| Abstrakt: |
This article reports that the phenomenon of caste attains a special significance in 558,000 villages of India, where more than 80% of 540 million Indians live. In the village the caste-system manifests itself as a vertical structure in which individual castes are hierarchically graded and kept permanently apart, and, at the same time, are linked by well-defined expectations and obligations which integrate them into the village social system. The highest in the traditional caste-hierarchy are Brahmins, with their functions of teaching and preaching, followed by Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Sudras, in that order. The so-called "Untouchables" are not considered to be in the caste-hierarchy. The problem of the caste does not consist of this division of society into well-defined groups; but of the functional relationships between various castes; especially between caste Hindus and the "Untouchables," lately called Harijans and Scheduled Castes, referring to the castes listed in a schedule given special privileges under the Constitution. |
