The word ‘caste’ comes from the Portuguese word ‘casta’ signifying breed, race or kind. The first use of the word ‘caste’ occur in 1563 in the writing of Garcia de Orta. The word ‘caste’ used by the French who spoke ‘caste’ meaning breed. It is not known whether the Portuguese or the French used it originally in this sense; the probability is that the Portuguese were the first to coin the word.
The word ‘jati’ or caste used in India specifies a subdivision of the larger division, Varna. ‘Varna is believed to have been based on the colour or race. In post-vedic times in North India the four-fold division seems to have appeared.
The Varna concept was supposed to be based on the colour of the skin of a race and as a corollary of that belief emerged the theory that Varna’s arose as a results of conquest of one race by another. But colour could not have been the fool-proof index of race. Could it be thought that the dasa, who perhaps become the ancestors of the sudras, were alone dark, while bramin, kshatrian and vaisya gradually developing into the priests, warriors and common men, were all fair in complexion?
Over the ages, subsequent to the epoch of the Brahmanas there appeared the caste or subdivision of the Varna’s. It is well known that while were four Varna’s there have been well over three thousand caste or jatis. A jati is partly occupational and partly a sociological sub-division within each varna.
The traditional association between caste and occupation, however, is far from dissolution. Though some mutations were possible, the traditional basis held ground for the most part. In recent times the extension of endogamy among the subdivisions of castes has tended to reduce the rigor of the caste; but it has influenced only a very small section of the Hindu population. It is notable that even a change of religion does not destroy the caste system; for among converts too, the older caste distinctions persist, perhaps in a middle form.
Key words: Rise , Growth ,Caste ,System , Tamilnadu , Overview
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