Caste

• Caste is a hereditary endogamous group.

• C. Bougle defined caste system in terms of hierarchically arranged

hereditary groups.

• A caste system is a social system in which one’s social status is given

for life. This means that all individuals must remain at the social level
of their birth throughout their lifetime.
• G.S. Ghurye - Caste and Race in India (1932), Caste and Class in India
(1950/57)

• Features of Caste system

1) Segmental division
2) Hierarchy
3) Restrictions on feeding and social intercourse
4) Civil and Religious disabilities and privileges of the different sections
5) Hereditary occupation and Lack of unrestricted choice of occupation
6) Restrictions on Marriage
1) Segmental division of society
• Caste divides society into divisions (caste groups), which developed
life of their own.
• Membership in/of the caste group is by birth.
2) Hierarchy:
Caste Hierarchy (fourfold)
• of the groups/divisions - based on
purity. • Brahmins

• B.R. Ambedkar described the caste • Kshatriyas/ Rajanyas

system as “an ascending order of
reverence and descending order of
contempt.” • Vaishyas

• Sudras
3) Restrictions on feeding and social intercourse:

• i.e., commensal prohibitions/restrictions -

• There are rules as to what sort of food or drink can be accepted by a
person and from what castes.

• Restrictions on social interaction

4) Civil and Religious disabilities and privileges of the different sections:

• Segregation of individual castes or of groups of castes in a village is a

mark of civil privileges and disabilities.
5) Hereditary occupation and Lack of unrestricted choice of occupation:

i.e., fixed traditional occupation

Purity and pollution based on occupation

6) Restrictions on Marriage:
i.e., caste endogamy

• “purity” of a caste is often maintained by rules of endogamy.