<P> The emergence of a caste system in the modern form, during the early British colonial rule in the 18th and 19th century, was not uniform in South Asia . Claude Markovits, a French historian of colonial India, writes that Hindu society in north and west India (Sindh), in late 18th century and much of 19th century, lacked a proper caste system, their religious identities were fluid (a combination of Saivism, Vaisnavism, Sikhism), and the Brahmins were not the widespread priestly group (but the Bawas were). Markovits writes, "if religion was not a structuring factor, neither was caste" among the Hindu merchants group of northwest India . </P> <P> Societal stratification, and the inequality that comes with it, still exists in India, and has been thoroughly criticised . Government policies aim at reducing this inequality by reservation, quota for backward classes, but paradoxically also have created an incentive to keep this stratification alive . The Indian government officially recognises historically discriminated communities of India such as the Untouchables under the designation of Scheduled Castes, and certain economically backward castes as Other Backward Class . </P> <P> Leonard and Weller have surveyed marriage and genealogical records to study patterns of exogamous inter-caste and endogamous intra-caste marriages in a regional population of India in 1900--1975 . They report a striking presence of exogamous marriages across caste lines over time, particularly since the 1970s . They propose education, economic development, mobility and more interaction between youth as possible reasons for these exogamous marriages . </P> <P> A 2003 article in The Telegraph claimed that inter-caste marriage and dating were common in urban India . Indian societal and family relationships are changing because of female literacy and education, women at work, urbanisation, the need for two - income families, and global influences through television . Female role models in politics, academia, journalism, business, and India's feminist movement have accelerated the change . </P>

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