Varna and Jati- Are they same?

Varna and Jati
Today, people have this misconception that ancient Indian society was for centuries together divided into four groups -brahmans, kshatriyas, vaishyas, and shudra -consider Varna to be the basis of jati. This was not so, there are differences between Varna and Jati.



Varna and Jati are both hereditary
social classifications and they have been used interchangeably but they are not the same thing. Talking about which one is older - Varna is older than jatis .
Jatis help in identifying one' s Varna but there are many differences and nature of these differences have changed overtime. Let's see some of those differences:
1. The number of varnas is  four, while the number of jatis are numerous that they can't be counted ( their numbers is still growing).
2. Both Varna and Jati are hierarchical order but there is fixed rankings among the four varnas whereas jatis have fluidity within particular ranges. Like in the Brahmanical tradition, the brahman is at the top and shudra at the bottom ,this order is fixed . But it is impossible to rank jatis on the highest and the lowest orders. And in recent times,the process of Sanskritisation ( upgrading one's caste) made the caste a more disputable issues even among Brahmans and outcastes.
3. The varnas were not really endogamous units as a number of inter-marriages were permissible. Whereas , the jatis were supposed to be endogamous.
4. There were a range of occupations associated with varnas , the function is more important than birth in the Varna system while the jatis were associated with specific occupations.
According to famous historian Upinder Singh , in order to maintain the distinction between Varna and Jati, it is better to leave the former untranslated. While jati can be translated as castes. It is also important to understand that social institutions constantly evolve and change.
Source- A history of ancient and early medieval India( Upinder Singh)
-Poorva Singh 

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