Page 138 - DSOC201_SOCIAL_STRUCTURE_AND_SOCIAL_CHANGE_ENGLISH

Unit 6: Caste System in India

“The Brahmin was his mouth, his two arms were made Notes
the Rajanya [Kshatriya, king and warrior], his two
thighs [loins] the Vaishya, from
his feet the Sudra [servile class] was born.”
It can be argued that the composers of the Vedas, especially those sections within the Vedas called
the Brahmanas, were concerned with the interconnections that organized reality. This way of looking
at the varnas allows us to see how such a system can survive several millennia. It classifies people not
only in terms of their different qualities but also with respect to their different privileges. Each class
thus has a special role to play in society as well as a unique function: this structure is a means of
creating and organizing an effective society.
The varna system is inter-linked with creation, lending itself a great deal of reverence and validity. If
space, time the congregation of the gods and goddesses, the natural world, scripture and ritual, and
the human body itself- if all these realms bear classification according to varna, how could an
organization of society be regarded as anything other than the way things should be?
An important thing to note is that the Vedas do NOT mention a concept such as Untouchability. It is
a part of the system that has been created by society itself.
Society Pre-Colonialism
Although the nation has a long and varied history, the role of the caste system pre-colonialism can be
understood by focusing on the major eras in Indian history. Much of India is rural and that which is
not, for the most part, is much more urban, with such a drastic difference in the city and the village
there is also a difference in the way caste has been interpreted and implemented over the years.
The early system most represented something analagous to the mideval guild system. It allowed a
specialization of society and each member knew their role. Much laterin India’s history, as India
became more and more prevalent in the international scene the concept of the caste sytem began to
have different connotaions. It was thought of as backward by much of the west. The greatest changes
in the perception as well as in the reality came with the coming and going of the British.
6.2 Caste in Modern India

Role of Colonialism in India’s Caste System
British rule in many ways sharpened and expanded the norms and conventions. In many ways the
colonists saw the system as a hierarchical and inflexible means of perpetuating a Brahmin centered
value system. This insistence played a big role in making the country more caste-conscious. It can be
argued that the initiative in this was as much Indian as it was British. It is important, therefore, to
understand India’s recent international situation. It was then, and continues to be today, in the process
of adapting itself to a world that functions very differently from it’s own infrastructure, namely a
Western-dominated global market economy. It is expected that during a period of such profound
transition, a nation will do its best to assimilate to the norms set by the world powers of that time. The
world power was England and its norms were founded on Western ideals.
In many ways representative government, more so in India that in any other part of England’s non-
white colonial rule, furthered the development of caste affinities in the political arena. Nevertheless,
for both the British and those in India, caste was used as means to not only bridge many boundaries
such as faith, region and economic status but it was also used as a tool to exclude, subjugate and
disempower others. This was done in order for certain groups to gain advantage over others using
the “divide and conquer” approach. India is a country in which there are hundreds of different
cultures and languages: although this characteristic can be used to bring the nation together in pride,
it can also be used to gain political and economic advantages. In the colonial quest for monetary
exploitation, caste was used to create political allegiances and create obstacles in the path of unity.

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