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Book Review: Social Geography, by Aijazuddin Ahmad (Rawat Publications,

Jaipur, 1999)

Article · January 2003

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Vol. I1, No.4 October-December 2003

Human Resource
Analysis
A Journal of contemporary Issues

Manav Human
Development
Foundation
Gurgaon.
 Human Resource Analysis , Vol. II, No. 4, October-December. 2003

CONTENTS

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS-
LOOK BEFORE LEAPING' INTO
COERCIVE DIPLOMACY S. Kalyanaraman
The raising of new set of demands by India, after the earlier ones had been

complied with has strengthened Pakistan's resolve not to buckle down any further

and introduced a competitive element into the bilateral equation.

HUMAN RIGHTS
JUDICIAL ACTIVISM ANDPROTECTION OF P.L. Mehta &
HUMAN RIGHTSIN INDIA Surender S. Jasqwal
Indian judiciary has given a new dimension to human rights through its activism
and it is playing a vital role in promoting and protecting the human rights
enshrined in the Constitution of India.

ECONOMY
CONSUMER PROTECTION IN INDIA:
MYTH OR REALITrY M.M. Batra

Speedy Consumer justice will not only give protection to consumer but will also
improve the quality of goods and services. It may also solve the problem of our
adverse balance of trade.

17
BOOK REVIEW
1. HABITATIONS OF MODERNITY:
Mohinder Singh
ESSASYS IN THE WAKE OF SUBALTERN STUDIES

28-32
2. SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY
Sarfaraz Alam &
Anand Malik
33-36
Human Resource Analysis , Vol. I1, No. 4, October-December. 2003

BOOK REVIEW: 2

Book Social Geography

Author Aijazuddin Ahmad
Publisher Rawat Publication, Jaipur
Price Rs. 175 (PB)
Year 1999

Pages 454 Sarfaraz Alam &

Anand Malik

The central focus of this book is on the spatial organization of pluralistic Indian society in its

tribal. caste, linguistic and religious expression. Indian social structure is extremely complex.
Within the population of India are subsumed six major racial groups, about 285 tribal

communities, over 3000 castes and sub-castes, 723 languages and dialects and followers of
several religions - both Indic and non-Indic. These diversities are reflected in varied socio-

eultural patterns and processes - social geographers' raw materials. But surprisingly, not much

work has been done on the spatial organization of Indian society. There are two-fold
difficulties in writing a book on the social geography of India. First, Indian society is
extremely diverse to enable anyone to reach a reasonable generalization. Second, there are
limitations in using the existing data on Indian society. Professor Ahmad must be

congratulated for brilliantly accomplishing the difficult task of producing the first ever wel1

researched book on the social geography of India.

The present book is the product of the author's active participation in teaching and researching
various issues of Indian society for almost of quarter of century at the Jawaharlal Nehru
University (New Delhi). The central theme of this book is the spatial organisation of Indian
social structure. There are basically three main concerms underlying the author's approach in

the book - the discovery and description of spatial pattern of social phenomena; an
appreciation of the critical role of geography in shaping the socio-cultural evolution of India;
and the importance of Indian social geography for social planning in India.

Divided into well-organised eight chapters, the book begins with the social geographical
interpretation of Indian social structure and impacts of social processes on it, followed by a
brief discussion on the nature of Anglo-American social geography and a summary of

33
Human Resource Analysis , Vol. II, No. 4. October-December. 2003

progress in social geography research in India. A survey of literature clearly suggests that

there is a lack of sufficient research on this theme in India.

The scope and purpose of social geography of India are discussed in Chapter Two. The author

has convincingly argued that in spite of several pan-lndian movements stressing the unity of
the Indian Union in the name of a dominant religious identity or dominant linguistic and

racial strands; tribes, castes and sub-caste, languages and dialects or religion based communal
identities, which have aluways manifested themselves in regional frames, have never been
obliterated by such forces of imposed unifications. As a result, we can still see continuity in

social and culturally diverse regions of India from the Mahajanpadas of the sixth century BC

and Mughal Subas of medieval times to the present linguistic states as a historical continuum

in a geographically differentiated space.

Chapter Three deals with the origin and evolution of social differentiation in India as
influenced by geographical environments. The author links the origins of social differentiation
to the process of immigra of uman groups with different ethnic backgrounds at different
points in time from outside the Indian Subcontinent and their subsequent isolation and
dwelling in different segments of space. The differentiations in the natural landscapes have
contributed to the emergence of pluralities of cultural patterms. To quote the author. "India
presented a diversity in its ecological settings to such an extent that the tribal, agrarian and
pastoral modes could survive in a neat spatial arrangement. While the agrarian mode spread
horizontally in the river valleys, the inter-fluvial tracts were favoured by the nomadic
pasturalists. Higher up on the plateau surfaces, or in isolated hills and mountain ranges, tribes
lived in their own exclusive worlds ". (p.82)

Chapter Four concerns tribes of India. It deals with the geographical distribution of aggregate
tribal population as well as individual tribal communities. The study shows that the Indian
tribes display strong tendencies of clustering and concentration in the hilly. forested and
geographically inaccessible tracts of the country, mainly because they have been pushed into
these areas by peasant communities. The author has also examined tribals' responses to
development programmes and contacts with non-tribal populations in such areas as literacy
status, agrarian class structure, displacement from their traditional lands, indebtedness and

consumption behaviour.

34
Human Resource Analhysis , Vol. I1, No. 4, October-December, 2003

Chapter Five traces the origin of caste system, and examines its role in settlement morphology
and the social organization of Indian villages and the territorial organisation based on

clan/lineage networks of relationships. Subsequently, the author examines the relationships

between castes and land ownership that has evolved over a long period of time. The section on
the distribution of different caste groups using the district level data of 1931 Census is

meticulously done. The geographical distribution of Scheduled Castes in India has been
treated at length.

In Chapter six the author examines the nature of linguistic diversity, traces the historical

process of spatial spreads and describes the geographical distributions of different languages
in India. Chapter Seven deals with the historical evolution of all major religions of India, their

numerical strengths and spatial distributions.

In the brief concluding chapter, Professor Ahmad proposes a social policy for the

heterogeneous Indian society: "In the present context, the socio-psychological integration of
diverse culture-groups within the Indian state is necessary. But it is possible only if diversities
are preserved, widely respected and accommodated within the existing administrative and

legal framework". (pp. 373-374).

There are several notable strengths in Professor Ahmad's book. He projects a very balanced
view on sensitive issues without compromising the needs of scientific objectivity. The writing
style is cogent and very well argued. The book is generously illustrated with maps, diagrams
and tables. All chapters contain explanations of a number of concepts displayed in boxes.
There are extensive endnotes and further readings on the subjects of each chapter. It contains
22 appendices stretching to 61 pages.

Nevertheless, there are a few important shortcomings in the book which merit attention. Urban
social geographers in the West are deeply involved in researching urban social geography.
They have been using urban process models, social area analysis and factorial ecology to
understand the spatial organisation of social phenomena in Western cities. However, this book
does not contain any section on urban social geography of India. Moreover, there is no
mention of the process on social segregation in the urban areas. This phenomenon has become
a very important element in understanding the dynamics of urban social geography. Similarly,

35
Human Resource Analysis , Vol. II, No. 4, October-December, 2003

in rural where
the author has not given any account of social morphology of settlements areas

caste and religion play a very crucial role.

of Muslim
The book also does not contain any section explaining the growing proportion
population in states like Assam and West Bengal, which is primarily due to the continuing

influx of Bangladeshi citizens into these areas. This phenomenon has led to growing social

tensions in these parts of the country.

There are a few minor shortcomings too. The title of the book seems to be misleading. A far

more appropriate title would have been: "Social Geography of India" or "Social Geography

with Spatial Reference to India'". The line shadings in some of the choropleth maps are not

very apparent. It is very difficult to differentiate two successive line shadings. And lastly,

some of the maps are not to scale.

On the whole, Professor Ahamd's path-breaking book will be extremely useful to students of

geography, sociology, anthropology, history and politics. It will, moreover, be useful to those

new to the social geography of India and those who seek to know more about it.

36
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