Like many other descent groups, caste membership is assigned at birth and impossible to change. Unlike most other descent groups, caste membership also places one within a particular social and occupational category. There are a multitude of castes in India, which are placed within four varnas , broader categories ranked along a hierarchy of purity, from the lowest Shudras to the highest Brahmins.
Most castes are endogamous.
The term is generalized to refer to groups in other societies where occupation and social ranking are irreversibly assigned at birth. This Anthropology Web Ring site is owned by Jeff Iverson . All Rights Reserved Worldwide.