Sacred Cows and Water Buffalo in India: The Uses of Ethnography [and Comments and Reply]

In 1958-59 and in 1977-78, we undertook holistic ethnographic studies of a village in northern India. Profound technoenvironmental change occurred in the 18-year period between the two studies. With regard to cattle, the principal change was a shift from bullock power to machinery. This provided the basis for a test of the two principal positions that have been taken in the sacred-cow controversy: (1) technoenvironmental determinism, which denies that religious belief is an independent determinant of Indian cattle demography, and (2) the position that religious belief is one of a number of factors that affect the demography of Indian cattle. Our data demonstrate that belief in the sanctity of the cow significantly influences the demography of cattle in this village. In an attempt to evaluate the sacred-cow controversy, we note two characteristics of its history: First, it appears to reflect a tendency to dismiss obvious explanations in favor of unexpected ones. Second, the lack of relevant field data for deciding the issue suggests a general decline in holistic ethnographic studies. We argue that our article illustrates the usefulness of analytical holistic ethnography.