JAJMANI SYSTEM
The Jajmani System is widespread in traditional India and is the backbone of rural economy and social order. The backbone of rural economy and social order is a system of traditional occupational obligations. Under this system, each caste group within a village is expected to give certain standardised services to the families of other castes. Jajmani system has been like the blood carrying veins in the human body. The presence of this system makes village life more orderly and regular. In the village, different types of services are provided by different types of people of the village.
Harold Gould described Jajmani system as an interfamilial and inter-caste relationship pertaining to patterning of superordinate and subordinate relations between patrons and suppliers of services. A traditional specialised occupation of villagers based on the caste system led to the exchange of services in rural society. The relationship between servicing castes and served castes was long-lasting, caste oriented and broadly supportive. Thus, the system in which a long-term relationship between land-owning families and landless families supplies them with goods and services is known as the jajmani system. Under Jajmani system, the family or families entitled to certain services from certain persons are called Jajmans and the persons rendering those services are called Kamin (Kamins are also known as Praja) of the Jajman. The term Kameen means one works for somebody or serves him. The terms Jajman and Kameen, patron and auxiliary, are popular in Northern Indian villages. Though the jajmani system is widely prevalent throughout India, the terms used for jajman or kameen are different from region to region.
Etymologically the word jajman is derived from the Sanskrit word Yajman which means a person who performs a Yajna, and for the purpose of performance of Yajna, one has to hire the services of a Brahmin. Gradually, this word came to be applied to everyone who hired services or to whom some service was given.
Under the jajmani system, the patron who are entitled to receive specialised services from certain caste groups are called jajman’ and the persons rendering those services are called the ‘kamin’ of the ‘jajman’. The patrons are the families of the clean castes who constitute the dominant landowning castes, such as Rajput, Bhumihar, Jat in the north and Kama, Lingayat and Reddi in Andra Pradesh, and Patel in Gujarat, while the suppliers of the services are from the castes of Brahmin (priest), barber, carpenter, blacksmith, water-carrier, leather workers etc.
The first detailed study of the Jajmani tradition in India was made by William H. Wiser in his book, “The Hindu Jajmani System” drew for the first time drew attention to Jajmani as a tradition and system. However, Wiser did not know that the Jajmani system is nearly universal in Indian villages. In fact, Wiser had no idea about the extent to which Jajmani system was prevalent in India. Oscar Lewis made a more elaborate study of this system. The sociological studies of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Malabar, Cochin, Mysore district, Tanjore, Hyderabad, Gujarat and Punjab regions have revealed that Jajmani system prevails in all regions though there are minor local differences. Therefore, we are fully justified in saying that Jajmani system is universal in rural India, with some minor regional variations notwithstanding.
Understanding Jajmani System and its bearing on Traditional Indian Society by Indian Thinkers:
As N. S. Reddy observes, the farmer who engages carpenter or ironsmith for the manufacture repair of his tools is Jajman and the carpenter and the ironsmith are Kameen or Prajan. Between Jajman and Prajan the relationship is hereditary and is based on tradition. Jajmans get a variety of jobs done by Parjans as for example, the barber dresses the hair and shaves the beard; Kahar brings water from the well or river as the case may be sweeper does sanitary jobs. For these services, Parjans are paid something. In the majority of cases, farmers in Indian villages give wheat for the services of the Prajans. In modern times currency notes are fast replacing all other media of exchange, even in villages. In Jajmani system, Jajman enjoys so much respect that he is often referred to as Rajah (King) and Prajans as a subject.
Prof. Y. Singh describes jajmani system as a system governed by relationships based on reciprocity in intercaste relations in villages. Ishwaran holds the view that it is a system in which each caste has a role to play in a community’s life as a whole. Called as “aya” in Mysore in South India, each caste plays a role consisting of economic, social and moral functions. Mandelbaum held that the jajmani system essentially operates at the family level. The landowning family has its jajmani ties with one family each from Brahmin, Barber, Carpenter etc. The term jajman refers to the client for whom a Brahmin priest performed rituals, but later it came to be referred to the patron or recipient of specialised services. Apart from the term ‘Kamin’, other terms like ‘Purjan’, ‘Pardhan’, etc., are also used in different regions for the providers of goods and services.
D. N. Maiumdar (1958) has cited the example of a Thakur family (of Rajput Caste) in a village in Lucknow district in U.P., which is served by as many as families of ten castes for the life cycle rites. For example, at the birth-feast of a child, the priest presides over the ceremony of ‘Nam-Sanskarana, washerman washes dirty clothes, barber carries messages, goldsmith provides the gold ornament for the new-born, blacksmith provides iron bangle, pasi provides “patal’ (leaf-plates) for taking food, carpenter provides wooden stool on which the child was kept for the ceremony. The potter provides jugs for keeping cooked vegetables and drinking water, scavenger cleans the place after the feast.
Jajmani system is a very peculiar and important feature of traditional village life in India. In India, due to the hereditary nature of the occupation, as a consequence of the caste system, there is a long tradition and evidence of families carrying on self-same professions over generations. The relation is between specific families; generally, there is no deviation from the hereditary professions. Thus, the son of a blacksmith will become a blacksmith and the son of a weaver will become a weaver. Often the relations between two or among more castes which are based on supplying a few things, may only be contractual but not jajmani. For instance, the blacksmith who is paid in cash for what he makes and sells is not entitled to a customer share of the harvest. The farmer who engaged a carpenter or ironsmith for manufacture or repair of his tools is jajman and the carpenter and the iron-smith are kamins or ‘Purjans’. Jajman and ‘Purian’ relationship is hereditary and is based on tradition. Furthermore, there are some services or goods which may also be paid and contracted separately in jajmani relations. For instance, the blacksmiths in village supply the farmers, under jajmani arrangements, all necessary metal tools except the metal tools, which are costly and large in size, for which special payment has to be made.
The jajmani relations required ritual matters and social support as well as economic exchanges. On occasions like birth, marriage and death, the serving castes render their services by performing the ritual and ceremonial duties at the jaiman’s house and receive gifts in addition to customary payment. The support of jajmani associates is also needed at the time of factional contests. Thus, the jajmani system involves interdependence, reciprocity and cooperation between castes and families in villages.
The Jajmani System is widespread in traditional India and wherever it operates, the servants receive fixed payments in grain as their base wages.’ The servants believe themselves to have a right to get support of their jajmans who the landowners and agriculturists are and provide a part or sometimes all the necessities of day-to-day life such as food, house sites, building materials, fuel, fodders, grazing land, use of tools and draft animals, credit facilities and so on. Thus, barber dresses the hair of villagers; carpenter meets the woodwork requirements and ironsmith makes agricultural implements and other household effects like tongs, hammers, buckets etc., which are made of iron. The class of shopkeepers, Banias, makes the provisions and numerous articles of daily use available by collecting them from a wide variety of sources and Brahmins help in carrying on various religious rites and ceremonies. Everyone works for a certain family or a group of families with whom he is linked hereditarily, that is, his forefathers and father were rendering same type of services to same group of families for whom he is working presently. Even his sons will perform same kind of duties for the specified families in future as well. Thus, professions and services in villages are determined by caste and have become fixed by long traditions.
Indian Society is structured on caste patterns and the economic and professional relationships between various castes in this set-up is called jajmani system. It is a pre-established division of labour among the castes sanctioned by religious and social traditions. Jajmani is a peculiarity of Indian villages. In India, professions are generally hereditary and there is a long tradition of families carrying on same professions over generations. Normally there is no deviation from the hereditary professions. Thus, every Indian villager considers it natural and right to engage in professions peculiar to his caste and, on account of a long tradition, feels at home in it and easily acquires proficiency.
Definition of Jajmani System
Oscar Lewis relied on Wiser’s study for his 1958 definition of the jajmani system, saying that “Under this system each caste group within a village is expected to give certain standardized services to the families of other castes.”
According to Webster’s Dictionary a Jajman is “a person by whom a Brahmin is hired to perform religious services hence a patron a client.”
Harold Gould has described the jajmani system as inter-familial inter-caste relationship pertaining to the patterning of superordinate-subordinate relations between patrons and suppliers of services. The patrons are the families of clean castes while the suppliers of services are the families of lower and unclean castes.
Yogendra Singh describes jajmani system as a system governed by relationship based on reciprocity in inter-caste relations in villages.
Ishwaran referring to jajmani system (called aya in Mysore in South India) has said that it is a system in which each caste has a role to play in a community life as a whole. This role consists of economic, social and moral functions.
N. S. Reddy, “The service relations which are governed by a hereditary tenure are called Jajman-Praja relations.”
Various Studies of Jajmani System
Jajmani system was studied by many sociologists in the different regions of the country. Following is the list of some of the important studies:
All these studies revealed that Jajmani system is an integral part of the Indian rural life.
Features of Jajmani System in India
Ideology of Paternalism:
It is noticed that there are multiple bonds between the jajman and the kamin or we can say between the patron and client. The patron looks after all those families that work for him. He advances loans or gifts to them at the time of festivals and other similar occasions. He safeguards their interests. He saves them from exploitation at the hands of others. So, another important feature of jajmani system is that it is based on the ideology of paternalism.
Hereditary:
Another significant feature of the jajmani system is that it is hereditary. The caste-based stratification of Indian society is based on an ascriptive pattern. Therefore, the occupation or profession is based on birth. Jajmani rights are considered to be proprietary and are passed from father to sons. When the family is disintegrated due to the separation of brothers, these rights are also divided among them. According to N. S. Reddy, “Jajmani jobs are considered to be proprietary. When a person has no son, but only a daughter, the rights are passed on to the son-in-law. If one has no daughter as well, it is passed on to the next nearest relative. Jajmani rights are equally distributed among the successors of the deceased jajman.” Jaimani rights may split among male members in a family when their number increases gradually.
For example, an ironsmith may be giving services to 30 families, whereas another may have only 10 or fewer clients. Moreover, with the increase in. the number of male members in a family, Jajmani rights are split among them and this leads to a reduction in the number of clients. On the other hand, if there is a rapid increase in the members of Jajman families, the number of clients may grow.
Difference in Scope of Work:
The jajmani system does not provide a uniform pattern of activity to all the kamins. A kamin is not confined or restricted to providing his service to a single family or even a single village. He may render his service to more than one family or even more than one village. For example, a family needs the services of a washerman once or twice a week. Furthermore, he may serve only for part of the day but for an hour or two. So, the Dhobi may be able to fulfil the needs of a few families. The nature of activities performed by any kamin depends upon the range or scope provided under the system. Therefore all the castes may not be able to operate in more than one village. For instance, a barber may be able to provide his services to more than one village, but a sweeper needs help to afford to do that. The range or scope of activity also depends upon the nature of supply and demand. A self-sufficient and prosperous village may be having a number of shopkeepers, but a hamlet may have up to one shopkeeper.
Durable or Permanent Relation:
One of the most significant features of the jajmani system is that it is based on a permanent relationship between jajman and kamin. It makes certain essential services available to farmers. Due to this system certain individuals or groups of them needed to meet the essential requirements of the agriculturists. The jajmans inhabit permanently in their villages. The departure of the kamins from the village does not hamper services to the jaimans because when the kamin leaves a village he provides for his substitute. But the most striking feature of the system is that jaimani rights are not sold, even exchanged or transferred, because a kamin likes to stay in his own village to go to some other village. Everyone likes to reside in the same village in which one was born so that there may be no disruption of services available in a village and the availability of certain essential services is ensured. Thus, a permanent structure of economic order and relationship among various classes in the villages is provided ensured and continued by jajmani system. S.C. Dube has pointed out that not only a kamin had no right to desert his jajman but also the jajman has no right to replace his kamin. This striking spirit behind jajmani system enables both the jajmans and kamins to maintain a permanent, fixed and life-long affinity.
For example, the farmer family is supposed to carry on such relations with only one blacksmith family, and this blacksmith should make tools only for their own farmer families. The relations are durable in that the link may be inherited on both sides. A blacksmith serves the same farmer family that his father and grandfather served. It is not within the power of the Jajman to remove a particular Kamin or Praja. “It is not easy for an agriculturist to remove a family attached to his household and secure the services of another.”
Integration of Castes:
Jajmani system leads to the integration of castes. Interconnectedness within different castes is reflected through the joint celebrations of festivals such as Hoh, Kumar Punima, observation of Raja Sankranti etc., on the part of various caste groups. Through these celebrations, caste integration and solidarity is maintained and strengthened and social unity is ensured in the village.
It is Functional:
Jajmani system is functional. It gives security to the lower castes that they will never go hungry, For the upper castes. It ensures a regular and uninterrupted supply of services. Because of these relations, the village emerges as a unified body, where the patrons organize rituals and activities that symbolically affect the unity of the village. For Instance, it is believed that some deities like Bhumia, Kshetrapal etc., guard the boundaries of the village. The patrons regularly organize collective worship of these deities. The overall picture is that those who receive the largest number of services are the ones who are expected to care the most for the welfare of the village.
Goods Against Services (Barter exchange):
Under the jajmani system, the kamin receives his payment in kind. Cash payment is not made against the services rendered by the kamin. The relationship between jajman and kamin is different from that of employer and employee. The jajmani provides goods such as grains, like wheat, rice etc., to the kamins which he needs the most. The jajman also provides kamin with clothing and accommodation. The jajman always looks into the welfare of the kamin and the kamin reciprocates it through his devoted and dedicated service to jajman. The relationship between jajman and kamin is not purely economic one but also human.
Oscar Lewis conducted a detailed study of the Jajmani system and collected some data regarding Jajmani payments:
Ritual Matters:
Under the Jajmani system, the servicing castes, the kamins perform the ritual and ceremonial duties at the jajman’s houses on occasions like birth, marriage and death. D. N. Majumdar (1958) has given the example of a Thakur family (Rajput caste) in a village in Lucknow district In U.P., which is served by as many as ten castes for the life-cycle rites.
Example at the birth-feast of a child
Peace and Satisfaction:
According to W.H. Wiser, peace and satisfaction or contentment is a significant feature of Jajmani system, which it provides to the villagers. The kamins of a jajman feel a sense of security. They are not worried about finding employment. This system provides relief to the jajmans also. They are assured of the services of the kamins. Thus, both Jajman and Kamin get a sense of security and peaceful living in the village. The old age customs and traditions had made the adjustment between the two and nobody has to bother. As a result, they develop professional competency in their respective tasks. They become well-prepared for these tasks and derive peace and contentment.
Jajmani System: An Exploitative System
Is jajmani system an exploitative system? Do jajmans exploit the kamins by paying them a meagre quantity of food-grains or a small amount of money by compensating them or in some other manner? Beidleman (1959) explicitly equates the jajman with ‘exploiter’ and the kamin with ‘exploited’ and characterises the system as ‘feudal’. He believes the jajmani system to be one of the chief instruments of coercion, control and legitimation wielded by high-caste landowning Hindus.
Similarly, Lewis and Barnouw (1956) are of the opinion that the vast difference in power between the rich and the influential jajmans and the poor and the landless kamins leads to the exploitation of the kamins and coercing them into sustaining the power of those who have the higher rank and the upper hand. Some intellectuals opine that there is no force or coercion involved in the jajmani system.
First, kamins are independent of their jajmans for their livelihood. They are free to sell their goods and provide services to other individuals and families who pay them cash. Secondly, when kamins feel that injustice has been done to them, they take the help of their caste panchayats which compel the jajmans to accept the demands of their kamins.
Likewise, when the landowner jajmans feel convinced that one of their kamins (service groups) is derelict in its obligations or threatens or challenges the power and status of the landowners, the jajman (patron) families can put collective pressure on them by withholding payment or by some other way.
However, collective action on either side does not affect the interests of the caste as a whole. Caste solidarity prevails over loyalties to jajmani associates. Thirdly, the jajmans treat their kamins in a paternalistic way and help them socially in emergencies. Fourthly, the jajmani rules are so flexible that these can be interpreted in any way and shift in service arrangements can be made possible. However, minimum standards are maintained at any given time in each jajmani relation.
Lastly, the members of high caste want to avoid the polluting as well as the specialised work. They have, therefore, to depend on the families which provide them the required services and goods. Considering the jajmani exchanges as mutually beneficial, they tolerate the occasional irrelevant demands of their kamins just as the kamins tolerate the occasional coercion of their jajmans.
Therefore, to consider the jajmani system, an exploitative system would be illogical. Rao (1961), Kolenda, Orenstein (1962) and Gould (1985) have also maintained that condemning jajmani arrangements as brutally exploitative is too sweeping and obfuscating a generalisation. Gould has said that an analysis of the jajmani system, which sees it as a component of a feudal order, seems unwarranted.
The magnitude of the system is small by any measure of economic activity. The system persists not because of any ‘rational’ economic motivations but because of its importance to the maintenance of the social status and patterns of social interaction that are essential to the successful practice of rural Hinduism.
The jajman is not primarily an economically and politically homogeneous class but are religio-economic category uniquely adapted to Indian civilisation. The bond between jajmans and the servicing castes is enjoyment of a common religio-economic relationship and not enjoyment of a common relationship to the sources of wealth and power in society.
It may thus be asserted that in the jajmani system, the jajman status neither coincides with a landlord class, a dominant caste or the like nor does it depend upon membership in any particular social group but upon the possession of land or access to the produce from land by whatever means.
Mayer (1960), Mathur (1958) and Pocock (1963) have also maintained that access to farmland has always been ‘caste free’ in India, which means that the modest means needed to maintain at least some semblance jajman status has technically always been available to members of any caste in the hierarchy. Following Gould that jajman status refers to a religio-economic category rather than a social stratum, it may be concluded that jajmans cannot be perceived as exploiters (as a social class). At most, it may be said that the amount of money given by jajmans to kamins is rather low in the present age, which compels them to seek cash income from other sources.
On the other hand, the jajman’s status was never confined (even in the old social order) merely to land aristocracy. People from different castes had the opportunity to become jajmans. But being a jajman and being part of the currently dominant political order were not automatically coterminous. Membership in the political hierarchy was merely one means of achieving material and power position, enabling one to be a jajman if one so desired. It was never the exclusive means.
Being a jajman means being an orthodox Hindu whose value system made necessary the engagement of certain specialists (of serving castes). Being a landlord meant being a member of the ruling class (Gould, 1987:185). And a. jajman was not an ‘exploiter’ of a kamin though a landlord could be an exploiter. The desire to become a jajman is not a desire to get ‘feudal status’ or a ‘common inclination to exploit the weak’ but the wish to practise certain rituals and a way of life necessitating the avoidance of impurity.
Function and Roles of Jajmani System
Jajmani system serves to maintain the Indian village as a self-sufficient community. “Jajmani system is the exchange of agricultural produce for menial and craft services.” Jajmani system regulates and maintains the division of labour of castes.
Leach (1960), in his analysis of the function of the jajmani system, has mentioned that the jajmani system maintains and regulates the division of labour and economic interdependence of castes. According to Wiser (1967: 35), the jajmani system serves to maintain the Indian village as a self-sufficient community. Harold Gould (1987) has said that jajmani system distributes agricultural produce in exchange for menial and craft services. Beidelman (1959) is of the opinion that jajmani system maintains higher caste prestige.
In jajmani system, the roles of jajmans and kamins are involved. The kamin castes render certain occupational, economic and social services to the jajmani castes and receive payments from their jajmans. This payment is made at fixed intervals or on special occasions. Thus, the jajmani relationship is based on a reciprocal exchange. However, all castes do not essentially take part in this reciprocal exchange. For example, it is normally found that the oilman is not involved in the exchange of services system. Kamin’s clientele is not restricted to his own village. It may include the members of other villages.
The jajman-kamin role relationship is strengthened by the giving of various concessions, like free food, free clothes, free residence, rent-free land, casual aid, aid in litigation, etc. and protection of kamins by jajmans during various exigencies of life. However, the jajmani system is only reciprocal in some villages. Kolenda’s study revealed that dominant castes swing the balance of power in their favour in such relationships in many villages in India. Yogendra Singh (1973: 187) has evinced changes in Indian villages today in respect of economic institutions, power structure, and intercaste relationships, A major source of economic change in villages may be attributed to land reform which has been introduced through abolition of intermediaries, tenancy reforms, ceiling of landholdings, redistribution of land, development of co-operative farming and religio-economic movement for gift of surplus land by the rich to the poor etc. bring a desired change in economic situation. These measures have far reaching consequences on interaction among castes, jajmani system, and the social system of the villages.
Changes of Jajmani System
Since the jajmani system has its interconnection with caste system, religious system, system of landownership and the political structure in the rural society, consideration of any transformation in these arrangements will have a corresponding effect on the jajmani system, too and vice versa. The caste system is on its way to disintegration, the religious system is weakening due to secularization, system of land-ownship has undergone the process of transformation due to land reforms and the modern polity has shattered the old pattern. Therefore the jajmani system has been affected. A number of causes may be attributed to it. Reduction in the powers of the elders in the village council, industrialisation and its impact on the quality of service rendered by the purjans or kamins, laxity in the rigidity of caste system, spread of education, impact of western education, rural to urban exodus in search of jobs and material amenities, abolition of the zagirdari system, introduction and implementation of land reforms, better job prospects in urban centres, availability of modern transport causing better market transactions etc. are among the causative factors on account of which the jajmani system is on the decline and in many a case has become completely extinct in many villages. The practice of goods for service is gradually losing ground and now-a-days some artisans prefer to get money for their goods. The dominant castes take recourse to politics and hardly seek assistance from the kamins for their support. The landowning castes depend upon market for purchasing qualitative things through cash transactions. In their study in five villages. I. Karve and Y. Damle found that 202 out of 326 respondents were in favour of jajmani system because of economic benefits whereas the kamins favoured the system due to the availability of ritual services the jajmans preferred the support by the landowners at the time of factional struggle. Protection given by the patron in exigencies also impressed the kamins. Another study by Bose and Jodha in Barmer district in Rajasthan revealed that 111 out of 120 were also in favour of prevalence of jajmani system due to similar reasons.
Notwithstanding such opinion surveys depicting villagers’ favourable opinion towards jajmani system, it can be well maintained that the traditional jajmani relation has been weakened in recent years. The capability of a caste, especially to support the members of a ‘jati’ varies with the demand for the products of the craft or the service in question. E.A.H. Blunt, in his analysis of caste system in the northern State of Uttar Pradesh, used the statistics from the 1911 census of India and showed that between 60 and 74 percent of confectioners, grain purchasers, and washermen, 76 percent or more of sweepers and goldsmiths; and 50 to 59 percent of carpenters, weavers, oil- pressers, barbers and potters were working at the speciality of their caste. Thus he noted the variability among castes in the proportion of members who actually took to their ancestral occupations. In contrast, under 10 percent of leather workers and wine dealers worked at their professions and under 20 percent of brahmins worked as priests. Blunt was of the opinion that decline in the number of members of a particular caste following their caste occupation was due to a decline in the demand for handicrafts and traditional services. They preferred to work in agriculture, labouring or acting as domestic servants. There was no restriction in following agricultural occupation because it has always been permitted as an alternative occupation for all, but some castes take to agriculture as their ancestral or traditional occupation. Such castes are generally known as cultivators.
Changes have also been marked in craftsmanship and the original work done by members of specialised castes. In his study of Khalarpur, Joseph Schwartzberg, has shown that traditionally the chamar’s occupation was leather tanning, the Teli’s ancestral occupation was oil-pressing, the barber’s wife and grain parchers were engaged in hand-grinding. But on the basis of data obtained from 1951 census of India, Schwartzberg revealed that a sharp decline was marked in respect of those employed in vegetable oil pressing and refining. It showed a Sharp decline from 483,000 persons in 1901 to 250,00 person in 1951. In the like manner, the employment of “hand pounding of rice, four grinding, manual dehusking and milling of cereals and pulses” showed a decline from 1,245,000 in 1901 to 526,000 in 1951. The number of leather workers, workers in industries making leather products, and footwear workers also came down from 1,143,000 in 1901 to 760,000 in 1951.
Damont has also stated that the jajmani system has been restricted to a considerable extent in modern times due to a shift from religious to personal approach. Even some specialists have been completely extinct in the system. Several reasons may be attributed to the decline of jaimani system in rural India. In Khalarpur, it has been effected by the sugar mills. Prior to the establishment of sugar mills, the local Rajput landlords pressed much sugarcane themselves, and the servants got much home produced unrefined sugar, and also sweeper’s got much waste scum for their pigs. But with the establishment of sugar mills, the Rajputs developed interest in planting sugarcane in a greater proportion of land and crops in a smaller proportion which adversely affected the servants in a couple of ways.
First, the servants got less home produced unrefined sugar and the sweeper got less waste for their pigs. Secondly, small amounts of foodgrains was given to the kamins in half yearly payments. In the past, in pre-marked economy or non-monetary economy, the food produced was consumed and not sold. So the surplus amount of foodgrain collected by the farmers was distributed among the dependent landless people. Thus in Khalarpur, due to the introduction of sugarcane as one of important cash crops, the jajman-kamin relationship underwent the process of change. The jajmans changed from being generous to becoming greedy.
The jajman-system was also undermined due to some other reasons. For instance, the service rendered by the water carriers became unnecessary due to the installation of handpumps within the courtyards of high caste women’s quarters. The factory made metal dishes and utensils replaced the potter’s clay products and this hampered the potter’s trade in the village. The crafts of shoe makers, barbers and weavers were undermined in the village due to the availability of items like shoes and textiles in the nearby market towns. In shaving sets the opinion of some anthropologists, the village communities are gradually losing ground in respect of self-sufficiency as various tradesmen, artisans and servant castes migrate to towns.
In some places, the jajmans no longer give weightage to occupational monopolies and inherited clienteles. Now the patrons are ready to take to such occupations which were done by servants before, as for example, in Rampur village, the jajmans began to shave themselves and engaged in carpentry’. In many a case, they ignored the authority of headman or elders or caste council in setting different matters.
The breakdown of jajman-kamin relationship resulted in the engagement of the kamins in various occupations other than their traditional ones. Joseph Holder has made one of the few studies regarding the later occupation of kamin, after their release from the jajmani network and the past security of the jajmani system. It was found in Rajapur in U.P. that out of 186 men in Jati’s previously employed in a large number in jajmani relationships, only 7 worked for full-time for their jajmans. Six of them were carpenters and only one was barber. Those who were working as part-time jajmani servants engaged themselves in cultivation in the remaining time. Elder’s account shows that 12 barbers’, 2 cotton carders and 2 oilpressers’ who worked as jajmani servants part time, 74 kamins now worked full-time for farmers, 47 worked at the new sugar mill nearby, 6 worked for the railroad etc. It is presumed that the shift to other types of work was due to unusual conditions in providing the kamins and artisans with land and agricultural work in Rajapur.
In many Indian villages where such alternative assignments are not available so readily for so many people due to migration of the servicing caste towards urban centres, shifts from the jajmani network may occur in respect of occupation.
Now-a-days, Indian Society is witnessing a gradual change in the jaimani system. Rigidity in caste system strengthened the base of jajmani network. But when the breakdown of caste system occurred and was marked by groupism and class struggle, the jajmani network slowly disappeared from the Indian scenario. Due to man’s diminishing faith in religion and laxity in the performance of rites and ritual, jajmani system is gradually disintegrating. Moreover, owing to decline of Brahminical supremacy, the jajmani relation has suffered a serious setback. Modern means of transport and communication have enabled people to go to the market easily and sell their products in market places. Professions are no longer based on hereditary principles. People are no more bound to take to their ancestral occupation.
Intergenerational educational mobility has enabled them to enter a variety of occupations according to their ability. That is why people of different castes are engaged in different professions and a major change has occurred in the occupational structures. Only a little of the village economy is now carried on through jajmani arrangements. Money is replacing the traditional method of payment of newly produced foodgrains to various kamins. Agriculture is no more the monopoly of any particular caste. The agricultural occupation is open to all the castes. Even some kamins have accepted it as an additional occupation. Various reform movements have also affected the jajmani system. In a nutshell, it may be stated that all the factors responsible for the breakdown of caste system may be attributed to the decline and disintegration of the jajmani system in rural India. Since the caste system is in the melting pot now, the jajmani system is also in the process of rapid transformation. Therefore Beidleman has doubted the survival of the jajmani system in the years to come.
Merits and Demerits of Jajmani System
Merits
Job Security:
Jajmani system is hereditary and thus son inherits his clients as well as employment from his father. The reward against the services also fixed and certain. Thus the son of a Kameen is open to job uncertainty since they receive employment as their birth-right.
Economic Security:
Kameens are very well paid by the Jajmans and they look after their welfare with no less interest. In the event of monetary crises, the Jajman helps the Kameens, so there is economic security in the Jajmani system.
Close Personal Relations:
There is a close personal relationship between the patron and the auxiliary. They are very well known to each other and lend sympathetic services in their hours of need. The relationship is not purely economic, but it is sentimental and internal. It is to be noted that the advantages of Jajmani for economic stability and security are still sufficiently great that many villagers want to continue with at least some such arrangements.
The cultivator gains from them in that he gets better credit and a more certain labour supply than he usually can through caste transactions.
Artisans and service families work for him through the year without much pay and then are given a large payment at the time when the farmer can best afford to do so, at harvest. At times of peak demand for labour, a farmer is more likely to get help from jajmani associates than from those who can change whatever the workers will then bear.
The workers, in their turn, get more assured employment, and a variety of gifts and concessions, which together may amount to more than money wages could buy in the village. In recent decades, when grain has regularly been scarce and the value of the rupee whimsical, payment in grain is often preferred.
Demerits
Source of Exploitation:
With the changes in the structure of rural life, the Jajmani system, like the caste system, has become a source of suppression, exploitation and discrimination. The study conducted by Oscar Lewis in Rampur village revealed that the Jajmani system has become an instrument of exploitation in the hands of Jajman.
Jajmani System Spreads the Feeling of Superiority among the Jajmans:
In Jajmani system, the Kameens are looked down upon with contempt by the Jajman, Kameen itself means the lowly, inferior, or sub-standard and even nuisance. The Jajmani system thus helps in perpetuating the distinctions between different sections of society. Suppression of the Kameens is supplanted by mistreatment. Sociological surveys have revealed that Jaimani system perpetuates the exploitation of subject classes by the upper castes.
Jajmani System is Supported by Caste System:
Caste system is the basis of the Jajmani system. With the disintegration of caste system, Jajmani system is also disintegrating day by day. Class struggle and groupism have taken the place of caste system, this has very much aided the decay of jajmani system. With the changes in religious structure, the brahmins are in less demand now.
Effects of Transport and Communication:
Now the Kameens are no longer compelled to do the job of Jajmans, but with the availability of transport and communication, the villages are shifting to the urban areas to seek better employment and in a similar way, jajmans are at many advantages to receive better services from the urban areas. The effect of Westernization and education has rendered the jajmani system outdated. Now the professions are no longer confined to a particular job and villagers belonging to different castes are engaged in agriculture.
Social Reform Movements:
Various religious reform movements, like Arya Samaj, have produced one of the greatest set back to the jajmani system. Reformers have taught the suppressed castes to rise up and shun exploitation.
Thus, the Jajmani system, one of the foremost characteristics of rural life, is disintegrating day by day. The social change, as well as the adoption of Western ideologies by the village youth, have produced blowing setbacks to the Jajmani system.
SOME OF THE IMPORTANT CHANGES THAT HAVE INFLUENCED THE JAJMANI SYSTEM
Industrialization—with the growth of industries, chances of getting new employment have increased. This made the kamins leave their caste occupations and migrate to urban areas. As a result, the jajman lost the services of the kamin.
The rigidity in the caste system decreased, which made it possible for kamins to take up new opportunities for employment.
Spread of education.
Losing of powers by the caste councils and Village Panchayats. The Village Panchayats are deprived of their traditional roles.
The abolition of Jagirdari system and the introduction of land reforms have also contributed to bringing about a change in the jajmani system.
The improved means of transport and communication has helped in making market transactions easier.
Most of the artisans prefer to get money for their goods. Cultivators also prefer to buy articles for their daily needs, from the market, by paying cash.
The jajmans, in the present day, prefer to have more political support than depending on their kamins.
Due to the above mentioned factors, the jajmani system is deteriorating day-by-day. Thus, most of the village communities are independent of the jajmani-kamin arrangements.
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