THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY November 21,1953 Social Structure in the Punjab Marian W Smith This is the thirteenth of a acnes of village studies being published in The Economic Weekly. 'the author was m West and East Punjab in 1948-49 under the auspices of the Wenner Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, New York, and the Social Science Research Council, Washington, DC ANY of the aspects of the Indian programme of planned change ably no section in the western areas M social structure of the Re in village life. Although existing of the sub-continent that was so public of India have been clearly conditions may not be good in them immediately and tragically affected presented in previous articles in this selves, they do nevertheless repre b\ partition. Despite the great series. Dr Srinivas has given an sent an equilibrium of social forces changes winch the last six years have excellent account of the general fea acquired over a number of years. brought to families and to villages tures of village structure (The Eco Unintelligent planning can upset 111 this region, change will not be nomic Weekly October 30, 1951) this equilibrium yet fail to introduce dwell on here. Attention will and as Mr Carstairs has pointed out any substitute of relative value to cento on the continuing features {The Economic Weekly, January 26, production. Unplanned changes- are of society. The last hundred years 1952) these occur in oilier regions as often far-reaching enough without have been evenful ones for the Pun well as in the south, The several placing additional strain upon inter jab, yet through all the literature of detailed descriptions of particular personal relations through inept this period run certain stable threads villages furnish valuable information planning. 'Plus fact should never, of village lite. Field work, carrierd on the way these general features of coure, be construed as an argu on shortly atter partition, centred in function under local conditions. ment against change, for the status villages where population changes Even in the 'Hermit' village of qua carries no quality which is in had been at a minimum. These Kulu which stands in its isolation evitably valuable, But the unpre were, naturally, the mainly Muslim from other villages, Dr Rosser (The dieted effeets of change may often villages of the Pakistani portion of Economic Weekly, May 17, 1952) be disturbing,, especially in the the tract and the mainly Hindu and describes Kancts and Lohars as being intricately balanced society of India Sikh villages of the Indian portion. mutually interdependent, each hav As Mi Miller has chosen to do a ing status relative to the other. BASIS OF UNITY general pie! me of village structure Juridical authority lies with the vil Dr Srinivas has already) suggested IOT North Kerala, so this picture of lage council and this authority is that the interdependence of castes Punjabi social structure is also essentially non-coercive. It" is an the within the village is one of the general. In certain aspects it surely presence of these and similar features factors making for village unity. extends beyond the tract within that one recognizes the distinctive He calls this the 'vertical unity of which work has been concentrated stamp of Indian village life. It is many castes ' and contrasts it: with There are also variations within the as though there wear just so many a ' horizontal unity ' of castes in tract and it should be understood coloured fibres, but that on differ which caste alliances go ' beyond the that the more detailed information cut looms these were differently village '. Not only do castes inter refers to the Sikh segments of the combined to torn) new patterns. lock within the village to form an population. Where this is true, the Perhaps this fact accounts for the adhesive whole, but the spread of Sikh derivation of the data will be unity one feels in Indian life despite castes over several villages serves to specified. all its variety, form an interlocking mesh. Cross Yet this quality could be over village ties may, indeed, become so THE LAYOUT emphasized, and Mr Newell has strong that village unity suffers, Mr As in many parts of India, the phy called attention (The Economic Miller has shown (The Economic sical unity of the Punjabi village is Weekly, February 23, 1952) to the Weekly, February o. 1952) how immediately obvious. Houses of peculiarities which distinguish one difficult it now is to speak of a adobe cluster closely together forming district from another, and to insist clearly demarcated village commu a compact unit. Streets are lined by on their importance. Popular stereo nity in Kerala and he points out the walls of adjoining house com types about Bengalis and Punjabis that the " vertical " system of rights pounds and unite the various parts and Madrasis are not always icily and obligations between castes is not of the village. They open out into formulated. And, in smaller sec confined to the village. each other so that some of the wider tions, a single custom may throw all In the present article, emphasis ones are recognizably mam arteries. the elements into quite different will be placed on various aspects of The village is generally entered by locus. The varied content of this social structure discerned in one sec way of one or the other of these series of studies is ample evidence of tion of the Punjab. Under the Bri mam thoroughfares, however narrow the tact that familiarity with one tish Raj, Punjab province was divid it may be. and it leads, however part of India should never be taken ed into twenty-nine administrative toititously, to an open area, or areas, as conclusive knowledge of am districts. Roughly six of these are where shops cluster and.''or where the other. included in the sec! ion under dis open meeting place of the village is A third factor emphasised in this cussion. The tract is that winch situated. Tanks may occur within series, in several instances in the was the nucleus of Sikh population or on the edges of villages Since titles of the articles, is that of and extended from the country south agriculture is by irrigation, the fields change. Changes are coming about of the Sutlej River, including Lobhi tan out from the sources of water, so rapidly in village life that their ana and Ferozpur. to the region whether wells or canals. In the more nature and direction demand the across the Beas River. The cities and and less populated regions, the most careful and detailed attention. of Amritsar and Lahore lie within it. village is surrounded by its fields This is particularly true since the The line of partition between West which gradually peter out into need for greater productivity in the and East Punjab came through the desert. 'This pattern is clearly visible economic sphere has led to an heart of this tract and there is prob from the air. Looking from a plane 1291 November 21, 1953 window, one sees the country dotted relatively small number of what are with irregular patches on the brown variously called castes or tribes. Jats) certainly ; associate the tout plain. The patches are the warm Since these are in many cases dis quarters into which the highways colour of adobe at the centre, turn tinguished from the jati by the divide the village with the pattis of suddenly to green as the fields begin, people themselves, and since they the village. Actually, villages are and then fade out at the edges as are frequently said to have originated sub-divided whether their inhabi the water is no longer sufficient to from tribal groups, authorities on tants are mainly Jat, or Hindu, or maintain the full vigour of the crops. the Punjab generally prefer the Muslim. And the inhabitants know In richer areas, the fields of one word tribe. These tribes are not the boundaries of the divisions village adjoin those of the next and racially distinct, nor are they iso within the village though they are the settlement pattern is no longer lated from the bulk of the people well aware that families belonging so clear. Some villages are walled. In custom or belief. Rather the to division A may be living in But in any case, the housing area hulk of the population is divided division B because of such circum stops abruptly with the nails of the among them. The most numerous stances as overcrowding and avail outer compounds. There are few and important tribes in the neigh ability-of housing. The sub-divisions instances of straggling buildings and bourhoods of Ainritsar and Lahore of the villages have both boundaries one is either inside the village or are the jats and Rajputs. Aroras and recognized membership, even outside it. and Arams are likewise numerous. though these may not exactly cor Members o! these tribes may be of respond. Lath sub-division may CONCEPTUAL BOUNDARIES any religious persuasion ; there are also have its own open meeting Sikhs have tended to limit ritual Hindu Jots, Muslim Jats and Sikh place, its own shops and its own to a small part of their religion and fats, fats arc the dominant group hob places. I have been told (by no ritual boundaries arc spoken of. within Sikhism. and the most signi Jatsi that even dogs know the Nevertheless, there are explicit eon ficant Rajput groups are Muslim. boundaries of the paths to which ceptual boundaries to a village. The jats have a reputation for fine they belong and will not allow canine And whatever actual form a village husbandry and have often been refer trespassers. Not only are village may have taken over the years, red to as the " ycomen " of the units physically and conceptually, hut Sikhs tend to think of it as a build Punjab. Rajputs are also cultiva it can be seen that village sub-divi ing; unit bifurcated in two direc tors. Both the Sikh Jats and the sions arc also units. Before giving tions by highways running north Rajputs follow oilier occupations as additional instances of village and south and east west, if is thus divid well and both are famous as war patir unity one other aspect of ed in their minds into four equal riors and soldiers. Although this Punjabi village make-up should be sections. in this conceptualization, matter needs further research, I have clarified. the impression that the home the meeting place of the village is COMMON ANCESTRY in the open space in the centre of arrangements of the tribes are simi the village where the two highways lar. Marked differences occur within The people of villages and pat t is cross, with the shops clustering any one village as to the detailed arc often said to be descended from around its edge, and gurdwars are arrangements of living quarters. a common ancestor. Thus, the four situated outside the village bevond Some families tether animals within pattis of a village will be said to the dwellings at the four places the compound, others have a scpa have been established by four bro where the roads leave the village. rale cattle area outside; the place thers, the descendants of each man In actuality, many Muslim tombs ment of rooms and cooking arrange forming the basic population in and shrines, and main holy places of merits arc strikingly dissimilar. yet each path. Such groups bear a both Sikhs and Hindus are outside Jat homes tend to be alike. Phis name which is thought of today as likeness persists whether the families of the dwelling space of the village a " tamih name ". This name they are Hindus, Sikhs, or Muslim:.. I and along the approaches to it. hold in common with, for instance, have also noted similarities within Even in villages that are not walled, the people of: the home village from other tubes irrespective of religion which the founding brother emi I have been told several times by or the exact position of the village. Sikhs that the punishments meted grated. Not all persons bearing the What at first seems to be a hap same name can trace relationship but out by village panchaya's occurred hazard internal arrangement of vil at the "gate" of the village. Both they regard themselves as related lage compounds, may therefore be and will not, therefore, marry. physically and conceptually there adherence to traditional home plan fore, the village is a unit. These exogamous, patrilincal groups ning on the part of the various are generally called gots in the tract One of the difficulties which tribes. arises in discussing East and West of the Punjab under consideration. Hutton has discussed the relation Punjab is. that one feels inclined to SUB-DIVISIONS OF VILLAGE speak of the '' Hindu ", "' Muslim " between clans and got's (Caste in or " Sikh " features of village life. Confirmation of the tentative India, pp 48-50) in connection with So much of the recent history of hypothesis that settlement patterns Rajput gots. Jats and other tribes the Punjab has served to accen are tribally influenced comes from of the Pun|ab are similarly divided. tuate the religious differences of its the Lahore District OazeMeer for In actuality, few, if any, villages are population, that these are the dis 10) ft (j) iV): "In the older pit com poser I solely of members of one tinctions which immediately leap to villages of the Majha it will be got.. Neverthe'ess, villages arc mind. My own data do not con gencralh found on close inspection spoken of as being Sidhu villages, firm that these are, in actualaily, the that the houses arc divided oil in Ghil villages, etc. This: refers -to most significant divisions to be some sort of order according to the the tact that the village is said to considered in regard to settlement paths, tarafs or other internal sub- have been founded by one or more patterns. divisions observed in the village Sidhus or Ghils, and that Sidhus or constitution." Whether this is more Ghils are the dominant group in TRIBAL GROUPS obvious in jat villages than in villages the village, probably troth numeri The population of East and in which other tribes are predomi cally and in respect to the amount West Punjab is divided among a nant should be carefully checked. of land owned or farmed. In a 1292 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY November 21, 1953 November 21,1953
similar way, the quotation above ;be noted that the example of a vil- of slightly better social position; our referred to a "Jat village". Here lage dispute given on Mysore by Dr there was said to be no difference again few villages, however small, Snnivas involved ritual prerogatives). between the machhi and the jh inwar would be composed entirely of Jats. except that the former was entirely The same holds for religious groups. AFFILIATIONS Muslim and the latter only predo When the old Punjabi village was In order to understand how patti minantly so. Sikhs and Muslims describee) as either Hindu, Muslim and village affiliation can cut across did not form two single castes in or Sikh, reference was to the domi lines established by caste and religion the Punjab before partition, and nant group in the village, not to in the Punjab even when there is today in areas largely Sikh or Mus the religious affiliation of its entire little formal and recognized machi lim in East and West Punjab there population. Villages, then, were nery of organization, it is necessary arc still a number of interdependent ordinarily composed of populations to realize the strength of what Dr castes. including several gots, several tribes Srinivas has referred to as vertical The way economic specialization and several religions. unity. This seems to depend eco worked within the village may be nomically upon two factors. 'The illustrated by the steps involved in EXOGAMOUS UNITS first iS the relative permanency of the production of a single garment Despite the lack of homogeneity certain ties between specific high in the village of Dakhar, East Pun in village population, villages of the and low caste groups. These heredi jab, south of the Sutlej. Sheep Punjab are exogenous units. Pattis tary service-customer relations are were not raised in Dakhar, so a are also said to be exogamous but well described under the Jajmam Sikh woman, wife of a grain fanner .since they exist only within the System for Uttar Pradesh ( W H of high caste, would purchase wool larger unit this is relatively meaning Wiser, Lucknow, 1936) and referred from travelling herders who regu less. Even in villages of three or to by Dr Srinivas for Mysore where larly visited the village. 'This wool four thousand, marriages are not the " master " calls his '' servant " then went to a Sikh untouchable arranged within the village. It hatcmaga (old son), and by Mr for cleansing. The woman gene- would be interesting to know whe Newell as birton agreements. Tenni ralh did the spinning herself. ther the patti becomes the func- nology and details seem to vary but Dyers in the village were Muslim tioning exogamous unit in towns, such arrangements between families and the spun wool was processed which are of larger size, but I have of different caste, continuing from by one of them. Weaving could no information on this matter. It one generation to the next, seem be done by either a Muslim or a is enough for our present purposes once to have been common in many Sikh since the village contained two to note that, for all the variety of parts of the sub-continent and still weaving castes distinguished by reli its population, the unity felt to exist show considerable vigour. The gion, the choice being determined within the village is so strong as to second factor influencing vertical by a relationship between families make marriage within it an impos unity is by no means distinct from paralleling that of the jajmani. All sibility. the first but operates in less indivi the tailors were Hindu. The finish At the tune field work was being dualized terms. 'This is what Dr ed jacket, therefore, was the joint carried out, a number of villages had Srinivas has called the " interde product of several castes Self-inte Government-recognized panchayats. pendence '' of castes which rests, in rest welded not only the castes, but Unofficial panchayats were also some turn, upon their social and econo the religious groups as well, into a tunes present, generally partially mic specialization. single interlocking system. In view overlapping in personnel. Pattis may of this specialization, the economic likewise have their own panchayats. SIKH AND MUSLIM CASTES confusion resultant upon the sudden intra patti affairs being referred to In other parts of India it is withdrawal from Dakhar of its Mus the patti panchayat and inter-parti reported that a religious minority lim inhabitants in the summer of affairs going to the village panchayat. in an otherwise Hindu population is 1947 can easily be imagined. These seem once to have been a treated as a caste. Even when the common feature of Punjabi village size of such a group is large its EFFECTS OF PARTITION life. The identity of the patti is position in the caste hierarchy is Quite apart from other disturbing clearly marked by the organization often described as though it ranked features of partition, the economic of athletic teams. Sports contests as a single entity. Sikhs have simi dislocation on the village level neces are fairly common in the Punjab. larly been equated with a caste in sitated major readjustments and has Teams may be recruited from gots, the Punjab. If one considers the probably had the effect of weaken one got playing another, or patti occupational aspects of caste, ie, ing the interdependeney of castes teams may play off with other pattis, those aspects which depend upon within the village. One joint the final village team chosen for social and economic specialization, family of Sikhs, for instance, took competition with other villages being this is, however, an unwarranted the opportunity furnished by a the winner in the play-off. Disputes simplification of the facts concern journey to Delhi made by one of its between single members of partis ing Punjabi social life. Although members to have him buy a bolt of may quickly involve other members both Sikhs and Muslims explicitly tweed. From this tweed the so that patti is lined up against patti. deny the religions sanctions of the Hindu tailor made jackets for the In any dispute between villages, Vedic caste system, there arc Sikh five adult men of the family. In however, the members of the various and Muslim castes. Because of this instance it is the finished cloth pattis tend to unite, all castes and their religious beliefs, all men tend which is purchased rather than the religions functioning as village mem- to be regarded as equal, irrespective raw wool. Specialization or divi hers on such occasions even against of caste, within the shadow of the sion of labour is still involved but, co-caste and co-religious members. gurdwara or mosque. Nevertheless, with the withdrawal of key figures Examples of such incidents where in daily life Sikh and Muslim castes in the interlocking system, the num villages united against villages were were, and are, fully recognized. ber of linked groups has been reduc given in disputes over boundaries, Thus, the Muslim mochi is the ed so that vertical unity is weaken rights to irrigation water, and insults same occupational caste as the ed. The next step, that of purchase to women, (In contrast, it should Hindu or Sikh chamar, though often ing ready-made jackets, is still not a 1294 'November 21,1953
'frequent village practice since my No business relation runs smoothly industrialization in the West has data were collected just after parti all the time and every incident been a change toward specialization tion, I do not know to what extent could be developed into a religious— and toward interdependency. There groups of specialists from incoming and political—grievance. In a differ is still considerable residue of feel fellow-religionists have been able to ent atmosphere, however, the same ing about the effect of this upon the take over previous occupations and social and economic links might human being: it is often said in reconstitute the old interdependency. serve as part of the adhesive mak the West that a man who must Many factors would certainly lead ing for unity not only within the depend upon others is in some sense them to make the attempt despite village but in a larger sphere as less a man. Such a statement must the difficulties which would be well. That such situations have have small significance to an Indian presented to their absorption as full had political significance in India in villager. village members. For certain tasks the past now seems probable. of immediate concern to the conti However this may be in the future, SHIFT IN SPECIALIZATION nuance of daily existence, such as oil the recognition of the existence of If manufactured goods from out pressing (mustard oil is a Punjabi a .social and economic unity which side are accepted in the Indian vil food staple), it is astonishing how goes beyond the physical boundaries lage, it is not only because new quickly the gap made by the loss of any single village leads us in two needs have been created—the villa of members of Muslim oil-pressers directions. ger has for many decades had more was filled by Hindus and Sikhs in needs than he could satisfy—but East Punjab. Whole groups crossed INTER-VILLAGE DEPENDENCE also because their very acceptance is caste lines to take up this economic The first of these concerns what a release from the pressure of tradi slack. is often spoken of as village self tional dependencies As in the inci As Mr Miller has already indi sufficiency. It is usual in discuss dent of the jacket, purchased items cated, the mutual rights and obli ing changes which are coming often actually represent a step toward gations which characterize caste about in Indian village affairs to increased self-sufficiency for the relations may extend beyond the vil contrast the former self-sufficiency of family rather than away from it. It lage so that vertical unity itself the village with its present relative is then necessary to distinguish be goes beyond the village. Through dependence upon items brought in tween the self sufficiency of the pio out north India it often happens From outside where they are indus neer family which contained all the that Brahmins, dhobis or other trially produced. The classical exam resources needed for its continuance groups necessary to the life of a vil ple of such change is the introduc and the self sufficiency of the urban lage live outside it in nearby villages. tion of factory-spun cotton cloth dweller who is able to maintain self- In a previous article ('' The Misal : Another example is given above in sufficiency through reliance upon a A Structural Village Group of India the buying of woven woollen cloth. money economy. The latter is pos and Pakistan," American Anthropo There is no doubt that Ibis is a sible only because of an intricate logist; Vol 54, pp 41-56, January significant change. The self-suffi network of mutually dependent ser March 1952), I have suggested that ciency of the Punjabi village, how vices and specializations. As long villages thus linked by the network ever, can he greatly over-estimated. as we mean by self-sufficiency in of the social and economic special Spices and metals arc necessities India an earlier condition under izations of their caste groups may which have been brought in from which few manufactured items were form structural units with possible outside for centuries at least. The introduced into the village from political overtones. According to village may be isolated. Taken in its outside, we are treading on fairly Mr Miller, this is confirmed for larger context, ie, including those safe ground. But so soon as we North Kerala where the mutual obli villages with which it regularly ex imply by the tern that the shift gation between villages " is probably changes goods or services, if is even toward industrialization involves a one of the factors formerly contribut self reliant and self-dependent. But shift toward specialization and ing to the unity of the nad (chief- the tenn self sufficient in economics toward interdependency, we are fall dom) ''. is apt to conjure up the picture of ing very wide of the mark. The That mutual interests dependent the pioneer communities in the New- effect of industrialization upon the upon specialization continue to relate World. These communities furnish Indian village is to shift from one different communities is made clear a striking contrast with industrial sort of interdependency to another, in the recent survey of the econo society. Not only were they, like from one sort of specialization to mic and social position of the the Indian villages, almost entirely another. chamars of Barpali in Orissa (The self-dependent in that few neces Considerable analysis of the Economic Weekly, September 19, sities or services bad to be brought nature of specialization in world 1953). Owners of dead cattle call in from outside, but they were societies remains to be done. We for a Ganda, a Ghasi or a Chamar made up of families which contain do know enough, however, both who disposes of the skin to a ed within themselves the skills neces about industrialization and the Bepari Chamar. All hides pass sary for maintenance. When a Indian village to recognize that through the hands of the Bepari family, or a man, in such a commu many of the generalizations often Chamars who in turn depend nity is spoken of as self-sufficient, it- heard concerning the effects of upon the Ghasis to transport them is implied that he can maintain industrialization on the village are by bullock cart to another village himself very largely without any distressingly facile, and their implica where they are purchased by Maha- outside assistance of either skills tions frequently misleading. It is jans who are Muslims. This over or services. In the United States safest to be much more specific lapping of caste and religious groups today rural communities still partake about the particular processes one exactly parallels the Punjabi situa of a considerable element of this has in mind. sort of self-sufficiency. And it is tion. In the Punjab, the politically Once it is recognized that the divisive forces of religion were so this which furnishes the greatest contrast with modern urban and structural unity brought about by capitalized that the economic links the interaction of caste specializa between persons of different reli industrial life in which services are interdependent, The change toward tions extends beyond the village, a gions became additional irritants. second problem faces us. Is the
1295
November 21,1953 that this is considered in arranging Both village and got marital pre- studied as such? There is no doubt a manage it would imply that the ferenees seem in actuality to be about the strong sense of village villages nearer the Holy City of the contingent upon other factors as identity which has been discussed Sikhs were "higher" than those well. Chief among these seems to above. The Punjabi village shares more distant from it. Otherwise vil be the factor of spatial distance, this sense of internal unity and iden lages are not regarded as " high " or No marriages at all have occurred tity with villages in many parts of " low " in regard to the direction within four miles of Jhabal. Not the world. It is something the of marriages. However, each village only, therefore, is the village exo Westerner is well able to under is said to have a traditional set of gamous in actuality as well an in stand. But if the village has neces villages to whom its girls regularly theory, but the region surrounding sary ties with other villages can it go m marriage and another set from the village is also exogamous in be inteligibly studied as a single which it regularly receives wives. It practice. The fact that it is regard community? is thus perfectly clear to the villagers ed as indecent for the bride and 'The significance of this question that they are part of a network of gr oom to have even seen each is intensified by the " horizontal " villages organized on marital lines. other before marriage undoubtedly unity of castes which form alliances To determine the constitution of is one of the main reasons for this. going beyond village boundaries. such a network, and to check on its Four miles apparently carries one Caste pane/mats were once strong existence, requires particular data as beyond the acquaintanceship and and the usual ties between caste well as general statements. The fol potential visibility range. Yet great members exist in the Punjab :is in lowing Sikh material comes from a distance hirnishes a practical barrier other parts of India. genealogical study made for me by to mairiage, for two thirds of the Gurcharan Singh in April, 1940, of marriages have taken place with vil AFFINAL TIES gof Dhillon, patti Raja Raja, tahsil lages between four and twelve miles The Punjabi village has already Taran Taran, village jhabal, district from jhabal. with the greatest num been described as an exogamous unit. Amritsar, East Punjab. The data ber clustering around the eight-mile This means that even marriage were analyzed in the winter of radius. Less than one fifth of the involves the village with other vil 1950-51 by McKim Marriott, The marnages link Jhabal with any place lages and that all affinal ties go genealogy contains 402 names begin more than sixteen miles away. Since beyond its boundaries. Dr Mar mug with Raja Raja who founded jhabal is in the Madia and Amritsar riott has described ('The Economic the putti and continues through falls within its marriage range, these Weekly, August 23,1952) marriage the patrilincal line to a few des data furnish no information as to in a UP village and has pointed cendants in the present and tenth directional tics between the Majba out that the " structuring of marriage generation. Women's names only and the Puaba. To gel a clear pic puts limits on the degree to which begin to appear in the sixth gene- ture of the interlocking of villages a village can manage its economic ration within the memory of living through marital ties, we should have affairs as a local unit" In the vil informants. Between the sixth and data not only on the oilier parts of lage he discusses, marriage is patri ninth generations 208 marriages arc Jhabal's population, but of all the local as in the Punjab and the direc reported, those from the seventh to ties of all the villages with which tion in winch girls pass determines the ninth probably approaching jhabal is linked. The scope and marriage relations between villages. full coverage. Eighteen villages are complexity of any such material can Thus, if a marriage is arranged be listed as those from which wives easily be seen to be practically prohi tween a man in village A and a girl should be obtained. Actually eighty bitive. Nevertheless, the data avail in village b, village A is said to be two villages are involved. Of the able to us in this analysis well illus " high " in respect to village R eighteen only thirteen are found at trate the extent to which Punjabi [which is, therefore, "low") and in all and two of these occur but village interests extend beyond vil- the future wives may go from B to rarely. Taken together the list of lage boundaries. For any attempt to A but the direction is not reversed. preferred villages accounts for about understand the interpersonal rela Village B would, alternatively, be one-half of the known marriages, ie, tions, or the social motivations, of " high " in regard to those villages half the marriages of four genera one go! of one of Jhabal's pattis, from which wives had been taken. tions have formed repeated links be the marital community to be consi Sikhs have made a conscious cflorl tween fifteen other villages and dered Mould start four miles away to limit the expense of weddings and Jhabal, the other half, scattered over and have to include at least those reduce the economic exchanges at sixty-seven villages, forming positive villages up to eight miles distant. marriage. This has been only par but weaker ties. Marriages occur This type of neccessary relationship is tially successful but in any case the in only one direction with five vil not always easy for the Westerner network of villages formed by mar lages of the preferred list and a to understand. riage ties can be directly compared large number of the other villages. with that described for the UP. In Absolute unidirectionability. how STRAIN ON FAMILY BUDGETS the Punjab three geographical strips ever, is not confirmed. Marriages In the Punjab, economic bonds are distinguished which lic very are also traditionally preferred be within the patrilocal joint family roughly north and south of each tween Dhillons and six other gots. have also operated to extend village other: the Majha in which Amritsar Five of these are actually those contacts. With natural limits plac as situated, the Duaba (or Doab) in with which marriages are most fre ed upon the amount of amble land the centre, and the Malwa to the quently arranged. although the available to each village, and with south. It is said by Sikhs that, al other fails to appear at all. One of constantly rising population figures, though most: marriages naturally the preferred gots (Sandhu) accounts the strain upon family budgets has occur between villages fairly close to for 100 marriages, nearly half of the been considerable even for land-own- each other and therefore within these known total; the other four account mg joint families. The . traditional strips, marriages across their bound for fifty-five marriages or one-quarter way of handling this problem has aries tend to be arranged so that of the total. The remaining quarter been for one or more younger sons girls pass from south to north, of the marriages is spread over to leave the village and take up toward Amritsar. To the extent eighteen other gots. employment at a distance. These 1297 November 21,1953 men were ordinarily married before' -'their':' religious 'side. The intricate they left and their wives and young organizations built up by such and self-sufficient village fragments. children remained in the family to groups as the followers of Guru It is more like a carpet in which be cared for. Any possible proceeds Gobind Singh, the Ahmadiya and each part, although unified and iden of their employment were then sent the Arya Samaj must be studied to tifiable in itself, is inextricably woven back to defray the upkeep of their be believed. Lacking a place in gov into the fabric. Thus the social families and to eke out the joint ernmental organization, Punjabis structure of the Punjab resolves it family finances. Needless to say, the have built their own organizations self into a balance of various struc amount of these remittances depend which penetrate to the village level tures each of which must be consi ed on a number of individual factors as Government docs not. In the dered if we are to grasp the mean and they were regularly forwarded paper quoted above, I gave details ing of the whole. to the heads or other responsible of the main Government structure The painstaking reader will already members of the joint familes. Mr within which the Punjabi village is have recognized that our analyses Bailey has mentioned that a similar encapsulated. In contrast to this, have proceeded on several different practice adds to the income of his there tends to he a constant flow of levels. Perhaps this is inevitable in Oriya-speaking village (The Econo interest and involvement in com the present stage of our knowledge mic Weekly, March 21, 1953) and munal affairs straight from the concerning the forces at work in it is certainly known in other parts smallest village to the leaders, it is society. Several factors operative in of India as well. Yet the numbers no wonder that votes are often Punjabi village life have not been of men who leave Punjabi village , determined by this stream of alle considered here at all. Yet if we are- for outside employment may well giance. Limitations of space make looking toward the future, it is be unusually large. The Gazetteer it impossible to give details here of encouraging to realize that the co for 1916 (p 341) states that " immi the way the communal organizations operation of Indian and Western gration into Lahore city is very large, (function at the village level. But social scientists is gradually building 436 per mille of the inhabitants even a superficial knowledge of Pun up a body of trustworthy information being born outside the district. . . . jabi polities is convincing evidence on India which can hardly be parallel The nature of the humiliation has of the communal interest taken by ed for any other nation of the world. led to a preponderance of males, and many villagers. the proportion in the city is only Like caste alliances, communal 596 females per thousand males." ties form a strong element of hori Other men went further afield and zontal unity, structurally relating the numbers of Punjabis joined the Impe affairs of one village with those of rial Army. It was always expected others distant from it. Numerous that these men would return to their forces in modern life have worked home villages, and their places in to weaken the old caste alliances but their joint families were kept secure. these seem in many cases to have The result of this has been that been supplanted by communal parti hardly a Sikh village today is without cipation. Government insistence its experienced traveller, its old sol upon village and patti unity for dier, or its former city dweller. administrative purposes has un doubtedly served to provide an addi COM M UN A L ORGANIZATIONS tional element in vertical unity, Under modern conditions, the which is being increased with the strength of Punjabi communal orga increasing official recognition of vil nization .should also be taken into lage panchayats. Whether one is account if we are to understand vil thinking of the past or the present, lage life. Relationships between the unity of the Punjabi village and Government representatives and the the ties beyond it with other villages villager before partition were effee must be weighed together. Vertical tually limited to tax collecting and and horizontal unities must be consi policing. With rationing, and espe dered together in any analysis of cially since partition, there has been village life. an increase in Government services and contacts in the village both in UNITY IN DIVERSITY East and West Punjab. Neverthe Under these circumstances, the less, the opportunities given to the extent to which the village may be villager for participating in Govern considered a single " community " ment have been practically fid. seems to me extremely limited. In This fact is coupled with the strange terms of economic and social special paradox that the Punjabi villnger is ization, marital ties, and religious often an expert politician. He and political organization, the struc spends a great deal of his time tural unit is larger than the village. assessing personal motivations against These are not contacts in which the a background of possible economic villager may indulge, they are impos and social advantage. He knows ed upon him by the habits of his how to play clique against clique existence. Important as single vil and he has a shrewd sense of posi lage studies may he, therefore—and tive leadership. During the last I would be the last to underestimate hundred years, the major outlet for their significance—it does not seem these capacities has been in the to me that any complete picture of communal organizations, all of which Punjabi life can ever be obtained have had their political as well as from them alone. Punjabi society 1298