Dr. B.R

caste is concerned, there is division of society into groups ranking in a different hierarchy
and in a system of values, caste provide legitimacy to the concept of social inequality
among the masses as well as give importance to the idea of purity and pollution. The roots
of Hindu caste system were already in place between 1000 and 1500 B.C. When the Aryans
settled near the Indus river valley. The Rig Veda a sacred text from the period describe four
main Varna in traditional Hindu society : Brahmanas ; the class of priests and teachers ;
Kshatriyas, the warrior class who were the rulers and soldiers ; Vaishyas, the commercial
class of artisans, traders and cultivators and Shudras; the servant and peasant class.
The word caste signifies breed, race and rank which came into use for the first time in 1563
A.D. by Gracia De Orta wrote – no one can changes from his father’s trade and all those of
the same caste of the shoe maker are the same. To Hindu, however, the concept of caste
has a narrower and more precise meaning, referring to the smaller sub-groups defined by
subtle distinction of birth, intermarriage and occupation. The four Varna’s described in Rig
Veda comprises more than 2000 sub castes .Beneath these caste is a fifth population
group- those without any caste, literally, outcastes. They are treated as Untouchables. The
Indian Constitution of 1950 made untouchability illegal. Today these people call themselves
Dalits (oppressed) .
In India Caste System consists of two different concepts that is Varna and Jati, the real
concept of Varna has almost disappeared in the present context and has changed into Jati.
The former was based on color of the skin and later on birth. It is the religious and social
institution of Hindu peoples who comprised about 80% of India’s population. The rest of
India is Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Jain or Buddhist. Caste is such a deep rooted and pervasive
concept, it is a rigid form of stratification system, in which mobility of rank and status is not
allowed. However, that it has also influenced Muslims, Christians and Sikhs, for instance,
they have separate churches for dalits and non dalits Christians. The 50 million Indians who
live in tribal community predate the Aryan and Dravidian civilization. They are members of
backward classes, they are not the part of Hindu society even then, they have started
observing untouchability towards Dalits- who themselves have a caste hierarchy.
ORIGIN OF CASTE SYSTEM
Although, it is difficult to establish as to when the caste system originated, but there is no
doubt that the institution of caste for the convenience of the ruling class leading to