JT

Notes on Caste System in India

Introduction

  • Reference to Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism (2012), edited by Jacobsen, Basu, Malinar, and Narayanan.
  • Reference to Karma: An Anthropological Inquiry (1983) by Keyes and Daniel.
  • Reference to The Hindu World (2004), edited by Mittal and Thursby.

A Note on Caste

  • The caste system is often associated with rigid social or religious hierarchy and discrimination by non-Indians.
  • Caste is more complex than just social hierarchy.
  • Diane Mines defines caste as "one human mode of social differentiation: a mode of power, mode of action, mode of caring; sense of self in relations to others" (2009, 3).
  • Caste is sometimes seen as reflecting or creating a division of labor, but there are more castes than occupations.
  • This association is becoming less relevant in contemporary India.
  • Two Indian-language words are translated as "caste" in English: varna and jati.

Varna

  • Varna means "color" and indicates classification.
  • The term appears in Rig Veda 10.90 to describe the classes of humans created from the sacrifice of the primordial man.
  • The four classes are:
    • Brahmins: Created from the head.
    • Kshatriyas: Created from the arms and torso.
    • Vaishyas: Created from the thighs.
    • Shudras: Created from the feet.
  • The four categories are distinguished by human qualities (gunas).
  • Varna functions as an ideological model rather than one on the ground in everyday life.

Jati

  • Jati literally means species or birth.
  • This term is more commonly used in everyday conversation.
  • Some Indians use the word samaj (society) or kulam (lineage; also caste) when referring to this category.
  • There are hundreds of regionally based, traditionally endogamous, distinct jatis.
  • Traditionally, jati was visually displayed in body language, linguistic registers, women's hairstyles, styles and materials of ornaments, sari weaves, colors, and patterns, and unique festivals and rituals.
  • Some of these visual and aural indicators are slowly being lost, particularly in urban, middle-class contexts.
  • Many Hindu surnames indicate jati identification and the region of India a Hindu or their ancestors are from.
    • Patel: A caste name from Gujarat, western India.
    • Reddys: From Andhra Pradesh.
    • Bhattacharyas: From Bengal.
  • In resistance to caste identification and inequalities, some Hindus have dropped their caste-associated surnames and adopted names that cross caste levels.

Caste and Identity

  • When people in India try to place non-Indians, they often ask "what is your caste/jati?" (lit., "what were you born?").
    • The question implies "where are you from, who is your family, how were you raised, what rituals do you practice" - ultimately, "who are you and why are you here?"
  • Jati identity is assumed to permeate one's everyday action, from hygiene to food, from dress to ritual and festivals.
  • Some university professors in Hyderabad insisted that caste was no longer relevant in their daily lives.
  • However, when the discussion shifted to an upcoming dinner celebration, a comment was made about the delicious shrimp dish Mudaliars (a South Indian jati) made.
  • In this context, jati was an ethnic designation rather than one of hierarchical difference.

Caste in Contemporary India

  • In many contexts of contemporary India and Indian diasporas - particularly the workplace and social contexts outside of the home - it has become politically incorrect to ask about or speak of a person's caste because of the traditionally hierarchical nature of networks of jatis.
  • Although middle-class, modern-educated Hindus may not openly talk about caste and may not know the caste of some of their close friends and colleagues, expressions of jati can be observed in many contexts.
  • Some earlier expressions of caste are loosening (such as rules of commensality between jatis and unique clothing and jewelry styles among middle-class Indians), new ones are also emerging such as caste-based regional political parties in India, formed to "promote social and political interests of respective castes as defined in the census" (Mines 2009, 42).
  • Most alliances created through arranged marriages continue to be based on caste.
  • Although many matrimonial advertisements state "caste no bar" and inter-caste, inter-religious marriages are increasing in number, most Hindu parents would still prefer that their children marry within their jati.
  • The advantage of this is that their children would be marrying partners whose families speak the same regional language, cook the same cuisine, perform the same kinds of rituals, and celebrate the same festivals - all of which make them one of "us."

Discrimination and Mitigation

  • Historically, there has been discrimination based on caste.
  • Members of the "lowest" castes - which are outside the brahminic varna system altogether - were denied entry into some brahminic temples and other public spaces.
  • Members of certain castes were (and some still are) forced by dominant castes to perform menial "untouchable" tasks.
  • The 1950 Constitution of India prohibits discrimination based on caste, more specifically practices of "untouchability."
  • Caste discrimination and caste violence continue to exist in many contexts.
  • Gandhi introduced the term Harijans (lit., people or children of god) to make reference to those had been called "untouchables" by members of upper-castes.
  • The term itself came to be considered condescending by many who were identified as Harijans.
  • Many members of these castes are self-identifying as Dalits (lit., broken or ground down; oppressed), while others continue to identify with their specific caste names (such as Dhobi, Chamar, Mala, Madiga, and so on).

Reservations

  • To mitigate the effects of historical caste discrimination in representation in political and educational institutions and government employment, the Constitution of India - whose primary architect was a member of the then "untouchable" Mahar caste, Dr B. R. Ambedkar - instituted a system of reservations of seats in these institutions for members of specifically identified "low" castes and tribes (called in the Constitution, "scheduled" castes and tribes).
  • This system of reservations has been periodically updated to reflect shifting demographics, and it continues to feed into complicated caste politics in contemporary India.
  • This is one context in which caste is openly discussed, and the impact of reservations is felt both positively and negatively, depending on one's caste identity and status.
  • For the purposes of the everyday Hindu ritual practices described in the chapters of this book, caste is most relevant in the ways in which its regional (and even more local) manifestations create a wide range of diversity.

References

  • Mines, Diane P. 2009. Caste in India. Ann Arbor, MI: Association for Asian Studies, Inc.

Recommended Readings

  • Bayly, Susan. 2005. Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Omvedt, Gail. 1995. Dalit Visions: The Anti-Caste Movement and the Construction of an Indian Identity. New Delhi: Orient Longman.
  • Srinivas, M. N. 1995. Social Change in Modern India. New Delhi: Orient Longman.
  • Valmiki, Omprakash. 2008. Joothan: An Untouchable's Life. (trans.) Arun Prabha Mukherjee. New York: Columbia University Press.
  • Zelliot, Eleanor. 1992. From Untouchable to Dalit: Essays on the Ambedkar Movement. New Delhi: Manohar Publications.