Caste mobility - 7

...However, in relation to upward mobility, the downward mobility of individual was the norm. All the outcastes descended to fifth stratum so that purity of society could be maintained; the dastardly caste Panchayat was the tool for this. The Hindu society contains an inordinately large numbers of untouchables. Every fifth Hindu is untouchable. All the untouchables are supposed to provide unclean goods and services to rest of the society. This means that 20 percent of Hindu population or labor force is meant to provide these unclean goods and services. By no measurement or by no stretch of imagination any society needs 20 percent of its strength for such purposes. These so many untouchables are not needed though some people call caste system a specialization of labor. Then what explains their numbers? In ancient times nearly 10 percent of population was employed in the army. So all of them had to be Kshatriyas. With an average family of five, the fifty percent of population had to be Kshatriya. Now they are barely 5 percent. Where have they gone? The Vaisyas of ancient Hindu society were engaged in agriculture and cattle rearing. These formed about 90 percent of the total productive activities. There should have been about 40 percent Vaisyas but they are barely 5 percent. For Shudras there was no proper occupation; they were not connected with agriculture and cattle rearing which was then the work of the Vaisyas. Thus they were insignificant in numbers where as they are now about 60 percent of Hindu population. Where have they come from? This means that there have been large scale but slow degradations in the Hindu society. One of the degradation was the degradation of the occupations of agriculture and cattle rearing. These occupations were degraded from Vaisya level to Shudra level thus degrading a very large number of people. Or the Shudras in new Vedic areas engaged in these jobs were not upgraded...

Caste mobility - 6

...The Marathas of Maharashtra have also risen on social scale in Hindu society. In their case it was newly developed warriorship which enabled them to acquire higher status starting from Shudras status. As we know all the Shudra kings were granted Kshatriya status provided they agreed with Vedic religion; the only thing remaining was the patronage of Brahmans and they would be assimilated in Hindu society. Before that the Brahmans of Maharashtra refused to coronate Maratha king on the grounds that he was not a Kshatriyas; the same pious and other worldly Maharashtrian Brahmans were later to usurp his throne under Peshawa raj. However when Maratha king was refused coronation by the simple, pure, pious and religious Brahmans them his courtiers arranged for a poor Brahman from Kashi who agreed to do the coronation for some consideration. The fables were created to assign the Kshatriya origin to Maratha king. Then the similar assimilative pattern followed which had been followed through Vedic history; the Shudra kings came to be defenders of Brahmans forgetting their own people. With this the Marathas acquired Kshatriya status and became a land owning caste with jobs in the army. However the Brahmans raised themselves to the status of demigod; they came to be known as Bhu-dev or Brahmandev.

The upward movement limit for whole caste mobility is set by Brahmans. Whatever Kayasthas, Jats and Marathas do; they can never be equal to Brahmans; let alone becoming superior to them.

Then there are Nadars and Ezhavas of south India who have also moved up the social hierarchy only a little.

More examples of upward caste mobility are found in 8^th and 9^th centuries and onward. At that time there was no big ruler in India in northern India. This led to rise of uncertain conditions in north India. Many new local rulers arrived on the scene; each claiming suzerainty over a small area. These were by and large small kings of obscure origin. As usually these small kings did not have popular acceptance and neither the divine and social right to rule. This required acquiring of Kshatriya status by these people which could have made them qualified divinely ordained rulers. The Brahmans could only provide this. Thus, exchange of favors among new rulers and Brahmans took place and these new rulers were granted Kshatriya status by the Brahmans in lieu of patronage and acceptance of Brahmanical superiority. And the administrative jobs for Brahmans with these new kings were assured or reserved...

Caste mobility - 5

....To begin with the Jats were most probably Scythian who entered India sometime after entrance of other Scythians who invaded the Western India and established their rule. These other Scythians rulers were later co-opted by the Brahmans and given Kshatriya status. They came to be known as Rajputs who were to overlord over valiant Jats for a long time. The Jats, when they entered India, were a pastoral people. They were not the agriculturists as they are now. Though they did not lack quality of bravery but they did lack the capacity to organize on a sustainable basis. Their organized defenses or the resistance to big armies never lasted long enough and they always capitulated to strong rulers. But they were occasional source of local troubles to rulers. They were poor pastoral people who moved from place to place in search for greener pastures. They kept mainly camels, cows and buffalos in their cattle stock. Till the advent of modern medicine system from West they were the best vets and breeders. They sold milk and dairy products they got from their cattle stock. Occupation wise they were equivalent to Ahirs. However they also did engage themselves in the pursuit of plundering and robbing and thus always creating law and order problems for the local rulers. However, by 10^th century they also took up cultivation on temporary basis and came to be classified as low level Shudra. Though they have traveled a long up the social scale they are still regarded as Shudras, only the highest level Shudras. They lived a pastoral life and moved from here to there in search of greener pastures. They also plundered and robbed the people; this reminds of Rig Vedic Aryans who were pastoral as well as plunderers. Both of them took to agriculture. However like the Kayasthas their rise is also linked to the coming of Muslim rulers. Here again we find no help from within the Hindu framework. The lowly people took the help of adharmic invaders. The Jats joined the Muslim armies in large numbers. However, other Jats with their robbing and plundering ways were a constant source of trouble to Muslim rulers. However, this trouble was converted into asset by giving these poor, landless, ostracized but brave people jobs in the Muslim army infantry and making them cultivators. Not withstanding all the claims to Jats’ opposition to Muslims one finds that the largest conversions took place among Jats; they appear as cultivators only during Muslim rule; they formed big groups under Muslim rulers; their bravado was recognized only by Muslim rulers; afterward by British. Still one can see that there was no help from within the Hindu framework. The Jats proved to be efficient tillers but no more than that. Whatever they produced was taken away by the landlords leaving them barely with enough food to survive. However they were better than untouchables because the untouchables could at most be casual labor but not the tillers. The landlords exploited them. The Rajputs who in Rajasthan were the landlords, forcible took away their womenfolk frequently - not really a surprise from the cultured elites of Hindu society. In Rajasthan many disabilities were imposed on them not long ago. However the converted Jats maintained for a long time intermarrying into Hindu Jats and smoking or inter dining with them. Thus they probably became a favored group with Muslim rulers. Thus the Kayasthas did clerking and administrative jobs along with maintaining land records for Muslim rulers. The Jats on the other hand did the tilling and army infantry jobs for them. Even after becoming tillers, they were rarely able to accumulate anything in their entire lifetime (Jutt di joon buri- the life of a Jat was bad and fruitless). A Jat was supposed to be a person who could toil on others’ land all his lifetime without really hoping to get anything in return. All his sweat or bravery was not sufficient to raise his social status; he was bound to remain an impure Shudra. But he had become higher than untouchables. They had relatively stable source of income through tilling and jobs in army. The Jats unlike Rajputs were unable to make a forced entry into higher status of Hindu society. Under Muslim rule they were upgraded to Shudra level. After Mughal rule decayed they formed armed groups around the region of Agra; attacking the Mughal armies. At that time they established some small, kingdoms like Bharatpur and others. However they never got the status of Kshatriyas and were branded as unruly plunderers and bandits by the Kshatriyas and Brahmans. The Jats and Brahmans have traditionally ignored each other. The British classified them as martial race and gave them jobs in the army. This helped them further financially. Here joining the army as infantry indicates bravery as well economic pressure. They mainly did the tilling and joined army till the independence. After the independence the land reforms took place and the tillers became the owners of the land. Here was the real jump, they had become resource owners and highest among Shudras. Now they have the land and muscle power with them in rural upper north India but still have not acquired the status of Kshatriyas. But they are still regarded as uncultured by the cultured elites of the Hindu society.....

Caste mobility - 4

...Another example of upward caste mobility, are the Jats of upper northern India. The Jats are hardy farmers. At present they are landowning people in rural areas but they were not like this earlier. In 8^th and 9^th centuries they were treated as near untouchables. By 12^th century they came to acquire Shudra status. This was also the time of Delhi Sultanate, the Muslim rule in north India. With the advent of Muslim religion almost a third of Jats got converted to Muslim religion. It gave a real boost to Muslim religion and to Jats an occupation of soldiers with the Muslim rulers and also a tiller status with them. It looks like that they really disliked their Shudra status. Instead of improving their status by working with Muslims they chose a direct path of becoming Muslims outright. Now the Jats are dominating community in the Muslim state of Pakistan.

In 8^th century the Jats were ordered by Brahman king (the Brahmans could wield weapons and rule to save the dharma) of Sindh to go barefoot and do all other things applicable to untouchables. This would have reduced the nomadic Jats to the level of untouchables. We know that still in villages the untouchables are required to go barefoot this is an indication of their untouchable status. Had the situation prevailed for a long time say about 100 years or so; the now proud Jats would have become permanently untouchables – the lowest status people. As we know the lawmakers were the lawmakers. But fortunately for them the descent to fifth stratum was prevented by an event. The Muslim invaded the India for the first time. A young Muslim boy attacked the king of Sindh on the instruction of his king. And defeated and killed Brahman king. This was the king who gave the orders for Jats to go barefoot thus reducing them to untouchable level. However after the death of this Brahman king, the Sindh was ruled by Muslims and Jats were avoided the ignominy of going barefoot. They also joined the Kasim army and fought against Brahman king. Had this Brahman dynasty continued for 100 years the Jats would have become permanently untouchables. But the Muslim political interference stopped the logical course of action within a short period of time. The Jats were free again, back to their nomadic ways.....

Caste mobility - 3

...There is another way in which an endogamous jati can move up. This also includes a change to higher-level occupation along with a solution to problems of marriage and inter-dining. In this the whole jati moves up the social scale. The Kayasthas have moved a long way from being to near untouchables to be near to twice born. It has been a long difficult and arduous journey achieved with the help of Muslim invaders. The Kayasthas were the court musicians and dancers. The women and girls danced for the ruler and his courtiers. The men played musical instruments while their women danced. Not having their own means to survive they had to depend on the mercy of court and courtiers. It was an occupation of utmost subordination. Their women were more important as the skills of men were secondary to that of dancing. The men held secondary position. Their women danced to please. They were also the targets of exploitation. This exploitation passed from generation to generation. It was not one of the grandly respected occupations especially with the exploitation of women that went with it. In the ancient purity based society their social status was almost insulting. There was no purity to be maintained. Then came Muslim invaders and everything changed for them. At the same time dharma hid itself in unknown places under the onslaught of Muslim invaders. The Muslim rule was god-sent opportunity for them. The heaven changed its mood for the Kayasthas; it became benevolent in the form of Muslim rulers. After all, the Muslim rulers controlled the resources of the kingdom. The pillars, which crushed dharma, provided solid and strong support to Kayasthas. The Kayasthas progressed while dharma suffered under the rulership of idol breaker Muslims. Whose fault it was anyway? The lowly court musicians surviving on their dancing women were destined to become high-rise under the Muslim rule. As it happened, the rulers were predisposed to ruling the people only but somebody was required to do the administrative work. The Muslim rulers wanted all the record to be kept in Persian, the language was not known to people here. One had to know the Persian to gain employment with the rulers. High caste Hindus were generally averse to do the work for Muslim rulers because dharma was suffering. They were also not used to being subordinates. Thus by and large they avoided working for foreign rulers. Like earlier foreign rulers the Muslim were not interested in accepting cultural hegemony and superiority of Brahmans. They believed that worshipping idols was meant for heathen people since idols did not have any real powers. Thus they were disinclined to accept the superiority of heathen people. However they ran short of people to run the administrative. The Brahmans and other high castes were not coming forward to learn the Persian and take up the court work. The lowly Kayasthas grabbed the opportunity with both the hands. They learnt the Persian and took up the court work. The study of Persian spread in the community of Kayasthas and with that the employment with the rulers. They handled the court records first then land records. The land record work was very heavy; heavy enough to give a significant number of Kayasthas work with the court. Then slowly they were elevated to the ministerial jobs which was as good as being Brahmans in Varna dharma. This opportunity could have never been provided to them by the time tested ancient Varna dharma. When British came they got land Zamindari under their rule - it pays to be on the side of rulers. Then they acquired the modern education and got plum jobs with English rulers. Now they are as good as twice born. Some even claim Kshatriya status and get accepted as such...

Caste mobility - 2

...A man interested in raising his status in Hindu society raises a whole lot of problems. Where this man and his offspring would marry? With whom he would dine? With whom he would socialize? What should be his occupation? What should be his place in power structure? Such a man would thrteaten the existing social structure and its beneficiaries. This threat itself is a corrupting influence. It would be desirable to ostracize this man to avoid theses problems that transgress upon Varna dharma or cosmic order of the society. Such an ostracization would result in avoidance of an introduction of filthy impurities in the society. For example, for a Shudra to become Brahman it is essential to teach him Vedas; he should be eligible to teach Vedas to higher Varnas; he should be able to marry a Brahman girl; all the Kshatriyas should pay him respect by touching his feet or accept their secondary position to him; he should receive the same respectful treatment from Vaisyas and other section of the society without any questions. It is near impossible to find even one person from any of the Varna who agrees to treat him as such. The impossibility keeps on increasing as one adds more people and more Varnas. Thus in the total absence of extension of such facilities which are available to born Brahmans, the Shudra in question remains where he was. The insurmountable questions are raised in the process - the questions which do not have any solutions within the Varna dharma.

However, the downward mobility was automatically implied in the ostracization process which created the outcastes. Automatically, all the outcastes, who were without any ceremonial, social and property rights, became members of the fifth stratum.

The caste system does show some flexibility when it comes to movement of full jati because it automatically solves the main problems of marriage and inter dining. A group moving up can always marry within the same group. Thus the bloodlines and purity of other groups or jatis are not affected. This upward movement of a jati is an extremely slow process but it does happen. One way for this to happen is the learning of new higher-level occupational skills by some members of caste. Thus two occupational groups in the same caste are created. The number of such newly skilled people in a new occupation keeps on growing. After a considerable gap of about three or four generations the number of such people grows considerably. The people belonging to new group start intermarrying and leave out the people still following the old occupation. This process is carried forward in time till the new group becomes totally endogamous and separates. This causes a new endogamous occupational jati to emerge. For an example, some Chamars may learn a new occupation of weaving due to reasons beyond the control of anybody. The reason may be the wiping out of weaver community in that area due to any epidemic leaving nobody to weave. Or it may be due to foreign invasion that caused the weaving community to migrate totally to some other area. Or because the foreigners have created a new power structure which has created a new class of religious converts willing to employ the skinners as weavers. As long as new skinner-weavers are few in number they continue to align themselves with their skinner caste. As the time goes by these skinner-weavers grow large into numbers. They start intermarrying and a time comes when these skinner weavers become an endogamous jati in their own right. Then they cut off all the links with their previous skinner caste and separate. And a new weaving jati comes into existence. The weaving occupation becomes their heredity occupation. In due course of time the society also starts identifying them by their new endogamous occupational group at a relatively higher social status....

Caste mobility - 1

......The Hindu society is famous for its watertight five boxes of people, four Varnas and one Antyaja. These are five straight hierarchical strata with no overlapping in between. There are clear-cut four Varnas only and Varna-Sankars are outlawed. An individual is born in an endogamous jati with his inherited Varna, inherited occupation, an inherited social status, inherited disabilities and inherited priviliges. One is born in a jati; marries within jati and dies within jati. The caste or jati is social world in which one lives. The people from other castes are outsider to him; with them he interacts only on the basis of unequal social status and economic needs; no permanent relationship bonds them and no possibility thereof. His all relatives and father and forefathers are from within the same jati only. It is only a dharmic way of living or righteous way of living.

An individual in his lifetime has no chances of upward mobility in group based caste system that does not really recognize any individual. Any individual is recognizable only through his heredity group or caste. Without knowing the caste of a person one cannot really place him in Hindu social, economic and power structure. The knowledge about his caste helps others in showing appropriate behavior toward him. An individual has to behave according to his caste and the castes of others; he has no really individual behavior or personality; his behavior is always relative. A person becomes mentally meek or aggressive depending upon his caste in relation to others’ castes. The caste of a man molds his life. The caste enforces social, economic and power structure around him.

To be effective the claims of an individual for upward mobility in the caste system has to be approved (ratified?) by the collective might of traditional social system. In the vertically stratified society of five strata an individual is higher than some and lower than some. Some individual may not accept their heredity social ranking in the caste system and may claim that he is superior to those above him. A Vaisya may claim that he is superior to Brahmans. However, this claim is without effect until ratified by the people belonging to other Varnas. And for their own welfare, people would not recognize such a claim. It is necessary for moving up on social scale that all the other people agree to it. The higher Varnas would not appreciate it; the lower Varnas would not recognize his new status. If they were do so their own social ranking would be adversely affected. So he remains where he was. Even the almighty God with his unlimited power cannot raise and change the born scavenger into a Brahman and make the society to accept him as such. The lawmakers have disabled the almighty God through Karma theory. A disabled God is contradiction of terms. However it is a reality in Hindu framework. The God cannot help people from lower castes in raising themselves. And there is no ritual prescribed in scriptures to raise the Varna of a man; it was not the intention of the lawmakers also; any such provision would have undermined their monopoly on the society and religion and would have adversely affected the benefits attached to such a position. No Ghure (garbage dump) Lal or Kachara (garbage) Mall was supposed to make laws; one needed the purity of blood for such sacred purpose....