AGRARIAN RELATIONS 43
It is clear from previous studies that the institution of caste is undergoing fundamental changes associated in general with modernization. But "while it is relatively easy to delineate the factors which can be expected to shape the role of caste in future, it is much more difficult to assess the manner in which these factors will bear upon the actual functioning of the caste system."2 Some scholars thought that the caste system was on the way out while others maintained that as the pollution aspect of the system has already weakened it is becoming weaker in other respects also. On the contrary, the caste system has shown a tremendous capacity for adjustment to new conditions. Caste consciousness is absolute and expresses itself in many ways. An attempt is made here to study the agrarian structure of a village in West Bengal where caste sentiments are getting strengthened even in circumstances in which rural economy is undergoing a change.
The Case Study
The study was conducted in Sunia, a multi-ethnic village of moderate size in the western part of Hooglily district in West Bengal. It is situated approximately seven miles south-west' of Arambagh town, under the Gohat police station. The ethnic composition of 198 households in the village at the time of inquiry was as follows: Sadgope, 80; Bagdi, 36; Santal, 26; Duley, 20;
Brahman, 15; Muchi, 14; Napit, five; Kolu, two, and Gandhaba-nik, one. Of these, 44.52 percent of the households belonged to the scheduled castes and tribes.
Agriculture is the main source of livelihood of the people of Sunia. Each family, according to their ownership rights and participation in agricultural occupation, is more or less a distinct part of the agrarian structure. Besides the contemporary flexibility in the various caste-free occupations, the villagers participate in agriculture directly or indirectly. But traditional avocations as a secondary means of earning do not alter the ritually differentiated endogamous groups or the ordered relations. Therefore, in the economic sphere now when agriculture is free from any rigid nexus of caste occupations, the traditional vocations of caste help or force to keep the homogeneity of the various occupational groups as well as the traditional feeling of superordination or subordination. These represent the synthetic nature of economic gradation where the role of caste is very significant in maintaining or safeguarding socio-economic power.
As stated earlier, land is the most important means of production of the people of the village. There are enormous