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THE ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL EXCLUSION IN INDIA: A

HISTORICAL ANALYSIS

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 © IJARW | ISSN (O) - 2582-1008
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THE ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL EXCLUSION IN

INDIA: A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS
Sunil Sarbhangia 1, Dolagobinda Kumbhar 2
1Lecturer in Economics, Boudh Panchayat College & Research Scholar, Department of Economics, Sambalpur University, Jyoti Vihar,
Odisha, India
2Research Scholar, Department of Economics, Sambalpur University, Jyoti Vihar, Odisha, India.

ABSTRACT
It is believed that Indian civilisation is very adaptive by nature since ancient time and passed through
various way of life associated with different school of thought , which particularly control and govern
the socio-economic and cultural life of the people during the era of that thought. The different schools
of thought in India during the different span-of time are such as the Aryan School of Thought, The
Buddhist School of Thought, The Neo-Aryan School of Thought, The Muslim School of Thought, The
Western School of Thought in India (British Thought) and The Ambedkar School of Thought . This paper
theoretically deals with the basic principles underlying within the different school of thought to control
and govern the ways of life of the people within the society, and how each school of thought are
contradicting with the ideology of the other school of thought in the form of socio-economic-religious
and cultural life.
Keyword: Way of life, school of thought, social exclusion
1. INTRODUCTION According to (Borooah, 2015) “whatever form the
discrimination takes, it makes a distinction
The term social exclusion is more complicated to between persons categorically rather than
define as we think; this might be the process by individually” which means discrimination is based
which certain groups are unable to fully on group identity rather than individual
participate in the life of their community characteristics. Indeed this discriminatory
(Borooah, 2015). In the economic sense, social behaviour of the social exclusion in India is based
exclusion occurs out of a lack of effective access to on caste system and hence to understand the
land, labour market, educational institution and social exclusion we need to understand the caste
the health care system (Kumbhar, 2017). The system.
basis on which peoples might be excluded, such as
age, race, gender, caste, disability, ethnic 2. SOCIAL EXCLUSION IN THE WORLD AND ITS
background, migrants’ status, religion etc. The FORM
socio-cultural history of India is such that Caste as
an institution divides the society into different Social exclusion is not only prevailed in India
groups in a social hierarchy and that hierarchy alone but the world as a whole. It is found in most
determines the political and economic power of of the developed and underdeveloped countries of
the person (Kumbhar, 2017). The discriminatory the world. It is based on race, class, region and
behaviour of the people is the major instrument of gender. Among these, race discrimination is more
the social exclusion, which excludes certain people prominent and plays a dominant role all over the
by virtue of their affiliation to certain groups1 , world. Social exclusion is a term used widely
some time we find partial inclusion of certain in Europe and as first used in France. It is used
across various disciplines of the social science. It
groups of people2 for the personal benefit of the
is the procedure in which people are
dominating groups.
systematically denied of various rights and
Practically, discrimination may take place in many opportunities, that are normally available to
forms and affect the several areas of life including individuals of a different group, and which are
the provision of public goods and services. fundamental to social assimilation of human rights
within that particular group (e.g., housing,
1 2
In India these certain groups are SCs, STs. Some sub-caste of the SCs and OBCs

IJARW1189 International Journal of All Research Writings 92


employment, healthcare, civic engagement,
democratic participation, and due process). “This
alienation is the by-product of social exclusion can
be connected to a person's social class, race, skin
colour, religious affiliation, ethnic
origin, educational status, childhood relationships,
living standards, or appearance. Such
prohibitionary forms of discrimination may also
applicable to person with disability, minorities,
LGBTQ+, drug addicted, the elderly and the young.
The person who tried to deviate in anyway form
superficial norms of the society may thereby
prompt to the subtle forms of social exclusion”
(Levitas, Patsios, Pantazis, Fahmy, Gordon, &
Lloyd, 2007) .
3. SOCIAL EXCLUSION IN INDIA
Social exclusion in India is visible in many forms
but the caste-based exclusion is more vital than
other (Kumbhar, 2017). The persistence of the
caste-based exclusion is due to the following
outstanding feature of the “Hindu Society”. (1)
Segmental division of society, (2) hierarchy
according to caste, (3) Restriction of social
intercourse and feeding (4) Civil and religious
disabilities and privileges of the different sections
(5) restricted choice of occupation (6) restriction
on marriage or strictly practising endogamy.
Therefore the structural basis of Hindu society is
based on the idea of exclusion.
From the historical point of view, India is having a
long cultural history. It is one of the ancient
civilisations of the world. Due to the adaptive
nature of the culture of India, it has been passed
through a different way of life and tasted the
fruits of its adaptation. The taste is sometimes so
sweet (pleasant and simple) that people happily
adopted that way of life but sometimes it is having
a bitter taste (unpleasant and hard for the life)
that, people avoid that way of life through
revolution and evolution of the different way of
life. Hence due to the evolution of the different
way of life, India has been passed through the
different school of thought, which particularly
control and govern the socio-economic and
3
After Aryan invades to India they spread their way of life
in the life by forming the different caste groups.
4 to the needy person form that community at a high price
Chaturbarnya is the division of the society in to four
mutually exclusive groups which are as follow, the
Brahmins, the Kshyatriyas, the Baishyas and the Shudra.
5
Kancha Illia writes in the “ Post Hindu India: A Dalit-
Bahujan Discourse” that, the Vaishya community are very
IJARW1189 International Journal of All Research Writings
© IJARW | ISSN (O) - 2582-1008
April 2020 | Vol. 1 Issue. 10
www.ijarw.com
cultural life of the people during the era of that
thought. The different school of thought in India
during the different span of time are such as the
Aryan School of Thought3 , The Buddhist School of
Thought, The Neo-Aryan School of Thought, The
Muslim School of Thought, The Western School of
Thought in India (British Thought) and The
Ambedkar School of Thought. We can be briefly
discussed the different school of thought.
3.1. Aryan school of thought:
The first prime minister of independent India
Jawaharlal Nehru said about Aryan migration to
India in his most famous book “The Discovery of
India”. According to him “the Aryan migrations
supposed to have taken place about a thousand
years after the Indus Valley period”. Hence it is
believed that roughly around 2500 BC the Aryan
(more specifically the Brahmins) has come to
India. They have actively fought with the
Dravidian kings and achieve the victory over them.
They have framed the society according to their
benefit i.e. the concept of Chaturbarnya4 , which
govern the way of life of the people during that
time (Neheru, 1946).
According to Ambedkar, the Aryans Society
recognised the four classes, the Bhramins,
Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. These division
were not merely horizontal division but the
vertical division with mutually exclusive in
natures (Ambedkar, 1987). These were a class
system in which the qualified individuals can
change his/her class in which he/she can qualify.
Time has come when the priestly class socially
detached themselves from the rest of the class
through a closed door policy and that was the
origin of caste (Ambedkar, 2011). The two classes
(the Brahmins and Kshatriyas) were fighting with
each other for the political supremacy but they
both combined to keep down the other two classes
(the Vaishyas and Shudras). The Vaishyas were
the main source of “tax revenue and dana5 ” and
hence they have been not degraded in the social
cleaver they were brought goods and services from the
Dalit-bahujan communities with cheap price and sell that
and earned supernormal profit. They did not show that
profit to the Brahmins or else the profit might be taken
ways as “dana”, They did not show it to the Kshatriyas as
because they have to pay high taxes on that income and
all the profit might be taken aways.
93

life. The only beasts of burden were the Shudras
(Ilaiah, 2009).
The Brahmins or the Aryans were set of
the ways of life through the doctrine of exclusion
principles. During that period the Shudras and the
women (of all castes including Brahmins) were
debarred from all rights such as social, cultural,
educational, economic and political rights. The
doctrines of Aryans were a series of observances,
in which there was no role of good and virtuous
life and even no hunger and thirst of
righteousness. They had claimed that their
doctrine was a religious but we cannot find any
religious flavours therein. The hymns of the Rig
Veda, as said by Ambedkar, have been used to
pray and address by Aryan to their god. They did
not use these hymns to be kept away from
temptation, for the deliverance of evil and not
even for the forgiveness of sins rather these were
used to praise Indra. They praise him for doing
destruction to the enemies of the Aryans. They
praise him because he destroyed the villages of
the Asuras6 . Such was the state of the Aryans
doctrine to govern the society when Buddha born
to put reform on the social structure of the Aryans
school of thought.
3.2. The Buddhist school of thought:
The Buddhist School of thought come into
existence after Buddha got enlightenment, and
spread Buddhism as a way of life. Ambedkar said
that “Buddhism was a revolution. It was as great
a Revolution as French Revolution. Though it
begins as a Religious revolution, it became more
than Religious revolution. It became a social and
political revolution” (Ambedkar, 1987). The taste
of Buddhist school of thought or simply the
doctrine of the Buddha for the social life of both
the deprived section of the Aryan society (The
Shudra and Women) were/are very much
attracted to accept, as because it preaches the
doctrine of equality and fraternity. It was not only
accepted by both the deprived section of the
society but also extensively accepted by the other
two castes of the society (The Kshyatriyas and The
Vaishyas. Ambedkar found that during Muslim
invades there was also Shudra king. According to
6 7
Asura in the Aryan literatures are the demons who live in
Patal. But practically they were not the demonsthey were
not live in patal, but they lives here in the land. They are
the Dalit-Bahujan of the present and Shudras of the
ancient time.
IJARW1189 International Journal of All Research Writings
© IJARW | ISSN (O) - 2582-1008
April 2020 | Vol. 1 Issue. 10
www.ijarw.com
him “Among the provinces of India which came
under Muslim domination Sind was the first. It
was ruled by a Shudra King”. Again he said that
during Heuen Tsang visit to India, Punjab was
ruled by a Kshyatriya Buddhist dynasty. Hence it
is universally acceptable to all section of the
society.
The reason why Buddhist doctrines were spread
like wildfire is its simplicity. It can be practised by
each person. It has given equal status to both male
and female. The females were also allowed to
follow the life of Parivrajaka (the life of Sanyasa or
Bikshu) was called Bhikhunis. Hence women from
all section of society except Brahmins have
followed the doctrine of Buddha. Not only women
but also the Shudras were also getting equal status
as compared to their counterpart high caste to
participate in the process of Paribrajaka i.e. the life
of the Sanyasa. During this period the world top
most universities like Takshyashila and Nalanda
were build and attract the scholar from outside
India (the best example has been quoted here is
the Heuen Tsang). Hence for my understanding,
the Buddhist era was the golden age for India.
3.3. The Neo-Aryan school of thought:
The rapid growth of the Buddhist School of
thought (the doctrine of Buddha) became a
massive threat to the Aryan school of thought. The
popularity of the Aryan’s doctrine has been
reduced. To protect and preserve the Aryan’s
doctrine, they have put some restriction on Indian
society through written law. That written law is
called “Manu Smriti7 ”. As Ambedkar said that
Manu was not the creator of and the “Castes exist
long before Manu. He was an upholder of it and
therefore philosophised about it, but certainly, he
did not and could not obtain the present order of
the Hindu society. His work ended with the
codification of existing caste rules and the
preaching of Caste Dharma” (Ambedkar, 2011) .
The Caste Dharma as prescribed by the Manu was
both an injury and insult to the Shudras and
Women of indie. it was an injury because without
any justification they (The Shudras and Women)
were denied the right of knowledge which is the
birthright of every human being and it was an
It was written by Maharshi Manu Maharaj (ancient sant)
as the ancient legal text for Hindus (or in classical
language Sanatana Dharmi). Though it has been abolished
in Independent India, it has still practiced by the Hindus
94

insult because after denying their opportunities to
acquire knowledge they were declared to be as
unclean and untruths. They were not allowed to
take Sannyas which was regarded as the path to
teach Brahma. Not only this were they declared to
be barren of any spiritual potentialities. This is the
cruel deals with the Shudra and the Women.
During this period these two sections of society
face the hardest form of exclusion in their life.
They even did not have the respect of an animal
like a dog. The high caste can feed a dog in their
home but they did not even allow the shadow of
the Shudras to touch them. Hence the social
exclusion was in its pick during this period.
3.4. The Muslim school of thought:
During the time of 712 AD, Muslim first enters into
the Sind Province of India, which was ruled by a
Brahmin King Dahir8 . The Muslim not only
invades India but also simultaneously they spread
their ideology or the doctrine of life. Their
doctrine was so simple and pleasant in
comparison to the doctrine of the Brahmins the
people of India especially the deprived section of
the Aryan society i.e. the Shudras were started
accepting the way of life of the Muslim. Hence it is
believed that the Muslim school of thought
preaches the message of equality in society. The
Muslim has opened the gate of school for the
Shudras. After getting education form the Muslim
there were the mushrooming growth of the
Shudras philosophers such as Birbhan, Dadu,
Mabuk Das, Rabi Das, Narayani, Prannath, Charan
Das, Dharmi Das, Keshab, Sehllobai, Dayabai, Garib
Das, Dalan Das, Hari Das, Kabir Das and Santha
Kabi Bhima Bhoi. and their primary motive is to
criticise the Brahmins doctrine which is based on
the principle of exclusion and preach a new and
sophisticated version of the way of life and
became the most popular even today. During this
time The Muslim did not get into the religious life
the people forcefully and the consequences were
India did not regress to achieve the equality which
was prevailed during the Buddha’s period.
3.5. The Western school of thought:
After the Muslim Invasion of India in the year
1757 AD, the British have come to India for trade
purpose only. The industrial revolution in Britain
found a new and raw market for their new
8
Ambedkar write in the “ Revolution and Counter
Revolution in India” Sind was first ruled by a Shudra king
IJARW1189 International Journal of All Research Writings
© IJARW | ISSN (O) - 2582-1008
April 2020 | Vol. 1 Issue. 10
www.ijarw.com
machine made a product and hence they started
educating Indian irrespective of their caste for
their business motive only. Like Muslim, the
British did not interfere into the socio-religious
life of the Indian. But after getting English
education from British the Indian Shudras again
stand in their feet to revolt against the dominating
Brahmin rules in India. The burning example is Dr
B.R.Ambedkar. He made himself so efficient that
finally, he becomes the architect of the Indian
Constitution, where he has unchained the chain of
social exclusion prevails in Indian for a long time.
3.6. The Ambedkar school of thought:
The Ambedkar School of Thought began in India
just after the independence of India. When India
got Independence, it needs a constitution to
govern society. The constitution of India has been
drafted during 1947 to 1949 and implemented in
the day of 26th January 1950. The Drafting
Committee had seven members: Alladi
Krishnaswami Ayyar, N. Gopalaswami; B.R.
Ambedkar, K.M Munshi, Mohammad Saadulla, B.L.
Mitter and D.P. Khaitan. At its first meeting on 30th
August 1947, the Drafting Committee elected B.R
Ambedkar as its Chairman (The Constitution of
India, GOI). The whole responsibility lies in the
solder of the Babasaheb Ambedkar. He feels the
need of equality; liberty fraternity framed the
constitution in such as manner that irrespective of
all the social identity (across different caste
groups) and gender or region all the members are
getting equal right in the constitution.
Some section of the Indian constitution such as
Fundamental rights and Directive principle
provides justice to the whole citizen, Social
Economic and Political, liberty of thought,
expression, belief, faith and worship, and equality
of status of opportunity, and to promote among
them all fraternity, assuring the dignity of the
individual and unity. The constitution also states
that ‘state shall not discriminate against any
citizen on the ground of religion, race, caste,
gender and region or any form’. The Directive
Principle adds ‘the state shall promote with
special care of the educational and economic
interest of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled
Tribes (SCs & STs)’ (Kumbhar, 2017).
but that was captured by the Brahmins and they establish
their rules and the King Dahir was become the ruler.
95

The post-independent Indian constitution is
framed by the Dr B R Ambedkar and his
philosophy is purely based on the principle or the
doctrine of the Tathagata Buddha. Hence this
period is called the Neo-Buddhist period. Still,
there is debate and discussion between the Neo-
Aryan School of Thought and the Neo-Buddhist
School of Thought on giving rights to the historical
deprived sections of the society. Which create the
catastrophic consequences in India, that can be
briefly dealt in the next section.
4. CONSEQUENCES OF SOCIAL EXCLUSION IN
INDIA
If we talk about the consequence of the social
exclusion in India then we can find plenty of
literature on this area. Kumbhar, 2017 rightly
points out in his book “Hunger, Deprivation and
Social Exclusion” that historically the social
exclusion is the root cause of hunger and
deprivation in India (Kumbhar, 2017). Jodan, 1996
in his books “A Theory of Poverty and Social
Exclusion” examines human behaviour with
regard to resource allocation, grouping and
survival. He demonstrates that the problems of the
poor are exacerbated by the social policies of
those who focus more on negative behaviour and
less on the socioeconomic policies driving the
behaviour. In conducting a comparative analysis,
Jordan is able to show that problems of social
exclusion are systemically generated and that the
resulting antisocial behaviour among the urban
poor is to be expected (Jordan, 1996). The Hunger,
Deprivation and Poverty are the relative terms
one needs to focus on the concept to understand
the consequences of social exclusion on the above-
mentioned heads (Rani, 2016). But here is the
study of the (Kundan & Gadkar, 2014) which
sketch the picture of consequences of social
exclusion is being depicted in the following ways.
In government offices:- 37.8 percent of the
villages Dalits students are forced to sit separately
in government schools. 27.6 percent of the villages
Dalits are prohibited from get into police stations.
33 percent of the village public health workers
refuse to visit Dalits homes. 14.4 percent of the
village Dalits are prevented to enter panchayat
building. 48.4 percent of the Dalits are left without
access to water sources.
9
The STs are not coming under the ancient varna system
IJARW1189 International Journal of All Research Writings
© IJARW | ISSN (O) - 2582-1008
April 2020 | Vol. 1 Issue. 10
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In market access:- 35 percent of village Dalits
banned from selling produced in the local market.
47 percent of village milk cooperatives prevent
Dalits from selling milk and 25 percent from
buying milk.
In work places:- 25 percent of village Dalits paid
lower wages than non-Dalits. 37 percent of the
village Dalits workers paid wages from a distance
to avoid physical contact
In religious institutions:-64 percent of Dalits
restricted from entering Hindu temples. 50
percent of village Dalits prevented from accessing
crimination grounds
Criminal activities:- 27 atrocities against Dalits
every day. 13 of them murdered every week, 5
homes burnt every week, 6 Dalits kidnapped or
abducted every week and 11 Dalits have beaten
every hour.
In private places: 73 percent of village‟s Dalits
not permitted to enter non-Dalits homes. 73
percent of village‟s Dalits not permitted to enter
non-Dalits homes. 35.8 percent of Dalits denied
entry into village shops (Kundan & Gadkar, 2014)
5.CONCLUSION
From the aforesaid discussion, it may be
concluded that the concept of social exclusion is a
process of blocking the development of the
marginalized communities disintegrating people
and communities into the mainstream of
development, with a series of institutionalized
social systems. The most affected population is
Dalits who lag behind the all spheres of
developmental activities. Historically there has
been a series of revolution and counter-revolution
for the inclusion and exclusion of the socially
deprived section of the society. The Aryan school
of thought is purely based on the principle of
exclusion policy. And the other school of thought
except for the Aryan and Neo-Aryan School of
thought preaches the principle of inclusion policy
and hence all the doctrines are widely accepted by
the Indian deprived section. Presently in India, all
the school of thoughts are actively running with
the same principles of inclusion and exclusion of
the Shudras or presently called the SCs and OBCs9 .
One can easily find the action and reaction among
these groups of the society for inclusion and
exclusion. Hence whatever may form the history it
96
 © IJARW | ISSN (O) - 2582-1008
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is found that when the ancient Shudras got an

opportunity of education, they have fruitfully used
that opportunity for the emancipation of their
community form the Aryan’s dominating
exclusion policies. Hence, it is observed that for
the development of the nation and also for the
internal peace within the nation, the inclusion of
all the section of the society is highly necessary.
REFERENCES
[1]. Ambedkar, B. R. (2011). Caste in India: Their
Mechanism, Genesis and Development.
Maharashtra, India: Koushlya Prakashan.
[2]. Ambedkar, B. R. (1987). Revolution and
Counter-Revolution in India. Maharashtra:
BAWS, Maharashtra Government, India.
[3]. Ambedkar, B. R. (2018). The rise and fall of
Hindu Women. New Delhi: Swayam Prakashan.
[4]. Borooah, e. (2015). Caste Discrimination and
Exclusion in Modern India. New Delhi: Sage
Publication, India.
[5]. Ilaiah, K. (2009). Post Hindu India: A discourse
in Dalit-Bahujan, Social-Spiritual and Scientific
Revolution. India: Sage Publication.
[6]. Jordan, B. (1996). A Theory of Poverty and
Social Exclusion. Polity; 1 edition.
[7]. Kumbhar, R. K. (2017). Hunger, Deprivation
and Social Exclusion. New Delhi, India: Rawat
Publication.
[8]. Kundan, & Gadkar. (2014). Social Exclusion-
Its type and Impact on Dalits in India. IOSR
Journal of umanities and Social Science (IOSR-
JHSS) Vol-19, Issue-4, ver-IV , pp81-85.
[9]. Levitas, R., Patsios, D., Pantazis, C., Fahmy, E.,
Gordon, D., & Lloyd, E. (2007). The Multi-
dimentional Analysis of Social Exclusion.
University of Bristol, Department of Sociology
and School for Social Policy Townsend Centre
for the International Study of Poverty and
Bristol Institute for Public Affairs.
[10]. Neheru, J. (1946). The Discovery of India.
John Day (US) and Meridian Books (UK)
Publication.
[11]. Rani, S. (2016). Social Exclusion: Impact on
Dalit in India. International Journal of Applied
Research , 623-625.

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