Varna and Jati: Definition of Caste and Related Concepts!

For centuries, visitors to India were struck by its distinctive social order, which divided
people into rigid occupation based groups. The membership of these groups was defined
by birth and it remained unchanged. Deriving from the Portuguese word casta, these
groups are known as castes in English. In Indian vernacular, the word used for them is
Jati. These jatis are said to belong to one of four varnas. The entire system of varna and
jati is called the caste system.
Although jati or caste is generally associated with the Hindu social system, this feature
characterizes Indian society as a whole. That is why one finds the terms Adijati and
Vanyajati used for the ‘tribe’, which has no equivalent in Hindi or Sanskrit; in fact,
common men refer to the tribes as jatis, with the result that many tend to think that they
belong to the Hindu fold.

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Caste is considered a unit for the local social system and is used as a generic term for all
in-marrying groups inhabiting the area, including tribals and other religious groups. The
caste system has been described as something peculiar and unique to India and specific to
Hindus. Many sociologists and anthropologists have contrasted India’s caste society with
the class society of the West.

In sociology textbooks, the two concepts – that of caste and class – are negatively
defined: “Caste is a closed class; and Class is an open caste.” In this sense, both are
structural categories. Those who regard caste as a ‘structural’ feature have argued that the
caste system is found in non-Hindu contexts as well. Examples are given of the Paik
Chong of Korea and the Ita of Japan, who have a status similar to the Shudras.

On this basis, it is suggested that Korean and Japanese societies exhibit rudimentary
forms of the caste system. Similarly, those who studied the Deep South of the US have
talked about the white-black relationship in caste terms.

In India as well, we find that despite conversion to Islam or Christianity, the converts
have carried their castes to their new affiliation and thus stratified these religions along
caste lines. It is also important to note that in both these religions, there are several sects
which practice endogamy and thus behave like castes. This is also true of Sikhism,
Jainism, and Buddhism, which rose as protest movements against the Brahmanical caste
system, but remains divided along caste lines.

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Making caste synonymous with the Indian social system renders caste as a ‘cultural’
category, but contrasting it with class makes it a ‘structural’ category. This is a significant
difference. When used as a cultural category, caste becomes a unique culture-specific
feature. Treating caste as an exclusively Indian phenomenon, a reference is made to the
Hindu lawgiver, Manu, who is regarded as its architect. Such scholars focus on finding
out the cultural – religious and philosophical – justifications provided by society for its
origin and continuance.

Inequalities amongst the castes have generally been seen in terms of ritual purity and
pollution and the practice of untouchability. The evil aspects of the system – such as
oppression and untouchability – are highlighted and a reformist stand is taken to remove
the evils of the system.

As a structural category, the way most sociologists employ the term, it is a group
consisting of networks of actual or potential affinal (related through marriage) and
consanguineous or cognate (related through blood or birth) kinship ties. In small village
communities, a caste is generally represented by cognate kins and, thus, it is only a
fraction of the caste. Moreover, in Northern India, such a group is generally exogamous
as, unlike the South, no parallel or cross-cousin marriages or marriages between the
mother’s brother (mama) and sister’s daughter (bhanji) are permitted.

Thus, when we talk of a caste in a village, we talk only of a kin group belonging to a
particular caste that has a regional spread. To understand the full functioning of the caste
system, one has to go beyond the confines of a village. Within a village, castes are
usually represented by a group of interconnected families – a lineage or a gotra – but
relations between castes can be observed in day-to-day interactions.

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Thus, caste is regarded as a horizontal unity cutting across several villages, while the
village is a vertical unity of castes. But what one observes in the microcosm of a village
cannot be generalized over cities and towns, even within the same region. The size of the
locality significantly influences the functioning of the caste.

Caste is a much misunderstood term. It is employed for different kinds of groupings both
by writers as well as common people. It has been, and is being, used for Varna (no
English equivalent is satisfactory, some literally translate it as colour, signifying race;
others call it a caste cluster, still others use it for caste and use the term sub-castes for
jatis). People also use the word caste for gotra, and even for a family title, or for a
regional group.

Sociologically, these are all wrong usages. For example, Brahman is not a jati, it is a
varna, just as Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra are varnas in the Hindu system of
Chaturvarnya (four-varna division). Similarly, a gotra (such as Bharadwaj, Vashishtha),
or a family title (such as Kothari, Bhandari, Grover, Malik) is different from a caste. A
caste consists of several families belonging to different gotras, or family titles. There are
also avatanks and pravars, which distinguish different lineages and clans from each other.
Another term used for caste is biradari. In common parlance, people talk of jat-biradari.
The term biradar is taken from Persian, meaning ‘brother’, and thus signifies
brotherhood. Since both jat and biradari are used with a hyphen in between, many regard
this as a synonym of caste; others feel that it is a term for the kin group.

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In the latter sense, the term biradari becomes a subgroup within a caste. Technically, they
are called exogamous (marrying outside or not allowing marriage within). All such
groupings within a caste are out-marrying units; using this word for the group residing in
a village is thus justified, but is mistaken as a synonym of caste.

In this context, it is important to note that when the Muslims use the term biradari, they
do not imply its exogamous character, because Islam allows parallel-cousin marriages,
i.e., marriage between children of two brothers or two sisters, which are regarded as
incest amongst the Hindus.
As an exception, one may quote the Meos of Alwar district in Rajasthan, who have
converted to Islam; they do not permit parallel cousin marriages though their adopted
religion allows such unions. The Meos is treated in the local social system as a caste,
though of a different religion.

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The key characteristic of caste is endogamy (in-marrying, or allowing its members to

marry within the group). Thus, people of the same caste marry within that group, but
outside exogamous groups such as family, lineage, clan or gotra, or biradari of course,
there are groups that not only allow marriages within the caste, but also in other castes.
This practice is called either hypergamy (anulom) or hypogamy (pratilom). In both
circumstances, caste remains endogamous. But when no such marriages are allowed
outside of the caste, the group is technically called isogamous. Thus, it is wrong to term
Sindhis, Bengalis, Punjabis, and Tamilians as castes. These appellations describe the
region from which a person hails, or a linguistic group, not his caste. In the regions of
Sindh, Bengal, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu not everybody belongs to the same caste. Each
region is divided into a number of castes, and each of these castes is divided into a
number of exogamous groups (gotras or lineages).

Similarly, every jati is not a subcaste. The word subcaste must be reserved for the group
that has separated from a known caste in the not very distant past and has some common
elements. Thus, several castes of the Brahman varna are not subcastes of the Brahman. A
subcaste is generally created as a result of fission of a bigger group.

A Hindu, thus, belongs to his family; that family is part of a lineage, of a laukik gotra (a
localized clan), a rishi gotra (an eponymous clan), a jati, and a Varna. In the south, a
Varna (particularly the Brahman) is divided into sub-varnas, each of which has a number
of castes belonging to it. An individual can use any of these as his last name. Thus, the
last name does not always signify caste.

For example, people belonging to the Brahman varna, but to different castes, can use
Sharma as the last name, but that would not signify their caste. Moreover, this suffix is
also used by people belonging to the carpenter caste (suthar), and also by barbers (nai),
both of whom do not belong to the Brahman Varna. So is the case with the suffix Verma,
which is used both by the people of the Kshatriya varna and some of the Kayasthas.

What is important to remember is that in our day-to-day dealings, we tend to blur these
distinctions with the result that we tend to associate many things with caste. The fact of
the matter is that not many people understand these differences and the growing
indifference towards understanding the subtleties of the caste system is an indication of
how greatly we have departed from the original formulation.

Caste thus figures in our conversations and in our behavior patterns, but its perception
does not match either with Manu, whose Smriti is often decried, or with the objective
sociological definition. Today’s caste cannot be reduced to Manu’s formulation. As it has
evolved over the centuries, caste has widely distanced itself from the ideological
prescription of Manu.

Anthropological and sociological studies of caste carried out in the country in the last five
or six decades have helped to negate the ‘book view’ and the ‘upper caste view’ of caste.
Here we will talk of caste in contemporary India.

To summarize, there are five main difficulties in defining caste:

1. Difficulties Arising from a Variety of Social Organizations:
It is important to remember that all castes were not built on the same model. The system
has grown slowly and gradually through fusion and fission of existing groups and
incorporation of other groups. Different castes had different origins. There is a wide
variety of practices in different regions and different castes within the same region. This
makes it difficult to formulate a satisfactory definition of caste;

2. Difficulties Emerging from Ignorance about or Indifference towards Other Castes

by the Local People:
In the caste context, people are grouped in different ways. Caste is used, depending upon
the situation, for a Varna, sub-caste, religious group, or even a regional group. It is also
used for exogamous groups within a caste;

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3. Difficulties Emerging from the Confusion between the Ideal and the Real:
The ideal of the four varnas is no longer clearly applicable in today’s context, because all
the castes of today cannot be said to be the descendants of the original four varnas. The
location of the new entrants in the four-fold Hindu hierarchy has not been easy. The
Census enumerators of 1891 found as many as 2,300,000 castes in the country and found
it hard to determine their eligibility and location in the varna scheme;

4. Difficulties Emerging from the Fluidity in the Caste System:

Contrary to the prevalent notion that the caste system is rigid, students of Indian society
have discovered many processes in operation that have changed caste boundaries, for
example, instances of analogous castes getting amalgamated.

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There are also cases of a caste having got split into two or more groups, first as factions
and later as independent castes, cutting all ties with the parent body. At times, people
who have been ostracized for breaking the rule of endogamy have created separate castes.

5. Difficulties emerging from a Common Nomenclature:

There are castes, which are better known by the name of the occupation pursued by their
members, or the locality from which they migrated, or the language they speak. There is
also a widespread effort by castes and certain individuals within the group to adopt a new
name or use a surname associated with other groups.

This also creates confusion. In addition, there are some names that are found in different
regions, but the groups bearing the same name have functioned as separate endogamous
groups, and thus as separate castes, despite the common name. Yadav, Nai, Lohar, etc.,
are examples of this. In the present day context, use of the word Dalit (which has
replaced the word Harijan given by Gandhi) is for a whole cluster of castes that are
recognized by the constitution as scheduled castes, as also for the backward classes and
scheduled tribes.

The many groups included in this category are, sociologically speaking, different castes
in terms of their endogamous character. Like varna, such groups are caste clusters of
identical rank, but not a single caste. It should also be emphasized that hierarchy exists
even within a given varna – all Brahman castes.

For example, are not of the same rank. Similarly, all the scheduled castes are not
untouchables, and the castes covered under this category also observe ritual distances
from each other and prefer to practice endogamy.

Definitions of caste are many. Some have defined caste as a unit; others have talked of
the caste system. There are others who have combined the traits of the unit and the
system without making a clear-cut distinction. By using the term both for caste (that is
jati) and Varna, as also for caste and sub-caste, a good deal of confusion has been
created. There is no vernacular word for the sub-caste.

The Varna system of the Vedic times did distinguish between priests (Brahmans), nobles
and warriors (Kshatriyas or Rajanyas), tillers of the soil (Vaishyas), and menial workers
and slaves (Shudras). These functions were regarded as hereditary, “exceptions were
freely allowed. The Brahmans had the possibilities of a warrior. The rsis of old were
agriculturists and sometimes warriors, too”. Ghurye also said that though “the classes had
come to be stereotyped by the end of the Vedic period, it was not altogether impossible
for an upward and downward change to occur”. Instances are available of Kshatriya kings
becoming Brahmans by giving up some practices and adopting others.

The Harivansha Puran says that two sons of Vaishya Nabhgarishta became Brahmans.
Even Shudras could change their status. The Pokhar Sevak Brahmans of Rajasthan trace
their ancestry to a Mer. The Vyasokta Brahmans of Bengal are said to be the descendants
of a Shudra.

Many who are called Rajput’s and thus acknowledged to be Kshatriyas are said to be late
arrivals as ‘tribal groups’; similarly, the Gujjars and Jats also came from abroad and got
assimilated into the caste system. The latter groups are also found among the Muslims,
indicating conversion to that religion and yet carrying the baggage of caste.

The term sub-caste should be used only for those groups that have split up and become
endogamous groups in themselves, but still retain some links with the original unit. This
split may occur either because a significant section moves to a distant place or adopts a
different occupation. For example, the various gypsy castes of South-East Punjab and
Uttar Pradesh have become endogamous units, though they were one group originally.

The 1931 Census gives the example of the Khatik (butcher) caste, which got split into
Bekanwala (pork butcher), Rajgar (mason), Sombatta (ropemaker), and Mewafarosh
(fruiterer). Such subcastes continue to have marital linkages for some time, but finally
stop intermarriages and become independent castes.

A good example is of the Kaibarttas (in Uttar Pradesh, they are known as Kewat) of
Bengal. This group might have originally been a tribe. After coming into contact with
other castes, this group divided itself occupationally into two groups. One group took
over the calling of fishermen, and the other of farming.

The fishermen dealt with jal (water) and were called Jaliya Kaibarttas, and the other
group handled the hal (plough) and took the name of Haliya Kaibarttas. Since ploughing
was rated higher, the Haliya Kaibarttas gave women in marriage to the Jaliyas,
demanding a high bride price, but did not accept wives from them.

Of course, this seems to be an exception because, generally, people of a higher caste take
wives from the lower castes, but do not marry their daughters into a lower group (practice
of hypergamy or anulom). In due course of time, the two Kaibartta sub-castes became
separate endogamous groups, and the Haliya Kaibarttas even changed their name to
Mahishya.

There are also instances of fusion. At the time of the 1931 Census, there was a
widespread movement among the various cattle-herding castes to use a common name,
Yadav. These groups included the Ahirs, Ahars, Goalas, Gollas, Gops, and Idaiyans.
Although these groups belonged to different cultural regions and used the same name,
they did not become a single in-marrying group; thus, sociologically speaking, they
remained separate castes. Yadav, thus, becomes a caste cluster or an equivalent of varna.
They may be a political unity, but sociologically remain divided into separate castes in
different regions.

A caste, that is jati, should be understood as a ‘minimally’ endogamous group. The

prefix, minimally, is important. Below this level, the group is divided into exogamous
groups. Without this qualification, caste would lose its sociological significance and
cease to be a concept. All the groups above this level are equally endogamous.

People marry within their own caste, within their own religion, within their own region,
and within their own country. But the endogamy of the religion, region, or country is a
feature that is universal. Hindus marry Hindus, but Hindu is not a caste. People of Mewar
marry within Mewar, but Mewar is not a caste. Indians marry Indians, but India is not a
caste.

There is another point that needs to be highlighted. A group’s endogamous character

should be understood in terms of the capability of the group to provide mates, that is to
say that ‘marriage within is prescribed and possible’. But this does not mean that
marriages cannot take place outside.

While discussing sub-castes, we had said that in the initial phases of the split of the caste,
the subgroups allowed marriages that could be hypergamous or hypogamous. Since
hypergamy is practiced ‘in addition to’ endogamy, the groups bear the caste character.
Where endogamy is total, not allowing any hyper- or hypogamous unions, it should be
called isogamy – a case of rigid endogamy. Let us illustrate the practice of hypergamy or
anulom. J.H. Hutton, in his Caste in India (Oxford University Press, 1961 edition),
illustrates this practice among the Rarhi Brahmans of Bengal.

To quote from Hutton:

This caste is divided into subcastes known as Kulin and Srotriya, the latter being again
subdivided into Siddha, Sadhya and Kashta Srotriyas. A man of the Kulin subcaste can
take a wife from the Kulin, Siddha Srotriya or Sadhya Srotriya subcastes; a man from the
Siddha Srotriya from his own or from the Sadhya Srotriya subcaste; a Sadhya Srotriya
man or a Kashta Srotriya man can only take a wife from his own sub-caste. Conversely,
while a Kashta woman can marry only another Kashta Srotriya, a Sadhya can marry
Sadhya, Siddha Srotriya, or Kulin, and a Siddha Srotriya woman can marry a man of her
own sub-caste or a Kulin, while a Kulin woman can marry a Kulin only.

Among the Rajput’s, hypergamous marriages have a different pattern. There, the various
clans or gotras are ranked higher and lower and, generally, a bridegroom of superior
status is sought for a girl. Thus, the boy marries into a clan of lower standing. It is the
practice of hypergamy that led to the institution of dowry – putting a price on the
bridegroom. Where hypogamy (pratilom) is practiced, the bridegroom has to pay a bride
price.

Thus, the ‘basic attribute’ of a caste unit is endogamy. The group has to be minimally
endogamous. It may follow it rigidly and become (isogamous), or it may allow both
marriages within and outside through hypergamy or hypogamy. Built into the concept of
endogamy is the point that such endogamous groups are divided into exogamous groups,
called clan or gotra or got.

There are said to be eight Rishi gotras (also called aarsh) or eponymous clans. These are
found in a number of castes across the two varnas, Brahman and Kshatriya. In addition to
these are the laukik (meaning this worldly, or local) gots, which are in large numbers and
they signify extended lineage groups. Generally, people are ignorant about the Rishi
gotras and it is the laukik gotras, also called avatank, which are considered while fixing a
marriage.

In Northern India, for example, care is taken amongst the upper castes to avoid close
relatives from both the father’s side and mother’s side by ensuring that the chosen mate
does not belong to any of the gotras of closer kin of the parents.

The visibility of caste as a group is heightened when:

(a) All its members are recruited by birth alone (ascriptive recruitment) – that is, when
the group becomes completely isogamous;

(b) The members pursue a common occupation; and

(c) When the group has its own traditional council (Panchayat) to enforce caste norms
over its members,

(d) If the caste has a distinct name, not shared by any other group and

(e) If its members can be identified by a distinctive dress pattern or naming pattern or
certain practices, then it becomes easier to distinguish one caste from the other.
It may be said that while endogamy is the basic attribute, the other attributes (b) and (c)
mentioned above are ‘sufficiently relevant’ in the sense that their presence enhances the
visibility of the group. Attributes (d) and (e) are ‘peripheral’ in that they definitely further
enhance visibility, but their disappearance does not cause a major crisis in identity.

When any of the sufficiently relevant attributes disappear, caste identification becomes
somewhat difficult, but the continuity of the group is maintained through the practice of
endogamy.

A caste is to be understood as a group within a society. It is recognized only in relation to

other such groups in the society with which it interacts in the economic, political, social,
and ritual spheres of life. This network outlines the working of the caste system.

Thus, it is logical to define the caste system as a ‘plurality of interacting endogamous

groups (jatis) living a common culture’. Traditionally, these castes were arranged
hierarchically as part of the Varna system. And there existed a broad division of labor
between them because of occupational specialization.

The presence of all these three elements, in the context of ritual purity and pollution,
made the caste system highly visible. Cultural definitions of purity and pollution, derived
from the Hindu religion, made people to think that the Caste system was an exclusively
Hindu phenomenon. In contemporary India, ritual dominance is gradually eroding yet
caste persists.

The concept of the caste system, with individual castes as units within it, helps us
distinguish a caste from a tribe. A tribe may contain all the attributes of a caste unit, but it
is not a part of a broader system consisting of similar such groups within the same
territory. But when a tribe interacts with other castes, it becomes part of the caste system
and is treated as a separate caste in interaction with other castes.

It must be emphasized that caste, as a structural category, is found in non-Hindu societies

as well. “A clear-cut Varna division,” writes S.C. Dube, “is not found among the
Christians and Muslims, but a distinction is made between high-caste and low-caste
converts. The former identify themselves as Brahman Christians or Nayar Christians or
as Rajput or Tyagi Muslims”.
Writing about the situation of converted Christians, Dube says:
The Indian Church now realizes that approximately 60 per cent of the 19 million Indian
Christians are subjected to discriminatory practices and treated as second-class Christians
or worse. In the South, Christians from the scheduled Caste are segregated both in their
settlements and in the Church.

Their cheri or colony is situated at some distance from the main settlement and is devoid
of the civic amenities available to others. In church services, they are segregated to the
right wing and are not allowed to read scriptural pieces during the service or to assist the
priest. They are the last to receive the holy sacraments during baptism, confirmation, and
marriage.

The marriage and funeral processions of Christians from the low castes are not allowed to
pass through the main streets of the settlement. Scheduled Castes converted to
Christianity have separate cemeteries. The church bell does not toll for their dead, nor
does the priest visit the home of the dead to pray.

The dead body cannot be taken into the church for the funeral service. Of course, there is
no inter-marriage and little inter-dining among the ‘high-caste’ and the ‘low-caste’
Christians.

Among the Muslims also, a distinction is made between the original and the convert
Muslims. In common parlance, people talk of sharifzat (well-bred, or of higher caste) and
ajlaf zat (common, or of lower caste). These distinctions govern decisions regarding
marriage and inter-dining.

The converts continue to practice their jati-linked occupations, which heighten the
separate identity as in the caste system. Mention may be made of Muslim castes such as
Julaha, Bhisti, Teli, and Kalal. It is significant that the Muslims are also divided into four
divisions, namely Syed, Sheikh, Mughal, and Pathan. And these function as endogamous
groups.

In fact, among the Muslims, endogamy is much more restricted because both cross cousin
and parallel cousin marriages are preferred.
It can be said that as an aspect of Indian social life, caste has crossed religious
boundaries. Even within Hinduism, the practice of the system varies from region to
region. The present-day system of caste cannot be understood in terms of the ideal
prescribed in the sacred scriptures.

With new entrants to the system and departures of some groups (through conversion) to
other religions (Islam, Christianity, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism), the system has grown
continually and become much more complex. Students of caste working in India’s
villages and towns have found it very difficult to construct a ritual hierarchy of the castes.

All the castes do not neatly fall into the four varnas and the so-called ‘fifth varna’.
Occupationally, the castes have become much more differentiated. Moreover, there have
been efforts on the part of the castes to move upwards in the ritual hierarchy. This
process was noticed and elaborated by M.N. Srinivas in his essay on ‘Sanskritization and
Westernization’, published in the Far Eastern Quarterly (Vol. XV, No. 4, 1956).

4.Proliferation of castesIncreasing pride of birth, characteristic of feudal society, and the

accompanying self-sufficient village economy, which prevented both spatial and
occupational mobility, gave rise to thousands of castes in India during the early medieval
Period. . The changes in economy were also a result of emergence of certain new castes
and decline of certain old ones. For example, thethe constant transfer of land of land
revenues made by princes to priests, temples and officials led to the rise and growth of
the scribe or the Kayastha caste which undermined the monopoly of Brahmans as writers
and scribes. Similarly, the decline of trade and commerce led to the decline in the
position of the Vaishyas. The process of proliferation and multiplication of castes was yet
another marked feature of the social life of the period.

Many new communities, which are known to us by the generic term Rajputs, were also
recognized as Kshatriyas during the period. The foreign elements,which could not be put
in any three higher classes, were naturally designated as the designated as the Shudras.
The guilds of artisans gradually hardened into castes due to lack of mobility in post-
Guptas times. The maximum affected people were the Shudra and the mixed castes.

Position of Brahmins The Brahmins stood at the top of the social hierarchy during and
post Gupta period.
They had regained their power and were responsible for reinterpreting the regulatory
canons of life as laid down by the earlier texts. However,Brahmins had numerous
subsections now divided on the basis of many criteria such as knowledge of Vedas etc.

Getting birth in a Brahamin family was a privilege. Brahmins had freedom from death-
sentence, exemption form taxes, precedence on the road, lesser punishment for certain
offences in comparison with other castes. Many writers have documented the exemption
of the Brahmans from capital punishment. TThe most severe punishment for a Brahmin
was banishment. When a Brahman killed a man, the former had only to fast, pray and
give alms. On the other hand if somebody killed a Brahmin, he was ought to be greatest
sinner and performed the worst crime. No punishment or remorse could wipe off the
Brahman-hatya, the greatest crime of those periods!

Position of Vaishya Vaishyas in the early medieval India were almost degraded to the
Shudra community. In fact, Alberuni also did not find any differe between the Vaishyas
and Shudra. If you are a Vaishya or a Shudra, and you dared to recite the Vedas, your
ruler would cut off your tongue! One difference was that the Shudra had freedom to sell
all kinds of goods, but the Vaishya were forbidden to carry on transactions in some
specified articles like salt, wine, meat, curds, swords, arrows, water, idols etc.

Position of Shudras Shudras were the most numerous sections in the community and their
number increased from age to age. Some of the Shudras were regaed as mixed castes,
born of unions of upper castes males with lower caste females or vice versa. There were
eight Shudra castes called “Ashtashudras” viz. Vyadha, Bhada, Kola, Koncha, Haddi,
Doma, Jala, Bagatita, Vyalagrahi and Chandala. However, there was another Shudra
caste also whose position was lower then the above eight castes. These people were
called the Antyajas. These Antyajas were beyond and below the the four orders and four
Varnas of the Indian society.

Antyajas In the days of the composition of the early smritis, untouchables were called
Antyajas. The Vedvyasamriti counts twelve names and includes all those who eat cow’s
flesh as Antyajas. Alberuni described eight groups of people, who were members of
crafts and professions, but did not belong to the four-fold caste system, namely
washerman, shoemaker, juggler, basket and shield-maker, sailor, angler, hunter of wild
animals and birds, and weaver. These correspond to Rajaka, Charmakara, Nata or
Sailushika, Buruda, Navika, Kaivarta, Bhilla and Kuvindaka, who have been regarded as
Chandals and Antyajas in all early Smriti texts and as Shudras by Manu. Thus, they
belonged to the lowest caste.

Chapter 2 Tinai Concept: Aspects of Ancient Tamil Poetics India is a barn of different
languages and distinct cultures. In spite of the external differences, there exists from the
ancient times, an underlying unity in the customs and conventions, ideas and ideals of the
people that spread from Kashmir in the North to Cape Comorin in the South. In addition
to this, India has a splendid literary tradition which belongs to pre-Christian era. An
enormous body of literature which consists of the epics The Mahabharata and The
Ramayana, and anthologies like Kathasarithsagara and Panchathantra form the warp and
weft of this grand literary tradition. The references to the Tamil Monarchs Chera, Chola
and Pandyas found in the epics and also in the Rock Edicts of Emperor Asoka and the
mentioning of the dynasties of Nandas and Mauryas in the ancient Tamil Cankam
Classics bear testimony to the cordial relationship that prevailed between the South and
the North. In the field of Vedic Literature, Jagad Guru Sri Adi Sankaracharya and
Ramanuja, the eminent exponents of Vedanta and Visistadvaitha philosophy respectively,
hailed from the South. Sankaracharya founded four matts or monasteries in four cities
situated on four directions of the country. Not only in the sphere of intellectual
speculations but even in the domain of literary activities, one witnesses the mutual
understanding and influences of various linguistic groups. From this, it becomes clear
that Sanskrit has been studied by Southerners who have contributed much to the
enrichment of that language. Though the Indian languages possess their own individuality
and originality, the influence of Sanskrit on them cannot be overlooked. Nevertheless,
Tamil, an equally important ancient language has also exerted its impact on Sanskrit as
noticed by Burrow and Emeneau. A.B. Keith has explained how, Kumarila, the excellent
commentator of Jaimini’s Mimamsa Sutra revealed his knowledge of Dravidian
languages in his Tantravurtika and his opinion that the incorporation of Dravidian words
is permissible, provided that they are given Sanskrit terminations (25, 474). Hence, it is
sufficient to conclude that in the exchange of knowledge neither region nor language
stood as a barrier. Cankam (pronounced as Sangam) literature, which is believed to have
existed a few centuries immediately preceding or succeeding the Christian era, is a part of
the great literary tradition of India. The culture and ethos of the Tamils of the Cankam
period get reflected in the classical literature of the Tamils, popularly known as Cankam
Literature. The Tamil poetic tradition is based on the foundation of the writings of the
Cankam period and they still influence and inform the literary production of the Tamil
poets and authors. The poems of Cankam literature depict an exclusive literary tradition
of Dravidian origin that existed in South India and was as precious and prosperous as
Sanskrit literature. According to popular Tamil belief, there were three Cankams (like the
French Academy of scholars) established by the Pandya Kings.The earliest Tamil poetry
known as Cankam poetry was named after the ‘assembly’ or Cankam of poets. Cankam is
the Tamil form of the Sanskrit word “Cangha” which means a group of persons or an
association. Of the three Cankams, the first one lasted for about 4440 years and was in
the now- submerged south Madurai. Lord Siva and the other gods and sages were
supposed to be its members.The second Cankam had its centre in Kapatapuram and it
lasted for 3700 years. By then many gods had evacuated and mortals constituted a greater
percentage of its membership. Kapatapuram was claimed by the sea and later Madurai
became the centre of the third Cankam. This lasted for only 1850 years. Though there is
dispute over the age and duration of the period, there is a general agreement on the
organic nature of the body of work that is usually termed Cankam literature. Though
most of the works of the early Cankams dwindled into oblivion due to deluge and
carelessness, the available classical writings that stood the ravages of time are
Tolkappiyam the earliest extant Tamil grammar and the anthologies known as Ettutokai
(Eight Compilations of poetry) and Pattupattu (Ten Idylls).These are regarded to be the
comprehensive products of the Tamilian intellect. These works roughly belong to a
period that extended from 500 B.C to 300 A.D. This is known as the Cankam Age which
has been compared to the Periclean age in the Greek history and the golden age of the
Guptas. Among the poets and thinkers of the Cankam age, Tolkappiyar, Valluvanar,
Ilango Adigal, Sattanor, Nakkiranar, Kapilar, Paranar, and few others are outstanding.
Among the ancient Tamil works of Cankam period, Tolkappiyam is generally admitted to
be the earliest available treatise dealing descriptively with phonology, morpho-
phonemics, morphology and syntax which focuses on the structure of the Tamil language
and also discusses in detail the literary concepts of subjective and objective themes
known as akam and puram rhetoric and canons of versification which generate a beacon
of light especially on the literary-cum- social history of the ancient Tamils. It is just to
regard the whole work as encyclopaediac in character, since it throws a flood of light on a
varied set of epistemological areas like grammar, poetics, polity, warfare, socio-ethics,
erotics, biology, astronomy, religion, philosophy and the like. The life and times of the
author of such a great and immortal masterpiece are often unsettled, as the treatise poses
many problems of interpolations, additions, deletions and readings to the researchers who
have never converged in their opinions but have stoutly claimed their individual findings
to be conclusive and genuine. Hence there is a necessity to revise their theories and to re-
examine the possibility of finding out the historicity and plausible chronology of the
author based on some fresh materials hither to unnoticed or not fully analysed by these
researchers. The vast scope of that project makes it impossible for the present research to
take it up within its limited scope; therefore we would just note the broad conclusions. At
the outset, one has to record that there are two extreme views, one of which pushes forth
Tolkappiyam to 5000 B.C or even before, mainly basing on the strength of the fabulous
account of the three Cankams found in the commentary of Iraiyanar Kalaviyal that
ascribes Tolkappiyam to the second Cankam, while the other drags it down to 500 A.D.
chiefly claiming the influence of some Sanskrit works of a later period on some of the
portions of Tolkappiyam. Judging on the facts that Tolkappiyam shows a clear influence
of Sanskrit on Tamil, and the fact that the first commentary on such a vital text appeared
only during 1100-1200 A.D. It is probable that the text was composed sometime in 900—
1000A.D.Whatever the date of composition, Tolkappiyam is the first Tamil text to
approach the grammar of language in a systematic and comprehensive manner. It also
gives us an insight into the prosody that emerged during the Cankam period.
Tolkappiyar’s discussion of literature takes off from three kinds of usages adopted by the
authors in creating poems. They are: Ulaka Valakku. The term refers to the poetic
convention of depicting the normal ways of life in society. It does not mean that literature
should be a copy of the actual life. There may be some omissions and commissions in the
portrayal of the society. This usage comes very close to what modern critics call realistic
idealism. Though more prescriptions
are found to delineate the brighter and purer sides of life, Tolkappiyar did not prohibit
touching on the dark scenes, if such a depiction aimed at exterminating the evil and thus
ennobling the society. The value of literature depends on the degree of its concern with
society. As W.H. Hudson was to note later: We care for literature on account of its deep
and lasting human significance. A great book grows directly out of life; in reading it, we
are brought into large, close and fresh relations with life….It is fundamentally an
expression of life through the medium of language.(10) Thus the ancient Tamils do not
appear to have approved of “literature for literature’s sake” as it is untenable, and to have
held the view that literature must have something to instruct and instruct artistically; this
has been the general trend as far as ancient Tamil poetry is concerned. Nataka Valakku
This literally means the dramatic usage which intends to reveal the delightful and
interesting scenes occurring in a sequence in the form of monologues or dialogues. This
usage is totally devoted to the description of all that is good and virtuous and indicates
the imaginative and illuminative elements constituting the idealistic aspect of literature.
This usage provides enough opportunity for the poets to exercise their imaginative faculty
in the production of the wonderful but meaningful words of art. Pulanneri Valakku The
third one is known as Pulanneri Valakku which is the usage based on the scholarly
conventions, being the blend of the first two usages. Usually the poets follow this
method by which they combine both realism and idealism so that they should create what
is beneficial and useful to the society. In these three major usages, Tolkappiyar seems to
have closely followed the Natyasastra, the Sanskrit treatise by Bharata that distinguishes
between the two forms of art called lokadharmi and natyadharmi. The first two
valakkams appear to be literal translations of the Sanskrit terms, while the third appears
to be a combination of the two aspects added by the Tamil writer. After having seen the
threefold usages for literary production, the nature of subject-matter or literary theme as
conceived by Tolkappiyar may be dealt with. Since literature is considered to be a social
product, its theme essentially centres on the incidents of life and social activities. Love
and warfare are the dominant themes in the primitive society and the conventions and
norms governing these two aspects had become standardized during the period of
Tolkappiyam. In the language of Tolkappiyam love is known as akam, literally to mean
that which is internal and subjective, and in its extension of meaning denoted the pre-
marital or clandestine love, post-marital love of the ideal hero and heroine (known as
anpin aintinai), the unreciprocated love or one-sided love (kaikkilai), and mismatched
love or inappropriate relationship (peruntinai). The last two varieties, though commonly
seen in the society, are not taken by many writers as subject- matter for poetic treatment.
Most of them are prepared to sing the glory of ideal love so that the society would follow
the right course. It is also prescribed that an ideal hero and heroine should be equals in
ten respects, namely, birth, heredity, quality, age, beauty, love, grace, knowledge,
humbleness and opulence. Further, even the superiority of the groom over the bride is
also admitted. It is also a literary convention that the lovers entering into the secret
relationship should one day come forward to openly wed and in any circumstance none of
them should forsake the other. The characters of love poetry include the lady companion,
male friend, foster mother, harlot, bard, dancing damsel, the ascetic and others. Another
tradition as recorded in Tolkappiyam proclaims that the characters of love poems should
not be mentioned by their personal names, but must be known by their general names in
accordance with their local habitation.Depersonalization in love poems has been a
peculiar feature of the literary conventions of ancient Tamil. The objective of the writers
was to communicate the emotions, feelings and sentiments of the characters in a general
way so that they may be taken to a wider circle of readers without offending or wounding
the individual. Even in modern times, the editors used to publish that the names and
incidents are fictitious. This trend is labelled as generalization. The landscape and the
season, the divisions of the day and night, the flora and fauna and the five aspects of
lovers’ behaviour, namely, union, separation patient waiting, sulking and pining are
elaborately explained in Tolkappiyam which served not only as a work of poetics, but
also as a manual to the study of sex-education. Since a major portion of the poetics in
Tolkappiyam is devoted to the norms of love poetry, it is evident that a hedonistic way of
life was very popular during the period of Tolkappiyam. The next dominant theme that
includes the warfare, polity, education, arts and crafts is known as Puram, which literally
means ‘that which is external and objective.’ Cattle-lifting, fighting with the purpose of
territorial expansion or establishing one’s valour, and besieging the castle were
considered some of the aspects of ancient warfare. Further, the success that one gains in
every walk of life, the realization of the evanescent and transient nature of mundane life,
the objects of praise, etc were also some of the themes to be dealt with in puram poetry.
Apart from the dichotomy of Akam and Puram themes which are purely local and native,
the author has also presented a Pan-Indian literary view known as ‘Trivarga” i.e. Mu-p-
pal or the three aims of life, which in the Sanskrit tradition were Dharma (aram-virtue),
Artha (Porul-wealth) and Kama (inpam-pleasure).The total absence of the fourth
objective, viz. Moka is significant in Tolkappiyam and it is essential to note that this
aspect gained importance only in the post-Cankam period, when religious movements
swept the minds of the people. The prosodical portions in Tolkappiyam provide the
canons of versification, the literary genres including the oral bardic poetry and prose
works, the emotional aspects, and rhetoric, and throw a flood of light both on the
structure and substance of different types of literary creation that existed in the remote
past. The Cankam landscape (Tamil “inner classification”) is the name given to a poetic
device that was characteristic of love poetry in classical Tamil Cankam Literature. The
core of the device was the categorization of poems into different tinais or models,
depending on the nature, location, mood and type of relationship represented by the
poem. Each tinai was closely associated with a particular landscape, and imagery derived
from that landscape with its flowers, trees, wildlife, people, climate and geography was
woven into the poem in such a way as to convey a mood associated with one aspect of a
romantic relationship. Classical Tamil love poetry, recognizing that human activities
cannot take place in vacuum and are constantly influenced by environmental factors,
assigns the human experiences it describes, and in particular the subjective topics that
those experiences relate to, to specific habitats. Every situation in the poems is described
using themes in which the time, the place and the floral symbols of each episode are
codified. These codifications are used as symbols to imply a socio-economic order,
occupations and behaviour patterns that, in turn, are symbolized by specific flora and
fauna. Details of secondary aspects are just as rigidly codified – the seasons, the hour, a
god, musical instruments and above all, the sentimental connotations of each landscape;
lovers’ meetings, patient waiting, lovers quarrels, separation, and the anxiously awaited
return. Geographical and Non-Geographical Tinais. Under the codification, the inner
universe associated with love is divided into seven modes, or tinais, five of which are
geographical and associated with specific landscapes, and two are non-geographical and
not associated with any specific landscape. Four of the geographical landscapes are
described as landscapes that occur naturally in the Tamil lands. These are: Kurinji which
represents mountainous regions associated with union, mullai that stands for forests
associated with waiting, marutam which is allied to cropland associated with quarrelling,
and neytal which epitomizes the seashore associated with pining. The fifth, palai or desert
which is associated with separation is described in the Tolkappiyam as not a naturally
existing landscape. From these basic associations of landscape and subject, a wide range
of specific themes suitable for each landscape was derived. Thus, for example, the
commentary on the Iraiyanar Akapporul states that as a result of the association of the
Kurinji landscape with union, it was also associated with the fear of separation,
reassurance, the hero’s or heroine’s discussions with their friends, their being teased or
taunted by their friends, their replies to their friends, the friends’ role as intermediary, the
meeting of the lovers’ grief and doubt, and other similar themes. According to the
Tamilneri vilakkam, a 9th century text on poetry, the love themes described by the five
tinais constitute “the Tamil way of life” or “the Tamil way of love” (Tamilneri xvi-xvii).
The two non-geographical modes, kaikkilai and peruntinai,were seen as dealing with
emotions that were unnatural, and therefore were not associated with any specific
landscape. Kaikkilai dealt with unreciprocated or one-sided love, while peruntinai dealt
with improper love or love against the rules of custom. The following table describes the
salient features of tinai as they are derived from the conventional associations in poetry
between certain landscap

Sanskritization : Meaning, Characteristics, Modes, Examples & Overview

NOVEMBER 7, 2017 BY SOCIOLOGY GROUP

As our society has been almost ruled by Dominant castes, it overlooked lower caste
people. Thus a term and practice also emerged as a result of Purity and Pollution concept
i.e. Sanskritization. This phenomenon was first observed by M.N. Srinivas who
profoundly found that people of low caste were intimidating other castes rituals in their
daily life routine. It was called firstly as Brahminization as they were peculiarly
following this caste beliefs and norms. But later on, this practice was emerged as
following every upper caste and on a broad sense, it was termed as Sanskritization.

When Srinivas was in study period in Mysore, he observed that lower caste people were
following upper caste rituals like Brahmins wore a sacred thread across their upper body,
thus they also started wearing those threads. Likewise, some of the rituals were strongly
opposed by other castes, for example drinking alcohol or eating meat was highly
discouraged, as a result, lower caste too stopped this practice. It can be seen as culture
transmission among the groups to higher their position in the society. Sanskritization was
hence seen as the setting up upper caste people as role models for lower castes and they
blindly followed their tradition to achieve a social position in the society. With passing
time De- Sanskritization also emerged as a phenomenon in which Brahmins adopted
lower caste practice, for example, they started taking liquor which was predominantly
discouraged in their caste.

CHARACTERISTICS OF SANSKRITIZATION

1. It was purely following or can be seen as copying other rituals, norms, beliefs to
improve their status in the society.
2. It was not necessary for lower caste people to follow only Brahmins, but they also
followed locally developed and famous castes like Kshatriyas and Vaishyas.
 3. It helped in socio-economic and cultural value transmission in several groups of
the society.
4. It was not only famous for the villages and cities. It emerged in tribal places too
where some tribal caste was dominant and others just followed their patterns to
achieve a greater hierarchical position in the society.
5. As discussed above, Sanskritization also efficiently added up a new concept
known as De-Sanskritization.

MODES OF SANSKRITIZATION

Sanskritization also needed a medium to transmit in the society. There were mainly three
modes in which it took place in the society. The four modes are as follows:-

1. Cultural Model
2. Varna Model
3. Local Model

Harold Gould, a famous sociologist remarkably answered the causes of Sanskritization

that is it is not practiced only for a noble position in the society. Instead, it can be termed
as the challenge taken by lower caste people who have always been deprived of socio-
economic facilities.

Sanskritization has an influential effect on society in many ways. For example, they
adopted other castes living patterns which gave them liberty to sit and stand before other
castes. For example, lower caste people were not keen to keep a clean atmosphere but
due to Sanskritization, they started maintaining hygiene. The small changes led to vast
things in future. Now the situation is that the untouchable practice is almost abolished
from the society.

Sanskritization may also refer to introduction of Sanskrit vocabulary in another

language or dialect (such as in Hindi).
Sanskritisation (Indian English) or Sanskritization (American English, Oxford
spelling) is a particular form of social change found in India. It denotes the process by
which caste or tribes placed lower in the caste hierarchy seek upward mobility by
emulating the rituals and practices of the upper or dominant castes. It is a process similar
to passing in sociological terms. This term was made popular by Indian sociologist M. N.
Srinivas in the 1950s.[1] According to Christophe Jaffrelot a similar heuristic is described
in Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development by B. R. Ambedkar.
[2]
 Jaffrelot goes on to say, "While the term was coined by Srinivas, the process itself had
been described by colonial administrators such as E. T. Atkinson in his Himalayan
Gazetteer and Alfred Lyall, in whose works Ambedkar might well have encountered
it."[3]
Definition[edit]
M. N. Srinivas defined sanskritisation as a process by which "a low or middle Hindu
caste, or tribal or other group, changes its customs, ritual ideology, and way of life in the
direction of a high and frequently twice-born caste. Generally such changes are followed
by a claim to a higher position in the caste hierarchy than that traditionally conceded to
the claimant class by the local community ... ."[4]
One clear example of sanskritisation is the adoption, in emulation of the practice
of twice-born castes, of vegetarianism by people belonging to the so-called "low castes"
who are traditionally not averse to non-vegetarian food.
Vishwakarma Caste claim to Brahmin status is not generally accepted outside the
community, despite their assumption of some high-caste traits, such as wearing the sacred
thread, and the Brahminisation of their rituals. For example, the sociologist M. N.
Srinivas, who developed the concept of sanskritisation, juxtaposed the success of
the Lingayat caste in achieving advancement within Karnataka society by such means
with the failure of the Vishwakarma to achieve the same. Their position as a left-hand
caste has not aided their ambition.[5]
According to M. N. Srinivas, Sanskritisation is not just the adoption of new customs and
habits, but also includes exposure to new ideas and values appearing in Sanskrit
literature. He says the words Karma, dharma, paap, maya, samsara and moksha are the
most common Sanskritic theological ideas which become common in the talk of people
who are sanskritised.[6]
This phenomenon has also been observed
in Nepal among Khas, Magar, Newar and Tharu people.[7]

Theory
M. N. Srinivas first propounded this theory in his D.Phil. thesis at Oxford University. The
thesis was later brought out as a book titled Religion and Society Among the Coorgs of
South India. Published in 1952, the book was an ethnographical study of the Kodava
(Coorgs) community of Karnataka. M. N. Srinivas writes in the book:
"The caste system is far from a rigid system in which the position of each component
caste is fixed for all time. Movement has always been possible, and especially in
the middle regions of the hierarchy. A caste was able, in a generation or two, to rise to a
higher position in the hierarchy by adopting vegetarianism and teetotalism, and by
Sanskritising its ritual and pantheon. In short, it took over, as far as possible, the customs,
rites, and beliefs of the Brahmins, and adoption of the Brahminic way of life by a low
caste seems to have been frequent, though theoretically forbidden. This process has been
called 'Sanskritisation' in this book, in preference to 'Brahminisation', as certain Vedic
rites are confined to the Brahmins and the two other 'twice-born' castes."[8]
The book challenged the then prevalent idea that caste was a rigid and unchanging
institution. The concept of sanskritisation addressed the actual complexity and fluidity of
caste relations. It brought into academic focus the dynamics of the renegotiation of status
by various castes and communities in India.
Yogendra Singh has critiqued the theory as follows:
"... Sanskritisation fails to account for many aspects of cultural changes in the past and
contemporary India as it neglects non-sanskritic traditions. It may be noted that often a
non-sanskritic element of culture may be a localised form of sanskritic tradition. ...
Sanskritic rites are often added to non-sanskritic rites without replacing them."[9]

History[edit]
The Kisan Sabha movement started in Bihar under the leadership of Sahajanand
Saraswati who had formed in 1929 the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha (BPKS) in order to
mobilise peasant grievances against the zamindari attacks on their occupancy rights, and
thus sparking the farmers' movements in India.[1][2]
Gradually the peasant movement intensified and spread across the rest of India. The
formation of Congress Socialist Party (CSP) in 1934 helped the Communists to work
together with the Indian National Congress, however temporarily,[3] then in April 1935,
noted peasant leaders N. G. Ranga and E. M. S. Namboodiripad, then secretary and joint
secretary respectively of South Indian Federation of Peasants and Agricultural Labour,
suggested the formation of an all-India farmers body,[4] and soon all these radical
developments culminated in the formation of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) at
the Lucknow session of the Indian National Congress on 11 April 1936 with Saraswati
elected as its first President,[5] and it involved people such as Ranga,
Namboodiripad, Karyanand Sharma, Yamuna Karjee, Yadunandan (Jadunandan)
Sharma, Rahul Sankrityayan, P. Sundarayya, Ram Manohar Lohia, Jayaprakash
Narayan, Acharya Narendra Dev and Bankim Mukherjee. The Kisan Manifesto released
in August 1936, demanded abolition of the zamindari system and cancellation of rural
debts, and in October 1937, it adopted red flag as its banner.[4] Soon, its leaders became
increasingly distant with Congress, and repeatedly came in confrontation with Congress
governments, in Bihar and United Province.[4][6]
In the subsequent years, the movement was increasingly dominated by Socialists and
Communists as it moved away from the Congress,[2] by 1938 Haripura session of the
Congress, under the presidency of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, the rift became evident,
[4]
 and by May 1942, the Communist Party of India, which was finally legalised by then
government in July 1942,[7] had taken over AIKS, all across India including Bengal where
its membership grew considerably.[6] It took on the Communist party's line of People's
War, and stayed away from the Quit India Movement, which started in August 1942,
though this also meant its losing its popular base. Many of its members defied party
orders and joined the movement, and prominent members like Ranga, Indulal Yagnik and
Saraswati soon left the organisation, which increasing found it difficult to approach the
peasants without the watered-down approach of pro-British and pro-war, and increasing
its pro-nationalist agenda, much to the dismay of the British Raj which always thought
the Communists would help them in countering the nationalist movement.[8]
The Communist Party of India split into two in 1964. Following this, so too did the All
India Kisan Sabha, with each faction affiliated to the splinters.

All India Kisan Sabha

The All India Kisan Sabha was formed in 1936 at Lucknow. This was presided over by
Swami Sahajanand Saraswati. The secretary of this association was NG Ranga. They
worked for the abolishment of the Zamindari system, reduction of land revenue, the
institutionalization of credit. These were some of the demands raised by the All India
Kisan Sabha, who hoped that the INC would help them. In the 1937 elections, the Kisan
Sabha supported the Congress with great hope- and the INC too in their speeches and
writings had promised that many reforms would be brought by the INC if voted to power.
The INC got a good number of seats and formed the majority in as many as 8 provinces.
The INC was in power for almost 28 months, and some legislations were brought
especially in Bihar, where the land revenue was fixed at the rate of 1911 and the tenants
who were tilling their lands for the past 12 years were now to become owners. This was
thus a positive response from the INC who did have certain inherent contradictions. A
good number of the INC leaders were Zamindars themselves, while the peasants and
workers came from another class. Thus this class clash within the INC was a hurdle, in
implementing all the schemes that were visualized by Gandhi, Nehru and others. So, by
and large, the INC failed to meet all the promises they had claimed to fulfil to the
peasants. The peasants thus became disillusioned with the INC government. Thus, the All
India Kisan Sabha felt betrayed by the INC and this is why, when in 1942, Mahatma
Gandhi gave a call for the Quit India Movement, the peasant leaders such as Swami
Sahajanand Saraswati appealed to the peasants not to support Gandhi or the INC. This
exposed the inherent contradictions within the INC- but nonetheless, the INC as an
organization, and in its manifesto, in its ideology had always spoken about the welfare of
the peasants and reforms to benefit them. However, the leftists and the communists
always accused the INC that there were no structural reforms suggested and attempted by
the INC seriously, and whatever reforms they attempted were superficial and basically to
protect the interests of Zamindars and Mahajans, etc. In 1938, the National Planning
Committee also talked about the reforms related to land and peasants, and so did the
Bombay Plan of 1944-45.
FOREST POLICY AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IN COLONIAL AND POST COLONIAL PERIOD 2.0 Introduction
Forest policy and management has been a subject of considerable debate and conflict ever since the
British established a Forest Department and enacted legislations related to forestry in the 19th century.
The imperial needs dictated the British interests in the Indian forest resources, which resulted in the
establishment of control over forest resources. In the process, at least two crucial aspects of forest
management were ignored. First, the well-established traditional systems of conservation and
sustainable use, and second, the critical ecological and social role that forests played (Ashish Kothari
1994). The colonial system of forest management was continued even after 1947 with little
modifications, emphasizing revenue generation and commercial exploitation, while its policing
orientation excluded villagers who had the most longstanding claim on forest resources. The tribals
especially were confronted with the vagaries of forest management that continuously eroded their life-
styles and simultaneously the assertion of State primacy over natural resources deprived them of an
important means of subsistence(Guha 1983). In this context, an attempt is made to review colonial and
post-colonial forest policies by examining the debate on the ownership of forests between British and
Indian colonial officers, especially the officials of the Madras Presidency who happened to be more
articulate at that time. The first section, deals with the relation between tribals and forests, the second
section explains the evolution of State control over forest resources. The third section is on colonial
forest policy and on the process of establishing colonial control over natural resources, the fourth
section focuses on the forest policies of independent India and on the changes in forest management
and thFOREST POLICIES DURING COLONIAL PERIOD: 2.3.1. Forest Act of 1865: The first attempt at
asserting State monopoly was through the Indian Forest Act of 1865. The Act empowered the State to
declare any land covered with trees or brush-wood as state forest and to make rules regarding the
management of the same by notification, provided that such notification should not abridge or affect
any existing rights of individuals or communities(sec.2). The government was empowered to prescribe
punishments for the breach of provisions or for infringing rules and for the arrest of offenders. For the
first time, an attempt was made to regulate the collection of forest produce by the forest dwellers. Thus,
socially regulated practices of the forest people were to be restrained by law. The Act was applicable
only to forests under the control of the Government and no provisions were made to cover private
forests(Kulkami,l 987). Thus, in the name of "scientific management, the Act was an attempt to
obliterate centuries of customary use of the forests by rural population all over India "(Guha and Gadgil
1989). The Madras Presidency refused to have the Act of 1865 on the plea that the rights of the villagers
over waste lands and jungles were considered important7 . This prevented the Government from
making forests the exclusive property of the State. A conference of forest officers was held in 1874 that
went into the defects of the 1865 Act. The task before them was to reverse a process
which the British had initiated, now seen as worthless and by doing so to allow the
villagers to exercise user rights unhindered. In fact, all provisions of the 1865 Act, except
that pertaining to arrest, were found to be defective. The major lacunae of the Act, as
identified here, essentially related to the extent of control over forests exercised by the
State. The Act provided for the protection of forests only after it had been selected and
 declared as Government forest. But for 7 The debate between the Presidency and the
Government of India has been analysed in a later part of this chapter. 24 effective control,
it was argued that the State should have the power to protect any forest in anticipation of
its demarcation and management. The definition of the forest, in section 2 of the 1865
Act, as "land covered with trees, brushwood and jungle" was sharply criticised as
inhibiting the raising of appropriate plantations on barren land by the State. It was
advised that any land whatsoever should be designated as forest, there by coming under
the provisions of the Act, if the Government so desired. Various other rules also were
criticised as being inadequate. The Act provided for a series of prohibitions but nothing
about the principles of managing the forest, there were no rules regarding fire protection,
fencing etc. It was felt that the regulations covering the transit of forest produce were not
comprehensive enough, both with respect to the means of transit (road, water or rail) and
the agents of transit (merchants and owners of the produce) (Guha 1983). There was also
a considerable debate within the colonial bureaucracy itself about the 'absolute
proprietary right of the State'. In the end it was decided to treat the customary use of the
forest by the Indian villagers as based on 'privilege' and not on e last section contains

18th century’\

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Life During Eighteenth Century in India |

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Social life and culture in the eighteenth century were marked by stagnation and
dependence on the past. Despite a certain broad cultural unity that had developed over
the centuries, there was no uniformity of culture and social patterns all over the country.

Nor did all Hindus and all Muslims form two distinct societies. People were divided by
religion, region, tribe, language and caste. Moreover, the social life and culture of the
upper classes, who formed a tiny minority of the total population, was in many respects
different from the life and culture of the lower classes.

Caste was the central feature of the social life of the Hindus. Apart from the four varnas,
Hindus were divided into numerous castes (jatis) which differed in their nature from
place to place. The caste system rigidly divided people and permanently fixed their place
in the social scale. The higher castes, headed by the Brahmins, monopolized all social
prestige and privileges. Caste rules were extremely rigid.

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Inter-caste marriages were forbidden. There were restrictions on inter-dining among

members of different castes. In some cases persons belonging to the higher castes would
not take food touched by persons of the lower castes. Castes often determined the choice
of profession, though exceptions occurred on a large scale.

For example, Brahmins were involved in trade and government service and held
zamindaris. Similarly, many shudras achieved worldly success and wealth and used
them to seek higher ritual and caste ranking in society. Similarly, in many parts of the
country, caste status had become quite fluid.

Caste regulations were strictly enforced by caste councils and panchayats and caste
chiefs through fines, penances (prayaschitya) and expulsion from the caste. Caste was a
major divisive force and element of disintegration in eighteenth century India. It often
split Hindus living in the same village or region into many social atoms.

It was, of course, possible for a person to acquire a higher social status by the acquisition
of high office or power, as did the Holkar family in the eighteenth century. Sometimes,
though not often, an entire caste would succeed in raising itself in the caste hierarchy.

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Muslims were no less divided by considerations of caste, race, tribe and status, even
though their religion enjoined social equality on them. The Shia and Sunni nobles were
sometimes at loggerheads on account of their religious differences.

The Irani, Afghan, Turani and Hindustani Muslim nobles and officials often stood apart
from one another. A large number of Hindus who had converted to Islam carried their
caste into the new religion and observed its distinctions, though not as rigidly as before.

Moreover, the Sharif Muslims consisting of nobles, scholars, priests and army officers
looked down upon the ajlaf Muslims or the lower-class Muslims in a manner similar to
that adopted by the higher-caste Hindus towards the lower- caste Hindus.

The family system in eighteenth-century India was primarily patriarchal, that is, the
family was dominated by the senior male member and inheritance was through the male
line. In Kerala, however, the family among Nairs was matrilineal.

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Outside Kerala, women were subjected to nearly complete male control. They were
expected to live as mothers and wives only, though in these roles they were shown a
great deal of respect and honour.

Even during war and anarchy women were seldom molested and were
treated with respect. A European traveller Abbe J.A. Dubois commented at
the beginning of the nineteenth century:
“A Hindu woman can go anywhere alone, even in the most crowded places, and she need
never fear the impertinent looks and jokes of idle loungers. … A house inhabited solely
by women is a sanctuary which the most shameless libertine would not dream of
violating.”

But the women of the time possessed little individuality of their own. This does not
mean that there were no exceptions to this rule. Ahilya Bai administered Indore with
great success from 1766 to 1796. Many other Hindu and Muslim ladies played important
roles in eighteenth-century politics.

While women of the upper classes were not supposed to work outside their homes,
peasant women usually worked in the fields and women of the poorer classes often
worked outside their homes to supplement the family income. The purdah was common
mostly among the higher classes in the north. It was not practiced in the south.

Boys and girls were not permitted to mix with one another. All marriages were arranged
by the heads of the families. Men were permitted to have more than one wife but, except
the well-off, they normally had only one.

On the other hand, a woman was expected to marry only once in her lifetime. The
custom of early marriage prevailed all over the country. Sometimes children were
married when they were only three or four years of age.

Among the upper classes, the evil customs of incurring heavy expenses on marriages
and of giving dowry to the bride prevailed. The evil of dowry was especially widespread
in Bengal and Rajputana. In Maharashtra it was curbed to some extent by energetic
steps taken by the Peshwas.

Two great social evils of eighteenth-century India, apart from the caste system, were the
custom of sati and the condition of the widows. Sati involved the rite of a Hindu widow
burning herself along with the body of her dead husband. It was mostly prevalent in
Rajputana, Bengal and other parts of northern India. In the south it was uncommon and
the Marathas did not encourage it.

Even in Rajputana and Bengal it was practiced only by the families of rajas, chiefs, big
zamindars and upper castes.

Widows belonging to the higher classes and higher castes could not remarry, though in
some regions and in some castes, for example, among non-Brahmins in Maharashtra,
the Jats and people of the hill-regions of the north, widow remarriage was quite
common. The lot of the Hindu widow was usually pitiable.

There were all sorts of restrictions on her clothing, diet, movements, etc. In general, she
was expected to renounce all the pleasures of the world and to serve selflessly the
members of her husband’s or her brother’s family, depending on where she spent the
remaining years of her life.
Sensitive Indians were often touched by the hard and harsh life of the widows. Raja
Sawai Jai Singh of Amber and the Maratha General Prashuram Bhau tried to promote
widow remarriage but failed.

Culturally, India showed some signs of exhaustion during the eighteenth century, but
the eighteenth century was no Dark Age. Creativity of the people continued to find
expression, cultural continuity with the preceding centuries was maintained and local
traditions continued to evolve. At the same time, culture remained wholly traditionalist.

Cultural activities of the time were mostly financed by the Royal Court, rulers and
nobles, chiefs and zamindars whose impoverishment led to their gradual neglect. The
most rapid decline occurred precisely in those branches of the arts which depended on
the patronage of kings, princes and nobles.

This was true most of all of Mughal architecture and painting. Many of the painters of
the Mughal school migrated to provincial courts and flourished at Hyderabad, Lucknow,
Kashmir and Patna. At the same time new schools of painting were born and achieved
distinction.

The paintings of the Kangra and Rajputana schools revealed new vitality and taste. In
the field of architecture, the Imambara of Lucknow reveals proficiency in technique but
a decadence in architectural taste.

On the other hand, the city of Jaipur and its buildings are an example of continuing
vigour. Music continued to develop and flourish in the eighteenth century both in the
north and the south. Significant progress was made in this field in the reign of
Muhammad Shah.

Poetry in nearly all the Indian languages tended to lose its touch with life and become
decorative, artificial, mechanical and traditional. Its pessimism reflected the prevailing
sense of despair and cynicism, while its content reflected the impoverishment of the
spiritual life of its patrons, the feudal nobles and kings.

A noteworthy feature of the literary life of the eighteenth century was the spread of the
Urdu language and the vigorous growth of Urdu poetry. Urdu gradually became the
medium of social intercourse among the upper classes of northern India.
While Urdu poetry shared the weaknesses of contemporary literature in other Indian
languages, it produced brilliant poets like Mir, Sauda, Nazir and, in the nineteenth
century, that great genius Mirza Ghalib. Hindi, too, was developing throughout the
century.

Similarly, there was a revival of Malayalam literature, especially under the patronage of
the Travancore rulers Martanda Varma and Rama Varma. One of the great poets of
Kerala Kunchan Nambiar, who wrote popular poetry in the language of daily usage,
lived at this time.

Eighteenth-century Kerala also witnessed the full development of Kathakali literature,

drama and dance. The Padmanabhapuram palace with its remarkable architecture and
mural paintings was also constructed in the eighteenth century.

Tayaumanavar (1706-44) was one of the best exponents of sittar poetry in Tamil. In line
with other sittar poets, he protested against the abuses of temple-rule and the caste
system. Music, poetry and dance flourished under the patronage of the Tanjore court in
the first half of the eighteenth century. In Assam, literature developed under the
patronage of the Ahom kings.

Dayaram, one of the great lyricists of Gujarat, wrote during the second half of the
eighteenth century. Heer Ranjha, the famous romantic epic in Punjabi, was composed at
this time by Warris Shah. For Sindhi literature, the eighteenth century was a period of
enormous achievement. Shah Abdul Latif composed his famous collection of poems,
Risalo. Sachal and Sami were the other great Sindhi poets of this century.

The main weakness of Indian culture lay in the field of science. Throughout the
eighteenth century, India remained far behind the West in science and technology. For
the last 200 years western Europe had been undergoing a scientific and economic
revolution that was leading to a spate of inventions and discoveries.

The scientific outlook was gradually pervading the Western mind and revolutionizing
the philosophical, political and economic outlook of the Europeans and their
institutions.

On the other hand, the Indians, who had in earlier ages made vital contributions to the
fields of mathematics and natural sciences, had been neglecting the sciences for several
centuries. The Indian mind was still tied to tradition; both the nobles and the common
people were superstitious to a high degree.

The Indians remained almost wholly ignorant of the scientific, cultural, political and
economic achievements of the West; they failed to respond to the European challenge.
The eighteenth-century Indian rulers showed little interest in things Western except in
their weapons of war and techniques of military training.

Except Tipu, they were content with the ideological apparatus they had inherited from
the Mughals and other sixteenth-and seventeenth-century rulers.

There were, of course, some intellectual stirrings—no people or culture can be totally
stagnant. Some changes and advances in technology were being made, but their pace
was very slow and their scope severely limited, so that on the whole they were negligible
compared to advances in western Europe.

This weakness in the realm of science was to a large extent responsible for the total
subjugation of India by the most advanced country of the time.

The struggle for power and wealth, economic decline, social backwardness and cultural
stagnation had a deep and harmful impact on the morals of a section of the Indian
people. The nobles, in particular, degenerated in their private and public life. The
virtues of loyalty, gratitude and faithfulness to their pledged word tended to disappear
in the single-minded pursuit of selfish aims.

Many of the nobles fell prey to degrading vices and excessive luxury. Most of them took
bribes when in office. Surprisingly enough, the common people were not debased to any
marked extent. They continued to exhibit a high degree of personal integrity and
morality.

For example, the well- known British official John Malcolm remarked in
1821:
I do not know the example of any great population, in similar circumstances, preserving
through such a period of changes and tyrannical rule, so much virtue and so many
qualities as are to be found in a great proportion of the inhabitants of this country. In
particular, he praised “the absence of the common vices of theft, drunkenness, and
violence.”
Similarly, Cranford, another European writer, observed:
Their rules of morality are most benevolent: and hospitality and charity are not only
strongly inculcated but I believe nowhere more universally practiced than amongst
Hindus. Friendly relations between the Hindus and Muslims were a very healthy feature
of life in eighteenth-century India.

Even though the nobles and chiefs of the time fought one another incessantly, their
fights and their alliances were seldom based on distinctions of religion. In other words,
their politics were essentially secular. In fact, there was little communal bitterness or
religious intolerance in the country.

All people, high or low, respected one another’s religion and a spirit of tolerance, even
harmony, prevailed. “The mutual relations of Hindus and Muslims were those of
brothers among brothers.” This was particularly true of the common people in the
villages and towns who fully shared one another’s joys and sorrows, irrespective of
religious affiliations.

The Hindus and the Muslims cooperated in non-religious spheres such as social life and
cultural affairs. The evolution of a composite Hindu-Muslim culture, or of common
ways and attitudes, continued unimpeded.

Hindu writers often wrote in Persian while Muslim writers wrote in Hindi, Bengali and
other vernaculars, often dealing with subjects of Hindu social life and religion, such as
Radha and Krishna, Sita and Ram, and Nal and Damyanti. The development of Urdu
language and literature provided a new meeting ground between Hindus and Muslims.

Even in the religious sphere, the mutual influence and respect that had been developing
in the last few centuries as a result of the spread of the Bhakti Movement among Hindus
and Sufism among Muslims continued to grow. A large number of Hindus worshipped
Muslim saints and many Muslims showed equal veneration for Hindu gods and saints.

Many local cults and shrines had both Hindu and Muslim followers. Muslim ruler’s
nobles and commoners joyfully joined in the Hindu festivals such as Holi, Diwali and
Durga Puja, just as Hindus participated in the Muharram processions and Hindu
officials and zamindars presided at other Muslim festivals.
 The Marathas supported the shrine of Shaikh Muinuddin Chishti in Ajmer and the Raja
of Tanjore supported the shrine of Shaikh Shahul Hamid of Nagore.

We have already seen how Tipu gave financial support to the Shringeri Temple as also to
other temples. It is noteworthy that Raja Rammohun Roy, the greatest Indian of the first
half of the nineteenth century, was influenced in an equal measure by the Hindu and
Islamic philosophical and religious systems.

It may also be noted that religious affiliation was not the main point of departure in
cultural and social life. The ways of life of upper- class Hindus and Muslims converged
much more than the ways of life of upper-class and lower-class Hindus or of upper-class
and lower- class Muslims.

Similarly, regions or areas provided points of departure. People of one region had far
greater cultural synthesis, irrespective of religion, than people following the same
religion spread over different regions. People living in the villages also tended to have a
different pattern of social and cultural life than that of the town dwellers.

1. History of Indian States in the Eighteenth Century

2. Towns and Cities During the Eighteenth Century | Indian History
3. Socio-Economic Condition during the Eighteenth Century | Indian History
4. Social Condition of Women during Eighteenth Century in India
by Taboola

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igveda, (Sanskrit: “The Knowledge of Verses”) also spelled Ṛgveda, the oldest of the
sacred books of Hinduism, composed in an ancient form of Sanskrit about 1500 BCE, in
what is now the Punjab region of India and Pakistan. It consists of a collection of 1,028
poems grouped into 10 “circles” (mandalas). It is generally agreed that the first and last
books were created later than the middle books. The Rigveda was preserved orally
before it was written down about 300 BCE. (See Veda).

READ MORE ON THIS TOPIC

Hinduism: The Rigveda
The religion reflected in the Rigveda exhibits belief in several deities and the propitiation of divinities associated…
The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by  Adam
Augustyn, Managing Editor, Reference Content.
LEARN MORE in these related Britannica articles:


 Hinduism: The Rigveda
The religion reflected in the Rigveda exhibits belief in several deities and the propitiation of divinities associated with the sky
and the atmosphere. Of these, the Indo-European sky god Dyaus was little regarded. More important were such gods as Indra
(chief of the gods),…

Veda
Veda, (Sanskrit: “Knowledge”) a collection of poems or hymns composed in archaic Sanskrit by Indo-European-speaking peoples
who lived in northwest India during the 2nd millennium bce. No definite date can be ascribed to the composition of the Vedas,
but the period of about 1500–1200 bce is acceptable to most scholars.…

India: Early Vedic period

The Rigveda is divided into 10 mandalas (books), of which the 10th is believed to be somewhat later than the others.
Each mandala consists of a number of hymns, and most mandalas are ascribed to priestly families. The texts include invocations
to the gods, ritual hymns,…

he Rigveda (Sanskrit: ऋग्वेद ṛgveda, from ṛc "praise"[1] and veda "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic

Sanskrit hymns. It is one of the four sacred canonical texts (śruti) of Hinduism known as the Vedas.[2][3]
The text is layered consisting of the Samhita, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads.[note 1] The Rigveda Samhita is the core
text, and is a collection of 10 books (maṇḍalas) with 1,028 hymns (sūktas) in about 10,600 verses (called ṛc, eponymous of
the name Rigveda). In the eight books – Books 2 through 9 – that were composed the earliest, the hymns predominantly
discuss cosmology and praise deities.[4][5] The younger books (Books 1 and 10) in part also deal with philosophical or
speculative questions,[5] virtues such as dāna (charity) in society,[6] questions about the origin of the universe and the nature
of god,[7][8] and other metaphysical issues in their hymns.[9]
The Rigveda is the oldest known Vedic Sanskrit text.[10] Its early layers are one of the oldest extant texts in any Indo-
European language.[11][note 2] The Philological and linguistic evidence indicates that the bulk of the Rigveda Samhita was
composed in the northwestern region (Punjab) of the Indian subcontinent, most likely between c. 1500 and 1200 BC,[13][14]
[15]
 although a wider approximation of c. 1700–1100 BC has also been given.[16][17][note 3]
Some of its verses continue to be recited during Hindu rites of passage celebrations (such as weddings) and prayers,
making it probably the world's oldest religious text in continued use.[22][23]
 Contents

 1Text
o 1.1Organization
 1.1.1Mandalas
 1.1.2Hymns and prosody
o 1.2Composers
o 1.3Transmission
o 1.4Recensions
o 1.5Manuscripts
 1.5.1Versions
 1.5.2Scripts
 1.5.3Comparison
 2Contents
o 2.1Hymns
o 2.2Rigveda Brahmanas
o 2.3Rigveda Aranyakas and Upanishads
 3Dating and historical context
 4Significance
o 4.1Monism debate
 5Reception in Hinduism
o 5.1Shruti
o 5.2Medieval Hindu scholarship
o 5.3Contemporary Hinduism
o 5.4Arya Samaj and Aurobindo movements
o 5.5Ethnic origins
 6Translations
 7See also
 8Notes
 9References
 10Bibliography
 11External links

Text
Organization
Mandalas
The text is organized in ten "books", or maṇḍalas ("circles"), of varying age and length.[24] The "family books", mandalas 2–7,
are the oldest part of the Rigveda and the shortest books; they are arranged by length (decreasing length of hymns per
book) and account for 38% of the text.[25][26]
The hymns are arranged in collections each dealing with a particular deity: Agni comes first, Indra comes second, and so on.
They are attributed and dedicated to a rishi (sage) and his family of students.[27] Within each collection, the hymns are
arranged in descending order of the number of stanzas per hymn. If two hymns in the same collection have equal numbers
of stanzas then they are arranged so that the number of syllables in the metre are in descending order. [28][29] The second to
seventh mandalas have a uniform format.[25]
The eighth and ninth mandalas, comprising hymns of mixed age, account for 15% and 9%, respectively. The ninth mandala
is entirely dedicated to Soma and the Soma ritual. The hymns in the ninth mandala are arranged by both their prosody
structure (chanda) and by their length.[25]
The first and the tenth mandalas are the youngest; they are also the longest books, of 191 suktas each, accounting for 37%
of the text. Nevertheless, some of the hymns in mandalas 8, 1 and 10 may still belong to an earlier period and may be as old
as the material in the family books.[30] The first mandala has a unique arrangement not found in the other nine mandalas. The
first 84 hymns of the tenth mandala have a structure different than the remaining hymns in it. [25]
Hymns and prosody
Each mandala consists of hymns or sūktas (su- + ukta, literally, "well recited, eulogy") intended for various rituals.
The sūktas in turn consist of individual stanzas called ṛc ("praise", pl. ṛcas), which are further analysed into units of verse
called pada ("foot" or step).
The hymns of the Rigveda are in different poetic metres in Vedic Sanskrit. The meters most used in the ṛcas are
the gayatri (3 verses of 8 syllables), anushtubh (4×8), trishtubh (4×11) and jagati (4×12). The trishtubh meter (40%) and
gayatri meter (25%) dominate in the Rigveda.[31][32][33]

Meter[note 4] showRigvedic verses[34]

Composers
See also: Anukramani
Tradition associates a rishi (the composer) with each ṛc of the Rigveda.[35] Most sūktas are attributed to single composers.
The "family books" (2–7) are so-called because they have hymns by members of the same clan in each book; but other
clans are also represented in the Rigveda. In all, 10 families of rishis account for more than 95 per cent of the ṛcs; for each
of them the Rigveda includes a lineage-specific āprī hymn (a special sūkta of rigidly formulaic structure, used for rituals.

Family Āprī Ṛcas[36]

Angiras 1.142 3619 (especially Mandala 6)

Kanva 1.13 1315 (especially Mandala 8)

Vasishtha 7.2 1276 (Mandala 7)

Vishvamitra 3.4 983 (Mandala 3)

Atri 5.5 885 (Mandala 5)

10.11
Bhrgu 473
0

Kashyapa 9.5 415 (part of Mandala 9)

Grtsamada 2.3 401 (Mandala 2)

Agastya 1.188 316

Bharata 10.70 170

Transmission
The surviving form of the Rigveda is based on an early Iron Age collection that established the core 'family books'
(mandalas 2–7, ordered by author, deity and meter[37]) and a later redaction, coeval with the redaction of the other Vedas,
dating several centuries after the hymns were composed. This redaction also included some additions (contradicting the
strict ordering scheme) and orthoepic changes to the Vedic Sanskrit such as
the regularization of sandhi (termed orthoepische Diaskeuase by Oldenberg, 1888).
As with the other Vedas, the redacted text has been handed down in several versions, most importantly the Padapatha, in
which each word is isolated in pausa form and is used for just one way of memorization; and the Samhitapatha, which
combines words according to the rules of sandhi (the process being described in the Pratisakhya) and is the memorized text
used for recitation.
The Padapatha and the Pratisakhya anchor the text's true meaning,[38] and the fixed text was preserved with unparalleled
fidelity for more than a millennium by oral tradition alone.[39] In order to achieve this the oral tradition prescribed very
structured enunciation, involving breaking down the Sanskrit compounds into stems and inflections, as well as certain
permutations. This interplay with sounds gave rise to a scholarly tradition of morphology and phonetics.
It is unclear as to when the Rigveda was first written down. The oldest surviving manuscripts have been discovered
in Nepal and date to c. 1040 AD.[2][40] According to Witzel, the Paippalada Samhita tradition points to written manuscripts c.
800-1000 CE.[41] The Upanishads were likely in the written form earlier, about mid-1st millennium CE (Gupta Empire period).
[39][42]
 Attempts to write the Vedas may have been made "towards the end of the 1st millennium BCE". The early attempts may
have been unsuccessful given the Smriti rules that forbade the writing down the Vedas, states Witzel.[39] The oral tradition
continued as a means of transmission until modern times.[43]
There is a widely accepted timeframe for the initial codification of the Rigveda by compiling the hymns very late in the
Rigvedic or rather in the early post-Rigvedic period, including the arrangement of the individual hymns in ten books, coeval
with the composition of the younger Veda Samhitas. This time coincides with the early Kuru kingdom, shifting the center of
Vedic culture east from the Punjab into what is now Uttar Pradesh. The fixing of the samhitapatha (by enforcing regular
application of sandhi) and of the padapatha (by dissolving Sandhi out of the earlier metrical text), occurred during the later
Brahmana period, in roughly the 6th century BC.[44]

Recensions
Several shakhas ("branches", i. e. recensions) of Rig Veda are known to have existed in the past. Of these, Śākala
Shākha is the only one to have survived in its entirety. Another shakha that may have survived is the Bāṣkala, although this
is uncertain.[45][46][47]
The surviving padapatha version of the Rigveda text is ascribed to Śākala.[48] The Śākala recension has 1,017 regular
hymns, and an appendix of 11 vālakhilya hymns[49] which are now customarily included in the 8th mandala (as 8.49–8.59), for
a total of 1028 hymns.[50] The Bāṣkala recension includes eight of these vālakhilya hymns among its regular hymns, making a
total of 1025 regular hymns for this śākhā.[51] In addition, the Bāṣkala recension has its own appendix of 98 hymns,
the Khilani.[52]
In the 1877 edition of Aufrecht, the 1028 hymns of the Rigveda contain a total of 10,552 ṛcs, or 39,831 padas.
The Shatapatha Brahmana gives the number of syllables to be 432,000, [53] while the metrical text of van Nooten and Holland
(1994) has a total of 395,563 syllables (or an average of 9.93 syllables per pada); counting the number of syllables is not
straightforward because of issues with sandhi and the post-Rigvedic pronunciation of syllables like súvar as svàr.
Three other shakhas are mentioned in Caraṇavyuha, a pariśiṣṭa (supplement) of Yajurveda: Māṇḍukāyana, Aśvalāyana and
Śaṅkhāyana. The Atharvaveda lists two more shakhas. The differences between all these shakhas are very minor, limited to
varying order of content and inclusion (or non-inclusion) of a few verses. The following information is known about the
shakhas other than Śākala and Bāṣkala:[54]

 Māṇḍukāyana: Perhaps the oldest of the Rigvedic shakhas.

 Aśvalāyana: Includes 212 verses, all of which are newer than the other Rigvedic hymns.
 Śaṅkhāyana: Very similar to Aśvalāyana
 Saisiriya: Mentioned in the Rigveda Pratisakhya. Very similar to Śākala, with a few additional verses; might have
derived from or merged with it.

Manuscripts
Rigveda manuscript page, Mandala 1, Hymn 1 (Sukta 1), lines 1.1.1 to 1.1.9 (Sanskrit, Devanagari script)

The Rigveda hymns were composed and preserved by oral tradition. They were memorized and verbally transmitted with
"unparalleled fidelity" across generations for many centuries.[39][55] According to Barbara West, it was probably first written
down about the 3rd-century BCE.[56][57] The manuscripts were made from birch bark or palm leaves, which decompose and
therefore were routinely copied over the generations to help preserve the text.
Versions
There are, for example, 30 manuscripts of Rigveda at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, collected in the 19th
century by Georg Bühler, Franz Kielhorn and others, originating from different parts of India, including Kashmir, Gujarat, the
then Rajaputana, Central Provinces etc. They were transferred to Deccan College, Pune, in the late 19th century. They are
in the Sharada and Devanagari scripts, written on birch bark and paper. The oldest of the Pune collection is dated to 1464.
The 30 manuscripts of Rigveda preserved at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune were added
to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2007.[58]
Of these thirty manuscripts, nine contain the samhita text, five have the padapatha in addition. Thirteen contain Sayana's
commentary. At least five manuscripts (MS. no. 1/A1879-80, 1/A1881-82, 331/1883-84 and 5/Viś I) have preserved the
complete text of the Rigveda. MS no. 5/1875-76, written on birch bark in bold Sharada, was only in part used by Max
Müller for his edition of the Rigveda with Sayana's commentary.
Müller used 24 manuscripts then available to him in Europe, while the Pune Edition used over five dozen manuscripts, but
the editors of Pune Edition could not procure many manuscripts used by Müller and by the Bombay Edition, as well as from
some other sources; hence the total number of extant manuscripts known then must surpass perhaps eighty at least. [59][full citation
needed]

Scripts
Rigveda manuscripts in paper, palm leaves and birch bark form, either in full or in portions, have been discovered in the
following Indic scripts:

 Devanagari (Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Nepal) [60][61][62]

 Grantha (Tamil Nadu)[63][64]
 Malayalam (Kerala)[65]
 Nandinagari (South India)[66]
 Sharada (Kashmir)[67][68]
Comparison
The various Rigveda manuscripts discovered so far show some differences. Broadly, the most studied Śākala recension has
1017 hymns, includes an appendix of eleven valakhīlya hymns which are often counted with the eighth mandala, for a total
of 1028 metrical hymns. The Bāṣakala version of Rigveda includes eight of these vālakhilya hymns among its regular
hymns, making a total of 1025 hymns in the main text for this śākhā. The Bāṣakala text also has an appendix of 98 hymns,
called the Khilani, bringing the total to 1,123 hymns. The manuscripts of Śākala recension of the Rigveda have about 10,600
verses, organized into ten Books (Mandalas).[69][70] Books 2 through 7 are internally homogeneous in style, while Books 1, 8
and 10 are compilation of verses of internally different styles suggesting that these books are likely a collection of
compositions by many authors.[70]

The first mandala is the largest, with 191 hymns and 2006 verses, and it was added to the
text after Books 2 through 9. The last, or the 10th Book, also has 191 hymns but 1754
verses, making it the second largest. The language analytics suggest the 10th Book,
chronologically, was composed and added last.[70] The content of the 10th Book also
suggest that the authors knew and relied on the contents of the first nine books. [70]
The Rigveda is the largest of the four Vedas, and many of its verses appear in the other
Vedas.[71] Almost all of the 1875 verses found in Samaveda are taken from different parts
of the Rigveda, either once or as repetition, and rewritten in a chant song form. Books 8
and 9 of the Rigveda are by far the largest source of verses for Sama Veda. Book 10
contributes the largest number of the 1350 verses of Rigveda found in Atharvaveda, or
about one fifth of the 5987 verses in the Atharvaveda text.[70] A bulk of 1875 ritual-
focussed verses of Yajurveda, in its numerous versions, also borrow and build upon the
foundation of verses in Rigveda.[71][72]

Contents
Altogether the Rigveda consists of:
 the Samhita (hymns to the deities, the oldest part of the Rigveda)
 the Brahmanas, commentaries on the hymns
 the Aranyakas or "forest books"
 the Upanishads
In western usage, "Rigveda" usually refers to the Rigveda Samhita, while the Brahmanas
are referred to as the "Rigveda Brahmanas" (etc.). Technically speaking, however, "the
Rigveda" refers to the entire body of texts transmitted along with the Samhita portion.
Different bodies of commentary were transmitted in the different shakhas or "schools".
Only a small portion of these texts has been preserved: The texts of only two out of five
shakhas mentioned by the Rigveda Pratishakhya have survived. The late (15th or 16th
century) Shri Guru Charitra even claims the existence of twelve Rigvedic shakhas. The
two surviving Rigvedic corpora are those of the Śākala and the Bāṣkala shakhas.
Hymns
See also: Rigvedic deities
The Rigvedic hymns are dedicated to various deities, chief of whom are Indra, a heroic
god praised for having slain his enemy Vrtra; Agni, the sacrificial fire; and Soma, the
sacred potion or the plant it is made from. Equally prominent gods are the Adityas or
Asura gods Mitra–Varuna and Ushas (the dawn). Also invoked
are Savitr, Vishnu, Rudra, Pushan, Brihaspati or Brahmanaspati, as well as deified natural
phenomena such as Dyaus Pita (the shining sky, Father Heaven), Prithivi (the earth, Mother
Earth), Surya (the sun god), Vayu or Vata (the wind), Apas (the waters), Parjanya (the thunder and rain), Vac (the word),
many rivers (notably the Sapta Sindhu, and the Sarasvati River). The Adityas, Vasus, Rudras,
Sadhyas, Ashvins, Maruts, Rbhus, and the Vishvadevas ("all-gods") as well as the "thirty-three gods" are the groups of
deities mentioned.[citation needed]

 Mandala 1 comprises 191 hymns. Hymn 1.1 is addressed to Agni, and his name is the first word of the Rigveda.
The remaining hymns are mainly addressed to Agni and Indra, as well as Varuna, Mitra, the Ashvins, the Maruts, Usas,
Surya, Rbhus, Rudra, Vayu, Brhaspati, Visnu, Heaven and Earth, and all the Gods. This Mandala is dated to have
been added to Rigveda after Mandala 2 through 9, and includes the philosophical Riddle Hymn 1.164, which inspires
chapters in later Upanishads such as the Mundaka.[5][73][74]
 Mandala 2 comprises 43 hymns, mainly to Agni and Indra. It is chiefly attributed to the Rishi gṛtsamada
śaunahotra.[citation needed]
 Mandala 3 comprises 62 hymns, mainly to Agni and Indra and the Vishvedevas. The verse 3.62.10 has great
importance in Hinduism as the Gayatri Mantra. Most hymns in this book are attributed to viśvāmitra gāthinaḥ.[citation needed]
 Mandala 4 comprises 58 hymns, mainly to Agni and Indra as well as the Rbhus, Ashvins, Brhaspati, Vayu, Usas,
etc. Most hymns in this book are attributed to vāmadeva gautama.[citation needed]
 Mandala 5 comprises 87 hymns, mainly to Agni and Indra, the Visvedevas ("all the gods'), the Maruts, the twin-
deity Mitra-Varuna and the Asvins. Two hymns each are dedicated to Ushas (the dawn) and to Savitr. Most hymns in
this book are attributed to the atri clan.[citation needed]
 Mandala 6 comprises 75 hymns, mainly to Agni and Indra, all the gods, Pusan, Ashvin, Usas, etc. Most hymns in
this book are attributed to the bārhaspatya family of Angirasas.[citation needed]
 Mandala 7 comprises 104 hymns, to Agni, Indra, the Visvadevas, the Maruts, Mitra-Varuna,
the Asvins, Ushas, Indra-Varuna, Varuna, Vayu (the wind), two each to Sarasvati (ancient river/goddess of learning)
and Vishnu, and to others. Most hymns in this book are attributed to vasiṣṭha maitravaruṇi.[citation needed]
 Mandala 8 comprises 103 hymns to various gods. Hymns 8.49 to 8.59 are the apocryphal vālakhilya. Hymns 1–48
and 60–66 are attributed to the kāṇva clan, the rest to other (Angirasa) poets.[citation needed]
 Mandala 9 comprises 114 hymns, entirely devoted to Soma Pavamana, the cleansing of the sacred potion of the
Vedic religion.[citation needed]
 Mandala 10 comprises additional 191 hymns, frequently in later language, addressed to Agni, Indra and various
other deities. It contains the Nadistuti sukta which is in praise of rivers and is important for the reconstruction of the
 geography of the Vedic civilization and the Purusha sukta which has been important in studies of Vedic sociology.[75] It
also contains the Nasadiya sukta (10.129) which deals with multiple speculations about the creation of universe, and
whether anyone can know the right answer.[7] The marriage hymns (10.85) and the death hymns (10.10–18) still are of
great importance in the performance of the corresponding Grhya rituals.

Rigveda Brahmanas
See also: Brahmana
Of the Brahmanas that were handed down in the schools of the Bahvṛcas (i.e. "possessed of many verses"), as the followers
of the Rigveda are called, two have come down to us, namely those of the Aitareyins and the Kaushitakins. The Aitareya-
brahmana[76] and the Kaushitaki-  (or  Sankhayana-)  brahmana evidently have for their groundwork the same stock of
traditional exegetic matter. They differ, however, considerably as regards both the arrangement of this matter and their
stylistic handling of it, with the exception of the numerous legends common to both, in which the discrepancy is
comparatively slight. There is also a certain amount of material peculiar to each of them. [citation needed]

Devi sukta, which highlights the goddess tradition of Hinduism is found in Rigveda hymns 10.125. It is cited in  Devi Mahatmya and is recited

every year during the Durga Puja festival.

The Kaushitaka is, upon the whole, far more concise in its style and more systematic in its arrangement features which
would lead one to infer that it is probably the more modern work of the two. It consists of 30 chapters (adhyaya); while the
Aitareya has 40, divided into eight books (or pentads, pancaka), of five chapters each. The last 10 adhyayas of the latter
work are, however, clearly a later addition though they must have already formed part of it at the time of Pāṇini (c. 5th
century BC), if, as seems probable, one of his grammatical sutras, regulating the formation of the names of Brahmanas,
consisting of 30 and 40 adhyayas, refers to these two works. In this last portion occurs the well-known legend (also found in
the Shankhayana-sutra, but not in the Kaushitaki-brahmana) of Shunahshepa, whom his father Ajigarta sells and offers to
slay, the recital of which formed part of the inauguration of kings. [citation needed]
While the Aitareya deals almost exclusively with the Soma sacrifice, the Kaushitaka, in its first six chapters, treats of the
several kinds of haviryajna, or offerings of rice, milk, ghee, etc., whereupon follows the Soma sacrifice in this way, that
chapters 7–10 contain the practical ceremonial and 11–30 the recitations (shastra) of the hotar. Sayana, in the introduction
to his commentary on the work, ascribes the Aitareya to the sage Mahidasa Aitareya (i.e. son of Itara), also mentioned
elsewhere as a philosopher; and it seems likely enough that this person arranged the Brahmana and founded the school of
the Aitareyins. Regarding the authorship of the sister work we have no information, except that the opinion of the sage
Kaushitaki is frequently referred to in it as authoritative, and generally in opposition to the Paingya—the Brahmana, it would
seem, of a rival school, the Paingins. Probably, therefore, it is just what one of the manuscripts calls it—the Brahmana of
Sankhayana (composed) in accordance with the views of Kaushitaki.[citation needed]

Rigveda Aranyakas and Upanishads

See also: Aranyaka and Upanishads
Each of these two Brahmanas is supplemented by a "forest book", or Aranyaka. The Aitareyaranyaka is not a uniform
production. It consists of five books (aranyaka), three of which, the first and the last two, are of a liturgical nature, treating of
the ceremony called mahavrata, or great vow. The last of these books, composed in sutra form, is, however, doubtless of
later origin, and is, indeed, ascribed by Hindu authorities either to Shaunaka or to Ashvalayana. The second and third books,
on the other hand, are purely speculative, and are also styled the Bahvrca-brahmana-upanishad. Again, the last four
chapters of the second book are usually singled out as the Aitareya Upanishad,[77] ascribed, like its Brahmana (and the first
book), to Mahidasa Aitareya; and the third book is also referred to as the Samhita-upanishad. As regards the Kaushitaki-
aranyaka, this work consists of 15 adhyayas, the first two (treating of the mahavrata ceremony) and the 7th and 8th of which
correspond to the first, fifth, and third books of the Aitareyaranyaka, respectively, whilst the four adhyayas usually inserted
between them constitute the highly interesting Kaushitaki (Brahmana-) Upanishad,[78] of which we possess two different
recensions. The remaining portions (9–15) of the Aranyaka treat of the vital airs, the internal Agnihotra, etc., ending with
the vamsha, or succession of teachers.

Dating and historical context

Further information: Historical Vedic religion, Vedic period, and Proto-Indo-Aryan
Geographical distribution of the Vedic era texts. Each of major regions had their own recension of Rig Veda (Sakhas), and the versions

varied.[2]

According to Jamison and Brereton, in their 2014 translation of the Rigveda, the dating of this text "has been and is likely to
remain a matter of contention and reconsideration". The dating proposals so far are all inferred from the style and the
content within the hymns themselves.[79] Philological estimates tend to date the bulk of the text to the second half of the
second millennium.[note 5] Being composed in an early Indo-Aryan language, the hymns must post-date the Indo-
Iranian separation, dated to roughly 2000 BC.[81] A reasonable date close to that of the composition of the core of the
Rigveda is that of the Mitanni documents of northern Syria and Iraq (c. 1450–1350 BC), which also mention the Vedic gods
such as Varuna, Mitra and Indra.[39][82] Other evidence also points to a composition close to 1400 BC.[83][84]
The Rigveda's core is accepted to date to the late Bronze Age, making it one of the few examples with an unbroken
tradition. Its composition is usually dated to roughly between c. 1500 BC – 1200 BC. [13][14][15][note 6] According to Asko Parpola, the
Rigveda was systematized around 1000 BCE, at the time of the Kuru kingdom.[85]
The Rigveda is far more archaic than any other Indo-Aryan text. For this reason, it was in the center of attention of western
scholarship from the times of Max Müller and Rudolf Roth onwards. The Rigveda records an early stage of Vedic religion.
There are strong linguistic and cultural similarities with the early Iranian Avesta,[86][87] deriving from the Proto-Indo-
Iranian times,[88] often associated with the early Andronovo culture (or rather, the Sintashta culture within the early Andronovo
horizon) of c. 2000 BC.[89]
The Rigveda offers no direct evidence of social or political system in Vedic era, whether ordinary or elite. [75] Only hints such
as cattle raising and horse racing are discernible, and the text offers very general ideas about the ancient Indian society.
There is no evidence, state Jamison and Brereton, of any elaborate, pervasive or structured caste system. [75] Social
stratification seems embryonic, then and later a social ideal rather than a social reality. [75] The society was semi-nomadic and
pastoral with evidence of agriculture since hymns mention plow and celebrate agricultural divinities. [90] There was division of
labor, and complementary relationship between kings and poet-priests but no discussion of relative status of social classes.
[75]
 Women in Rigveda appear disproportionately as speakers in dialogue hymns, both as mythical or divine Indrani, Apsaras
Urvasi, or Yami, as well as Apāla Ātreyī (RV 8.91), Godhā (RV 10.134.6), Ghoṣā Kākṣīvatī (RV 10.39.40), Romaśā (RV
1.126.7), Lopāmudrā (RV 1.179.1–2), Viśvavārā Ātreyī (RV 5.28), Śacī Paulomī (RV 10.159), Śaśvatī Āṅgirasī (RV 8.1.34).
The women of Rigveda are quite outspoken and appear more sexually confident than men, in the text. [75] Elaborate and
esthetic hymns on wedding suggest rites of passage had developed during the Rigvedic period. [75] There is little evidence
of dowry and no evidence of sati in it or related Vedic texts.[91]
The Rigvedic hymns mention rice and porridge, in hymns such as 8.83, 8.70, 8.77 and 1.61 in some versions of the text,
[92]
 however there is no discussion of rice cultivation.[90] The term "ayas" (metal) occurs in the Rigveda, but it is unclear which
metal it was.[93] Iron is not mentioned in Rigveda, something scholars have used to help date Rigveda to have been
composed before 1000 BC.[94] Hymn 5.63 mentions "metal cloaked in gold", suggesting metal working had progressed in the
Vedic culture.[95]
Some of the names of gods and goddesses found in the Rigveda are found amongst other belief systems based on Proto-
Indo-European religion, while most of the words used share common roots with words from other Indo-European languages.
[96]
 However, about 300 words in the Rigveda are neither Indo-Aryan nor Indo-European, states the Sanskrit and Vedic
literature scholar Frits Staal.[97] Of these 300, many – such as kapardin, kumara, kumari, kikata – come from Munda or proto-
Munda languages found in the eastern and northeastern (Assamese) region of India, with roots in Austro-Asiatic languages.
The others in the list of 300 – such as mleccha and nir – have Dravidian roots found in the southern region of India, or are of
Tibeto-Burman origins. A few non-Indo-European words in the Rigveda – such as for camel, mustard and donkey – belong
to a possibly lost Central Asian language. [97][98][note 7] The linguistic sharing provide clear indications, states Michael Witzel, that
the people who spoke Rigvedic Sanskrit already knew and interacted with Munda and Dravidian speakers. [100]
The earliest text were composed in northwestern regions of the Indian subcontinent, and the more philosophical later texts
were most likely composed in or around the region that is the modern era state of Haryana.[94]

Significance
The text is a highly stylized poetical Vedic Sanskrit with praise addressed to the Vedic gods and chieftains. Most hymns,
according to Witzel, were intended to be recited at the annual New Year Soma ritual. [101] The text also includes some
nonritual poetry,[101] fragments of mythology, archaic formulas, and a number of hymns with early philosophical speculations.
[102]
 Composed by the poets of different clans, including famed Vedic rishis (sages) such as Vishvamitra and Vasishtha, these
signify the power of prestige therewith to vac (speech, sound), a tradition set in place.[101] The text introduced the prized
concepts such as Rta (active realization of truth, cosmic harmony) which inspired the later Hindu concept of Dharma. The
Rigvedic verses formulate this Rta as effected by Brahman, a significant and non-self-evident truth.[101] The text also contains
hymns of "highly poetical value" – some in dialogue form, along with love stories that likely inspired later Epic and classical
poets of Hinduism, states Witzel.[102]
According to Nadkarni, several hymns of the Rigveda embed cherished virtues and ethical statements. For example, verses
5.82.7, 6.44.8, 9.113.4, 10.133.6 and 10.190.1 mention truthful speech, truthful action, self-discipline and righteousness. [103]
[104]
 Hymn 10.117 presents the significance of charity and of generosity between human beings, how helping someone in
need is ultimately in the self-interest of the helper, its importance to an individual and the society. [6][105] According to Jamison
and Brereton, hymns 9.112 and 9.113 poetically state, "what everyone [humans and all living beings] really want is gain or
an easy life", even a water drop has a goal – namely, "simply to seek Indra". These hymns present the imagery of being in
heaven as "freedom, joy and satisfaction", a theme that appears in the Hindu Upanishads to characterize their teachings of
self-realization.[106][107]

Monism debate
While the older hymns of the Rigveda reflect sacrificial ritual typical of polytheism,[108] its younger parts, specifically mandalas
1 and 10, have been noted as containing monistic or henotheistic speculations.[108]
Nasadiya Sukta (10.129):
There was neither non-existence nor existence then;
Neither the realm of space, nor the sky which is beyond;
What stirred? Where? In whose protection?
There was neither death nor immortality then;
No distinguishing sign of night nor of day;
That One breathed, windless, by its own impulse;
Other than that there was nothing beyond.
Darkness there was at first, by darkness hidden;
Without distinctive marks, this all was water;
That which, becoming, by the void was covered;
That One by force of heat came into being;
Who really knows? Who will here proclaim it?
Whence was it produced? Whence is this creation?
Gods came afterwards, with the creation of this universe.
Who then knows whence it has arisen?
Whether God's will created it, or whether He was mute;
Perhaps it formed itself, or perhaps it did not;
Only He who is its overseer in highest heaven knows,
Only He knows, or perhaps He does not know.
—Rigveda 10.129 (Abridged, Tr: Kramer / Christian)[7] This hymn is one of the roots of Hindu philosophy.[109]

A widely cited example of such speculations is hymn 1.164.46:

They call him Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni, and he is heavenly nobly-winged Garutman.
To what is One, sages give many a title they call it Agni, Yama, Matarisvan.

— Rigveda 1.164.46, Translated by Ralph Griffith[110][111]

Max Müller notably introduced the term "henotheism" for the philosophy expressed here, avoiding the connotations of
"monotheism" in Judeo-Christian tradition.[111][112] Other widely cited examples of monistic tendencies include hymns 1.164,
8.36 and 10.31,[113][114] Other scholars state that Rigveda includes an emerging diversity of thought, including monotheism,
polytheism, henotheism and pantheism, the choice left to the preference of the worshipper. [115] and the Nasadiya
Sukta (10.129), one of the most widely cited Rigvedic hymns in popular western presentations.
Ruse (2015) commented on the old discussion of "monotheism" vs. "henotheism" vs. "monism" by noting an
"atheistic streak" in hymns such as 10.130.[116]
Examples from Mandala 1 adduced to illustrate the "metaphysical" nature of the contents of the younger hymns include:
1.164.34: "What is the ultimate limit of the earth?", "What is the center of the universe?", "What is the semen of the cosmic
horse?", "What is the ultimate source of human speech?"; 1.164.34: "Who gave blood, soul, spirit to the earth?", "How could
the unstructured universe give origin to this structured world?"; 1.164.5: "Where does the sun hide in the night?", "Where do
gods live?"; 1.164.6: "What, where is the unborn support for the born universe?"; 1.164.20 (a hymn that is widely cited in the
Upanishads as the parable of the Body and the Soul): "Two birds with fair wings, inseparable companions; Have found
refuge in the same sheltering tree. One incessantly eats from the fig tree; the other, not eating, just looks on.". [9]

Reception in Hinduism
Part of a series on

Hindu scriptures and texts

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Shruti
The Vedas as a whole are classed as "shruti" in Hindu tradition. This has been compared to the concept of divine
revelation in Western religious tradition, but Staal argues that "it is nowhere stated that the Veda was revealed", and
that shruti simply means "that what is heard, in the sense that it is transmitted from father to son or from teacher to pupil".
[117]
 The Rigveda, or other Vedas, do not anywhere assert that they are apauruṣeyā, and this reverential term appears only
centuries after the end of the Vedic period in the texts of the Mimamsa school of Hindu philosophy.[117][118][119] The text of
Rigveda suggests it was "composed by poets, human individuals whose names were household words" in the Vedic age,
states Staal.[117]

Medieval Hindu scholarship

By the period of Puranic Hinduism, in the medieval period, the language of the hymns had become "almost entirely
unintelligible", and their interpretation mostly hinged on mystical ideas and sound symbolism.[120]
According to the Puranic tradition, Ved Vyasa compiled all the four Vedas, along with the Mahabharata and the Puranas.
Vyasa then taught the Rigveda samhita to Paila, who started the oral tradition. [121] An alternate version states that Shakala
compiled the Rigveda from the teachings of Vedic rishis, and one of the manuscript recensions mentions Shakala. [121]
The authors of the Brāhmana literature discussed and interpreted the Vedic ritual. Yaska was an early commentator of
the Rigveda by discussing the meanings of difficult words. In the 14th century, Sāyana wrote an exhaustive commentary on
it.[citation needed]
A number of other commentaries (bhāṣyas) were written during the medieval period, including the commentaries by
Skandasvamin (pre-Sayana, roughly of the Gupta period), Udgitha (pre-Sayana), Venkata-Madhava (pre-Sayana, c. 10th to
12th centuries) and Mudgala (after Sayana, an abbreviated version of Sayana's commentary). [122][full citation needed]

Contemporary Hinduism
The hymn 10.85 of the Rigveda includes the Vivaha-sukta (above). Its recitation continues to be a part of Hindu wedding rituals. [123][124]

Rigveda, in contemporary Hinduism, has been a reminder of the ancient cultural heritage and point of pride for Hindus, with
some hymns still in use in major rites of passage ceremonies, but the literal acceptance of most of the textual essence is
long gone.[125][126] Musicians and dance groups celebrate the text as a mark of Hindu heritage, through incorporating Rigvedic
hymns in their compositions, such as in Hamsadhvani and Subhapantuvarali of Carnatic music, and these have remained
popular among the Hindus for decades.[125]
According to Louis Renou, the Vedic texts are a distant object, and "even in the most orthodox domains, the reverence to
the Vedas has come to be a simple raising of the hat".[125] According to Andrea Pinkney, "the social history and context of the
Vedic texts are extremely distant from contemporary Hindu religious beliefs and practice", and the reverence for the Vedas
in contemporary Hinduism illustrates the respect among the Hindus for their heritage. [125]

Arya Samaj and Aurobindo movements

In the 19th- and early 20th-centuries, some reformers like Swami Dayananda Saraswati—founder of the Arya Samaj, Sri
Aurobindo—founder of Sri Aurobindo Ashram, discussed the Vedas, including the Rig veda, for their philosophies.
According to Robson, Dayanand believed "there were no errors in the Vedas (including the Rigveda), and if anyone showed
him an error, he would maintain that it was a corruption added later". [127]
Dayananda and Aurobindo interpret the Vedic scholars had a monotheistic conception. [128] Aurobindo attempted to interpret
hymns to Agni in the Rigveda as mystical.[128] Aurobindo states that the Vedic hymns were a quest after a higher truth, define
the Rta (basis of Dharma), conceive life in terms of a struggle between the forces of light and darkness, and sought the
ultimate reality.[128]

Ethnic origins
The Rigveda has been referred to in the "Indigenous Aryans" and Out of India theory.[129][130] These theories are controversial.
[131][132]

Translations
The first published translation of any portion of the Rigveda in any European language was into Latin, by Friedrich August
Rosen (Rigvedae specimen, London 1830). Predating Müller's first printed edition (editio princeps) of the text by 19 years,
Rosen was working from manuscripts brought back from India by Colebrooke. H. H. Wilson was the first to make a
translation of the Rig Veda into English, published in six volumes during the period 1850–88. [133] Wilson's version was based
on the commentary of Sāyaṇa. Müller published the most studied edition of the Rig Veda Samhita and Padapatha in 6
volumes Muller, Max, ed. (W. H. Allen and Co., London, 1849). [134] It has an English preface[135] The birch bark from which
Müller produced his translation is held at The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune, India. [136]
Karl Friedrick Geldner completed the earliest scholarly translation of Rigveda in 1920s, in German. This was published in
1951.[134] Louis Renou completed the first French translation between 1955 and 1969, while Elizarenkova completed a
Russian translation between 1989 and 1999.[134] Griffith's English translation came earlier, in 1892. However, Griffith's
philology was outdated even in the 19th-century and questioned by scholars.[134] H.D. Velankar's translations published over
the 1950s and 1960s were significant improvements over Griffith's translation. [134] Translations of shorter cherrypicked
anthologies have been published by Wendy Doniger in 1981, and by Walter Maurer in 1986. According to Jamison and
Brereton, these anthologies "tend to create a distorted view of the Rigveda". [134]
The Rigveda is the earliest, the most venerable, obscure, distant and difficult for moderns to understand – hence is often
misinterpreted or worse: used as a peg on which to hang an idea or a theory.

— Frits Staal, Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights [137]
Like all archaic texts, the Rigveda is difficult to translate into modern language, [138][139] "There are no closely contemporary
extant texts, which makes it difficult to interpret." [140] and early translations contained straightforward errors. [117] Another issue
is the choice of translation for technical terms such as mandala, conventionally translated "book", but more literally rendered
"cycle".[117][141] In 1994, Barend A. van Nooten and Gary B. Holland published the first attempt to restore Rigveda in its entirety
in the poetic form. They identified elements that appeared to them as inappropriate combinations and obscuring the
meaning of the text. They reconstructured the text into a poetic form. [142]

Definitions[edit]
One definition, used in the rest of this article, includes the period from the 6th century, [2] the "first half of the 7th century",[3] or
the 8th century[4] up to the 16th century, essentially coinciding with the Middle Ages of Europe. It may be divided into two
periods: The 'early medieval period' which lasted from the 6th to the 13th century and the 'late medieval period' which lasted
from the 13th to the 16th century, ending with the start of the Mughal Empire in 1526. The Mughal era, from the 16th century
to the 18th century, is often referred to as the early modern period,[2] but is sometimes also included in the 'late medieval'
period. The Mughal Empire was the world's largest economy during this period. [5]
An alternative definition, often seen in those more recent authors who still use the term at all, brings the start of the medieval
period forward, either to about 1000 CE, or to the 12th century.[6] The end may be pushed back to the 18th century, making
the period in effect that between the start of Muslim domination (at least in northern India) and British India. Or the "early
medieval" period as beginning in the 8th century, and ending with the 11th century. [7]
The use of "medieval" at all as a term for periods in Indian history has often been objected to, and is probably becoming
more rare (there is a similar discussion in terms of the history of China).[8] It is argued that neither the start nor the end of the
period really mark fundamental changes in Indian history, comparable to the European equivalents. [9] Burton Stein still used
the concept in his A History of India (1998, referring to the period from the Guptas to the Mughals), but most recent authors
using it are Indian. Understandably, they often specify the period they cover within their titles. Several historians view the
death of emperor Aurangzeb as the end of Medieval Indian history and the start of Modern Indian history. [10]

Periods[edit]
Early medieval period[edit]
Main article: Middle kingdoms of India
The start of the period is typically taken to be the slow collapse of the Gupta Empire from about 480 to 550,[11] ending
the "classical" period, as well as "ancient India",[12] although both these terms may be used for periods with widely different
dates, especially in specialized fields such as the history of art or religion. [13] Another alternative for the preceding period is
"Early Historical" strectching "from the sixth century BC to the sixth century AD", according to Romila Thapar.[14]
At least in northern India, there was no larger state until perhaps the Delhi Sultanate, or certainly the Mughal Empire, [15] but
there were several different dynasties ruling large areas for long periods, as well as many other dynasties ruling smaller
areas, often paying some form of tribute to larger states. John Keay puts the typical number of dynasties within the
subcontinent at any one time at between 20 and 40,[16] not including local rajas.

 Pratihara dynasty, was the last largest dynasty of northern India which rivaled Gupta empire in extent and ruled
most part of India from 6th century up-to 11th century. they were successful for stopping Muslim conquests of India for
nearly 400 years. and destroyed Muslim armies according to the Arab accounts. their capital was kannuaj and were the
first Rajput empire. they can be differentiated from other kingdoms as they were called Imperial Pratiharas.
 Rashtrakuta dynasty, was a Kannada Dynasty ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the 6th and
the 10th centuries and one who built World Heritage center Ellora, Maharashtra.
 Eastern Chalukyas, 7th to 12th centuries, a South Indian Kannada dynasty whose kingdom was located in the
present-day Andhra Pradesh they were the descendants of Western Chalukyas.
 Pallava dynasty, rulers of Telugu and some Tamil areas from the 6th to 9th centuries.
 Pala Empire, the last major Buddhist rulers, from the 8th to 12th centuries in Bengal. Briefly controlled most of
north India in the 9th century.
 Chola Empire, a South Indian empire which ruled from Tamil Nadu and extended to include South-east Asian
territories at its height. From 9th century to 13th century.
 Empire of Harsha, a brief period of control of most of north India, from 601 to 647, under Harsha of the Vardhana
dynasty.
 Western Chalukya Empire, ruled most of the western Deccan and some of South India, between the 10th and 12th
centuries. Kannada-speaking, with capital at Badami.
 Kalachuri dynasty, ruled areas in Central India during 10th-12th centuries.
 Western Ganga dynasty, was an important ruling dynasty of ancient Karnataka, often under the overlordship of
larger states, from about 350 to 1000 AD. The large monolithic Bahubali of Shravanabelagola was built during their
rule.
 Eastern Ganga dynasty, was a royal dynasty ruling Odisha region who are descendants of Kannada Western
Ganga Dynasty and Tamil Chola Empire. They have built famous Konark Sun Temple and Jagannath Temple, Puri.
 Hoysala Empire, a prominent South Indian Kannadiga empire that ruled most of the modern day state
of Karnataka between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The capital of the Hoysalas was initially located at Belur but was
later moved to Halebidu.
 Kakatiya Kingdom, a Telugu dynasty that ruled most of current day Andhra Pradesh, India from 1083 to 1323 CE.
 The Sena dynasty, was a Hindu dynasty that ruled from Bengal through the 11th and 12th centuries. The empire at
its peak covered much of the north-eastern region of the Indian subcontinent. The rulers of the Sena Dynasty traced
their origin to the south Indian region of Karnataka.

Late medieval era[edit]

Following the Muslim conquests of the Indian subcontinent and the decline of Buddhism were seen to be taken place,
eventually founding the Delhi Sultanate and creating the Indo-Islamic architecture, followed by the world's major trading
nation Bengal Sultanate.[17][18]

 Delhi Sultanate, five short-lived dynasties, based in Delhi, from 1206 to 1526, when it fell to the Mughal Empire.
 Chero dynasty, 12th CE-18th CE ruled much parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand.
 Bengal Sultanate, 1352 to 1576, ruled over Bengal and much of Burma.
 Ahom Kingdom, 1228–1826, Brahmaputra valley in Assam, resisted the Mughals, eventually taken by the British.
 Reddy Kingdom, 1325 to 1448, in Andhra Pradesh.
 Seuna (Yadava) dynasty, 1190-1315, an old Kannada-Maratha dynasty, which at its peak ruled a kingdom
stretching from the Tungabhadra to the Narmada rivers, including present-day Maharashtra, north Karnataka and parts
of Madhya Pradesh, from its capital at Devagiri.
 Rajput States, were a group of Rajput Hindu states that ruled present-day Rajasthan, and at times much
of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Western Uttar Pradesh and Central Uttar Pradesh. Many
Rajput kingdoms continued under the Mughals and as Princely States in British India until Indian independence.
 Vijayanagara Empire, 1336–1646, a Hindu-Kannadiga empire based in Karnataka, in the Deccan
Plateau region. UNESCO World Heritage site Hampi in Bellary district of Karnataka was their capital city.
 Gajapati Kingdom, was a medieval Hindu dynasty that ruled over Kalinga (the present day Orissa).

Early modern era[edit]

The start of the Mughal Empire in 1526 marked the beginning of the early modern period of Indian history, [2] often referred to
as the Mughal era. Sometimes, the Mughal era is also referred to as the 'late medieval' period.

 Mughal Empire, was an imperial state founded by Babur, who had Turco-Mongol origin from Central Asia. The
empire ruled most of the Indian subcontinent from 16th to 18th century, though it lingered for another century, formally
ending in 1857.
 Maratha Empire, was an imperial power based in modern-day Maharashtra in western India. Marathas replaced
the Mughal rule over large parts of India in the 18th century, but lost the Anglo-Maratha Wars in the early 19th century,
and became rulers of Princely States.
 Kingdom of Mysore, was a Kannada kingdom have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of
Mysore. Fully independent after the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire in 1646, reduced in size by the British, but ruled
until 1947.
 Nayak dynasty of Kannada, Telugu, Tamil kings ruled parts of south India after the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire
in 1646. Their contribution can be seen in Ikkeri, Sri Ranga, Madurai, and Chitradurga.
 Sikh Empire,[19] was a major power in the Northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, which arose under the
leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the Punjab region. They were usurped by the British East India
Company between early and mid 19th century, following the British victory in the Anglo-Sikh wars.

Historiography[edit]
Modern historical works written on Medieval India have received some criticism from scholars studying the historiography of
the period. E. Sreedharan argues that, after Indian independence up until the 1960s, Indian historians were often motivated
by Indian nationalism.[20] Peter Hardy notes that the majority of modern historical works on Medieval India up until then were
written by British and Hindu historians, whereas the work of modern Muslim historians was under-represented. [21] However,
he argues that some of the modern Muslim historiography on Medieval India at the time was motivated by Islamic
apologetics, attempting to justify "the life of medieval Muslims to the modern world." [22]
Ram Sharan Sharma has criticised the simplistic manner in which Indian history is often divided into an ancient "Hindu"
period, a medieval "Muslim" period, and a modern "British" period. He argues that there is no clear sharp distinction between
when the ancient period ended and when the medieval period began, noting dates ranging from the 7th century to the 13th
century.[23]
A chaitya, chaitya hall, chaitya-griha, or caitya refers to a shrine, sanctuary, temple or prayer hall in Indian religions.[1][2] The
term is most common in Buddhism, where it refers to a space with a stupa and a rounded apse at the end opposite the
entrance, and a high roof with a rounded profile.[3] Strictly speaking, the chaitya is the stupa itself,[4] and the Indian buildings
are chaitya halls, but this distinction is often not observed. Outside India, the term is used by Buddhists for local styles of
small stupa-like monuments in Nepal, Cambodia, Indonesia and elsewhere. In the historical texts of Jainism and Hinduism,
including those relating to architecture, chaitya refers to a temple, sanctuary or any sacred monument.[5][6][7]
Most early examples of chaitya that survive are Indian rock-cut architecture. Scholars agree that the standard form follows a
tradition of free-standing halls made of wood and other plant materials, none of which has survived. The curving ribbed
ceilings imitate timber construction. In the earlier examples, timber was used decoratively, with wooden ribs added to stone
roofs. At the Bhaja Caves and the "Great Chaitya" of the Karla Caves, the original timber ribs survive; elsewhere marks on
the ceiling show where they once were. Later, these ribs were rock-cut. Often, elements in wood, such as screens, porches,
and balconies, were added to stone structures. The surviving examples are similar in their broad layout, though the design
evolved over the centuries.[8]
The halls are high and long, but rather narrow. At the far end stands the stupa, which is the focus of devotion. Parikrama,
the act of circulambulating or walking around the stupa, was an important ritual and devotional practice, and there is always
clear space to allow this. The end of the hall is thus rounded, like the apse in Western architecture.[9] There are always
columns along the side walls, going up to the start of the curved roof, and a passage behind the columns,
creating aisles and a central nave, and allowing ritual circumambulation or pradakhshina, either immediately around the
stupa, or around the passage behind the columns. On the outside, there is a porch, often very elaborately decorated, a
relatively low entranceway, and above this often a gallery. The only natural light, apart from a little from the entrance way,
comes from a large horseshoe-shaped window above the porch, echoing the curve of the roof inside. The overall effect is
surprisingly similar to smaller Christian churches from the Early Medieval period, though early chaityas are many centuries
earlier.[10]
Chaityas appear at the same sites like the vihara, a strongly contrasting type of building with a low-ceilinged rectangular
central hall, with small cells opening, off it, often on all sides. These often have a shrine set back at the centre of the back
wall, containing a stupa in early examples, or a Buddha statue later. The vihara was the key building in Buddhist monastic
complexes, used to live, study and pray in. Typical large sites contain several viharas for every chaitya. [1

The Sufis were heirs to a tradition of Islamic mysticism, and they have generally been viewed as standing more or less apart

from the social order. Professor Eaton contends to the contrary that the Sufis were an integral part of their society, and that

an understanding of their interaction with it is essential to an understanding of the Sufis themselves. In investigating the

Sufis of Bijapur in South India, (he author identifies three fundamental questions. What was the relationship, he asks,

between the Sufis and Bijapur’s ‘ulama, the upholders of Islamic orthodoxy? Second, how did the Sufis relate to the Bijapur

court? Finally, how did they interact with the non-Muslim population surrounding them, and how did they translate highly

developed mystical traditions into terms meaningful to that population? In answering these questions, the author advances

our knowledge of an important but little-studied city-state in medieval India. Originally published in 1978. The Princeton

Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the

distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important
books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase

access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since it
ufi literature. Sufi literature was initiated under the Bahmanids, when the Češtī Sufis at Rawża, led by Borhān-al-Dīn Ḡarīb’s
successor, Zayn-al-Dīn Šīrāzī (d. 771/1370), began to compile malfūẓāt (Ernst, pp. 80, 134-38, 321 n. 226). Zayn-al-Dīn had
no successors in Rawża, but later Sufis of Borhānpūr, like Bahāʾ-al-Dīn Bājan (d. 912/1507), claimed to have inherited the
authority of Borhān-al-Dīn. In the meantime leadership of the Češtīs passed to Moḥammad Ḥosaynī Gīsūderāz (d.
825/1422), who had left Delhi for Golbarga in 800/1398 and become attached to the Bahmanid court. A prolific author, he
was a major force in transmitting the heritage of Persian Sufism in the Deccan. He wrote many mystical treatises in Persian,
including Ḥaẓāʾer al-qods, Asmār al-asrār; commentaries on classical works on Islamic law, theology, and Sufism; letters;
and poetry. His descendants also made literary contributions to Sufism (Siddiqi, pp. 199-206; Hussaini, passim). The
writings by members of other Sufi orders (selsela) prominent in the early Bahmanid period, particularly the Jonaydīs, are
now known only through later references (Siddiqi, pp. 95-107, 207-09). The Bahmanid rulers encouraged the immigration of
Sufi masters from Persia and Iraq as part of a policy of favoring foreigners (āfāqī) over Indians. The Neʿmat-Allāhī order
became established at Bīdar when its founder, Shah Neʿmat-Allāh Walī (731-834/1330-1431), sent one of his grandsons to
act as a guide for the prince who later became Aḥmad II Bahmanī (839-62/1436-58); the order thrived in the Deccan until its
leaders decided to return to Persia in the late 17th century. The Qāderī order arrived at Bīdar from Baghdad, also in the 15th
century, and later spread to Bījāpūr and Golconda (Eaton, pp. 56-58; Siddiqi, pp. 69-95).

At Golconda the Qoṭbšāhīs, who continued to favor Shiʿism, concentrated their patronage on Dakhani Urdu and Telegu
poetry in honor of the imams and on scholarship and poetry in Arabic. There is little evidence of Sufi activity at Ahmadnagar,
and in Bījāpūr the ʿĀdelšāhīs seem not to have become patrons of Sufism until the late 16th century, when Sunni Islam
replaced Shiʿism there under Ebrāhīm ʿĀdelšāh (Eaton, pp. 70-79). At that time many Češtī and Qāderī Sufis settled in the
city, and the Šaṭṭārī order from northern India also established centers at Bījāpūr and Borhānpūr. An exceptionally strong
literary tradition was initiated by Češtī authors like Šams-al-Dīn Mīranjī (d. 905/1499), Borhān-al-Dīn Jānam (d. after
1006/1597), and Amīn-al-Dīn ʿAlāʾ (d. 1086/1675), who wrote poetry in Dakhani Urdu addressed to a wide readership. Their
Persian works (often translations or commentaries on the Dakhani texts), on the other hand, were aimed at a more
specialized Sufi audience (Eaton, pp. 135-74, 243-81).

As the Mughals expanded into the Deccan, so did Sufi orders that were well established in their domain. Disciples of Aḥmad
Serhendī (d. 1034/1624), leader of the Mojaddedī Naqšbandīs, settled in Borhānpūr, and separate Naqšbandī lineages were
established at the convents (ḵānaqāhs) of Shah Mosāfer Ḡojdovānī at Awrangabad and Shah ʿEnāyat-Allāh (d. 1117/1705) at
Balapur in Berar. The Šaṭṭārī master Moḥammad Ḡawṯ (d. 971/1563) had flourished under the Mughals, and his disciples
from Gujarat developed a major center in Borhānpūr, a city to which many Sufis from Sind were also attracted. The
successive leaders of this Šaṭṭārī lineage were Laškar Moḥammad ʿĀref (d. 993/1585), ʿĪsā Jond-Allāh (d. 1031/1622), and
Borhān-al-Dīn Rāz-e Elāhī (d. 1083/1672); ʿĪsā in particular was a prolific writer on mystical topics (e.g., ʿAyn al-maʿānī)
and a commentator on Islamic law and theology. Among other significant works produced by this school were Ebrāhīm
Šaṭṭārī Jannatābādī’s Āʾīna-ye ḥaqāʾeqnomā, a commentary on Moḥammad-Šīrīn Māḡrebī’s Jām-e jahānnomā based on the
metaphysics of Ebn al-ʿArabī. At the end of the Mughal period there was also a renaissance of the Češtī order in the Deccan
under the leadership of Neẓām-al-Dīn Awrangābādī (d. 1142/1728), who followed the instructions of his teacher in Delhi,
Shah Kalīm-Allāh Jahānābādī (d. 1142/1729). Neẓām-al-Dīn’s relationship with Neẓām-al-Molk Āṣaf-jāh was so close that
the latter wrote a biography of him (Nizami, 1980-85, I, pp. 290 ff., V, pp. 81-181). A good survey of Sufism under the
later neẓāms has yet to be written.

As many important Persian Sufi writings from the Deccan remain in manuscript or have not survived, biographical works
that include excerpts from them are extremely valuable. Among the most important is the pan-Indian hagiography Aḵbār
al-aḵyār by ʿAbd-al-Ḥaqq Dehlavī. Also of great value for the Deccan is Moḥammad Ḡawṯī’s Golzār-e abrār (comp.
1022/1613), which is devoted especially to the saints of Gujarat and western India. Other significant Persian hagiographies
for the Deccan are the anonymous Fatḥ al-awlīāʾ (1020/1610) on the saints of Rawża and Borhānpūr, composed for ʿAbd-al-
Raḥīm Ḵān-e Ḵānān; Rawżat al-awlīāʾ (comp. 1161/1748) by Āzād Belgrāmī on the saints of Khuldabad and
Awrangabad; Meškāt-e nobūwat (1220/1804-05) by ʿAlī Mūsawī on saints of the Deccan, including Hyderabad; and Rawżat
al-awlīāʾ. Taḏkera-ye awlīāʾ-e Bījāpūr (comp. 1241/1825-26) by Moḥammad-Ebrāhīm Zobayrī (Storey, I, pp. 979, 984,
1024; Ernst, pp. 91-92, 209-12; Eaton, pp. 334-35). Most of these collections were either produced under royal patronage or
include traditions of political origin, so that their accounts must often be measured against the traditions found
in malfūẓāt texts and other Sufi writings. As use of the Persian language declined during the 19th century, the history of
Sufism in Hyderabad and the rest of the Deccan must be supplemented with works written in Dakhani Urdu and other local
languages for the benefit of devotees.

Other kinds of literature. Various minor Persian works were written on the subjects of music, Islamic law, astronomy, and
the like, and some translations from Arabic (generally on religious topics) and Sanskrit (on veterinary science and music)
were produced. Perhaps the most noteworthy of these works is the well-known Persian dictionary Borhān-e qāṭeʿ, composed
by Moḥammad-Ḥosayn Borhān Tabrīzī for ʿAbd-Allāh Qoṭbšāh in 1062/1652. It was the target of caustic criticism by the
19th-century poet Mīrzā Asad-Allāh Ḡāleb in his Qāṭeʿ-e borhān.