The caste system in India is a social hierarchy that divides the entire population of the country into distinct groups of both low and high origin. Such a system presents various rules and prohibitions.
Main types of castes
Types of castes come from 4 varnas (which means genus, species), according to which the entire population was divided. The division of society into varnas was based on the fact that people cannot be the same; there is a certain hierarchy, since each person has his own path in life.
The highest varna was varna brahmins, that is, priests, teachers, scientists, mentors. The second in rank is the kshatriya varna, which means rulers, nobility, and warriors. Next varna Vaishyas These included cattle breeders, farmers, and traders. The last varna sudra consisted of servants and dependent people.
The first three varnas and sudras had a clear, even sharp boundary between themselves. The highest varna is also called “dvija”, which means twice-born. Ancient Indians believed that when people were born a second time, an initiation ceremony took place and a sacred thread was tied onto them.
The main goal of the brahmans was that they had to teach others and learn themselves, bring gifts to the gods, and perform sacrifices. The main color is white.
Kshatriyas
The task of the kshatriyas is to protect the people and also to study. Their color is red.
Vaishya
The main responsibility of Vaishyas is cultivating land, raising livestock and other socially respected work. Yellow color.
Shudras
The purpose of the sudras is to serve the three highest varnas and engage in hard physical work. They did not have their own quest and could not pray to the gods. Their color is black.
These people were outside the castes. Most often they lived in villages and could only do the hardest work.
Over the centuries, the social structure and India itself have changed significantly. As a result, the number of public groups increased from four to several thousand. The lowest caste was the most numerous. Of the total population, it included approximately 40 percent of the residents. The upper caste was small, comprising about 8 percent of the population. The middle caste was approximately 22 percent and the untouchables were 17 percent.
Members of some castes may be scattered throughout the country, while others, for example, live in one area. But in any case, representatives of each caste live separately and isolated from each other.
Castes in India can be easily identified based on numerous characteristics. People have different types, the manner of wearing them, the presence or absence of certain relationships, marks on the forehead, hairstyle, type of housing, food consumed, dishes and their names. It is almost impossible to pose as a member of another caste.
What helps keep the principles of caste hierarchy and isolation unchanged for so many centuries? Of course, it has its own system of prohibitions and rules. This system controls social, everyday and religious relations. Some rules are unchangeable and eternal, while others are changeable and secondary. For example, every Hindu from birth to death will belong to his caste. The only exception can be his expulsion from the caste due to violation of laws. No one has the right to choose a caste of his own free will or to move to another caste. It is forbidden to marry a person from outside your caste only if the husband belongs to a higher varna than his wife. The opposite is categorically unacceptable.
In addition to the untouchables, there are also Indian hermits, who are called sannyasins. Caste rules do not affect them in any way. Each caste has its own type of occupation, that is, some are engaged only in agriculture, others in trade, others in weaving, etc. The customs of the caste must be strictly observed and executed. For example, a higher caste cannot accept food or drink from a lower caste, otherwise it will be considered ritual pollution.
This entire system of hierarchy of social strata of the population is based on a powerful foundation of ancient institutions. According to them, a person is considered to belong to a particular caste because he performed all caste duties poorly or well in his past life. As a result of this, a Hindu must undergo births and deaths, which are influenced by previously received karma. Previously, movements had been created that rejected these divisions.
Caste system of modern India
Every year in modern India, caste restrictions and the strictness of their observance are gradually weakening. Not all prohibitions and rules require strict and zealous observance. It is already difficult to determine by appearance what caste a person belongs to, with the exception, perhaps, of the Brahmins, whom you can see in temples or, if you go to. Only the caste rules regarding marriage are completely unchanged and will not be relaxed. Also today in India there is a struggle against the caste system. To achieve this, special benefits are established for those who are officially registered as representatives of a lower caste. Discrimination based on caste is prohibited by Indian law and can be punishable as a criminal offence. But still, the old system is firmly rooted in the country, and the fight against it is not as successful as many would like.
The untouchable caste in India is a phenomenon that cannot be found in any other country in the world. Originating in ancient times, the caste division of society exists in the country to this day. The lowest level in the hierarchy is occupied by the untouchable caste, which includes 16-17% of the country's population. Its representatives constitute the “bottom” of Indian society. Caste structure is a complex issue, but let’s try to shed light on some of its aspects.
Caste structure of Indian society
Despite the difficulty of reconstructing a complete structural picture of castes in the distant past, it is still possible to identify historical groups in India. There are five of them.
The highest group (varna) of brahmanas includes civil servants, large and small landowners, and priests.
Next comes the Kshatriya varna, which included the military and agricultural castes - Rajaputs, Jats, Marathas, Kunbis, Reddis, Kapus, etc. Some of them form a feudal stratum, the representatives of which later join the lower and middle ranks of the feudal class.
The next two groups (vaishyas and sudras) include the middle and lower castes of farmers, officials, artisans, and community servants.
And finally, the fifth group. It includes the castes of community servants and farmers, deprived of all rights to own and use land. They are called untouchables.
“India”, “untouchable caste” are concepts inextricably linked with each other in the minds of the world community. Meanwhile, in a country with an ancient culture, they continue to honor the customs and traditions of their ancestors in dividing people according to their origin and belonging to some caste.
The history of the untouchables
The lowest caste in India - the untouchables - owes its appearance to the historical process that took place in the region in the Middle Ages. At that time, India was conquered by stronger and more civilized tribes. Naturally, the invaders came to the country with the aim of enslaving its indigenous population, preparing for them the role of servants.
To isolate the Indians, they were settled in special settlements built separately, similar to modern ghettos. Civilized outsiders did not allow the natives into their community.
It is assumed that it was the descendants of these tribes who subsequently formed the untouchable caste. It included farmers and servants of the community.
True, today the word “untouchables” has been replaced by another - “Dalits”, which means “oppressed”. It is believed that "untouchables" sounds offensive.
Since Indians often use the word "jati" rather than "caste", their number is difficult to determine. But still, Dalits can be divided by occupation and place of residence.
How do untouchables live?
The most common Dalit castes are Chamars (tanners), Dhobis (washerwomen) and Pariahs. If the first two castes have some kind of profession, then the pariahs live only on unskilled labor - removing household waste, cleaning and washing toilets.
Hard and dirty work is the fate of the untouchables. The lack of any qualifications brings them a meager income, allowing them only
However, among the untouchables there are groups that are at the top of the caste, such as the hijras.
These are representatives of all kinds of sexual minorities who engage in prostitution and begging. They are also often invited to all kinds of religious rituals, weddings, and birthdays. Of course, this group has much more to live on than the untouchable tanner or laundress.
But such an existence could not but cause protest among the Dalits.
Protest struggle of the untouchables
Surprisingly, the untouchables did not resist the tradition of division into castes imposed by the invaders. However, in the last century the situation changed: the untouchables, under the leadership of Gandhi, made the first attempts to destroy the stereotype that had developed over centuries.
The essence of these performances was to draw public attention to caste inequality in India.
Interestingly, Gandhi's cause was taken up by a certain Ambedkar from the Brahmin caste. Thanks to him, the untouchables became Dalits. Ambedkar ensured that they received quotas for all types of professional activities. That is, an attempt was made to integrate these people into society.
Today's controversial policies of the Indian government often cause conflicts involving untouchables.
However, it does not come to the point of rebellion, because the untouchable caste in India is the most submissive part of the Indian community. The age-old timidity of other castes, ingrained in the consciousness of people, blocks any thoughts of rebellion.
Indian Government Policy and Dalits
The untouchables... The life of the harshest caste in India evokes a cautious and even contradictory reaction from the outside, since we are talking about the age-old traditions of the Indians.
But still, caste discrimination is prohibited at the state level in the country. Actions that offend representatives of any varna are considered a crime.
At the same time, the caste hierarchy is legalized by the country's constitution. That is, the untouchable caste in India is recognized by the state, which looks like a serious contradiction in government policy. As a result, the modern history of the country has many serious conflicts between and even within individual castes.
The untouchables are the most despised class in India. However, other citizens are still terribly afraid of Dalits.
It is believed that a representative of an untouchable caste in India is capable of desecrating a person from another varna by his very presence. If a Dalit touches the clothes of a Brahman, the latter will need more than one year to cleanse his karma of filth.
But an untouchable (the caste of South India includes both men and women) may well become the object of sexual violence. And no defilement of karma occurs in this case, since this is not prohibited by Indian customs.
An example is the recent case in New Delhi, where a 14-year-old untouchable girl was kept as a sex slave for a month by a criminal. The unfortunate woman died in the hospital, and the detained criminal was released by the court on bail.
At the same time, if an untouchable violates the traditions of his ancestors, for example, he dares to publicly use a public well, then the poor fellow will face swift reprisals on the spot.
Dalit is not a sentence of fate
The untouchable caste in India, despite government policies, still remains the poorest and most disadvantaged part of the population. The average literacy rate among them is a little over 30.
The situation is explained by the humiliation that children of this caste are subjected to in educational institutions. As a result, illiterate Dalits constitute the bulk of the unemployed in the country.
However, there are exceptions to the rule: about 30 millionaires in the country are Dalits. Of course, this is tiny compared to the 170 million untouchables. But this fact says that Dalit is not a decree of fate.
An example is the life of Ashok Khade, who belonged to the tanner caste. The guy worked as a docker during the day and studied textbooks at night to become an engineer. His company currently closes deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
There is also the opportunity to leave the Dalit caste - this is a change of religion.
Buddhism, Christianity, Islam - any faith technically takes a person out of the untouchables. This was first used at the end of the 19th century, and in 2007, 50 thousand people immediately accepted Buddhism.
It will come across, I know many Indian travelers who live there for months, but are not interested in castes because they are not necessary for life.
The caste system today, like a century ago, is not exotic, it is part of the complex organization of Indian society, a multifaceted phenomenon that has been studied by Indologists and ethnographers for centuries, dozens of thick books have been written about it, so I will publish here only 10 interesting facts about Indian castes - about the most popular questions and misconceptions.
1. What is an Indian caste?
Indian caste is such a complex phenomenon that it is simply impossible to give an exhaustively complete definition!
Castes can only be described through a number of characteristics, but there will still be exceptions.
Caste in India is a system of social stratification, a separate social group related by the origin and legal status of its members. Castes in India are built according to the following principles: 1) general (this rule is always observed); 2) one profession, usually hereditary; 3) members of castes enter into relationships only among themselves, as a rule; 4) members of the caste generally do not eat with strangers, with the exception of other Hindu castes of significantly higher social position than their own; 5) caste members can be determined by who they can accept water and food, processed and raw.
2. There are 4 castes in India
Now in India there are not 4, but about 3 thousand castes, they can be called differently in different parts of the country, and people with the same profession can have different castes in different states. For a complete list of modern castes by state, see http://socialjustice...
What nameless people on tourist and other near-Indian sites call 4 castes are not castes at all, they are 4 varnas - chaturvarnya - an ancient social system.
4 Varnas (वर्ना) is an ancient Indian class system. Brahmins (more correctly a brahmin) historically are clergy, doctors, teachers. Varna Kshatriyas (in ancient times it was called Rajanya) are rulers and warriors. Varna vaishyas are farmers and traders, and varna sudras are laborers and landless peasants who work for others.
Varna is a color (in Sanskrit again), and each Indian varna has its own color: the Brahmins have white, the Kshatriyas have red, the Vaishyas have yellow, the Shudras have black, and before, when all representatives of the varnas wore a sacred thread - he was just their varna.
Varnas correlate with castes, but in very different ways, sometimes there is no direct connection, and since we have already delved into science, it must be said that Indian castes, unlike varnas, are called jati - जाति.
Read more about Indian castes in modern India
3. Caste of Untouchables
The untouchables are not a caste. During the times of ancient India, everyone who was not part of the 4 varnas automatically found themselves “outside” of Indian society; these strangers were avoided and not allowed to live in villages, which is why they were called untouchables. Subsequently, these untouchable strangers began to be used in the dirtiest, lowest-paid and shameful work, and formed their own social and professional groups, that is, untouchable castes, in modern India there are several of them, as a rule this is associated with either dirty work or murder living creatures or death, so that all hunters and fishermen, as well as gravediggers and tanners, are untouchable.
4. When did Indian castes appear?
Normatively, that is, legislatively, the caste-jati system in India was recorded in the Laws of Manu, which date back to the 2nd century BC.
The Varna system is much older; there is no exact dating. I wrote in more detail about the history of the issue in the article Castes of India, from varnas to modern times
5. Castes have been abolished in India
Castes in modern India are not abolished or prohibited, as is often written.
On the contrary, all castes in India are counted and listed in the annex to the Indian Constitution, which is called the Table of Castes. In addition, after the population census, changes are made to this table, usually additions; the point is not that new castes appear, but that they are recorded in accordance with the data indicated about themselves by the census participants.
Only discrimination on the basis of caste is prohibited, this is written in Article 15 of the Indian Constitution, see the test at http://lawmin.nic.in...
6. Every Indian has a caste
No, this is also not true.
Indian society is very heterogeneous in its structure, and besides the division into castes there are several others.
There are caste and non-caste, for example, representatives of Indian tribes (aboriginals, adivasis) with rare exceptions do not have castes. And the part of non-caste Indians is quite large, see the census results http://censusindia.g...
In addition, for some misdemeanors (crimes) a person can be expelled from the caste and thus deprived of his status and position in society.
7. Castes exist only in India
No, this is a fallacy. There are castes in other countries, for example, in Nepal and Sri Lanka, since these countries developed in the bosom of the same huge Indian civilization, as well as on. But there are castes in other cultures, for example, in Tibet, and Tibetan castes do not correlate with Indian castes at all, since the class structure of Tibetan society was formed from India.
For the castes of Nepal, see Ethnic mosaic of Nepal
8. Only Hindus have castes
No, this is not the case now, we need to go deeper into history.
Historically, when the overwhelming majority of the Indian population professed - all Hindus belonged to some caste, the only exceptions were pariahs expelled from castes and the indigenous, tribal peoples of India who did not profess Hinduism and were not part of Indian society. Then other religions began to spread in India - India was invaded by other peoples, and representatives of other religions and peoples began to adopt from the Hindus their class system of varnas and the system of professional castes - jati. Now there are castes in Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Christianity, but they are different from the Hindu castes.
It is curious that in northern India, in the modern states, the Buddhist caste system is not of Indian, but of Tibetan origin.
It is even more curious that even European Christian missionary preachers were drawn into the Indian caste system: those who preached the teachings of Christ to high-born Brahmins ended up in the Christian “Brahmin” caste, and those who communicated with untouchable fishermen became Christian untouchables.
9. You need to know the caste of the Indian you are communicating with and behave accordingly.
This is a common misconception, propagated by travel sites, for no known reason and not based on anything.
It is impossible to determine which caste an Indian belongs to just by his appearance, and often by his occupation too. One acquaintance worked as a waiter, although he came from a noble Rajput family (that is, he is a kshatriya). I was able to identify a Nepalese waiter I knew by his behavior as an aristocrat, since we had known each other for a long time, I asked and he confirmed that this was true, and the guy was not working because of a lack of money at all.
My old friend started his working career at the age of 9 as a laborer, cleaning up trash in a shop... do you think he is a Shudra? no, he is a Brahmin (Brahmin) from a poor family and his 8th child... another 1 Brahmin I know sells in a shop, he is the only son, he needs to earn money...
Another friend of mine is so religious and bright that one would think that he is a real, ideal Brahmin. But no, he was just a sudra, and he was proud of it, and those who know what seva means will understand why.
And even if an Indian says what caste he is, although such a question is considered rude, it will still give nothing to the tourist; a person who does not know India will not understand what and why things are done in this amazing country. So there is no need to be puzzled by the caste issue, because in India it is sometimes difficult to even determine the gender of the interlocutor, and this is probably more important :)
10. Caste discrimination in modern times
India is a democratic country and, in addition to prohibiting caste discrimination, has introduced benefits for representatives of lower castes and tribes, for example, there are quotas for admission to higher education institutions and for holding positions in state and municipal bodies.
discrimination against people from lower castes, Dalits and tribal people in India is quite serious, casteism is still the basis of life for hundreds of millions of Indians outside large cities, it is there that the caste structure and all the prohibitions arising from it are still preserved, for example, in some temples in India Indian Shudras are not allowed in, this is where almost all caste crimes take place, for example, a very typical crime
Instead of an afterword.
If you are seriously interested in the caste system in India, I can recommend, in addition to the articles section on this site and publications on the Hindunet, reading major European Indologists of the 20th century:
1. Academic 4-volume work by R.V. Russell "and the castes of the central provinces of India"
2. Monograph by Louis Dumont "Homo hierarchicus. Experience in describing the caste system"
In addition, in recent years a number of books on this topic have been published in India, unfortunately I have not held them in my hands.
If you are not ready to read scientific literature, read the novel by the very popular modern Indian writer Arundhati Roy “The God of Small Things”, it can be found on the RuNet.
Indian society is divided into classes called castes. This division occurred many thousands of years ago and continues to this day. Hindus believe that by following the rules established in your caste, in your next life you can be born as a representative of a slightly higher and more respected caste, and occupy a much better position in society.
Having left the Indus Valley, the Indian Aryans conquered the country along the Ganges and founded many states here, whose population consisted of two classes that differed in legal and financial status. The new Aryan settlers, the victors, seized land, honor, and power in India, and the defeated non-Indo-European natives were plunged into contempt and humiliation, forced into slavery or into a dependent state, or, driven into the forests and mountains, they lived there in inaction thoughts of a meager life without any culture. This result of the Aryan conquest gave rise to the origin of the four main Indian castes (varnas).
Those original inhabitants of India who were subdued by the power of the sword suffered the fate of captives and became mere slaves. The Indians, who submitted voluntarily, renounced their father's gods, adopted the language, laws and customs of the victors, retained personal freedom, but lost all land property and had to live as workers on the estates of the Aryans, servants and porters, in the houses of rich people. From them came the Shudra caste. "Sudra" is not a Sanskrit word. Before becoming the name of one of the Indian castes, it was probably the name of some people. The Aryans considered it beneath their dignity to enter into marriage unions with representatives of the Shudra caste. Shudra women were only concubines among the Aryans. Over time, sharp differences in status and professions emerged between the Aryan conquerors of India themselves. But in relation to the lower caste - the dark-skinned, subjugated native population - they all remained a privileged class. Only the Aryans had the right to read the sacred books; only they were consecrated by a solemn ceremony: a sacred thread was placed on the Aryan, making him “reborn” (or “twice-born”, dvija). This ritual served as a symbolic distinction between all Aryans and the Shudra caste and the despised native tribes driven into the forests. Consecration was performed by placing a cord, which was worn placed on the right shoulder and descending diagonally across the chest. Among the Brahmin caste, the cord could be placed on a boy from 8 to 15 years old, and it is made of cotton yarn; among the Kshatriya caste, who received it no earlier than the 11th year, it was made from kusha (Indian spinning plant), and among the Vaishya caste, who received it no earlier than the 12th year, it was made of wool.
The "twice-born" Aryans were divided over time, according to differences in occupation and origin, into three estates or castes, with some similarities to the three estates of medieval Europe: the clergy, the nobility and the urban middle class. The beginnings of the caste system among the Aryans existed back in the days when they lived only in the Indus basin: there, from the mass of the agricultural and pastoral population, warlike princes of the tribes, surrounded by people skilled in military affairs, as well as priests who performed sacrificial rites, already stood out. When the Aryan tribes moved further into India, into the country of the Ganges, militant energy increased in bloody wars with the exterminated natives, and then in a fierce struggle between the Aryan tribes. Until the conquests were completed, the entire people were busy with military affairs. Only when the peaceful possession of the conquered country began did it become possible for a variety of occupations to develop, the possibility of choosing between different professions arose, and a new stage in the origin of castes began.
The fertility of the Indian soil aroused the desire for peaceful means of subsistence. From this, the innate tendency of the Aryans quickly developed, according to which it was more pleasant for them to work quietly and enjoy the fruits of their labor than to make difficult military efforts. Therefore, a significant part of the settlers (“vishes”) turned to agriculture, which produced abundant harvests, leaving the fight against enemies and the protection of the country to the tribal princes and the military nobility formed during the period of conquest. This class, engaged in arable farming and partly shepherding, soon grew so that among the Aryans, as in Western Europe, it formed the vast majority of the population. Therefore, the name Vaishya “settler”, which originally designated all Aryan inhabitants in new areas, began to designate only people of the third, working Indian caste, and warriors, kshatriyas and priests, brahmans (“prayers”), who over time became privileged classes, made the names of their professions with the names of the two highest castes.
The four Indian classes listed above became completely closed castes (varnas) only when Brahmanism rose above the ancient service to Indra and other gods of nature - a new religious doctrine about Brahma, the soul of the universe, the source of life from which all beings originated and to which they will return. This reformed creed gave religious sanctity to the division of the Indian nation into castes, especially the priestly caste. It said that in the cycle of life forms passed through by everything existing on earth, Brahman is the highest form of existence. According to the dogma of rebirth and transmigration of souls, a creature born in human form must go through all four castes in turn: to be a Shudra, a Vaishya, a Kshatriya and, finally, a Brahman; having passed through these forms of existence, it is reunited with Brahma. The only way to achieve this goal is for a person, constantly striving for deity, to exactly fulfill everything commanded by the brahmanas, to honor them, to please them with gifts and signs of respect. Offenses against Brahmanas, severely punished on earth, subject the wicked to the most terrible torments of hell and rebirth in the forms of despised animals.
The belief in the dependence of the future life on the present was the main support of the Indian caste division and the rule of the priests. The more decisively the Brahman clergy placed the dogma of transmigration of souls at the center of all moral teaching, the more successfully it filled the imagination of the people with terrible pictures of hellish torment, the more honor and influence it acquired. Representatives of the highest caste of Brahmins are close to the gods; they know the path leading to Brahma; their prayers, sacrifices, holy feats of their asceticism have magical power over the gods, the gods have to fulfill their will; bliss and suffering in the future life depend on them. It is not surprising that with the development of religiosity among the Indians, the power of the Brahman caste increased, tirelessly praising in its holy teachings respect and generosity towards the Brahmans as the surest ways to obtain bliss, instilling in the kings that the ruler is obliged to have Brahmans as his advisers and make judges, is obliged to reward their service with rich content and pious gifts.
So that the lower Indian castes did not envy the privileged position of the Brahmans and did not encroach on it, the doctrine was developed and strenuously preached that the forms of life for all beings are predetermined by Brahma, and that the progression through the degrees of human rebirth is accomplished only by a calm, peaceful life in the given position of man, the right one. performance of duties. Thus, in one of the oldest parts of the Mahabharata it is said: “When Brahma created beings, he gave them their occupations, each caste a special activity: for the brahmanas - the study of the high Vedas, for the warriors - heroism, for the vaishyas - the art of labor, for the shudras - humility before other flowers: therefore ignorant Brahmanas, unglorious warriors, unskillful Vaishyas and disobedient Shudras are worthy of blame.” This dogma, which attributed divine origin to every caste, every profession, consoled the humiliated and despised in the insults and deprivations of their present life with the hope of an improvement in their lot in a future existence. He gave religious sanctification to the Indian caste hierarchy.
The division of people into four classes, unequal in their rights, was from this point of view an eternal, unchangeable law, the violation of which is the most criminal sin. People do not have the right to overthrow the caste barriers established between them by God himself; They can achieve improvement in their fate only through patient submission. The mutual relations between the Indian castes were clearly characterized by the teaching; that Brahma produced the Brahmanas from his mouth (or the first man Purusha), the Kshatriyas from his hands, the Vaishyas from his thighs, the Shudras from his feet stained in mud, therefore the essence of nature for the Brahmanas is “holiness and wisdom”, for the Kshatriyas it is “power and strength”, among the Vaishyas - “wealth and profit”, among the Shudras - “service and obedience”. The doctrine of the origin of castes from different parts of the highest being is set forth in one of the hymns of the last, most recent book of the Rig Veda. There are no concepts of caste in the older songs of the Rig Veda. Brahmins attach extreme importance to this hymn, and every true believer Brahmin recites it every morning after bathing. This hymn is the diploma with which the Brahmins legitimized their privileges, their dominion.
Thus, the Indian people were led by their history, their inclinations and customs to fall under the yoke of the caste hierarchy, which turned classes and professions into tribes alien to each other, drowning out all human aspirations, all the inclinations of humanity. Main characteristics of castes Each Indian caste has its own characteristics and unique characteristics, rules of existence and behavior. Brahmins are the highest caste Brahmins in India are priests and priests in temples. Their position in society has always been considered the highest, even higher than the position of ruler. Currently, representatives of the Brahmin caste are also involved in the spiritual development of the people: they teach various practices, look after temples, and work as teachers.
Brahmins have many prohibitions: Men are not allowed to work in the fields or do any manual labor, but women can do various household chores. A representative of the priestly caste can only marry someone like himself, but as an exception, a wedding with a Brahman from another community is allowed. A Brahmana cannot eat what a person of another caste has prepared; a Brahmana would rather starve than eat forbidden food. But he can feed a representative of absolutely any caste. Some brahmanas are not allowed to eat meat.
Kshatriyas - warrior caste
Representatives of the Kshatriyas always performed the duties of soldiers, guards and policemen. Currently, nothing has changed - kshatriyas are engaged in military affairs or go to administrative work. They can marry not only in their own caste: a man can marry a girl from a lower caste, but a woman is prohibited from marrying a man from a lower caste. Kshatriyas can eat animal products, but they also avoid forbidden foods.
Vaishya Vaishyas have always been the working class: they farmed, raised livestock, and traded. Now representatives of the Vaishyas are engaged in economic and financial affairs, various trades, and the banking sector. Probably, this caste is the most scrupulous in matters related to food intake: vaishyas, like no one else, monitor the correct preparation of food and will never eat contaminated dishes. Shudras - the lowest caste The Shudra caste has always existed in the role of peasants or even slaves: they did the dirtiest and hardest work. Even in our time, this social stratum is the poorest and often lives below the poverty line. Shudras can marry even divorced women. The Untouchables The untouchable caste stands out separately: such people are excluded from all social relations. They do the dirtiest work: cleaning streets and toilets, burning dead animals, tanning leather.
Amazingly, representatives of this caste were not even allowed to step on the shadows of representatives of higher classes. And only very recently they were allowed to enter churches and approach people of other classes. Unique Features of Castes Having a brahmana in your neighborhood, you can give him a lot of gifts, but you shouldn’t expect anything in return. Brahmins never give gifts: they accept, but do not give. In terms of land ownership, the Shudras can be even more influential than the Vaishyas.
Shudras of the lower stratum practically do not use money: they are paid for their work with food and household supplies. It is possible to move to a lower caste, but it is impossible to get a caste of a higher rank. Castes and modernity Today, Indian castes have become even more structured, with many different subgroups called jatis. During the last census of representatives of various castes, there were more than 3 thousand jatis. True, this census took place more than 80 years ago. Many foreigners consider the caste system to be a relic of the past and believe that the caste system no longer works in modern India. In fact, everything is completely different. Even the Indian government could not come to a consensus regarding this stratification of society. Politicians actively work on dividing society into layers during elections, adding protection of the rights of a particular caste to their election promises. In modern India, more than 20 percent of the population belongs to the untouchable caste: they have to live in their own separate ghettos or outside the boundaries of the populated area. Such people are not allowed to enter stores, government and medical institutions, or even use public transport.
The untouchable caste has a completely unique subgroup: society’s attitude towards it is quite contradictory. These include homosexuals, transvestites and eunuchs who make their living through prostitution and asking tourists for coins. But what a paradox: the presence of such a person at the holiday is considered a very good sign. Another amazing podcast of the untouchables is Pariah. These are people completely expelled from society - marginalized. Previously, one could become a pariah even by touching such a person, but now the situation has changed a little: one becomes a pariah either by being born from an intercaste marriage, or from pariah parents.
After leaving the Indus Valley, the Indian Aryans conquered the country along the Ganges and founded many states here, whose population consisted of two classes that differed in legal and financial status.
The new Aryan settlers, the victors, seized land, honor, and power in India, and the defeated non-Indo-European natives were plunged into contempt and humiliation, forced into slavery or into a dependent state, or, driven into the forests and mountains, they lived there in inaction thoughts of a meager life without any culture. This result of the Aryan conquest gave rise to the origin of the four main Indian castes (varnas).Those original inhabitants of India who were conquered by the power of the sword suffered the fate of captives and became mere slaves. The Indians, who submitted voluntarily, renounced their father's gods, adopted the language, laws and customs of the victors, retained personal freedom, but lost all land property and had to live as workers on the estates of the Aryans, servants and porters, in the houses of rich people. From them came a caste sudra. "Sudra" is not a Sanskrit word. Before becoming the name of one of the Indian castes, it was probably the name of some people. The Aryans considered it beneath their dignity to enter into marriage unions with representatives of the Shudra caste. Shudra women were only concubines among the Aryans.
Ancient India. Map
Over time, sharp differences in status and professions emerged between the Aryan conquerors of India themselves. But in relation to the lower caste - the dark-skinned, conquered native population - they all remained a privileged class. Only the Aryans had the right to read the sacred books; only they were consecrated by a solemn ceremony: a sacred cord was placed on the Aryan, making him “reborn” (or “twice born”, dvija). This ritual served as a symbolic distinction between all Aryans and the Shudra caste and the despised native tribes driven into the forests. Consecration was performed by placing a cord, which was worn placed on the right shoulder and descending diagonally across the chest. Among the Brahmin caste, the cord could be placed on a boy from 8 to 15 years old, and it is made of cotton yarn; among the Kshatriya caste, who received it no earlier than the 11th year, it was made from kusha (Indian spinning plant), and among the Vaishya caste, who received it no earlier than the 12th year, it was made of wool.
The "twice-born" Aryans over time were divided according to differences in occupation and origin into three estates or castes, which have some similarities with the three estates of medieval Europe: the clergy, the nobility and the middle, urban class. The beginnings of the caste system among the Aryans existed back in the days when they lived only in the Indus basin: there, from the mass of the agricultural and pastoral population, warlike princes of the tribes, surrounded by people skilled in military affairs, as well as priests who performed sacrificial rites, already stood out.
At the resettlement of Aryan tribes further into India, into the country of the Ganges, militant energy increased in bloody wars with exterminated natives, and then in a fierce struggle between Aryan tribes. Until the conquests were completed, the entire people were busy with military affairs. Only when the peaceful possession of the conquered country began did it become possible for a variety of occupations to develop, the possibility of choosing between different professions arose, and a new stage in the origin of castes began. The fertility of the Indian soil aroused the desire for peaceful means of subsistence. From this, the innate tendency of the Aryans quickly developed, according to which it was more pleasant for them to work quietly and enjoy the fruits of their labor than to make difficult military efforts. Therefore, a significant part of the settlers (“ Vishey") turned to agriculture, which produced abundant harvests, leaving the fight against enemies and the protection of the country to the princes of the tribes and the military nobility formed during the period of conquest. This class, engaged in arable farming and partly shepherding, soon grew so that among the Aryans, as in Western Europe, it formed the vast majority of the population. Because the name vaishya"settler", which originally meant all Aryan inhabitants in new areas, came to mean only people of the third, working Indian caste, and warriors, kshatriyas, and priests, brahmins(“prayers”), who over time became the privileged classes, made the names of their professions the names of the two highest castes.
The four Indian classes listed above became completely closed castes (varnas) only when Brahmanism rose above the ancient service to Indra and other gods of nature - a new religious doctrine about Brahma, the soul of the universe, the source of life from which all beings originated and to which they will return. This reformed creed gave religious sanctity to the division of the Indian nation into castes, and especially the priestly caste. It said that in the cycle of life forms passed through by everything existing on earth, brahman is the highest form of existence. According to the dogma of rebirth and transmigration of souls, a creature born in human form must go through all four castes in turn: to be a Shudra, a Vaishya, a Kshatriya and, finally, a Brahman; having passed through these forms of existence, it is reunited with Brahma. The only way to achieve this goal is for a person, constantly striving for deity, to exactly fulfill everything commanded by the brahmanas, to honor them, to please them with gifts and signs of respect. Offenses against Brahmanas, severely punished on earth, subject the wicked to the most terrible torments of hell and rebirth in the forms of despised animals.
The belief in the dependence of the future life on the present was the main support of the Indian caste division and the rule of the priests. The more decisively the Brahman clergy placed the dogma of transmigration of souls at the center of all moral teaching, the more successfully it filled the imagination of the people with terrible pictures of hellish torment, the more honor and influence it acquired. Representatives of the highest caste of Brahmins are close to the gods; they know the path leading to Brahma; their prayers, sacrifices, holy feats of their asceticism have magical power over the gods, the gods have to fulfill their will; bliss and suffering in the future life depend on them. It is not surprising that with the development of religiosity among the Indians, the power of the Brahmin caste increased, tirelessly praising in its holy teachings respect and generosity towards the Brahmins as the surest ways to obtain bliss, instilling in the kings that the ruler is obliged to have Brahmins as his advisers and make judges, is obliged to reward their service to the rich contents and pious gifts.
So that the lower Indian castes did not envy the privileged position of the Brahmans and did not encroach on it, the doctrine was developed and strenuously preached that the forms of life for all beings are predetermined by Brahma, and that the progression through the degrees of human rebirth is accomplished only by a calm, peaceful life in the given position of man, the right one. performance of duties. So, in one of the oldest parts Mahabharata It is said: “When Brahma created beings, he gave them their occupations, each caste a special activity: for the brahmanas - the study of the high Vedas, for the warriors - heroism, for the vaishyas - the art of work, for the sudras - humility before other flowers: therefore ignorant brahmanas, ignorant warriors, unskillful vaishyas and disobedient sudras.”
Brahma, the main deity of Brahmanism - the religion that underlies the Indian caste system
This dogma, which attributed divine origin to every caste, every profession, consoled the humiliated and despised in the insults and deprivations of their present life with the hope of an improvement in their lot in a future existence. He gave religious sanctification to the Indian caste hierarchy. The division of people into four classes, unequal in their rights, was from this point of view an eternal, unchangeable law, the violation of which is the most criminal sin. People do not have the right to overthrow the caste barriers established between them by God himself; They can achieve improvement in their fate only through patient submission. The mutual relations between the Indian castes were clearly characterized by the teaching; that Brahma produced the Brahmanas from his mouth (or the first man Purusha), the Kshatriyas from his hands, the Vaishyas from his thighs, the Shudras from his feet dirty in mud, therefore the essence of nature for the Brahmanas is “holiness and wisdom”, for the Kshatriyas it is “power and strength”, among the Vaishyas - “wealth and profit”, among the Shudras - “service and obedience”. The doctrine of the origin of castes from different parts of the highest being is set forth in one of the hymns of the last, most recent book Rigveda. There are no concepts of caste in the older songs of the Rig Veda. Brahmins attach extreme importance to this hymn, and every true believer Brahmin recites it every morning after bathing. This hymn is the diploma with which the Brahmins legitimized their privileges, their dominion.
Thus, the Indian people were led by their history, their inclinations and customs to fall under the yoke of a hierarchy of castes, which turned classes and professions into tribes alien to each other,
Shudras
After the conquest of the Ganges valley by the Aryan tribes who came from the Indus, part of its original (non-Indo-European) population was enslaved, and the rest were deprived of their lands, turning into servants and farm laborers. From these natives, alien to the Aryan invaders, the “Sudra” caste little by little formed. The word "sudra" does not come from a Sanskrit root. It may have been some kind of local Indian tribal designation.
The Aryans assumed the role of a higher class in relation to the Shudras. Only over the Aryans was the religious rite of laying the sacred thread performed, which, according to the teachings of Brahmanism, made a person “twice-born.” But even among the Aryans themselves, social division soon appeared. By type of life and occupation, they fell into three castes - Brahmans, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas, reminiscent of the three main classes of the medieval West: the clergy, the military aristocracy and the class of small property owners. This social stratification began to appear among the Aryans even during their life on the Indus.
After the conquest of the Ganges Valley, most of the Aryan population took up farming and cattle breeding in the new fertile country. These people formed a caste Vaishyas(“villagers”), who earned their means of living by labor, but, unlike the Shudras, consisted of legally entitled owners of land, livestock or industrial and commercial capital. There were warriors above the Vaishyas ( kshatriyas), and priests ( brahmins,"prayers") Kshatriyas and especially Brahmins were considered the highest castes.
Vaishya
Vaishyas, farmers and shepherds of Ancient India, by the very nature of their occupations, could not equal the neatness of the upper classes and were not so well dressed. Spending the day in labor, they had no leisure either for acquiring Brahmanical education or for the idle pursuits of the Kshatriya military nobility. Therefore, Vaishyas soon began to be considered people unequal to priests and warriors, people of a different caste. Vaishya commoners did not have warlike neighbors who would threaten their property. The Vaishyas did not need sword and arrows; they lived quietly with their wives and children on their piece of land, leaving the military class to protect the country from external enemies and from internal unrest. In the affairs of the world, most of the recent Aryan conquerors of India soon became unaccustomed to weapons and the art of war.
When, with the development of culture, the forms and needs of life became more diverse, when the rustic simplicity of clothing and food, housing and household utensils began to not satisfy many, when trade with foreigners began to bring wealth and luxury, many Vaishyas turned to crafts, industry, trade, giving money back as interest. But this did not increase their social prestige. Just as in feudal Europe the townspeople did not belong to the upper classes by origin, but to the common people, so in the populous cities that arose in India near the royal and princely palaces, the majority of the population were Vaishyas. But they did not have room for independent development: artisans and traders in India were subject to the contempt of the upper classes. No matter how much wealth the Vaishyas acquired in large, magnificent, luxurious capitals or in commercial seaside cities, they did not receive any participation either in the honors and glory of the Kshatriyas, or in the education and authority of the Brahman priests and scholars. The highest moral benefits of life were inaccessible to vaishyas. They were given only the circle of physical and mechanical activity, the circle of material and routine; and although they were allowed, even obliged to read Veda and legal books, they remained outside the highest mental life of the nation. The hereditary chain chained the Vaishya to his father's plot of land or business; access to the military class or to the Brahman caste was forever blocked.
Kshatriyas
The position of the warrior caste (kshatriyas) was more honorable, especially in iron times Aryan conquest of India and the first generations after this conquest, when everything was decided by the sword and warlike energy, when the king was only a commander, when law and custom were maintained only by the protection of weapons. There was a time when the Kshatriyas aspired to become the foremost class, and in dark legends there were still traces of memories of the great war between warriors and Brahmins, when “unholy hands” dared to touch the sacred, divinely established greatness of the clergy. Traditions say that the Brahmins emerged victorious from this struggle with the Kshatriyas with the help of the gods and the Brahmin hero, Frames, and that the wicked were subjected to the most terrible punishments.
Education of a Kshatriya
Times of conquest were to be followed by times of peace; then the services of the kshatriyas became unnecessary, and the importance of the military class decreased. These times were favorable to the desire of the Brahmans to become the first class. But the more firmly and resolutely the warriors held on to the rank of the second most honorable class. Proud of the glory of their ancestors, whose exploits were praised in heroic songs inherited from antiquity, imbued with the sense of self-esteem and consciousness of their strength that the military profession gives people, the kshatriyas kept themselves in strict isolation from the vaishyas, who had no noble ancestors, and looked with contempt on their working, monotonous life.
The Brahmans, having strengthened their primacy over the Kshatriyas, favored their class isolation, finding it beneficial for themselves; and the kshatriyas, along with lands and privileges, family pride and military glory, inherited respect for the clergy to their sons. Separated by their upbringing, military exercises and way of life from both the Brahmans and the Vaishyas, the Kshatriyas were a knightly aristocracy, preserving, under the new conditions of social life, the warlike customs of antiquity, instilling in their children a proud belief in the purity of blood and in tribal superiority. Protected by hereditary rights and class isolation from the invasion of alien elements, the kshatriyas formed a phalanx that did not allow commoners into their ranks.
Receiving a generous salary from the king, supplied from him with weapons and everything necessary for military affairs, the kshatriyas led a carefree life. Apart from military exercises, they had no business; therefore, in times of peace - and in the calm valley of the Ganges time passed for the most part peacefully - they had a lot of leisure to have fun and feast. In the circle of these families, the memory of the glorious deeds of their ancestors, of the hot battles of antiquity was preserved; singers of kings and noble families sang old songs to the kshatriyas at sacrificial festivals and funeral dinners, or composed new ones to glorify their patrons. From these songs gradually grew Indian epic poems - Mahabharata And Ramayana.
The highest and most influential caste were the priests, whose original name “purohita”, “household priests” of the king, was replaced in the country of the Ganges by a new one - brahmins. Even on the Indus there were such priests, for example, Vasishtha, Vishwamitra- about whom the people believed that their prayers and the sacrifices they performed had power, and who therefore enjoyed special respect. The benefit of the entire tribe demanded that their sacred songs, their ways of performing rituals, their teachings be preserved. The surest way to achieve this was for the most respected priests of the tribe to pass on their knowledge to their sons or students. This is how the Brahman clans arose. Forming schools or corporations, they preserved prayers, hymns, and sacred knowledge through oral tradition.
At first each Aryan tribe had its own Brahman clan; for example, the Koshalas have the family of Vasishtha, and the Angs have the family of Gautama. But when the tribes, accustomed to living in peace with each other, united into one state, their priestly families entered into partnership with each other, borrowing prayers and hymns from each other. The creeds and sacred songs of various Brahmin schools became the common property of the entire community. These songs and teachings, which at first existed only in oral tradition, were, after the introduction of written signs, written down and collected by the Brahmins. This is how they arose Veda, that is, “knowledge”, a collection of sacred songs and invocations of the gods, called Rigveda and the following two collections of sacrificial formulas, prayers and liturgical regulations, Samaveda And Yajurveda.
The Indians placed great importance on ensuring that sacrificial offerings were performed correctly and that no mistakes were made in invoking the gods. This greatly favored the emergence of a special Brahmin corporation. When liturgical rites and prayers were written down, the condition for the sacrifices and rituals to be pleasing to the gods was the exact knowledge and observance of the prescribed rules and laws, which could only be studied under the guidance of the old priestly families. This necessarily placed the performance of sacrifices and worship under the exclusive control of the brahmans, completely ending the direct relationship of the laity to the gods: only those who were taught by the priest-mentor - the son or pupil of a brahman - could now perform the sacrifice in the proper way, making it “pleasing to the gods.” ; only he could deliver God's help.
Brahman in modern India
The knowledge of the old songs with which the ancestors in their former homeland honored the gods of nature, the knowledge of the rituals that accompanied these songs, increasingly became the exclusive property of the Brahmans, whose forefathers composed these songs and in whose clan they were passed down by inheritance. The property of the priests also remained the legends connected with the divine service, necessary for understanding it. What was brought from their homeland was clothed in the minds of the Aryan settlers in India with a mysterious sacred meaning. Thus, the hereditary singers became hereditary priests, whose importance increased as the Aryan people moved away from their old homeland (the Indus Valley) and, occupied with military affairs, forgot their old institutions.
The people began to consider the Brahmins as intermediaries between people and gods. When peaceful times began in the new country of the Ganges, and concern for the fulfillment of religious duties became the most important matter of life, the concept established among the people about the importance of the priests should have aroused in them the proud thought that the class that performs the most sacred duties, spending its life in the service of the gods, has the right to occupy first place in society and the state. The Brahman clergy became a closed corporation, access to it was closed to people of other classes. Brahmins were supposed to take wives only from their own class. They taught the whole people to recognize that the sons of a priest, born in a legal marriage, have by their very origin the right to be priests and the ability to make sacrifices and prayers pleasing to the gods.
This is how the priestly, Brahman caste arose, strictly isolated from the Kshatriyas and Vaishyas, placed by the strength of its class pride and the religiosity of the people at the highest level of honor, seizing science, religion, and all education into a monopoly for itself. Over time, the Brahmans became accustomed to thinking that they were as superior to the rest of the Aryans as they considered themselves to be superior to the Shudras and the remnants of the wild native Indian tribes. On the street, in the market, the difference in castes was already visible in the material and shape of clothing, in the size and shape of the cane. A brahmana, unlike a kshatriya and a vaishya, left the house with nothing less than a bamboo cane, a vessel of water for purification, and a sacred cord over his shoulder.
The Brahmins tried their best to put into practice the theory of castes. But the conditions of reality confronted their aspirations with such obstacles that they could not strictly implement the principle of division of occupations between castes. It was especially difficult for the Brahmins to find a means of living for themselves and their families, limiting themselves only to those occupations that specifically belonged to their caste. Brahmans were not monks who took into their class only as many people as needed. They led a family life and multiplied; therefore it was inevitable that many Brahman families became poor; and the Brahman caste did not receive support from the state. Therefore, the impoverished Brahman families fell into poverty. The Mahabharata states that two prominent heroes of this poem, Drona and his son Ashwatthaman, there were brahmins, but due to poverty they had to take up the military craft of the kshatriyas. In later inserts they are strongly condemned for this.
True, some Brahmins led an ascetic and hermit life in the forest, in the mountains, and near sacred lakes. Others were astronomers, lawyers, administrators, judges, and received a good living from these honorable occupations. Many Brahmins were religious teachers, interpreters of sacred books, and received support from their many disciples, were priests, servants at temples, lived on gifts from those who made sacrifices and in general from pious people. But whatever the number of Brahmanas who found their means of living in these pursuits, we see from laws of Manu and from other ancient Indian sources that there were many priests who lived only on alms or supported themselves and their families with activities inappropriate for their caste. Therefore, the laws of Manu take great care to instill in kings and rich people that they have a sacred duty to be generous to the Brahmanas. The laws of Manu allow brahmanas to beg for alms and allow them to earn their living by the activities of kshatriyas and vaishyas. A Brahman can support himself by farming and shepherding; can live “by the truths and lies of trade.” But in no case should he live by lending money on interest or by seductive arts, such as music and singing; should not be hired as workers, should not trade in intoxicating drinks, cow butter, milk, sesame seeds, linen or woolen fabrics. Those kshatriyas who cannot support themselves by military craft, the law of Manu also allows them to engage in the affairs of the vaishyas, and it allows the vaishyas to feed themselves by the activities of the sudras. But all these were only concessions forced by necessity.
The discrepancy between the occupations of people and their castes led over time to the disintegration of castes into smaller divisions. Actually, it is these small social groups that are castes in the proper sense of the word, and the four main classes we have listed - brahmanas, kshatriyas, vaishyas and sudras - in India itself are more often called varnas. While leniently allowing the higher castes to feed on the professions of the lower ones, the laws of Manu strictly forbid the lower castes from taking up the professions of the higher ones: this insolence was supposed to be punished by confiscation of property and expulsion. Only a Shudra who does not find hired work can engage in a craft. But he should not acquire wealth, so as not to become arrogant against people of other castes, before whom he is obliged to humble himself.
Untouchable caste - Chandals
From the Ganges basin, this contempt for the surviving tribes of the non-Aryan population was transferred to the Deccan, where the Chandals on the Ganges were placed in the same position pariahs, whose name is not found in laws of Manu, became among Europeans the name of all classes of people despised by the Aryans, “unclean” people. The word pariah is not Sanskrit but Tamil. Tamils call pariahs both the descendants of the ancient, pre-Dravidian population, and Indians excluded from castes.
Even the situation of slaves in Ancient India was less difficult than the life of the untouchable caste. Epic and dramatic works of Indian poetry show that the Aryans treated slaves meekly, that many slaves enjoyed great confidence from their masters and occupied influential positions. The slaves were: those members of the Shudra caste whose ancestors were enslaved during the conquest of the country; Indian prisoners of war from enemy states; people bought from traders; faulty debtors handed over by judges as slaves to creditors. Males and female slaves were sold on the market as goods. But no one could have a slave from a caste higher than his own.
Having emerged in ancient times, the untouchable caste exists in India to this day.
