Editing Caste (section)

=== Africa ===
{{Main|Caste systems in Africa}}
Various sociologists have reported caste systems in Africa.<ref name="Obinna1">{{cite journal |title=Contesting identity: the Osu caste system among Igbo of Nigeria |first=Elijah |last=Obinna |pages=111–121 |journal=African Identities |volume=10 |issue=1 |year=2012 |doi=10.1080/14725843.2011.614412 |s2cid=144982023}}</ref><ref name="James B. Watson 356–379">{{cite journal |title=Caste as a Form of Acculturation |first=James B. |last=Watson |journal=[[Southwestern Journal of Anthropology]] |volume=19 |number=4 |date=Winter 1963 |pages=356–379 |doi=10.1086/soutjanth.19.4.3629284 |s2cid=155805468}}</ref><ref name="tamari1" /> The specifics of the caste systems have varied in ethnically and culturally diverse Africa; however, the following features are common – it has been a closed system of social stratification, the social status is inherited, the castes are hierarchical, certain castes are shunned while others are merely endogamous and exclusionary.<ref>{{cite web |title=Caste discrimination in Africa |first=Leo |last=Igwe |publisher=International Humanist and Ethical Union |date=21 August 2009 |url=http://www.iheu.org/caste-discrimination-africa |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091003061801/http://www.iheu.org/caste-discrimination-africa |archive-date=3 October 2009}}</ref> In some cases, concepts of purity and impurity by birth have been prevalent in Africa. In other cases, such as the ''[[Nupe people|Nupe]]'' of Nigeria, the ''[[Beni Amer]]'' of East Africa, and the ''[[Tira people|Tira]]'' of Sudan, the exclusionary principle has been driven by evolving social factors.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Caste and government in primitive society |first=S. F. |last=Nadel |journal=[[Journal of Anthropological Society]] |volume=8 |pages=9–22 |year=1954}}</ref>

====West Africa====
[[File:GriotFête.jpg|thumb|upright|A [[Griot]], who have been described as an endogamous caste of West Africa who specialise in oral story telling and culture preservation. They have been also referred to as the bard caste.]]
Among the [[Igbo people|Igbo]] of [[Nigeria]] – especially [[Enugu State|Enugu]], [[Anambra State|Anambra]], [[Imo State|Imo]], [[Abia State|Abia]], [[Ebonyi State|Ebonyi]], [[Edo State|Edo]] and [[Delta state|Delta]] states of the country – scholar [[Elijah Obinna]] finds that the [[Osu caste system]] has been and continues to be a major social issue. The Osu caste is determined by one's birth into a particular family irrespective of the religion practised by the individual. Once born into Osu caste, this Nigerian person is an outcast, shunned and ostracised, with limited opportunities or acceptance, regardless of his or her ability or merit. Obinna discusses how this caste system-related identity and power is deployed within government, Church and indigenous communities.<ref name="Obinna1"/>

The ''osu'' class systems of eastern [[Nigeria]] and southern [[Cameroon]] are derived from indigenous religious beliefs and discriminate against the "Osus" people as "owned by deities" and outcasts.

The [[Songhai people|Songhai]] economy was based on a caste system. The most common were metalworkers, fishermen, and carpenters. Lower caste participants consisted of mostly non-farm working immigrants, who at times were provided special privileges and held high positions in society. At the top were noblemen and direct descendants of the original Songhai people, followed by freemen and traders.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.africankingdoms.com|title=Kingdoms of Ancient African History |website=africankingdoms.com |access-date=22 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190519102901/http://africankingdoms.com/ |archive-date=19 May 2019}}</ref>

In a review of social stratification systems in Africa, Richter reports that the term caste has been used by French and American scholars to many groups of West African artisans. These groups have been described as inferior, deprived of all political power, have a specific occupation, are hereditary and sometimes despised by others. Richter illustrates caste system in [[Ivory Coast]], with six sub-caste categories. Unlike other parts of the world, mobility is sometimes possible within sub-castes, but not across caste lines. Farmers and artisans have been, claims Richter, distinct castes. Certain sub-castes are shunned more than others. For example, exogamy is rare for women born into families of woodcarvers.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Further considerations of caste in West Africa: The Senufo |first=Dolores |last=Richter |journal=[[Africa (journal)|Africa]] |date= January 1980 |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=37–54 |doi=10.2307/1158641 |jstor=1158641 |s2cid=146454269}}</ref>

Similarly, the [[Mandé peoples|Mandé]] societies in [[Gambia]], [[Ghana]], [[Guinea]], [[Ivory Coast]], [[Liberia]], [[Senegal]] and [[Sierra Leone]] have social stratification systems that divide society by ethnic ties. The Mande class system regards the ''jonow'' slaves as inferior. Similarly, the [[Wolof people|Wolof]] in Senegal is divided into three main groups, the ''geer'' (freeborn/nobles), ''jaam'' (slaves and slave descendants) and the underclass ''neeno''. In various parts of West Africa, [[Fula people|Fulani]] societies also have class divisions. Other castes include ''Griots'', ''Forgerons'', and ''Cordonniers''.<ref name="Griot">{{cite journal |last1=Feder |first1=Lisa |title=Negotiating between Manding and American1 Sensibilities. Anthropology and Humanism |journal=Two World Systems Collide |date=June 2020 |volume=45 |issue=1 |page=60 |doi=10.1111/anhu.12280 |url=https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/anhu.12280 |access-date=8 March 2025}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

Tamari has described endogamous castes of over fifteen West African peoples, including the [[Toucouleur people|Tukulor]], [[Songhai people|Songhay]], [[Dogon people|Dogon]], [[Senufo people|Senufo]], [[Minyanka language|Minianka]], Moors, [[Mandinka people|Manding]], [[Soninke people|Soninke]], [[Wolof people|Wolof]], [[Serer people|Serer]], [[Fula people|Fulani]], and [[Tuareg people|Tuareg]]. Castes appeared among the [[Mandinka people|''Malinke'' people]] no later than 14th century, and was present among the ''Wolof'' and ''Soninke'', as well as some ''Songhay'' and ''Fulani'' populations, no later than 16th century. Tamari claims that wars, such as the ''Sosso-Malinke'' war described in the ''Sunjata'' epic, led to the formation of blacksmith and bard castes among the people that ultimately became the Mali empire.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

As West Africa evolved over time, sub-castes emerged that acquired secondary specialisations or changed occupations. Endogamy was prevalent within a caste or among a limited number of castes, yet castes did not form demographic isolates according to Tamari. Social status according to caste was inherited by off-springs automatically; but this inheritance was paternal. That is, children of higher caste men and lower caste or slave concubines would have the caste status of the father.<ref name="tamari1">{{cite journal |journal=[[The Journal of African History]] |year=1991 |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=221–250 |doi=10.1017/S0021853700025718 |title=The Development of Caste Systems in West Africa |first=Tal |last=Tamari |s2cid=162509491}}</ref>

====Central Africa====
[[Ethel M. Albert]] in 1960 claimed that the societies in [[Central Africa]] were caste-like social stratification systems.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Socio-Political Organization and Receptivity to Change: Some Differences between Ruanda and Urundi |first=Ethel M. |last=Albert |journal=[[Southwestern Journal of Anthropology]] |volume=16 |number=1 |date=Spring 1960 |pages=46–74 |doi=10.1086/soutjanth.16.1.3629054 |s2cid=142847876}}</ref> Similarly, in 1961, Maquet notes that the society in [[Rwanda]] and [[Burundi]] can be best described as castes.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Premise of Inequality in Ruanda: A Study of Political Relations in a Central African Kingdom |first=Jacques J. |last=Maquet |year=1962 |pages=135–171 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-19-823168-4}}</ref> The [[Tutsi]], noted Maquet, considered themselves as superior, with the more numerous [[Hutu]] and the least numerous [[Twa]] regarded, by birth, as respectively, second and third in the hierarchy of Rwandese society. These groups were largely endogamous, exclusionary and with limited mobility.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Power in Ruanda |first=Helen |last=Codere |journal=[[Anthropologica]] |volume=4 |number=1 |year=1962 |pages=45–85 |jstor=25604523 |doi=10.2307/25604523}}</ref>

==== Horn of Africa ====
In Ethiopia, there have been a number of studies of castes. Broad studies of castes have been written by [[Alula Pankhurst]], who has published a study of caste groups in [[South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region|SW Ethiopia]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pankhurst |first=Alula |date=1999 |title='Caste' in Africa: the evidence from south-western Ethiopia reconsidered |journal=[[Africa (journal)|Africa]] |volume=69 |number=4 |pages=485–509 |doi=10.2307/1160872 |jstor=1160872}}</ref> and a later volume by Dena Freeman writing with Pankhurst.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Freeman |first1=D. |last2=Pankhurst |first2=A. |date=2003 |title=Peripheral people: The excluded minorities of Ethiopia |location=Lawrenceville, NJ |publisher=Red Sea Press}}</ref>{{pn|date=February 2025}}

[[File:NSRW Africa Midgan.png|thumb|upright|The [[Madhiban]] (Midgan) specialise in leather occupation. Along with the Tumal and Yibir, they are collectively known as ''sab''.<ref name="Lewis" />]]
In a review published in 1977, Todd reports that numerous scholars report a system of social stratification in different parts of Africa that resembles some or all aspects of caste system. Examples of such caste systems, he claims, are to be found in [[Ethiopia]] in communities such as the [[Gurage people|Gurage]] and [[Konso people|Konso]]. He then presents the Dime of Southwestern Ethiopia, amongst whom there operates a system which Todd claims can be unequivocally labelled as caste system. The Dime have seven castes whose size varies considerably. Each broad caste level is a hierarchical order that is based on notions of purity, non-purity and impurity. It uses the concepts of defilement to limit contacts between caste categories and to preserve the purity of the upper castes. These caste categories have been exclusionary, endogamous and the social identity inherited.<ref>{{cite journal |title=La Caste en Afrique? (Caste in Africa?) |first=D. M. |last=Todd |journal=[[Africa (journal)|Africa]] |date=October 1977 |volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=398–412 |doi=10.2307/1158345 |jstor=1158345 |s2cid=144428371}}</ref>

Among the [[Kingdom of Kafa|Kafa]], there were also traditionally groups labelled as castes. "Based on research done before the Derg regime, these studies generally presume the existence of a social hierarchy similar to the caste system. At the top of this hierarchy were the Kafa, followed by occupational groups including blacksmiths (Qemmo), weavers (Shammano), bards (Shatto), potters, and tanners (Manjo). In this hierarchy, the Manjo were commonly referred to as hunters, given the lowest status equal only to slaves."<ref>{{cite book |first=Sayuri |last=Yoshida |chapter=Why did the Manjo convert to Protestant? Social Discrimination and Coexistence in Kafa, Southwest Ethiopia? |title=Proceedings of the 16th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies |editor1-first=Svein |editor1-last=Ege |editor2-first=Harald |editor2-last=Aspen |editor3-first=Birhanu |editor3-last=Teferra |editor4-first=Shiferaw |editor4-last=Bekele |location=Trondheim |date=2009 |pages=299–309 [299]}}</ref>

The [[Borana Oromo]] of southern [[Ethiopia]] in the [[Horn of Africa]] also have a class system, wherein the Wata, an acculturated hunter-gatherer group, represent the lowest class. Though the Wata today speak the [[Oromo language]], they have traditions of having previously spoken another language before adopting Oromo.<ref name="Westermann">{{cite book |first1=Edwin William |last1=Smith |first2=Cyril Daryll |last2=Forde |first3=Diedrich |last3=Westermann |title=Africa |year=1981|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |page=853}}</ref>

The traditionally nomadic [[Somali people]] are divided into clans, wherein the [[Rahanweyn]] agro-pastoral clans and the occupational clans such as the [[Madhiban]] were traditionally sometimes treated as outcasts.<ref>{{cite book |first=I. M. |last=Lewis |title=A pastoral democracy: a study of pastoralism and politics among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa |publisher=LIT Verlag Berlin-Hamburg-Münster |date=1999 |pages=13–14}}</ref> As Gabooye, the Madhiban along with the [[Yibir]] and Tumaal (collectively referred to as ''sab'') have since obtained political representation within [[Somalia]], and their general social status has improved with the expansion of urban centers.<ref name="Lewis">{{cite book |last=Lewis |first=I. M. |title=Understanding Somalia and Somaliland: Culture, History, Society |year=2008 |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |isbn=978-0-231-70084-9 |page=8}}</ref>