Sanskritisation and Westernisation (M.N. Srinivas)

1. Sanskritisation: meaning

M.N. Srinivas first described the process in Religion and Society among the Coorgs of South India (1952), calling it “Brahminisation”, and then replaced the term with Sanskritisation because the models were not always Brahmins. His definition in Social Change in Modern India (1966):

Sanskritisation is “the process by which a ‘low’ Hindu caste, or tribal or other group, changes its customs, ritual, ideology and way of life in the direction of a high, and frequently, ‘twice-born’ caste.” Generally such changes are followed by a claim to a higher position in the caste hierarchy than that traditionally conceded by the local community.

2. Features

1. Imitation of a higher caste: vegetarianism, teetotalism, wearing the sacred thread, Sanskritic deities and rituals, ban on widow remarriage, early marriage of girls, dowry in place of bride-price.
2. Positional, not structural change: a caste moves up, but the hierarchy itself remains. Srinivas: it results in positional changes in the caste system without any structural change.
3. Group, not individual mobility: the whole caste or a section of it rises.
4. Takes time: a generation or two; the claim must be accepted by neighbours.
5. Usually preceded by economic or political gain: a caste that has prospered seeks ritual status to match.
6. Also found among tribes (Bhils, Gonds, Oraons) and non-Hindus seeking local respect.

3. Models of Sanskritisation

Srinivas noted that the model need not be the Brahmin. It may be:

• Brahminical: the most common in the south (vegetarianism, ritual purity).
• Kshatriya: the Rajput or warrior model, with claims to royal descent, martial values, meat-eating and liquor; common in north India.
• Vaishya: the trading-caste model.
• Local dominant caste: whatever caste dominates locally becomes the model, which is why the dominant-caste concept and Sanskritisation go together.

4. Examples

• The Lingayats (Karnataka) and other Mysore castes Srinivas studied.
• The Nadars (formerly Shanars) of Tamil Nadu, who rose through trade, education and Christian missions, then claimed Kshatriya status.
• The Yadavs and Kurmis of north India claiming Kshatriya descent.
• Tribes adopting Hindu gods and festivals (Bhagat movement among the Oraons).

5. Criticism

• The concept is vague: it covers imitation, mobility and cultural spread (Yogendra Singh).
• Upper castes reject the claims: imitation is often resisted, even violently.
• Accepts hierarchy: it assumes the lower castes want to be like the upper, ignoring protest movements (Ambedkar, Phule) that rejected Brahmin values.
• Harmful practices spread: dowry, seclusion of women, ban on widow remarriage.
• De-Sanskritisation: some groups abandon Sanskritic values or assert pride in their own (the Dravidian and Dalit movements).

6. Westernisation: meaning

Srinivas (Social Change in Modern India): Westernisation refers to “the changes brought about in Indian society and culture as a result of over 150 years of British rule, the term subsuming changes occurring at different levels — technology, institutions, ideology and values.”

7. Features and areas

1. Technology: railways, telegraph, printing press, modern medicine.
2. Institutions: Western education, courts and codified law, bureaucracy, army, newspapers, the census.
3. Ideology and values: humanitarianism (concern for all regardless of caste, religion or sex), equality, rationalism, secularism.
4. Way of life: dress, food habits, use of English, table manners, the nuclear family.
5. Ethically neutral: Srinivas chose the term because it does not imply good or bad, unlike “modernisation”.

Effects: social reform (abolition of sati, widow remarriage), the rise of a Western-educated middle class, nationalism, weakening of caste rules, new occupations and mobility. Levels: Srinivas distinguished primary (the first to Westernise, who became intermediaries), secondary and tertiary levels of Westernisation.

8. Relation between the two

The two are not opposed. Western means (printing, railways, radio) spread Sanskritic culture, and often the upper castes Westernised while the lower castes Sanskritised at the same time. Srinivas said the two processes go on side by side.

How this is examined

For the Sanskritisation essay: definition with source, the six features, models, two examples, criticism. For Westernisation: definition with source, the four areas, effects, and the contrast with Sanskritisation and with modernisation. Both regularly appear as the Unit V alternatives.