This has always been the system (the brahmanas are always honored first), and it is still prevalent in India, even though the caste brahmanas are not qualified. The system is still current due to the varnasrama institutional rules and regulations: Revision history
Diff selection: Mark the radio buttons of the revisions to compare and hit enter or the button at the bottom.
Legend: (cur) = difference with latest revision, (prev) = difference with preceding revision, m = minor edit.