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602 Aliideology, values” (Srinivas, 1966:47). Important among the changes broughtabout by Westernization are education, increased income, and urbanization(Srinivas, 1966:54). Both Sanskritization and Westernization are processesof status mobility, of attempting to move upwards within the context of thecaste hierarchy. These are not exclusive processes. Commonly, a caste groupwill increase its wealth through Westernization, perhaps by sending childrento the city or abroad to work. As their economic position becomessecure, they will then attempt to translate that into status gains throughSanskritization.While Sanskritization is still an important model of status mobility forboth Hindus and Muslims in India, 11 for Muslims in Hyderabad it is notnearly as important as Westernization. Westernization serves to help highstatusgroups and individuals to maintain their status positions against lowerstatus groups; it is also a means by which lower status individuals and groupscan raise their status. Westernization, while providing an avenue for castemobility also—somewhat paradoxically—affects changes in the definitionof status and undermines the basis of the caste hierarchy. Where status inIndia has traditionally been based on ascription (i.e., caste), the processof Westernization has worked to begin to displace status hierarchy basedon group affiliation, making individually achieved status more important.I explore this theme below. First, we must discuss what we mean when wespeak of caste among Muslims in the Indian context.CASTE AMONG MUSLIMS IN INDIAThe idea may seem strange that in an egalitarian religion like Islam,there would be ranked, hierarchical divisions among Muslims. Many scholarshave debated this point, whether or not caste exists among Muslimsin India. It has been clearly established that in some parts of India, andfor certain Muslims, caste considerations are strong (e.g., Ahmad, 1976,1978b, 1981, 1983; Ansari, 1960; Jamous, 1997; Madan, 1995), while forothers they are less important (e.g., Fanselow, 1997; Mines, 1978; Vatuk,1997).Since ethnographic research on Muslims clearly shows that in someparts of South Asia caste is important, while in others it is not, the questionof the existence of caste among Muslims in India is no longer fruitful. Muslimsin South Asia often have caste, or more specifically, Muslims have ascribedstatus based on certain conceptions of lineage that correspond to Hindunotions of caste. Muslim caste, however, need not be situated in hierarchical11 The analog of Sanskritization for Muslims is called Ashrafization, the emulation of the behaviorsof upper caste Muslims (Vreede-de-Steurs, 1968).
Collective and Elective Ethnicity: Caste Among Urban Muslims in India 603relations. That is, it is not necessary for all Muslims in a given area to actupon their caste identities—though in most villages and northern Indiancities they do. In contrast to its function for Hindus, the caste system is notthe main mediator between Muslims, or between Muslims and Hindus. Castehierarchy then is more limited in scope; that is, it does not regulate mundane,ritual, and religious activities in the manner it does for Hindus.This has led to much confusion and debate over the notion of casteamong Muslims. Many studies of caste among Muslims argue for its Indianroots and its similarity to Hindu caste. Dumont (1980:210) finds that casteamong Muslims is “weakened or incomplete, but not lacking altogether.”Ahmad (1978a:12) similarly asserts that caste exists among Muslims as a basisof social relations, but its form has been greatly weakened and modified.It differs from the Hindu caste model in certain details: for example, Muslimcaste is not as elaborated; there is no sense of purity and pollution; occupationalspecialization is not as well developed; and restrictions on who canand cannot exchange food are not as well developed. Further, any Muslim,without restriction, may enter mosques (Hindus, in contrast, still in manyplaces do not allow Dalits entry into temples), and among Muslims there isno ritually pure caste such as the Brahmins. Others argue that caste amongMuslims may be derived from Central and Western Asian influences. Whilenot called caste, the existence of hierarchical, endogamous status groupsamong Muslims across the Middle East is common (e.g., Lindholm, 1986).The fixation on the extent to which Muslim caste is similar to or deviatesfrom Hindu caste, or whether the origin of hierarchy among Muslims isMiddle Eastern or Indian, I argue, is misplaced and unproductive in helpingus understand the significance of caste today. Caste for Muslims does nothave the ideological or religious basis that it has for Hindus. Yet, in India, itis a type of identity that people use, or do not use, which may or may not besituated in hierarchical relations (see Vatuk, 1997). How much Muslim casteis similar to, or different from, Hindu caste gives us no better understandingof how caste functions for Muslims, or of how and why it is or is not importantin different contexts. I argue that it is more useful to conceive of caste not asan encompassing, orienting identity, but as one type of identity that variesin salience.Caste in HyderabadIn India, Muslim castes generally fall into two categories: higher castesof Syed, Sheikh, Pathan, and Mughal, and lower, service castes. The highcastes claim foreign origin from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, or CentralAsia, while the members of the low castes are low-caste Hindu converts.Many high castes however are also Hindu converts. For example, many
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