Caste in India: The Facts and the System c8.s3.23

c8.s3.23

We see what importance is again attributed here to occupation and the constitution of the tribe ; but this time the role of the Brahmans is reversed. Eager to consolidate a power which was at first founded on their religious learning, but for which this basis was becoming too fragile, they found, according to Ibbetson, in the division of the people into tribes, and the theory of the heredity of occupation which had arisen therefrom, an invaluable suggestion of which they took full advantage. From it they derived that network of restrictions and inhibitions which beset a high-caste Hindu from birth.¹ The Brahmans are thus represented as contributing to the spontaneous organization of the country.