Casta!

The word 'caste' derives from the Portuguese word 'casta' literally meaning: race/breed. The caste system was introduced in India during the 1600s mainly by the Rigvedic people, and had been put into practice before the British arrived (think circa 1612), however; a system like this could be found in Hindu scriptures. When the British started to have more power (thanks to the fragility of the Mughal Empire), and as the years went by Britain's influence was remarkable, and people like, Ram Mohun Roy, wanted to reform the way the caste system worked. The caste system was split up into 5 different groups, the lowest ranking people were the outcastes/untouchables (aka Pariah), to the skilled workers which were in the middle (aka Vaisyas) and the highest ranking people being the priests (aka Brahmins). Each of the 5 groups was to stay in their own groups, marry to the people in their own groups, etc. The caste system can easily be compared to the system that the French had set up (Estates) before the French Revolution took place. You had the clergy, nobles and the rest of the people, even though their Estate system worked differently than the Caste system, there was still a kind of discrimination of where and from who you were born.

One could easily argue that the British were right for reforming the caste system that was in place in India, but someone could just as easily disagree. This is something that is hard to give a straight forward answer to. I agree, the caste system, before the British tried to reform it, was horrible, and I can't imagine living in something that restricted me from hanging out, or marrying other people outside of my 'breed/race'; but then again, it IS their religion and it was fine the way it was before the British showed up. It kept peace within the levels of society, and it kept a sense of order. The question of right or wrong is hard to answer for myself. It's like asking if the Arabs should give equal rights to women if it isn't in their religion, and if they don't know any better; how could it possibly be right or wrong? I suppose that the British were wrong in trying to reform the caste system, simply because the Indians were living in peace and had established this as a way of life before the British came venturing along and the Indians just didn't know any better. But then again I don't want to live in a society that restricts me from doing something that I want to, and I wouldn't want others to have to be restricted, and there I would disagree. One does have to come to the realization however, that we also live in a society in which we divide ourselves into groups. Not only in high school, where you have the preps, emos, jocks, nerds, and rebels; but also in the world itself. We've establish a kind of 'caste system' ourselves in which the rich marry the rich (they don't HAVE to, but why would a rich person marry an average person?), and the poor marry the poor (once again, they don't HAVE to, but why would anybody want to marry a malnourished, AIDS infected person if they can marry a well off person, let's be honest here for a second). Therefore, I believe that the British were wrong with reforming the caste system. Look at India now and there are still classes, and there is even a split in Hindus and Muslims.

-- Sara de Jong
10A