Chauhan Social System

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Chauhan Social System tries to explain caste system in Chauhan dominions from C. 800 to 1316 A.D. This section is mainly taken for research purpose from Early Chauhān dynasties: a study of Chauhān political history, Chauhān political institutions, and life in the Chauhān dominions from C. 800 to 1316 A.D., by Dasharatha Sharma, Books treasure, Jodhpur. ISBN 0-8426-0618-1.

Professor Dasharatha Sharma (1903–1976) was an Indologist and a noted expert in the history of the Rajasthan. He received a Doctor of Literature (D. Litt.) for his thesis Early Chauhan Dynasties. His noted monograph Early Chauhan Dynasties was first published in 1959.

The Hindu Caste System

The Hindu Caste System is the result of two widely different and not unoften antagonistic ideals expressed by the words, varna and jati, the first laying stress on culture, character, profession, social duties, and the organic nature of human society; and the other on birth, heredity and hereditary privileges. To these two idealistic tendencies, neither of which can be regarded as wholly inoperative even during our period, further complications had been added by the

  • influx of foreigners,
  • inter-caste marriages,
  • Aryanising of people on the frontiers, and
  • growth of occupational groups,

with the result that the Hindu Society consisted no longer of the four original varnas, based on guna and karma [1] or even janma, [2] but of numerous castes and sub-castes in the differentiation of which so many factors had a share.

Brahmanas

The Brahmanas of our period were not so much a class as a hereditary caste divided into a number of sub-sections. We find the mention of the Srimalis and Visalnagara Brahmanas in the Kanhadadeprabandha,[3] of the Nagaras in the Viruddhavidhi-viddhvamsa of Lakshmidhara, [4] of the Pancha-Gaudas and Pancha-Dravidas in the Skanda-Purana,[5] of the Rayakavalas in the Patan Inscription of Bhimadeva II, [6] of the Dadhya or Dahima Brahmanas In the Sakrai Mata inscription [7] of the Pushkara community , most probably the Pushkarnas, in a Pushkar

1. This is the Bhagavadgita idea (IV. 13) which in the formative period of the caste system must have been an actual fact.
2. See Manu, IX, 317, for the heredity idea, though he also insists on their receiving due education and behaving properly.
3. III, 22-28, IV, 370.
4. See above. p. 78.
5. Sahyadrikhanda, X, VV. 2-3•
6. IA., XI, pp. 71 ff.
7. From Dr. G. H. Ojha', transcript.

[Page 269] Inscription of V. 982, [8] and of the Avasathikas, Purohitas, Dvivedins, Trivedins, Chaturvedins, Misras, Diksitas, and Tripathins in the provinces adjoining Rajasthan. [9]

It is difficult to say when these sub-divisions began; their germs at least can be detected as far back as the Sutra period, when the Brahmanas of the north and the south began to mark the differences in their social customs and condemn what they disliked.[10] In the early Smrti period, the Brahmanas of Brahmavarta were regarded as superior to those settled elsewhere. Vanga, Anga and Odra being almost regarded as Mlechchha countries. [11] Later we find the same sense of cultural superiority among the Brahmanas of Antarvedi in Northern India, of Srimala in Rajasthan, and of Anandanagara or Nagara in Gujarat. Many Brahmana families of Bengal trace their descent from the Brahmanas of Kanauj, [12] and learned Brahmanas from Ahichchhatra figure prominently among Brahmana donees even outside Madhyadesa. Srimalis might have come into prominence on account of Srimala or Bhinmal being a great cultural and religious centre, [13] and the same may perhaps be said of the Nagaras or Brahmanas from Nagar.

When the Muslims reached India, the Brahmanas as the recognised custodians of Hindu culture tried to protect it not by liberalising its tenets and improving it spiritually but by emphasising its physical content, i.e., laying stress on jatisuddhi (purity of birth) and non-contamination with foreign blood. Ours was the age of the kalivarjyas, of taboos and

8. PRAS, WC, 1909-10. Dr. Bhandarkar may be wrong in regarding them as Parasara Brahmanas.
9. JAOS., VII, p. 25; EI., XIV, p. 207, 205, 204, 208, and EI., IV. p. 98 etc.
10. See for instance the Baudhyayana-Dharmasutra, I. 1.42
11. Manu, II. 17-18, For the prejudice against outlying areas see also Manu, X, 42-44, Devalasmriti, 4-5,16, Baudhyayanasmriti, I, 1.31-34
12. I am not concerned with the truth or otherwise of the tradition. What is emphasised is merely the fact that Madhyadesha was at one time regarded as a great cultural centre. the Brahmanas or which were superior to the Brahmana’s at least according to some, to the Brahmanas already settled in Bengal.
13. Padmanabha, the author of Kanhadadeprabandha, though himself a Visalanagara Brahmana, speaks very highly of Brahmanas of Brahmanas of Srimala. the "Brahmapuri of the Chauhans."

[Page 270] prohibitions that mark the end of the liberal era of Hinduism. Inter-caste marriages were disallowed; a Brahmana undertaking a sea voyage was excommunicated and not taken back into the community even after performing the prescribed penances; he could not have food even at the houses of his slave, his cowherd, a hereditary Sudra family friend and a Sudra who cultivated his fields, even though earlier texts had allowed him this concession; and he was not to have food cooked by Sudras, even though they observed rules of cleanliness and worked under a Brahmana's supervision.[14]

Under such conditions the sub-divisions of the Brahmanas were bound to multiply. A Brahmana coming into habitual contact with Muslims, either on account of changed political conditions or on account of his professional duties, was regarded as inferior to the one who could keep himself aloof and go on as before, maintaining his cultural as well as ceremonial purity. In Rajasthan, the Brahmanas gave up eating meat, and found it difficult to keep up their social contacts with the Brahmanas using a nonvegetarian diet. Migration to distant parts of the country, adoption of professions regarded as ceremonially impure, differences on philosophic and religious grounds and quarrels on grounds of social behaviour among different sections of one and the same community may also have been some among the many other likely causes adding to these divisions.

That the ancient cultural idea of varna, the emphasis of which was mainly on guna and karma, could sometimes assert itself even when these fissiparous tendencies were at their full swing can be seen from the case of the Magas or Bhojakas who, though certainly outsiders, [15] were on account of the similarity of their work to that of Brahmanas permitted to enter the Brahmanic fold, and have actually been mentioned as

14. For a very good and authoritative account of the kalivarjyas, i.e. practices disallowed in kaliyuga, see P. V. Kane's History of Dharmasastra, III, pp. 926-968.
15. Varahamihira, the author of the Brihatsamhita was probably a Maga Brahmana. The Harshacharita speaks of the Bhojaka. i.e., Maga, Taraka as an astronomer, thoroughly proficient in all the grahasamhitas i.e., astronomical works, and having knowledge of all the three times, past, present, as well as future. (p. 128, Nirnayasagara Edition).

The following arguments can be advanced to prove the original foreign character of the Magas :-

[Page 271] Brahmanas in the Brhaddharma Purana, and the Govindapura Inscription of S. 1059 or 1137 A.D. Their chief profession probably was astrology. [16] Sun-worship was their monopoly,[17] and we find many of them associated even with the worship of Jaina gods and goddesses, [18] which probably again indicates their original non-Brahmin character. [19]

Kshatriyas

The Rajputs were the ruling class. The Kanhadadeprabandha speaks of 36 Rajput clans, though actually it enumerates only the Chauhans, the Vaghelas, the Devadas, the Solankis the Rathods, the Paramaras, the Baradas, the Hunas, the Hariyadas the Chavadas, the Dodias, the Jadavas, the Hulas, the

(a) They admit having come from Sakadvipa, i.e., Scythia.
(b) Originally they were followers of Zarasasta, which looks like a Sanskritised form of Zarathustra.
(c) The avyanga , a sort of girdle prescribed for their constant use, has its counter-part in the avestan Avyaonghen.
(d) Their four Vedas, mentioned In the Bhavishya Purana have nothing Aryan about them. :(e) Alberuni, who knew a good deal about them, identifies them with the Persian Magis.
(f) They are worshippers not of the Vedic Surya but of a Sun icon Imported from outside India which shows him wearing long boots.
For further discussion of the question, see R. G. Bhandarkar's Vaishnavism, Shavism, and Minor Religious Systems, pp. 218-222, and the Bhavishya Purana Chapter 139.
16. See note 15.
17. Visnor-Bhagawatan Maganshcha Savituh (Brahatsamhita, 60.10)
18. See the Sachiyaya Mata Inscription of Osia, (P.C. Nahar, Jaina Inscriptions, Part I, p.198. Even now they perform this duty in most Jaina temples of Bikaner .
19. We have left out topics like the usual duties of a Brahmana his duties in times of emergency and the like, because there is nothing new about them. To the end of the period, they continued svadhyaya i.e., the study of the Vedas, performance of Agnihotra and sacrifices, and adhyapana or teaching (see the account of Srimala in the Kanhadadeprabandha and of Ajmer in Prithvirajavijaya). The popular idea that the Coming in of Pauranic deities and Pauranc worship led to the discontinuance of Vedic rites, ceremonies and worship has to be given up as mistaken, inasmuch as the Brahmanas neither liked to officiate as permanent priests nor hold the temple priests in high estimation. In this connection the following extracts are worth studying :-
न द्विजा: परिगृह्लन्ति देवस्य स्त्रीकृतं धनम् ॥४॥
देवचर्यागतैधर्मै: क्रिया ब्राह्मी न विद्यते ॥५॥ (भविश्यपुराण, ब्रह्मचर्य अध्याय १३९)
श्येनगर्दभचाण्डालमद्यमांसरजस्वला:
स्पृष्ट्वा देवलकं चैव सचैलस्नानमाचरेत् (कुमारपालदेवचरित, पृ.४)
In the Manusmriti (III, 152) a Devalaka is counted among Brahmanas , who do not deserve being invited to a Sraddha ceremony; and the reason for this seems to be that given by Devala

[page 272] Nikumbhas and the Guhilas. [20] On the basis of contemporary literature and inscriptions we can add to these the Bhatis, the Yaudheyas, the Varahas or Birahas, Pratiharas or Padiharas, Tomaras, Kachchhapaghatas or Kachhawahas, Balas, Jethwas, Dahimas, Dahiyas and Chandels.

Towards the end of our period all these clans regarded themselves as Kshatriyas, though earlier there were some among them who had not forgotten their non-Kshatriya origin. We have indicated above the Brahmana origin of the Chauhans. The Guhilas were originally Brahmanas, and mention this Brahmana descent of theirs up to the time of Maharana Kumbha.[21] The Kshatriya Pratiharas of Mandor had a Brahmana as their ancestor and recognised their relationship with the Brahmana Pratiharas, the progeny of Harischandra by a Brahmana wife.[22] The Hunas, mentioned both in the Kumarapalacharita [23] and the Kanhadadeprabandha as one of the thirty-six ruling families, [24] were actually foreign immigrants into India from Central Asia. The Paramaras, who trace their descent from the fire-pit of Vasishtha at Abu and regard their gotra as Vasishtha, have more reason to be regarded originally as Brahmamas than Gurjaras.[25] So, though not many Kshatriyas may have become Brahmanas during our period, owing to the increasing exclusiveness and vigilance of that class, it is certain that many Brahmanas became the founders of Rajput families, a tendency which was neither new nor confined merely to Rajasthan or even Northern India.[26].

देवार्चनपरो विप्रवित्तार्थी वत्सरत्रयम ।
असौ देवलको नाम हव्यकव्यएषु गर्हित: ॥
देवकोशोपजीवी च नाम्ना देवलको भवेत् ।
अपांक्तेय: स विज्ञेय: सर्वकर्मसु सर्वदा ॥ (स्मृतिचन्द्रिका, p. 396)
20. Canto 3. vv. 38 ff.
21. On the origin of the Guhilas of Mewar see D.R. Bhandarkar. JPASB, 1999, G.H. Ojha. History of Udaipur, I; and Mrs. Malati Sharma. IHQ ., XXVIII. 83ff.
22. See the Jodhpur inscription of Bauka. EI, XVIII. pp. 99ff. and my paper on the Pratiharas of Mandor in the Pilani Vidya-vihara-rajata-jayanti number.
23. For the list from the Kumarapalacharita, see Tod's Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan , O.U.P. edition I. the table facing p. 96.
24. See footnote 20.
25. See my paper on the Origin of the Paramaras, Rajasthan Bharati, Vol. III. part 2. pp. 2-8.
26. See the relevant references in the chapter on the "Origin and original habitat of the Chauhans". pp. 1-13.

The Assimilation of Varnas

[Page 273] The assimilation of Brahmanas into the Kshatriya fold did not prove difficult, because the two castes were the inheritors of one and the same culture, and there was not much to distinguish between a Kshatriya and a Brahmana, the moment the latter adopted a military career, either for monetary reasons [27] or for defending Hindu dharma which could not have been less dear to him than to a Kshatriya.[28] To some Brahmanas, specially to those born of a Brahmana's Kshatriya wives, military profession may have been more congenial than the priestly; and it is probably an actual fact which the later Smrtis recognised, when contradicting the dictates of Manu and other early lawgivers, they laid down the new rule that a Brahmana's sons by a Kshatriya wife should e recognised not as Brahmanas but a Kshatriyas. [29]

Nor did the assimilation of foreign fighting tribes into the Kshatriya fold prove impossible, even though this must have taken more time than the assimilation of Brahmanas. Unconsciously or consciously the people realised that every fighter was inherently a Kshatriya and thus entitled to become a Hindu, provided he changed his barbaric ways and shared with the indigenous Kshatriyas the great task of defending Indian culture. Even the orthodox lawgiver, Manu stated,

"In the beginning Paundras, Dravidas, Cholas, Kambojas, Yavanas, Sakas, Paradas, Pahlavas, Chinas, Kiratas, Daradas, and Khasas were Kshatriya a people. Gradually they became Vrishalas as a result of losing contact with Brahmanas giving up their (Vedic) rites".[30]

27. Profession of arms is an apaddharma for Brahmanas. Baudhayana (I. 1.20) notes, though with disapprobation., that many Brahmanas of the north earned their living by fighting. Actual instances of Brahmanas serving in armies in the post-Harsha Hindu period are by no means rare. Ballala of Malwa was killed by Kumarapala’s Brahmana soldiers. Skanda, commandant of Prthviraja III, was a Brahmana.
28. As good instances we can have Pushyamitra Sunga, identified with Kalki by Dr. Jayaswal; Mayurasarman, the founder of the Kadamba dynasty; Bappa Rawal of Mewar; and perhaps also Kallar, the founder of the Brahmana Shahiya, dynasty of Udbhandapura.
29. (a) यत्तु ब्राह्मणेन क्षत्रियायामुत्पादित: क्षत्रिय एव भवति,
क्षत्रियेण वैश्यायामुत्पादितो वैश्य एव भवति,
वैश्येन शूद्रायामुत्पादित: शूद्र एव भवतीति शंखस्मरणम । ( मिताक्षरा on याज्ञवल्क्यस्मृति, आचाराध्याय, श्लोक ९१)
29. (b) नृपायाम विधिना विप्राज्जतो नृप इति स्मृति:
ओशनस-स्मृति (स्मृतिसमुच्चय)
30. X, 43-44-. Remarkable also is X, 42 :-
तपोबीजप्रभावैस्तु ते गच्च्हन्ति युगे युगे । उत्कर्षं चापकर्ष च मनुष्येष्विवह जन्मत: ॥

[Page 274] The Puranas took up the cue and provided as it were an explanatory note. According to them, when Sagara wanted to avenge the death of his father by punishing the Sakas, Yavanas, Pahlavas and Kambojas, these people sought refuge with Sagara's guru, Vasishtha, who protected them from Sagara’s ire by telling him that his enemies could be regarded as dead, for he had deprived them of what is as good as life, i.e., their dharma and the company of Brahmanas. Thus deprived of the privilege of Vedic studies, Vedic rites and Vedic teachers, these Kshatriyas became Mlechchas.[31]

As the Aryans probably entered India by way of the north-western passes and were, there are, racially and to a good extent culturally [32] not very different from the later invaders from the north-west, such views, however inaccurate historically must have, on account of their being in consonance with the ancient theory of the classification of varnas according to guna and karma, helped in the incorporation of the new-comers into the Kshatriya caste. The only thing necessary was that these new people should follow Vedic rites and traditions; and this they appear to have done early enough. Rudradaman I was a Sanskrit scholar,[33] Nahapana's son-in-law, Ushavadata, went to Pushkara for a bath and granted liberal donations in most of the Hindu sacred places, [34] the Yavana Heliodorus was a Bhagavata,[35] Kanishka a Buddhist,[36] and Mihirakula a Shaiva,[37]

31. Vishnu Purana. Book IV, Chapter 3. Sagara is said ,also to have ordained that the Yavanas should completely shave off their heads, the Sakas shave half their head, that the Paradas should have long hair and the Pahlavas, beards.
32. Some of these similarities have been noted byTod. (see Chapter VI, of his Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, I, pp .. 68-97), but wrongly attributed to the Rajputs' supposed decent from Scythlans. Many of the customs were to be found in India before the Sakas reached this country.
33. See his Junagarh Inscription, SI, pp. 172-74.
34. See his Nasik Cave Inscription, SI, pp. 16o-62. wherein he is descriribed as having visited Baranasi, Bhrigukachchha, Dashapura, Govardhana, Sorparaka, Prabhasa, Suvarnamukha, Ramatirtha etc. A brief account is to be found also in his Karle Cave Inscription, SI, 165.
35. See his Besnagar Garuda Pillar Inscription, ,SI, pp, 90-91
36. H.C. Raychaudhuri, Political History of Ancient India, fifth edition, pp. 475 ff.
37. Verse 6 of the undated Mandsaur Inscription of Yashodharaman deacribes Mihirakula as Sthanoranya yena pranatikrapanatam prapitam nottam-angam, SI, p. 394.

[Page 275] Another step towards incorporation in orthodox Aryan society may have been intermarriage. Rudradaman gave his daughter in marriage to a Satavahana prince of the Deccan, [38] Samudragupta had in his harem ladies from the Kushana, Saka and Simhala royal families. [39] Yashakarna Chedi was the son of a Huna princess.[40]

When this assimilative tendency came to an end is difficult to determine. But it certainly slackened with the advent of the Muslims into India. Islam knew no compromise. It was out to convert, not to be converted to any non-Quranic religious attitude or position, however rational it might be. For the first time in its history, Hinduism faced a rival which it could not conquer and with which there could not be even easy peace. Under the circumstances, Hinduism like Roman Catholicism in the sixteenth century was forced to redefine its dogmas and institutions, and the caste system as the most obvious of these received in the succeeding centuries an exactitude, rigidity and definition that it probably had never possessed before. Tribes which had already become Hinduised and almost forgotten that their ancestors had once been non-Hindus began now to connect themselves with the Sun, the Moon, or even the Fire and the Sea in their search of pedigrees to prove that only the bluest of of Kshatriya blood coursed through their veins. The Rashtrakutas now described themselves as Yadavas or the Lunar family of Kshatriyas, though their earlier records had nothing to say on this point. [41] The Pratiharas became Raghuvamshins[42] and the Paramaras, not to be outdone by their rivals, adapted a myth from the Ramayana. Thus was laid the basis of the Agnikula myth so well known to students of Rajput history.[43] The Palas

38. H.C. Raychaudhuri, Politicol History of Ancient India, 5th edition, P•496.
39. See lines 23-24 of Samudragupta's Allahabad Inscription, SI., p.258.
40. FI., XII, p. 212, verse 15. The Guhila ruler, Allata of Mewar, had a queen belonging to the family of "Hunakshonisha” (a Huna ruler), IA., xxxix p. 191
41, See RA, pp. 15-16.
42. First described as Lakshamana’s descendants in the Sagartal inscription of Bhoja I.
43. See my paper, Origin of the Paramaras, Rajasthan Bharati, Vol. III, part 2, pp. 2-8.

[Page 276] are described by two writers belonging to the twelfth century as descendants of Samudra and Surya respectively, which can only indicate that the Palas' origin was very doubtful. [44] Of the Chauhans we have said a good deal already.

By the time of the Kumarapalacharita and Kanhadadeprabandha, 36 clans had become recognised as Rajput Kshatriyas, though of the 36 there probably were some whose recognition as Kshatriyas was purely local or at the most provincial.[45] All these clans inter-dined and intermarried, whether settled in Gujarat or Madhyadesha and had thus much less of exclusiveness than the various sub-divisions of the Brahmanas. It may be that some of them had forgotten their gotra and pravaras, but a good many perhaps never had any. We are therefore not surprised to find either Medhatithi stating in his comment on the Manusmrti, III, 5 that distinction of gotra and pravara applied only to Brahmanas, or Mitakshara laying down that the Kshatriyas and Vaishyas should adopt the gotra and pravaras of their purohitas, inasmuch as they (the Kshatriyas and Vaishyas) had no gotras of their own.[46] The only rules of exogamy and endogamy observed were that a Kshatriya generally married Kshatriya and did not marry within his own clan.

Vaishyas

Among the Vaishyas again we find the same influence of the two ideals of varna and jati. The doors of the varna itself were open to every new comer who took up the profession of trading, even though the incomers generally fell into a sub-caste of their own, quite distinct from those already in existence. The Agrawalas, the Maheshvaris and Oswals, the three important divisions of vaniks in Rajasthan, all claim a Kshatriya origin. They ascribe their present position as Vaisyas to their eschewing of meat-eating and the profession of fighting under the influence of humanitarian movements like Jainism; and a certain amount of epigraphic support for their contention has been found in the Jalor Stone-Inscription of Samantasimha (V. 1353)

44. Ramacharita, Canto I. verse 1; Kamauli Grant of Vaidyadeva.
45. See the lists given by Tod. Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan I, Table facing page 98 (0. U.P.), for the local and provincial differences. No two lists agree fully.
46. राजन्यविशां प्रातिस्विक गोत्राभावात् प्रवराभावस्तथापि पुरोहितगोत्रप्रवरौ वेदितव्यौ । (Comment on याज्ञवल्क्यस्मृति I,53.)

[Page 277] which, while describing the donor, Narapati, his brothers and father, as Sonis, i.e., as Oswals of the sub-section bearing this name, mentions his grandfather and great-grand-father as Thakuras. Narapati's ancestors, according to Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar, probably were originally Sonigara Rajputs. It was the grandfather, Mahanasimha, who seems to have become a Jaina and dropped the Rajput title Thakura. [47]

The Smrtis prescribe four means of livelihood for a Vaisya: agriculture, cattle-rearing, trade and money-lending. Of these the first two gradually passed into the hands of the Sudras, probably on account of Vaisyas' growing distaste for professions involving himsa.[48] Hieun Tsang mentions Vaisyas as a class that engaged in commercial exchange and followed profit at home and abroad.[49] Jaina books generally describe them as traders, money-lenders and financiers. The Kavikalpalata recommends their appointment as ministers; and the maxim had certainly the approval of many states in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Vastupala was a Vaisya and so were Yasovira, the chief counsellor of Udayasimha of Jalor, and the Baladhipa Yasodeva who served Katukadeva of Nadol. Though bravery in the battlefield was not their forte, we now and then find a few good generals among them. Ramadeva, a courtier of Prthviraja III, was a good wrestler. [50]

Various divisions of Vaisyas find a mention in our records specially towards the end of our period. We hear for instance of the Pragvatas, Ukeshavamsha, Srimalas, Modhs, Humbads, Dharkatas [51] and Lemchus, to name only a few out of the many who had a share in the literary and religious life of the period. About the Vaishyas belonging to orthodox Hinduism we may refer to the Dhusaras, Maheshvaris, Daas, and Bisas.[52]

47. EI, XI. p. 61. The argument, however, is of doubtful value.
48. Jainism especially did not encourage the pursuit of agriculture.
49. Beal, Buddhist Records of the Western World, I. 64.
50. See my paper on the Kharataragachchhapattavali of Jinapala in IHQ., 1950, pp. 223 ff
51. Dhanapala, the writer of Bhavishyattakatha, was a Dharkata.
52. See Sakrai (Rajasthan) inscription of V. 879. Kanhadadeprabandha, IV, 12-13. We are not sure, however, of the existence of Dasas and Bisas in our period. Such a grading may have been a late manifestation of the growing caste-spirit.

Sudras

[Page-278] Though the Smrtis have many hard things to say about the Sudras, their position appears to have improved steadily; and this had to be for various reasons. When Sudras became rulers at times, some of them attaining even the imperial position,[53] they could not obviously be treated as mere hewers of wood and drawers of water in their relation to the higher castes. They had to be treated better also because they were the real Vaishyas of our period. With agriculture, handicrafts and cattle rearing as their virtual monopoly, they formed the backbone of the Indian society, at least in Northern India, and had to be given in some way the respect due to their economic position. Medhatithi's commentary on the Manusmrti reflects this change. He concedes the Sudra's right to private property, and to freedom from attending on the three other castes, unless he did so with a view to earning spiritual merit.[54] He could have his samskaras, though without the use of Vedic mantras; and participated in many religious activities of the community. He shared in the management and maintenance of temples and was a member of the watch and ward committees of villages and towns. [55] That sometimes a Sudra could rise to a very high position in the service of the State is shown by the example of the potter Sajjana who was made the Governor of Chitor by Kumarapala Chaulukya.[56]

Like the three other castes, the Sudras had their subdivisions. We find the Mehras mentioned in some Chauhan inscriptions. [57] In the list of the various professional people who are said to have accompanied Alauddin in his march against Kanhadadeva of Jalor, [58] we find the Bhois, Kahars, Suthars, Malis, Kumhars, Lohars, Silawats, Tambolis, Darjis, Ghanchis,

53. Yuan Chwang mentions Sudra rulers in North India. Nandas, the Imperial rulers of Magadha, were also of Sudra extraction.
54. III, 156; VIII, 415
55. See the Pal inscription of V. 1250 for the Mehra's donation to the local temple. Another inscription of the same locality gives them a place in the local assembly.
56. See above p. 64 and also my paper on Sajjana and Bosari in the Bharatiya Vidya, English Edition, 1944, p. 221. I
57. JPASB, X, p. 409.
58. Kanhadadeprabandha, II, vv. 87-92.

[Page 279] Tunaras, Bhatiyaras and Baghanighadas who, probably as now, were ranked as Sudras.

Uncertain position in the caste system: Jats

Of classes whose exact position in the caste system is rather uncertain Rajasthan must have had many.

Ahirs probably occupied the area to the south of Delhi. The Mahabharata regards them a Kshatriya tribe reduced to the status of Sudras on account of the non-contact of its members with Brahmanas. [59] The Mahabhasya does not include them among Sudras, [60] and some of our lists of Rajputs put them among the 36 Rajput royal families of Rajasthan and Gujarat. [61] If the Kamasutra and Apararka's commentary on the Yajnavalkya Smrti be believed, their code of social behaviour was in some ways different from that of most Kshatriya families.[62] The Ahirs of the Gurgaon district now call themselves Yadavas.

The Kayasthas, who at one time were only a professional class, had in our period hardened into a caste divided into many subdivisions. Some Smrtis mention them as Sudras.[63] In the Udayasundarikatha of Soddhala, they are assigned a Kshatriya origin.[64] It is impossible to state what their exact position was in the Chauhan dominions. Their castes mentioned in our inscriptions are Naigama, Gauda and Katariya Mathur.[65]

The Khatris probably were a pratiloma class, born of a Kshatriya father and a Brahmana mother. At least that is the tradition now current in Rajasthan, though some of them maintain that they are full-blooded Kshatriyas who have gone

59. Ashvamedhikaparva, 29,15-16..The Sabhaparva 51.12 mentions them along with Paradas.
60. See Panini I, 2, 72. The difference in the status does not seem, however, to have been very great.
61. See the lists facing page 98 of the Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan. O.U.P. edition.
62. Kamasutra, p. 294; Apararka’s Commentary on Yajnavalkya, II, 17.
63. e.g. Usanas and Vedavyasa (35 and I. 10-1 1 respectively). The account of the Sukranitisara, the date of which is uncertain, also proves that they had become a caste.
64. Read the introductory portion.
65. EI., XIX, p. 45; EI, XI, pp. 39 ff., Prachinajainalokasangraha II, No.402

[Page 280] down in the social scale on account of their taking to trading, commerce and money-lending.

The residence of the Jats was in the northern part of the Chauhan dominions, and they appear to have had a share in the struggle for independence waged by the Chauhans after the defeat and death of Prithviraja III. It is not unlikely that many of the early republican people might have contributed to the formation of the present Jat caste, some becoming Rajputs and the others remaining Jats according to their circumstances and predilections. [66] ..... By temperament they are unorthodox; and this more than anything else marks them out from the Rajputs.

The Gurjaras formed another important element of the population, in fact, one so important that the western part of Rajasthan received the name, Gurjaratra, and was so known for centuries. According to a number of scholars, the Agnikula clans were originally Gurjaras.[67] One Mathanadeva is mentioned as a Gurjara Pratihara in the Rajorgarh inscriptions V. 1016. [68] The Chauhans are said to have originally been Khazars. Though we need not, as shown elsewhere, [69] believe these theories in toto, it is not unlikely that some of the Gurjars were actually regarded as Kshatriyas. The Badgujars, who obviously are Gurjaras, are reckoned among the 36 Rajput clans and inter-marry with them. There is, however, not much ground, as shown by K.M. Munshi,[70] to believe that Gujars were a foreign tribe.

66. Many Jats have the same Gotras, as the Rajputs, e.g., Gahlot, Dahima, Panwar, Mor, Solanki, Yadava and Tanwar. I regard the Dharanas as belonging to the gotra of the Imperial Guptas.
67. Notably Dr. D.R. Bhandarkar, and A.M.T. Jackson. Dr. R.C. Majumdar identifies the Gurjaras with Pratiharas and Dr. D.C. Ganguly with the Guhilas of Chatsu. For the criticism of these views see my papers, the Origin of the Pratiharas (P.O., Vol. II), The terms Gurjara and Gurjareshvara, (IHQ. 1937), and the Pratiharas of Mandor Pilani Vidya Vihar Journals, Vols. II and III.
68. EI.,III, p.266.
69. See Chapter I and also my paper on the "Origin of the Chauhans" in the Jadunath Sarkar Commemoration Volume, Punjab University.
70. Tht Glory that was Gurjaradesha, Part I, Book University Series.

The Antyajas

[Page 281] Last in the social scale stood the Antyajas. But even their Social status showed variety according to the occupations they followed and the amount of independence they enjoyed. The Medas formed an important section of the population and were in their forest and mountain haunts as influential as any other caste. Another Antyaja class, the Bhils, lived in various parts of the Aravalli hills and adjoining areas. An allied tribe was that of the Minas who lived in and at times terrorised parts of south east Rajasthan by their predator activities. The Bavaris, according to Dr. D.R. Bhandarkar, are perhaps referred to in the Jalor Inscription of V. 1239. [71] The Antyaja who helped Lakshmana in the foundation of his kingdom [72] may have been a Meena or Bhil or perhaps even a Bavari.

The Upamitibhavaprapanchakatha speaks here and there of these depressed classes. The quarters the Matangas lived must have been extremely unhygienic. [73] There could be in life no station higher than that of a Maharaja and none lower than that of a Chandala. [74] The Doms were so poor that they formed the subject of a saying, "These two can never co-exist, the Dom and adhaka of gingelly seeds." [75] One of the characters of the katha is a ruler called Adhamaraja. He was looked down with contempt by his subjects on account of his relations with a Matanga woman. Coming together the people declared the king's course of action to be highly improper and drove him out of his kingdom.[76] It was a sin to think water touched by the Antyajas.[77] Even while taking a bath in a jungle tank, the Antyaja would think, "Here is a “touchable" (sprshya purusha). He would take me to task for bathing here. So let me hide somewhere."[78]

The katha does not give exact indications about the various professions folIowed by the Antyajas. It states in a general way

71. El. XI. pp. 53-54
72. See above. Chapter XII.
73. Upamitibhavaprapanchakatha , p. 36
74. Ibid., p.98, p. 230
75. Ibid., p. 221, An adhaka equals four prashthas or 64 palas , or 4096 masakas (Yogachintamani, I, 6-13)
76. Upamitibhavaprapanchakatha , p. 592.
77. Ibid, 64
78. Ibid, 212

[Page 282] that Matangas and Dombs were "miserable sinners who followed callings entailing cruelly." [79] A specific instance is that of a Chandala whose profession is that of a fowler and who is proficient in the use of his bow and arrows. [80] Among the people following low callings, the katha includes agricultural labourers (talakhetakas), cutters of grass and fuel, runners carrying messages, and huntsmen.[81] Slightly higher than them were the Shailushas or actors. [82]

More detailed, with regard to the professions of the Depressed Classes, is the account of Alberuni who enumerate the following twelve classes of the Antyajas [83]

(l ) Juggler (the nata of the Smrtis) ,
(2) Basket and shield maker (buruda),
( 3) Sailor (kaivarta),
(4) Fisherman (Jalopajivi),
(5) The hunter of wild birds and animals (vyadha),
(6) Weaver (tantuvaya),
(7) Fuller (rajaka),
(8) Shoemaker (charmakara),
(9) Hadi,
(10) Doma (Domba),
(11) Chandala, and
(12) Badhatau.

Of these the first five were higher in status than the next three, i.e., the weaver, the fuller and the shoemaker and intermarried. The last four, the Hadis, the Doms, the Chandalas and Badhataus constituted what the Smrtis would call the antyavasayin class, the members of which were excluded from social contact even by the other depressed classes. [84] Actually they constituted, according to Alberuni, one class the members of which were distinguished from each other only by their occupations. This perhaps signifies intermarriage and

79. Ibid., p. 588.
80. Ibid.,p.212
81. lbid.,P.588.
82. Ibid., 591.
83. Alberuni's India, I, p. 101 ff.
84. For the word, antyavasayi, see Manu. X. 39 and the Mitakshara on the Yajnavalkya-smrti, III, 260.

[Page 283] also change of profession at will within the ambit permitted to them.

The Hadi may be identical with the Dhadhi whose occupation at present is not very different from that of a Domba. Or is he to be regarded as Hali, an agricultural labourer or talakhetaka ? [85] The Domba is identified with shvapacha by Kshirasvamin and the Rajatarangini, the latter of which mentions them also as professional singers.[86] Manu puts the houses of Chandalas outside a village. [87] Usanas assigns to them the duty of cleaning a village in the first part of the day. They acted as hangmen; and their chief wealth was their asses and dogs. [88] Fahien describes how they had to give notice of their approach by striking a piece of wood, a fact confirmed also by Bana who describes a Matanga kanya as striking the pavement of Sudraka's court with a spilt piece of wood. [89] The Badhatau can perhaps be identified with the Badhi, a depressed class of S.E. Punjab and U.P.

The Kanhadadeprabandha mentions eighteen varnas or castes,[90] the Rajatarangini, sixty-four; Usanas forty; and the number goes on differing from Smrti to Smrt;" [91] From the description in the Kanhadadeprabandha it is obvious that its eighteen varnas are merely guilds of craftsmen and workers mentioned as Srenis in early Buddhist literature and as prakrtis in the Skandapurana. As for the castes, dubbed as Sankirna or "mixed" by the lawbooks, their number obviously had no fixity. It could be more or less according to the basis of classification adopted by a writer, e.g., either birth or profession or both. Profession was a relatively fixed feature; heredity could vary

85. For Talakhedaka see above the account from the Upamitibhavaprapanchakatha.
86. Rajatarangni, V, 354, 389-94, and VI, 182, 192. In Rajasthan both Domas and Hadis are included among professional singers. From them come also many dancing girls. A Rajasthan i proverb says, Dumani rai rovan men hi rag.
87. X, 51-6.
88. Ibid, IV, 79; X, 39.
89. Kadambari, p. 68 (Jibananda's edition)
90. Canto I, verse 238.
91. See P. V. Kane's History of Dharmasastra Literraure, II, Part I, p. 50.

[Page 284] according to a writer's information about a caste tradition, and sometimes perhaps even according to his predilection.

Virtues and vices of the caste system

Like all human institutions, the caste system, as it developed during our period, had its virtues and vices. Earlier, when the varna conception was more operative than later on, it had helped Hinduism in assimilating new blood and given it a constitution, flexible yet strong enough to withstand barbaric influences. For everyone prepared to pass a period of novitiate, there could be a place in Hinduism. But with the coming of Islam to India things began to change. Hinduism should not respond to the challenge of Islam in the same way as to that of the early invaders. It was so different, so unassimilable, so contemptuous at times of the Hindu view of life, that something had to be done to counteract its disintegrating influence. But, as pointed out in the beginning of this chapter, our religious leaders, instead of internally strengthening Hinduism by the removal of its chief defects - of which untouchability and the low position assigned to certain classes were the worst-began erecting defences in the form of rigid class rules and taboos, e.g., not crossing the seas, not interdinning with one's workers even, not having anuloma marriages and not permitting widow-marriages under any circumstances. In their immediate objective these religious leaders had success.

Hinduism did not disappear from the land of its birth. [92] But these very defences have at times been like bars of prison protecting the inmates from outside intrusion but denying them at the same time that free atmosphere of thought and action without which no culture can progress. Hinduism towards the end of our period presents a picture of arrested growth. The castle of the caste system was its asylum as well as prison.[93]

92. But for this good effect the good features of Hinduism may really be responsible, though credit is generally given to the caste system.
93. For the disastrous political effects of the system see the last chapter also.

References

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