The period from the sixth to fourth century BCE witnessed a transition to a new historical scene in

northern India with the establishment of kingdoms, oligarchies chiefdoms and the emergence of towns.
If various degrees of state formation were evident in the polities, degrees of urbanization were similarly
reflected in different kinds of towns. During this period of urbanization termed the second urbanisation
the manifold political and economic changes that took place were reflected in the social fabric too when
it reached the middle-Ganga region.

Information about this period may be gleaned primarily from the later Vedic texts, the Sutra literature
(Grihya sutra, Kalpa sutra, Sulya sutra and Brihya sutra) and the Dharmasutras. The Buddhist sutras,
nikayas and Mahayana and Hinayana texts along with some Jain sources also furnish information about
the period.

Varna
The origin of varna is reasonably clear from references in the Vedic corpus. For a society to become a
caste-based society there have to be three preconditions,- a)the society must register social disparities;
b) there has to be unequal access of various groups within that society to economic resources; and c)
inequalities should be legitimized through a theoretically irreversible hierarchy. There were four types of
varnas, - Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaisya and Sudra. The varnas were ideally supposed to be endogamous
(marriage had to take place within the particular varna).

With the rise of janapadas and Mahajanapadas and the emergence of urbanisation in the sixth century
BCE society became complex. The Dharmasutras codified the social, economic and political norms of
society which had to be followed. They furnished a wide range of ritual activity to be followed by each
social being.
The Brahmanas had an exalted status in the varna hierarchy, associated as they were with the
performance of sacrifices and with knowledge. The Satapatha Brahmana associates the Brahmana with
four special attributes, - purity of parentage, good conduct, glory and teaching. They dominated all
religious rituals, whether it concerned the ruling class or that of the common people. Their role in the
performance of royal sacrifices like the Ashwamedha, Rajasuya and Vajapeya underline their significance
in society. They were considered as the mediators between god and men. They were involved with the
elaborate code of the ten samskaras that each member of society had to follow (from conception to
death). The Brahmana was the sole interpreter of the Vedas.
The Kshatriyas or Rajanya were connected with strength, fame, ruling and warfare.The Vaisyas were
associated with material prosperity, animals, food and production related activities such as cattle
rearing and agriculture. The Sudra was associated with serving the higher varnas and performing menial
tasks. According to the Aitareya Brahmana the Sudra is at the beck and call of others, can be made to

rise at will and can be beaten at will (yatha-kama-vadhya). Although there are no clear indications of the
practice of untouchability in later Vedic texts, groups such as the Chandalas were clearly looked upon
with contempt. Attempts were made to retain caste purity and stop caste-contamination. This enabled
the ruling community to maintain their supremacy and their identity in the newly colonized regions in
the middle-Ganga valley.

The Formation of Jatis

Jatis are mentioned towards the later sections of the Vedic literature. Jati derives its meaning from
birth which determines membership of a group and the status within it; it also determined rules
relating to the circles within which marriage could or could not take place and rules relating to the
inheritance of property. The process of jati formation was primarily a change in social identity and ways
of social functioning. It was not that an existing varna was invariably subdivided into jatis, but that jatis
were often allotted varna statuses. The Dharmasutras explain the origins of jatis through the ingenious
theory of the mixture of varnas from which varna-samkaras rose. They point to jatis as the outcome of
inter-varna marriages. The number of varnas remains fixed at four, while the number of jatis were so
numerous that they cannot be counted. When an inter-varna marriage took place the offspring were not
allotted the varna status of either of the parents but were assigned a jati status.

The forms of marriages

The Dharmasutras refer to the anuloma and pratiloma types of marriage. In the former the male was
from a higher varna while the female from a lower varna, whereas in the latter (pratiloma) type, the
bride was from a higher caste than the bridegroom. The pratiloma was looked down upon by society.

The Sutra literature gives detailed accounts of the types of marriages that were being performed at that
point of time. They refer to eight different kinds of marriages, like Brahma, Daiva, Arsha, Prajapatya,
Asura, Paishacha, Rakshasa, and Gandharva. Sutrakaras did not accept the forms of marriages like
Gandharva, Asura, Paishacha and Rakshasa. This was because in the case of the Gandharva it was not
arranged by the parents but was the choice of the persons getting married. The Asura, Rakshasa and
Paishacha forms were also discredited as they were not swavarna or endogamous marriages. However
the Prajapatya, Arsha and Daiva marriages, where there was a strong patriarchal hold, and the
marriages were within the same varna were sanctioned by the Sutrakaras. The Buddha was a
protagonist of the equality in marriage perhaps because he did not want to upset the social order, as it
existed. He also made distinctions between the high professions and the low professions.

Varna vs. Kula

Kula means lineage, group, clan or family. Among the kulas some were considered ukkattha kula while
others were classified as hina kulas, depending on the nature of ones occupation. The term shippa was
also used to denote ones occupation. Buddhist texts have references to both types of kulas. The
ukkattha or utkrishta shippa or kula, included those engaged in such professions as agriculture, cattle
rearing, trade and accounting, while people like the washerman, barber and scavengers were
considered the hina shippa.

The Dasha Samskara

The Sutras mention different kinds of samskara, or sacraments. The Dasha samskara refers to the ten
compulsory sacraments that one had to follow throughout ones life (from conception to death) in
keeping with the different stages one has to go through. It included the common rituals like rice-eating
ceremony, sacred thread ceremony and similar rituals for marriage, child bearing and funeral.

The New Elites

Buddhist texts reveal a connection between the extension of agriculture, the emergence of individual
holding of land, the family as the unit of production and the category of the gahapati who were strongly
entrenched as controllers of the means of agriculture. It appears that the position of the gahapati came
to be considered at par with the Brahmanas and Kshatriyas during this period.
The setthi of the Pali canon was a high level businessman associated with trade and money lending. He
was an important commercial magnate who was involved in commercial and in industrial activities and
even headed the guilds. There are several references to extremely wealthy setthis living in style in cities
such as Rajagriha and Varanasi.

Interestingly the term gahapati can be translated into the Sanskrit Grihapati, which means the
householder. But a gahapati was far beyond such a position and was in effect a person who had
accumulated enough wealth from agriculture, which he then used for other purposes and soon came to
be considered an influential member of society. He is taken to be one of the seven jewels of a
Chakravarti Rajas court.

There was another category of person known as the setthi-gahapati who was different from a setthi or a
gahapati because a setthi-gahapati was a person who had accumulated a lot of wealth from his
agricultural surplus, which he then used for non-agricultural purposes or for trade. So he is set in a rural
milieu as well as set in an urban milieu.

A setthi or a sresthi was very close to the rulers. There are several stories in the Jatakas, which mention
the closeness between the Buddha and the setthi, or the closeness between the setthi and the ruler.
The Buddhist texts give us lot of examples of Anathapindaka, a very rich setthi (he is also referred to as a
gahapati) and Jivaka the famous physician, being referred to as a gahapati. All these people are included
in the term gahapati-vagya, which means that they are part of the gahapati milieu. The gahapati
managed the agriculture and the setthi managed the industrial activities of society and hence came to
be considered the elite of society.
The setthis and gahapatis were powerful no doubt and enjoyed enough importance but ritually speaking
they were not allotted as high a ranking as the Brahmanas and Kshatriyas. This may be explained by the
presence of parallel status in society, - the ritual status and the actual status. The gahapatis and setthis
were considered as belonging to the elite by virtue of their actual status.

The Anguttara nikaya in mentioning the different social structures has said that while to a Brahman his
mantras and yajnas constituted his world, to a ruler his field consisted of the kshetra (realm) of his
power. Similarly a gahapati considered the agricultural milieu and how he could get the most out of it.

The period of the janapadas and Mahajanapadas therefore witnessed a multitude of professions, which
formed the basis of the jati identity. The varna and jati corresponded to the ritual and actual status in
society. The emergence of the heterodox sects like Buddhism and Jainism did not make any appreciable
change in the prevalent caste structure. The Buddha no doubt opened the door to all castes for
induction into his order. But so far as everyday society and the lives of people were concerned their
status remained unaltered.

When it came to the question of the status of women Buddha was not very happy for he was not very
open to the induction of a women into his order. Even when the Buddha blessed a woman he would say
that I hope that you will be born as a man in your next birth definitely making a distinctive kind of
existence for the man and woman in society. But what Buddhism did was that in a society ridden by
conflict, chaos, fighting, bloodshed and different kinds of social rivalry and animosity he wanted to bring
some sort of equilibrium by professing peace, so that all the communities could live in harmony, and so
that each person performed the specific duties that were indispensable for the social machinery to
function smoothly. But there were indeed instances of some women playing a significant role in society
and even those who had previously been courtesans being allowed entrance into the order of Buddhist
nuns. But such instances should best be viewed as exceptions.

Given the increasingly patriarchal nature of the household it is not surprising to find that the preference
for sons continued. The early Dharmasutras suggest that girls should be married off as soon as they

attained puberty. The Baudhayana Dharmasutra recommends that a father should marry his daughter
off even to a man devoid of good qualities rather than keep her at home after she attains puberty. The
early Dharmasutras do not approve of widow remarriage. However they specify the number of years an
abandoned woman must wait for her husband before she can remarry. The relationship between
husband and wife had several aspects including mutual support and friendship, procreative activities
and the subordination of the wife to the husband. Texts of the period refer to monogamous and
polygynous marriages. The possibility of divorce and remarriage in some circumstances is suggested by
the story of Mahagovinda who offered to give his forty wives to another man when he decided to
renounce the world. But severe consequences were laid down for women who committed adultery. The
smritikaras forbade cross-cousin marriages.

The early Grihyasutras state that it was the grihapati who was the master of the household. The texts
are however divided on whether the wife could perform domestic rituals or not. Some Grihyasutras
state that a woman could perform rites such as the morning and evening offerings, but could not act
independently as a yajamana in bigger sacrifices. Later Dharmashastras often excluded the wife from
inheriting her husbands property. But a woman definitely had rights over her stridhana (jewellery,
clothes, utensils and other articles given to her by father and relations during her marriage).

Two worldviews seem to have dominated society in the sixth century BCE. While the Brahmanical texts
refer to a social structure that was steeped in varna ideology, the Buddhist texts however emphasise
that social differentiations existed on the basis of difference of occupations and not varna. It must be
remembered that social customs and rules must have varied considerably depending on social group,
region and locality. The Baudhayana Dharmasutra specifically refers to certain customs that were
peculiar to the north and the south.

Q1. What are the Dharmasutras?

The Dharmasutras are part of Vedanga literature as well as the Dharmashastra corpus. They codified the
social, economic and political norms, which a social being had to follow and also prescribed a wide range
of rituals that must be performed by individuals.

Q2. Mention some of the royal rituals where the participation of the Brahmin was necessary.

When the kings performed rituals like the Rajasuya, or the Ashwamedha or the Vajapeya, the mediation
of the Brahman was necessary.

Q3. Describe the genesis of the jatis.

It is not easy to identify how jatis emerged. The jatis may have emerged due to the combination of
factors like the hereditary nature of crafts and occupations, the assimilation of tribal groups into the
larger Brahmanical fold and regulated hierarchy through marriage rules and endogamy. Territorial and
occupational differences also played an important role in the rise of segmented identities.

Q4. Who were the Chandalas?

It was considered that the Chandalas were born as a result of evil deeds committed in previous life. The
offspring of a Shudra man and a Brahman woman was also considered as a Chandala. The Dharmasutras
also prescribed how one should cleanse oneself if he either spoke to or accidentally touched a Chandala.

Q5. Mention the various kinds of marriages mentioned by the Sutra-karas.

The Dharmasutras classify marriages into eight types: Brahma, Daiva, Arsha, Prajapatya, Gandharva,
Asura, Rakshasa and Paishacha.

Q6. Which were the types of marriages that were not favoured by society?
The Gandharva, Asura, Paishacha, Rakshasa were the four forms of marriages that were not favoured by
the Sutrakaras because in case of Gandharva it was the choice of the persons getting married and in
case of other types like the Asura, Rakshasa and Paishacha it was not a Swavarna marriage.

Q7. Difference between Utkrishtashippa and Hinashippa.

Utkrishtashippa meant work like cattle rearing, cultivating, trading and writing work of accountant; and
the work of a washer man or a scavenger were considered as Hinashippa.

Q8. Explain the Dasha Samskara.

The Sutras prescribe ten different kinds of Samskaras (sacraments) called the Dasha Samskara. It talks
about rites, which start from conception to the funeral and includes Upanayana, marriage, Shradha,
Annyaprashna.

Q9. Who is a Setthi Gahapati?

A Setthi Gahapati is a person who uses the wealth that he has acquired from agricultural surplus for
non-agricultural purposes or for trade, and initially provided members to the profession of merchant. He
is therefore a person who is set in a rural milieu as well as an urban milieu.

Q10. Who were the setthis?

The setthi of the Pali canon was a high level businessman and commercial magnate associated with
trade and money lending. Their wealth and influence can be gauged from the fact that they figured
among the important persons in a realm, as heads of guilds and as merchants.
Vedas
A large body of texts in Sanskrit which constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest
scriptures of Hinduism.

Janapadas
Territorial realms of Vedic times of which some by the 6th century BCE evolved into the sixteen classical
Mahajanapadas.

Mahajanapadas
Mahajanapadas means sixteen ancient kingdoms in Indian subcontinent stretching from Gandhara in the
west to Anga in the east and including parts of the trans-Vindhyan region.

Varna
The name of the original social division of Vedic people into four groups, which are sub-divided into jatis.

Dharmashtras

A special group of Sanskrit texts dealing specifically with dharma or natural laws; formed the basis for
the social and religious conduct of Hindus; also dealt with personal, civil and criminal law.

Anuloma
Anuloma is a type of marriage in which the spouses belong to the same caste.

Pratiloma
Pratiloma is a type of marriage in which the spouses belong to different castes.

Buddha (563 BC 483 BC)

Founder of Buddhism, he was originally known as Prince Siddhartha who later became an ascetic and
preached the tenets of Buddhism.

Gahapatis
Wealthy landholders/ agriculturalists and social elites were considered as Gahapatis.

Setthis
Setthis were wealthy merchants and social elites.