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AKSHAT UPPADHAYAY
TH. DEEKSHA DEVI
TANVI RAITHATHA
 CASTE SYSTEM IN ANCIENT INDIA

Ancient India in the Vedic Period did not have social stratification based on
socio-economic indicators; rather, citizens were classified according to their Varna or
castes. 'Varna' defines the hereditary roots of a newborn and indicates the colour,
type, order or class of people. Each Varna propounds specific life principles to
follow. They are required to follow the customs, rules, conduct, and beliefs
fundamental to their respective Varnas.
Caste members lived, ate, married, and worked with their own group and
rarely changed their caste or interacted with members of the other caste. The caste
system precedes written history, but it seems to have developed slowly over time
based on the traditional beliefs of the Aryan nomads who began moving onto the
subcontinent about 1000BCE. Each caste had a clearly defined role. Members of
each caste were obligated to look after one another, so each caste was its own
support system. These traditions were later incorporated into the Hindu religion.
CLASSIFICATION

Based on their occupation or rather

the family they were born into, people
were divided under four castes:
 Brahmins
 Kshatriyas
 Vaishyas
 Shudras
 Untouchables
 At the top was the priestly class ,whose members were known as Brahmins.
 The second was known as Kshatriyas or the warriors
 The third rank in the castes were the Vaishyas or the commoners. Most Vaishyas
were merchants or farmers.
 The fourth caste were the Shudras. This was the last group of Indian people. The
Shudras were dark- skinned and were not of the Aryan race. Most of them were
peasants or labourers and had limited rights in the society.
 At the lowest level were the Untouchables. They were given degrading jobs that the
other Indians would not do. They were treated below the level of humans and
anything that they touched wasn’t handled by another.
 PURPOSE OF THE VARNA SYSTEM

The caste system in ancient India had been executed and acknowledged
during, and ever since, the Vedic period. The segregation of people based
on their Varna was intended to

 decongest the responsibilities of one's life

 preserve the purity of a caste
 establish internal and external order

This would pre-resolve and avoid all forms of disputes originating from
conflicts within business and encroachment on respective duties. In this
system, specific tasks are designated to each Varna citizen.
CASTE BASED DISPUTES
( Dharmapuri- A case study)
 Dharmapuri: A Case Study
The Dharmapuri violence is one of the worst caste
based violence that happened in India. The incident took
place on 7th November 2012 in Dharmapuri district of
Tamil Nadu .
Three colonies of Dalits of the Adi-Dravida community
suffered the fury unleashed by a rampaging mob of
Vanniyakula Kshatriya when as many as 268 dwellings –
huts, tiled-roof and one or two-room concrete houses –
were torched by the mob.

Even though there was no casualty reported systemic destruction of valuables, vehicles
and other properties of victims took place. The prime target of the attack was Natham
Colony while the adjoining Anna Nagar Colony and Kondampatti Old and New Colonies
also suffered the fury of the caste Hindus.
 REASON FOR THE ATTACK
An inter caste marriage between a Dalit boy and a Vanniyar girl was the reason
for the violent caste conflict. People gave an ultimatum to the Dalits that they
should return the girl to her house within two days failing to which they would have
to face the consequences resulting to Dalits asking for police protection.
On 7th November, Divya’s father commited suicide when he was told that his
daughter decided to stay with llavarasan. Nearly 2000 people carrying the body of
the girl’s father blocked the Dhamapuri-Timpattur road.

The Dharmapuri incident proves that despite the efforts from government, the
violence and discrimination against Dalits continue to occur. The silence of police
force during the attack and forewarning of Dalits points to the fact that the police
require an immediate revival at local level. The incident also calls for more strict
legislations to prevent atrocities against Dalits and to annihilate caste system and
the strict enforcement of the same.
 FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
In order to prevent caste based discrimination and give equal rights to all the following
fundamental rights have been written down in the Indian Constitution which can
never be taken away.

 Equality before the law

 No caste discrimination by government or private persons in
regard to use of public facilities, special provisions in favour of
the untouchables and backward classes permissible
 No caste discrimination in government services; reservation of
places permitted for untouchables and 'backward classes'
 Untouchability abolished and enforcement an offence
 Right to conduct all sorts of occupations and industries by the
untouchables
 Forced labour abolished; no caste discrimination in regard to
compulsory public service
 Freedom of religion qualified to serve temple-entry laws and
state power to legislate social welfare and reform,
 No castes discrimination in admission to state aided educational
institutions.
 CASTE SYSTEM IN MODERN INDIA

 The leaders of independent India decided that India will be

democratic, socialist and secular country where practicing caste
based discrimination and untouchability would be forbidden.
 The Indians have also become more flexible in their caste system
customs. The Scheduled Tribes have now got ownership and certain
rights over Indian land. In the urban areas people from different
castes interact with each other. However in some rural areas there is
still caste based discrimination and untouchability.
 The high castes strike the lower castes who dare to uplift their status
resulting in the lower caste getting back at them.
 The British used two terms to describe Indian communities - Castes and Tribes. The term
caste was used for Varnas and tribes for those communities who lived deep in jungles,
forests and mountains far away from the main population .These lists were by the Indian
governments to create lists of communities who were entitled for positive discrimination.

 The lower classes were listed in three categories :

 Scheduled Castes- untouchables (Dalits)

 Scheduled Tribes - communities who preferred to remain away from the main population
(Adivasi)

 Other Backward Classes or Backward Classes - Shudras and also former untouchables
who converted from Hinduism to other religions(includes nomads and tribes who made a
living from criminal acts)
 According to central government policy –

 15% of the government jobs and of the students admitted to universities must be
from SC
 ST about 7.5% places are reserved
 OBC are about 50% of India's population, but only 27% of government jobs are
reserved for them

The order of priority for a reserved place –

Scheduled castes > Scheduled Tribes > Other Backward Classes.
 The caste identity has become a subject of political, social and legal
interpretation. Communities do not get out of this list even if their social and
political conditions get better.
 Most of the communities who were low in the caste hierarchy remain low in the
social order even today. And communities who were high in the social hierarchy
remain even today high in the social hierarchy. Most of the degrading jobs are
even today done by the Dalits, while the Brahmans remain at the top of the
hierarchy by being the doctors, engineers and lawyers of India.