Jāti is the term traditionally used to describe a cohesive group of people in the Indian subcontinent, like a tribe, community, clan, sub-clan, or a religious sect. Each Jāti typically has an association with an occupation, geography or tribe. Different intrareligious beliefs or linguistic groupings may also define some Jātis. The term is often translated approximately in English as caste.
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.
Deshastha Brahmin is a Hindu Brahmin subcaste mainly from the Indian state of Maharashtra and North Karnataka. Other than these states, according to authors K. S. Singh, Gregory Naik and Pran Nath Chopra, Deshastha Brahmins are also concentrated in the states of Telangana (which was earlier part of Hyderabad State and Berar Division), Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh (Which was earlier part of Central Provinces and Berar) Historian Pran Nath Chopra and journalist Pritish Nandy say, "Most of the well-known saints from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh were Deshastha Brahmins". The mother tongue of Deshastha Brahmins is either Marathi, Kannada or Telugu.
Mahar is an Indian caste found largely in the state of Maharashtra and neighbouring areas. Most of the Mahar community followed B. R. Ambedkar in converting to Buddhist in the middle of the 20th century. As of 2017 the Mahar caste was designated as a Scheduled Caste in 16 Indian states.
Mhasoba, pronounced "MUH-SO-BAA", or Masoba is a horned buffalo deity of pastoral tribes in Western and Southern India. In Maharashtra, many Gawlis have been worshipping this deity for hundreds of years.
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.
Ahir or Aheer is a community of traditionally non-elite pastoralists in India, most members of which identify as being of the Indian Yadav community because they consider the two terms to be synonymous. The Ahirs are variously described as a caste, a clan, a race, and/or a tribe.
The Marathi people or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are native to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a Marathi-speaking state of India on 1 May 1960, as part of a nationwide linguistic reorganisation of the Indian states. The term "Maratha" is generally used by historians to refer to all Marathi-speaking peoples, irrespective of their caste; However, it may refer to a Maharashtrian caste known as the Maratha which also includes farmer sub castes like the Kunbis.
The caste system in Kerala differed from that found in the rest of India. While the Indian caste system generally divided the four-fold Varna division of the society into Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras, in Kerala, that system was absent. The Malayali Brahmins formed the priestly class, and they considered all other castes to be either shudra or avarna. The exception to this were the military elites among the Samantha Kshatriyas and the Nairs, who were ritually promoted to the status of Kshatriya by means of the Hiranyagarbha ceremony. This was done so that the Samanthans and Nairs could wield temporal ruling powers over the land, as they constituted the aristocratic class. Over time, the dominance of the "upper caste" Brahmin and Nair nobles gradually declined due to social and political changes.
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.
Vitthal Ramji Shinde was a revered social reformer, researcher, writer, and proponent of anti-untouchability activism and religious unity in Maharashtra, India. He played a prominent role among liberal thinkers and reformists before India gained independence. Shinde is recognized for his tireless efforts in fighting against the practice of ‘untouchability’ and advocating for support and education for ‘untouchables,’ including Dalits.
The Bara Balutedar system was a hereditary system of twelve trades used historically in villages of regions that is now the Indian state of Maharashtra. The balutedars used get paid for the services provided with village produce under a complex barter system. The system had similarities to the jajmani system prevalent in North India during the same period. Under the former system, the castes in the village worked for the landlord (Jajman) or the biggest landholding family in the village whereas with the latter system, the castes worked for the village.
Since the 1870s, various pieces of colonial legislation in India during British rule were collectively called the Criminal Tribes Act (CTA). This criminalised entire communities by designating them as habitual criminals.
Dr. Tukaram Bhaurao Sathe, popularly known as Anna Bhau Sathe, was an Indian folk poet, writer, and social worker from the state of Maharashtra. Sathe was born into a Dalit, untouchable community, and his upbringing and identity were central to his writing and political activism. He is credited as a founding father of Dalit Literature and played vital role in Samyukta Maharashtra Movement. He was influenced by Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and wrote songs about him. He was one of early people from India who sung songs of Shivaji Maharaj crossing the boundaries of sea and land in Russia.
Marathi Brahmins are communities native to the Indian state of Maharashtra. They are classified into mainly three sub-divisions based on their places of origin, "Desh", "Karad" and "Konkan". The Brahmin subcastes that come under Maharashtra Brahmins include Deshastha, Chitpavan (Konkanastha), Saraswat, Karhade, and Devrukhe.
Gavli is a Hindu caste in the Indian states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. They are a part of the Yadav community.
The Ramoshi are an Indian community found largely in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka. They are classified as a Backward Community by the government of India.
Gopal Baba Walangkar, also known as Gopal Krishna walangkar,(1840–1904) is an early example of an activist working to release the untouchable people of India from their historic socio-economic oppression and is generally considered to be the pioneer of that movement. He developed a racial theory to explain the oppression and also published the monthly journal Vital-Vidhvansak, targeted at the Brahmanical Orthodoxy.
Chambhar is caste from Indian state of Maharashtra, and Northern Karnataka. Their traditional occupation was leather work. Historically subject to untouchability, they were traditionally outside the Hindu ritual ranking system of castes known as varna. Castes with similar traditional occupation are found throughout the Indian subcontinent such as Chamar in Northern india, and Mochi in Gujarat.
