Social Conditions in 18^th Century

• Social life and culture in the 18^th century were marked by stagnation and dependence on the past.

• There was, of course, no uniformity of culture and social patterns all over the country. Nor did all Hindus and all Muslims form two distinct societies.

• People were divided by religion, region, tribe, language, and caste.

• Moreover, the social life and culture of the upper classes, who formed a tiny minority of the total population, was in many respects different from the life and culture of the lower classes.

Hindu

• Caste was the central feature of the social life of the Hindus.

• Apart from the four vanes, Hindus were divided into numerous castes (Jatis), which differed in their nature from place to place.

• The caste system rigidly divided people and permanently fixed their place in the social scale.

• The higher castes, headed by the Brahmins, monopolized all social prestige and privileges.

• Caste rules were extremely rigid. Inter-caste marriages were forbidden.

• There were restrictions on inter-dining among members of different castes.

• In some cases, persons belonging to higher castes would not take food touched by persons of the lower castes.

• Castes often determined' the choice of ' profession, though exceptions did occur. Caste regulations were strictly enforced by caste councils and panchayats and caste chiefs through fines, penances (prayaschitya) and expulsion from the caste.

• Caste was a major divisive force and element of disintegration in India of 18^th century.

Muslim

• Muslims were no less divided by considerations of caste, race, tribe, and status, even though their religion enjoined social equality.

• The Shia and Sunni (two sects of Muslim religion) nobles were sometimes at loggerheads on account of their religious differences.

• The Irani, Afghan, Turani, and Hindustani Muslim nobles, and officials often stood apart from each other.

• A large number of Hindus converted to Islam carried their caste into the new religion and observed its distinctions, though not as rigidly as before.

• Moreover, the sharif Muslims consisting of nobles, scholars, priests, and army officers, looked down upon the ajlaf Muslims or the lower class Muslims in a manner similar to that adopted by the higher caste Hindus towards the lower caste Hindus.