The Origins of the Caste System

A New Perspective
By

Sanjay Sonawani

Contents

Contents
1. An overview and a few basic facts...........................................................................................................2
Rapt in the Name: The Ramnamis, Ramnam, and Untouchable Religion in Central India by Ramdas
Lamb, pub.: Suny Press, 2012, page 1-2......................................................................................................3
Legal and Constitutional History of India: Ancient legal, judicial, and constitutional system by
Mandagadde Rama Jois, Universal Law Publishing, 1984 page 491............................................................3
The distinct Hindu and Vedic religions.....................................................................................................4
Some Aspects of Ancient Indian Culture by D. R. Bhandarkar, Asian Educational Services, 1989, page- 34-
35.................................................................................................................................................................5
Origin of the varna system......................................................................................................................8
‘Riddles in Hinduism: HOW THE UPANISHADS DECLARED WAR ON THE VEDAS?’ by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar,
Createspace Independent Pub, 2008.........................................................................................................10
2. How Scholars were misled?...................................................................................................................11
Indian Caste System edited by R.K. Pruthi, Discovery Publishing House, 2004, page-3-4.........................11

1
Kinship Organization in India by Iravati Karve, South Asia Books, 1990 ...................................................11
Rural Sociology by N. Jayapalan, Atlantic Publishers & Dist, 2002, page-135...........................................12
Tribal Roots of Hinduism,By Shiv Kumar Tiwari, pub.: sarup & Sons, page-89..........................................12
3. Manusmriti and the Caste system.........................................................................................................17
Brahmarshi Desa is not synonymous with Brahmavarta as the geographical boundaries of both the
regions are well defined by Manu. The mistake to treat both the lands same is occurred because
Sarasvati-Drishadvati Rivers have been erroneously considered flowing through the Indian soils. If that
would be the case, there was no need to distinguish both the regions as some scholars believe that the
Sarasvati (better known as Ghaggar) flows through the Kuru region! Alain Daniélou also considers both
the lands being different. (A Brief History of India, page- 55-56)..............................................................17
“Who were the Shudras?”– Dr. Ambedkar’s view.................................................................................23
Then who were the original Shudras?...................................................................................................25
How Vedic people came across the Shudras?........................................................................................27
4. What is the Caste?.................................................................................................................................29
5. Rise and fall of the “Shreni” system and the Castes!.............................................................................31
Economic ideas in ancient India before Kautilya, Bankey Lal Sharma, pub.- Ramanand Vidyabhavan,
1987 - Page 138.................................................................................................................................33
FAMINES................................................................................................................................................35
6. Medieval India and the Caste System....................................................................................................37
CASTES IN INDIA: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development, by Dr B.R. Ambedkar, Ssoft Group,
INDIA.........................................................................................................................................................40
7. Impact of British Raj on the Caste System!............................................................................................43
Industrialization.....................................................................................................................................46
Class Structure and Economic Growth: India and Pakistan Since the Moghuls by Angus Maddison, pub.-
Routledge, 2013, page-61..........................................................................................................................46

1. An overview and a few basic facts

The inequality-based caste system is said to be a unique feature of the Indian society.
Many scholars assume that the caste system is ancient and was for the most part rigid, immobile
and unjust. It is suggested that this system was forced on the masses by Vedic Brahmins for their
selfish motives and the compartmentalization implied in the system has remained rigidly in place
since then.
We must carefully distinguish between the Hindu religion and the (initially nomadic) Vedic
religion. It is a mistake to treat Hindu and Vedic religions as one and the same. Further, the

2
assumption that the Vedas are the source of Hinduism is wrong. Two unrelated religions has been
considered together because the focus mostly has been on the Vedic texts those are used to
circumscribe what has come to be thought as normative tradition while neglecting the independent
tantric tradition which finds its roots in pre-Vedic Indus civilization. Both traditions has
independent origins belonging to the different times and geographies.

The orthodox Vedic religious scriptures are valuable to the extent of their values, faiths and
practices that were, and are sanctioned within the orthodox tradition. At the same time, however,
they tell us little or nothing directly about the religious life of low castes (Sudras), tribals,
untouchables and others.1 Finding origins of the caste (jati) system in Vedic tradition thus becomes
problematic.

We then find that there is no relationship between the varna (compartmentalized class)
system of the Vedic religion and the caste system (jati) practiced by the much older, non-Vedic
Hindus2 (jatis were not part of the Hindu religion, as such).Thus, jati is not a problem but our
mixing up of varna and jati has created numerous conundrums. This misunderstanding,
institutionalized by the British and thereafter erroneously recorded in India’s Constitution, poses a
major hurdle in the path of the movement to eliminate the present hierarchical caste jati system. The
conflation of varna and jati has also led to incorrect explanations of the origin of the caste system.

It is a grave misconception that the castes emerged out of the varnas. Caste assemblies
(Previously known as Shrenis) of the non-Vedic Hindus were independent bodies with their own
internal code of conduct and caste morals. They were never dictated by Vedic Brahmins.
Manusmriti instructs that the codes of non-Vedics should be disregarded by the Vedics. (Manu-
12.95-96) And the ruling classes could not force any profession on their subjects, either. Rulers
accepted the verdicts of the Shrenies or jati assemblies without any question. We find many caste
assembly verdicts in the medieval era that were validated by political authorities. Jatis were
therefore governed by their own leaders without any interference from political authorities. It
was considered a grave offence to disobey the verdicts of the caste assemblies. 3 Prior to that,
from which caste assemblies evolved, occupational shrenis enjoyed the same status in authority
except those involved trial for an offence committed with violence. 4
1
Rapt in the Name: The Ramnamis, Ramnam, and Untouchable Religion in Central India by Ramdas
Lamb, pub.: Suny Press, 2012, page 1-2.

2
Indian history does not begin with the Vedas but has far more remote roots. The broad umbrella
called the Hindu religion also does not find its root in the Vedas. The religion based on the
Vedas, along with its allied literature, had its roots in a different geography as I have shown in
“Origins of the Vedic Religion and Indus-Ghaggar Civilisation” by Sanjay Sonawani, pub.-
3
Maharashtra Ani Marathe by A. R. Kulkarni, pub.: Diamond Publications, page 40-41.
4
Legal and Constitutional History of India: Ancient legal, judicial, and constitutional system by Mandagadde Rama
Jois, Universal Law Publishing, 1984 page 491

3
 It is clear from the available proofs that the Vedic code was not applicable to the shrenis
(occupational guilds), kula (rural farming communities) and gana. The ease in mobility
between the castes (occupational shrenis) also is recorded. In medieval era it was up to the caste
assemblies to decide whether or not to assimilate someone from other caste. 5 It does mean that,
against popular understanding, the caste mobility was not absent from Hindu life.
Then how come that a birth-based rigid caste system emerged and persists even today,
dividing the people those belonged to the same stock of the people? Social systems similar to
India’s jati system have prevailed throughout world but nowhere else has the occupational guild
system changed to a compartmentalized caste system.
So how and when did jati became birth-based with its associated sense of inequality? Did
religious commands (such as by Vedic brahmins) force casteism on society, with the people
accepting it without protest? Or was it the outcome of peculiar socio-economic and political
circumstances?
I will discuss these questions at length in this book to understand the roots of the
hierarchical caste system that haunts Indians. At this stage one can note that the birth-based caste
system is not as ancient as it is often thought. Instead, it is a relatively recent phenomenon that
has its roots in entirely different circumstances.
But first we need to distinguish a few key things to set the context.

The distinct Hindu and Vedic religions

Indian history does not start with the entry of the Vedics but has its roots in the Indus
civilization. The (nomadic) Vedic and Hindu religions are totally distinct, with their own distinct
social systems. Vedic scholars are now arguing that the Rig Veda predates the Indus Valley
civilisation, but this argument has no basis. An idea that arose during British rule, that the Vedas are
the chief source of Hinduism, is simply untrue.6
The source of Hindu religion cannot be traced to the Vedas but to the culture that existed
since more than 7000 years. These ancient Indians had their own religion, culture, kingdoms and
republics, and their own economic system. The Hindu religion is based on pre-Vedic Tantra
traditions.7 These traditions emerged long ago when the society turned agrarian. The rise of the
fertility cult in an agrarian society was inevitable and we find ancient deities like Shiva and Shakti
are moreover symbols of fertility. Almost all festivals that Hindus celebrate today are connected
with the concept of fertility. There is no Vedic festival that Hindus celebrate. Even today, around 85

5
Maharashtra Ani Marathe, by A. R. Kulkarni, pub.: Diamond Publications, page 40-41.

6
Madhyayugin Dharmakalpanancha Vikas : Tantra, Yoga ani Bhakti, Dr. Sudhakar Deshmukh, Pub.- Padmagandha
Prakashan, 2013, page-324.
7
History of the Tantric Religion: A Historical, Ritualistic, and Philosophical Study by Narendra Nath Bhattacharya,
Manohar Publications, 1982.

4
per cent of the Hindus follow the Tantra-based religion – although this origin has been obscured
from common understanding.
In fact, even the most cursory observation Hinduism as commonly practiced will show
that Hindu beliefs predominantly reflect a pre-Vedic religion with its diverse and unique idolatry.
There is a strange and universal absence of the fire sacrifice (yajna) across Hinduism. If the
Vedic religion were the source of Hinduism, one would find the yajna– the key Vedic ritual in
which libations are offered to numerous abstract gods – to be at least universally found across
India. Further, Vedic gods themselves are hardly known or worshipped anywhere in India.
Instead, the Hindu religion has its rich and entirely different mythology.
The Indian people never “forgot” the Vedas: they did not know about them in the first
place, at least till the British erroneously conflated various scriptures.
As I have shown elsewhere in detail 8, the Vedic religion came to the Indian subcontinent
in around 1000 BC. The Vedics share similar ritualistic and linguistics traits with the
Zoroastrians, given their close geographical proximity and emergence from a commonly shared
culture. Neither of these religions date prior to 1500 BC, by which time the Indus and other
contemporary civilizations had declined owing to climate change and economic recession.
The Vedic religion entered the Indian subcontinent through a small number of refugees
and later spread by missionary practice across the subcontinent. The Vedics were mostly
pastorals and semi-nomadic who did not know geography of India when they first stepped into
the north-west region. The Shatapatha Brahmana has preserved this history through the myth of
Videgh Mathava. They came to know India gradually and their expanding knowledge of India is
reflected in early Brahmana literature and Manusmriti. This is why there is no trace of the rise,
decline and revival of the Indus civilization in Vedic literature. They did not know which
communities lived in the regions beyond the Vindhyas. They had no entry in prachya Desa
(Magadha and beyond regions) for long time as Shatpatha Brahmana notes that the people of
this region spoke mlenccha (foreign) language and had their own priests. 9
The Vedic groups probably sought to proselytize existing populations. However, this was
not easy since the pre-vedic Hindu religion had existed for millennia and easily opposed the
missionary practices of the Vedics.
The Vedics were fortunate in that they finally did receive some royal patronages –
initially in the Shudra kingdom (a northwestern tribe), followed by Kuru-Panchal, Videha and
then Magadha kingdoms. The word Shudra has its origin in this first tribe that patronized them.
The non-Vedic Hindus had a jati system (entirely unrelated to religious belief) to denote
various occupations. The jati system was a factual description of occupations and was not unjust in
any way, nor enforced by any religious command. It is therefore quite inappropriate to conflate
varna and jati or consider jatis as ‘caste’.

8
Origins of the Vedic Religion and Indus-Ghaggar Civilisation by Sanjay Sonawani, Prajakt Prakashan, 2015.
9
Some Aspects of Ancient Indian Culture by D. R. Bhandarkar, Asian Educational Services, 1989, page-
34-35.

5
 Even th Manusmriti was fully aware of the difference between these two. It enumerates the
professions of the non-Vedic people but never suggests that these professions belonged to the Vedic
religion or that these were hereditary. Instead, it specifically prohibits non-Vedic professionals
including non-Vedic temple priests from attending the Shraddha of the Vedic people10. Thus
Manusmriti makes the clear cut distinction between the Vedic and the non-Vedic Hindu religions
and yet many of us have been blind to this basic distinction.
It is true that in the Manusmriti the servants (who hailed from the non-Vedic masses, and
who were incorrectly designated as Shudras11) were meant to be treated badly. But the Indian
society was not even remotely under the pale of the Vedic religion, so Manusmriti only applied
to members of the Vedic religion. Even the Prakrit texts belonging to the first century AD, such
as Gatha Saptashati and Angavijja, enumerate various professions but does not classify any of
them into varna. Angavijja clearly differentiates the religion of the Aryas (Religion of three so-
called upper varnas) and all other foreign tribes, such as Saka, Kushana, Yavana, along with
Sudras.12 Patanjal Mahabhashya also makes the similar classification. In any probability the code
of the Vedics couldn’t have been forced upon those who were outside of its pale. Also other
proofs indicate clearly that there was no implementation of the Vedic code on non-Vedic Hindus,
and indeed, it was never intended for them. Smritis also codify the varna laws only for the
Vedics, not for the non-Vedic jatis. In fact, whatever Purushsukta or the later Smritis
commanded simply did not apply to the non-Vedic Hindu social facts, which are entirely
unrelated to these commands.
We are sure that at least up to the medieval era, there was no interaction whatsoever between
jatis and varna. It turns out that the British are responsible for first making this error when they took
recourse to Vedic Smritis while drafting a Hindu Code. They failed to recognize that the jati and
varna systems represent the social order of two entirely distinct religious systems.
It is completely incorrect to consider the Vedas to be the main source of the Hinduism. In
fact, the Vedas and the Vedic code have nothing to do with the Agamic (Hindu) religion. And
there are no instances, even in the medieval era, to suggest that the Vedic Smrities were ever
forced on the Hindu society. Had that been the case no Shudra could ever have become king,
noble, priest or trader. The Vedic Smrities were simply not applicable to the broader Hindu
religion. The proclamation that “Veda is the only and ultimate sanction for Dharma” (Manu.2.6)
was only true and acceptable for the people those belonged to the Vedic religion and not Hindus.
The jatis of the non-Vedic Hindus (Sudras)

10
While enumerating the people belonging to variety of the occupations those cannot attend the Shraddha, Manu
do not address them collectively as Sudras, though most of these progessions now are thought to be belonging to
the
11
Sudra communities. Manu rather mentions Sudra separately along with other professions. This only would
In this book, in a separate chapter, I will show how the term Shudra has been grossly misunderstood, thereby
causing enormous confusion.
12
In 24th chapter of “Angavijja” ( edited by Muni Shri Punyavbijayji,Prakrit Text Society, 1957) title as Jativijaya” the
population is divided in two religious classes, i.e. Arya and Mlencha. Under Arya falls Brahmin, Kshatriya and
Vaishya varnas whereas Sudras are included in Mlencha category along with Sakas, Yavanas etc. indicating their
independent distinct religion and beliefs. (page-148)

6
 The jatis precede the Vedic varna system. To form a jati the first prerequisite is to have a
traditional profession. In prehistory, we only find foraging and hunting hence there was no
division of labour. Only after becoming semi-nomadic and starting to settle down, does division
of labour begin. With full-fledged agriculture the social order became more complex. Agrarian
life needed new inventions and innovations. From various excavations we find an explosion of
specialty products in almost every known ancient civilization. The exchange of innovations and
trade of surplus production is seen to occur from around 7000 BC. Specialty professions
emerged gradually such as early wool-weavers, tanners and stone-masons. A service class, such
as transporters, farm labours also emerged.
India has more than five thousand jatis today but most did not exist even a few centuries
ago because there weren’t such professions then. Many new jatis emerged during the medieval
era. And many jatis mentioned in ancient scriptures vanished long ago, as these professions
became extinct.
It is crucial to note that at no stage of this evolution was there any permanent division of
labour or skills. With new inventions or innovations new castes would emerge. Those who joined
the new professions were from the same human stock. People were free to choose their
profession. A main feature of caste is a link to a hereditary profession. But none of India’s jatis
were hereditary. For instance, warriors were never a permanent class since kings seldom
established standing armies. They assembled their armies in the time of need and farmers and
peasants become part-time soldiers, with landlords as commanders. Such a part-time profession
couldn’t possibly have been hereditary. It was voluntary and entirely unrelated to the Vedic
varna system.

Medieval Vedic scholars did try to fit jatis into the ambit of their varna system, but this
failed. The preposterous suggestion that jatis are a product of inter-varna Anuloma or Pratiloma
marriages is simply not tenable. This idea to explain the existence of non-Vedic castes
(occupations) treats them as a product of corrupt marital ties. Such an approach couldn’t possibly
have been accepted by the masses,- in fact, they most likely did not even know about this claim
which remained in the restricted documents of the Vedic literature. Dr. Ajay Mitra Shastri notes:

…as various occupations became hereditary, they formed castes [jatis]. To adjust
the various castes to the varna system, Smritis considered Anuloma (marriage of
lower varna woman with a high varna man) and Pratiloma (marriage of high
varna woman with a lower varna man) marriages being responsible for the
emergence of the various castes. However, this attempt seems to have failed as
people mentioned their own professional castes in various donation inscriptions. 13
(Translation mine)

Here Dr. Shastri is referring to the donation inscriptions in Buddhist caves of early
Maharashtra. He shows that many Shudra kings came to power in the early and medieval eras,
especially in South India. These kings proudly mentioned their non-Vedic (i.e. Shudra) origins in

13
“Maharashtra Rajya Gazetteer-Itihas : Prachin Kal (Khand 1) Ed. Dr. Arunchandra S. Pathak, pub. Darshanika
Vibhag, Government of Maharashtra, 2002, page-489.

7
their donation inscriptions.14Many Shudra dynasties existed in ancient India – despite seemingly
being prohibited from holding royal authority by the Smritis. Numerous Shudra kings are
mentioned even in the Mahabharata, Satapatha Brahmana and Manusmriti (although the term
Shudra was used in a different sense that I will address in a separate chapter).
Even after the advent of the Vedic religion in India (approximately coterminous with the end of
the Indus Valley civilization), we do not find any evidence of the hereditary nature (or
stratification) of the professions. Still the Vedic scholars of modern times erroneously or
deliberately try to impress l us how the whole society followed the commands of the
Dharmashastras during vast span of the time but they fail to provide any evidence for this
claim. They do not want to acknowledge that the e Shudras were not part of the Vedic society
and did not follow any of its religious commands. Vedic people were always aware of the
independent origin of the Shudras as Taittiriya Brahmana proclaims, "The Brahmana caste is
sprung from the gods; the Shudras from the Asuras." (T.B. I-2.6.7)

There is no evidence that Shudras were physically prevented by the Vedics from holding
positions of authority, no matter how much the Vedic scriptures denounced such a thing.
It is therefore not true that the jati system was rigid and enforced by the Vedic people.
We have numerous examples to prove that the professions could be changed. One could enter
easily in reputed or disreputable professions depending upon his skills, choice or situation. Had
the Smrities been able to bind Hindus in their code, the historical dynasties, from the Nandas to
the Satvahanas – who belonged to the non-Vedic class – couldn’t have become kings and
Emperors.
Dr. Shastri shows that jati, in form of the shrenies, played a major role in the economy
of ancient times.15Almost all professions were controlled by the non-Vedic masses (Shudras)
who were not only kings, they were priests, money lenders, artisans, landlords, peasants, knights,
traders, sea farers, service providers and soldiers.

Origin of the varna system

Did invading Aryans defeat India’s aboriginals and enforce a low varna status upon them? This
is not possible. First, the Aryan invasion theory is fundamentally incorrect, as demonstrated by
archeological, scriptural and genetic evidence. Trautmann has rightly remarked:

This is the theory that Indian civilization was formed by a big bang, caused by the
light-skinned, Aryan, civilized invaders over dark skinned savage aboriginal
Indians, and the formation of the caste system which bound two in a single society,
at once mixed and segregated. If this theory were true, there ought to be evidence
in the earliest Vedic texts.16
There is no evidence for this in the Vedic texts.

14
Ibid page 490.
15
“Maharashtra Rajya Gazetteer-Itihas : Prachin Kal (Khand 1) Ed. Dr. Arunchandra S. Pathak, pub.
Darshanika Vibhag, Government of Maharashtra, 2002, page-489
16
The Aryan Debate, Thomas R. Trautmann, Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 100.

8
 Further, the Vedics were too few and the masses did not even know about their beliefs. In
any event, it is not possible for them to have “invented” the (long-existent) professions or forced
a new set of occupational divisions upon the masses. As we have seen above, various professions
flourished in India long before the advent of the Vedics. The Vedics couldn’t have interfered in
the local social system both because of their small numbers and because they were dependent on
the local people for their survival. Further, the non-Vedic Hindus, who were highly capable
people and traded with far-off civilisations and who founded the Indus valley civilisation, had
their own religion and social system, including their priests, philosophies and rituals.
We know that the Vedic religion did not have any hereditary system for quite some time.
This is consistent with the idea of a hereditary varna being entirely absent from the Indo-
European world. Even the closest relatives of Vedic culture, the Zoroastrians, never invented
varna.
The varna system was first proposed in the late Rig Veda 17through the Purushasukta but
it appears that it become stratified (within the Vedic religion) between 1000 to 800 BC– after the
Vedic religion started to advance further into the Indian sub-continent.
Was this creation of varna an outcome of a racial sense of purity or pollution? 18That
appears unlikely due to the broad nature of the Vedic term Shudra, which is unrelated to race.
Instead, it is very likely the concept of varna evolved in response to the unique set of challenges
faced by the Vedics in India as a small band of refugees in a well-developed economy.
Many professions already existed in India, and the economy was prosperous with its
inland and foreign trade. It was simply impossible for a band of nomads to enforce their
language and culture upon the vast nation. To impress the people and patrons like kings and the
nobles and to convert people to their fold the early Vedics needed special skills and a level of
cunning. The Vedic literature is full of stories in which it appears how gradually Vedic religion
came to prominence in the North, especially in the Kuru-Panchal and Magadha regions. In the
meanwhile, the old Hindu religion kept on thriving with its independent philosophies and deities.
It is possible that the idea of varna arose accidentally as part of the need to create an
orderly internal social system to maintain their identity and functioning in India. This itself was
possibly prompted by the ever-expanding complexity of the fire sacrifice. Vedic fire sacrifices
were initially simple affairs, conducted by the family head. Later, however, these started
becoming elaborate, which meant the Vedics needed specially trained priests. Brahmana
literature was then composed to explain these complex procedures. Over time, the increasing
complexity meant that Brahmins became the most revered entity in the Vedic society. That then
led to their famous Purushsukta proclamation. It is a truly bold declaration – that they, the
Brahmins, were the first-born. All scholars agree that the Purushasukta is later inclusion in the
body of the Rig Veda. It does not matter that this claim was a figment of the imagination of its
authors, studded with a pride that suited their purpose. It was effective and served to boost their
social prospects: this Sukta has left an indelible impression on the Indian mind.
17
The Purushsukta of Rig Veda proclaims that the varna system is created from the sacrificial body of the Lord
himself. It claims that the Brahmin is the highest and first since the head of the lord became the Brahmin, and that
Shudras are the last born – from the lord’s feet.
18
The Annihilation of Caste by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.

9
 By 800 BC, before the advent of the Buddha (who rebelled against varna), the Vedic
system had prohibited changes in varna. It is important to note that the Manusmriti only applied
to the Vedics. It is therefore erroneous to hold the Manusmriti responsible for the social
stratification we find in later Indian society.
The Vedic society was perhaps too small initially to classify itself into three special
divisions. So there was probably a delay in uptake of the varna system even within the Vedics.
But once the initial concept had been documented, strategic benefits of the system – in terms of
impressing the rest of the society with their elaborate and complex rituals, with choreographed
use of Sanskrit slokas – probably motivated a stronger adoption of hereditary practices, which
increased the aura of the Vedic brahmins and helped them gain royal patronage. However, these
missionary practices didn’t go unopposed. For Vedic religion, it took almost 600 years to cross
Vindhyas. The remnants of the history of conflict are still traceable in Vedic literature, though in
most polluted form. The Upanisad doctrine originally was emerged to oppose fundamental
tenets of the Vedic religion, however, those were later appropriated by the Vedics. Dr. B.R.
Ambedkar rightly had observed, “If it be granted that the true derivation of the word ' Upanishad
' is what is suggested by Prof. Max Muller, then it would be one piece of evidence to show that
the common belief of the Hindus is wrong and that the subject matter of the Vedas and the
Upanishads are not complimentary but antagonistic. That the system of thought embodied in the
Upanishads is repugnant to that of the Vedas is beyond doubt.”19
Note that except for thePurushsukta, we do not find the term Shudra appearing anywhere
in the Rig Veda because they had never come across these people until they entered the sub-
continent.

19
‘Riddles in Hinduism: HOW THE UPANISHADS DECLARED WAR ON THE VEDAS?’ by
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Createspace Independent Pub, 2008.

10
2. How Scholars were misled?

Social stratification, based on the birth, is considered to be unique feature of the caste
system. Also it is largely assumed that the rigid, birth based and unjust caste (jati) system has
antique origin. The various Indian and European scholars have attempted to find the origin of the
caste system.. They can be briefed as under-
1. Birth-based rigid caste (varna) system is an ancient fact of Hindu life that was
created by the Aryans adding non-Aryans to it in later course of the time Different jatis who
professed different professions were integrated in different varnas according to their profession.
20

3. According to Sir H. Risley, "a caste may be defined as a collection of families or

groups of families bearing a common name which usually denotes or is associated with specific
occupation, claiming common descent from a mythical ancestor, human or divine, professing to
follow the same professional callings and are regarded by those who are competent to give an
opinion as forming a single homogeneous community."21
4. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar has different view. According to him the castes in India before
colonial rule were exogamous society because marriages within blood-relatives and class-
relations were forbidden. He proposes that the castes should be defined as a social group that
tries to impose endogamy in an exogamous population.22
5. The definition given by Amar Kosha is, “Caste is a synonym of class. The groups
formed by the social common customs are called Castes.”
6. According to Dr. Iravati Karve, main feature of the caste is they are endogamous.
Spread of the caste is in the limited geographical area where a single common language is
spoken. Every caste has one or two ancestral profession and its status in comparison with other
castes can be either higher or lower. The families with which marital ties can be established such
group of the families is the caste. Hence the caste is nothing but expanded group of the relations.
Dr. Karve further states that the caste and tribe has striking similarities, such as limited
geographical spread and presence of the caste panchayat (Assembly), hence the castes are formed
out of ancient tribes.23
7. Many think that the eugenics has been instrumental in water tight
compartmentalization of the castes.
8. The castes were enforced upon the aboriginals by the invading victorious Aryans is
another school of thought that is still dominant in the Indian society. Dr. Ghurye opines, “Caste

20
Indian Caste System edited by R.K. Pruthi, Discovery Publishing House, 2004, page-3-4

21
CASTES IN INDIA: Their Mechanism,Genesis and Developmentby B. R. Ambedkar

22
Ibid
23
Kinship Organization in India by Iravati Karve, South Asia Books, 1990

11
is a Brahminic child of Indo-Aryan culture cradled in the land of the Ganges and thence
transferred to other parts of India by Brahmin prospectors.”24
9. The another thought is, the word “jati” is employed to mean the numerous sub-
divisions of a “varna”. However, this theory proposes that this demarcation is not rigidly
maintained. The word “jati”, is sometimes used for “varna”.
From above it will appear that what G. S. Ghurye wrote in 1932, “…despite much study
by many people,... we do not possess a real general definition of caste. It appears to me that any
attempt at definition is bound to fail because of the complexity of the phenomenon. On the other
hand, much literature on the subject is marred by lack of precision about the use of the term.”1 is
not an exaggeration.
The above overview of the opinions of various scholars clearly shows that they are not
unanimously clear about the origin of the castes Also the meaning and the origin of the caste too
is uncertain to them. Some scholars have taken racial or ethnic angles to define the castes
whereas some have taken tribal angle. However the fact remains that there are castes and every
caste is compartmentalized, independently functioning body set distinct and aloof from the other
castes, maintaining higher and lower status at the same time in the society.
The scholars have unanimously considered that the Indians of ancient times followed a
single religion that originated from the Vedas and dictated by the laws of various smritis. They
have not even considered the possibility of the presence of rival religion/s in India competing
Vedic religion prior to advent of Buddhism and Jainism. They, under influence of AIT/AMT,
have considered that the indigenous popular tribal deities were assimilated by the
victorious/migrated Vedic Aryans by elevating their characters, such as of Shiva and Devi. 25
They neglect to answer as to why the victorious Aryans possibly could have accepted deities of
the subjugated people? Though most of the scholars agree that the share of non-Aryans in
building up Indian civilization is larger and that their material civilization was far advance than
of the nomadic-barbarian Aryans, 26 they have failed to note that the Vedic religious tradition
always remained aloof and parallel to the local idolatrous religious tradition to which we call
Hindu. The attempts to appropriate Hindu deities, subordinating to the Vedas, by creating
fictitious myths were of far later times. This is the reason why we do not find trace of any Hindu
deity in early Smritis and Brahmana literature! Varna system of the Vedic religion is like a
pyramid and should have been translated as “permanent class system’ and not caste. Brahmin is
placed higher while rest of the varnas are set in descending order. It appears that there also was a
time when Kshatriya’s claimed highest position 27over Brahmins, though it is very much
uncertain that Kshatriya ever was the sanctified varna in Vedic system. This is because the
Purushsukta mentions Rajanya instead of Kshatriya in the second order of varna system and
Rajanya and Kshatriya are not one and the same. There is no satisfactory explanation why
Rajanyas (either elected rulers or aristocracy helping the ruler) were replaced with the Kshatriyas
(temporal authority or power)28.

24
Rural Sociology by N. Jayapalan, Atlantic Publishers & Dist, 2002, page-135
25
Vedic Sanskuticha Itihas by Tarkateertha laxman Shastri Joshi,
26
Tribal Roots of Hinduism,By Shiv Kumar Tiwari, pub.: sarup & Sons, page-89
27
An Advanced History of India by R.C. Mujumdar, H.C. Raychaudhari and K. Dutta, 1963,
page-44
28
Sharma, Ram Sharan (2005). India's ancient past. the University of Michigan: Oxford
University Press. pp. 110–112.
12
 Shudra varna certainly was not part of the Vedic religion. . After close examination of the
duties assigned to the Vaishya and Shudra varna, in fact, it appears that Vaishyas later on became
a cognate word for shudras and has been used alternatively to distinguish the people from Vedic
religion and the people from other religion those were following equivalent responsibilities or
professions in the society. 29

The Vedic scriptures clearly proclaim independent origin of the Shudras. They are non-
Aryans, Mlencha and were born to Asuras or non-existence! 30 Only twice-born varnas form a
religion which has specific privileges within the religion in descending order whereas Shudras
were prohibited of any Vedic ritual. From the perspective of the Vedic Aryans the religious
distinction was always clear, but neglected by the scholars. To whom Vedics had designated
Shudra had their own religion and social system which we will discuss in this book later. They
did not ever identify themselves as Shudra for they knew it was foreign title forced on them. This
is evidenced from all the donation inscriptions where donors have identified themselves with
their occupational castes but not at all with Shudra varna because it was not their real identity. 31

It is hence incorrect to consider that the jati (caste) system was by-product of the Varna
system. Albeit there were some mixed castes within the Vedic system because of the corrupt
marital ties, such as Ayogava, Dhigvana, Suta, Chatta etc. but, surprisingly we do not find their
practical existence in Indian society at all! It may appear that either these were imaginary castes
fashioned out to threaten the would-be offenders or such Vedic castes have been vanished long
ago! These Vedic castes and their origin has no relation with the occupation based castes or jati
of the Hindu religion. Hindu castes did not emerge from the corrupt marital ties but occupations.

The meaning of varna in itself is not certain though the varna system has divine sanction
whereas jati system has not. From smriti commands it appears that the flexible varna system was
converted to birth-based rigid system by Brahmana era, about 800 BC. Still, surprisingly we
find the Rajanya varna being replaced with the Kshatriya in later literature, which has no Vedic
sanction. Also, we find that the Vedic system in later course of the time denied existence of the
Kshatriyas too along with Vaishya varna by creating various fictitious stories. So far, the proper
attention is not given towards this drastic shift in the Vedic religion where the existence of two
varnas has absolutely been denied while original meaning and application of the term shudra
also was changed and widened, no matter whether it was acceptable to the people to whom they
addressed as shudras.
When existence of the two major varna was denied, it was illogical to infer that the
jatis (castes) sprang from the non-existent varnas!

29
See Vayu Purana (8-171) Yadnyavaklya Smriti, Smriti Chandrika and Shankh Smriti where an utter confusion in
the professions to be assigned to Vaishya and Shudra communities do appear. It is a lame explanation that the
Shudras were “allowed” to conduct professions of the upper varnas in the situation of distress because most of the
kings were Shudra when these smritis were written.
30
See Taittiriya Brahmin (1-2.6.7., 3-2.3.9), Angavijja (chapter 24) and Manusmriti 10.44.
31
Maharashtra Rajya Gazetteer-Itihas : Prachin Kal (Khand 1) Ed. Dr. Arunchandra S. Pathak, pub. Darshanika
Vibhag, Government of Maharashtra, 2002, page-488.

13
 Varna system was invented by Vedics in an order to regulate their internal social system.
It wasn’t and couldn’t have been aimed for the masses they have to live among in absence of
absolute political power. There is no evidence that they conquered local masses and forced any
system on them. There is no scriptural or material proof to substantiate Aryan Invasion or mass
migration except for the fact that handful of the Vedic adherents entered Indian subcontinent to
preach their religion. This changes whole assumed scenario of Indian socio-cultural history.
In Vedic order, Brahmins maintained their superiority for they were the early
missionaries and architects of a structured religion. After setting feet in the kingdom of Shudras
later they flourished in Kuru-Panchal regions and later to thrivein the Gangetic plains in later
times. The early opponents to this religion like Charvaka, Buddha and Mahavira too emerged
from these regions because elsewhere this religion was yet to find space hence there was no
question of any opposition. Entry of Vedic religion in Maharashtra was as late as in first century
BC. 32 Vedic influence on Sangam literature begins to appear only from Mauryan period. 33 sWe
can trace chronological spread of Vedic religion from north to south through missionary practice.
Dravidians had their own social system and so the north Indians, independent of the
Vedic system. People were distributed in many clans, tribes and gana while having their own
internal socio-political order. Mahabharata enumerates several tribes informing their different
social and political systems those nowhere match with the Vedic system. In Tamilnadu, we find
five landscape divisions of the people as mentioned in Sangam literature and it too nowhere is
connected with the Vedic system.
Still the irony is modern Indian scholars somehow try hard to correlate both the systems
to establish Vedic influence.
We have ample archaeological proofs of pre-historical settlements spread throughout
India. The settlement patterns clearly show that there were many professions, agriculture being
prominent, supported by animal husbandry and fishing. The housing types in towns and villages
indicate the financial ability or political authority of the owners, It is obvious that if there was
any division in the society, it was occupation based and as we find with advance of the time new
occupations emerging which obviously accommodated the existing skilled workforce from the
same community. It proves the mobility of the people across the professions. Had it been the
birth-based system from where the people would come into the new professions? All the
professions of early humanity are the outcome of gradual inventions and modifications and
shared innovations. No particular community can be credited with inventions of all the
occupations and then distributing them in ranks for their livelihood thus creating castes.
For example, after the Copper Age the Iron Age appeared. Sensing its utility many people
got diverted to the new profession, to smelt the iron and make implements from it. It must be
very profitable business in its early times. From where these people came and entered new
profession had Caste (jati) system been rigid? The people entered this new profession must have
been engaged in other occupations before. They could desert their previous business to enter
another only because there didn’t exist birth-based rigid caste system. It only can happen when
freedom to change profession is in place. And it clearly seems from available proofs and simple
logic such freedom certainly did exist in India too. Hence, it would be wrong to theorise the
birth-based caste system had ancient origins and has been rigid since then!
32
Gatha saptashati, an anthology edited and contributed by Hal Satvahana, does not mention any varna, Vedic
deities or rituals or even Brahmins, though it mentions variety of occupational castes and Hindu deities. Naneghat
inscription proves that by 1st century BC the Vedic religion could gain some patronage from Satvahanas.
33
Madhyayugin Dharmakalpanancha Vikas : Tantera, Yoga aani Bhakti by Dr. Sudhakar Deshmukh, Pub.-
Padmagandha Prakashan, page-30-31

14
 The castes are not outcome of the eugenics as some scholars like to prefer. Dr. B. R.
Ambedkar refutes this theory as he states,
“As a matter of fact [the] Caste system came into being long after the different races of
India had commingled in blood and culture.”34
It should be understood that in ancient India there were tribes, but their identity was not
racial but totemic. There are many instances of inter-tribal marriages as well, as many as it shows
it could be a common practice. The racial sense had not emerged in the early society neither
totemic identity prides did rule to prohibit people from the inter-tribal marriages. Had it not been
the case , for example, Arjuna couldn’t have married to Ulupi, a girl belonging to Naga tribe!
Dr. Iravati Karve’s assumption that the castes emerged from the tribes is also incorrect
because we find even today that the people of one tribe are distributed in many occupational
castes and though belonging to the same tribe, they do not intermarry.
For example, Ahir (or Abhir) was an ancient tribe. Now we find the people of this tribe
distributed in various castes like shepherds, salt-makers, fishermen, goldsmith, tailors, Marathas
etc. The same thing has happened with many other ancient tribes those have preserved their
identity even today!.
Marriages within the caste have also been considered to be a main reason for formation
of the caste system. There is no supportive proof to this. If we go by folk lore’s we find many
stories where daughters of a man have married to the men belonging to the different professions.
It has been seen that the modern Vedic scholars have forcibly presumed that the Vedic code was
applicable to the whole society in every age and when they come across the contradicting
information, they try to cover up with a lame explanation that the Dharmashastras might have
loosened its grip over the society in that particular time! They have not referred to the non-Vedic
sources, may it be oral tradition, while explaining the caste system.
Rather most of the marriages happening in the same occupational castes mostly had
practical reason. For example, a girl raised up in the blacksmiths house could have, at the least,
preliminary knowledge of the profession her family was in. She could be useless, if married to a
person engaged in different occupation, except for continuing family bloodline. The marriages
within the occupational caste solved twofold problem; one is reproduction and second getting a
free laborer useful in the occupation. This situation could have been arisen in an era of the
socio-economic distress to become a practice that turned to a custom in later age. However,
several folklores those tell us the inter-occupational marriages cannot be neglected. Marriage
within the castes had practical purpose and was not reason for the creation of the caste system as
claimed by some scholars.
And which authority could have forced endogamy throughout the country? Certainly
neither the Vedic Brahmins nor the rulers. Rulers of all the times were adherents of different
sects and did not interfere the social affairs unless were complained. The royal verdicts were in
line with the customs followed by the communities even in the Brahmanical Peshava era. It is
wrong to assume that the caste system or caste codes were formulated by some authority to
enforce on the every occupational caste. The castes, in fact, were self governing bodies in all the
times since Shreni (occupational guild) era with their own codes.
Amarkosha has defined jati as under-.

34
Annihilation of Caste by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, kar, pub.: Gautam Book Center, 2008,
page- 18

15
 “Caste is a synonym of class. The groups formed by the social common customs are
called Castes,” it states.” 35
The definition given by Amarakosha clearly indicates that the caste is synonym of the
occupational class that naturally has some mutually formed common customs and code of the
ethics. It does not indicate that the group comes in to the existence on the basis of the birth. The
customs of the society are never static. They keep on changing with the time. This definition just
is descriptive and of lesser use to us.
Most importantly the caste system has no divine sanction. Vasistha SaMhita (3.1) clearly
states that,
“The regulations those govern Castes, tribes and local social systems have no Vedic
sanction.”
There wouldn’t have been any Vedic regulations or divine sanction because the caste
system was not product of the Vedic system

The scholars were misled because they confused between two visibly distinct systems
forcing one over other thus deriving misguiding inferences. Varna system has Vedic origins and
has independent doctrine sanctified by the Rigveda and regulated by the smritis. The myths
associated with the extinction of the two varnas (Kshatriya and Vaisya) indicate the drastic shift
in Vedic religion itself. The elimination of sanctified Rajanya varna from Vedic system still
remains an enigma as there is no explanation in the Vedic literature as to why this varna lost its
entity. The varna system in itself is confused since its origin and it is an error on our part to trace
the origin of caste (jati) system to it.
It also has been an error to overrate Vedic scriptures while explaining the caste system. It
simply has been because the most of the scholars with their preconceived ideas of Vedic
supremacy were forced to find Indian socio-cultural history through Vedic perspective thus
complicating otherwise simple issue.
This is why the true nature of the caste system eluded the scholars making it full of
contradictions.
It is general assumption that the Manusmriti is origin of the evil named caste. We need to
cast a serious glance at Manusmriti to understand whether the claim is true or not.

35
Bharatiya Sanskruti Kosh, vol. 3, edited by Pundit Mahadevshastri Joshi, pub.: Bharatiy Sanskrutikosh Mandal,
1999, page-583

16
3. Manusmriti and the Caste system

Manusmriti is blamed for the stratification of the caste system. As I have stated in earlier
chapters, here too, we can note that the scholars have confused varna (class) with the caste
system considering them one and the same while discussing the castes. It is, however, necessary
to critically examine the Manusmriti to understand for whom the code was intended and whether
Manu stratified the caste system or varna system.
Let us begin with the early geography of the Manusmriti. The regions known to
Manusmriti were Kuru, Panchal, Matsya, and Shaursena in its early times. (Manu. 2.17-2.19)
Manusmriti did not know the regions and people beyond Vindhya Mountain. It also did not know
existence of the Magadha or eastern regions. Manu enumerates only the known lands where
early Vedics were settled and with reverence applauds them as the lands of the Brahmarshi’s.
The other region enumerated before Brahmarshi’s, is Brahmavart, the land they had left far
behind, the land where Sarasvati and Drishadvati flowed. Manu revered Brahmavarta 36the most
placing it at the highest rank. In early times of Manusmriti Vedics had not forgotten that the
original land was situated in Iran, to which, naturally, they revered the most! Later on, it seems,
the Brahmarshi Desha was renamed with Brahmavarta.
The code was intended to those people who adhered to the Vedic religion and resided
within the boundaries of Brahmarshi Desha. Elsewhere, various tribes dwelled and ruled the
territories enjoying their own culture and religious practices, to which they wholesomely
addressed as Shudras or mlenchas. Naturally, though Manu proclaims that the code is intended
for all four varnas and intermediate ones in its very first chapter (Manu-1.2) would have
intended to only those who lived in the region of Brahmarshi, comprising of five states and
adhering to the Vedic religion.
Manusmriti dictates many laws against Shudras. Manu in the first chapter considers
Shudras as a fourth varna of the Vedic system. Yet Manu states that the Shudras could be
anywhere. Also, Manusmriti proclaims that,“Let him not dwell in a country where the rulers are
Sudras, nor in one which is surrounded by unrighteous men, nor in one which has become
subject to heretics, nor in one swarming with men of the lowest castes.” (Manu. 4.61)
Now the question will arise that if there were kingdoms of the Shudras, they had their
own religion to which Manu calls “heretics” how could his code be intended to them and how
the Shudras could be part of the Vedic religion?
We are aware that the pre-Vedic religion that is still flowing to us was idolatrous and
mainly Tantrik in nature, to which Manu calls ‘heretics’ 37 and to its followers non-religious and

36
Brahmarshi Desa is not synonymous with Brahmavarta as the geographical boundaries of both the
regions are well defined by Manu. The mistake to treat both the lands same is occurred because Sarasvati-
Drishadvati Rivers have been erroneously considered flowing through the Indian soils. If that would be
the case, there was no need to distinguish both the regions as some scholars believe that the Sarasvati
(better known as Ghaggar) flows through the Kuru region! Alain Daniélou also considers both the lands
being different. (A Brief History of India, page- 55-56)

17
In Rig Veda too we find that the enemy tribes have been addressed in the similar contemptuous
fashion.
While formulating the code as to who cannot attend the funeral offerings, Manu also
enumerates various occupations, from temple priests, cattle herders, physicians, traders, to actor
or singers, however, he does not call them Shudra, though all these professions were thought to
be the domain of the Shudras. (Manu. 2.150-155) He could have done with the usage of single
term “Shudra” instead of enumerating their various professions, instead he separates shudra from
these professional castes and prohibits all ! Manu all the time speaks of the sacred Vedas and
sacrificial fires. He prohibits temple-priests in funeral offerings (Shraddha) but nowhere
mentions any deitythat was worshiped by Hindus since ancient times. His command to prohibit
temple priest from attending the Shraddha does only mean that the Manu was aware that the
idolatrous religion did exist and was alien to his. His instructions are limited to the people who
conducted or were eligible to conduct the fire sacrifices and those who revered the Vedas, thus
making it clear that they were intended to the followers of Vedic religion and not to the people
who adhered to the Tantra based religion to which Manu calls ‘heretics’.
Manu was aware of the codes and philosophies those were non-Vedic. He denounces
them and threatens no reward after death if followed by any. (Manu. 12.95-96) It was but natural
for Manu as he was advocating and codifying his Vedic religion and thus it was necessary to him
to denounce all other religious codes, traditions, and philosophies those were against the Vedic
doctrine. Important here is Manu acknowledges the existence of non-Vedic codes and
philosophies.
Most importantly, to Manu, the clans like Paundra, Aundra, Dravida, Camboja, Yavana,
Shaka, Pahlava, China, Kirata, Darada, and Khasha are also Shudras. (Manu. 10.44) Manu
reasons, these clans reached lower positions because they violated the code and omitted the
sacred rites. It is clear that Manu here includes indigenous as well foreign clans in the Shudra
category, no matter what religion they belonged to. The fact remains that these clans couldn't
have been part and parcel of the Vedic religion as fourth varna ever and still, they are called
Shudras. Why this anomaly in Manusmriti would have arisen?
Manusmriti did not know these clans when formulation of the code had begun. The
geography of the Manusmriti was limited to five regions. The spread of the Vedic religion was
so much so limited at that time that the Vedics did not know the people living elsewhere, thus
referring to them wholesomely as Shudras. Later on, gradually, they not only came to know the
various clans delving in the country, realized that they had their independent identities; still, they
went on addressing them as Shudras. Shudra, in fact, became a designation of the people those
were not Vedic. It was impossible that these non-Vedics, Shudras, would have ever given any
heed to the commands of the alien religion! And they did not as the history evidences it.
They came to know the people like Dravida, Aundra, Paundra only after first century AD.
Shakas and Kushanas were ruling the large parts of the country by that time. Since there was no
question of their being Vedic anytime in their history, how could they have been degraded
because they violated the sacred rites of the Vedics? In all this was just a boastful proclamation
studded with Vedic supremacist approach to show their religion was ancient and once upon a
time all belonged to it. Even so, the fact remains this code couldn’t have been intended for them,
though they were designated as Shudras.

37
Manu uses here the word “Pashandi” (पाषण्डिड) which alternatively would mean the people
those who oppose the religion.
18
 The geography of early Vedics had shifted to Magadha region in later times. We find
Magadha becoming the center of this religion from where the attempts were made to spread it by
missionary practice. The opposition in form of Buddha and Mahavira arose in sixth century BC
only in these parts. Elsewhere, in absence of its presence, there was no question of any
opposition.
None of the clan of India belonged to the Vedic religion anytime and hence there was no
question of their being degraded because of omission of the sacred rites or violation of the code.
The Vedic religion was new to this land; however, the proclamation just was sort of an
explanation that could be used as propaganda to attract non-Vedics to their fold. The Aundra,
Paundras, Dravidas etc., the mighty clans of southern India, would hardly have heard of this
religion till third century AD. Only two inscriptions of Satvahanas indicate that this religion was
known to them in about first century AD, but Gatha Saptashati, an anthology of this period, does
not show the existence of the adherents of this religion in contemporary society! The editor to
this anthology Mr. S. A. Joglekar wonders at this fact and surmises that the population of Vedic
Brahmins could be very limited during that era. Even so, though ridiculous, he forwards a big
claim that the Satvahanas were Vedic Brahmins! 38
It is ridiculous to think that the instructions of Manusmriti would be ever applicable to
indigenous non-Vedic clans. The fact is these rulers seem to have hardly entertained Vedic
religion in their domain. Vedics had to work hard to get entry in every region of India and still
they could not convert all to their fold because of the inherent limitations of their religion.It is
obvious from the fact that during this Satvahana-Kushana era, on coins and in inscriptions we
find mention of non-Vedic deities like Shiva, Kumara etc.and tantric symbolism, there is no trace
of any Vedic deity or Vedic symbolism. Also parts of Manusmriti, though were being written
during this era as well, we do not find any mention of non-Vedic deities in Manusmriti.
The historical fact that appears is the code of Manu was completely neglected by the so-
called Shudra masses as they continued to follow their independent idolatrous religion and their
own code. In fact, though Manu had had insisted on the Vedic rites and sacrifices, the new
converts of later times continued with their old non-Vedic practices of like idol worship though
it was prohibited in the Vedic religion and Manusmriti. This caused major division in Vedic
religion in the form of Shraut and Smart sects in later times. If Manusmriti was so much so
powerful to change and command entire social order, the Vedics wouldn’t have dared to commit
such blasphemy that was disastrous to the core of their religious tenets. But the reality is the
Vedics were forced to change the core of their religion and yet how boastfully the Vedic
supremacy was proclaimed!
Many of Manusmriti’s instructions and explanations are imaginary, crooked,
contradictory and confusing only because the writers of various times did not know how to
confront and accommodate new situations those arose while spreading the religion and the
opposite principles that were carried in by the converts. In fact, Vedic religion got heavily
polluted in this process which reflects well from the contradictory and yet stringent instructions
those were inserted from time to time in the original body of the Manusmriti.
In fact, if studied carefully, Manu seems to be very clear in his commands. He knows to
whom commands are intended and to whom not. He explicitly states, “Vedas, Smritis, the
custom of virtuous men and one’s own pleasures is the defined fourfold religion.” (Manu-
2.12) and in the earlier verse, Manu states, “Every twice-born man, who, relying on the
institutes of dialectics, treats with contempt those two sources of the law, must be cast out by
38
Gatha Saptashati edited by S. A. Joglekar, pub.- Padmagandha Prakashan, Pune.

19
the virtuous, as an atheist and a scorner of the Vedas.” (Manu-2.11) His address is to the
people those are essentially twice born who faithfully adhere to the Vedic principles and revere
the Vedas. All other faiths opposite to Vedic principles are despicable to Manu to which he calls
heretics. We are aware that the pre-Vedic religion of India was based on Tantras to which we call
today Hindu religion. The commands of Manu are more strict for the three varnas and
contemptuous and humiliating against non-Vedic i.e. Shudras. Every religion in a similar way
has given commands against the people of opposite faith. It does not mean that the illusory
vicious commands would be followed by the others.
Here we come across a serious juncture where Manu defines the Vedic religion that finds
its source in the Vedas and virtuous conduct of the twice- born men. He threatens the twice-born
men of being outcast if they do not respect the Vedas and the laws. Manu also might have felt an
imminent threat that the people of his religion could deviate from Vedaism and embrace the
religion of Shudra if not stopped by divine command! The contempt for Shudra, too, could have
been outcome of this fear.
The twice-born are just three varnas. Shudra is excluded in this command because Manu
is aware that this varna is not Vedic. Because the Shudras are not twice-born and that they had
their independent religious order, temples and priests and several professions to conduct for their
livelihood. Manu couldn’t have enforced Vedic ideas on them. It is evident from the second
chapter of Manusmriti where it enumerates several professions along with temple priests and
Shudra Kings. They are not expected to respect the Vedas, rather, they are forbidden from them.
However, in fact, there are Vedic Brahmins those performed the sacrifices for the
Shudras against fees. Manusmriti verse 3.178 proclaims that “The giver (of a Sraddha) loses the
reward, due for such a non-sacrificial gift, for as many Brahmanas as a (guest) who sacrifices for
Sudras may touch (during the meal) with his limbs.”
And yet, at other hand, we find the instructions like-
1. God said the duty of a Shudra is to serve the upper varnas faithfully with devotion
and without grumbling. (Manu 1-91)
2. Let the first part of a Brahman’s name denote something auspicious, a Kshatriya’s be
connected with power, and a Vaishyas with wealth but a Shudra’s express something
contemptible. (Manu II.31)
3. Shudra who insults a twice born man with gross invectives shall have his tongue cut
out; for he is of low origin. (Manu VIII. 270.)
4. Shudra is unfit of receive education. The upper varnas should not impart education or
give advice to a Shudra. It is not necessary that the Shudra should know the laws and codes and
hence need not be taught. Violators will go to as amrita hell. (Manu IV-78 to 81)
We come across so many such humiliating and infuriating inhuman commands against the Shudras in
Manusmriti. Is Manu confused while dictating these commands? No. He is not confused. The confused lot is
of the scholars who have failed to understand the true essence of the Manusmriti. They did not give attention
to the following facts:
1. Manu admits there were Shudras Kings and some Vedic priests those performed sacrifices for
them, how they were expected to serve the twice-born with devotion and without grumbling? How Manu
could demand their names should be contemptible? If Shudras were well in the financial position to pay the
handsome fees to the Vedic priests for conducting the sacrifices, what about the commands of Manu that
prohibits Shudras from accumulating the wealth?
2. They did not give attention to the changing geography and the vast time span that Manuscript
covers, which begins in Kuru-Panchal at about 1000 BC and ends in Magadha region in Gupta era. The

20
additions and contradictions created by later contributors to suit their time show the journey of the Vedic
religion that was gone through the several adjustments, modifications, and contractions. Still, there was not
sanity on part of the scholars not to understand that the code written in certain region couldn't have been
applicable to all the regions of the country where Vedic religion was non-existant!
3. It is evident from Manusmriti that those all who did not belong to the Vedic religion were Shudras
to them, no matter even if they were foreigners, ruling dynasties or indigenous clans! Manu also was aware
that the Shudras had their temples for worship and the temple priests as an integral part of their religion,
however, the fact remained neglected. Though the Shudras were designated with fourth varna, as a class,
they couldn’t have been part of the Vedic religion. The fact is Vedic religion always was three-fold religion
and the fourth class always stood opposite to it with its own distinct religion.. The fact should have been
noticed that only twice-born were the Vedics and not the Shudras!
4. There is no evidence to show that the Shudras were prohibited from the education. The only fact is
they were not allowed to educate in Vedic literature, but since that literature was propriety of the Vedic people
prohibiting the people belonging to the other religion was not a surprise. There is no evidence to show that the
kingdoms, republics and Mahajanpadas of that time belonged to or were under influence of the Vedic religion.
Inscriptions, Numismatics and literary evidence go against the very notion that there was ever a Vedic Age in
India prior to the Gupta period.
5. From historical data, beginning from Pradyota of seventh century BC till medieval era, we do not
find any Vedic rulers excepting a couple of dynasties like Shunga and Kanvas. If we peep into the prehistory,
that mostly is written in mythological and propagandist form, though we come across many so-called
Kshatriya monarchs, the stories associated with them hardly can prove their being real Vedic. For example,
Kurus and Satvatas do not seem to have any Vedic background though they are portrayed as Kshatriyas in the
final recension of Mahabharata. The stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata have been used to propagate
Vedic religion with heavy interpolations. However, the social values those have survived in the final versions
of both the epics clearly show their non-Vedic origin underneath. In fact the Manusmriti does not mention the
social customs those were common in Ramayana and Mahabharata, either to praise or denounce.
6. Looking at above few indicative points, writing such hostile commands to regulate a majority
society and its obeying them without raising any protest not only sounds ridiculous but doesn’t stand on the
historical grounds as well.
It is clear that the Manusmriti was being written during this vast span of the time and one after another
command against Shudras was being added while regulating their religion, still, we do not find non-Vedic
society giving any heed to it!
Then the question will arise why the authors of the Manusmriti took so much so pains to invent
hostile commands against the Shudras? Who were they?
From close scrutiny of the Manusmriti, it clearly appears that the commands against Shudras were
intended only to the people those were in personal service of the twice-born, especially Brahmins. They could
be taken into the service on wages, bought out slaves or received in gifts from the patrons of the Vedic
religion.
These servants would be employed for conducting domestic chores as well as for farming and tending
the cattle. It is clear that these servants would encamp close to the Vedic settlements. This closeness gave way
to an inevitable problem and that was illicit intermingling. Initially, the Vedics didn’t mind the children born to
Shudra woman and would accommodate the children in their society by assigning fathers Varna to them. But
later on opposite too became a routine and hence they tried to prohibit such adulterous practices and marriages
between Vedics and Shudras by formulating harsh laws and threats of social degradation ofthe offsprings.
However, Mr. Vi. Ka. Rajwade in the preface of ‘RadhaMadhavVillasChampu’ states, such efforts
proved futile as inter-class adultery and marriages did not stop. This is evident from the fact that though the

21
children born out of such relationships were designated with various low castes like Ugra, Ambashtha, Suta,
Magadha, Vaideha, Parashava etc. they hardly were in real existence. Panini does not mention any of such
caste born out of inter-varna relationships. 39We can trace no caste in India by these names though the general
assumption is that the caste system is very ancient and rigid since the beginning.
It only does mean that though the Smritis tried their best to maintain original structure of their religion
pure and unadulterated, they failed in it. . Making harsh laws, at the least on paper, against the menial class
that was dependent for subsistence on the twice-born, were easy. Being scattered, dependent and already
pauper they wouldn’t revolt. At the most, they could leave the service and find other ways for survival to
escape humiliation. However, we do not find any instance of real execution of such commands. What we
have are few imaginary stories those are nothing but the fine example of the exaggerations those were used to
create moral fear among this class.
It is important to note that Panini classifies the Shudras in two categories, i.e. “Anirvasit” and
“Nirvasit” (Ashtadhyayi, 2: 4-10) Anirvasit means the Shudras those were taken into the private
services of the Vedics and Nirvasit means the Shudras those were not related to the Vedic social system
in any way. This categorization of Panini throws the clear light on the enigmatic question, against
whom the code was really intended. The code was intended for the Anirvasit Shudras those were in the
services of the Vedic people. Those who were Nirvasit Shudras had nothing to do with the code and the
social history supports this being a fact.
Also, Manu sometimes uses the term Arya to refer twice-born and Anarya for Shudras. (Manu: 10.
66-68, 73) This distinction clearly indicates towards existence of two independent religions. The religion of
the Aryas and Anaryas couldn’t be the one and the same. The religion of twice-born Vedic and the Shudras
couldn’t be the same. The ritualistic practices of the Shudras are clearly mentioned by Manu. They used to go
to the temples and had their own priests whereas the Vedics conducted fire sacrifices and upheld supremacy of
the Vedic doctrine. There was nothing in common between the both except that they had to employ some
people from the Shudra community to assist them in their menial work. We must keep in mind here that the
population of the Vedics was always in the minority.
However, it seems from the annals of the history that the term “Shudra” which originally was the
name of a clan, excepting Vedics, stuck to those all who were delving in this subcontinent. Even the foreign
rulers of later times also were termed as Shudras. To Vedics, those all, who were not part of the Vedic religion
were Shudras. The code was intended only to those Shudras who were in their personal service. Whether or
not the Anirvasit Shudras remained in the existence, the term did not vanish. The grave misunderstanding
among the scholars seeded that the code was intended for all the Shudras. None went back into the social and
political history to check whether it really was ever practiced or accepted by the people.
Let us have a look at the explanation given by various scholars as to who were the
Shudras.
R. K. Pruthi suggests that perhaps Shudra was originally the name of non-Aryan tribe.40
Vi. Ka. Rajwade suggests that the people those were taken in the personal service by the
victorious Aryans were called as Shudras. He further states that, the term was later applied to
those all who were out of the three varnas.41

39
RadhaMadhavaVilasChampu edited by Vi. Ka. Rajwade, Preface, page-131-33, pub-sarita Prakashan, Feb. 2014
40
Indian Caste System, edited by R.K. Pruthi, Discovery Publishing House, 2004, page
72
41
RadhamadhavVilasChampu, Preface, Edited by Vi. Ka. Rajwade, Sarita Prakashan,
reprint2014, page 130-31

22
 D. R. Bhandarakar opines that the Shudras could be a tribe, but afterwards came to
signify anybody who was not a full-fledged Arya or a foreigner who has been partially
assimilated by Arya culture. He further states that, in Patanjal Sutras Shudra denotes a person
other than the member of three varnas, i.e. Brahmina, Kshatriya and Vaishya.42
Bhandarkar makes sense because in a Maharashtri Prakrit treaty, “Angavijja”, (1 st AD)
includes all the indigenous and foreigners like Shaka, Huna, Kushanas, Mlecchas in Shudra
category excepting three Vedic varnas.

Manusmriti, in fact, is overrated in regards to the caste system. It has created undue havoc and hatred
in the Hindu society. The fact is overlooked that Manu did not codify the Caste but varna system. The code
was intended to regulate Vedic religion and not of the Hindu. The scholars did further damage by treating
caste and varna one and the same when it was never a fact. Manu too uses the term Jati jatiin the
tenth chapter, though in a different sense, while elaborating on the status of the children begotten by inter-
varna marriages. Manu clearly means their status by using the term Jati jatiand not the professions upon
which the present caste system is based. The present rigid and immobile Jati jatisystem of Hindu society does
not find its origin in remote past. jatis are not the product of varna system as is believed by some.
varna and jati are two distinct social systems belonging to different two religions. Hindus did not
used the term jati in the same sense the way Vedics or Manu used. It has been fatal to find origin of everything
in the Vedic sources to know the social history. The scholars have failed to understand the Hindu religion does
not at all find its source in Vedas and Smritis. It has independent tradition and religious practices and
philosophies, to which Manu too evidences. The scholars heavily have neglected various dictates of the
Manusmriti those go contrary to their postulations. They have forgotten that the certain words are used in the
different sense in different contemporary societies. Manusmriti is a work of many authors of different times
and all the while the authors knew very well for whom their commands were intended. These are the scholars
who failed to understand this and thus couldn’t solve the riddle of the caste system.
We can safely conclude that the Manusmriti was intended to regulate only the Vedic religion. The
commands those appear against Shudras were limited to the only those people who were non-Vedic and in
service of the Vedic people. Rest of the people, those were designated as Shudras by the Vedics, in fact,
belonged to the various clans and preserved their identities with their ancestral clan names and occupations.
The donation inscriptions of the Satvahana era evidences this fact that the people of those times too preferred
to identify themselves by their profession. Rather the term Shudra is absent wherever the people have given
their own identifications. The scholars should have noticed this bare fact that the Vedic and Hindu religion are
two distinct entities and they shouldn’t have mixed the both!

“Who were the Shudras?”– Dr. Ambedkar’s view

“Who were the Shudras – How they came to be the Fourth varna in the
Indo-Aryan society” is a scholarly written book by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, which
was first published in 1946. While the debate over original homeland of the
Aryans was a highly debated issue, Dr. Ambedkar found it necessary to
probe in to the origins of the Shudra varna, which is considered to be lowest
in the Vedic social order, devoid of any Vedic ritualistic rights, and hence an
42
Some Aspects of Ancient Indian Culture, By D. R. Bhandarkar, 1989, page 12

23
oppressed but largest part of the so-called Hindu society. The common
understanding was, the Shudras were the indigenous aboriginal communities
those were defeated by the invading victorious Aryans, enslaved by them
and were termed as Shudras while making their social four-fold order in the
process of assimilation, while maintaining their supremacy by denying any
social, economic or Vedic religious rights to them.
Dr. Ambedkar proposed a new theory through this book to explain origin of the Shudra
varna. The theory is outlined as under:
(1) The Shudras were one of the Aryan communities of the Solar race.
(2) There was a time when the Aryan society recognized only three varnas, namely.
Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas.
(3) The Shudras did not form a separate varna. They ranked as part of the Kshatriya
varna in the Indo-Aryan society.
(4) There was a continuous feud between the Shudra kings and the Brahmins in which the
Brahmins were subjected to many tyrannies and indignities.
(5) As a result of the hatred towards the Shudras generated by their tyrannies and
oppressions, the Brahmins refused to perform the Upanayana of the Shudras.
(6) Owing to the denial of Upanayana, the Shudras who were Kshatriyas became socially
degraded, fell below the rank of the Vaishyas and thus came to form the fourth varna.
Dr. Ambedkar explains that the original Shudras were part of the Indo-Aryan community
and to devaluate them the code was invented and was strictly applied. The other Shudras were
not from the Indo-Aryan communities, were racially different, but to widen the application of the
code to the innocent masses the term was used for them also. He says that the original word
“Shudra” lost its original meaning of being a name of a particular community and became a
general name for a low-class people without civilization, without culture, without respect, and
without a position. He asserts that “If the Hindu lawgivers had enough historical sense to realize
that the original Shudras were different from the present low-class people this tragedy- this
massacre of the innocents – would have been avoided.” He laments that the code that was meant
for the original culprit Shudras is applied to the present day Shudras is unfortunate. (See preface)
However, the fact is the word “Shudra” appears nowhere in Rig Veda except
Purushsukta which is, Dr. Ambedkar too is aware of, a late addition to Rig Veda. Even if
considered the Kshatriyas and the Shudras were ranked equivalent, the fact is Purushasukta does
not mention Kshatriya, but Rajanya while enumerating the varnas originating from the divine
sacrificial body of the Purusha. Both erms have different connotations. Both are not equivalent to
each other. However, it seems Kshatriya was inserted later removing Rajanya. That way,
Purushsukta does not sanction any status to Kshatriya…rather it does not acknowledge it at all!
There are many feuds mentioned in Rig Veda, but the word, Shudra, as a name of class or
tribe, appears nowhere, though Dr. Ambedkare says Shudra and Kshatriya were equivalent. Dr.
Ambedkar emphatically states that the Brahmins, out of hatred, denied Upanayana of the
Kshatriyas and hence they fell lowest in the social order. At the least, the Vedas do not support
this assumption. Upanayana was not a ritualistic ceremony in Rig Vedic period at all hence there
could not arise any issue over whether or not to deny Upanayana (Threading ceremony) of any
person of any rank.
The main question is who were the Shudras? Dr. Ambedkar insists that the Shudras were
Kshatriyas. Not only that, he states that “The Shudras were so important a class of Kshatriyas

24
that some of the most eminent and powerful kings of the ancient Aryan communities were
Shudras.” (page 121)
To prove his statement, Dr. Ambedkar gives an evidence from Mahabharata (Shanti
Parva 40 . 38-40) where it is said that a Shudra of the name Paijavana performed fire sacrifice
(Yajna) and donated heavily to the priests. Dr. Ambedkar states that Shudras of ancient times
weren’t denied the right to have conducted Yajnas for their benefit. (126-127)
However, from Manusmriti, as we have seen in in this chapter, it clearly seems that
sacrifices performed for Shudras weren’t unknown. (Manu- 3.178) Also, Shudra kings were also not
unknown to Manusmriti. (Manu- 4.61)
The confusion has occurred because Dr. Ambedkar has connected identity of Paijavana
with a Rig Vedic The- battle- of- Ten Kings fame king Sudasa who happened to be the son of
Pijavana, hence also was called Paijavana. According to Dr. Ambedkar Shudra Paijavana of
Mahabharata and King Sudasa, who also was known as Paijavana, are one and the same, hence
Shudras were Kshatriyas.
First of all, Mahabharata nowhere mentions the famous battle of the ten kings in the
entire bulk in which Sudasa had emerged as the celebrated hero after defeating the Puru and
other tribes. This has surprised many scholars that why most illustrious war finds no mention
whatsoever in Mahabharata where most of the ancient stories are enumerated?
And most importantly, Sudasa, a king of celebrated fame, who does not find any mention
in any story, a passing reference to one Shudra Paijavana in Mahabharata cannot be linked with
Rig Vedic Sudasa. However, Dr. Ambedkar states emphatically that this Shudra Sudasa
belonged to the illustrious line of kings of Bharata tribe.” . (page 141)
So, Paijavana of Mahabharata and Paijavana Sudasa of Rigveda are distinctly different
personalities.
Hence, it would be a far-fetched statement that “…A Shudra to be an Aryan, a Shudra to
be a Kshatriya, and a Shudra to be a king! Can there be a greater revelation? Can there be
anything more revolutionary?” (page 139) Hence, considering Shudra class as a part of the Indo-
Aryan community is not true. Paijavana of Mahabharata can be anyone with the identical name
the way Puru, Anu, Druhyu etc. appears in Mahabharata as personal names, which in fact are the
names of the tribes, not individuals, in the Rigveda. Hence, comparing either genealogy with
other does not yield any satisfactory result. Shudras couldn’t have been part of the Indo-Aryan
club and their religion. The only fact, the way Dr. Ambedkar puts forth, that there were two
types of the Shudras, one being the Shudras for whom the code was intended and enforced and
the other was completely outside of Vedic religious pale, enjoying their own
faiths, kingdoms and wealth. 43

Then who were the original Shudras?

The term Shudra finds no etymology. Dr. Ambedkar also have shown how false
etymologies were attempted to explain the words whose original meaning was lost or forgotten
by the half-educated people of those times in his cited book. (page 107)
We have the evidences to show that Shudra was originally name of a tribe that
delved in north-east. Mahabharata records that the Shudra tribe along with Abhira tribe from
43
The detailed critique on Dr. Ambedkar’s book can be seen here- http://ssonawani.blogspot.in/2016/11/who-
were-shudras-critique.html

25
north-west participated the Great War. (Mahabharata 6-10.65) Also the same Shudra tribe finds
independent mention in the list of the people conquered by Nakula during his victorious
expedition before the coronation of Yudhisthira. Gian Chand Chauhan states,
“The plethora of references to the term Sudras along with the Abhiras show that the
Sudras was an old tribe flourishing at the time of the Great War in the sapta-sindhava
region.”44
Shudra tribe also find mention in Markandeya and Brahma Purana as well.
Alexander’s historian Diodoros, who had accompanied Alexander in his expedition to
India, notes of a tribe named “Sodrai” (Greek corrupt form of the Shudra) which delved in Sindh
region. Alexander seems to have built a city naming after him, Alexandria, on the banks of a
river. 45 Ram Saran Sharma confirms that “There is no doubt that Sudra existed as a tribe in the
fourth century BC.” 46
Now it should be clear that the Shudra was a tribe. It was located in the north-west
regions of the country and their immediate neighbors and alleys were Abhiras. Also it makes
make clear that the Shudra was never a class but a tribe that dwelt in India along with several
other tribes like Surasenas, Sibis, Nishads, Panchals, Kurus and so on.
The Shudra tribe, being inhabited in north-west part of India, in Sindh region, in all
probabilities these were the people Vedics came across first and decided to live within their
territory.
We know from the Rig Veda that the Vedic peoples known geography was limited to the
south Afghanistan. Earlier they were just aware of the major river Indus and its few western
tributaries, but their knowledge of the vast regions beyond Indus was limited and was of hearsay
naturet. The tribes like Shiva, Bhalanasa, Vishanin appearing in the episode of the battle of the
ten kings were located at extreme north-west of the subcontinent. There is no slightest mention
of any ancient tribe that dwelt on the eastern side of the Indus. However, it seems that, after
crossing the Indus, they came across the region they decided to settle which was occupied by the
Shudras, completely unknown to them. Hence, the term Shudra appears nowhere in rest of the
Rig Veda.
How Shudras accommodated the Vedics in their territory is a matter of speculation.
However, the refugees could not afford to be hostile with the hosting countrymen. The number
of the Vedics those found refuge here could not be much.

44
Some Aspects of Early Indian Society, by Gian Chand Chauhan, page 54.
45
The Invasion of India by Alexander the Great-As described by Arrien, Q Curtius,
Diodoros, Plutarch and Justin, edited by J. W. Mcrindle, page 354
46
Sudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order Down to Circa A.D. 600
by RS Sharma.

26
How Vedic people came across the Shudras?

AIT is already debunked and hence there is no need to discuss over this theory. It is now
well-established fact that the geography of the Rig Veda and the Avesta were in close vicinity.
This does prove that the Vedic society was originally settled in Afghanistan (most probably
southern part). Shatapath Brahmina has preserves the memory of Vedic Aryans first entry in
Indian sub-continent which goes like this: “Videgh Mathava, residing on the banks of the
Saraswati river, accompanied by his family priest Goutama Rahugana and Agni, symbol of
Vedic culture, marched onwards. Through crossing the northern mountains (Uttaragiri), drying
the rivers and burning the forests, he reached the Sadanira river. The legend tells that when
Videgh Mathava asked Agni, where he should make his abode, the Agni told him to reside to the
east of the river.” (SB 1.4.1, 14-17)

The myth, preserved by Brahmana, clearly indicates that from the banks of the Saraswati,
a group of the Vedic people had marched towards a river to find refuge. The group marched
through the northern mountains; that could only be Hindukush and rivers flowing through that
region, to reach a uninhabited place to settle.

Modern scholars normally try to equate this river with Gandaki that flows from Nepal
through India, finally feeding Ganga. However, from the Mahabharata’s accounts on this river, it
could not be Gandaki but some other river flowing through Gandaki and Sarayu. Amarasinha of
Amara Kosha asserts Sadanira to be synonym of Karatoya River, flowing through north of
Bengal. Anyway, Sadanira means ‘abounding in water’, which can be applied to any river that is
full of abundant water. The myth also indicates that the area across the river was swampy and
inhabitable.

Thus, the invasionist scholars of those times from this myth had assumed Aryan
expansion from west to the east, occupying the lands and regions towards Gandaki River of
Bihar (or Bengal). This is not tenable because to reach there one cannot pass the whole range of
the Himalays. But to reach Sindh region, one has to certainly cross the Hindukush Mountain. The
myth is addressing the Hindukush with the word ‘Uttargiri’ and not Himalayas. The river
Sarasvati mentioned here should not to be confused with a mythical Sarasvati river which is
assumed to be flowing through Kuru region, but it was the river of the same name still flowing in
southern Afghanistan. Had it been a victorious march, as some scholars suggest, towards
Sadanira that located in Gangetic region, they needed not to reside in uninhabitable area because
those regions were already populated as it is evidenced by the Archaeological findings.
Videgh Mathava and his companions might have deserted their original homeland to find
new habitat may be because of the constant struggles with Zoroastrian religion. The abundant
mentions of the Deva-Sura wars in Brahmana literature clearly indicate their vicious enmity that

27
might have resulted at some point of time in expulsion of the Vedics and hence Videgh Mathava
and his companions had to abandon their original habitat in middle of the night. Crossing
Hindukush they entered north-eastern parts of the India to find a place for the settlement. They
found such place near a river to which they named Sadanira and on its banks, in marshy-swampy
region, they camped. This must have been the north-west part, Sindh, of India, where the
historical tribe of Shudras already dwelt across whom the Vedic people came first. This is the
reason why there is no etymology or meaning of the word Shudra can be found in Vedic
language.
So, this should solve as to who were the original shudras those find first and only
mention in Purushasukta of Rigveda. Since Shudra tribe had accommodated them, in early
literature, though Vedics knew the distinction, treated them respectfully. The Yajurveda declares
that “शूदर् ार्याा वसज्ृ र्याेताम” (Shudra and Arya were created.) [Yajurveda 14/30] Here also there is
clear distinction between Arya (Vedic) and Shudras. Both has been created separately and that
the Shudras weren’t Aryas. Purushasukta also evidences that the Shudra was not part of the
Vedic system as it says “The Brahmana was his [God’s] mouth, of both his arms was
the Rajanya made. His thighs became the Vaishya, from his feet the Shudra was produced.”
The feet didn’t become the Shudra, because the composer of the hymn knew very well that the
Shudras were not part of the Vedic community, though was a important society. The distinction
was very clear to them.
From Shudra’s tribal kingdom, Vedic spread ahead to promote their religion, gained royal
patronage of the Kuru’s and Panchal’s to begin with and converted some to their fold. (See “The
Rigveda, trans. By Griffith, preface.) The beginning part of the Manusmriti seems to have been
composed in Kuru-Panchal region to which they named “Brahmarshi Desa”. Manyu knew very
well that the sarasvati river to which they revered the most was flowing through the entirely
different region to which he calls “Brahmavarta”. The myth of Videgh Mathava confirms this
information.
Since Vedic were not acquainted with other various tribes dwelling in the country, they
wholesomely addressed them as shudras. The code of Manu was not intended for them but only
for the people they had to employ. So-called Shudras, though not belonging to the Shudra tribe
at all, enjoyed their tribal or clan identities, titles and traditional ways of the life with the faiths
they had nourished from ages. It were the Vedics who termed all those who were non-Vedics,
hostile to the Vedic religion, as Shudras. Stories enumerated by Mahabharata of Vena, Nahusha
etc. tell us the fact that they were not ready to accept Vedic faith and hence were killed by the
Vedic Brahmins. These may be fabricated stories, created in an order to propagate their
superiority, but they suggest their hostilities towards the kings too, who did not accept or
patronized their religion.
To sum up, Shudra was never the name of the people those delved in the subcontinent
except for a tribe. India was occupied by numerous tribes and clans having independent
identities, social systems and codes. Vedic religion, comprised of three twice-born varnas always
was distinct that spread in India with missionary practice in long course of the time converting
some to their fold. Rest of the societies followed their own religion and social systems. Religion
28
of the indigenous people was idolatrous, mostly Shiva-Shakti oriented and based on the pre-
vedic tantric tradition which still is continued independently. As described varna system
nowhere is related to the caste (jati) system.

4. What is the Caste?

We have seen different opinions of the scholars on origin of the caste system and have
seen how their propositions have been misleading. We also have seen that there is no religious
sanction to the caste system. Treating Caste and varna system interdependent has not yielded any
satisfactory explanation to its origin because they were not. Then what is the Caste is a principle
question and we have to deal with itt.

Prerequisite of every caste is it has some or other ancestral profession. There is no caste
in India that has no traditional occupation. The caste sytem was not as rigid and
compartmentalized as it is thought. We can find many castes did evaporate with their professions
were replaced with other technologies or the need of their product or service no longer was felt.
The social status of the castes too would depend on the social needs of the particular professions
those would change with time.. . For example, Rarthakara (Chariot-maker), potter, gold and
iron-smith etc. enjoyed higher status in the society when the need of these professions was high.
However, we can see that the profession of the Rathakara did vanish and so the caste as the need
of this profession did vanish. People have mentioned their occupational castes (professions) with
pride in the donation inscriptions, such as, Halik (Tiller), Sutar (carpenter), Sonar (Goldsmith)
Lohar (Blacksmith) Teli (oil producers), Vinkar (Weavers), Koli (Fishermen), Mali (gardener),
Charmakar (Cobbler), Odyantrik (makers of water-run-machines) etc. We can find the castes
(professions) like Halik, Odyantrik did lost their professional value and hence the caste too
seized to be. Many castes, such as tailors (shimpi) has very recent origin because it has not
become a profession for people wouldn’t wear stitched cloths. With new inventions or
innovations new castes would emerge and with some outdated professions castes also would
become redundant. The important caste like kayastha came in to the existence in about end of the
first millennium. 47
We can see from the inscriptions and Prakrit literature like Gatha saptashati and
Angavijja that the people would identify themselves with the professions. Many of the people
wealthy enough to donate for public and religious works. What Vedic smrities dictated did not
make any impact on the non-vedic society. Castes were emerging and vanishing with the
changing needs of the time. Caste is the profession that one adapts for his/her livelihood. All the
castes in India are having some or other traditional professionHere it must be noted that the
Vedic Brahmins, though entered many other professions, preserved their identity with their
varna which was not the case with the non-vedic society to whom we safely can hereafter refer
as Hindus. .
.
The history is evident that the caste system was flexible and people could enter in to the
new or existing professions by their choice. The innovative new talents have done wonders in
almost every profession of the past. For example people belonging to kammar caste could

47
Hindu Dharmasastra, by P. V. Kane, Vol. II, Part 1, 1974, page-75

29
manufacture the needles so light and thin which could float on water! This caste (profession) no
more exists. 48 Monumental wonders like caves, iron pillar, huge artistic constructions could see
the light of the day in their glory. There were many researches and scientific innovations in
tannery, metal work, wine making, weaving etc. that helped Indian economy to thrive at fast
pace. All Sanskrit literature also does not belong to the Vedic Brahmins. Including origina jaya
(later known as Mahabharata), Ramayana were originally authored by the non-vedic Hindus
which were later approapriated by the Vedics with heavy interpolations. The classic poets like
Kalidasa, Shudraka, Bhavabhuti etc. too did not belonged to the Vedic society. However, after
British era, a fashion appeared that everything that was in Sanskrit was credited to the Vedics
thinking the language was their sole propriety.
If ever there was a golden age in India, it was because of these innovative people those
were afforded with freedom of choice. The Tantra based religious system that propagated
equality and freedom, which finds origins in Indus civilization continued with its all strength till
tenth century AD. Later on, due to the reasons we are going to discuss, this religious doctrine
was subdued and an era of inequality emerged.
Caste system was a natural institution where plenty of freedom was accorded to the
people.We can safely conclude that the caste meant profession. The names of the caste too
clearly carry the name of the professions. It was a flexible and horizontal system. Status or
dignity of the profession would naturally depend on the financial or authoritative status the time
would provide. There could be up and downs in the status depending on the economic and
political circumstances. We are aware that many people lost their professions during waning era
of the Indus civilization as foreign trade gradually came to halt and worsening climatic changes.
Naturally people turned to other professions for survival. However evidences indicate that the
independent invention of glass making helped some to establish other profession (caste) for
survival. No one can claim, under the circumstances, that their ancestors always belonged to the
same caste to which they belong now! Hence the pride of the caste is unnatural and unnecessary.
So there is no shred of the evidence to show that caste system was rigid, birth based since
its beginning and it was enforced upon indigenous people by invading barbaric Vedic Aryans. It
originated with the professions those human being invented, innovated in course of the time for
survival. It has nothing to do with any religious doctrine. Confusing caste system with the varna
system of the Vedics has already done irreparable harm to Indian society. Even modern scholars
forcibly attempt to apply Vedic varna system on the Hindu caste system while writing the social
history of India.

Now the question is apparent that how inequality among various castes did start to plague
Indian society? Most important is how flexible caste system became rigid and birth based?
We can deduce from above that the caste system was a practical and natural system that
continued its course without imposing any caste-based prejudices or restrictions. Shreni (Guild)
system of ancient India is a proof of this.. Members of every profession would form the guild
and the guilds were powerful.
Then the question would arise that what were the conditions those forced society to
invent a completely new order that gradually became a bondage to them?
Why all of sudden we find the emergence of the saints after 12 th century those started
protesting the caste system? Why in earlier times we do not find any kind of resistance to this

48
Hal Satvahanachi Gatha Saptashati, Preface, edited by S. A. Joglekar, pub.: Padmagandha Prakashan, page.324.

30
system which is thought to be unjust and cruel since its origin? Why there is only literature that
talks against Vedas and their social varna order but not the castes prior to tenth century?
It is crucial to understand because unless done so we will be unable to solve the present
caste problems and eliminate the ever-growing social strife.
To understand this better we need to understand the guild system and its sojourn that met
with the unforeseen circumstances those forced the society to embrace entirely new order which
was destined to become a noose in their neck.

5. Rise and fall of the “Shreni” system and the Castes!

All the students of Indian history are aware of the caste (occupational) guilds, called as
“Shreni” or “Nigam” (alternatively also referred as sangha, Gana) those used to operate like
today’s Chamber of Commerce or trade/manufacturers associations. We find almost every
occupation has their guilds and member would abide to the codes of their guilds. The farming
communities would be part of the kula. The members of these guilds would manufacture the
specialty articles, provided services and would conduct local, interstate and foreign
trade. Nigams (shrenies) were authorized to issue coins too, which abundantly have found in
excavations from Gandhar region to south India. Rather in Janpada era till Gupta era the
issuance authority of the coins were the guilds. Every guild had their own unique trademark
associated with the symbol of their kingdom (Janpada) or Gana’s. (Republics)
Rather Shrenis were economic, socio-political dominant segment of ancient India that survived
till 12th century AD.
Let us first understand what Shrenis were. Every Shreni was an association of artisans,
service providers, merchants or traders. The kula was farming community that also had their own
organizational structure. People residing in the same area and engaged in similar occupations
naturally cooperated with one another to achieve common goals in form of the shreni.
The Shreni of artisans existed for a particular group of persons engaged in the same vocation to
which today we call castes. There are mention in various scriptures and various epigraphs that
there were Shrenis of the artisans like blacksmiths, goldsmiths, weavers, carpenters, bamboo-
craftsmen, cobblers, ivory article producers, metal workers, miners, jaggary producers, potters,
and so many other professions.
The merchants and craftsmen needed allied services like transportation and protection
also. Goods used to be transported by bullock carts, loaded on the backs of the oxen or donkeys
or ships. The destinations could be far off. For example Al Masudi informs us how goods were
brought to Cheul harbor loaded on thousands of oxen.Some transporters were transporting
specialty goods, such as salt, food grains, wood etc. Other services included security providers to
the inland caravans. Variety of service based occupations too emerged during this vast span of
time to meet the needs of the craftsmen and merchants. Such service providers too formed their
own guilds.
Romila Thapar informs us that "The ancient sources frequently refer to the system of
guilds which began in the early Buddhist period and continued through the Mauryan period.
….Topography aided their development, in as much as particular areas of a city were generally
inhabited by all tradesmen of a certain craft. Tradesmen's villages were also known, where one

31
particular craft manufacturing was centred, largely due to the easy availability of raw
material.49
However the origin of the Guild system can be traced back in Indus times. The purpose
of the guild (Shreni) was to regulate the manufacturing and service standards, ethical codes for
the member artisans, prices of the crafts, quantity and quality, training to the fresh artisans etc.
which could ensure smooth and timely production and supply. The major duty of
the Adhayksh, Shreshthi or Jyetthaka (President of the Guild) to represent the guild in the Royal
Court for any grievances about taxation or any other matter related to the supplies. The Guild
would work as an assembly where specific problems related to their member artisans or business
could be discussed and solved. If any criminal/unethical elements regarding the service or
manufacture detected, the Guild could fine or banish the member artisan from the guild. The
verdicts of the Shreni could not be challenged even in the Royal courts. Every Shreni had a
respectable status in the society and in the Royal houses and normally no decision in connection
with the production or trade of the crafts would be taken without consulting Shreni’s.
Unlike later “Independent Village System”, till almost twelth century AD manufacturing
was almost centralized. This was ideal system to make mass productions of the articles or metals.
From Jataka stories we know about the 36 villages of bamboo Craftsmen (Burud) and other
products dedicated to mass manufacturing of speciality goods. In Maharashtra, from copper
plates and rock inscriptions, we know about the villages of the Cobblers, Jaggary makers,
Weavers etc. The artisans, specialized in certain crafts, together would form Shreni, elect their
President and other office bearers to represent them to protect their professional interests and
account keeping as Craft guilds would provide loans or accept deposits from the member
craftsmen and the public. The Kings too have seen to deposit their money on interest with the
guilds. Rishabhadutta, Son-in-law of Nahapana, too had invested in two guilds of the weavers.
Mandsor (old Dashpura) inscription of Kumargupta (I) details the activities of the Guilds of
those times. According to inscription, the control of the manufacturing and trade was the domain
of the guilds.50
Merchant guilds would distribute the goods in local markets as well export in the other
regions or foreign countries. Craftsmen could sell their goods individually as well through guild.
Especially Merchant Guilds had the authority to mint the coins and issue them. All the coins we
have from the 4th Century BC onward were issued by the merchant Guilds and not the king.
Mauryan kings too didn't issue their coins. In a way Merchant and craft guilds were the backbone
of Indian economic stability and prosperity. There are instances where we find that the Guilds
even lent to the King in the time of distress.
The post of the President (Shreshthi or Jyetthaka) of the guild was not hereditary. There
are instances where the Shreshthi’s have been removed by the member artisans or merchants.
Moreover, it seems that the mobility from one profession to another was frequent. It was
because the vocational training was made available by the Guilds to meet needs of the
additional workforce. The people who wanted to raise their economic status by entering into
more flourishing businesses could get easy training and thus entry. Even local artisans would

Ashoka and the Decline of the Mauryas by Romila Thapar, Oxford University Press,
49

New Delhi, page- 73.

50
Itihas : Prachin Kal (Vol.1), Maharashtra State Gazetteer, Editor-Dr. Arunchandra
Pathak, page 523-24

32
travel far afar in search for better opportunities. Depending on the demand, supplies of the raw
material or political unrest, there could be rise and fall in all or the selective occupations. The
craftsmen either would acquire other vocational training and change the profession by joining
another guild or try to sustain in wait of the better days.
Guilds would donate to the temples or Buddhist or Jain sanctuaries. Mathura
inscription (2nd century AD) refers to the two permanent endowments of 550 silver coins each
with two guilds to feed Brahmins and the poor from out of the interest money.
A Nashik Inscriptions (2nd century AD) records the endowment of 2000 karshapanas at
the rate of one percent (per month) with a weavers' guild for providing cloth to bhikshus and
1000 karshapanas at the rate of 0.75 percent (per month) with another weavers' guild for serving
light meals to them. Apart from these more epigraphs and inscriptions are mentioned as evidence
in this regard.
In addition to this the guilds were engaged in works of Charity as well. Guilds worked to
alleviate distress and undertook works of piety and charity as a matter of duty. They were
expected to use part of their profits for preservation and maintenance of assembly halls,
watersheds, shrines, tanks and gardens, as also for helping widows, the poor and destitute. We
have epigraphical proofs from Maharashtra that shows the craftsmen, like cobbler, Potter, Tillers
(Halik) etc. have donated in an individual capacity to build arches or water tanks for the
Buddhist caves. This would mean that the artisans were in prosperous financial conditions.
So much so was the power of the craft and merchant guilds that Kautilya advises King
that he should ensure that the heads of the guilds are not united. However, there is no evidence
that the guilds ever tried to capture the political power ever, but they maintained their dominant
position in the politics. 51
The position of the guild can be explained in different five stages doweling from 600
B.C. to 1200 A.D. in the perspective of socio-economic environment of ancient India.
I. Pre-Mouryan Period (600 – 320 B.C.)
II. Mouryan Period (320 -200 B.C.)
III. Post-Mouryan Period (200 B.C. -300 A.D.)
IV. Gupta Period (300 - 600 A.D.)
V. Early Medieval Period (600 – 1200 A.D.)
In these eras Guilds transformed, prospered, declined and vanished from the
socioeconomic scene. Its remnant are visible in the form of caste assemblies those dominated the
internal issues of the castes. Roots of the Guild or Shreni system can be traced back to Indus era,
for it was a manufacturing and trading community. From the Indus seals we can guess that the
seals were meant to inform the origin, and name of the goods and the price. The later coins
of Mahajanpada era too were incorporated certain information in symbolic form, such as, the
name of the mint, issuing guild etc. As Indus civilization declined, the guild structure of those
times too must have been disintegrated, becoming less powerful and local. Later we come across
Mahajanpada era or pre-Mauryan period when Guilds seem to have come into the prominence
and continued to be dominant till the end of first millenium.
However, Post-Mouryan Period (200 B.C. -300 A.D.) saw a stiff rise in the Guild system
in Indian economic scenario. Santanu Mahapatra in his essay states that-

51
Economic ideas in ancient India before Kautilya, Bankey Lal Sharma, pub.- Ramanand
Vidyabhavan, 1987 - Page 138

33
 “ In this period north-western and western part of India controlled by the Indo-Greeks,
Sakas, Kushanas, and Parthians. The Mourya Empire disintegrated into a number of kingdoms
and tribal republics. This led to the slackening of state control over administration and economy
and the guilds assumed more power and influence that developed the closer commercial contact
with the Roman Empire. The discovery of the north-eastern monsoon, ascribed to Hippalus, in
C. 46 A.D. gave impetus to mid-sea voyage, reducing the time of journey, minimizing the danger
of piracy and also obviating the need of the service of middlemen in Indo-Roman trade. Then
Indian mercantile activity also extended to central Asia and China. India was the main exporter
of the luxury items to the Roman Empire and earned huge profits. A large number of coins of
this period those of the Indo-Greeks, Sakas, Parthians, Kushanas, indigenous rulers and
tribal republics, cities and guilds have been found, some in hoards. It indicates a greater
circulation of money-economy and fairly advancement of trade and commerce, in which guilds
must have played a significant role. ‘Milindapanho’ (ed. Trenckner, 1880) refers to a number of
occupational guilds, their number being much greater than the early period.” 52
In the Gupta era too, guilds, whether merchant or craft, remained prominent, but it seems
that the authority to issue coins was withdrawn. We do not find coins issued by the guilds during
Gupta era. Rather banking activities, accepting deposits and advancing loans, of the guilds
gradually shifted towards select Vaishnavait temples. Though the artisans and merchants, along
with farmers were prosperous in this era too, foundation of the guilds started weakening. Post-
Gupta era saw the rise of feudal lords and various independent powers, thereby disturbing the
political stability that India had enjoyed even under foreign rule. Constant conflicts between
regional rulers made it difficult to smoothly operate the trade.
Later, we find series of Islamic invasions in North-west India causing further political
instability and disturbance in trade and commerce. “As a consequence, people’s confidence in
these institutions must have waned. There prosperity and affluence an account of which they
commanded social status must also have diminished. Thus political upheaval exercised its
worst effect on the guild organization.” thus states P. C. Jain.53
In a way Samantas or feudal lords gradually became more dominant for the need of the
time to fight out aggression. It diminished the earlier social status of the Guilds and their
economy. The natural impact on the members was obvious. The status’ of the occupations too
declined to some extent. Also the taxation structure was changed putting a heavy burden on the
craftsmen, merchants and so the guilds.
“Arthuna inscription of Parmara Camundaraja, dated 1079 A.D, also gives a list of
taxes levied on different trade and crafts. On the account of these taxes, the guilds of merchants
and traders were losing prosperity in the preceding centuries. This prevailed from their
donations which clearly give the impression that they were poorer. To keep up their old
reputation of donations and defraying there expenses views of a region federated themselves and
pooled their resources” so informs us Mr. Mahapatra. 54
By the tenth century AD the guild system witnessed tremendous decline in the trade,
which naturally hampered production of all the crafts. In a way it was like the situation of great

52
GUILD, THE INSTITUTIONAL ECONOMIC BASE OF ANCIENT INDIA BY
SANTANU MAHAPATRA, published in International Journal of Social Science &
Interdisciplinary Research, Vol.1, Issue 9, September 2012
53
Ibid
54
Ibid

34
recession. Craftsmen soon started deserting their centralized workplaces. This was exact
situation which had caused decline of the Indus Civilization. But political instability, constant
wars within local rulers and Islamic aggressors were not the only reason behind disintegration of
the Guild system. Another series of natural calamities begun in 11 th Century AD…and that were
famines.

FAMINES

From the records we know that the year 1033, 1042 and 1052 witnessed nationwide dire
famines causing complete disruption in trade and distress in the society. Series of regional
famines followed almost in every alternative 3 years. In the year 1325 -1351 great famine befell
in Gangetic regions and elsewhere including Maharashtra. The series of the famines continued
till 1630. Within this period India suffered heavily from over 250 famines.
The contemporary travelers and historians have given the piercing accounts of the
famines. For example Badouni states about the distressful situation he witnessed during 1555 AD
famine of North India. He says, “I witnessed men eating human corpses like cannibals. The sight
of the hungry faces was so pitiable that hardly one could bear it. …all the region had become a
desolate desert and no farmer were left behind to look after the farms.” Abul Fazal of Ain-E-
Akbari supports this with the statement that, “people were hell bent to eat each other!”
About 1596 famine of North-West Fazal states, “men ate men and all the streets were
littered with dead bodies.” A Dutch trader Van Twist, various saints like Tukaram and Ramdas
have described the calamities the nationwide great famine of 1630 brought on the people.
Morland states about south that, “…because of this famine a generation of Deccan remained
pauper.”
From the descriptions, though they are scanty, scattered and all the famines have not been
properly recorded, we can get a picture what people would have suffered from 11 th century
onwards till 1630. People used to abandon their villages, towns in search of the food, would sell
their kids, properties and even the titles at throw away prices. Kavindra Parmanand in
“Shivbharata” states, “during the famine, food became costlier than gold.”In a way the social
structure too got disintegrated because of constant onslaught of the nature. 55
A grave impact on the economic and social structure was inevitable. The craft guilds and
merchant guilds disintegrated and vanished completely under the Islamic rule and unstable grave
climatic conditions. Inland trade became more risky because many tribes and even many of the
earlier service-providing communities turned to robberies. The constant onslaught of the famines
reduced the farmers to the utter destitution. Naturally demand to the artisan’s crafts too
drastically declined. The farmers, artisans and service providers, those had enjoyed prosperity
during the golden era for more than 1500 years, gradually became pauper and helpless.
Let us not forget here that the vocation means caste. Earlier caste mobility was easy as
there were tremendous opportunities and the Guilds were their strong support. With new
innovations or new inventions, new castes (vocations) would emerge and the guilds too used to
be formed to safeguard their interests. The economy decides social structure and its culture. The
economic prosperity provides more freedom to the people. Earlier Guilds used to be in a
commanding position in the political system. Artisans and service providers of every kind

55
Maharashtra ani Marathe by A.R. Kulkarni, pub.-Diamond Publications, 2007, page-108-10

35
enjoyed a reputation since they were well-off, rich and backbone of the prosperous economy. But
with changing political and economic scenario, they too lost their glory.
Unfortunately, none of the scholar has taken into the consideration the significance of the
decline and fall of the Guild (Shreni) system while proposing their theories on the Caste system.
They have wrongly considered that the rigid, birth-based caste system is in existence and
practice since antiquity. It was not the case. No scholar ever bothered to look into the social and
economic history of India while theorizing origins of the caste system; hence it didn’t occur to
them that the hereditary nature of the caste system is a product of drastically changed economic
and political scenario which remained unchanged for centuries. The Caste system was not
imposed on them by some authority. It was not the outcome of the sense of maintaining purity of
the blood. People have innate tendency to find new ways of survival and to adjust with the
changed circumstances, no matter how grave they are! Indians, too, gradually found their unique
way of survival and when they found in later course that there was no hope left to see old
prosperous days again or any change in the circumstances, they made their new system
permanent. Norms and ethics of the life were rewritten.
We will discuss in the next chapter how did this transformation took place and how it
started becoming unjust, discriminating and vulgar as we experience it even today!
*

36
6. Medieval India and the Caste System

As we discussed in an earlier chapter, the rise, decline and fall of the Shreni (Guild)
system echo the economic ups, down and demise of an economic order that once upon a time had
made India “Golden Sparrow”. Gupta era is highly praised by Indian Historians, but they hardly
have realized that it was Gupta era that started bungling up the economic strength of
the Shreni’s, whether craftsmen or Trader, by transferring the important financial authority from
guilds to the Vaishnavait temples. Gupta kings were ardent supporters of Vedic religion. An
offshoot of Vedic religion, Vaishnavait cult flourished during that era, many temples were
erected, though Vedic religion originally was not idolatrous. Vishnu too, was adorned with an
entirely new character erasing his original Rig Vedic character as a subordinate to Indra. Laxmi
is not his consort in Rig Veda, rather he has none, and still she was associated with him. Vishnu
and Laxmi suddenly became the deities of the wealth, replacing earlier Lord of the wealth
Kubera. So the flow of the wealth was diverted towards the temples and suddenly the guilds
became just the creators of the wealth, but management of the wealth no more was left with
them.
The change in the religious priorities of the Gupta dynasty made a heavy social impact.
Because Vedics received special status during this era, many non-vedics started rushing to this
religion to get accommodated with it to earn reputation. G. S. Ghurye observes from the copper-
plate inscriptions of north to south that fifth century onwards there is eruption of many new
Brahmin Gotras those were absent from contemporary religious books those lists authentic
Gotras. Out of 124 Gotras, 77 Gotras were absent in nearest regions whereas only 12 Gotras like
Kashyap, Bharadvaj were in widest currency. Many Gotras clearly indicate their Tribal origin.
Being many Gotras bogus, it would suggest that many people were converted to Vedic religion
or were self-declared Brahmins to get benefitted from the Royal patronages. Change in social
tendency shows that the influence of Vedic religion was on rise.56
The process that begun in Gupta era was largely continued by the succeeding dynasties.
Though Hindu religion still remained on helm, the social atmosphere open cherishing the
equality granted by the Tantras (Agamas)!
The attempts of the Vedic to establish supremacy with help of the ruling families didn’t
go unopposed. It is not a surprise that the masters of the Tantra started coming forward to write
down Tantric treaties to oppose the Vedic onslaught. Hundreds of the tantric sects emerged from
fifth century onwards till 17th century propagating the theory of the equality.
Let us not forget here that the status of economy is directly related to the degree of the
liberty that any society can affordh. The Vedic doctrine denies equality to men and women. It
prohibits social openness by creating religious restrictions. Though this doctrine naturally was
acceptable to the rulers, no matter to which religion they belonged, the social atmosphere
gradually changed to adjust with the new environment. However, the Hindu resistance that
Vedics had to encounter made it difficult to them to establish their complete supremacy over
Indian society. Tenth century onwards the Vedics used different tactics to mitigate opposition.

Indian Sociology Through Ghurye, a Dictionary by S. Devadas Pillai, Pub.-Popular Prakashan,

56

1997, page-29-30
37
 Dr. Sudhakar Deshmukh states clearly in this regard that, “When any society starts
feeling insecure it turns to the fundamentalism. Tenth century onwards till 14 th-15th century
adherents of the Vedic religion started to revive the codes, sacrificial rituals, Vedas and
Smritis….many commentaries were written on the Vedic Smritis which is referred as Nibandha
era….journey of these commentators was towards fundamentalism that effected in extinction of
the equality and freedom that was brought by the Tantras and Natha sect.” 57(Translation mine)
This would mean that the Hindus were initially succeeded in encountering the onslaught
of Vedic doctrine. However, during Gupta era, the Vedics had been successful in making new
Vedicized editions of not only ancient epics and Puranas, but they had posed claims over many
ancient philosophies with interpolations those had Tantra origin. SaMkhya philosophy, for
example, is one which clearly has pre-Vedic origin which was added to the Vedic Darshanas.
Upanisadas, those in reality were anti-Vedic too got appropriated with Vedic philosophies
though the Upanisada philosophy is against the Vedic tradition.
The Vedics succeeded in doing so during Gupta era when none could oppose them as the
Emperor had patronized the Vedics. The interpolated works came to the rescue of the Vedics
after tenth century to corrupt minds of the Hindus. The revivalist era of the Vedics begins in
tenth century when the society was going through the political and economic crisis. May be this
is a reason why the attempts of the Vedics went unopposed this time.
We have seen how later on the rise of feudal powers and political upheavals gradually
brought limitations on the inland trade and production. The series of foreign invasions, their
discriminatory rule and a series of famines was the final blow on the indigenous economic
system. It collapsed. There were no saviors. Islamic rulers imposed heavy duties on the foreign
trade on non-Muslim craftsmen and traders called ushr which forced many Hindu traders in
winding up foreign operations as well. From the seventh century onward overseas trade was
usurped by the sea-pirate Arabs and other Muslim powers. Al Masudi in his "Meadows of Gold"
reports he had seen over ten thousand Muslim traders settled at the Cheul port of Konkan.
Similar conditions must have been across the ports of western and eastern coasts.
We have seen that the medieval India witnessed the drastic change in Indian social order.
Hereditary, closed social regrouping based on the professions became inevitable for the want of
the survival. Onslaughts of the ever-changing socio-political conditions did continue till the rise
of the British Raj. Entire populace suffered because of the raids of the warlords and freebooters
in quest of recovering ransoms or one fourth part of the duties from the common people, if not
paid by the local rulers. India witnessed most of the cities and villages were fortified during this
era to protect themselves from the constant raids. No part of the country experienced stability in
post-Aurangzeb era, too. This further triggered financial debacles and thus caused, as an
inevitable result, tightening of the caste ties as caste became an only shield that provided a sense
of security and only source of livelihood while facing the tough situations in the times of
anarchy.
When the centralized production centers were disintegrated, craftsmen started
abandoning them. When one economic system collapses, for want of survival people get engaged
in building a new order. Agriculture, the backbone of the economy, too, was devastated, limiting

57
Madhyayugin Dharmasankalpanancha Vikas: Tantra, Yoga ani Bhakti by Dr. Sudhakar
Deshmukh, page 282.

38
creation of the wealth. The great fall in local demands eventually crippled the economy of the
craftsmen, those used to mass-produce the articles of utility and fashion. The condition of the
service providers must be more pitiable.
This situation, pathetic though, forced the people to change previous social modality.
Overall internal functioning, social relationships and ways of survival had to be adjusted with the
new situation. Albeit, Indians invented a new order to survive through those odds. “Self reliant
Village system” emerged gradually by tenth century and became permanent by the twelfth
century. Though there are no written records available on emergence of this system and its exact
time, we can infer from the circumstantial evidences those must have led the people to find new
way of the life. Let us not forget that it is economy that commands the social orders. How it
could have happened? We can infer from the following circumstances.
1. In the absence of the sufficient demand, naturally, production too suffers. Supplies
cannot be more than the demand as the economy cannot absorb surplus productions. Under such
circumstances, no profession can expect any kind of competition from new entrants. Hence
mobility from one to another profession becomes highly difficult for the resistance from the
people already engaged in the same profession. We can find the same thing happening in modern
era too everywhere where doors are closed to the new entrants when economy suffers from the
recession.
2. In the absence of regional or national marketplaces and the trade channels, the
production became localized and need-based.
3. Disintegration, separation and localization of the craftsmen, traders and service
providers were inevitable making them village centric, where they could meet local needs. A
village could not absorb excessive craftsmen and service providers for their limited demand.
Farmers (whether landlords or the tenants) still were the major component of the buyers, but
were in a distressful economic condition, since they too were suffering from the droughts and
political upheavals.
4. For survival, a new professional relationship came to be established, called
as “Balute” or “jajmani” system. In this system seller had no bargaining power whatsoever or
right to decide the price of his products or services. However, his survival was assured. Suddenly
professions became of secondary importance; some lost their requirement making them solely
dependent on the mercy of the villages, accepted to do the menial work as farm laborers, tenants
or even undertook filthy jobs.
5. Under the circumstances the status of the every profession solely depended on the
needs of the people and what they were paid in return for their services. The disparity in the
revenue of the every profession, though required same labor and skills, brought social inequality
and dissatisfaction among the people.
6. The professional guilds appeared in a new form, called as jati Panchayat(Caste
assembly) that started governing the professional communities by designing new professional
ethics, restricting other caste men to enter their profession and vice versa, and by making their
own caste-men outcast or enforce excommunication, if the codes of the caste were vbiolated. In a
way the guilds in new form started interfering in the ethical and personal conduct of the people
belonging to their caste (profession) and gradually it seems it became more tyrant and unjust. But
it was accepted for the basic need to stop competition, protect their rights, survive and solve
professional issues.
7. Since, it became almost impossible to enter another profession; it was but natural
that the castes became birth based and rigid. Also, since there was no more competition there

39
was no need to be innovative. Anyway, revenue would remain the same. India was thrown into
an abyss of Dark Age because the time killed their zeal of learning to become more productive
and innovative. In a way people’s life and horizons got crunched to the villages making them
almost careless about the rulers. It is important to note that the no grief over the fall of Yadava
dynasty, that ruled over 300 years in Maharashtra, do not reflect at all in the Saint literature of
13-14th century. In a way it is miraculous, but is a fact.
8. The circumstances made castes a close ended loop, where mobility was not possible
as the circumstances did not allow it to happen. There were absolutely no chances to break the
caste barriers to breath in the free atmosphere and choose a profession of individual choice. The
acquired skills from the past tradition were transferred to the next generations. Barring a few
professions, those still had been in demand, too, become stern enough not to allow new entrants.
It is not that the Brahmins closed their doors against others first which was imitated by
the others, as Dr. Ambedkar opines.58 The fact is the process of closing the doors against others
had its roots in the changed political and economic scenario. The people could not afford to be
liberal when the survival had become of prime importance. It had no religious relevance. It is
impossible that some authority could enforce such commands that would assassinate the sense of
the human freedom and the people accept them unopposed. It is against human nature.
This was how the caste and sub-caste structure became permanent. Though we have
examples of the same era that there are instances of the change in the caste but this depended
only on the acceptance of the concerned caste assemblies. Financially, barring a few, all castes
had became almost pauper. Self-reliant village system sounds good even to some today, but it
was the system people designed to survive through hard times. It killed basic human instinct of
competition and progress through it.
This situation occurred between the tenth to the twelfth century AD and became stratified
by the thirteenth century to become unjust and cruel. The role of the Vedic Brahmins was not in
making that system, but in regulating it in capacity as priests/ministers of the feudal lords and
kings. Brahmins or the rulers never interfered in the decisions given by the Caste Assemblies.
Even the verdicts of the Gotsabha’s (Brahmin caste assembly) were hardly declined by the
rulers. In fact, every caste assembly, old guild system in new form, too, remained defacto ruler of
the profession (caste) in new order too! Diaries of Madhavrao and Nanasaheb Peshva too
evidences the importance of the verdicts of the caste assemblies in many caste related cases.
This broke the backbone of original Indian liberal atmosphere. So many new
deities emerged during this vast span of the time. Various new rituals too were introduced by the
acting priests, alien to Hindu religion, Brahmins, for their own benefit. In Royal courts and with
feudal lords they formed a coalition that helped them to preach Vedic supremacy. They captured
many Shaivait shrines claiming them to be Vaishnavait. A fine example is of Vitthala of
Pandharpur. 59
They didn’t stop here. The new philosophyof “Karmavipaka. Siddhanta”got prominence
in this era. This theory proposed that the distresses of present life were outcome of the sins
committed in the past birth. This Vedic doctrine was vehemently proposed and propagated,
making the people more religious and slavish to the inevitability of the destiny. Many Saints too
fell to this fatal doctrine and echoed the same in their writings. The acceptance of the inevitable
destiny was dangerous to the society, but Vedics found opportunities in it. They invented many
58
CASTES IN INDIA: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development, by Dr B.R. Ambedkar,
Ssoft Group, INDIA
59
ShriVitthal: Ek Mahasamanvay by Ra. Chin. Dhere, pub.-Padmagandha Prakashan, 1984

40
selfish ritualistic remedies those people followed almost blindly in a hope of ultimate salvation
or better next life. The people gradually forgot the distinction between Vedic and Hindu religion
as Vedas were held as the supreme authority and a sacrosanct scripture though the Hindus had no
authority even to listen to it. Vaishnavait cult performed a major role in diluting the religious
demarcations and strengthening the Vedic authority over Hindu minds. The Tantras were
defamed so much so that hardly people could acknowledge any association with them though the
religion they practiced remained tantra centric only. Those who were still ardently adhering to
the tantric doctrine had to make mention of the Vedas, no matter how secondary, to get sanction
from the Vedic scholars. Though the constructions of the temples, methods of worship and the
festivals remained moreover Tantra based, the concocted fraudulent mythical stories blurred the
original nature of the Hindu gods and festivals. The Vedic elements penetrated Hindu religion
because of the pathetic situation the society was fallen in.
We have many instances in the medieval history, how the Vedic doctrine of inequality
had started poisoning the peoples mind. Though they didn’t create birth based caste system, they
provided pseudo-divine reasoning for its brutal existence. Hemadri Pundit, a Minister of
Yadavas, authored Chaturvarga Chintamani in which over 2500 religious rituals were outlined,
most of which never existed before.
Even they corrupted the religious scriptures. Rather, they imbibed the Vedic divine order
theory in the minds of the distressed people during this era. The social inequality, they tried to
connect with the Vedic ladder-like social order. varna system thus started plaguing Hindu’s and
they too started to connect toe varna system, especially Kshatriya, to get higher social status to
ensure their superiority over some while inferior to another..
This situation created such a complex relationship between the castes and sub-castes that
even acceptance or rejection of food or even water from other castes became a preordained
custom. The inter-caste marriages became almost rare, and if conducted the families of the
concerned couple were made outcaste or punished heavily. The fear of becoming outcaste even
today is so much so in the some castes that they cannot overthrow the verdicts of their caste
assemblies, though the constitutional laws are very much in existence to protect them.
Hence, it can be said that the tyranny of the caste assemblies too were responsible for the
tightening of the caste-grip. For Vedics, there were religious authorities located at Paithan,
Kashi, Kanchi and elsewhere those decided into the matter of their varna. Kings had no role in it.
Because of the sheer negligence of the political powers they didn’t interfere at all in the caste
system and the brutalities exerted by the caste assemblies.
Though it had inherent limitations, the movements against the evils of the caste system
begun to break the caste barriers by the saints in 12th century AD. However, the movement
remained in the enclosure of the spirituality. It didn’t address to the underlying reasons of the
caste system. Moreover Hindu saints preferred to obey the Vedic philosophical doctrine
accepting its dominance. Except for Basaveshvar, we do not find any saint challenging Vedas
and varna system in medieval era. Rather, by then, everyone had considered Vedics too were
Hindu. They weren’t allowed access to the Vedic scripts and hence they failed to know that the
Vedic is a different, alien religion. This very restriction should have raised doubts in their mind
that if they both belonged to the same religion, why they be prohibited from reading or hearing
the Vedic scriptures.
To challenge the caste system it was essential to overthrow the yoke of Vedic dominance
and doctrine of birth-based inequality. Though Hindu followed their ancient religion in this era
too, the Vedic philosophy had penetrated into the minds of the people through the corrupted

41
Puranic tales and new myths. Very few saints realized this and tried to delink Hindu religion
from the Vedic dominance, but ultimately failed to do so. The people became destiny-centric and
silently suffered with a hope that in next birth they will attain something better than the present
life.
No any new social theory that could change the overall society for good could emerge as
the social leadership went in the hands of the saints those propagated salvation through devotion.
They moreover taught to accept the life as it is without challenging the inevitable destiny. This
has been a very tragic part of India’s social history.
Not that Tantras, backbone of the Hindu philosophy, were silent in this era. There were
many sects those survived and thrived during this era. New treaties were being written from
north to south, propagating the doctrine of equality. However the Vedic force was so much so
dominant that they too had to somehow show the Vedic sanction to their writing, no matter how
anti-Vedic it was.
This way, Indian philosophical fabric got so much so polluted that it almost became
impossible to separate Vedic and non-Vedic streams from medieval literature. This provided
strength to the modern scholars to make a bold and fictitious claim that the Vedas were ultimate
source of the Hindu religion. They failed to analyze the independent philosophical and ritualistic
origins of both the religions and the reasons why the mixure did occur.
However, we find clearly from the medieval history that though the supreme position of
the Vedas, though none of the Hindu knew what was in it, was almost accepted by the people,
the Vedic codes weren’t followed by the people. There are far many, but for example, Ahilyabai
Holkar, a widowed woman, that too belonging to non-Vedic stratum, couldn’t have come into
the power during reign of a Brahmin Peshva, had Manusmriti been a code meant for Hindus.
There existed proper awareness among all for whom the code was intended and for whom not!
However, because of the overall economic and political conditions the caste system was
almost stratified. There was a mobility, but in very limited sense.. In this process almost every
caste started finding their mythological origin, many wrote down their Purana as well! Sense of
the purity and pollution that had originated in Vedic religion entered the Hindu castes. The caste
hierarchies got defined in every region to decide the relationship between the castes.
This happened gradually. During this era some castes became untouchable. We do not yet
know the origins of the untouchablity though we can trace its source in Vedic literature where
some, now non-existent, castes has been declared untouchable. And yet we have no authentic
source to explain why some existing castes became suddenly untouchable though it couldn’t
have been the case during first millennium. We need to explore the social history more to reach
the roots of untouchability.
The original spirit of the Indian occupational class was lost. They had enclosed
themselves in the ruthless enclosures of the castes, as it was only the caste which could give
them sense of security. This is why the caste assemblies could become superior. They were
instrumental in elevating the caste prides. Almost every caste had its unwritten code that was
enforced on the caste members. The extreme degree of uncertainty in the life and the hopeless
future shadowed down their mentality, so much so that, we do not find any spectacular
inventions happening in India during this time. We have the abundant philosophies of this era
those are loaded with spirituality but what we do not have is any literature that could provide
alternative doctrine to rise up from the present macabre abyss they were fallen in!
Then came the British Raj that created further complications, so much so that, forget
solving, we are still unable to understand them!

42
7. Impact of British Raj on the Caste System!

The British had set their foot on the Indian soil to make profits through the trade. Most of
the Indian natural resources had remained unexploited for a long period because of the socio-
economic and political reasons. Indian economics already had become directionless and social
situation chaotic.
The British were always fascinated as well intrigued with the Indian social system that
they never had come across in other countries they ruled or traded with. The British scholars,
especially ethnologists, perception about the caste system was marred by their class and race
theories and they tried to connect the both, which ultimately led to the wrong policies that further
severely harmed the overall social system.
“One of the main tools used in the British attempt to understand the Indian population
was the census. Attempts were made as early as the beginning of the 19th century to estimate
populations in various regions of the country but these, as earlier noted, were
methodologically flawed and led to grossly erroneous conclusions. It was not until 1872 that a
planned comprehensive census was attempted. This was done under the direction of Henry
Beverely, Inspector General of Registration in Bengal. The primary purpose given for the
taking of the census, that of governmental preparedness to deal with disaster situations, was
both laudable and logical. However, the census went well beyond counting heads or even
enquiring into sex ratios or general living conditions. Among the many questions were
enquiries regarding nationality, race, tribe, religion and caste.” States Kevin Hobson in
“Ethnographic Mapping and the Construction of the British Census in India.”

The major development that heavily impacted the caste system was the formulation of the
Hindu Code based on the Vedic Smrities. Warren Hastings, in 1772, took initiative in
formulation of Hindu and Muslim laws that completed its first phase in 1864. Hastings hired 11
Brahmin Pundits to get Hindu code written, but he did not know that the Vedic Smrities never
regulated the Hindu life. The Pundits, taking advantage of the situation widened the application
of the Vedic laws, sometimes by misinterpreting and sometimes to please their masters, making
them applicable to all Hindus who, so far, were regulated by their own codes. Thus, British
influence on the fluid social structure of India can in large part be characterized as a
solidification of the privileges of the Hindu caste system through the influence of the Vedic
scholars by whom the British were advised in the formation of their laws. The process of making
Hindu laws by British ended in 1947.
“The Sanskrit pandits hired to translate and sanction this new interpretation of customary laws
created a curious Anglo-Brahmanical hybrid. The resulting document, printed in London under the title, A
Code of Gentoo Laws, or, Ordinations of the Pandits, was a made-to-order text, in which the pandits
dutifully followed the demands made by their paymasters.”

43
 Thus states Madhu Kishvar.60

The British could not make distinction between Hindu and Vedic laws because they had
taken fancy with the Sanskrit, thinking it an ancient mother language from which modern Indo-
European languages evolved. Naturally they valued the Vedas most thinking that the Hinduism
finds its source in Vedas. William Jones went on translating Manusmriti as he suspected that the
Sanskrit Pundits those were hired did their job dishonestly. However, lot of Vedic literature
found Vedic tongue during this era of Aryan euphoria. This changed the total perspective of the
newly educated people while looking back at the socio-religious history of India.

The major problem with those scholars was they mixed two independent religions while
offering supremacy to the Vedic Brahmins over Hindus. Mostly British scholars had to hire local
Sanskrit Pundits while making the translations and interpretations. The enthusiastic Brahmins
conveniently did hide the major sources of Hindu religion, especially the Tantras and Agamas.
This is the reason the Western scholars hardly touched that literature excepting some passing
references. British became instrumental in establishing the Vedic supremacy, not only with
applauding the Vedic literature, but gave a special position being hypothetical decedents of the
Vedic Aryans.
The modern educated Vedic and Hindu elite in India who had the English language as
source were systematically brainwashed into believing that the Vedas were the only source of
their religion and that the Aryan Invasion really did happen to enslave the aboriginal masses.
They had no alternative sources to verify these big claims. This created a rift between the
aboriginals and Brahmins. It did not occur to any scholar that if there was a rift it was religious in
nature. They even forgot to ask the question why the deities they worship are absent from the
Vedas and allied literature. They did not try to find why there are ritualistic differences if the
religion is one and the same. The explanations given by the Vedic scholars were mutely
accepted. For example it was imbibed that the victorious Aryans accommodated some of the
Gods worshipped by the aboriginals in their assimilation process and surprisingly this lame
explanation went unchallenged.
The social reformist movement of that era was divided in two forces, i.e. Brahmin-non-
Brahmin. The Brahmin thinkers were in an attempt of reviving Vedaism in modern perspective,
hence B. G. Tilak called revivalist to Prarthana Samaj and Ranade becase they had proposed to
‘revive’ the Vedic life and religion! Revivalism of the Brahmins led to either suppression of
various pluralistic traits or modified them to suit the Vedic religion. Herein, the Arya Samaj
attempted to incorporate the lower caste groups within the fold of Vedic Aryan Hinduism. 61,
This was the case almost everywhere in India as the Brahmin societies, barring few, were
in an attempt to revive Vedic religion and Tilak was no exception.

From Manusmriti to Madhusmriti:Flagellating a Mythical Enemy by Madhu Kishvar, First Published in

60

March-April 2000, Manushi # 117

61
Foundations of Tilak’s Nationalism by Pramila V Rao, pub-Orient BackSwan, page-19-20
44
 The Non-Brahmins too revolted against the Brahmanical tyranny. The movement was led
by Mahatma Phule and other Hindu caste leaders like Periyar Ramaswami Naykar. However the
nature of this movement was anti-Brahmin denouncing their superiority and rejecting their gods!
In fact it didn’t dawn upon them that the gods they are rejecting were originally belonged to
them. They failed to notice the religious distinction and hence could not challenge the Vedic
supremacy professed and enacted by the Brahmins to get desired effect. They blamed Brahmins
for creation of the caste system. This was sad outcome of the Aryan Invasion Theory.
However, the Vedic knew all the time which religion they belonged to and hence were in
an attempt of reviving Vedic religion.
The British Raj thus harmed the society as they had given high status in their
administration and free hand to use the Aryan theory. The further damage it did that all the
scholars of early twentieth century had to use only Vedic sources to find their history! They
came across many interpolations but did not analyze the purpose behind it. This way, the
mentality of the Hindus became Vedic-centric and even now it remains so.
British introduced many social reforms. The census they conducted was an attempt to
understand the people they were ruling on, however, it made a further division in the Indian
society on racial (ethnic) basis. It was a blunder, but most of the ethnologists prepared their
surveys based on head measurements, classifying them in six different categories. The Purity of
Aryan blood, they thought, was preserved by the Brahmins of North India. This elevated the
Brahmanical racial ego. Many castes too jumped in a rat race to prove or claim how they
belonged to the Aryan race or higher social status in Vedic order to add to the social strife and
chaos.
Since all the castes were classified in some or other racial or ethnic group, the caste
stratification in a way became permanent. The intellectual abilities too were defined on the
baseless hypothesis of ethnology. The Purity of the blood was never ever was the foundation of
the religious or caste system, but gradually it too became a source of pride that helped Vedics to
feel close to the ruling British as they too were Aryan! To them, as Aryan Invasion Theory
reached to the height of the popularity, non-elite, Hindu masses were the one to whom they had
enslaved in the ancient past. This was racial divide over religious and caste divide that gave a
new dimension to the caste struggle. The non-Aryan, Dravidian aboriginal movement erupted to
counter Aryan supremacist theory that till this date continues.
The British raj ended the little bit mobility that previous system afforded. The castes
reconsolidated under influence of the religious laws and the socio-racial theories. The census
made their mentioned castes concrete though many castes mentioned by the illiterate people in
the first and following censuses were incorrect.
The British further classified the castes, useful for administration, army, petty services
and the troublesome castes or tribes those possibly could rebel. Many such castes and tribes were
declared criminal, treating them inhumanly and isolating them by imposing many severe
restrictions on their lives. The stigma that was stamped on them in British era is not yet
sufficiently erased.

45
 This was another churning in the society. It again redefined the socio-political statuses of
various castes. It forced many castes to change their internal rules while fundamentally
transforming their previous statuses. While these happenings were reshaping their mindsets,
what was their temporal condition?

Industrialization

Wake of industrialization era did further damage to the local economy whatever was left
of it. British saw India as a supplier of the raw material and consumer of the finished goods,
produced back home in their factories. India never ever was in a situation to learn from the West
the modern technologies and deploy them for their own benefit. The traditional technologies by
then had become mostly outdated. Many people shifted to the cities to work in factories as
laborers. Many turned to the work for Railway tracks and other infrastructure work. Indian
occupational businesses like weaving had suffered from the cheap textile imports. India became
mere exporter of the raw materials. The export kept growing from 89 million dollars (1850) to
1178 million dollars by 1950, while export of the finished product was as good as zero.
British avoided modernizing traditional occupations in technology and management. The
education that they provided was to create clerical workforce, not technical force. “Even in the
Bombay textile industry, where most of the capital was Indian, 28 per cent of the managerial and
supervisory staff were British in 1925 (42 per cent in 1895) and the British component was even
bigger in more complex industries.” States Angus Maddison. 62 This way Indian workforce
never achieved an ability to learn the new technologies to compete and increase productivity.
The independent village system thus could not get redundant to give way to the people spread
their wings in the modern atmosphere. Local economic conditions were further deteriorated with
the shrinking, even local, market places. British never preferred to create industrial plants or
development banks. They even never gave any preference to the local industries while allotting
the major contracts.
Though some social reforms were introduced by British law and indigenous social
activists tried their best to eradicate caste system, the root cause, poverty, remained intact or
rather worsened. The basic principles of the economics and its impact on the social order
remained totally neglected even by the social reformers. Hence, it became almost impossible to
break the caste ties in the new age too, as it did not reach to them. Social reformers never gave
preference to promote technical education amongst Indian populace. By the time of
independence large scale industries could employ less than 3% of the population whereas about

62
Class Structure and Economic Growth: India and Pakistan Since the Moghuls by Angus
Maddison, pub.- Routledge, 2013, page-61

46
1.2 crore population was engaged in traditional occupational small scale industries and 16 crore
people were the labors. Rest of the population sustained somehow on the agriculture.
The British prejudicial preferences towards the castes, their census’, haphazard
classifications did so much so harm to the caste system that even in the modern era, people have
remained stuck with the caste barriers. The people engaged in government jobs were from the so-
called upper caste or those rose to the upper class by changing the tastes suitable to the British
culture. But the populace that was far away from the main stream of the economy suffered
heavily from the negligence as they never got encouragement to promote their products among
the new elite class. This caused further divide in the society. At one hand the Indian finances
were siphoned out abroad, making poor the poorer, thus making new investments impossible.
This was, in a way third setback to the Indian communities. They could not break the
caste ties because they never got any economically liberal atmosphere since 11 th century. The
grave competition among themselves grew to the level that added to the caste base hatred. Even
after independence the situation largely remained the same with no major economic reforms did
take place in lack of the enough freedom. It never occurred to the socialist mindsets that without
economic reforms there hardly is any scope to the social reforms. The previous chapters on the
caste system have shown in detail, how, from a very flexible occupational system gradually
turned to the rigid and unjust caste system because of the drastic changes in economic order of
the country.
The social dimensions drastically changed by the British Raj. The Vedic not only
maintained their higher status but they got it elevated. The modern Vedic scholars through their
writing imbibed on the masses that the Vedic were the people who created everything that
shaped Indian culture. They staked heavy claims on almost everything that was glorious,
including Indus civilization and Sanskrit language. 63The great contribution of the Hindus, their
antiquity went unnoticed by them. This created a kind of inferiority complex in the minds of the
Hindus. Until they search for their own roots independently they will never come to know their
glorious liberal past that only can change their sense of caste based social behavior. The caste
system was occupation-based social order that was flexible. The flexibility has done miracles in
the past. They had their numerous kings and nobles, dramatists, epical poets and philosophers.
What most of the literature comes forth with Vedic origin label, if carefully read, one can easily
notice their non-Vedic origin.
Whether we succeed in caste eradication or not, we have to endeavor to understand its
true nature and respect all the castes on equal footing because they all together have built this
nation!

63
Bhasheche Mul by Sanjay Sonawani, Chaprak Prakashan, 2015.

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