![[P]](http://cache.lexico.com/g/r/premium_mh.gif){kind=small}
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) | Cite This Source |
Audio Help [kast, kahst] Pronunciation Key | 1. | Sociology.
|
| 2. | Hinduism. any of the social divisions into which Hindu society is traditionally divided, each caste having its own privileges and limitations, transferred by inheritance from one generation to the next; jati. Compare class (def. 13). |
| 3. | any class or group of society sharing common cultural features: low caste; high caste. |
| 4. | social position conferred upon one by a caste system: to lose caste. |
| 5. | Entomology. one of the distinct forms among polymorphous social insects, performing a specialized function in the colony, as a queen, worker or soldier. |
| 6. | of, pertaining to, or characterized by caste: a caste society; a caste system; a caste structure. |
—Related forms
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
| Synonym Collection v1.1 | Cite This Source | |
| Main Entry: | caste | |
| Part of Speech: | noun | |
| Synonyms: | breed, class, degree, grade, position, race, rank, standing, status | |
| Source: | Synonym Collection v1.1 Copyright © 2008 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. | |
| Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia | Cite This Source |
caste [Port., casta=basket], ranked groups based on heredity within rigid systems of social stratification, especially those that constitute Hindu India. Some scholars, in fact, deny that true caste systems are found outside India. The caste is a closed group whose members are severely restricted in their choice of occupation and degree of social participation. Marriage outside the caste is prohibited. Social status is determined by the caste of one's birth and may only rarely be transcended. Certain religious minorities may voluntarily constitute a quasi-caste within a society, but they are less apt to be characterized by cultural distinctiveness than by their self-imposed social segregation. A specialized labor group may operate as a caste within a society otherwise free of such distinctions (e.g., the ironsmiths in parts of Africa). In general, caste functions to maintain the status quo in a society.
Castes in India
Nowhere is caste better exemplified by degree of complexity and systematic operation than in India. The Indian term for caste is jati, which generally designates a group varying in size from a handful to many thousands. There are thousands of such jatis, and each has its distinctive rules, customs, and modes of government. The term varna (literally meaning "color") refers to the ancient and somewhat ideal fourfold division of Hindu society: (1) the Brahmans, the priestly and learned class; (2) the Kshatriyas, the warriors and rulers; (3) the Vaisyas, farmers and merchants; and (4) the Sudras, peasants and laborers. These divisions may have corresponded to what were formerly large, broad, undifferentiated social classes. Below the category of Sudras were the untouchables, or Panchamas (literally "fifth division"), who performed the most menial tasks.
Although there has been much confusion between the two, jati and varna are different in origin as well as function. The various castes in any given region of India are hierarchically organized, with each caste corresponding roughly to one or the other of the varna categories. Traditionally, caste mobility has taken the form of movement up or down the varna scale. Indian castes are rigidly differentiated by rituals and beliefs that pervade all thought and conduct (see dharma). Extreme upper and lower castes differ so widely in habits of everyday life and worship that only the close intergrading of intervening castes and the intercaste language communities serve to hold them together within the single framework of Indian society.
The explanation that Indian castes were originally based on color lines to preserve the racial and cultural purity of conquering groups is inadequate historically to account for the physical and cultural variety of such groups. Castes may reflect distinctiveness of religious practice, occupation, locale, culture status, or tribal affiliation, either exclusively or in part. Divergence within a caste on any of these lines will tend to produce fission that may, in time, result in the formation of new castes. Every type of social group as it appears may be fitted into this system of organizing society.
The occupational barriers among Indian castes have been breaking down slowly under economic pressures since the 19th cent., but social distinctions have been more persistent. Attitudes toward the untouchables only began to change in the 1930s under the influence of Mohandas Gandhi's teachings, who called the group Harijans. Although untouchability was declared illegal in 1949, resistance to change has remained strong, especially in rural areas. As increased industrialization produced new occupations and new social and political functions evolved, the caste system adapted and thus far has not been destroyed.
Bibliography
See M. Marriott, ed., Village India (1955); M. N. Srinivas, Social Change in Modern India (1966); A. de Reuck and J. Knight, ed., Caste and Race (1967); L. Dumont, Homo Hierarchicus: The Caste System and Its Implications (1970); D. B. McGilvray, ed., Caste Ideology and Interaction (1982); A. R. Gupta, Caste Hierarchy and Social Change (1985).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004, Columbia University Press.
Licensed from Columbia University Press
View results from: Dictionary | Thesaurus | Encyclopedia | All Reference | the Web
Perform a new search, or try your search for "Caste" at:
- Amazon.com - Shop for books, music and more
- Dictionary.com - Search for definitions
- Reference.com - Encyclopedia Search
- Reference.com - Web Search powered by Ask.com
- Thesaurus.com - Search for synonyms and antonyms
