Revision summary
Roy treated tribal custom as real law, not as leftover culture. Mundas and Oraons used clan and village councils as courts. Land custom blocked free sale to outsiders. Colonial title created a dual legal world. His file feeds later Schedule and PESA claims of self-rule.
Model answer
Introduction
S. C. Roy treated customary law as the living constitution of tribal society, especially among Mundas and Oraons of Chotanagpur. It was kinship, land, and council, not a footnote to the Indian Penal Code.
Body
Custom as law
- Roy’s monographs on the Mundas and Oraons recorded clan, village, and parha or panchayat as courts of first instance.
- Land was a community and lineage trust. Custom barred free alienation to outsiders, which colonial landlords and later courts often overran.
- Offence was against clan purity, grove, and village peace. Sanction was fine, feast, outcasting, and sometimes ordeal, not only jail.
Political reading
- He showed that British courts and zamindari titles created a dual system: custom for insiders, deed law for the dispossessor.
- Munda uli-hatu and Oraon village offices were government, not folklore. Later Wilkinson’s Rules and Chotanagpur tenancy echoes sit on that file.
- Roy wrote as a lawyer-ethnographer. Customary law was evidence for tribal self-rule, a seed of later Fifth Schedule and PESA arguments.
Limit
- He worked a century ago. Mission, mining, and statutory panchayats have layered new forums on the old council.
- Custom was not always gentle to women and juniors. Recording it is not the same as freezing it.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD R[S. C. Roy] --> M[Munda Oraon custom] M --> L[Lineage land] M --> C[Village parha council] S[Colonial court zamindari] --> X[Dual law]
Conclusion
Roy made customary law the core of Munda and Oraon political society. Land, clan, and council were the code. State courts were the disruption, not the original law.
Quick related
Students also ask
-
Critically assess the impact of Christianity on tribal culture and identity
Next question in the 2021 paper (Q3). View answer →
-
Did Roy want to abolish state courts?
He wanted custom recognised as law. He wrote inside the colonial legal world, not as a secessionist.
-
Is customary law the same as PESA?
PESA is a later statute that can house custom. Roy is the ethnographic ancestor, not the Act.
PYQ trend
When UPSC asked this
Related PYQs from other years, newest first. Open a question to read it.
-
2021 · Q1(a) · Anthropology GS 2 · 10 marks
Purushartha and righteous living today -
2021 · Q1(c) · Anthropology GS 2 · 10 marks
Harappan seals -
2021 · Q1(e) · Anthropology GS 2 · 10 marks
Factionalism and politics in rural India. -
2021 · Q2(a) · Anthropology GS 2 · 20 marks
Critically discuss the origin of Indus Valley Civilization. Mention the evidences of its endogenous origin from the pre-Harappan sites -
2021 · Q4(a) · Anthropology GS 2 · 20 marks
Discuss the contributions of N. K. Bose in understanding tribal communities and their place in Indian civilization -
2021 · Q5(c) · Anthropology GS 2 · 10 marks
Cultural diversity and multiculturalism -
2021 · Q5(d) · Anthropology GS 2 · 10 marks
Concept of tribe and Indian census -
2021 · Q5(e) · Anthropology GS 2 · 10 marks
Politics of recognition and deprivation.
More from this paper
Q1(a) · UPSC Mains 2021 · Anthropology GS 2 · 10 marks
Purushartha and righteous living today
Evolution of the Indian Culture and Civilization
Purushartha names dharma, artha, kama, and moksha as life aims. Dharma is meant to frame wealth and desire. Today righteous living is constitutional equality plus personal duty. Market artha without ethics shows as corruption and resource grab. Moksha is no longer the only public test of a good life.
Q1(b) · UPSC Mains 2021 · Anthropology GS 2 · 10 marks
Relevance of tribe-caste continuum
Caste system in India
Tribe-caste continuum places tribe and caste on one gradient. Bailey and Sinha described highland groups moving toward caste society. Bose’s absorption thesis is the civilisational version of that slope. The idea explains ritual and economic change. It must not erase ST law, PESA, or forest rights.
Q1(c) · UPSC Mains 2021 · Anthropology GS 2 · 10 marks
Harappan seals
Evolution of the Indian Culture and Civilization
Harappan seals are mostly square steatite with script and an animal. Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, and Dholavira are key findspots. They likely marked goods and office in a trade system. The Indus script on them is still unread. Seals are not a full social census of the civilisation.
Toppers' copies
Toppers' copies for this question will be uploaded soon.