Jajmani System

noun phrase

/ˈdʒɑːdʒ.mɑː.niː ˈsɪs.təm/

A traditional system of hereditary occupational interdependence in Indian villages whereby different castes performed specialised services for each other — landowners (jajmans) received services from artisan and service castes (kamins/praja) in exchange for fixed payments in grain, land use, or cash — creating a network of reciprocal caste-based obligations

✍️ Usage in a UPSC answer

The jajmani system provided a form of social security in pre-modern Indian villages, guaranteeing subsistence to service castes through hereditary ties, but its exploitative dimension — binding lower castes to servitude — made its dissolution a necessary condition for democratic social relations.

Synonyms

hereditary caste service systempatron-client caste networkvillage economic caste order

Antonyms

free labour marketcontractual employmentmerit-based occupational choice

🌱 Word Family

jajmani system (n phrase), jajman (n), kamin/praja (n — service castes in the system)

🔡 Root

Sanskrit yajamana = one who performs a sacrifice/one who employs a priest (from yaj = to worship/sacrifice) + English system from Greek systema

📜 Etymology

Described by Oscar Lewis and William Wiser in 20th-century village studies; jajman evolved from 'patron of a Brahmin priest' to 'patron of any artisan'; the jajmani system began breaking down with monetisation of the rural economy, green revolution cash crops, and urban migration from the 1960s onwards

🧠 Memory Hook

JAJMAN = the PATRON at the centre — the JAJMANI system is a web of caste-based services spinning out from the Jajman like spokes of a wheel

👥 Society 📖 Seen in: Salient Features of Indian Society — D...

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