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The Caste, The Class And The Color-Bar System

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The caste, the class and the colour-bar are among the systems of social stratification. The main aim of this essay is to compare and contrast these systems as well as indicating their advantages and disadvantages to development. The essay begins with defining the key terms which include comparing, contrasting and development. It further goes on to define as well as explain social stratification itself, the caste, the class and the colour-bar systems respectively. The essay further talks about the advantages and disadvantages of these systems of social stratification and how they affect development. Lastly but not the least comes the conclusion of the essay.
The term “comparing” can be defined as the way of coming up or finding out the
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He indicated that this system has recently been practiced much in India and reflect on the Hindu religious belief where the caste system is more than two thousand years old. According to the Hindu belief, there are four major types of castes: The “Brahmans” mostly priests and scholars, the “Kshatriyas” warriors, rulers, and large landholders, the “Vaishyas” merchants, farmers, and skilled artisans, the “Shudras” labourers and unskilled artisans, However, there is an additional group called the “Harijans” Sometimes called "untouchables,” they are ranked so low that technically, they are outside the caste system itself.
According to Krishnamurti Badriraju (2001), the caste system has many advantages: It helped in the preservation of culture because it was passed on from one generation to another. Preservation of purity; because of its endogamous nature, it permitted marriage within the caste thus preserved purity for each caste. Division of labour; caste system required each individual to do work prescribed for each caste. It promoted co-operation within caste to preserve their culture and protect it from degradation from other caste. Caste system was also responsible for protecting the society from alien cultures. Furthermore, the caste system promoted permanency and continuity such that each caste had a permanent constitution to guide its behaviour and action. The caste system also improved living standards because each caste struggled hard to prosper.
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