1.4 VIEWING INDIA FROM A STRUCTURAL AND CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE(Q. For unity and diversity.

)
The social structure and culture of Indian civilization is deeply influenced by its past. The history of Indian civilization
reveals that religion, economy and politics played a significant role in shaping its social structure and culture. It is the
mythicreligious past and direct political past (strongly dependent on the economy). which provide a basis to understand
mutual alliances and tensions between the various regional political entities that existed in pre-colonial India. The mythic
and religious are intertwined with the political and myths, such as those of sacred kingship are often invoked to justify
present political hierarchies and relationships. Numerous invasions, migrations and a porous and accepting religion has
added diversity to the Indian population and given it an essentially pluralistic content. However, this does not imply India
may not be perceived as a singular entity unit, a nation. Structurally and culturally Indian civilization is highly segmented
and stratified. The previous section illustrated India as regionally segmented. Hinduism is not a doctrinal religion and more
of a way of life. The sub-continent has allowed the flourishing of religions such as Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism and
accepted outside religions like Islam and Christianity. Thus the religious past of India manifests high level of differentiation
and absorption of diverse elements. The present day social and political order draws significantly from the past in letting the
caste system of varna and local jatis play significant role in the arena of power dynamics and formation of social networks
and groups The connections with religious past also provide a crucial means for identification with a distinct kinship group
and particular ancestry. Thus, Hindus visit Gaya and Haridwar to perform rituals for their dead, where priests maintain books
tracing the genealogical history of their clients. The varna and jati systems rule the social world by its superimposition on
the kinship system by the rule of jati endogamy. There is also the concept of generational or blood feuding that is a
derivative of kinship and practiced in societies where kinship still plays a key role. Nonetheless, this perception of past has
been changing over the years, particularly since the end of 19th century when our nationalist leaders started to portray India
as a nation and its population as a unit. India is no longer perceived simply as a segment or fragment, divided into several
regions/states with its population representing different religious/ social identities. In 1947 following its independence from
the British, India was declared as a secular state. Secularism in India refers to a respect for all religions and not its western
counterpart of no religion. Thus, the flag of the country has a Buddhist wheel of law. The national emblem is made of lions,
taken from the seal of the Buddhist king, Asoka. Further, jana, gana, mana was adopted as the national anthem spelling out
peoples and regions of India, clearly reinforcing its unified identity, despite the underlying diversities. The principle of unity
and diversity reflects India’s ability ‘to absorb and reshape what is foreign’ (Cohn 1971:57). India’s civilization represents
assimilation and absorption of elements from long period of several waves of immigrant rule. This has indeed contributed to
its socio-cultural richness and pluralism. However, the following section focusing on Embree’s account on unity of India’s
civilizational past, raises questions regarding appropriateness of viewing Indian society and culture in view of ‘unity in
diversity’.

1.5 DISCOURSES ON INDIA’S CIVILIZATIONAL UNITY (unity and diversity)

The unified identity of Indian civilization is a matter of discussion and debate. Embree (1989) presents three different views.
On one hand there are those who deny the unity of the Indian civilization. The second view contrarily, sees India
as an all- encompassing civilization and unified entity. The third view is a synthesis of the first, two positions. According to
this view India is a land of composite culture, reflective of ‘unity and diversity’. The advocates of the first view are those
who fall in line with the geographer Spate’s thought that historically India is constituted of ‘perennial/nuclear regions’,
which have played a crucial role in shaping and structuring its regional geography and socio-cultural and political history.
This view purports the concept of regionalism. That regionalism is a force which challenges the idea of an all-Indian
civilisation emerges clearly in the colonial works, Hobson-Jobson and that of Strachey. These works view unity of India as
artificially created by the colonial conquest of the country that would last until the exercise of imperial power. According to
these India is a land of numerous regions and hence it would be wrong to perceive people residing here as ‘Indians’.
The proponents of the second view feel that despite the continued significance of nuclear regions of historical geography
there exists reality of an all Indian civilization. They view colonial emphasis on regionalism as a misreading of Indian
history. The third view that pronounces Indian civilization as displaying ‘unity in diversity’ finds one of the earliest
expression in the historian, Vincent Smith’s Oxford History of India, 1919. This is taken as the most appropriate basis to
understand Indian civilization’s uniqueness and distinctiveness from other world cultures. However, Embree rejects the
characterisation of India’s civilizational history in terms of ‘unity in diversity’. Reaffirming the second view, Embree
attributes unity of India to the Brahmanical ideology and tradition, which is a pervasive force with the Hindus who form the
majority of its population. He contrasts it with Hinduism, which he relates to religious and social practices with innumerable
regional and local variants and manifestations that developed in the subcontinent over its long history since the
3rd century BCE. On the other hand, according to him, the Brahmanical ideology represents a uniform and coherent set of
statements in the classical texts and inheritance from historical experiences pertaining to philosophy of life and worldview.
It provides meaning to the lives of majority of Indian population and hence,may be regarded as the significant force
contributing to the unity of Indian civilization.The notions like karma and reincarnation, concept of dharma, and a
sense of a hierarchical social order with respect for Brahmans and rituals are significant contents of the Brahmanic ideology.
These ideological canons articulated with political experiences underlying “imperial institutions brought a variety of regions
under a central authority”(Embree 1989: 12). While the unifying role that the Brahmanical ideology played during the
Mauryan that India’s political unity was artificial, and created by imperial power. In Embree’s opinion both the Brahmanical
ideology and the two external intrusions have been significant in restricting the emergence of nation-states and countering
the growth of regionalism in India. This is unique from the European experience. In Europe there are around 25 nation-
states. Unlike the European Church, the Brahmanical tradition placed the ruler or the king at the centre of universal order,
without stressing on the criteria of territorial sovereignty. Further, the intrusion of Islamic and European civilizations had an
all encompassing effect on India, destroying the scope and possibility for different regions to political independence.
According to Embree regionalism has not been a counterforce to unity of India as it has been made to appear in many
writings. This however, according to him does not imply India may be characterised in terms of ‘unity and diversity’.
1.3 UNDERSTANDING THE GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA Indian civilization has complex and deeply rooted
historical traditions, with a wide variation in custom and behaviour regionally and with the social structure of a
particular region (Cohn 1971:7). Further, it is the basic physiography of India that has provided a broad
framework for a persistent historical, cultural and political pattern. It therefore, becomes significant to take an
account of its (historical) geography. Cohn lists out three zones into which India may be divided in a broad
geographical way. These are:/The Perennial or Nuclear Zones/The Route Zones/The Zones of Relative
Isolation. A description of these zones is provided below:.1The Perennial/Nuclear Zones The perennial zones are the
fertile river basins, plains and delta. Historically, they have been centres/nucleus of human settlement, high
population density, political activity and a stable state system. They have settled agriculture practices. They are
known for being trade centres of agricultural and craft commodities. Various pre-modern and modern cities
have emerged in nuclear zones. India is marked by such zones both in north and south India. Historically, the
river basins and plains around Peshawar led to the emergence of first nuclear zone in northern India which is
Gandhara, a town that is now in Pakistan. The Sutlej-Jamuna doab and the Gangese- Jamuna doab formed the
major nuclear zones of north. These comprised of cities like Kurukshetra-Panchala, Kanauj, Panipat, Delhi,
Agra, which have had a vibrant politico-historical past. Kosala, the present day Central Uttar Pradesh, Bengal
and Saurahastra, the contemporary Gujarat are other examples of nuclear zones of north. Each of these zones
have distinct linguistic traditions and owing to topographical and climatic variations have evolved a distinctive
cropping pattern. There are five major nuclear zones in south India. These are –Andhra, Tamil Nadu , Kerala,
Maharashtra and Mysore. Both the zones are known for dry agriculture with millet, maize and gram being
prominent crops. Also, unlike Tamil Nadu the two zones display a dispersed settlement pattern. Kerala/Malabar
forms the south western part of India. It stands distinct from other zones in the south owing to its height due to
the Niligiri ranges and the rain it receives. The Western Ghats isolate it from other zones in south and render it a
distinct culture and social structure, visible in the practice of matriliny by the Nayar community. However,
similar to Andhra and Tamil Nadu, Kerala displays agriculture based on wet rice cultivation..2 The Route Zones
Malwa provides a typical example of a route zone. It connects north India with the western coast and Deccan. It
acts as a passage for invaders and traders to reach nuclear zones of attraction. It is a distinct cultural region,
lying towards south of Aravali ranges. It is a semi-arid region. The route zones have no unified and persistent
political tradition. Socially and culturally, they are mosaics rather than having distinctive culture and social
structure (Cohn 1971:26).They are areas of settlement of migrant population..3 The Zones of Relative Isolation The
zones of relative isolation are relatively inaccessible and geographically lesser conducive areas for human
settlement. Ladakh for instance is not only icy cold but relatively cut off due to high mountains ranges. And
therefore has sparse settlements. zones of relative isolation like: a) The area in the northern arc. This is
constituted by the regions adjoining the borders of Baluchistan and Afghanistan. b) The areas around Gilgit and
Jammu and Kashmir having a unique cultural tradition, assimilating Hindus from the plains. c) The areas along
the Himalayas in the plains extending through Nepal border, Bhutan and Sikkim and place where the
Brahmaputra River enters Assam plains. These represent dual cultural influence that of Tibetan-Buddhism and
Hindu beliefs transmitted from the plains. d) In the hilly and forested tracts of north east, the area between
Burma and India. The area is home to various tribes reflecting south-eastern influence
2 VARNA AND CASTE In theory, the caste system is interlinked with the ‘Varna’ model which divides the Hindu society
into four orders, viz., Brahmana, (traditionally, priest and scholar), Kshatriya (ruler and soldier), Vaishya (merchants) and
Shudra (peasants, labourers and servants). The first three castes are ‘twice-born’ or ‘dvija’ since the men from these castes
are entitled to do the sacred thread at the Vedic rite of upanayana, which the Shudras were not allowed to perform. The
untouchable castes are outside the varna scheme. The term ‘varna’ literally means colour and it was originally used to refer
to the distinction between Arya and Dasa, in ancient India (Ghurye 1950: 52). The caste system is an all-India phenomenon
of which the varna model provides an all-India macro-structural scheme. In other words, the varna model only provides a
framework within which the innumerable variations of castes throughout India are found. According to Srinivas (1962: 65)
the varna-scheme is a ‘hierarchy’ in the literal sense of the term because the criteria of ritual purity and pollution are at the
basis of this differentiation. Generally speaking, the higher castes are also the better off castes, and the lower castes are
generally, the lower classes. However, this association between caste and class is not always true. A caste can be ritually
high but ranked lower in the local caste hierarchy because this hierarchy is determined by secular factors like economic,
political, educational status. Thus, one of the most striking features of caste system, as an actual reality, has been the
vagueness in the hierarchy, especially in the middle rungs. According to the Varna scheme there are only four categories of
caste. This scheme excludes the untouchables who are same throughout India. But this is not true in reality since even during
the Vedic period, occupational groups existed which were not subsumed by Varna, although one cannot be sure whether
these groups can be called castes or not. According to Ghurye, in each linguistic region, there are about 200 caste groups
which are further sub- divided into about 3,000 smaller units each of which is endogamous and provides the area of effective
social life for the individual. Therefore, one can say that the Varna scheme refers at the most only to the broad categories of
the society (Srinivas 1962: 65). Figure shows that a Varna may include different castes and these castes may be divided into
different subcastes. 7.2.1 Features of the Caste System The main features of caste system are: i) hierarchy, ii) endogamy, 90
Institutions and Processes iii) association with a hereditary occupation, iv) restrictions on food and social relations, v)
distinction in custom, dress and speech, and vi) civil and religious disabilities and privileges, enjoyed by different caste
groups in the society
3.2 STATELESS SOCIETY IN INDIA Stateless societies are defined in terms of the absence of any centralised
political structure implying that there is no formal agency of social control as you find them in contemporary
societies. The ties of kinship and lineage system guide the political order of stateless societies. State societies
emerged with the Agricultural Revolution, as states are made possible only if there is a surplus generated that
can support a non-producing elite. Pre-agricultural societies did not produce a surplus as they did not have any
stratification to demand the production of a surplus. Even when the agricultural transition was made, most parts
of India continued as non-state, kinship and community based societies, where land is not owned and there is no
well- developed concept of property and of land revenue. Scholars have two views on the link of agriculture,
surplus production and state formation. One view that was classically held by scholars such as Gordon Childe,
consider the technological advancement as the trigger for the emergence of urban civilization and state
formation. The other view primarily led by scholars such as Ester Boserup have put primacy to hierarchy and
the need to pay rent as the push that led towards technological revolution and people had no option but to look
for ways to create surplus to pay tribute. The history of the beginning of civilisation in Indian subcontinent starts
with Indus Valley Civilisation which is also known as Harappan Civilisation. Scholars have argued that there
existed uniformity in this civilisation in terms of the construction of its cities. This has compelled them to
conclude that there existed a central political authority implying that it was not a stateless society .In this
backdrop, the discussion on stateless societies in India starts with society during the Vedic period. Rig Veda is
the primary source from which the history of vedic period is reconstructed. The Vedic society was primarily
pastoral-nomadic. It did not have knowledge of agriculture in the beginning. It was primarily guided by lineage
system. The sociological classification of stateless societies makes it evident that kinship and lineage are central
features guiding the political organisation of stateless societies. It is argued that “characteristics of the lineage
system do appear to be recognisable in much of what we know of Vedic society” (Thapar, 1990:10). In fact
historians like Wolpert (1997:25) has raised doubt about the Aryan conquest theory (much prevalent for a long
time) saying that in comparison to the fortified and well developed cities of Mohenja Daro and Harrapa, the
Aryans did not have the technological or military capability of storming the cities.
3.3 TRANSITION FROM STATELESS TO STATE SOCIETY IN INDIA
The transition from stateless society to state society takes places at a particular juncture in Indian history. It
happened at point when the agricultural production and social relations in society reached a stage where
producing agricultural surplus was possible and a standing army could be maintained. The period depicted in the
Mahabharta, that is dated to around Ist century AD, shows that some small feudal kingdoms were emerging.
The presence of a perennial and large source of water has been seen as the prime requisite for the emergence of
state and urban civilizations. Thus the cradle of urban civilization was Mesopotamia on the banks of the
Euphrates and the Tigris rivers and the Indus river and its tributaries the site of the Indus valley or Harrapan
Civilization. The Doab, or the flat plains watered by the Ganga and the Yamuna in Northern Peninsular India
provided the ecological conditions necessary for cultivation and surplus production. The republics developed
alongside monarchies. So, two state systems developed at this time – ganasanghas and monarchies. This is
where the first empire of India i.e. Magadha, emerged. This transition from pre-state or lineage society to state
took place around 1000-600 BCE in the mid Ganga Valley. All these transformations in social organisation and
state systems was possible because of the increased agricultural production which provided the base for the
appearance of cities, states and complex class society. The establishment of sixteen Mahajanapadas along with
their capital cities and standing armies could not be achieved if agricultural surplus was not produced. This was
all the more difficult if the caste system had not divided the labour but also labourers. The consolidation of
Mauryan Empire under Ashoka’s regime is compelling story of these factors. We are not going to narrate the
story of rise and fall of Mauryan Empire here. Our primary aim is to show that the idea of nation-state was still
absent at a time when consolidation of empires was taking place in ancient India. Similarly the rise of Gupta
empire may lead you to think that India as a nation-state existed.There is no doubt that these empires had huge
centralised administrative and bureaucratic structures and have acquired territories through regular conquests,
but the kind of political and economic consolidation brought out by British colonialism was unparalleled in
Indian history. The colonial governance and anti-colonial struggle has shaped much of the political processes of
contemporaryIndia. The Second World War also contributed to the emergence of what today we recognise as
nation-states. The War initiated feelings of belonging, marked by redefined territories, ethnic and cultural
identities.
12.3 Early Critiques and Struggles In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, grew a strong critique
against atrocities of caste system owing to the efforts of social reformers like Pandita Ramabai, Tarabai Shinde,
Jyotiba Govindrao Phule and Bhimrao Ambedkar. This has been pivotal in building anti-caste movement(s) and
resistance in the country in the post independent India.
12.3.1 Feminists Crusade against Patriarchy: Ramabai, Tarabai and Beyond Pandita Rambai and Tarabai
Shinde, the two nineteenth century women reformers were pioneers in rendering feminist perspective to
activism against Hinduism and caste system. They adopted a completely distinct outlook from the other early
reformers of the period like Raja Ram Mohan Roy of Brahmo Samaj, Dayanand Sarwasti of Arya Samaj and
men like Mahatma Gandhi. Both Ramabai and Tarabai, unlike the other reformers did not believe that the
present state of degeneration of women could be done away with by returning to idealised versions of Vedas
and Upanishads (Omvedt 2001:35). Rather, they saw Hinduism as inherently rooted in casteist and patriarchal
excrescences (ibid.). In short, they rejected Hinduism as oppressive. a) Pandita Ramabai Pandita Ramabai
Sarasvati was born on 23 April 1858. She championed women’s rights by exposing oppression of Hindu-
dominated caste ridden society. Her liberal and egalitarian ideas evoked waves of reaction in the wider world
of the English-educated brahman intellectuals. Pandita Ramabai founded the Arya Mahila Samaj, the first
autonomous women’s organisation to promote women’s education and fight the oppression of child marriage.
She challenged patriarchal ideals set forth by Hinduism and its fundamental doctrine, caste, both at the level of
society and family. The text The High Caste Hindu Woman written by her exposes the adversities and
oppressive aspects of high caste Hindu women, including child brides and widows. Finding the sanskritic core
of Hinduism as essentially anti-woman, she converted to christainity. She provided a critique of the ancient
sacred texts, and epics like Dharma Shastras and Puranas for condemning women of both high and low caste
as bad and unholy, and therefore, unworthy of salvation. She was one of the first activists in India to embody a
vision of a caste-less and classless and patriarchy-free society (Omvedt 2001:32). Although, she started with a
focus on the upper 6 caste widows her focus was to shift to the outcaste child widows and destitute women
after 1896 famine in Maharastra. She rescued them and set shelter-homes ‘Mukti’ and ‘Sharada Sadan’
condemning the core of Hinduism as fundamentally patriarchal. b) Tarabai Shinde Tarabai Shinde was born in
1850 in an elite Marathi caste family. She is regarded as the foremost Indian women literary critic questioning
the patriarchal setup and stereotypes based on gender. Her work Stri-Purush Tulna is a testimony to her
crusade against dominant Hinduism and its unjust practices towards women in general and widows in
particular. In this work she questions the ideology of stri dharma, which Hinduism forces the women to imbibe.
In her view this ideology forces women to unquestioningly submit and obey their husbands idealising them as
pativarta. Tarabai’s work poses an attack to Hindu scriptures (like Ramayana and Mahabharata) in a satirical
language, which bears resonance with the folk narrative and story-telling tradition of many working class and
peasant women. Expressing her rebellion in a bitter rhetorical attack on the structures of patriarchy, she
questioned Hinduism for differently imposing moral dictums on men and women. c) Moving Beyond the Early
Feminists Drawing inspiration from figures like Ramabai and Tarabai even after the upsurge of Hindu
nationalism in late nineteenth century the women’s movement had began to take an organised form. In the
1920s All- India Women’s Congress and similar women’s organisations were formed. However, these were
predominantly upper caste and elite organisations, which worked within the dominant Hindu framework
speaking of Sita and Savitri as ideals for women, not symbols of male oppression (Omvedt 2001:35). They
praised the freedom of the Vedic period, and depicted purdah and other evils as resulting from the social
conditions of the Muslim invasion (ibid.). The rural India was to witness much active and radical action as lower
class and peasant women reinterpreted dominant Hindu tradition than their urban counterparts. This is
evident from the formation of women’s front of Oudhian Kisan Sabha, which focused on giving land 7 rights to
women, and attacked male polygamy during the time (ibid.:36). Nonethless, the reinterpretation of dominant
Hinduism by the women’s front did not entail its outright rejection. Thus, its members praised both Kaikeyi
and Sita as strong-willed women challenging the conventional dictums of Hinduism. The former sent Rama to
the jungle on an exile and latter decided to accompany him on it despite her husband urging him otherwise.
Yet, as Omvedt (2001: 37) points out that lower class and peasant women were closer to the general attitude
of Ramabai and Tarabai. For they took epics and puranas as stories and not scriptures reinterpreting these in
view of their everyday reality offering a critique to the dominant culture and tradition. The nineteenth century
‘kheur’, popular folk songs of Bengal on Radha-Krishan and the ‘Satyashodhak tamashas’ of early twentieth
century in Maharastra are other forms of expression used by lower class and caste women providing rereading
of the dominant tradition questioning and challenging it.