Caste has been noted as one of the most important problems in the specific context of Indian democratic revolution. In fact caste is directly related to the particular nature of the evolution of Indian society as a unique system of social stratification with a unique feature of self-organisation and self-regulation. With the development of class society and emergence of state, the caste ideology served as a compact ideological package of the reactionary ruling classes and till now acts as a barrier in the development of class consciousness. The fundamental logic of the caste system lies in the division of society into mutually exclusive groups where the social status of an individual is defined through his or her attachment to the group. The extreme division is ensured through conventions, laws, and rituals well supported in the Hindu religious framework. The uniqueness of caste has been a matter of debate within scholars. In fact it is tough to find a system in this world that reflects the dynamic nature of caste which enhances its power of exploitation.
Many scholars try to compare slavery with the Indian caste system. Sources depict that slavery existed in India during the 6th century BCE and reappeared in the Islamic period in the form of bonded labour system which is still prevalent in the country. Similarly, with the expansion of the caste system, it can be seen that most of the bonded labourers belong to the Dalit communities. In this context, the Anti- Slavery International report (2008) can be referred to that clearly states the condition of Dalit bonded labourers who are associated with the most physically straining works in industries and farming. Broadly, a similarity can be drawn between the two systems as both of them offer all privileges to the uppermost and none to the lowest one. But the worst part lies in the two opposite consciousnesses that they produce. The consciousness of a slave encourages him to revolt against his master while the caste consciousness strengthens the caste structure. In the hierarchical caste structure, the contradiction is allowed to penetrate to every local level to further widen the caste division rather than abolition of the caste-based oppression. Even Dr. Ambedkar tried to draw a comparison between the untouchables in India and slavery in European and American civilization. He remarked “It is enslavement without making the Untouchables conscious of their enslavement…It is enduring because it is unconscious.” Approaches have been made to measure caste in a racist approach and compare it with racism of the West. The race relation has got a physical orientation while caste is culturally oriented. People like James Silverberg have spoken of the flexibility of the caste system that is absent in case of racial discrimination. Groups of backward caste try to imitate the practice of higher caste in order to get elevated in caste hierarchy. Race sentiment and interest has got a universal nature while the caste sentiment and interest tend to be localized. The antagonism produced by a racial system divides the society vertically while the caste antagonism produces a stratification of hierarchical manner. Dr. Ambedkar denies to see caste as race and argues that “The Brahman of Punjab is racially of the same stock as Chamar of Punjab…The caste system is a social division of people of the same race”. Dr. Teltumbde explains that this formidable system (caste) of stratification “represents a continuum of infinite castes stung within a fluid hierarchy.” The innumerable castes maintaining the macrostructure obeys the Varna hierarchy through their attachment to one of the Varnas. Simultaneously, each of them contends for a higher status with respect to the one in its proximity. These contentions among castes not only strengthens the macrostructure but also internalises its hierarchy.
The origin of the caste system can be traced 3000 years back. Its development has been related to the development of class society, emergence of state, development of feudal production, and forcible inclusion of various tribal groups into the exploitative agrarian economy. The Vedic period (from 1500 BCE) witnessed the emergence of agriculture as a dominant production system to the rise of the state around 500 BCE. Till the 4th century CE, the expansion of agriculture based on Shudra labourers, the growth of trade and its decline continued, followed by the emergence of feudalism. With the development of feudalism, the Brahminical Hinduism and Varna system acquired the complex and rigid form. The source of the caste code is embedded in the reactionary ideology of Brahminism and is traced to the Purusha Sukta of the Tenth Mandala of Rig Veda that is regarded as the earliest Hindu text. Phule and Ambedkar denied Purusha Sukta and considered it to be a new addition to Rig Veda since RigVeda did not mention the fourth Varna-Shudra.
The Atharva Veda also referred to only three Varnas. The concept of Shudra was originated in the later part of the Vedic period and the four Varnas were the form class society took in the later Vedic and Upanishad period. In this period, agriculture flourished at the cost of non- agricultural tribes who were either evicted from the forests or livelihood. The conquest strengthened the position of the chieftain clans who relied on ritualism and yajnas to enhance their prestige and appropriate the surplus. These were performed in alliance with the priestly clans. Thus, as the pastoral tribes adopted agriculture, the chieftain and priestly clans were consolidated as the Kshatriya and Brahmin Varnas. The ordinary clansmen constituted the Vaishya Varna and the subjugated tribals came to form the Shudra Varna. The two Varnas engaged themselves in rearing cattle and tilling the soil. The Varna ideology nurtured the growing power of the Brahmins and Kshatriyas and ensured the absorption of the subjugated tribals into the lower Varnas. last Caste developed itself as the ideological expression of the classes evolved from the womb of various tribes. It can be seen that with the development of the caste system, all castes connected with physical labour (peasants, artisans etc.) or those who challenged Brahminical hierarchy (kayasthas or court writers, vaids or doctors) were clubbed as Shudras.
At the nascent stage of the Varna system, there had been no mention of existence of the fifth category-the Avarna or Panchamas, people outside the four-fold Varnas, the Untouchables. Arthashastra by Kautilya has got mention of outcastes (chandala, antavyasains) beyond the four Varnas and declared punishments according to the caste of a person. The Manusmruti (Laws of Manu) which was composed between 200 BCE and 300 CE rigidified the caste code and justified the Purusha Sukta theory of origin of the four Varnas to be necessary “for the sake of prosperity of the world.”
The Manusmruti acted as a precious weapon to the feudal system, supporting it with ideological justification for the superiority of exploiting classes. It explains “Since the Brahman sprang out from the (virat purusha’s i.e. god’s) mouth, he was the first-born, possessed the Veda and hence became by right ‘the lord of this whole creation’…To the Shudra, the god prescribed ‘one occupation’, i.e. to serve meekly the other three Varnas.” Manusmruti tried to compel the Shudra to do servile work as “he was created by god to be the slave of Brahmans”. The Manusmruti also referred to the existence of people beyond four Varnas as dasyus, the tribes which were not included in the Varna system, irrespective of whether they spoke the language of the mlechchhas (Barbarians) or that of Aryans. These ‘impure’ groups were forced to live in remote, wild areas or near burial grounds, wear garments of the dead, use broken utensils and would only have internal social interactions and endogamy. They remained Avarna, outside the formalised society and were forced to physical segregation in villages. The Pantanjali refers to two types of Shudras-the Nirashrit (excluded) and the Ashrit in around 4th century BCE. They were few in numbers. But with the growth of feudalism, as new tribal groups were included in the varna system, the number increased. As a result, the Chamars and Rajaks were reduced to Untouchables. The tribal groups displaced from their forests/land and means of sustenance were also gifted the status of Untouchables. Some artisan groups and bonded agricultural labourers were even degraded from Shudra to ati-Shudra. Their existence was meant to work for the landowning classes of the village, living far from the village with even their shadows deemed as ‘polluting’.
Eleanor Zelliot remarked that by 300 CE, specific caste groups of Untouchables had emerged in Indian society. From that period of history, this concept of untouchability in practice continued to exist in the country, where in parts of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra, Untouchables still exist who are considered to be unapproachable and even ‘unseeable’. Specific purification strategies exist in case of such ‘impure’ contact. The Untouchables are assigned with works like removal of waste, butchery, making of footwear etc.- everything that has to do with decay and death. This ideology of ritual pollution opened the tool of creating a class of semi-slave for the rural and urban economy. Brahmins as the closest friends of the exploiting class (who possess land and labour) developed these theories of pollution. As the Varna ideology dominated the entire society, it emphasised the importance of the caste system in the feudal mode of production Classically, the caste system stands on the balance strongly supported by Hindu religious and philosophical notions of two doctrines of Karma Dharma. Karma justifies the assigned caste by their previous deed not only in this life, but also in previous one (doctrine of reincarnation) and Dharma provides the doctrines of systematic practice of religious duties in order to be born in a higher caste in their next birth. Another strong pillar of the structure was its internal elasticity. It had the power to absorb a new group within a caste, create a new caste and collapse or reorder the old ones. This flexibility allowed many merging and splitting of existing castes as per local economic and political demands. This elastic nature made it possible for the caste society to survive and witness various changes in Indian civilization facing serious challenges in different stages of history.
