Term Paper on "Social Inequality in India Caste System 1450-2007"

Term Paper 4 pages (1365 words) Sources: 2 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Social Inequality in India; "Caste System" (1450-2007)

Social Inequality in India: the "Caste System."

Social inequality is a social aspect that is found in every nation and country in the world.

However India is unique in that it has a socially ingrained and structured system that inculcates and perpetuates differences and inequality. As one commentator states; "...nowhere else in the world has inequality been so elaborately constructed as in the Indian institution of caste." (India Caste system, ancient India Caste System)

This inequality within the society still persists to a certain extent today in some areas and, while there are many reports of the dismantling of this system of inequality, yet, "Caste has undergone significant change since independence, but it still involves hundreds of millions of people. In its preamble, India's constitution forbids negative public discrimination on the basis of caste." (India Caste system, ancient India Caste System)

The term caste refers to "... ranked, named, endogamous (in-marrying) groups, membership in which is achieved by birth. "(India Caste system, ancient India Caste System) There are literarily thousands of different castes and sub-castes in India. They are also extremely complex in their structure and can be kinship based and also interdependent with other groups. Castes are, "...linked in complex ways with networks that stretch across regions and throughout the nation." (India Caste system, ancient India Caste System)

The main problem with discussing the development and changes of India's cast system in terms of its relationship to modern ideas and beliefs about equality among all people is that the Indian cast system has a long and entrenched history. This history is built on important and generally still accepted religious views and principles.

In essence the term caste derives from the Portuguese term, casta, which means race, bread or kind. (India Caste system, ancient India Caste System) In India the main caste classifications are varna, jati, jat, biradri, and samaj; all of which refer to different groups with different status and privilege within the society. There are also various sub-castes within this classification.

Caste is, in the historical sense, was not strictly associated with ideas inequality and privilege in a negative way, but rather with a religious perceptions. In terms of these perceptions, the origins of the different castes refer to different functions and activities within the society, which have religious origins and reasons. Therefore, traditionally caste is seen as a differentiation within the society that is ordained and religiously necessary for a functioning and "good" order.

According to the sacred texts of Rig Veda"...progenitors of the four ranked varna groups sprang from various parts of the body of the primordial man, which Brahma created from clay..." (India Caste system, ancient India Caste System) Each group has certain societal functions and status. For example, the Kshatriyas, or warriors and ruling class, have different functions as well as privileges and power to Vaishyas or merchants. At the bottom of this hierarchy or class classification is the group known as the "Untouchable" or menial servants.

While India is in origin a religiously stratified society, yet it is also obvious that the different castes do not share equally in the wealth and privilege of the society. There are numerous examples of this fact. For instance, at a formal function the different castes are strictly separated and contact between the higher and lower castes is radically opposed. The following example provides some insight into the inequalities in the system. "... At the edge of the feeding area, a Sweeper may wait with a large basket to receive discarded leavings tossed in by other diners. Eating food contaminated by contact with the saliva of others not of the same family is considered far too polluting to be practiced by members of any other castes. (India Caste system, ancient India Caste System)

The lower caste, the Dalits, were seen as a "pollutant" by the higher castes and had to "...physically keep their distance -- lest their touch or even their shadow pollute others -- wearing neither shoes nor any upper body covering (even for women) in the presence of the upper… READ MORE

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