Caste System of India
Historically, the caste system in India consisted of four well known categories (the Varnas):
- Brahmin (priests)
- Kshatriyas (warriors)
- Vaishyas (traders)
- Shudras (workmen)
Some people were left out from these four caste classifications, and were called panchama (literally, the fifth). Regarded as outcastes or untouchables, these were shunned and ostracized. The varnas themselves have been further subdivided into thousands of jatis.
Ancient Indian text on laws, such as Manusmṛti suggest a caste system was part of Indian society. These laws in ancient India discriminated between castes. For example, the laws of Manusmṛti declare sexual relationships between men and women of different castes as illegal.
Upon independence from the British rule, the Indian Constitution listed 1,108 castes across the country as Scheduled Castes in 1950, for affirmative action. The Scheduled Castes are sometimes called as Dalit in contemporary literature. In 2001, the proportion of Dalit population was 16.2 percent of India's total population.
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