B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 2 Indian Society: Continuity and Change 2015 Dec (100 marks) Question Paper with Solutions

For full marks, cover: what "development" of a society means; the broad stages in outline (ancient, medieval, colonial, independent); the development traced institution by institution: social stratification (varna to jati to modern caste and class), family and marriage, religion and values, economy and the village, polity and law, and the position of women; the forces that drove each stage; a summary table; what stayed constant; a conclusion.

What "development" means here

To trace the development of a society is to show how its main institutions took shape and changed over time. Indian society did not develop in a straight line from simple to complex. Old institutions were rarely abolished; they were reworked and layered under new ones. The clearest way to trace this growth is to follow each major institution through the broad stages of Indian history.

The broad stages in outline

1. Social stratification: from varna to jati to caste and class

In the Rig Veda, society was divided into broad classes of priests, warrior-chiefs and the common people. G. S. Ghurye noted that the fourfold varna scheme appears only in a late hymn, the Purusha Sukta. In later Vedic and post-Vedic times, the varnas hardened, and occupational groups became hereditary and endogamous jatis. Buddhism and Jainism questioned Brahmin supremacy, and later the Bhakti saints, such as Basava, Kabir and Ravidas, attacked caste distinctions.

Under colonial rule the census, from 1881, recorded and ranked castes. Historians such as Nicholas Dirks argue that this hardened identities that had been more fluid. Since Independence, the Constitution has abolished untouchability and provided reservation. Education and the market have also created classes that cut across castes. Caste has thus developed from a ritual hierarchy into a mix of identity, interest group and, at the bottom, persisting inequality.

3. Religion and values

The Vedic religion of sacrifice developed into the philosophy of the Upanishads, with ideas of karma, rebirth and moksha. Buddhism and Jainism stressed non-violence and personal ethics, and spread far beyond India. Later Hinduism organised life through the purusharthas and the ashramas. In the medieval period, the Bhakti movement and Sufi saints spread devotion across caste and religious lines. A composite culture grew in music, architecture and language.

In the nineteenth century, reform bodies such as the Brahmo Samaj (1828), the Arya Samaj (1875) and Phule's Satyashodhak Samaj (1873) questioned ritual and caste. The national movement, under Gandhi, joined religion to the values of truth and non-violence. The Constitution then made India a secular state that protects the freedom of every religion.

4. Economy and the village

The Harappans were urban traders and craftsmen. From the Vedic age onwards, settled agriculture became the base of society, and the village became its main unit. Within the village, castes exchanged services for grain under what sociologists call the jajmani system. Kings and later intermediaries collected land revenue.

6. The position of women

Some women in the Vedic age took part in learning and ritual. Over later centuries, early marriage, seclusion in some groups, the ban on widow remarriage and exclusion from property lowered women's status. Reformers such as Rammohan Roy and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar campaigned against sati and for widow remarriage. Since Independence, women have gained the vote, equal rights in law, and since 2005 equal coparcenary rights in Mitakshara property. Education and paid work have widened their choices, though dowry and the unequal burden of housework remain.

A Karnataka thread

The same development can be followed within Karnataka. In the twelfth century, Basava and the Lingayat movement challenged caste and ritual in Kannada vachanas, short poems in the people's language. The Vijayanagara empire later ruled much of the south and patronised temples, trade and the arts. Under colonial rule, the princely State of Mysore developed its own administration, schools and industries. After Independence, the States Reorganisation Act 1956 united the Kannada-speaking regions in an enlarged Mysore State, renamed Karnataka in 1973. Today Bengaluru, a centre of the information technology industry, shows the newest stage of the same long story.

What stayed constant

Through every stage, some features persisted. Caste endogamy, the importance of family and kinship, the religious colouring of daily life and the village base of most of the population changed slowly. New institutions were added on top of old ones rather than replacing them. This is why Indian society today shows both great continuity and great change at the same time.