Dermatoglyphics

and Other Biological

Traits

Block III
Cultural Change among
Indigenous People

119
Physical and
Biological Variation
among Indigenous
Population

120
UNIT 8 CULTURAL CONTACT AND CHANGE* Dermatoglyphics
and Other Biological
Traits
Contents
8.0 Introduction
8.1 Concept of Indigenous People
8.2 Indigenous People of India
8.3 Culture Processes
8.3.1 Sanskritisation

8.3.2 Modernisation

8.3.3 Religious Syncretism

8.4 Concept and Meaning of Little and Great Tradition

8.5 Summary
8.6 References
8.7 Answers to Check Your Progress
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of the unit, you will be able to:
 understand the anthropological concept of indigenous communities, their
living and livelihood with respect to economy, social and cultural life;
 explain the various processes of cultural change more specifically the
concept of Sanskritisation, Modernisation, Religion Syncretism and the
meaning of Little and Great Tradition; and
 know how culture is dynamic by nature and its dynamism is contextual to
time and space.

8.0 INTRODUCTION
Society lives through cultural dynamics. The dynamic aspects of any society
are reflected through the dichotomy of adoption and rejection of cultural traits.
Therefore, it is popularly said that no society is static, rather it is dynamic by
nature. The speed and degree of dynamism of any society depends on various
barriers and constraints encountered and opportunities faced by the people.
Cultural change in a society goes through definite processes; however, may not
follow same and similar directions. We see that any cultural change process
may go up or down, forward or backward, towards progression or regression,
but it is always meant to be a movement from one stage to another with a
definite direction. All the cultural processes that take place in a society may
be categorised as (i) culture sustaining and (ii) culture transforming. Culture
sustaining processes maintain and strengthen cultural traditions, while culture
transforming processes bring about necessary modifications, deletion or

121
Contributor: Dr. Nilakantha Panigrahi, Associate Professor, Dept. of Anthropology & Tribal Development, Guru
*

Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya, (A Central University) Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh

Cultural Change replacement of traditions. In this context we will discuss the cultural change
among Indigenous processes observed in a society and the concept of indigenous people.
People
8.1 CONCEPT OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
Let us discuss the concept of indigenous people, their distribution around the
world, and different Acts, Rules and Regulations centered on them. The term
‘indigenous people’ who are also called as ‘primitive people’ are identified by
certain characteristics. They are viz. non-literate, non-civilised, non-industrial,
non-urban, lacking economic specialisation, most vulnerable, less civilised,
having low technical achievements with simple and small traditional tools and
techniques. They are also identified with certain features like close knit social
ties, pervasive religion, possessing a world view based on nature and natural
objects.
Around 300 million indigenous people are living in around 70 countries of
the world stretching over the Arctic Circle, Latin America, Africa and Asia.
Anthropologists normally classify these tribal communities on the basis of
social formations like hunting-gathering, pastoral, nomads, settled agriculturists,
industrial workers etc. with an assumption that the predominant economy of
these communities at different time periods has influenced to determine the
type of their social formation and world view.
International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions No-107 of 1957, 169
of 1989 have well defined the term ‘indigenous’ and protection of these
communities. The United Nations International Year for the Worlds Indigenous
Peoples recognised the Cultural and Intellectual Property Rights of Indigenous
People.
Let us give an elaborate conceptual meaning to the term ‘indigenous communities’
as defined by the sub-commission on Human Rights Commission of the UN,
developed in the year 1972 by a Special Rapporteur, Martinez-Cobo. “Indigenous
communities, people and nations are those which having a historical continuity
with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories,
consider themselves distinct from other sectors of the societies now prevailing
on those territories, or parts of them. They form at present non-dominant
sectors of society and are determined to preserve, develop and transmit to future
generations their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, as the basis of
their continued existence as peoples, in accordance with their cultural patterns,
social institutions and legal system”.
A couple of important conventions framed by the International organisations
for the protection of the indigenous communities include Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1951), International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), Rio Declaration of Environment
and Development, and Agenda 21 (1992), Convention on Biological Diversity
(1992), Report of the International Conference on Population and Development
(1994), Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (2001), and the U N
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007).

122
8.2 INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF INDIA Cultural Contact and
Change
In India the indigenous people are popularly known by different names in different
time periods. They are viz. Vanyajati, Adimajati and Adivasi. As per clause (1)
of Article 342 of the Constitution of India, in India the Scheduled Tribes are
enlisted and presently they are constitutionally declared as Scheduled Tribes.
As per Census of India these people share 8.2 per cent, with a total population
of 84 million in the country’s population. The identification of scheduled tribes
is done on the basis of certain socio-economic characteristics like primitive
traits, distinctive culture, and geographical isolation, shyness of contact with
other communities at large and over all backwardness. In India there are 461
ethnic groups recognised as Scheduled Tribes and they are considered as India’s
indigenous people. Most of these tribal communities are rated as very low when
measured on various human development indicators like food security, health,
education, access to safe drinking water, transport and communication.
In post independence period the Constitution of India guarantees to safeguard
the interests of tribal people under Article 15 (4), 16 (4), 46, 243M, 243ZC,
244, the first and second proviso to 275 (1), 334, 335, 338 A, 339 (1), and
the Fifth and the Sixth schedules. Apart from, Protection of Civil Rights Act,
1955, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities)
Act 1989, the Proviso of the Panchayat (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act,
1996, the Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest
Rights) Act, 2006 and State Acts prohibiting alienation and restoration of tribal
land, control of money lending and reservations in posts and services, are also
meant for the protection of these communities.
With this background let us discuss indigenous communities as a stage in the
realm of social evolution, subject to various culture change processes. Like
other communities they are also dynamic by nature and receptive to change
which is due to various factors. Many of such change processes are visible in
their socio-economic life and living.
Check Your Progress
1) Explain various rules and regulations made for the protection of indigenous
communities by international agencies and Indian Constitution.
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

8.3 CULTURE PROCESSES

Different anthropologists have different views with respect to the differences
between tribe and caste. G.S. Ghurye defined tribal people as backward Hindus
who vary in degree, while V Elwin argued in favour of the tribal people as
social and cultural category. Andre Beteille defined tribal people as isolated
with few externalities, who spoke a variety of dialects which separates them
123
Cultural Change from caste Hindu people. Mostly tribal people speak different dialects, while
among Indigenous the caste Hindus has their own scripts. N.K. Bose looked at the differences both
People
in terms of their marriage networks and clan exogamy maintained by tribal
groups and caste endogamy maintained by caste groups.
Culture is dynamic both in its structure and function. The change may occur
due to deletion, addition, modification, replacement or rearrangements of the
traits and complexes. Such forces are both internal and external to culture. Such
changes in the culture in various forms either lead to extinction, devolution or
growth of culture. This shows that though there are stimulating factors which
bring changes in the culture, culture change is not a smooth and unopposed
process. Such stimulating forces are reflected in the form of social and cultural
processes and have visible manifestations.
The term culture as a process implies a continuous change taking place in a definite
manner under the influence of a series of factors. Culture change processes do
not always follow the same process of upward and/or downward, forward and/
or backward, towards progression and/or regression, but it is a movement from
one stage to another. Culture processes can be of two types. First one is culture
sustaining which contributes in consolidating culture and tradition, while
culture-transforming processes bring modifications, deletion or replacement of
cultural tradition. These cultural processes may be identified as parochialisation,
universalisation, sanskritisation, westernisation, modernisation, secularisation,
industrialisation, cultural revivalism and globalisation. The following section
attempts to explain some of these concepts to critically analyse the cultural
change processes so far experienced in Indian society. The concept of great
tradition and little tradition as a part of the universalisation and parochialisation
process are also explained briefly.

8.3.1 Sanskritisation
M. N. Srinivas while studying the Coorgs of Mysore of South India during 1952
first used the term ‘Sanskritisation’. He developed this concept in his book,
Religion and Society among Coorgs of South India. He tried to understand the
process of social change among the lower castes and tribal groups in upward
direction. Srinivas defined Sanskritisation ‘as a process by which a low caste/
tribe adopts the customs, rituals, beliefs, ideology and style of life of a high and
in particular, a twice born (dwija) caste’. For example a low caste/tribe or any
other group may give up taking non-vegetarian foods, consuming liquor, doing
animal sacrifice and imitate the Brahmins or any other dwija caste life style in
matters of food, dress and rituals. By adopting this, lower caste/tribe claim a
higher status in the social hierarchy.
Srinivas has given a good number of examples to describe the taking up of the
process of Sanskritisation in Indian society. He observed that the Harijan caste
of Mysore does not accept cooked food from the Smiths who are certainly one
of the touchable castes and there fore claim to be superior to the Harijans. Even
their claim to be Viswakarma Brahmin is not accepted. Similarly, peasants
(Okkaligas) and shepherds (Kurubas) do not accept cooked food and water
from Marka Brahmins.

124
The process of Sanskritisation is seen in many parts of the village of India. Cultural Contact and
In Bihar, Rajwars a scheduled caste, claim themselves as Rajvansi Kshatriya; Change
Koyeris, backward castes claim themselves as Kushwaha Kshatriya; Dusadh,
another scheduled caste claims themselves Gahlout Kshatriya. While
sanskritising themselves they have adopted the names, rituals, festivals and
festivities of higher castes. The Tiya, a non-dwija caste of West Bengal today
call them as Rajbansi or Suryabansi and claim a position in Kshatrya verna.
Such processes are also observed among Mahar caste of Maharashtra, Pasi
of Uttar Pradesh, Baira and Balai of Rajasthan who have given up polluting
(menial/cleaning) occupations and adopted clean occupations to upgrade their
position in the social hierarchy.
The process of Sanskritisation is also observed among tribal people like Gonds,
Cheros, Sudha Saoras, Paudi Bhuiyans of Central India. In Odisha Sudha
Sauras of Gajapati district and Paudi Bhuiyans of Keonjhar district have also
stopped taking liquor and beef, started worshipping Tulsi, and Goddess Lakshmi
by observing Manabasa Gurubara, performing marriage rituals with the help
of Bhrahmins. Srinivas remarked that the ‘mediation of the various models of
Sanskritisation through the local dominant castes stresses the importance of
the latter in the process of cultural transmission’. Thus, if the locally dominant
caste is Brahmin, it will tend to transmit a Brahminical model of Sanskritisation,
whereas, if it is Rajput or Bania it will transmit Kshatriya or Vaisya model. The
importance of these models is explaining the specific types of Sanskritisation
processes to different regional conditions and historical antecedents.
The concept of ‘resanskritisation’ is also observed among few caste/tribal
groups. Resanskritisation is the process where a caste/tribal group being
influenced by out side socio-cultural forces left the values and socio-cultural
way of life again backs and adopts them. For example, the westernised Rajputs
of U.P. returned to Hindu symbolism, and the converted Christian (basically
lower castes) returned to Hindu religious life again. Sanskritised Koris of U.P.
refused to accept water even from Brahmins considering them less pure than
themselves.
The Concept of Desanskritisaion
Therefore, Sanskritisation is a multi-factorial sociological process in which the
imitating caste groups are economically and socially lower then the reference
caste group. The imitating caste groups have higher aspiration to improve the
social status. Finally, the imitating caste group maintains close interaction
with the reference caste groups. Therefore, Sanskritisation is a complex and
heterogeneous model. It is a major cultural change process in the history of
India. This process is indigenous and universal by nature.
Check Your Progress
2) Discuss Sanskritisation as a process of culture change in India.
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
125
.......................................................................................................................
Cultural Change 8.3.2 Modernisation
among Indigenous
People Modernisation is a process of cultural change in the indigenous culture. Yogendra
Singh (1973) has defined Modernisation as a form of cultural response, involves
attributes which are basically universalistic, evolutionary, pan-humanistic, trans-
ethnic, and non-ideological. In his book ‘Modernisation of India Tradition’ he
has shown how the Indian tradition, both Hindu and Islamic tradition has been
responding to the forces of Modernisation. For him the characteristic features of
Indian tradition are hierarchy, holism, continuity and transcendence and that the
challenge of Modernisation is to break away from them-a break from hierarchy
to equality, from holism to individualism, from continuity to historicity and
from transcendence to this worldly rationalism and secularism.
Modernisation as a process of cultural change is understood at two levels. At
individual level it implies a change in values, attitude and behaviours of the
individuals which is popularly known as ‘social mobilisation’. Modernisation at
societal level is characterized by structural differentiation, high specialization,
and differentiation of individual activities and institutional structures.
The process of Modernisation began mainly with the western contact especially
through the establishment of the British rule in the world in general and India in
particular. Couple of British impact in Indian society in making Modernisation
includes a universalisitic legal system, expansion of western form of education,
urbanization, industrialization, and spread of new means of communication,
transport and social reform. The impact of Modernisation is also seen in the
judiciary, army and industrial bureaucracy, a class of business elite, growth of
trade unions etc. The impact of Modernisation is not only seen in the micro
level social institutions like family, caste and village councils/community,
but also in the household gadgets, ornaments, clothes, food pattern, festival
and festivities, kitchen appliances used by the people of Indian society. The
essentials of Modernisation are the commitment to scientific world-view, the
internalization of humanistic and philosophical point of view of science on
contemporary problems and not merely the volume of technological changes.
The modern values are universal, evolutionary, might not be typical to any
one particular cultural tradition, whereas, the traditional cultural values may be
particularistic and typical.
Use of coir technology by the coconut growers in rural India to meet the
market demands of the coir products, use of saw mills to cut woods into
specific sizes and use of flour mill for making flour from wheat are some of
the examples of Modernisation popularly observed in the society.
Check Your Progress
3) What do mean by Modernisation? Explain briefly the impact of
Modernisation on the social and cultural life of India.
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

126 .......................................................................................................................
4) Modernisation has brought a revolutionary change in the life and Cultural Contact and
livelihood of rural people. Explain with examples. Change

.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

8.3.3 Religious Syncretism

Let us discuss the meaning of syncretism from a historical perspective.
Syncretism means the fusion of two or more thought systems. It involves the
merger of original traditions especially in theology and mythology of religion.
It is also observed in arts and culture called as eclecticism as well as politics i.e.
syncretic politics.
The Oxford English Dictionary first used the word syncretism in English in 1618.
It is derived from Latin word syncretismus, drawing on Greek synkretismos
means ‘Cretan federaion’
Syncretism facilitates coexistence and unity between different cultures and
world views. It refers to a state of affairs where one culture combines with
another culture and thus, a new culture is build with the elements of previous
cultures. Often contradictory ideas contribute to form a new idea in the process
of syncretism. The fusion of culture, religions and philosophies under the
process of syncretism may or may not destroy the old ones but creates a new
one. Such fusions are commonly observed in the field of religion.
Religious syncretism usually involves blending of various essential parts of one
religion with another, resulting in a new religious system. It diverges various
religious beliefs and practices of different religions in the world. For example
blending of two or more religious systems like Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism
and Greeks may result the formation of a new religious faith group which
may occur due to various reasons. Such religious syncretism is possible where
different religious groups live close to each other and they maintain interaction
in day to day life and living.
Religious syncretism is observed in almost all the major religions of the world.
They are viz: ancient Greece, Judaism, Roman world, Christianity, Mormonism,
Islam, Druze religion, Barghawata, Baha’’i Faith, Caribbean religions and
cultures, Indian traditions and Buddhism.
For example many Christian sects in Korea are almost unrecognizably Christian
because of the profound syncretistic effects of Buddhism and native Korean
beliefs. Religious syncretism in Korea integrates the best aspects of Buddhism
and Confucianism.
In Asian context due to the melting nature of different religions one finds the
configuration of religious beliefs and practices in day to day life of certain sections
of the population. The concept of ahimsa (non-injury), Yoga, reincarnation,
and karma have been co-opted from the non-Aryan communities by the Aryan
during their invasion. 127
Cultural Change
among Indigenous In modern society in order to maintain harmony such religious syncretism
People is formulated and focused before the people. For example the Satya Sai cult
reflects as a combination of different religious beliefs. It provides a platform
to the people of the world belonging to different religious groups. The process
of syncretism helped to make cultural compromises to establish beliefs, values,
and customs in a place with different cultural traditions to win popular support
in foreign lands.
Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism in ancient India have adopted many beliefs
and faiths of different religions over the millennia. The Moghal emperor
Akbar who had also consolidated various aspects of different religions in his
empire popularly called as Din-i-llahi, is considered as a syncretic religion
which merged the best elements of the regions of his empire. Buddhism
syncretized with many traditional beliefs of Confucianism philosophy,
Chinese folk religion, Taoism and Korean Shamanism of different East
Asian societies.
Check Your Progress
5) Explain the concept of religious syncretism with examples.
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

8.4 CONCEPT AND MEANING OF LITTLE AND

GREAT TRADITION
We know that the concept of Great Tradition and Little Tradition did not touch
the scope of the study of the first generation of anthropologists like Malinowski,
Radcliffe Brown who basically concentrated on studying remote, self contained
and small scale societies. Only after the World War-II anthropologists started
studying communities in the context of religions like Buddhism and Christianity.
Since 1950 the concept of Great and Little Tradition attracted at the University
of Chicago to anthropologist like Robert Redfield
As we have understood, Robert Redfield a leading American Anthropologist
first time used the twin concepts of Little Tradition and Great Tradition. His
book ‘Peasant Society and Culture’ (1956) based on his study in Mexican
communities explains both these communities. Both Robert Redfield and Milton
Singer applied these concepts while studying Madras city in Indian cultural
setting as an approach to analyse social change in Indian society.
Tradition means handing down of information, beliefs and customs by oral
means from one generation to another. In other words, tradition is the inherited
practices or opinion or conventions associated with a social group for a period.
It is commonly observed that the Great tradition is associated with the elites,
literate and reflective few who are capable of analyzing, interpreting, and
128
reflecting cultural knowledge. It is a body of knowledge which functions as the Cultural Contact and
beacon light of knowledge. Similarly we believe that little tradition comprises Change
of the belief pattern, the institutions, the knowledge, including proverb, riddles,
anecdotes, folk tales, legends, myths, and the whole body of folklore of the folk
and/or the unlettered peasants who imbibe cultural knowledge from the great
tradition.
Little tradition is the intellectual influences that come out from localized not
known much to people of wider world. Great tradition on the other hand
cultivated in schools and temples and is known to the people in a civilization.
They are transferred through written literature, based on rationality, specialized
and self conscious by nature.
We see in India there are several centres of great tradition which maintain a
network of relationships, based on cultural knowledge and ideology. The role
incumbents of little tradition include folk artists, folk musicians, story teller,
and tellers of riddles, street singers, mendicant performers, and interpreter of
proverbs, and puzzles, street dancers, astrologers, fortune tellers and medicine
men.
You know that the great epics like Ramayan, Mahabharat, and Bhagabat
Geeta; the deities like Shri Krishna, Shiva, and Lakshmi; and the religious
places like Kashi, Puri, Dwarika, Ayodhya and Varanasi are elements of
great tradition in India. Odissi dance and Bharat Natyam are the dance of
great tradition, while the Chhau dance of Mayurbhanja in Odisha and Purulia
of West Bengal represents the Little Tradition.
Great Tradition is also called as elite tradition, while Little Tradition is called
as folk tradition. There is a constant collaboration, cooperation, and unequal
interaction between great and little tradition. Both the traditions have long
effect on each other.
Milton Singer used the terms like ‘hierarchic and low culture’, while McKim
Marriott (1955) contrasted Indian village religion with the San-skritic textual
tradition of Hinduism. Marriott observed that fifteen out of nineteen village
festivals celebrated in the village were sanctioned by at least one Sanskrit text.
Depending on the flow of practices from Great to Little or from Little to Great
tradition he gave the concept of Universalisation and Parochialisation. In Indian
context anthropologists like Yogendra Singh, Indra Dev, and S.L. Srivastava
have also used these concepts of Great and Little Traditions in their empirical
studies.
ACTIVITY
1. Document the impact of Modernisation on the life and living of different
caste groups in your neighboring households from anthropological
perspective.
2. Explain how the impact of Modernisation is visible in your family.
3. List out major changes observed in the cultural practices of different caste
groups in around living in your locality.

129
Cultural Change Check Your Progress
among Indigenous
People 6) What are Great Tradition and Little Tradition? Explain how both
influence each other.
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
7) Write short note on the followings:
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
a) Sanskritisation
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
b) Modernisation
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
c) Great Tradition
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
d) Little Tradition
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
130
e) Religious Syncretism Cultural Contact and
Change
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
f) Indigenous People
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

8.5 SUMMARY
In this unit an attempt has been made to study some of the dynamic aspects of
Indian culture. M.N.Srinivas has developed three concepts of Sanskritisation,
Westernisation and Secularisation to explore three different processes to
cultural change. Robert Redfield coined the terms like Great Tradition and Little
Tradition and interrelations between both the traditions which he used to study
Indian civilisation. In addition to this, in Sociology and Social anthropology
different scholars have used different socio-cultural processes of cultural change
in Indian society. Any understanding of cultural change in India requires an
analysis of culture change by using various processes effective at various levels
of living in Indian society.

8.6 REFERENCES
Marriott, M. (Ed.). (1955). Village India: Studies in the little community.
University of Chicago Press.
Singh, Y. (1973). Modernisation of Indian tradition: A systemic study of social
change. Delhi: Thomas Press India Limited.
Srinivas, M.N. (1952, 1965 Reprint). Religion and society among the Coorgs of
South India. Bombay: Clarendon Press, Oxford, Asia Publishing House.
(1962). Caste in modern India. Berkeley: University of California Press.
(1966). Social change in modern India. New Delhi: Orient Longman Limited.

8.7 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1) Refer to section 8.1 & 8.2
2) Refer to sub-section 8.3.1
3) Refer to sub-section 8.3.2
4) Refer to sub-section 8.3.2
131
Cultural Change 5) Refer to sub-section 8.3.3
among Indigenous
People 6) Refer to section 8.4
7) a) Refer to sub-section 8.3.1
b) Refer to sub-section 8.3.2
c) Refer to section 8.4
d) Refer to section 8.4
e) Refer to sub-section 8.3.3
f) Refer to section 8.1

132
UNIT 9 EDUCATION AND SOCIAL Cultural Contact and
Change
TRANSFORMATION*
Contents
9.0 Introduction
9.1 Education: Meaning, Forms, and Functions
9.2 Understanding Anthropology of Education
9.3 Education as a Key to Social Transformation
9.4 Education among Tribal People in India: Issues and Challenges
9.5 Summary
9.6 References
9.7 Answers to Check Your Progress
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of the unit, you will be able to:
 understand the meaning, different forms, and functions of education;
 explain how the field of anthropology views education;
 examine the role of education in social transformation; and
 identify various factors that affect schooling among tribal children.

9.0 INTRODUCTION
Education has always received wide recognition around the world for numerous
reasons. It acts as a catalyst in bringing change in the society. It aids in promoting
economic growth, facilitates in improving the basic needs of people and plays
a crucial role in the overall development of an individual. It is also considered
as a powerful tool for disadvantaged sections like tribal groups, who face many
challenges to move ahead in life. Due to its multifarious functions, education
continues to have immense significance not only among common people but
also among policy makers and academicians. Since the term ‘education’ is very
broad, multi-functional, and has multiple interpretations, scholars from different
disciplinary backgrounds carry out research on the domain of education.
In this unit, we are going to discuss the different interpretations of the term
‘education’, its functions, and its various forms or channels through which it
can be acquired. We will also learn how the discipline of anthropology views
education. Apart from this, we will also try to examine how education forms
the key to social transformation. Last but not the least; we will make an attempt
to understand the Indian scenario of education among the tribal people and the
various issues and challenges related to it.

133
*
Contributor: Dr. Sucharita, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Administration, National Institute of Edu-
cational Planning and Aministration, New Delhi
Cultural Change
among Indigenous
9.1 EDUCATION: MEANING, FORMS, AND
People FUNCTIONS
Etymologically, the word education is derived from a Latin word educare i.e., to
“bring up” or “rear”. This Latin word is in turn, related to another word educere
i.e. to “bring out” or “lead forth”. Both these meanings signify that education is
viewed as the process of rearing as well as to bring out the potentialities of an
individual.
However, to confine our understanding of the term ‘education’ only to
etymological meanings would not be adequate as the term has wide connotations.
In its broadest sense, education is a deliberate and systematic attempt to socialize
an individual. It is a process through which knowledge is acquired and this
accumulated knowledge is passed on from one generation to another.
The father of our nation, Mahatma Gandhi viewed education as an “all-round
drawing out of the best in man – body, mind and spirit.” In order to achieve
this all round development, he strived to integrate schooling with useful and
productive work, called as basic education. He introduced this revolutionary
concept of basic education in India to make school education self-reliant and
the school as a productive institution (Kumar, 2009). The eminent philosopher
John Dewey pointed out that education is not preparation for life; education is
life itself. He argued that there is an intimate and necessary relation between
the processes of actual experience and education, and thus, education must
be based on the actual life experience of individuals (Dewey, 1938). Emile
Durkheim, one of the founding fathers of sociology and social anthropology,
viewed education as “the influence exercised by adult generations on those who
are not ready for social life” (1956: 71). For anthropologists George and Louise
Spindler, education is the process of transmitting culture, which includes skills,
knowledge, attitudes, and values, as well as discrete elements of behaviour
(Spindler, 2000). The Nobel Laureate, Amartya Sen views education as a basic
capability that enhances the freedom of a person to lead the kind of life he or she
has reason to value (Sen, 1999). His approach, called as capability approach,
acted as a catalyst in holistic understanding of human development and attained
immense popularity across many countries.
Though the interpretations of the term ‘education’ may be different, knowledge
or skill acquisition remains an indispensable aspect of it. This can be attained
through three major forms or channels of education: i) Formal education;
ii) Informal education; and iii) Non-formal education. In formal education,
knowledge is usually acquired in institutionalised settings like schools and
colleges with a standardised curriculum. In the second type i.e., in informal
education, family, kin group, etc. imparts knowledge to children at home. Apart
from formal and informal education, there is a third way of attaining education,
which is known as non-formal education. This type of education has emerged
to meet the increasing demand of children who are unable to attend the formal
education due to various socio-economic reasons. For such out-of-school
children, instruction is given outside the formal system.
Like its meaning and forms, the functions of education are also manifold- it
contributes to economic growth, reduces poverty, promotes income distribution,
134 improves basic needs, health and nutritional status and has positive relationship
with general social, political and economic development and overall quality Education and Social
of life (Tilak, 2002). Education among women is even more important as Transformation
illiteracy makes women more vulnerable and deprived. Thus, education not only
promotes increased participation of women in social, economic and political
spheres, it also enables women to have more decision making power, awareness
of legal rights, more freedom of choice, etc. Eventually, these changes lead to
empowerment of women.
Due to its multifunctional nature and having immense importance, education
has been declared as a fundamental right of individuals in India. The 86th
Constitutional Amendment Act notified in 2002 made education a fundamental
right for children in the age group of 6-14 years. It states, “The State shall
provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to
fourteen years in such manner as the State may, by law, determine.” This was
operationalised through a landmark legislation in 2009, which is called as ‘The
Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act’ (RTE).
Check Your Progress
1) What is the meaning of the term ‘education’ and what are its various
forms and functions?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

9.2 UNDERSTANDING ANTHROPOLOGY OF

EDUCATION
Understanding the culture of people at all times and in all places remains the
core of anthropology. Anthropologists’ preoccupation with culture is extended
to education as well. The way anthropologists study the field of education is
very different from other disciplines. The unique feature that sets apart the field
of anthropology of education from various other disciplines studying education
is its diversity. Anthropology takes a broad view of education that encompasses
almost everything that a person learns in his lifetime.
The sub-field of anthropology of education emerged with diverse research
interests. In the beginning, anthropologists like Margaret Mead, Raymond Firth
and others primarily worked in simpler societies where institutions of formal
schooling were absent. Thus, their initial engagement with education started
with understanding the process of cultural transmission in informal settings.
Such understanding is clearly reflected in the earlier studies conducted in simple
societies. Studies on socialization and enculturation, as informal means of cultural
transmission, played a significant role in unravelling the learning process. Of
the many famous studies on socialization, Margaret Mead’s Coming of Age in
Samoa carved its own niche. Also in the 1930s, British anthropologists, Meyer
Fortes and Raymond Firth analysed the educational forms among the Tallensi
of Africa and the Tikiopia in the South Pacific respectively.
135
Cultural Change
among Indigenous Example of a study on socialisation
People
Coming of Age in Samoa by Margaret Mead
Of the many famous studies on socialisation, Margaret Mead’s Coming of
Age in Samoa (1928) has immense prominence. The book is based on her
nine-month long fieldwork among the Samoan islanders. Mead, a student of
Franz Boas, wanted to find out whether the stress and anxiety of adolescents
in the United States is universal and whether this is due to biological factors or
it is culturally determined. By comparing the Samoan culture with American
culture, Mead argued that the transition from childhood to adolescence stage
in Samoas is not marked with stress and storm as seen in American culture.
She concluded that the cultural conditions of the Samoans are such that it
makes the adolescence stage stress-free. Apart from studying the adolescent
behaviour, her research also focussed on understanding Samoan rituals,
child rearing practices, adolescence, education, personality, social structure,
and so on.
The book received immense popularity and made her a very famous
anthropologist. However, the book also received criticism in the later years.
Anthropologists like Derek Freeman questioned her findings on adolescent
behaviour.

As formal schooling became a dominant mode of learning, anthropologists also

started studying schools and their role in socialization as well as in learning
process. The influence of home and child rearing practices in learning was very
evident in the early studies of formal education. Most of the studies pointed
out the variance in the values and attitudes in the school and home atmosphere,
which, in turn, affected the child’s performance in the school. The cause of these
variances, as reflected in many studies, was rooted in different socialization
experiences of children.
Apart from this, anthropologists also focussed on the relationships and processes
within the schools and several other non-school factors while researching the
field of education. Kneller (1965), for instance, suggested that education in
terms of schooling is only one of a number of enculturation agencies like the
family, church, peer group and mass media. If the educator wants to cultivate
certain qualities in the child like clear thinking and independent judgement,
he/she may not be able to do so as other agencies might be moulding the child
differently. Anthropologists are of the view that in order to create effective
educational exchanges in schools, educators must take into account the distinct
cultural styles and understandings that may be operating across school, family,
and other community contexts (Foley et al, 2001).
Though schools were initially viewed as change agents of the society, there was
an interesting turning point in this sub-field. In the 1970s, critical approaches
started emerging and as a result, schools were viewed from an entirely different

1
These scholars argued that despite the promises of upward mobility, schools played a role in perpetuating
the existing social pattern of inequalities. Thus, most children of the subordinate class ended up in the
same class and had adopted the same values and meanings as the parental generation. This approach,
called as social reproduction approach, threw light on the reproduction of structural inequalities in the
136 schools (For details, see Bourdieu and Passerson, 1977).
perspective. Many scholars like Karl Marx, Pierre Bourdieu and others Education and Social
challenged the earlier approach of schools as change agents. These scholars Transformation
argued that schools are not sites for upward mobility, but play a crucial role
in increasing the class inequalities1. This approach towards schools found a
prominent place in the sociology and anthropology of education.
Although formal education through schools has gained immense popularity,
anthropologists’ special interest towards informal education and the indigenous
knowledge acquired through informal education cannot be undermined.
Indigenous knowledge, also called as traditional or local knowledge, refers to
the large body of knowledge and skills that are developed by the communities
outside the formal education system. As the World Bank rightly puts it, “It
encompasses the skills, experiences and insights of people, applied to maintain or
improve their livelihood. It is developed and adapted continuously to gradually
changing environments and passed down from generation to generation and
closely interwoven with people’s cultural values”2. This kind of knowledge is
acquired through family, kin groups, surroundings and is unique to a particular
community.
Learning through informal means plays an immense role among the tribal
population. Such knowledge is orally transmitted from one generation to another
generation through day-to-day activities, rituals, folk songs etc. In the recent
past, such indigenous education and the knowledge acquired through it is losing
its significance with increasing number of schools. Since tribal communities
live in synergy with their environment, the knowledge gained through informal
means is very much relevant even in present time. Such knowledge is context
specific and learned through day-to-day experiences. It has immense practical
value and can be applied in various spheres like health, natural resource
management, agriculture, etc.
Activity
Think of the ways in which indigenous knowledge can be integrated into
school curriculum.
To sum up, anthropology looks at the influence of both school as well as non-
school factors on the individual and society as a whole. Anthropologists focus
on all forms of education and study the learning process both inside as well as
outside the classrooms. For them, education is a lifelong process and cannot be
confined to schooling alone. Schooling is just one aspect of the larger process
of education.
Check Your Progress
2) Explain the emergence of the field of anthropology of education.
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
2
Source: http://www worldbank.org/afr/ik/basic.htm Accessed 25 June 2015 137
Cultural Change 3) How do anthropologists view education and what is their contribution to
among Indigenous the field?
People
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

9.3 EDUCATION AS A KEY TO SOCIAL

TRANSFORMATION
Any individual is not just a biological being, but also a social being. Social
interactions, relationships, customs, norms, sanctions, beliefs are integral part
of any individual’s social and cultural life. The social relationships, which are
an essential part of the social life, are hierarchical in India. Thus, Indian society
is stratified in terms of caste, class, gender etc. Based on these stratifications,
various dichotomies exist like high caste-low caste, upper class-lower class,
male-female, and so on. There has been discriminations based on these
aspects and people are deprived of equal opportunities in the society. Such
discrimination or exclusion based on caste, class, gender, language, religion,
and other aspects are considered as major barrier in bringing change in the
society. These stratifications also hinder the overall process of development.
However, no society remains static forever and change is an inevitable aspect.
In such a scenario, education is often viewed as a means to bring change in
societies. It not only plays a crucial role in challenging the social norms and
culturally evolved taboos, but also helps in making an egalitarian society where
stratifications become insignificant. Precisely, education lays the foundation
in bringing social transformation in the society. UNESCO refers societal
transformation as “the change of society’s systemic characteristics. This
incorporates the change of existing parameters of a societal system, including
technological, economic, political and cultural restructuring. It implies changes
in hierarchical relationships, values, norms and stratifications over time”.3
Transformation through education can take place at the societal level as well as
at the individual level. Some of the ways by which education brings in social
transformation are below:
• Empowering individuals: Education also plays a fundamental role in
empowering individuals. Anthropologists understand the concept of
empowerment in relation to another vital and inseparable concept i.e.,
‘power’. Empowerment in true sense comes when there is rearrangement
of power relations in such a way that an individual can control the decisions
that affects his/her life. A person belonging to lower socio-economic strata
can act and make decisions in his/her favour despite resistance from others.
This change at the structural level is possible only when an individual is
educated. Education enables a person to make informed choices and helps in

3
Source: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human-sciences/themes/international-migration/
138 glossary/ \social-transformation/ Accessed: 20 June, 2015.
 better decision making. An educated person is also empowered to question Education and Social
the status quo and stereotypical patterns of behavior and practices. Transformation

• Increased Participation: Education not only helps in empowering

individuals, but is also instrumental in making them socially and politically
conscious, increasing their awareness, and ensuring their inclusion through
equal participation. Increased participation of the individuals in economic
and political issues leads to social transformation.
• Improved economic status: A positive relationship between education and
the economic status of an individual has been usually noticed. Education
accelerates in improving the income levels, thereby contributing in
improving the economic status of a person. The overall process of change
in the economic status is termed as economic mobility. This economic
mobility can occur between generations (intergenerational like parent-
children) or in a person’s lifetime. Though there are number of other factors
that are associated with economic mobility, education is considered to be
one of the key factors associated with it.
• Poverty Eradication: Education plays an important role in reducing poverty
of a nation. It is often argued that higher the level of education, greater would
be the possibilities of employment opportunities. Eventually, increased
employment opportunities will lead to economic well being and creation
of wealth, thereby bringing a reduction in the poverty levels. Achieving
universal elementary education is the first step in this direction.
• Upward Social Mobility: In the broadest sense, social mobility is referred
as change in one’s social position, which can be upward or downward
movement. Education fosters upward social mobility. This is usually
measured by comparing the social status of the parental generation through
class, income and other factors with that of the children’s generation. For
instance, a farmer’s son can become a doctor by acquiring education and
the latter leads a better quality of life than his parental generation. Thus,
education lays the foundation for upward social mobility.
• Better health and nutritional status: Education is the key for a healthy
family and a healthy nation. An educated person is aware of the benefits of
proper hygiene, good sanitation, and right nutrition. Right from the birth
to adulthood, a healthy way of life goes a long way in imparting a better
health status of a family. In this process, education plays a significant role
in improving general awareness of health issues. Education facilitates in
reducing mortality, increases life expectancy, and improves standards of
living. Thus, there is a positive relationship between educated individuals
and the overall health.
• Personality development and character building: Education contributes in
personality development through intellectual, moral, spiritual, emotional,
and aesthetic development. It increases the confidence and self-esteem
levels of an individual and helps in facing the world without any fear or
hesitation. An educated person has increased awareness about equality and
social justice and develops a respect for diversity.

139
Cultural Change
Activity
among Indigenous
People Think of other ways in which education can bring social transformation.
On the whole, education triggers change at societal as well as at the individual
level. At the broader societal level, education helps in evolving an egalitarian
society based on equity and inclusion. It brings changes in hierarchical
relationships, values, norms, and stratifications over time. At the individual
level, a person is empowered and better equipped to question the conventional
hierarchies and seeks to find solutions to it.
Check Your Progress
4) Education plays a vital role in social transformation. Elaborate.
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

9.4 EDUCATION AMONG TRIBAL PEOPLE OF

INDIA: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
As we have discussed in the previous sections, education plays a significant role
in bringing social transformation. In India, formal education through schools
has been given much importance and its relevance has been reiterated time
and again in various five year plans and government policies. When so much
importance is being laid on education, particularly formal education through
schools, it is an undeniable fact that every country would strive for hundred
percent literacy of its population and India is no exception to this. Much impetus
has been given to Universalisation of Elementary Education (henceforth, UEE)
i.e. to provide universal, free and compulsory basic education for all children
in the age group of 6-14 years. Many policies were implemented and many
strategies were planned by the government to achieve UEE. A considerable
progress has been made under the UEE but still there is a long way to go. In this
context, education among tribal children deserves special attention here.
As per census 2011, tribal population constitutes 8.6 per cent of the total
population of the country. When the literacy level of tribals is taken into
account, it is an issue of major concern. As per Census 2011, the literacy rate4
of Scheduled Tribes (STs) is 58.96%, out of which only 49.35% of the females
are literates. The table below gives a comparative picture of the literacy among
STs and all social groups for the past six decades.

4
As per Census, a literate person is ‘a person aged 7 and above who can both read and write with
140 understanding in any language’.
 Table 9.1: Literacy rate among Scheduled Tribes (STs) and all social groups Education and Social
over the past six decades Transformation

Year STs All Social Groups

Male Female Total Male Female Total
1961 13.83 3.16 8.53 40.40 15.35 28.30
1971 17.63 4.85 11.30 45.96 21.97 34.45
1981 24.52 8.04 16.35 56.38 29.76 43.57
1991 40.65 18.19 29.60 64.13 39.29 52.21
2001 59.17 34.76 47.10 75.26 53.67 64.83
2011 68.53 49.35 58.96 82.14 65.46 74.04

Source: Census of India

The above table (table 2.1) depicts that though there has been a steady increase
in the literacy rate of the tribals over the past six decades, it remains low when
compared to other groups. There are several factors, which affect the literacy
rates of the tribal population. These include school factors, non-school factors
and also external factors at the level of planning and administration.
Among the non-school factors, economic constraint of the families is considered
to be one of the major determinants for children dropping out from schools
and consequently affecting literacy rate of tribal population. Household
responsibilities, need for children to work at home (fetching water, looking
after younger children, cooking, cleaning utensils, washing clothes, etc.),
early marriage of girls, low parental motivation are other factors for irregular
attendance and dropping out of tribal children.
School factors include inadequate infrastructure, poor quality of instruction,
instruction in language other than the mother tongue, non-availability of books,
unhappy teacher community, and so on. Physical access to schools, particularly
among those tribal populations, which are concentrated in remote areas and with
low population density, is also a major reason for poor enrolment of children.
Apart from the school and non-school factors, there are also external constraints
at the levels of policy, planning, implementation, and administration. A major
drawback is the lack of understanding of complex realities of tribal life and
culture in the policies on tribal education (Sujatha, 2002).
The picture of female literacy among tribals is very disappointing in India
and needs immediate attention. Endemic female illiteracy in India is due to
many reasons like early marriage, household responsibilities, parental apathy,
dissonance between social role and perceived function of education, instruction
in language other than the mother tongue, and indifference of the teachers
towards girls (Channa, 1996). The gendered division of labour, patriarchal
norms and practice of dowry further intensifies gender disparities (Dreze and
Sen, 1995).
Since the participation of children of tribal communities has been very low and
drop-out rates are high, time to time special incentives have been introduced to
increase their enrolment and retention in school till the completion of elementary
education. These incentives for tribal children include free textbooks, uniforms,
mid-day meals, scholarships, school bags, stationary, and so on.
141
Cultural Change Apart from the above mentioned incentives, new schools in tribal areas are
among Indigenous being opened up. To further increase the access to schools among tribal
People
children, Ashram schools and Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBVs) are
also being established. Ashram schools are residential schools established in
predominantly tribal areas. Such schools provide education exclusively to the
tribal children of poor economic backgrounds from tribal areas where there are
no regular schools. In order to reduce the gender disparity in education, KGBVs
are established. These are also residential schools but exclusively for girls at the
upper primary level predominantly belonging to the disadvantaged sections and
minority communities.
Despite increasing the number of schools and providing incentives to the
tribal children to bring them on par with other children, quality remains a
major concern. Factors like poor infrastructure, inadequate teachers, teacher
absenteeism, lack of toilets and drinking water facilities, language issue etc are
often responsible for poor quality of education in tribal areas.
Apart from infrastructural and teaching-learning related factors, quality of
education is further affected if the education system does not take into account
the special needs of the tribal children. It is an undeniable fact that the needs of
tribal population are different from the rest. Their traditions, customs, values,
language are unique in their own way. In other words, each tribal community has
its own culture and its own way of life. This uniqueness needs to be respected
and preserved. Integrating this uniqueness in the education systems will have a
far-reaching impact.
Several initiatives such as instruction in tribal language, reflection of tribal
life and culture in curriculum, involving the community in school rituals, use
of examples from tribal culture and use of local resources during teaching
could be taken up in this direction. One such initiative from Andhra Pradesh is
being discussed here wherein the government has introduced teaching in tribal
languages.

Multi-Lingual Education in Andhra Pradesh: An example of innovative

approach
Language is one of the most important facilitating factors that help in the
teaching-learning process. The transaction is smooth when there is coherence
between the language used in schools and that of home. On the other hand,
when the language used at home and school is different, it influences the
learning of the students. In tribal areas, language is an important issue as the
language used at school is different from the tribal language spoken by the
child at home.
In this context, mother tongue-based education called Multi- Lingual
Education (MLE) for tribal education was introduced in Andhra Pradesh
in the year 2003 to strengthen the child’s mother tongue. The Government
of Andhra Pradesh has introduced teaching in mother tongue of tribals in
eight tribal languages in 1000 schools as a pilot project. Under this project,
teaching is imparted to children belonging to classes 1 to 5 and textbooks are
prepared for these classes in tribal languages. Apart from textbooks, teaching-
142
 Education and Social
learning materials were developed and training was given to teachers to Transformation
teach in tribal languages. There are eight tribal languages in which the MLE
programme is being implemented: Koya, Kuvi , Lambada, Savara, Adivasi
Oriya,Gondi, Kolami, Konda.

Apart from these, tribal communities are blessed with rich indigenous knowledge
and integrating such knowledge in the school curriculum would be of immense
value. This will not only make learning more enriching, but would also help in
preserving the rich knowledge.
Check Your Progress
5) Discuss the various factors that affect the literacy rate of tribal
communities.
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
6) What are the different initiatives taken by the government to improve the
literacy rate among tribal children?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

9.5 SUMMARY
In this unit, we have tried to understand the meaning of the term education and
its different interpretations, various forms, and functions. We have also tried to
understand how education is viewed by anthropologists and their contribution
to the field. Apart from this, we have examined the various ways through which
education plays an essential role in social transformation. We have specially
focussed on the tribal population of India and tried to understand several issues
related to their education.
As discussed in previous sections, anthropologists’ focus on education is very
extensive – right from cultural transmission through informal means to studies
of formal education. Moreover, school factors as well as wider aspects outside
the school are equally fascinating to them. As far as schools are concerned,
formal schools have penetrated in almost every nook and corner and tribal
areas are no exception to this. One of the prime goals of education is to bring
social transformation. In order to bring social transformation among tribal
people, equal opportunities to quality learning, which is free from any forms of
discrimination at school as well as at the societal level, should be provided and
promoted.
143
Cultural Change
among Indigenous
9.6 REFERENCES
People Bourdieu, P., & Jean-Claude, P. (1977). Reproduction in education, society and
culture. New Delhi: Sage Publications in association with TCS.
Census of India. (2011). Provisional population totals, paper 1 of 2011 India,
series-1, New Delhi: Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner.
Channa, K. (1996). Gender inequality in primary schooling in India: The human
rights perspective. Journal of Educational Planning and Administration, Vol 10,
No. 4.
Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. Toronto: Collier-MacMillan
Canada Ltd.
Dreze, J., & Sen, A. (1995). Basic education as a political issue. Journal of
Educational Planning and Administration, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp.1-26
Durkheim, E. (1956). Education and sociology. New York: The Free Press.
Foley, D.A., Levinson, B.A., & Hurtig, J. (2001). Anthropology goes inside:
The new educational ethnography of ethnicity and gender. Review of Research
in Education, 25, pp. 37-98.
Kneller, G.F. (1965). Educational anthropology: An introduction. New York:
John Wiley and Sons.
Kumar, K. (2009). What is worth teaching? New Delhi: Orient Blackswan.
Mead, M. (1928). Coming of age in Samoa: A psychological study of primitive
youth for Western Civilisation. New York: William Morrow and company.
Sen, A. (1999). Development as freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Spindler, G. (Ed.). (2000). Anthropology and education: An overview in fifty
years of anthropology and education 1950-2000: A Spindler anthology. New
Jersey: LEA.
Sujatha, K. (2002). Education among scheduled tribes. R., Govinda (Ed.), India
education report: A profile of basic education. New Delhi: Oxford University
Press.
Tilak, J.BG. (2002). Financing elementary education in India. R., Govinda
(Ed.), India education report: A profile of basic education. New Delhi: Oxford
University Press.

9.7 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1) Refer o section 9.1
2) Refer to section 9.2
3) Refer to section 9.2
4) Refer to section 9.3
5) Refer to section 9.4
144 6) Refer to section 9.4
UNIT 10 TRIBE-CASTE CONTINUUM IN INDIA* Education and Social
Transformation
Content
10.0 Introduction
10.1 Tribe, Definition and Argument
10.2 Caste
10.3 Functions of the Caste System
10.4 Caste-Tribe Continuum as a Feature of the Indian Society
10.5 Summary
10.6 References
10.7 Answers to Check Your Progress
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you will be able to:
 explain what is a tribal community;
 understand what caste is; and
 understand the similarity and differences that exist between caste and
tribe.

10.0 INTRODUCTION
Population in India has always presented a remarkable variety of cultural traits
and organizational features. K.S. Mathur and B.C. Agarwal (1974), rightly
comment that “traditional India is said to have three types of communities –
tribal, caste and peasant”. They claimed that tribal communities like the Naga
of Nagaland, the Munda of Chotanagpur, the Gond of Madhya Pradesh and
Chattisgarh, and the Toda of Nilgiri hills in Tamil Nadu – constitute a distinct
society of their own.
They do not regard themselves as part of the greater society in India, they
had a discrete and distinctive way of life, an individual dialect and a socio-
religious system distinctively their own. Castes or jati, on the other hand –
are communities linked into a wider social organization of the Hindu society
based upon a well-defined and understood system of stratification and status
differentiation. Anthropologists who have examined tribe and caste have
differed on the question relating to tribe and caste identities. According to
Ghurye tribal people are backward Hindus differing only in degrees from the
other segments of Hindu society. Elwin argued for the recognition of separate
social and cultural identity of tribal people. Government of India gives tacit
recognition to this identity of keeping alive under constitution sanction their
lists of Scheduled Tribe.

145
Contributor: Dr. Nihar Ranjan Mishra, Associate Dean Academic, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences,
*

National Institute of Technology, Rourkela

Cultural Change
among Indigenous
10.1 PERSPECTIVES ON THE DEFINITION OF
People TRIBE
Tribe is a social group identified with a definite geographical area or territory,
known by a common name, speaking a common dialect, sharing a common
culture, rules, belief and rituals. They also exhibit features of endogamy,
and usually have a distinct economy based on mutual cooperation and
interdependence. The term tribe has not been described by the constitution of
India. Unlike ‘tribe’, the term Scheduled tribe is an administrative term and
those so categorized have some privileges under the Constitution of India. The
Constitution of India recognizes 645 distinct tribes. Some of themajor tribes of
India are Baiga, Banjara, Bhumij, Gond, Birhor, Chero, Ho, Santhal, Munda,
Kisan, Kondh, Mahli, Oraon, Tharu, Bhot, Bodh, Gaddi, Shippis, Gujjar,
Khampa, Labana, etc. The Scheduled tribe status, even of the same named
community varies from different from state to state.
The term “Scheduled Tribes” refers to specific peoples whose status is
acknowledged to some formal degree by national legislation. The term
‘Scheduled Tribe’ was mentioned by the constitution of the India. Article 341
(1), empowered the President of India to specify the tribes or tribal communities
by public notification. India has 8.2 per cent of total tribal population. The
tribal population of the India can be divided into four major types. The first one
consists of tribes who are forest dwellers of an original forest habitat. Second
type of population is of those practicing settled or shifting agriculture in rural
areas. Third category of tribes refers to those who are semi assimilated with
major dominated communities. The last one is the ‘Assimilated population’. In
India, many of the groups which are now regarded as tribal have been in contact
with Hindu society since time immemorial. Direct or indirectly the Hinduism
has influenced them. Historically there has been a two-way process with the
Hinduization of the tribes and tribalization of some Hindus. Some of them have
adopted “the full Hindu faith... they retain old tribal names, observe clan and
totem rules and retain elements of tribal religion” (Elwin 1942). Some tribal
groups have gone to the extent of acquiring a Hindu caste and are registered
as Hindus in the census. The names of some of the present day castes and sub
castes betray tribal origin.
D.N. Majumdar (1967), however, defines tribes with reference to religions
subtexts. According to him, a ‘tribe’ is culturally and linguistically a
homogeneous group which does not follow any major religion such as Hinduism,
Islam, Jainism, etc. He emphasizes two important characteristics of ‘tribes’ in
the Indian context. According to Majumdar ‘tribe’ a territorial group having
a traditional territory to which the emigrants always refer as their home and
the second feature he mentions about the kinship, which operate as a strong
associative, regulative and integrating principle. Ghurey(1963), define tribe, his
major focus in regard to show them a labelled Hindu which we can see in his
definition of tribes when he argues tribes as backward Hindus who are not yet
perfectly integrated with the caste system. The caste system is a social structure
in which classes are determined by pre-determined heredity. He calls ‘tribes’
as those Etno-social groups who have been sub-merged under the “sections of
people”, the promotion of whose educational and economic interests has been
146 declared to be one of the directive principles of state policy (Hasnain, 1991).
Tribal culture is seen to be problematic if we separate it with the age long culture Tribe-Caste
of caste system because culture is not a static entity. Hence the distinction of Continuum in India
caste and tribe can be seen as a Victorian anthropological notion. Beteille in his
essay on ‘tribe and peasantry’ states that the country like India total populations
is a peasant. By using four criteria generally used to differentiate tribal from
castes- isolation, size, religion, and means of livelihoods he argued that there
is no distinction between tribe and peasant in India. He also argues that India
is not like the Australia and the others new World. Here no given population
that cans claim indigeneity because they cannot reasonably bedescribed as the
settler or aliens like New Zealand and Australia. Battalion, Crippins Bates and
like many scholars has a belief that Adivasi is a colonial invention and argues
that we needs to admit that we all Indians are real habitants or Adivasi means
that the continuity of a culture is long age old having a history of a cultural
contacts between the caste and trial. The colonial discourse has seen tribal as a
way of life which has embedded through forest.
Indian constitution has a provision in article 342 which empowers the president
of India to make a list of ST in consultation with the Governor of each state.
This is the subject for parliament revisions. The orders and the specification
of the scheduled tribe by the president and such have been amended by the
parliament act to give the status of the Tribe. The social scientists, ethnographers
have failed to provide a universal definition of the tribe. The definition given
by the social scientists does not apply equally to all the tribes living in India.
Most of the definitions equally apply to the castes and the tribes. The tribe as
like the Scheduled Caste is an administrative category in India. This is precisely
the reason that a particular community is listed as tribal in one state and non-
tribal in other states. The Santhals are listed as tribal in Jharkhand, West Bengal
and Orissa and as ‘Other Backward Community’ (O.B.C.) in Assam, in the
case of the Gurjars, they are classified under the Other Backward Class (OBC)
category in some states in India.However, in Jammu and Kashmir and parts of
Himachal Pradesh, they are designated as a Scheduled Tribe under the Indian
government’s reservation program of positive discrimination. This example can
be seen easily, how administration articulates the caste and tribes.
The term ‘tribe’ was introduced in India by the colonial writers in the last
quarter of the last century. The initiative was recognizing tribes and caste firstly
taken by the colonial ethnographer and the census department of the British
India. It is also a peculiar feature of Indian society and culture by which caste
and tribe continue to refer the term ‘Jat’ or ‘jati’ to denote their social category.
The terms for the tribe in some of the tribal languages given in the additions,
such as, Santal (jat, jati), Ho (jati, patki) and Kurukh (jat, jati), Dimasa (jati),
Garo (jat), Khasi (jaid), Konyak Naga (jat), Phom Naga (jat), Zeliang Naga
(jati), Kabui Naga (jati), confirm the above statement. Different communities
often considered them to be the castes. Due to continuity and change in Indian
society even the colonial writers were also not clear about the ‘Caste-Tribe’
divide. The boundary line between the two continued indistinct were often
interchangeably used. It is also argued that Indian played a major role in the
colonial construction of the tribes and castes. The monographs on the various
communities studied the castes and the tribes together because it is not easy to
separate them from caste. It is fair because the cultural contact of the tribe and
the caste is age old. The study including caste and tribe as a one junction was 147
Cultural Change ‘Cochin Tribes and Castes’ by L.K.A.Ayyar, ‘The Tribes and Castes of Bengal’
among Indigenous by H.H.Risley, ‘Castes and Tribes of Southern India’ by E.Thurston, ‘‘Hindu
People
Tribes and Castes’ by N.A.Sherring, ‘Tribes and Castes of Madras Presidency’,
‘Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India’ by Russel and Biralal, and
C.William’s ‘Tribes and Castes of the North-Western India’. The studies of the
castes and the tribes were undertaken together because of the complexities of
caste and tribes line up.
Somewhere it is also argued that Tribe is original Jan (inhabitant) of the India.
The age long process of continuum in Indian society incorporates the castes and
the tribes into a same juncture in many of the cases. But except the continuum
there is also a boundary line of the caste and Tribes in their rituals, beliefs,
religion, and in the functions of political and economic organization. The basic
features of the caste and tribal organizations do not differ in much extent but
having any basic distinction. The boundaries between the two remain blurred
and undefined. And yet, it does continue to over-emphasize the Caste-Tribe
dichotomy. The first administration initiative to draw up a boundary line
between tribe and caste was done by the census department under the colonial
regime. If we saw the ethnographic writing inIndia during the 18th century,
firstly the castle has often been used synonymously with the tribe and later
on, for a long time, not synonymously but in a cognate manner as in the phrase
‘castes and tribes’, as if they were cognate social groups. But afterward the
colonial administrations and report gradually shape the term ‘tribe’ to replace
‘caste’ in many extents for their colonial interest. 1891 Census report is the first
initiatives toward this division.
Baines, in the 1891 Census Report, included ‘Forest Tribes’ as a sub-category
under the category of ‘Agricultural and Pastoral Castes’. The ancient writers did
not distinguish castes and the tribes. The social categories of caste and tribes
were created in India ignoring the existing social continuum. Those who believed
in the dichotomy were more confused. The caste and tribe both had a backward
section of peoples in the colonial time so it was not easy to mentions that who
belongs to caste and who belong to the tribe but the colonial administrator
according to their knowledge and to fulfill their interest draws a distinction. The
term ‘animist’ was used by the colonial ethnographers and officers like Risley
and Gait respectively. The ethnographers and Social scientist more focuses on
tribal religion to draw a distinction between caste and tribes along with the
divide up in society in religious ground. The belief of ‘animism’ hasreplaced
the ‘tribal religion’ by Ruttom.The kind of distinction has many drawbacks.
The concept of ritual pollution a one of the feature of the caste is also seen in
many tribal like Gond of all areas. The ritual pollution can be observed at the
time of birth and death in a family. In each case the pollution comes to an end
after a purification ceremony a feature of Indian which is consistently followed
by a ceremony feast. The tribal of Gond is also said to be polluted if they eat
food or accept water at the hands of any untouchable caste under of Hindu caste
model. The ritual pollution can be observed at the time of birth and death in a
family. In each case the pollution comes to an end after a purification ceremony
a feature of Indian which is consistently followed by a ceremony feast. The
tribal of Gond is also said to be polluted if they eat food or accept water at
the hands of any untouchable caste under of the Hindu caste model. Ghurye
148
observed that “Even if a tribe has a Hinduized section and a non-Hinduized Tribe-Caste
one, the whole tribe is included in the category of ‘forest’ or ‘primitive’ tribe. Continuum in India
The categorization of tribes on the basis of language was also bias and a form
of administrative steps.
Check Your Progress
1) Define the term Tribe.
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

10.2 CASTE
The term Caste is derived from a Portuguese term ‘Casta’ meaning breed or race.
According to Béteille (1995) a caste is ‘a small and named group of persons by
endogamy, hereditary membership and a specific style of life which sometimes
includes the pursuit by tradition of a particular occupation and is usually
associated with a more or less distinct ritual status in a hierarchical system,
based on concepts of purity and pollution.’ the caste has a specific features
of its hereditary nature, having a traditional occupations, ascribe hierarchical
rank, endogamy, and the practice of pollution rites. Caste system rank people
from birth ascribed group membership rather than by individual attributes. It
has an endogamous and hereditary feature. So the caste system as a concept is
composed of rank groups. Membership in a group is only through birth.
The groups are exhaustive, exclusive and discrete. The caste system, which
categorises Hindus into endogamous and stratified social groups, is considered
to be the organising institution of Indian society. Caste being a self-enclosed unit
naturally limits the social interaction. Castes or jati shaped itself as a vertical
structure in which individual caste is hierarchally graded and permanently
apart. Caste is communities which weave the social organisation of the Hindu
society based upon a well-defined and assumed system of stratification and
status. The ritualistic belief and the mystical concept of purity and pollution
is based for stratification is based upon mystic notions of purity and pollution.
The individual ritualistic behavior is based on purity which demonstrates the
people in matters of marriage, food, choice of occupation, and the likes. As
an anthropologist, we always use the term ‘tribe’ with the confidence that we
know about it clearly. Yet, we don’t know what it implies. We study the tribal
communities as demarcated by the constitutional categories and we presume
that with the approval of the communities which are categorized ‘tribal’ at the
same time that tribal doesn’t enjoy the category of tribal in another state.
We also believe that tribal communities are distinct from the caste communities.
They are believed to practice an animistic religion, as if caste Hindu does not. We
also believe that tribal religion is different from that of the larger/ mainstream
community. The term tribe usually applies to people who were regarded as
primitive, with primitive with animistic religion and living in hilly terrain or
149
Cultural Change backward areas (Beteille 1995) and having a social-political organisation. It is
among Indigenous well known that tribal as well as peasant communities has greater links with
People
nature and they propitiate nature in a different form that gives them bounty.
They live in peace and harmony with nature. On the contrary, the others are
violent and aggressive by nature. With the kind of changes that were introduced
into the religions, where tribes were living in the past, have pushed them out and
their entire cultural paradigms have been completely mutilated. Xaxa (2005)
observation is quite relevant here. He pithily states that the question of tribes is
closely linked with the administrative and political considerations. Hence there
has been increasing demand by groups and communities for their inclusion in
the list of scheduled tribes in India especially in the period between 1971 and
1981’’. This clearly indicates that in India tribe is an administrative or political
category rather than an anthropological category. Virginius Xaxa makes an
important observation that‘’ there has been more concern with identification
of tribes than with their definition. This does not mean that lists have been
drawn without any conception of tribes whatsoever. There are existing some
conception. Like the schedule tribe, the schedule caste is also an administrative
term. The term ‘Scheduled Caste’ appeared for the first time in the Government
of India Act 1935. In April 1936, the British Government passed the Government
of India (Scheduled Caste) Order 1936, specifying certain castes and tribes as
scheduled castes in the provinces of Assam, Bengal, Bihar, Bombay, Central
Provinces, Madras, Orissa, Punjab and United Provinces. Prior to that, these
castes were generally known as ‘depressed classes’. The depressed classes
were systematically categorised in the 1931 census. But the feature of schedule
caste is different to schedule tribe. The range from such features of tribal as
geographical isolation, simple technology, and condition of living, a general
backwardness to the practice of the animism, tribal language, and physical
features etc. is different from features of schedule caste. But the problem
however lay in the fact they were neither clearly formulated nor systematically
applied by the government. One set of criteria was used in one context and
quite another in another context. In tribe-caste mobility economy also plays an
important role. In the case of agricultural economy the tribal-Caste contacts can
be seen as continuum in many regions of the society. Most of the tribes in India
like the ground, Ho of Chotanagpur particular a predominantly agricultural.
The Gond lives mostly by settled agriculture. They produce paddy, some winter
crops and vegetable like the peasant came under the caste system.
Check Your Progress
2) Discuss Caste features.
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
3) Define the importance of the caste in Indian society.
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
150 .......................................................................................................................
10.3 FUNCTIONS OF THE CASTE SYSTEM Tribe-Caste
Continuum in India
Caste is a form of social stratification characterized by endogamy, hereditary
transmission of a lifestyle which often includes an occupation, status in a
hierarchy and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultural
notions of superiority (https://courses.lumenlearning.com/culturalanthropology/
chapter/social-stratification/).
The caste system is credited to ensure the continuity of the traditional social
organization of India. It has accommodated multiple communities including
invading tribes in the Indian society. The knowledge and skills of the occupations
have passed down from one generation to the next. Through subsystems like
Jajmani system the caste system promoted interdependent interaction between
various castes and communities with in a village. The rituals and traditions
promoted cooperation and unity between members of the different castes
(https://www.sociologyguide.com/social-stratification/Functions-of-caste-
system.php).
The caste system provides every individual of the society a definite social status
and ways for social intercourse. It makes a person member of a particular caste
since his birth and then channelises his or her life throughout the rest of the
period. In India Caste system traditionally holds the following functions:
i) Determination of Social Status
ii) To provide Mental Security
iii) Selection of Occupation
iv) Selection of Life Partners
v) Control over Behaviour
vi) Maintenance of the Purity of Blood
vii) Maintenance of Religious Ideas
viii) Social Status in Society
Caste determines the occupation of various groups among the caste thereby
reducing economic competition. (ii) It strictly follows endogamy. Any member
of the caste not abiding the rules is severely punished. Sometimes it becomes
so aggressive that honor killing takes place. So marrying a person outside
the caste is a hard nut to crack. (iii) Jajmani system is the economic basis of
the caste system. In this system, exchange of goods and services takes place
through well defined division of labour. The higher landed castes, and the lower
occupationally specialized castes also called service caste are traditionally
bound by certain Jajmani obligations. The higher class (Jajman) is the owner of
land; exchange the land produce against the services provided by other castes.
(iv) Caste sometimes is also seen as a social and psychological resource for its
members. A sense of solidarity and common consciousness becomes rescuing
bait to fellow caste man.
(https://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/epgpdata/uploads/epgp_content/S000001AN/
P001117/M013265/ET/14634646346et.pdf).
151
Cultural Change Caste system has also many demerits. Hindu society is facing various problems
among Indigenous due to caste system. Caste system promoted untouchability and discrimination
People
against certain members of the society. It hindered both horizontal and vertical
social mobility forcing an individual to carry on the traditional occupation
against his or her will and capacity. The status of women was affected and they
were relegated to the background. The caste system divided the society into
mutually hostile and conflicting groups and subgroups.

10.4 CASTE-TRIBE CONTINUUM AS A FEATURE

OF THE INDIAN SOCIETY
Indian society has a special character of dichotomy or continuum. This peculiar
character of Indian society not only makes it a space for all castes and tribal to
practice their rituals and beliefs but also provides a space to interact with each
other. The space of practice and space for interaction is the feature of Indian
society which is based on continuity and change. Tribe and caste are the cultural
pillars of the Indian society from time immemorial. Both have some peculiar
dichotomy. The caste claims a common ancestry from a mythical ancestor,
while the tribe sometimes traces its origin from some animals which may be
treated as its totem. The title of caste implies that all the members follow the
same occupation. But the title of a tribe does not indicate a common occupation.
The convention of endogamy is strictly followed by the caste. But it is not
applicable for all the times to a tribe. Sometimes the members of a tribe may
find wives from the members of another tribe.
The caste was originated in ancient Hindu society, with a view to division of
labour on the basis of profession and occupation. The tribe came about because of
the evolution of community feeling in a group inhabiting a definite geographical
area. The concept of tribe-caste continuum in India originates with the work of
Surjeet Sinha on Bhumij tribe; and a broad Bailey 1960, 1961 study of caste).
Sinha was inspired by Redfield’s two concepts of folk-urban continuum and
peasant society and culture. They believe that the dichotomy of the society viz.
caste and tribal can be seen as caste and tribe as the opposite ends of a single line.
At different points along this line particular societies may be located according
to their proximity to either the organic caste model or segmentary tribal model.
Thus, we would not have to bother to find out which society is a tribe or a
caste. Working on the data from Bhotia in Uttar Pradesh, Srivastava deals with
the ancillary problem of tribe-caste mobility. He argues that the concept of
“cultural approximation” is used to know the tribe caste dynamics. Cultural
approximation is a process and an end product at a given time. The form of it
is a “form of adaptation’’ which an interactive and mutually beneficial cultural
co-existence is rendered possible. The mechanism is adoptive in nature which
is emerged from the within the cultures often without organized efforts. The
transformation of a tribe into a caste is subsumed in the wider phenomenon
of the absorption of the community into Hinduism. The ideology and the
phenomenology of the caste and the tribe are different from earlier days. It is
argued that tribal is a forest dweller and they are adimjati (original inhabitant),
janjati (folk-people), adimjati (primitive people) vanwasi (inhabitant of forest)
pahari (hill dwellers) having some specific life pattern. Not only has the tribe
caste also had a peculiar characteristic of hierarchy, purity and pollution, and
152
specific type of the belief and rituals. The caste and tribal both have a specific Tribe-Caste
culture. The cultural traits have a tendency to spread from place to place. Continuum in India

This type of spread up is a kind of a cultural expansion having an impact on

other society culture. The cultural interaction between the societies is happening
with the spreading of a cultural trait of a specific society (e.g., material object,
idea, or behavior pattern) from one society to another has an impact on the
tribal society. The tribal society living in a close contact of the Indian village
having an unimaginable diversity along with the caste features. Unconsciously
and consciously tribal communities adopting the Hindu myth, ritual belief and
the adaptation which is not a one way process but Hindu society is inclusive
and the culture is more advanced and stronger than the tribal. Earlier the tribal
society who refers as an isolated society has come in contact with different caste
communities has different degree of cultural contacts leading the process of the
continuum. Before dealing with the continuum, the assumption on the ideology
of tribal economy and society is that the tribal communities in India are typified
by their geographical isolation and high levels of ethnic closure. For Weiner,
as for Dhebar, the ‘typical’ tribal village is a village of tribal: it is not a mixed
village of tribes and castes, nor are any minor castes which might be resident in
a tribal village entitled to any occupancy or employment rights therein. Thus, in
contrast to a tribal society which is isolated, homogeneous and undifferentiated,
a caste-hierarchy, on the other hand, is based on co-partnership, heterogeneity
and stratification David Mandelbaum having a similar point in the conceptual
discussion of the of tribe and jati: he argues that most tribal people of India
live in hilly or forest areas where population is sparse and communication is
difficult within their villages and localities most tribal have a strong sense of
their distinctiveness and hold themselves to be quite separate from jati villages’
(Mandelbaum, 1970).
In the context of continuum approach, Bailey (1960), for example, has
attempted to distinguish a ‘tribe’ from ‘caste’, using ‘direct access to land’
as the major parameter. According to him, if the larger proportion of a given
society has direct access to land, then closer that society is at the tribal-end
of the continuum. Collective ownership of resources entitles all the members
of a ‘tribe’ to have access to land and other resources. Conversely, if the
greater access to land is through a dependent relationship as, for instance, big
landowners leasing land to tenants, then nearer that society is to the caste pole.
In this context, Andre Beitelle appropriately remarks that Bailey is perhaps the
only anthropologist working in the Indian field who has tried to characterize
‘tribes’ in terms of segmentary principles, but what Bailey is interested in the
contrast between ‘tribe’ and ‘caste’ rather than between ‘tribe’ and peasant by
using his pole parameter. Surjit Sinha, however, does not agree with Bailey
and emphasises that the major feature of an ‘Ideal tribe’ is its independent
socioeconomic existence, resulting naturally into its lack of interaction with
other social systems. Sinha argues that the interaction with other social system
can originate from either their geographical or social isolation and can be of
dominant equal or dependent type. Group isolation, in turn, generates group
sentiment or solidarity. Since there is social homogeneity within the group,
there is, therefore, lack of role-specialization, leading, in turn, to the emergence
of social relations on face-to- It is here that Baine’s (1891) observation comes
closer when he defines tribes to be ‘the remnants of primitive communities which 153
Cultural Change have, so far, escaped absorption’ and have preserved, in a distinguished, but
among Indigenous distinguishable shape their tribal existence. (Vidyarthi and Rai, 1985) Colonial
People
epistemology thus built both on Brahamanical notions of caste and drew on18th
and 19th century ideas of race. The distinction between the caste and tribe can
be related to colonial epistemology. How colonial power develops knowledge
to distinguish tribe to coast and also make many sections of the tribe. Which we
can see on the way when that the ethnographer and social scientist along with
colonial administrator construct the tribe with his conveniences the Nagas and
the Mizos as the “true wild tribes of India” and “unlike the broken tribes found
in Chotanagpur”. The colonial introductory model of the tribe is based on the
essential unity, clear body of customary law and unambiguous legitimacies.
This was better suited to the task of maintaining public tranquility. Indeed,
the tribe which is also termed as noble savage is a kind of a Victorian notion.
But we have to know that Tribe within the British tradition and the Asiatic
tradition of civilisation has a distinction. The concept of the tribe has a dilemma
of universality, ‘civilisation by contrast’ ideas about the physical nature and
differentiation of man, which raised the problem of its universality; ideas about
the nature of social order.
Unlike the Beitelle, Sinha, and others social scientist some other did not
differentiate ‘tribes’ from ‘non-tribes’ on the basis of traditional identification
marks and features (such as language, culture, race, physical traits etc.), and
use the word ‘tribe’ instead either to highlight a dominant characteristic of
their economy which distinguishes them from other economic systems or to
designate a particular type of society from other communities on the tribe-
caste-urban continuum. In this step we can keep the name of K.S. Mathur and
B.C. Agarwal. T.B. Naik (1956) get too resonances, when he argues about
the two key-words (caste-Tribe). He used to differentiate a tribal community
from a caste-based system –first is solidarity or a feeling of commonality,
and the second is co-partnership, the latter being the distinguishing-mark of a
functionally interdependent caste-hierarchy (Hasnain, 2004).
Check Your Progress
4) Discuss the term cultural continuity in case of Tribe- Caste.
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

10.5 SUMMARY
The tribes in India have never been completely isolated. They have been in
constant interaction with the mainland population. This interaction has affected
both sides and thus given rise to some unique characteristics to Indian society.
In some places tribal have assimilated to a great extent in the caste society thus
forming their part. In India, caste system is very typical. Since the term does
not have an Indian origin, it is hard to find Indian equivalent of the term. Some
authors believe that caste represents Varna system, while some equate it to Jati
154
system. Bailey’s argument is that a caste society is hierarchical while a tribal Tribe-Caste
society is segmentary and egalitarian. But in contemporary India both caste Continuum in India
and tribe are being merged into a different system which is neither one nor the
other.
According to N.K Bose there are many similarities in customs between tribes
and castes and they are interdependent. Marriage within the clan is forbidden
both in the tribe as well as in the caste. Both generally don’t encourage marriage
outside the group. And also both tend to maintain their group identity. According
to this concept folk-urban continuum of Robert Redfield, there are no urban or
rural societies in the strict sense but only a continuation along the same lines.
The societies vary in their proximity to any of these poles. Bailey thought that a
concept like that also needed in India. Hence came up the concept of tribe-caste
continuum. According to this concept, there are no tribes or castes in the strict
sense, but various communities varying in their proximity to either of these. In
such a scenario it is hard to differentiate between the two.
Tribe and caste in India are a result of ongoing process of interaction over a
period of thousands of years and both have borrowed from each other. To an
extent that the line of difference between both has diminished. So tribe and
caste form two ends of a same continuum in between of which the caste and
tribal societies of India lie but the same is not true for all societies and also not
for all aspects of society. Regardless of these drawbacks, the model is good
enough to understand the cultural milieu of India.

10.6 REFERENCES
Beteille, A. (1974). Six essays in comparative sociology. Delhi: Oxford
University Press.
(1995 June 19). Construction of tribes. The Times of India.
Dube, S.C. (1990). Indian society. New Delhi: National Book Trust.
Ghurye, G.S. (1980). The Scheuled Tribes of India. New Jersey: Transaction
Publishers.
Hasnain, N. (2004). Indian society and culture: Continuity and change. New
Delhi: Jawahar Publishers and Distributor.
Mandelbaum, D.G. (1970). Society in India. California: University of California
Press.
Mathur, K.S., & Agarwal, B.C. (1974). Tribe caste and peasantry. Lucknow:
Ethnographic & Folkculture Society.
Singh, K.S. (1985). Tribal society in India, an anthropo- historical perspective.
New Delhi: Manohar.
Sinha, S. (1965). Tribe– Caste and tribe peasant continua in central India. Man
in India, 45, 57-83
Vidyarthi, L.P., & Rai, B.K. (1985).Tribal cultures of India. New Delhi: Concept
Publishing House.
155
Cultural Change Xaxa, V. (2005). Politics of language, region and identity: Tribes in India.
among Indigenous Economic and Political weekly, 40(13), 1363-70
People
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/culturalanthropology/chapter/social-
stratification/.date 11/12/2020
https://www.sociologyguide.com/social-stratification/Functions-of-caste-
system.php.date 12/12/2020
https://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/epgpdata/uploads/epgp_content/S000001AN/
P001117/M013265/ET/14634646346et.pdf.date 04/01/2021
http://ccnet.vidyasagar.ac.in:8450/pluginfile.php/1515/mod_resource/
content/1/ANT203_Tribe%20Caste%20Continuum.pdfdate 24/01/2021

10.7 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1) Refer to section 10.1
2) Refer to section 10.2
3) Refer to section 10.2
4) Refer to section 10.4

156