Which of the following can be understood as an effect of ‘Sanskritisation’?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → The practice of dowry among Dalit communities.
Option (1) Adoption of western education by the Brahmins. — Incorrect. Taking up western education and ways of thinking is westernisation, the change brought by over 150 years of British rule. In sanskritisation the Brahmins are the group that others copy, not the group that changes.
Option (2) The practice of dowry among Dalit communities. — Correct. Sanskritisation is the process in which a caste lower in the hierarchy copies the rites, rituals and customs of the upper castes to raise its status. Its effects include secluding women and adopting dowry practices instead of bride-price.
Option (3) The tribes taking up new occupation. — Incorrect. A change of occupation is an economic change, a change in the mode of livelihood. Sanskritisation is about copying upper caste customs and rituals, not about new work.
Option (4) Middle-caste women choosing to work outside the home. — Incorrect. Sanskritisation works the other way: copying upper caste customs leads to secluding girls and women, not to women going out to work.
NCERT (2025-26): “Sanskritisation … Fourth, since sanskritisation results in the adoption of upper caste rites and rituals it leads to practices of secluding girls and women, adopting dowry practices instead of bride-price and practising caste discrimination against other groups, etc.…” |