Indian social and political ideas can be traced back to the Indus Valley Civilization. Hinduism was

Scholars stressed that the role of Indian colonizers brought Hinduism to reflect the ideology that emphasizes on Southeast Asia. Hinduism spread throughout India by certain people and territory (Strayer, 183). Hinduism became part of the Indian civilization for the different people that migrated or invaded into Southeastern Asia (Strayer, 133).

The caste system has been extremely stable in India for over two thousand years. It is only since the more modern, independent state of India was formed that the system has come under any scrutiny at all. It is presently outlawed, but many of the practices, attitudes and traditions remain ingrained in Hindu society (University of Wyoming, 1997).

Hinduism has been in India forever. Nobody knows exactly how this religion started. P.N. Chopra notes in his Religions and Communities of India that India is a hallowed and sacred land for Hindus (17). It has been in India for thousands of years. It started somewhere between 4000 and 2200 BCE, in the civilization of the Indus Valley. In one of the places where the civilization of the world started, the Mahenjo-Daro and Harappa, which was laid along the Indus valley gave so many evidences about the existence of this religion. The archeologists have found the three-faced god on the Indus seal is similar to the god Siva that is very foremost in Hinduism until today (Finegan 49). They also found some metal sculptures from the pre-Harappa era that show their worship to gods and goddess. Hinduism is an old religion and nobody is sure about when it exactly started, and it does not hold one specific person to be its founder. The long history of Hinduism in India makes it really rooted in India. Even Sharma states that if Hinduism is look like natural and very old, it is because of the age that may be older than civilization (36). The long history of Hinduism in India has been effecting its strength. Although there were

Historically, India was under British rule until 1950. Many people in India felt that during British rule they were powerless (Beteille, 2010). All of the problems in the country were blamed on this helplessness (Beteille, 2010). When India became independent and developed its own constitution, a large amount of emphasis was placed on the role of government in solving social problems (Beteille, 2010). During British rule, many customs and practices in India were based on the Hindu religion (Beteille, 2010). The British left those in place, neither making them unlawful nor supporting them (Beteille, 2010). When the new government was established, the caste system that had so sharply defined India was declared unlawful (Beteille, 2010). While this was a step in the

Firstly, the caste system reflects the inequality of Indian society. Although religion in India is characterized by a diversity of religious beliefs and practices, majority of Indian population follow Hinduism. Therefore, the dominance of Hinduism beliefs is common in India. There is a belief in caste system, as Brood said, “a system of hierarchical social organization”1. Hindu society is divided into four main classes; the priestly class, the warrior and administrator class, the producer class who is farmers and merchants and the servant class. The remaining group of people who is “outcastes” is called “untouchables” or dalit. Brodd recognizes “dalits continue to suffer terrible oppression, especially in rural communities in India”. I still could not imagine how terrible this bottom class suffers until reading Max Bearak article. All sufferings of Rohith Vemula, from the hardships of growing up poor, interactions with society in caste to scholarship revoke and suicide, happened tragically because he was born in a dalit family. This is the

The oldest religion shown in this info graphic is Hinduism. With the birth of Krishna in 3,000 B.C.E, Hinduism is the earliest founded of all the religions. Hinduism would soon grow and diffuse throughout the rest of India. As time goes on, Buddha is born in one of the northern-most parts of India. This leads to the founding of a new religion, Buddhism. Buddhism spreads rapidly throughout parts of Asia, surprisingly, not affecting the area in which Hinduism is prominent. While Christianity spread in the West, Buddhism flourished in the East, becoming prominent is China, Korea, The Philippines, and Eastern Russia. Hinduism also grew at this point, traveling to countries in Southeast Asia like Vietnam and Thailand. As it stands today, Hinduism

The caste system also plays a critical role on Indian society as it dictates a person’s social position. I believe this to be true in more rural areas and smaller communities of Indian society. The dharma in each caste system is not always the same and the caste systems dharma can vary. This is to say that dharma is not necessarily universal

On the other hand, India has spent a majority of its history as a colony of England. It was not until 1947 that India became an independent nation state, after a grassroots nationalist movement started by Gandhi, and even then they were a one party congress. They are also an interesting case of democracy because of how many unfavorable aspects towards it they had, such as high inequality, many peasants, and many different languages and religions (Lecture). In 1956, India was broken up into states by the States Reorganization Act, that made state lines based on linguistic group. India’s founding leaders mirrored the ideas of America, in balancing states rights with a central government (Sil, 2014). They have also more recently gone through a liberalization of their economy. India is unique in the way that their social hierarchy is constructed because of the fact that they have a caste system. The caste system is a combination of religious practice and community organization that is a part of Hinduism (Sil, 2014). This system was officially demolished in the country, but in the country it is still very prevalent, and the focus on helping those who were in lower castes succeed has made people more aware of the way they institute social policies.

Every member of the caste system is truly happy with their lives, from the lower three castes whose lives consist of meaningless jobs like elevator operators to assembly line workers to the intellectual alpha’s who were the thinkers and consumers of the society.

What are the four major castes? What implications does the caste system have for everyday life? How does the caste system relate to Hindu ideas of spiritual life? “The four major castes of Hindu society are; seers ( brahmins ), administrators ( kshatriyas ), artisans or farmers ( vaishyas ), and followers or servants ( shudras)”( Smith 56). Smith writes, religious leaders, teachers, artists, and philosophers are members of the first caste, brahmins, khatriyas, the second caste, first known as warriors are now managers. The tillers of the land, the makers of bricks, and the builders are part of the third caste, vaishyas. The fourth caste is made up of servants, those who will take care of the other castes’ needs (56)”. While I was working in India, summer of 2001 and there at the invitation of the richest family in India and staying at one of their compounds, some of my co-workers and I were playing snooker. A young boy walked into the room where we were playing. He stopped and talked to us for a few minutes before continuing to bed. Accompanied by a man of about twenty years old, the boy’s shudra, who had been the boy’s personal servant for ten or more years. The shudra’s purpose was to protect and serve his charge’s every need. Although there is inequality between castes, Smith denotes.“ within each caste, there is equality, opportunity, and social insurance ( 57)”. Although the text

            The internal divisions and complexes hierarchy of the Indian society served an important social function.  The system provided each individual with a clear identity and role and offered the benefits of group solidarity and support.  Certain interactions and behaviors were appropriate only between those of equal status. The system assured that the religious, political, and financial powers were all separated into four different social classes (Bulliet, et. 2011).

A few disadvantages of India’s social system are that Religion, caste, and language are major determinants of social organizations. According to the US Department of State-Background Notes website, even though the government has declared the caste system as illegal, it still has a presence in occupational and societal hierarchies (The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs, 2010).

The cultural development of the indian civilization were way different with China and Arabs. “Whereas Confucianism paid little attention to the gods, spirits and speculation about religious matters, Indian elite culture embraced the divine and all things spiritual with enthusiasm and generated elaborate philosophical visions about the nature of reality”.(Ways of the world,197) Compared to how Confucianism was founded by Confucius in China during the 6th century B.C.E, and how Islam was found by Mohammad the prophet, Hinduism had no founder. Instead it flourished within the Indian civilizations and associated with particular people and territory over many centuries.

World’s largest democracy, an emerging economy and on the race to become a regional/global superpower: India has come a long way in the past few decades. Despite the evident threats of bankruptcy, caste politics and Hindu Nationalism, India is a great example of unity in diversity and ‘a beacon of high-tech modernity’. (Corbridge et al, 2013). However, it can be said that India is stuck between a prodigious need for cultural renaissance and the banes of class politics. (Pradhan et al, 2105: 12). The caste system in India is intricately correlated to class stratification and this is of immense political value in India as class and caste differences shape the politics in India till a great extent. In this essay, I will begin by talking about the association between class and caste, as this is an important aspect in order to understand how these issues shape the politics of India. Further on, I will talk about the gradual emergence of classes over the period of time and their influence on politics, beginning with colonial period and concluding with the modern India. I will then attempt to display the crucial role played by the classes during the 2014 elections. The essay will then discuss how the Indian middle-class contributes to shaping the politics of India. I will then go on to write about the other classes and their influence over politics. To conclude, I will talk about how class is just one of the innumerable other factors contributing to the politics in India.

caste” has been widely used to describe ranked groups within rigid systems of social stratification and especially those which constitute the society of Hindu India.