Ancient Background of Communities

Everyone is proud of his/her community since it is bestowed upon by birth. India is known for people of diverse religions, languages and communities. Indian history reveals that originally there were four groups of people following different vocations. They were Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. Brahmins studied and preached religion, Kshatriyas ruled and protected the population, Vaishyas conducted business and farming, whereas Shudras comprised of most of the working classes including artisans and craftsmen such as janitors, blacksmiths, carpenters. These vocations were interchangeable. So, belonging to a group was determined not by birth but rather by profession.

However, over a period of time, this interchangeability became limited due to many reasons. Thus, professional communities were established and one’s community was determined by birth. Subsequently, each community was divided into smaller castes and each caste was further divided into sub-castes. We – Kapols – are basically Vaishyas – a Sanskrit word which means businessmen. In Gujarati, businessmen are called ‘Vaniyas’.