LOS ANGELES — After months of sifting through public critiques over how India is portrayed in the sixth and seventh grades, California education officials on Thursday approved a curriculum that includes teachings about the caste system and uses the term India rather than South Asia.

Nearly 200 people lined up to speak during a meeting of the instructional committee from the state Board of Education. Dozens voiced complaints over how castes and the so-called untouchables are portrayed. Others applauded the committee for rejecting the use of the term South Asia, which some scholars said should be used to refer to an area that includes modern-day India, Pakistan and Nepal.

Those who wanted the panel to adopt the term India say that it accurately reflects what the region has long been called and represents the most influential culture in the area.

The committee debated dozens of specific sentences in the history curriculum framework, which is more than 400 pages.