It is seen that the studies of Caste remain ignorant to the critical fact that it is made up of

interdependent components to form an integrated system and should not be gripped by the
conceptualization of jatis as isolated units. As a result, symptoms like not mingling with other castes
were misdiagnosed as causes. He also explains the two distinct characteristics of Caste: the first
being the restrictions on intermarriage and their membership through autogeny. In another way, the
caste system was based on endogamy (the lack of intermarriage).

Ambedkar draws analogies with the United States, where endogamy within the races did not lead to
caste creation, whereas in India, people within the same culture separated themselves into castes. In
doing so, he tries to demonstrate endogamy as a trait of Caste that produced and perpetuated a
variety of processes in the evolution of what we now call the caste system. Endogamy essentially
replaced exogamy, which he says was the method that is based on ancient societies, particularly
those on the Indian subcontinent. In practice, sustaining or attaining a balance between
marriageable units, men and women, was a challenge.

Ambedkar had established a foundation with a feminist point of view on Caste by explaining it within
gender distinction, which thus determined the value of surplus man and surplus woman. We learn
that the surplus lady within the Caste is "disposed of "in either of the two ways, the first being sati,
where the woman is burnt on her husband's pyre. When this was no longer an option, she was
forced and degraded into the service of widowhood.

However, due to the "male dominance among the group, "the same treatment could not be
followed for a surplus man or a widower. It was assumed that losing a man would lead to loss of
labor and a decrease in the number of group members. The following issue was resolved by getting
him married to someone who does not belong to a marriageable age, institutionalizing female child
marriage. Thus the foundation of the formation of the caste system, according to Ambedkar's
notion of Caste, was rooted within endogamy, which further prohibited intermarriage among castes.

The fundamentals to the development and origin of Caste are revealed in Ambedkar's formulation,
which is based on three activities: organization within the group for reproduction, a violent control
over the sexuality of surplus women, and legitimation of control practices through ideology.

Ambedkar believed that the Brahmans first built the walls of endogamy and made Caste a closed
class. This further became a tradition and was followed by the other castes of society, although not
strictly. He also draws an argument from the French sociologist Gabriel Tarde's law of imitation
which states "some closed the doors while others found them closed "to show that the practice of
imitation of endogamy has flowed from the higher castes to lower castes, also that the degree of
imitation was inversely proportional to the distance between castes. While the castes closest to
Brahmans adopted all three practices, those far away focused primarily on the caste principles.

Ambedkar concludes with a summary challenging the Western notion that Caste is linked to color in
some way. He points out why occupational groupings were converted into Caste has mainly gone
unasked and unaddressed. He also recognizes the importance of belief and faith in the sustenance
and perpetuation of Caste but emphasizes the dominance of Caste's institution above them.