determined by the group's traditional contact with any of a number of "pollutants," such as.
blood, menstrual flow, saliva, dung, leather, dirt, and hair. Restrictions between the castes.
were established to prevent the relative "purity" of a particular jati from being corrupted.
by the "pollution" of a lower caste. This paper first outlines how the caste system is likely.
to have been formed over time, and then briefly describes three theories from.
anthropology that attempt to explain its ideology. In all three, the theme of ritual purity is.
strongly apparent. The goal of this paper is to provide this information in a condensed.
format for fellow classmates. 1 II. DICUSSION A. Origins Hinduism and the Hindu caste.
system emerged from a blending of the culture of the Aryans and the native people already.
living in northern India. The Aryans were nomadic, pastoral warriors, organized into.
tribes, who entered northwestern India in the second millennium BC, their forebears.
having come from Northern Eurasia (Wasson 209). The Aryan tribes were already split.
into two social classes before invading India: the nobility and commoners, similar to the.
ancient Greek patricians and plebeians. The chief was primarily a war leader. He was aided.
by a general and a priest, who was the predecessor of the later priesthood known today as.
the Brahmins (Basham 34). Since then, the worldly and spiritual powers have been in the.
hands of different specialists: worldly power in the hands of the king, spiritual power in.
the hands of the priest. A critical development during this time was that the ritual power of.
the priest became more important than the secular power of the king, who was expected.
to protect and depend upon the priest (Dumont 72). The Brahmins were eventually placed.
at the pinnacle of the social ladder, probably influenced by their claims to superior purity.
Quoting the French missionary Abbe Dubois, Bougle writes, "The Brahmins strive most to.