this article is inspired from a post by subodh(I guess he too wanted something like this :)). It was indeed a bold article and truly he deserves credit for writing up such a wonderful article. But there were a few aspects in it with which i could not agree upon, which resulted in me writing this. The crux of his article was that occupation is the basis of caste system. Though the claim does have merit, it is not entirely accurate. The influx of numerous races into India and their subsequent overpowering and subjugation of the existing race also played a major role in the the rigid caste system that existed in India at the time of independence.
India is a land of the immigrants. In a major ruling by the supreme court, it said that the original race of the country was actually the aborigines living in the Andaman Islands(http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article1081343.ece)! Different races came to India at different phases of its history. Most of the time, the visitors possessed a better social structure and technical skills than the natives and were able to easily overpower them. Thus the negroid were forced into the jungle by Australoids and whey were subsequently forced to give way for the Mediterraneans (we call the Dravidians, who build the Indus Valley civilization) and they were replaced by the Caucasoid(or Aryans). Most of the times, the new comers pushed the existing race away from the river valleys into the interior of the subcontinent- a reason why Dravidian languages are more prominent in the south and Devanagiri in the north.
This much of what i said is not undisputed i guess. I refute the line of thinking that there was an occupational structure existing in the society and that went on to determine the caste structure. I believe that it was the racial heirarchey that led to a group taking up an occupation/role in the society. To illustrate my point, let me take up one example-that of Kerala. Similar to other states, Kerala too has its list of 'forward castes' such as Namboodiris, Nairs etc.; 'OBC' (Ezhava, Viswakarma etc.) and Scheduled Castes (Parayan, Pulayan etc). Most of these castes were not formed as a result of the role they played in the society but from their racial background. To understand how the present scheme of caste system came into being in the state, lets go a bit deeper into its history.
The period between 5 B.C and 2 A.D in Kerala was known as the Sankham period. Though its not where Kerala history starts, for our convinience, we will have it as our starting point. During Sankham period in Kerala, as is the case with all other states in the country, aadivaasi and tribal groups that are now enlisted as the SCs played prominent role in the society. They constituted aborigines and australoid races. They formed different groups called gotras which had their own unique customs and beliefs. Sankham period saw the emergence of agrarian economy in the state and had trade relations even with the Europeans. The social status enjoyed by the aborigines then would have been vastly different from what they experienced later on in 18th and 19th century society.
The two most prominent castes in Kerala, Nair and Ezhava are thought to have appeared between 3 and 4 A.D. Ezhavas are believed to have come from Eezham, which is the native name of Sri Lanka. They are usually given the credit for popularizing coconut cultivation in the state. Earlier Ezhavas were followers of Buddhism who later on adopted the native culture( i dont say converted to Hinduism as i believe Hindu religion is more an amalgamation of various cultures than a religion in itself). There are many theories on the emergence of Nairs. But i found the hypothesis that they were descendants of nayari tribes of central Asia most convincing. The Naga tribes in other parts of India also trace their roots to Nayaris. The custom of having sarppa kavu(Snake garden) in Nair houses is pointed out as an evidence for their link with the Nagas and Nayaris.
Even during this time, we can see that the caste hierarchy has not taken a definite shape. This will wait until the Aryans start to have a definite hold on socio-economic-cultural milieu by the 10th century. I dont want to make this post too big to read by including that part here. So we will wait for the next post to see how the coming of Aryans had an effect on the social fabric of Kerala.
P.S: Since I am dealing with a hot topic, i have tried to be as accurate as possible. Please do point out any inconsistent facts in the article.
India is a land of the immigrants. In a major ruling by the supreme court, it said that the original race of the country was actually the aborigines living in the Andaman Islands(http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article1081343.ece)! Different races came to India at different phases of its history. Most of the time, the visitors possessed a better social structure and technical skills than the natives and were able to easily overpower them. Thus the negroid were forced into the jungle by Australoids and whey were subsequently forced to give way for the Mediterraneans (we call the Dravidians, who build the Indus Valley civilization) and they were replaced by the Caucasoid(or Aryans). Most of the times, the new comers pushed the existing race away from the river valleys into the interior of the subcontinent- a reason why Dravidian languages are more prominent in the south and Devanagiri in the north.
This much of what i said is not undisputed i guess. I refute the line of thinking that there was an occupational structure existing in the society and that went on to determine the caste structure. I believe that it was the racial heirarchey that led to a group taking up an occupation/role in the society. To illustrate my point, let me take up one example-that of Kerala. Similar to other states, Kerala too has its list of 'forward castes' such as Namboodiris, Nairs etc.; 'OBC' (Ezhava, Viswakarma etc.) and Scheduled Castes (Parayan, Pulayan etc). Most of these castes were not formed as a result of the role they played in the society but from their racial background. To understand how the present scheme of caste system came into being in the state, lets go a bit deeper into its history.
The period between 5 B.C and 2 A.D in Kerala was known as the Sankham period. Though its not where Kerala history starts, for our convinience, we will have it as our starting point. During Sankham period in Kerala, as is the case with all other states in the country, aadivaasi and tribal groups that are now enlisted as the SCs played prominent role in the society. They constituted aborigines and australoid races. They formed different groups called gotras which had their own unique customs and beliefs. Sankham period saw the emergence of agrarian economy in the state and had trade relations even with the Europeans. The social status enjoyed by the aborigines then would have been vastly different from what they experienced later on in 18th and 19th century society.
The two most prominent castes in Kerala, Nair and Ezhava are thought to have appeared between 3 and 4 A.D. Ezhavas are believed to have come from Eezham, which is the native name of Sri Lanka. They are usually given the credit for popularizing coconut cultivation in the state. Earlier Ezhavas were followers of Buddhism who later on adopted the native culture( i dont say converted to Hinduism as i believe Hindu religion is more an amalgamation of various cultures than a religion in itself). There are many theories on the emergence of Nairs. But i found the hypothesis that they were descendants of nayari tribes of central Asia most convincing. The Naga tribes in other parts of India also trace their roots to Nayaris. The custom of having sarppa kavu(Snake garden) in Nair houses is pointed out as an evidence for their link with the Nagas and Nayaris.
Even during this time, we can see that the caste hierarchy has not taken a definite shape. This will wait until the Aryans start to have a definite hold on socio-economic-cultural milieu by the 10th century. I dont want to make this post too big to read by including that part here. So we will wait for the next post to see how the coming of Aryans had an effect on the social fabric of Kerala.
P.S: Since I am dealing with a hot topic, i have tried to be as accurate as possible. Please do point out any inconsistent facts in the article.
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