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Many scholars have argued about the meaning of the caste system. Some even go so far as to argue that it is simply a fabrication of colonists who came to India, thus dismissing it as way of analyzing and understanding India’s social infrastructure. Others argue that it is no longer an important part of India’s social structure and consider it simply to be a part of history.
It has been, since its beginning, an ever-evolving part of Indian culture and society. It is not concoction of colonialists nor is it an outdated cultural code. It has deep roots in Indian history yet it is defined only by the way it is perceived: by what people do and say and the way they think. In explaining caste with respect to religion, I claimed that this method of classification was a means of achieving an effectively functioning society and ordering the universe. By a close examination of history it becomes evident that an “order” is only what it is interpreted as. We have seen the caste system change while some of its underlying premises stayed the same.
While studying the role of caste
in India it becomes increasingly evident that due to India’s complexity,
diversity, and a dynamic history makes it very difficult to create a formula
of caste or a single model an impossible quest. The best that we can do
is understand caste as a multifaceted and evolving part of the past, present
and future history of India.
Links
Human
Rights Watch - Their page on untouchability
History of
India - Timeline
Indian
History - Information about Indian geography, civilizations, dynasties
etc.
Gandhi-A
Life - Autobigraphy, biography, philosophy etc.
Religion
Forum - Includes a great deal of religoius information
Online Encyclopedia Articles on Caste - provide
some basic information
Britanninca.com
The
Columbia Encyclopedia
Sources Consulted
Bayly, Susan. Caste Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age. Cambridge University Press 1999.
Bougle, Celestin. Essays on the Caste System. Cambridge University Press. 1971.
Fuller, C.J. Caste Today. Oxford University Press. 1996.
Metcalf, Thomas R. Modern India: An Interpretive Anthology. The Macmillian Company. 1971.
Prabhu, Pandarinath H. Hindu Social Organization:
A Study in Socio-Psychological and Ideological Foundations.
Popular Prakashan. 1979.