Insights on Caste, Society, and Politics in India from the Eigtheenth Century to the Modern Age by Susan Bayly

In Caste, Society, and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age, Susan Bayly describes caste as “a real and active part of Indian life.” Caste is not presented as something distant or historical, but as deeply embedded in everyday social and political structures. Although British observers found the system outrageous, they were also the reason it expanded to what it is today. Their involvement did not eliminate caste; instead, it contributed to making it what it is today.

Caste sometimes acts as a resource, allowing people to build allegiances that “breach India’s many boundaries of region, faith, language, and economic status.” It can connect individuals across differences through shared kinship and descent. Anthropologists describe caste as “a notion of attachment which bundles together a given set of kin groups or descent units.” At the same time, caste is also a way to assert that someone is inferior or superior. It operates both as a system of belonging and as a hierarchy.

The diversity of language, religion, and culture in India contributed to the development of existing caste hierarchies. Earlier scholars believed caste was a strict and unchanging system, but symbols of caste have proven to be adaptable and durable. The system is more diverse and flexible than previously thought, surprising not only scholars but also reformers. One reason caste is misunderstood today is because it has been oversimplified.

Many Indians argued that caste was backward and inegalitarian, leading to the implementation of Scheduled Caste policy. However, this sometimes worsened division and discrimination. India chose to be a secular state, and in the Constitution there are no laws fundamentally relating to how an anthropologist would define Hinduism or caste (other than laws on cow protection). Yet Articles 15, 17, 46, and others single out socially and educationally backward classes of citizens, including Scheduled Castes containing untouchables and tribals. Rather than uplifting these communities, these laws also singled them out. The government struggled to identify how to categorize these groups. Some people in lower classes even recognized the benefits of being identified as inferior, since their norms and mandates would then be associated with a recognizable title and status.

Although many steps have been taken to eradicate the influence of caste in Indian society, such as abolishing regional laws and changing regulations about which castes can enter temples, caste is still prevalent. People still have to identify their caste in the census, and even in the army there is discrimination and segregation to some extent. Caste remains a durable force in Indian society by adapting to reforms, policies, and social practices rather than getting erased by them.