Describe HIndu political hierarchy caste structure and gender relations?

Answer 1

Well, when Hinduism was the religion that ran the state, i.e. in Ancient India, the Caste System was the essential basis for the hierarchy.

Depending on where you were in ancient India, the Ksatriya (warrior caste) or Brahmin (priestly caste) was the highest. This really had more to do with who held the most power in the area, the clergy or the raja (king). The other castes, the vaishyas (traders/merchants) and the shudras (farmers, etc.) fell below the other two in the hierarchy. In a given region it was usually the raja that governed the law, but powerful holy men were often at least in contention for power. Religiously speaking, the priests outranked the warriors because they were the only people with access to holy learning and texts.

Answer 2

The caste structure in ancient India was vital for a hierarchy. Depending on the area in which you lived depended on who held the most power. In a given region it was usually the raja that governed the law, but powerful holy men were often at least in contention for power. Priest outranked the warriors due to the only availability to holy learning and text.

To a great extent, the caste system and religious encouragement in the faithful performance of caste duties did for Indian life what more conventional government structures did in many other cultures, in promoting public order. In encouraging honorable action, the Hindu ethics could legitimize government and the caste system as providing the frameworks in which the duties of the world might be carried out. The caste system described many key features of Indian social and economic life, as it assigned people to occupations and regulated marriages. Family life also emphasized the theme of hierarchy. One Indian code of law recommended that a wife worship her husband as a god. Hindu thinkers debated whether a woman could advance spiritually without first being reincarnated as a man, and there was no consensus.