an ecological niche refers to the way in which a species utilises the resources of its environment and its relation to other species in the biological community. in biological community, no two coexisting species share the same niche. similarly, no two coexisting castes have the same traditional niche in rural india; their niches are so differentiated as to preempt excessive competition for the same resources (gadgil 2001a). the concept of the ecological niche has been used in a number of ways in anthropology: as a specialized part of human society, as synonymous with culture, and as a segment of the habitat (donald 1972). indian society is an agglomeration of several thousand endogamous groups or castes each with a restricted geographical range and a hereditarily determine mode of subsistence. these reproductively isolated castes may be compared to biological species, and the society thought of as a biological community with each caste having its specific ecological niche (gadgil and malhotra 1983).