Rooted in religion and based on a division of labor, the caste system, among other things, dictates the type of occupations a person can pursue and the social interactions that she may have. Castes are an aspect of Hindu religion. Other religions in India do not follow this system.
The name Pakistan literally means land of the pure in Urdu and Persian. It is a play on the word pÄk meaning pure in Persian and Pashto; the suffix -stÄn is a Persian word meaning place of, cognate with the Sanskrit word sthÄna (Devanagari: à¤¸à¥à¤¥à¤¾à¤¨ [stÌªÊ°aËnÉ]).
PakÂ·iÂ·stan. A country of South Asia. Occupying land crisscrossed by ancient invasion paths, Pakistan was the home of the prehistoric Indus Valley civilization, which flourished until overrun by Aryans c. 1500 bc. After being conquered by numerous rulers and powers, it passed to the British as part of India and became a separate Muslim state in 1947.