The London School of Economics and Political Science Status, Security and Change: An Ethnographic Study of Caste, Class and Religion in Rural Rajasthan. Jordan C.R. Mullard A thesis submitted to the Department of Anthropology of the London School of Economics for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, July 2010. UMI Number: U613434 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 complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U613434 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree o f the London School o f Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent o f any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright o f this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of the author. I warrant that this authorization does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights o f any third party. Ms. Jordan C. R. Mullard TRSSfcS F Abstract Based on 17 months ethnographic research carried out in a medium sized village in North West Rajasthan, this thesis explores the relationship between status, security and social change in a context of extreme economic uncertainty. Through changes in tenancy laws, the redistribution o f land after the abolition of Zamindars in the 1950s, the withdrawal o f high castes from the village, success through affirmative action policies, and caste mobilisation via Sanskritisation an extended family o f the untouchable leatherworking caste Meghval in the village o f Mudharamsar have risen to be the new village elites. Their unusual position as wealthy landowners and political agents has caused conflicts, alternative commensalities, and ‘re-traditionalised’ practices amongst other villagers. This was further exacerbated by the temporary closure o f mines in the area that provided the bulk o f employment for other villagers causing many o f the lower castes to search for alternative means o f income and status-making. Some returned to their traditional caste occupations, others organised as a ‘labour class’ and Meghvals drew on kinship obligations in search o f solidarity and security. I argue that social mobility and change amongst the rural poor involves both confluence and variance o f what B&ielle (1974) termed the ‘ideas of caste’ and the ‘interests o f class’ underpinning agrarian relations. In doing so, I extend Beteille’s analysis to situate my informants’ ideas o f caste, class and religion within their broader interests in constructing, claiming and using identity and status as mechanisms for coping with economic uncertainty, social change and inequality. I highlight the contradictions between normative ideals concerning caste, kinship and religion on the one hand, and changing class and power relations on the other. I am concerned to look at the spaces between these oppositions wherein alternative discourses and identities are generated, which at times bring unlikely actors together and at others reaffirm pre-existing relations. Acknowledgements I went to India in 2005 planning to live in a small village near the Indira Gandhi Canal in the Bikaner district o f Rajasthan to study health rights, development and concepts o f illness. After spending several months visiting villages in the canal command area and building strong relationships with the local NGO, I was informed that I could no longer stay in that region. I had unbeknown to me contravened my research visa by travelling within 50 kilometres o f the International border with Pakistan and therefore, was forced to move locations and discontinue work in that area. The local police had threatened to remove me from the village and take away my research visa, the acquisition o f which was a lengthy process. It is in acquiring this elusive visa that my acknowledgements must begin. The seventeen months I spent in India were made possible by a number o f people and institutions, however, my first thanks must go to Mr. & Mrs. Khanna o f Greater Kailash, New Delhi. This couple and their family made my transition to India seamless; they welcomed me with open arms, and pulled countless strings to make sure I received my research visa in a timely manner. I would therefore also like to thank their employees, particularly Colonel Dutt, who painstakingly accompanied me from one Ministry to another to insist I receive the documentation I needed. This family and their employees were a constant source o f support to me during the length o f my fieldwork, offering an opulent respite, on the few occasions I came to Delhi, from the heat and dust o f Rajasthan. There are many people I met in Rajasthan that I would like to thank here and I fear I cannot do justice to them all. Their hospitality, trust and warmth were what sustained me during the harder months. I begin by thanking Harshwardhan Singh of Bhairon Vilas whose tremendous support and kindness provided me with a city bolt hole and whose family gave me an insight into the Rajasthani elites o f Bikaner. In Bikaner city I would like to thank ‘Andy’/ Anand Singh, Mera chota bhai (my younger brother) Anand Swami, Anil and Kalpana Mathur o f Rani Bazar, and Paan uncle next door. To Dr. Mathur who alleviated my various ailments whilst in the field and provided an alternative cure to treating the ‘evil eye’, and to Bhumika Satia a woman after my own heart and a true friend. I would like to extend my last thanks to the city o f Bikaner to a most generous and loving friend Shiv Swami, whose selfless kindness meant I was never in doubt for long. I must also thank Saddam Hussein, my research assistant, who made the 4 hour bus joumey from Bikaner everyday to come to the village. Without Saddam, I would never have been able to collect the data presented here. He revealed to me the nuances of the Rajasthani language as well as being an objective companion in the field. - 4 - My last ‘Indian thanks’ must go to the people of Mudharamsar (pseudonym) whose willingness to not only welcome me into their lives but share with me their thoughts, opinions and feelings, I cannot thank enough. There are, however, a few individuals that I must mention by name. These are the Panwar Meghvals particularly, Kamraj and Rampyari, Ramdial ji, Ramchandhan ji, Umesh, Prinka, and Raju (Hare Krishna). My hosts made me so welcome in their home and refused to accept any payment, even when I pushed. I asked them every month and every month I received the response: “You chose out o f the whole world our village and our house; you are like family from a previous life”. I would also like to thank the other family members, and especially Rukmani Devi, or “ma ji” who saw me as her ‘adopted’ daughter. I would also like to thank Chaghan Lai, Kama Ram, Tripala Ram ji, Susil Kumar Singh, and Mohan Das. There are various institutions without whose financial support this thesis would not have existed. Namely, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, the Royal Anthropological Institute, and the University o f London Central Research fund. I would like to make a special thanks to the London School o f Economics for awarding me the Rosemary and Raymond Firth Award as well as countless other grants during my time at the school. The lecturers o f the LSE Anthropology Department have been a constant source o f encouragement and I thank them all, but I particularly owe a great deal to my initial supervisor Dr. Mathew Engelke who first inspired me to do it. I wish to pay a very special thanks to my main supervisor Professor Chris Fuller for his unwavering commitment and support. I would also like to thank Professor Jonathan Parry who became my supervisor once I returned from the field, and who, like Chris, supported me, even when I moved to“Cold Comfort Farm”. Together, my supervisors were a fantastic source o f knowledge and direction and I am grateful for their critical eye, which never failed to make me want to do my best. I also owe a great deal to my family whose love, encouragement, not to mention patience, has been a solid feature. I particularly want to thank my mother who, among many other things during my studies, put up with sugar in her tea when she came to visit me in the field, and to my father who made me realise what was important. However, my final thanks must go to my partner Tom, for his sense o f humour, intelligence and love. Contents LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS: FIGURES, TABLES AND PLATES___________________ 8 F ig u r e s ............................................................................................................................................................................. 8 T a b l e s ................................................................................................................................................................................8 P l a t e s ................................................................................................................................................................................8 A NOTE ON LANGUAGE.....................................................................................................