UNI

T-1
CHPT–1:Nat
ureofI
ndi
ansoci
ety
Indi
ahasal onghi st
oryandi t
scultur
altr
aditi
oni squi t
eol dandext r
emel
ycompl ex.India'
s
cult
uraldiv
isi
onisnotonl yoneoft hemostanci ent
,butal soitisoneofthemostwi despread
andv ari
ed. 
Tradi
ti
onalfeatur
esofI ndi
aarev erystrong. 
French,Bri
ti
shandot herculturesare
seeninIndia,butIndi
anv al
uesy st
emsstil
lremai n.
 I
tissecondmostpopul atedcount ryinthe
world.I
thasitsowngeogr aphi
c,ethni
c,r
eli
gious,andlingui
sticbackgr
ound. 

1. Geogr
aphicalFactor
:
 Thenatur
al boundari
espr
ovi
deI
ndi
aageogr
aphi
cal
uni
ty.
 I
tisacount
ryi
nSouthAsi
athatl
i
esent
ir
elyonI
ndi
anPl
atei
nthenor
ther
npor
ti
onof
I
ndoAust
ral
i
anPlat
e.
 TheareaofI
ndiansocietywassovast
.Thel
andar
eai
s33mi
l
li
onsquar
eki
l
omet
er.
I
ndiai
sthe7t
hlargestcount
ryi
nthewor
ld.
 Itli
esnor t
hEquat or.
2. UnityandDi versity:
 Ithas2. 4percentofwor l
d’slandar eaandabout16per centofwor ld’spopul ati
on.
 Indiai st hesecondmostpopul ousandsev ent hl argestcount ryoft hewor l
d.
 Ithasahi st oryspanni ngov er5000y earsofhumanhabi tati
on, 3000y earsbef or eChr ist
and2000y earsaf terChr i
st.
 Ithasa cul turalher i
tagehanded down byt hei mmi grantAr yansf rom acr osst he
Himal ayas,t henat ives–t hepr e-
Aryanset tler scal ledDasy usorDasasbyt heAr yans
andi nv adi ngci vil
izations.
 Itssoci al,economi candcul turaldiversitiesar eal sor eflectedi nhabi talcondi ti
onsi n
rural,ur banandsemi -urbanar eas. 
 De spitet hesedi versities,whati sobserv edaboutI ndiai st hatt her ei sunityi
ndi versit
y .
 Thisuni tyi ndi versi
tyhasbecomeapar tofI ndi a’ssel fident ity.
3. ReligiousFact or:
 India, beingademocr atic,socialist
icandsecul arr epubl i
c, hasnost atereli
gion.
 Indiai st hebi rthplaceofmanywor l
dr eligionsandal mostal lmaj orwor l
dr eligionsar e
pract i
cedbyt heirrespect ivefol l
owers.
 Indiai sal andwher epeopl eofdi fferentr eligionsandcul turesl iveinhar mony .Thi s
harmonyi sseeni nt hecel ebrat i
onoff est ivals.Themessageofl oveandbr other hoodi s
expr essedbyal lther eli
gionsandcul turesofI ndi a. 
 Thema jorr eli
gionsofI ndiaar eHindui sm ( maj orit
yr eligion) ,Islam ( l
argestmi nority
reli
gion) ,Si khism,Chr i
stianit
y ,Buddhi sm,Jai nism,Zor oast rianism,Judai sm andt he
Bahá' íFai th. 
4. Language:
 Thel anguagesofI ndiabel ongt osev erall anguagef ami li
es,t hemaj oronesbei ngt he
Indo- Ary anl anguages( abr anchofI ndo- Eur opean)spokenby74% ofI ndiansandt he
Drav idianl anguagesspokenby24%ofI ndi ans.
 Otherl anguagesspokeni nIndi abelongt ot heAust ro-Asi atic,Ti bet o-
Burman,andaf ew
 mi norl anguagef ami li
esandi solat es.
 Thepr inci palof f
iciallanguageoft heRepubl icofI ndi ai sSt andar dHi ndi ,whil
eEngl ishi s
thesecondar yof f i
cial l
anguage.
 Thec onst it
utionofI ndi ast atest hat" Theof ficiallanguageoft heUni onshal lbeHi ndii n
Dev anagar iscr i
pt".
 Indivi
dualmot hert onguesi nI ndi anumbersev er alhundr ed; the1961censusr ecogni zed
1,652. 
 Ac cordi ngt oCensusofI ndi aof2001,30l anguagesar espokenbymor ethanami l
l
ion
nat i
vespeaker s,122bymor et han10, 000. 
 Thr eemi l
lenni aofl anguagecont acthasl edt osi gnif i
cantmut ualinfluenceamongt he
fourlanguagef ami li
esi nIndi aandSout hAsi a.
 Twoc ont actl anguageshav epl ayedani mpor tantr olei nt hehi storyofI ndia:Persianand
Engl i
sh.
5.RacesandEt hni city:
 Indianpopul at i
oni spol ygenet icandi sami xt ur eofv ar i
ousr aces.
 The rear emanydi verseet hni cgr oupsamongt hepeopl eofI ndi a.
 The6ma inet hnicgr oupsar easf ol lows:
a. Negr i
to:  
 TheNe gr i
toswer et heear liestpeopl et ocomet oI ndi a. 
 The yhav esur v i
vedi nt heiror iginal habi t
atinAndamanandNi cobarI slands.
 TheJa r awas, Onges, Sent inel eseandt heGr eatAndamanesear esomeoft heexampl es.  
 Somehi l
lt ri
besl ikeI rulas,Kodar s,Pani yansandKur umbasar ef oundi nsomepat ches
inSout her npar tofmai nlandI ndia.  
b. Proto-Aust raloidsorAust ri
cs:  
 The sewer et henextet hni cgr oupt oar ri
veinI ndi aaf tert heNegr oids. 
 The ywer epeopl ewi thwav yhai rdi st r
ibutedal lov ert heirbr ownbodi es,l ongf aceswi th
low for eheadsandpr omi nentey er idges,t hickj aws,noseswi thlow andbr oadr oot s,
larget eet handpal atesandsmal l chi ns.
c. Mongol oids: 
 TheMongoi loidsar ef oundmai nlyi nt heNor t
heast ernpar tsofI ndiai nthest atesl ike
Assam, Nagal and, Arunachal Pr adesh, Mani pur , andTr i
pur a.
 
 The yar eal sof oundi npar t sofWestBengal , Sikki m, andLadakh.
 The yar epeopl ewi thhi ghl yy ell
owi shcompl exion,obl iqueey es,hi ghcheekbones,t hin
hairandofamedi um hei ght . 
d. Medi ter raneanorDr av idian:  
 The sear et hepeopl eofSout hI ndia.  
 The yhav ebeenbel i
evedt ocomebef oret heAr yans. 
 The yhav edi fferentsub- groupsl iket hePal eo-Medi terranean,t het rueMedi t
erranean,
andt heOr iental Medi terranean.  
 The yappeart obepeopl eoft hesamest ockast hepeopl esofAsi aMi norandCr eteand
pre-Hel lenicAegean' sofGr eece.  
 The yar er eput edt ohav ebui ltupt heci tyci vili
zat ionoft heI ndusv alley ,whoser emai ns
 hav
ebeenf oundatMohenj o-daroandHar appaandot herIndusci ti
es.
e. West ernBr achy cephal s:
 The sei ncludet heAl pinoids,DinaricsandAr menoids. 
 ThePa rsisandKodav asalsof alli
nt hi
scat egory.
 The yar et hebr oadheadedpeopl elivi
ngmai nlyonthewest ernsi deofthecount
rysuch
astheGangaVal leyandt hedel ta,part
sofKashmi r,Kathiawar ,Gujarat
,Maharashtr
a,
Kar
nat akaandTami l Nadu. 
f. NordicAr yansorI ndo- Aryans:
 Thisgr oupwer et helastonet oi mmi grat
et oI ndi
a. 
 The ycamet oIndiasomewher ebet ween2000and1500B. C. 
 The yar enowmai nlyfoundi nthenor ther
nandcent ralpartofI ndia.
6.Cast eSy st em:
Asocialst
ructur eusedt odesi gnateanysoci alclassofext remer igidity
.I ti
scomposedoff our
var
naorclasses, andf rom t his,arank-orderofdifferentsubcastesorj at
i wasformed.

i. Brahmi ns:  The f irstand t he hi ghestcl ass;i ntellectuals oft he nat ions such as
landowner s, schol ar s,andpr iests.
i
i. Kshat riy as:  
Acl assdi rectlyf ol
lowsBr ahmi ns;most lyr ulersandwar ri
ors.Theymanage
thel and, mi l
itaryser vice,andadmi nistr
at ion.
i
i
i. Vai sy as:  Thet hirdcl asscomposedoft rader s, shopkeeper s,money lenders, f
armers,and
artisans; Tradi ngandbanki ng.
i
v. Sudr as:  
Thef our thcl asscomposedofl abor ers, craft-wor kers,serv
ant sandsl aves.
7. Tribes:
 Indiahast hesecondl argestt ri
bal popul at i
oni nt hewor ldonlynextt oAf ri
ca.
 Ac cor di ngt o1941censusr epor ttribalpopul at ionofI ndiawas2. 47cr or
es.
 Ac cor di ngt o1981censusi twas5. 16cr oresandi tisest imatedt ohav ei ncreasedto
5.20cr or esi n1991.
 Itfor ms7. 8%oft hecount ry ’stot alpopul ation.
 Aboutt wo- thirdsoft het ot alt ribalpopul ationi nI ndiaar ef oundi nt hef ivestatesof
Madhy aPr adesh, Or issa, Bihar ,Guj aratandMahar astra.
 Mor et han20l akhsoft ribalpopul ationar ef oundi neachst at
eofRaj asthan,West
Bengal andAndhr aPr adesh.
 InMi zor am, Nagal and, Meghal ay a, ArunachalPr adeshandTr i
puratribalsconst i
tut
e70%
to95%oft hepopul at i
onoft hest at es/terr i
tory .
8.Cul turalFact or :
 IndianCul t
ur ei sv er ydiffer ent .
 Hindu, Musl i
msandChr i
st ianmar riageshast hei rownv alues.
 Hindui sm i sami xtur eofv ar i
ouscul t
uresl i
ke, Islam, Buddhi sm, Chri
st i
anit
y.
 Hinduphi losophi esar ev eryst rongandi tscul turewasnotmuchchanged.
9.Pol it
icalFact or:
 Indiai scal ledbyot hername  Bhar athav ar sha.
 India’spol iti
cal uni tyi sanof fshootoft her eli
gi ousandcul turaluni
ty.
  I
ndi
aisademocr
ati
ccount
rywhi
chhasawr
it
tenconst
it
uti
on.
 I
ndi
ansenj
oycer
tai
nfundament
alr
ight
sanddut
ies.
 I
ndi
abei
ngdemocr
ati
c,soci
ali
sti
crepubl
i
cisbasedonequal
i
ty,j
ust
ice,l
i
ber
tyand
secul
arism.
 
 Indi
anlawsappl
yal
lpeopl
ewi
thoutanydi
scr
imi
nat
ion.

CHPT–2:GEOGRAPHI
CALANDHI
STORI
CALFEATURES
Geogr
aphi
calf
eat
uresofI
ndi
a
Geogr
aphi
cal
l
yIndi
aisdi
vi
dedi
ntof
ourphy
sical
div
isi
ons

 Thegr
eatmount
ainwal
l
s

 Thegr
eatI
ndoganget
icpl
ain

 Thegr
eatDeccanpl
ateau

 Thecoast
alghat
s

1.Thegr
eatmount
ainwasatt
hemount
ainr
angesoft
heHi
mal
ayas:

Nott hemi ght yHi

malayaswithitsloftymountai
nr angesandmaj est
icpeaks
stretchingfrom easttowestispr otect
ingthecountryfr
om exter
nalaggressi
onli
kea
giganticsentinel
.t
hegreatmount ainwhatisabout2500ki lometr
elongandi t
swidt
h
variesfrom 240km t o320km. MountEv er
esti
sthehi ghestpeakknownt obethe
highesti nthewor l
dwiththeheightof29142f eet.

Ther angesofHi malay

ascanbedividedint
ot wogroups.Thehighmountai
nporti
ons
arecov er
edwi t
hsnowar oundtheyear.Thewholeuniver
seli
keGangaJamunaand
theBr ahmaputr
ahav eori
ginat
edfr
om t hesnowmount ai
nstost opt
heWestern
offshootsoftheHimalayasconsi
sti
ngofHi nduKush,thesafedkoh,
theSul
aimankoh,
andt hekir
tharranges.

Theheightofthemount ainintheseregionsarecorporat
elyl
ow,thear
eaistr
ywith
scantyr
ainfal
l.I
nthisbeltthereareseveralf
amouspl acesnamedKhyber,
the
kuuram,thetochi
,thegomal andthebolanpasses.Mostofthesepul
sesaresi
tuat
ed
 i
nlowlyi
nggr
oundandt
her
ebyhasmadet
hecount
ryaccessi
blet
othef
orei
gn
i
nvader
s.

Theeast ernoffshootsincl
udet hekhasi,thelushai,thej ai
nt i
a, andthemagahi ll
s
handar eextendedupt othebayofBengal .Thehill
yar eaandar oundar ecov er
ed
wit
hbeaut iful
forestwit
habundantr ai
nfallt
ost opitsf erti
l
ear ea,ri
chf orestand
for
estpr oductshavemadet heareahighlyattract
ive.t hepr oduct i
vechar acteroft he
Himalayashasconsi derabl
ygui dedthecour seofIndi anhi story.Thei nsurmount able
hei
ghtoft heHi malay
awel lforti
fi
edbyt echnoandi mpossi bi l
i
tyt oestablishedany
Androidhasmadet heHi malayasaf ar
mert ablebar r
iert ost opsuchanat ural
obstr
uctionaut omati
call
y,forwardingtheinvaderstocr osst hecol ossalmount ai
n
andembar kupononexpedi tion.

Simult
aneouslyitisprotecti
ngIndi
afrom coldwindsandadv er
sit
iesoftheSi
beri
an
desert
.shi
vanahallii
neast er
nsidedenseforest
,incongenialcl
i
mat eandcont
inuous
rai
nfal
lisequallypreventi
ngtheoutsi
dersfrom crossi
ngtheboundary.Thi
snatural
Fronti
erofIndiaversi
sisgi v
ingsecur
itybutnotimmunityfrom i
nvasi
onseparat
ing
I
ndiafrom restofAsiabuywel lmarkedboundaryl i
nes.

Thelow-lyi
ngmount ai
nsit
uatedintheNorthwestwithseveralconv eni
entpassesout
therapaci
ousi nvadersandmercenari
esf r
om Centrali
stheretocr osstheborder
andinvit
eIndia.Throughtheserul
es,thegreeks,t
hepersians,thekhushanas,the
hunasandt heMughal scameandi ndulgedinbloodywarfareandi nvasi
ons.resul
tof
fusi
onwi t
ht heexisti
ngcult
ureofthelandandt heali
encultur
ehav efur
therenri
ched
theIndi
ancul t
ure.

Thet heHimal ayasi sthesourceofmanyusef ulandhol dingr i

ver
sl i
ket heIndus,t
he
Ganga, Jamuna, t
heBr ahmaput r
a, andtheirtri
butaries.Thesnowoft hemount ai
n
andheav yrainfallareresponsibl
et oensur edflowofsuf f
icientwaterthroughoutthe
yearthrought heser i
verstostopt heriversanygr eatplains, makelandf ert
il
ethat
ult
imatelyattot her i
chnessinagr icul
tureandabundantf oodsupply.themonsoon
ri
singfrom theI ndianOceanmov ingtowar dsnor theast,checkedbyeast ern
offshootsoftheHi malayascauseofheav yr ai
nfallaroundAssam hi ll
sandbei ng
checkbyi nsti
tutet hatgivessuff
icientrai
nf al
lont heIndoganget icplain.
Thus,cannotbedeni edthatthefertil
it
yoft henor t
her nplainofIndiaismai nlydueto
theimpactoft heHi malayanregi
onont hemonsoon.

2.Thegr
eatI
ndoganget
icpl
ainonNor
ther
npl
ain:

ItembracesthevaluesoftheIndusandit
stributaries,theSandydeser tofSi
ndhand
Rajput
anaaswel lasthefert
il
eregionwater
edbyt heGanges, t
heJamunaandt he
Brahmaputra.i
thasalway sbeenthecor
eoft heI ndiancontinent.Theplanefor
med
bythedepositofri
chsoi l
washeddowndur ingcount l
esscountriesforthevast
Himalayanrangesont henort
handf r
om thehill
sandupl andsoft heDeccanofthe
south.
 Ther
iversystem ofNorther
nIndianamelyintheIndusandi
tst
ribut
ari
es,
theGanges
andi
tsaf f
luentt
heBr ahmaputraandit
sf eeder
sirri
gat
ethi
swideplai
n.

Thesetheseri
verspl
ay edanimport
antpar
tintheevol
utionofIndi
ancultur
e.Itwas
i
nt hevall
eyoftheri
verIndusthatt
heearl
i
estcivi
l
izat
ionofIndiaf
louri
shedstopthe
ri
versofthePunjabandt heGangesdet
erminedalsot
henat ur
eandt hecourseofthe
Aryansettl
ementsinIndia.

Thev astnaturalr
esour
cesoft hi
splaneexpl
aint
hef ert
il
it
yandtheirwhythedensi
ty
ofthepopul at
ionofthi
sregi
ont heri
chnessandfert
ili
tyoflandy
earalsoaccountfor
themul t
ipli
cit
yofbigurbancentresandthecent
resoft r
adeandt hecapi
tal
sof
ancientkingdomst ost
opallthefactor
shavemadet hisplai
ntolureofoneinv
ert
er
aft
eranot her.

Thisext ensiv
eNor ther
npl ainisdiv
idedi nt
ot hr
eecomponentpar tsbywages
projecti
ngnor thwardfrom Rajasthant owardsthewestandt heSant halparganas
fatherEast.TheSant halparganassepar atetheregionofBengalfrom themai n
ganget i
cpl ai
n.InthesouthofDel hili
est hewat er
lesstr
ackthatcreatesanar row
corridorknowni nancientIndiaaskur ukshetrarunningbet
weent hedeser tof
Rajasthanandt heHimalay as

Duetothefer
ti
li
tyoftheregiont heinhabitant
scouldgetsuff
ici
entcropsby
mini
mum labourandspendingmi nimum amountt ostopasamat t
eroffactthe
peopl
ewereconfidentoftheircomf ort
ableliv
eli
hood.Thusthey,ampleoftimeand
oppor
tuni
tytoart
,li
terat
ure,andot herkindsofprogressi
veacti
vi
ties.

Iti
sworthment i
oningher et hatri
ghtfrom thev edi
caget hepeopl eofthi
sregi
on
patr
oni
sedcr eat
iveandpr ogressiv
ear tandli
terature.Her efamouspoet s
commandermat tox, phi
losopher sli
keKal i
das,barahami hira,vanabhatat
ookbath
andlef
tmar ksoftheirtalentsinlit
eraryfi
gures.Itisinthisplainregionmenuoffi
ce
andPanipatandkur ukshetrawer efoughtandt hefateoft heI ndi
ahasbeendecided.

Rajput
anawor kedasat or
chbear eroftheIndianfr
eedom byt heRaj
putki
ngswhen
theycall
edoutt hei
rindependentstatesandf oughtbacktherefori
nvader
swit
h
consumeratVi gour.Thustheindo-gangeti
cplaincontr
ibutedamaximum shar
ein
theprocessofcul t
uralawakeningofIndia.

3.Thegr
eatDeccanpl
ateau:

theDeccanplateauli
estot hesouthofIndoganget i
cplain.Oni t
'snotthevi
ndhya
andSatpurarangesseparateitfr
om indo-gangeti
cplai
nandsl opedownt otheCape
Camerin.
intheeastitst
artsf r
om thebayofBengal andspr eadswr i
te-
uptoArabian
seaintheWest .Ri
versl
iket heGodavaritheKri
shnaKav erithetungabhadrahave
sweatthelandandmadet heplateauhighlycovet
ous.

Thesharpgeographical
featur
ehasmadet heregi
ondist
inctl
ydif
fer
entti
me
nat
ural
lyinf
luencethecourseofhi
stor
y.geogr
aphi
calcondit
ionhascreat
edsev
eral
naturalbar
ri
erswhi
chdeniedeasyandsmoot hAxi
sfrom nor
thtosouth.The
Vindhyachalandt
heSatpurar
ange,thedensefor
estaroundi
thavevir
tuall
y
preventedfr
eeentr
yint
otheplat
eau.

Seasont hethreesidesactedasstr
onghur dl
ef or
biddi
nguni
nter
ruptedinter
cour
se
fr
om outside.Thust heplat
eaupr
acti
call
yremainedisol
atedfr
om thenor t
hand
count
ri
es.Howev eritenj
oyedaspecial
signif
icanceandproveusefuli
nmanyway s
i
nbuil
dingI ndi
anhi stor
y.

Atat imewhent heonslaughtoft her epeatedf orei

gninv asionsriseofJai nism and
Buddhi sm inonestageatacor nertheHi nduism andbr oughtitdown, theSout h
camef orwardasasev ereandext endedal lpossiblepatronage.Inf actinspiteoft he
numer ousar tstheHindureli
gionandcul tureremi ndintactinthisr egionand
fl
ourishedt remendouslytostopi ncidentall
ybot hJainism andBuddhi sm fai
ledt oget
decider esponsefrom thesouthandev i
dent l
ythei mper vi
ousdeccanf i
rmlyhel dthe
blessingsofHi ndureli
gionandcul t
ureandov ershadowedt hereligiousimper ial
ism
oftheJai nism andBuddhism.

Onthearri
valoft
heAr yansintheNorthernplai
ntheexi
stingpopulat
ionwas
compelledtomigratetowardstheDeccanpl at
eau.Wit
houtenter
ingorembr aci
ng
thenewculturei
st hemigrantsmaintai
ntheircul
tur
ali
dentit
y.EventheAryan
civ
il
izat
ionappear
edv ulnerabl
egettheev i
dencemaint
ainedthereoncult
ural
heri
tageandsurvi
v edundistur
bed.

Deccanisfullofhi l
ls,mountainsandf oreststhatpr ovi
dedopportuni
tyt
obuildmany
hil
lyunaccessiblefortsandhi deout
sandr oundpat r
iot
icspi
ri
tofthepeopl
eto
defendthemot herl
and.Ithasmadet heinhabi tantshardeni
ngandexperti
njungle
war f
arestr
ongenought ooutwittheinvadersbyt hetacti
csofguerri
l
lawarf
are.In
thegeographical condit
ionslastl
yinf
luencedt hepeoplet ot
akeupar msagainstt
he
i
nv ader
sandf ightf ort
heirli
bertyandterrit
orial i
ntegri
ty.

Thenat ur
aloutl
etofseasont hr
eesideshasgivenscopet oexpl
oresearouteswi
th
othercountr
iesanddevelopsocial
economi candcul
turalti
eswit
ht hem.The
Portuguese,t
heDutch,thePersi
ans,theAr
abiansallut
il
isedtheseaportsand
hastunedtothelandfortradeandcommer ce.

Simultaneouslythecout l
etsgiveawayincent
ivest ot
hepeoplet
osailacrossthe
seaandest ablishedprosperouscol
oniesinJava,BurmaandCambodiaet c.The
geographicaldemar cat
ionbetweenthenorthandt heSout
hwasalsoresponsible
part
lyforgener ati
ngtodisti
nctl
yseparateandindependentt
ypesofci
v i
li
zati
ons.

InfactwhenChr isti
sprovi
dedi nthenorththeHinduism andi
tscultureunder
suppressiontheSouthextendedhergener ousarmsandi mpressedt hedi
scomfi
ted
Hinduism anditscult
ureandsav ethem fr
om sureruin.ThustheSout hpl
ayedavit
al
rol
einpr eser
vingIndi
a'sori
ginal
it
yandr el
igiousf
ervourofHinduism.
 4.Coast
alghat
s:

Thecoastalghatsbroadleaff
ormsthecostbeltsofEastandWestoft heDeccan
plat
eaustopont heeasternsi
deoft heDeccanpl ateauthehil
lrangerunni
ngf r
om
thenor
thtot heSouthalmostparall
eltothecoast l
i
nei sknownast heeaster
nghats.
Onthewestmount ainrangerunningparall
elt
ot heAr abi
anseai sknownast he
Westernghats.

Thelengthisabout1120ki l
omet reand3000t o8000feetaboveseal evel
.Thelast
l
eafhasgi venposit
iveadvantagestobuil
dupast r
ongandf or
mert abledefenceto
stopthi
snat ur
algif
tofnaturehasv ir
tual
lyhelpt
heMar athast
odefinethefears
Mughalsandasser tthei
rsuperiorit
.Thenarrowstri
poflandsomet imesnotmor e
than32kilometreinwidthstr
etchingbetweencostandf ootoftheghatsisknownas
konkanMal abar.

i
thasar ichsoilandi
sev ergreenwithri
ceplantsandcoconuttrees.I
tishi
ghl
y
producti
veandt hi
ckl
ypopul ated.I
ntheabsenceofmoder ncommuni cati
onfaci
l
iti
es
i
sr emainedisol
atedf
oral ongt i
mef r
om therestoftheDeccan.Iwantnowsomeof
them cactuscustomsfoundnowher eel
seinIndia.

Ont heot herhandinthef arNor

thontheWestcoastt
heNar madaandtaptihav
e
brokent hroughtheWest ernscr
apandcutwidewelli
sacrossthem,maki
ngeasy
partsleadingtothenorth.Itisi
nthi
sregi
onthatgr
eatki
ngdomsandcivil
izedpeopl
e
havelivedf r
om earl
yages.

Easternsidecommandt hecoast albandwhi chliesbel

owt heeasternghatsismuch
broader.Theeaster
nscrapitsel
fi safloorelevati
onmuchl essDeepandi tisbroken
i
nmanypl acesbythevalueofDeccanr iver
sflowingeast
war ds.Thismade
communi cati
onoftheeastcoastwi tht heplantsontheDeccaneasyt ostopt hi
s
result
edinbuil
dingmanyci t
ies,f
louri
shi ngcivi
li
zati
onsandpower fulKi
ngdom to
exhibi
tthecourageandgallantr
yoft heI ndi
ancommuni ty.

 TheHi
stor
icalDev
elopmentofI
ndi
anSoci
ety
:

TheIndusvall
eyciv
il
izat
ion,I
ndi
a'
searli
estknowncivi
li
zat
ionisident
if
iedbhaii
t'
s
i
nter
estingcul
tur
easwel lasit
sart
efact
s.Thestrengt
handbasesofHi ndui
sm i
s
at
tri
butedtothevediccult
ureaswel
lastheorigi
nofcastesystem.

TheIndiahashadmanydi f
ferentinf
luencest
hroughoutit
shist
oryduetot he
migrati
on,i
nnovat
ion,
expansionofot herNat
ionstostopsomeoft hesenati
onsar
e
peoplewhoinfl
uencedIndi
aincludethemongol s,
thegreeksandtheBrit
ish.

Indiawasaweal thycountry,
economical
lyandcult
ural
l
yupuntilBri
ti
shcoloniz
ation.
Europeanswoul dtradewithIndi
aforspi
cesforcott
ontext
il
es,
butwhent heBr i
ti
sh
colonizedthecountrytheeconomydecli
ned.thi
swasdueinparttoexpl
oit
ationand
destructi
onofIndia’
sindustr
iesandwealth.
event
ual
l
y,I
ndiawoul
dbegr ant
editsi
ndependenceagai
nin1947,
aft
erwhi
chhas
l
owpopulat
ionhasbeenseeninit
sdevel
opment .

PresentdayI ndi
ahasmadesi gnificantheadwayi nl ar
gescal eindustri
ali
sation.Asa
result,I
ndiahasbecomeoneoft het opbyi ndustr
iali
zednat i
onsoft hewor ld.It
producesev er yconcei
vableindust rialit
em andconsumergoodsandhasachi ev
ed
signif
icantsuccessi nFronti
ersci ent if
icresearchincludingpeacef ulappli
cationof
nuclearener gy,spaceandsat ell
i
ter esearch,communi cati
ont echnologyand
biotechnology .I
ndiaal
sohast het hirdlargestreservoirofscienti
ficand
technological manpowertost oppi oneer i
ngsci entistsuchasnobl el
aurentii
,cv
Raman, Homi Bhabha,JCBosesat yenBosenobel laureatehar
gov indKhuranaands
Chandr asekharhav ewonmedal sf orI ndi
abot hathomeandabr oad.

Histor
icall
yIndiai
sananci entlandwithaconti
nuouscivi
li
zati
onof5000y earsto
stoptheIndusv al
leycivi
li
zati
onwasf oll
owedbyt heSanskr
itspeaki
ngVedi cper i
od
tostopthef i
rstoftheIndi
anempi r
esandtheMaur yaEmpir
ebegi nshor
tlyafter
ChandraguptaMaur y awasthepostAshokaEmpi resquir
efoll
owedbyempi resof
theGupt aprati
hara,pal
achalukyachol
aPandyady nast
ytostopsubsequent l
y,around
theninthcentury,
theMusl i
m periodwasestabl
ishedfoll
owedbyt hearr
ivalofthe
t
h
Europeans,most l
yBr i
ti
shinthe17 cent ur
y.

OnAugust151947I ndi
aattai
nedi
ndependencetostopi
tadoptedapar
li
amentar
y
syst
em ofgovernmentwit
haunionofstat
esproclai
mingi
tsel
ftobeasover
eign
democr
aticrepubl
ic.

thecountr
yhasbeendi vi
dedi nto29st at
esand7uni onterri
tori
est ostopSt ates
haveconsider
ableautonomyoft hei
rownwhi let
heuni onterri
tori
esar egov ernedby
thepresi
dentappoi
ntedadmi nistr
atortostopandt hev il
l
agel evel1findthesy st
em
ofpanchayati
Raj.I
tisapatternofsel fgovernmentthatov erseesthepl anningand
executi
onofproj
ectsindist
rict,bl
ockandv i
l
lagelevel.adultsuffr
agei suniversal.

I
ndia'
snati
onalfl
agisahori
zont
altr
icol
ourofsaff
ronatthetop,whit
einthemi
ddl
e
anddarkgr
eeninthebott
om inequalpr
oport
ion.I
nthecentreofthewhit
eis
rev
ealedwhichappear
sontheabacusoftheSarnathl
ionsealofAshoka.

TheI ndusv all

eyci vil
ization, oneoft hewor ld’sol dest, f
lour
isheddur i
ngthet hir
dand
secondmal ariaBCandex tendedi nt
oNor t
hWestI ndia.Ary
ant r
ibesfrom the
Nor t
hwesti nfil
tratedont ot heI ndiansubcont inentabout1500BCt heirmer gerwi t
h
theear li
erDravidianinhabi tantscr eatedt hecl assi calIndiancul t
uret ostopt he
t
h rd
Maur yaempi r
eoft he4 and3 cent uryBCwhi chr eachedi tsZenithunderAshoka
UnitedmuchofSout hAsi atost opthegol denageusher edi nbyGupt adynast ysawa
fl
ower ingofIndiansci ence, 8,andcul ture.Islam spr eadacr osst hesubcont inentov er
th th
aper i
odof700y ear stost opi nt he10 and11 cent uryist hisandAf ghani stan
i
nv adedI ndi
aandest ablishedt heDelhi sultanate.I nt heear y16thcent
l urythe
emper orBaburest ablishedt heMughal dynast ywhi chruledI ndiaformor et hant hr
ee
count r
iesEur opeanexpl orer sbegi nestablishingf ootholdsi nIndiadur i
ngt he16
century.Byt he19thcent ury, greatBritainhadbecomet hedomi natorpolit
ical power
i
nt hesubcont inent .TheBr iti
shI ndianar mypl ay edav i
talr
oleinbot hWor ldwar s.
Nonv iol
entresi stantt oBr iti
shr ule, l
edbyMohandasGandhi andJawahar l
alNehru,
eventuallybroughtabouti ndependencei n1947t ostopcommunal v i
olencel edtothe
subcont inentbl oodypar titi
onwhi chr esultedint hecreati
onoft osepar atestatesof
Indi
aandPaki stant het wocount rieshav ef ought3warsi ncei ndependence, theLast
ofwhi chi s1971r esul tedi nEastPaki stanbecomi ngthesepar atenat i
onof
Bangl adesht ost opI ndia’snuclearweaponst estin1998costPaki stant oconducti t
s
ownt estt hatsamey ear.inNov ember2008t errori
stall
egedlyorigi
nat edf rom
Pakistanconduct edaser i
esofcoor dinatedat t
acksinMumbai ,
India’sf i
nancial
capital.Despitepr essingpr obl
em swi tchesi nsignifi
cantoverpopul ati
on,
envir
onment al degr adat ion,extensi vepov ertyandwi despreadcor ruption, economic
developmenti sf uellingI ndia'
sriseont hewor ldstage.InJanuar y2011, I
ndia
resumedanonper manentseati nt heUNsecur i
tycouncilofthe2011- 12t erms.

I
mpor
tanceofst
udyofI
ndi
ansoci
ety
:

o I
ndi
aisoneoft
hel
argestdemocr
acyi
nthewor
ld:

Thest udyofIndiansocietyasagreati
mpor t
anceasi ti
sthelargestdemocr ati
c
countryinthewor l
dinthewakeofgl obal
isat
ion,
Indiacommandsconsi derabl
e
att
entioninthewor l
deconomyandi ntheworldmar ket
.ThestudyofIndi ansociet
y
hel
pi nthenat i
onalaswel lasi
nter
nati
onalpl
anning.Secondmostpopul ousand
seventhlargestcountr
yi ntheworl
d.al
most2.4%ofwor l
d’sl
andar eathecount r
y
coversandconst it
utesabout16%ofwor ldpopul
ation.

o Duet
oit
suni
quef
eat
ureofuni
tyi
ndi
ver
sit
y:

Indi
aoffer
sar i
chCanv astoanysocial
resear
cherwhoisinter
estedinstudyi
nggreat
massofhumani ty
.inI
ndiadressi
ngstyl
e,foodhabi
ts,
language,dance,
artform,
and
cult
urechangesfrom r
egiontoregi
on.Indi
aprovi
desamplescopef orr
esearchi
n
democrati
cstudy.

o Of
fi
cer
sAPwhol
eint
osoci
all
i
fewhi
chhasbeeni
nexi
stencesi
nceanci
entt
imes:

Indianciv
ili
zati
ondatesbackt oVedicperiod.Thatissoci
o-cul
turalcontinui
tyever
since.somanyoft hecustoms,pract
icesusest hatpr
evai
ledinthev edicperiodis
stil
lbefoll
owedi nIndi
a.Hencet hestudywillpl
ayanimpor t
antroleinprov i
dingthe
histor
icalperspect
iveofIndi
ansociety.I
thasahi stor
yspanningof5000y earsof
humanhabi t
ation,
3000y ear
sbef or
eChr i
stand2000y earsafterChrist

o Di
ver
sit
yinr
eli
gion:

Indi
apossessesal mostallt
hewor l
dreli
giousaswel l
asinnumer abl
etri
balr
eli
gion
prevaili
ngint heworl
d.Henceduet oit
sv astdiv
ersi
tyisinreli
giousf
oll
owingcountr
y
providesgr eatscopeforsoci
ologytocarryoutthei
rstudi
es.ManyAnt hr
opologi
sts
andsoci ologist
shavedonesi gni
fi
cantwor ksonrel
igi
onofI ndi
aandhav e
contributedforthegrowthofsociol
ogyofI ndi
a.
 Phi
l
osophi
cal
cont
ri
but
ion:

TheI ndi
anphi l
osophyhasbeenagr eatsourceofatt
racti
onf ort
heWest ernworl
d.Many
afterwesternersareembracingIndi
anwayofl i
febyadopt i
ngHinduism,Buddhi
sm, et
c.,
Thest udyofy ogahasbecomeext remel ypopul
arall
ov ertheworld.Duetoit
sgreat
cultural
herit
ageI ndi
aisat
tracti
nggr eatnumbersoftouristworl
dov er
.Andstudyof
Indiansocietyresumesnewdi mension.

 Thedemogr
aphi
cdi
vi
dend:

InthenextdecadeI ndi
awi l
lgettoprocessthemaximum numberofy oungpeopleand
i
tstotalpopulati
on.Ist
hisdemogr aphicadvant
ageisusedintheri
ghtway,defini
tely
countrycanachieveprogressinleavesandbounds.Thisadvant
ageneedstobepr oper
ly
uti
l
isedwi t
hmet icul
ousplanningandor gani
sat
ion.Sear
chstudyofIndi
ansocietyisof
nati
onalprior
ity
.

 Tr
ibal
popul
ati
onandsoci
alant
hropol
ogi
cal
rel
evance:

Indi
ahast hesecondlargesttri
balpopulat
ionintheworld.OnlynextAf ri
ca.Accor di
ngt o
1981censusr eportt
het ri
balpopulat
ionofIndiawas2.47cr or
eandi ti
snowest i
mat ed
tohav eincreasedto5.20cr or
esin1991.Itforms7.8%ofcount r
iespopul ati
on.about
two-thi
rdsoft ri
balpopulati
oninIndiaarefoundinfi
vestatesofMadhy aPr adeshOr i
ssa,
Bihar,GujaratandMahar ashtr
a.Mor ethan20lacsoftr
ibal popul
ationaref oundinwhi ch
stateofRaj ast
han,WestBengal andAndhr aPradesh.I
nMi zoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya,
Arunachal PradeshandTr ipur
atri
balsconstit
uted70%t o95%oft hepopul ationofthe
states/t
errit
ori
es.Thisisyetanotheruniqueaspectofthecount r
yal sorequiresthe
socialstudyofIndia.

 Forsoci
alpl
anni
ngandadmi
nist
rat
ion:

fort
hedev el
opmentofcountryandtoformulateappropri
atestrategiestothe
governmentrequi
resminuteandsci
entif
icstudyofthenat i
on.Thedat acoll
ectedbythe
soci
al sci
ent
istar
ehumansut il
i
tyt
ot hepoli
cymaker s.Everestcount r
yli
keIndiawhere
ther
ei ssomuchofdiversi
ty,
thepol
icymakersrequir
emi nutedetailsoft hesociet
y.

 Fi
ndi
ngr
emedi
esf
orsoci
alpr
obl
ems:

Thenationisfaci
ngmulti
pleproblemsli
kepovert
y,overpopul
ati
on,drugaddi
cti
onand
dowryharassment,del
i
nquency ,
casteconfl
i
cts,
increasi
ngcrimerate,domesti
c
vi
olence,et
c.Tocombatallthesocialev
il
sstudyofIndiabecomesimpor t
ant.
CHPT–3:Uni
tyi
ndi
ver
sit
y.

I
ndiancul tur
econsi st
sofbothuni tyanddiv ersity.Inf act,
"Unityindiversi
ty"isourspeci al
ity
.It
i
sf orthisuniquefeatureI
ndianculturestandsoutasdi sti
nctfrom al l
theot hercult
ur esofthe
wor l
d.Wehasi nvi
tedandabsor bedthefor eigni nfluencesandf orcesandy etmai ntaiteour
uni
queness.Onef eaturet
hati smostof t
ennot icedaboutI ndia"unityindiversi
ty"
.Thi scatchy
phrasehasbecomeapar tofIndiasself-
ident i
ty.Ev ent heforeignt r
avell
erswhov i
sitedIndia
fr
om t i
mewt imel i
keMegast henes,HuanTsang, Al beruniandot hersalsonot edand
appreciatedthis.
'Letusnowev al
uatetheappr opr i
at enessofthi phrasebyexami ningt henat ur
e
ofdiversit
iesinIndiaandthef act
orsthacont r
ibut et oitsunit
y.

 Thenat
ureofdi
ver
sit
iesi
nIndi
a:

Thedi ver
sit
yofI ndi
aissomet hi
ngunique.I
ndiaasahugecoi nwi t
halargepopulati
onpresent
s
endlessvari
et i
esofphysical
featurescul
tur
alpatt
erns.Dr.I
ravat
iKarv
ehasr i
ght
lypointedout
thatinwholeoft heWesternwor l
d,wedonotf i
ndasi ngl
ecountrywhichhsoext ensi
veand
diverseaculturalt
radi
ti
onasI ndi
ahas.Hence,shcalled"I
ndia-theepit
omeoft heworld.
"

 Meani
ngofDi
ver
sit
y:

Theterm di
ver
sityheredenotescoll
ectivedi
fferencessoast orevealdissimi
lar
it
iesamong
groupsofpeoplegrographic,
rel
igi
ouslingui
stic,cult
ural
etc.Thediversit
iesordi
ffer
encesi
nthe
I
ndiancontext
,refert
of ourmajortypesofdiversit
ieswhichmaybement i
onedhere:

(
i)Regi
onal
Div
ersi
ti
es.
(
ii
)Li
ngui
sti
cDi
ver
sit
ies,

(
ii
i)Rel
i
giousDi
ver
sit
ies,

(
iv)Cul
tur
alandEt
hni
cDi
ver
sit
ies.

1.Regi
onalDi
ver
sit
ies:

Wef indinIndiasomeext r
emer egionaldiversi
tiesinitsgeogr aphicalfeat
ures:Weseeher e
for
mi dablemountains,thi
ckf or
ests,countlesshi l
ls.steepv al
l
ey s,
innumer abl
er i
vers,vast
seas,desertl
and,ferti
leareasdrought -
hitplaces,flood-proneareasandsoon.Onl yi nIndi
a
onecanf indthewor l
d'stal
lestmount ai
ns[ theHi malay as]cover
edwi t
hsnowt hroughout
theyear.Ther i
ver
st hatfl
owdownf rom theHi mal ayashav egivenpl acetoav astfert
il
e
delt
aar enAtthesamet i
me, theStateli
keRaj asthanhasi tsdesertwher ewaterisascar ci
ty.

I
ndiaisavastcountr
ywithhugepopul at
ion.Fr
om theHimal ay
asintheNor t
htotheIndi
an
OceanintheSouth,i
tcoversatotalar
eaof32,87.263Sq.Km.I tsl
andmassmeasur es
about3200Km from Nort
ht oSouthand2933Km f rom EasttoWest.Ithasalandareaof
15000Km andacoast al
lineof7516Km.Appar entdif
ferencesarealsother
einalt
it
ude,
temperat
ure,
rai
nfal
l,r
esources,f
lor
aandf auna.

ItisonlyinI ndi
aonencount er
sinit
sdiff
erentregi
ons,di
ff
erentty
pesofcl i
mat esthecold,
thetemper ateandt hetr
opical
.Thecli
mateofKashmi rwhichi
scol deveninsummer ,
contrastswi tht
hatofKeralawhichi
shotandhumi deveni
nmi dwinter
.Wideclimatic
dif
ferencesdoexi stbetweentheNorth-
EastStatesandRajast
han.Rainfal
lisveryheavyin
theNor th-
Eastwhi chexceedseven500inchesay earwher
easitisinsi
gnif
icantinplacesof
RajasthanlikeJaisalmerandBarmer

2.Li
ngui
sti
cDi
ver
sit
ies:

Languagei sy etanothersour ceofdi versity.I

tcontributestocol l
ectiveidentit
iesaswel l
as
confl
icts.AsA. R.Desai remar ks"Indi apr esentsaspect acleofmuseum oft ongues.The
Constituti
onofI ndiarecognises[ upt o1992)asmanyas28maj orlanguagesi nthe8th
schedul eforoffi
cialpurpose.Theyar e-
Assami .Bengal i
,Gujarati
,Hindi,Kannada, Kashmi ri
.
Malyalam, Mar at
hi,Oriya,Punjabi,Sanskr it
.Sindi,
Tami l
,Telugu.Urdu, Manipur i
,Nepali,
Konkani ,Santhal
i,Bodo, Maithil
iandDogr i
.ButIndiansspeak, asr eportedin1971Census,
asmanyas1652l anguagesanddi alects.Manyoft hem r epresenttheirmot hertonguesal so.
Newspaper sarepubl i
shedi nmor et han100l anguagesandmot hertongues.Theexi stence
ofsev erall
anguagesmakesl anguagepl anningandpr omot i
ondi f
ficul
t.Asar esul t
,thereis
considerablebili
ngualism andadmi nist
rat i
onhast ousemor ethanonel anguage.

Hindi,
spokenbyt hemajori
tyofpeopl
ei nI
ndi
aasmanyas247. 85mil
li
onasper1991r epor
t
thoughisconsti
tuti
onal
l
yaccept edasthenat
ionall
anguage,i
thasnotbeenabletorepl
ace
Engli
sh.Exi
stenceofdif
ferentl
anguageshasoftenl
edtoconfli
ctsbetweenli
ngui
sti
c
groups.Thelanguageproblem t
hushasposedamaj orthr
eattonati
onali
ntegr
ati
on.

Fi
veMai
nLi
ngui
sti
cFami
l
iest
oWhi
chI
ndi
anLanguagesBel
ong:
Mostoft
heI
ndi
anl
anguagesbel
ongt
ofi
vel
i
ngui
sti
cfami
l
ies.

i
. TheIndo-Ar
y anLanguageswhichi
ncl
udeAsNami,Bengal
i,
PunjabiRaj
ast
hani
.
Marathi
,Guj
ar at
i,Or
iya,
Sanskr
it
,Hi
ndi
,Si
ndhiKashmirl
anguagesspokenbyal
most
3/4t
hofIndianpopulati
on

i
i
. TheDr
avi
dianLanguageswhi
chcomposeofTami
lKannada,
Tel
uandMal
ayal
am

i
i
i. TheAust
ri
cLanguageswhi
chconsi
stofMundar
i,Mai
thi
l
i,Sant
hal
Dogr
i,et
c.

i
v. Ti
beto-
BurmanLanguageswhichencompasstri
bal
languagesdi
alect
sofNor t
hand
Nort
hEastIndi
abel
ongtothi
scategory
.Theincl
udeManipuri
,Bodo.Ladki
,Kuki
,et
c.

v
. TheEuropeanLanguageswhi
chembraceEngl
ish,
Por
tugueseandFrench.Thel
ast
t
wolanguagesarespokenmost
lybypeopl
einGoaandPondicher
ryr
especti
vel
y.

3.Rel
i
giousDi
ver
sit
ies:

Indiaisnotatheocrat
icstat
e.I
thasnost at
ereli
gion.Itguar
ant
eesfr
eedom tot
he
peopletopracti
ceorfoll
owreli
gionsofthei
rchoi
ce" SarvaDhar
maSamaBhav a"-equal
respectt
oallrel
igi
ons-hasbeent hecheri
shedvalueoft heI
ndi
ansoci
etysi
nceti
me
i
mmemor ial
.

Indi
ai sal andwhi chhasgi venpl aceandpr otecti
ont osev er
al majorr eli
gionsoft he
world.Ther eare8maj orr eligiouscommuni ti
esinIndianamel y.1.theHi ndus( 82.7%).2.
Musl i
ms( 11.8%) ,
3.Chr istians( 2.6%).4.Sikhs(2%) ,5.Buddhi sts(0.7%), 6.Jains(0.4%).
7.Zoroast riansorPer sians( 0.3%) ,
and8.t heJews( 0.7%)-asper1991census.Asper
2011census, t
heHi ndupopul ationisreducedt o78. 35%,wher east heMusl i
m popul at
ion
hasincr easedt o14. 2%( .8%i ncreaseov er2001censusf i
gureof13. 4%) .Hindus
constituted84. 1%i n1951andby2011, t
heirpercentagedecr easedby5. 75%i n2011.In
additi
ont ot heabov ement ionedr eli
giousgroups, thetri
balsfollowt heirownt ri
balfai
ths.
Eachoft hemaj orr eli
gi onshasi tsownsub- divi
sionsandsect s.(Sourceoft hesefigur
es
-Uday avani ,Dated25. 01. 2015)

Rel
i
gionst
hatCoexi
sti
nIndi
a;

 Hinduism : Thisisthereli
gionofthemaj ori
ty.Hindusconst i
tute82.7%oft he
population.Hinduism issobr oadthatitincl
udesi nitspurviewv ari
oussectsand
sub-sectssuchas-Shai vit
es[ Wor
shi ppersofShi va).Vaishnav asWor shi
ppersof
VishnuandHi sIncarnati
onsorAv ataras).Shakt eyasWor shippersofMother
Goddessi nv ari
ousmani f
estati
ons).Ar y
aSamaj ist,
Br ahmaSamaj i
sts,
Charvakas, Tantri
cs,foll
owersofdi verseBhakt iCults,[Ex:Ay yappaBabaCul t
,
Raghav endraSwamyCul t)andsoon.Cul t,
Sal .
  Isl
am: Thi
sist hebi
ggestminori
tyr
eli
gioni
nIndia.Fol
lower
sofr el
igi
onare
cal
led"Muslims".Ther
earealsocert
ainsect
ionsamongt heIndianMusl
imssuch
as-Sved,Sheik,Pat
han,et
c..I
tconsoftwomaj orsect
snamel ySunni
sandShias.

 Sunnis:OftheIndianMuslims,theSunnisconst
itut
et hemajori
tygroup.Major
it
y
ofIndi
anSunnisf ol
lowHanifischoolofMusli
ml aw.whilet
heMapi ll
asand
LakshadweepIslandsfoll
owShaf iSchoolTheSunnisofGujaratfol
l
owMal i
k
Schoolbutthefourthschoolnamely,Hanbali
schoolisnotfol
lowedi nI
ndia.

 Shias:TheShi ashav ethei

rImami LawTheShiasaresub-di
videdi nt
othe
Foll
owersof12I mamsandt heFol
lower
sof7I mams.Inadditiontot hi
s,t
here
are14reli
giousor dersofwhichthe"Chi
sti
Order,theSuhrawar diOrder
',t
he
"Shai
-Tar
iOr der"
,the"Qadir
iOrder"andthe"NaqshbandiOrder",areimport
ant.
Therearesomei rregul
arordersal
so.

 Christ
ianit
y:LikeIslam,camef rom outsi
de.Chri
sti
ansareconcerntr
atedina
fewstatesthani not her
s,Chri
stiani
tyhastwomaj orsect
snamel y
:Roman
Catholi
cism andPr otestant
ism.Oftheconv er
tstoChrist
iani
ty,
60%belongto
l
owercast es.

 Buddhi sm andJai nism origi

nat
edinIndia.Thefol
lowersofbothareinan
i
nsi gnifi
cantmi nori
ty.Buddhism hast
wosect snamely:Hi
nayanaandMahay ana
whi l
et hemai ndivi
sionsofJai ni
sm ar
e" Shwetambar"[whi
terobed)and
"Digambar as-Unclothed).TheJaincommuni t
yhasanopencl asssystem and
peopl ecaneasi lymov efrom onetoanotherThereisnountouchabili
tyamong
them andi nterdini
ngi sallowed.Butt
heyhav eendogamousJat is.

 Sikhism whichismorepopulari
nPunjabwasstartedbyasai ntl
ymancalled
GuruNanak.Thepl acesofworshi
poftheSikhsarecall
ed"Gur udwar
as"
,their
sacredscri
ptureisknownas"Grant
hSahib"
.Theirsacredgurudwaraist
he
"GoldenTemple"(SwarnaMandir
/whichisi
nAmr it
sar.Theyhav ecl
oseaffi
nit
y
withtheHindusParsis:

 TheParsi
sarefi
reworshi
pper
sandt heybel
ongtoZoroastri
anf
ait
h.Thei
r
numberisar
ound70.000onl
y.Theirsacr
edscr
ipt
ureis"ZendAv
esta"
.Thei
r
cont
ri
buti
ontoenri
chIndi
anciv
il
isati
onismemorable.Theyhavet
otali
dent
it
y
wit
hIndi
a.

 Jews:Asf arastheJewsar econcer ned,theyareonlyinaf ewnumbernow.

Mostoft hem hadalreadyleftforIsrael
,theirmothercount ry.TheJewswho
camet oIndiamoret han1000y earsagocoul dnotculti
v atetheHebrewl anguage.
Theydonotknowt heJudai cscr i
pturall
awandobser v esomeJewi shdietary
regul
ati
onsandf estival
s.TheyhadWhi teandBl ackdivisionsamongt hemsel ves
andtherewaspr ohibiti
ononI ntermarri
ageundi nter
diningTheyar efoundi na
smallnumbCochi nKer ala)andBombay

4. Cul
tur
alDi
ver
sit
ies:
 Inthecultur
alfiel
dalsowef indi nnumer ablevari
etiesdott
edov erthelengthandbr eadth
ofthiscountry
.Tr adi
ti
onal cul turalway sandmoder nthoughtsar eintermixedhere.The
foodhabits,dr
essst yl
esf olkway s,mor es,customsandt r
aditi
ons, norms,values,r
itual
s
andbel i
efsFami l
yandmar ital systemsandsuchot hersocio-cult
uralpracti
cesoft he
peoplearenev erthesameal l ov erIndi
a.Ifonet r
av el
sfrom onest atetoanot herorfrom
oneendoft henat iontoanot heronef i
ndssuchv astdiv
ersiti
es.Dr.R.K.Mukher jir
ightl
y
said."I
ndiai
samuseum ofcul tsandcust oms, creedsandcul ture,fai
thsandt ongues,
racial
typesandsoci alsystems

 Et
hni
cDi
ver
sit
y:

referstoawi dev ari

etyofraci
al,cul
turalandlinguisti
ccharacteri
sti
cs.Et
hnic
groupisdef i
nedashav i
ngcharacteri
sticsofasi zeablegroupofpeoplesharing
acommonanddi stincti
veraci
al,
nati
onal ,r
eli
gious,li
nguisti
corcultur
alheri
tage"
.
AsitisalreadystatedthattheIndiancommuni tyisanadmi xtureofdif
fer
ent
races[suchas-Negr i
to,Nordi
c,Medi t
er r
anean,Proto-Austrol
oid,
Mongoloidand
WesternBr achycephals)invar
yingdegr ees.

 I
ndi
aisConsi
der
edasaSub-
Cont
inentofAsi
a:

Diversiti
esf oundinIndiaar esodi versethatiti
sof tencal ledthesub- cont i
nentof
Asia".Ther earecast es,sect sandcommuni ti
esinIndi at hathav eani ndivi
dual
ethics.Theyal sohav eor ganicl i
nkswi thotherelement soft hepopul ationoft he
region.Thepeopl einsuchr egionmayshar eethnicor igins,languageandcul tur
al
trai
ts.Thei rsharedhistorical experi
ences,aswel lasecol ogyandenv ironment
areequal lyimpor t
ant.Power fulkingdomsandal somaj ordy nastieshav edi rect
ly
anddi rectl
ycont ri
butedt ot heshapi ngofcul t
uralregions.Thegr eatempi reshad
cent r
alculturalzonebutt heirinfl
uencewasext endedi nadi l
uredformt of ar
awaypl aces.Iti
sint hiscont ext.Indiaisoftenconsi deredasasub- cont i
nentof
Asia.

THENATUREOFUNI
TYORBONDSOFUNI
TYI
NINDI
A

Despitethewidespreaddi ff
erenceswhi chonefindsinI
ndia,itr
emai nsasonesi nglenati
on.
Indi
ahasnev erlostitsidealofunity.I
ndiancult
urepossessesaf undament aluni
tywhi ch
remainedundisturbedinitspolit
icalhist
oryofri
seandf al
l.Theimpr i
ntofIndianunitycanbe
foundintheli
teraturesandt houghtsofdi f
fer
entcommuni ti
esoft hecountryThef undamental
approachtoli
terature,phil
osophy ,
tradit
ionandcustomsist ypi
callyI
ndian.Thebasisoft he
socialandcul
turalunityofthecount ryiscommont oeverygroup.

 Meani
ngofUni
ty:

Thet er
m" uni
ty"impli
esonenessorasenseofwe- ness' orbelongi
ngness.Itdenoteshigher
l
evelsofco- operat
ion,mutualunderst
andi
ngsharedv alues, commoni denti
tybothhistori
cal
and
cul
turalandnat i
onalconsciousnessonthepartofthepeopl ei nspi
teofthediffer
ences.Ofthe
var
iousf actor
swhi chmanifesttheunit
yofIndi
a,thefollowingar eofgreati
mpor tance.
(
i) Regi
onal
Uni
ty

(
ii
) Li
ngui
sti
cUni
ty

(
ii
i) Rel
i
giousUni
ty

(
iv) Cul
tur
alUni
ty

1.Regi
onalorGeogr
aphi
calUni
tyofI
ndi
a:

Thephy sicalorregional orgeographi calfactor

shav eprovidedI ndia,ageogr aphicalunit
y.
Thename" Bhar atavarsha"or"Bhar ataKhanda"[the"landofBhar ata",t
hef oundingfatherof
theland]symbol isesitshistori
cal aswel lasphysicalidenti
ty.Thist r
aditionalnameal so
fi
guresinourEpi csandPur anas.Ithasoccupi edani mpor t
antpl acei nthemi ndsofpoet s,
poli
tical
phi l
osopher sandr eli
gioust hinkers.Thi
snamei ndicatesthegeogr aphicalaswell
asthepol it
icalunityofIndia.Asl okai n"VishnuPurana, al
soment ionsoft hephy si
cal
boundariesofIndi a.Inancienttimes, Indiawasal soknownas' Ar y
av art
ha' and
Jambudweepa' .

Itwasbel i
evedbymostoft heancientwr it
ersthatthephysicalboundari
esofIndi
a
consistedoft heHi malay asintheNor t
h, Kanyakumar i
intheWesti ntheSouth,
Brahmaput raint heEast, andther i
verSindhuint hewTheHi ndurul
erswhor ul
edIndi
aaf
ter
theruleofkingBhar ata,usecherishthisidealandt heambitionofestabl
ishi
ngav ast
empireexpr essions" Bhar at
hMat a","
VandeMat ar
am"" MotherIndi
aalsodenoteinan
emot i
onalmannert hegeogr aphi
cuni t
yofI ndi
a.

2. Li
ngui
sti
cUni
ty:

Despi tethepr esenceofanumberofl anguagesI ndiapossessesal i

nguisticuni ty.The
Sanskr i
tlanguagewasagr eatuni f
y i
ngf actor.Itwnotonl ythel anguageofr el
igionand
schol arship, butalsoofther oy alcour tsandt hel awcour ts.Itwast hecommonl anguagei n
allpar tsoft hecount r
yinthepast .Sanskr itlanguageandl i
teratur ereachedt hei rhei
ght
undert heGupt aswhomai nt ainedpol i
ticaluni t
yi nmostoft hepl acesofI ndi af or200y ears.
Sanskr i
tist hemot herofthel anguages.I thasbeent hesour ceofi nspirati
onf ormostof
theDr avi
di anl anguagesal so.Sanskr itwast her ootofbot hPal iandPr akri
tt het wo
l
anguageswhi chwer eusedf orspr eadingBuddhi sm.Sanskr itlanguageser vedas" avehicl
e
ofnobl ethoughtandexpr essi on,andasar eposi toryofourcul tur e"formor ethan3000
years.I tisi ndeedani ntegral forceofuni t
y.WhatSankr i
thaddonepr ev i
ousl ytowel d
Indiansi ntoauni t
ythepresentl anguagessuchasHi ndiandEngl ish( oneI ndianand
anot herf orei gn]aretr
yingt odoatpr esent .Thus, peoplemayspeakdi f
ferentl anguagesi n
diff
er entr egi onsbuttheyhav ecommonl anguagessuchasHi ndi andEngl isht o
communi cat ewi theachot her .

 TheSt
atusof"
Classi
calLanguage

TheGov er
nmentofI
ndiadecl
aredin2004thati
twouldaccor
dthest
atusofa"Classi
cal
Languagetot
hoseIndi
anlanguageswhichmeetcer
tainr
equir
ement
s.Languagessuchas
 Tami l
(2004),
Sanskrit(
2005),
Kannada(2008),Tel
ugu(2008),
Malay
alam (
2013)andon
(2014)-ar
ealreadydecl
aredasClassi
calLanguages.I
tisi
ndeed,
anfortt
orest
oreli
ngui
sti
c
heri
tageofIndia.

3.TheRel
igi
ousBasi
sofUni
ty:

AsSwami Viv
ekanandapointedout"reli
gionisthesouthIndi
a".Rel
igi
ousuni
tycer
tai
nly
pl
ayedasignif
icantr
olei
nthehistoryIndia.TheveryspreadofHindui
sm al
lovert
he
count
ryhashelpedthecauseofthisunity.

 CommonGodsandGoddesses: Thewor shipofmai nGodsandGoddessesof

Hinduism suchasGanapat hi,
Shi v
a,Vi
shnu, Sri
Rama, Hanuman, Kali
,Durga, Adi
Shakti,SaraswathiandLakshmi -andtheli
kesf oundt hr
oughoutIndia.Common
Script
ur esofReverence:Reli
giousscri
ptures,l
iketheVedas, Upanishads,theGita,
Puranasandt heBhagavanaregi v
enrespectthroughoutIndia.Si
mi l
arly,t
heGr eat
Epics,theRamay anaandt heMahabhar at
aar edev ot
ionall
yreadbyal lpeople.The
l
egendsofRamaundKr i
shnaar esungandr epeatedwi t
hequal f
ervour.

 CommonBel ief
sandSpiri
tualI
deas: Beli
efinrebi
rt
h,Karma,Moksha,Svarga-
NarakaHeavenandHellI
mmor tali
tyofsoul,
temporarynatur
eofthewor l
d,bel
i
efi
n
rebi
rt
h,sal
vati
on,t
heAvatarsofthelor
d,medi t
ati
on,yoga,
contemplat
ion,et
c.i
s
commont omostofthepeople.

 CommonTempl esandCent r
esofPi lgr
image: Indiai sknownf ori
tstemplecul t
ur e
whichi sr efl
ectedinv arioustempl esandsacr edpl acesscat ter
edalloverthe
count r
y .Rightfrom theAmar nath.Vai shnav at empl e.BadriandKedar nat
hi nthe
north,Rameshwari ntheSout h,theKamar up-Kamakshy ai
ntheNor t
heast,Puri i
n
theEast ,t
oDwar akaint heWestal lpr ovidef orreligiousunitytothi
scount ry.
AdiShankar acharya'
sf ourmat hsinf ourcor nersofI ndi aal
sosy mboli
seitsreli
gious
unit
y .Pilgri
maget odifferenthol
ypl aces[ especiallyt oKashi,AyodhyaMat hura,Puri
andDwar ka]riv
ers,andmount ai
nspl aysadef i
niterolei nweldi
ngpeopletoget her.It
alsocr eatesi nthem af eeli
ngofpat riotism.

 CommonHol yRiv
ers:TheHindurecountsthenamesofsev enhol
yr iversoft
he
countr
ysuchas-Ganga, Yamuna,
Sar aswat
hi,Godavar
i,Nar
mada, Sindhuand
Kauvery.Suchr
ecount
ingsrev
ealr
eligiousf
ervourandalsocul
tur
al unity
.

 M. N.Sri
niv
asisalsooftheopi
nionthat"t
heunityofIndi
aisessent
ial
lyr
eli
gious
one."I
ndiai
sasacr edl
andnotonlyf
ort heHindusbutalsofort
heSikhs,
Jainsand
Buddhist
s.Musli
msandChr i
sti
anstoohav eseveral
sacredcentr
esofpil
gri
magei n
I
ndia.

4.Cul
tur
alUni
tyofI
ndi
a:

I
ndi
aisof
tencal
l
eda"
labor
ator
yofcul
tur
alexper
iment
s!I
nspi
teofi
tswi
despr
ead
 dif
fer
encest heimpri
ntofcul
turaluni
tyandincer
tai
nr espectsuni
formit
y,i
stobef oundin
sever
al aspect
sofpeople'
sli
fe.Thisuni
tyfi
ndsit
sexpr essi
oni nl
i
terat
ureandthoughtin
art
,archit
ectur
eandsculptur
e,inphil
osophyandspir
it
ual i
ty,
indance,dr
amaandmusi c.
Thecast esyst
em hasalsoprovidedacommoncul t
ural i
deologyt
othepeople.

Religiousr itesandcer emoni esareal

sohel di nmor eorlesst hesamewayev er
y where.
Fest i
valssuchas-Dasar a,Deepaval
i
,Hol iRakshaBandhan, GaneshChat urt
hi,Makar a
Sankr amana, Ram Nav ami Yugadi
,et
c.,areal soobser vedt hroughoutt henationwi ththe
samer eli
gi ousf erv
our.Suchf esti
vat
sal sor eceiveint
ernational recogniti
onespeci all
ywhen
theleadingar t
ist sgiv
et heirper
formancesonsuchoccasi onsi nf or
eigncount r
ies.As
regardst henat ureoffami l
y ,
senti
ment swov enaroundmar riage,respecttowardst he
elders,kitchennor ms,sanct i
tyosamskar as( l
ikenamakar ana, upanay ana,vi
vaha,
anthy akri
y a, etc.)casterulesetc.-al
lthegr oupsseem t ohav ebeenunani mousi nt hei
r
accept ance.

 Concl
usi
on:

Theuni tyofIndiaisessent
iallyemotionalorpsychologicalNationali
sti
cf erv
oursand
patrot
icsentimentsbindIndianstogetherSloganssuchas
VandeMat aramBhar at
hamataki JaiJaiHind',
etc.getre-echoedonoccasi onsindi
ffer
ent
cornersofIndia.Theconcept sofMot herIndi
aMot herland"etc.
, havefurther
str
engthenedsuchsent i
ment s.Moderneducat i
on,thedev elopmentofanet workof
tr
anspor tandcommuni cati
ons, i
ndustri
ali
sationandur banisati
onhav epr ovi
dednew
basesf orunit
y."Unit
yofIndia"-i
sindeed,amuchcher ishedgoal ofI
ndians.

CHPT-
4:NATI
ONALI
NTEGRATI
ON:MEANI
NGCHALLENGES
Meani
ngofNat
ionalI
ntegr
ati
on

‘
Nat i
onalIntegrati
on’r
eferst onati
onalunityandasenseofbel ongingt ot henat i
on.Itisan
essentialaspectinthemaki ngofanat ion.Promotionofnati
onalint egrat
ionisr egardedasa
partandpar celofthepoli
cyofanycount ry.I
ntheIndiancontext
,itisamucht alked
phenomenonf oralmostallnat i
onall
evel l
eadersgavetoitutmosti mpor tance.Whent henat
ion
becamei ndependent ,
theyf el
tthenecessityofsuppressi
ngthediv isiveforcesandencour aging
theunifyi
ngf actor
s.Theywant edtocreatecondit
ionswhichwouldhel ppeopl et oforgett
hei
r
dif
ferencesanduni tetogether.Iti
sinthiscontext
,theconceptof“ nat i
onalintegrati
on”has
assumedi mportance.

Def
ini
ti
onofNat
ionalI
ntegr
ati
on

1.Benj
ami
n:Nat
ionali
ntegr
ati
on1r
efer
stot
he“
assi
mil
ati
onoft
heent
ir
epeopl
eofacount
ry
toacommoni
denti
ty.
”

2.I
nsimplewords,nat
ional
int
egr
ati
onref
erst
otheprocesswherei
nafeel
ingoftoget
her
ness,
asenseofnat
ional
unityandabov
eall
,a–senseofnati
onalbel
ongi
ngnessaredevel
oped
amongpeopl
e.

Essent
ialEl
ement
sofNat
ionalI
ntegr
ati
on:

Anationi
snotjustagroupofpeopl eli
vi
ngov erapieceofland.Apar tfr
om t heterr
itori
albond,
t
herearemanyot herel
ement sthatbindthem togethertomaket hem anation.Acommon
l
anguage,commonhi st
orictradit
ion,commoncul t
uralheri
tage,commonnat ionalvaluesand
i
deologi
essupremenationalloyalty
,patri
oti
sm, nati
onali
statti
tude,suppressionofant i
-nati
onal
f
orces–ar eal
ltheimportantelement swhichplaythei
rroleinwel di
ngpeopl eintoauni ty
.

NEEDFORNATI
ONALI
NTEGRATI
ON

Nationali
ntegrationisnothi
ngbutnationaluni
ty.I
talsodenotesemoti
onaluni
tyorint
egr
ati
on.
Itcontr
ibut
est ot hementalmake-upoft hepeopletofeel
thattheyar
eoneandhav eastr
ong
senseofbel onging.Iti
sanessential
needofast r
ongandst abl
enati
on.Ther
eisaneedto
developandst rengthenit
.

1.Nat i
onalIntegr
ationDoesNotEmer geAut omati
cal
ly:Nati
onalunitydoesnotaut omati
cal
l
y
developjustbecauseitscit
izensl
iv
ewi t
hinthesamegeographicboundar i
es.Itr
equires
deli
berateeffort
stoat t
ainnati
onaluni
ty.I
tisonl
ywhenconditi
onsar ecreatedinwhichpeopl
e
seem toforgettheirdi
ffer
encesandunitetoget
her,
thatnat
ionali
ntegrat
ionemer ges.

2.DifferencesShoul dNotbeAl lowedt oCreat eConf li

cts:Indiaisawonder l
andknownf or
widedi fferences.Onef i
ndsher emar keddi f
f erencesi nt heli
vingstandards,foodhabits,dress
styl
es, spokenl angauges, customar ypractices, rel
igiousbeliefs,cul
turalel
ement softhe
vari
ouspeopl eli
vingindi f
ferentpartsofcount ry.Wef i
ndext r
emepov ert
yononesi de, andon
theother ,asmal lsecti
onoft hepopul acerol li
ngi npr osperi
ty.Therearebelieversandnon-
beli
ever sinr eli
gion,therearehi ghl
yeducat edpeopl eandal sot heill
it
eratemasses, t
her eare
themostmoder nisedpeopl eandatt hesamet ime, therearepeopl eawayf rom thewor l
dof
civ
il
izat i
onandsoon.Lef ttothemsel ves,t
hesedi f
ferencesmaycr eatesocio-cul
tur
algap
betweent hepeopl eandf i
nallyitmayleadt ol otofi nternalconfli
cts.Thus,plannedand
purposef ul att
empt sar erequiredtoav oidsuchconf l
ictsandnot eunity.

3.NationalIntegr at
ionisEssent i
altoFulf
ilNati
onalGoal
s:Everynati
onhasi t
sownsetof
goalsoraimswhi chitt
riestofulf
ili
nit
sownway .I
ntheIndi
ancontext
, -socialj
usti
ce,li
berty,
equali
ty,fr
aterni t
y ,
seculari
sm (orsarv
adhar masamabhav a)
,nati
onali
sm, democr acy,nati
onal
i
ntegri
ty–assumei mpor t
anceasournat i
onalgoal
s.Nati
onaluni
tyorintegrati
onisv er
ymuch
neededf orther eali
sati
onoft hesegoals.Justl
ikeemoti
onali
denti
fi
cationkeepsmember sofa
famil
yuni t
ed, nationali
ntegrati
onhelpstheciti
zensofanati
ontogetor gani
sedanduni t
edto
achi
evenat ional purposes.

CHALLENGESFORNATI
ONALI
NTEGRATI
ON

Amongthev
ari
ousfact
orst
hatposeser
iouschal
l
engest
othepr
omot
ionofnat
ional
int
egr
ati
on
i
nIndi
a,t
hefol
l
owingmaybenoted.

1.Ri
seofCommunal
ism

“
Theant
agoni
sm pr
act
isedbyt
hemember
sofonecommuni
tyagai
nstt
hepeopl
eof
 othercommuni tyandr eligi
oncanbecal ledcommunal i
sm. »1Communal ism i
s
responsibl
ef orthehat r edwhi chonereli
giousgroupfostersforanother.Itisakindof
antagonism whi chisf oundbet weenrel
igiouscommuni ti
es.Communal i
sm and
communal riotsnor mal l
yar isewhenr eli
giousmat t
ersarepoliti
cali
sed.Itfai
lsto
separ at
ereli
gionf rom pol i
ti
cs.I tl
eadstot heabuseofpower .Communal i
sm restson
rel
igiousprejudicesandhat reds.Thef i
reofcommunal ism betweendi f
ferentreli
gious
groups[ mainlybetweenHi ndusandMusl i
ms, Hi
ndusandChr isti
ans)waski ndledbyt he
Brit
ish.TheBr it
ishpol i
cyof“ div
ideandrule”causedlotofdamaget oournat i
onal
i
nterests.Evenaf terindependencewehav enotbeenabl etodeal successfull
ywitht he
challengeofcommunal ism.

•Ef
fect
sofCommunal
ism :

(
i) Communi
sm causesr
ival
ryandv
iol
enceamongmasses.

(
ii
) I
tst
ri
kesatt
her
ootofsecul
ari
sm andnat
ional
int
egr
ati
on.

(
ii
i) I
tleadst
omut
ual
dist
rust
,il
l
wil
landhat
redbet
weent
hecommuni
ti
es.

(
iv) Becauseofcommunalism communal
int
erest
sal
way
ssuper
imposet
hemsel
ves
onnational
int
erest
s.

(
v) I
tleadst
ocommunal
riot
sandcl
ashesanddest
roy
speaceandor
deri
nsoci
ety
.

2.Chal
lengeofCast
eism

Cast
eism i
sunder
stoodasapar
ti
alorone-
sidedl
oyal
tyi
nfav
ourofanypar
ti
cul
arcast
e.

AsD.
N.Pr
asadpoi
ntsout
,“Cast
eism i
sloy
alt
ytot
hecast
etr
ansl
atedi
ntoact
ion.
”

CausesofCast
eism :

(
i) Thefeel
ingofsuper
ior
ityandi
nfer
ior
it
y,hi
ghandl ow,
sacr
edandunsacr
ed
associ
atedwit
hcasteisthemaincauseofcast
eism.

(
ii
) I
tisalsoduetothepr
act
iceofcast
eendogamywhi
chundul
yrest
ri
ctsone’
s
mari
talrel
ati
ons.

(
ii
i) Cast
eisastr
ongcohesivegroup.I
thasapower
ful
hol
dov eri
tsmember s.Hence,
i
tsmembersarehesi
tanttodealfr
eel
ywit
hthemembersofothercast
es.

(
iv) Thepracti
ceofunt
ouchabil
i
tyontheonehand,
andther
iseofSCsandtheOBCs
duetoreserv
ati
onfaci
l
iti
es,ont
heother
,havef
urt
herwi
denedthegapbetween
thecast
es.

(
v) Cast
epr
ejudi
cesar
eatt
her
ootofcast
eism.

•ConsequencesofCast
eism:
 (
i) Cast
eism hi
nder
sthedev
elopmentofnat
ional
feel
i
ng.

(
ii
) I
tisdanger
oust
odemocr
acyf
ori
tsuppor
tsi
nequal
i
ty.

(
ii
i) I
tiscont
rar
ytot
hespi
ri
tofourconst
it
uti
on.

(
iv) I
tleadst
omor
aldegener
ati
onbyencour
agi
ngnepot
ism.

(
v) I
tignor
est
hehumanv
aluesandsoci
alwel
far
e.

(
vi) Itmaycont
ri
butetothenegl
ectoftal
entsandef
fi
ciency
.Br
ain-
drai
nisof
tent
he
r
esul
tofcast
eism andther
esul
tantnepoti
sm.

(
vii
) Castei
sm play
sanugl
yrol
einel
ect
ions.Ri
sei
ncast
eism l
eadst
otheweakeni
ng
ofnati
onalunit
y.

3.Chal
lengeofRegi
onal
ism

Regionalism r ef
erst oanext remel oyaltyorlov etoapar t
icul
arr egionwhi chmay
underminet heinterestofthenat ion.Indiaisanat i
onwithwi der egionaldif
fer
ences.
Whenaper songoesf rom onepar tofthecount r
ytoanother, heof tenfi
ndshimselfasa
forei
gner.Ouri mbalancedeconomi cplansal sohav ewidenedt hegapbet weenstates.
Somest at eshav ebeengr eatlybenefitedbyt hef r
uitsofindustriali
sati
onand
mechani sationofagr i
cult
ure, whil
esomest ateshav emiserablyl aggedbehind.I
tissai
d
thatri
chst at esareget ti
ngricher,andpoor ,poor er.Peoplearesl owl ybecomingawareof
thesedispar iti
es.Ithasnowassumedt heform ofr egi
onali
sm.

Regi onalism isexpressedinthedesireofpeopleofoner egiont opromot et heirown

regi
onal interestattheexpenseoft heint
erestsofotherregions.Ithasof tenl edto
separ at
ism andi nsti
gatedseparati
stacti
vit
iesandv i
olentmov ement s.[Ex.: Khali
stan
Mov ementi nPunjab,BodolandMov ementinAssam. ]Ithasgai nedt r
emendous
moment um dur i
ngt herecentyearsbecauseitisexpl
oitedbyt hesel f
ishpol i
tici
ans.It
s
l
inkagewi thli
nguism haswor senedthesit
uation.Regi
onalism challengest hepr i
macyof
thenat i
onal i
sti
cinterest
sandunder minesnationaluni
ty,

4.TheMenaceofLi
ngui
sm

Linguism impl i
esanone- si
dedlov eandadmi rationt owar dsone’ sl
anguagesanda
prejudiceandhat r edt owar dsot hers’
languages.Li ngui sm i
st heprejudiceoft he
speaker sofapar ticularlanguaget odev el
opt heirlanguaget ot hedetr
imentofal lother
l
anguages.I ndiai sal andofmanyt onguesandhasbeencal leda“ museum of
l
anguages”andal soasa“ l
inguisti
cmadhouse” .Accor dingto1961Censusr eport,t
here
wer e1018di f
ferentl anguagesi ncludingtheconst itutionall
yrecognisedl anguages.This
l
inguisticdiversityhasl edtol i
nguism.Ithasof t
enbeenmani festedintov i
olent
mov ement sposi ngat hreattonat i
onalint
egration.Li nguisti
ct ensi
onsar eof t
en
mani festedint hebor derswhi charebi l
i
ngual.Ex: (
i)InKar nataka,thereisat ugofwar
betweenMar athi andKannadaspeaki ngpeoplei nBel gaum.( ii)TheGoansar edivi
ded
ont hebasi sofMar athiandKonkani l
anguages.( i
i
)Assam i sconf r
ontedwi thBengali
andAssamese, andsoon.
 •ConsequencesofLi
ngui
sm :

(
i)Li
ngui
sm l
eadst
otheper
secut
ionofl
i
ngui
sti
cmi
nor
it
ies.

(
ii
)Li
ngui
sm beget
sregi
onal
i
sm andpar
ochi
ali
sm.

(i
i
i)Itunderminest
hei
mpor
tanceofnat
ional
issuesandmakespeopl
etobecome
narr
ow- minded.

(
iv)I
tpr
ovi
desf
ert
il
egr
oundf
orr
egi
onal
pol
i
tical
par
ti
es.

(v)I
tcausespermanentri
ver
-watersharingdi
sputes,
borderdisput
esbet
weenst at
es,
andsoon.(vi)I
nitsext
remeform, i
tleadstothedemandf orsepar
atest
ates.I
nbrief
,it
erodesnati
onalf
eeli
ngsanddamagesnat i
onali
ntegr
ati
on.

5.Regi
onalPol
it
icalPar
ti
es

Str
ongr egionalfeeli
ngs,i
nteresti
ni ntra-stat
epol i
ti
csandregi onalaspir
ati
onshave
gi
venbi r
tht oregionalpol
iti
calpart
ies.Li nguism al
soencour agesthef ormati
onand
developmentofr egi
onalpoli
ti
calpar ti
es.Regi onalpoli
ti
cal
par ti
esconf i
nethei
rint
erest
s
onl
yt otheirregi
onsandf ailtounder standandappr eci
atethingsinalargernati
onal
perspecti
ve.Theyar enarrow-mindedandt heirwayofapproachmayendangert he
nat
ional i
nterests.

I
nI ndia,
therearesomer egi
onal parti
eswhicharedemandi ngmor eandmor eautonomy
i
nt heirf
uncti
on.Exampl es:TeluguDesham i nAndhraPradesh,D.M.K.andA.I.
A.D.
M.K.
i
nTami lNadu,AkaliDali
nPunjab, andShivSenainMahar ashtr
a.AkaliDalandD.M.K.at
onet i
mehadev endemandednotonl ytotal
autonomybutal sothestat
usofan
i
ndependentnat ion.Suchapproachest owardspoli
ti
cscannev erstr
engthennati
onal
feeli
ngsorunity.

6.Ext
remi
sm andTer
ror
ism :

Pol
iti
cal
extremism andt
err
ori
sm hav
eemer
geddur
ingt
her
ecenty
ear
sast
hemost
nat
ionali
ntegr
ation.

Ext
remism ref
erstothereadinessonthepartofanindi
vi
dualorgr
ouptogot oany
ext
remeev entoresortt
oundemocr at
ic,vi
olentandhar
mfulmeans-toful
fi
lone’
s
obj
ecti
ves.ExampleforExtremists:(
i)People’
sWarGroup,(
ii
)MaoistCommunist
Centr
e,Naxali
tes,
ingeneral
.

Terr
orism isamet hodwherebyanorganisedgrouporpart
yseekst oachi
eveit
saimsby
generati
ngf earandhorr
orinthecommuni tyandthrought
hesy st
ematicuseofvi
olence.
Exampl eforTerrori
stGroups:(i
)Al
lKaida,(i
i)JKLF,and(
ii
i)LTTE
 Infact,terrori
sm isal soaki ndofext remi sm.Extremi standt er roristcr imesaretaking
placeint hef orm ofki dnappi ngandki l
li
ngofpol i
ticalleadersandgov ernmentof fi
cial
s,
blackmai li
ngt her i
chandt heindustriali
sts,at
tackingpol icest ations, ur banbombi ngs,
blasti
ngbr i
dges, T.V.cent res,telephoneexchanges, microwav est ations, l
ooti
ngbanks,
setti
ngf iretogov ernmentbusesandpr ivat
ev ehicles,etc.Var ioust er rori
st
organisat i
onssuchas–( 1)JKLF–JammuandKashmi rLiber ati
onFr ont,
(ii
)theLTTE–
Liberati
onofTami lTiger sElam, (ii
i)
.Al lKai
da, et
c.ar eresor t
ingt ov eryhar mfulterr
orist
activ
iti
esandendanger ingnat ionalintegrati
on.(i
v )Naxal it
eter rorism i salsocausing
newanxi eti
es, t
ensions, fearsandmonet ar
ylossesnowaday s.

EFFORTSTOPROMOTENATI
ONALI
NTEGRATI
ON

Theimport
anceoftheissueofnat
ionalintegrati
onmadet heCent ral
Gov er
nmentt odo
somethi
ngi
nthisregar
d.TheCentralEducationMi ni
stryorganiseda‘Commi tteeforNat
ional
Int
egr
ati
onin1961underthechai
rmanshi pofDr .Sampur nanand.TheI nt
egrati
onCommi tt
ee
gavesomesuggesti
onstopromotenationalintegrat
ion.Someoft hem arestatedbel
ow.

Recommendat
ionsofDr
.Sampur
nanandCommi
tt
ee

1.Reorgani
sat
ionofsyl
labiatv
ari
ousl
evel
s–pr
imar
y,secondar
y,col
l
egeanduni
ver
sit
ylev
el–
topromotenat
ional
int
egrati
on.

2.Givi
ngdueencour
agementtoextra-
cur
ri
cularacti
vit
iesbesidesi
mpar
ti
ngf
ormal
knowl
edge
tothestudent
swi
ththei
ntent
ionofpromoti
ngnationaluni
ty.

3.Improvementoft
ext
bookshel
psagr eatdeali
ngivi
ngatruenati
onal
perspecti
vet
othe
student
s.Theycanbemadetounder
standtheirr
ichcul
tur
alher
it
ageandfeelproudoft
hei
r
nati
on.

4.Conduct
ingcommunit
ypr
ayer
s,massmeet
ings,
speechesbyr
espect
edl
eader
s,et
c.,
hel
pto
bri
ngthepeopl
etoget
her
.

Ot
herSuggest
ions

Inaddit
iont
owhattheInt
egr
ati
onCommitt
eesuggest
edf
orpr
omot
ingnat
ional
int
egr
ati
on,
we
mayalsoconsi
dert
hefoll
owi
ngfort
hesamepurpose.

1.Atanal
l-
Indi
alev
elonel
anguageshoul
dbedev
elopedasal
i
nkl
anguaget
ohel
ppr
oper
communicati
onamongpeopl
e.

2.Anall
-I
ndi
alevel
educat
ional
pol
i
cyi
stobeev
olv
edwi
thav
iewt
obr
ingaboutuni
for
mit
yand
toachi
eveuni
ty.

3.Speci
alprogrammesmustbechal kedoutt
opromotenat
ional
uni
ty.Cinema,t
elev
isi
on,
radi
o,
drama,dance,artexhi
bit
ions,
musi
calconcer
tsandsuchot
hermedi
ai nst
rument
scouldbe
madeuseofi nthisregar
d
4.Rol
eofteachersteachi
ngatalll
evel
sandi
ndi
ff
erentf
iel
dsmustbepr
oper
lymadeuseofi
n
promot
ingemotionalint
egrat
ion.

5.Dueimport
anceistobegivent
odevelopint
er-cul
tur
alunder
standings[thati
s,under
standi
ng
betweendi
ff
erentr
eli
gious,
li
ngui
sti
c,r
egional
,tr
ibal
,cast
eandot hergroups]topromoteunit
y.

6.Gover
nment alef
fort
sarealsonecessaryinthi
sr egar
d.Itmusthavesincer
ededicati
on
towar
dsachi evingthegoalofnat
ionalunit
y.Hence, Gover
nmentoffi
cial
sshouldinvari
abl
ybe
aboveall
pr essuresandexpressi
onsoflingui
sm, communal i
sm,regi
onalism,cast
eism.
Nepoti
sm, untouchabil
it
yandsoon.