Social Institutions: Continuity and Change

The caste system is fundamentally organised around two opposing principles: separation and hierarchy.

• Separation: Different castes are kept apart to prevent “pollution.” This is achieved through rules of endogamy (marrying within the caste), restrictions on sharing food and water, and sometimes physical distance (living in separate colonies). This ensures that individual caste identities remain distinct.
• Hierarchy: These separated groups are not equal; they are arranged in a ladder-like vertical order. The “pure” castes (Brahmins) are at the top, and the “impure” castes are at the bottom. Every caste has a specific social status determined by birth.

The caste system imposes a comprehensive set of rules on its members:

• Endogamy: Marriage is restricted to members of the same caste.
• Occupational Restriction: Traditionally, occupation was hereditary. A person born into a potter family would likely become a potter.
• Food Sharing: Strict rules govern who can accept food or water from whom (commensality). Upper castes generally do not accept cooked food from lower castes.
• Social Interaction: Rules prescribing how different castes interact, including the practice of untouchability where lower castes were excluded from shared spaces like temples or wells.

Colonialism profoundly altered the caste system:

• Census and Rigidity: The British began the Census (notably Herbert Risley in 1901), which tried to count and rank every caste. This made caste identities more rigid and official than they were in the fluid pre-colonial period.
• Administrative Opportunities: The British opened up jobs in administration to educated Indians, which allowed some lower castes to achieve economic mobility, though upper castes benefited most.
• Legal Changes: The British administration introduced the Government of India Act of 1935, which gave legal recognition to the ‘Scheduled Castes’ and introduced the concept of reservations.
• Social Reform: Colonial education influenced Indian reformers (like Jotirao Phule and Ambedkar) to challenge caste discrimination.

For the urban upper/middle class, caste seems invisible because:

• Public Sphere: In modern sectors (IT, corporate jobs, schooling), explicit caste rules (like food restrictions) have relaxed. Success is viewed as a result of “merit” and qualifications.
• Conversion of Capital: They have already converted their historical caste advantages (land, education) into modern capital (degrees, wealth). They no longer need to rely on explicit caste identity to maintain status.

Tribes in India are classified based on two main criteria:

• Permanent Traits:
  • Region: North-East (Assam, Mizoram etc.) vs. Middle India (Jharkhand, MP, Odisha) vs. South India.
  • Language: Tibeto-Burman, Austro-Asiatic, Dravidian, or Indo-Aryan.
  • Physical Race: Negrito, Australoid, Mongoloid, Dravidian, or Aryan.
• Acquired Traits:
  • Livelihood: Fishermen, food gatherers, hunters, shifting cultivators, or settled peasants.
  • Assimilation: The degree to which they have been incorporated into Hindu society (e.g., some have become part of the peasantry, others remain isolated).

The view of tribes as “pristine” or “isolated” is historically incorrect because:

• Historical Interaction: Tribes have interacted with plain-dwellers for centuries through trade (bartering forest produce for salt/iron).
• Political Power: Tribes like the Gonds and Bhils historically established large kingdoms and exercised power over vast regions, interacting with Mughal and Rajput rulers.
• Colonial Exploitation: The “isolation” was often a result of colonial policies (like the reservation of forests) that pushed tribals into deeper forests to exploit timber and minerals, rather than an original state of existence.

Tribal identity is being strongly asserted today due to:

• Loss of Resources: Development projects (dams, mines, factories) have disproportionately displaced tribal communities (e.g., Narmada Bachao Andolan), forcing them to unite to protect their land and livelihood.
• Statehood Movements: The struggle for separate states (like Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh) consolidated tribal identity against the dominance of “outsiders” (dikus).
• Emergence of Middle Class: Reservations and education have created a tribal middle class that articulates tribal issues on intellectual and political platforms.

Families can be classified based on structure, residence, and authority:

• Structure:
  • Nuclear Family: Parents and their unmarried children.
  • Joint/Extended Family: Multiple generations living together (grandparents, uncles, cousins).
• Residence:
  • Patrilocal: The wife moves to the husband’s house.
  • Matrilocal: The husband moves to the wife’s house.
• Lineage/Authority:
  • Patrilineal/Patriarchal: Descent and power flow through the father.
  • Matrilineal/Matriarchal: Descent flows through the mother (though power may still rest with men).

The family is linked to the wider society, so structural changes affect it:

• Migration: As men migrate to cities for work, many households become female-headed or nuclear.
• Employment of Women: As women join the workforce, traditional gender roles within the family change, leading to double burdens or shifts in power dynamics.
• Economic Independence: Younger generations with independent incomes may choose to set up nuclear households rather than staying in joint families, leading to a decline in the authority of elders.

Key Distinction: Matriliny does not automatically imply matriarchy. For example, in the matrilineal Khasi society of Meghalaya, descent is through women, but actual power and control over property is often managed by the maternal uncle (mother’s brother), not the women themselves. There is no historical evidence of a true matriarchy where women held absolute power.