INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY BBA 1st SEMESTER

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCE

ABDUL WALI KHAN UNIVERSITY MARDAN (TIMERGARA CAMPUS)

INTRODUCTION OF CASTE

Caste is a socially ascribed status that is the name of those groups of individuals who have
common families and have the same profession. Caste is a permanent social group and is a
source of recognition for an individual.
In the Sub-continent, there has been a caste system for the last three thousand years which was in
the beginning, based on the division of labor. Different castes had been allotted different jobs on
a permanent basis the objective of which was to produce stability in the structure and function of
a society.
On this basis, caste became a role that was assigned to him without his desire, and an individual
has no choice and power and he gets the role of his parents. This system created many
difficulties of which the most important dislikes of marriage among individuals of different
castes. Endogamy is preferred to avoid ritual pollution. In Pakistan and India in the Sub-
continent and in South Africa caste system has still an important place.

THE ORIGIN OF THE TERM ‘CASTE’ AND ‘CASTE SYSTEM’

The term ‘Caste’ is derived from the Spanish word “caste” meaning breed or ‘lineage’. The
Portuguese used the term caste first to represent the divisions in the Indian caste system. The
Sanskrit word for caste is ‘Varna ‘which means ‘color’. Color in the original form of caste
indicates the basis of divisions along with occupation.
The origin of this caste system in Nepalese and Indian society relates to the
‘Chaturvarna‘system of Hindu philosophy. Chaturvarna guideline explains that Hindu society
was divided into four main varnas, namely, Brahmins, the Kshatriyas, the Vaishyas, and the
Shudras. The Varna system which was dominant during the Vedic period was mainly based on
the division of occupation and labor. The caste system, therefore, has its origin in the Varna
system.
The Portuguese applied the term caste to the classes of people, in Nepal and India, or Hindu
society, it is known by the name of “Jaat” or “Jaati“.
 DEFINITIONS OF CASTE

1. Ian Robertson :
A caste system is a closed form of social stratification in which status is determined by birth and
is life long."
2. CH. Persell :
The caste system is a closed system of social stratification in which prestige and social
relationships are based on the hereditary position at birth."
3. RT. Schaefer:
A hereditary system of rank that is relatively fixed and immobile is called a caste."
4. Rausek and Warren :
Caste means such a social group in which the membership of an individual is by birth and there
is no capacity of mobility."

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CASTE SYSTEM:

Sociologists attend to the influence of caste on social stratification in different societies because
in some of the societies, especially in Pakistan. India and Sri Lanka this has got an important
place socially which is based upon the following characteristics:
1. Caste determines the ascribed status of an individual.
An individual in a society and before his social interaction fixes the expectation and behavior
which afterward plays an important part in the growth of the self-concept of an individual, saving
him from social adjustment and complications. If an individual is unaware of his caste, he faces
serious reactions in social relations or if he adopts a behavior contrary to his caste, even then the
society rebels against him by demanding to adopt an expected behavior.
2. Caste is heredity and the permanent group that consists of the same race of families.
Therefore, individuals of one caste become famous for special characteristics. Just as, beauty,
bravery, cowardice, intelligence, and cleverness as hereditary characteristics whereas, these are
due to close intensive family socialization. The choice of mate in a marriage is considered in
view of his caste as his personal characteristics. That is why marriages are held in the same
family to avoid adaptability between the couple.
3. A caste consists of several families of specific groups and has equal economical traditional
conditions and abiding by the caste is thought an attachment to the caste otherwise an individual
faces social disapproval.
4. A caste makes its individual feel a sense of self-belongingness, attachment, and nearness.
Because of this irrespective of his status in society, he feels security and expects help,
cooperation, and emotional attachment from his caste people in a difficult time and that makes
his relationship strong with other individuals.
5. Caste is a source of recognition of an individual in a vast society.
In the Sub-continent where caste from a personal point of view is very important, there an
individual needs not a lengthy introduction but telling caste is sufficient and people understand
made about him and relate with him. That is why the guess the reaction of others about his caste
plays an important part in developing his self-concept and this produces uniformity in the
behavior of people and is a source of their recognition.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CLASS AND CASTE SYSTEMS

In Max Weber’s terminology, caste and class are both status groups. While castes are supposed
as hereditary groups with a fixed ritual status, social classes are defined in terms of the relations
of production. A social class is a category of people who have a similar socioeconomic status in
relation to other classes in society. The individuals and families which are classified as part of
the same social class have similar life chances, prestige, style of life, attitudes, etc.

In the caste system, the status of a caste is determined not by economic and political privileges
but by the ritualistic legitimation of authority. In the class system, ritual norms have no
importance at all but power and wealth alone determine one’s status (Dumont, 1958).

The class system differs in many respects from other forms of stratification—slavery, estate, and
caste system. In earlier textbooks such as those written by Maclver, Davis, and Bottomore, it was
observed that caste and class are polar opposites. They are opposing to each other. While ‘class’
represents a ‘democratic society having equality of opportunity, ‘caste’ is the opposite of it.

The following are the main differences between class and caste systems:

1. Castes are found in the Indian sub-continent only, especially in India, while classes are found
almost everywhere. Classes are especially characteristic of the industrial societies of Europe and
America. According to Dumont and Leach, caste is a unique phenomenon found only in India.

2. Classes depend mainly on economic differences between groupings of individuals—

inequalities in possession and control of material resources—whereas in the caste system non-
economic factors such as the influence of religion [theory of karma, rebirth, and ritual (purity-
pollution)] are most important.
3. Unlike castes or other types of strata, classes are not established by legal or religious
provisions; membership is not based on inherited position as specified either legally or by
custom. On the other hand, membership is inherited in the caste system.

4. Class system is typically more fluid than the caste system or the other types of stratification
and the boundaries between classes are never clear-cut. The caste system is static whereas the
class system is dynamic.

5. In the class system, there are no formal restrictions on inter-dining and inter-marriage between
people from different classes as is found in the caste system. Endogamy is the essence of the
caste system which is perpetuating it.

6. Social classes are based on the principle of achievement, i.e., on one’s own efforts, not simply
given at birth as is common in the caste system and other types of stratification systems. As such
social mobility (movement upwards and downwards) is much more common in the class
structure than in the caste system or in other types. In the caste system, individual mobility from
one caste to another is impossible.

This is why castes are known as closed classes (D.N. Majumdar). It is a closed system of
stratification in which almost all sons end up in precisely the same stratum their fathers occupied.
The system of stratification in which there is a high rate of upward mobility, such as that in
Britain and the United States is known as an open class system. The view that castes are closed
classes are not accepted by M.N. Srinivas (1962) and Andre Beteille (1965).

7. In the caste system and in other types of stratification systems, inequalities are expressed
primarily in personal relationships of duty or obligation—between lower- and higher-caste
individuals, between serf and lord, and between slave and master. On the other hand, the nature
of the class system is impersonal. The class system operates mainly through large-scale
connections of an impersonal kind.

8. Caste system is characterized by ‘cumulative inequality’ but the class system is characterized
by ‘dispersed inequality.’

9. Caste system is an organic system but class has a segmentary character where various
segments are motivated by competition (Leach, 1960).

10. Caste works as an active political force in a village (Beteille, 1966) but the class does not
work so.