Quest for Equality: Affirmative Action in India (Invited Article‪)‬

The Background As is well known, the caste system in India consists of mutually exclusive, endogamous, hereditary, occupation specific groups. In its ancient manifestation, the roughly 2500 year old Varna system, there were four broad groups: brahmins (priests and teachers), kshatriyas (warriors, often royalty), vaisyas (traders, retailers, money lenders), sudras (manual jobs). At some point in its evolution, the sudras split into two groups, giving rise to the group of the ati-sudras who did the most menial jobs. These were regarded below the line of ritual purity and were regarded as untouchables (1). First references to the practice of untouchability can be seen circa 1020 AD. Thus, even though untouchability arises later than the caste system itself, it is old enough to be considered an integral part of the caste system.