In region where the non-sanskritic caste were dominant, it was their influence that was stronger. This can be termed as the process of.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → De-Sanskritisation
Option (1) Neo-Sanskritisation — Incorrect. ‘Neo’ means new: neo-Sanskritisation is a name used for Sanskritisation in a newer form, in which a group still takes up the customs and style of life of the higher castes to claim a higher status. The question describes the opposite movement: where non-Sanskritic castes were dominant, the influence on the region came from them, not from Sanskritic ways.
Option (2) De-Sanskritisation — Correct. Sanskritisation is the process by which a ‘low’ caste, tribe or other group takes over the customs, ritual and style of life of a high, in particular a ‘twice-born’, caste. It worked differently in different regions. Where a highly Sanskritised caste was dominant, the whole region became somewhat Sanskritised; but in regions where the non-Sanskritic castes were dominant, it was their influence that was stronger. This is termed the process of ‘de-Sanskritisation’.
Option (3) Dominant Caste — Incorrect. ‘Dominant caste’, a term of M.N. Srinivas, is a group, not a process: the most powerful caste of a region, economically and politically, which dominates local society. The question asks for the name of the process that its influence produced.
Option (4) Reverse-Sanskritisation — Incorrect. Reverse-Sanskritisation is a name used for the opposite pull to Sanskritisation: a caste claims a lower, ‘backward’ status instead of a higher one, often to gain the benefits of reservation. That is a caste’s own claim about its status, while the question describes the stronger influence of dominant non-Sanskritic castes on a whole region, which is called ‘de-Sanskritisation’.
Note: The terms in Option (1) and Option (4), ‘Neo-Sanskritisation’ and ‘Reverse-Sanskritisation’, are not in NCERT (2025-26); they have been explained here for the benefit of the students.
NCERT (2025-26): “2.3 Different Kinds of Social Change … It is primarily a process that takes place within the Hindu space though Srinivas argued that it was visible even in sects and religious groups outside Hinduism. Studies of different areas, however, show that it operated differently in different parts of the country. In those areas where a highly Sanskritised caste was dominant, the culture of the entire region underwent a certain amount of Sanskritisation. In regions where the non-Sanskritic castes were dominant, it was their influence that was stronger. This can be termed the process of ‘de-Sanskritisation’. There were other regional variations too.…” |