Caste in the 21st Century: From System to Elements Author(s): A. M.

Shah Reviewed work(s): Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 42, No. 44 (Nov. 3 - 9, 2007), pp. 109-116 Published by: Economic and Political Weekly Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40276753 . Accessed: 01/02/2012 12:54
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Caste in the 21st Century: FromSystem to Elements

A M SHAH

is The argument whilecaste as a system moreor that lessdead, individual castesareflourishingwidely is is the notion "casteas a system" of accepted.However, rather thanthe derived from studiesofthe rural mainly In individual caste isseen urbancommunity. thisarticle, and inthecontext bothrural urbancommunities of and itsseveral the aspects,particularly ruleofendogamyas and itsdefining are criterion, analysedat some length are some implications theanalysis pointedout. of

1955, M N Srinivas presented a paper, 'Castes: Can They Exist in the India of Tomorrow?', at a national seminar on "Casteism and Removal of Untouchabilty"in Delhi, attended, personsas S Radhakrishnan, among others,by such distinguished Jagjivan Ram, Govind Ballabh Pant, V K R V Rao, Kaka Kalelkar and Irawati Karve. The paper was published in the seminar report as well as in the Economic Weekly(1955). Aftera lifetimeof scholarship on caste, in 1999, the last year of his life, Srinivas titlesin Bangalore, Delhi and delivered a lecture under different Kolkata, on the passing away of caste as a system. It was pub-

lished posthumouslyin 2003 in the Economicand Political Weekly under the title, 'An Obituary on Caste as a System'.Srinivas expanded this titleinto a sentence, "While caste as a systemis dead, individual castes are flourishing"(ibid: 459)- He made this statement almost at the end of the 20th century,afterpublication of

Avatar(1996). It is time his book, Caste:Its Twentieth Century of nowtothink the21st century. Caste as a System
Let me firstpresent brieflySrinivas' thoughts on the death of caste as a system,using his own language.

and of of The localisedsystem production foodgrains othernecessifor divisionof labour,whichhas endured tiesbased on a caste-wise down all overruralIndia, overtwo thousandyears,is fastbreaking will Production become to and is likely disappearin the near future. will relations becomeaueconomic of freed from division labour, jati will and by tonomous, grainpayments be replaced cash. Indianrural of characteristic An from statustocontract. essential is society moving of in itself theidiom ritual whichexpressed was thesystem hierarchy, down undertheimis This and impurity. hierarchy breaking purity and self-respect. equality, individual pactofnew ideas ofdemocracy, castesare thriving individual is Whilecasteas a system dead ordying, in 2003: 459,emphasis theoriginal]. [Srinivas G S Ghurye, one of the founders of sociology in India, had observed long back in his classic work on caste (1932: 26-28) that the communityaspect of caste and caste patriotismwere increasing at the expense of harmony of parts of course, parts which were subordinated to one another. Srinivas made similar observations in his 1955 paper: "The horizontal solidarity of a caste gained at the expense of the vertical solidarityof castes in a resaid that the last hungion. ... In general, it may be confidently and the dred years have seen a great increase in caste solidarity,

Lectureat This is a revisedand enlargedtextof myDiamondJubilee Lucknowon February the Ethnographic Folk CultureSociety, and 24, its 2007. I thankthe membersof the society,particularly general I and hospitality. thank for Sukant Chaudhuri, invitation secretary B S Baviskar, C Joshi,G K Karanth,Lancy Lobo, P J Patel, Tulsi P Patel and N R Sheth for commentson the draft of this article.
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concomitantdecrease of a sense of interdependencebetween differentcastes living in a region" (p 136). Subsequently,a number ofscholars formulatedtheirunderstanding of changes in caste in substantially the same way, though in differentwords: from
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the suchstatements to divi- from to from involving viewthattheIndianvillage cooperation competition; hierarchy difference, assumed if ofmainly, notonly, to consisted or wholetoparts;from from castes, they sion, agricultural system separation repulsion; I existed. do not wherever ruralin origin thatcasteswere elements units; or from structure substance. to they that but ofvillagestudies I wouldsubmit belittle significance the Ruralversus Urban Caste on imbalance account from has suffered a certain Indiansociology and studies towns cities. of of I of WhileI agreewiththe mainthrust the above formulation, ofitsrelative neglect intensive rethe dominant view of castesystem Due to thisapproach, is haveonemajor the disagreement: idea ofcasteas a system that itis notnecessary dwell to For and caste in thetradi- mainedrural. mypresent ofcaste in theruralcommunity, ignores purpose, urban caste. I would After urbancommunity.1 all, India has had at lengthon the natureof pre-modern tional,pre-modern different was ingeneral how caste urban communities thetimeoftheIndusValley since here, civilisation, mention briefly, urban only the19th at of ruralcasteroughly thebeginning and size from centuries beforeChrist. century. Theyhave grownin number dividedintoa relatively The villagewas a small community in the for over centuries, castehas existed them as longas we and of of I havehad knowledge abouttheir social system. have arguedat smallnumber castes; the population each caste was also with little sometimes one ortwohouseholds, somelength elsewhere possibil(1982,1988),and I P Desai joined me in small, only in Inter-caste relations of of in operated arguing ourbook (1988),thatitwouldbe falseto assumethat ity theexistence sub-castes. of a and thenature casteincities of was thesameas thatinvillagesinthe a face-to-face community overlappedwith relations In of of our theyweremultiplex. the types;in brief, past,and therefore understanding changesin castewould number different was dividedintoa large on of on be unrealifitwerebased entirely ourunderstanding rural city, theother hand,thepopulation had each a largepopulation, of saliencewith number castes,and mostofthem caste.In fact, urbancastehas acquiredincreasing of subdivided towhatI havecalleddivisions thesecond, the thesteady marchof urbanisation up during secondhalfofthe often and i for thirdand even fourth and sub-sub-caste, 20thcentury itsrapidmarchprojected demographers order, e, sub-caste, by a couldevenbe a threeIndi- sub-sub-sub-caste the21st one (1982). Sometimes division century. practically outofevery Already, to is ans nowlivesin an urbanarea,and thefigure likely be one self-contained endogamousunit. The membersof one caste of withmembers onlysome of the othercastes this SomepartsofIndia,suchas would interact outofevery during century. two were to Maharashtra TamilNadu, are likely touch and thattoo withdifferent and Also, degreesofintensity. there Goa, Gujarat, withpartialor minimal withthisdemographic manydifferent this thanother sooner spheresof interaction, parts.2 Along figure them. between we One,sincethe overlap possibility, should keepinmindtwosocialfacts. the if In most, notall, urbancentres, Hinducasteslivedalong of castesis spreadbothinvillagesand intowns, population most suchas Christian, theculture theurbansectionin anycastespreadseasilyto its withone or moreofnon-Hindu of Jain, groups, the rural wielddisproportionately section. centres Many includedEuropeans, Jew,Muslim,Parsi and Sikh.3 And, two,theurban This fact,along influence societyas a whole in comparison in withthe mostcommonamongthembeingthe British. greater of to It sizeoftheir amongthe population. wouldnotbe an exaggeration predict withthe factofmultiplicity castesand sub-castes to relations the the that urban will rural caste overwhelm casteduring 21st century. Hindus,restricted 'jajmani'type of inter-caste most between relations onlya fewcastesand madetheeconomic Focus on RuralCaste and castescontractual market-oriented. and merchants withother of The relations a Hindumerchant Anunderstandingurban of bothinthepastandthepresent, caste, in a and both of craftsmen, Hindu non-Hindu, is therefore fora comprehensive provided model respect understanding imperative Eventheservice in and social relations the town.4 and most caste.Unfortunately, however, sociologists socialanthro- of economic Let relations. me and i the secondhalfofthe 20thcentury,e, during castescouldbe a partofcontractual market pologists during that In Indian andsocialanthropology,give well, thefirst ofmodern justone example. a smalltownin Gujarat I know sociology phase and focusedtheirattention rural ratherthan urban caste, and therewere both Hindu and Muslimbarbers, manyHindus on The in of and theirgeneralformulations aboutboth structure changein usedtheservices either, paying cash perpieceofwork. of servicesonlyin thecontext a of Indiansociety werebased largely observation ruralsociety. Hindusrequired Hindubarber's on and Oneoften the "Indiais a landofvillages". certain encountered statement, rituals, herealso,he was paid perpieceofwork. or division separaof On thewhole,the principle difference, thatalthough their social inManystated peoplelivedin towns, in of withtheprinciple hierarchy urbancaste.In tioncompeted stitutions ruralincharacter. were betweencastes were characterised caste as essentially rural,or as havingits otherwords,the relations Manyconsidered and thanbyhierarchy, more a senseof in ruralsociety, therefore ruralevenifitprevailed in morebyjuxtaposition and by origin Thisdoes or than cities.For example,AndreBeteillewrote in an essay,"Caste beingdifferent bya senseofbeinghigher lower. in did of the a systmatisation elaboration ideas and notmeanthat principle hierarchy notoperate thecity, and of merely represents on limitations it. of in valueswhich present important are as imposed agrarian butjusttheprinciple separation ingredients most societies"(1974:39). In anotheressay,he wrote,"One cannot association betweencasteor Urban Heterogeneity helpbeingstruck theremarkable by The caste-like and theagrarianway oflife"(ibid: 60). Weshould a stepfurther. socialandcultural heterogeneity go organisations and "The of the city provideda congenialgroundfor innovation He thenquotedwithapproval, MichaelYoung's statement, castehierarchy. ideas and movements soil growscaste,the machinemakes classes" (ibid: 64). Apart change,including against
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the and in Romila the throughout Hindusociety;5 Thaparis perhaps right attributing riseofhetero- in ideas ofpurity pollution customsand institutions the diacritical doxsectssuchas Buddhism Jainism ancient and in India to the (2) The distinctive - ofevery and casteare gradually A of marks of (1984: 109, 153-54)- largenumber disappearing, a certain growth urbancentres in In is social thinkers who laterpropagatedagainst the hierarchical cultural uniformityemerging society. thepast,one could at to a castebylooking his/her features castecamefrom of urbancentres. dress, listening identify person's Goneare EvenLouisDumont, mostardent as his/her the advocateofhierarchy his/her general bearing. speech,and watching but not theoverarching of Similarly, villages. principle caste,didnotruleoutthepossibility thosedays, onlyintowns, also inmany rituals also becoming uniform. ofseparation of are as He existing an independent principle. wrotein therites passageand other is because ofthe increasing hisbook, Homo "It or The uniformity emerging Hierarchicus, is notclaimedthatseparation, spreadof and To even'repulsion', notbe present as somewhere an independ- bothsanskritisation westernisation.6 takejustone exammay entfactor". didnotgiveimportance thispossibility He to the because, ple regarding sanskritisation, weddingrituals amonga secI a are as he stated, "Whatis sought hereis a universal formula, rule tionofthedalitsin Gujarat observed recently as sanskritic And to takejust one examplerewithout (1972:346, n 55b).Atleast one oftheseex- as thoseof the uppercastes.7 exceptions" that garding even village girlshave begunto wear urbancaste.Dumont himself clarified westernisation, was,I think, ceptions not relationwas jeans; (3) The traditional, he neglected urbancaste(ibid:172).In myview,thisneglect close,though invariable, has casteand occupation moreorlessdisappeared, duetothecity of site the beingtheprime for principle difference, shipbetween and and almosteverycaste is now multi-occupational; (4) The or division, separation, repulsion. of as of on castewas al- castepanchayat custodian rulesand regulations caste,an Themainpoint thatan emphasis individual is has practically of urbancaste to a certainextent. important mechanism, boundary-maintenance readya feature pre-modern but in and cities, also inmost not The neweconomic, forces the disappeared only towns of social and ideological villages. political, for and Thereareveryfewcastes now witha mechanism imposing the affected first urban centres, 19thand 20th centuries On of actionagainstviolation itsrulesbyitsmembers. the on casteinthem. Gradually, punitive strengthened emphasis individual " havea hardtime. of the ruraleconomy the of thewhole, defenders casteboundaries and societyalso came underthe impact these and lost forces, casteas a system itsstrength, wayto giving Endogamy versus Hypergamy on caste. emphasis individual Itis widely believedthat, boundary-mainamongthetraditional Boundaries of Individual Caste has of mechanisms individual tenance castes,themost powerful as nut It Withthe growingemphasison individualcaste, its identity beentheruleofcasteendogamy. is thehardest tocrack, of the characteristic caste, said. It is considered defining as of emerged the primecharacteristic caste duringthe 20th is often nature castememberof Whatshape it takesduring 21stcentury shouldbe because italone decidesthehereditary the century. discrimisinceprotective a I considered primesociologicalproblem. discusssome of its ship.Ithas also acquiredlegalsanction in was provided thebasis ofcasteand tribe theIndian on nation here. aspects in in facesthe Constitution 1951.Everycaste or tribeincluded the three its caste,in its quest formaintaining unity, Every of As its problem maintaining boundaries. longas a casteunitis categoriesof backward classes (scheduledcastes, scheduled and of with population its Classes) is assumedto havediscrete small, spreadovera smallnumber villages tribes, OtherBackward of more boundaries due to the assumption endogamy. and towns an area, itis able to maintain boundaries in its Nevertheless, examination. critical con- theruleofcasteendogamy orlesssuccessfully.largecaste,withitspopulation A requires spread the in enjoinedupon all Hindusto observe Although scriptures tinuously villageafter villageand in townsovera largearea, for in in often twoormoredistricts a state,and sometimes, evenin theruleofcasteendogamy, also provided 'anuloma' (hythey both of in maintaining its pergamous)and 'pratiloma' twoormorestates, facesenormous marriages, (hypogamous) problems anulosanctioned have whichviolatedtherule.The Dharmashastras the Two identity. majordevelopments during 20thcentury a to theseproblems: [Kane 1941:50-66]. In hypergamy,womanof a one,a tendency breakthebound- ma marriage complicated a ariesofsub-castes amalgamate themintothe largercaste; lowercaste married man of an uppercaste,but it did notinand a an a andtwo,dispersal thepopulation almostevery of casteovera volvea manfrom lowercastemarryingwomanfrom upper of it Almost In- caste.In hypogamy, was thereverse. within also outside area due to migration, only but not every largecaste larger to related itsinternal dia.A fewcastesbecamehugeconglomerates, withitspop- usedtohaveinternal each hierarchy. hypergamy womenat createdsurplusof marriageable ulation overtwo or morestateswithin India and a sub- Internal hypergamy spread at thelowerrungs. latter The and their stantial in other of We countries theworld. now live theupperrungs shortage population lowercastes womenfrom inan eraofmegacastes.Castestoo are globalised. led mento marry acceptable usually was Intra-caste Four traditional of casteboundaries and caste-like mechanisms maintaining hypergamy groupssuchas tribes. withinter-caste linked becameweak, and moreor less brokedown, duringthe 20th thusintimately hypergamy. The was was Whilehypogamy rare,hypergamy widespread. on (1) century: The prohibition exchangeof water and food innumermentions literature as in northern western and (called'roti India) between historical well as ethnographic vyavahar' withapproand the others, able castes arisingout ofhypergamous untouchables castes,evenbetweenthe former marriages, of has practically in urbanareas and is on thewayout priatemyths originconcoctedby bards and by authorsof disappeared brahmin well as them.Suchmyth-makers, intherural decline puranastolegitimise areas.Thisdevelopment partofthegeneral is
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to were confined theircaste. Therewas no way of have times[see Shah and marriages as non-brahmin, existedsinceancient took in village, becausenorajput this the Shroff marriage placein 1958;Das 1968;Thapar1984;Shah 1986]. checking onceI orevenin theneighbouring of In earlyethnography, Denzil Ibbetson, villages.However, superintendent the thevillage 'barat'in in Gujarati, a rajput to on 1881CensusofPanjab,was perhapsthefirst report hyper- accompanied groom's partyCjan' the Herbert (1883:356).Notonly that, Risley, commissioner Hindi) goingto the bride'svillagelocatedfaraway in another gamy to casteof that I The in ofthe1901CensusofIndia,8 hismonumental work, People district.discovered thebride belonged thelower of such of me on thetrail a number other Thisexperience the term koli. put of India, even creditedIbbetson with "inventing" bethe hypergamy understand whichhelped me a of (1915:163,fn).9 provided generalaccount thecustom, marriages, Risley and claimtobeingrajputs and from different ofIndia (ibid:163- tweenkolisand rajputs, thekolis' evidence parts putting together and read literature hypergamy LaterI observed, to He on, "[thecustom] be ofgreatanti- kshatriyas. 71,178-81, 184-85). thought, in as castesand tribes Gujarat well as in theneighin and day" amongother quity, to prevail Indiaovera widearea at thepresent dur- bouring [Shah1982;Shahand Desai 1988;Shah2002]." (ibid:165).The latercensusand other regions reports ethnographic of withreferences hypergamy. In pre-modern to India,mostHindus, course, endogpractised ingthecolonialtimesare replete between but was the amy, there also hypergamous J H Hutton, commissioner the 1931CensusofIndia,10 the of many relationship was norm. statedin hiswell lowerand uppercastesas an accepted lastcaste-based censuswithpublished Hypergamy far results, The than we might like to believe.12 mostwell of moreprevalent feature is book on caste,"[Hypergamy] a widespread known the between rajputs relation case is thatofhypergamous known thecastesystem" (1946:53). on in McKimMarriott, a recentpaper on varna and jati (2004: orkshatriyas, theone hand and manypeasantcastes,as also and northern eastall on materials sincethe tribes, theother, overwestern, of central, 358)based on an extensive study historical between cases are thoseofrelations wellknown ancient timesas well as modern literature, states, ernIndia.Other ethnographic but "Sincethenineteeth [Orenstein 1963; Carter century, have been widely mistak- marathasand kunbisin Maharashtra jatis in and from 1974;Deshpande2004], betweenpatidars kunbis Gujarat "castes"- entities imagined enlyequatedwiththeoretical to information be uniform, strictly [Pocock1954,1957,1972and Shah 1982,2002], and theunique fragmentary, mostly priestly, nairsand thepatribetweenthe matrilineal madeup ofa collec- case ofhypergamy castesystem' isolates... The'rigid hereditary in brahmins Kerala. linealnamboodiri tionofsuchentities notlikely evertohaveexisted.. ." is a was thuswidespreadin preIf violation caste endogamy of provides ropeto a lowercasteto helpitrisein Hypergamy witha higher to as considered thede- socialstatus, claimequality modern caste,andeventually India,thenwhyis casteendogamy the India?It seemsto me thatthe to adoptitsname. Usually, uppercaste opposesthisclaim. criterion castein modern of fining and of in for and British process inclusion exclusion looking certainty Hindu Thereis at playherea complex bureaucracy judiciary, to an one, and to custom their in efforts codify law, customary played impor- - the lowercaste trying getincludedin thehigher of to casteas a strictly if role analysis this trying excludeit (fora pioneering tant, notthedecisive, indefining endoga- the latter thus impliesloose and mousgroup. werehelpedin comingto thisconclusion by process,see Pocock 1954). Hypergamy They not affects this for consulted expert fluidcaste boundaries.Significantly, boundary whomthey and theorthodox pandits shastris husmarried betweenthehypergamously in was Thisconclusion moreorlessaccepted scholarship onlythe relationship opinion. and other children to relatives, on caste.It also led to vigorous patriattempts showcastesas racial band and wifebutalso their and matrilateral affinal. This measurements. enter- lateral, by groups, supported anthropomtrie to cases of lowercastes claiming be to the Manyof the numerous prisefailed, though idea continues raise itshead among varof in onesreported thereports theCensusofIndiafor All timeto time. in all,the higher from vested interests around world the from states and administered of characteristic castewas so iousBritish faith endogamy thedefining in as 1871 provinces princely Theseclaimsweremadeinorder aroseoutofhypergamy. of of that study hypergamy to 1931 strong itledtorelative neglect intensive and ritual sofor the from government higher a We inmodern and socialanthropology. haveonly few to seeklegitimacy sociology on verdict what declaredtheir cial status.The census officials to but studies, notsufficient givea widerand deeperview. good for reservations was the actual status.After theyconsidered in backwardclasses became operational independent Studyof Hierarchy India, a witha higher casteusually relation Another factor to contributing this neglectwas the dominant lowercastein hypergamous witha view class category in for or verticalunityof castes,and claimstobe included thebackward concern studying hierarchy to it of of individual to getadvantages reservation. for the lesserconcern studying horizontal However, continues pracunity caste to and was castes.The castehierarchy studiedusuallyin a villageor a tisehypergamy, claimssimultaneously be a higher both"forward" Sucha casteis thus and on the for ritual socialpurposes. fewneighbouring The study horizontal of unity, villages. seems but This of otherhand,required observation the populationof a caste and "backward". is a contradiction, Indiansociety can overa largearea. Onlysuchobservation helpobserve tohavechosento livewithit. spread in Let briefly field my experience adequately. menarrate hypergamy inKhedadistrict Hypergamyamong Tribes When first I wenttomyfield thisrespect. village all tribal in 1 with assumption casteendogamy. Likelowercastes,many the of inGujarat 1955, went except groups overthecountry, with have the For Andindeedevery castein thevillageappeareddiscrete. ex- perhaps north-east, hypergamous relationship certain the We caste ofrajputs vicinity. have knownthrough pioneering alwaysclaimedthattheir castesin their ample,the dominant
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- SPECIAL ARTICLE of in work Surajit of Sinha(1962,1965)howa number tribes cen- is now leftin urbanareas, and the fewleftin ruralareas are In action. anycase,suchpunishable and tral Indiahaveusedhypergamy claimtobe rajputs kshatri- hardly totakesuchpunitive to law a Modern doesnotallowit. is Deliege'sbookshows ment no longer realthreat. yas [seealso Dube 1977: passim].Similarly, howthebhils,a largeand widelyspreadtribein western India, withthe rajputs(1985: 8, 42, 96-97, 118, Dissolving Caste hypergamy practised than more havebeen taking in wererichand powerful, Sinceinter-caste placefor marriages 152,156).Manyfamilies thesetribes but a andthird evenfourth there nownotonly second is wereable a century, to tribal chieftains usually claiming be rajas,and they an that lowersta- generation intoestablished, womenmarried to gettheir population doesnothaveanycaste.After interthough of the in status. castemarriage onegeneration, and kshatriya and usually marriages children families, thenclaimrajput tus,rajput individucaste-less between to enablestribalgroups claimequal statuswiththe ofsucha couplewouldbe marriages Hypergamy that the thusmaking boundary als. The argument a childbornoutofan inter-caste as castesreceiving women wives, their marriage in work viewofincreasthe seemtohave inherits father's tribe casteblurred. and between caste,willno longer Manytribal groups the The in becomecastesbythisprocess history. equality. childmaynotliketoinherit mother's inggender choosenottohaveanycasteat all. in infanticide It is wellknown thatfemale S/hemight prevailed a number casteeither. Inter-caste for and the ofcastesduring 19th changein marriagesappear to be an inevitable perhaps a few century continued of of withhy- view of changestakingplace in a number spheres culture saw itsrelation decadesduring 20thcentury. the Risley the it have confirmed and society, mostimportant and researches age beingtherising at marriage, (1915:173-78), recent pergamy the of ear- the ideologyof freedom choice in marriage, increasing as [Vishwanath 2000]. Thetwotogether created, mentioned in in in of ofmarriageable womenat thelowerrungs inter- freedom genderrelations educationalinstitutions, the lier, shortage in of led activities, nalhierarchy a caste, whichinturn tomarriages itsmen workplace, theperforming and in entertainment of arts, media and role In castesand tribes. recent and thepowerful ofboththeprint theelectronic withwomenin other, usuallylower, of the in inspreading idea offreedom choiceinmarriage. has foeticide resulted the incidence female of times, increasing we inter-caste To understand a similar on marriageadequately, have to scale, in severalpartsof situation, perhaps a larger distancebetweenthecastesof thatmany menin Haryanaand take intoaccountthe structural for India.Itis reported, example, as as from far-off Bihar, thespouses.I haveshown[Shah1982;Shahand Desai 1988]how womenfor marriage Punjabarebringing of often divisions up into is order divided West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. We do not a caste(jati) ofthefirst Jharkhand, Orissa, When intosub-sub-sub-castes. in for words, of knowthe consequences such hypergamy the concerned tothethird order, other of for themovement inter-caste beganinthebeginning castesatbothends. marriage tookplace inter-caste if thatthe ruleof caste endogamy the 20thcentury, notearlier, marriages to Ifone getstempted think The order. i of it was beingviolatedonlyat the lowerends of caste hierarchy, betweendivisions the lowestorder, e, the third Nowthe thenwidenedgradually field level. connubial evenat thehighest It during century. would a mistake. couldbe violated be are To understand we shouldkeep in view the factthatevery adays,marriages taking place betweenthemajorcastes,i e, this, and betweenbrahmins for of and stood divisions the first to a caste (jati) in a region order, example, ormaharaja belonged raja are andjats. In addition, Ifwe takeintoconsideration baniasorbetween marriages attheapexofitsinternal kayasthas hierarchy. betweencastesof one in and takingplace,particularly large cities, fromNepal to Kanyakumari all the Hinduroyalfamilies betweena Punjabiand a Tamil for and another, example, of region to from to they Manipur Saurashtra, belonged a largenumber are There also and a or different Eventhe claim thatall of thembelongedto the Hindu, between Gujarati a BengaliHindu. jatis. like betweentribesand castes,whichare virtually there marriages was notalwayssustained; samevarna,namely, kshatriya, add among it. If marriagealliances of the inter-caste weresubtlearguments Finally, to all thesemarriages marriages. against of Hindusand members other between the members these royalfamiliesare examinedclosely,13 of they theHindus marriages will census havetoprovide of The was wouldshowhowtheruleofcasteendogamy violatedat the religions. advocates caste-based and to for a box,"NoCaste", respondents tick in context inthequestionnaire, level operated this Hypergamy highest ofHindusociety. of the will the I amsurethey find totalnumber caste-less families Rajasthanoccupying of withtherajput peopleinthe also, royal in bridesfrom and quitesubstantial. royalfamilies the country highest position receiving are The caste ideologuesall overthe country alarmedbythe in to brides them return. rest Indiabutnotgiving of of a are devising variety stratscenario. They marriage changing ModernInter-CasteMarriage caste associations. the to counter trend, through mainly agems measuresare moreor less ruled inter-caste earlier, In addition thetraditional to punitive marriages As mentioned hypergamous a the under out. Therefore, leaders in everycaste focuson creating are there inter-caste discussed taking place above, marriages and girlsofthecasteto for of That such number opportunities young and modernisation. the influence westernisation of boys their as in are rapidly urbanareas is well known, meetand engageinsuchactivities wouldfacilitate knowmarriages increasing The and they thendecidetomarry. can to ingeach other in ruralareas. Opposition butthey also increasing are intimately slowly to "Youhave thefreedom marry of thatthedefenders caste elderstelltheyouth, to suchan extent according them weakened has To but to toyour if it boundaries finding extremely are choice, confine yourchoicetoyourcaste". putitin difficult,notimpossible, within caste.Ofall the themout of their popularlanguage,it is "love marriage" wed spousesby throwing suchnewly punish is the castes. mentioned As structurally mostsignificant thestratagem earlier, hardly castepanchayat thestratagems, any respective
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towidenthefield choicebyorganising as new for activities thelarger for Casteassociations emerged an important institution have becauseitalso has political It individual castessince at least thebeginning the of caste, implications. is notsurprising supporting that often it attend thesegatherings. set However, appears 20thcentury. politicians Initially, weresmallunits up inlargecities they at present thedefenders casteboundaries unlikely that of of are to topromote welfare themembers thecasteinthecity. of Graduin succeed halting march inter-caste the of which ba- allythey diversified welfare their activities wellas spread as their is marriages, the of smalltownsand villages.Thereare now freedom choiceinmarriage. membership include of to sically march theindividual's Socialanalysts haveto follow march will in this the caste,sub-caste evensub-sub-caste and associations every carefully during city 2istcentury. and at thelocal,regional, national and eveninternational levels. with constitutions, membership fees, Usuallytheyhave written Caste and Relatives elections and so on. Manyare regisoffices, rules,regulations, Due tocasteendogamy, individual's Act network relatives of every by teredunderthe SocietiesRegistration or the PublicTrusts with and was to caste.Thisnetwork Act,and someclaimto be ngos. Whilea fewassociations kinship marriage confined his/her in included: patrilineal descended a ancestor aimscameintoexistence from common (a) kin, quiteearly the20th by manifest political after of most were and several, seven, usually generations14 (b) a number relatives century, ofsuchassociations formed independence on thesideofmother, and the father's father's sister, witha viewto represent castein electoral sister, wife, mother, politics to adof mother's and benefits reservation. mother's wife's mother brother, vanceitsclaimsfor mother, sister, father, andso on. Sometimes, individual related an inwithanother was dividual twoormoreofsuchrelationships. suchoverlap- Caste Associations That by the a claimtorepresent casteas in due India,mainly to close-kin Although casteassociation might ping relationships prevailed south is as of is in India,too,but a whole,membership no casteassociation, faras I know, marriage, well known. Theyprevailed north caste.The mainreawith of coterminous membership theentire we on unfortunately do nothaveadequateresearch them. in of member thecasteis notalwaysinterested Thenetwork relatives of the son is thatevery the occupied socialspacebetween a and even though of individual his/her and betweenthem.Any becoming member the association, s/he caste,and mediated in not be castecouldbe visualisedas composed a seriesofinterlocking might a member, of s/hemight participate actively itsacwith falseclaims of are would be tivities. Someassociations onlycaucuses, networks relatives. of The number such networks of differenticasteis internally smallin a smallcaste,so muchso thatan entire the caste.Every castecouldbe representing entire and and therefore, casteassono unitsin Gujarat atedinwealth, one largenetwork. have knownendogamous I prestige power, of caste. the hundred of households each,so much ciation represents interests theentire composed justtwoorthree withrivalassociations. often castehas internal so thatalmostall of themcan be placed on one genealogical politics, Every even on vital issues. Let me illustrate. okkali- There can be conflict chart. theother On hand,largecasteslikekoli,maratha, and Educationally of of ga,jat or yadavhad a widelyspreadseriesofnetworks rela- I P Desai, as a member theSecondSocially known the as of Class Commission Gujarat(popularly of tives. an individual a largecaste,thenetwork relatives Backward For in a from largenumber had was the mostimmediate of caste. Some Rane Commission), received petitions representation his/her for He wouldlooklikesub- ofcasteassociations. gaveme a hugepileofthem perusal. networks couldbe so tightly thatthey knit in thanoneassociation more a from number castes, of of I found castes.A large,widelyspread,caste was in facta congeries that, and status theother one thana single The of eachhad submitted castesrather casteentity. networks cohesive petitions, demanding two suchcases in ourbook it. relatives worked thefoundation a caste. thus as of reported opposing Desai himself of Evenwhencaste panchayats were activeand powerful, caste/ they (1988:87,122).Letus hopesomemembers thenumerous will had to operate networks relatives. The mainreason tribecommissions tellus - provided of theyare notboundby through or wentaboutdeciding inclusion the was thatmostofthe panchayat used to be leadersof oathofsecrecy howthey members Thisinformain schedule. of thesenetworks. Whilea smallcaste would have onlyone pan- exclusion castes/tribes therelevant a of castes. a withpossibility tionwillthrow lotoflight thenature individual of on chayat, largeone had a seriesofpanchayats, thatthe modern to casteassociaas One maybe tempted think between them. cooperation wellas conflict These networks now shrinking urbancentres, caste panchayat. are in bothin tion is onlyanotherformof the traditional is size as well as in intensity relationship. difference that, The fundamental of lineagegroups This is far fromreality. Large with had disciplinary the in are to deep genealogies difficult find one place,because whilethe panchayat authority, association of migrations membersin manydifferent of have takenupon directions both does not have it. Of course,the associations within outsideIndia. Evenjointfamilies and and withgenealogical themselves role of facilitating the marriage, endogamous willsucceedin but have been losing spatial thusmaintain casteboundaries, howfarthey depthof three or fourgenerations cohesion.The same is true of relationships marriage.An thisrolehas tobe watched. by individual interacts withjust a few close relatives because an number marriages nowtaking of are the Some Implications ofthe Analysis increasing placeoutside erstwhile casteunit, evenwithin thatevery individual and sucha castethey tendtobe The above analysisshouldhave indicated withpreviously and organisation. unrelated All of caste has had complex internalstructure members. in all, the networks relatives gradually are differenas for of Therewas considerable social and political economic, weakening thefoundation unity individual caste. tiation every in caste. No caste shouldbe viewedas a monolith,
II4 November 3, 2007 weekly Economic& Political

howfartheCensusofIndiatakescareofthechanging in withits members havinghad egalitarianrelationships the However, the and a skilledcraftsmen scribes groundrealitiesregarding boundariesof everycaste and past.Except fewcastesofhighly As of in the residing the city, population everycaste was divided tribeincludedin the scheduleshouldbe examined. regards data aboutthem backward The casteleadersusuallylivedin theother intoruraland urbansections. classes,thereis no reliable the of the in itself rural- since1931. thetown, therural-urban and quarters a century, boundDuring lastthree inequality expressed and become urbanhypergamy. Every peasantcaste,forexample,had large aries of almosteveryone of themhave changed in quite fuzzy.Even the names of manyof themhave changed. landunderfeudaltenures, landlords, residing usually holding the merchant Therefore, data abouttheirpopulation, and playing thetown, education, employEvery politics. partin regional It and so on, are boundto be dubious. is no wonin and castehad big businessmen financiers income, residing the town ment, about and in and pettyshopkeepers villages. Even the ex-untouchable der we read contradictory proportions percentages and the law courtsdemandaccurate IfI castesweredifferentiated. mayuse the languageofcurrent themin the newspapers, the a discourseon protective discrimination, "creamylayer" of data from government. existedin everycaste,and is byno meansa somesortor other in The internaldifferentiation every Census Collection modernphenomenon. at of to and the castehas increased during 20thcentury is likely in- Sincetheboundaries manycastesare loose and fluid, the for timeitwouldbe impossible theCensusofIndia,the the crease further the Therefore, identity present during 21stcentury. or ofa casteshouldnotbe assumedto be an unambiguous investigating organisation, anyother SampleSurvey reality; National of aboutboundaries castes information reliable to of ithas to be cultivated by continuously a variety means.This agency collect These agencies are is truemuchmorenowwhenall caste identities threatened and tribes,and then,about theirpopulation. in wouldfaceseveralcomplicated and ideologicalforces. investigations. problems their social,cultural bymodern at is Thatcastesplayan important in politics well known. Shouldtheirfieldinvestigator the groundlevel recordonly role the we says,or shoulds/heinvestigate truth However, do nothave,as yet,even an outlineoftheprecise whattherespondent of or of in and structure organisa- status thecontext societalrelationships inthecontext of betweenthe internal nature relation How does s/heensurethat of the The main getting benefits reservation? tionofindividual caste and its rolein widerpolitics. the from local does not answerunderpressure caste. the respondent of failure graspthenature individual to reason a general is to trained be ableto capIs structure politicians? theinvestigator its Itisreified, seenas a monolith, and properly ignoring internal If on the and organisation. us take,as an illustration, studiesof turethesocial reality theground? s/hefailsto getthecorLet boss in thestatecapitaldecide shouldhis/her On so wherecaste figures prominently. the rectinformation, electoral politics, the if we during colonialtimesdecided? whole, are led to believethatcaste playsa dominant, riot the way the censusofficials is Howwillthebossdecide?Does s/hehavetherequisite role in this arena. That this is a facileassessment expertise? decisive, is of collection essaysbased on fieldstudiesof In thecase ofa castewhosepopulation spreadovervastareas shownin a recent also overtwo but in in both elections smallcommunities, ruraland urban,in differ- - notonlyovermanydistricts a state, often the entpartsofIndia [Shah 2007]. Gupta (2000: 148-76)has also or morestates- how will s/hereconcile variedresponses? in and the between castecomposition Are therecompetent howthere no correlation is shown anthropologists sociologists suffiof in The and results. mainrea- cientnumber the Anthropological in ofvoters a constituency theelection Survey India,or in the of Generaland CensusCommissioner Inof such casteis highly sonis that differentiated, thatitsmem- office the Registrar every to casteis dia,orin anyother voteenbloc.Actually, bersevenina villagedo notalways opinion? agency, givereliable government the does theConstitution a The Finally, basicquestion: behaviour. one empower state voting influencing only ofthemanyfactors "real" casteifs/he the a to on toforce citizen declare nameofher/his voters to mobilise and candidates alwaystry political parties not castebasis,buttheir successdependsa greatdeal on thematrix chooses to declareit? the in ofvarious factors a locality. 1871-1931, CensusofIndiawas notalwayssuccessDuring caste and tribeboundaries. roleis fulin identifying Now,in the first Thearenainwhich casteplaysthemostcrucial political of whentheseboundaries eventhose are decadeofthe21st that reservations thebackward for classes.Herealso,there of century, - are knownto be fuzzy, tribes castesand scheduled of scheduled differences betweenitsrolein thethreecategories significant a the the and should statetakeuponitself job ofidentifying them, job backwardclasses,i e, scheduledcastes,scheduledtribes, that It is other backward classes(that castes).Allthesame,theschedule it in anycase cannotperform successfully? is also likely lead boundaries to casteand tribe foreach category includesindividualcastes and tribes,the theefforts fix might toviolent becomean shouldthe government In Sincethe conflicts. this situation, are of boundaries eachofwhich assumedtobe discrete. and on members agencyto imposerigidity caste and tribeboundaries, havetobe givenonlyto thebonafide benefits statutory as castesandtribes it endorse byconsidering the havetobe clear- should judiciary in ofa casteortribe theschedule, boundaries its Thatis, shouldthestatetakea retrograde tounits? of discrete wantsto getbenefits defined. After whenan individual step all, ly the If then should state boundsociety? not, of a s/he reservation, has to produce certificate beinga member wardscaste-and-tribe based on casteandtribe? reservations inproviding ofthecasteortribe in included theschedule. indulge is reservations caste-based It is rarely realisedthatto support the SincetheCensusof India has been conducting censusof the to in caste endogamy; other scheduled tribes 10 yearssince1951, also to support castesand scheduled words, support every it In of on itis generally assumedthatall is wellwiththedata aboutthem. restriction freedom choicein marriage. thiscontext, is
Economic Political & weekly November 3, 2007 1]L5

SPECIAL ARTICLE

of obserin evidence I as I havecited much ethnographic the that noteworthy manyofthepoliticians championing cause 11 vation ShahandDesai1982:pp11-18, asncouldcollect support this in 37-38 8-16. of violators theruleof 12 Itseemsinter-caste reservations themselves are ofcaste-based in extent south to India, possibly hypergamy prevailed a lesser of This there. is a problem inquiry. of because closekin marriage caste.If other customs their of casteendogamy wellas ofmany as andShah(1982). see Plunkett of Fora discussion such (1973) marriages, 13 here. the chil- 14 I amignoring matrilineal outsidetheir havethemselves married not system caste,their they drenand grandchildren would have. The main reason is that oncea politician climbs s/heand REFERENCES highbyusingthecasteladder, __^__ Oxford in SocialStructure, Press, Andre(1974):Studies Agrarian a megacity suchas Delhi Beteille, University movetoa city, her/his family maybe to Delhi. - its culture orMumbai, then and becomepartofitsmetropolitan A of 'Boundaries' thePrinciple Kinship and 'Caste Amity:Maratha (1975): Carter, Anthony toIndian Contributions Caste 9(1), Sociology, pp123-37. Purana', One and social networks institutions. ofthe numerous non-caste of to Sociological Approach theCastePuranas Gujarat', Das,Veena(1968):'ASociological includis dominant of features thisculture individual freedom, Bulletin, pp141-64. 17, Issues and India:Some Robert Empirical Theoretical (1985):TheBhils Western of the from bondsofcaste,whichcontradicts em- Deliege, the ingfreedom Delhi. inIndia, inAnthropology National, and Colonial Social Categories, Maratha: Prachi(2004): 'Casteas in reservations. Deshpande, Policy, implied caste-based phasison casteboundaries and IndianEconomic SocialHistory Twentieth Review, in Century', Identity Early casteinclude reservations Thesupporters caste-based of many 41(1), 7-32. pp and Vol Identity Interaction, Heritage India, 1,Ethnicity, of that Dube,S C (ed) (1977):Tribal Eventhough would announceloudly less intellectuals. they Delhi. Vikas, caste Dumont, broken do ana Caste Faiacun, Louis(1972):HomoHierarchicus: bystem itsimplications, they notbelieveincasteandwouldhaveactually London. boundariesin marriageand otherwisein personal life,they and Trubner Co, G Ghurye, S (1932):Casteand Race in India,KeganPaul,Trench, London. that caste-basedreservations. nevertheless Theythink support Delhi. Caste, (2000):Interrogating Penguin, Dipankar and are reservations "progressive" would lead to empowerment Gupta,JH (1946):CasteinIndia, Oxford second Press, edition, University Bombay. 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The in Division South theLeft-hand of India', Mattison of I hopeI havegiven (1982):'Models Casteand someidea ofhowthedynamics individu- Mines, American Ethnologist,467-84. pp the Orenstein, of al casteis likely be the dominant feature caste during to Eastern in 'Mahratta' Maharashtra, (1963):'Casteand theConcept Henry Volxvi,pp1-9. Anthropologist, a become should of the 21st Therefore, study this dynamics century. toIndian Contributions in Taft(1973):'RoyalMarriages Rajasthan', Frances Plunkett, research and of concern sociological socialanthropological 8, Sociology,pp64-80. prime inK M Kapadia(ed),Professor of DavidF (1954):'The inthecoming decades.Thisdoes notmeanthatwe abandonthe Pocock, Felicitation Hypergamy thePatidars* Prakashan, Bombay. Volume, Popular Ghurye - G957):'Inclusion Exclusion: Process theCasteSystem Gujarat', South of in A and its but of nature, study hierarchy, we have to identify changing Western Journal Anthropology, 19-31. 13,pp of social and cultural - (1972): and place individual castes in the changing Clarendon A and Kanbi Patidar: Study the Community ofGujarat, of Patidar Oxford. Press, of All environment. thiswill requireus to devisenew strategies and Commissioner and General Census (2006):Population for Projections India Registrar Constituted on in of States Projections Group Population 2001-26, research, Report theTechnical particularly urbanareas. The methodof intensive New on Commission Population, Delhi. bytheNational will fieldwork haveto occupyan important place in thesestrate- Risley, edited W Crooke, The Herbert reprint by (1915): People India,secondedition, of Books Oriental Delhi, 1969. used, Corporation, Reprint but giesas ever, itwillhavetobe used withinnovations. Email:arvindmshahdse@yahoo.com NOTES in with formulation, my see book(2002)ona village i For other my disagreements this in 19th Gujarat theearly century. 2 According the2001Census, urban the of to 27.8 population Indiaformed percent, committee to madeby an expert and according theprojections by appointed the for the in census itwillbe 33.5percent 2026.In2001, urban percentage organisation Goawas49.8,Gujarat 42.4, 37.4,Maharashtra andTamilNadu44.0 [seeRegistrar General Census and Commissioner 2006]. as all had not 3 TheJews spread only alongthewestcoastbutalso intheinterior far in have Twosmall synagogues survived old north atleast as Ahmedabad Baroda. and these cities. inTamil Nadu Mines' 4 See alsoMattison (1982)ona casteofartisan-merchants paper a of urban caste. for similar on versus argument models rural Untouchabilin forthcoming 'Purity, this S I have Impurity, developed point my paper, Then Now'. and ity: 6 For elaboration this an of see (1966)andShah(2005,2006). point, Srinivas that rituals so high theGujarat is for Sanskritic 7 Thedemand dalit performing priests since has of castewelfare been organising, government's department scheduled to a course train in ofrituals to them Karmakand 2000-01, according (performance scriptures). of the 8 Risley several other including directorshipthe occupied important positions, in of originally 1908, of Ethnological Survey India.ThePeople Indiawas published in andits second edition edited WCrooke 1915. by to that 9 Ibbetson himself, however, acknowledged he was indebted Coldstream, indeed He oneofhisofficers, theword"hypergamy". explained, for "Hypergamy in than 'marriage a higher wouldappearrather mean 'too muchmarriage' to it but in classicalauthority Indiaprefers ..." (1983:p 356,fn3). rank'; thehighest on an of Thisauthority possibly eminent was scholar theDharmasastras writing anuloma marriage. of io Hutton became at later of professorsocialanthropologytheUniversityCambridge. HO

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