The caste system in India has developed over many generations. Even today, the caste systems are strongly held. There are five main caste systems in India: Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra, and Harijans. With in these caste systems, there are also many
Dasari
Janaki Dasari
Victoria Baker
English 101
30 January 2010.
Caste System in India.
The caste system in India has developed over many generations. Even today, the caste systems are strongly held. There are five main caste systems in India: Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra, and Harijans. With in these caste systems, there are also many subgroups. In the olden days, people would not talk to another person from a different caste system. They lived in their own little groups and would not let others enter. The Brahmin caste is in the first group and they are treated as gurus with a lot of respect because everybody believed that they came from one of the Gods. The Kshatriya caste is made up of people who rule the country like rajas, otherwise known as presidents or kings. The Vaishya caste is famous for their merchants. The people of the Shudra caste are famous for cultivating the fields and are like farmers. The final caste is Harijans and they are called the untouchables or Dalits. Even though the government is trying to get rid of and help the lower caste systems, they still exist in India.
The Shudras and Harijans are in the lower level group and they were treated as slaves for the other upper three castes. The untouchables were also considered as almost nonexistent. Even though they were Hindus, no one gave priority to them and they were assigned to do all kind of dirty work, they were not allowed to public places like Temples(churches). They did not have right to vote or even study in schools. However, there have been freedom fighters that helped the lower castes with education and other equal rights. In 1947 Mahatma Gandhi one of the freedom fighters, fought for the rights for Harijans gave them the same rights as the other caste systems. Even though they officially have equal rights, no one wants to be around them. Gandhi’s efforts finally influenced the nation and today even a lot of Harijans are getting a higher education. The government is also providing them with all kinds of facilities; thirty percent of admissions from the lower caste are guaranteed to a higher education. After their completion of education, the government is also offering them state government jobs. Therefore, the lower classes like the Shudras, Harijans and untouchables have seen their standing in the caste system improve in the last 60 years.