Samaya caste is surname of many people in southern India. Samaya caste meaning is In hisInscriptions at Sravana Belgola in Mysore, Mr. Lewis Rice refers to the Samaya as Dasaris or Vaishnava religious mendicants, invested [291]with authority as censors of morals. No religious ceremony or marriage could be undertaken without gaining their consent by the payment of fees, etc. Under the former Rajas the office was farmed out in all the large towns, and credited in the public accounts as samayachara. An important part of the profits arose either from the sale of women accused of incontinency, or from fines imposed on them for the same reason. The unfortunate women were popularly known as Sarkar (Government) wives. The rules of the system, Wilks writes,15 varied according to the caste of the accused. Among Brahmans and Komatis, females were not sold, but expelled from their caste, and branded on the arm as prostitutes. They then paid to the ijardar (or contractor) an annual sum as long as they lived, and, when they died, all their property became his. Females of other Hindu castes were sold without any compunction by the ijardar, unless some relative stepped forward to satisfy his demand. These sales were not, as might be supposed, conducted by stealth, nor confined to places remote from general observation; for, in the large town of Bangalore, under the very eyes of the European inhabitants, a large building was appropriated to the accommodation of these unfortunate women, and, so late as 1833, a distinct proclamation of the Commissioners was necessary to enforce the abolition of this detestable traffic.
Samaya caste is one of the many castes subcastes of India.
India has thousands of castes and subcastes, they are in existence and practice since the Vedic times. They were created to solve the problem of division of labor. Samaya caste name could indicate the type of work people belonging to the Samaya caste do or did in earlier times. Many last names in India indicate the place the person originally belongs to. All castes sub castes are primarily divided into 4 categories:
1.Brahmins – The learned or priestly class
2.Khastriyas – The warrior class or those with governing functions
3.Vaishyas – The trader, agriculturalists or cattle rearers class
4.Shudra – The class that serves other three categories
Samaya caste belongs to one of the above 4 categories. Indian caste system is the best system to solve the problem of division of labor. In earlier times there was no rigidity in caste system. Indian caste system is still the best solution for the problem of division of labor, the only change that is needed as per changed times is that rather than having a vertical hierarchical system with Brahmins on top and Shudras at bottom, it would be good to have a horizontal socialist system with Brahmins, Khastriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras all at same level.
The caste system of India is in ruins at present. It is also cause of bloody quarrels in certain parts of the rural India. People of backward castes have reservations in government jobs, this facility is widely misused in India. Many of the backward caste people have become rich and still use the facility for their benefit. Many in India believe reservation in jobs should be given on the basis of poverty rather than caste because there are many poors in upper castes as well.
Many criticize the Indian caste system because of bad material condition of lower castes but if they observe in an unbiased way they would find that there are many in upper castes with bad material conditions. The problem lies in power not in castes, power can corrupt anyone be it from upper caste or lower caste.
All cultures, all countries, all religions have caste system in one form or the other. Christians have different churches depending on the region or language or skin color of people. Muslims have a priestly class that tries to control everything. Arab Muslims before the oil boom were so much divided among tribes that if you drank water from a well of a different tribe you could be shot dead. Tribal divisions still exists among Muslims. You can also see the caste system in a different form in your corporate companies. I had seen different food and drinking facilities for people at different levels.
Samaya caste is also known as Samaya Gotra.
Caste situation is quiet different in urban India, people in urban areas especially youngsters don?t bother about castes. Inter caste, inter religious, inter lingual marriages are quiet common in urban India. Inter caste, inter religious and inter lingual marriages in rural areas attract severe criticism and many times people are expelled from community for not marrying as per religious and caste rules.