> >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
I am not an anthropologist, but as I understand it; there are taboos are various kinds.
> But clans are not analogous to castes, as I understand caste. So this
suggestion, that castes originated in ancient times, would be quite
misleading.
I am not a historian, but all standard works on ancient Indian history discuss the caste system. I have already referred to Marxist historian D.D. Kosambi's work, The Culture and Civilization of Ancient India in Historical Outline. Romila Thapar's Interpreting Early India or A.L.Basham's The Wonder that was India can be consulted.
Ulhas