Caste System in India

American International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, 2015

The presence of hierarchy and inequality within Indian tradition is a prominent aspect that manifests through the unequal positioning of caste and class groups within the societal framework. This intricate connection is observed in the way dharma (normative order), karma (personal moral commitment), and jāti (caste) - the foundational tenets of Indian culture - simultaneously shape the distinctiveness of Indian cultural heritage and lay the groundwork for social hierarchy. This research paper delves into an extensive and exploratory assessment of diverse scholarly perspectives aimed at illuminating the deeply entrenched traditional facets of caste within Indian society.

International Journal of Research in Social Sciences, 2015

Hierarchy and inequality are deeply rooted in Indian tradition. They are found in practice in the form of unequal placement of caste and class groups in the civilizing system of Indian society. The notions of dharma (normative order), karma (personnel moral commitment) and jāti (caste) that constitute the basic principles of Indian culture, making the Indian cultural tradition a unique cultural tradition, are also the principles of hierarchy and social stratification. In this paper, an attempt has been made to present a comprehensive and investigative view of different scholars concerning the deep-rooted traditional characteristics of caste in Indian society.

International Journal of Novel Research and Development, 2018

This paper examines the complexity of the interconnection of varna and caste systems in Indian society. It reflects the complexities of the traditions of different caste groups and the system that regulates their relationship with each other. It will also reflect on the modes where they turn slightly flexible and become harshly rigid. The concept of community no longer exists. However, it is a stronger claim but is made while stressing the importance of the social Purushārtha Sādhana. Both terms (caste and varna) are used interchangeably. However, a question regarding their meaning would need an entire book to be written. Both words are too ambiguous, especially for non-Indians or non-Hindus, though everyone, including Hindus and Indians, may find it challenging to distinguish between them.

International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews (IJRAR), 2020

The caste system is prevalent in India since time immemorial. The Indian caste system is historically seen as a method of differentiation between people from different groups. The Indian Caste System is considered a closed system of stratification, which means that a person's social status is obligated to which caste they were born into. There are limits on interaction and behaviour with people from another social status (Sekhon 39). The caste system has been changed and altered time and again in the past. This research would limit its scope on studying the history of the Indian caste system and the prevalence of caste system post-independence till date. We study the history of the Indian Caste system in the first half, followed by the research question-Has there been any significant change in the caste system of India after independence till today? If so, how? 1.INTRODUCTION. Risley defines caste as "a collection of families or group of families bearing a common name; claiming a common descent from a mythical ancestor, human or divine; professing to follow the same hereditary calling; and regarded by those who are competent to give an opinion as forming a single homogeneous community" (Hutton 47). The Indian caste system is divided into four varnas. The two upper castes dominate over the lower castes and are consider ed to be superior. The Brahmins are at the top, followed by the Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. The Brahmin class is essentially defined by its supposed priority (as the class created first by the creator god), by knowledge of the Veda, and by the monopoly this class holds on the operation of sacrifice. These traits justify the social position of the class vis-à-vis others: they are predominant because they are prior, and they claim to stand outside of the power relations that govern social life for others because of their superior knowledge and sole possession of the ultimate "weapons," sacrificial techniques (Smith 48). There are certain characteristics of the Indian caste system with which discrimination and social stratification is fixed. Castes have other sub castes or jatis. People of these sub castes earned their livelihood from a particular occupation. For instance, Brahmins were the upper castes, but there were varying degrees of Brahmins such as Tamil Brahmins, Tanjore etc. "A society is characterized by such a system if it is divided into a large number of hereditarily specialized groups, which are hierarchically superposed and mutually opposed. It does not tolerate the principle of rising in the status of groups' mixture and of changing occupation". (Velassery 2) There are many rules and barriers a person needs to adhere to in order to breathe in the society. Not adhering to these rules and practices resulted in exclusion from the caste as well as from there own families. 2.HIERARCHY OF CASTE SYSTEM Hierarchy and occupational specialisation are one of the most important and major elements of the Indian caste system. Rules regarding endogamy and occupation were very strict. A person is not allowed to marry outside their own caste or sub caste. Every sub caste had an occupation and the person is bound to that particular occupation. A no tolerance policy was followed in mixing of higher castes with the lower castes. There were rules regarding the level of interaction between people of different castes. There was than the concept of purity and pollution. Mere touch of a Shudra or an untouchable to a person of a higher caste was termed as polluting the individual of the higher caste.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2010

The Castes are hereditary endogamous group with fixed traditional occupations, observing commensal prohibition and social restrictions on interaction. It is believed that there are about 3,000 castes in the country. These castes are grouped as upper castes (like Brahmins, Rajputs, Baniyas,Kayasthas,etc.), intermediate castes (like Ahir,Sunar,Kurmi, etc.) and lower caste (like Dhobi, Nai, etc.). The castes are linked with the four varnas (Brahmins, Kshatriyas,Vaisya, and Sudra) for determining the status in ritual hierarchy. The Indian caste system describes the system of social stratification and social restrictions in the Indian subcontinent in which social classes are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups, often termed jātis or castes. Within a jāti, there exist exogamous groups known as gotras, the lineage or clan of an individual. In a handful of sub-castes such as Shakadvipi, endogamy within a gotra is permitted and alternative mechanisms of restricting endogamy are used (e.g. banning endogamy within a surname).

IAEME PUBLICATION, 2020

In traditional Indian societies, the Caste system is seen as an agency of social stratification. On the basis of the Caste system, the people in Indian societies are categorised as- Brahmin, Kshatrya, Vaishya and Sudra. Thus, the Caste is considered as a dominating system in Indian societies, especially among the Hindus. In understanding caste, an ambiguity is seen that people usually use the two termsVarna and Jati interchangeably to refer the caste system. But these two terms has their specific meaning. Therefore we can’t interchangeably use these two terms. Hence, this article is an attempt to break the ambiguity between the, varna and jati. Moreover, we can’t properly understand the Caste, alienating it from its relatives with whom the caste keeps intimate relation. Further, the relatives with whom it interacts, made the caste a perpetuate one in Indian societies by reproducing the same. Hence, this article is an attempt to understand the caste with its relatives such as- Endogamy, Division of work, Punishments, the ideology of purity and pollution and Gender.

The Indian Caste System is historically one of the main dimensions where people in India are socially differentiated through class, religion, region, tribe, gender, and language. Although this or other forms of differentiation exist in all human societies, it becomes a problem when one or more of these dimensions overlap each other and become the sole basis of systematic ranking and unequal access to valued resources like wealth, income, power and prestige. The Indian

Isara solutions, 2023

Present paper highlights the very beginning of the caste system. It presents the caste system during pre independence Indian society as well as in the post independence Indian society. It also highlights the changes brought in caste and society from time to time. The transformation in society has been presented in the current paper making caste as the base. The four Varnas based on Hindu mythology are discussed in the paper. An attempt has been made to bring into light the origin and the starting of this caste system in society and transformation in it from time to time. Keywords: caste, society, social barrier, transformation in caste system, social change. Etc. In India, the caste system has existed from the beginning of time. The Indian caste system has historically been used to distinguish between members of various tribes. Given that the Indian Caste System is a closed system of stratification, a person's social standing is determined by the caste they were born into. Interaction and conduct with those of a lower social position are constrained. The caste system has been changed and varied over and again in the past. This study will highlight the role of patriarchy in caste and class distinction in India, as well as present the Indian caste system and its prevalence post-independence to the present. A caste is a group of families or a collection of families with the same name, who claim to be descended from a mythical ancestor (either human or divine), who claim to follow the same hereditary calling, and who are seen by those with the authority to form judgments as constituting a single homogeneous community. B.R. Ambadkar in his article endorses M. Senart's description of caste as "a close corporation in theory at any rate rigorously hereditary; equipped with a certain traditional and independent organization including a chief and a council, meeting on occasion in assemblies of more or less plenary authority and joining together at certain festivals: bound together by common occupations, which relate more particularly to marriage and to food and to question of ceremonial pollution, and ruling it member by the exercise of jurisdiction the extent of which varies, but which succeeds in making the authority of the community more felt by the sanction of certain penalties and above all by final irrevocable exclusion from the group." (The Surplus Man and Woman) He further says, "According to well-known ethnologists, the population of India is a mixture of Aryans, Dravidians, Mongolians and Scythians. All these stocks of people came into India from various directions and with various cultures, centuries ago, when they were in a tribal state. They all in turn elbowed their entry into the country by fighting with their predecessors, and after a stomachful of it settled down as peaceful neighbours. Through constant contact and mutual intercourse they evolved a common culture that superseded their distinctive cultures. It may be granted that there has not been a thorough amalgamation of the various stocks that make up the

Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology, 7: 51-86. , 2013

Caste as a system of social stratification was an encompassing system in the past. There was reciprocal system of exchange goods and services. With time, occupation and mode of generation of livelihood of various caste groups changed, and the traditional form of jajmani system fizzled out. This paper provides an account of changing perspectives of caste relations in social science writing and political discourse. The discourse of caste has been shifted from ritual hierarchy and social discrimination to an instrument to mobilize people for economic and political gain.

Are Hinduism and Caste Consubstantial? /p. 236/ 'Hinduism' and 'caste' are both paradigmatic examples of one major paradox haunting social sciences concerned with the Indian field. However, crucial to our understanding of India's social and cultural realities, neither of these words-that we can fairly supposed to be among the most widely used through academic literature-can be translated accurately into an Indian language. What is at stake, then, is both defining precisely what we mean when using 'Hinduism' and 'caste', and how these two notions are connected one to the other. Is the caste system Hindu? Is Hinduism necessary for the caste system to exist? Is Hinduism chiefly dependent upon this one-and-only organization (Srivivas, 1956, p. 495)? And would Hinduism inevitably disappear 'if and when caste disappears' as Srinivas also argued (Srivivas, 1956)? Is there such thing as a casteless Hinduism? In other words: to what extent are Hinduism and caste consubstantial? Behind the misleading conceptions of Hinduism as a homogeneous category, a 'religion' shared by some 80 per cent of the Indian population, one must keep in mind the variety of Hindu practices and representations. Together with other criteria such as sectarian or regional traditions, caste affiliations are crucial to the structural diversity within Hinduism. The need to bring together such heterogeneity under a unique term and category has only grown relatively recently, boosted by colonization, and independence/ nationalist fights (Sontheimer and Kulke, 1989; Lorenzen, 1999), without radically undermining neither the diversity between castes, nor the utmost importance of the caste system in Indian social structures, daily life, and religious practices. Caste, Hinduism, and Society Most studies of Hindu castes rightfully start with the distinction between varnas and jatis. On the one hand, castes as varnas divide society into four orders: the Brahmins (religious specialists), the Kshatriyas (rulers and warriors), the Vaishyas (farmers and merchants), and the Shudras (servants). Such a conception of caste as varna is inherited from Brahminical ideology. On the other hand, castes as jatis divide society into thousands of inherited, endogamous social groups-a conception close to the naturalist notion of species. Castes as varnas illustrate the intrinsically socio-religious dimension of Hinduism. Not only does the ability to perform certain rituals and to be initiated depend on one's varna, but such religious hierarchy matches a social role embedded in a truly organicist vision of society. The founding myth of varnas has them originate from the dismembering of the primordial being (Purusha)-Rig Veda hymn X/ 90: Brahmins are the mouth, Kshatriyas the arms, Vaishyas the thighs, and Shudras the feet.