"Caste system in Nepal The Nepalese caste system is the traditional system of social stratification of Nepal. The Nepalese caste system broadly borrows the classical Hindu ""Chaturvarnashram"" model consisting of four broad social classes or varna: Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Sudra. The caste system defines social classes by a number of hierarchical endogamous groups often termed ""jaat"". This custom was traditionally only prevalent in the Hindu-Aryan societies of the Khas, Madhesi, and Newars. However, since the unification of Nepal in the 18th century, Nepal's various indigenous nationalities ""Adivasi Janajati"" have been incorporated within the caste hierarchy, to varying degrees of success."
"levels. Lower castes are never able to climb higher within the caste system, limiting the economies progress from growing. The system divides Hindus into four categories - Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and the Shudras. Brahmins consist of those who teach and educate such as priest and teachers. Kshatriyas include those who maintain law and order. Vaishyas consist of businessmen such as farmers and merchants. Shudras contain all skilled and unskilled laborers. The Brahmins from the Indian culture spread their religion to southeast Asia. By traveling to these countries they were able to inform others on their beliefs and spark the beginning"
"3% were unsure or did not respond. Traditionally, Indian society is grouped according to their caste. It's a system in which social stratification within various social sections defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups are often termed ""jāti"" or castes. Within a ""jāti"", there exists exogamous groups known as gotras, the lineage or clan of an individuals. Caste barriers have mostly broken down in cities but still exists in some form in rural areas. Hinduism is the majority in most states; Kashmir and Lakshadweep are Muslim majority; Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya are Christian majority; Punjab is a Sikh majority with"
"always be ranked lower than the Kulins. Kulin Kayastha Kulin Kayasthas (কুলীন কায়স্থ) are a sub-caste of the Kayastha caste in Bengal, India. They are also known as the Kulina Kayasthas. The Kayasthas are regarded in Bengal, along with the Brahmins, as being the ""highest Hindu castes"". The Bengali Kayasthas are subdivided into numerous clans in that region, of which the ""Kulin"" is a high-ranking example. The social and religious patterns of Bengal had historically been distinctively different from those in the orthodox Hindu heartland of North India and this impacted on how the caste system developed there. Bengal, being"
"but they continued to be considered as lower castes by higher ranked communities, including the Saint Thomas Christians. Caste system has been observed among Muslims in India. They practice endogamy, hypergamy, hereditary occupations, avoid social mixing and have been stratified. There is some controversy if these characteristics make them social groups or castes of Islam. Indian Muslims are a mix of Sunni (majority), Shia and other sects of Islam. From the earliest days of Islam's arrival in South Asia, the Arabic, Persian and Afghan Muslims have been part of the upper, noble caste. Some upper caste Hindus converted to Islam"
"Hindu Forward caste comprises 26%, Other Backward Class comprises 43%, Hindu Scheduled Castes (Dalits) comprises 22% and Hindu Scheduled Tribes (Adivasis) comprises 9%. Except for Punjab (Sikh majority), Kashmir (Muslim majority), parts of North-East India and Lakshadweep (UT), the other 24 Indian states and 6 union territories have an overwhelming majority of Hindus. Out of the 8 states of Northeast India, Tripura, Sikkim, Assam, Manipur are Hindu majority while the rest four have Hindus in minority. For more detailed figures from 2011 census, see this table. Hinduism in India Hinduism is the largest religion in India, with 80% of the"
"and born village administrators. Mudiraja Muthuraja Mutharacha In the feudal Hindu society, the Kshatriyas used to occupy the 2nd top slot in the hierarchy of four caste groups. As per the definition of MANU, who was believed to be the architect of caste codification of the Hindu society, it was divided into four major caste groups i.e. (i) Brahmana, (ii) Kshatriya, (iii) Vaishya and (iv) Shudra. (ii). The Kshatriyas: These were the people of warrior class in the society and considered to be the hands and shoulders of the society. They were the people, who had the basic instinctive warrior"
"that the Hindu caste system was widespread. Chronicles mention more castes than the four basic castes in the Hindu social system known today, some as many as seven castes. One traveller's account mentions sixteen castes including the four basic castes of Brahmins, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Chandalas. One caste known as ""Zakaya"" or ""Lahud"" consisted of people belonging to communities specialising in dance and acrobatics. Intercaste marriages were uncommon except between highly placed Kshatriya girls and Brahmin boys. People belonging to such professions as sailing, hunting, weaving, cobblery, basket making and fishing were all accommodated into castes or subcastes. The ""Antyajas"""
"social system which translates to ""types"" or ""order"". In olden times, the castes which were considered high in the Hindu caste hierarchy i.e. Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas, Shudras. During the British Raj, some methods for upliftment of these lower castes were introduced by the British, progressive thinkers and Hindu reformers. These included reservations in the legislature and in government jobs. After independence, the Indian constitution introduced provisions for reservations for the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (SC/ST) in government institutions, to give a fair representation to the weakest sections of society i.e. Dalits and Adivasis. 22.5% of the seats (SC- 15%,"
"Kulin Kayastha Kulin Kayasthas (কুলীন কায়স্থ) are a sub-caste of the Kayastha caste in Bengal, India. They are also known as the Kulina Kayasthas. The Kayasthas are regarded in Bengal, along with the Brahmins, as being the ""highest Hindu castes"". The Bengali Kayasthas are subdivided into numerous clans in that region, of which the ""Kulin"" is a high-ranking example. The social and religious patterns of Bengal had historically been distinctively different from those in the orthodox Hindu heartland of North India and this impacted on how the caste system developed there. Bengal, being located east of the traditional Aryavarta region"
"and lead in every sector. Brahmin and Chhetri women have experienced less social and economic mobility compared to Newari women. Specifically, Brahmin women experience less equality due to their predominately rural living conditions which deprives them of access to certain educational and healthcare benefits. Bahun and Chhetri castes form the historical topmost state elites' circle with the significant majority of leadership in executive, legislative, judicial, constitutional, local administrative bodies, bureaucracy, political parties and social organizations. Hindu varna system highlights these castes as ""high castes"" and makes them favorable in higher social status due to favorable social norms, values, and laws."
"hierarchical system which distinguishes groups based on social status, rank, wealth, and occupation. Most of India still follows the caste system despite some problematic implications it may have. People who are Sikh are strictly against the caste system as it breaks their religious principles of equality. Guru Nanak believed the caste system to be evil and dispelled peoples ignorance by saying “""anas ki jat sabhe eke paihcanbo - recognise all of mankind as a single caste of humanity”."" Many Sikhs have dropped their caste name and have chosen to have the surname of “Kaur”(middle name for all female Sikhs) or"
"in India based on caste as well as by their denomination and location. The caste distinction is based on their caste at the time that they or their ancestors converted to Christianity since the 16th century, they typically do not intermarry, and sit separately during prayers in Church. Duncan Forrester observes that ""Nowhere else in India is there a large and ancient Christian community which has in time immemorial been accorded a high status in the caste hierarchy. ... Syrian Christian community operates very much as a caste and is properly regarded as a caste or at least a very"
"caste of people considered above the Brahmins were the Kshatriyas belonging to royal and noble families. Not all Kshatriyas were considered upper caste and not all upper caste people were Kshatriyas. By the 9th century, kings from all the four castes had at one time or another occupied the highest seat in the monarchical system in Hindu India. Admitting Kshatriyas to Vedic schools along with Brahmins was common, although children of the Vaishya and Shudra castes were not allowed in these schools. Jains took up martial careers and landownership by people of all castes is recorded in inscriptions The Shudras"
"Priestly caste The priestly caste is a social group responsible for officiating over sacrifices and leading prayers or other religious functions, particularly in nomadic and tribal societies. In some cases, as with the Brahmins of Vedic India and the Kohanim and Levites of ancient Israel, the caste was a hereditary one, with a person's position as a priest depending on his biological descent. Zoroastrianism also has a hereditary priesthood, as does Alevism, Yezidism and Yarsanism. In Sufism, the spiritual guide is also often a hereditary leader, while the Sayyids of India, who claim descent from the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, have"
"Dhedh Dhedh (also Dhed, Dhedha or Dhedhas) are a Scheduled Caste of India. Historically, certain upper caste communities have considered them to be an untouchable group, outside the Hindu ritual ranking system known as varna. The Dhedh community too observes untouchability in relationships with other low-status castes. The sociologist Sujata Patel says that in Gujarat the Dhedhs are considered to be a sub-caste of the scheduled castes whose traditional occupation was weaving. In the 1930s-40s, many depressed classes and communities were active in trying to change their caste name and elevate their social status to that of Rajput. These included"
"ascertain due to our lack of primary sources. Priestly caste The priestly caste is a social group responsible for officiating over sacrifices and leading prayers or other religious functions, particularly in nomadic and tribal societies. In some cases, as with the Brahmins of Vedic India and the Kohanim and Levites of ancient Israel, the caste was a hereditary one, with a person's position as a priest depending on his biological descent. Zoroastrianism also has a hereditary priesthood, as does Alevism, Yezidism and Yarsanism. In Sufism, the spiritual guide is also often a hereditary leader, while the Sayyids of India, who"
"been common in the history of Buddhism. Though largely overlooked, the Govigama caste have historically incorporated south Indian migrants. Ancient texts such as the ""Pujavaliya"", ""Sadharmaratnavaliya"" and ""Yogaratnakaraya"" list the four caste categories as Raja Kshatriya, Bamunu Brahmana, Velanda Vaishya, and Govi in descending order. However, the current caste system in Sri Lanka disempowers the Raja, Bamunu, and Velanda castes, and establishes the Govigama caste as the highest extant caste in the hierarchy (Govi, Karave, Durava, Salagama, etc.). The ""Pújavaliya"" also says that a Buddha could be been born into the Govi caste, although in reality he was born into"
"upper-level castes have also traditionally formed the core of the land-owning gentry and as patrons to all other caste groups. The distinction between Hindu and Buddhist is largely irrelevant from here onward as the castes occupying the Shudra ""varna"" (Jyapu and below) do not differentiate between the either and profess both the religions equally and with great fervour. This group include among them highly differentiated and specialized castes—agriculturalists, farmers, potters, painters, dyers, florists, butchers, tailors, cleaners, etc.—métiers needed in the daily lives of the Newars or for their cultural or ritual needs. The division into Hindu and Buddhist castes has"
"conveyance is only acceptable if the pilgrimage is otherwise impossible. Hindu society has been categorised into four classes, called ""varnas"". They are the ""Brahmins"": Vedic teachers and priests; the ""Kshatriyas"": warriors and kings; the ""Vaishyas"": farmers and merchants; and the ""Shudras"": servants and labourers. The ""Bhagavad Gītā"" links the ""varna"" to an individual's duty (""svadharma""), inborn nature (""svabhāva""), and natural tendencies (""guṇa""). The ""Manusmṛiti"" categorises the different castes. Some mobility and flexibility within the varnas challenge allegations of social discrimination in the caste system, as has been pointed out by several sociologists, although some other scholars disagree. Scholars debate whether"
"caste system, which disparages women in relation to men"". As an official Hindu state, ideologies such as the caste system play a crucial role in defining the social lives of Nepali citizens, with the Brahmins regarded as the nobles and the highest-ranking members of society whereas the Dalits or ""the untouchables"" are labelled as the lowest members of the caste system. Women are especially disadvantaged under the caste system as they are depicted solely as a means for reproduction. This limits the role of women as purely that of mothers and wives. Furthermore, Dalit women are especially vulnerable as they"
"culture. By the late 19th-century, the caste system of Kerala had evolved to be the most complex to be found anywhere in India. There were over 500 groups represented in an elaborate structure of relationships and the concept of ritual pollution extended not merely to untouchability but even further, to unapproachability. The system was gradually reformed to some degree, with one of those reformers, Swami Vivekananda, having observed that it represented a ""mad house"" of castes. The usual four-tier Hindu caste system, involving the ""varnas"" of ""Brahmin"" (priest), ""Kshatriya"" (warrior), ""Vaishya"" (business person, involved in trading, entrepreneurship and finance) and"
"Bengali Kayastha Bengali Kayastha denotes a Bengali Hindu who is a member of the Kayastha caste native to the Indian subcontinent. In Bengal, Kayasthas, alongside Brahmins, are regarded as the ""highest Hindu castes"" that comprise the ""upper layer of Hindu society."" Bengali Kayasthas are considered an offshoot of the northern Indian Kayastha group who claim descent from the sons of Chitragupta. They claim lineage from migrants to Bengal from the ancient city of Kannauj who came at the request of Sena Dynasty kings in the 10th century. According to Tej Ram Sharma, an Indian historian, the office of Kayastha in"
"Vishwakarma (caste) The Vishwakarma community, also known as the Vishwabrahmin, are a social group of India, sometimes described as a caste. The community comprises five sub-groupscarpenters, blacksmiths, bronze smiths, goldsmiths and stonemasonswho believe that they are descendants of Vishvakarman, a Hindu deity. They worship various forms of this deity and follow five VedasRigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, Atharvaveda, and Pranava Veda. The communal name of ""Vishwakarma"" is of fairly recent usage. The British Raj misunderstood the Indian caste system as being an inflexible concept based on varna, ignoring all evidence of caste creation and disintegration caused by processes of social fission and"
"Chandala Chandala is a Sanskrit word for someone who deals with disposal of corpses, and is a Hindu lower caste, traditionally considered to be untouchable. Varna was a hierarchical social order in ancient India, based on the Vedas. Since the Vedic corpus constitute the earliest literary source, it came to be seen as the origin of caste society. In this Brahmanical view of caste, varnas were created on a particular occasion and have remained virtually unchanged. In this ordering of society, notions of purity and pollution were central, and activities were delineated in this context. Varna divides the society into"
"caste system across religions. A lawyer named Sabu Thomas filed a petition to have the book published without the last chapter, which had graphic description of sexual acts between members of different castes. Thomas claimed the alleged obscenity in the last chapter deeply hurts the Syrian Christian community, the basis of the novel. Caste system in India The caste system in India is the paradigmatic ethnographic example of caste. It has origins in ancient India, and was transformed by various ruling elites in medieval, early-modern, and modern India, especially the Mughal Empire and the British Raj. It is today the"
"Hindus in United States belong to a non-Asian ethnicity - 4% of the Hindus in United States were White, 2% were Black, 1% Latino and 2% Mixed. Converts to Hinduism include Hollywood actress Julia Roberts, actor Russell Brand etc American Hindus have the highest rates of educational attainment and highest rate of household income among all religious communities, and the lowest divorce rates. 48% of American Hindus hold a post-graduate degree. According to a study by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life in 2012, 48% of American Hindus have a household income of $100,000 or more,"
"Hindu Ghosi The term Hindu Ghosi (or Ghoshi, Ghosee, Ghosi Thakur, Ghosi Yadav) refers to a community of the Hindu Ahir caste. In the few Western districts of Uttar Pradesh, the Ghosi Ahirs have been better than others, both in number and influence and hence have attracted the attention of the present political parties. Politicians often plan and expect a split among the different Ahir groups, particularly the Ghosi and Kamariya groups. Kamariyas, who used to live a nomadic lifestyle, and unlike Ghosis were mostly uncivilized, are regarded as having lower status than the Ghosis. Ghosi trace their origin to"
"by another class is okay. But exploitation of one caste by another caste was never a big factor in our minds. But in a Hindu society, I find this [the caste system] is the dominant thing – much more than class. We have a working class in the big industrial centres where we [the Communists] were the dominant force among the workers, particularly at the trade union level. Big strikes were taking place. We were leading those strikes. But when it came to elections, the same worker who was carrying a red flag on his shoulders to get a higher"
"In the social hierarchy of Rajasthan, they are placed in the middle of the higher castes and the Harijans. They follow endogamy with clan exogamy. In Bengal Kumhars are one among the ceremonially pure castes. The Jagannathia Kumhars of Orissa, who provide vessels for the rice distribution in Jagannath temple, have much higher rank in the society than the Kumhars of Central India. The Kannuaja Kumhars are considered to be a Shudra caste in both Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Although they sometimes use the term ""Pandit"" with their names, they do so as a suffix rather than prefixing it in"
"concept of kingship, and Sanskrit as official writing. Despite the fundamental cultural integration, these kingdoms were autonomous in their own right and functioned independently. The caste system divides Hindus into a hierarchy of groups based on their work (karma) and duty (dharma). The Manusmriti, an ancient authoritative book on Hindu law, maintained that the system is a basis of order and regularity of society. Once born into a group, one can not move to different levels. Lower castes are never able to climb higher within the caste system, limiting the economies progress from growing. The system divides Hindus into four"
"closer to the mainstream North-Indian Hindu virtues in comparison to other Newars). They have also maintained their higher-status through dining restrictions, as they do not partake cooked rice from the hands of anyone except their Chatharīya-status clans and/or the Brāhmans, suggesting their higher-caste status than all other Newars. The Pāñchthariyas, although are lower in rank to the Chatharīyas, nonetheless have socio-cultural and religious affinities with them and as the chief materially-endowed trading caste group, enjoy a considerable position of high-status in the eyes of other Newar castes. Both the Srēṣṭha caste groups are traditionally Hindus, often termed as Sivamargi in"
"preferred for the Dohru, although other coloured shawls may be worn, usually draped over the shoulders. A choli, another type of full sleeved blouse worn by women, may serve as a decorative lining as well. The Kinners are classified mainly into two castes: lower and upper caste. Again both of these categories are divided into sub classes. The caste system is more prevalent in the Lower and Middle Kinnaur regions Hinduism is the main religion in the district followed by Tibetan Buddhism. These two religions have undergone religious mixing, along with some indigenous shamanistic practices. Kalpa, Himachal Pradesh Kalpa is"