Salient Features of Indian Society

It is rather difficult to make pointers on what are the features of Indian society as the essence of Indian society lies in harbouring diverse and distinct identities, ethnicities, languages, religions, and culinary preferences. History stands witness to the fact that the societies that have struggled to hold differences were shattered in such an attempt.

But for understanding and simplifying the conundrum, the salient features of Indian society can be listed down as-

Multi-ethnic Society
Multi-Lingual Society
Multi-Religious Society
Multi- Caste
Unity In Diversity
Patriarchal Society
Tribes
Family
Kinship System
The balance between spiritualism and materialism
The balance between Individualism and collectivism
Co-existence of traditionalism and modernity

The multi-ethnic Indian society

Multi-ethnicity is a major salient feature of Indian society. An ethnic group or ethnicity is a category of people who identify with each other, usually based on a common language or dialect, history, society, culture, or nation.

A society with the co-existence of a wide variety of racial groups is a Multi-ethnic society. India is home to almost multiple racial profiles like Nordic, Dinaric, Proto-Australoid, Mongolian, etc.

Herbert Risley classified the people of India into seven racial types. These are-

Turko-Iranian,
Indo-Aryan,
Scytho-Dravidian,
Aryo-Dravidian,
Mongolo-Dravidian,
Mongoloid, and
Dravidian.

Indian multiculturalism can be explained by the ‘Salad bowl theory’- within the large Indian society, the newly arrived cultures do not lose their identity, but rather get intermixed without losing their unique characteristics, just like ingredients in a salad bowl are recognizable while contributing to the overall composition of the salad.

Multilingualism- a salient feature of Indian society

India is home to many native languages, and it is also common for people to speak and understand more than one language or dialect, which can entail the use of different scripts as well.

India’s 2011 census documents that 121 languages are spoken as mother tongues, which is defined as the first language a person learns and uses.

Of these languages, the Constitution of India recognizes twenty-two of them as official or “scheduled” languages. Articles 344(1) and 351 of the Constitution of India, titled the Eighth Schedule, recognize the following languages as official languages of the states of India:

Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.

Six languages also hold the title of classical languages (Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Sanskrit, Tamil, and Telugu), which are determined to have a history of recorded use for more than 1,500 years and a rich body of literature.

Languages in India are categorized into language families based on their different linguistic origins, which often include different scripts as well.

The main language families include Dravidian, Indo–Aryan, and Sino–Tibetan. Bodo is the Sino–Tibetan language spoken in northeastern Indian states with the most speakers (1.4 million).
Languages considered mother tongues or regional languages in the south of India have grammatical structures and scripts with Dravidian roots, and languages used in the central and northern regions of India are part of the Indo–Aryan family of languages.

Many central and northern Indian languages use scripts derived from the Nagari script.

Contemporary variations of Hindi use the Devanagari script, and scripts used in Gujarati, Punjabi, and Marathi use Nagari-derived scripts or versions of Devanagari that include some differences in their alphabets.

Another aspect of India’s multilingualism is that each mother tongue, or regional language, roughly belongs to one or more states. India’s twenty-eight states have been largely organized along linguistic lines since the 1950s, just after Independence, with the formation of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh in 1953 for Telugu speakers.

Multi-religious society

India is a cradle of world religions whose ancestors have preached and practised almost all major religions of the world giving rise to worldly beliefs, practices, rites, rituals, ceremonies, and institutions.

The co-existence of all religions and a variety of faiths has been a shining example of religious pluralism and tolerance.

The principle of secularism despite several conflicts and riots has been upheld by our citizens time and again.
Indian Constitution has rightly reflected the idea of multiple religions. It states that “every citizen has a right to freely practice, preach, profess and propagate any religion or faith”.
A secular state has been defined as a “state in which all religions and citizens irrespective of their faith would be treated impartially”.
Apart from the major religions, several tribal religions are coexisting in Indian society.

Hinduism:

Hinduism is one of the most ancient religions in India. Although followed by the majority of the population, its origin is not owed to any founder.
Major Hindu scriptures include Vedas and the holy book is Bhagwad -Gita, Ramayana, Puranas, etc.
Idol worship, the theory of Purushartha, the theory of Karma, and the doctrine of rebirth are some of the major principles of Hinduism.
They believe in the trinity of Brahma (creator), Vishnu(sustained), and Mahesh or Shiva (destroyer).

Islam:

Originated in Arabia in around the 7th century A.D.The term Islam in Arabic means to surrender to God.
Prophet Mohammad is the founder of this religion and followers believe only in one god Allah with Quran as the holy book of Islam.
The religion is based on five pillars, they are Allah (belief in only one god), Ramzan (fast in the auspicious month), Hajj (Pilgrimage at least once in a lifetime), Namaz (praying five times a day), and Zakat (Charity).
The major two sects of Islam are Shiyahs and Sunnis.

Christianity:

The Bible is the holy book of Christianity.
The believers are further divided into Roman Catholics and Protestants.
The major principles of religion are described in the Ten Commandments.
The Bible includes the values of humanity, charity, mercy, repentance etc.

Sikhism:

Guru Nanak is the founder of Sikhism. Guru Granth Sahib is the holy book of Sikhs which includes all the hymns and the songs composed by all the ten Gurus of Sikhism.
Sikhs believe in Satnaam, God as the almighty. A Sect of Sikhs who follow Khalsa Panth is known as a Singh meaning lion or the protector of religion.
They are expected to follow the 5 K‟s. i.e. Kesh, Kara, Kanga, Kachha and Kirpaan.

Jainism:

Jainism is a religion based on ethical conduct alone. The twenty-fourth Tirthankara was Vardhaman Mahavira who is said to be the founder of Jainism.
It is further divided into two sects, Shwetambara and Digambara. Jainism believes in Karma but does not believe in caste inequalities.
Ahimsa (Non-violence), non-stealing, truth, and non-possessiveness are some of the values preached by Jainism.
The majority of the followers of this religion are found in India.

Buddhism:

Buddhism is termed a universal religion.
Though found in India, its followers are found all over the further divided into Hinayanas and Mahayanas.
They believe in the eightfold path as the solution to sorrow in life.

Caste system in Indian society

The social division of society in India is peculiar. Unlike many other civilizations in the world where the society was divided into race, ethnicity, or clans, Indian society is broadly divided into a hierarchy of caste.

The word caste comes from the Portuguese word ‘Caste’ which means breed and is intended to be used for classification based on the purity of blood.

Caste is unique to India and especially to Hindu traditional society and its customs. It is imposed as a divine and has an extensive sanction in society.

The Sanskrit word for caste is ‘Varna’ which means color. The caste stratification in Indian society has its origin in the chaturvarna system. During the Vedic period, there were four Varnas or castes namely Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vishays, and Shudras.
This division was based on the division of labor and occupation. Along with occupation, it also denotes endogamy (marriage within one’s caste) and the notion of purity and pollution related to food restrictions, clothing, and language.
Further, these groups were subdivided into several jatis or subcastes based on diversity of occupation. Each group was like a water-tight compartment moving out from which was impossible for any member of the society.
The notion of purity and pollution resulted in several atrocities in the hierarchy against the lowest strata. The shudras (untouchables) faced tremendous injustice and atrocities at the hands of the higher castes, especially Brahmins.

It was termed the black period of Indian history where several inhuman practices were prevalent in the society denying the basic human rights of these suppressed classes.

However after independence, under the great leadership of Dr. Baba Sahib Ambedkar, the oppressed class got a special status in the Constitution of India as Scheduled castes.

The term used for them was Dalit (the depressed) or Harijan (as coined by Mahatma Gandhi). Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar was a pioneer in initiating the Dalit movement in India to bring up the status of untouchables by converting to Buddhism which does not believe in the caste hierarchy.

The salient feature of Indian society rests in the Unity in diversity

India as a nation is a classic example of it as despite having multiple geographical, religious, linguistic, cultural, and racial diversities, India has always stood up as an integrated nation.

In India, people of different religions have continued to respect the ideals and values of people of other religions, and hence, India has always stood up as an integrated nation ready to put its arms around everybody in this world.

Diversity in India exists at various levels in different forms and various factors that contribute to Unity In diversity can be as follows:

Geographical
Cultural
Religious
Political
Language

The previously mentioned salient features of Indian society very well define how the factors have influenced the diverse yet united culture of Indian society.

There have been instances in history wherein the unity of the country was tested like during the partition, communal riots in Gujarat and Karnataka are a few dark chapters. But each time the country has fought back and upheld its values.

Patriarchal society

Patriarchy is a social system in which men hold primary power and enjoy greater status than women. Indian society is a largely patriarchal society.

However, some tribal societies are matrilineal societies where women have the dominant decision-making power. The few matrilineal societies of India are:

The Nairs and Ezhavas of the state of Kerala have a matrilineal society,
the Khasi and Garo tribes of Meghalaya,
Bunt and billava of Karnataka

Patriarchy is a still existing problem in India- and impacts women the most-few impacts of this are-

Women are still paid 20% less than men for the same job.
They still experience a shockingly high rate of domestic violence, which highly depicts the culture of the patriarchal society in India.
Male child preference is also one such example that shows the patriarchal mindset leading to female infanticide and foeticide.
Dowry tradition and discrimination based on that.

Family and Kinship

Blood relations and kinship ties enjoy a stronghold over other social relationships in India.

The family is one of the most important social institutions. Most of the world’s population lives in family units. The family is a primary institution responsible for ‘socialization’.

Kinship refers to a set of relationships and relatives formed thereof, based on blood relationships (consanguineal), or marriage (affinal).

This social institution ties individuals and groups together and establishes a relationship between them.

Tribes

There are about 705 Scheduled tribes in the country and they constitute 6 percent of the population of the country, according to the 2011 census.

Scheduled Tribes mostly inhabit two distinct geographical areas – Central India and the North-Eastern Area.

More than half of the Scheduled Tribe population is concentrated in Central India, i.e., Madhya Pradesh (14.69%), Chhattisgarh (7.5%), Jharkhand (8.29%), Andhra Pradesh (5.7%), Maharashtra (10.08%), Orissa (9.2%), Gujarat (8.55%) and Rajasthan (8.86%).
The other distinct areas are the Northeast (Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh).

More than two-thirds of the ST population is concentrated only in the seven states of the country, viz. Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh.

There is no ST population in 3 States (Delhi NCR, Punjab, and Haryana) and 2 UTs (Puducherry and Chandigarh), as no Scheduled Tribe is notified.

The balance between spiritualism and materialism in Indian society

Contradictions between spirituality and materialism have existed in Indian society for a long time. The ancient thoughts differ in positing that material life is all that matters, matter and consciousness interact to create the world, or matter is just the base from which one has to rise to full consciousness.

Swami Vivekananda is one of the prominent figures and makers of modern India who was known for his speeches on spiritualism and materialism.

In his various speeches and writings, he emphasized the need for the material development of the poor. According to Vivekananda human beings are not just physical and material beings that exist to satisfy their senses but spiritual beings as well.
It is this spirituality that unites humanity across the world at a higher level. But, mere spirituality is not enough. Therefore, he underscores the need for material development.