India is a tremendous country with over 1.1 billion population. It has ethnic groups living together in a sizable land. Without an efficient system, the land would be separated into numerous nations. This surprising system is called the caste system.
Caste system originally categorized people according to their occupations. However, it later classified people by their birth class. The only way to get into higher rank was to make merits by doing the jobs as good as possible. After the current life passed away, soul with high merits will be reincarnated to higher class. This idea caused individuals to work hard without criticizing or forming groups against the ruler, for they knew that they were not meant to be the king in this life. Therefore, caste system made the citizens easy to be governed and be kept in order peacefully.
The system also resulted in the prosperity of the civilization, as there were peace and industrious citizens. During the Gupta Empire, The Indian made advances in science, literature, fine arts, architecture, medicine, mathematics, and astronomy. Although zero and decimal were discovered before this period, the accurate analysis was just appeared during this time. Moreover, there were evidences that India started oversea exploration in this era. Thriving Indian culture were spread to Borneo, Vietnam (them called Annam), China, and Mongolia. It can be assumed that India once was one of the world’s most influential civilizations under the structure of caste system.
Yet, every coin has two sides. These are some disadvantages of caste system.
First, caste system naturally brainwashed people to be easily controlled. For example, the Vaishyas had no right to overthrow bad king and form a new dynasty. The only t...
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...ed to have more negative effects to the community. Once it used to be a good tool to keep people in peace, but nowadays, the world has changed. Under the idea of democracy, everyone has the right to make decisions as long as it is under the law. Therefore, every Indian people should be given the chance to work what they want in order to improve human right and reduce the world’s poverty.
Works Cited
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Joshi Barbara R. (1983) India’s Untouchables. [Online]. Available from: www.culturalsurvival.org/ [Accessed 24th November 2013]
Sonia Mahey. (n.d.) The Status of Dalit Women in India’s Caste Based System. [Online]. Available from: http://www.dalits.nl [Accessed 24th November 2013]
Oliver Mendelsohn and Marika Vicziany. (1998). The Untouchables. [Cambridge eBook version]. Cambridge University Press.
Thousands of years ago, Indian society developed into a complex system based on different classes. This system is known as the Caste System. It separated Indians into different castes based on what class they were born into. As thousands of years went by, this system grew larger and became further complex (Wadley 189). This system caused frustration for the Indian citizens because they were receiving inequality.
According to, Sociology: The Essentials, caste system is defined as a system of stratification (characterized by low social mobility) in which one’s place in the stratification system is determined by birth. This is also acknowledged as an ascribed status. “This system in found in the traditional Hindu population of India” (Haviland 256). Although it is found in other parts of the world,
Mohan, S. et al. (2001). “Baseline Report: Women and Political Representation in India.” International Women’s Rights Action Watch: Asia Pacific (IWRAW). Retrieved on December 17th, 2011 from < http://www.iwraw-ap.org/aboutus/pdf/FPwomen_and_pol_pax.pdf>.
In the Chinese dynasties; Song and Tang, advancements resulted in improved trade, economy, and art. With inventions such as the compass, paper money, movable parts, and porcelain. In India, the Gupta empire had advancements in math, science, astronomy, and medicine. With inventions like the concept of zero and new innovations in inoculation, metallurgy. Astronomers from India discovered seven planets, along with solar eclipses and the rotation of earth. Along with different developments the two cultures had different religions. In India, depending on the time period, Buddhism and Hinduism were the main religions. In China most people liked confucianism, a system of certain morals. However, these morals often intertwined with morals from Buddhism; like following the middle
Dictionary.com defines a caste system as “a system of rigid social stratification characterized by hereditary status, endogamy, and social barriers sanctioned by custom, law, or religion” This means someone born into a low caste cannot move up to a higher caste because of this system. Although a caste system is not a set of laws, it is almost never broken because the caste system has been in place for so long.
Growing up in a traditional Punjabi family with both of my parents being born and raised in India has been an experience that I can only fully comprehend now at the age of twenty-three. Realizing how backward our culture is when it comes to women’s equality among family and society is an astonishing thought. Even though there is more gender equality here in America than in India within our households the women are still subjected to live and serve the men of the house. This custom has become almost an unconscious thought, to think of Punjabi women living in a traditional family more than a maid or babysitter would be blasphemous and heretical talk.
This contribution also heavily influences the order in a society, this is what the people see as right and wrong, laws to obey, elders to look up to, etc. Government is far from just the people in authority and laws to follow; it’s about socialization, trade, exchange, interactions with other countries, contradiction of what was thought to be right, justice, positions, jobs, skills, and so much more. In the 21st India there was a caste system in which created a “stable social order” (Document D). This system “dictated status and occupation” (Document D) and was not equal to all people but to only some of which are part of a higher class and social rank. There are many disadvantage for the ones who are on the lower end of the rank like less nutrition accessibility, lower education, and fewer relations or contacts to essential “social institutions” (Document D). This system of India is part of their government. It shows what they are like and how they want things to be and go according to. Their government is influencing their order by making things go a certain way. This government is making it where there are advantages for the high classes and not very many for the lower class. Making it almost impossible for someone to get themselves out of the lower class and move up into the higher class. There was also a system in Aryan society like this one but very different. This system also had
For example, Vedic India’s caste system was placed in the following order from top to bottom: the brahmins, warriors, middle class people, the low ranked civilians. The civilians were the ones who did the majority, if not all, of the back breaking work that allowed the land to flourish and feed the population. Although this class name isn’t part of the caste system, there is group that is considered so low that they cannot be part of the caste system, called “untouchables”. The untouchables know their place as well as everyone else so no one else interacts with them. In China, The social order works by keeping everyone in their designated category to avoid disorder as a whole because they are one huge family that cooperate together. Social order functions to keep everyone from causing a chaos and telling everyone the duties they fulfill. (BP#2: How social order works/
The Indian government is corrupted and makes promises it is unable to keep. In The White Tiger, Balram describes that the government is “...the world’s greatest democracy. What a fucking joke.” (Adiga 145). When Balram lived in Laxmangarh his right to vote for the prime minister was taken from him, due to the fact that running candidates pay the current government to make sure they are elected. The government system also enables the rich to get richer. They do this by immensely taxing the poor and enforcing the caste system on the poor. The caste system is a labeling system you were born into and of what you are expected of in life. For example Balram had the caste of Halwai, which is derived from “sweet-maker”. This meant Balram was expected to work...
The caste system had a very huge impact on ancient Hinduism, as well as the belief of rebirth and karma. Without those convictions, Hinduism would not have been what it was. The caste system told the people what responsibility they had based on the caste they were born into. The idea of good karma leading to reincarnation or rebirth into a better caste was used to keep people in line while also telling them how to live.
In Hinduism, people are born into their respective caste, determined by parentage. The four main castes are: Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaishyas (common people), or Shudras(servants). Each caste has its own duties to attend to, and each is expected to do so without regard to personal thought or choice. If duties are not attended to in the way befitting one’s caste, it is thought that the individual would suffer from bad karma. If an individual responds to situations in a way befitting of their caste, they are likewise rewarded with good karma. This insinuates an easy way to manipulate people into behaving in ways that they might not otherwise behave.
Owing to India’s diversity, these identities are determined by caste, ancestry, socioeconomic class, religion, sexual orientation and geographic location, and play an important role in determining the social position of an individual (Anne, Callahan & Kang, 2011). Within this diversity, certain identities are privileged over others, due to social hierarchies and inequalities, whose roots are more than a thousand years old. These inequalities have marginalized groups and communities which is evident from their meagre participation in politics, access to health and education services and
Divided into four major social categories, the caste system categorizes Hindus, who act accordingly to their caste, into Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Sudra. Another class, the “untouchables,” is considered outside of the system. These five different classes of society define each person greatly. Castes are unchangeable and rarely intermarry. This social division is yet another example of how religion disbands organizations of people.
Mahasweta Devi, always writes for deprived section of people. She is a loving daughter, a clerk, a lecturer, a journalist, an editor, a novelist, a dramatist and above all an ardent social activist. Her stories bring to the surface not only the misery of the completely ignored tribal people, but also articulate the oppression of w...
Susan Bayly. (1999). Caste, Society and Politics in India: from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age. Cambridge University Press