SOCIAL STRUCTURE IN VILLAGE INDIA WITH PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON THE PANCHAYATI RAJ by DOUGLAS S. MOSER B.A., Western Washington State College, 1963 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Master of Arts in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA In p r e s e n t i n g t h i s t h e s i s i n p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t of the requirements f o r an advanced degree at the U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia, I agree t h a t the L i b r a r y s h a l l make i t f r e e l y a v a i l a b l e f o r r e f e r e n c e and Study. I f u r t h e r agree t h a t p e r m i s s i o n f o r e x t e n s i v e copying of t h i s t h e s i s f o r s c h o l a r l y purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by h i s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s . It i s understood t h a t c o p y i n g or p u b l i c a t i o n of t h i s thes.is f o r f i n a n c i a l g a i n s h a l l not be a l l o w e d w i t h o u t my w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n . Department of ( X M ^ T N € ^ ( ^ g \ y U i ' U - ^ j The U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada Date | ( X v t i t 4 ^ i %X . ( i i ABSTRACT The v i l l a g e has been the s i g n i f i c a n t s o c i a l u n i t on the In d i a n subcontinent f o r thousands of y e a r s . To m a i n t a i n i t s i n t e g r i t y i t has developed a set of i n t e r l o c k i n g s t r u c t u r e s , some of which are unique to the s u b c o n t i n e n t , which are very r e s i s t a n t t o change. The I n d i a n n a t i o n a l government passed l e g i s l a t i o n which p r o v i d e d f o r the f o r m a t i o n of new s t r u c t u r e s of p o l i t i c a l a l l o c a t i o n w ithout p r o v i d i n g the b a s i s of sup-p o r t f o r changing the other r e l a t e d s t r u c t u r e s e x i s t i n g w i t h i n the v i l l a g e . This t h e s i s attempts to show why t h i s p a r t i c u l a r change, advocated by the s t a t e and n a t i o n a l governments, f a i l e d . i v TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I . I n t r o d u c t i o n 1 Purpose of the Study 1 D i s c u s s i o n of Reasons f o r the Use of a T y p i c a l V i l l a g e 1 V i l l a g e as the B a s i c U n i t Rather than Caste or Household 3 D e s c r i p t i o n of the T y p i c a l V i l l a g e 5 1. P o s i t i o n w i t h i n the Lar g e r S e t t i n g 5 2. D e s c r i p t i o n 13 I I . S t r u c t u r e s of Role D i f f e r e n t i a t i o n w i t h i n the V i l l a g e 20 Role D i f f e r e n t i a t i o n w i t h i n the Household 21 D e f i n i t i o n of Household 22 Age as the B a s i s of Role D i f f e r e n t i a t i o n 24 Generation as the B a s i s of Role D i f f e r e n t i -a t i o n 29 Sex as the B a s i s of Role D i f f e r e n t i a t i o n 31 Household Status as a Means of Role D i f f e r e n t i a t i o n w i t h i n the V i l l a g e 35 I I I . S t r u c t u r e of S o l i d a r i t y 46 S o l i d a r i t y S t r u c t u r e s w i t h i n the Household 48 1. • The Father-Son R e l a t i o n s h i p 48 2. The B r o t h e r - B r o t h e r R e l a t i o n s h i p 52 S o l i d a r i t y S t r u c t u r e s w i t h i n the V i l l a g e 55 S o l i d a r i t y S t r u c t u r e s i n the Caste System 56 1. S o l i d a r i t y S t r u c t u r e s as they order I n t r a c a s t e R e l a t i o n s h i p s 56 V CHAPTER PAGE 2. S o l i d a r i t y S t r u c t u r e s i n I n t e r c a s t e R e l a t i o n s h i p s 58 S o l i d a r i t y S t r u c t u r e s w i t h i n the Jajmani System 59 IV. The S t r u c t u r e of Economic A l l o c a t i o n 63 D e f i n i t i o n of Economic A l l o c a t i o n 63 The S u b s t r u c t u r e of Economic P r o d u c t i o n 63 The Jajmani System 64 The Jajmani System as i t Operates i n Rampur 65 The S u b s t r u c t u r e of Economic Consumption 78 V. P o l i t i c a l A c t i v i t y w i t h i n the V i l l a g e 84 S i z e of Caste 87 P e r s o n a l i t y and Number of Prominent I n d i v i d u a l s w i t h i n the Dominant Caste 88 Length of Residence i n the V i l l a g e 89 Type of Issue 92 P a c t i o n s w i t h i n Nonland-owning Castes 93 S a n s k r i t i z a t i o n as a Long Term P o l i t i c a l A c t i v i t y 95 Sources of Power W i t h i n the V i l l a g e 97 V I . P a nchayati Raj 103 BIBLIOGRAPHY 122 APPENDIX 128 v l ACKNOWLEDGMENT The author of t h i s t h e s i s would l i k e t o express h i s a p p r e c i a t i o n t o h i s a d v i s o r , Mr. Jean L o u i s de Lannoy, and t o Miss Helga Jacobson, both of whom p r o v i d e d v a l u a b l e c r i t i c i s m . CHAPTER I I n t r o d u c t i o n PURPOSE OF THE PAPER I propose t o analyze the p a t t e r n s of s o c i a l i n t e r a c t i o n i n a t y p i c a l n o r t h c e n t r a l I n d i a n v i l l a g e w i t h p a r t i c u l a r emphasis on the nature and d i r e c t i o n of s o c i a l change r e s u l t -i n g from the i n t r o d u c t i o n of f o r m a l panchayats. I s h a l l be examining i n p a r t i c u l a r the f o l l o w i n g a n a l y t i c s t r u c t u r e s ; r o l e d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n , s o l i d a r i t y , economic a l l o c a t i o n , and p o l i t i c a l a l l o c a t i o n . Much of what I s h a l l d i s c u s s w i l l be couched i n a s e r i e s of hypotheses which h o p e f u l l y can and w i l l be t e s t e d i n the f i e l d at some l a t e r date. DISCUSSION OF REASONS FOR THE USE OF A TYPICAL VILLAGE The reasons I have chosen t o d i s c u s s s o c i a l I n t e r a c t i o n i n a t y p i c a l v i l l a g e r a t h e r than a p a r t i c u l a r v i l l a g e are s e v e r a l . F i r s t , much of the data I s h a l l use Is the r e s u l t of secondary a n a l y s i s . Second, many of the d ata g a t h e r i n g agencies d e f i n e the v i l l a g e i n such f a s h i o n t h a t i t i s not r e a l l y a s o c i a l u n i t . Thus, the n a t i o n a l agency whose job i t i s t o c o l l e c t taxes may lump s e v e r a l v i l l a g e s t o g e t h e r which do not act as a s o c i a l u n i t i n order t h a t the c o l l e c t i o n of taxes might be e x p e d i t e d . And the N a t i o n a l E x t e n s i o n S e r v i c e , cuts and lumps the v i l l a g e s i n an e n t i r e l y d i f f e r e n t way than the t a x c o l l e c t i o n agency. 1 The a d m i n i s t r a t i v e u n i t s of these two government agencies need not c o i n c i d e . A g a i n , the Census Bureau has s t i l l another d e f i n i t i o n of what they mean by the v i l l a g e . T h i r d , the v i l l a g e r s themselves as the a c t o r s d e f i n e the v i l l a g e i n q u i t e d i f f e r i n g ways. For example, Andre B e t e i l e , i n a r e c e n t p u b l i c a t i o n , p o i n t s out t h a t when Brahmins are asked to enumerate the i n h a b i t a n t s of the v i l l a g e they number o n l y themselves, e x c l u d i n g a l l those who belong t o o t h e r c a s t e s r e s i d e n t i n the v i l l a g e . The Brahmins hadn't thought t o i n c l u d e the other c a s t e s u n t i l the f a c t of e x c l u s i o n was p o i n t e d out and even then they were h e s i t a n t because the others owned no p r o p e r t y i n the v i l l a g e other than p e r s o n a l p r o p e r t y and very l i t t l e of t h a t . To the o u t s i d e r i t might seem t h a t the Brahmins thought of the other r e s i d e n t s as coming w i t h the 1 l a n d . This o b s e r v a t i o n was made i n southern I n d i a and may or may not occur i n other p a r t s of I n d i a . (That other r e s e a r c h e r s have not mentioned t h i s does not mean t h a t t h i s s o r t of s i t u a t i o n does not e x i s t ; i t may merely mean t h a t the question.has never been asked i n t h a t manner.) Fourth and f i n a l l y , t here I s the problem of the p a t t e r n of s e t t l e m e n t . Some v i l l a g e s are compact, c e n t r a l l y l o c a t e d b l o c k s of houses. Some are of the d i s p e r s e d hamlet type and s t i l l others are of the d i s p e r s e d household type. Some of the v i l -l ages which I s h a l l r e f e r t o are i n f a c t d i s p e r s e d hamlets even though they i n t e r a c t i n much the same way as the v i l l a g e s which 2 are of the compact settlement type. 3 WHY USE THE VILLAGE AS THE BASIC UNIT RATHER THAN CASTE OR HOUSEHOLD A p e r t i n e n t q u e s t i o n at t h i s p o i n t i s : Why choose the v i l l a g e as the s o c i a l u n i t r a t h e r than c a s t e or household? In my e s t i m a t i o n the v i l l a g e I s the c l o s e s t t h i n g t o b e i n g a s e l f - s u f f i c i e n t s o c i a l u n i t t h a t can be found i n I n d i a . N e i t h e r the household nor the caste can be c o n s i d e r e d as s e l f - s u f f i c i e n t u n i t s i n terms of e i t h e r economic a l l o c a t i o n of goods and s e r -v i c e s or p o l i t i c a l a l l o c a t i o n of power and a u t h o r i t y . There are a c o n s i d e r a b l e number of o u t s i d e f o r c e s which Impinge upon the decision-making powers of e i t h e r of these two u n i t s . To use e i t h e r u n i t as the b a s i s f o r a n a l y s i s would exclude much s i g n i f i c a n t i n t e r a c t i o n . The household and the caste do, of course, make d e c i s i o n s t h a t a f f e c t the a c t i o n s of the members, but a l a r g e number of d e c i s i o n s can be and are made f o r the members of the caste or household In which these members have no p a r t i n the decision-making p r o c e s s . The reasons I have a p p l i e d f o r not u s i n g e i t h e r caste or household may be l e v e l e d by some a g a i n s t my choice of the v i l l a g e f o r the v i l l a g e i s "not completely s e l f - s u f f i c i e n t e i t h e r . The i n t e r a c t i o n which occurs between v i l l a g e s cannot be i g n o r e d and I s h a l l have oc c a s i o n t o d i s c u s s t h i s i n t e r a c t i o n , but, on the whole, the s i g n i f i c a n t i n t e r a c t i o n (e.g., p o l i t i c a l and economic a c t i v i t y ) does occur w i t h i n the v i l l a g e proper ( s i g n i f i c a n t i n terms of the amount of i n t e r a c t i o n and the type of i n t e r a c t i o n ) . Per-haps the s i n g l e most important p a t t e r n of behaviour which i s 4 not v i l l a g e o r i e n t e d i s t h a t which i s based on the marriage of v i l l a g e males t o e x t r a - v i l l a g e females. In most v i l l a g e s t here i s a l s o some t r a d i n g f o r s p e c i a l i z e d products and some s h a r i n g of the t a l e n t s of s p e c i a l i z e d l a b o u r e r s . D e f i n i n g as the s o c i a l u n i t a n y t h i n g l a r g e r than the v i l -lage would be m i s l e a d i n g . Only on s p e c i a l o c c a s i o n s do r e s i d e n t s of two adjacent v i l l a g e s c o o p e r a t e — n o r m a l l y one would expect h o s t i l i t y r a t h e r than c o o p e r a t i o n . Caste-mates from adjacent v i l l a g e s o c c a s i o n a l l y work t o g e t h e r i n ceremonies r e l a t e d to b i r t h , marriage, and death t o make a b i g g e r show f o r the r e s t of t h e i r own v i l l a g e and Improve t h e i r p r e s t i g e . W i t h i n the v i l l a g e i t i s p o s s i b l e t o see a n t a g o n i s t i c groups, but t h i s antagonism i s m i t i g a t e d by the need t o cooperate i n matters economic or p o l i t i c a l . Above the v i l l a g e l e v e l such i s not the case. V i l l a g e s do not need t o cooperate t o ensure economic s u r v i v a l . The p r o d u c t i o n u n i t i s s m a l l enough t o be e a s i l y contained w i t h i n the v i l l a g e . P o l i t i c a l groups or f a c t i o n s w i t h i n the v i l l a g e are o f t e n q u i t e a n t a g o n i s t i c , b u t , a g a i n , t h i s i s m i t i g a t e d by the e x i s t e n c e of other kinds of t i e s such as c a s t e bonds which do not operate e f f e c t i v e l y above the v i l l a g e l e v e l . I t must be c o n s t a n t l y kept i n mind t h a t throughout the paper, unless otherwise s t a t e d , I am t a l k i n g about a t y p i c a l v i l l a g e . There i s a great d e a l of v a r i a t i o n i n v i l l a g e s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e w i t h i n any one r e g i o n and o b v i o u s l y there i s even more v a r i a t i o n when I n d i a i s taken as a whole. The t y p i c a l 5 v i l l a g e under a n a l y s i s i n t h i s study w i l l more c l o s e l y resemble what i s g e n e r a l l y known about n o r t h c e n t r a l I n d i a than any of the other r e g i o n s . There w i l l , o f c o u r s e , be some s i m i l a r i t i e s between r e g i o n s . On some occasions i n t h i s paper I s h a l l i n f e r or h y p othesize behaviour p a t t e r n s f o r the n o r t h c e n t r a l p o r t i o n of the c o n t i n e n t which have not been observed ( m a i n l y , I am assuming, because no one has looked f o r them or thought t o l o o k f o r them) except i n other r e g i o n s . To do a proper job f o r the whole of I n d i a one would have t o e s t a b l i s h t y p i c a l v i l l a g e s f o r each of the major r e g i o n a l v a r i a n t s , which l i e s beyond the scope of t h i s p r o j e c t . DESCRIPTION OP THE TYPICAL VILLAGE To put the t y p i c a l v i l l a g e i n proper p e r s p e c t i v e I t h i n k i t i s necessary t o d e s c r i b e the n a t i o n a l s e t t i n g i n which the v i l l a g e might be found as w e l l as the v i l l a g e i t s e l f . So I b egin t h i s s e c t i o n w i t h a b r i e f d e s c r i p t i o n of the l a r g e r s e t t i n g i n which the v i l l a g e f i n d s i t s e l f . 1. P o s i t i o n of the V i l l a g e w i t h i n the L a r g e r S e t t i n g I n d i a i s the second most populous n a t i o n on the e a r t h . The p o p u l a t i o n i n 1961 was 4 3 6 , 4 2 4 , 4 2 9 . ^ I t i s l a r g e l y a peasant type a g r i c u l t u r a l n a t i o n w i t h only a few l a r g e centers of p o p u l a t i o n . The 1961 S t a t i s t i c a l A b s t r a c t l i s t s only 2,609 5 centers whose p o p u l a t i o n Is g r e a t e r ^ t h a n 5 , 0 0 0 . There are a 6 few v e r y l a r g e c e n t e r s o f p o p u l a t i o n l i k e C a l c u t t a , Bombay, and New D e l h i , but even t h e s e l a r g e c i t i e s seem t o d i f f e r g r e a t l y ^ from l a r g e c i t i e s i n most Western n a t i o n s . I n 1961 7 r o u g h l y 82 p e r cent o f t h e t o t a l p o p u l a t i o n was l i v i n g i n a p p r o x i m a t e l y 558,000 v i l l a g e s o f l e s s t h a n 5,000 i n h a b i t a n t s . (The Census Bureau d e f i n e s t h e v i l l a g e as h a v i n g l e s s t h a n 500 i n h a b i t a n t s . ) S i n c e t h i s means t h a t t h e a v e r a g e v i l l a g e s i z e can o n l y be about 640 t h e r e a r e o b v i o u s l y thousands o f v i l l a g e s w hich may have o n l y two o r t h r e e hundred i n h a b i t a n t s . Most o f t h e s e v i l l a g e s c o n t a i n w i t h i n t h e i r b o r d e r s l i t t l e more l a n d i n numbers o f a c r e s t h a n t h e y have i n h a b i t a n t s ( t h i s v a r i e s from r e g i o n t o r e g i o n ) . I n t h e n o r t h w e s t o f I n d i a t h e v i l l a g e s t e n d t o be l a r g e r and t h e land/man r a t i o s h i g h e r because the s o i l i s not as p r o d u c t i v e . I n some p a r t s o f t h e n o r t h e a s t and i n t h e s o u t h t h e v i l l a g e p o p u l a t i o n i s s m a l l e r and t h e v i l l a g e l a n d h o l d i n g s are l e s s , b o t h because i t i s more p r o d u c t i v e l a n d and because t h e r e are more p e o p l e . The f u r t h e r s o u t h one t r a v e l s i n I n d i a t h e more one i s l i k e l y t o see d i s p e r s e d h a m l e t s o r h o u s e h o l d s . P e o p l e l i v e on h i g h ground wherever i t e x i s t s because o f t h e a n n u a l t h r e a t o f f l o o d s , r a t h e r t h a n form f a i r l y l a r g e compact s e t t l e m e n t s i n t h e c e n t e r o f t h e f i e l d s as t h e y do i n the n o r t h o f I n d i a . T h i s h i g h ground i s o f t e n around the tanks (ponds) and i s the r e s u l t o f the o r i g i n a l p r e p a r a t i o n as w e l l as the r e p a i r o f the t a n k . The c l i m a t e o f I n d i a v a r i e s w i d e l y from d e s e r t t y p e c o n d i -t i o n s t o monsoon type weather. S o i l t y p e v a r i e s w i t h t h e 7 a l t i t u d e , type of parent r o c k from which the s o i l i s d e r i v e d , and the amount of r a i n f a l l . And as these f a c t o r s vary so do the types of crops which may be grown. Southern and e a s t e r n I n d i a are b a s i c a l l y r i c e - g r o w i n g a r e a s . The d r i e r areas i n the northwest are predominantly wheat and m i l l e t - g r o w i n g areas. N o r t h c e n t r a l I n d i a a g r i c u l t u r a l i s t s grow both types of crops depending upon the amount of water a v a i l a b l e . G e n e r a l l y the w e t t e r p a r t s of the v i l l a g e lands are g i v e n over t o r i c e and the d r i e r p a r t s t o wheat or m i l l e t . Supplementary crops appro-p r i a t e t o the growing c o n d i t i o n s are grown wherever p o s s i b l e on the v i l l a g e lands and cash crops are b e g i n n i n g t o be grown on i n c r e a s i n g l y l a r g e acreages. U n t i l r e c e n t l y the subcontinent has been a b l e t o produce enough t o meet i t s consumption needs i n most y e a r s , g i v e n the s t a t e of the t e c h n i c a l a r t s . There have been p e r i o d i c famines 9 a l l through I n d i a ' s h i s t o r y but the b u l k of these famines can be a t t r i b u t e d to l a c k of d i s t r i b u t i o n f a c i l i t i e s r a t h e r than to any absolute l a c k of p r o d u c t i o n . ( V i l l a g e r s I n one l o c a l i t y c o u l d be s t a r v i n g w h i l e j u s t f i f t y m i l e s away t h e r e might be a s u r p l u s . ) The l o c a l famines were normally the r e s u l t of poor r a i n f a l l . Oscar Lewis p o i n t s out t h a t t h e r e i s great v a r i a -t i o n not only i n the monthly amount of r a i n but i n the y e a r l y amount as w e l l . 1 0 The s i t u a t i o n p r e s e n t l y i s more grim. With the tremendous i n c r e a s e i n p o p u l a t i o n i n the l a s t few decades even good crop years do not p r o v i d e enough f o o d , and when the r a i n s f a i l or come at the wrong time as they have i n the l a s t few years i n I n d i a famine runs rampart. Only the shipment of 8 l a r g e q u a n t i t i e s of g r a i n from s u r p l u s n a t i o n s has kept I n d i a from s u f f e r i n g the death of m i l l i o n s of her i n h a b i t a n t s . U n f o r t u n a t e l y the s i t u a t i o n can only get worse as f u r t h e r p o p u l a t i o n i n c r e a s e s are marked. I n d i a i s j u s t b e g i n n i n g to develop i n d u s t r i a l l y . She has a f a i r l y good supply of the b a s i c m i n e r a l s needed f o r i n d u s -t r i a l i z a t i o n , 1 1 and good sources of power i n the many r i v e r s which come down from the Himalayas and from the c e n t r a l h i g h -12 lan d s . Development of these r e s o u r c e s r e q u i r e s , among o t h e r t h i n g s , c a p i t a l and t r a i n e d manpower (both s k i l l e d l a b o u r and t r a i n e d management) both o f which are I n very s h o r t s u p p l y . I n d i a ' s great problem i s her r a p i d l y expanding p o p u l a t i o n which eats up any economic gains she can make. Very l i t t l e of the government's e f f o r t t o r a i s e the standard of l i v i n g of the average I n d i a n through i n c r e a s e d crop p r o d u c t i o n and i n d u s t r i a l -i z a t i o n reaches the average peasant. T h i s i s made f a i r l y obvious In the w r i t i n g s of v a r i o u s authors who have been concerned w i t h 13 the problem. ^ Many v i l l a g e s are not even aware t h a t the n a t i o n a l government has formulated F i v e Year Plans to a i d them t o i n c r e a s e crop p r o d u c t i o n . P o l i t i c a l l y I n d i a i s a very d i v i d e d n a t i o n . The o r i g i n a l d i v i s i o n of the subcontinent at the time of independence i n 19^7 i n t o I n d i a and P a k i s t a n was caused p r i m a r i l y by the f e a r s of the Muslim m i n o r i t y t h a t they would be swamped by the major-i t y who are f o l l o w e r s of the Hindu r e l i g i o n . The s e p a r a t i o n of the two n a t i o n s on the b a s i s of r e l i g i o n has not been e n t i r e l y 9 s u c c e s s f u l i n t h a t something over 35 m i l l i o n s of Muslims were 14 t i l l l i v i n g i n I n d i a at the time of the 1951 census. R e l i -s g i o n i s a problem i n I n d i a , but the b i t t e r n e s s which was so evid e n t i n 1947 i s somewhat l e s s today. The l o c a l people i n each country s t i l l p e r i o d i c a l l y put p r e s s u r e on the m i n o r i t y to c l e a r out, but i t seems t h a t they are l i v i n g t o g e t h e r i n much the same f a s h i o n t h a t they d i d p r e v i o u s t o Independence. Probably the most d i v i s i v e f o r c e i n e f f e c t today i n I n d i a i s the f r i c t i o n between the v a r i o u s language groups. No s i n g l e language can come even c l o s e t o encompassing a m a j o r i t y of c i t i z e n s . H i n d i , Urdu and P u n j a b i are the most commonly spoken languages and between them they number j u s t s h o r t of 150 m i l l i o n s of speakers. The twelve major languages men-t i o n e d i n the I n d i a n C o n s t i t u t i o n number r o u g h l y 323 m i l l i o n s of speakers. There are 47 other languages whose speakers number over 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 . In a d d i t i o n t o these languages t h e r e 15 are a f u r t h e r 720 minor languages. The boundary l o c a t i o n of the I n d i a n s t a t e s has been d r a s t i c a l l y e f f e c t e d by language and t h e r e i s constant a g i t a t i o n from some language groups t o form new s t a t e s on the b a s i s of language. In the recent past very s e r i o u s language r i o t s have occu r r e d . These r i o t s at times have reached the p r o p o r t i o n s of communal r i o t s 1 ^ which took p l a c e between Hindus and Muslims before and d u r i n g Independence. The m u l t i p l i c i t y of languages i s a s e r i o u s problem at the n a t i o n a l l e v e l , but at the l o c a l v i l l a g e l e v e l the v i l l a g e r s do not r e a l l y get i n v o l v e d u n l e s s 10 they l i v e i n an area which i s t r a n s i t i o n a l between two l a n -guages or i n a r e g i o n i n which two languages are used by groups which have commingled. An i n t e r e s t i n g example of commingling i s the Punjab. The males speak both Urdu and P u n j a b i and the 17 females speak only P u n j a b i . By and l a r g e , however, the v i l -l a g e r s are unaware of the n a t i o n a l language problem f o r they have only s p o r a d i c c o n t a c t w i t h the o u t s i d e w o r l d and t h a t gen-e r a l l y w i t h agencies which are s e r v i c e o r i e n t e d . P o l i t i c s i n I n d i a have become i n c r e a s i n g l y confused as the number of p o l i t i c a l p a r t i e s p r o l i f e r a t e s . There was r e a l l y only one p a r t y at the time of i n d e p e n d e n c e — t h e Congress P a r t y . Almost i t s s o l e reason f o r e x i s t e n c e was t o g a i n freedom f o r I n d i a from the B r i t i s h Empire. Since i t was the only n a t i o n a l p o l i t i c a l p a r t y and was f a i r l y w e l l o r g a n i z e d , the Congress P a r t y assumed p o l i t i c a l c o n t r o l of I n d i a . I t very q u i c k l y became evident t h a t the Congress P a r t y was l i t t l e more than a very l o o s e c o a l i t i o n of i n t e r e s t groups who had but one common i n t e r e s t — f r e e d o m from B r i t a i n because o p p o s i t i o n w i t h i n the ranks soon developed concerning the d i r e c t i o n i n which the p a r t y was t o move and the means f o r a t t a i n i n g g o a l s . The r e s u l t s of the 1951 e l e c t i o n s showed t h a t the Congress P a r t y was s t i l l the most p o w e r f u l , winning 357 seats i n a Parliament of 489-18 They had, however, only about 45 per cent of the popular v o t e . That they won such a h i g h percentage of the P a r l i a m e n t a r y seats w i t h such a s m a l l percentage of the popular vote may be a t t r i b u t e d t o the l a r g e number of minor p a r t i e s 11 c o n t e s t i n g the e l e c t i o n . Even though the Congress P a r t y was the most p o w e r f u l p a r t y and formed the government they d i d not have the k i n d of support necessary t o present and c a r r y out the s o r t of f o r c e f u l program needed to b r i n g I n d i a i n t o the i n d u s t r i a l w o r l d . I n more rec e n t e l e c t i o n s the Congress P a r t y has r e c e i v e d even l e s s p o pular support. They are s t i l l the l a r g e s t of the n a t i o n a l p a r t i e s , but t h e i r e f f e c t i v e n e s s has been g r e a t l y reduced. There i s a l a r g e number of s p l i n t e r p a r t i e s and the number seems t o be I n c r e a s i n g . I n the 1951 e l e c t i o n s t h e r e were 14 p a r t i e s e n t e r i n g as n a t i o n a l p a r t i e s , 51 more as s t a t e p a r t i e s and i n a d d i t i o n t o the p a r t i e s t h e r e were a tremendous number of independents.(some of whom were former p r i n c e s of the more than 500 P r i n c e l y S t a t e s of pre-lndependence I n d i a ) . None of these p a r t i e s has a l a r g e n a t i o n a l f o l l o w i n g and few of them have enough i n t e r e s t s i n common t o attempt to form some k i n d of c o a l i t i o n . About the only t h i n g they have i n common i s o p p o s i -t i o n t o the Congress R a j . They seem unable t o present any s o r t of v i a b l e , r e s p o n s i b l e program because t h e i r i n t e r e s t s are d i r e c t e d t o the achievement of s p e c i f i c , group o r i e n t e d g o a l s . The s p l i n t e r p a r t i e s seem t o be of thr e e s o r t s ; f i r s t , r e g i o n a l p a r t i e s , the b a s i s f o r membership of which i s the area i n which one l i v e s and the language one speaks; second, caste p a r t i e s , the membership of which i s based on I n c l u s i o n i n a p a r t i c u l a r c a s t e ; and t h i r d , i d e o l o g i c a l l y based p a r t i e s whose membership i s r e c r u i t e d on the b a s i s of b e l i e f i n a p a r t i c u l a r 1 2 i d e o l o g y . These p a r t i e s g e n e r a l l y have a f a i r l y s o l i d l o c a l b a s i s , b u t t h i s power on t h e l o c a l l e v e l does n o t g i v e them any power on t h e n a t i o n a l l e v e l e x c e p t p e r h a p s t o b l o c k l o c a l C o n g r e s s moves. I t i s q u i t e p o s s i b l e t o draw a p a r a l l e l between t h e s e p a r t i e s a n d , f o r e x a m p l e , t h e S o c i a l C r e d i t P a r t y i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . The S o c i a l C r e d i t P a r t y i s p o w e r f u l i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a b u t has l i t t l e i n f l u e n c e a t t h e n a t i o n a l l e v e l . A g a i n , a t t h e v i l l a g e l e v e l , t h e v i l l a g e r i s n o t r e a l l y aware o f t h e n a t i o n a l s i g n i f i c a n c e o f t h e l o c a l p a r t y p l a t -f o r m s i f , i n f a c t , he i s t r u l y aware t h a t I n d i a i s a n a t i o n . The p o l i t i c a l p a r t i e s on t h e n a t i o n a l s c e n e have t h e k n a c k o f a r r i v i n g i n t h e v i l l a g e o n l y d u r i n g e l e c t i o n t i m e s f u l l y e x p e c t i n g t h e v i l l a g e r s t o be k n o w l e d g e a b l e and r e a d y t o s u p p o r t them o n l y t o f i n d t h a t t h e v i l l a g e r s d o n 't even know who t h e y a r e . The o n l y k i n d o f p l a t f o r m w h i c h t h e l o c a l r e s i -d e n t s can u n d e r s t a n d i s one w h i c h d e a l s w i t h l o c a l p r o b l e m s . I s u s p e c t t h a t t h i s i s one o f t h e r e a s o n s f o r t h e p r o l i f e r a t i o n o f s t a t e p a r t i e s . I n o r d e r t o get and m a i n t a i n l o c a l s u p p o r t , b r o a d n a t i o n a l i s s u e s a r e a v o i d e d a n d , o f c o u r s e , e a c h r e g i o n has I t s own p a r t i c u l a r i s s u e s . Many v i l l a g e r s a r e d i s i l l u s i o n e d about a l l p o l i t i c a l 2 0 p a r t i e s and d o n 't r e a l l y u n d e r s t a n d t h e e l e c t i o n p r o c e s s . They have n e v e r b e f o r e i n t h e i r p a s t been a s k e d t o make a c h o i c e between two s e t s o f l e a d e r s . A l o t o f t h e v i l l a g e r s a r e o f t h e o p i n i o n t h a t t h e government ought t o h e l p them w i t h 13 t h e i r problems s i n c e i t i s the government t h a t i s the author of schemes i n v o l v i n g s a n i t a t i o n , road b u i l d i n g , s c h o o l s , f o r m a l panchayats, e t c . , and the v i l l a g e r s see these schemes as causing changes which they cannot cope w i t h at the v i l l a g e l e v e l . Keeping i n mind t h a t the l a s t few pages have d e s c r i b e d the I n d i a n a t i o n a l scene i n only a rudimentary way I should now l i k e t o d e s c r i b e the t y p i c a l v i l l a g e . 2. D e s c r i p t i o n The t y p i c a l v i l l a g e i s s m a l l , numbering somewhere between 500 and 700 i n h a b i t a n t s . Some v i l l a g e s may be s m a l l e r , but they very r a r e l y number below 200 t o 3 0 0 . V i l l a g e s l a r g e r than around 1000 s t a r t t o become something other than a t y p i c a l v i l l a g e . The a r a b l e l a n d c o n t r o l l e d by the v i l l a g e r s i s h a r d l y more i n acres than there are i n h a b i t a n t s . Although I t can vary w i d e l y , the man/acre r a t i o i s t y p i c a l l y near one. Rampur had a man/acre r a t i o of 1.22 i n 1940 and by the time of Lewis' study i n 1952 the r a t i o had changed to .71. The change r e s u l t e d from a p o p u l a t i o n growth of 645 i n 19^0 to 1095 i n 1 9 5 2 . 2 2 The settlement p a t t e r n i s of the compact s o r t . The r e s i -dents l i v e , jammed very c l o s e l y t o g e t h e r , I n a more or l e s s c e n t r a l l y l o c a t e d area. In the densest p a r t o f the v i l l a g e each house may share three of i t s w a l l s w i t h three neighbours. Around the p e r i m e t e r the houses w i l l be more w i d e l y spaced. 14 Who l i v e s where i n the v i l l a g e depends nor m a l l y upon two t h i n g s . F e l l o w caste members tend t o c l u s t e r i n one area of the v i l l a g e . This i s p a r t i c u l a r l y t r u e of both the h i g h and low ca s t e s and not so t r u e of the middle c a s t e s . The h i g h caste and low caste groups are normally s i t u a t e d as f a r from one another as p o s s i b l e 23 and s t i l l remain w i t h i n the c o n f i n e s of the v i l l a g e . The second f a c t o r o p e r a t i o n a l i n de t e r m i n i n g r e s i d e n c e p a t t e r n s w i t h i n the set t l e m e n t has t o do w i t h the time at which the f a m i l y became r e s i d e n t s i n the v i l l a g e and the space a v a i l a b l e f o r home b u i l d i n g . The l a t e r a r r i v a l s i n the v i l l a g e o f t e n must take what i s l e f t over. This means t h a t some m i x i n g of castes does o c c u r — m a i n l y i n the middle-range c a s t e s , however. The economy o f the v i l l a g e i s based on the l a n d . Only r e c e n t l y have the v i l l a g e r s began going o u t s i d e the v i l l a g e t o o b t a i n jobs and t o purchase consumption goods. T r a d i t i o n a l l y the v i l l a g e produced, w i t h a few minor e x c e p t i o n s , e v e r y t h i n g t h a t i t consumed. The b a s i c d i e t c o n s i s t e d of the v a r i o u s c e r e a l g r a i n s which were a p p r o p r i a t e t o the c l i m a t e and s o i l c o n d i t i o n s . Most v i l l a g e s have l a n d t h a t i s able t o support both r i c e (commonly c a l l e d paddy) and wheat or m i l l e t . The wett e r areas of the v i l l a g e lands are normally double—cropped; paddy i n the wet season and dry l a n d g r a i n i n the dry season. The d r i e r lands are s i n g l e — c r o p p e d w i t h wheat, m i l l e t , or some other l o c a l e q u i v a l e n t . A few vegetables are grown t o be used i n sauces, and sometimes a few f r u i t t r e e s are p l a n t e d . C a t t l e are a p a r t of the v i l l a g e s c e n e — a very necessary p a r t . Animals are v i r t u a l l y the only source of motive power i n 15 the v i l l a g e . The b u l l o c k s , b u f f a l o e s , and cows are nor m a l l y a l l p r e s e n t . The b u l l o c k s are the work a n i m a l s , p u l l i n g the plows and c a r t s as w e l l as drawing the water from the v i l l a g e w e l l s f o r i r r i g a t i o n purposes. B u f f a l o e s and cows are used p r i m a r i l y f o r m i l k i n g . The cow i s u s u a l l y l e s s abundant because i t i s not as good a producer as the b u f f a l o . The m i l k 24 i s not normally drunk, but r a t h e r i s the source of ghee. There may be a few other animals such as g o a t s , sheep, donkeys, and even the odd mule or camel present as w e l l . A s i d e from the more obvious uses t h a t these animals are put t o they are used a d d i t i o n a l l y as a very important source of f u e l . One of the most common s i g h t s i n the v i l l a g e i s the dung cakes which are p a t t e d i n t o shape by v i l l a g e women and d r i e d on the w a l l s and r o o f s of the houses t o be used as f u e l f o r cooking and sometimes even f o r h e a t i n g . Most i n d i v i d u a l s work d i r e c t l y on the l a n d as farmers or l a n d l e s s l a b o u r e r s and those who do not c e r t a i n l y depend i n d i -r e c t l y upon the l a n d . The v a r i o u s a r t i s a n s l i v i n g i n the v i l l a g e t r a d e t h e i r s e r v i c e s d i r e c t l y f o r food. Not everyone owns l a n d . U s u a l l y the dominant cas t e owns a l l but a few a c r e s , which they may or may not d i r e c t l y farm themselves. Whether or not they do depends upon which caste they belong t o . Farmer castes do c u l t i v a t e and Brahmin's u s u a l l y do not. (They are probably more apt t o do so i n n o r t h c e n t r a l I n d i a than i n southern I n d i a . ) The caste which owns the la n d and c u l t i v a t e s i t (or has i t c u l t i v a t e d ) Is the dominant caste i n the v i l l a g e . The dominant caste i n the 16 v i l l a g e i s not always at the top of r i t u a l h i e r a r c h y . Which caste i s dominant i s u s u a l l y determined by events i n the l o n g past h i s t o r y of the v i l l a g e and the r e g i o n i n which i t i s l o c a t e d . Although the caste composition of the v i l l a g e can vary w i d e l y , most v i l l a g e s c o n t a i n enough d i f f e r e n t castes t o ensure t h a t the v i t a l t a s k s be c a r r i e d out. To have too few castes g e n e r a l l y means t h a t the v i l l a g e w i l l have to depend upon out-s i d e r s t o come i n and do some of the v i l l a g e work, The g r e a t e r the extent t o which t h i s i s necessary the l e s s the v i l l a g e operates as the s i g n i f i c a n t s o c i a l u n i t . In the t y p i c a l v i l l a g e t h e r e i s a s i n g l e dominant a g r i c u l t u r a l caste which numbers at l e a s t h a l f of the v i l l a g e p o p u l a t i o n . Because caste i s s i m i l a r t o a c l o s e d union w i t h r e g a r d t o o c c u p a t i o n the number of other occupations p r a c t i s e d w i t h i n the v i l l a g e i n d i c a t e d the number of other castes i n the v i l l a g e . Most of the common occupations are represented—some by perhaps only one f a m i l y because the v i l l a g e hasn't the business t o support more than one. The outcastes or untouchables are o f t e n the second l a r g e s t group i n the v i l l a g e p o p u l a t i o n . The o u t c a s t e s are viewed as one l a r g e group by the other castes i n the v i l l a g e even though, I n r e a l i t y they d i f f e r e n t i a t e between themselves i n much the same f a s h i o n as do the c a s t e s . I t i s mostly the untouchables who work as l a n d l e s s l a b o u r e r s f o r the dominant c u l t i v a t o r c a s t e . P o l i t i c a l i n t e r a c t i o n w i t h i n the v i l l a g e , and f o r t h a t matter o u t s i d e the v i l l a g e , i s c o n t r o l l e d by the dominant c a s t e . In some ways one can say t h a t the only s i g n i f i c a n t 17 p o l i t i c a l i n t e r a c t i o n t h a t occurs i n the v i l l a g e i s w i t h i n the ranks of the dominant c a s t e . (This w i l l be d i s c u s s e d more f u l l y i n Chapter V.) Depending upon the matter under c o n s i d e r a -t i o n the dominant caste does or does not act as a u n i f i e d body. S p l i t s i n caste s o l i d a r i t y g e n e r a l l y occur only i n those matters where c o n t r o l of the other c a s t e s i n the v i l l a g e i s not a q u e s t i o n . The above d e s c r i p t i o n s of I n d i a as a whole and the t y p i c a l I n d i a n v i l l a g e are very g e n e r a l and are g i v e n only t o p r o v i d e a minimum of background i n f o r m a t i o n . As the d i s c u s s i o n proceeds I s h a l l present a f u l l e r p i c t u r e of v i l l a g e l i f e . T h e o r e t i c a l l y , i n d i s c u s s i n g the changes which have o c c u r r e d and are o c c u r r i n g I should d e s c r i b e the ' c l a s s i c a l ' or ' t r a d i t i o n a l \ s t a t e of a f f a i r s i n the v i l l a g e . S i g n i f i c a n t changes were a l r e a d y t a k i n g p l a c e i n I n d i a by the middle of the 19th century because of the p e r v a s i v e B r i t i s h i n f l u e n c e . The s t u d i e s done bef o r e 1900 were concerned w i t h d e s c r i b i n g f o o d , d r e s s , and u t e n s i l s , r a t h e r than s o c i a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s . The primary concern of t h i s paper i s what w i l l happen giv e n the present i n t e r a c t i o n p a t t e r n . In the f o l l o w i n g chapters I s h a l l d i s c u s s f o u r a n a l y t i c a l s t r u c t u r e s : r o l e d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n , s o l i d a r i t y , economic a l l o c a -t i o n , and p o l i t i c a l a l l o c a t i o n . These f o u r chapters should g i v e a f a i r l y complete view of the present p a t t e r n s of s o c i a l i n t e r a c t i o n i n the v i l l a g e . The l a s t chapter w i l l be devoted to a d i s c u s s i o n about which of these a n a l y t i c a l s t r u c t u r e s i s changing and i n which d i r e c t i o n the change I s t a k i n g p l a c e . 18 FOOTNOTES "'"Andre B e t e i l e , C a s t e , ' C l a s s and Po'w'er ( M a n c h e s t e r , 1965), p. 9. R a l p h W. N i c h o l a s , " S t r u c t u r e s o f P o l i t i c s - t h e V i l l a g e s o f S o u t h e r n A s i a , " S t r u c t u r e ' 'and 'Change - I n d i a n S o c i e t y , e d . M. S i n g e r and B. S. Cohn ( C h i c a g o , 1968). . . . . K r a v e , 1953: 119 ( w i t h r e f e r e n c e t o a s i n g l e c a s t e b u t may a p p l y t o o t h e r s as w e l l ) ; L e w i s , 1958: l 6 0 - l 6 l ; Cohn, 1954 12; M a y e r , i 9 6 0 : 208, 213. 4 S t a t i s t i c a l A b s t r a c t o f t h e I n d i a n U n i o n , C e n t r a l S t a t i s -t i c a l O r g a n i z a t i o n , D e p t . o f S t a t i s t i c s , Government o f I n d i a (New D e l h i ) , New S e r i e s , #10. 5 Examples o f some d i f f e r e n c e s i n c l u d e : 1) l a c k o f 'sky s c r a p e r s ' g e n e r a l l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h l a r g e r c i t i e s i n t h e West; 2) many more h o m e l e s s r e s i d e n t s l i v i n g w i t h i n t h e c i t y t h a n i s t h e c a s e , s a y , i n t h e U. S.; 3) l e s s w e l l d e v e l o p e d s u b u r b s ; 4) f a s t e r e x p a n s i o n o f p o p u l a t i o n t h a n i n t h e W e s t j 5) r a p i d t r a n s i t i o n f r o m u r b a n t o r u r a l appearance's; 6) v e r y p o o r l y d e v e l o p e d w a t e r , s a n i t a t i o n , and t r a n s p o r t a t i o n s e r v i c e s . ^ S t a t i s t i c a l A b s t r a c t . . ., op c i t 7 I b i d , I b i d . 9L e w i s , 1958, p. ! M a c n a c h i , 1882, p. 19-I b b e t s o n , 1883, p. 4; Wood and 10 11. L e w i s , 1958, p. 8. M i n e r a l r e s o u r c e s : B a u x i t e C o a l Copper G o l d Gypsum I r o n o r e L e a d o r e L i g n i t e L i m e s t o n e Manganese M i c a S u l p h u r Known R e s e r v e s 30,000,000 t o n s 60,960,000,000 t o n s 3 ,266,000,000 t o n s 530,298 t o n s 47,641,000,000 t o n s 21 ,300,000,000 t o n s 130,000,000 t o n s S e v e r a l t h o u s a n d m i l l i o n tons. Over 100 m i l l i o n t o n s Ample r e s e r v e s 156,000,000 t o n s 19 Economic H i s t o r y o f I n d i a , ed. U. B. Singh (New D e l h i , 1 9 6 5 ) , PP. 40 - 5 B . . . Known r e s e r v e s Petroleum At l e a s t 100 m i l l i o n tons N a t u r a l Gas At l e a s t 43 m i l l i o n tons I n d i a 1964, I n f o r m a t i o n S e r v i c e o f I n d i a (London, 1 9 6 4 ) . 12 P o t e n t i a l k i l o w a t t p r o d u c t i o n i s 216,000,000 k i l o w a t t hours; a c t u a l p r o d u c t i o n i s 12.5 m i l l i o n . T o i d . , p. 31 . 13 A l b e r t Mayer, P i l o t P r o j e c t ; ' I n d i a , 1959; Kusam N a i r , Blossoms i n the Dust (New York, 1 9 6 2 ) . 14 ^ Demographic Yearbook: 1956, S t a t i s t i c a l O f f i c e of the U n i t e d N a t i o n s , Dept. of Economic and S o c i a l A f f a i r s (New York, 1 9 5 6 ) , p. 275. 15 S t a t i s t i c a l A b s t r a c t o f the I n d i a n Union 19&"0, C e n t r a l S t a t i s t i c a l O r g a n i z a t i o n , Cabinet O r g a n i z a t i o n , Govt, of I n d i a , (New D e l h i ) , New S e r i e s #9 • x^These r i o t s are ones i n which one p r o t a g o n i s t was the Hindu community and the other the Muslim community. They were extremely d i f f i c u l t t o c o n t r o l because they were so suddenly t r i g g e r e d and because such huge numbers of i n d i v i d u a l s were i n v o l v e d . 17 P e r s o n a l Communication w i t h a P u n j a b i language I n s t r u c t o r at the U n i v e r s i t y of Minnesota i n the summer of 1963. 18 Myron Weiner, P a r t i e s i n I n d i a n P o l i t i c s , ( P r i n c e t o n , New J e r s e y , 1 9 5 7 ) , p. 2 0 . 19 N i c h o l a s , op_. c i t . , p. 254. 2 0 T , . , I b i d . 21 The l a r g e r v i l l a g e s tend t o become market s i t e s which means t h a t they w i l l have more con t a c t w i t h both the o u t s i d e w o r l d and w i t h the surrounding v i l l a g e s than would the t y p i c a l v i l l a g e . 22 Lewis, p. 10. 23 In some v i l l a g e s the outcaste p o p u l a t i o n may a c t u a l l y r e s i d e a few hundred f e e t from the main s e t t l e m e n t . This i s probably more common i n the south of I n d i a than anywhere e l s e because th e r e seems t o be a l a r g e r p o r t i o n of the p o p u l a t i o n who are e i t h e r very h i g h caste or very low c a s t e . 24 Ghee i s c l a r i f i e d b u t t e r and i s much d e s i r e d f o r cooking purposes. In f a c t one of the measures of r e l a t i v e w ealth I n the v i l l a g seems to be the amount of gh e a v a i l a b l e f o r use I n foodr e r a t i o n . CHAPTER I I Role D i f f e r e n t i a t i o n W i t h i n the V i l l a g e . . . the a n a l y t i c s t r u c t u r e of r o l e d i f f e r e n t i a -t i o n i n any s o c i a l system may be d e f i n e d as the s t r u c -t u r e s of d i s t r i b u t i o n of the members of the system among the v a r i o u s p o s i t i o n s and a c t i v i t i e s d i s t i n g u i s h e d i n the system and hence the d i f f e r e n t i a l arrangement of the members of the system.1 In order t o a r r i v e at how a p a r t i c u l a r s o c i e t y goes about a l l o c a t i n g "the v a r i o u s p o s i t i o n s and a c t i v i t i e s d i s t i n g u i s h e d " Levy proposes nine d i f f e r e n t c r i t e r i a : age, g e n e r a t i o n , sex, economic a l l o c a t i o n , p o l i t i c a l a l l o c a t i o n , r e l i g i o n , c o g n i t i o n , nonhuman environment, and s o l i d a r i t y . Not a l l of these are s i g n i f i c a n t i n d i c a t o r s f o r a l l s o c i e t i e s . I n some s o c i e t i e s , f o r example, th e r e may not n e c e s s a r i l y be any r o l e d i f f e r e n t i a -t i o n on the b a s i s of r e l i g i o n , nonhuman environment or c o g n i t i o n . Levy h i m s e l f uses only the f i r s t f i v e i n h i s d i s c u s s i o n of the 2 f a m i l y i n " t r a d i t i o n a l " and " t r a n s i t i o n a l " China. While agreeing w i t h Levy t h a t r o l e s must be d i f f e r e n t i a t e d , I would argue t h a t the nin e c r i t e r i a which Levy o u t l i n e s as minimal f o r d i s c o v e r i n g the nature of the s t r u c t u r e of r o l e d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n i n a s o c i a l system are inadequate f o r the a n a l y s i s of the I n d i a n v i l l a g e . I t does not seem t h a t t h e i r use should a l l o w me to show how c e r t a i n i n d i v i d u a l s come t o f i l l p a r t i c u l a r r o l e s w i t h i n the v i l l a g e . I would h y p o t h e s i z e , r a t h e r , t h a t r o l e s are d i f f e r e n t i a t e d and a l l o c a t e d i n the In d i a n v i l l a g e on the b a s i s of but two c a t e g o r i e s of c r i t e r i a , one of which i n c l u d e s t h r e e of the c r i t e r i a suggested by Levy. 20 21 In the f i r s t category we s h a l l he concerned not about i n d i v i d -u a l s but households. An i n d i v i d u a l assumes a r o l e i n the v i l -lage on the b a s i s of the s t a t u s of h i s household. How one determines the s t a t u s of a p a r t i c u l a r household w i l l be d i s -cussed l a t e r i n the c h a p t e r , but s u f f i c e I t t o say t h a t r o l e assumption by an i n d i v i d u a l i s only I n d i r e c t l y r e l a t e d t o e i t h e r a s c r i b e d or achieved c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s . The second category i s concerned w i t h the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , mainly a s c r i b e d c h a r a c t e r -i s t i c s , of the i n d i v i d u a l h i m s e l f such t h a t he does or does not assume a p a r t i c u l a r r o l e w i t h i n the household. I s h a l l c o n s i d e r three c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s : age, sex, and g e n e r a t i o n . They are the most u s e f u l f o r d e t e r m i n i n g the s t r u c t u r e of r o l e d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n w i t h i n the household. An i n d i v i d u a l ' s r o l e i n v i l l a g e a c t i v i t i e s i s determined f i r s t by h i s r o l e I n household a c t i v i t i e s and second (and more i m p o r t a n t l y ) by the p o s i t i o n of h i s household r e l a t i v e t o other households In the v i l l a g e . The i n d i v i d u a l must become p a r t of the d e c i s ion-making machinery of the household before he can begin t o t h i n k of assuming a p a r t i n the decision-making machinery of the v i l l a g e . Achieved c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s become important only when two i n d i v i d u a l s have the same a s c r i b e d c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s and t h e i r household s t a t u s i s roughly the same.3 ROLE DIFFERENTIATION WITHIN THE HOUSEHOLD^ Before d i s c u s s i n g r o l e d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n w i t h i n the household i n terms of the three c r i t e r i a mentioned above (age, g e n e r a t i o n , and sex) i t I s necessary t h a t some c o n s i d e r a t i o n be devoted t o a 22 d e f i n i t i o n of "household." I n the v i l l a g e the a d u l t i s not r e a l l y c o n s i d e r e d a whole person u n t i l he i s m a r r i e d and r e a r i n g c h i l d r e n . Those who are not m a r r i e d and those who are m a r r i e d but wi t h o u t c h i l d r e n are o b j e c t s of p i t y and, as S r i n i v a s p o i n t s out, t o be avoided by some groups, "Brahmin beggars who are supposed t o be very orthodox do not take alms 5 from the c h i l d l e s s . . .' Primary emphasis i s p l a c e d on male c h i l d r e n because the e l d e s t male c h i l d i s r e s p o n s i b l e f o r see-i n g t h a t h i s f a t h e r and mother, but p r i m a r i l y the f a t h e r , become proper a n c e s t o r s , and because the male progeny are a source o f support i n t h e i r p a r e n t s ' o l d age. Female c h i l d r e n are of l e s s 6 importance f o r the household because they t y p i c a l l y pass out of the household at an e a r l y age and i n t o the household I n which the husband r e s i d e s — n e a r l y always In another v i l l a g e and o f t e n a c o n s i d e r a b l e d i s t a n c e away. B a r e l y do the females become o l d enough to be pr o d u c i n g members than they are m a r r i e d i n t o another household. Not only do they l e a v e , but they take a s i z a b l e dowry w i t h them. DEFINITION OP HOUSEHOLD The i d e a l household i n n o r t h c e n t r a l I n d i a i s the j o i n t household i n which three generations l i v e t o g e t h e r w i t h t h e i r wives and c h i l d r e n under one r o o f s h a r i n g a s i n g l e h e a r t h . The j o i n t household i s b e g i n n i n g t o l o s e i t s " j o i n t n e s s " when m u l t i p l e hearths are employed. There seems t o be a d e f i n i t e path down which j o i n t households t r a v e l towards s p l i t t i n g : 23 f i r s t , separate h e a r t h s ; second, p a r t i t i o n s w i t h i n the house; t h i r d , separate houses; and f o u r t h , s p l i t t i n g up the l a n d among the h e i r s . F r i e n d s and a s s o c i a t e s work hard t o prevent the break up but n o r m a l l y succeed o n l y i n s l o w i n g down the p r o c e s s . Only very r a r e l y are f o u r g e n e r a t i o n s found l i v i n g t o g e t h e r . Indeed, a t h r e e - g e n e r a t i o n household i s not common and then may l a s t only f o r a very few years because of the s h o r t l i f e expec-tancy. This i s p o i n t e d out by C o l l v e r i n h i s comparison of the f a m i l y c y c l e i n I n d i a and the U n i t e d S t a t e s . The death of one of the parents f r e q u e n t l y occurs b e f o r e the marriage of the e l d e s t c h i l d i n I n d i a . Thus the j o i n t household i s more l i k e l y t o be t w o - g e n e r a t i o n a l c o n s i s t i n g of a group of male s i b l i n g s , t h e i r wives and c h i l d r e n . Being p a r t of a j o i n t household would seem t o be the i d e a l s t a t e of c o n d i t i o n r a t h e r than something which e x i s t s i n the r e a l w o r l d t o any degree. There are too many f a c t o r s i n v o l v e d which tend to m i t i g a t e the p o s s i b i l i t y of a c h i e v i n g and m a i n t a i n i n g a j o i n t household. J o i n t house-holds are most numerous i n the w e a l t h i e r castes and become l e s s frequent w i t h the d e c r e a s i n g s t a t u s and w e a l t h o f the c a s t e group. Only those households which possess a l a r g e r e s o u r c e b a s e — u n t i l r e c e n t l y ownership of l a n d i n the v i l l a g e — c a n a f f o r d t o m a i n t a i n a s i z a b l e household. Even p o s s e s s i o n of wealth does not mean t h a t they are l i k e l y t o remain f o r very long as a j o i n t household as we s h a l l see l a t e r . In Oscar Lewis' Rampur study only t h i r t e e n out of 150 households con-t a i n e d more than twelve members and a l l of these households 24 were e i t h e r J a t i s or Brahmins who e i t h e r owned a c o n s i d e r a b l e amount of l a n d or had good jobs o u t s i d e o f the v i l l a g e . Among the l e s s w e l l - o f f c a s t e s o n l y one household out of a t o t a l of 55 had more than nine members. Average household s i z e v a r i e s from 8 .3 f o r the Jatis who are the w e a l t h i e s t caste i n the v i l l a g e t o 5 .0 f o r the Chamars (a low c a s t e groups r i t u a l l y and one w i t h l i t t l e w e a l t h i n e i t h e r l a n d or o u t s i d e j o b s ) . ^ On the b a s i s of household s i z e , i t would seem t h a t the s i n g l e most common type of household i s the stem h o u s e h o l d — t h a t i s , one, and i n f r e q u e n t l y b o t h , of the aged p a r e n t s o f the head of the household and sometimes an unmarried s i s t e r or b r o t h e r . Most of the d i s c u s s i o n which f o l l o w s i s d i r e c t e d toward the l a r g e household and may i n f a c t be an i d e a l i z a t i o n . AGE AS THE BASIS OF ROLE DIFFERENTIATION WITHIN THE HOUSEHOLD As might be expected a b s o l u t e age has a great d e a l t o do w i t h r o l e s e l e c t i o n . I d e a l l y the e l d e s t male i n the household i s the f i n a l a u t h o r i t y on a l l matters h a v i n g t o do w i t h the maintenance o f the household. Obedience I s expected t o be prompt and complete. The household head makes the d e c i s i o n s and sees t h a t they are implemented. I n a c t u a l f a c t the house-h o l d r e l a t i o n s h i p s are never t h a t e x a c t . There always seem to be m i t i g a t i n g c i r c u m s t a n c e s . The d e c i s i o n s made by the head of the household are never made I n a vacuum. A 'good' household head takes i n t o c o n s i d e r a t i o n the other members of the household. As I p o i n t e d out above the head of household 25 may have l i v i n g w i t h him h i s aged f a t h e r . A c c o r d i n g t o the i d e a l the aged f a t h e r i s the head of the household, but the r e a l i t y of the s i t u a t i o n i s t h a t the aged f a t h e r e x e r c i s e s very l i t t l e a u t h o r i t y . He i s only the t i t u l a r head of house-h o l d , not the de f a c t o head. The a u t h o r i t y of the male begins t o wane when he no l o n g e r can p r o v i d e the b u l k o f the f i n a n c i a l resources necessary t o m a i n t a i n the household. As w e l l , h i s i n t e l l e c t u a l c a p a c i t y t o make d e c i s i o n s may be a f f e c t e d should he be f o r t u n a t e enough t o l i v e t h a t l o n g . U s u a l l y what happens i s t h a t the son simply leaves soon a f t e r marriage i f he cannot get along w i t h h i s f a t h e r . 1 0 I d e a l l y the household head has complete a u t h o r i t y t o make any and a l l d e c i s i o n s about household m a t t e r s . In r e a l i t y the male assumes more and more importance as he marries and has c h i l d r e n , and takes a f u l l p a r t i n p r o v i d i n g the household the wherewithal t o e x i s t . The newly m a r r i e d son does not need t o be c o n s u l t e d about household d e c i s i o n s , but the wise f a t h e r c o n s u l t s him i n order t o keep the son s a t i s f i e d and, perhaps more i m p o r t a n t l y , t o p r o v i d e the son w i t h experience i n d e a l i n g w i t h ' the v a r i o u s f a c t o r s i n v o l v e d I n making d e c i s i o n s . I f t h e r e i s more than one son, the other sons w i l l not l i k e l y be as i n v o l v e d f o r i t i s the e l d e s t son who w i l l look a f t e r the parents and c a r r y out the proper r i t u a l s which w i l l a l l o w the parents to become pukah a n c e s t o r s . Always the d e c i s i o n must be obeyed, but having had a hand i n the process of a r r i v i n g at a d e c i s i o n , the son's obedience comes e a s i e r . 26 On the female s i d e , age has a great d e a l t o do w i t h p o s i -t i o n i n the decision-making machinery. I d e a l l y of course females have no p o s i t i o n of a u t h o r i t y i n the p a t r i a r c h i c a l I n d i a n household. Nonetheless females do e x e r t c o n s i d e r a b l e i n f l u e n c e . I n the household of o r i g i n they have v i r t u a l l y no i n f l u e n c e because they pass out of t h a t household at a young age. However, i n the household which they j o i n upon marriage I t i s p o s s i b l e t o come t o a p o s i t i o n of i n f l u e n c e as they i n c r e a s e i n age (the mother-in-law I s a p o w e r f u l f o r c e w i t h i n the f a m i l y ) . As a young b r i d e a female c l e a r l y has no i n f l u e n c e because she I s completely under the thumb o f her mother-in-law. The parents make the d e c i s i o n s , not her h u s b a n d — t h i s i n c l u d e s the d e c i s i o n as t o who w i l l be her husband. The b r i d e must s a t i s f y her husband's p a r e n t s , not her husband. She has no a u t h o r i t y whatsoever. Her reason f o r e x i s t e n c e i s to p r o v i d e her husband w i t h c h i l d r e n and u n t i l she has them she can be t r e a t e d as though she doesn't e x i s t . With the a r r i v a l of c h i l d r e n ( p a r t i c u l a r l y a male c h i l d ) her treatment at the hands of her new r e l a t i v e s improves. She can make cla i m s f o r b e t t e r t r e a t -ment (more food, b e t t e r c l o t h i n g ) , i f not f o r h e r s e l f , at l e a s t f o r the c h i l d r e n . As the mother-in-law gets o l d e r , and more f e e b l e , the w i f e begins t o 'take up the s l a c k . ' The arena of a u t h o r i t y f o r women c o n s i s t s i n m a i n t a i n i n g order w i t h i n the household. The woman has t o see t h a t a c t i v i t i e s are so arranged t h a t the needs of the husband are met. She i s r e s p o n s i b l e t o 27 the husband and any r e a l l y important d e c i s i o n s are made i n h i s name. By t h i s time the husband and w i f e who b e f o r e mar-r i a g e were s t r a n g e r s have a r r i v e d a t some k i n d of r e l a t i o n s h i p 11 which enables them to f u n c t i o n f a i r l y smoothly as a household. The p e r i o d o f g r e a t e s t i n f l u e n c e comes t o the woman when she achieves the p o s i t i o n of mother-in-law. She now has a young daughter-in-law t o mold so t h a t she w i l l be a f i t w i f e f o r her son. She has complete c o n t r o l over a l l i n t e r n a l house-h o l d m a t t e r s . She may even have i n f l u e n c e over r e l a t i o n s h i p s which have developed between the household and other house-holds i n the v i l l a g e . This r o l e w i l l be d i s c u s s e d more f u l l y when I t a l k about the s o l i d a r i t y s t r u c t u r e s i n the next chapter. In the p r e c e d i n g paragraphs I have d i s c u s s e d the e f f e c t of a b s o l u t e age on the making of d e c i s i o n s . In c e r t a i n s i t u a t i o n s r e l a t i v e age i s I m p o r t a n t — p r i m a r i l y when male s i b l i n g s are concerned. R e l a t i v e age i s always important i n such events as household c o u n c i l s ( i f such a t h i n g i s h e l d ) , but t h e r e are two other p e r i o d s when r e l a t i v e age I s p a r t i c u l a r l y c r u c i a l . The f i r s t i s I n c h i l d h o o d . During c h i l d h o o d o l d e r c h i l d r e n are o f t e n r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e i r younger s i b l i n g s — p a r t i c u l a r l y I n poorer households t h a t cannot a f f o r d t o r e t a i n a nurse or do not have grandparents about t o do the j o b . V a r y i n g amounts of the t r a i n i n g of younger c h i l d r e n are c a r r i e d out by the o l d e r c h i l d r e n i n whose charge they are p l a c e d d u r i n g a good p a r t of the day. The amount depends upon age and sex of both the o l d e r c h i l d r e n and the younger. 28 The second o c c a s i o n i n which r e l a t i v e age i s important i s a f t e r the death of the f a t h e r when the group of b r o t h e r s con-t i n u e s t o operate as a j o i n t household. In t h i s s i t u a t i o n the e l d e s t b r o t h e r i s the one through whose mouth d e c i s i o n s emanate. As the e l d e s t he makes d e c i s i o n s f o r the group. That t h e r e must be other bases f o r the maintenance of power and a u t h o r i t y than t h a t of r e l a t i v e age i s evidenced by the s h o r t - l i v e d nature of j o i n t households composed of b r o t h e r s . The e l d e s t b r o t h e r takes the p l a c e of the f a t h e r w ithout h a v i n g the same i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z e d bases f o r t h i s p o s i t i o n as d i d h i s f a t h e r . Often b r o t h e r s may f i n d i t p o s s i b l e to operate w i t h the e l d e s t b r o t h e r as the house-h o l d head, but the wives of the b r o t h e r s f o r c e the s e p a r a t i o n . The wives o f t e n do not have the mutual t i e s of a f f e c t i o n t h a t e x i s t between b r o t h e r s and f r e q u e n t l y q u a r r e l among themselves. This i s not t o say t h a t b r o t h e r s always get a l o n g , because they do n o t , nor i s i t t o say t h a t wives cannot get a l o n g , because i n some cases they do. I have no s t a t i s t i c s , but i t would seem t h a t wives are more f r e q u e n t l y the cause of j o i n t household 12 d i s i n t e g r a t i o n than are b r o t h e r s . Perhaps the b a s i c reason f o r the q u a r r e l s between wives i s t h a t the s e n i o r w i f e (wife of the e l d e s t b r o t h e r ) assumes the r o l e of household manager which was p r e v i o u s l y occupied by the mother-in-law without the genera-t i o n a l p r e r o g a t i v e s of the mother-in-law. The other wives are q u i c k t o r e s e n t t h i s and j u s t as q u i c k l y work on t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e husbands t o set up separate households so t h a t they can do t h e i r own managing without I n t e r f e r e n c e from other wives. In some 29 cases the b r o t h e r s m a i n t a i n the household p r o p e r t y as a s i n g l e u n i t , but set up separate l i v i n g q u a r t e r s . Prom the above I can conclude t h a t r o l e d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n on the b a s i s of r e l a t i v e age must r e i n f o r c e d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n on the b a s i s of a b s o l u t e age. Obviously the two are c l o s e l y t i e d and any c o n t r a d i c t i o n s between the two bases can only l e a d t o i n s t a b i l i t y of the system. R e l a t i v e age by I t s e l f i s only a very weak b a s i s f o r a u t h o r i t y . ROLE DIFFERENTIATION ON THE BASIS OF GENERATION Role d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n on the b a s i s of g e n e r a t i o n I s o b v i o u s l y t i e d i n w i t h age. In some r e s p e c t s g e n e r a t i o n i s s i m i l a r t o the category of r e l a t i v e age. One cannot p l a c e d e f i n i t e l i m i t s of age on g e n e r a t i o n a l c a t e g o r i e s . G e n e r a t i o n here r e f e r s t o a person's p o s i t i o n r e l a t i v e t o other i n d i v i d u a l s who l i e e i t h e r above or below him on the b i o l o g i c a l , or p u t a t i v e l y b i o l o g i c a l , descent T i n e . Thus the f a t h e r and h i s b r o t h e r s are of a d i f -f e r e n t g e n e r a t i o n than the f a t h e r ' s son. The f a t h e r ' s youngest b r o t h e r may be younger than h i s o l d e s t son so t h a t one may o c c a s i o n a l l y see the incongruous s i t u a t i o n ( t o us) of an o l d e r man t r e a t i n g a younger man w i t h the same r e s p e c t as he would h i s own f a t h e r . This i s of course f a r from the normal s i t u a t i o n and i f i t were I t would l e a d t o i n s t a b i l i t y of the system because i t i s i n c o n t r a d i c t i o n t o the d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n of r o l e s on the b a s i s of age. Under normal circumstances there i s a d e f i n i t e gap between the members of one g e n e r a t i o n and the next. The f i r s t ascending g e n e r a t i o n i s u s u a l l y the g e n e r a t i o n which has 30 the c a p a b i l i t y and r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r r e a r i n g the f o l l o w i n g g e n e r a t i o n . I t i s p r i m a r i l y the husband and w i f e who manage the care and u p b r i n g i n g of the c h i l d r e n . I n most cases t h i s i s because there are only the husband and w i f e as a d u l t s i n the household. 13 I have no i n f o r m a t i o n c o n c e r n i n g the r e l a t i o n s h i p between a l t e r n a t e g e n e r a t i o n s , but one may assume t h a t i t i s d i f f e r e n t 14 than t h a t of the p a r e n t - c h i l d r e l a t i o n s h i p . The grandparents probably do not have r e s p o n s i b i l i t y i n the same manner as the pa r e n t s . They are l e s s d i r e c t l y concerned w i t h t r a i n i n g the g r a n d c h i l d r e n and hence there are more p o s s i b i l i t i e s f o r t i e s of a f f e c t i o n t o develop. Grandparents and g r a n d c h i l d r e n may see themselves as a l l i e s . Grandparents are l o s i n g p r e v i o u s a u t h o r i t y and the g r a n d c h i l d r e n have none. Each i s sub o r d i n a t e to the g e n e r a t i o n between. I suspect t h a t parents make use of grandparents as parent subrogates o n l y when a b s o l u t e l y necessary because there i s not the c l e a r dichotomy between subordinate and su p e r o r d i n a t e as the r e i s i n the p a r e n t - c h i l d r e l a t i o n s h i p . Although i t i s the parents who are r e s p o n s i b l e f o r r a i s i n g the c h i l d , i t i s the grandparents who are the source of much of the c u l t u r a l h i s t o r y which everyone i s expected to know because they are the group which has the time t o do so. The f a t h e r and mother are too busy as producers t o t a l k w i t h the c h i l d r e n . I n any event, t h i s i s o f t e n not a c r u c i a l i s s u e because there are only a few households which have Included i n t h e i r members a grandparent. Most o f t e n , i n poorer households, younger c h i l d r e n 31 are cared f o r by o l d e r c h i l d r e n or c h i l d r e n t a g al o n g w i t h t h e i r parents as they go about t h e i r d a i l y t a s k s . In the I n d i a n v i l l a g e g e n e r a t i o n a l d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n , and the subsequent behaviour p a t t e r n s , are extended beyond the immediate k i n s h i p group. The f a t h e r ' s age mates w i t h i n the l o c a l caste group are t r e a t e d w i t h r e s p e c t s i m i l a r t o t h a t g i v e n the f a t h e r . G e n e r a t i o n a l d i f f e r e n c e s are observed between castes as w e l l . The f u r t h e r away b i o l o g i c a l l y the g e n e r a t i o n a l l y o l d e r man I s , the l e s s he w i l l be t r e a t e d i n the same manner as the younger man would t r e a t h i s f a t h e r . ROLE DIFFERENTIATION ON THE BASIS OF SEX Role d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n on the b a s i s of sex i s n o t , i n some i n s t a n c e s , as c l e a r cut as r o l e d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n on the b a s i s of age. The primary d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n i s s t r i c t l y b i o l o g i c a l i n n a t u r e . Women bear the c h i l d r e n and d u r i n g the e a r l y years of the c h i l d ' s l i f e are v i r t u a l l y the only sex w i t h which the c h i l d has any i n t e r a c t i o n r e g a r d l e s s of i t s sex. By and l a r g e i t can be s a i d t h a t the women are r e s p o n s i b l e f o r the p r e p a r a -t i o n of food and the maintenance of c l o t h i n g . Beyond these few t h i n g s the r o l e s p l a y e d by a d u l t s I n the household depend upon caste membership and the l e v e l of we a l t h . Many of the jobs necessary f o r the maintenance of the household can be done by e i t h e r men or women and are o f t e n done by both working t o g e t h e r . There are very few jobs which r e q u i r e sheer brute s t r e n g t h . Role d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n I s on the b a s i s of what i s thought t o be ap p r o p r i a t e and t h i s v a r i e s from caste t o caste and on the wealth of the household. 32 The women of wealt h y , h i g h c a s t e households do very l i t t l e a c t u a l p h y s i c a l l a b o u r even i n terms of r a i s i n g t h e i r own c h i l d r e n . Those households can a f f o r d t o r e t a i n others to do the housework and the wives are merely a d m i n i s t r a t o r s and managers. Females are concerned p r i m a r i l y w i t h the i n t e r n a l a f f a i r s of the household. The r e l a t i o n s h i p s which they form are w i t h other women. Men are not r e a l l y p a r t of t h e i r w o r l d . The only men w i t h whom they i n t e r a c t are t h e i r husbands and sons. The f a t h e r - i n - l a w and the e l d e r b r o t h e r s - i n - l a w are t o 15 be avoided. Any r e l a t i o n s h i p s which e x i s t between house-holds are maintained by the males o f the household. Females from one household do have o c c a s i o n t o i n t e r a c t w i t h females of other households, but t h i s does not occur f r e q u e n t l y . One i n t e r a c t s f r e e l y w i t h equals only and th e r e are not very many equals i n a s o c i a l system which i s h i g h l y concerned about r e l a t i v e r a n k i n g . In these s o r t s of wealthy households the males are i n much the same p o s i t i o n as the females. They are the managers of the household p r o p e r t i e s and only r a r e l y do any p h y s i c a l work. High caste households would r a t h e r leave the work undone than do i t themselves because they would s u f f e r a l o s s of p r e s t i g e were they t o do so. G e n e r a l l y s p e aking, i n wealthy households the males form the p r o d u c t i o n u n i t t h a t b r i n g s i n the r e q u i s i t e income to m a i n t a i n the household. This i s accomplished e i t h e r by managing the household p r o p e r t y or by occupying a p o s i t i o n which b r i n g s i n income from o u t s i d e the v i l l a g e . 33 A c t u a l l y i t i s on l y i n the upper caste or wealthy house-holds t h a t there i s a great d i s t i n c t i o n between the r o l e s of men and women--and these r e p r e s e n t a s m a l l percentage of the t o t a l households i n the v i l l a g e . I n the low caste households or households w i t h low incomes the p o s i t i o n of both males and females i s somewhat d i f f e r e n t . I n d i v i d u a l s , both male and female, a ct not i n terms of what Is d e s i r a b l e but what i s neces-s a r y . The women are o f t e n r e q u i r e d t o perform d u t i e s which take them out of the house. The women of the lower castes must perform f o r the women of the upper castes the same s o r t o f s e r v i c e t h a t t h e i r husbands perform f o r the husbands of the upper caste wives. The v i l l a g e washerman washes the c l o t h i n g of the upper caste males and the w i f e of the washerman washes the c l o t h i n g of the upper caste females. The c l o t h i n g i s washed i n the l o c a l stream or tank so t h a t the job cannot be done w i t h i n the home. This b e i n g the case f o r a f a i r l y l a r g e number of caste occupations the female can spend only a p a r t o f the a v a i l a b l e time c a r r y i n g out the d u t i e s of c h i l d care and food p r e p a r a -t i o n . They are i n e f f e c t managers although they are not managing servants but t h e i r own c h i l d r e n . Often women of the poorer a g r i c u l t u r a l castes or poorer households o f the h i g h e r a g r i c u l t u r a l castes must h e l p t h e i r husbands i n the f i e l d s dur-i n g the c r i s i s p e r i o d s of planting and h a r v e s t i n g . I t i s d e f i n i t e l y c o n s i d e r e d demeaning f o r women of the hi g h caste household t o be seen doing any k i n d of work o u t s i d e of the home. I t i s not con s i d e r e d demeaning f o r lower caste women t o work 34 o u t s i d e of the home ( i t i s a c t u a l l y p a r t of t h e i r r o l e ) so t h a t there i s not the sharp d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n of r o l e s i n the lower caste households as there i s i n the h i g h caste household. The i d e a l r o l e of women i n the I n d i a n household seems t o be s i m i l a r i n some ways t o the i d e a l r o l e of women i n our s o c i e t y . That i s t o say t h a t they are viewed as consumers and not as producers. The man who r e q u i r e s t h a t h i s w i f e work to h e l p support the f a m i l y i s not r e a l l y f u l f i l l i n g h i s r o l e as p r o v i d e r . One b i g d i f f e r e n c e between the wealthy of our s o c i e t y and the wealthy of the I n d i a n v i l l a g e i s t h a t i n the In d i a n v i l l a g e the woman i s not expected t o c o n s p i c u o u s l y consume. I d e a l l y of course, t h e r e i s always a d i s t i n c t i o n between male and female r o l e s , but to the extent t h a t the male must depend upon the h e l p of h i s w i f e as producer r a t h e r than con-sumer the d i s t i n c t i o n between male and female ' r o l e s i s b l u r r e d I do not t h i n k t h e r e can h e l p but be a c e r t a i n amount o f con-f u s i o n where r o l e d i s t i n c t i o n s are not c l e a r and t h i s can i n t u r n e f f e c t such t h i n g s as the a l l o c a t i o n of power and r e s p o n s i b i l i t y . The female can and does e x e r t more a u t h o r i t y than she I s i d e a l l y a l l o w e d . Age, g e n e r a t i o n , and sex, then, are the major bases f o r the d i s t i n c t i o n s between r o l e s w i t h i n the household i n the I n d i a n v i l l a g e . I should now l i k e t o examine the second category mentioned at the f i r s t of the ch a p t e r , t h a t of household s t a t u s 35 which w i l l a i d i n the d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n of r o l e s w i t h i n the v i l l a g e s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e . HOUSEHOLD STATUS AS A MEANS OF ROLE DIFFERENTIATION WITHIN THE VILLAGE Roles are occupied w i t h i n the v i l l a g e s t r u c t u r e on the b a s i s of household s t a t u s . One must be the head of a household w i t h h i g h s t a t u s b e f o r e i t i s p o s s i b l e t o assume any important r o l e w i t h i n the v i l l a g e . Since at the v i l l a g e l e v e l household has d i f f e r e n t c o nnotations t h a t i t does at the household l e v e l I t h i n k i t important t h a t the term household be p r o p e r l y under-stood. To the i n d i v i d u a l the household r e f e r s t o the group of people who have a common r e s i d e n c e . The primary o r i e n t a t i o n and l o y a l t y of every I n d i v i d u a l i s d i r e c t e d inwards towards the r e s t of the h o u s e h o l d . 1 ^ At the v i l l a g e l e v e l i n d i v i d u a l s see the household as the b a s i c u n i t out of which v i l l a g e s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e a r i s e s . Each i n d i v i d u a l d i s t i n g u i s h e s between r o l e s w i t h i n h i s own household but does not do so f o r other house-holds . The only s i g n i f i c a n t i n t e r a c t i o n between households i s t h a t between household heads who act f o r t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e households as a u n i t . In a d d i t i o n to t h i s d i s t i n c t i o n the household I s seen as a more a l l - i n c l u s i v e u n i t t h a t the i n d i -v i d u a l perhaps views i t . The household u n i t f o r the i n d i v i d u a l i s the group who share a common h e a r t h . The household as seen by others i n the v i l l a g e may perhaps be b e t t e r r e f e r r e d t o as the " k i n d r e d of c o o p e r a t i o n . " This i s a term which I have bor-rowed from Mayer who uses I t i n h i s d i s c u s s i o n of c a s t e and k i n s h i p 36 17 i n c e n t r a l I n d i a . The k i n d r e d of c o o p e r a t i o n Is t h a t group of k i n which cooperates i n matters economical, p o l i t i c a l and r e l i g i o u s . They operate as a u n i t v i s - a - v i s other k i n d r e d s . The minimum s i z e f o r a k i n d r e d i s a s i n g l e household and the maximum s i z e i s t h a t number of households which can s t i l l main-t a i n a u n i t e d face a g a i n s t other k i n d r e d s . E f f o r t s are made to m a i n t a i n as l a r g e a k i n d r e d of c o o p e r a t i o n as p o s s i b l e , how-18 ever, because i t i n c r e a s e s the s t a t u s p o t e n t i a l of the k i n d r e d . In other words the i n d i v i d u a l v i l l a g e r has two conceptions of the household. Which one he employs depends upon the c i r -cumstances. I f i t i s an i n d i v i d u a l household matter the house-h o l d i s composed of those who share a common h e a r t h . I f i t i s a v i l l a g e or caste matter i n d i v i d u a l s w i t h i n the household are not important r a t h e r i t i s the household as a whole. Kindred of c o o p e r a t i o n are always i n t r a c a s t e i n c o m p o s i t i o n . Each cas t e group w i t h i n the v i l l a g e w i l l then have at l e a s t one k i n d r e d . The n u m e r i c a l l y s m a l l castes may be composed of on l y two or thr e e households, the heads of which are b r o t h e r s , cousins 19 or even more d i s t a n t r e l a t i v e s , but i f they a ct t o g e t h e r s o c i a l l y , p o l i t i c a l l y , e c o n o m i c a l l y , and r e l i g i o u s l y they can be co n s i d e r e d a k i n d r e d . The n u m e r i c a l l y l a r g e r c a s t e s w i l l more than l i k e l y be composed of a t l e a s t s e v e r a l k i n d r e d s each f which see i t s e l f as a separate u n i t and, more i m p o r t a n t l y , i s ol 20 seen by o u t s i d e r s as a u n i t . Given t h a t t h i s i s the group which i s granted or not granted s t a t u s , on what b a s i s does the group a t t a i n i t ? There are thr e e 37 primary sources of s t a t u s f o r the k i n d r e d . They a r e , 1) p o s i t i o n i n the r i t u a l h i e r a r c h y , 2) t r a d i t i o n a l o c c u p a t i o n , and 3) membership i n a p o l i t i c a l f a c t i o n o p e r a t i n g w i t h i n the v i l l a g e (and sometimes o u t s i d e the v i l l a g e as w e l l ) . Each of these t h r e e sources of k i n d r e d s t a t u s i s an a n a l y t i c a l aspect of what i s u s u a l l y d e s c r i b e d as the caste system (see the appendix f o r a g e n e r a l d e f i n i t i o n and d i s -c u s s i o n of caste). No matter the r e g i o n and no matter the p a r t i c u l a r focus of the obs e r v e r , every community study or f o r t h a t matter every study of s o c i a l a c t i o n must take I n t o account the caste system. There are c o n s i d e r a b l e v a r i a t i o n s i n the way i n which caste operates from r e g i o n t o r e g i o n , but there are no r e g i o n s i n which i t does not operate i n the Hindu areas of the su b c o n t i n e n t . Even i n the predominantly Muslim areas t h e r e are m a n i f e s t a t i o n s of i t s o p e r a t i o n . The caste system i s very o l d and has undergone c o n s i d e r a b l e change s i n c e i t s i n c e p t i o n at the time of the D r a v i d i a n submission t o the i n v a d i n g Aryans from the n o r t h . The f o u r o r i g i n a l r e l i g i o u s varna have p r o l i f e r a t e d i n t o s e v e r a l thousand 21 s e c u l a r 'economic' castes (or perhaps more a p p r o p r i a t e l y , j a t i s ) some of which have a s m a l l l o c a l membership, some a r e g i o n a l , and some a l a r g e n a t i o n a l membership. These j a t i s are a l l ranked r e l a t i v e t o one another such t h a t members of each j a t i are aware which j a t i s rank above them and which b e l o i The c l o s e r the d i s t a n c e between two j a t i s the more there i s s p e c i f i c knowledge about each ot h e r . The way i n which one j a t i member behaves toward a member of another j a t i i s r e l a t e d t o the d i s t a n c e , e i t h e r above or below, t h a t e x i s t s between them. There i s no c l e a r c u t a b s o l u t e r a n k i n g f o r i n one r e g i o n one j a t i may be reckoned h i g h e r r i t u a l l y r e l a t i v e t o oth e r j a t l s than i t might be i n another r e g i o n . The b a s i s f o r e s t a b l i s h i n g rank i n v o l v e s such t h i n g s as who 22 w i l l eat w i t h whom, who w i l l accept which k i n d s of food from 23 whom, and who w i l l marry whom. As w e l l as these k i n d s of a c t i v i t i e s the approach t o r e l i g i o n by each cas t e must be taken i n t o account. Brahmins have a p a r t i c u l a r form of worship which only they can employ. L e s s e r castes may have elements of the Brahmin form of worship, but should they attempt t o copy the Brahmins too c l o s e l y they run the r i s k of a sound b e a t i n g . Occupation of the caste has a d e c i s i v e e f f e c t on caste s t a t u s . The h i g h e s t s t a t u s occupations are those which I n v o l v e no p h y s i c a l labour or those which are not d i r e c t l y concerned w i t h p r o d u c t i o n of goods ( f o r example the Brahmin p r i e s t s ) . The next group of occupations are those which i n v o l v e working the l a n d ( p r o v i d i n g i t i s the owner who i s wo r k i n g ) . Equal or perhaps s l i g h t l y below the c u l t i v a t o r s are the a r t i s a n s who manufacture the t o o l s needed f o r p r o d u c t i o n . The lowest ranked castes i n terms of occupation are those castes which are r e s p o n s i b l e f o r p r o v i d i n g s e r v i c e s t o the h i g h e r c a s t e s . These castes are the m a j o r i t y of the v i l l a g e p o p u l a t i o n . Below the castes are the o u t c a s t e s . These are people who do not belong w i t h i n the caste system because t h e i r occupations are too 40 degrading. These people c l e a n the s t r e e t s , remove dead a n i -mals, e t c . They are a l s o known as the untouchables because to touch them i s p o l l u t i n g and r e q u i r e s a f a i r l y e x t e n s i v e ceremony t o become pure a g a i n . In some ways t o t a l k about p o s i t i o n In the r i t u a l h i e r a r c h y and o c c u p a t i o n (because o c c u p a t i o n l a r g e l y determines r i t u a l p o s i t i o n ) as two separate d e v i c e s f o r d e t e r m i n i n g c a s t e s t a t u s i s t o make a d i s t i n c t i o n not worth making, but i t I s u s e f u l I f f o r o n l y one reason. Castes do change t h e i r o c c u p a t i o n w i t h o u t immediately a f f e c t i n g t h e i r r i t u a l p o s i t i o n . For example, A h i r s who are herders o c c u p a t i o n a l l y may stop b e i n g herders and become l a n d l e s s l a b o u r e r s . T h i s o c c u p a t i o n i s not as p o l -l u t i n g r i t u a l l y so t h a t they g a i n s t a t u s I n terms of o c c u p a t i o n w h i l e at the same time r e t a i n i n g t h e i r very low s t a t u s r i t u a l l y . 24 Over a p e r i o d of time t h e i r r i t u a l p o s i t i o n may improve, but I t won't do so immediately. The t h i r d method f o r d e t e r m i n i n g s t a t u s f o r the c a s t e group i s membership w i t h i n a p a r t i c u l a r p o l i t i c a l f a c t i o n . I s h a l l not d i s c u s s t h i s here because i t i s covered i n the chapter on a l l o c a t i o n of power and r e s p o n s i b i l i t y . Although i t i s p o s s i b l e f o r a caste t o rank h i g h i n terms of o ccupation and low i n terms of r i t u a l p o s i t i o n , t h i s k i n d of d i s c repancy does not occur very o f t e n . Normally t h e r e i s a h i g h c o r r e l a t i o n between these three means of e s t a b l i s h i n g r e l a t i v e s t a t u s . Thus Brahmins who are at the top of the r i t u a l h i e r a r c h y normally have occupations which do not i n v o l v e 41 p h y s i c a l l a b o u r and are members of one of the p o w e r f u l p o l i t i c a l f a c t i o n s i n the v i l l a g e . Sweepers rank very low r i t u a l l y , must perform the most me n i a l t a s k s , and are not members of a p o w e r f u l p o l i t i c a l f a c t i o n i f they are members of any f a c t i o n s . I t i s from h i g h s t a t u s households or k i n d r e d s of coopera-t i o n t h a t v i l l a g e l e a d e r s are s e l e c t e d . The household head of the household w i t h the h i g h e s t s t a t u s w i l l n o r m a l l y occupy the most po w e r f u l p o s i t i o n i n the v i l l a g e . I f one household does not emerge c l e a r l y as the most p o w e r f u l , then i t i s p o s s i b l e t h a t p e r s o n a l i t i e s w i l l be taken i n t o c o n s i d e r a t i o n . Compe-tence i s a f a c t o r only when a l l other t h i n g s are e q u a l . Thus an i n d i v i d u a l of great a b i l i t y but a member of a low s t a t u s household has very l i t t l e chance of making h i m s e l f f e l t i n v i l l a g e a f f a i r s . His sphere of a c t i v i t y w i l l be c o n s t r a i n e d to w i t h i n h i s own cast e group or household. He may be reco g -n i z e d as doing a very good job at t h a t l e v e l by the r e s t of the v i l l a g e , but he w i l l not be i n v i t e d t o help make d e c i s i o n s at the v i l l a g e l e v e l . 42 FOOTNOTES x M a r i o n J . Levy, The S t r u c t u r e of S o c i e t y ( P r i n c e t o n , 1 9 5 2 ) , p. 299-Levy, The Family R e v o l u t i o n - Modern China (Cambridge, 1949), Chapter 1. As an aside and t o go out on a limb I would suggest t h a t the avenues t o power are so nar r o w l y d e l i n e a t e d t h a t t h e r e i s almost never a q u e s t i o n of who w i l l become what i n the v i l l a g e a c t i v i t i e s . This does not h o l d t r u e i n the t r a n s i t i o n a l v i l -l ages i n I n d i a today because w i t h wider c o n t a c t s i n the o u t s i d e w o r l d t h e r e are other avenues than the t r a d i t i o n a l one open. The teacher as a r o l e i s one such example and I w i l l d i s c u s s the r o l e of teacher i n v i l l a g e p o l i t i c a l i n t e r a c t i o n i n the chapter on the s t r u c t u r e of p o l i t i c a l a l l o c a t i o n . We as out-s i d e r s can 'see' t h a t t h e r e are many ways t o achieve power i n the v i l l a g e , but t o the a c t o r s t h e r e may not be any a l t e r n a t i v e s The I n f o r m a t i o n f o r r o l e d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n w i t h i n the house-h o l d Is de v i s e d mainly from the f o l l o w i n g books and a r t i c l e s : Books: a) A. S. A t t e k a r , The P o s i t i o n of Women - Hindu C i v i l i z a -t i o n (Banaras, 1 9 5 6 ) . b) K. M. Kapadia, Marriage and Family - I n d i a (Oxford, 1 9 5 6 ) , 2nd Ed. c) I r w a t t i Karve, K i n s h i p O r g a n i z a t i o n - I n d i a (Poona, 1953) • d) Oscar Lewis, V i l l a g e L i f e - Northern I n d i a (Urbana, 1958) . e) P. H. Prabhu, Hindu S o c i a l O r g a n i z a t i o n (Bombay, 1 9 5 8 ) . f ) A. D. Ross, The Hindu Family - i t s Urban S e t t i n g (Toronto, 1961) . g) S. N. S r i n i v a s , Marriage and Family - Mysore (Bombay, 1942) . ' h) P. Thomas, Hindu R e l i g i o n , Customs and Manners (Bombay) 43 b) c) A r t i c l e s : a) F. G. B a i l e y , "The J o i n t F a m i l y - I n d i a , " The Economic Weekly, Bombay, February 2 0 , i 9 6 0 . Andrew C o l l v e r , "The F a m i l y Cycle - I n d i a and the U n i t e d S t a t e s , " ASR 2 8 ( 1 ) : 8 6 - 9 6 , February, 1963. J . D. M. D e r r e t t , "The H i s t o r y of the J u r i d i c a l Frame-work of the Hindu J o i n t F a m i l y , " C o n t r i b u t i o n s to I n d i a n S o c i o l o g y , V I , December, 1962. d) D. Mandelbaum, "The F a m i l y - I n d i a , " The F a m i l y : I t s F u n c t i o n and D e s t i n y , ed. R. N. Anshen (New York, 1 9 4 9 ) . e) D. Mandelbaum, "Family, J a t i , V i l l a g e , " S t r u c t u r e and Change I n I n d i a n S o c i e t y , ed. S i n g e r and Cohn (Chicago, 1968) . f ) M. E. O p l e r , " V i l l a g e L i f e - North I n d i a , " P a t t e r n s f o r Modern L i v i n g , D i v i s i o n 3 , C u l t u r a l P a t t e r n s , The D e l p h i a n S o c i e t y (Chicago, 1 9 5 0 ) . g) M. E. Opler and R. Singh, "Two V i l l a g e s of E a s t e r n U t t a r Pradesh, I n d i a ; An A n a l y s i s of D i f f e r e n c e s and S i m i l a r i t i e s , " AA, V o l . 5 4 , 1952. h) Henry O r e n s t e i n , "The Recent H i s t o r y of the Extended Family - I n d i a , " S o c i a l Problems i ) G i t e l P. Steed, "Notes on an Approach t o a Study of P e r s o n a l i t y Formation - a Hindu V i l l a g e - G u j a r a t , " V i l l a g e I n d i a , ed. M a r r i o t t (Chicago, 1955). S. N. S r i n i v a s , Marriage and' Family - Mysore (Bombay, 1 9 4 2 ) , p. 171. ^David G. Mandelbaum, "Family, J a t i , V i l l a g e , " S t r u c t u r e and Change - I n d i a n S o c i e t y , ed. M i l t o n and Singer (Chicago, 19F8), p. 2 6 . For the v i l l a g e as a whole females are q u i t e important. Females who marry i n t o another v i l l a g e p r o v i d e l i n k s between two v i l l a g e s . There are s t a t i s t i c s which show the extent to which females marry i n t o p a r t i c u l a r o u t s i d e v i l l a g e s and the kinds of r e l a t i o n s h i p s which then e x i s t between the two v i l l a g e s . I t i s much more d i f f i c u l t t o m a i n t a i n an argument w i t h a v i l l a g e i n which l i v e the daughters and daughters-in-law of the p r o -t a g o n i s t s . 44 7 In Mayer's Ramkheri study only two out of 194 marriages occurred between i n d i v i d u a l s who were both r e s i d e n t s of the v i l l a g e . Of these m a r r i a g e s , 184 were v i r i l o c a l . M a r r i o t t , i n h i s study on Kishan G a r h i , p o i n t s out t h a t only once In three generations has a marriage o c c u r r e d between Kishan G a r h i and any of eleven other s u r r o u n d i n g v i l l a g e s . The average d i s t a n c e between n a t a l home and c o n j u g a l home f o r the women i s 12 m i l e s , a f a i r l y great d i s t a n c e i n v i l l a g e I n d i a . C o l l v e r , op_. c i t . Q Lewis, op_. c i t . 1 0Mandelbaum, "Fa m i l y , J a t i , V i l l a g e , " p. 32 . 11 There are two reasons f o r s u g g e s t i n g t h i s . F i r s t , i f the w i f e does not prove t o be what e i t h e r the husband, o r , more p a r t i c u l a r l y , the husband's parents t h i n k she should be she can be sent back t o her p a r e n t s . This i s a f a i r l y d r a s t i c move, but i t i s employed I f the w i f e proves t o be too r e c a l c i -t r a n t . The second reason i s t h a t every woman d e s i r e s marriage because she i s not r e a l l y welcome past puberty I n her n a t a l home. Once she i s married the n a t a l f a m i l y would look w i t h extreme d i s f a v o u r upon her permanent r e t u r n . S t r i c t l y speaking one c o u l d say t h a t the woman has a choice between s t a y i n g w i t h her c o n j u g a l f a m i l y or r e t u r n i n g t o the n a t a l f a m i l y , but i n r e a l i t y she has no c h o i c e . Given the above the female would r a t h e r remain i n the c o n j u g a l household and I t h i n k one can assume t h a t she w i l l do her best t o get along w i t h a l l of the members of the c o n j u g a l household. This may i n v o l v e e f f o r t s on her p a r t t o modify e i t h e r her own behaviour or t h a t of the other members. Since she I s a d e f i n i t e m i n o r i t y most of the changes w i l l p robably occur w i t h i n her own behaviour. As a consequence of t h i s I would suggest t h a t q u i t e s t r o n g bonds are formed between the husband and w i f e . They may not neces-s a r i l y be based on a f f e c t i o n , but they nonetheless do e x i s t . The r e l a t i o n s h i p which e x i s t s between Wang Lung and h i s w i f e in" P e a r l Buck's The Good E a r t h i s a good example. Each i s a s t r a n g e r t o the oth e r at time of marriage and each has c e r t a i n reasons f o r e n t e r i n g i n t o the s t a t e of marriage, and so lon g as the other p a r t n e r f u l f i l l s e x p e c t a t i o n s the r e l a t i o n s h i p i s smooth. A f f e c t i o n I s not expected t o be p a r t of the r e l a t i o n -s hip but i t c e r t a i n l y does develop. I t h i n k i t would be very d i f f i c u l t t o compare marriage and d i v o r c e s t a t i s t i c s I n I n d i a w i t h those of the U n i t e d States because the approach to these r o l e s Is so d i f f e r e n t . In I n d i a , s t r a n g e r s marry and hope t o develop a f f e c t i o n and i n the U n i t e d S t a t e s I n d i v i d u a l s who have a f f e c t i o n f o r one another marry and hope to develop other bonds to strengthen the bonds. 45 12 Mandelbaum, "Family, J a t i , V i l l a g e , " p. 33-13 I assume the i n f o r m a t i o n i s not a v a i l a b l e s i m p l y because those who have s t u d i e d the I n d i a n v i l l a g e have not asked the a p p r o p r i a t e q u e s t i o n s . The r e s e a r c h e r s were concerned about o t h e r t h i n g s . 14 A f r i c a n Systems of K i n s h i p and M a r r i a g e , ed. R a d c l i f f e -Brown and D a r y l l Forde~T"London, 1950), S e c t i o n U of the I n t r o d u c t i o n . 15 Mandelbaum, "Family, J a t i , V i l l a g e , " pp. 30-37-l 6 I b i d . , p. 37-17 A d r i a n C. Mayer, Caste and K i n s h i p - C e n t r a l I n d i a (London, I 9 6 0 ) , p a r t i c u l a r l y the I n t r o d u c t i o n . l 8 The s i z e of the k i n d r e d may vary a c c o r d i n g t o the i s s u e at hand. Issues may a r i s e which l e a d t o the s p l i t t i n g of the k i n d r e d , e i t h e r t e m p o r a r i l y or permanently. C o n v e r s e l y , new kin d r e d s may be formed as the r e s u l t of other i s s u e s . 19 T h e o r e t i c a l l y a l l members of a caste can t r a c e t h e i r i n d i v i d u a l b i o l o g i c a l l i n e s back t o a common p o i n t so t h a t a l l c aste members are r e l a t e d . 20 For a f u r t h e r d i s c u s s i o n of the k i n d r e d of c o o p e r a t i o n w i t h i n the context o f cast e see the appendix on Caste. 21 S e c u l a r r e l a t i v e t o the o r i g i n a l i d e a of varna but d e f i n i t e l y not s e c u l a r as we t h i n k of s e c u l a r I n our s o c i e t y . 22 The h i g h e r ranked caste w i l l accept uncooked but not cooked food from the lower ranked c a s t e . The lower ranked w i l l accept both cooked and uncooked from the h i g h e r ranked c a s t e . 23 Males may marry down, females must marry I n t o the same caste or h i g h e r . The d i s t a n c e between castes cannot be too g r e a t , however. For example, should a Brahmin male marry an outc a s t e female he becomes outcaste as w e l l . 24 1) F. G. B a i l e y , T r i b e , Caste and N a t i o n (Manchester, I 9 6 0 ) , pp. 211-27-2) Ralph W. N i c h o l a s , " P o l i t i c s I n V i l l a g e s of Southern A s i a , " S t r u c t u r e and Change - I n d i a n S o c i e t y (Chicago, 1 9 6 8 ) , pp. 2 7 3 ^ CHAPTER I I I 1 S t r u c t u r e of S o l i d a r i t y In the p r e v i o u s chapter I have d i s c u s s e d the way i n which r o l e s are a l l o c a t e d among the v a r i o u s v i l l a g e r s . I m p l i e d i n the d e f i n i t i o n of r o l e Is a s e p a r a t i o n of v i e w p o i n t s because the occupant of each r o l e l o o k s upon each s i t u a t i o n from a d i f f e r e n t vantage p o i n t . I n t h i s chapter I propose t o analyze t h a t s t r u c t u r e which operates to s t a n d a r d i z e the r e l a t i o n s h i p s between these r o l e s . I am not concerned w i t h the s t r u c t u r e s which operate i n any s o c i e t y t o i n t e g r a t e r o l e s ; r a t h e r I am concerned w i t h the s t r u c t u r e which f u n c t i o n s t o s t a n d a r d i z e the modes of behaviour which are co n s i d e r e d a p p r o p r i a t e between occupants of d i f f e r e n t i a t e d r o l e s . There are three aspects to the s t r u c t u r e of s o l i d a r i t y which must be co n s i d e r e d i n a n a l y z i n g any r e l a t i o n s h i p between r o l e s . I s h a l l use Levy's d e f i n i t i o n s f o r each of the t h r e e f o l l o w i n g a s p e c t s : c o n t e n t , strength,and i n t e n s i t y . The con-t e n t of any r e l a t i o n s h i p i s d e f i n e d as ". . . the type of r e l a t i o n s h i p t h a t i s t o e x i s t and the members between (or among) 2 whom i t i s t o e x i s t . " The s t r e n g t h of the r e l a t i o n s h i p i s d e f i n e d as ". . . the r e l a t i v e precedence or l a c k of prece-dence taken by t h i s r e l a t i o n s h i p over other r e l a t i o n s h i p s of i t s g e n e r a l s o r t , and over other o b l i g a t i o n s and commitments i n the l a r g e r s o c i a l s p h e r e . " J The I n t e n s i t y of the r e l a t i o n -s h i p i s d e f i n e d as ". . . the s t a t e of a f f e c t i n v o l v e d i n the 46 47 r e l a t i o n s h i p . " There are two p o s s i b l e types of v a r i a t i o n i n the s t a t e of a f f e c t : f i r s t , the type of a f f e c t i n v o l v e d (e.g., l o v e , h a t e , anger, j o y , r e s p e c t , e t c . ) ; and second, the degree of a f f e c t i v e involvement t h a t i s expected (e.g., whether the r e l a t i o n s h i p i s to be i n t i m a t e or one of a v o i d a n c e ) . I f I am granted the above by way of e x p l a i n i n g and d e f i n -i n g the s t r u c t u r e of s o l i d a r i t y then i t f o l l o w s t h a t the s t r u c -t u r e o f s o l i d a r i t y i s c r u c i a l i n at l e a s t two circumstances: f i r s t , where the frequency of i n t e r a c t i o n i s h i g h ; and second, where r e l a t i o n s h i p s are s t r a t e g i c t o the system ( s t r a t e g i c r e l a t i o n s h i p s may have a h i g h i n c i d e n c e of i n t e r a c t i o n , but t h i s need not be the c a s e ) . I t i s n e i t h e r p o s s i b l e nor i s i t d e s i r a b l e f o r my purposes to t r e a t a l l of the r e l a t i o n s h i p s which can occur between r o l e s w i t h i n the v i l l a g e . T h e o r e t i c a l l y I should f i n d i t necessary to analyze only the r e l a t i o n s h i p s which e x i s t between r o l e s i n the v i l l a g e s o c i a l system, b u t , as i n the p r e v i o u s chapter on r o l e d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n , the s o l i d a r i t y s t r u c t u r e of the lower l e v e l s o c i a l u n i t s (the household) must be c o n s i d e r e d as w e l l because they so c o l o u r the upper l e v e l r e l a t i o n s h i p s t h a t the upper l e v e l r e l a t i o n s h i p s cannot be f u l l y understood without knowledge of lower l e v e l r e l a t i o n s h i p s . Thus we must begin by d i s c u s s i n g the s t r u c t u r e of s o l i d a r i t y as i t f u n c t i o n s at the l e v e l of the household. In t h i s c hapter, as i n the l a s t , I have had t r o u b l e f i n d i n g any m a t e r i a l which deals w i t h the r e l a t i o n s h i p as i t 48 a c t u a l l y operates r a t h e r than how i t should operate i d e a l l y . Hence much of the m a t e r i a l t h a t i s presented i n t h i s chapter i s s u p p o s i t i o n a l and h y p o t h e t i c a l . SOLIDARITY STRUCTURE WITHIN THE HOUSEHOLD Of the many p o s s i b l e r e l a t i o n s h i p s which e x i s t between members of the household t h e r e are two which must be under-stood i n order t o comprehend the s t r u c t u r e of s o l i d a r i t y at the v i l l a g e l e v e l . These are the f a t h e r - s o n r e l a t i o n s h i p and the b r o t h e r - b r o t h e r r e l a t i o n s h i p . At the v i l l a g e l e v e l females do not f i g u r e as p o s s i b i l i t i e s f o r the r o l e s which are t o be a l l o c a t e d . At the household l e v e l , females do e f f e c t the con-t e n t , s t r e n g t h , and i n t e n s i t y of the above mentioned male r e l a t i o n s h i p s , but i d e a l l y at l e a s t they should not e f f e c t the c o n t e n t , s t r e n g t h or i n t e n s i t y of the v i l l a g e l e v e l r e l a t i o n s h i p s . 1. The Father-Son R e l a t i o n s h i p Before c o n t i n u i n g I must mention another major problem which I have been unable to s o l v e (and one which no one e l s e has s o l v e d t o my knowledge). S o c i a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s are dynamic and my a n a l y s i s i s s t a t i c . I d e a l l y the r o l e of both f a t h e r and son does not change w i t h time, nor does the s o l i d a r i t y s t r u c t u r e which orders the r e l a t i o n s h i p . A c t u a l l y the con-t e n t of the r e l a t i o n s h i p changes d r a s t i c a l l y over time as does the s t r e n g t h and I n t e n s i t y . The f a t h e r - s o n r e l a t i o n s h i p Is not the s.ame when the f a t h e r i s t w e n t y - f i v e and the son f i v e 49 as i t i s when the f a t h e r i s s i x t y and the son f o r t y . The best t h a t I can do i n these circumstances i s t o examine the f a t h e r -son r e l a t i o n s h i p at d i f f e r e n t stages i n i t s development. In a s o c i a l system which i s c h a r a c t e r i z e d as p a t r i a r c h a l , p a t r i l o c a l , and p a t r i l i n e a l I t h i n k i t can s a f e l y be assumed t h a t the type of r e l a t i o n s h i p w i l l be t h a t of s u p e r o r d i n a t e -s u b o r d i n a t e . The f a t h e r has complete c o n t r o l over the a c t i o n s of the son. However, the s i t u a t i o n I s never c l e a r c u t because the young f a t h e r i s as dominated by h i s f a t h e r as he i s dominant over h i s young son ( i d e a l l y he i s dominated whether the f a t h e r i s s t i l l a l i v e or n o t ) . The f o l l o w i n g , r a t h e r lengthy quote, from G. M o r r i s C a r s t a i r s ' book, The Twice Born d e s c r i b e s the k i n d of r e l a t i o n s h i p which e x i s t s between f a t h e r and son among the upper castes i n the v i l l a g e he was o b s e r v i n g : In s t r i k i n g c o n t r a s t t o a l l t h i s a t t e n t i v e mothering, the c h i l d ' s f a t h e r i s an a l o o f seemingly unwelcome f i g u r e . The reason f o r t h i s i s t h a t a man, so long as he remains under h i s own f a t h e r ' s r o o f , must keep up the f i c t i o n of denying t h a t he leads an a c t i v e s e x u a l l i f e of h i s own. Not t o do so i s t o be d i s r e s p e c t f u l . Consequently, a man and h i s w i f e can never t a l k t o each other n a t u r a l l y , i n h i s p a r e n t s ' presence; nor i s i t proper t o e i t h e r of them to show a f f e c t i o n f o r t h e i r own c h i l d r e n i n f r o n t of t h e i r e l d e r s . This o b l i g a t o r y s u p p r e s s i o n of any overt show of tender f e e l i n g s Is r e l a x e d only when the c h i l d c r i e s . Then h i s needs take precedence even over the grandparents' a u t h o r i t y , so t h a t he w i l l be handed over to h i s mother, o f t e n w i t h the command "Give him the b r e a s t . " A f a t h e r , however, experiences no such e x c e p t i o n to the demand t h a t he remain impassive and detached. Even i f h i s w i f e or c h i l d f a l l s i l l he must c o n t a i n h i s f e e l i n g s and surrender the r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of tendingthe.m to h i s own p a r e n t s . This taboo perpetuates In each g e n e r a t i o n the t e n s i o n which e x i s t s between f a t h e r and son; and i t i s very s t r o n g . Young Chauthmal", who l i v e d i n h i s f a t h e r Bhurmal's house, had a boy of eighteen months, 50 and o f t e n the g r a n d f a t h e r c o u l d be seen c a r r y i n g t h i s c h i l d i n h i s arms, or d a n d l i n g him w h i l e they sat at t h e i r s h o p — b u t never Chauthmal: " I don't l i k e t o fo n d l e him, even when we are alone i n our room," he s a i d : " i f I d i d , he might get i n t o the h a b i t of run n i n g t o my knee i n the bazaar, and t h a t would not look r i g h t . " . . . On the oth e r hand, there were thr e e among my younger Informants who d i s r e g a r d e d the r u l e , and openly f o n d l e d t h e i r young c h i l d r e n . They were ab l e t o do so because i n each case t h e i r f a t h e r s were dead, and they were the heads of t h e i r s e v e r a l households: but s t i l l the consensus of o p i n i o n (as they were w e l l aware) condemned t h e i r unashamed d i s p l a y of a f f e c t i o n . . . . The u s u a l f a t h e r - c h i l d r e l a t i o n s h i p , then, was d r a i n e d of spontaneous warmth of f e e l i n g . I n s t e a d i t was governed by s t r i c t o b l i g a t i o n s on e i t h e r s i d e . . . .The o b l i g a t i o n of each to the o t h e r , of f i n a n c i a l support and i n s t r u c t i o n on the one hand, and d u t i f u l s e r v i c e throughout one's f a t h e r ' s l i f e (and a f t e r h i s death) on the o t h e r , were c o n s t a n t l y empha- ,-s i z e d , but p e r s o n a l i n t i m a c y was c o n s p i c u o u s l y absent. The above o b s e r v a t i o n s , made on the content, s t r e n g t h , and i n t e n s i t y of the f a t h e r - s o n r e l a t i o n s h i p among the thr e e h i g h e s t castes i n the v i l l a g e of D e o l i , are made on a s i t u a -t i o n where, i n f a c t , t h e r e i s more o p p o r t u n i t y t o l i v e up t o the i d e a l f a t h e r - s o n r e l a t i o n s h i p . Among the - lower castes one would not expect these o b s e r v a t i o n s t o be made f o r at l e a s t two reasons. As C a r s t a i r s observed, i t i s the presence of the g r a n d f a t h e r and/or grandmother which c o n s t r a i n s the behaviour of the f a t h e r w i t h r e s p e c t t o the son i n the upper c a s t e s . Among the lower castes the presence of grandfathers and grandmothers w i t h i n the f a m i l y i s even more u n l i k e l y than among the upper castes where the p r o b a b i l i t y i s only about f i f t y - f i f t y t h a t both parents w i l l be s u r v i v i n g at the time of the son's marriage. There i s a f a i r l y good c o r r e l a t i o n between caste r a n k i n g and wealth (the h i g h e r the caste the 51 more l i k e l y t h a t caste w i l l be wealthy) and th e r e i s a f a i r l y h i g h c o r r e l a t i o n between wealth and l i f e expectancy. The second reason i s t h a t among the lower castes t h e r e i s very l i t t l e o p p o r t u n i t y f o r a f a t h e r t o accumulate wealth over which he has c o n t r o l i n h i s o l d age. I n a wealthy household the aged f a t h e r has no r e a l need of p h y s i c a l s t r e n g t h , he merely needs the mental a b i l i t y t o make d e c i s i o n s c o n c e r n i n g i t s d i s p o s i t i o n . The f a t h e r can be t r a d i t i o n a l l y o r i e n t e d because he has the power t o back h i s p o s i t i o n . Among the poor lower castes when a man l o s e s h i s p h y s i c a l powers, as he i n e v i t a b l y must, he can hope t h a t h i s son w i l l f o l l o w t r a d i -t i o n and p r o v i d e f o r him i n h i s o l d age. Thus when the son i s the main c o n t r i b u t o r or only source of household income he need not pay a t t e n t i o n t o the demands of h i s f a t h e r . I t i s much e a s i e r i n the poorer households f o r the son t o take over from h i s f a t h e r and begin t o make d e c i s i o n s about the d i s p o s i t i o n of the household Income. Concomitantly the poorer household heads may e x h i b i t d i f f e r e n t behaviour p a t t e r n s towards t h e i r sons than Is found among the wealthy, h i g h - c a s t e house-h o l d s . Fathers and sons w i l l probably spend more time, more p l e a s a n t l y and l e s s f o r m a l l y , w i t h one another. A t h i r d f a c t o r which i s probably not as important as the f i r s t two i s t h a t w h i l e t h e r e I s a l o t of d i r e c t contact between f a t h e r and son among poor households t h i s does not h o l d among wealthy households. The f a t h e r i n the wealthy household appears, 5 2 and more l i k e l y i s , as a more d i s t a n t f i g u r e t o the son. He does not have many d i r e c t d e a l i n g s w i t h him. Mother, grand-p a r e n t s , t e a c h e r and p o s s i b l y s e r v a n t s w i l l stand between him and h i s f a t h e r . Even among wealthy households, however, i t i s p o s s i b l e f o r the f a t h e r t o f l y i n the face of t r a d i t i o n w i t h r e s p e c t t o h i s behaviour towards h i s son. While i t i s important t o know t h a t extreme v a r i a t i o n s can and do e x i s t w i t h r e g a r d t o the c o n t e n t , s t r e n g t h , and i n t e n s i t y of the f a t h e r - s o n r e l a -t i o n s h i p I t h i n k t h a t the more normal type of s o l i d a r i t y s t r u c -t u r e t h a t e x i s t s between some r o l e s on the v i l l a g e l e v e l more n e a r l y resembles t h a t of the wealthy household than t h a t of the poorer households. The i n t e r v e n t i o n of caste i n t o the s t r u c t u r e of s o l i d a r i t y at the v i l l a g e l e v e l resembles the i n t e r v e n t i o n o f the mother, grandparents, teacher and s e r v a n t s at the household l e v e l . I s h a l l d i s c u s s s h o r t l y which r o l e s i n the v i l l a g e seem to have a s o l i d a r i t y s t r u c t u r e modeled a f t e r the s o l i d a r i t y s t r u c t u r e of the f a t h e r - s o n r e l a t i o n s h i p , but before I do so I wish t o d i s c u s s the s o l i d a r i t y s t r u c t u r e of the b r o t h e r -b r o t h e r r e l a t i o n s h i p on which other v i l l a g e r o l e s are based. 2 . The B r o t h e r - B r o t h e r R e l a t i o n s h i p One cannot say t h a t the b r o t h e r - b r o t h e r r e l a t i o n s h i p i s a s t r o n g one except i n c e r t a i n circumstances. There are a number of other household r e l a t i o n s h i p s which can and do 53 assume p r e c e d e n c e o v e r t h e b r o t h e r - b r o t h e r r e l a t i o n s h i p . Some examples a r e t h e f a t h e r - s o n , m o t h e r - s o n and h u s b a n d - w i f e r e l a t i o n s h i p s . The d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n o f b r o t h e r s o c c u r s on t h e b a s i s o f r e l a t i v e a g e . The e l d e s t s o n I s e x p e c t e d t o t a k e o v e r t h e h o u s e h o l d and r i t u a l o b l i g a t i o n s o f t h e f a t h e r a f t e r t h e f a t h e r ' s d e a t h . N e i t h e r t h e e l d e s t b r o t h e r n o r t h e yo u n g e r b r o t h e r ( s ) have much power t o make d e c i s i o n s w h i l e t h e f a t h e r i s a l i v e (and c a p a b l e o f making d e c i s i o n s ) so t h a t t h e d i f f e r e n c e i n r o l e s i s n o t much e m p h a s i z e d . As t h e b r o -t h e r s grow up t h e y r e c e i v e much t h e same s o r t o f t r e a t m e n t f r o m o t h e r s i n t h e h o u s e h o l d . The y o u n g e r b r o t h e r may i n f a c t r e c e i v e more a t t e n t i o n s i m p l y b e c a u s e i t i s t h e o l d e r b r o t h e r who w i l l have t h e a d v a n t a g e when t h e f a t h e r d i e s . I n a d d i t i o n t o t h e above b r o t h e r s i n h e r i t e q u a l l y f r o m t h e e s t a t e o f t h e f a t h e r — a l t h o u g h t h e s e n i o r son may be g r a n t e d s o m e t h i n g e x t r a f r o m t h e e s t a t e t o compensate f o r t h e e x t r a r i t u a l e x p e n s e s b e i n g head o f t h e f a m i l y . A l t h o u g h i n t h e o r y t h e e l d e r b r o t h e r s h o u l d s t a n d i n t h e same k i n d o f r e l a t i o n s h i p t o h i s young e r b r o t h e r as t h e f a t h e r s t a n d s t o h i s s o n , t h i s k i n d o f r e l a t i o n s h i p c a n n ot be main-t a i n e d — p a r t i c u l a r l y a f t e r t h e f a t h e r i s d e a d . The f a t h e r can c o n t r o l h i s son b e c a u s e w h a t e v e r w e a l t h t h e h o u s e h o l d has i s i n h i s name, b u t each b r o t h e r has h i s own s o u r c e o f w e a l t h i f any. To quote a g a i n f r o m C a r s t a i r s , I n p r i n c i p l e , t h e same s u b s e r v i e n c e was p o s t u l a t e d i n r e l a t i o n t o one's e l d e r b r o t h e r . " As R a j m a l p u t i t : 54 " i f my f a t h e r o r my e l d e r b r o t h e r t e l l s me t o s t a n d i n one p l a c e , I ' l l s t a n d t h e r e , dammit, a l l day i f need b e , u n t i l t h e y t e l l me I c a n move." He was e x a g g e r a t i n g , b e c a u s e he w a s , i n f a c t , a man o f v e r y i n d e p e n d e n t s p i r i t ; and l i k e some o t h e r y o u n g e r sons i n t h e v i l l a g e , he went h i s own way, s e l d o m b o t h e r i n g t o c o n s u l t h i s e l d e r b r o t h e r . I n g e n e r a l , h o w e v e r , e l d e r b r o t h e r s were a c c o r d e d , a t l e a s t i n p u b l i c , t h e d e f e r e n c e due t o t h e i r p o s i t i o n i n t h e f a m i l y ; and t h e same r e s t r a i n t was o b s e r v e d by a y o u n g e r b r o t h e r i n s u p p r e s s i n g a l l show o f a f f e c t i o n t o w a r d s h i s w i f e and c h i l d r e n b e f o r e an e l d e r b r o t h e r , as b e f o r e h i s f a t h e r . As H i r a S i n g h p u t i t : "Even I f she i s s i c k , I w o u l d n o t l i k e t o say t h i s t o my e l d e r b r o t h e r — b u t i f y o u n g e r b r o t h e r i s t h e r e , I c a n t e l l h i m and a s k h i m t o go f o r m e d i c i n e . " H a r i L a i e x t e n d e d t h i s c a t e g o r y f u r t h e r s a y i n g : " E v e r y man has got f i v e f a t h e r s , and i t i s h i s d u t y t o obey them w i t h o u t q u e s -t i o n , w h a t e v e r t h e y ask him t o d o . They a r e , h i s f a t h e r , h i s e l d e r b r o t h e r , h i s k i n g , h i s g u r u , and h i s f r i e n d s . " 6 I t w o u l d seem f r o m t h e above t h a t t h e d i s t i n c t i o n between b r o t h e r s i s p e r h a p s most i m p o r t a n t a f t e r c h i l d h o o d . As we s h a l l see i n a l a t e r c h a p t e r , i t i s i m p o r t a n t t h a t b r o t h e r s s t i c k t o g e t h e r i n economic and p o l i t i c a l m a t t e r s b e c a u s e t h e y have more power as a group t h a n as I n d i v i d u a l s . T h i s combined w i t h t h e power o f t r a d i t i o n a l r e s p e c t f o r t h e e l d e r b r o t h e r means t h a t i t w i l l be t h e e l d e r b r o t h e r who makes d e c i s i o n s a f t e r t a k i n g i n t o c o n s i d e r a t i o n t h e a t t i t u d e s and d e s i r e s o f h i s y o u n g e r b r o t h e r . O f t e n t h e b r o t h e r s w i l l m a i n t a i n j o i n t p r o p e r t y even t h o u g h t h e y have s e t up s e p a r a t e h o u s e h o l d s . The i d e a l i s a j o i n t h o u s e h o l d , ( c f . p. ) , b u t t h i s i s d i f f i c u l t t o m a i n t a i n b e c a u s e t h e w i v e s so o f t e n q u a r -r e l w i t h one a n o t h e r about who i s t o make what k i n d s o f d e c i -s i o n s w i t h i n t h e h o u s e h o l d . ( T h i s i s p a r t i c u l a r l y t r u e a f t e r t h e d e a t h o f t h e m o t h e r - i n - l a w . ) 55 Sometimes b r o t h e r s do q u a r r e l and decide to go separate ways. This i s u s u a l l y at the i n s t i g a t i o n of t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e wives. What happens i n e f f e c t i s t h a t the wives have f o r c e d t h e i r husbands t o give precedence t o the husband-wife r e l a t i o n -s h i p over the b r o t h e r - b r o t h e r r e l a t i o n s h i p . When the b r o t h e r -b r o t h e r r e l a t i o n s h i p i s f o r c e d t o give precedence t o other r e l a t i o n s h i p s i t may break down comp l e t e l y . B r o t h e r s a c t u a l l y j o i n p o l i t i c a l f a c t i o n s which are opposed q u i t e b i t t e r l y t o one another. They may even be the heads of these f a c t i o n s . ( A c t u a l l y i t i s p o s s i b l e t h a t f a c t i o n s may be formed i n t h i s way as we s h a l l see l a t e r . ) SOLIDARITY STRUCTURES AT THE VILLAGE LEVEL During the r e s t of t h i s chapter I s h a l l be d i s c u s s i n g the s o l i d a r i t y s t r u c t u r e s which e x i s t f o r r e l a t i o n s h i p s at the v i l l a g e l e v e l . J u s t as the i n d i v i d u a l i s the b a s i c u n i t of the household so on the v i l l a g e l e v e l the household i s the b a s i c u n i t . The e l d e s t male i s the head of the household and In any r e l a t i o n s h i p s o u t s i d e of the household at the v i l l a g e l e v e l the head of household r e p r e s e n t s the household. House-holds are i n t e r a c t i n g and the p o i n t s of i n t e r a c t i o n ( i n t e r -s e c t i o n ) are the r e s p e c t i v e household heads. There are essen-t i a l l y two types of r e l a t i o n s h i p s i n t o which households en t e r at the v i l l a g e l e v e l : f i r s t , those i n which caste i s I n v o l v e d and second, those which have t o do w i t h the j a j m a n i system (.cf. p. ). 56 SOLIDARITY STRUCTURES IN THE CASTE SYSTEM S o l i d a r i t y s t r u c t u r e s o r d e r t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p s w h i c h e x i s t i n b o t h i n t r a c a s t e and I n t e r c a s t e s i t u a t i o n s . I s h a l l d i s c u s s f i r s t t h e i n t r a c a s t e s i t u a t i o n and s e c o n d t h e i n t e r -c a s t e s i t u a t i o n . 1. S o l i d a r i t y S t r u c t u r e s as They O r d e r I n t r a c a s t e R e l a t i o n s h i p s I w o u l d h y p o t h e s i z e t h a t r e l a t i o n s h i p s o f an i n t r a c a s t e n a t u r e a r e o r d e r e d i n much t h e same f a s h i o n as t h e b r o t h e r -b r o t h e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s i s o r d e r e d . The b e h a v i o u r w h i c h i s m a n i f e s t e d by t h e i n t e r a c t i o n o f b r o t h e r s i s v e r y s i m i l a r t o t h a t m a n i f e s t e d when t h e h o u s e h o l d heads who make up t h e 7 c a s t e p a n c h a y a t i n t e r a c t . Membership i n t h e c a s t e p a n c h a y a t i s a s c r i b e d t o t h e same d e g r e e t h a t t h e male s i b l i n g group I s a s c r i b e d w i t h i n t h e h o u s e h o l d . R e l a t i v e age i s i m p o r t a n t i n d e t e r m i n i n g who w i l l be t h e head o f t h e c a s t e p a n c h a y a t . However, i n s t e a d o f r e l a t i v e age as t h e p r i m e s e l e c t i v e f a c t o r f o r p a n c h a y a t l e a d e r s h i p , I t i s t h e s i z e and w e a l t h o f t h e h o u s e h o l d w h i c h t h e i n d i v i d u a l r e p r e s e n t s . That i n d i v i d u a l who has t h e l a r g e s t and w e a l t h i e s t h o u s e h o l d b e h i n d h i m w i l l be t h e r a n k i n g member o f t h e c a s t e p a n c h a y a t u n l e s s o f c o u r s e he i s much younger t h a n any o f t h e o t h e r p a n c h a y a t members. As t h e head o f t h e h o u s e h o l d i s r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e b e h a v i o u r o f a l l t h e members o f t h e h o u s e h o l d , so t h e head o f t h e c a s t e p a n c h a y a t w i l l be h e l d r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e b e h a v i o u r o f t h e members o f t h e caste_ r e s i d e n t w i t h i n t h e v i l l a g e . T h i s r e s p o n s i b i l i t y i s more t h e o r e t i c a l t h a n r e a l , 57 a l t h o u g h i t does have r e a l i s t i c e l e m e n t s , b e c a u s e , j u s t as t h e e l d e s t male o f t h e s i b l i n g group does n o t have a b s o l u t e a u t h o r i t y o v e r h i s s i b l i n g s and must s e c u r e t h e i r c o n s e n t i n some s o r t o f h o u s e h o l d c o u n c i l , so t h a t r a n k i n g p a n c h a y a t member must s e c u r e t h e c o n s e n t o f h i s f e l l o w members. More s i m p l y s t a t e d t h e r a n k i n g member o f t h e c a s t e p a n c h a y a t and t h e e l d e s t male o f t h e s i b l i n g group a r e each i n t h e i r s e t -t i n g t h e f i r s t among e q u a l s . L i k e t h e s i b l i n g group t h e r e a r e t i m e s when o t h e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s t a k e p r e c e d e n c e o v e r t h i s p a r t i c u l a r o n e . I n t e r c a s t e r e l a t i o n s h i p s seem t o t a k e p r e c e -dence o v e r i n t r a c a s t e r e l a t i o n s h i p s j u s t as t h e f a t h e r - s o n r e l a t i o n s h i p t a k e s p r e c e d e n c e o v e r t h e b r o t h e r - b r o t h e r r e l a t i o n s h i p . There i s a g r e a t e r f r e q u e n c y o f i n t e r a c t i o n a t t h e i n t r a -c a s t e l e v e l and l e s s power d i f f e r e n t i a l between t h e heads o f h o u s e h o l d s i n t h e same c a s t e and hence t h e r e w o u l d seem t o be a g r e a t e r p o s s i b i l i t y f o r a f f e c t i o n t o be m a n i f e s t e d and f o r t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p s t o be more i n t i m a t e . The d e velopment o f i n t i m a t e and a f f e c t i o n a t e r e l a t i o n s h i p s d e p e n d s , I t h i n k , upon t h e s i z e o f t h e c a s t e . I f t h e r e a r e o n l y f o u r or f i v e h o u s e h o l d s l i v i n g w i t h i n t h e v i l l a g e i t i s much e a s i e r f o r h o u s e h o l d heads t o behave as s i b l i n g s t o w a r d one a n o t h e r . J u s t as one can Imagine i t t o be a d i f f i c u l t t h i n g f o r a l a r g e s i b -l i n g group t o a c t I n c o n c e r t i n a l l m a t t e r s so i t i s d i f f i c u l t f o r a c a s t e p a n c h a y a t o f t w e n t y o r t h i r t y members t o m a i n t a i n agreement on a l l m a t t e r s a f f e c t i n g them. N o r m a l l y , what h a p p e n s , 58 as I s h a l l d i s c u s s i n the chapter on p o l i t i c a l s t r u c t u r e , i s t h a t f a c t i o n s appear. There w i l l be s e v e r a l groups of household heads w i t h i n the panchayat--each group a c t i n g as a u n i t w i t h a head who I n t e r a c t s w i t h the heads of the o t h e r groups. 2. S o l i d a r i t y S t r u c t u r e s In I n t e r c a s t e R e l a t i o n s h i p s I f the behaviour p a t t e r n s m a n i f e s t e d i n i n t r a c a s t e r e l a t i o n s h i p s bear c l o s e resemblance to those of the b r o t h e r -b r o t h e r r e l a t i o n s h i p , then i n t e r c a s t e r e l a t i o n s h i p s bear a s i m i l a r resemblance to the f a t h e r - s o n r e l a t i o n s h i p . J u s t as the f a t h e r g i ves orders and i n s t r u c t i o n s t o the son and expects them to be c a r r i e d out so a h i g h e r caste g i v e s orders and i n s t r u c t i o n s to a lower caste and expects them to be obeyed. As the son i s r e s p o n s i b l e t o the f a t h e r and the f a t h e r i s r e s p o n s i b l e f o r the son so w i t h the upper caste and lower c a s t e . As the son depends upon h i s f a t h e r f o r sup-p o r t but not v i c e v e r s a , so the lower castes depend upon the upper castes but not v i c e v e r s a . As the f a t h e r - s o n r e l a t i o n -ship takes precedence over any other r e l a t i o n s h i p f o r the son but not v i c e v e r s a , so the upper c a s t e - l o w e r caste r e l a t i o n s h i p takes precedence over any other r e l a t i o n s h i p (at the v i l l a g e l e v e l , of course) f o r the lower caste but not v i c e v e r s a . J u s t as the f a t h e r - s o n r e l a t i o n s h i p i s c o l d , d i s t a n t , and f ormal so the i n t e r c a s t e r e l a t i o n s h i p i s c o l d , d i s t a n t , and f o r m a l . As the f a t h e r - s o n r e l a t i o n s h i p appears to be asymmetri-c a l so the i n t e r c a s t e r e l a t i o n s h i p appears. 59 o SOLIDARITY STRUCTURES WITHIN THE JAJMANI SYSTEM The second type of r e l a t i o n s h i p at the v i l l a g e l e v e l which i n v o l v e s the head of the household a c t i n g as the r e p r e -s e n t a t i v e of the u n i t i s the jajman-kamin r e l a t i o n s h i p . This r e l a t i o n s h i p i s i n content e s s e n t i a l l y an economic o n e — although i t does have d e f i n i t e p o l i t i c a l o v e r t o n e s - - i n which the kamin i s i n an i n f e r i o r and dependent p o s i t i o n r e l a t i v e to the jajman. The j a j m a n i system w i l l be d i s c u s s e d more f u l l y In the next c h a p t e r , but i t i s necessary to look at the r e l a t i o n s h i p i n terms of the s o l i d a r i t y s t r u c t u r e s now. The r e l a t i o n s h i p Is d e f i n e d by the type of s e r v i c e which i s exchanged between jajman and kamin households. As In the caste o r i e n t e d r e l a t i o n s h i p s the p o i n t of contact i s the heads of the two households, but i n some ways the r e l a t i o n s h i p can be regarded as an u n w r i t t e n c o n t r a c t between two households so t h a t the r e l a t i o n s h i p can e x i s t through more than one g e n e r a t i o n . I t i s up t o each head of household to see t h a t the terms of the agreement are l i v e d up t o . In the case of the j o i n t h o u s e h o l d — b r o t h e r s a f t e r the death of the f a t h e r - -i t i s the e l d e s t b r o t h e r who as head of household assumes the r i g h t s and d u t i e s of the p r e v i o u s l y e x i s t i n g agreement. I f the jajman household i s s m a l l and the kamin household i s l a r g e i t may be t h a t the s e r v i c e s o f o n ly p a r t of the kamin household are needed. In t h a t case the unneeded p o r t i o n of the j o i n t household w i l l have to form a new r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h another jajman. The s i t u a t i o n may, of course, be r e v e r s e d . 60 The c o n t e n t o f t h e j a j m a n - k a m i n r e l a t i o n s h i p i s v e r y s i m i l a r t o t h a t o f t h e f a t h e r - s o n r e l a t i o n s h i p . The k a m i n i s i n an i n f e r i o r p o s i t i o n w i t h r e s p e c t t o t h e j a j m a n b e c a u s e o f h i s c a s t e and o c c u p a t i o n , and t h e b e h a v i o u r p a t t e r n s m a n i -f e s t e d i n i n t e r a c t i o n p a t t e r n s b e t w e e n t h e two a r e v e r y s i m i l a r t o t h o s e b e t w e e n f a t h e r and s o n . The k a m i n a l w a y s shows a g r e a t d e a l o f r e s p e c t , d e f e r e n c e and o b e d i e n c e t o h i s j a j m a n . The j a j m a n i n t u r n e x p e c t s t h i s and so l o n g as t h a t k i n d o f b e h a v i o u r i s f o r t h c o m i n g t r e a t s t h e k a m i n as t h o u g h he were a s o n . The r e l a t i o n s h i p f o r t h e j a j m a n i s n o t a s t r o n g one j u s t as i t i s n o t f o r t h e f a t h e r i n t h e f a t h e r - s o n r e l a t i o n s h i p . F o r t h e k a m i n t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h h i s j a j m a n may t a k e p r e c e -dence o v e r any o f t h e o t h e r s he m i g h t f o r m a t t h e v i l l a g e l e v e l . F o r examp le t h e k a m i n w i l l o b s e r v e h i s o b l i g a t i o n s t o h i s j a j m a n b e f o r e he o b s e r v e s t h e o b l i g a t i o n s he has t o h i s c a s t e p a n c h a y a t SUMMARY S o l i d a r i t y s t r u c t u r e s a t t h e v i l l a g e l e v e l o p e r a t e t o o r d e r t h e s i g n i f i c a n t r e l a t i o n s h i p s - - i n t r a and i n t e r c a s t e and j a j m a n - k a m i n r e l a t i o n s h i p s — i n a manner v e r y l i k e t h e f a t h e r - s o n and b r o t h e r - b r o t h e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s a t t h e h o u s e h o l d l e v e l . The v i l l a g e c an be v i e w e d a l m o s t as t h e h o u s e h o l d w r i t l a r g e w i t h e a ch h o u s e h o l d as an i n d i v i d u a l w r i t l a r g e . 61 FOOTNOTES 1 T h e f o l l o w i n g books and a r t i c l e s were p a r t i c u l a r l y u s e f u l f o r t h e w r i t i n g o f t h i s c h a p t e r : (a) A l a n R. R e a l s , G o p a l p u r (New Y o r k , 1962), C h a p t e r I I . (b) G. M o r r i s C a r s t a i r s , The T w i c e B o r n ( B l o o m i n g t o n , 1962) , C h a p t e r s 3 and 4. ( c ) M. L. Cormack, She Who R i d e s a Pe a c o c k (New Y o r k , 1961) . (d) J o h n T. H i t c h c o c k , "The R a j p u t s o f K h a l a p u r , I n d i a , " S i x C u l t u r e s , S t u d i e s o f C h i l d R e a r i n g (New Y o r k , 1963) • (e) D a v i d G. Mandelbaum, " F a m i l y , J a t i , C a s t e , " S t r u c t u r e and Change - I n d i a n S o c i e t y , ed. S i n g e r and Cohn ( C h i c a g o , 1968). ( f ) Mandelbaum, "The F a m i l y - I n d i a , " I n t r o d u c t i o n t o C i v i l i z a t i o n o f I n d i a ( C h i c a g o ) . (g) J o a n Mencher, "G r o w i n g Up - S o u t h M a l a b a r , " Human O r g a n i z a t i o n 22 : 54-65. (h) L e i g h M i n t u r n , " C h i l d T r a i n i n g , " S i x C u l t u r e s , S t u d i e s o f C h i l d R e a r i n g , ed. B e a t r i c e B. W h i t i n g (New Y o r k , 1 9 6 3 ) • ( i ) R. K. N a r a y a n , The B a c h e l o r o f A r t s ( E a s t L a n s i n g , 1954) . M a r i o n J . L e v y , J r . , The S t r u c t u r e o f S o c i e t y (New J e r s e y , 1952), p. 350. 3 I b i d . 4 I b i d . , p. 352. C a r s t a i r s , op_. c i t . , pp. 67-8. ^ I b i d . , p. 69 . 7 P a n c h a y a t l i t e r a l l y t r a n s l a t e d means C o u n c i l o f F i v e b u t g e n e r a l l y i n c l u d e s a l l h o u s e h o l d heads o f t h e c a s t e i n q u e s t i o n . A l t h o u g h I s h a l l d i s c u s s t h e j a j m a n i s y s t e m more f u l l y i n a l a t e r c h a p t e r , I s h a l l o u t l i n e b r i e f l y I t s n a t u r e now. I n t h e j a j m a n i s y s t e m t h e r e i s a j a j m a n ( p a t r o n ) and a s u r r o u n d i n g I ' ' I I ] ' I. i ;:;; 11; :j. I i l:'. i) 1 !. ' ! ; ( • ; j ; i J iii:j | i i : ; : I ' J i )1 I • >V; I 1 • • r ' i i i i , ; w i 1f r'f';; | n..' <' 1. i, <, 1.; i' - ' •, , r i i, j 1111 <,', \ i. \ > r< 1 1 ! ."'I') " i (.J f! • 1, i i i t /1 i u t ] Iv W fl': 11 ' pp. 71-72. P o n s i o n e n , J . A. The A n a l y s i s o f S o c i a l Change R e c o n s i d e r e d -A S o c i o l o g i c a l S t u d y . S. Gravenhage: Mouton and Company, 1 9 b T 7 _ R e t z l a f f , R a l p h H. V i l l a g e Government i n I n d i a : A Case S t u d y . Bombay: A s i a P u b l i s h i n g House, 19u~2. R o s s , A i l e e n D. The H i n d u F a m i l y i n i t s U r b a n S e t t i n g . T o r o n t o : U n i v e r s i t y o f T o r o n t o P r e s s , 1 9 6 l . " C a s t e and The F u t u r e , " Seminar 70, ed. Romesh T h a p a r . Sharma, M. P. L o c a l S e l f - G o v e r n m e n t I n I n d i a . Bombay: K i t a b M a h a l A l l a h a b a d , 1967J. S r i n i v a s , M. N. C a s t e i n Modern I n d i a and O t h e r E s s a y s . Bombay: A s i a P u b l i s h i n g House, 1962. . R e l i g i o n and S o c i e t y Among t h e Coorgs o f S o u t h I n d i a . London: O x f o r d U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1952. "A Note on S a n s k r i t i z a t i o n and W e s t e r n i z a t i o n , " Far E a s t e r n Q u a r t e r l y , 1 5 ( 4 ) : 4 8 1 - 9 6 , 1955-"The S o c i a l System o f a Mysore V i l l a g e , " V i l l a g e I n d i a , ed. McKim M a r r i o t t . C h i c a g o : U n i v e r s i t y o f _L1J.W. J-CX y ^ ^ * " " ^ " ^ C h i c a g o P r e s s , 1955-M a r r i a g e and F a m i l y - Mysore. Bombay: New Book Company, 1942. S o c i a l Change i n Modern I n d i a . B e r k e l e y : U n i v e r s i t y ~~b~T~California P r e s s , 196TT 1 2 8 S t a t i s t i c a l A b s t r a c t o f t h e I n d i a n U n i o n . C e n t r a l S t a t i s t i c a l O r g a n i z a t i o n , Dept. o f S t a t i s t i c s , G o v t , of I n d i a . New D e l h i : G o v t , o f I n d i a P r e s s , New S e r i e s , #10. T u r n e r , Roy, ed. I n d i a ' s Urban F u t u r e . U n i v e r s i t y o f C a l i f o r n i a P r e s s , 1962. W e i n e r , Myron. P a r t i e s i n I n d i a n P o l i t i c s . P r i n c e t o n : P r i n c e t o n U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1957-W h e e l e r , S i r M o r t i m e r . C i v i l i z a t i o n s o f t h e Indus V a l l e y and Beyond. New Y o r k : M c G r a w - H i l l Book Company, 1966. W i l s o n , H. C l y d e . J l c a r l l l a Apache P o l i t i c a l and Economic S t r u c t u r e s . U n i v e r s i t y o f C a l i f o r n i a P u b l i c a t i o n s i n A m e r i c a n A r c h e o l o g y and E t h n o l o g y , 1964. W i s e r , W. H. The H i n d u J a j m a n i System. Lucknow P u b l i s h i n g House, 1936T W i s e r , W. H. B e h i n d Mud W a l l s . New Y o r k : A g r i c u l t u r a l M i s s i o n s , 1951-APPENDIX The c o n c e p t o f c a s t e i s p r o b a b l y t h e most d i s c u s s e d a s p e c t o f I n d i a n l i f e . I have b e f o r e me, i n w r i t i n g t h i s a p p e n d i x , n e a r l y a l l of t h e c l a s s i c d i s c u s s i o n s o f c a s t e . On some p o i n t s t h e r e I s c o m p l e t e agreement — and t h e s e I s h a l l m e r e l y l i s t — o n o t h e r p o i n t s t h e r e i s c o n t r o v e r s y . A c a s t e I s an endogamous g r o u p , o r c o l l e c t i o n o f endogamous g r o u p s , b e a r i n g a common name, membor-G h i p o f w h i c h i s h e r e d i t a r y , a r i s i n g f r o m b i r t h a l o n e ; i m p o s i n g on i t s members c e r t a i n r e s t r i c t i o n s i n t h e m a t t e r o f s o c i a l i n t e r c o u r s e ; e i t h e r ( i ) f o l l o w i n g a common t r a d i t i o n a l o c c u p a t i o n , o r (11) c l a i m i n g a common o r i g i n , o r ( i i i ) b o t h f o l l o w i n g s u c h o c c u p a t i o n and c l a i m i n g such o r i g i n ; and g e n e r a l l y r e g a r d e d as f o r m i n g a s i n g l e homogene-ous community.1 The word c a s t e i t s e l f comes f r o m t h e L a t i n word CASTUS meaning p u r e . The word was o r i g i n a l l y u sed by t h e P o r t u g u e s e t o d e n o t e what t h e y t h o u g h t was t h e I n d i a n s y s t e m o f s o c i a l 2 c l a s s i f i c a t i o n t o p r e s e r v e t h e p u r i t y o f b l o o d . The s y s t e m w h i c h t h e y t h ough t h e y were d e s c r i b i n g has a v e r y l o n g h i s t o r y i n I n d i a . There were f o u r o r i g i n a l c a s t e s ( o r , as t h e y a r e sometimes c a l l e d , v a r n a — v a r n a meaning c o l o u r ) . These f o u r c a s t e s ( B r a h m i n s , K s h a t r i y a s , V a i s h y a s and S u d r a s ) a r e s a i d t o have been c r e a t e d s e p a r a t e l y f r o m t h e mouth, t h e arms, t h e t h i g h s and t h e f e e t r e s p e c t i v e l y o f t h e c r e a t o r . " ^ These f o u r c a s t e s a r e seen i n t h e t r a d i t i o n a l l i t e r a t u r e o f I n d i a as a u n i f i e d w h o l e . Each p a r t i s r e l a t e d t o the o t h e r p a r t s 129 130 and each I s n e c e s s a r y f o r t h e e x i s t e n c e o f t h e o t h e r . The o r i g i n o f o t h e r c a s t e s comes about i n one o f two ways a c c o r d -i n g t o t h e t r a d i t i o n a l l i t e r a t u r e . The f i r s t way was by a s e r i e s o f c r o s s e s between members o f t h e f o u r o r i g i n a l v a r n a . D u t t p r o v i d e s a l i s t o f 29 ' c a s t e s w h i c h come i n t o e x i s t e n c e i n t h i s manner. The s e c o n d way t h a t new c a s t e s a r e formed i s when t h e members o f t h e o r i g i n a l v a r n a f a i l e d t o f o l l o w t h e p r e s c r i b e d s a c r e d r i t u a l s . The number o f c a s t e s g r a d u a l l y i n c r e a s e s t h r o u g h t i m e and t h e number i s s t i l l i n c r e a s i n g i n I n d i a t o d a y . Whatever t h e way c a s t e s a r e f o r m e d , t h e r e a r e t h o u s a n d s o f them o p e r a t i n g i n I n d i a t o d a y . W h i l e t h e r e may have been l i t t l e t r o u b l e i d e n t i f y i n g t h e number o f c a s t e s I n t h e t r a d i -t i o n a l l i t e r a t u r e , s u c h i s n o t t h e c a s e i n modern I n d i a . The g r e a t e s t p o i n t o f c o n t r o v e r s y i n p r e s e n t day d i s c u s s i o n s o f c a s t e r e v o l v e a r o u n d a t t e m p t s t o e s t a b l i s h b o u n d a r i e s a r o u n d c a s t e s . The b a s i c p r o b l e m i s t h a t s ubgroups w i t h i n a c a s t e may t h e m s e l v e s be endogamous. S i n c e t h i s I s one o f t h e c r i -t e r i a f o r d e f i n i n g a group as a c a s t e , t h e p r o b l e m r i s e s I m m e d i a t e l y : I s t h e group a c a s t e o r a s u b c a s t e ? A d r i a n Mayer p r o v i d e s what I t h i n k I s an e x c e l l e n t way out o f t h i s dilemma. He f e e l s t h a t t h e r e a r e e f f e c t i v e l y t h r e e l e v e l s o f membership i n a c a s t e . The l o w e s t i s t h a t o f an e f f e c t i v e l o c a l s u b c a s t e p o p u l a t i o n w h i c h I c a l l t h e k i n d r e d o f c o o p e r a t i o n . T h i s v a r i e s f o r each i n d i v i d u a l a t any t i m e , and a r o u n d i t t h e r e I s a group w h i c h can be c a l l e d t h e k i n d r e d o f r e c o g n i t i o n . T h i s i s t h e p o p u l a t i o n w i t h i n 131 w h i c h m a r r i a g e i L . a r e made a n d / o r k i n l i n k s can be t r a c e d t h r o u g h m u t u a l k i n . These two f e a t u r e s t e n d t o go t o g e t h e r , f o r p e o p l e w i l l n o t make m a r r i a g e s w i t h f a m i l i e s about w h i c h t h e y know n o t h i n g , and t h e i n f o r m a t i o n r u n s a l o n g k i n s h i p c h a n n e l s . The k i n -d r e d o f r e c o g n i t i o n forms a l a r g e and r a t h e r amor-phous body, b e i n g much t h e same f o r members of a s i n g l e v i l l a g e ' s s u b c a s t e group . . . . Beyond t h e s e two k i n d r e d s a r e p e o p l e who a r e r e c o g n i z e d as members o f a s u b c a s t e w h i c h i s endogamous, named and s e p a r a t e f r o m o t h e r c a s t e s . But i t u s u a l l y s p r e a d s o v e r a wide a r e a and i s t h e r e f o r e n ot an e f f e c t i v e g r o u p . S u b c a s t e s a r e m o s t l y b a s e d on p r o v i n c i a l d i s t i n c t i o n . I n r e a l i t y t h e q u e s t i o n o f s u b c a s t e s seems c o be i m p o r -t a n t o n l y t o t h o s e who a r e members o f t h e c a s t e . Those w i t h i n a c a s t e d i f f e r e n t i a t e among t h e m s e l v e s and t h o s e who a r e o f o t h e r c a s t e s see a l l members o f t h a t c a s t e , r e g a r d l e s s o f membership i n one s u b c a s t e o r a n o t h e r , as t h e same. C a s t e membership, i n o t h e r w o r d s , i s s i g n i f i c a n t f o r r e l a t i o n s w i t h o t h e r c a s t e s and s u b c a s t e membership I s s i g n i f i c a n t f o r a c t i v i t i e s w i t h i n t h e c a s t e . Thus f o r t h i s s t u d y i t i s p r o b a b l y n ot I m p o r t a n t t o w o r r y about t h e p r o b l e m o f s u b c a s t e s s i m p l y b e c a u s e t h e c a s t e group a t t h e l o c a l l e v e l i s t h e k i n d r e d o f c o o p e r a t i o n and most o f i t s e x t e r n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s w i l l be w i t h o t h e r c a s t e s and not w i t h o t h e r s u b c a s t e g r o u p s . C a s t e s a r e a l w a y s r a n k e d I n t h e v i l l a g e . There seems t o be no p r o b l e m s d e c i d i n g w h i c h c a s t e i s t h e h i g h e s t and w h i c h i s t h e l o w e s t . I n t h e m i d d l e i t i s n o t q u i t e so c l e a r - c u t . As Ghurye r e m a r k s , " E x c e p t i n g t h e Brahmin a t one end and t h e a d m i t t e d l y d e g r a d e d c a s t e s l i k e the H o l e y a s a t t h e o t h e r , t h e 132 members o f a l a r g e p r o p o r t i o n o f t h e I n t e r m e d i a t e c a s t e s t h i r j i - : or p r o f e s s t o t h i n k t h a t t h e i r c a s t e i s b e t t e r t h a n their n e i g h b o u r s . There a r e s e v e r a l ways i n w h i c h r a n k i n g I s a c c o m p l i s h e d . F1 t t h e r e a r e r e s t r i c t i o n s on who can e a t w i t h whom. There a.rt.- two c a t e g o r i e s o f f o o d i n v i l l a g e I n d i a — f o o d c o o k e d i n wai/T and f o o d cooked I n ghee ( c l a r i f i e d b u t t e r ) . W a t e r - c o o k e d f o o d w i l l g e n e r a l l y be a c c e p t e d o n l y from c a s t e mates. Ghee-co'jked f o o d w i l l be a c c e p t e d f r o m c a s t e s w h i c h a r e s l i g h t l y lower- than one's own. A h i g h c a s t e can a c c e p t w a t e r f r o m a low c a s t e p r o v i d i n g i t i s c o n t a i n e d i n a p a r t i c u l a r k i n d o f c o n t a i n e r and n o t i f i t i s i n a d i f f e r e n t k i n d . A v e r y low c a s t e i n d i v i d u a l can p o l l u t e a w e l l f o r a l l o t h e r s i n t h e v i l l a g e so t h a t t h e w a t e r i s u n d r i n k a b l e u n t i l a p p r o p r i a t e p u r i f i c a t i o n c e r e m o n i e s ar e h e l d — u s u a l l y a b a t h o f some k i n d . C o c i a l i n t e r c o u r s e i s r e s t r i c t e d . I n d i v i d u a l s o f t h e i n t e r m e d i a t e c a s t e s can m i n g l e f a i r l y f r e e l y b u t t h e h i g h c a s t e s and low c a s t e s have t o m a i n t a i n a c a r e f u l d i s t a n c e from one a n o t h e r . To be t o u c h e d by a lowr c a s t e p e r s o n i s p o l l u t i n g . I n t h e s o u t h o f I n d i a t h e shadow o f an u n t o u c h a b l e i s as p o l l u t i n g as h i s t o u c h . I n some p l a c e s t h e u n t o u c h a b l e a l w a y s keeps a s t a t e d d i s t a n c e from a h i g h c a s t e i n d i v i d u a l . A Nayar may a p p r o a c h a M a n b u d i r i Brahmin but must no t t o u c h hi r n ; w h i l e a t i y a n must keep h i m s e l f a t t h e d i s t a n c e o f t h i r t y - s i x s t e p s f r o m t h e B r a h m i n , and a P u l a y a n may n o t a p p r o a c h hi m w i t h i n n i n e t y -s i x p a c e s . A T i y a n must keep away f r o m a Nayar a t 133 t w e l v e p a c e s , w h i l e some c a s t e s may a p p r o a c h t h e T i y a n , t h o u g h t h e y must n o t t o u c h him.' I t i s n o t q u i t e as r i g o r o u s a s e p a r a t i o n I n t h e n o r t h o f I n d i a - - o n e does n o t have t o m a i n t a i n a d i s t a n c e , b u t m e r e l y n o t t o t o u c h . A t h i r d s o u r c e o f r a n k i n v o l v e s t h e k i n d s o f a c t i v i t i e s i n w h i c h t h e c a s t e s may i n d u l g e . H i g h c a s t e s a r e f r e e r t o t a k e up any o c c u p a t i o n t h a t t h e y want. Low c a s t e i n d i v i d u a l s a r e u s u a l l y t i e d t o t h e i r o c c u p a t i o n s and any a t t e m p t s t o change w o u l d be met w i t h v i o l e n c e on t h e p a r t o f t h e upper c a s t e s . H i g h c a s t e s a r e a b l e t o p e r f o r m c e r t a i n r e l i g i o u s r i t u a l s w h i c h t h e low c a s t e i n d i v i d u a l s a r e n o t . The move-ment of h i g h c a s t e i n d i v i d u a l s t h r o u g h t h e v i l l a g e i s f r e e . Low c a s t e i n d i v i d u a l s a r e c o n f i n e d t o c e r t a i n p a r t s o f t h e i l l a g e . To l e a v e them and come t o t h e h i g h c a s t e p a r t o f t h e v i l l a g e i s t o c o u r t v i o l e n c e . The c l o t h i n g w h i c h each c a s t e wears i s p r e s c r i b e d . I u n d e r s t a n d f r o m c o n v e r s a t i o n s w i t h a B e n g a l i l a n g u a g e i n s t r u c t o r t h a t i n p r e s e n t day I n d i a even t h e k i n d o f u m b r e l l a one has i s d e t e r m i n e d by c a s t e . v 134 FOOTNOTES 1 E . A. H. B l u n t , The C a s t e System o f N o r t h e r n I n d i a ( L o n d o n , 1 9 3 1 ) , p. 5-N. K. D u t t , O r i g i n and Growth o f C a s t e i n I n d i a ( L o n d o n , 1 9 3 1 ) , p. 1. 3 I b l d . , p. 4 . ^ I b i d . , pp. 7 - 8 . A. C. Mayer, C a s t e and K i n s h i p i n C e n t r a l I n d i a ( London, I 9 6 0 ) , pp. 4 - 7 . ^G. S. G h u r y e , C a s t e and Race i n I n d i a ( L o n d o n , 1 9 3 2 ) , p. 6 . 7 l b i d . , p. 9.