Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2022 August 24

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August 24

Do all Indian subcontinent people know their caste or varna?

Okay, I'm sure it's not all, but do the great majority? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.130.152.125 (talk) 17:25, 24 August 2022 (UTC)

That is, aside from the ST people who may not have one? 24.130.152.125 (talk) 17:28, 24 August 2022 (UTC)

Wikipedia has an article titled Caste system in India which may be useful for you. You can read that article and arrive at your own conclusions. --Jayron32 18:07, 24 August 2022 (UTC)

"Varnas" are overall wide classifications, often theoretical. For many Indians, their "jati" is more important to them in their daily lives (and was the social group which traditionally regulated marriage). AnonMoos (talk) 22:43, 24 August 2022 (UTC) |

From what I've read (can't quote the exact source), most Indians can easily identify which caste a fellow Indian belongs to, based on their Surname. Certain surnames are generally associated with certain castes. I'm not sure that this rule will cover 100% of "caste identification", but it's a general starting point. Eliyohub (talk) 05:43, 25 August 2022 (UTC)

Eliyohub -- I would suspect that many such surname associations may be somewhat regional, rather than nationwide... AnonMoos (talk) 05:56, 25 August 2022 (UTC)