Question 1(a) · 12.5 marks · 194 words written
Opening · a definition
Sanskritization refers to the "process by which a lower caste emulates the rituals, ideology, customs and the way of life of a upper, usually twice born, caste".
Body · continuous prose
M.N. Srinivas studied the Coorgs in South India to give the concept of Sanskritization. He observes in his book 'Social Change in Modern India' that Sanskritization is usually preceded by an improvement in the economic or political position of a caste. Once a caste is economically or politically strong, it demands a higher position in ritual hierarchy.
However, Sanskritization has been criticized on the grounds that it merely leads to positional change and not structural change in the position of the caste members. Though we can argue that it is a result of changes in structure of economy and power.
Close
In fact, D.D. Kosambi observes that the same caste enjoys different ritual status in different regions if it has different economic status. This points at the lack of structural change in caste across regions. Change in structure (or the relationships and interactions among people which is repetitive) is more a result of the change in the power equations, as per Yogendra Singh, which Sanskritization fails to explain.