Cultural approach - 3 types:

 Indological
 Little and Great tradition (Milton Singer and McKim Marriot)
 Pure and Impure theory- Louis Dumont

GS Ghurye (1893-1983)

Ghurye is often bestowed the name of “the father of modern Indology”  his
doctoral advisor was WHR Rivers.
1. His ideological view was influenced by Bhandarkar Institute of Pune
2. His approach was a combination of historical, diffusionist and
descriptive ethnography
3. Used Anthropometric Data
a. i.e. biological features such as eye color, size of nose etc
4. Ghurye emphasised integration. According to him, the guiding force in Indian society was
the Hindu ideology.
a. Even the Indian secularism was a product of the tolerant spirit of Hinduism
5. Ghurye on India: India is surviving as a nation because of common value consensus No
central authority
6. Focus points: caste, tribes, culture, and national unity.
7. BK Nagla says he created a kind of Hindu sociology.
3 aspects worth inquiring into
1. His own role in promoting sociology as a subject  wrote 32 books, provided new
theoretical perspectives, new researches on diverse topics, was a nationalist
2. Institution builder  Bombay university Sociology deptt, Indian Sociological Society
1952, its mouthpiece "Sociological bulletin"
3. Batch of sociologists he mentored  MN Srinivas, Irawati Karve, AR Desai, K.M
Kapadia, IP Desai, MSA Rao

Since Indian culture is dynamic and unique  Indology

 Indology
Indology is a perspective of studying Indian society which holds that the nature of Indian thought
and psychological make-up (characterised by holism, and collectivism) is essentially different
from that of the west (primacy of individual, freedom, liberty), so in order to better understand it,
it must be understood in terms of Indian thinking, texts, traditions, and philosophy  Indian
culture is dynamic and unique.

Features of Indology

Indological approach is grounded in 18-19th century orientalist approach, which was initiated by Europeans to know India
better. The development of sociology in India owes deeply to the contributions made by orientalists like Sir William Jones,
Max Mueller  Classical Indology
 William Jones extablished Asiatic Society of Bengal (1787)
 Max Muller’s Sacred Books of the East
 Henry Maine’s Ancient Law (1861)
Classical Indological Schools
 Theosophical Society 1886
 Oriental Research Institute
 Bhandarkar Institute of Pune, 1917
Modern Indology
 Indology now got modified by combining it with various sociological perspectives

1. Assumes that Indian society the nature of Indian thought and psychological make-up are
unique and that this ‘contextual’ specificity of Indian social realities could be grasped better
through ‘texts’, traditions, etc.
2. It is a historical and comparative method based on Indian texts in the study of Indian
society
a. MN Srinivas: Indology can be called the textual view of Indian society and has
nothing to do with ground reality
b. The text used can be religious (Mahabharata, Ramayana, manusmriti, vedas,
Upanishads etc) or non-religious (Indica, Arthashastra, Ain-i-Akbari etc).
i. The text can be unauthenticated or authentic like govt. census
3. Believe that India cannot be studied through European way of thinking about religion,
philosophy, etc. (Socio of India)
4. Make sense of India through lens of Indian culture
5. Implicit assumption here is that there has been cultural continuity in Indian society as the
texts are centuries old
6. Emphasise the role of traditions and groups rather than individual as basis of social
relations. Also religion, ethics and philosophy as basis of social organisation
Indology – why and impact
The Indological writings dealing with the Indian philosophy, art and culture are reflected in the
works of most of the Indian scholars.
 1. Yogendra Singh: when field studies in many areas of interest became difficult, textual
analysis was useful in continued study
2. RN Saxena: agreed with relevance of indological approach and stessed on Dharma, Artha,
Kama, Moksha
3. Dumont and Pocock: Emphasise that Indology is both representative of people's
behaviour as well as a guide to their behaviour
4. The study of Sanskrit provided a powerful stimulus not only to Indology but to other
disciplines as well, such as  philology, comparative mythology and comparative
jurisprudence

G.S.Ghurye’s approach distinctive from other Indological approaches

1. Sanskrit + Vernacular
a. Ghurye uses Sanskrit text exclusively to explain Indian society and culture (Vedas,
Shastras, epics, poetry of Kalidas)
b. Also made use of vernacular literature- used Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's literature
and other Marathi works
2. Believed in the Diffusionist theory (followed by Rivers and Franz Boas as well)
a. Aryans did not move physically across India, but it was the culture that spread
through diffusion
3. Methodological pluralism
a. He was NOT dogmatic in the application of theories to empirical exercises or in
the use of methodologies for data collection
b. He seems to have believed in practicing and encouraging disciplined eclecticism
c. Example: He conducted a field-survey (he wasn’t always an armchair
sociologist) on “sex habits of the middle class people in Bombay and Mahadev
Kolis (a tribe)”
4. Ghurye was a staunch nationalist in his approach but wasn’t intolerant to different views.
a. Eg: AR Desai, pioneer of Marxist sociology in India was his student
5. Theoretical Pluralism
a. Inductive + Deductive
i. Applied both ways

Indology in Contemporary Times

1. Wendy Donniger
a. American Indologist
2. DP Mukherjee
a. Marxian Perspective on Indology
Issues that can take help from Indology
1. History of caste system
2. Joint family as a value
3. Ayodhya issue
4. Caste-race parallel concepts
Ghurye’s work  6 Broad areas
1) Caste
2) Kinship/Family/Marriage
3) Tribes
4) Culture
o Cities/Urbanization
5) Religion
6) Sociology of conflict and integration

Caste
Book: 'Caste and Race in India'
 Explained origin of caste purely on basis on Rigveda where Varna meant colour.
 Caste originated from Gangatic plains and spread to other areas  diffusionist
approach
 Attributional Approach (studies attributes of caste)
Ghurye studied caste from a historical (the origin), comparative (compared the caste system in
other countries like Egypt, China, Japan, Rome, Tribal Europe) and integrative perspective
(kinship and caste served as integretive framework).
1. Ghurye traces elements of caste outside India like Egypt, Western Asia, China, Japan,
America, Rome and Tribal Europe
2. Ghurye has described caste system as Brahminical system and believes that conquered
non-Aryan race becomes shudras who were debarred from religious and social activity
of Aryans
a. Gradually it became a form of specialization and hereditary.
b. No hierarchy, only difference
3. The term ‘varna’ literally means colour and it was originally used to refer to the distinction
between Arya and Dasa, in ancient India. According to the Rig-Veda, it was not applied
to any classes, such as Brahman, Kshatriya, etc.
a. However, the classes which existed at that time later came to be described as varna
and the original distinction between Arya and Dasa gave place to the distinction
between Arya and Shudra
4. Caste as an exploitative system not part of original culture and magnified with fall of
Hindu rulers. Later rulers used it as a tool of division and political benefits
5. The gotra and charana were kin-categories of Indo-European languages which
systematised the rank and status of the people. These categories were derived from names
of sages of the past.
a. These sages were the real or eponymous founders of gotra and charana. In
India descent has not always been traced to the blood tie; lineages were often based
on spiritual descent from sages of the past. Outside kinship we might notice guru-
shishya relationship
6. In contemporary India, he noticed that scramble for privileges was damaging unity of
society
He identified 6 basic features of caste system
Book: Caste and Race in India (1932)
1. Segmental Division in Society
a. The caste system divides society into different groups with different status and
duties. Each group has its own rules and norms.
2. Fixed Occupation
b. Each caste has a traditional occupation
3. Purity and pollution associated with the occupation
a. Restrictions on feeding and social interactions
4. Social and Religious Hierarchy of these divisions based on purity and pollution
5. Commensality and conjugal relations. (Civil/religious disabilities/privileges of
sections)
a. The higher castes enjoy special privileges, while the lower castes face many
disabilities
b. E.g. The members of a caste accept 'kachcha food' only from either their own caste
or castes ritually higher than their own
6. Restrictions on marriage (Caste endogamy and Gotra/Pinda exogamy)
a. Ghurye  endogamy is the most important feature of the caste system.
b. The rules of endogamy and commensality marked off castes from each other. These
rules acted as integrative instruments which organised segmented castes into a
totality or collectivity.

Tribes
Book: The Scheduled Tribes
Book: Social Studies of Mahadev Kolis Tribes
Tribes are the original settlers of the country. They constituted a uni-occupational entity (ex.
hungting gathering, fishing farming etc.x
He saw them divided into three classes
1. Raj Gonds, etc.  successfully fought the battle, and are recognized as members
of a fairly high status within Hindu society
2. Large mass that has been partially
Hinduized and has come into closer contact
with Hindus
3. Hill sections, which “have exhibited the
greatest power of resistance to alien cultures
that have pressed upon their border

1. Ghurye believed that the tribes had been Hinduised after a long period of contact and
acculturation
a. Saints of ancient India were the vehicles of diffusion that carried caste and
multi-occupational system of Aryans to the tribes (tribes initially had uni-
occupational system)
 i. This was done through performing arts such as Ram Leela, where the
glory of Ram was spread
b. Indigeneous tribe had their own conception of God and sanits both accepted
and assimilated tribes' conceptions to create an inclusive Hindusim.
i. Ex. Kali, Ganesha, Indra and Jagannath were tribal Gods who are
widely worshipped in Hinduism
ii. No conflict or hostility between caste and tribes  Hindu Method of
Acculturation
2. He felt that it was futile to look for a different identity for tribes, rather they should
be treated as backward caste Hindus.
a. Backward due to imperfect integration with Hindu society
3. Ghurye debated with Verrier Elwin about the issue of tribals (Elwin’s Book: Loss of
Nerve)
a. Elwin held that tribals should be left to their own devices  Tribal
Isolationism
b. Ghurye was a strong proponent of acculturation
i. He said that tribals were backward Hindus and that the process of
Voluntaristic Acculturation was obstructed by colonial policies,
leading to tension and demands for secession
1. He documented secessionist trends in the tribes in NE India
c. Finally, Nehru's view of assimilation prevailed

Kinship, Family and Marriage

The relationship between caste and kinship is very close because
7) Endogamy is largely based on kinship, either real or imaginary
a. E.g. don’t marry anyone living within 10 km (because imaginarily they are all your
siblings or related)
8) The effective unit of caste, sub-caste is largely constituted of kinsmen
To Ghurye, there are 3 types of marriage restrictions in our society, which shape the relationship
between caste and kinship
1. Endogamy
2. Exogamy
3. Hypergamy

Culture, civilization
According to Ghurye, there are 2 conflicitng views about the growth and accumulation pattern of
culture.
1st view: Independent growth of culture
o predominantly with reference to local needs and local situation
2nd view: Culture spreads via diffusion
Diffusion
1. Culture grows by diffusion. A single invention or discovery is made at one place and
ultimately this cultural trait diffuses throughout the world
 2. Ghurye had a strong faith in the power of man to preserve the best of his old culture, while
creating from his own spirit of new culture
a. Acculturation  Best of own + best of others
He said, the process of acculturation is more relevant than the process of diffusion.
He thinks that the challenging task for a sociologist is to analyse this complex acculturation process
in India. (Caste  started by Brahmins and Spread to others)

He identified 5 foundations of culture which cut across problems of civilisation growth:

1. Religious consciousness
2. Conscience
3. Justice
4. Pursuit of knowledge and free expression
5. Toleration

Cities/Urbanization
1. Ghurye’s idea of Rurbanization (rural + urbanisation) securing the advantages of urban
life simultaneously with nature’s greenery.
2. Earlier, villages had surplus production which was sold in cities  during colonial times,
the growth of metropolitan centres  surplus production in cities sold in villages
a. Colonizers inverted the previous pattern
b. The towns and cities were no longer the outlets for agricultural produce and
handicrafts but they became the major manufacturing centres
c. These centres used rural areas for producing raw materials and turned into a market
for selling industrial products
3. With coming up of metropolis type manufacturing the urbanisation has started making
inroads into the rural hinterland.

Religion
Religious consciousness in ancient India, Egypt and Babylonia was centered on temples

Ghurye felt that religion is at the center of the total cultural heritage of man  it moulds and
directs behaviour of man in society.
1. Hinduism is not a religion but a cultural tradition that evolved from amalgamation of
local traditions. Mix of diverse traditions but with a common essence.
a. Ex. Karva Chauth in North India is similar to Savithri Puja in Odisha.
2. It is self amending in nature and includes local Gods and traditions to promote unity
3. In his work on the role of Gods in Indian religion, Ghurye traced the rise of major deities
such as Shiva, Vishnu and Durga to the need to integrate local or sub-regional beliefs
into a macro-level system of worship
He recognised the importance of the concept of reincarnation and the changing concept of
godhead in Indian society.

He wrote six books to bring out the role of religion in society. These are: Indian Sadhus (1953),
Gods and Men(1962), Religious Consciousness (1965), Indian Accumulation (1977), Vedic India
(1979), and The Legacy of Ramayana (1979)

Book: Indian Sadhus

1. Indian Sadhus (1953 and 1964)  sociography of the various sects and religious centres
established by the great Vedantic philosopher Sankaracharya and other notable religious
figures.
2. Highlights the paradoxical nature of renunuciation in India
a. A sadhu or sannyasin is supposed to be detached from all castes, norms and social
conventions, etc. yet strikingly enough, since the time of Sankaracharya, the Hindu
society has more or less been guided by the sadhus.
b. Most of them belonged to monastic orders, which have distinctive traditions
c. Indian sadhus have acted as the arbiters of religious disputes, patronized
learning of scriptures and the sacred lore and even defended religion against
external attack
3. The monastic organization in India was a product of Hindusim and Buddhism. The rise of
Buddhism and Jainism marked the decline of individual ascetics like Viswamitra

Sociology of Conflict and Integration  National Unity

Three books of Ghurye, known as his ‘triology’ in this field, which are relevant in this connection.

1) Social Tensions in India (1968)

2) Whither India (1974)
3) India Recreates Democracy (1978)

As a sociologist, he was interested in the concept of integration and the process of national unity
in India. Ghurye held that while groups play an integrational role in society that is true only up to
a certain extent. He felt that in modern Indian society there were  5 sources of danger to
national (basically Hindu) unity due to their excessive attachment to their groups

1. Scheduled Caste
2. Scheduled Tribes
3. Backward Classes
4. Muslims and minority groups
5. Linguistic minorities  Greatest source of danger according to Ghurye
a. He viewed regional language as having a symbolic integration value for the region
i.e. dysfunctional for the whole
How is cultural unity maintained in India?
1) Ghurye majorly viewed the brahminical endeavour as the cause of national unity in
India and thus while he calls it the process of acculturation, it is basically a one-way flow
in which brahminical ideas and institutions gained prevalence among non-Brahmins
2) Ghurye’s concept of cultural unity is not secular in nature. He is concerned with the India
of Hindu culture and uses Indian and Hindu culture interchangeably.
Art and Architecture
1. According to him, the Hindu, Jain and Buddhist artistic monuments shared common
elements
2. But Muslim art was Persian or Arabic and had no roots in this soil.
a. He did not agree with the view that the Muslim monuments in India
represented a synthesis
Ghurye on Hindu-Muslim relationships: He regarded Hindus and Muslims as separate groups,
with little possibility of mutual give and take

Relevance of Ghurye
He contributed to building sociology that was completely Indian in orientation and with his deep
knowledge of Hinduism he contributed greatly in many spheres.

Critique of Ghurye's Indological Perspective

1. The approach is ahistorical
a. Doesn’t factor in developmental change
i. Bhakti movement
ii. Advent of Islam
iii. Reform movements
2. SC Dube:
a. Ghurye’s approach is a culture-bound, myopic, textual, and Brahmanic view of
India
b. Ignores how throughout history Brahmanic tradition has been questioned.
c. Sociological romanticism in his writings
3. Tribe: Integration/Assimilation is a value-loaded concept
4. SC Dube
a. He talks about one Indian culture; but SC Dube points out the existence of multiple
cultures in India
b. Considered Brahminical culture as THE Indian culture
5. Gerald Berreman
a. The Brahminical view takes a position that the people conform to universal values
unquestioningly while the truth is that individuals have their own will 
individual’s agency is not emphasized
b. The Brahminical view is based on sacred Sanskrit texts.
i. These texts are, in fact, biased and of limited scope
 c. The perspective that emerges from them, therefore, presents caste as rigid, stiff,
stereotyped, and idealized construct
6. Equated Indian culture to Hindu culture, and Hindu culture to brahmanical culture.
a. Indian == Hindu and Hindu == Brahminism
b. Kancha Shephard: Hindu culture is not Brahminical culture
c. Brahmins are just 5% of Hindus in India
7. Since it relies on the study of texts and scriptures  they are presciptive and NOT
descriptive
8. SC/ST/Muslims as threats to national unity is unacceptable  they participated in Indian
National Movement
9. The scholars emphasize the role of traditions and groups as the basis of social relations
rather than individual  individual’s agency is not emphasize  inter-personal relations
annd group dynamics are neglected
10. Inner contradictions
a. Nationalist Indologists: glorified the Indian text
b. Colonial Indologists: see Indian society as regressive
11. It lacks methodological empiricism and it is highly text based & biased
12. MN Srinivas and Panini
a. Ghurye insisted on fieldwork, though he himself was an armchair scholar
13. Often ventured into generalisations on the basis of unrepresentative data
14. His view that the development of a regional language could lead to disunity is also claimed
to be an oversimplification.
a. Ex. Eco Survey 2016-17 noted that language was not a barrier to trade within India
15. He also failed to appreciate that the political involvement of caste as an outcome of the
collective mobilization process in modern India

Against Criticisms
1. Methodological pluralism
a. He was NOT dogmatic in the application of theories to empirical exercises or in
the use of methodologies for data collection
b. He seems to have believed in practicing and encouraging disciplined eclecticism
Example: He conducted a field-survey (he wasn’t always an armchair sociologist) on “sex habits
of the middle class people in Bombay and Mahadev Kolis (a tribe)”
Conclusion
Like a discreet butterfly, Ghurye moved from one theme to another with equal
interest, erudition (means knowledge) and ability. Rare spirit of inquiry and commitment
to advancing the frontiers of knowledge was one of Ghurye’s precious gifts to Indian sociology
and social anthropology. The range of Ghurye’s interests is encyclopaedic.