Religion And The Indian Economy

The impact of religious factors upon the economic development of India can be traced back some 4,500 years. In other words religious factors can be linked to the social and economic development of India since the emergence of the first civilisation on the Indus around 4,500 years ago. As the civilisation based around the Indus developed so the Hindu religion began and started to evolve. At that stage Hinduism, was not linked with attempting to tightly controlling the social and economic relationships between everybody within Indian society. The Indus civilisation lasted for around a thousand years before it was overrun by the successful incursions of the Aryans. With the Aryans came the caste system that was adopted as part of Hinduism.

The Caste System And The Indian Economy

Without a doubt the caste system is a religious factor that has had a profound affect upon the economic development of India. The caste system affected Indian economic development due to it being used to determine the economic, social, employment, and legal status of all Hindus within the country. The operation of the Hindu caste system did not prevent India from enjoying extensive and lucrative trading links during the Mauriyan Empire. Those trading links stretched as far west as Rome and as far east as China.

Of course the caste system set out which occupations were religiously worthy and those jobs that were less pure or even unpure. People’s occupations when the caste system was established determined the jobs that their descendants were allowed to perform. The Hindu priesthood, followed by the land-owning classes was the most favoured by the caste, with the unworthy poor being the most discriminated against.

The Economic Consequences Of The End Of The Caste System

The caste system survived the rule of Muslim emperors and British colonial control, as both had left the system unaltered to gain the acceptance of their rule by the Hindu leadership. However the system was soon formally abolished after India gained independence from British rule. As India had become a democracy its abolition was inevitable as the members of the lower castes formed the majority of the electorate and they wanted greater social and economic equality.

There has however been a great deal of debate as to whether the caste system still has a legacy that continues to affect the economic development of India. Social and economic discrimination based on people’s caste system position has certainly not disappeared completely. The independence movements that grew during the last years of the British Raj had various motivations, political, economic, and religious. For Gandhi had known enough about Indian society to stress that independence would improve the material prosperity of India as it would end British control and exploitation of the country’s economic development.

Sources:

Dehejia R H & Dehejia V H, (1993) Religion and Economic activity in India – An Historical Perspective, American Journal of Sociology and Economics Vol 52 No. 2 April 1993

Eno E (1925) Modernism in India – The Journal of Religion, Vol 5 No. 3, May 1925

Goheen J, Srinivas M N, Karve D G, Singer M, (1958) India’s Cultural Values: A Discussion – Economic Development and Cultural Change, Vol 7, No.1 Oct 1958

Lenman B P (2004) Chambers Dictionary of World History 2nd edition, Chambers, Edinburgh

Roorbach G E, (1917) Reviewed works – The Foundations of the Indian Economy by Radhakamal Muckerjee – Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol 73 Sep 1917

Sharma & Jha (1974) The economic history of India to 1200 AD, trends and prospects – Journal of the Social and Economic history of the Orient, Vol 17No.1 March 1974

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