Transcript The Caste System - School District

The Caste System
India
What is the Caste Sytem?
A social and religious order
Born into a caste, and remain for life
• Cannot change caste for any reason
Gives each person a role and rules to live
by
Not the same as “class”
Origins of the Caste System
Some believe it was when the lightskinned Aryans conquered the dark
skinned non-Aryan people
Others believe the caste system
was based on occupation
4 Varna
(divisions of the caste system)
One is born
into a subcaste,
or community
– called jati
Brahmins
(priests)
Kshatriyas
(warriors and
rulers)
Vaishyas
(landowning farmers and
merchants)
Sudras
(low status laborers and artisans)
Not part
of caste
system
Dalits – “the oppressed”, untouchables
Adivasis – descendents of the region’s original inhabitants
Caught in Caste:
Marketplace Radio Segment

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/we
b/2006/01/03/caught_in_caste/
How and why was the reporter forced into
observing the caste system against her will?
Rules of the Caste
Caste rules
governed…
•
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•
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Eating habits
Marriage
Employment
Living location
Gods worshipped
Clothes worn
Rules meant to help people remain
spiritually pure
Brahmins
Especially strict rules
because they were
considered the purest
members of society
Risked spiritual
pollution if they had
contact with lower
castes
• Even the shadow of a
person could pollute
Brahmins rules
• Could only eat
food prepared by
other Brahman
• Had to marry
other Brahman
Interdependence
Since occupations were
tied to caste, the castes
depended on each other
• Upper caste merchant needed
the services of a lower caste
water carrier because neither
could do the other’s job
Members of each caste
took care of their own
Connection to Hinduism
Karma and reincarnation are tied to the caste system
Born into a Caste
• Remain in that caste for this life
• Nothing can change the caste
Karma
• Every deed affects a person’s fate in a future life
• Present situation is directly influenced by your deeds from
previous life
Highest Caste  Brahmins
• closest to Moksha  the freeing of the soul from the body
to unite with Brahman (supreme force/God)
Modern India and Caste
A.
Politics and Legality
a.
b.
B.
Constitution forbids practicing discrimination based upon caste
Quota Systems – more developed/modern areas; college
entrance, jobs, ect.
Social Characteristics
a.
b.
C.
More flexible in larger urban areas
Developing India  Caste unable to contain the socioeconomic
changes
Dalits
a.
b.
c.
160 million untouchables, 15% of population
Gandhi called untouchables Harijans  Children of God
Untouchables called themselves Dalits  Oppressed
i.
Shunned, insulted, banned from temples and higher caste homes, made
to eat and drink from separate utensils in public places, and, in extreme
but not uncommon cases, are raped, burned, lynched, and killed