Indian Caste System

The caste system is one of India’s more confusing mysteries-how it came about , how it has managed to survive for so long and how much harm it causes are all topics of discussion for visitors of India. Its origins are lost in the mists of time but basically if seems to have been developed by the Brahmins or priest class in order to make their own superior position more permanent. Later it was probably extended by the invading Aryans who felt themselves superior to the indigenous pre-Aryan Indians. Eventually the caste system became formalised into four distinct classes, each with rules of conduct and behaviour.

At the top are the Brhamins who are the priests and the arbiters of what is right and wrong in matters of religion and caste. Next come the Kshatriyas, who are soldiers and administrators. The Vaisyas are the artisan and commercial class, and finally the Sudras are the farmers and the peasant class. These four castes are said to have come from Brahma’s mouth (Brahmins), arms (Kshatriyas), thighs (Vaisyas0 and feet (Sudras).

Beneath the four main castes is a fifth group, the untouchables. These people, members of the so-called Scheduled Castes, literally have no caste. They perform the most menial and degrading jobs. At one time, if a high-caste Hindu used the same temple as an untouchable was touched by one, or even had an untouchable’s shadow cast across them, they were polluted and had to go through a rigorous series of series of rituals to be cleansed.

Today the caste system has been much weakened but it still has considerable power, particularly amongst the less educated people. Gandhi put great effort into bringing the untouchables into society, including renaming them the ‘Harijans’ or ‘Children of God’. But an untouchable by any other name…… Recently the word Harijan has lost favour, and the use of it in official business has actually been banned in Madhya Pradesh. The term the members of these groups themselves prefer is Dalit, meaning Oppressed or Downtrodden.

It must be remembered that being born into a certain caste does not limit you strictly to one occupation or position in life, just as being black in the USA does not mean you are poverty stricken and love in Harlem. Many Brahmins are poor peasants, for example, and hundreds of years ago the great Maratha leader Shivaji was a Sudra. None of the later Marathas, who controlled much of India after the demise of the Moghuls, were Brahmins. Nevertheless you can generalise that the better-off Indians will be higher caste and that the ‘sweeper’ you see desultorily cleaning the toilet in your hotel will be a Dalit. In fact when Indian Airlines appointed its first Dalit flight attendant it was front-page news in Indian newspapers.

How can you tell which caste a Hindu belongs to? Well, if you know that their job is a menial one such as cleaning streets or in some way defiling, such as working with leather, they are a Dalit. But for most Hindus you can’t relly tell which caste they belong to. However, if you see a man with his shirt one shoulder he belongs to one of the higher castes, but then Parsis also wear a sacred thread. Of course the Sikhs, Muslims and Christians do not have caste.

In many ways the caste system also functions as an enormous unofficial trade union with strict rules to avoid demarcation disputes. Each caste has many subdivisions so that the servant who polishes the brass cannot, due to their caste, also polish silver. Many of the old caste rules have been considerably relaxed, although less educated or more isolated Hindus may still avoid having a lower0caste person prepare their food for fears of becoming polluted. Better educated people are demonstrably none too worried about shaking hands with a caste-less West-erner though! Nor does the thought of going overseas, and thus losing caste completely, carry to much weight these days. Often, quite the opposite, particularly if they return with a degree from an overseas university, and even better with an MBA from Harvard, Yale or the LSE.

The caste system still produces enormous burdens for India, however. During the last few years there have been frequent outbreaks of violence towards members of the Scheduled Castes and so-called Backward classes (‘tribals’ and those who are poor and / or poorly educated for reason other than caste). In an effort to improve the lot of these people, the government reserves huge numbers of public sector jobs, parliamentary seats and university places for them. At present, 22.5% of civil service posts are reserved for members of the Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Scheduled Castes (SCs), 27% for members of the so-called Socially & Educationally Backward Classes (SEBCs) and a further 10% for other Backward sections not already covered, including upper-caste poor. The result is that with nearly 60% of the jobs reserved, many well-educated people are missing out on jobs which they would easily get on merit. In 1991 there were serious protests against the raising of the quotas. These protests were most violent in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Harayana, and at least 100 people died or were seriously injured in self-immolation incidents.

It’s interesting to compare these problems with the situation in the USA where, during the desegregation ear, many Blacks experienced great difficulties in being allowed into ‘all-White’schools and restaurants. Going far back into Western history, it’s equally important to remember that the medieval ideal of heaven was developed in part to keep the peasants in their place-behave yourself, work hard, put up with your lot and you’ll go to heaven. Probably caste developed in a similar fashion-your life may be pretty miserable but that’s your karma; behave yourself and you may be born into a better one next time around.