(a) "Tribes are backward Hindus." Critically comment with reference to the contributions of G. S. Ghurye. (20 marks) (b) "Indus…

(a) "Tribes are backward Hindus": critical comment with reference to G.S. Ghurye

Ghurye (The Aborigines So-Called and Their Future, 1943; The Scheduled Tribes, 1959) argued that tribes are "backward Hindus", not a separate category. He held that tribal religion, deities, and customs show Hindu influence, that tribes have long been in contact with and absorbed into Hindu society through assimilation and sometimes caste-like ranking, and that the difference from the Hindu peasantry is one of degree. He therefore favoured integration, and opposed the "isolation" policy of British administrators and Verrier Elwin, which he saw as keeping tribes backward and dividing the nation.

Support: tribe–caste continuum, tribal rulers such as the Gond Rajas becoming Rajputs, and processes of Sanskritisation (Srinivas) and "Hinduisation" (Bose's "Hindu method of tribal absorption") confirm much contact.

Critique:

• Tribal societies differ in religion (animism), kinship, egalitarian structure, economy, language and land-holding, and many are non-Hindu by belief.
• Elwin defended tribal distinctiveness and advocated protection; Nehru's Panchsheel for tribal development took a middle course.
• Tribal communities have resisted assimilation in the assertion of identity (Jharkhand, Sarna code), and scholars like Virginius Xaxa argue that the tribe category is a product of colonial and state recognition.
• The Constitution (Article 342) recognises Scheduled Tribes by distinctive culture, isolation, shyness of contact and backwardness (Lokur Committee, 1965).
• The label "backward" ignores tribal agency and the fact that many have been marginalised by colonial and later development.

Ghurye rightly saw the fluid boundary, but his view underestimates tribal autonomy.

(b) "Indus Valley was the first settlement of the big civilization": critical comment

The statement is misleading in two ways. First, the Indus (Harappan) civilisation was not the first large civilisation: Mesopotamia (from about 3500 BCE) and Egypt (about 3100 BCE) came earlier, and it is best seen as one of the four or five early river-valley civilisations. Second, it was not the first settlement in its region; it was a culmination of a long local development.

Mehrgarh (Baluchistan, from about 7000 BCE) shows the earliest farming and herding, followed by the Early Harappan or Hakra, Amri, Kot Diji and Rakhigarhi-Hakra phases, which saw copper use, craft specialisation and planned settlement. The Mature phase (about 2600–1900 BCE) then developed planned cities (Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Dholavira, Rakhigarhi), standard brick and weights, drainage and seals across a vast area. Its script is undeciphered and its political organisation is unclear.

It was a major, indigenous early urban civilisation with antecedents, not a first settlement.

(c) Basic tenets of Jainism and its impact on Indian society

Jainism is traced to 24 Tirthankaras, of whom Parshvanatha (23rd) and Mahavira (24th, 6th century BCE) are historical.

Tenets:

• Universe is eternal, with no creator god, and each soul (jiva) is distinct and bound by karma, which is viewed as material particles.
• Liberation (moksha) by the three jewels: right faith, right knowledge and right conduct.
• Five vows (mahavratas): ahimsa, satya, asteya, aparigraha and brahmacharya, strictest for monks, and anuvratas for laity.
• Anekantavada (manifold reality) and syadvada (conditional statement).
• Asceticism, and the later division into Digambara and Svetambara.

Impact: ahimsa promoted vegetarianism and humane attitudes, and influenced Gandhi. Jain merchants and bankers shaped trade and finance. Jain art and architecture include Dilwara temples (Mount Abu), Gommateshwara at Shravanabelagola and cave shrines. Prakrit, Apabhramsha and regional languages developed through Jain literature. It challenged Vedic ritualism and brought ethics into public life, although Jain society also adopted caste-like features.