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Home/Anthropology/Mains PYQ/2016/Paper II/Village India, Urbanisation & Social Change
UPSC MainsAnthropology Optional Paper II 2016 15 Marks Model Answer Available

Traditional Patterns of Settlement of Indian Villages — 2016 Paper II

Question · 2016 · Paper II · 15 Marks

Describe the traditional patterns of settlement of Indian villages.

Model Answer

VAID ICS

Approach

Demand of Question: Classify major traditional village settlement forms and explain how ecology, caste, kinship, land tenure, security and occupation shape spatial organization; avoid presenting one ‘typical Indian village’.

Structuring the Response: Define settlement pattern -> describe compact, hamleted, dispersed, linear and planned/caste-segmented forms -> explain determinants -> connect spatial form to social relations -> note change.

Key Dimensions to Cover: Nucleated/compact; hamleted; dispersed; linear; circular/rectangular; caste quarters, agraharam and service-caste locations; S.C. Dube, M.N. Srinivas, McKim Marriott, W.H. Wiser; ecology, land, kinship and caste.

Model Answer

Introduction

Traditional Indian villages show marked regional diversity. Settlement form is not merely geographical: the spatial arrangement of houses, streets and hamlets often reflects caste hierarchy, kinship, occupation, security and access to land and water.

Body

Compact or nucleated villages: Common in fertile alluvial plains, houses cluster around lanes, temples, wells or markets while fields lie outside the residential core. Such concentration facilitates irrigation, defence and close inter-caste services. North Indian village studies by W.H. Wiser and others commonly encountered this form.

Hamleted settlements: A single revenue village may contain several tolas, paras, pallas or wadis. Hamlets can represent caste, lineage, ethnic or occupational segments. S.C. Dube’s and M.N. Srinivas’s village studies showed that spatial segmentation often mirrors social hierarchy and factional organization.

Dispersed settlements: In hilly, forested, pastoral or dry farming regions, households may be scattered near fields, grazing areas or water sources. Rajasthan’s dhanis and dispersed Himalayan settlements illustrate ecological adaptation and lineage-based landholding.

Linear and geometrical forms: Villages along roads, rivers, canals or levees may be linear. Some settlements develop circular, rectangular or grid-like layouts according to topography, defence or planned expansion.

Caste and sacred space: Traditional settlement frequently located dominant castes near central temples and water sources, service groups in occupational lanes, and formerly ‘untouchable’ communities at peripheral sites. South Indian agraharams provide a clear example of ritual status translated into spatial order.

Conclusion

Indian village settlement is therefore a spatial expression of ecology and social structure together. Roads, migration, land reforms and peri-urban expansion are now modifying these patterns, but older spatial hierarchies often remain visible.

2026 Critically examine the salience of F. G. Bailey's study on Bisipara village of Odisha. 2025 "The village was not merely a place where people lived; it had a design in which were reflected the basic values of Indian civilization." Who said this? Elaborate. 2024 Digitisation of rural economy 2024 Compare and contrast the approaches of M.N. Srinivas and L.P. Vidyarthi to social change in village India.

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