Meaning of Caste
Caste, which is also known as ‘Jati’ or ‘Varna,’ can be defined as the hereditary classes of Hindu society or the classification of individuals into hierarchically ranked classes that becomes the identity of an individual at the time of his/her birth. Going by the Hindu shastras, four hereditary castes exist in India, namely Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaisya and Sudra.
The Brahmins are at the top of the caste hierarchy and comprise of scholars and priests. The next in line are Kshatriyas who are regarded to be soldiers and political leaders. These are followed by Vaishyas or merchants. The last in the hierarchy are Sudras who are usually servants, labourers, artisans or peasants. There are also the untouchables who are considered as outcaste and perform occupations like skinning dead animals and scavenging. The untouchables do not fall in the ranked castes.
The people of these classes derive their livelihood from specific occupations and the children born in their families follow the suit, acquiring the appropriate occupation as per their caste or jati, thus, maintaining the hierarchical ranking of occupations and hereditary occupational specialization.
Proper rituals, rules, and regulations govern the occupational pursuits and appropriate social behaviour of the people of these classes, including rules related to marriage as well.
Origin and History of Caste System in India
There are many theories relating to the origin of caste system in the country. While a few of these theories are historical, some are religious or biological. There is no universally accepted theory on caste system.
Going by the ancient Hindu book, the ‘Rig Veda,’ human body was created by ‘Purush’ by destroying himself. The different castes or varnas have been created from different parts of his body. It is said that the Brahmans were created from his head, Kshatriyas originated from his hands, Vaishias from his thighs and his feet created Sudras.
There is another theory pertaining to the origin of the caste system that states castes originated from the different body parts of ‘Brahma’, the Hindu deity referred to as the ‘Creator of the World.’ Going by this theory, inter-caste marriages, mixture of blood or contact of members of different races is regarded as a heinous crime.
Historically, it is believed that the caste system began in India around 1500 B.C during the arrival of Aryans in the country. It is believed that the Aryans, who possessed fair skin, came from northern Asia and southern Europe that contrasted with the indigenous natives of India. They started conquering regions all over north India and the locals were driven south towards jungles of mountains in northern part of the country at the same time. Aryans followed a specific social ordering called Varna Vyavastha which eventually resulted in four hierarchical divisions of the society.
Code of Conduct
Besides the stratification of people in different castes, these castes also followed some strict rules and regulations which were followed by the members of the caste religiously. Rules especially pertaining to religious worship, meals and marriage dominated their lives. However, the least amount of restrictions and regulations were implemented on Brahmins and Vaishyas. The most suffered ones were the Sudras as most of the society laws were applicable on them. Some of them were –
Brahmins could give food to anyone if they wished but the person from a lower caste was not allowed to even go near the place where a Brahmin was eating.
Sudras were not allowed to enter the temples or other places of worship whereas the other three classes had full rights to worship.
Sudras were not allowed to take water from ponds or wells as their touch would pollute the water.
Inter-caste marriages were forbidden. In many cases even marriages within one’s own sub-caste or jati was not allowed.
Sudras were also pushed towards the outskirts of the city and were not allowed to live anywhere near the Brahmins, Kshtriyas and Vaishias.
Negative Effects of the Caste System On the Society
It hinders the choice of occupation as per one’s preferences and individuals are forced to take up the occupation of the family. This resuls in debarring mobility of labour that hindered the growth if the nation.
Higher classes look down upon the lower classes due to the rigidity of the caste system. This results in hindering the national unity. National interests are overlooked in the course of giving importance to caste interests.
Cast system stands against the norms of democracy. It works towards suppressing the lower classes resulting in the exploitation of people belonging to the lower caste.
National development and advancement gets hindered due to the deep rooted caste system.
Caste system is also held responsible for some religious conversions. The dominance of Brahmins drove Sudras to take up Christianity, Islam and other religions as they were allured by the philosophy and ideology of these communities.
Reforms and Constitutional Provisions
The upper castes treated the lower castes as their slaves. The social stratification resulted in the exploitation of sudras and untouchables. The so-called upper castes held the leadership positions in society, religion, and economy of the nation.
However, a number of social reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and various others gave their entire life working towards opposing evil practices and educating masses. Thus, when India broke the shackles of slavery and the Constitution was framed, the founding fathers of the constitution added provisions in order to reduce the ill-effects of prevailing caste system in the country.