Caste System - Origins, Changes & Current Situation

When I moved to Germany for pursuing higher studies, I many times get questions related to caste system. I am sure many of you too also get queried about the caste system that was, and in some interiors still is,  prevalent in Indian subcontinent. I say subcontinent because it's not a India only phenomena but is also prevalent in differing forms among our neighboring countries.

Also, this is not Hindu religion specific as well; other religions have their own ways of defining hierarchy in the society.  I have no intention of hurting any sentiments, the idea is to propose a research based description of the origins of caste system, how it changed over the years and what are the various controversies surrounding this topic. If you would like add or modify certain aspects then please let me know via the comments section.

Ok here we go....

Origins

The origins of Caste system dates back to ancient India. It is proposed that when Aryan races from Central Asia invaded South East Asia and introduced caste system to control the local indigenous population. Each individual were born into, worked, married, ate and dies within their particular caste as defined by the Aryans.

It's interesting to note that above Aryan theories started to come into being in the 19th centuries when Arya, spoken by Aryans, as a linguistic form was explained to describe similarities between Indo-european languages and was theorized by European scholars to have been the origin of all cultures. However, recent scholars have disproved this theory proposing in fact that the Aryans originated from South Asia and they spread elsewhere.

Wherever, the origins of Aryan's may have been it has been proved that Aryan's alone were not responsible for the cast system. And the caste system has been for many millennia,  and until 20th century, its form staying almost unchanged. Over the years this system has evolved into the current forms after significant influences from the past Indian kingdoms, Mughal empire and British Raj.

Classes: Varna and Jati

In ancient India, the society was divided based on type of occupation, leading to what were called Varnas.

Within the varnas there existed certain hereditary occupations which were known as Jatis.

The varnas originally were not racial groups but rather classes associated with occupation based on the following:

Barhmins - were the spiritual leaders and teachers

Kshatriyas - were the nobles and warriors

Vaishyas - were the merchants and producers

Sudras - were the laborers

Apart fro these four there was a firth class called avarna or Untouchable who were social outcasts who were forced to do all the miserable tasks like cleaning up after funerals, dealing with sewage, and working with animal skin.

The varna system is discussed in Hindu texts, and understood as idealized human callings. The concept is generally traced to the Purusha Sukta verse of the Rig Veda.

Jati refers to the group in which a person is born in. The surname may be taken as a jati to which the family belongs. Among Muslims the equivalent refers to Qom or Biradri.

Changes over the years

The collapse of the Mughal era and the Bitish Raj period the society created the caste system as it exits today. This time gave the rise of a few powerful families and tribes which started discriminating upon the majority and caste system became a tool that was applied for this purpose. These powerful took onto themselves the titles of nobility and priesthood and started dividing the society strictly on the basis of caste. British administration furthered this division by supporting this rigid caste based divisions.

Until 1920 1920, the British segregated Indians by caste, granting administrative jobs and senior appointments only to the upper castes. However social unrest during the 1920s led to a change in this policy leading to the beginning of the current policy of positive discrimination by reserving a certain percentage of government jobs for the lower castes. After Indian got its Independence in 1947, Dr. Br. R. Ambedkar, drafter of our constitution, continued this practice and adopted this and provided reservation to the outcasts and lower castes so that they can return into the main stream.

Current Situation in India

Since 1950, in independent India various socio-economic benefits in the name of reservations are being provided to listed castes and tribes based on three buckets - (1) Scheduled Tribes, or ST (2) Scheduled Castes, or SC and (3) Other Backward Caste, or OBC. There is today reservations in all stages of education, colleges and universities. There are also reservations in jobs and promotions.

Today, discrimination against lower castes is illegal in India under Article 15 of its constitution, and India tracks violence against Dalits nationwide.