Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1. Today we will be learning about a group of people called Aryans that had a great affect on
India. In about 1500 B.C.E. , the Aryans entered the Indus River Valley of India. When they
first arrived in India, Aryans were divided into three social classes: Brahmins (priests),
warriors, and peasants or traders. An Aryan’s class determined his or her role in society. At
first, the three classes mixed freely. Eventually, non-Aryan laborers or craftsmen called sudras
formed a fourth group. To stop Aryans from marrying outside of their groups, the Aryans made
made it harder to move from one class to another. Basically the top three classes were the
best, while Sudras and Untouchables did the hard work. As time went on and society had
more specialized jobs, the five basic castes gradually grew more complex with hundreds of
different jobs. One basic rule stayed the same people were born into their caste for life. Their
caste membership determined the work they did, the man or woman they could marry, and the
people with whom they could eat.
OR create a question about the reading, do both if you finish before everyone else!
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Based on the diagram above, how does Karma affect reincarnation and the caste system?
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The Caste System In India: 1500 B.C.E. to 1949 C.E.
BRAHMIN
KSHATRYIA
VIASYA
SUDRA
Brahmin: only class allowed to be priests, religious leaders of Hinduism, honored and
respected by those below them, can study the Vedas (Hindu holy book)
Kshatryia (KUH SHAT REE YUHZ): royalty, rulers, kings, queens, and warriors, expected to
protect the people, can study the Vedas (Hindu holy book)
Viasya (VEEZ YUHZ): merchant, peasant, farmers, trade, can study the Vedas (Hindu holy
book)
Sudra: the working class, their duty (dharma) is to serve the top three castes, they were not
allowed to study the Vedas, or even hear the Vedas read out loud
Untouchables: butchers, gravediggers, collectors of trash, clean human waste ,they were seen
as unclean or dirty people, usually lived on the outside of a city, were not allowed to go near the
other castes, they were not allowed to study the Vedas, or even hear the Vedas read out loud
Answer at least three of the Discussion Questions in your notebook (don’t copy the question,
but write the number next to your answer):
Additional Reading:
General Rules of the Caste System
- one can’t get married to someone outside of their own caste
- can only get a job related to your role in society, ex. Untouchables can only be butchers ,
gravediggers, etc.
- you have to do your job, ex. If you are a warrior you must protect the people in your society
- not a belief of Hinduism, but Dharma, Karma, and Reincarnation support the caste system
making people more likely to accept their role in society
- caste is determined by heredity (birth)
- people cannot change their social class
- Kshatryia and Brahmin castes held political power
The Caste System
Brahmin (priests)
Below showing the two extremes of the
caste system a Brahmin priest and an
untouchable street sweeper
Kshatryia (rulers/ warrior)
Despite the fact that “untouchability” was abolished under India’s law in 1950, the practice of
“untouchability” … remains very much a part of rural India. “untouchables” may not cross the
line dividing their part of the village from that occupied by higher castes. They may not use the
same wells, visit the same temples, drink from the same cups in tea stalls, or lay claim to land
that is legally theirs. Dallit children are frequently made to sit in the back of classrooms, and
communities as a whole are made to perform degrading rituals in the name of caste. Most Dalits
continue to live in extreme poverty, without land or opportunities for better employment or
education. With the exception of a minority who have benefited from India’s policy of quotas in
education and government jobs, Dalits are relegated to the most menial of tasks… removers of
human waste and dead animals, leather workers, street sweepers, and cobblers. Dalit children
make up the majority of those sold into bondage to pay off debts to upper-caste creditors.
-Adapted from BROKEN PEOPLE: Caste Violence Against India’s “Untouchables” a
Human Rights Watch Report:www.hrw.org/reports/1999/India/
BOARD NOTES:
Kshatryia (warrior)
Vaisya (merchant/landowners)
SUDRAS: 8 ½ BY 14 PAPER,
ONE PIECE OF TAPE, ONE MARKER