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Brahminism is "the birth-based mythological, metaphysical, structural, and everyday exclusionary claims, institutions and practices of transgenerational caste power of those who self-identify as brahmins by their birth, names, markers, and other accroutments".The term is used in the context of Anti-Brahmanism, the critique of the "untouchable" non-caste or Dalit-communities, which have been excluded from spciety and power by the Brahmanical caste. According to Kancha Ilaiah, referring to Ambedkar, Brahminism appears as Hindutva, Arya Dharma, Sanatana Dharma and Hinduism, and "has no organic link with Dalit-Bahujan life, world-views, rituals and even politics".
The term "Brahminism" is used interchangeably with the term Brahmanism,[citation needed] the religious practices performed by the Brahmins, and their ideology of Brahminical superiority, which developed from the historical Vedic religion, and forms the ideological backbone of the complex of Indian religions called Hinduism. The Srauta tradition still preserves elements of Brahmanism.
Historically, and still by some modern authors, the word was used in English to refer to the Hindu religion, or that part of it following brahmin priests and their writings, as opposed to the wide range of popular cultic activity with little connection with them. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Brahminism was the most common term used in English for Hinduism, and "Hindu" meant "Indian" when applied to people.