Caste in question Contributions to Indian Sociology Caste in question: Identity or hierarchy? Occasional studies 1. T.N. MADAN, ed., 1976. Muslim communities of South Asia: Society and culture (vol. 6, 1972). New Delhi: Vikas.* 2. SATISH SABERWAL, ed., 1978. Process and institution in urban India: Edited by Sociological studies (vol. 11, no. 1, 1977). New Delhi: Vikas. Second impres- sion (New Delhi: Vikas), 1978.* 3. T.N. MADAN, ed., 1982. Way of life: King, householder, renouncer: Essays Dipankar Gupta in honour of Louis Dumont (vol. 15, nos 1&2, 1981). New Delhi: Vikas. Paris: Maison des Sciences de lHomme. Second impression (New Delhi: Vikas), 1982. Second edition (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass), 1988. 4. VEENA DAS, ed., 1986. The word and the world: Fantasy, symbol and record (vol. 19, no. 1, 1985). New Delhi: Sage.* 5. McKIM MARRIOTT, ed., 1990. India through Hindu categories (vol. 23, no. 1, 1989). New Delhi: Sage. Fifth impression (New Delhi: Sage), 1998. 6. T.N. MADAN, ed., 1995. Muslim communities of South Asia: Culture, society and power (Revised enlarged edition) (vol. 6, 1972). New Delhi: Manohar CONTRIBUTIONS TO INDIAN SOCIOLOGY (First published by Vikas*). OCCASIONAL STUDIES 12 7. PATRICIA UBEROI, ed., 1996. Social reform, sexuality and the state (vol. 29, nos 1&2, 1995). New Delhi: Sage. Third impression, 1998. 8. VEENA DAS, DIPANKAR GUPTA and PATRICIA UBEROI, eds, 1999. Tradition, pluralism and identity: In honour of T.N. Madan (vol. 32, no. 2, 1998). New Delhi: Sage. 9. JONATHAN P. PARRY, JAN BREMAN and KARIN KAPADIA, eds, 1999. The worlds of Indian industrial labour (vol. 33, nos 1&2, 1999). New Delhi: Sage. 10. SUMATHI RAMASWAMY, ed., 2003. Beyond appearances? Visual practices and ideologies in modern India (vol. 36, nos 1&2, 2002). New Delhi: Sage. 11. FILIPPO OSELLA and KATY GARDNER, eds, 2004. Migration, modernity and social transformation in South Asia (vol. 37, nos 1&2, 2003). New Delhi: Sage. * Out of print SAGE Publications New Delhi l Thousand Oaks l London Contributions to Indian Sociology Caste in question: Identity or hierarchy? Occasional studies 1. T.N. MADAN, ed., 1976. Muslim communities of South Asia: Society and culture (vol. 6, 1972). New Delhi: Vikas.* 2. SATISH SABERWAL, ed., 1978. Process and institution in urban India: Edited by Sociological studies (vol. 11, no. 1, 1977). New Delhi: Vikas. Second impres- sion (New Delhi: Vikas), 1978.* 3. T.N. MADAN, ed., 1982. Way of life: King, householder, renouncer: Essays Dipankar Gupta in honour of Louis Dumont (vol. 15, nos 1&2, 1981). New Delhi: Vikas. Paris: Maison des Sciences de lHomme. Second impression (New Delhi: Vikas), 1982. Second edition (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass), 1988. 4. VEENA DAS, ed., 1986. The word and the world: Fantasy, symbol and record (vol. 19, no. 1, 1985). New Delhi: Sage.* 5. McKIM MARRIOTT, ed., 1990. India through Hindu categories (vol. 23, no. 1, 1989). New Delhi: Sage. Fifth impression (New Delhi: Sage), 1998. 6. T.N. MADAN, ed., 1995. Muslim communities of South Asia: Culture, society and power (Revised enlarged edition) (vol. 6, 1972). New Delhi: Manohar CONTRIBUTIONS TO INDIAN SOCIOLOGY (First published by Vikas*). OCCASIONAL STUDIES 12 7. PATRICIA UBEROI, ed., 1996. Social reform, sexuality and the state (vol. 29, nos 1&2, 1995). New Delhi: Sage. Third impression, 1998. 8. VEENA DAS, DIPANKAR GUPTA and PATRICIA UBEROI, eds, 1999. Tradition, pluralism and identity: In honour of T.N. Madan (vol. 32, no. 2, 1998). New Delhi: Sage. 9. JONATHAN P. PARRY, JAN BREMAN and KARIN KAPADIA, eds, 1999. The worlds of Indian industrial labour (vol. 33, nos 1&2, 1999). New Delhi: Sage. 10. SUMATHI RAMASWAMY, ed., 2003. Beyond appearances? Visual practices and ideologies in modern India (vol. 36, nos 1&2, 2002). New Delhi: Sage. 11. FILIPPO OSELLA and KATY GARDNER, eds, 2004. Migration, modernity and social transformation in South Asia (vol. 37, nos 1&2, 2003). New Delhi: Sage. * Out of print SAGE Publications New Delhi l Thousand Oaks l London Copyright © Institute of Economic Growth, 2004 Contents All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission Preface and acknowledgements vii in writing from the publisher. Introduction: The certitudes of caste: When identity trumps First published in 2004 by hierarchy ix Sage Publications India Pvt Ltd DIPANKAR GUPTA B-42, Panchsheel Enclave 1. Caste panchayats and the policing of marriage in Haryana: New Delhi 110 017 Enforcing kinship and territorial exogamy 1 Sage Publications Inc Sage Publications Ltd PREM CHOWDHRY 2455 Teller Road 1 Olivers Yard Thousand Oaks, California 91320 55 City Road, London EC1Y 1SP 2. We (Yadavs) are a caste of politicians: Caste and modern politics in a north Indian town 43 Published by Tejeshwar Singh for Sage Publications India Pvt Ltd, typeset in LUCIA MICHELUTTI 10 pt Times New Roman by Star Compugraphics Private Limited, New Delhi and printed at Chaman Printers, New Delhi. 3. Jains, caste and hierarchy in north Gujarat 73 JOHN E. CORT Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data 4. Hierarchy, difference and the caste system: A study of Caste in question: identity or hierarchy?/editor, Dipankar Gupta. rural Bihar 113 p. cm.(Contributions to Indian sociology. Occasional studies; 12) GAURANG R. SAHAY Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Caste. 2. Social classes. 3. Group identity. 4. Social structure. 5. Replication or dissent? Culture and institutions among 5. Social stratification. I. Gupta, Dipankar, 1949 II. Series. Untouchable Scheduled Castes in Karnataka 137 HT713.C37 305.5'122dc22 2004 2004018899 G.K. KARANTH 6. Sikhism and the caste question: Dalits and their politics in contemporary Punjab 165 ISBN: 0761933247 (Hb) 8178294419 (IndiaHb) SURINDER S. JODHKA 7. Inventing caste history: Dalit mobilisation and nationalist past 193 Sage Production Team: Proteeti Banerjee, Rajib Chatterjee, Neeru Handa and BADRI NARAYAN Santosh Rawat Copyright © Institute of Economic Growth, 2004 Contents All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission Preface and acknowledgements vii in writing from the publisher. Introduction: The certitudes of caste: When identity trumps First published in 2004 by hierarchy ix Sage Publications India Pvt Ltd DIPANKAR GUPTA B-42, Panchsheel Enclave 1. Caste panchayats and the policing of marriage in Haryana: New Delhi 110 017 Enforcing kinship and territorial exogamy 1 Sage Publications Inc Sage Publications Ltd PREM CHOWDHRY 2455 Teller Road 1 Olivers Yard Thousand Oaks, California 91320 55 City Road, London EC1Y 1SP 2. We (Yadavs) are a caste of politicians: Caste and modern politics in a north Indian town 43 Published by Tejeshwar Singh for Sage Publications India Pvt Ltd, typeset in LUCIA MICHELUTTI 10 pt Times New Roman by Star Compugraphics Private Limited, New Delhi and printed at Chaman Printers, New Delhi. 3. Jains, caste and hierarchy in north Gujarat 73 JOHN E. CORT Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data 4. Hierarchy, difference and the caste system: A study of Caste in question: identity or hierarchy?/editor, Dipankar Gupta. rural Bihar 113 p. cm.(Contributions to Indian sociology. Occasional studies; 12) GAURANG R. SAHAY Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Caste. 2. Social classes. 3. Group identity. 4. Social structure. 5. Replication or dissent? Culture and institutions among 5. Social stratification. I. Gupta, Dipankar, 1949 II. Series. Untouchable Scheduled Castes in Karnataka 137 HT713.C37 305.5'122dc22 2004 2004018899 G.K. KARANTH 6. Sikhism and the caste question: Dalits and their politics in contemporary Punjab 165 ISBN: 0761933247 (Hb) 8178294419 (IndiaHb) SURINDER S. JODHKA 7. Inventing caste history: Dalit mobilisation and nationalist past 193 Sage Production Team: Proteeti Banerjee, Rajib Chatterjee, Neeru Handa and BADRI NARAYAN Santosh Rawat vi / Caste in question 8. The Bedias are Rajputs: Caste consciousness of a marginal community 221 ANUJA AGRAWAL About the editor and contributors 247 Preface and acknowledgements Index 250 Any student of Indian sociology would be interested to know how caste is faring in contemporary India. The fact that India is undergoing rapid changes, both economically and politically, contributes to the urgency with which an update on caste becomes necessary. Though there have been several works that have discussed the impact of caste on democratic politics and how different castes have reacted to growing urbanisation and the Green Revolution, there was still a gap that had to be filled. What needed to be done was to analyse these changes within a conceptual frame- work that would allow for an alternative perspective on the caste order. It is often said that caste is changing, but what is not clear is whether this entails the need for a new term altogether, or whether this form of social stratification can now be merged with another rubric, such as class, that is tried, tested and much universalised. Steering clear of these tempta- tions, the articles in this volume provide us with an alternative perspective on caste as a whole, using contemporary experiences to reflect upon the received theories of caste. For any such undertaking it is impossible to ignore Louis Dumonts Homo Hierarchicus, even if one has serious dis- agreements with it. Through a number of field-based studies the articles in this volume argue for a different conceptualisation of casteone that would take into account the need for caste assertion and dignity as well as notions of hierarchy. Taken together, these contributions contend that pride in ones caste identity is a very important characteristic of the caste order and that this is not incompatible with contesting notions of hierarchy.