Caste+System

= = toc =__Caste System__=

HIstory of Caste System
The caste system helped keep the people of Ancient India organized according to their religious traditions. The first evidence of the caste system can be found in the sacred text of Hinduism called the Vedas. The Vedas was written approximately between 1500 to 1000 B.C.E and was passed on orally for many generations before its written version. A version of this caste system is still used in India today.

Levels
The ancient Indian caste system consisted of five different levels. Each different rank was based on a person’s occupation and religious status. The top rank was Brahman, which consisted of priests who were considered very important because they were the protectors of dharma and were entitled to study the Vedas. They were also in charge of preserving tradition, which was very important to the Indian culture. The next important rank was Kshatriya. The people who were in this category were rulers, landowners, and warriors. They were in charge of protecting the Brahmans and social order. The next level was Vaishya, who were merchants, artisans, and farmers. Their duty was to watch over the cattle, offer sacrifices, trade, and study the Vedas. The men who were considered Vaishyas were not allowed to marry anyone from higher castes. The caste under the Vaishyas was the Shudras. These people were laborers and servants whose duty was to only serve the other three castes. Almost all members weren’t required to observe Vedic rituals, and all Shudras were forbidden to study the Vedas or hear any chants. The lowest caste was the Harijans who were considered “outside” the caste system and called the untouchables. These people used to collect human waste or had unclean occupations that were thought of as polluting. They had many different adversities including not being allowed to enter cities or villages freely, being sent to different wells because they were used by upper classmen, and people of higher castes were advised not to touch them because their touch is pollution. These rules discouraged many people, forcing them to abandon Hinduism and the Vedas. Ancient India used the caste system to classify people into certain roles and positions and this ordering had many purposes.
 * Levels || Occupations ||
 * Brahman || Priest ||
 * Kshatriya ||< ruler, warrior, landowner ||
 * Vaishya || merchants, artisans, farmers ||
 * Shudra || laborers, servants ||
 * Harijan || untouchables ||

India’s caste system had many functions that allowed the civilization to grow and develop. The caste system provides Hindus with a sense of security and provided a community for people to live in. The caste system also helped create an organized and effective society by defining the roles and expectations of each member. Each caste had its own role to play that helped people follow their religion and continue to fulfill dharma. The caste system dictates who you marry and what occupation you perform. The caste system is one way an ancient civilization organized their society, but there are other ancient societies, such as Greece, that organized themselves in other ways.

**Class System**

HIstory of Class System
In Ancient Greece, the society was organized into what they call a class system. The class system of Ancient Greece began around 2900 to 2000 B.C.E, which was the early years of the Bronze Age. During the Bronze Age, whether you owned metal such as gold, silver, and bronze (wealth) determined your status or class. During the Mycenaean Age, the class system became more obvious, in that the king, his entourage, and immediate members of the royal family reserved the wealth from previous years for themselves, creating a large gap between the wealthy and everyone else

Levels
In Ancient Greece there were four different levels of classes, upper class, middle class, lower class, and slaves. In order to be considered part of the upper class people would have to be independently wealthy. They did not have to have a job nor did they need to perform economic tasks such as trading. In other words, members of the upper class lived a relaxing lifestyle and didn’t have to worry about working for a living. Also, it was very important to be a citizen. This showed that you were born in Greece, which was important to the civilization because all foreigners were either part of the lower class or slaves. The middle class mainly consisted of merchants, contractors, artists, craftsmen, and tradesmen. To be a member of the middle class you didn’t have to be a citizen but you did have to be a free man. In the lower class, people were very poor or used to be slaves. These people had no say in elections or important decisions, unlike the middle class, who had the option to become a citizen and vote. The people that are categorized in the lowest class are slaves. These are criminals, victims of slave riots, and war prisoners. Also, foreigners fell under this category. Foreigners were considered barbarians in Greece and were captured as slaves. This wealth based class organization had many concrete reasons for its existence.

There were many objectives built into the ancient Greek class system. One function of the Greek class system was to have an organized way of sorting the people of Greece. Someone’s place in the class system was an easy way to distinguish his or her duty and expectations in the civilization. The upper class had the most power and controlled the government and laws that kept order in the ancient society. The class system also gave the members of the upper class the power to make decisions for the future of Greece. The middle class provided the goods and services needed to keep the society going. They provided food (goods) and services such as blacksmithing and shoe making. The lower class provided the labor needed to build the infrastructure of the country. They provided free labor in the form of slaves, to build buildings and aqueducts. The functions of India’s caste system were similar in many ways. However the two systems also differ.

Bibliography & Sources
__Ancient India:__ Callaham, Terence and Roxanna Pavich. “Indian Caste System.” Spring 1998. California State University Chico. April 25, 2011 __[]__ “History of the Caste System of India.” April 25, 2011 [] V, Jayarma. “The Hindu Caste System.” 2000-2010. Hinduwebsite.com. April 28, 2011 [] Daniel, Aharon. “Caste System.” 1995-2005. Aharon Daniel. April 28, 2011 [] Daniel, Aharon. “Caste System.” 1995-2005. Aharon Daniel. April 28, 2011 []

__Ancient Greece__: Carr, K.E., Professor. “Greek Social Classes.” 1997. Portland State University. April 26, 2011 [] “Ancient Greece.” April 29, 2011 [] “Time Periods.” 2008. University Press, Inc. April 28, 2011 [] __The Greek World__, Peter Levi, Stonehenge Press, a division of Time-Life, Inc., Alexandria, VA (1990.)