Yaksh ChaudharyAIR 6 · CSE 2021 · 303 wordsTheir whole copy
Opening
British colonialists suggested that caste and tribes are one and the same. While castes are tribes living in the plains and pure tribes live in hills. Hutton criticised this view and differentiated between both.
Body · points
Transformation of Tribes into castes
(1) Hinduisation of Tribes : Ghurye advocated this view that Tribes are underdeveloped Hindus only. Slowly these tribes are being assimilated into Hindu caste society.
(2) Sanskritisation : MN Srinivas viewed that tribes are taking values, ideology and lifestyle of caste Hindus and getting into caste system. For example - Raj Gonds joined caste system.
(3) Tribe-caste Continuum : FG Bailey gave this concept where tribes join caste system. Generally tribes join caste system in the lower castes. For example - Gaddi Lohar of Rajasthan joined caste system.
(4) Tribe-Peasant Continuum : Surjit Sinha in this concept argues that caste people need the services of tribes, hence they encourage joining of tribes at the level of lower castes so that they can provide services and labor to the peasants and higher caste people.
Verrier Elvin classified tribes into many categories based on their assimilation into Hindu caste system as: (1) Tribes that are purest of pure and have not adopted Hindu traditions. (2) Tribes in contact with plains but maintained their own tribal mode of production. (3) Tribes forming lower rungs of caste system. (4) Tribes fully adopted Hinduism and caste system.
Close · a summary
In contemporary times, tribes have been asserting their own identities instead of aspiration to join caste system or Hinduism. Today tribes are not going for sanskritisation but demanding preservation of their own culture. 1985 unrest in Assam and resultant Assam Accord which provides for preservation of tribal culture of Assam is a case in point. Many tribes of Nagaland have come together and demanding separate state for preservation of their cultural identity.