Jāti

Many jātis found today in India could fit into one varna (occupation categorization) or another as described in Brahminical literature, but there are many others that would straddle two Varnas, based on occupation. As a community in south India put it,"We are soldiers and saddle makers too". This indicates that Indian society since pre-historic times had a very complex political economy. One non-sacred theoretical text, the Laws of Manu, c. 200, codified the social relations between communities from the perspective of the Varna castes although this book was not followed by many and was almost unknown south of the Vindhyas. The book, however, gained prominence when the British administrators and Western scholars used it to gain an understanding of traditional Hindu law in India.

Jātis of Varnas

* Geographical separation: For example purabia (eastern) or pachchaia (western) sections of some communities, like the barhai (carpentars)

In several cases, merging of sub-communities have been recorded. A jāti could originally change their occupation and thus association with a varna. Marriages would occur usually within one's community, or sometimes between communities.

At one time there was considerable interest in relative ranking of communities (jātis). There are several ways ranking can be done.

A consequence of the 3rd rule was that Brahmins were often employed as cooks. The rule was often not applicable if the food items are dry (e.g. roasted grains) or cooked with oil/ghee (pakka).

There are now several thousand communities and sub-communities in India. A jāti is defined by the mutual interaction among the members of the community. The two most common bonds are:

Classification of castes

Brahmins(teachers/scholars/priest)

Pancha-Gauda

Pancha-Dravida

Kshatriya (Kings, Nobles & warrior Chiefs)

Vaishya (Merchants & Traders)

Sudra (Service Providers/Artisans)

Dravidians

See also

References

Category:Indian castes Category:Indian caste system