India's Caste System

The origins of India's Caste System, having existed more than 3,000 years, are lost in antiquity, but the word caste originates from the Portuguese word for breed (India's Caste 1). India's caste system is perhaps the most rigid and defining social structure in the world. The caste system dictates the lives and roles of much of India's population, a hierarchical grading of castes. Among scholars and historians, the origins of the caste system stem from the Divine Theory, which proclaims that "the four castes, Brahman, Ksshatryas, Vaisyas, and the Sudras, came from the mouth, arms, thighs, and feet of the Hindu figure of Brahma respectively" (The Castes 1).

The castes are comprised of individuals based on Varna, i.e., a person's natural and rightful position in society. According to the Encyclopedia of Social Sciences, a caste represents an "endogenous and hereditary subdivision of an ethnic group occupying a position of superior or inferior rank or social esteem in comparison with such other divisions" (India's Caste 1). The hierarchical caste system views those at the top as superior to those at the bottom. While "untouchability" was outlawed by the Constitution in 1950, entire villages remain completely segregated and perceptions of lower castes being "untouchable" still exist, "In various kinds of contact, a member of a high caste is liable to be polluted by either direct or indirect contact with a member of a low caste" (F

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(Coleman 1). While the social order in the cities is less rigid and defined, the social order in the country is strong and still dictates who people marry, how they live, with whom they socialize, what educational opportunities are available to them, and what occupations they maintain. Most lower-caste individuals in India receive little or no education. When they do it is marginal in urban slums or ghettos. The voice of the lower castes and their social mobility are often greatly hampered by the efforts of the dominant ruling caste, the educated, well-off, and politically powerful Brahmans. For example, even though the lower castes account 70% of the nation's 934 million people and even thought there are 4,000 daily newspapers published in India, "not one daily newspaper has made speaking on their behalf its role" (Cooper A16). Despite such obstacles and a historical lack of alternative avenues of voice for India's lower castes, some progress is being made to rectify this unequal distribution of power and social control. Some members of the lower castes have begun to become more politically assertive. Because of such efforts, the lower castes have been successful at raising a voice of their own, including the opinion jo

Category: Philosophy - I