Үнді субконтинентіндегі рулар, қауымдар және діни топтар

Group(s) of people organised as a tribe, community, clan, sub clan or religious sects

Jāti is the term traditionally used to describe a cohesive group of people in the Indian subcontinent, like a tribe, community, clan, sub clan, or a religious sect. Each Jāti typically has an association with an occupation, geography or tribe. Different intrareligious beliefs (e. g. Vaishnavism or Smarthism or Shaivism) or linguistic groupings may also define some Jātis. The term is often translated approximately in English as caste. A 2016 study based on the DNA analysis of unrelated Indians determined that endogamous Jatis originated during the Gupta Empire.

For instance, the Yadavs, a prominent backward class today, believe that "Even in the Vedic age the Yadavs were upholders of the Republican ideals of government. The Mahabharata furnishes interesting details regarding the functioning of the republic form of government among the Yadavs. It is now an agreed fact that Sri Krishna, the central figure of the epic narratives, tried to defend the republican ideas against the imperialistic movement led by Jarasandha of Magadaha and Kamsa of Mathura" (R. V. K. Yadav, quoted by Lucia Michelutti in "Caste and modern politics in a north Indian town"). Dalits also have "the stories that assert the glory of the caste, identify legendary figures who, the narrators imagine, have played pivotal roles in building their caste identity. The facts of the past are interspersed with myth and fantasy to create a new perception of a past that is glorious, pure and exclusive. This in turn is accorded historical status and imagined to have existed from time immemorial (Seneviratne 1997: 5). This kind of history, which seeks authenticity from written sources and from the self interpretation of so called archaeological remains, is sustained by commemorations such as feasts, fasts, celebrations and the creation of new symbols like flags and emblems based on these  "