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PGSO S2 04

Exam. Code: RUS

Rural And Urban Sociology

SEMESTER II

SOCIOLOGY
BLOCK : 1

KRISHNA KANTA HANDIQUI STATE OPEN UNIVERSITY

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Subject Experts

Professor Chandan Kumar Sharma, Tezpur Central University


Dr. Sanjay Barbora, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati

Course Co-ordinator: Dola Borkataki, KKHSOU

SLM Preparation Team


UNITS CONTRIBUTORS
1,2,3,4,6,7 Kaberi Das, Gauhati University
5 Dr. Indrani Sarma, Cotton University

Editorial Team
Content : Dr. Sambit Mallick, IIT, Guwahati

Language : Dr. Abhigyan Prasad, B.Barooah College, Guwahati

Structure, Format & Graphics : Dola Borkataki, KKHSOU

March, 2019

ISBN: 978-93-87940-80-2
This Self Learning Material (SLM) of the Krishna Kanta Handiqui State University is
made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-ShareAlike4.0 License
(International): http.//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0.
Printed and published by Registrar on behalf of the Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University.

Head Office : Patgaon, Rani Gate, Guwahati-781 017;


City Office : Housefed Complex, Dispur, Guwahati-781 006; Website: www.kkhsou.in

The University acknowledges with thanks the financial support provided by the
Distance Education Bureau, UGC, for the preparation of this study material.

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CONTENTS

Unit 1: Introduction to Rural Sociology: 1-16

Origin and Development of Rural Sociology, Nature and Scope of Rural Sociology,
Characteristics and Importance of Rural Sociology

Unit 2: Rural Society and Urban Society: 17-31

Little Community, Peasant Society, Urban Society, Folk-Urban Continuum,


Universalization and Parochialization

Unit 3: Indian Rural Social Structure: 32-46

Approaches to study Rural Society (Historical and Ecological), Caste in Rural


India, Rural Family and its Changing pattern

Unit 4: Rural Power Structure: 47-61

Caste as a source of rural power, Landownership in Rural Society, Panchayati


Raj System in India, Rural Leadership

Unit 5: Rural Economy: 62-93

Land Ownership Patterns in Indian Village Societies, Land Relations in Different


Periods in History, Agrarian Reforms in Post-Independence Period, System of
Zamindari and Feudalism, Changes During the Post-Independent Period, The
Green Revolution

Unit 6: Caste, Class and Power in Rural India: 94-108

Continuity and Change in Caste, Class and Power in Rural India

Unit 7: Peasant Movements: 109-123

Peasant Movements in Colonial and Post-Colonial India, Role of State in Rural


Transformation.

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COURSE INTRODUCTION

The course ‘Rural and Urban Sociology’ introduces two specialised fields of Sociology, namely,
Rural Sociology and Urban Sociology. It intends to familiarize the learners with some of the basic concepts
in Rural and Urban Sociology. Its objective its to make the learners understand about the life and human
interaction in Rural and Urban Areas.

The course comprises of 15 units and are divided iinto two blocks. The first block consists of the
first 7 units and the second block consists of the remaining 8 units. Unit 1- Unit 8 disucsses the different
facets of Rural Sociology while Unit 9-15 discusses about Urban sociology. Unit 1 describes the origin
of Rural sociology and also explains its nature, scope, characteristics and importance. Unit 2 discusses
about Rural and Urban Society in India. Unit 3 discusses the Rural Social Structure in India Unit 4
deliberates on the nature of Rural Power Structure Unit 5 explains the nature of Rural Economy Unit 6
discuses about the continuity and change in Caste, Class and Power in Rural India, Unit 7 deliberates
on issues and concerns of Peasant Movements in India . Unit 8 discusses the plans and programmes
for Rural development. Unit 9 gives an introduction to urban sociology Unit 10 tries to discuss the
important theories of Urban Sociology Unit 11 explains about the growth of cities Unit 12 critically discusses
the different issues and problems of Urban society Unit 13 explains the objective and importance of
Town Planning Unit 14 discusses about Urban Governance and Collective action where role of various
stakeholders are deliberated upon Unit 15 discusses urbanization in the context of Northeast India.

After going through the entire course, the learner shall get a detailed overview of rual and urban
society in Inida, the different social institutions in these societies and their changing trends, concepts
and theoretical frameworks to understand these societies and also about the contemprary issues in
these societies.

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BLOCK INTRODUCTION

This is the first block of the paper titled ‘Rural and Urban Sociology’ of M.A Sociology 2nd Semester
programme of Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University. This block intends to provide the learners
a basic understanding regarding one of the specialised fields of Sociology i.e Rural Sociology. After
reading this block the learners will be able to understand the different aspects of Rural society in India.
Unit 1 will explain the learners about the origin and development of Rural Sociology in Inida. The learners
will also get to know about nature, scope, characteristics and also the importance of Rural Sociology.
Unit 2 shall discuss the different concepts like Little Community, Peasant Society, Folk-Urban Continuum
etc. Unit 3 shall discuss the rural social structure in which the major social institutions like caste and
family shall be discussed th the context of Rural society. Unit 4 shall deal with the various aspects of
Rural power and Rural leadeship Unit 5 shall discuss the nature of Rural economy; its occupational
structure, land ownership pattern, as well as the systems of zamindari and feudalism in Indian society.
Unit 6 not only explains the changes that have occured in caste, class and power in Rural India but also
the aspects of caste, class and power that have continued. Unit 7 discusses the different peasant
movements in colonial and post-colonial India and the role of state in Rural Transformation

While going through the units of the block, you will find that unit is further divided into certain
sections and sub-sections, wherever necessary, for your better understanding. Again, the units carry
certain activities after a particular section where needed. These “ACTIVITIES” will provide you the
opportunity to practically apply your own thoughts based on the knowledge gained from reading the text
in a particular section. Besides, in order to give you additional information on certain relevant topics, you
will find a category called “LET US KNOW” after the sections in each unit. Another category that has
been included at the end of each section of a particular unit is “CHECK YOUR PROGRESS”. The
purpose of this category is to help you to asses for yourself as to how thoroughly you have understood a
particular section. You may then match your answers with “ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS”
given at the end of each unit. The section “FURTHER READING” in each unit contains the names of a
few books which you might want to consult if you are intereted in learning more elaborately about the
concepts discussed in a particular unit. Furthermore, the category called “POSSIBLE QUESTIONS” is
intended to give you a hint of the type of questions you are likely to get in the examination.

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Introduction to Rural Sociology Unit-1

UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION TO RURAL SOCIOLOGY


UNIT STRUCTURE
1.1 Learning Objectives
1.2 Introduction
1.3 Origin and Development of Rural Sociology
1.4 Nature and Scope of Rural Sociology
1.5 Characteristics and Importance of Rural Sociology
1.6 Let Us Sum up
1.7 Further Reading
1.8 Answers to Check your Progress
1.9 Model Questions

1.1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to-


l know about the origin and development of Rural Sociology in the
West and in India,
l understand the nature of Rural Sociology,
l describe the scope of Rural Sociology,
l explain the characteristics of Rural Sociology
l discuss the importance of Rural Sociology.

1.2 INTRODUCTION

Rural Sociology is a sub-discipline of Sociology studying the ways of


life in villages. From its inception Rural Sociology, as House says,
"...consisted largely of ethical evaluation and practical proposals for the
improvement of rural life" (Desai 1969). According to A.R. Desai (1969),
'Rural Sociology is the science of laws of development of rural society'.
The discipline embedded in social sciences is aimed at scientific and
systematic study of rural population, rural social organization, rural
institutions, rural structure, social changes that take place in rural society
and rural social processes for the development of rural life. Rural Sociology
is a systematic study of rural society and interaction of people in villages.
Rural and Urban Sociology 1

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Unit-1 Introduction to Rural Sociology

In this unit, we shall learn about the origin and development of Rural
Sociology. Further we shall be able to understand its nature and scope and
also about its characteristics and importance. This unit shall therefore give
us a detailed overview of what Rural Sociology is. Let us first begin with the
birth of Rural sociology, which is elaborated in the next section.

1.3 ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL


SOCIOLOGY

Rural Sociology is a relatively new branch of Sociology, which originated


in the United States of America around the 1820s. In the nineteenth century,
American societies underwent immense transformation due to
industrialization and urbanization, which had an impact on the rural society
and had led to its decay. This had led scholars to systematically study the
rural society, the problems of rural people, migration of people from rural to
urban areas and suggest strategies for rural development. But a deep
scientific study about Rural Sociology began in the middle of nineteenth
century. However, the targets were not achieved until the beginning of
twentieth century.

By the twentieth century,Rural Sociology had developed as a sub-


discipline of Sociology in the USA. Interests in Rural Sociology were
promoted with the efforts of26thPresident of USA, Theodore Roosevelt who
had appointed the Country Life Commission in 1907. The American rural
society was undergoing economic crisis and poverty where tillers of soil
had no land rights and the landowning class enjoyed all privileges. The
deplorable condition of the tillers led them to migrate to cities in large
numbers to find work in industries. President Roosevelt felt that if no steps
are taken to improve the condition of rural people it would result in
deterioration of ways of life in the rural as well as urban areas. Thus, he
had appointed the Country Life Commission which was influenced by the
works of Sir Horace Plunkett, who had observed deterioration of rural life in
Ireland. In order to achieve the aim of the study i.e. to understand rural
social problems and make recommendation for the development of rural

2 Rural and Urban Sociology

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Introduction to Rural Sociology Unit-1

social and economic transformations, 5 lakhs questionnaire were sent to


peasants out of which 1 lakh replied, and based on it an attempt was made
to understand the problems of rural society, the reasons of rural-urban
migration and why tillers of the soil had no land rights.

The Country Life Commission gave impetus to research studies on


rural community in the form of research documents and monographs like
'An American Town' by James Michel Williams, 'Quaker Hill' by Warren H.
Wilson and 'A Hoosier Village' by Newell L. Sims.All these research studies
consisted of historical and statistical data collected through using the
techniques of interview and submitted to Columbia University between 1902
and 1912. The charter set for Rural Sociology by the Country Life
Commission was carried forward in the form of doctoral dissertations
submitted at Columbia University under the guidance of Professor Franklin
Henry Giddings. The findings of these studies were discussed in the annual
meetings of American Sociological Society held in 1912. John Morris Gillette
who was associated with American Sociological Society published a
textbook in rural sociology in 1913 which is considered as the first textbook
in the field. These findings of American Sociological Society had facilitated
in laying the foundation of Department of Rural Sociology in American
Sociological Institute in 1917to carry forward the study of rural societies in
America. Two years later in 1919 Department of Rural Sociology was
establishedunder the Bureau of Agricultural Economics under the guidance
of Charles J. Galpinwho was appointed as its head. In 1930s, America was
grappling with economic depression, whichimpacted the world economy.
Attention was geared towards rural society which contributed significantly
to America's economy. Several books on Rural Sociology were published
during this period. One of the important books is "A Systematic Source
Book in Rural Sociology", which came out in three volumesauthored by
Pitirim A. Sorokin, Carle C. Zimmerman and Charles J. Galpin, published
in 1930 by University of Minnesota Press. The volumes contributed in the
growth of the discipline of Rural Sociology as a science of society and
provided an in-depth survey of knowledge into the field of Rural Sociology

Rural and Urban Sociology 3

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Unit-1 Introduction to Rural Sociology

as discussed in Europe, Asia and America.The growth of the discipline at


this stage was also boosted by the official establishment of Rural Sociological
Society in America in 1937 which came out with publication of a quarterly
magazine, Rural Sociology. The magazine brought out the concerns of
scholars, policy makers and professionals related to rural people, their
problems and their places.A.R. Desai (1969) said the new discipline, which
originated in United States of America is still ina state of immaturity yet it is
developing wider interests among social thinkers.

It was only after World War II that Rural Sociology extended beyond
the boundaries of United States of America and entered into Europe
(especially in France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and United Kingdom)
and Asia. In India, the discipline developed through the studies and reports
brought out by administrators, economists, sociologists and anthropologists
since the colonial period. Mahatma Gandhi said India lived in its villages
recounted again by Census of 2011 which estimates 833 million people
continue to live in rural India. He believed that if villages prosper the country
will prosper. For a village to prosper one needs to understand the village
life, how people in villages live, the reasons of their poverty and
backwardness, their problems and after getting a holistic understanding of
rural people, their problems and their places one can chalk out the plan for
its development. This project for development of villages took the shape of
village studies carried out by administrators, economists, sociologists and
anthropologists in India, which is briefly discussed below.

l Studies and Report brought out by administrators:The first influential


account on Indian Villages was brought out by British administrator Sir
Thomas Munro in the 'Fifth Report from the Select Committee on the
Affairs of the East India Company'(1812). In his report Munro depicted
the self-sufficient character of Indian Villageswhere people lived from
time immemorial having nearly everything they wanted and that the
boundaries of the villages seldom altered.He viewed villages as little
republics almost independent of connections with wider society and

4 Rural and Urban Sociology

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Introduction to Rural Sociology Unit-1

village community as primarily a political society. This view was shared


by various colonial administrators like Sir Henry Maine who with his
publication of 'Ancient Law' (1861) and 'Ancient Society' (1877) set the
tone for studies and reports that were brought out by British
administrators to understand the people they were ruling and for efficient
administration.But Maine's work had a European bias in his analysis of
Indian rural society seeing it as an infancy of society from were society
evolved to a matured state as the society was in Europe. However,
Maine was the first to provide a systematic study of rural society in
India and he advanced the theory that kinship is the foundation of Indian
rural society. British administrators like Holt Mackenzie, Sir Charles
Metcalfe, Elphinstone endorsed and promoted the idea that Indian
villages are little republics which were economically self-sufficient and
can survive on its own. Holt Mackenzie believed in it through the
existence of village communities in North India and his belief was
supported by the Elphinstone who noted presence of village
communities in Deccan. Sir Charles Metcalfe in the 'Report of the Select
Committee of the House of Commons' (1932) also shared similar belief
and saw Indian village communities as autonomous sociological isolates
which was possible due to the pattern of land tenure, customary laws
and the division of labour that existed. The studies done by British
administrators found Indian villages as economically and politically self-
sufficient and regarded them as "Little Republics". The studies and
reports brought out by administrators formed the basis for further
research carried out by economists, social anthropologists and
sociologists.

l Studies conducted by economists: After World War I, there was


marked deterioration in India's rural economy due to recurrent famines
which reflected inthe poverty, squalor and disorganisation of village
societies. The British government's interest in understanding the
economic status of rural society was to assess the revenue potential of
the villagers to further their trade with the wider economy and to maintain

Rural and Urban Sociology 5

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Unit-1 Introduction to Rural Sociology

their hold over the economy of the country. Prior to World War I, the
Asian countries were conscious about Asiatic Mode of Production
popularised by the writings of Karl Marx who is credited with bringing
Indian Village Community into the circle of world history. Marx believed
that Indian Village Community can be liberated through economic
autarky and political autonomy. The writings of Marx made intellectuals
of the country aware about the apathy of the Indian peasants. Mass
movement led by Mahatma Gandhi was essentially based on the rural
question to get over poverty and misery of rural poor by boycotting
purchase and sell of foreign goods. Gandhi's programmes of rural
reconstruction involved revival of small-scale village industries and
handloom, panchayati raj at the village level and removal of
untouchability.Gandhi's effort to address the rural questionwas attuned
with several studies carried out to understand the plight of the peasants
and come out with practical solutions. Pioneering work was done by
Gilbert Slater in 1916 under University of Madras to understand villages
in South India. He put forth that villages came before towns and the
economic life of a town or city cannot be understood without reference
to the lands, which sends its food and raw materials and the villages
from which it attracts young men and women. The villages were again
resurveyed in 1936 and 1961. The Punjab Board of Economic Enquiry
was set up which carried studies on villages affected by famine since
1920s. In 1935, the Bengal Board of Economic Enquiry was set up and
it undertook survey of villages in Bengal primarily to understand how
the famine in rural areas of Bengal had affected the rural/national
economy. Tagore's ViswaBharati had organized village surveys around
Shantiniketan and set up a Rural Reconstruction Board to understand
the adversity of the peasants. Similar studies were carried out by Scottish
Church College in Calcutta under the guidance of T.K.Sankara Menon,
by Gujarat Vidyapeeth under the guidance of J.C.Kumarappa and by
Ghokale Institute of Politics and Economics in Pune, which published
accounts of villages in Maharashtra. Most of these studies focussed on

6 Rural and Urban Sociology

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Introduction to Rural Sociology Unit-1

the social and economic life of the rural people in isolated villages. By
1940s a new trend was introduced to survey villages which focussed
on specific aspects of rural problem in certain rural areaa. In 1946,
Indian Statistical Institute in Calcutta undertook a series of sample
surveys of villages in West Bengal to study the effects of famine on
rural society.The studies focussed on the economic status of the village
people, the poor status of agriculture due to recurrent famines, drought
and indebtedness.

l Studies conducted by social anthropologists and sociologists:The


colonial anthropologists and sociologists initially studied the tribal
communities for the consolidation of British Raj. But there was a shift in
interest from studying tribal communities to village communities with
the village development programmes coming into operation and a
renewed interest to build a nation from its grassroots. Since the end of
World War II first hand and intensive studies on villages were carried
out by social anthropologists and sociologists. These studies debunked
the myth of self sufficiency of Indian villages and critically appraised
earlier views and conceptions of not only the Britishanthropologists and
sociologists but also work of their Indian colleagues who viewed Indian
villages as isolated little republics. These studies proved that Indian
Villages werepolitically, economically, socially and culturally inter
dependent on each other. However, the studies conducted by British
anthropologists and sociologists laid the foundation of further research.
Ramkrishna Mukherjee is consideredas the first sociologist who studied
the social organisms of village communities based on the official records
of East India Company. His work on 'Six Villages of Bengal: A Socio-
Economic Survey'(1957) has scrutinized the source material on the
nature of the village community from 'British Administrative Report of
Punjab'(1952). The 1950s marked a spurt of studies on rural society in
India akin with the independent nation's focus on the development
through rural reconstruction. Some of the notable works include M.N.
Srinivas's 'India's Villages' (1955), McKim Marriot's 'Village India'(1955),

Rural and Urban Sociology 7

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Unit-1 Introduction to Rural Sociology

D.N. Majumdar's'Rural Profile' (1957), F.G.Bailey's'Caste and the


Economic Frontier'(1957), S.C. Dube's'India's Changing Village'(1958),
Andre Beteille's'Caste,Class and Power' (1966), A.R. Desai's 'Rural
Sociology in India' (1969) and K.L. Sharma's 'The Changing Rural
Stratification System' (1974).In 1955, a conference was also held in
Madras under the leadership of IrawatiKarve which was attended by
Robert Redfield, who is regarded as one of the pioneers of Rural
Sociology in America. In the same conference M.N. Srinivas brought
out discussions on Sanskritization which he had described in his book
'Religion and Society among the Coorgs in South India'(1952). The
proceedings of the conference were published in the form of a book
'Society in India'. By 1970s the research funded by ICSSR to study
rural society which was carried out for a period of 10 years was influential
in development of Rural Sociology in its modern form. The research
was presented in the form of 'A Survey of Research in Sociology and
Social Anthropology', volume1, in 1970 where the discipline of Rural
Sociology was discussed under 'Rural Studies'.

Rural Sociology in India has attained new significance after


independence with firstthree 5 year plans focussing attention on
development of agrarian sector. Village Studies became a requisite step
for nation-building. Planning Commission of India realized that unless the
social problems are efficientlyaddressed the economic problems of the
country could not be solved. Thus, the Planning Commission laid significant
emphasis in understanding rural social problems as the development of
the country rested in the development of rural India. This vision was furthered
through Community Development Programmes, Land Reforms, Co-
operatives and Panchayati Raj which were the four pillars on which
democratic rural social system rested. Many developmental programmes
were started across the nation focussing on rural reconstruction and rural
institutes were set up for development of co-operatives and to further the
growth of the discipline. Funding from international organizations like UNO,
UNESCO, ILO, FAO and the League of Nations contributed to the flood of

8 Rural and Urban Sociology

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Introduction to Rural Sociology Unit-1

researches in rural societies and the development of Rural Sociology.


Separate Rural Studies departments were established in most of the
universities in India. Agricultural Universities were also set up which focussed
on rural development. In the past few decades, Rural Sociology has been
incorporated in the undergraduate syllabus of not only Sociology and
Anthropology but Agricultural Engineering, Home Science, Economics and
Agriculture. Conferences were organized to promote rural research. Thus,
Rural Sociology has developed from village studies to a discipline in India.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q1: Define Rural Sociology.


.....................................................................................................
Q2: When was the Country Life Commission appointed and by whom?
.....................................................................................................
Q3: Who authored the book "A Systematic Source Book in Rural
Sociology"?
.....................................................................................................
Q4: When was Rural Sociological Society officially established in
America?
.....................................................................................................

1.4 NATURE AND SCOPE OF RURAL SOCIOLOGY

In the previous section, we have learnt about the origin and development
of Rural Sociology. In this section, let us try to understand its nature and
scope.

l Nature of Rural Sociology: Rural Sociology is a sub-discipline of


Sociology. If we consider Sociology as a whole then Rural Sociology is
a part of it. Thus the nature of Sociology is also the nature of Rural
Sociology as it is the part of the whole. Rural Sociology is a science as

Rural and Urban Sociology 9

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Unit-1 Introduction to Rural Sociology

it provides objective and rational knowledge of rural social reality. Rural


Sociology employs scientific method in selecting a topic, defining a
research problem, in reviewing already existing literature, formulating
hypothesis, choosing research method, collecting data, analyzing data
and presenting the empirical data to wider audience. Rural Sociology
is a science as sociologists can make-

Ø Generalizations- the universal laws of Rural Sociology will remain


same across cultures.
Ø Predictions- based on previous sociological studies, sociologists can
make predictions.

Ø It is verifiable as under similar condition the results will remain same.

Ø It is reliable as it can be re-tested which will yield same results.

Ø It is factual as it studies and analyzes facts.

Ø It is empiricalas the field data collected helps in formulation of theories.

Ø It is cumulative as sociological theories are founded on already existing


theories and refining older theories or constructing new theories.

But unlike natural sciences, problem arises with objectivity as


researchers cannot have an impersonal and unbiased interaction with the
participants. Another problem arises with accuracy and reliability of empirical
data as responses differ from people to people, place to place and time to
time. Unlike natural sciences, problem arises with predictability as human
behaviour is complex to predict. Moreover, there is lack of laboratory
research as the laboratory of Rural Sociology is the rural society where it is
impossible to control conditions, repeat experiment and objectively observe
the subjects. Further there is the problem of terminology as one cannot
develop scientific terminology that could be applied to all society as the
same word can have different meanings according to the context in which
it is used. Finally, there is problem of accuracy as findings are limited in

10 Rural and Urban Sociology

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Introduction to Rural Sociology Unit-1

time and space. In spite of the above mentioned problems, Rural Sociology
can be called a social science as it comprises certain elements of natural
science as well as humanities.

l Scope of Rural Sociology

The scope of Rural Sociology has been changing according to the


interests of the administrators, economists, sociologists and social
anthropologists from time to time. The initial subject matter of sociologists
and anthropologists was to study the society of aboriginals, primitive tribes
and forest dwellers. Then the interest of administrators turned sociologists
and anthropologists towards studying indigenous institutions of the village,
caste and culture due to village development programmes and interest to
understand the people of India. Soon after Independence, there was a
sudden shift in the study and subject matter of Rural Sociology. It was
realized that unless rural social problems were efficiently solved, economic
problems could not be solved. The new nation experimenting with
democracy focussed on planned development with focus on developing
the rural economy and on development of Panchayati Raj. Subsequently
the Five Year Plans were formulated which emphasized on development of
villages through Community Development Programmes. As a result of
various developmental programmes, industrialization, urbanization and host
of other factors in the middle of 1950s and the end of 1960s led to spurtof
studies on villages which was sponsored by national and international
organizations.The introduction of Five Year Plans, Green Revolution,
Panchayati Raj led to the formation of new classes and transformation of
power in rural leadership which became the new subject matter of Rural
Sociology.Thus, the scope of Rural Sociology consists of study of tribes,
castes, village community, rural social organizations, rural institutions, rural
social processes, stratification pattern, similarity and difference between
rural and urban societies, land reforms, peasant movements and struggles,
agrarian relations, rural reconstruction and planning. The scope of Rural
Sociology will continue to widen its horizon with the changes in rural society.

Rural and Urban Sociology 11

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Unit-1 Introduction to Rural Sociology

1.5 CHARACTERISTICS AND IMPORTANCE OF


RURAL SOCIOLOGY

By now, we have been able to get an idea about what is Rural sociology,
how it emerged as a separate sub-discipline of sociology, what does it
study, what is its scope so on and so forth. Let us now try to understand its
characteristics and importance.

l Characteristics of Rural Sociology:Following are the basic


characteristics of Rural Sociology

Ø Rural Sociology is multi-dimensional as it focuses on different do-


mains of rural society.
Ø Rural Sociology over the years has become inter-disciplinary, not only
in its design but also in its functioning.

Ø Rural Sociology focuses on micro studies and in-depth study of specific


aspects of rural society.

l Importance of Rural Sociology

The importance of Rural Sociology has been increasing due to following


reasons:

Ø Census of 2011 again recounted that India lives in its villages.

Ø For the nation to develop it is essential to focus attention on the


development of its villages as India is still an agricultural economy.

Ø Policies and Programmes of rural development has failed in its


implementation as the rural problems were not scientifically and
systematically studied.

Ø A scientific and holistic understanding of problems of rural societyis


provided through Rural Sociology as it studies rural population, its
problems and recommends solutions.

12 Rural and Urban Sociology

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Introduction to Rural Sociology Unit-1

Ø Rural Sociology analyzes the impact of industrialization, urbanization


and globalization on rural society.

Ø Rural Sociology provides empirical guidelines for rural reconstruction.

So long as rural society has importance, Rural Sociology will continue


to have importance as a discipline.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q5: Give one of the characteristics of Rural Sociology

.....................................................................................................

1.6 LET US SUM UP

l Rural Sociology is of recent origin and a sub-discipline of Sociology.

l The discipline embedded in social sciences is aimed to scientifically


and systematically study rural population, rural social organization, rural
institutions, social changes that take place in rural society and rural
social processes for the development of rural life.

l Rural Sociology originated in the United States of America around the


1820s.

l Interest in Rural Sociology was promoted with the efforts of 26th


President of USA, Theodore Roosevelt, who had appointed the Country
Life Commission in 1907.

l The Country Life Commission gave impetus to research studies on


rural community in the form of research documents like 'An American
Town' by James Michel Williams, 'Quaker Hill' by Warren H. Wilson and
'A Hoosier Village' by Newell L. Sims submitted to Columbia University
between 1902 and 1912.

Rural and Urban Sociology 13

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Unit-1 Introduction to Rural Sociology

l Further, Columbia Universitycarried forward the charter for Rural


Sociology outlined by Country Life Commission in the form of doctoral
dissertations carried under the supervision of Professor Franklin
Giddings.

l The findingsof these research studies were discussed in the annual


meetings of American Sociological Society held in 1912.John Morris
Gillette who was associated with American Sociological Society
published a textbook in rural sociology in 1913 which is considered as
the first textbook in the field.

l These findings of American Sociological Society had facilitated in laying


the foundation of Department of Rural Sociology in American
Sociological Institute in 1917.

l Two years later in 1919 Department of Rural Sociology was established


under the Bureau of Agricultural Economics.

l Several books were published which contributed to the growth of the


discipline.

l One of the notable books is "A Systematic Source Book in Rural


Sociology", which came out in three volumes authored by Pitirim A.
Sorokin, Carle C. Zimmerman and Charles J. Galpin, published in 1930
by University of Minnesota Press.

l Rural Sociological Society in America was officially established in 1937


which came out with publication of a quarterly magazine, Rural Sociology
which helped scholars to understand rural people, their places and their
problems.

l It was only after World War II that Rural Sociology extended beyond
the boundaries of United States of America and entered into Europe
(especially in France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and United Kingdom)
and Asia.

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Introduction to Rural Sociology Unit-1

l In India, the discipline developed through the studies and reports brought
out by administrators, economists, sociologists and anthropologists since
the colonial period.

l Rural Sociology being a sub-discipline of Sociology is a social science


by nature.

l The scope of Rural Sociology keeps on expanding with the expansion


of the boundaries of rural society.

l So long as rural society has importance, Rural Sociology shall continue


to occupy an important place.

1.7 FURTHER READING

1) Desai, A.R. (1969). Rural Sociology in India. Bombay: Popular


Prakashan.

1.8 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Ans to Q No 1: A.R. Desai defines Rural Sociology as 'the science of laws


of development of rural society'.

Ans to Q No 2: The Country Life Commission was appointed in 1907 by


26th President of USA, Theodore Roosevelt.

Ansto Q No 3: "A Systematic Source Book in Rural Sociology" was authored


by Pitirim A. Sorokin, Carle C. Zimmerman and Charles J. Galpin.

Ans to Q No 4: Rural Sociological Society was officially established in


America in 1937.

Ans to Q No 5: Rural Sociology is multi-dimensional.

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Unit-1 Introduction to Rural Sociology

1.9 MODEL QUESTIONS

Short Questions (Answer each question in about 150 words)

Q1: Explain the scope of Rural Sociology.

Q2: Discuss the importance of Rural Sociology.

Long Questions (Answer each question in about 300-500 words)

Q1: Discuss the origin and development of Rural Sociology in India?

Q2: Is Rural Sociology a science or art? Discuss.

** ** **

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Rural and Urban Sociology Unit-2

UNIT 2: RURAL AND URBAN SOCIETY


UNIT STRUCTURE
2.1 Learning Objectives
2.2 Introduction
2.3 Little Community
2.4 Peasant Society
2.5 Urban Society
2.6 Folk-Urban Continuum
2.7 Let Us Sum Up
2.8 Further Reading
2.9 Answers to Check your Progress
2.10 Model Questions

2.1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to-


l know the meaning and characteristics of Little Community
l understand the concept of Peasant Society
l explain what is Urban Society
l discuss the concept of folk-urban Continuum.

2.2 INTRODUCTION

The village studies done in post-independent India contributed


immensely to the understanding of changes in rural society. As discussed
in Unit 1, the colonial administrators turned sociologists and social
anthropologists viewed rural society in colonial India as an isolated and a
self-sufficient community having nearly everything they required in their
day-to-day lives. This view of understanding communities in colonial India
as little republics echoes with Robert Redfield's concept of 'Little Community',
who developed the concept on the basis of his study of communities in
Mexico. Redfield's interest in folk society and its problem developed during
his doctoral research experience of traditional Mexican villages, whichis
discussed in his work Tepoztlán: A Mexican Village (1930). This work had
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Unit-2 Rural and Urban Sociology

become a basis for further studies on folk societies and typology of


communities. Redfield's interest in folk societies as small self-contained
isolates and understanding oftheir culture as a whole developed from his
training in cultural anthropology in University of Chicago, which was geared
towards understanding of primitive and isolated communities as a social
laboratory to explain the laws of structure, functions and historical
development of societies and civilization. Redfield believed that an
understanding of folk/primitive societies as 'self-contained integral
entities'(being in the infancy of societies) as a part which will help us to
understand wholes like modern urban societies, nation and civilization. In
this unit we shall try to understand the meaning not only of Little Community,
but also of Peasant Society and Urban Society. While grasping its meaning,
we shall also be able to identify the differences among them. Further, we
shall be able to know about some of the important works done on these
societies. Finally we shall get an about the concept of folk-urban continuum.

2.3 LITTLE COMMUNITY

Little community issmall unstratifiedcommunity or group of individuals


that resides together sharing we-feeling and are a part of unified world in
itself away from wider community.This way of viewing small communities
as whole was first put forth by Robert Redfield in his lecture on 'The Little
Community'delivered in Uppsala University in 1954. Little Communities can
be identified on the basis of the following characteristics:

l Small: As the name suggests 'Little Community' is relatively a small


group of individuals having face to face contact with each other over a
long period of time.

l Isolated: Little Communities are isolated residing in a small territory


having nearly everything they require. It is a self-contained human
settlement, a world in itselfwith no connections or communications with
other societies.

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Rural and Urban Sociology Unit-2

l Non-Literate: The members of little community are non-literate. There


way of communication and passing their knowledge from one generation
to another is through oral tradition.

l Homogeneous: Little Community is a group of like-minded individuals


sharing similar ways of life, cultural outlook, attitude, sentiments, beliefs,
practices, language/dialect with a strong sense of group solidarityliving
together for a long period of time.Thus any individual can represent the
little community as they are similar persons.

Apart from theabove mentioned characteristics, the members of little


community aretraditional, patterned, impulsive, uncriticaland personal in
their behaviour.Little Community is distinctive as the members can mark
the boundaries of the community and easily identify an outsider as they
have face to face contact with each other.Kinship is the mainstay of little
community and familial group is the basic unit of action.In little community
the sacred prevails over secularhaving a symbolic view of nature and
sanctions decide their actions.The moral order demarcates what is good
and what is bad and determines their notion of leading a good life. There is
rudimentary gendered division of labourwith no specialization of tasks and
an economy that is guided by status where goods are exchanged on the
basis of goodwill rather than for their market value. Little Community is
self-sufficient as it consists of every need and wants of its members and is
economically independent of any other communities.The ways of life are
streamlined into coherent, autonomous,self-sustaining system called'culture'
which provides conventionalized understandings of problems and needs
of the members from birth to death. Robert Redfield notes that only few
tribal communities, Neolithicfisherman and farmers residing in Swiss Lake,
nomadic group of hunters in Bolivian rainforests, the medieval English or
Swiss villages, villages of Sudanese cattle people in Upper Nile could be
considered as little communities. But due to contact with great community
or wider community, the little communities are losing its homogeneity and
self-sufficiency although retaining their characteristic of smallness and

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Unit-2 Rural and Urban Sociology

distinctiveness. Robert Redfield believed that little communities are part of


great communities and thus by studying the part one can get an
understanding of the whole (Redfield 1960).

Redfield says that when a little community comes in cultural contact


with urban societyit transforms to peasant society, which is an intermediate
between the two polar opposites,i.e. the folk and the urban societies. The
next section provides a brief discussion on peasant society.

2.4 PEASANT SOCIETY

Robert Redfield is creditedwith having provided the first full-length study


on peasant societies with the publication of his Tepoztlán: A Mexican Village
(1930), which provided an account of Morelos, a village not far from Mexico
City inhabited by 4000 people. Peasant societies areagricultural
communities residing in rural area with shared history, tradition, valuesand
worldviews and having connections with wider society. Redfield's
conceptualization of peasants may comprise, in parts or in totality, of tenants
or even unlawful tenant on the land who have control over the land to carry
out common and traditional ways of life and who produce for consumption
and not for the market. The ways of life and livelihood of peasant society
are connected with land. They produce for consumption or have a
subsistence economy and do notproduce for business or profit making.
Redfield identified those agriculturalists who produce for business and view
their land as capital and commodity as farmers and not peasants. Peasants
are attached with their land(s) which they control through tradition
anddevelop sentiments over a period of time. Farming is submerged with
religious fervour and they work hard on their lands as their status and
livelihood depend on it and their gods expect it from them to work on their
lands. Their customs comprise their beliefs in the ancestral notions of good
and evil. They have reverence for ancestral ways of life and their habitat.
They have attachment to their integrated village or peasant community
and share a sense of belonging with their community. Peasant society is
characterized by importance of family where an individual is not greater

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than family and community. Peasants marry for work and zeal of life. Women
are respected as they produce children who could contribute to labour in
the fields. The form of residence in a peasant society is basicallypatrilocal
and the descent is along male line. Unlike Little Communities, Peasant
Societies are not isolated or self-sufficient and have developed economic,
political, social and cultural relations withlarger societal and cultural wholes
of which it is a part.Peasants are distinct from primitive people as they
have come in contact with wider society. Peasant Societies are
interdependent on each other through trade, pilgrimage to shrines,
performance of governmental duties (like paying taxes or respecting the
political leader/priest), education, medical facilities, lineage ties, kinship
and exogamous form of marriages,which continue from generation to
generation.These inter-connections between peasant societies are what
Oscar Lewis refers to as 'Rural Cosmopolitanism'. However, the social
behaviour resembles more the folk societies than the urban societies.Yet it
has certain features of urban societies like the emergence of elite class
(the literati, the carriers of classical written tradition) who exploit and exercise
control over large number of subservient people due totheir monopoly of
power and authority.

A. L. Kroeber viewed peasant society as an intermediate between part


society and part cultures, which are rural yet having connections with towns/
cities for trade and commerce. Redfield agreed with Kroeber and viewed
peasant society as an intermediate between the primitive isolated folk society
and the contemporary urban society. Since it is an intermediate between
the societies it possesses certain qualities of both folk and urban societies.
For example, a peasant society retains the identity with the soil, the moral
order and the ritual kinship (in the form of blood brotherhood, god-parental
relationships and other ceremonial/fictive relationships) of the folk societies
but it possesses the technological order (in the form of developed tools,
trade and commerce, political institutions, connectivity with wider society)
closer to urban societies.

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Unit-2 Rural and Urban Sociology

Redfield believed that as peasant society is a part, an intermediate or half


society, its culture is also a part or half of larger civilization; i.e. peasant
societyis a rural dimension of old indigenous civilizations of which it is a
part. The formal literate tradition/culture of civilization, which is regulated
by the literati/elites of society,is what Redfield termed as 'Great Tradition'
and the informal tradition/culture of peasant/rural society as 'Little Tradition'.
Great Tradition is consciously cultivated by priests and teachers through
sacred books and texts/tales in schools or templesand handed down in
written documented form whereas Little Tradition is reflected in the lives of
peasant societies through oral history.For example, the great tradition of
India consists of Vedic philosophy developed by both ancient and modern
scholars/philosophers; however, when such philosophy is diffracted, diffused
and reflected in the lives of the Indian peasants it comprises of the little
tradition. Like Ramayana, written by Valmiki, is a sacred book of great
(Hindu) tradition, but the philosophy of Ramayana is difficult for peasants
to understand. If the philosophy of Ramayana is diffracted and diffusedas
Ram Leelait is easily understood by Indian peasants,which comprises the
little tradition. The two traditions are interdependent and continuously affect
each other. Great and Little Traditions are facets of one another i.e. the
teaching and learning of great tradition are an outgrowth of little tradition
and is now an example for people who carry the little tradition like folk
artists, folk dancers, folk singers, medicine men and so on. The continuous
interaction between great and little tradition can be seen as an element of
the social structure of the peasant society in its enlarged context.

Redfield's conceptualization of peasant society was an undifferentiated


homogeneous community across time and spacesharing similar value-
orientations and ways of life. Redfield's work is criticized on the grounds
that he misses out the variations and compositions of peasant societies.
However, his work on peasant society hashelped scholars trying to
understand peasant society as a part of Indian civilization.

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2.5 URBAN SOCIETY

Urban Society stands in polar opposition to Little Community/Folk


Society. Urban Societyislarge in size, more populous and denser in
comparison to little community/folk society.Heterogeneous in its origin and
development, its members are literate and they are mostly engaged in non-
agricultural occupations.Predominance of secondary or indirect/impersonal
contact with its membersand are often regarded as superior to little
community/folk society in terms of authority. In urban society the secular
prevails over the sacred. Technical order takes over moral order and
relationships are based on mutual usefulness and necessity. Familial
institutions are weak with less functions and increased development of
individual independence especially with regards to choice of livelihood.
Urban Marriages rapture with legal aid. The economic and political
relationships/institutions are developed in comparison to little community/
folk society. The presence of secondary and tertiary sector with machine
production and specialization of tasks leads to a complex division of labour
in urban society. Market oriented economy develops in an urban society.
The landless peasants are pulled to the cities to work in factories, aspire to
be members of urban middle class or, as Karl Marx would say, the
proletariats. The institutions of folk culture become a business enterprise
in urban society with secular ends. For example commercialization of
devotional hindisongs for Goddess Kamakhya which are made available
for purchase. Earlier the devotional songs for Goddess Kamakhyawere
sung in Assamese or Sanskrit language not packaged as audio/video
cassettes to be sold in market. Thus, Redfield'sthesis that in urban society
there is disorganization of culture and secularization. Many of the features
of folk society like isolation, homogeneity, kinship system and self-sufficiency
fade away in urban society.

2.6 FOLK-URBAN CONTINUUM

Robert Redfield's study of Mexican communities introduced him to a


community which was neither isolated/primitive nor a part of contemporary

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Unit-2 Rural and Urban Sociology

modern urban society but something in between. This led him to develop
the concept ofFolk-Urban Continuum as a lens to understand how cultural
change gradually takes place due to cultural contact leading to the process
of change from folk society to urban society or from societies of the past to
societies of contemporary era. Folk-Urban Continuum is usedas a heuristic
concept to compare communities, which can be placed on a scale
representing a range of traits with folk society and urban society being
placed on two extreme ends of the scale. Folk-Urban Continuum would
facilitate in building an ideal typology of societies, which ranged from folk
society to urban society. Redfield believed that rather than viewing folk
society as having a dichotomous relation with urban society, it should be
viewed to be in a continuum where gradual changes in folk society lead to
transition to urban society. Today, as there is a blurring of lines to understand
where the city ends and where the rural begins, it is very useful to employ
Folk-Urban Continuum as an ideal type to build a typology of communities
or societies on the basis of their contact with urban society and folk society
and as the polar opposites on the continuum. Generally, the villages more
in contact with urban societyare more urbanized than those villages with
minimal contacts.

Indian villages, prior to foreign influence, as Mckim Marriot says can be


conceived of as little communities as they were marked by clear territorial
boundaries, were economically self-sufficient to manage their own affairs,
and political solidarity prevailed in the form of strong defence from the outside
world.Isolated from connections with wider world, the village people had a
commonsense of ritual integrity. This picture of Indian villages as a self-
sufficient whole was shared by colonial administrators studying Indian
villages. McKim Marriot says that such a picture is only partially true.Scholars
studying villages in South India can view villages as isolates as they practice
endogamous forms of marriage i.e. marriages within the village and kinship
ties are not formed beyond the boundaries of the village. But, for villages in
North India, the kinship ties spread across several villages and they are
tied to each other through marriage, descent, trade, pilgrimage and political

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alliance. Thus, it is difficult to conceive Indian villages as 'Little Communities'


as envisioned by Robert Redfield as they are interrelated and interdependent
on the wider society.McKimMarriot'sstudy of KishanGarhi in Uttar Pradesh
shows this ambiguity of defining the village of KishanGarhi as little
community. He shows how the little community and little tradition or local
traditionof KishanGarhicontribute to the development of Indian civilization-
a great community and great tradition or epic tradition (comprises common
cultural consciousness shared across India originating for sacred books
like Mahabharata, Ramayana and other religious scriptures and sacred
objects). KishanGarhi is connected with wider society through the intrusive
top-bottom political structure, economy as there is exchange of goods and
services, religion as there is allegiance to different pilgrimage outside the
village and celebration of festivals widely observed in India, kinship ties
and marriage as it ties people from different villages through the practice of
village exogamy. Yet KishanGarhi can be considered as a whole and an
isolate as economic dependence is on the yields of the land within the
village, social ties connect non-kinsmen within the village for various social
ceremonies and politically even though they might be divided by factionalism.
Yet it is factionalism which unites people along caste lines. McKim Marriot's
study of KishanGarhi shows that it is difficult to define KishanGarhi as a
little community but KishanGarhicould be understood as intermediate society
somewhere in between folk-urban continuum. The continuous interaction
between little and great tradition could be understood through two concepts
developed by MckimMarriot which is Universalization and Parochialization.

l Universalization: Theupward movement and transformation of cultural


awareness and cultural contents from little tradition to great tradition is
known as Universalization.In other words, the cultural change or absorption
of cultural traits from little tradition to great tradition is known as
Universalization. For example, the local goddess of KishanGarhiSaurt?,
worshipped during diwali the festival of lights,is apotheosized to Lakshm?
the goddess of great tradition.

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Unit-2 Rural and Urban Sociology

l Parochialization: Thedownward movement and transformation of


cultural awareness and cultural contents from great tradition to little tradition
is known as

Parochialization.In other words, when the elements of great traditionare


learned and reformed at local or village level and the great tradition loses
much of its original form in the processand becomes a part of local or village
culture it is known as Parochialization. For example,in the pantheon of
great Indian tradition goddess Durgais worshippedin nine forms during
navaratraor nine nights but in KishanGarhiNaurathais considered as one
of the many aspects of goddess Durga or a dialectic variant of navaratra is
worshipped during navaratraor nine nights. This illustrates how through
loss of contact and confusion between great and little tradition a new
parochial goddess Naurathais created and seen as manifestation of goddess
Durgaof great tradition.

McKim Marriot's take on great and little tradition has been criticized by
Stanley JeyarajaTambiah as ahistorical remnant of anthropological
investigation as the Great Hindu Tradition consists of several texts written
in different periods yet they were presented as if they were one synchronic
whole. ButTambiah's views cannot be applicable to the Great Tradition of
European Christianity as the principal sacred texts are common across all
denominations. Louis Dumont and David Pocock had criticized Marriot's
differences between the two traditions saying that the two traditions are not
separated but lived as one by rural people. Analytically it may be useful to
view the two traditions as an integrated whole. However, in reality rural
peoplethemselves recognise the existence of anothermore exalted tradition.
Thus, Mckim Marriot's study did contribute to the understanding that Indian
villages cannot be considered as isolates and villages are interconnected
with towns and cities leading to inter-exchange of culture, tradition and
ways of life which could be understood through Folk-Urban Continuum.

Robert Redfield's Folk-Urban Continuum helps to understand different


types of societies on the basis of its contact with urban societies, it tells us

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Rural and Urban Sociology Unit-2

very little about the actual nature of social organizations and relationships.
Moreover, it does not reveal about the continuous changes that are taking
place in urban societies or the processes that are involved in these changes.
As seen from Mckim Marriot's discussion of KishanGarhi continuities and
discontinuities are seen side by side when understanding Indian village
communities. Continuities can be seen in religious practices, lineage, kinship
and affinal ties. Discontinuities can be viewed in changing occupational
structure, caste mobility, rural power structure, emergence of rural classes
and rural elites. The continuities and changes in rural society in India will
be discussed in detail in Unit 6. In spite of above mentioned criticisms,
Redfield's theoretical and methodological understanding of folk-urban
continuum has been employed in several village studies and it has helped
to understand how folk and peasant societiesin India are dimensions of
Indian civilizations. Robert Redfield's work on Little Community, Peasant
Society, Urban Society and Folk-Urban Continuum reflects the changing
subject matter in anthropology and sociology and the quest for
understanding different types of societies so as to unravel the laws of its
development, structure, function and change/continuity.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q1: Mention four characteristics of Little Communities.


.....................................................................................................
Q2: Who wrote the book 'Tepoztlán: A Mexican Village'?
.....................................................................................................
Q3: Mention four features that make Urban Society distinct from Little
Community.
.....................................................................................................
Q4: Define Universalization.
.....................................................................................................
Q5: Name the social anthropologist who studied KishanGarhi in Uttar
Pradesh.
.....................................................................................................
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Unit-2 Rural and Urban Sociology

2.7 LET US SUM UP

l Robert Redfield developed the concept 'Little Community' on the basis


of his study of communities in Mexico.

l Little community is small unstratified community or group of individuals


that resides together sharing we-feeling and are a part of unified world
in itself away from wider community.

l Little communityis characterized being small, isolated, non-literate and


homogeneous community.

l Due to contact with great community or wider community, the little


community are losing its homogeneity and self-sufficiency although
retaining its characteristic of smallness and distinctiveness.

l Redfield says that when a little community comes in cultural contact


with urban societyit transforms to peasant society, which is an
intermediate between the two polar opposites,i.e. the folk and the urban
societies.

l Peasant societies are agricultural communities residing in rural area


with shared history, tradition, values and worldviews and having
connections with wider society. The ways of life and livelihood of peasant
societiesare connected with land.

l A. L. Kroeber viewed peasant society as an intermediate between part


society and part cultures, which are rural yet having connections with
towns/cities for trade and commerce. Since it is an intermediate between
the societies it possesses certain qualities of both folk and urban
societies.

l Redfield believed that as peasant society is part society and part culture,
the culture of peasant society is a dimension of civilization of which it is
a part. The informal, illiterate tradition/culture of peasant society is what

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Rural and Urban Sociology Unit-2

Redfield termed as 'Little Tradition'and the formal, written tradition/culture


of civilization, urban society as 'Great Tradition'.

l Urban Society stands in polar opposition to Little Community/Folk


Society. Urban societies are large, populous, dense, heterogeneous,
where members are literate and they are mostly engaged in non-
agricultural occupations, and where predominance of secondary or
indirect/impersonal contact with its members are often regarded as
superior to little community/folk society in terms of authority.

l Robert Redfield developed the concept of Folk-Urban Continuum as a


lens to understand how cultural change gradually takes place due to
cultural contact leading to the process of change from folk society to
urban society.

l McKim Marriot's study of KishanGarhi shows how KishanGarhicould


be understood as an intermediate society in folk-urban continuum. The
continuous interaction between little and great tradition could be
understood through two concepts developed by McKimMarriot which
are Universalization and Parochialization.

l The cultural change from little tradition to great tradition is known as


Universalization

l When the great tradition undergoes change at local or village level and
the great tradition loses much of its original form in the process it is
known as Parochialization.

l Redfield's theoretical and methodological understanding of folk-urban


continuum has been employed in several village studies and helped
scholars to understand how folk and peasant societiesin India are
dimensions of Indian civilization.

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Unit-2 Rural and Urban Sociology

2.8 FURTHER READING

1) Marriott, McKim (ed.). (1955). Village India: Studies in the Little


Community. Jaipur: Rawat.

2) Redfield, Robert. (1956). Peasant Society and Culture: An


Anthropological approach to Civilization. Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press.

3) Redfield, Robert. (1960). The Little Community and Peasant Society


and Culture.Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

2.9 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Ans to Q No 1: Little Communities can be identified by following


characteristics: They are small, isolated, non-literate and homogeneous.

Ans to Q No 2: Robert Redfield wrote 'Tepoztlán: A Mexican Village'.

Ans to Q No 3:Urban Society is large in size, heterogenous, more populous


and denser in comparison to Little Community.

Ans to Q No 4:The cultural change from little tradition to great tradition is


known as Universalization.

Ans to Q No 5:McKim Marriott studied KishanGarhi in Uttar Pradesh.

2.10 MODEL QUESTIONS

Short Questions (Answer each question in about 150 words)

Q1: Discuss Peasant society as an intermediate between folk and urban


societies.

Q2: State the differences between Universalization and Parochialization?

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Rural and Urban Sociology Unit-2

Long Questions (Answer each question in about 300-500 words)

Q1: Define Little Community. Discuss the characteristics of Little


Community.

Q2: Can Indian villages be considered as 'Little Community'? Support


your answer with example.

** ** **

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Unit-3 Indian Rural Social Structure

UNIT 3: INDIAN RURAL SOCIAL STRUCTURE


UNIT STRUCTURE
3.1 Learning Objectives
3.2 Introduction
3.3 Approaches to study Rural Society
3.3.1. Historical Approach
3.3.2. Ecological Approach
3.4 Caste in Rural India
3.5 Rural Family and its Changing pattern
3.6 Let Us Sum Up
3.7 Further Reading
3.8 Answers to Check your Progress
3.9 Model Questions

3.1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to-


l understand the approaches to study Rural Society
l identify different typologies of villages in India
l describe the Caste system in Rural India
l explain the nature of Rural Family and its changing pattern

3.2 INTRODUCTION

Rural Society is interchangeably used with terms like village, countryside


or folk society. In sociological literature, rural society is interchangeably
used with the term village. Mahatma Gandhi aptly said India lives in its
villages and is overwhelmingly an agrarian country. It becomes essential to
understand the rural society in India as majority of its population resides in
its villages and agriculture contributes a large proportion of the country's
economic growth. Rural society in India comprises of less than 400
populations per square kilometre, where majority of the population are
engaged in primary occupation like agriculture and horticulture, having a
Panchayat, a definite boundary and name. Rural Society has been changing
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Indian Rural Social Structure Unit-3

rapidly in the past seven decades and since acquiring new significanceafter
the birth of a new nation. Policy makers have realized that if the nation
needs to develop it needs to focus attention on rural development. By
understanding rural society in India one can understand as Robert Redfield
would say a true classic Indian civilization and rapidly changing rural
society.Rural society in India varies in terms of size of population,
composition of the village whether single caste or multi-caste villages,
economic status whether affluent villages or poor backward villages, types
of farming whether subsistence farming or commercial farming, contact
with urban areas whether close connection with urban areas or situated in
remote areas and so on. Inspite of the variations in Indian rural society
there are certain features which are common to each village like:

l Villages have well defined social, political, religious and economic ties
with other villages.

l Villages generally have stable population with shared history and values.

l Villages are the repository of tradition, culture, folkways and mores of


Indian civilization.

l Villages have a direct relationship with nature/environment.

l They are united in times of need and crisis. They share a strong 'we-
feeling' and sense of belonging to their community.

l Economy is primarily agrarian. However, people are also engaged in


other allied occupations like handicraft, weaving, basket makingand
pottery.

l Land is revered and valued in rural society. They produce primarily for
consumption and the surplus are sold in markets to purchase goods
they do not produce.

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l Caste in an important organizing principle in Indian villages and


integrates people even beyond one's native village. Different categories
and composition of castes and sub-castes are found in Indian villages.

l There is an established patron-client system known as Jajmani system


in the rural society.

l Every village has its own organizational body, which has authority to
give sanctions to the guilty/law breakers. Panchayats are the political
and administrative unit of the villages resolving disputes within the
village.

l Physical proximity to towns and villages results in the changes and


development in the villages.

These are some of the common features cutting across villages in India.
In the previous unit, you were introduced to the concept of Folk-Urban
Continuum. But there are certain differences which demarcates rural society
from urban society. One can distinguish rural society from urban society on
the basis of classification adopted by the Census like size of population,
density and primary occupation. In this unit, we shall try to understand the
approaches to study rural society, and discuss about two important social
institutions i.e caste and family in the context of Indian Rural Society.

3.3 APPROACHES TO STUDY RURAL SOCIET

Rural Society has been studied using varied approaches and techniques
to understand various dimensions of rural ways of life. Following are two of
the approaches applied by scholars to understand rural society in India.

3.3.1 Historical Approach

Historical Approach helps scholars to study rural society by tracing its


growth through different periods in history, and by studying events, customs
and institutions. India has records of continuous history from the Neolithic
period to the contemporary period. These historical records and artefacts

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could be used to understand rural society in India. Village is the unit of rural
society and a historical category as it has emerged at a certain point in
history. Further one can trace its growth and development over subsequent
periods of history, the structural changes it has undergone due to
orthogenetic or heterogenetic changes or the rapid transformation which
has occurred due to industrial revolution.Data on rural society is collected
from written, oral and documented historical archival records and artefacts.

Data collected from historical records have shown the emergence of


villages showcasing the evolution of humans from nomadic life to a settled
agriculturalist life with improved tools and techniques for production,
relatively stable food supply, development of arts, science and philosophies
and organization into kinship, clan, caste and territorial ties. Village is the
first settled collective human habitation, which gives impetus for the growth
of agricultural economy. Thus, historically rural society from its surplus food
production and labour resources gave birth to and nourished the town,
which subsequently came into existence.

Different types of villages have existed from the transition of humans


from nomadic stage to a settled agriculturalist stage. On the basis of these
transitions three types of villages come into existence:

Ø Migratory Agricultural Villages: In this type of villages, the people


reside for a stipulated period of time in fixed abodes. This type of vil-
lages are found where slash and burn cultivation is practised.

Ø Semi-Permanent Agricultural Villages: In this type of villages, people


reside for few years and then migrate to a different area due to deple-
tion of soil or erosion caused by flood. This kind of villages could be
further sub-divided into nucleated and dispersed villages. In Nucleated
villages the houses are clustered in a form of nucleus around its culti-
vated area whereas in dispersed villages the houses are distributed
around large area and each cluster is separated by cultivated area.

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Ø Permanent Agricultural Villages: In this type of villages, people are


settled agriculturalists residing from generation to generation.

Villages could also be categorised on the basis of historical written


records of different periods. For Example, in Mahabharata and Ramayana
there were two types of villages- Ghosh and Gram. GhoshorVrajaorBrijwas
relatively a small village situated near the forest inhabited by Gops who
were involved in cattle rearing. Gram were larger villages with Gramani, a
village official or administrator appointed by the king working along with the
village elders or Gram Vridhastaking care of the village defence, dispensing
judicial functions and looking after the village people as one's children.
Both Ghosh and Gram had village officials known as mahattar. Manu has
categorized different types of gramanion the basis of the villages one
administers like Dashi for gramani who administers 10 villages, Vishanti
for gramaniwho administers 20 villages, Shati or Shat Gramadhipati for
gramani who administers 100 villages and SahasraGramadhipatifor gramani
who administers 1000 villages. In the Buddhist texts there are four categories
of villages- Gama, Nigama, Kula and Nagarika. The villages had communal
land ownership of grasslands and forests. In the Jain scriptures there are
nine types of villages- Ghosa(cattle farm), Kheta, Kharvata, Gram(villages
around forts), Palli(small hutments), Pattana, Samvaha, Ugara and
Matamba(comprised of families upto 1000). The village was a close set up
with a village gate or gram dwaraand cultivated area of the village or gram
kshetra.Kautilya'sArtha Shastra provides an understanding of villages in
the Mauryan period. The villages were demarcated by natural boundaries
of forests, rivers, ditches and tanks. The villages were organised and clubbed
together for administrative purposes. For example, acomposition of 10
villages were known as Samgrahana, 200 villages consisted of Karnatika,
400 villages consisted of Dronamukhaand 800 villages consisted of
Mahagrama and administratively termed as Sthatniya, a centre for trade-
fair. The villages comprised of Adhyaksha(headman),
Samkhayaka(accountant), Stanikas(village officials), Anikasta(vetenary
doctors), JamghaKarika(village courier) among other village officials. During

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Chandragupta Maurya's reign, villages were categorised into three types


depending on the size of the population- Jyeshtha (villages with largest
population), Madhyama(villages with medium population) and Kanistha
(villages with smallest population). These were further divided into four
types on the basis of revenue collected- Gramagra or ordinary villages
which paid taxes in cash,Pariharak Villages which were given to priests
and teachers who did not pay taxes and given for free as salary to spread
education and pursue a religious life, Ayudhuja Villages were soldiers
resided who were ready to be part of army in times of war and Anya villages
which paid taxes in kind through resources, produce and labour.

Using historical approach to understand rural societies in India,one can


reveal the laws of rise and development of villages in India which in turn
would reveal the laws of rise and development of Indian society and which
would further assist in chalking out the scientific and pragmatic plans and
programmes for rural reconstruction.

3.3.2. Ecological Approach

Ecological Approach provides an understanding of rural society in India


on the basis of structural/ spatial organization of the villages, pattern of
settlement adopted by rural people, composition and density of the villages,
the natural environment (like soil, water, climate, natural resources and
terrain), proximity to urban area, the stage of agrarian economy ranging
from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture and the nature of social
conditions like kinds of landownership, propertyand need f or
defence.Ecological Approach delineates the relationship between human
beings and its surrounding natural environment. Taking into account the
ecological factorsIrawatiKarve's divided villages in Maharashtra into three
types:

Ø Tightly Nucleated Villages: In these villages, the village boundaries


along with agricultural fields are difficult to perceive as the fields merge
with one another except when it is separated by hillocks, streams or

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highways. The habitation area is clearly demarcated from the cultivated


area as the houses are clustered forming a kind of nucleus around its
cultivated area. Such kinds of villageare situated on high plateau of
Deccan region. In these villages there are two types of roads one which
connects other villages used for inter-village communication and internal
roads or alleys which connect the houses within the village which is
further divided into Ali, Galli and Bol. Ali are streets which comprises of
houses belonging to one caste or profession like Brahmin Ali. Galli are
narrow streets full of congested and dense housing area like Galli Kucchi.

Ø Coastal Villages: These villages are demarcated from other villages


by natural obstacles like salt marshes, streams and spurs of mountain.
The villages are organized lengthwise along two sides of the road and
houses are fenced on all sides marking boundary of one house from
the other. The dwellings are close to each other and each house has
their orchard/garden in their compound. Land is used for horticulture
and agriculture. In these villages there is no clear distinction between
cultivation and habitation area. In such villages there is strong sense of
'we-feeling', greater cohesion, face-to-face contact with each member
of the village and greater ability for co-operation. In such villages there
is one main arterial road joining villages of coastal areas in a linear
fashion for miles. Such kind of villages can be found in west coast of
the Konkan area from Mumbai to Kanyakumari.

Ø Dispersed or Clustered Villages: In dispersed or clustered villages,the


boundary of the villages is not clearly defined. The houses are situated
in their own field in clusters of two or three huts.The huts belong topeople
from same lineage or are affinalkins. There is no boundary to distinguish
the habitation area from cultivation area. Houses are scattered in such
a manner that sometimes one house may be nearer to a neighbour's
village than to their own village. People may change one's residence
due to mishap like depletion of soil or natural calamity or personal
reasons like residing close to a relative or friend or just for a change. In

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such villages there are no streets as houses are not aligned alongside
the streets. There are only narrow alleys which connects one hut to
another and to the huts in neighbouring village. Such kind of villages
can be found in Satpura ranges in Maharashtra.

Shantibhushan Nandi and D.S.Tyagihave also categorized village


settlement patterns on the basis of its shape like:

Ø Shapeless Cluster: The villages have irregular roads which are formed
according to requirement and convenience of the village people. The
clusters have marked boundaries enclosed within stone walls or wooden
palisade for the purpose of defence. As population increases it may
grow to form a linear cluster with parallel roads set at right angle with
the existing roads and eventually may even turn into a square cluster.
Such kinds of villages are found in Gangetic plains, Rajasthan, Malwa
Plateau and parts of Maharashtra.

Ø Linear Cluster: These types of villages are formed along linear roads
with open spaces and houses are formed alongside the road in a parallel
fashion. Such kinds of villages can be found in coastal districts of Odisa
and Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and South of Rajasthan.

Ø Square or Rectangular Cluster: These villages are formed along linear


roads or running at right angle to one anotheroften sharing common
wall. Such kinds of villages are found in Rayalaseema, coastal parts of
Andhra Pradesh and Chennai.

Ø Dispersed Cluster: These villages comprises isolated homesteads


found in high mountainous terrain often clubbed together as mauzafor
the convenience ofcollecting taxes. Such kind of villages are found in
Himalayan or Sub-Himalayan area, high plateaus, Western Ghats from
Satara to Kerala highlands.

However, ecological approach cannot be applied to study larger rural


society as it is difficult to understand changes in economic, political, social,

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cultural and technological sphere.Inspite of its limitation, Ecological


Approach helps to understand the social and cultural layout of the village,
understand the meanings attached to social institutions and the laws
governing the everyday life in rural society.

Thus, we have tried to understand rural society in India through two


approaches- Historical and Ecological Approach. One of the aspects that
have gained tremendous attention from sociologists and social
anthropologists studying rural society in India is caste, which is discussed
in the next section.

3.4 CASTE IN RURAL INDIA

Caste is a ofbasis of stratificationand an important organizing principle


of rural society in India. Caste is derived from the Portuguese word
'casta',meaning race or breed.Caste divisions, which are viewed as divinely
ordained and graded hierarchicallyare an imposition of the foreign scholars
to understand Indian society which is divided into various jatiand sub-jati.
Jatiis derived from Sanskrit, meaning 'to be born'. Jatiis an endogamous,
hereditary social group that has a name and a combination of attributes,
which are to be followed by its members sharing the jati's status in the
social hierarchy of one's village.

Caste isoften used interchangeably with varna which literally means


colour. Varna referred to the distinction between Arya and Dasa, referring
to fair and dark colours respectively. The Satapatha Brahmana, a part of
Yajur Veda, describes the four classes as four varnas. The origin of the
varna model is in the Rig Veda where along with the distinction between
Arya and Dasa,there is a division of society into three orders, viz. Brahma,
Kshatriya and Vish. It was later in Purushasukta hymn, that reference was
made to four orders of society as emanating from the creator-Brahmins
(traditionally priests and scholars) from the mouth, Rajanya or Kshyatria
(ruler and soldier) from the arms, Vaishya (merchant) from the thighs and
Shudra (peasant, labourer and servant) from the feet of the creator. The

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particular parts of the body associated with these divisions and the order in
which they are mentioned determine their status in society. The first three
castes are 'twice-born' (dwija) on the account of the donning of the sacred
thread in the ritual ceremony of upanayana. In this varna model there is no
place for untouchables. However there are references in Vedic literature to
groups such as the Ayogava, Chandala, Nishada and Paulkasawho were
despised.

Caste has a strong hold in rural society than in urban society. Caste
determines the functions, occupation, status, available opportunities and
sometimes even handicaps the individual. As caste largely ascertains the
ideals and ways of life of rural social groups, it also shapes the value system
and worldviews prevailing in the rural society. Some of the characteristics
of castes are as follows:

l Ascribed Category: Caste is ascribed at the time of one's birth and


remains unchanged for the rest of the life. However, one can elevate
one's position in the caste hierarchy through Sanskritization.

l Hierarchy: Caste is based on a hierarchical relationship which is


ascertained at the time of birth. However, there are regional variations
in the hierarchal relationship between the castes. Sometimes the same
jatiwas ranked higher in one region than in another.

l Traditional Occupation: Caste fixes one's traditional occupation at


the time of birth. The division of labour ascertained by
traditionaloccupation, helps in the functioning of the Jajmani System,
which is based on the symbiotic relationship between jajman or patron
and kamin or client. The services provided by the kamin to jajmancan
be remunerated in cash or kind on daily, monthly, quarterly or yearly
basis. The Jajmani System regulates economic and socio-religious
interdependence of the castes. However, the traditional occupations
on the basis of one's caste are no longer strictly followed.

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l Endogamous Group: Castes are endogamous group. Matrimonial


alliances have to be formed within one's caste group but outside one's
gotra. Inter-caste marriagesare forbidden but it is relaxed now-a-days.

l Social Restrictions: Caste decides from which particular caste one


can accept what kind of food(cooked or uncooked). It also determines
the choice of utensils to offer food.Caste governs one's physical contact,
social distance and social interaction.Caste determines the location and
type of house in the village. These restrictions are now removed through
legislations.

Castes are not weakening in the contemporary rural society in India.


Instead it has got a new lease of life and changes have been taking
place in caste system which will be discussed in Unit 6.

3.5 RURAL FAMILY AND ITS CHANGING PATTERN

Impact of urbanization, industrialization, liberalization and globalization


has led to changes in rural family. Member from the rural family or the
family have migrated to urban areas in search of livelihood due to land
pressure, fission of land and increase of people in comparison to available
land for cultivation, unemployment, indebtedness among other reasons like
better lifestyle, opportunities, the pull factor of the cities and so on. Let us
try to understand some of the changes in rural family in India which are
discussed below.

l Definition of Rural Family: Defining what constitutes rural family has


become problematic. Definition of rural family can only be context
specific as it changes from place to place and from time to time. To
have a universal definition of family is problematic as there are different
types of families- joint family, extended family, nuclear family, single
parent family, blended family and so on. An understanding of rural area
in India will provide a contrasting picture. Rural areas in Assam are
different from rural areas in Punjab or Leh. An understanding of rural
family as members living under same roof, eating from same hearth,
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male headed family is only a variant of different types of rural family


that exists in India.

l Disintegration of joint families: The family studies in India have looked


into whether the joint family system is disintegrating and new nuclear
type of family is emerging. Rural India typically has joint family and
these families often exposed to forces that influence the family system
in rural India. The various factors such as land reform, education, new
technology, urbanization, industrialization, modernization and
globalization have contributed in changing the configuration of rural
family system. This has led to disintegration of joint families in rural
India.

l Formation of nuclear families: Due to various factors like land reform,


land pressure, fission of land, increase of people in comparison to
available land for cultivation, unemployment, indebtedness, education,
new technology, urbanization, industrialization, modernization,
globalization, better opportunities in cities/towns people have been
migrating from rural areas to urban areas. Once the migrant gets a
foothold in the city brings along the spouse and children from the village
to settle in the cities and towns leading to formation of nuclear family.

l The size of the rural family: Due to the forces of globalization,


liberalization, privatization, urbanization and other factors the size of
the rural family has been decreasing, leading to changes in the
composition of the rural family.

l Emergence of female- headed families: Migration of male members


of rural family in search of livelihood and better opportunities has led to
the emergence of female-headed families in rural India.

l Visibility of female labour: The contribution of female labour to rural


family remained invisible earlier, which is now visible through the efforts
of feminists work on rural women and the changes in gender relations
in the rural family. Women in rural family were involved in domestic
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work and farm activities but their contribution to family labour was often
neglected. Due to feminist work on rural women, education, spread of
awareness regarding women empowerment their contribution to family
labour is visible and they are recognized as homemakers rather than
housewives.

l Changes in authority structure: All these factors had not only changed
the composition of the rural family but also changed the authority
structure of the rural family. Earlier the male head of the family enjoyed
absolute authority over the members of the family and the family affairs.
Today due to the changes in the composition and authority structure of
the rural family the importance of head of the family has declined.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q1: Why is it important to study rural society in India?


.............................................................................................
Q 2: What is Orthogenetic Change?
.............................................................................................
Q 3: Name the primary types of division of villages that existed
during Chandragupta Maurya's reign.
.............................................................................................
Q 4: Where could one locate linear cluster of villages in India?
.............................................................................................

3.6 LET US SUM UP

l It is essential to understand the rural society in India as majority of


India's population resides in its villages and agriculture contributes a
large proportion of the country's economic growth.

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l By understanding rural society in India one can understand as Robert


Redfield would say a true classic Indian civilization as well as get
acquainted with the rapidly changing rural society.

l Rural Society is distinguished from Urban Society on the basis of size


of population, density, occupation, relationship with nature/environment,
homogeneity, mobility, and number of contacts per individuals.

l Rural Society in India has been studied using historical and ecological
approaches.

l Historical Approach helps scholars to study rural society by tracing its


growth through different periods in history, studying events, customs
and institutions. Data on rural society is collected from written, oral and
documented historical archival records and artefacts.

l Ecological Approach delineates the relationship between human beings


and its surrounding natural environment.

l Taking into account the ecological factors IrawatiKarve's divided villages


in Maharashtra into three types: tightly nucleated villages, coastal
villages and dispersed or clustered villages.

l Similarly, Shantibhushan Nandi and D.S.Tyagihas also categorized


village settlement patterns on the basis of its shape into four types:
shapeless cluster, linear cluster, square or rectangular cluster and
dispersed cluster.

l Caste is a basis of stratification and an important organizing principle


in Indian rural society. Caste is ascribed at the time of birth. Caste
determines the functions, occupation, status, available opportunities
and sometimes even handicaps the individual.

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3.7 FURTHER READING

1) Desai, A.R. (1969). Rural Sociology in India. Bombay: Popular


Prakashan.

2) Srinivas, M.N. (1962). Caste in Modern India and Other Essays.New


York: Asia Publishing House.

3.8 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Ans to Q No 1:It is important to study the rural society in India as majority


of its population resides in its villages and agriculture contributes a large
proportion of the country's economy.

Ans to Q No 2:Orthogenetic Change is cultural/structural changes brought


in society from within or due to internal force or indigenous evolution.

Ans to Q No 3:During Chandragupta Maurya's reign, villages were


categorised into three types depending on the size of the population-
Jyeshtha (villages with largest population), Madhyama (villages with medium
population) and Kanistha (villages with smallest population).

Ans to Q No 4:Linear cluster of villages can be found in coastal districts of


Odisa and Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and South of Rajasthan

3.9 MODEL QUESTIONS

Short Questions (Answer each question in about 150 words)

Q 1: Discuss the salient features of rural society in India.

Q 2: What is Caste? Explain the characteristics of caste in India.

Long Questions (Answer each question in about 300-500 words)

Q 1: Elucidate the various approaches to understand rural society in India.

** ** **

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Rural Power Structure Unit-4

UNIT 4: RURAL POWER STRUCTURE


UNIT STRUCTURE
4.1 Learning Objectives
4.2 Introduction
4.3 Caste as a source of Rural Power
4.4 Landownership in Rural Society
4.5 Panchayati Raj System in India
4.6 Rural Leadership
4.7 Let Us Sum Up
4.8 Further Reading
4.9 Answers to Check your Progress
4.10 Model Questions

4.1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to-


l understand how caste becomes a source of rural power
l explain the nature of Landownership in rural society
l discuss how land ownership becomes a source of power in rural
society in India
l discuss about the Panchayati Raj System in India
l discuss the significance of Rural Leadership in Rural Power
Structure.

4.2 INTRODUCTION

Power has been an important area of research for political scientists


and sociologists. Various scholars have tried to explore, describe and explain
meaning, characteristics, nature and dispersion of power. Max Weber said
that every society is based on power. Weber defined power as ability to
exercise one's will over others. He said that power could be legitimate or
illegitimate. Antonio Gramsci viewed power as hegemonic whereby state
or popular majority dominated the citizens who have alternative views about
state action. Michel Foucault rejects the binary understanding of power as
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domination and resistance instead views power as operating at all levels of


social interactions, all social institutions, by all people. For Foucault power
and knowledge are intertwined and reinforce each other. Foucault concept
of power has been further elaborated by Pierre Bourdieu in his explanation
of symbolic power. The various approaches are applied to understand power
structure in a particular context.

Rural power structure is an important aspect in understandingoperation/


distribution of power and how it affects the lives of people in rural society.
In the previous unit, we have discussed about Rural Social Structure. In
this unit, we shall focus on Rural Political Structure. We shall try to
understand how rural power structure in India could be understood through
caste dominance, dominance through landownership, Panchayati Raj and
through rural leadership.

4.3 CASTE AS A SOURCE OF RURAL POWER

Power in traditional Indian rural society was centredon caste. Louis


Dumont views power within the caste system as a legitimate force within a
given territory. According to Dumont, the king wields political and economic
power but is subordinate to the ritual power of the Brahmins. The political
and economic power of the king percolates to the village headman or
Sarpanch. The Panchyat members,panch or five village elderly men
(generally belonging to upper caste and owning majority of the village
lands),were also bestowed with ritual power of the Brahmins. The Panch
were seen as 'PanchParmeshwar', as if god spoke through them. The power
of the panch further percolated to their caste members who exerted
dominance over other castes. Castes are used to mobilize support and act
as vote banks for elections. Castes are extensively used to mobilize support
in rural areas than in urban areas. M.N.Srinivas states that caste dominance
could be determined through numerical strength of the caste, economic
power primarily exercised through landownership, political power exercised
through Panchayati Raj, ritual status of caste, Western education and
modern occupations.Caste system decides one's position in society through

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its hierarchical principles which is ascertained at birth. The hierarchy of the


castes was congruent with social, ritual, economic and political power.The
dominators not only had social, political, economic and ritual power but
also exercised their power in such a way that it perpetuated the subordination
of the low castes who could not own land. The rich upper castes were
expected to look after the poor and the low castes would in turn oblige
through support and services provided to the upper caste. The dominators
also exert their dominance through the idiom of purity and impurity. The
low untouchable castes have to maintain physical distance and settle their
habitation f ar away from the upper castes. For example,
M.N.Srinivasobserves thatin Rampurathe Brahmins generally reside in the
centre of the village as seen while the Shudras or untouchables reside
near the boundary of the village. In Maharashtra, the untouchables are
known as Ante Vasior Vesakar, living in the end or near/outside the boundary
of the village.

The dominance of caste groups are exerted through caste associations


which wields and exercises power over the poor and low castes. Caste
associations act as a political, social and administrative unit in deciding on
matters regarding maintenance of purity of one's caste and in representing
one's caste group in the village platform.One of the forms of Caste
Associations isCaste Panchayatcomprising leading members of a particular
caste of village(s). Caste Panchayat solves cases in matters relating to
their own caste and offenders of caste norms are punished bya fine, by
being forced to arrange a feast for other caste members, ostracism or ex-
communication and even murder in the name of honour killing to protect
the purity and integrity of caste groups.

To exemplify caste dominance in rural society M.N. Srinivas developed


the concept of Dominant Castein his study of Rampura village, which a
short distance from Mysore city in Karnataka. Dominant Castes are a potent
source of power and leadership in rural areas.Dominant caste exerts their
dominance through numerical preponderance, usually has a high place in

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caste hierarchy, ownership of majority of land and through making of


important decisionsin a specified locality and/or a region.Traditionally even
numerically small castes owning lands or wielding political power, and
inheriting literary tradition were the dominant castes. But with the introduction
of adult suffrage and reservation of seats in rural power structure to
scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, numerical strength has become
an important criterion to become dominant as they act as vote banks for
adult suffrage. Some of the examples of dominant castes in India
are:Lingayat and Vokkaliga in Mysore; Reddy and Kamma in Andhra
Pradesh;Gounder, Padayachi and Mudaliar in Tamil Nadu; Nayar in Kerala;
Maratha in Maharashtra; Patidar in Gujarat; Rajput, Jat, Giyar and Ahir in
North India. The dominant castes exert their dominance and power either
through coercive or non-coercive ways. The coercive ways of power are
visible and transparent whereas non-coercive is difficult to ascertain directly.
For example, Srinivas says that the dominant caste uses muscle power,
physical force and boycott as a means to dominate and subordinate the
other castes. Dumont says dominance is exerted through abuses, physical
punishment, sexual exploitation, low wages and poor working conditions.
The non-coercive ways of dominance includes persuation, gifts, rewards,
temporary status elevation and fulfilment of certain demands to be in the
good books of the low castes.Inspite of land ceiling, the dominant castes
still remains dominant by owning majority of lands in the village community.
For example: Yogendra Singh states that Vokkaligas are dominant in
Rampura, Wangala and Delana in Mysore;Havik Brahmins in Toltagadde
village in Mysore;Smarth Brahmins in Kumbapettai village in TanjoreRajputs
in Senapur;VaghelaRajputs in Cassandra village in Gujarat as they own
majority of all the lands in the their respective villages. Through ownership
of majority of the land in the village castes can wield power and also provide
job to the landless and marginal farmers.

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4.4 LANDOWNERSHIP IN RURAL SOCIETY

Landownership is an important source of power and dominance in rural


society. Landownership bestows prestige and status to the owner and also
places the owner in a network of relationships where he/she can dominate.
Studies conducted by scholars like K.L.Sharma, Jan Breman, T.K.Oommen
and Andre Beteille show that most of these landowners belong to upper
caste like Brahmin or Rajput castes and tenants and agricultural labourers
belong to lower castes. Daniel Thorner has categorized the relationship of
production viz. ownership of land into three agrarian classes- Maliks, Kisans
and Mazdoors. Malikscomprise absentee landlords or landlords who reside
in the village owning large tracts of land and cultivating it through tenants,
sub-tenants and sharecroppers who pay rent in turn. The Maliks may
manage the land by themselves or hire manager(s) to do the job on his
behalf. Though the Maliks have other forms of property their primary income
is collected from share in agriculture. Kisans have certain land rights, legal
or customary, but these land rights are inferior to that of Maliks.
Kisanscultivate the land by themselves or with the help of hired labour.
Mazdoors are small peasants or landless labourers who may have
subsistence land not sufficient to support a family or who do not have any
land rights and work on wage basis on others lands.

Prior to British Rule in India, land was communally owned. During the
British rule, land was converted to private property through Permanent Land
Settlementwhich superseded traditional right of village community over land.
The Permanent Land Settlementwas a form of land revenue system
thatcreated two forms of ownership over land-landlordism and individual
proprietors. There were various kinds of land revenue systems created
during the British rule in India which are discussed below-

l Jagirdari System: This system was prevalent in the princely state of


Rajasthan. Under Jagirdari System,jagirswere given to jagirdars(military
commanders, courtiers and ministers), an intermediary between the
tenant and the government, to collect tax to maintain their feudal set

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up, to support themselves, to maintain military force, to maintain the


individual expenses of the royal family and cultural, religious and other
activities. Jagirdari System was a link between tenants and the
government to collect taxes to be paid to the British government.
JagirdariSystem was abolished in Rajasthan after independence through
Rajasthan Jagir Abolition Act whichwas passed in Februrary 1952 and
implemented in 1954. The Jagirdari System was abolished in other parts
of India through land reform measures.

l Zamindari System:This system was introduced by Lord Cornwallisin


1793 in Bengal, Bihar,Central Provinces (except Avadh and Agra) and
parts of Orissa and Rajasthan (except Jaipur and Jodpur) which created
the first group of landlords out of tax farmers to collect revenue. These
landlords had to pay a fixed amount of money as revenue to the
government according to the terms set forth by Permanent Land
Settlement.The zamindars cultivated the land through landless peasants
and collected taxes to be paid to the British government. The peasants
who were unable to pay taxes were evicted from the lands and replaced
by those who could pay higher rents. Zamindari System led to the
creation of intermediaries like absentee landlords (who neither resided
in village nor cultivated the lands by themselves), taluqdars (had inferior
land rights than the zamindars), Jotedars (had directly held land from
zamindars and cultivated land by subletting to tenants on 50:50 basis),
Pattidars (had permanently leased land from zamindars at fixed rent)
and Ijardars (had revenue of an area hired out on contract
basis).Zamindari System exploited the peasants who cultivated the lands
and they had to pay excessive rents. Zamindari System was abolished
through land reform measures.

l Ryotwari System: Under this system the peasants who were


landowners or individual proprietors directly paid taxes to the British
government.Ryotwari System was introduced by Sir Thomas Munro in
1820 in Madras. Later on Ryotwari System was extended to Bombay

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presidency, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya


Pradesh and parts of Assam and Coorg provinces.Ryotwari System
was also extended to princely states of Jodhpur and Jaipur. Under the
Ryotwari System, the individual proprietors had right to sublet their lands,
transfer their lands as gift, mortgage or sale their lands. Over a period
of time, Ryotwari System led to the creation of landless labourers who
were subordinate to the proprietor. Ryotwari System was abolished
through land reform measures.

l Mahalwari System: This systemwas first introduced during the period


of William Bentick in 1833 in Agra and Avadh. Later on it was extended
to North-West Frontier, Punjab and parts of Madhya Pradesh and Orissa.
Under the Mahalwari system, land was divided into mahals which
comprised of one or more villages and ownership of land was vested
on peasants from whom revenue was collected. The peasants would
contribute to the total revenue demands for the mahal in proportion to
the size of their land holdings. Mahalwari System was abolished after
independence through land reform measures.

Abolition of Jagirdari, Zamindari,Ryotwari andMahalwari Systems


through land reforms including land ceiling, surplus land redistribution and
land consolidation was believed to lead to formation of an egalitarian society
as the surplus land would be given to landless people. The absentee
landlords had to give away their lands to the actual tillers of the soil as they
never cultivated the land by themselves. But the ex-zamindars and jagirdars
to avoid land ceiling and to avoid their landed property from being passed
to landless people formed fake agricultural co-operative societies and legally
divided thousands of acres of lands among their kins, relatives and friends.
Even servants, acquaintances and hired members were either made
members of such societies or were given landholding rights for namesake.
In reality, the land was still controlled and owned by ex-zamindars and
jagirdars. Even after independence a section of ex-zamindars and jagirdars
continued to be dominant as they quickly responded to the changing power

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scenario through Panchayati Raj and accepted the new situation. After
abolition of zamindari and jagirdari system, a new system that evolved was
KhatedariSystem, which gave ownership of and right to land. The Khatedari
System led to their economic prosperity as they mobilised their caste
members (which were numerically preponderant in their villages) during
the time of electionsto cast vote in favour of their caste member(s). The ex-
zamindars and jagirdars' economic prosperity and their numerical
preponderance in the villages aroused their political consciousness to aspire
for positions of power and prestige. Studies conducted by K.L.Sharma,
T.K.Oommen show that a section of landowners held formal positions of
power in the Panchayati Raj and manipulated the benefits in their own
interests, and in the interests of their kins, relatives and friends. The exercise
of political power through Panchayat has become a decisive factor in
becoming dominant in the rural society.

4.5 PANCHAYATI RAJ SYSTEM IN INDIA

The traditional panchyats were patrimonial revenue come administrative


systems strengthened by castes and landownership. People who belonged
to high castes and had landownership also got hold of the formal positions
of power in Panchayat. This scenario of power structure in Panchayati Raj
changed after independence due to adult franchise, education, development
of transportation and communication, political consciousness and
introduction of mass mediawhich includes people from lower-middle and
backward castes holding formal positions of power. This change was also
possible as Panchayats created through the Directive Principles of State
Policy of the Constitution of India in independent India could function as
unit of local self governance. Panchayats led to decentralization of
democratic power at the grassroot level and empowered the discriminated
and subaltern groups in rural society. But the Panchayats were unable to
function as institution for rural development as development was planned
from above by the government rather than development planned from below
by the masses. To overcome the roadblocks of Panchayati Raj a committee

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was set up headed by Balwant Rai Mehta in 1957, popularly known as


Balwant Rai Mehta Committee which gave certain guidelines for the efficient
functioning of the Panchayat Institutes at the grassroot level. The primary
guidelines included three tier system of local governance, consisting of
GramPanchyat at village level, Panchayat Samiti at block level and
ZilaParishad at district level, linking the village to the district and bestowing
power and resources for smooth functioning and implementation of
development plans and programmes. The members of Gram Panchayats
are elected for a period of five years. PanchyatSamitiis headed by an elected
representative, the Chairman.All the sarpanches of the villages under a
block are its members. ZilaParishad is headed by the District Collector and
magistrate, including members of legislative assembly, the presidents of
Panchayat Samitis and one district official who is the Secretary of
theZilaParishad. The pattern of Panchayati Raj was based on the co-
ordination between non-officials and officials. The non-officials implemented
the plans and programmes of development under the supervision of the
officials. The guidelines of Balwant Rai Mehta Committee were implemented
in Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. But the Panchayati Raj constituted under
the guidelines of Balwant Rai Mehta Committee started to languish due to
various reasons. The non-officials were not given sufficient power and
finances and the officials became the primary decision makers. The non-
officials who were illiterate could not wield sufficient power against the
decisions of the officials. The Panchayat Samiti which distributed resources
for the development at block level worked in favour of the upper castes and
big landowners. The poor peasants and low castes were discriminated
against and neglected. The ZillaParishad also failed to work as an apex
tier as it did not have power to implement plans and programmes and failed
to coordinate between all the tiers. Thus, the three-tier Panchayati Raj
suggested by Balwant Rai Mehta Committee started to crumble down. A
new committee was set up headed by renowned economist Ashok Mehta
in 1977, popularly known as Ashok Mehta Committee which suggested
certain changes to overcome the problems of three-tier Panchayati Raj

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and improve the Panchayati Raj. The loopholes in earlier three-tier


Panchayati Raj were that it was not a political institution but an
implementation body. Elections were held on individual basis and there
was no role of political parties at grassroot level politics. The primary
guidelines made byAshok Mehta Committee included introduction of a two-
tier system, which led to the creation of Mandal Panchayats instead of
Panchayat Samitisthat made administration easy as Mandal Panchayats
were smaller in comparison to Panchayat Samitis. Panchayats were now
a decision making body which also looked after the governance of the
villages. Some of the guidelines of Ashok Mehta Committee were
introducedthrough 73rd and 74th amendments, which reserved seats for
women, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes
and empoweredthe weaker sections of rural society to participate in the
Panchayati Raj.Reservation of seats in Panchayati Raj improved the weaker
sections power to make decisions and work for the development of the
rural society. The need to empower women became an international agenda
after the UN designated 1975-1985 as decade for women. 'Towards Equality
Report' (1974), a reportto understand the status of women in India, brought
out that even though women constituted nearly half of the population in
India they were discriminated against and subordinated. Efforts were made
to empower women through education, improving healthcare, better working
conditions, access to legal mechanisms and changes in laws, by granting
political power through 33 per cent of reservation for women in Panchayati
Raj and so on.Seats were also reserved for scheduled castes, scheduled
tribes and other backward classes to improve their conditions and empower
them to participate in the decision making process even at the lowest rung
of the democratic set-up viz. Panchayati Raj. The 73rd Amendment also
introduced changes in the election of the members of Panchayati Raj.
Elections are now contested on political party basis.

But studies conducted by T.K.Oommen show that the power remained


in the hands of the traditional rural elites. He gave the concept of power
reservoirs and power exercisers to explain the camouflaging of power in

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the hands of traditional rural elites. He said that in most of the cases the
power reservoirs control the resources of the rural society;have contacts
with influential political leaders and administrators to whom they extend
their support and co-operation and expect the same from them, have
accumulated wealth and property; and oblige their kins, relatives and friends
to form a support structure in the rural society. The power exercisers who
are pseudo power elites, to retain their official position obliges to the power
reservoirs by granting loans, benefits and resources.

Studies conducted by F.G. Bailey in Orissa show that some of the ex-
tenants belonging to peasant classes after independence have become
politically influential. But this is not true for majority of the peasant classes
as they continue to languish in poverty and strive to make their ends meet.
Thus from the above discussion it could be inferred that political power as
in the past is not tied to ownership of majority of lands and property. New
bases of power have emerged which are not essentially based on caste or
class. Rural power is not primarily based on ascription like caste, hereditary
ownership of land and property but could now be achieved through individual
potentialities, networking, traits, personality and qualities. It has been
observed that rural leaders came from different castes, classes, may or
may not have ownership of land and property but had access to rural power.

4.6 RURAL LEADERSHIP

Rural Leaders in the colonial period and even in post-colonial period


came from high caste and lineage, exerting economic dominance through
landownership and ownership of property, and exercising political power
through the Panchayat. Rural leadership is splintered and caste and faction
oriented. However, scholars like Yogendra Singh, Andre Beteille, A.R.
Hiramanhave noted a transition in rural leadershipas they do not come
from the same caste, economic position and share similar social and cultural
attributes.Scholars like S.C.Dube, Oommen believed that group dominance
through castes were unreal due to the group character and distribution of
power and dominance. Dube believed that dominance is exercised by

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individuals (families) and not the castes.He stated that there are dominant
individuals and not dominant castes in a rural society. Dominant individuals
exercise dominance within or without caste or within and outside caste
simultaneously due to one's personality, skills, qualities and affiliation with
political party to attain specified goals. The status of the dominant individual
is secular, relative and based on his/her progress and wellbeing (including
his/her family) and not based on the caste or group he/she belongs to.
T.K.Oommen states that the context of dominance and the resources
available to an individual are important factors of rural leadership. The rural
leaders are product of developments of post-colonial India like adult-
franchise, Panchayati Raj,education, abolition of Zamindari and Jagirdari
systems, affiliation with political party, means of communication and
transportation.

Thus, from the above discussion, it can be seen that the traditional
rural power structure based on caste, numerical strength and landownership
is changing. It has led to the emergence of new democratic open power
structures where the traditional factors of power like caste, numerical
strength and landownership interplays with other factors like education,
access to political parties, means of transportation and communication.
Thus it can be seen that rural power structure varies according to time and
place combining a number of factors which leads to the creation of a new
rural power structure.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q 1: Define power.
.....................................................................................................
Q 2: Who gave the concept of Dominant Caste?
.....................................................................................................
Q 3: Who introduced the Ryotwari System in colonial India?
.....................................................................................................

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Q 4: Name the committee, which suggested three local self-


governance at the grass root level.
.....................................................................................................
Q 5: What do you understand by the term Vesakar?
.....................................................................................................

4.7 LET US SUM UP

l Rural power structure is important to understand operation/distribution


of power and how it affects the lives of people in rural society.

l Rural power structure in India could be understood through caste


dominance, dominance through landownership, Panchayati Raj and
through rural leadership.

l Power in traditional Indian rural society was centred on caste.Caste


system decides one's position in society through its hierarchical
principles which is ascertained since birth.

l The hierarchy of the castes was congruent with social, ritual, economic
and political power. The dominators not only had social, political,
economic and ritual power but also exercised their power in such a way
that it perpetuated the subordination of the low castes who could not
own land.

l The dominance of caste groups is exerted through caste associations


which wields and exercises power over the poor and low castes. Caste
Associations act as a political, social and administrative unit in deciding
on matters regarding to maintenance of the purity of one's caste and
representing one's caste group in the village platform.

l To exemplify caste dominance in rural society M.N. Srinivas developed


the concept of Dominant Caste in his study of Rampuravillage which is
a short distance from Mysore city, Karnataka.

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l Dominant caste exerts their dominance through numerical


preponderance, usually has a high place in caste hierarchy, has
ownership of majority of land and makes important decisionsin a
specified locality and/or a region.The dominant caste exert its dominance
and power either through coercive or non-coercive ways.

l Landownership is an important source of power and dominance in rural


society. Landownership bestows prestige and status to the owner and
also places the owner in a network of relationships where he/she can
dominate.

l Studies conducted by K.L.Sharma show that a section of landowners


held formal positions of power in the Panchayati Raj and manipulated
the benefits in their own interests, and in the interests of their kins,
relatives and friends.

l The traditional panchyats were patrimonial revenue come administrative


system strengthened by castes and landownership. This scenario of
power structure in Panchayati Raj changed after independence due to
adult franchise, education, development of transportation and
communication, political consciousness and introduction to mass media
which includes people from lower-middle and backward castes holding
formal positions of power.

l Rural power is not primarily based on ascription like caste, hereditary


ownership of land and property but could now be achieved through
individual potentialities, networking, traits, personality and qualities.

l Rural power structure varies according to time and place combining a


number of factors which leads to the creation of a new rural power
structure.

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4.8 FURTHER READING

1) Doshi, S.L.& Jain, P.C. (1999). Rural Sociology. New Delhi: Rawat
Publications.

2) Sharma, K.L.(2014). Sociological Probings in Rural Society. New Delhi:


Sage.

4.9 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Ans to Q No 1:Power is defined as the ability to exert one's will over others.

Ans to Q No 2:The concept of Dominant Caste was developed by


M.N.Srinivas.

Ans to Q No 3:Sir Thomas Munro introducedRyotwari System in colonial


India.

Ans to Q No 4:Balwant Rai Mehta Committeesuggested three-tier local


self-governance at the grass root level.

Ans to Q No 5:Vesakarcomprises of low castes of Maharashtra who lives


in the end or near/outside the boundary of the village.

4.10 MODEL QUESTIONS

Short Questions (Answer each question in about150 words)

Q 1: Explain the concept of Dominant Caste?

Q 2: Elucidate the types of land revenue system of colonial India.

Long Questions (Answer each question in about300-500 words)

Q 1: Write a note on rural power structure in India.

Q 2: 'Rural Power structure is changing in independent India'. Comment.

** ** **

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Unit-5 Rural Economy

UNIT 5: RURAL ECONOMY


UNIT STRUCTURE
5.1 Learning Objectives
5.2 Introduction
5.3 Occupational Structure in Rural Societies
5.4 Land Ownership Patterns in Indian Village Societies
5.4.1 Land Relations in Different Periods in History
5.4.2 Agrarian Reforms in Post-Independence Period
5.6 System of Zamindari and Feudalism
2.6.1 Changes During the Post-Independent Period
2.6.2 The Green Revolution
5.7 Let Us Sum Up
5.8 Further Reading
5.9 Answers to Check Your Progress
5.10 Model Questions

5.1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to-


l define rural people and the importance of agriculture in their lives
l identify various cultural practices that are closely interwined with
agricultural practices
l discuss various developmental measures that transform the rural
societies after independence
l analyse the significance of Zamindari system prevalent mainly during
Colonial India and its impact on the society.

5.2 INTRODUCTION

The previous units have set the stage for a broader understanding of
the rural societies in India by providing a discussion on the significance of
studying these societies, their major features as well as some of the changes
that these societies are experiencing with the development of urban centers.
Rural Sociology as a specialised branch of Sociology concentrates on
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understanding various aspects of rural societies from sociological point of


view. The study of the Indian agrarian context occupies special status, both
in the social science literature on India and in the literature on agrarian
societies in general. In this unit, we will proceed further for a comprehensive
understanding of the Occupational Structures, Patterns of land ownership
as well as the systems of Zamindari and Feudalism in Indian society. In
addition, changes and development that have taken place in the present
village societies will also be discussed.

5.3 OCCUPATIONAL STRUCTURE IN RURAL


SOCIETIES

Since economic production is the basic activity of a human society, the


mode of production plays a determining role in shaping the social structure.
Rural society is based predominantly on agriculture. As discussed in unit I
India is a land of villages and majority of India’s people live in rural areas
(67%, according to the 2001 Census). Agriculture is the major occupation
of rural population and thus they make their living from agriculture or related
occupations. For the rural people, land is the most important form of property.
Agriculture is not only the source of livelihoods and survival for them. It is
also a way of life. That is, agriculture is tied up with their rhythm of life,
which gets reflected in various cultural practices. There is a close connection
between agriculture and culture. However, the nature and practices of
agriculture varies greatly across different regions of the country. It may be
said that culture and social structure in rural India are closely intertwined
with agricultural and agrarian way of life. For instance, most of the New
Year festivals in different parts of the country are associated with agriculture.
Bihu in Assam, Baisahki in Punjab, Pongal in Tamil Nadu and Ugadi in
Karnataka, etc. are some of the festivals are celebrated during the main
harvest month and herald the beginning of a new agricultural season.

In rural areas, agriculture is the single most important source of livelihood


for the majority of the people. However, rural people are also engaged in a
variety of other activities, apart from agriculture. A large numbers of weavers,

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potters, ironsmiths, goldsmiths, carpenters are also found to play an


important role in the village economy. This kind of diversity in occupations
in rural India was reflected in the caste system, which in most regions
includes specialist ‘service’ castes such as washerman, potters and
goldsmiths. We have already discussed the caste system in detail in unit I.
Castes were traditionally linked to different specialised occupations. A person
born into a caste could only practice occupation associated with caste, so
that occupations were hereditary, that is passed on from generation to
generation. A particular occupation could only be pursued by the caste
associated with it – members of other castes could not enter the occupation.
Some occupations were considered inferior while some as superior. For
instance, barbering, washing clothes, pottery, shoe making, weaving, etc.
were considered inferior. Learning, priesthood and teaching were prestigious
professions mostly pursued by the Brahmins. Individual talents and
achievements were neglected. But agriculture was open to all the castes.

Nevertheless, the rigidity of the caste system began to show signs of


changes during the British rule in India. With the advent of industrialisation
in Indian society, the caste-based occupations started to decline largely.
New industries, occupations, employment opportunities, etc came to
establish. The growth of industries destroyed the old crafts and household
industries and provided numerous ways of earning livelihood. Introduction
of railways, telegraphs and laying of roads helped trade and commerce.
People from all castes started making use of the new economics
opportunities. These changes in the society has also resulted in occupational
and geographical mobility. Movement of people from compact ancestral
villages to the towns and cities started breaking down many of the rigid
caste norms. Crowded trains and buses could bring together lakhs of people
of all castes. Taboos and social restrictions of intermingling of different
castes also started weakening. Therefore, these industrial and their
concomitant developments made caste-members to come out of the hold
of caste-based occupations and to resort to the new occupational avenues
based purely on personal preferences and choices.

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Today, we see increasing interconnections between the rural and urban


societies. Many people living in the rural areas own agricultural lands, at
the same time their income is also supplemented by other sources. Many
of them are employed in government services, petty businesses, factory
workers, army, and so on outside their villages. Some of them stay in the
urban towns and cities where they work. Whereas some villagers commute
daily to their place of work. The development of transport and communication
has helped these rural people to come in contact with the urban societies.
Also, we see that the towns and cities have grown and mainly encompassed
surrounding villages. The direct contacts with the urban societies have
brought about significant changes in the rural occupational structure. It is
true that caste system has not done away with from the society. But the
strict caste rules dictating the traditional occupational hierarchy have become
subtle. Most of the unemployed youths in the villages have chosen petty
businesses to make their livelihoods. Many own small shops in the village
to earn livelihoods. While some daily commute to the nearby towns and
cities to sell vegetables. So, the developments of urban centers surrounding
the villages have helped the villagers to earn their livelihood from diverse
occupations, irrespective of castes.

Thus, the urban areas began to be characterised by new occupational


relationships. This changed the character of urban areas of the old feudal
society and created new problems characteristics of the new capitalist
society, for example, anonymity, employer-employee relationship, housing,
health, etc. This growth and spread of urban areas was made possible by
the physical movement of human beings, which was facilitated by the
developments in transport and communication. That established the links
between the urban and rural areas with all its implications. The migration
was helped by the real and believed opportunities in the urban areas, by
the expectations of better monetary rewards of labour than in rural areas
and by the idea of better living conditions. The new outlook penetrated the
rural areas. The old concepts that India is rural India and the urban is
dependent on the rural areas are becoming out of date. The combined

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effect of all the occupational change was the creation of differentiations


within the social groups of the old society both in urban and rural areas.
That changed the old relations between those groups. That change in the
old relationship also struck at the division of labour based on sex and at the
old stratificatory system by striking at the occupational relationship based
on caste, family and village community. All these structural changes threw
up individuals who would utilised the opportunity to move in wider social
and geographical space. That gave rise to the phenomenon of social mobility
to industrial settings which characterises the capitalist society as
distinguished from moribund feudal society of the past.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q 1: Fill in the blanks


(a) …………...........is the dominant activity in any human society.
(b) In ………..............agriculture is the main source of livelihood.
Q 2: In what ways the caste system and occupations are
interconnected?

5.4 LAND OWNERSHIP PATTERNS IN INDIAN VILLAGE


SOCIETIES

Whenever we talk of rural sociology, we are concerned with the agrarian


social system. The importance of land, landholdings and land relations,
including its control and management, assumes significant meaning in rural
life as we have already mentioned. It is because of the fact that a large
number of people depend on land directly or indirectly. Land is the most
basic source of sustenance for the rural population.

Anthropologists, sociologists and economists have stressed the aspects


of rural agrarian structure with a focus on land tenure system, land ceiling,
land reforms, land control and management. These studies have also
included the problems of peasantry and peasant struggles. In this unit, we

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intend to deal with several of these aspects which are related to land, land
tenure, agrarian stratification, green revolution, etc. We are convinced that
without studying the agrarian social structure, it is almost very difficult for
us to develop any insight in India’s rural society. There is yet another reason
for laying emphasis on land studies. A general observation in the realm of
land reforms would immediately show that all over the country the agitations
related to land demand for reforms pertaining to land, water and forests. It
amply shows that the village people can hardly afford to wait any further for
the solution of land tenure and land relations. The study of agrarian systems
will centre round the problem of land and its utilisation for productive
purposes. According to Andre Beteille, the land problems in India and the
study of agrarian social structure revolve round two major issues such as:

l technological arrangements, and

l social arrangements

The technological arrangement means the management of land. It


includes land ownership, control and use of land. Technological arrangement
is discussed in relation to variations in ecological conditions. In other words,
land is looked in terms of the geography which surrounds the land.

The technological arrangements thus include ecological conditions along


with the new agriculture technology, such as water, pumps, thresher,
chemical manure, improved seeds, etc.

Another aspect of agrarian system is that of social management. It


includes land control and landownership. It is found that the Indian
agricultural communities have recently been highly stratified. It shows that
there is close relationship between the system of stratification and the
division of work.

Sociologists and anthropologists, who have recently studied agrarian


system, have very strongly argued that changes in land relations have
affected the stratification patterns of villages. The crucial aspect of agrarian

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structure is the control over land. It is the basis of agrarian stratification.


When agrarian social structure is discussed invariably we refer to land
ownership, land control and use of land. Such an approach to land helps
us to find out agrarian hierarchy.

5.4.1 Land Relations in Different Periods in History

Agriculture in India holds a place of pride in terms of both income and


employment. It is the way of life that penetrates its organisational structure
and moulds its value system. In India unequal distribution of property and
income forms the basis of agrarian hierarchy. Indian agriculture comprises
of multiple social systems each displaying a different process of change.
Before discussing the inherent complexities of the Indian agrarian sector,
we shall trace the evolution which contributed to this complex structure.
Hence, the discussion will be classified into three periods: ancient, medieval
and British. Later, we shall examine the post-Independence agrarian policy
and reform efforts. This would help us to understand the present scenario
in a better way.

Ø Ancient Period: Ancient India depicts a complex set of land relations


involving private ownership, royal administration and communal rule of
village. This multiple structure is a complete whole which comprises of
three different layers. Land tenure as one layer or level would be
completely different from the other. A brief discussion about three
formations will clarify this issue. Private ownership finds justification in
the writings of Manu. According to him, land belongs to the person who
clears it. This refers to the age of abundance and free possession.
Later, geographical constraint of demographic factors made good quality
land comparatively scarce. At this stage private ownership was acquired
through land grants or assignments. Reference to land grants is found
in Vedic literature where grants to Brahmins were revenue free with
rights of alienation. The notion of private property acquired a strong
hold in the social structure. The ruler, though having an overlordship
was unable to abolish private purchase, sale or donation. All these show

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that private owners possess the right to alienate land owned by them.
But this kind of absolute ownership was exercised by religious grantees
only. The case was different with others. These landlords were closely
watched by the village officers of the king. This land was liable to
confiscation for improper use or partial use. Though land transfer was
theoretically possible, the following constraints were present on the right
to transfer:

l sale was made within the same group or sect only,

l any proposal of alienation needed sanctions from the elders


of the group.

Such a constrained relationship cannot be termed ‘private’ in modern


sense of the term. The overlordship of these private lands belonged to the
king or the supreme power.

From the Vedic times, India has a stratified social structure. The village
evolved as a self-sufficient unit of the society based on the caste system. It
developed its own support system. The complementary relationship between
the groups of dominant peasant castes on one hand and artisans and
peasant classes on the other was the special characteristic of the Indian
rural economy. In essence, this often quoted relationship centered round
the production and distribution by the hereditary occupational castes. The
non-agricultural castes were compensated by traditionally fixed shares of
village produce and in some cases by small plots of land. But these castes
always retain some measures of freedom to sell their goods and services
to earn extra income. The payment made by the villagers was meant to
assure them of their minimal subsistence.

The village structure was quite organised. All lands belonged to the
village community. The king exercised minimal influence. At times, since
the village was inhabited by tribes, village authority was akin to tribal
authority. The land distribution was not completely static. Migrations and
demographic changes brought about alterations in the distribution pattern
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of the village land. Village organisation became the centre of power after
the Gupta period when central authority was comparatively weak and
emerged as ‘nuclear areas of cooperative institutions’. Thus, the
decentralisation of authority and emerging role of the village organisations
started during the Gupta period. These village organisations were
considered as the embryo form of future feudal structure. The king or his
intermediary claimed a part of the produce of the land. The revenue was
collected from village individuals and deposited in a common pool. Some
common expenses of the village were made out of the pool. The share of
the overlord was given by the village committee (consisted of the
representatives of the villagers). Thus, land as a thing of value was regarded
as being part of an aggregate wealth of the community rather than belonging
to a single person. But the system was not free from exploitation and class
differentiation. The contribution to the pool differed among different people.
The headman enjoyed some revenue free allotments. The person controlling
the pool and the class favoured by the dominant group paid lower rates of
revenue. To compensate, the lower strata of peasants had to pay more.
Growth and hierarchical structure and evolution of the positions of the
intermediaries landed estates were considered as feudalistic features by
some. While some others have refuted them. But whether the trend indicates
feudalisation or not, it created considerable change of land relations, politics
and culture and the major characteristics of that change was
decentralisation.

Ø Medieval Period:The medieval period exercised considerable influence


on the evolution of intermediaries. The Muslim rulers engaged the
military personnel and paid them with a plot of land for their services.
Over a period of time, by a process of commendation these free
proprietors lost their independence and there with their allodial tenure
became feudal. Early jagirs could not be inherited or transferred. But
they could be confiscated by sovereign if the intermediary left his service.
In the following centuries, these rulers were thus, modified as
intermediaries (zamindars and jagirdars) established local power

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enabling them to retain their status and pass on to their sons. When
zamindari rights became alienable, the land belonging to the zamindar
was divided among his sons, on his death. This way, during this period,
zamindari rights were established and with the passage of time the
zamindari rights were scattered through inheritance. As a result, two
types of landowners emerged.

Each lineage was divided into the more powerful branch which held the
fort and other less powerful branch who held lesser village privileges. The
former were termed as intermediary or secondary zamindars who might
collect revenue from their less affluent kinsmen (who were known as the
village or primary zamindars). These primary zamindars were also
sometimes known as ‘pattidars’. The intermediary zamindar’s rights solely
extended to the land revenue collection at a superior level. The primary
zamindars were the landholders having intermediary proprietary dominion
over the soil including a restricted power of mortgage and alienation as
well as the rights to locate cultivators, control the waste, sinks, wells and
plant groves. They were generally found to be settled as dominant lineages
in a number of contiguous villages. The important aspect was not only the
territorial extent but also the depth of penetration of the lineage groups
over the agricultural community. The small landowners ceded their rights
to the large landowners and became their dependents, on condition that
they retain the hereditary use of the land. The continuous extension of land
made it impossible for the large landowners to collect revenue without the
help of others. Thus, sub-infeudation evolved creating differentiation in land
control rights over land under direct or indirect supervision. The land
cultivated directly by the zamindars was termed as ‘Shiror Khas’ land to
distinguish it from land which was allotted to sub-intermediaries for
cultivation. From this allotted land, zamindars used to take a portion of the
produce as a due for his overlordship.

Thus, the identification of different levels of land rights in India has


been long ridden by the use of the confused terms. The term zamindar

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became predominant in the 17th century replacing or altering with a large


numbers of local terms signifying the similar land owning rights as ‘khoti’
and ‘maqquaddam’ in Doab Satarabi and ‘biswi’ in Awadh, ‘bhoomi’ in
Rajasthan, ‘bhant’ or ‘vant’ in Gujarat. The zamindar in Persian language
means keeper or holder of land. The suffix ‘dar’ implies a degree of control
or attachment, but not necessarily ownership. The ownership right actually
originated during the Mughal period when the term implied hereditary claim
to a direct share in the produce in the produce of land under his possession.
The peasant group was called ‘muzari’, ‘asami’ or ‘raya’. Application of
similar terms to denote different land rights added to this confusion. The
term ‘taluqdar’ in north India meant a big zamindar engaged on behalf of
few small zamindars to pay revenue to the government. In Bengal, the
same term was used to adress or donate person of a lower status than a
zamindar.

The supreme overlordship of land rested upon the ruler. Variety in land
relations originated from the revenue extraction. Land close to capital was
kept under the direct control of the ruler. Hence these Khas lands had
wage tenancy. But land extending to the furthest corner of the kingdom
was difficult to control directly and representatives were appointed, thus
giving rise to three-tier relationships in land. Revenue rates were also not
uniform. Of course varying revenue rates accounted for various types of
land. Mughal tax was not proper rent or even land tax on the crops. Though
the system reduced expenses of collection and vexation of revenue
collecting authorities, it kept the peasants ignorant about the tax that they
had to pay. To reduce the chance of exploitation of the peasantry, annual
assessment was made on the basis of area statistics. Measures were
adopted to curb the power of the intermediaries by keeping their possession
of land as temporary by transferring them yearly, or every two or three
years. Also, there was a provision of award of promotion or demotion by
changing the size of their territory on the basis of their performance. To
prevent the intermediary from charging more than the authorised taxes- a
copy of the revenue paper was kept with the permanent local official. But
the short term arrangement only enhanced the desire for maximum
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unauthorised extractions. In its cumulative effort, such pressure not only


not inhibited extension of cultivation, but also involved the Mughal ruling
class in a deepening conflict with the major agrarian classes (zamindars
and peasants). By 1850, land was steadily passed on into the hands of the
non-agricultural classes. The transfer of land became far more complex in
this process. Thus, the villagers and the peasants remained passive in the
face of agricultural conflict involving change in the ownership.

Ø British Period: In the country, before the beginning of Colonial rule,


village land was owned by the community as a whole. In the pre-British
India, village agriculture mainly produced for meeting the needs of the
village population. Their subsistence village agricultural economy was
transformed into a market economy during the British period. The British
regime introduced new revenue system by superseding the traditional
rights of the village community over the village land. The British rule,
thus, created two forms of property in land, that is, landlordism in some
parts of the country and the individual peasant proprietorship in others.
Hence, the British transformed the community land into private property
for revenue accumulation. Land was the most important source of
revenue extraction.

LET US KNOW

Commenting on the introduction of private property in land A.R. Desai


observes:‘It was Lord Cornwallis who, during his term of office, created
the first group of landlords in India by introducing the Permanent Land
Settlement for Bengal, Bihar and Orissa in 1793. These landlords were
created out of the tax farmers to collect revenue from these provinces
on a commission basis. The Permanent Land Settlement converted these
revenue collectors into too many landlords. Under the terms of the
Permanent Settlement, they had, henceforth to make a fixed payment to
the government of the East India Company.’

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The Agrarian structure has changed enormously over time, from the
Colonial to the Post-Colonial Periods. When the British colonised India,
they saw land as a major source of revenue extraction. They even
encouraged more clearance of jungles to facilitate agrarian expansion and
for that matter more revenue earnings. The British Government created
private property in India in the form of ryotwari and zamindari. In the ryotwari
area, it introduced the system under which the peasant producer had to
pay to the state increasing land tax in cash instead of in kind. The land tax
grew progressively heavy resulting into the increasing indebtedness of the
agriculturists. In the zamindari area, the burden of increasing rent imposed
on the tenant producer by the zamindar impoverished the tenant and saddled
him also with the ever-increasing burden of debt. Thus, the British introduced
different land tenure systems in the Indian society in order to procure
maximum revenue. It is the land which constitutes the major source of
livelihood for the village people. But all the peasants who live in villages do
not own their individual land. Many of them purchase rights of cultivation
and occupancy from others. In return, from hired rights in land, these people
pay the landlords or their intermediaries a fixed share of the produce. They
are called peasants. In fact, the emergence of peasants goes back to the
British Period when in 1793 the Permanent Land Settlement was made.
The zamindari system which emerged from land settlement was an
intermediary system. The system created the class of tenants who suffered
from operation at the hands of the zamindars. It was a historical emergence
found for the first time in Indian agrarian history. In the princely states, the
jagirdar worked as an intermediary between the tenant and the central
princely rule. In these states, jagirdar was the counterpart of zamindar. The
status of the tenant in pre-independent India was highly deplorable. Many
districts of Colonial India were administered through the zamindari system.
The British also granted property rights to the zamindars. They were given
more control over land than they had before. Since, the British also imposed
heavy land revenue (taxes) on agriculture, the zamindars extracted as much
produce or money as they could out of the cultivators. One result of this
zamindari system was that agricultural production stagnated or declined
during much of the period of British rule.
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It must be observed that different types of tenants emerged during the


Colonial period. Historically, variations in tenancy could be explained by
the fact that the Colonial and feudal forces in India determined the form
and extent of tenancy. However, according to K.L. Sharma, at a broader
plane, it could be said that there are four kinds of tenancies in different part
of the country:

Ø Paying cash rent tenants: They pay part of their rent in cash.

Ø Crop-sharing tenants: They pay a share of the crops only.

Ø Paying fixed product tenants: They pay a fixed share of the crops or
kind to the landlords.

Ø Unspecified tenants other than the above three.

The British period realised that land was the key factor in the process
of Indian economic development and they must control land in order to
stabilise their rule over the continent. But they found the prevailing system
quite perplexing. They changed the entire system of ownership. Their first
step was to fix the legal owner of the land. In 1769, the company divided
parganas into 15 lots each and auctioned them with revenue to be paid to
the company. The auctioned sales placed the ownership of land beyond
the reach of the poor persons attached to the soil and created a new
aristocracy who were originally moneylenders or traders. The new owners
squeezed the peasants to pay the speculative land revenue. Famines, land
abandon and decline in revenue made the government understand the
failure of the scheme, but they attributed the failure of the scheme to the
short period of the land settlement. The government expected that
lengthening of the period of the lease would create an incentive to invest
and make the landlords innovative. But the extension of the period did not
bring the desired change. Land revenue increased four-fold. The zamindars
were so heavily taxed that they kept themselves busy in shifting the burden
to the ryots. The dispossession of zamindars due to non-payment continued.

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The British East India Company, superimposing the 18th century concept
of private property on a very different indigenous land system, assumed
that the ‘revenue farmers’ in fact owned the land even though they neither
worked in it nor invested in it. Ignoring any rights of the actual tillers, the
permanent settlement of Bengal 1793 gave the zamindars the rights to fix
their terms with the cultivators in return for fixed land revenue from the
zamindars to the state. By this single piece of legislation, the actual tillers
of the soil became the tenants, while a class of revenue farmers became
de facto owners of the land but they did not cultivate. An exorbitant increase
in revenue demand weakened the position of the zamindars. As a result
the whole agrarian sector was in a decaying condition.

After 1870 constructive efforts were made to improve agrarian


conditions. In the estates under the direct control of the government, new
crops and new methods of cultivation were introduced. To encourage
dissemination of new technologies, the government monetary assistance
to those landowners who had initiatives. Thus, commercial process was
initiated in several pockets but could not penetrate the traditional sector.
As a result dualism involved in agrarian sector. The modernised parts
worked on commercial lines with fully developed modern technology and
know-how. A new type of commodity production was taking place. It was
marked by fundamentally a new structure of production process in which
modernised labour played important role on the basis of expanding inter-
sectoral commodity exchange. The traditional sector with low income and
consequent low rural demand for producer’s goods, extensive arrear in
debt and subsistency continued to hold back the revolutionary influence
created by modernised sector. Hence, re-structuring of the agrarian
economy was an essential pre-condition for the accelerated development
of the economy. A built-in depressor characterised by the exploitation of
the peasantry, low capital intensity and traditional methods of production
were operating all over the country which resulted in virtual stagnation of
the economy as a whole.

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After Independence, the primary task was to remove stagnation and


provide initiative to the mass of poor cultivators. The need for agrarian
reform to change the prevailing structure and built an egalitarian distribution
pattern was earnestly felt. From the modest approach of abolition of the
intermediaries and provision of security of tenure, the programmes included
numerous issues, which reduce disparities and contradictions in the social
and economic spheres and thus facilitate economic development.

5.4.2 Agrarian Reforms in the Post-Independence Period

After Independence, a high power committee was set up in 1948 under


the chairmanship of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The Committee
recommended:

Ø the elimination of all intermediaries and to introduce non-profit making


organizations (such as co-operatives) to perform the functions of
intermediaries

Ø land should be held as source of employment. Land belonging to the


non-cultivating owners must be taken back by the government

Ø maximum and minimum size of landholdings must be fixed.

As a follow up, the Congress Agrarian Reform Committee under J C


Kumarappa suggested the following course of action for reforming land
structure and relations:

Ø abolition of the intermediaries and land must be given to the actual


tillers of the soil

Ø encouragement of self-cultivation. Leasing to be prohibited (permitted


under exceptions)

Ø tenants of six years should be granted occupancy rights. In case of


sale, right to purchase should be given to these tenants at price fixed
by the land tribunal

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After Independence in the early 1950’s India went for a planned


economic development. In framing planned development strategies, the
above aspects of land re-structuring and changing production relationships
remained very prominent in the minds of planners and policy-makers. During
the four decades of planned development, what happened to these
considerations should be appropriately examined before deciding future
strategic issues in this vital area. In what follows the progress of land reforms
and related aspects during the period of each plan starting from the First
Five Year Plan will be briefly reviewed.

Ø Land Reforms Under Plans: The land reform policy was concretised
for the first time under the First Five Year Plan (1951-56). Agrarian
classes were classified into: intermediaries, large owners, small and
medium owners, tenants at will and landless workers (Government of
India 1951). Special emphasis was given on abolition of intermediaries,
enactment of radical tenancy law and resumption of cultivation based
on peasant proprietorship. The need for providing a ceiling and lower
limit to agricultural land was recommended. Confirmation of ownership
rights and starting a redistributive process by imposition of ceiling were
two broad areas of reform effects undertaken under the second plan.
The First Plan while introducing ceiling provided for the rights of
resumption up to the limit for personal cultivation. But experiences
showed that provisions of resumption actually resulted in ejection of
tenancy. Hence conditions of resumptions were properly specified under
the second plan to plug loopholes. Special attention was given to the
ownership issue of the small farmers. To enable the small farmers to
resume personal cultivation the time constraint was removed in their
case. Considering the fact that the medium sized owners could transfer
a part of their land in another name to enlist themselves as small holders-
all land transferees were debarred from being considered as small
farmers.

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The Third Plan reiterated the policy accepted by the previous two plans
and emphasised the necessity of quick completion of land reforms
programmes as the foundation for agricultural growth. The Fourth Five Year
Plan reviewed the existing land reform measures and acknowledged the
gaps between the set objectives and actual legislation. Implementation of
prescribed laws was considered ineffective and inadequate.

Fifth Plan again re-emphasised the need for speedy implementation.


The implementation work to be successful must be preceded by knowledge
and training. High priority was given to preparation and maintenance of
land records and cadastral survey. Civil courts along with land reform tribunal
were given power to handle implementation problems. Sixth Plan critically
evaluated the progress of implementation. In spite of vigorous efforts to
plug the loopholes and ensure proper implementation, problems related to
ceiling limit and security of tenure, gaps in achievement persisted. Hence,
further strengthening of efforts in these areas of reforms was advocated in
the sixth plan. But by the end of the Sixth Plan period, the emerging picture
was not at all impressive. Even after abolition of intermediaries such relations
were still prevailing in some states.

Seventh Plan decided to remove the inefficiencies of prevailing tenancy


laws. It insisted on recording of informal tenants. The involvement of local
personnel and people’s institutions in this sphere was advocated for
permanent solution to this problem. Emphasis was also stress on formulation
of long-term measures on recording land rights. Eight Plan also focuses on
agrarian relations. Re-structuring of agrarian relationship was considered
crucial to rural transformation. It proposes to initiate steps to review and
reformulate land legislations and ensure effective implementation. The
inclusion of land reform laws in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution was
a step in this direction. Land reforms should encompass various aspects of
land relationships such as tenancy, homesteads, consolidation of holdings
and distribution of surplus land at the disposal of the government. The land
so provided to the poor must be developed to fit for cultivation on a group

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basis. So far as tribal lands are concerned, there should be prohibition on


its sale or transfer to non-tribals. In the context of land reforms, proper
maintenance and improvement of land records should be given priority.

The overall aim was to bring about an egalitarian agrarian structure.


From the above discussion, we have tried to understand how land relations
changed over a period of time. In the ancient period, multiple structure of
land relations consisted of three different levels. Absolute ownership was
exercised only by religious grantees. In all cases there was no private
ownership (or the concept of land as private property) till the advent of the
British. Land as a thing of values was regarded as being part of the aggregate
(belonging to the community as a whole) rather than belonging to a single
person. In spite of the absence of private property in the ancient and
medieval times, the land system was not free from exploitation and class
differentiation.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q 3: Fill in the blanks


(a) ……................is the central theme of rural sociology.
(b) A.R. Desai’s study of the agrarian social structure is based on
……. ..................and…….............. methodologies.
(c) The Congress Agrarian Reform Committee was set up
by……….................
Q 4: When and who introduced the ‘Permanent Land Settlement’?
..............................................................................................

Thus, the study of the rural sociology, in fact, is the study of agrarian
social system. The social and cultural life of a village is largely determined
by the relations of people to the land. It is in this context, we have discussed
the agrarian system prevalent in our country. In doing so we have examined
the system of land ownership patterns in different epochs in history. In a

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rural society, land is the prime productive asset which determines the
income, employment, status and authority of a person. In any discussion of
rural sociology land tenure system and land reforms constitute an important
part of the study. In the next section we shall discuss the system of zamindari
and feudalism in detail.

5.6 SYSTEM OF ZAMINDARI AND FEUDALISM

The land ownership pattern developed during the colonial period brought
about a significant shift in the indigenous system of land ownership and
control. The Asiatic mode of production that prevailed in India before the
advent of colonial conquest was destroyed by the British rule. They
reconstructed Indian society in such a way that it serves the colonial
subjugation and plunder. With the introduction of railways, the British sowed
the seeds of capitalist expansion in India. At the same time in agrarian
sector, which had no right of property in land, they imposed zamindari and
ryotwari land tenure systems as already discussed in the previous section.
In both the systems land was considered as private property and commodity
and was placed in the hands of landlords. Land became a major source of
revenue for the colonial administration. These intermediaries were
introduced to extract maximum tax on land. This had resulted in exploitation
of the indigenous cultivators and thus added extreme poverty to their
conditions of living. Thus the Indian feudal system was created and nurtured
by the colonial power and acted as a means to drain off wealth.

When we look into the feudalism in India, we are aware that it differs
from European feudalism in many respects. Landlord-peasant relationship
is the core of the matter and the exploitation of the estate by its owner,
controller, enjoyer or beneficiary as its essential ingredient. With these
minimum universals, feudalism may have several variations. The
peculiarities of the system in some western European countries do not
apply to the various types of feudalism found in other areas. Therefore, it is
pertinent to understand the difference between feudalism in Indian society
and the one which developed in Europe.

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Feudalism appears in a predominantly agrarian economy which is


characterised by a class of landlords and a class of servile peasantry. Again
the degree of the servility of the peasants to the landlords might differ from
region to region, so also the composition of the cultivating class. The
development of agriculture, handicrafts, commodity production, trade and
commerce and of urbanisation could create conditions for differentiation in
the ranks of the peasantry. Those peasants who produce a little over and
above their needs of subsistence might buy their freedom by payment of
money in lieu of labour service provided such a practice was favoured by
the state and provided a reasonable extent of market economy was
available. Several peasants might reduce to a state of further penury and
rich peasants might grow at their cost. But where such developments do
not appear, a more or less homogeneous peasantry might continue.
However, differences in the techniques of farming and the nature of the soil
might affect the agricultural yields and create variations.

5.6.1 Changes During the Post-Independence Period

After India’s Independence, the Indian government adopted certain anti-


feudal measures under the pressure of anti-feudal heroic struggles waged
by the Indian Peasantry. Nehru and his policy advisors embarked on a
programme of planned development that focused on agrarian reform as
well as industrialisation. Mouthing the progressive slogans, the Nehru regime
enacted Zamindari abolition act, tenancy protection act and later land ceiling
act. Indian agriculture was facing a dismal situation at that time. This was
marked by low productivity, dependence on imported food grains, and the
intense poverty of a large section of the rural population. Therefore, a major
reform in the agrarian structure was an urgent necessity, and especially in
the landholding system and the distribution of land, was necessary if
agriculture was to progress. From the 1950s to 1970s, a series of land
reform laws were passed – at the national level as well as in the states –
that were intended to bring about these changes.

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In Independent India, three important categories of land reforms were


introduced as follows:

Ø The first legislation was the abolition of the zamindari system (that is,
the abolition of different intermediaries). The major motive behind this
legislation was to wipe out exploitation of the cultivators at the hand of
these intermediaries. However, zamindari abolition did not wipe out
landlordism or the tenancy or sharecropping systems, which continued
in many areas.

Ø Secondly, another major land reform laws that were introduced were
the tenancy abolition and regulation acts. These attempted to prohibit
tenancy or to regulate rents in order to give security to the tenants.

Ø The third major category of land reforms was the Land Ceiling Act.
These laws imposed an upper limit on the amount of land that can be
owned by a particular family. Accordingly, the state is supposed to identify
and take possession of surplus land (above the ceiling limit) held by
each family and redistribute it to landless families.

These measures of the government not only aim to boost agricultural


productivity but also to eradicate poverty among the rural masses. But these
measures remained quite marginal in their efforts to change in the agrarian
structure. The intention to bring about revolutionary land reforms that destroy
the feudalism and redistribute the land to the tillers did not succeed.
Therefore, these gave sufficient scope for landlord sections to retain their
hold on the vast tracts of land. We shall discuss in detail, the success and
failure of land reform measures in India in unit III.

5.6.2 The Green Revolution

The Indian government adopted the green revolution strategy to reform


the agrarian structure. Of all developmental programmes introduced in the
Independent India, green revolution is considered to have been the most
successful. In 1960s and 1970s, the green revolution brought significant

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changes where it took place. It had been first used during the late 1960s to
refer to the effects of the introduction of high yielding varieties (HYV) seeds
of wheat and rice in developing countries. However, the green revolution
was not just about the use of HYV seed. It was a package. The new varieties
of seeds required a fertility-enhancing inputs, that is chemical fertilizers,
controlled irrigation conditions, and plant-protecting chemicals (pesticides).
The other components of the package consisted of providing cheap
institutional credit, price incentives, and marketing facilities. In order to back
up the application of new technology on local farms, a large number of
agricultural universities were also opened in the regions selected for the
new programme. It as under the direct supervision of the Ford Foundation
that the Intensive Agricultural Development Programme (IADP) was started
in 1961.

The green revolution led to a substantial increase in agricultural output,


to the extent that it solved India’s food problem. Agricultural productivity
increased sharply because of the new technology. Nonetheless, there were
some negative social effects that were pointed out by the sociologists who
studied the impacts of green revolution. It is true that, by participating in the
green revolution did not mean the same thing to smaller farmers as it did to
bigger farmers. While bigger farmers had enough surplus of their own to
invest in the new capital intensive farming, for the smaller farmers it meant
additional burden of borrowing money for such investment. Hence, green
revolution could benefit primarily the medium and large farmers from the
use of the new technology, but not the small farmers or peasants. The new
technology introduced by green revolution also compelled widespread
involvement with the market. Unlike traditional agriculture, cultivators in
post-green revolution agriculture had to buy all farm inputs from the market
for which they often had to take credit from traders or other institutional
sources. Although the small farmers took to the new technologies, the fact
that their resources are limited meant that these technologies ushered in a
new set of dependencies. Whereas it has definitely strengthened the
economic and political position of rich farmers.

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The ultimate outcome of the green revolution was a process of


‘differentiation’ in which the rich grew richer and many of the poor stagnated
or grew poorer. The green revolution made many of the traditional
occupations redundant and the ‘jajmani relations’ disintegrated rapidly.

It should also be noted that rising prices and a shift in the mode of
payment of agricultural workers from payment in kind (grains) to cash,
actually worsened the economic conditions of most rural workers. A
comparison of the wage rates of a pre-green revolution year with those of a
year after the new technology had been adopted showed that while cash
wages of agricultural labourers had gone up after the introduction of the
new technology, their purchasing power had in fact come down due to
overall increase in prices.

Secondly, it has increased ‘regional inequalities’. The areas that


underwent this technological transformation became more developed while
other areas stagnated. For instance, the Green Revolution was promoted
more in the western and southern parts of the country, and in Punjab,
Haryana, and western U.P., than in other parts of the country. As a result,
we find agriculture in states such as Bihar and in eastern U.P., and in dry
regions such as Telengana, to be relatively undeveloped. These are also
regions that continue to have an entrenched ‘feudal’ agrarian structure, in
which landed castes and landlords maintain power over the lower castes,
landless workers and small cultivators.

The changes produced by the green revolution also generated an


interesting debate among Marxist scholars on the question of defining the
prevailing ‘mode of production’ in Indian agriculture. Though the debate
raised a large number of questions, the most number of contentions or
issues revolved around whether capitalism had become dominant in Indian
agriculture or was still characterised by the semi-feudal mode of production.
Some argued that the capitalist tendency had started in India with the
disintegration of the old system during colonial rule, and that after
Independence the process of accumulation had gathered momentum. On

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the other hand, another set of scholars, on the basis of their own empirical
studies mostly from eastern India, asserted that Indian agriculture was still
dominated by a semi-feudal mode of production. In some of these areas,
landlords-cum-moneylenders continued to dominate the process of
agricultural production. Peasants and labourers were tied to them through
mechanism of debt that led to ‘forced commercialisation’ of labour and
agricultural yields. As a result, this produced a self-perpetuating stagnant
and exploitative agrarian structure that could be at best described as ‘semi-
feudal’.

Despite a considerable degree of continuity and significant regional


variations as we have discussed, the agrarian relations have definitely
experience many changes over approximately the last fifty years.
Independence from colonial rule and launching of development programmes
started a new phase in the history of Indian agriculture. A substantial volume
of literature shows that the agrarian structure has transformed the direction
of a capitalist mode of organisation at least in areas that experienced the
green revolution.

Further, the policy of liberalisation that India has been following since
the late 1980s had a very significant impact on agriculture and rural society.
The policy entails participation in the World Trade Organisation (WTO),
which aims to bring about a more free international trading system and
requires the opening up of Indian markets to import. The Government has
embarked on the New Economic Policies (NEPs). The new economic
policies being implemented as part of globalisation strategy of imperialism
have brought vast changes in the agricultural and industrial sectors. These
policies have turned the agriculture into economically unviable activity for
the poor and middle farmers. Some of these measures are hiking the rates
of electricity, fertilizers and irrigation water. The effect of these set of policies
was immediately felt by the vast farmer masses. The deep rooted malaise
got expressed in the form of suicides by the farmers. The aim of this strategy
is to implement a set policy that turns the Indian agriculture into an

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appendage to the imperialist economy. These are indicators of the process


of globalisation of agriculture, or the incorporation of agriculture into the
larger global market – a process that has had direct effects on farmers and
rural society.

The Indian agriculture shall produce to meet the commercial needs of


the agribusiness MNCs and not to meet the needs of the Indian people.
For instance, in some regions of Punjab and Karnataka, farmers enter into
contracts with the MNCs (such as PepsiCo) to grow certain crops (mainly
tomatoes and potatoes), which the companies then buy from them for
processing exports. In such, contract farming systems, the company
identifies the crops to be grown, provides the seeds and other inputs, as
well as the know-how and often the working capital. In return, the farmers
are assured of a market because the company guarantees that it will
purchase the produce at a predetermined fixed price. But unfortunately,
the prices are fixed at a much lower level compared to the market price
which these companies receive. Contract farming has become very common
now-a-days in the production of specialised luxury items such as cut flowers,
fruits (grapes, figs, pomegranates), cotton, oilseed, etc. While this system
of farming provides financial security to farmers, it is at the same time lead
to greater insecurity as farmers become increasingly dependent on these
companies for their livelihoods. All these have far-reaching affects on the
socio-economic conditions of the Indian farmers for contract farming has
resulted in:

Ø the diversion of agricultural lands from food grain production to the


production of luxury items mostly of export varieties

Ø indigenous knowledge of agriculture has become almost redundant

Ø removal of food subsidies for the small farmers has led to decrease in
the amount of food purchase from the public distribution system

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Ø productivity and sustainability of small family farms are being replaced


with inefficient and unhealthy industrialised food systems under
corporate control

Liberalisation and globalisation of agriculture are supposed to increase


production of food, increase efficiency of food production, economic situation
of farmers and patterns of food consumption. But in reality, these forces
are leading to declining food production, productivity, conditions of farmers
and food security. The meaning of food security has been changed from
being a fundamental human right to participation in global markets, which
excludes the large number of poor without adequate purchasing power.
Food-growing land is being diverted to non-food crops as mentioned above.
Farmers are being displaced on a massive scale and natural resources are
being over exploited. Corporatisation of agriculture which is being pushed
under trade liberalisation as a successor of the green revolution is leading
to new poverty for small farmers as unequal and unfair contracts, locking
them into new forms of bondage.

Thus, India continues as semi-feudal and semi-colonial society. The


forms of feudal exploitation had changed; but not the content. The vast
masses of peasantry (which includes landless laborers, poor and middle
peasants) were forced to submit to the exploitation being deprived of means
of production that is land. Unless and until the Revolutionary Redistribution
of Land based on the ‘Land to the tillers’ is implemented, the feudal relations
and their existence will not disappear.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q.5: Fill in the blanks


(a) ……........became a major source of revenue for the Colonial
Administration.
(b) After Independence priority was given to ……..and …….........

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(c) In India, a series of land reform laws were passed from


……....................…
Q 6: What do you understand by Green Revolution?
......................................................................................................

ACTIVITY

1. Collect information from your state and write an essay on the use
of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture and their impacts
on the environment.
.................................................................................................
.................................................................................................
.................................................................................................
2. Look around your society and try to write a note on how the
processes of globalisation and liberalisation have penetrated into
the society.
.................................................................................................
.................................................................................................
.................................................................................................

5.7 LET US SUM UP

l The mode of production plays a determining role in shaping the social


structure. Rural society is based predominantly on agriculture. It is not
only the source of livelihoods and survival for them. It is also a way of
life.

l The rural people are also engaged in a variety of other activities, apart
from agriculture. A large numbers of weavers, potters, ironsmiths,
goldsmiths, carpenters are also found in the village economy. Different
occupations are traditionally linked to the caste system. However, the
caste system has experienced change with the elapse of time.

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l Rural sociology is mainly concerned with the study of agrarian social


system. The importance of land, landholdings and land relations,
including its control and management, assumes significant meaning in
rural life as we have already mentioned. It is because of the fact that a
large number of people depend on land directly or indirectly.
Anthropologists, sociologists and economists have stressed the aspects
of rural agrarian structure with a focus on land tenure system, land
ceiling, land reforms, land control and management. These studies have
also included the problems of peasantry and peasant struggles.

l In India unequal distribution of property and income forms the basis of


agrarian hierarchy. Indian agriculture comprises of multiple social
systems each displaying a different process of change. Thus, the land
relations vary in different historical epochs.

l The Colonial rulers imposed zamindari and ryotwari land tenure systems
in Indian society. These intermediaries were introduced to extract
maximum tax on land. This had resulted in exploitation of the indigenous
cultivators and thus added extreme poverty to their conditions of living.
Thus, the Indian feudal system was created and nurtured by the colonial
power and acted as a means to drain off wealth. In both the systems
land was considered as private property and commodity and was placed
in the hands of landlords. Land became a major source of revenue for
the colonial administration.

l Independence from colonial rule and launching of development


programmes started a new phase in the history of Indian agriculture. A
substantial volume of literature shows that the agrarian structure has
transformed the direction of a capitalist mode of organisation at least in
areas that experienced the green revolution.

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5.8 FURTHER READING

1) Bandyopadhyay, Rekha. 1993. Land System in India: A Historical


Review. In Economic and Political Weekly. December 25. Mumbai:
Sameekha Trust Publications.

2) Desai, A.R. 1969. Rural Sociology in India. Mumbai: Popular Prakashan.

3) Doshi, S.L. and P.C Jain. 1999. Rural Sociology. Jaipur: Rawat
Publications.

4) Guha, Ramachandra and Parry, Jonathan, P. (eds.). 1999. Institutions


and Inequalities (Esssays in Honour of André Béteille). New Delhi:
Oxford University Press.

5) Jodhka, Surinder. 2004. ‘Agrarian Structures and their Transformations’.


in Das, Veena. (ed.). Handbook of Indian Sociology. New Delhi: Oxford
University Press.

6) Sharma, R.S. 1984. How Feudal was Indian Feudalism. Social Scientist.
Volume 2, Number 12. February. Pp. 16-41. (Accessed online http://
www.jstor.org)

5.9 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Ans to Q No 1: (a) Agriculture (b) Rural areas

Ans to Q No 2: Castes were traditionally linked to occupations. A person


born into a caste could only practice occupation associated with caste, so
that occupations were hereditary, that is passed on from generation to
generation. A particular occupation could only be pursued by the caste
associated with it – members of other castes could not enter the occupation.
Some occupations were considered inferior while some as superior. For
instance, barbering, washing clothes, pottery, shoe making, weaving, etc.
were considered inferior. Learning, priesthood, teaching were prestigious
professions mostly pursued by the Brahmins. Individual talents and
achievements were neglected. But agriculture was open to all the castes.
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Ans to Q No 3: (a) Agrarian structure

(b) Functional , Marxian

(c) J.C. Kumarappa

Ans to Q No 4: Lord Cornwallis in 1793

Ans to Q No 5: (a) Land

(b) Planned Development , agrarian reforms and industrialisation

(c) 1950s to 1960s

Ans to Q No 6: The Indian government adopted the green revolution


strategy to reform the agrarian structure. Of all developmental programmes
introduced in the Independent India, green revolution is considered to have
been the most successful. In 1960s and 1970s, the green revolution brought
significant changes where it took place. It had been first used during the
late 1960s to refer to the effects of the introduction of higher yielding varieties
(HYV) seeds of wheat and rice in developing countries. However, the green
revolution was not just about the use of HYV seed. It was a package. The
new varieties of seeds required fertility-enhancing inputs, that is, chemical
fertilizers, controlled irrigation conditions, and plant-protecting chemicals
(pesticides). The other components of the package consisted of providing
cheap institutional credit, price incentives, and marketing facilities. In order
to back up the application of new technology on local farms, a large number
of agricultural universities were also opened in the regions selected for the
new programme. It as under the direct supervision of the Ford Foundation
that the Intensive Agricultural Development Programme (IADP) was started
in 1961.

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5.10 MODEL QUESTIONS

Short Questions (Answer each question in about 150 words)

Q 1: Write short notes on the following:

(a) Zamindari and Ryotwari Systems

(b) Land relations in the Ancient Period

(c) The Caste System

(d) Feudalism

Q 2:Discuss the interrelationships between castes and occupations in Indian


society. To what extent, these relationships have undergone changes
in the recent context?

Q 3: Elucidate the positive and negative impacts of the Green Revolution


on Indian agriculture.

Q 4: Do you think feudalism still exists in Indian society? Discuss with


examples.

Long Questions (Answer each question in about 300-500 words)

Q 1: Write an essay on the Indian Agrarian Structure.

Q 2: Discuss the land ownership pattern in village societies. Elucidate the


changes that have occurred after Independence.

Q 3: Discuss the sociological significance of ‘contract farming’.

Q 4: What measures do you think the government must take to protect the
rights of the small and landless farmers?

Q 5: Write an essay on the growth of urban centers and their impacts on


the village societies.

** ** **
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Unit-6 Caste, Class and Power in Rural India

UNIT 6 : CASTE, CLASS AND POWER IN RURAL


INDIA
UNIT STRUCTURE
6.1 Learning Objectives
6.2 Introduction
6.3 Changes in Caste in Rural India
6.4 Continuity in Caste in Rural India
6.5 Changes and Continuity in the Class System in Rural India
6.6 Changes and Continuity in Power in Rural India
6.7 Let Us Sum Up
6.8 Further Reading
6.9 Answers to Check Your Progress
6.10 Model Questions

6.1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to-


l understand the change and continuity in the Caste system of India
l explain the changes and continuity in the Class system of India
l discuss the changes and continuity in the Rural Power Structure.

6.2 INTRODUCTION

Social Scientists, both Indian and foreign, are interested in understanding


and analyzing social change in India. Social Change is a complex multi-
dimensional and multi-faced phenomenon. Social Scientists have been
engaged in understanding the diverse meanings, nature, content, direction,
quantum, causes and effects of social change in India. Social Change in
rural India has been bought about by internal as well as external forces,
which paved the way for rural development. In the previous unit, we have
discussed about Rural Economy. This unit will try to comprehend changes
and continuity in caste, class and power in rural India.

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6.3 CHANGES IN CASTE IN RURAL INDIA

Caste is a major form of stratification in rural India,which varies in


structure from one place to another yet connects people belonging to the
same caste with shared cultural beliefs and practices. Significant changes
have taken place in caste as a form of stratification since independence.
S.L. Doshi and P.C. Jain have conceptualized these changes in caste system
in rural India in terms of structural changes and peripheral changes.
Structural Changes are those which have far reaching effects on caste
system like abolition of intermediaries, introduction of Panchayati Raj,
Community Development Programmes, Village Cooperatives, legislations,
adult franchise, reform movements, Gandhian movement against
untouchability, education, increase in standard of living, urbanization,
industrialization and so on. Peripheral changes include establishment
schools, public health centres and construction of roads, improved means
of transportation and communication, proximity to urban areas and rural-
urban migration. Some of the major structural and peripheral changes in
caste in rural India are discussed below.

l Modernization: M.N. Srinivassays that the process of modernization


started during the British rule in colonial India. Yogendra Singh says
that modernization is a value-loaded concept which includes ideology,
system of values, world-views, technology, science and other aspects
of development. Indian villages were introduced to the process of
modernization through the agricultural and industrial development,
through education and mass media. For Example: due to modernization
the Jatavas of Agra who belonged to low caste converted to Buddhism
to get out of the oppressive caste system.M.N.Srinivas notes that in
Rampura people took recourse to urban law courts in case of disputes
rather than approaching the village caste associations and panchayats.

l Sanskritization: Caste system in rural India has undergone


phenomenal change in its structure due to the process of sanskritization.
Sanskritization has led to positional changes within the caste system in

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rural India.The concept of Sanskritization was developed by M.N.


Srinivas to explain the process of social mobility whereby a low caste
imitates habits, customs, food patterns, dress and ways of life of upper
twice born castes to move upward in the caste hierarchy. For example,
in some parts of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh,Chamars
belonging to low castes seek to improve their status in caste hierarchy
by giving up their traditional low occupations of shoe-making and
skinning of carcasses.

l De-Sanskritization:The process of downward social mobility whereby


an upper caste gives up the sanskritic restrictions to interact with low
castes is known as De-Sanskritization. For example: K.L.Sharma who
has done intensive study in Rajasthan observes that in contemporary
period the upper castes like Brahmin, Rajput and Jat do not hesitate to
minimize the gap of social distance while interacting with low castes.
Jats share smoke or gutkha with low castes.

l Decentralization of democratic power: The decrease in social


distance is also due to decentralization of democratic power in the form
of Panchayati Raj, which empowered and included traditionally excluded
communities in grassroot power structure. Decentralization of
democratic power also protected the interests of weaker sections in
education, employment and in accessing benefits specially implemented
to uplift the weaker sections. The interactions between various castes
are common during elections and political meetings. This has led to
weakening of caste associations in rural India. Studies conducted by
A.Nageswara Rao in Andhra Pradesh shows that there has been shift
of power from the dominant castes to scheduled castes.

l Occupational Structure:There have been changes in occupational


structure of the castes which are no longer ascertained on the basis of
one's caste.The traditional occupations on the basis of one's caste are
no longer strictly followed. Jajmani system has weakened and is
replaced by contractual relations. It has been observed that all kinds of

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occupations are now taken up notwithstanding one's caste. Gaurang


R.Sahay's study of rural Bihar shows that people are not condemned
or penalized for performing jobs other than their caste occupations.
Studies show that in some cases oilpressers (Teli) and weavers (Julaha)
have given up their traditional occupations and economic mobility has
been observed in these caste groups. M.N.Srinivas's study of Rampura
shows that fishermen have given up their traditional occupation and
have become agriculturalists.

l Ease in social restrictions: There has been an ease in social


restrictions, especially inter-dining among various castes during the time
of marriage or communal feasts has become common. M.N.Srinivas
observes that in Rampura earlier the demarcation between the castes
where noted on the distance and elevation in social interaction. For
example, the upper caste would sit on a chair on an elevated ground in
courtyard while the low caste had to sit on the ground. Now the low
castes were allowed to sit on the elevated ground on a mat. The upper
caste now also accepts cut food from the lower castes whereas earlier
upper castes accepted only uncooked and uncut food from the lower
castes.

l Education: One of the important factors, which have led to changes in


caste structure in rural India, is education, which led to empowerment
and improvement of status of non-dominant castes.K.L.Sharma
observes that social mobility among the scheduled castes of Gujarat
due to attainment of education and employment has led to the demand
of the annihilation of the oppressive caste system. I.P.Desai also
observes that constitutional safeguards for the scheduled castes has
aroused consciousness among them and helped them to mobilize
against the upper castes.

l Radio and Television: Changes in caste in rural India is also due to


the spread of knowledge and information through radio and television

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as this has reduced the knowledge-gap between the different sections


of rural society.

Despite these changes in caste structure, the essential characteristics


of caste continueto remain which are discussed in the next section.

6.4 CONTINUITY IN CASTE IN RURAL INDIA

Caste has a strong hold in rural society than in urban society. Caste
determines the functions, occupation, status, available opportunities and
sometimes even handicaps the individual. As caste largely ascertains the
ideals and ways of life of rural social groups, it also shapes the value system
and worldviews prevailing in the rural society. There are still many villages
in India which are isolated due to absence of road or the roads are so
primitive that during monsoons the inter-village communication and
transportation is cut off, far removed from basic urban facilities like means
of modern transport, recreation, electricity and institutions and values of
the West like equality, efficiency, punctuality, diligence and so on. Education
facilities provided by the government in most of the villages are absent or
non-functional. The standard of living has not qualitatively improved and
the government benefits are still cornered by upper castes. In spite of the
changes discussed there are some of essential are primarily structural
characteristics of caste which continue to remain. These are discussed
below:

l Ascribed Category: Caste is ascribed at the time of one's birth and


remains unchanged for the rest of the life.

l Hierarchy: Caste is based on a hierarchical relationship,which is


ascertained at the time of birth. However, there are regional variations
in the hierarchal relationship between the castes. Sometimes the same
jati was ranked higher in one region than in another. In spite of the
variation in caste, the notions of hierarchyand social interactions are
guided by the hierarchical notion of caste in rural India.

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l Traditional Occupation: Caste fixes one's traditional occupation at


the time of birth. The caste occupational mobility is lesser in rural India
than in urban India. The division of labour ascertain by traditional
occupation, which helps in functioning of the Jajmani System, which is
based on the symbiotic relationship between jajman or patron and kamin
or client. The services provided by the kamin to jajman can be
remunerated in cash or kind on daily, monthly, quarterly or yearly basis.
The Jajmani System regulates economic and socio-religious
interdependence of the castes.Even though jajmani system is weakening
in contemporary period still there are few occupational services which
are required during ceremonies which may be remunerated in cash,
kind or both. Manual scavenging is still being carried out by local
scavenger castes. Moreover, the Dalmias, Birlas and so on established
as big business due to their traditional commercial caste occupations.

l Endogamous Group: Castes are endogamous group. Matrimonial


alliances have to be formed within one's caste group but outside one's
gotra or clan or outside one's village. There are few inter-caste marriages
within a village.Restrictions on inter-caste marriages are still operational
in rural India and it is strictly observed in rural India.

l Social Restrictions: Caste decides the consumption pattern from which


particular caste one can accept what kind of food (cooked or uncooked).
It also determines the choice of utensils to offer food. Caste governs
one's physical contact, social distance and social interaction. Caste
determines the location and type of house in the village. For example,
M.N.Srinivasobserves thatin Rampurathe Brahmins generally reside in
the centre of the village while the Shudras or untouchables resided
near or outside the boundary of the village.

l Caste Associations: Empirical data shows that caste associations in


rural India have strengthened in contemporary period in spite of its
weakening power challenged by elements of democracy. Caste
Associations act as a political, social and administrative unit in deciding

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on matters regarding to maintenance of the purity of one's caste and


representing one's caste group in the village platform.Caste
Associationsmobilize people belonging to the same caste and may lead
to formation of blocs which act as vote banks during the time of elections.

l Dominant Caste: M.N. Srinivas developed the concept of Dominant


Caste in his study of Rampura village which is a short distance from
Mysore city, Karnataka. Dominant Castes are a potent source of power
and leadership in rural India. Dominant caste exerts their dominance
through numerical preponderance, usually has a high place in caste
hierarchy, ownership of majority of land and making important
decisionsin a specified locality and/or a region. Apart from M.N.Srinivas,
Andre Beteille in his study of Sripuram observances that despite changes
in rural India, dominant castes still has an important position in rural
India as they continue to occupy power positions, own majority of village
lands and enjoys their high status in rural society.

l Radio and Television: Studies had recommended that radio and


television would reduce the knowledge-gap between different sections
of rural society. However, mass media failed to bridge the knowledge-
gap between the different sections of rural society and, instead, was
used as a means to enhance one's status and used as a source of
entertainment by the elites.

Casteis not weakening in the contemporary rural society in India. Instead


it has got a new lease of life shaping the contours of social and political
development. People are now competing to get backward caste status to
get the benefits of reservation for the weaker sections especially during
admissions to higher studies and employment in government jobs. Caste
solidarity has been entrenched in contemporary period in political
institutionsseen in the form of vote banks during elections, mobilization in
non-Brahmin movements and in social institutionsobserved during
matrimonial alliances, ritual/socio-cultural ceremonies andin times of
need.Caste still facilitates functioning and maintaining of the village social

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Caste, Class and Power in Rural India Unit-6

structure. Thus, not only functional changes have taken place in the caste
system in rural India but there is alsostructural continuity in caste system in
rural India.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q1: Who developed the concept of Sanskritization?


......................................................................................................
Q2: Mention one of the major forms of stratification in rural India.
......................................................................................................
Q3: Give an example of de-sanskritization.
......................................................................................................

6.5 CHANGES AND CONTINUITY IN THE CLASS


SYSTEM IN RURAL INDIA

Class is a form of stratification whose members share similar economic


resources, which influence the lifestyles they are able to lead. Membership
to a class is achieved and can change during one's lifetime. Classes are
more fluid in comparison to caste and the boundaries between classes are
not clear cut. The chief characteristics of class differentiation are based on
ownership of means of production and reproduction.Structural changes were
introduced in the class structure of rural India especially the princely states
of Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat and Karnataka due to the abolition of
intermediaries, zamindari and jagirdari systems. K.L. Sharma in his intensive
study of Rajasthan observes two kinds of changes in the class structure in
rural society- proletarianisation and bourgeoisiefication. The process of
transformation of landlords, ex-zamindars and jagirdars and their kins, due
to abolition of intermediaries and withdrawal of their power, to the status/
position of a proletariat is known as proletarianisation. The ex-zamindars
and jagirdars and their kins took to cultivation and menial work due to

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withdrawal of their power with the abolition of intermediaries and reforms


to form an egalitarian society introduced in post-independent India.

The process of maintaining and even elevating the status and position
of landlords to bourgeois through accumulation of wealth and surplus and
investment of their wealth and compensation they received (due to abolition
of intermediaries and conversation of princely states to states in Indian
republic) in big business like hotel, trade and transportation is known as
bourgeoisiefication. Another affect of abolition of intermediaries is the social
formation of the class of rural elites and upper classes. As discussed in
Unit 4 the ex-zamindars and jagirdars to avoid land ceiling and to avoid
passing of their landed property to landless people formed fake agricultural
co-operative societies and legally divided thousands of acres of lands among
their kins, relatives and friends. Even servants, acquaintances and hired
members were either made members of such societies or were given
landholding rights for namesake. In reality, the land was still controlled and
owned by ex-zamindars and jagirdars.

New classes have emerged in rural society in post-independent India


due to agrarian reforms, green revolution, white revolution and planned
development. The 'not so green revolution' led to the growth of capitalist
production in agriculture governed by laws of market and growth of wage-
labour. These new classes comprise big/capitalist farmers, elites and rural
political leaders belonging to agriculturally dominant castes while the core
of agricultural labourers and sharecroppers constitute scheduled castes
and scheduled tribes. However, there are classes also among the scheduled
castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes which led to the
demarcation in constitutional safeguards into creamy layer and non-creamy
layer. The creamy layer belongs to upper classes whereas the non-creamy
layer belongs to lower classes.

Inspite of the changes in the class structure of rural India there are
certain elements of continuity which remain which are discussed in the
following section.

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The continuity, which one observes in the class structure of rural India, is
the polarization of the classes into haves and haves-not. The haves comprise
of classes, who belong mainly to upper castes and the creamy layer of
scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes, classes
who have cornered the benefits of rural development, whereas, the have-
nots comprise those classes, who are pauperized and oppressed by the
former classes to further their own interests and to accumulate surplus to
maintain their domination and subordination over the have-nots. Studies
conducted by Yogendra Singh, Myron Weiner and Kathleen Gough shows
that the power positions especially in Panchayati Raj and in Community
Development Programmes are taken up by the rich upper classes. Even
though power may pass to have-nots it comes back to the traditional power
elites. The abolition of intermediaries and land reforms did not lead to
formation of egalitarian society. Land was still owned and controlled by ex-
zamindars and jagirdars who to forgo land ceiling, had passed their landed
property to their kins, friends, loyal tenants and to ghost schools and temples
which existed only on papers.

6.6 CHANGES AND CONTINUITY IN POWER IN


RURAL INDIA

As seen in Unit 4 and 5, traditionally power, ownership of means of


production especially the size of landholdings in a particular area and the
decision making power rested with the dominant caste group.The traditional
panchayats were patrimonial revenue come administrative systems
strengthened by castes and landownership. People who belonged from
high castes and had landownership also got hold of the formal positions of
power in Panchayat. The poor and low caste people had no representation
in Panchayats. This scenario of power structure in Panchayati Raj changed
after independence due to adult franchise, education, development of
transportation and communication, political consciousness and introduction
of mass media which included people from lower-middle and backward
castes holding formal positions of power. With the introduction of

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constitutional safeguards for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other


backward classes and adult franchise, the size of landholdings and dominant
castes have ceased to be the only bases of power and these havebrought
changes in rural power structure in post-independent India.The amendment
in Panchayati Raj has not only empowered scheduled castes, scheduled
tribes and other backward classes but also women in rural India. The framers
of Panchayati Raj realized that discrimination and oppression faced by
weaker sections would not end only through social and economic
empowerment. Political empowerment of weaker sections through adult
franchise and representation in administrative and political bodies is also
required to improve their status and they will have a say in the decision
making process at the grassroot level. Reservation of seats for scheduled
castes, scheduled tribes, other backward classes and women is thus an
important step in changing the traditional bases of power and empowering
the weaker sections in rural India. New bases of power have emerged
which are not essentially based on caste or class. Rural power is not primarily
based on ascription like caste, hereditary ownership of land and property
but now could be achieved through individual potentialities, networking,
traits, personality and qualities. It has been observed that rural leaders
came from different castes, classes, may or may not have ownership of
land and property but had access to rural power.

In spite of the changes introduced in power structure of rural India


through constitutional safeguards and adult franchise, studies conducted
by T.K.Oommen show that the power remained in the hands of the traditional
rural elites. He gave the concept of power reservoirs and power exercisers
to explain the camouflaging of power in the hands of traditional rural elites.
He said that in most of the cases the power reservoirs control the resources
of the rural society; have contacts with influential political leaders and
administrators to whom they extend their support and co-operation and
expect the same from them; have accumulated wealth and property and
oblige their kins, relatives and friends to form a support structure in the
rural society. The power exercisers,the pseudo power elites, to retain their

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official position, obligethe power reservoirs by granting loans, benefits and


resources. Even after independence a section of ex-zamindars' and
jagirdars' continued to be dominant as they quickly responded to the
changing power scenario through Panchayati Raj and accepted the new
situation.The ex-zamindars and jagirdars economic prosperity and their
numerical preponderance in the villages aroused their political
consciousness to aspire for positions of power and prestige. F.G. Bailey's
study of Bisipara village in Orissa shows that caste system continues to
order the political relation among the various groups which are also reflected
in their economic status within the village. Rajni Kothari observes that the
upper castes especially Brahmins were the first to take the benefits of
western education which enabled them to garner political and administrative
benefits. Studies conducted by K.L.Sharma, T.K.Oommen et al show that a
section of landowners held formal positions of power in the Panchayati Raj
and manipulated the benefits in their own interests, and in the interests of
their kins, relatives and friends.

From the above discussion, we can see that structural continuity in


caste, class and power remain along with functional changes in caste, class
and power in contemporary rural India. There cannot be revolutionary
changes to uproot the existing society to form an egalitarian society as
envisioned by Karl Marx. But changes have been taking place in caste,
class and power of rural India along with its structural continuity.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q 4: Give an example which led to decentralization of power in rural


India.
................................................................................................
Q 5: Give an example of land revenue system which existed in
colonial India.
................................................................................................
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Unit-6 Caste, Class and Power in Rural India

6.7 LET US SUM UP

l Social Change in rural India has been bought by internal as well as


external forces which paved the way for rural development. This unit
tried to comprehend changes and continuity in caste, class and power
in rural India.

l Significant changes have taken place in caste as a form of stratification


since independence. S.L. Doshi and P.C. Jain have conceptualized these
changes in caste system in rural India in terms of structural changes
and peripheral changes.

l Structural Changes are those which have far reaching effects on caste
system like abolition of intermediaries, introduction of Panchayati Raj,
Community Development Programmes, Village Cooperatives, adult
franchise, reform movements, Gandhian movement against
untouchability, education, increase in standard of living and so on.

l Peripheral changes include establishment of schools, public health


centres and construction of roads, improved means of transportation
and communication, proximity to urban areas and rural-urban migration.

l Caste has a strong hold in rural society than in urban society. Caste
determines the functions, occupation, status and available opportunities
of an individual, and sometimes even handicaps the individual. As caste
largely ascertains the ideals and ways of life of rural social groups, it
also shapes the value system and worldviews prevailing in the rural
society. Castes are not weakening in the contemporary rural society in
India. Instead they have got a new lease of life.

l Structural changes were introduced in the class structure of rural India


especially in the princely states of Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat and
Karnataka due to the abolition of intermediaries, zamindari and jagirdari
systems. K.L. Sharma in his intensive study of Rajasthan observes two

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Caste, Class and Power in Rural India Unit-6

kinds of changes in the class structure in rural society- proletarianisation


and bourgeoisiefication.

l The process of transformation of landlords, ex-zamindars and jagirdars


and their kins, due to abolition of intermediaries and withdrawal of their
power, to the status/position of a proletariat is known as
proletarianisation.

l The process of maintaining and even elevating the status and position
of landlords to bourgeois through accumulation of wealth and surplus
and investment of their wealth and compensation they received (due to
abolition of intermediaries and conversation of princely states to states
in India republic) in big business like hotel, trade and transportation is
known as bourgeoisiefication.

l The continuity, which one observes in the class structure of rural India
is the polarization of the classes into haves and haves-not. The haves
comprise of classes who belong mainly to upper castes and the creamy
layer of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes
who have cornered the benefits of rural development whereas the have-
nots comprise those classes who are pauperized and oppressed by
the former classes to further their own interests and to accumulate
surplus to maintain their domination and subordination over the have-
nots.

l With the introduction of constitutional safeguards for scheduled castes,


scheduled tribes and other backward classes and adult franchise, the
size of landholdings and dominant castes have ceased to be the only
bases of power and this has brought changes in rural power structure
in post-independent India.The amendment in Panchayati Raj has not
only empowered scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward
classes but also women in rural India.

l In spite of the changes introduced in power structure of rural India


through constitutional safeguards and adult franchise, studies conducted
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by T.K.Oommen show that power remained in the hands of the traditional


rural elites.

6.8 FURTHER READING

1) Doshi, S.L.& Jain, P.C. (1999). Rural Sociology. New Delhi: Rawat
Publications.

6.9 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Ans to Q No1: The concept of Sanskritization was developed by


M.N.Srinivas.

Ans to Q No 2: Caste is one of the major formsof stratification in rural


India.

Ans to Q No 3: An example of de-sanskritization is when a jat shares


smoke or gutkha with low caste person.

Ans to Q No 4: Panchayati Raj led to decentralization of power in rural


India.

Ans to Q No 5: Jagirdari System is a form of land revenue system which


existed in colonial India.

6.10 MODEL QUESTIONS

Short Questions (Answer each question in about 150 words)

Q1: Distinguish between Sanskritization and De-Sanskritization.

Q 2: Distinguish between proletarianisation and bourgeoisiefication.

Long Questions (Answer each question in about300-500 words)

Q1: Elaborate the changes in caste in rural India.

Q 2: Discuss the changes in power structure in rural India.

** ** **
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Peasant Movements Unit-7

UNIT 7 : PEASANT MOVEMENTS


UNIT STRUCTURE
7.1 Learning Objectives
7.2 Introduction
7.3 Peasant Movements in Colonial India
7.4 Peasant Movements in Post-Colonial India
7.5 Role of the State in Rural Transformation
7.6 Let Us Sum Up
7.7 Further Reading
7.8 Answers to Check your Progress
7.9 Model Questions

7.1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to-


l know about the Peasant Movements in Colonial India
l understand the issues and concerns of peasant movements in Post-
Colonial India
l explain the role of the state in Rural Transformation.

7.2 INTRODUCTION

In the past few decades there has been an emerging interest among
scholars in understanding social movements as agents of social change.
Social Movements arise due to dissatisfaction with some aspects of existing
society and efforts are geared to rectify it by creating a new order. Social
Movements could be divided into two types: Old Social Movements and
New Social Movements. Old Social Movements are different from New
Social Movements on the basis of issues focusing on quality of life,
organizational form which consisted of loose network of people, new action
repertories like use of mass media to gain support, non-violent in nature,
greater discretionary resources, have cheaper and quick geographical
mobility, collaboration of different organizations and new social
constituencies comprising of first time protestors, feminists, students, retired
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people and so on. Examples of New Social Movements are feminist


movements, civil rights movements and environment/ ecological movements
like Narmada Bachao Andolan, Chipko Movement, Apikko Movement.

In the previous unit, we have discussed about the continuity and changes
in Caste, Class and Power in Rural India. In this unit we shall be focusing
on peasant movements in India as it is one of the prominent social
movements taking place in rural India.Peasant Movement(s) is termed
differently by different scholars like peasant struggle, peasant uprising,
peasant discontent, peasant unrest, peasant agitation and peasant
revolution. Peasant Movements are a kind of social movements to end the
exploitation of the peasants and improve their conditions. Peasants are
people who are directly involved in agriculture and they generate source of
living out of it. Peasants comprises of tenants, sharecroppers, small farmers,
hired labourers and landless labourers who work for landlords and rich
farmers. Daniel Thorner has divided peasants into three categories: Malik,
Kisan and Mazdoor. Malik are peasants who have land ownership
documents. The tillers of the soil who do not have land ownership documents
are known as Kisan. Sharecroppers are also included in the category of
Kisan. Mazdoor comprises of the landless agricultural labourers. Peasants
can also be categorized on the basis of size of landholdings into rich
peasants, small peasants, marginal farmers and landless peasants. Rich
peasants comprise those peasants who own more than 15 acres of land.
Poor Peasants are those who own land between 2.5 to 5 acres of land.
Marginal farmers are those who own land below 2.5 acres. Landless
peasants are those who do not have any ownership of land and work in
agricultural land for wages as sharecroppers or tenants. In reality there is
no prescribed typology of who constitutes peasants but the category is
defined according to empirical situations. Peasant Movements in India could
be traced to the period of colonial rule in India. The movement got impetus
with the nationalist struggle for freedom roughly during 1920s. But it gained
momentum during 1930s as the peasants who were affected by the
economic depression caused due to Second World War. Some of the

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peasant movements which took place during the colonial rule in India are
discussed in the following section.

7.3 PEASANT MOVEMENTS IN COLONIAL INDIA

The agrarian crisis during the end of First World War in 1918 marked
the entry of peasants into the political arena and led to the development of
their political consciousness. They formed their own organization, own
programmes along with their own flag. Prior to 1918 there were peasant
movements in colonial India but these had limited economic aims. For
example, the peasant movements during 1860-1897were mostly due to
economic crisis caused by recurrent famines and were directed against
the zamindars, moneylenders and the British government. The tactics used
by peasantsfollowed a pattern: first refusal to pay taxes, then disobeying
the dictates of the courts, following obstruction to eviction and finally an
armed uprising.Onesuchpeasant movement where the peasants refused
to pay taxes and revolted against the British rule is the Phulaguriuprising of
Assam in October 1861. The high fertility of the lands of the Brahmaputra
valley facilitated the peasants to carry on with agriculture as their primary
vocation, and, as a result, they did not feel the necessity to work in tea
gardens of the British planters. In order to induce the peasants to work in
tea plantations the peasants were pauperized through high taxes and
introduction of income tax. The peasants revolted against the British rule
through non-payment of taxes, disobedience of the dictates of the British
officials and finally taking to arms. The movement was suppressed by
sentencing the leaders and imprisoning the others. But it left a mark in the
pages of history of peasant movements in colonial India which was a direct
revolt against the British rule.

Peasants in colonial India became part of the global trade. Fall in cotton
prices during Civil War in United States of America hit the peasants hard.
Cotton was exported as a cash crop and the fall in its prices led to
indebtedness of many peasants. To bail the peasants out of their debt,
Deccan Agriculturalists Relief Act was passed in 1879.Peasant Movements

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broke out in various parts of colonial India. Some of these movements are
discussed below:

l Champaran Satyagraha: The movement was launched in


1917.Mahatma Gandhi after returning from South Africa realized the
apathy of the peasants and led the movement in Champaran, Bihar
against the indigo planters and zamindars. The global market for indigo
cultivation collapsed gradually from 1900-1913 due to its substitution
by synthetic dye produced in Germany. Peasants were compelled to
produce indigo and did not have freedom to produce crops of their
choice. They were paid meager wages by the landlords and compelled
to pay exorbitant land taxes. These led to the apathy of the peasants.
Partial relief was provided to the indigo cultivators but Gandhiji could
not bail the peasants out of the excessive rents and debts.Through the
movement in Champaran Gandhiji learnt the strength of Satyagraha
and became closely acquainted with the problems of the peasants and
eventually he emerged as a national leader.

l Kheda Satyagraha: This movement was also known as no-tax peasant


struggle. Gandhiji led the Satyagraha Movement of peasants of Kheda,
Gujarat in 1919against the collection of revenue which the peasants
could not pay due to failure of crops caused by famine. Most of the
peasants of Kheda were Patidars who were known for their agricultural
skills. Kheda consisted of fertile soil suitable for the cultivation of tobacco
and cotton. But famine led to crop failure. Reassessment of the lands
of Kheda by the government on the basis of crops cultivated led to an
increase of land taxes. The government insisted on the collection of
land tax or lagan and turned a deaf ear to the peasants' conditions. The
movement was led by Gandhiji along with Vallabhbhai Patel, Shankarlal
Pareek, Indulal Yagnik, N.M.Joshi and other leaders of Gujarat. Due to
the Kheda Satyagraha it was agreed that rich Patidar peasants would
pay the taxes and the poor peasants were granted remissions. The
poor peasants were satisfied with the outcome of the movement and

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became conscious about their demands. The success of the movement


reached far and wide across Gujarat and in the neighbouring states.
Peasants in large numbers started participating in the freedom struggle
as they inferred the struggle for Swaraj or fight for independence as
struggle against collection of hefty land taxes.

l Moplah Rebellion: Thisrebellion was launched in 1921 led by Muslim


Communists against the Jenmis, landlords of Malabarcomprising of
Nambudri Brahmin and the British government who exploited the Moplah
peasants comprising of Muslim agriculturalists. The Moplah peasants
did not have security of tenure and were thrown out of the agricultural
fields were they worked without any notice.They had to pay high rents
and fees to the landlords and the British Government.The Moplah
peasants took active part in Khilafat Movement and revolted against
their exploitation. The Moplah Rebellion turned violent when the
peasants took to arms. The British government crushed the movement
by killing and imprisoning the rebels.

l Bardoli Satyagraha: The movement was started in Bardoli district of


Gujarat in 1926 against increased land tax. Initially the movement which
took place during 1928 to 1929 was led by Vallabhbhai Patel. Later on
this movement during 1930 to 1931 was led by Mahatma Gandhi. The
movement was against land taxes and its hike subsequently. In 1926
Bardoli district was hit hard by famine, which led to crop failure. The
peasants were not in a condition to pay land taxes and requested
cancellation of land taxes for a year. But instead the government
increased the land taxes by 30 per cent and forcefully confiscated
property of the peasants including cattle. However, due to the movement
the government restored the confiscated property, cancelled the hiked
land tax and land tax for the subsequent year.

Peasant movements in colonial India were given impetus by the


formation of Kisan Sabha in parts of Punjab, Bengal and Central provinces
during 1926-1927. Peasant Movements further gathered momentum in

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the1930s. Kisan Schools were started to train peasants to carry out


propaganda and organizational work. First of such Kisan Schools was
started in Nidubrolu in 1938. Sir Abdul Rahim and Far-ul-Haq bought
together the Muslim peasants of Bengal and started the Praja Party which
was later renamed as Krishik Praja Party. Kisan Sabha in Bihar formed in
1927 developed into an extensive organization in 1934. In the subsequent
year, Kisan Congress was formed by the Congress party to bring together
the grievances of peasants in one platform and to act as a supreme peasant
organization. The first Kisan Congress was held in Lucknow in 1935. Later
on dissatisfaction among peasants grew towards the Congress party due
to the false promises made by the Congress, the arrest of the peasant
leaders, banning of the kisan meetings and use of police force especially
in Bihar. The same year in 1935 Provincial Kisan Sabha was formed in
Uttar Pradesh which fought for the abolition of the zamindari system. All
India Kisan Sabha was formed in 1936 under the leadership of Swami
Sahajanand Saraswati. Many relief acts were passed to bail out peasants
from indebtedness. But these did not improve the condition of peasants
which further aggravated the peasant movements in colonial and post-
colonial India.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q 1: Define Peasant Movements.


...............................................................................................
Q 2: When was Champaran Satyagraha launched?
...............................................................................................
Q 3: When and where was the first Kisan School started in colonial
India?
...............................................................................................

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7.4 PEASANT MOVEMENTS IN POST-COLONIAL INDIA

Peasant Movements against the zamindars/landlords continued even


after the independence of the country. The peasants in post-colonial India
came under the flag of hammer and sickle i.e. under the Communist Party
of India. Peasant Movements in Uttar Pradesh grew strong against the
atrocities of the zamindars during 1947-1949. A party of zamindars attacked
the village of Hamirpur in Sultanpur district and looted the houses and
destroyed the crops. In Kaima village in the same district one was reported
to be murdered and five were injured. The clashes continued until 1949
were zamindars were attacking peasants. All India Kisan Sabha under the
influence of Communist Party of India raised slogans to abolish zamindari
system and end atrocities on peasants. The Socialists formed the Hind
Kisan Panchayat to work for the welfare of rural people. Peasant Movements
continued to raise the grievances and end the exploitation of peasants.
Some of the peasant movements in post-colonial India are discussed below.

l Tebhaga Movement: The movement started in Undivided Bengal on


the eve of independence of the nation in 1946. It was a movement of
sharecroppers over reduction of landlord share in the produce to two
third and thereby to reduce ½ to 1/3 of the produce as rent to jotedars
or rich farmers who held special rights on land. The production was low
due to famine. The movement grew under the leadership of Bengal
Kisan Sabha led by Bhowani Sen mobilizing the sharecroppers, tenants
of various categories and agricultural labourers against the jotedars,
zamindars, moneylenders, traders and the British government. The
movement marked its distinction from the peasant movements led by
Gandhiji on the grounds of the articulation of its demands and it was
consciously organized by Kisan Sabha. The movement was crushed
soon after the independence of the nation.

l Telengana Movement: Telengana Movement startedin 1946 in


Nalgonda district of erstwhile state of Hyderabad and continued till 1951.
The movement was a revolt of the peasants who wanted freedom from

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the oppressive jagirdari system, thetheocratic regime of the Nizams


and the exploitation of landowners like Patils, Deshmukhs, Deshpandes
and Jagirdars in the state of Hyderabad. The peasants worked as
bonded labourers in the estates of the Nizams. Under the Jagirdari
system of landownership, peasants were exploited through forced
labour, payment of exploitative taxes and high rates of interest for lean
season loans. Apart from this revenue officers or tax collectors of the
district, turned landowners like Deshmukhs and Deshpandes illegally
captured thousands of acres of land and converted it into their personal
property. Peasants were turned into tenants at will.

Peasants were exploited through a system of forced labour known as


Vetti System were a member of a peasant's family served as a bonded
labour in the landlord's house running daily errands like collecting wood for
fuel, carrying supplies or post to other villages and so on. Apart from this
the landlord had to be served with free supplies of foodstuffs, cloth, footwear
and agricultural tools. Peasant girls were kept as slaves in landlord's house
and sent off along with the marriage of the daughter of the landlord to her
family of procreation where she served as concubines.

The tolerance of peasants reached its peak when an employee of a


landlord murdered a village activist who was raising consciousness of village
people regarding land issue. Further peasants were evicted from their lands
which resulted in their revolt against the Nizams, the landlords and the
moneylenders. The peasants' tactics to revolt included forceful acquisition
of lands, no-rent campaigns and later on they took to arms against the
Razakars and later the Indian union forming guerilla squads. The Communist
Party of Andhra Pradesh aided the Telengana Movement by providing reliefs
and supplies. The entry of Indian army in the state of Hyderabad led to the
surrender of the Nizam and the suspension of the Razakars. The army
then turned to the peasants, where the guerrilla squads had to turn to forests,
the rich or middle peasants who were the main force of the movement
withdrew their support with the surrender of the Nizams and the movement

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was repressed in 1951. With the end of the movement forced/bonded labour
was abolished, jagirdari system was abolished, lands were redistributed to
the landless, minimum wages of agricultural labourers were increased and
a new era ushered in the all round development of the peasants.

l Naxalite Movement:The movement was started in Naxalbari, West


Bengal in 1967 and thus the movement acquired its name. The
movement grew under the leadership of Charu Majumdar, Kanu Sanyal
and Jangal Santhal. For the first time in West Bengal, a non-Congress
United Front government was formed in 1967 who promised to distribute
land to the landless peasants. The landowners were not happy with the
decision of distribution of their land to sharecroppers. The ruling
government faced difficulties in the distribution of land in terms of
granting of pattas or verification of lands. The movement was triggered
by the murder of a local sharecropper by goons hired by local landlord
in a village near Naxalbari on 24 May 1967. Communists belonging to
Darjeeling district of North Bengal realized that the land reform was not
possible through legal means. Inspired by Communists ideology they
believed in mass movement to overthrow the existing oppressive order
and forcibly capturing lands through guerilla warfare in favour of the
oppressed, the landless labourers. The villages under Naxalbari became
an active ground joined by 20000 peasants for guerilla activities and
violently capturing property from the landowners. Differences grew
between the Communists and Naxalites. Clashes grew between the
Naxalites and the police. The Communists Party of India,(Marxist) siding
with the Naxalites, left the ruling government and acted as a mediator
between the United Front and the Naxalites for cordial solution. Finally,
the movement ended soon after thefall of United Front government in
March 1970 and declaration of President's rule in West Bengal and
continuous police repression by either killing the Naxalite leaders or
imprisoning them.

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In the post-colonial India, Communist Party of India which has been


working to improve the conditions of peasants formed the Bharatiya Khet
Mazdoor Union in 1968. The changes and development that has occurred
in peasant movements of post-colonial India is the revolution of farm
production and transition from subsistence farming to capitalist farming.
Peasants started to recognize between rich peasants/farmers and poor
peasants/landless labourers. Peasant movements in post-colonial India
were violent with far reaching consequences. The tactics of protest and
demands has also changed. In post-colonial India, peasants' demands have
been centered onland redistribution from rich to poor, better price for their
produce, better wages and working conditions and ways to increase the
agricultural production. The state did listen to the demands of the peasants
and tried to improve their conditions through various ways of rural
transformation like Panchayati Raj, Community Development Programmes,
land redistribution, establishment of village co-operatives and schemes for
improvement of condition of peasants which are discussed in the next
section.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q 4: Name one of the leaders of Naxalite Movement.


...............................................................................................
Q 5: Give an example of New Social Movements in India.
...............................................................................................

7.5 ROLE OF THE STATE IN RURAL TRANSFORMATION

Peasants are subjects of the state and peasant movements are a


concern of the state. Rural transformation through Panchayati Raj,
Community Development Programmes, land redistribution, establishment
of village co-operatives and schemes for improvement of condition of
peasants are some of the ways the state shoulders its responsibility towards
the peasants which are briefly discussed below.
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l Panchayati Raj: Panchayati Raj led to decentralization of power at the


village level and empowered the rural people to participate in the
democratic set-up of the nation. Village Panchayats are statutory
institutions, which were set up during the British rule in India. In post-
colonial India, states were expected to have village panchayats as per
the Directive Principles of the Constitution (Article 40) where panchayats
would function as unitsof self-governance, institutions for securing social
justice and fostering co-operative life at village level. Panchayats had
the powers to enforce santitation laws, develop and manage village
lands, increase production, develop village industries, schools, heath
centres, maintain roads, lighting and irrigation, provide water supply,
resolve disputesand so on at the village level.

l Community Development Programme: Community Development


Programmessponsored by the Government of India was launched on 2
October 1952. Community Development Programmes were modeled
on the basis of Extension Services in Agriculture of the United States of
America. Community Development Programmes aimed to assist the
rural reconstruction through improving the agrarian economy and the
lives of the rural people. Community Development Programmes are
ways of bringing transformation at village level by improving public health
and hygiene, providing better education, cheap litigation, employment,
reorganizing panchayats if it was not working properly, developing co-
operatives, spreading awareness regarding the various ways of rural
reconstruction and working towards the welfare of the village from a
communitarian perspective.

l Land Redistribution: Land Redistribution was based on the


philosophies of Sarvodaya or progress of all to reconstruct rural society.
Land Redistribution was sought to be achieved through Bhoodan,
Sampatidan and Gramdan Movements initiated by Acharya Vinoba
Bhave. The idea of Bhoodan came to Acharya Vinoba Bhave when he
was touring Telengana district of Hyderabad in 1951. Through Bhoodan

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landlords were expected to give away one-sixth of their property to


landless labourers. Similarly, Sampattidan is gift of land or wealth for
the welfare of the rural society. The difference between Bhoodan and
Sampattidan is that in Bhoodan one redistributes the mode of production
or agricultural land but in Sampattidan one redistributes the income
from mode of production. Gramdan was started in 1952 popularized by
Acharya Vinoba Bhave's foot marches in Orissa. The first gramdan
received in Orissa was obtained in Manpur, Cuttack district on 30
January 1953. It sought to bring about change in existing rural social
order and lead to the development of egalitarian society.

l Village Co-operatives: Village co-operatives are an important source


of livelihood of rural people to bring about change in existing social
order and striving for the development of egalitarian rural society. Village
co-operatives minimized the role of traders, middlemen and exploiters
by directly connecting the seller to the buyer. Village co-operatives use
resources collectively and manage the production for the common
interests of its members.

l Government Schemes: There are several government schemes


geared towards the welfare of the rural people by providing employment
(National Rural Employment Gaurantee Act), better education (Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan), improving nutrition of school-going children (Mid-
Day Meal), improving the skills of the rural people (Pradhan Mantri
Kaushal Vikas Yojana), improving the roads (Pradhan Mantri Gram
Sadak Yojana), providing houses to poor (Indira Awas Yojana and
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin) and so on.

Thus, from the discussion, it can be inferred that the state has developed
several ways to reconstruct the rural society in India and strive for its all
round development. Inspite of the several state efforts and launching of
several governmental schemes limited section of rural society gets the
benefits and sometimes the schemes are not properly implemented adding
to the list of welfare schemes, which remain just on paper. The role of the

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state does not end in launching of welfare benefits for the deprived sections
of rural society but also in its efficient implementation, ensuring the benefits
and welfare measures reach ]the targeted population.

7.6 LET US SUM UP

l Peasant movements in India is one of the prominent social movements


taking place in rural India. Peasant Movements are a kind of social
movementto end the exploitation of the peasants and improve their
conditions.

l Peasants are people who are directly involved in agricultureand generate


source of living out of it. Peasants comprises tenants, sharecroppers,
small farmers, hired labourers and landless labourers who work for
landlords.

l Peasant Movements in India could be traced to the period of colonial


rule in India. The movement got impetus with the nationalist struggle
for freedom roughly during 1920s. But it gained momentum during 1930s
as the peasants were affected by the economic depression caused
due to the Second World War.

l Some of these movements are Phulaguri Uprising of Assam in 1861,


Champaran Satyagraha in 1917, Kheda Satyagraha in 1919, Moplah
Rebellion of 1922 and Bardoli Satyagraha.

l Kisan Sabha formed in some parts of Punjab, Bengal and Central


provinces during 1926-1927 gave impetus to the peasant movements
in colonial India which gathered momentum in 1930s. Kisan Schools
were started to train peasants to carry out propaganda and
organizational work. First of such Kisan Schools was started in Nidubrolu
in 1938.

l Peasant Movements against the zamindars/landlords continued even


after the independence of the country. Some of the peasant movements

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Unit-7 Peasant Movements

which took place in post-colonial India was Tebhaga Movement,


Telengana Movement and Naxalite Movement.

l The changes and development that has occurred in peasant movements


of post-colonial India is the revolution of farm production, in demands
and tactics of peasants.

l Peasants are subjects of the state and peasant movements are a


concern of the state. Rural transformation through Panchayati Raj,
Community Development Programmes, land redistribution,
establishment of village co-operatives and schemes for improvement
of condition of peasants are some the ways the state shoulders its
responsibility towards the peasants.

7.7 FURTHER READING

1) Desai, A.R. (1969). Rural Sociology in India. Bombay: Popular


Prakashan.

2) Doshi, S.L.& Jain, P.C. (1999). Rural Sociology. New Delhi: Rawat
Publications.

7.8 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Ans to Q No 1: Peasant Movements are a kind of social movement to end


the exploitation of the peasants and improve their conditions.

Ans to Q No 2: Champaran Satyagraha was launched in 1917.

Ans to Q No 3: The first Kisan School was started at Nidubrolu in 1938.

Ans to Q No 4: Charu Mazumdar was one of the prominent leaders of


Naxalite Movement.

Ans to Q No 5: An example of New Social Movement is Narmada Bachao


Andolan.

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7.9 MODEL QUESTIONS

Short Questions (Answer each question in about 150 words)

Q 1: Discuss how Old Social Movements were different from New Social
Movements.

Q 2: Write a note on Telengana Movement.

Long Questions (Answer each question in about 300-500 words)

Q 1: Discuss the different peasant movements that took place in Post-


Colonial India

Q 2: Discuss the role of state in reconstruction of rural society in India.

** *** **

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