Journal of Rural Studies 48 (2016) 1e10

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Rural Studies

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jrurstud

Contemporary relevance of jajmani relations in rural India

Mukul Kumar
Institute of Rural Management Anand, Anand 388001, Gujarat, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Jajmani is claimed to be a traditional Indian institution which institutionalized non-contractual, inter-
Received 10 January 2016 familial and inter-generational reciprocity between landowning and other services providing castes1 in
Received in revised form rural India. Though it took care of some livelihood needs of service caste people it also involved their
21 July 2016
subservience and exploitation. Based on an ethnographic field study of a village in north India this
Accepted 26 August 2016
research study looks closely at the changes happening in jajmani but also simultaneously tries to learn a
Available online 19 September 2016
few important principles about the form and substance of development for the future of mankind.
Though jajmani is going to be history soon, it can be instructive in offering the idea of the importance of
Keywords:
Jajmani
local/vernacular spaces in organizing social and economic lives of rural communities while imagining a
Reciprocity less hegemonised community and world for human living.
Rural community © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Development
Local
Future

1. Introduction jajmani in contemporary settings and learn a few important prin-

Jajmani 2is usually understood as a traditional Indian institution
in which upper caste farming households had been associated with
service castes living in the vicinity which provided varied services
depending upon their caste's occupations. These used to be non-
contractual, mostly non-monetised and inter-generational re-
lationships across families in villages. These relationships are not so
common now due to many changes happening in rural and urban
economy. Despite that I found a good number of service caste
households associating with jajmani relationships3 in 2004-05 in a
north Indian village. I also found 4 households which substantially
subsisted on jajmani relations. This article is however not about
rehabilitating the idea of jajmani relations in academic writings in
face of criticism against it [such as by (Mayer, 1993), (Fuller, 1989),
and Lerche (1993) discussed later in the article] in the last two to
three decades. This article is rather an attempt to understand
E-mail addresses: mksm_raj@rediffmail.com, mukul@irma.ac.in.
1 modernistic solutions are essentially rooted in the discourse of
Caste is a form of social stratification typical to Indian subcontinent. It is a hi-
erarchical arrangement of different endogamous social groups based on the prin-
ciple of pollution and purity. In Weberian terms it is a status group.
2
It is understood to be a longstanding practice of reciprocity between land-
owning families and service caste people. Of late, it has been said to be of recent
origin and equated to an invented tradition.
3
I avoid calling it a system in view of criticisms of jajmani being called a system
in academic writings in the last two to three decades.
ciples from it for the future of development on this planet. The aim
is to explore jajmani as an institution which afforded at least some
degree of social security to some rural households in an otherwise
subservient and exploitative relationship for the future of mankind.
The social order in Indian villages is in a state of flux. It is yet to be
benefited in any significant manner by modern forms of social se-
curities while some traditional forms are on the wane. This is the
most appropriate time to look both at traditional and contemporary
forms of community based social securities and develop new ones as
state cannot ever replace family and community in human history. In
this article I try to analyse jajmani relations, which was once
considered fairly widespread and enabling a good number of people
meet some requirements of their subsistence. I also very briefly
discuss other social practices which contribute towards meeting
requirements of secure sustenance in a north Indian village. An
assessment of jajmani can be insightful for conceptualization of al-
ternatives to development. This is largely because post-
developmental approaches are looking out for alternatives to
development that can go beyond modernistic solutions. These
globalization, integration of the global economy and capitalism. On
that course peoples’ genuine interests and choices are, on many
occasions, subjugated by the current economic forces. In its wake
post-development approaches have the aim of liberating their life-
worlds and have stated or unstated aspirations for emulating some
part of tradition as desirable ways of moving ahead (Norberg-Hodge,

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2016.08.008
0743-0167/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 M. Kumar / Journal of Rural Studies 48 (2016) 1e10
1991; Rist, 1997; Rahnema and Bawtree, 1997; Mckibben, 2007). The
nostalgia for community, yearning for autonomy of local economy
and society from pervasive, overarching and on many occasions
cannibalizing global influences & better control over our own re-
sources & lives are some of the features development thinkers now
look forward to as ideas and principles to borrow from tradition.
Jajmani can be a very important institution to learn from in that case.
2. A view of literature on jajmani relations
The supposed moral economy underlying jajmani has both been
praised and criticized. Many writers such as Charles Metcalfe and
Sir Thomas Munro had inferred that a significant part of production
system of any village in past had been limited to the village itself
and its vicinity. Charles Metcalfe had even talked of Indian villages
as ‘little republics,’ autonomous and autarchic, conducting most of
their economic affairs within themselves (Srinivas, 2002). This view
was perpetuated by many other writers such as Henry Maine and
Karl Marx (Srinivas, 2002). It has however been discussed and
contradicted by other scholars who have averred that Indian vil-
lages were always part of larger civilization. Trade across villages
and regions was commonly found. Salt, sugar, iron, betel leaves,
areca nuts and tobacoo were traded across the length and breadth
of the country, the case of self-sufficiency of Indian villages had
been overstated (Srinivas, 2002).
Villagers however still met most of their needs through a local
system of production in the vicinity of a group of villages. Only for a
few items they depended on long-distance trade for meeting their
needs. And this local production system of villages was greatly
ensured, it had been claimed, in past through jajmani relations-a
network of caste relations with an obligation to meet one another
needs. The most authoritative work on jajmani has been by Wiser
(1936). For quite some time his ideas exercised a great influence
before they began to be critically evaluated by Beidelman (1959)
and Berreman (1963) and questioned by authors such as Fuller
(1989), Mayer (1993), Lerche (1993) etc.
Raymond Firth (1960)referring to Malinowski's contribution to
economic anthropology says that economic themes embedded in
social system were dealt by him not as being a separate class of
phenomenon but as something that has been constitutive of the
system itself. In the same spirit jajmani relations had been under-
stood to be constitutive of the caste system itself. But within it there
had been a class of activities which were ceremonial in nature apart
from those which were expressly economic and utilitarian. Some
scholars have given more importance to ritual and religious roles
while others have valued both economic and religious activities. The
economic aspect of functioning of jajmani was relatively neglected
before Wiser brought it out. In the foreword to ‘The Hindu Jajmani
System,’ the book by Wiser, Oscar Lewis says, ‘In focusing upon
economic aspects of the caste system, Wiser has done pioneer work;
for despite the abundant literature on caste, its economic aspects
have been relatively neglected. An awareness of the relationship
between caste and economy seems to be missing even in such a
standard book as J. H. Hutton's Caste in India (Oxford University
Press) in the revised edition of which (1951) there is no reference to
the Jajmani system or to Wiser's work (Lewis, 1936: xii).’
Wiser's work is considered a contribution to the existing body of
knowledge in that sense. It tries to outline how different groups
interact with one another in the process of production and exchange
of services. In definition of Jajmani he stresses reciprocity between
jajman and kamin (service caste person). This he finds as stabilizing
and integrating aspect of the system. Referring to Malinowski, Firth
again posits forcefully, ‘Malinowski demonstrated with great force
that a group or society does not hang together from any mystical
impulse of unity, it continues to exist because in general each person
feels that in return for what he gives to other people, he receives a
corresponding service (Firth, 1960: 218).’
Jajmani has been able to institutionalize this relationship of give
and take in most elaborate form through the idiom of caste system.
Dumont (1980) outlines the main features of jajmani as i) use of
hereditary personal relationships to express division of labour, 2)
system of prestations and counter-prestations 3) repayment is in
kind and spread over the whole year i.e. during harvest time, fes-
tivals and major family ceremonies of jajman. He adds that jajmani
relationships are usually between those who hold land and those
who do not. Those who hold land are usually the dominant castes.
They enjoy the economic power because they have the means of
production. Dumont (1980) says that ‘Dominants and dependents
live under the sway of a system of ideas in which the ‘power’ aspect
we have isolated is in fact encompassed. The essential idea, from
the present point of view, is the orientation towards the whole,
which, even if unconscious, determines the minutest attitudes
because it governs specialization and interdependence.. ........... This
view of an ordered whole, in which each is assigned his place is
fundamentally religious (Dumont, 1980: 107).’
Hierarchy is the dominant principle for Dumont around which
caste system and jajmani relations are built. For Pocock (1962)
jajmani relations pertain to religious services only but for
Dumont it has been sufficiently broadened to include religious and
non-religious services. Wiser more or less presents jajmani as a
symmetrical system. Except the lowest caste everyone gets op-
portunity to assume the roles of jajman and kamin. Brahmins are
also employed as service caste for domestic ceremonies. Harold
Gould (1987) also studied jajmani in an Uttar Pradesh4 (UP) village.
He calls it a widespread feature of the peasant village culture of
India. He says that Indian village is not unlike peasant agriculture
villages in any other part of the world. They have a group of families
who live in the midst of their farmlands. In such societies, tech-
nology is usually simple and productivity low. He also says that life
revolves around subsistence in such societies. Gould (1987) says
that the world of Indian peasants is filled with kinship values and a
major part of human life is spent within corporate family and its
extension. It in turn strengthens traditional village. Social re-
lationships are either around consanguinal or affinal ties and re-
lationships across families, castes and villages are also partly
patterned on the lines of jajmani exchanges across households, he
says. Families of clean castes are usually patrons while unclean
castes are purjans, providers of services. Landowning, wealth and
power controlling high castes provide a structurally fixed share of
their agricultural produce along with many considerations against
craft, menial and labour services (Gould, 1987). The latter absorb
the onus of ritual contamination and perform and facilitate ritual
purity of the upper caste. The relationship of a jajman to a purjan is
structured in such a manner as the relationship of father and son
and he should respect and defend his jajman (Gould, 1987). It is a
form of patron-client relationship which binds them together and
enables them to meet one another's need, a specific manifestation
of a type of social relationship found in other societies and cul-
tures.5 Gould (1987) divides all castes in jajmani system into four
4
It is a northern state in the republic of India.
5
Wolf (1966) discusses the nature of relationship between patron and client
while attempting to understand informal structures and relationships that play a
critical role in maintenance of any system. Patron plays more in tangible terms and
receives in return in intangibles. He points out that client pays back mainly in three
ways-one in form of demonstration of esteem, the other in form of information of
different sorts about others and the third in form of both promise of political
support as well as actual support. Jajmani functions broadly in similar ways. But in
jajmani clients also contribute in tangible ways i.e. by providing services or by
putting in labour.
 M. Kumar / Journal of Rural Studies 48 (2016) 1e10
categories 1) Brahmin and Thakur: Elite- Pure-apex, 2) Those
cultivating soil and practicing animal husbandry, 3) Performing
craft and craft like services and 4) Kori (weaver) and Chamar
(leatherworker and scavenger): Menial-Impure. He says that pay-
ments in jajmani are not done as they are made in any recognized
economic relations. Usually food grains are part of semi-annual
payments. Outputs of cash crops are not used for payment to ser-
vice providers. Jajmani tie is personal, face-to-face and it involves
not just rational calculations but also many unstated commitments
between families. Gould (1987) based on his study of Sherupur in
Faizabad district presents a list of following items that are made
available to purjan by jajman under the head of considerations.
These are free residence sites, free food for family, free clothing, free
food for animals, free timber, free dung, rent-free land, credit fa-
cility, opportunity for supplementary employment, free use of
tools, implements and draught animals, free use of raw materials,
free hides, free funeral pyre, casual leave, aid in litigation and va-
riety in diet. A. M. Shah (2002) discusses about Vasvaya and non-
Vasvaya village servants in Radhvanaj village in Gujarat. Those
who belonged to Vasvaya castes had a dependent status and were
brought to the village by the patron castes to provide services to
them. A few from both Vasvaya and non Vasvaya castes also pro-
vided services to the village as a collectivity and not to individual
families. He refers to Kotwal Pagi as two non Vasvaya castes.
Berreman (1963) outlines the practice of jajmani in a Himala-
yan village called Sirkanda where he did the fieldwork. In Sirkanda
the term jajmani is used to refer to exchange of ritual services
against traditional gifts paid in grain or other goods. The tradi-
tional relationship of artisan or service caste with agriculturists is
also found. Local term, which Sirkanda villagers normally use in
referring to this relationship, is called gaikh. In such a relationship
payment is made at the time of the harvest. Though it was a
permanent form of relationship but many exceptions were found
when more than one artisan family lived in the vicinity, the
amount given depends on household size, landholding of agri-
culturists and the type of services provided (Berreman, 1963). He
also mentions a third kind of traditional economic exchange in the
village. This he refers to as services being provided amongst ar-
tisans. He also found many such services being performed on
piecework or daily wage basis. Payments are made in form of
either cash or grain. In the village he did not see any significant
evidence of conflict in the system because low castes depended on
high castes for livelihoods and low castes were not sufficiently
united. He however observes that in case of ‘indifference’ or ‘in-
dependence’ shown by low castes paternalism usually proved
useful in controlling the situation.
Contrary to his main stand on jajmani Wiser also points to
asymmetrical nature of power relationship in jajmani in some
parts of his writing. He finds landownership as the single most
important source of power relationship and identifies stable
supply of labour as an important rationale for the system. Still, his
interpretation of jajmani and caste system is a benevolent one and
is usually characterized as romantic interpretation. Beidelman’s
(1959) work is a critical assessment of existing works on jajmani
since the days of publication of Wiser's book. It is however not
based on any fieldwork done by him. He criticizes Wiser for not
having grasped the inequality in distribution of power and not
figured out the exploitative side of it. He points out that ritual
aspect is secondary and politico-economic aspect is primary in
jajmani. Land according to him is the most important factor that
makes jajmani work. He compares strengths of jajman and kamin
and says that the power ultimately lies with jajman because kamin
has little bargaining power vis-a -vis jajman. He says that Wiser
interprets jajmani as a system of equal dependence between jaj-
man and kamin, that is, everybody is a master and servant and
3
does not find indication of hierarchy of castes in Wiser's reading of
jajmani or of feudalistic economy or any trace of coercive factors.
Wiser recognizes economic power as the basis of the system and
also shows kamin's dependence on jajmans, Biedelman says,
however he underplays it and sticks to an overall equal depen-
dence theory of jajmani. Biedelman considers jajman as an
exploiter and specialist as exploited. He considers that the chief
instrument of coercion, control and legitimacy is wielded by high
caste and landowning Hindus. Biedelman puts forth another
definition of jajmani as against Wiser's, ‘The jajmani system is a
feudalistic system of prescribed, hereditary obligations of pay-
ment and of occupational and ceremonial duties between two or
more specific families of different castes in the same locality
(Beidelman, 1959: 6).’Joan P. Mencher (1974) looks at caste system
and jajmani from the vantage point of untouchables. She says that
untouchables look upon it as an effective system of economic
exploitation. She adds that the traditional system kept people
lower down the hierarchy isolated so that they never united to
challenge the system. Caste system has never allowed untouch-
ables and the poor of other castes to get united for seeking im-
provements in their lives (Mencher, 1974). In a recent article
Kunnath (2009) discusses the oppressive and conflicting rela-
tionship between jajman and kamins in a village of south Bihar
that had contributed to lower-caste mobilization against the
dominant caste in 1980s.
Jens Lerche (1993) finds that articles till late 1970s mostly
validated and supported jajmani as a pan-India phenomenon
based on a structural principle of Indian civilisation. He says that
1980s onwards jajmani as a structural principle for India as a whole
has been disputed. He accounts for local, regional and contextual
variations in jajmani by his configuration of a triangular model in
which brahmanical power, kingly powers represented by regional
powers and powers by the dominant castes in villages put together
led to emergence of specific forms and processes of jajmani re-
lations in different parts of India. He says, ‘The ‘jajmani system’
category has survived the death of its root paradigm, the ‘self-
contained village republic’, primarily because it has been able to
serve many masters. This does not, however, compensate for the
fact that it is a category which clubs together several different
types of relations; relations which are locally perceived as being
different to each other, theoretically are of different substance, and
historically and regionally are of different origin (Lerche, 1993:
263).’
Recent writing such as one by Peter Mayer (1993) questions the
antiquity and universality of jajmani. He says that jajmani was
neither of great antiquity nor a pan Indian phenomenon. He argues
that jajmani system had evolved out of the practice of village ser-
vants or village menials held in common. The individuated rela-
tionship of kamin and jajman was a new phenomenon and it
emerged only in second half of nineteenth century (Mayer, 1993).
He buttresses his point based on records of similar relationships in
travelogues, court records, compilations of traditional law and
revenue records. He says that jajmani emerged out of two main
factors. One was the growing partition of jamindari and bhaichara6
villages while the other was growing pressure on landholders to
offer some incentives to retain service castes available for them.
This led to transition from the practice of keeping village servants in
common to individualization of relationships between jajman and
kamin. He goes on to conclude that the way jajmani has been
romantically described so far, it is a special kind of invented
tradition in India. In another article Fuller (1989) has criticized the
6
These villages belonged to a kin group. They were coparceners who collectively
owned and met costs of managing land.
4 M. Kumar / Journal of Rural Studies 48 (2016) 1e10
idea of jajmani as a system. The existence of property in land,7 cash
revenue payment to state8 and presence of baluta system9 have
been cited as evidences that persuade against both the concept of
jajmani system and the premises on which it is supposed to be
based upon. He argues that the idea of jajmani being a system
should be abandoned once for all (Fuller, 1989). Commander (1983)
talks about changes in jajmani but simultaneously talks about the
security of grain wage in periods of price inflation. He also talks
about some similarity across different types of jajmani due to
mythological and religious connotations and general labour
immobility till the end of 19th century. Karanth (1987) discusses
the scope of jajmani relations in face of changing times and talks as
to how adade (known by this name in Karnataka10) has acquired
new shape. David Miller (1986) in a stimulating article considers
jajmani system to be interpreted in terms of universalistic ten-
dencies which would assume different forms in different contexts.
Jajmani worked as an ideal in rural socio-economic set-up but in
practice all castes and all within any caste did not adhere to the idea
and practice of jajmani in a similar manner. In different regions
different variants and approximations to this ideal had been found
to be functioning. Locally, also different forms of jajmani relations
in a single region or village have been practiced.
Jajmani, since Wiser's fieldwork in Karimpur in 1920s, has
changed significantly. Wadley (1994) referring to changes in Kar-
impur (based on more than two and a half decades of familiarity
with the village) says that women and lower castes were subject
similarly to subordination of men and upper castes. Both were
denied “access to economic resources and to the sites of power,
constraints on physical mobility, silencing and other forms of
denying voice, as well as symbolic manifestations of domination
such as gestures of obeisance and patterns of food distribution
(Wadley, 1994: 210).”Due to greater education, reduced economic
resources amongst upper castes and political democratization the
control of upper castes and men over families have slackened. She
reports that in 60s jajmani was a very important part of the village
but by 1984 only 3 families out of 327 received primary incomes
from it. Due to fragmentation of land, families owning substantial
land had become ‘labour-rich,’ in her words, themselves and were
in no condition to maintain service castes. They were hired as and
when they were needed and paying in cash became cheaper than
paying in kind and on semi-annual basis. Many non-ritual services
are now available in nearby markets and people pay them through
cash. Some of these services are available to upper caste women
and poor in the village through jajmani ties as either they would
not access market directly or they find such services cheap in the
village (Wadley, 1994).
3. Methodology
This paper is based on an ethnographic fieldwork11 done by me
in a village called Subhanpura12 (name changed) in Kanpur Nagar
district in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. The main fieldwork
7
Different land rights in pre-colonial villages, sale and purchase of these rights
and farm produces, dealings with merchants and money lenders point to pene-
tration of social space by market thereby leaving little space for a celebrated non -
market institution such as jajmani.
8
Cash revenue payment builds pressure on farmers to sell their farm produce
thereby leaving less space for jajmani relations.
9
In baluta system servants and officials are not clients of patron households but
of an entire village or a part of it and the compensation they receive are done on
their behalf.
10
A state in South India which is part of the Union of India.
11
The fieldwork was done as part of my doctoral work at University of Delhi.
12
Names of villages and individuals have been changed to protect their identities.
in the village was done over the period September 2004 to June
2005 for doctoral study at the University of Delhi and was followed
up for one week each year till 2008. It is a multi-caste village.
Thakurs are in majority and also the dominant caste in the village.
The other main castes living in the village are nai, brahmin,
kumhar, baniah, pal, rawat, vishwakarma, kahar, mali, jamadar,
swarnakar, pasi, etc. In the village and vicinity there had also been
numerous service caste people and households who had not fol-
lowed their caste occupations and were not part of the jajmani
relations in past.
During fieldwork I cautiously ensured my independence by
remaining at equal distance from different castes as well as fac-
tions. This enabled me access information from all of them. The
ethnographic research studies actually lead to partial truths and
are constructed together by researchers, informants and re-
spondents (Clifford, 1986). This research output in that sense is a
particular reading of the village reality and has been constructed
during the course of interactions of the subjective researcher with
the field (Kumar, 2012; 2013). The case studies were prepared on
the basis of continuous interactions with individuals and mem-
bers of their households over the duration of ten months.
Anthropological facts are cross-cultural facts and they are devel-
oped by both natives and ethnographer together who are, on
many occasions, from different cultural domains (Rabinow, 1977).
I had prior experience of doing fieldwork in the same region on a
different project. It really made me understand people's per-
spectives well and report them as sincerely as possible in aca-
demic parlance. Such a long period of interaction with these
households provided opportunities to verify and triangulate in-
formation by talking to the same person many times as well as
talking to different members of the households, neighbours and
relatives. Case studies were selected to represent four different
service castes involved in jajmani. They were also selected in such
a manner to give a more nuanced view on the current state of
jajmani. The four case studies broadly capture the livelihood
portfolio of each household.
4. Jajmani relations in an Indian village
Jajmani services were made available through occupational
groups-castes. However, all service caste households in Sub-
hanpura had not been part of jajmani relations in past. It is further
supported by evidences found in a Himalyan village (Berreman,
1963) as well as in Bihar (Sahay, 1998). Based on four villages in
Bhojpur, Sahay (1998) says that not all purohits13 were brahmans
and not all low-caste people have done menial jobs. Upper caste
people have also taken up occupations meant for low-castes. In this
regard Berreman observes while referring to Sirkanda, ‘The tradi-
tional occupation of each caste may remain caste-specific, but its
members’ livelihood may depend largely or entirely on specialities
which are not restricted to a single caste. Under conditions of ne-
cessity or even convenience, many occupations are interchangeable
among low castes. Occasionally, a high caste person will perform an
artisan's work. Therefore, if an artisan quits working for a client
there are others, even outside his caste, who can and will take his
place (Berreman, 1963: 59).’
The relationship between caste and traditional occupation has
further been diluted by now. Thakurs of Subhanpura are running all
halwai shops (eatery joints) of the village. Once Laluram darji, a
practising tailor and a darji (tailor) by caste, told me that darji had
become more of a profession than has remained a caste with its
13
Priests.
 M. Kumar / Journal of Rural Studies 48 (2016) 1e10 5

exclusive monopoly over the occupation. Brahmins, thakurs and work of tailoring. Jajmani is less of a security and protection now for
muslims, all have taken up the work of cutting and stitching households still engaged in such relations. At best it is able to meet
clothes. It is highly likely that at all points in history there were only part of the cost of household needs of kamins and its contri-
substantial people who were out of jajmani ties. bution is gradually and surely declining. A few following case
For kamins, whether village servant or otherwise, who were studies of households of service caste members bring out instances
part of such relationships, it acted as a form of social security of jajmani relations in the village as well as describe the way they
notwithstanding subservience and exploitation. It used to ensure meet livelihood requirements of their households.
that the basic needs of life - food, shelter, clothing, life-cycle events
etc. were substantially taken care of by it. On many occasions
5. Case studies of service caste members engaged in jajmani
kamins used to feel exploited and also expressed their frustration
relations
with jajmans but issues remained personal and their articulation
also took mostly personal forms. Rarely were attempts made to-
5.1. Case study one
wards horizontal mobilisation of service castes over these issues in
Subhanpura. Jajmani ties in Subhanpura though considerably
Ramdeen- Case of a Mali15 who Combines Jajmani with Sale
attenuated by now follows this pattern only. Srivastava (1999)
of Flowers/Garlands, Cultivation, Selling Milk and Grains Pro-
based on a study of six gram panchayats from western, central
cured from Fair Price Shop (FPS) for Livelihoods: Ramdeen is 47
and eastern UP shares that there has been a decline in traditional
years of age and educated till seventh standard. He lives in the
relationships (including jajmani relations) in the state. Both
village with his wife and three children. He is the only living mali
labourers and landholders share that such relationships are not
in the village. His father had shifted to Subhanpura as there was
sustainable now. The pace of change is however uneven across
need of a mali in the village. He plays a very important role in the
different regions. Yet, caste remains to be an important idiom for
socio-cultural and religious life of the village. He is needed for
both mobilizing and opposing class solidarities, for struggles on
marriage, funeral and other ceremonies held in the village.
common issues people from different castes have come together
Another mali from Mahnoti village serves a few families in Sub-
(Srivastava, 1999).
hanpura. Ramdeen has two brothers and two sisters. His elder
One of the reasons Subhanpura was chosen as the village for
brother lives in a nearby village called Bhajanpura. Both his sisters
the fieldwork was that Subhanpura had both the traces of jajmani
are married. His family was given five bighas of land by panchayat
as well as the influence of market on it. It is a society and economy
because his father was landless. Now both brothers have two and a
in transition. Traces of jajmani relations in transition were found
half bigha of land each. The land is alongside the adjoining river.
in the village. In the village one could find broadly two kinds of
Land is dhuria (sandy soil) and output of crop is low. Lahi16 and
service providers. On the one hand there were some who entirely
Chana17 is the only crop grown there. This year output of chana and
lived by selling their services. On the other hand there were others
Lahi is abysmally low. He has two sons and one daughter. Daughter
who were part of both jajmani ties as well as sold their services. In
is married. One of his sons passed high school and the other is 11
Subhanpura the villagers understood by jajmani the relationship
years of age and studying. His daughter is the eldest one. His entire
of village priest with jajmans. However service castes such as
family especially his wife helps him in threading flowers with suji
vishwakarma, kahar, nai, darji etc. called it kisani meaning
(needle) for making garlands and other decorative pieces made of
servicing farmers. A lot of changes have happened in village
flowers. His wife helps him in preparing materials for hawan (of-
communities since Wiser published his work in 1936. Even at that
ferings for god of fire) in different pujas (worships) and samskars.18
point of time he had sensed the disintegration that had set in. One
His son goes out to buy flowers. His mother goes to houses of his
important reason was that village communities were gradually
jajmans assisting them on ritual occasions and other samskars. She
becoming part of the wider world and the influence of outside
also sings mangalik (auspicious) songs on such occasions. She gets
economic forces was playing an important role. This had made
her reward from jajmans in return. He has a kutcha house in the
both jajman and kamin not adhere to obligations and duties earlier
village.
being taken care of necessarily in villages. As opportunities
He also supplies flowers to households as well as beautifies
outside have become more lucrative, on many occasions, both
stage for marriage and other social or religious ceremonies in the
have succumbed to temptations emerging from the outside world.
village. He made all preparations for the Durga temple established
Besides that villages have changed internally significantly. As it
by Bhola Chouhanji in December 2004. He had also beautified the
used to be in the past not all upper caste people own land
stage for the marriage of the daughter of Chouhanji. He charged a
anymore, in fact some of them in Subhanpura had become nearly
fee of Rs 220/- for it. He receives wheat against one potli (packet) of
landless. They do not have the means to maintain jajmani ties.
flower that he supplies daily to each household he serves. When
Some of them have turned tenants to other upper caste members
asked what are his sources of cash he said that the households he
from the same village. Familial ties between jajman and kamins
serves (as part of jajmani ties) pay him in kind, while others pay
are gradually breaking down. The shortage of water for irrigation
him in cash. He also collects peesan (flour) every Monday from
in recent years has further undermined agriculture in the village
households he serves. When asked what were the sources of
thereby reducing the space for jajmani relations. The traditional
flowers he said that many times he bought flowers from a mandi in
occupation of jamadaars14 has almost become extinct in the
a nearby village. He buys flowers when farmers transport them
village.
from that village to be taken to either Sarsaul or Kanpur. During
The expansion of market, mass production, variety and low cost
Navratra the rate of flower goes up very high. Rose is sold at Rs
of mass-produced products put together has diminished the scope
180/- per kgs and genda (marigold) is sold at Rs 30e35 per kg
of jajmani ties with castes specialising in crafts. Now there are
substitutes for hunda (earthen pot); tractors have taken the place of
bullock-carts; readymade clothes have undermined the scope of 15
Mali is a caste whose traditional occupation is cultivation of flowers, mainte-
nance of gardens as well as making of garlands.
16
A type of mustard, an oilseed.
14 17
It is a service caste whose traditional occupation had been cleaning human Black gram.
18
faeces and toilets. Life-cycle rituals which act as rite de passage.
6 M. Kumar / Journal of Rural Studies 48 (2016) 1e10
during this time. Hence, supplying flowers becomes costly then. He
said that his work picks up with akhanda ramayan19, navratra20,
shahalag21, savan22, shradhdha23 and a whole lot of other pujas.
Ramdeen had earlier a white card (for the poor) but now with ef-
forts of kotedar (FPS contractor) he had been able to secure a red
card (for the poorer-antyodaya) from FPS. He said that food grains
from the ration shop and jajmani pay-outs did not meet the
requirement of foodgrains for the household. Hence he stores
wheat by buying one to two sacks during harvest season. He
maintains one cow and sells its milk. As far as loan is concerned he
mostly draws on vyavhaar but sometime on interest as well. When
he married his daughter he had to borrow an amount of Rs 10,
000/- at the rate of 2 per cent interest per month. He incurred a
total expenditure of approximately Rs 35,000/- to Rs 40,000/- in the
marriage. The house he lives in is the ancestral one. His father had
got it made. His brother lives in mamaan's house (mother's father/
brother house) reconstructed by his father. Ramdeen is a drunkard
and remains mostly high on drinks. However, he rarely buys daroo
(liquor in any form) himself. He is muhlaga (on joking terms) with a
whole lot of people in the village and therefore many people do not
mind him drink at their cost.
5.2. Case study two
Mahesh Prasad- Case of a Vishwakarma who Combines Jaj-
mani with Sale of Services and Animal Rearing for Meeting his
Household Needs: Mahesh is 35 years of age and is educated till
third standard. He lives as part of a joint family with his father and
two unmarried brothers. He does not have land and lives by using
his skills of carpentry and blacksmithery. He was in debt to the tune
of eighty-five thousands in December 2004 as he had to spend a
sum of Rs1.05 lacs when one of his brothers had broken both his
legs in an accident. His family is one of the two families of vish-
wakarmas who work on a regular basis and provide services in the
village. A few more people work for making wheels for bullock-
carts. They however do not work regularly. There is in fact not
enough work to involve all of them. There are a few bullock carts
left in the village. Besides that wooden ploughs have been replaced
by metallic ones to be attached to tractors. Only Mahesh Prasad and
one more person from the village do regular work. The other per-
son is also vishwakarma by caste and is attached to twenty-four
families as part of jajmani relationship. The brother of the other
person in fact avoids doing this work regularly as it sets him in
competition with his own brother over limited opportunities that
are available in the village. In fact, he has given up working on a
regular basis. In months of January to May there are increased
demands from farmers. This is the period when they try to earn for
almost the entire year.
Mahesh Prasad said that at some stage there were around
hundred bullock carts in the village. Now there must not be more
than 15 to 20 carts. He said that he was very hard working. He
completed both wheels of a bullock cart on the fourth day begin-
ning from the scratch. But there were not enough opportunities
available anymore. He added that this explained as to why many of
his caste men had moved out and begun taking up new vocations.
One of them has opened up a shop in a nearby village and another
one a saw mill on a road leading towards a nearby village. The third
19
Continued recitation of parts of Ramcharitmanas, considered to be a religious
text in north India.
20
A very important religious festival which lasts for nine days.
21
Marriage season.
22
A month in Hindu year which has a religious importance.
23
Death Ceremony.
one has entered into the business of selling clothes and opens stalls
in bi-weekly haat. Mahesh told me that most of the income he got
was in the form of grains. He provides services to 35 farmer
households and from each family gets 60 kgs of grains every year.
As part of this relationship he meets the maintenance and repair
needs of farming equipments of farmers. This is an important
source of sustenance for his family. Cash income from small ser-
vices is usually too small, scattered and sporadic for him. He said
that he earned at the most Rs 200 to 300 per week. Mahesh Prasad
prefers to work on contract24 than on daily wage when he is not
serving as part of jajmani relations. Mahesh is married and has
three children. One is ten to eleven year old son. He also has a twin.
They are two to three months old. Two other brothers of Mahesh
are not married. The middle one would be about 27 years old and
the youngest one 24 years old. There is a new thana-in-charge in
the local thana (police station). He is honest and upright and has
not allowed cutting of green trees in nearby villages. This has led to
shortage of wood and hence job orders for vishwakarmas have also
declined. They are therefore finding it difficult to meet even their
family needs. He has one buffalo and two goats. He has no land of
his own. He collects hariyali (green fodder) from agricultural lands
of people who are his neighbours for upkeep of his animals. He
usually gets hariyali from lands of two of his neighbours.
He said that his family condition has deteriorated in recent
times with accident of his brother. Iron rods were put in each leg. In
one leg it cost him Rs 11, 000/- and in another Rs 5000/- approxi-
mately. It took forty-five days for him to come out of the hospital.
The wound had developed abscess and hence he had to live in
hospital for another forty days. The treatment cost for the family
was about Rs 1.05 lacs. He had to arrange this sum both from his
own savings and relatives. He was fortunate for having secured the
requisite money and that too without having to pay any interest.
The time had come for the iron rod to be taken out of body. This was
to cost him another 40, 000/- rupees. At that time he was yet to
repay Rs 45, 000/- of the earlier loan. Mahesh Prasad told me that
jajmani is on decline in the village. Many younger generation nais
do not follow the practice of jajmani. Jajmans now did not pay
adequately, either in kind or cash, to take care of their family needs,
he added. He said that in coming decades traces of jajmani would
not be found in the village and labour would be completely
commodified.
5.3. Case study three
Jhunni - Case of a Potter Who Earns his Living through Jaj-
mani Services, Cultivation and Sons’ Contributions to the
Family:
Jhunni is 60 years of age and illiterate. He is kumhaar by caste
and the only kumhaar family in the village. He is not the original
inhabitant of the village and came from a village in Phatehpur
district. He was invited to come to the village and was promised
land on patta25 He has since then not been allotted any land. He also
fears that the present Pradhan26 would not let that happen, as it
would make us less dependent on pottery. They would not like to
lose us as potters, he added. It would be a significant loss to Sub-
hanpura and nearby villages. In the village he grew up he mostly
depended on farming. When he moved to Subhanpura he had been
depending more on pottery than anything else for livelihood of his
family. Now, one of his sons is earning from another source though
24
It means he charges a fee against agreed deliverables.
25
Legal title deed to a portion of land.
26
Pradhan is the head of gram panchayat, third and the lowest level of self-
goverance mechanism in India which is constitutionally recognised.
 M. Kumar / Journal of Rural Studies 48 (2016) 1e10
they get something from farming as well. He said that majority of
people paid in galla (foodgrains) to him. Apart from people from the
village, those from nearby villages and other katri (area along river)
areas buy pots from him. He has only two and a half bigha of land in
his place of birth and gets cultivation done through a bataiyya
(sharecropper).
He has five children. Four of them are sons and one daughter.
Two of Jhunni's sons are quite young. One is around 4 years old
while the other would be of 8 years. His second son Rajju had fled
from his house 10e12 years back. He had grown up in one of the
orphanages of Delhi. While I was in the village he came back to
Subhanpura after over a decade. When asked whether his children
were willing to enter the profession of making pottery products he
said that older one was not keen and had instead learnt the job of
halwai (cooking). The second one, who had come home after a
longtime, was showing interest in it. He has taken off quite a load
from Jhunni. Main pottery item that is made is ghada (a pot for
storing water). They sell it in good numbers in summer season.
Another important item is hunda (tea pot made of earth). This sells
at Rs 10/- for hundred hundas. Rajju told me one day that it was a
family vocation and the entire family remained engaged in some
work or the other. This ranges from mitti phorna (breaking earthen
balls and boulders), Chhanna (filtering), Sanna (mixing), chak cha-
lana (moving the wheel), farma banana (preparing the mould) and
matka banana (preparing pitcher). Jhunni said that they did not get
good quality mud in the vicinity and hence he had to transport it
either from Sarsaul or across the river. He however does not have to
pay for the mud. He has to pay for transport only. Bhatti (kiln) is
ignited once in one to one and a half month period. Jhunni said that
amongst 100 pitchers 15e20 usually broke down in kiln.
There is one more potter in the village. His name is Raghuram
and is related to Jhunni. He is quite old and does not work and lives
with him. Both of them have received a colony (local name given to
government sponsored houses for the poor) each as part of Indira
Awas Yojana27 Both houses are constructed on the land of gaon
samaj28 When asked about other kumhars in nearby villages he said
that they are in Bhajanpura, Jahajpur and two other villages. In
Jahajpur there is a large population of Kumhars. There are around
60 kumhar families in another nearby village but only one family
does potter's work there. Most of them had not been tied to
traditional jajmani ties as a specialised service caste.
Jhunni said that he was facing shortage of water for his work
after Visheshwar Singh stopped supplying water from his tubewell
following the conflict with the new school. He had to bring water
from cooperative society ground. Now he has got a tubewell dug at
Rs 5000/- and gets good quality water. Jhunni never took to
bataidari in Subhanpura, though he employs a bataiyya in his
original village for cultivation purpose. He said that bataiyyas were
not given good treatment in Subhanpura. However, he has most
often been treated well in the village. Even if sometime he has been
wronged, others in the village have intervened in his favour for they
fear that he would move out of the village. Jhunni has been in the
village for the last twenty years. He has a ration card, names of
family members entered in the voter list and he does not see any
possibility of his family being removed from that portion of land
where he has constructed his house. Jhunni is not educated. His
wife is also not educated. Two of his children are studying. One
27
A scheme of government which provides subsidy to construct houses to the
poor people.
28
The gaon samaj is a corporate body consisting of all the adults of the village. All
the land, whether cultivable or wasteland, except private holdings, groves, or for-
ests, are vested in the gaon samaj. All tanks, ponds, fisheries, and water channels
are vested in the gaon samaj.
7
daughter is studying in class V and one son is in class II. Now two of
his sons are going regularly for halwai work and earning Rs 50e60
per day each.
5.4. Case study four
Paiku- Case of a Jamadar Who Avoids Jajmani Ties and Lives
Through Pig-rearing, Poultry, Cultivation and Playing Musical
Instruments.
Paiku is 43 years of age and is illiterate. He is the eldest of all
brothers and sisters of Gavai's children. Gavai is jamadar by caste.
He has ten children. He did not earn enough to feed his children
adequately. Paiku had an early marriage and had eight children. He
has five sons and three daughters. Three of his children are not
educated at all. His mother had been traditionally part of jajmani
ties. She used to provide service to pregnant women, newborn
babies and women who had given birth to babies. Toilet inside the
house is a newer phenomenon in the village. There are only a few
households in the village that have toilets inside their houses. She
occasionally cleans toilets for these households. The new genera-
tion mostly avoids it as it is understood to be the cause of the im-
purity of the caste. Women of younger generation also avoid it.
There are not more than 4 to 5 women among jamadars in the
village who still undertake their traditional activities part of jaj-
mani ties. Paiku's children are not involved in this activity.
Paiku did not take the education of his children seriously. His
eldest son was married at the age 19 years. His wife died early. He
had to spend substantial amount of money for her treatment.
Thereafter, his wife also became sick and he had to spend a lot of
money to save her. His main source of earning has been pig rearing.
Pig rearing is done by jamadaars only. It is also considered defiling
work in the village. Return from pig rearing is however pretty good.
There is a cold storage nearby and all the vegetable waste that is
thrown out is used by pig-rearers for feeding their animals. While I
was in the village during fieldwork, 25 out of his 33 pigs were stolen
in one night. He could not retrieve them despite following up with
the police very closely. Of eight pigs left three were females and he
hoped that his herd will increase in size over a period of time.
During rabi season of 2004-05 he had taken around 6 bighas of
land on batai (sharecropping). Out of that he cultivated on around
three-and a half bighas of land. On this land he could procure only
5qtls.of wheat. He has a red card for public distribution system. He
earlier worked for a music band in a nearby village. He later started
developing his own team of musicians. Gradually, he purchased all
necessary musical instruments. It cost him a total of Rs. 20,000/-
Three of his sons have begun working for a musical band. They go
with the band and get Rs. 150/- per night per person. Paiku's chil-
dren are in the process of regularizing their own music band.
Poultry is another important source of cash for them. They sell
chicken at the rate of Rs.100/- per kg. and egg at the rate of 3 or 4
per piece. For purchasing books, uniforms, clothes for festivals and
for other small purchases poultry provides an important liquid
resource.
Whenever he needs money he borrows it from a thakur at the
rate of 2 per cent interest per month. He has got a pucca house
constructed in front of his original kutcha one. This was constructed
at the time of his son's marriage. Some relatives of his daughter-in-
law were government servants. With a view to honourably receive
them he got the pucca house constructed. Economic independence
has given new confidence to his children and they do not want to be
drawn into an atmosphere of subservience and subordination. He
said once that he found it difficult to contain his sons. On many
occasion, they had reacted strongly and were disrespectful to
traditional dominance enjoyed by the upper castes. Paiku once told
me that one needed to learn to bury the anger inside one's heart as
8 M. Kumar / Journal of Rural Studies 48 (2016) 1e10
ultimately they have to live in a village dominated by thakurs.
There is a lot of debate regarding changes that have happened in
the lives of dalits as well as to the extent they have been able to
extricate themselves out of the previously existing domination of
the upper castes in the villages of UP. With regard to Jatavs, Sudha
Pai (2000), on the basis of a fieldwork in four villages near Meerut
city of western UP says that education amongst dalits has a great
liberating influence. They have been able to secure better
employment opportunities due to this. She also observes positively
regarding political participation of jatavs in panchayat and their
increased ability to access government welfare expenditure. She
also talks about positive effects of the politics of Bahujan Samaj
Party on dalit's visibility and security. Jeffrey et al. (2001) have been
critical of Pai's interpretation of ground realities and find them not
sufficiently nuanced. They do not consider schooling a sufficient
condition for good employment and simultaneously do not find far
better jobs being available for them even if they migrate or
commute. Also they do not find convincing reasons to conclude that
these employment opportunities reduce their dependence on the
dominant castes. Jeffrey et al. (2001) conclude that welfare benefits
for SCs are usually little. They also mention the discrimination and
difficulties faced by lower caste/class people while negotiating with
the local state. Even while SCs are in majority at panchayat level
landed castes can go unchallenged. They can simultaneously exer-
cise some direct and indirect influence over panchayat members
(Jeffrey et al., 2001). Ciotti (2006) however sees significant in-
fluences of education on the lives of chamars in a village near
Benaras. It has liberated them from the tyranny of polluting work as
well as exploitative ideology of Hinduism. Their reinterpretation of
their past and participation in supra local politics has given
strength to them to reorganise their relationship with the domi-
nant caste in the village.
In Subhanpura, there have been significant changes in lives of
ex-untouchables. Relationship of jamadars and thakurs has
changed over the years. One example of change is Gavai who is
Paiku's father. In his private interpersonal relationship with lam-
bardars (powerful people) of the village he is ready to accept sub-
ordination and agree to do things which he will never be ready to
do publicly. On a public forum he expects to be treated respectfully
while in private space he is willing to accord respect to thakurs in
similar ways as they had been doing in the past. Through con-
struction of puuca house Paiku has made a symbolic claim to
equality. Despite these changes Thakurs still matter in local society
and politics.
Four case studies put together give a nuanced but a certain view
on the decline of jajmani. The case study on Mahesh Prasad and the
discussion on jamadars' dissociation from their traditional occupa-
tion illustrated through the case study of Paiku point to the fact that
jajmani relations are definitely on their way out. Mahesh Prasad's
caste members (including him) have lost the most of jajmani possi-
bilities as cultivation is getting mechanized. There are fewer chores
for vishwakarma caste members in rural economy. Due to this many
of them have given up their traditional occupation. There are only
two households left in the village who still do related things. Mahesh
refers to another one from his caste whose brother has given up this
work as it sets him in competition with his own brother.
The work related to pottery is also declining as many plastic and
thermocol products are taking place of traditional pots. A mud built
water storage pot is the best survivor amongst the pottery products.
This is because people have not started adopting refrigerators due
to irregularity of electricity supply. It is just a matter of time before
even such pots start disappearing. The case studies on Ramdeen
and Jhunni on a cursory look do not lead us to conclusively tell the
story of the decay of jajmani. This is because they have advantages
of being almost single practitioners (except for a few households of
Subhanpura that are being served by another mali from a nearby
village) of their occupations in the village. Despite that it is clear
from their case studies that for livelihoods they have a diversified
portfolio of earnings. Ramdeen does some cultivation, sells milk
and flowers to non-jajmani households for cash income. Jhunni gets
his land cultivated through a sharecropper and his two sons have
moved into a new occupation. Younger children are also not too
keen to follow the family's occupation in the village. Paiku sons
have set up a music band. It is clear from jamadar and nai children
also as they are not adopting traditional caste occupation.
6. Can one now depend fully on jajmani for livelihoods?
It is clear from case studies that households have a diversified
portfolio of livelihoods. This is all the more important now because
other supports which were available in past, such as loans and
other financial supports in times of emergency are disappearing.
These are secured more through non-jajmani family ties, other
relationships or market than available through the benevolence of
jajman. The moral side of the relationship has nearly evaporated. At
best it is able to meet only a part of livelihoods of household needs
of kamins (except for a small few) and its contribution is gradually
and surely declining. Tanabe (2006) attributes the decline of jaj-
mani to both the emerging domain of market as well as agency of
people based on a study of jajmani in Orissa. M. N. Srinivas writes in
this regard as follows, ‘I am convinced that this system which has
endured for over two thousand years is on its way out. I am
confident that production will become freed from jati based divi-
sion of labour, economic relations will become autonomous, and
grain payments will be replaced by cash. Indian rural society will
move, or is moving, from status to contract (Srinivas, 2003: p.457).’
Susan S. Wadley in Wiser et al. (2004) writes about Karimpur in
1984 that Brahmins had lesser land available for jajmani relation-
ships. Their political control was disappearing. Karimpur is inci-
dentally the village where Wisers had done fieldwork and on that
basis had postulated the theory of jajmani system. Referring to the
poor in 1984 she says, “ …. they too saw a loss of the old moral order
in which a Brahman landlord would feel obligated to support his
kamins in times of crisis (Wiser et al., 2004: 315).” Referring to
Karimpur in 1998 Wadley says further, “The jajmani system of
patron-client relationships has all but ended, with a few castes
providing ritual services at weddings and funerals, but with none
receiving semiannual payments (Wiser et al., 2004: 336).”
Households have started depending more on their own strate-
gies than on socially generated mechanisms such as jajmani to take
care of their needs. Intense debate on traditional forms of social
security has however ensued in academic literature. This has
happened around arguments made by Scott (1976) and Popkin
(1979). Scott talks about the existence of a moral economy of
traditional societies which takes care of basic subsistence needs of
marginal classes. To the contrary, Popkin (1979) talks about in-
efficiency and ineffectiveness of pre-capitalist forms of social ar-
rangements to offer securities and subsistence guarantees. Popkin
considers moral economy precepts grossly inadequate. He finds
household level strategies for avoiding risks to subsistence much
more effective than mechanisms existing at the social level. Feeny
(1983) also criticizes Scott's moral economy approach as he
thinks that Scott does not give adequate empirical evidence about
the prevalence of moral economy. Platteau (1999) opines that both
moral economy and political economy approaches are partial in
assessing traditional system of social security and there is
requirement of a balanced approach to look at it. One can visualize
varied combinations of egoism and altruism in traditional forms of
social securities (Platteau, 1999).
People from times immemorial have however combined both
 M. Kumar / Journal of Rural Studies 48 (2016) 1e10
collective and individual strategies for taking care of their needs. In
current times, the poor households especially from service castes
have diversified themselves away from jajmani in different activ-
ities for their livelihoods. This diversification is a deliberate risk
avoidance strategy. Sometime, it comes up as an involuntary
response to difficulties. Scott (1976) has talked about it in the case
of capital-poor (those owning little capital or no capital) people
who have to undertake diverse activities to earn basic means of
living. Diversity of sources of earning a living is a time-tested
pathway before the rural poor. Discussing livelihood possibilities
before the poor, Chambers et al. (1990, p.8) refer to the Greek
proverb ‘the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one
big thing’ to point this out. Poor need a diversified portfolio of
earnings for their living. These are practiced in the village Sub-
hanpura as well. Keeping milch animals & small ruminants such as
goats, doing cultivation and running small business etc. is part of
risk mitigation strategy at household level. This is fairly common in
dry parts of the country and is found to be working for a few
households in this village as well. A few other examples, of insuring
against risks, that are practiced here are mentioned as follows. At
the level of household food stock for as many months as possible is
stored. Ramdeen also does this for food security. These are stocked
by farmers either of their own produce or by purchasing it imme-
diately after harvest when prices are the lowest. Better-off house-
holds attempt to store for a year or even more. Risk mitigation is
also done by choosing right crops for cultivation by each household.
Those producing lahi chana in Subhanpura during rabi29 are
farmers who do not have any source of irrigation. In sowing lahi
chana one only runs the risk of wasting seeds if good harvest does
not ensue. It does not require much input cost.
Exchanges of various sorts that are found at household levels
also act as some forms of safety net. These exchanges are of money,
grains and fodder. Among the poor households money is lent on
vyavhaar (a type of exchange relationship) normally without any
interest. Grains are also borrowed from other households. It is
called deodha in the village i.e. if one borrows one sack of foodgrain
one would have to return one and a half sack of the same cereal
after harvest, the following year. There exists a relationship of
reciprocity between groups of families/households and these are
increasingly becoming independent of jajmani. The debt of having
received support from others makes individuals and households
ready to return the help if they have some surplus grain or money
to help. Even in unequal patron-client relationships that are inde-
pendent of jajmani relations both parties need one another for
protection and support. Poor value relationships with rich while
better-off value the poor up to an extent as they need their support
in their daily lives (Kumar, 2010; 2012).
At some stage in past jajmani offered security of subsistence to
kamins by associating them with agricultural households. Even
now, it does to some extent- but one cannot afford to depend
completely on prestations of jajmani. There are other opportunities
available for rural masses, as villages have got integrated more than
ever before with the wider economy and society. And those who
still tend to depend nearly fully on jajmannow risk themselves
being classified as retrograde and non-enterprising within their
communities, lazy in Subhanpura.
Jajmani is not an exciting story anymore. It was partly exploit-
ative and hence we do not rue the decline of jajmani. The new
system of globalized economy which is replacing jajmani or similar
such local economies is no less hegemonising. It is liberating us in
certain respects and hegemonising in a few others simultaneously.
At the cusp of current changes there is something valuable to learn
29
Winter crop.
9
from jajmani. We can learn from it the importance of partly inde-
pendent local/vernacular space in a globalised world which can
potentially impart an ability to the community to take care of itself
at least minimally. The future challenge of development will lie in
harmonious working of ‘local’ and ‘global’ for engendering coop-
erative, equitable and sustainable future for mankind. Therefore,
reshaping communities is as much of a requirement as terms and
conditions of its relationship with the encapsulating environment.
The experience of jajmani is relevant in that context.
7. Learning from jajmani for future
In rural India a new social order is emerging. Economy has to a
great extent got detached from the socio-religious matrix of caste
society and seeking to modify traditional working of the caste
system as well as local production scenario. The influences of
market have been deeply felt by jajmani and the related production
arrangements in rural India. Such market led changes are being felt
also by areas and societies which had been relatively isolated from
the mainland India. The example of Ladakh brought before us by
Norberg-Hodge (1991) is interesting in this regard. She rues the loss
of local autonomy & culture, mindless commodification and un-
sustainable growth path which has affected Ladakh seriously. That
is why she asks for counter development30 than more of develop-
ment which will enable people to take more informed choices
about future. Norberg-Hodge (1991) again says, ‘We need to regain
a balance between the local and the global. Even though the phrase
“think globally, act locally” is mouthed frequently these days, the
thrust of modernization is entirely in the direction of globalization.
Local cultures and economies are disappearing at an alarming rate
and taking animal and plant species with them. Finding a sus-
tainable middle path would necessarily involve active steps toward
decentralization (Norberg-Hodge, 1991: 163).’
She advocates decentralization of economy and energy and goes
up to the extent of growing food for local consumption than
growing cash crops for export. In the same vein Esteva and Prakash
(1997) and Rahnema (1997) talk about the importance of local
thinking as well as the primacy of small communities and its
control over its own lives. For them thinking locally is not neces-
sarily parochial, albeit it could provide solutions to the problems
thrown up by the global development project. Patel (2008) and
Mckibben (2007) have been critical of global food chains and
hegemonic control of local food production system by the indus-
trial agriculture of global firms in this field. Looking forward to the
possibility of a solution Gilbert Rist (1997) says, ‘The idea, then, in
spite of ‘development’, is to organize and invent new ways of life-
between modernization, with its sufferings but also some advan-
tages, and a tradition from which people may derive inspiration
while knowing that it can never be revived (Rist, 1997: 244).’
The discourse on post-development has imprints of these ideas.
Kiely (1999) and Pieterse (2000) however find post development
with its focus on ‘local’ contributing little in terms of concrete al-
ternatives as well as politics of change. Corbridge (1998) also cri-
tiques post development comprehensively while writing a review
of a few books on post-development in a short article.31 He how-
ever acknowledges post-development's contribution to fresh and
reflective thinking on development. Gibson Graham (2005, 2010)
30
She thinks it will provide informed choices to people to decide about their
future. It will provide life sustaining diversity which is locally based and also
sustainable.
31
Corbridge (1998) while doing a review of four books on post-development puts
together a brief but fairly comprehensive critique of advocacy points of post-
development though acknowledges the failures of development.
10 M. Kumar / Journal of Rural Studies 48 (2016) 1e10
however demonstrate through case studies as to how reasonably
successful practical attempts have been made towards strength-
ening of local and community economies. They talk about
strengthening community economy at a municipality level in
Philippines, emergence of a multi-sector worker owned coopera-
tive named Mondragon Cooperative Corporation (MCC) in Spain
and an alternative regional development model based on com-
munity activism around different issues. The emergence of Com-
munity Supported Agriculture (CSA) in US (Mckibben, 2007) and
village milk cooperatives constituted of people from different
castes in India are other successful examples. Keeping this in view
gram panchayats (constitutionally acknowledged local tier of
governance) in India have been encouraged to take better control
over local resources and decisions in recent past. Old structures
such as cooperatives and new ones such as producer companies
(new organizational form involving small producers) offer hope for
local economies being conceived and organized on new institu-
tional principles.
In the changing scenario there is need of learning a few things
from the past and refashioning them to develop egalitarian in-
stitutions at least for limited swaraj (self-governance) in villages.
This can enable them remain vernacular/local and partly autono-
mous while being part of the global and cosmopolitan. The impe-
rialism of some global forces which aim to take complete control of
peoples' everyday lives and resources of all communities and in-
dividuals living in them can only be countered by developing
powerful communities-communities on principles of equality,
reciprocity and autonomy of individuals belonging to them. This
requires a ‘politics of change’ which should undertake experiments
for crafting future from raw materials of past and present. For that
course of change, we can learn a few positive features such as,
reciprocity, orientation towards community and obligation for
others from jajmani while removing exploitation built in it. It could
in that case herald a new social imaginary for a better future society.
Acknowledgement
I express my gratitude to Shubhangi, Suman, Virginius Xaxa,
Tulsi Patel, Shashi, Anand and villagers of Subhanpura for helping
me in a variety of ways in conducting fieldwork and thereafter in
writing this article. Field material for this paper is drawn from my
doctoral fieldwork at the University of Delhi.
References
Berreman, G.D., 1963. Hindus of the Himalayas. ,University of California Press,
Berkeley.
Biedelman, T.O., 1959. A Comparative Analysis of the Jajmani System. J. J. Augustin
Incorporated Publisher, Locust Valley. New York.
Chambers, R., Saxena, N.C., Shah, T., 1990. To the Hands of the Poor: Water and
Trees. Westview Press, Boulder & San Francisco.
Ciotti, M., Dec. 2006. In the past we were a bit “chamar” education as a self- and
community engineering process in north India. J. R. Anthropol. Inst. 12 (4),
899e916.
Commander, S., 1983. The jajmani system in north India: an examination of its logic
and status across two centuries. Mod. Asian Stud. 17 (2), 283e311.
Corbridge, S., 1998. Beneath the pavement only soil: the poverty of post-develop-
ment. J. Dev. Stud. 34 (6), 138e148.
Clifford, J., 1986. Introduction: partial truths. In: Clifford, J., Marcus, G.E. (Eds.),
Writing Culture: the Poetics and Politics of Ethnography. University of Califor-
nia Press,Berkeley and Los Angeles.
Dumont, L., 1980. Homo Hierarchicus: the Caste System and its Implications. Chi-
cago University Press, Chicago.
Esteva, G., Prakash, M.S., 1997. From global thinking to local thinking. In:
Rahnema, M., Bawtree, V. (Eds.), The Post-Development Reader. Zed Books,
London & New Jersey.
Feeny, D., 1983. The moral or the rational Peasant? Competing hypotheses of col-
lective action. J. Asian Stud. 42 (4), 769e789.
Firth, R., 1960. The place of Malinowski in the history of economic anthropology. In:
Firth, R. (Ed.), Man and Culture: an Evaluation of the Work of Bronislaw Mali-
nowski. Routledge and Kegan, London.
Fuller, C.J., 1989. Misconceiving the grain heap: a critique of the concept of the
Indian jajmani system. In: Parry, J., Bloch, M. (Eds.), Money and the Morality of
Exchange. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Gould, H.A., 1987. The Hindi Caste System: the Sacralization of a Social Order.
Chanakya Publications, Delhi.
Graham-Gibson, J.K., 2005. Surplus possibilities: post development and community
economies. Singap. J. Trop. Geogr. 26 (1), 4e26.
Graham-Gibson, J.K., 2010. Post-development possibilities for local and regional
development. In: Pike, A., Rodriguez-Pose, A., Tomaney, J. (Eds.), Handbook of Local
and Regional Development. Routledge(Forthcoming). Retrieved January 28, 2014,
from http://www.communityeconomies.org/site/assets/media/katherine gibson/
2009-post-developmental-possibilities-for-local-regional-development.pdf.
Jeffery, R., Jeffery, C.J., Jeffery, P.M., 2001. Social and political dominance in western
UP: a response to Sudha Pai. Contributions Indian Sociol. (N.S.) 35 (2), 213e235.
Karanth, G.K., 1987. New technology and traditional rural institutions: case of jaj-
mani relations in Karnataka. Econ. Political Wkly. 22 (51), 2217e2223.
Kiely, R., 1999. The last refuge of the noble savage? A critical assessment of post-
development theory. Eur. J. Dev. Res. 2 (1), 30e55.
Kumar, M., 2010. Poverty and culture of daily life. Psychol. Dev. Soc. 22 (2), 331e359.
Kumar, M., 2012. Invoking everydayness in poverty studies in India: a note on
approach and method. Econ. Political Wkly. 47 (38), 71e81.
Kumar, M., 2013. A view of public action as collective action: evidence from an
indian village. India Rev. 12 (2), 70e91.
Kunnath, G.J., 2009. Smouldering dalit fires in Bihar, India. Dialect. Anthropol. 33,
309e325.
Lerche, J., 1993. Dominant castes, rajas, Brahmins and inter- caste exchange re-
lations in coastal Orissa: behind the facade of the jajmani system. Contribution
Indian Sociol. N. S. 27 (2), 237e266.
Lewis, O., 1936. Foreword. In: Wiser, W.H. (Ed.), 1936. The Hindu Jajmani System: a
Socio-economic System Interrelating Members of a Hindu Village Community.
Lucknow Publishing House, Lucknow.
Mayer, P., 1993. Inventing village tradition: the late 19th century origins of the north
indian jajmani system. Mod. Asian Stud. 27 (2), 357e395.
Mckibben, B., 2007. Deep Economy: Economics as if the World Mattered. OneWorld,
Oxford.
Mencher, J., 1974. The caste system upside down, or the not-so- mysterious east.
Curr. Anthropol. 15 (4), 469e493.
Miller, D., 1986. Exchange and alienation in the jajmani system. J. Anthropol. Res. 42
(4), 535e556.
Norberg-Hodge, H., 1991. Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh. Oxford University
Press, Delhi.
Pai, S., 2000. New social and political movements of dalits: a study of Meerut
district. Contributions Indian Sociol. 34 (2), 189e220.
Patel, R., 2008. Stuffed and Starved: what Lies behind the World Food Crisis. Harper
Collins Publishers, Noida.
Pieterse, J.N., 2000. After post-development. Third World Q. 21 (2), 175e191.
Platteau, Jean-Philippe, 1999. Traditional systems of social security and hunger
insurance: past achievements and modern challenges. In: Ahmad, E., Dreze,
Hills, J., Sen, A. (Eds.), Social Security in Developing Countries. Oxford University
Press, Oxford.
Pocock, D.F., 1962. Notes on jajmani relationships. Contrib. Ind. Sociol. 78e95,
6(Dec.).
Popkin, S.L., 1979. The Rational Peasant: the Political Economy of Rural Society in
Vietnam. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles.
Rabinow, P., 1977. Reflections on Fieldwork in Morocco. University of California,
Berkeley.
Rahnema, M., 1997. Towards post-development: searching for signposts, a new
language and new paradigms. In: Rahnema, M., Bawtree, V. (Eds.), The Post-
Development Reader. Zed Books, London & New Jersey.
Rist, G., 1997. The History of Development: from Western Origins to Global Faith.
Zed Books, London.
Sahay, G.R., 1998. Caste system in contemporary rural Bihar: a study of selected
villages. Sociol. Bull. 47 (2), 207e220.
Scott, J.C., 1976. The Moral Economy of the Peasants: Rebellion and Subsistence in
Southeast Asia. Yale University Press, New Haven and London.
Shah, A.M., 2002. Exploring India's Rural Past: a Gujarat Village in the Early Nine-
teenth Century. Oxford University Press, New Delhi.
Srinivas, M.N., 2002. Collected Essays. Oxford University Press, New Delhi.
Srinivas, M.N., 2003. An obituary on caste as a system. Econ. Political Wkly. 38 (5),
455e459.
Srivastava, R.S., 1999. Rural labour in Uttar Pradesh: emerging features of subsis-
tence, contradiction and resistance. J. Peasant Stud. 26 (2e3), 263e315.
Tanabe, A., 2006. Recast(e)ing Identity: transformation of Inter-caste Relationships
in Post-colonial Rural Orissa. Mod. Asian Stud. 40 (3), 761e796.
Wadley, S.S., 1994. Struggling with Destiny in Karimpur, 1925-1984. University of
California Press, Berkeley.
Wiser, W.H., 1936. The Hindu Jajmani System: a Socio-economic System Inter-
relating Members of a Hindu Village Community. Lucknow Publishing House,
Lucknow.
Wiser, W.H., Wiser, C., with Chapters by Wadley, S.S., 2004. Behind Mud Walls:
Seventy-five Years in a North Indian Village. Chronicle Books, New Delhi.
Wolf, E.R., Kinship, 1966. Friendship and patron-client relations in complex soci-
eties. In: Banton, M. (Ed.), The Social Anthropology of Complex Societies.
Tavistock Publications, London.