The Caste System of Ancient India

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Class structure has been part of the entire world from the beginning of civilization to the present day. In the case of ancient India, class division was a severely enforced social classification system, but unlike other cultures around the word the Caste system of India would not only determined someone’s occupation and place in society, but also the “hope for the ultimate salvation”(Duiker & Spielvogel, 2010, p. 36).

Between 1500-1000 B.C.E. Indo-European people coming from what is now Siberia and Central Asia invaded India, the Aryans had lighter skin and a very strong set of class separations. With their arrival they noted that the Indian natives were mostly farmers and a less sophisticated kind of people. This apparent difference led the Aryans to set them aside as a lesser type of human. (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2010, p. 36)

The Caste system was a very important factor of the socio-economy in ancient India, but it was also a very important factor for their religion. The link between the Caste system and Hinduism is undoubtedly solid. Hinduism’s core is the circle of life and rei...

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