INTRODUCTION The concept of social stratification came into existence in 1940.

The term strat ification was borrowed from the earth science, the science of geology. The earth scientists say that the earth is made up of a number of layers, one placed upon the other. Each of these layers has its own composition and can be distinguishe d from the other. In technical terms, each layer is known as stratum, the plural of which is strata, and the system of the composition of the earth is called st ratification. Similar to structure of earth, sociologists also think that human society is div ided into layers, one placed upon the other. Social stratification, therefore, m ay be defined as the division of society into strata. But there is an important distinction between the geological and the sociological use of the term stratifi cation. For geologists, all strata that constitute earth are of equal value. The re is no question of one being more privileged than the other. By comparison, in human society, there is an equal distribution of privileges across the strata. In other words, the layers of a society are ranked. Those occupying higher posit ions are more privileged than those who occupy lower positions. DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USED Stratification is an institutionalized pattern of inequality in which social cat egories are ranked on the basis of their access to scarce resources. Social Stratification is the hierarchical arrangement and establishment of socia l categories that evolve into social group together with status and their corres ponding roles. It is also a system whereby people rank and evaluate each other a s superior and, on the basis of such evaluations; inequality rewarded one anothe r with wealth authority, power and prestige. One result of each differentiation is the creation of a number of levels within society. Power refers to the degree to which individuals or groups can impose their will on others and seek obedience from them even in the absence of their own consent. When the exercise is legitimate, it is called authority. Wealth refers to material possessions such as poverty, livestock, land, building , money, jewelry, and many other forms of property that are regarded as valuable in most societies. Prestige refers to honour and respect that is associated with social positions t hat individuals occupy. It is also associated with the qualities of individuals and their styles of life. Certain qualities and lifestyles are regarded as more prestigious than others. Social stratification deals with the inequalities of po wer, wealth, and prestige Class is large set of people regarded by themselves or others as sharing similar status with regard to wealth, power and prestige. SOCIAL STRATIFICATION The concept of social stratification is a key concept in sociology and the Unit should begin with definitions of the concept, such as it being a socially constr ucted concept and based on structured inequality. The inequality may be in the f orm of income and wealth, an individuals biological or ethnic make-up, or may be as a result of age or disability. Simple reference can be made to contrasting so ciological theories that seek to explain social stratification and resultant soc ial inequality, which would help provide candidates with appropriate introductio n to what is meant by social stratification. Examples of common sense explanatio ns can be drawn from candidates everyday lives to help illustrate the extent of s ocial stratification. Concepts and Ideas on Stratification In this section, we shall study two most important viewpoints on stratification. Both these were given by the German thinkers. One was Karl Marx and the other wa s Max Weber 1. Karl Marx Marx saw classes as defined by people s relationship to the means of production. He identified capitalists (bourgeoisie) as people who own factories and other p roductive business, the proletariats as people who sell their productive labor t o the capitalists Marx s theory has been enormously influential.

His work has although been criticized for failing to recognize that a system of unequal rewards may be necessary to motivate people to perform their social role s effectively. The following reasons suggested why Western Capitalism has not experienced a Mar xist revolution: a. The capitalist class has fragmented and grown in size, giving more peopl e a stake in the system b. The proletariat has also changed. There is blue-collar occupations where by lower prestige work involving mostly manual labor, have declined and there is white-collar occupations whereby higher prestige work involving mostly mental a ctivity, have expanded c. Workers are better organized than they were in Marx s day - their unions have been able to fight for reform d. Also, the government has extended various legal protections to workers However, the supporters of Marxist thought have responded as follows: a. Wealth remains highly concentrated b. White-collar jobs offer no more income, security, satisfaction than blue -collar jobs did a century ago c. Class conflict continues between workers and management d. The laws still favor the rich 2. Max Weber Max Weber identified three distinct dimensions of stratification: Class, status, and power. He argued that social standing consists of three parts or dimensions : class, which he regarded as determined mainly by economic standing or wealth; party, which was equivalent to political power; and status, or social prestige a nd honor. Following Weber, many sociologists use the term socioeconomic status: a composit e ranking based on various dimensions of social inequality - education, occupati on, income. Contemporary sociologists often use the broader concept of socioecon omic status to refer to a person s ranking along several social dimensions, part icularly education, occupational prestige, and income. They focus on education that can lead to income attainment, but the benefits are not equally shared by racial and ethnic minorities, or by women. Wealth which consists of the total amount of money and valuable goods that a per son or family controls. It is more unequally distributed than income. Assets, su ch as real estate and jewels, and income consists of occupational wages or salar ies and earnings from investments. For example in the United States less than 1 percent of the population has $1 million or more in assets; and over 50 percent of the total family income in the United States goes to those 25 percent of fami lies with the highest incomes On the occupational prestige, occupation serves as a key source of social presti ge since we commonly evaluate each other according to what we do. According to Weber, since there are so many specific occupations, sociologists o ften categorize occupations into a smaller number: - white-collar which includes the professional, manager, and administrator, technical and clerical and blue-c ollar that includes craft, precision production, and repair, operatives, labor ( excluding farm) and farm worker. If this scheme is too unwieldy, sociologists often divide occupations into two c ategories: white-collar and blue-collar. On other hand, the pink collar is a cat egory that reflects the segregation of women into certain occupations, such as k indergarten teachers and secretaries. It reveals that high incomes usually are associated with high-prestige occupatio ns, but there are exceptions. Sociologists sometimes use the term prestige to mean the honor associated with a n occupation or other position in the social system and esteem to mean the honor that accrues to the individual filling the position. Critical evaluation Weber s views have been widely accepted in the United States although hard econo

mic times may lead to a renewed emphasis on the importance of economic classes

The stratification of society is also based upon either an open, or closed, syst em. OPEN CLOSED Status is achieved through merit, and effort. This is sometimes known as a merit ocracy. The UK is a relatively open society, although disadvantaged groups withi n society face a glass ceiling. Status is ascribed, rather than achieved. Ascrib ed status can be based upon several factors, such as family background (e.g. the feudal system consists of landowners and serfs). Political factors may also pla y a role (e.g. societies organized on the basis of communism), as can ethnicity (e.g. the former apartheid regime in South Africa) and religion. Premises of Social Stratification Stratification is usually based on three major premises: a. Power: the ability to impose ones will on others b. Prestige: the respect given by others c. Property: forms of wealth The Categories of Social Stratification The concept of social stratification in modern society should be introduced thro ugh a definition and study of three of the following categories of social strati fication social class, gender, race and ethnicity and age. Some indicative features of these categories are as follows: a) Social Class Distinction between wealth and income and their distribution in society. Social mobility and the link between class and life chances. Changing nature of class and its relationship to the economy and occupational st ructure. Use of the UK as an example

b) Gender Difference between biological notion of sex and the socially constructed notion of gender. Nature and consequences of gender-role socialisation. Gender inequalities in terms of occupation, family and social roles and expectat ions. Use of the UK as an example. c) Race and Ethnicity Nature, size and distribution of different racial and ethnic groups in modern so ciety. Inequality relating to race and ethnicity; in particular, discrimination in educ ation, employment and on life chances. Role of the mass media in the formation of stereotypes and the consequences for ethnic groups. Use of the UK as an example. d) Age Social construction of the concept of age, including awareness of different noti ons of childhood, adolescence and old age in different societies. Inequalities as a result of age, such as employment, unemployment, low pay, acce ss to benefits and restrictions on social behaviour.

 Implications of changes in the age structure of modern society. Use of the UK as an example. e) Disability Social construction of disability. Inequality relating to disability; in particular, discrimination in education, e mployment and on life chances. Role of the mass media in the formation of negative stereotypes and the conseque nces for disabled individuals and groups. Use of the UK as an example. In all five categories, other relevant features may be used to supplement these features, providing they are widely recognized as being sociologically appropria te Types Of Stratification People are divided into different groupings and their lives are structured accor ding to these groupings. There are certain things that some people cannot do, si mply because their station in life prevents them from being able to do them. Other people, in a different social stratum, are able to do these things specifi cally because they occupy a more favorable position in the social hierarchy. Depending on how much individual mobility is possible; societies may be classifi ed as a caste system, a class system or an estate system. I. The Caste System A caste system amounts to social stratification based on ascription. A caste sys tem consists of a fixed arrangement of strata from the most to the least privile ged, with a person s position determined unalterably at birth. The most extensive contemporary example of a caste system is found in India, esp ecially in rural areas. Caste discrimination is officially illegal but exists nonetheless. The tr aditional castes of India are: Brahmans: mostly priests and scholars. Kshatriyas: warriors, rulers, and large landholders Vaishyas: merchants, farmers, and skilled artisans. Shudras: laborers and unskilled artisans. Harijans: Sometimes called "untouchables, they are ranked so low that, technicall y, they are outside the caste system itself. Caste boundaries in India are reinforced further by the practice of ritual pollu tion or ritual avoidance. A caste system may be determined by many ethnic and cultural factors. European i mperial powers in Africa imposed a caste system based on skin color: all whites were in a higher position or caste than any nonwhite Caste systems shape people s lives in four crucial ways: Caste system largely determines occupation Caste systems largely mandate endogamy Powerful cultural beliefs underlie caste systems Caste systems limit out-group social contacts Although caste influences remains strong in India, the situation is changing due to communication, transportation, industrialization, and the growth of a middle class. Characteristics of a Caste System Some of the salient characteristics of caste may be noted below. All these chara cteristics of caste are interrelated. a) Caste system is based on the ideas of purity and pollution b) Besides occupation, each caste has its own style of living

c) In a village, a persons caste may de identified by looking at his dress, jewelry, house types, food habits, and the manner of speaking. d) It has been found that each caste has its own dialect, which may be dist inguished from the others. e) Each caste follows the rules of endogamy, that is, its members marry wit hin their own caste, but they marry outside their village. Village exogamy, i.e marrying out accompanies caste endogamy. f) Each caste has its own council, locally called caste panchayat, which ta kes up disputes and other matters pertaining to the caste. g) Each caste has its own complex of gods and goddesses, ritual complex, an d folklore. II. The Class System In a class system, social stratification is based on individual achievement People who can be considered peers in society because of their similar life chan ces, similar life circumstances, and similar opportunities, constitute a social class. In a class system social standing is determined by factors over which people can exert some control, and some mobility does take place. In a class system, status inconsistency, the degree of consistency of a person s social standing across various dimensions of social inequality, is lower than i n a caste system III. The Estate System The United Kingdoms agrarian past, with deep historical roots, was based on a cas te like estate system. Three estates, the first (nobles), the second (primarily clergy), and the third (commoners or peasantry) comprised of primogeniture by wh ich property of parents could only be inherited by the eldest son helped maintai n this system. The Industrial Revolution allowed some commoners in the cities to amass wealth sufficient to rival the power of the nobility and led to the blurr ing of social rankings. Principles Of Stratification As seen earlier there are four fundamental principles of stratification, i.e 1. Social stratification is a characteristic of society - not just due to i ndividual differences 2. Social stratification persists over generations. Yet, most societies all ow some sort of social mobility or changes in people s position in a system of s ocial stratification. Social mobility may be upward, downward, or horizontal. 3. Social stratification is universal but variable (it changes) 4. Social stratification involves both inequality and beliefs Sources Of Social Stratification Occupation-when three is a differentiation of roles in society such that some ro les are deemed more necessary and given more values and more rewards. This is no rmatively related to their perceived utility to the social systems, an incentive attached to it. Culture- these are systems of cultural values which offer different economic rew ards on the basis of expertise or ability. Family-family and descent system where social rank is ascribed and there exist p olitical differentiation. The favored ascribe status reinforce themselves materi ally, ideologically and symbolically to create a visible social distance. The ma jor factors on which social stratification is based on are; Occupation and role specialization reward systems e.g access to an occupation an d into a wage bracket. Education is the major factor which determine an upward mobility in the formal w age sector Wealth especially where this is accomplished by a change of values especially co nsumption values Government policies

Importance of Stratification a) Through Social Stratification, men all over, dispels discrimination, ste reotyping and prejudice. b) Man will exert great effort in competing with others. c) Knowledge of S.S. may enable man to adapt to the social environment d) Improvement of mans standard of living e) Effect economic development in a society f) Attainment of a harmonious and stable society Impacts of Social Stratification Were all human. None of us have a say in what circumstances we are born. Pretty m uch any other characteristic by which people can be defined produces some form o f social stratification. Thinking about it boggles the mind. Weve grown up with t he ideas of caste and class, and tried to understand how anyone can willingly ac cept being put in their place by the people around them. In the end, it all comes down to the perception of power, the ways in which circumstances can be used to dominate society. It is fair to say that society, like reality itself, is created and sustained by our participation. Society is an unspoken contract, and one that is sort of wor ked out on the fly and passed down in its present, imperfect form through each g eneration. We pride ourselves on the progress we have made, but honestly it seem s that whatever progress we have made has been in spite of ourselves. But, how c an we address it critically and sensibly? It is so easy to point the finger of blame, or to rationalize human behavior. Th ere are certain things, things we have created, that make us desperately unequal . Consider the tendency of formal organizations to create authority, or formal s ystems to create wealth, or formal status or merit to create prestige. These are useful things, but they need to be paired with responsibility, integri ty, and humility. Groups are formed on the basis of common identity or purpose, but create trends of positive and negative discrimination, and the guidelines fo r institutionalizing them as caste or class. Individuals who have gained a privi leged place in society have acted to protect their privilege by limiting opportu nities, controlling resources, creating surplus labor forced to compete for redu ced wages. The fact is that any system or organization can be leveraged to create power, in one of many forms. Money is economic power. Prestige is social power. Authority is political power. This is power we all have, but depending on where we are in the system, that power is either channeled away from us, or right into our hand s and it happens because we allow it to happen. The problem is that social strat ification dramatically shifts the balance and flow of power. The more concentrat ed the power structure becomes, the more severe the inequalities of society. The ultimate danger is not revolution, however. The more extreme the imbalance i s, the more coercive the power structure becomes, the more controlling it become s. The real danger is not that people will fight the system. The real danger is that they will simply abandon it. They will try to escape their miserable lives through drugs and debauchery, they will turn to crime and simply take what they require, or they will quietly, desperately, take their own lives. Characteristics Of Stratified Systems The ranking apply to social categories of people who share a common characterist ics without necessary interacting or identifying with each other. The process of being ranked can be changed by the person being ranked. E.g. the way we rank pe ople differently by race , gender and social class. Peoples, life experience and opportunities depend on their social category. This characteristics can be changed by the amount of work a person can put into thei r interest. E.g. the greater advantage had by a son /daughter of a king to hav e a successful life than the son/daughter of a minimum-waged factory worker, it shows resources can influence others. The ranks of different social categories change slowly over time. This has occur red frequently in the United States. The U.S constitution has been altered sever al times to specify rights for everyone

SOCIAL STRATIFICATION IN THE KENYAN SCENARIO Factors that have Contributed to Social Scenario in Kenya i. Socioeconomic Stratification: Poverty and Inequality Recent events in Kenya have cast a disturbing light on the depth and complexity of social distress in the country. The conflict arising from the disputed presid ential elections has roots in inequality, poverty, poor governance and a host of other issues. However, the major underlying issue is clearly the perceptions of deliberate unfairness and inequality in the distribution of national resources. These perceptions have a basis in the real practice of successive Kenyan govern ments. However, it can also be argued that beyond the real biases in resource al locations is the widespread failure of the State due to deliberate policies of r etreat compounded by unchecked corruption. Poverty has progressively deepened as the state has reduced its provisioning of social services. This retreat of the state has been coincident with the slow and persistent decline that characterize d the countrys economic performance from the 1980s until the turn of the century. Thus, narrowing economic perspectives due to declining economic growth, deepenin g inequality and pauperization due to Structural Adjustment and the arbitrary ra vages of corruption have combined to create a multidimensional social crisis. Th e DPMFs research on Social Policy Development and governance has hinted at the in herent dangers of the ever yawning gap between the elite and marginalized majori ty in this country. Public policy has failed to gauge the depth of alienation an d the consequent explosive social climate. However signs of the malaise have bee n apparent to scholars and policy makers for decades. Our own research has looked at the links between class formation and inequality. Ultimately class interest may lie at the heart of policy choices that have been so harmful to the poor in Kenya. Findings fro data analysis show that the incom e distribution of workers employed in the formal sector is in the form of a pyra mid. Thus, the highest wage from 0 to 90% level is 15,000 a month. From 91%-99% the wage rockets to Kshs 100,000. And the 1% above the 99% level earn beyond Ksh s 100,000 a month. Thus the top 1% can be considered as the economic, social and political elite. And the remaining 905 who earn 15,000 (highest) to 0 monthly a re workers and peasants in urban and rural areas. A more comprehensive picture of social stratification however is not possible gi ven the lack of data on income and especially assets. Most households do not rep ort truthfully or fully the assets they own in national surveys. Moreover such s urveys are often designed to collect data on households consumption rather than o wnership of assets or household wealth. Given these limitations, a large part of our analysis is restricted to the 14% of the Kenyan working populations who are wage earners and their households. It is nevertheless clear that this sub set o f the sampleis representative of the broader society, in particular trends can b e observed in the constitution of socio-economic classes. Moreover, it mirrors t he huge qualitative difference in the living standards enjoyed by the ruling eli te (political, business etc) and those of everybody else. The wealth gap between the elite constituting less than 1% of the population but controlling disproport ionate resources and earning sometimes thousands of times the median wage earned by the bottom 90% is only hinted at by the wage differentials. Clearly, the wea lthiest Kenyans make most of their money from their wealth and a more careful st udy of the wealth distribution using adapted data sources and methodology is req uired. ii. Education The basic data and information of the report o Education that has been sourced f rom the ministry of Education Publications reports and website. Additional liter ature is sourced from various organizations and publications. Secondary data con sisting of enrolment statistics for Primary, Secondary and Higher education cons isting of Public and Private Universities and Middle Level Colleges also inform the analysis. Enrolment statistics for students across all eight provinces are p resented for Primary and Secondary levels of Education.

Enrolment levels have been highly influenced by colonial policy on development: exclusionary practices have seen certain regions in Kenya benefit more from devel opment. Access to infrastructure and social amenities as well as access to educat ional amenities were and still are distributed along colonial administrative div isions, with communities in the more endowed regions benefiting from the proximi ty to these facilities. Even with the onset of independence, colonial patterns o f economic development inform access to economic and social infrastructure, amen ities and by extension education. Region disparities in development have spilled over to the education sector. As a consequence of SAP, basic and higher education have been affected. Even wit h the introduction of Free Primary Education, transitional rates from Primary to Secondary level are still wanting. Poverty has a huge bearing on access to educ ation, in terms of drop out and ability to provide books, uniforms etc to childr en. Poverty levels also negatively impact on transition to secondary school educatio n. Students from middle and upper income backgrounds, education is more accessib le and dropout levels are fewer. In higher institutions of learning cost sharing policy means that many students have had to look for income generating activiti es to supplement their costs of living. On other hand, liberalization of higher education attracted another category of individuals. Self-sponsored programmes i n public institutions of higher learning have meant that more individuals and st udents from higher socio-economic strata can afford to access higher education. Gender disparities exist to date: poverty, HIV/Aids and cultural practices have negatively affected enrolment of females across the education divide even with t he introduction of Free Primary Education, enrolment of girls in some instances still lags behind. Gender disparities in accessing basic education means that fe wer females can access higher education. In addition, gender disparities even wh ere more females are enrolled in institutions of learning biased in relation to academic disciplines. For instance, Private institutions of higher learning have a higher female ratio to male ratio; but focus mainly on institutions offer Art s and Business related courses for bureaucracies of the service sector. Unequal access to all levels of education is a basic characteristic of the educa tional system in Kenya is skewed in favour of the softer subjects for the servic e sector at the expense of IT and other development relevant science technologie s. iii. Crime and Insecurity It is clear that the interplay between economic, social and political factors ha ve contributed to crime and state of insecurity. Key issues that have a bearing on crime and security include inequality and poverty: most crime committed is po verty related with crimes such as stealing and robberies forming a bulk of crime recorded. Inequality in terms of access to social amenities and economic opport unities is also a big contributory factor in exacerbating crime. Conflict amongs t pastoral communities has increased dramatically and is attributed to poverty a nd inequality in accessing infrastructure, social amenities and resources like w ater and land. Politics has sparked off the latest post-election violence. The v iolence and conflict are rooted in the favouritisms of state practice based on e thnic alliances. Political activities that have often spilled over into violence and hence insecurity are a characteristic feature of Kenya and these have serio us implications. The analysis on insecurity uses quantitative data. Secondary statistics on crime mainly from the Kenya police website and statistical abstracts. It examines maj or crime incidences that exacerbate the state of insecurity. Other sources of da ta and inform are crime surveys from Security Research and Information Centre (S RIC), other organizations such as Kenya NationHuman Rights Commission and other literature on crime including media reports on crime and insecurity incidences. Poverty and inequality are a major cause of crime, violence and conflict and the refore general insecurity. More important however is the absence of democratic g overnance which has led to the manipulation of state institutions giving rise to rampant corruption, ethnicisation of the state institutions, absence of account ability and generalized impunity grated to the power elite. The state has thus f

ailed to provide a general state of peace and security and leads people to feeli ng that the law is applied in a discriminatory manner and that they are abandone d and unprotected. Ways in which Social Stratification can be Represented in Kenya Classes and castes are clearly seen in Kenya. There is a great deal of poverty in Kenya. Most of the wealthiest people are Kikuyu, followed by the Luo. Kenyans of higher economic and social class tend to have assimilated more western cultu re than those of lower classes. Symbols of Social Stratification in Kenya Among herders such as Maasai, wealth is measured in the number of cattle one own s. Having children is also a sign of wealth. In urban areas, most people dress i n western-style clothing. While western clothing does not necessarily indicate h igh status, expensive brand-name clothing does. Challenges that Social Stratification Posses to the Country (Kenya) in terms of Development It leads to increase in inequality through the social stratification, people ten d to settle according to the resources the can access. You will therefore find a certain region being occupied by poor, average or rich people. This poses a cha llenge in terms of developing the three different areas. The area occupied by th e rich will be the most developed since they can easily access resources or infl uence others to get the resources. It leads to high levels of unemployment- the people who are categorized in the g roup of the poor will face a challenge in educating their children. Therefore, t his will lead to high levels of unemployment in future as the children mature. Individuals who have gained a privileged place in society have acted to protect their privilege by limiting opportunities, controlling resources, creating surpl us labor forced to compete for reduced wages. This has and will continuously eme rge as a hindrance to development. Where the social stratification is as a result of traditions and culture, the vi ctims of this e.g Maasai community, tend to resist the laws of the country the c ontinue practicing traditions that the government is trying to fight one of them being the practice of early marriages of girls. This has been denying the girls the right to get education, as a result the country loses future leaders to par ticipate in development.

THE INDIAN CASTE SYSTEM In ancient India there developed a social system in which people were divided i nto separate close communities. These communities are known in English as caste. The origin of the caste system is in Hinduism, but it affected the whole Indian society. The caste system in the religious form is basically a simple division of society in which there are four castes arranged in a hierarchy and below them the outcast. But socially the caste system was more complicated, with much more castes and sub-castes and other divisions. Legally the government disallows the practice of caste system but has a policy of affirmative discrimination of the backward classes. The Beginning of the Caste System

There are different theories about the establishment of the caste system. There are religious-mystical theories. The religious theories explain how the four Varnas were founded, but they do not explain how the Jats in each Varna or the untouchables were founded. According the Rig Veda, the ancient Hindu book, the primal man - Purush - destroyed himsel f to create a human society. The different Varnas were created from different pa rts of his body. The Brahmans were created from his head; the Kshatrias from his hands; the Vaishias from his thighs and the Sudras from his feet. The Varna hie rarchy is determined by the descending order of the different organs from which the Varnas were created. Other religious theory claims that the Varnas were crea ted from the body organs of Brahma, who is the creator of the world. The biological theory claims that all existing things, animated and unanimated, inherent three qualities in different apportionment. Sattva qualities include wi sdom, intelligence, honesty, goodness and other positive qualities. Rajas includ e qualities like passion, pride, valour and other passionate qualities. Tamas qu alities include dullness, stupidity, lack of creativity and other negative quali ties. People with different doses of these inherent qualities adopted different types of occupation. According to this theory the Brahmans inherent Sattva quali ties. Kshatrias and Vaisias inherent Rajas qualities. And the Sudras inherent Ta mas qualities.Like human beings, food also inherents different dosage of these q ualities and it affects its eater s intelligence. The Brahmans and the Vaisias h ave Sattvic diet which includes fruits, milk, honey, roots and vegetables. Most of the meats are considered to have Tamasic qualities. Many Sudra communities ea t different kinds of meat (but not beef) and other Tamasic food. But the Kshatri as who had Rajasic diet eat some kinds of meat like deer meat which is considere d to have Rajasic qualities. Many Marathas who claim to be Kshatrias eat mutton. The drawback of this theory is that in different parts of India the same food w as sometimes qualified to have different dosage of inherent qualities. For examp le there were Brahmans who eat meat which is considered Tamasic food. The social historical theory explains the creation of the Varnas, Jats and of th e untouchables. According to this theory, the caste system began with the arriva l of the Aryans in India. The Aryans arrived in India around 1500 BC. The fair s kinned Aryans arrived in India from south Europe and north Asia. Before the Arya ns there were other communities in India of other origins. Among them Negrito, M ongoloid, Austroloid and Dravidian. The Negrito have physical features similar t o people of Africa. The Mongoloid have Chinese features. The Austroloids have fe atures similar the aboriginals of Australia. The Dravidians originate from the M editerranean and they were the largest community in India. When the Aryans arriv ed in India their main contact was with the Dravidians and the Austroloids. The Aryans disregarded the local cultures. They began conquering and taking control over regions in north India and at the same time pushed the local people southwa rds or towards the jungles and mountains in north India. The Aryans organized among themselves in three groups. The first group was of th e warriors and they were called Rajayana, later they changed their name Rajayana to Kshatria. The second group was of the priests and they were called Brahmans. These two groups struggled politically for leadership among the Aryans. In this struggle the Brahmans got to be the leaders of the Aryan society. The third gro up was of the farmers and craftsmen and they were called Vaisia. The Aryans who conquered and took control over parts of north India subdued the locals and made them their servants. In this process the Vaisias who were the farmers and the c raftsmen became the landlords and the businessmen of the society and the locals became the peasants and the craftsmen of the society. In order to secure their status the Aryans resolved some social and religious ru les which, allowed only them to be the priests, warriors and the businesmen of t he society. For example take Maharashtra. Maharashtra is in west India. This reg ion is known by this name for hundreds of years. Many think that the meaning of

the name Maharashtra is in its name, Great Land. But there are some who claim th at the name, Maharashtra, is derived from the Jat called Mahar who are considere d to be the original people of this region. In the caste hierarchy the dark skin ned Mahars were outcasts. The skin color was an important factor in the caste sy stem. The meaning of the word "Varna" is not class or status but skin color. Bet ween the outcasts and the three Aryan Varnas there is the Sudra Varna who are th e simple workers of the society. The Sudras consisted of two communities. One co mmunity was of the locals who were subdued by the Aryans and the other were the descendants of Aryans with locals. In Hindu religious stories there are many war s between the good Aryans and the dark skinned demons and devils. The different Gods also have dark skinned slaves. There are stories of demon women trying to seduce good Aryan men in deceptive wa ys. There were also marriages between Aryan heroes and demon women. Many believe that these incidences really occurred in which, the gods and the positive heroe s were people of Aryan origin. And the demons, the devils and the dark skinned s laves were in fact the original residence of India whom the Aryans coined as mon sters, devil, demons and slaves.As in most of the societies of the world, so in India, the son inherited his father s profession. And so in India there develope d families, who professed the same family profession for generation in which, th e son continued his father s profession. Later on as these families became large r, they were seen as communities or as they are called in Indian languages, Jat. Different families who professed the same profession developed social relations between them and organized as a common community, meaning Jat. Later on the Aryans who created the caste system, added to their system non-Arya ns. Different Jats who professed different professions were integrated in differ ent Varnas according to their profession. Other foreign invaders of ancient Indi a - Greeks, Huns, Scythains and others - who conquered parts of India and create d kingdoms were integrated in the Kshatria Varna (warrior castes). But probably the Aryan policy was not to integrate original Indian communities within them an d therefore many aristocratic and warrior communities that were in India before the Aryans did not get the Kshatria status.Most of the communities that were in India before the arrival of the Aryans were integrated in the Sudra Varna or wer e made outcast depending on the professions of these communities. Communities wh o professed non-polluting jobs were integrated in Sudra Varna. And communities w ho professed polluting professions were made outcasts. The Brahmans are very str ict about cleanliness. In the past people believed that diseases can also spread also through air and not only through physical touch. Perhaps because of this r eason the untouchables were not only disallowed to touch the high caste communit ies but they also had to stand at a certain distance from the high castes. The Religious form of Caste System In Hinduism there exists four castes arranged in a hierarchy. Anyone who does n ot belong to one of these castes is an outcast. The religious word for caste is Varna . Each Varna has certain duties and rights. Each Varna members have to wo rk in certain occupation which only that Varna members are allowed. Each Varna h as certain type of diet. The highest Varna is of the Brahman. Members of this cl ass are priests and the educated people of the society. The Varna after them in hierarchy is Kshatria. The members of this class are the rulers and aristocrats of the society. After them are the Vaisia. Members of this class are the landlor ds and businessmen of the society. After them in hierarchy are the Sudra. Member s of this class are the peasants and working class of the society who work in no n-polluting jobs. The caste hierarchy ends here. Below these castes are the outc asts who are untouchable to the four castes. These untouchables worked in degrad ing jobs like cleaning, sewage etc. The first three castes had social and economical rights which the Sudra and the untouchables did not have. The first three castes are also seen as twice born . The intention in these two births is to the natural birth and to the ceremonial entrance to the society at a much later age.

Each Varna and also the untouchables are divided into many communities. These co mmunities are called Jat or Jati (The caste is also used instead of Jat). For ex ample the Brahmans have Jats called Gaur, Kokanastha, Sarasvat, Iyer and others. The outcasts have Jats like Mahar, Dhed, Mala, Madiga and others. The Sudra is the largest Varna and it has the largest number of communities. Each Jat is limi ted to professions worthy of their Varna. Each Jat is limited to the Varna diet. Each Jat members are allowed to marry only with their Jat members. People are b orn into their Jat and it cannot be changed. This is the how the caste system is supposed to be in its religious form. But in reality it is much more complicated and different from its religious form. The Confusing Caste System The confusion in the caste system begins by the use of the word caste. The Indi ans in their different languages use the word Jat for any community who have s omething common like religion, language, origin, similar geographical background and so on. The Indians also use the word Jat for Varna. The Portuguese who we re the first European power to arrive in India distorted the word Jat into cas te. The British who arrived to India much later after the Portuguese also used t he word caste. The British used the word Caste instead of Jat and Varna. And so sometimes in English the caste system is explained in a confusing way according to which, the caste system consists of four castes which are divided into many c astes. Sometimes in English the word caste is used for Varna and the word sub-ca ste for Jat. In this section to prevent confusion we will use the words Varna an d Jat. The Complication in the Caste System Each Varna consists of many communities called Jats. Each Varna does consist of different Jats but many of these Jats break up into more communities and each s uch community refers to itself as different or unique Jat. There are different r easons for these different communities within each Jat. One reason can be the di fferent occupations each community within the Jat professes. Other reasons can b e inter-Jat political reasons. Many Jats consists of millions of people and it a lso causes break up of the larger community into smaller communities. There are also Jats which originate from different parts of India and profess the same pro fession and therefore get a common name, even though they are not one single com munity. For example the Jats that profess cloth washing are called collectively as Dhobi. For non- Dhobis the Dhobis are one Jat but within them they are not on e community. The hierarchy between the Varnas. All the Jats accept that the Brahman Varna is the highest Varna in the hierarchy and the untouchables are outcast and lowest i n the hierarchy. But most of the Jats in different Varnas claim to be superior a nd higher than other Jats. Some of the Jats as stated earlier break up into smal ler communities or Jats. In these Jats that break up into different communities, there are communities that look at themselves as superior or higher in hierarch y than other communities. Among the Brahman Varna, there are Jats that consider themselves as superior than other Brahman Jats. Some of the Brahman Jats break u p into smaller communities, and between these communities within the Jat there a lso exist a hierarchy. Among the other Varnas there also exists hierarchy phenomenon. Different Jats cl aim to be superior than the other Jats in their Varna. Some Jats in the Vaisia a nd Sudra Varnas also claim to be closer or equal in hierarchy to the Brahman Var na. These Jats that claim this status adopted Brahman customs like vegetarian di et and strict observance of purity and cleanliness. Some Jats claim to be closer to Kshatria, which is the warrior class of the Indian society. The Marathas in west India and Reddys in south India were among the Jats which claimed Kshatria status.

Among the outcast there was also the superior status phenomenon in which one out cast Jat considered itself as superior and did not have physically contact with other outcast Jats which it considered as inferior. For example the Mahars in we st India considered themselves superior than Dhed and they did not mingle with t he Dheds. Each Jat professes an occupation worthy of its Varna status. In most of the case s there was a connection between a persons profession and his Varna. Among the d ifferent Varnas there also developed guilds based on Jat lines, professing speci fic professions. In west India the Jat that professed oil pressing were called S omwar Teli. Another Jat members were the shepherds of the society and they were called Dhangar. Another Jat members were the cowherds of the society and they we re called Gaoli. The Kunbis were the peasants of the society. But some of the professions had different status in different parts of India and they were located at different levels in the caste hierarchy. For example Dhobi s (washers) in north India were seen as untouchables. While in west India they h ad Sudra status. The oil pressers in east India were seen as untouchables, in ce ntral India they had a high status while in west India they had Sudra status. There were also many cases where the Jat members did not profess occupation wort hy of their Varna. Many Brahmans, who are supposed to be the priest and learned of the society, did not find jobs as priests or did not manage to feed their fam ilies as priests and therefore worked as simple farmers. On the other hand there were many Brahmans who were landlords and businessmen, professions supposed to belong to the Vaisia Varna. Also among the other Varnas not all professed the occupations worthy of their Va rna. In west India the Maratha were the warriors and the aristocracy. Originally the Marathas belonged to the different Jats in west India. Most of these Jats w ere in Sudra level. But the Marathas who became the aristocracy of west India cl aimed and acquired the Kshatria status. In the 17th and the 18th century the Mar athas even established an empire which ruled large parts of India. During the Ma ratha reign members of a Brahman Jat, Kokanastha Brahman, were ministers. From 1 750 these Brahmans became the rulers of the Maratha Empire. Like the Marathas there were other communities which, religiously did not belong to the Kshatria status but acquired this status. The Reddy in Andra Pradesh and Nayar in Kerala are such two examples. Religiously marriage occurs within the Jat. The different Jats members almost al ways respected this rule and people who dared break this rule were outcasted. Bu t this rule also had exceptions. Usually the higher Varnas were very strict abou t this custom. But in some of the higher level Jats of the society, they used to have polygamy. In these cases, because of scarcity of women, men use to marry w omen from the lower levels of the society. In some Indian societies between-jat marriage was even an acceptable feature. On e such example of marriages existed in Kerala, in south India. In Kerala, Nayar women (aristocracy community) married men from Numbodiri Brahman community. Another problem considering the Jat marriage was the internal structure of the J ats. As stated earlier some Jats break up into smaller communities. In most of t he cases each such community members marry only with members of their own commun ity and not with other community members within the Jat. In some cases there is a hierarchy between the different communities of the same Jat. In such cases a d aughter from the lower community could marry a son from the higher community but not vice versa. Each Varna had different diet. Hinduism has many strict dietary rules. In genera

l the higher Jats are more strict about their dietary customs than the lower Jat s. The Brahman Jats have the most strict dietary customs. They will not eat in l ower Jats homes or even with lower Jats (because of this reason many restaurants hired Brahman cooks). The Brahman diet is supposed to include only vegetarian f ood. Jats who claimed Brahman status also adopted vegetarian diet of the Brahman s. But there are some Brahman Jats who traditionally eat meat, fish, chicken and egg (which is considered non-vegetarian). Some Brahman Jats in Kashmir, Orissa, Bengal and Maharashtra traditionally eat meat. But this meat was never cattle m eat. Jat is determined by birth and it cannot be changed. In the beginning the caste system was not a strict system and people could move from one Varna to another. Indologists give different dates to this period of change. Some claim the change occurred around 500 B. C. and other claim 500 A. D. Until then, communities and even singular person moved from one Varna to another Varna, because of their de sire to adopt different occupations. There were some kings who belonged the Ksha tria (warrior castes) and changed their status to become religious Brahmans. The re were also who changed their status to become warriors. And even after the cas te system was organized in a strict manner there were many communities who did n ot always follow their status occupations. There was a case of a Jat that lost i ts high status because they did not profess the profession worthy of their Varna . The Kayastha of east and north east India originally belonged to the Kshatria Varna (warrior caste). Some time in the past among warriors communities, there d eveloped a bureaucratic unit whose job was writing and listing war events and th ey were called Kayasthas. Because these unit members were not warriors, they wer e excluded from the Kshatria status and were given a lower status. But the Kayas thas even today claim Kshatria status. The Jat Status Jats like Kayastha, Reddy, Maratha, Nayar and others changed the basic four-fol d hierarchy caste system. These Jats had high status but their exact status is n ot clear and different communities give different interpretations to their statu s of different Jats. As stated earlier different Jats claim theirs to be the sup erior than the other Jats and therefore the caste system even today is not alway s interpreted objectively by Indians but subjectively. For example the Kayastha claim themselves to be Kshatria while others do not always agree with this claim . Among the Marathas the confusion is even greater. In the narrow sense the Jat of Maratha applies to 96 clans who ruled and governed the parts of west India. O riginally the Maratha clans belonged to different levels of Indian hierarchy. Th ey mostly belonged to different Jats of Sudra. But many Jats of west Maharashtra claim that they are Marathas too. Sometimes the Kokanastha Brahmans (who were m inisters of Maratha empire in 18th century and later on continued the Maratha Em pire and their reign) are also introduced as Marathas causing a greater confusio n in Maratha definition. The reasons stated above are among the few reasons that causes confusion in cast e system. Untouchables The untouchablity feature in the caste system is one of the cruelest features o f the caste system. It is seen by many as one of the strongest racist phenomenon in the world. In the Indian society people who worked in ignominious, polluting and unclean oc cupations were seen as polluting peoples and were therefore considered as untouc hables. The untouchables had almost no rights in the society. In different parts of India they were treated in different ways. In some regions the attitude towa rds the untouchables was harsh and strict. In other regions it was less strict. In regions where the attitude was less strict the untouchables were seen as poll uting people and their dwellings were at a distance from the settlements of the four Varna communities. The untouchables were not allowed to touch people from t

he four Varnas. They were not allowed to enter houses of the higher Varnas. They were not allowed to enter the temples. They were not allowed to use the same we lls used by the Varnas. In public occasions they were compelled to sit at a dist ance from the four Varnas. In regions where the attitude towards the untouchable s were more severe, not only touching them was seen polluting, but also even a c ontact with their shadow was seen as polluting. If, because of any reason, there was a contact between an untouchable and a memb er of the Varnas, the Varna member became defiled and had to immerse or wash him self with water to be purified. In strict societies, especially among the Twice Born (the three top Varnas) the touched Twice Born also had to pass through some religious ceremonies to purify himself from the pollution. If the untouchab le entered a house and touched things of a Varna member, the Varna members used to wash or clean the places where the untouchable touched and stepped. In some incidences the untouchables who associated with the Varna members were b eaten and even murdered for that reason. Some higher hierarchy Jats also had ser vants whose job was to go or walk before the high Jats members and announce thei r coming to the streets and to see to it that the streets would be clear of unto uchable people. The orthodox Hindus treated anyone who worked in any kind of polluting job as un touchable and did not have any contact with them. According to orthodox rules an y one who does not belong to the four Varnas, meaning foreigners, are untouchabl es. The Non-Hindus in Caste System Religiously anyone who does not belong to the four Varnas is an outcast and unt ouchable. It means, all foreigners and non-Hindus are all supposed to be untouch ables. But in reality neither all foreigners nor non-Hindus were treated as unto uchables. Foreigners and non-Hindus were treated differently in different parts of India. Some of the foreigners adopted Hinduism and integrated in the upper le vel of the Hindu hierarchy. The Rajputs of Rajasthan belong to the Kshatria Varna (warrior castes). The Rajp uts, more than any other Indian Jat, represent the warrior castes of India. Almo st any Indian community which claims to be a warrior community, claims a Rajput ancestry. But it is believed that many foreign invaders of ancient India (see- I ndia in the past), like Scythians; Huns; Greeks and others, who adopted Hinduism , integrated in the Rajput community and acquired a Kshatria status (see also Sa ti - burning of the widow). The Konkanash Brahmans of west India are also believed to have non- Indian desce nt. According to a Hindu legend, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, Parsuram, found on the Konkan beach some dead bodies which were washed to the shore. In order to cremate them Parsuram gathered them on a pyre. These dead bodies woke up on pyr e, probably because they were not dead in the first place but were only unconsci ous. Parsuram converted these people to Hinduism and made them Brahmans. There a re other theories about the origins of these Kokanasth Brahmans. Many of these B rahmans have gray-green eyes. Some claim them to be Vikings or of other European origin. In the Konkan coast there is Jewish community called Bene Israel. Some claim that these Jews are from the Lost Tribes . These Jews who arrived in Indi a after their ship-wrecked near the Konkan coast claim that they and the Kokanas tha Brahmans are descendants of the survivals from the same ship. And in their v ersion, it was not an incarnation of Lord Vishnu who converted the Kokanastha Br ahmans but a local Brahman. Anyway these Jews do not have gray-green eyes like t he Kokanastha Brahmans. Different religion followers got different status in different parts of India. T he Jews of west India (called Bene Israel) had a different status from Jews of s

outh India (Cochini Jews). The Bene Israels professed oil pressing and they had a status equal to a Hindu Jat called Somvar Teli, which also professed oil press ing and were part of Sudra Varna. Some orthodox Hindus treated anyone who was a non-Hindu or doing any type as polluting job as untouchable and therefore treate d the Jews as untouchables. But even though the Jews in west India had low statu s there were among them some who were landlords, businessmen and high rank offic ers in local armies. Comparing to the Bene Israels, the Jews in south India had higher status. The Je ws in Kerala were the business community of Kerala. They even ruled a small king dom. They had aristocratic rights, such as use of elephants and sedans. They eve n had servants whose job was to announce their coming to the streets so that the low castes could move away from their way. The relations between the Jewish communities of India are sometimes explained as affected by the Indian caste system but these relations can also be explained a ccording to Jewish religious laws. There were three main Jewish communities in I ndia. The Baghdadis, the Bene Israels and Cochinis. The Baghdadi Jews were much strict about religious laws than the Bene Israel Jews. The Baghdadis did not min gle with Bene Israel Jews. The Baghdadis did not allow marriages between their c hildren and the children of Bene Israel. They did not eat food prepared by Bene Israel and they refused to count the Bene Israel as part of the Minyan (the ten necessary to start a Jewish prayer). Many explain these relations as an influenc e of the Indian caste system on the Jewish communities. According to this explan ation, the Baghdadi Jews referred to themselves as higher caste than the Bene Is rael Jews and therefore did not mingle with them. But these relations between th e Jewish communities can also be explained according to the Jewish Halacha laws. The Baghdadi Jews who were much strict about Jewish laws and diet did not mingl e with the Bene Israels because the Bene Israels were secular Jews and they perc eived in Bene Israel Jews as impure Jews. The Muslims who arrived in India were strong and powerful to be treated as untou chables. Not only were they strong in the military sense, they also tried to enf orce their religion on the Indians. The Indians who converted to Islam in most o f the cases remained in the same social status as they had before their conversi on to Islam. Hindus from the higher Varnas remained at the higher levels of Indi an society. Hindus from the lower levels of the hierarchy thought that by conver ting to Islam they would come out from the Hindu hierarchy system, but in most o f the cases they remained in the same hierarchy level after they converted. Amon g the Muslims of India there has developed a two-tier hierarchy. The upper class , called Sharif Jat, includes Muslims who belonged to the higher levels in caste hierarchy and also Muslims who arrived to India from foreign countries. The low er class, called Ajlaf Jat, includes Muslim converts from lower castes. As in th e world, the upper classes do not have close social relations with lower classes , the same way the Sharif Jat do not normally have close social relations with A jlaf Jat. The different Christian communities of India were treated in different ways in d ifferent parts of India. The Syrian Christians of Kerala had a high status. Alon g with the Jews, they were the business communities of Kerala and they too had a ristocratic rights. The Indians who were baptized from the 16th century by Chris tian missionaries remained mostly in the same status they had before. As in the Muslim community of India, the Christians also have a two-tier social hierarchy. Many untouchables who converted to Christianity are still treated as untouchabl es, sometimes by other Christians. The European Christians are also supposed to be untouchables to Hindus. Some Eur opeans in the 17th and 18th century even claimed that they were treated as untou chables. But later on with British rule over India it were the upper level Hindu castes, specially the Brahmans, who adopted the European democratic philosophy

according to which all are equal and they introduced it to other Indians. Other religions which were established in India - Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism - also have some marks of caste system, even though they oppose caste system. Si khism rejects caste system. But different Jats who adopted Sikhism act according to traditional Jat lines. The different Jats normally marry within caste lines. The Jats which were the elite of the Punjab and converted to Sikhism do not giv e equal respect to Sikhs who belong to the lower levels of Indian hierarchy. The Jains also have separate communities who marry within the community lines. The Buddhist in India have a two-tier hierarchy and just like in the cases of Christ ians and Muslims it is also related to the status of the community to whom the p erson belongs. On the other hand the Mahar community of west India, who were unt ouchables and converted mostly to Buddhism, prefer, because of different politic al reasons to recognize themselves as Mahars and not always as Buddhists. Not all residents of India were part of the caste system. About 7% of India s po pulation are referred to as tribes and not as castes or Jats. These tribes are s cattered all around India and they are descendants of communities who were not i nterested in the Varna hierarchy. They preferred to live away from the main soci eties deep in the jungles, forests and mountains of India. They survived mostly on fishing, hunting or simple agriculture, and also from stealing, robbing and p lundering. These tribes had different religious beliefs and different gods. Some of them had simple beliefs, but others use to sacrifice human beings in their c eremonies. One such tribe, called Gond, had a strong kingdom in central India. M ost of the tribes adopted Hinduism, others adopted Islam or Christianity. Some t ribes in East India claim to Jewish origin. Caste System in Modern India The leaders of independent India decided that India will be democratic, sociali st and secular country. According to this policy there is a separation between r eligion and state. Practicing untouchability or discriminating a person based on his caste is legally forbidden. Along with this law the government allows posit ive discrimination of the depressed classes of India. The Indians have also become more flexible in their caste system customs. In gen eral the urban people in India are less strict about the caste system than the r ural. In cities one can see different caste people mingling with each other, whi le in some rural areas there is still discrimination based on castes and sometim es also on untouchability. Sometimes in villages or in the cities there are viol ent clashes which, are connected to caste tensions. Sometimes the high castes st rike the lower castes who dare to uplift their status. Sometimes the lower caste get back on the higher castes. In modern India the term caste is used for Jat and also for Varna. The term, cas te was used by the British who ruled India until 1947. The British who wanted to rule India efficiently made lists of Indian communities. They used two terms to describe Indian communities. Castes and Tribes. The term caste was used for Jat s and also for Varnas. Tribes were those communities who lived deep in jungles, forests and mountains far away from the main population and also communities who were hard to be defined as castes for example communities who made a living fro m stealing or robbery. These lists, which the British made, were used later on b y the Indian governments to create lists of communities who were entitled for po sitive discrimination. The castes, which were the elite of the Indian society, were classified as high castes. The other communities were classified as lower castes or lower classes. The lower classes were listed in three categories. The first category is called Scheduled Castes. This category includes in it communities who were untouchables . In modern India, untouchability exists at a very low extent. The untouchables call themselves Dalit, meaning depressed. Until the late 1980s they were called

Harijan, meaning children of God. This title was given to them by Mahatma Gandhi who wanted the society to accept untouchables within them. The second category is Scheduled Tribes. This category includes in it those comm unities who did not accept the caste system and preferred to reside deep in the jungles, forests and mountains of India, away from the main population. The Sche duled Tribes are also called Adivasi, meaning aboriginals. The third category is called sometimes Other Backward Classes or Backward Classe s. This category includes in it castes who belong to Sudra Varna and also former untouchables who converted from Hinduism to other religions. This category also includes in it nomads and tribes who made a living from criminal acts. According to the central government policy these three categories are entitled f or positive discrimination. Sometimes these three categories are defined togethe r as Backward Classes. 15% of India s population are Scheduled Castes. According to central government policy 15% of the government jobs and 15% of the students admitted to universities must be from Scheduled Castes. For the Scheduled Tribe s about 7.5% places are reserved which is their proportion in Indian population. The Other Backwards Classes are about 50% of India s population, but only 27% o f government jobs are reserved for them. Along with the central government, the state governments of India also follow a positive discrimination policy. Different states have different figures of commu nities entitled for positive discrimination based on the population of each stat e. Different state governments have different lists of communities entitled for positive discrimination. Sometimes a specific community is entitled for rights i n a particular state but not in another state of India. In modern India new tensions were created because of these positive discriminati on policies. The high caste communities feel discriminated by the government pol icy to reserve positions for the Backward Classes. In many cases a large number of high caste members compete for a few places reserved for them. While the Back ward Classes members do not have to compete at all because of the large number o f reserved places for them compared to the candidates. Sometimes in order to fil l the quota, candidates from the lower classes are accepted even though they are not suitable. Sometimes some reserved positions remain unmanned because there w ere few candidates from the lower classes causing more tension between the caste s. Between the lower castes there are also tensions over reservation. In the order of priority for a reserved place of the Backward Classes, candidate from the Scheduled castes is preferred over a candidate from the Scheduled Trib es who is preferred over a candidate from the other Backward Classes. As stated earlier Other Backward Classes are about 50% of India s population but only 27% of the Other Backward Classes are entitled for positive discrimination according to central government policy. Some Other Backward Classes communities are organ izing politically to be recognized as Backward Classes entitled for positive dis crimination. The Scheduled Tribes who are seen as the aborigins of India got ownership and ce rtain rights over Indian land. Many communities in India claim also to be aborig ins of India and they are claiming the same rights as the Scheduled Tribes. The caste identity has become a subject of political, social and legal interpre tation. Communities who get listed as entitled for positive discrimination do no t get out of this list even if their social and political conditions get better. In many cases the legal system is involved to decide if a certain person is ent itled for positive discrimination. But with all this positive discrimination policy, most of the communities who w ere low in the caste hierarchy remain low in the social order even today. And co mmunities who were high in the social hierarchy remain even today high in the so

cial hierarchy. Most of the degrading jobs are even today done by the Dalits, wh ile the Brahmans remain at the top of the hierarchy by being the doctors, engine ers and lawyers of India.

CONCLUSION In evaluating alternative views on stratification, draw three conclusions: 1) Many, perhaps most, cases of stratification reveal complex mix of prerequisit es and causal factors (some environmental, some sociocultural) 2) Whatever its causes, stratification associated with massive increase in rate of resource extraction (reflected in rapid & sustained population growth) so in Darwinian terms appears to be "beneficial" to masses -- but perhaps even more so to ruling elites, who pump off "surplus" to benefit themselves and their close kin 3) This increase in resource extraction and population ultimately has some serio us environmental consequences REFERENCES 1. Russell, R.V. and R.B. Hira Lal (1916). The Tribes and Castes of the Cen tral Provinces of India, 4 vols., London. 2. Ghurye, G. S. (1969). Caste and Race in India, Popular Prakashan, Mumbai 1969 (1932). 3. Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India s Silent Revolution: The Rise of the Lower Castes, C. Hurst & Co. 4. Blunt, E.A.H. (1931). The Caste System of Northern India, republished 19 64, S. Chand, Delhi. 5. Bayly, Susan. Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth C entury to the Modern Age. Cambridge University Press. 1999. 6. The internet 7. Individual views