The Thakur and the Goldsmith
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THE THAKUR AND THE GOLDSMITH: ASPECTS OF LEGITIMATION IN AN INDIAN VILLAGE BY Christopher Thomas Selwyn Thesis submitted to the University of London for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Oriental and African Studies University of London May 1981 ProQuest Number: 10672762 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10672762 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 ABSTRACT The research upon this thesis is based was carried out from October 1973 to March 1975, and from January to March 1980, in the village of Singhara (a pseudonym), Jabalpur District, Madhya Pradesh state (see map 1., p.viii). Although situated in middle India, Singhara1s culture and social morphology are.fairly typical of north India. This is mainly because the villagers, with the significant exception of its tribal (Gond) population (the original inhabitants of the region), are all descended from immigrants who came into the area from the north in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The thesis has two parts: 1) an examination of traditional caste values (chapters 3-7) and 2) a description and discussion of aspects of the modern political and economic life of the village (chapters 2, 8 and part of chapter 1). As far as the analysis of caste values is concerned, the overriding concern is to further understanding of how the ’holistic ethic’ (the defining ideological feature of caste society according to Louis Dumont) actually works and what it consists of. One of the purposes of the description of the political and economic life of Singhara is to suggest that the material conditions which nurtured the ’holistic ethic’ in the past have changed, and a re.changing, significantly - and that such changes are inevitably accompanied by an emergent indi vidualism. An attempt to interpret some of the political events in the village (partly) in terms of the moral un certainties engendered by the simultaneous presence there of these two radically different ethical systems (i.e. one based on holism and transendence, the other on individualism and materialism) is made in chapter 8. The two parts of the thesis are reflected in its title, ’’The Thakur" standing for traditional order and values, "The Goldsmith" for the emerging new ones. The hope is that there will appear no discordant break between the two parts, that each will complement the other, and that, taken together, they will be seen as natural (and possibly even inevitable) aspects of an ethnographic account of a contemporary Indian village. A full account of the theoretical framework in which the study is cast is presented in the thesis Introduction. iii DEDICATION To my parents, Edward and Jean, my wife, Ruth, and my children, Ben and Naomi. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people have helped me, in a whole variety of ways, to write this thesis. I would like to thank, first of all, those teachers (later colleagues) at the London School of Economics who first introduced me to social anthropology as an undergraduate, especially my three tutors, Jean La-Fontaine, Peter Loizos and David McKnight and - for lasting intellectual stimulation, enthusiasm,encouragement, friendship and support - Maurice Bloch. X would also like to thank other teachers and colleagues who have helped me on specific parts of the thesis; Ernest Gellner, Johhny Parry, Triloki Nath Madan, Leela Dube, Satish Saberwal, Simon Roberts and David Brown. Of all my teachers I would like to thank my long-suffering supervisor, Adrian Mayer, most. Without his consistent support, advice and help both in the field and out of it, the writing of this thesis would have been quite impossible. In both intellectual and practical ways he introduced me to Indianist anthropology, and my debt to him is great. There are many in India to whom I am grateful: to my old (and dear) friends, Satish and Sushil Aurora, whose home in Delhi I have always started out from and returned to; Sri V.D. Pachory (the Director of the Institute of PanchSyati Raj in Jabalpur at the time of field research) who made my first contacts with Singhara village possible; Sri Samar Singh (the Collector of Jabalpur District in 1974/5) who was always helpful to me and my family; Sri Ram Chadha; Mr and Mrs Bhaskar of C.A.R.A.V.S. V I am very grateful to the Social Science Research Council for having given me the necessary funds to carry out field research. I have others to thank for the help they gave during the later stages of writing-up; Moira Corcoran for assistance with the transliterations; Beta Copley for general help; my father, Edward Selwyn, and my cousin, Gavin Hoare, for proof reading; Academic Typing Services for processing the final manuscript so efficiently. I would like to thank - in a special way - David and Corinne Scott of Leonard Theological College, Jabalpur. In both intellectual and personal ways they have given me enormous help. I can, of course, never repay the hospitality and tolerance shown to me by the villagers of Singhara. Although it seems invidious to single out individuals (having received so much from so many) I am sure they will understand if I do mention my bahanoi, J.P. Mishra, my loyal partners and friends, Devi PrasSd Garg, Sant Ram Razak, and Hubi Lai N5m Deo - and (both in Singhara and at his home in Jabalpur) Lakshman Tivari. I would also Like to thank Virendra Dubedi and some of the village elders, particularly Thdkur Sahab, J.R. Chaube and Nemi Chand Jain, without whose initial trust in me the project could not have been completed. Finally, the greatest thanks of all to my family: to my parents, who have never ever failed to support me, and to my wife, Ruth, and children, Ben and Naomi, who know more than most about what it means to write a thesis. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii INTRODUCTION: THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 1 CHAPTER 1 SINGHARA VILLAGE: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 43 CHAPTER 2 THE CONTEMPORARY VILLAGE ECONOMY 74 CHAPTER 3 ORDER AND COMMENSALITY: THE HOLISTIC 147 ETHIC AT WORK CHAPTER 4 BASIC KINSHIP GROUPS AND VALUES 181 CHAPTER 5 BIRTH AND DEATH: SUBSTANCE AND TRANSCENDENCE 218 CHAPTER 6 MARRIAGE: IMAGES OF REPRODUCTION 245 CHAPTER 7 THE ’DARK SIDE’: SIN, DANGER AND DISORDER 298 CHAPTER 8 VILLAGE POLITICS 33 5 CHAPTER 9 CONCLUDING REMARKS: THE THAKUR AND THE 38 3 GOLDSMITH NOTES 388 BIBLIOGRAPHY 416 vii List of Maps, Figures and Tables Page Map 1 * Madhya Pradesh, Jabalpur District and viii Singhara village Map 2 Sinhara village and immediate environs 90 Map 3 Singhara village: houses and temples 91 Map 4 Singhara market 134 Figure 1 Genealogy of Thakur lineage, showing 51 their links with other Brahmans Figure II The immigration of castes to Singhara 55 Figure III Brahman immigration to Singhara 55 Figure IV Commensality: inclusions and exclusions 172 Figure V Commensality: hierarchy and transformations 172 Figure VI The commensal structure of an inter-caste 176 feast Figure VII Chikut transfers. 261 Table 1 The village castes 75 Table 2 Land ownership 80 Table 3 Ownership of electric pump sets and rno'te 81 irrigation facilities Table 4 Income distribution (general) 83 Table 5 Income account of a commercial farmer 85 Table 6 Income account of a traditional farmer 87 Table 7 Income account of a smallholder 94 Table 8 Income account of a daily labourer 97 Table 9 Castes in their commensal blocks 161 Table 10 Matrix of food transactions 168 Table 11 List of specific ritual events in th.e marriage 248 cer,emony 1 INTRODUCTION THE THEME The theoretical interest of this thesis is in the process of legitimation, and most of the introduction which follows will be taken up by explaining what this complex term is understood to mean, and how it is intended to put it to use in the main body of the study. Social thinkers of many kinds have long been interested in the problem of legitimation and legitimacy. Ernest Gellner traces the modern interest in the concept back to the concern by classical political philosophy with sovereignty "... wondering (about) who was the rightful ruler and what made him rightful" (1974: 24). Gellner argues that the compass of the term legitimation is wider than sovereignty, for while the latter applies solely to the realm of the political the former "... applies not merely to the political sphere, but also to any other, for instance the realm of the cognitive". In short "... most or all aspects of life ... require legitimation" (Ibid.: 25). Following these observations, the present study is concerned partly with ’sovereignty* per se, sc. political authority and order, while the overall intention is to examine this particular aspect of order within a much broader consideration of order in general. Indeed, 2 the view adopted here is that the two concepts which are linked most closely to the idea of legitimation are those of order and ordering. 1. Kings and Gods One name that is commonly associated with the modern (i.e. 20th century) sociological interest in legi timacy is Max Weber, whose identification of the three "inner justifications", or "legitimations" of domination - custom, charisma (grace) and legality - is very well known.