The Caste System

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Running headed: The Caste System THE CASTE SYSTEM Larry Middleton Faulkner State Community College Abstract This paper is about the caste system in India. The caste system was divided into four different class’s, was heavily influenced by Hinduism, and had a sub class of “untouchables”. The Caste System in Ancient India In 1500 B.C., a group of “powerful nomadic warriors known as Aryans appeared in northern India” (Dowling, 2005) bringing along with them a new social order known as the caste system. Societies under the Aryans were divided into four distinct social orders too establish a social order and stability. The three main points of the caste system were the four groups of the system, the influence of Hinduism, and the class of the “untouchables”. The four social groups of the caste system were the Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaisya, and the Sudras. The Brahmin “were the only ones permitted to read the Vedas (from which they drew their power) and their role was to spread knowledge and teaching throughout the world.”(Walsh 2007) Next, there was the Kshatriya whom were members of the warrior caste. “It was Ksatriyas who dominated positions in government and temporal society and their power was superior to all but the religious Brahmans.”(Walsh 2007) Also there were the Vaisya and the Sudras whom were the farmers and merchants, and craft workers and laborers respectively. In conclusion, the caste were developed to create social order within each of the individual class’s. The fundamentals of the caste system were established on certain ideals of Hinduism and challenged by those of Buddhism. The Dharma was created as a system of Hindu-influenced law developed during the Vedic period. It was created to regulate social order

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