Caste facts for kids

The Caste system is a system in India that was once mainly used by Hindus. It started as a job system but later became a social class system that depends on ones ancestry. This system has been generally accepted for about 3000 years. There are four castes in this system, and one class regarded as the "Untouchables". There are also castes in some countries other than India as the system spread to South Asia about 2000 years ago. For centuries, this system dictated one's marriages, geographical location, and occupation. The Indian government today works to decrease this discrimination , such as with the quotas set in government jobs in 1950.

• Brahmin - The Priests
• Kshatriya or Rajanya - The warriors, rulers, politicians and Kings.
• Vaishya - Merchants, craftsmen, landowners, skilled workers.
• Shudra - Farm workers, unskilled workers, peasant, servant
• "Untouchables", or Dalits - came much later after the other four groups and consisted of people who did jobs considered "dirty." This included sweeping ashes after cremations or ridding of animal waste or skinning animals, such as cows.

Images for kids

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  The Basor weaving bamboo baskets in a 1916 book. The Basor are a Scheduled Caste found in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India.

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  An image of a man and woman from the toddy-tapping community in Malabar from the manuscript Seventy-two Specimens of Castes in India, which consists of 72 full-color hand-painted images of men and women of various religions, occupations and ethnic groups found in Madura, India in 1837, which confirms the popular perception and nature of caste as Jati, before the British colonial authorities made it applicable only to Hindus grouped under the varna categories from the 1901 census onwards.

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  A Sudra caste man from Bali. Photo from 1870, courtesy of Tropenmuseum, Netherlands.

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  A Tagalog royal couple (maginoo), from the Boxer Codex (c. 1590)

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  A typical Yangban family scene from 1904. The Yoon family had an enduring presence in Korean politics from the 1800s until the 1970s.

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  A Griot, who have been described as an endogamous caste of West Africa who specialise in oral story telling and culture preservation. They have been also referred to as the bard caste.

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  The Madhiban (Midgan) specialise in leather occupation. Along with the Tumal and Yibir, they are collectively known as sab.

See also

In Spanish: Casta para niños