India's caste system is often seen as the most prominent global example of caste and one of the world's oldest systems of social hierarchy. It refers to a complex system for dividing people into hierarchical social groups on the basis of kinship, occupation, and religious purity.
Scholars say that the caste system is more than 2,000 years old and has its origins in ancient Hinduism, the religion of the majority of people in India. In this context some ancient texts referred to the division of Hindus into four large caste categories, or varnas: the Brahmins, who were traditionally priests and teachers; the Ksyatriyas, who were rulers, warriors, and administrators; the Vaisyas, who worked as merchants, traders and farmers; and the Shudras, who were laborers and artisans. These large castes were divided into thousands of smaller sub-castes. Finally, the Dalits, known as the "untouchables," were placed outside of the varna system, since they performed tasks that were considered to be ritually impure. In early-modern India, the castes were governed by strict rules limiting social interaction and marriage between different groups.
However, while the basis for the caste system may exist in some ancient Hindu texts, many historians say that this system of social hierarchy was far less important, and social identities were far more flexible, prior to interventions of the Mughal Empire and the British Raj. In particular, recent scholarship shows British colonial rulers made caste into the defining feature of Indian social life. According to Sanjoy Chakravorty, the author of The Truth About Us: The Politics of Information from Manu to Modi, the "social categories of religion and caste as they are perceived in modern-day India were developed during the British colonial rule, at a time when information was scarce and the coloniser's power over information was absolute."
In 1950, India's caste system was constitutionally abolished. The government also created a system of affirmative action to try to create more opportunities for people from lower castes who suffered discrimination. However, according to Human Rights Watch, Dalits continue to face significant social and economic discrimination in many parts of India.
