>Prohibition on intermarriages
>between members belonging to different castes in a tribal society has been
>taken as the essential nature of caste system.
As I understand it, tribal societies usually have rigorous protocols on intermarriage between component clans. Such a system is designed to minimise in-breeding in small tribal populations.
But clans are not analogous to castes, as I understand caste. So this suggestion, that castes originated in ancient times, would be quite misleading.
> Indian caste system has
>undergone changes in different epoches (feudal, colonial and contemporary
>India) and has been put to different uses, but castes seem to have
>originated in Ancient times. See Marxist historian D.D. Kosambi's work, The
>Culture and Civilization of Ancient India in Historical Outline.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas