SOCIOLOGY-II

(SOCIOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY INDIA)

SUBMITTED TO: Mr. Amit Chaturvedi

SUBMITTED BY: Manushi

ROLL NO: 37

B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) (2nd Sem.)

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It is not possible to prepare a project without the assistance and encouragement of other people.
This one is certainly no exception. I am using this opportunity to express my gratitude to
everyone who supported me throughout the course of this assignment. I am thankful for their
aspiring guidance, invaluably constructive criticism and friendly advice during the assignment
work. I would like to express my special gratitude to my sociology Prof. Mr. Amit Chaturvedi
who gave me this opportunity for making this wonderful project, which also helped me in doing
a lots of research and I came to know about so many new things for which I am indebted to them
from the core of my heart. I also acknowledge with a deep sense of reverence, my gratitude
towards my parents and members of my family, because of whom I have managed to complete
this assignment on time. Any omission in this acknowledgment does not mean lack of gratitude.

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SOCIOLOGICAL PROFILE
OF THE VILLAGE
“BHOJIPURA”

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Serial Title Page

No. No.
1. Introduction to village 5-7

2. The prevalent Caste system 8-12

3. Family Structure and Kinship 13-15

4. Political Life of the villagers 15-16

5. Analysis of features of caste system in context of the 16-19

village

6. Conclusion 19

7. Bibliography 22

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1. Introduction to village

Indian villages constitute a greater portion of the total geographical area of the country. It is a
known fact that a major portion of the India’s total population resides in the villages. The
villages of India can broadly be divided according to the regions of their location like Eastern
region, Northern region, Southern region, Central region, Northeast region and Western
region. One of the main differences between the Indian villages of different regions is the
used language. Being one of the oldest civilisations in the world that has been invaded by several
foreign powers, India is home to a huge variety of languages. The villagers in different zones of
India speak in different languages such as Bengali language, Oriya language, Assamese
language, Punjabi language, Marathi language, Kannada language, Tamil language, Gujarati
language, Telugu language, Hindi language, etc. The original form of most of the ancient
languages in India can be found in the villages.

The villages can also be classified on the basis of ‘social ties’ existing between the residents of
the respective village. These social ties divide the people into ‘Gemeinschaft’ and ‘Gesellschaft’.
Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft are German words that mean community and society
respectively. Introduced in classical social theory, they are used to discuss the different kinds of
social ties that exist in small, rural, traditional societies versus large-scale, modern, industrial
ones.

Early German sociologist Ferdinand Tonnies introduced the concepts of Gemeinschaft (Gay-

mine-shaft) and Gesellschaft (Gay-zel-shaft) in his 1887 book Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft.
Tonnies presented these as analytic concepts which he found useful for studying the differences
between the kinds of rural, peasant societies that were being replaced across Europe by modern,
industrial ones. Following this, Max Weber further developed these concepts as ideal types in his
book Economy and Society  (1921) and in his essay "Class, Status, and Party." For Weber, they
were useful as ideal types for tracking and studying the changes in societies, social structure, and
social order over time.

According to Tonnies, Gemeinschaft, or community, is comprised of personal social ties and in-

person interactions that are defined by traditional social rules and result in an overall cooperative
social organization. The values and beliefs common to a Gemeinschaft are organized around

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appreciation for personal ties, and because of this, social interactions are personal in
nature. Tonnies believed that these kinds of interactions and social ties were driven by emotions
and sentiments, by a sense of moral obligation to others, and were common to rural, peasant,
small-scale, homogenous societies. When Weber wrote about these terms in “Economy and
Society”, he suggested that a Gemeinschaft is produced by the "subjective feeling" that is tied to
affect and tradition.

On the other hand, Gesellschaft, or society, is comprised of impersonal and indirect social ties
and interactions that are not necessarily carried out face-to-face (they can be carried out via
telegram, telephone, in written form, through a chain of command, etc.). The ties and interactions
that characterize a Gesellschaft are guided by formal values and beliefs that are directed by
rationality and efficiency, as well as by economic, political, and self-interests. While social
interaction is guided by sentiments, or seemingly naturally occurring emotions in
a Gemeinschaft, in a Gesellschaft rational will guides it. This kind of social organization is
common to large-scale, modern, industrial, and cosmopolitan societies that are structured around
large organizations of government and private enterprise, both of which often take the form of
bureaucracies. Organizations and the social order as a whole are organized by a complex division
of labor, roles, and tasks.

The village, “Bhojipura” that I chose to study is a Gemeinschaft that is the one governed by
affections and traditions. Bhojipura is a village panchayat located in the Bareilly district of Uttar
Pradesh state, India. It is free from the hustle and bustle of a city life. There are very few primary
schools and unlike a city, education in Bhojipura means attending classes so that one could enjoy
mid-day meal facility provided by the government. Students either walk or move on bicycles.
Very few vehicles run on the roads and auto-rickshaws are available at fixed timings. The houses
are mostly made up of red bricks with tinned roofs depicting the financial status of the residents.

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 A special session organized for girl’s students in one of the primary schools at Bhojipura

The roads are narrow and muddy and have vegetable fields on either side of the roads. At the
start of summers we can also witness the blooming sunflowers. They have weekly mobile
markets also where all the essential commodities ranging from a house knife to clothing material,
are sold at a very cheap rate. There are very few shops like those of sweets, clothing, groceries,
and electrical goods catering to their everyday needs. And mostly they have to go to Bareilly (the
nearest town) to purchase goods for a special event. They have proper sanitation and medical
facilities. Proper water supply and electricity is available to them. However, you can find most of
the houses indulged in electricity theft in order to escape from spending a share of their meager
incomes in payment of electricity bills. The villagers are simple and sincere and are ready to help
each other in hours of need provided their caste structure and male hegemony remains
unaffected.

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 VILLAGE OVERVIEW

Panchayat: Bhojipura
Tehsil: Bareilly
District: Bareilly
State: Uttar Pradesh
Pincode: 243202
Area: 215 hectares
Population: 2,356
Households: 373
Nearest Town: Bareilly (17km)

Agricultural lands owned by the villagers

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 STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Sex Ratio: 907

Total Literacy Rate: 54.06%

Male Literacy Rate: 64.69%

Female Literacy Rate: 42.30%

Average Income: Rs.200-300 per day

2. The prevalent Caste system

The total population of Bhojipura according to the Census of 2011 is 2,356 out of which male
population is 1,250 and female population is 1,106. The people mainly belong to the lower castes
of Hindu and Muslim communities. According to M.N. Srinivas (1916-1999), an Indian
sociologist belonging to the caste of Brahmins (the uppermost caste of the caste system
prevailing in India), caste is a segmentary system. Every caste for him is divided into sub-castes
which are the units of endogamy whose members follow a common occupation, common culture
and are governed by a common authority.

The caste system is far from a rigid system in which the position of each component is fixed for
all time. Movement has always been possible and especially in the middle regions of the
hierarchy. A low caste is able to rise to a higher position in the hierarchy by adopting
vegetarianism, teetotalism and by Sanskritising its rituals and increasing the pantheon. However,
this observation by M.N. Srinivas is not applicable in this village and no movement among the
caste groups has been seen. The caste group in which the people are born is the same caste group
in which they die.

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Caste and the occupations associated with it:

The Hindu community in the village of Bhojipura comprises of the following caste groups-

a. Jatav: Jatav is a social group that in India is considered to be a part of the Chamar caste,

one of the untouchable communities (now often termed as Dalit), who are classified as
a Scheduled Caste under modern India's system of positive discrimination. In the early
part of the 20th century, the Jatavs attempted the process of ‘sanskritisation’, claiming
themselves to be historically of the kshatriya varna. However, these claims were not
accepted by other castes.

The Jatavs of this village are mainly associated with the work of shoemaking. For this
purpose they choose a place on the side of a road and spread the sheet on the floor to
place the required articles. Only men belonging to this community are indulged in
making and repairing foot-wears.

They are also engaged in tilling the agricultural lands. Both men and women from this
community are involved in this work. They are either hired on a daily-wage basis or are
kept on monthly basis. The workers employed on a monthly basis were more satisfied
than the other group of workers as they had to worry less regarding an uninterrupted
source of income.

They also travel to nearby towns of Bareilly and Rudrapur in search of work. Bareilly and
Rudrapur are important centres of economic activity providing higher incomes to these
workers. The types of work they get in these towns are mainly welding work and
carpentry work.

b. Valmiki: The Valmiki (also Balmiki) is a Dalit community of India. They have

historically faced exclusion and oppression in Indian society, and are frequently affected
by anti-Dalit violence and repression by members of other castes. Some Valmikis claim
that they descend from the Hindu sage Valmiki who is traditionally ascribed as the
writer of the epic Ramayana. Valmikis are now classified as Scheduled Castes.

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 Balmikis of this village are employed as sweepers in municipalities, hospitals and
government offices.  Some Balmikis are engaged in agricultural or contract labour.
Women from this community are mainly appointed as midwives. The main source of
their employment is ‘Shri Ram Murti Smarak Institute of Medical Sciences’ which is a
famous medical college located on the outskirts of Bareilly. It has its own hospital
attracting patients from all the neighbouring districts and providing employment
opportunities to the nearby residents of Bhojipura. The Valmikis from Bhojipura are
employed here as sweepers (both male and female members), mid-wives (female
members) and washerman. They are paid Rs. 2,000- Rs. 3,000 (approximately) per
month.

c. Dhobi: The traditional occupation of this caste group was washing clothes. The
word dhobi is derived from the Hindi word dhona, which means to wash. Dhobis in
various regions are likely to be of many different ethnic origins: their ancestors took the
occupation of washing clothes, evolving over time into a distinct caste bound by rules
of endogamy. Most Dhobis follow the customs and traditions of the region they live, so
for example those in North India speak Hindi, while those in Maharashtra speak Marathi.
The Dhobi rank themselves highest among the Scheduled Castes. The Census of 2001
returned Dhobis representing six per cent of the total Scheduled Caste population. In
Uttar Pradesh, the community is strictly endogamous, and practice clan exogamy. Their
main clans, known as gotras, are the Ayodhyabas, Belwar, Mathur, Jaiswar, Jaiswal,
Belwar, Yadava & Chauhans. Traditionally, the community would wash clothes for
particular families, and would receive grain and services from them. But with the growth
of the cash economy, most Dhobi are now paid money for their services.

People of Bhojipura belonging to this caste group are appointed as washerman. Both men
and women from this community can be seen in this occupation. But these people have to
face condemnation from the people of upper caste groups. People from upper caste
groups resist themselves from keeping a washerman in their house belonging to a lower
caste group. They find difficulty in finding jobs and mostly they have to travel to Bareilly
to find a suitable workplace.

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 d. Brahmins: It is a varna (class) in Hinduism specialising as priests, teachers (acharya) and
protectors of sacred learning across generations. The traditional occupation of Brahmins
was that of priesthood at the Hindu temples or at socio-religious ceremonies and rite of
passage rituals such as solemnising a wedding with hymns and prayers. Theoretically, the
Brahmins were the highest ranking of the four social classes. In practice, Indian texts
suggest that Brahmins were agriculturalists, warriors, traders and have held a variety of
other occupations in India.

The Brahmins of this village occupy a respected and dominant position. They are usually
the owners of the agricultural lands. They are the ones whose children are sent to school.
In school, they don’t allow their children to sit with the children belonging to the lower
caste (if any). They employ people from other caste groups to till their land. They are the
ones belonging to the higher income group and are owners of cars and tractors.

e. Yadavs: Yadav refers to a grouping of traditionally mainly non-elite, peasant-pastoral

communities or castes in India and Nepal that since the 19th and 20th centuries has
claimed descent from the mythological King Yadu as a part of a movement of social and
political resurgence. The term Yadav now covers many traditional peasant-pastoral castes
such as Ahirs of the Hindi belt and the Gavli of Maharashtra. Traditionally, Yadav groups
were linked to cattle raising and, as such, were outside the formal caste system.

The Yadavs of Bhojipura can be seen engaged in rearing cattle. They rear cows and are
responsible for the supply of milk and dairy products to the residents of the village. The
people from other caste groups are dependent on them for the consumption of milk. Both
men and women can be found engaged in this work.

The Muslim community in the village of Bhojipura comprises of the following caste groups-

a. Pathans: The Pathans of Uttar Pradesh have a large community of Pashtuns in the state

of Uttar Pradesh in India, who form one of the largest Muslim communities in the state.
They are also known as khans, which is a commonly used surname, although not all those
who use the surname are Pathans.

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b. Mewati: The Mewatis are both a Rajput caste and a Muslim community and represent a
blending of Hinduism and Islam. The Mewatis profess the beliefs of Islam, but the roots
of their ethnic structure are in Hindu caste society. No historical records are available to
explain exactly when their conversion happened or why, but it is generally believed that
they embraced Islam in the seventeenth century during the reign of Mogul emperor
Aurangzeb. For generations, these people have been livestock farmers and breed cattle.
Some Mewatis own trucking businesses. They are also in government service, including
the military and police. Others work as skilled and unskilled daily wage labourers. A
small number are plumbers and electricians.

c. Faqir: The Faqir are a Muslim ethnic group in India. They are also known as Shah Alvi,
Sain (Pir, Dewan Saheb, Miya Shah,Shah Saheb,Dewan Baba) in North India, Shah or
Alvi is now their preferred self-designation and in West Bengal they are called as
Shahjiya. Since the people of this community are the descendants of Sufi Saints
belonging to Syeds of Arab, their lineage is traced to Ali, so they are called as Syed,
Shah, Mir, Alvi, Shah-Diwan and by other surnames. They are also venerated as pir or
peer saheb. Some Muslims also visit the holy shrines (majar or dargah ) of peer fakir.
They are respected as Muslim Brahmins.

d. Muslim Teli: The Muslim Teli are an ethnic group found in Pakistan and India. The
word Tel means oil (cooking oil) and Teli means person dealing with manufacture and
sale of cooking oil in Urdu. Related to the Muslim Teli are the Ghanchi, a community
found in Gujarat, who are also involved in the manufacture of cooking oil. The members
of this community converted from the Hindu Teli caste to Islam. They are found in North
India and Pakistan. In North India, the community is also known by the name Shaikh
Mansuri, while in Pakistan, they are known as Teli Malik. In Uttar Pradesh, a majority of
Teli are small and medium-sized farmers. Many have benefited from land reforms carried
out at Indian Independence, when they were granted ownership of the land they
cultivated. The Uttar Pradesh Teli are strictly endogamous, and are further divided into
four endogamous groups, the Turkiya, Ikasna, Doasna and Dese. In terms of distribution,
the Turkiya are found mainly in Awadh and Varanasi, while the Ikasna and Doasna are

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 found in western Uttar Pradesh. They speak Urdu, as well as dialects of Hindi, and follow
the Sunni sect.

Unlike the Hindu community of the Bhojipura village where each person is employed in
the occupation determined by his caste, the Muslim community of the village is
employed in different works irrespective of their caste groups. They are associated with
tailoring work, Zardosi work, and transportation work (transporting finished goods from
the village to the nearby towns).

Zardosi work done in Bareilly is famous all across the country and especially in northern
India. Bareilly is the supplier and exporter of embroidered sarees. This is a heavy and
more elaborate embroidery work which uses varieties of gold threads, spangles, beads,
seed pearls, wire, and gota. It is used to embellish wedding outfits, heavy coats, cushions,
curtains, canopies, animal trappings, bags, purses, belts, and shoes. The material on
which this kind of embroidery is done is usually heavy silk, velvet and satin. The old
teaches the young and the skill continues to transfer from generation to the other. All this
work done in Bareilly is carried out by members of the Muslim community coming
residing in the nearby villages including Bhojipura. This Zardosi work is one of the
biggest sources of employment for the Muslim community of Bhojipura.

3. Family Structure and Kinship

Every individual has relationships with other people around them. This is the basic system that
takes place in all human societies. It organizes people and groups and therefore it is known as the
system of kinship. Iravati Karve (1953), an Indian sociologist from Maharashtra undertakes a
comparative analysis of four cultural zones with a view to trace out something like a regional
pattern of social behavior. A region may show various local patterns. There are variations
between castes because of hierarchy and caste-based isolation and separation. Karve analyses the
process of acculturation and accommodation in the context of kinship.

Most of the families in the village of Bhojipura are joint families consisting of several
generations residing, working, eating, and worshiping together. In these families kinship ties are

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often crucial to obtaining employment or financial assistance and people are inter-dependent on
each other. When a small child eats, his mother puts the food into his mouth with her own hand.
When a girl brings water home from the well in pots on her head, someone helps her unload the
pots. A student hopes that an influential relative or friend can facilitate his college admission. A
young person anticipates that parents will arrange his or her marriage. Finally, a person facing
death expects that relatives will conduct the proper funeral rites ensuring his own smooth
passage to the next stage of existence and reaffirming social ties among mourners.

The remaining families are nuclear families: a couple with their unmarried children. Although,
relatives live close to their house and there are neighbours responding readily to their kinship
obligations.

For the residents of Bhojipura, lines of hierarchy and authority are clearly drawn, and ideals of
conduct help them in maintaining family harmony. All family members have to accept the
authority of those above them in the hierarchy. The eldest male acts as family head, and his wife
supervises her daughters-in-law, among whom the youngest has the least authority. Reciprocally,
those in authority accept responsibility for meeting the needs of other family members. The
hierarchy followed is as follows:

Eldest male member

His wife

Their sons

Their daughters

Their son’s wives

Their grandsons

Their granddaughter

Males have controlled key family resources, such as land or businesses. Women did not inherit
real estate. Under Muslim customary law, women can—and do—inherit real estate, but their

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shares have typically been smaller than those of males. However, women have collected some
wealth in the form of precious jewelry.

Purdah system is still prevalent in this village. Hindu and Muslim women follow complex rules
of veiling the body and avoidance of public appearance, especially before relatives linked by
marriage and before strange men. Purdah practices are linked to patterns of authority and
harmony within the family. Hindu and Muslim purdah observances differ in certain key ways,
but female modesty and decorum as well as concepts of family honor and prestige are essential
to the various forms of purdah. The society in this village is male dominated and the women
members have limited access to the vital resources. Women have to conceal their bodies and
even their faces with modest clothing and veils before certain categories of people, avoid
extramarital relations, and move about in public only with a male escort. Poor and low-status
women often practice weakened versions of veiling as they have to work in agricultural lands.

Hindu women have to veil their faces and remain silent in the presence of older male in-laws,
both at home and in the community. A young daughter-in-law even veils from her mother-in-
law. These practices emphasize respect in relationships, limit unapproved encounters, and
enhance family lines of authority. For Muslims, veiling is especially stressed outside the home,
where a woman has to compulsorily wear an all-enveloping black burka. According to the
villagers, such purdah shelters women and the sexual inviolability of the family from unrelated
unknown men.

In some societies, a couple lives with or near the male's family after marriage. This is known
as patrilocality. In other societies, a couple lives with or near the female's family after marriage.
This is known as matrilocality. The residents of Bhojipura favour ‘patrilocality’. And marriages
are arranged within their own castes between unrelated young people who may never have
met. People use their existing social networks to find a perfect partner for their children. Love
marriages are seen as a disgrace to the family and are not permitted. Although, in one or two
cases love marriage was permitted as the couple belonged to the same caste group. However,
they are never looked upon as a desired couple. Hence, we can conclude that the villagers
practice ‘endogamy’. Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific social

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group, caste or ethnic group, rejecting those from others as unsuitable for marriage or other close
personal relationships.

4. Political Life of the villagers

I could not find any information regarding the political life of villagers before the introduction of
“Panchayati Raj System.” Panchayati Raj received a constitutional status with the Panchayati Raj
Act that was introduced on April 24, 1993. Presently it is applicable to all the states except
Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya and in all Union Territories (UTs) except Delhi. The Act
streamlined the working of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) that lacked timeliness and an
organized way of functioning.

According to the villagers the Panchayat is not much active and does not take the issues
seriously. The Panchayat sits once in a month and sometimes it does not sit even once. People
have to suffer a lot because of the negligence of the Panchayat. The focus of the Panchayat is
mainly on the schemes offered by the State Government and the Central Government. They
spread awareness among the people regarding such schemes and tell the benefits of availing such
schemes. Their second focus is on ensuring uninterrupted water and electricity supply. Besides
these two issues they hardly take any interest in the arising disputes. They try to keep them aloof
from matters involving people from two caste groups.

Seats of the Panchayat are fixed for every caste group and there are no such cases where one
caste is dominating the Panchayti Raj institution. Even the Pradhan is elected from every caste
group (be it a Muslim or Hindu) after a fixed tenure of five years. Few seats are reserved for
women belonging to the scheduled castes. However, women are never seen interested in
contesting elections and they contest elections on behalf of their male counterparts. They become
part of the Panchayat only for the name’s sake and the actual role lies in the hands of their
husbands.

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The members of the Panchayat are seen indulged in corrupt practices as is evident from the news
report by Amar Ujala dated 9th May, 2018. Street lights were to be purchased by the Panchayat
for the village. The actual cost of per street light was Rs.1,600 but the Panchayat members on
papers showed that each street light had cost them Rs.4,000. They appropriated the extra money
gained on the purchase.

The Panchayat is not able to solve the grievances of people to a larger extent but then also, due to
the implementation of provisions of Panchayati Raj Act 1994, much has changed within its
socio-political structure and culture. Now the village Pradhan belongs to a lower caste group and
most of the village land, which was lying vacant but was formerly owned by people of upper
caste groups, has been given on lease (patta) to lower castes by the government.

5. Analysis of features of caste system in context of the village

At the time of advent of early European travelers, Malabar used to be a highly cosmopolitan
society. There used to be the concept of matrilineal (kinship based on the mother) and
polyandrous (a woman can have more than one husband) group. Duarte Barbosa (1480-1521), a
Portuguese observer observed the Malabar Coast and on the basis of those observations he gave
the following features of the caste system in India:

a. Brahmins were kept at the top of social hierarchy

b. Untouchability was practiced

c. There were bars on commensality i.e., dining together

d. There exists a relationship between occupation and caste

e. There is application of sanctions within castes to maintain caste customs

f. There exists a relationship between caste and political organistaion

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M.N. Srinivas also in his essay ‘The Caste System in India’, gave the following features of the
caste system:

a. Rules of Endogamy:

Endogamy refers to the practice of marrying within one’s own clan or class. There exist a
number of rules with regards to marital relations. The principle of endogamy forbids its members
to marry outside the same caste group. The violation of the rules of endogamy would mean
ostracism and loss of caste.

b. Hierarchy:

The caste system is hierarchial in nature. It comprises of four varnas or castes. These are the four
varnas in descending order- Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. The untouchables
exist outside the Varna scheme. The occupation practiced by them, the various items of their diet
and the customs they observe all form separate hierarchies. The social status of each caste
depends upon their distance from Brahmins in the hierarchy.

c. Purity and Pollution:

The Brahmins were said to be the purest group. They were placed at the zenith of the caste
hierarchy. On the other hand, Harijans (not included in the Varna system) are considered as the
most polluting and are ranked the lowest in the hierarchy. Any object polluted by a person
belonging to a lower caste shall be neutralized by the person belonging to an upper caste.

The above mentioned features of caste system are applicable in Bhojipura too. The residents
follow ‘hierarchy’ and as stated above Brahmins occupy a respected and dominant position as
they are placed on the top of the hierarchy. They are the privileged section of the village whose
children get the opportunity of going to school. They are respected by the people of every caste
group and are the real owners of the resources of village. Brahmins form the major chunk of
population that belongs to the higher income level.

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‘Untouchability’ is also practiced in the village. People from upper caste groups do not allow
people from lower caste groups to work at their homes. As noted above, they do not even allow
their children to mix up with children of lower caste groups. They are not allowed to eat, play,
attend classes and talk to people belonging to lower strata of the village. The mid day meal
prepared at the schools has to be prepared by a lady belonging only to an upper caste. This
differentiation among the caste groups can also be seen in events like birth of a child, marriage
ceremonies and death of an individual.

People of Bhojipura impose ‘bars on commensality.’ People belonging to two different regions
of the hierarchical structure (of caste) are not allowed to dine together else their food is
considered to be polluted. ‘Rules of purity and pollution’ are observed and according to it the
polluted food is then have to be purified by a person belonging to an upper caste. This is the case
with every object that is considered to be polluted by the residents of the village. In the case of
celebration of an event, separate food is prepared for an upper caste person and a lower caste
person; the rules says that the food for the upper caste will be prepared by an upper caste only
and that for a lower caste will be prepared by a lower caste person only.

Among the people belonging to Hindu community, there exists ‘a relation between caste and
occupation.’ As we can see that a Jatav is associated only with the work of shoemaking, a
Valmiki is associated only with the work of sweeping and cleaning, a Dhobi is associated only
with the work of washing clothes, a Yadav is associated only with work of rearing cattle and a
Brahmin is always seen as a owner of the agricultural land. This clearly states that caste of a
person determines the occupation to be carried out by an individual. However this is not the case
with the Muslim community. Their occupation does not depend upon their caste. Be it a Pathan,
a Mewati, a Faqir or a Teli, all can be seen engaged in the same profession.

Another feature of caste system of ‘application of sanctions among castes to maintain caste
customs’ is also seen in Bhojipura. As noted above, ‘endogamy’ is practiced in the village. It
means that they consider marrying within one’s own caste as a favorable one. Endogamy is a
caste custom for them and in case this custom is not observed by an individual, then he/she has
to face loss of caste (in the form of sanction) for not respecting his/her custom.

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The feature of caste system that states that ‘there exists a relationship between caste and
political organization’ is not applicable in this village. As noted above, the differentiation among
castes is never seen in the Panchayat. Members from both the communities and from each caste
group can become a member of the Panchayat irrespective of his/her caste group. As such, no
relationship is seen between caste and this political organistaion of Panchayat.

6. Conclusion

B.R. Ambedkar (1891-1956), popularly known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, economist,
politician and social reformer. His magnum opus “Annihilation of Caste” written in 1936 is an
undelivered speech which was later self-published by him. In this book he has claimed that:

“Social reform is necessary for political reform”

The above statement is valid in the rural setup also as in every village there are caste and
political factions. The Constitution and state do not take cognizance of the caste system but in
actual practice caste system plays a very important role in the power structure. The whole village
is divided on the basis of caste. Elections to all the elected bodies are held with caste
considerations. The votes are casted on caste lines. Decisions are made and views to problems
are taken only after taking caste in consideration. In fact in the village every activity is based on
caste and political factions. Without political or caste faction it is difficult to think of any power
structure in the village. To be more precise power structure in the village is more influenced by
caste than political considerations. The horizontal ties of a caste too are important, for a caste
group living in one village has strong links with its counterparts in other villages, and in several
spheres of life members of the same caste living in different villages tend to act together.

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The underprivileged sections in the rural economy – the self-employed peasants and the landless
agricultural workers – are getting politicized and are becoming more and more assertive. The
recent tensions in the rural areas, the tenacity with which this section has started defending itself
show its new mood. It is indeed a grim commentary on the role of all political parties which
stand for a radical transformation of the socio-economic system that this broadest strata has so
far remained unorganized.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1. William Wilson Hunter, Imperial Gazetter of India .

2. Amar Ujala (Bareilly City ed.), 9th May’18 .
3. VillageInfo, Indian Village Directory https://villageinfo.in/uttar-pradesh/bareilly.html
4. Census of India 2011 Uttar Pradesh, District Census Handbook Bareilly, Series-10, Part
XII-A.
5. Study.com, Family and Kinship: Patrilocality, Matrilocality and Neolocality
https://study.com/academy/lesson/family-and-kinship-patrilocality-matrilocality-
neolocality.html

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[Word Count: 5,640]

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