“Caste and Social Reform” – Class 8 Notes: The caste system in India is like a social hierarchy that has been around for thousands of years. It is all about which family you are born into. It decides everything from your job to your social circle as well as the family patterns, including sex selection also. This system became more strict under British Raj. They organized everyone into different categories and schedules during the census.
Caste and Social Reform – NCERT Class 8 Notes
Caste System in India
The caste system in India is like a social hierarchy that is divided into four main groups: Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (rulers and warriors), Vaishyas (merchants and artisans), and Shudras (laborers). Those who did not fit into these four categories, they were known as Dalits or untouchables. They usually performed the tasks like cleaning and cremation.
- Unfortunately in India, there was a lot of discrimination against these lower castes.
- Upper caste people mistreated them. Lower caste people were not allowed to enter into certain places or events.
- Lower caste individuals were punished for touching the upper caste people.
- Upper caste people would not accept food or water from these lower castes.
- Life for lower caste people was very tough.
They faced constant harassment because of this rigid caste system. Many reformers like Jyotirao Phule and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar stood against this type of injustice. Here is the overview table of the Caste System in India as mentioned below.
|
Class |
Caste Group | Description Of The Caste Groups |
|---|---|---|
|
Upper |
Brahmins | Priests and scholars |
| Kshatriyas | Rulers, warriors, and administrators | |
| Vaishyas | Merchants, traders, and agriculturalists | |
|
Lower |
Shudras | Laborers and service providers |
| Dalits (Untouchables) | Socially marginalized and oppressed groups |
Caste System in India – Modern Context
Today, almost all Indians have a caste identity. It includes a big portion of the lower castes. This includes around 34% of people from Scheduled Castes (SCs) or Scheduled Tribes (STs). 35% people belonged from the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Dalits are considered the lowest caste of the modern caste system. But major parts of these sects have converted themselves to other religions like Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, or Sikhism. They have done it to avoid this caste based discrimination. However, they still face the cruelty of society and unfair treatment in worship places and burial sites in various parts of India.
Recently, there are so many communities like the Jat community in Haryana and the Patel community in Gujarat have demanded to be recognized as Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Here is the modern context of the Caste System in India as mentioned below. These castes added in later times with the major four classes.
| Dalits (Untouchables) | Historically oppressed, face social exclusion and unfair treatment |
| Other Backward Classes | Socially and economically disadvantaged groups |
| Scheduled Castes | Historically marginalized communities, receive support programs |
| Scheduled Tribes | Indigenous groups, historically marginalized and disadvantaged |
Caste and Social Reforms In India
There are so many person who argued that lower caste people were the true natives of India. They also urged to eradicate social taboos like untouchability. Periyar also supported equality for untouchables and stood for their rights and dignity in society.
- The Prarthana Samaj followed the Bhakti tradition. It believed in the equal importance of all spiritual paths.
- The Paramhans Mandali was established in Bombay in 1840. They started to work to end the caste system.
- In the 19th century, Christian missionaries started schools for tribal and lower caste children.
- The rural and lower caste individuals began migrating to cities due to increased demand for labor.
- Some also found work on plantations in places like Assam, Mauritius, Trinidad, and Indonesia.
- For these individuals, it offered a chance to escape the control of upper-caste landowners and the daily humiliations they faced.
Demands for Equality and Justice
- During the latter half of the 1800s, lower-caste communities began organizing movements to fight against caste discrimination. The demanded the fair treatment and equality in the society.
- Ghasidas was a leather worker who founded the Satnami movement to improve the social status of his community.
- In Bengal, Haridas Thakur questioned the texts that supported the caste system.
- Shri Narayana Guru promoted unity among his people and spoke out against unequal treatment based on caste distinctions.
Gulamgiri or Slavery
- Jyotirao Phule developed his own ideas about unfairness in the caste system.
- He believed Brahmins were outsiders who came from elsewhere and oppressed the locals.
- Phule argued that before the Aryans, there was a fair society where everyone had equal rights.
- He suggested that lower castes should come together to fight against discrimination.
- Phule founded the Satyashodhak Samaj to promote equality among castes.
- In 1873, he wrote a book called Gulamgiri that inspired by the end of slavery in America.
- Phule was concerned about the struggles of upper caste women, laborers, and the mistreatment faced by lower castes.
Who could enter temples?
- In 1927, Ambedkar started a movement for Dalits to enter temples, with the support of the Mahar caste.
- Brahman priests were angry when Dalits used water from the temple tank.
- Ambedkar led three similar movements for temple access between 1927 and 1935.
- His aim was to show how deeply ingrained caste biases were in society.
The Non-Brahman movement
- The movement among non-Brahman groups began when educated and influential individuals from these communities started demanding for change.
- They argued that Brahmans descended from northern invaders who conquered southern lands from the indigenous Dravidian people.
- E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker, also known as Periyar, initially joined the Congress party but left after witnessing the segregation of lower castes.
- He then founded the Self Respect Movement, asserting that untouchables preserved the original Tamil and Dravidian culture oppressed by Brahmans.
- Periyar criticized Hindu scriptures, especially the ancient texts like the Codes of Manu, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Ramayana.
- He believed these texts upheld Brahman authority over lower castes and promoted male dominance over women.
- These ideas faced opposition, leading some upper-caste nationalist leaders to reflect on their beliefs.
- In response, orthodox Hindu society established groups like Sanatan Dharma Sabhas and the Bharat Dharma Mahamandal in the North, and associations like the Brahman Sabha in Bengal.
- They aimed to defend caste distinctions as integral to Hinduism and justified by sacred texts.
People Also Read:
- Social Reformers in India
- Social Reforms Movement (Part -1)
- Social Reform Movements (Part -2)
- Introduction to Women, Caste, and Reform
FAQs – “Caste and Social Reform” – Class 8 Notes
What is caste and social reform?
Raja Rammohun Roy quoted the ancient Buddhist text to criticize the caste system. Prarthana Samaj followed the Bhakti tradition which believed in spiritual equality of all castes. The Paramhans Mandali was founded in Bombay in 1840 to work for the abolition of caste.
What do you mean by social reform class 8?
Social reforms means bringing about changes in the existing social relations, social values, false traditions, old superstitions and social practices.
What do you understand by the caste movement class 8?
Caste movements can be defined as collective efforts by individuals and organizations to challenge the hierarchical caste system prevalent in Indian society and work towards social, economic, and political empowerment of marginalized communities.
What is a reformer Class 8?
People such as Rammohun Roy are described as reformers because they felt that changes were necessary in society, and unjust practices needed to be done away with. They thought that the best way to ensure such changes was by persuading people to give up old practices and adopt a new way of life.
What is called social reform?
Social reform is a reshaping or reforming of culturally accepted laws and norms in light of new cultural paradigms that occur over time. Social reform can occur at local, regional, national, or global levels.
Who are the social reformers of India Class 8?
Some prominent social reformers of India include Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, Jyotirao Phule, B. R. Ambedkar, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Mother Teresa, Narayana Guru, and Periyar E. V. Ramasamy.
Who are the caste reformers?
Ramaswamy tried to destroy the inequality against untouchables. Social reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Dayanand Saraswati, Veeraslingam Pantulu, Pandita Ramabai, Mumtaz Ali, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, etc supported equality for women and eradicate problems like social problems like Sati, child marriage, dowry, etc.
Who is the father of social reform?
Raja Ram Mohan Roy was the father of Modern India’s Renaissance and a tireless social reformer who inaugurated the age of enlightenment and liberal reformist modernisation in India. Raja Ram Mohan Roy was born on 22 May 1772 in an orthodox Brahman family at Radhanagar in Bengal.