The Caste System Of India

Dictionary.com defines a Hindu Caste as "any of the social divisions into which Hindu society is traditionally divided, each caste having its own privileges and limitations, transferred by inheritance from one generation to the next." The Hindu caste system divides the Hindus into four hierarchical ranked castes, also referred to as the varnas. These castes include the Brahmins, Kshatriya ,Vaishya, and the Shudra. According to study.com, the Brahmins were known to be the priestly class of Hindu society. They are considered to be priests and teachers of the law. They were the only members of the four castes that were allowed to teach the Vedas, which is known to be the most sacred texts of the Hindu society. Although the Brahmins are ranked

The Caste system has aroused much controversy than any other feature of India’s society. Every day, Dalits are butchered, assaulted, abused, raped, lynched, shot or openly mutilated without considering any consequences of the offenders. The deaths of pregnant women who are not able to pay the bribes at government hospitals, some boys with eyes raised completely out for falling in love with a girl of a superior caste, and horrid stories of employees boiled to death because of spewing out arguments with the boss are continuously reported in mainstream newspapers. After years of democracy, the social structure stands to practice the caste system disregarding abolishment laws. Every international or national effort to abolish caste differentiation and segregation has been proven ineffective. The caste system of India is a deeply inculcated social problem requiring immense commitment domestically and internationally in understanding what has stopped the measures to get rid of this ancient system and what measures are needed to complete elimination of the system.

Throughout our experience, we have encountered so many challenges when it comes to gender in the society. Gender is being used as a basis for stratifying people in the society. In this article, the racial caste system that used to exist in the United State is depicted. In that the black women were denied the access to justice because of their status. They were perceived to be people who do not have any right within the society and no one could believed them when they were raped by the white men because all the court judges were white men according to this article. The women were classified to be from poor background and they should remain at a low class in the society.

Hinduism reinforces the caste system, which is a "division of society into social classes that are created by birth or occupation" and it is a "prevalent social system of Hinduism" (Molloy 90). Thus, class and race are both elements affected by the caste system. There are different castes, or social classes, and there are also subcastes. Despite the caste being permanent for one's life, it's not to say that those in lower castes cannot move up to a higher caste. This is where the concept of rebirth comes into Hinduism, which is the idea that an individual can make certain choices in their lives, good or bad, and this can affect what caste they will be reborn into.

As in China, another dominant developing classical civilization, India, (300 B.C.-A.D. 500) focused greatly on philosophy and religious progress. Implanted within Indian divine belief systems, social status dictated all. The caste system, provided order and stability in India. Based out of Hinduism, the caste system clearly determined social status between five different divisions. The top of the caste were Brahmins (priests), followed by the Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaisyas (merchants), underneath merchants were Shudras (peasants and laborers), and the lowest rank were Pariahs (untouchables). Hinduism and Buddhism, the two dominating religions in India share many of the same concepts, as well as some distinct differences. These two religions

I have to respectfully disagree with Rachel Stermer’s claim that General Hooker having a greater rank then Colonel Robert Shaw represented a class bias because General Hooker received a monument more significant than that of Colonel Shaw. The Colonel could not be a victim of class bias because he himself came from one of the most prominent families in Boston, and was a member of Boston’s elite Brahmin caste: “A class representative of what Oliver Wendell Holmes had dubbed the “Brahmin caste” and its symbol of moral superiority, he came from one of the city’s wealthiest and most venerable families” (Kessler 34). Thus, since both Shaw and Hooker were members of prestigious social circles, one could not be biased towards the other because their economic status was

During the last centuries of the classical era, India and many other civilizations modified their culture while other lifestyles continued on with the way they had always been. During the periods from 300 – 600 C.E, Indian civilizations kept their political structure of the caste system and also their religion of Hinduism, but slowly departed away from long distance trade with other societies.

Caste-system oppression has been a staple in human culture for centuries. It hasn’t always been centered around race, but was initially centralized around a 3-teired caste system. The ideals surrounding oppression, slavery, segregation, and social injustice were created by the wealthy class centuries ago and have served a lasting influence on our culture still today. Many problems faced today aren’t a result of a war of the races, but instead a war of the classes. This idea of a fair America and the whole essence behind “the American dream” is long gone, and many blame it on our country’s adherence to capitalism and greed. Others might believe that these cards are stacked an ever-struggling third class American citizen and there is reason to

Allison, I don’t agree with your statement that “I think it is interesting because, in America, we too have different classes of people, as well as in the world.”. As you are comparing Hinduisms caste system to American capitalism. In America, we have a lower, middle, and upper class. However, a person is not confined to any specific class in the United States. It is possible for someone from the lower class to be a part of the upper class through education or entrepreneurship. Whereas in the Hinduism caste system, the people are restricted to their class. A person that is born a Shudra could be a genius, but cannot become a doctor because of their class. The only exception of an individual leaving their caste system would be a woman.

Untouchability as claimed by the Indian government is said to be abandoned 60 years ago, however still 40% of Dalits are illiterate (Around 70 million). This tells us that the caste system unfortunately still exists. The caste system is a system of class and hierarchy, it divides people in terms of classes called castes which usually determines their status in the community and therefor their livelihoods. The caste system still exists and if not constitutionally definitely socially. The caste system presence keeps different communities separated, lowers national GDP (Economic activity/development), discriminates against those of the lower caste, slows the development procedure and creates unlimited social consequences.

The different belief systems allowed for rulers to maintain power in their empires. The systems would enforce their right to rule. For example, Alexander the Great affirmed the divinity of his rule to the Egyptians when an oracle confirmed that he was the son of Zeus Amon. As the Mauryan Empire reached its peak, when Buddhism was adopted as the official religion. It was essential to maintaining imperial unity. In addition, Ashoka declared himself to be a universal monarch. Inscriptions of decrees issued by Ashoka during his reign show the use of Buddhism as a sanction for rule. For the Guptas, Hinduism allowed for there to be more powerful sanctions for the reign of the kings and the validation of the caste system. The success of the Qin dynasty

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

Gradually the profession or activities became hereditary as the profession began to be followed by succeeding generations as it was easy for the father to teach his son his profession. This was the starting point of Caste system that began to be based upon one’s birth in a particular family. However each group had its own advantages and disadvantages. The priest class had to lead a very simple life without craving for worldly pleasures of life; they were supposed to spend the major part of their life or their entire life in the study of scriptures, in teaching and in spiritual practices that were their duties. They were also supposed to follow tradition in every aspect of their life including their appearance and dress code. All these involved strict discipline of body, mind and Spirit in everything that was really difficult especially for youngsters. But they were also given the highest place in society because ancient India always respected learned, knowledgeable ones and men of wisdom. Similarly the Kshatriyas were expected to protect the sovereignty of their Mother land and its people. There was the risk of losing their very lives when they engaged themselves in such acts that was their duty. Their advantage was that they could command others, could become their leaders and administer them on account of their leadership and administrative qualities and they could lead a life full of comforts and luxuries. People had high esteem for such people as they were considered as leaders and protectors of their life and possessions. The Vysyas who were good in business could lead a luxurious life as they could amass wealth through their business. However they had to take risks in business that led to losing their wealth sometimes even totally and especially in olden times they had to travel long distances on foot for the sake of doing business in far off places and as the

India is known for its highly-restricted or even cruel, inhuman caste system. This caste system will follow an Indian’s life forever, until he died. An Indian can’t choose which caste to be but only nature-born. This caste system highly prevent to social development in India. Recently, this system even destroys the normal, happy life of normal Indians. They fight against caste system for love but ends up suiciding.

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).