Just to add to what ImI wrote, and I totally agree with her- the bais of 4 warna 36 jaat has similar reaons. Prithivi Narayn Shah- the founder of this great kingdom had a reson when he said that. He saw that Nepal was like a garden- a garden of 36 different flowers and that to maintain these flowers' identity- their TRUE colours- they should not be allowed to mix. Thus he proclaimed a caste system- based on WORK. He believed that an idle nation is NOT a nation. Everyone in the nation should work and because he had just conquered the nation- he thought it would be wise if the work done byone particular caste be continued by that group simply because it was more economical as the new generation in the same caste would learn it and perfect it further. However, times changed. Rather than for love of country and fellow people- people started going for money and hence, the caste with knowledge of mathematics, economics and the sciences- namely the brahmins and chetris- began exploiting the others. Even the Newars in the Kathmandu valley had these skills and so they too got on the bandwagon. Whate resulted was an intricate system designed to oppress the ones already without the knowledge they had. Now, not ALL of the chetris and brahmins and the higher castes were guilty of this. Some resisted this new "doctrine" and hence it was possible for ideas of change to exist to this day. Thus the caste system in Nepal has NO roots in hinduism. It's roots are in Prithivi Narayan Shah's intention to help secure the area of land bounded by commonalities, i.e. Nepal. Had we still been divided the British wouldve taken us easily. But because he used division of labour- aka the caste system- he maximized the country's resources then and helped secure an army that was able to withstand the mighty British Empire. So don;t hate the caste system's original intentions- it is what KEEPS us diversified. -TT