Caste in Pre-colonial and Early colonial times

It has been well established by now that caste is not an inert social institution of
ancient India and continued to the present. Scholarship that is considered as post-colonial
theory primarily focused how once fluid identity become a very solid social institution during
colonial period. In this frame work scholars stressed the role of the colonial state in
strengthening and making central to Indian society and neglected the pre-colonial roots of
caste institution. Alternatively, few works studied caste from historical perspective and
demonstrated the pre-colonial roots of this institution. However, still many works pursuing
caste a hierarchical institution Brahmin on the top and untouchables on the lowest bottom.
Thus most of the works still considering religion or ideology like purity and pollution central
to the working of caste. There are few works (like work of Sumit Guha) that stressed the
importance of power or state in shaping the social institutions and life of the public. However,
still we need to understand how this institution remained during the course of history an
exploitative institution for untouchables and women. In this direction here I am presenting
some fragmented insights with historical context. There are few references for untouchables
being slaves or in subordination to whole village during pre-colonial times which was largely
enforced by state. In fact we also have several references for state enforcing the
discrimination against untouchables. During medieval and early modern period there was
study growth of the state influence in various aspects of social life. The important point for us
is that state sought to extract as much as possible revenue by expanding its agriculture and by
issuing land grants to various officials. Most of the cases these officials had kin relationship
with king or with important stakeholder of the state. Thus most of the cases we can see that
land holding upper castes not only represented state at village level and also had kin
relationships in dozens of villages. Thus it become easy for upper caste land holders to
control and subordinate untouchable landless labour. This mechanism seems to be supported
by ideologically by Brahmanical writings as most of the cases Brahmins were both part of the
state and holders of land grants. To perpetuate the caste ideology, suppression of women
sexuality become entangled part of history of caste.

Pre-colonial Andhra
For many colonial historians beginning from James Mill and for the proponents of Indian feudalism
medieval period age was a stagnant and dark age. But Cynthia Talbot (2001) argued that medieval era
was a period of progressive change, characterized by the extension of agrarian settlement, a rise in
the number of religious institutions, an expansion of commercial activity, and an evolution of political
systems and networks (p. 2).

Fluidity of Caste: Cynthia Talbot argued that, 12th and 13th century inscriptions of Andhra
Desha suggest that there was less interest for public on the identities of Varna and caste. In
fact, Jati was used not to indicate caste but indicate kind of people. During this periods terms
equating with the clan and the lineage such as kula, vamsa and gotra were much in currency.
Status titles were more prevalent as surnames which were mostly associated with profession
and pride but not identities neither jati nor varna. The status titles were not certainly inherited
ones but indications of individual achievements. Individual achievements caused to change
social status, especially when achieved political and administrative power. Switching between
commercial professions and agricultural or military and Brahmin careers was much restricted
and these were largely based on birth. But this social mobility is not group social mobility
similar to the concept of Sanskritization.
Agrarian Expansion and Strengthening of Land Holding Castes:
However during medieval and early modern period changes in the political economy
including agrarian expansion not only strengthened the caste as an institution but also gave
enormous power to land holding castes and Brahmins over landless/slave untouchable caste.
Susan Bayly (2001) argued that Brahmanical system had consolidated during early
modern period which was considerably fluid during preceding centuries (pp. 49-52).
However, the so called hierarchical system has changed its mode of conduct to the caste over
time which did not match to the then Varna system. Susan Bayly argues that the shifting
political, social and economic conditions enabled Hindus organize caste in different ways.
The shift occurred, according to her, in the three centuries from sixteenth- eighteenth century,
where the period accommodates new ruling regimes who were predominately Sudras-
Marathas and Nayakas to legitimate their power, after the decline of big empires in India,
hence they came to be idealized reference as kingly warriors, scribal or literati priest and
productive communities or commercial based which acquired caste identities. Since late
sixteenth century, caste as a social institution had got its rigid and sacred stature in South
India and other parts of India as well. However, as Susan Bayly argues, the caste as an
institution got much significance in the colonial period with their interaction with Indian
subject provided much rigid defined caste system (p. 371). What was more significant is that
the role of caste had expanded enormously in social, religious and political matters during
colonial and post-colonial times.
Sharing with Surender Jodhka, Sumit Guha (2013) argued that ideological or religious
dimension of caste had dominated academic and popular understanding to the neglect of the
political economy. He argued that any single rationale (point) cannot explain the internal
working of thousands of ethnic groups and relations between them. Guha argued that
bounded status ranked ethnic community or caste is a social form that frequently appear in
the multi-ethnic societies. But in South Asia it is involuted and politicized by socio-economic
power. It is meshed with the occupational guild, knotted into kinship and marriage strategies,
and entwined with purity, pollution and danger (P. 2). Throughout history and in various
regions power holders employed new technics when any of existing strands disappear.
Therefore, to understand the caste at present stage, we should study it with regionally
diversified historical perspective. He also argued that understanding of caste/ethnic
community is very relevant to understand comparatively ethnic/primordial identity/national
conflicts throughout the world. He, it is important, argued that all political communities will
be multicultural/multi ethnic in the decades to come. He argued the concept of caste is a
highly involuted and politicized form of ethnic ranking.
Sumit Guha, drawing from Fredrik Barth, argued that ethnic separation is a
continuous process rather than an unchallenged inheritance and hierarchically structured by
socio-political power. Then various devices can be used to mark boundaries. For ideas of
purity may not be important like others and hierarchical values power, centrality, honour
and shame are independent purity. He argued that caste, drawing from McKim Marriott, is an
endogamous ethnic group relatively ranked others in a large society. The power is primarily
concentrated with state. Whoever ruled the state either Muslims or Bristish, all have their
impact on making of this system.
Guha argued that Portuguese brought the racial strand to the caste but Indians had the
belief in innate qualities founded on the descent. Ibn Battuta saw Maratha region analogous
to tribal territories of North Africa, each region dominated by one tribe which would also be
internally divided by rank. But for the state/political power during pre-colonial times the
caste order was a civil society while dealing with especially in the matters such as extracting
labour. Ideas of purity is less significant than power in official ideological view of caste.
In most cases caste is limited to limited space, but their boundaries were frequently
changed due to political influences. Charles Metcalfe ideas on villages (little republic) are
outdated. Village cluster (nadu, pargana, janapada) is important in pre-colonial times. These
were the units of organized social hierarchy. Territorial bounding and internal stratification
emerged together i.e., caste hierarchy and the village cluster grew up together. State
formation, even though, could not completely wiped out tribes completely had stratified the
society in to caste like institutions. Bounded networks created social stratification in regions
such as janapada or pargana with a dominant community. Life at the village and household
levels were influenced by state even during pre-colonial times. Pre-colonial state used to
collect the social knowledge for various reasons including collecting taxes. This process had
reached its peak during colonial regime which had several social, economic and political
consequences.
There are some other works which demonstrated the hegemony of political power
over Brahmins. Sumit Guha (2010) argued that by the early modern period in India,
Brahmins served the ruling class, whether it is to the Mughals (less prominent in the state
service as elite) or Deccan sultans or Vijayanagara rulers (also Stein, 1982, p. 371). More or
less they were worked as record keepers or scribes to maintain all the accounts in the empire,
served as ministers and took responsibility at many levels in the empire, if not functioned at
Dominant position, apart from the priestly works. In other wards they consolidated and
strengthened their position further by structuring the norms of the administration, revenue
and other social behaviour. As the educated elite they claimed their monopoly on the Sanskrit
or sacred texts and maintained at great extent that they were the guardians of the
Dharmasastra. In the case of Golkonda, as shown by Gijs Kruijtzer (2002), the administration
was controlled by the Brahmin minister brothers, Akkanna and Madanna, many of them also
found as tax farmers, though they were displaced from their higher positions for some time in
the 1687, and again continued by the time of Asaf Jah I, the Nizam. The significant point is
that Brahmins usually never claimed superior status than their rulers. They have also offered
respectable position to other dominant castes such as Kayastas who acquired higher positions
in the state structure (OHanlon, 2010).
Even though Bayly, Guha and other above mentioned works are very much useful to
understand how caste was shaped by political-economy, they are not sufficient to analyse
how land holding castes dominated and perpetuated the subordination of untouchable castes
which is central problem of the caste system. Therefore it is necessary to understand how
land holding castes become strong and collaborated with state in subordinating untouchables.
Karashima (1992) argued that the agricultural operations were extended to new
regions by land grants to various communities by the early 16 th century in South India. With
the decline of the Vijayanagara Empire in the year 1565, the Nayakas encouraged artisans and
merchants for controlling the production in their territories, for which they associated with
temples which was grown into important economic body by controlling the lands in a large
scale. The rulers maintained close relations with the temples; shared administration and
guardianship of the temple treasury in their particular regions. The noteworthy point for our
purpose is that, the new landholding communities of non-Brahmins become part of ruling
regimes (pp. 2-3). Christopher Chekuri (2012) argued that Nayamkara system was not only a
military arrangement but also key instrument in the agrarian domain as they were involved in
the production processes that led to the rapid mobilization of revenue for the state. Nayakas
actively took part in clearing new areas or lands, renovating and facilitating with construction
of the irrigation canals. Such kind of activities encouraged the settlements in the region where
the new lands developed as well. A record from Gangavadi village in the Anantapur district of
southern Andhra mentions that in the seventeenth century, Bachappa Nayaka an agent of
Sriranga III, received several villages with privileges in various transactions and concessions
in tax, in appreciation and to encourage the settlement in the region where the village had
become depopulated and gone undeveloped.
Dirks (1987) argued that Indian society, indeed caste itself, was shaped by political
struggles and processes. While Kallars in other parts of Tamil Nadu were inferior caste aand
thought be highway robbers, in Pudukkottai were kings and exercised every conceivable kind
of dominance. Kallar kin was not only military and ruling elite they enjoyed land and
dominated villages throughout Pudukkottai kingdom and turned dominant caste of the region
over the course of time. While land grants with mirasi rights or inam lands to Brahmins and
other communities caused for agricultural expansion, they also provided them with huge
power in vallages.
Important aspect of caste system, argued Chakraborthy (2003), is socio-economic
exploitation originated and perpetuated through the force of violence. The purity and
pollution ideology or religious interpretation of caste system was designed to mask the
system exploitation. Moreover the ideology of purity and pollution also influenced the
exploited to form them in to castes (pp. 14-16). Caste is not merely the opposition between
pure and impure but at a more fundamental level it incorporates other kinds of oppositions
such as domination and subordination, exploitation and oppression, bases on unequal access
to material resources.
Chakraborty argued that in the caste society controlling womens sexuality was considered as
the main tool to maintain hierarchical order or caste system in the society (pp. 71-73). To
maintain such hierarchical order, Dharmasastras gives strict rules to have control over women
in various levels of their life. She was not allowed to marry other than their own community,
and endogamous system of marriage were followed strictly. It considered as an important
aspect to maintain status and so that ensures descent line or family could be continued further
generations without disrupting the social structure. Moreover, Sexuality of women were
portrayed as access to pollute or threat to the system which was of hierarchical based,
therefore they were prevented from sexual access to lower class men and hence, their
subordination was considered as an essential to maintain the system and it has to be organized
to serve the social order arranged by the men of dominant segments in the society. Apart from
these texts there were several Mythological stories to preach ideals and depict role models for
the men and women composed in the early India, and continued to influence till today. To
mention, Ramayana is most influential and powerful work to propagate women being ideal,
in which Sita perceived as powerful model. Arundhati, Anasuya and Savitri are shown as
ideal and obedient wife (pativrata), and there are also models for a sinful women such as
Renuka who is not capable to sustain her devotion to her husband.

State, Untouchables and slavery:

Untouchable slave castes were existing since medieval times has been demonstrated
by various scholars. Fukazawa (1968) was probably the first historian to argue that this
(caste) system was not only a spontaneous social order of the people but also a state order of
society controlled and protected by the state. He further notes that Maratha state uphold
higher status of Brahmins and forced untouchables to be not obtain certain ritual rites during
different occasions through state orders. The most interesting point he made is that
untouchables demanding certain ritual rights even during eighteenth century when there was
not external support for them. This point support the argument that untouchables also have
their own consciousness of their position aspirations to raise their status.
Karashima (1997) narrated the life and conditions of the Untouchables in Medieval
Tamil Nadu. Two inscriptions of Rajaraja I, belong to his 29 th regnal year (A.D. 1014)
mentioned Tinda-cheri or Parai-cheri (residential area of the untouchables or residential area
of Paraiyas). These are the earliest direct references to the existence of untouchables living
outside village. Most of the villages mentioned in the inscriptions of Rajaraja were attached
with a Parai-cheri. Paraiyas were considered lowest rung of the society during the Chola and
the Vijayanagara period. While in few inscriptions and in Periya Puranam they were
mentioned as cultivators the later text also suggest that their traditional work was related to
leather and they also engaged in weaving. During this period most of the cases untouchable
castes were also slaves and could be transferred from one owner to other.
Sato (1997) provided picture of Chamars of South-Eastern Rajasthan belong to early
modern time. While their traditional professions was considered related to leather, major
section of Chamars were landholders, tenants and agricultural labourers. But usually they
were extensively exploited both privately and officially as they were usually poor and had to
work as village servants. Moreover they were controlled by state more than any other
community during seventeen and eighteen century. It should be noted that state at village
level was represented by landholding upper caste which means their control over Chamars
become very strong. The exploitation of Chamars was continued well in to the colonial times.
Washbrook (1991) has provided some optimistic picture of Pariahs during late
nineteenth century by arguing that they received more wages for their labour and had more
working opportunities in late eighteenth century than in late nineteenth century. The political
conflicts and competition for artisanal products had created huge demand for labour which
also largely benefitted Pariah castes. However once East India company established its
monopoly, the competition for hiring labour was diminished. East India Company in fact
collaborated with dominant or landholding communities in supressing labour to receive
maximum revenue from agrarian sector. British government also endorsed the traditional
caste ideology to legitimate the upper caste behaviours.
Hjejle (1967) argued that by the turn of eighteenth century in Tamil Nadu untouchable
castes Pallan and Paraiyan were slave castes and most other castes had their own mirasi rights
for whom the slave castes had to work. At the same time many untouchables at individual
level also were the bonded labourers. The slavery was very much guided by caste rules and
untouchable slaves received remuneration barely sufficient for their subsistence. However,
the colonial officials due to their reliance on upper caste land holders in acquiring knowledge
created confusion in official reports on the existence and nature of slavery and untouchability.
Even after the abolition of slavery in 1843, there was no considerable change in the
institution of slavery and it continued for long with different names and legal interpretations.
However slave castes migration to other places had minute but not great impact on their
socio-economic conditions depending on various regional factors and individual cases. Upper
castes land holders created as much as possible obstacle for stopping slave caste
emancipation and keeping them in subordination. Thus even by the turn of nineteenth century
the untouchable castes remain in subordination of upper caste land holders. In a recent work
Vishwanth (2014) clearly demonstrated that upper castes land holders collaborated with
colonial state to curtail the emancipation of untouchable castes at various levels.
Thus throughout pre-colonial and colonial time state primarily collaborated with land
holding castes and subordinated the untouchable castes. This was possible as land holding
castes were usually part of the state which caused state to be favourable to land holding castes
which also helped state to receive stable revenues.

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