The Caste System in India

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Dr. P.D. Hegde is a Freelance Writer. He is an M.Sc. from Karnatak University, and he has also completed his M.A. from the same University. Mr. Hegde has written books on subjects like, Education, Yoga, Personality Development, Psychology, Agriculture, History, Religion, Etc. Presently, being a freelance writer Mr. Hegde has written [published books] more than 135 books. [Among them 100 books are in English, and 35 books are in Kannada. About 21 Books are yet to be published.] His popular books are, Modern Psychology, Yoga the Spirit of Life, History of India, Criminology, Agro-Chemistry, History of Inventions, Amazing Animals, Prostitution the Curse of Life, Easy Methods to Learn About Computers, The Great Legends of East India, The Biography of Great Indians, Romantic Poets,.. Etc. Mr Hegde has also worked as a Lecturer in a Degree college [Bangalore] for few years. At present Mr Hegde is engaged in writing books related to different subjects.

The caste system in India is the paradigmatic ethnographic instance of social classification based on castes. It has its origins in ancient India, and was transformed by various ruling elites in medieval, early-modern, and modern India, especially the Mughal Empire and the British Raj. It is today the basis of affirmative action programmes in India as enforced through its constitution. The caste system consists of two different concepts, varna and jati, which may be regarded as different levels of analysis of this system.

The caste system as it exists today is thought to be the result of developments during the collapse of the Mughal era and the rise of the British colonial government in India. The collapse of the Mughal era saw the rise of powerful men who associated themselves with kings, priests and ascetics, affirming the regal and martial form of the caste ideal, and it also reshaped many apparently casteless social groups into differentiated caste communities. The British Raj furthered this development, making rigid caste organisation a central mechanism of administration. Between 1860 and 1920, the British incorporated the Indian caste system into their system of governance, granting administrative jobs and senior appointments only to Christians and people belonging to certain castes. Social unrest during the 1920s led to a change in this policy. Caste was no longer used by the colonial authority to functionally organize civil society. This reflected changes in administrative practices, understandings of expertise, and the rise of new European scholarly institutions. After the 1920s, the colonial administration began a policy of positive discrimination by reserving a certain percentage of government jobs for the lower castes.