Social and Cultural Life in 18th Century India
The 18th century in India is often painted as a time of political fragmentation. But socially and culturally, it was also a period of deep stagnation, marked by a strong dependence on tradition and limited progress. The impact of feudalism, caste, gender hierarchies, and religious orthodoxy shaped society at every level—even as occasional glimmers of unity, mutual respect, and reform attempts shone through.
Social Structure: Deeply Divided, Inward Looking
Society in 18th-century India was highly stratified and segmented along multiple lines:
- Religion
- Caste and sub-caste (jati)
- Language and region
- Tribe and clan
- Ethnic origin (especially among Muslims)
This fragmentation had a disintegrative effect on society and made large-scale social reform difficult.
🧬 Hindu Society: The Rigidity of the Caste System
The caste system remained the single biggest structural barrier to social unity and mobility.
- Though only four varnas existed in theory, hundreds of jatis operated in practice, with each having fixed roles.
- Strict rules governed:
- Marriage: Inter-caste marriage was prohibited.
- Dining: Inter-dining was discouraged or banned, especially by higher castes.
- Touch and purity: Many higher castes wouldn’t accept food or water from lower castes.
- Occupation: Caste often decided profession, even though exceptions existed in urban craft centres.
👥 Caste Panchayats and community councils enforced these rules through:
- Fines
- Prayaschitta (penance)
- Excommunication
☪️ Muslim Society: Social Stratification Despite Egalitarian Ideals
Though Islamic doctrine promotes equality, in practice, 18th-century Muslim society in India was internally hierarchical:
- Ethnic divisions: Irani, Turani (Central Asian), Afghan, and Hindustani Muslims formed distinct power blocs.
- Shia-Sunni tensions occasionally led to elite factionalism.
- Sharif Muslims (nobility, ulama, qadis, officers) often looked down upon Ajlafs (lower-class converts, artisans, peasants), replicating caste-like discrimination.
➡️ Thus, social discrimination wasn’t unique to Hindu society, even if caste rigidity was more institutionalised there.
🕊️ Hindu-Muslim Unity: Real, Organic, and Stronger than Later Colonial Narratives Suggest
Despite deep internal stratification within both communities, communal harmony between Hindus and Muslims was largely intact in the 18th century.
🔸 Sufi-Bhakti traditions had created mutual respect:
- Hindus visited Muslim shrines (dargahs).
- Muslims offered patronage to Hindu temples.
🕌 Notable examples:
- Marathas supported the shrine of Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti at Ajmer.
- Raja of Tanjore supported the dargah of Shahul Hamid at Nagore.
- Tipu Sultan financially supported the Shringeri Temple, founded by Adi Shankaracharya in the 8th century.
✍️ Cultural exchange was robust:
- Hindu writers wrote in Persian.
- Muslim writers wrote in Hindi, Bengali, and other vernaculars.
The Condition of Women: Revered Symbolically, Repressed Socially
Despite ritual respect in scriptures and epics, women in the 18th century had little autonomy in real life.
📌 Major Issues:
- Dowry system — particularly rampant in Bengal and Rajputana.
- Heavy marriage expenses — a financial burden among elites.
- Purdah system — dominant in upper-class North Indian society; rare in the South.
- Polygamy — permitted for men, but women were expected to marry only once.
- Sati practice — seen in upper-caste Rajput, Bengali, and zamindar families; uncommon among Marathas and South Indians.
- Widow Remarriage — rare and socially stigmatized; reform efforts by figures like Jai Singh of Amber and Parshuram Bhau failed.
- Child marriage — widely practised.
- Patriarchy — dominant family structure was patrilineal. Exception: Nairs of Kerala followed matriliny.
Education: Reverence for Learning, But Not for Science
Education remained classical and religious in orientation, and did not evolve with the changing world.
📌 Features of 18th-century education:
- Focused on literature, law, logic, religion, and philosophy.
- Physical and natural sciences, technology, geography, or mathematics were largely neglected.
- Teachers were respected, but the curriculum was outdated.
🧠 Literacy:
- Surprisingly, literacy rates were higher in many regions than under later British rule, especially at the elementary level.
👧 Girls’ education:
- Very limited. Exceptions existed in wealthy families, mostly for literary or religious instruction.
🎓 Higher education centres were funded by local rulers:
- Sanskrit education (mainly for Brahmins).
- Persian education (popular across religious lines, as Persian was the Mughal court language).
Cultural and Intellectual Landscape of 18th Century India
Was the 18th century a cultural dark age? Or was it simply a period of transition?
When we examine the cultural state of India during the 18th century—a time when the political landscape was disintegrating—we notice two opposing currents. On the one hand, there were signs of stagnation and decline in state-sponsored cultural expressions. On the other hand, the same century also witnessed a decentralised cultural blossoming in regional courts and among the people. This duality forms the core of our analysis.
Cultural Stagnation at the Mughal Centre
The disintegration of centralized empires, especially the Mughal Empire, had a profound effect on art and culture:
- Cultural patronage in earlier centuries had come primarily from emperors, nobles, and zamindars. Their wealth funded musicians, painters, poets, and scholars.
- But by the 18th century, their impoverishment due to constant wars, administrative collapse, and political instability meant a decline in court culture.
- Especially in Mughal Delhi, many once-thriving art forms began to wither. This included the court-style miniature painting, Mughal architecture, and court poetry.
Yet, this cultural decay was not universal.
Cultural Decentralisation and Revival in Regional Courts
Even as the central court declined, a significant shift occurred towards provincial courts. Artists, musicians, and poets—no longer supported by the Mughals—began migrating to regional centers where new patrons were emerging.
- These included Hyderabad, Lucknow, Kashmir, and Patna, where local Nawabs and rulers sponsored art.
- This trend was particularly visible in painting, as Mughal styles were reinterpreted into regional variants.
- Hence, the 18th century was not a cultural vacuum; rather, it marked the redistribution of cultural expression.
Development of Music and Performing Arts
Music, poetry, and dance did not just survive—they flourished in pockets:
1. North and South India: Musical Renaissance
- Under the reign of Muhammad Shah Rangila (1719–1748), Hindustani classical music witnessed vibrant growth. He himself was fond of music and patronised great musicians.
2. The Tanjore Court (South India)
- In the first half of the 18th century, the Maratha rulers of Tanjore became great patrons of music, poetry, and dance.
- This era laid the groundwork for the Carnatic music trinity (Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar, Shyama Sastri) who would emerge slightly later.
Literary Contributions and Vernacular Growth
While Persian declined as the dominant court language, vernacular and regional languages flourished. The decentralised nature of 18th-century India allowed linguistic diversity to thrive.
1. Urdu Literature
- The 18th century was the golden age of Urdu poetry.
- Urdu emerged as the language of the elite in North India and saw the rise of ghazal poetry.
2. Regional Flourishings
| Language | Key Developments and Patrons |
| Malayalam | Revived under Travancore rulers – Martanda Varma and Rama Varma |
| Assamese | Patronized by Ahom kings, leading to literary expansion |
| Gujarati | Dayaram, a notable lyric poet, wrote in Bhakti tradition |
| Punjabi | Waris Shah composed Heer Ranjha, an iconic romantic epic |
| Sindhi | Shah Abdul Latif’s Risalo became a cultural masterpiece; Sachal Sarmast and Sami also contributed deeply |
3. Tamil Bhakti Poetry
- Tayaumanavar (1706–1744), a mystic poet of Tamil Nadu, wrote Siddhar-style poetry.
- He used devotional language to critique the abuses of the caste system and temple orthodoxy.
Kerala’s Cultural High Point
In 18th-century Kerala, we see a cultural renaissance:
- Kathakali, the iconic classical dance-drama, reached its mature literary and performance form.
- The construction of Padmanabhapuram Palace, known for mural paintings and architecture, also took place during this period.
Scientific and Intellectual Lag: A Cultural Weakness
This section is critical for understanding why India fell behind the West.
While Europe was undergoing the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, India, despite its past legacy, lagged behind in scientific thinking:
- Scientific inquiry stagnated, and superstition remained deeply entrenched.
- Fields such as mathematics, astronomy, and medicine, where India once excelled, now saw little innovation.
- The Indian elite were largely unaware of Western scientific and economic advancements.
- Exception: Tipu Sultan, who showed curiosity in European scientific ideas and military technology.
This scientific inertia played a major role in India’s political subjugation by a technologically superior colonial power—Britain, which had integrated science with statecraft and warfare.