Different occupational groups came to constitute separate social divisions,…
2026
Different occupational groups came to constitute separate social divisions, and these groups of people pursuing the same vocation came to be known as:
Answer: A. Jati — Concept: Traditional Indian social structure is described by two distinct indigenous categories that operate at different scales. Varna is the fourfold…
- A.
Jati
- B.
Class
- C.
Varna
- D.
Caste
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Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Concept: Traditional Indian social structure is described by two distinct indigenous categories that operate at different scales. Varna is the fourfold scriptural ordering of society into brahmana, kshatriya, vaishya and shudra — four broad ritual-functional orders recognised across the subcontinent. Jati is the far more numerous local unit: a hereditary, endogamous community conventionally identified with one particular occupation. The English word caste, from the Portuguese casta, is the umbrella label later applied to this system as a whole.
Application: The stem describes groups formed out of people who follow the same vocation, with membership passed down within the group. That is the jati level of the structure rather than the varna level: as occupational specialisation hardened into hereditary membership, each body of practitioners of a single craft or service — weavers, potters, blacksmiths, oil-pressers — became a separate jati. Jatis therefore number in the thousands, whereas the varna scheme has only four categories.
Cross-check — how the other terms in the set differ:
Term | How it differs |
|---|---|
Varna | only four categories, classifying ritual-functional status at an all-India level, so the scheme is too broad to name an individual vocational community. |
Caste | the English umbrella term for the system as a whole; because it covers the fourfold order and the local birth groups together, it is not the specific name that emerged for vocation-based groups. |
Class | an economic category, defined by income, property and market position and acquired during a lifetime rather than fixed by birth and vocation. |
Answer: Jati. In everyday English "caste" is often used loosely for jati, and NCERT itself notes that jati is the word most commonly used for caste; the precise term for the vocation-based endogamous group, and the term used in the source text of this question, is jati.