The statement "The changes brought about in Indian society and culture as a result of over 150 years of British Rule, the term subsuming changes occurring at different levels...technology, institutions, ideology and values" refers to the process of __________.
Fill in the blank with the correct answer from the options given below.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Westernisation
Option (1) Sanskritisation — Incorrect. Sanskritisation, also a term of M.N. Srinivas, is the process by which a ‘low’ caste or tribe takes over the customs, rituals and style of life of a high, ‘twice-born’ caste. It comes from within Indian society, not from British rule.
Option (2) Colonisation — Incorrect. Colonisation is the act of one country taking control of another and ruling it. British rule was colonisation; the quoted line is about the changes that this rule brought to Indian society and culture, which have their own name.
Option (3) Westernisation — Correct. M.N. Srinivas defines westernisation as ‘the changes brought about in Indian society and culture as a result of over 150 years of British rule’, covering changes in technology, institutions, ideology and values. It took many forms, from a westernised sub-culture of educated Indians to western dress and food in everyday life.
Option (4) Secularisation — Incorrect. Secularisation is the process in which religion loses its hold over social life, and rational, worldly ways of thinking take its place. It is one possible part of modernisation, not the name for all the changes of British rule.
NCERT (2025-26): “Westernisation … You have already read about our western colonial past. You have seen how it often brought about changes that were paradoxical and strange. M.N. Srinivas defines westernisation as ‘the changes brought about in Indian society and culture as a result of over 150 years of British rule, the term subsuming changes occurring at different levels…technology, institutions, ideology and values’.…” “Sanskritisation … The term sanskritisation was coined by M.N. Srinivas. It may be briefly defined as the process by which a ‘low’ caste or tribe or other group takes over the customs, ritual, beliefs, ideology and style of life of a high and, in particular, a ‘twice-born (dwija) caste’.…” |