Jati

(“birth”) A traditional social subgroup in
Indian society. There were hundreds of
these groups, considered exogamous
because strict taboos existed against
marrying outside one’s jati—people
belonging to different jatis were looked
upon as different “species” of people.
Jatis were usually defined by the subgroup’s traditional occupation, which
they and they alone had the right to
practice. The jatis were hierarchically
arranged in society, based on the perceived purity or impurity (ashaucha) of
their occupations, and this hierarchy
formed the basis for the traditional
Hindu social structure known as the
caste system.