What is Dominant
Caste?
According to M.N. Srinivas, “a caste is said to be
dominant when it preponderates numerically over the
other caste groups and yields high economical and
political power”. M.N. Srinivas wrote the concept of
Dominant Caste in his book “Villages in India” and also
presented a research paper on dominant Caste of
Rampura in 1959.
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Characteristics of
Dominant Caste
➢ They have a sizeable amount of population.
➢ They have huge agricultural landholdings under
their control.
➢ They have high social and economic power-
have high level of influence both at village level
and regional level.
➢ They may have western education.
➢ They act as a reference group for enculturation
to lower caste.