SUMMARY

An alliance in the sense in which I have used the term here is a kind of exchange or transaction involving decisions to extend or withhold support or patronage. In both its transactional and its decision-making aspects it is a feature of what Firth and Barth call social organization. Regarded in this light, I argue, it becomes apparent that there is a simple pattern underlying the seeming patternlessness of political alliances in rural Western Maharashtra. This pattern consists not in irrational personal antagonisms attributable to the personality characteristics of Indian politicians (cf. Brass 1965:168–82), but rather in the relations between political action and certain antecedent structural frameworks.

The governmental and administrative institutions of Western Maharashtra comprise one such major antecedent structural framework. These institutions are the arenas within which political alliances are made. They determine many of the rules and provide many of the rewards for successful political strategy.

An analysis of the personnel who hold office in these institutions suggests that there is a small political class with privileged access to positions of influence. The political class is composed primarily of v∂t∂ndar Marathas with the addition of Brahmins and Jains in the towns. The existence of this privileged political class is the second major antecedent structural framework.

All of the groups in the political class have high caste status. The v∂t∂ndar Marathas also have numerical dominance in most villages of the region and they are found in substantial numbers in the market towns as well.