Read the passage carefully and answer the questions based on the passage:
The term agrarian structure is often used to refer to the structure or distribution of landholding. Because agricultural land is the most important productive resource in rural areas, access to land shapes the rural class structure. Access to land largely determines what role one plays in the process of agricultural production. Medium and large landowners are usually able to earn sufficient or even large incomes from cultivation. But agricultural labourers are more often than not paid below the statutory minimum wage and earn very little. Their incomes are low. Their employment is insecure. Most agricultural labourers are daily-wage workers. And do not have work for many days of the year. This is known as underemployment. Similarly, tenants have lower incomes than owner-cultivators. Because they have to pay a substantial rent to the landowner – often as much as 50 to 75 per cent of the income from the crop. Agrarian society, therefore, can be understood in terms of its class structure. But we must also remember the structure is itself through the caste system. In rural areas, there is a complex relationship between caste and class. We might expect that the higher castes have more land and higher incomes. And that there is a correspondence between caste and class as one moves down the hierarchy. In many areas this is broadly true but not exactly. For instance, in most areas the highest caste, the Brahmins, are not major landowners, and so they fall outside the agrarian structure although they are a part of rural society. In most regions of India, the major landowning groups belong to the upper castes. In each region, there are usually just one or two major landowning castes, who are also numerically very important. Such groups were termed by the sociologist M.N. Srinivas as dominant castes. In each region, the dominant caste is the most powerful group, economically and politically, and dominates local society.
Which of the following fits the definition of ‘Dominant Castes?’
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Socially, politically and economically powerful landowning group in a region
Option (1) Groups which have highest ranking in the caste hierarchy — Incorrect. The highest caste, the Brahmins, are not major landowners in most areas. Dominance comes from land and power in a region, and dominant landowning groups are usually middle or high ranked castes, not always the highest.
Option (2) Landless groups who benefitted from land redistribution policies — Incorrect. Dominant castes are the major landowning groups of a region. Most of the marginal farmers and landless belong to lower caste groups, the very opposite of a dominant caste.
Option (3) Socially, politically and economically powerful landowning group in a region — Correct. In each region there are usually one or two major landowning castes, numerically very important, which M.N. Srinivas termed dominant castes. The dominant caste is the most powerful group, economically and politically, and dominates local society, which is its social power.
Option (4) Groups which are lowest in the caste hierarchy but have numerical strength — Incorrect. Numerical strength alone does not make a caste dominant; it must also own the land and hold power. Groups lowest in the hierarchy are mostly marginal farmers and landless labourers.
NCERT (2025-26): “4.1 Agrarian Structure: Caste and Class in Rural India … Agrarian society, therefore, can be understood in terms of its class structure. But we must also remember the structure is itself through the caste system. In rural areas, there is a complex relationship between caste and class. This relationship is not always straightforward. We might expect that the higher castes have more land and higher incomes. And that there is a correspondence between caste and class as one moves down the hierarchy. In many areas this is broadly true but not exactly. For instance, in most areas the highest caste, the Brahmins, are not major landowners, and so they fall outside the agrarian structure although they are a part of rural society. In most regions of India, the major landowning groups belong to the upper castes.…” “…Such groups were termed by the sociologist M.N. Srinivas as dominant castes. In each region, the dominant caste is the most powerful group, economically and politically, and dominates local society.…” |