To Goanet - JC wrote: >What next? >b: The Portuguese invented the Caste System of India ?
The Portuguese did invent the "caste system." (Caste, from "casta" in Portuguese.) The terms used by the Hindus for societal classification are "varna" and "jati." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varna_(Hinduism) Recently some scholars have suggested that the "caste system" was a construction of the British. No, not Hindutva ideologues, but researchers in the West, most notably Professor Dirks of Columbia - http://press.princeton.edu/titles/7191.html Another work on similar lines ("Imagining India") is by Ronald Inden of the University of Chicago. http://www.amazon.com/Imagining-India-Ronald-Inden/dp/0253213584 As is to be expected there are strong arguments and counter-arguments in this field. This much can be said: the final word is yet to be written on the topic. I used to follow the discussion on academic lists in the 1990s, but haven't for many years now, so don't know the current thinking in the area. Regards, r
