Tribe Peasant Continuum: Peasantization of Tribes, Tribes in Varna System and More!

The Tribe-Caste Continuum is a dynamic process. It symbolizes the continuous, dynamic blending and interaction of castes and tribes, resulting in a spectrum as opposed to distinct categories. Numerous processes have been active throughout Indian history. One such alteration is the shift from a tribe to a caste or tribe peasant continuum. One way to study them is to combine anthropological and historical investigations. Many social structures, like private property, the caste system, the state, and the patriarchal family, were created due to this process. This change required significant time and proceeded through several intermediary phases. Some academics believe the tribe peasant continuum is a byproduct of colonial powers' Orientalist studies.

A substantial portion of the UGC NET History syllabus covers India's socio-political history in tribe peasant continuum is an important topic. So, In this article, we will examine the tribe peasant continuum for the UGC NET History Exam.

In this article the readers will be able to know about the following:

• Introduction to Tribe Peasant Continuum
• Theory of Tribe Caste Continuum
• Tribe Peasant Continuum or Peasantization of Tribes
• Peasantization of Tribes and Their Place in the Varna System
• Implications and Impact of Tribe Caste Continuum

Fig: Caste Tribe Continuum

Introduction to Tribe Peasant Continuum

Due to numerous factors, social formations, caste, and other social institutions have been created and remade throughout history. 

• One such transformation is from the tribe to the caste or tribe peasant continuum.
• During the Vedic period or within tribal systems, we observe periods of collection of minor changes. Other times, significant changes occurred, resulting in the tribe peasant continuum.
• Whole tribes were absorbed into specific roles under South Asia's new social labor structure, resulting in the tribe peasant continuum.
• In this approach, tribes become castes rather than dissolving into individual groups. South Asia and India have a specific type of caste-related class creation.

Indian society has a unique duality or continuum. This distinctive aspect of Indian civilization gives all castes and tribes a place to exercise their rituals and beliefs. 

• The aspect of Indian society that is founded on continuity and change is the space for practice and the space for interaction.
• The caste system was developed in pre-Hindu culture to divide labor according to profession and occupation. The tribe developed due to a population living in a specific geographic location, creating a sense of community. 
• The work of Surjeet Sinha on the Bhumij tribe is where the idea of a continuum between castes and tribes in India comes from.
• The more significant phenomena include turning a tribe into a caste. The caste and the tribe today have different ideologies and phenomenologies than in the past. 
• It is asserted that tribal people live in forests and are adimjati (original inhabitants), janjati (folk people), adimjati (primitive people), vanwasi (forest dwellers), and Pahari (hill dwellers) with a particular way of life. Each caste and tribe have its own distinct culture. The cultural characteristics have the propensity to travel.
• Tribal groups have purposefully and unconsciously adopted Hindu mythology, ritual beliefs, and adaption. This process is mutual Hindu society is inclusive, and Hindu culture is more developed and robust than tribal. 
• Before this, the tribal society—sometimes described as an isolated society—came into contact with various caste communities and had varying degrees of cultural interactions, which influenced the development of the tribe-peasant continuum.
• The ideology of tribal economics and society assumes that tribal communities in India are characterized by their high levels of ethnic closure and geographic isolation before discussing the caste continuum.

Tribe Peasant Continuum or Peasantization Of Tribes

Early Medieval India was concerned with the core principles of the new social ethos, which were established by the nature of new property rights and power structures.

• According to A. S. Altekar, this period saw the peasantization of tribes or tribe peasant continuum and their inclusion into the "varna-jati" framework and the agricultural expansion across the subcontinent's diverse areas, and the spread of state societies through local state formation.
• Pastoralism was the primary mode of subsistence in the tribal tribes. The tribal people were gradually moving towards sedentarization. Throughout the medieval era, the pastoralists' sedentarization practice remained uninterrupted. 
• According to B.D. Chattopadhyaya, the expansion of cultivation and the commercialization of agriculture were the primary drivers of the tribe peasant continuum.
• The terminology used for tribes by contemporary chroniclers and modern historians differs, making it possible to identify the absorption of tribes into rural social groups. They were referred to as zamindars, chiefs, peasants, etc.
• Jati is a clear example of the tribe process. They gave up pastoralism as they traveled north and switched to sedentary cultivation. They are referred to as cow herders by Yuan Chwang. 
• They were also referred to as soldiers, pastoralists, and boatmen in the Persian version. According to academics like Irfan Habib, they moved north in southern Punjab from Sindh towards Multan at some point in the 11th century.
• Tribal identities incorporated into agricultural culture seem to have been replaced by a type of "caste" in the already-existing multilayered caste-based rural society due to the tribe-peasant continuum. These indigenous peoples social standing in the rural community was frequently precarious. 
• D.D. Kosambi's "An Introduction to the Study of Indian History" shows that as tribes were integrated into the larger social structure, tribal elements were merged into ordinary society.
• As a result, the profession they chose to follow greatly influenced their position within the hierarchical varna divisions. 

Peasantization of Tribes and Their Place in the Varna System

Land rights and power bases were established with the advent of feudal society. The landholding elite and the landless class of peasants who tipped the lands allotted to the Brahmanas as part of the land grants in the medieval social structure were distinguished. 

• Throughout the Early Medieval period, agriculture grew as a result of an increase in land allocations. The Brahmana varna hired others to perform agricultural work in their fields rather than doing it themselves. 
• This system produced separate classes of people—landlords and peasants—who relied on one another, but the peasants had to deal with landlord persecution. 
• The expansion of caste and the division of the population based on the varna-jati system, which was based on both occupation and place of birth, are additional notable aspects of this period. Under this social structure, the Brahmanas held the most decent position in society, with the Sudras and untouchables occupying the lowest social strata.
• People from tribal communities or groupings were ranked in the lowest social strata, with the untouchables and Sudras. The land-owning class employed the tribal people as peasants to labor on their properties to integrate them into the varna-jati system of the society through the tribe-peasant continuum. 
• The tribes were consequently made into peasants to be incorporated into the varna-jati framework.
• Their lives underwent some modifications due to the expansion of agriculture, the rise in land grants, and the addition of forest lands to those grants. Tribal communities nearby Brahmadeya settlements were taught how to cultivate the ground using a plough. 
• Tribal identities had to be assimilated into a caste under the then-dominant varna-jati caste system for the tribal populations integrated into the agrarian society. 
• The situation of the tribal communities became highly precarious due to this new absorption of the tribal groupings of people into the social system. The indigenous people were forced to engage in specific jobs to support themselves due to the tribe peasant continuum. 
• In a culture where the lowest rank of people experienced the greatest tyranny, whichever work they chose to do-or instead, was permitted to do-determined their caste. In the Early Medieval agrarian culture, these tribal tribes were typically granted the jobs and status of the peasants.

Implications and Impact of Tribe Caste Continuum

Instead of seeing tribal and caste communities in India as rigidly distinct social categories, the sociological concept known as the tribe-caste continuum emphasizes the flexible and overlapping traits between them. Boundaries have blurred as a result of the adoption of cultural customs, professions, and social mores typically associated with caste society by numerous tribal groups over time.

Implications and Impact of the Tribe-Caste Continuum

• Social Mobility: Through the adoption of caste-like practices (such as Sanskritization), the continuum enables certain tribal groups to advance socially and possibly gain better access to political representation, work opportunities, and education.
• Distinct tribal customs, languages, and governance systems are frequently lost or diluted as a result of tribes' assimilation into the caste system, endangering their cultural identity.
• Affirmative action classification of groups is made more difficult by the continuum; certain communities may assert Scheduled Tribe (ST) status while exhibiting caste-like characteristics, which could present administrative and legal difficulties.
• Political Impact: By aligning with larger caste-based political movements, tribal communities incorporated into the caste system may have an impact on local political dynamics and voting trends.
• Development and Integration: It is a reflection of the larger process of integrating tribes into society at large, which can foster national cohesion but also lead to conflicts over issues like cultural preservation, land rights, and autonomy.

Conclusion

In India, caste and tribe have developed through continuous interaction over many centuries, and both have borrowed from one another. The gap between the two has narrowed to a certain extent. Tribe and caste are, therefore, two poles of the same continuum on which the caste and tribal societies of India fall. Nevertheless, not all cultures and facets of the community follow this pattern. Notwithstanding these shortcomings, the tribe peasant continuum is enough for comprehending India's cultural environment.

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