Sanskritisation

Srinivas defined Sanskritisation as a process by which

{{blockquote|a low or middle Hindu caste, or tribal or other group, changes its customs, ritual, ideology, and way of life in the direction of a high and frequently twice-born caste. Generally such changes are followed by a claim to a higher position in the caste hierarchy than that traditionally conceded to the claimant class by the local community..."{{sfn|Jayapalan|2001|p=428}}}}

In a broader sense, Sanskritisation is

{{blockquote|the process whereby local or regional forms of culture and religion – local deities, rituals, literary genres – become identified with the great tradition of Sanskrit literature and culture: namely the culture and religion of orthodox, Aryan, Brahmans, which accepts the Veda as revelation and, generally, adheres to varrṇāśrama-dharma.{{sfn|Flood|2013|p=128}}}}

In this process, local traditions (little traditions) become integrated into the great tradition of Brahmanical religion,{{sfn|Turner|2008}} disseminating Sanskrit texts and Brahmanical ideas throughout India, and abroad.{{sfn|Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica [b]|n.d.}} This facilitated the development of the Hindu synthesis,{{sfn|Flood|2013|p=148}}{{sfn|Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica [b]|n.d.}}{{sfn|Turner|2008}} in which the Brahmanical tradition absorbed local popular traditions of ritual and ideology.{{sfn|Flood|2013|p=148}}

According to Srinivas, Sanskritisation is not just the adoption of new customs and habits, but also includes exposure to new ideas and values appearing in Sanskrit literature. He says the words Karma, dharma, papa, maya, samsara, and moksha are the most common Sanskrit theological ideas which become common in the talk of people who are sanskritised.{{sfn|Srinivas|1962|p=48}}

Srinivas first propounded this theory in his D.Phil. thesis at Oxford. The thesis was later brought out as a book,{{sfn|Srinivas|1952}} which was an ethnographical study of the Kodava (Coorgs) community of Karnataka. Srinivas writes:

{{blockquote|The caste system is far from a rigid system, in which the position of each component caste is fixed for all time. Movement has always been possible, and especially in the middle regions of the hierarchy. A caste was able, in a generation or two, to rise to a higher position in the hierarchy by adopting vegetarianism and teetotalism, and by Sanskritising its ritual and pantheon. In short, it took over, as far as possible, the customs, rites, and beliefs of the Brahmins, and adoption of the Brahminic way of life by a low caste seems to have been frequent, though theoretically forbidden. This process has been called ‘Sanskritisation’ in this book, in preference to ‘Brahminisation’, as certain Vedic rites are confined to the Brahmins and the two other twice-born castes.{{sfn|Srinivas|1952|p=32}}}}

The book challenged the then prevalent idea that caste was a rigid and unchanging institution. The concept of Sanskritisation addressed the actual complexity and fluidity of caste relations. It brought into academic focus the dynamics of the renegotiation of status by various castes and communities in India.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

According to {{harvnb|Jaffrelot|2005|p=33}}, a similar heuristic was previously described by Ambedkar (1916, 1917).{{cite journal |last=Ambedkar |first=Bhimrao Ramji | author-link=Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar |date=May 1917 |orig-year=9 May 1916 |title=Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development |volume=XLI |journal=Indian Antiquary |title-link=Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development}}{{refn|group=note|{{harvnb|Jaffrelot|2005|p=33}} notes, "Ambedkar advanced the basis of one of the most heuristic of concepts in modern Indian Studies – the sanskritization process – that M.N. {{harvnb|Srinivas|1952}} was to introduce 40 years later."}} Jaffrelot goes on to say, "While the term was coined by Srinivas, the process itself had been described by colonial administrators such as E. T. Atkinson in his Himalayan Gazetteer and Alfred Lyall, in whose works Ambedkar might well have encountered it."{{sfn|Jaffrelot|2005|p=33}}

Virginius Xaxa notes that sometimes the anthropologists also use the term Kshatriyisation and Rajputisation in place of Sanskritisation.{{cite magazine |magazine=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=34 |number=24 |date=June 12–18, 1999 |pages=1520–1521 |publisher=Economic and Political Weekly |editor1-first=Krishna |editor1-last=Raj |editor2-first=Padma |editor2-last=Prakash |editor3-first=Mahesh |editor3-last=Gavaskar |title=Transformation of Tribes in India: Terms of Discourse |first=Virginius |last=Xaxa |jstor=4408077 |quote=Scholars have conceptualised diversely the processess of social change experienced by tribes in contact with non–tribal societies. This is evident from the range of the terms used for capturing the processes, the most common being 'Sanskritisation' and 'Hinduisation'. At times anthropologists have also used 'Kshatriyisation' and 'Rajputisation' as substitutes for 'Sanskritisation'.}}

Sanskritisation is often aimed to claim the Varna status of Brahmin or Kshatriyas, the two prestigious Varna of the Vedic-age Varna system. One of the main example of it is various non-elite pastoral communities like Ahir, Gopa, Ahar, Goala etc. who adopted the Yadav word as part of Sanskritisation effort to gain upward mobility in society during late 19th century to early 20th century.{{cite book|last1=Jassal|first1=Smita Tewari|author2=École pratique des hautes études (France). Section des sciences économiques et sociales|author3=University of Oxford. Institute of Social Anthropology|title=Contributions to Indian sociology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jA0tAQAAIAAJ|year=2001|publisher=Mouton|pages=319–351|chapter=Caste in the Colonial State: Mallahs in the census}} Quote: "The movement, which had a wide interregional spread, attempted to submerge regional names such as Goala, Ahir, Ahar, Gopa, etc., in favour of the generic term Yadava (Rao 1979). Hence a number of pastoralist castes were subsumed under Yadava, in accordance with decisions taken by the regional and national level caste sabhas. The Yadavas became the first among the shudras to gain the right to wear the janeu, a case of successful sanskritisation which continues till date. As a prominent agriculturist caste in the region, despite belonging to the shudra varna, the Yadavas claimed Kshatriya status tracing descent from the Yadu dynasty. The caste's efforts matched those of census officials, for whom standardisation of overlapping names was a matter of policy. The success of the Yadava movement also lies in the fact that, among the jaati sabhas, the Yadava sabha was probably the strongest, its journal, Ahir Samachar, having an all-India spread. These factors strengthened local efforts, such as in Bhojpur, where the Yadavas, locally known as Ahirs, refused to do begar, or forced labour, for the landlords and simultaneously prohibited liquor consumption, child marriages, and so on."{{cite book |title=Society in India |volume=2 |first=David Goodman |last=Mandelbaum |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |year=1970 |isbn=978-0-520-01623-1 |page=443 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=igfd9YYCqf8C|language=en}}{{cite book|last=Jaffrelot|first=Christophe|title=India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qJZp5tDuY-gC&pg=PA210|year=2003|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-12786-8|pages=210–211|language=en}} Quote: "In his typology of low caste movements, (M. S. A.) Rao distinguishes five categories. The first is characterised by 'withdrawal and self-organisation'. ... The second one, illustrated by the Yadavs, is based on the claim of 'higher varna status' and fits with Sanskritisation pattern. ..."{{cite book|last1=Leshnik|first1=Lawrence S.|last2=Sontheimer|first2=Günther-Dietz|title=Pastoralists and nomads in South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0rEKAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA218|year=1975|publisher=O. Harrassowitz|page=218|isbn=9783447015523}} Quote: "The Ahir and allied cowherd castes (whether actually pastoralists or cultivators, as in the Punjab) have recently organized a pan-Indian caste association with political as well as social reformist goals using the epic designation of Yadava (or Jadava) Vanshi Kshatriya, ie the warrior caste descending from the Yadava lineage of the Mahabharata fame." Similar attempts were made by communities who were historically classed as non-elite tillers like Kurmi{{cite book |title=India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India |page=196 |first=Christophe |last=Jaffrelot |publisher=C. Hurst & Co. |location=London |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-85065-670-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OAkW94DtUMAC}} and various communities like Koeri,{{Cite journal |last=Prakash |first=Om |title=Political Awakening, Caste Movement and Congress Behaviour |date=2000 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44148171 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=61 |pages=954–957 |jstor=44148171 |issn=2249-1937}} Murao etc. from the late 19th century onwards through their caste organisations by claiming higher social status.{{cite book |title=India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India |page=197,199 |first=Christophe |last=Jaffrelot |publisher=C. Hurst & Co. |location=London |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-85065-670-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OAkW94DtUMAC}} Kalwar caste is traditionally involved into distillation and selling of liquor, but around the start of the 20th century, various organisations related to the caste sought to redefine the image of their community through this process.{{cite book |title=Locality, Province and Nation: Essays on Indian Politics 1870 to 1940 |editor1-first=John |editor1-last=Gallagher |editor2-first=Gordon |editor2-last=Johnson |editor3-first=Anil |editor3-last=Seal |edition=Reprinted |publisher=Cambridge University Press Archive |year=1973 |isbn=978-0-52109-811-3 |first=Christopher A. |last=Bayly |authorlink=Christopher Bayly |chapter=Patrons and Politics in Northern India |page=[https://archive.org/details/localityprovince0000unse/page/63 63] |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x104AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA63 |url=https://archive.org/details/localityprovince0000unse/page/63 |language=en}}

Another example in North India is of Rajput. According to historical evidence, the present day Rajput community varies greatly in status, consisting of those with royal lineage to those whose ancestors were petty tenants or tribals who gained land and political power to justify their claim of being Kshatriya.{{sfn|Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica [a]|n.d.}}{{sfn|Varadpande|1987|p=290}}{{sfn|Talbot|2015|p=33–35}}

One clear example of Sanskritisation is the adoption, in emulation of the practice of twice-born castes, of vegetarianism by people belonging to the so-called low castes who are traditionally not averse to non-vegetarian food.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

One more example is of Hindu Jat in rural North India who did Sanskritisation with the help of Arya Samaj as a part of a social upliftment effort.{{Cite book |title= Religion, Caste and Politics in India |author= Christophe Jaffrelot| year=2010 |page=431|publisher= Primus Books|isbn= 9789380607047| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=XAO3i_gS61wC&dq=sanskritization+of+jats&pg=PA431|language=en}}

An unsuccessful example is the Vishwakarma caste's claim to Brahmin status, which is not generally accepted outside that community, despite their adoption of some Brahmin caste traits, such as wearing the sacred thread, and the Brahminisation of their rituals. Srinivas juxtaposed the success of the Lingayat caste in achieving advancement within Karnataka society by such means with the failure of the Vishwakarma to achieve the same. Their position as a left-hand caste has not aided their ambition.{{sfn|Ikegame|2013|p=128}}

Srinivas was of the view that Sanskritisation was not limited to the Hindu castes, and stated that the semi-tribal groups including Himalayas's Pahadis, central India's Gonds and Oraons, and western India's Bhils also underwent Sanskritisation. He further suggested that, after going through Sanskritisation, such tribes would claim that they are castes and hence Hindus.{{cite journal |journal=European Journal of Sociology |volume=12 |number=1, Permanent non–Revolution |year=1971 |page=124 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |title='Sanskritization' and Social Change in India |first1=A. |last1=Bopegamage |first2=R. N. |last2=Kulahalli |doi=10.1017/S000397560000223X |jstor=23998568}}

This phenomenon has also been observed in Nepal among Khas, Magar, Newar, and Tharu people.{{sfn|Guneratne|2002}}

Yogendra Singh has critiqued the theory as follows:

{{blockquote|Sanskritisation fails to account for many aspects of cultural changes in the past and contemporary India as it neglects non-sanskritic traditions. It may be noted that often a non-sanskritic element of culture may be a localised form of sanskritic tradition. Sanskritic rites are often added to non-sanskritic rites without replacing them.{{sfn|Singh|1994|p=11}}}}

{{Portal|Hinduism

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{{col div|colwidth=20em}}

• De-Sanskritisation
• Acculturation
• Battle for Sanskrit
• Islamization
• Kshatriyas and would-be Kshatriyas
• List of Sanskrit universities in India
• Panini (grammarian)
• Sanskrit cinema
• Sanskrit studies
• Shiksha

{{col div end}}

{{reflist|group=note}}

{{Reflist|25em}}

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{{refend}}

{{Wiktionary|Sanskritization|Sanskritize}}

• {{Cite web |first=Timothy |last=Lubin |title=Bibliography |publisher=Washington and Lee University |department=Department of Religion / School of Law |url=https://lubin.academic.wlu.edu/sanskritization-brahmanization-hinduization/}}
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• {{Cite dictionary |title=Marxization |url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/marxize |website=Oxford Dictionaries}}

{{Cultural assimilation}}{{Sangh Parivar}}

Category:Caste system in India

Category:Cultural assimilation

Category:Sanskrit

Category:Social change

Category:Hinduism and evolution