Caste System in India

(from Wikipedia encyclopedia)

The caste system in India is a system of social stratification which has pre-mod
ern origins, was transformed by the British Raj, and is today the basis of reser
vation in India. It consists of two different concepts, varna and jti, which may
be regarded as different levels of analysis of this system.
Varna may be translated as "class," and refers to the four social classes which
existed in the Vedic society, namely Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras.
Certain groups, now known as Dalits, were historically excluded from the varna
system altogether, and are still ostracised as untouchables.
Jti may be translated as caste, and refers to birth. The names of jtis are usually
derived from occupations, and considered to be hereditary and endogamous, but t
his may not always have been the case. The jtis developed in post-Vedic times, po
ssibly from crystallisation of guilds during its feudal era. The jtis are often t
hought of as belonging to one of the four varnas.
Although the varnas and jatis have pre-modern origins, the caste system as it ex
ists today is the result of developments during the collapse of Mughal era and t
he British colonial regime in India. The collapse of Mughal era saw the rise of
powerful men who associated themselves with kings, priests and ascetics, affirmi
ng the regal and martial form of the caste ideal, and it also reshaped many appa
rently casteless social groups into differentiated caste communities. The Britis
h Raj furthered this development, making rigid caste organisation a central mech
anism of administration. Between 1860 and 1920, the British segregated Indians b
y caste, granting administrative jobs and senior appointments only to the upper
castes. Social unrest during 1920s led to a change in this policy. From then on,
the colonial administration began a policy of positive discrimination by reserv
ing a certain percentage of government jobs for the lower castes.
Caste-based differences have also been practiced in other regions and religions
in the Indian subcontinent like Nepalese Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism
and Sikhism. It has been challenged by many reformist Hindu movements, Islam, Si
khism, Christianity and also by present-day Indian Buddhism.
New developments took place after India achieved independence, when the policy o
f caste-based reservation of jobs was formalised with lists of Scheduled Castes
(Dalit) and Scheduled Tribes (Adivasi). Since 1950, the country has enacted many
laws and social initiatives to protect and improve the socioeconomic conditions
of its lower caste population. These caste classifications for college admissio
n quotas, job reservations and other affirmative action initiatives, according t
o the Supreme Court of India, are based on heredity and are not changeable. Disc
rimination against lower castes is illegal in India under Article 15 of its cons
titution, and India tracks violence against Dalits nationwide.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste_system_in_India

Caste system_ushistory.org
The Origins of the Caste System
According to one long-held theory about the origins of South Asia's caste system
, Aryans from central Asia invaded South Asia and introduced the caste system as
a means of controlling the local populations. The Aryans defined key roles in s
ociety, then assigned groups of people to them. Individuals were born into, work
ed, married, ate, and died within those groups. There was no social mobility.
But 20th-century scholarship has thoroughly disproved this theory. Most scholars
believe that there was no Aryan invasion from the north. In fact, some even bel
ieve that the Aryans if they did exist actually originated in South Asia and spr
ead from there to Europe. Regardless of who the Aryans were or where they lived,
it is generally agreed that they did not single-handedly create South Asia's ca
ste system.
Thus, it has been impossible to determine the exact origins of the caste system
in South Asia. In the midst of the debate, only one thing is certain: South Asia
's caste system has been around for several millennia and, until the second half
of the 20th century, has changed very little during all of that time.
http://www.ushistory.org/civ/8b.asp
Caste system_asianhistory
The origins of the caste system in India and Nepal are shrouded, but it seems to
have originated more than two thousand years ago. Under this system, which is a
ssociated with Hinduism, people were categorized by their occupations.
Although originally caste depended upon a person's work, it soon became heredita
ry. Each person was born into an unalterable social status.
The four primary castes are: Brahmin, the priests; Kshatriya, warriors and nobil
ity; Vaisya, farmers, traders and artisans; and Shudra, tenant farmers and serva
nts.
Some people were born outside of (and below) the caste system. They were called
"untouchables."
http://asianhistory.about.com/od/india/p/indiancastesystem.htm