1931 caste census: In literacy, Baidyas, Kayasthas, Nayars on top; Yadavs, Pasis at bottom of the list

The forthcoming Census with caste enumeration, to be completed by March 2027, will throw up similar data to enable the government to undertake focused welfare measures.

According to the 1931 Census, at an all-India level, Baidyas of Bengal, Kayasthas based in several states, and Nayars of Kerala, were the most literate among castes. These three groups had traditional occupations or social circumstances that seemed to have facilitated their educational development. Baidyas were physicians by occupation, Kayasthas were scribes, and Nayars hailed from the Malabar region that had made early strides in education.

While Baidyas recorded 78.2% male literacy and 48.6% female literacy, Kayasthas had 60.7% male and 19.1 % female literacy, and Nayars 60.3 % male and 27.6 % female literacy.

Thus, even among the most literate castes, including the matrilineal Nayars, female literacy was significantly lower than male literacy, showing patriarchal relations where families focused on the education of men, who were supposed to find gainful employment, more than that of women, who were brought up to be homemakers.

Khatris, a commercial caste of Punjab, stood fourth at the all-India level, accounting for 45.1 % male literacy and 12.6 % female literacy.

At the fifth position in the all-India literacy list in the 1931 Census were Brahmins, the only caste found across the country. Brahmins had 43.7 % male literacy and 9.6 % female literacy at the national level. They were far ahead of the other major “upper caste” community, Rajputs, who had 15.3 % male literacy and just 1.3% female literacy.

Kurmis, an Other Backward Class (OBC) caste found in many northern states, which is one of the key beneficiaries of the current OBC quota regime, were just behind Rajputs in literacy, accounting for 12.6 % male literacy and 1.2% female literacy. Telis, another OBC caste, had 11.4 % male and 0.6 % female literacy.

There were several castes lagging far behind at the all-India level in terms of literacy. The influential Jat community of Northwest India had a male literacy of 5.3 % and female literacy of 0.6 %. Yadavs, an influential OBC caste in north India, had just 3.9 % male and 0.2 % female literacy.

Notably, Mahars, a key caste among Dalits to which Dr B R Ambedkar belonged, were found to be more educated than other Scheduled Caste (SC) groups, registering 4.4 % male literacy and 0.4 % female literacy.

In general terms, as per the 1931 Census, the literacy rates among the OBCs, SCs and Scheduled Tribes (STs) were lower than those among the upper castes or influential groups.

Regional variations

As per the 1931 Census, the literacy rates across castes varied across the country. What made Brahmins fall to the fifth rank in all-India literacy was their lower literacy rates in north India. This made castes like Nayars and Khatris, both concentrated largely in one province each, register higher national literacy rates than Brahmins.

The most literate caste at the provincial level was Brahmins of Madras (state), with the figures also including those of the princely states of Cochin and Travancore. As many as 80 % Brahmin males in this region were literate, while female literacy within the group was 28.6 %. They were clearly ahead of Nayars of the region, among whom 60.4 % males and 27.6 % females were literate. Chettis recorded 44.7 % male and 9.77 % female literacy.

In Bombay (state) too, 78.8 % males and 23.1 % females from the Brahmin community were literate. Marathas lagged behind, accounting for 22.3 % male and 2.8 % female literacy.

Significantly, the non-Brahmin movement undertaken by Jyotiba Phule in Bombay and the Dravidian movement launched in Madras, involved the two states where Brahmins had high male literacy and dominance in education and government jobs. These movements also got wide support among castes that were competing with Brahmins for education and jobs but were lagging behind, as per the data.

With northern states recording lower literacy rates as compared to the southern ones, the pan-Indian caste patterns reflected sharp variations. For instance, Tamil Nadu’s Labbai Muslim group, currently listed in the OBC category, had 43.8 % male literacy, which was higher than the male literacy rates among Brahmins of UP, Rajasthan, Punjab, Bihar and Odisha.

In north Indian states, the Brahmin literacy figures were lower than those in the south, but still higher than most other castes.

In Bihar and Odisha, the Kayastha group was the most literate with 60.5 % male literacy and 11.8 % female literacy, followed by Brahmins (35.6 % male and 2.8 % female literacy), Bhumihars (23.3 % male and 2.8 % female literacy) and Rajputs (21.7 % male and 1.3 % female literacy). In contrast, Yadavs had very low literacy rates, with just 3.7 % male literacy and 0.2 % female literacy.

In the Central Provinces and Berar region, which later became Madhya Pradesh, Brahmins were the most literate with 59.1 % male literacy and 12.2 % female literacy, followed by Baniyas (59.8 % male and 7.4 % female literacy) and Rajputs (20 % male and 1.5 % female literacy).

In UP, Kayasthas were the most literate with 70.2 % male literacy and 19.1 % female literacy, followed by Syeds from the Muslim community (38 % male and 8.7 % female literacy), Brahmins (29.3 % male and 2.5 % female literacy), and Rajputs (18.3 % male and 1.4 % female literacy). Ahirs (Yadavs), a major OBC caste, were lagging far behind, with just 2 % male and 0.1 % female literacy. OBC Jats and Kurmis were ahead of Yadavs, with the former recording 8.1 % male and 0.8 % female literacy and the latter having 5.4 % male and 0.1 % female literacy. Dalit Pasis had just 0.3 % male literacy and 0.3 % female literacy.

In Hyderabad, Brahmins were ranked on top of the literacy chart with 70.1 % male literacy and 7.9 % female literacy, while Kapus lagged behind with 6.4 % male and 0.8% female literacy.

In Rajasthan, Baniyas topped with 59.2 % male literacy and 2.3 % female literacy, followed by Brahmins (23.7 % male and 1.4 % female literacy) and Rajputs (7 % male and 1.1 % female literacy). Jats were a distant fourth with 1.2 % male and 0.1 % female literacy.

In Bengal, Baidyas (77.7 % male and 47.6 % female literacy) were at the top, followed by Brahmins (64.5 % male and 21.6% female literacy) and Kayasthas (57.1 % male and 20.99 % female literacy).

In Punjab, Brahmins had 26.8 % male and 3.4 % female literacy, with Khatris (43.8 % male and 11.4 % female literacy) topping the list.

The 1931 Census defined literacy “as the ability to write a letter and to read the answer to it” above the age of five. It did not list those as literate who could read but not write.