India’s Caste System
Caste=Rigid social system.
Facts about Caste System
India’s caste system is perhaps the
world’s longest surviving social
Caste encompasses a complex ordering
of social groups on the basis of
religious purity & determined by
Origin of the Caste System
1. The cattle rearing Aryans invaded India in 1500 B.C.
The Aryans (fair-skinned, blue eyed
foreigners) dominated the Dravidians
(darker skinned, original residents), making
Origin of the Caste System
2. Aryan priests divided society into four parts,
putting their class at the top as earthly gods.
“When the gods divided the Man, into how many
parts did they divide him?
What was his mouth, what were his arms, what
were his thighs and his feet called?
“The Brahmin was his mouth,
of his arm was made the warrior,
his thighs became the Vaisya,
of his feet the Sudra was born.” ~Vedic
Remember there are over 30,000 caste & sub
The Caste System is supported by Hinduism.
82 % of Indian’s are Hindus.
Obeying caste rules = Reincarnation into a higher
Born into your caste:-
You cannot change your caste.
Hindus believe that your caste level is
a result of your karma in a previous
Untouchables / Dalit's
possess any wealth
get an education
enter a Hindu temple
drink from public wells/water
Marry outside their caste
Touch anyone from a higher
Argue or disobey upper caste
Bihar is the poorest state in India.
The villagers of Musahar a district
in Bihar are called as rat-eaters or
Discarded chicken scraps bought
from a restaurant barely make a
meal for Musahar women, many of
whom work as field hands, have
begun to agitate for better living
At age nine Kariamma was
dedicated by her family to become
a devadasi, or "servant of God." At
puberty, like most devadasis in
India, she was offered sexually to
upper caste patrons. Now, at age
30, Kariamma has given birth to
five children, uncertain of whom
the fathers are. An activist
exclaimed, "These women are
Untouchable by day, but touchable
by night. "
The Caste System Today
Caste discrimination is illegal.
With education and industrialization the caste system
is slowly disappearing.
Unfortunately, religious discrimination still exist.
The religious system identity plays a major role in Indian society. Blue is
traditionally a color of the Hindus.
To identify themselves as different community they live together and
paint their houses blue.
Social Distinctions Still Exist
A Brahmin physician wraps a Sudra’s wrist with a cloth
before taking his pulse, so he will not to be "defiled" by
touching the Sudra's skin.
Low-caste people are forbidden to use the wells in villages
that high-caste Brahmins use for fear they will pollute the
A low-caste family is refused the right to bury a family
member near their village, where both high and low castes
live, because of the belief that the person's ghost will haunt
A woman prepares dinner on
on the street for
her whole family
who tries to earn
So Close and So Unreachable
A luxury high-rise in Mumbai stands
aloof from a decaying housing
complex occupied by Untouchables.
Almost the only way an Untouchable
can rise in Indian society is to land a
government job or university
scholarship, available to a few under a
federal quota system.
Outraged by the wage and land-reform
demands of Untouchables, the Ranvir
Sena, a militia led by landowners, has
been implicated in the massacres of
more than 500 Untouchables. The
attackers have gone largely
unpunished. Activists fear that the
recent surge in violent incidents across
India will only intensify as more
Untouchables try to break the chains
Untouchable women meeting in
southern India focus on such issues as
literacy, malnourishment, and
employment. An organization called
Janodaya, run by the Sisters of the
Good Shepherd, educates women on
how to press for better government
services in areas such as health and
education, and how to start small
Many Groups unsuccessfully tried to reduce
the rigidity of the caste System
Siddhartha Gautama (563-483 B.C.), founder of Buddhism.
Muslim rule (1206-1862).
Christianity and Judaism.
According To Gandhi…
Gandhi: The caste system is "inherent in human nature, and Hinduism
has simply made a science of it."
Facts that tell us Gandhi was also not able to
control social inequality:
Creed: passive resistance against
Frequently jailed for his protests.
Assassinated by a Hindu Fundamentalist.
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
Overcoming numerous social and financial
obstacles, Ambedkar became one of the
first untouchable to obtain a college
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar spent his whole life
fighting against social discrimination of the
He converted to Buddhism and is also
credited with providing a spark for the
conversion of hundreds of thousands of
untouchables to Theravada Buddhism.
Kasturba Balika School
Kasturba Balika School in
New Delhi provides
education to some 700
underprivileged girls, most
of them Untouchables. It is
named for the wife of
Mahatma Gandhi, the man
who fought and failed to
end the practice of
The Reservation System entitles a percentage of
government jobs, elected offices and positions in college
to go to the lower caste people.
This reverse discrimination is same as U.S. system of
The quota system has caused tension. The competition
for jobs and education is intense in India. Middle class
Indians say the quota system has given low-caste Indian
opportunities at their expense.
Higher-class Indians even pretend to be “backward”
castes in order to land government jobs and college