FORMATION AND FEATURES OF THE VARNA-CASTE SYSTEM OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN ANCIENT INDIA

Introduction. Ancient India has always attracted the interest of politicians and scientists. Many generations of historians and jurists tried to find out the peculiarities of the formation of the ancient Indian civilization. Their work allows us today not only to create a holistic view of the ancient history of the Indian state and law, but also to systematically and in-depth reveal the formation of its legal institutions, the formation of political culture, social structure, etc. At the same time, there are still many questions that cause discussions and require in-depth study. Among them is the formation and development of the varna-caste system of the organization of society. Summary of the main results of the study. The article examines the history of the formation of varnas in ancient India. The process of hierarchization of varnas was analyzed and its features were determined. The reasons for the transformation of the varna system, which resulted in the formation (both within the varnas and outside of them) of new endogamous groups - jati, have been revealed. The essence of the social category "caste" has been clarified. It is shown that with the appearance of numerous jatis and the formation of the caste system, varnas did not play a significant role in the life of society and only determined the status of castes, if they belonged to them. Conclusion. The conclusion that "varna", "caste", "jati" are not identical socio-legal categories is substantiated. They reflect the peculiarities of the formation of ancient Indian society and should be taken into account by scientists for a more in-depth study of the caste-varna organization of society in ancient India.