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History'. The history written by evolutionary anthropologists was, however ..... Rajput lineages in several villages in Guja- rat held land under Wanta tenure.
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Social Anthropology A n d the Study of Historical Societies A M Shah In modern tory a

this article I will first discuss in brief the relation between Social Anthropology and Ethnology, and how social anthropologists regard the latter as a kind of conjectural or pseudo-history.

I will then show how the ethnological approach has and sociology. Finally, I will discuss how social anthropology can comprehensive understanding of Indian history.

I S O C I A L A N T H R O P O L O G Y emerged as a separate discipline in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Before this period, it f o r m e d a p a r t of E t h n o l o g y (the study of peoples). The new discipline of Social A n t h r o p o l o g y was conceived of as a branch of Sociology w h i c h studied p r i m i t i v e societies. Sociology was regarded, firstly, as the discipline w h i c h studied modern, civilized societies and their problems, and secondly, as theoretical science of h u m a n societ y . T h i s d i s t i n c t i o n between Sociology a n d Social A n t h r o p o l o g y is however beginning to disappear nowadays. The commercial and colonial expansion of Europe, w h i c h began in the sixteenth century, had led to a great increase in the knowledge about peoples i n h a b i t i n g the various parts of the w o r l d . P r o m the seventeenth century onwards, anthropological w r i t e r s cited p r i m i t i v e societies in support of their a r g u ments about the theory of h u m a n progress of evolution. Various societies in the w o r l d were first compared a n d t h e n a r r a n g e d on a scale, s h o w i n g the emergence of m a n f r o m savagery t o c i v i l i z a t i o n . P r i m i t i v e Societies in A f r i c a , A m e r i c a , Oceania, etc, were supposed to represent the earliest stages in the evolution of h u m a n society. The earliest ancestors of the civilized peoples were supposed to be s i m i l a r to the newly-discovered savages,

Evolutionary Anthropology T h a n k s to the theory of evolut i o n , the discovery of the o r i g i n and development of social i n s t i t u tions was the d o m i n a n t interest in the researches of the anthropologists of eighteenth and nineteenth century. There were theories of o r i g i n o f e v e r y t h i n g i n society, o f t o t e m i s m a n d exogamy, of r e l i g i o n

obstructed help

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local history and

thus contribute

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and law, of f a m i l y , language and State, and of society itself. A common theory r e g a r d i n g the o r i g i n a n d development of f a m i l y , for i n stance, was t h a t there was first p r o m i s c u i t y everywhere, then there was matriliny and matriarchy, a n d finally there was p a t r i a r c h y and monogamy. Religion was believed to have developed f r o m magic, science f r o m theology, m o notheism f r o m a n i m i s m , property f r o m c o m m u n i s m , and contract f r o m status.

recast a n d re-presented in the beg i n n i n g of t w e n t i e t h century by a few w r i t e r s such as W e s t e r m a r c k and Hobhouse. It also influenceed M a r x and Engels. The l a t t e r wrote 'The O r i g i n o f F a m i l y , P r i vate P r o p e r t y and the State' almost e n t i r e l y on the basis of M o r gan, Bachofen, L u b b o c k and M c L e n n a n . The influence of evolutionary anthropology is also seen in the w r i t i n g s of t h a t eminent archaeologist, Gordon Childe.

The evolutionary anthropologists thought they were w r i t i n g the 'hist o r y ' of h u m a n society. T h i s is evident in the titles of their books, such as A d a m Ferguson's ' A n Essay on the H i s t o r y of C i v i l Society', H S Maine's ' E a r l y H i s t o r y o f I n stitutions', T y l o r ' s 'Researches i n t o the E a r l y H i s t o r y o f M a n k i n d ' , a n d McLennan's 'Studies In Ancient H i s t o r y ' . The h i s t o r y w r i t t e n b y e v o l u t i o n a r y anthropologists was, however, conjectural h i s t o r y based on c i r c u m s t a n t i a l evidence, and not c r i t i c a l h i s t o r y based on documents and monuments. Primitive tribes have had no t r a d i t i o n of w r i t i n g , and there was therefore no means of k n o w i n g the nature of their past social i n s t i t u t i o n s . On the other hand, the knowledge about the earliest stages of the h i s t o r y of m a n k i n d was confined almost e n t i r e l y to the items of m a terial culture discovered by the prehistoric archaeologists. Only because the m a t e r i a l culture of prehistoric m a n was s i m i l a r t o t h a t o f p r i m i t i v e tribes, the prehistoric archaeologists conjectured t h a t the social i n s t i t u t i o n s of the f o r m e r must also have been l i k e those of the latter. E v o l u t i o n a r y anthropologists often disagreed a m o n g t h e m selves about their h i s t o r i c a l reconstructions, but they a i l followed the same m e t h o d of conjectural h i s t o r y .

I n the middle o f the nineteenth century there developed a school, usually called "diffusionist", w h i c h considered the a i m of a n t hropol o g y was to trace the movement and m i x t u r e of peoples and the diffusion of cultures. The diffusionists c r i ticized the evolutionists, because once it was shown t h a t a social i n s t i t u t i o n was borrowed f r o m another society due to some h i s t o r i c a l accident, it could h a r d l y be considered as a stage in an inevitable unilinear evolution. The diffusionists were, however, quite often as conjectural as the evolutionists in their 'historical' reconstructions. T h e y often failed to take account of the possibility of independent development of culture. Secondly, the evidence f o r t h e i r historical reconstructions usually consisted of r a c i a l and linguistic affinities a n d of w h a t were called culture p a r a l lels.

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Diffusion of Cultures

The whole concept of race as based upon skeletal measurements, hair-colour, s k i n pigmentation, colour of eyes, etc is now regarded as of d o u b t f u l v a l i d i t y , in view of the great advances made in the science of Genetics. The linguistic a n d c u l t u r a l classifications, however, if carefully used, may supplement the w o r k of the archaeologist. T h e y m a y suggest hypotheses w h i c h m a y be confirmed by the discovery of documents and monu-

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ments. A historical probability m a y thus be t u r n e d i n t o a c e r t a i n t y . B y a n d large, however, d i f f u sionist a n t h r o p o l o g y has p r o v i d e d at best probabilities, a n d at the worst, wild guesses. Rivers' ' H i s t o r y o f Melanesian Society' a n d Elliot Smith's 'Ancient Egyptians' are m o n u m e n t s to the uncritical use of the idea of diffusion.

Structure-Function There is also another p o i n t : evol u t i o n i s t s a n d diffusionists endeavoured not o n l y to reconstruct the h i s t o r y o f social i n s t i t u t i o n s but also t o 'explain' t h e m i n t e r m s o f such h i s t o r y . T h i s tendency to exp l a i n social i n s t i t u t i o n s by their h y p o t h e t i c a l past was s t r o n g l y c r i ticized by the anthropologists of the "structure f u n c t i o n " school— a n d most m o d e r n anthropologists belong to this school. One of the f u n d a m e n t a l propositions in functionalist anthropology is t h a t the first step t o w a r d understanding a society is to find i n t e r r e l a t i o n s a m o n g its various parts, j u s t as a physiologist understands the funct i o n i n g of a h u m a n body by studyi n g the i n t e r r e l a t i o n s a m o n g its various parts. The h i s t o r y of a society, where I t i s k n o w n f o r c e r t a i n a n d I n some detail, does help one in understandi n g the society. The knowledge of h i s t o r y , however, is never a substitute f o r the knowledge of society as a f u n c t i o n i n g system. Evol u t i o n i s t a n d diffusionist a n t h r o p o logists were doubly at f a u l t ; firstly, they t r i e d to understand society solely in terms of history, a n d secondly, t h e i r h i s t o r y was conjectur a l . As a result of the recognition of this viewpoint, the discipline of functionalist anthropologists was considered as Social A n t h r o p o l o g y , a n d t h a t o f evolutionist a n d d i f f u sionist anthropologists as E t h n o l o g y . II T h e ethnological approach i n f l u enced, a n d u n f o r t u n a t e l y continues to influence, the study of I n d i a n society. One of the fundamental problems in I n d i a n Sociology is t h a t o f u n d e r s t a n d i n g the unity a n d d i v e r s i t y o f I n d i a . T h i s prob l e m is usually explained a w a y by a simple ethnological t h e o r y : I n d i a is diverse because it is a deep net i n t o w h i c h various races a n d peoples have d r i f t e d a n d been caught, a n d there is u n i t y because the c u l t u r a l characteristics of one of the races, the A r y a n s , have spread a l l

over the c o u n t r y . T h e theory is a l l r i g h t so f a r as it goes, but it does not t e l l us h o w u n i t y a n d d i v e r s i t y are expressed in the social life of the people at the present day. T h e study of this e m p i r i c a l r e a l i t y is obstructed by the ethnological approach. A n o t h e r ethnological t h e o r y t h a t has g r e a t l y obstructed the g r o w t h of scientific study of I n d i a n society is the i m a g i n a r y division of I n d i a n culture i n t o A r y a n a n d D r a v i d i a n . H i s t o r i a n s , archaeologists, linguists, Indologists, Orientalists, Sociologists, anthropologists a n d ethnologists, have a l l accepted this dichot o m y a n d interpreted a l m o s t every aspect of I n d i a n society in terms of i t . The result is t h a t the t h e o r y is no longer confined to the learned, but has become current even a m o n g schoolboys a n d laymen, a n d is also u n f o r t u n a t e l y a g u i d i n g f a c t o r in c e r t a i n p o l i t i c a l movements i n the c o u n t r y . W r o n g academic theory has thus become a p a r t of the dynamics of caste system.

Ethnological Approach to Caste The e t h n o l o g i c a l approach has guided the study of caste system in I n d i a for about a century. A l l the well-known students of caste, bel o n g i n g to the older generation, such as Ghurye, H u t t o n , Irawati K a r v e a n d D N M a j u m d a r , have an ethnological bias. A n d it seems they are not in a mood to budge a n Inch f r o m their o l d approach. W h e n Professor Ghurye changed the t i t l e of his book f r o m 'Caste a n d Race' to 'Caste a n d Class', a n d also dropped the chapter "Race a n d Caste" in the second edition, one was led to hope t h a t he h a d become less ethnological. In the latest edition of the book, however, the chapter "Race a n d Caste" is reinstated, w h i c h shows the r e v i v a l of Professor Ghurye's interest in old-fashioned r a c i a l classifications based o n inadequate data. I n the same way, Professor D N M a j u m d a r has repeated in his paper "Caste a n d Race" in 'Ghurye F e l i c i t a t i o n s V o l u m e ' (ed K M K a p a d i a , B o m b a y , 1955) w h a t he h a d w r i t t e n previously in his book 'Races and Cultures of India' ( L u c k n o w , 1944). D r K a r v e ' s ethnological bias is evident even in her recent papers on caste in 'The Economic W e e k l y ' (see p a r t i c u l a r l y t h e article "What Is Caste?—Caste A s Extended K i n " i n the A n n u a l N u m b e r , January, 1958). I n his f i r s t book ' H i n d u K i n s h i p ' ( B o m b a y , 1947) Dr K M K a p a d i a

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preferred the a n a l y t i c m e t h o d to the ethnological one. I n the I n t r o d u c t i o n to t h a t book he c l e a r l y m e n tions his doubts r e g a r d i n g the question of the A r y a n o r i g i n , and quotes M a l i n o w s k i , a functionalist, to support his rejection of hypothet i c a l h i s t o r y ( t h o u g h i n the body o f the book we do find some ethnological i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s ) . I n his recent book ' M a r r i a g e a n d F a m i l y i n I n d i a ' (Bombay, 1958), however we find a reversal to ethnology. He writes i n the I n t r o d u c t i o n , " E t h n o l o g i c a l analysis of culture is the basic need o f I n d i a n sociology. Ethnological analysis has been criticized by M a l i n o w s k i and his school, but, to our m i n d at least, the quarrel between the t w o schools has not m u c h of substance i n i t . " I n the f i r s t book M a l i n o w s k i is quoted to support the a n a l y t i c method, a n d in the second, his c r i t i c i s m of the ethnological approach is dismissed as of no substance ! Dr K a p a d i a now tries to support his v i e w p o i n t by quoting R i v e r s ' study of Melanesian society, w h i c h is, as I have already stated, a m o n u m e n t of conjectural h i s t o r y . It is no wonder t h a t Dr Kapadia's book contains a number of patent a r g u m e n t s of e v o l u t i o n a r y a n d diffusionist anthropology. Only a few instances m a y be given here. I n the discussion o f K h a s a kinship, there is a w e l l - k n o w n generalisation o f e v o l u t i o n a r y anthropology, " L a x i t y in sex is associated w i t h m a t r i l o c a l i t y , and regulated sex with patrilocality and patriarchal family o r g a n i z a t i o n . " T h i s is followed by a question about Khasa k i n s h i p , "Can it be t h a t the o r i g i n a l m a t r i locality, sex l a x i t y and perhaps m a t r i l i n y of the Khasas have come to be replaced by polyandrous sex life, p a t r i l o c a l i t y and patriarchal f a m i l y o r g a n i z a t i o n ? " (p 70). S i m i l a r l y , we are t o l d about the N a y a r s of Malabar, "Nair marriage had no legal or religious basis. There was no agreement between the contracti n g parties, a n d there was no l a w of divorce or c u s t o m a r y convention to regulate divorce. Such sexual relations dissociated from economic relations and social sanct i o n , represent the most primitive sexual o r g a n i z a t i o n " (p 82). A n d about the Todas, " I n short, marriage is superimposed on the o r i g i n a l c o n d i t i o n of unregulated sex life, but it. has not evolved so far as to impose the sexual ethics of a monogamous p a t r i l i n e a l c o m m u n i t y " (p 91).

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E t h n o l o g y v i a M a r x a n d Engels .Professor D D Kosambi's 'An I n t r o d u c t i o n t o the Study o f I n d i a n H i s t o r y ' ( B o m b a y , 1950) is another recent a t t e m p t to revive the ethnol o g i c a l approach. K o s a m b i claims t h a t he is p u t t i n g f o r t h "a m o d e r n approach to the study of Indian h i s t o r y " ( p v i i ) . I n s o f a r a s the book emphasises the need for a h i s t o r y of the I n d i a n society as a whole, it is indeed a good antidote to the usual h i s t o r y — o f k i n g s , queens, ministers, a n d generals. B u t Kosambi's approach is by no means a m o d e r n or correct one. It is not h i n g b u t a n application o f evolut i o n a r y a n t h r o p o l o g y o f eighteenth a n d nineteenth century t o Indian h i s t o r y v i a M a r x a n d Engels. K o sambi h i m s e l f states, " w h a t has to be done is to take stock of l a t e r studies under M a r x ' s direct inspirat i o n by his colleague Engels, on the nature and decay of t r i b a l organ i z a t i o n . These, applied to m o d e r n discoveries in the field, w i l l give us new results" (p 13). It has been pointed out above t h a t Engels der i v e d his ideas on t r i b a l organizat i o n f r o m c o n t e m p o r a r y anthropologists w h o were a l l evolutionists. K o s a m b i also repeats the same old argument about the r e l a t i o n between archaeology a n d ethnography, " T o w o r k back f r o m the houses, grave-goods, tools, and utensils f o u n d by the archaeologist to the f o r m e r productive relations, usually relations between classes and groups, needs a study of ethnography. The principle has been used by m o d e r n archaeologists, w h o utilize studies o f modern but s t i l l p r i m i t i v e A f r i can or A u s t r a l i a n tribes to evaluate finds in Europe" (p 7 ) N a t u r a l l y , t h i s m e t h o d leads K o s a m b i to make such conjectural statements as: " C e r t a i n types o f j o i n t b u r i a l w o u l d indicate whether the society was predominantly matriarchal, patria r c h a l , i n t r a n s i t i o n f r o m the former to the l a t t e r , or in the pre-cian stage preceding both"' (p 7) a n d "The v a s t m a j o r i t y of country-side gods are s t i l l daubed w i t h a red p i g m e n t t h a t is palpable substitute f o r long-vanished blood sacrifices" ( p 8 ) . A l l this shows n o t h i n g b u t r a n k ignorance o f m o d e r n a n t h r o pology.

Ethnology in Indology In Vedic studies, an attempt is a l w a y s made t o disentangle A r y a n characteristics f r o m the n o n - A r y a n or pre-Aryan. It is doubtful to w h a t extent this a t t e m p t itself is justifiable, because the supposedly

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different characteristics m i g h t act u a l l y be f o r m i n g an organic whole. B u t t h a t apart, the d i s t i n c t i o n between the t w o types of characteristics is usually made on the basis of the notions of w h a t is 'civilized' or 'advanced' a n d w h a t Is ' p r i m i t i v e ' o r ' t r i b a l ' . Frequently, the A r y a n s themselves are also described as having tribal organization. Indologists have u s u a l l y derived these notions o f 'primitive' or 'tribal' f r o m older a n t h r o p o l o g y . S i m i l a r l y , t h e y use several terms a n d concepts, such as t o t e m i s m , animism, taboo, clan and lineage, in the same w a y as d i d the older a n t h r o p o l o gists.

kingship in a state of w a r or of perfect h a r m o n y . E v e n such a careful scholar as Dr U N Ghosal cannot help speculating on "the true o r i g i n " of Vedic m o n a r c h y ; he traces it " i n the m i l i t a r y a n d other necessities of the people d u r i n g the I n d o - I r a n i a n or even earlier t i m e s " ( ' A H i s t o r y o f H i n d u Public L i f e ' , Calcutta. 1945, p 9 ) . We find b o t h the p a t r i a r c h a l a n d the w a r t h e o r y even in 'The Vedic Age', w h i c h is one of a series of books p r o m i s i n g to provide a modern h i s t o r y of I n d i a ( B h a r a t i y a I t i h a s Samiti's ' H i s t o r y a n d Culture of the I n d i a n People', V o l I , E d M a j u m d a r and Pusalkar, L o n d o n , 1952, p 352).

I n the w o r k s o n ancient I n d i a n polity, considerable a t t e n t i o n is g i v e n to the problem of the o r i g i n of the ancient I n d i a n State, a n d this problem is usually discussed w i t h i n the general f r a m e w o r k of e v o l u t i o n a r y a n t h r o p o l o g y . Dr A S A l t e k a r begins the chapter " O r i g i n a n d Types of the State" in 'State and Government in Ancient India' ( D e l h i , 1958) w i t h the statement: "The modern speculation (on the o r i g i n of the State) is l a r g e l y i n fluenced by the scientific method and the theory of evolution, a n d seeks to f o r t i f y its conclusions by such analogies as can be d r a w n f r o m the k n o w n condition of societies w h i c h are more or less in an uncivilized condition at the present t i m e . " A n d then D r A l t e k a r piles up evidence to show that, "as f a r as the Indo-European communities are concerned, the i n s t i t u t i o n of patriarchal joint f a m i l y seems to have been the g e r m out of w h i c h State was g r a d u a l l y evolved" (p 34). S i m i l a r l y , the l o n g chapter on the e v o l u t i o n of k i n g s h i p a m o n g the I n d o - A r y a n s in N N L a w ' s ' A n c i e n t I n d i a n P o l i t y ' ( O x f o r d , 1921) is based on the ideas borrowed mainly f r o m Spencer, Frazer, M a i n e a n d the end of a l l the discussion is to reject all e v o l u t i o n a r y theories except t h a t of the author's, viz, the t h e o r y o f the o r i g i n o f k i n g s h i p i n patriarchal family. Pramathnath Banerjea also subscribes to the same view in 'Public A d m i n i s t r a t i o n in A n c i e n t I n d i a ' ( L o n d o n , 1916, p 38).

Origin of Vedic Religion

Other Indologists, such as D R B h a n d a r k a r ('Some Aspects o f A n cient H i n d u P o l i t y ' , Benares, 1929, pp 129-168) a n d K P J a y a s w a l ( H i n d u Polity', Calcutta, 1924, P a r t I I , p p 4-6), f o l l o w e d the social c o n t r a c t theories of Hobbes and L o c k e , a n d traced the o r i g i n of 957

One of the preoccupations in the studies of Vedic religion is a search for its o r i g i n , and this search is usually based on the general theories of the o r i g i n of religion formulated by anthropologists and sociologists, .such as Frazer, T y l o r , Spencer. D u r k h e i m and C o d r i n g t o n . It is n o t e w o r t h y t h a t one of the trenchant criticisms against the search for the o r i g i n of religion has come f r o m t h a t great Indologist, A B K e i t h (see his Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads', H a r v a r d Oriental Series, V o l 31, Cambridge, Mass, 1925, Chapt 4 ) . S t i l l , however, in 'The Vedic A g e ' (op c i t ) we f i n d crude evolutionist statements about the o r i g i n of Vedic religion. F o r instance: "We find in the Rigveda thoughts, beliefs, and practices t h a t one w o u l d associate w i t h the most p r i m i t i v e grades of society and w i t h an unsophisticated age." "Their h y m n s reflect in places t h a t p r i m i t i v e a t t i t u d e o f m i n d w h i c h looks upon a l l nature as a l i v i n g presence, or an aggregate of animated entities" (p 360). " A l t h o u g h Rigvedic m y t h o l o g y is not as p r i m i t i v e as some scholars once believed it to be, in no other l i t e r a r y monument of the w o r l d do we come across t h i s p r i m i t i v e phase of the evolution of r e l i gious beliefs w h i c h reveals to us the very process of personification by w h i c h n a t u r a l phenomena developed i n t o gods" (p 361). Older a n t h r o p o l o g y also influenced the attempts to find the o r i g i n o f I n d i a n village c o m m u n i t y and o f j o i n t f a m i l y . It w o u l d indeed be v e r y useful to review the whole of I n d o l o g i c a l l i t e r a t u r e f r o m the viewpoint of m o d e r n social anthropology. At the present moment, however, the discussion of methods a n d con-

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cepts seems to be a taboo a m o n g moat Indologists, a n d a m o n g moat of those sociologists a n d a n t h r o p o logists w h o have t h e i r m o o r i n g s I n I n d o l o g y . As l o n g as t h i s situat i o n prevails they w i l l continue t o use concepts a n d methods w h i c h they consider to be m o d e r n but w h i c h are a c t u a l l y out-of-date. III I t has a l r e a d y been r e m a r k e d t h a t social anthropologists r e g a r d the h i s t o r y of a society as r e l e v a n t to its u n d e r s t a n d i n g , where h i s t o r y I N k n o w n f o r c e r t a i n a n d i n some det a i l , To k n o w a society's past gives one a deeper u n d e r s t a n d i n g of the n a t u r e of its social life at the present t i m e . Some social a n t h r o p o l o gists even consider social a n t h r o p o logy as a b r a n c h of h i s t o r i c a l scholarship, the o n l y difference being t h a t social anthropologists make fleld-studies w h i l e historians depend upon documents a n d m o n u m e n t s . E v e n this d i s t i n c t i o n is now being b l u r r e d . It applied o n l y so l o n g as anthropologists studied p r i m i t i v e societies w h i c h h a d no recorded h i s t o r y . W i t h the extension o f the field of social a n t h r o p o l o g y to countries w i t h a l o n g a n d recorded past, such as I n d i a , Japan, C h i n a a n d Arabia, anthropologists feel more a n d more the relevance of h i s t o r y to a n t h r o p o l o g i c a l studies. T h e y also feel t h a t t h e i r monographs on t r i b a l societies are fast becomi n g source books f o r m o d e r n hist o r y on account o f r a p i d social change t r i b a l societies are underg o i n g i n a l l parts o f the w o r l d . The same w o u l d happen to the studies made at present, W h i l e social anthropologists are thus becoming m o r e a n d more aware of the usefulness of h i s t o r y to a n t h r o p o l o g i c a l studies, t h e y are a t t h e same t i m e disappointed t o find t h a t the h i s t o r y books as t h e y are w r i t t e n a t present i n I n d i a d o n o t help t h e m m u c h . T h i s happens because few historians i n India have sociological aims in the s t u d y o f I n d i a n h i s t o r y . I t i s difficult t o k n o w f r o m t h e i r books the p a t t e r n of i n t e r - r e l a t i o n s between various aspects of society at different p e r i ods of time. N a r r a t i n g the life of k i n g s , governors a n d m i l i t a r y gener a l s i s w h a t i s most common in historical works. Very little attempt is made to i n t e r r e l a t e the d a t a presented in different chapters on p o l i t i c a l h i s t o r y , r e l i g i o n , philosophy, economy, l i t e r a t u r e , a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , l a w , k i n s h i p , etc. I n the chapter

on social life we w o u l d find the names of several castes, b u t f r o m the discussion on m a r r i a g e It w o u l d appear as t h o u g h a single k i n s h i p system prevailed in a l l the castes. Regarding law, we are n o t t o l d whether it was observed by a l l sections of society. The t r e a t m e n t of the subject of position of w o m e n is always partial; it is forgotten that divorce a n d r e m a r r i a g e o f w o m e n are c o m m o n a m o n g the lower castes. The problem of life in the villages a n d o f the r e l a t i o n o f villages w i t h the l a r g e r society, is dismissed w i t h a facile assumption t h a t villages were l i t t l e republics w i t h self-sufficient economy, a n d t h a t they neither influenced n o r were they influenced by w h a t happened in the larger society. Facile a l l - I n d i a statements are made about food a n d d r i n k , dress a n d toilette, amusements a n d games, beliefs a n d superstitions, customs a n d manners, a n d estimate o f character. W e f i n d l i t t l e awareness of the f a c t t h a t I n d i a n society was a l w a y s d i v i d e d i n t o numerous groups, some of w h i c h differed widel y f r o m one another.

Records Neglected by Historians H i s t o r i a n s m i g h t r e t o r t t h a t there are not enough d a t a to study the k i n d o f problems social anthropologists are interested i n . T h i s is, however, not e n t i r e l y true as f a r as the m o r e recent periods of I n d i a n h i s t o r y are concerned. Social a n thropologists themselves have found records w h i c h have failed, u n f o r t u nately, t o a t t r a c t the a t t e n t i o n o f historians a n d archivists. Professor M N Srinivas has used the records of caste panchayats in his study of d o m i n a n t caste in Mysore (see his paper " T h e D o m i n a n t Caste in R a m p u r a " i n 'The A m e r i c a n A n t h r o pologist', Feb 1959, V o l 61, pp 1-16). D r B e r n a r d Cohn o f Chicago U n i v e r s i t y is s t u d y i n g the r e l a t i o n between social change a n d legal change i n f o u r d i s t r i c t s o f eastern U t t a r Pradesh f r o m the late eighteenth century to the present t i m e . He has already w o r k e d on the records in the I n d i a Office L i b r a r y , L o n d o n , and at the C e n t r a l Record Office, A l l a h a b a d . He has also p l a n ned t o s t u d y the a c t u a l w o r k i n g o f courts a t the present time. D r F G B a i l e y has made use of published records i n his study o f a v i l lage in Orissa ('Caste a n d the Economic F r o n t i e r ' , Manchester, 1957). My f r i e n d Shri R G Shroff and I are u s i n g records in our study of social change I n villages i n C e n t r a l

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G u j a r a t . A m o n g the records we are s t u d y i n g , there are genealogical and other records kept by the Barots, a caste of professional bards a n d genealogists. We have g i v e n an idea of the nature of these records in a paper "The V a h i v a n c h a B a r o t s of G u j a r a t : A Caste of Genealogists and Mythographers" in Traditional I n d i a : Structure and Change' ( M i l t o n Singer, E d , Philadelphia, 1958). We are also s t u d y i n g the records of the Revenue and Topographical Survey o f A h m e d a b a d and K a i r a D i s t r i c t s conducted i n 1820-26 A D . These records lie neglected in t a l u k a offices. T h e y are voluminous, a n d o n l y a superficial idea of their contents can be given here.

Jarif Books in Gujarat F o r every village and t o w n there is a b u l k y book called J a r i f no Chopdo w r i t t e n i n G u j a r a t i ( J a r i f l a n d survey, chopdo = b o o k ) . A J a r i f book contains the f o l l o w i n g kinds of information: ( 1 ) A census g i v i n g the f o l l o w i n g details f o r each f a m i l y : name o f the head of the f a m i l y , the number of men, w o m e n a n d servants in the f a m i l y , a n d the number of houses, livestock, ploughs, carts a n d wells owned by the f a m i l y . The names of heads of families are listed acc o r d i n g to caste a n d religion, so t h a t we get figures of population, livestock, ploughs, etc f o r each caste and religious group. A t the end o f the census, the houses are classif i e d according t o b u i l d i n g m a t e r i a l s . (2) A table of b i r t h s , deaths a n d marriages f o r five years preceding the year of the survey, (3) A l a n d register s h o w i n g the f o l l o w i n g details for each plot of l a n d in the v i l l a g e : name, area, boundaries, nature of soil, owner, tenant, crops g r o w n in each season, acreage a n d yield of each crop, f a c i lities for i r r i g a t i o n , the n u m b e r of each k i n d of tree, and disputes reg a r d i n g ownership, passage or i r r i gation. (4) A l i s t of wells showing, f o r each w e l l , the name of the owner, whether the w e l l is b u i l t w i t h bricks, a n d w h e t h e r equipped w i t h i r r i g a tion devices, an estimate of the amount of w a t e r in the w e l l , a n d an estimate of cost f o r repair or for c o n s t r u c t i n g i r r i g a t i o n devices. (5) A table s h o w i n g the area of l a n d under different tenures, a n d the a m o u n t of revenue realized by the g o v e r n m e n t from each category of land.

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(6) A statement of rules, i n c l u d i n g t h e rates of revenue, f o r different l a n d tenures. (7) A statement of the rates of taxes a n d ceases other t h a n l a n d t a x , a n d of h e r e d i t a r y dues a n d fines. As an example, in one v i l l a g e there were, a plough-cess v a r y i n g a c c o r d i n g to the c u l t i v a t o r ' s caste, a h e r e d i t a r y fine on t u r b u l e n t R a j puts a n d K o l i s , cesses on artisans such as rope-makers a n d tanners, a n d a wedding-cess on the lower castes, (8) A statement of the sources of miscellaneous income to g o v e r n m e n t , such as income f r o m trees, manure, a n d licence for selling opium. (9) A table of c u r r e n t prices or various grains, (10) A balance sheet of v i l l a g e accounts kept by the v i l l a g e accountant. On the credit side, the most important entries were r e g a r d i n g money realized f r o m different taxes, On the debit side, the most i m p o r t a n t entries were r e g a r d i n g money sent to the g o v e r n m e n t treasury, a n d the expenditure f o r a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , f o r protection f r o m thieves, robbers, marauders, etc, f o r entert a i n m e n t , and for social and r e l i gious activities of the v i l l a g e community. (11) A b r i e f account of the revenue a d m i n i s t r a t i o n of the v i l l a g e , year b y year, f r o m the date the v i l lage came under B r i t i s h a d m i n i s t r a t i o n (i e, f r o m 1802, 1803 or 1817, as t h e case m a y be) to the year in w h i c h the v i l l a g e was surveyed. I t mentions w h o ruled over the v i l l a g e before the B r i t i s h acquired i t . T h e n It shows f o r each year, w h e t h e r the revenue was collected t h r o u g h a revenue c o n t r a c t o r or t h r o u g h the g o v e r n m e n t officers, the a m o u n t of revenue assessed or contracted, the net a m o u n t realized, a n d reasons f o r a n increase o r decrease i n revenue. (12) Miscellaneous information, such as disputes r e g a r d i n g v i l l a g e boundaries, a n d the names of v i l l a g e headman, v i l l a g e accountant, v i l l a g e leaders, a n d d i s t r i c t accountant.

Village Records I n a d d i t i o n t o the J a r i f book, the Surveyors also w r o t e r e m a r k s i n E n g l i s h about every v i l l a g e . W e saw t w o b u l k y volumes o f such rem a r k s a m o n g the archives i n the Secretariat Record Office, B o m b a y . T h e r e m a r k s refer to the general economic c o n d i t i o n of the village,

the general nature of a g r i c u l t u r e , the condition of wells, bunds a n d canals, a h i s t o r y of the village, i m m i g r a t i o n a n d e m i g r a t i o n , bounda r y disputes between villages, headm a n s h i p disputes, a n d the character a n d social status of the headman, of big landlords, a n d of other v i l lage leaders. Captain C r u i k s h a n k , the Superintendent of the Survey, wrote general reports on the different subd i s t r i c t s (purgunnahs a n d tuppas) o f A h m e d a b a d a n d K a i r a districts, on the basis of the above-mentioned r e m a r k s on villages. T h e reports of some sub-districts are published in t w o volumes, 'Selections f r o m the Records of the G o v e r n m e n t of B o m bay', N o X and X I ( B o m b a y , 1853). The unpublished reports are found a m o n g the archives in the Secret a r i a t Record Office, B o m b a y . C r u i k s h a n k m e n t i o n s i n his reports t h a t the Surveyors prepared a m a p of each v i l l a g e , a n d of each sub-district on the basis of v i l l a g e maps. Bishop Heber, w h o v i s i t e d Gujarat w h i l e the Survey was goi n g on, h a d seen these maps, a n d commented on their accuracy ('Heber's N a r r a t i v e ' , V o l I I , L o n don, 1828, p 140). Governor M a l c o l m also t h o u g h t h i g h l y of t h e m ( ' B o m b a y Gazeteer', V o l I I I , 1879, p 99). We have, however, not yet been able to locate these maps in any office. Another important k i n d of village records i n t a l u k a offices i n C e n t r a l G u j a r a t are k n o w n a s K a l a m b a n d h i books. A K a l a m b a n d h i book is a record, under different heads, of the details o f village organization in general a n d a d m i n i s t r a t i v e o r g a n i z a t i o n i n p a r t i c u l a r . F o r almost every village there are three or four K a l a m b a n d h i books, each w r i t t e n in a. different year at an i n t e r v a l of sometimes one a n d sometimes more t h a n one year. M o s t of them were w r i t t e n before the Survey, but there are several w r i t t e n after i t . Changes were also made in the k a l a m s or heads f r o m one year to another. I n general, however, the K a l a m b a n d h i books give i n f o r m a t i o n about rules a n d regulations f o r different l a n d tenures and taxes and cesses, about the modes of rem u n e r a t i o n paid to a r t i s a n a n d serv i c i n g castes a n d to v i l l a g e officials a n d servants, about protectionmoney p a i d to marauders, about the management of village shrines, about p o p u l a t i o n of different caste a n d religious groups, a n d about the 961

customs of m a r r i a g e payment, funer a r y expenses, a n d inheritance of an heirless person's property, a m o n g different castes. A K a l a m b a n d h i also contains a sketch m a p of the village site.

Sources of Local History Some other sources of local hist o r y are the commercial correspondence and account books of local merchants, records of caste panchayats, caste constitutions, a n d caste puranas. F i n a l l y , a l l the local records have to be studied in r e l a t i o n w i t h the already w e l l - k n o w n a r c h i ves, the published collections of records, a n d l i t e r a r y w o r k s . Among the official archives, m e n t i o n m a y be made here about the records r e l a t i n g to female i n fanticide. The B r i t i s h t r i e d to stop infanticide because they considered it an i n h u m a n practice. On the other hand, i t was related w i t h the social system, p a r t i c u l a r l y the k i n ship system, of the people p r a c t i s i n g i t . The correspondence between o f f i cials concerned w i t h the w o r k of stopping female i n f a n t i c i d e , a n d between officials a n d people, has been preserved in several record offices, and is a useful source for the study of social life. A p a r t of these records have been published, such as 'Suppression of I n f a n t i c i d e i n K a t t y w a r ' , B o m b a y Selection N o X X X I V - - N e w Series, P a r t I I . 1856, and 'Repression of Female I n fanticide in B o m b a y Presidency', B o m b a y Selection N o C X L V I I — N e w Series, 1875. I have found f r o m my w o r k on the infanticide records in B o m b a y Secretariat Record Office that the published records f o r m only a f r a c t i o n of the extant records. The records I have mentioned provide i n f o r m a t i o n not only about the late eighteenth a n d the early nineteenth century, but about the earlier periods also, I m a y give one instance. A c c o r d i n g to the Survey records of 1820-26. R a j p u t lineages in several villages in Gujar a t held l a n d under W a n t a tenure. W a n t a l a n d usually f o r m e d onef o u r t h of t o t a l land in a village. The r e m a i n i n g three-fourths was called Talpad land. W a n t a l a n d was charged a fixed q u i t - r e n t or salamI, w h i l e T a l p a d l a n d was charged a r e g u l a r l a n d t a x a c c o r d i n g to assessment made by government officials. The records m e n t i o n t h a t the W a n t a holders h a d been enjoying these privileges since the t i m e of the Badashahs, i e, M u s l i m k i n g s .

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The i n f o r m a t i o n g i v e n b y the Survey records is corroborated by the Persian chronicles M i r a t - i Sikandari (trans Fazlullah L a t i f i , p 239) and M i r a t - i - A h m a d i (Supplement, trans, A l l a n d Seddon, Baroda, 1928, pp 193-4). T h e y m e n t i o n the same one-to-three ratio between W a n t a a n d T a l p a d l a n d d u r i n g the rule of t h e Sultans of G u j a r a t (13911572) a n d of the Moguls (15721757). The chronicles f u r t h e r i n f o r m t h a t the W a n t a a n d T a l p a d divisions were made o u t of the G r a s estates of R a j p u t chieftains, a n d the holders of Gras estates were called Grasiyas. The Sultans of G u j a r a t seized three-fourths of each Gras estate as a p u n i s h m e n t f o r the Grasiyas' rebellions against the Sultans d u r i n g the years 1411-1442 a n d i n 1551. I t can b e i n f e r r e d f r o m this evidence t h a t the ancestors of each lineage group h o l d i n g a Wanta estate in 1820-26 were h o l d i n g the entire village as a Gras estate before the rule of the Sultans of Gujarat. T h i s inference is also confirmed by the B a r o t genealogies w h i c h always refer to the ancestors of Wanta-holders as v i l l a g e chieftains d u r i n g the R a j p u t Period (7891300). I n s c r i p t i o n s , shrines a n d sculptures in villages m a y also help reconstruct l o c a l h i s t o r y . I discovered a significant epigraph f r o m the ruins of a shrine on the o u t s k i r t s o f R a d h v a n a j , the village of my field-study. T h e epigraph, inscribed at the base of an image of M a h i s m a r d i n i , reads: R a j a Jagdev Samv a t Shree 1290 Shravan (Samvat 1290 - 1234 A D ) . T h e name J a g dev also occured at about the same date in the genealogy of the R a t h o d Rajputs of the v i l l a g e . The geneal o g y also i n f o r m s t h a t Jagdev was the chieftain o f Radhvanaj. He m a r r i e d the daughter o f the R a j p u t chief of M a t a r , a n e i g h b o u r i n g t o w n , a n d received V a n s a r , a n a d j o i n i n g village, as d o w r y . Jagdev thus became a chief of t w o villages. In 1820-26, the descendents of Jagdev held W a n t a estates i n b o t h the v i l lages. A l l t h i s evidence f u r t h e r confirms the inference r e g a r d i n g W a n t a estates mentioned earlier.

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proper study o f these sources w i l l enable us to o b t a i n a f a i r l y comprehensive v i e w o f v i l l a g e a n d t o w n life d u r i n g the late eighteenth a n d e a r l y nineteenth century. Such knowledge w i l l provide a solid basis for understanding social changes t h a t have been occuring in the c o u n t r y since the a r r i v a l of the B r i t i s h . Moreover i t w i l l provide a n i n s i g h t i n t o the earlier periods of history. A study of local h i s t o r y w i l l provide a lively dimension to the whole of I n d i a n h i s t o r y . I t i s quite c e r t a i n t h a t local hist o r y can be studied w i t h i n s i g h t by one who has made a field-study of the local area, or w h o has at least a knowledge of the results of such a study. I can do no more t h a n quote the words of Professor S r i nivas i n t h i s connection: " H i s t o r i a n s have stated t h a t a knowledge of the past is helpful In the unders t a n d i n g o f the present i f n o t i n forecasting the future. It is not, however, realized t h a t a t h o r o u g h u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f the present freque n t l y sheds l i g h t on the past. To put i t i n other words, the i n t i m a t e knowledge w h i c h results f r o m t h e intensive field-survey of e x t a n t social i n s t i t u t i o n s does enable us to i n t e r p r e t better, d a t a about past

Solid Basis for Study I t i s v e r y probable t h a t sources o f local h i s t o r y exist i n every p a r t of I n d i a , t h o u g h t h e y m a y not be as r i c h as in C e n t r a l G u j a r a t . A 962

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social i n s t i t u t i o n s . H i s t o r i c a l d a t a are neither as accurate nor as r i c h a n d detailed as the d a t a collected by field-anthropologists, a n d the study of certain existing processes increases our u n d e r s t a n d i n g of s i m i lar processes in the past. It is necessary to a d d here t h a t great caution has to be exercised in such a task, f o r otherwise h i s t o r y w i l l be t w i s t e d out of a l l recognition. There is no doubt t h a t our k n o w ledge of the w o r k i n g of h i s t o r i c a l processes w i l l be enhanced b y this method". ( " V i l l a g e Studies a n d T h e i r Significance", 'The Eastern A n t h r o pologist', M a r c h - A u g u s t , 1955, p 227)*.

* Shri R G Shroff and I w o u l d l i k e t o t h a n k the D i r e c t o r o f A r c h i v e s a n d H i s t o r i c a l Monuments, Government o f Bombay, f o r g i v i n g us permission a n d facilities to study records in the Secretariat Record Office, B o m b a y . We also t h a n k the officials of the Revenue D e p a r t m e n t , Government of B o m b a y , f o r s i m i l a r help r e g a r d i n g records in t a l u k a offices. T h a n k s are also due to Professor M N Srinivas f o r his comments on the paper.