The Newari Caste System

The Newari Caste System

A standard anthropological definition of caste is Berreman’s: “Castes are ranked endogamous divisions of society in which membership is hereditary and permanent.”(1972:198) The term caste is of Portuguese origin. In the early days of European colonial expansion the word casta was used by the Portuguese to designate the hereditary classes (castes) they encountered in Indian society. Etymologically, it is related to the Portuguese word casto, pure, unmixed, and to the English word chaste. The Newars use the word jati, or jat, which signifies: i) caste in the same sense as in Berreman’s definition; ii) race; iii) lineage; iv) tribe; and v) varna.The Newars are presently divided into a large number of castes as defined by Berreman. Although absolute endogamy is not observed, it is a widely held ideal through which one prefers to see oneself.

Caste has been known as an element in the social structure of the Nepal valley since the Licchavi period (A.D.300 - ca. 879), although in the early periods it was probably less rigid and encompassed only Brahmans and other groups who had migrated to the valley from the south. The Newar caste system has had its own development apart from the caste system of the Parbatya castes and that of the Indian plains. According to popular belief and various historical sources the Newar caste system was first codified in the Nepalarastrasastra by Sthithi Malla in the l4th century. According to Ram, Sthithi Malla, with the aid of five Brahmans from the Indian plains, divided the population of the valley into four classes and sixty-four castes, and the Sudras were divided into 36 tribes.

However, one source deviates from this and says that Sthithi Malla divided the population into 36 tribes. This is the Vamsavali translated by Hasrat, which states that Sthithi Malla (read “tribe” as “caste”): 

This is apparently inconsistent with the Vamsavali published by Wright, which lists the 64 castes and mentions the division of the Sudras into 36 tribes. It seems that the Vamsavali translated by Hasrat refers to the Sudras, an interpretation which would resolve this contradiction. Full clarity will not be obtained until the original text, authored by Sthiti Malla’s Brahmans, has been penetrated. If, indeed, it exists at all, according to Slusser: 

...the complex system of subcastes that ordain Valley social behaviour must be viewed as the product of centuries of gradual accretion, not a sudden imposition by law. Significantly, Sthitimalla’s own annals make no mention of these undertakings; nor do they refer to the panel of Brahman pandits who are supposed to have helped him. As with the spurious lineage of Maithili kings, we owe the story, it seems, to a nineteenth century fabrication, or at least embroidery.(Slusser 1982:59)