‘Sanskritisation’ refers to a process whereby members of a (usually middle or lower) caste attempt to
raise their own social status by adopting the ritual, domestic and social practices of a caste (or castes) of
higher status. [term coined by sociologist M N Srinivas]
‘Dominant caste’ is a term used to refer to those castes which had a large population and were
granted landrights by the partial land reforms effected after Independence. These castes originally
did not have much land titles, and were cultivators on the land of upper caste but due to land reforms
they have become economically strong.
Examples: Yadavs of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the Vokkaligas of Karnataka, the Reddys and Khammas of
Andhra Pradesh, the Marathas of Maharashtra, the Jats of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh
and the Patidars of Gujarat.
One of the most significant yet paradoxical changes in the caste system in the contemporary period is
that it has tended to become ‘invisible’ for the upper caste, urban middle and upper classes. [explain]
Upper caste benefited disproportionately from development in post Independent India:
Practices included adopting vegetarianism, wearing of sacred thread, performance of specific
prayers and religious ceremonies etc.
Sanskritisation usually accompanies or follows a rise in the economic status of the caste
attempting it, though it may also occur independently.
New interpretation: sanskritisation may be a defiant claiming of previously prohibited
ritual/social privileges (such as the wearing of the sacred thread, which used to invite severe
punishment) rather than a flattering imitation of the ‘upper’ castes by the ‘lower’ castes.
The most important reason, of course, is that these contexts were overwhelmingly dominated by
the upper castes. This homogeneity made caste drop below the threshold of social visiblilty. If
almost everyone around is upper caste, caste identity is unlikely to be an issue, just as our identity
as ‘Indians’ may be relevant abroad but goes unnoticed in India.
For these groups, who have benefited the most from the developmental policies of the post-
colonial era, caste has appeared to decline in significance precisely because it has done its job so
well.
They benefited even during british period. [bring out arguments given in Shekhar
Bandopaddhyay]
Their caste status had been crucial in ensuring that these groups had the necessary economic and
educational resources to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by rapid development
the upper caste elite were able to benefit from subsidised public education, specially professional
education in science, technology, medicine and management.
they were also able to take advantage of the expansion of state sector jobs in the early decades
after Independence.
they did not face any serious competition from other social groups due to their initial lead.
For the so called scheduled castes and tribes and the backward castes, caste has become all too
visible.
Q: The juxtaposition of two groups – a seemingly caste-less upper caste group and an apparently
caste-defined lower caste group – is one of the central aspects of the institution of caste in the
present. Explain. [Answer in above paragraphs.]
‘Tribe’ is a modern term for communities that are very old, being among the oldest inhabitants of the
sub-continent.
Tribes in India have generally been defined in terms of what they were not:
The term was introduced in the colonial era.
In terms of positive characteristics, tribes have been classified according to their ‘permanent’ and
‘acquired’ traits.
Permanent traits:
As their privileged status got consolidated in the second and third generations, these groups began
to believe that their advancement had little to do with caste. ['egocentric bias']
Now they have metamorphed into an economic class rather than traditional caste. [but this
phenomenon explains a small sections of upper caste elite. Vast majority of upper caste are yet to
feel this way, especially in rural areas.]
their caste has tended to eclipse the other dimensions of their identities.
they have no inherited educational and social capital, and because they must compete with an
already entrenched upper caste group. [no inherited cultural capital as well.]
They continue to suffer from discrimination of various kinds. [which upper caste do not, hence
upper caste are not constantly made aware of their caste identity like lower castes]
Policies of reservation and other forms of protective discrimination instituted by the state in
response to political pressure serve as their lifelines.
But using this lifeline tends to make their caste the all-important and often the only aspect of their
identity that the world recognises.
did not practice a religion with a written text
did not have a state or political form of the normal kind
did not have sharp class divisions
did not have caste and were neither Hindus nor peasants.
region, language, physical characteristics and ecological habitat.
About 85% of the tribal population lives in Gujarat, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Odisha with Madhya
Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and parts of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh forming the heart
of this region
ACQUIRED TRAITS
About the debate on tribes being a part of Hindu community:
The mechanisms through which tribes were absorbed into Hindu society, throughout the ages – through
Sanskritisation, acceptance into the Shudra fold following conquest by caste Hindus, through
acculturation and so on.
Some anthropologists argue that tribes should really be seen as “secondary” phenomena arising out of
the exploitative and colonialist contact between preexisting states and non-state groups like the tribals.
Of the remaining 15%, over 11% is in the North Eastern states, leaving only a little over 3% living in
the rest of India
North Eastern states have the highest concentrations, with all states, except Assam, having
concentrations of more than 30%, and some, like Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and
Nagaland with more than 60% and upto 95% of tribal population.
The ecological habitats covered includes hills, forests, rural plains and urban industrial areas.
In terms of language, tribes are categorised into four categories.
Two of them,
Indo-Aryan and Dravidian (very small segment in 1, 2)
Austric
Tibeto-Burman
In physical-racial terms, tribes are classified under the Negrito, Australoid, Mongoloid, Dravidian
and Aryan categories.
The biggest tribes are the Gonds, Bhils, Santhals, Oraons, Minas, Bodos and Mundas, all of whom
are at least a million strong.
8.6% of the population of India, or about 104 million tribal persons in the country.
Two main criteria – mode of livelihood, and extent of incorporation into Hindu society – or a
combination of the two.
On the basis of livelihood, tribes can be categorised into fishermen, food gatherers and hunters,
shifting cultivators, peasants and plantation and industrial workers.
Some tribes have been given high status in Hindu fold while many have been given low status.
some argued for the continuum saw tribes as not being fundamentally different from caste-
peasant society, but merely less stratified (fewer levels of hierarchy) and with a more community
based rather than individual notion of resource ownership.
Others argued that tribes were wholly different from castes because they had no notion of purity
and pollution which is central to the caste system.
beliefs in purity and pollution and hierarchical integration among caste-Hindus vs. ‘animist’
tribals with their more egalitarian and kinship based modes of social organisation.
