Overview
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Understanding the Historical Context of the Caste System. What roles are associated with each caste? What has changed?
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2023-06-20T19:06:47-07:00
History of the Caste System
Caste is defined as the hereditary social classes in Hinduism that restrict the occupation of their members and their association with members of other castes. It can also be defined as subdivision of an ethnic unit occupying a position of superior or inferior rank of social esteem in comparison with other such subdivisions To understand the origins of the caste system we need to look at its structure. The system is composed of four hierarchically ranked castes called varnas and has subcastes called jatis which are associated with specific occupations.
Roles of Caste Members
The Brahmins sit at the top of the system due to their historic knowledge of the Veda ( Indian Scripture) placing them as priests of Hinduism bestowing upon them social power and influence.
The Kshatriyas are the ruling class who protect their subjects (warriors) and are in charge of community prosperity through trade and agriculture. Both the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas are considered the ruling class and proclaimed to be superior to commoners.
The Vaishyas are the traders and merchants that are a part of the day to day affairs of man, while the Shudras are the laborers, peasants, artisans and servants who are also denied a lot of the privileges and rights the upper castes have.
The Dalits were outside this whole hierarchy and are considered outcastes (Velassary, 2002) with little to no rights, forbidden to enter the streets of upper castes communities as their presence was considered to be polluting.
Current Dalit Experiences
According to the United Nations Human rights report caste discrimination is still deeply embedded in society too. To this day they are not allowed to sit at the front of the classroom, play and eat with other children and continuously excluded. (Pallical, 2021). Violence against the Dalit community is common and prevalent with the National Crime Records Bureau of India recording up to 45,935 cases of violence each year. This survey has also identified that around ten Dalit women are raped each day. On top of that, hate speech and other forms of discrimination against this minority group especially online is concerning to Beena Pallical, author of this report.
