Battle Over Caste Identity is All About Resources and Status

Resurrecting Faith

- Devdutt Pattanaik

Most children in India are taught about the four-fold caste system that emerges in the Vedas. However, in real life, these four categories are not distributed equally across India. In North, South, East, West, or Central India, two extreme groups are evident everywhere: the 'pure' Brahmins on one side and the 'impure' Dalits on the other. But in between, things become rather messy. It is very difficult to define who is a warrior and who is a merchant.

For example, many merchant communities in North India, such as the Maheshwaris, Agarwals, and Khatris, view themselves as warriors who were forced to give up the sword (talwar) and adopt the balance scale (tarazu) in order to protect themselves from the wrath of Parashuram.

Similarly, many backward communities, like the Ezhavas of Kerala, are traditionally identified as toddy tappers. Yet, within their own caste groups, they see themselves as warriors who may have served as military recruits in the 15th and 16th centuries to meet the demands of the military labour market.