EMERGENCE OF INDIAN SOCIOLOGY :
Sociology is the product of the western intellectual discourse. It could be
said that sociology has emerged for social problems that existed in the society
during that time. When we look into both the western and the Indian sociology
then we could find that in western society the social problem is the industrial
revolution during the enlightenment period. Nevertheless, in the Indian society,
it is commonly said that sociology emerged as a academic discipline only after
the colonialism that is rule by British. However, when analyses more deeply
into the matter we could find that the roots of the Indian sociology goes back to
the 2nd and 3rd century. The description on the Indian society is encrypted on the
vedas, puranas, Upanishads, smitritis and in the writings of the kautilya and
sukracharya. It was found mostly on the religious, mythological and spiritual
texts. These texts actually talks about the the social customs, rites, morality,
asthetics and economics. All these will be promoting the social order, stability,
mobility and maintains the social equilibrium. In 1769, harry verelst, the
governor of Bengal and bihar insisted on collecting sources on the leading
families to develop the welfare schemes and for smooth administration.
According to the M.N. srinivas and Panini, they classifired the into three
phases: 1. 1774 – 1900 foundations were laid ( also called as the proto
professional stage , 2. 1901 – 1950 institutions were built ( also called as
professionalism stage) and 3. After 1950’s, called to be post-independence
stage. During the proto professionalism stage, on the 1857 revolt British were
appalled by the unity of the two different religion on the Indian society. When
the scrutinize the unity they could find the reason was the national integration
and patriotic feeling , which was the product of the interaction of the alien and
the indigenous society. The british could see that Indian people become more
self aware on the how the british are exploiting the Indians and the Indian
society. These two characteristics is because of the communication, printing got
improved. In this stage, people started collecting the data especially the British
authorities for the smooth administration, by that they could form the
government repots for the developing the welfare policies. Rajarammohan roy
once said that Indian sociology is linked to the Indian renaissance. Professional
Stage or Sociology in Pre-Independence India (1901- 1950 A.D.) the emergence
of Sociology in India dates to 1914 when, the Government of India gave a grant
to the University of Bombay for starting the teaching of sociology, and a course
of lectures in sociology and economics was offered to post-graduate students in
the same year. Later in 1919, a department of sociology and civics was founded
under the leadership of Patrick Geddes who was succeeded as head of the
department, in I924, by G. S. Ghurye. Under Ghurye's leadership, Bombay
became the leading centre for sociology, especially research, in the country. The
establishment of this department was a landmark in the development of
sociology in India. Lucknow was another centre of sociology and anthropology.
In 1921, a combined department of economics and sociology was started by the
University with Radhakamal Mukherjee as professor and head. the University
of Calcutta began to teach sociology to the post-graduate students from 1917,
and an undergraduate course in sociology was introduced in Mysore University
in 1917. The students produced in these centers, especially in Bombay and
Calcutta, headed new centers of sociological study and research in Lucknow,
Poona, Baroda, Delhi, etc. this is how sociology was made as a academic
discipline.
