International Journal of Science and Engineering Applications
Volume 9–Issue 04,40-42, 2020, ISSN:-2319–7560
Caste – An Evaluation of Evolution
Akash Chatterjee
Student Researcher
BA LLB (Hons.), IV Semester
Amity Law School
Amity University, Kolkata
India
Abstract: Caste - the most widely quoted term in respect to any kind of social relation is ironically the most seldom delved into.
Partial and biased opinions about the discriminatory and redundancy of this social division has quite easily eclipsed its rational origin.
As an evidence of history and a testimony in sociology, researched in the light of its origin and the impact that it has produced in
society, caste is an interesting and relevant topic of research.
Keywords: Caste, Society, Super Ordination, Origin, Hierarchy, Relevance
1. THE ORIGIN
Classification and social categorization has always been the
way of carrying out executive functions, smooth running of
administration and a functional coexistence of diversely
unrelated masses living together. Hence even society had to
be segmentally stratified into castes, and from there on
evolved caste based occupations, subsequently a rigidity did
also arise making a sharp classification that simply became
indissoluble, stringent and orthodox.
The Divine origin theory of castes suggests
that the four castes emerged from the different parts of the
AdiPurusha – Supreme God. The theory postulated that
Brahmins were born from the head of God, Kshatriyas from
the arms, vaishyas from the thighs and shudras from the feet.
This became the most widely accepted and most socially
accepted, prevalent theory and this also served as the basis for
social gradation. The Brahmins naturally were given a super
ordination over the other castes, and shudras were allotted to
be the meanest position. This classification quite
systematically categorized occupations –Brahmins were the
people who dominated the social strata with the monopolistic
knowledge of the Vedas, they used to perform the yagnas and
offer ceremonial sacrifices as well. They were initiated with a
sacred thread ceremony and enjoyed being the privileged
class. Kshatriyas were in charge of protecting the masses, they
were to assume kingship and rule the kingdom as
administrators, be skilled in the art of warfare and wield the
royal dandaas the punishment and regulating mechanism of
the code of conduct of the people. Vashyas were the
mercantile community who were supposed to take care of all
forms of business, trade and generate income for the country
or society as a whole. Shudras were the menial class who
worked and assisted the other upper castes in their day to day
activities. They were required to serve, obey and abide by the
orders of the higher castes. Although the divine origin theory
did not designate an inferior status to them, rather they
originated from the feet was a symbol of representing that the
shudras were close to the earth or the bhumi , the
interpretations changed thereafter. This was the caste which
became the most exploited, tortured and denied with
successive passage of time.
Very ideally , this was a closely knit economic
system which was a composition of strong self sufficient units
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that were complimentary to one another and helped in the
smooth functioning of the economic order.
2. BOUNDARIES
While at one hand it can be possibly claimed that caste system
acted as a classifying system, on the other hand it created
indelible boundaries that could not be crossed over and which
restricted interactions at the same time. This was primarily
due to the nature of the occupations performed by the people
of the caste groups and second of all the inherent desire of
respective caste groups to preserve their common identity.
The initiation of the system might have created sectors of
economy and restricted competition to caste based
employment, but it did not remain so simple after all. The
sectors became boundaries and these boundaries developed
into social barriers.
It can also be noted that castes served as social groups in the
society. People have their inherent tendencies to group and
belong on common grounds and mutual preferences, which in
a way knit them up as a group together and led to a common
shared identity for the members of the caste. This common
identity slowly developed into rigid ethnocentrism and
subsequently the boundaries of caste crystallised into
permanent divisions.These divisions served as the breeding
grounds of a social division which shaped a new mould in the
society.
With progress of time and when the process of Aryanisation
was expanding rapidly over the Indian subcontinent, ethnic or
ingenious people were at first socially ostracised and pushed
beyond the precincts of the Aryavrata, with minimal social
interaction with them, but this trend changed soon. As chiefs
began expanding their dominions, chiefdoms began to
develop into kingdoms. Smaller clans and tribal units, dasas
and dasyus , were conducted into the social fold. As they
entered into the caste structure of the Hindus or essentially the
Aryans, a new fifth caste emerged called the “panchamas” or
the outcastes. They obtained a place in the mainstream society
but were in a condition even worse than the Shudras. This
inclusion or rather ironic inclusion of a new caste showed a
new trend in the social dynamics. This gave a chance for the
ostracised class to get involved but at the cost of their dignity.
While on one hand this shows inclusivity in the existing
system, it also points out that acceptance of a caste in a
system was not on the basis of their occupation, rather the
familiarity. This can be held from the point of view of social
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International Journal of Science and Engineering Applications
Volume 9–Issue 04,40-42, 2020, ISSN:-2319–7560
distance. While the Brahmins, kshatriyas and the vaishyas
were segments of Aryan society and although in a hierarchy
still they were involved in continuous interactions and were
awarded the designation of Dvija or twice born and associated
with an initiation ceremony. While at one hand upanayan or
the wearing of sacred thread was a spiritual aspect of life, at
the same time, it was a poignant contrast in dynamic social
mechanism whereby the lower castes were excluded. With the
beginning being this, quite naturally opportunities, wealth and
prosperity not only varied on economic lines but also on the
distinctions of upper and lower castes. While at one hand it
may be a tool for upper castes to preserve their culture against
the inflow of indigenous people, on the other hand the
economic equation of serving and served classes. This
boundary that was essentially created was not very rigid and
there was scope for mobility at the same time, was inherently
present although not explicitly mentioned. Mobility was
specified as people could change their occupations in the line
of attaining higher social status and at the same time engaging
in a different economic activity based on individual desire or
situational demand. When this mobility allowed change of
occupations and the related caste system at the same time, the
system was not so rigid. AS time passed, a social
classificatory system became a social segmentory mechanism
which kept the castes in their respective chosen ambits and
apparently sustained the social order.
This social order was first challenged by the
incoming hordes of invaders – Hunas, sakas, yavanas
collectively often referred to as Mlecchas. When the social
fold began integrating people of foreign culture, a new
dynamic developed and in which we find the roots of
ethnocentrism and xenophobia bearing a direct relation with
caste.
3. RESTRICTIONS
Although it may seem derogatory and orthodox to have
restrictions on food habits especially when it prohibits
interaction between the castes, but at the same time society
has to be evaluated from a non judgemental view each time.
Along with food habits, marriage was hedged to a system of
endogamy – marrying within the caste groups and any
exogamous marriage was unacceptable. A person of higher
caste was supposed to maintain a distance from the lower
castes with respect to certain criteria. In respect of the food
habits – there are classifications as in kaccha food, pakka
food, raw materials. While pakka food is food cooked with
ghee or oil, kaccha food is boiled essentially and raw
materials include raw rice or fruits. A Brahmin was not
supposed to accept pakka food from any lower castes and
even in case of kaccha food there were restrictions, while raw
items could be easily given and taken. One significant feature
that is noteworthy is that, while Kshatriyas and Vaishyas both
were inferior to Brahmins, but Shudras and the outcastes were
often equated and subject to yet harder prohibitions. This can
be explained by the theory of familiarity, as the upper three
castes represented the occupations of the Aryan tribe and as
they settled, these three occupations oriented people into
corresponding castes of significance therein excluding the
shudras and the outcastes who had the importance of being
petty labour force or manpower.
Food restrictions were followed by preventions on
eating together by the higher or the lower castes and
subsequently separation of wells from which water was to be
drawn for domestic uses. This quickly engulfed the society
into a segmented and exclusively separated existence where
caste groups became myopic sectors thereby dividing the
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greater society into mutually exclusive compartments.
Kitchen, temple and wells were the first arenas to be
completely segregated. With the influx of the tribal and the
foreign mlecchas into the Hindu caste fold, the xenophobic
instincts of Brahmins and the upper castes took the form of a
poignant notion of “ purity and pollution “ . This is an
ubiquitous phenomenon that got itself expressed, as whenever
there are cultural interactions, ideas and concepts of
superiority and inferiority complex develop. In this case the
Hindu society toughened its restrictions on caste boundaries
as the root to belonging in the borders of the caste fold was
open and invited influx. Hence upper castes in an attempt to
save their privileged position, maintained that interacting with
the lower castes would be pollution or maligning their purity.
In this way, talking, mixing, touching a lower caste meant
losing of purity and social boycott as well. In case of wells,
lower castes were forbidden to use and in case of temples
there entry was restricted in many cases. This may be a
regressive social set up but from a particular situational point
of view, it was quite a natural reaction to the ongoing socio
cultural intermixing. On broader level, different caste based
economic groups had different lifestyles and standards of
hygiene, hence restricting intermixing would evade health
issues as a natural consequence thereof, because a person of
affluent class would always have standards of quality and
hygiene starkly different from a relatively poorer lower caste.
Secondly comes the question of marriage which completely
integrates two families, so in the prevailing social set up,
endogamous marriages was given the preference to once again
preserve the group culture.
With the advent of Islam in India, the prevailing
Hindu society encountered a different culture and religion
altogether, and with a new religion the xenophobic instincts
took over the prevailing upper classes and renewed
restrictions came to the fore. This time the Brahmins also felt
the threat of conversion and the threat of their own culture
system being held at ransom by the Islam Sultan. As the
Muslim population expanded, intermixing started and slowly
with more liberal Islam Sultans, a peaceful coexistence
developed.
4. VIEWPOINTS
Orientalism upheld that caste was essentially an economic
categorisation which stifled its roots slowly into the fabric of
society. From the Missionaries, Christian ambassadors of
Religion, caste was found to be embedded into the Hindu
religious system. From the administrative point of view,
Brahmins became the law makers who interpreted the
scriptures and preserved the right to teach VEDAS to the
other people, and that caste was essentially a means of
political control by classificatory segregation of a huge
population engaged in vital economic activities.
Risely primarily took the anthropological
approach and attempted to classify caste on models of race,
racial features and associated characteristics which to some
extent yielded positive confirmatory results as generations of
endogamy led to it, but making it a theory of its origin would
be neglecting the social dynamics of India. Risely’s
conception was modelled on the Orientalist theory of
Aryanisation and that castes were actually differences of
superior Aryans over the inferior Indigenous people as a result
of the political subjugation.
5. BRITISH INTERVENTION
The most significant development which caste system faced in
its history was during the period of British rule in India. As
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International Journal of Science and Engineering Applications
Volume 9–Issue 04,40-42, 2020, ISSN:-2319–7560
the British did not recognise caste system and caste
boundaries, so it essentially tried to integrate the society.
Some areas where it was witnessed were in army and in train
compartments or other services under the British government.
In these places, castes were brought to interact with each
other. This was interpreted in twin ways – first, that the liberal
western ideals of British were assimilated into the common
folk, as held by the liberal school of thought, second, it was
the British who brought the caste issu3e to the fore by
deliberately making them interact and in doing so, they tried
to sabotage the common identity and shared unity of Hindus
as a formidable force against them.
6. CHALLENGING THE SYSTEM, NEW
WINDS
Although caste remained as a vital distinction, segregating
mechanism in the society, but there were always winds of
change, when there was sheer defiance to this system. Firstly
mobility started with the process of Sanskritisation which
M.N.Srinivas has explained in which a person of lower caste
moves towards the upper castes by adopting their rites and
rituals. Next there were Bhakti and Sufi movements in
different parts of the country, in which emphasis was simply
on devotion allowing everyone to have their own right to
worship and the liberty to worship, simplifying religion to its
very core. With the freedom movement in the 19th century,
different castes and social groups came together, uniting for a
common cause and this led to a defying of caste for greater
good. Western liberal floodgates of thought and conceptions
opened up in front of the people of India and the educated
youth felt the need to reject the system at the same time.
Jyotirao Phule was adamant in defying the caste based
oppression and mobilising bonds of unity, instilling pride
amongst the depressed castes.
be shaped and developed on caste based grounds. As on one
hand, Indian political scenario developed as the biggest
democracy in the world, on the other hand, it got scarred and
marred with caste based divisive forces that in turn evolved
into a secondary socialising force as well. Now as an agent of
socialisation, caste serves as an identity that is rigid and
affiliates an identity mark to its members or the ones who bear
it.
8. CONCLUSION
The Conclusion to this topic cannot be simple, but there can
always be a food for thought out of this piece of research –
That is the question of Dynamicity and development in each
social system or mechanism. Since the only thing static in
society is change, hence every social aspect undergoes a
change. Caste as developed was a vital mode of social control
which soon lost its significance into an orthodox practice,
similarly any rule or law on society thereof should be dynamic
as society churns out different consequences on the same
aspects revolving around in its ambit, and caste in this sense is
definitely a product of society envisioned in the perspective of
history.
9. BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.
Sociology - D.C. Bhattacharya
2.
Sociology of Indian Society – C.N. Shankar Rao
3.
History of Modern India – Ishita Bannerjee
4.
Principles of Sociology – C.N Shankar Rao
However the biggest change came with B.R.Ambedkar and
his policy of reservations on the basis of castes so that the
lower castes who have suffered centuries of neglect can be
pulled up at par with the other castes. 1979 Mandal
Commission slated to recognise some castes as Scheduled
Castes and Tribes, thereby entitling them to reservations in
public sectors and educational institutions, although it was a
step ahead, but today even this step is being misutilised into
wrongful gains by people entitled to reservations.
7. POLITICISING AND SOCIALISING
Among the various other effects that the institution of caste
has on society, perhaps the most significant in today’s aspect
shall be its politicising nature- the way it has aided politics to
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