G S
Ghurye, accredited with the title of father of Indian sociology, provided
descriptive accounts on caste system in his book - "caste and race in
India" and advocated that " caste is a product of race", like
risley, justifying with the sanskritik texts. His approach thus is considered
indological, historical and comparative. He uses Aryan invasion theory to
describe the origin of caste from race i.e. the superior race of Aryan formed
the Brahmins and also elaborates on the evaluation of sub caste and examines
caste sub caste and kinship.
To
discuss how caste is derived from race, we will refer to the work “caste and
race in India" by GS Ghurye.
// Ghurye
considers it as unfortunate that caste system in India is mostly understood in
terms of brahmanic domination. According to him, caste has gone through the
process of fusion and fission in different ways in Indian history and caste,
whatever it actually is at any given time, is always the momentary outcome of a
structured constellation of historical processes. He, thus, is considered
historical in his approach. Propounds that caste has changed a lot since its
origin. //
To
describe the origin of caste system in India, Ghurye establishes a link between
Aryan invasion theory and the origin of caste system through his racial theory
which was widely promoted by Risley , the first director of ethnography for
India, who took the nasal index as an indicator of the proportion of Aryan
blood and found that it it varies from caste to caste. In a nutshell, according
to Risley, racial features and their striking differences are the fundamental
factors for the origin of caste system in India. And In caste and race, Ghurye
examines Risley's theory in great detail through a reanalysis of the
anthropometrical data. Both Ghurye and Risley advocated cast as a derivative of
race, but differ in their methodologies. While Risley uses seven fold
classification ( geographical locations) , Ghurye uses 6. But he accepts the
overall framework of racial categorisation and in fact proposes new racial
categories for the Indian population.
According
to Risley, there are seven racial types and seven distinct types of castes viz-
turko Iranian of Balochistan and North West frontier; Indo Aryan of Kashmir,
Punjab and Rajputana; Mongoloid type of Himalayas, Nepal, Assam and Burma ;
aryo- dravidian of UP Bihar and Ceylon; Mongolo- Dravidian of lower bengal and
Orissa ; scytho Dravidian of western India.
Aryan invasion theory- People
calling themselves " Arya" poured into India through the North-west
somewhere about 2,000 B.C. and those who enter India carried with themselves
the early Vedic religion, and "Brahmanic variety" of the Indo Aryan
civilization developed later in the gangetic plain along with the caste system.
In the post Vedic period, thus, the cast had become such an important factor in
the social organisations of the Hindus. Ghurye also puts that the
"dasas" described by the Aryans were the dark and snub nosed natives
, the Aryans encountered when the entered India . It explains the racial
interpretation of the Varna and is caste is derived from Varna, caste system,
thus, is a product of race and racial discrimination. The caste system
originated as an endogamous institution as the indo-aryan Brahmins attempted to
maintain their purity by keeping themselves apart from the local population.
And so there is a correspondence between caste and physical type or race
because cast was maintained by endogamy and hypergamy.
Ghurye
also explain the occupational theory
related to caste, which was first proposed by Denzil Iebbetson in 1851 and emphasized that the
whole basis of caste is diversity of occupation. The shudras were excluded to
all religious and social activities of the Aryans , as the Aryans did not allow
them to participate in indo-aryan social activities. Thus, caste is originated
from race, and occupation stabilized it.
Ghurye
then gives six main characteristics of caste system so as to analyse it i.e.
segmentation, hierarchy, denial of civil and religious rights, restriction on
food drinks and social intercourse, lack of unrestricted choice of occupation,
and endogamy.
Segmental division of society
Under Caste System society is divided into several
small social groups called castes. Additionally, there are multiple divisions
and subdivisions of caste system.The membership is ascribed in character, i.e.
it is based on birth and flows from generation to generation. The members
of every division have fixed status, roles and tasks. There are also a set
of moral ethics, obligations and justification value behind these
roles. Hence, each caste has its own traditional social status, occupations,
customs rules and regulations.
Hierarchy
According to Ghurye, Caste is
hierarchical. According to Ghurye, caste is hierarchical.
For instance, brahmins occupy the top position and shudras the bottom. And the
hierarchy determine the caste norms. the hierarchy present in caste system is
reflected through the division of labour in society.
Civil & religious disabilities and
privileges
Civil and religious disabilities reflect the
rigidity of the caste system. In a caste society, there is an un-equal
distribution of disabilities and privileges among its members. While the
higher caste people enjoy all the privilege, the lower caste people suffer from
various types of disabilities. For instance, in the ancient times the
untouchables were not allowed to take water from the public Wells. Also they
were not allowed to enter temples etc.
Lack of unrestricted choice of occupation
The occupations in caste system are fixed by heredity
and generally members are not allowed to change their traditional occupations.
The higher caste members try to maintain their supremacy in their jobs and
do not allow the other caste group to join in the same occupation.
Restriction on food, drinks & social intercourse
In caste
system there are several restrictions related to food, drink and social
intercourse. The members of the upper caste cannot take food or water from the
lower caste people, even not interact with the members of other castes but vice
versa is permissible i.e. member of lower caste can accept food and other
things from upper caste.
Endogamy
Endogamy is the essence of Caste System. Every
caste insists that its members should marry within the group. Disobeying
the caste endogamy rule is not only treated as a crime but is also condemned as
a sin. It was justified so as to maintain the purity
of the blood. Defying this, ostracism and excommunication were the general
punishment.
Ghurye
also provides insights into the understanding of caste and kinship in India by
his comparative study of kinship in Indo European culture. In his study of
caste and kinship, Ghurye emphasizes to important points-
1.
the kin and caste networks in India ahead parallels in some other societies
also.
2.
The kinship and caste in India served in the past as integrative
frameworks.
The evolution of society was based on the integration of
diverse, racial or ethnic groups through these networks.
He Expounds that, the relationship between
caste and kinship is very close because hexagram e in our society is largely
based on kinship, either real or imaginary and ; the effective unit of caste
sub caste is larger reconstituted of kingsmen. The gotra and charna were kin
categories of indo-european cultures which systematized the rank and status of
the people.
Conclusion-
There is a correspondence between caste and
physical type, or race
It turns out that he had strong views
about caste as a derivative of 'race'.
This is entirely consistent with the
Sanskrit scriptures about which he was extremely knowledgeable. He makes use of
the "Aryan" race theory – to justify it.
Caste is a product of race and
occupation stabilized it.
Ghurey Refined
Risley's theory and argued that it was important to take into account variation
in the distribution of particular measurement in a community.
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