Castes systems?

Question

Hindu castes system recognises four main castes what are they?

Answer 1

Brahmins (religious caste), Kshatriya (warrior caste), Vaisya (trader caste), and Shudra (worker caste). The people who fell outside the caste system included the Dalits, adivasis and foreigners.



The Indian caste system is the traditional system of social division in the Indian Subcontinent, in which social classes are defined by a number of endogamous groups often termed as jātis. The castes are hereditary, endogamous system, social classes or subclasses. Within a caste there exist exogamous groups known as gotras.

The original meaning of caste, which was also known as varna, was determined by one's spiritual qualities and occupation according to the Vedas. Over time, the caste system became a traditional, hereditary system of social stratification. Broadly speaking, the varnas divide to Brahmins (religious caste), Kshatriya (warrior caste), Vaisya (trader caste), and Shudra (worker caste). The people who fell outside the caste system included the Dalits, adivasis and foreigners.

The traditional hereditary system of social stratification of India, in which all social classes exist in thousands of endogamous groups is termed jāti. The jati system, usually with politically and economically derived hierarchies, has been followed across the Indian subcontinent with regional variations across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. Different religious denominations have traditionally followed different kinds of jati stratification. While the prevalence of the jati system has declined significantly over the course of the twentieth century, remote and rural areas of the subcontinent continue to subscribe to jati and jati segregation.Contrary to popular belief, historically there was a great deal of mobility and intermingling between Indian castes, other than Brahmins, largely based on economic or political status of the concerned group.

The Brahmins were enjoined by their scriptures and texts, including the Manusmriti, to live in poverty and to shun possessions and temporal power and instead devote themselves to study and teaching of scriptures and other knowledge, pure conduct and spiritual growth. In fact, they usually subsisted on alms from the rest of the society, including the so called backward caste of "Shudras". This is an important point in understanding the difference between caste and class.

Caste became an important element of Indian politics after the British used the construct as the basis of classifying the Indian population, especially the Hindus, in the population censuses of late 19th Century. This became more specific in the 1901 Census, because the Indian population, not being aware of what the Brahmins thought of them, by and large did not understand what was meant by "caste" and gave their occupation, religion, education etc as their "caste".

Answer 2

Hindu castes system is one the oldest religion castes in the world. This question includes berhaman, ariayns, shoodar and soorat. In this Behaman is the caste which is very much respected.

Answer 3

Caste system is a form of divide and rule in India.
There are more than 3000 castes in India.