$Unique_ID{COW01675} $Pretitle{221} $Title{India Chapter 5B. Caste in Operation} $Subtitle{} $Author{P. A. Kluck} $Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army} $Subject{caste castes jati status ritual jatis relations social village members} $Date{1985} $Log{} Country: India Book: India, A Country Study Author: P. A. Kluck Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army Date: 1985 Chapter 5B. Caste in Operation Caste serves not only as the keystone of the South Asian worldview but also of social relations. It structures how groups interact while serving as a model of reality. Caste in operation reveals the interplay of the complex relations among the subcontinent's diverse population, changing group and individual aspirations, and profoundly held views about human nature, society, and hierarchy. Even non-Hindu groups-such as the Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, and Sikhs-are inextricably involved in the operation of caste. The discussion herein, however, focuses on the dominant Hindu society. In the realm of social relations, caste is a large-scale descent group; membership usually is based on patrilineal descent, that is, children belong to their father's caste. Jati is part of an interdependent cooperative network of similar segments; in its essence as well as its functioning, the system is hierarchical and inegalitarian. Occupational specialization integrates the various castes in a village or group of villages into a coherent system. Castes are bound together and interdependent through the exchange of goods and services. Each jati provides something essential to the others. On the village level kinship underlies jati organization; each caste is normally composed of a set of related patrilineages. Because families are required to choose their spouses from outside their lineage and their village (exogamy), a jati will perforce have relations with the same caste in other villages. Etiquette among fellow jati members is modeled on that between relatives. Jati members are addressed as kin; all older men are addressed by the term for father's father, father's younger brother, or father's older brother, depending on their generation relative to the individual speaking to them. Anywhere from two to 30 jatis may comprise a village; a typical mix would include landowners, tenants, and priests (Brahmans); a few artisanal groups, such as carpenters and blacksmiths; service groups, such as barbers and washermen; and menials, such as sweepers and laborers. Large jatis may extend over whole regions and have members in hundreds of villages. How inclusively an individual defines his or her jati varies with education. A villager typically, considers only those living within approximately 40 kilometers of his or her village to be jati mates. By contrast, an urban jati often includes seemingly disparate groups, and an educated city dweller might well consider accepting a spouse from a distant city. Traditionally, the occupational specialization of the various castes was the basis of virtually all exchange. The jajmani system defined the terms under which castes exchanged their goods and services as well as the various ritual duties each owed the others. The system's name comes from the Sanskrit yajnya, meaning sacrifice; the yajman (or jajman) was the person on whose behalf the Brahman offered a sacrifice. The principal exchange underlying the jajmani system was between landowners and cultivators and the families that provided them with essential goods and services. The exchanges reflected not only the necessity of acquiring material goods but also the need to maintain ritual purity. The lower castes were essential to perform polluting tasks, such as washing clothes, cutting hair, delivering babies, and removing excreta. The village's servants and artisans received a fixed payment in grain for their services. The cultivator's harvest was divided up in shares according to the services the various families had performed during the year. The payment was a right; the attitude of the high-caste landowners was ideally one of noblesse oblige. The relationship transcended the individual exchanges between cultivator and artisan; ideally, it spanned the generations. Often, the right to serve a particular family was hereditary. A carpenter's sons would divide his jajmani clients among them. Jajmani relations were to have the same quality as those between kin, although caste distance was maintained. The closeness and trust between those in a jajmani relationship paralleled that between relatives; terms of address between those in a long-standing jajmani relationship were those used by kin. For the landowner, maintaining good relations with his servants and artisans was a mark of prestige; they contributed to his retinue for the feasting and ostentatious displays accompanying the family's births, marriages, and deaths. The relationship was integral to village life in ways far beyond the simple exchange of goods and services. Barbers were essential as messengers and matchmakers; their wives served as midwives. So important were these supplemental services that there were barber castes even in Sikh villages in which haircutting was forbidden. For many highcaste women, their only contact with village gossip came with the visit of the sweeper woman to clean. Relations between jatis were regulated through each group's headman. If a landowner was dissatisfied with a carpenter's or a blacksmith's services, he would approach the artisan's headman. Likewise, if a sweeper was discontented, his headman would approach the landowner in question. Jati panchayats (councils) regulated jajmani relations within each group; if a carpenter stole another's clients, it was to the panchayat that the aggrieved party looked for redress. The jati panchayat was a powerful force for the status quo and caste solidarity. If members of a group were discontented with the terms of the agreement, they could respond by withholding essential services or payments. Landless laborers typically held the least bargaining clout. The boycott, if coordinated among various castes, could be an effective weapon to keep lower orders down. Low-caste earthworkers in a village in Senapur, for example, saw their first attempts to build a school fail. The dominant landowning caste instigated a boycott among the castes necessary to construct the school, then extended the boycott to the artisanal castes of surrounding villages. The earthworkers were forced to buy materials from Benares (Varanasi) and recruit workers from a distant village. Although payments were stipulated by custom, there were a number of sources of flexibility in the system. It was often extremely difficult to get rid of superfluous workers or those whose services were inferior. Nonetheless, the quantity and quality of payments received by workers varied with supply and demand. Landowners would make various extra gifts throughout the year to ensure a ready and willing labor force at harvest time. Service and craft castes who felt they had received niggardly gifts on ceremonial occasions could be vociferous in proclaiming their landowner's lack of generosity. There has been a general decline in the economic components of jajmani relations in the twentieth century; the pace has been uneven, and many villagers still maintain them to some extent. That jajmani relations play such a pivotal role in ritual purity encourages many to continue them, even if the changing economic situation no longer warrants them. In addition, traditional jajmani relations offer landowners a more stable supply of labor for times of peak demand and a retinue of followers in village disputes. An increase in cash crops has contributed to the decline; even where jajmani relations persist, cash crops are often exempt. The increase in cash cropping has also meant a decline in grains and foodstuffs in some areas, so there is less to be distributed. In the past, cultivators had few alternatives because storage facilities were such that a surplus harvest not divided would spoil. Work done with new equipment or on new crops is often done on a cash basis (see Village India, this ch.) Even where artisans have not been driven out of business by cheaper manufactured goods, many have moved to urban centers to work for cash. Sometimes service castes will maintain jajmani relations alongside cash payments. In recent decades more occupations and more sources of cash income have become available. The occupational monopolies the various castes enjoyed have been eroded; for example, some jatis have begun doing their own shaving and carpentry, and the caste headman is no longer the exclusive mediator of jajmani relations with his caste. Jatis can be riven by intense rivalries. Factionalism is perennial, but the rivals are normally the lineages of a single jati or closely ranked castes. Typically, a large lineage within a caste or the dominant caste in a village will divide into several factions; these often correspond to the degree of distance between the lineage mates. Close relatives who split into different rival camps are commonly brothers or patrilineal cousins who have quarreled over inheritance. Rivalry itself is endemic because jatis who are close in ritual rank accept their inferiority only in the short term; every family or lineage that increases its wealth devotes uncounted resources in an effort to best its rivals and so improve its own status. This effort, of course, threatens those immediately above them and so perpetuates the rivalry. Jati panchayats govern most relations within a village caste. Panchayat means simply a group or council of five and as used here does not refer to the official panchayats limited to five (see State and Local Government, ch. 8). Villagers commonly use the term in a variety of contexts to refer to the process whereby matters are discussed and adjudicated; it can be called any time for any group in any situation where group consensus and action may be called for. The issues that a given panchayat deals with depend on what social groups are involved. Lineage panchayats resolve matters touching on inheritance, land, or water rights. Lineage elders normally try to anticipate what difficulties might arise and to avert trouble before it starts. The jati council aims at protecting its group's rights against encroachment and deals with other social groups. Within the panchayat all men have the right to speak; the more outspoken women will offer advice from the sidelines. Some jatis will join caste mates from neighboring villages to form a council that deals with major disputes affecting their jati-flagrant violations of rules dealing with incest or ritual purity. Multivillage panchayats often meet after weddings and funerals. They settle marital disputes (especially broken marriage contracts), plan jati festivals, outline strategies for dealing with government officials, and the like. Panchayats deal with ritual lapses-a matter of critical importance, given the salient concepts of purity and pollution. Action by the panchayat is the more important because a jati mate's failure affects all. Anything that defiles an individual defiles, by extension, those who eat with him or her. A panchayat judgment requires consensus; if there is serious disagreement, the meeting is adjourned. The emphasis is less on resolving a dispute than on reaching unanimity. Only if there is a reasonably firm consensus can the panchayat hope that all will abide by the decision. The use of overt coercion is rare; councils rely on the force of moral opinion. Even a deadlocked meeting is significant in that all the participants know where each other stands; it clarifies the balance of power. Sanctions against individuals or jatis include measures such as boycotting by local service castes or general harassment; in extreme cases a jati member will be outcast. Other castes will normally follow suit and shun the outcast individual; not to do so risks a boycott by the jati that expelled the member in the first place, if not ritual pollution. Outcasting is reportedly not as common nor as drastic as it once was; it still represents a "social death." Ultimately, most individuals are brought to heel by the threat of it simply because it means they would be unable to find proper mates for their children. Panchayat rulings can figure in the fission of a jati. If an entire caste extending over several villages is outcast, they may stonewall the ruling and form a new, distinct jati. The panchayat takes careful account of who the defendant is; an individual's reputation is a powerful factor in the judgement. Wealth is important if only because the council knows that a wealthy family is better able to flaunt the panchayat's sanctions. Wealth is still no protection against serious ritual infractions, such as cow killing or incest. Despite rivalry and factionalism, there remain powerful forces for jati cohesion. Annual lineage rites, the maintenance of the jati temple (if there is one), and the jati's part in communal festivals all enhance the group's cohesion. Preservation of the caste's status is a matter of common interest to all because it defines, in effect, each member's social identity. When fees are lowered for the jati's traditional product or service or when other castes infringe on ritual or ceremonial prerogatives, jati mates rally in defense against the common enemy. Members jointly handle instances of ritual infractions, plan a common strategy for dealing with government officials, and often participate jointly in village politics. There are, in fact, few alternatives to claim the individual's loyalties. One's jati defines one's social identity in village affairs. Notes anthropologist David G. Mandelbaum, for the average Indian "... the position and practices of his jati mold his career, define the range of his kinsmen and his closest companions, and affect a large part of his social relations." One is always identified with a specific caste; most of one's social relations are with other jati members; all the significant life rituals take place within one's jati. Even within the same village, different jatis will use different dialects in the home. A highly developed and specific jati folklore reinforces a common ethos. Caste rank is not immutable, and the effort to improve jati status absorbs an immense amount of the members' energies. Jockeying for ritual preeminence is intense between those who are close in rank. The closer two jatis are in rank, the less ready the inferior is to accept its status. Every increase in the family's wealth is plowed into improving the status of its jati. Low castes are particularly unwilling to accept their tainted ritual status and devote endless efforts to establishing themselves slightly higher on the ritual scale. Jati origin myths contribute to this process; Indians are aware of the four varnas and the Vedic explanation of caste status, but each jati has its own explanation of the group's individual history. For low castes this almost invariably includes an explanation of how the jati was cheated of its rightful rank by others. A historically important means of upward mobility for castes was armed conquest or bringing unsettled land under cultivation. Historian K.M. Panikkar notes that from the fifth century B.C. until the British Raj, every known royal family on the subcontinent originated from outside the Kshatriya castes. Under the British, castes resorted to a variety of strategems to improve their standing. British censuses from 1891 through 1931 listed caste affiliation; they offered ample scope for those seeking to enhance their status. When in 1901 the census commissioner tried to rank all castes, petitions for higher varna classification poured in from jatis. In general, the British acted, de facto, much as Hindu rulers had earlier: they responded favorably to requests from the rich and powerful to bring their ritual status into conformity with their secular wealth. There are a number of means by which a jati can improve its status. Education of some members is virtually essential; it gives the jati as a whole not only prestige but also more effective access to the government bureaucracy. Families whose wealth is growing will start their campaign by sending their sons to school, building more lavish houses, offering generous hospitality to guests, and arranging ostentatious weddings. These displays are the groundwork necessary to challenge those higher on the hierarchy in terms of ritual prerogatives and prestige. Traditionally, such efforts focused almost exclusively on the displays of ritual status that were tied to jati rank. As such, the individual family's wealth availed it little unless it was used to improve the status of the jati as a whole. Regardless of the family's prosperity, other castes interacted with it in terms of its jati status. When several families in a caste prospered, they could pool their resources to push for a general improvement in the standing of the jati. Traditionally, lower castes who seized power claimed to be Kshatriya castes. British rule permitted a variety of groups to grow wealthy and/or influential and subsequently to improve their ritual status. Scribes had low standing under the Mughals; writing was a skill thought to be appropriate to merchants, not to priests who were expected to memorize the scriptures. Scribes' talents were in demand under the British administration, and their status rose concomitantly. Likewise, salt workers who built water courses prospered as the British expanded irrigation works. Members of jatis in the process of self-improvement begin by pressuring their caste mates to give up polluting practices associated with their old status. Often they change the jati name. Some try wearing the sacred thread associated with "twice-born" status. All of this can precipitate violent opposition from higher ranking jatis who see their own status threatened and fear losing lower castes to perform polluting tasks. Anthropologist M.N. Srinivas has characterized the process by which lower castes try to improve their standing as Sanskritization (see Glossary); mobility is defined in terms of the ideology and practices of the higher castes, who are supposed to be more conversant with proper ritual practices. There is an effort to conform to the Sanskritic models of proper behavior. A Brahman lifestyle is the ideal; as the lower orders acquire the necessary resources, they will practice Sanskritic rituals, give up defiling practices, become vegetarian, and cease drinking alcohol. Often they hire a Brahman to perform family rituals. The two models most commonly chosen by upwardly mobile jatis are the Kshatriya and the Brahman; castes emphasize the virtues of whatever varna they have chosen to emulate, i.e., the purity of the Brahmans, the honor of the Kshatriyas, or the intelligence of the Vaishyas. Sanskritization has meant an increase in the number of jatis, as those attempting to improve their ritual practices split from the unregenerate branches of their own groups. Overall, the process has been one that contributes to the stability of the caste system, bringing ritual status and its prerogatives into congruence with such secular attributes as wealth. Observers credit the caste system with inhibiting the development of a unified sense of their plight among India's poor. The struggle for a slightly better ritual standing has fragmented efforts to unify the masses (see Social Change, this ch.). Western education plays a pragmatic role; Western values do not supplant indigenous ones. Western education was a critical component in lower castes' efforts at improvement. Christian proselytizing and Hindu reform movements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries often focused on establishing schools for Sudras and untouchables. Over the years the educated have changed their strategies; for some, Sanskritization gave way to conversion to Buddhism and participation in the political process. Caste mobility is a gradual process; it is impossible to rise in ritual rank overnight. One cannot make too radical a change; untouchables do not become Brahmans. Even a dramatic rise in secular power does not ensure automatic improvement in ritual status; historically, there have even been rulers whose rise in power still did not guarantee they could find brides of good status for their sons. A true change in rank requires several generations. Some castes can be gradually assimilated to higher rank by marrying their daughters to jatis of more exalted status. Individual "passing" as a person of higher status is thought to be uncommon. Even though a person may enjoy some success in this fashion in business, the individual still needs to present a convincing family genealogy in order to obtain spouses for his children. A rise in jati status is validated when those who previously would not accept food from or eat with them now do so. Intermarriage is always the final test of jati status. Untouchables have attempted to improve their social and ritual status throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. They face formidable obstacles. Higher castes are usually cohesive in their opposition to untouchables' acquiring land. Traditional Hindu law defined punishments in terms of caste affiliation-Brahmans were treated more leniently than members of lower jatis. In the British view all were equal before the law; nonetheless, the British rule reinforced the traditional order in critical ways. They were loath to intervene in caste matters; the courts would not overturn caste boycotts or outcasting. The courts awarded damages to those who had to undergo purification rites after untouchables had entered temples. The Constitution of India legally abolished untouchability, and the Untouchability (Offenses) Act of 1955 stipulates stiff punishments for those convicted of discriminating in access to public places. The Constitution also mandates compensatory measures to aid the disadvantaged in their integration into society. This is to be accomplished by means of "protective discrimination" for the "Scheduled Castes." In 1935 the British drew up a list of untouchable castes; the Indian government has maintained and updated the list (schedule) along with supplemental lists of "Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes." The measures to aid the Scheduled Castes include reserved places in educational institutions, legislative bodies, and government employment. There are, as well, special scholarships and welfare services for which all listed are eligible. When it became obvious that significant economic advantage could accrue to fortunate and energetic members of the Scheduled Castes, many jatis reversed their strategies for upward mobility. Efforts to establish the purer origins of the caste shifted to getting on the lists. Notes journalist Harold Isaacs, "In many states a great clamor arose with all kinds of groups insisting that they too should be classified as 'backward' and these included .... some pretty forward groups who felt that their jealously guarded ritual or social superiority should not be allowed to interfere with their right to get on the government gravy train." There has always been ambiguity in the precise ranking of castes, and untouchables have been no less subject to this than other groups. For example, in Orissa, washer jatis are considered of low status but still among the "clean" castes; in nearby localities they are classified as untouchables (see fig. 1). The benefits available to those on the scheduled lists compounded the confusion. Eventually, the government responded by setting income limits on most benefits. Overall, these programs have failed to benefit the mass of the disadvantaged. Untouchables lag behind other segments of the population in literacy. Their participation in government employment is far below their reserved percentages. Few cases are brought to court under the Untouchability (Offenses) Act, and fewer still result in convictions. Observers note that such legislation has created the illusion that untouchables are making gains at the expense of higher caste Hindus. The untouchables' reserved seats in Parliament have contributed to their potential political power-if only because that 12.5 percent of the electorate can be a swing vote. Untouchables have also tried to improve their lot through a change in religious affiliation; numbers have converted to Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, and Sikhism. Conversion represents a potent threat because it implies a radical break with Hinduism and the entire caste system. Other Hindus, however, continue to treat the converts as untouchables; even within the new religion, converts sometimes encounter discrimination. Feelings about purity and pollution as well as hierarchy have influenced other religions on the subcontinent; recent conversion is frequently taken as prima facie evidence of untouchable origin. Recently, there have been massive conversions to Buddhism and Islam. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, himself an untouchable, led the Mahar untouchables in the struggle for independence and a better place in postindependence India. He converted to Buddhism in 1956 and brought hundreds of thousands of his followers with him. Conversion, in many cases, brings great psychological freedom and a sense of a new social identity. Among the Buddhist Mahars it has been a force for greater cohesion and solidarity in the face of opposition by caste Hindus. Conversion has also been divisive: it has driven a wedge between converts and their former caste mates who remain Hindus. Caste associations-voluntary organizations of caste members-have become a commonplace means of agitating for caste improvement. Caste, especially in urban India, functions as a welfare organization for its members. It is partially a network for resources and partially a voluntary association-cum-pressure group. Caste associations began to achieve prominence in the nineteenth century; improvements in transportation and a general rise in the availability of education facilitated their formation. A caste association's membership often includes both Western-educated city dwellers and villagers; the educated provide invaluable funding and leadership skills. Caste associations discuss discrimination against their caste and reform caste customs; they often establish scholarship funds for promising students of their caste and provide housing for those studying away from home. They frequently publish a caste newspaper. If their membership is large, they may be able to bargain effectively for political benefits and electoral representation. In general, however, their political role is circumscribed: the castes of a region may be so fragmented that there is no single numerically dominant group. Since association membership is defined exclusively in terms of caste membership, it has been difficult to form effective, large-scale alliances with other castes. Finally, even where a single caste has the majority, the opposition can undermine the caste association's political efforts by the simple expedient of nominating their own candidate from the caste in question. Caste behavior is modified in the changing political and economic situation of contemporary India. The economic underpinning of the traditional caste exchanges in the countryside has largely changed. Independence and electoral politics have altered the arena for caste mobility; efforts that previously might have been geared exclusively toward improving the caste's ritual standing now include a pronounced political element. City living and employment in new occupations have transformed the operation of the caste system in those areas. A conscious dichotomy between home and work is the pattern for many Indians employed in the modern sector. Behavior that would be highly inappropriate in a home setting, such as dining with members of different castes, is tolerated in the workplace. Persons of many castes from untouchables to Brahmans, mingle in business and professional life in ways that are not permitted in a village. At home, however, most people revert to a semblance of their caste customs and preserve a high degree of jati exclusivity in their personal and social lives. Caste remains highly significant in personal life and social ties; through nepotism it operates in employment and business as well. City dwellers continue to contract marriage within the bounds of their jati, although the class standing of each family within the jati is significant as well. The few untouchables who manage to acquire an education and enter the professions normally marry others of similar caste and class standing. Urban castes, therefore, are crosscut into a number of large endogamous subgroups stratified along lines of caste and class. The upper castes have been able to parlay their caste standing into high-class status. The cities are disproportionately upper caste in composition, while the rural areas are overbalanced with the lower castes. Within cities the upper castes dominate the modern elite of professionals, technicians, modern managers, and government officials. Professionals are overwhelmingly from the twice-born castes; few Sudras or Scheduled Castes members reach that level. The educational system, though ostensibly supposed to aid the lower orders, acts to preserve the prerogatives of the upper caste and class groups. The predominance of English in the modern sector, the highly developed and prestigious system of private education, and the lack of any tradition of formal education among the lower castes all favor the upper castes. Members of influential jatis have at their disposal an extensive network of personal contacts. Even for the educated lower-caste person, the lack of personal connections is a severe disadvantage in a society still permeated by particularistic loyalties. Although jati loyalty remains strong in cities, in many cases the jatis themselves have been redefined to combine both caste and class considerations. Residential neighborhoods typically reflect both a caste and a class identity. Regional origin and religious affiliation are likewise important in cities. In daily urban interaction, continual fine evaluations of relative status and social position go on. Western status symbols may have replaced Sanskritic scholarship and ritual purity, but a pervasive concern with hierarchy and particularistic loyalties nonetheless remains. Caste becomes an aspect of social identity in a mass of relative strangers.