HISTORY

Subject : History
(For under graduate student)

Paper No. : Paper-I

History of India

Topic No. & Title : Topic-9

Post –Mauryan Developments

Lecture No. & Title : Lecture-6

Society

Post-Mauryan Development – Society:

The society in traditional India was ideally sought to be
divided into four varnas- Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas
and Shudras. The normative treatises like the Manu
Smriti, the Yajnavalkya Smriti, the Anushashana and the
Shantiparva of the Mahabharata, lay emphasis on the
maintenance of this strict four-fold varna order.

The varna system depended on certain principal planks.

It insisted on marriage within the varna but outside the
gotra. It restricted inter-dining and inter-marriage, and it
strongly emphasized following hereditary professions.
Savarna marriages, or marriages within the same varna,
and the repudiation of inter-varna marriages were though
strongly stressed in the normative texts. Other sources of
the period however present social norms and practices
differently. While agreeing with the norm that the ideal
marriage was indeed the marriage within the same
varna, these other sources allowed space for inter-varna
marriages. Among the types of marriages that have been
mentioned in the sources, the anuloma or marriage
between a higher varna male and a lower varna female
was permitted. Pratiloma was a term applied to
marriages between a higher varna woman with a lower
varna man, and was considered unacceptable.

The inter-marriages between unequal varnas led to the

inter-mixture of varnas, and the emergence of a class
called varna-samkara. Mixed marriages led invariably to
mixed jatis or mishra-jati. The offspring of the union
between two unequal varnas could not inherit the varna
designation of either of the parents. This necessitated the
creation of the jati designation.
Jati & Varna
Jati and varna were two different institutions, closely
interlinked, and translated as the same English word,
‘caste’. The fundamental difference between the two
concepts was that while the number of varnas was
absolutely fixed at four (Manu declares there are only
four varnas in the society and no fifth varna exists), yet,
the innumerable permutations and combinations in terms
of inter-marriages between unequal varnas led invariably
to the emergence of numerous jatis. The marriage
between a Brahmin male and Vaisya female for instance
(anuloma) would beget a new jati called ambustha or
vaidya (physician).

The worst form of pratiloma marriage according to the

strict shastrik norms, was the marriage between a
Brahmin female and a Shudra male, which led to the
creation of a new jati called chandala, possibly the lowest
in the social structure.

The instances of inter-marriages were naturally

innumerable. Therefore the jatis had no fixed number,
unlike the varnas which were fixed in number. Though
the jatis were technically different from the varnas, they
were born out of some kind of permutations and
combinations among the four original varnas. Perhaps
this was why Manu could justify his statement that only
four varnas exist, and there was no fifth varna.

In the varna structure, the Brahmanas had the highest

position. They had six functions to perform, which were,
reading, and teaching, offering sacrifices for self and for
others, receiving and sending gifts. The Brahmanas thus
undoubtedly enjoyed the highest social prestige
according to Brahmanical social norms. However there
may have been some difference between the ritual status
of the Brahmana and his actual status. The Mahabharata
relates the story of Dronacharya, who in spite of being a
Brahmana, pursued a profession which was typically non-
Brahmana, by giving instructions in martial skills or
dhanur vidya/archery, which was in no way associated
with the profession of a true Brahmana. The Mahabharata
also tells the story of a poor Brahmana family in the
Ekachakra village, wherein one finds that not all the
Brahmanas enjoyed the prestige and status of the royal
chaplain, or purohita, or of the family priest or kula guru,
illustrated by the case of Vishwamitra in the Ramayana.
There thus seem to have been different types of
Brahmanas, with certain sections among them found to
be deprived of the high prestige, and the material
comforts in life. A comparison of the norms in the
shastras, with the descriptions of some of the lives of
Brahmanas as related in popular stories, particularly
those in the epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata,
reveal that the status of the Kshatriya heroes was on the
increase. There were of course large number of Vaishyas
engaged in agriculture, crafts and trade and then the
Shudras.

The theory of mixed unions among unequal varnas

leading to varna-samkara or admixture of varnas was
possibly only a theoretical statement. Many occupational
groups tended to follow the typical varna norms, and
their hereditary professions, and were quite
consciousness of rank, which prompted them to follow
certain kinds of caste-like rules. Technically however it
was not possible to increase the number of varnas from
four to five. This prompted the acceptance of these social
or occupational groups into the jati structure.
Innumerable jatis could be explained by this Brahmanical
theory of inter-marriage of unequal varnas leading to
mixed jatis out of mixed union.

The post-Maurya period also saw many non-indigenous

ethnic groups entering the subcontinent for purposes of
trade or to establish their political sway, such as the
Greeks, the Sakas, Kushanas, and Parthians. These non-
indigenous sections, many of whom belonged to the
political elite, or wealthy merchant class, and were
attributed the broad umbrella term of yavana (non-exiled
shudras), or mlechchas (impure outsiders), started
seeking social recognition and had to be accommodated
within Indian society. At first they were given the status
of the Shudras, the lowest of the four-fold varna system,
but gradually in order to accommodate the rich and
powerful outsiders, they were given the status of vratya-
kshatriyas (Inferior Kshatriyas) which implied that they
were downgraded Kshatriyas. They were thus upgraded
from the status of shudras to the position of the
kshatriyas. According to the Shastras they were not
entitled to the observance of the typical rules of the
Kshatriya varna, but now they were considered, at least
as fallen kshatriyas. This was the manner in which
society instead of being compartmentalized into the
frozen four-fold varna norms shows some kind of
mobility. In this connection Romila Thapar has indicated
that there did exist some possibility of occupational,
spatial and social mobility, particularly in the upper
sections of the society.

The entire body of shastras, suggests that society ideally

should be patriarchal and patrilineal, or that family life
was to be controlled, guided, and managed by the eldest
male member in the family, usually the father. The
descent was from father to male offspring. Yet, if we look
at the peninsular part of the subcontinent, we find that
under the Satavahanas and in many other areas, there
prevailed the system of counting descent from the
mother’s side. This is evident from names like
Gautamiputra, and Vashistiputra obviously named after
their mothers Gautami and Vashisti respectively.

In the late first century AD, an inscription found from

around Nasik, records that there was a Brahmana whose
name was Varahiputra Ashwibhuti, indicating that the
first part of the name Varahiputra was derived from the
name of his mother Varahi. We are thus provided with
the instance of a Brahmana from the Deccan, who was
named after his mother yet he had some land, which he
inherited from his father. This indicates a peculiar social
position, of a society in transition where the descent was
counted from the mother’s side, while the inheritance
passed from father to son. It reveals the complexities in
society, and also that social norms were more fluid than
the strict varna norms.

The instances of many of the crafts groups emphasizing

their hereditary professions, are indicated by such terms
as ‘kamara’ meaning a blacksmith, being synonymous
with the term ‘kammaraputra’ which translates into the
son/putra/putta of a kamara or a karmakar. Similarly,
the setthis who were wealthy businessmen, and very
conscious of their high social status, were referred to in
the Jataka stories as setthi-kula, thus pointing to the
setthis who married within their own fold, and maintained
a consciousness of rank, and possibly even confined
dining habits only within their own class. What is
significant is that in spite of the major thrust on the
maintenance of the four-fold varna society, and the
explanation of the emergence of jatis, no donative
records have furnished the name of any varna or jati
when mentioning the donor. The numerous donative
records in north-west, Mathura, Sanchi, Bharhut,
Madhya Pradesh, and from various places in the Deccan,
also do not refer to the jati affiliation, or varna, or
occupation, This would seem to reveal that the concepts
of birth and occupation being the decisive factor of social
status, was more or less confined to the Brahmanical
texts.

Women & Marriage

Marriage was not only determined by one’s social status,
or varna status and jati status, but was an institution that
was integrally linked to the position of women. In the
typical patriarchal/patrilineal society, there was an
inherent emphasis on the status of the male members of
society and a downgrading of the position of the women.
This explains the reason why in a typical traditional
Indian family or kula, the birth of a son was always
preferred to the birth of a daughter. By the post-Maurya
period the birth of a daughter had started being
considered as a harbinger of ill-luck/krichchantuduhita,
(the daughter is a source of misery). The strict code of
conduct laid down in the shastras left little room for any
formal education or vocational training for the unmarried
girl, especially in the families of the two upper varnas.
There appears a clear tendency in the texts of the
Dharmashastras of Manu, and Yajnavalkya, to
increasingly lower the age of marriage of girls, as well as
a distinct preference for child marriage of the girl.
According to Manu if the bridegroom was twenty-one
years of age, the girl should be seven, and if he was
thirty, the bride should be ten. The descriptions of
Draupadi and Sita at the time of their Swayamvara form
of marriage, described in the Ramayana and
Mahabharata respectively, does not seem to indicate that
they were less-mature, or pre-mature women; but rather
points to them being fully grown-up women. This reveals
a clear divergence between the prescriptive or normative
texts, and the descriptive accounts in many of the texts,
about the marriage of girls and the age of the marriage
of girls. In married life, the wife according to the
Dharmashastra norms should be completely devoted to
the husband, succumbing to the physical demands of the
husband whenever demanded. The unquestioned loyalty,
expected of a devoted wife, or pativrata, was one of the
prevalent ideals. Yet in the epics, one comes across
Gandhari scolding Dhritarashtra on several occasions for
being lenient to their sons, the Kauravas. Another
woman, Shakuntala, (not the Shakuntala of Kalidasa’s
drama, but Shakuntala in the Mahabharata episode),
openly challenges Dushyanta, when he refuses to
acknowledge his wife. In the same manner, we find
Draupadi openly arguing with Yudhishthira on legal
matters.
Discrepancies may also be spotted in the accounts on the
traditional types of marriages. The Manu Smriti clearly
lays down eight forms of marriage, with the first four
relating to the traditional Indian form of marriage where
the father of the bride hands over the bejewelled bride to
the bridegroom, amidst the chanting of Vedic mantras.
This act of transfer of the girl resembles the transfer of a
commodity from one male guardian to another male
guardian. These were considered as dharmiya-vivaha or
‘righteous marriage’. The other four did not require
parental approval or parental intervention, like the
Gandharva type of marriage, which was marriage by
consent or courtship. A typical example of such a
marriage is provided by the marriage of Shakuntala with
Dushyanta that took place in the ashram of Rishi Kanna.
An example of a rakshasa type of marriage is provided by
the instance of Arjun, who abducts Subhadra and marries
her, which involved the use of force, and did not have
any scope for intervention by a senior male member.
What is to be noted here is the discrepancy between the
strict code of conduct laid down in respect to terms of
marriage and what was related in the epics, and other
popular stories, or even in inscriptions. The woman
normally had no right to any occupation and therefore
had no opportunity of earning her livelihood, and was
therefore dependant on the male members of the family.
But names of several women appear in inscriptions as
donors who donated in cash or in kind to the Buddhist
and Jaina monasteries. This would lead to the obvious
conclusion that these female donors must have
possessed some resources which enabled them to engage
in acts of patronage. The source of the means of these
donors is difficult to establish, but these illustrations do
provide one with the possibility that the ground realities
did differ from what was decreed in normative texts.
Though the Shastras strongly recommended marriage
within the same group, an inscription from Mathura
provides information about a marriage that took place
between the families of an iron-monger/lohikakaraka
and a jeweller/monikara, thus once again proving that
there were instances of marriages taking place among
different types of families who were engaged in different
types of profession.
Women have always been lauded as mothers in Indian
theoretical treatises; yet mothers of daughters, were
rarely held in high esteem compared to mothers of sons.
This was because in typical patriarchal/patrilineal society,
the birth of a son was always preferred to the birth of a
daughter. The condition of the widow was generally one
of great denial and constant imposition of disabilities.
Yet, at least Manu was aware of remarried
widows/punarvu, though he hardly displayed a
favourable attitude to remarried widows.

There was one type of woman who did not fall into the
category of daughter or ideal wife/kulastree, or devoted
wife/pativrata, and that was the courtesan. The term
courtesan was not applicable merely to a sex-worker. The
courtesan par-excellence was the ganika; who was a
highly accomplished literate woman, who was known for
her beauty and charm, and sometimes even for her
intellectual achievements. She was also a performer of
arts of various types. Ganikas figure prominently in
textual sources. Ganikas also figure as donors. A classic
illustration comes to us from an inscription in Mathura,
which refers to a ganika. In the urban society of Mathura
making lavish donations to the Jaina monastery, where
she categorically refers to herself as a ganika, and that
her mother too was a ganika, which points to her
following the profession of a ganika on a hereditary basis.
What is interesting is that she does not try to suppress
personal details. It is possible that the Jain monasteries
and Buddhist establishments were less orthodox and
accepted pious acts of donations from courtesans,
something unimaginable in the orthodox Brahmanical
way of things.