How did the caste system get started in india?

Question

what is the history of the caste system in india? what started it? i just checked wikipedia and it said that it had to do with the professions of the particular person, however i could almost swear that i remember from a class of mine, it had something to do with a person's skin tone (but i could be wrong). also, which would be considered "worse" to a traditional indian person, a dalit (untouchable) or a non-indian person?

Answer 1

If I recall from World History class, I think the caste system was introduced by the Aryan (white people that were a large influence in n**i development in later years) race that started controlling India way back. They were at the top of course and I guess they made up their own little system when they started putting everyone underneath them. Of course, I may be wrong but that's what I recall.

Answer 2

I think it was Hinduism. They started it, In thier stories there are brahmins, warriors princes, going down to dalits. It did have to do with your profession. There was nothing about skin colour involved,

Most Indians wouldn't allow their children to marry out their caste or dalits or white people anyway but I think foreigners are a bit higher up for busines reasons.

Answer 3

The three monkeys in their monkey suits.

With see no evil, hear no evil and say no evil.

Who were still primitive with self lack of knowledge.

Hanging upside down still living in caves.

Blind as a bat too.

Living in misery like cave-men from the twilight zone in different time zone.

John 8.44

In short-changing, conning and deceiving  all the little ones, own children, own generation, own tribe, own community and children of all tribes of different community with self lack of knowledge..

Leviticus 4. 13, 22

With the blind blindly following the blind with self lack of knowledge too

In messing up and roughing up in hitting them on the head with the Book of the Dead from the graveyards of different ghostly ancestor's culture and custom.

Luke 6.39-40,41-45,46-49

With oppression and slavery in idol worshiping the dead Mummy of failures and horrors of the past from someone else graveyards with their self lack of knowledge..

Matt 23.27

Getting them all kick on the butts as casualty of the dead Mummy in kicking the butts of God in not worshiping God.

Matt 22,32

What do you think?

Answer 4

Nobody really knows when or how it started, it was just always there!  Caste systems were found in other places in the world too, including China and even Hawaii!

Castes are hereditary and genetically different, and it's possible that they began as early as the Neolithic age (the 'Stone Age') with different groups of people immigrating into India.  One theory is that the Indo-Aryans (the Persians) moved in, took the place over, and designated everyone else a lower caste.  So you're right, castes might have different skin tones, and people in one caste might be able to identify their caste or another caste by their looks alone, as we do with race in the US.

I read about genetic studies have been done to see if castes can be traced to groups from other areas, but apparently evidence is not conclusive yet (or wasn't when I read the article, which was  years ago).

Answer 5

i thought it was based on profession, based on skin tone wouldn't make much sense as each person in caste had some specific job that related to their rank. and probably a dalit would be worse off. basically shunned from society if i remember correctly.