Jati vs Varna

Jati and Varna are two words that are very important while studying Indian
social system. These are classifications of the traditional Indian society
that confuse many people who are outsiders, especially westerners as
they go for literal translation of these words. The western world is aware
of the caste system that is prevalent in India, but they make the mistake
of treating both Jati and Varna as the caste of an individual where the two
terms are not synonymous. This article attempts to highlight the
differences between Jati and Varna for the benefit of the readers.

Jati and Varna both play an important role in the life of a Hindu. In ancient
India, society had a system of classification that was known as Varna
vyavastha or system. This Varna system divided the society into 4 classes
that were as follows.

• Brahmins who happened to be the priestly class

• Kshatriyas who happened to be the warrior class

• Vaishyas who happened to be the trader class

• Shudras who happened to be the servant or the laborer class

Varna

The word Varna, when translated into Hindi, literally translates into color.
However, the Varna system had nothing to do with the color of the skin of
an individual. In fact, the Varna system was devised to classify a person
on the basis of his attributes or characteristics. However, the system got
degenerated with the passage of time and developed into the much
maligned caste system that is seen even today. This caste system meant
that a person had no chances of upward mobility in the society, and he
remained in the caste that he was born into.

The original Varna system was devised to have harmony and cooperation
between people living in the society and people in different Varnas did not
interfere in each other’s lives to compete. It was when the Varna of a
person was decided on the basis of his birth rather than his qualities that
it became rotten.

Jati

The ancient Varna system did not have much of significance in the social
order in the society. If one was a Brahmin, it may have meant a lot to
other Varnas, but inside his own Varna, he was just another individual with
no identity. The need for identity within a single Varna led to the
development of Jati system inside the Varna system. There was no Jati
system in ancient India, and even the Chinese Scholar Hsuan Tsang has
not mentioned anything about it in his writings. The literal translation of
the word Jati gives us the word birth.

Jatis developed much later in India to reflect the trade or profession of a

particular community. So, while Gandhi comes from Gandha which means
smell, the community of Gandhis is the one that trades in perfumes. Dhobi
community came from the word dhona which meant to wash, and thus
Dhobis were people who washed other people’s clothes. Thus, a jati is a
community engaged in a particular profession or trade. This system of
classification continued in modern India till recently, and a person’s
surname was enough to let others know all about his profession. However,
with modern education system and no discrimination from the state, this
caste system or the Jati system is on the decline.

What is the difference between Jati and Varna?

• The Jati was a subdivision of the communities in the Indian social order
which was broadly divided into four Varnas.

• Varna is a much older system of classification than Jati.

• Jati helped in identification within one’s own Varna.

• Jati system of classification got degraded into the modern caste system.

The English word 'caste' comes from the Portuguese castas, which refers to
animal and plant species or breeds, as well as to tribes, clans, races, or
lineages. Castas was first used by Portuguese traders to describe Indian
society on the western coast in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The
Indian word that best corresponds to caste is jati.
Like castas, it has a broad range of meanings, including birth and type. The
characteristics of the Indian caste system include hierarchy, endogamy
(marriage within the group), commensality (rules about inter-dining and the
giving and accepting of food and drink), and hereditary occupation.
People often confuse varna and jati
There are four varnas, but the jatis (including castes and sub-castes) are so
numerous that they cannot be counted.
The ranking among the four varnas is fixed, while there is some fluidity and
ambiguity in the ranking of the jatis within certain ranges.
The relative ranking of castes can vary across regions and localities and
depends on a number of factors including control over land, wealth, and
political power. Castes have often tried to 'upgrade' themselves (a process
sociologists refer to as Sanskritization), and sometimes get 'downgraded'.
Upgrading usually involves adopting practices associated with higher castes --
vegetarianism, restrictions on women, and change in occupation.
While social interaction and the acceptance of certain kinds of food by
higher varnas from lower ones may have been discouraged, the rules of
commensality are more clearly defined and established with reference to
the jati
The varnas are not endogamous units, since a number of inter-
varnaanulomajatis, on the other hand, are generally supposed to be
endogamous.
The varnas are associated with a range of functions, while the jatis (at least
initially) were associated with specific occupations. The jatisystem anchored
itself to the varna system in order to give itself legitimacy.
Members of a caste often claim to belong to a particular varna,
but varna and jati are not the same thing.
More like this

'Dominant castes must put their empathy cap on'

Caste is not just a simple division of labour. It is a complex system involving
control over material resources, value systems, and knowledge production.
Ideas of purity and pollution help justify hierarchy, separation, and the position
of the upper castes. Because endogamy is so important, the perpetuation of
the caste system depends on controlling women's sexuality and reproduction.
Sociologists and historians have interpreted caste in various ways -- as a
product of religious and cultural ideas related to purity and pollution; as a
powerful ideological justification for economic inequalities; as a part of the
process of agrarian expansion; and as a system that rationalised and
camouflaged material inequalities through an idiom of purity and pollution.
There is also a connection between caste and the political sphere, specifically
with the emergence of kingship and proliferation of kingdoms. Some historians
have argued that caste was 'invented' by British colonial rulers.
What this means is that the nature of the caste system changed significantly
during the colonial period. For instance, the censuses conducted by the British
from 1871 onwards, where people were asked to state their caste, gave it a
new kind of fixity. But when did something caste-like originate? And what did it
look like in ancient times?
The answers should be sought in evidence of social units marked by
hereditary occupation, endogamy, and commensality. These are usually
traced to North India in the sixth/fifth centuries BCE, although there is
uncertainty about the extent to which endogamy and commensality were firmly
established at the time.
In the early Buddhist canon, the Pali Tipitaka (supposedly written down in Sri
Lanka in the first century BCE), the varna order is still an important reference
point. However, while many people in the Tipitaka are identified as
Brahmanas and Kshatriyas, very few are identified as Vaishyas or Shudras.
Those who would theoretically have belonged to the latter two categories are
generally described with reference to their specific occupation, which was in
turn tied up with kula (family/lineage) and jati(caste).
This suggests that by this time, the four-fold varnasystem was largely a
theoretical construct tied to the upper classes and that an ordinary person's
social identity was based on occupation, caste, and family.
The Dharmasutras (these are early Dharmashastra texts composed from the
third century BCE onwards) explain the origins of jatis through the ingenious
but fictitious theory of the mixture of varnas (varnasankara).
According to this, castes were the outcome of various kinds of inter-
varna marriages. In this way, Dharmashastra was able to stand by
the varnatheory, but acknowledge and explain the existence of jatis.
In actual fact, the emergence of jatis may have been the result of a
combination of several factors such as the hereditary nature of crafts and
occupations, the assimilation of tribal groups into the Brahmanical fold, and a
social system that attached importance to birth and a strict regulation of social
hierarchy, separation, and interaction.
Social inequalities are not only visible in normative texts; they are vividly
portrayed in literature. The main characters of Sanskrit drama are high-born
men and women, but there is a supporting cast of servants, slaves, and lower
class and lower caste people.
Distinctions between high and low are reflected not only through content, but
also through language. Sanskrit drama is actually bilingual -- men and
upperclass characters speak Sanskrit. Women (even queens) and lower-class
characters speak Prakrit.
Varna and jati are not features of Sangam society, that is, the time when the
Sangam poems were composed. Some historians trace the beginnings of
caste in South India to lineage-based descent groups known as kutis.
It is possible that when Brahmanas became landholders, the old kin-based
system of agrarian organisation broke down and a new kind of social order
emerged, based, among other things, on caste. However, the early history of
caste in South India remains imperfectly understood.
It becomes easier to track down the history of caste during the early medieval
period (c. 600-1300 CE). During this period, caste spread along with the
expansion of kingdoms and Brahmanical influence to many new areas,
including those inhabited by tribal communities.
An interesting fact is that although 'Brahmana' appears very often in
inscriptions, references to other varnas and to jatis vary considerably from
region to region.
Inscriptions from Karnataka mention various terms that could be names of
agricultural, artisanal, and trading castes. The inscriptions of Orissa, on the
other hand, hardly mention any specific occupational groups that can be
identified as caste groups. Neither do Andhra inscriptions.
In fact, the Andhra inscriptions turn varna on its head -- several inscriptions of
the Kakatiya kings proudly claim that they were Shudras. This suggests that
the spread of ideas and practices related to varna and jati were uneven and
different across the regions of the subcontinent.
Large-scale deforestation in India took place during the colonial period, when
the extension of the railways, increase in population, and the
commercialisation of agriculture led to a dramatic reduction in forest cover.
Until then, large tracts of land were inhabited by forest people who had their
own distinctive modes of subsistence, social structure, and cultural traditions.
We do not get a picture of these communities from within; we only get
glimpses from the outside, from extremely biased sources. The pejorative
word 'mlechchha' appears in later Vedic texts and was used thereafter to refer
to forest tribes and foreigners, who were considered as culturally inferior
barbarians.
One of the accounts of the origins of kingship in the Shanti Parva of the
Mahabharata mentions the Nishada (a forest tribal) as unfit to rule; but the fact
that he is mentioned at all is an acknowledgement of the political importance
of the forest tribes in ancient times.
The gradual expansion of the caste system over the centuries involved,
among other things, the incorporation of tribal communities into its fold, by
giving them a place on the lower rungs. The details of this process are not
documented and are difficult to reconstruct, but it must have involved a great
deal of conflict and violence.

The relative ranking of castes can vary across regions and localities and
depends on a number of factors including control over land, wealth, and
political power.
Castes have often tried to 'upgrade' themselves (a process sociologists
refer to as Sanskritization), and sometimes get 'downgraded'.
A revealing excerpt from Upinder Singh's Ancient India: Culture Of
Contradictions.
Illustrations: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com
The English word 'caste' comes from the Portuguese castas, which refers to
animal and plant species or breeds, as well as to tribes, clans, races, or
lineages. Castas was first used by Portuguese traders to describe Indian
society on the western coast in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The
Indian word that best corresponds to caste is jati.
Like castas, it has a broad range of meanings, including birth and type. The
characteristics of the Indian caste system include hierarchy, endogamy
(marriage within the group), commensality (rules about inter-dining and the
giving and accepting of food and drink), and hereditary occupation.
People often confuse varna and jati
There are four varnas, but the jatis (including castes and sub-castes) are so
numerous that they cannot be counted.
The ranking among the four varnas is fixed, while there is some fluidity and
ambiguity in the ranking of the jatis within certain ranges.
The relative ranking of castes can vary across regions and localities and
depends on a number of factors including control over land, wealth, and
political power. Castes have often tried to 'upgrade' themselves (a process
sociologists refer to as Sanskritization), and sometimes get 'downgraded'.
Upgrading usually involves adopting practices associated with higher castes --
vegetarianism, restrictions on women, and change in occupation.
While social interaction and the acceptance of certain kinds of food by
higher varnas from lower ones may have been discouraged, the rules of
commensality are more clearly defined and established with reference to
the jati
The varnas are not endogamous units, since a number of inter-
varnaanulomajatis, on the other hand, are generally supposed to be
endogamous.
The varnas are associated with a range of functions, while the jatis (at least
initially) were associated with specific occupations. The jatisystem anchored
itself to the varna system in order to give itself legitimacy.
Members of a caste often claim to belong to a particular varna,
but varna and jati are not the same thing.
More like this
'Dominant castes must put their empathy cap on'
Caste is not just a simple division of labour. It is a complex system involving
control over material resources, value systems, and knowledge production.
Ideas of purity and pollution help justify hierarchy, separation, and the position
of the upper castes. Because endogamy is so important, the perpetuation of
the caste system depends on controlling women's sexuality and reproduction.
Sociologists and historians have interpreted caste in various ways -- as a
product of religious and cultural ideas related to purity and pollution; as a
powerful ideological justification for economic inequalities; as a part of the
process of agrarian expansion; and as a system that rationalised and
camouflaged material inequalities through an idiom of purity and pollution.
There is also a connection between caste and the political sphere, specifically
with the emergence of kingship and proliferation of kingdoms. Some historians
have argued that caste was 'invented' by British colonial rulers.
What this means is that the nature of the caste system changed significantly
during the colonial period. For instance, the censuses conducted by the British
from 1871 onwards, where people were asked to state their caste, gave it a
new kind of fixity. But when did something caste-like originate? And what did it
look like in ancient times?
The answers should be sought in evidence of social units marked by
hereditary occupation, endogamy, and commensality. These are usually
traced to North India in the sixth/fifth centuries BCE, although there is
uncertainty about the extent to which endogamy and commensality were firmly
established at the time.
In the early Buddhist canon, the Pali Tipitaka (supposedly written down in Sri
Lanka in the first century BCE), the varna order is still an important reference
point. However, while many people in the Tipitaka are identified as
Brahmanas and Kshatriyas, very few are identified as Vaishyas or Shudras.
Those who would theoretically have belonged to the latter two categories are
generally described with reference to their specific occupation, which was in
turn tied up with kula (family/lineage) and jati(caste).
This suggests that by this time, the four-fold varnasystem was largely a
theoretical construct tied to the upper classes and that an ordinary person's
social identity was based on occupation, caste, and family.
The Dharmasutras (these are early Dharmashastra texts composed from the
third century BCE onwards) explain the origins of jatis through the ingenious
but fictitious theory of the mixture of varnas (varnasankara).
According to this, castes were the outcome of various kinds of inter-
varna marriages. In this way, Dharmashastra was able to stand by
the varnatheory, but acknowledge and explain the existence of jatis.
In actual fact, the emergence of jatis may have been the result of a
combination of several factors such as the hereditary nature of crafts and
occupations, the assimilation of tribal groups into the Brahmanical fold, and a
social system that attached importance to birth and a strict regulation of social
hierarchy, separation, and interaction.
Social inequalities are not only visible in normative texts; they are vividly
portrayed in literature. The main characters of Sanskrit drama are high-born
men and women, but there is a supporting cast of servants, slaves, and lower
class and lower caste people.
Distinctions between high and low are reflected not only through content, but
also through language. Sanskrit drama is actually bilingual -- men and
upperclass characters speak Sanskrit. Women (even queens) and lower-class
characters speak Prakrit.
Varna and jati are not features of Sangam society, that is, the time when the
Sangam poems were composed. Some historians trace the beginnings of
caste in South India to lineage-based descent groups known as kutis.
It is possible that when Brahmanas became landholders, the old kin-based
system of agrarian organisation broke down and a new kind of social order
emerged, based, among other things, on caste. However, the early history of
caste in South India remains imperfectly understood.
It becomes easier to track down the history of caste during the early medieval
period (c. 600-1300 CE). During this period, caste spread along with the
expansion of kingdoms and Brahmanical influence to many new areas,
including those inhabited by tribal communities.
An interesting fact is that although 'Brahmana' appears very often in
inscriptions, references to other varnas and to jatis vary considerably from
region to region.
Inscriptions from Karnataka mention various terms that could be names of
agricultural, artisanal, and trading castes. The inscriptions of Orissa, on the
other hand, hardly mention any specific occupational groups that can be
identified as caste groups. Neither do Andhra inscriptions.
In fact, the Andhra inscriptions turn varna on its head -- several inscriptions of
the Kakatiya kings proudly claim that they were Shudras. This suggests that
the spread of ideas and practices related to varna and jati were uneven and
different across the regions of the subcontinent.

Large-scale deforestation in India took place during the colonial period, when
the extension of the railways, increase in population, and the
commercialisation of agriculture led to a dramatic reduction in forest cover.
Until then, large tracts of land were inhabited by forest people who had their
own distinctive modes of subsistence, social structure, and cultural traditions.
We do not get a picture of these communities from within; we only get
glimpses from the outside, from extremely biased sources. The pejorative
word 'mlechchha' appears in later Vedic texts and was used thereafter to refer
to forest tribes and foreigners, who were considered as culturally inferior
barbarians.
One of the accounts of the origins of kingship in the Shanti Parva of the
Mahabharata mentions the Nishada (a forest tribal) as unfit to rule; but the fact
that he is mentioned at all is an acknowledgement of the political importance
of the forest tribes in ancient times.
The gradual expansion of the caste system over the centuries involved,
among other things, the incorporation of tribal communities into its fold, by
giving them a place on the lower rungs. The details of this process are not
documented and are difficult to reconstruct, but it must have involved a great
deal of conflict and violence.

The idea and practice of untouchability

The earliest occurrence of the word 'asprishya' ('untouchable') occurs in
the Vishnu Smriti, but the practice of untouchability, an extreme form of social
subordination, marginalisation, segregation, and oppression, existed from
earlier times.
Texts mention many groups considered 'untouchable' by others, but the one
mentioned most frequently is the Chandala.
In Vedic texts, groups such as the Chandalas were clearly looked on with
contempt by the elites, but there is no clear evidence of the practice of
untouchability. This appears in the Dharmasutras, which describe any kind of
physical contact, even accidental, with a Chandala as polluting and to be
remedied by expiation.
According to the Apastamba Dharmasutra, if one touches a Chandala, one
should immediately bathe; if one talks to a Chandala, one should immediately
talk to a Brahmana; if one sees him, one should immediately look at luminous
bodies in the heavens (the sun, moon, or stars).
The Manu Smriti refers to Chandalas as hunters, butchers, executioners, and
corpse carriers. In one place, it explains them as the offspring of Shudra men
and Brahmana women. Elsewhere, it describes birth as a Chandala as the
result of evil deeds in an earlier life.
Chandalas are associated with pollution and any contact with them requires
purification. Unless he is starving, a Brahmana must not eat food given by a
Chandala, nor should he have sexual relations with a Chandala woman.
'Chandalas...must live outside the village.... Their property consists of dogs
and donkeys. Their garments are the clothes of the dead; they eat in broken
vessels; their ornaments are of iron; and they constantly roam about. A man
who follows dharma should never seek any dealings with them.
'All their transactions shall be among themselves, and they must marry their
own kind. They depend on others for their food, and it should be given in a
broken vessel. They must not go about in villages and towns at night; they
may go around during the day to perform some task at the command of the
king, wearing distinguishing marks. They should carry away the corpses of
those without relatives -- that is the settled rule.'
Dharmashastra texts of later centuries (for instance, the Vishnu,
Yajnavalkya and Narada Smritis) indicate hardening attitudes towards
'untouchables'.
Kautilya refers to Chandalas having separate wells, and states that they live
outside settlements near cremation grounds.
In the Arthashastra, Chandalas are one of many categories of people
(including women, the physically handicapped, and outcastes) who cannot
bear witness for anyone other than members of their own group. They are
given a role in public punishments, no doubt to emphasise the reprehensible
nature of certain crimes.
For instance, in the case of a woman talking with a man in a suspicious place,
Kautilya suggests that a Chandala should give her five lashes between her
shoulders, in the middle of the village.
Kautilya also makes an 'untouchable's' touching a higher up person a criminal
offence and recommends a hefty fine of 100 panas (these were silver coins)
for a Chandala who touches an arya woman.
But he also suggests that Chandalas could be put to good use by the State --
along with forest dwellers, tribals, trappers, and mountain-dwellers, they
should be employed as guards in the areas between frontier forts.
In the Ramayana, there is the legend of Trishanku, a king of Ayodhya, who
was cursed to become a Chandala due to a curse pronounced by the sons of
the sage Vasishtha. He is described as ugly, dressed in rags, wearing wreaths
from the cremation ground, and shunned by townsmen and officials.
Brahmanas are horrified at being invited for a yajna by him.
There is also the story of the sage Vishvamitra cursing Vasishtha's sons to be
born as 'untouchables' known as Mushtikas for 700 births.
Sangam poems do not indicate the existence of a caste system in the far
south in early historic times. There were ideas of impurity, and of high and low
social status, but these did not amount to the practice of untouchability. Nor
are taboos on inter-marriage and inter-dining visible.
In fact, some of the groups who were considered 'untouchable' in later times
(the Paraiya, Panan, Tutiyan, and Katampan) have a fairly respectable status
in Sangam poems.
But caste and untouchability did take root in South India sometime between
the third and sixth centuries. The earliest evidence comes from a post-
Sangam work called the Acharakkovai. This states that glancing at a Pulaiya
is polluting and that water that has been touched by him is polluted and unfit
for drinking by others.
The ideas of caste and untouchability are even more visible in South India
during the Pallava period (sixth to ninth centuries). The hymns of
the bhaktisaints suggest that 'untouchables' were not allowed to enter
temples.
Pallava kings, who claimed to be Brahmanas of the Bharadvaja gotra,
patronised Brahmanas by giving them land grants and announced themselves
as upholders of the order of varnas and ashramas in their inscriptions.
The spread of caste and untouchability in South India seems to be directly
connected with royal patronage of Brahmanas. This not only led to an
increasing Brahmana influence in royal courts but also to the emergence of
Brahmanas as authoritative mediators of social and religious values and
practices at the village level.

The ide and practice of untouchability

The earliest occurrence of the word 'asprishya' ('untouchable') occurs in
the Vishnu Smriti, but the practice of untouchability, an extreme form of social
subordination, marginalisation, segregation, and oppression, existed from
earlier times.
Texts mention many groups considered 'untouchable' by others, but the one
mentioned most frequently is the Chandala.
In Vedic texts, groups such as the Chandalas were clearly looked on with
contempt by the elites, but there is no clear evidence of the practice of
untouchability. This appears in the Dharmasutras, which describe any kind of
physical contact, even accidental, with a Chandala as polluting and to be
remedied by expiation.
According to the Apastamba Dharmasutra, if one touches a Chandala, one
should immediately bathe; if one talks to a Chandala, one should immediately
talk to a Brahmana; if one sees him, one should immediately look at luminous
bodies in the heavens (the sun, moon, or stars).
The Manu Smriti refers to Chandalas as hunters, butchers, executioners, and
corpse carriers. In one place, it explains them as the offspring of Shudra men
and Brahmana women. Elsewhere, it describes birth as a Chandala as the
result of evil deeds in an earlier life.
Chandalas are associated with pollution and any contact with them requires
purification. Unless he is starving, a Brahmana must not eat food given by a
Chandala, nor should he have sexual relations with a Chandala woman.
'Chandalas...must live outside the village.... Their property consists of dogs
and donkeys. Their garments are the clothes of the dead; they eat in broken
vessels; their ornaments are of iron; and they constantly roam about. A man
who follows dharma should never seek any dealings with them.
'All their transactions shall be among themselves, and they must marry their
own kind. They depend on others for their food, and it should be given in a
broken vessel. They must not go about in villages and towns at night; they
may go around during the day to perform some task at the command of the
king, wearing distinguishing marks. They should carry away the corpses of
those without relatives -- that is the settled rule.'
Dharmashastra texts of later centuries (for instance, the Vishnu,
Yajnavalkya and Narada Smritis) indicate hardening attitudes towards
'untouchables'.
Kautilya refers to Chandalas having separate wells, and states that they live
outside settlements near cremation grounds.
In the Arthashastra, Chandalas are one of many categories of people
(including women, the physically handicapped, and outcastes) who cannot
bear witness for anyone other than members of their own group. They are
given a role in public punishments, no doubt to emphasise the reprehensible
nature of certain crimes.
For instance, in the case of a woman talking with a man in a suspicious place,
Kautilya suggests that a Chandala should give her five lashes between her
shoulders, in the middle of the village.
Kautilya also makes an 'untouchable's' touching a higher up person a criminal
offence and recommends a hefty fine of 100 panas (these were silver coins)
for a Chandala who touches an arya woman.
But he also suggests that Chandalas could be put to good use by the State --
along with forest dwellers, tribals, trappers, and mountain-dwellers, they
should be employed as guards in the areas between frontier forts.
In the Ramayana, there is the legend of Trishanku, a king of Ayodhya, who
was cursed to become a Chandala due to a curse pronounced by the sons of
the sage Vasishtha. He is described as ugly, dressed in rags, wearing wreaths
from the cremation ground, and shunned by townsmen and officials.
Brahmanas are horrified at being invited for a yajna by him.
There is also the story of the sage Vishvamitra cursing Vasishtha's sons to be
born as 'untouchables' known as Mushtikas for 700 births.
Sangam poems do not indicate the existence of a caste system in the far
south in early historic times. There were ideas of impurity, and of high and low
social status, but these did not amount to the practice of untouchability. Nor
are taboos on inter-marriage and inter-dining visible.
In fact, some of the groups who were considered 'untouchable' in later times
(the Paraiya, Panan, Tutiyan, and Katampan) have a fairly respectable status
in Sangam poems.
But caste and untouchability did take root in South India sometime between
the third and sixth centuries. The earliest evidence comes from a post-
Sangam work called the Acharakkovai. This states that glancing at a Pulaiya
is polluting and that water that has been touched by him is polluted and unfit
for drinking by others.
The ideas of caste and untouchability are even more visible in South India
during the Pallava period (sixth to ninth centuries). The hymns of
the bhaktisaints suggest that 'untouchables' were not allowed to enter
temples.
Pallava kings, who claimed to be Brahmanas of the Bharadvaja gotra,
patronised Brahmanas by giving them land grants and announced themselves
as upholders of the order of varnas and ashramas in their inscriptions.
The spread of caste and untouchability in South India seems to be directly
connected with royal patronage of Brahmanas. This not only led to an
increasing Brahmana influence in royal courts but also to the emergence of
Brahmanas as authoritative mediators of social and religious values and
practices at the village level.