Agrarian Society:
Bihar, India
Rabiya Jawahir, Nikita Peoples,
Frederick Cave, Nicole McClain,
John Rigdon, Kathy Herington, Stephanie Murad,
Agrarian Societies Overview
Based on farming as main method of
subsistence
 Use of the plow distinguishes this type
from horticultural societies
 Advanced agrarian societies have
widespread access to iron/steel tools
 There is significant specialization of labor
in both regions and communities

Agrarian Societies Cont.
There is often a governing elite that
controls both the political and the
economic aspects of life
 Trade is increasingly important
 Nearly every society was once ruled by a
king or other monarch
 Military conflict is much more common

Agrarian Societies Cont.
Religion also plays a much more important
role
 Construction of major architectural works
is more common—specifically temples and
shrines
 Advancement of leisure and arts
 Further stratification of the social classes

Geography
Upper northeast corner of
India, right before it gets
squeezed between Bhutan
and Bangladesh.
 Many important rivers pass
through Bihar.
 In the southern foothills of
the Himalaya Mountain
Range, touching Nepal.

Bihar is the tan state within
the red shape.
Indo-Gangetic Plain
One of the most
notable features of
Bihar is its location in
the Indo-Gangetic
Plain.
 This plain is very
fertile, making it ideal
for an agrarian
society.

Population and Land
Bihar has a population of 82,878,796
 It is a majority male population(52.6%)
 The total area of land is 94,163 sq. km
 This is divided into two main regions: the
North Ganga Plain and the South Ganga
Plain
 Further divided there are 37 districts
 Capital city is Patna

Population and Other
Statistics
Per capita income is Rs 21,696—this is
$538.50
 Density: 880 people per sq. mile
 Birth rate: 30.9 per 1000
 Death rate: 7.9 per 1000
 Population grew 28.4% from 1991-2001

Economy
Bihar lags behind in the overall progress of India.
 Per capita GDP: Rs. 4000 per month in Bihar vs.
national average of Rs.12000 per month.
 Nearly 10% more people living below the
poverty line than the average for India
Reasons for slow development
 Inadequate investment in infrastructure,
irrigation, and technology
 Caste dominated politics
Economy: Agriculture


2 crop seasons: Kharif
& Rabi
Major crops:
–
–
–
–
–

Rice
Sugar
Tobacco
Wheat
Jute
Other minor crops:
– Chilli
– Mango
– Oil Seeds
Economy: Agriculture
Economy: Mineral Production
Very little due to the division of southern
Bihar into the separate state of Jharkhand
 Most mineral production takes place in
Jharkhand
 Some Minerals Produced

– Coal
– Bauxite
– Dolomite
Economy: Mineral Production
Economy: Attempts at
Industrialization
Oil refinery in Barauni
 Motor scooter plant at
Fatuha
 Power plant at
Muzaffarpur
 No sustained efforts

Polity

Bicameral Legislature
– Upper-house Legislative Council
– Lower-house Legislative Assembly

Governor appointed by president of India
– Head of state





Real executive power rests with Chief Minister
7 administrative divisions and 39 divisions
Each division has a divisional commissioner
District magistrate and collector in each
division
Sub divisional officer in each of the 76
subdivisions
Polity (cont’d)

High court at Patna
– Chief justice and several other justices
– District courts and sub divisional courts, and village
councils

Currently 2 main political formations
– NDA
 Janata Dal and Bharatiya Janata Party
– Rashtriya Janata Dal
 Indian National Congress
Past Polity

1995 – Lalu Prasad Yadav became chief minister
– Corruption charges forced his resignation but
anointed his wife CM through proxy
– Led to deterioration of administration
– Voted out of power in 2005

Recent elections
– Have witnessed unprecedented deployment of
security forces
– Varying views on success of such force
Kinship: 3 Kinship Groups







Ahirs
Endogamous/ exogamous clans
Marriages arranged
Marriage of first cousins prohibited
Wed at time of marriage
Bride moves into household of husband’s family
Extended family
Divorce allowed but requires approval of the
caste’s council
Mundas
Endogamous/Exogamous
 Don’t marry before the boy can build a
plow and the girl can weave and spin
 Marriages negotiated and depend on
consent of involved parties
 Bride-price paid in both cash and goods
 Take up residence in husband’s fathers
house
 Nuclear family preferred

Oraons
Village and clan exogamy
 Patrilineal extended family
 5-7 members
 Arranged marriages most common
 Bride price paid
 Divorce rare as marriage is seen as
lifelong undertaking

Social Stratification: Bihar’s Caste System


India’s Caste System: describes the social stratification and social
restrictions in society, “in which social classes are defined by
thousands of endogamous hereditary groups, often termed as jātis
or castes”.
“The Indian Constitution has outlawed caste-based discrimination,
and caste barriers have mostly broken down in large cities.
However, it still persist in rural areas of the country, and in various
forms, does continue to play a major role in Indian society and
politics”.
Dominant Castes of Bihar

Different Castes: Brahman, Bhumihar, Rajput,
Banias and Kayastha are the dominant castes

Kayasthas and Banias are the two important
caste groups in the cities and towns.

The Brahmans and Kshatriyas belong to the
same racial stock, but the Kshatriyas “are more
mixed because of their marriage with various
stocks of people”.

The Kayasthas are prominent in all modern professional
occupations and are generally given the status of elite
castes.

The Banias predominate in trade and commerce.

Bhumihars are regarded as a caste different from the
Brahmans and Rajputs. However members of all these
caste groups have occupied prominent positions in the
educational and political life of the state.
Kayasthas
Banias
Bhumihars, Rajputs or
Brahmans
Lower Castes of Bihar

The lower castes consist of the Koiri,
Kurmi, Kahar, and the Ahir

There are many Caste rivalries and
prejudices because of narrow-mindedness;
however, modern day education systems
and efforts the enlightened youth, “are
gradually doing away with the prejudices”.

The Ahirs (Yadavas), Kurmis and Koiris are land-owning castes, and
they live in the plains of Bihar.

The Ahirs or Yadavas are agricultural caste. Cattle-raising is their
hereditary occupation, and most are settled cultivators. Some still
roam about selling milk and ghee.

Koiris are agriculturists. They are distinguished from Kurmis and
other purely cultivating castes by their skill in growing vegetables
and other special cash crops. They work as market-gardeners in the
neighborhoods of the big towns. Many Koiris are rich land owners
that still hold occupancy rights.
Ahirs = raise cattle
Koiris
Most notable castes of Bihar

The most notable castes are Bhumij, Chamar (Mochi),
Dhobi, Dom, Dusadh, Musahar, Nat and Pasi.

Their means of livelihood is hard manual labor or menial
labor.

About 92 percent of the total population of these castes
lives in the village while those in the towns and cities are
slum-dwellers who work on pavements (much like our
homeless). Although education is free for them, the vast
majority of them still illiterate.



The Musahars are field laborers whose wages are paid in
cash or in kind according to the traditional custom in the
villages.
The Dusadhs are of aboriginal descent. A large number
of them serve as watchmen. They are also employed as
village messengers, grooms, elephant drivers and wood
cutters and porters.
The Dhanuks are servant class found in every place
where there are high caste Hindus. They perform menial
household duties along with their family. Some Dhanuks
are also cultivators while the females act as maid
servants.
Musahars
Dusadhs
Dhanuks
Caste System Today





Prejudice against the lower castes is gradually
disappearing in Bihar.
In the country districts, the influence of Zamindar (land
lords) families is still considerable, but their influence is
based more on their position as landlords than as
persons of title.
The middle class is made up of professionals that for the
most part have done away with caste prejudices.
Marriage is somewhat different: though inter-caste
marriages are now relatively common in India, many
Indians still consider caste a major criterion for
matrimonial choices.
Biharis still prefer to go in for arranged marriages in their
own community and caste.
Ideology: Three Main
Religions in Bihar
Hinduism
 Buddhism
 Jainism

Ideology: Hinduism
The third largest religion in the world with
diverse sects.
 Five Basic Tenets:

– Dharma (ethics or duties)
– Samsara (the continuing cycle of rebirth)
– Karma (action and reaction)
– Moksha (liberation from samsara)
– Yogas (paths or practices)
Ideology: Buddhism

Governed by the teachings of Siddhartha
Gautama known as Buddha
– Rebirth
– Karma
– The Four Noble Truths





There
There
There
There
is
is
is
is
suffering
a cause of suffering
the cessation of suffering
a way leading to the cessation of suffering
Often described as a way of life instead of a
religion.
Ideology: Jainism
Founded in the 6th century B.C. in ancient
Bihar.
 Three main tenets:

– Ahimsa (non- violence): Towards both humans and
animals. Leads to the propagation of vegetarianism
– Aparigraha (non- attachment): Freeing the soul
through the disregard of material objects.
– Anekantwad (relativity): No absolute truth. Everything
is possible.
Education: History
Historically Bihar has been a major center
of learning
 Originated from the time of Buddha or
even earlier
 Home of one of the earliest universities,
Nalanda, which dates back to the 5th
century
 Vikramshia, which is another university is
located there as well

Education: History
 During
medieval period, education
was lost
 Believed that marauding armies of
the invaders destroyed the
centers of learning
Education

During 1970s and 1980s government
took control over private schools
 Because government was ill-equipped
the standards of the schools began to fall
 However, government did not take over
schools ran by Christian missionaries,
and these schools still provided quality
education
Education



Central government runs a
number of Kendriya
Vidyalayas (Central Schools)
Jawahar Navodaya Schools
were made by the late Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi for
rural children
Have been successful in
providing quality education
to the weaker sections of the
society
Education
Modern Bihar has an inadequate educational
infrastructure which places a huge impact
between supply and demand
 The growing population has made the situation
even worse, and has led to a “flooding” of the
student population to other states in order to
obtain a better education
 Only 51% of the children enrolled in primary
school actually attend, 59% of those who do
attend do not have textbooks, and 13% of the
children in Bihar are not enrolled at all.

Education





Has an overall literacy of 47.53%
Male literacy rate of 60.32%
Female literacy rate of 33.57%
Only 21% of all primary school teachers have
completed the matriculation
Because of the law of affirmative action that
reserves jobs and education for people of
backward classes, students from Bihar are
performing well in respect to better economically
well off states in India
Status of Women
Women in Bihar are subjected to following
a system called Purdah, and it is almost as
oppressive as the Taliban era in
Afghanistan.
 88% of girls marry before age 17 - despite
the fact that national law says women
cannot marry before the age 18.

Purdah System
Purdah literally means "curtain"
 Reaches across Hindu and Muslim lines.
 Women must be covered in public.
 Women cannot travel without their
husbands' permission.
 Most women can only associate with
family members, or those approved by the
family.
 Often, men even do the shopping so that
women do not need to go out in public
unaccompanied.

Status of Women
Women must
have a dowry
before they get
married.
 A woman's
possessions go to
her husband, and
then upon her
death, to her
children.

•A woman in Bihar
has very few
possessions, usually
no education, and
very little autonomy.
Culture of Bihar: Festivals

Chhath
– Worship of the Sun
God

Teej
– Worship of Goddess
Parvati
Bihar: Music

Folksongs dealing
with everyday life
– sohar - performed
during childbirth
– sumangali - associated
with wedding
– ropnigeet - performed
during the season of
sowing paddy
– katnigeet - performed
during the paddy
harvesting season
Question 1

What does the word purdah mean?
a) closed
b) curtain
c) cut-off
d) woman
e) wicked
Question 2

Although India is making all efforts to do
away with caste-discriminations, in which
parts of India does caste discrimination
still play a major role in society and
politics?
a)
b)
c)
d)
Towns
cities
urban areas
rural areas
Question 3

Compared to the rest of India
economically, Bihar is
a) Progressing at the same rate
b) Lagging behind
c) Advancing more quickly
Question 4

Which of the following religions originated
in ancient Bihar 6th Century BC?
a) Hinduism
b) Jainism
c) Islam
Question 5

What is the festival of Chhath for?
a) Worship of Goddess Parvati
b) Worship of the God of the Sun
c) Celebration of a good harvest
Works Cited
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_caste_system
http://www.country-studies.com/india/veiling-and-the-seclusion-ofwomen.html
http://orion.oac.uci.edu/~pranjan/bihar.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bihar
http://www.bihar.org.in/economy/
“Bihar.” Encyclopedia Britannica.
Nolan, Patrick. Human Societies. Paradigm Publishers. Boulder, CO. 2004
http://www.webindia123.com/bihar
http://gov.bih.nic.in/Profile/CensusStats-01.htm
http://www.infochangeindia.org/bookandreportsst96.jsp
http://www.newkerala.com/states-of-india/bihar.php