ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on understanding the essential features of the caste system: its origin, its evolution into a unique system of stratification, its comparison with other such systems and also the comparison between its victims, the Dalits, with those of others. The political theory held that caste system was the result of political conspiracy of Brahmans to secure control over the functions of the society. Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar assumes extraordinary importance because of his lifelong devotion to the cause of Dalits emancipation. The pervasiveness of the caste system over the vast subcontinental space and its becoming a ‘lifeworld’ of people must lead us to search for some more enduring material factors than purely ideological ones. The worst feature of the caste system vis-à-vis slavery is the opposite consciousness they produce and also their processes of production. While caste consciousness strengthens the caste system, slave consciousness resists the system of slavery. Race relations are physical, whereas caste relations are cultural.
