Indian Social Structure

The Shanar women converts began to wear tailored blouses and clothes to cover themselves like the upper castes in 1820s. Complaints were filed in court against this dress change. but this did not prevent Shanar Christian women and even Shanar Hindus from adopting the blouse and upper cloth.
The abolition of slavery in Travancore in 1855 led to riots and attacks on the Shanar women by the upper castes. Their houses were looted and chapels burned, Finally, a proclamation was passed permitting the Shanar women to wear jackets, but not like the women of high caste.

The Shanar women were attacked because they began wearing jackets to cover their upper bodies, which challenged the social norms and caste hierarchies of the Nairs.

Shanar was the caste in India generally prohibited from using umbrellas and wearing shoes or golden ornaments as they were considered lower community. Shanar is a Tamil caste of South India and Srilanka. They were also called as Nadars.

When European traders first began frequenting India, they were distinguished from the Indian ‘turban wearers’ as the ‘hat wearers.’  These two headgears not only looked different, they also signified different things. The turban in India was not just for protection from the heat but was a sign of respectability, and could not be removed at will. 

The Vedic people were primarily pastoralists, relying on cattle and other livestock for their livelihood.

The Brahmins were the priestly class and held the highest position in the social hierarchy during the Vedic Period.

Sikhism, founded by Guru Nanak, strongly emphasizes social equality and rejects caste-based discrimination, promoting unity and brotherhood among all individuals.

Gender stratification is not a common form of social stratification, as it is not based on the same hierarchical principles as caste, class, and racial stratification.

While the media often portrays caste as a rigid and hierarchical system, a source of discrimination and oppression, and a factor that determines an individual's social status, it rarely portrays caste as a positive aspect of Indian culture.

The media contributes to the perpetuation of caste stereotypes by presenting caste as a fixed and unchanging aspect of an individual's identity, portraying inter-caste marriages as taboo or problematic, and reinforcing the idea that caste determines an individual's abilities and opportunities.

Caste hegemony refers to the process by which caste is reproduced and reinforced through media representations. It involves the naturalization and normalization of caste-based social hierarchies and the marginalization of counter-narratives.

The Manusmriti, an ancient Indian legal text, prescribes that a woman's primary duty is to be obedient to her husband, emphasizing the patriarchal nature of the society.

The exact social structure of the Indus Valley Civilization is not known.

All of the above factors contributed to the social change in India after independence.

Ambedkar viewed the caste system as a complex phenomenon that permeated all aspects of Indian society, including religion, economics, and politics. He argued that it was necessary to address all of these dimensions in order to effectively combat caste discrimination.