British India and Caste System: How the Caste Identity was transformed into Political Identity

Abstract

Developing communities in South Asia are dominated by an emotional value system rather than a rational one. As a result, the politics in such a society appear to be heavily influenced by emotional values with several dimensions, both outwardly and inwardly. The diversified cultural society of South Asia is critical, as the caste system has an emotional attachment and a strong hold on politics. South Asian culture is mostly defined by social groups as Baradari system.  These are social and cultural identities, which were turned into socio-political identity when the British rulers introduced democratic institutions to the Indian peninsula. During the political development process in the continent, the British rulers implemented such strategies that not only increased their authority over the Indians, but also shaped the political system and identity politics in India, from the grassroots to the national levels. This study has investigated certain questions like how the social identity of caste system did was transformed into political identity, during British rule in, India? What were the policies, they adopted to manipulate the 'caste emotions' of the locals? The objective of this research paper is, to explore the link between the caste system and democratic institutions introduced in British India, and their entrance in the corridor of power politics. The research methodology used is historical, descriptive and analytical. The research paper concludes that such legal and administrative laws were implemented by British rulers which manipulated the ‘Caste Emotions’ of the Indians and caste institution became an important pillar of power politics.