Indian Social Structure

Urban societies are often described as ideal or modern societies in sociological discourse due to their complexity, infrastructure, and access to services.

Indian society is historically and sociologically characterized as patriarchal, where authority and lineage are traditionally traced through the male line.

Women in India face a lot of obstacles in their Social, Economic and Political life. This is also due to the feudal traditions and mindset of the people. The government is working towards measures for equality and is adopting various programs for the same.

Khonds are an ethnic indigenous tribal people of India. They are a designated Scheduled Tribe in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and West Bengal. Traditionally hunter-gatherers, they are divided into the hill-dwelling Khonds and plain-dwelling Khonds for census purposes; all the Khonds identify by their clan and usually hold large tracts of fertile land but still practise hunting, gathering and slash and burn agriculture in the forests as a symbol of their connection to and ownership of the forest. The Khonds speak the Kui language.

The Munda Tribe, residing in the Chota Nagpur Plateau in Jharkhand, adjacent parts of Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal and the hill districts of Odisha, is thought to have evolved from the South East Asia. Munda tribes are one of the largest Tribes of India, but have been divided into several sub groups such as Patar, Mahali, Kampat Munda, etc.

Baigas forest community of central India sent a petition against stopping of shifting cultivation in 1892 because the communities were forcibly displaced from their homes in the forests.

The Khonds are divided into clans like Hansa, Beck, Hembram, Bedia, etc. The Khond tribe originates from Odisha and is usually found in Bihar. They are mainly hunters who do collective hunting.

Today foreigner means a person who is not an Indian. In medieval period a foreigner was considered as someone who does not belong to that society or culture, a city-dweller or a forest-dweller.

Society became differentiated and people were grouped into jatis or sub-castes and ranked on the basis of their backgrounds and their occupations. Ranks were not fixed permanently and varied according to the power, influence and resource controlled by members of the jati. The status of the same jati could vary from area to area.

In the context of British colonial administration in India, the term Ryots refers to the peasants or cultivators who worked the land.

Caste distinction or caste discrimination is a process that involves dividing people into social groups known as castes mostly by birth, profession, and personality. It divides the society into four major parts. Caste system resulted in lots of discrimination and exploitation of lower caste people. The caste distinction is an evil of our society.

There are some traditions and customs that are not desirable. They are not beneficial for our society such as caste distinction, inequality and untouchability. Constitution of Independent India abolished the custom of untouchability. its inhuman and unjust custom.

Laws have to be made to abolish unjust custom. In our country, customs such as sati and child marriage and dowry were abolished by making laws that banned them. The law that banned the use of cheating people was first enacted in Maharashtra.