Caste System in India and Types of the System - Case Study Example

Caste system in India and types of the system Introduction Singh (35) describes caste as a given to a certain group or section of society having a certain commonality. The commonalities are aimed at mutual exclusion of one group from the rest. The commonality may be in the form of race or tribe, occupation, religion et cetera. In India, the caste system is also known as varnas. Varnas are social stratification of individuals of the same occupation. At the top level in this form of stratification were the Brahmans. The Brahmans were the priests. Below the Brahmans were the Kshatriyas who were warriors and nobles-political rulers. The Viashyas were merchants, farmers, carpenters while the Shudras were the tenant farmers, laborious. Towards the edge of the hierarchy were the untouchables’. The untouchables considered outcasts practiced activities such as scavenging and animal skinning. The untouchable activities were considered unclean and polluting. They were to be far away from other castes. For instance, if their shadows were within the visibility of the Brahmans then the Brahmans would be polluted. The Hindu laws insisted on only four castes excluding the untouchables and they would face criminal charges by their polluting presence. The Brahmans were allowed to give their food to people of other castes but would not be given food from other castes. This would be considered pollution. These barriers limited interactions (Singh 35). The caste systems shared some commonalities. For instant the castes were hereditary. Individual born in a particular caste belonged to that very caste and it was impossible to shift to other castes. Another commonality was that the systems were endogamous. Marriage was only acceptable between those of the same caste (Singh 34). Below the Varnas was the sub castes referred to as Jatis. Each Jati comprised of people of the same occupation. A person born from a particular Jati is a member of that Jati by the virtue of birth (Singh 35). Characteristics of the castes The elements of the castes are hierarchical, hereditary and repulsion. The hierarchical element discourages and does not accommodate the rise of status of a group and mixture of occupation. There are rule that India caste system impose that if not adhered to may result into one status being lowered form one caste system to another. The most vital characteristic is endogamy and occupation restriction. Violation of the above rules results in excommunication from the family as well as caste. Another restriction is on diet and food habits of the members. According to castes only certain foods would be exchanged between castes. Social interaction is also limited among castes. The inferior castes would not interact with the superior castes. Another characteristic is on purity and pollution. The Hindus uphold cleanliness as a very important virtue. Those in the high castes are considered to be more pure and less polluted while those in the lower castes are less pure, less clean and more polluted. This is a social device that has become religious (Wyatt 123) Origin and History of the System The origin of the Indian caste system emanate from religious theories, biological theories among others. The religious theory as per the Hindus ancient book called Vedas narrates that the first man (named Purush) created human society. Having destroyed himself, different parts of his body represented castes or varnas. His head symbolized the Brahmins who are considered powerful, educated and endowed with wealthy wisdom. They are associated with the brains. On the other hand, his hand symbolized the Kshatriyas. Kshatriyas are the warriors which is a representation of strength. Furthermore, Purush thighs represent the viashyas while the Shudras emanated from his feet. Another religious theory explains that varnas were created from the body organs of Brahma who according to Hinduism is the creator of the world (Bhartiya 54). The biological theory relates categories of qualities that are inherited within the varnas. These qualities are Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Sattva are related to positive qualities such are wisdom, intelligence, austerity and Rajas is related to qualities such as passion, pride, courage, and bravery. However, Tamas is related to weak qualities such as lack of creativity, dullness et cetera. People who inherently have these qualities adapt to occupation related to this qualities. For this reason, Brahmans is related to inherit sattva qualities, Kshatriyas to raja while viashyas and the shudras to the tamas qualities (Bhartiya 54). Historically the caste system is much related to the arrival of Aryans in ancient India around 1500 BC. The Aryans were light skinned in comparison to the indigenous of ancient India. They are believed to have come from the Southern Europe and Northern Asia. The Aryans dropped most of their culture and began conquering India pushing most of them to the south. They had a social ordering principle called Varna vyavatsha. This was a four hierarchical structure based on functions (Vālmīki and Arun 5). The functions were educational and religious, political and military, economic, and menial functions. The Aryans organized themselves into three .The first were the Rajayan (changed onto Kshatriyas) were the warrior, followed by the Brahmans who were the priest and finally the viashyas who were farmers and craftsmen. The Brahmans and the Kshatriyas had political struggle which eventually was won by the Brahmans. The Brahmans therefore took leadership of the Aryan society. They then subdued the locals (Jayarama 71). With the intentions of consolidating their status they set out social and religious rules. These rules allowed only the Aryans to be priests, warriors and businessmen. The Mahras who were the original people of India were forced to adhere to these rules. They were considered outcasts because of their dark skin. Between the outcasts and the viashyias were the shudras who were workers of the society. The shudras were the locals and excommunicated Aryans (mixture of Aryans and local descendants).The caste system was molded by patriarchal system of occupation inheritance as well as exclusion of the shrudas and mahras from religious and social interaction with the Brahmans. The other foreigners such as the Greaks, Huns who had conquered other parts and formed kingdoms were integrated into the system (Krieger 387). Due to rule set by the Brahmans on Buddhism developed in an attempt to create a just society. The arrival of the British further facilitated the caste system. The earlier system made it easy for the British to divide and rule (Jayarama 71). Advantages and Disadvantages of caste system Occupation being one of the main social stratification methods, the system had the ability to closely bring members of the same caste together. The spirit of brotherhood and desire to have a sense of belonging closely knighted people of the same occupational function together. This led to the growth of so many sub castes (Jatis).However; it destroyed brotherhood and togetherness among people of different caste. There was a lot of resentment and discrimination between the superior castes and the inferior castes due to inhuman treatment of the untouchable by the Brahmans. There was no sense of nationhood in India as individuals were glued to their castes (Mahapatra and Meera 16) Movement up the social ladder was so difficult since the occupational functions were hereditary and marriages were between people of the same caste. The Brahmans would marry from their fellow Brahmans just as other castes would. The system encouraged inequality. Power, resources and wealth were only accessible by the Brahmans. Moreover, the ideas of Brahmans purity and non pollutant restricted interactions since those of inferior castes would be criminally charged (Vālmīki and Arun 9). The untouchable presences were not allowed at the temples. They were regarded as pollutants and unclean. The Indian society had a perfectly well organized social structure hence each person new their role (Mahapatra and Meera 16) How to get out of caste system There are various strategies that if employed may stamp out caste system in India. If the Indian society embraces education and individual interest, as opposed to inherited interest, inheritance of division of labour, which is a major characteristic of the will render caste system outdated. This can be achieved through value based education aimed at holistically developing individual to all aspects of life. In addition to that, Krieger (387) argues that Hinduism is a religion that teaches about equality in human being hence should never have supported the system in the first place. Besides the above mentioned, stringent rules that discourage political parties in India that embrace caste should be legislated and made laws because politicians are normally attached to the interest of amassing huge voting constituency. Finally, encouraging marriages between different castes as well as empowering women to take their role in the society is believed to be an instrument that can steadily and gradually do away with the system (Mahapatra and Meera 16) Conclusion Castes system is a social structural function that was in India. It was introduced by the Aryan race with their attempt to consolidate the status they had acquired after conquering the Indigenous Indians as well as other foreign invaders. The system was characterized by endogamy, hierarchically occupational functions and hereditary. The occupational roles were divided into four: Brahmans who were the priests and scholars, Kshatriyas who were warriors and politicians, Viashyias who were merchants, Shudras who were the peasant farmers, and the untouchables who were scavengers. The Hindu religion and laws provided the avenues for the castes system to thrive. However, this system had advantages such as unity among persons of the same castes. There were also numerous disadvantages such as discrimination, lack of sense of nationhood, absence of movement up the ladder to the higher social class. Work Cited: Wyatt, Andrew. Party system change in South India: political entrepreneurs, patterns, and processes. New York : Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon.2010. Print. Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Jayarama. “Hinduism and caste system.”Hinduism,Buddis, Jainmism, Sikhism,Zoroastrainism and other resources. Web.14 Nov. 2010. Print. Krieger, Joel. The Oxford Companion to Politics of the World. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. Print. Mahapatra, L and Meera, Swain. Gods, Kings and the Caste System in India & Other Essays. Bhubaneswar: Amadeus Press, 2010. Print. Singh, Ekta. Castes system in India. New Delhi, Kalpaz Publications, 2009. Print Vālmīki, Omprakash, and Arun, Mukherjee. Joothan: A Dalits̉ Life. Kolkata: Samya, 2003. Print. Bottom of Form Read More