Jatis (the word literally means "births") comprise the subcastes found within the four major castes, or varnas, of the Indian caste system. Each jati typically has an association with a traditional job function in Hindu society, although religious beliefs (e.g. Sri Vaishnavism or Veera Saivism ) or linguistic groupings define some jatis. A person's surname typically reflects a jati association: thus Gandhi = greengrocer, Dhobi = washerman, Srivastava = military scribe, etc. In any given location in India 500 or more jatis may co-exist, although the exact composition will differ from district to district.
Many jatis found today in India readily parallel those in the most ancient Hindu texts, indicating that these social groupings have continued uninterrupted since pre-historic times. An important text, the Laws of Manu, c. 200, codified the social relations between caste groups.
It is believed that the jati system ossified from an original occupation-based classification into a hereditary classification with attendant rules forbidding marriage between jatis.
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