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The Caste system does not demarcate racial division. The Caste system is a social division of people of the same race." [336] Various sociologists, anthropologists and historians have rejected the racial origins and racial emphasis of caste and consider the idea to be one that has purely political and economic undertones. Beteille writes that ...
These caste groups retained their identity even after conversion to Islam or Christianity. Each of the caste groups was thus the unit within which cultural and perhaps genetic evolution occurred, at least for the last 1500 years when the system was fully crystallized and probably much longer.
Shudra or Shoodra [1] (Sanskrit: Śūdra [2]) is one of the four varnas of the Hindu class and social system in ancient India. [3] [4] Some sources translate it into English as a caste, [4] or as a social class. Theoretically, Shudras constituted a class like workers. [2] [5] [6]
This quadruple division is a form of social stratification, quite different from the more nuanced system of Jātis, which correspond to the European term "caste". [8] The varna system is discussed in Hindu texts, and understood as idealised human callings. [9] [10] The concept is generally traced to the Purusha Sukta verse of the Rig Veda.
Modern scholars state that such usage of the term Brahmin in ancient texts does not imply a caste, but simply "masters" (experts), guardian, recluse, preacher or guide of any tradition. [13] [14] [15] An alternate synonym for Brahmin in the Buddhist and other non-Hindu tradition is Mahano. [13]
Even among Hindu societies they were sometimes at rivalry with the Brahmins, but they generally acknowledged the superiority of the priestly class. [16] The Kshatriyas also began to question the yajnas of the historical Vedic religion , which led to religious ideas developed in the Upanishads .
Ambedkar views that definitions of castes given by Émile Senart [5] John Nesfield, H. H. Risley and Dr Ketkar as incomplete or incorrect by itself and all have missed the central point in the mechanism of the caste system. Senart's "idea of pollution" is a characteristic of caste in so far as caste has a religious flavour.
The caste system as a stratification of classes in India originated about 2,000 years ago, and has been influenced by dynasties and ruling elites, including the Mughal Empire and the British Raj. [31] [32] The Hindu concept of Varna historically incorporated occupation-based communities. [31]