1. 11/1 How has the caste system shaped life in India?
Do Now: Read the Vedic poem, then label the diagram on your handout based on the description in the poem.
“When God divided the man,
Into how many parts did they divide him?
What was his mouth?
What were his arms?
What were his thighs and feet called?
The Brahmin was his mouth.
Of his arm was made the Warrior,
His thighs became the Vaishya,
Of his feet the Sudra were born.”

2. Brahmin
Kshatryia
Vaisya
Sudra

3. The Caste System Brahmin Priests, Teachers, Judges
Kshatryia - warriors
Vaishya – merchants/farmers
Sudras – laborers, supported the upper castes
Untouchable (Dalits, Outcasts) –
Street Sweepers, latrine cleaners

4. 15% of India’s population=160 million Indians are…

5. Lower-Caste Women
Work all day picking weeds for a wage as low as 50 cents/day.

6. The Untouchables
*required to eat and drink from separate utensils and from different wells

7. *made to clean latrines (pit toilets) with bare hands and handle touching dead animals

8. *They often had to wear a bell around their neck to warn people of a higher caste that they are coming… this was so that their shadow would not be cast upon them.

13. In contrast, you have the BRAHMINS!

15. Brahmins often paint their homes Blue.
The caste system identity still plays a major role in Indian society. Blue is traditionally a color of the Brahmins.

16. Questions to Ponder 1. List three Characteristics of the Caste System.
a. b. c.
2. How does the caste system provide a sense of order?
3. Why are the untouchables excluded from the Social Pyramid?
4. Who can untouchables be compared to in other civilizations?
5. Why do you think it is more difficult to combat the Caste System more so than other types of racism?
6. What are some suggestions you could offer the Indian Government to help stop this problem?