Question

Which of the following are not the changes brought about by colonialism to the caste system?

• A. Numbering and recording of castes through census.
• B. Hundreds of petitions were addressed to the Census Commissioner by representatives of different castes claiming a higher position in the social scale.
• C. Linking castes to traditional occupations.
• D. Making 'Schedules' of castes for special treatment by the State.

Hint:

Colonialism did not merely document Indian society; it actually "rigidified" the fluid boundaries of the pre-colonial caste system. By mapping castes into strict census categories, British administrative practices gave caste a new, politicized public identity.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Analyzing the Pre-colonial Caste System:
The caste system is a traditional social institution in India characterized by hereditary occupational specialization. The linking of specific castes ($jatis$) to traditional ritual and secular occupations was an ancient, structural feature of pre-colonial India, governed by the purity-pollution axis and the jajmani system. This link was NOT created or brought about by British colonialism.

Step 2: Evaluating Colonial Interventions:
• Census (A & B): The colonial state introduced institutionalized census operations under Herbert Risley in 1901 to systematically classify and count castes. This official listing led to a surge in sub-castes petitioning the Census Commissioner to claim higher ranks in the social hierarchy to improve their social status.
• Schedules (D): Under the Government of India Act of 1935, the British administration created legal lists or "Schedules" of depressed classes (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) to allocate special political representation and administrative welfare, a practice that continued in post-independence India.

Step 3: Identifying the Exception:
Since options (A), (B), and (D) represent concrete social and institutional transformations engineered by the British colonial administration, whereas option (C) was a traditional feature that existed long before British rule, option (C) is the change that was not brought about by colonialism.