HISTORY OF INDIA – II

ASSIGNMENT
Question. Explain the concept of Varna and Jati in Ancient India. What were the
factors which led to the development of Varnasankaras and proliferation of Jati
between 300 C.E and 750 C.E.

Normative texts show that the notion of the society being divided into four varnas
continued in the perception of early medieval theorists. Major information on Varna
comes largely from the Dharamshastras. The concept of Varna is seen to be closely
associated with the concept of dharma, understood in sense of universal law. The
four-fold order of Varnas (hereditary classes) was central to the social discourse of
the Brahmanical order.
According to Dharamshastras, the society was made up of four orders, and later a
fifth order was added. The first four were the Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya and
Shudra and the fifth order was later identified as untouchables. In the later period,
Manu provides a list of Varnas and occupations associated with them. The ideal
activities of the Brahmana are studying and teaching the Vedas, performing sacrifices
for himself and others and giving and receiving gifts. Kshatriyas are supposed to be
studying, performing sacrifices for himself, bestowing gifts and most importantly
protecting people. The Vaishya shares the first three activities, but his ideal
occupations are agriculture, cattle rearing, trade and money-lending. The Shudra
was supposed to obtain his livelihood by serving the higher Varnas.
The problem of understanding the social organization of early medieval times from
the point of view of the unchanging four-varna model have been sometimes
recognized by the then theorists themselves, tacitly and explicitly. Nevertheless, the
identity of the Brahmana and the untouchable is generally clear but references to the
intermediate groups often appear to be rather confused, if not of contradictory kind.
In certain instances of adversity, a person could be forced to pursue activities outside
of his Varna order.
Evidences of Varna system are also found in Buddhist and Jaina literature but for
them the powerful religious sanction associated with it in the Brahmanical tradition
was lacking. It was considered an institution created by people, based on natural
inclinations and aptitudes. n. Buddhism is viewed as a system, which was more
sympathetic to oppressed groups and it provided an economic, political, and social
solution to the caste oppression. In Buddhist literature no one is ever described as
belonging to brahmana varna, kshatriya varna, Vaishya or Shudra varna. It seems to
have remained a theoretical concept without any parallel in actual practice.
The etymology of the Sanskrit word, Jati, gives the meaning, ‘that which one is born
in’. It denotes a trans-familial identity of relative status commonly shared by many
families. The Dharamsutras explain the origins of Jati through the ingenious but
fictious theory of the mixture of Varnas (Varnasankaras). According to this, Jati were
the outcome of various kinds of inter-varna marriages.
The notion of self and the notion of property are the most archaic and fundamental
institutions to Jati, which comes from pre-Jati descent communities with the habit of
distinguishing each as pure and impure. Thus, as long as each descent group had
autonomy to sustain the notion, it was mutually all exclusive, horizontal and fluid.
The emergence of Jati is attributed to a number of factors – the hereditary nature of
crafts and occupations, the assimilation of tribal groups into the larger Brahmanical
fold, and a social system that privileged birth and regulated hierarch through
marriage rules and endogamy. Territorial and occupational differences also played
an important role in the emergence of segmented identities.
The most crucial factor about Jati was the institution of labor realization and the
entailing form of servitude that it embodied. As an institution it ensured permanence
of labor to contemporary productive relations by fettering the descent group in
specific crafts, which although provided occupational stability to them, denied the
natural right to adopt the livelihood of their choice. The law givers of early medieval
India were clearly aware of the rise in the number of Jati, a social phenomenon
explained by them in terms of innumerable matrimonial combinations and
permutations within the over-arching four-fold Varna order.
The terms Varna, Jati and Kula are sometimes used interchangeably in ancient texts,
while in other places they have a more specific meaning. The early Dharamshastras
and occasionally the early Buddhist texts would describe the Brahmana both as a
Varna and Jati. The encapsulation of the fourfold Varna division in the Jati structure
impress upon us the importance of the Jati system and not of the four Varna model
for understanding the nature of the early medieval society.
The existence of Jati or Caste distinctions and hierarchies did not mean that the
system always operated with complete rigidity. There are indications of an element of
social flexibility, reflected, for instance, in the recognition extended to the offspring
of unequal unions. An inscription of 5th century AD refers to two Kshatriya
merchants living in a city in the upper-Ganga basin, while another inscription of the
same century mentions of a body of weavers from Gujarat as having gradually
adopted various other occupations in their new home in Malwa. This social
dynamism is proved by a number of authentic instances of Brahamanas and
Kshatriyas adopting the occupations of the classes below them, and of Vaisyas and
Shudras following those of the classes above them.
The social dynamism of this period needs to be understood in relation to the political
and economic dynamism of the period. The village community grew from subsistence
production stage to produce social surplus to support trade and commerce. The
imperial polity integrated vast regions into a single political unit allowing different
people, skills and resources to interact. The land grant to kshatriyas expanded the
agricultural practice to nook and corner of the country. The spread of Brahman
groups stretched Brahmanical nuclei to foster systematic acculturation in such
regions to the Sanskritic mound.
The social groups enjoying different grades of social status were integrated into the
economy and regional polity. The emergence of small kingdoms at the end of Gupta
period thus created many groups to claim Kshatriya status. The economic
opportunities lured some brahmanas to take up trade. New technology and craft
activities provided new opportunities to Vaisyas and Shudras. These opportunities of
economic interaction created new rules of social regulations.
In the early medieval we come across a phenomenon where the existing caste
groups/varnas do get broken down in into numerous castes and Jati. In the
brahmana this process is manifest where many a brahmana castes were named after
the type of ritual they performed. Here the growth of the land grant economy paved
way for a larger fragmentation of the caste.
The emergence of the Rajput identity gives us some idea of the new form the issue of
proliferation took. The local communities/tribes such as the Bhils, Candelas and
Palas and others gained the respectable Kshatriya lineage by the brahmana
genealogists. This also paved way for the Bactrian Greeks, Sakas and the Parthians to
be absorbed in this process of proliferation.
Proliferation of Jati can be found in other caste groups too apart from the upper
castes. A fifth century work mentions more than hundred caste groups. Works in the
eighth century state that thousands of mixed castes came into existence due to a
variety of reasons. The reasons could be conquest, spread of trade, expansion of
agriculture and related activity etc. We do come across a phenomenon where the
local tribal groups negotiated their status to gain space in the larger fold. This
process of negotiation was sometimes violent and at other times through trade and
exchange networks. Even in the process of amalgamation the Jatidharma was left
untouched and was strictly respected.
Another significant process that further advanced the process of proliferation of Jati
was where crafts were transformed into caste groups. The guilds and the trader
groups, the shrenis themselves acquired caste status and became closed groups. The
emergence of local crafts into castes groups as mixed castes such as the napita,
tambulika, citrakara, svarnakara, malakara, modaka, and many others can also be
witnessed. Along with crafts the religious affiliation too played a role in the
proliferation of jatis. The emergence of various sects had close affinity with the jatis
they emerged from and the gods they worshipped. This process was linked to the
state formation as well.
In order to conclude, as have been witnessed that the process of proliferation of Jati
was not limited to the higher caste groups only but was certainly geared to gain a
high caste status in order that wealth and power could be obtained and legitimized.
The high ranking in the caste group went with resultant wealth and power. The
process was certainly hierarchical in nature and sought to legitimize the power and
the wealth of the high caste groups. Thus, these social changes can be understood
against the framework of feudalism or integrated polity, where for both it was
essentially the growth of the local, and the regional.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Ranabir Chakravarti – Exploring Early India up to A.D 1300
2. RS Sharma – Aspects of Political Ideas and Institutions in Ancient India
3. Upinder Singh – A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India
4. Uma Chakravarti – Beyond the Kings and Brahmanas of ‘Ancient’ India

NAME – SAMIYA MISHRA

CLASS – 1A
ROLL NUMBER – 547