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THE CASTE SYSTEM

The caste system has been an inseparable part of Indian society,

and though it is essentially a part and parcel of Hindu society following

the Vedic religion, the non-Vedic religions like Buddhism, Jainism,

Sikhism and Veerashaivism (Lingayats), and even Islam and Christi-

anity have not been free from the influence of this system. The word

varna

and

jaathi

(caste) are mentioned by Manu, but the Vedas do not

speak of the latter. The word caste

(casta)

standing for

jaathi

was used

by the Portuguese writer Garcia de Orta (1563) to indicate breed, race

or kind and this word now has become a word of common usage in the

English language. Though classical literature speaks of 18

(ashtaadasa)

castes, at present India has, according to one estimate, more than 6,000

castes.

jaathi

is an endogamous group, mainly based on an occupation,

and the

jaathis

are graded hierarchically, based on the concept of

purity and pollution. Each

jaati

has its own values, conventions and

traditional rituals connected with birth, marriage or funeral, and social

norms.

Jaatis

with

varna

nomenclature like

brahmana, vaishya

and

sudra

are found all over India. However they are divided into local

groups having become a distinct variety in their own way. They are

confined to particular regions and to languages. One

jaati

will follow

one hereditary profession like that of a potter or a weaver or two pro-

fessions like the Telugu - speaking barbers also playing ceremonial in-

strumental music (Nadaswara or pipe). The

Veda

speaks of four

varnas.

The

Purushasukta

of the

Rig Veda

states that the four

vamas

(interpreted wrongly as colours in this context) which include Brah-

mins (the priestly and scholarly sections) were born from the head, the

Kshatriyas as (rulers and warriors) from the arms, the Vaishyas as (traders

and agriculturists) from the stomach and the Shudras (craftsmen and la-

bourers) from the lower limbs of the

Purusha

or the Primeval Being or

tfre Creator. The four

varnas

were based on

guna

or psychological dis-

position which Motivated the people to choose a calling in social life.

Hence the

varnas

were not regarded as hereditary. Perhaps the allusion

of this concept to different parts of

Purusha

indicated a sense of organic

unity as in human beings with differences in function of their own.

Such differences might not have originally meant high or low in social

position. But in reality they indicated the hierarchical positions of the

varnas,

Brahmins being at the top of this system. In addition to this,

Manu speaks of the Panchamas (the fifth

varna

) who are also called as

the

anthyajas

(the low born) or the

avarnas

(those who are outside the

pale of the four

varnas).

Attempts are made to fit in

each jaathi

into a

varna.

But birth had

always not been the criterion for following a profession as Par-

ashurama or Drona born as Brahmins had followed the profession of

warriors.

Vayupurana

speaks of the successors of Mudgala, a Ksha-

triya, later becoming Brahmins with the name of Maudgalyas, Vishwa-

mitra or Sanyati, born as Kshatriyas becoming Brahmins, and some

successors of King Bali becoming Brahmins and some others Ksha-

triyas, etc. In the South, there was no Kshatriya group as such, and men

of local castes who became rulers were conferred the status of ksha-

triyas, the Pallavas being identified with

Kuruba

(shepherd) caste and

the Chalukyas of Badami or the Rashtrakutas of Malkhed being

described as of agriculturist origin. But a majority of Hindus are cate-

gorised as

shudras

who include most of agriculturists and craftsmen,

and the

anthyajas

or the Scheduled Castes (who are treated as ‘un-

touchables’). But a person of any caste can also take to farming and

also can do menial work.

But every caste cannot be fitted into a

varna,

like the bureaucratic

sections of the Kayasthas of the North, or the Reddis of Andhra

Pradesh, the Vokkaligas of Karnataka or the Nairs of Kerala, the last

three being agriculturists and one - time warriors too. The agricultur-

ists of Maharashtra called the Marathas consider themselves as ksha-

triyas as Shivaji of this caste identified himself with Rajputs, described

as Kshatriyas.

The castes are hierarchical in the sense that they present a ritual

ranking. Such a ranking is based on the pure and menial jobs and also

the kind of food they partake. Flayers of dead animals, butchers,

chammars

(cobblers) or scavengers performing ‘impure’ professions

are considered as of the lowest rung, and even treated as ‘untouchables’

and even among these lowest castes, the Chamar considers himself su-

perior to the scavenger. The tribal groups who inhabit the hilly or forest

tracts who are now treated as Scheduled Tribes have also got their caste

groups under Hindu influence. They have their own castes, which may

not be always professional groups, but their life pattern, rituals and

beliefs are exclusive when compared to other tribal groups or castes.

In the South, there are the Kudiyas who are hilly tribal people engaged

in toddy tapping. There are two sections among them, and one of the

sections takes pride in the fact that it is socially superior to the other.

The second factor influencing this hierarchy was food habits.

Castes which are vegetarians are considered as superior, meat-eating

ones inferior to the former, and people eating certain animal flesh not

commonly eaten by others including that of pigs or bandicoots and

dead domesticated animals being considered as beings belonging to

the lowermost. This makes the Brahmins, who are mostly vegetarians

naturally of superior status, but this criteria was not taken seriously in

the initial stages when Brahmins ate flesh, and due to the influence of

Jainism the majority of the Brahmins gave up this practice. But the

Kashmiri Pandits take meat and the Saraswat Brahmins on the West

Coast and the Bengali and Oriya Brahmins eat fish.

Another aspect of this caste hierarchy is maintenance of purity and

avoiding pollution. Pollution involves not touching, keeping distance

and even not seeing. A member of the lowest

jaathi

(caste) should

not enter certain localities, or should not allow his shadow to fall on a

member of the

superior jaathi

or even should not come in the sight of

the higher

jaati

member. Such practices were very strong in Kerala and

Tamil Nadu. But each

jaathi,

even if it is of the middle or lower rung,

takes pride in being superior to some other

jaati.

Every

jaathi

followed some hereditary profession and this

provided economic security to it. There is a

jaathi

of potters who

produced red pots and another only black. A cobbler using leather

thread forms one caste, and the other using cotton thread the second,

and a third sewing with fibre (flax) thread forms a distinct caste. One

should not as a rule adopt the professional practice of the other. Each

man born in a caste was assured of a profession to help him earn his

livelihood, and a man of another caste was not expected to encroach

upon his calling. This is the only brighter side. And in a village

community a man of each caste had a place in the corporate life. In a

marriage of any caste, the barber, the washerman, the Dalit (by playing

drums etc.) had their own role, and they were honoured with special

remuneration or a share in the crop during the harvesting season. This

is called the Balutedari system in the North and Adade or Kaivada

system in the South. Thus each caste has its own role in the corporate

life. In the normal course, the carpenter or the blacksmith repaired the