As both the processes of sanskritisation and westernisation are going on at the same time, there is a conflicting, or more correctly, a confusing situation.

On the one hand, there are the lower castes trying to take on the traditional values and customs of the upper castes, to raise their status. On the other hand, the upper castes are discarding some of these customs.

Westernisation may be characterised as a movement from the. sacred to the secular. It is difficult to characterise Sanskritisation in a 'toe red-secular' of 'folk-urban frame of reference.

In any case, from the view point of culture content the more important aspect to be noted is that these processes are likely to result in having a common set of cultural elements in all of Hindu society.

At the same time, there is an element of "conflict" between westernisation and Sanskritisation. Most of the castes are faced with a dilemma of making a choice.

With increased industrialisation, greater communication, new occupations, greater education, it seems likely that westernisation will be the more dominant process.

T H E f o r m o f 'Sanskri t isat ion ' was first used by P ro f M N Srinivas

in his book Religion and Society Among the Coorgs of India. This book is a study of the Coorgs—a caste l ike group of people in India occupy­ing the area called Coorg, located on the south west coast. The Coorgs

are d iv ided into two sections, one o f wh ich i s " h i g h l y Brahminised in their customs and r i tua l ' ' Srinivas says that these Coorgs "exempl i fy a tendency which has always been pre­sent in the caste system; a small group of people break off f rom a larger whole, of which they are a part . Sanskritise their customs and r i tua l and achieve a higher status than their parent body in the course of a few decades'".

Sanskrit isation is defined by Sr in i ­vas as fol lows:

"The caste system is far f rom a r i g i d system in which the position of each component caste is fixed for all time. Movement has always been possible and especially so in the middle regions of hierarchy. A low caste was able, in a gene­ration or two to rise to higher posit ion in the hierarchy by adopt­i n g vegetarianism and teetotal ism ami by Sanskr i t iz ing its r i tua l ami pantheon. In short, i t look over as far as possible the customs, rites, and beliefs of the Brahmins and the adoption of the Brahmin ic way of l i f e by a low caste seems to have been frequent though theore­t ical ly forbidden. Th is process has been called Sanskrit isation in this book ."8

The w o r d "Sanskri t isat ion" is rather difficult to understand. The immediate reaction on seeing the word is that it must be related to "Sanskri t" , the classical and sacred languages of the Hindus .

The Word Itself

The other w o r d that could have been used is " B r a h m i n i s a t i o n " bu t Srinivas rejects this for the fo l l owing reasons:

(1 ) Brahminisa t ion is sub-assum­ed in the wider process of Sanskri t i ­sa t ion:

(2) the customs and habits of Brahmins changed after they settled in I n d i a ; and

(3) the agents of Sanskrit isation were not, and are not always Brah­mins.

Another factor involved is that the word " B r a h m i n i s a t i o n " evokes the connotation of Vedic t radi t ions, but 'not a l l aspects of sanskritisation are Vedic.

At one of the conferences where the concept was discussed, the w o r d " H i n d u i s a t i o n ' was suggested —but as it smacked of proselyt izat ion, it was not accepted. Further the word suggests that many of the lower castes are not Hindus which is not true. Also H i n d u i s m includes many non-Sanskrit elements. Another sug­gestion was " i m i t a t i o n ' ' but the pro­cess of Sanskrit ization involves more than mere i m i t a t i o n .

To the suggestion that "accultu-r a t i o n " be used, Srinivas gave the fo l l owing r e p l y :

"There was another suggestion made that we should discard a local term l ike Sanskri l isat ion for acculturat ion. I th ink this should be rejected for the reason that accul turat ion takes a par t icular fo rm in H i n d u society and we want to characterize this par t icular fo rm of acculturat ion Generalizations about acculturat ion al l over the wor ld are a b i t too premature."

Red field, who was at the conference, commented as fo l lows :

' 'I entirely agree w i t h the sug­gestion that the process of accu­l tu ra t ion that is going on in Ind ia should be indicated by a special term because the process itself is special. In acculturat ion general­ly , a group takes over elements of cul ture not practised by that group. Sanskrit isation is a pro­cess whereby elements of t radi t ion more nearly universal and more reflectively cultivated are commu­nicated to. and some often con­sciously assumed by a group whose local fo lk culture has long contr i ­buted and drawn f rom reflective culture. The process is taking place w i t h i n a civil ized communi ty not only characterized by a h igh t radi t ion but also by a more local and uureflective t r ad i t ion . There are levels or stages of culture and the arrangements of the stages are affected and altered by the process of sanskritisation. This is quite different f rom the process which occurred when the red Indians met European traders who came into contact w i t h them. Therefore in

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my view it is good we find a spe­c i a l t e rm to express this process."6

Srinivas himself said the word was " u g l y " , b u t at the end of the dis­cussion he felt that no th ing that had been said had convinced h i m that he should change the w o r d .

The Process

"The s t ructura l basis of H i n d u society is caste and it is not possible to understand sanskritisation wi thou t reference to the s t ruc tura l frame­work i n which i t occurs.

"Speaking generally the castes occupying the top posit ions in the h ierarchy are more sanskritised than the castes in the lower and middle ranges of the hierarchy and this has been responsible for the sanskritisa­t ion of the lower castes as wel l as the ou t ly ing tribes. The lower castes seem to have always t r i ed to take over the customs and ways of l i fe of the higher castes. The theoretical existence of a ban on their adopt ion of Brahmanical customs and rites was not very effective and this is clear when we consider the fact that many non-Brahmanical castes prac­tise many Brahmanical customs and rires"7

As this process was common to all the castes except the highest, it meant that the Brahmanic customs and way of l i f e spread among the Hindus . However , the immediate group that was imi ta ted by the lower castes was the local ly dominant g roup . As the dominant caste began to take on more of the Brahmin ica l customs and rites, the latter slowly seeped down to the lower castes as wel l and, hence, to the entire society. Among the customs taken over are c lothing, jewel lery, cooking, vegetarianism, teetotalism and at times the changing of the name of the caste.

A c c o r d i n g to Srinivas, two legal fictions helped the process of sans­kr i t i sa t ion of the r i t ua l aspects. The ban is restricted not to the ritual itself but to the reci tal of magic chants (mantras) f r o m the Vedas. This was circumvented by the lower castes by using Sanskrit verses f r o m the Post-Vedic per iod . This substi­t u t i on in i t se l f was the second legal fiction.

The non-Brahmins not on ly adopt the B r a h m i n i c a l riles and customs, but also the inst i tut ions. Sr inivas corroborates this by r e f e r r i ng to marr iage, posi t ion of women, and k insh ip . A m o n g Hindus , there i s

preference f o r v i r g i n i t y in brides, chastity in wives, and continence in widows. Th i s is especially marked among the highest castes. The lower have not been very r i g i d in their sex code, but as the castes rise in the hierarchy, i t becomes more and more Sanskritised and, in sex and mar­riage, the code of the Brahmins is taken over. W i d o w remarr iage and divorce are restricted. Sr inivas h i m ­self says, "Sanskri t izat ion results in harshnness towards women." 8 In the sphere of k insh ip , the pa t r i l inea l lineage is stressed among the Brah­mins, hence the importance of the sons.

Sanskrit isation also means the adopt ion of new ideas and values wh ich have been expounded in Sans-k r i t i c l i terature. Such the6logicaI terms as Karma (predestination and r e b i r t h ) , dharma ( d u t y ) , papa ( s h i h punya (mer i t and deliverance) maya ( i l lusory nature of the w o r l d ) , samsara (un ive r sa l ) , and moksha ( l ibera t ion) are used frequent ly. These were essentially related to Vedas and the discussion confined mostly to Brahmins .

Helps and Hinderances What has been said go far may

seem to suggest that the process of Sanskri t isat ion goes on wi thout h in­drances. Th i s is not t rue. The very fact that it takes decades and decades fo r a caste to raise its status is i nd i ­cative of the slowness of the process and slowness is an indica t ion of the opposi t ion. "Once inside Sanskrit ic H i n d u i s m , the local rites and beliefs undergo Sanskri t isat ion r ap id ly in a thoroughgoing manner ." In the recent past, the process of Sans-kr i t i sa t ion seems to have been acclerated,

A m o n g the factors that have helped the process along are the " lega l fic­t ions ' ' that have been already men­t ioned. The second factor is west­ern technology — rai lways , press, radio , in ternal combustion engine, and plane. Communica t ion is easier and ideas spread more q u i c k l y be­cause of i t . Par l iamentary demo­cracy also cont r ibuted to i t . Some of the values of the higher castes were wr i t t en in to the Const i tu t ion— such as p r o h i b i t i o n and mono­gamy.

" I t is possible that the very ban on the adoption of the Brahmin ica l way of l i f e by the lower castes, had exactly the opposite effect. The forb idden f r u i t was the tastier O n e "

" T h e pantheistic bias in H i n d u i s m also contributes to Sanskrit isation of the deities and beliefs of the low castes and ou t ly ing communities. The doctr ine that everything in the uni­verse is animated by God; that all the various deities are only forms assumed by the same Brahma makes the process of absorption easier.1'10

' T h e stratif ication of the H i n d u society in to castes has in a sense helped Sanskri t isat ion because in any hierarchia l system, there is a tenden­cy to imitate the customs, habits, manners of the top group. ' ' 1 1

The most impor tant factor in the hindrance for the process is the re­sentment of other castes against any caste that tries to raise its status. Often pol i t i ca l and economic pres­sures are put. At times even physi­cal force is used to prevent the lower castes' t ak ing on the customs and the r i tuals of higher castes. Cohn men­tions the fact that Thakurs used pol i t ica l and economic pressure and also physical violence to keep the Chamars in place. In my own study of N o r t h Indian V i l l a g e , one of the more educated Brahmins said, " I f the lower castes attempted to disobey Brahmins they wou ld ask them not to walk on their f ie lds. I f they do, we can manhandle them phys i ca l ly . " As the houses of the lower castes were located in the midst of the fields of the Brahmins , the lower castes wou ld not be able to move out of the houses at al l . As the upper castes hold most of the land, are better educated, hence have the eco­nomic and the pol i t i ca l power to subdue them . . ." A more effective barr ier to the taking over of the cus­toms and the rites of the higher castes by the lower castes, was the hostile att i tude of the locally domi­nant caste or of the k ing of the re-g i o n . " 1 2

Functions of Sanskritisation

A second factor that hinders the process of Sanskri t isat ion is westerni­zat ion—this is in view of the fact that there is a conflict between the Sanskrit ic and western values—the conflict between "the w o r l d view dis­closed by the systematic appl ica t ion of scientific method to the various spheres of knowledge and the view of t rad i t iona l re l ig ions ." 1 3 At pre­sent this conflict is i m p l i c i t , rather than expl ic i t as it is not f u l l y rea­lized.

It could be said that there are three major functions of the process.

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In the first place, as the process was common to a l l castes except the highest, the Brahmin ica l customs and the way of l i f e spread among a l l the Hindus .

F r o m this arises the second func­t ion , namely that because of the spread of one particular way, a com-mon " c u l t u r e " was developing throughout the whole H i n d u society. "The presence of completely sans-kr i t i sed worship of rivers, trees, and mountains in H i n d u i s m , and then in ­corpora t ion in vast mythology of H i n d u i s m , makes easier the assimi­l a t ion of the r i tua l beliefs of the lower castes and of communit ies re­maining outside Hinduism."

A t h i r d funct ion is to provide for social mob i l i t y w i t h i n a r i g i d social structure. Too often the caste sys­tem and H i n d u society are described as non-mobile, Th i s does not pro­vide a total descript ion of the H i n d u society. The re form movements, the revolts of the lower castes and Sans­kr i t i sa t ion all indicate that the H i n d u society is dynamic. Sanskrit isation provides the means of vert ical so­c ia l mob i l i t y .

The concept of sanskritisation is one of the most widely discussed and used concepts in recent studies. How­ever, I shall confine myself to c i t ing four studies and indica t ing the find­ings on the subject,

Cohn studied a village in U P He states " F o r the last t h i r t y years the Chamars of M o d h o p u r have struggled consciously to raise their status on another related f r o n t — that of caste hierarchy. At least two generations ago, in the v i c i n i t y of Modhopur , began to outlaw eating of beef and the car t ing of manure in what proved to be a fu t i le attempt to gain greater respect for the caste."14

Such attempts to raise their caste status are not i n d i v i d u a l in character or effect. Nor are they 'necessarily legislated by large f o r m a l gather­ings. Rather a leader or a group of leaders in the caste in one vil lage feels that some t rad i t iona l behaviour should be changed and the changes are talked over in the vil lage. Rela­tives and others who are v i s i t ing hear about the proposed change and carry the news to their home villages. If a local group of Chamars decides to in i t ia te the change, it decrees that any Chamar who fails to conform to the new pat tern w i l l be outcasted. Ac t ive propagandiz ing follows f r o m

the i n i t i a t i n g v i l lage o r villages. U l t i ­mately the i n i t i a t i n g Chamars deter­mine that they w i l l no longer give daughters to or accept daughters-in-law f r o m the Chamars who do not conform to the change.

"Consistent w i t h efforts to raise their caste status to gain power, the Chamars of M o d h o p u r in recent years also made conscious efforts to suppress thei r dis t inct ive t rad i t iona l re l ig ion , to Sanskritise their r i tuals s t i l l fur ther and emulate the specific religious forms of the h igher castes. A l though they continue to propi t ia te the Goddess Bhagoti j o i n t l y of the whole hamlet and al though they continue to worship the other deities, as do members of the higher castes, yet they have made many changes in the rest of their religious prac­t i c e ' ' 1 5

Case Studies Domestic ceremonies of the Cha­

mars have been modelled increasing­ly upto leaders and devotees of the Siva Narayan sect. The sacrifice of a p i g w h i c h began the Chamar wed­d i n g ceremony has now been given up and replaced by the cu t t ing of a nutmeg? 1 0

D o w r y is beginning to replace br ide pr ice . A B r a h m i n conducts the wedding ceremony. Horoscopes are cast at b i r t h ceremonies. Changes have been made in the death ri tuals. P i lgr image is emphasized. " recent changes have moved Chamar re l ig ion d i rec t ly toward the main stream of the great t r ad i t ion of or­thodox H i n d u i s m . "

Berreman studied a vi l lage in the Himalayan regions. He states " I n ­creasing contact w i t h Brahmins edu­cated in t rad i t iona l H i n d u i s m has been sufficient to impel the whole society i n c l u d i n g all castes towards increasing acceptance of Sanskrit ic values and aspirations, or at least superficial adherence to these. Where new reference groups have been ac­qui red , they have been la rge ly those w i t h i n the t r ad i t iona l H i n d u culture w i th which the people have long had some acquaintance. Status improve­ment here as among the low castes of the plains is perceived as achie­vable th rough adopt ion of Sanskri t ic practices. That i t occurs among a l l castes almost u n i f o r m l y is due in par t to the relative absence of differ­ential beliefs and practices among castes in this area w h i c h in t u r n is largely a t t r ibuted to lack of caste communi ty isolat ion in these h i l l s .

'The re fo re , the p ic tu re i s of the changing caste m o v i n g up in the Sanskri t ic caste status h ierarchy, as the h igher more advantaged castes move out of the h ierarchy in to a non-Sanskrit ic m i l i e u . I n Sr ikanda the p ic tu re is of the ent ire , Pahar i communi ty a t tempt ing to move up f r o m the low status to higher status in terms of Sanskri t ic values whi le castes w i t h i n that communi ty re ta in their relative status positions It is however an assertion that the dominant t rend is' towards society-wide movement u p w a r d in the t rad i ­t ional Sanskri t ic context."1 7

In Sr ikanda there is l i t t le evidence of any one caste m a k i n g an organi­zed effort to raise i ts status in the system. T h i s does not mean that the low castes w o u l d not l i k e to rise in status, but they see no way to do i t . They feel that they are subject to the w i l l o f h igh castes who would never tolerate impingement upon their superior status.18

Cohn mentions in his study of the attempt by "Noniyas"° to raise their status. Roweb made a study of this caste in the same vi l lage c . Accord ing to h i m , there is not much of a process of sanskritisation. There are possibly two reasons for this. One may be due to the fa i lu re to raise the status th rough the process of Sanskrit isation. The second reason may be that they feel that westerni­zation (discussed la ter) is a better way of catching up w i t h the upper castes. Rowe feels that there is a greater process of westernization than Sanskrit isat ion. The reaction to­wards Sanskri t isat ion is characterised by the fo l l owing statement. " W h a t is the use of cal l ing oneself a S ingh (the reference to changing of 'name to a higher caste) if you can't be a S i n g h ? "

In my own study of a vil lage in U. P. there was not too much evi­dence of Sanskrit isation among the lower castes. There was some i n d i ­cation of Sanskritisation among the middle range caste groups, par t icu­l a r l y in matters of food and to a A higher caste than Chamars studied

by Cohn b Information based on personal dis­

cussion

c Rowe W, Social & Economic Mobility in a low caste North India Community, Ph D thesis (Unpublished), Cornwell University, 1960

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some extent in r i tuals . The middle range caste groups seemed to be observing n i l the r i tuals that the Brahmins observed, the difference was in the degree of elaboration.

In the vi l lage studied by me, it is possible to expla in the lack of Sans­kr i t i sa t ion by using another concept developed by Sr in ivas—"dominant easte."20 Accord ing to this concept, each vi l lage has a dominant caste--dominance may be based on r i tua l "power" economic power, pol i t ica l power, or a combinat ion of them. In the village studied, the dominance of the dominant caste- Brahmins— was too complete to al low any at­tempt by the lower caste to t ry to raise their status. Brahmins wielded power with regard to ri tuals. They were the land-holders and the lower castes were engaged by them labour­ers. Numerica l ly , they were the largest. The vi l lage council was do­minated by the Brahmins - only three out of thirteen being non-Brahmins. The lower castes were too much under subjugation to t ry to raise themselves.

Westernization

Reference has already been made to westernization. Western influence came to India through the Br i t i sh . There was an attempt by Indians to accept, adopt, or imitate the Br i t i sh customs and habits. '"The fo rm and pace of westernization in Ind ia varied f rom one region to another and from one section of the popula­t ion to another. For instance, one group of people became westernized in their dress, diet, manner, speech, sports, and the gadgets they used, whi le another acquired western science, knowledge and l i terature whi le remain ing relat ively free f rom westernization in externals."2 1

The process of westernization was more relevant to the upper castes. Brahmins. Kshathryas and Vaish had a l i terary t r ad i t ion wh ich gave them an in i t i a l advantage in tak ing to western education. In most parts of the country Brahmins were the first to take to Engl ish . Th i s resulted in increasing (a) the social distance be­tween them and other castes and ( h ) brought them closer to the rulers wh ich in t u r n enabled them to acquire pol i t ical and economic advantages. As the Brahmins were at the top of social hierarchy, it was easy for them to do things wi thou t being subject to r id icule . A n y attempt by the lower

castes to do the same w o u l d have been r id icu led .

Aspects Westernized

As stated earlier, not a l l aspects of ' 'westernization" were accepted. This is in keeping w i th process of acculturat ion in which there is always selection and adaptation. Some of the changes which Srinivas mentions are changes in appear­ance and dress. Crop haircut be-came normal . The wear ing of shirts, and suits became common. The change in dress led to change in certain ideas w i t h par t icular re­ference to ri tuals connected w i t h 'pure robes'" for eating. The diet

changed. Onion, carrot, potato, radish, beet-root became part of the menu. Formerly they were for­bidden. New occupations were taken. Medical profession (which involved touching the corpses, treat­ing untouchables) became popular . An indirect effect was the spread of dowry . The demand for educated boys wi th good jobs brought in " d o w r y " in place of "b r ide pr ice" . Certainly many ideas of western o r i g in were accepted. "The syste­matic appl icat ion of scientific me-thod" had already been mentioned. The legal and pol i t ica l system was accepted.

The process of westernization took place because:

1. Br i t i sh rule and the imposi t ion of legal and po l i t i ca l system

2 Increased social value on edu­cation which was mostly in Engl ish and the functional necessity of s tudying Engl i sh— to be able to secure jobs

3 Increased communicat ion and transport system

1 The desire of the upper castes to move nearer to the r u l i n g class and also to increase the social distance w i t h the lower castes

Present Situation As both the processes of sans-

kr i t i sa t ion and Westernization arc going on at the same t ime, it would be said that there is a confl ict ing, or more correct ly, a confusing situa­t ion . Cohn refers to this condi t ion in his art icle. On the one hand there are the lower castes t r y i n g to take on the t rad i t iona l values and cus­toms of the upper castes, to raise their status. On the other hand, the upper castes are discarding some of these customs.

Westernization may be character­ised as a movement f rom the sacred to the secular. In the sacred society, the characteristics are folk and pres­cribed, par t icular is t ic , collective oriented, diffuse, quali ty-oriented (ascr ip t ion! and affective. In the secular. the factors involved are principles, and normless, universi-tistic, ego-oriented. specific. per­formance - oriented (achievement) , and affective-neurality. It is diffi­cult to characterise sanskritisalion in a "sacred-secular of folk-urban" frame of reference.

Trends

Some trends have already been i m p l i c i t l y indicated. However, other aspects need to be made explici t . The fact that the lower castes are t r y i n g to "sanskritise" ie. 1o adopt the tradit ions and customs of the Brahmins. The Brahmins, on the other band, are becoming more westernized. The lower castes are faced wi th a di lemma. As members of the lower castes they have certain privileges which the government has accorded to them (free tu i t ion , pre­ference in selective jobs, scholar­ships, etc) so as to b r ing them in line wi th the rest of the society. The lower castes do want these privileges, but they also want to raise their status. It is a case of want ing to have the cake and eat it too.

Among middle range castes, west­ernization seems to be ga in ing rapid ly . As indicated in Rowe's study, the attempt seems not to Sanskritise. This is possibly due to two reasons. The upper castes are westernizing and na tura l ly if the immediately lower castes are going to imitate them, then natural ly there w i l l be w e s t e r n i z i n g / S e c o n d l y , caste names and rituals do not now account entirely for the status. Education, occupation, and wealth are beginning to be considered. Most occupations outside the caste hierarchy do have a h igh value, e.g., lawyer, teacher, doctor, government service, factory worker, etc.

In brief, the lower castes are still t r y i n g to give up the tradit ions and customs which gave them lower status and are t r y i n g to adopt cus­toms and tradit ions of the upper castes. The upper castes are over­look ing their r i tuals , customs, and tradi t ions and taking to westerniza­t ion . The midd le range castes tend to imi ta te the upper castes, hence

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undergoing "westernizat ion." I t i s possible that the lower castes w i l l , in the near future , take to westerni­zation,

Impl ica t ion for Culture Content

In both Sanskri t isat ion and west­ernizat ion, there is culture accumu­la t ion as wel l as culture depletion.

In Sanskri t isat ion, the lower castes are g i v i n g up their own r i tuals , customs, fo lkways, and values. Hence, there is culture deplet ion. On the other hand, there is cul ture accumulation in view of the fact that they are t ak ing over new values, t radi t ions, and customs f r o m the upper castes. In westernization the new elements w h i c h have come into being have been mentioned. The upper castes seem to be g i v i n g up the r i tuals and customs of the past. Hence there is both accumu­l a t i o n as well as depletion.

F rom the present trends, it would seem that the process of westerni­zation is l i ke ly to become the more dominant process. In any case, f r o m the v iewpoin t of culture content the more important aspect to be noted is that these processes are l i ke ly to result in having a common set of cu l tura l elements in all of H i n d u society. At present there is great divers i ty . Both sanskrit isation and westernization are a trend towards decreasing the diversi ty and of u n i f y i n g the H i n d u society f r o m the point of view of culture content.

At the same t ime there is an ele­ment of "conf l i c t " between westerni­zation and sanskrit isation. Most of the castes are faced wi th a d i lemma of making a choice. A§ not many studies have been made. it is not easy to predict which process is l i k e l y to be more dominant . W i t h increased industr ia l izat ion, greater communica t ion , new occupations, greater education, it seems l ike ly that westernization w i l l be the more dominant process.

Footnotes

Rook of Publ icat ion Page 1. Rel ig ion A m o n g the

Coorgs 34 2. „ „ „ „ 35 3. „ „ „ . 31

Also "Socity in I n d i a " 73 4. Society in Ind ia 73 5. „ „ ,, 113 6. „ „ „ 114 7 75

8 „ ,, ,, ,, 78 9 . „ ,. „ 76

B i b l i o g r a p h y

1 . A i y a p p a n and Balaratnam. Society in India(Madras, 1956.)

2. Berreman G. D. "kin, Caste and Community in a Himala­yan Hill Village' 1959 (Unpub l i shed Ph.D. thesis. Cornell Univers i ty )

3. Becker, H o w a r d . Man in Reci­procity. (New Y o r k 1956.)

4. Barnabas A. P. "Social Change in a North Indian Village" 1960

(Unpubl i shed Ph .D. thesis. Cornell Un ive r s i t y )

5. Cohn B. Chamars of Sena pur. 1954.

(Unpub l i shed Ph .D. thesis. Cornell Un ive r s i ty )

6. Mar io t t , M a e k i n , ed. Village India, (Chicago Press, 1955.)

7. Redfield, R. Folk Culture of Yucatan. {Chicago Press, 1941)

8. Srinivas, M. N. Religion and Society Among Coorgs of South India,

( O x f o r d , Claredon Press, 1952.)

9. American Anthropologist, Feb­ruary , 1959.

10. Rowe W . L . "Social and Econo­mic M o b i l i t y in a L o w Caste N o r t h I n d i a n V i l l a g e " .

(Unpubl i shed Ph .D . thesis, Cornel l Univers i ty 1960)

Life Insurance Business T H E L i f e Insurance Corpora t ion

- secured peak business d u r i n g 1960. The new business amounted to Rs 460 crores, according to pro­visional f igures.

The amount of new business com­pleted d u r i n g 1955, the year i m ­mediately preceding the year of nationalisation, was Rs 260,84 crores.

The Corpora t ion w i l l examine in due course whether in view of the h igh profits earned the p r e m i u m rates could be reduced.

Th i s i n f o r m a t i o n was given by the Min is te r of Revenue and C i v i l Expendi ture , Dr B Copala Reddi in Lok Sabha.

Reply ing to another question Dr Copala Reddi in fo rmed the House that foreign business completed by the L i f e Insurance Corpora t ion of India d u r i n g 1960 was Rs 9.70 cro­res. Fore ign business in 1957 was Rs 5.40 crores; in 1958 it was Rs 5.62 crores; in 1959, Rs 9.47 crores.