Social Structure, Ideology and Language: Caste among Muslims

Author(s): Pervaiz Nazir

Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 28, No. 52 (Dec. 25, 1993), pp. 2897-2900
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4400597
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 Social Structure, Ideology and Language
Caste among Muslims
Pervaiz Nazir

The question whether the concept of caste can be applied to the system of social stratification of a community
professing a faith other than Hinduism has often been posed in the abstract, ascribing an 'essence' to caste, as well
as according a determinative role to religious ideology independent of the context in which it is articulated. This paper
is an attempt to address this question tirough a linguistic analysis of some of the categories used in the context of caste,
and argues that though caste existed anmong Muslims in traditional rural Piunjab, caste labels becamne increasingly
important only to the extent that the individual was able to acquiire an identity independent of the clan or lineage to
which she or he belonged.

THE problem of the existence or otherwise both of which are determined by birth. Since occupation. It should be noted, however,
of caste among Muslims in south Asia has there is lack of fit between the two statuses,that this lack of 'good fit' between zat/quom
been an object of analysis for a long time. caste cannot exist among Myslims, because and occupation exists within the Hindu!
The main concern of this analysis has been in the classical caste system there is an Indian model of caste as well, and in itself
the question whether this concept can be overlap in these statuses. Though both the does nlot imply the absence of a caste sys-
applied to the system of social stratification concepts represent status acquired by birth tem, for, as I have stated, among the Mus-
of a community which professes a faith and both are characterised by relatively lims of Punjab, zat, quom and biraderi are
other than Hinduism [Alunad 1978:2]. This strict endogamy, one's zat status cannot be used interchangeably. 'Ihe apparent fluidity
question has often been posed in the ab- changed in one's lifetime while the status and interclhangeability of the concepts and
stract, attributing an 'essence' to caste, as under quom can be so changed for it is their meaning merely expresses in a differ-
well as according a determinative role to determined by one's occupation (3940). ent way the underlying structure of caste
religious ideology independent of the con- This collapsing of two distinct concepts and among Muslims, as we shall see.
text in which it is articulated. equating both with the Indian caste by writ-
I have attempted in this paper to address ers such as Barth (1960) and Leach (1960) RELIGious APPROACH
this question by relating it very briefly to has, for Wakil, led to the belief that caste
the disintegration of the caste system exists among Muslims. Some writers follow a religious/ideologi-
among Muslims with particular reference According to Wakil, the "general corre- cal approaclh while analysing caste, and
to this community in Punjab. I have ar- spondence of 'caste' and occupation in the maintain that caste is an institution peculiar
gued that the caste system did exist among Indian system and lack of this in Pakistan to Hindu India. Thus the question that im-
Muslims in traditional rural Punjab, and may explain at least in part the apparent mediately suggests itself is whether it is
that caste labels have become increas- confusion and lack of 'goodness' of fit possible to speak of Muslims in south Asia
ingly important only to the extent that the quom and caste" (43). Moreover,
between as having a 'caste system' at all, or there
individual has been able to acquire an the rules of endogamy for zat and quom exists among them only a system somewhat
identity independent of the clan or lineage differ: for the former endogamy is a require-resembling it. The latter view, that the term
to which he or she belonged. I have sug- ment whilst for the latter it is a preferencecaste cannot properly be applied to Mus-
gested that this process might be better based on functional considerations within lims, is implicit in the following passage:
understood if we attempt a linguistic analy- the local economy and the local social divi- [There] are groups and classes of people
sis of some of the concepts used in the sion of labour (44). among the Muslim population... who are
context of caste. This approach to under- I lowever, both Wakil's method of analy- organised more or less like the Hindu castes...
standing the relationship between ideol- sis and his conclusions are untenable. The but they are less rigid because Islam, theo-
ogy and social structure in the context of terms zat and quom (as well as biraderi-a retically at least, permits marriage between
caste may also be useful for understanding patrilineal descent group) are used inter- classes of believers in Islam [Karim
otlher forms of social stratification. changeably among Muslims in Punjab. These 1956:126].
may or may not imply occupational status. This writer clearly regards a certain degree
HIERARCHIV,S OF STATUS A change in occupation need not result in of rigidity and particular rules prohibiting
change in quom. The evidence provided for intermarriage as the necessary attributes of
An interesting attempt to address this the analytical distinctiveness of zat and a caste system. 'Fhis conclusion, b4sed on a
question is Wakil's (1971) model of the quom is weak. For example, a barber ('nai') religious/ideological approach to caste, is
Punjabi Muslim society based on concepts is placed in a zat group, Bhatti, and his quom similar to Wakil's based on a 'secular'
of zat, quom and biraderi. His conclusion is is nai. However, among Punjabi Muslims analysis.
that there are no castes among Muslims. He Bhatti is not a zat but a got or subcaste A contrary view suggests that in spite of
arrives at this conclusion by highlighting usually ofjat and rajput castes. Wakil lumps the ideology of equality in Islam the influ-
the fact that there are two hierarchies of together castes 'proper' such as saiyad, rajput ence of the Hindu caste system has led the
status, each analytically independent, in and arain and gots or subcastes such as Muslims of south Asia to acquire certain
cheema wlhich is a jat got, and chaudhry
Punjab, the implication being that an analy- distinct characteristics [Levy 1930:72]. And
sis in terms of a monolithic caste model which is an honorific assumed by the that this has resulted in Muslim social
(derived from the India/Hindu model) is landowning castes. Conversely, quoms or organisation resembling strongly the Hindu
inapplicable and unwarranited here (39-40).occupational categories such as barber and caste system, so that saiyads, sheikhs,
These two hierarchies and the supposedly blacksmith are also considered, in Punjab, mughals and afglhans correspond to the Hindu
independent analytic categories of zat and to be zats, and retain this caste status even categories bralhmins and kslhatriyas [ibid:73).
quom, for Wakil, refer to status positions when they are no longer in their traditional Moreover, the Muslim castes are divided

Economic and Political Weekly December 25, 1993 2897

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into roughly three main categories: the aslhraf our initial problematique has been circum- tional groups which served to co-ordinate
(nobility descended from Arabs, Persians, vented in an arbitrary way and that we have economic transactions in what was essen-.
Turks, Afghans and converts from upper thus ignored the 'essence' of the caste sys- tially a non-monetised, largely self-suffi-
class Hindus); the aj laf or lower status castes tem. This, however, is not as serious an cient economy. Each group provided the
such as village artisans; and the arzal, which objection as it might at first appear, for the skills and resources peculiar to it, and re-
consisted of the lowest castes comprising object of this analysis is to formulate an ceived in return other services and com-
village menials such as leather workers and analytical question and not to label a par- moditieslto which it was entitled by statua
landless labourers. ticular phenomenon. So that if the Hindu This system, common to much of south
Another writer who has addressed hien- idioms of pollution and ritual are regarded Asia, is callcd 'sep' among the-Muslims of
self to the problem of caste among Mf slim\s as necessary elements in the definition of Punjab and 'jajmani' in other parts of the
takes the Islamic doctrine of social e alitythe caste system, then clearly the phenom- subcontinent [Nazir 1991:84; Ahmad
as his starting point, but maintains that caste enon I need to discuss can be described as a 1977:66]. Under this system, the artisans
is found among Muslims: caste system only if this idiom is present, and service castes of carpenters, smiths,
The Hindu caste system is ... entirely incom-and not otherwise. But this qualification potters, water-carriers and so on, received
patible with the tenets of Islam. And amongstdoes not aft ect my main problem, which is from the cultivators their traditional shares
those Muslims of foreign descent whose to examine tlie conditions for the existence of crop at harvest. These rights and obliga-
ancestors brought the religion of the Prophetof a particular kind of closed system of tions were fixed hy tradition, and the provi-
into India, practice correspond? with theory. stratification. sion and consumption of services and com-
But the same cannot be said of Muslims that The problem, in effect, resolves itself into modities, which were not by any means
have converted from Hinduism... [M]any two questions which I shall attempt to an- equally distributed, reflected an unequal
conveits,when they have changedtheirfaith, swer in relation to evidence from among distribution of power in the local social
did not change or only partially changed Muslims'of Punjab. Firstly, what have been formation. Moreover, the 'purchasing'
their social customs. In theory Islam should the primary factors determining stratifica-
power of the various groups was determined
not admit the validity of any alien custom
tion and social status in the changing condi- not by a fluctuating market but by hereditary
which is contrary to, or in conflict with its
tions of the Punjab? Secondly, in what way status.
own doctrines. But in practice, Islam has
are these reflected in the meaning of the According to this system (sep orjajmani),
accepted the situation [Blunt 1931:189-911.
word zat which is commonly employed as the principle of allocating social and eco-
However, this particular opposition be- the Punjabi equivalent of the English word nomic roles in the community was com-
tween Islamic doctrine and Hindu social caste? bined with a pattern of rank and prestige
practices is entirely misconceived. For the wlhich defined the unequal privileges and
latter is an aspect of a concrete social reality KINSHIP GROUPINGS obligations. An inextricable part of the re-
whilst the former is a set of integrated ciprocal economic relations between the
concepts, or ideology. Thus it is not at all In order to answer these two interrelated various occupational groups was a system
illuminating to be told that the Hindu castequestions I need to point out as referent the of social stratification defining the ranking
system is incompatible with Islamic tenets,principal kinship groupings in the tradi- position of the various clusters.,The actual
or that in practice Islam has accepted cus- tional rural Punjab. Briefly, these were: rank and prestige accorded to the different
toms normally associated with the Hindu named clans, consisting of a number of categories is, however, somewhat difficult
castes. Of course, one does not come across liteages, whicil are divided into major to determine in precise terms from the mate-
in Islamic writings the theory of society segmenits (owning land), and these again rial available. But it appears that, for
divided into four hierarchical varnas subdivided into what may be called local Muslim villagers at any rate, the landown-
(brahmin, kshatriya, vaisya, and sudra). descent groups (holding and working units ers occupied the highest rank within the
Nor is it relevant to seek out the historicalof land). Within any particular locality (vil- local community; a situation unlike that
origin of social practices associated with lage or circle of villages) the population was among the Hindus where brahmins occu-
caste. The important thing is to know divided into three broad socio-economic pied the highest status-ranking [Dumor.t
whether it is possible to discern among categories; the landowning cultivators 1?27:119-201; Nazir 19911.
communities which call themselves Mus- (zamindars), artisan/service castes and land- The Punjabi term which was employed to
lim a structure of social relations that is inless agricultural labourers/tenants, the latterdesignate these clusters of roles and the
some sense similar to the one implicit in two categories often being collectively re-ranking position associated with them was
the classic caste system. ferred to as the kamins. All three categorieszat, a word whose fuller meaning is dis-
In order to do this, it is necessary to make
may also fit into the category of ashraf, ajlaf
cussed below. The system which I have
a distinction between a caste system andor arzal mentioned above. The last category
described here briefly I refer to as caste
caste labels: the formner refers to a local
invariably comprised the majority. The system, and the groups thus linked to each
system of hierarchically ordered corporate. landowning cultivators were generally theother, zats.
groupings involving social division of labour,
dominant groups in terms of power ('taqat'), Thus the social and economic identity of
occupational specialisation, unequal depen- honour ('izzat'), and prestige ('ma'an'). the individual depended on his membership
dence, and recruitment by birth only; the The kamins were divided into a number of in a given descent group. The group owned
latter refers to a set of non-local, non-corpo-
descent groups each of which was certain rights and occupied a fixed position
rate named groups which provide a rcnking characterised by a particular specialisation,in the social system, and the privilege of
hierarchy, and which do not involve occupa- and all of which were together dependentexcercising
on these rights was available to the
tional specialisation, unequal dependence,the landowners for their protection and live- individual only as a member of one or other
and recruitment by birth only. lihood [Nazir 1981]. From an economic descent group. The possibility of individual
By defining the caste system in this way, point of view, the various descent groups of contract was virtually non-existent, and there
we concentrate on the pattern of relationship
zamindars and kamins co-operated to main- was little place in the system for individual
between groups and not on the cultural tain the overall system of production and reciprocity [Nazir 1981:287].
idiom in which this structure of relation- consumption on the basis of a traditional Since the status of the individual was
ships is expressed. It may be argued that by social division of labour. This consisted of exclusively determined by patrilineal de-
following such a methodological approach obligations between the various occupa- scent, the kinshlip principle was most perti-

2898 Economic and Political Weekly December 25, 1993

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nent in defining the limits of the different and ranked. In fact, one aspect of the so- the status of the individual that it never had
zats. Thus, while on the one hand, marriage called process of 'Islamisation' consisted of before, for women were now able to accu-
served to reinforce the cleavages between reconstituting the notion of pollution, which mulate and transmit pmperty in their own
different groups since it was the necessary serves to maintain social distance between right.
step in the recruitment of new members into groups, into an entirely different one. For The consequence of all these new endi-
thegroup, itreinforced the common identity among Muslims impurity ('paledhi') and its tions was the tendency for individual con-
of members of similar groups on the other. polar opposite purity ('taharat')' are in a tractual relations to replace group status
So that, for example, a carpenter from one sense absolute individual states. All indi- relations. In other words, the cluster of
local descent group married as a rule into rights and obligations implied by-zat mem-
viduals are liable to the first, and may achieve
another local descent group of carpenters the second, just as they may reclaim them- bership began to split up. Economic and
and not into a descent group of leather- selves from the one or lose the other. The political power as well as rank and prestige
workers or cultivators. The relationships Islamic notion of pollution cannot therefore were no longer inevitably determined to-
between the various zats were provided for be used to define social distance in the way gether by membership in the zat.
by the system I have already described and the Hindu notion is. But among Muslim The Punjabi name for the occupational
not by marriage alliances. In fact, marriage communities where the Hindu concept is groups I have described is zat which is the
alliances and reciprocal obligations of the absent, the hierarchical ordering and mu- same as the Urdu word zat. Urdu dictionar-
sep system were as a rule regarded as being tual separation of zats was expressed in ies give the meaning of the word variously
mutually exclusive. terms of different notions, notably those as 'possessor, owner, person, self (i e, a
The strict principle of zat endogamy of honour (izzat), power (taqat), and pres- person's self or a thing's self), breed, tribe,
should be viewed as a cultural expression tige (ma'an). caste, sort, kind' [Platt 1884:576; Hares
of the group relations that I have dis- 1929:63 and 312]. Among the meanings of
cussed; it was not essential to the mainte- COLONIAL POLICY the adjectival form of this word (zati) are the
nance of hierarchically ordered, mutually following: essential, natural, original, fun-
(but unequally) interdependent, closed The factors which eventually brought damental, personal.
groups, as is implied by some of the writ- about the gradual demise of the caste system Although it is rather difficult to trace
ers mentioned above. In fact, individual among the Muslims included among them historically the usage of this word, there is
marriages across zat barriers were not not mere conversion but also the British nevertheless a logical consistency in its
entirely absent in many Muslim commu- colonial policy, which facilitated the devel- meanings despite the change in the institu-
nities; but this did not subvert the basic opment of a capitalist penetration of the tions to which-they relate. However, the
structure of the zat hierarchy, because zats economy and the extension of Muslim law clue to the principle significance of this
recruited their members unilineally, to the rural areas whereas previously it had word lies in its senses of 'possessor',
through the patrilineal group. been confined to the urban areas. This was person' and 'kind'. In the caste system as
Similarly, with regard to pollution which recognised by lbbetson, who normally placed analysed above, the status of the indi-
is considered to be another main element in much emphasis on the cultural expression vidual was determined by his membership
the definition of caste among Hindus, Mus- of caste, often minimising its structural in a given group, It was the group which
lim communities which had been converted basis: owned the rights to the direct sources of
from Hinduism often continued to practice livelihood (e g, land,) and tt traditional
[Tlhere can be no doubt that both the...rules
traditional customs and entertaln traditional services from other corporate groups. It
of Hindu caste, and the tribal customs that
ideas about the social organisation of soci- bind both Hindu and Musulman, have lately was the group which provided the indi-
ety. Thus one writer, taking up a somewhat begun to relax, and with far greater rapidity vidual with political support and social
extreme position, observed that: among the Musulmai)s than among the Hin- rank, as well as the standards to which the
[Iln the east of the Punjab conversion has dus. And this difference no doubt is really individual was expected to conform. The
absolutely no effect on the caste of the due to the difference in religion. There has individual's personal status and social cat-
convert...His social customs are unaltered, been within the last thirty years a great egozy were defined by his membership of
his tribal restrictions are unrelaxed, his rulesMusulman revival in the Punjab; education a particular zat. As has Seen mentioned,
of marriage and inheritance unchanged; andhas spread, and with it a more accurate however, the breakup of the caste system
almost the only difference is that he shaves knowledge of the rules of the faith; and there involved the redefinition of the
his scalplock and the upper edge of his is now a tendency, which is day by day
individual's identity. Ownership rights
moustache, repeats the Mahommnedan creed growing stronger to substitute the law of
were now invested in the individual. Rank
in a mosque, and adds the Musulman to the Islam fortribal custom in all matters, whether
and sources of livelihood were no longer
Hindu wedding [Ibbeston 1881:178]. of intennarriage, inheritance or social inter-
determined together; both could be ac-
course [1881:79].
Undoubtedly, some converted Muslim quired, to some extent, individually.
communities continued to conceive of zats It has been argued that the redefinition of
in terms of a scale of purity and impurity.ownership rights and the growth of a capital- OWNESHIP RIGHTS
But the absence of this notion of relative istic economy under the British tended to
group purity in the western Punjab, and its dissolve the corporate organisation of lin- The shift in the focus of ownership
gradual abandonment in the eastern and eages and local descent groups [Nazir L9,8 1]. rights is demonstrated by the definition of
central regions, did not of itself involve theThe development of a market in land, as well the legal notion of personal necessity
destruction of the caste system among the as an increase in the new sources ofli'veli- employed by British courts after annex-
Muslims. Tlis was because the ideology of hood available to individuals, opened up the ation. Originally, rights and liabilities had
the equality of all Muslims could only be possibility of individual mobility through been vested in the corporate group, but
articulated within the system of the prevail-the accumulation of personally acquired now they came to be vested in the indi-
ing social and economic inequalities, which wealth. In the legal sphere, the extension vidual.
of Thus one aspect of the meaning of
were reinforced by the system of acquisition Muslim law to the rural areas led to an zat was identified with the individual as
of status by birth implicit in the caste sys- emphasis on individual status, personal against the group. This, in turn, led to the
tern. However, Muslims did not need the ownership, and bilateral inheritance. In fact,
view that necessity ( 'zarurat' ) shlould also
HIindu notion of pollution to keep zats apart the female line assumed an importance for be defined in individual terms.

Economic and Political Weekly December 25, 1993 2899

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 In the traditional caste system, of course,
zati zarurat would have referred to the ne-
cessity of the proprietory group. Thus zat
becomes in one sense identical in meaning
with the word apna, 'personal', although it
is interesting to observe that even apna as a
pronoun may still signify either 'my' or
'our'. Therefore the distinction between
collective and individual has to be made in
terms of a different pronoun, mera, 'my'.
Identity in the sense of rank and prestige
was now sought elsewhere, through mem-
bership in large noncorporate named grolups
such as saiyad, shaikh, rajput, jat. These
were now understood to be zati in a special
sense, whose meaning only partially over-
lapped that of zat in the caste system. Thus
to the question; What is your caste? the
answer would be given in terms of occupa-
tion: I am a carpenter [Eglar 1960:29]. Or in
terms of membership in one of the
noncorporate groups: I am a sheikh. How-
ever, both rank and occupation continued to
some extent to be determined by familial
connections, for the transmission of prop-
erty continued to be a function of the family,
though by no means as systematically and
inevitably as in the caste system.
Although property by itself did not imply
rank, it nevertheless became essential to it.
In fact, rank came to be determined in part
by the caste label, e g, Saiyad (one who
claims descent from the Prophet
Muhammad), in part by the nature of the
occupation, and in part by wealth. More-
over, access to all of these in some measure
became individual. In contrast to the previ-
ous situation, it was no longer simply mem-
bership in a unilineal descent group that
determined rank. Since such descent groups
referred to large noncorporate groups, these
continued to be considerable in terms of
their status and power in the different parts
of (Muslim and Hindu) society. This ambi-
guity may be seen in the way the label 'jat'
is used in Punjab. The jats are listed in
census reports and are spoken of by ethnolo-
gists as a caste, but the jats as a-group are
clearly not the same as the corporate jats in
the caste system.
The word jat in Punj'abi means herds-man
or cultivator, and it assumes slightly differ-
ent forms in different parts of the province.
In eastern Punjab the word is jat; in central
Punjab it is jati; in south-western Punjab it
is jagdal, while the term jat (wilh a-soft 't.') ence to it would obscure important struc-
here denotes camel-rearer or shepherd. In
thie western Punjab the word jat is applied
lim communities. For the definition with
generically to a congeries of groups: jats
proper, rajputs, and various groups of
mixed origin who have nothing in com-
mon save their Muslim religion, agricul-
tural occupation, and subordinate posi-
tion. The term rajput is generally applied
to those groups which have attained politi-
cal supremacy.
2900 Economic and Political Weekly December 25, 1993
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The numerous clans collectively known society assign the various bereditary offices
as jats have diverse traditions of origin by in the ritual? And the answer for Hindu and
which each seeks to establish its status Muslim communities will of course be dif-
with reference to other groups. Thus, for ferent.
example, the langah claim Afghan origin, The question, however, can be posed in
the tahim and lilia Arab origin, while the obverse, following our alternative
others claim Mughal, Awan or Quraish conceptualisation of the problem: In what
origin. Rose, in his glossary of Punjab way does the social stratification in this
tribes and castes, observes that in the society relate to such factors as ownership
Muslim west, and access to sources of livelihood? The
wherethe landowning and cultivating classes answer to this question might be similar for
are organised on a tribal basis...stress is Hindu and Muslim communities located
always laid on a man's tribe or clan and not within a hierarchically structured, complex
on his status or 'caste' terms, Rajput or Jat, totality such as in the subcontinent but be
more freely, but in the vaguest possible way,,different for those in relatively simpler and
so that a MuhammadanJat tribe in Gujranwala egalitarian tribal groupings. In either case,
or Gujrat will appear now as a Rajput and a however, it would be a weak methodologi-
decade later as Jat, or vice versa, or half the cal approach to construct a definition of
tribe will return itself as Rajput and the other
caste (as attempted by some writers men-
half as Jat, as caprice dictates [1911:361].tioned above) which describes the 'essence'
Clearly, the status significance of the of caste, as if this were some self-evident
label jat varies considerably from one local- natural object, apprehended but not under-
ity to another. And whether one claims to be stood. Actually, what one needs are method-
a jat of rajput, Arab or Afghan origin de- ological guidelines which allow us to ask
pends on what rank one can effectively relevant questions. For the value of a defini-
aspire to. The possibility of individuals andtion lies not in its supposed descriptive
families moving from one 'caste' to another accuracy, but in its analytical use.
is openly acknowledged in Punjab, and ex-
pressed in the well known Muslim proverb: References
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questions we can ask of a particular society. Economy, Aldershot.
Thus, if we were to begin, for example, withPlatt, J T 1884): A Dictionary of Urdu, Classical
lIocart's definition that "castes are merely Hitndi atid English, London.
families to whom various offices in the Rose, H A (1911): A Glossary of the Tribes and
ritual are assigned by heredity" [ 1950:201], Castes of tile Punijab, Lahore.
its value would consist in the fact that we canWakil, P A (1971): '7at and Quom in Punjabi
ask the question: In what way does this Society'. Sociologus.
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