OVERVIEW OF

INDIAN SOCIETY
UNIT 1

INDIA AS A MULTICULTURAL
SOCIETY
Indian society is pluralistic in nature.
Pluralism refers to the existence within a
nation or society of groups distinctive in
ethnic origin, cultural patterns, language,
religion, etc.

CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIAN
CULTURE
Multi lingual : Its estimated that there are
1652 languages in India and our constitution
has recognized 22 major languages.
Multi religion: Four important religions
Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism & Sikhism
Caste System: Traditional Hindu society is
divided into four caste, namely Brahmins,
Kshatriyas, Vaishya & Shudra
Intra Group cultural differences: Each caste
have sub castes with sub cultures.
Influence of Western culture: Due to western
culture impact, several elements of Indian
culture have gone changes like food habit,
music & dance, clothing, life style, education,

DEMOGRAPHIC COMPOSITION
Demography is a study of population.
India occupies about 2.4% of the Worlds land
area.
It has 17.5% of the world population.
60% of Indias population lives in 6 states UP,
Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, MP & Tamil
Nadu.
50% of Indias population is below 25 years of
age and 65% is below the age of 35 years.

RELIGION WISE COMPOSITION

OF POPULATION
Religiou
s
group

Popul
ation
%19
51

Hinduism 84.1%
Islam

9.8%

Christiani
2.3%
ty

Popul
ation
%19
61

Popula
tion
%197
1

Popula
tion
%198
1

Popula
tion
%199
1

Popula
tion
%200
1

Popula
tion
%201
1

83.45
%

82.73% 82.30% 81.53% 80.46% 79.80%

10.69
%

11.21% 11.75% 12.61% 13.43% 14.23%

2.44%

2.60%

2.44%

2.32%

2.34%

2.30%

Sikhism

1.79%

1.79%

1.89%

1.92%

1.94%

1.87%

1.72%

Buddhis
m

0.74%

0.74%

0.70%

0.70%

0.77%

0.77%

0.70%

Jainism

0.46%

0.46%

0.48%

0.47%

0.40%

0.41%

0.37%

Zoroastri
0.13%
anism

0.09%

0.09%

0.09%

0.08%

0.06%

n/a

0.43%

0.41%

0.42%

0.44%

0.72%

0.9%

Others

0.43%

HINDUISM
Four main values:
Dharma
fulfill.

Duties

which

individual

must

Artha Desire for power and wealth.

Kama Desire to pleasure through five
senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste and
smell.
Moksha State of liberation.

ISLAM
Belief in Allah
Prayers five times a day
Giving of alms
Fasting for a month every year
Pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a
lifetime.

CHRISTIANITY
The 10 Commandments of the Lord:
You shall have no other God before me
You shall not take the name of God in vain
Remember th Sabbath Day, to keep it holy
Honour your father and your mother
You shall not murder
You shall not commit adultery
You shall not steal
You shall bear false witness against your
neighbour
9. You shall not covet your neighbours wife
10.You shall not covet anything that belongs to your
neighbour.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

SIKHISM
The holy book of the Sikhs is Guru
Granth Sahib.
The religious symbol of Sikhism are five
Ks
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Kesh (Hair)
Kangha (Comb)
Kara (Bracelet)
Kirpan (Sword)
Kaccha (Shorts)

BUDDHISM

They follow the teachings of Lord Gautam

Buddha.
About 85% of Buddhists are located in
Maharshtra.

JAINISM

They follow the teachings of Lord Mahavira.

They are located in Maharshtra, Gujarat &
Rajsthan.

JUDAISM

It is the religion, philosophy and way of

life of Jewish people.
It is based on the commandments and
laws that God revealed on Moses.
Of the total population, 50% lives in
Manipur and Mizoram, 25 % lives in
Mumbai and rest are scattered.

ZOROASTRIANISM

Parsees follow the teaching of Zoroaster.

The principle of belief in afterlife and in the
continuous struggle of the universal spirit of
good and evil.
They are very small minority mostly located in
Mumbai.

CASTE WISE COMPOSITION OF

POPULATION
Brahmins

Religious
preachers,
scholars, teachers and the like.
Kshatriyas Rulers, administrators and
warriors.
Vaishyas Money
traders and the like.

lenders,

artisans,

Shudhras Workers or labourers

FACTOR RESPONSIBLE FOR GROWTH

OF CASTE SYSTEM IN INDIA

Influence of religion
Static rural social structure
Lack of education
Existence of many races leading to
discrimination
No uniform custom
Hereditary occupations
Desire to dominate

LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY
Broadly, the languages spoken in India
belong to four families of languages
Indo Aryan family of languages
Dravidian family of languages
Sino Tibetan family of languages
Austric

Indo Aryan family of

languages
Hindi
Marathi
Bengali
Urdu
Gujarati
Punjabi
Sindhi

Kashmiri
Oriya
Konkani
Sanskrit
Rajasthani
Bihari
Assamese

Dravidian family of languages

Kannada
Malayalam
Tamil
Telugu
Tulu

Sino Tibetan family of

languages
Sikkimese
Ladakhi
Sherpa
Bodo
Naga
Manipuri
Tirupuri

Austric
Santhali
Mundari
Maithili

REGIONAL VARIATIONS
LITERACY : The states differ in literacy rate
BIRTH RATE & DEATH RATE : Backward states of
North India mostly have high birth and death rate.
URBANIZATION: Imbalance in terms of urban
population.
POVERTY: 37% of population lives below poverty
line.
INFRASTRUCTURE
DEVELOPMENT:
Regional
imbalance in transport, communication, banking,
etc.
LEVEL OF UNEMPLOYMENT: Overall employment
situation in India is worse.
INDUSTRILIAZATION: Regional imbalance in terms of
industries.
INCOME INEQUALITIES: Income not balanced in all
areas.

RURAL CHARACTERISTICS

Caste system
Close relations
Status of women
Occupation agriculture
Size of the population
Location pattern scattered
Literacy
Conservative attitude
Unemployment rate
Media exposure
Poverty

URBAN CHARACTERISTICS

Social heterogeneity
Secondary relations superficial
Social mobility
Size of population
Location pattern
Literacy
Occupation service sector
Unemployment
Media exposure
Poverty

TRIBAL CHARACTERISTICS

Common territory
Common name
Common language
Common culture
Regional concentration
Religion
Occupation
Caste system
Status of women

DIVERSITY AS DIFFERENCE

Pride in cultural heritage

Inter culture influence
Communal harmony
Rich taste of diverse culture
Promotes humanistic values at
workplace
Exchange of innovative ideas

THANK
YOU