Consider the following statements.

Statement I:  The caste identities in India had been much more fluid and less rigid before the colonial times.

Statement II: The 1901 Census attempted to determine the relative social position of different castes across the country.

Choose the correct answer.

Statement I is correct, but Statement II is incorrect.

The correct answer is Option 2: Statement I is correct, but Statement II is incorrect.

Statement I:The caste identities in India had been much more fluid and less rigid before the colonial times.Correct. Before the colonial administration began officially counting and recording castes, caste identities were comparatively more flexible. The process of official classification through the census contributed to making these identities more rigid and formally recognised.

Statement II:The 1901 Census attempted to determine the relative social position of different castes across the country. Incorrect. The phrase "across the country" makes the statement incorrect. The 1901 Census attempted to determine the social order of precedence of castes in particular regions, recognising that caste hierarchy varied from one region to another. It did not establish a single all-India hierarchy.

NCERT: 'But by far the most important official effort to collect information on caste was through the census. First begun in the 1860s, the census became a regular ten-yearly exercise conducted by the British Indian government from 1881 onwards. The 1901 Census under the direction of Herbert Risley was particularly important as it sought to collect information on the social hierarchy of caste – i.e., the social order of precedence in particular regions, as to the position of each caste in the rank order. This effort had a huge impact on social perceptions of caste and hundreds of petitions were addressed to the Census Commissioner by representatives of different castes claiming a higher position in the social scale and offering historical and scriptural evidence for their claims. Overall, scholars feel that this kind of direct attempt to count caste and to officially record caste status changed the institution itself. Before this kind of intervention, caste identities had been much more fluid and less rigid; once they began to be counted and recorded, caste began to take on a new life. '.