![Basor Dalit caste](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Basor_Dalit_caste.jpg)
Caste is a form of
social stratification
Social stratification refers to a society's categorization of its people into groups based on socioeconomic factors like wealth, income, race, education, ethnicity, gender, occupation, social status, or derived power (social and politi ...
characterised by
endogamy
Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting those from others as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships.
Endogamy is common in many cultu ...
, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultural notions of purity and pollution.
[
* Quote: "caste ort., casta=basket ranked groups based on heredity within rigid systems of social stratification, especially those that constitute Hindu India. Some scholars, in fact, deny that true caste systems are found outside India. The caste is a closed group whose members are severely restricted in their choice of occupation and degree of social participation. Marriage outside the caste is prohibited. Social status is determined by the caste of one's birth and may only rarely be transcended."
* Quote: "caste, any of the ranked, hereditary, endogamous social groups, often linked with occupation, that together constitute traditional societies in South Asia, particularly among Hindus in India. Although sometimes used to designate similar groups in other societies, the "caste system" is uniquely developed in Hindu societies."
* Quote: "Caste: What makes Indian society unique is the phenomenon of caste. Economic, religious, and linguistic differentiations, even race-based discrimination, are known elsewhere, but nowhere else does one see caste but in India."
*
* Quote:"Castes A pure caste system is rooted in the religious order and may be thought of as a hierarchy of hereditary, endogamous, occupational groups with positions fixed and mobility barred by ritual distances between each caste. Empirically, the classical Hindu system of India approximated most closely to pure caste. The system existed for some 3,000 years and continues today despite many attempts to get rid of some of its restrictions. It is essentially connected with Hinduism."
*) Quote: "caste, n. 2a. spec. One of the several hereditary classes into which society in India has from time immemorial been divided; ... ''This is now the leading sense, which influences all others.''"] Its paradigmatic ethnographic example is the division of India's
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
society into rigid social groups, with roots in south Asia's ancient history and persisting to the present time.
[ However, the economic significance of the ]caste system in India
The caste system in India is the paradigmatic ethnographic example of classification of castes. It has its origins in ancient India, and was transformed by various ruling elites in medieval, early-modern, and modern India, especially the Mug ...
has been declining as a result of urbanisation and affirmative action programs. A subject of much scholarship by sociologists and anthropologists, the Hindu caste system is sometimes used as an analogical basis for the study of caste-like social divisions existing outside Hinduism and India. The term "caste" is also applied to morphological groupings in eusocial
Eusociality (from Greek εὖ ''eu'' "good" and social), the highest level of organization of sociality, is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care (including care of offspring from other individuals), overlapping gen ...
insects such as ant
Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of ...
s, bee
Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfami ...
s, and termites
Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes ( eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blat ...
.
Etymology
The English word ''caste'' () derives from the Spanish and Portuguese , which, according to the John Minsheu
John Minsheu (or Minshew) (1560–1627) was an English linguist and lexicographer.
Biography
He was born and died in London. Little is known about his life. He published some of the earliest dictionaries and grammars of the Spanish language for ...
's Spanish dictionary (1569), means "race, lineage, tribe or breed". When the Spanish colonised the New World
The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...
, they used the word to mean a 'clan or lineage'. It was, however, the Portuguese who first employed in the primary modern sense of the English word 'caste' when they applied it to the thousands of endogamous, hereditary Indian social groups they encountered upon their arrival in India in 1498. The use of the spelling ''caste'', with this latter meaning, is first attested in English in 1613.[ In the Latin American context, the term ''caste'' is sometimes used to describe the '']casta
() is a term which means "lineage" in Spanish and Portuguese and has historically been used as a racial and social identifier. In the context of the Spanish Empire in the Americas it also refers to a now-discredited 20th-century theoretical f ...
'' system of racial classification, based on whether a person was of pure European, Indigenous or African descent, or some mix thereof, with the different groups being placed in a racial hierarchy; however, despite the etymological connection between the Latin American ''casta'' system and South Asian caste systems (the former giving its name to the later), it is controversial to what extent the two phenomenon are really comparable.
In South Asia
India
Modern India's caste system is based on the artificial modern superimposition of an old four-fold theoretical classification called the Varna on the natural social groupings called the Jāti
''Jāti'' is the term traditionally used to describe a cohesive group of people in the Indian subcontinent, like a tribe, community, clan, sub-clan, or a religious sect. Each Jāti typically has an association with an occupation, geography or t ...
.
Varna conceptualised a society as consisting of four types varnas or categories: Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers ( ...
, Kshatriya
Kshatriya ( hi, क्षत्रिय) (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority") is one of the four varna (social orders) of Hindu society, associated with warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the co ...
, Vaishya
Vaishya (Sanskrit: वैश्य, ''vaiśya'') is one of the four varnas of the Hindu social order in India. Vaishyas are classed third in the order of caste hierarchy.
The occupation of Vaishyas consists mainly of agriculture, taking care ...
and Shudra
Shudra or ''Shoodra'' (Sanskrit: ') is one of the four '' varnas'' of the Hindu caste system and social order in ancient India. Various sources translate it into English as a caste, or alternatively as a social class. Theoretically, class ser ...
, according to the nature of work of its members. Varna was not an inherited category and the occupation determined the varna. However, a person's Jati is determined at birth and makes them take up that Jati's occupation and members could and did change their occupation based on personal strengths, economic, social and political factors. Thus both Jati and Varna were fluid categories, subject to change based on occupation. Based on DNA analysis
Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...
, endogamous i.e. non-intermarrying Jatis originated during the Gupta Empire
The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Gold ...
.
From 1901 onwards, for the purposes of the Decennial Census, the British colonial authorities arbitrarily and incorrectly forced all Jātis into the four '' Varna'' categories as described in ancient texts. Herbert Hope Risley
Sir Herbert Hope Risley (4 January 1851 – 30 September 1911) was a British ethnographer and colonial administrator, a member of the Indian Civil Service who conducted extensive studies on the tribes and castes of the Bengal Presidency ...
, the Census Commissioner, noted that "The principle suggested as a basis was that of classification by social precedence as recognized by native public opinion at the present day, and manifesting itself in the facts that particular castes are supposed to be the modern representatives of one or other of the castes of the theoretical Indian system."
''Varna'', as mentioned in ancient Hindu texts, describes society as divided into four categories: Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers ( ...
s (scholars and yajna priests), Kshatriya
Kshatriya ( hi, क्षत्रिय) (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority") is one of the four varna (social orders) of Hindu society, associated with warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the co ...
s (rulers and warriors), Vaishyas
Vaishya ( Sanskrit: वैश्य, ''vaiśya'') is one of the four varnas of the Hindu social order in India. Vaishyas are classed third in the order of caste hierarchy.
The occupation of Vaishyas consists mainly of agriculture, taking c ...
(farmers, merchants and artisans) and Shudras
Shudra or ''Shoodra'' (Sanskrit: ') is one of the four ''Varna (Hinduism), varnas'' of the Hindu caste system and social order in ancient India. Various sources translate it into English as a caste, or alternatively as a social class. Theoret ...
(workmen/service providers). The texts do not mention any hierarchy or a separate, untouchable category in '' Varna'' classifications. Scholars believe that the ''Varnas'' system was never truly operational in society and there is no evidence of it ever being a reality in Indian history. The practical division of the society had always been in terms of ''Jatis'' (birth groups), which are not based on any specific religious principle, but could vary from ethnic origins to occupations to geographic areas. The ''Jātis'' have been endogamous social groups without any fixed hierarchy but subject to vague notions of rank articulated over time based on lifestyle and social, political or economic status. Many of India's major empires and dynasties like the Mauryas, Shalivahanas, Chalukyas, Kakatiyas among many others, were founded by people who would have been classified as Shudras, under the ''Varnas'' system, as interpreted by the British rulers. It is well established that by the 9th century, kings from all the four Varnas, including Brahmins and Vaishyas, had occupied the highest seat in the monarchical system in Hindu India, contrary to the Varna theory. In many instances, as in Bengal, historically the kings and rulers had been called upon, when required, to mediate on the ranks of ''Jātis'', which might number in thousands all over the subcontinent and vary by region. In practice, the ''jātis'' may or may not fit into the ''Varna'' classes and many prominent ''Jatis'', for example the Jats and Yadavs, straddled two Varnas i.e. Kshatriyas and Vaishyas, and the ''Varna'' status of ''Jātis'' itself was subject to articulation over time. It has been argued that caste is neither varna nor jati though it masquerades as one or the other or both at the same time, depending on the purpose it is meant to serve. And since caste is not the same as the other two, it is, in fact, a new category deployed by the British for imagining the Indian society.
Starting with the 1901 Census of India
The Census of India prior to independence was conducted periodically from 1865 to 1941. The censuses were primarily concerned with administration and faced numerous problems in their design and conduct ranging from the absence of house numbering ...
led by colonial administrator Herbert Hope Risley, all the ''jātis'' were grouped under the theoretical ''varnas'' categories. According to political scientist Lloyd Rudolph
Lloyd Irving Rudolph (November 1, 1927 – January 16, 2016) was an American author, political thinker, educationist and the Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Chicago, known for his scholarship and writings on the ...
, Risley believed that ''varna'', however ancient, could be applied to all the modern castes found in India, and " emeant to identify and place several hundred million Indians within it." In an effort to arrange various castes in order of importance, functional grouping was based less on the occupation that prevailed in each case at that time than on that which was traditional with it, or which gave rise to its differentiation from the rest of the community. "This action virtually removed Indians from the progress of history and condemned them to an unchanging position and place in time. In one sense, it is rather ironic that the British, who continually accused the Indian people of having a static society, should then impose a construct that denied progress." The terms ''varna'' (conceptual classification based on occupation) and ''jāti'' (groups) are two distinct concepts: while ''varna'' is a theoretical four-part division, ''jāti'' (community) refers to the thousands of actual endogamous social groups prevalent across the subcontinent. The classical authors scarcely speak of anything other than the ''varnas'', as it provided a convenient shorthand; but a problem arises when colonial Indologists sometimes confuse the two. Thus, starting with the 1901 Census, caste as Varna forced upon Jatis, officially became India's essential institution, with an imprimatur from the British authorities, augmenting a discourse that had already dominated Indology. "Despite India's acquisition of formal political independence, it has still not regained the power to know its own past and present apart from that discourse".
Upon independence from Britain, the Indian Constitution
The Constitution of India (IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ri ...
listed 1,108 Jatis across the country as Scheduled Castes
The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...
in 1950, for positive discrimination. This constitution would also ban discrimination of the basis of the caste, though its practice in India remained intact. The Untouchable communities are sometimes called ''Scheduled Castes
The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...
'', ''Dalit
Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming ...
'' or ''Harijan
Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming ...
'' in contemporary literature. In 2001, Dalits were 16.2% of India's population. Most of the 15 million bonded child workers are from the lowest castes. Independent India has witnessed caste-related violence. In 2005, government recorded approximately 110,000 cases of reported violent acts, including rape and murder, against Dalits. For 2012, the government recorded 651 murders, 3,855 injuries, 1,576 rapes, 490 kidnappings, and 214 cases of arson.
The socio-economic limitations of the caste system are reduced due to urbanisation
Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly the ...
and affirmative action. Nevertheless, the caste system still exists in endogamy
Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting those from others as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships.
Endogamy is common in many cultu ...
and patrimony, and thrives in the politics of democracy, where caste provides ready made constituencies to politicians. The globalisation and economic opportunities from foreign businesses has influenced the growth of India's middle-class population. Some members of the Chhattisgarh Potter Caste Community (CPCC) are middle-class urban professionals and no longer potters unlike the remaining majority of traditional rural potter members. There is persistence of caste in Indian politics. Caste associations have evolved into caste-based political parties. Political parties and the state perceive caste as an important factor for mobilisation of people and policy development.
Studies by Bhatt and Beteille have shown changes in status, openness, mobility in the social aspects of Indian society. As a result of modern socio-economic changes in the country, India is experiencing significant changes in the dynamics and the economics of its social sphere. While arranged marriages are still the most common practice in India, the internet has provided a network for younger Indians to take control of their relationships through the use of dating apps. This remains isolated to informal terms, as marriage is not often achieved through the use of these apps. Hypergamy
Hypergamy (colloquially referred to as "marrying up") is a term used in social science for the act or practice of a person marrying a spouse of higher caste or social status than themselves.
The antonym "hypogamy" refers to the inverse: marryin ...
is still a common practice in India and Hindu culture. Men are expected to marry within their caste, or one below, with no social repercussions. If a woman marries into a higher caste, then her children will take the status of their father. If she marries down, her family is reduced to the social status of their son in law. In this case, the women are bearers of the egalitarian principle of the marriage. There would be no benefit in marrying a higher caste if the terms of the marriage did not imply equality. However, men are systematically shielded from the negative implications of the agreement.
Geographical factors also determine adherence to the caste system. Many Northern villages are more likely to participate in exogamous marriage, due to a lack of eligible suitors within the same caste. Women in North India
North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Cen ...
have been found to be less likely to leave or divorce their husbands since they are of a relatively lower caste system, and have higher restrictions on their freedoms. On the other hand, Pahari women, of the northern mountains, have much more freedom to leave their husbands without stigma. This often leads to better husbandry as his actions are not protected by social expectations.
Chiefly among the factors influencing the rise of exogamy is the rapid urbanisation in India
Urbanization in India began to accelerate after independence, due to the country's adoption of a mixed economy, which gave rise to the development of the private sector. The population residing in urban areas in India, according to the 1901 cen ...
experienced over the last century. It is well known that urban centers tend to be less reliant on agriculture and are more progressive as a whole. As India's cities boomed in population, the job market grew to keep pace. Prosperity and stability were now more easily attained by an individual, and the anxiety to marry quickly and effectively was reduced. Thus, younger, more progressive generations of urban Indians are less likely than ever to participate in the antiquated system of arranged endogamy.
India has also implemented a form of Affirmative Action, locally known as "reservation groups". Quota system jobs, as well as placements in publicly funded colleges, hold spots for the 8% of India's minority, and underprivileged groups. As a result, in states such as Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
or those in the north-east
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...
, where underprivileged populations predominate, over 80% of government jobs are set aside in quotas. In education, colleges lower the marks necessary for the Dalits to enter.
Nepal
The Nepali caste system resembles in some respects the Indian ''jāti'' system, with numerous ''jāti'' divisions with a ''varna'' system superimposed. Inscriptions attest the beginnings of a caste system during the Licchavi period. Jayasthiti Malla
Jayasthitimalla (or Jayasthiti Malla) ( ne, जयस्थिति मल्ल) was a 14th-century king of Nepal belonging to the Malla dynasty. He is known as the best successor of the whole Malla dynasty. He was of Tirhut origins and had ma ...
(1382–1395) categorised Newars into 64 castes (Gellner 2001). A similar exercise was made during the reign of Mahindra Malla (1506–1575). The Hindu social code was later set up in the Gorkha Kingdom
Gorkha Kingdom ( ne, गोरखा राज्य) was a member of the Chaubisi rajya, a confederation of 24 states on the Indian subcontinent ruled by Khas people. In 1743 CE, the kingdom began a campaign of military expansion, annexing s ...
by Ram Shah
Ram Shah ( ne, राम शाह; reign before 16061636) was the king of the Gorkha Kingdom (present-day Gorkha District, Nepal). He was the son of King of Gorkha Purna Shah and brother of Chatra Shah. He acceded in the throne in c. 1606 aft ...
(1603–1636).
Pakistan
McKim Marriott claims a social stratification that is hierarchical, closed, endogamous and hereditary is widely prevalent, particularly in western parts of Pakistan. Frederik Barth in his review of this system of social stratification in Pakistan suggested that these are castes.
Sri Lanka
The caste system in Sri Lanka is a division of society into strata, influenced by the textbook ''varnas'' and ''jāti'' system found in India. Ancient Sri Lankan texts such as the Pujavaliya, Sadharmaratnavaliya and Yogaratnakaraya and inscriptional evidence show that the above hierarchy prevailed throughout the feudal period. The repetition of the same caste hierarchy even as recently as the 18th century, in the Kandyan-period Kadayimpoth – Boundary books as well indicates the continuation of the tradition right up to the end of Sri Lanka's monarchy.
Outside South Asia
Southeast Asia
Indonesia
Bali
Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and ...
nese caste structure has been described as being based either on three categories—the noble triwangsa (thrice born), the middle class of ''dwijāti'' (twice born), and the lower class of ''ekajāti'' (once born)--or on four castes
*Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers ( ...
as – priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...
* Satrias – knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
hood
* Wesias – commerce
Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, natio ...
* Sudras – servitude
The Brahmana caste was further subdivided by Dutch ethnographers into two: Siwa and Buda. The Siwa caste was subdivided into five: Kemenuh, Keniten, Mas, Manuba and Petapan. This classification was to accommodate the observed marriage between higher-caste Brahmana men with lower-caste women. The other castes were similarly further sub-classified by 19th-century and early-20th-century ethnographers based on numerous criteria ranging from profession, endogamy or exogamy or polygamy, and a host of other factors in a manner similar to ''castas'' in Spanish colonies such as Mexico
Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
, and caste system studies in British colonies such as India.[
]
Philippines
In the Philippines, pre-colonial societies do not have a single social structure. The class structures can be roughly categorised into four types:
* Classless societies - egalitarian societies with no class structure. Examples include the Mangyan
Mangyan is the generic name for the eight indigenous groups found on the island of Mindoro, southwest of the island of Luzon, the Philippines, each with its own tribal name, language, and customs. The total population may be around 280,001, ...
and the Kalanguya people
The Kalanguya (also sometimes referred to as the Ikalahan) are an Austronesian ethnic group most closely associated with the Philippines' Cordillera Administrative Region, but whose core population can be found across an area which also include ...
s.
* Warrior societies - societies where a distinct warrior class exists, and whose membership depends on martial prowess. Examples include the Mandaya, Bagobo
The Lumad are a group of Austronesian indigenous people in the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad (Literally: "indigenous people"), the autonym officially adopte ...
, Tagakaulo, and B'laan people
The Blaan people, are one of the indigenous peoples of Southern Mindanao in the Philippines. Their name could have derived from "bla" meaning "opponent" and the suffix "an" meaning "people". According to a 2021 genetic study, the Blaan people al ...
s who had warriors called the ''bagani'' or ''magani''. Similarly, in the Cordillera highlands of Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
, the Isneg
The Isnag people (also referred to as the Isneg and Apayao) are an Austronesian ethnic group native to Apayao Province in the Philippines' Cordillera Administrative Region. Their native language is Isneg language, Isneg (also called Isnag), a ...
and Kalinga people
The Kalinga people () are an indigenous ethnic group whose ancestral domain is in the Cordillera Mountain Range of the northern Philippines. They are mainly found in Kalinga province which has an area of 3,282.58 sq. km. Some of them, howev ...
s refer to their warriors as ''mengal'' or ''maingal''. This society is typical for head-hunting ethnic groups or ethnic groups which had seasonal raids (''mangayaw
The ''Timawa'' were the feudal warrior class of the ancient Visayan societies of the Philippines. They were regarded as higher than the ''uripon'' (commoners, serfs, and slaves) but below the ''Tumao'' (royal nobility) in the Visayan social hie ...
'') into enemy territory.
* Petty plutocracies - societies which have a wealthy class based on property and the hosting of periodic prestige feasts. In some groups, it was an actual caste whose members had specialised leadership roles, married only within the same caste, and wore specialised clothing. These include the ''kadangyan'' of the Ifugao
Ifugao, officially the Province of Ifugao ( ilo, Probinsia ti Ifugao; tl, Lalawigan ng Ifugao), is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Lagawe and it borders Benguet to the ...
, Bontoc Bontoc may refer to:
* Bontoc, Mountain Province, Philippines
* Bontoc, Southern Leyte, Philippines
* Bontoc people, an ethnic group from Central Luzon, Philippines
* Bontoc language
Bontoc (Bontok) (also called Finallig) is the native language ...
, and Kankanaey peoples, as well as the ''baknang'' of the Ibaloi people
The Ibaloi (also spelled Ibaloy; Ibaloi: ''ivadoy'', ) are an indigenous ethnic group found in Benguet Province of the northern Philippines.
''Ibaloi'' is derived from ''i-'', a prefix signifying "pertaining to" and ''badoy'' or house, togethe ...
. In others, though wealth may give one prestige and leadership qualifications, it was not a caste per se.
*Principalities - societies with an actual ruling class and caste systems determined by birthright. Most of these societies are either Indianized or Islamized to a degree. They include the larger coastal ethnic groups like the Tagalog
Tagalog may refer to:
Language
* Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines
** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language
** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language
* Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Taga ...
, Kapampangan, Visayan, and Moro societies. Most of them were usually divided into four to five caste systems with different names under different ethnic groups that roughly correspond to each other. The system was more or less feudalistic, with the ''datu'' ultimately having control of all the lands of the community. The land is subdivided among the enfranchised classes, the ''sakop'' or ''sa-op'' (vassal
A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerai ...
s, lit. "those under the power of another"). The castes were hereditary, though they were not rigid. They were more accurately a reflection of the interpersonal political relationships, a person is always the follower of another. People can move up the caste system by marriage, by wealth, or by doing something extraordinary; and conversely they can be demoted, usually as criminal punishment or as a result of debt. Shamans are the exception, as they are either volunteers, chosen by the ranking shamans, or born into the role by innate propensity for it. They are enumerated below from the highest rank to the lowest:
:* Royalty - ( Visayan: ''kadatoan
The Tagalog ''maginoo'', the Kapampangan ''ginu'', and the Visayan ''tumao'' were the nobility social class among various cultures of the pre-colonial Philippines. Among the Visayans, the ''tumao'' were further distinguished from the immediate ...
'') the ''datu
''Datu'' is a title which denotes the rulers (variously described in historical accounts as chiefs, sovereign princes, and monarchs) of numerous indigenous peoples throughout the Philippine archipelago. The title is still used today, especial ...
'' and immediate descendants. They are often further categorised according to purity of lineage. The power of the ''datu'' is dependent on the willingness of their followers to render him respect and obedience. Most roles of the datu were judicial and military. In case of an unfit ''datu'', support may be withdrawn by his followers. ''Datu'' were almost always male, though in some ethnic groups like the Banwaon people
The Banwaon people are an ethnic groups in Mindanao, also known as the Adgawanon, Banuaonon, Banwanon, Higaonon-Banwaon and Manobo. There are concentrations of Banwaons found in the island of Mindanao in the Filipino province of Agusan del Sur
...
, the female shaman ('' babaiyon'') co-rules as the female counterpart of the ''datu''.
:* Nobility - (Visayan: ''tumao
The Tagalog ''maginoo'', the Kapampangan ''ginu'', and the Visayan ''tumao'' were the nobility social class among various cultures of the pre-colonial Philippines. Among the Visayans, the ''tumao'' were further distinguished from the immediate ...
''; Tagalog
Tagalog may refer to:
Language
* Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines
** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language
** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language
* Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Taga ...
: ''maginoo
The Tagalog ''maginoo'', the Kapampangan ''ginu'', and the Visayan ''tumao'' were the nobility social class among various cultures of the pre-colonial Philippines. Among the Visayans, the ''tumao'' were further distinguished from the immediate ...
''; Kapampangan ''ginu''; Tausug: ''bangsa mataas'') the ruling class, either inclusive of or exclusive of the royal family. Most are descendants of the royal line or gained their status through wealth or bravery in battle. They owned lands and subjects, from whom they collected taxes.
:* Shamans
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spirit ...
- (Visayan: ''babaylan''; Tagalog: ''katalonan'') the spirit mediums, usually female or feminised men. While they weren't technically a caste, they commanded the same respect and status as nobility.
:* Warriors - (Visayan: ''timawa
The ''Timawa'' were the feudal warrior class of the ancient Visayan societies of the Philippines. They were regarded as higher than the '' uripon'' (commoners, serfs, and slaves) but below the '' Tumao'' (royal nobility) in the Visayan soci ...
''; Tagalog: '' maharlika'') the martial class. They could own land and subjects like the higher ranks, but were required to fight for the ''datu'' in times of war. In some Filipino ethnic groups, they were often tattooed extensively to record feats in battle and as protection against harm. They were sometimes further subdivided into different classes, depending on their relationship with the ''datu''. They traditionally went on seasonal raids on enemy settlements.
:* Commoners and slaves - (Visayan, Maguindanao
Maguindanao (, Maguindanaon: ''Prubinsya nu Magindanaw''; Iranun'': Perobinsia a Magindanao''; tl, Lalawigan ng Maguindanao) was a province of the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). From 2014 ...
: ''ulipon
The ''alipin'' refers to the lowest social class among the various cultures of the Philippines before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the Visayan languages, the equivalent social classes were known as the ''oripu ...
''; Tagalog: ''alipin
The ''alipin'' refers to the lowest social class among the various cultures of the Philippines before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the Visayan languages, the equivalent social classes were known as the ''oripu ...
''; Tausug: ''kiapangdilihan''; Maranao
The Maranao people (Maranao: mәranaw Filipino: ''Maranaw''), also spelled Meranao, Maranaw, and Mëranaw, is the term used by the Philippine government to refer to the southern indigenous people who are the "people of the lake", a predomi ...
: ''kakatamokan'') - the lowest class composed of the rest of the community who were not part of the enfranchised classes. They were further subdivided into the commoner class who had their own houses, the servants who lived in the houses of others, and the slaves who were usually captives from raids, criminals, or debtors. Most members of this class were equivalent to the European serf
Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...
class, who paid taxes and can be conscripted to communal tasks, but were more or less free to do as they please.
East Asia
China and Mongolia
During the period of Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fif ...
, ruler Kublai Khan
Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of ...
enforced a ''Four Class System'', which was a legal caste system. The order of four classes of people in descending order were:
* Mongolian
* Semu
Semu () is the name of a caste established by the Yuan dynasty. The 31 Semu categories referred to people who came from Central and West Asia. They had come to serve the Yuan dynasty by enfranchising under the dominant Mongol caste. The Semu were ...
people
* Han people (in the northern areas of China)
* Southerners (people of the former Southern Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...
)
Today, the Hukou system
''Hukou'' () is a system of household registration used in mainland China. The system itself is more properly called "''huji''" (), and has origins in ancient China; ''hukou'' is the registration of an individual in the system (''kou'' lit ...
is argued by various Western sources to be the current caste system of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
.
Tibet
There is significant controversy over the social classes of Tibet
There were three main social groups in Tibet prior to 1959, namely ordinary laypeople (''mi ser'' in Tibetan), lay nobility (''sger pa''), and monks. The ordinary layperson could be further classified as a peasant farmer (''shing-pa'') or nomadic ...
, especially with regards to the serfdom in Tibet controversy.
has put forth the argument that pre-1950s Tibetan society was functionally a caste system, in contrast to previous scholars who defined the Tibetan social class system as similar to European feudal serfdom, as well as non-scholarly western accounts which seek to romanticise a supposedly 'egalitarian' ancient Tibetan society.
Japan
In Japan's history, social strata based on inherited position rather than personal merit, were rigid and highly formalised in a system called ''mibunsei'' (身分制). At the top were the Emperor and Court nobles (kuge
The was a Japanese aristocratic class that dominated the Japanese Imperial Court in Kyoto. The ''kuge'' were important from the establishment of Kyoto as the capital during the Heian period in the late 8th century until the rise of the Kamak ...
), together with the Shōgun and daimyō. Below them, the population was divided into four classes: samurai
were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They ...
, peasants, craftsmen and merchants. Only samurai were allowed to bear arms. A samurai had a right to kill any peasants, craftsman or merchant who he felt were disrespectful. Merchants were the lowest caste because they did not produce any products. The castes were further sub-divided; for example, peasants were labelled as ''furiuri'', ''tanagari'', ''mizunomi-byakusho'' among others. As in Europe, the castes and sub-classes were of the same race, religion and culture.
Howell, in his review of Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
ese society notes that if a Western power had colonised Japan in the 19th century, they would have discovered and imposed a rigid four-caste hierarchy in Japan.
De Vos and Wagatsuma observe that Japanese society had a systematic and extensive caste system. They discuss how alleged caste impurity and alleged racial inferiority, concepts often assumed to be different, are superficial terms, and are due to identical inner psychological processes, which expressed themselves in Japan and elsewhere.
Endogamy was common because marriage across caste lines was socially unacceptable.[
]Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
had its own untouchable caste, shunned and ostracised, historically referred to by the insulting term ''eta'', now called ''burakumin
is a name for a low-status social group in Japan. It is a term for ethnic Japanese people with occupations considered as being associated with , such as executioners, undertakers, slaughterhouse workers, butchers, or tanners.
During Japan's ...
''. While modern law has officially abolished the class hierarchy, there are reports of discrimination against the ''buraku'' or ''burakumin'' underclasses. The ''burakumin'' are regarded as "ostracised". The ''burakumin'' are one of the main minority groups in Japan, along with the Ainu
Ainu or Aynu may refer to:
*Ainu people, an East Asian ethnic group of Japan and the Russian Far East
*Ainu languages, a family of languages
**Ainu language of Hokkaido
**Kuril Ainu language, extinct language of the Kuril Islands
**Sakhalin Ainu la ...
of Hokkaidō
is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...
and those of Korean
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju language
** ...
or Chinese descent.
Korea
The baekjeong
The ''Baekjeong'' ( ko, 백정) were an untouchable caste in Korea, originating from some minority, nomadic groups of disputed ethnicity. In the early part of the Goryeo period (918–1392), these minorities were largely settled in fixed communi ...
(백정) were an "untouchable" outcaste of Korea. The meaning today is that of butcher. It originates in the Khitan invasion of Korea in the 11th century. The defeated Khitans
The Khitan people (Khitan small script: ; ) were a historical nomadic people from Northeast Asia who, from the 4th century, inhabited an area corresponding to parts of modern Mongolia, Northeast China and the Russian Far East.
As a people desce ...
who surrendered were settled in isolated communities throughout Goryeo to forestall rebellion. They were valued for their skills in hunting, herding, butchering, and making of leather, common skill sets among nomads. Over time, their ethnic origin was forgotten, and they formed the bottom layer of Korean society.
In 1392, with the foundation of the Confucian Joseon dynasty
Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and r ...
, Korea systemised its own native class system. At the top were the two official classes, the Yangban
The ''yangban'' () were part of the traditional ruling class or gentry of dynastic Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. The ''yangban'' were mainly composed of highly educated civil servants and military officers—landed or unlanded aristocrats ...
, which literally means "two classes". It was composed of scholars (''munban'') and warriors (''muban''). Scholars had a significant social advantage over the warriors. Below were the ''jung-in'' (중인-中人: literally "middle people". This was a small class of specialised professions such as medicine, accounting, translators, regional bureaucrats, etc. Below that were the ''sangmin'' (상민-常民: literally 'commoner'), farmers working their own fields. Korea also had a serf
Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...
population known as the ''nobi''. The nobi population could fluctuate up to about one third of the population, but on average the nobi made up about 10% of the total population. In 1801, the vast majority of government nobi were emancipated, and by 1858 the nobi population stood at about 1.5% of the total population of Korea. The hereditary nobi system was officially abolished around 1886–87 and the rest of the nobi system was abolished with the Gabo Reform
The Gabo Reform, also known as the Kabo Reform, describes a series of sweeping reforms suggested to the government of Korea, beginning in 1894 and ending in 1896 during the reign of Gojong of Korea in response to the Donghak Peasant Revolution. ...
of 1894, but traces remained until 1930.
The opening of Korea to foreign Christian missionary
A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as ...
activity in the late 19th century saw some improvement in the status of the ''baekjeong''. However, everyone was not equal under the Christian congregation, and even so protests erupted when missionaries tried to integrate ''baekjeong'' into worship, with non-''baekjeong'' finding this attempt insensitive to traditional notions of hierarchical advantage. Around the same time, the ''baekjeong'' began to resist open social discrimination. They focused on social and economic injustices affecting them, hoping to create an egalitarian
Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hu ...
Korean society. Their efforts included attacking social discrimination by upper class, authorities, and "commoners", and the use of degrading language against children in public schools.
With the Gabo reform
The Gabo Reform, also known as the Kabo Reform, describes a series of sweeping reforms suggested to the government of Korea, beginning in 1894 and ending in 1896 during the reign of Gojong of Korea in response to the Donghak Peasant Revolution. ...
of 1896, the class system of Korea was officially abolished. Following the collapse of the Gabo government, the new cabinet, which became the Gwangmu government after the establishment of the Korean Empire
The Korean Empire () was a Korean monarchical state proclaimed in October 1897 by Emperor Gojong of the Joseon dynasty. The empire stood until Japan's annexation of Korea in August 1910.
During the Korean Empire, Emperor Gojong oversaw the Gwan ...
, introduced systematic measures for abolishing the traditional class system. One measure was the new household registration system, reflecting the goals of formal social equality
Social equality is a state of affairs in which all individuals within a specific society have equal rights, liberties, and status, possibly including civil rights, freedom of expression, autonomy, and equal access to certain public goods and ...
, which was implemented by the loyalists' cabinet. Whereas the old registration system signified household members according to their hierarchical social status, the new system called for an occupation.[Hwang, Kyung Moon (2004), University of Southern California. ''Citizenship, Social Equality and Government Reform: Changes in the Household Registration System in Korea, 1894–1910'']
While most Koreans by then had surnames and even bongwan
Bon-gwan (or Bongwan) is the concept of clan in Korea, which is used to distinguish clans that happen to share the same family name (clan name). Since Korea has been traditionally a Confucian country, this clan system is similar to ancient Chines ...
, although still substantial number of cheonmin
''Cheonmin'' (), or "vulgar commoners", were the lowest caste of commoners in dynastical Korea. They abounded during the Goryeo (918–1392) and Joseon (1392–1897) periods of Korea's agrarian bureaucracy.
Social class system
In the caste s ...
, mostly consisted of serfs
Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...
and slaves, and untouchables did not. According to the new system, they were then required to fill in the blanks for surname in order to be registered as constituting separate households. Instead of creating their own family name, some cheonmins appropriated their masters' surname, while others simply took the most common surname and its bongwan in the local area. Along with this example, activists within and outside the Korean government had based their visions of a new relationship between the government and people through the concept of citizenship, employing the term ''inmin'' ("people") and later, ''kungmin'' ("citizen").
North Korea
The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea
The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK), formerly known as the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, is a Washington, D.C.-based non-governmental research organization that "seeks to raise awareness about conditions in Nort ...
reported that "Every North Korean citizen is assigned a heredity-based class and socio-political rank over which the individual exercises no control but which determines all aspects of his or her life." Called ''Songbun
''Songbun'' (), formally chulsin-songbun (, from Sino-Korean 出身, "origin" and 成分, "constituent"), is the system of ascribed status used in North Korea. Based on the political, social, and economic background of one's direct ancestors ...
'', Barbara Demick describes this "class structure" as an updating of the hereditary "caste system", a combination of Confucianism
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...
and Stalinism
Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the the ...
. It originated in 1946 and was entrenched by the 1960s, and consisted of 53 categories ranging across three classes: loyal, wavering, and impure. The privileged "loyal" class included members of the Korean Workers' Party
The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of ...
and Korean People's Army
The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Under the '' Songun'' policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Currently, WPK General S ...
officers' corps, the wavering class included peasants, and the impure class included Axis collaborators and landowners
In common law systems, land tenure, from the French verb "tenir" means "to hold", is the legal regime in which land owned by an individual is possessed by someone else who is said to "hold" the land, based on an agreement between both individual ...
. She claims that a bad family background is called "tainted blood", and that by law this "tainted blood" lasts three generations.
West Asia
Yezidi
Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. The ma ...
society is hierarchical. The secular leader is a hereditary emir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...
or prince, whereas a chief sheikh heads the religious hierarchy. The Yazidi are strictly Endogamy, endogamous; members of the three Yazidi castes, the murids, sheikhs and Islam Pir, pirs, marry only within their group.
Iran
Pre-Islamic Sassanid society was immensely complex, with separate systems of social organisation governing numerous different groups within the empire.[Nicolle, p. 11] Historians believe society comprised four social classes, which linguistic analysis indicates may have been referred to collectively as "pistras". The classes, from highest to lowest status, were priests ( fa, Asravan), warriors ( fa, Arteshtaran), secretaries ( fa, Dabiran), and commoners ( fa, Vastryoshan).
Yemen
In Yemen there exists a hereditary caste, the African-descended Al-Akhdam who are kept as perennial manual workers. Estimates put their number at over 3.5 million residents who are discriminated, out of a total Yemeni population of around 22 million.
Africa
Various sociologists have reported caste systems in Africa.[ The specifics of the caste systems have varied in ethnically and culturally diverse Africa, however the following features are common – it has been a closed system of social stratification, the social status is inherited, the castes are hierarchical, certain castes are shunned while others are merely endogamous and exclusionary. In some cases, concepts of purity and impurity by birth have been prevalent in Africa. In other cases, such as the ''Nupe people, Nupe'' of Nigeria, the ''Beni Amer'' of East Africa, and the ''Tira people, Tira'' of Sudan, the exclusionary principle has been driven by evolving social factors.
]
West Africa
Among the Igbo people, Igbo of Nigeria – especially Enugu State, Enugu, Anambra State, Anambra, Imo State, Imo, Abia State, Abia, Ebonyi State, Ebonyi, Edo State, Edo and Delta state, Delta states of the country – scholar Elijah Obinna finds that the Osu caste system has been and continues to be a major social issue. The Osu caste is determined by one's birth into a particular family irrespective of the religion practised by the individual. Once born into Osu caste, this Nigerian person is an outcast, shunned and ostracised, with limited opportunities or acceptance, regardless of his or her ability or merit. Obinna discusses how this caste system-related identity and power is deployed within government, Church and indigenous communities.[
The ''osu'' class systems of eastern Nigeria and southern Cameroon are derived from indigenous religious beliefs and discriminate against the "Osus" people as "owned by deities" and outcasts.
The Songhai people, Songhai economy was based on a caste system. The most common were metalworkers, fishermen, and carpenters. Lower caste participants consisted of mostly non-farm working immigrants, who at times were provided special privileges and held high positions in society. At the top were noblemen and direct descendants of the original Songhai people, followed by freemen and traders.
In a review of social stratification systems in Africa, Richter reports that the term caste has been used by French and American scholars to many groups of West African artisans. These groups have been described as inferior, deprived of all political power, have a specific occupation, are hereditary and sometimes despised by others. Richter illustrates caste system in Ivory Coast, with six sub-caste categories. Unlike other parts of the world, mobility is sometimes possible within sub-castes, but not across caste lines. Farmers and artisans have been, claims Richter, distinct castes. Certain sub-castes are shunned more than others. For example, exogamy is rare for women born into families of woodcarvers.
Similarly, the Mandé peoples, Mandé societies in Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Senegal and Sierra Leone have social stratification systems that divide society by ethnic ties. The Mande class system regards the ''jonow'' slaves as inferior. Similarly, the Wolof people, Wolof in Senegal is divided into three main groups, the ''geer'' (freeborn/nobles), ''jaam'' (slaves and slave descendants) and the underclass ''neeno''. In various parts of West Africa, Fula people, Fulani societies also have class divisions. Other castes include ''Griots'', ''Forgerons'', and ''Cordonniers''.
Tamari has described endogamous castes of over fifteen West African peoples, including the Toucouleur people, Tukulor, Songhai people, Songhay, Dogon people, Dogon, Senufo people, Senufo, Minyanka language, Minianka, Moors, Mandinka people, Manding, Soninke people, Soninke, Wolof people, Wolof, Serer people, Serer, Fula people, Fulani, and Tuareg people, Tuareg. Castes appeared among the Mandinka people, ''Malinke'' people no later than 14th century, and was present among the ''Wolof'' and ''Soninke'', as well as some ''Songhay'' and ''Fulani'' populations, no later than 16th century. Tamari claims that wars, such as the ''Sosso-Malinke'' war described in the ''Sunjata'' epic, led to the formation of blacksmith and bard castes among the people that ultimately became the Mali empire.
As West Africa evolved over time, sub-castes emerged that acquired secondary specialisations or changed occupations. Endogamy was prevalent within a caste or among a limited number of castes, yet castes did not form demographic isolates according to Tamari. Social status according to caste was inherited by off-springs automatically; but this inheritance was paternal. That is, children of higher caste men and lower caste or slave concubines would have the caste status of the father.]
Central Africa
Ethel M. Albert in 1960 claimed that the societies in Central Africa were caste-like social stratification systems. Similarly, in 1961, Maquet notes that the society in Rwanda and Burundi can be best described as castes. The Tutsi, noted Maquet, considered themselves as superior, with the more numerous Hutu and the least numerous Twa regarded, by birth, as respectively, second and third in the hierarchy of Rwandese society. These groups were largely endogamous, exclusionary and with limited mobility.
Horn of Africa
In a review published in 1977, Todd reports that numerous scholars report a system of social stratification in different parts of Africa that resembles some or all aspects of caste system. Examples of such caste systems, he claims, are to be found in Ethiopia in communities such as the Gurage people, Gurage and Konso people, Konso. He then presents the Dime of Southwestern Ethiopia, amongst whom there operates a system which Todd claims can be unequivocally labelled as caste system. The Dime have seven castes whose size varies considerably. Each broad caste level is a hierarchical order that is based on notions of purity, non-purity and impurity. It uses the concepts of defilement to limit contacts between caste categories and to preserve the purity of the upper castes. These caste categories have been exclusionary, endogamous and the social identity inherited. Alula Pankhurst has published a study of caste groups in South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region, SW Ethiopia.
Among the Kingdom of Kafa, Kafa, there were also traditionally groups labelled as castes. "Based on research done before the Derg regime, these studies generally presume the existence of a social hierarchy similar to the caste system. At the top of this hierarchy were the Kafa, followed by occupational groups including blacksmiths (Qemmo), weavers (Shammano), bards (Shatto), potters, and tanners (Manno). In this hierarchy, the Manjo were commonly referred to as hunters, given the lowest status equal only to slaves."
The Borana Oromo of southern Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa also have a class system, wherein the Wata, an acculturated hunter-gatherer group, represent the lowest class. Though the Wata today speak the Oromo language, they have traditions of having previously spoken another language before adopting Oromo.
The traditionally nomadic Somali people are divided into clans, wherein the Rahanweyn agro-pastoral clans and the occupational clans such as the Madhiban were traditionally sometimes treated as outcasts. As Gabboye, the Madhiban along with the Yibir and Tumaal (collectively referred to as ''sab'') have since obtained political representation within Somalia, and their general social status has improved with the expansion of urban centers.
Europe
European feudalism with its rigid aristocracy can also be considered as a caste system.
Basque region
For centuries, through the modern times, the majority regarded Cagots who lived primarily in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque region of France and Spain as an inferior caste, the untouchables. While they had the same skin color and religion as the majority, in the churches they had to use segregated doors, drink from segregated fonts, and receive communion on the end of long wooden spoons. It was a closed social system. The socially isolated Cagots were endogamous, and chances of social mobility non-existent.
United Kingdom
In July 2013, the UK government announced its intention to amend the Equality Act 2010, to "introduce legislation on caste, including any necessary exceptions to the caste provisions, within the framework of domestic discrimination law". Section 9(5) of the Equality Act 2010 provides that "a Minister (government), Minister may by Statutory order, order amend the statutory definition of race to include caste and may provide for exceptions in the Act to apply or not to apply to caste".
From September 2013 to February 2014, Meena Dhanda led a project on "Caste in Britain" for the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
Americas
United States
In W. Lloyd Warner's view, the historic relationship between African Americans, Blacks and White Americans, Whites in the US showed many caste-like features such as Residential segregation in the United States, residential segregation and marriage restrictions. In her best-selling 2020 book ''Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents'', journalist Isabel Wilkerson similarly uses caste as a means to understand the racial hierarchy of the United States. Discrimination based upon socio-economic factors are historically prevalent within the country.
According to Gerald Berreman, Gerald D. Berreman, in the two systems, there are rigid rules of avoidance and certain types of contacts are defined as contaminating. In India, there are complex religious features which make up the system, whereas in the United States race and color are the basis for differentiation. The caste systems in India and the United States have higher groups which desire to retain their positions for themselves and thus perpetuate the two systems. Isabel Wilkerson relates the caste systems of the United States, India, and Nazi Germany together. She makes the argument that all caste systems are derived off of foundational principles including a divine or natural justification for the system, terror or cruelty by the dominant caste to remain in power, heritability of caste, and occupational hierarchy.
The process of creating a homogenised society by social engineering in both India and the US has created other institutions that have made class distinctions among different groups evident. Anthropologist James C. Scott elaborates on how "global capitalism is perhaps the most powerful force for homogenization, whereas the state may be the defender of local difference and variety in some instances". The caste system, a relic of feudalistic economic systems, emphasises differences between socio-economic classes that are obviated by openly free market capitalistic economic systems, which reward individual initiative, enterprise, merit, and thrift, thereby creating a path for social mobility. When the feudalistic slave economy of the southern United States was dismantled, even Jim Crow laws did not prevent the economic success of many industrious African Americans, including millionaire women like Maggie L. Walker, Maggie Walker, Annie Turnbo Malone, Annie Malone, and Madam C. J. Walker, Madame C.J. Walker. Parts of the United States are sometimes divided by race and class status despite the national narrative of integration.
Caste in sociology and entomology
The initial observational studies of the division of labour in ant colonies attempted to demonstrate that ants specialized in tasks that were best suited to their size when they emerged from the pupae stage into the adult stage. A large proportion of the experimental work was done in species that showed strong variation in size. As the size of an adult was fixed for life, workers of a specific size range came to be called a "caste," calling up the traditional caste system in India in which a human's standing in society was decided at birth.
The notion of caste encouraged a link between scholarship in entomology and sociology because it served as an example of a division of labour in which the participants seemed to be uncompromisingly adapted to special functions and sometimes even unique environments. To bolster the concept of caste, entomologists and sociologists referred to the complementary social or natural parallel and thereby appeared to generalize the concept and give it an appearance of familiarity. In the late 19th- and early 20th centuries, the perceived similarities between the Indian caste system and Ant#polymorphism, caste polymorphism in insects were used to create a correspondence or parallelism for the purpose of explaining or clarifying racial stratification in human societies; the explanations came particularly to be employed in the United States. Ideas from heredity and natural selection influenced some sociologists who believed that some groups were predetermined to belong to a lower social or occupational status. Chiefly through the work of W. Lloyd Warner at the University of Chicago, a group of sociologists sharing similar principles came to evolve around the creed of caste in the 1930s and 1940s.
The ecologically-oriented sociologist Robert E. Park, although attributing more weight to environmental explanations than the biological nonetheless believed that there were obstacles to the assimilation of blacks into American society and that an "accommodation stage" in a biracially organized caste system was required before full assimilation. He did disavow his position in 1937, suggesting that blacks were a minority and not a caste. The Indian sociologist Radhakamal Mukerjee was influenced by Robert E. Park and adopted the concept of "caste" to describe race relations in the US. According to anthropologist Diane Rodgers, Mukerjee "proceeded to suggest that a caste system should be correctly instituted in the (US) South to ease race relations." Mukerjee often employed both entomological and sociological data and clues to describe caste systems. He wrote "while the fundamental industries of man are dispersed throughout the insect world, the same kind of polymorphism appears again and again in different species of social insects which have reacted in the same manner as man, under the influence of the same environment, to ensure the supply and provision of subsistence." Comparing the caste system in India to caste polymorphism in insects, he noted, "where we find the organization of social insects developed to perfection, there also has been seen among human associations a minute and even rigid specialization of functions, along with ant- and bee-like societal integrity and cohesiveness." He considered the "resemblances between insect associations and caste-ridden societies" to be striking enough to be "amusing."
See also
*Estates of the realm
*Inter-caste marriages in India
*Job
*Kamaiya
*Priestly caste
*Propiska in the Soviet Union, Propiska
*Social exclusion
*Kshatriya, Warrior caste
References
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*''Oxford English Dictionary'' () Quote: caste, n. 2a. spec. One of the several hereditary classes into which society in India has from time immemorial been divided; ... ''This is now the leading sense, which influences all others.''
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Further reading
* ''Spectres of Agrarian Territory'' by David Ludden 11 December 2001
* "Early Evidence for Caste in South India", pp. 467–492 in ''Dimensions of Social Life: Essays in honour of David G. Mandelbaum'', Edited by Paul Hockings and Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin, New York, Amsterdam, 1987.
External links
Casteless
Auguste Comte on why and how castes developed across the world – in The Positive Philosophy, Volume 3 (see page 55 onwards)
Robert Merton on Caste and The Sociology of Science
Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age
– Susan Bayly
Class In Yemen
by Marguerite Abadjian (Archive of the Baltimore Sun)
International Dalit Solidarity Network: An international advocacy group for Dalits
{{Authority control
Caste,
Social status