G.

S Ghurye
Important Concepts: Indologist, Father and founder of Indian Sociology, Backward Hindus: tribes, 6 features of caste,
civilization, Assimilation of tribes, Tribes are backward Hindus, Theoretical Pluralism, foundations of culture, Indian
Sociological Society, Vedic India, Indian Sadhus, Indian Customs, Religious Consciousness, national unity, three types
of Marriage, Social Tensions, Caste and Kinship, Both inductive and deductive, armchair thinker, Brahminical point of
view, Gotra and Ghana, article named Occidental civilization, Racial theory of caste with Risley, Down to earth
empiricism, Endogamy is the most important feature of caste, Mahadevi Kolis, caste as Brahminical child of Arya
Invasion, Rurbanisation in Indian Context, Lonikand then and Now, Founder of Indian Sociological Society “
Sociological Bulletin.
1. GOVIND SADASHIV GHURYE was guided by WHR Rivers.
2. He was the HOD, Bombay University, 1924, he succeeded Patrick Geddes.
3. Founder of Indian Sociological Society, Sociological Bulletin Anthropological Society.
4. His primary interest areas: process of evolution of culture in different civilizations, caste and tribe relations.
5. He has often been acclaimed as the “father of Indian Sociologists” or “the doyen of Indian sociologists” or ‘the
symbol of sociological creativeness”
6. He was one of the armchair scholars despite his studies on caste, village, town etc.
7. He was influenced by the British diffusionist approach and then slowly moved towards Anthropological lens.
8. He had profound Knowledge of Sanskrit and Marathi which helped him decipher Kalidas and Bhavabhuti.
9. He was extremely interested in integration of India, national unity etc.
10. This concern made him write Caste and race in India, 1932, he used historical, anthropological and sociological
understanding of caste and kinship system in India.
11. His famous Trilogy: Social Tensions in India (1968), Whither India(1974) and India Recreates Democracy( 1978).
Theoretical Approach and Methodological Application.
1. Functional approach( theoretical approach)
2. Indological and textual
3. Inductive-empirical methods. (DGP) (IPG)
4. Historical-comparative methods.

 Ghurye was not dogmatic in the use of theory and methodology.

 He did not strictly conform to the functionalist tradition when interpreting the complex facets of Indian
Society and culture, which he chose to investigation ( because of his vast diversity).
 Srinivas: “Ghurye insisted on fieldwork, though he himself was an armchair sociologist”
 But Ghurye field survey of Sex Habits of middle Class people in Bombay, conducted in the 1930s and
publish in 1938 and the monograph on the Mahadev Kolis(1963) demonstrated Ghurye was far from
promoting an armchair textual scholarship.
 He was trained in Indology, his approaches was inductive and believe in theoretical pluralism. He also used
historical and comparative methods.

Caste and Race in India

1. Ghurye’s Caste and Race in India (1932) which cognitively combined historical, anthropological and Sociological
perspective to understand caste and Kinship system in India.
2. He studies caste system from historical, comparative and integrative perspectives. He compares Indo-European
culture.
3. Kin and Caste networks in India had parallels in some other societies as well.
4. The kinship and Caste served in the past as Integrative frameworks.
5. And this is the evolution of Society which is based on integration of diverse, racial and ethnic groups.
Features of Caste System
1. Segmental Division.
2. Hierarchy.
3. Pollution and purity.
4. Civil and religious disabilities and privileges of different section.
5. Lack of choice of occupation(Ascribed status)
6. Restriction on marriage.

Endogamy is the most important feature of caste system. Caste is linked with kinship in caste of gotra exogamy.
As same gotra means incest the three types of restrictions on marriage according to him are Endogamy,
Exogamy and Hypergamy.
The two types of Exogamy are:
1. Sapinda or prohibited degrees of kin.
2. Gotra exogamy.
Ghurye on Tribe.
1. He wrote a general book on Scheduled Tribes in which he dealt with the historical, administrative and social
dimensions of Indian tribes such as Koils of Maharastra.
2. Most of the tribes are Hindus after a long period of contact with Hindus. He says there is no other identity
for tribes that ways.
3. They are nothing but Backward Caste hindus.
4. They are backward because they could not perfectly integrate with hindu society.
5. Examples are Santhals(largest tribes in Jharkhand), Bhils( Rajasthan), Gonds (MP)etc.
6. The incorporation of Hindu values and norms into tribal life was a positive step in the process of
development.
7. The tribes in India had slowly absorbed certain Hindu values and style of life through contact with the Hindu
Social Group.
8. Ghurye suggested that the economic motivation behind the adoption of Hinduism is very strong among the
tribes.
9. They can come out of their tribal crafts and adopt specialized types of occupation, which is in demand in
society.
Famous debate;-
Ghurye vs Verrier Elwin
Elwin-tribal’s should be allowed to stay in isolation.
Ghurye- Tribal should be assimilated with Hindus. The incorporation of Hindu values and norms into tribal life
was a positive process in development.
Rural-Urbanization
1. Ghurye remained occupied all through his life with the idea of rurbanization securing the advantages of
urban life simultaneously with nature’s greenery.
2. He discusses the process of rural-urbanization in India.
3. Ghurye’s approach to “rural-urbanization” reflects the indigenous sources of urbanism.
4. The towns and cities were no longer the outlets for agricultural produce and handicrafts but they become
the major manufacturing centers.
Culture and Civilization.
Behind the rise and fall of civilization there is steady growth of culture.
1. According to Ghurye, Culture constitutes the central and core element for understanding society and its
evolution.
2. In his paper, “The Disposal of Human Placenta” 1937 he said to compare the methods of disposal of the
human placenta in the different regions of the world to see if they shed any light on the problem of
diffusion of culture.
3. He was more concern with the process of evolution of Hindu Civilization which he terms as ‘complex
Civilization”.
4. Ghurye throught that for analyzing the dynamics of culture in such a long historical civilization. In this
context, the process of acculturation is more relevant than the process of diffusion.
Foundation of culture:
1. Religious Consciousness
2. Conscience
3. Justice
4. Free pursuit of knowledge and free expression
5. Toleration.

Conclusion on Civilization
1. No society has been either completely civilized or highly civilized.
2. Ghurye believed in law of Continuous progress.
3. Gradation of civilization is also correlated with the distribution of values. In a high civilization, the
humanitarian and cultural values will be accepted by a wide cross-section of population.
4. Every civilization, high or low, poses some distinctive qualities.

Indian Sadhus
1. Ghurye highlights the Paradoxical nature of renunciation of India.
2. A sadhus and Sannyasin is supposed to be detached from all castes, norms and social convention
etc
3. Indian Sadhus have acted as the arbiters of religious disputes, patronized learning of scriptures and
the sacred lore and even defended religious against external attacks.

Important works.
1. Caste and Race in India(1932,1969) 9. Schedule Tribes ( 1943, 1959,1963)
2. Culture and Society( 1947) 10. Religious Consciousness(1965)
3. Indian sadhus(1953) 11. Indian Costumes(1966)
4. Bharatnatyam and its 12. Social Tensions in India( 1968)
Costume(1958) 13. I and Other Explorations( 1973)
5. Family and Kin in Indo-Europeon 14. Whither India(1974)
Culture(1955,1961) 15. Indian Acculturation(1977)
6. Cities and Civilization(1962) 16. Vedic India( 1979)
7. Gods and Man(1962) 17. Bringing Cauldron of North East
8. Anatomy of Rural-Urban India(1980)
Community( 1962)

Maisnam Susmina email; susminamaisnam009@gmail.com