CASTE, kAst. In a general sense, an heredi tary division or arrangement of society on the basis of occupation or other arbitrary condition; specifically, a class or grade so established, pa• ticularly among the Hindus. The word is not native to India, where the distinctions are best developed, and where the term was first applied specifically as well as in its Inure generaPsense, but is probably Portuguese (the earliest Occi dental colonists in the Deccan and sonic other portions of India were from Portugal), in which language it denotes family, strain, breed, or race, the Portuguese (and Spanish) form being castor, the feminine of caste (Latin, casts, pure). Among earlier English writers the form was cast, used in the sense of aspect or mode (as in 'cast of countenance'), or perhaps in the archaic sense of breed, derived from a stock-breeder's term still colloquial in England; indeed, there is some question whether the English term is not 'prior to the Portuguese. The Sanskrit term is verve, signifying 'color,' and denoted originally, no doubt, the distinction between the lighter-complexioned Aryan invaders who entered India from the northwest, and the dark skinned or colored aborigines whom they sub jugated or drove onward before them. This fact throws considerable light on the origin of the social distinctions so highly developed in India, and certain other countries. In any case the Occidental term is synonymous with 'chaste' (early French and modern English), and hence commutes purity, continence, freedom from taint, exclusiveness. and in general the attributes of race sense or ethnocentric sentiment.
The four great castes of India—the Brahmans, or Priests, the Wairiors, the Husbandman, and the Serfs, are as old in fact, if not in name, as the ancient sacred collection of hymns known as the Rig-Veda (cf. R.-V. 10, 90, 12; 8, 35, 16-18).
The system, however, in its developed form is not sharply defined until the so-called period of Brahmanism. (See INDIA, section Religion.) The division of an early community into priests, warriors, and agriculturists or third estate, is a natural one, and is found likewise in ancient Persia. The fourth caste in lndia came into being when the invading Aryans subjugated the natives and made them captives or slaves. They allowed them to become a part of the body poli tic, but they denied them all religious rights and privileges which the three Aryan castes en joyed. Disregarding minor subd iViti1011R, the four Hindu castes, commonly recognized, are as follows: (1) TuE BRAHMAN OR SACERDOTAL CLASS. At the head of the elaborated Hindu caste system stands the Brahman, or Brahmin, the priest, in Sanskrit Brihmana, a term synonymous with sanctity and exaltation. The legendary account of 'Mann (q.v.) says that this class issued from the mouth of the god Brahma, at the moment of creation. The business of the Brahmans, through their knowledge of the sacred Vedas, is to per form sacrifices for themselves and others and to give spiritual guidance to the rest of mankind, which has to rely on them for the favor of the gods. The Brahmans are the chief of all created beings, and other mortals enjoy life through them. They arc to be treated with the most profound respect, even by kings. The person of a Brahman is sacred: and it is his privilege to enjoy almost all immunities and exemptions. Special rules, on the other hand, are laid down In the priestly codes, by which he shall preserve his sanctity.