What traumatic event does Zitkala-Sa describe at the school?

The forcible cutting of her long hair

Why was the cutting of her hair so humiliating to Zitkala-Sa?

Among her people, shingled hair was worn by cowards and mourners

Distinguish between varna and jati.

Varna is a broad four-fold all-India classification of society; jati is a regional or local sub-classification involving hundreds of castes and sub-castes that vary from region to region.

List the main defining features of caste in the past.

Determined by birth, endogamous marriage, rules about food-sharing, hierarchical ranking, segmental sub-divisions, and traditional links to hereditary occupations.

On what principle is the caste hierarchy ordered?

On the distinction between purity and pollution — castes considered ritually pure rank high, while those considered impure rank low.

What changes did colonialism bring about in the caste system?

Through surveys and the census it recorded and ranked castes, making fluid identities rigid, and the 1935 Act created the official categories of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

What is sanskritisation?

A process by which a lower caste, tribe or group raises its social position by taking over the customs, rituals, beliefs and lifestyle of a higher, 'twice-born' caste.

Explain the concept of dominant caste.

A caste that is numerically large and was granted land rights after Independence, giving it economic and political power to dominate regional society and politics.

Why has caste become 'invisible' for the upper castes but 'visible' for the disadvantaged?

Privileged upper castes no longer notice caste because their advantages are entrenched, while the disadvantaged depend on caste identity for collective assets like reservation.

How have tribes traditionally been defined and classified?

Defined largely by what they lacked (a text-based religion, state or sharp classes) and classified by permanent traits (region, language, race, habitat) and acquired traits (livelihood, assimilation).

Why has national development often harmed tribal communities?

Because dams, mines and factories were built in mineral-rich and forested tribal areas, dispossessing tribals of their land and forests and bringing in non-tribal migrants.

Explain the difference between matriliny and matriarchy.

Matriliny means inheritance and descent pass through the mother's line, but matriarchy — actual rule by women — has no historical or anthropological evidence, unlike matrilineal societies which do exist.

Social Institutions: Continuity and Change

Class 12 Sociology · Indian Society · Chapter 3

163 members in the CBSE community

View all

CBSE Class 12 · Sociology

Ch 2, 3, 5, 6: the four examined chapters

Marks booster + cheatsheet: key concepts in 2 lines each, common traps
10 marks for each of the four chapters
Demography formulas for Ch 2
Sex-ratio and age tables from the book
10 must-know facts with a self-check
Common traps, corrected

Page 1 free about 8 min read, Full kit about 55 min read

₹159See the full kit

CBSE Class 12 · Sociology

Five examined chapters, 2025 Qs mapped

Marks booster + cheatsheet: most-asked concepts in 2 lines each
10 marks each: Units 11, 12 and 15
5 marks each: Units 8 and 9
4 processes of cultural change, in a table
Land reforms table, Chapter 4
Types of social movements, in one table

Page 1 free about 8 min read, Full kit about 55 min read

₹159See the full kit

View all 46 amazing Marks Booster kits →

This chapter examines three institutions central to Indian society — caste, tribe and family. Caste, derived from the Portuguese casta, refers to the institution expressed in Indian languages by the terms varna (a four-fold all-India classification) and jati (regional sub-classifications running into hundreds). Caste in the past was determined by birth, endogamous, tied to rules of food-sharing and occupation, and arranged hierarchically on the principle of purity and pollution. Colonialism reshaped caste — through surveys, the census (notably Risley's 1901 Census) and the schedules of the 1935 Act that produced the terms Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes — making fluid identities more rigid. In independent India caste persists strongly in marriage and politics; concepts like M.N. Srinivas' 'sanskritisation' and 'dominant caste' explain its changing forms, while caste has become 'invisible' for privileged upper castes but all too 'visible' for the disadvantaged. Tribes are communities defined largely by what they were not — without a written-text religion, state or sharp class divisions — and classified by permanent traits (region, language, race, habitat) and acquired traits (livelihood, assimilation into Hindu society). National development has often dispossessed tribals, and tribal identity today is shaped by resistance and an emerging middle class. The family, finally, can be nuclear or extended, matrilineal or patrilineal, matrilocal or patrilocal; matriliny exists but matriarchy does not, and family forms change with wider social and economic change.

Key terms

Varna

The four-fold all-India classification of society into brahmana, kshatriya, vaishya and shudra.

Jati

Regional and local sub-classifications of caste, numbering in the hundreds or thousands.

Endogamy

The rule of marrying only within one's own caste or group.

Sanskritisation

M.N. Srinivas' term for a lower caste raising its status by adopting upper-caste customs.

Dominant caste

A numerically large, land-owning caste with economic and political power in a region.

Matriliny

A system in which descent and inheritance pass through the mother's line.

Try one from this chapter

The English word 'caste' is borrowed from the Portuguese word casta meaning:

Flashcards & interactive practice

Social Institutions: Continuity and Change

163 members in the CBSE community

Summary

Key terms

Extra questions & answers

Practice quiz · Social Institutions: Continuity and Change

Data & insights