Jatis (the word literally means "births") comprise the subcastes found within the four major castes, or varnas, of the Indiancaste system. Each jati typically has an association with a traditional job function in Hindu society, although religious beliefs (e.g. Sri Vaishnavism or Veera Saivism) or linguistic groupings define some jatis. A person's surname typically reflects a jati association: thus Gandhi = greengrocer, Dhobi = washerman, Srivastava = military scribe, etc. In any given location in India 500 or more jatis may co-exist, although the exact composition will differ from district to district. Birth is the process in animals by which an offspring is expelled from the body of its mother. ... Jump to: navigation, search The terms Varna and Sub-caste (Jati) are actually two distinct concepts. ... The word Caste is derived from the Portuguese word casta, meaning lineage, breed or race. ... Jump to: navigation, search It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Hindu people. ... Vaishnavism is the branch of Hinduism in which Vishnu or one of his avatars is worshipped as the supreme God and is a monotheistic faith. ...
Many jatis found today in India readily parallel those in the most ancient Hindu texts, indicating that these social groupings have continued uninterrupted since pre-historic times. An important text, the Laws of Manu, c. 200, codified the social relations between caste groups. The Manu Smriti or Laws of Manu, is one of the eighteen Smritis of the Dharma Sastra (or laws of righteous conduct), written c. ...
It is believed that the jati system ossified from an original occupation-based classification into a hereditary classification with attendant rules forbidding marriage between jatis.
Jati comes from the root jan meaning "to beget" or "to produce" and is used to denote origin and the group or class which something belongs to.
In terms of caste, jati is the social stratum in which one is born.
The actual rank of a jati is not so much due to social and occupational practices of the members but is more because of the purity of the souls of the members resulting from their previous lives.
Jati is not caste, but became so under colonial rule (Dirks did a lot of good research on this).
Jati means real working community of birth, marriages, of profession, culture and religion (closer to the widely (mis)understood meaning of caste; varna, however, means the social rank, status, order (closer to class).
Ignoring the conceptual distinction between “jati” and “varna” (which is sometimes deliberate and ideologically motivated) doesn’t help either a deeper understanding of the origins of the system or serious efforts to combat the distortions that have crept in.
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