Caste systems among non-Hindus

Caste systems have been observed in other major religions of India. [edit]Christians Main article: Caste system among Indian Christians In some parts of India, Christians are stratified by sect, location, and the castes of their predecessors.[85] In many ways this presence of social strata system has been witnessed elsewhere, such as the society structured by Christian Spaniards who, according to Cahill, established a caste system in their colonial possessions: the West Indies, East Indies, New Spain and theViceroyalty of Peru, within the last 500 years.[86][87][88] The earliest reference to caste among Indian Christians comes from Kerala. Duncan Forrester observes that "... Nowhere else in India is there a large and ancient Christian community which has in time immemorial been accorded a high status in the caste hierarchy. [...] Syrian Christian community operates very much as a caste and is properly regarded as a caste or at least a very caste like group." [89] Amidst the Hindu society, the Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala had inserted themselves within the Indian caste society by the observance of caste-rules and were regarded by the Hindus as a caste occupying a high place within their caste hierarchy. [90][91] Their traditional belief that their ancestors were high caste Hindus such as Namboodiris and Nairs, who were evangelized by St. Thomas, has also supported their upper-caste status.[92] With the arrival European missionaries and their evangelistic mission among the so called lower castes in Kerala, two new groups of Christians, called Latin Rite Christians and New Protestant Christians, were formed but they continued to be considered as lower castes by higher ranked communities, including the Saint Thomas Christians.[93][clarification needed] Goa also witnessed mass proselytizing missions of by Portuguese missionaries from the 16th century onwards. The Hindu converts retained their caste practices. Thus, the original Hindu Brahmins in Goa now became Christian Bamonns and the Kshatriya and Vishay became Christian noblemen called Those Vishay Vanis who could not get admitted into theChardo caste became and Shudras became Sudirs. Finally, the Dalits or "Untouchables" who converted to Christianity became Maharas and Chamars, the latter an appellation of the antiDalit ethnic slur citation needed] [edit]Muslims Main article: Caste system among South Asian Muslims Like castes elsewhere in Islamic world, Muslims in India have a caste system. Ashrafs are presumed to have a superior status,[94][95] while the Ajlafs have a lower status. The Arzal caste among Muslims was regarded as the equivalent of untouchables, by anti-caste activists like and by the colonial British ethnographer Herbert Riley who claimed that 56 percent of Muslims in British India were of a caste equivalent in status as the Hindu Shudras and Untouchables.[96][97][98] In the Bengal region of India, some Muslims stratify their society according to 'Qualms.'[99]Some scholars have asserted that the Muslim "castes" are not as acute in their discrimination as those of the Hindus,[100] while other scholars argue that the social evils in South Asian Muslim society were worse than those seen in Hindu society.[96][98] [edit]Sikh The Indian state of Punjab has the highest percentage of Dalits, as well as Sikhs in India. [15][78] While the Sikh Gurus criticized the hierarchy of the caste system, a caste system has historically existed amidst the Sikhs. In the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, out of 140 seats, 20 are reserved for low caste Sikhs.[101][102]

[edit]Buddhists When Yawn Chawing traveled to South India after the period of the Chalukyan Empire, he noticed that the caste system had existed among the Buddhists and Jains.[103] Buddhism in India, like other religions, has attempted to reform and create a society without classes.[104] nevertheless, in some parts of India such a Ladakh, with significant historical presence of Buddhists, a caste system existed in a manner similar to caste structure in Tibet.[105] The upper castes belonged to and were called sgar pa. The priestly caste belonged to monastery, and was called chos-gzhis. Miser [106] were the serf caste. Serfs, the majority of the people, farmed and paid taxes. An individual's social status and lifelong occupation was destined by birth, closed, and depending on the family one was born into, the individual inherited a tenure document known as Buddhist castes had sub-castes, such as [107] khral paand dud change . Buddhist also had castes that were shunned by their community and ostracized, such as hereditary fishermen, butchers and undertakers. The untouchables in Buddhist regions, as in Tibet, were known as who lived in isolated ghettos, and their occupation was to remove corpses (human or animal) and dispose of sewage. [108][109] [edit]Jains Jains also had castes in places such as Bihar. For example, in the village of Bundela, there were several exclusionary jaats amongst the Jains. Martin claims these castes avoided eating with each other. [110] there are about 110 different Jain Communities in India and overseas.