Over time social rules developed that made the divisions between jatis more important and permanent. People in one jati group were not allowed to marry people from another group. The rules among these groups became more formal and complex. The development of jati social groups in India created a system in which a person who was born into a group was not allowed to change groups at any point in life. The Portuguese, who came to India in the 1400s, called this system the caste system, and it remained a dominant force in Indian society for many centuries.

The system today consists of several major castes, which were based on the original orders of ancient Indian society and thousands of subcastes. Today, most people in South Asia, regardless of religion, are treated as belonging to one caste or another. There is an additional social group that is considered to be outside of the caste system. The Dalits were traditionally treated as outcasts who were forced to remain in occupations that were believed to be impure or unclean. For this reason, many began to refer to Dalits as “Untouchables.” In the 1900s, the famous activist Mohandas Ghandi introduced the name Harijans, or “children of God,” as a name for this caste. The government of India calls this group the “Scheduled Caste.” Today, many consider the terms “Untouchable” and “Harijan” to be hurtful.

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