MYSORE NARASIMHACHAR

SRINIVAS (1916 1999)

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 • He was born on 16 November
1916 in Mysore.
• He completed his B.A. In
Anthropology and Sociology
(1936) and Masters in
Sociology from Mysore
University in 1939.
• He obtained LLB (1940) and
Ph. D. in Sociology (1945).

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 He has received several prestigious awards such as
S.C. Roy Memorial Medal (1958), Honorary Fellow of
the Royal Anthropological Society of Great Britain and
Ireland (since 1964)

He was appointed as University lecturer in Indian

sociology at Oxford university (1948-51), Professor,
University of Delhi(1959-72), Simon Visiting Professor
, University of Manchester( 1963) to name a few.
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He has conducted fieldwork in Coorg (1940-42), in

Tamil Nadu for three months (1943),

Andhra for three months (1944),

Rampura in Mysore for 13 months (1948 and 1952).

Based on the fieldwork among the Coorgs, he developed the concept of

‘Brahminisation’ which dealt with caste mobility.
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Remembered Village in 1976

While Srinivas was staying in Stanford University

in the USA, his field notes and other papers he
was working on were lost due to a dormitory fire.

He went on to recollect from memory the data he

had collected and published Remembered Village
in 1976, a unique ethnographic work.
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He had also published works such as

Caste in Modern India in 1962,

Social Change in Modern India in

1966 and

edited India’s Villages in 1955.

He died on 30 November 1999 in

Bangalore.
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 Sanskritization
• Srinivas introduced the concept of Sanskritization in his book,
Religion and Society among Coorgs of South India (1952)
• Social change occurring among low caste Hindus and other groups
in upward direction.
• It basically refers to a process by which a low Hindu caste group
attempts to change its attributes that define it in order to claim a
higher position in caste hierarchy particularly ‘twice born (dwija)
caste.
• Process involves a change in dietary habits from non-vegetarianism
to vegetarianism and a change in one’s occupational habit
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• Claims are Made over a period of a generation or two,
before arrival is conceded.

• Sanskritization often results in upward mobility for a

particular caste but mobility may also occur without
Sanskritization and vice-versa.

• The glimpse of Sanskritization is visible in almost all

villages of India.
• In Bihar, Rajwars, a scheduled caste, claim themselves as
Rajvanshi Kshatriya.
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But the mobility related to Sanskritization causes
positional changes in the system and not structural
changes.

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 Westernization
• Sanskritization brought changes within the framework
of Indian tradition whereas westernization was a
change resulting from the contact of British socio-
economic and cultural innovations.
• Westernization is a process which includes all cultural
changes and institutional reforms inflicted upon Indian
society as it came in political and cultural proximity
with British rule and governance.
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 Sanskritization brought changes within the framework of
Indian tradition whereas westernization was a change
resulting from the contact of British socio-economic and
cultural innovations.

Westernization is a process which includes all cultural

changes and institutional reforms inflicted upon Indian
society as it came in political and cultural proximity with
British rule and governance.
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 Secularization
Srinivas opined that British rule accompanied secularization of
Indian society and cultural institutions which over a period of
time became stranger with increased spatial mobility,
urbanization and advent of modern education.

Unlike Sanskritization, It is a more generalized process affecting

all Indians and not only Hindus and tribal population.

Rationalism is an important trait of this process which aided to

change individual and social life by replacing traditional ideology
by modern views and ideas through principle of reason.
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Dominant caste

Srinivas developed the concept of dominant caste in his

paper ‘Dominant caste in Rampura’.

Dominant caste is any caste that has numerical strength,

economic power through ownership of land, political power
and high place in local hierarchy in a village community.

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 If a caste ranks low in the social hierarchy, it can
become the dominant ruling caste or group in a village
if it is numerically large, owns land and has political
influence over village matters.

The dominant caste plays a vital role in settlement of

disputes even in case of non-dominant caste groups.

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 Vertical and Horizontal Caste solidarity
• Srinivas viewed that some common cultural elements were
shared by all castes residing in a locality from highest to
lowest.
• Brahmins and Harijans of a particular area utilize common
dialect and share common beliefs and ideas. Srinivas
called this unity of caste as vertical solidarity.
• On the other hand, Brahmins of north, south and central
India have common Sanskritic elements irrespective of
their regions and languages. He termed this process as
horizontal solidarity
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 Village study
• Srinivas considers village as the microcosm of Indian
society and civilization.
• It is the village, which retains the traditional composition of
India’s tradition.
• He viewed village as a vertical entity which consisted of
several horizontal layers each of which is a caste.
• In the Book – Remembered Village (1976), Srinivas talks
about social and economic reforms, which have taken place
in Rampura.
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