Unequal citizens

In Nepal political and economic power was consolidated by interlinking it with the Hindu caste system. The priestly Brahmans were at the top of the ritual order, with the Kshatriya (kings and warriors) just beneath them and in command of the political order; next came the Vaishya (merchants) and the Sudra (peasants and labourers). Beneath everyone were occupational groups, considered impure, and untouchable or acchut. In the Hills, in-migrating Hindus of Caucasoid stock made up the priests and warriors and the lowest untouchable groups. The middle rank was accorded to indigenous groups, the Janajatis, generally of Mongoloid racial stock. Officially abolished in 1963, caste-based discrimination, while diluted, remains even today.