Origins
Caste systems—hereditary social stratification determining occupation, social position, and marriage based on birth—developed in various forms but reached their most elaborate expression in South Asia. The Indian caste system emerged from Vedic social divisions (varnas: Brahmin priests, Kshatriya warriors, Vaishya commoners, Shudra servants) that became increasingly rigid and intertwined with concepts of ritual purity and pollution. The jati (birth group) system created thousands of endogamous occupational communities whose members inherited status from parents.
The form’s complexity defies simple description. Varnas provided broad categorical framework; jatis constituted actual social groups with local variations. Hierarchy was context-dependent: different criteria (ritual purity, political power, economic status, local customs) could produce different rankings. The “untouchable” or Dalit category—those considered so polluting as to be outside the varna system—experienced the harshest exclusion. Regional, historical, and local variations made the system less uniform than schematic descriptions suggest, yet birth-based stratification remained the fundamental organizing principle.
Similar systems appeared elsewhere. Japanese burakumin constituted an outcast group defined by association with defiling occupations. Korean baekjeong occupied analogous positions. Various African societies had hereditary caste-like divisions. These parallels suggest that hereditary stratification linked to concepts of purity represents a recurring human pattern, not solely South Asian. Yet India’s caste system remains the largest, most elaborate, and most studied example.
Structure & Function
Caste systems organize societies through hereditary group membership affecting multiple life domains. Birth determines caste; marriage typically occurs within caste (endogamy); occupation historically aligned with caste; social interaction followed caste-based rules about eating, touching, and proximity. These dimensions reinforced each other: hereditary occupations created economic positions; endogamy maintained boundaries; pollution rules segregated interaction. The result was comprehensive social organization along hereditary lines.
Religious and philosophical frameworks legitimated caste hierarchy. Hindu concepts of dharma (duty) specified different duties for different varnas. Karma and rebirth suggested that present caste position reflected past-life actions—just punishment or reward rather than arbitrary assignment. Purity and pollution concepts made hierarchy seem natural—some people were inherently more pure than others. These ideological supports made caste appear divinely ordained rather than humanly constructed.
Caste systems function as systems of both hierarchy and horizontal differentiation. The vertical hierarchy ranked groups superior and inferior. The horizontal differentiation created distinct communities with their own customs, identities, and internal organizations. Jatis functioned as something like extended kin groups, guilds, and ethnic communities simultaneously. Members could rely on jati networks for mutual aid, economic cooperation, and social support even as they occupied subordinate positions in hierarchical ranking.
Historical Significance
Caste organized South Asian society for millennia, shaping economic activity, political mobilization, and social life. Traditional occupational specialization created interdependent communities. Political systems often worked through caste alliances and patronage. Social reform movements—from Buddhism’s ancient challenge to modern Dalit assertion—have addressed caste inequity. Understanding South Asian history requires understanding caste’s pervasive influence on how people lived, worked, and related to each other.
The ethics of caste have been contested throughout its history. Buddhism rejected caste hierarchy, though Buddhist societies sometimes developed analogous stratification. Hindu reform movements (bhakti, various modern reformers) challenged caste exclusion while working within Hindu frameworks. The Indian constitution (1950) abolished untouchability and provides affirmative action (reservations) for disadvantaged castes. Yet caste identity and discrimination persist, shaping politics, violence, and opportunity in contemporary South Asia.
Caste systems raise fundamental questions about social organization. How do hereditary hierarchies form and persist? Why do humans so often create stratification based on birth rather than achievement? What enables and what challenges hereditary privilege? How do oppressed groups resist or accommodate systems that disadvantage them? Caste provides particularly rich material for exploring these questions, its long history and continuing presence offering evidence about stratification’s dynamics.
Key Developments
- c. 1500 BCE: Vedic social divisions emerge in Aryan-speaking communities
- c. 500 BCE: Classical varna system described in later Vedic texts
- c. 300 BCE: Dharmasutras elaborate caste rules
- c. 200 CE: Laws of Manu systematizes caste prescriptions
- c. 500: Regional jati systems elaborate
- 800-1200: Bhakti movements challenge caste hierarchy through devotional practice
- 1200s: Muslim rule creates additional social categories
- 1500s: Portuguese observe and document caste practices
- 1757-1947: British rule codifies and rigidifies caste
- 1871: First British census of caste in India
- 1932: Gandhi’s fast for temple access; Poona Pact
- 1936: Ambedkar publishes “Annihilation of Caste”
- 1950: Indian Constitution abolishes untouchability
- 1955: Untouchability (Offences) Act
- 1990: Mandal Commission report; reservation politics intensifies
- 2011: Caste census resumed after decades
- 2020s: Caste discrimination addressed internationally