The Caste System
By: Morgan McCracken
The Caste System
The Caste System is a set of social structures. This was created for a sense of organization within the empires of India. The system consists of 5 levels.
Order
At the top of the Caste System were the Priests. Next were the warriors, then the Merchants. After those there were Peasants which made up most of the Indian population. Finally at the bottom there were the Untouchables.
Brahmans
Priests
Kshatriyas
Warriors & Craftsman
Vaisyas
Merchants & Famers
Brahmans - Priests
The priests were at the top of the Caste System. They were the rulers of the empire. These people were treated with high respects. The priests rules the highest Universal Principle, which is Ultimate Reality. Hinduism had a huge say in who became was a Brahman and how they ruled.
Kshatriyas - Warriors
The warriors were after the priests. They were the people that protected the civilizations and empires. If you were in this class, you could have also been part of crafting and trading. They also had the rule of created the weapons and machinery.
Vaisyas - Merchants
The merchants came next, these were the people that owned stores, traded goods and services. The people in this class consisted of farmers, traders, businessman and commoners. The cow herders and the farmers were a big part of this class, considering this is where the majority of food came from in the civilizations.
Sudras - Peasants
The peasants were majority of the population of India. Some consider the peasants the last of the Caste System, since a majority of people never considered the Untouchables part of the system. Along with peasants these were slaves and lesser people. A majority of the peasants served to the people of the three higher classes.
Untouchables
The untouchables were at the bottom of the Caste System. These people were not even considered humans to most. These people were not considered part of the Varnas. They did the jobs that no one wanted to and were treated very poorly. They did jobs that involved killing or were extremely gross, like cleaning.
Sudras
Peasants & Slaves
Untouchables
The Caste System
In many parts of these civilizations, they were not even considered part of the Caste System, but lower.