Lesson 27: Caste System in India

Etymology and Core Sociological Definition

The word caste has its origin in the Spanish word 'casta', meaning 'race' or 'a group having hereditary quality'. The term was historically applied to the people of India by the Portuguese to denote what is locally termed Jati.

Nine Core Structural Features of the Caste System

The textbook outlines nine specific, inter-related characteristics that define traditional Indian caste organization:

• 1. Segmental Division of Society: Indian social stratification is fundamentally organized around caste segments. Society is split into various distinct castes, each possessing a well-developed lifestyle of its own. Crucially, the membership of a caste is determined strictly by birth; thus, caste status is entirely hereditary.
• 2. Hierarchy: Castes are arranged in a hierarchical ladder from higher to lower positions based on the ritual purity and impurity of their occupations. At the top stands the Brahmin, whose priestly occupation of performing rituals and teaching is deemed the purest. At the bottom is the Sweeper, placed lowest because cleaning and scavenging are deemed ritually impure.
• 3. Restrictions on Food, Drink and Smoking: Castes maintain sharp boundaries regarding commensality (eating together) and sharing the hooka (smoking pipe). For instance, Brahmins refuse food from other castes. In Uttar Pradesh, among Kanyakubj Brahmins, internal sub-divisions do not exchange food with one another. A fundamental distinction exists between:
  • Pucca Food: Cooked in ghee (such as puri, kachodi, and pulao), which may be exchanged among certain castes.
  • Kuchcha Food: Cooked in water (such as plain rice, boiled pulses/dal, and vegetable curries), which is never accepted from a lower caste. High castes invariably reject food and hooka from lower castes.
• 4. Endogamy: Members of a caste must marry strictly within their own caste group. Inter-caste marriages are traditionally prohibited, though they are gradually increasing among educated urban individuals.
• 5. Purity and Pollution: Purity and impurity are judged by an individual's deeds, occupation, language, dress, and dietary patterns. Consuming non-vegetarian food, drinking liquor, eating leftovers from higher castes, working in leathercraft, lifting dead animal carcasses, and sweeping are branded ritually impure. However, today some high-caste individuals work in shoe shops, leather factories, or beauty salons.
• 6. Occupational Association: Every caste is traditionally tied to a specific hereditary occupation and cannot unilaterally change it:
  • Brahmins: Priesthood and teaching.
  • Kayasthas: Maintaining revenue records and writing.
  • Baniyas: Business, trade, and commerce.
  • Chamars: Leatherwork.
  While industrialization and urbanization have generated new employment avenues, traditional occupations persist in villages. In urban centers, dual occupations appear (e.g., a barber who runs a salon in mornings and evenings while working as an office peon during the day).
• 7. Social and Religious Disabilities and Privileges: Lower castes faced severe civic disabilities: they were prohibited from entering temples, forbidden from speaking literary language, and barred from wearing gold ornaments or carrying umbrellas. Today, legal reforms and modernization have largely dissolved these overt restrictions.
• 8. Distinction in Custom, Dress, and Speech: Each caste maintains a distinct lifestyle, dress code, and vocabulary. Higher castes traditionally speak refined, pure, or literary language, whereas lower castes speak local colloquial dialects.
• 9. Conflict Resolving Mechanisms: Castes possess their own autonomous judicial bodies, known as Caste Panchayats, operating at both village and inter-village levels to settle disputes, enforce norms, and sanction deviant members.

Why the Concept Matters

Analyzing the nine structural features of caste explains how ritual ideology, hereditary division of labour, and strict social boundaries created an enduring system of social stratification that ordered daily life, marriage, and work in India across centuries.

The Common Layman Confusion

Popular discourse creates confusion by using the English word "caste" interchangeably for both Varna and Jati. People frequently remark that there are four castes—Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra. In sociological terms, these four divisions are not castes at all; they are Varnas. What exists in empirical reality today are not Varnas, but thousands of Jatis.

Historical Genesis of Varna and the Rise of Jati

The structural evolution of Indian stratification unfolded across distinct historical epochs:

• Early Vedic Era (c. 1500 BC – 1000 BC): The first literary mention of Varna appears in the ancient sacred text, the Rig-Veda. Etymologically, Varna means "colour". During this early Vedic period, the Varna system was relatively flexible and not rigidly closed. Untouchability was completely absent.
• Later Vedic Era (c. 1000 BC): Towards 1000 BC, ancient texts begin to mention the "Asat Shudra" (the ritually segregated untouchable community). Thus, the social practice of untouchability originated around 1000 BC. Untouchables were placed outside the fourfold Varna framework.
• Post-Vedic Era (c. 2nd Century BC – 1st Century AD): With extensive division of labour, technological advancement, and occupational diversification, specialized occupational sub-groups proliferated. These hereditary economic groups crystallized into what are known as Jatis.

Five Crucial Sociological Distinctions

Sociologists establish five clear analytical contrasts between Varna and Jati:

• 1. Book View vs. Field View: Varna Vyavastha is the textual model or book view of Indian society—it exists today solely in ancient sacred scriptures. Jati is the contextual view or field view—it represents the empirical, living reality observed on the ground.
• 2. Numerical Disparity: There are strictly four Varnas (Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra). In contrast, there are approximately 4,000 Jatis across India, with roughly 200 Jatis inhabiting each linguistic region.
• 3. Pan-Indic Uniformity vs. Regional Plurality: Varna features a uniform, all-India (Pan-Indic) hierarchical ladder: Brahmins at the summit, Kshatriyas second, Vaishyas third, and Shudras at the base. Jati lacks any uniform national hierarchy. In some regions, Brahmins rank highest; in other regions, agricultural warrior clans like Thakurs (Rajputs) hold the top position; in certain areas today, organized Dalits occupy the dominant political position.
• 4. Ritual vs. Secular Basis: Varna is anchored in religious, scriptural, and ritual criteria. Jati, while possessing ritual elements, operates heavily on secular criteria—including land ownership, political power, numerical strength, and economic dominance.
• 5. Placement of Untouchables and Mobility: Under classical Varna ideology, untouchables were excluded and placed entirely outside the system. Under the Jati system, untouchables (Dalits) are an integral, functional component of the local caste matrix. Furthermore, while Varna status was theoretically permanent, Jati status can change over time through improved socio-economic conditions and collective upward mobility.

Why the Concept Matters

Distinguishing Varna from Jati replaces textbook abstraction with empirical precision, allowing sociologists to observe that caste is not a static fourfold scheme, but a dynamic, regionally varied network of thousands of occupational groups.

Basic Sociological Comparison

While caste is an ascribed, hereditary group, a class is a non-hereditary, achieved social group. A class system allows both endogamous and exogamous marriages, permits individuals to move up or down the hierarchy, and enables a person to alter the social standing into which they were born.

The Threefold Class Hierarchy and its Six Sub-divisions

Class is determined primarily by economic and secular criteria: income, wealth, education, and occupation. The textbook outlines three major social classes, each divided into two distinct strata:

• Upper Class: Subdivided into Upper-Upper Class and Lower-Upper Class.
• Middle Class: Subdivided into Upper-Middle Class and Lower-Middle Class.
• Lower Class: Subdivided into Upper-Lower Class and Lower-Lower Class.

Core Sociological Differences Examined

The contrast between caste and class rests on four fundamental principles:

• 1. Open vs. Closed Mobility: Caste is a closed system because an individual's caste is fixed by birth and cannot be altered individually. Class is an open system that permits individual social mobility through educational achievement, hard work, and economic success.
• 2. Ritual vs. Secular Criteria: Caste hierarchy is based on ritual criteria—religious myths of divine origin, purity, pollution, and the doctrine of karma and rebirth. Class hierarchy is based on secular criteria—material assets, educational qualifications, professional accomplishments, and political influence.
• 3. Class Consciousness: Subjective class consciousness is an essential attribute of a social class (members identify common socio-economic interests against opposing classes). In caste, members identify primarily with hereditary kinship and caste traditions.
• 4. Urban Convergence (Castes Changing into Classes): In modern urban environments, economic criteria increasingly dominate social life. As individuals from diverse castes enter uniform income brackets, workplaces, and neighborhoods, traditional castes are gradually functioning like modern socio-economic classes.

Why the Concept Matters

Comparing caste and class shows how modern economies shift social status from ascribed, religious identities fixed at birth to open, achieved positions determined by personal effort and marketable skills.

Two Centuries of Transformation

The Indian caste system has experienced significant structural and functional adaptations over the past two centuries in general, and during the past 50 years in particular. Several modern social processes have transformed its traditional rigidity into a flexible, politically active framework:

1. Sanskritization

Sanskritization is a process whereby a low caste adopts the behavioral patterns, rituals, dietary codes, and lifestyle of a high caste to claim higher status in the caste hierarchy. To sanskritize successfully, the aspiring group must abandon unclean occupations (e.g., leathercraft, scavenging) and discard habits branded impure (e.g., eating meat, drinking liquor).

The Textbook Case Study: The Jatavs of Agra

The Jatavs of Agra belong traditionally to the Chamar (leather-working) caste. During British rule, the demand for leather shoes escalated, and the Jatavs accumulated substantial wealth. In the 1940s, they attempted to sanskritize by claiming Kshatriya status based on the Lomesh Ramayan written by Swami Atma Ram, which asserted that during Treta Yug, the Jatavs were Kshatriyas who hid in forests and took up leathercraft to escape sage Parshuram's wrath. However, local Kshatriyas rejected their claim because the Jatavs were historically untouchable. Having failed to achieve upward mobility through Sanskritization, the Jatavs turned to politicization, mobilized as a powerful vote-bank, and achieved political dominance in the Agra region. This case illustrates how unsuccessful Sanskritization can lead to political mobilization and substantial upward mobility.

2. Westernisation

Westernisation denotes the adoption of Western lifestyles, language, dress codes, and behavioral patterns, driven primarily by British influence in India. Its core characteristics include:

• A rational, scientific, and goal-oriented outlook;
• Commitment to material progress;
• Reliance on modern mass media and communication channels;
• English-medium education;
• High social mobility.

Historically, the higher castes were the first to westernise; subsequently, lower castes also adopted Western education and dress. Westernisation has eroded traditional caste taboos, rendering social interactions flexible in urban areas.

3. Modernisation

Modernisation is a broader and deeper concept than Westernisation. A society can modernise without blindly imitating Western culture by synthesizing rational scientific ideas with its own traditions. Modernisation relies upon:

• A scientific outlook, rational attitudes, and high social mobility;
• Values of liberty, equality, and fraternity;
• Empathy, high achievement motivation, and specialized skills;
• Changes in structural, institutional, and organizational frameworks.

In India, castes have modernized by establishing formal caste welfare associations, building schools and hospitals, and mobilizing collectively to improve their members' socio-economic status.

4. Dominant Caste

In the 20th century, the phenomenon of the dominant caste emerged across rural India. A dominant caste is one that exercises economic and political power over a region, commanding the obedience of other castes. To become dominant, a caste must possess seven attributes:

1. Large land holdings in the area (strong economic foundation);
2. Political dominance (functioning as a decisive vote-bank);
3. Large numerical population in the locality;
4. Relatively high ritual status;
5. Access to English-medium education;
6. A tradition in agriculture (functioning as land-owning patrons rather than tilling laborers);
7. A tradition of violence (commanding physical muscle power to enforce authority).

While dominant castes were historically higher castes, today several intermediate and lower castes have achieved dominant status across various states.

5. Industrialisation, Urbanisation, and Democratic Decentralisation

• Industrialisation and Urbanisation: Mass migration to cities has made the observance of strict caste taboos impossible. In crowded public buses, trains, canteens, restaurants, and factories, individuals of all castes sit and eat together, creating a flexible, secular pattern of social life.
• Democratic Decentralisation: The introduction of Panchayati Raj established democratic local self-government in villages. Mandatory statutory reservations for Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes have provided lower castes with constitutional authority to govern local councils and challenge traditional rural hierarchies.

Why the Concept Matters

Analyzing Sanskritization, Westernisation, Modernisation, and Dominant Castes reveals that caste in India is not an immutable relic of antiquity, but an evolving institution that continuously adapts to democratic, economic, and technological changes.

Caste and Democratic Politics

Politics has always intersected with the caste system—during the ancient Varna era, Brahminical supremacy represented a form of political authority. In contemporary India, the relationship between caste and politics has intensified due to four factors:

• Castes have organized into cohesive electoral vote-banks;
• Castes have achieved widespread political consciousness;
• Political parties deliberately identify with specific caste constituencies;
• Every caste forms formal associations to advance its political interests.

This political involvement has directly empowered lower castes. Having historically lacked institutional channels to express grievances, lower castes now use democratic elections and political parties to articulate their demands and capture state power. The rise of Dalit politics exemplifies this shift, enabling historically marginalized communities to form state governments. Conversely, this dynamic has triggered regional factionalism, as upper castes attempt to protect their traditional status against rising lower-caste influence. The textbook notes that such friction represents a transitional phase that will moderate with expanding education, mass awareness, and economic opportunities.

Caste and Economy: The Traditional Jajmani System

Historically, the caste system served an economic function through the Jajmani system—a network of reciprocal, hereditary exchanges of goods and services between castes in village India:

• Jajman (The Patron): Higher-caste landowners and patrons who receive traditional specialized services from lower castes.
• Kamin (The Service Provider): Members of occupational service castes who provide specialized crafts and ritual duties to the Jajman (e.g., barbers, washermen, carpenters, blacksmiths, and leatherworkers).
• Payment in Kind: Instead of monetary cash wages, Kamins were compensated in kind through regular shares of agricultural food grains, clothing, fodder, and residential sites.
• Hereditary and Enduring Ties: The relationship between Jajman and Kamin was lifelong and hereditary—upon a Jajman's death, his son inherited the role of patron, and the Kamin's son continued providing hereditary services.

The Erosion of the Jajmani System and Modern Realities

With the introduction of a cash-based market economy, commercialized agriculture, and modern land reforms, the Jajmani system has steadily broken down. Village services are now transacted through monetary wages rather than hereditary obligations.

Today, especially in urban areas, individuals no longer adhere to traditional caste taboos or occupational restrictions. The primary sphere where caste persists is marriage, where caste endogamy remains widespread, though inter-caste and inter-religious marriages are gradually increasing.

Why the Concept Matters

Examining the intersection of caste with modern electoral politics and the decline of the Jajmani system illustrates how India's traditional agrarian social order has adapted to adult franchise, monetary markets, and constitutional democracy.