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  #4  
11-05-2008
Glory
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: Oct 2008
: India
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Arrow Casteless , caste-ridden and caste-system based society

Caste system is a natural response of mixing up into a single cultural system of numerous social multi-ethnic groups, coming from different parts of the world at different point of time in waves, with indigenous people of the land. Beauty of caste system lies in the way, it provided a mechanism to assimilate numerous social groups into its mainstream, be it immigrants, locals, tribal, professionals or other groups.It assigned each incoming group a seperate caste identity. Society remained stable, while offering a place to a new community. The system neither disturbed its existing internal social order nor prevented any new group to join it.


Without any conversion, caste system made new groups its integral part. It never tried to annihilate their faith, originality, internal order, customs, culture or language.Instead, it gave them freedom to prosper/change according to their internal rhythm.


For over 2000 years, Varnas remained the same, never more or less than four. Their order in precedence remained the same.iAs far as castes were concerned, from time to time, they rose and fell in their social order, some died out and new ones were formed. First faint trace of caste may have been found in later Vedic literature. around 5th century AD, many traders were organised into guilds in which, some authorities have seen origin of commercial castes. These can be called castes in making. Even up to 7th century AD, people showed no clear knowledge of the existence of castes. Huan Tsang, in Seventh century was well aware of the existence of Varna, but not of castes.Instead of Varna, caste became a dominant factor afterwards, a natural unit of Hindu society, running through the entire fabric of its social structure.