Sociology and Space, No. 82, 1983.
Original scientific paper
The Indian Village Community
Dragoljub Nešić
Abstract
This article treats problems concerning
the Indian village community.
The author begins by showing
the historical conditions of
this form of social grouping in
India’s traditional society. He
stresses the functional links between
the Indian village community,
the traditional family system
and the casite system. These three
basic forms of social grouping are
functionally interconnected, and
together they make up the totality
of India’s traditional society.
The Indian village community
functioned through bodies founded
on two principles which were
both in competition and supplemented
each other at the same
time within the village society:
the principle of caste division and
the principle of the village community
as a whole. Thus there is
a difference between caste village
councils and the councils of
the village as a whole.
The Indian village is stratified on
the basis of the traditional caste
principle, and on the basis of modern
village stratification into
landowners and those who do not
own any land. The Indian diadjmani-
system links landowners, as
patrons and as the dominant
caste in the village, with those
who own no land, as clients. Indian
society is very heterogeneous
and broken up. This is the greatest
obstacle to efforts at social and
political integration, and is also
increased by an Indian inclination
towards factions.
The author paid special attention
to this problem, which is one of
the characteristics of Indian village
life, pointing out that caste
stratification in the Indian village
society is even more accentuated
by its inclination towards factionalisme.
The author concludes that the Indian
system of social organization
was based on strict principles of
social hierarchy, and the inner structure of the group was based
on obediance to authority. Thus
the oligarchic-aristocratic principle,
which lies at the foundation of
Hindu society, excluded »equality
and democracy« which are, according
to Gandhi and Nehru, the
basic principles of the Indian village
comunity.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
119685
URI
Publication date:
12.12.1983.
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