The lowest-ranking had to jingle a little bell in warning of their polluting approach. In much of India, Dalits were prohibited from entering temple" (India Caste system, ancient India Caste System)

There have been indications since 1450 of changes and a questioning of the caste system. For example, in 1469, the guru Nanak, 1st guru of Sikhs, "...refused to accept the caste system and the supremacy of the Brahmanical priests and forbade magic, idolatry and pilgrimages." (The Fifteenth Century 1450-1475)

It was however in the colonial period of the British rule of India that the caste system was extensively critiqued and efforts made to create a more equal society. This was largely due to the influence of the new norms and values brought by the colonizers.

During this period there was also the beginning of various reform movements. These criticized and questioned "...the rigidities of the caste system, the degraded...
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