Patrilineage and demographic events seem to have brought in social strata and restricted gene pools, not external intervention
What is the origin of the caste system in India? This has been a contentious subject in the history of our country. Was this an import from outside? A strong group of scholars think that it was the doing of the people who came from West Asia who migrated and settled here around 3000 – 4000 years ago.
This ‘external’ or ‘subjugation’ model has been the received wisdom. On the other hand, there are other scholars who suggest it to be the result of “cultural diffusion” among the original inhabitants themselves (anthropologists use the hard-to-pronounce term autochthones, meaning literally sons of the soil, to describe them).
Not imported
In other words, social hierarchy or stratification is not an imported imposition but an indigenous invention. This alternate model would then posit the caste system to have been with us be much earlier, namely in people who were already in India in the Pleistocene era, between 30,000 – 10,000 years ago.
How does one address this question of the origin of the caste system in India?
A recent paper by G. Arun Kumar (of the Genographic Laboratory of Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) Madurai) and others, published in the Journal PLoS ONE on November 28, 2012 (accessible free online at <PLOS ONE 7(11): e50269.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0050269>) has taken a combination of genetic and anthropological analysis to address this question.
And it concludes that social stratification was already present among the Adivasis or tribal groups of Tamil Nadu well before the ‘Aryan’ migration.
In other words, it was and has been an indigenous invention.
I asked Professor Ramasamy Pitchappan, the Principal investigator of this project about the details of this study, its methods, results and logic behind the analysis and the conclusions. Prof. Pitchappan was earlier at MKU for long years, and is now at the Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Chennai.
He has been working on the Genographic project for quite some time. He pointed out that they took advantage of two important facts. One is the anthropological fact that the caste system is sustained by patrilineage. In other words, it runs through, and is sustained by the male lineage through generations.
The second is the genetic fact that fathers pass on their Y chromosomes in the genome only to their sons, and not to daughters. (Mothers have no such chauvinistic piggery. They pass their X chromosomes both to sons and daughters, plus they pass on their cellular energy factories called mitochondria as well, as matrilineage; no sex-based distinction here).
This twin paternal inheritance of restricting the caste designation and the Y chromosome has allowed Pitchappan and collaborators to study over 1,680 people in chosen parts of Tamil Nadu.
Many are tribals living in isolation, practicing hunting/gathering, foraging and seasonal dry land agriculture and marrying strictly endogamously within their own sub-tribes (Paliyan, Pulayar, Irulas, Kadar, Thoda, Vanniyar).
Analysis of their Y chromosomes across generations, and also of their socio-cultural habits was done by the researchers.
This was further compared with non-tribals (for example Brahmins, Sourashtrians, Vadamas, who are thought to be of Indo- European linguistic group).
Revealing results
The results were revealing. They found strong evidence for genetic structure associated primarily with the mode of subsistence; in other words, fathers passed on their occupation and way of life to their sons.
Plus, since the group analyzed specifically one part of the Y chromosome that does not get diluted by recombination, they could do what geneticists refer as coalescence analysis, which allowed them to understand the genetic ancestry of traits and habits.
This let them suggest that social stratification of these indigenous sons of the soil had already occurred between 4000 to 6000 years ago, well before the West Asian influx.
The authors note that “the overall Y-chromosome patterns, the time depth of population diversifications and the period of differentiation were best explained by the emergence of agricultural technology in South India”.
In other words, population differentiation occurred well before the ‘Varna’ caste system. Patrilineage and demographic events seem to have brought in social strata and restricted gene pools, not external intervention.
Chromosomes tell us the genetic history or parentage. Demography tells us how people divided themselves or mixed with one another and brought forth generations. Factors such as climate history, invention and use of tools and technology, and related methods brought people together and made them stay or move in groups.
Culture and sociology have isolated and grouped people into stratified societies, restricting them into “gene pools” which is another way of saying ‘castes’.
Finally, look at the irony of it all. After all, mating and marriage is the mixing of genes; the more diverse such mixing, the greater the variety and enrichment of traits. Genetics tells us that the whole world is but one family, a point that the Maha Upanishad furthered by stating ayam bandhurayam neti ganana laghuchetasam udaracharitanam tu vasudhaiva kutumbakam (Only small men discriminate saying: One is a relative; the other is a stranger.
For those who live magnanimously the entire world constitutes but a family). Yet, what a caste or any such social pigeonholing does is to restrict this width of choice from an ocean into a gene pool or even a pond!
Keywords: caste system, indigenous invention, South India, Genographic Laboratory of Madurai Kamaraj University
@mayaGhose: Madam the Aryan theory that you are suggested is defunct. Please update yourself. But now we know that caste system is indigenous and Aryan theory is defunct.
The caste system can never be eradicated. There will always be some system all over the world.rich and poor. Black, white or Hispanics . In the USA even though they abolished slavery and racial segregation definitely there exists some animosity between the blacks and >whites. The voting pattern in the recent presidential election itself shows that.Thus the caste system can never be abolished.
This is a completely incoherent and in-articulate essay. The author
errs in two areas: One is buying into the 'Aryan' invasion theory,
which has been comprehensively disproved already. The second is
calling this 'Varna'Caste system. In India, we had only 'Varna' and
'Jati'. Jati may be loosely described as tribes, but not necessarily
so in the pejorative consonance used in the article. On the other
hand, 'Caste' is a Portugese word, used to pejoratively describe
social stratification, as it occurred in Europe. We have unnecessarily
bought into this narrative for the last several centuries. Varna, on
the other hand, was laid down by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavadgita as
follows: There are three major Gunas in humans: Satva, Rajo and Tamasa
gunas. People who, within a Jati show Satva guna in large part are
called Brahmins, people who show Rajo guna are called Kshatriyas, and
People who display Tamas guna are called Sudras and the ones mixed
with Rajo and Tamo gunas Vaishyas.
The title of the article is misleading. The study in question was done on a few tribal population in Tamil Nadu. Are we saying that similar studies on the tribal population in the rest of the India (or for that matter other parts of the world) would not show the very same characteristics?
Restricted gene pool is a good way of describing the endogamous caste system. How many people actually kept within the caste system for spreading their genes over generations in India is an open question. This paper argued that caste system was prevalent in Tamil Nadu way before the so-called Aryan invasion. This is quite plausible because Tamil Nadu has the most elaborate caste divisions in India to this day.
This Aryan invasion theory, however, is now under serious doubt. So, the Aryans may not be responsible for creating it. The question still remains as to how the caste system spread all across this vast land. Origin is one thing and diffusion is another. This paper may be the beginning of this kind of inquiry.
@Maya Ghose - not sure if you read the article. It suggests caste system
may be indigenous in its origins. While I may or may not agree with that
view, I would at least stick to commenting on what the article is trying
to say.
It felt amazing, when i was reading through this article,
thanks for the information
It was the British Max Meuller and Robert Caldwell who used the Sanskrit words Arya and
Dravida to group LANGUAGES of India. Neither meant the words to be converted into racial
categories. Max Mueller argued that "an ethnologist who speaks of Aryan race, Aryan blood,
Aryan eyes and hair, is as great a sinner as a linguist who speaks of a dolichocephalic
dictionary or a brachycephalic grammar." Yet backwards India still does this while the rest of
the world laughs at the idea of an Aryan race, and the only fools in the West who do are
white supremacists who worship Nazis.
Caste is not an Indian word but Portuguese. When they came to India they projected their
Portuguese caste system that was in place in their colonies in the Americas onto India. But it
was not quite correct. "...India's uniquely complex system of social organization which was
mistakenly labeled the caste system by the Portuguese...." Historian Stanley Wolpert. Varna,
jati, caste are 3 different concepts.
Maya i totally agree with your statement, the system is so well tuned and perfected.Even today with so many well educated people from Aryan and Dravidian, its very hard to abolish the system in the minds of the people. I wonder it could take 1000's of years to erase without a trace, i really think it can't be done. i have never seen such a system which has withstood 1000's of years and is still strong and going strong in the minds of the all people.
I still cant believe, people believe in discredited Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT). Recent publication from geneticists in India prove, there is no known genetic variation in Indian population - meaning no influx of different tribe into sub-continent. First immigration was in 60,000BC, tribe called Ancient South Indian and next was in 40,000BC called Ancient North Indian, after which there is no external/from-west influx. The entire population is pretty similar at genetic level.
The idea that social stratification is universal based on various
criteria - color, wealth, physical features etc. There is nothing new
about the idea that indigenous (Adivasi) communities also have a
stratified society (based on seniority, experience, also a sominant
lineage that establishes itself first in a locality would choose the
best quality/quantity land... but the society tend to be treating
people as one big family). However, the idea of some being "pure" by
way of twice born "dwija" and others being "impure" or made of a
polluting material has been a pure socio-cultural invention in the
course of history by people who asserted their superiority over others
to control and appropriate the surplus produce for themselves. these
once need not be "outsiders"! And most of all, why do this idea of a
"superior race" continue in India? It is because the so privileged
once did not want to rationally analyse this funny idea as they were
the guardians of Knowledge in India.
Excellent article. So we now know that caste-based social stratification may be indigenous and autochthonous, and started before the so-called "Aryan invasion" from "outside" India.
Add to this the fact that other Y-chromosomal studies have found no evidence of any such "invasion" or "immigration" (Sahoo S et al. PNAS 2006, vol 103, p 843) from outside India, not just around 2000 BCE, as assumed by the Aryan Invasion/Immigration model, but in the last 9000 years. Their paper states:
"It is not necessary, based on the current evidence, to look beyond South Asia for the origins of the paternal heritage of the majority of Indians at the time of the onset of settled agriculture. The perennial concept of people, language, and agriculture arriving to India together through the northwest corridor does not hold up to close scrutiny."
Varnam and Caste are entirely different.
The fourVarnam are the individual personality and
occupational complexion as laid down in Bhagavat Gita
They are not passable to subsequent generation and
do not mean inferiority or superiority but
strictly functional.
Historians have noted jati (caste) to be a much older social structure and construct than varna. The results reported by Genographic Laboratory in this research / paper merely substantiates it. Hence, should not be surprising to note the paper suggests Varna system was superimposed on 'the pre-existing and historically attested social system' without significant population transfer or input, implementing a new social hierarchy and order during the Pallava/Chola period from the 6th through 12th centuries CE.
A very good and enlightining article. I appreciate the efforts of the author in clearing the misconcepton in the minds of the people, especially by the words "ayam bandhurayam neti ganana laghuchetasam udaracharitanam tu vasudhaiva kutumbakam (Only small men discriminate saying: One is a relative; the other is a stranger. For those who live magnanimously the entire world constitutes but a family)"
How true it is.....
Patricians and Plebeians and slaves in Rome, serfdom in Europe,
Campesinos and Gauchos in Latin American Hacienda system are different
names of castes in India. They all existed in different forms and names
from time immemorial, but none was as brutal or as efficient or as
lasting as Indian caste system introduced by Aryans in India. Aryans
modified and perfected their system to fit local situations; I believe
out of their necessity at that time.
This article is misleading. Is social stratification and caste system the same?
It is a well known fact that the Tamil society was stratified according to Tinai and people of the same Tinai freely intermarried among themselves. Why can't this stratification point out to Tinai than a discriminative caste system akin to those of the Aryans? What the author of this article doesn't highlight (looks intentional) is that the publication also proves that the adivasis arrived long before the Aryans. Balasubramanian and the authors of the original publication appear to be keen on blaming the south Indians, but to protect whom?
Caste divides even one religion like Hindus. What is surprising is sub division of one caste. There are now many castes with in the castes. It is high time to bury this system, however old it is.
Gopinathan Krishnan is a Scientist
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