India’s caste system is a social hierarchy that historically divided people into groups based on occupation and family background. The system consists of four main categories (varnas): Brahmins (priests and scholars), Kshatriyas (warriors and rulers), Vaishyas (merchants and farmers), and Shudras (laborers). Communities who were socially excluded from this hierarchy were known as Dalits (untouchables) who were assigned jobs that were considering “polluting” or “impure” (e.g. scavenging, waste disposal and leatherworking).
The Indian government has provided affirmative action since 1921, known as caste-based reservation, through reserved seats in education, jobs, and politics in three tiers: Scheduled Castes (untouchables), Scheduled Tribes (indigenous people), and OBCs (economically disadvantaged people with little upward mobility).