A few random excerpts from Colonial and other Western writings on the Caste system!
--On the Caste System--
"The Brahman caste is the highest, and is represented as springing from the mouth of Brahma. The Brahman, as his name implies, is the divine. He may learn and teach the Vedas, and all the divine Shasters. Such are the outlines of the doctrine of caste, which is practically one of the most important and obstinate points in Hinduism. Though many pass through all the four stages of religious life in any one birth, yet there can be no change of caste in the same birth. If one breaks caste, he becomes an outcast—falls below all castes. Caste is manifestly a religious institution. Its hold on the people is very strong—it is as the grasp of death." (p. 343 [Hoisington, H.R. 1844. “A Sketch of Hinduism.” Madras Christian Instructor and Missionary Record 2 (6): 333–343.]).
--On Brahmins--
"The whole tendency of Brahmanical education is to enforce dependence upon authority. In the first instance upon the Guru, in the next upon the books. A learned Brahman trusts solely to his learning; he never ventures upon independent thought; he appeals to memory; he quotes texts without measure, and in unquestioning trust." (p. 80 [Wilson, H.H. 1862. Essays and Lectures on the Religions of the Hindus by H.H. Wilson. Edited by Reinhold Rost. Vol. II. II vols. London: Trubner and Co.])
"Human nature when left to itself is bad enough, but it becomes still worse when the devil, in the shape of a bad religion, gets the management of it, and when God's gifts are placed at the devil's disposal. I may here remark, that it is the peculiar policy of the Brahmans to render all the religious systems of India subservient to their purpose by making friends of them all. Brahmanism repudiates exclusiveness; it incorporates all creeds, assimilates all, consecrates all. People are permitted to entertain any opinions they please, and to practise any ceremonies they please, provided only that the supremacy of the Vedas and of the Brahmans is acknowledged." “…though the demon-worship of Tinnevelly is as far as possible repugnant to the genius of orthodox Hinduism, and was not only independent of it in origin, but, as I believe, long anterior to it, yet even it has received a place in the cunningly-devised mosaic of the Brahmans, and the devils have got themselves regarded as abnormal developments of the gods.” (p. 42 [Caldwell, R. 1857. Lectures on the Tinnevelly Missions.... London: Bell & Daldy.])