Sociology: Study of the Social Sphere, 2/e, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 2

Sociology in India

Chapter 1 stated that the origins of the social sciences lay somewhere in nineteenth-century Europe. We also hinted that colonialism and industrial revolution provided the needed spurt. The introduction of these branches of knowledge in India and in other countries of Asia came later. Sociology, though, was introduced much later compared to other social science disciplines such as economics, political science, and psychology.

While the social sciences are a product of the nineteenth century, pre-colonial indigenous scholarship was also reflected on the social terrain. Indigenous traditions of learning were, however, largely sacred in character, and laid emphasis on the abstract and the abstruse. As part of Indian ...