There is this big myth that caste system or Varna system is an inherent part of Hinduism and has nothing to do with other religions in India.
The caste system is a characteristic of Indian society as a whole and is not limited to any religion.
The Muslim rulers came and adopted it,so did the Christians.
Let me mention in detail about the caste system among South asian Muslims and Christians.
Caste system in the Indian muslim community
There are various aspects of the caste system practised by muslims in the subcontinent.
Some of those systems include Ashrafism,Syedism,Zatism,Sharifism,Biradari system etc.
There is also a concept of religiously “clean” and “unclean” among muslims here. Muslims of higher castes are considered “Paak”(or clean) and locally converted muslims(usually considered lower castes) are considered “napaak”(unclean).
HISTORY OF CASTE SYSTEM IN ISLAM(ALL OVER THE WORLD)
Islam in general abhors caste and social stratification but when it reached India and Persia,it adopted the existing the caste system.
Some Persian works like Siyastnama by Nizam Ul Mulk(11th century) and Akhlaq-i-Nasiri by Al Tusi(13th century) describe the social stratification in Persia in detail.
Cover of the Siyasatnamah
Social stratification in arab society and inspiration from India’s caste system
There was a war of succession after Prophet Muhammad’s death in the 7th century. This lead to a division in the arab society where members of the Prophet’s family were considered above others.
The “ahl al-bayt” is the term for the family of the Prophet and many say that it has its origins in India where the earliest muslims(arabs) used to practice this stratification in the 8th century.
This was the first form of division between arab muslims and non arab muslims.
Among non arabs,furthur division took place between early converted muslims(Khadim al-islam) and recently converted muslims(jadid al-islam).
Caste system in India
Among south asian muslims,arab-turk originated muslims and higher caste converted hindus were considered higher caste(unch zat) and locally converted muslims were called lower castes(neech zat).
The Indian sultan(Mughal) here might have been unch zat(high caste) and the man bowing to him is locally converted neech zat.
When islamic conquests happened in large numbers in the 12th century,many of the turkic rulers brought their own caste system to India and adopted the already existing caste system from the hindus.
The conquerers and foreign originated muslims were considered “ashrafs”(or noble) and the locally converted muslims with dalit and shudra backgrounds were called “pasmanda”.
Pasmanda means “those who have fallen behind”.
All India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz
Many social anthropologists(M.N Shrinivas) say that either the muslims converted from Hinduism brought the caste system in islam or the muslim rulers adopted it themselves(Louis Dumont).
A 14th century political thinker from the Delhi Sultanate times,Ziauddin Barani had recommended that sons of Muhammad should be given higher social status than the “lower born”(aljaf).
He had made many analyses on caste system in islam and considered that state laws(Zawabi) should be considered above Sharia.
Ziauddhin Barani
He also mentioned that sins in islam are not only because of wrong deeds but also “lower birth”.
Various castes which were formed at this period include “sheikhs”(cultivators,sanitation workers), ”Quereshis”(butchers), ”Ansaris”(weavers) etc.
Muslim weaver
There is this concept of “Kafaah” in marriage. Kafaah means equality and “equality in marriage” meant marriage between people of same castes.This was promoted by the ulemas to promote endogamy too.
Various social stratification systems:-
Syedism/Ashrafism
Syedism is a system of inequality where the Syeds/Saiads/Sayyads are considered to have a higher grasp on islam and all social/political matters.
The various castes in this system include:-
- Ashraf(foreign origin)-Sayyid,Mughals,Abbasi
- Converts from Hindu upper castes(Brahmins,Kshatriyas)-Muslim rajputs, Muslim jats
- Converts from Indian tribes(Scheduled tribes)-Darzi, dhobi ,Gaddi, Faqir, Julaha, Mirasi, teli etc
- Converts from untouchable caste-Muslim mochi, bhangi
There is furthur division among ashrafis depending on who is closer to Muhammad.
The lower caste muslims are called “aljafs” who are considered “degraded” and do menial jobs like scavenging etc.
B R Ambedhkar had furthur mentioned the castes in the Aljaf community in bengal from Census of 1901 as:-
- Cultivating sheikhs who were not considered ashrafis yet-Pirali,Thakrai
- Darzi,Jolaha,Fakir,Rangrez
- Churihar,dai,gaddi,kalal,mallah,naliya etc
- abdal,bako,dhobi,hajjam,nal,panwaria,nagarchi etc
Biradari system
The term “biradari” comes from the Persian word “biradar” means brother.
This system consists of various “biradari” or “quom”/zaat into which muslims are divided.
Caste in Pakistan
There is furthur division here apart from Syedism,Biradari system.
The division is among ethnic communities like Balochi,punjabi,sindhi,pashtun etc.
This is why marriage in the same family is considered a good thing because the caste purity is maintained here.
In Pakistani punjab,the jats,gujjars etc have an influence over other communities.
Seyp system in Pakistani punjab-Zamindari system
This system is linked with the zamindars where the zamindars are considered the dominant caste and the kammis are considered the servers and are of “lower birth”.
Kammis include barbers,artisans,carpenters etc.
a book on the seyp system in Pakistan punjab
Caste system in Bengali muslim community
There are 35 muslim castes in bengal and they are divided into 3:-
- Ashrafi(high born)
- Atraf(lower born)
- Aljaf(bottom most)
Sharifism
Sharifism refers to the special status given to claimants of prophetic nasab (also qarabah), which means "closeness", or being descended from Muhammad, Muhammad's Quraysh tribe, or Muhammad's family.
Marriage and Discrimination
Muslims have to marry in their same caste to maintain purity and to stay closer to Muhammad’s family.Inter caste marriages are discouraged.
There is a lot of discrimination.The ashrafis do not consider the pasmandas as “true muslims” and lower caste muslims are not even allowed to be buried with high caste muslims.
a burial for Ashrafis exclusively in Lahore,Pakistan
The Ashrafis do not even take food from pasmanda muslims and do not allow them to touch their cooking vessels too.
This discrimination has its roots in the islamic rule in India where the foreign turkic,arab muslim rulers and their subjects used to discriminate against locally converted muslims.
Caste system in South asian Christian community
The Christian community in India is mainly a result of the conversions during the Portugese rule and the early migrations of Saint Thomas christians. The British did not involve much in conversion of Indians and mostly stayed away from the internal matters of Indians as is clearly mentioned in the Queen’s Proclamation of 1858..
The Queen’s(Victoria) Proclamation of 1858
The caste system in Christianity is similar to islam. The Christians converted from higher castes and of foreign descent discriminate against the dalit christians.
Caste system in various states:-
In Kerala
There are mainly three types of Christians here:-
- The Church of South India(Protestants)-4.5 percent
- Latin Catholics-13.3 percent
- Dalit and Nadar Christians-2.6 percent
The Saint Thomas Christians are considered above the recent converted christians here because they consider themselves to be evangelized directly by Saint Thomas.
Saint Thomas
Goa
The Christian brahmins and Kshatriyas are considered above the dalit christians here.
Moreover Christians of Portugese descent are also considered higher castes.
North India
The dalit christians here converted from the Chamar and Chuhra communities.
The “Bettiah Christian” Community consists of forward castes.
Roman Catholic Church of the Bettiah Christian community
Tamil Nadu
The Hindus from Paravar,Nadar,Mukkuvar,Udayar,Adi Dravidar,Vellalar communities were converted to Christians here.
The conversion of Paravars happened during Portugese rule and the Nadars were converted during British rule.
There is discrimination among these castes too.
Betrayal after conversion
Many lower castes like Chamars,Adi Dravidar,Chuhras are mass converted into Christianity and they think that it is “egalitarian” but after conversion,they realise that there is discrimination even in Christianity and they are still considered “dalit christians” or “New christians” because they are not considered to be related with any of the Christian saints.