Essay On Indian Caste System

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Imagine being stuck in the same, menial job for a lifetime, with the hope of being in a higher position in the next life. This sounds like a very difficult way to live, but it has been the reality in India for thousands of years. In India there was a system called the caste system. It dictated the lives of everyone under it, by deciding what people could do, and who they were able to interact with. The caste system had different levels with rules and standards. The five sections of the caste system are: Brahmins- priest, Khatriyas- warriors & rulers, Vaisyas- merchants, Sudras- unskilled workers, and Pariah- untouchables. Each caste is divided into smaller units called jati. A person was stuck in the same caste for their entire life. Different regions, caste, and jati had different rules. If one was not Hindu or failed to do the duty given to their caste, then they were cast out and became an untouchable. The…show more content…
Ushistory.org says, that when “India first encountered what appeared to them to be race-based social stratification, they used the Portuguese term "casta" — which means "race".” It developed slowly over time based on the traditional beliefs of the Aryan nomads. Divisions of the caste system were based on Brahma's divine manifestation of four groups. The caste system could have started as early as 1500 BC, but it began being emphasized around 200 BC. Originally based on occupation, this system grew to be based on social status at birth. All though, it was meant to help people strive for a higher status in the "next life", some castes were not allowed to worship, so it would be nearly impossible to move up, based on the Hindu beliefs of this system. Because each caste was treated differently and not allowed to socialize with the other caste, the caste system leads to hatred between caste and division of the

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