If the student's field site were in Gujarat, which caste would best f…

A research student studies rural power in several states. In each region she finds one caste that is numerous in the villages. Before Independence its members managed farming but did not till the land themselves, while rent-receiving upper castes held the rights. After the partial land reforms, these rights passed to this caste. Land brought it economic strength, and its large numbers gave it a strong voice in elections and regional politics. It still depends on lower-caste labour for cultivation.

If the student's field site were in Gujarat, which caste would best fit her description?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 3

The correct answer is Option (3) → Patidars

Option (1) Marathas — Incorrect. The Marathas are the dominant caste of Maharashtra. Their land and numbers give them power in that state.

Option (2) Jats — Incorrect. The Jats are the dominant caste of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh. They would fit a field site in north India.

Option (3) Patidars — Correct. The caste she describes is a dominant caste: large in number, given land rights by the partial land reforms, and powerful in regional politics. In Gujarat this caste is the Patidars.

Option (4) Yadavs — Incorrect. The Yadavs are the dominant caste of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. They would fit a field site in those two states.

NCERT (2026-27): “Caste in the Present …
‘Dominant caste’ is a term used to refer to those castes which had a large population and were granted landrights by the partial land reforms effected after Independence. The land reforms took away rights from the erstwhile claimants, the upper castes who were ‘absentee landlords’ in the sense that they played no part in the agricultural economy other than claiming their rent. They frequently did not live in the village either, but were based in towns and cities. These land rights now came to be vested in the next layer of claimants, those who were involved in the management of agriculture but were not themselves the cultivators. These intermediate castes in turn depended on the labour of the lower castes including specially the ‘untouchable’ castes for tilling and tending the land. However, once they got land rights, they acquired considerable economic power. Their large numbers also gave them political power in the era of electoral democracy based on universal adult franchise.”

“Thus, these intermediate castes became the ‘dominant’ castes in the country side and played a decisive role in regional politics and the agrarian economy.”

“Examples of such dominant castes include the Yadavs of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the Vokkaligas of Karnataka, the Reddys and Khammas of Andhra Pradesh, the Marathas of Maharashtra, the Jats of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh and the Patidars of Gujarat.”