Caste: continuity and change

The first principle

Caste is a system of hereditary groups (jatis) ranked by the idea of ritual purity and held together by marriage within the group. The ritual idea of purity has weakened a great deal, but endogamy and a sense of group identity have not, so caste changes its form rather than disappearing. That single point explains why caste is fluid in occupation, food and public life, yet static in marriage and identity, and why it has moved from being a ritual hierarchy to being a political and associational force.

The core

Varna and jati

• Varna is the fourfold scheme of the texts (Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra), a theoretical frame; jati is the real, local group into which a person is born and marries. There are thousands of jatis, and their rank varies from region to region, which is why caste has to be studied on the ground and not from texts alone.

Features of the traditional system

• G S Ghurye, in Caste and Race in India (1932), listed six features: segmental division of society, hierarchy, restrictions on feeding and social intercourse, civil and religious disabilities, lack of free choice of occupation, and restrictions on marriage. Every one of these follows from the logic of guarding purity.
• Louis Dumont, in Homo Hierarchicus (1966), argued that the opposition of pure and impure is the organising principle of the whole system.

How caste has changed

• Sanskritisation. M N Srinivas (1952) showed that lower castes raise their standing by adopting upper caste rituals and diet, which changes a caste's position but leaves the ladder in place.
• Dominant caste. Srinivas also showed that numerical strength, land and political power, not ritual rank alone, decide which caste dominates a village, as Jats, Marathas, Vokkaligas and Reddys do in their regions.
• Caste associations. From the late nineteenth century castes organised sabhas and federations to run schools, hostels and campaigns, which Lloyd and Susanne Rudolph, in The Modernity of Tradition (1967), described as caste adapting to modern politics.
• Politicisation. Rajni Kothari (1970) argued that democracy did not kill caste but politicised it, turning jatis into vote blocs and bargaining groups.
• Substantialisation. Sociologists describe the shift from a ranked order of interdependent castes to separate, competing identity groups, each claiming equal dignity and a share of power.

Dimensions

• Social. Untouchability is illegal, but caste still shapes neighbourhoods, friendships and above all marriage.
• Economic. Hereditary occupation has largely broken down, yet land ownership, business networks and access to credit still run along caste lines, and sanitation work remains concentrated among Dalits.
• Political. Caste is the most reliable unit of mobilisation in elections, which keeps it alive even where its ritual meaning has faded.
• Legal. The Constitution abolishes untouchability (Article 17), bars caste discrimination (Article 15) and provides for reservation (Articles 15(4), 16(4) and 46).
• Psychological. Caste is part of self identity, so even urban, educated Indians who reject hierarchy may still marry within their caste.

In practice

Is caste disappearing in urban India?

The city weakens caste in work, transport and public eating, where anonymity makes purity rules impossible to enforce. It does not erase it: residential areas still show caste clustering, matrimonial websites offer caste filters, and caste networks help people find jobs and housing. The city therefore changes the form of caste from ritual practice to network and identity.

Intercaste and interreligious marriage

The India Human Development Survey (2011 to 2012) found only about 5 per cent of marriages to be intercaste. Marriages between castes of similar economic standing are rising, because class similarity reduces family resistance, but interreligious marriages remain rarer, as they face both community opposition and the 30 day public notice under the Special Marriage Act, 1954. The Dr Ambedkar Scheme for Social Integration through Intercaste Marriages (Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment) gives a one time incentive of ₹2.5 lakh to eligible couples where one spouse is Dalit.

Judgements

• Indra Sawhney v Union of India (1992): upheld 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), excluded the creamy layer and set a 50 per cent ceiling in ordinary cases.
• Lata Singh v State of Uttar Pradesh (2006): adults are free to marry across caste, and the police must protect such couples.
• Shakti Vahini v Union of India (2018): issued guidelines against honour killings and khap panchayat interference in marriage.
• State of Punjab v Davinder Singh (2024): a seven judge bench allowed states to sub classify Scheduled Castes, recognising that benefits had gone to a few castes within the category.

Data

• The Bihar caste survey (2023) counted Extremely Backward Classes at about 36 per cent, Backward Classes at about 27 per cent and Scheduled Castes at about 19.7 per cent of the state's population.
• The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) recorded 57,582 crimes against Scheduled Castes in 2022.
• In April 2025 the Union Cabinet decided that caste will be enumerated in the next Census, the first full national caste count since 1931.

Issues and way forward

• Atrocities and low conviction. Violence against Dalits continues partly because the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 is weakly enforced. Exclusive special courts, which the 2015 amendment provided for, and time bound investigation are the remedy.
• Manual scavenging. Despite the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, deaths in sewers and septic tanks continue because local bodies still hire people for the work; mechanised cleaning under the National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) scheme (Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, 2023) must reach every town.
• Benefits captured by a few. Within both OBC and Scheduled Caste lists, a few castes have taken most benefits. Sub classification, as recommended by the Rohini Commission (report submitted 2023) for OBCs and allowed for Scheduled Castes in 2024, addresses this.
• Caste in marriage and honour violence. Endogamy is enforced through social pressure and sometimes violence; the Shakti Vahini guidelines, special cells and safe houses for couples need to work in every district.
• The paradox of reservation. Policies built on caste keep caste identity visible. The answer is not to drop them but to pair them with universal education, jobs and urban mixing so that caste matters less to life chances.

Common confusions

• Varna and jati. Varna is the textual fourfold scheme; jati is the real birth group that governs marriage and status.
• Sanskritisation and westernisation. Sanskritisation moves a group up within the caste order by copying upper caste ritual; westernisation adopts Western dress, education and values, often by upper castes first.
• Caste and class. Caste is ascribed at birth and closed by endogamy; class depends on income and occupation and can change in one lifetime. A rich Dalit can still face caste discrimination, which shows the two are separate.
• Untouchability and caste discrimination. Untouchability is the specific practice of treating a group as polluting, abolished by Article 17; caste discrimination is any unfair treatment based on caste, barred by Article 15.

For the exam

• Keyword bank: jati, endogamy, purity and pollution, Sanskritisation, dominant caste, caste associations, politicisation of caste, substantialisation, untouchability, creamy layer, sub classification, honour killing, caste census.
• Previous year questions: Practise the previous year questions on this topic →
• Use in an answer:
  • Introduction (data): Even after seven decades of constitutional equality, only about one marriage in twenty in India crosses caste lines, according to the India Human Development Survey.
  • Introduction (scholar): Rajni Kothari observed that democracy did not destroy caste but politicised it, and that observation still explains why caste survives modernity.
  • Conclusion: Caste in India is weakening as a ritual hierarchy but persisting as an identity and a network, so policy must target discrimination while widening opportunity for all.
  • Conclusion: The aim of the Constitution is not a society blind to caste overnight but one where caste no longer decides a person's chances in life.