How was the caste system in ancient India formed? What is its essence?

Caste system: It is the hierarchical system in ancient India. During the transition of Aryans from primitive society to slave country, four castes emerged, namely Brahman, Khrushchev, Veda and sudra. Different castes are unequal in legal status, rights and obligations, and there are also strict differences in religion and social life. The ancient Indian laws firmly upheld this system, which had a far-reaching impact on the historical development of India.

Brahmanism and caste system

Caste system In the Vedic era, with the development of slavery and social differentiation, India formed two systems that will become its national characteristics in the future, namely caste system and Brahmanism. Varna in the Vedic era originally referred to different races and social groups, and later it was gradually used to represent social classes. Indian Varna is divided into four grades, namely Brahman, Khrushchev, Vishnu and sudra. After the formation of the country, the division is more strict. As the first rank, Brahma, all other ranks of Khshatriya, including the king, should respect and be polite to Brahma. Brahmins are composed of clan nobles who are in charge of religious sacrifices. In the future, he will become a priest of Brahmanism, and he can also manage other industries, but only talk and not do it, that is, as the owner and management leader. They not only monopolize religious and cultural rights, but also participate in administrative management. They often act as advisers to the king, using divination, chanting and other magic to influence the king's actions. Even fighting the army. Brahmins have a lot of land and slaves. In addition to these exploitative incomes, Brahmans' formal supplementary income is to receive alms. Charity from kings and nobles is actually the distribution of war gains and state taxes by the ruling class, which is often manifested as a large number of gifts. Brahmins are also the richest class.

As the second level, Khrushchev is composed of the royal family and the military administrative aristocratic group, who are regarded as the arms of society, that is, the people who are in charge of the state machine by the ruling class. Theoretically, Brahman is superior to Khrushchev, but the king, as the supreme ruler, belongs to Khrushchev level, which inevitably leads to the confrontation between the two castes, so some documents also say that Khrushchev is superior to Brahman. Just a few. This kind of struggle is sometimes manifested in ideology and culture. Khrushchev, like Brahmins, is a ruling class with a large number of land and slaves, and even richer than Brahmins, because war plunder and national income are directly occupied by them.

The third-class Vedas are the supporters and providers of the whole society, that is, the workers and peasants who feed the whole society. Vedas were originally composed of members of Aryan general communes, and later used to include ordinary people engaged in agriculture, animal husbandry, industry and commerce. Due to the polarization of small producers, a few people in the Vedas became rich and even engaged in usury activities. Under the rule of Brahman and Khrushchev, Vedas had no political rights at all, only taxes and services. The obligation to support the ruler. However, compared with the fourth class, they still have a higher social status. According to the theory of Brahmanism, Vedas, Khrushchev and Brahmins belong to a higher caste and can be reincarnated as human beings after death, so they are called regenerative clans. Fourth, sudra belongs to a non-regenerative clan, so Vedas can attend religious sacrifices and lectures hosted by Brahmins, while sudra can never. In fact, the boundary between regeneration and non-regeneration is Aryans and those who were conquered in the past.

Sudra is the fourth class, which refers to the working people who are oppressed at the bottom of society. They were originally composed of conquered non-Aryans, and later included Aryans who were reduced to this lowest class for various reasons. They have lost all their political, legal and religious rights and are in a humble position without protection and complaint. They were engaged in agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing and hunting, as well as various occupations that were regarded as lowly at that time, and a few were self-reliant craftsmen. However, most of them become servants and slaves. Sudra, as the lowest class, has almost the same status as slaves, and some of them are slaves. Once the caste system is fixed, the occupations of all classes cannot be changed at will. In principle, marriage between all castes is prohibited. The essence of the caste system is to protect the privileged position of the upper caste. Through religion, law, social customs and other means, the two ruling classes, Brahma and Khrushchev, were given a sacred and noble aura, and the Vedas and sudra supported and served them. As the caste system intensified in the later period, it has always been a heavy yoke of the Indian people.

A complete Brahmanism system appeared in the late Vedic era.

Brahman is the highest belief in Brahma. Brahma is the spirit of the world, the supreme master and the creator of the universe. Everything in the world is not only created by Brahma, only Brahma is real, and everything else is illusory. Brahmins began to embrace all primitive worship with 65,438+0 Brahma deities, and raised Brahmanism to the dominant position of monopolizing the spiritual world. At the same time, Brahmin priests and monks explain and publicize this doctrine, and worship is the highest level in the world. In addition, Brahmanism also established a set of "karmic reincarnation" theory by using the original animism and soul transfer theory, arguing that the reincarnation after death, that is, reincarnation, is determined by the quality of karma before death, so that one good will be rewarded with another, the afterlife will be rich, evil will be rewarded with another, and the afterlife will suffer, and so on. Therefore, Brahmanism emphasizes respecting the law, doing good and wanting the people. Endure all hardships. Brahmanism regards Vedas as sacred books, which can only be read and understood by priests and monks of Brahmanism. Coupled with complicated religious ceremonies and various sacrifices, Brahmanism has become 1 an extremely mysterious religion, which has had a far-reaching impact on Indian history.

Essence:

It is to maintain the Aryans' rule over the local residents, and it is an extremely unequal and strict hierarchy and exploitation system.

"Caste system" is an important feature of ancient Indian slave state. It was covered with sacred religious color, and Brahma, the god of creation, created four castes with his mouth, hands and legs. The first and second castes control the military and administrative power of the country; The third and fourth castes should pay taxes to the state, pay tribute to temples and support the first and second castes. People of different grades are not allowed to get married or pursue a career. The caste system is to safeguard the privileges of slave owners and nobles, especially the special and vulgar status of Brahmins.