NCERT Solutions for Class 11 Sociology Chapter 5 Indian Sociologists

Ans : Ananthakrishna lyer came to practice social anthropology by voluntarily helping the British administrators in ethnographic surveys of India. He was initially a clerk and then became a college teacher at Ernakulum. In 1902, he was asked by the Dewan of Cochin to assist with an ethnographic survey of the state. Later, he worked for British government as unpaid Superintendent of Ethnography. His work received appreciation from British anthropologists and administrators. lyer became a reader at the university of Madras and set up the post-graduate department of anthropology at the university of Calcutta. Thus, he became the first self-taught anthropologist. Sarat Chandra Roy was educated in law and English. He gave up his law practice and became a school teacher in Ranchi. He was appointed as the official interpreter in the court after he resumed his law practice. Gradually, he became interested in the tribal society, as he had to interpret the tribal customs in the court. He gained considerable knowledge on the culture and society of the tribal people of Chhotanagpur. Roy produced valuable monographs and research articles on this subject. He travelled and did intensive fieldwork pertaining to the tribal community. Thus, the experiences gained by lyer and Roy in the course of their work led to their interest in social anthropology. 

Ans : The main arguments, on either side of the debate about relating to tribal communities, were led by the British administrator-anthropologists and the nationalists. According to the British, the tribes of India were primitive people and had a different culture from the Hindus. They believed that the simple tribal people would suffer exploitation and cultural degradation at the hands of Hindu people who wanted the assimilation of tribal people with them. Thus, they needed to be protected by the state in order to safeguard their interests. On the other hand, the nationalists, of whom G.S Ghurye was the most famous exponent, argued that the tribes of India were not backward, but had been interacting with the rest of Hindu society over a long period. The process of assimilation had been experienced by all the communities in India and the tribes were only a step behind in this process. According to nationalists, attempts to preserve tribal culture only contributed to their backwardness. They believed tribal society needed as much reform as Hindu society. Thus, the main difference in both viewpoints was the perception about the impact of mainstream culture on tribes. 

Ans : Herbert Risley believed that human beings could be divided into separate races on the basis of their physical characteristics. His main argument was that caste originated in race because the different castes belonged to different racial types. He believed that the higher castes originated from Indo-Aryans while the lower castes originated from non- Aryan races. Risley was of the opinion that the conditions in India were suitable for studying racial evolution as inter-caste marriages was strictly prohibited in India. Ghurye was of a different view. He believed that Risle Vs argument was partially correct and the argument of upper castes being Aryan and lower castes being non-Aryan was true only for north India. He further said that the prohibition of intermixing of different castes was only limited to the northern India, and people in other areas had been mixing for a long time. According to him, racial purity was preserved only in North India while other parts adopted the practice of endogamy only after variations had occurred in racial groups. 

Ans : The social anthropological definition of caste was given by G.S Ghurye, which comprised six features. These were as follows: 
(i) Caste is an institution based on segmental division. This means that the castes were different and closed segments that comprised people of an exclusive social order determined by birth. The individuals born in a particular caste would always remain in that caste. 
(ii) Caste society is based on hierarchical division. The caste system was based on a hierarchical order, and each caste had unequal status as compared to others. 
(iii) The institution of caste necessarily involves restrictions on social interaction, specially sharing of food. There were many restrictions in the caste system based on the ideas of purity and pollution. 
(iv) Caste involves differential rights and duties for different caste as a consequence of hierarchy and restricted social interaction. These pertained to religious life and everyday practices. 
(v) The choice of occupation, like caste itself, is decided by birth and is hereditary. It was a rigid form of division of labour. A person born as a shudra would always remain one, however hard he worked or whatever success he achieved. 
(vi) Caste involves strict restrictions on marriage. The marriage between people of different castes was strictly prohibited and rules existed regarding both endogamy and exogamy. 

Ans : By 'living tradition', D.P. Mukerji means that the traditions were not only formed in the past but also kept on changing with the present and evolved over time. It manages to retain basic elements from the past. He insisted that Indian sociologists be rooted in this tradition because an Indian sociologist should be an Indian first, which means that he/she should understand his/her social system first.