Varṇa and jāti

As society grew more complex, people formed groups by their work: ruling, religion, teaching, trade, farming, crafts and more. Ideally, the groups help each other and work in harmony. But usually such divisions also create inequality: some groups get more wealth or power. Equality is an ideal people have long wanted, but very few societies have reached it.

In India, society was organised in a two-part system. The first part is jāti: a community with a particular occupation, like potters (kumhār), blacksmiths (lohār) or goldsmiths (sunār). Skills passed from parents to children. Jātis often split into sub-jātis, each with its own customs about marriage, rituals or food.

The second part is varṇa, an idea from the Vedic texts. There were four varṇas:

The English word caste comes from the Portuguese word *casta*, used by Portuguese travellers in the 16th century trying to make sense of Indian society. Scholars disagree whether it means varṇa, jāti (most say this) or the whole system.

Early on, people could change their work when they had to. A long drought might push farmers to move to a city and take up new jobs; some Brahmins became traders or even soldiers.

The system gave society some order and stability. But over time it became rigid and led to inequality and discrimination against lower jātis and groups left outside it. Historians broadly agree it was more flexible earlier and grew more rigid later, especially during British rule. And it was never the only force shaping Indian society.