Caste Formation in India.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to look at how caste formation, a structural feature of Indian society and the changes that have taken place in caste formations over time, are used by caste in today’s society. The structure of Indian society is based on the caste system. But the caste system was only a product of the upper caste Brahmins of India. In fact, the upper castes enslaved the lower castes only for economic purposes. For that, they used caste as the first extreme. According to historians, the caste system in India was only part of a division of labor and was never caste-based. Because there is no mention in Manusmriti, Bhagavat Gita, Vedic and Later-Vedic literatues about a caste society that separates man from man on the basis of caste. That is why our social reformers proclaimed that caste evils should be eradicated from the society and they worked hard for it and succeeded to some extent. Thus, Independent India was able to build a casteless society as a result of the work of social reformers. But after independence we were able to see a caste politics. What we see today is that every political party is using caste as a tool for their vote bank during elections to consolidate their power. Therefore, caste politics is one of the major challenges facing India.