Why did the caste system develop and how was it perpetuated?

Sometime between 200 B.C. and 100 A.D. the Law of Manu was written. In the Law of Manu the Aryan priests created the great hereditary divisions of society. They ranked themselves at the top, the Brahmins (the priests), followed by the Kshatiyas (the warriors), the Vaisyas (the farmers and merchants), and finally the Sudras (the laborers) born into servitude for the other three castes. Hinduism, the primary religion of classical Indian and still today, supports the caste system, and even has principles modeled on it. The regional governments of India too, must have support and thus contributed to the perpetuation of the caste system, for its obvious benefits to social order.

In the Hindu beliefs the part about samara (reincarnation) played a large role in the perpetuation of the caste system. According to this belief all people on Earth are reincarnated (their spirits after death are reborn in a new body). This cycle continues as you reach higher and higher castes and Jati (sub-caste). The final goal of this cycle is nirvana (full union with the divine essence). In this way samsara played a large role in the perpetuation of the Indian caste system. With this belief along with the belief in kharma and nirvana order was maintained within the civilization.

Kharma is the sum of merit at any given point in life; it is what determines your caste, for reincarnation. The cycle of being reborn over and over (dharma) would seize, and you would experience nirvana. Kharma discouraged people of opposite or different class from any social interaction. As trying to rise above one's class without being reincarnated into it, would result in bad kharma. So one could be demoted a caste, their next life. Kharma kept people in order, by setting rules that made them live an obedient life, in order to be reincarnated into a higher class, the higher your caste was the closer you were to nirvana. Nirvana was the ultimate goal of this entire caste system; this is why the caste system was perpetuated for so long.

People aspired to be put into a higher class so that they may be closer to the illustrious goal of nirvana. The reason the caste system perpetuated so long, is because of the beliefs in Hinduism, but more so it is because of the people. The people are the ones who kept the caste system alive to even current day. They lived their lives with the ideals of kharma, reincarnation, and nirvana, and passed it subsequently to the generations below. No one dared put an end to it, because speculating the caste system and Hinduism was not good kharma and would demote ones caste. The Indian caste system had lived many centuries and has been an integral part in maintain spiritual and social order in India. The caste systems perpetuation isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially if you were at the top of the list, however the 'untouchables' and lower classes were put through many violations of the most basic of human rights, and this is the reason that the caste system can no longer work in modern society. The caste system may have been a working method during the classical civilization; however its modern uses are quite antiquated.