<P>... tribes, clans or families . The name stuck and became the usual word for the Hindu social group . In attempting to account for the remarkable proliferation of castes in 18th - and 19th - century India, authorities credulously accepted the traditional view that by a process of intermarriage and subdivision the 3,000 or more castes of modern India had evolved from the four primitive classes, and the term' caste' was applied indiscriminately to both varna or class, and jati or caste proper . This is a false terminology; castes rise and fall in the social scale, and old castes die out and new ones are formed, but the four great classes are stable . There are never more or less than four and for over 2,000 years their order of precedence has not altered ." </P> <P> The sociologist Andre Beteille notes that, while varna mainly played the role of caste in classical Hindu literature, it is jati that plays that role in present times . Varna represents a closed collection of social orders whereas jati is entirely open - ended, thought of as a "natural kind whose members share a common substance ." Any number of new jatis can be added depending on need, such as tribes, sects, denominations, religious or linguistic minorities and nationalities . Thus, "Caste" is not an accurate representation of jati in English . Better terms would be ethnicity, ethnic identity and ethnic group . </P> <P> In normal usage of the term jati in modern india, it does refer to caste . </P> <P> Sociologist Anne Waldrop observes that while outsiders view the term caste as a static phenomenon of stereotypical tradition - bound India, empirical facts suggest caste has been a radically changing feature . The term means different things to different Indians . In the context of politically active modern India, where job and school quotas are reserved for affirmative action based on castes, the term has become a sensitive and controversial subject . </P>

Who said india does not have one past but many pasts