India 's Caste System Of India

Commonly referred to as the “oldest religion” in the world, Hinduism is believed to be created by the Aryans between 500 BCE and 300 CE. With over one billion followers internationally, it is the third largest religion. As a way to justify the caste system that had been put in place in India, many followed Hinduism due to reincarnation being apart of the religion. Many believed that individuals were in their current caste system due to what they did in the previous life. While Hinduism continued to prosper throughout India, Buddhism, a religion created by Siddhartha Gautama, was created and many started to turn this faith as a way to ensure the serenity of their afterlife. Due to Buddha creating a faith and basing a majority of it off of Hinduism’s

Oppression in India has been happening for over a thousand years with little to no action being done to stop the caste discrimination. There has been oppression occurring in India against Dalits, people below the caste system who are also known as Untouchables, and to lower caste people because of their culture and their religion, Hinduism. In order to rid caste discrimination facing Dalits and lower castes in India, people of India must know and evaluate the history of the oppression, the current situation India is in, and what has been done, needs to be done to solve this issue.

In Hinduism there are 330 million gods. 330 million is a mighty vast number. The distance from Earth to Jupiter, at their closest point, is 365 million miles. That’s almost one god for every mile between Earth and Jupiter. A 5-pound broiler chicken’s feather is about 0.0082 grams. 330 million chicken feathers would weigh about 2.71 metric tons, that’s the same as a blue whale’s tongue. Things like those are why I enjoy studying about different religions. Three areas of Hinduism that I’ll be focusing in this essay are caste system, genders and the Om.

The Caste System are groups assigned to someone at birth not by personality. The concept behind this social system people are different and different people will fit will into different aspect of society. The class you belong to is based off of a person’s varna, which means social class in not determined by birth but by our aptitudes and abilities. To better understand the caste system it is important to know the different groups of the system, how do you move to different levels, and what is the standard that needs to be met in order the move to different levels.

The caste system really wasn't part of Hinduism, at first. The caste system began at about the same time as Hindusim. The caste system remained in place in India for thousands of years, long after Aryan rule was replaced by other leaders. But over the years, the caste system became intertwined with Hindu India. When Buddhism began in India, Buddhists did not recognize castes. That made Buddhism very attractive to the lower ranks in India's society. But in spite of the introduction of Buddhism and other religions, most ancient India people remained Hindus, and thus the caste system

Hinduism is one of many religions practiced in the world. According to an article focused on the background and beliefs of Asian religions, Hinduism is a religion “developed over many centuries from a variety of sources: cultural practices, sacred texts, and philosophical movements, as well as local popular beliefs,” (“Beliefs Made Visible” 4). A system assigned by birth and social class is well known and used in this religion, otherwise known as a Caste System. In their respective groups, individuals will be born into these groups and must stay in their separate group until their death (“The Caste System” 1). It is divided into four categories: Brahmin (priests, scholars), Kshatriya (warriors), Vaishya (traders) and Shudra (laborers), (“Hindu Caste System” 1).

The Indian caste system is historically one of the main elements where people in India are socially differentiated through classes, religions, regions, tribes, genders, and languages. Caste is a term which is used to specify a group of people having a specific rank. The Indian term for caste is jati and generally designates a group that can vary in size from a handful to many thousands. The various jati are traditionally arranged in hierarchical order and fit into one of the four basic varnas – Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Sudras. Each caste had a clearly defined role. Members of each caste were obligated to look after one another, so each caste had its own support system. This paper describes the role of each varnas in the society.

The next video ‘our journey-How we know caste’ taught me that the caste still exists usually in the poor countries but none of us pays attention because we believe that this has already ceased to exist. Dalit are people that identity denotes a social struggle against caste. The abuse for not belonging to a social class that makes their world acceptable may destroy the weakest. Their dreams for a better future are covered in fear of being physically and verbally abused. There are segregation because the village is divided in caste lines, Dalits

The Indian caste system describes the system of social stratification and social restrictions in India in which social classes are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups, often termed jātis or castes. Within a jāti, there exist exogamous groups known as gotras, the lineage or clan of an individual. In a handful of sub-castes such as Shakadvipi, endogamy within a gotra is permitted and alternative mechanisms of restricting endogamy are used (e.g. banning endogamy within a surname).

Caste system was prevailing until 1950. Later on, back in 1962 (Gellner, D. N. 2007) in Nepal, the Government officially declared caste system as outdated and illegal. Because of the Hindu subjugated law until 1990 it was vigorous in the society but after a decade-long civil war in Nepal its influence fade away gradually. At the ground level people are well aware of its negative impact. However, due to certain factors, the caste system still has its roots in the society.

the caste discrimination since 1950 but the plight of untouchables is still a matter of concern. The

The caste system’s preferential treatment is the same with that of Apartheid in South Africa and the colonialism of Spaniards in the Philippines. “Race, then, as a basis for social rank is always a socially defined phenomenon which at most only very imperfectly corresponds to genetically transmitted traits and then, of course, only to phenotypes rather than genotypes” (Berreman, 1972, p.390). That is to say, people are regarded and treated as alike or different because of the group they belong to or in terms of the social ancestry they are

Outside of this system is an even lower level called the untouchables. About 77% of India’s population is part of the ‘Shudras’ and ‘the untouchables’ castes; in the past, caste dictated almost every aspect of Hindu religious and social life. Although the caste system is not as prominent in the country as it once was, it still exists today in the rural communities. In 1950, Independent India banned discrimination on the basis of this caste system in order to level the playing field for those disadvantaged by the system. Job quotas were created in government and education positions. Individuals born in the lower caste take on jobs such as farming, fishing, working with cattle and many other jobs commonly seen in rural areas. Many have a hard time finding jobs at all. The caste system is a large cause of the poverty in India because it forces 77% of the population into low paying jobs; these individuals are not allowed to ever break away from their predetermined life or are not given the opportunity to attain a higher paying job. Last names are almost always an indication to which caste a person belongs. Individuals living with this low status are also looked down upon, which effects how they are treated socially. For example, it is common for landowners to charge a higher rent to those belonging to the lower caste. With low incomes they are unable to pay a high rent which ultimately leaves them to settle in

Dalits represent a community of 170 million in India, constituting 17% of the population. One out of every six Indians is Dalit, yet due to their caste identity Dalits regularly face discrimination and violence which prevent them from enjoying the basic human rights and dignity promised to all citizens of India. Caste-based social organization extends beyond India, finding corollaries in Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, as well as other countries outside of South Asia. More than 260 million people worldwide suffer from this “hidden apartheid” of segregation, exclusion, and discrimination.

Due to reservations, Dalits and schedules castes are provided public employment and a percentage of availability guaranteed apart from having reserved electoral districts. With a rapid growth in population, the idea of what a traditional caste is has shifted from determining ones economic wealth and class status to having a better idea of where ones stands on the political spectrum which partly benefits those wishing to politically appeal to the Dalits. Thus, the idea of castes has slowly shifted from a socio-economic status given to one at birth to now, a political strategy used to form strong political parties and alliances by promising Schedule Classes and other Backward Classes, who generate much of India’s population, newfound political change. However, it is not that simple. Although the idea of quotas and reservations are appealing and a great step towards equalization, through Lecture 2, it pointed out that these reservations aren’t as effective in minimizing the political disparity between castes. This is in part because when reservations and politics are combined, it is “useless” as researcher Jensenius puts it, because politicians are controlled completely by their parties and will not take action that goes against the party’s beliefs.