Prabodh An International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Volume:1Issue:1January2014 PublishedBy:UniversitySchoolofEducation DeshBhagatUniversity,MandiGobindgarh-147301,Punjab,INDIA www.deshbhagatuniversity.in Email:[email protected]WAY TO SUCCESS Take up one idea, Make that one idea your life-think of it, dream of it, live on it. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success. ISSN No. 2349-0179
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P r a b o d hAn International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
Take up one idea, Make that one idea your life-think of it, dream of it, live on it. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.
ISSN No. 2349-0179
Prabhod An International Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences
CHIEF PATRONSCHIEF PATRONSCHIEF PATRONS
Dr. Zora SinghChancellor, Desh Bhagat University
PATRONSPATRONSPATRONS
Dr. S.S. ChahalVice Chancellor,Desh Bhagat University
Dr. Shalini GuptaPro-Vice Chancellor,Desh Bhagat University
Dr. Surjeet PathejaDirectorUniversity School of EducationDesh Bhagat University
An International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
Prabodh : An International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences is a Bi-annual journal published in June and December by Desh Bhagat University, Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab. The main objective of the journal is to provide an intellectual platform for the national and international scholars. The journal aims to promote interdisciplinary studies in humanities and social sciences.
The journal publishes research papers in the fields of humanities and social sciences such as anthropology, communication studies, economics, education, ethics, geography, history, literature, information science, international relations, linguistics, philosophy, political science, population studies, psychology, public administration, sociology, social welfare, linguistics, performing arts (music, theatre & dance), religious studies, women studies and so on. It publishes original papers, review papers, conceptual framework, analytical and simulation models, case studies, empirical research, technical notes, and book reviews. Special Issues devoted to important topics in humanities and social science will occasionally be published.
Prabodh is a refereed and registered journal with ISSN No 2349-0179. Editorial Advisory Board's decision on a typescript will be conveyed within two months from the date of receipt. Article not accepted for publication will be returned only if accompanied by a stamped self addressed envelope. Manuscripts of articles offered for publication should be about 4000 words and should be sent in hard copy as well as in soft copy to the under mentioned address, along with a certificate regarding the originality and the non-publication of the paper. They must conform to the latest M.L.A. style sheet (for Humanities) and APA Style sheet (for Social Sciences). They should be neatly typed in double space with a margin of at least one and half inches on one side of paper. The author's name and the institutional address should be mentioned on the title sheet of the article only. For review two copies of the manuscript-one for reference and one for the reviewer. Address for Postal Correspondence : For subscription / contribution / advertisement / book reviews contact or write to –
Dr. Mejar Singh Dr. Kaptan Singh Dr. Ashwani Kumar
Review Editors
Prof. Nahar Singh, (Panjab University, Chandigarh)
Dr. Gurminder Sokhey (Punjabi University, Patiala)
Prof. Sherry Sabbharwal (Panjab University, Chandigarh)
Dr. Sumitra Kukretti (Rohailkhand University, Bareilly)
Dr. Satyapal Sehgal (Panjab University, Chandigarh)
Dr. Renu Thakur (Panjab University, Chandigarh)
Dr. R.S. Yadav (Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra)
Advisory Board
Dr. Neelam Rattan (California)
Dr. Y. Kaburagi (Osaka University of Commerce, Japan)
Dr. Genady Shlomper (Telaviv University, Israel)
Prof. Mann Singh Dhindsa (Punjabi University, Patiala)
Dr. Harpreet Kaur, (Punjabi University, Patiala)
Prof. Rajesh Gill, (Panjab University, Chandigarh)
Prof. Laxman Thakur, (Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla)
Dr. Neeraj Jain, (Panjab University, Chandigarh)
Prof. S. Z. H. Abidi, (University of Lucknow)
Prof. I. S. Sethi, (Desh Bhagat University, Mandi Gobindgarh)
CONTENTS
1. The Implication of the Data in the Rabatak Inscription of Kanishka-I on the extent of the Kushana Empire - The Recent Findings .......................................................... 1.
- Dr. Ashwani Kumar
2. Paterns of Isolation in Indian Diasporic Writing .................................................. 8. - Dr. Kaptan Singh
3. Administrative Views of Manu and Kautilya: A Study of Their Contemporary Relevance ............................................................................................................ 13.
- Dr. Mohinder Kaur
th th4. Socio-Economic Status of Women in the 19 and 20 Century in Ladakh. ......... 21.� � � � � � � - Sameena Iqbal
5. Diminishing Cultural Identity of Displaced Kashmiris ....................................... 27. - Dr. Sangeeta
6. Adolescent Problem Behaviour: Role Of Family Cohesion ............................... 31. - Dr. Bikramjeet Singh
THE IMPLICATION OF THE DATA IN THE RABATAK INSCRIPTION OF KANISHKA-I ON THE EXTENT OF THE KUSHANA EMPIRE-
THE RECENT FINDINGS
*Dr. Ashwani Kumar
An inscription on a stone slab was discovered from Rabatak (Baghlan, Afghanistan) st
in 1993. It belongs to the I century CE and was issued by the Kushana king Kanishka-I.
The inscription has been edited by N. Sims-Williams of the School of Oriental and African Studies. Several scholars like Joe Cribb, B.N. Mukherjee and N. Simms Williams himself have interpreted the data contained in the inscription.
The inscription is in Bactrian language and contains the data regarding the genealogy of the Kushanas, names of Greek and Indian gods and goddesses and names of certain provinces, cities and regions under Kanishka-I and so on.
The present paper deals with the cities and regions mentioned in the inscription. Kanishka-I is referred to issuing orders to the governors or rulers of the provinces and the heads of the cities. The areas mentioned in the inscription are Koonadeano, Ozene, Kozambo, Zageda, palabotaro and Ziri-Tambo. These regions are nowhere mentioned by Kujula and V'ima Kadphises while Kanishka-I is mentioning them in the year one of his reign.
When we go through the data and analyze it, certain questions arise like whether Kanishka-I got these territories in inheritance or they were actually conquered by him? The question here is not of the conquest but is of the time as the inscription bears the date of the year one as mentioned earlier. Is it possible for a ruler to conquer the above mentioned regions situated in the different parts of the country within one year?
Before discussing the regions mentioned in the inscription let us discuss in brief about the empire which Kanishka-I got from his ancestors in inheritance. Starting with Kujula Kadaphises, we have the references in the Hou Han-shu that Ch'iu-Ch'iu- Ch'ueh or Kujula Kadphises made himself master of the rest of Ta-hia and invaded An-hsi, took away
1the country of Kao-fu and moreover destroyed P'u-ta and Chi-pin.” The statement of Hou Han-shu makes it clear that Kujula Kadphises conquered Kao-fu, identified with Kabul area from the An-hsi or the Arssacid Empire. If the information in the Hon Han-shu is correct, P'u-ta (identified in the Bactria) and Chi-pin (Kashmir region) were under Kujula Kadphises which clearly indicate the extent of his empire in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent, now in Afghanistan. He is said to have conquered Taxila around c. 45-
246 CE from the Parthians. This progress of Kujula Kadphises may also be verified by the 3
presence of his “seated male: Zeus standing with a scepter” type of coin in the region.
After Kujula Kadphises, V'ima Kadphises ascended to the throne. Regarding the extent of the empire of V'ima Kadphises we may take into consideration an inscription on the pedestal of the image of a king at Mat (near Mathura). We have found a sanctuary or a devakula at Mat which is said to have been founded during the reign of V'ima Takshuma as we find a reference regarding this in another inscription found at the same site in which the temple (devakula) is referred to as belonging to the grandfather of Huvishka. It is known
*Assistant Professor, Department of History, Desh Bhagat University, Mandi Gobindgarh
1.
4that V'ima Kadphises was grandfather of Huvishka. Besides this the Hou Han-shu provides the information that Yen-kao-Chen conquered T'ien-chi or Shen-tu which made the Yueh-chih extremely rich. Yen- Kao- chen of the Hou Han-shu is identified with V'ima
5 6 Kadphises and Shen-tu as Sindhu or Sindh. The Periplous Tes Erythras Thalasses perhaps 7
mentions the same territory which was included in the regions of Scythia. It provides information regarding the struggle among the Parthian provinces of Scythia. These
8Parthians were probably the successors of Gondophares who were in the Lower Indus country at the time of the invasion of Kushanas most probably V'ima Kadphises.
Thus we may say that the extent of the empire of V'ima Kadphises should be at least up to Mathura in the Eastern India and the Sindhu region in the Western India if not beyond.
Till now we have discussed the Kushana Empire at the time of Kanishka's accession to the throne. Now we shall deal with the provinces and cities one by one which Kanishka-I boasts of having within his empire in the year one of his reign. For our convenience we may study it in two parts:
Cities or provinces in Eastern India
Cities or provinces in Western India
The cities in Eastern India as mentioned in the record are Kozambo, Zageda, Palabotaro and Ziri-Tambo. Kozambo may be identified with Kausambi which was the capital of Vatsa Mahajanapada and at present it is known as Kosam in the Allhabad district of Uttar Pradesh. Some inscriptions of the reign of Kanishka-I have been discovered from Kausambi.
An inscription of year 2 for example refers to Kanishka who may be identified with 9
Kanishka-I.
Besides this G.R. Sharma, while excavating Kausambi has found two more 10inscriptions. Common in both of them is the name of the nun (bhikhuni) Buddhamitra.
The first epigraph read:
Maharajasa Kan (i) ska……….5 (?)� Bodhisattvam part (i)
2 Yati bhikhuni Buddhamitra (trepitika Bhagava)
The inscription is same like that of the inscription of year 2 of Kanishka-I. It is engraved on the base of a Mathura (Karri) red sand-stone Bodhisattva image.
11The second record also shares the same feature of the religious act of Buddhamitra”.
It read:
1 Maharajasya………….6 He 3……….
2 Buddhamitraye trepitikaye
3 pito bhagavato Buddhasya ca (m) krame.
Kanishka'a name is clearly mentioned in the first epigraph but in the second epigraph it is missing but the style of sculpture and manner of dating and above all the mention of the nun Buddhamitra makes it almost clear that it should be during the time of
12Kanishka-I.
A sealing found from Kausambi is another valuable finding. It is rectangular in
2.
The Implication of ..........
shape and has the impression of the double threads in the lug which clearly indicates that it 13was affixed to some royal document. Its back bears the finger prints.
The legend read:
(M)aharajasya rajati
rajasya devaputrasya
Kaniskasya Prayo
ga
Besides these evidences the excavations have brought up a large number of 14
Kushana coins all of copper, struck in he name of Kanishka, Huvishka and Vasudeva.
All these evidences from Kausambi definitely make us to believe that Kausambi must be a territory of Kushanas during the reign of Kanishka-I
Zagedo has been identified with Saketa near Ayodhya in the Fyzabad district of Uttar Pradesh. The Tibetan work Li-yul-gyi lo-rgys states that “originally king Kanika, the king of Guzan and Li ruler, king Vijayakirti and others led an army into India and captured
15a city named So-ked.
The Hon Han-shu also has the reference to the conquest of the Yueh-Chi of a country 16
called Tung-li with its capital at Sha-Chi. Kanika may be identified as Kanishka-I, So-Ked and Sha-Chi as Saketa and Tung-Li with Kosala. Like Saketa, Sravasti was also within
17the boundaries of Kosala. An Inscription from Sahet-Mahet or Sravasti records an act of
18merit by a monk in the reign of Kanishka-I. In an excavation in a monastery at Sahet-19
Mahet the copper coins of Kanishka, Huvishka, Vasudeva-I and Vasudeva-II are found. In a record of copper coins found at Tilaurakot (Nepalese Terai) an Indo Greek coin, two coins of Agnimitra, 1804 coins of V'ima Kadphises , Kanishka-I and Huvishka and 379 pieces of
20Ayumitra and Satyamitra have been found.
Thus the evidences show that Zagedo or Saketa and the surrounding territories were under Kanishka-I.
Besides this we have the inscription of year 3 of Kanishka's reign from Sarnath which records the dedication made by Friar Bala. The inscription states that the image (of a Bodhisattva) and his umbrella with a post, gifted by Bala, were erected at Baranasi (Varanasi). This record further provides the information that Kshatrapa Vanaspara and Kharapallana were associated with the merit. The inscription on the image states that this gift of Bala was actually installed by Mahakshatrapa Kharapallana and Kshatrapa
21Vanaspara.
It may be noted that these Kshatrapas must be acting on the behalf of their ruler or sovereign who should be Kanishka-I. Hence Banaras (Varanasi) and Sarnath should be under his rule.
Palabotra that is Palibothra as also mentioned in the Greek writings may be identified with Patliputra, the capital of the Magadha Mahajanapadha. It is now known as Patna and is situated in south west Bihar.
Chinese sources provide the information regarding the activities of the Kushanas in the Eastern India beyond Kosala and Kasi. The Ta Chuang-yen-lun-ching, the Chinese translation of Kumarlata's Kalpanamandikta done by Kumarjiva states that “among the
3.
The Implication of ..........
Chu-Sha (Kushana) race there was a king named Chen-tan Chia-ni-Cha who made a punitive campaign against Tung T'ien-Chu. When had been pacified his majestic power made (that territory) tremble and his success was complete, and he returned to his native
22country”. In this description Chen-tan Chia-ni-Cha may be identified with Kanishka-I and T'ien-Chu as eastern India.
Chinese pilgrim Yuan Chwang narrates the story that the king of Patliputra is attacked by the king of the Yueh-chih called Chen-tan Chia-ni-Cha (Identified with Kanishka-I) and as a ransom he offers the most valuable things of his kingdom; the sage
23Asvaghosa, the Buddha's alms bowl and luck bringing cock.
Another Chinese pilgrim Fa-hsien narrates the same story and claims that he had 24seen the Buddha's alms bowl.
On the basis of these evidences we may say that the king of Patliputra had accepted the sovereignty of the Kushana ruler Kanishka-I
Ziri-Tambo is identified by Professor B.N. Mukherjee with Champa or Sri Champa, in Baghalpur district of Bihar once the capital of Anga Mahajanapadha. But there is no reference of Kushana rule from this region. The only evidence is of a family having the title Meu-lun some where in north Bihar region and that too in the third centaury CE. If we
25assume the title of Kanishka-I a Muroda (Murunda) in the Zeda inscription as similar to that of Meu-lun still there is the problem of the date. Hence it is not clear that to which place Kanishka-I is mentioning as Ziri-Tambo.
After discussing the cities and provinces in eastern India now we shall discuss the regions of western India mentioned in the Rabatak inscription. These regions are Koonadeano and Ozene.
Koonadeano or Kaundinya has been identified with Kaundinyapura in the Amraoti 26
district of Vidarbha or Berar in Maharashtra and Ozene is identified with Ujjayini, the 27
capital of Avanti Mahajanapada or the modern Ujjain in western Madhya Pradesh
Taranatha in his work Rgya-gar-chos-hbyun states that Kanika was chosen as 28
sovereign in the land of Tili and Malwa. In the same way Sumpa Khan- Po mentions 29Kanika as a king of Palowa and Dili. Malawa may have been written as Palawa by
mistake. Sumpa states that Kanika and Asvaghosa were contemporaries.
Taranatha mentions that Kanika ruled Malava where diamond mines had been discovered. The word Akara literally means “mine”. These may be the same places or Akara may be a part of Malwa. Akara was first mentioned by Gautami Balshri in Nasik cave inscription where she describes Gautamiputra Satakarni as the lord of Akara.
30Junagarh inscription of Rudradaman-I also mentions Akaravanti as parts of his domains.
31Ptolmey also refers to the same place where diamonds are found, he names it kosa near the Oundian (Vindhyan) range on the bank of the Namados (Narmada) which should be in eastern Malwa.
Kushana rule in eastern Malwa may be traced through the inscription of Vas 32
Kushana (Vasishka) of year 22 and of year 28 in Sanchi. Since Kanishka-I ruled upto year 23 hence Sanchi should be in the empire of Kanishka –I.
The areas of Akara, Avanti and Vidarbha were under the western Kshatrapas who were the viceroys of the Kushanas. The relations of the kushanas with the Kshatrapas of
4.
The Implication of ..........
western India can be studied in the light of the Hou Han-shu and the 'Kalkacharyakathanka. The Hou Han-shu records the conquests of Vima Kadphises of
Tien-chu or Shen-tu as discussed earlier and this is possibly recorded in the Kalkacharyakathanka as his conquest. But later the Satavahana king Gautamiputra Satakarni claims the areas namely Asika, Asmaka, Mulaka, Saurastra, Kukura, Aparant, Anupa, Vidarbha, and Akaravanti, under his reign. In fact these areas are claimed under
33him by his mother Gautami Balsri in the Nasik prasasti. Gautamiputra Satakarni probably
thdefeated Nahapana in his 18 regnal year as his claims of regranting a land in the territory of Govardhana (including Nasik) which were under the control of Usvadata, the governer of Nahapana in a part of the western Deccan including Nasik.
If we take the date of accession of Gautamiputra Satakarni around c. 80-82 CE and th
he is doing all this in his 18 regnal year he must have conquered the territories of Nahapana around c. 98-100 CE he should have possessed these territories up to c. 106 CE as year 24 is his last known regnal year. Chashtana on the other side was the viceroy of the Kushanas in Kachchha (Nasik, Ujjain, and Broach) areas. Earlier he used the title Kshatrapa and later Mahakshatrapa. If Satavahanas were occupying their territories then the family of Chashtana particularly he himself and his grandson Rudradaman-I had to wait till c. 128-130 CE to declare themselves as Mahakshatrapas or the independent sovereign because after Gautamiputra Satakarni, his son Vasishthiputra Pulumavi ruled for 22 years hence the date goes to 106 +22= 128 CE.
34 However in year 72 Rudradaman in his Junagarh inscription claims that he has attained the status of Mahakshatrapa himself (svayamadhigatamahakshatrapanamah) and claims the possession of the territories of Akara, Avanti, Sindhu and Sauvira, Malwa, Aparanta (north-western Deccan) and eastern Gujarat etc. Most of these areas were wrested by his family from the Satavahnas. Thus we may say that the Kshatrapas were
'earlier the viceroys of the Kushanas particularly Vima Kadphises and Kanishka-I. Later they became independent as Rudradaman claims. Besides the western Kshatrapas there are instances of several Kushana Kshatrapas and Mahakshatrapas like Kharaapallana and Vanaspara (mentioned in sarnath inscription), Liaka (in Zeda inscription), Vespasi (Manikiala), Kapisa Kshatrapa, the son of the Kshatrapa G(r)-anavhryaka (Manikiala
35Bronze Casket) etc.
Hence when we examine the statement of Kanishka-I regarding his extent of empire in the Rabatak inscription we come to the conclusion that there is no doubt that most of the provinces and regions were under Kanishka-I. The other sources which throw light on the Kushana history also contain almost same information regarding the empire of Kanishka-I as that in the Rabatak inscription. One thing is clear that the eastern Indian regions mentioned in the inscription were subdued by Kanishka-I himself because the empire of
'his predecessor Vima Kadphises was up to Mathura as discussed in the paper. Kausambi, Saketa, Sahet-Mahet, Sarnatha and Patliputra etc. cities or regions are the proof of Kanishka's achievements. When we examine the territories of western India , we come to
'the conclusion that these probably were conquered by yen-kao-chen or Vima Kadphises because we have never came across any definite evidence that Kanishka-I himself conquered the regions of western India mentioned in the Rabatak inscription. The possibility is that he may have got them in inheritance.
The second question still remains unanswered whether these territories were
5.
The Implication of ..........
stconquered by Kanishka-I in his I regnal year or before that. Practically speaking it is not possible for any one to conquer such a vast area within one year and that too in the first regnal year. The possibility is that he might have won one or two territories and others might have accepted his sovereignty. The other possibility is that he might have ruled as a
'co-ruler of Vima Kadphises as it was not uncommon among the Kushanas as we have the references of the later rulers in the dynasty like Kanishka-Vasishka ruling jointly the example of which is the Sanchi inscription of Vaskushana of year 22. While ruling jointly
'with Vima Kadphises he might have won these regions sometimes during the last years of '
Vima Kadphises and slightly before he himself ascended to the throne.
NOTES AND REFERENCES
1. B.N.Mukherjee, 1988, Rise and Fall of The Kushana Empire, Calcutta, pp. 30-2
2. B.N.Mukherjee, 1969, An Agrippan Source-A Study in Indo-Parthian History, Calcutta, p. 185
3. Ibid. p, 170
4. H. Luders, 1961, Mathura Inscriptions, (edited by K.L.Janert), Gottingen, pp. 138-9
5. B.N.Mukherjee, 1970, The Economic Factors in Kushana History, Calcutta, pp. 11-3
6. Periplus, 39
7. B.N.Mukherjee, 1988, Op.Cit., p. 44� B.N.Mukherjee, 1970, Op. Cit., p. 13
8. Ibid, p. 45
9. G.R. Sharma, 1968, Kusana Studies, Allahabad, p. 44
10. Ibid
11. Ibid
12. Ibid, p. 45
13. Ibid
14. Ibid, pp. 49-52
15. B.N.Mukherjee, 1995, Indian Museum Bulletin, Calcutta, p. 31
16. B.N.Mukherjee, 1976, Disintegration of The Kushana Empire, Varanasi, p. 21
17. B.N.Mukherjee, 1968, The Kushanas and the Deccan, Calcutta, p. 41; H.C.Raychaudhury, 1996, Political History of Ancient India.Calcutta, pp. 88-9
18. Epigraphia Indica, VIII, pp. 179 ff.
19. B.N.Mukherjee, 1976, Op.Cit., pp. 22-3
20. G.R. Sharma, .Op.Cit. pp. 50-2
21. Epigraphia Indica, VIII, pp. 173 ff.
22. B.N.Mukherjee, 1988, Op. Cit., Calcutta, p. 290
23. Ibid
24. J. Legge, 1972, The Travels of Fa-Hien, Delhi, p.33
25. S.Konow, 1969, Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, vol. II, pt.1, Varanasi, pp. 142-5
26. H.C. Raychaudhury, Op.Cit., p. 78
27. Ibid, p. 129-30
28. B.N.Mukherjee, 1968, Op.Cit., P. 22
29. Ibid
6.
The Implication of ..........
30. Epigraphia Indica, VIII, pp. 44 ff.
31. E.H.Warmington, 1928, Commerce Between the Roman Empire and India, Cambridge, p. 110
32. K.A.N.Sastri, 1987, (ed.) Comprehensive History of India. Vol. II, New Delhi, pp. 242-3
33. K.A.N.Sastri, 1995, A History of South India, Delhi, pp. 92- Epigraphia Indica, VIII, pp. 59-71
34. K.A.N.Sastri, 1987, Op.Cit., pp. 281-2; R.C.Majumdar, 1990, (ed.),The Age of Imperial Unity,Bombay, pp. 184-5
35. B.N. Puri, 1965, India Under The Kushanas. Bombay, p. 39
7.
The Implication of ..........
PATTERNS OF ISOLATION IN DIASPORIC INDIAN WRITING
*Dr. Kaptan Singh
Diaspora is a loaded term deep rooted in the history. It is taken from a Greek word meaning to 'disperse' which signifies a “voluntary or forcible movement of people from their homeland into new regions”(Unial, Ranu). In present era of globalization migration has became a common phenomenon. People are very frequent to move from their home land to the land of opportunities, where they undergo through the process of different ideologies, languages and cultures. Their displacement from their homeland, on one hand, and the hostile social environment of alien land, on the other hand, deepen their sense of isolation. Diasporic literature, as the voice of displacement and dislocation, vocalized the painful dilemma of immigrants who as 'Trishanku' are sandwiched between two cultures; “born under one law, to another bound” (Unial, Ranu). Their deep rooted sense of isolation and displacement generate a sense of longingness which compel them to return back to their native land but the sanguine and enigmatic environment of the West attracts them to get settled in alien land. At last they reach at the fulfillment through the process of compromise and adjustment.
As well as Hindu scriptures are concerned crossing the seven seas was a biggest sin and the migration was strictly banned in ancient India so emigration was treated as “a source of inevitable ex-communication for the Brahmins.” (Unial, Ranu). Though there were always some vagabonds, who for the fulfillment of their curious spirit traveled a lot to the world. Indians were very keen to maintain their religious contacts with other civilizations. The exchange of thoughts and philosophies were common to Greece and Mesopotamian. Later on Buddhist monks have also started migrating to south and South East Asia to explore the Gospels of Buddhism. The prime focus of their migration was not for any business or political motif rather to exchange their religious and mythological belief.
In 1850 people of India have started crossing the seven seas; this time not for any religious motif but for the better livelihood. With the advent of the twentieth century a large number of populations from the country have migrated to different parts of the world. At present approximately twenty six million Indians are living abroad and creating a 'Global India' out there. Today communities like Bangalis, Gujratis, Punjabis, Parsis and Muslims, form a major immigrant group of the world.
When British parliament abolished slavery in 1834, the growing chances of employment and new law of immigration, on one hand, and their degrading living style due to uncertain agriculture economy, religions bigotry and their doubtful life in India, on other hand, compel them to migrate to alien land. Consequently from 1830 to 1917 a large number of indentured labor have migrated to the West. But after independence in 1947, a large number of skilled doctors, engineers, scholars and intellectuals and businessmen migrated to the developed counties, to establish themselves as successful professional and businessman.Such a journey of Indian diaspora from indentured labor to engineers, doctors and IT technocrats, has metaphorically exposed by Sudesh Mishra. He categorized
*Assistant Professor, Department of English, Desh Bhagat University, Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab.
8.
it into two distinguish parts; 'Sugar and the Masala Diaspora'. He explains
The distinction is between, on one hand, the semi-voluntary flight of indentured peasants to non-metropolitan plantation colonies such as Feji, Trinidad, Mauritius, South Africa, Malaysia, Surinam, and Guyana, roughly between the years 1830 and 1917; and the other the late capital or post modern dispersal of new migrants of all classes to thriving metropolitan centers such as Australia, the United States, Canada, and Britian. (Sudesh Mishra 2003:276)
Isolation is a vitally connected emotion with the diasporic phenomenon. Indian diasporic writing, from the time of the first wave to the present time, has explored the isolation of the immigrants in one form or another. The critics have divided the Indian diaspora into three parts. These are known as the three waves of Indian diaspora. The theme of isolation is very dominated in the writings of the first wave immigrants. They work hard to build a good foundation for their children. In the process to build up good livelihood they were isolated from the country of their birth and the country where they were living. Anita Desai, Vikram Seth, Salman Rushdie, are address the first wave issue of diaspora.
The adventures and experiences of the children of the first wave immigrants constitute the second wave diaspora. They develop their life on the foundation of their parents and the memories of their culture ethics and values are fresh in their memories. Though they are not feeling nostalgic about the country of their parents but still they feel a resistance to assimilate in the hostile environment of the west.
'Journey motif' is prominent in diasporic Indian Writing. But this journey is not an easy one. This is not merely a physical journey but journey beyond this. During 'such a long journey', they neither can aloof themselves from homeland nor easily attach with alien land. The process of reconciliation and assimilation widen the feelings of their isolation and alienation. Time and again, through their writings, India diasporic writers have eloquently explicated the deep-rooted isolation of expatriates. Writing is a social practice through which “the writer has chosen to reveal the world and particularly to reveal man to other man, so that the latter may assume full responsibility before the object which has been thus laid bare” (Jean-Paul Sartre 2009: 15)
The pattern of isolation in Indian diasporic writing is undoubtedly its one of the most distinguished factors. Indian women diasporic writers exhibit a profound fascination with the implication of isolation. Migrant writers, non-resident writers and even gallivanting writers have depicted the various patterns of isolation of immigrants. The present paper is an attempt to explore a moving picture of immigrants' experiences. Isolation is a wide ranging phenomenon in deasporic writings. It is dealing with the experiences of the workers either indentured laborers or IT Technocrats, who are treated as alien, outsider or as 'other' by their colleagues, bosses as well as by their subordinates too. Next, in this respect, are women as wives and mothers, living within their private sphere as non working and traditional bound women who feel, nostalgic about their homeland. Last in the hierarchy comes the 'newly born generation', born on alien land from Indian parents. They neither assimilate with their parent's culture nor are accepted in the alien land. The quest of assimilation compels them to live an isolated life.
Indian Women diasporic writers, Anita Desai, Kamala Markandya, Chitra
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Banerjee, Bharti Mukharjee and Jhumpa Lahri, are the leading voices of Indian diasporic writings. They have explored the various patterns of isolation of the expatriates, navigating between the tradition they have inherited and the new world which they encounter every day. Their experiences foreground the fact that being isolated and displaced from one's own country is a great calamity.
Anita Desai and Kamala Markandya are the earliest novelists who eloquently have depicted the isolation and alienation of immigrants. Desai in Bye Bye BlackBird and Kamala Markandya in The Nowhere Man depict the life of the immigrants of early 1960s in UK. They become the victim of racial discriminations where they pass through the process of isolation and identity crisis. Desai in her Bye Bye Blackbird depicts the poignant struggle and deep rooted isolation and alienation of the protagonists, Adit, Dev and Sarah. This is a story of two immigrant friends, Adit and Dev. In their opinions and ideologies regarding England, they were contradictory to each other. In the beginning of the novel Adit, a “spineless imperialist lover”, (Anita Desai 1985: 19), is deeply in love with English living style; he sees only the brighter side of the England and does not want to see the negative aspects. He accepts, “I'm so happy here, I hardly notice the few draw-backs”. (Anita Desai 1985: 17) But Dev , who comes to England for higher education, is determined to go back to India as an 'England returned teacher', rather to be alienated in a country where he is treated as an outsider. Dev, sharing his views with Adit, opens his heart, “I would not live in a country where I was insulted and unwanted” (Anita Desai 1985: 17).But the end the novel offers an interesting twist in the story. Dev who was firm to go back to the India, is attracted towards the immense job opportunities and decided to get settle in England. But quite at the same time the harsh and bitter experiences of Adit compel him to say good bye to the land of opportunities and the growing cult of isolation make him feel nostalgic about home land and finally he returns to India.
The dilemma of immigrants has been poignantly depicted by Anita Desai as she unveils their emotional attachments with the native country and practical reasons to settle in alien land. There are moments in life when human being feel lonely and bewildered and require the courage to take bold decision. Eventually Adit over comes those moments but the memory of the experiences remain, as this is not easy to wipe out the impression of these experiences, while Dev is entangled in the complex situation and at present finds it suitable to settle in England.
Despite Dev and Adit, Sarah is the most isolated character in the novel. She suffers from many indignities and humiliations merely because she marries with an Indian, an outsider. Sarah's predicament is more comprehensible than those of Adit and Dev because they both are assured that they shall be accepted in their native land but she feels disjointed and isolated in her homeland as well and not sure that either she will be accepted in India as a foreign wife of Adit or not.
Kamala Markandaya has constantly vocalized her experiences as an immigrant. Her No Where Man highlights the racial prejudices against Indians which isolate them from the outside world and aggravate their sense of displacement. Markandaya has tried to dig out the various dimensions of isolation through the sufferings of her protagonist as husband, wife and son. Isolation is a made of experience in which a man is out of touch with himself as well as of the world around. An isolated person, “like the others, is experienced as things are experienced; with the senses and with common sense, but at the same time
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Patterns of Isolation ..........
without being related to oneself and the world outside productively” (Erich Fromm 1955: 111).
Chitra Banerjee and Bharti Mukharjee in their famous novels, Wife and Jasmine respectively exposed the challenges of Indians in US before and after globalization. Jhumpa Lahri's prize winning novel The Name Sake expressively depicts the life of the third generation diasporic challenges. Literature has ever been the voice of repressed, oppressed and suppressed people and diaspora as the outcome of colonialism is one of the most acclaimed themes of the modern literature. Bharti Mukherji, a purely diasporic writer, born in Kolkatta, shifted to Canada and then after marriage with an American Clark Blaise, permanently settled herself in America. In the very words of her husband, “Mukherjee is now an outsider, not because of her marriage and choice to live outside India, but also and especially because of her choice of English as an artistic language. This position is not only personal; it is also political, in the widest sense of the world. To survive she must invent an alternative world.” (Ranu Uniyal 2005: 45-54) Survival is a biggest challenge for diasporic writers. Psychologically they are bewildered between two worlds where neither they are celebrated in homeland nor are accepted in 'host culture'. They are 'un-homed' and their 'homing-desire' meets with a cold welcome. Mukherjee, as a critic of 'materialistic consciousness', emphasizes on material and social prestige. The protagonist of her novel Jasmine 'shuttled between identities'. Her journey from Jyoti to Jasmine, Jasmine to Jase and Jase to Jane spoils her individual identity, and marginalized her to be isolated.
Jhumpa Lehri's novel The Namesake pin points that colonialism is a land mark of diasporic writings. To be a diasporic is to be a colonized. Immigrants are colonized and are bound to suffer humiliation and negligence from the hands of colonizers. The Namesake explores the angst and anguish of Indian immigrants while living in the United States. On one side Lehri, apparently clears the nostalgia and alienation of elder generation (parents or grandparents) and on other side, she projects the younger generation, the American born children, Gogol, Sonia and Maushumi, who are neither connected to the environment which their parents have adhered nor are accepted among their American friends. Under the impression of advanced American life style they feel ashamed of their parents and their love for Indian culture. They feel inferiority and embarrassment in front of Native Americans. They dislike Pujas and show their enthusiasm for Christmas.
Gogol, Sonia and Maushumi do not hesitate to leave behind the inherited Bengali values and deeply craved for American ideology, language and culture. They tried to behave as an American with all their manners and personality but they are not accepted as American but rather treated as ABCDs (American Born Confused Desi). Consequently the fluxes of displacement and rootlessness sow the seeds of alienation which finally isolate them from their self and society.
Surjeet Kalsay, a Canada based poetess, in her poem “Migratory Birds” delineates the eternal dilemma of an immigrant, who sail his journey as a migratory bird to the alien land, for a temporary stay, and is determined to go back.
we
the migratory birds
are here this season
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thinking we will fly
back to our home
for sure
But finally the immigrant feels helpless and realizes;
No one knows
which invisible cage imprisons us?
and the flight begin to die slowly
in our wings.
some of us are drown with
the chain
some lag
in the swamp
no sun, no earth
when to look at, what to look for? (Surjeet Kalsey 1988: 40)� � �
Thus, to sum up, it is appropriate to say that isolation is a common phenomenon in diasporic Indian writing. Their journey from, 'roots to routs' and their 'in between syndrome,' their longings for belongingness, lead them to be 'No Where Man'. So, in their encounter with different languages, cultures and ideologies, they are sure to be isolated.
REFERENCES1. Ashcroft Bill, Garcth Grifiths and Helen Tiffin (eds.) 1988, Key Concepts in Post Colonial Studies.
3. Fromm, Erich. The Sane Society. New York : Fawcett 1955
4. Kalsey, Surjeet “Migratory Birds” Foot Prints of Silence, 1988
5. Mishra, Sudesh. “From Sugar to Masala ; Writing by the Indian Diaspora,” from An Illustrated History of Indian Literature in English, Ed. Arvind Krishna Mehrotra. New Delhi: Paperback. 2003.
6. Parameswaran, Uma Trishanku and other Writings. New Delhi : Prestige, 1998
7. Sartre,Jean-Paul.2009.What is Literature ? Routledge: India
8. Uniyal, Ranu “Associating Difference with Diversity: Writers from Indian Diaspora”. The SPIEL Journal of English Studies. Ed. S.Z.H. Abidi, Vol. 1, No 2, 2005
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ADMINISTRATIVE VIEWS OF MANU AND KAUTILYA : A STUDY OF THEIR CONTEMPORARY RELEVANCE
*Dr. Mohinder Kaur
Nothing to defend belief better than reality. Two thousand four hundred years ago, Kautilya compiled the Arthashastra and with it he proved to be a kingmaker as he enabled the inception of the Gupta dynasty. The Arthashastra endured the test of time and it had since withstood the test of credibility. When a thinker demonstrated vision and foresights it was crucial and extremely useful to understand the elements of this thought that had present applicability. This had been the objective and the culmination of this effort was for all to see. Learning and grasping even a fraction of the wisdom that Kautilya and Manu embodied would enrich the society. These were treatises that encapsulates in many ways even the complexity of our current world. The problems that existed then persist in a more widespread and magnified manner in the contemporary world.
� Herein begins the relevance of studying the Arthashastra and Manusmriti. They demonstrated an extremely vital imperative: governance, polity, politics and progress had to be linked to the welfare of the people. Interestingly, closer to recent times, Abraham Lincoln said, “Democracy is for the people, by the people and of the people”. The Arthashastra's resonant theme holds even truer today and it was the upholding of this principle that stood at the core of attaining development.
� Manu and Kautilya's views on State, King and kingship had been discussed. Both Manu and Kautilya had conceived the state as a seven- limbed. According to Manu the seven elements of prakritis were the king, the ministers, the capital, the realm, the treasury, the army and the ally. Kautilya put the elements in this order: the king, the minister, the country, the fort, the treasury, the army, the friend and the enemy. Thus he changed the previous order of priority and added a new element, namely, the enemy. However, he agreed with Manu when he stated that excepting the enemy, these seven elements, possessed of their excellent characteristics, were said to be the limb like elements of the state. Both had defined the various qualifications an ideal king should posses, duties of the king in administrative, legal, financial, religious and military fields. They had dealt with minor issues like the education of princes, marriage, style of living, their safety and the like. Functions of the state had been elaborately discussed. Thus to them state was to serve a definite purpose with a specific end. The state was to protect the citizens from the tyranny of individuals and the state as well.
� According to Manusmriti to be a good ruler, the king should regulate his lifestyle in a proper way. Then only he would have the right and power to rule the country and apply the danda (the rod of punishment) to the miscreants. He should be intelligent, free from vices, cultured, upright, should have self-control, should respect the elders and the Brahmins, should have proper education (of the Vedas, politics, history, agriculture, and spiritual science), adhere to sacred texts and he should protect his subjects with zeal. There are few representative quotations which can be discussed and cited below:
� Danda ,the rod of punishment could not be rightly employed by a king who was without friends, foolish, avaricious, uncultured and addicted to sensuous objects.(7:30)
� Danda could be employed by a king who was pure in monetary matters, true to his
*Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Desh Bhagat University, Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab
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promise, intelligent, backed by friends and a follower of the Sâstrîya path.(7:31)
� In his own kingdom he was to be of upright conduct, to his enemies he was to be of rigorous punishment, to his natural friends he was to be sincere, and towards the Brahmins, he had to be forgiving.(7:32) Of a king of such a conduct, the fame spreaded in the world, like a drop of oil on water.(7:33)
� A good many kings, though provided with resources, had perished through want of self-control and a good many of them, though doomed to forest life [i.e., though without resources], had gained kingdoms through self-control.(7:40)
� Vena, Nahusha, Sudâh, son of Pijavana, Sumukha and Nimi - these kings perished through want of self-control.(7:41). On the other hand, Prithu got the kingdom through self-control, so also Manu. And through self-control did Kubera attain mastery over wealth, and Gâdhi's son Viúwamitra the state of a Brahmin.(7:42)
� He had to practice the three Vedas from those versed in the same and was to learn the eternal politics as well as logic, spiritual science and agriculture . . . from men versed in those subjects. (7:43)
� The highest duty of a Kshatriya was to protect his subjects.(7:144)
� According to Kautilya, to be competent enough to rule the country, the king had to go through adequate education and training. After tonsure at an early age the incumbent prince was to learn the alphabets and arithmetic. Thereafter he was to learn the three Vedas, philosophy, economics and politics. He was to observe celibacy till the age of sixteen and thereafter marry. Continuous study was essential as it enhanced intelligence and efficiency of the king making him capable of performing his duties in a better manner.
� Kautilya, however, was of the opinion that general education and training were not enough to make a perfect king. Moral and ethical teachings were also necessary. He explained the importance and methods of moral training of a king with examples of the downfall of many past kings, who used to violate one or more of the essential ethical norms for an ideal king. To start with, Kautilya reiterated the importance of having control over the senses.
� Control over the senses, which was motivated by training in the sciences, was to be secured by giving up lust, anger, greed, pride, arrogance and fool-hardiness.(1.6.1)
� A contrary behaviour would bring about the ruin of a king, whatever his apparent power. In this regard Kautilya mentioned how various past kings ,historical and mythical, perished for lack of control over senses. So the king had to control over senses by conquering the six basic vices , namely, lust, anger, greed, pride and arrogance, and acquired wisdom from the elders to be fit for ruling the country.
� Therefore, by casting out the group of six enemies he was to acquire control over the senses, cultivated his intellect by association with the elders, kept a watchful eye by means of spies, brought about security and well-being by energetic activity, maintained the observance of their special duties (by the subjects) by carrying out his own duties, acquired discipline by receiving instruction in the sciences, attained popularity by association with what was of material advantage and maintain proper behaviour by doing what is beneficial. (1.7.1)
� While the ideal king had to posses perfect control over the senses, this did not imply
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that the king was not indulge in material pleasures. In fact, Kautilya subscribed to the traditional Indian view that there should be a perfect balance of the trivarga - i.e., dharma (ethics), artha (material resources) and kâma (fulfillment of sexual and other desires) - in the life of the king, as was evident from the following Salokas:
� He could enjoy sensual pleasures without contravening his spiritual good and material well-being; he could not deprive himself of pleasures. (1.7.3)
� Or, he could devote himself equally to the three goals of life which were bound up with one another. (1.7.4)
� For, any one of the trivarga of spiritual good, material well-being and sensual pleasures, if excessively indulged in, did harm to itself as well as to the other two. (1.7.5)
� Now, the question arises who was to guide the king and kept him on the path of virtue, and to rectify him whenever he deviated from the path of virtue because of either his wrong judgment or temporary upsurge of evil intentions. Kautilya was wise enough to realise that even the most virtuous persons might at times be overpowered by the basic vices hidden in the subconscious mind or bad company. Kautilya prescribed for competent and honest ministers, along with the Brahmin chaplain, as safeguards to keep the king on the path of virtue and propriety :
� He could set the preceptors or ministers as the bounds of proper conduct for himself, who could restrain him from occasions of harm, or, when he was erring in private, could prick him with the goad in the form of the indication of time for the performance of his regular duties by means of the shadow of gnomon or the nâlikâ (water-clock). (1.7.8)
� Kautilya concerned himself with the ideal of a good king. He visualised a king (the Vijîgishu) who would bring about territorial unification of India and make it a strong and prosperous country. There were a number of exceptional kings, most notably Chandragupta Maurya, Vindusâra and Ashoka. Lack of ideal kings, however, was one of the basic causes of downfall of the Mauryan Empire. In the Gupta era and later Indian history until British rule, the success or otherwise of dynasties was mainly related to the presence or absence of ideal kings. In modern democratic India after Independence, the sub-optimal state of affairs was due mainly to the absence of honest and competent politicians, as discussed below.
� As regards the controlling power of the Vedic Brahmin (chaplain) over the king there was some difference between Manusmriti and the Arthasâstra of Kautilya. The latter assigned more power to the king than prescribed in the earlier texts. This might have become necessary to unify India under a strong king. Whatever the reason it appeared from the prescriptions of the power of the king in the Arthasâstra of Kautilya that the Vedic Brahmin appointed by the king himself was not likely to had the same controlling power over the king as his counterpart in Manusmriti. This might be apprehended from the power Kautilya bestowed on the king as he held the royal edict above existing laws, custom and prescriptions of the Sâstras. So far, the king was theoretically only the guardian of law and guidelines prescribed in the Sâstras. Now he became a maker of law through royal edicts. Under these circumstances, it was quite unlikely that the Brahmin possessed sufficient power to prevent the king from indulging in undesirable activities if the king was adamant to do so. But did the Vedic Brahmin even in Manusmriti possessed sufficient real power to control an adamant king? Notwithstanding the power endowed theoretically to the Vedic
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Brahmin in the Manusmriti, it was questionable how far the Brahmin could control an unethical king. In ancient texts, the king was considered as the wielder of danda (rod of punishment). While danda isnot directly relevant to the present circumstances, but the concept is likely to provide a deeper insight into the concept of kingship and the qualities of a perfect king as defined in the ancient Indian texts.
Relevance to Modern India
� Turning to the modern relevance of the essence of the prescriptions in the two ancient texts for making a competent and honest king, it might be observed that corruption and dishonesty of politicians have become important issues in recent years. The mass media are replete with news about charges as well as court cases against 'big' politicians. Surprisingly, these corrupt politicians could easily manage to get re-elected and go on pursuing their mischievous activities. Many even manage to mobilize overwhelming mass support in spite of their questionable reputation. India has been endangered because of the nefarious activities of these corrupt politicians.
� Guidelines and directions in Manusmriti and the Arthasâstra of Kautilya might be of considerable help in creating an honest politician. It is, however, argued by many that these texts devised guidelines for an all-powerful monarchy. Therefore, they had no relevance for democratic modern countries like India. However, on the basis of the guidelines prescribed in these texts for the king, can also adopt these guidelines for the politicians and political parties in a democratic system.
� Both Manu and Kautilya believed in the adage “Yatha Raja Thatha Prajah” (As the King is, so will be the people”). Therefore they laid down the condition that an ideal King was one who had the highest qualities of leadership, intellect, energy and personal attributes. According to Kautilya, the King had to thoroughly test the integrity of those whom he had appointed in the state for various administrative functions. Kautilya also cautioned the dangers inherent in King's service.
Contemporary Relevance
� The king was not exempt from being endowed with certain qualities of leadership if he was to be able to provide effective and productive governance. Thus the political leaders had to set an example by adhering to high standards of conduct and functioning. In contemporary times there have been frequent reminders that it is not positions which sustain an individual however powerful he/she maybe but the person concerned that has to sustain power conferred not by abusing it but by using it in a constructive manner for the people concerned
� Kautilya listed 34 heads of departments. Only those who had the specified qualifications were appointed to these high posts. Except in the case of Raj Purohita, the scribe (Brahmin) and army (Kshatriyas), there was no “caste” reservation for the post of high level officials.” Thus, upward mobility in the hierarchy was based on merit, suitability and fulfilling other qualifications laid down for these posts. In a conflict between meritocracy and the political economy of appointments, if the latter continues to be given precedence India's potential of becoming an economic superpower will remain untapped.
� Views of Manu and Kautilya on inter-state relations and diplomacy had also been discussed earlier. The maintenance of foreign relations formed a very important department of the public activity of every state, and, naturally foreign policy was regarded
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as an extremely useful art. The maintenance of a balance of power was one of the problems in foreign relations which engaged the attention of the diplomats in ancient days. Both Manu and Kautilya had offered wide-ranging and truly fascinating discussions on war and diplomacy, including their wish to had their king become a world conqueror. They had analysed the methods of diplomacy, principles determining the foreign policy, role of the diplomats and spies. In foreign relations distrust of one nation by another prompted Kautilya to postulate his theory of Mandala. Their observations on the ally and the enemy, on ambassadors and spies were interesting and certainly not out of date. National interest had always been the guiding principle of all nations in determining their foreign policy. They worked out full implications of the policies of peace, war, neutrality, marching, seeking shelter and double policy.
� Kautilya's quality to manage war and diplomacy is greatly admired. His six diplomacy tools and mandala concept is still applicable albeit the nations are now separated by oceans and there intercontinental ballistic missiles shrinking geographic effects on diplomacy. His work can be directly applied during the De Gaulle times, when there was a fear of Russia attacking the Western Europe and the tactics De Gaulle played were quite similar as proposed by Kautilya. Kautilya's thinking has definitely shaped the future writings but it is to be wondered what happened to the Indian diplomacy and policies of the statesmen of India. The strategies adopted by Kautilya were seldom applied when the Mughals invaded from the middle-east and later the British conquered India.
� In our opinion art of war and diplomacy is still applicable but one needs to realize that the social structures are changing faster than they did in earlier times. Kautilya ultimately sought peace but his means were war and thus believed that unless there was a world order where his kingdom was at the center and most powerful one could not attain peace.
� Kautilya probably assumed that peaceful empires could last forever, and that conflict among smaller states was more common in history. For Kautilya, this principle of foreign policy—that nations act in their political, economic, and military self-interest—was a timeless truth of his science of politics, or arthasastra. He did not believe that nations never act in an altruistic manner—indeed, Kautilya advocated humanitarian acts that also coincided with one's self-interest—but he did believe that one must assume, if entrusted with political or military power, that one's neighbours will eventually act in their own interests. In other words, one would be betraying one's own people if one did not assume a worst-case scenario. A nation forced to rely on the kindness of neighbouring states was weak and, unless it could change rapidly, doomed to destruction.
� Kautilya was most famous for outlining the so-called Mandala theory of foreign policy, in which immediate neighbours were considered as enemies, but any state on the other side of a neighbouring state was regarded as an ally, or, the enemy of my enemy was my friend.
� Because foreign policy was just an extension of a nation's wars, the goal of foreign policy was not to end wars, but rather to ward off defeats and to make sure one was successful in subsequent warfare. For Kautilya, all ambassadors were potential spies with diplomatic immunity. Indeed, he had written about how to fight with the weapon of diplomacy.
� Unlike the modern practice of stationing representatives, as permanent agents in foreign states, in ancient India they were officers, appointed for and sent on a special mission. The functions of an ambassador were to deliver the message correctly as entrusted to him, to
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make or break alliances or treaties, to declare war or make peace, to study the geographical position, and strong points, military strength and financial condition of a foreign state and to gather the greatest possible information. He was thus primarily concerned with the vital issues of a foreign, policy of a state. As the ambassadors had to perform very important a well as delicate and dangerous duties, the Manusmriti and Kautilya 's Arthasastra more or less prescribe the same higher qualifications for them such as a noble family background, modesty, tactfulness, eloquency of speech, capacity to convey the message exactly as entrusted to him and a sharp and excellent memory. The Manusamriti was conspicuously silent about the different kinds of ambassadors, while Kautilya classified them under three heads, viz.
� Nihsrstartha, i.e., a plenipotentiary; Parimitartha or Mitartha, i.e., an envoy whose rights were limited. Sasanabara or Sasana-vahaka, i.e., an ambassador who was simply a “royal messenger”.
� Manu is silent about the means to be employed by the spies to create trouble in other states. Kautilya, on the other hand, permits any and every means for the spies, moral or immoral. He says that they should create dissensions in the foreign states, indulge the army chiefs in love-affairs with young ladies and after wards cause animosity among them. They should give poison to them by saying that it would make his beloved devoted to him. They should disguise themselves as palmists and arouse the ambition of becoming a king in the chief and high officers of the state and make them unloyal to the king. In war-time, they should, distribute wine or liquor, mixed with poison among the important military officers.
� As far as administration of justice was concerned (dandniti) the views of Manu and Kautilya had also been discussed in detail. The ethical code of a society and its cultural standards were inter-related. The cultural maturity and social amicability and even their deterioration was reflected in the law and order of that society. The concept that the people got the governance they deserved, was very much implied here. In the early Vedic period justice was administered by the tribe and clan assemblies, and the judicial procedure was very simple. But with the extension of the state and the growth of the royal powers, the king came gradually to be regarded as the fountain of justice, and a more or less elaborate system of judicial administration came into existence. Both Manu and Kautilya had shown expertise in giving directions regarding the maintenance of law and order and they appear to be clever advocates capable of managing the disputes of common man. They defined the legal suits like related to non-payment of debts, sale without ownership, partnership deeds, deposits and pledging, non-payment of wages, breach of agreements, disputes related to assault, defamation, robbery, violence, adultery, inheritance and so on. They desired that the King should preside over the court where justice was meted out to the subjects. He should be properly accompanied by the Brahamanas and ministers who were experts in counseling. They hold that the judge was to be a person learned in all branches of knowledge. In this chapter setting up of courts, procedures to be adopted, punishments to be awarded have been discussed in details.
� The exercise of the coercive power of danda with regard to law-enforcement was considered just in the highest sense, since particularistic legal codes were considered to be concrete and detailed embodiments of the more abstract and exalted principles of justice which were fundamental to the society.
� There was no distinction between civil and criminal courts. The law which these
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courts were told to administer was an amalgam of sacred law, customs and discretion.
� According to Manusmriti to be a good ruler, the king was supposed to regulate his lifestyle in a proper way. Then only he would have the right and power to rule the country and apply the danda (the rod of punishment) to the miscreants. He was to be intelligent, free from vices, cultured, upright, had self-control, and respect the elders and the Brahmins, had proper education (of the Vedas, politics, history, agriculture, and spiritual science), adhered to sacred texts and he who could protect his subjects with zeal. That could be understood from the quotations given in Manusmriti.
� Danda, the rod of punishment could not be rightly employed by a king who was without friends, foolish, avaricious, uncultured and addicted to sensuous objects.(7:30)
� Danda could be employed by a king who was pure in monetary matters, true to his promise, intelligent, backed by friends and a follower of the Sâstrîya path.(7:31)
REFERENCES
1.� In the Mahavamsa, Devanampiya Tissa is described as an “aly” of Asoka. There is no doubt that frequent communications took place between the two bangs. Vide Mahavamsa.
2.� Rapson, E.J., Ancient India, Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1922,
3. � Arun Bhattacharjee; History of Ancient India (New Delhi: Sterling Publishers,1979),
� 143–48, 173; Purushottam Lal Bhargava, Chandragupta Maurya: A Gem of Indian History, 2d rev. ed. (New Delhi: D. K. Printworld, 1996),
4. � Wolpert; A New History of India, 59; Mookerji, Chandragupta Maurya and His Times, 2; Bhattacharjee, History of Ancient India,.
5. � Hermann Kulke and Dietmar Rothermund; A History of India (New Delhi: Rupa and Co., 1991),.
6. � Bhargava; Chandragupta Maurya,.
7. � M. V. Krishna Rao; Studies in Kautilya, 2d ed. (New Delhi: Munshi RamManohar Lal, 1958),
8. � V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar; The Mauryan Polity (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass,1993 [1932]), 240–59; John W. Spellman, Political Theory of Ancient India(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1964), 98; Julius Lipner, Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices (London: Routledge, 1994),
9. � Romila Thapar; Asoka and the Decline of the Mauryas (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1997),
10. � Sastri; Asoka and His Successors,
11. � Thapar; Asoka and the Decline of the Mauryas,
12. � Sastri; Asoka and His Successors,
13. � Thapar; Asoka and the Decline of the Mauryas,
14. � Ibid.,
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15. � Sastri; Asoka and His Successors,
16. � Dikshitar; The Mauryan Polity,
17. � Bhasker Anand Saletore; Ancient Indian Political Thought and Institutions, London: Asia Publishing House, 1963,
18. � Bhargava; Chandragupta Maurya,
19. � Heinrich Zimmer; Philosophies of India, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1967,
20.
Administrative Views of ..........
TH THSOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF WOMEN IN 19 AND 20 CENTURY IN LADAKH
*Sameena Iqbal
Ladakh is a land of intense bareness. The bareness of the land did not permit the people to grow sufficient to feed an increased population. The communication and transportation system too was not feasible to import the food grains. Ladakh was isolated from the rest of the world and its resources were inelastic. Thus, they had to adapt to the prevalent harsh nature. From that there came about the curious custom that when the elder brother tied the matrimonial knot for himself, his wife became wife to all the brothers who had only to promise that they would remain united. This was the system of polyandry, which was practiced on economic ground. The mechanics of the system was simple. The customs of polyandry, prevalent in Ladakh for centuries envisaged only one mistress of the house except where the owner of the house married more than one wife or happened to be the joint husband of a number of sisters. Of a number of brothers, the eldest was accepted as the heir of the property and usually at least one of the other was dedicated to religion as a Lama. Any remaining brothers were free either to go and make their own way in the world or to remain in the family home, in which case there was a clear understanding that they occupied a position subservient to the eldest brother. If they wanted to marry on their own account, they had to leave and set up a separate home, without being entitled to a share in any part of the family property. Thus, it was impossible for the younger brothers to either marry and settle or to go out for their living. They naturally became husbands to the wife of the eldest brother and lived with him in the family. The meager natural resources and the absence of any industry in the land could not support the large population, the cultivable land in Ladakh was also very small and its further division was highly undesirable. Thus, polyandry was well adapted to the limited resources of this country and also it avoided the subdivisions of land. Polyandry also prevented family disputes arising from the division of the property. It further enabled the household to obtain sufficient labour in the form of male hands that it needed to cultivate its fields. As a result the Buddhist polyanders were better off than their neighbours, the Balti polygamists. Polyandry not only restricted population and made it possible for the poor to get a joint wife for the management of the household and prevented subdivision of holdings in an overpopulated country where land was difficult to cultivate but it also helped the solidarity of the family whereas separate wives led to disputes between brothers and resulted in the disintegration of the group. It is argued that any number of brothers can live jointly for number of years but it is not possible for their separate wives to do so for long. The sister in law is instrumental in making there husbands quarrel among themselves. This is what was prevented by polyandry. When the brothers possessed a common wife, she could not set one brother against another for in that case she could not remain the joint wife of all and every preferential treatment on her part might have thrown her and her favoured husband out of the family. The prevalence of system of polyandry in Ladakh was not due to the dearth of women. Infact, Ladakh was the only district in the state which had a preponderance of females, their proportion per
thousand males being 1002 in 1911 and 1011 in 1921. In a country where so little land was capable of being brought under cultivation, a large increase in population must either lead
*Assistant Professor, Deptartment of History , Women's College, Srinagar (J&K)
21.
to great poverty or emigration and emigration is ruled out of question by the fact that the people of Ladakh were quite incapable of living out of their land as change in climate may sicken them. This system was mainly practiced by the Buddhist of Ladakh to keep the population under control. The first inquisitive point to notice in polyandry system is that the eldest married son of a family was placed in a better position than his own father and was practically the head of the family. As soon as the eldest son married, he entered into possession of the family estate, a small portion only being retained by his parents for the support of themselves and their unmarried daughters that also became the property of the eldest son on the death of the parents and marriage of the daughters. The elder son was obliged to support his younger brothers financially who were sharing his wife.
Generally, however, if there were more than three brothers in a family, the younger ones became Lamas and entered a monastery or became coolies. The rest of the brothers who shared the wife of the eldest brother were not allowed to contract independent marriages. Thus, they become the minor husbands of that woman. The children of this strange union recognized all three husbands as father. However, in law the children were
regarded to be those of the eldest and addressed him as big father whereas the youngers were addressed as little fathers. When the eldest brother died, the wife was not under any obligation to remain with his brothers. If she chose to separate, she tied a thread to the finger of her dead husband and broke it. This procedure served her divorce. On the eldest brother's death, the family property passed on to the eldest son living with the family. However, he was held responsible for the maintenance of his other brothers, parents and the marriage of his sisters. In the absence of the male issue, the eldest daughter inherited the family property.
In traditional Ladakhi society there was prevalent the practice of keeping an additional husband. This husband used to be in addition to the husband or husbands recognized through marriage. Infact the additional husband not procured through marriage was admitted in the family at the will of the wife concerned. In this capacity, the man was known as Phorsak. A Phorsak was mostly rated at equal level with the other husband or husbands. In some cases the position of phorsak was even treated higher. He was brought in the family when the woman of the house felt the need of additional man for doing agricultural and other works. With the passage of time, there had been a decline in the polyandrous families. This was mainly due to the change in the authority and position of the eldest son. He was no longer the sole repository of family property and status. With the abolition of polyandry by law in Ladakh in 1941 and the Hindu Succession Act applying to the Buddhists, all brothers enjoyed equal right of inheritance. The frequency of polyandrous unions was reduced because under the new provision every brother could economically afford to maintain an individual wife. The family land also underwent segmentation and therefore, the produce was insufficient to feed the members under monogamous system. Under such circumstances, it was increasingly felt that one could afford to maintain independent family of one's own. With the new opportunities of labour, job and employment there was growing economic independence. The antithesis of polyandry viz. polygamy was not unknown in Ladakh.
According to the system of polyandry, when the eldest son had reached years of discretion and had married and produced an heir, the parents summoned their friends and relations and in their presence, formally made over the entire property to the eldest son and themselves shifted to a small house adjoining the main property, taking one or two animals
22.
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with them and retaining only as much land as they needed to support themselves. The separated family formed by the separated parents was called Khaon. All the responsibilities of managing the property devolved on the eldest son, who was now recognised as the legal owner, the parents had no more claim on it. If there were two fathers alive, or even more, they would all share their retirement in the little house or Khaon. This separation also proposed for sparing part of the family property to the unmarried girl or boy in the family. However, the major part of the property was still retained in the ancestral house which was called the Khangchen. With the decline of the polyandrous unions, the Khaon system had also been affected correspondingly. The monastery also granted more recognition to Khangchen than Khaon. Once a year, after the harvesting was over, every family gave a part of the agricultural produce to the monastery or the Gompa. The families in better position donated a head load each but no quantity was fixed for the Khaon. They gave it only if they could afford it while a specific quantity was fixed for the ancestral house which was to be given to the monastic organization. Actually, the monastic right on Khangchen was more because it had a worship room which was called Chotkhang and was created by the Lamas of the Monastery. The Chotkhang remained common for both the Khangchen and Khaon and their members made use of it as and when desired. Khaon pattern encouraged magpa practice. Magpa was the husband who joined his wives family and residence. Such an arrangement got substantial support from Khaon. An unmarried girl from Khaon inherited, in most of the cases, the property after the death of the parents. To manage and look after her property she was helped by her husband who joined after her marriage. The Ladakhis did not mind becoming magpa in Khaon. Magpa practice was restored to for Khangchen if needed.
Apart from those younger brothers who entered the monastic life or became coolies, if any one of them did not want to share the family wife he had to leave the estate and seek his fortune outside as Magpas. If there be no son, the eldest daughter inherited the land, the lady then selected some well favored younger brother of a large family, who had no inheritance in land of his family or share in his eldest brother's wife, and made this person her magpa. He enjoyed no rights over her property. His only role was to work for his wife's interest and to help her produce heirs. Her sisters were given the same rights in the magpa as were the younger brothers in a polyandrous marriage. He was the property of his wife and could not leave her except in the case of gross misconduct on her part. However, if she was displeased with him she could turn him out of doors and get rid of him without any excuse or form of divorce. This indicated that the women in Ladakh had a higher say in the family and enjoyed greater liberty than men. The adoption of polyandry by the whole Buddhist community is attributed mainly to the fact that it kept the family estates whole and intact and prevented inconvenient increase in population.
An important result with the fraternal polyandry produced was that female infanticide was not practiced. It is true that a paucity of marriageable woman made polyandry possible but that paucity was produced in different ways. We find the female infanticide had nothing to do with the scarcity of women in Ladakh nor was female infanticide as such practiced here and girl babies were not neglected. A woman was in great demand and was the mistress of the situation. She was loved at home by the parents and greatly valued by the husband. Her upbringing or marriage did not cost the parents much money. A few clothes of the cheapest and roughest texture sufficed for her and she might not be given any ornaments. The question for expenses of marriage or upbringing did not
23.
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arise at all. The monasteries or Gompas also assisted in keeping the population within bounds as a large no of Buddhists entered the service of the monasteries and lead a life of celibacy. Later polyandry came to be looked at with disfavour at least by the higher classes. The women in Ladakh enjoyed unbridled power and liberty. To a native of India the complete social liberty of women of Ladakh seems very strange. This liberty according to Fredric Drew is as great as that of workmen's wives in England. Not only the Ladakhi women went about unveiled but also mixed where men frequented and entered with them into their pursuits of business or pleasure and got an equal share in their toil. Women were good weight carriers and in agriculture also they took their share of the work, when the seed was in, the lending of the fields,-the watering and so on was a great deal left to the women, the men perhaps having work abroad i.e. they were mostly occupied in their immemorial trade of carrying. Thus, the position of women was better in Ladakh than in other parts of India.
The Buddhist women of Ladakh virtually ruled the domestic life. This was the natural result of the practice of polyandry. The women freely attended fairs and festivals along with their men folk. The prevalence of polyandry in Ladakh is said to have led to a great relaxation in the relations between the sexes. It is also pointed out that many marriages in Ladakh turned out to be sterile. An unmarried girl who had given birth to a child was, therefore, much sought after for a marriage because the birth of one child gave the hope of the birth of more children. But there is also evidence to suggest that the Ladakhi women were, on the whole, not immoral in their character. Polyandry also had a bad effect on the nature of the women. Beyond the openness, which one admires, it makes them overbold, shameless, and causes them to be in a general way coarser than their other circumstances need make them. To the same custom is attributed the greater facileness as compared with neighboring countries with which those connections with foreigners were formed that have resulted in so many varieties of half – castes at Leh. In Ladakh, Buddhist family also had a custom to offer girl to concern monastery to become a nun or chomo if there were more girls and one or two boys in a family. All those girls who did not marry became nuns and adopted the male attire of red and yellow robe. The nuns however, seemed to be by no means kept in confinement. They worked in the fields and went wherever they pleased. The Buddhist women of Ladakh were free from legal, social or political restrictions. They were liberated from chains and their freedom had no parallels in the east. Dancing was an inseparable part of marriages and all other social function. The women were seen rejoicing with men maintaining moral etiquettes in traditional style. The women also had their social meets in different localities in the night in which unending rounds of dancing went on until early hours of the morning. The exclusive female meets were open to young male spectators who assist in the preparation of tea and serving other refreshment to the performers who took turns at dancing by groups. The women were physically tough and their stamina in no way was a less match than men. Their toughness owed to the harshness of the climate and the hard terrain of the lands. The incredible stamina of local female found the right expression in the words of Frederic Drew that, “I have had women employed to carry my baggage according to the custom of the country who have done 23 or 24 miles with 60 pounds on their backs and have come in at the end singing cheerfully.” The women worked in the fields and accompanied their men folk in the summer season. While in the winter months, they sat around the hearths spinning, weaving, knitting, telling their rosaries and turning their prayer wheels. The scarcity of the
24.
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firewood in the area made people to look for alternatives and the best they could find was cow dung and droppings of other animals. The women were mostly seen doing the job of collection of cow dung and droppings of other animal in their basket Tzepo strapped to their backs. They were also seen carrying loads of grass, fodders and vegetables for their livestock and household purpose. The females were expert riders to be able to manage their mounts skillfully and did not hesitate embarking on long journeys on horseback for private business or pilgrimage to a distant shrine. A girl had full freedom to exercise her choice for a husband and if the proposal was one made by her parents, her approval to it was a prerequisite to the conclusion of a matrimonial alliance. Marriage among the Buddhists of Ladakh was a contract which could be dissolved when either party to it seek the divorce. It was the wife who seeks the divorce. She had to return to the husband the part of the dowry contributed by him as also double the amount he had spent on the presents made by him to her in connection with the marriage according to social customs. In the vent of the husband seeking the dissolution of the marriage, he had to lead the wife take away all her dowry including the part contributed by him. In this case, the penalty of paying for presents did not apply as premarital presents among the Buddhists of Ladakh were mostly given by the parents of the groom to the bride. All cases of divorce were referred to and decided by local leaders. Widows were free to remarry, if they so choose. The powers enjoyed by a girl under the polyandrous system was directly proportionate to the number of her husbands as she could bestow or withhold her favors according to her sweet will and was thus able to hold boundless sway over them. Even under the ancient law of inheritance, a girl could, in the absence of a male heir, inherit her father's property in her own right and in that case she would marry a man called magpa who would quit his own parental roof for good and live with her in her father's house founding a new family there. Under the Hindu's succession law which applies to the Buddhist of Ladakh also, a girl could inherit her father's property in similar circumstances.
Polyandry is one of the rare forms of human marriage and its practice has always attracted the attention of sociologists who have proposed many theories regarding its origin and continuity. This system was widely prevalent among the Buddhists of Ladakh. It did not extend to the Muslims, as we do not have any evidence of this system being practiced by the Muslims either in oral traditions or in any written records. Though both the groups were exposed to the same environmental conditions, still one of them was ignorant of the custom. This may be attributed to the fact that the Muslims did not have religious sanctions for the custom. Polyandry is now illegal in India and therefore also in Ladakh, but polyandrous marriages are still contracted in remote villages in the interior which is attributed to the interaction of biological, economic and psychological factors. These factors have helped keep this practice alive and without the change in economic life and social outlook, it is not easy to forecast whether it will lose its hold on the people.
REFERENCES1) Gervis, P. (1974) This is Kashmir, Delhi, p.200
2) Kapur, M. L. Social and Economic history of J&K state, Delhi, .p.141
3) Muhammad, K., 1908 ,Preliminary Report on Ladakh settlement, p. 9
4) Kapur, M. L., op.cit., p 142
5) Bower, H. (1894) Dairy of a journey across Tibet, Rivington, Percival and Co, p. 277
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Socio-Economic Status ..........
6) Knight, E. F. (1905) (rept.) Where Three Empires Meet, New Delhi, London, p.138-39, original, London, 1893
7) Ibid.
8) Kapur, M. L., op.cit., p.141
9) Knight, E. F. op.cit., p.138-39
10) Kapur , M. L., op.cit., p.141
11) Gervis, P., op.cit., p. 200-01
12) Kapur, M. L., op.cit., p.142
13) Ibid.
14) Knight, E. F., op.cit. p.138-39
15) Ibid.
16) Drew, F. (1976) The Jammoo and Kashmir Territories, Cosmos Publication, p.250-51 Muhammad, K., op.cit., p. 4
17) Gervis, P., op.cit., p. 201
18) Drew, F., op.cit. p. 250
19) Ibid.
20) Kapur, M. L., op.cit., p.145
21) Ibid, p.148
22) Ibid.
23) Drew, F., op.cit. p. 252
24) Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series (1909), XVI, Jammu and Kashmir State, p. 99
25) Drew, F., op.cit., p. 248
26.
Socio-Economic Status ..........
DIMINISHING CULTURAL IDENTITY OF
DISPLACED KASHMIRIS
*Dr. Sangeeta
Migration is one of the most important areas of social research. The term is used to denote a number of different meanings by various scholars. On the basis of those definitions it may be assumed that migration may mean either a temporary or permanent change of residence by one person or a group of people. But it is not to be identified with mere movement. It involves, at the very least, change of residence and breaking of home ties. In other words, a migrant may be a person who travels away from the confines of the area in which he previously resided, to a new life with a new social, economic and cultural milieu.
Various forms of migration have been put forth by different scholars. For instance, the most common categorization of migration given by scholars like Petersen (1966), George (1975), Issac (1947) and Davis (1981) is in terms of forced, free and mass migration. Roseman (1971) divided it into reciprocal and circulatory movements. Some other scholars like Prothero (1975), Zachariah (1961) and Golini (1987) have classified the migratory movements in terms of distance, time, legitimacy etc. However, the forms of migration that are of more relevance in the present paper i.e., internal and international migration and voluntary and involuntary ones. International migration involves shift from one nation to another, whereas, in the case of internal migration, migrants may shift from their native place to another area, but within the confines of a national boundary which is the case with Kashmiri migrants. Similarly, voluntary migrants may shift from one area to another by their own choice, but in case of involuntary migration they are forced to abandon their ancestral place and to seek shelter elsewhere against their wish which is also applicable to Kashmiri migrants.
A little probing is done into the fate of these people after they shifted to alien environs. Therefore, the present paper deals with the aftermath of displacement, i.e., the modes of adaptation of the Kashmiri migrants while living in a new setting. Kashmiri migrants had to shift to the plains in the late 1980s and early 1990s as mass-exodus took place in reaction to the terrorist activities in their native place in the form of kidnapping, bombings, assassinations, religious blandishments and press-censorship. As a result mass-migration of people from the valley to the other states in India started taking place. Forced migration of almost 3,00,000 persons comprising entirely of Hindu population of Kashmir valley took place. They went and settled in different parts of North India.
The specific objectives of this paper is to assess their modes of social adaptation in interactional terms i.e., to review how well do the migrants intermix socially with the host society as well as to reveal their modes of cultural adaptation, i.e., to study whether or not the migrants have learnt, accepted and adapted the host society's culture and on contrary threat to their identity when a person moves to a new place the whole life style undergoes a change and how he tries to keep up and adapt in a new environment. And lastly, cultural adaptation denotes a process whereby, a migrant group adapts itself according to the cultural demands of the new setting, i.e., whether it integrates fully into the host community's culture or does it retain its own culture.
*Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Desh Bhagat University, Mandi Gobindgarh
27.
The cultural adaptation of the Kashmiri Pandit migrants is not influenced by local culture rather the desire to maintain their own cultural identity is quite dominant in this community. The paper depicts that Kashmiri Pandits are not comfortable with the host culture as they are not accustomed with many of the traits of the same. Hence they seem to be less adapted culturally .Moreover, they are very particular to retain some of their peculiar cultural identities. Kashmiri migrants who are young in age are very particular to maintain their cultural identity even at the place of their migration. In other words, whether belonging to urban or rural background they tend to show low level of adaptation in cultural terms .Besides, those who are well educated are culturally more adapted than those who are not well qualified. Those who were not prepared for the shift are culturally less adapted. With regard to the family structure, it has been found that those in joint families are showing low degree of adaptation in cultural terms and those who are employed by others are culturally well adapted because they have faced fewer crises in comparison with the self-employed respondents. Similarly, those who are earning well are culturally more adapted as compared to those who are earning less.
The paper shows that Kashmiri Pandit migrants are very traditional in their outlook. They are proud of their culture and want to maintain their identity. They hold that they have left their homes primarily to save their culture and would naturally protect it from any 'outside' influence. They, therefore, disapprove of inter-marriages and their children learning any alien cultural traits and values and stick to participate in their own ethnic functions only. Therefore, it may be assumed that Kashmiri Pandits are very conservative and want to retain their ethnic ethos even at the place of their migration. They strictly observe their own traditions. Moreover, they believe firmly that their culture is strong enough to withstand the impact of any other culture.
Although the degree of adaptation is not high , yet against expectations, in relative terms the Kashmiris are found to be slightly better adapted socially rather than culturally. However, certain similarities were seen while analyzing the various factors. The level of adaptation is lower among those unprepared for expulsion as compared to those who expected their ejection. Those employed by others, especially in the public sector, were better adapted in all three i.e., economically, socially as well as culturally than those who were self-employed or worked in the private sector. Moreover, respondents with higher incomes displayed greater economic, social and cultural adjustment. In 'addition, their relatives were found to play an important role in the process of adaptation. The length of stay, however, did not show much impact in the adaptation level. Those who had come from rural areas could not adapt well as compared to those from urban areas. The latter seemed better adapted socially and culturally. The Kashmiris with higher education have shown better adaptation in social and cultural terms as 3333the respondents with low level of educational attainment. Also, those with additional source(s) of income showed higher degree of economic adaptation but ranked quite low in terms of social and cultural adaptation.
Finally, when we look at the overall adaptation pattern of displaced Kashmiris, the picture that emerges is that of dissatisfied and unhappy people who have been unable to adjust well, economically, socially and culturally.
Various approaches have been used to analyze the modes of adaptation of migrants. Scholars like Park (1920) and Berry (1976) have discussed the different responses adopted
28.
Diminishing Cultural Identity ..........
by migrants when they arrive in new community. Contact, competition, accommodation and assimilation were the responses mentioned by Park, while withdrawal, reaction and adjustment were described as the responses of newcomers to a new social set-up by Berry. Both approaches, however, are of limited relevance for the present research. It is the views of Joe R. Feagin (1989) and Milton Gordon (1968) which are of more interest in analyzing the findings. Both have tried to differentiate between material and non-material aspects of adaptation pattern. Feagin discussed ways in which a migrant community reacts to a new social milieu. Of these, his category of “Cultural Pluralism” of the economic and political type is the most crucial. As he mentions, in most cases the migrant group becomes part of the political and economic set-up of the host community, but stays aloof in terms of social interaction and cultural acculturation.
A similar category is provided by Gordon as well who holds that adaptation may be behavioural as well as structural, -the first implying cultural assimilation and the second, economic and political participation. His view is that structural assimilation or “integration” as he terms it, is one of the most significant modes of migrants adaptation, whereas, behavioural adaptation is more difficult to find'. However, the present investigation shows somewhat different results. We find that Kashmiri Pandit migrants may have entered into the instrumental affairs of the host community and still tend to lay stress on their ethnic identity and the preservation of their culture, But in Gordon's study the migrants have displayed high degree of adaptation in social and cultural sense as compared to economic adaptation. This finding is significant because in most cases of migrants' adaptation, it is easier for the newcomers to adapt economically than socially and culturally which is not the case with the Kashmiri Pandit migrants.
There may be two reasons to explain our findings. First, in case of forced migration like that of Kashmiri Pandits, it would naturally be more problematic for newcomers to become economically self-sufficient in the new setting, especially those persons who were totally unprepared for their eviction. Secondly, normally migrant groups shifting to places with entirely different cultures may find it difficult to adapt socially and culturally. However, in this case the migrant group has somewhat common cultural inheritance as the host group, i.e., its cultural background is somewhat similar and related to the host society. This itself facilitates their social and cultural adaptation.
Thus, the overall findings of the study depicts that Kashmiri Pandits do not seem to have adapted well in their new setting,either socially or culturally. They, in fact, present a picture of bitter and dissatisfied people. The reason for this is attributed by them to the negligence of the administration towards their plight. They say that they have not received any substantial help either from the state government of Jammu and Kashmir or from the Central Government. They hold a lot of grudges against other parties since they feel that they have been forsaken by them. They feel unwanted, not only in Kashmir but also in other parts of the country as well. However, the blame for this does not lie upon the host population but towards the attitude of the administration. They feel let down by the Government of India, as well as, the various political parties, especially where their economic adsaptation is concerned. A majority of these uprooted people have faced economic crisis since they have had to leave established business and trade in Kashmir and have had to start afresh. Their earnings have plummeted; they live in cramped quarters and have no additional source(s) of income. In short, their life styles have changed drastically due to economic deprivation. A majority of the Kashmiri Pundits claimed that had they did
29.
Diminishing Cultural Identity ..........
not receive financial assistance from the administration even during their initial stages of migration to plains in north India, Had they got initial help the process of their adaptation would have become quite easy. However, due to the absence of political support they could not adapt well in economic terms and consequently in social and cultural terms as well.
Keeping in view these points, some suggestions can be offered to make the adjustment easier for future migrants at the place of their destination. Efforts must be made to provide housing facilities for migrants and better health care must be made available to them. Educational and employment opportunities must be provided to them and their children, which may help them in standing on their own feet. In this task the coordinated efforts of the state, Non- Government Organization (NGOs), as well as, the people are very necessary. The NGOs and the people in general must force the administration to heed to and take action to remove and remedy the migrants, legitimate grievance and fulfill their just and rightful demands without delay. Only then can any migrant community adapt successfully at the place of migration where they can become productive members of the society contributing to its development
14. Raina, Dinanath (1990) “Unhappy Kashmir”, New Delhi: Reliance Publishing House
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Diminishing Cultural Identity ..........
ADOLESCENT PROBLEM BEHAVIOUR :
ROLE OF FAMILY COHESION
Dr. Bikramjit Singh
The present study was designed to study adolescent problem behavior (internalizing and externalizing problems) in relation to Family Cohesion. Adolescence is a critical period of development during which children experience crucial changes in the relationship with their parents and social world. Scientific endeavor is gradually elucidating the influences and pressures that shape a child's functioning, and it is clear that there is a wide range of these, from genetic to social environments. One of the most enduring of influences, especially in the earlier phase of life, is the family.
Family as a concept has been defined differently in terms of culture and other dimensions. It is defined as a group of individuals who are related to each other by quasi circular relationships based on marriage or blood relations. This general system has three subsystems, such as parents, children and siblings, and each sub-system has its own particular boundaries. Since the 1960s when work began in trying to understand the complexities of family functioning, many theories and approaches have been explored and family functioning has been perceived as a main matrix for developing adolescents skills in coping effectively with day to day stresses.
One of the more initially robust ways of conceptualizing families is to describe them using the dimensional constructs of cohesion and adaptability, which was termed the circumplex model by its authors (Olson et al., 1979). The circumplex model of marital and family systems (Olson, 2000; Olson, Russell, & Sprinkle, 1983) represents one of the most extensively used models of family functioning, both in clinical and academic settings. According to this model, families function in terms of cohesiveness, or the 'emotional bonding that family members have toward one another' (Olson, 2000, p. 145) and flexibility, which refers to the 'amount of change a family experience in term of its leadership, role relationships, and relationship rules' (Olson, 2000). The third and perhaps most important dimension in the model is communication as family communication is viewed as the dynamic component that aids or hinders family movement along the other two dimensions.
Within the circumplex model, some of the specific concepts or variables use to diagnose and measures the family cohesion dimensions are emotional bonding, boundaries, coalition, time, space, friends, decision making, interest and recreation. Cohesion focuses on how system balances separateness versus togetherness.
There are five levels of cohesion ranging from disengaged / disconnected (extremely low) to somewhat connected (low to moderate ), to connected (moderate), to very connected (moderate to high), to enmeshed/ overly connected (extremely high). Balanced couple and family system (somewhat connected, connected and very connected types) tend to be very functional across the life cycles.
Unbalanced levels of cohesion are at the extremes of being either extremely low (disengaged) or extremely high (enmeshed). A disengaged relationship often has extreme
*Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Desh Bhagat University, Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab.
31.
emotional separateness. There is little involvement among family members and a great deal of personal separateness and independence. Individuals often do their own things; separate time, space, and interest predominate; and members are unable to turn to one another for support and problem solving. On the other hand, in an enmeshed relationship there is an extreme amount of emotional closeness, and loyalty is demanded. Individual are very dependent on and reactive to one another; there is a lack of personal separateness, and little private space is permitted. The energy of the individuals is focused almost exclusively inside the family and there are few outside individuals friends or interests.
Research suggests that extremely high levels of cohesion (enmeshed) and extremely low levels of cohesion (disengaged) tend to be problematic for individuals and relationship development in the long run. It is also evident that in an enmeshed family there is no privacy for each individual member and at the same time there is a confrontation between the subsystems of family, such as the children's involvement in their parents' issues (Barhoom, 1987). Also there is no respect of the individual freedom so, they fight for trivial reasons and when they reconcile they do it easily (Dahir, 1987, c.f. Simadi et al., 2003). Lack of effective communication between family members, which creates a cognitive dissonance for the members increases the gaps between the family members. Norms and rules are confused and disorganized .Members rights may be respected or violated easily by others. In such a family, confusion persists and it produces individuals who try to fulfill their emotions outside their families. In others words, some of the family members, especially adolescents, tend to escape to another reality, seeking rights, security and respect. Although a member may leave home to ensure his/her independence, as in the case of a dissatisfied members leaving home, he/she may develop maladjusted behaviours, such as a school failure, steeling, aggression and hyperactive behaviour (Dahir, 1985, c.f. Simadi et al., 2003). Relevant study indicates that such members may develop psychosomatic symptoms, such as headache, stomach pain and so on (Haley, 1980). Members of enmeshed family demonstrates numerous antisocial behaviour in order to get attention from their family and to satisfy their psychological needs for love and security (Smadi & Alsmadi, 1995).
Behler and Barber (1996) have also reported that enmeshment has positive associations with youth problems and is more strongly related to internalizing problems. It is believed that families of adolescent drug abusers are rigidly enmeshed, with unclear generational boundaries, over involved mother-child relationship and strained father-child relationship (Levine, 1985).
Pathological level of cohesion among family members could also be linked to suicidal behaviours among adolescents (Diekstra, 1989). Excessive involvement of families in adolescent lives was found to be playing a major role in adolescent suicidal behaviour (Kerfoot, 1984). Equally problematic is the role of family disengagement. Chaplin and Vito (1988) found family disengagement in the family may also bode negatively for adolescent development and distinguished adolescents who appeared to be at risk for academic failure from those who were not at risk.
McKeown et al. (1997) have found that adolescents perceptions of low cohesion with their families are associated with heightened feelings of depression and reduced social acceptance. However, Wentzel and Feldman (1996) report that levels of cohesion reported by male and female adolescents have different implications for their personal and
32.
Family Cohesion ..........
social adjustment. Lower levels of family cohesion were associated with female reports of feeling excluded and depressed, while male reports were not associated with perceptions of family cohesion.
Fischer, Munsch and Greene (1996) report that although males report a desired of closeness with their parents, the level of desire closeness with parents does not approach the level of females', and they are less sensitive than females to disruption in family closeness. As a result disruption in closeness of parent adolescent relationship may be associated with higher levels of social and personal distress for females than for males, and this sensitivity may be associated with adolescents females' reports of depression and feelings of exclusion. For females, emotional bonding and the feeling of closeness in the family appears to be buffer against the development of internalizing disorders (McKeown et al., 1997).
As with cohesion, it is hypothesized that central or balanced levels of flexibility (somewhat flexible, flexible, and very flexible) are more conducive to good couple and family functioning, with the extremes (rigid and chaotic) being the most problematic for families as they move through their life cycle.
Basically, flexibility focuses on the change in a family's leadership, roles and rules. Families need both stability and change. The ability to change, when appropriate, is one of the characteristics that distinguish functional families from dysfunctional ones. A somewhat flexible relationship tends to have democratic leadership characteristics, with some negotiations including the children. Roles are stable, with some role sharing, and rules are firmly enforced, with few changes. A flexible relationship has an equalitarian leadership with democratic approach to decision making. Negotiations are open and actively include the children. Roles are shared and there is fluid change, when necessary. Rules can be changed and they are age appropriate.
Overall family functioning poses an important perspective for understanding adolescent problem behaviour, especially in Indian culture where collectivistic spirit still prevails in the families, and patriarchal system governs family functioning.
METHODOLOGY
The present study was designed to explore the role of family in adolescent problem behavior. Data were collected keeping in view the demand of the study.
SAMPLE
� The sample for the present study comprised 300 adolescent boys and 300 adolescent girls (age range 13-15 years). Mean age of the sample was 14.2 years. The school going adolescents belonging to middle class urban families were considered in the present investigation. Adolescents belonging to two- parent nuclear families were taken into consideration. The data were collected from various schools of District Patiala, Nabha, Malerkotla & Fatehgarh Sahib. The subjects were approached in their classrooms and 15-20 subjects from each classroom participated in the study. Fishbowl technique of random sampling was used to select the eligible participants from the classrooms.
33.
Family Cohesion ..........
Youth Self Report : Youth Self Report was developed by Achenbach (1991), and measures behavioural and emotional functioning of adolescents (11-18 years) .In the present study, the scores on three subscales- anxious/depressed withdrawn/depressed, somatic complaints are referred to as 'internalizing problems'. Also Rule breaking behaviour and aggressive behaviours are referred to as 'externalizing problems'.
Family Environment Scale.
— Moos & Moos, 1986
The real Form (Form R) measures people's perceptions of their current family environment. It has 9 dimensions.
System maintenance Dimension: Organization, Control
In the present study only cohesion dimension was used.
The Cohesion subscale has 9 items which measures the degree of commitment, help, and support among family members.
To determine a person's raw score (R/S), number of Xs showing through the template in each column are and enter the total in the R/S box at the bottom.
The internal consistency reliability (Cronbach alpha for N = 1,067) for this subscale is 0.78 (Moos, 1990). Further, 2-month test-retest reliability (N = 47) for this subscale, as evidenced by Moos, has been found to be 0.86; and 4-month subscale stability (N = 35) as 0.72.
FES Cohesion has also been found to be positively related to the Social Support Appraisals scale indices of perceived support from family members and friends (Vaux et al., 1986); the Social Support Questionnaire and indices such as the percentage of social network members who are confidants and satisfaction with the social network (Sarason et al., 1987); the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Scale (Waring et al., 1981); and the Spanier Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS; Abbott & Brody, 1985). Also, FES cohesion has been found to be associated with more parental care and less parental overprotection as measured by the Parental Bonding Instrument (Sarason et al., 1987).
Result and Discussion
MEANS and S.D. (FES - Cohesion dimension)
Mean's and S.D.'s of the Family Environment Scales' Cohesion dimension. (Boys, N=300, Girls, N=300)
34.
Family Cohesion ..........
Table shows the means, and S.D.'s of scores on Family Environment Scale's Cohesion dimension. The mean & S.D. for Cohesion for boys are 4.70, and 2.54. The mean & S.D. for Cohesion for girls are 4.84 and 2.76.
Pearsons Product Moment Correlation Coefficients of Adolescent Problem Behaviour with the Cohesion dimension of Family Environment Scale (Boys, N=300)
** p< .01 = .15
Table shows that Cohesion dimension of Family Environment has significant inverse correlations with Internalizing Problem Behaviour (r=-0.17, p<0.01) and externalizing problem behaviour (r =-0.22, p<0.01) in adolescent boys. Seemingly adolescent boys show lesser problem behaviour when their families are more cohesive.
Pearsons Product Moment Correlation Coefficients of Adolescent Problem Behaviour with the Cohesion Dimension of Family Environment Scale (Girls, N=300)
** p< .01 = .15
Table also shows that Cohesion dimension of Family Environment has significant inverse correlations with Internalizing problem behaviour (r =-0.19, p<0.01) and externalizing problem behaviour (r = -0.16, p<0.01) in adolescent girls.
Thus in both boys and girls sample, family cohesion accompanies lesser problem behaviour. Cohesion reflects the emotional bond that family members have with other members of the family and is an expression of belonging and acceptance within the family (McKeown et al., 1997). Low family cohesion has been associated with aggression, depression, and poor social adjustment (Cummings et al., 1994). High levels of cohesion were identified as protective of substance use and delinquency (Coohey, 2001). Research has suggested that family cohesion is negatively associated with internalizing symptoms (Wentzel, 1998). Rivera et al. (2008) also reported higher levels of family cohesion was associated with less psychological distress (i.e. depressive symptoms). Furthermore,
Sr. no. Variable Mean (Boys) S.D (Boys) Mean (Girls) S.D (Girls)
1 Cohesion 4.70 2.54 4.84 2.76
Sr. No. Family Environment
Scale
Internalizing Problem
Behaviour
Externalizing Problem
Behaviour 1 Cohesion -0.19** -0.16**
Sr. No.
Family Environment
Scale
Internalizing Problem
Behaviour
Externalizing Problem
Behaviour
1 Cohesion -0.17** -0.22**
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Family Cohesion ..........
Henderson, Sayger, and Horne (2003) examined family cohesion and internalizing behavior problems in Caucasian and African American boys. They found a trend for families with less cohesion to report more internalizing behavior problems in both Caucasian and African American children. In a study by Varela, Sanchez-Sosa, Biggs, and Luis (2009), which consisted of a sample of Latin-American, European-American, and Mexican families, the results indicated that family cohesion was negatively associated with children's anxiety symptoms, regardless of their cultural group and even after controlling for socioeconomic status. Previous research appears to indicate that higher levels of family cohesion are generally associated with less internalizing symptoms in children (Varela et al., 2009). Furthermore, when other stressors are present in the children's lives (e.g. exposure to violence), having more cohesion may serve a protective function and reduce depressive and anxious symptoms in children, whereas having more negative family interactions may exacerbate these symptoms (Gutman & Eccles, 2007). Wentzel and Feldman (1996) and McKeown et al. (1997) have found that adolescents' perceptions of low cohesion within their families were associated with heightened feelings of depression and reduced social acceptance. However, Wentzel and Feldman report that levels of cohesion reported by male and female adolescents have different implications for their personal and social adjustment. Lower levels of family cohesion were associated with female reports of feeling excluded and depressed, whereas male reports were not associated with their perceptions of family cohesion. Collins and Laursen (1992) suggest that children's and adolescents' social behavioral styles resulting from exposure to disruptive family environments are associated with behaviors that make social interactions difficult (i.e., aggression and externalizing problems).
Overall, we can say that family cohesion is an important correlate of adolescent problem behaviour both in boys as well as girls. Problem behaviour in less prevalent in adolescents in cohesive families, as suggested by the present results.
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