varnas

(noun)

The four broad ranks of the caste system in the Indo-Aryan culture, which included Brahmins (priests and scholars), Kshatriyas (kings, governors and warriors), Vaishyas (cattle herders, agriculturists, artisans, and merchants), and Shudras (laborers and service providers).

Related Terms

Examples of varnas in the following topics:

  • The Caste System

    • The classes, known as varnas, enforced divisions in the populations that still affect this area of the world today.
    • Each varna was divided into jatis, or sub-castes, which identified the individual's occupation and imposed marriage restrictions.
    • Both varnas and jatis determined a person's purity level.
    • Members of higher varnas or jatis had higher purity levels, and if contaminated by members of lower social groups, even by touch, they would have to undergo extensive cleansing rites.

  • The Vedas

    • Today the castes still exist in the form of varna, or class system, based on the original four castes described in the Vedas.
    • A fifth group known as Dalits, historically excluded from the varna system, are ostracized and called untouchables.