Caste system in India
Encyclopedia
The Indian caste system is a system of social stratification
and social restriction in India
in which communities are defined by thousands of endogamous
hereditary groups called Jāti
s.
The Jātis were hypothetically and formally grouped by the Brahminical texts under the four well known categories (the varnas): viz Brahmin
s (priests), Kshatriya
s (kings, warriors, law enforcers, administrators), Vaishya
s (traders, bankers), and Shudra
s (Artisans,labourers,agriculturists,cattle raisers,craftsmen, service providers). Certain people like foreigners, nomads, forest tribes
and the chandalas (who dealt with disposal of the dead) were excluded altogether and treated as untouchables. Although identified with Hinduism
, in the past (1883 year data) the caste-like systems were also observed among followers of other religions in the Indian subcontinent, including some groups of Muslim
s and Christian
s, most likely due to inherited cultural traits. Theoretically, all foreigners are considered to be casteless; in the 18th century, the high-caste Brahmins avoided undertaking sea trips, as they considered the European merchants as untouchable.
classes ("pistra
s") show similarity, wherein the priests are Brahmins, the warriors are Kshatriya, the merchants are Vaishya, and the artisans are Shudras.
From the Bhakti school, the view is that the four divisions were originally created by Krishna. "According to the three modes of material nature and the work associated with them, the four divisions of human society were created."
Criticisms of these understandings of the caste system point out that Varna itself means a complexion, and these Varnas are nothing more than a social classification based on the activities that the individual is involved in. Restrictions to performing religious rites were more related to the profession rather than the caste in which the person is born.
i.e., an individual born in a Brahmin family involved in sweeping houses would be considered a Shudra, even though a Brahmin by birth. Such an individual would have to go through a 'shuddhikaran' (purification), a bath in the Ganges or an equivalent procedure before being eligible to enter a temple. There are instances in the Hindu religious tales illustrating birth not determining religious restrictions (Shabri, Valmiki, and others). However, there are also instances showing birth determining religious restrictions (Shambuka
, Ekalavya
, and others).
Fa Xian, a Buddhist pilgrim from China
, visited India
around 400 AD. "Only the lot of the Chandals
he found unenviable; outcastes by reason of their degrading work as disposers of dead, they were universally shunned... But no other section of the population were notably disadvantaged, no other caste distinctions attracted comment from the Chinese pilgrim, and no oppressive caste 'system' drew forth his surprised censure." In this period kings of Sudra
and Brahmin
origin were as common as those of Kshatriya
Varna and caste system was not wholly prohibitive and repressive.
The castes did not constitute a rigid description of the occupation or the social status of a group. Since British society was divided by class, the British attempted to equate the Indian caste system to their own social class system. They saw caste as an indicator of occupation, social standing, and intellectual ability. Intentionally or unintentionally, the caste system became more rigid during the British Raj
, when the British started to enumerate castes during the ten-year census and codified the system under their rule.
The Harijan
s, the people outside the caste system, had the lowest social status. The Harijans, earlier referred to as untouchables
by some, worked in what were seen as unhealthy, unpleasant or polluting jobs. In the past, the Harijans suffered from social segregation and restrictions, in addition to extreme poverty. They were not allowed temple worship with others, nor water from the same sources. Persons of higher castes would not interact with them. If somehow a member of a higher caste came into physical or social contact with an untouchable, the member of the higher caste was defiled and had to bathe thoroughly to purge him or herself of the impurity. Social discrimination developed even among the Harijans; sub-castes among Harijans, such as the dhobi
and nai
, would not interact with lower-order Bhangi
s, who were described as "outcastes even among outcastes."
Sociologists have commented on the historical advantages offered by a rigid social structure as well as its drawbacks. While caste is now seen as anachronistic, in its original form the caste system served as an instrument of order in a society where mutual consent rather than compulsion ruled; where the ritual rights and the economic obligations of members of one caste or sub-caste were strictly circumscribed in relation to those of any other caste or sub-caste; where one was born into one's caste and retained one's station in society for life; where merit was inherited, where equality existed within the caste, but inter-caste relations were dynamic — often unequal and hierarchical. A well-defined system of mutual interdependence through a division of labour created security within a community. In addition, the division of labour on the basis of ethnicity allowed immigrants and foreigners to quickly integrate into their own caste niches.
The caste system played an influential role in shaping economic activities, where it functioned much like medieval European guilds, ensuring the division of labour
, providing for the training of apprentices, development and protection of intellectual property and, in some cases, allowing manufacturers to achieve narrow specialisation and global monopoly. For instance, producing each variety of cloth was the specialty of a particular sub-caste, but the weavers of Dhaka produced the renowned muslin that was in demand internationally. It has been suggested that the majority of people tend to be comfortable in stratified endogamous groups, as they have always been, since ancient times.
Before the British
use of Varna categories for enumerating and ranking the Jatis in the decennial census, the relative ranking of the Jatis and castes was fluid and differed from one place to another, based on their political and economic power. Sociologists such as Bernard Buber and Marriott McKim describe how the perception of the caste system as a static and textual stratification has given way to the perception of the caste system as a more processual, empirical and contextual stratification. Other sociologists such as Y.B. Damle have applied theoretical models to explain mobility and flexibility in the caste system in India.
According to these scholars, groups of lower-caste individuals could seek to elevate the status of their caste by attempting to emulate the practices of higher castes. Flexibility in caste laws permitted very low-caste religious clerics such as Valmiki
to compose the Ramayana
, which became a central work of Hindu scripture. There is also precedent of certain Shudra families within the temples of the Sri Vaishnava sect in South India elevating their caste. The following is a list of changes in varna cited in Hindu texts:
According to some psychologists, mobility across broad caste lines may have been "minimal", though sub-castes (jatis) may have changed their social status over the generations by fission, re-location, and adoption of new rituals.
Sociologist M. N. Srinivas
has also debated the question of rigidity in caste. In an ethnographic study of the Coorgs of Karnataka
, he observed considerable flexibility and mobility in their caste hierarchies. He asserts that the caste system is far from rigid — in which the position of each component caste is fixed for all time; instead, movement has always been possible, especially in the middle regions of the hierarchy. It was always possible for groups born into a lower caste to "rise to a higher position by adopting vegetarianism and teetotalism," i.e., adopt the customs of the higher castes. While theoretically "forbidden," the process was not uncommon in practice. The concept of sanskritization (the adoption of upper-caste norms by the lower castes) addressed the complexity and fluidity of caste relations.
The fact that many of the dynasties were of obscure origin suggests some social mobility: A person of any caste, having once acquired political power, could also acquire a genealogy connecting him with the traditional lineages and conferring Kshatriya status. A number of new castes, such as the Kayastha
s (scribes) and Khatri
s (traders), are mentioned in the sources of this period. According to the Brahmanic sources, they originated from intercaste marriages, but this is clearly an attempt at rationalizing their rank in the hierarchy. Khatri appears to be unquestionably a Prakritised form of the Sanskrit Kshatriya. Many of these new castes played a major role in society. The hierarchy of castes did not have a uniform distribution throughout the country.
, Mahavira
and Makkhali Gosala
. Opposition to the system of varṇa is regularly asserted in the Yoga Upaniṣad-s and is a constant feature of Cīna-ācāra tantrism, a Chinese-derived movement in Asom; both date to the medieval era. The Nātha
system, which was founded by Matsya-indra Nātha and Go-rakṣa Nātha in the same era and spread throughout India, has likewise been consistently opposed to the system of varna.
Many Bhakti period
saints rejected the caste discriminations and accepted all castes , including untouchables, into their fold. During the British Raj
, this sentiment gathered steam, and many Hindu reform movements
such as Brahmo Samaj
and Arya Samaj
renounced caste-based discrimination. The inclusion of so-called untouchables (Many untouchables converted to Buddhism) into the mainstream was argued for by many social reformers (see Historical criticism, below). Mahatma Gandhi
called them "Harijan
s" (children of God) although that term is now considered patronizing and the term Dalit
(downtrodden) is the more commonly used. Gandhi's contribution toward the emancipation of the untouchables is still debated, especially in the commentary of his contemporary Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, an untouchable who frequently saw Gandhi's activities as detrimental to the cause of upliftment of his people.
In the south, Periyar E.V. Ramasamy had significantly contributed to social and caste reforms.
The practice of untouchability was formally outlawed by the Constitution of India
in 1950, and has declined significantly since then, to the point of a society allowing former untouchables to take high political office, like former President
K. R. Narayanan
, who took office in 1997, and former Chief Justice
K. G. Balakrishnan
.
. Prior to that, the relative ranking of castes differed from one place to another. The castes did not constitute a rigid description of the occupation or the social status of a group. The British attempted to equate the Indian caste system to their own class system, viewing caste as an indicator of occupation, social standing, and intellectual ability. During the initial days of the British East India Company
's rule, caste differences and customs were accepted, if not encouraged, but the British law courts disagreed with the discrimination against the lower castes. However, British policies of divide and rule
as well as enumeration of the population into rigid categories during the 10 year census contributed towards the hardening of caste identities.
The caste system is still socially relevant in India, even when the topic is avoided by general rhetoric. Caste has become (see Caste politics in India
) an important factor in the politics of rural India, although elections in the first decade of the 21st century seem to have diminished a hold that was very much evident in the previous few decades.
The Government of India
has officially documented castes and sub-castes, primarily to determine those deserving reservation
(positive discrimination in education and jobs) through the census
. The Indian reservation system, though limited in scope, relies entirely on quotas. The Government lists consist of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes:
Scheduled castes (SC)
Scheduled tribes (ST)
Other Backward Classes (OBC)
The caste-based reservations
in India have led to widespread protests, such as the 2006 Indian anti-reservation protests
, with many complaining of reverse discrimination
against the forward castes (the castes that do not qualify for the reservation).
The government is carrying out caste census for 2011. It will help in verifying the claims and counterclaims by various sections of the society about their actual numbers. It would also help the government to re-examine and even undo some of the policies which were formed in haste like Mandal commission
and bring more objectivity to the policies with contemporary realities. Others believe that there is actually no social stigma at all associated with belonging to a backward caste, and that because of the huge constitutional incentives, in the form of educational and job reservations, a large number of people will falsely declare themselves to be from a backward caste, to avail of the benefits. This will not only result in a marked inflation of the backward castes numbers, but also lead to enormous administrative and judicial resources being devoted to social unrest and litigation, if such dubious caste declarations are challenged.
In some parts of India, Christians are stratified by sect, location, and the castes of their predecessors, usually in reference to upper class Syrian Malabar Nasrani
s. Christians in Kerala
are divided into several communities, including Syrian Christians
and the so-called "Latin" or "New Rite" Christians.
Kerala
Syrian Christians
derive status within the caste system from the tradition
that they are converted High caste Hindus such as Namboodiris, Nairs and Jews
(Israelites), who were evangelized
by St. Thomas
. Writers Arundhati Roy
and Anand Kurian
have written personal accounts of the caste system at work in their community. Syrian Christians, especially Knanaya Christians, tend to be endogamous and not intermarry with other Christian
castes. This is because they wish to preserve their Jewish heritage.
The Latin Rite Christians were among the scheduled castes in the coastal belt of Kerala, where fishing was the primary occupation. They were actively converted by missionaries in the 16th and 19th centuries. These missionary activities were carried out by Western Latin Rite missionaries who did not understand the significance of the caste system in India; none of the Syrian churches had participated in such activities among the scheduled castes of India because they were aware of the prejudices of the caste system. The government of India later granted this group OBC status. Very rarely are there intermarriages between Syrian Christians
and Latin Rite Christians.
Anthropologists have noted that the caste hierarchy among Christians in Kerala
is much more polarized than the Hindu practices in the surrounding areas, due to a lack of jati
s. Also, the caste status is kept even if the sect
allegiance
is switched (i.e. from Syrian Catholic to Syrian Orthodox).
Goa
In the Indian state of Goa
, mass conversions were carried out by Portuguese Latin missionaries from the 16th century onwards. The Hindu converts retained their caste practices. The continued maintenance of the caste system among the Christians in Goa is attributed to the nature of mass conversions of entire villages, as a result of which existing social stratification was not affected. The Portuguese colonists, even during the Goan Inquisition, did not do anything to change the caste system. Thus, the original Hindu Brahmins in Goa now became Christian Bamonns
and the Kshatriya
became Christian noblemen called Chardos
. The Christian clergy became almost exclusively Bamon. Vaishya
s who converted to Christianity became Gauddos, and Shudra
s became Sudirs. Finally, the Dalit
s or "Untouchables" who converted to Christianity became Maharas and Chamars, the latter an appellation of the anti-Dalit ethnic slur Chamaar.
Muslims
Despite Islam's clear prohibitions against a caste-like system, units of social stratification have developed among Muslims in some parts of South Asia. Sources indicate that the castes among Muslims developed as the result of close contact with Hindu culture and Hindu converts to Islam. The Sachar Committee
's report commissioned by the government of India and released in 2006 documents the continued stratification in Muslim society, though stratification is not as rigid as the Hindu system, nor is it condoned by Islam.
Among Muslims, those who are referred to as Ashrafs are presumed to have a superior status derived from their foreign Arab ancestry, while the Ajlafs are assumed to be converts from Hinduism, and have a lower status. However, this may be more accurately described as ethnocentrism, since no prohibitions or rules are imposed on Aljafs, or their mingling with Ashrafs. In addition, the Arzal caste among Muslims was regarded by anti-caste activists like Ambedkar
as the equivalent of untouchables, due to their low socioeconomic status. In the Bengal region of India, some Muslims stratify their society according to 'Quoms,' though this is a description of their menial labour, and is not a rigid strata of society in strictly the same manner as a caste. While many scholars have asserted that the Muslim "castes" are not as acute in their discrimination as those of the Hindus, some like Ambedkar argued that the social evils in Sub-continental Muslim society were "worse than those seen in Hindu society", which maybe due to the influence of Hindu society in which they dwell.
Sikh
The Sikh Gurus
criticized the hierarchy of the caste system. While some castes were widely perceived as being better or higher than others, they preached that all sections of society were valuable and that merit and hard-work were essential aspects of life. In the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee
, out of 140 seats, 20 are reserved for low caste Sikhs. However, the quota system has attracted much criticism due to the lack of meritocracy, since merit is considered the single most important component of winning a seat.
Buddhists
The Buddha specifically denounced the caste system and there was no practice of caste amongst his immediate followers. So the rest of this section has a questionable status. The Buddhists also had a caste system. In Sri Lanka, the Rodis might have been outcast by the Sri Lankan Buddhists due to the absence of ahimsa
(non-violence), a central tenet of Buddhism, among their beliefs. The writer Raghavan notes, "That a form of worship in which human offerings formed the essential ritual would have been anathema to the Buddhist way of life goes without saying; and it needs no stretch of imagination that any class of people in whom the cult prevailed or survived even in an attenuated form would have been pronounced by the sangha (i.e. the Buddhist clergy) as exiles from the social order." Savarkar believed that the status of the backward castes (e.g. Chamar
) that performed non-violence only worsened. When Ywan Chwang traveled to South India after the period of the Chalukyan Empire, he noticed that the caste system had existed among the Buddhists and Jains.
Jains
Jains also had castes in places such as Bihar. For example, in the village of Bundela, there were several "jaats" (groups) amongst the Jains. A person of one "jaat" cannot intermingle with a Jain or another "jaat". They also could not eat with the members of other "jaats".
Baha'i
The Baha'i Faith
has grown to prominence in India, since its philosophy of the unity of humanity
attracted many of the lower castes.
s motivated by caste. According to a UN report, approximately 110,000 cases of violent acts committed against Dalit
s were reported in 2005. Various incidents of violence against Dalits, almost always by other backward castes such as Kunbi
s Kherlanji Massacre
and Jats Mirchpur killings in 2010, have been reported from many parts of India. Many violent protests by Dalits, such as the 2006 Dalit protests in Maharashtra
, have also been reported.
An exception to the norm is the Ranvir Sena
, a caste
-supremacist fringe paramilitary group based in Bihar
, which committed violent acts against Dalits.
Phoolan Devi
, who belonged to the Mallah
lower caste, was mistreated and raped by upper-caste Thakur
s at a young age. She became a bandit and carried out violent robberies against upper-caste people. In 1981, her gang massacred twenty-two Thakurs, most of whom were not involved in her kidnapping or rape. Later, after an amnesty scheme, she became a politician and Member of Parliament.
and Jawaharlal Nehru
had radically different approaches to caste, especially concerning constitutional politics and the status of untouchables. Since the 1980s, caste has become a major issue in the politics of India
.
The Mandal Commission
was established in 1979 to "identify the socially or educationally backward" and to consider the question of seat reservations and quotas
for people to redress caste
discrimination. In 1980, the commission's report affirmed the affirmative action
practice under Indian law, whereby additional members of lower castes - the other backward classes - were given exclusive access to another 27 percent of government jobs and slots in public universities, in addition to the 23 percent already reserved for the Dalits and Tribals. When V. P. Singh
's administration tried to implement the recommendations of the Mandal Commission in 1989, massive protests were held in the country. Many alleged that the politicians were trying to cash in on caste-based reservations for purely pragmatic electoral purposes.
Many political parties in India
have openly indulged in caste-based votebank
politics. Parties such as Bahujan Samaj Party
(BSP), the Samajwadi Party
and the Janata Dal
claim that they are representing the backward castes, and rely on OBC support, often in alliance with Dalit and Muslim support, to win elections. Remarkably, in what is called a landmark election in the history of India's most populated state of Uttar Pradesh
, the Bahujan Samaj Party
was able to garner a majority in the state assembly elections with the support of the high caste Brahmin community.
Many bhakti period
saints, including Meerabai, Guru Nanak, Kabir
, Chaitanya, Dnyaneshwar
, Eknath
, Subramanya Bharathi, Ramanujan and Tukaram
, rejected all caste-based discrimination and accepted disciples from all the castes. Many Hindu reformers
such as Swami Vivekananda
believe that there is no place for the caste system in Hinduism. The 15th century saint Ramananda
accepted all castes, including untouchables, into his fold. Most of these saints subscribed to the Bhakti movements in Hinduism during the medieval period that rejected casteism. Nandanar
, a low-caste Hindu cleric, also rejected casteism and accepted Dalits.
Some other movements in Hinduism have also welcomed lower-castes into their fold, the earliest being the Bhakti movements of the medieval period. Dalit politics involved many reform movements; these arose primarily as a reaction to the advent of Christian missionaries in India and their attempts to convert Dalits, who were attracted to the prospect of escaping the caste system.
In the 19th Century, the Brahmo Samaj
under Raja Ram Mohan Roy actively campaigned against untouchability and casteism. The Arya Samaj
founded by Swami Dayanand also renounced discrimination against Dalits. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
and his disciple Swami Vivekananda
founded the Ramakrishna Mission
that participated in the emancipation of Dalits. Upper-caste Hindus such as Mannathu Padmanabhan
participated in movements to abolish untouchability against Dalits; Padmanabhan opened his family temple to Dalits for worship. Narayana Guru
, a pious Hindu and an authority on the Vedas
, also criticized casteism and campaigned for the rights of lower-caste Hindus within the context of Hinduism.
The first upper-caste temple to openly welcome Dalits into their fold was the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple
in Thiruvananthapuram
, erstwhile Travancore
in the year 1936; the move was spearheaded by social reformer Ayyankali. In 1936, the Maharaja of Travancore
proclaimed that "outcastes should not be denied the consolations and the solace of the Hindu faith". Even today, the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple
that first welcomed Dalits in the state of Kerala is revered by the Dalit Hindu community.
The caste system has also been criticized by many Indian social reformers. Some reformers, such as Jyotirao Phule and Iyothee Thass
, argued that the lower caste people were the original inhabitants of India, who had been conquered in the ancient past by "Brahmin invaders." Mahatma Gandhi
coined the term Harijan, a euphemistic word for untouchable, literally meaning Sons of God. B. R. Ambedkar
, born in Hindu Dalit
community, was a heavy critic of the caste system. He pioneered the Dalit Buddhist movement in India, and asked his followers to leave Hinduism, and convert to Buddhism. India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru
, based on his own relationship with Dalit reformer. Ambedkar
, supported the eradication of untouchability for the benefit of the Dalit community.
have actively criticized the caste system.
Some activists consider the caste system a form of racial discrimination. At the United Nations
Conference Against Racism in Durban
, South Africa
in March 2001, participants condemned discrimination based on the caste system and tried to pass a resolution declaring caste as a basis for segregation
and oppression a form of apartheid. However, no formal resolution was passed.
The alleged maltreatment of Dalits in India has been described by some authors as "India's hidden apartheid". Critics of the accusations point to substantial improvements in the position of Dalits in post-independence India, consequent to the strict implementation of the rights and privileges enshrined in the Constitution of India, as implemented by the Protection of Civil rights Act, 1955. They also note that India has had a Dalit president
, K.R. Narayanan, and argue that the practise had disappeared in urban public life.
According to William A. Haviland, however:
Sociologists Kevin Reilly, Stephen Kaufman and Angela Bodino, while critical of casteism, conclude that modern India does not practice apartheid since there is no state-sanctioned discrimination. They write that casteism in India is presently "not apartheid. In fact, untouchables, as well as tribal people and members of the lowest castes in India benefit from broad affirmative action programmes and are enjoying greater political power." The Constitution of India places special emphasis on outlawing caste discrimination, especially the practice of untouchability.
of Punjab
is racially of the same stock as the Chamar of Punjab. The Caste system does not demarcate racial division. The Caste system is a social division of people of the same race",
Such allegations have also been rejected by Indian sociologists such as Andre Béteille
, who writes that treating caste as a form of racism is "politically mischievous" and worse, "scientifically nonsensical" since there is no discernible difference in the racial characteristics between Brahmins and Scheduled Castes. He states, "Every social group cannot be regarded as a race simply because we want to protect it against prejudice and discrimination".
The Indian government also rejects the claims of equivalency between caste and racial discrimination, pointing out that the caste issues are essentially intra-racial and intra-cultural. Indian Attorney General Soli Sorabjee insisted that "[t]he only reason India wants caste discrimination kept off the agenda is that it will distract participants from the main topic: racism. Caste discrimination in India is undeniable but caste and race are entirely distinct".
Many scholars dispute the claim that casteism is akin to racism. Sociologist M. N. Srinivas
has debated the question of rigidity in caste. Others have applied theoretical models to explain mobility and flexibility in the caste system in India. According to these scholars, groups of lower-caste individuals could seek to elevate the status of their caste by attempting to emulate the practices of higher castes.
In her book Democracy and Authoritarianism in South Asia
, Pakistani-American sociologist Ayesha Jalal
writes, "As for Hinduism
, the hierarchical principles of the Brahmanical social order have always been contested from within Hindu society, suggesting that equality has been and continues to be both valued and practiced."
In India, some observers have concluded that the caste system must be viewed as a system of exploitation of poor low-ranking groups by more prosperous high-ranking groups. In many parts of India, land is largely held by high-ranking property owners of the dominant castes, including the politically privileged other backward classes (OBCs), who economically exploit low-ranking landless labourers and poor artisans.
Matt Cherry claims that karma
underpins the caste system, which traditionally determines the position and role of every member of Hindu society. Caste determines an individual's place in society, the work he or she may carry out, and who he or she may marry and meet. He states that Hindus believe that the karma of previous life will determine the caste an individual will be (re)born into. Also see Karma in Hinduism
.
On 29 March 2007, the Supreme Court of India
, as an interim measure, stayed the law providing for 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes in educational institutions. This was done in response to a public interest litigation — Ashoka Kumar Thakur vs. Union of India
. The Court held that the 1931 census could not be a determinative factor for identifying the OBCs for the purpose of providing reservation. The court also observed, "Reservation cannot be permanent and appear to perpetuate backwardness". However, the Supreme Court later upheld the reservation.
southern and western Asians and have received limited gene flow from external regions since the Holocene
." Some studies point to the various Indian caste groups having similar genetic origins and having negligible genetic input from outside south Asia. Because the Indian samples for this study were taken from a single geographical area, it remains to be investigated whether its findings can be safely generalized.
An earlier 1995 study by Joanna L. Mountain et al. of Stanford University
had concluded that there was "no clear separation into three genetically distinct groups along caste lines", although "an inferred tree revealed some clustering according to caste affiliation". A 2006 study by Ismail Thanseem et al. of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology
(India) concluded that the "lower caste groups might have originated with the hierarchical divisions that arose within the tribal groups with the spread of Neolithic
agriculturalists, much earlier than the arrival of Aryan speakers", and "the Indo-Europeans
established themselves as upper castes among this already developed caste-like class structure within the tribes." The study indicated that the Indian caste system may have its roots long before the arrival of the Indo-Aryans
; a rudimentary version of the caste system may have emerged with the shift towards cultivation and settlements, and the divisions may have become more well-defined and intensified with the arrival of Indo-Aryans.
A 2001 study (published in Genome Research
) by researchers from India, Europe, and the U.S. found that "Analysis of these data demonstrated that the upper castes have a higher affinity to Europeans than to Asians, and the upper castes are significantly more similar to Europeans than are the lower castes" In other words, members of higher castes are more closely related to Europeans than are the lower castes.
According to the The Indian Genome Variation Consortium (2005), the population of the subcontinent can be divided into four morphological types: Caucasoids in the north, Mongoloids in the northeast, Australoids in the south and Negritos largely restricted to the Andaman Islands; however, these groups tend to overlap because of admixture. The majority of genetic differences among Indians appears to be distributed along caste lines, rather than along ethnic lines, although genetic differences do exist between predominantly Indo-European-speaking northern and predominantly Dravidian-speaking southern Indian populations, as was also observed by Reich in a recent 2009 study.
In 2008, the Indian Genome Variation Consortium produced another study, this time emphasizing the significant genetic differentiation which exists between Dravidian-speaking, Indo-European-speaking, Tibeto-Burman-speaking and Austro-Asiatic-speaking populations. The researchers write: "Thus, although there are no clear geographical grouping of populations, ethnicity (tribal/nontribal) and language seem to be the major determinants of genetic affinities between the populations of India. This is concordant with an earlier finding based on allele frequencies at blood group, serum protein and enzyme loci (Piazza et al. 1980)." The authors further observe that "it is contended that the Dravidian speakers, now geographically confined to southern India, were more widespread throughout India prior to the arrival of the Indo–European speakers (Thapar 1966). They, possibly after a period of social and genetic admixture with the Indo–Europeans, retreated to southern India, a hypothesis that has been supported by mitochondrial DNA analyses (Basu et al. 2003). Our results showing genetic heterogeneity among the Dravidian speakers further supports the above hypothesis. The Indo–European speakers also exhibit a similar or higher degree of genetic heterogeneity possibly because of different extents of admixture with the indigenous populations over different time periods after their entry into India. It is surprising that in spite of such a high levels of admixtures, the contemporary ethnic groups of India still exhibit high levels of genetic differentiation and substructuring."
A 2009 genetic study published by David Reich et al. analyzed half a million genetic markers across the genomes of 132 individuals from 25 ethnic groups from 13 states in India across multiple caste groups. This 2009 study, based on the the presupposition that the modern Indian population was descended from two ancient lineages, Ancestral North Indians (ANI), who are most related genetically to Central and West Eurasian populations, and Ancestral South Indians (ASI), who are most related to the Negrito
s of the Andaman
islands, concluded that: "By introducing methods that can estimate ancestry without accurate ancestral populations, we show that ANI ancestry ranges from 39-71% in India, and is higher in traditionally upper caste and Indo-European speakers." The study authors further note that: "ANI ancestry is significantly higher in Indo-European than Dravidian speakers (P=0.013 by a 1-sided test), suggesting that the ancestral ASI may have spoken a Dravidian language before mixing with the ANI. We also find significantly more ANI ancestry in traditionally upper than lower or middle caste groups (P=0.0025), and find that traditional caste level is significantly correlated to ANI ancestry even after controlling for language (P=0.0048), suggesting a relationship between the history of caste formation in India and ANI-ASI mixture."
Genetic variations with phenotypic
effects are seen between castes. For example, many members of the Arya Vaisya Chettiyar
clan are fatally allergic to some anaesthetics such as Suxamethonium, also known as Scoline.
's debut novel, Untouchable (1935) based on the theme of untouchability. Hindi film, Achhoot Kanya (Untouchable Maiden, 1936) starring Ashok Kumar
and Devika Rani
was an early reformist film. The debut novel of Arundhati Roy
, The God of Small Things
(1997) also has themes surrounding the caste system. The novel became controversial over a scene in which an untouchable and a touchable have an affair with eachother, despite the fact that the novel also features incest and molestation of a young child.
Social stratification
In sociology the social stratification is a concept of class, involving the "classification of persons into groups based on shared socio-economic conditions ... a relational set of inequalities with economic, social, political and ideological dimensions."...
and social restriction in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
in which communities are defined by thousands of endogamous
Endogamy
Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific ethnic group, class, or social group, rejecting others on such basis as being unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships. A Greek Orthodox Christian endogamist, for example, would require that a marriage be only with another...
hereditary groups called Jāti
Jati
Jāti is the term used to denote clans, tribes, communities and sub-communities in India. It is a term used across religions. In Indian society each jāti typically has an association with a traditional job function or tribe, although religious beliefs Jāti (in Devanagari: जाति Tamil:சாதி) (the...
s.
The Jātis were hypothetically and formally grouped by the Brahminical texts under the four well known categories (the varnas): viz Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
s (priests), Kshatriya
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
s (kings, warriors, law enforcers, administrators), Vaishya
Vaishya
Vaishya is one of the four varnas of the Hindu social order. According to Vedic tradition, this caste primarily comprises merchants, farmers, cattle-herders and artisans.-Duties of Vaishyas:...
s (traders, bankers), and Shudra
Shudra
Shudra is the fourth Varna, as prescribed in the Purusha Sukta of the Rig veda, which constitutes society into four varnas or Chaturvarna. The other three varnas are Brahmans - priests, Kshatriya - those with governing functions, Vaishya - agriculturalists, cattle rearers and traders...
s (Artisans,labourers,agriculturists,cattle raisers,craftsmen, service providers). Certain people like foreigners, nomads, forest tribes
Adivasi
Adivasi is an umbrella term for a heterogeneous set of ethnic and tribal groups claimed to be the aboriginal population of India. They comprise a substantial indigenous minority of the population of India...
and the chandalas (who dealt with disposal of the dead) were excluded altogether and treated as untouchables. Although identified with Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
, in the past (1883 year data) the caste-like systems were also observed among followers of other religions in the Indian subcontinent, including some groups of Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s and Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
s, most likely due to inherited cultural traits. Theoretically, all foreigners are considered to be casteless; in the 18th century, the high-caste Brahmins avoided undertaking sea trips, as they considered the European merchants as untouchable.
History
There is no universally accepted theory about the origins of the Indian caste system. The Indian classes and IranianIndo-Iranians
Indo-Iranian peoples are a linguistic group consisting of the Indo-Aryan, Iranian, Dardic and Nuristani peoples; that is, speakers of Indo-Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family....
classes ("pistra
Pistra
Pistras, or Pistra are ancient Iranian classes, somewhat similar to the Caste system in India.-References:...
s") show similarity, wherein the priests are Brahmins, the warriors are Kshatriya, the merchants are Vaishya, and the artisans are Shudras.
From the Bhakti school, the view is that the four divisions were originally created by Krishna. "According to the three modes of material nature and the work associated with them, the four divisions of human society were created."
Criticisms of these understandings of the caste system point out that Varna itself means a complexion, and these Varnas are nothing more than a social classification based on the activities that the individual is involved in. Restrictions to performing religious rites were more related to the profession rather than the caste in which the person is born.
i.e., an individual born in a Brahmin family involved in sweeping houses would be considered a Shudra, even though a Brahmin by birth. Such an individual would have to go through a 'shuddhikaran' (purification), a bath in the Ganges or an equivalent procedure before being eligible to enter a temple. There are instances in the Hindu religious tales illustrating birth not determining religious restrictions (Shabri, Valmiki, and others). However, there are also instances showing birth determining religious restrictions (Shambuka
Shambuka
Shambuka is, in Hindu mythology, a character in the Ramayana.- Story :'Shambuka, is one of the Chapter in the book "Ramayan Ambedkar to answer many enigmatic problems in Indian History...
, Ekalavya
Ekalavya
In the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, Ekalavya is a young prince of the Nishadha tribes, and a member of a low caste, who aspires to study archery in the gurukul of Dronacharya. After being rejected by Drona due to his low caste, Eklavya embarks upon a program of self-study in the presence of a clay...
, and others).
Caste and social status
Traditionally, in north Indian society, the political power usually lay with the Kshatriyas, the economic power with the Vaishyas and Shudras, while the Brahmins, as custodians and interpreters of Dharma, enjoyed much prestige and were given many advantages by society, even though they were economically poor. Practicing Brahmins, were in fact prohibited from owning wealth.Fa Xian, a Buddhist pilgrim from China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, visited India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
around 400 AD. "Only the lot of the Chandals
Chandala
Chandala is a Sanskrit word for someone who deals with disposal of corpses, and is a Hindu lower caste, formerly considered untouchables. Currently it is a term used specifically in Indo-Aryan speaking regions of India. Sandala has become a swear word in the colloquial usage of the Tamil language...
he found unenviable; outcastes by reason of their degrading work as disposers of dead, they were universally shunned... But no other section of the population were notably disadvantaged, no other caste distinctions attracted comment from the Chinese pilgrim, and no oppressive caste 'system' drew forth his surprised censure." In this period kings of Sudra
Shudra
Shudra is the fourth Varna, as prescribed in the Purusha Sukta of the Rig veda, which constitutes society into four varnas or Chaturvarna. The other three varnas are Brahmans - priests, Kshatriya - those with governing functions, Vaishya - agriculturalists, cattle rearers and traders...
and Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
origin were as common as those of Kshatriya
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
Varna and caste system was not wholly prohibitive and repressive.
The castes did not constitute a rigid description of the occupation or the social status of a group. Since British society was divided by class, the British attempted to equate the Indian caste system to their own social class system. They saw caste as an indicator of occupation, social standing, and intellectual ability. Intentionally or unintentionally, the caste system became more rigid during the British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, when the British started to enumerate castes during the ten-year census and codified the system under their rule.
The Harijan
Harijan
Harijan was a term used by Gandhi for Dalits. Gandhi said it was wrong to call people 'untouchable', and called them Harijans, which means children of God...
s, the people outside the caste system, had the lowest social status. The Harijans, earlier referred to as untouchables
Untouchability
Untouchability is the social practice of ostracizing a minority group by segregating them from the mainstream by social custom or legal mandate. The excluded group could be one that did not accept the norms of the excluding group and historically included foreigners, nomadic tribes, law-breakers...
by some, worked in what were seen as unhealthy, unpleasant or polluting jobs. In the past, the Harijans suffered from social segregation and restrictions, in addition to extreme poverty. They were not allowed temple worship with others, nor water from the same sources. Persons of higher castes would not interact with them. If somehow a member of a higher caste came into physical or social contact with an untouchable, the member of the higher caste was defiled and had to bathe thoroughly to purge him or herself of the impurity. Social discrimination developed even among the Harijans; sub-castes among Harijans, such as the dhobi
Dhobi
The Dhobi are a caste group found in Pakistan and India who specialize in washing clothes. The word Dhobi is derived from Hindi word dhona, which means to wash. They are found throughout North India, Gujarat, Maharashtra as well as the Punjab province of Pakistan, where they are known as Gazar...
and nai
Nai (caste)
The word Nai refers to a particular profession, that of cutting hair, running beauty salons, makeup or facelift clinics, beauty parlours, etc. among Hindus, Sikhs or Muslims in India. They are also referred to as Nai and Nai-Thakur, Sains. In Pakistan, the Nai or hairdresser were following it as a...
, would not interact with lower-order Bhangi
Bhangi
Bhangi is an Indian caste or jāti traditionally treated as untouchable, and was historically restricted to three occupations: cleaning latrines, sweeping, and scavenging . They prefer to be known as Balmiki...
s, who were described as "outcastes even among outcastes."
Sociologists have commented on the historical advantages offered by a rigid social structure as well as its drawbacks. While caste is now seen as anachronistic, in its original form the caste system served as an instrument of order in a society where mutual consent rather than compulsion ruled; where the ritual rights and the economic obligations of members of one caste or sub-caste were strictly circumscribed in relation to those of any other caste or sub-caste; where one was born into one's caste and retained one's station in society for life; where merit was inherited, where equality existed within the caste, but inter-caste relations were dynamic — often unequal and hierarchical. A well-defined system of mutual interdependence through a division of labour created security within a community. In addition, the division of labour on the basis of ethnicity allowed immigrants and foreigners to quickly integrate into their own caste niches.
The caste system played an influential role in shaping economic activities, where it functioned much like medieval European guilds, ensuring the division of labour
Division of labour
Division of labour is the specialisation of cooperative labour in specific, circumscribed tasks and likeroles. Historically an increasingly complex division of labour is closely associated with the growth of total output and trade, the rise of capitalism, and of the complexity of industrialisation...
, providing for the training of apprentices, development and protection of intellectual property and, in some cases, allowing manufacturers to achieve narrow specialisation and global monopoly. For instance, producing each variety of cloth was the specialty of a particular sub-caste, but the weavers of Dhaka produced the renowned muslin that was in demand internationally. It has been suggested that the majority of people tend to be comfortable in stratified endogamous groups, as they have always been, since ancient times.
Before the British
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
use of Varna categories for enumerating and ranking the Jatis in the decennial census, the relative ranking of the Jatis and castes was fluid and differed from one place to another, based on their political and economic power. Sociologists such as Bernard Buber and Marriott McKim describe how the perception of the caste system as a static and textual stratification has given way to the perception of the caste system as a more processual, empirical and contextual stratification. Other sociologists such as Y.B. Damle have applied theoretical models to explain mobility and flexibility in the caste system in India.
According to these scholars, groups of lower-caste individuals could seek to elevate the status of their caste by attempting to emulate the practices of higher castes. Flexibility in caste laws permitted very low-caste religious clerics such as Valmiki
Valmiki
Valmiki is celebrated as the poet harbinger in Sanskrit literature. He is the author of the epic Ramayana, based on the attribution in the text of the epic itself. He is revered as the Adi Kavi, which means First Poet, for he discovered the first śloka i.e...
to compose the Ramayana
Ramayana
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
, which became a central work of Hindu scripture. There is also precedent of certain Shudra families within the temples of the Sri Vaishnava sect in South India elevating their caste. The following is a list of changes in varna cited in Hindu texts:
- Manu eldest son [Priyavrata] became king, a Kshatriya. Out of his ten sons, seven became kings while three became Brahman. Their names were Mahavira, Kavi and Savana. (Ref bhagwat puran chap.5)
- Kavash Ailush was born to a Sudra and attained the varna of a Rishi. He became mantra-drashta to numerous Vedic mantras in Rig-Veda 10th Mandal.
- Jabala’s son [Satyakama] born from unknown father became Rishi by his qualities.
- [Matanga] became a Rishi after his birth in low Varna.
According to some psychologists, mobility across broad caste lines may have been "minimal", though sub-castes (jatis) may have changed their social status over the generations by fission, re-location, and adoption of new rituals.
Sociologist M. N. Srinivas
M. N. Srinivas
Mysore Narasimhachar Srinivas was an Indian sociologist. He is mostly known for his work on caste and caste systems, social stratification, Sanskritisation and Westernisation in southern India and the concept of 'Dominant Caste'.- Career :...
has also debated the question of rigidity in caste. In an ethnographic study of the Coorgs of Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
, he observed considerable flexibility and mobility in their caste hierarchies. He asserts that the caste system is far from rigid — in which the position of each component caste is fixed for all time; instead, movement has always been possible, especially in the middle regions of the hierarchy. It was always possible for groups born into a lower caste to "rise to a higher position by adopting vegetarianism and teetotalism," i.e., adopt the customs of the higher castes. While theoretically "forbidden," the process was not uncommon in practice. The concept of sanskritization (the adoption of upper-caste norms by the lower castes) addressed the complexity and fluidity of caste relations.
The fact that many of the dynasties were of obscure origin suggests some social mobility: A person of any caste, having once acquired political power, could also acquire a genealogy connecting him with the traditional lineages and conferring Kshatriya status. A number of new castes, such as the Kayastha
Kayastha
Kayastha or Kayasth or Kayeth is a caste or community of Hindus originating in India. Kayastha means "scribe" in Sanskrit, and has traditionally denoted members of the writer caste....
s (scribes) and Khatri
Khatri
Khatri is a caste from the northern Indian subcontinent. Khatris in India are mostly from Punjab, region but later they migrated to regions like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu, Uttarkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber...
s (traders), are mentioned in the sources of this period. According to the Brahmanic sources, they originated from intercaste marriages, but this is clearly an attempt at rationalizing their rank in the hierarchy. Khatri appears to be unquestionably a Prakritised form of the Sanskrit Kshatriya. Many of these new castes played a major role in society. The hierarchy of castes did not have a uniform distribution throughout the country.
Reforms
There have been challenges to the caste system from the time of BuddhaGautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
, Mahavira
Mahavira
Mahāvīra is the name most commonly used to refer to the Indian sage Vardhamāna who established what are today considered to be the central tenets of Jainism. According to Jain tradition, he was the 24th and the last Tirthankara. In Tamil, he is referred to as Arukaṉ or Arukadevan...
and Makkhali Gosala
Makkhali Gosala
Makkhali Gosala was an ascetic teacher of ancient India, often identified as the founder of the Ajivika movement. He was a contemporary of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, and of Mahavira, the last and 24th Tirthankara of Jainism.- Sources :Details about Gosala's life are sparse...
. Opposition to the system of varṇa is regularly asserted in the Yoga Upaniṣad-s and is a constant feature of Cīna-ācāra tantrism, a Chinese-derived movement in Asom; both date to the medieval era. The Nātha
Nath
The Sanskrit word nāthá or नाथ, is the proper name of a Hindu initiatory tradition and the word itself literally means "lord, protector, refuge"...
system, which was founded by Matsya-indra Nātha and Go-rakṣa Nātha in the same era and spread throughout India, has likewise been consistently opposed to the system of varna.
Many Bhakti period
Bhakti movement
The Bhakti movement is a Hindu religious movement in which the main spiritual practice is loving devotion among the Shaivite and Vaishnava saints. The Bhakti movement originated in ancient Tamil Nadu and began to spread to the north during the late medieval ages when north India was under Islamic...
saints rejected the caste discriminations and accepted all castes , including untouchables, into their fold. During the British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, this sentiment gathered steam, and many Hindu reform movements
Hindu reform movements
Several contemporary groups, collectively termed Hindu reform movements, strive to introduce regeneration and reform to Hinduism. Although these movements are very individual in their exact philosophies they generally stress the spiritual, secular and logical and scientific aspects of the Vedic...
such as Brahmo Samaj
Brahmo Samaj
Brahmo Samaj is the societal component of the Brahmo religion which is mainly practiced today as the Adi Dharm after its eclipse in Bengal consequent to the exit of the Tattwabodini Sabha from its ranks in 1859. It was one of the most influential religious movements responsible for the making of...
and Arya Samaj
Arya Samaj
Arya Samaj is a Hindu reform movement founded by Swami Dayananda on 10 April 1875. He was a sannyasi who believed in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda emphasized the ideals of brahmacharya...
renounced caste-based discrimination. The inclusion of so-called untouchables (Many untouchables converted to Buddhism) into the mainstream was argued for by many social reformers (see Historical criticism, below). Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
called them "Harijan
Harijan
Harijan was a term used by Gandhi for Dalits. Gandhi said it was wrong to call people 'untouchable', and called them Harijans, which means children of God...
s" (children of God) although that term is now considered patronizing and the term Dalit
Dalit
Dalit is a designation for a group of people traditionally regarded as Untouchable. Dalits are a mixed population, consisting of numerous castes from all over South Asia; they speak a variety of languages and practice a multitude of religions...
(downtrodden) is the more commonly used. Gandhi's contribution toward the emancipation of the untouchables is still debated, especially in the commentary of his contemporary Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, an untouchable who frequently saw Gandhi's activities as detrimental to the cause of upliftment of his people.
In the south, Periyar E.V. Ramasamy had significantly contributed to social and caste reforms.
The practice of untouchability was formally outlawed by the Constitution of India
Constitution of India
The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It lays down the framework defining fundamental political principles, establishes the structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions, and sets out fundamental rights, directive principles, and the duties of citizens...
in 1950, and has declined significantly since then, to the point of a society allowing former untouchables to take high political office, like former President
President of India
The President of India is the head of state and first citizen of India, as well as the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. President of India is also the formal head of all the three branches of Indian Democracy - Legislature, Executive and Judiciary...
K. R. Narayanan
K. R. Narayanan
Kocheril Raman Narayanan , also known as K. R. Narayanan, was the tenth President of India. He was the first Dalit, and the first Malayali, to have been President....
, who took office in 1997, and former Chief Justice
Chief Justice of India
The Chief Justice of India is the highest-ranking judge in the Supreme Court of India, and thus holds the highest judicial position in India. As well as presiding in the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice also head its administrative functions....
K. G. Balakrishnan
K. G. Balakrishnan
Konakuppakatil Gopinathan Balakrishnan is presently the Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of India. He was formerly the Chief Justice of India....
.
British rule
The fluidity of the caste system was affected by the arrival of the BritishBritish Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
. Prior to that, the relative ranking of castes differed from one place to another. The castes did not constitute a rigid description of the occupation or the social status of a group. The British attempted to equate the Indian caste system to their own class system, viewing caste as an indicator of occupation, social standing, and intellectual ability. During the initial days of the British East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
's rule, caste differences and customs were accepted, if not encouraged, but the British law courts disagreed with the discrimination against the lower castes. However, British policies of divide and rule
Divide and rule
In politics and sociology, divide and rule is a combination of political, military and economic strategy of gaining and maintaining power by breaking up larger concentrations of power into chunks that individually have less power than the one implementing the strategy...
as well as enumeration of the population into rigid categories during the 10 year census contributed towards the hardening of caste identities.
Modern status of the caste system
Caste politics in India
The politics of India, in various levels, has been influenced by the prevailing caste system in the country. The caste system is essentially a five-tier social standing apparatus that comes from Hindu culture. At the top of the social hierarchy are the Brahmins, who are typically priests. At the...
) an important factor in the politics of rural India, although elections in the first decade of the 21st century seem to have diminished a hold that was very much evident in the previous few decades.
The Government of India
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
has officially documented castes and sub-castes, primarily to determine those deserving reservation
Reservation in India
Reservation in India is a form of affirmative action designed to improve the well being of socially backward and underrepresented communities of citizens in India. There are laws in place, wherein a certain percentage of total available slots in Jobs and Education are set aside for people from...
(positive discrimination in education and jobs) through the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
. The Indian reservation system, though limited in scope, relies entirely on quotas. The Government lists consist of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes:
Scheduled castes (SC)
- Scheduled castes generally consist of "DalitDalitDalit is a designation for a group of people traditionally regarded as Untouchable. Dalits are a mixed population, consisting of numerous castes from all over South Asia; they speak a variety of languages and practice a multitude of religions...
". The present population is 16% of the total population of India (around 160 million). For example, the Delhi state has 49 castes listed as SC.
Scheduled tribes (ST)
- Scheduled tribes generally consist of tribal groups. The present population is 7% of the total population of India i.e. around 70 million.
Other Backward Classes (OBC)
- The Mandal CommissionMandal commissionThe Mandal Commission was established in India in 1979 by the Janata Party government under Prime Minister Morarji Desai with a mandate to "identify the socially or educationally backward." It was headed by Indian parliamentarian Bindheshwari Prasad Mandal to consider the question of seat...
covered more than 3000 castes under OBC Category, regardless of their affluence or economic status and stated that OBCs form around 52% of the Indian population. However, the National Sample Survey puts the figure at 32%. There is substantial debate over the exact number of OBCs in India; it is generally estimated to be sizable, but many believe that it is lower than the figures quoted by either the Mandal Commission or the National Sample Survey.
The caste-based reservations
Reservation in India
Reservation in India is a form of affirmative action designed to improve the well being of socially backward and underrepresented communities of citizens in India. There are laws in place, wherein a certain percentage of total available slots in Jobs and Education are set aside for people from...
in India have led to widespread protests, such as the 2006 Indian anti-reservation protests
2006 Indian anti-reservation protests
The anti-caste-based-reservation protests 2006, that took place in parts of India, were in opposition to the decision of the Union Government of India, the multiparty coalition 'United Progressive Alliance' , to implement reservations for Other Backward Classes in central and private institutes of...
, with many complaining of reverse discrimination
Reverse discrimination
Reverse discrimination is a controversial term referring to discrimination against members of a dominant or majority group, including the city or state, or in favor of members of a minority or historically disadvantaged group such as African Americans being slaves. Groups may be defined in terms of...
against the forward castes (the castes that do not qualify for the reservation).
The government is carrying out caste census for 2011. It will help in verifying the claims and counterclaims by various sections of the society about their actual numbers. It would also help the government to re-examine and even undo some of the policies which were formed in haste like Mandal commission
Mandal commission
The Mandal Commission was established in India in 1979 by the Janata Party government under Prime Minister Morarji Desai with a mandate to "identify the socially or educationally backward." It was headed by Indian parliamentarian Bindheshwari Prasad Mandal to consider the question of seat...
and bring more objectivity to the policies with contemporary realities. Others believe that there is actually no social stigma at all associated with belonging to a backward caste, and that because of the huge constitutional incentives, in the form of educational and job reservations, a large number of people will falsely declare themselves to be from a backward caste, to avail of the benefits. This will not only result in a marked inflation of the backward castes numbers, but also lead to enormous administrative and judicial resources being devoted to social unrest and litigation, if such dubious caste declarations are challenged.
Caste systems among non-Hindus
ChristiansIn some parts of India, Christians are stratified by sect, location, and the castes of their predecessors, usually in reference to upper class Syrian Malabar Nasrani
Syrian Malabar Nasrani
The Syrian Malabar Nasrani people, also known as Saint Thomas Christians, "'Nasrani Mappila'" and Nasranis, are an ethnoreligious group from Kerala, India, adhering to the various churches of the Saint Thomas Christian tradition...
s. Christians in Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
are divided into several communities, including Syrian Christians
Syrian Malabar Nasrani
The Syrian Malabar Nasrani people, also known as Saint Thomas Christians, "'Nasrani Mappila'" and Nasranis, are an ethnoreligious group from Kerala, India, adhering to the various churches of the Saint Thomas Christian tradition...
and the so-called "Latin" or "New Rite" Christians.
Kerala
Syrian Christians
Syrian Malabar Nasrani
The Syrian Malabar Nasrani people, also known as Saint Thomas Christians, "'Nasrani Mappila'" and Nasranis, are an ethnoreligious group from Kerala, India, adhering to the various churches of the Saint Thomas Christian tradition...
derive status within the caste system from the tradition
Tradition
A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...
that they are converted High caste Hindus such as Namboodiris, Nairs and Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
(Israelites), who were evangelized
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
by St. Thomas
Thomas the Apostle
Thomas the Apostle, also called Doubting Thomas or Didymus was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is best known for questioning Jesus' resurrection when first told of it, then proclaiming "My Lord and my God" on seeing Jesus in . He was perhaps the only Apostle who went outside the Roman...
. Writers Arundhati Roy
Arundhati Roy
Arundhati Roy is an Indian novelist. She won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel, The God of Small Things, and has also written two screenplays and several collections of essays...
and Anand Kurian
Anand Kurian
Anand Kurian , is a marketing communications theorist, writer and activist in Mumbai, India. He has written a best-selling political novel against religious fundamentalism. He has conceived and developed the twin marketing management concepts of Reality Plus and Neo People, other allied concepts...
have written personal accounts of the caste system at work in their community. Syrian Christians, especially Knanaya Christians, tend to be endogamous and not intermarry with other Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
castes. This is because they wish to preserve their Jewish heritage.
The Latin Rite Christians were among the scheduled castes in the coastal belt of Kerala, where fishing was the primary occupation. They were actively converted by missionaries in the 16th and 19th centuries. These missionary activities were carried out by Western Latin Rite missionaries who did not understand the significance of the caste system in India; none of the Syrian churches had participated in such activities among the scheduled castes of India because they were aware of the prejudices of the caste system. The government of India later granted this group OBC status. Very rarely are there intermarriages between Syrian Christians
Syrian Christians
Syrian Christians may refer to*the Christian minority in Syria*in older publications, the Syriac Christians*in a South Asian context, the Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala....
and Latin Rite Christians.
Anthropologists have noted that the caste hierarchy among Christians in Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
is much more polarized than the Hindu practices in the surrounding areas, due to a lack of jati
Jati
Jāti is the term used to denote clans, tribes, communities and sub-communities in India. It is a term used across religions. In Indian society each jāti typically has an association with a traditional job function or tribe, although religious beliefs Jāti (in Devanagari: जाति Tamil:சாதி) (the...
s. Also, the caste status is kept even if the sect
Sect
A sect is a group with distinctive religious, political or philosophical beliefs. Although in past it was mostly used to refer to religious groups, it has since expanded and in modern culture can refer to any organization that breaks away from a larger one to follow a different set of rules and...
allegiance
Allegiance
An allegiance is a duty of fidelity said to be owed by a subject or a citizen to his/her state or sovereign.-Etymology:From Middle English ligeaunce . The al- prefix was probably added through confusion with another legal term, allegeance, an "allegation"...
is switched (i.e. from Syrian Catholic to Syrian Orthodox).
Goa
In the Indian state of Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
, mass conversions were carried out by Portuguese Latin missionaries from the 16th century onwards. The Hindu converts retained their caste practices. The continued maintenance of the caste system among the Christians in Goa is attributed to the nature of mass conversions of entire villages, as a result of which existing social stratification was not affected. The Portuguese colonists, even during the Goan Inquisition, did not do anything to change the caste system. Thus, the original Hindu Brahmins in Goa now became Christian Bamonns
Roman Catholic Brahmin
The Roman Catholic Brahmin, also referred to asBamonn in Konkani, is a caste among the Goan and Mangalorean Catholics, of modern-day descendants of Konkani Brahmin converts to Roman Catholicism.-Origins:In Goa, the Brahmins were originally engaged in the priestly occupation, but had taken up...
and the Kshatriya
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
became Christian noblemen called Chardos
Roman Catholic Kshatriya
The Roman Catholic Kshatriya is a caste among the Goan and Mangalorean Catholics, of modern-day descendants of Goan Kshatriya and a few Vaishya converts to Roman Catholicism. They are respectively known as Chardo in the Goan Catholic dialects of Konkani The Roman Catholic Kshatriya is a caste among...
. The Christian clergy became almost exclusively Bamon. Vaishya
Vaishya
Vaishya is one of the four varnas of the Hindu social order. According to Vedic tradition, this caste primarily comprises merchants, farmers, cattle-herders and artisans.-Duties of Vaishyas:...
s who converted to Christianity became Gauddos, and Shudra
Shudra
Shudra is the fourth Varna, as prescribed in the Purusha Sukta of the Rig veda, which constitutes society into four varnas or Chaturvarna. The other three varnas are Brahmans - priests, Kshatriya - those with governing functions, Vaishya - agriculturalists, cattle rearers and traders...
s became Sudirs. Finally, the Dalit
Dalit
Dalit is a designation for a group of people traditionally regarded as Untouchable. Dalits are a mixed population, consisting of numerous castes from all over South Asia; they speak a variety of languages and practice a multitude of religions...
s or "Untouchables" who converted to Christianity became Maharas and Chamars, the latter an appellation of the anti-Dalit ethnic slur Chamaar.
Muslims
Despite Islam's clear prohibitions against a caste-like system, units of social stratification have developed among Muslims in some parts of South Asia. Sources indicate that the castes among Muslims developed as the result of close contact with Hindu culture and Hindu converts to Islam. The Sachar Committee
Sachar Committee
The Rajinder Sachar Committee, appointed in 2005 by the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was commissioned to prepare a report on the latest social, economic and educational condition of the Muslim community of India. The commettee was headed by the former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court ...
's report commissioned by the government of India and released in 2006 documents the continued stratification in Muslim society, though stratification is not as rigid as the Hindu system, nor is it condoned by Islam.
Among Muslims, those who are referred to as Ashrafs are presumed to have a superior status derived from their foreign Arab ancestry, while the Ajlafs are assumed to be converts from Hinduism, and have a lower status. However, this may be more accurately described as ethnocentrism, since no prohibitions or rules are imposed on Aljafs, or their mingling with Ashrafs. In addition, the Arzal caste among Muslims was regarded by anti-caste activists like Ambedkar
B. R. Ambedkar
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar , popularly also known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, political leader, philosopher, thinker, anthropologist, historian, orator, prolific writer, economist, scholar, editor, a revolutionary and one of the founding fathers of independent India. He was also the Chairman...
as the equivalent of untouchables, due to their low socioeconomic status. In the Bengal region of India, some Muslims stratify their society according to 'Quoms,' though this is a description of their menial labour, and is not a rigid strata of society in strictly the same manner as a caste. While many scholars have asserted that the Muslim "castes" are not as acute in their discrimination as those of the Hindus, some like Ambedkar argued that the social evils in Sub-continental Muslim society were "worse than those seen in Hindu society", which maybe due to the influence of Hindu society in which they dwell.
Sikh
The Sikh Gurus
Sikh Gurus
The Sikh Gurus established Sikhism from over the centuries beginning in the year 1469. Sikhism was founded by the first guru, Guru Nanak, and subsequently, all in order were referred to as "Nanak", and as "Lights", making their teachings in the holy scriptures, equivalent...
criticized the hierarchy of the caste system. While some castes were widely perceived as being better or higher than others, they preached that all sections of society were valuable and that merit and hard-work were essential aspects of life. In the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee
Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee is an organization in India responsible for the upkeep of gurdwaras, Sikh places of worship in three states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. SGPC also administers Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar. Gurdwaras in Delhi are the administered by Delhi Sikh...
, out of 140 seats, 20 are reserved for low caste Sikhs. However, the quota system has attracted much criticism due to the lack of meritocracy, since merit is considered the single most important component of winning a seat.
Buddhists
The Buddha specifically denounced the caste system and there was no practice of caste amongst his immediate followers. So the rest of this section has a questionable status. The Buddhists also had a caste system. In Sri Lanka, the Rodis might have been outcast by the Sri Lankan Buddhists due to the absence of ahimsa
Ahimsa
Ahimsa is a term meaning to do no harm . The word is derived from the Sanskrit root hims – to strike; himsa is injury or harm, a-himsa is the opposite of this, i.e. non harming or nonviolence. It is an important tenet of the Indian religions...
(non-violence), a central tenet of Buddhism, among their beliefs. The writer Raghavan notes, "That a form of worship in which human offerings formed the essential ritual would have been anathema to the Buddhist way of life goes without saying; and it needs no stretch of imagination that any class of people in whom the cult prevailed or survived even in an attenuated form would have been pronounced by the sangha (i.e. the Buddhist clergy) as exiles from the social order." Savarkar believed that the status of the backward castes (e.g. Chamar
Chamar
Chamar |tanner]]"; from the Sanskrit Charmakara) is a prominent occupational caste in India, Pakistan and Nepal. Chamar is a Dalit sub-caste mainly found in the northern states, such as Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi and in Nepal at least north to the Himalayas...
) that performed non-violence only worsened. When Ywan Chwang traveled to South India after the period of the Chalukyan Empire, he noticed that the caste system had existed among the Buddhists and Jains.
Jains
Jains also had castes in places such as Bihar. For example, in the village of Bundela, there were several "jaats" (groups) amongst the Jains. A person of one "jaat" cannot intermingle with a Jain or another "jaat". They also could not eat with the members of other "jaats".
Baha'i
The Baha'i Faith
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
has grown to prominence in India, since its philosophy of the unity of humanity
Bahá'í Faith and the unity of humanity
The Bahá'í Faith and the unity of humanity is one of the central teachings of the Bahá'í Faith. The Bahá'í teachings state that since all humans have been created in the image of God, God does not make any distinction between people regardless of race or colour. Thus, because all humans have been...
attracted many of the lower castes.
Caste-related violence
Independent India has witnessed a considerable amount of violence and hate crimeHate crime
In crime and law, hate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, social status or...
s motivated by caste. According to a UN report, approximately 110,000 cases of violent acts committed against Dalit
Dalit
Dalit is a designation for a group of people traditionally regarded as Untouchable. Dalits are a mixed population, consisting of numerous castes from all over South Asia; they speak a variety of languages and practice a multitude of religions...
s were reported in 2005. Various incidents of violence against Dalits, almost always by other backward castes such as Kunbi
Kunbi
Kunbi is a generic term applied to castes of traditionally non-elite tillers in Western India. These include the Dhonoje, Ghatole, Hindre, Jadav, Jhare, Khaire, Lewa , Lonari and Tirole communities of Vidharbha. The communities are largely found in the state of Maharashtra but also exist in the...
s Kherlanji Massacre
Kherlanji massacre
The Kherlanji massacre refers to the 2006 lynching-style murders of a Dalit family by members of the politically dominant, but backward Kunbi caste. The killings took place in a small village in India named Khairlanji, located in the Bhandara district of the state of Maharashtra...
and Jats Mirchpur killings in 2010, have been reported from many parts of India. Many violent protests by Dalits, such as the 2006 Dalit protests in Maharashtra
2006 Dalit protests in Maharashtra
In November and December 2006, the desecration of an Ambedkar statue in Kanpur triggered off violent protests by Dalits in Maharashtra, India.-Background:...
, have also been reported.
An exception to the norm is the Ranvir Sena
Ranvir Sena
Ranvir Sena is a Right-wing upper-caste landlord militia mainly based in Bihar, India. This group is thought to be formed by Bhumihar landlords. It carries out actions against Dalits and other members of the scheduled caste community as well as the Naxalites. The Ranvir Sena have been connected to...
, a caste
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
-supremacist fringe paramilitary group based in Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
, which committed violent acts against Dalits.
Phoolan Devi
Phoolan Devi
Phoolan Devi , popularly known as the "Bandit Queen", was an Indian dacoit and later a politician. After being gang-raped by some upper-caste members of her gang, Phoolan Devi turned a bandit, and killed 22 upper-caste villagers in 1981. Following this, she became notorious across India as a bandit...
, who belonged to the Mallah
Mallaah
The Mallah are the traditional boatmen caste and ethnic group of North India, East India and Pakistan. A small number of Mallah are also found in Nepal....
lower caste, was mistreated and raped by upper-caste Thakur
Thakur (Indian title)
Thakur is an Indian feudal title in several Indian languages, literally meaning "lord". A Thikana is the state or estate of a Thakur. A Thakurani is the wife of a Thakur...
s at a young age. She became a bandit and carried out violent robberies against upper-caste people. In 1981, her gang massacred twenty-two Thakurs, most of whom were not involved in her kidnapping or rape. Later, after an amnesty scheme, she became a politician and Member of Parliament.
Caste politics
B. R. AmbedkarB. R. Ambedkar
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar , popularly also known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, political leader, philosopher, thinker, anthropologist, historian, orator, prolific writer, economist, scholar, editor, a revolutionary and one of the founding fathers of independent India. He was also the Chairman...
and Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
had radically different approaches to caste, especially concerning constitutional politics and the status of untouchables. Since the 1980s, caste has become a major issue in the politics of India
Politics of India
The politics of India takes place within the framework of a federal constitutional republic, in which the President of India is head of state and the Prime Minister of India is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the President and is independent of the legislature...
.
The Mandal Commission
Mandal commission
The Mandal Commission was established in India in 1979 by the Janata Party government under Prime Minister Morarji Desai with a mandate to "identify the socially or educationally backward." It was headed by Indian parliamentarian Bindheshwari Prasad Mandal to consider the question of seat...
was established in 1979 to "identify the socially or educationally backward" and to consider the question of seat reservations and quotas
Reservation in India
Reservation in India is a form of affirmative action designed to improve the well being of socially backward and underrepresented communities of citizens in India. There are laws in place, wherein a certain percentage of total available slots in Jobs and Education are set aside for people from...
for people to redress caste
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
discrimination. In 1980, the commission's report affirmed the affirmative action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
practice under Indian law, whereby additional members of lower castes - the other backward classes - were given exclusive access to another 27 percent of government jobs and slots in public universities, in addition to the 23 percent already reserved for the Dalits and Tribals. When V. P. Singh
V. P. Singh
Vishwanath Pratap Singh was the seventh Prime Minister of India and the 41st Raja Bahadur of Manda.-Early life:...
's administration tried to implement the recommendations of the Mandal Commission in 1989, massive protests were held in the country. Many alleged that the politicians were trying to cash in on caste-based reservations for purely pragmatic electoral purposes.
Many political parties in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
have openly indulged in caste-based votebank
Votebank
A votebank is a loyal bloc of voters from a single community, who consistently back a certain candidate or political formation in democratic elections...
politics. Parties such as Bahujan Samaj Party
Bahujan Samaj Party
The Bahujan Samaj Party is a centrist national political party in India with socialist leanings. It was formed to chiefly represent Bahujans , referring to people from the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Castes as well as Buddhists. The party claims to be inspired by the...
(BSP), the Samajwadi Party
Samajwadi Party
Samajwadi Party is a political party in India. It is based in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It describes itself as a democratic socialist party...
and the Janata Dal
Janata Dal
Janata Dal is an Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Janata Party factions, the Lok Dal, Congress, and the Jan Morcha led by V. P...
claim that they are representing the backward castes, and rely on OBC support, often in alliance with Dalit and Muslim support, to win elections. Remarkably, in what is called a landmark election in the history of India's most populated state of Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
, the Bahujan Samaj Party
Bahujan Samaj Party
The Bahujan Samaj Party is a centrist national political party in India with socialist leanings. It was formed to chiefly represent Bahujans , referring to people from the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Castes as well as Buddhists. The party claims to be inspired by the...
was able to garner a majority in the state assembly elections with the support of the high caste Brahmin community.
Criticism
There has been criticism of the caste system from both within and outside of India. Criticism of the Caste system in Hindu society came both from the Hindu fold and without.Historical criticism
Both Buddha and Mahavira preached people to break the bonds of the caste system, and severely criticised untouchability, that was prevalent throughout the society.Many bhakti period
Bhakti movement
The Bhakti movement is a Hindu religious movement in which the main spiritual practice is loving devotion among the Shaivite and Vaishnava saints. The Bhakti movement originated in ancient Tamil Nadu and began to spread to the north during the late medieval ages when north India was under Islamic...
saints, including Meerabai, Guru Nanak, Kabir
Kabir
Kabīr was a mystic poet and saint of India, whose writings have greatly influenced the Bhakti movement...
, Chaitanya, Dnyaneshwar
Dnyaneshwar
Dnyāneshwar , also known as Jñanadeva , was born into a Deshastha Brahmin Kulkarni family.He was a 13th century Maharashtrian Hindu saint , poet, philosopher and yogi of the Nath tradition whose works Bhavartha deepika teeka ,...
, Eknath
Eknath
Eknath was a prominent Marathi scholar and religious poet. He is called a "sant" in the Marathi tradition as are most other religious poets...
, Subramanya Bharathi, Ramanujan and Tukaram
Tukaram
Sant Tukaram was a prominent Varkari Sant and spiritual poet during a Bhakti movement in India.Sant Tukaram was born and lived most of his life in Dehu, a town close to Pune in Mahārāshtra, India. He was born to a couple with the family name "More", the descendent of the Mourya Clan with first...
, rejected all caste-based discrimination and accepted disciples from all the castes. Many Hindu reformers
Hindu reform movements
Several contemporary groups, collectively termed Hindu reform movements, strive to introduce regeneration and reform to Hinduism. Although these movements are very individual in their exact philosophies they generally stress the spiritual, secular and logical and scientific aspects of the Vedic...
such as Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...
believe that there is no place for the caste system in Hinduism. The 15th century saint Ramananda
Ramananda
Ramananda , also referred to as Sant Ramanand or Swami Ramanand, was a Vaishnava sant. He is considered to be the reviver of the Ramanandi sect. Ramananda for the most part of his life lived in the holy city of Varanasi, and was a pioneer of the Bhakti movement, as well as a social reformer in...
accepted all castes, including untouchables, into his fold. Most of these saints subscribed to the Bhakti movements in Hinduism during the medieval period that rejected casteism. Nandanar
Nandanar
Nandanar was a Nayanar saint born in South India who became a great devotee of Lord Shiva.Nandanar was born in a village called Adhanurin a poor family. He was born at the cruel time where untouchability was being practised, as he belonged to Paraiyar community, which was considered as an...
, a low-caste Hindu cleric, also rejected casteism and accepted Dalits.
Some other movements in Hinduism have also welcomed lower-castes into their fold, the earliest being the Bhakti movements of the medieval period. Dalit politics involved many reform movements; these arose primarily as a reaction to the advent of Christian missionaries in India and their attempts to convert Dalits, who were attracted to the prospect of escaping the caste system.
In the 19th Century, the Brahmo Samaj
Brahmo Samaj
Brahmo Samaj is the societal component of the Brahmo religion which is mainly practiced today as the Adi Dharm after its eclipse in Bengal consequent to the exit of the Tattwabodini Sabha from its ranks in 1859. It was one of the most influential religious movements responsible for the making of...
under Raja Ram Mohan Roy actively campaigned against untouchability and casteism. The Arya Samaj
Arya Samaj
Arya Samaj is a Hindu reform movement founded by Swami Dayananda on 10 April 1875. He was a sannyasi who believed in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda emphasized the ideals of brahmacharya...
founded by Swami Dayanand also renounced discrimination against Dalits. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna , born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay , was a famous mystic of 19th-century India. His religious school of thought led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda – both were influential figures in the Bengali Renaissance as well as the Hindu...
and his disciple Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...
founded the Ramakrishna Mission
Ramakrishna Mission
Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission are twin organizations which form the core of a worldwide spiritual movement known as Ramakrishna Movement or Vedanta Movement. The Ramakrishna Mission is a philanthropic, volunteer organization founded by Ramakrishna's chief disciple Swami Vivekananda on...
that participated in the emancipation of Dalits. Upper-caste Hindus such as Mannathu Padmanabhan
Mannathu Padmanabhan
Mannathu Padmanabhan was a social reformer and a freedom fighter from the State of Kerala, India. He is recognised as the founder of the organisation called the Nair Service Society. This organisation represents the Nair community which constitutes almost 14.5% of the population of the state...
participated in movements to abolish untouchability against Dalits; Padmanabhan opened his family temple to Dalits for worship. Narayana Guru
Narayana Guru
Sri Nārāyana Guru , also known as Sree Nārāyana Guru Swami, was a Hindu saint, sadhuand social reformer of India. The Guru was born into an Ezhava family, in an era when people from backward communities like the Ezhavas faced much social injustices in the caste-ridden Kerala society...
, a pious Hindu and an authority on the Vedas
Vedas
The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
, also criticized casteism and campaigned for the rights of lower-caste Hindus within the context of Hinduism.
The first upper-caste temple to openly welcome Dalits into their fold was the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple
Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple
Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu located in Thiruvananthapuram, India. The shrine is currently run by a trust headed by the royal family of Travancore. The temple is one of 108 Divya Desams – principal centres of worship of the deity in Vaishnavism...
in Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
, erstwhile Travancore
Travancore
Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of...
in the year 1936; the move was spearheaded by social reformer Ayyankali. In 1936, the Maharaja of Travancore
Travancore
Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of...
proclaimed that "outcastes should not be denied the consolations and the solace of the Hindu faith". Even today, the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple
Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple
Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu located in Thiruvananthapuram, India. The shrine is currently run by a trust headed by the royal family of Travancore. The temple is one of 108 Divya Desams – principal centres of worship of the deity in Vaishnavism...
that first welcomed Dalits in the state of Kerala is revered by the Dalit Hindu community.
The caste system has also been criticized by many Indian social reformers. Some reformers, such as Jyotirao Phule and Iyothee Thass
Iyothee Thass
Iyothee Thass or Pandit C. Ayodhya Dasa was a practitioner of Siddha medicine who is regarded as a pioneer of the Dravidian Movement.- Early life :...
, argued that the lower caste people were the original inhabitants of India, who had been conquered in the ancient past by "Brahmin invaders." Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
coined the term Harijan, a euphemistic word for untouchable, literally meaning Sons of God. B. R. Ambedkar
B. R. Ambedkar
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar , popularly also known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, political leader, philosopher, thinker, anthropologist, historian, orator, prolific writer, economist, scholar, editor, a revolutionary and one of the founding fathers of independent India. He was also the Chairman...
, born in Hindu Dalit
Dalit
Dalit is a designation for a group of people traditionally regarded as Untouchable. Dalits are a mixed population, consisting of numerous castes from all over South Asia; they speak a variety of languages and practice a multitude of religions...
community, was a heavy critic of the caste system. He pioneered the Dalit Buddhist movement in India, and asked his followers to leave Hinduism, and convert to Buddhism. India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
, based on his own relationship with Dalit reformer. Ambedkar
B. R. Ambedkar
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar , popularly also known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, political leader, philosopher, thinker, anthropologist, historian, orator, prolific writer, economist, scholar, editor, a revolutionary and one of the founding fathers of independent India. He was also the Chairman...
, supported the eradication of untouchability for the benefit of the Dalit community.
Contemporary criticism
Organizations such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak SanghRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or National Patriotic Organization), also known the Sangh, is a right-wing Hindu nationalist, paramilitary, volunteer, and allegedly militant organization for Hindu males in India...
have actively criticized the caste system.
Some activists consider the caste system a form of racial discrimination. At the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Conference Against Racism in Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
in March 2001, participants condemned discrimination based on the caste system and tried to pass a resolution declaring caste as a basis for segregation
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
and oppression a form of apartheid. However, no formal resolution was passed.
The alleged maltreatment of Dalits in India has been described by some authors as "India's hidden apartheid". Critics of the accusations point to substantial improvements in the position of Dalits in post-independence India, consequent to the strict implementation of the rights and privileges enshrined in the Constitution of India, as implemented by the Protection of Civil rights Act, 1955. They also note that India has had a Dalit president
President of India
The President of India is the head of state and first citizen of India, as well as the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. President of India is also the formal head of all the three branches of Indian Democracy - Legislature, Executive and Judiciary...
, K.R. Narayanan, and argue that the practise had disappeared in urban public life.
According to William A. Haviland, however:
Although India's national constitution of 1950 sought to abolish caste discrimination and the practice of untouchability, the caste system remains deeply entrenched in Hindu culture and is still widespread throughout southern Asia, especially in rural India. In what has been called India's "hidden apartheid", entire villages in many Indian states remain completely segregated by caste. Representing about 15 percent of India's population—or some 160 million people—the widely scattered Dalits endure near complete social isolation, humiliation, and discrimination based exclusively on their birth status. Even a Dalit's shadow is believed to pollute the upper classes. They may not cross the line dividing their part of the village from that occupied by higher castes, drink water from public wells, or visit the same temples as the higher castes. Dalit children are still often made to sit in the back of classrooms.
Sociologists Kevin Reilly, Stephen Kaufman and Angela Bodino, while critical of casteism, conclude that modern India does not practice apartheid since there is no state-sanctioned discrimination. They write that casteism in India is presently "not apartheid. In fact, untouchables, as well as tribal people and members of the lowest castes in India benefit from broad affirmative action programmes and are enjoying greater political power." The Constitution of India places special emphasis on outlawing caste discrimination, especially the practice of untouchability.
Caste and race
Allegations that caste amounts to race were addressed and rejected by B.R. Ambedkar, an advocate for Dalit rights and critic of untouchability. He wrote that "The BrahminBrahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
of Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
is racially of the same stock as the Chamar of Punjab. The Caste system does not demarcate racial division. The Caste system is a social division of people of the same race",
Such allegations have also been rejected by Indian sociologists such as Andre Béteille
Andre Béteille
Andre Béteille is one of India's leading sociologists and writers. He is particularly well known for his studies of the caste system in South India...
, who writes that treating caste as a form of racism is "politically mischievous" and worse, "scientifically nonsensical" since there is no discernible difference in the racial characteristics between Brahmins and Scheduled Castes. He states, "Every social group cannot be regarded as a race simply because we want to protect it against prejudice and discrimination".
The Indian government also rejects the claims of equivalency between caste and racial discrimination, pointing out that the caste issues are essentially intra-racial and intra-cultural. Indian Attorney General Soli Sorabjee insisted that "[t]he only reason India wants caste discrimination kept off the agenda is that it will distract participants from the main topic: racism. Caste discrimination in India is undeniable but caste and race are entirely distinct".
Many scholars dispute the claim that casteism is akin to racism. Sociologist M. N. Srinivas
M. N. Srinivas
Mysore Narasimhachar Srinivas was an Indian sociologist. He is mostly known for his work on caste and caste systems, social stratification, Sanskritisation and Westernisation in southern India and the concept of 'Dominant Caste'.- Career :...
has debated the question of rigidity in caste. Others have applied theoretical models to explain mobility and flexibility in the caste system in India. According to these scholars, groups of lower-caste individuals could seek to elevate the status of their caste by attempting to emulate the practices of higher castes.
In her book Democracy and Authoritarianism in South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
, Pakistani-American sociologist Ayesha Jalal
Ayesha Jalal
Ayesha Jalal is a Pakistani-American sociologist and historian. She is a professor of history at Tufts University and a 1998 MacArthur Fellow. The bulk of her work deals with the creation of Muslim identities in modern South Asia....
writes, "As for Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
, the hierarchical principles of the Brahmanical social order have always been contested from within Hindu society, suggesting that equality has been and continues to be both valued and practiced."
In India, some observers have concluded that the caste system must be viewed as a system of exploitation of poor low-ranking groups by more prosperous high-ranking groups. In many parts of India, land is largely held by high-ranking property owners of the dominant castes, including the politically privileged other backward classes (OBCs), who economically exploit low-ranking landless labourers and poor artisans.
Matt Cherry claims that karma
Karma
Karma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies....
underpins the caste system, which traditionally determines the position and role of every member of Hindu society. Caste determines an individual's place in society, the work he or she may carry out, and who he or she may marry and meet. He states that Hindus believe that the karma of previous life will determine the caste an individual will be (re)born into. Also see Karma in Hinduism
Karma in Hinduism
Karma is a concept in Hinduism which explains causality through a system where beneficial effects are derived from past beneficial actions and harmful effects from past harmful actions, creating a system of actions and reactions throughout a soul's reincarnated lives forming a cycle of rebirth...
.
On 29 March 2007, the Supreme Court of India
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India...
, as an interim measure, stayed the law providing for 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes in educational institutions. This was done in response to a public interest litigation — Ashoka Kumar Thakur vs. Union of India
Ashoka Kumar Thakur vs. Union of India (Supreme Court Case)
Ashoka Kumar Thakur vs Union of India is an Indian public interest litigation case challenging the conclusion of the Mandal Commission that about 52% of the total population of India belonged to Other Backward Classes classification...
. The Court held that the 1931 census could not be a determinative factor for identifying the OBCs for the purpose of providing reservation. The court also observed, "Reservation cannot be permanent and appear to perpetuate backwardness". However, the Supreme Court later upheld the reservation.
Genetic analysis
There have been several studies examining caste members as discrete populations, examining the hypothesis that their ancestors have different origins. A 2002–03 study by T. Kivisild et al. concluded that the "Indian tribal and caste populations derive largely from the same genetic heritage of PleistocenePleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
southern and western Asians and have received limited gene flow from external regions since the Holocene
Holocene
The Holocene is a geological epoch which began at the end of the Pleistocene and continues to the present. The Holocene is part of the Quaternary period. Its name comes from the Greek words and , meaning "entirely recent"...
." Some studies point to the various Indian caste groups having similar genetic origins and having negligible genetic input from outside south Asia. Because the Indian samples for this study were taken from a single geographical area, it remains to be investigated whether its findings can be safely generalized.
An earlier 1995 study by Joanna L. Mountain et al. of Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
had concluded that there was "no clear separation into three genetically distinct groups along caste lines", although "an inferred tree revealed some clustering according to caste affiliation". A 2006 study by Ismail Thanseem et al. of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology
Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology
The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology or CCMB is a National level Research laboratory located in Hyderabad, India. CCMB is one of the constituent national laboratories of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research CSIR, the premier multidisciplinary Research & Development...
(India) concluded that the "lower caste groups might have originated with the hierarchical divisions that arose within the tribal groups with the spread of Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
agriculturalists, much earlier than the arrival of Aryan speakers", and "the Indo-Europeans
Indo-Aryans
Indo-Aryan is an ethno-linguistic term referring to the wide collection of peoples united as native speakers of the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-Iranian family of Indo-European languages...
established themselves as upper castes among this already developed caste-like class structure within the tribes." The study indicated that the Indian caste system may have its roots long before the arrival of the Indo-Aryans
Indo-Aryans
Indo-Aryan is an ethno-linguistic term referring to the wide collection of peoples united as native speakers of the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-Iranian family of Indo-European languages...
; a rudimentary version of the caste system may have emerged with the shift towards cultivation and settlements, and the divisions may have become more well-defined and intensified with the arrival of Indo-Aryans.
A 2001 study (published in Genome Research
Genome Research
Genome Research is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. The focus of the journal is on genome-wide studies in any organism, including single gene studies that are placed in a genomic context. This scope includes both experimental and computational...
) by researchers from India, Europe, and the U.S. found that "Analysis of these data demonstrated that the upper castes have a higher affinity to Europeans than to Asians, and the upper castes are significantly more similar to Europeans than are the lower castes" In other words, members of higher castes are more closely related to Europeans than are the lower castes.
According to the The Indian Genome Variation Consortium (2005), the population of the subcontinent can be divided into four morphological types: Caucasoids in the north, Mongoloids in the northeast, Australoids in the south and Negritos largely restricted to the Andaman Islands; however, these groups tend to overlap because of admixture. The majority of genetic differences among Indians appears to be distributed along caste lines, rather than along ethnic lines, although genetic differences do exist between predominantly Indo-European-speaking northern and predominantly Dravidian-speaking southern Indian populations, as was also observed by Reich in a recent 2009 study.
In 2008, the Indian Genome Variation Consortium produced another study, this time emphasizing the significant genetic differentiation which exists between Dravidian-speaking, Indo-European-speaking, Tibeto-Burman-speaking and Austro-Asiatic-speaking populations. The researchers write: "Thus, although there are no clear geographical grouping of populations, ethnicity (tribal/nontribal) and language seem to be the major determinants of genetic affinities between the populations of India. This is concordant with an earlier finding based on allele frequencies at blood group, serum protein and enzyme loci (Piazza et al. 1980)." The authors further observe that "it is contended that the Dravidian speakers, now geographically confined to southern India, were more widespread throughout India prior to the arrival of the Indo–European speakers (Thapar 1966). They, possibly after a period of social and genetic admixture with the Indo–Europeans, retreated to southern India, a hypothesis that has been supported by mitochondrial DNA analyses (Basu et al. 2003). Our results showing genetic heterogeneity among the Dravidian speakers further supports the above hypothesis. The Indo–European speakers also exhibit a similar or higher degree of genetic heterogeneity possibly because of different extents of admixture with the indigenous populations over different time periods after their entry into India. It is surprising that in spite of such a high levels of admixtures, the contemporary ethnic groups of India still exhibit high levels of genetic differentiation and substructuring."
A 2009 genetic study published by David Reich et al. analyzed half a million genetic markers across the genomes of 132 individuals from 25 ethnic groups from 13 states in India across multiple caste groups. This 2009 study, based on the the presupposition that the modern Indian population was descended from two ancient lineages, Ancestral North Indians (ANI), who are most related genetically to Central and West Eurasian populations, and Ancestral South Indians (ASI), who are most related to the Negrito
Negrito
The Negrito are a class of several ethnic groups who inhabit isolated parts of Southeast Asia.Their current populations include 12 Andamanese peoples of the Andaman Islands, six Semang peoples of Malaysia, the Mani of Thailand, and the Aeta, Agta, Ati, and 30 other peoples of the Philippines....
s of the Andaman
Andaman Islands
The Andaman Islands are a group of Indian Ocean archipelagic islands in the Bay of Bengal between India to the west, and Burma , to the north and east...
islands, concluded that: "By introducing methods that can estimate ancestry without accurate ancestral populations, we show that ANI ancestry ranges from 39-71% in India, and is higher in traditionally upper caste and Indo-European speakers." The study authors further note that: "ANI ancestry is significantly higher in Indo-European than Dravidian speakers (P=0.013 by a 1-sided test), suggesting that the ancestral ASI may have spoken a Dravidian language before mixing with the ANI. We also find significantly more ANI ancestry in traditionally upper than lower or middle caste groups (P=0.0025), and find that traditional caste level is significantly correlated to ANI ancestry even after controlling for language (P=0.0048), suggesting a relationship between the history of caste formation in India and ANI-ASI mixture."
Genetic variations with phenotypic
Phenotype
A phenotype is an organism's observable characteristics or traits: such as its morphology, development, biochemical or physiological properties, behavior, and products of behavior...
effects are seen between castes. For example, many members of the Arya Vaisya Chettiyar
Chettiar
Chettiar , also spelled Chetty, is a title used by various castes in South India especially in Tamil Nadu. In Kannada, it appears as Setty, Shettar and Shettigar, who are Padmashalis in Andhra Pradesh....
clan are fatally allergic to some anaesthetics such as Suxamethonium, also known as Scoline.
In popular culture
Mulk Raj AnandMulk Raj Anand
Mulk Raj Anand was an Indian writer in English, notable for his depiction of the lives of the poorer castes in traditional Indian society. One of the pioneers of Indo-Anglian fiction, he, together with R.K...
's debut novel, Untouchable (1935) based on the theme of untouchability. Hindi film, Achhoot Kanya (Untouchable Maiden, 1936) starring Ashok Kumar
Ashok Kumar
Ashok Kumar also fondly called Dadamoni was an Indian film actor. Born Kumudlal Ganguly in Bhagalpur, Bengal Presidency he attained iconic status in Indian cinema...
and Devika Rani
Devika Rani
Devika Rani Chaudhuri Roerich was an early Indian movie star.- Career :Born in Waltair , Devika Rani came from a distinguished background: she was the great-grandniece of the Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore and her father, Col. M. N. Chaudhuri, was the first Indian Surgeon-General of Madras...
was an early reformist film. The debut novel of Arundhati Roy
Arundhati Roy
Arundhati Roy is an Indian novelist. She won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel, The God of Small Things, and has also written two screenplays and several collections of essays...
, The God of Small Things
The God of Small Things
The God of Small Things is the debut novel of Indian author Arundhati Roy. It is a story about the childhood experiences of fraternal twins whose lives are destroyed by the "Love Laws" that lay down "who should be loved, and how. And how much." The book is a description of how the small things in...
(1997) also has themes surrounding the caste system. The novel became controversial over a scene in which an untouchable and a touchable have an affair with eachother, despite the fact that the novel also features incest and molestation of a young child.
See also
- List of Indian castes
- List of Sudra Hindu Saints
- Dalit saints of HinduismDalit saints of HinduismDalits who are a section of Hindu society, generally referred as "lower" castes, have produced several influential saints in Hindu tradition. Some of the most notable Dalit Hindu saints are Ravidas, Kabir, Namdev, Chokha Mela, Sant Kanhoputra, etc....
- Balinese caste systemBalinese caste systemThe Balinese caste system is a system of social organization similar to the Indian caste system. However, India's caste system is far more complicated than Bali's, and there are only four Balinese castes.The four castes of Bali are:...
- Caste system in Sri LankaCaste system in Sri LankaThe Caste system in Sri Lanka is a division of society into strata, differing somewhat from the classic Varnas of North India but is similar in nature to the Jāti system found in South India...
- Maher caste
- Newar caste system
- Scheduled castes and scheduled tribes
- Genetics and archaeogenetics of South AsiaGenetics and archaeogenetics of South AsiaThe study of the genetics and archaeogenetics of the ethnic groups of South Asia aims at uncovering these groups' genetic history. The geographic position of India makes Indian populations important for the study of the early dispersal of all human populations on the Eurasian continent.The Indian...
- Ethnic groups of South AsiaEthnic groups of South AsiaThe ethno-linguistic composition of the population of South Asia, that is the nations of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka is highly diverse. The majority of the population fall within two large Linguistic groups, Indo-Aryan and Dravidian.These groups are further...
Further reading
- Swami Sahajanand SaraswatiSwami Sahajanand SaraswatiSwami Sahajanand Saraswati , born in a Jijhoutia Brahminfamily of Ghazipur of Uttar Pradesh state of India, was an ascetic of Dashnami Order of Adi Shankara Sampradaya as well as a nationalist and peasant leader of India...
Rachnawali (Selected works of Swami Sahajanand Saraswati), Prakashan Sansthan, DelhiDelhiDelhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, 2003. - Baldev UpadhyayaBaldev UpadhyayaPandit Baldev Upadhyaya was a renowned Hindi, Sanskrit scholar, literary historian, essayist and critic. He penned numerous books, collections of essays and a historical outline of Sanskrit literature. He is noted for discussing Sanskrit literature in the Hindi language...
, Kashi Ki Panditya Parampara, Sharda Sansthan, VaranasiVaranasi-Etymology:The name Varanasi has its origin possibly from the names of the two rivers Varuna and Assi, for the old city lies in the north shores of the Ganga bounded by its two tributaries, the Varuna and the Asi, with the Ganges being to its south...
, 1985. - M.A. Sherring, Hindu Tribes and Castes as Reproduced in Benaras, Asian Educational ServicesAsian Educational ServicesAsian Educational Services is a New Delhi, India-based publishing house that specialises in antiquarian reprints of books that were originally published between the 17th and early 20th centuries...
, New Delhi, First edition 1872, new edition 2008. - Jogendra Nath Bhattacharya, Hindu Castes and Sects, Munshiram Manoharlal, Delhi, first edition 1896, new edition 1995.
- E.A.H.Blunt, The Caste System of North India, first edition in 1931 by Oxford University PressOxford University PressOxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
, new edition by S.Chand Publishers, 1969. - Christopher Alan BaylyChristopher Alan BaylySir Christopher Alan Bayly, FBA, FRSL is a British historian specializing in Indian, British Imperial, and Global History...
, Rulers, Townsmen, and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion, 1770–1870, Cambridge University PressCambridge University PressCambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
, 1983. - Anand A. Yang, Bazaar India: Markets, Society, and the Colonial State in Bihar, University of California PressUniversity of California PressUniversity of California Press, also known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish books and papers for the faculty of the University of California, established 25 years earlier in 1868...
, 1999. - Acharya Hazari Prasad DwivediHazari Prasad DwivediAcharya' Hazari Prasad Dwivedi was a Hindi novelist, literary historian, essayist, critic and scholar...
Rachnawali, Rajkamal Prakashan, DelhiDelhiDelhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
. - Bibha Jha's Ph.D thesis Bhumihar Brahmins: A Sociological Study submitted to the Patna University.
- Arvind Narayan DasArvind Narayan DasArvind Narayan Das was a social scientist, journalist, activist and a documentary film-maker from Bihar....
, Agrarian movements in India : studies on 20th century Bihar (Library of Peasant Studies), Routledge, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, 1982. - M. N. SrinivasM. N. SrinivasMysore Narasimhachar Srinivas was an Indian sociologist. He is mostly known for his work on caste and caste systems, social stratification, Sanskritisation and Westernisation in southern India and the concept of 'Dominant Caste'.- Career :...
, Social Change in Modern India, Orient LongmanOrient LongmanOrient Blackswan , is an Indian publishing house headquartered in Andhra Pradesh....
, DelhiDelhiDelhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, 1995. - Mahavir Prasad DwivediMahavir Prasad DwivediMahavir Prasad Dwivedi was a noted Indian Hindi writer. Adhunikkaal, or the Modern period of the Hindi literature is divided into four phases, and he represents the second phase, known as the Dwivedi Yug after him, which was preceded by the Bharatendu Yug , followed by the Chhayavad Yug and the...
essays. - Ambedkar, B.R. (1946). The Untouchables: Who Were They and Why They Became Untouchables? as reprinted in Volume 7 of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches, published by Government of Maharashtra 1990; Complete Writings.
- Ambedkar, B.R. (1946) Who were the Shudras (Read online).
- Atal, Yogesh (1968) "The Changing Frontiers of Caste" Delhi, National Publishing House.
- Atal, Yogesh (2006) "Changing Indian Society" Chapter on Varna and Jati. Jaipur, Rawat Publications.
- Baines, Jervoise Athelstane (1893). General report on the Census of India, 1891, London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
- Blunt, E.A.H. (1931). The Caste System of Northern India, republished 1964, S. Chand, Delhi.
- Crooke, William (1896). Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, 4 vols.
- Duiker/Spielvogel. The Essential World History Vol I: to 1800. 2nd Edition 2005.
- Dumont, LouisLouis Dumont (anthropologist)Louis Dumont was a French anthropologist. He was an associate professor at Oxford University during the 1950s, and director at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris...
. Homo Hierarchicus: The Caste System and Its ImplicationsHomo HierarchicusHomo Hierarchicus: Essai sur le système des castes is Louis Dumont's treatise on the Indian caste system.http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/H/bo3618813.html This book analyses the caste hierarchy and the ascendancy tendency of the lower castes to follow the habits of the higher...
. Complete English edition, revised. 540 p. 1970, 1980 Series: (Nature of Human Society). - Forrester, Duncan B.Duncan B. ForresterDuncan B. Forrester is a Scottish theologian and the founder of the Centre for Theology and Public Issues at New College, University of Edinburgh. He is currently Honorary Fellow and Professor Emeritus at New College....
, 'Indian Christians' Attitudes to Caste in the Nineteenth Century,' in Indian Church History Review 8, no. 2 (1974): 131-147. - Forrester, Duncan B.Duncan B. ForresterDuncan B. Forrester is a Scottish theologian and the founder of the Centre for Theology and Public Issues at New College, University of Edinburgh. He is currently Honorary Fellow and Professor Emeritus at New College....
, 'Christian Theology in a Hindu Context,' in South Asian Review 8, no. 4 (1975): 343-358. - Forrester, Duncan B.Duncan B. ForresterDuncan B. Forrester is a Scottish theologian and the founder of the Centre for Theology and Public Issues at New College, University of Edinburgh. He is currently Honorary Fellow and Professor Emeritus at New College....
, 'Indian Christians' Attitudes to Caste in the Twentieth Century,' in Indian Church History Review 9, no. 1 (1975): 3-22. - Forrester, Duncan B.Duncan B. ForresterDuncan B. Forrester is a Scottish theologian and the founder of the Centre for Theology and Public Issues at New College, University of Edinburgh. He is currently Honorary Fellow and Professor Emeritus at New College....
, Caste and Christianity: Attitudes and Policies on Caste of Anglo-Saxon Protestant Missions in India (London and Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Curzon Press and Humanities Press, 1980). - Ghurye, G. S. (1961). Caste, Class and Occupation. Popular Book Depot, Bombay.
- Ghurye, G. S. (1969). Caste and Race in India, Popular Prakashan, Mumbai 1969 (1932).
- Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's Silent Revolution: The Rise of the Lower Castes, C. Hurst & Co.
- Kane, Pandurang VamanPandurang Vaman KaneBharat Ratna Dr. Pandurang Vaman Kane was a notable Indologist and Sanskrit scholar. He received India's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna in 1963. He was born in a conservative Chitpavan Brahmin family in the Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra, India. Eminent Historian Professor R.S...
: History of Dharmasastra: (ancient and mediaeval, religious and civil law) — Poona : Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1962–1975. - Lal, K. S.K. S. LalKishori Saran Lal was an Indian historian. He wrote many historical books, mainly on medieval India. Many of his books, such as History of the Khaljis and Twilight of the Sultanate, are regarded as standard works....
Growth of Scheduled Tribes and Castes in Medieval India (1995). - Murray Milner, Jr. (1994). Status and Sacredness: A General Theory of Status Relations and an Analysis of Indian Culture, New York: Oxford University Press.
- Raj, Papia & Aditya Raj (2004) "Caste Variation in Reproductive Health of Women in Eastern Region of India: A Study Based on NFHS Data" Sociological Bulletin 53 (3): 326–346.
- Ranganayakamma (2001). For the solution of the "Caste" question, Buddha is not enough, Ambedkar is not enough either, Marx is a must, Hyderabad : Sweet Home Publications.
- Russell, R.V. and R.B. Hira Lal (1916). The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India, 4 vols., London.
- Liz Stuart , in the Guatdian Weekly , January 10, 2002
External links
- Annihilation of Caste with a Reply to Mahatma Gandhi Part I & Part II by Dr.B.R.Ambedkar
- Articles on Caste by Koenraad ElstKoenraad ElstKoenraad Elst is a Belgian writer and orientalist .He was an editor of the New Right Flemish nationalist journal Teksten, Kommentaren en Studies from 1992 to 1995, focusing on criticism of Islam, various other conservative and Flemish separatist publications such as Nucleus, t Pallieterke,...
: Caste in India, Buddhism and Caste, Indian tribals and Caste, Physical anthropology and Caste, Etymology of Varna - India's Caste System at Kamat's Potpourri
- Hidden Apartheid Caste Discrimination against India's "Untouchables"
- The Castes, Culture, and Hedonism: An abstract of the ideology by: Nevill Kumar