India Project

INDIA WEBQUEST PROCESS


Every civilization has a social structure.  But, did you know that in Ancient India, people were born into their social position in life? Now imagine you can travel back in time to this ancient civilization. You will experience India's caste system with online discovery, games, and journal writing.
Reincarnation is at hand, which caste will you be borne into?


Step 1:

 Read Caste System in Ancient India
 Then answer questions 1-15 on the worksheet provided


Step 2:
  View the following websites to help you  fill in " Experiencing India's Caste System Worksheet 1", then take the QUIA QUIZ..

INDIA'S CASTES & PHOTOS

Women in Ancient India

 More on India's Castes

MORE ON THE CASTES...
Online Glossary of terms & names... use this if you come across a term you do not know

The Brahmins

The Vaishya

The Untouchables ( Dalits, Outcastes, Harijans)


THE KSHATRIYAS

Under the Hindu caste system, a Kshatriya is a ruler or warrior. This caste has traditionally been ranked second among the four castes of the system, and members of the Kshatriya caste have held power for centuries in India. Although the caste system has been drastically modified through legislation and social reform in India, it is not uncommon to see Kshatriyas in public office in India, since they have been associated with power and ruling for so long.

The origins of the caste system can be found in the holy texts of Hinduism, known as the vedas. According to the vedas, every citizen has a different varna, or caste. Originally, someone's varna would have been based upon actions in life, but the varnas eventually became hereditary, solidifying a rigid stratified system which endured for centuries. The caste system may have provided everyone a place in Indian society, but it did not allow for social mobility and flexibility, and many 20th century Indians considered it to be very discriminatory.

Before the caste system was fully codified, the Kshatriyas were actually the highest caste. Allegedly, the Brahmins replaced them on the orders of Vishnu, who was punishing the Kshatriyas for their tyrannical rule. This may reflect a classic conflict between priests and soldiers, who have struggled for control of their societies for centuries. In modern India, other castes may hold office and join the military, as part of a series of general reforms which were meant to abolish discriminatory aspects of the caste system.

The Shudras - 1

...They are the forever servants for a forever religion. The eternal religion, Sanatana dharma, has a Varna meant for servants. They and their generations are born as servants, live as servants and die as servants. Their sole task is to serve meekly the higher Varna without accumulating any wealth or property; they always have to depend upon their labor. A Shudra with a property is considered as a grave danger to dharma.

The majority of Hindu society is made up of impure Shudras born from the feet of primal man and not entitled to thread ceremony and cannot perform any Vedic rites. Being born from feet of primal man they are impure also. And these impure men are not entitled to thread ceremony. Their actually impurity is related to the manual nature of work they are involved in and their inherent subordination. It is fourth of the five strata of Hindu society and at the fourth place in social order and powerless. It is a finely divided Varna with many occupations and thousands of jatis. All of these jatis are separate from each other. There is no common bond between these jatis. Each jati has its own universe though they have to follow the Varna dharma because of social, cultural, economic and traditional constraints. The jatis in higher three Varnas can come together for a common cause but not the Shudras because there is no common cause for people with widely different occupations. Each jati has its own need depending on its occupation. These different needs separate them and stop them from coming together. Actually, they are a disjointed group of numerous jatis which have been commonly defined by pious ancient lawmakers. There is no homogeneity between different jatis. They only come together when a temporary common cause presents itself for the time being. After that they back to being vastly different groups of people who willingly serve upper castes and make their living through labor. In terms of Brahmanical cultural hegemony, they are the eternal voluntary servants of twice born. In terms of Varna dharma, they are dependent on twice born for their livelihood. This Varna includes cattle herders, farmers, weavers, potters, carpenters, ironsmiths, goldsmiths and a host of other occupations. The division of labor is really evident in this group though they are not dependent on each other as in industrial specialization of labor. They are dependent on the land owning castes in their areas or higher castes that use their services. There was no multi stage production which could make them interdependent in modern sense. Because of this multitude of occupations no particular occupation is assigned to these people. They are assigned the general function of serving the twice born. And these artisans have to do it through their heredity occupations. However these people proudly refuse to provide their services to the fifth stratum people, the untouchables – this pride is not evident while dealing with upper castes. The Shudra are supposed to do all the jobs in the society which are not done by twice born and are also not unclean in nature. The unclean jobs belong to group of untouchables. They are supposed to do all the jobs involving the use of manual labor. The twice-born are not supposed to do the jobs involving the use of manual labor. The Shudra are supposed to supply all the labor for the use in agriculture and industry. All the material things are supposed to be produced by the use of their labor like crops, pulses, milk, metal, oil, vessels, instruments, pots, clothes, wooden material and any conceivable item which can be used and which requires manual labor. They cannot take up the higher level and purer jobs of twice born...

Conflicts Between Different Castes

The Aryans introduced two dynamic social systems: the Varna system or the caste system, and the ashram system based upon age. The Varna system has its origins in the conquering Indo-Aryan tribes, who tried to push the indigenous people or Dravidians into servitude during the latter half of the second millennium B.C.E. and the first half of the first millennium. Although the Vedas spoke of four varnas: Brahmans, Ksatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras, the actualization of the Hindu social system provided for only two major classifications: Brahman and non-Brahman. It is from this distinction that a conflict arose between the priestly teachers (Brahmans) and political leaders/warriors (Ksatriyas). In ancient times, social mobility existed and an individual could move from one Varna to another, though with some difficulty. By the time the Brahmanas were created in later Vedic age the Varna system or caste was developed and fully incorporated in the society. There emerged many other occupational groups apart from the regular four varnas. The progressive expansion of the Aryans by war as well as peace increased detribalization, intermarriages and interdependence led to the origin of Jati-caste system. In other words various subgroups within one caste started emerging. Hence at this point Jati or caste had started playing very important role in the social organization. Rigid forms of pollution and purity came into existence so much so that a king while dealing with a case was expected to ask the person his caste.

The second social system was the Asrama system that clearly defined the roles and responsibilities of people. This system envisaged that Individuals start out as students, become householders, give up their homes to be hermits, and finally give up all worldly concerns to become ascetics. This system reflected the tendency of the human psyche to go from learning to raising a family to retiring from civic duties and family matters to finally seeking a release from everything they've seen and done through a spiritual revelation. 

In the course of time all societies became riddled with inequalities and the oppressive customs that divided the society further and made the life of the women oppressive. The whole worship system began to grow complex and complicated. Many rituals developed around religion, which were beyond the reach of common people. The respect of the rishis and sages becme unprecedented. The confining system gave rise to two other distinct groups within Indian history: the Jains and the Buddhists, both of whom spoke out against the inequality of Hindu social theory. Jainism, founded by Parsva in 800 B.C.E and spread by Mahavira around 550 B.C.E. rigidly defined some aspects of Hinduism and shed others. The Varna system was maintained by the Jain laypeople, but with the exception of the Brahman caste. Naturally, the Brahmans, being the priests of the Hindu system, generally had little interest in Jainism, a religion primarily of the Ksatriyas and Vaisyas. It emphasized strict adherence to the principle of ahimsa (non-violence) to the exclusion of all else. Jains believed that karma has a physical existence in the form of material gathered on one's soul with every action one takes, good or bad. Jainism was widely accepted among merchants and warriors, but dislike by agriculturists because they necessarily killed animals when raising crops.

QUIA QUIZ!!!










Facebook Project:




 You are going to create a facebook for an Indian character from you caste using comic life.  Below are a list of steps to guide you through the process.


 Basic Information


  SEX: are you Male or Female?


 AGE: How old do you want to be?


 RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Are you single or married?




 FAMILY: What is you family like? Are you old enough to have a wife, kids, do you have siblings parents (later you can list these as family on you page)


 NAME: Come up with a name for yourself:


Popular Indian Names



 HOME TOWN: When were you born?  (look up an actual place)


 CURRENT TOWN/ CITY: look up an actual town? Are you from the city or from the countryside?




PROFILE PICTURE: Google some one from India of your age, sex, social background, save the picture and integrate into the facebook you're creating on comic life.




Personal Information


Activities: What clubs, organizations, sports might some one of your rank in society be involved in?  ( Google favorite pastimes/ sports/ popular clubs organizations for kids (boys girls) adults, Seniors in INDIA)


Intrests:


What would some one of your age & status be most interested in? ( google video games, sports, music, fashion etc)


Music:


What do most people of your age listen to?  ( Google Biggest  pop hits of the year in India, famous Indian Music artists)


Books:
What do you read? Are you religious? Google: What religioud texts  do Hindus/ Bhuddists read?  Best selling Indian Novels, Classic Indian Novels


Relgion:


Are you Hindu, Bhuddist..


Quotes:


 Google: Inspirational , Famous or Heroic People from India, then google their name________________ famous quotes