100 articles
Tanti
Tanti (Tatwa, Tantubaya) is a Hindu weaver caste of Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha, from Sanskrit Tantubaya (weaver). Traditionally handloom weavers with unusually high Bengal status, now classified OBC in most states but denied SC status in Bihar.
Teli
Teli (तेली) is an occupational caste of oil-pressers and oil traders across India, Nepal, and Pakistan, Hindu or Muslim (Muslim Telis called Roshandaar or Teli Malik), named from Sanskrit taila (oil), now mostly classified OBC.
Vaikom Satyagraha
Vaikom Satyagraha (30 March 1924 to 23 November 1925), Travancore nonviolent campaign led by T.K. Madhavan, Periyar E.V. Ramasamy, and guided by Gandhi, seeking lower-caste access to roads around the Vaikom Mahadeva temple; ended in compromise and preceded the 1936 Temple Entry Proclamation.
Vanjari caste
Vanjari (Wanjari, Banjari, Laman) caste of Maharashtra and neighboring states, traditionally pack-bullock grain and salt carriers; now mainly agriculturists classified OBC, distinct from the Banjara denotified tribe.
Vanniyar (வன்னியர்)
Vanniyar (வன்னியர்), also Vanniar or Vanniakula Kshatriya, is a large Tamil Most Backward Class caste of northern Tamil Nadu, associated with the PMK party; its 10.5% internal reservation was struck down by the Madras High Court (2021) and the Supreme Court (2022).
Varna (वर्ण) (Hinduism)
Varna (वर्ण) is the fourfold Hindu textual classification of society into Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras, first described in the Rigveda's Purushasukta and elaborated in the Manusmriti; distinct from jati, the thousands of endogamous caste groups structuring social life.
Vellalar (வேளாளர்)
Vellalar (வேளாளர்), also Vellala, dominant Tamil landowning farmer caste; highest-ranking Sudras of the Tamil country, chief rice growers and irrigation managers; dominant caste of Jaffna; name also adopted by Devendrakula Vellalar Scheduled Castes.
Vellappally Natesan (വെള്ളാപ്പിള്ളി നടേശൻ)
Vellappally Natesan (വെള്ളാപ്പിള്ളി നടേശൻ), Ezhava community leader, general secretary of SNDP Yogam and secretary of Sree Narayana Trusts; Padma Bhushan 2026; BDJS NDA ally; named in the ₹15 crore microfinance vigilance case.
Vokkaliga (ಒಕ್ಕಲಿಗ)
Vokkaliga (ಒಕ್ಕಲಿಗ), also Okkaliga or Gowda, is a group of landowning agrarian castes of southern Karnataka, India; the classic example of Srinivas's dominant caste, largely rural-OBC classified, and a major force in Karnataka politics.
Yadav
Yadav: umbrella caste identity for Ahir, Golla, Idaiyar, Kunbi and related pastoral-farming communities of India and Nepal's Terai, consolidated via the All India Yadav Mahasabha and the 1931 census; OBC-listed, 14.26% of Bihar, 4.21% of Nepal.