The caste system in India is the paradigmatic ethnographic example of caste. It has origins in ancient India, and was transformed by various ruling elites in medieval, early-modern, and, modern India, especially the Mughal Empire and the British Raj.[1][2][3][4] It is today the basis of educational and job reservations in India.[citation needed] It consists of two different concepts, varna and jati, which may be regarded as different levels of analysis of this system.[5]
