![Picture](/uploads/9/1/1/1/91115516/madhva4_orig.jpg)
Brahmins, or priests, were the at the top of the social classes although there was a constant depate betwwen the Brahmins and warriors about who was really better. The Brahmin believed that their closeness to the gods granted them a more superior place in society than those of the warrior class.
![Picture](/uploads/9/1/1/1/91115516/85bf60ca532aeb67e1505f4256aeafbd_orig.jpg)
The warrior class ,or Kshatriyas, was second to the top. The warrior class was made up of warriors and rulers. The warrior class often brought conflict to the Indian caste system in their attempts to prove that themselves are better and should be the supreme class. The believed that since they go into harms way and protect the cities and rule the cities them selves that the Kshatriyas were deemed the highest of the classes.
The Indian government, religion, and caste system were all controlled by these two social classes. Hinduism and the caste system developed at about the same time so the caste system was structured around the views of what Hinduism believed. Classical India was a fragmented group of city states ruled by small republics or kings. The empires of India didn't last very long. The Persian empire briefly ruled northern India then was conquered by Alexander the Great. The first real political power to control most of India was the Mauryan empire. This short lived empire had a very sophisicated political strucure rivaling to Rome, Persia, and China
Visual source:
https://apworldhistorywiki.wikispaces.com/Post-Classical+India+2
http://www.thinglink.com/scene/569088615812956162
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/349732727289323168/
https://apworldhistorywiki.wikispaces.com/Post-Classical+India+2
http://www.thinglink.com/scene/569088615812956162
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/349732727289323168/