Page 169 - DSOC201_SOCIAL_STRUCTURE_AND_SOCIAL_CHANGE_ENGLISH

Social Structure and Social Change

Notes ritual status of the caste in which he is born. Tilis are treated as untouchable but not the Telis.
Telis will outcaste a member who should venture to press it. The change of occupation did not
necessarily involve the change of caste unless it involved the change of status. Each caste has a
council of its own, known as caste panchayat. This panchayat exercised tremendous power
over its members till recently. Our society with non-industrial civilization had ascription-oriented
stratification in which the role and the role-occupant remain merged. This is because in non-
industrial civilization, technology is based upon manual and animal energy and productive
activities are performed in kinship groups.
• The concept of ‘dominant caste’ was propounded by M.N. Srinivas. It was for the first time
appeared in his essay on the social system of a Mysore village. The definition of ‘dominant
caste’ has undergone some change over a period of time. Srinivas worked in Rampura in 1948.
His finding was first reported in 1955. Nowadays, with the coming of adult suffrage, numerical
strength has become very important and the leaders of the dominant castes help the political
parties to secure votes. But the traditional forms of dominance have not entirely disappeared
and neither has dominance shifted fully to the numerically strongest caste, there is no doubt,
however, that there is a shift and this traditional phase is marked by inter-group tensions. But
what is significant from our point of view is that in many parts of India there are castes which
are decisively dominant. The power of a particular caste lies in the owning of land. The caste
which has larger portion of the land in the village wields greater power.
• Higher education is also accepted by the big landowning castes. Administrative and income
generated in urban areas have also given economic power to these caste groups. The Brahmins
and the Rajputs have traditionally been dominant in the villages. The Brahmins have at the top
of the caste hierarchy and they officiate at the religious festivals and rituals of the village. The
Rajputs have been the feudals-thakurs in the village. The castes which have larger number of
voters, naturally, determine the fate of a candidate contesting elections.
• Landownership confers not only power but prestige, so much so that, individuals who have
made good in any walk of life tend to invest in land. If landownership is not always an
indispensable passport to high rank, it certainly facilitates upward mobility. Dietary relations
refer to sharing food, smoking, and drinking. A member of a high caste does not take water
from the lota (vessel) used by the member of a low caste unless washed with sand or ashes. For
sharing hooka (hubble-bubble), the rules are similar to those as for accepting the food.
• Inter-community and inter-caste marriages have been given legal sanction as well as social
approval. Though people do not mind marrying with persons of other castes, yet a large number
of people still marry in their own castes. The occupational relations refer to the exchange of
products and services in a regular manner. Since the caste system permits and forbids certain
occupations to castes, the traditional specialization determines interdependence of castes.
6.8 Key-Words

1. Servile class : Sudra
2. Loins : Thighs
3. Viryam : Strength
4. Pasavah : Cattle wealth
6.9 Review Questions

1. What do you mean by caste system?
2. Discuss the role of colonialism in indian caste system.
3. Explain the structural and cultural concept of caste.
4. What are the characteristics of caste? Discuss.
5. Is caste system a unique Indian Phenomenon? Explain.

164 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY