25 minutes in and this is very interesting so far, but I have one (or three) question(s). Are you an atheist? Don’t talk about “Protestant Atheist” or something. “Hindu Atheist” is a regular runofthemill atheist and is only considered a “branch” of “Hinduism” because “Hinduism” is falsely recognized as a religion. Do you believe in an afterlife, spirit, continued consciousness, or do you believe we live, die, and that’s it? Do you care about anything that happens after your lifetime?
Wasted my 30 mins on this !!! Again & Again u were repeating "Hindu nationalist" which displays ur Ideological status. I thought I would learn something new. I thought this was a Knowledge channel but, I turned to just another Political Narrative Content. Rather than elaborating something different u were just countering. 🤦 I mean in the section of history why would anyone show the video of some so called intellectual support caste System. Wtf Very poor content sorry, I'm being honest
I believe Hinduism doesn’t exist. It’s a made up term. The real name of the religion is Brahmanism and if you follow Brahmanism, the Brahmins will decide the varna of your caste or tribe based on scriptures. You don’t get to decide your varna. To be honest Brahmanism didn’t exist before 8-9th Century AD. The only religion existed in the Indian subcontinent was Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. After the Invasion of Turks, the existing tirthankars who called themselves Brahmins occupied all the Buddhist temples such as Kedarnath, Badrinath, Somnath and Jagganath. They did this to protect themselves from Mughals who were tolerant to Brahmins and let them practice their religion. All the Hindu scriptures came after 8th and 9th Century AD. Please refer to founder of Archeological Survey of India Sir Alexander Cunningham, Charles Allen, Mackenzie, William Jones etc. These Gentlemen studied Buddhism in the Indian Subcontinent. All the goddesses you see in Hinduism are Buddhist Goddesses such as Tara Devi etc. You would find Buddhist Goddesses in Vajrayana Buddhism.
As someone who grew up in a Brahmin family, I was surrounded by pervasive and insidious pro-Brahmin propaganda from an early age. The belief in Brahmin superiority was not just a notion but a core part of my identity, particularly during my formative high school years. My journey towards unshackling myself from these deep-seated biases began only when I delved into the harrowing histories of slavery and the Jim Crow South in America, which starkly mirrored the societal dynamics in India. This video essay is not just a well-researched and expertly produced piece; it represents a pivotal moment in my ongoing journey to confront and dismantle my casteist prejudices. I hope it serves as a catalyst for my family to recognize and question their own biases as well when I show this to them. Thank you, Rohan, for creating this video essay.
@@RosBaneek It's not just Jim Crow. Contemporary american caste system still reflects the Indian caste system today & many other systems of oppression no matter how much americans pretend it isn't.
The notion that caste doesn't exist in urban India is the biggest perpetrator of caste. It exists in my home, in perpetrates in my home. So I should always raise my voice against it while amplifying the voice from the community. Thank you for making this detailed video. Hope to see many more.
It's kind of nuts to be like "oh we don't support oppression based on castes... But we think your caste determines what skills and abilities you will have in life."
how is it nuts, a second-year college student is superior to first year college student in terms of knowledge. the basics of caste system is classification based on occupation, knowledge. But the sad part is no one wants that old-Vedic era caste system. the Hinduism is very unorganized, there is no chain of command like other religion which makes it hard to bring changes, everyone interprets it in their own way.
@@605ashishtomer6 Are first year college student not allowed to drink water from the same well as the second year college student? Are first year college student not allowed to sit on the same chair or drink from the same type of cups? Are the first year student told to tie a jhaadu on their back because they "dirty" the place they go to? Don't undermine the oppression faced by the lower caste people by making such stupid comparison.
@@akshitjain1623 obviously no, I am saying the teachings are right, but with time some people twisted those teachings. Just like current day constitutions of countries. sometimes. Politicians/public servants misuse their powers. That doesn't mean democracy is wrong. It simply means the laws written in constitution are not being followed in the right way.
superiority/levels are everywhere but that doesn't mean you can discriminate on that basis. You know what is discrimination a first year college student not allowed to sit in a third year students class. Just joking!
@@605ashishtomer6 because caste and university are genuinely completely different things to the point where you comparing them in this way is incomprehensible. like i literally don't know what you think is similar about the caste system and going to university.
love seeing fellow mallus being absolutely brilliant and concise. i grew up in a Muslim family and it was insane to see how casteism infiltrated our household, how the older generation held deep prejudices against those they saw as 'lower caste' even though we, as Muslims, hold practically the same role in current Indian society. it showed me how prevalent and insidious caste was in our society.
Caste has no place in Islam and such discrimination is against the basic pillar of Islam itself. Thats why you see people of all colours, financial backgrounds, age pray shoulder to shoulder together. Shame on your family for adopting the practices of others, they are just namesake Muslims seems like.
As a black American, this is VERY insightful and important to history of dehumanization, colorism, racism and so on. I subbed, and I’m glad you made this😊❤
Coming from a Brahmin family the amount of casteism that is present (now that I see it in retrospect, hindsight is 20/20 ig) is shocking. When a relative of mine married someone outside our caste the comments that were made were so shocking I couldn't believe it. The talking points like "different culture" and "spoils the generation" sounded so abhorrent. When I pointed this the resistance towards accepting themselves to be casteist or even accepting what they said was wrong was really surprising. I used to believe casteism to be a problem in backward areas or almost abolished but the amount of casteism I experienced over time really opened my eyes to how prevalent casteism continues to be in India. Even in apparently "progressive" communities like my law school the comments I hear from well-educated future lawyers ( "I will only marry a Brahmin guy" " Upper castes are upper for a reason" and "the British invented casteism and now it's gone" ) are shocking and alarming. I really hope works like yours will help fight this social evil.
I was also raised Bhramin in the US and any perceived similarity to a less priviledged caste was harshly criticized. Why was it such a huge issue? They don't even realize how discriminatory they were being. And they cited "tradition" as the reason they upheld this discriminatory practice.
My father was a Dalit who married a Baidya. Throughout my life, I sided with my friends in school who would keep talking about how the reservation system is discriminatory. People who would, as you mentioned, hide behind the veil of "merit". When applying to schools and colleges, I would feel pressured to select the "general" quota just to blend in. Then, I grew up, and did further reading on this subject. And then I came across this video. I feel like this is information that should be taught in schools throughout India. Fuck the caste system.
@@SirFailure Absolutely, that goes without saying. However, generalism doesn't really help a cause. For example, "All Lives Matter" serves little as a counter-argument to "Black Lives Matter", since it diffuses the primary reasoning for the latter. All types of discrimination are stupid, but we have to pick them apart specifically. Since this video is about caste, I chose to say "fuck the caste system". But yeah, with that said... fuck discrimination in general.
A lot of this reminds me of how we treat the homeless in the U.S. oddly enough. We literally have laws against them even existing in certain places and build hostile architecture to keep them from sitting or sleeping near businesses because of how 'horrible' it would be for rich people to 'have to see them' and also how we generally don't even look at homeless people in the eye and are supposed to ignore them.
In that same breath, often it is homeowners locally voting to keep help for homeless out of their areas. If you've never gone to a homeowners meeting near you, I suggest you do and see just the kind of things they vote for. I live in an large urban area and the homeowners with big houses go and tell the town leadership they don't want any homeless shelters near them. It's such a problem boiling under our surface that everyone is willing to push the homeless out of sight, or like southern states just bus them off to a different state and make it someone else's problem. Without dealing with the underlying reasons for homelessness, a huge percentage of the US is one paycheck away from living on the streets.
this is a great connection! you see similar rhetoric surrounding the homeless too, with people speculating that they must be lazy, drug addicts, alcoholics, or some combination of all three. there's an association with the homeless being less than and deserving of their condition. and the same idea that if they just pulled them selves up they could one day rejoin the society that outcasts them.
I am so very happy to have stumbled upon your video! I am an African American/Black woman watching from the United States, and I have been very interested in the history of India, and its many subcultures. I'm even trying to learn Tamil. But trying to figure out what's what without being inundated with propaganda has proven to be very difficult. It's very hard to understand where the subjugation has its roots, but I recognize it from our own struggles here in the United States, and seek to know as much as possible. Keep up the amazing work!
Right wing hypernationalist propaganda definitely feels like the norm when you want to dive into the culture on youtube. There are progressive creators too though, I hope our community keeps growing 🤞🏽
I am a closeted queer girl from a telugu brahmin hindu household. I moved outside India to pursue my writing, because I am less afraid of being hate crimed overseas than existing as an outspoken queer & anti-hindutva writer in india. My pseudonym sounds white because I can’t find a telugu name that doesn’t carry a caste based surname without risking my and my family’s life. I have never set foot in a village in my life. Yet this is my level of fear. That’s how prominent casteism in india is.
well queers are more hated in islam and christianity rather than hindutva...abhramic religions have banned lgbtq where hindutva government legalised being gay or lesbian...and please don not hide behind caste discrimination for for your lgbtq movement...both are totally different thing...as jaat from north india i get lot of hate from rajputs and brahmins because jaats are considered sudras but in 16th century jaats rebelled against rajput rulers and mughal rulers and seized the power from them and later brahmins had to accept the reality that jaats will not going to back down...
@@kuldeeprana1908I’m a white queer, and my boyfriends hindutva parents give us far more issue then any of our Muslim friends. Don’t be so quick to say “other people do it worse”
@AshishKumar-mb6fd if I'm afraid to tell the people I'm closest to in the world about my identity due to fear of threat to my life, I'd say it's founded.
As an Indian-American who doesn't speak my parents native language, I'm always frustrated trying to learn more about India and my culture. Westerners seem to dominate the space on English youtube when it comes to describing Indian culture, politics, and history, and to me, it seems that they always misconstrew it or approach it with an orientalist lense. I hope that your channel is able to thrive!
If you are concerned about history then I will recommend Jai Vardhan Singh to you. He is unbiased or for better word fact based, rest of the majority are either left(especially academics) or right(CZcams last 5 years phenomena).
@@sumitdutta7043 Hmmmm.... I wonder why academics lean left-wing... I wonder why those who are experts and scholars would be progressives and not fence-sitters... 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
@@blorblin Sociology is soft science. If ever there was a field that now the risk of an echo chamber, it'd be one like philosophy or sociology where there is almost nothing concrete
As a Dalit, thank you very much for this video. This topic is rarely discussed and we don't try to talk about it much because of the generation sufferring attached to it.
@@kronadc bruh step one : stop calling yourself dalit...the country is trying to make progress and overcome this caste nonsense ....things were terrible but we have made leaps of progress and will keep getting better ...the glass is half full !If you are keen on having a Hindu label go for your gotra name :)
@@curiash if reservation can be the answer for caste , thenwhy isint it solving caste issues ? why are there still poor sc sts ? cuz it never will . education will take you forward , caste wont . look at what bihar has done to itself . those who want development in themselves will rule over those who take pride on their history and reputation. applies same to those who call theselves upper castes
I think studying cast in India probably unlocks an anthropological key to understanding racism, classism, and colorism in all Indo-European cultures. I could be wrong but I think there’s deep history that we just haven’t discovered yet.
I don't think that's true at all. These are different cultures that have had & some still have their own unique systems of oppression. This caste system is unique to the Indian subcontinent. And racism, classism & colorism in "Indo-European" (a very broad eurocentric category) has already been studied. It's not some kinda mystery. The scholarly work already exists, it's just you have to go out & discover & study it.
If you're interested read caste: the origin of our discontents by Isabel Wilkerson or the movie Origin based on the book. Both are amazing and discuss your point
We're interconnected with Old Iranian culture where Avestan was written rather than Europeans. Our Sanskrit language Brahmi script was literally like Old Iranian script. Iranians despite having linguistic similarities with Europeans developed their own distinctive culture from Europeans. Our ancestors were agriculturist/hunter gatherers in Modern day Iranian region before pushed by the another wave of migration coming from Europe. The reason why migrations happened in so many waves in India is because migration in Iran happened in many waves.
you've managed to both go into a lot of detail and remain clear and accessible to non-indian folks. there's a large indian diaspora community in my hometown, so i try to learn what i can so i can be a good neighbor. but i realized while watching this that i had unknowingly absorbed some hindu-centric, exoticized ideas about india that i've gotta work on deconstructing. not a fun realization, and my heart hurts hearing about how people have suffered and had their own cultural stories used as weapons to reinforce their status as an underclass. but if my half of an anthropology degree taught me anything, it's that the only way to dismantle my personal prejudices is to be open to being sad and uncomfortable for a bit. so thanks for making me sad and uncomfortable!
Caste starts from home, I have listened this non sense💩💩from childhood that "You should be proud that you are born in privileged upper caste or you should be proud of your identity" This proud attitude later turns to ego and a new casteist mentality person is born.
@@1996warmanwhat is caste identity though? I mean people all over the world have linguistic identity and national identity but why this caste identity is for indians only.?
@1996warman it's is rooted in what can be simplified as "i am inherently better than you are". That is caste. Nationality and ethnicity tend to come with that (see: white supremacy) but it is not *rooted* in that. The caste system (again, grossly simplified) is.
This is a very important topic that is barely discussed outside of the indian/south asian context, commenting to ensure the algorithm gives the exposure this video deserves.
Same, I don’t care that’s it’s long because I literally know nothing about this part of Indian culture. It’s interesting to see similarities and differences from my own culture, specially in such a taboo, selfish and violent aspect of society. Not what you’d really have an easy time hearing about if you aren’t Indian.
I´m studying anthropology, and starting to look into hindu nationalism, this helped me understand an aspect to it that I have had a hard time wrapping my head around. Thank you so much.
First, focus on understanding what hinduism is. It's not a codified religion but a syncretism of indigenous beliefs that is incredibly varied. Also if youre comparing it against islam nationalism look at the disgusting slavish philoarabism of Pakistanis and if against sikh nationalism, muat mention the aryan invader hypothesis as many punjabis believe they have a genetic superiority over other indians.
Truly amazing video. As a creator from Kerala myself, there were so many questions i had particularly with respect to caste and Kerala. Questions that i deal with in my own content. But there was always a lack of clarity on some topics. Thank you for helping me answer them!
Kudos to you for the focus on Kerala. Large parts of kerala never came under extended period of chola, pandya, North Indian, muslim or European rule still was one of the most casteist parts of south Asia. It's a evidence to hold against against people who blame outsiders for caste system. Modern day kerala is a lot different due to influence of foreign religions, communism, anti caste movements, people like Narayana Guru and ayyankali but still casteism and racism hasn't diminished immensely
As a malayali with a very fragmented idea of Kerala history, especially the history of caste and religion in the state, this was truly eye-opening. It's a shame these facts are barely even touched upon, forget critically analysed, in our education system.
Grew up in a Brahmin family, but must of my family was quite anti casteism. I did grow up thinking casteism is only seen in pockets, because we didn't associate with casteism people, and actually chastised or casteist relatives. The fact that it is illegal to discriminate based on caste is a good start, but unfortunately there seems to be an ingrained cultural belief that needs to be broken.
This is terrific. As someone who has been frustrated by the increase of RSS brainrot in media and attempts to minimize caste discrimination in India, I don’t think there could have been a more thoughtful exploration of the topic, Rohan. This is an amazing essay and I will be sharing it widely. Thank you again for your hard work!
What does RSS have to do with it? U R revealing your ignorance & prejudice and showing that you're merely a product of biased propaganda, trying to disparage what you don't truly understand.
Only realized you uploaded this when i saw the community post with the massive list of references/resources. Glad I saw something pop up, because I've been waiting for this one to drop
This video sums up Caste from different dimensions: Theological, Ideological, Political, Historical, Economical, Socio-cultural, and Psychological. Thank you for educating.
CZcams recommendation worked for once. So glad to find your channel. Eta/Himin is still discriminated in Japan although it's a lot less common... I was just thinking of the similarities when you mentioned it. Thank you for your video!!
Fantastic; as a Black American myself, the similarities and challenges we share with lower caste Indians is remarkable, sad, and a powerful link of solidarity between us
One big difference though, Blacks have lot of representation in media. But Bahujan or oppressed caste 70% population, have no representation in media. There's not a single big star from Bahujan in Bollywood, compared Hollywood.
@@sorenutpal6091 You might want to look into the history of Black representation in Hollywood media, and how it is still quite segregated. Also, how Black stars are perceived is still different from white ones. There is tons of nuance and Black media for white audiences in America didn't start in earnest until the 1980s.
@@sorenutpal6091 You know why? because the libs in america are actually productive & have more capital to fund representation in america. Also, US still has horrible representation for black people.
@@betzalelabrams2177 Thankyou OP, I see a lot of people orientalising lower caste Indians all the time. I've always seen it as an attempt by many westerners to detach themselves from their own horrible history & current reality of caste system. All racially oppressed share their struggles & suffer under the same systems. This is acknowledgment is very important to push against oppression with solidarity and alliance.
To see someone finally understand the complexity of the impact this ‘ideology’ has on our society is so refreshing, this was great man, seriously. A clear study on how casteism ties in with colonisation, religion and politics without any bias is literally so rare, and for it to be done so wonderfully. In simpler words, you ate.
Only a few minutes in and I'm already convinced this will be one of my favourite video essays this year. Glad to have found your channel through this video!
This video is the definition of perfection. I need to watch it multiple times because it is so very insightful and dense with valuable information for anyone who even slightly care about the world. The caste system as explained here perfectly demonstrates how any system of oppression and power works in essence and I feel like I understand the world a lot better now. Thank you so much for this video and I feel so blessed to have found this gem of a channel amidst all the anglocentric leftist voices and channels. I wish good luck and victory to all my Indian comrades in their struggle for a just world, from Iran ✊
Thank you so much for this fantastic video. As a Black & Indigenous femme in the US, I get really exhausted by US-centric dialogue about systems of structural oppression, and your channel + content has been very helpful, enriching, and clarifying. I shared with in as many places and spaces that made sense and hope folks stay around!
I'm struggling to put to words how well made and informative this video is. I've always had the foundations from a very young age, but even now I'm still shocked by how little I knew.
I am glad to see more content about India. India is growing as a world power and it is about time we got a better analysis than what we get in the West typically.
Randomly suggested by the algorithm so first commenting to boost further. Secondly, I don't typically blast through a feature-length video-essay in one sitting but I started watching this, left to run errands while listening, and now I'm back home watching again, near the end. Fascinating video, man. I knew a bit of surface-level stuff about historical and contemporary caste, but the amount of detail you impart is outstanding. Amazing. Gonna work my way back through the rest of your stuff and look forward to your next piece.
I appreciate you using the terms "privileged" and "marginalised" castes rather than "upper" and "lower". Well made content, I hope it reaches those who are capable of introspection and personal change.
I have lived my entire life in northwestern Europe and went to an international school. I had several indian friends and one of them told me privately that she comes from a Brahmin family (and our other Indian friend didnt) and how you could tell by her surname. I (as someone with parents from the ussr (white) and now a socialist) was so confused as to why she was proud of that. I learnt a little bit about the decolonisation of India and the partition between it and Pakistan in Middle school so i was aware of the caste system (didn't know much about it other than the discrimination that arose from) so it was baffling to me as to why she was showing off the fact to me that she was at the top of it. It was so strange to me how proud she was of her caste, primarily because of how the caste system opresses others, but also that she thought it was relevant information for me to know. I have always been critical of class issues so I don't understand how she thought that my class consciousnes would translate to me being happy? that she is a brahmin
Yup! That is unfortunately common even outside India. When you have co-workers as well in international companies who aren't as socially aware or educated on caste, they tend to boast about being a kshatriya or brahmin. It kind of functions like how some white people don't consider other white people to be white enough. Delusion. A reach for status, and entitlement to better treatment
You shld tell her how the british rulers of india treated every indian as equal ; Every british club had a notice which read “INDIANS & DOGS ARE NOT ALLOWED” 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Good job , bros. I'm glad to see the caste idea disappears over generations once Indians leave India. I once told a fellow Indian-heritage person in Canada that I came from a Brahmin family, where upon he immediately told me not to tell anyone else since other Indian people might not like hearing that. He came from a lower caste, seems obvious then and now, and still feels the angst of caste as a second generation immigrant.
The moment you mentioned Ayan Kali I was absolutely assured that you knew what you were talking about. You researched very well and presented it in a very considerate manner.
Wow this was very eye opening. As a person of Afro-Caribbean descent I figured Indian caste was basically white supremacy and believed that it was built on simple genetic factors like color. But defining the Jati, Varna system as a temple centric brahmanical system of resource and labour management, that requires the total control of women's bodies, shows how it's both like white supremacy and way more complex. Its justifications seem so much more flexible, due to thousands of years of conflicting tradition. The way other minority religions related to this system was something i never understood until this video. The fact that this system was not indigenous to southern India and that waves of both domestic and foreign colonizer elites used it to subjugate the indigenous people of Kerala and appropriate/manage their local culture really blew my mind though. Thanks for making this I really learned a lot.
Regarding concerns for a longform video, this format is what I come to CZcams for in the first place. I love having as full a picture of a topic as possible, and thank you for providing this particular piece of insight : )
just finished the video and i’m excited to read further about the historical and modern politics of caste in india and around the world from your source list. coming from the indian hindu diaspora in america, i’ve never really understood this topic, or this history of hinduism or caste. and my borderline hindutva family isn’t of any help. i’m interested in learning more about how the popularized hindu mythology, like vishnu’s avatars, justifies and perpetuates the caste system. also i love learning about new revolutionaries from the colonized world. anyways, thank you for making this amazing video essay!!!!!
I had no idea hindutva was so prevalent even in the US! Thought it was more of a subcontinent-and-surroundings thing but the fact that it's made it's way there is 😵💫🤯
Half way through the video but stopped to invoke the algorithm gods to bless this much needed exposure of the caste reality that the world is still mostly blind to.
thank you so much for this amazing analysis. i am often frustrated due to the lack of resources and online media related to topics and social issues which plague my country, you shedding light is such a breath of fresh air.
I am still in disbelief that India has not removed the system of Caste in its constitution, which is a secular democracy if I remember correctly. However I understand the British roll as to why this continues to exist as it is today. I've read UNTOUCHABLES by Narendra Jadhav and it really surprised me that such a system openly exist in the open.
Constitution has banned caste based discrimination but in a lawless country like india who will follow it? The situation is a mirror of the condition between blacks (African Americans) and whites in USA legally it's banned but internally it thrives.
@@dikvijaysingh5896 Okay, I know exactly what you mean. Sought of like how racism and discrimination are illegal but it's still thriving in America and the rest of the world.
India’s Constitution was largely drafted by an Untouchable who actually spent time in the U.S. and found commonality with the plight of African Americans. True story.
THANK YOU FOR THIS!!! This is literally a pot of gold Recently we covered varna system in history class expect it was just glided over teacher just said to mark the parts which will come for exam which sucked caste is a very complex issue and very relevant now what with gov arguing to subcategorise reserved-category groups and all (plus being malayali means i learn more about my land through this too)
I am from an OBC caste from Tamil Nadu which is super casteist against anyone who is not from the same community, heck even from the same sub caste. Over the years I have gotten myself into plenty arguments with my relatives about this issue and they end the conversation by pointing out that I am a communist even though they are the ones that bring it up knowing my stance on the issue. What I am implying is most people dont care if the lower caste people are constantly mistreated in every strata of Indian society, they just repeat "Dalit bad" arguments or "Dalit with BMW". I appreciate you going into detail about the system that has plagued our country for centuries when many mainstream channels wouldnt bother
Suprised to hear the prevalence of casteism in a state like TN which gave birth to social reformers like Thiruvalluvar,Ayyankali, T. Chennaiah and the first state in the country to start using their father/mother's name instead of their inherent caste
Hi, Rohan. Great video. Just a teeny point of correction - Chinese style fishing nets are also used in another part of India, in my home state, Manipur. Though I did not know they were used in Kerala? Guess that makes it even, lol.
I found your channel completely by accident when i was watching Arun Annow's stream and I'm so glad I did. I'm half indian/half russian and for the longest time i was fed the narrative that i should detach myself from my "indian side"(white supremacy is extremely prevalent in Russia obviously), in addition to that my father was the most basic type of hindu right wing guy, loved Modi, definitely a nationalist and so on. So i grew up being fairly detached from the indian side of me, but becoming an adult and embracing it has made me so much more content. I was curious about the political landscape in India, about history, and researching all these things has bought a lot of pain but also has been an amazing experience for me. Arun was my first window into that, and i got a lot of reading recommendations from your channel and i've been reading a lot! It's heartbreaking and brings a feeling of rage most of the time, but I'm so happy there are people like you and Arun to educate and explain the ahistorical, racist, colorist, fascist narratives that are fed to us our entire lives. Thank you so much for making this video, I will be looking through your reference list for sure! You're doing amazing work🥰
I’m so grateful for the time, passion, and energy that went into the creation of this video! I’ve learned so much during this academic and artistic masterpiece!
I was introduced to the caste concept via a set text in school called Ninema. I am african(kenyan) so I am grateful that i found this video that fully explains it. Thanks great video.
As a white person raised in France, I heard about the caste system in school from my teacher (even part of some schoolbooks and programs) but it was definitely not in such a complete way, the way I remember it and the general impression it left me growing up (intentionally or not) was that it kinda was to make us white people especially from imperialist countries look "less bad" for oppressing people from colonized countries or ethnic minorities in the country, like it really felt like the lesson to learn from it was that "eh humans are just mean to each other oftentimes, yes it's bad but like it is what it is" rather than explaining that both the kind of racism we have in France and the caste system were the results of a history of power structures and economic exploitation. The way discrimination in general was explained in school was that some people were oppressed (in a not actually formally pointed out economic way) was because they looked different or had a different culture, rather than pointing out the fact that precisely because exploiting some demographics is convenient for some more privileged people, they are actively othered to prevent any kind of class conscience and/or solidarity to emerge between workers of different hierarchized groups. Thank you very much for this video that brings me more elements to understand power struggles around the world and in history, may the working class unite against their oppressors
Marco polo notes about coromandel coast "The climate is so hot that all men and women wear nothing but a loincloth, including the king-except his is studded with rubies, sapphires, emeralds and other gems. Merchants and traders abound, the king takes pride in not holding himself above the law of the land, and people travel the highways safely with their valuables in the cool of the night" So clothing to discriminate came later after 12th century. Everyone was wearing just a loincloth. Sea faring Trading was common before that as well.
Just like the other bro in the comments, I too grew up in a Brahmin family with the notion of brahmin superiority fixed in every aspect of conversation at home. Thankfully I didn't grow up in the South from where my parents were, so the reality of life outside vs at home was already a bit off and then eventually reading Annihilation of Caste and going deep into all of the injustices have made me rethink and realize how messed up the country was and continues to be. I wish I could do more to help, but speaking out against this injustice everytime I am home with my parents and calling out their bs (along with calling out islamophobia) is what I do now. I am glad you made this video - keep at it!
Such an incredible, well-researched, spectacularly scripted video, Rohan. Thank you for all the work you’ve put into this + previous videos. Can’t wait for Desi BreadTube to fully own and talk about our own histories of oppression, expression, and existence. More power to you!🤝👊🏼
A 2 hour India secret lore video lol. After hours of shuffling through mindless garbage on CZcams, I find this masterpiece.The algorithm have blessed me. This is amazingly well researched and executed. We need more of this on CZcams and less of the brain rot memes.
Rohan, I don't know where to start. This is one of the most intricate, thorough, intimate historic, and material analysts I've heard in a long time. I study the far right and was raised a zionist myself, and in deepening my understanding of dialectics, this historic and material analysis has been genuinely mind blowing Thank you
informationwise economically socially culturally living in mostly upper castes circles relatives friends (((( i said mostly and other non UCastes living in influence of info worldview which savarnas are were comfortable to se know remember recors delete/remove from talks/views/ideas n memory about talks ugly violence traifition thoughts discrimination incidents/stories/histories done by heierachially upper caste relative to lower castes maintained and justifies/safegaurded by religious mythology/fooling-stories traition of every upper castes etc etc )))) will take ur comment as real but not sarcasm. Simply taking record of something and defining the real observations of society throughout sub continent of india doesn't make a thing someones' creation but record. recording female infanticide in india/haryana doesn't make a person/agency/media infanticide inventor just like observing casteism racism crime doesn't make them an invention/crration of someone but explanation/recording by the. british didn't created indus civilization/mauryan empire/gupta empire but smply studies them in archeology (ASI). It was always there. One should read Dalit literature which exists becuz mainstream Profs/scholars don't like or r comfortable/happy to see/talk let know anyone about it( mostly knowingly and few unknowingly created s by knowers n hiders of caste n castiesm for thier DISHONEST/MISCHIEVIOUS senses and caste sustainability.
@@AshishKumar-mb6fd very similarly creating law on rape murder, love jihad, violence, physical/online abuse, fraud. adultery, unethical malpractices in anything in world and india actually not makes them identified as law in made on them but actually catalyzes ( only for those who r in question and who have identification with them feels sieriously frabbergested/frustrated as thier culture/tradition of inherent caste by birth establishment nd discrimination history associated wid it gets a record and a criminal identification). britishers didn't made law of reservation, ban of devdasi, S/St act, etc etc mandal commission, kelkar commision, methods of organised study of caste/crime/violence observationns etc. religion wasn't created by them although they made laws against sati. LAWS On sati, tribals as criminals before independence and laws on sc/st act, education/crime/ , Black marriage didn't made them aggravated but as it is an inherent property of brahminism/hinduism to make it 99% by birth. those who don't make thier caste certificate that is upper castes or non obc/sc/st must have had erased caste among them becuz it's not instrinsic to sustain n create caste in brahmnism which has existed and reshaped continiously through history by religion by enveloping caste sustenance and beleif finely into ppl along with non offence and sharp observation but blind beleif on hinduism/brahminism( via making relative upper lower castes diff in status,economy,tradition/skills.lack-of-mechanism for profession changing along with putting fodder/chaff/straw/husk/bhusa in minds of ppl in name of religion. whole relgion makes to justify hide n sustain at large scale in one or mpre ways in terms of quality/no./times/regions to sustain difference to save the structure in name of religion.
Thank you so much for this video! As someone practising Indian Classical Arts who sees the effect caste dynamics have in that field but is not Indian themselves and lacks a lot of historical context, this was extremely interesting and educational!
@@peace8096 I've read a few articles and heard him speak a few times and I really admire his approach. The reaction to him from certain artists was very shocking to me. I think in general there is a big issue many brahmin artists have with acknowledging devadasis and other artists of the past who did not come from prestigious caste backgrounds. There's this need to tie the arts purely to natyashastra and ignoring the humans who shaped the arts before and after. But that's a topic that could take 20 books to discuss properly I feel.
I keep returning to this vid to drill it into my memory. So many great analyses! Brilliant comparison of caste to Dubois' theories about how capital intersects with race: "This binding of one's blood line and occupation" EXACTLY! The "division of laborers" rather than "division of labor." Later on, it's always great to see Arundhati Roy's insight; I'd never read The Doctor And The Saint, but now it's on my reading list! I'm also so grateful for the segment about ryomin and senmin; I'd never heard of these before! God it would take forever to name all the new and enriching things I learned from this vid alone, and your other vids! Heavy topics treated with care and dignity, not sensationalized, just examined with a critical eye. Cannot thank you enough for this hard work.
If you do decide to read that informative and revealing book by Ms Roy, I would suggest to also read Mr Nishikant Kolge's 'Gandhi Against Caste'. I believe that this would be beneficial as Ms Roy's work, in my view, is not exactly fair and completely accurate when it comes to assessing Mahatma Gandhi and his relationship with caste.
Before getting into the video, the fact that you ran out of space for references for this video deserves admiration. Caste is a topic that I've always wanted to get into, but have been put off by procrastination. Seeing someone dedicate time to this topic makes me happy.
India needs to get it together 😢 a caste doesn't dictate someone character skin tone doesnt dictate character.... especially when it seems it's something your born into base on family status etc just because your wealthy doesn't mean your civil...there are so many terrible powerful wealthy ppl in the world... Why did the Ambani need to mention their caste at their tragically overly excessive wedding... I'm not expert im so far removed from my south Asian ancestors and very much American but still what's wrong with ppl why are ppl still applying caste to anything
A lot of harmless traditions are associated with caste and not everyone wishes to give up on them. Ambani, as a citizen of India is free to mention his caste as long he is not using it for discrimination. In a recent wedding in my family, the bride and groom also told their caste (and gotra) as part of the ceremony. The wedding was attended by people of different caste, color, and religion.
@@kumarsaurabh9456 to be honest there are wealthy people in Bollywood who marry others not of the same background as them etc... however I felt the need to speak on them mentioning their caste well because, clearly its still matters and I am calling in too question if its even relevant, there are many customs people in usa had that have little to no relevancy today. Why defend them? What does it mean to you
@@Truthseeker7771000 It's better to not project your thoughts on others if we want to peacefully co-exist in a multicultural society. People are free to decide what's relevant to them. That's the whole point of freedom of expression. And that's exactly what I was defending in my comment. I mentioned Ambani because you talked about him. The same would apply to any citizen of India.
My Parents at Brahmins and immigrated to the US to have me. I didn’t even know about the caste system until I was in middle school and didn’t know where we stood in it till much later. My cousin on the other hand had his parents grow up in Australia. He is only 10 but he is very involved in Hindu culture there and weaponizes his caste to mistreat other kids. It’s awful. Mind you this is in Australia, not India.
This is a fantastic piece; I've been hankering for an in-depth discussion about caste especially in relation to South India and you come up with a buffet. What a chad!
The Caste system was something I've always wanted to understand more of. As a Haitian American woman who as dealt with predudice and racism in a different way, and frequently watched Bollywood films. I saw some parallels of the overall systematic oppression and would be so upset about it. However, I always felt that the conversation of the caste system in the movies were always challenged. Like when a man from a different caste fell in love with a woman in a different caste etc. Which gave me a (now false) sense of improvement in the over all conversation of the system. I'm so glad that you are doing an deep dive in a part of your culture that, to be honest, is unfair. I've subscribed and liked this video!
@@michieadonaie6187 thanks for watching! If you'd like to see another Indian film that have overtones of caste built into its plot, check out Bramayugam, its from my state of Kerala, in the malayalam language. Jai Bhim is another good one. Caste is dealt with in a strange way sometimes too though in mainstream movies out of bollywood, especially in action ones, where the main character is almost always a privileged caste, fair skinned man and they signal it overtly by having a scene showing or saying the man's full name signifying caste status to the audience. Its odd, and worth study
@rohanxdavis Of course! And thank you so much for recommending these movies to me. I am in the mood to watch a Bollywood after watching you video. So these recommendations came just in time. I'm also excited to see your state of Kerala because I like to make it a habit to find foreign films that aren't based in the capital or major well known cities. You are right about how caste is presented in some of these films are jarring. Oh gosh yeahhh, its like does it or does it not matter what caste this man or woman is in? Mixed messaging for sure. Also the antagonist is typically dark skinned. Which then brings up the conversation of the correlation on colorism. Which is a issue that exist in the Caribbean. In the country of Haiti where my parents are from. They see lighter skinned or mixed Haitians to be greater than.
Thank you for this, new subscriber. As a south-Asian from the Trinidadian diaspora, I learned how to be Indian from Hindutva perspective. It never resonated with me and I rejected it outright, but always felt like I had lost touch with my culture in the process. I'm glad to hear that my instincts were right, that the culture I rejected are steeped in supremacy and there's MUCH more to being 'Indian' than that culture has to say.
Spot on!! While the system may have originally come as a division of labor or whatever, one cant deny the fact that due to corruption by upper castes, it became something to serve the casteist needs than simple division where migration across occupations could be done. Instead of blaming the british or whoever , we should take responsibility in the modern age as we no longer are ruled by anyone but ourselves. This pass the parcel of blames from british to whoever serves no purpose, other than maintaining the status quo
Somehow my watch history of religious studies and social justice brought me here, and I'm glad! Your video is amazingly detailed and very informative. I haven't had much exposure to Indian culture and knew very little of it's history, but now I think I have some major reading to do. Please do keep up the excellent work, I'll be keeping an eye out!
AMAZING video. i wanted to wait till the end to comment. this depth is sorely missing from most video essays. you really brought so much clarity to a topic i knew nothing about- i immensely appreciate it, and feel that i have a far greater understanding of the world after watching. thank you!
Man, I’ve been looking for more videos that talk about the history of the caste system for awhile now and this is one of the first ones i’ve seen that presents it from an anti-oppressive lens, rooted in collective liberation. that’s seriously challenging but important work. thank you for this resource!! had me learning and laughing the whole time 👏🏽
Thanks for this video. It's so hard to get this information especially in my position. My father is upper caste hindu and my mother is Muslim. We aren't really very ethnic since their marriage came with an initial degree of separation from either culture. When my older brother was born, the families came around and I've only known them to be kind to us and my parents (my grandmother was the only one that had an issue with it actually but she came around when my brother was born). My Muslim side, while very learned know little to nothing about it. My hindu side either essentialize it reductively either to dismiss or advance casteism. The abundance of brahmins in american academia has resulted in an unspoken aversion to covering the issue and not knowing Hindi or Tamil makes it all but impossible to differentiate educators from propagandists on CZcams. Thank you so much for teaching me something I'd for so long been denied.
Are your parents irreligious or do they still practice respective religions? How does your mom reconcile with the fundamental conflict of monotheism vs idol worship ?
I’m commenting for the algorithm. You put a lot of work into this video and I’m interested in more deep dives into the history of India. India is one of the most historically rich nations in human history.
Thank you so much guys for commenting for the algorithm! I really appreciate it 🙏🏾 love ❤
Do pin your comment.
Watching this on my TV but come to comment and like and etc on my phone because this is very informative and useful.
Subscribed. Keep it up. :)
25 minutes in and this is very interesting so far, but I have one (or three) question(s). Are you an atheist? Don’t talk about “Protestant Atheist” or something. “Hindu Atheist” is a regular runofthemill atheist and is only considered a “branch” of “Hinduism” because “Hinduism” is falsely recognized as a religion. Do you believe in an afterlife, spirit, continued consciousness, or do you believe we live, die, and that’s it? Do you care about anything that happens after your lifetime?
Wasted my 30 mins on this !!! Again & Again u were repeating "Hindu nationalist" which displays ur Ideological status. I thought I would learn something new. I thought this was a Knowledge channel but, I turned to just another Political Narrative Content. Rather than elaborating something different u were just countering. 🤦 I mean in the section of history why would anyone show the video of some so called intellectual support caste System. Wtf Very poor content sorry, I'm being honest
I believe Hinduism doesn’t exist. It’s a made up term. The real name of the religion is Brahmanism and if you follow Brahmanism, the Brahmins will decide the varna of your caste or tribe based on scriptures. You don’t get to decide your varna.
To be honest Brahmanism didn’t exist before 8-9th Century AD. The only religion existed in the Indian subcontinent was Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. After the Invasion of Turks, the existing tirthankars who called themselves Brahmins occupied all the Buddhist temples such as Kedarnath, Badrinath, Somnath and Jagganath. They did this to protect themselves from Mughals who were tolerant to Brahmins and let them practice their religion. All the Hindu scriptures came after 8th and 9th Century AD. Please refer to founder of Archeological Survey of India Sir Alexander Cunningham, Charles Allen, Mackenzie, William Jones etc. These Gentlemen studied Buddhism in the Indian Subcontinent. All the goddesses you see in Hinduism are Buddhist Goddesses such as Tara Devi etc. You would find Buddhist Goddesses in Vajrayana Buddhism.
As someone who grew up in a Brahmin family, I was surrounded by pervasive and insidious pro-Brahmin propaganda from an early age. The belief in Brahmin superiority was not just a notion but a core part of my identity, particularly during my formative high school years. My journey towards unshackling myself from these deep-seated biases began only when I delved into the harrowing histories of slavery and the Jim Crow South in America, which starkly mirrored the societal dynamics in India. This video essay is not just a well-researched and expertly produced piece; it represents a pivotal moment in my ongoing journey to confront and dismantle my casteist prejudices. I hope it serves as a catalyst for my family to recognize and question their own biases as well when I show this to them. Thank you, Rohan, for creating this video essay.
My pleasure brother
Thank you. You are a rare breed.
Thank you for sharing.
@@RosBaneek It's not just Jim Crow. Contemporary american caste system still reflects the Indian caste system today & many other systems of oppression no matter how much americans pretend it isn't.
Great work. This is a brilliant video essay!
The notion that caste doesn't exist in urban India is the biggest perpetrator of caste. It exists in my home, in perpetrates in my home. So I should always raise my voice against it while amplifying the voice from the community. Thank you for making this detailed video. Hope to see many more.
Omg one of my fav creator 👍
Could you share this video in your community tab please.
fav creator indeed geography teacher
No way are you real 😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮
I saw in ytshort all over indian internet 🛜
Thanks for watching! I enjoyed creating it
It's kind of nuts to be like "oh we don't support oppression based on castes... But we think your caste determines what skills and abilities you will have in life."
how is it nuts, a second-year college student is superior to first year college student in terms of knowledge. the basics of caste system is classification based on occupation, knowledge. But the sad part is no one wants that old-Vedic era caste system. the Hinduism is very unorganized, there is no chain of command like other religion which makes it hard to bring changes, everyone interprets it in their own way.
@@605ashishtomer6 Are first year college student not allowed to drink water from the same well as the second year college student? Are first year college student not allowed to sit on the same chair or drink from the same type of cups? Are the first year student told to tie a jhaadu on their back because they "dirty" the place they go to? Don't undermine the oppression faced by the lower caste people by making such stupid comparison.
@@akshitjain1623 obviously no, I am saying the teachings are right, but with time some people twisted those teachings. Just like current day constitutions of countries. sometimes. Politicians/public servants misuse their powers. That doesn't mean democracy is wrong. It simply means the laws written in constitution are not being followed in the right way.
superiority/levels are everywhere but that doesn't mean you can discriminate on that basis. You know what is discrimination a first year college student not allowed to sit in a third year students class. Just joking!
@@605ashishtomer6 because caste and university are genuinely completely different things to the point where you comparing them in this way is incomprehensible. like i literally don't know what you think is similar about the caste system and going to university.
love seeing fellow mallus being absolutely brilliant and concise. i grew up in a Muslim family and it was insane to see how casteism infiltrated our household, how the older generation held deep prejudices against those they saw as 'lower caste' even though we, as Muslims, hold practically the same role in current Indian society. it showed me how prevalent and insidious caste was in our society.
@@keepitprofessional2296 thanks for sharing brother
Caste has no place in Islam and such discrimination is against the basic pillar of Islam itself. Thats why you see people of all colours, financial backgrounds, age pray shoulder to shoulder together. Shame on your family for adopting the practices of others, they are just namesake Muslims seems like.
As a black American, this is VERY insightful and important to history of dehumanization, colorism, racism and so on. I subbed, and I’m glad you made this😊❤
@Seevawonderloaf, that's not her argument at all, and your comment shows you did not read her book
What About Racism Against Indian In African Country's, More Thrn 150 Years .?
@@greatkaafir7478lmao . If the Indians in those countries weren’t so colorist the relationship would be better
Bro read annihilation of caste by ambedkar
Biased historical materialist viewpoint
Coming from a Brahmin family the amount of casteism that is present (now that I see it in retrospect, hindsight is 20/20 ig) is shocking. When a relative of mine married someone outside our caste the comments that were made were so shocking I couldn't believe it. The talking points like "different culture" and "spoils the generation" sounded so abhorrent. When I pointed this the resistance towards accepting themselves to be casteist or even accepting what they said was wrong was really surprising. I used to believe casteism to be a problem in backward areas or almost abolished but the amount of casteism I experienced over time really opened my eyes to how prevalent casteism continues to be in India. Even in apparently "progressive" communities like my law school the comments I hear from well-educated future lawyers ( "I will only marry a Brahmin guy" " Upper castes are upper for a reason" and "the British invented casteism and now it's gone" ) are shocking and alarming. I really hope works like yours will help fight this social evil.
I was also raised Bhramin in the US and any perceived similarity to a less priviledged caste was harshly criticized. Why was it such a huge issue? They don't even realize how discriminatory they were being. And they cited "tradition" as the reason they upheld this discriminatory practice.
It's not only Brahmins.. there are tons of upper and middle classes
My father was a Dalit who married a Baidya. Throughout my life, I sided with my friends in school who would keep talking about how the reservation system is discriminatory. People who would, as you mentioned, hide behind the veil of "merit". When applying to schools and colleges, I would feel pressured to select the "general" quota just to blend in.
Then, I grew up, and did further reading on this subject. And then I came across this video. I feel like this is information that should be taught in schools throughout India.
Fuck the caste system.
Fuck discrimination in general
@@SirFailure Absolutely, that goes without saying. However, generalism doesn't really help a cause. For example, "All Lives Matter" serves little as a counter-argument to "Black Lives Matter", since it diffuses the primary reasoning for the latter. All types of discrimination are stupid, but we have to pick them apart specifically. Since this video is about caste, I chose to say "fuck the caste system".
But yeah, with that said... fuck discrimination in general.
@@JongiB96I absolutely agreed
@@SirFailurelove how you stated your piece and also approved of someone disagreeing with you in a constructive way. Good shit from everyone involved.
@@Rory-co4vm I mean, they offered me a very good argument. Why wouldn't I agree? The applause is for them, not me
A lot of this reminds me of how we treat the homeless in the U.S. oddly enough. We literally have laws against them even existing in certain places and build hostile architecture to keep them from sitting or sleeping near businesses because of how 'horrible' it would be for rich people to 'have to see them' and also how we generally don't even look at homeless people in the eye and are supposed to ignore them.
Oh my gosh I got a heart reaction from the creator! *heart explodes* I love it when that happens to my comments on CZcams. *swoons* Thank you. 😆
In that same breath, often it is homeowners locally voting to keep help for homeless out of their areas. If you've never gone to a homeowners meeting near you, I suggest you do and see just the kind of things they vote for. I live in an large urban area and the homeowners with big houses go and tell the town leadership they don't want any homeless shelters near them. It's such a problem boiling under our surface that everyone is willing to push the homeless out of sight, or like southern states just bus them off to a different state and make it someone else's problem. Without dealing with the underlying reasons for homelessness, a huge percentage of the US is one paycheck away from living on the streets.
this is a great connection! you see similar rhetoric surrounding the homeless too, with people speculating that they must be lazy, drug addicts, alcoholics, or some combination of all three. there's an association with the homeless being less than and deserving of their condition. and the same idea that if they just pulled them selves up they could one day rejoin the society that outcasts them.
I am so very happy to have stumbled upon your video! I am an African American/Black woman watching from the United States, and I have been very interested in the history of India, and its many subcultures. I'm even trying to learn Tamil. But trying to figure out what's what without being inundated with propaganda has proven to be very difficult. It's very hard to understand where the subjugation has its roots, but I recognize it from our own struggles here in the United States, and seek to know as much as possible. Keep up the amazing work!
Right wing hypernationalist propaganda definitely feels like the norm when you want to dive into the culture on youtube. There are progressive creators too though, I hope our community keeps growing 🤞🏽
I am a closeted queer girl from a telugu brahmin hindu household. I moved outside India to pursue my writing, because I am less afraid of being hate crimed overseas than existing as an outspoken queer & anti-hindutva writer in india. My pseudonym sounds white because I can’t find a telugu name that doesn’t carry a caste based surname without risking my and my family’s life.
I have never set foot in a village in my life. Yet this is my level of fear. That’s how prominent casteism in india is.
well queers are more hated in islam and christianity rather than hindutva...abhramic religions have banned lgbtq where hindutva government legalised being gay or lesbian...and please don not hide behind caste discrimination for for your lgbtq movement...both are totally different thing...as jaat from north india i get lot of hate from rajputs and brahmins because jaats are considered sudras but in 16th century jaats rebelled against rajput rulers and mughal rulers and seized the power from them and later brahmins had to accept the reality that jaats will not going to back down...
@@kuldeeprana1908I’m a white queer, and my boyfriends hindutva parents give us far more issue then any of our Muslim friends. Don’t be so quick to say “other people do it worse”
Your fear is grounded on reality or is it just irrational fear.
@AshishKumar-mb6fd if I'm afraid to tell the people I'm closest to in the world about my identity due to fear of threat to my life, I'd say it's founded.
మీరు ఎక్కడ ఏమి రాస్తారో చెప్పగలరా?
As an Indian-American who doesn't speak my parents native language, I'm always frustrated trying to learn more about India and my culture. Westerners seem to dominate the space on English youtube when it comes to describing Indian culture, politics, and history, and to me, it seems that they always misconstrew it or approach it with an orientalist lense. I hope that your channel is able to thrive!
If you are concerned about history then I will recommend Jai Vardhan Singh to you.
He is unbiased or for better word fact based, rest of the majority are either left(especially academics) or right(CZcams last 5 years phenomena).
@@sumitdutta7043
Hmmmm.... I wonder why academics lean left-wing... I wonder why those who are experts and scholars would be progressives and not fence-sitters... 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
What you learn from your parents is almost always false or at least sugar coated unless they are atheists and open minded. Read yourself
Same here! ❤
@@blorblin
Sociology is soft science. If ever there was a field that now the risk of an echo chamber, it'd be one like philosophy or sociology where there is almost nothing concrete
As a Dalit, thank you very much for this video. This topic is rarely discussed and we don't try to talk about it much because of the generation sufferring attached to it.
@@kronadc bruh step one : stop calling yourself dalit...the country is trying to make progress and overcome this caste nonsense ....things were terrible but we have made leaps of progress and will keep getting better ...the glass is half full !If you are keen on having a Hindu label go for your gotra name :)
@@ethos9403 why gotra tho, why not try to become an atheist rather than living in religion which put them on the lowest pedestat for centuries.
@@apoorvkaushik4061 Lol, who the hell are you to give reservations to Dalits? It's their right. Touch some grass.
@@apoorvkaushik4061maybe focusing on studying. Don’t blame us if you don’t get a seat because if your stupidity
@@curiash if reservation can be the answer for caste , thenwhy isint it solving caste issues ? why are there still poor sc sts ? cuz it never will . education will take you forward , caste wont . look at what bihar has done to itself . those who want development in themselves will rule over those who take pride on their history and reputation. applies same to those who call theselves upper castes
I think studying cast in India probably unlocks an anthropological key to understanding racism, classism, and colorism in all Indo-European cultures. I could be wrong but I think there’s deep history that we just haven’t discovered yet.
I don't think that's true at all. These are different cultures that have had & some still have their own unique systems of oppression. This caste system is unique to the Indian subcontinent.
And racism, classism & colorism in "Indo-European" (a very broad eurocentric category) has already been studied. It's not some kinda mystery. The scholarly work already exists, it's just you have to go out & discover & study it.
If you're interested read caste: the origin of our discontents by Isabel Wilkerson or the movie Origin based on the book. Both are amazing and discuss your point
@@MrTooEarnestOnline bro isnt making sense 😭😭😭🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
@@ambatuBUHSURK Would you like to address the books that were referenced?
We're interconnected with Old Iranian culture where Avestan was written rather than Europeans. Our Sanskrit language Brahmi script was literally like Old Iranian script. Iranians despite having linguistic similarities with Europeans developed their own distinctive culture from Europeans. Our ancestors were agriculturist/hunter gatherers in Modern day Iranian region before pushed by the another wave of migration coming from Europe. The reason why migrations happened in so many waves in India is because migration in Iran happened in many waves.
you've managed to both go into a lot of detail and remain clear and accessible to non-indian folks. there's a large indian diaspora community in my hometown, so i try to learn what i can so i can be a good neighbor. but i realized while watching this that i had unknowingly absorbed some hindu-centric, exoticized ideas about india that i've gotta work on deconstructing. not a fun realization, and my heart hurts hearing about how people have suffered and had their own cultural stories used as weapons to reinforce their status as an underclass. but if my half of an anthropology degree taught me anything, it's that the only way to dismantle my personal prejudices is to be open to being sad and uncomfortable for a bit. so thanks for making me sad and uncomfortable!
It's my pleasure! ❤
Caste starts from home, I have listened this non sense💩💩from childhood that "You should be proud that you are born in privileged upper caste or you should be proud of your identity" This proud attitude later turns to ego and a new casteist mentality person is born.
@@1996warmanwhat is caste identity though? I mean people all over the world have linguistic identity and national identity but why this caste identity is for indians only.?
@1996warman it's is rooted in what can be simplified as "i am inherently better than you are". That is caste. Nationality and ethnicity tend to come with that (see: white supremacy) but it is not *rooted* in that. The caste system (again, grossly simplified) is.
@@Nash5599 it stems from work, some jobs are looked down upon mostly physical labour
This is a very important topic that is barely discussed outside of the indian/south asian context, commenting to ensure the algorithm gives the exposure this video deserves.
Oh man been waiting for this one!!
Hiii Sajii
My favs interacted kyaa--👉👈
Thanks for watching yo!
You can help this video's performance in the algorithm by sharing it in your community tab
The whole video is just a one side of the coin which villianizes your ancestors saji sharma and you support it. Cu*k
Two hour video essay on caste? Don't mind if I do. But honestly, I have no words for how good this video is.
Same, I don’t care that’s it’s long because I literally know nothing about this part of Indian culture. It’s interesting to see similarities and differences from my own culture, specially in such a taboo, selfish and violent aspect of society. Not what you’d really have an easy time hearing about if you aren’t Indian.
This was extraordinary. A real triumph.
You've changed my whole understanding of the complexities of caste, and I'm very grateful. - Sarah
Hey Sarah! Thanks for watching!
I´m studying anthropology, and starting to look into hindu nationalism, this helped me understand an aspect to it that I have had a hard time wrapping my head around. Thank you so much.
I'm glad you could take something away!
First, focus on understanding what hinduism is. It's not a codified religion but a syncretism of indigenous beliefs that is incredibly varied. Also if youre comparing it against islam nationalism look at the disgusting slavish philoarabism of Pakistanis and if against sikh nationalism, muat mention the aryan invader hypothesis as many punjabis believe they have a genetic superiority over other indians.
Truly amazing video. As a creator from Kerala myself, there were so many questions i had particularly with respect to caste and Kerala. Questions that i deal with in my own content. But there was always a lack of clarity on some topics. Thank you for helping me answer them!
You can help this video's performance in the algorithm by sharing it in your community tab
@@Srijit1946which i will, after i finish watching
Hey! Thanks for watching, I'm glad you think so!
Big fan 💙💙💙💙 OM_5 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱 😱😱😱😱😱😱
@@Srijit1946 he did, that is what brought me here and then I saw that I was already subscribed :)
As a malayali this is a much needed course on history which we lack in our education system thanks
I’ve just started the video, but I’m commenting for the algorithm because I think this is such an important topic.
Kudos to you for the focus on Kerala. Large parts of kerala never came under extended period of chola, pandya, North Indian, muslim or European rule still was one of the most casteist parts of south Asia. It's a evidence to hold against against people who blame outsiders for caste system. Modern day kerala is a lot different due to influence of foreign religions, communism, anti caste movements, people like Narayana Guru and ayyankali but still casteism and racism hasn't diminished immensely
As a malayali with a very fragmented idea of Kerala history, especially the history of caste and religion in the state, this was truly eye-opening. It's a shame these facts are barely even touched upon, forget critically analysed, in our education system.
Grew up in a Brahmin family, but must of my family was quite anti casteism. I did grow up thinking casteism is only seen in pockets, because we didn't associate with casteism people, and actually chastised or casteist relatives. The fact that it is illegal to discriminate based on caste is a good start, but unfortunately there seems to be an ingrained cultural belief that needs to be broken.
This is terrific. As someone who has been frustrated by the increase of RSS brainrot in media and attempts to minimize caste discrimination in India, I don’t think there could have been a more thoughtful exploration of the topic, Rohan. This is an amazing essay and I will be sharing it widely. Thank you again for your hard work!
What does RSS have to do with it? U R revealing your ignorance & prejudice and showing that you're merely a product of biased propaganda, trying to disparage what you don't truly understand.
It's kind of telling that people don't realise that Savarkar was extremely anti caste, although his point was that caste divisions hurt Hindu unity
Caste system isn't even originally Hindu but the gradual corruption of varna system.
@@user-us4ss2wd9twatch the video dumbahh
@@user-us4ss2wd9t Did you watch the video?
Only realized you uploaded this when i saw the community post with the massive list of references/resources. Glad I saw something pop up, because I've been waiting for this one to drop
This video sums up Caste from different dimensions: Theological, Ideological, Political, Historical, Economical, Socio-cultural, and Psychological. Thank you for educating.
Thanks for watching! I appreciate it!
CZcams recommendation worked for once. So glad to find your channel. Eta/Himin is still discriminated in Japan although it's a lot less common... I was just thinking of the similarities when you mentioned it. Thank you for your video!!
Fantastic; as a Black American myself, the similarities and challenges we share with lower caste Indians is remarkable, sad, and a powerful link of solidarity between us
One big difference though, Blacks have lot of representation in media.
But Bahujan or oppressed caste 70% population, have no representation in media.
There's not a single big star from Bahujan in Bollywood, compared Hollywood.
@@sorenutpal6091 You might want to look into the history of Black representation in Hollywood media, and how it is still quite segregated. Also, how Black stars are perceived is still different from white ones. There is tons of nuance and Black media for white audiences in America didn't start in earnest until the 1980s.
@@sorenutpal6091 You know why? because the libs in america are actually productive & have more capital to fund representation in america. Also, US still has horrible representation for black people.
@@betzalelabrams2177 Thankyou OP, I see a lot of people orientalising lower caste Indians all the time. I've always seen it as an attempt by many westerners to detach themselves from their own horrible history & current reality of caste system. All racially oppressed share their struggles & suffer under the same systems. This is acknowledgment is very important to push against oppression with solidarity and alliance.
As soon as I finish this video I’m gonna do a deep dive into the resources. This is really important research and education work man seriously.
To see someone finally understand the complexity of the impact this ‘ideology’ has on our society is so refreshing, this was great man, seriously. A clear study on how casteism ties in with colonisation, religion and politics without any bias is literally so rare, and for it to be done so wonderfully. In simpler words, you ate.
Thank you! I'm glad you liked it, although I will admit that I have a leftist bias tbh. Thanks for watching!
Only a few minutes in and I'm already convinced this will be one of my favourite video essays this year. Glad to have found your channel through this video!
Thanks for watching!
This video is the definition of perfection. I need to watch it multiple times because it is so very insightful and dense with valuable information for anyone who even slightly care about the world. The caste system as explained here perfectly demonstrates how any system of oppression and power works in essence and I feel like I understand the world a lot better now. Thank you so much for this video and I feel so blessed to have found this gem of a channel amidst all the anglocentric leftist voices and channels.
I wish good luck and victory to all my Indian comrades in their struggle for a just world, from Iran ✊
Thank you so much for this fantastic video. As a Black & Indigenous femme in the US, I get really exhausted by US-centric dialogue about systems of structural oppression, and your channel + content has been very helpful, enriching, and clarifying. I shared with in as many places and spaces that made sense and hope folks stay around!
I'm struggling to put to words how well made and informative this video is. I've always had the foundations from a very young age, but even now I'm still shocked by how little I knew.
This should be shown in every single private posh school where opressor caste kids are brainwashed to "ignore" caste inequalities
Only started the video, never watched anything on this channel before but already 100% sure this will be gold quality content. Thank you algorithm
I am glad to see more content about India. India is growing as a world power and it is about time we got a better analysis than what we get in the West typically.
My algorithm is ON POINT!!!! Thank you for this video sharing what a lot of ppl don’t want to acknowledge…I ABSOLUTELY APPRECIATE THIS!
Randomly suggested by the algorithm so first commenting to boost further. Secondly, I don't typically blast through a feature-length video-essay in one sitting but I started watching this, left to run errands while listening, and now I'm back home watching again, near the end. Fascinating video, man. I knew a bit of surface-level stuff about historical and contemporary caste, but the amount of detail you impart is outstanding. Amazing. Gonna work my way back through the rest of your stuff and look forward to your next piece.
I appreciate you using the terms "privileged" and "marginalised" castes rather than "upper" and "lower". Well made content, I hope it reaches those who are capable of introspection and personal change.
I have lived my entire life in northwestern Europe and went to an international school. I had several indian friends and one of them told me privately that she comes from a Brahmin family (and our other Indian friend didnt) and how you could tell by her surname. I (as someone with parents from the ussr (white) and now a socialist) was so confused as to why she was proud of that. I learnt a little bit about the decolonisation of India and the partition between it and Pakistan in Middle school so i was aware of the caste system (didn't know much about it other than the discrimination that arose from) so it was baffling to me as to why she was showing off the fact to me that she was at the top of it. It was so strange to me how proud she was of her caste, primarily because of how the caste system opresses others, but also that she thought it was relevant information for me to know. I have always been critical of class issues so I don't understand how she thought that my class consciousnes would translate to me being happy? that she is a brahmin
Yup! That is unfortunately common even outside India. When you have co-workers as well in international companies who aren't as socially aware or educated on caste, they tend to boast about being a kshatriya or brahmin. It kind of functions like how some white people don't consider other white people to be white enough. Delusion. A reach for status, and entitlement to better treatment
You shld tell her how the british rulers of india treated every indian as equal ; Every british club had a notice which read “INDIANS & DOGS ARE NOT ALLOWED” 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Good job , bros. I'm glad to see the caste idea disappears over generations once Indians leave India. I once told a fellow Indian-heritage person in Canada that I came from a Brahmin family, where upon he immediately told me not to tell anyone else since other Indian people might not like hearing that. He came from a lower caste, seems obvious then and now, and still feels the angst of caste as a second generation immigrant.
The moment you mentioned Ayan Kali I was absolutely assured that you knew what you were talking about. You researched very well and presented it in a very considerate manner.
So glad to have found this channel, thank you for putting so much effort into this piece. Will share as widely as I can within my circles.
Wow this was very eye opening. As a person of Afro-Caribbean descent I figured Indian caste was basically white supremacy and believed that it was built on simple genetic factors like color. But defining the Jati, Varna system as a temple centric brahmanical system of resource and labour management, that requires the total control of women's bodies, shows how it's both like white supremacy and way more complex. Its justifications seem so much more flexible, due to thousands of years of conflicting tradition. The way other minority religions related to this system was something i never understood until this video. The fact that this system was not indigenous to southern India and that waves of both domestic and foreign colonizer elites used it to subjugate the indigenous people of Kerala and appropriate/manage their local culture really blew my mind though. Thanks for making this I really learned a lot.
you summarized it perfectly
Regarding concerns for a longform video, this format is what I come to CZcams for in the first place. I love having as full a picture of a topic as possible, and thank you for providing this particular piece of insight : )
just finished the video and i’m excited to read further about the historical and modern politics of caste in india and around the world from your source list. coming from the indian hindu diaspora in america, i’ve never really understood this topic, or this history of hinduism or caste. and my borderline hindutva family isn’t of any help. i’m interested in learning more about how the popularized hindu mythology, like vishnu’s avatars, justifies and perpetuates the caste system. also i love learning about new revolutionaries from the colonized world. anyways, thank you for making this amazing video essay!!!!!
I had no idea hindutva was so prevalent even in the US! Thought it was more of a subcontinent-and-surroundings thing but the fact that it's made it's way there is 😵💫🤯
Grateful your video made it to my feed 🙏🏾 Much love from a Haitian who learned so much today 💗
Half way through the video but stopped to invoke the algorithm gods to bless this much needed exposure of the caste reality that the world is still mostly blind to.
thank you so much for this amazing analysis. i am often frustrated due to the lack of resources and online media related to topics and social issues which plague my country, you shedding light is such a breath of fresh air.
I am still in disbelief that India has not removed the system of Caste in its constitution, which is a secular democracy if I remember correctly. However I understand the British roll as to why this continues to exist as it is today. I've read UNTOUCHABLES by Narendra Jadhav and it really surprised me that such a system openly exist in the open.
Constitution has banned caste based discrimination but in a lawless country like india who will follow it? The situation is a mirror of the condition between blacks (African Americans) and whites in USA legally it's banned but internally it thrives.
@@dikvijaysingh5896 Okay, I know exactly what you mean. Sought of like how racism and discrimination are illegal but it's still thriving in America and the rest of the world.
@@NeilHadynNicholson yes exactly.
India’s Constitution was largely drafted by an Untouchable who actually spent time in the U.S. and found commonality with the plight of African Americans. True story.
THANK YOU FOR THIS!!! This is literally a pot of gold Recently we covered varna system in history class expect it was just glided over teacher just said to mark the parts which will come for exam which sucked caste is a very complex issue and very relevant now what with gov arguing to subcategorise reserved-category groups and all (plus being malayali means i learn more about my land through this too)
You're welcome!
I am from an OBC caste from Tamil Nadu which is super casteist against anyone who is not from the same community, heck even from the same sub caste. Over the years I have gotten myself into plenty arguments with my relatives about this issue and they end the conversation by pointing out that I am a communist even though they are the ones that bring it up knowing my stance on the issue. What I am implying is most people dont care if the lower caste people are constantly mistreated in every strata of Indian society, they just repeat "Dalit bad" arguments or "Dalit with BMW". I appreciate you going into detail about the system that has plagued our country for centuries when many mainstream channels wouldnt bother
Suprised to hear the prevalence of casteism in a state like TN which gave birth to social reformers like Thiruvalluvar,Ayyankali, T. Chennaiah and the first state in the country to start using their father/mother's name instead of their inherent caste
@@mandeep1099 Where do you think more honour killings occur???
@@Flying_Spaghetti_Monsterr most probably in the North Indian states such as UP, Bihar, Rajasthan
Hi, Rohan. Great video. Just a teeny point of correction - Chinese style fishing nets are also used in another part of India, in my home state, Manipur. Though I did not know they were used in Kerala? Guess that makes it even, lol.
Yo that's awesome! I need to check that out, thanks for pointing it out brother :)
Leaving a comment because this video really needs to be boosted in the algorithm
The most comprehensive video on caste in India. Looking forward to more such videos on social issues. All the best!
I found your channel completely by accident when i was watching Arun Annow's stream and I'm so glad I did. I'm half indian/half russian and for the longest time i was fed the narrative that i should detach myself from my "indian side"(white supremacy is extremely prevalent in Russia obviously), in addition to that my father was the most basic type of hindu right wing guy, loved Modi, definitely a nationalist and so on. So i grew up being fairly detached from the indian side of me, but becoming an adult and embracing it has made me so much more content. I was curious about the political landscape in India, about history, and researching all these things has bought a lot of pain but also has been an amazing experience for me. Arun was my first window into that, and i got a lot of reading recommendations from your channel and i've been reading a lot! It's heartbreaking and brings a feeling of rage most of the time, but I'm so happy there are people like you and Arun to educate and explain the ahistorical, racist, colorist, fascist narratives that are fed to us our entire lives. Thank you so much for making this video, I will be looking through your reference list for sure! You're doing amazing work🥰
I’m so grateful for the time, passion, and energy that went into the creation of this video! I’ve learned so much during this academic and artistic masterpiece!
Fantastic job man! I only managed to get done showing this to stream today, but you did a phenomenal job explaining caste to my western audience.
Thanks for watching dude!
I was introduced to the caste concept via a set text in school called Ninema. I am african(kenyan) so I am grateful that i found this video that fully explains it. Thanks great video.
As a white person raised in France, I heard about the caste system in school from my teacher (even part of some schoolbooks and programs) but it was definitely not in such a complete way, the way I remember it and the general impression it left me growing up (intentionally or not) was that it kinda was to make us white people especially from imperialist countries look "less bad" for oppressing people from colonized countries or ethnic minorities in the country, like it really felt like the lesson to learn from it was that "eh humans are just mean to each other oftentimes, yes it's bad but like it is what it is" rather than explaining that both the kind of racism we have in France and the caste system were the results of a history of power structures and economic exploitation.
The way discrimination in general was explained in school was that some people were oppressed (in a not actually formally pointed out economic way) was because they looked different or had a different culture, rather than pointing out the fact that precisely because exploiting some demographics is convenient for some more privileged people, they are actively othered to prevent any kind of class conscience and/or solidarity to emerge between workers of different hierarchized groups.
Thank you very much for this video that brings me more elements to understand power struggles around the world and in history, may the working class unite against their oppressors
This is amazing, fascinating, brave and beautiful work - thank you for making this brother.
@@TheCCBoi thanks for watching brother 🤟🏽
I have only watched a small part of video till now but I must say that it is meticulously researched.
Marco polo notes about coromandel coast
"The climate is so hot that all men and women wear nothing but a loincloth, including the king-except his is studded with rubies, sapphires, emeralds and other gems. Merchants and traders abound, the king takes pride in not holding himself above the law of the land, and people travel the highways safely with their valuables in the cool of the night"
So clothing to discriminate came later after 12th century. Everyone was wearing just a loincloth. Sea faring Trading was common before that as well.
Just like the other bro in the comments, I too grew up in a Brahmin family with the notion of brahmin superiority fixed in every aspect of conversation at home. Thankfully I didn't grow up in the South from where my parents were, so the reality of life outside vs at home was already a bit off and then eventually reading Annihilation of Caste and going deep into all of the injustices have made me rethink and realize how messed up the country was and continues to be. I wish I could do more to help, but speaking out against this injustice everytime I am home with my parents and calling out their bs (along with calling out islamophobia) is what I do now. I am glad you made this video - keep at it!
Such an incredible, well-researched, spectacularly scripted video, Rohan. Thank you for all the work you’ve put into this + previous videos.
Can’t wait for Desi BreadTube to fully own and talk about our own histories of oppression, expression, and existence. More power to you!🤝👊🏼
Thanks! I'm hoping more progressive Indians make content in this space 🤞🏽
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All these people acting like caste was invented by colonizers make me so angry. How can we accept this when our ancestors were so brutalized
in judiciary we still find upper caste domination
i can't believe i didn't discover you until now. this is such a great video and it's been pretty amazing to find indian video essayists
@@lefthandderivative thanks for watching! I'm glad you found it!
A 2 hour India secret lore video lol. After hours of shuffling through mindless garbage on CZcams, I find this masterpiece.The algorithm have blessed me.
This is amazingly well researched and executed. We need more of this on CZcams and less of the brain rot memes.
Rohan, I don't know where to start. This is one of the most intricate, thorough, intimate historic, and material analysts I've heard in a long time.
I study the far right and was raised a zionist myself, and in deepening my understanding of dialectics, this historic and material analysis has been genuinely mind blowing
Thank you
"The British invented the caste system."
Then why didn't the system leave with them?
They forgot or intentionally didn't removed it by laws or by mistake.
@@ankit5820the British left India with many things, none were unintentional
informationwise economically socially culturally living in mostly upper castes circles relatives friends (((( i said mostly and other non UCastes living in influence of info worldview which savarnas are were comfortable to se know remember recors delete/remove from talks/views/ideas n memory about talks ugly violence traifition thoughts discrimination incidents/stories/histories done by heierachially upper caste relative to lower castes maintained and justifies/safegaurded by religious mythology/fooling-stories traition of every upper castes etc etc )))) will take ur comment as real but not sarcasm. Simply taking record of something and defining the real observations of society throughout sub continent of india doesn't make a thing someones' creation but record. recording female infanticide in india/haryana doesn't make a person/agency/media infanticide inventor just like observing casteism racism crime doesn't make them an invention/crration of someone but explanation/recording by the. british didn't created indus civilization/mauryan empire/gupta empire but smply studies them in archeology (ASI). It was always there.
One should read Dalit literature which exists becuz mainstream Profs/scholars don't like or r comfortable/happy to see/talk let know anyone about it( mostly knowingly and few unknowingly created s by knowers n hiders of caste n castiesm for thier DISHONEST/MISCHIEVIOUS senses and caste sustainability.
British catalysed the pre existing caste discrimination by introducing caste and ethnicity based law.
@@AshishKumar-mb6fd very similarly creating law on rape murder, love jihad, violence, physical/online abuse, fraud. adultery, unethical malpractices in anything in world and india actually not makes them identified as law in made on them but actually catalyzes ( only for those who r in question and who have identification with them feels sieriously frabbergested/frustrated as thier culture/tradition of inherent caste by birth establishment nd discrimination history associated wid it gets a record and a criminal identification). britishers didn't made law of reservation, ban of devdasi, S/St act, etc etc mandal commission, kelkar commision, methods of organised study of caste/crime/violence observationns etc. religion wasn't created by them although they made laws against sati. LAWS On sati, tribals as criminals before independence and laws on sc/st act, education/crime/ , Black marriage didn't made them aggravated but as it is an inherent property of brahminism/hinduism to make it 99% by birth. those who don't make thier caste certificate that is upper castes or non obc/sc/st must have had erased caste among them becuz it's not instrinsic to sustain n create caste in brahmnism which has existed and reshaped continiously through history by religion by enveloping caste sustenance and beleif finely into ppl along with non offence and sharp observation but blind beleif on hinduism/brahminism( via making relative upper lower castes diff in status,economy,tradition/skills.lack-of-mechanism for profession changing along with putting fodder/chaff/straw/husk/bhusa in minds of ppl in name of religion. whole relgion makes to justify hide n sustain at large scale in one or mpre ways in terms of quality/no./times/regions to sustain difference to save the structure in name of religion.
Thank you so much for this video! As someone practising Indian Classical Arts who sees the effect caste dynamics have in that field but is not Indian themselves and lacks a lot of historical context, this was extremely interesting and educational!
@@laurabohlander5985 would love to hear your comments on this (the caste dynamics in Indian classical arts) have you read the works of T.M Krishna?
@@peace8096 I've read a few articles and heard him speak a few times and I really admire his approach. The reaction to him from certain artists was very shocking to me. I think in general there is a big issue many brahmin artists have with acknowledging devadasis and other artists of the past who did not come from prestigious caste backgrounds. There's this need to tie the arts purely to natyashastra and ignoring the humans who shaped the arts before and after. But that's a topic that could take 20 books to discuss properly I feel.
Commenting for the engagement. Also, you have my eternal gratitude for covering this topic with such depth! Big Salute Brother!!!
I keep returning to this vid to drill it into my memory. So many great analyses! Brilliant comparison of caste to Dubois' theories about how capital intersects with race: "This binding of one's blood line and occupation" EXACTLY! The "division of laborers" rather than "division of labor." Later on, it's always great to see Arundhati Roy's insight; I'd never read The Doctor And The Saint, but now it's on my reading list! I'm also so grateful for the segment about ryomin and senmin; I'd never heard of these before! God it would take forever to name all the new and enriching things I learned from this vid alone, and your other vids! Heavy topics treated with care and dignity, not sensationalized, just examined with a critical eye. Cannot thank you enough for this hard work.
If you do decide to read that informative and revealing book by Ms Roy, I would suggest to also read Mr Nishikant Kolge's 'Gandhi Against Caste'. I believe that this would be beneficial as Ms Roy's work, in my view, is not exactly fair and completely accurate when it comes to assessing Mahatma Gandhi and his relationship with caste.
@@MrPeaceGuy54 Thanks for the rec!
@@amywhelan4888 My pleasure!
Before getting into the video, the fact that you ran out of space for references for this video deserves admiration. Caste is a topic that I've always wanted to get into, but have been put off by procrastination. Seeing someone dedicate time to this topic makes me happy.
India needs to get it together 😢 a caste doesn't dictate someone character skin tone doesnt dictate character.... especially when it seems it's something your born into base on family status etc just because your wealthy doesn't mean your civil...there are so many terrible powerful wealthy ppl in the world... Why did the Ambani need to mention their caste at their tragically overly excessive wedding... I'm not expert im so far removed from my south Asian ancestors and very much American but still what's wrong with ppl why are ppl still applying caste to anything
Money is the only caste.
A lot of harmless traditions are associated with caste and not everyone wishes to give up on them. Ambani, as a citizen of India is free to mention his caste as long he is not using it for discrimination. In a recent wedding in my family, the bride and groom also told their caste (and gotra) as part of the ceremony. The wedding was attended by people of different caste, color, and religion.
@@kumarsaurabh9456 to be honest there are wealthy people in Bollywood who marry others not of the same background as them etc... however I felt the need to speak on them mentioning their caste well because, clearly its still matters and I am calling in too question if its even relevant, there are many customs people in usa had that have little to no relevancy today. Why defend them? What does it mean to you
@@Truthseeker7771000 It's better to not project your thoughts on others if we want to peacefully co-exist in a multicultural society. People are free to decide what's relevant to them. That's the whole point of freedom of expression. And that's exactly what I was defending in my comment. I mentioned Ambani because you talked about him. The same would apply to any citizen of India.
I haven't watched the video yet but this is exactly what I've been needing. I've been very curious about India's caste system lately.
I'm not even 8 minutes in and I'm already blown away by the writing. It's criminal that you only have 17k subscribers.
I'm flattered you think so!
My Parents at Brahmins and immigrated to the US to have me. I didn’t even know about the caste system until I was in middle school and didn’t know where we stood in it till much later.
My cousin on the other hand had his parents grow up in Australia. He is only 10 but he is very involved in Hindu culture there and weaponizes his caste to mistreat other kids. It’s awful. Mind you this is in Australia, not India.
This is a fantastic piece; I've been hankering for an in-depth discussion about caste especially in relation to South India and you come up with a buffet. What a chad!
The Caste system was something I've always wanted to understand more of. As a Haitian American woman who as dealt with predudice and racism in a different way, and frequently watched Bollywood films. I saw some parallels of the overall systematic oppression and would be so upset about it. However, I always felt that the conversation of the caste system in the movies were always challenged. Like when a man from a different caste fell in love with a woman in a different caste etc. Which gave me a (now false) sense of improvement in the over all conversation of the system. I'm so glad that you are doing an deep dive in a part of your culture that, to be honest, is unfair. I've subscribed and liked this video!
@@michieadonaie6187 thanks for watching! If you'd like to see another Indian film that have overtones of caste built into its plot, check out Bramayugam, its from my state of Kerala, in the malayalam language. Jai Bhim is another good one. Caste is dealt with in a strange way sometimes too though in mainstream movies out of bollywood, especially in action ones, where the main character is almost always a privileged caste, fair skinned man and they signal it overtly by having a scene showing or saying the man's full name signifying caste status to the audience. Its odd, and worth study
@rohanxdavis Of course! And thank you so much for recommending these movies to me. I am in the mood to watch a Bollywood after watching you video. So these recommendations came just in time. I'm also excited to see your state of Kerala because I like to make it a habit to find foreign films that aren't based in the capital or major well known cities. You are right about how caste is presented in some of these films are jarring. Oh gosh yeahhh, its like does it or does it not matter what caste this man or woman is in? Mixed messaging for sure. Also the antagonist is typically dark skinned. Which then brings up the conversation of the correlation on colorism. Which is a issue that exist in the Caribbean. In the country of Haiti where my parents are from. They see lighter skinned or mixed Haitians to be greater than.
excellent as always, thank you for your hard work mate!!!
@@yonowaaru thanks for watching!
Thank you for this, new subscriber. As a south-Asian from the Trinidadian diaspora, I learned how to be Indian from Hindutva perspective. It never resonated with me and I rejected it outright, but always felt like I had lost touch with my culture in the process. I'm glad to hear that my instincts were right, that the culture I rejected are steeped in supremacy and there's MUCH more to being 'Indian' than that culture has to say.
@@van_trini13 definitely! Thanks for watching friend!
Spot on!!
While the system may have originally come as a division of labor or whatever, one cant deny the fact that due to corruption by upper castes, it became something to serve the casteist needs than simple division where migration across occupations could be done. Instead of blaming the british or whoever , we should take responsibility in the modern age as we no longer are ruled by anyone but ourselves. This pass the parcel of blames from british to whoever serves no purpose, other than maintaining the status quo
I was really looking forward to this video!
Though i will def need to watch all the way through a few times to really digest everything😉
Somehow my watch history of religious studies and social justice brought me here, and I'm glad! Your video is amazingly detailed and very informative. I haven't had much exposure to Indian culture and knew very little of it's history, but now I think I have some major reading to do. Please do keep up the excellent work, I'll be keeping an eye out!
Underrated channel, your videos are well researched and well presented on topics that arent represented enough on youtube
AMAZING video. i wanted to wait till the end to comment. this depth is sorely missing from most video essays. you really brought so much clarity to a topic i knew nothing about- i immensely appreciate it, and feel that i have a far greater understanding of the world after watching. thank you!
@@noahmorris1015 thanks for watching! I'm glad you could take something away from it :)
Man, I’ve been looking for more videos that talk about the history of the caste system for awhile now and this is one of the first ones i’ve seen that presents it from an anti-oppressive lens, rooted in collective liberation. that’s seriously challenging but important work. thank you for this resource!! had me learning and laughing the whole time 👏🏽
@@Speedypallow im glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks for this video. It's so hard to get this information especially in my position. My father is upper caste hindu and my mother is Muslim. We aren't really very ethnic since their marriage came with an initial degree of separation from either culture. When my older brother was born, the families came around and I've only known them to be kind to us and my parents (my grandmother was the only one that had an issue with it actually but she came around when my brother was born). My Muslim side, while very learned know little to nothing about it. My hindu side either essentialize it reductively either to dismiss or advance casteism. The abundance of brahmins in american academia has resulted in an unspoken aversion to covering the issue and not knowing Hindi or Tamil makes it all but impossible to differentiate educators from propagandists on CZcams. Thank you so much for teaching me something I'd for so long been denied.
Are your parents irreligious or do they still practice respective religions? How does your mom reconcile with the fundamental conflict of monotheism vs idol worship ?
I’m commenting for the algorithm. You put a lot of work into this video and I’m interested in more deep dives into the history of India. India is one of the most historically rich nations in human history.
I've been waiting for a video like this.
I haven’t watched the full vid but Learned a lot from comments. Say no to ignorance, attachment and aversion. Nirvana to all
what an INCREDIBLE video. well researched, meticulous, balanced. everything a video essay should be
I've been excited for this video since you announced you were making it! thank you for educating us on this horrible system of oppression