Hindu Caste System

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Introduction To begin with, the caste system in India is a social stratification system and it was developed during the ancient times. The origin of this system lie in Hinduism but it was used to divide people into separate communities. This system in its religious form is not more than a simple division of society where four castes are placed in a hierarchy and the untouchables or the outcasts are not a part of this hierarchy. Socially, the caste system is a very complicated concept due to addition of new castes, and sub-castes. The caste system has also been adopted by the South Asian Muslims due to the Hindu converts and close contact with the Hindu culture. The similarities and the differences among these two caste systems will be analyzed throughout this paper. The aim of this paper is to show that the caste system continues to discriminate individuals and isolates them socially within the Indian Subcontinent. Background Information The Hindu Caste System The concept of being born into a “”jaati” does not seem familiar to many of us. The society that we live in, ignores, often rejects this view and does not aim to understand the roots of this social inequality. The literature that will be studied in depth for this research paper aims to distinguish between the different castes, it outlines the major differences between them and compares the Hindu and Muslim caste system. In hinduism, the major castes are Bhramin ( Priests), Kshatryia ( Warroiors), Viasya ( Merchants, Landowners), Sudra ( Commoners, Peasants, Servants) and the Untouchables (street sweepers, latrine cleaners) . But these castes are divided into many different subtypes for example; the Kshatryia’s are divided into; the rajputs, the kukkurs, the rorhas, Jats, Marattas, Maravans, Ahamdians, Kallans, and a few more. The caste system also exists in the Muslim community but it differs in

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