Adoption of Caste by Christian and Jewish Communities in India
A Case of Cultural Integration or Religious Estrangement?
In: International Journal of Asian ChristianitySearch for other papers by James Ponniah in
Current site
Google Scholar
Abstract
This essay investigates how caste, the most problematic cultural category of India, renders Indian versions of two Abrahamic religions, Judaism and Christianity, a site of ambivalence and conflict. It explores how caste has played out differently in the lives of two Abrahamic religious communities, i.e., the Christians and the Jews at two different locales, Kerala and Andhra. In Kerala, both Syrian Christians and Cochin Jews adopted caste as the given social order of the host country. They practised it to their advantage as it not only made it possible for them to get integrated into the existing Hindu cultural universe of the host nation but also conferred upon them a respectable social status, resulting in the acquisition of social/cultural capital. However, in Andhra, Christian and Jewish Madigas embraced their respective religions to eschew caste and gain self-respect. In Kerala, while caste became an effective route for a harmonious integration into the cultural matrix of the host territory, it not only disrupted intra-communal amity both among the Cochin Jews and the Kerala Christians but also became a source of defiance and alienation from the core teachings of each of these religions, resulting in the loss of ‘spiritual capital’. On the contrary, the rejection of caste on the part of the Madiga Jews and Madiga Christians, perhaps, brought them closer to the central message of fraternity and equality found both in Judaism and in Christianity, whereby they fared better in ‘spiritual and religious capitals’ than their counterparts in Kerala.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Alexander, K.C. “The Problem of Caste in the Christian Churches in Kerala.” In Harjinder Singh ed, Caste Among Non-Hindus in India, 50–65 (New Delhi: National Publishing House, 1977).
-
Baker, Chris, and Hannah Skinner. “Faith in Action: The Dynamic Connection between Spiritual and Religious Capital.” Final Report of The William Temple Foundation’s Research Project (2002–2005).
-
Bayly, Susan. Saints, Goddesses and Kings: Muslims and Christians in South Indian Society 1700–1900 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989).
-
Egorova, Yulia. “From Dalits to Bene Ephraim: Judaism in Andhra Pradesh.” Religions of South Asia 4 (1) (2010), 105–124.
-
Egorova, Yulia and Shahid Perwez. “The Children of Ephraim: Being Jewish in Andhra Pradesh,” Anthropology Today 26, no. 6 (December 2010): 14–18.
-
Egorova, Yulia and Shahid Perwez. “Telugu Jews: are the Dalits of coastal Andhra going caste-awry?” The South Asianist 1 (1) (2012), 7–16.
-
Ezunz, Amos. “Societal Aspects: Their Influence, Challenges and Prospects on Dalit Christianity.” In Snaitang and Menachery, eds, India’s Christian Heritage, 231–239 (Bangalore: The Church History Association of India, 2011).
-
Forrester, B. Duncan. Caste and Christianity: Attitudes and Policies on Caste of Anglo-Saxon Protestant Missions in India (London: Curzon Press, 1980).
-
Fuller. C. J. “Kerala Christians and the Caste System.” Man 11 (1) (1976), 53–70.
-
Katz, Nathan. Who Are the Jews of India (Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press, 2000).
-
Maliekal, Jose. Standstill Uptopias?: Dalits Encountering Christianity (Delhi: ispck, 2017).
-
Mendelbaum, David G. “Social Stratification among the Jews of Cochin in India and in Israel.” In Thomas A. Timberg, ed, Jews in India, 60–72 (New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, 1986).
-
Palmer, David A. “Clarifying the Concept of Spiritual Capital.” A paper presented at the Conference on the Social Scientific Study of Religion,10–13 July 2013, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. http://www.socsc.hku.hk/ExCEL3/wpcontent/uploads/2014/05/Concept-of-Spiritual-Capital.pdf [accessed on 5 April 2018].
-
Pothan. S.G. The Syrian Christians of Kerala. London: Asia Publishing House, 1963.
-
Vellian, Jacob. “The Jewish Christian Community of India.” Judaism 20 (1) (1971), 104–107.
-
Visvanathan, Susan. The Christians of Kerala, History, Belief and Ritual Among the Yakoba (Madras: Oxford University Press, 1993).
-
Webster C. B. John. The Dalits Christians: A History (New Delhi: ispck, 2000).
-
Weil, Shalva. “Symmetry between Christians and Jews in India: The Cnanite (sic) Christians and the Cochin Jews of Kerala.” Contributions to Indian Sociology 16 (2) (1982), 175–196.
-
Yacobi, S. “The History of Telugu Jewish Community of A.P. India.” Typescript,—2002. The Cultural Hermeneutics: An Introduction to the Cultural Transactions of the Hebrew Bible among the Ancient Nations of the Thalmudic Telugu Empire of India (Vijayawada: Hebrew Open University Publications, 2001).
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 209 | 209 | 47 |
| Full Text Views | 14 | 14 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 18 | 18 | 4 |
Adoption of Caste by Christian and Jewish Communities in India
A Case of Cultural Integration or Religious Estrangement?
In: International Journal of Asian ChristianitySearch for other papers by James Ponniah in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
This essay investigates how caste, the most problematic cultural category of India, renders Indian versions of two Abrahamic religions, Judaism and Christianity, a site of ambivalence and conflict. It explores how caste has played out differently in the lives of two Abrahamic religious communities, i.e., the Christians and the Jews at two different locales, Kerala and Andhra. In Kerala, both Syrian Christians and Cochin Jews adopted caste as the given social order of the host country. They practised it to their advantage as it not only made it possible for them to get integrated into the existing Hindu cultural universe of the host nation but also conferred upon them a respectable social status, resulting in the acquisition of social/cultural capital. However, in Andhra, Christian and Jewish Madigas embraced their respective religions to eschew caste and gain self-respect. In Kerala, while caste became an effective route for a harmonious integration into the cultural matrix of the host territory, it not only disrupted intra-communal amity both among the Cochin Jews and the Kerala Christians but also became a source of defiance and alienation from the core teachings of each of these religions, resulting in the loss of ‘spiritual capital’. On the contrary, the rejection of caste on the part of the Madiga Jews and Madiga Christians, perhaps, brought them closer to the central message of fraternity and equality found both in Judaism and in Christianity, whereby they fared better in ‘spiritual and religious capitals’ than their counterparts in Kerala.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 209 | 209 | 47 |
| Full Text Views | 14 | 14 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 18 | 18 | 4 |