Caste System In Ancient India

For thousands of years, the Indian society has been strictly segregated and stratified by its social structure, otherwise known as the caste system. The caste system precedes history; however, it is believed that the idea of the caste system began after the Indus Valley civilization disappeared, and was supposedly brought by the Aryans, who were nomads from Northern Asia and Southern Europe. Caste members only interacted with those of their class, and rarely mixed with others of different castes. Rules defined how to behave within a caste or in the presence of other castes. The 5 castes are classified according to wealth, privilege, and social status, and determine your future and who you were to marry.

One theory of the origin of the caste system is in 1500 BCE, Aryans from north Asia and south Europe arrived in India. These Aryans gave no respect to the local culture. As they conquered many parts of northern India, pushing the locals

Each caste groups has different rituals, jobs, and homes. Unfortunately this discrimination is still happening a bit in India today even though the caste system has been illegal in India for six decades. For example, when voting for a government official, the number one reason they vote for the candidate is their role in caste system. In some places in India, people in different groups linger within each other as in other places in India, they keep themselves separate. 165 million people in India discriminate other people because of their place in the caste system. People suffer from physical violence, segregation, and more. To symbolize this, on the outer petals of the mandala were colored red, to symbolize violence. We also drew a check next to a “D”, which was crossed out, because most people don’t vote for Dalits. We also drew a hangman, because people were sometimes hanged, or tortured for inter-caste marriages, or other