The Balinese
caste system is a system of
social organization based on
the
Indian caste system. However,
India's caste system was far
more complicated
than Bali's, and there are only
four Balinese castes.
The four castes
of Bali are:
-Sundras - peasants making up
more than 90% of Bali's population
-Wesias - the warrior caste,
it also included some nobility
and
merchants
-Satrias - the caste of kings
-Pedanas - holy men and priests
Each of the
four castes had their own separate
dialect of the Balinese
language.
There was a fifth dialect that
was used to speak to people
of
whose caste was unknown. Over
the past few years, these differences
in
dialect have almost disappeared
as the caste system has lost
power.
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