DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY

CC2

TOPIC – DOMINANT CASTE

NAME - SIKSHA TIWARI

ROLL NO. – 19SOCA006

CU ROLL NO. –

SEMESTER – 1st

YEAR –

DOMINANT CASTE
INTRODUCTION
Dominant means holding superiority in a group by any means. India is a
classical land of castes in which a large number of castes have been in
existence since a long time and there existed mutual co-operation and
harmony among them. The jajmani system too played its role in welding
the castes into a unified system. The decline of jajmani system during
the British rule has given a fatal blow to the interdependence of castes.
The castes are not equal anywhere in India. On the other hand
everywhere in India, we find the domination of one or the other caste
over the rest of the castes. All the castes are not equal in strength and
their role and influence are also not equal. Some of these castes are
very much disorganized while certain others are highly organized and
exercise a powerful influence on other castes. It is in this context, M.N.
Srinivas introduces the concept of “dominant castes” which is of great
help in understanding intercaste relations and conflicts, particularly in the
rural setup.

The concept of ‘dominant caste’ was propounded by M.N Srinivas. It was

for the first time appeared in his essay on the social system of a Mysore
village. While constructing the concept, perhaps Srinivas was
unconsciously influenced by African studies on the dominant clan and
dominant lineage. He wanted to give a comprehensive study of Rampura
village which is a little away from Mysore city in Karnataka state. To write
down the details of the village he had gone to Standford for writing down
a monograph on Rampura. But there by a strange quirk of fate all the
three copies of his fieldwork notes, processed over a period of eighteen
years were destroyed when a fire took place in his office. Whatever he
remembered about Rampura, later on came in the form of The
Remembered Village (1976).

According to M.N. Srinivas, “A caste is dominant when it preponderates

numerically over the other castes, when it also wields preponderate
economic and political power and when it enjoys a high ritual status in
the local caste hierarchy”.

When a caste enjoys all the elements of dominance [i.e., numerical

strength, economic and political power, high education and high ritual
status] it is said to be dominant in a decisive way. Srinivas says that the
existence of dominant caste is not particular to Rampura only. It is found
in other villages of the country also. For instance, in Mysore villages,
Lingayat and Okkaliga; in Andhra Pradesh, Reddy and Kamma; in
Maharashtra, Maratha; in Gujarat, Patidar; and in Northern India, Rajput,
Jat, Giyar and Ahir are dominant castes.

CHARACTERISTICS
1. ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL POWER

The power of a particular caste lies in the owning of land. The caste
which has larger portion of the land in the village wields greater power
and prestige. In case of larger land owning and adequate irrigation
facilities, naturally the wields of the casteman increase. Second, the
larger landowning caste also provides jobs to the landless farmers and
marginal farmers. Such a situation renders the superordinated landless
labourers as the ‘servants’ of the large landowning caste.

2. HIGH RANK IN CASTE HIERARCHY

Normally, the caste which is traditionally higher in the caste hierarchy

enjoys the status of dominance. The Brahmins and the Rajputs have
traditionally been dominant in the villages. The Brahmins have at the top
of the caste hierarchy and they officiate at the religious festivals and
rituals of the village. The Rajputs have been the feudal-thakurs in the
village. They have traditionally occupied larger portions of the village
land. But nowadays the reservations made for scheduled castes,
scheduled tribes and women have given a new attribute to the concept
of dominant caste, due to which the high rank in the caste hierarchy has
gone in favour of those castes which have benefited from their reserved
status.

3. NUMERICAL STRENGTH

Recently, numerical strength of a caste assumes importance because of

the vote bank created by adult suffrage. The castes which have larger
number of voters, naturally, determine the fate of a candidate contesting
elections. What is called these days as caste-war is actually the
importance of a caste to determine the fate of a candidate.
Now, a caste is dominant not only in single village. It extends to a cluster
of villages. A caste group which has only a family or two in a particular
village but which enjoys decisive dominance in the wider region will still
count locally because of the network of ties binding it to its dominant
relatives. What is equally important is that others in the village will be
aware of the existence of this network.

DOMINANT CASTE AS “MODELS” OF SANSKRITISATION

Sanskritisation is a process whereby people of lower castes collectively
try to adopt upper caste practices and beliefs, as a preliminary step to
acquire higher status. For example, they gave up meat eating, drinking
liquor and animal sacrifice to their deities. In the process of
sanskritisation, the dominant caste act as “reference groups” or as points
of reference. The dominant castes such as Patidars, Lingayats and
some Vellals, for some instance, have undergone a degree of
sanskritisation. As a result, the culture of the area over which their
dominance extends experiences a change. The Patidars have become
more sanskritised in the last 100 years or so, and this had effects on the
culture of all other groups in the Kaira District in Gujarat.

ROLE OF DOMINANT CASTE IN POLITICAL LIFE

During the recent years the political influence of the dominant caste has
considerably increased. By making use of freedom, democracy and
universal adult franchise the dominant castes have become politically
strong and powerful. With the introduction of the “Panchayat raj system”
these castes have extended their area of influence even in villages,
taluks and districts. Political power has given them economic strength.
They have used the political instruments to obtain for their caste
members, particularly for young men and women, good education and
prestigious jobs.

RIVALRIES & CONFLICTS BETWEEN DOMINANT CASTES

Every state has more than one dominant caste. These castes are always
engaged in rivalries and conflicts for securing political power and
economic opportunities. For example, such conflicts and rivalries are
found between Reddies and Kammas in Andhra Pradesh, Vokkaligas
and Lingayats in Karnataka and so on. The lower and the unprivileged
castes including the so called untouchables have now realised that they
are getting exploited at the hands of these dominant castes. This
awareness has made them organize themselves politically. The
“Bahujana Samajvadi Party” headed mostly by lower caste leaders, is
becoming popular in states such as U.P., Bihar, Punjab and Madhya
Pradesh. It has given tough opposition to the leadership of the dominant
castes and won a couple of assembly and parliament seats during the
recent elections.

CRITICISM
1. Dominant caste is not always numerically a preponderant caste. In
traditional villages it is not the numerical strength but secular power and
ritual status that determine the status of a dominant caste. D.N.
Majumdar denies the idea that scheduled castes and scheduled tribes,
though, having numerical strength may occupy a status of dominant
caste. According to him, “the backward classes, scheduled castes
preponderate in many villages, even a particular caste like the Lodha or
the Pasi may be numerically the largest caste in a village, but authority
and importance may attach to the few upper castes families, or to the
jamindar family, i.e., the social matrix of Indian village”.

2. Adrian C. Mayer (1958) has questioned the stress on numerical

dominance. He has also pointed out to the failure of the concept to deal
with the fact that power and prestige are often in the hands of few
individuals. He has also pointed out to the need to recognize that
dominance is not simply a one way affair since dominance is an object of
emulation for the caste beneath it in the hierarchy.

3.  Louis Dumont has claimed that dominance should be considered as

a purely secular phenomenon distinct from hierarchy which is purely
ritual.

4. Dominant caste today is found only in traditional villages. Srinivas has

argued that a dominant caste has most of the power in the village within
its fold. In fact, it is the dominant caste which runs the village; maintains
the village system. Surely, in the past, the powerful families in the village
were the big landowning families. The Brahmins and the Rajputs, in the
earlier periods of history, got immense favour from the feudal lords and
the British rulers.

In order to keep these higher castes in favour of the ruling group land
was given as gift. Those who received such favours included Brahmins,
Rajputs and the Marathas. Viewed from this perspective admittedly, the
Brahmins and the Rajputs became big landowning castes.

But, with the land reforms including land ceiling and abolition of jamindari
and jagirdari, big landowning has ceased to be a determinant factor of
dominant caste. In place of big landholding, political power has become
a decisive factor in the formation of a dominant caste.
CONCLUSION
The dominant caste is still continuing in India. Only its nature has
undergone some changes. At present, the introduction of adult
franchise, electoral politics and Panchayati Raj have brought about
profound changes in dominant caste. The phenomenon of dominance on
power of one caste over another is a key factor in the maintenance of
social structure of caste. In theory, there are only four castes but a large
number of sub-castes are more important in day-to-day conduct of a
family or kin group. The significant changes in the economic position of
certain castes, which though classed as „backward‟, has led to the
emergence of the new rich peasant farmer classes. These classes of the
middle castes are seeking to safeguard their position visa-a-vies the
higher castes on the one hand, and on the other hand, resisting
challenges to their position from the poorer classes and landless
labourers of the lowest castes. The increasing economic power in the
hands of these new rich middle castes is finding expression in their role
and dominance in the control of political institutions, particularly, at the
village and state levels who often protect their interests with brutal and
violent exercise of power. They seek to protect their essentially
economic and political interests as caste interests and this finds
expression in terms of increasing political polarisation on caste lines.

India has been most pronouncedly a multicultural society. She has,

throughout most of her history, lived with all her diversity. The caste
system had once provided the economic and social framework for the
operation of this multicultural society. The caste system was a form of
division of labour linked to the production system of the time. The
tolerance which characterized the Indian society itself had been, in many
ways, a product of the caste system. Its hierarchical character that
troubled us now was the price that had to be paid for it. This was one
view. Another view urged the recognition of the fact that Indian society
had accepted inequality as a principle of social organisation
BIBLIOGRAPHY
 CONTENT

NUMBER TOPIC PAGE NO.

1 INTRODUCTION 1

2 CHARACTERISTICS 2

3 DOMINANT CASTE AS MODELS 3

OF SANSKRITIZATION
4 ROLE OF DOMINANT CASTE IN 3
POLITICS
5 RIVALRIES AND CONFLICTS 4
BETWEEN DOMINANT CASTE
6 CRITICISMS 4

7 CONCLUSON 5

8 BIBLIOGRAPHY 6