Untouchable caste in India: description, history and interesting facts

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:46

The untouchable caste in India is a phenomenon that cannot be found in any other country in the world. Originating in antiquity, the caste division of society exists in the country at the present time. The lowest rung in the hierarchy is occupied by the untouchable caste, which has absorbed 16-17% of the country's population. Its representatives make up the "bottom" of Indian society. Caste structure is a complex issue, but let's try to shed some light on some of its aspects.

The cast structure of Indian society

Despite the difficulty of recreating a complete structural picture of castes in the distant past, it is still possible to single out groups that have historically developed in India. There are five of them.

The highest group (varna) of Brahmins includes civil servants, large and small landowners, priests.

Next comes the Kshatriya varna, which includes the castes of military and farmers - Rajaputs, Jats, Maratha, Kunbi, Reddy, Kapu, etc. Some of them form a feudal stratum, whose representatives further replenishthe lower and middle links of the feudal class.

The next two groups (Vaishyas and Shudras) include the middle and lower castes of farmers, officials, artisans, community servants.

And finally, the fifth group. It includes castes of community servants and farmers, deprived of all rights to own and use land. They are called untouchables.

"India", "untouchable caste" are concepts that are inextricably linked with each other in the view of the world community. Meanwhile, in a country with an ancient culture, they continue to honor the customs and traditions of their ancestors by dividing people according to their origin and belonging to any caste.

History of the Untouchables

The lowest caste in India - the untouchables - owes its appearance to the historical process that took place in the Middle Ages in the region. At that time, India was conquered by stronger and more civilized tribes. Naturally, the invaders came to the country with the aim of enslaving its indigenous population, preparing them for the role of servants.

In order to isolate the Indians, they settled in special settlements built separately, similar to modern ghettos. Civilized outsiders kept the natives out of their community.

It is assumed that it was the descendants of these tribes who later formed the untouchable caste. It included farmers and community servants.

True, today the word "untouchables" has been replaced by another - "dalits", which means "oppressed". "Untouchables" is considered offensive.

Since Indians often use the word "jati" rather than "caste", thentheir number is difficult to determine. But still, Dalits can be divided by occupation and place of residence.

How the untouchables live

The most common Dalit castes are Chamars (tanners), Dhobi (washerwomen) and pariahs. If the first two castes have some kind of profession, then pariahs live only at the expense of unskilled labor - removing household waste, cleaning and washing toilets.

Hard and dirty work is the fate of the untouchables. The lack of any qualifications brings them a meager income, allowing them only to make ends meet.

However, among the untouchables, there are groups that are at the top of the caste, for example, the Hijra.

These are representatives of all kinds of sexual minorities who are engaged in prostitution and begging. They are also often invited to all kinds of religious rituals, weddings, birthdays. Of course, this group has much more to live on than an untouchable tanner or laundress.

But such an existence could not but cause protest among the Dalits.

Protest struggle of the untouchables

Surprisingly, the untouchables did not resist the tradition of division into castes implanted by the invaders. However, in the last century the situation changed: the untouchables under the leadership of Gandhi made the first attempts to destroy the stereotype that had developed over the centuries.

The essence of these speeches was to attractpublic attention to caste inequality in India.

Interestingly, Gandhi's case was picked up by a certain Ambedkar from the Brahmin caste. Thanks to him, the untouchables became Dalits. Ambedkar ensured that they received quotas for all types of professional activities. That is, an attempt was made to integrate these people into society.

The current controversial policy of the Indian government often causes conflicts involving the untouchables.

However, it does not come to rebellion, because the untouchable caste in India is the most submissive part of the Indian community. Age-old timidity in front of other castes, ingrained in the minds of people, blocks all thoughts of rebellion.

Government of India and Dalit Policy

Untouchables… The life of the most severe caste in India causes a cautious and even contradictory reaction from the Indian government, since we are talking about the centuries-old traditions of the Indians.

But still, at the state level, caste discrimination is prohibited in the country. Actions that offend representatives of any varna are considered a crime.

At the same time, the caste hierarchy is legalized by the country's constitution. That is, the untouchable caste in India is recognized by the state, which looks like a serious contradiction in government policy. As a result, the modern history of the country has many serious conflicts between individual castes and even within them.

Interesting facts from the life of Dalits

The untouchables are the most despised class in India. Howeverother citizens are still madly afraid of Dalits.

It is believed that a representative of the untouchable caste in India is able to defile a person from another varna with his mere presence. If the Dalit touches the clothes of a Brahmin, then the latter will need more than one year to cleanse his karma from filth.

But the untouchable (the caste of South India includes both men and women) may well become the object of sexual violence. And no defilement of karma happens in this case, since this is not prohibited by Indian customs.

An example is the recent case in New Delhi, where a 14-year-old untouchable girl was kept as a sex slave by a criminal for a month. The unfortunate woman died in the hospital, and the detained criminal was released on bail by the court.

At the same time, if an untouchable violates the traditions of their ancestors, for example, dares to publicly use a public well, then the poor fellow will face an ambulance on the spot.

Dalit is not a fate

The untouchable caste in India, despite government policy, still remains the poorest and most disadvantaged part of the population. The average literacy rate among them is just over 30.

The situation is explained by the humiliation that children of this caste are subjected to in educational institutions. As a result, illiterate Dalits are the bulk of the country's unemployed.

However, there are exceptions to the rule: there are about 30 millionaires in the country who are Dalits. Of course, this is minuscule in comparison with170 million untouchables. But this fact says that Dalit is not a verdict of fate.

An example would be the life of Ashok Khade, who belonged to the leatherworking caste. The guy worked as a docker during the day, and studied textbooks at night to become an engineer. His company is currently closing hundreds of millions of dollars in deals.

And there is also an opportunity to leave the Dalit caste - this is a change of religion.

Buddhism, Christianity, Islam - any faith technically takes a person out of the untouchables. This was first used at the end of the 19th century, and in 2007, 50,000 people converted to Buddhism at once.