Since the beginning of the modern reform movement to encourage inter-caste marriages-most of which are in fact inter-tad or inter-ekda marriagesthe old process of fission into ekdas and tads has come to a halt, and it is, therefore, difficult to understand this process without making a systematic historical enquiry. Traditionally, the Brahman division was supposed to provide the priests for the corresponding divisions. Frequently, the shift from emphasis on co-operation and hierarchy in the caste system to emphasis on division (or difference or separation) is described as shift from whole to parts, from system to elements, from structure to substance. Most inter-divisional marriages take place between boys and girls belonging to the lowest order in the structure of divisions. While almost all the social structures and institutions which existed in villagesreligion, caste, family, and so onalso existed in towns, we should not assume that their character was the same. Systematic because castes exist and are like each other in being different (298). The most important of them was the Koli division, which was, the largest division and mainly included small landholders, tenants and labourers. In the past the dispersal over a wide area of population of an ekda or tad was uncommon; only modern communications have made residential dispersal as well as functional integration possible. Castes having continuous internal hierarchy and lacking effective small endogamous units, such as Rajputs, Leva Kanbis, Anavils and Khedawals, do not have active associations for lower-order divisions. There was a continuous process of formation and disintegration of such units. But there were also others who did not wield any power. He does not give importance to this possibility probably because, as he goes on to state, what is sought here is a universal formula, a rule without exceptions (ibid.). The understanding of changes in caste is not likely to be advanced by clubbing such diverse groups together under the rubric of ethnic group. These divisions have, however, been kept out of the present analysis for reasons which have become well known to students of Hindu society since the 1950s. To illustrate, among the Khadayata or Modh Vanias, an increasing number of marriages take place between two or more tads within an ekda. Marriages were usually confined to neighbouring villages, so that marriage links were spread in a continuous manner from one end of the region to another. While we can find historical information about the formation of ekdas and tads there are only myths about the formation of the numerous second-order divisions. So far we have considered first-order divisions with large and widely spread populations. This category has the following 18 subcategories, out of 18 total. If the marriage took place within the Vania fold but outside the tad or ekda, as the case may be, the punishment varied according to the social distance between the tads or ekdas of the bride and the groom. So instead of a great exporter of finished products, India became an importer of British, while its share of world export fell from 27% to two percent. They then spread to towns in the homeland and among all castes. Within each of these divisions, small endogamous units (ekdas, gols, bandhos) were organized from time to time to get relief from the difficulties inherent in hypergamy. Plagiarism Prevention 4. Division and hierarchy have always been stressed as the two basic principles of the caste system. While certain first-order divisions were found mainly in towns, the population of certain other first-order divisions was dispersed in villages as well as in towns, the population of the rural and the urban sections differing from one division to another. The purpose is not to condemn village studies, as is caste in a better perspective after deriving insights from village studies. www.opendialoguemediations.com. A large proportion, if not the whole, of the population of many of such divisions lived in towns. The Vanias provide an example of such castes. The two categories of castes have been deeply conscious of these differences between them and have been talking freely about them. The Anavil, numbering 30,000 to 40,000 in 1931, were found mainly in south Gujarat. By the beginning of British rule in the early 19th century, a considerable number of these chieftains had succeeded in establishing petty chiefdoms, each composed of one, and occasionally more than one, village, in all parts of Gujarat. caste: [noun] one of the hereditary social classes in Hinduism that restrict the occupation of their members and their association with the members of other castes. The co-residence of people belonging to two or more divisions of the lower orders within a division of a higher order has been a prominent feature of caste in towns and cities. The guiding ideas were samaj sudharo (social reform) and samaj seva (social service). This was dramatized at huge feasts called chorasi (literally, eighty-four) when Brahmans belonging to all the traditional 84 second-order divisions sat together to eat food cooked at the same kitchen. Pocock goes on to observe that diminution of emphasis upon hierarchy and increasing emphasis upon difference are features of caste in modern, particularly urban, India: there is a shift from the caste system to individual castes and this reflects the change that is taking place in India today (290). No analytical gains are therefore likely to occur by calling them by any other name. The weavers were forced into selling exclusively to the British at extremely low rates, pushing them into poverty. The Kolis in such an area may not even be concerned about a second-order divisional name and may be known simply as Kolis. To whichever of the four orders a caste division belonged, its horizontal spread rarely, if ever, coincided with that of another. All of this information supports the point emerging from the above analysis, that frequently there was relatively little concern for ritual status between the second-order divisions within a first- order division than there was between the first-order divisions. These coastal towns were involved in trade among themselves, with other towns on the rest of the Indian sea coast, and with many foreign lands. Broach, Cambay and Surat were the largest, but there were also a number of smaller ones. Privacy Policy 8. When the rural population began to be drawn towards the new opportunities, the first to take advantage of them were the rural sections of the rural-cum-urban castes. This meant that he could marry a girl of any subdivision within the Vania division. I have bits and pieces of information about relations between a considerable numbers of other lower-order divisions in their respective higher-order divisions. He stresses repeatedly the primacy of the principle of hierarchy-epitomized in the title of his book. Caste divisions of the first-order can be classified broadly into three categories. Each ekda or gol was composed of a definite number of families living in certain villages and/or towns. In some other cases, mainly of urban artisans, craftsmen and specialized servants, such as Kansaras (copper and bronze smiths), Salvis (silk weavers), Kharadis (skilled carpenters and wood carvers), Chudgars (bangle-makers) and Vahivanchas genealogists and mythographers), the small populations were so small and confined to so few towns that they had few subdivisions and the boundaries of their horizontal units were fairly easy to define. Dowry not only continues to be a symbol of status in the new hierarchy but is gradually replacing bride price wherever it existed, and dowry amounts are now reaching astronomical heights. I hope to show in this paper how the principle of division is also a primary principle competing with the principle of hierarchy and having important implications for Indian society and culture. Let me illustrate briefly. We shall return later to a consideration of this problem. Both Borradaile and Campbell were probably mixing up small endogamous units of various kinds. Today majority of these community members are not engaged in their ancestral weaving occupation still some population of these community contribute themselves in traditional handloom weaving of famous Patola of Patan, Kachchh shawl of Bhujodi in Kutch, Gharchola and Crotchet of Jamnagar, Zari of Surat, Mashroo of Patan and Mandvi in Kutch, Bandhani of Jamnagar, Anjar and Bhuj, Motif, Leheria, Dhamakda and Ajrak, Nagri sari, Tangaliya Shawl, Dhurrie, Kediyu, Heer Bharat, Abhala, Phento and art of Gudri. The unit might possess some other corporate characteristics also. The Rajputs in Radhvanaj, the village I have studied in central Gujarat, had no great difficulty in establishing their claim to being Rajputs: they owned substantial amounts of land under a traditional Rajput tenure, dominated village politics and possessed certain other traditional Rajput symbols. Village studies, as far as caste is a part of them, have been, there fore, concerned with the interrelations between sections of various castes in the local context. <> A large number of priestly, artisan and service castes also lived in both villages and towns: Bramhans, barbers, carpenters, blacksmiths, shoemakers, leather-workers, scavenges, water-carriers, palanquin-bearers, and so on. The Chumvalias and Patanwadias migrated possibly from the same tract and continued to belong to the same horizontal unit after migration. Patel is a surname of the Koli caste of Gujarat in India which have most importance in the politics of Gujarat and Koli Patels of Saurashtra was most benefited under the rule of Indian National Congress party. Kolis were the largest first-order division in Gujarat. State Id State Name Castecode Caste Subcaste 4 GUJARAT 4001 AHIR SORATHA 4 GUJARAT 4002 AHIR 4 GUJARAT 4003 ANSARI 4 GUJARAT 4004 ANVIL BRAHMIN 4 GUJARAT 4005 ATIT BAYAJI BAKSHI PANCH 4 GUJARAT 4006 BAJANIYA 4 GUJARAT 4007 BAJIR . Most of the other eighty or so second-order divisions among Brahmans, however, seem to be subdivided the way the Vania second-order divisions were subdivided into third-order and fourth-order divisions. For example, there were Khedawal Brahmans but not Khedawal Vanias, and Lad Vanias but no Lad Brahmans. Not only that, there were also third-order divisions (i.e., ekdas) in one or more second-order divisions, and finally one or more fourth-order divisions (i.e., tads) in one or more third-order divisions. Limitations of the holistic view of caste, based as it is mainly on the study of the village, should be realized in the light of urban experience. The urban centres in both the areas, it is hardly necessary to mention, are nucleated settlements populated by numerous caste and religious groups. Nor do I claim to know the whole of Gujarat. Castes pervaded by divisive tendencies had small populations confined to small areas separated from each other by considerable gaps. Vankar is described as a caste as well as a community. Of particular importance seems to be the fact that a section of the urban population was more or less isolatedsome may say, alienatedfrom the rural masses from generation to generation. The Brahmans and Vanias seem to have had the largest number of divisions as mentioned earlier, about eighty in the former and about forty in the latter. In recent years, however, there has been a tendency to emphasize hierarchy as the primary principle encompassing the principle of division. The main occupation of Vankars was the weaving of cloth. Finally, while an increasing number of marriages are taking place even across the boundaries of first-order divisions, as for example, between Brahmans and Vanias, and between Vanias and Patidars, such marriages even now form an extremely small proportion of the total number of marriages. The social relations between and within a large number of such segregated castes should be seen in the context of the overall urban environment, characterized as it was by co-existence of local Hindu castes with immigrant Hindu castes and with the non-Hindu groups such as Jains, Muslims, Parsis and Christians, a higher degree of monetization, a higher degree of contractual and market relations (conversely, a lesser degree of jajmani-type relations), existence of trade guilds, and so on. There was also another important correlation. The above brief analysis of change in caste in modern Gujarat has, I hope, indicated that an overall view of changes in caste in modern India should include a careful study of changes in rural as well as in urban areas in relation to their past. The essential idea in the category was power, and anybody who wielded powereither as king or as dominant group in a rural (even tribal) areacould claim to be Rajput. As regards the specific case of the Rajput-Koli relationship, my impression is that, after the suppression of female infanticide in the first half of the 19th century, the later prohibition of polygyny, and the recent removal of princely states and feudal land tenures among the Rajputs on the one hand, and the increasing sanskritization as well as Rajputization among the Kolis on the other, marriage ties between these divisions have become more extensive than before. I do not propose to review the literature on caste here; my aim is to point out the direction towards which a few facts from Gujarat lead us. We shall return to the Rajput-Koli relationship when we consider the Kolis in detail. This reflects the high degree of divisiveness in castes in Gujarat. The very low Brahmans such as Kayatias and Tapodhans were invited but made to eat separately from the rest of the Brahmans. The Levas, Anavils and Khedawals provide examples of castes whose internal organization had a strong emphasis on the principle of hierarchy and a weak emphasis on that of division. %PDF-1.7 The Hindu and Muslim kingdoms in Gujarat during the medieval period had, of course, their capital towns, at first Patan and then Ahmedabad. The Kayasthas and Brahma-Kshatriyas, the so- called writer castes, employed mainly in the bureaucracy, and the Vahivancha Barots, genealogists and mythographers, were almost exclusively urban castes. ADVERTISEMENTS: Division and Hierarchy: An Overview of Caste in Gujarat! Firstly, there were divisions whose population was found almost entirely in towns. I describe here three prominent units of the latter type, namely, Anavil, Leva Kanbi, and Khedawal Brahman. <> Fortunately, they have now started writing about it (see Rao 1974). While some of the divisions of a lower order might be the result of fission, some others might be a result of fusion. Sometimes a division corresponding to a division among Brahmans and Vanias was found in a third first-order division also. Most associations continue to retain their non-political character. The Kolis seem to have had only two divisions in every part of Gujarat: for example, Talapada (indigenous) and Pardeshi (foreign) in central Gujarat and Palia and Baria in eastern Gujarat (significantly, one considered indigenous and the other outsider). Indian textiles especially of Gujarat have been praised in several accounts by explorers and historians, from Megasthenes to Herodotus. There is a patterned widening of the connubial field along an area chalked out historically. Literally, ekda meant unit, and gol circle, and both signified an endogamous unit. During Mughal Empire India was manufacturing 27% of world's textile and Gujarati weavers dominated along with Bengali weavers in Indian textile trade industry overseas. At one end there were castes in which the principle of hierarchy had free play and the role of the principle of division was limited. In the second-order divisions of the Vanias the small endogamous units functioned more effectively and lasted longer: although the hypergamous tendency did exist particularly between the rural and the urban sections in a unit, it had restricted play. Data need to be collected over large areas by methods other than those used in village studies, castes need to be compared in the regional setting, and a new general approach, analytical framework, and conceptual apparatus need to be developed. Homo Hierarchicus. Far from it, I am only suggesting that its role had certain limitations and that the principle of division was also an important and competing principle. Indeed, a major achievement of Indian sociology during the last thirty years or so has been deeper understanding of caste in the village context in particular and of its hierarchical dimension in general. They adopted Rajput customs and traditions, claimed Rajput status, and gave daughters in marriage to Rajputs in the lower rungs of Rajput hierarchy. There was another kind of ambiguity about the Brahman status or two other divisionsKayatia and Tapodhan. Frequently, marriages were arranged in contravention of a particular rule after obtaining the permission of the council of leaders and paying a penalty in advance. All the small towns sections in each of the ekdas resented that, while the large town section accepted brides from small towns, they did not reciprocate. I am dealing here only with certain typical situations. r/ahmedabad From Mumbai. While we do get evidence of fission of caste divisions of a higher order into two or more divisions of a lower order, the mere existence of divisions of a lower order should not be taken as evidence of fission in a division of a higher order. Together they provide a slice of Gujarati society from the sea- coast to the bordering highlands. Marco Polo a Venetian merchant on his visit to India in 13th century Gujarat observed that "brocading art of Gujarat weavers is par excellent". Caste associations have been formed on the lines of caste divisions. Reference to weaving and spinning materials is found in the Vedic Literature. As for the size of other castes, I shall make mainly relative statements. There were about three hundred divisions of this order in the region as a whole. The indigenous Kolis in the highland area of Pal in eastern Gujarat were called Palia, but there was another smaller population of KoUs, who were locally called Baria but were actually Talapada immigrants from central Gujarat. Gujarati migrations to the nearby metropolis of Bombay the first new centre of administration, industry, commerce, education, and western culture, followed the same links.
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