30, August 2026
From Social Mobility to Colonial Rigidity: British Rule and the Institutionalization of Caste
Author(s): Dr. Sucharita Mishra
Authors Affiliations:
Assistant Professor & Head, PG Department of Sociology, Shailabala Women’s (Auto) College, Cuttack, Odisha, India
DOIs:10.2015/IJIRMF/202608009 | Paper ID: IJIRMF202608009Abstract
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Abstract: The present research examines how British colonial rule transformed India's diverse and relatively flexible varna-jati social order into a rigid and institutionalized caste system. While social stratification existed in pre-colonial India, the research argues that British administrators redefined caste through legal codification, census operations, educational reforms, and administrative classification. Special attention is given to the influence of James Mill's The History of British India (1817), which portrayed Indian society as inherently hierarchical and significantly shaped colonial perceptions and policies. The research explores how colonial censuses, ethnographic surveys, and legal institutions converted fluid and regionally diverse social identities into fixed hereditary categories. It also examines how the British conflated the concepts of varna and jati, creating a standardized caste hierarchy that overlooked local diversity and social mobility. Drawing on the works of scholars such as Nicholas B. Dirks, Bernard S. Cohn, and Susan Bayly, a qualitative historical methodology based on colonial records and secondary literature is employed to analyze the institutionalization of caste. The findings suggest that although the British did not create caste, colonial rule fundamentally reshaped it into the rigid administrative system whose legacy continues to influence contemporary Indian society.
Key Words: British Colonialism; Caste Institutionalization; Varna-Jati; James Mill; Colonial Knowledge Production.
Dr. Sucharita Mishra (2026); From Social Mobility to Colonial Rigidity: British Rule and the Institutionalization of Caste, International Journal for Innovative Research in Multidisciplinary Field, ISSN(O): 2455-0620, Vol-12, Issue-8, Available on – https://www.ijirmf.com/