Chapter 3 Cast in India
Chapter 3 Cast in India
Chapter 3 Cast in India
CHAPTER- III
CONTENTS
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Definitions of Caste
3.3 Th@ Caste System in India
3.4 Theories of Caste
3.5 Scheduled Castes :Meaning and
Government Policies
3.6 Conclusion
69
give a clear understanding about the Scheduled Castes, the researcher has
discussed without considering their social background. Under this chapter, the
,..
researcher has given the caste system in India and related issues. The
researcher has discussed the 'Caste System in India' from ancient period
(4000 BC) to Post-Independence period. All the analysis has been given on
the secondary source. The researcher also has discussed selective theories of
the origin of Castes. ~n ~he last part, the' researcher has given the Meaning of
3.2.1 The Indian Caste System has unique features among the systems of
social stratification. It is, infact, the significance of Caste that more than
anything else that characterises India. Every Hindu necessarily belongs to the
of wealth and no exercise of talents can alter his caste status. 1 Caste System
has no basis in Hindu Religion and is a product of Hindu traditional law and of
the weakness of the central political authority during much of India's history?
70
Important among the attributes of caste is its rigid rank order. The hierarchical
order of the caste system is built like this: 'Brahman' , having higher rank,
'Kshatriya', the warriors having the next higher, the 'Vaishya', the merchants
having the third higher rank and the 'Sudras', the workers at the bottom rank. 3
"'
'A caste was a group with a separate arrangement for meeting out justice to its
members apart from that of the community as a whole, within which the caste
was included as only one of the group. This means that, in this caste bound
society the amount of community feeling must have been restricted and that
the citizens owed moral allegiance to their caste first, rather than to the
form of social classes, their customs and laws are rigid and separated from one
another'. From this it is clear that, there was strict stratification on the basis of
castes and every caste had its own rules imposed by the Caste System. In this
I
stratification, 'Sudras' were kept at the lower with severe social, economic and
political restrictions. This explains the rigidity of the ancient Caste System in
India.
3.2.2 The word, 'Caste' is of Spanish and Portuguese origin. Casta means
lineage or race, it is derived from the latin word 'Castus', which means pure.
The Spaniards were the first to use it, but its Indian application is from the
Several studies have been done on the Caste and different scholars
have defined 'the Caste' in diff~rent ways. Some of the important definitions
members and includes all persons so born and two, the members are forbidden
by an inexorable social law to marry outside the group.7 The author, instead
he thinks that, this can give clear identity to the caste. Further the author also
has stated about the sub-c~ste as, " the word caste and sub-caste are not
classes, which in tendency at least are present in every society. Further he says
that, Castes have emerged into social consciousness to the point that custom
and law attempt their rigid and permanent separation from one another. 9
Bailey (1960) and Srinivas M.N. (1962)11 have avoided the problem of
definition of caste. They see the castes as a structure. Opler Morris (1950)
graded in rank and has an assembly or a governing body which regulates its
of"
internal affair". 12
as the important features , besides that, the author also refers to the restrictions
From above all defirlitions , the conclusion can be drawn as, defining
'the caste' is not a simple task. It cannot be defined in clear and in short, since
it has got several supportive aspects. Therefore, all definitions differ from one
another. Instead of defining 'the caste', many scholars have explained the
.'
The Caste System In India has been studied in three perspectives:
viewed Castes from the spiritual point of view, the social anthropologists- from
the cultural" point of view and the Sociologists from the Stratification point of
view. 14 The sociological perspective views the caste system in terms of social
~
stratification in the society. The Caste System, as it exists today, has grown
and developed through many centuries. Ahuja Ram (1999: 228-248) has
explained the Caste System in India by dividing Indian Social History into
four periods: first, the Ancient Period (4000 BC to 700 AD), second,
Medieval Period (700 AD to 1757 AD), third, the British Period (1757 - 1947)
author, the Caste System is very old concept. The author explains in following
ways:
The ancient period' is very long period, which includes Vedic Period,
Period. The author says that, in every period, there exists caste system. The
society was divided into different social groups on the basis of either Varna or
Caste. There was clear cut differentiation in these groups from one another,
and were living under sev~ral social rules. The Sudras were classified as
lower, which lived with severe social restrictions. The clear idea can be given
in f~llowing heads. IS
74
There are two schools of thought regarding the caste system in Vedic
Period. One school holds that, the broad frame of the caste system had existed
even in the earlier portion of the Rig Veda (approximate date 1500 BC) and
the 'Brahmana', 'Kshatriya' and 'Vaishya' were the three castes divisions that
the society of the Rig .veda clearly recognised. According to this school, the
'Sudra' caste was not existed at this initial period of 'Rig Veda', but it arisen
at the end of the Rig Veda. The other school maintains that, these three were
not Castes, but 'Varnas',' which were not hereditary but flexible. Some
exponents of this view are Weber Max (1882)17 and Ghurye(1932)18. But Outt
(1940i 9 and Apte(1940io and other scholars have rejected this view. They
say that, Caste System did exist in the time of 'Rig Veda'. Kamble B.R.
(1979)21 argued that, 'Caste System was sufficiently developed in the Rig
Veda time and this system was not flexible but had raised enough barriers'.
firmly established and remained enduring for all times to come. There was
The Fourth 'Varna' includes 'the Sudras', as the lowest position in the
exclusive 'Varna'. In the la,ter part they took conscious efforts to organise the
social life of the people by writing the 'Grihsutras' (700 BC to 300 BC) and
'Dharmasutras'. (600 BC to 300 BC) Th~ former prescribed the details about
the duties of man from his birth to burial and later one dealt with a code of
'Chandragupta Mourya' (322 BC--298 ~C) and 'Ashoka' (273 to 233 BC)
were the two important rulers in the 'Mourya' period. The social system in this
period was not much rigid. This can be known through the writings of
'Koutilya'. Ahuja(1999) writes that, "In this period, the 'Sudra' rulers tried to
,
boundaries. Therefore, the caste system in this period could not develop in a
rigid form,,23. But other scholars like, Pandey (1986)24 have given very
opposite explanation to this, according to them the caste system was existed in
established a new dynasty called 'Sunga Dynasty'. This dynasty was an ardent
Caste System began in this period. Ahuja (1999) says that, the probable date
of 'Manu Smriti' is believed to be 185 BC. But others scholars have given this
date as different. Dr. Buhler George has estimated that, the date of
his estimate. According to him, the 'Manu' was created between 227 AD to
320 AD. Through this 'Smriti', the 'Brahmins' once again succeeded in
I
'Manusmriti' mentioned that, 'the Sudra, who insults a twice born man, shall
have his tongue cut out; ifhe mentions the names and 'Jatis' of the twice born
teaches the Brahmins their duty, a hot oil to be poured into his mouth and into
his ears'. Such and many other severe restrictions were imposed on the
(Sudras'. Thus the equality was completely destroyed and the Caste System
Under Harsh Vardliana (606 AD to 647 AD) and in his next phase, the
Caste System continued with the same structure. Chinese scholar 'Hieun
Tsang', who visited India in 630 AD , writes that, "Brahminism dominated the
77
country, Caste ruled the social structure and the persons following unclean
occupations like butchers, scavengers had to live outside the city". This shows
that, there was existence of the Caste System in Indian on a rigid line. After
The 'Medieval' Period i~cludes two major periods, i.e., one, 'Rajput'
Period (700 AD to 1200 AE» and 'Muslim' Period (1200 to 1757 AD). After
system of Caste. Infact, earlier structure was forwarded in this period. One
~~ change that occurred is, the caste disintegration began in this period. This
change occurred specially before the beginning of Muslim Period. Castes and
During the 'Rajput' Period, the Indian Social System did not change.
Society became static and the caste system became rigid. Brahmins gave
themselves more privileges and permitted flesh, wine and women in the
of new castes and sub-:.ca~tes sprang up. The 'Brahmins' tightened their bonds
soon followed. Thus before the advent of 'Muslims', a distinct change had
came about in our social structure in the form of multiplicity of castes and
India in 1175. Within thirty years, he conquered many parts of India and thus
Muslim period started. In the next ph~se, several Muslim Dynasties ruled
became more rigid because 'Muslims' were not absorbed in the elastic Hindu-
fold, but they tried to convert the people to Muslim. In this period also,
social fields. The Caste System continued with its rigid form even in Muslim
period 30.
79
the 'Mughals' and started the British period in 1774, when 'Warren Hasting'
was appointed the first 'Governor General of India'. The administration and
some changes in religious practices and also in the caste structure of the
reforms in India. Some of them are, 'The Caste Disabilities Removal Act-
1872'. Through these acts, government gave a blow to the caste system.
However, some scholars have argued that, these measures were taken for
administrative purpose and not to abolish the caste system31 . In this regard,
Ghurye (1961) writes that, "most of the activities of the British Government
rigidity of caste" 32. Whatever the reason may be, but It is a fact that, some sort
in India. In this regards, Pimpley Prakash and Sharma Satish (1985) writes
that, socio-religious movements have declined the Caste System in India. The
author mentions some important movements, they are, 'The Arya Samaj'
1895, 'The Brahmo Samaj' founded in 1928 by 'Raja Ram Mohan Roy' and
80
attacked the traditional caste system. These social movements generated social
awareness in the Society. However, they did not succeed in removing the
rigidity of the Caste System , though some structural features of Castes were
country, which led to the niigration of the people from villages to cities. i.e.
phase, which could bring some changes in the rigid form of the Caste System.
the towns, the non-Brahmins refuse to show the same respect which they
showed before and inter-caste eating and drinking taboos are also some what
weakened' 34. Ghurye (1962) writes that, 'the changes in the rigidities of the
Caste System are due to the "'growth of the city life with its migratory
,
population' .35 Thus in the British Period, the rigid nature of the Caste became
rigid nature of the Caste ,System. Besides that, the Government of India
enacted several laws, which controlled the social disabilities. Some important
81
discrimination on the grounds of religion, sex, place of birth, race and caste',
have reduced the rigidity of Caste System in India. There are some other
factors which attacked the Caste System in India, are, spread of education,
They don't accept the caste norms and caste practices blindly. Old social
restricts the individual freedom. Caste does not determine the occupational
contemporary period. Finally, it can be stated that, the Caste System has got a
big blow in post-independence period and hence it has lost its rigid nature.
During the last five decades, there has been a considerable change in the
Caste System. Though the two important features , hereditary membership and
hierarchy, have not changed at all. But there are the changes in traditional
occupations, in the idea of purity and pollution, in the social restrictions etc.
M.N.(l961)39, Ghurye(1961)40 and others have stated that, the caste system is
and the circle into which one has to marry. One has still to depend very largely
on one's caste for help at critical periods of one's life like marriage and
death,.41 Thus the rigId nature of Caste System has abolished, but the caste
differ from one another. There is no similarity between these. Besides this, no
one theory properly explains the origin of the caste system. Risley(1915)42
says that, ' the origin ·of caste is due to racial differences' , whereas
refers to the role played by Brahmins and Hutten (l961t5 : 184-185) refers to
belief in Mana is its origin. The present study considers only the important
The Traditioncil Theory believes that, the Caste System has been
(1968)46 gives the best analysis of the traditional theory. The traditional
believes that, these fouf" Varnas have emerged from the different parts of
Brahma's body. "The 'Brahmin' was born from his mouth, the 'Kshatriya'
from his arms, the 'Vaishyas' from his thighs and the 'Sudra' from his feet".47
observes the rules of dharma, he will be born in his next birth in a high and
rich· caste and if a man violates the dharma, he will be born in a low and poor
caste. 48
of the caste. Each Cast~ has a separate function and is determined by the
ascriptive nature and entitled him the st~tus in a caste. This is a hereditary
(occupation) cannot be separated from each other. This is nothing but fixed
occupation of the concerned castes. There are two types of functions- Ordinary
,
function and the 'Sudras' were engaged in ordinary function. It was believed
that, since the first three have undergone training in previous births, they were
rightly called 'dwijas', where as the 'Sudras' were not. This was a clear-cut
purity. They gave themselves a higher status in the "Brahmanas' and in other
books and declared all others as inferior to them. Sudras were classified as
He believes that, the role of Brahmin was vital in the origin of Caste System in
India. Further the author says that, "The Brahman literature classified
I
as
food etc., contemplated only four classes in the society, came to be the
characteristics of each and every well marked group". 51 Finally the author
Culture' .52 Thus according to this theory, the Caste System was created by the
cultures and contact of races crystallised the Castes in India". The migrant
'Aryans' had their own. ideas of ceremonial purity. They considered the
matrilineal. Therefore, they 'married with the daughters of the aboriginals but
refused to give their daughters to them. The children of such marriages had to
be assigned the lowest position in the society and were called as 'Chandals'.
superiority ultimately became responsible for the origin of the Caste System in
India. Risley has referred to six processes in the formation of Castes. They are,
Preservations of old tradition, Enrolling orieself into the rank of Hinduism and
,
Role of Religious enthusiasts. 54 These all ultimately, according to the author,
Nesfield (1885)55 believes that, 'the origin of Caste has nothing to do with
the racial affinity, but it mainly due to functions or occupations. The skill of
as Castes.' The author: explains how the Brahmins were classified as highest
status, that, the 'Brahmins' were specialised in the occupation of 'sacrifice and
hymns and rituals'. Since sacrifices were very important in the social life of
the people, 'Brahmins' becaine the most important and respected people in the
Society. 56 Thus every occupation became hereditary and through which the
Ketkar S. V. (1909) believes that, 'the origin of Caste was from early
According to the author, there were numerous tribes living in different parts of
India. Many of these tribes ~ere in struggle with each other on the issues like,
boundaries, kidnapping a girl from other tribe etc. Because of such conflicts,
people avoided other tribes in marriage and social relations and confined
social interaction in all respects to members of their own tribe. Thus the
author's view is that, the castes originated from the tribes. Further he explains
that, the phrase 'origin of caste' has no meaning, though endogamy has its
association of purity and impurity to various objects also has its origin. 57
because of three factors: one, due to the feelings of sympathy and affection for
87
the members of one's own group, two, to maintain bJoodpurity and, three, the
social adjustment. According to'" the author, the superiority and inferiority are
the cause or the result of endogamy. Such feeling brought the social
different castes. 58
of caste. Senart finds certain similarities in the three systems: 'Indian, Greek
and Romans'. All of the three Me the Aryans and their civilisations are oldest
one. There are many similarities in the social relations, social practices and
customs among these three systems, Just as in India, there is a custom that,
after marriage, a woman transfers from her gotra to that of her husband's, the
same custom existed in Rome. Also, just like caste panchayats in India, there
exist similar councils in Rome and Greece. On the basis of these comparisons,
Senart says that, the Caste is the normal development of ancient Aryan
Institutions. 60
marriage, social interaction etc., to save the members of one's tribe from the
88
mana of the other tribe. The restrictions on sharing food with others and
having contact with them are based on the belief that, these food and contacts
61
may be infected with the dangerous soul matters of strangers. Thus Senart
says that, people believes in 'mana', which ultimately created the Caste
System in India.
3.4.8 Ambedkar B. R. (1946) .,.argues that, the 'Shudras' were originally king
and in the later period they became slaves. The author writes that, "The kings
belongs to the 'Shudra' group. The Shudras were one of the 'Aryan'
the 'Indo-Aryan' society. There was a time when the 'Aryan' society
'Vaishyas'. The 'Shudras' were not a separate 'Varna', but a part of the
'Kshatriya Varna' There was a continuous feud between the 'Shudra' kings
and the 'Brahmins', in which tire BrahminS were subjected to many tyrannies
I
and indignities. As a result of the hatred towards the 'Shudras' due to their
tyrannies and oppression, the 'Brahmins' refused to invest the 'Shudras' with
the sacred thread. Owing to the loss of the sacred thread, the 'Shudras' became
socially degraded, fell below the rank of the Vaishyas and came to from the
fourth'Varna",.62
3.5.1 The 'Sudras' were classified as inferior and the last 'Varna' to other
Ithree 'Varnas'
. ' in ancient social system in India. Along with this several
89
classified 'Sudras' includes various caste groups, which have suffered social
and economic inequity since the ages. They had to stay outside the village.
The concept of pollution was attached to them and they were treated as
depressed castes in 1932 and they were systematically listed in the 1931-
'God' and 'Jan' means 'people', i.e. 'people of God'. The meaning of this
word in Hindi, Marathi and other languages is, ' a child whose father's
identity is unknown' .65 Therefore the name 'Harijan' was opposed and hated
by the untouchables.
India, under article 341(1) , the,.President of India after consultation with the
Governor may specify, ' the castes, races, tribes or parts of groups within
the President has notified the Scheduled Castes in the order called
90
include or exclude the abovementioned groups from the list of the Scheduled
defined under article 366(244) of the Constitution of India as, " the Scheduled
Castes means such Castes, Races, Tribes or parts of or groups within such
-
Castes, races or tribes, deemed under article 341 to be Scheduled Castes for
the purpose of this Constitution." Thus the Scheduled Castes are those castes,
3.5.2 After the Independence, the Government of India has undertaken various
Scheduled Castes. She says that, various incentives and concessions were
Hoshiar and Malik A.S. (2001)69 explains the policies and programmes of the
Even before the adoption of the Constitution, 'the Minimum Wage Act'
Castes landless agricultural labourers in the country. In the later period, the
91
March 1955. The Commission classified the Scheduled Castes masses into
various categories based ~pon their occupation, so that the Government could
phase, 'the Untouchability (Offences) Act' was passed in 1955 and which was
further amended 1976. After the amendment, the act termed as the Protection
of Civil Rights Act of 1955. Subsequently, a study group on the welfare of the
weaker sections of the village community was constituted in 1960 under the
Constitution of India. The First and Second Five Year Plans laid major stress
training. The author further writes that, such and other several assistance
continued in every five years plans. The main programme was for generating
these, the basic needs of these communities were met through 'Minimum
author says that, the Goverhment of India has helped in all aspects in which
the Scheduled Castes were weak and suffered. The government introduced
social, economic and political measures. As a result of these all, the Scheduled
Castes are living with the good status compared to their ancient status. 71
3.6 Conclusion: Thus several scholars have given different theories for
the origin of the Caste System. One differs from another. Whatever the truth
may be, but it is clear that, the 'Sudras' were classified as lowest status
on them. The 'Sudras' lives with such all injustice for several thousands of
years. This gives the clear idea of social stratification in India. The Scheduled
..
state. In Maharashtra, 59 castes have been declared as 'Scheduled Castes'. All
References:
10. Boungle (1958), 'The Ess~ence and the Reality of the Caste System'
in 'Contribution to Indian Sociology', No.2, p. 9
11. Srinivas M.N. (1962) , 'C!'Ste in Modern India and other Essays',
Media Publishers, Bombay
'"
13. Ghurye (1961) 'Caste, Class and Occupation', -
Popular Prakashan, Bombay. spp. 2-19
16. Ibid.
23. Ibid.
27. Ibid.
28. Ibid.
29. Ibid.
30. Ibid.
31. Ibid.
33. Pimpley Prakash and Sharma Satish (1985), , Struggle for Status' ,
B.R. Publishing Corp., Delhi. pp. 126 -150
38. Kuppuswami(1971),
42. Risley(1915) p. 56
44. Abbe Dubois( 1857), 'A description of the People of India', quoted by
Hutton (1961) and requoted in Ahuja Ram (1999) , Op. cit.
pp.228-448
45. Hutten J.R. (1961), 'Caste in India: Its Nature, Function and Origin',
.
Low Price Publication, New Delhi .
49. Ibid.
52. Ibid.
60. Ibid.
67. Ibid.
70. Ibid.
7l.· Ibid.