aharashtra do not have a clear sectarian affiliation.

Caste of India
In South Asia the caste system has been a dominating aspect of social organization
for thousands of years. A caste, generally designated by the term jati (“birth”), refers
to a strictly regulated social community into which one is born. Some jatis have
occupational names, but the connection between caste and occupational
specialization is limited. In general, a person is expected to marry someone within
the same jati, follow a particular set of rules for proper behaviour (in such matters as
kinship, occupation, and diet), and interact with other jatis according to the group’s
position in the social hierarchy. Based on names alone, it is possible to identify more
than 2,000 jatis. However, it is common for there to be several distinct groups
bearing the same name that are not part of the same marriage network or local caste
system.

In India virtually all nontribal Hindus and many adherents of other faiths (even
Muslims, for whom caste is theoretically anathema) recognize their membership in
one of those hereditary social communities. Among Hindus, jatis are usually
assigned to one of four large caste clusters, called varnas, each of which has a
traditional social function: Brahmans (priests), at the top of the social hierarchy, and,
in descending prestige, Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaishyas (originally peasants but later
merchants), and Shudras (artisans and labourers). The particular varna in which
a jati is ranked depends in part on its relative level of “impurity,” determined by the
group’s traditional contact with any of a number of “pollutants,” including blood,
menstrual flow, saliva, dung, leather, dirt, and hair. Intercaste restrictions were
established to prevent the relative purity of a particular jati from being corrupted by
the pollution of a lower caste.

A fifth group, the Panchamas (from Sanskrit panch, “five”), theoretically

were excluded from the system because their occupations and ways of life typically
brought them in contact with such impurities. They were formerly called
the untouchables (because their touch, believed by the upper castes to transmit
pollution, was avoided), but the nationalist leader Mohandas (Mahatma)
Gandhi referred to them as Harijan (“Children of God”), a name that for a time
gained popular usage. More recently, members of that class have adopted the term
Dalit (“Oppressed”) to describe themselves. Officially, such groups are referred to
as Scheduled Castes. Those in Scheduled Castes, collectively accounting for roughly
one-sixth of India’s total population, are generally landless and perform most of the
agricultural labour, as well as a number of ritually polluting caste occupations (e.g.,
leatherwork, among the Chamars, the largest Scheduled Caste).

India’s many tribal peoples—officially designated as Scheduled Tribes—have also

been given status similar to that of the Scheduled Castes. Tribal peoples are
concentrated mainly in the northeast (notably Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Nagaland)
and, to a lesser extent, in the northeast-central (Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and
Odisha) regions of the country, as well as in the Lakshadweep and Dadra and Nagar
Haveli union territories.
While inherently nonegalitarian, jatis provide Indians with social support and, at
least in theory, a sense of having a secure and well-defined social and economic role.
In most parts of India, there is one or perhaps there are several dominant castes that
own the majority of land, are politically most powerful, and set a cultural tone for a
particular region. A dominant jati typically forms anywhere from one-eighth to one-
third of the total rural population but may in some areas account for a clear majority
(e.g., Sikh Jats in central Punjab, Marathas in parts of Maharashtra, or Rajputs in
northwestern Uttar Pradesh). The second most numerous jati is usually from one of
the Scheduled Castes. Depending on its size, a village typically will have between 5
and 25 jatis, each of which might be represented by anywhere from 1 to more than
100 households.

Although it is not as visible as it is among Hindus, caste is found among Muslims,

Christians, Sikhs, Jains, and Jews. In the 1990s the Dalit movement began adopting
a more aggressive approach to ending caste discrimination, and many converted to
other religions, especially Buddhism, as a means of rejecting the social premises of
Hindu society. At the same time, the officially designated “Other Backward Classes”
(other social and tribal groups traditionally excluded) also began to claim their rights
under the constitution. There has been some relaxation of caste distinction among
young urban dwellers and those living abroad, but caste identity has remained strong
—especially since groups such as the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have a
guaranteed percentage of representation in national and state legislatures.