Page 106 - DSOC202_SOCIAL_STRATIFICATION_ENGLISH

Unit 6 : Caste

and it is divided into various sub-castes like Mathur, Saxena, Srivastava, Nigam and Bhatnagar. Notes
Similarly, Agarwal caste is divided into Dasa and Bisa sub-castes, while Oswal caste is divided
into Dhaya, Pancha, Dasa and Bisa sub-castes. The marriage between a Dasa Oswal boy and a
Dasa Agarwal girl will thus be an example of an inter-caste marriage. Brahmin is always erroneously
designated as a caste, when it is in fact a varna, a constellation of many castes. The examples of
Kanyakubja, Saryupari and Gaur Brahmins are the examples of castes, and Shrimali, Purohit and
Pushkarna Brahmins are the examples of sub-castes, while Bhardwaj, Gautam, and Kashyap
Brahmins are the examples of gotras. Castes and sub-castes are both endogamous groups but gotra
is an exogamous group.
How did sub-castes originate ? There are two views : one, they have arisen out of a fission from
a parent group, and two, they have emerged as independent groups (Chauhan, 1966 : 44). According
to Ghurye (1957 : 34), the sub-castes came to be distinguished from castes due to territorial
separateness (for example, Gujarati and Malwi weavers in Madhya Pradesh, or Mewari and
Marwari barbers in Rajasthan), mixed origin (for example, Bhilala in Madhya Pradesh having
emerged due to mixed origin from the Rajput and Bhil parentage), occupational distinction (for
example, Kumhars who work as potters and are called Gadhede, and Kumhars who work on field
and are called Kheted), some peculiarity in the technique of the occupation (for example, Mochi
sub-caste among leather workers who make only new shoes), dissimilarity of custom (for example,
relating to widow re-marriage), and due to nick-names.
Iravati Karve (1958 : 125) has accepted the view that sub-castes are either the fissioned divisions
of castes or they have an independent origin. Referring to this, she has said (1958 : 133) : “The
difference in religious practices and techniques reflects the separate existence and history of these
entities than serves as cause for their separation from the larger units.” Risley (1915), Hutton (1961
: 55) and Majumdar (1958 : 357) have referred to sub-castes breaking away from the main castes/
tribes to raise their status. B.R. Chauhan (1966 : 45) has maintained that the origin of sub-castes
due to the process of fission may be explained in terms of mechanisms like migration, change of
customs, political decisions, etc. Krickpatrick (1912) has explained that sub-castes, which are the
fissioned groups of castes, were earlier formed as the result of migration and political and social
factors but today they are the results of attempts by the well-to-do elements in a despised caste to
cut adrift from their humbler caste brethern and raise themselves in the social scale by finding a
new name and a dubious origin, and associating themselves with some higher caste.
Another question is : What activities belong to the specific fields of caste and sub-caste ? The three
functions performed by sub-castes are : restricting marriages, restricting commensal relations, and
regulating behaviour or communal life in terms of subsisting within the larger society.

The three functions performed by castes are : assigning status, delimiting civil and
religious rights, and determining the occupation.

Referring to these characteristics, Ghurye (1957 : 19) has asserted : “We should recognize sub-
castes as real castes”. A.C. Mayer (1960 : 151) has also talked of recognizing the need to distinguish
caste from sub-caste. He found Ghurye’s reference to caste as meaningful for the society at large
and reference to sub-caste as meaningful for the individual. Referring to members within a caste,
he maintained that sub-caste is more meaningful to them, while referring to members of other
castes, he thought that caste is the key-point of cognition. He, thus, has opined that caste and sub-
caste can co-exist, neither being more real than the other.
There has been some difference of opinion among the scholars regarding the unit of the caste
system. According to some, it is caste and according to others it is sub-caste. Srinivas (1952 : 24),

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