302 Tribal Idenity and Class Diferentiarions Further Readings ‘weelle, Ande, 1974 Side in Agrarian Social Siucare, Oxford Univesity eth ‘ts up dite of testa ofthe atom egarian soc with pci ference othe sofia the India isto, Joti Heater and Win Js, 1976, aon Levkovsky, AL. 972" Captian in Indias Bare Trend in its Developmen, Publishing House, Det, ‘This took incorporates in is histones! sweep both industrial and the agrarian sector 1 ills the ola ‘nzns of contemporary Indian contny, Mutierje, Remirishna, 197 he Dynan ofa Raa Scie :A Stub of Econom Sis iwi engl ig, Meee ei ‘ee moder ce whet pesttve pee axe an of tpn win Shes Me ‘reads fr Inert of apa se ian conflict. cana “— Rowen Ocorze, 66 ‘enneraryand Econ Chane nda, Vos nd Co. ey ‘A competent alltnda pray of rl and urban cast ‘nd tei emergent ends ih postindependene Ino Iv Caste, Class And Conflict ‘ollowing Max Weber (see Appendix TI} socologis have examined “owial satiation under three mayor categories, vz. clas, sats and ower All known forms of social statifieaton slong tone 0 the ‘ner category. Income ot cecupational strata can easly be classified liad economie. stratification: hierarchies of prestige and Hess Cn be grouped at species of status satiation, an finally, dhe ierae- hie of power and authority, of superordination and subordination. Cm be placed under the rubric of power station, "Wile theres lite wo dspate with regard to the Weberan scheme mentioned so far mst stil be noted that Weber himself assed over the intersection between these thee domains of saison. Schol- fis after Weber have realized that while straieation can be analyt- {ily separated into thee thee types, and In many cases they ae also Inanifented as sich, nevertheless clas, status and power often also304 ase, Cars and Confit ‘nsrct densely. In such cates of interaction the units of the sai cation system cannot be sade ai they solely belong to one eategon Fano, bt rater aneffor noe ob mae nero delg Ae the iages between th economic, status od power diner ‘within a perspective sensitive wo conti mentale. This section opens with conception say on the dominant cane by MN. Stnivas. This concept won wide acl wher ite op ated in Srinvas's monograph on Rampura. The concent of lomiant caste tring togter the tre, dimensions tas clay sd power, The member ofthe dominant caste mus belong te ae ‘sectbl cate hey mast be economy wel of, and. lly thy taste polly well epesend in tems vues Jn th ext essy Srinivas examines the scope of moby in theese sysem where he dws ovr atentonto te sees oF no conten snd change within he atonal stirs, Here too we fin tat whey, fetste, class and power interact the sources of social dynamism and. ‘hang are activated. Is lar setions ofthe same paper bigs ct the mare ciiemporary changes that ave been polly naboad int the caste tem and which have ha econamitcaneqeences for the ates concemed, Though Sina ist know forks open avo, acy ofadynami frame of analysis, hs empiri sn ogi of sect eel hoe wine tye ‘ste in ses ik ogszatona and stuctura change . Lowe's study of mobil among he ot caste Noni is pore 4 i cet tuminas vero ebaciom hate hora ‘cs seeing upward mobi. In paisa Rowe demons Ro ‘moran an economically viable sats i for sch caster which sok spward mb. Those Nengas who accent wal ot hg ‘cee claimed Chast tas wheter pores betnca tags Ialedto dota, ‘The ineraction between case, cls and power in terms of ow supeeel changes affects vlige'seconany and poly broegit ut in the nest paper. by André Bee. Cae In Betas andes sanding ian pect of stats ileretaton(oowing: Weber ha ‘in my opinion he goes faer to demonstrate how case eeovomie class and power imeractBéelle examines tis nracton at he vilge level "He, however, eos ot limit hie lea olny Alon at goes on tty how spa loa pais olin th DN and the Congress have made thelr presen felt inthe lage He ocamenis the shit in tonal power alignments ffm the wad tina elte othe non rnin Case, Clas and Confer us andopadyayn and Von Eschen pe the iteration between coe elas nd owe inthe cote of conmiy teks nd imal. The autos fer an abr and etal Meld a come Iie cps th moe fr cen cnn aod apa developental projets because oftheir superior formal o- (eho sore f power The pe scone in el Wes Bengal re Sabet compete withthe more aunt canes Boas 0 te poor ‘Sheomic perton, Apert frm developmental projets, he poot tof kad wae vantage of opis pose freon revolution ecnigues- Many of thet concisos se perhaps {tar tomo ot Wanting os went aly awa. howeer wad would want oko, fhe proce ressne tt led 0 sch 8 ‘enous why thse so elf hen though the ices of cased pois intr mos x= veemanfesiton ir oll ress ance tombe of deuiled academic anaytson the sbjes. Pap Bos's iw fast pli a Bar, ander econ, thas best Sted forthe poses of his volume. his lay Bose takes ws through be vats twist and toms thst have chat polis ina Hspricalar emphasis onthe lgnent of case and ths foci in Bia. Interestingly eoigh este alignment do not flow eblsted lines oferty, or arcs alignmons dale hey” eep. changing, depending pon. exisonal condos Tay's sty tillage pte er fo. simran be aus inthe fo ess the exaine he finds plc a xo ‘omic ator cri for understanding why the wo disp ook wo {iy dectons. Avarenca of th as sto alone nt Su Siem Baily ages, iron it comprebend thse nts i tele ‘oat rom Bihar and Oris we goon o Oj wt reman's sty of ncbieaon among theandess labours o¢ Hapa. These Has re notre Awa, or athe aeeped ful edged Hinds They have vsdionally copied the Howes ring ite aan Iorhy of Gujarat. The enter povery ofthe alps ake tem any ey foal poitenl comtendre. Tu, hr he been a eng ning of horeoma ian among them specially aie he eater fs of patonge flim deste, ard J hs has ped hem teresa Oa intpenent poll san Amar pa of ‘Soy ele lie stctral Const tat rb the developmen {oF chs rend plicl stim among thee Halts of south Gala— Case, Class and Conflict las paper inthis section a sa section hat to 60 with state formation in the hows Nagpur al ein, ts nrg 1 em hat oli ant Seen, ben gig on among he asf ous Nagpur fr several enue, Te atteation bere may nt be Bee or onounced tin anal regions ti the authors nets stow te at chat economic an pic forces hve pinging on tbl India fom pee-Brsh ay. This els us to a aecnenpey ial sunn beter by easing the Sein cea thatthe tribes of India have nally, its probably quite in onder pe Has in onder to remember that caste, class SRS fone sa merc only hey arn ly bond by hee respec tee heratchis (8, for instance, in Weber. Order and conformity are {he charter feat of erry and tht why ay te let fry cannot omfoctably ar extraneous factor. This i ao why, nay be realed, Damon eliees tat the recat itary can emis pots w ener only surety. 1 our sndertanding of il seaineton i govered pecially by tage Hey then he wl are of sil conte tng cat cl tes ‘wil emain outside the purview of socal The Dominant Caste in Rampura SRINIVAS “The concept of the dominant caste is cri 10 the understanding of ‘ral social life in most pars of India. Whether analysis iso be made Of the hierarchy of a mut-caste village, the setement of a dispute at the level of village or caste, or the pattem of Sansirtiztion among the Several casos ofan are study of the locally dominant caste and the Kind of dominance it enjoys i essential. Occasionally a cast js domi- fant in 8 group of neighbouring villages if not over dstrct or 160, fa in such cases, lea! dominance islinked with regional dominance. Such linkage also exists when the caste which is locally dominant is tifferent rom the case which is regionally dominant T stumbled onthe importance ofthe ide of dominant caste only in 1953, efter Thad made wo fei trips to Rampura, amult-caste village hoot 22 miles southeast of Mysore Ci in South India, and the pres- nr analyss is based on material which was collected previously. fll hveretanding of the dominance which a caste such as the Peasants {Orkaligas) enjoy neds a study ofthe entre region over which they are ‘Sominant, und over a period of time, T regret that T donot have the ‘ate for such an analysis, My analysis would have been even sketcier ft forthe foc thet dn 1952 the headman ofthe Peasants (nthe neih= touring village of Kere loaned me several documents which related to the setement of disputes inthe Ker area over a period of forty years ‘These. documents refered to villages in Kerehoblf (an administrative division referring toa group of 20-50 villages) which is different fom the hobo which Rampura belongs. But as Peasants are domiant in ceed fw M,N iat The Denial Cis a Rang’ The Demin ‘Gnieon er Ene Oxford Unvety Pes, Dei 987308 ‘The Dominant Caste in Rampura both the areas, and as culty the rwo areas are quite close 1 ea other, Ihave made use of the Kere documents in order to clarity the ‘concept of the dominant caste. deine a dominant east in the follow ing wards ‘A cae may te sido be “dominant” when it preponderes mmericlly ‘ver the etkerestes, and when it alo wis preponderant econcmc as Polis poser. A large ad powerful ease grup can be mare ex dom) ‘anit postion in the lel este heachy not om However, the above definiion omits an element of dominance which {is becoming increasingly important in ural India, namely, the urbe ‘of educated persons in carte and the occupations they pare. Thave ‘led this enteron “Wester since Westen and non-traditional ec tion isthe means by which such dominance is acquired. Villagers. are ware of the imporance of this ereion. They would ike thelr {Young men tobe educated and tobe officers inthe Government. AS officers they are expected to help their knsfolk, cstefolk and co-il lagers. ‘When a case enjoy all the elements of dominance it may be sad 0 ‘be dominant ina decisive way. But decisive dominance is not common, more frequently the diferent elements of dominance are distributed among the castes ina village. Thus acaste whichis stualy high may be poor and lacking suength in numbers, while a populous caste may be ‘oor and ritually low. ‘The Peasants in Rampura enjoy more than one element of domi: ‘ance, Numerically they ee the largest caste with a membership of 735, wile te next largest isthe Shepherd with 235, followed by the Muslim, 179, and the Untouchable, 125. The biggest landowners are ‘among the Peasants, and the Peasans together own more land than al the other casts pu together. There aro also more iterates and educated ‘men among Peasants than among the others. In 1948 there were three Peasant graduates and a single Lingayat lawyer employed by the Gove ferament. The dee most Important patrons inthe village were als) Peasants, All of them owned land and leaned money. The oficial Headman of the village was one of these; he was. the biggest land- owner, owned evo buses, and had built a few renal houses in a nearby town. ‘The second was Nadu Gowda, who had. kept two shops and 8 ‘Yhue Nadu Goud te mime of Fea isniy enn of te heen | MN. Srinivas 309 smalrice sil, The third was Nadu Gowda’ agatic cousin Milayy, ‘who owned aig rice mil. The ritual rank of Peasants isnot very high. While they do rank shove the Untouchables and such low cases asthe Swineherd, they Ive well below Brahmins and Lingayats. Intermsof arna they are Sihudras, the fourth category in the all-india hierarchy. But this does ot mean much in Rampura, as tere are no “genuine” Kshariya ‘r Vaishyas. (The local trading castes of Bangjgas are not accorded the stam ofthe ‘tviee-bor’ Vaishya.) ‘While i is tre that Peasants are not ritually high, they eommand poet from everyone inthe village including the priestly castes of Urahmins and Lingayas. The members of the later caites consul one ‘or another of the Peasant palrors on important occasions, Even on ‘ceremonial occasions, outside pollution contexts, Peasants are shown ‘expect by Lingayats and Brahmins. Everyone is avare ofthe dom ‘at postion which Peasants oceupy in Rampura. ‘Over the las fifty years or more, the dominahce of Peasants has in «reaed in Rampura. The available evidence indicates that in the early {ated land in the village. The Brahmins were the first to sense te new ‘conomie opporunities opened 19 them through Wester education, ond they gradually moved to the towns to ener the new white-collar wofessions. Urban living, the costo educating children, and the high "lowes which the new education and economic opportunites had Iwought about gradually caused. the Brahmins to part with thot lan. ‘Much of this land passed to non-Brahmins, especially the Peasants, dr Ingthe years 1900-48 In the differen pars of South India shortly after World War I there began what may be clled the Nop-Brabmin Movement. At the end of World War 1. most ofthe important posts in the Government of Mysore were held by Brahmins, and non-Brabmin leaders realized that they aust get Wester education if they wanted position and ower, Agitation vas stared for the institution of scholarships vo help fon-Brahmin youths study in schools and colleges, for reservation of ‘eats for non-Brahmins in medical and technological colleges, nd for preference in appointments to government posts. The non- Brahmin agitation succeeded, and gradually a number of rules iseriminating against the Brahmins were evolved by the Govern tment of Mysore. AS result of these measures there has come into txistence since the Tate thirties a Western-educaled non-Brahmin Iteligensa310 The Dominant Caste in Rampure ‘This Non-Brahmin Movement is relevant tothe understanding ofthe situation in Rampura. Tt vas in the thinies that the leaders amon Peasants in Rampara and the neighbouring villages began to think of higher education for their sons. Contact between the Peasants i ‘Rampura and Peasant politicians and officials outside ineeased in he foes; rtermore, contact with he towns increased generally, a 8 few Peasants and Lingayats frequently went to Mysore and Bang: Tore to secure permits and to bay machinery and other goods. ‘The Brahmins and Lingayats in Rampura provide an instance of situal dominance existing by itself, unaccompanied by the other forms ‘of dnninane, Neither cast is numerically strong nor is it wealthy. Bt some families in these rwo cases, namely, the Brahmin pret ofthe Rama temple and the Lingayat priest of the Madeshwara and Basava Yemples, are quite wel off by village standards. The. main source of Income for these families s fom the land with which the wmples have been endowed, while a subsidiary but not unimportant source i he gifts in eash or kind which the devotees make wo the priests whenever Yhey visit the temples or during harvest, The eldest son of the Rama ‘rest is employed in the Integral Coach Factory in Perambur (Mars), ‘hile, as mentioned earlier, one of the Lingayat press practices 88 ‘lawyer ina neighbouring town But when acaste enjoys one form of dominance, itis frequently able to acquire the oer forms as wel in couse of time. Ths case Which is numerically strong and wealthy willbe able torave up inthe ital Ierarchy if it Sansritizes its sital and way of life, and alto loudly and persistently proclaims itself tobe what it wants to be, Its hardly necessiry to add thatthe more fonms of dominance which a caste et {te easier its for ito aoquie the res. ‘What have said above applies only to cast Hindus; Untouchabil- lay constitutes a serious obstacle to group mobility. Untouchables in Rampura are ether Indes labourers, tenants, or very small land ‘owners. They started going to school ony in the thes. In 1948, Untouchable leaders from outside were going. around atking Un. touchables inthe Rumpura area to ty to stake off the symbol of Un Touchabilfy. Inthe neighbouring village of Bika, for instance, ‘Untouchables decided to give up performing services such as te. ‘moving the careasses of dead cate from the howses of the higher cases, beating the tom-iom atthe festivals of village deities, and removing the leaves on which the high castes had dined daring festivals and weddings. The ial Peasants became annoyed at ‘thisand beat up the Untouchables and set ie to their huts. A simile MN. Srinivas an tempt by the Kere Untouchables was nipped inthe bud by the Tocl Peasants, “The dominant cat of Peasants in Rampura is plainly opposed tothe naneipation of Untouchables. Government efforts to improve the tition of Untouchables are often frustrated by the leaders of the Io ‘ally dominant caste. Thus, in 1948, the Government of Mysore sane tioned a sum of money to enable Untouchables in Rampura to have tied roof instead of thatch, The grant was administered. through the Headman, ‘The Untouchables ater complained thatthe Keadman did ‘otreadily give the money, and then only a small part of what he should have given. The Peasants, on the other hand, said that the Un- ‘ouchables had spent the money given to them on eddy, and ha this showed that Untouchables could not be improved Thus, while the Government of India and Mysore want to. abolish wnouchabilty. andthe Untouchables themselves want to. improve ‘hele position, he locally dominant caste standin the way; its members vant he Untcuchableso supply them with cheap labour and perform vlegrading tasks. They also resent the idea that Untouchables should ise thet wells and tanks, and worship in ther temples. They have the twin sanctions of psiet fore and boycott a thie disposal. tis tue thatthe Untouchables can enforce their rights withthe aid of the police sn lw cours, but there are many considerations which come i the ‘ay of taking such a dase step.