Brahmans

a group of the highest castes in India. In ancient India, the Brahmans performed sacrificial offerings and were experts and interpreters of the Vedas. They constituted one of the two ruling varnas. In the period of feudalism, the source of support for the majority of Brahmans became not so much the fulfillment of priestly obligations as service in the administrative apparatus, the courts, and landownership. The Brahman castes occupy the highest position in the estate-caste hierarchy in all the nationalities of India that profess Hinduism. In modern India, Brahmans make up a significant part of the ruling classes and intelligentsia. Among the Brahmans there are also peasants, lower-level office workers, domestic servants, and factory workers.