HISTORY OF CASTE CENSUS

Post by Vishwajeet Mamadge

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INTRODUCTION:

                At some point in its history every civilization on earth has embarked upon the idea of classification of its people. There has been much debate going on regarding the need for this classification, nonetheless this classification exists. The reasons might be varying from sheer need of gaining knowledge about the various people that live in the civilization, to the administrative issues of land revenue and taxation. Various civilizations have used various criteria to categorize people ethnicity, race, tribe etc. However in the Indian context caste seems to be the most appropriate of the criteria.

Caste along with religion is one of the most important identities of Indians. But in the Indian censuses caste has not been given appropriate treatment in demographic literature. It is generally believed that caste is a status based on social origin in the Hindu society. Generally what is assumed is that the caste structure ranges from Brahmins (priestly castes) at the top, followed by Kshatriya (warrior castes), Vaishyas (trading castes) to Shudras (laboring castes) at the bottom of the social ladder. However, in reality, within each of the Varna category there existed numerous castes and sub-castes whose names were not same in the different parts of India .The position of these various castes and sub castes in social hierarchy was also not clear.

CENSUS IN PRE-INDEPENDENT INDIA:

                In the pre-British era too census enumeration existed. In earlier times it was particularly practiced by the Mauryas and the Moguls. But the fact still remains that the earlier enumerations were done basically to decide on issues of land revenue and taxation. Another striking feature is that these censuses were geographically very much limited. In contrast to this, the colonial census was interested in anthropological knowledge and was carried out covering most parts of the country.

(A) CENSUS OF 1872:

                In 1856 the British Government decided to hold census in 1861 in India. But the census could not be held due to mutiny in 1857. In 1865, the Government of India and the Home Government again agreed that a general population census would be taken in 1871. But, the years 1867-72 were actually spent in census taking. This series of census is in fact known as the Census of 1872. This census was neither a synchronous census nor covered the entire territory controlled by the British.

                From its very first census of 1872, the colonial Government decided to incorporate caste and religious categories in the census enumeration of the Indian population. Along with category of caste, the census also included the categories of tribe and race, but the distinction between them was not very clear. From the census side, no attempt had been made to define caste, race or tribe. From the remarks made by E.A. Gait and J. H. Hutton, the Census Commissioners of 1911 and 1931 respectively it is evident that caste had been a dynamic and mobile category of Indian society. As each caste further contained an endless number of sub-castes, their boundaries were very internal and were liable to change over time and space. It is for this reason that scholars have observed that caste boundaries remained fluid, fuzzy and dynamic historically in Indian society.

           

(B) EFFECTS OF 1872 CASTE CENSUS:

            (i) Anchored the idea of caste in space and time: The census carried out during British India not only updated the population figures, but also gave these castes specific names/labels and ranks. This census tried to standardize and anchor castes in time and space. This led to classification of castes as superior, intermediate, trading, pastoral, and so on (Memorandum on the Census of British India 1871-72, page 21, available on the website of La Trobe University). This legitimized certain caste notions of superiority and inferiority by the state itself.

                (ii) Claim by certain castes that they descended from higher castes: Many people thought that the objective of the census was to fix the relative social positions of the different social classes and also to deal with questions of social superiority. Hence, castes in order to raise their social status many lower caste people placed themselves in higher. Thus, the census indirectly provided the underprivileged with an opportunity to express their aspiration and to acquire a new identity, if possible, during the enumeration. This in turn resulted in several caste associations adopting honorific caste names and claiming descent from higher castes like Brahmin and Rajputs etc.

                (iii) Changes in names of certain castes: There was widespread resentment over the fact that a number of castes were entered and grouped in the census in a manner in which they were not content. For example in Bengal, Chandala was traditionally used as a generic term to identify all the low caste people. However, the census officials entered this name as a caste in the census. The people who were numerated as Chandala  protested and changed their name to the respectable name of Namasudra.

(iv) Creation of new castes:  We also find that census helped to create new castes such as ‘Yadava’ and Vishwakarma or Jangida by merging the diverse castes spread over different geographical areas but with a common occupation.

(C)CENSUSES AFTER 1872:

In addition to the identification and enumeration of caste, the people under the British rule were also grouped into broad homogeneous and mutually exclusive categories. While grouping the castes, census officials kept in mind the ritual hierarchy in terms of the Varna system, in determining caste status in social hierarchy. In the 1881 census, the Census Commissioner, W.C. Plowden decided to group the various castes into the five categories, namely Brahmans, Castes of Good Social Position, Rajputs, Inferior Castes and Non-Hindus or Aboriginal Castes. The census carried out in 1921 made an attempt to identify the depressed classes. However, the term of depressed classes was found not to be favorable and in the 1931 census was replaced by the term exterior castes. Here it is important to note that such categorization in the census was followed by the Scheduled Caste Order of 1936 that officially recognized the listing of castes in every province of India.

CENSUS IN INDEPENDENT INDIA:

In independent India, under the provision of article 341 of the Indian Constitution, Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) were accepted as new official social categories. According to this article, after consultation with the Governor of a State/Union Territory (UT), the President of India may declare castes, races or tribes or parts of or groups within castes, races of tribes as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes belonging to that State or UT. The official listing of castes and tribes was justified on the grounds that these social groups have remained underprivileged and discriminated by the higher castes. Hence, it was imperative for the state to protect their interest which in turn required a clear idea of the population of each group. Accordingly, the Govt. of India as well State Governments granted them reservation of jobs and other benefits and privileges. One alarming fact is that it is believed that the state granting privileges to the SCs and STs has strengthened caste identities.

In order to assess the progress and achievement of Government policies in raising the socio-economic status of SCs and STs, it was essential to collect data on the demographic and socio-economic conditions of these categories. The census was thought to be the most appropriate method to do so. But the Govt. did not allow the census to enumerate all castes and sub-castes as practiced in British India. One of the reasons could be that the Government was afraid of the resurgence of more than 4000 caste and sub-caste identities, which could demolish the secular and democratic foundation of independent India. Keeping this in mind the Government of India has ceased the enumeration of caste since the 1951 census with the only exception of the enumeration of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

Before the 2001 Census began, there was an argument to include enumeration of all castes in the census. This was observed to be necessary to reserve jobs granted to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs).  In the early 1990s the Mandal Commision, further suggested monitoring the progress of OBCs after 20 years. As a result, census information on OBCs similar to that of the SCs and STs was also required. But, this argument was not favored by the Central Government and the proposal to enumerate all castes was turned down by the Ministry of Home Affairs, which controls the census organization.

Thus, we find that in independent India we have eight broad categories of ethnic classification, namely: Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, SCs and STs. As can be clearly seen this is obtained by combining religions and the two social categories of SC and ST. According to the census, an individual who does not fall in any of the eight categories has an opportunity to be enumerated in the category called ‘Other’. Overall, it can be seen that modern India has always proposed the creation of broader and more homogeneous communities in contrast to the British who mainly focused on revealing enormous differentiations and differences.

References:

(1) Memorandum on the Census of British India 1871-72

(2) Srivastava 1972

(3) Ramaiah 1992

(4) Bandyopdhyay 1992

(5) Kaviraj 1993

(6) Das 1994

(7) Krishnakumar 2000

(8) Dirk 2001

(9) Randeria 2001

(10) Bhagat 2001

(11) Guha 2003