village Panchayat, a b o d y o f the panc.hs headed b y the village Headman. T h e panchs are elected
b y the villagers directly. Ex. A o Nagas, .Khasa, Mundas, Oraons, Hos and Kharias.
182.
4. The Union of Villages, a regiona:l Panchayat headed by the regional head. Ex. The Pargana
Panchayat among the Santhals, Mundas, Oraons, Kharia, etc.
5. The Tribal Chief, a hereditary post of supreme judicial authority at the tribal level. Ex. Khasi, Lushai,
Konyak etc.
Tribal Leaders: The tribal life is an interwoven network of its different facets. As in social, economic,
cultural, ritual and development spheres, a tribal community does not stand alone all by itself, so in the
ream <Sf politics too, it forges a close relationship among the tribal people This clearly reveals a need for a
variety of tribal leaders to meet the diverse requirements of all dimensions o f a tribal life. A typological
analysis of the tribal leaders is given hereunder.
On the basis of social position leaders have been classified as:
1. Formal Leaders: These are such tribal or non-tribal individuals w h o hold position in the formal
hierarchy or organization, or hold some kind of formal designation and enjoy the privilege ·of
leadership because o f thefr position; )'.hese leaders include the traditional and institutional religious
· leaders. .· ' · : ' ,._ : ··
2. Informal Leaders: These are those who .are not associated with any type of formal hierarchy or
organizadon nor hold any kirid o f forrtial designation and yet have influence over the• people o r 'people
come to them as they possess some leadership qualities. This category may also include such persons
as those who might have held some position in a formal organization or held some designation,, but
are now leading a retired peaceful life.
3. · Exploiter Leaders: These are those leaders who had once been exploiters o f the tribes or are still so
in some measure, like the ex-landlords and Mahajans or Money-lenders. These leaders, because of
their privileged position, were in a position to win the following of the tribes. Though the Mahajans
and landlords are said to have exploited the tribes for a long time; they have also been helpful to them
in times of dire needs and guided them in many matters.
Depending on the function they perform, the tribal leaders can be classifi e d into Traditional and Modern
leaders. · ·
1. Traditional Leaders: These are those who have been operating in the traditional social structure,
standing for the old traditional values and institutions arid satisfying various traditional needs o f the
tradition-oriented tribal society. There are mostly associated with the villc1.ge institutions.
2. Modern Leaders: Th.ese are those leaders who operate in the new ·social structure in free lndfa.
associated with the newly introduced associations, institutions or.,organizations, who tahd.for:rtew
.·,<\
. innovation and ideas in their society. The.y thus satisfy the needs of the modern social S)fstem.
,r + ·, --
RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION
. . .
According to L.P. Vidyarthi, tribal India is practically b y religion a Hindu. It is well known t h a t Hfnduism .
is a· product of inany cultures. Every kind o f religious act, from the sacrifice o f the Vedic Aryans to the
. rituals o f primitive people, can be observed in the main body of Hindu religion. The statistical treatment
o f religion in the Census o f India· presents a very clear pictu_re of the religions o f tribal India, The tribal
ha ,e reported altogether 59. re.ligions i n which they believe Only one a n d a half lakh tribes,· wh.kh
constitute hanUy, half a per"cent o f the tribes, h a y e t;ither an·in:definfre: h,elief u c h a v e ·not stated their
religion.- Ariiiie ..tenth majority or'the tribes are Hindu (89.40%)by religion and a small fraction ofthem,
thafis, 5.53% profess Christianity. A n d a very negligible percentage. believes in Buddhism (0.89%):'Isfarn
(0.21%), Jainism, Sikhism, and Zoroastrianism (all three together. 0.34%). Abo(lt 4.19% o f the tribes
·claim to have a distinct tribal o.r· Adiv sr religion o f their:- own; n mberirig all togeth1fr 52 ·and a half of
these tribal religions are named after the res·pective tribes.
,.
_
....... ....
C·,.
,
183
· \
The region-wise distribution suggests th'qt Hindus are found in all the four regions excepting the isle
portion of South India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Laksh-adweep, which are far from the mainland.
Almost ninety-nine percent of the tribes of Western India (Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra), South
India (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu) and middle India (Madhya Pradesh) are IQ_nd s. In
Orissa, West Bengal and Kerala States, the strength of Hindu tribes is more than 9 0 percent Tribes in
most parts of western and central regions, including Bihar and parts of Tripura in the· north eastern
Himalayan regi_on have also embraced Hinduism. <;_ j_ tians are found among the tciJL JIL8. m ,. _,__
M '.ghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram area of north eastern Himalaya and constitute slightly less
th,fn fifty per cent o f the tribal population o f the region. In south India, particularly in Kerala, they are
4.75% of the tribal population whereas in Andaman and Nicobar Islands 74.31 % o f th f!9t?..J!_r:e
Christians and are scarcely scattered in rest o f the country. Buddhists among the tribes are concentrated
in·some-parts o f Assam, Tripura, West Bengal and Himachal Prade5-Jl. Muslims are there in the tribes of
La._k_s_ adweep, Hirii fr:lfal Prad"e"sh, West.Bengal and Maffarashfra: - -
Na_ture of Beliefs in Supernatural Powers:
1.<'Aniri1ifrt1:)F61Iowed
. -, ·.·,:· •... :·- :;f by Santhal,Murtcfa;
· . , ·. . . .' :-
·.- _ ... -·:·;· .
..
draC
·' . n}
l Birhor, Chenchu, Korwas, Mikirs, Bhills etc.
·. - ,;
ZJ :f -ifu. - i -03 JFoll 'w' cf r 'J:I6tf4.#qcffi aWr 7

••
i ·: ; -r. ifa V __..t M undas, Ho, Malers, Santhals, B{ Pt /r.9 - oya k.

. . .., . .
4. iliote-fui;;ut
...
. ·'. •.:,:,.. _ ---- Hos Mundas, Orcions; 13h fffa and c,;1tl"s1etc .
. ·, '; -. .
5. wa,-glcT,Jras ':J<:ijqrj'dsfI<qrwa ,.Kc1 c1rs}paniyans, Khasas, Nagas.

fr An:qestqt.\¾t:)r hip: : N gas;:MJzo.s;;,fylalers ,-Tharus, Gadabas, Garos, Karja, Maria Gonds, Karriar, Buills,
Todas Saoras etc. · - - . . - - .- - -
7. Polytheism:· Follow(;!d by·Mmglas Sc:1.oi-a, etc.

ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION
Amongst the tribes o f India we can find more or less all the economic activities that are found elsewhere
in the world. Details about individual production system are discussed in the chapter on Economic
Anthropology in Paper 1. Here the classification and important tribes practicing a ·particular economic
activity is discussed.
1. Hunting and Food Gathering: This means of economic production is disappearing in India today as a
·. consequence of increase in transport and communicatiqri and also· because o f access to new and
fiadvanced technologies. Very few tribes in India are still dependent on this type of e<;ollomic actiyjty
. today. The people dependent on tqi ,JYpe of production usually_ earn their livelrhood through
:-collection of minor forest produces like honey, fruits a_ud1-ed l
-4 .ib e roots.
They also hunt animals,·for ,, ' .
,'Jood. Important tribes depending on this system arethe· Kadc.1r, P n,

• t - . · . . . · ::....t ..a:,R
l l and Kuru; ba of eral ,

_ Chenchu and Yanadi o f Andhra Pradesh, the Birhor and Kharia of-Bihar, Kamar, Baigc1 and AbhuJmana
_ o f Madhya Pradesh, Koya and Kon·ta-reddi o f Tamil Nadu and R:atkan of.Maha t . in the Andaman
Island, the tribes o f Onge and Jan,va,- C>. p_ractice .hu ti g.and_g tb; ip oduction. - .
'••. --· •0.,:.-• .,•-• •••••••••• 0•••"
' ---- -·M
of
p,•
2.-;;; hifti g Cultivation: Also called as Slash"_and Burn agriculture, i t is practiced in the hilly areas
.·+_North Ea-st, ·Orissa,--Madhya Prades_h Biliaf. ai'i'ct'i:O:-sofn"etex ntin_9tl)E!rp rts o f th_e counti';. Shi iI1g
·. \:: ultivation, is known· as:
j h u n i among t :th :fribes' of:As 1ril;-:rv{ gh mya, ?- ·Miz?T E1 and trlP..'!•!:
· ,·.'fJ\runachal Pradesh. It is known
b y the name o f Bewar or""Dahya in thetribes o f Madhya Pradesh and
P o d u i f f-A rrdh ra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. In Nor'ffiorissa, tli'isl:ype o f cultivation .is known a s Koman
or Bringar fome major tribes in India who practice shifting cultivation are L o h ta Angami Naga, Khasi
and Kuki o f North East, Asura o f Bihar, Saora and Juang o f brissa, Baiga and God o f Madhya Pradesh
. and Korwa o f Uttar Pradesh. ·
184
3. Pastoralism: Tribes who are pastgrp).. in their economy usually lead a sedenta,ry ___fe, unlike theii-
hunting and gathering counterparts .. Even though there is a seasonal- migration:c>f the tribes following
this type o f economic activity, especially amongst the highlanders who migrate during seV; re winters,
we can more or less say that most o f the pastoral tribes in India lead a settled life The most
important example o f pastoral tribe in India is the Toda _of N_ilgiri Hills o f TaJllil. adu. The Todas
exchange the rmlk. and milk products o f their buffaloes with other people _in_ ..e.x h.c! g _fqr ot er
necessitiesoflife. .,._,. Other exampie-s-aretiie·"t'.-i1]firs·0Tifonachal
'----------" ,.________ ' . . . Pradesh; Bhoti . .
-----..f,..-,-o f Uttaranchal. The
. ..former
··--· are cattle breeders while the latter also breed yak for their
-· wool.
-""--·--··- ........ - ·•
4. · Agriculture: The tribes who have adopted settled agriculture are the Mizos o f M.! oram and Apatanis_
o(Arunachal Pradesh. Both the tribes cultivate rice_which happens to be their staple food. Where the
·'topography d o e s not permit cultivation on plain T; ds, they practice !errace cultiv t on. Other tribes
who practice agriculture are the anth l, 0..:!9 n and Ji. _.?f Bihar and Bengal, T . r,1umd K.qr - tQI.Uttar
Pradesh, Gond, Bhil and Bilala o f Madhya Pradesh, Saora o f Orissc1 and Badaga o f Tamil Nadu.
_ _ _ _ _ ,...... _ h ____ • •
_.,.,..,..
,._,.... - · •••. • • • • • - - . ., , ; - . . . . - : : ·
• •
s; Artisan Activities: None of the tribes live completely by artisan activities but most o f them take itas
·,,their s on f . .Q -I_l, !gn. In factiri,pst of the tribes in India have one or the other expertise'.ih
llandicrafts. Saoras of Orissa are famous for their metal works, weaving and pottery. Korwas and
:·- g ·rias .w ll - ,, : " theirjrcm work pro. - t_9._9.Ji,:The kn wn theTf. g 1 i.s,,, ie Pfr
. Jorn fibre_ tissties. of , anifil' ls:··,,."TltcftJ!]:'.:.m1i.tre faJJllt.Yre, ho 5. _ <:> J _. - i,lsr., _b l< t ,'. · -u f al
;i rl}m ,nts and ropes. and mats. T e Iruh s are known for their bamboo _tnats and baskets. The
·_: f6f,t rriit,Naf!E;.Ar .- Jfi i. !1 JJ S l)1f Iif. 1.g.f fii. i!: tt ·_·Mqsl'·orth,e-lriJ>es_ o·t,Nortlf'·E· ·st_ !¼re
expert we. Y. r .PfJ;lqth. The M_arias and Muria Gonds of Chattisg r J:1_are known for.the famed Bc:1!itar
' E!1.t _al)c:,i gys ? f c1ai a :n1 r 1nlsare
f
a mo us their cotton produc;ts. ....\'",-. 'io
I
Ii
.I
: , . .. ..
. ·,
185
.:.,.:., __,·:
6.2 Probl.ems of Tribal Communities.

T h e tribal populatiorr o f India, from times unknown, has been living in isolation. They have developed
their own mechanisms o f survival and distinctive patterns of social, economic, political and cultural
organizations. Owing. to urb, f!!?- ti<m . ,UJg _in.4 $tr_i_ E _!JQ 9f I g.tc1,., h government, both before and
after independenCe·,--·has heen compelled to break this isolation. This abrupt juxtaposition between the
modern and western industrial society with the primitive small-scale society has led to numerous
problems for the tribes.
A l o n g with these, the developmental policies o f the government have been responsible for the
displac ment of the tri6es:·'f1ie Toresf"1i0Hcy.. has beeri
dTrectiy·responsiole fo'rthe displacement o f n o t
o'ii{y'tli'e tribal e·co"riomyb u t also the tribal conceptio·ri ·ofman::natiire·r·elatfonship. ·111 addition, along" with''
theTr16al areas, tfie·rurarcifeasofffie· riaff<in a"re.sufferingiroriiSodo:cuitu'rala-nd'
economic disturbances
d u e to the ongoing tides o f urbanization and industrialization
land Alienation
. . :. -.
Land- is he.main s y o f the t_ribes and.mpre than 900 o f them are dependent on agriculture and allied
act,iv&tf 'T;beir_ ec(?nomy is:primarily agro-based. Land.is the only tangiblg_£!sset_Q.f..9-_ tribal family._J..rLbes:··
Jle.Y, M !:!;. !!!- ! L<?.!1:al a tt.a rn ent !g_ la_ _g Y. 'Yith t e.: P.. niniMR-.,QL!h'. !!: .b- l .. X - ?_,tlle rib.ell lc1nd is
b e i n g aliena ea t o the .J]()n- ·ttib s: A.ccord_ing:fo · he..i9s1 census,_ there is a sharp decrease in t h e )
percenTagi(oftrioalruffivators-:-'lfnas come down from 68:18% in 1961 to 54.43 in 1981. Consequently, a
large number o f tribal cultivators have been rendered landJess laborers. T h e agricultural laborers have
increased froin 19.71 % in 1961 to 32.67% in l 981 Decrease in the number o f cultivators and increase in
the landless laborers is_ indic?tive Qf.J.b.e_ disturbingtreildoJ-far@:]l1enatfoii-·tli'e- foddence··--orTana·
"'---
alienatfrm varies from State to State. According to the Sample Survey conducted b y the Department o f
Rural Development in 1988, about 30 to 55% o f the tribal households have been affected b y land
alienation. It also shows that about 80%·ofland w a s alienated to the non-tribes.
Another tendency highlighted b y the Survey was that in certain areas, altJloMmJhe . .trtbes_ are _the !Jffjs;j l
- - FS o f the nd, t h e n_gn-t ibes hav J>_efotne its virtual owners. ,T e gtpJik!!!l Y !Y, te_ i!,1. . -!. L .
- _abadand Kisanganj Tehsils o f Kota Disfrictin_ I § a s t h a n and Nilgi __Q}_strict o f ..
E. -?.f:. !- esh,
Tamil_t{ 9u. In these areas lands belonging to Scheduled Tribes are under unauthorized.Q!,:_ Etion o f t h -
:on
non -tri?es. Si ilar pr ctices also prevaH in severa,lother places. The Government o f Kerala has. !l ted
.¥.
"_T:l! J{ mi# Sd1 -i[ribes (Re- lriclio·ri ti:a;g§f r, of ,lan,ct a- a }9 en_lli.d.f: dsJ t_t-;
1_975.a
f r h s be ri',i)f
. ib.Unto.Jo'r.ce.wiih.effectJio ,.. · , _ l(.a.n:· .J.l.C<l W n . _roug t i n ' f a n u a r y 198
A s ' 'r esuit; 'fa.'1i e areas o f the tribal land alienated to the non-tribes pri /t lanuary'T§s2·have nofbe·en
restorellfothe· tdb, s.
In J-\n :- ra _Pradesh, the _S_t t . Gove,rnment. as issued a regulationJn_own as ;A..ri hf. .tnitl, s11,$#1 : "f . _:/
·. Are·as\t - d 'Transfer·Regulati_on,) 959" · Under Section 3 of" tfie\ibove Regulation, any,, transfer o f
im o able 'p.roperty he.Id h y a tribal shall be absolutely null and v o i d unless such transfer is m a d e in
favor o f a person who is a m e m b e r o f a -Scheduled Tribe or a Society registered under the Andhra Pradesh·
Co-operative Society's Act which is solely composed o f members o f Scheduled Tribes. Where the transfer.
o f immovable properties is m a d e in contravention o f the -above provisions, the competent officer m a y on
applic tion and even suo m o t o decree eviction against any person in possession o f such property. The
Go'ver(iment o f Andhni Pradesh, however, vide their GO Ms No. 129-:-Social Welfare dated 12th August;·
1919··'i>i-cterect that·an the non-tribes whof are·in·'occu·p r 1 nds;in.t11e ·sctrci i;ct A-;miif q·:s.-:a.:cies ·----- .
. o f . e :-§r.'_ o,- ac --. t !Y:i I ---}hau1c -not"h e ivicteff-rrnaer :ilie··iifo\,isio·nsof
· tne An !?.: .. Er. .9 $. h
. Scheduled Areas_L nd.Trarisfer Regula'tion -I959.The-Higli'courfoTAncthff
f P raaesfi]i"a i'.'st'ruckdown.the .. c ..
·s·ara·Gover 1i merit or a-eY vrne ·th efr ordercfiitec i i ' 9.19 s-1:···--- -- : - - ·-··- _______..,_ · ·
I n order tcuieaLw.ith.th.e._P-rn.l?l m ofland alienation to the non-tribes, laws have een e11a ted i n a l l the__ _.
States. Des2ite -Jarid- alienation l ; s the tribal land continues to be alienated to--the tribes this.t:'rend - ncfo.:
bears· te"stfniony-to'tifo"·app°re'heiisfa"ns
"ofthe"'fivo'Sub-
.
,-;.·
Committees - heC n;t-it - -t A se bly, viz., the
186
Sub-Committee on North East ",,,._,._.. au, Jriba.l nd Excluct d,At: as and the Sub-Committee on
Excluded and rt_iifiy--i:C:Ii ded Areas. The first Committee had obse d t h a t "as the tribal people
stroulcfhave the lafgest i:icsslb le measures o f protection for their land, t>.rnvisLo,ns hould be _rnad_e fo_r the.
control o f migration into t h * areas for agricuftural or non-ag.ricultur l_pufR()_ _e?. '. 'fl}e Sub Committee. on
Excluae·d ·ancfPa-rdafiy Excluded Areas (other-than-Ass:am). has stressed that "in view o f the increased
pressure on land every where, alienation of any kind of tribal land even to other tribes, may have to be
prohibited or severely restricted in different stages o f advancement". The _ observations and
recommendations o f both the Sub-Committees of the Constituent Assembly have been incorporated in the
provisions of the Fifth and the Sixth Schedules of the Constitution.
Under_ the Fifth _Scl1edule, th Governor o f a _Stat having Scheduled areas has b en vested with special
RQW ri:.: f" aking ,r gµlations for prot_ection of the tribal interests in land. In thG -i- th_ }:l- _ci1:1,If the
District A\=1.fonorr1ou$ Council. h.as ..also been _givcm powers o f protection o f the)µterests.
-- of the· tribes fo
1aria · ·
Historical Perspective of the Problem
In ancient periq_cl _c1. !P.. . \'\' -Ld. -ifi L f l}_t_h t rrJtQr_y_a_n.d V: !} __g y· --i _J): - JoJ:he_geo.graphicaLai:ea
under its occupation and control. T µ e community sub .! ed on foo.9:_g_ t erfr1.g and· hunting in· the ·arE:ff
undcfr;:fos command. Even now several tribal groups follow such practice As the pressure_o_ri -popfrlation- ,
gi'l!W1n'rcttlre-people acquired new skills o f agriculture, tribes cleared the forests a n d brought land' under
cult!y tio,n-The individual tr:U?_a,.!_consJ£! r q _i111 elf th owner o f the land he occupied b y virtueofliTs
t d tiorial association and_his persona efforts in making it cultivable.
In the past, an average tribal family had a fair size of land-holding which supported it even with primitive
methods o f cultivation. It is not so .now. The increasing pressure o f population on land, particularly from
the advanced section o f society, has forced the tribes to leave their land. Till the first half o f the present
century lienation o f land did not create a serious problem for the tribes as even b y then the forests were
still plentiful. The need for additional land was met by clearing. o f the forests.
,
The tribal areas remained for a long time outside the land management system· because o f their
II'_
inaccessibility. Tribal communities dev loped their own traditional system.of land manage[lJent. The land ,_
ownership among the tribes broadly feii under three categories namely, (i) .community land, (ii) land -,,
belonging to clans· and (iii) individual holdings. The British had introduced three mai systems o f la d _
' revenues in the territories an.nexed b y them viz., Zamin.dari, Mahalwari and Ryotwari, Some o f the triba,l_
'
areas were also covered by these systems. However, the policy o f treating the tribal areas as Excluded .or
Partially Excluded·areas helped to -preserve the traditional land management system. Many o f the tribal
areas were parts o f the Indian Princely States. These states had no_ uniform land tenure system. Some,
continued with the traditional managemen_t-system, others developed thei own systemanc,lther , re_
states which adopted some o f the n e w SY;Stems prevalent in British India 1
tr'*'
The system o f maintaining land records afso va·ried considerably. In some states the- ti;;ibal a_reas:werf!
covered' b y regular settlement op rations, in some rough records were prepared qn the basis of•'
individual estimates ·without detailed survey and in some_ others, a system. o f _revenue. based on the.
number of ploughs or family units- w a s introduced as a criterion for determining t h e quantum -o f land
utilized. Nevertheless, ·the tribes continued to clear the forestland for agriculture -and there was a
conslderable-divergence between the records maintained by the _authority and t h e actual holdings. I:nJhe.
abse ce:of a regular land settle_ment system or up to date record o f l,and tights, the tribes were a u h e '
mercy,:of the petty revenue officers, Forest Departments :and th_e landlords . .
One sigriificant consequence o f the unsatisfactory state ofland records was that the tribal was not legally
recognized as -an own r o f the land h e cultivated arid he could simply occupy jt t(ll a superior ,daim ·got
enforced. Since the new legal system gradually superseded th"e traditional system, the tribaf as an
individual was unable to stand the continuing.·pressure o f ,outsiders. Th_e·,extent o f land ownership
actually recorded in favor o f the tribal cultivators in a settlemellt operation d pendeq largely on the
knowledge or sensitivity of the officer rewonsible for operation o f the tribal land owning system.
• 1·--:;.·,
187
With the introduction of commercial orientation of land as a resource, there was a substantial increase in
the pressure on tribal land. ,Opening of the tribal areas in the wake of developmental processes and
setting up of various irrigation, power, industrial and mining projects, brought in the problem of land
alienation. Due to illiteracy and poverty, the tribes could not take advantage of the legal i·emedies.
Grabbing of the tribal land coupled with their exploitation by zamindars, contractors and middlemen
caused widespread unrest among the tribes which manifested in a _series of tribal revolts during the 19th
Century. Consequently, the, British introduced a series of protective measures. These were (1}
reco.gnition'of community ownership of land in some cases, and (ii} adoption of suitable land laws and
regufations, particularly, for the Agency areas and Excluded and Partially Excluded areas which
prohibited transfer of land from the tribes to the non-tribes. In some cases, as in Se.nthal Parganas,
transfer could be made only in favor of a person who already held land in the village, which prevented a
possibility of migrants acquiring land. hi some princely States like Bastar and Agency areas, the migrants,
particularly the officials, were prohi_bited from acquiring land in the tribal areas. In areas where
considerable tribal lands had already been alienated to the non-tribes, right of preemption was
introduced so that the process could be reversed even though partially.
In -the·. post-Independence period he reorg1anization of the Stites, qnd scheduling of the areas had far--
rea.Ghing implications_ ori._not
the tribal land. Many predominantly tribal areas. which had remained outside.
the ,$,tjj.ed\Ile{d. ar as did get he _benefit of protective land-laws-for quite. sometime. With the opening,,"
up of the tribal areas particularly for development activities ihe pressure of migrant population on them
increased. Apart frorn -alienation o f the tribal land to the non-tribes, its acquisition for various public and
private purposes has also been allowed.
The problem of land alienation in the states has been of varying degrees. Various studies conducted have
indicated that land alienation affected about 30 to 55% of the tribal households. The incidents of land
alienation is more in are s which are rich in mineral and other natural resources and where there are
possibilities-of iµcreased agricuitural production.
.
Causes and Methods of Land Alienation
A sizeable area of the tribal -land has .been alienated on account of the indebtedness, lacunae in the land
laws and its acquisition for public purposes by the Government arid other institutions. Some of the other
factors are encroachment and forcible eviction of the tribes from their land. The general methods of
alienation have· been .through sale, mortgage, lease .benami trai,sfers, collusive decrees and fraudulent
methods of "land grabbing. Ther·e have been many cases where the land has been taken in lieu of the
money loaned, Such land transfers have been effected in the form of mortgage, share cropping, marriage
with a tribal woman, in the name of a tribal farm servant, adQption of a non.;tribal by a ribal etc. In many
case Jhe tribes have not only been dispossessed o f thefr land but they are forced to work as agricultural
labo rs on,,their own land .. In some other cases the non-tribes created fictitious documents or
manipulated the sale-deeds to show that l:!)e sale took place prior to protective_ provisions' of the land
law 1l>ecarrie operative. Cases have also b'een noticed where -s.trt.Id,!=Ures such as houses, fa tories were
built on a part of the tribal land to circumvent the provisions of the land laws.
Apart from. alienation of land to privat persons, substantial tribal _land has .been acquired by the
Government for various developmental projects such as setting up of major as well as medium irrigation,
po\l\f ; .industrial.and other· projects. Studies have indicated that the payment of compensation· and;-
reh b.ilitation has been far from· satisfactory where the Government has acquired the land. for public
purp 'ses There .have been -lar,ge nuqiber.ofca$es\.yhere the tribes ave nofreceived any compensation
"follqy;ing acquisition of land by the ·Goveriunent ven."in case where comp nsati n was g1veri, a large i
portion of tlre same was frittered away b y the recipients instead of investing it for productive purposes.
Due to increasing pres ure of population coupled with alienation of land, the size of land-holdings in
tribal_ areas has been r uced in va.rying degrees from place to place. Though the overall size of a tribc;tl
·holding m y be either qual or slightly larger than the· national average, the average incom from such a
holding is very small. This is mainly because the lands.left with the tribes are mostly infertile and cannot
188
be put to remunerative cultivation,. Ap )ysis of the census data in respect o f occupational-classification

shows that the tribal communities l1ave been gradually loosing land in most 1 states. It has resulted in the
fall in the number of tribai cultivators and rise in the number of agricultural laborers as well as other
categories o f workers. The 1981 census shows a marginal increase in the number o f tribal cultivators .in
some states. It may be due to fragmentation or sub-division o f holding$ rather than declining trend of
and alienation. In some states, there has been a phenomenal increase in the number o f "other workers".
This is accounted for b y a large number o f cultivators displaced from their land for various reasons but
largely due to acquisition o f their land for public projects. In some of the advanced areas particularly near
th municipal towns, urban conglomerations, big development projects etc. the tribes have been rendered
almost completely landless. The analysis also indicates migration of the tribal laborers to other areas due
to the depletion o f land resource base and the lack ofemployment opportunities in their own areas.
Deficiencies in Laws & Remedial Measures
Land alienation has been caused either due to inadequate legal provisions or lack o f implementation o f
the existing legal provisions. Some o f the inadequacies noticed in various land laws are as follows:
1 . ·In some states legal provi ions'ar{ pplicable only tp Scheduled Tribes living in Scheduled·Areas or
Notified Areas and do not apply to the tribes living outside thE! e areas; In Maharashtra and Biharthe
,:·, -laws are applicable to Scheduled Areas and in Assam to the tribal belts·ortly and notto other ar·east\
2. · The.re is a wide disparity in the application of limitation period. In states like Rajasthan, Andhra
Pradesh and Tripura a general limitation petiod o f 12 years is allowed in. cases o f alienation o f the
tribal land. It is found inadequate and may be increased to 50 years as is done in some states like
Orissa.
3. Absence o f provision for initiating suo moto action by the administrative authorities for de.tection and
restoration o f the ·alienated land without waiting for the tribal owner to take initiative in the matter is
also responsible for slow detect on f such cases. Provision for suo moto action exists in some states
like Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
4. For the purposes o f land alienation the law of evidence may be suitably amended to give· primacy ·to
oral evidence over the documentary evidence.
S. In Scheduled Areas it should be the responsibility o f the non-tribes· to prove that the land had been
acquired in accordance with the provisions o f the law as in Madhya -Pradesh, ·Orissa and Andhra.
Pradesh. · · .· · ·
6. The term"transfer" should be compre ensive as to includ illegal and:ben sfers ofland.
7. No tribal sho·uld be aUovJed to transfer, surrender or abandon ownership or interest in his iinmoJ ble ·
· property in favor o f a non-tril:ia1 S,,ue;h a provision already exists in the states o f Madhya.Pradesh,
,_. Orissa, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. .
8. The state laws. should be reviewed to restrict the judicial intervention at the High Courts level. There
shoul be a pr(?vision in order to curtail ·the period o f litigation· that no stay order could ·be brought by
a hi_gher court against the order o f a lower court restoring:the.Jandto tribalholders. The number of
.' appeals should be restricted to one only The jurisdiction o f Civil Courts over the tribal land should be
:i ·barred, where it has not already been so done. ·
9. The state laws have no provision tcfdeal with case ofo.ccupatiollcithe tribal landthrough deteit,_ nd
, ' force. Such cases are generally dealt with -under ·the provisions of the Indian -Penal Code which4s:a
time taking process. Executive courts maybe set up on the pattern o f provisions made iu·the Bonded
Labor Abolition. Act, 19.76 an·d empowered to try su.chcases.Purtitive provisions should be made for
dealing with those found uilty. Provisio_n m y also be nia4e for summary eviction o f those who have
taken possession of tribal land. Repeated offend'ers may b booked urider preventive detention laws. . .
189
10. The state laws do not prescribe any tim'.e limit within which the order o f the competent authority to
restore the land to the tribes should be enforc d. Many ordersthus remain unexecuted for a long time
and it defeats the purpose for which they were issued. Specific time limit not exceeding 3 months may
be fixed for restoration o f land to the t ibes. The responsibility of the execution o f such orders may be
specifically assigned to the District Collector or to any other specified officer.
11. Some states do not have clear provisions in their laws to deal with cases where pucca and substantial
structures have been erected on the alienated land prior to their restoration to the tribal owners. The
loophole provides further opportunities to the transferee to move other criminal and civil courts for·
preventing demolition o f structures. In order to prevent such unnecessary litigation, laws should be
e_pacted which would provide demolition o f such structures if they are not substantial or for taking
·th'em over by the Government or, nominal compensation to be fixed by the court if they are
substantial. No separate order for demolition would be necessary and no court should entertain
proceedings on this ground.
12. P. some states laws pertaining to protection of tribal land from alienation are conflicting and
ntradictory. The norJ.-tribes have taken ad-vantage of the la.CU!l,a to validate their claims to the tribal
) 4. Si!, h in.co gruo'-:{s ·provi_si ·ns. a e often allowe to prevail b y courts also. It may, therefore, be
$:p, c:ificaliy provided b y each .state that the protectionist· p'rovisions relating to tribal interest in land
wt>uld prevail over any provision to the contrary in any other law in force.
·13. In tribal areas, in case o f dispute about ownership of land between a tribal and a non: tribal, it should
·a1ways be presumed that the.land belongs to the tribal unless proved otherwise. The proof should be
provided by the non-tribal. In such cases the law should provide for summary disposal o f cases by
mobile courts and the action to restore land should follow immediately after the issue of the order. In
·case of appeai or revision being filed, the disputed land, until disposal o f the case, should remain in
possession o f the Go ernment who would be competent to lease it out to the tribal. No stay order
should be passed by any higher court against the restoration of land to the tribal owner.
14. No provision exists at present to regulate transfer ofland from tribes to tribes. In order to protect the
interest o f the poor tribes it is necessary to have some provisions to regulate intra-tribal transfer of
land also.
15. The_ protective proyisions have been relaxed in respect of tribal lands mortgagei to Scheduled Banks
and :financial institutions. This has been done with a view _to· extend credit facilities to the tribal
landowners for developme11t purp.oses. In the ·event of _non-payment o f a loan advanced to a· tribal
landowner, the financial institution has the powe·r to dispose of his land to realize the dues. Thus the
tribal land is ultimately alienated in many cases to the non-tribes. It is, therefore, necessary to make
·p11pvisions (or restricting transfer ofsuch lan·d t o the tribes only. In case no tribal comes forward to
buy such land, the Government may pµx<;l!as the land and allot it to the landless tribes. J
•. .• ,.
'.'. tJ'r
. . y
16. J}' $pite provisions against transfer of tribal land to the ihoil-tribes, the r gistering·, authorities'
co'ntinue tn register documents of transfer o f such land without verification o f the lanct record. In
order to ensure that the protective provisions pertaining_ to alienation o f tribal land are not violated,
·Indian Registration A c t needs to, be amended -to provide for verification o f the land records by the
rP«:ri<:1 Priina authority in the State before registering any land transfer QQCUment.
r
. 17. states have provided for transfer of tribal land to the non"'.'.tribes with the per.mission of the
LOlltector. This power is-often.ext:rdsed by subordinate·officers.-011 behalf o f the Collector, and it·h3.s
. mi:sm;ect b y both t o legitimize tribal land alienatio.n. Therefore, no authority should be permitted·
to authorize transfer o f the tribal land.to the non-tribes. In ca e o f distress sale o f the tribal land, the
Governm nt_ should purchase it at fair__price and distribute it among the landless tribe$. There is such
provision in West Bengal. ·
190
18. There is no prov1s10n in the state\ aws that empower State Government to remove doubts and
difficulties in the implementation of the protectjye laws. General provisions may be made
empowering the states.to issue guidelines for implementation of the protective provisions.
19. There is no provision for a state being made a compulsory.party in all proceedings involving tribal
land in any state laws. The tribal due to poverty is not able to fight long-drawn litigation. In such cases
the State should be made a compulsory party so that the Government pleader could defend the tribal
interest This is the most effective way of defending tribal interests and should be provided in all the
state laws.
20. Protective provisions should be made where they do not already exist, as for example, in Tamil Nadu.
In case o f Karnataka, the protective land laws apply only to the land assigned by the State
Government to the land.:.}ess tribes. It should be extended to cover all tribal lands. In case of Kerala
though the protective law was enacted in 1975, it has been made applicable from 1982 only. This has
adversely affected the tribal interest. It should he made effective from the date o f enactment.
r
21. In. Scheduled Areas right o f pre-empJjqn should be given to .the tribes to purchase the land of a f on-
. ..
· ': ,,... .t . . . . .:
·
.
·
tribal if the latter wishes. to. dispose it and restriction be placed on persons from outside the district
fr_oni acquiring such land. Provisions for· Government purchasing such land f o r distribution m a y be
, made:
Adfuiiiistrative and Socio Economic Measures
. . ' . - .
The tribal community and its traditional institutions like triba·l panchayats exercise an enormous social
and moral authority over its members and these should be effectively involved for protection of the tribal
interests in land. This is significant because even the powers conferred on some officers to initiate suo
inoto action have not led to the detection o f all the cases oftribal land alienation or their restoration. The
tribal organizations and institutions therefore may be assigned the responsibility of:
• Entertaining the complaints o f alienation of the tribal land;
• Making suo moto enquires_ into the complaints;
• Settling (lisputes·by mobilizing community pressure or through courts .
Massive programs may be taken up for:
• Creating awareness among the tribal masses about the protectionists ·provisions
· and methods·of
,
seeking legal relief;
• . Training o f educated youths who would help the affected tribal-masses in obtaining restoratio:n,;of
their land; ;
•I'
• .:, Mobilizing the tribal· communi ty and its institutions for detection o f alienated land and its
restoration;
• Creating consciousness among the tribal masses o f their exploitation, encouraging them to
organize themselves <i,nto pressure groups,: who could assert their rights, provide evidentiary
support i n court cases, keep the enforcement machinery alert and the· non-tribal transfelfees
under check; and
!
I Reor anization of the. traditional tribal .-institiiti Iis· in.to development institutions for cr dit,
extension etc.
• Survey, settlement and updating o f the land retords to be co pleted within ·a tiJ.Ueframe .
• Special Courts with summary procedures should be set up for disposal o f land alienation cases .
A Central model law to provide protection· t_o tribal interest in land should be enacted by the Government
o f India. The aggrieved tribal party should be allowed to 1:!ek redressal of its grievances either under the
State law or the proposed central law. Steps should also be taken for plugging the loopholes in the
existing land laws so as to prevent further land alienation. The problem of land alienation is closely linked
with lack of credit facilities. It has been observed that most o f the tribal land has passed out of tribal
hands due to indebtedness. Unless the tribes are provided easy credit and loan facilities, their lands will
continue to be lost to the non-tribes. Effective protection for the tribal land calls for viable alternative to
priv<:1te money-lenders. Protective land laws coupled with easy availability or" loan facility through
Gov: rnment financial institutions would effectively protect the tribal interests in land.
)
Pott,crty and Indebtedness

The indebtedness among the tribes .is a symptom of economic, malaise. At the household level it is
indicative of poverty, of an imbalance between income and minimum consumption requirements as well
as lack of resources for carrying on gainful activity and unemployment Although there is no scientific
data,1,to assess the exact magnitude of the ,problem of indebtedness, it is roughly estimated that about 85%
of. t e tribal families are affect d b y irid btedness. AccordingJtp a sample survey o f the Planning
Coillm.ission, the inddence_.of in ebtedness am(?pg t_he tribes h a l f increased from 14.47% in 1975-76. to
33·?"4f%',fo.1982-83. On an averageihe debt liability per househ()ld also infreased·from Rs. 419 in-1975-
76 "to Rs: 819 in 1982 83. The tribes borrow money from both -the organized or institutional sources
r presented by. banks. and co-operative societies and the unorganized sources represented by pr_ivate
· m6ney-lenders, shbp eepers, friends and relatives. As far a's the unorganized sources are concerned,
more than 72% of the tribes were indebt_ed to private money-lenders and the remaining met their credit
nd consumer requirements from.shopkeepers, friends and other sources. However, the study indicates
the inten·sity of the malaise and does not reflect the e act extent of indebtedness which may be much
. .
more.
Causes o f fodebtedness
The origin of the problem may be traced back to the t me of introduction of money economy in the tribal
areas by the. outsider non-tribes who penetrated into those areas during the British days. Money
economy g_radually substituted barter system. The simple tribal could not fathom the evil designs. of the
·sahukar (money-lender) who not only disturbed his economy·but also snatched away the smile front his
innocent face. Indebtedness among the tribes may be attributed to the following reasons:
1. . Abject poverty,
2. Joopholes in the existing money-lending laws,
3. of/awareness about sources o f institutioria) finance and existing legal protection,
4. :l ability to follow complicated procedures to obtain loan .,lid ,consumer credit. from,, institutional
'sources,
5. Indifferent attitude of Government and bank officials,

6. J{Jffivate Illoney-lenders' willingness to advance money to the t ibes ithout apy security. The money-
Je_nders repose full trust in the 'word o f mouth' of the tribes,
.,"·*. . ... '. .
7. J lJsence of 'alternative cr dit fadlity h a s ,compeHed·.the .tribes. to compromise. their fate with the
)! oney-lenders and accept indebtedness asahnost an inescapable aspect of their existence,
8. Lack of supply o f essential commodities and agriculture inputs at fair price and
9. Lack of employment opportunities.
192;
Historically speaking, the sub-comi;nittee;m1 Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas ( other than Assam),
had gone into the details o f this problem and were convinced about the need for prevention of
exploitation by money-lenders: It observE=d, "We conside'r it necessary that in the Scheduled Areas
money-lenders should not be permitted at all and. that at any rate they should be allowed to operate
under license and stringent control only.'' The framers o f the Constitution taking note·of the gravity of the
problem had made special provisions under the Fifth Schedule o f the co·nstitution which empower the
Governor o f a State having Scheduled Areas to make regulations, inter alia, t o regulate the business·of
money_lending.
Legislations
Most o f the States and Union Territories having tribal population have enacted laws to regulate the
business of money-lending and debt relief. These laws are for general application and Scheduled Tribes
are covered b y those suo moto. Some o f the regulations specifical1y provide protection against
exploitation o f Scheduled Tribes by money-lenders,
General Deficiencies
· De.$pit le,&i;5:Iations to· protect the interests of the tribes. against the money-lenders, the former continue.
tQ:,be: : :xpio'ite b y the latter. There is no adequate machinery. for the enforcement. o f the Acts>at1d
ftegu_latibns ·:Even·the licenses for the regulation o f the business o f money-lending either in the Scheduled
A:reas of: lsewhere have not-been issued. The money-lenders continue ·to exploit the tribes_ by charging
ekorbitahtrat s o f interest This ·has resulted in the malpractice o f bonded labor and also in alienation of··
tribal land.,
Ai:>art from non enforcement aspect, the laws suffer from many deficiencies and loopholes. For instance,
hi Bihar, n o t :orily there is no machinery for effective implementation of the provisions o f the Bihar_
Mon y- Lenders Act, but the Act itself is deficient. Only those money-lenders whose business involves
loans of more than.Rs 500/- require rE:?gistration. Similarly, in other states also, the implementation o f the
laws is virtuall.}'rioh existent and the money-lenders continue to exploit the tribes.
Mere enacti;nentdf laws-will n o t solve the problem unless alternative credit facility is provided for long
term, me iurri t rrri·ard s ort term loans and procedures are simplified f or ensuring speedy'paymentof.
loarts or credits · L'ar15e Are.a· Multi-Purpose Co-operative Societies (LAMPS), Primary Agriculture. Co"
operative Socfefies (PACS}and .Co- bperative banks, etc. are supposed to meet loan and othenredH and
consumer requfrements· o f the tribes. How eyer, due to financial constraints and lack o f administrative
will, these instituticm haye fail_ed to serve the purpose. They are ineffecthte .in dealing. with the ·vested
interests and the p<iwerfulforces ofexploitatlonth tthrive cttthe cost qf the poor tribes,
U rider tlre prevailing situatfon, there is also little hop o f fi nding any alternative t o t h e money-lendef br
regulating his business. This is a ser'ious cpa!Jenge to the survival o f the tribes and to their e'conotny.
. .., , J : ·' - .t ·:, •
•
Remedial Measures
t The State G_overnments should make effective use o f protective provisions in the Fifth Schedule to
protect the tribes against exploitati n b y the money-lenders.
2. · ·Existing laws need to be reviewed and steps shquld be taken-to:remove the loopholes therein.
3. :· The LAMPS, Co-operative Socie,ties a11d PAC srioufcl be.str, ngthened. They should b e made viableto
··)me-et the loan and consumer· credit requiremerits<ofthe tribes. J n sbme states like Andhra Prades)l
·::,and· Gujarat these organizations function quite 'effectively 'and they should be strengthened in otner
states. These institutions, in·order to recover the loans given to-the tribes, should arrange to purchase
heir produce at fair price. ·
4. The Reserve Bank o f India should examine the amendments of the Rules and Regulatio s for .
providing necessary support to Co-operative Societies a n d local banks in the tribal arei;\s against
193
nominal rate o f interest and sufficient provisions of funds should be made to meet the requirements
of the tribes.
5. The Nationalized lead banks should also ·examine ways and means of advancing money to the tribes
for all those purposes for which money-lenders advance money to them.
6. All essential commodities should be made available to· the tribes in their hamlets / villages through
_ giobile fair price shops.
7. Efforts should be made to explore avenues of providing gainful self-employment to the tribes by
· training them in selected skills. Agencies/ dealerships should also be reserved for them in the tribal
_: jeas. Payment of earnest money or liberal loan may be provided by financial institutions.
8. The money-lending laws should be effectively enforced and deterrent punishment meted out to the
defaulters.
9. A\Hloans by private moneylenders irrespective of the quantity and period should be scrapped .
.S. ringentaction should be taken against unauthorized bus,in ss o f money lending.
10;)\dministratiVe machinery should be geared for detectipn of cases involving unauthorized money
:{';l 'nding. Sulllmary procedure should be evolved for speedy disposal of such cases.
Lo Literacy_and Po_or Educati°'na/Facilities

In the past education was one of the main considerations for hierarchical classification in Hindu society.
Lack of it is largely responsible for the exploitation and pitiable plight of the tribes. Education is the key
catalyst_ to the development o f human resources. For the tribes, education is the pivot on which their
success depends. Education disseminates knowledge. Knowledge gives inner strength, which is very
essential for the tribes for attaining freedom from exploitation and poverty. Due to ignorance arising out
o f il1iteracy; the tribes have not been able to take advantage of new economic opportunities. Opening of
the tribal areas in the wake o f developmental process have.brought in juxtaposition two distinct value
systems, one based on tradition and. ignorance and the other on technology and innovations. Ha_rmonious
syn hronization o f the two systems is essential for development o f tribal people. Jn this process,
education has to play a key role. The most important aspect of education in the tribal areas is that of
informing th,e community o f the new innovations i n science and technology _as well as the developments
in the economic.and political fields. Educa.tion must be meaningful to the people.
The. tribal areas are rich in natural resources. A number of projects, both major and· medium viz.,
irrigcJtion, energy generation and industrial, have been set upin" the tribal areas. The tribes, ·due to lack of
edttlation and requisite skill, are ·not able to:take advantage of the new economic opp_ortunities which
have .been grabbed by the out iders mig,ratipg into the tribal areas. I t not only. deprives them o f the
opportunity in the new ventures. but also 'alienates them frog:ntbeir resource base, i.e., the. land and
subj;cts them to exploitation by the middlemen and contracto s i'h forestry operations and also b y the
morieylenders.
Recognizing the importance of education, the framers of the Constitution have made specific provisions in
ArticJe 15 (4) and 46 for promoting education among the Scheduled Tribes. Article 15 (4) is an exception
to;'.,t fundamental right o f the people of equal treatment irrespective o f religion, caste, race or sex
grc1hfed under Artide 15(1) It mpowers the State to·make any special provision for advancement o f any
soc;t IIy' or educationally· backward ·class·
o f citizens: ·or:for the: Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes.
Artftfk46 contain directive to the· State Governments to promote.with a special care the educational
and economic interests of the weaker sections o f the people and in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes.
.
Ed ti cation is a State and Central subject and the basic responsibility o f promoting educatioi1 has been cast
.
upon_ the State Governm.ents. The Union Government is responsible for co-ordination o f facilities and
194.
determination of standards in respect pf,high r education, research, scientific and technical education.
The main efforts in the central sector to help the Scheduled Tribes pertain to installation of post-matric
scholarships, setting up of boys and girls hostels and coaching centers for competitive examinations.
Special central assistance is provided for this program by the Ministry of Welfare. The Ministry of
Education, which is responsible for the educational development in the country as a whole, has also been
making special efforts for the educational development of the Scheduled Castes and s·cheduled Tribes.
Some of the important facilities provided by the Ministry of Education include 7 ½ percent reservations
of seats for Scheduled Tribes and another 15 percent for Scheduled Castes in all Central Universities,
Indian Institutes of Technology, Regional Engineering Colleges, medical colleges, and Central Schools · In
the· newly started Navodaya Schools due weightage is given to the students belonging to Scheduled
Tribes. The educational institutions have been instructed· to relax the norms for students seeking
admission to the reserved seats for various courses. Some of the activities taken up by the Ministry of
Education for promoting education among the Scheduled Tribes are provision of scholarships, research,
fellowships, reservation of seats in hostels and research and training facilities for improving their
educational levels. Priority is also given in the areas predominantly inha ited by Scheduled Castes ·and
Scheduled Tribes for opening centers. 9f _non-formal education and adult education. In the states,
Departments o f Education, Tripal Welfare 'antl Social Welfare implement the education programs for
St:Qed_ided Tribes and operate the facilities o f scholarships, hostels and ashram schools etc..
A cording t o the 2001 census, the lit racy rate amongst the tribes of India is 29.60% as agains(the
rtafionalaverage o f 64.84%. Although literacy among the tribes has increased over the years, it is still far
. Jj low the general level. The position o f female literacy is really a matter of concern. The rate of literacy
variesfrom state to state. In some states like Mizoram and Nagaland, the literacy rates are high, which is
mainly due to the. efforts of the missionaries in inculcating interest for education among the tribes. In·
o er states like An.dhra Pradesh and Rajasthan the literacy is low. Female literacy indicates a yawning_
gap in the states. On th one hand, Mizoram has as high as 51.12. per cent and on the other Rajasthan has
a rockbottom.of.1.19 percent
Main Causes o f Slow Progress In Literacy
1. Poverty ·of f rents: For the poverty-ridden parents, education of their children is a luxury which
they can h r d l y afford. The children assist their parents in earning their livelihood. Grown-up
childreii als())ook a er the_ycmnger ones when,the parents go out for work either as cultivators or as'
Iaborets Absetice of child care centers, creches, Balwadis etc., in· the remote tribal areas, also has to·
share the:btame for depriving the children of the poor ·parents o f the facifity o f education.
2. Content of Education:
o
The ·cµrriculutn o f edµcation for the tribes has to be carefully evolved. It'has
. Jo· take i n f Ce>nsideration the socio-cultural milieu of the Scheduled Tribes. Presently the general
'.} ¢ontents o f ducation have been extended to the tribal areas which in many cases. are not relevant,
particularly at the primary stage. '
. ;., . .
3• . Jnadequate Educational Institutions and supporting Services: The · ribal areas suffer frqrn
. inadequacy o f educatfonal institutions, boarding arid lodging facilities. Even where centers have been
opened, about 40 percent o f them are without buildings. The .supporting services, such as the
incentives in terms o f schoiarships, book banks, midday ·meals· etc., are very · insignificant and
. generally do not attract the children. ·
4. · :;Absent eism: In the tribal areas the problem o f absenteeism of the teachers is one of the important
·:;f ctors affecting the education _They, generally remai11: bsent:for days ·together due to absence:' f
··:supervision over them and _also due to lack of dedicatioi:i to the cause of education o f the tribes. Th,e
children and also the parents cannot afford to waste their time
· and generally opt to drop out·from the .
schools.
5. Medium of Instruction: For the tribes the edium of instruction in the schools is a diffict1lt problem . .
Even after so many years o f Independence w e have Jot.been able to provide the tribes' ·education in
their mother tongue. The tribal chil 1ren· are not generally abl to f llow the lessons given to them in
195
the language which is totally strangeto,them. The tribes undoubtedly form distinct linguistic groups
and are entitled to the facility o f instruction in their moth.er tongue at the primary school stage.
Constitution specifically provides for facilities for instruction in mother tongues to children belonging
to minority groups. The President has also been vested with powers of issuing directives to any state
for this purpose.
6. Education Policy: So far there is no clear educational policy for the tribal areas. In spite o f the
rt;!co.nunendations o f various Committees and Commissions, a uniform education policy in the tribal
ateas-bas not been evolved. This is mainly because in some tribal ar as, education is under the control
of Education Department and i'n some under the Social Welfare Department. Lack o f administrative
pqlicy regarding the educational institutions in tribal areas adversely affects the education o f the
tribes.
Suggestions
The c.ontent o f education should take in the aspirations o f the tribal people. The choice o f subjects at the
primlry level should be job-oriented. Th reihQuld.also be proper arrangements for .vocational education.
The _curricula should keep :in view the traditional local skills and/erafts. The tribes should also be taught
elem. ntary c.ivics to familiarize . theni. with their rights .and duties. In short th education should
empli'£$tze''the ba ic understandingoft e history.of the country, its .economic a n d political institutions
whi h generally affect the g a y to clay'functions and channels for redressal o f grievances.
o
Due prfor.ify should. b giveh f r dpehing o f educational institutions in the tribal areas a:nd construction o f
school b_uildings should be undertaken under the norm.al funds o f education as well as under the National
Rural Employment Program. tn th se areas mc>re and ihore residential facilities like hostels should be
provided' to all those who walk more than 4kms to atte.nd the schools. T h e curricula should take into
consideration the socio cultural milieu o f the tribes. The medium o f instruction should also be in the tribal
languages _at least up to the primary level. For the middle level children the medium o f instruction should
be in"the regional o r the state language.
The teachers should be selected from the tribes themselves even b y relaxing the educational
qualifications, i n case suffident numbers 9 f qualifiedteachers are not available. T h e non-tribal teachers
who k.now the tribal languages m a y b e selected. Steps shouid be taken for setting up o f more and more
Ba!wad.i , creches a n d chjl care centers .in th t ibal areas .. Suitable' ·nutrition. prqgranis should also be
' cafried' on in such' centres 'which would not oriiy provide nutritious fo.od' to the tribal children but also
cre.ate among them awareness about healthy and balanced diet A system o f effective supervision over· the
primary school teachers is essential. They should-be placed under the control o f the local panchayats
wherever. necessary. There should b e effective participation o f the tribes a s also o f voluntary agencies in
the l,l ,_m:?ment o f hostels
Nonf:>rm l a n d vocational education centi: s are very successful and should b e ble t o provide academic
educ tion as well as vocational training to· meet the needs o f varii6us industrial arid other projects setup
in tli : tribal areas. Industrial Training Institutes. should take into consideration the triba( needs. Post
training care shou.ld Isa be, the.part o f the training program.
Education should not provide bookish knowledge alone; it should also create interest for better life. The
trib ::,e.quipped with knowledge will not only be able to protect themselves from exploitation b u t wiU
alsq'. e able to take advantage o f t h e various deveiopinent programs. The tribes have inherent talent for
. spoi : i:h ir talent .in ,this fieid sp.ould _be· h ,mes.$eQ .. T,h ,J:!dUcation'plays a key role in the development
o f t}i¥::trn-,es and therefore as laid d o w n in the Dlrective.-Principles o f State Policy it should·be promoted
witfi'.'special care'. . . . ' ' '
196-
Unemployment and Underempfoyment

Substantial sections o f the tribal population. earn their livelihood as laborers mainly engaged in
unorganized sector. The term laborers includes among others, migrants and bonded laborers. According
to the census data, there is a sharp increase in agricultural laborers from 19.71 % in 1961 to 32.67% in
1981. A similar trend is found among other workers where the percentage increased from 9.64% in 1961
to 11.84% in 1981. The State Governments have enacted labor laws including the Minimum Wages A c t for
protection o f the interest o f the laborers. But they are not strictly enforced. It is necessary to ensure
effective enforcement o f the labor laws as far as the tribal laborers are concerned particularly about the
payment o f the minimum wages.
Bonded Labor
The system o f debt bondage in India has a long history and the malady has gone deep into the society. The
system is the result o f indebtedness, which has been prevailing for a long time among certain
economically exploited, and weaker sections o f the society. The system originated from the uneven social
structure characterized by feudal and sewi-feudal conditions. The existence o f bonded labor systendn
one form or the other has been noticed in 11 states, viz., Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh,
Rajit'st an; · Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu and ·Uttar Pradesh. Varyi!}g ·
· estiili re·s have·been made about t h e number ·6f bonded laborers. Gandhi Pea.ce Foundation, which ;Nici
conduttt:!d a stfrvey in·1978.:79 in the ten states, o f Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, R jasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh have estimated the number of
bonded.laborers at 26.17 lakhs. The survey was based on a random sample drawn from a total of
4,50,190 villages in the aforesaid ten states. According- to the survey· conducted b y National Sanipie .
Survey Organization, the number ofbonded laborers in the country was estimated to be about 3 54 lakhs.
However, according to the Government sources, the· total number of bonded iaborers identified b y the
end o f Mai-ch 1988 was about 2.36 lakhs. O f these, 2.02 lakhs have been rehabilitated. According to a n .
estimate o f the Program Evaluation Organization of the Planning Commission, about 83% of th totcll
number o f ponded laborers belonged to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Such laborers are more
in the states with feudal background. In. Rajasthan; 86.7% o f the total bonded laborers belong to
S heduled Tribes, 'followed b y Madhya Pr desh thc!.t has 71 %, Orissa 65.8% and Tamil·Naqu 45%.
. .
:.Article 23 o f the Constitutio prohibits slavery, traffic in human beings and forced labor. This expressioff
has wide implications and includes not only prohibition o f slavery but also traffic in huinan beings for'.·
immoral and other purposes. With. the enactment o f the Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act, 1976, tll¢
bonded labor system has been abolished in the country. The Act stipulated release o f all the bonded
laborers and simultaneous iiquidat1on o f their debts.
Section 13 o f the Act provides for vigilance Committees at the District and sub-divisional level to'ensute
proper implementation o f the o f the. Act particularly relating to identific tion .and
rehabilitation o f freed bonded •-n
i
:n
,r
>
:,r
<'.' Act, identification and release o f bonded labore s from
debts is the direct responsibility o f the concerned State ·Governments. The District Magisti:ates o f all the'
districts in the ·country have been vested with necessary powers f o r the purpose. At' the Central level,_the
Ministry o f Labor. monitors this scheme. It advises the State. Governments, frcfrn time .to time, t<f coridu.ct .
periodic surveys through their existing agenciEfs for identification and release o f the bondedfaborers.
With·aview to supplement the efforts o f the State Govern ents, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme _has b -
launc ci.by the Ministry o f LaborJn 1978"'.79 underwh,khthe tate Govei-nITientsare provided Central
Financial Assistance on matching· grant basis'(S0:50ffor 'rehabiHtationof bonded.laborers. The patterI];i.bf
assistance under this scheme is o f three kinds, viz.,_land'based,· non-:-land based and skill/craft based. The
land-based scheme comprises (i) allotment o f land, (ii} provision o f backup service and facifities such as
ploughs, bullocks, seeds, fertilizers and o_ther inputs. The non-land based schemes comprise supply o f
productive asse.ts such as milch animals, other animal husbandry components, and linkage with mark t
The skill/craft-based scheme involves identification o f skills/crafts, ·supply o f raw materials, working
capital and linkage with market for sale o f finished products. A sum o f about Rs. 27.40 crore D-as been
197
released to the· State Governments as centraf ·share of assistance under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme
for the rehabilitation o f bonded laborers since the inception of'the sc eme in 1978-79 till 1987-88. In
order. to ensure rehabilitation o f the bonded laborers on a permanent basis Centrally Sponsored
programs are linked with anti- poverty programs such as Integrated Rural Development Projects,
National Rural Employment Program, etc. During the Seventh Five Year Plan, a provision of Rs. 15 crores
has been made as a Central share of the assistance.
Although the program has been under implementation for over a decade, the desired results have· not
bee'rf, achieved due to various weaknesses in the administrative system. To ensure permanent
rehabilitation of the bonded laborers it is necessary to formulate need-based schemes. The programs also
need to he continuously monitored at various levels.
Migrant Tribal Labor
Connected with traffic in human beings is the Problem of the migrant tribal labor. This has assumed
ser.ious proportions. Several factors like 'erosion o f the resource base, alienation of land, restrictions on
rights over . forest produce and lack. o f emplpyment opportuniti s in the areas of their domicile have
force.d· the tribes to seek jobs outside the region especially 'in the enterprises employing. unskilled
labor rs.like brick kilns; agriculture and excavation work In the wake of development activities a large
nqnfper-:.of industrial;: mining, irrigation, power and other projects are coming up in the tribal areas but
the tril::>es-have not been benefited by the new opportunities mainly because of the lack o f reqi.iired skills,
training and other wherewithal to participate in the new ven_tures. Their inability to face the
socioeconomic aild cultural impact of the process of the industrialization has also been partly responsible
for. their migration to other areas ·Besides, _large-scale displacement o f the tribes from their lands has
forcedthemto- migrate to other areas in search o f employment.
The migrant tribal laborers in their off-season generally move out in search o f employment to the rich
agricultural areas like Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh etc. They are also recruited by
the contractors and their agents from the areas of their domicile with the promise o f high wages, better
working conditions and employment opportunities. But in the process they are badly exploited by their
employers and even the public_ functionaries coming in contact with them. They are not paid even the
minimum wages and are -asked to work against.their wiil even though they are hot physically fit due to
illness or other reasons. They get physically assaulted if they make any attempt,to.escape or show any
slackness in work or protest. against their working conditions. Women laborers are exploited sexually.
They along with their men-folk are maltreated and forced to work in inhuman conditions and kept in
bondage. In agriculture, the big farmers use migrant laborers riot merely for field deployment but also for
depressing the wage$ in the labor m·arket and thus reducing the bargaining power o f the local workers.
The/local workers are deprived o f their share in job opportunities and the migrant workers are
un'fl rpaid.-This kind o f exploitation has been generally noticed in brick kilns and irrigation works where
1
labc{rers are-hired from far-off places and brought to the work centers.
ii
- ·
The,:simplicity and innocence of. the tribes has been the ·main factor for their exploitation.';The guileless.
tribes take for granted the false promises o f the shrewd and cunning contractors, their agents, the
middleman and other recruiting agencies. Because of extreme poverty even the females including young
.girls are· forced.to migrate to far o f f places for seeking employment and face the -life as it goes'. They
tol pite exploitation because they have no choice but to face the situation in which they are placed.
Generally, a t the time o f recruitinent,. thefaborers are given some advance that is later on adjusted to
th¢Jlwages. Once_ the laborers reach the place o f workthe employers treat _them as they like. They a e
ma:a1e to work for long hours in unhygienic conditions. There are no medical facilities, creches or child-
care centers. The laborers put up with the exploitation partly because o f the lack of awareness about legal
provisions.and partly because. they are terrorized by-the employers and their agents. Their Jives are in
danger iLthey complain against their. working conditions and exploitation to the adm_inistration.
Wl)eneve.r. they had· compiained _to -the· dministration, the results have been· very disappointing. The
officials ·were generally found in collusi n wi.th the contractors· and the employers. Instead o f initiating
- .
198
any action against the employers, ,the ·laborers were subjected to harassment. The migrant women
laborers are afraid to report about their exploitation because of the fear o f losing employment as well as
social stigma.
The Government o f India has passed the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation o f Employment and
Conditions o f Service) Act, 1979. The Central Rules, 1980 have also been enacted for effective
implementation· of the Act. Some State Governments are yet to frame their rules to carry out the
provisions o f the Act. The-Act imposes certain obligations on the contractors regarding employment of
the interstate migrant laborers. It has, however, been observed that the enforcement o f the Act has not
brought about the desired results. The laborers are not paid even the minimum wages and are forced to
work under unhealthy conditions. There are many loopholes in the Act that had to be plugged for
achieving better results.
Shortcomings in the L a w
There. are many shortcomings in the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979 for which the interests of
the migrant laborers are not fully protec eq. The Act becomes applicable only i f the number.of laborers
employed· is five or more. It is -applicable only to those laborers who are recruited through· contractors.
· and tn.i_qdlemen and does"'not apply to ·such laborers w h o are recruited b y the employer directly. The.:Act
only-,:--eg lates the working conditions o f the laborers and does not provide for imptoving· thei:r· wo'rking-
d:niditions. There is no adequate provisionfor such laborers who are employed intheir·homestates. Even
the Central Government does not have the power o f intervention or protection. The Act does not provid.
. for· inspection o f the establishments· of contractors and their documents. Therefore, a Central law . 'fot
f
proted:io'n o f the interests o f migratory tribal labor is very necessary. However the law can solve··tf e·
problem to a limited extent only. Intensive efforts should also be made to create awareness among the
laborers about the protective legal measures.
PROBLEMS OF HEALTH AND HYGIENE IN TRIBAL POPULATIONS

The tribes o f India face a great deal o f .hardship in medical treatment although they have their own
indigenous. meqiq?l systems and some o f the tribes are facing the. problem o f de .; p opuJation due to ser.Jo s
medical and hygie_ne problems. Keeping,a close track o f health and hygiene among the tribal populations
has become a very serious problem in Indian context This problem is especially. critical in the contextof
Hunting a n d gathering tribes o f India.
There. has· bee_n considerable expansion of medical and public health facilities: du'ring:'Fiv1f Year P a ;-
He_alth Centres are being.opened with qualifieddoc:tors. But still much mortfh sJo b,e done inthis fi ld· . .
The sa_ e is.,Fhe case wi h drinking Water fa iUties Transport a1,1d communkatiortshav beenJack:il}K_- n.
the'.tfihal areas.A smaffbeginningwas lllade-in' the First.Fi.Ve Year ,Plan and a sqin.of Rs. 4.12 cro,re was
spent 6ver the construction o f about 4,00Q l.{ms o f rqads. In subsequent'plc\ns,thisamount was gradually
increased. But the problems o f tribes irltd(efe areas are onlymargirially solved.
'
The hunting gathering tribes are very primitive and are inc)r tribes and hence calfecl Ptimltive T r i b i ..
Groups or.PTG .. Usually these smaller groups get assimilatedJnto larger gro ps hut ome t:>t"themretain
their identity and live in varying degrees o f isolation. Many of them are_ either nomadic or serrii-nomad-ic
in nature. Hence it becomes · generally difficult f o irnple"roent any.development progtams among i hese
· ·; ' ·
tribes.
Most :ofthese primitive tribal groups depend o n nature. This.reduces:the command area o f the grqup.
Command area is the area needed b y the-groupto undertake_econ nnic activities.
' Due
' to the
. forestpol_i
' '. y,'
the economic survival becomes difficult, especially for .the isol ted groups.
If the population is less then 5,000, the tribe.ls treated :as a·minor'tribe. It is believed that 350 suchgroups
exist in India today. The concentration o f the group also shows a varying characteristic. Gonds present'in
M.P. are around 13,000 inpopulation and a.re spread over, 1S do· Sq. Miles. This shows anext:remely:low
199-
population density. The population of the hl ndr tribes is coming down gradually and some o f the tribes
w h o are threatened by this are Great Andamanese, Jorwa, Onge, Sentilese, seen in Andaman Islands.
As per the census of various decades, their population is coming down due to the scarcity o f the food,
malnutrition and diseases. All these indicate the backwardness of these tribes. The scarcity o f food is
accountable to the forest policy and a total dependence on nature. Other examples o f these primitive
tribal groups are Hill Kharia and Birhor in Bihar, Chola Nayakans in Kerala, Bondos in Orissa, Chenchus in
AndlJr,a Pradesh and Jenkurba in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. This situation can be accounted for b y many
reasons.
1. Confrontation o f these tribes with the British administration in the colonial period.
2. Japanese bombardment o f the Andaman Islands in World War-IL
3. Low birth rate which is associated with communities having no assumed supply of food.
4. Tl} addiction of the tribes to various narcotics
,. like alcohol, ganja, opium etc., whose excessive use
lea'ds to impotency.
5. S xual exploitation -of the tribes b y other groups that lead t o venereal diseases, which are responsible,
-r'o} sterflity ·-T,hisis n.iore soTifthe case o f those tribes who are in a·close contact with other non-tribar··
areas espedally; the -market places.
. .
6. Various other diseases like· measles and small pox are-infected from other non-tribes .. The tribes are
usually resistant to the_ diseases prevalent in their own area and are usually lacking the immunity
mechanism to other diseases.
7. In the communities like Khasis and Todas there is a widespread· malnutrition due to the
encroachment o f the area that is affecting the food supply. Moreover these ·Communities are
polyandrous, which is affecting the fertility and leading to low fertility and sterility resulting in low
birth_ rate. These tribes also practice female infanticide.
8. Restriction o f the area which is commanded b y these tribes can be .considered c;I.S the main reason for
the l<?w .po ulati_on;'especially in the case o f shifting cultivators.
A small group is always trampled over b y the larger groups and the government feels that the special
progra s should be implemented for these smaller tribes as the existing tribal development programs
cater: only· to· the larger tribal .groups. The semi-nomadic and nomadic groups should have special
progr_f!lin . The polici s and the programs should keep in mind the traditional way of.life nd the culture .of
the _n;jnor tribes·sliould-not b e disturbed.- ·since the minor tribes are a t various.stages o f development
certaitf'approaches and the implementations o ( the progratns have become difficult; a problem more
aggravated by .
the nomadknature of the trih :$.- i,The measures to be taken u p b y the authoritiJs ·are: ..
. l
'\
.
1. has to be a survey o f all the minor tribes to identify th economic needs o f the group:s.
2. identify the specfal needs like the low population density o f these tribes.
3 . According to the needs and the priorities o f the groups, social services have to be undertaken.
"·t:- ···.
4 . S_ .ifting. cultivation has to be changed to settled cultivation b y settling o f orchids and other
. ·
. J ! nta,ti_cmsby_ sellingthese produces in the: m a r k e t
5 . Nfamily-cantered approach should be _followed a n d the expenditure should be calculated on the basis
. , . ' .
o f nuinber of the families have td be undertaken.
6. :c9rrec;tipri of.the ecolugkal eq ilibrium.
7. . Countering the· exterriallorces or the groups h i the cotnmunity.
200
8. The health problem has to be concentrate'd upon.

9. The native skills of the people have to be improved. Gradually new skills have to be introduced.
10. Education and communication facilities have to be provided to these communities.
The Government has given three criteria to identify the primitive tribal groups.
1. Pre-agricultural level o f the technology - shifting cultivation, pastoralists and hunting and food
gathering tribes.
2. Low level o f literacy.
3. Either stagnation o f the population or diminishing of population.
Right from the Sixth plan, special projects were started for the minor tribes. For the primitive tribal
groups, the whole of the expenditure comes from the centre and is administered by the state. Health and
public hygiene facilities are being provi?r,?· }?athogenic mapping has to b e undertaken to understandthe
distribution o f the diseases among these groups. The resource base for these tribes are being provided by
th .; - parision of the forests, animals, birds, raw materials for arts and crafts and all these are to res or!=!d
by-special departments like the forest departments. There should. be a totaLban on sale and purchas :i0f
la d where the primitive Tribal groups reside.
I f these measures are not considered, there would be a depopulation o f the tribes in India.
6.3 Development Projects, Forest Policy, Urbanization & Industrialization

. .
.
Development Projects, their Impact on Tribal Displacement and Rehabilitation
.
Development projects necessitate displacement of the tribes. The criticism, targeted both a t the
governments and the international development agencies, holds them a<;£P .Lefo_£ r U<L!. ..
trfbal populations displaced and also for the damage iflflicted on the e n v i r o n m e n t ,Admittedly, s ch
projects"giveri e to a set o f complex economic;-- s -cfar ;r ; ,Tronment problems which need to-:be
addressed with care. Still, the resettlement issue has often not received t h e attention ft deserves. It would
b e unwise now to disregard this criticism.
The number of projects· that entail the acquisition o f land, which already is quite large,js expected __to .go .
u p further. Land is the basic requirement for construction of dams, canals, railways, highways, ai ports, -
fac;,!ories; new town and other developmental works. Owing to r.apid popul_a'tion growtfi, the. u111phc;ibiJe;d
area'.s. suitable for the purpose -are becoming more and career. The·· oniy o_ption open to ithe · -
developmental agencies is to acquireJr_il{ V ap ds o r private lands in populated areas. I .
. . .; . . -
;
The ,tribes who thus lose lands for developmental purposes end. up as refugees of, a kind - .the
* s. And their number ends to be large. For _example, the Narmada Sardar Sarnvar
cfam in India has displaced about 70,000 trib_C:ll : ! l d non-tribal people. . · _ . ·
The Effects of Displacement: The tribal people displaced ·by development projects simply_must m<>_ve
else here to start life anew. They have n o choice in the ,matter. There is a strong element o f compul ,i n
in displacement, as it affects entire coininunities. I t evicts theJiterate·and illiterate, ffie'weattK'iia <ilig,
_ skilieci and unskilled, the poor and wealthy, ·healthy and crippled' alike: Jt'distupts fong e$tablished_sJigJAt
netwo_rks, and with them the s9c.i. J \lPPQft t m through_Y/.Q f.P Jh veQ1:ypupg,the
""'
w, p bor
anctoilier at-risk members o f th;"'co iii 'irrty are sus Iifa1{Jvheth; ·th y- ;;· pa6teofm'ovliig\)r
· ·
riot,
they all must go. · · ·
_ All o f a sudden, the tribal people living happily find themselves literally· thrown out on the streets.· For
those forced to resettle a t new locations, displacement is -indeed -an unmitigated_ disaster. A s S.C. Varma
has noted· "N _!_rau!!1. 5 .1.1-. f!1 f_e. . P<:1i?( >(ot a family .!han, to _gt_ a place- where it has
- PEe>ot _qJmm
201-
lived for generations and to move to a place-where it may be a total stranger. And nothing could be more
irksome than being asked to switch over t o an avocation which'the family has not practised before."
Things become further intolerable w h e n those in authority fail to show du.e consideration to affected
k
people. "The trauma is greater w h e n displacement is attended b y l a c .of'Iriform.a-dortuncertainty, long
waiting, niggardly compen_s. tiPnr social_ dislocati_9U..E.JJ,d cultural. sh fk that accompanies any Diaspora
wh n cohesi;e· rural· and
particularly-tn6aCco'inmunitiesaresc tered and resettled away from their
kin hJp and linguistic groups. Anthropological studies have shown that forced resettlef!I :z:it tends to be
asso,tr ated w th i ,c e sed psychological
. . ··-· ... - . '· .,. and socio cultural stress a:nd
.. . .
he.igh't ried orbidtty a aiso·
moFtafftirates.
/ ·, .
·y
.....,...,.. ,,.. How¢yer, nowhere are the effects o f displacement more disastrous than in the case o f the tribal people
whose very survival is already a t stake. T h e y happen to be amongst the most under privileged, and even
after decades o f development still remain outside the pale o f any form o f visible change in their condition.
Deeply attached to their ancestral surroundings, they just cannot think o f moving o u t For tribal
corriIJ1unities the land traditionally occupied typically plays a n important and significant role in their
lives-:,Land and the use thereof g o beyon'dhhe.'mere economic.rotle assigne_d to it b y non-tribal societies
Land-:representsa continued linkage w i t h the origin, the preserit and the future o f tribal peoples.
. • :.
::;c#:,; •. -. _.. ·. • . _. . . .
Theiff:tib aLpe op le are firm i n their belief that once they leave their hills,·woods and streams, they will not
only lose their homes and_ livelihood b u t also the way they have lived since times ,mmemorial. Their
community: lffe, customs, tn1diJions, festivals, rituals,. beliefs, songs and dances, language, social
organisation, in short, their cuJttire, w n i allblit vanish in t h e n e w setdhg.
'¼ ... ,-, '"''"'"'""<.',,,,\",('
Among the tribal people the concept o f individual land owning is largely unknown. The· areas where they
live are believed to b e owned b y the entire community. Moreover, since rights over the resources of their
habitat on which they have sub served all along are customary rather then legai, the tribal people are
often denied compensation. With their _support base gone, wherever
· they move they· fa c e an lincertai
_,,..,,.,
·
future.
Dilemmas f Development: While disruption d e to displacement is community wide, it is the poor who
bear its brunt most o f all. The dislocation t o their life - social, economic and cultural - is totaL i g , _
th 1Le9§.t §jgris, they are· compelled t o m o v e in search o f livelihood to· unknown. places. On arrival in
towns and cities, they SOOf f discover that even for unskilled jobs the queues ahead of them ars!
distressingly long.
On the ·other hand>the affluent groups d o n o t lose so completely. They are in a better position to adjust to .
change. In fact,· they prefer t o resettle themselves with resources o f their o w n rather then endure
goverr,,ilmental administradori· o f their lives. For them uprooting is.certainly less traumatic.
. ""!, ;. . . . .. . .
Again;dn sharing benefits from developm nt,: the· poor lag behind the rich. The rich are· qliick to· seize
opportunities which ·open u p with t h e inauguration o f the development projects·. T h e n e w jobs go up to
th9srt\.vho have the requisite skills, b u t their la:ck aniong the poor is common. Even i f unskilled jobs come
their w a y 'in indu try ne 'Ftf fflon o a n occupation different from w h a t they h a d traditionally been
pursuing back in their villages is n o t ·easy t o make.
- .
:
Since tis the p o o r w h o lose most from displacement, there are some critics o f such development.projects·
w h o i e e them a s kind o f a conspiracy to promote the interests o f the· rich at the expense o f the poor. The
way- he ••develop_ment has·.{ ,101:ked •o y e L t h e years,. maki'ii'i"'ffie r'ich the-poor poorer ·,cis .thtLrfcfi'e7'°arid.
evid ,q:ce t h e y adduce i r support o f their· c ntention. Further, they argue that it is only becaustt
deveicrpmenthelps t h e ri<;h that the i m m e n s e economic, social, cultural costs borne b y the displaced poor
are dismissed a s inevitable. F o r the. s a m e reason, . the environmentally harmful technologies, the
dependence o n non -' renew ab le resources, and·even the possibilities for tragic calamities.are also seen a s
acceptable risks.
202
Obviously, the above view is an extreme'dn"e.,Development is no_t undertaken to provide opportunities to

a n y particular group. It seeks to promote wider national interests for the benefits of all. No doubt those
w h o consider the present manner o f developrrienfas· iniquitous have a point. Their concern for the poor is
entirely laudable. But m a n y w h o see nothing good coming out of development, and have amassed data
pointing to its detrimental effects on the lives o f the poor only paint a one-sided picture.
_ , _ , . , . r t .... - - . - . ' .
In many parts o f the Third world degrading poverty is pervasive. Can governments in this context
legitimately abandon their development plans simply because things did not always go well in the past?
Projects, which cause displacement, are basic to development and poverty alleviation. Without irrigation •
works, it is impossible to meet the demand o f growing populations for f o o a ; without hydropower the
programs of industrial growth will come to a halt; without transportation and such basic amenities as
housing, water, etc. the frves 1n cities just cannot move on. If, for some reasons the poorer groups suffered
in the process far more than others, the mitigatory measures can be..incorgorated in ongoing and future
plans to improve performance. The solut i ,
throwing up hands in despair and giving up the effort
Projects to promote development o f wat ttnineral and other resources will continue to impinge on tribal
- :c== !
life. B u t under compulsions o f p"romoting development at a rapid pace this cannot be prevented and need
to their sensibilities or welfare does not mean that this must inevitably happen, but that it must n o t be
allowed to happen again. This is po sible. T o suggest that the tribal people can be cocooned in their
pristine state and kept a w a y from devel pment is to treat them as unequal citizens. But they can surely be
shi Jqed fromeconomic trauma and culture shock and enabled to develop in a manner and at a pace that
.,;:;-:.;; -...:, •• : ...:.:.,),."i.-.:'-,:.:,1.: . :1··.t1-:.':c.:·• t:.ii-1:;ij
avoids social injury. T e y o o want c ange an improvement without loss o f identity. ,. _
..,,.,:,·:.:.,:a- ... , . . , . . , . . . . . . . . . . . J. -'
'··-_·r,,.r . . ._,=.:r:t.:.j&"lf -
"i. •
·.!"' • ... .,.,,,.-:
The fact also needs to b e faced that the process o f development affects differe.nt groups differently. Some
sta.nJl .,.tn gi;lin, whH_e ot er lose. This seems to be a perennial dilemma_ in development. But in some ways
it - hould still be possible to· I!!!,on! : .. !I.l! JJ;F.?f.: 9. As Toye concludes, the "develop ent !!;
policy is all about the dile mas o f 6alancmg t'he gains o f one group against the losses o f others''. Simply
because. certain human costs are involved in development is no valid· argument f or giving it up . . The .
question to consider should be: How best to reduce the human · costs, s o as to make resettlement as
··
painless as possible".
. . .
Resettlement: In the past resettlement rarely worked well. Many failures o f these efforts are traceable
to administrative_ weaknesses. T J WJ)&ll£ £,tjli_ 1 j!!_ent tq y;. · cl'l J.l t t!
responsibility · and· tended to dump the job on local authorities. Then, local authorities, o n whose.
sltcfW'd'lr the · responsibility f or .resettlement fell, usually. Jacked .the t a p a d t y __the_ ope w i t h . .511-
chaJfonges. Their view o f the people living in areas o f project op·eratloris a s oostacles to land acquisiticfo
ho· must be got out o f the "Y Y a_ ,>qµ,l_ ly, as possible with :payment o f nominal co'mpensat:ion'-if •
necessary, further complicated matters,

·l ! · - - - ,.- , . ,,,...-s,.,.,,io.,:s.,.r;;,-..--,.-,,,,.,_s,,>.-,_,..,,,-_,c,,
B y arid J r.g _xesettlement has remained out o f the project preparation, appraisal, monitoring and :
t,'Q.,t'it:·--·-!',. .. ----·t--"=:J . . . . •
supervisory processes. T h e emphasis mostly has ·been on ·engineering. finance and such other
components. The process o f development entailed.some social ,cosfso(disorganfation, dislbcatiorfand
. rehabilitation, but in view o f the ·overall good to the society, the£e\v renegtig problerri :of
submergence, . dislocation, rehabili_tation and resettlementw re seldom considered as issues .
., . . .·
Res¢ttlemen plads, where deveioped, were purely a.£.!J.i-i9 .-They were n o t based o n a y detailed planni.:l)g
studies · indicating the number to be resettled and the ,· cost of resettlement . Often, the plans
underestimated the number o f people to be resettled. The numbers were b a s e d on mere guesswork. ·1n -·
_ several projects the estimates indicated. for populations in.need o f resettlement were later found to be
much lower than actual numbers. Hastily drawn·. up, these plans without budgets, · time tables; ·
institutional muscle, or legal base were o f little avaii in aiding resettlement
203
Examples of underfinanced resettlementrplans are not uncommon. Anticipating funding shortage, the
project authorities anxious to see that the project got approval, deliberately indicated their requirements
for funas on the lower side. When it came to making payments for compensation such .plans naturally fell
short of their goals.
A major flaw of these plans was that they did not give adequate consideration to people related factors.
The affected._pe _ple - settlers as well as hosts - were usually l£[.L!lM!....O.L.2!. ,!lQ1.1llt,<;.Q!l. t9., .r ttl, H .:. O - .n,
a t even share with the people information about the project that was going to change the
wtid1i pattern o f their existence.
In the past, resettlement has often been considered synonymous with compensation p_a.id in cash for the ,,,, . . . . ,.. .. "'··; :·····t!.:· . ' '
prop_ rty lost This scarcely helped in resettlement in the true sense o f the term .
'·· -. ,..-? \"'WI
.' :-·,·.;.11-, ··,-. -,·-

.....-·.·=
1. The,compensation in cash was payable only to those f

who· had lost their lands, houses or other
immovable property. In villages it is only a h ndfu ofaffl en_tJ?S_Q who own such property. A
majority of people who were forced to move have thus re'!lai d un o,mp !1.s_ated.
2. The quantum o f compensation has ort ·many occasions bren ,ai;9itrary and c E !}}}!:t t!!? !(!£. ,n,t,[or
families to re-establish themselves in. new places. On arbitrariness o f the people displaced b y a dam in
,r.:{orth,lndia, it.Was recently argued: "The compens tion was undervalued since their stone structure
·-Jf8uses were considered to be inferior to brick hoµses though in reality they often are stronger and
f
·1ast o t generations".
3. The long time-taken to mak _payn1 1,1Cca : . -§i ririgu JJ2.t:aJ. J to the people who have already
lost their belongings. but must struggle to re-establish themselves sooner rather than later. It was
recently noted: "Compe_nsation payments are sometimes sev rely delayed which obviously devalues
the compensation award". Sometimes payment is nia.de in installments which forces people to stay
back in makeshift structures, delaying their move to relocation sites.
4. Lurking in the vidnity all the time· are . qua,r vendors, P':.!!XJ!.ij9 J: . and others ready to sell their
wares .through all m mner o f en,tts£m .nt, ai'ratrieaispfaceapeople, especially the tribal people, with
ll!_tje )ffi.E;!'l!:E£ g
_ca often lose it on such purchases in no time. In the excitement they
forget that the ash i meqnsWsustain· them in future. Experience indicates that people tend to spend
their monetary windfall on various·· types_o!,"" g! g !! .,,!,, _n<j!! £ , Ca_sh wards do not
0
necessarily restore productivity and well being o f the displaced populations.

People Oriented Approaches to Resettle. ent: For quite some time now, planners have been aware
that a ca Y, ,£d - r$},qch rt!il b e n·ece:ssary to.address thecomplex:resettlement issues. The. first
step Jn formulating a policy were taken b y the World Bank in the beginning o f the 1980s, Counties facing
-pro61- i:ns·of development. related resettlenie t :have· also since initiated the process . .1ri India, the States
prov:ide in their laws for payment of CO PyJl ation t o development-displaced populations in/cashas well
!!· f
Provision is· also inade o r aw rds b y the ribunals occa;s'ionally0s e t up to deal wlt h -Spe' ffit
p r o j e h problems. The formal establishment o f a national policy on resettlement . . subject of
is currentlyia
discussion in India. . .
A s the W<;>rld Bank has devoted considerable-attention to these issues, a discussion o f the Bank policy on
res Jtlement would b e appropriate. In 1.980 the Bank issued for its· staff a statement outlining a policy to
guid :.-:operatfons in this.sensitive and· a.7mc1iifi area with the. aim of.protecting the· interests o f population '
displ ced, by development projects. ·This was .for the first_ t i m e that any major development agency
institihed a·policy to deal specificall with the ·probl m of involunta r y resettlement For a long time the
Ba_nl< remained the onlfI i . , . ve\ m ia,g -wTtlr'aresettlem'enf po1_ cy.
T h e policy has undergone several revisions. Lessons learnt from the application o f policy have provided
the basis. for these changes. A new, strengthened version of the policy document appeared in This
t o o has undergone some revision lately, and an update<;l operati.onal directive came into effect i 92Q .,,-·
20.4
Grou'nded largely in anthropological rese·arch findings and other social science knowledge, the policy was
formulated by a Bank staff group. The polky guicielines that have emerged re lec anthrnpological and
sociological thinking. __This is evident frcfrn the \va:y°"the process of involuntary resetifen{e.nt is visualized.
0
Astfieguide!Ii-{e·;--·; e it, the very nature of involuntary resettlem - -tgiv'es d s e to special social and
technical problems, which are to a great extent different from, and usually more severe than, those
encountered in cases o f voluntary resettlement A feeling o f J?O\:-'erlessn ?- u tt<?.!1, _! ,-_of.t n ans
engendered in those who are relocat d ,L §p c:ial_ly _w he.ri eiiii're
·co_m inhies' are uprooted fro_m farriHlar
surroun'dings:-·'"rctt'fiee'xtent.th.ai·p-;e:existing community groups are disperse·d to - ew locations, social
cohes ciid s weakened; and"the potenffafgroup'acticfri "{s'dirninished.. . . .,,,./
f
___., ...
The policy recognizes that in any involuntary resettlement situation the human suffering is inevitable. As
its very first requirement, the policy therefore states that involuntary resettlement must be avoided
wherever possible. When it is unavoidable, it must be minimized. To encourage exploration o f alternative
solutions, the bank guidelines require the project preparation teams "to examine, in case o f all large
construction projects, and determine at the ti e o f identification and apprai_sal, whether people mus_t be
displaced, and, if displacement is unavoiµable, to reduce it to a minimum compatible with the purpose of
the project'' · ' · 'i '· ·-
The:, b a s k approach is to treat resettle111entas a.develo ment uestion. The emphasis is on prqyfq.ing
re eft:Tea7peopfe'Wiffi"new tfrct1reff'gr'eco; T«; pportunities. The policy' is that thefamilies affected· by a
bank-financed project should share in benefits from the project and a s a re?.Y.Jl. b -be.! t r gff t an.before.
The idea simply is that sine'"invofuiitary·· -sett:t tnerlt
4
aisman tfes·-·existing
pro_ductio·n . syst fns; a r-
resettlement prog ams must at tfie sametime" oe"aevelonmen pr6-grams'...
t
"fhe._bank "stresses that
rese'i:Uementoperatio·rif'sliould not only return rese . p po ul ti ns
to"theidormer living standards, but
also that, whenever possible, they shoul i111p_rove peop_l · wel!a: . in environm ntapy§,ll,$._tajr1aple ..\.Vays. ,._.,..
Projects have_ been designed and appraised in the past that made no provision for !.! e. 01
Subsequently w en it w a s disc9.y
r
[ Q. tbatxes.eUle.)Jlent_.wsis._ .nece$. ary ,, ,th.e lc1ck _of resources for the
purpose only compffdffe·a-·"'tf e implementation o f otherwise sound projects. In order to prevent the
recurrence· of·such·cas·e·s, tne· Barik guidelines ins'ist thaCtlie costs o f resettlement be included in the_
overall-project costs.
__._,, ;'"""'"'"'.,...,,'"'v' """'·"";•,"-- .- . .- . . . . . - - ·. .- . . , .
· - . . . . . , . · - ·
,· a,qt, "P
-.J
-t,•-::..--
A s the resettlement planning decisions impinge on the lives of the displaced groups, agencies concerned
a_re enjoined to encourage community participation in planning and implementing resettleIIl J}JS. A
related recommencfat1oltconcerns"tlieTnvofvemenrofl a ro e @, ig,2;:. !_.i.ri,i.. iicii -
a
Being closer to the people, they are undou6tealy fo. better position to articulate r,; ,.li EiJl J1,d:5 .,,a.,nd
defend their rights.
.,,....,,,.
..;>--
Effed:s\ofthe resettler's induction on the host p6pulation in the receiving areas are .often not giveQ id e
consideration in the planning process. i}.suddenincrease ofpopulation in receiving area,s can ·up eJ the
i
existin,g man-land ratio,_ leading to r e d l tt iorf"iil the availab{lity o f natural resources for hosts a s \IVell as.
re.settlers on a sustainable basis. The economic, social and cultural integration o f the settlets with t h e ho.st
population cannot _be achieved through administrative decrees, b t a planning process :that takes foto_
accounts the develop.ment needs o f both the groups can certainly help accelerate it.
The Bank policy regards a s o f particular importance the welfare and development o f the indig 11ous .
groupi.ethnic minorities and·pastoralists \vhose rights. to the land.and other resources acquired opthe
profe,Gtn1ay be no more than usufructary or customary._ Even without legal title, these adversely affected
groups;are to h e eli ; .- J 11 . ?,Il!P, s_a!i0 }! 1l asresettlement.
0
Learning from Experience: hen resettlement plan is not adequate, dev. lopment projects that ou'i ht to
be seen b y populations a s beneficial instead become rallying po"ints for opposition t o government plans.
Against the backdrop o f imilar other experiences elsewhete, the importance o f careful preparation of
plans for resettlement is coming to b_e n.creasin l . recognized. Resettlement performa11ce has also lately ·
begun to_ improve as a result Experience indicates, owever, that some operations have been more
successful than others. This me2ns thaJ further improvements in performance are possible provided
205
t hos e i nvolved in t he plann i ng a nd management of re se t t l e m e n t becom e willing t o us e i n t h e ir op e ra tio ns

th e n e w a pproc1ch e s t o r e se t t le m e n t . As ohe observ e r rec e ntly re m a rk e d, e v e n th e b est pl a nn e d
progi"ams carry wi t h t he m r i sks for t h e peopl e who mus t mov e bu t th e a ppro a ch e s sugg e s t e d by ad e qu a te
re s e h , p c.. !- and r .5- - :::
., - - E., , , , - , ;s re : t b l i, - - ?g 1e a t e con. i d e _n e '.
,:
Development of Forest Policy and Tribes
Then:Us a symbio t ic re lationsh ip betw e e n t h e t rib e s and for e s t s. For e s t s a r e closely associa t ed wi t h t h e
t ribaL economy a nd cul t ur e . They d e p e nd on for e s t s for food, fu e l, wood, housing m a t e r i a l, h e rbal
medt ines a nd fodder for c a t t le and m a t e r ia l for a gricul t ura l implem e n t s. Th e ir cul t ure is a lso i nf luenced
by fo_t- s t s. They worship m a ny t rees .
. .
In t he p a s t , t h e t rib e s e njoy e d consider a ble fr e edom in t h e us e of for e s t re sources. Th e y w e r e vir t ua l l y

·
lords o f forests. Wi t h t h e in t roduc t io n of St a t e man a g e ment of t h "'e for e sts, p a r t icul a rly sinc e t h e clos e of
19 t h c e ntury, t h e r e l a t ionship b e tw e e n t h e...tr i S s and tneforestsn as·1md e rgon e cons i d e ra bl e ch a nge . Th e
first p a t ion a l policy on for e s t s was formu l a t e d in 18_94. It in t roduc e d S t a te con t rol ov e r for e s t s in public
int e r s t w hich r e sult e d in t h e urtailment ofTigiits a rid priv i l e g e s Qf t h e t ribes ov e r t h e for e s t resources.
•. . : : :• . -.., -
The ·:Policy also envis a ged cl e aring o f forests wTcrurnt a ny comrrie'nstirat e effor t s on th e ir regeneration
- '•• :- , : ,. - . .- : :f . ' ! ' ", ; ! , l ; .,T
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- - ; ;.5
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thfoygJLpl_a,n t a t fon programs. The ex a ct imp a ct o ( t he policy w a s .not re a liz e d .during th e pre-.,:
.
. lridep ndeti e PeriocLas th.e fores·ts were .in plenty t hen. It w a s only a fter the Ind e pende nc e th a t t h e "
damage .caus e d :by t h e , .cl e aring o f for e sts was. re a lized ·. a nd efforts w e r e m a de - for t heir economic
dev e lop ment Acc_ordihgly, a for .?li . .! .:J' - <:!:22J![? and i t recognized six vital n e e ds:
__
1.. Evoltt t i9n o f a syst e o f b a lanced _and co_mplem e nta fand use,
2. Checking:of soil e rosion,
3. Es t abli shm e nt oftr e e iands,
4. Cr e a t ion of sm a l l woods for grazing and coll e c t i ng wood for a gricu l tur a l impl e .ment s a nd fu e l
purpos e s.
5. Supply o f t imb e r for na t ional ne e ds, and .
. . . ·-
. . .
6. R aliza t io n o f maximum annual-r e v e nue.

The riew for e st pOlicy a s a depart re from t h e old policy of 1894 in t h e following asp e cts-t h ! . .!: p f
. ......... ., . . --···------,-
considerable significance to t he t rib es:
_,_, ._
__
__ ............ -
.;
-
-
1. Withdrawal of conc e ssions on the rel e a s e of fores t la nd .f or cult i v .t ion,

• •1',.,_ . .
2. · E _ blishm e nt ofvi e f : !ti£>r me

g t:i e fores t bas e d ne e ds of t he villagers, J .
3. Bf"nging t h e priva t e forests undecthe..Stat-e- ntrol, '_;.'
·1
· 1-
: · ' e- ,:. _ .·
4 . · W i t ct aw a1o f racil ty,of rr :JiI JillY!J!! for e :..nd n r- _duction of.g_ni i1:wL e. a nd
5. Making efforts to w e a n away th e tribes from thetradition a l pr a ct ice of shifting cultiva t ion.
- A . • · - · ••-••h H - - - - - - · - = - - · = , - . . . . w • - - "
A s a / s u l t o f the n e w P<?licy, the to.b e s who consid e r e d themselv e s t h e mas t e rs o f th e forests b e cam e ,·
t h e ir· · bjects. They were plac e d under the con.trol o f the ForestD e pa rt I!lcnt Thetraditional rights of the
}ns ... ··. . . ·. . . ····· ... •'-·="'-"-=----··:: . . -. .
ttibes; ere teducedto"mere-conce'ssic
. •, \ I , ' . · . . . •
.. .
. ·.·,.
The h e w policy cla ssified t he for e sts into four ca t egories:

• ·.. I
1. · Th e protected forests which ar e to b e preserv e d forphyskal a nd clim a tic condi t io s

-: : r ·- .... - .,
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a •·-·· . .,
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2·. Th e national o rests o r meeting the n e eds .or defense, communic a t ion, industri '-- ·-· -··
t .c .,
• •
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- . : , . _ • "' . . • :• • • • • . , . . . . .
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3. The village forests for providing fuel. timber, grazing and agricultural requirements, and
4. The re_:_1. dsfor p- EY t_io_n o f environment of the country.
However, the functional classification o f forests could not be adopted because o f their multiple uses. The
e Q. .<! ..fQ.f.l_ !!! . -9.BJ.! regulatory, p9li9E__g and re_venue earning aspects o f t h e policy. The latter resulted
in the over exploitation offne. . fore The" implementationofllie-pof1cy· in' pract"ice further accentuated
the difficulties o f the tribes. The curtailmen.t gf.Jb _righ.ts,.aqgconcessions o f the
· . · - · ·------ ·-· .. ·'-···· ·-=--tribes
,--,..·-- ,.very -- - -r resulted
-- e'-?often - - -....
in conflicts between them and th'el t .ff2J!lf. .rs. ,,·· ·:'
,p.
-·--· ·- ........... .... ... ..·- -.-·

.:--. ·
·
-
In the enthusiasm to increase the forest area, the Forest Department claimed the treeless land c:J,S
for -tland. For instance, in Spiti the entire uncultivated area of about 800 square kilomet;r , withharctly
_
_, - , _. , . ._, . • ·
• - -,,.._
... •...__ ,•._
. ·- \,•
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,_
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800 trees, 3._§_l;> _ n qec <;t .?.?_ _fo:r. s ! _a. Similarly;·in Rajasthari: Gi.t1arat and Maharashtra large areas
,
o l l a n d with hardly any trees have b·een declared as forest areas. Such areas were traditionally un_der the
occupation o f the tribes,___T h e y have been dedarect-·encroaclle.rs in the absence·"''of'tfi'e··- ecord o"f land
11:1 ancr ar _be·i n }j a - ;- . ?Y:t : ?t 5:f
Qf. ,ffe rt : _:m.tn'! - ]S : ! !lr,_e- t_1twJ.i. -9_n .. ;_:;:_ - :_ ...: __4:=
;c
.
-
T h e emphasis in the n e w policy on colie'di rl o f maximum revenue from t h e forest re o-urces has led to , .C
!< :..« ,f i!
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the involvement o f the corffrac:tors iYFVatfous- forestry operations. The damage, caused b y ·them in
. . . , . • .. . _. -· -..: . .• • · 1
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-connivafrce w1tfi the foresTpefsonnel have not only devastated the· fores.ts. b u t have also caused
ntroll d-_e?(pi Tt;ti i°i ofihe t:Flb s,-·the .tribes being ig -; tthe are tompietely left a t t:lie iaw
met r 6rtttact f? h :tiit!1 ; . 1!1s.· t_ :! · ·-r?f,·P- § .a e!L r :: : : :: -.:---- - w. '- --,- . :,..
.. _:;;
T h e tribes who had been tr diti n- Uy. rec:og111zed as prntectors =
f f its:;; \o branded •.a s Its
destroyers. They are:alleged t o d;;troy (ortimberan<l o't h i -fot st:pfodhce Sucficnarg es"a·re
fain agaTnst them b y the contractors to malign them. The tribes have no means oftransport, and canpot
carry away the timber 9 r a n y other major forest produce out of the foresC'rfiey:c nontycarry fuel wood
and other items o f minor forest·p-roduce on their heads. More often than not; t h e crafty coiitra.ctors use .
t -!?.Etlli _g_J e,Jrees. T h e tribes in fact do no.!£y - e .t !!li I? -- [ s-andthe con.tractors wi_th
the connivance o f the forest personnelreap the real benefits. . · . · · ·
t-4iii-;r---
-
... ,_._,._.,... ,.,, .···:·. • • .,;-;··.
Mlnor Forest Produce

Minor forest produce provides subst:ahtiat'sustenance t o the tribes. ln the' arlier·days i t primarily met .
the}E_J!ers?}}. 1.EE;,!l. !L J!M;tits. Hut ·gradti lly oirle it forjijfp_!,2'"°d µ }] -1: l "' e; _ ·-
trade in them develo d and brought cc1sh income to the tribes. The Forest Departm Ilt wa:s give'ff th
control
. o f the tracfe. It started the practice-of ass"igni g collection
. ... . : . . . . . . ·. o·f mintfr
..'. ·····.
.
,,·- fores, •.produceto·the traders· .
\" ; ····.·:<·· .·,.•. ·. .-_, ' ...... ·..
. .
on payment o f a lump s u m o r royalty based. on t h e quantity conected. Y-h- 1r c1 rs ·gen.era1,y entrust the
collection o f the forest produce to the tribes w h o are paid a t the .ra: ' tes· fi:,led b y t'1e: trad¢rs, or by.the f or st
F
Department The collection charges are generally very low and the· S t a t l als.c g ts very little revenue.
M a n y malpractices have crept into'tJ1e; a'ifffn'orcterf<rcfo away w i t f :? ,s·e , _s e ;items ·of th7 : 1nbr .·
.'
-forest· produce have been.items.- nationalized i n s o m e states. The states have a'cquire ·monopoly.rights to
purchase the nationalized ...Tneyafso"'·1xect'th i;Q ices. However, the: al:io· ; i z tio l} f mh1odorest
produce has not improved the situation substantially. Under the law only the State ·can purchase the
nationalized commodities. Collection o f rninor forest produce is done-through hr e a_gencies, namely, {i)
contractors, (ii) co-operatives, ·and (iii) GovernmentDepartinental agencytl-iowever:-fo·most cases the
colfectionis done througn'·agents. They are appointed by ·stit and are::generallyprivate contract fS, the
Appointrnent o f such agents solves the problem o f qua!ity of-collectio:n ai'uHts h° dling/stOrage ---di_sposal, .
et;:. which otherwisewould b e the responsibility o f the. forest.Departirient'I'he·: fategetsthe-dirferericeof -
the collection charges and t h e final sale price. This has become a main s01.irce offorest· revenue h u U t is at
t h e expense o f the tribes. T h e trib s ar !m!JY <! L111 et pric o f the items as the increased
price would amount to narrowing the margin o f the profit o f the state. This arra·ugenient precludes the
primary objective .of removing-the .middleman and passing. on the m_aximum:benefit to the .Primary
collector. ·
2oi
Major constraints that account for low col1ection of MFP are
1. In_ equate or ?r·· tion at the grass roots level
2. Inadequate road communication
3. Lack o f storage facilitie

4. Lack o f processing units
5. , Short period of collection,
6. . . Financial constraints
7. Lack of technique o f collecti(?n

8. Lack o f knowledge Il the ec momic use of many it ms
9. :? Presence o f intermediaries
· who have, np interest in the. d velopment o f the tribes or the minor
'I ·
for·e . produce. .
Natitihal Level Marketing Org,tnizatioi1for Forest Produce (TR!FED)
Both minor forest produce and sti r lµs ag icultµral produce a r e imp .r t activities o f the 1 [$ . ," e
M .ltbEur;p e._wl , . ; P,Petati'\ty ·gt i§t1g§{ £A M RS ) and the Tribal D 'vefopmettt Co-operative Corporations
(TDCCs). About·. 2400 LAl\1tS.a11d42 TQ(:;Cs are func.tioning_ . . . . · . '. ·. . in· the ·country. However, they have been
. · .. ·. .. . . .. . v""· ·. · ._ '·.···.:-··,·;·,,:,· ' . . . . . : ·,
.. . . . . and surplus agric11ltural produce
facing a number ofdifficulties"iri the·marketing o f minor forest produce
o f the tribal .area "":7'.fneorth major ·a:rm ·ufffes· .s··co§petf --Y.f: stJJJl t and the market
forces. Keeping in view the various aspects, the Government.of India established .il1 Au_&1s 7 a Tribal
Co-operatiye_ arket.ing Development Fe eration oflndi:a .!:!,.rni dJ,TRIFED) as a Natj_ t, y_e_! AP ,, ?,-
0
; ·t·T·t. .J!if.t,'. .· .t.:.. . . . .·.·;". .cr. :;;·;· .; .
e··.�t.-.
mar !.!mK .m .!h. stat f_1:1;!n T f _r .s.t, pr,oduc.e.,and.J>Jh.E:.i:. ti: l i:o ce.
.
;··.·. .:. .·.ti·�f.lr···.·:.··.ki:.··b�;..r·f:.
\,\'tll l}e.of the· t te.Federat10
.
·e·.{·t. .-i.t.· .
·· ..f.i
. . . . . .:.·.J ..:.· .f1.l.i 1
i
J··.
and t t'::g}{port and rk t .Kg id.e..,the state would be looked after by the ..t.BJ:.EJiQ; It is difficult to sa
how far th se o.rganizations would succeed in facing the com.petitionfrom the vested interest.
There are about 5,000 forest vni2ges in the country. inhabited by aboiiUY!!!..£!:.!bal families. These
villages have not received the benefits o f development prograrris. Their Inhabitants are employed as
fore.st fab re s. by the ·t0f_£St D_Q , e £tj p ent either directly or through the contractors at rates which are
mu j,ess tfian· the min Il) ,.s. They have not been given rights over t h e forest lands which have
been.,u r occupati n for a ion_g: im. . I h e y are gene ally cte!1!e ai£p 2.f.m>nP.i ... roduce.
The Umon Mm1stry o f Agriculture hacl adv1setl \Jle State Governments to. confer long-term heritable and
inali pable rights to the forest dwellers ·over the ·lands under theirit}!c:iitional
. . res{1onse
use. Butthe 1.
of the
State'tiovernments so far has not been adequate.
Tri1:J l Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRI FED)
"f
The ribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation o f India Limi.ted (TRlFED) was
es p}ished, in· August 1987. byt!iethen Mi.ni$try o f Welfa;re,Gover,nment oflndia,. under t.he Mu/tiState
•.
Coo t.aiive Societies Acti'984 {which has no'w bee'nreplaced by the Multi-State CooperativeSocietiesAct;
2002r··
TRlFE.D was established with ·the basic mandate o f bringing about the socio-econoi:ii F. - e,_v IQILQ! J+t o f
"'
-
""
tribals· of the country by institutionalizing the trade o T M 1 n o r F o r e s f Pro cfuce '{ d Surplus
Agriculture Produce .(S.APJ colfectec17clittivafect byiliem: :because trib
. ls are he-avily·d pendent .
on these
·-··-··----· . ---------··-.--·• ..... , .•. , .
208
natural products for their livelihood . . ,;But:in many cases they did not use to g .r.E: ? -r.at_i_v pr_icf due
to middle-men and unscrupulous traders exploiting the naivete o f Tribals.
TRIFED was expected to help tribals b y ensuring __purchase of their_ products and that too by' paying th m
remunerative prices. Further TRIFED was required to-· . p r o v i d n g SUJID.Ort to . e, it ffr. . j
Development Cooperative Corpor _ti9ns, State Forest Development Corporations and other State level
Agencies-engaged i n procure rn ent'of7 u c h products from tribals.
The total procurement o f both MFP and A P since inception till June 2902 stood at Rs. 877 crore. TRIFED
was expected to perfo_!"m the_ M f P 9per - l "as a we_lfare actiyity and not as a coll_l dal activity. Thus
TRIFED was expected t o t r a d e in MFP irrespective orthe-commercial-priide·iice··o(purchasing goods at-
cheaper rates and resorting to purchase and saliton1y1ci"'maxnnizeprofh._ '::"- ---,,,....-,, .
. .•. ,.·-- ·--------· 111#-=·- _: ... .,, ·- . . . . . . , . . ... --:!",
A s a consequence TRIFED suffered cumulative loss of Rs. 92.62 crore till 31.3.2003, resulting in the
erosion o f a large part o f the equity share t a p ital provided by the Central Government
The Ministry o f Tribal Affairs used to compensate TRIFED for the losses sustained by it in MFP operatio11s 1
by:w ?L : .-<:id under the Ceritf£1isettor Scheme of '§!1£!l!;!ZJ!.?JZL 2.l!J!f!J{ F rom 9·90 91;· 0
2Q.06 07, tne t"entra:11'.;overnment had extended a total amount o f Rs.51.4O crore under the 'Price Support
scfh we.' _:'"
'N,ew:Roadmap<ofTRIFED·•··.
- '. •. ·. ;.. :.i;.<'.,: ··-.;•, . • . . • •
Ih .the light o f the changes in its objective, t R i F E D has, fort:rie first -titri drawn a· con1prehensive Road·
fyt_a.pJor.it:s activitjes dµring}lit!J.{th:PJa11 period (2007-12).
. TRJFED would now .rnncentrate
. _on
. . tJJ ..,_(9, .r, ·
follow ing activities only durihg these five years:
a. R ! !,, rli !!MJt Y-- lP-P., -n.t ¢-tivity
b. tvJ!t,M :keti D_e el Q ,!J.ti !ivity
c. o l)) ining, Ski.JI JlR;gr dation and Capa _i_ X- - llild_ing o f } J and MFP
- .: s ans
fl!U+.. -----.
Broad Categories of Tribal Products being·rnarketed by:TRIFE

. . .
-A g neral iistof items being sold at these shops/outlets are as under :
; ·; :·- · · Tribal Textiles
Tribal Jewellery
Gift & Novelties
Tribal Paintings
TeJTacotta & Stone Pottery
· Metal Craft··
. Cane-& Bamboo
Shifting Cultivation
Shifting Cultivation, commonly caned J ro. 2.r..P clµ, prevalent in humid areas where forests are cleared
fully o r partially and the biomas I s burn_t. The cultivation is taken up for limited period and then Jh um
. . : . . : 11 :&. , ; , : ""•-h-;,._ ...• ,._ ..,.-· :,,- . .::·:.
. . . .
lan_d_ is· ahana n , , fo..f. }!9 :ror_·a . o pie o f years_'_\fer1 blfff re ain its fe.rtHity. The process is to'..
repe'ated'after' i period ofJe"'::x rs. The shifting cultivators are mostly 'frlhes o(tli'e'"tiilLr g_!,2,IlS. About
6.4 lakh families are involveo m the practice o f Jhum cultivation over n approximate area o f one million
hectare,s every year. The total area affected by this practice is about_.(ive million hectc;tres in 15 state5._of
the country. Shifting cultivation is practiced ·primarily in all the J;,h)-rt;h namely,''Assain, p > , ; ;
Arunachal v.--,r1a,·h Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. practiced pari:iaHy'-fn
Bihar Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Sikkim.
Shifting cultivation was the main system of the cultivation in the past on hilly terrains with sparse
population. In ecent years, due to increase in population and limited avaihili"flfttoflancrfor agriculture,
the Jhu_m cycle has come d o w n to from the old cycle of J_Q t !. ,X rs._ With the increasing
.
ll
pressure of _population on land, the Jhun;1 cy le is likely to Sh,QJ1 !1,JlU::tper, which would lead to
unavailability o f sufficient ti!rt for: oiJ tQ. tE! µp rate 'its fertmti: With the accelerated decline in soil... ...-¼:-.;,.•. . v t f f ' . .. ..... , ........J
; . • r;;•,;!,.,;··,.,r;. ..... , , . . . i"
-
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fert1htyy1elcl pet unit of land· is becoming pr s- 1vely lower •

.......... .:r
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J h u m cultivation is a primitive: and .uneconomic activity and is not capable o f supporting even a
reasonable standard o f l i shifting""cuitiva"t"ors-:or Jhumias live a life o f less than subsistence level.
J h u m cultivation c a u s e s dEt!. iQ.{ l.!!l!! and. lo ,.,Q(,.§QU . t h e problem o f sqJJ., E?_s_! -- .i :fu q a!l
alar i_ntLe:.!?P2E!Jon and floods have becoml:! an artnual feature. In the Brahmaputra valley alone the
anhuC:11 loss.has been estimated to bee more than Rs.300 crores. The shifting cultivation has not only
beco1;:., 22: but is a wastef U:1£! yity from e<:9.lop ,;{qf l., l}iL,!:£, .J2. l 8L} jew. The problem
need_s serious attention.. program for -controlling shifting cultivation attempts to provide an
alternative soun;:e. o f ,liv liho_9. to Jhumias, improve their socioeconomic condition and to restore
ecoiogical baian2;7;the"hiif;?e ;:··' ..
·
• ..
" & ' , , -
,. ,- . . . --·. -- :. . ·-· "'' "- '
....:,. .......... !':'.,- " ..... ... - -··'"' -·"'
A strategy has been evolved to deal with the problem. This was a result o f careful consideration o f reports
a n d Tecommendations o f various Committees and -Commissions, namely, the Na!!2 L.£2IDID! §l9XtJ>.n
Ag -.il..22-6), Working Group on Tribal Development during the Sixth plan (October 1980), the'
National committee on the Developme_nt o f B ckwa;d Areas (1981), Ministry o f Hm:he Affairs' Committee
o n Forests and Tribes in' In.ma (1"'91f2J, Research THighlignts on Shifting Cultivation and its Alternatives of
I C A R Research Comple?C, for North Eastern Hill. Region, ·Shillong (1982) the .Ta J!2IS£,.J),Jl, "'?1l lfti ng
Cul !2 .W,&;l!l.q,i ..,LQ.. tg,pm:.-1 8J), Working Group o n Development· o f Scheduled Tribes during the
Sev nth Five Year Plan o f Ministry o f Home Affairs (December, 1984), the Fifth Meeting o f the Board o n
Shiftini,C,ultivation held at Kohima o n 13th February, 1985 and the Open House seminar to wean away·
shiftrrif ultivators h,eld at Aizwal on 4th and 5th August, 1986. The strategy for controJ o f shifting
cu tiv_a lon involves an l & r ,.
ra_m '. o f . T . an r ! !. .R!;l.,! - ;!L} !ld. for settlement o,f
Jhum1a,s ,under regular ?.-g L .}.!},ture, annna\ anary, hort1cultyr;¢ a n d forestry. The problems o f Jhum ·
.-·· ·
.
,
.
, "-,
controFprogram aretfireefold c
,
.
,
•
.,
·
.
,r
-
-w.
,
.
,
·
;
.,
-
.
,
1. Rehabilitation o f Jhumia families

2. . ,< evelopment o f their econom,y
3. Yrn,,ncinn Of advance teChnO}Ogy and Capital inVeStment, , .··
A l l the#_pro rams are capital intensive. The Task Force on shifting cultivation (1983) has estimated th t
taking' a perspective o f fifteen years, a package o f measures for rehabilitation o f a Jhumia family would
require an investment o f Rs. 30 000/- per family on an average in addition to the fund allocated under
oth r programs o f the State and Central Government. On the basis o f 1983.price norm, it would require
a n investment o f about Rs. 3,000 crores per annum to settle 50,000 Jhurn"t flam.'fhes Keeping i n view the
resource constraints, it woulcrbe auftficult task to tackle this problerr::'fliesetectlon o f package measures
210
Anthropology Paper 02 •Volume 03
and priority areas has to be done very ;earefttHy. The measures have to be both long term and short term.
A beginning has been made by the Ministry of Agriculture on a small scale by earmarking an amount of
Rs. 15 .crores during 1988-89 as centrafass1sfanc·e-tonTrie.. sfate-s·-orAricfhra Pra<lesh,-Arunadial Pradesh,
Assam, Manipur, Megf1alaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa and Tripura. About 27,000 families are to be
rehabilitated unde·r various schemes. Rehabilitation o f shifting cultivators· would have to be closely
monitored by the administrative agencies and there should be a periodical review o f the progress at
various levels.
Forest Policy o f 1988
Over the years, the forests in the country have suffered serious depletion. The situation has been
reviewed. In order to provide protection and development to the forests, the old forest policy has been
revised_ in 1988. The new forest policy which was adopted on December 7, 1988, takes into consideration
the symbiotic relationship between the tribal people and forests. It envisages that all the agencies
resppnsible for forest management including the Forest Development Corporations should associate the
tr[t r Lpe,ople closely in the protect on, regeneration an?" devetp,P,EJ. JJ!,9JJQf-\ ts as well as in providing
gainfuremployffii:!ntttrtn'ltp opltf'Iivitig iifl:tnd:,around the_f r.ests. The policy also concedes that lif o f the
t ibes- "aiid other pocrr-p'e"dp'l '·ttw
=
rrT&.i! f nd-«near ro·r;s1s revolved around Jcn: s,ts. The tights. and·
Concessions eiifoyeo-by" tne"in -sh ould b e fuliy protected. Thei'?ctomesticr7'fuirerri' nts o f fuel ,wood
f9gder, minor forest produc and timber should be the first charge on forest produce. The new foresr
po}Jcy; if frripleniented sincerely, would protect t e tribal interest and also the forests.
Scheduled Tribes {Recogiiition o f Forest Rights) Bill, 2005
The rights o f the forest dwelling_Scheduled Tribes (FDSTs}who are inhabiting the forests for generat!ons
ahd are in occupation o f forest land have not·been adequately recognized so far resulting in historical
injustice to these forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes who are integral to the very survival and sustainability
o f the forest ecosystem.
Background/ Impetus
1. - Scheduled ·Tribes are living in forests_ for generations and- are integral t o very survival and ·
sustain hility of forests: It is well known that the forest dwelling sch duled tribes,. from times
immemorial, are residing in their habitat for generations and there exists a spatial relationship.
between the forest dwelling scheduled tribes and the biological resources in India. They.are. integral
·_to the very survival a n d sustainability o f the forest ·ecosystems,.induding wildlife._ f a fact, the tribal·
people are inseparable with the ecosystem, including wildlife, and cannot survive in isolcttion.
2. . J-I<! Recognition o f their rights d.uring the process of.consolidation of.forests:. Thetra J_tjonal
· rights o f F Q S t s on forest .lands were, however, ·not adequately _recognize·d and recorded in the ·
consolidation. o f state forests: d_gr pg tq fOlonial and independent India though Indian For_est Act
1927 had provided for the determlnation o f rights. However, the reservation proces ·es fqr cr _ating
forest areas coupled With historical -factors preval_ent a t that time in respect o f excluded and partially
excluded areas and emphasis o n production forestry somehow leftthe bona fide interests o f the tribal
community unrecognized arid recorded.· The problems o f these communities w re · further
compounded after passing o f the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980· whe:n even th development
acrivities in their .habitations w e r e termed as non-forestry activities. They. still do not even:have a
homestead and as such address oftheir .o"\iV_n_. They are peoplewithoutidentities.
. . . .
' .
. . . .,, , .
3. ermanent threat of-eviction f r o m their own land: The non-recognition of.the rights ofthe::FDSTs
over land ·who hav_e been living in forests since .time _immemorial has been attracttng pµblic afrention
since pre-independent India. · D u e to non recogni_tion o f forest rights· o f FpSTs; w h o have· been very
deeply rooted in the forest_a as for
ages, have ome to:b · rroneoµ ly looked upon as encrc;>achers o f
forest lands and the threat o f ev ction consistently looms la.rge in t eir psyche . . Insecurity o f tenure
and fear o f eviction from.these landswhere they·have lived andthr-fved for generations are p rhaps
211
the biggest reasons why tribal communities feel emotionally as well as physically alienated from
forests and forest lands. All these factors have resulted in historical injustice to them.
4. Non-Conferment of ownership rights over MFP in terms of Provisions of PESA, 1996:
Inadequate implementation of the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas)
Act, 1996, by non-transfer of control/ownership over the natural resources, including the Minor
Forest Products to the local communities and by non-extension of PESA Act to the entire scheduled
ax; as, including forest areas, have further compounded their miseries. Although the provisions of
PE'.SA Act gives the rights of ownership of MFP to the respective local communities, the collection and
trade of most of the high value MFP is largely monopolized by the Corporations of the Forest
D: partment of the States and poor FDSTs are just employed by the contractors only as wage earners.
ijf_.
5. Fruits of Development Schemes denied: The condition of the FDSTs traditionally living in their
habitat in symbiotic relationship with the ecosystem is further becoming far more precarious and
vulnerable due to displacement threats in view of ever increasing demand for conservation of forests
ompne hand, and tardy implementation of developmental activities for welfare of FDSTs on the other,.
wfi'ich is mainly due to non-avaHability'qfdear cut title of lan9 in their favor. The poor FDSTs living in
. forestlands for ages could take benefits even under varioi:i's s hemes of the Government such as
"lqdira Awas Yojana".
:;f-t".:
6 Existing Legislative/ P o l k y Frame of the Ministry ofEnvironment and Forests: The Government
. has been taking a·consistent v·iew on this-central theme ·of integrating FDSTs living in and around
forests into every aspect of managing forests. All policy statements, including the Forest Policy, 1988,
circulars arid guidelines. issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests have been espousing the
cause of tribal communities and emphasizing the need for putting these communities at the centre of
any conservation measures. Relevant excepts from some of the important policies of MOEF are ...
e. The Forest Policy, 1988 stresses that forests are a first charge to the tribal communities and their
domestic and livelihood needs are paramount and superior to any other commercial needs
f. The National Forest Policy of 1988, while recognizing the symbiotic relationship between tribal
people and forests, also safeguards the customers rights and interests of the tribal people and
forest dwellers on forest lands
g. The same policy provided for the associat on of tribal people closely in the protection,
regeneration and development of forests with a view to provide gainful employment to the peo{>le
living·in and around the forest, with spec al attention to ...
h,:•J;R.eplacement of contractors by tribal cooperatives
· .
i. .·. Protection, regeneration and optirqµm collection o f MFP along with institutional arrangements
the marketing of such produ e ' ,
j. "Development of forest villages on par with revenue villages and family oriented schemes for
improving the status o the tribal beneficiaries
k. - ,_Undertaking integrated area development programs to meet the needs of the tribal econ my, but_.
! t h e fact remains that· most o f the high value MFP are monopolized by the State Forest
J. , orporations and the tribats are ju.st employed as dailywagers .
l. :: Jn order t fulfill the commitments as enshrin d i th :National Forest Policy, 1988, the Central
,:.:- Government in the Ministry of Environmentand Forests had issue six circulars for settlement of
disputed claims. As per these circulars; the pre-1980. ·encroachments on forest lands were
considered eligible for regularization provided the State Governments had evolved ce.r t ain
eligibility criteria in accordance with the local needs and conditions and ·had taken a decision to
regularize such encroachments but coul not implementtheir decision either wholly or pa r tly due
to enactment of the Forest Act 1980
212.
m. The Draft National Environment4 dlfcy 2004 states that "give legal recognition to the traditional
rights of forest dwelling tribes. This would -remedy a ,s, rious historical injustice, secure their
livelihoods, reduce possibilities of conflict with the Forest Departments, and provide long-term
incentives to the tribal to conserve the forests".
It is in this backdrop that the historical rights of the FDSTs had not been recognized despite all the
legislative and policy framework of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, a decision was taken that
the- Ministry of Tribal Affairs would take steps to formulate a comprehensive Central Legislation to
redress the historical injustice done to the tribal community and for clear assertion of their legal rights on
land.
Actordingly, a Technical Support Group (TSG) comprising the representatives of the Ministries concerned
and some reputed experts having rich experience and deep association with the cause of environmental
protection and welfare of trial people was constituted, under the Chairpersonship of Secretary, Tribal
Affairs to formulate the Scheduled-Tribes and Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill.
Af e·r a series of meetings and delibe atism la draft Scheduled Tribes (Recognition of Forest R!ghts}s:m,
20,0,5 was formulated by the Ministry of Tribal
. Affairs and circulated amongst the ministries
. concerned
.
. for'their comment s .
..
Maih
• , ; .
Featifres.ofthe.Draft Bill
. . . . .
Qlij .ctive:· The obfective o f the Bill is fo undo the historical_ injustice- ·by- rec:6gnizing and -vesting the
. fore.st ights and occupation o f forest land to forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes who have been residing
tt{er f r generations and who are integral to the very survival aQd sustainability ofthe forest eco-system,
in,.cluding wildlife, but whose rights could not be recorded.
. .
The Rights ofthe Forest Dwelling Tribes: The bill in Section 4 seeks to recognize and vest Forest Rights
to FDSTs wh re they are scheduled. These rjghts include ...
1. To hold and live ·in the forest land under the individual or common occupation for habitation or for
selfcultivation for livelihood by a member or members of a f(?rest dwelling Scheduled Tfibe;
2. Right of access to, use or dispose of MFP;
3. Other righ t s of uses. or entitlements such as grazing (both settled and transhumant) and traditional
seasonal resource access o f nomadic or pastoralist communities;
4. Right of habita and habitation for primitive tribal group and pre-agrlcultutal communities
5. To be exercised for bonafide livelihood needs and not for exclusive commercfal purposes;
I
6. · Not to exceed 2.Sha per nuclear'Utnily;ohhe FD.ST;
7. To be heritable but not alienable or transferable;
8. To include the responsibility of protection, conservation and r generation.of forests;
9. _·Tobe registered jointly in the name of the husband and wife when it is in respectofland where a , tie .
··r;
·?is vested or recognized;
10/.To include traditional and customary rights.
The Bill further provides that no FDST shall .be evicted or removed . from forest land under tiieir
occupation till the recognition and verification procedure is _complete.
The.Duties._ofF rest Right H lders_includexesponsipility,ofoot.carrying
. . o t any activity
. that adversely. - ••..
..
affects the wild life, forests and biod.iv rsity.
213
The Authorities and their functions include Gram Sabhas, Sub Divisional Level Committees, District
Level Committees having forest, tribal welfare and revenue officials as members.
Offences under the Act: Detailed provisions for penalty for contravention of the provisi.ons of the Act
and also the offences by Government authorities have been provided. A simple imprisonment up to 30
days with or without a fine of Rs. 5000 /- has been considered appropriate and in addition, the Bill
provides for de-recognition of forest rights if the offence is committed-more than once.
The N9_.dal Agency shall be the Ministry of Tribal Affairs or any other officer or authority authorized by
the Government of India in this behalf to implement the provisions of the act.
Analy$iS of the Draft Bill:
A closer look at the Bill reveals that it has provided for a number of checks and balances ...
1. Recognition of Forest Rights of only the FDSTs, where they are scheduled; there is no distribution of
land involved at all and the Bill will not cover the entire 8.2% of the ST population. Only tribes
scheduled for the area living the forestsiwill benefit A tribal f from an outside area / state will not
benefit The Bill in actual terrris will only benefit the tribal pop\liation on "as ·is where is basis". Only
octupatiqns as per the ground situation existing for generations are being given legal recognition so ·
asto avoicfday to day harassment by the officials.
2. Recognition of the occupations existing prior to cutoffdate and maximum up to 2.5 ha land o_nly is
·proposed, which in fact restricts land grabbing by elites even within the tribal communities.
3. All rights would be heritable but inalienable or non-transferable .
. 4. The use of the forest rights has been restricted to the subsistence-and livelihood needs alone.
5. The commercial use of any kind has been specifically excluded.
6. A cutoff date of 25th October, 1980 has been provided by the Bill. It is only a one time exercise to
recognize the age old occupations as per the ground situation intended to put an end to so-called
issue of encroachment forever . .There is no question of abetment of fresh encroachment.
7. It has been provided that the forest right holder shall not indulge in any activity that adversely affec_ts
,the wild life, forest and the biodiversity in the-local areas.
8. The involvement of democratic institutions like Gram Sabhas is in tune with the provisions of PESA
.Act, 1996 and ai_ms at empowering the local communities in management of their natural resources.
9. Specific provisions have also been made in, that the rights so recognized would include the·
responsibility of protection, conservation and regeneration of forests. · 1
't i i '
,.
< • }, .•. .,
10. The.re -is--no move to convert forest lands into agricultural holdings. The vesting of rights would-be
done on "as is where is basis" and definitely no clearing of forests or felling of trees would be ·
permitted.
Condtfding Remarks
The J>£ Po, fd n w layv to re,cognize and, protect the rights o f trib l people living infore l s an import nL;:.
step i 'th_(?r.!ght direction. In much•ofthe mainstream media-today.the concerns of: e_nvironmentaHstsi,
and th : so:ca.Ue "nature lovers" are shown to be opposed to th9se of people who live in and around
· forest areas, whether it be in terms of p_rotecting animal wild ife or'presenring tree-cover._
Typically, iris theJocal communities who are.blamed for deforestation or for the ·destruction of natural
habitats, despite 'tlie o enyh:elming. evidence of the: 'negative . role played. by commercial ··16gging and.
mining interests. ·But this is_ really a major misrepresentation, since.the iocal co·mmuhities whO live in ·and ·
around forests are usually those who are mo,st concerned with preserving them. And where there has
I
(.
™
been more evidence o f devastation, it•has '}-nore often than not been the result of a nexus between
business interests and local officialdom and politicians.
The problem is that even those who are officially in charge of dealing with these issues, say, for example,
the Forest Department, are not adequately informed of the ground realities with respect to what is forest
and what is not The official data on forest cover in India is in a state o f utter confusion, which actually
dates from the colonial period. At independence, 26 million hectares of land was declared as forests, but
wit ?ut any proper survey. Now the forestland is estimated to be as much as 78 million hectares, again
without proper survey, partly because in 1952 all wastelands were also declared to be forests.
Within all this supposedly forest area, there were substantial swathes of land which were actually being
cultivated even then, and continue to be cultivated today. This included not just areas o f shifting
cultivation, but also perennially cultivated tracts. Some forests were no more than patches o f trees
situated within the cultivated area o f villages. There was some ongoing survey work, but it was very
unsatisfactory because it was haphazard, had no mechanisms for cross-checking and was completely non-
transparent
These contradictions w re made even \nore acute in 1980 when the. Forest Conservation Act stopp d
even the limited and inadequate official surveys. The current official description. ,of the extent. . f
encroachment is therefore, based-en extremely problematic and unsubstantiated guesstimates.
According: to the Forest Survey o f India, in 2001 the total forest cover o f the country was only 67 . 53
millio·n hectares, and this even· includes plantations, groves, and so on . . Eve'n i f au this forest cover.-is
inside state for sts, which it is not, at least 12 percent o f the land·classified as state.forests has no forest at
all. In some states, the percentage is remarkably high. In Himachal Pradesh; for exarµple, 61 percent o f
the area that is described as state forest has no forest cover, while in Rajasthan the percentage is 49.
This is largely because wastelands are being classified as forests, but it also reflects the inadequate nature
o f the data collection. Even official data show that 83% of the forest blocks in undivided Madhya Pradesh
were never surveyed. Indeed, the .confusion is such that, for India as a whole, the area under non-fore?t
cover'is seven times larger than the areas under so-called encroachment. ·
What all this means, o f course, is that the ·traditional land rights of many people who have fot generations,
lived and tilled the land in some o f these official forest areas are not being recognized. These are mostly.
tribal groups, but also include some non"tribal communities. The absence o f proper surveys even in the. ·
past makes it ·easier to declare such people to qe encroachers even when they have been traditionally
involved in cultivation in these areas.
Legal judgments have not helped to reduce the confusion: the Supreme Court stayed the regula.rization of
land and· stopped recognition o f pre-1980 settlers who were thereby. classified. as encroachers. Worse
still, in May 2002 the government mi iIJ tr(PJ,;eted a Supreme Court ruling to issue a directive t o all State.
Governments to evict encroachers from aU forests immediately. A massive eviction drive ensued, which
targf!ted forest communjties. rather th.an the commercial and mafia· interests which have actuallyJed·'fo .
the destruction of forests. This has led to huge dislocation and suffering among ·already impoverished
people. Lakhs of families have been rendered homeless and there were many recorded cases o f excessive
violence. There have been civil disobedience movements across the tribal India.
The-\Scheduled Tries-and Forest Dwellers (Recognition o f Rights) Bill, 2005 is extremely important not
o
only}or providingjustice t o forest dti1ellers b talso fo r cons rvi11,g the f rests themselves . . There aret\vo:
criti ally important aspects o f this Bill: it recognizes· comniunitfes' ·rights and it also democratizes We
system o f forest conservation. Both are important .to maintain the· health o f forests and forest
communities. pssentially all that the proposed law requires is that the Forest Department updates i land
records to recognize what already exists on the grou d. A t the same time, -it also_ requires forest ·rights:
holders to refrain from any activity that would adversely.affei;t the forest and the biodiversity in the local
area, and also enjoins the local community to stop any activity·which adversely affects wildlife, · forest$
·
and biodiversity.
215
_/Impact of Urbanization and Industrialization on Tribal Populations

Urbanization is a process o f social and cultural change in which the\ribal and the rural India is gradually
changing towards ur,!?. !!,,f. UJ: rs. This is because of the planned change induced by the five-year plans of
the country. Urbanization in tribal India has a social diiffeHsion caused by the problems o f culture con;act
with the tribes w h o were living in remote areas surrounded by the forest or at the top o f i:h -h-iils. ··But
aftef"-fnaepe61ence_ it \-Yc:l.S c!. ?ired constitutionally that the tribes should be brought into the mainstream
o f the country. Various developmentafmeasures taken for the upliftment of tribal India caused more
problems than benefiting the target groups. This does not mean that urbanization is not a t all required in
the tribal areas, but it is required with planning and anthropolo ical insight and strategie?. The overall
is'"'cfeaify
f
impact-of urbanization vfsible rn't'f e "tr"ffja'Cse·ct r .. It h -changed the pattern o f living o f the
-- · · · ·
trip_ inthe country.
A l l those forces, external or internal, "Yhich broke the isolation of the tribal and the village communities ·
and helped to bring over a change, however slight, in the traditional social order paved way for
urbanization and industrializc1tion. For, industrialization does not merely refer to the use o f large and
complicated machinery, and urbanization c,loes not only mean_ that a great concentration o f the human
bei- gs· in small areas,_ they both· require filh .£t s - _?_:e't_?,. 2,mic tJR. - -iRs .. hu;,11 .fir ,.mw
coriflict;with the traditional social order (M.N. Srinivas). · -
-:! ft.1vJ.t-;_;;.·:.· ,:...., A
·
· ·· · · · , •• •.,.,.._. - •f"\C-:., : .\"'fl •
T h e isolation µ(3 tween dffferent areas, .both rural and tribal, was brq!s J} dow11 b,xJµ'"' .,_ nstructiohs C>f the
r o _ , § f a d t h ; cteveiop m e t or communicatioiL k niT013w dvn: anfcrY Y,,
';
1 ; wi; 1 tr ctucel ctiI'rtiig
perioct a'.ncrfoan measures". were take 7c;71rnµ;;; tli1;"°'pTitl e! b
Y
tfi rfti_sh . r.. t _ s. yVefil, J» 1
education was introduc<:!d and many customs were abolished. These measures had a profound effect on
tlfe"sott l'life o f the .people. The establishment o f the British rule in India meant that every village or other
area, hO\,yever remote, became a pa:rt o f the widest political community. This was soon followed b y the
extension of the economic ne work, which spread over the whole world including India. The cotton
famii-fe'ancf'f" -- 1t11 ; ,-i --·'°u's
; de the B itish manufacturers have wisdom o f an alternate supply of
1
cotton in India. ·The de_velopment o f cotton as a cash.crop effected the peasantry in several parts o f the
country.)
It brought money to the villages and tied up the fortunes o f peasantry with events happening
5 8 0 ( miles away, and over which they have n o control. -An expanding economy brings money to mQ_fe
groups and occasionally to the groups which are very low in the social hierarchy. When the groups low'fo
caste hierarchy Sanskritise their way o f life, certain amount of disturbance occur·s in the__so,i.a.l.s- stem.
. r'. • /:1- t -f .'::t;; • • ---
·
T h e pol}tico-_econ_o iSJ9. , released during· the Britis_h brought ; b o u t e t r l! !!1 the caste
5-ysteriC'Ifthere is a stimulating urbanization and in'fflistrfalization o f the t_ribal a n d rural areas, extra
age_ncies play a very crucial_ role. Urbaniz.at_ion has hrought a c : , e in i}. ,.!!,!: Je o f the peo le an_d
which .1. o led to a Change m th'.:JPB.th mts and the <!Jg "!\ c h a ? m have cffso occurred m their 1ID ; ..l;
teligious':beliefs, worldvie\iV's, ethos_.. etc. The. process o f urbanizatfon fias made them tolerant towards
nre: ri b i i "°pedpl1 in _urbqn ·\areas are. no longer interested in their 'traditions to''"be
l
otl)er ifgf ns.
m?ifritaf d: . Living together has _incuJcated·tol rn.ILce for othe , ecp;_· .and they are extendi11,g a helping -a.., 1 ::.· -'"! ,: - .. ,, •
h a n d t 6 t h e fo llow ers o f other sects·everi'm matters ofconstruction o f sacred places.

,. . .. · . . . - , '
• • «
• '11 - m;_.r,_, - ..;-"'.,...-•.'··· -:---- .. •
Urbaniz tion has also greatly influenced their ecology. The eIA 2£Xfil£..!1!, . ..tJern and oc_su ation paf! p
in tribal India have also undergone change owing to urbani_zillon. Instead of lf?ditional empl?yment e., ,d
occue!tipnal pattern they preferred to w o r k in offices, factorie workshops etc. The traditional craftsrne
like ciitp]. §7f <!.!?.!e.f. !Iliths.J.tave left their traditionaloccupation'.and'are working in governmNE: nd
privat :off ic:es andfac ories that have_ n thingJQ,qp:\v:ithiheir'.tracHtionalskills: Most o f them have even
10-snt lirt adfrfon·arcap·aEIHHes comµi;I httirbanizatton has -a de'i:;rr·e t i m p a d o n the ..,lifestyle ......... -. . , reHgion,.
... -
politica'i:-socialana·economicfile. i n tribal India. .
.
... -. -----··-···" -··---·-'---'" -·-·.·- -··--·-- .. . -
. . ,
..... , .... .... :•·-·.-. - . _, .. , - - : - · ... · - - - · - ; .,. ... -. . . . - - · , - . - ...... .,.,.
I t is· evident that the Central Indian TribaLbelt-standing cross the ·stat s o f Bihar, West· Bengal, Orissa,.
M.P_. A._P. has een bur_ geo ing_ __in·:°. :?One o f intense i_n_du_stria.I _an mi_n_ i_ng a_ctivitie s in th.e .r cen t de_c_ ade._
:1 _ )
M a n y mdustnes 'and a cham o f m m m g cpmplexes hav .m,1de _considerable appearances __ __ and iIDJ?}!S!. .!!
t,r-ib_al A hoary agro- :, - ?. l .lture has be_;. Eon! nted '_" th- - ".1o_ e- n. s- '. ticated \
_life.
\ I
"-f
\ I
216
industrial culture. This abrupt juxtapos.ition has produced deleterious results for the tribes. There has
been a large-scale alienation o f tribal land for the publieicmd .RriVate enter.prise,s. Having lost the basic
resources·;tne-friffes··and "rur·a1 ·mass·es· h'ave - ·o"rbe - -- blrt ·';; , ·;;· - : lternqtjye source .Q[liv lihpod.
The first generation has found it nearly impossible to imbibe the skiUs-a[{d "' culture o f the industrial_ e. ·
It is obvious that the shock impulses generated on acco"tint o f the iffipos.ition of'tne m6dern ind -stry have
---- --- as
been beyond the b 9rntion cap lfJtY q f the __tribal and rural communities. In fact for the first generation, it
has been an. unmitigated disaster in much--as it ha§i'rneantnear1y ·a-wholesale destruction. · · ·
The .expectation that the industrialization o f tribal areas and rural areas would help in improving.the.
economic conditions o f the tribal communities has proved to be largely ill so . Major industrial projects
located in tribal territories, far from generating employmen · or the tribes, have operated to their
detriment by uprooting them from their living and offerin&. them no satisfactory alternativetcrtJi1'ir
f
traditwn-a1m'effiocfs:fhe·at:Hiuc e·ot 1i ro} ed: s··oftii:ial;t fia -bee that their r sponsibility- t·o the· t d 6 · ; ; and
rur froll? ended with the payment o f the compensation for the land acquired from them. The meagre cost
compensation is soon flitterectaway" on ctrinl<s' ·an,r user products, and destitution is the price th poor
tribes'have to pay for the establish men . oraninaustryin1ne·areas inhabit hem. -... . .
:\:>·;
Furt er, n.2. E.e£.. ...l5-J2LC?_Y..LcJ,tt. the tribes and. rural folkf in the n 'v:' r. -Of s 9 .. t. E .!P o f th .
f "'
projects. They are left to construct'anf 'i nf ai l:fff "ffi'e dirty·sfu o s on the outskirts. These areas are without
any'c !c .!!t !.\ U Jjke teR. - . r.g rpeg _gj ,llQ. l..P.I:c ln<Jg J!tC. '--'· .,_,,.,..,,_..,, ··,. .
Industri.alization has. disturbed the ,of tU .al.,il I -. There i s a :problem o t ..

adjustment for the tribes. The tribes are accustomed to seasonal or· agricultural labour, btit owing to···
:.,,
inaffseri ation, they have to !:'!rk, aL ili ,year. 1 1Jroken tne 1.9] l t f J!X. l ste!11·
prevalentin rural India. Nuclear fa,milJes are n o w predominant Traditional authority o f the elders in the
famiiy'has'-be n considerably weak d. T h e industrialized tribes and ...'ruraf"'""'fofK'afe'"'aoandoning .
:-,.jc
.,i;.-!.'a1
,:M&:S-., .. . • . . •.
traEitional norms and practices. Tribes and villagers are generally advancing towa.rds..Jnte s?.EM i
t h e g --- a}s· t:r·eo'ple· but.at th.e same time they are r p_i .!Y..J.QQ. _i_ng t ! f tra_<;l !iP!:l.?LS.9.Ei.Q. . Jt., ral
ch ..IeEter,ts.ric -In the traditional agrar!a :- 2.P..9JTIY t .family w a s functioning more or les - !1,1,!!t.PJ
labour, however, in the faclo'r1es--ffTs· the individual who.is-\vantecr··From"tne-inein5er nfp o f a close
so-dety "a. tribal i.ndividual is··rnducecr·to 'acccfrnmo aal:e·himseff1n urilversal pattern o f cosmopolitan·. a
society without education, equipment ·and resources. There is a crisis o f identity. lndustrializati n has
bred new drin.,kini habits, prostitution, feuds, unionism, unemployment, migration and loss o f agricultural.
land in tribal and village I n d f a . · - - ------.. - - - -- ,_., ..,_ ... _,,,_... .. ... ... , .... -.. , ·
T h e question whetherindustrialization planned for tribal and rur l areas. should not con enci w1t11.th·e. -_,.
human sacrifice involved· acquires significance. Should not th interests o f the men and women be
afegu! ded therefore?
It is d e a r that w e cannot keep: in check t h e advancing· tide o f industrialization .. Never;th_€:1 ss, :v,, '. a·n·
.
oftfn:. h ri?ors o f n e w .alien lima\e The ! 1w. 2 .,,.P!.. fote a- to,.P ,r : £- .f ,in
..
rndustnahzat1on or a s a n alternative to a k e gainful hvmg. But n o step slioula15e ·ta en wliicn w-puld.
l .Y> he des ituq .Il.2f.J!!e§Ses. No e!. 1 [2ill ], JJE: ed _w}!_h ut a _P,}. " !- . alYs s ' ·-f ! j
o f local COIIl_IIlm!iti $ . .Qased. o n study o f all related aspects like e present so.tfo.::e o om1c stat } . :rYlturat
profilea· i' a n th r _o p .o lo g y· -p-ersp ed :iv e··d e v elo p m nt by-a 1nnt e r -a fo d jjii a r/ i>proa ch :
.. ...... .
··-···-· .-
. . . . . , . _....... , .•.. " " · - · · · · · -. . . . -··- ' ---······ . . ............._. ...•...
.
.. ·
W e shall exa ine some specific consequences of.both.Urbanization and Industrialization in greater d tail.
. . . .· ,'..···
.
IMPACT OF INDUSTRIAUZ.A no T,J

,-----: •.-.
T h e social relations found in the modern industrial society are very complex compared to
!J!L ?!!"i
the simple and straightforward social relations found in the ancient societies. Inoustrialization has
affected the society in every.respect The aspects.of industrializatiorta·re intimately related with scientific
processes. Therefore, the attitudes o f the members o f industrial society become scientific. People· accept
touchstone .of
/ ..--,·.,c,:··.·.-,. ···.·--··-···. • • explanati
.
a n d demand rational -
; for e v e r y pheriotnenon. Reason; ·.arid not f a i t h
. . . · · - ,···- .-.- • -,.,,='*"°'""'·"'"_,.,, .-,.·•·.-,a•-,<.,.- ,-;-c.,,
I {
/ \.
--·· '.
217
every action and belief in the industrial society. The freedom of thought and individualism are the
cornerstones of the industrial societx -.
lmpact on Marriage: The institutions o f marriage and family have undergone change as a result o f
"-.'·
structural processes initiated b y industrialization. Traditionally the Indian society has recognized
marriage to be a S £!3.9J.!!§1it1:!.UQn and in the modern industrial society it was reduced to Lffim\ :Jn
the past, marriage was considered to be a rm. .Q!;_ t and !. li _na!Jle 9!1.t - -i_cp_ ld 1:1?. - rr! P <:\.
..
a t will.. But now, under the impact o f industrialization, -divorce
< ··-- ·r,.;., •and
..,
. .
,marriage
.
,• '.
" " -"""-•• go side
···-·-•·"•-.•,
• ,
- •,
• •• ••, """..,_ " ._
b •.y,••side.
"""' . ·, .•. : ::,!.':'
With th impact of industrialization, the age at which marriage is contracted has increased. MoreQ_Y r, the
aim of.marriage in lndia is no longer spiritual and hence many young men and women7'iihig towns prefer
to live .:single. The institution o f marriage has been reduced to a mere device q f satisfyipg_9ne.'. .?. , 1J;;ll
need and because thisbiological need can also·be satisfi 'ci'oul:of wedlock, m;i'rriage is no more important.
Since frn;Iustria1iza.tion has n o w provided many platforms on which a man and w o m a n can meet, interact,
··, - and exchange ideas and opinions, the traaitionafpractice o f the family elders selecting the spouse for
their younger generations is gradually loosing its"significance. •-·•r: -""· = =-······-- · · ··-· · "'"
• ., ·w. · ,:a¥ ..,.::. ;t;.· 3- ., ...}£00"::,,r ·:·-4':"'a• *-""'"pJs)
The_ i!J'4'µstrial oci ty perpetuate the philosophy o f Individualis . ·Due to his feature, there are more
C \I}S ;P l8P.-<l t!i l!a : than_ cop Ji:r iJ\£ijje'tween the husband and the wife. This
resul_ted in a n increase in the rate o f divorce rn1fie institution o f marriage.
Impact ·o_n ,F mily: Indust_rialization has beeri responsible for a change in the functions o f the family . .
Nuin_erous functions which were hitherto handled by the family are now taken up b y other secondary
institu_tions in the society. Traditionally, the family used to be a centre oL_!l!l!b. rt !:!EJL nd 9J1 ,a!J&D o f
children. But in an industrialized society, the family is not required to fulfil these role . · Even the
_ traditional importance accorded to the.family kitchen is lost in the modern industriaHzed society .
\·,:, s,,.,z.,o,,".*.,S>*·,;c.,.;- "'#<:;.-,;;;; :,1; ,,,_,-;,,,""'1,.•J,,,,."q};; .••. . . , . ' " " •,••*-"'-"'"'"'"i>,<>.;. "1_<>-<>>, \\-<;,'+s" l
. , . _ _ . . , _ . •O-><· ' • ·---·':•'-' .. • . • ...... _ .•. , . .
. . /, . •
The traditional and ideal family system o f India, the Joint Family, J s also subjected to change. A s a "' .•
consequence .of industrialization, the joint familx setup is breaking down and is being replaced b y the
modern nuclear family. For details, refer to the chapter on joint family. . .
- "" ;.\
Industrialization results in the increase o f standard o f living. Obviously, it is always not tenable to
maintain such a standard in a big ·ramuy.'ife'nceindtrectly,ihclustrialization has been responsible for the
families to be smaller compared .to the traditional gaiety associated with a big family. The prevalence -of
the .?. .. 2..t!:J1£2 !.!!! s has also been responsible for the pre ,al Jlf. <?X, m, ]l!e..JJ!. -
. .
Industrialization has been responsibl¢ for the changing status of women in the society. Earlier, from both
the economic and social points o f view, woman was traditionally a subject o f man. She enjoyed n o
indep fl ence at all. Industrialization had a profound irnpact on all these spheres o f t h e traditional status
?f woirien. It makes the woman more- i w !1..i? .. and this resrMJ ;- l!L.•tlLE;!,!' . s d" ! ·
1q9 pe, ?ence also. They are me;.t. 5U.til .Jl .dl W1,JL 1 . in the decision ma:k1 g process.
More_6R' r,a woman today is assE;?rting her independence b y defying the traditional laws o f the s9ciety.
. -' ' .
The traditional family is now disintegrating, as a consequence of industrialization, due to the increased
spirit o f individualism. This disintegration is also· because o f the continuous co!}fJj J:, , •••
n_<;l, ....._tensi9ns
..
in the )l,:'. ;- :, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .L J,
hou.sehpl . between different membei:-s constjtuting it.
O , · - " . - • • •
I •
! Ltiir .·
The t itional Indian f ily used to ouri th (WCi,P] !!!L l ;. J..l E:Jtls. The elders
w e r e ac orded- respect an3 tfie indiviaual als. were integrated 1ith the farrait:al, gg_als. But as- a
consequence or ffictustrfai1zaHoi1;'tiiesetracTitionanirn1nar-goa1s·w ere"als'o ·sub)ecte<l,
_
to change.
" .
._._
'
· " " - · , , ,. ;..,;-·'
Impact on Caste System: Industrialization has also brought in a considerable change in the field_ o f social
stratification in India. In the traditional Indian society social stratification was based on. the principle o f
ascriptive ·sta s, i.e., birth,- c:Io'sely guard .ed 1:>y_.th PI1'1. ple_s_ o f Purity and Pollut on; which is popularly
!
-ste system. -·In1lus'trrafiz ation bri W dhriens'fonstowciaTstratification,·which now
n the prindples like occupation, edµcation
.
and income.
' ": i t -- . ' ". ' - . ...:
-.....-:iE' t '"
218
Industrialization has thus resulted in the; Hsintegration of the traditional caste system in the country. It
led to·lhe collapsef of the traditio9al caste-based structure of the society. The caste-based criterion of the
---
social classiffcaf on has· cha ged. In the rriodern ·1r1dustri iized society, it is the class and not the caste
- ---"·---··---··'·'"'" . , ··-···---·-
which fixes the social s.ta.tus. oith.e.jngjyj_dual.
The traditional social structure has been responsible for the dominance o f certain privileged castes. Even
this traditional hold o f certain castes on the· Indian society has gradually reduced as a consequence to
industrialization. A t the same time, the lower castes, who were hitherto occupying the status positions
which made them deprived of all the social and economic developments, were raised in their positions in
the society, as a result o f economic and social independence the process o f industrialization has provided
fu
Apart from this, the traditional division o f labour, which was based on the concept o f purity and pollution
and· hereditary specialization, has also been changed by the impact . o.f iridustrialization. This led to the
abolition ruthecaste·b"aseafunctions.
A s a result oflndustrialization, the speF\re,-ofuntouchability is relaxing its grip upon the thought rind
imagination o f people o f India .. Industrialization compels people to work together irrespective o f their
i cast \backgrounds o r affiliations. In fact,, industrialization has indirectly been· responsible· for the
l
l . prevalence ·of inter-caste marriages.
I _;·hnpacto Religion: Ind strialization .perpetuates the spirits o f rationalism and scepticism in mankind.
.,.For material progress,, supersUticm·s ar a',py_rdle. The process o f industrfalizatioµ helpS'the: sprea4 and
di seminat10rfofscfen:ti"ficlciiow,mig '·a 1fp ;ctical reality .. This philosophy subverts religious orthodoxy
!;
l
and' superstitic ns.
A s a result o f industria_lizatiori, the outlook o f the general masses in re.spect o f religion has become broad.
A s a consequence o f industrialization, the persons of different faiths. .come together and get an
opportunity o f knowing and understanding.each other. This results in dispelling wrong notions· about
other faiths ·and an appreciation o f basic unity f a l l faiths. Therefore, as a result of.industrialization;
there is a development o f religious tolerance. Industrialization, on a broader scale o f religious tolerance,
leads to the constitution o f secular states as against the earliertlieocratic states ..
Impact on Moral Aspects of People: Inchlstri hZcition brings about a change in·the moral aspects of the.
general masses. It results in the development o ( rational· and ·materialistic outlook, in jvi_dualism, ·
permissiveness in sex, increase in crirtttrs· mtllc1os!;. :li "._. __traditilonal social control mechanisms.
IMPACT OF URBANIZATION
The/rural and tribal societies are necessarily dependent on agriculture: and allied activities. · But:as:a
resul o f increased contact with the urban centres, this means o f livelihood is forsaken l}y m a n y in, t h e
1ure; or gtt cp,rospe.ctsjn, industr:y. ./ -.
Then, on th·e.oilier hand, there is an influx o f u r b a n communities in the rural market The rural folk accept
the new products likeh:,,?. 1!:mer dur les o·r I t.§ YJugJl !!. s. ·· ...,. -
Ur anization ecessarily involves th , e m e n t o\ 1!!.a r-poe. - !!? to urban c n ers. hese migr3. ts
brmg back with them n .eL9lJ!{e, !:!!!!.1! ,,,and- £ !?· Thesemtroduced mfluences o f urbamsm
affe_<;t the majority o f th rural population and the tribal folk.. The entire· social structure .o f the -rural
comfounity suffers . a -:Change. Economk<. lations/n i hbourh.opd's, .universality' o f human actions,
brotherhood doctrines are thrown "open' f o the gullible masses.,
As' such ne\v classes and status. functiQJlS
are .,. •. . . . •,' based'·..o, ·. le ality and
derived in"the' social life. Heredita,ry' lec1,c,l r hJR.giv.es way to ra ional leader§J!!P
authority as well as on voting cnoice:· ,_,. ,., ·-,. ·-. . .
>, ' ' • .·.:
N e w forms o f mass media like 3:.di .,T.tY.d1ew_!Bap, ,% ma , etc. are available to the who ruaJJql
are influenced b y these to a_great'extent 'Individualism creeps i n gradually replacing the age old collective
219
consciousness. Religion is less primitive, rrfo e-rational. There is no more an inhibition of personality •
building.
••
::,- . . . : . _. • . . ; . · : , . ; r . - , . , , - · ... " ....... : : • : - · , -·.
. -."': ::-.··-·-·······
The social consequences of Urbanization are discussed in detail hereunder.

1. ·Decli11:e in Social Sympathy: The first consequence in overcrowding and increasing population is the
decline i fellow feeling and.sympathy.
2. L )'. of Social Co t.ro}: With the decline in the fellowteeling, sympathy and concern for others, there
is also a decline. in social control. there is a decline in the control of the family and caste on the
be: aviour of the individual: Apart from this, there is a decline in the control of religion on man due to
th.fever increasing philosophy of materialism.
. - ·,·_:;. .
. 3. Ch,fo g e i n the Status o f t h e Women: This is because of the social and economic independence
. women acquire as a result of change.
4. · Cha_nges
. in the Institution of Marriage ',lnd.
.
Family: This is due to the reasons already elucidated .
t · '.; '
, / ··•··.·. . .•
:.ea.fUer.. .
r ·.. . ·.::. .·.-..<. ..

5. ;Slf ri6flty :<>f Male Ratit), h i th'e'··Population: This is due to the male dominance in the field of
i_· ? R- i/
. :·
. 6'. . co·fu etdat.zat,ion·o{Efrtethilnmeµt:The lamily lost function of being a place for rec eation
·.. . has
. .. its '. .
'incf titlrtai'rtfu iit"i· . : :/:: ': ·:- .. ', : :- .
.'
7. ·Scardty <>fLiving Accommodation: Due to the ever increasing urban areas and its population.
8. -0-ev lopinentofSlum : A direct consequence of the scarcity of living accommodation.
9. Cha ge.i,n m·oral values: Due tQ the same f6rces generated by the process of industrialization.
10. ·Breakd\1 noffointfamily: Due to increc1se in migtation from rural and tribal areas to cities.
11. Increase in the In.c.idence of·Crime: Urban centers perpetuate the manhood that is unquestionably
brutalized; women dishonored and childhood ·poisoned at every source.
12; Corruptitin, Conflict and Competition:.Due to. imbalances in supply and demand.
:.·! ·
.
,_". "[, .
:·> '"
-
'j..
7.1 Problems of Exploitation .:iind Deprivation & Constitutional Sa eguards

Problems o f Exploitation and Deprivation o f SCs, STs and OBCs
Who are the Shudras and when and w h a t brought the condition o f degradation to them? The V.edic
l terature,. hJ.fp m i_nly..includesJ _e y e d s . the Brahm, s, the Ar yak 1l ! '?lq r l!Efill! hads.,-d.o:
·
n --P.. - - i -e. !1X Y..iEe ce ... t h ! t t "Shudra.Cas isteqjn the early p_eriog. The Rig V e d a only refe.rs to
the three Castes o f Brahmin, Kshatriya a n d Vaishya in the Aryan community. It seems that the "caste of
S u ras" was c )?.yJh ) 'i:ia.nslifthe-closmiii, ·a tif gV d.§1. However, there.are scholars like
Apte and Dutt w h o contend that the class o f Shudras was known from the t me of. Rig Veda. The non
mention of the word Shudra does not argue for its non existence. In the Brahmanas however w e firid a
repeated reference to Shudras along with Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaish s forming the integral part of
the Inda-Aryan society. t h e texts o f t h e r hmanas assi l1;,!?,.,!J . . h, EL m i )Jh J.9. tp9. i iQJ} a_1:3_d
I
i
-J
mention them as the. p opleoutsiti-e ttrefoTa .of --Bral:im.inical: sacrificial religion . . This is perhaps
be .se they \iVere •racially c1nd cultµp lly diffe.rent from the. A!:l gs and'· opposecfthem as far as their
reli&.iq wa ·_c<;?-·µc r d/·_Atc rdi g·tq; IJfl?le, they·not only om>osed the gods o f Aryans but also did. ot
I
-i .perform sacrit'.ict!s and g ve .-ncfglffsl'it tn prtests. The te.rms and epithets used b y t h e Aryans for.the
{
re ''·J ·o . : ta ;- : :}tn ::1 - j ra.va a·{-h1t ,:
.'
Da a m,a ters··ofsocial Efivile$es . ,md .tgi<>US,
. eforef li'e._S!l s:fer. :\g11<eri .Yf:.r:1 .l w . s t t TheY, could ·neith_er: rfor .crifi,ces;::n.pr
.· Y, J).a$ \ ey:. r.(t1t tr-i_p e9._ a J ' e:Se i ; UQQ9Jy ahdililEUte Crfature to·uch ta;used .·!= feQl _mal
.¥1h?s
.t
iif! Y?i f· J!'.:H , ;i·s· 9. t1 ihaJ·9nty· tn ·-0 r: tr,t e· rders·w:t: r 7·cp g !-e.d J n:! ! :Y! ttfs ,?:g f ! .as .
re}tgfous an'd rittialistic· life·:was: ctmcernecL :-.The Sliudr i \vas systematically ,dehafred frotnfoll
. - ........................... wingthe:
-.,-- ..... ········· ......... .
religtqµ: :.P. #\i:i¢ i··pt 7 -=-7·· ::- :·· . ---
·: . 'i: . ·
. :·-;;·--_·._:_·. ·.·' . ·.·.·- · - · : : . ; ·:·:·· ··::
: . . - -· . , . . .
suntouchables. This is evident from the fact that even

.
This does not mean that the Shudras w e r e treated
.
ca.rpenter's touch·ar ·o a s;d. imput,ity. i r t h e y jria which. needed sprinkling o f w a t e r to purify it.. The
t
carpenters were surelynot ntotichaqles. The idea ofuntouchabili.ty ofthe Shudras perhaps developed in
the . u.tra P.e.riod. Wh .t und tlie,s .. qµ.c iiLty.ls;J.hg }!Ptiq, c (.g llution i
!,. f!! . - !!.t .? .9. L .<>.n. m i.Q J Q!!:
Refetri.tjg_to, t h e not.ion o f purity.;>q e : a . efore"BO.O.B.C, 0 e .i ,.9.L .: on. l _p_uri!}'. ····· we.find
a1m?st f!Jn t1edgect a b¢en opetc1tiv 1n·re1 tion to: noton1ythe despi ed and degraded groue or pe<>ple
calle1fTwnarto.�fas11 but also "ilie,forff:tfi.,':or4 r:,;P:f th:W"sq i zy;··· ffe:':'Sliucfras:,::Amli ..ekar·. has: howev' r,
. ni'ahftairied t h a t while. the impllr ·aass :cam •it'.ito"'e fst n'c(!
=
a Y''the o f a.sa
the. Dharma uti:as, the time
untouch.ables ca01e·into beiqgimuchlat t:tlian:4( )Q..AJ ). ·A1'i1h d!< r hasJurth r qid: I f anthropology is a
science which can.be ·ciependedupon,todef·errnineth ace the p ople,therithe·resultobtained b y the
. application o f anthropomet r y fo• the various itrata ··of·>Hindti. s o c i e t y disprove. that the uritouthables
of
beJ9Iig .··to. a Tace differ.e.n.t front t q -Aryc:1r , net the. Drav.idians .... The Brahm ins nd t h e · untouchables·
belong to the a e race.Hutton' o inio"ri that,.th'
°
o f t h e ·p os· itfo1(0H h · exterior castes.is partiy is ohgi
racial, partly r ligious, and partly a matter o f social custom.
The economic condition 'of the Shuciras,. a.1$0 reveals the lqw. positi o. n t hatt hey occupied i h the hierarchy
o f society. T h s o f Shudras possessing cattle and wealth were !.Y_!afe. Mo . !lJ - --- :: :, .·
.s
landless laborers .on fainls and as domestic s.ervants. One Sutra mentions "Shudras have to earn their
.. .
-
·
. . .
.-;...-.
••. 0
·
subsistence only b y serving the·higher va"rna:s ·. , : : ,-, :_
,..
,...,.
..:.-
w
_ µ .-:> .»
o, :-. - . ;... , f f -_
_,,.,, -- - _ -- ·.·4,:,;
(_ · · ' " " - - . -, ,........ _ _ . , . . _. · , ,.. . . ...... 1 .. -.,....,

_ _
· The Hindu:literature emphasizes ori:salvation.through ·devotion t o a deity. The idea o f Karma al)d Dharm
E _rn,£,QP,Y; Ul n-Uqe2Iqgi fQf keep m,gj9wer caste . n'!;,r. . :: ...!. "Yf J- I . h .!. h Y;;.ffilgh, .- Jlt( _r
in :this life b.u b y observing the d h a r m a they could: f
get benefit in their next birth .. The onu :,:.of
respbrtsihiiiiy:;;;, th fure; o n the i .divid fin"c i iot ·ori··: !¢_fy. "fhe' ei:nphasis· :'<>ti individuai salvation
.. gafftne···individual an importan -thitwas"cibsent "fife and ther.ef re'
o
to p hii:n. quiescent 'tri""re i s·erved kee
and passive ·But·this exp1anatioi o'f
f
·acceptable to. lq_w E_- !. .g gu ps \iVD<>, w4il .sµpport,i g_ karma· ts.not
---
the'"filifforrof rebirth, do riot acc Q.!.J.h tth Y,.:Y.i e . .born ----· .. because o f misdemeanours in the. pr yi us,
----- --- ·· .. . ,.., .. .low ". - .- •,..... ,.... .,.. .
birth.
221
All this discussion points out to several facts!

1. The Shudras
-------·-··· ...
were non Aryans and .the term. Shudra was not understood
. . . . . sense
·- ..... in ttn! . .
of varna;
·-- . ,.
. . . . . -·
, - . . . . ... __ ..... _
2. Their status............
- religious,
BL;··-····
social··-·
··········· . . - vV_s---low since early times, maybe from.first
and economic . century
-----------
__,_.
3. I_ !lX.P. riods they .were notun.touc;habJes.
.. .
4t -The problem
---
rj' ;:. t -·
of the origin of the Shudras remains a mystery and an unsolved riddle in the
. social·
. .
. historyoflrtdia···.
.".. .. -· . .. -- --···
,
s/· The idea o f l purity - wheth r _o_ccupc1t.ional o_r cer - <mJ.al_ - was the very soul of the_ idea . . . and
.. -.
p·ra·cdce·ofl ritouchabilicy since the Brahmani<:: pe_r_iq_g qnwards
.;,.=-1:b:t -r: (Second centmyft,D.)
• • .•. __ ·
_ _ _.• __ , .... _ . ,_, ... _ .••.• _. . _. ·"'-:-- : . ·· _tr-.wm • .=1_
- The term "Scheduled Caste" was coined b the-Simon Commission in 1,935 which came to be used for the
peoBlj:!,descri_be untou ha les. ording t o Amb:dkc1 ,jn Indi t_, th Y.-W! now_n a - ..ri>H&&
-
mE:11'.f r :·.·q t-EasJ :!'.. !J! .B iti$hdesc ioe } hem as. . deire_si flas. .E; r . . In 1931 census, t h e y w_e
__cJ. $jfi,E! s2¢ t : Jor stes·: rvt:a atma. G nd · __desi _- ated ·th_ese ·t1asses he children of r .1f r.r _JJs"'-
. :: tt! ! (;i tt tt f4: o r m ;; : i a ·! : 1 ° r
: e g : o
a: s
·· s
·to.9!- - F-th i.f.: O- =d tipn(t.°' p :_raJ11: r. tli 1i4_Mtrof- e 's_r.s ' - thred inequality. The framers the
IQdJf!O <:;ol\stitutio.nalso .c1dopt dthe t rm coined b__ySirri .m,mission
o f
.
. -·,- _--·· .... ··. ·---- --
The Simon Commission prescribed thirteen tests f r"Including a caste in the Schedulecl list Some o f these
_,.-.,,,r- .. •
wen :_
- - - - - - - - rW
C , , , f ' J - ...="'
.. - . . . ..... ,,,..... - - - - l" ....' f! l
• Whether caste in question pollutes high castes b y their touch or proximity

----......_..- .....::...i--- - ....,:,-.-_, ..;.:,; l,t,
- · - - • --,,1. .. ---
Whether caste in question is deni

. , _.,_..--
d entry
. . : ·!·-.
into temnles. • S . ,.., _w--,,•_(",'-•J.._ i ..-:_r_.-.:: -
Whether caste-in _question is de ied the u s , : o_f __? lic p!a e -li e. schools, wells, etc.
Whe_ther the caste in question.can be - enretl hyBJ'.ahJTI.ips S:.p,urohits
Whether caste in question can be served b y tailors, barbers, washertnen, etc.
'
' .
W . • . ;,r,'- ,!c.,,"r.-:r-,..,t.w-r.;+-:;.i.•if'r-'. 'I:: :
\'.Vhether caste in question is one from whose hands a caste ttiridu <;an take wat r - . ,.;: • .-..--- ·;:."1=.i,..J" ... - . .,, - - - -
Whether in ordinary social intercourse, a well educated

. member o--f --,----·
the caste in question will be
- ·- ----·-=-·=·---- -- -- -----
treated·asan equal b y a high.caste.man....... .
.._:. _ •. , . . . ..-a· . . . .
•: _ Whether caste in question is merel y, "depressed" on account o f its own ignor nce, illiteracy or
'-:', : poverty and but for that would be sti:bJect to no social dis b!lity.
• · Whether caste in question is "dep"ressed" on account of the occupation followed and whether but
for that question, it would be subject to no social disability.
The total number o f SCs in 1935 was estimated as 227 with a population o f 50.1 million; In 1981;:their-
popu,lation increased to 104.75 million, which is further increased to 106.23 in 1991. The SCs comprised
15.i?i ;.- o f the country's total population in 1981 btit in 1991, this perceritag increased to 16.73'.
· Acco'tfding to the 2001 census, the Schedule Caste population constituted arouhdi:16.,2.o/oJof
. ·- . . the total '.
popm fion.
._.,.....-.-
o M% ! , m .a ri
f rs. Almos ll-person _en_ga ed n J9b l; e. s e:pm _sca!.e!1ging and tannm bel - "'th,e S C !. ; I n
terms_ of occupation, ·42.2% fall in the category o(._Y,f _ th se, _5) 8;% ;ire \Vork_i_Qg_ ;;t.· -J .r
_Qf
wqr r_ L ?:.1?..o/' . -. X .c.7. 9.%.9. .Jishermen, ..6.8% as tod y- Q.ers, 4.6% as washe_nnen.1 3.7% as
scavengers, 1.3% as artisans, 0.9%as cobbl ,ff, and 1.3% in other petty activiti_es.
222
About two thirds o f the bonded l a b o r ) s J r o m the _5Cs. Literacy among the S C s is extremely low. It was
f
onlytiA'o/o"ir 1 9 8 1 as against the all India average o f 41.3%. Most o f them live b e l o w the poverty line.,
and are the victims o f social arid economic exploitation. In tneory .. 'untouchabHity . m i g h ' ·,• been
i
,.,.;
have
abolished but in practice, these people contin eto·b;-the ubjects'ofct1sfr 1m 1n af fo'n : "'"' ..
-· - - - - - · · · - · - s ; . + s •. . , .. , , _ . ..,_ .·,.,;.,.,;,·,·. :i
Restrictions were put o n the. Shudras ever since the time o f the Brahmanas, that is, t h e Later Vedic age.
·n e
for. cookfni"meais
T h e y were no""r-a1loWecr iff th1n1an··w11ehfa sacrH1ce Was·heitfg"offerea.·'Tfie-vesselsusecfo:y·'castes
Khati, Lahar a n d even Dhabi. COt1l{ }y·, ll rs,aftfr ·but the :b.t'µ'i'e_ :<:Je Fi ifiem
vessels use'd'Iiytn,tthandafo.s·could"nothe used b}! others. Kautilya in the M a u r y a period_ regarded. the
Shucfras·-s9)9 tfiaf cB\ g·s_e.# ct"avo iding hf:_m. ·1n the'M'usli'm penoctJ.\i fCf !t.ii7:.tfo ns ;,r ·-®YQ§ d -ri.
thi_]'_nto i;h f pJif DIK J lii ) 1' dr '-
MYsore; r : - hat"t"ff y co_ ld t r- h s tie sa eEilie - .!!
sunset lest their shadows m a y p o H u t e the upper caste ,...,,,.,..C',..r,C' the_ s e c o n a quarter o f the 20th
century-·duriilg ·1:he:J J!1 :::e ,i P-i:,j:fie_ir_:· µi11<f. }. pi s ..w s-. fqr9iclc!e.11._ T h ; ;·;resep'arate ·a·rm1ffrig"'
water wells §t=!ti T.
in -the villages. f err ng - .l.Q$lL P H;x.,.w. -t . w.J?J '< a t -Gancth "" 1 wrote iff1"93'3'·· -- ·
that temple en ls··cfncr··splfifi.fal' act that woura·"·coiisfffiite 'th'e 1message o f 'ffie "f fe e aom "l:i:i'""l f fe ''l""
Untouchables an reffiem1natffie'··-arenoroutcastesl1ciore'God: r Bu f a'' "' eatTateFnewrofe"ffiatfhey
h thete')njile'"siimild'.t;.-,,;;pen,;; to •.H;rij ll; u n t i l caSte Hrndu opinio- itriPe f ' ih
0 e}ling. H e said thaT1t"'is riot
a question of H rijanfa serting' tlief(rf.g f''of lerrfpJ :e t W '}jtjt J s Jlie..
boun :e d u t y o f everycastelffrif fit fo '·s l:1 :§ _a,t, i P f!!1!gJ pr ) f or.ffan -R efet rin g to ostracizing HarUans_
becau ofthetr'tfcciipation"'of"scave'nging.-Mahatma spoke ofhei;eftitfil:Y P.'i1H9!ta !1 !.E t ll!,,
n o t atl':ideal pr tife H e said that a s a n ideal, -it is obviou·sly incompatible with_ the- c;IeinocraJ.iC: efhos....Q.L
mode'rn''socI . H wever, h e also referred to the limits o f occupatibnal mobility Reacting t o this view,
Ambedkar caustically commented in 1948: W h y appeal to the pride and vanity o f h u m a n beings in order
to accept voluntarily w h a t o n a rational basis he would resent as a cruel discrimination against him?
W h a t is the use o f telling the scavenger that even a Brnhrnin is prepared to d o scavenging, when it is clear
that even i f a Brahmin did scavenging, he would never be subject to the disabilities ·of one w h o is born
scavenger.
It is a_ fact,JhaUnJrulia L a..m n gets a l o w _or _ct; l.iigh stat_us more because o f his birth than bec:a_µ? ""o( J l is,
_:i·hi .f.<?!. \ PP_ !!!!g_ o. cl d v. iiitofthr ay_ ier __tjII!, .1!£ ,\ - m. -PE!?
to' t·11 th -th'at, and
scavenging is a noble profession a n d they should not be ashamed o f it is indeed a cruel jok o n the
-!{ ( iiii;:,c·-""-''·'' . "',·., ,,, ... ·-· , .. , ' .. ,,-,_, ..
Some o f the prohibitions against the lower castes were:
+ T h a t they s all not w e a r ornaments o f gold and silver
+ T h a t the males shall not b e allowed to wear clothes b e l o w their k n e e o r a b o v e t h e hi RS
+ ...... • . ··,ffi,s,'SS'0i11;;;'-"'f'' '---:•:
, , . , ....., . , , , - - :.....
:I . . . . • . . - - -
• T h a t they shaU not b e allowed to have their I:!,m.r cr.9.J?.I?Fd

,J
+ T h a t they shall n o t u s e otp.er tn 'ke rthen ware vessels in.their h o m e s • ., ••,.,..,._..a·;c,--.,z. <:- ----"i,'> ..,. "··.,··--.«.,•:-,..,.,.,. ..,. r ,.._
.,..,
+ T h a t their w o m e n shall nofbe· allowed to ust!!2.,'« I§J?.L ,a{Il:,q_f'Llle..$..te _

+ · u s e· umbrellas for protection against the sun a n d rain, nor· shall the)'wecl_R.,
T h a t m e n shall-not .-,·
sandals.
D.N. Maju dar summarized• the position of the. depressed castes !n 1940s malint:atr11nJtll1aJ: JJigse
7ast'esare _,QeJ?.re. ! -in.alL·states;:tll Tsa e caste inaYJ,e q' p - i Jii on a r e a h,,t- rrl".lV I10t suffer.
frimi"ny"soci l in-rpoli aL 1 hiHfy - .fridhy - Pradesh, the s a m e caste has different social. fo'iii.i,Hier:In
ri , f [ iJ}. · Y IJ
in. 4h1 ent 9J !r ts. 1'!}] iab1!i!!£ t . u§re t!t ,9- J?.[!!j§ fA !2; ;: :
numerically small o r o n the declim! here they are numeri ally strong. Where_!_l)_ _.£. - tf! _ a r all tile of
i rn d; m yro -
whose occupation is conslderecfdegrading. \;{here the higher castes_are not urt,1erqus and t h e J)f Sk(t ';"
castes form t h e bulltof'population: uurdegree ofcet non-Obs'e rvect'Ts7ery'srrnill, a n d often
•· '" •_
..• ..,(!,.t.-.,-, . _.' -b ...,:.,.-.
"''"'°" , . . . •••• : ,_ ,qo .. .,, ".l..--..,•,,.,._, *& "
J
f
,
-
' #p'HI. 1 - "'¾,110'+<&*- ,> ·x' • > . 1- ·t ,.-, _ .. <
(,· e
.-. . ·
r_
•
o
.,-.<
•
,;. "'' ·•'!',t:
223
w e find few disabilities attached to ·the inferior castes. A caste may be depressed b u t individual members
ofihe-caste·wlifffi ive s·ucceeded'fn lit'e cind who· are wealthy-··anctidwn prop.erty, have been cidrnitted t o a
I r C>_d_c1l tatus, nd: - yen have wive }ror:n the Raj puts _or the like.
The fa ct_ - th?.t t µ e . att_itude o f the people towards the untouchables has not changed evt:!n tog y.
wfi re·ver efforts have bee made . b y t h e organs orthe state and_sfate supported non-official ag ncies_ 'i_g
0
im.pleineni the welfare pro ram·s--and·: cJopfc;1m Uorat.ive· me·asures, ·1:here tias oeen ·social· sabotage side_.
b y sid_e _by t h e ·dark forces of
..
the.
society. For example:· ·some·
schools ad.in1tting tile mem6ers ofscs·
segnigate''the'rn-iri° separatebenches ff1ci'iie'corner of the same class. Sometime back, a circular was issued
o
b y the head o f one gov·ernment department in a state that on October_2, a common lunch be organized f r
the SCs and oth r staff o f the department The lunch was no doubt organized but the upper caste
employees told the SC employees that since it was a special occasion, they would like to feed them first
and serve them. After the SC employees had their lunch, they were politely told to take rest and the
remaining staff will serve themselves. In another state, the _SCs and the caste Hindu students were living·
in the same hostel_ but they were segregated in different rooms.
.. .. .
There are-abotitlOO0 Hindu: l o w e r castes 'registered in In:dia. Many o f their names are synonymous.
Some o f t h e castes number several million members each. Since the 19S0's a tendency was observed o f a
decrease in the ratio of the scheduled castes lin the popt1laUon as a whole. However, b y beginning o f the
eighties the situation changed. This w a s r e f ected in the census figures o f the population. In 1951 the
scheduled- castes constituted 15.3%, i n 1961 - 14.7%, .... in 1971 - 14.6%, and ih 1981 - 15.8% o f the
population; ' . .
. .
More th n 85% o f the scneduled caste households owning land possess t h e tiniest o r small plots of land,
Many from among the scheduled castes continue to w o r k in their traditional caste· occupation. According
to the data collected by Indian scholars 40 million people belonged to such castes.· O f these almost 20.5
million were leather workers, 4.7 million weavers, 3 million f isher folk, 2.5 million were engaged in
collecting palm sap or in pig-breeding, 2· million were.basket weavers, 1.7 million were launderers, dyers
and printers. In a number o f regions the majority. o f those employed iri the above mentioneti trades were
exclusively from the scheduled castes. Besides, 1.4 million persons continued their ancestral caste
occupP.tiori connected with the d e a n i n g o f streets, yards and-toilets.·
Accof:ding t o data provided b y the lndi !k.Co1:1ncil o f Social ·science Research (ICSSR} ij n.__34 o - L 1 0
vi!!_ g _?_J!U !l.i<:!.rnt.wh.ere.,,;;l ..smx .Y. w a s conducted, .r ! o f untpµchability w e r e observed a - gJ1
scheduled cas.t s.It is important to note that under any conditions t h e caste-o'ornTiiaffn_g. iii·-a- gfven region
(the largest and strongest "clean" b u t definitely a higher caste on the sodal and economic level). strictly
sees to it that the· caste hierarchy is not disturbed. T _u. ifl..9.Es!. L!, U:e!2, .J - -u- . P-- - g c;1- J C.. , ,t _
m_ust raise· Ltsel[ a least a little ''..!1_!g_ - r.' Jh?.!!_c }}91h. I .!J.D.t«;>_µ, !rnb.l .{(o,r _t e · learJ'.' mn._cl u?J<:as '. T _1
onei:of.the. reasons for the fact that a t the bottom o f the caste hierarchy w e observe a s1:1!:>Jle _c_as_ - '--
ame· - hti tio.n, ·- c1 "r fio·w1ng·Jrorii_1his ·c·aste _discrfo11naHa-u:···campetrHoit a d---ri afrf.between cas es
aimihg at rising a'Httle higher thari
. . .... ·-· . :Othersor_holdingon
. tolhefroldtfr:posidon . . . hut not wanting to b e th ,
lowliesfoHheJow:
The practice o f untouchability persists in one form o r another in a number o f regions o f the country,
which is explained by the fact that it is precisely the scheduled castes that represent the poorest sections
of the population. This is confirmed b y the.1985 report o f the L.N. Mishra, Institute o f Economi .{ico_wth,
regarding the_ work o f the Bihar Corporation for_the'Pevelopment o f the Scheduled Castes. The report
says that more than 95% o f the Harijans - Bihar State live below the poverty line. The majority o f them ·
224
remain untouchables as before and suff r from traditional restrictions. The reports o f the Commissioner
for Schedul d Castes have repeatedly,. ,rilphasised that i_t has stil.l no t been possible t o overcome the
segrega t ion o f the scheduled castes that are forced t o liv separately from the caste Hindus.
It is not only in Bihar that social discrimination against the scheduled castes persists in some form or the
other. A similar situation prevails even in those states where Harijans had been actively involved in the
struggle for improving their conditions during the national freedom movement and where they have
registered notable successes in achieving equal rights in the years since Independence. Social
discrimination on a caste basis still leads to inter-caste clashes. The Harijan discontent sometimes flows
into -the traditional channels, when their demonstration occurs under the slogans o f struggle against
upper caste violence.
On another occasion the press wrote a great deal about the efforts o f a small group o f Harijans who were
trying to enter a I-Jindu temple situated near Trivandrum, the capital city o f Kerala State. The Harijans
marched 300 kilometres to mobilise public opiriionTn their favour. The Brahmin pries t s finally allowed
them i n t ;..ilie t niple, but the Harijans had to give a wri t ten assurance that they were "genuine followers
o f Hinduism".
In_ 1 9 6 6 , the .{!g_xe.mmenL_aRRQ.l!!!gf!_,,;: t,_.£Q!!1_1}!!. ?.lQ.I!.. J!!!der the ·Chairmanship o . N_.R Mal !1 c .Y1s -
Presi ¢rit o f e c!.i.t.S.ex. ]f ang!i to rep -! ? n -h RU1\tii o ·this"s §l t:fn-,frs.report ·to -. the c; mral
-=;r-
Goverrimeril Ort Customary ghtto_ cavenmg1the Mall<ani_ Commission noted that thJs,.typ, _9.f WP.rk
s still widely erevalent. .5v,ef i s 1C2.u,!x by· ce '"-- s,: s. T1! ,., . E t h . .Y"eepers arid
scavenger . ,,.!!!e!.I1J.¥.J!2M }l,..Jh J2, .§.i_ ;.Qf " eI!Ye!t.P?.n..., ct.}Jh.i,Q!Lhs!§,J!-9.,J!?.S ,. ,S r s and··is __done on_ a
- : _dit EXJ> i .. m l l g r Q.tJ;,. .,&jQ!l§. 9Lt!u ,.,<;9,,µ..,y i;_-x, Iq}ti,, ,- C?.!pmis Ion's view, the hereditary right to
tn. __occupat! - -U!-hatigis is i n,<,;; :t t i
'<- .2 _nu .E. f tJ:le !r i <!_tja_t il! g' sy: jrl o f rajrnanr The
hereditary rights o f the Bhangis provided for tlieir traditional territorial division to serve the houses of
high· caste Hindus . .Ihe..J;..9,..mmi .§.i.9..!.l , .J !L l 2Z1 } 9 _demanded again that __ "a stage by stage program .
.. ., everywher
f t
in.._ h- .. .f9JJ!lJJYJQf eq p g_the_inhuman practice ofrollectfortof night soil be worked out" so
t h a 6 f tnE iiiT<ldle of the ighties·:thisevil prac·uce could.be done away with:
......... --·-- ,::.-.·: --
In its report for l 982 the Special Cell for the Protection of Civil Rights under the MiD,istry o f Home Affairs,
which oversees 'the realisation o f Governme11t decisions relating to _the sched.uled castes noted that the
communities engaged in scavenging are ranked at the bottom o f our social hierarchy. Thus, this problem
and -its solution have a very .high. relevance to the untouchability
· situation and the objectives o f the
protection o f Civil Righ_ts Act.
The condition o f Harijan women ·merits special attention. In first place they do heavy physical work like
· their men, and unlike caste Hindu women. Especially degrading is the position o f women from families of·
agricultural workers w h o have fallen into bondage. In 1981, they mimbered m o r e than two.million.--The
money lender is as ·a rule also the owner-of the land on which.such a family works. Not infrequently he is
the arbiter riot only of the labour o f his;<;I.ebtor, but master als<;> o f the body of ·his wife and 1daughters.
Sexual exploitation of the scheduled caste women takes other forms too. The traditioqal institution of
devadasis,·which was banned by:the State Governments of Karnataka,Maharashtra·and Tamil Nadu after
India attained Independence, still continues, and as the Report o f the Committee on the·. condition of
women in India says, it is still found in the states of Andhra Pradesh; Orissa and Tamil Nadu·. Moreover in
certain parts o f the country, ·like in Uttar Pradesh, where the devadasi· institution did not exisebefore,
wonieri. were serving in temples and maintaining their families b y prostitution. Women fr()m, the
scheduled castes have begun t o w o r k quite frequently ·as:domeslic:sei"'{ nts-in high caste Hindu hQ:mes in
recent years. The scheduied castes, more than t h e others, are forced1' -use the labour o f their children to
supplement the family income. In recent years the exploitation o f child labour has grown in India. A large.
number o f children are engaged in the service spheres o f motor vehicles servicing, eating establishments,
shops, markets and so on, but they are especially numerous in agriculture.
1
On the whole, the socio-econo!ill¢=m:.o.!tl ms_fa b>:«the_ .Hari;an_ .R-e:IJ10f , 1111merous al!q (} gree:1t ,,
intensity than those faced
___ ...... __._,. ___.... _._,,,_. ,.-- ---·······-···.-·-··'··----.,;, .. , . .
,
b y the rest o
. .... . . . . . . ·f"
the_population.
. -- .-,. ThisJ
.., ..... (-··'·· ·'' ' •" _yiyicUy,shown
. _by. , the
'.
effect that there 15
225
:
...
, ::. : . .'. ·: , ·,
noticeably higher indebtedness among them than a·mong other sections of the population which in turn
l ds'.tf1ern into i fbo dage: According to data provided bfthe·Mahatrna Gandhi Peace Foundatior arid
th-e i.Jational Institute o f Labour (1971), which studied 1,000 villages in 295 districts o f J O Indian states,
o f the 2.2 million bonded labourers discovered there, 66% were from the scheduled castes and 16.3%
from the scheduled tribes. More than half the debts were incurred to meet the essential needs o f everyday
necessities, mainly food, and one third was incurred to meet expenses in connection with marriages and
funerals. It is noteworthy that 85% o f the creditors belonged to high caste Hindus.
l;·
:-
,
The option of· laws meant to protect the rights of the scheduled castes, the realisation o f socio-
economic measures in their interests and the atmosphere of support to the lawful demands of the
Harij_a,hs that was created as the result o f the work done by the government bodies, democratic
orgari1sations and the progressive press are leading to a further enhancement of l?oth the economic and
political life o f the scheduled castes.
In the Five-year Plans o f the country it was underlined that the main task o f the a_ll embracing struggle
with ;,eoverty and the mobilisation o f latent energy for creating a more dynamic and egalitarian society
will ¢ achieved only on the condition that 'the\scheduled castes,and tribes are directly benefited. It is felt
that, ,( e schedule_d castes "cannot and_ in the future will n o f be" able, to automatically get the share
assigp'.ed t them in the programs o f development because of reasons which are quite obvious to those
w h o \i e awqre o f the. Indian social structure and· stratification, who know the social system and the
progresses that a r e ·occurring, uriless si1edal str:esi i$ l tcJ O!L e)r,> fkrquricLgevelopment and the means
and facilities assigned to them by the Plaris are cdnsciousifmade available to.them.
A t present_ cases o f social discrimination -in public transport, in organs o f local self-government, schools
and post offices i.e., where this is not conriect_ed with the traditional village communityrelations are quite
rare.
The Economic and Political Weekly emphasised that the difficult material condition o f the Harijans was
due not so .much to their religious status as to their economic dependertce on the Kulas. The Harijans
going over to Islam was a result o f the clash between the dominating middle class which constituted the
chief social base o f the rich and middle peasantry on the one hand, and t h e scheduled castes exploited by
them, who labour on their fields as agricultu"ral workers, on the other.
T h e new approach to the problem o f 1-iarijans at the Central level did not, however, lead to any notable
steps· forward. on· an average less than 1 % o f the budget allocations were set apart for development o f the
Scheduled Castes from 1951 to 1980, in spite o f th·e fact that they constituted 22% o f the country's
population. But even these modest funds w e r e not fully utilised. Altogether an amount o f 3,400 million
rupe; jvas spent ir:t 30 years for-the de.velopment o f the Scheduled Castes, or a little more than one rupee
p e r c plta. Up to 1974 less than 0.5% o f the budget expenditure fell to the share o f the Scheduled Castes,
who.constituted 14.7% o f the population - i p P;?ise per person annually. '
. t . ., .
T h e .2Qt,point progra was introdl!ced when an emergency had been proclaimed.in the ountrYi and in the
absence of the necessary infrastructure. (Persons emancipated from bonded l bour we-re frequently left ·
without any means o f subsist nce). All the sam , the 20-point program yielde.(.i some results .. About
430,000 Harijan families became owners o f plots o f land up to an acre. By 1979 the Scheduled castes had
retei.y. d 13.3% o f the lands taken away.. b y the Government as surplus under the Land c·eiiing A c t
. ._,, . . .
.
!:. .
_
. .
'fhe,Jl pd.ed_1 JJ,,o [ A . £ c t H .. J..?J .,,P.- !?..., .;d for punish - up o t .r e Yf:ar . 1!1.P is n e'! a.- a
p_J.!>__.Rs3,0.0.0-/:!c-tO.-:anyoneitcyingNto, hi-nder1ne::emaJ fuaticm'of workers.held i n bo dage b y him.
Anot@r no less important step was the Protectio_n_ qfCivil Rights .Act,- which·w "a""ccinHiitiaHoi1
ahd
exp·ans o-m1rth·e'former·Untouchgbi ify"Offences·Act, 1955.
T h e Centre's ·help for the· development o f the. scheduled castes in 198o'-81 amounting to a thousand
million rupees was provided for reaHsing; through _a component plan, accelerate.d development o f these
castes. The objective was set to raise· 5 0 % o f the Harijans "above the poverty line".
22-
In January, 1982 a new 0-point prpg,ram.w,as adopted withi_n the fr?me work o f the Sixth Five Year Plan.
The prograIT}spoke-;fcompleti-ng the rei·orms,puuif g.th_e Minimum Wage Law for agricultural _g r m
rs!_ !<>. ff ctJ_ o.y) - fn-½i g_water·1:o--·aJI:tile'vff ges, affofme·nfof'(jfofs''for-hulldfng hous_ir%
improving the living conditions o f the slu_lTl-::dwellers, emancipating bonded labour, and so on. The
progrannea:ffirfrieutfie-dfre-cfiv'e'p"rh:idpies of the Constit t_ior:i_of_I,r:1_g_i_§tf gc1rding th respon?i_qi_li!J o f the
state'ief-e.ns-u-r-i-ng-the·econoffiiEand ·ciilforal d·eveio-pm-ent o f the scheduled castes
f - . and protecting them
from 1njusfic:e·anc alITorms. ofexpfoitatiori. -- - -
The.nature o f the participation o f the scheduled castes in social life has undergone a change as a restil of
the realisation of democratic transformations during the years since the attainment o f Indian
Inde,pendence and as a consequence o f the special measures taken to improve their condition. Frnm a
passive object o f socio-economic and political exploitation they are gradually becoming an active subject
o f political struggle.
Although the awakening o f the lower castes is taking place basically within the caste framework, these
traditional barriers are gradually breaking down in the course of class battles and the unification o f the
poor in agricultural workers' uni_ons.i: nq the demands to review the working relationships irt the
agrarian sector on.an economic basis, to strictly observe the minimum wages law, carry out land reforms,
and_:i:q on, demands that are put forth by agricultural workers, primarily those belonging to the lo'Ner·
cast"es especially in the South o f the country, are--ess-entially class demands. These demarids are bas1t lly
different from the narrow caste demands o f the earlier movements of the untouchables.
Constitutional Safeguards f o ; Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes

Earlier Policies towards Tribes: Fifteenth o f August 194 7 heralded a rosy dawn over India. It stirred
_ fresh hopes and brought new promises to all people including the tribes. Indeed those who took over the
reigns of power from the hands o f the alie rulers and undertook to shape the destiny o f India displayed a
lot o f concern for the fate and future o f the tribal people. Therefore, when they sat down to frame the
Constitution o f India they wanted to know the exact policies towards tribes and the actual levels of
development o f tribes, and then a policy that was best suited to all tribes in India.
The Constitutionmakers reviewed the-existing policies towards tribes and the sdcio-economic levels of
the tribes and came to the following conclusions:
1. The then existing policy o f segregation could not be appreciated as it was thought that the keeping
o f the tribes into Excluded and Partially excluded areas has always led them to stagnation from
the point of view o f progress .
.2 What exactly was a tribe could not be known because the alien rulers left no information
· -regarding which groups ·actually comprise the tribes o f India. Under the circumstances;:·no
_distinction could be made·b, tW: ,en,the tribes and non-tribes. 1
3 The policy of assimilation could not be accepted, fo r it would destroy the tribal cul tires o f India.
The makers o f the Constitution o f India were however conscious of the fact that due to.historical reasons,
including the policy of segregation followeµ by the_ British rulers, certain amount o f mental :barriers had
come,,into existence between the tribal and non-tribal populations .in several parts o f India; It req1Aif. d a
d e f t a n d phase_d approach -to remove these barriers. They also recognized that unless- the s_9dal,
eccfoomic, cultural and political conditions o f life .ofthe tribes .ivere improved-so as to _bring- them at_-par 1
with.the res·t o f the nation, the -tribes would remair\ weak-links in the social and cultural frame o f free
India:
Designing the new Policy towards Scheduled Castes _and Tribes: Although the Constitution makers
tand SJ' _sh uld be improved at par with th r st_o(fii'tnation,theywer pu zJ cJ_,, -_
recognized that the SCs
over''tii"e-queitlon to a o·-how ring
the"iritial people' a t w1th the rest o f the IndiaQ --Th Y-",ctec.iq d par
· --·-<;-.- - .•. •••.c:-.·· •.-.. -.•··-· , . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ·· ..
....................... .,..:,,..;.Jo.".,;,. ¾ , · ..
\' -.
::;, tJ ·."
_
227
that these peo_Ql .?._hou1 9 qe integrated vviththe main stream Indian society without damaging their
distinctiV.' s o-cult r;i
- - - - - · · - .--- ... .......... •
.,·
.:,
; tity:·Therefore''theydesigned'the p- iicy of development and" integ"ration... -... ·---
........ i.,- ...... ,. _ _,- •._.- -., - ..-.·· . . . ,.,- ,- ,., . . . . .- .
- , . . . , . . -:.-.
When India's Constitution was framed in 1950, the Constitution makers took great care to liberally
include articles and schedules purporting to proyide the design o f the policy o f development and
integration with respect to the SCs and STs of India. The articles and schedules o f the Constitution clearly
£. ] . eci.__ -a - - trr al _>roups
economic gulf betwe -_nri fie
;" i! c qp41h - ;ai; - her:·.:i -!J_,,,
- _w} E;.. <?.SjQ.-:.<;Wt.up J. Hg, .. h,xw.-:
and 1fie rest o r tne: In tans and _that the SCs and STs at the s a m e
ti;eJTioulcC6e fo_tegratecf\ W1('tl1e rest ·dnfi 'fii'µJ )1s· s'odally/economically, culturally and politically
.
wftfioutdestroying what is disfindlfgoodTri-thefr sodefy, economy, tultUre arid polity.
For th purpose of identifying the STs and SCs, the makers of Constitution avoided the problem o f
defining them in India by pragmatic expedience of laying down to the Constitution that the STs and SCs
are what the President of India b y notification lists and. places under a schedule, hence they must be
, known as Scheduled Tribes / Scheduled Castes and that the President or'India may issue a subsequent
notification modifying the list o f Scheduled J.ribes after it was approved b y Indian Parliament by law.
Thus i t . ! . L J f ,,.L ..wh. J qe J . _nt !J ndfa. '!ryi I .!!tJ X,P.2!Ifs!£ i9!l £. C2 !:. ., ngJn l!,!,<J .$in JbgJis.t .'"o1
Schechiled Tribes / Scheduled ..,,.......Castes
,. ................and thereafter what the Parliament o f India by law includes o r
·
excim;i· s from tfre"sa1'ctTisf.,
The makers of Constitution also delineated the salient features of the policy o f development an·d
integration towards SCs and STs in. the form of the broad features of the Directive Principle o f State
Policy. The salient features o f the policy are ...
1. ----
Special responsibility
-.·•.--;... .._ •.,.. ... __... ,._....,. ___ -
-of... the State•.....to bring aH rottnd advancement
... •
.
of. the tribes;
_,,, .,, . ,, ...... : , ·- . . " . .. . . . . , ·.·. .. ·. ·.· _._ -... ,. .
2. Promotion of the educational and economic interests and protection from injustice and all forms
o f exploitation;
3. Reservation in services;
4. Reservation of seats in Parliament an_d State Legislat_ures;
5. Appoint111eµt _qf S,pgc:J l Officer to investigate
. a l l}
l atters relating to .the safeguards
. provided for
!
-· .., .. . . . . . -
. the trib s an(!
f
6. Specification.ofthe.areas
· :where the tribes are chie l y ·concentrated aSSdi duled'Ar i .- fld.Tribal
··-- ·--- - -
Areas.
Every" .itate i n the Indian Union was even assured of finances to meet the costs o f such schemes o f
development as m y be undertaken for th o f promoting the welfare o f the Schedl,l.led Tribes
P.urposes
and Scliedul d Castes in that state or raising,iHe level o f administration of the Scheduled Areas therein to
that dfithe administration of the rest o f the areas o f that state. Iri attbrdance with the salient 'features o f _ ,
e - e?.!!£¥.,. _:i ygrnL fil 911[;Q§,;,,- res,e.tvations. . j ,mL PE9.. ect _o n ere .. woven .•. i -<C rtt;···th t t· --oTT : , - ·-,-
C o nsti t u tio n. Some o f them were· originally for! .!:LY. .?E :)he ma ers ortlie ·cons fttition ·slij>iilated t _
t t_e - .P - f a ming ..fo a.hu i:-sforit :: ::·.-.,...
th t t eaft r'"_ hey '!! u · : iig )i e i . -f.y: All
that guld f be T needed for_them will e a few effective i follow up . .pfograms. However, as a matter o f
caut1oifFf w ai n d ucie"d'In t he ·salf '"' i:"l�atu��s-or'tie.p ofi cy ·tiia't.ai"tlie·:expiraticrn··onhe te"ri ye ir-pifrfo<l;
·
f
i !1l aCfe-,i e 3 ciffiT n iSft a t iOn ·•Of t .
,i ;; ; o f J r =: :e ·t fe
; 1J ;;
In 1960, a decade after the promulgation of the Constitution, the President appointed a Scheduled Areas
and Scheduled _Tribes Commission under_ the ChairmanshiJ!. of U.N. Dhebq. This Commissio11, a f t e r
f
making a sui-vey··of the development ;fih ttfbe·s nc i n te'w a tio T t lie-·tr1 with o(tlie 'iiidian tfieres-t
society,· recommended extension o f the continuance_
Se - , i .!L9.f.thi ontin.t!aifiifJJii ip;
--
o f t h e special safeguards until. 26th Ja11_11a.ry, 97.Q . +
d il sal giii j J s j P-J .&>) s· :f . -r y; 1 8Q. Third
extension o f the continuance is given up to 26th January, 1990 and is continuing till date.
228
CONSTITUTIONAL SAFEGUARDS·
Types of Safeguards: The various special provisions made in the Constitution o f India with regard to the
t-r-ibal population are known as the Constitutional Safeguards. These safeguards may be classified into
three broad types: protective safeguards, political safeguards and developmental safeguards.
- -"'.- .. . ......... __ ._ ,• . < -·:-.,. ,- .
-
The protective safeguards are meant for protecting the tribal populations with regard to education,
· ··
.:-----
employment, economy, social injustice, forced labor an-d administration o f specified areas.
_. - .. -
·
. •
The political safeguards are concerned with re rY..eJion 0L.sec1ts Jor.!rH: e in ParHafTle,!}t_ and State
Legislatures, appointment o f a Minister in-charge of Tribal Welfare in certain states where the tribes are
in iderable numbers"and specia1"1frovisiohsin. resp'ect'otNagaland, Assam and Mar.i pur.
The developmental safeguards are meant for promoting the educational and economic interests o f the
tribal peoples, for providing free legal aid to the tribal peoples and for giving grants from Central
Government to the States for welfare o f the tribal peoples and raising the level o f administration of
Scheduled Areas.
All these safeguards for promoting and safeguarding the interests o f the persons belonging to the tribes
are written into the Constitution b y P1eans o f specific Articles.
Protective Safeguards:
I. Articles 15, 15(4) and 29 are concerned with educational s feguards:

Article 15. is under the Chapter on Fundamental Rights. It assures all .citizens o f India that no
discrimination will be permitted on grounds o f religion, race, caste, sex o r place o f birth. It specifies that
n citizen shall, on these grounds or any o f them, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or
condition with regard to:
• Access to shops, public-restaurants, hotels and places of public entertainment; or
• The use of wells, tanks, bathing gha . roads and places of public resort maintained wholly or
partly out o f State funds dedicated to the use o f the general public.
This Article acguires signiflcance because the tribal discriminated against- 11 ,
grounds or'religipn, race and place· o f birth.
.,. - , •.• ,- ....... ,,,;..,.,'°" ""'
, • . • • _;;,,1.,...,, ,.· -,.... .,,,;..;·:,;,.½G'..,_,..:,.::..i:':'..•W"-"':.;;.,-"l,'.'A:.1.f'-"!+ ti*
Article 15, Clause_,(4) empowers the State _to make_ any special-provision· for tl.ie adya11cem_ t2L Q>,'._
sToc_ ia n.Y_ and educati9naUJ-JJ £!s. i:. .--: ::
-r1b __es.
7 .?t citizens or for the Sch, -1=1l ,4 ..f , ?."'=l.mtflte;.Sche
·
u-led
·
. . . } . ..
Artide 2 9 states that an,y sectio n,,o tiz J,!!," r_, r y -o f E.1_,!et<?4 P-Y.J !-t!:::?J.0!J:.},Rl w- .
distirict language, script or culture o f its own shaU hav }he r t ,s ., ry lV! .!!!$J pr,qtects the
ctittural ana educatiOI§i tigliis o l d i e mTnoritie·s.J!Ji }li: n also asg\!ir §- £Cial sig ificance when
---. --· ----
aW!_ to1lietrTIJalpeopiewfio"constltuteone "'
o f the im portarit cu1tu mino ri ties oflnctia:-- -"" ,----- -- --- -
. ' .. ,:-,•-,
II. Articles 16, 16(4), 320(4) and 335 are-concerned with saf guards for emplhyment:
Article 16 provides for equality o f opportunities for all citizens in ·matters relating to employm f:i:t or
appointment to any office u n d e r t h e State J(furtherprovides thatno citizen-shall, on grounds a ly of
religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place o f birth, residence or any.of their, ·be eligible for, ordiscrimih' ted
against. in respect o f a n y employment or office nder "the State. This article assures equality of
opportunity to all citizens including the.tribes in matters.of employment with government .
Article 16 Clause (4) lays d6wn that the State· shall have--the .power to make any provision for the
reservation ofappohitments o f p·osts. in favour o f any backward class citizens wh.ich, in the opinion o f the
State, is not adequately represented in the service· under the State. The Scheduled "Castes and the
229
· · classes o f citizens for the purpose

Scheduled Tribes constitute the most important<:ategories of backward
o f these safeguard .
Article 320 Clause 4 lays down, inter alia, that consultation with the Union Public Service Commission o r
the State Public Service Commission is not necessary as regards the manner o f giving effect to service
safeguards for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
Article.335 states that the claims o f the members o f the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes shall b e
take_ into co_r:t icier ti.Pn;:conststently w(th.ih£.m?ipJenance o f emcfency:or adminisfrat - J!l t:hemakfiig
of appointments, t9 s.eryices an.d p o s in .<;onn. o.n. with the· affairs o f tlie Union o r o f a State. It assures
that th sdi -du.led Castes and Tribes will b e given - peciai attention, while filling iri posts in the service.
III. Articles 17 a n d 25 a r e concerned with t h e social safeguards:
Article 17 relates· to abolition o f untouchability and its practice in any form. t emphasize("!h9,t
,, -.enforcement o f a n y disability arising out o f untouchability is a n offense punishable
- - - · · ......... - - - · - · · · · · - - - - - - · - -----------··---·-
in accordan.c.e_with
.
la-::'"fF ______ ................... . .. , """---·· ........ . y ,,' ' . ,,
Artid ·ZS relates to freedom o_f cqrtscience, . 1:1C.LPr !!£ __jfil9 ..RrnR m ttqn_ E!. E. ! : H -Y. er Jt s!Y.S;
the Suite has the power to enf t - .c3:!1X- !i qgJ_ W..JJ.f m k ...any lci;w__p vh:IJ.ng' fpr. SQ(;icilJNJ l(ar,e,..and
reform or the tfifowin_g·_ P., J. L
!QJL Q,L rnUg iQ.P.. Howt:!VE:!r, it says, the _Stat _hc1
s h- : power to: enforc _J!.UY
exisantrraw 'or..make· any 1 J?.f,<?.Y!.g!n,g.Jgr.. 9 Ol1ii.c{u i Ugio:iis ::insti.tu.tions.::o.f.
..,P_\lbJicd! r!:!£ T .·t_C>_-an
cl es·andsecffons o f Hindus. Thus this Article gives the right o f freedom o f religion to all including the
tribarpeople oflri'd fa.
IV.Article 19 is concerned with the e_conomic safeguards:
Article 19 protects certain rights o f all citizens o f the country. Clause (1) o f this Article grants freedom o f
speech, expression, residence, a.,.cquisition and disposal o f property, practice o f profession, free
association and free movement. Clause (5) o f this Article, however, states that these rights shall not effect
the operation o f any existing law in so far a s it imposes, or prevents t h e State from making any l a w
conferred b y the Clause (1), either in the ip:t rests o f the general public or for. the protection o f the
interests o f any Scheduled Tribe. This provisfori prevents the lands o f a tribal from passing into the hands
o f a non-tribal in the Scheduled Areas arid also exercises control over operation o f money-lenders i n
those Areas.
V. Article-23 is concerned with the abolition of forced labor:
Articli,P prohibits. traf c in human beings and_ forced labor and any contravention o f this provision is.
a n offence punishable &i accordance with law. How.ever, the State has the power to impose compulsory
service public purposes and in imposing ; such
<
t· · -
service the State shall not make any discrimination
' "
on
grounds,only·of religion, race, caste or class o r any o f them. Th,u tqis Article illegalizes traffic,,in human
beings!sanct· forced- labor, ev_ils that non-tribal people have encouraged and imposed upon ;the tribal
peoples.
VI. Article 46 is concerned with the· protection from social injustice and all {orms of exploitation:
Articl;'Jl6 lays down that the ?tate shall promote with special car the education Umd economic intei:-est
qfJhe:, eaker_ ctions otthe_ peQp'f d,J11 p ft"f,c lifr -of.t <;hJ; cJ:yJ_ _g__@tes a ---·
n - •,th_e Scheduiea-Ynoes;·-·-:
·--·---·---···- ......... .
,,
a_ d. sl]'.altprotect then1 frotn soc_i<;1lini :5tke a11d·au forms ofe'xploitation.-
'
' ' ' . ,._ . . ...

Vil. Articles 244 and 339 are concerned wJth the.administration of Schedule_d and Tribal Areas
. . ·- . .
Article 244 states that the provisions o f the Fifth Schedule -shall apply to the ad.minis ra!_\9n . a.mL(.Q_D:1r.QL
o f the S d , Areas. and_§ lleq Jed, Tribe i n a n j S tf: . 9 fr\f1an ¾5 e,,m, whil JheJfr visions o f the
S !!, - he H! - hall app )' to tli _adrninistratjon o f the Tribal Areas i n ! ! ! e ofAss ID. T h e Governor o f
each State hav ng Scheduled Areas -is required to submit to the President an Aniii.iarl'(."e'port regarding the
•
• ,
.,; i',
/ 230
/'
administration of the Scheduled Area{ih that State. Each such State has a Tribes Advisory Council, lf the
President so directs, a state having Scheduled Tribes but not Scheduled Areas therein, may al;o have a
Tribes Advisory Council. The Governor may by public notificiltion p.irec.t _t.trnt _r1y _particular Act of
Parliament or of the State Legi;la-ture sh c1: If not apply to a Sch duled Arec1 or a_ny p t Qereof in the State
subject to such except.ions a11:d modifications as he may specify in the r1o ification and any such din tion
can be given with retrospective effect The Governor _may make regulations for the peace and good
government of a Scheduled Area. Such regulations may particularly;
1. Prohibit or restrict the transfer of land by or among members of the Scheduled Tribes in such area;
2. . Regulate the allotment o f land to the members of the Scheduled Tribes in such area,
3. Regulate the carrying on o f business as moneylender by persons who lend money to members of the
Scheduled Tribes in such area.
In making such regulations, the Governor may repeal or amend any Act o f Parliament or of the State
Legislature or any existing law whi 1 for the time being applicable to the area in question. All such
regulations have to receive the Presictent's'assent before they can become effective. The Tribes Advisory
Council has to be corisulted before such a regulation is made by the Governor.
Relevance of the Fifth arid Sixth Schedules of the Constitution and their Implementation:
Article 342 of the Indian Constitution reads:
1. The President may with respect to- any state or Union Territory, and where it. is a state, after
consultation with the Governor thereof, by public notification, s ,,. -!rl!L r tribat 9J!!.!11U i_!ies.
or parts f or g oups within tribes_2r.!ri!?, l __ coip._!!1:t.:inities which shall for. the purpose of this,
-----=----....,.._.be
Constitution
.._
deemed to be Scheduled Tribes in relation to that state or Union Territory, as the case
• . , , - ·- · •• • · " · · · • •. • · • - " · '·'·)•,_-. -··, .• , , , . : , , ,_ _ _ _ _ .__,....,_..,,..._ ·,-.·"•-..,.:.:.,,- .. .-..• ·.. - - : . , · · · · · · · · · · · , ' , . . : - • . " . - . , . • , ; : , , , . ,• . _ . . _ . , . , - . - . : , • ' ' • · :··
.
,,.,.";I,,,\...._..,..,,... . . , . . , . - . ,
. ,. . . .
• _. .,J,; ,#,1' .,
_,,, .. - . .. . .
maybe ....
_, ................. .
2. Parliament may, by law include or exclude from the list of Scheduled Tribes specified in a notification
issued under the said clause shall not be varied by any subsequent 11otification.
Under Article 342, the President may by public notificat_ion .-specify, the tribe or tribal C01!1.UUmities or
- . . . .
parts o f or groups within tribes or tribal communities which.shall be de med to be Scheduled Tribes for
purpq e o f the Constitution. In exercise. o f the said powers, t e President issued the -Constitution
(Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 which has been amended from thne to time. By virtue o f clause (2)
Parliament passed in 1976, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled.Tribes Orders (Amendment) Act,-19,7_6.·
Art:}. le 244 of the Constitution concerns. itself with the administration of Scheduled
· · · · ·
-r ·
anq_JJtbiL -
·· ·
Ar·eas. This article reads:. .
-·
·-··::·-,-···c·-- . ·.. . I .. ..
•' -'-,_r( , . . . .. ·. .
1... The provisions of the Fifth Schedule shall apply to the administra_ticm and control of the Scheduled
·Areas andk Sched l d Tribes in any· state otfiertfiantfie"states"of'Assa'°m,"""Megfi:ifaya,7f"rfpµrJ7:an
MiZO
-
- ·:· -;· -·- J:i ... · n
;:-;,:
..:J-t:;;.. ,;:-.·
.................
-u-"""""
_
-,-,u
.:- .•.. _
.,.;---:. ............... _... • ........ _,.
1 ' i l .( ' . . C. i ! , •
.
2. The provisions of the Sixth. Schedule shall apply- to the administration o f tribal areas in th s !e_s_-·-··
of
---- -··--:---·----
Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura anµ Mizoram.
·,.:·. --·
.: . , _ . . . . . . - . . .- . . . . ..... .... , . . . . - - . c , . ; , , . . . . .: ! " 4 : " . . . . . : , ·"'
. -
Schedul d Tribes means su h tribes or ·tribal communities or-parts o f o r -gro ps wi-th in such tribes:or
tribal communities as are illustrated tn the Scheduled Tribes Order under Ar-tide 34:2, ·Scheduled Areas
mean such areas as the President may by order declare to be Scheduled Areas.
The Fifth and Sixth Schedules o f the Constittitiori of India should be read with the Article 244 (1) and 244
(2) respectively.
231
THE FIFTH SCHEDULE

The Fifth Schedule o f the Constitution is concerned with the administration and control o f Scheduled
Areas and S.£te. J Iribes in states other tha IU.,}1 le J.
! r illliI -1:1: L J f 2 ! · According to the
provisions therein, the Governor o f each state having Scheduled Areas shall annually, or whenever so
required by the President, make a,_nm_2ftJ9.1h. _f!r sic;lgntrgg'=u:d,i.ng th _c:1d.m!_nis_tr,a.tJqn o f the_ <;.htd2!Jed
Areas, il}.Jhatstate an.d the executive .power o f the. U)1ion. shall extend to the giving . o f directions
. .to. the
state· as to the adminisfration o f the said areas.
This prpvision in the Fifth Schedule thus ensures a direct control o f the Union and Pres,ident over the
admintstr _ }_QI.L9(thiirX _?C .re.aS:§wf1iii2" ii : 11·rn)lj m iJ1 '1il l' f s'are··facing wi"th ··the-i reiative
isolation for lqng_ perio. s o f __ti :rr1ighth Y- con:vlp.ced..Jh Jr,a,m rs.9.Lq•fr Const1tutfo? to have ·a .,direcT-"·
c nti'ofover· these"areas· to ensure iinhinderep dey l I?HH t •. Vl( Jfare a·nd protection. The·GovernoTTs
.
made'" respo sible. to. t,he President . . . . . . ll, matt!:!rS pertainlng . t. o the adrnlrtistratiQJl
. !.. regardil)g .. '.'.'Of:the
': Sch·eali1ea Areas an"cCTribe,s.
According to this Schedule, '!!:! rx. Q9Jlnt\1 12 !L!? .£ tBli.lJ h )I. t! P . tat: .- Y.L11K S che d..u le d
Tribes:_consisting of_ ?! mo -! Q,}:J},£m 2L h2. - .§ _,, lli;.e!]X: ,. m ?.Y..k •.Jn.r:e .fQµJ:,th§.. h Jl Q the
repre
--- - - ..ta. . Y - -9Ube Sth euule.dXrib.esJn..the
.
L gj_sJP !iY ,,8 g mblY, l tlt ,Sta t e . ,
, .. · .
It i J the ·duty o f t h e ·Tribes Advisory Council to advice on such matters pertaining to the welfare and
advancement o f t h e Scheduled Tribes in the State as may be referred to them b y the ..Governo"r. The
Governor is entrusted with the power o f making rules and prescribing regulations regarding the number
o f members o f the Council, the conduct o f its meetings and procedure in general.
T h u s the Fi.fth Schedule provides an effective mechanism to accommodate the tribal interests and points
o f view regarding the di.rec:tion they choose for development and also for redressing the.ir grievances.
This provides for bridging a gulf between the government and the tribes with reference to
communication, especially in the context o f tribal planning and development programs. This ensures a n
effective mechanism to accommodate the age-old adage of bottom top approach in planning which would
ensure success in the majority o f the development measures.
T h e ·Fifth schedule also entrusts the Governor with a power to direct that.any A c t made b y the parliament
o r Le islature o f the state not to· apply to a Schedule Area or any part thereof in the.state. This entrusts
with. the Governor a power to make regulations for the peace and good government o f any area in a state
w h i c h i a Scheduled area. Thus, the. Fifth schedule ensures a greater element oftlexibility hen the laws
a r e implemented in. the Tribal areas owing to their level o f development, relative isolation and socio
cultut l background.
T h e i( h Schedule also entrusts with the Go e or the power to regulate the Transfer o f tribapand, thus
reduci?g to a considerable extent the age.: ov r pt ob lem o f land aliep _ti?namong the tribal communities.
Moreoyer, the Governor is also entrusted with a power to regulatJtRe 'anotme"nt o f land, the carrying o f .
bus,iness ofthe moneylenders etc.
T h e Fifth Schedule has specifically mentioned more a flexible procedure for amending this Schedule as so
n o t tq,., d eem any change in these provisions as a p a r t o f the Amendment
.
for the purposes
. .
o f Article 3 6 8 .
. /'.
Thus/the Fifth Schedule o f the Constitution provides a better mechanism to administer the tribal people. ·
i t g i v i s 'an element o f flexibility, a sense of greater. respons'ibiitty and attaching. importance t o tribal
admitjj tration and deveiopment.
THE SIXTH SCHEDULE
T h e Sixth Schedule o f the .Constitution relates to the provisions as to the administration o f Tribal areas in
t e states o f Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura anq Mizoram.
232
Like the Fifth Schedule, even the S\xtp Sc edule of the Constitution provides for a 1nechanism of
decentralized power and administrative structures for effective administration of the tribal areas. It
provides for Autonomous District Councils and Autonomous Regional Councils constituted by the
regulations of the Governor. The Governor has been entrusted with the power to regulate the
· composition, delimitation o f territorial constituencies and other matters relating to the elections and
conduct o f business o f these councils.
The Sixth Schedule gives the power to the District and Regional councils to make laws pertaining to ...
1. The allotment, occupation or use, or the setting apart of land other than any land which is a reserved
forest for the purposes o f agriculture or grazing or for residential or other non-agricultural purposes
or for any other purpose likely to promote the interests of the inhabitants o f any village or:- town;
2. The management o f forest not being a reserved forest;
3. The use of any canal or water cour:-se for the purpose of agriculture;
4; The regulation of the practice of jhutn or-any other forms of shifting cultivation;
5.. The establishment o f village or town committees or councils and their powers;
6. Any ot er matter relating to village or town ad.ministration, including village or town police and
public health and sanitation;
7. The appoi tmentor succession of chiefs or Headmen;
8. Inheritance of property;
9. Marriage and divorce; and

10. Social customs
Thus, the Constitution has realized. the importance of ackno:wledging the socio-economfc and cultural
background of these very isolated anq primitive tribes of the North East and_ has hence.provided an for
element of flexibility and decentrafization. regarding any laws applicable to. and effecting their social
institutions.
Apart from the decentralization o f the legislative powers, the Constitution, through the provisions o f the
Sixth Schedule, has also ensured a· decentralization of judicial processes .giving these ·powers to .the
District and Regional Councils the power o f courts for the tdal o f suits and ·cases· between the. parties, all
of.whom belong to the Scheduled Tribes within such areas. This provision thus respects t h e importance
o f accommodating the traditional tribal justice to ensure its continuance effectjvely. Moreover,·the
o
G<:>.vernor has the power to confer .the,;,pow,ets through the Civil .and Criminal Proc dure Codes f these
· ·· · · · · · ·
· councils.
In the ..reas of financial administration, the Councils have been entrusted with the power to collect taxes:
licensing fee and royalties with respect to the extraction of the minerals and other industrial activities:Jn .
the areas o f their jurisdiction This. ensures a more effective mechanism to protect the tribal interests .in
their ecosystems and their traditional relationships established through . culture o the !'}ature
s11.rrounding them. This gives them a greater element of autonomy and a sense of pride in owning;:their
t aditional r ghts ofland.
Thus the Sixth Schedule has given a greater impetus to the field of tribal administration in this country to
identify, respect and accommodate the tribal social, cultural and economicbackgrounds.
In summary, the Fifth and Sixth Schedules o f the Constitution have· given more legitimacy to the:
anthropologists' policy o f {solation b y giving them an opporturiity to develop in their own direction. They.
233
also ensure a g r ea t e r c ontrol o f the Centre· ove r t he Sta t es' poli c _y t ow ards t ribal development They
indi r e c tly help in slowly b r inging r :e t r ibes to the mainstream o f the country.
The Implementation: Arti c les 244 and 244(A) under par t X o f t he ·constitution provide for
Administ r at ion o f S c h eduled A r eas and T r iba l A r eas. Unde r t he Constitu t ion, the terms Scheduled Areas
and Tribal Areas have definite connota t io ns. The Scheduled Areas are gove r ne d b y the p r ov isions
con t a ined in t h e Fifth S c hedule. These m a y also be c alled the Fifth Scheduled Areas. T h e Tribal Areas are
gove r ne:d by t he p r ov isfo ns o f the Sixt h S c h ed ule.
SCHEDULED AREAS
A s pe r para 6 o f the Pa r t "C" of the Fif t h S c h edule of t he Consti t ution, the exp r ess io n 'Scheduled A r eas '
means su c h a r eas as t h e President may, b y o r der, decla r e to be S c heduled Areas. T h e Presiden t may make
n-y in
changes· the Schedufod Areas a ft e r consultation with the Gove r nor o f a State. T h e Parlia -Il.thas-
be n empowe h r ed t o make any amendment in t he S c hedul e. However, any su c h law making amendmen t J._g _
f
r
t h e - S c eci'ule 'o f Tffe-Schedute-d-kreassna1nfcffl5"e-c1ee·rf
. ... --·-·e'a -·.
-to .be-
. . an amen
.. a m e n. t 'oftfieConstffiiHort' o ; i he
t t . -
-· - .. -------------- ------"-· -·- -;-- . -·" .,,_., _______ . ....... --·-- ----·· ... .... ·-
p u r p os e-·<f fA r Hd eJ J; - -
r ,. ........ , , , , , . : - • · •. •.• , '•
;--
. . . , , I ,,•_ r • • , , • , • - . ,-:
--· .
-
;
Historical Background: The h i story o f the Scheduled A r eas inay be traced back to "The Scheduled
is
p i t , _ B? : '' v ll i c h p r o v id - :f o_r - e a g p o i ofsp;< !. ?!!!E. . - "- _9_ :_i_? - :.E.:.! n - r i 1
! .?
1ust1ce, t o supermtend the SE:,ttlementand-collect10n ofpuohc r eve nu e and m a t ters refatu:1.:..[ . ! !U !! ? n ...
otherwise to conduct t h e admin i stra t i on within t h e ..Scbeduled D i stric t s.. -It also . provided fo r th e
t f
exteffsion:·oyno i i t at i-on ;··hr S dre'd ule f f'D 1stricts-;'oftawsenforceo ·1n any
""'
o f B r i t i s h. I n:d ia w i th sue h part
special rest r i c t io ns and modificat i ons as were deemed fit These wide powe r s o f legislation b y simple
execut i ve o r de r were exe c uted b y the Executive. Unde r the Goy_e_mme.nt.o.f.ln.d.i.a..AGJ, 1919, the Tribal
A r eas covered under t he Scheduled Dist r ict Act we -;emoved from the purview o f l -gisfatu;e:·These f-
areas .w e r e d1viaecrTntotwoc:'ategorles, ;;;e 1i. .. reasana--·nr1weas·on t od1f iei
v
ISwh<Jlly'°"Excruaea,.
Exclusion. But tnelimit of ex c lus ion differed in ex t ent and degree. '·uncfer the Giive'rf fme fff of fifrlfa.1t c'f
1<J3·5';'tfi'ese a r eas w e r e decla r ed as "Exciuded Areas" and "Pa r t ially E f_lude_d_,Ar,e s.:'.. Section 91 of the
Act-made spe c ific p r ov is ions in respect oftfie-se afoas:·---"""··--·-· · ·
·The. Government o f India Act, 193!i __p_tQYi.d. d t hat no ac t o f Federal Legislature o r t h e Provincial -
Legislature WC>uid apply to these ar_ ? -- -C{!pt hon the'd1rect1on _oftne -Governor\vno"-wasemj? i <>.. L <i .tQ_
ne·-S:
ma e -suclce·xcepffoiis- and mociHications ·a·s-"' e ct>nsicfered· nece saty.- 1r:a1so·" iiaofed--tl e·,.Governor t o
inake ·'regufaiffoiis--·for·-ure··p-eace --an c r gcrod · Gt1Verf fiif ent o However, all such ·r eg ula t i ons
reqtrffeatne ·a--ssent1Jf'tne Go ver no r.:'Gen e·r·a1: "Re se rva t i on oti;ats for t ribal areas w a s also made in. t h e
""
local legislatures o f Madras, Bombay, Bihar, Cen t ral Provinces, Assai:n and Orissa.
T h e __ CQ_ristitue_n t Assembly. paid special a ention to the t r ibal situation and appointed bNo Sub-
committees, one o n the_ N o East_ F r o n j _ r (Assam) T r i bal and Exclud d Are st a n d the. other o n
Exclud d and Partially Excluded Areas....(other· tna m)"fo'gcfjij'f "'
91fiec!etails o f the pr blems o f the .
tritial:peopfe 'ahaffie'"'trffi'ar a r eas. T h e subTomrnitteeoii th e Exduded and Pa r t ially Exel 4ded Areas
(o t her than Assam), w h i le analyzing the t r i b al situation, observed that it is necessary to p r o v i_d that laws
o f the Prov i n cial Leg i slatures w h ich are likely to be passed on the needs o f the majo r ity o f the population
should not apply ·automatically, in certain areas if not generally, at least on certain specified subj cts
w a s .fy h- F_.Q.2 e.JYe . <;\Jhi1-U
. plementc1tion o f _th suggestionwould involve notification o f the areas and
re'cortfirtended .that these a r eas "-sh c>ufcf b e -·k n o_w n_'a't i•sched u1ec f'i\re ·a s n ---Dr:· ·rr:K --A"ifio edl<a r,--:c fiafrman -
Coristjtµdo Drafting Coriimiftee ·ooserve·a-"'d-iaf'the '"Sclie'dU1e"d·"A:reas"
· ·· · · · w a s . another name fo r the ·.
Exclu _q,and Partially Excluded A r eas. · · .· · · · · · -·
'J'..:..lr - :':; " - : - . . . . . . , ....... • t I ,.._ • I ,
,- -.;,.-,-•"\•••o••,•,-,,--
T h e Sub-Comm i ttee also expressed "in respect o f certain subjects, laws p;assed b y the Provincial t h at
Legislatures should not be applied· to t h e Scheduled A r eas if the Tribes Agy g!)' Cou_nc l _ does hot
cons i_d ei them suitable fo r those ar_eas n. Thus it provided for a mechanism scrutiny o f legislat i ons with for
respect to Scheduled Areas. The F_ifth· Schedule empowers t h e Governor to _decide a s to w h i c h matters are
t o b e referred to the Tribes Advisory Council for its advice. This has substantially weakened the role o f
the Tribal Council. 1
\
234
Objectives: The Scheduled Areas have-heen constituted with the following two clear objectives:
1. To assist the tri.bes in E:,njoying their existing rights without any hindrance by others through
summary process.
2. To develop the Scheduled Areas and protect and promote the intere·sts· o f the Scheduled Tribes.
Administration of the Scheduled Areas: Since the Independence, the President has issued two orders
i.e., i) The Scheduled Areas (Part A States) Order, 1950, and ii) The Scheduled Areas (Part B States) Ord.er
1950, (as amended). These orders. declared certain tribal areas as Scheduled Areas in the states of
Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.
The main features of the Fifth Schedule are:
1. Special Legislative Powers of the Governor.
2. Governor's Report to the President
3. Tribes Advisory Council.
-1. SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE POWERS OF THE GOVERNOR:
The Governor of a State having Scheduled Areas has been vested with special powers of legislation in two
ways:
a) Legislation by notification
b) Legislation by regulation·
Legislation by Notification: The Governor o f a State having ,, El ! .Q- S a ..! E ,,E psible fDLde_fjgj,r1g
Vlhether an Act of Parliament or of the Stat Legislature is suitable or unsuitable for.Sch le<:I.' fireas
unaer···aausits·orfi-ie Scherluie:" th.it'Governor'rnay:"b/ f
pii6Ifc no.ti i cati on, direct that any"Kcfof
Parliament o f o f the State Legislature shall not apply to a Scheduled Area or any part thereof in the State
or apply theretQ subject to such exceptions and modifications as he may sp cify in the notification. !! -,
fifuh d rmodifythe a Ja . 2 ition
pplka le automatically -unless specifically res icted in whole -or part bY.,:..a;.no,,tificat!.Q..ILQY-:-· th.!::y
Governor. In cettain cases, an Act of Parliament or State· Legislature _could adversely affect the tribal
in.teresl In order to rectify suth an act of omission or commission, the Governor has been empowered to
.... give retrospective effect to a notification: The notification ·can be ·issued by the Governor Without-any.
reference either to the Tribes Advisory Council orto the President
''. ::Legislation b y Regulation: The Governor has· been empowered to make regulation
· fot peace and' good
government of Scheduled Areas. Such;\,r g'}lations may in particular ... · 1· · ·· · ·
1. Prohibit or restrict_Jh!! transfer of Scheduled ,Area land· by or among members Qf tlle Sch¢tfoled.
llib;s,
- w . . . . . . . .- • • • - · · - ' " · · · · · - • • • • " ' · · · - · - ' - · · - · · · · · · · · · • •
• • • • • ' • • •
-
2. R_egulate the al.lotment o f Scheduled Area land t o m - rn.Qftji _"S.£!t s-Jµl
----.................____ ___.__..., ____---·,..... """'--· , : - -..... -·--··· •' .,. . .
:·3. Regulate the rrying on o f busi es ..; 9( money:-lenders by.persons'w _q _I - - : money to member{§ft .
.··:·-- ---, -:·· .," --:'-, .,.:, .,,,,,_-;-:· ··. ' ., · ·· . • .
ScheauledTnbes in such chedulecfAreai ·
·The regulation making power o f the Governor for_peace and good government of the Scheduled M s is.
comprehensive but specific mention of the above three situations shows the concern of the framers o f the
Con.stitution to protect the interests of the tribes in Ia:nd·arid against exploitation by money-lenders.
. . . .
The regulation making power o f the Governor is subject to the· following .two lirnitations mentioned in sub.
paras 4 and 5 of para S ·o f e Fifth Schedule:
235
1. Such regulation should be made on the previous consultation of the Advisory Council.
2. Regulations should be submitted to toe .Presiqent and shall not have effect until given an assent by
.·.·. ,. . . . . . . . . . . .
hiITl.
< ••• • • · - · - - -
The Governor is the Executive Head o f a State. He is bound by the advice o f the Council o f Ministers
which has been provided under Article 163 for his advice. Either in this article or in any other provision
Theie· n· ·
o f the Constitution there is no mention o f Governor's discretion f o r exercising powers granted t o h i m
u g- r.:J.he. fifth_ Scl:i_f;<;l_ l .()f JI.le _<;:OTT_stffut.ioii: is_' lso· y
p- o;i;ion o"
f
i.nitiauve· fo·r th·e Gc,vernor
for exercise o f his powers mentioned in the Schedule. Even for scrutiny o { the legislations enacted by Hi'e'
<
Pa-;:ffamerifor"bfthe S t a f f Cegfsratures the Governor has to depend on his Council o f Ministers an l.t.h.
concerned administrative departments.
····
">
r--!
• '·
.. "
"
,..'"
"
""·
""
.-
..
.. ·
· ··
_,. .,._
.._
..·.-«
. '"
·-'·-
'"'_
·-
"' _
'"
_""._
_ .,,, -r.-- -·
2. GOVERNOR'S REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT:

The Union Government has been made responsible for providing guidance for the administration of the
Scheduled Areas; Para.3 of the FifthSchegµ1 J x. .do n m cha11is_m o f keeping the u,nior1 G_?vernment
informed o f the. situation in trfbaCi'i-e"as:·1t
p fovide; th t
th- "-c;q;fei-nor· each -State ' naviriJi
'scheduled
Are" s.-tfierein sfiafrannua ly, or whenever so required b:y the President, make a report to_ the President
reg f:9:ing· the administration of the S_cheduled Areas in that State T h e submission o f the Report b y the
Governor is irit nct°ed - t o enable the Union Government to .decide how best it can discharge its
responsibility towards the tribes. On its basis the Union Government m a y issue directives to the State .for
better administration of the Scheduled Areas.
These reports are generally not submitted in time. Various Committees and Commissions and Working
Groups which went into the problems o f Scheduled Tribes, particularly the Scheduled Areas and
Scheduled Tribes Commi.ssion (Dhebar Commission, 1961) and the Shilu A o Study Team (1969) and the
Working Group o n Development o f Scheduled Tribes during the 7th P-lan (1984) have observed that the
Departmental Reports are prepared mostly in .a mechanical way as a routine chore. A s a result their main
purpo e has_ beeh defeated.
The preparation o f the reports gives an invaluable opportunity to the Governmen to assess the progress
made for the development o f Scheduled i r e a s and Welfare of Scheduled Tribes, for which they can have
plenty of material available from various sources including views expressed b y Tri_be Advisory Council,
Com:missioner for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, tribal members o f the legislatures, non-official
members, etc. A proper use o f all this material should be made so as t o secure a co-ordinated picture for
presentation to the- Presi4ent.
Howe.ver the mater.ial available has not been p"roperly utilized. The r ports submitted b y the Governors
lackuniformity both in style and contents. Although the Fifth Schedule provides for issue o f directives to.
theSti e:_Governments regarding the forrn. t nd contents of the report, no directive has b J e n issued so
far,"J:'his
·' -
.,
has eroded the importance o f the Governor's reports."
3. TRIBES ADVISORY COUNCIL:
T h Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas Sub-Committee ·of the Advisory Committee o f the Constituent
Assembly which had gone· into the tribal situation had recommended the setting up o f Tribes Advisory
Councils''to keep the· State Governments in their respective states· constantly in· touch w i t h the needs o f
ther.:aboriginal tracts and to exercise s p e d l supervisory functions ,ov-.er the working o f development
scherpes :The recommendations o f the Sub-Committee' have been suitably incorporated in the Fifth
Schedule o f the Constitution. Clause 4 o f the Fifth Schedule o f the Constitution provides for Tribes
Advisory Council in each State having Scheduled Areas. Besides, if the President so directs, it m a y also be
established in States which do·not have Scheduled Areas. The councils.have been established in all the 8 ·
states
f
of Andhra\J>radesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan
a n c Oiissa w h i c h have Scheduled Areas. I n addition, Tribes Advisory co·uncils have also b e e n established
in two states which do not have Scheduled Are s, namely, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
236
Composition: The Tribes Advisory C,ouf\cikconsists of not more than 20 members. O f these, three-fourth
should be the representatives o f the Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly of the State. In case, the
number of representatives of.the Scheduled Tribes in the ·Assembly o f the state is less than the number of
seats in the Tribes Advisory Council, the remaining seats shall be filled by other members o f the Tribes in
the State. The Council should consist o f persons who have sufficient knowledge o f tribal problems and
represent all shades o f opinions.
Governors are required to make rules prescribing the mode o f appointment o f members t o the Council
and its working, etc. In most o f the states rules have been framed but adequate provisions regarding
appbintment o f suitable persons, etc. need to be incorporated. In all States, these Councils are headed by
the Chief Ministers. It has definite advantages. The Councils are expected to meet at least twice a year.
However, it has been observed that the meetings are not held regularly.
Functions of the Advisory Council: Para.4 o f the Fifth Schedule provides that it shall be the duty of the
Tribes Advisory Council to advice on such matters pertaining to the welfare and advancement of the
Sch.eduled Tribes in the State as-may be referred to them by the Governor. It is also provided that no
Regulation shall be made by the Goy.erqor unless he has consulted the Tribes Advisory Council., these
powers have not been put in practice. The State Governments appear to have given a literal interpretation
to thi, provision and have confined the functions of the Cou cils only to the questions refer ed to__t_qem.
Th1fTribes Advisory CounGils have not b e e n specifically consulted before enacting legislations affecting
..
I
tribal intere t, :pa icularly relating to land and money-lending.· It has been argued that the
representatives o f the legislatures coming f r o m Scheduled Areas have sufficient _opportunity to express
their views in tlie legislatures on matters affecting tribes when the subject comes up for discussion. Had it
been so, there was no need o f a TribesAdvisory.Council or other safeguards. In order to make the <;_ouncil
effective, it should be made obligatory to refer all matters pertaining to welfare and development of
Scheduled Tribes to it. The position may be clarified to all concerned States, if necessary b y issuing a
directive. The Tribes Advisory Council .was .intended to be a channel o f discussion about the stages in
which the general laws and rules sh_ould b e applied to the Tribal Areas. Some o f the lc3.yvs which provide
special. safeguards· to the tribes regarding the land tenure, debt redemption and restraints on money-
lending were enacted before the commencement of the Constitutiori .. These laws ·suffer from many
loopholes and drawbacks and it is very necessary to review- them in consultation with the Tribes
Advisory Councils.
The mechanism o f Tribes Advisory Council provided in the Constitution is very vital. It should be.
effectively involved, apart from the legislative process, in policy making, planning and supervision of the·
development schemes, as well as in effective administration o f the Scheduled Areas.
-l
T l, AL AREAS.
The)ixth Schedule applies to Tr.ibalAreas within the States o f Assam, Meghalaya, Mizor;am and TriJhra . .
/
T h e Tribal Areas have been defined '.tfndii.r the Sixth Sch dule and cover those areas only _which are
specified in that Schedule. The Pprliament, may by law make changes in the areas· ·included iri'. this
Schedule.
The provisions o f the Sixth Schedule have been extended to Tripura since July, 1986 b y Parliam nt The
Act prnvides for the establishment o_f an autonomous district' comprising tehsils and villages whictare .
predominantly tribal. They have been- given·. the powers me:ntioned in the. -scheme o f District .Coll. Cils
..
un rthe Sixth Schedule. In Tripura, there is no provision o f autonomous regions.
Main Features o f the Tribal Areas:

·-
'f 1. Tribal Areas enjoy full autonomy in respect o f matters falling within their jurisdiction. These areas
may be called States within a State.
2. It provides to the tribes power o f seJf.:.manage_ment through autonomous districts and autonomous·
regions.
237
3. The writ of the Parliament o r the State Legislature does not run automatically unless the Acts in
whole or part are specifically extended to the Tribal Areas by" Notification o f the Governor.
Autonomous Districts and Autonomous Regions: There are nine autonomous districts in Tribal Areas
o f four States viz., two in Assam, three in Meghalaya, three in Mizoram and one in Tripura. Initially
autonomous districts of Meghalaya and Mizoram were parts of undivided Assam. Each district has been
specified as autonomous district for the purpose o f the Sixth Schedule. Normally, an autonomous djstrict
represents a particular Scheduled Tribe. In case there are more than one Scheduled Tribe in an
autonomous district, the Governor may, by a notification, divide the area or areas inhabited by them into
autonomous regions also if so notified. In case of Tripura, the situation is different. One autonomous
district has been constituted which covers tribal majority areas extending over three revenue districts
and covers several tribes. The Governor ·has power to increase/ decrease or make any alteration in the
area o f autonomous districts or regions.
Constitution of District Councils and Regional Councils: Each autonomous district has a District
Council_ for its administration. A District Council consists of not more than 30 members. Of these, not
more than· 4 ·members are nominated by the Governor and the rest are elected on the basis of the adult
suffbig¢ · The·mstrict Council consis.ts of territorial constituencles 'and each o f _them is a single member
constlr,l,iency?I'ti<!'Governor may'fix the totai number o°f the:members o f the Council. He may prescribe the
nuinhe'l·orvaterLHe hiay res'erve an.the constitu.endes for the tribes and debar the non-tribes from
cofr ¢-stjdif-t e::·;e\'ectitms· in such areas._ ·ThE! >Assam Sub:.Co tnittee · of the Constituent Assembly
rec:io"inmended ·m fthe ifon-trihes; thotigf f resident perrrianent.ly in the hills, should be debarred from
contesting 'the i -election to the Provincial Legislature from the Hill constituencies. This has been done to
protectthe:' nterest .df the tribes as the non-tribes b y their greater financial strength can win the elections
in the predominantly tribal constituencies by buying the vote .
Framing ·of Rules I_n exerdse of powers confetred by sub-p ragraph 6 of the paragraph 2 of the Sixth
Schedule .of the Constitution, the Governor may make rules for the Constitution of the District Councils
and ·Regional Councils. The rules may provide for the composition of District / Regional Councils,
appointment of office for purpose of delimitation of the territorial Constituencies, procedure for
delimitation, terms ·of office o f members, qualifications / disqualification of IT1embers, election o f
members, settlement of disputes and election petitions, formation of executive committee of the District
Council, summoning ofthe Council, election of the Chairman, Chief Executive and Mein.hers of the District
Council, sittings of the Council, etc.
Incorporation of the District/Regional Councils: Each District Council and each Regional Council shall
b e a body corporate by the name o f the respe tive district or region.
Adniinbtration. of Autonomous Districts / Regions:. The administration o f the autonomous
Districts/Re ions shall be vested in the. Co f}lsiWhich shall have. only such powers with respect to the .
areas,,µnder·the authority o f the autonom01.ts District/Regiol}ial ¾ouncils .as may· be specified by the .
Goverrfor. The Governo_r shall appoint a Chief Executiv_e Counsellor and such members as; Executive
Counsellors as may be necessary from ·among the members ofthe Council. They will look· after such
subjects ·as are allotted to them Executive Council is like a Cabinet for the autonomous district. It lays
down policy and.ensures its execution.
P o w e t s ' o f the: Distrkt Council; and ·Regional Councils to"Make Laws; District Councils and Regional
Counc)ls ·shall .have the powers in respect o f all areas unc:\er their respective jurisdiction to make laws
with .i: spect to th following subjects:
a) The allotment, occupation o r use ofland, otherthan any land ·which is a reserve forest;
b). The management of any forest not being a reserve forest;
c) use o f any"dnai _or·water course for the pur os p_ of agriculture;
238
d) The regulation of the practic,iof}hum or other form of shifting cultivation;

e) The establishment of village or town committees or councils and their boards;
t) Any other matter relating to village or town administration including village or town police
and public health and sanitation.
g) Appointment or succession of Chiefs or Headmen;
h) The inheritance of property;
i) Marriage and divorce and
j) Social customs.
All laws, so made, shall be submitted forthwith to the Governor and until assented to b y him, shall have
ho effect.
Administration o f Justice i Autonohidu.s Districts .and Autonomous Regions: The autonomous
District Councils/RegionalCo'ttncils in respect of areas under their control may constitute village councils
or- icfitirt:s for the trial-of st1its and cases ,between the parties belonging to Scheduled Tribes withimtheir
re5. ec fV'.e.:·a.r (;lS. ,. OtQ'e r th m Sµ! -or.cas,es_relatiQg. to _o'rfences .with qeath, ·imprisonment for life or
impli Biupentfo_r:a:terni:9f·n9t,Jes thfn. 5 years under .the Indian Penc1l Code or any other law in force.
d
Such. pow_ers shaIJ be:exep:ise . t 9 the ¢xdusion of any Court in. the State. T h Di tri¢t Cottncil/Regional
Council may appoint sititable persons to be members of such village councils or presiding officers of other
c01irts as also stich officers as'may'be' necessary for the administratiQn of justice. Such courts shall also
exerdse powers of a·court of appeal in respect of suits and cases triable by village council or court. No
other.court except High CoU:rtahd the Supr·eme Court shall have jurisdiction over such suits or cases. The
High Court shall have jurisdiction over such suits and cases as ·may be specified by the Governor.
The Regional· Council or the District Council may, with p'revious approval of the Governor, make rules
regulatihg:-
a) _ Const tution of illage·councils and courts and the powers to beexerdsed by the ;
b) Procedure to be followed;
c) Enforcement of decisions and orders o f such councils and courts;
d) All other.ancillary matters considered.necessary for the purpose of dispensation of justice.
Th tiovernor may also confer specific powers for the trial ofsuits or cases arising out o f any law irFfdtce
in,an autonomous district or regio,l,l, .(RP r;J he trial of offences· with death, iin:prisonnfont for life-or
imprisonment for a term of not less tha1fS years under the Indian.Penal Code' or any other,,law in force.··
Powers o f the District Councils to. Est blish Pdmary Schools etc: The"histrict tcmricil may est blish,
' ' '
construct and m nage primary schools, dispensaries, ma_rke , cattle. ponds,Jerries fisheries, roa:ds, roc1d· .
transport and water-ways in the district. It may 'also ·make regulations; with the prior approval of.the
Governor, for the regulation and control the.reof. In particular it may, prescribe the langu-age _and.the
mariner in which the Primary education shall be imparted in t h e primary. schools in the districf:;'.The
Go\i:ernor' may -also . wi1:h' the ·approval· ·of a.· Dlstrict. . Cound( entrust:-,entirely, ·conditionally' or
unconditionally to that Council or to its officers the functions in r latiori to agriculture, animal husbarrciry,·.
community projects, cooperative sodeties, social welfare, vUlage planning or any other matter to which
the executive power o f the State extends.
Responsibility· of Governor: The Governor enjoys ·unique position s-a-vis ·autonomous· districts.
Broaqly speaking his position may be equated to that of the .Pr¢sident's· in relation to States. He is not
required to send any report to the President regarding administration of the Tribal Areas.
239
District and Regional Funds: Each District and Regional Council shall have its own fund. Alhmoneys
received shall be credited to that fund. The Governor may make rules for the management of the fund.
The accounts of the District/Regional Council shall be kept in such form as the Comptroller and Au'ditor
General o f India may, with prior approval of the President, prescribe. He may also prescribe the mode of
auditing of such funds and the reports shall be submitted to the Governor who shall ask them to lay it
before the respective Councils.
Power to Assess and Collect Land Revenue and to Impose Taxes: The District and Regional Councils
shall have the power to assess and collect revenue in respect of lands under their control in accordance
with the principles followed by the Government of the State. The Councils shall also have powers to levy
and collect taxes on lands and buildings and tools on persons residing within the area under their controL
The Councils shall have power to levy and collect all or any of the following taxes within their jurisdiction:
a) Tax on professions, trades, callings and employments,
b) Taxes on animals, vehicles and boats,
c) Ta es on the entries o f goods into a market for sale therein and tolls on passengers and
goods .carried in ferdes,
dJ Taxes for maintenance o f schools, dispensaries and roads. The Councils may make
regulation ror the·1evy and·conection o f taxes and an such regulations shan be submitted
f rtliw ith to tlie Governor and until ass·ented to by him, shall have no effect
o
Issue of.Licenses or Leas.es for the- purpose of prospecting fo F or extraction .of minerals: Such share
or royalties accruing each year from licenses or leases for the purpose of prospecting for, or the
extractions. of minerals granted b y the Government of the State in respect of any area within an
autonomous district as may be agreed upon between the Government o f the State and the District Council
o f such district shall be made over to that District Council.
Power to make regulations for control of money-lending and trading b y non-tribes: The District
Council may make regulations for the regulation _and control of money-lending o r trading within the
district by_persons other than Scheduled Tribes resident in the district In particular, such regulations
may:
1. Prescribe that no one except the holder o f a license shall carry on business o f money-lender;
2. Prescribe the maximum rate o f interest which may be charged by a money-lender;
3. P q;vide f or maintenance o f accounts b y money-:-lenders and for inspection of such accounts by officers
ajipointed for the purpose b y the Distrkt Council; 1
4. P escribe that no non-tribes shall carry: on wholesale or tetaJtbusiness inany commo lity except
under.a license issued for the purpose b y the District Council.
All regulations maqe on the subject are to be passed by a majority of not less than three-:-fourths of the ·
total membership o f the District Council in order to be Vc!-lid. All such regulations shaH b e submitted forth
. wideiJ;o_the Governor.and until assented to b y him shall have no effect
. ..,,_!":'i -: . ' .. ' '
Publk_ation oflaws, rules an<I regulations under the Sixth S.chedule: AH laws,. rules and regulations
mad, \:µnder. this Schedule b y a District Council or .a RegioriaLCouncil shall be published forthwith in the.·
Official·Gazetteofthe,State and hall on suchpublication have the force oflaw.
Appointment o f Commission to enquire into and report on the· administration ·of Autonomous
Districts/AutonoJDous Regions: The Governor may, at-any time, appoint a Commission on any matter
spe_cif'.ied by .him relating to administration o f autonomous districts/regions in -t.he State. l particular,
such· omniissions may· enquire ·i_nto · and· report from time to time on administration o f autonomous
districts/regions generally and in particular.on·-
240
1. The provision of educational and medical facilities and communication in the districts and regions;
2. The need for any new o_r special legislation;
3. The administration of the laws, rules and regulations made by the-District/Regional Councils.
The report o f such Commission with recommendations of the Governor shall be laid before the legislature
o f the State by the Minister concerned indicating the action proposed to be taken thereon.
Annulment or Suspension of Acts or Resolutions of District/ Regional Councils: The Governor is
empowered to annul or suspend any Act or Resolution o f District/Regional Councils, if he thinks that it is
likely to endanger the safety o f India or likely to be prejudicial to public order.
Dissolution of a District or a Regional Council: The Governor may, on the recommendation of a
Commission appointed by public notification, order the dissolution of a District or a Regional Council and
direct fresh general elections for the reconstitution of the Council. The Constitution provides that no such
action shall be taken by the Governor without giving the District or Regional Council an opportunity of
placing its views before the Legislature''of the State. In case o f dissolution, he may assume himself all or
any o f the functions or powers vested in the D,istrict or the Regional Council, for a period o f six months
which may be extended b y a period not exceeding six months on each occasion.
Ev r y such order with reasons therefore shall be laid before the _Legislature o f the State and shall cease to
cm
operate at the expiry ofthirty days from the date which the State Legislature first sits after issue o f the
orders unless approved by the Legislature before expiry of that period.
Exclusion o f Areas from A u t o n o m o u s Districts .for Forming .Constituencies i n Districts: For the
purppse of elections to the Legislative Assembly of Assam or Meghalaya etc., the Governor may by order
declare that any area within the autonomous district shall not form part o f any constituency to fill a seat
in the Assembly reserved for any such district but shall form part of a constituency to fill a seat in the
Assembly not so reserved.
The mechanism o f the Sixth Schedule ensures effective participation o f the tribes in administration of
their affairs. Extension o f the provisions o f the Sixth Schedule t o more tribal majority areas particularly,
in the middle tribal belt will create. more confidence among .them and give them a sense o f participation.
As already mentioned, while the Fifth Schedule is paternalistic, the Sixth Schedule is participative. It
reflects a phase o f development and provides good ground for training in administration.
DISTINCTION BETWEEN FIFTH SCHEDULE AND SIXTH SCHEDULE:
!. lifth Schedule applies to the Scheduled Areas which have been specified in eight st tes and·theSixth .
Schedule applies to Tribal Areas. which have been specified in four states. Under . the
Fifth Schedule, laws
J
passed b y Parliament ot by the Stat ;Legislature apply automatically to Scheduled Areas unless the
Governor declares it otherwise in respe.ct o f law or part therkof. Under the Sixth Schedule, the position.is
quite different. The law made b y Parliament or State Legislature for Tribal Areas shall riot apply unless
the Governor extends that law to such areas. In one case, it applies unless excluded and in the. other,. it.
.
does not apply unless extended.
The.Fifth Schedule confers substantial powers on-the.Governor which iri pntctice are exercisablewith>he
aid 'and ·advice o f the Council o f Ministers. He can make laws by Notification or b y Regulation. The
Gov'ernor m a y exclude the application o f a n act·of Parliament or State Act in a Scheduled Area m··rriay
direct that it will be applicable subject to such expansion or modification as. may be spe.cified ina1is
Notification. But so long as the ·Governor does not make any such Nt>tificatiort the ·ge.ne_ral Acts'··of
Parliament o r o f the State Legislature shall apply to the areas referred to in the Fifth· Schedule. The
Governor has been vested with Regulation making powers for peace and good_ government and i11
particular, f o r prohibiting or· restricting the transfer· o f land l i y o r ·among the·. mempers o f the Scheduled:
Tribes, regulating th·e allotment o f -land and· carrying on the· business·· o f money-lending ln Scheduled .
Areas. This power o f the Governor exteuds to all the entries in the three.lists i.e. the Union List, the State
•. ·•;:.•
241
List and the Concurrent List o f the Seventh Schedule. Only restriction to the exercise of the power is that
Regulation must be made after prior consultation with the Tribe Advisory Council and assented to b y the
President.
The Sixth Schedule envisages a special administrative mechanism o f self-government to the tribes
inhabiting the tribal areas. The laws made-by the Parlfament or State Legislature do not run automatically
in these areas unless applied by a Notification o f the Governor. The laws are either made by the District
Councils:or are applied by them.
The administration o f justice is achieved by District and Regional Councils through their own agencies.
The jurisdiction of the High Court_ and the Supreme Court over the District and Regional Councils is not
barred.the power o f the High Court to entertain suits or cases of tribal areas is subjected to regulation b y
an order of the Governor.
The District and Regional Councils have their own funds. They enjoy power o f taxation and establishment
o f certain local institutions and run primary schools, dispensaries etc. They have complete autonomy so
far as th:eir powers and jurisdiction are conce_rne,d. The veto is, how ver, exercised by the Governor w h o
can.
.annulor
......
revoke their Acts o r resolutions
' ."
or dissolve them
_.,
and take over their administration. .
In shdff· while the Fifth Schedule fs patern Hstic,. the Sixth Schedule is participative. Its mechanism .:' ·
ensures at1tonorriy and effective pai;tfcipaifon oftribes_ i ·i the administration. o f their own affairs. In the
case o f the Fifth Schedul , althouglhhe Governor h:as be nvested witJJ. certain powers for. ensuring their
protection and better admiriistraticin, there is no mechanism by w h k h these provisions can be made
operational. The exercise o f powers under the Fifth Schedule has been left to the Governor or, in practice,
t o the State Government
. .
SPECIAL PROVISIONS WITH RESPECT TO TRIBAL AREAS AND HILL AREAS IN NAGALAND 1 ASSAM
AND MANIPUR:
The Constitution contains special provisions under Articles 371-A, 371-B and 371-C with respect to the
State o f Nagaland. Tribal Areas o f Assam, as specified in Part-I of the Table appended to paragraph 20 o f
the Si th Scheduie and the State of.Manipur J:'.espectively.
Article 371(A) - Nagaland: A s per provisions o f Article 371(A), no Act o f Parliament in· respect o f the
following matters. shall apply to the State o f Nagaland unless allowed b y a special resolution o f the
Na ala d Assembly . The matters are:
1. Religious or social" practices o f Nagas;
2. Naga;customary law and procedure;
. .
3. ·administration o f civil and cri inal justice)involving decisions according t o Naga c stomarr law;· and
·t}· .
'/:':, . f f
4 . O_wiiership and transfer o f land and· its resources.

T h e Governor has a special responsibili_ty for law and order in the State o f Nagaland. He has Regulation
making power for peace, progress and good government o f the Tuensag-district No Act-of the Legislature
o f Nagajand shall apply to this· district unless the Governor, on the recommendation o f the Regional-.
Counc:H; specifically extends it by.a public notification.
a
Article; ,71(8) - Assam: The Presidenbnay provide for the Constitution and f nctions. o f a committee o f
the: Legislative Assembly o f the State_ consisting o f members of that Assembly elected from the tribal areas·
a s specified in the Sixth Sche4ule arid-such other members of that.Assembly as.may be specified in the
order. This Committee has been provided to look after the nterests o f Tribal Area at the tate Level.
L\rticle 371(qi':" · Manipur: Article -37"1(C) provides for the Constitution and functions o f a Committee
through a Pr ldential Order. The Committee shaff consist of members o f the Legislative Assembly
elected from Hill'Areas o f the State. The Go.vernor has- been required_ to make annual report to the
242
President regarding the administratioh ofthe Hill Areas in the State of Manipur. The Union Executive has
been empowered to issue directions to the State as to the administration of the said areas.
Constitutional Safeguards and Welfare of Other Backward Classes in India

The term "Backward Classes" include Scheduled Tribes (STs), Scheduled Castes (SCs), Denotified Tribes
and Other Backward Classes (OBCs). These classes of Indian population have labored under different and
distinct disadvantages in the Indian social system. They have suffered from social and ·economic
disabilities and have come to be known as Backward Classes. The SCs and STs are identified as a result of
i
different .lists revised and issued under the Scheduled -Castes and Scheduled Tribes Lists Modif cation
Order, 1956 whereas the Denotified Tribes are defined under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1924. However, a
precise definition of "Other Backward Classes" has eluded so far. It has been fully realized that special
arrangements would have to be made for them in order to bring them to a position o f equality with other
citizens. The Constitution of India therefore provides protection and safeguards for SCs, STs and OBCs
either specifically or byway of promoting general rights of citizens with an object o f promoting their
educational and economic interests ancl qfremoving certain special disabilities they were subject to.
. '··:;
. ,·t ; .
The relevant legal provisions are embodied in Part XVI of the Constitution o f India, which is entitled
"Sp. cJal Provisions relating _to certain classes"._.From these.provisions .it is. evident that .in 19!50}he
makers o f the. Constitutiqn visualized the need. to make special provisions-only-for the SCs, STs, Anglo-
Indian Community and Socic:1.lly and Ed·ucationally backward classes.
For these special categories o f persons, the Constitution has provided f or different level and types of ·
concessions. The SCs and STs, under Articles 330 and 332, seats in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas
were required to be reserved on the basis o f their population. It was envisaged that these reservations of
seats would be available for a period o f 10 years only .With subsequent amendments to the Constitution,
this period has been extended from time to tome and these ·provisions are still in force.
For the Anglo-Indian community, the facility of reservation of seats in the Lok Sabha was also provided to
the extent o f two seats by nomination by the President, in case he found that his community did not have
enough representatioi:i. A similar provision was also made for the rep_resentation of Anglo-Indians to the
Vidhan Sabhas. There is no provision in ·Part XVI for reservation o f seats in legislatures for socially and
educationally backward classes.
The other category of special provision under Part XVI relates to appointment to services and posts in
connection with the _affairs-of the Union or of a state of the SCs and STs and the Anglo-Indian community:
For the Anglo-Indians, Article 336 provides reservation in ·the Railways, Customs, Postal an.d Telegraph
services o f the Union Government on the same basis as they were ·available to them immediately before
August 15 194 7. -These reservations however, however, were to be available for a periodof two yearsiby
10 percent and it was also envisaged,tllc:!t there should be no reservation for them from' the year 1990
onwards. For the SCs and STs howevei-;Wi-dcle 335 o f the Constitution provides that consistent with the
maintenance of efficiency o f the administration, the clalms. of the members other SCs -and STs shall .be
taken into consideration in the making o f appointment to· services arid posts in connection with the affa_frs
of the Union ·or o f the·States. In other words, unlike in a case o f Anglo-In_dians, there was no fix¢d quota
for the SCs ·and· STs. Secondly, there was no cutoff period o f two years or ten years in the niatter
recruitment o f SCs and 'STs to the services.and posts. Thirdly,the reservation for Anglo-Indians was::to he
enforced, irrespective of the effects o f it on the efficiency ofadministration, but in the case of the:SCs'and
STs, their claims for recruitment to public services had to be consistent with. the requirement o f the
mai. tenance o f efficiency of administration. Lastly;·while the A°riglo-Indians couid compete on merit - nd
yet enjoy their quota there was no such facility envisaged for the ,SCs and STs. Yet another--spedal
·provision made available for Anglo-Indians byway of added fatility,wasfor educational grants. It may be
noted that the Constitution does not make provision for any such facility urider·PartXIV for the SCs and
Sts or for socially and e ucationally bacl(ward classes.
243
Anthropology Paper 02- Volume 03
As regards the socially educationally backwprd classes, now popularly called OBCs, the only special
provision for them is under Article 340 of Part XIV of the Constitution which is extracted below:
Article 340 -Appointment o f a Commission to Investigate the Conditions o f Backward Classes:
1. The President may by order appoint a Commission consisting o f such persons as he thinks fit to
investigate the conditions o f socially and educationally backward classes within the territory of
India and the difficulties under which they labor and to make recommendations as to the steps
that should be taken by the Union or any state to remove such difficulties and to improve their
condition as to the grants that should be made for the purpose by the Union or any state and the
conditions subject to which such grants should be made and the order appointing such
Commission shall define the procedure to be followed by the Commission.
2. The Commission so appointed shall investigate the matters referred to them and present to the
President a report setting out the facts as found by them and making such recommendations as
they think proper.
'3. The President shall caus.e a copy o f t h e report so pr:esented together with a memorandum
explaining the action taken thereon to be laid before ·each House of Parliament
The·President o f India had·accordingly appointed a Backward Classes Commission headed ·by Mr. Kaka
Saheb Kalekar in January i 953 · u n d e r . A
rticle 340 o f the :Constitution of India to determine the criteria for
treating· ariy·sectfons· of the people, other than the SCs and STs, as socially and educationally backward;
and iri accordance wit the icriteria thus determined, to prepare a list o f such classes. The report o f the
Cornin ssion submitted in t arch, 1955.disclosed considerable divergence o f opinion among its members,
bufthe majority recommended that the basic criterion for identification o f the "Other Backward Classes"
sho.uid . he their low sod.al position in the traditional caste hierarchy of Hindu society and accordingly
prepared a list of almos·t 2700 communities, and estimated that 930 of them would alone account for
nearly a third of the country's population. The Commission also considered women as a class to be
ba kward. While placing the report of the Commission before Parliament in September 1956, the
Governm_ent o f India observed t h a t i f the bulk of the country's millions were to be regarded as coming
wi hin th.e categocy of backward classes,_ no useful purpose would be served b y separate enumeration o f
such classes. Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru was o f the view: ''It is basically wrong to label a,ny section of the people
as backward, even i f they were so when 90 percent of the people in the country were -backward and poor. It
is, therefore, clear that the classes to be specified should be distinctly and palpably more backward socially
and educationally than the genera! run o f the population". Governm.ent also endorsed the view expressed
by. the Chairman of the· Commission that acceptance o f caste as a· criterion o f backwardness was not a
cort ct approach and that the remedies suggested on the basis of caste would be worse than the evil of
·bac vardness itself. The Report was rightly shelved b y P t Nehru as such an approach was bound to lead
to compartmentalization o f society.
The> Gove.rnment after finding the controversial recomfueh'c.l tions o f the Kalekar ,'c mmission
unfcceptable,. decided to undertake further studies to arrive at objective nd workable criteria for
identifying other backward classes. The Deputy Registrar General of Census was asked to·conduct a pilot
study o f occupations which could be considered backward. But his effort did not yield any useful result
bec<,1.use he found it impossible to draw up ·any precise and ·complete iist o f occupations, the members of
wlii: h q:mld ·be treated as socially and educationally backward. The Government o f India elicited the
view o f the state governments o n t e issue. One state·adV'ocated identification o f backward areas rather
tha, backward ·classes. The Planning ·Coriuriission acc pted this concept later on. Some states favored
J
adci ption o f economic backwardness as a criterion, while others stuck to their existing caste based lists of
OBCs. The Central government was, however, under no legal compulsion to draw up an all .India list of
socially_ and educationally backward classes and that even i f such .a list. were to b e drawn up, the. state
governments were free to have their own lists. It was also felt that any further _exercise.in stratification o f
the population .into special groups an_d classes would only further foster existing divisive ·tendencies, and
run counter to eh national objective o f establishing an egalitarian society. The Government o f India,
244
therefore, informed the state goverhmehts fo 1961 that they had "after careful consideration, decided not
to draw up any all-India list o f backward classes (other than the existing list of SCs and STs) and while the
State government had the discretion to choose their own criteria for defining backwardness, it would be
better to apply economic tests than to go by caste".
WELFARE SERVICES
During the first three Five Year Plans, the Central Government had made a provision for Rs. 1.62 crores
(First Plan), Rs. 5.02 Crores (Second Plan) and Rs. 6.00 Crores (Third Plan) for the welfare of OBCs and
almost all the schemes implemented were in the field of education. Till the end o f Third Five Year Plan,
an annual financial provision of Rs. 40 Lakhs used to be made in the Central Sector for post-matric
scholarships awarded from merit cum means basis. .Form the Fourth Plan, the scheme had been
transferred to the state sector. For the Fifth Year Plan, the total financial outlay for all States was Rs.
17.25 Crores; of which more than 2/3 rd had been on educational program, mostly for pre-matric
scholarships and provisions of hostels. Economic development schemes, on which· the expenditure was a
little over Rs. 3 Crores, included financial assistance in the form of loans and grants to artisans and
industrial cooperatives; to agrkulturists forirrigation weJls and purchase of bu Bocks and implements.
Besides such special assistance earmarked in the backward classes sector of the Central and various other
state· plans, the OBCs had derived benefits during the Fifth :Plan from the special rural area programs such
as Programs f o r Rural Development mostly inthe agric.ultural sector; Minimum Needs Program; Drought
Prone Areas ·Progra.m; .Small Farmers D veioprnent Agencies; Marginal Farmers and .Agricultural
Laborers Projects; Food for Work Program; Rural Employment Projects; Milk Production Program; Rural
Electrification Program; Provision o f Hmise sites for Landless Persons; and liquidation of bonded labor
and rural debt which were directed towards raising substantially the per capita monthly consumption of
the lowest 30 percent o f rural population. In the Sixth Five Year Plan also much greater emphasis had
been laid on the improvement o f conditions of t e families which were below poverty line..
There is no voluntary organ.ization working at the national level, which caters exclusively to the OBCs.
Voluntary organizations existing at the State, local and caste -leve_l are fina cially assisted by the State
governments. The government of India however affords annual grants to the Servants o(-In ia Society,
Pune, which assists some OBCs besides SCs and STs In Maharashtra, to the. Indian Red·Cross Society to
opetate·in 'Backward Regions and other NGOs.
N_o plan allocations are now being made by the· Central Government for the welfare of OB Cs . The·._
Programs for their welfare are launched.by the respective state governments or UnionTerritories but the
quantum o f funds provided b y them for the purpose is very. meager. For instance, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu,
Jammu- and Kashmir spent only 2 4 percent, 0.2 percent and 0.4.6 percent respectively of their annual
budget o f recent years on schemes specifically-pr pared forthe OBCs.
MANDAL COMMISSION
It was left to the Janata Government to disturb the hornet's.nest in 1978.by again raking :UP tl1e issue by.
the appointment'of the Second Backward Class s Commission headed by Mr. B.P Manda!. T e _M ndal_ ,
Commission was to determine the crfreria for defining the socially and educationally backward classes. It
was to recommend necessary measures for the advancem nt of the, backward classes so identified . J n
Pai\ilcular, it was required to examine the desirabi_lity.or otherwise. ofmaking provision for-reservation_of.
app9intments/posts in .favor o f these classes who· otherwise do not find adequate representation in the
PU.bJic services.
,-:.
The Commission applied 11 indicators groups as social (4), educational (3) and economic ( 4 ) fo r
identification o f the socially and educatio_nally backward classes; It was guided b y the thesis that social .
and educational backwardness would be directlylinked with low status of certain castes in respect ofthe
Hindus, in the· case of those belonging ·-to occupational _groups such as dhobi, teli, jheemar, nai, gujar, ·
kumhar,· lohar, darji and badhai, could be deemed as socially and· educationally backward. ·Of the total
245
pop.ulation of India 52 percent belong to these classes. These are other than the SCs and STs who make
22.5 per cent of the total.
The recommendations of the Mandal Commission can be summarized as follows:
1. Twenty seven percent of the posts in public services should be reserved for OBCs. They do
make 52 percent of the total population yet the reservation quota for them cannot exceed this
limit. This is becaus.e accor ing to the, law as interpreted by the Supreme Court of India, the
total quantum of reservations under Articles 15(4) and 16 of Constitution should be below 50
percent and as at present, 22.5 percent of the government jobs are already reserved for the
SCs and STs on pro-rata basis o f their share in the population.
l'_ Welfare programs specially meant for OBCs should be financed by the Government of India in
the same manner and to the same extent already done in the case of SCs and STs.
3. Raaical land reforms should be brought about in States to free small land holders from their
heavy dependence on rich peasa,.q s for their subsistence.
4:: OBCs should be encouraged and helped to set up small scale industries.
· Special :-educaUonal s hemes, With emphasis. on vocational training, should be started for
OBCs; they should also be given special coaching in technical and professio_nal institutions to
enable _them t o compete with the students from the open quota.
The Cominission has submitted its report to the GcJVernment on Decem_ber 31, 1980. It was presented to
both t}i.e houses of the parliament on April 30, 1982. Even since then there has been a continuous and
persi$te demand for an outright accegtance of its recommendations without any further scrutiny. But
no government however .favorably inclined could accept an additional 27 percent representation in
serves to over 3000 castes thus making a total o f 52 percent including the already existing reservation for
SCs a_nd STs. That is why the "then Congress government even though keen to exploit this populist
measure, had to .refer the report to a Committee of Secretaries who found it full of ·infirmities and
inconsistencies'fraught with adverse consequences for the social fabric of the country. Most o f the Chief
Ministers also expressed thei'r views against this out and out caste based approach to backwardness and
felt' that in varying'and different conditions· from state to state, and since most of the states have already
evolved _a policy of providing reservations to backward clas?es, there as no need of a Central Scheme and
the matter be left to the states.
The then Prime Minister Mr. V.P. Singh announced, all of a sudden, the acceptance of the Mandal Report
on J\ gust 7, 1990 in the Parliament. This drastic move has upset people from many walks of life,
inch:itifag-students, academics, journalists,etc.- The stude11:t community.that had been seriously hit by the
implernentation of the Report had launchp,d G,l massive movement throughout the country ,and initially
brou_ght the government to a point ·of collap.se. The c!nger nd mguish manifested itself. in protests;
rallie ,.violence, clashes and even self-immolation in an unprecedented manner. ·
' .
A CriUque of the Report
·1. The Commissi9n seems to have been carried away by its enthusiasm in inviting castes to come
forward with such a claim. Otherwise, how is -it that between the Kalekar Commission and;
1978 · over 1000 castes. have gone "backward", increasing the number .from 2700 to over
-3700? . The Mandal Commission violates the constitutional provision prohibiting. any
discrimination based on caste or religion in recruitment -to services and goes against the
sp_ecialprovisions for SCs and STs.
2. The Mandal-Commission, by recommending 27% representation for BCs has exceeded the 50
f
percent ·Hmit laid down by _Supreme Court, including representation o r -SCs and STs. And
.
what a farce ofspedal representation if 70% of the population is clubbed as "backward" and
keeping floodgates open for nipre and·more castes competing for "backwardness". Why not
246
defined the "forward" classes, which would be easier, provide special representation to them
and leave the rest to backward classes?
3. The Manda} Commission recommendations open the floodgates of special representation to
Muslims, Jains, Buddhists, Christians and so on, leading to disintegration rather than harmony
in the society.
4. The Commission has disregarded the observations of the Supreme Court. that "social
backwardness is a result of poverty to a large extent. Caste and poverty both are relevant to
backwardness but neither caste nor· poverty alone could be a determining factor. · To
illustrate, .how cold a barber by caste sets up a modern haircutting saloon or a tailor with
cutting. edge technology or a dhobi starting a modern laundry be considered "backward"?
S. In fact, changes have taken place by abolition of Zamindar, Jagardari and other land reforms
as well as liberal loans for self-employed resulting in upper mobility so as to remove all
vestiges of "backwardness". Even though this process is not yet complete, we shall allow this
to take a quick forward di ection rather than reverse the order by creating vested interest in
backwardness, just-to obtain a few thousand government jobs .
_,-,".6. A pernicious result o f the Manda} Commission recommendations is to create multiple
.
leaderships in 4,o'oo ca testo :serve the. political ends of the part.ies serving as vote gatherers
and agents - ba.ckWard class elite appropriating all concessions to them and in the process
exploiting their Own community.
The Mandal Commission Report was challenged in the Supreme Court o f India on the following grounds.
The Caste-data used by the· Ma.ndal Commission are based on the census report of 1931. Since then,
nothing short of a qua_litative change has occurred in the Indian scenarios but Mandal takes no account of
it. The Commission has erroneously thought thafit was its duty under Article 340 of the Constitution to
recommend job reservation for the backward classes. The Manda} Commission virtually rewrites the
Constitution by providing preference to the 3,743 backward castes by reducing the status o f forward
castes as of second class citizens. - Casteism whkh the Cons_titution emphatically intended to end was
revived by the_report and:ide·ais were buried.by i t The Commissio.n has ignored certain· principles laiq ·
down by the apex court that effici.ency of administration should be borne in mind when reservations were
made and unreasonable, excessive ·or extravagant reservation was a fraud on the Constitution. There had
. never been more fl grarit disregard of these .prin.tiples.
The Mandal Commission Report is casually andha.stilyprepared document which. is re:plete witll errors of
aU inds. In ord r to give itself a veneer of rationality and objectivity, the ManQal Com.mission, so tight to _.
imn rt to itfre.port a research base, but.even a superficial reading woulddisprove the claim .
.
. .
. :-"'i.'. :·'-. . . ·.
WELFARE OF DENOTIFIED COMMUNITIES IN IN,DIA #

. . . , . ·_-,·- --·
Deriotified Communities consist of several groups which may broadly be classi fi ed into nomadic groups
and settled commu_nities. The nomadic group includes gypsy like _p·eople, while the settle·d and the semi-
settled groups· trace their descent from irregular fighting clans, who were uprooted· from their original
homes on account of invasions or political upheavals in the distant past. Before settle <!nt in coloni s,
th@used to make a living ou,t o f hunting, s11ake _charming, selling medicinalherbs and other goods.:The
inn<:1te spirit o f adventure coupled with extreme poverty, lack of openi gs for better economic conditions
a:nq also. other psychological factors led them to take t o criminal practices w h i c h later became a tradition
nd a part of their heritage. .
:U nder the Criminal Tribes Act, 1924, these groups which numbered about 127 and whose population was
2f.64 Iakhs in 1951, were dubbed as criminal tribes. Thus, when a child was born of these fribes, he was
. idered to be criminal from the -very beginning and on his attainin:g .the. •age of majority, he was
.
;. a,. .romatically registered criminal, even though he might. ·have been totally innoc·ent These people were
k ptin col_onies, sometimes fenced wit'. : arbed wire and under strict vigilance o f the police. Quite often,
247
they were made scapegoats for undetected· cr'i'mes. In these settlements, the registered persons were
interned for a prescribed period during which they were taught 'agriculture or certain hancHcrafts. The
movement of these settlers was restricted within that area. Thus, these notified groups had to wear a
dark cloak of notoriety around them. This deprived them of all channels of.employment
After independence, the national government realized the injustice of dubbing the whole community as
criminal without exception. Apart from being repugnant to the fundamental principles of jurisprudence, it
was socially unjustifiable and nationally wasteful to maintain a whole community, generation after
generation, in bondage. The government therefore appointed a Criminal Tribes Enquiry Committee in
1949 and on its recommendation repealed the Criminal Tribes Act with effect from August 31, 1952 and
the rest ictions imposed on those people were withdrawn.
The Backward Classes Commission 1955 had inter-alia recommended that:
1. The nomenclature o f these classes may be changed from "criminal" to "Denotified Communities"
2.. These communities may be divided .into,Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes and other Backward
Classes for getting the benefits available to the categories concerned
3,: J h e s e coinmunitiesimay be· distributed in small groups in towns and villages where they will
ultimatelycome into the contact with other people and will eventu lly be assimilated in society
. .
.. _:
4. Norm l instruction together with b sic educ tion followed by vocational' and technical educaqon
at secondary level should b e given to them.
5. · The children of th_e criminal groups should be removed from their parents on attaining the age o f
seven and should b e put in suita k hostels.
Afterthe legal withdrawal o f the limitations and restrictions in 1952, the first problem was to wean them
away. from the criminal tendencies, particularly the younger generation and remove the stigma attached
to them and secon9-ly to put before them opening to useful occupations which would make it possible for
them_ to live honorably. The total allotment under the First Five Year Plan both a t the centre and states for
these communities and other backward da ses was Rs. 3.5 crores.· By the end o f this plan period; about
17 '$ettiemeilts and 30' colonies had been s tup; more than 36000 families had_ received assistance for
agricultural development; 1 l 3 cooperatives had been: organized and 337 industrial ·centers were setup-
f o r ·their benefit The Second ·Plan . made an allocation o f Rs. 3.12 crores for the welfare o f these
communities. The major schemes were housing and educational development Apart from agriculture
and cottage industry, another possibility o f leading a life ofhonest means tan b e b y getting employed in
government. services, private firms,·. factories . etc. But :ven though the A c t has been repealed an,d
theoretil: lly tliefe is no b a t \ o getting employment, yet the stigma attached to those beionging to these
. /.
communities does not make it easy to secure,th }m employment
ln view o f the small results achieved thus far, their needs should be tu died in each area a d programs
could be draw up on the basis o f the following suggestions of the Study Team· setup by the Cbmmittee on
Plan Projects:
1. The need for a combined .co·rrectional and welfare approach for -the rehabilitation of -De notified
.' /scommunities which should be supported b y a program of social education;
2. ,Formulation o f special economic programs which keep in view the character o f the population, in
particular, their adventurous spirit and tr ditional skills;
3. Organization of industrial and other cooperatives;
4. Provision o f opportunities fo_r employment i n the public services supported by way of ad9itional
training and orientation facilities; and
248
5. Where the Denotified tribes 'constitute a sizeable pop_ulation, cadres o f trained workers, who are
familiar with their social and cultural background and can work closely with them, should be built
up.
. . . .
The objective of assimilation, emphasized by the Third Plan should guide the program of rehabilitation
and development from the very start and progressive and forward-looking elements among the
Denotified tribes themselves should be assisted and encouraged to play an increasing part in this effort.
In. - pursuance of these observations and recommendations and in view of the urgency o f early
re: abilitation of the Denotified tribes, all the schemes were implemented under the centrally sponsored
programs. Economic development and social progress of these communities were given due emphasi?for
which around four hundred lakhs was made available. In the Fourth Plan, all the schemes were continued
with an allocation of around four fifty lakhs.
The pattern of implementation of schemes was again changed in the Fifth Plan. period when all the
welfare schemes for the Denotified tribes were transferred .to the state plan sector. These schemes have
continued to be implemented in the 6.th/ nd 7 th Plans by the respective state governments. The scherrtes
0
include educational programs in the form o f granting of scholarships and stipends to eligible students,
tuJUon arid e:>camiriatfon fees, provision . o f mid-da:y _meals . and establishment of Ashram Scpo.ols,
r€ id.e11tial:' -SAP,QJ$.<. 119- hOsJels; -,fqgf-iims: f(?f economic develop ent, rehabilitation, colonization,
assistance for; gdcUihfre :;irg o:rgal\i a.rion, q(cooperativesocieties; Miscellaneous ·schemes like setting
up of coi:nmuniry,wiifare centers,:ba{Wadis, digging of drink(ng_ ater we Us etc.
Much more could:ha\ie been-done for the welfare of the De.notified tribes, had there been a statutory
prnvision for w lfareas
thE!ir there has been for 'the protectiori and promotion o f interests_ of scheduled
castes_ and tribes_ in the various articles of our Constitution. The Denotified tribes are entitled to certain
benefits and concf!ssions urider ·the general provision o f Article 41 of the Constitution of India which
stipulates the promotion'of educational and economic interests of the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes
and other wea er sections. It is desirable that the v<;1-rious safeguards, concession ahd benefits available
to the scheduled·castes and tribes should be extended to them also.under . the statutory provisions to be
.made by the _Parliament through an amendment of the constitution..
There is al o: the·:··need to i:dentify, thei; compl x problems which vary· from s· ate to stat due to their
habitation, eq>lqgy; traditlohs and cultural ethos; and to find their reme_dies especially o f thefr,
rehabilitaUon in vocations _suited to their genius and to wean them away from their Crimin.al tendencie ,. ..
particularly the children. This can be achieved to a great extent by f ormulating comprehensive an4
·integrated plans to provide them land _and the financial facilities in t h e "form
of loans/subsidies for
agriculture,· agro;;based cottage industries, housing, education etc. Voluntary organizations have bi:!en
playing appreciable. role in their rehabilitation and welfa e. They need". tobe involved i n larger measure
to ·complement the government efforts. in };1.meliorating the lot o f the D e notified tribes /with a view: to .... . .
integrating them in the mainstream of the Indian society and enabling them to live as respectable citizens
, . . . . . ·. ,. i ' · ' . 1 7.1:
· .
of-the country.
!
-
_::.,?_'
.
' .
, : .
:;
249
:. ·.· : - .. · ' . ···- ...

7 .2 Social Change and Contemporary Tribal Societies
Impact of Modern Democratic Institutions, Development Programs and Welfare

Measures on. Tribal and Weaker Sections
It is believed that the Scheduled Castes and Tribes have registered little progress .in the last five to six
decades. There has been a quality of ritualistic formalism about many welfare and development schemes
formulated for these people. The financial incentives and educational reservations have bestowed little
real benefit to these castes. The quality of education has been described as unrelated to their lifestyle. No
efforts:·have been made to induct them into the new ethos of learning and to inculcate in them the verbal
and non-verbal skills that are a precondition to an academic success. The dropout rate at the school and
college/university levels has assumed alarming p_roportions. At the university /college level, the teachers
complain that the Scheduled Caste (and Scheduled Tribe) students are seen only when their scholarship
ch ques. are received from the Social Welfare Department. They mostly remain absent from the
classrooms. Though thefr percentage of attendance remains very. low, yet they appear in examinations
only· because o f the policy of the :unive-rsity administration to withdraw the percentage ·of compulsory
attE!1id n eAithe last·monient.Thatthe'quality oftheir education is poor is evident in their performanc
a t the'entrari5etests· fqr p ofessio akourses. Anexample shows that-in 1989 in Madhya Pradesh, so few
Scp.eHuled-'Caste aiid Scheduled Ttioe stud.en.ts qualified at the entrance tests for professional colleges
that the minimum ,eligibility marlts forthem· had'su cessively to be fowered: For engineering studies, the
·studerits o unres:erved quo a h a d to have at least 50 pe·r cent marks; for the Scheduled Castes, the
pre 'cribed Ill°triimum was 3$ ·per cent. Eventuaily, the Scheduled Caste students with 15 per cent marks
had to be admitted·. .
The tribal people have not been in continuous and complete isolation. Contacts are there between them
and. their non-tribal neighbours . . Modern forces have been actively moulding their life. As culture is
dynamic; the tribes hav faced and are facing changes. Nevertheless the tribes have retained the principal
elements of their ways ofHfe, though these are modified to a greater or lesser extent.
The factors responsible for the transformation of the tribal sodeties are both traditional and modern. The
tradidonal process, characterized by the: impact· of certain traditions of the. major neighbouring -
. comniuriities on the tribal group, has long been in operation and has -Jed to the resultant con epts like
Hindufaatkm, Sanskritization, Tribe _Caste continuum, Revitalization movements etc.
The. modern processes include such factors like Christianity, Urbanization and i.ndustrialization. Tribal
devel9pme_gt schemes, democratic set up o f the nation, modernization in education, communication, and
admin. tratfon and the like are of recent origin. These are ·directly or indirectly working as the external
factors which p.o not merge as a result o f J h p.irect and normal cont ct of the tribal people with the non-
tribaJ:pe.ople of the areas. · ., · ,,
The ·,implementation of various types o f development, welfare and community development schemes
.meant for the tribal areas have brought about certain economic and social changes in the tribal
communities. During the pre-independence period it was the policy of the British government to let the
tribes:Jive in isolation and maintain their status quo. However, after independence, in 194 7, the. national
lead rs:undertook the ·programs of tribal welfare.on a top priority basis and the policies and programs of
the n, Hon are reflected in the Constitutional provision specially in the Articles 46, 275 and 339 which put
s p e d a l0·emi>hasis on the promotion of. tribal· welfare and safeguard the interest o f the STs and the
Schethiled areas.
Further, in view o f the Constitutional provisions, the general democratic upsurge, and the zeal of the
national leaders for social service, the official-and non-official
· organizations
· undertook the programs for
tribal welfare frolfl ti e to time.
250
Anthropology Paper 02. - Volume 03
Also during the Five Year plans an ,attempt has been made for bringing about a comprehensive and
integrated change in the social, economic, political and cultural life of the tribal people. But the overall
result of this great effort has not been as encouraging as expected. Rather it is disappointing. Various
evaluation reports and a few competent analytical studies of the tribal development works are available.
These by and large record the targets of development and speak of the reasons of failure attributing it
mainly to:
1. Socio-cultural factors hindering the acceptance of an innovation, and
2. Lack of personnel or right motivation and correct attitude to work in the tribal areas.
T.he above is not meant to criticize but rather make statement of fact. It cannot be denied that the
_ welfare measures undertaken during the Five Year Plans in the tribal areas are well intentioned. They
aim at an all round development to creating conditions in which they can contribute their best to the total
growth of the country. Adequate resources have all been invested for their economic growth and for
removing the stagnation of the tribal areas. And in fact development schemes have been able to break the
stagnation of the closed tribal society-to s9m,e extent and have been able to introduce innovations and
new ideas to the tribal communities. But, as ·already stated the change .in the tribal way of life is not so
di tinctly felt, the isolated andrelatively more backward tribal communities have been less affected than
ffif:acculturated and some_ hat advanced communities.
In the sphere of economic development, the terrace cultivation has to some extent rep.laced the shifting
cultivation a ongthe Nagas, ·Kukis; :Khasis and the Garos. They have been able to take quick advantage of
the development schemes during post independence _period as there existed awareness among them
owing to the spread of education-and awareness through the Christian missionaries. The Maler o f Bihar;
the Porojas of Orissa, however, could no_t take such an advantage, as they lacked preparedness and
continued_ to remain isolated even during the contemporary times. Similarly, the tribes which have been
influenced by their Hindu neighbours, like the Ora9n, Santhal, Munda, Bhil and Gond, took advantage of
the community development programs- and accepted the use of improved seeds, fertilizers, introduction
of cash crops etc.,· only to. some extent. However, the health program along with the introduction of
modern medicines is becoming popular in the less isolated villages nowadays.
Through the introduction o f Panchayat Raj the traditional Panchayats have suffered a setback but a
compromise benyeen the traditional and. statutory Panchayats in the tribal areas has taken place, .
especially in the 1-Hmalayan region and in certain parts of the middle and western India; In some tribal.
areas, however, the statutory Panchayats are refused to _be accepted as the .traditional_ Pa_nchayats as they
· have their own stronghold.
h11_the sphere o f modern democratic experi.rilents, the periodical elections to elect representatives/or
pa'tliament and the state legislatures and village Panchayats have created a new awareness among 'the
tribal voters regarding their political rights;.power'aligmnents and fun.ctional roies of the1.Ieaders.. To -the·
simple and the semi isolated tribes, the tr ditional sacred and secular village headmen,, and of late tne
Christian religious priests, were the only persons known-as leaders to help them in decisicm making.With
the foI_'mation of the Indian Republic, however . the tribal voters, some of them fo inacc_essible areas, are
being approached by leaders o f various types, and exposed -to their views, promises and aspirations. With
va1.1ous Constitutional safeguards f or the STs and the general democratic upsurge, the· tribal areas are
g Ung politically energized. A new set of Western educated; urban-br·ed and seculari ed type o f tribal
le ders is fast replacing the age-old :charismatic, rural-bred a·nd tradition-oriented leadership. These
-- n:t .dern leaders of various levels and types are spearheading the social, economic and. political chapge
arid during the last two decades, they have been greatly instrumental in accelerating the pace of
transformation in the tribal areas. Still these tribes politically behave in their traditional style, that is with
kin feeling, village feeling and regional feeling and the new democratic experiments have given more --
impetus to these feelings. In, generai, the tribal development schemes and the modern democratic
experiments have brokenthe stagnation. In fact, they have accelerated the transformation.
251
Unlike the problem of development in the rui:al areas of the country, that of the development of scheduled
tribes and the tribal areas is not merely one of higher productivity, increased incomes and raised levels of
consumption. It bears emphasis that the tribal areas have remained secluded from other areas and
sections of society for long centuries. Almost every one of the tribal communities, as a result, evolved its
o w n distinctive ecosystem, culture and individuality. By and large, the general concept of development in
the post-independent India, may not accord with their idea system. On the contrary, it's not unlikely that
the new Western and industrial cult1:1res sought to be introduced into the tribal areas might strike
discordant notes in the harmony achieved by the tribal people through a fine balance of the various forces
at work"
The exhortation of the late Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, that the tribal people
should be enabled to advance along the lines of their own genius, has therefore a strong relevance even
today. It would have been befitting if each of the schedule tribe community were to deliberate over and
deciqe the course o f its development. The decision might have been taken _in the light of its cultural
background, the present level of development and the projected needs. But since some of the scheduled
tribe c;ommunities lack adequate articulation, ·'the communication gap acts as a barrier to concretising the
riglit ty,peof blue print for develop ent
Diff f)n.g' adfon for developme·nt till the tribal people make clear their choice o f the path of the destiny,
m a y .{St be· a reasffile course, ror some inaction at this stage might widen the existing disparity between
th . non:--tribal ancl tribal sectio_n '. The option left is that development plans should be forged with the
ciegreE:!_, o f , ssodation o ( the. tribal repr sentatives, ta ing into cons_ideration, their naturar resource
enqo,-.vr:nent, the occupational pattern, the aptitude and skills and the general psyche of the peop.le.
The Dhebar Commission ·o f 1.961 observed, "Throughout the whole of tribal India, every substantial
village ha some kind of machinery for settlement o f social and religious disputes". They felt that the
tribal councils have ·great potentialities. These represent the cooperative and communal temperament of
th·e people having· been established in history and traditions.. and supported by social and religious
sanctions. They recommended that the councils should be used not only to maintain the fusion of the
tribal institution but also to further progress o f the development thro·ughout the tribal area. Statutory
Panchayats might exist along side the tribal councils and the latter may be given various aspects of
development
The: study team on· tribal developrrient programs headed by P. Shilu Ao drew· attention to the small
response of tribes inPanchayats (representation)-and commented that the reasori for the unsatisfactory
response of the tribal was that "the new setup does not confirm to their customs and
. traditions and is
..
looked upon by them as both alien and incongruous".
T h e - _rk'.ihg group appointed b y the Government o f India _to advice 011 the pp roach, strategy and .
priodties in respect o f programs for protection. and ·development during the 6th plan made tl\e following.
important.;. :·' .: .. recommendations:
. . .,.,... \ . , 2 ·\.,,. •. , •.
i .
. .
1. ,; Representation o f the tribes in the Panchayat Raj bodies should not be less than their roportion
1 p
in ·the population. The position of the Chairman and other important offi.ce bearers should be·
· reserved in their favour.
2. A-The traditional tribal Panchayats at the village level may be recognized as a part of the sy tem.
:':'. They should have under their jurisdiction all matters of the village including the ·n_ew.
)development functions . . They may-be allowed to evolve their own methods o f working.
3. _·;In the Grama Panchayats covering a group o f villages, half the members may be inducted from the
traditional village Panchayat, the remaining half being elected. The functions of Graina Panchayats
in tribal areas may be wider and cover some o f the functions of the traditional Panchayat as well.
252
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Vol.

i Anthropology for Civil Services EXamination

pMq 2?J 1?&,

G. Kar -,c, M.A., f Ph.DJ ;\nthroµojogy

·----------------- ------------·-----···--·--·- ................... .

1.1 EVOLUTION OF INDIAN CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION ......... ;...................................................................... 7

: 1.2 PALEOANTHROPOLOGICAL EVIDENCES FROM INDIA WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SIWALIKS

1·.3 ETHNO:..ARCHAEOLOGY IN INDIA ......................................................................................................... .......... 38

2. DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF INDIA .................................................. ................................................................. 40

VARNA AND CASTE ................... ·.............................................................................. ,, .............................................. ·............................. 94

3.3 SACRED COMPLEX AN:µ NATURE MAN sr1mTcoMPLEx. ................................................................ ••114

4. EMERGENCE AND.GROWTH OF ANTHROPOLOGY IN INDIA ........................................................... ........ 127

· 6.1 TRIBAL SITUATION IN INDIA ................. _................................. ....................................................................... 177

7.2 SOCIAL CHANGE AND CONTEMPORARY TRIBAL SOCIETIES ................................................................. zso

7.3 ETHNICITY, E T H N I C C O N F L I C T S A N D P O L I T I C A L D E V E L O P M E N T S .................................................. 254

8.1 IMPACT O F H I N D V I S M , B U D D H I S M , I S L A M A N D C H R I S T I A N I T Y O N T R I B A L S O C I E T I E S ........... 273

9.ZRdL btA1ff 'ilhP0Locv1N TRIBAL AND RURAL D E V E L O P M E N T ................................................. 3 3 6

Prehistoric - Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic and Neolithic-Cha/eolithic

3. Narsingpur and Hoshangabad in Narmada valley o f M.P. ill'

4. Singrawli basin of U.P. In

e also found. Lower Palaeolithk'site{ we·re also 'd1scoveref '"in Meghalaya

altitudes a·n i---·cten·

A n important r a w material f o r m a k i n g the tools of Lower Palae()Hthic _y..r,..as.,.,_Quar Lt --Jhe Lower M

Neolithic and Neolithic - Chalcolithic Culture.

The manufacture o f pottery

A recent·reinterpretation o f what is considered Neolithic mentions that it should represent a culture o f

Southern Region.., Covering the Peninsular India

f i a J1 and do ;S.B£ tJ2!! ..2!:, , j., s ·

cattle,: h ep and goat.

Upper Central and Western Deccan

Protohistoric- Indus. Valley Civilization: Pre-Harappan, Harappan and Post-

Date Range Phase Era

7000 - 5500 BC Mehrgarh I (aceramic Neolithic) Early Food Producing Era

5500:-3300 M hrgarh II-VI (ceramic Neolithic) Regionalization Era

3300-2600 Early Harappan -(Early Bronze Age) 5500 - 2600

3300-2800 Harappan 1 (Ravi Phase)

2600·1900 Mature Harappan-(Indus Valley Civilization) Integration Era

2600-2450 Harappan 3A (Nausharo II)

In .add_ition to t h e Mother-Goddess,· people worshipped a three-he a ded deity t h a t can b e recognised as a

Anthropology Paper 02 - Volume 03

ARTS AND CRAFTS

Among the causes spelled.out

Increased Aridity and Drying Up o f the Ghaggar

Post or Later Harappan .Cultures

Doab, these sites are described as belonging to the OCP culture.

Painted Grey Ware Culture

CONTRIBi.JflON·oF TRIBAL CULTURES TO IND/AN CIVILIZATION

' If',';. :!-.

·.•-·,i ·,. ·. .-.. ·

This fossil c arries a double interest:

Anthropology Paper 02 - Volume 03

1.3 Ethno-archaeology in India

The Concept of Ethnoarcheology

Ethndarche·ology-today:remains a s a major specialization in modern a clm.eology. W e n o w realize that w e

-·: •' '

2. Demographic profile of India

Ethnic and Linguistic Elements in Indian Population and their Distribution

ETHNIC ELEMENTS IN IND/AN POPULATION

SIR HERBERT RISLEY'S CLASSlFICATION