Social Structure of Meitei-Pangal (Muslims) of Manipur Abstract Thesis
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SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF MEITEI-PANGAL (MUSLIMS) OF MANIPUR ABSTRACT THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF 3 a dot of |pl|U0S0pl|y SOCIOLOGY By RAJIYA SHAHANI UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF PROF. NOOR MOHAMMAD DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY AND SOCIAL WORK ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY ALIGARH (INDIA) 2006 ABSTRACT In the present piece of research work, the basic institutions of Meitei-Pangal of Manipur have been analyzed from structural functional perspectives. Though old, the structural functional approach is a dominant sociological perspective. The background of the structural functionalism is found in the works of A. Comte, H. Spencer and E. Durkheim. Comte applied this perspective in his work, more prominently in his theory of organicism. H. Spencer also adopted organicism which led him to look at the social whole and the contribution of parts to the whole. E.Durkheim's interest in the social facts reflects his interest in the social organicism and their interrelationships and impact in the society. The major concern of these perspectives is the analysis of the structure and functions of a society that a social system needs to survive. Parsons is considered one of the giants of this perspectives. His structural-functional analysis becomes conspicuous when he says that - four basic conditions have to be met if any social system is to operate at all. These are : adaptation, goal attainment , integration and latency . These conditions are fulfilled by four institutions viz. economy, polity, kinship and culture. The Meitei-Pangal community of Manipur also meets these basic conditions of the social system . Islam is their religion. They believe that Islam is propagated by Prophet 1 Muhammad(PBUH) from Mecca, Saudi Arabia. They follow the basic teachings of Islam . Economic activities of the Meitei-Pangal may be categorized according to their settlement. Inhabitants of rural areas (normally) depend on agriculture, fishing etc. But the urban inhabitant's economy rest upon bussiness, craft etc. overall the whole Meitei-pangal has low economic status. There are formal, as well as informal social/civil- organisations in the meitei-pangal society. They settle problems of and in the society through discussions and mutual consultations with elder members of both the confronting side and if needed take help of the police and court. These organisations work in totality for an all round development of the meitei-pangal society. Kinship is fabricated around the institutions of family and marriage. Though, influenced by the neighbouring (meetei/meitei) society, they (Meitei-Pangal) maintain these institutions on the sprit of Islamic principles. The structure of a family in the meitei-pangal is nuclear in nature although joint and extended family too exist . They are patriarchal as well as patrilocal. The head of the family is the father. Family life of Meitei-Pangal stresses on Islam. Besides certain other important functions - it encourages people to contribute to the society through socialisation. Both the sexes have their importance in their spheres of work. In order to regulate the sexual life of individuals, Islam stresses much on marriage and prohibits free sexual relationships in any form, providing stability to the institution of marriage. Islam strongly advocates the procedures that seems very important for its stability. The social life of the Meitei-Pangal also follows the norms, values and the functioning of the social institutions. Culture is a complex set of knowledge, beliefs, arts, moral, law, customs etc. acquired by man as a member of the society. The Meitei-Pangals are the followers of Islam. They have a faith and practice on the sayings of the Prophet (PBUH) and teachings of ihe Qura'n. They follow Madrassa and Maktab system of education. Modern education among the meitei-pangal starts late and so, till today, lag behind the other communities (meetei/meitei) in education. Maternal mortality rate and infant mortality rate is also high. Due to the lack of education, poverty, low economic status, and political backwardness, the standard of living is still low. In this work, it has been tried to concentrate only upon basic principles of these institutions and deliberately ignored the indulgence in juristic discussion as much as possible). While explaining it has been explored that all these institutions exist and balanced function in natural way among the Meitei-Pangal. The various institutions function to meet the basic needs for the survival of a society and have remained the focus of attention of the scholars. The functional pre-requisites as propounded by Parsons namely: adaptation, fulfilled by economy ; goal attainment, fulfilled by political institutions; integration, are achieved by laws included in the political institutions and latency, that are met by socializing agencies where family is the most basic and important agency. This study is descriptive and explanatory in nature. The descriptive research design enables researcher to describe or present a picture of phenomenon under investigation. This design is qualitative in nature. This is a ethnographical, participative observation study method has been used to collect the material. The broader frame-work to analyse social institutions among the Meitei- Pangais is that of JsJamic Perspective but equaJ weightage has too been given to the local condition in this analysis. SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF MEITEI-PANGAL (MUSLIMS) OF MANIPUR THESIS SUBMITTED I^OR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF 3 a dot 0f ^t[tl0S0pljij IN SOCIOLOGY By RAJIYA SHAHANI UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF PROF. NOOR MOHAMMAD DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY AND SOCIAL WORK ALIGARH MUSLin/l UNIVERSITY ALIGARH (INDIA) 2006 T6490 Phones y Office: 2707077 ^''°"^^J Res. : 2401942 Mobile: 9897252640 E-mail ; noormQhdfgsancharnet. in DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY M.A. (Eco.), M.A. (Soc.) Ph.D. AND SOCIAL WORK PROFESSOR & CHAIRMAN ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY ALIGARH—202002 Dated. CERTIFICATE Certified that the thesis entitled "The Social Structure of Meitei-Pangal (Muslims) of Manipur", being submitted to Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh for the award of Ph.D. Degree in Sociology embodies the original research work of Ms. Rajiya Shahani, Research Scholar and is a record of bonafide research carried out by her under my supervision. (PROF. NOOK MOHAMMAD} __—SUPERVieSR^ )yK^ri 6 Residence : 4/1294-A, New Sir Syed Nagar, Aligarh—202002 to my Coving parents my Befovecf SrotHer (Dr. (RaSSan Sfiaft Preface and Acknowledgement The Meitei-Pangals are Muslims and follow Islam as their religion. Though influenced by various factors, the basic principles of Islam are followed. The social system that they have evolved is unique because of their cultural needs. They fulfill these needs through various social institutions evolved and developed in this region. The social system and its structure of the Meitei-Pangal is studied and analyzed in accordance to the Parsonian perspective. It helps in understanding the Meitei-Pangal society built up by the integration of cultural ideology and local environment e.g. it is an integration of the Islamic, Hinduism and the tribal culture. Although many scholars have studied and written extensively on the different institutions like family, marriage, economy, polity and education etc but somewhere down the track a sociological orientation and perspective is missing. In this work, an attempt has been made to study and analyse these institutions in the light of sociology i.e. sociologically. The present study attempts to discuss the social system of Meitei-Pangal by studying and analyzing the different institutions in terms of their structure and functions, to acquire an in-depth information of the social structure of Meitei-Pangal by using Participant observation method. The work has 6(six) chapters including introduction and conclusion. These chapters are arranged according to the Parsonian pre-requisites. The chapters include: Economic institution, polity. Kinship and culture. The first chapter is an introduction to the present study. An introduction of the Meitei-Pangal is given along with an introduction of the state ofManipur. fhe second chapter deals with the economic institution of Meitei-Pangal. Here, a detailed and in-depth analysis of the economic status, economic activities and the way and means of acquiring and dispensing wealth has been highlighted. The third chapter presents the political institution of Meitei-Pangal. The political participation of the Meitei-Pangal with a reflection of Islamic political model is seen amongst them. A thin line of differentiation exists and is seen from other communities by discussing its functions. The fourth chapter, the institution of Kinship, family and marriage has been studied and analyzed. The position of males/females in a family, their scope of work/duties, mate selection, Maher etc and suggestions for its organization i.e. to whom a Meitei-Pangal can marry and marries and with whom it is forbidden etc has been dealt with in this chapter. The man)' confrontations that an individual face in making a marital contract has also been covered here. The fifth chapter deals with culture and covers all religious practices from birth till death. Language and education, which are the elements necessary in discharging one's duties in order to maintain the solidarity, has been studied and analyzed in this chapter. The sixth chapter is the conclusion to the study. Here an in-depth analysis of the study is done and interpreted and the outcome of the study so far made has been pooled together and concluded. In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful: Who ga\ e me (lie potential, with and grit, strength, courage, patience and spiritual guidance to take up this work and complete it in the stipulated time. With immense pleasure and profound sense of gratitude, I take this opportunity to express my most sincere and heart felt thanks to my supervisor Prof. Noor Mohammad, Department of sociology and social work, A.M.U. Aligarh for his trust in me and my potential to take up such a project.