A caste is a fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (endogamy), follow lifestyles often linked to a particular occupation, hold a ritual status observed within a hierarchy, and interact with others based on cultural notions of exclusion, with certain castes considered as either more pure or more polluted than others. The term "caste" is also applied to morphological groupings in eusocial insects such as ants, bees, and termites.
Varna, in the context of Hinduism, refers to a social class within a hierarchical traditional Hindu society. The ideology of varna is epitomized in texts like Manusmriti, which describes and ranks four varnas, and prescribes their occupations, requirements and duties, or Dharma.
Khatri is a caste originating from the Malwa and Majha areas of Punjab region of South Asia that is predominantly found in India, but also in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Khatris claim they are warriors who took to trade. In the Indian subcontinent, they were mostly engaged in mercantile professions such as banking and trade. They were the dominant commercial and financial administration class of late-medieval India. Some in Punjab often belonged to hereditary agriculturalist land-holding lineages, while others were engaged in artisanal occupations such as silk production and weaving.
Untouchability is a form of social institution that legitimises and enforces practices that are discriminatory, humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative against people belonging to certain social groups. Although comparable forms of discrimination are found all over the world, untouchability involving the caste system is largely unique to South Asia.
Dalit is a term used for untouchables and outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called Harijans. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold varna of the caste hierarchy and were seen as forming a fifth varna, also known by the name of Panchama. Several scholars have drawn parallels between Dalits and the Burakumin of Japan, the Baekjeong of Korea and the peasant class of the medieval European feudal system. Dalits predominantly follow Hinduism with significant populations following Buddhism, Sikhism, Christianity, and Islam. The constitution of India includes Dalits as one of the Scheduled Castes; this gives Dalits the right to protection, positive discrimination, and official development resources.
The term Dalit Christian or Christian Dalit is used to describe those who have converted to Christianity from other forms of religion in the Indian subcontinent, and are still categorised as Dalits in Hindu, Christian, Muslim, and Sikh societies in South Asia. Hindu Dalits are sometimes referred to as Harijans. About 90% of Pakistani Christians are Dalits from the Chuhra caste and at least 9% of Indian Christians are Dalits, categorised thus by the greater societal practices in various parts of the Indian subcontinent.
The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designated in one or other of the categories. For much of the period of British rule in the Indian subcontinent, they were known as the Depressed Classes.
Kanshi Ram, also known as Bahujan Nayak or Manyavar, Sahab Kanshiram was an Indian politician and social reformer who worked for the upliftment and political mobilisation of the Bahujans, the backward or lower caste people including untouchable groups at the bottom of the caste system in India. Towards this end, Kanshi Ram founded Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti (DS-4), the All India Backwards (SC/ST/OBC) and Minorities Communities Employees' Federation (BAMCEF) in 1971 and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in 1984. He ceded leadership of the BSP to his protégé Mayawati who has served four terms as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
Arora is a community of Punjab and Sindh, comprising both Hindus and Sikhs. The name is derived from their ancestral place Aror, Sindh. In 712, the Arora people are said to have left Aror and started to settle in the cities of Punjab, mainly in South Punjab. However, according to W. H. McLeod, many Aroras originally came from the Pothohar area in North Punjab.
Chamar is a community classified as a Scheduled Caste under modern India's system of affirmative action that originated from the group of trade persons who were involved in leather tanning and shoemaking. They are found throughout the Indian subcontinent, mainly in the northern states of India and in Pakistan and Nepal.
Chuhra, also known as Bhanghi and Balmiki, is a Dalit caste in India and Pakistan. Populated regions include the Punjab region of India and Pakistan, as well as Uttar Pradesh in India, among other parts of the Indian subcontinent such as southern India. Their traditional occupation is sweeping, a "polluting" occupation that caused them to be considered untouchables in the caste system.
Ravidassia or the Ravidas Panth is a religion based on the teachings of Guru Ravidas. It was considered a sect within Sikhism until 2009. However, some Ravidassias continue to maintain Sikh religious practices, including the reverence of the Guru Granth Sahib as their focal religious text, wearing Sikh articles of faith (5Ks), and appending Singh or Kaur to their names.
Mazhabi Sikh is a community from Northern India, especially Punjab region, who follow Sikhism. Mazhabi are part of wider category of Sikhs, who convert from the valmiki (chuhra) community. The word Mazhabi is derived from the Arabic term mazhab, and can be translated as the faithful. They live mainly in Indian Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana.
The caste system in India is the paradigmatic ethnographic instance of social classification based on castes. It has its origins in ancient India, and was transformed by various ruling elites in medieval, early-modern, and modern India, especially in the aftermath of the collapse of the Mughal Empire and the establishment of the British Raj. It is today the basis of affirmative action programmes in India as enforced through its constitution. The caste system consists of two different concepts, varna and jati, which may be regarded as different levels of analysis of this system.
The caste system among South Asian Christians often reflects stratification by sect, location, and the caste of their predecessors. There exists evidence to show that Christian individuals have mobility within their respective castes. But, in some cases, social inertia caused by their old traditions and biases against other castes remain, causing caste system to persist among South Asian Christians, to some extent. Christian priests, nuns, Dalits and similar groups are found in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
Dalit literature is a genre of Indian writing that focuses on the lives, experiences, and struggles of the Dalit community over centuries, in relation to caste-based oppression and systemic discrimination. This literary genre encompasses various Indian languages such as Marathi, Bangla, Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, Sindhi, Odia and Tamil and includes narrative-styles like poems, short stories, and autobiographies. The movement started gaining influence during the mid-twentieth-century in independent India and has since spread across various Indian languages.
The Ad-Dharmi is a sect in the state of Punjab, in India and is an alternative term for the Ravidasia religion, meaning Primal Spiritual Path. The term Ad-Dharm came into popular usage in the early part of the 20th century, when many followers of Guru Ravidas converted to Sikhism and were severely discriminated against due to their low caste status. Many of these converts stopped attending Sikh Gurdwaras controlled by Jat Sikhs and built their own shrines upon arrival in the UK, Canada, and Fiji Island. Ad-Dharmis comprise 11.48% of the total of Scheduled Caste communities in Punjab.
Randeep Maddoke is a Punjab-based concept photographer and documentary filmmaker, born and raised in the village Maddoke, Moga (Punjab). Randeep, an activist turned photographer, is known for his focus on the pains of the marginalised sections of society which are constantly subject to a systematic social exclusion.
Scheduled castes in Punjab, or Dalits in Punjab are the officially designated groups in Punjab state in India which are most disadvantaged due to the caste system. They were placed in the lowest ranks of the caste system, because of which they suffered and are still suffering from social, political, economic and personal discrimination.
Sikhism's relationship to the caste system is a complex and controversial topic in the modern-period. Although the discriminatory practices derived from the Indian caste system is repudiated by the religion's tenets, which stresses upon humanity's oneness, castes continue to be recognized and followed by much of the Sikh community, including prejudices and biases resulting from it. However, many Sikhs derive parts of their self-identity from their caste-background, affecting their relationship to the religio-cultural system, being viewed as part of one's inherent identity, social-association, or heritage and thus should be preserved. Sikhs' view of caste is influenced by religious belief, Punjabi culture, and ethnicity, considering that Sikhism is deeply influenced by Punjabi traditions and social-norms. The caste-system is practiced by both Sikhs living in the subcontinent and diasporic Sikhs.
