SOCIAL DIVERSITY IN

INDIA
BY : DR. ANCHAL PATHAK
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
DOON BUSINESS SCHOOL
MEANING OF SOCIAL DIVERSITY
 Social diversity is a feature of a society which is determined by caste, class,
religion, occupational pattern in a given territory. In the social sphere, the
general customs and manners of the people greatly differ. People of
different regions use different types of dresses, their eating habits and
customs differ. Certain people are quite civilized while others are very
backward in their customs. In short, “India is a museum of cults and
customs, creeds and cultures, faiths and tongues, racial types and social
systems”.
A successful community in which individuals of different race,
ethnicity, religious beliefs, socio economic status experience
and interest for the benefit of their diverse community.
PEOPLING
WHO ARE we?

Where did we come from?

When did we get here?

How many communities are we?

How are we all related?

PEOPLING
The peopling of India refers to the migration of Humans and Humanoids into

India. Evidence of humanoid population in India may stretch as far back as

1,500,000 years before today.

Modern humans settled India in multiple waves of migrations, over tens of

millennia. The first migrants came with the Southern Coastal dispersal, ca. 60,000

years ago, where after complex migrations within south and Southeast Asia took

place. With the onset of farming the population of India changed significantly by

the migration of Dravidians, Indo-European, Austro asiatic, Indo Aryan Tibeto-

Burmese. In past 2000 years of history Yunani, Turkish, Mughal, British, Fransis ,

Purtgalis came to India and they changed culture of Indians a lot. 

 
DEMOGRAPHY
What do we mean by demography?

Demography can be defined as the general science of

studying human population. It is the statistics of the
population that is subjected to spatio-temporal change
in accordance with aging, birth, death, migration etc.
The demography of any place helps to gather
information about the population, religion, language
and ethnicity of that place.
What data do we get from India demographics?

India demographics occupy 2nd rank among the world's most populated

countries. With its current population of more than 1.21 billion people (As
per Census of India 2011), the country is estimated to surpass China and be
the leading populous country in the world. The total population of the
nation is growing at the rate of 1.41 %. Similar to any other demography,
Indian demography even projects varied information regarding the
country. Let us have a quick look at the information, which can be
gathered from the demography of our nation as provided in the report
published by the Census Operations of India post Census 2011.
DATA
Population:
Total: 1, 210, 193, 422
Females: 5, 86, 469, 174
Males: 6, 23, 724, 248
Density of Population: 382 per sq. km.
Decadal growth (2001 - 2011): 1, 81, 455, 986
Decadal growth rate (2001 - 2011): 17.64 %
Birth rate: 20.97 births/ 1, 000 population
Growth rate: 1.344 %
Death rate: 7.48 deaths/ 1, 000 populations
Fertility rate: 2.62 children born/ woman
Infant mortality rate:
Total: 47.57 deaths/ 1, 000 live births
Female: 49.14 deaths/ 1, 000 live births
Male: 46.18 deaths/ 1, 000 live births
Life expectancy at birth:
Total: 66.8 years
Female: 67.95 years
Male: 65.77 years
Continued…
Age structure:
65 years and over: 5.5 % (Male: 30, 831, 190 and Female: 33, 998,
613)
15 years to 64 years: 64.9 % (Male: 3, 98, 757, 331 and Female: 3,
72, 719, 379)
0 years to 14 years: 29.7 % (Male: 1, 87, 450, 635 and Female: 1,
65, 415, 758)
Sex ratio:
Total: 1 female/ 1.08 males
65 years and over: 1 female/ 0.91 male
15-64 years: 1 female/ 1.07 males
Below 15 years: 1 female/ 1.13 males
At birth: 1 female/ 1.12 males
Literacy:
Total: 77, 84, 54, 120
Females: 33, 42, 50, 358
Males: 44, 42, 03, 762
Literacy rate:
Total: 74.04 %
Females: 65.46 %
Males: 82.14 %
Net migration rate: -0.05 migrant/ 1, 000 population
Languages
There is no single language that the whole of the
nation speaks or a single language that has been
declared as the “National Language.” 
 India has a total of 122 major languages and 1599
other languages (Office of the Registrar General &
Census Commissioner, India).
Hindi and English are used by the central government
while each state has the freedom to choose its official
language. 
A total of twenty two languages have been declared as
the scheduled languages. 
There two major families in which the Indian
languages can be divided into:
The Indo-Aryan family – This is the dominant
language family and its languages are being spoken by
more than 70% of the population mainly in northern,
western and central India.
The Dravidian family – The languages in this
language family are being spoken by more than 20% of
the population in southern India and parts of eastern
and central India.
CASTES
India is a country of castes. The term caste is generally
used in two senses: sometimes in the sense of Varna and
sometimes in the sense of Jati.
Varna refers to a segment of the four-fold division of
Hindu society based on functional criterion. The four
varnas are Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra with
their specialized functions as learning, defense, trade
and manual service. The Varna hierarchy is accepted all
over India.
Jati refers to a hereditary endogamous status group
practicing a specific traditional occupation. There are
more than 3,000 jatis in India. These are hierarchically
graded in different ways in different religions.
The system which divides Hindus into rigid hierarchical groups based
on their karma (work) and dharma (the Hindi word for religion, but
here it means duty) is generally accepted to be more than 3,000
years old.
How did caste come about?
Manusmriti, widely regarded to be the most important and
authoritative book on Hindu law and dating back to at least 1,000
years before Christ was born, "acknowledges and justifies the caste
system as the basis of order and regularity of society".
The caste system divides Hindus into four main categories -
Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and the Shudras. Many believe that
the groups originated from Brahma, the Hindu God of creation.
 The main castes were further divided into about 3,000 castes
and 25,000 sub-castes, each based on their specific occupation.
Religious
The Indian subcontinent is the birthplace of four of
the world's major religions; namely Hinduism,
Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. According to the 2011
census, 79.8% of the population of India practices
Hinduism, 14.2% adheres to Islam, 2.3% adheres to
Christianity, and 1.7% adheres to Sikhism.
Zoroastrianism , Sanamahism and Judaism also have an
ancient history in India, and each has several thousands of
Indian adherents. India has the largest population of
people adhering to Zoroastrianism (i.e. Parsis and Iranis)
even though these religions initially grew in Persia.
Evolution of Hinduism in India
Hinduism is often regarded as the oldest religion in the
world,with roots tracing back to prehistoric times, over 5,000
years ago. Hinduism spread through parts of Southeastern Asia,
China, Korea, and Japan. Hindus worship a single god with
different forms.
Akshardham, one of the largest Hindu temples in the world.
Hinduism's origins include the cultural elements of the Indus
Valley Civilisation along with other Indian civilisations. The oldest
surviving text of Hinduism is the Rigveda, produced during
the Vedic period and dating to 1700–1100 BCE. During the Epic
and Puranic periods, the earliest versions of the epic poems, in
their current form including Ramayana and Mahabharata were
written roughly from 500–100 BCE, although these were orally
transmitted through families for centuries prior to this period.
Rise of Shramana Religions
Jainism in India and Buddhism in India
Historical roots of Jainism in India is traced back to 9th-century BC with the
rise of Parshvanatha and his non-violent philosophy. Mahavira the 24th Jain
Tirthankara (599–527 BCE) before that 23 Tirthankaras (started from Shri
Rishavdeva) for this chaubishi, ( before that infinite 24 tirthankara ) stressed
five vows, including ahimsa (non-violence) and asteya (non-stealing).
Gautama Buddha, who founded Buddhism, was born to the Shakya clan just
before Magadha (which lasted from 546–324 BCE) rose to power. His family
was native to the plains of Lumbini, in what is now southern Nepal. Indian
Buddhism peaked during the reign of Ashoka the Great of the Mauryan
Empire, who patronised Buddhism following his conversion and unified the
Indian subcontinent in the 3rd century BCE. He sent missionaries abroad,
allowing Buddhism to spread across Asia.Indian Buddhism declined
following the loss of royal patronage offered by the Kushan Empire and such
kingdoms as Magadha and Kosala.
SIKHISM
Guru Nanak Dev Ji (1469–1539) was the founder of Sikhism. The Guru
Granth Sahib was first compiled by the fifth Sikh guru, Guru Arjan Dev,
from the writings of the first five Sikh gurus and others saints who
preached the concept of universal brotherhood, including those of the
Hindu and Muslim faith. Before the death of Guru Gobind Singh,
the Guru Granth Sahib was declared the eternal
guru. Sikhism recognises all humans as equal
before Waheguru, regardless of colour, caste or lineage. Sikhism
strongly rejects the beliefs of fasting (vrata), superstitions, idol worship
and circumcision.
CHRISTIANITY
Tradition says that Christianity was introduced to India by Thomas the Apostle, who visited Muziris

in Kerala in 52 CE and proselytized natives at large, who are known as Saint Thomas Christians (also

known as Syrian Christians or Nasrani) today. Although the exact origins of Christianity in India

remain unclear, there is a general scholarly consensus that Christianity was rooted in India by the

6th century AD, including some communities who used Syriac liturgically, and it is a possibility that

the religion's existence in India extends to as far back as the 1st century. Christianity in India has

different denominations like Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Oriental Orthodoxy etc.

Most Christians reside in South India, particularly in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Goa. There are also

large Christian populations in the North-east Indian states. Christianity in India was expanded in the

16th century by Catholic Portuguese expeditions and by Protestant British and US missionaries in

the 18th century.

ISLAM
Islam is the second largest religion in India, with 14.2% of the country's

population or roughly 172 million people identifying as adherents of

Islam (2011 census).It makes India the country with the largest Muslim
population outside Muslim-majority countries.
Though Islam came to India in the early 7th century with the advent of

Arab traders in Malabar coast, Kerala, it started to become a major

religion during the Muslim rule in the Indian subcontinent. Islam's
spread in India mostly took place under the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526)
and the Mughal Empire (1526–1858), greatly aided by the
mystic Sufi tradition.
ETHNICITY
Indian civilization is one of the oldest in the world and

primarily consists of the Into-Aryans of North India and

the Dravidians of South India, the latter being the original
inhabitants of the country, with links to the people of the
Indus Valley Civilization while the former migrated to the
country at about 1800 BCE. As India has such a diverse
cultural demographic, it makes sense that the country is
also incredibly linguistically diverse.
INDO - ARYANS

 The Indo-Aryan people are part of the various Indo-European ethno linguistic groups who

speak one of the many Indo-Aryan languages. It is estimated that the Indo-Aryans first
migrated to the Indian Subcontinent of South Asia around 1800 BCE. Indo-Aryans make up
the majority of the Indian population and are mostly located in north and central India.
 The Indo-Aryans are the most diverse group of people in India, being made up of Assamese,

Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kashmiri, Konkani, Marathi and Punjabi. The Indo-Aryans dominated
all of India, outside of South India where most Indians are of Dravidian origin. Many of India's
great dynasties and empires came from the Indo-Aryan peoples of India, like the Maurya
Empire (322-185 BC), the Gupta Empire (320-558), the Karkota Empire (625-885), the Pala
Empire (700-1100), the Maratha Empire (1674-1818), and the Mughal Empire (1526-1857),
just to name the major ones. Each of the Indo-Aryan ethnic groups has their own language or
languages.
Dravidians

DRAVIDIANS

The Dravidian people are any native speakers of the Dravidian languages in the Indian
Subcontinent of South Asia. Almost all the Dravidians of India live in the south of India. The five
major ethnic groups of Dravidian people in India are Kannadiga, Malayali, Tulu, Tamil, and
Telugu.
The ancient Indus Valley civilization in India was believed to have been of Dravidian origin in
northern India, but then the Dravidian people were pushed south when the Indo-Aryans came in
and the Kuru Kingdom in northern Indian arose. Later south India was dominated by the three
Dravidian kingdoms of the Cheras, Cholas, and the Pandyas. These three kingdoms have been
shown to sponsor the growth of literature, music, the arts and to have done extensive trading.
The three kingdoms also supported and were tolerant of Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism,
which is part of the reason why the Dravidian people have a diverse religious following. The
Chera kingdom fell to the Rashtrakuta Dynasty over time, and then eventually the Vijayanagara
Empire dominated all of south India. Eventually, after a few centuries in power, the Vijayanagara
Empire collapsed in 1646 due to rebellions and pressure from the Muslim north. South India
then split up into smaller states that were then slowly taken over by colonists from Europe. The
major languages spoken by the Dravidian people are Brahui, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, and
Telugu.
Mongoloid and Other Minority Groups

The Brachycephalic peoples were the first to arrive in India, having traveled
all the way from Africa. In modern mainland India, only small groups of the
Brachycephalic peoples, like the Irulas, Kodars, Paniyans, and Kurumbas,
live in small areas in southern India in hill tribes. They are mostly found in
the Indian territories of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The next group
of people to arrive in India were the were the Austrics, who were the
group that paved the way for the modern foundation for Indian civilization.
They were the first in India to have cultivated vegetables and rice, as well
as made sugar. There are very few Austrics found in India now, but their
languages still live on in Eastern and Central India. The Mongoloids are
found in the various states in the northeastern part of India, as well as in
the northern areas in the states of Ladakh, parts of West Bengal, and
Sikkim. The last minority group in India are the Western Brachycephals
who mostly live in the western part of India is areas like Kashmir, Gujarat,
Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.
FAMILY- DEMOGRPHIC VIEW OF INDIAN FAMILIES
Population and Households
India's population of 846 million (Ministry of Home
Affairs ¾ Social Studies Division, 1991) lives in 152 million
households. These are grouped into 112 million rural and 40
million urban families. Although the urban population is a
quarter of the total, its increase has been significantly large
and its increasing impact on the family is inevitable. One of the
stark realities in India is that life is harsh due to lack of basic,
civic, educational, health, and other infra-structural facilities in
both rural and urban areas. Despite the fact that the pace of
urbanization has started accelerating, the overwhelming
majority of Indian families is still rural based and 43% of these
live below the poverty line. Nearly half of the urban poor
families live in slums (Gulati, 1995).
Religious Composition of the Households

The Indian population can be divided on the basis of its religious composition. In 1981, the

overwhelming majority forming 82.35% were Hindus followed by 11.74% Muslims, 2.44%

Christians, 1.97% Sikhs, and 1.57% others. The Hindus are divided into numerous castes

and sub-castes. Although dogmatically Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, and Jainism do not

approve the caste division, in practice castes or caste like groups also exist in each of them.

Most Hindu castes practice the patrilineal family system, although in the south-western

state of Kerala the Nairs and a few other castes practice, by tradition, the matrilineal family

system. Similarly, the Garo and Khasi tribes in north-eastern India are matrilineal though

their matriliny is, in some ways, different from that of the Nairs. "From joint family to

elementary farmer," this has been a slogan to summarize changes in the family in India

during modern times.

Ethnicity, Sects & Kinship in Social Culture
An ethnic group or ethnicity is a category of people who identify with each other
based on common language, ancestral, social, cultural, or national
experiences. Unlike most other social groups, ethnicity is primarily an inherited
status. Membership of an ethnic group tends to be defined by a shared cultural
heritage, ancestry, origin myth, history, homeland, language or dialect, symbolic
systems such as religion, mythology and ritual, cuisine, dressing style, art,
and physical appearance.
Ethnic groups, derived from the same historical founder population, often
continue to speak related languages and share a similar gene pool, and may be
grouped as ethno-linguistic groups (e.g. Iranian peoples, Slavic peoples, Bantu
peoples, Turkic peoples, Austronesian peoples, Nilotic peoples,etc.).By way
of language shift, acculturation, adoption and religious conversion, it is possible
for some individuals or groups to leave one ethnic group and become part of
another (except for ethnic groups emphasizing racial purity as a key membership
criterion). Ethnicity is often used synonymously with ambiguous terms such
as nation or people.
2. Sects
A sect is a subgroup of a religious, political or philosophical belief system,
usually an offshoot of a larger religious group. Although it used to be
mostly used to refer to religious groups, it can now refer to any
organization that breaks away from a larger one to follow a different set of
rules and principles.
1. A group of people forming a distinct unit within a larger group by virtue 
of certain refinements or distinctions of belief or practice.
2. A religious body, especially one that has separated from a larger denomi
nation.
3. A faction united by common interests or beliefs.
The term is occasionally used in a malicious way to suggest the broken-off
group follows a more negative path than the original.
 A sect, in an Indian context, refers to an organized tradition.
Ex. Muslim – Siya & Sunni
Jain – Swetamber & Digamber
Hindu – Brahman , Kshatriya , Sudra & Vaishya
. Kinship

Kinship is the web of social relationships that form an important part of the lives of most

humans in most societies.

Kinship System in India  indicates the specific mode of behavior to determine each and every

possible form of relationship between the individuals in a society and it establishes definite

functions for every relationship not only by blood but by marriage as well.

Since kinship terms designate social statuses, what we must call a person ideally determines

how we must behave towards him. Further, all persons who are called by the same kinship

term should receive the same sort of treatment, since they enjoy ideologically identical

statuses in the system of social organization.

Social Institutions
A social institution consists of a group of people who
have come together for a common purpose. These
institutions are a part of the social order of society and
they govern behavior and expectations of individuals.
Social Institutions Categories:
Community: A group of people residing in the same
locality and under the same government or a group or
class having common interests. 
Educational Institutions: Social organizations
dedicated to teaching skills and knowledge to
individuals.
Ethnic or Cultural Groups: A social organization consisting of
many extended family groups related by a distant, common
ancestry. 
Extended Family: A social organization consisting of several
nuclear family groups related by common ancestry. 
Families and Households: A fundamental social group
consisting especially of a man and a women and their offspring; a
domestic establishment including the members of a family and
other who live under the same roof.
Governments and Legal Institutions: The office, function,
authority, or organization that sets forth and administer public
policy and the affairs. A government consists of a legislative
branch which writes law and policy, executive branch which
executes law and policy, and judicial branch which enforces law
and policy. This includes local, state, and national governments.
This includes all branches of the military. 
Health Care Institutions: Social institutions that specialize
in monitoring public health, providing health maintenance,
and treating illness and injury.
Intellectual and Cultural Organizations: Social
organizations dedicated to search for new knowledge or the
development and preservation of art. 
Market Institutions: Social organizations dedicated to barter
and trade. This includes all corporations and businesses. 
Political and Non Government Organizations: Social
organizations dedicated to influencing the processes of
government; political parties. This includes non-
governmental organizations and groups of people with
common goals, interests, or ideals formally bound together by
a common set of rules or by-laws that influence public policy.
Socio-Culture Regions
The term "sociocultural system" embraces three
concepts: society, culture, and system. A society is a
number of interdependent organisms of the same
species. A culture is the learned behaviors that are
shared by the members of a society, together with the
material products of such behaviors. The words
"society" and "culture" are fused together to form the
word "sociocultural". A system is "a collection of parts
which interact with each other to function as a whole".