Truly unique and peculiar is the history of the state-legal system of India. It is an indisputable fact that civilization, which originated on the banks of the Ganges and was the same age as Sumer and Ancient Egypt, had a significant impact on the philosophical and ethnic views and culture of many peoples of Asia. In addition, the very social structure of Ancient India, briefly described in this article, in fact, had no analogues in the world.
Newcomers to India
According to researchers, the social structure of ancient India was formed during the period of the settlement of its territory in the II millennium BC. e. Aryans ─ peoples who spoke the languages of the Indo-European group. This is evidenced by the oldest monument of history and literature ─ Rigveda (1700-1100 years. BC. E.). A significant part of the aliens were ancient Iranian tribes.
It is known that in terms of their status all their representatives were divided into four main groups, later called varns. The highest among them were the Brahmins ─ clergy, followed by the kshatriyas ─ warriors and Vaisyevas ─ farmers, pastoralists and merchants. The lowest class were the sudras, who performed the duties of servants and laborers.
During the Middle Ages, the order established by the Aryans of the social structure of Ancient India changed somewhat due to the fact that the four pre-existing Varna split into many independent groups called castes. This even more rigidly indicated that each resident of the country belongs to a certain social group, which was consolidated by law over time and took on the character of a stable national tradition, which has largely survived to this day.
Community ownership of land
Features of the social structure of the state of Ancient India have largely determined its difference from other countries of the Ancient East. In particular, it should be noted the prevailing community land tenure system in it with the complete absence of lands owned by the state. An important role was also played by survivals of the clan system that persisted throughout ancient Indian history. It is believed that they formed the basis for the division of society into castes and varnas.
According to the texts contained in the historical monument of the II century BC. e., known as the "Laws of Manu", which in many ways allows us to understand the social structure and legal status of the population of Ancient India, even the king did not own all the land, but owned only hereditary territories. He did not have the right to take away land from anyone or donate it. According to the law, land holdings were untouchable and were at the disposal of the communities, which were the basis on which the caste system was built, so strong that even numerous invaders, such as Arabs, Macedonians, Greeks and Persians, could not break it.
Social Separation
Researchers have several points of view on the origin of varna, which later became the basis of the social structure of the society of Ancient India. According to the most common of them, this process is associated with the Brahman religion. It is believed that the Aryan elite managed to appropriate exclusive rights to religious, military and political activities.
The word "varna" itself is translated from Sanskrit as "rank", "type" or "quality". Belonging to one or another Varna was determined not only the position, profession and size of the salary received, but even the severity of the punishment for the crime committed. Representatives of various varnas had different rights to inheritance, and different interests were charged on financial loans.
The foundations of the social structure of Ancient India ─ Varna and caste ─ found religious justification in the hymns of the Regveda ─ literary monument mentioned at the beginning of the article. In them, representatives of the first three groups ─ brahmanas, ksatriyas and vaisyas ─ are called “twice-born”, and they are given preemptive rights over all who belong to the lower varnas, consisting of “once-born”. Their very large group is called sudra.
The highest social stratum of society
Briefly dwell on the features of these four varnas. According to ancient Indian tradition, representatives of the highest of them ─ Brahmins ─ came from the mouth of the god Brahma and therefore are considered the purest of people. It is almost a deity in human form. Belonging to the Varna of the Brahmins was a hereditary privilege, and its representatives always held the highest public posts.
However, the brahmanas also had their problems. According to religious tradition, each of them was obliged to complete his life's journey with an ascetic, that is, having sensed the approach of death, put on a rags and with a staff in his hands set off to ask for alms. Or retire to the forest thicket and indulge in pious thoughts there. However, over time, there were less and less people who wanted to become ascetics, and today the elderly Brahmins simply move to a separate part of the house and spend time there in complete comfort and with a TV.
The next step of the social ladder
Representatives of the second Varna ─ Kshatriya ─ came, according to legend, from the hands of Brahma. They were also called “twice-born”, but in the social structure of Ancient India they occupied a position of a lower rank. The difference was so great that a nine-year-old brahman could be considered the father of a ninety-year-old ksatriya in his status. Persons who belonged to this estate also had many privileges and held leadership positions both in the army and in the state-administrative sphere.
Despite the fact that religious requirements prescribed the closest cooperation of the brahmanas and the kshatriyas, in reality there was always a sharp competition between them for political power, which sometimes turned into bloody clashes. This is described by many monuments of Sanskrit literature.
Social group of pastoralists and farmers
The third varna is vaisya, which, according to legend, appeared from the thigh of the god Brahma. They were mainly engaged in agriculture, cattle breeding and various crafts, but, since they were also considered double-born, they enjoyed the patronage of representatives of the two highest varnas.
However, even so, the vaisyas were an exploited estate. Of these, militias have always been formed, and they bear the main financial burden, deducting the lion's share of taxes to the treasury. In addition, the ruling class ─ priests sat on the neck of this estate. It is known that vaisyas were rarely among the wealthy citizens.
Those who emerged from the spit of the god Brahma
And finally, representatives of the fourth varna ─ sudras. These had the misfortune to appear from the feet of God. Some sources even claim that sudras from the divine spit formed. One way or another, but they make up the lower class, whose representatives are doomed to serve their higher masters all their lives. Nevertheless, the sudras were an important element of the social structure of ancient India, since they constituted a significant percentage of the total population of the country.
According to the law, which enshrined the principles of the social structure of Ancient India, a sudra was obliged to eat what was left after the master’s meal, to wear his old clothes and obey everything without question. They cut off his tongue for insulting a brahmana, while for his murder a representative of the highest varna was only charged a small fine. And although there are cases when individual sudras achieved material well-being through trading or engaging in crafts, most of them lived in extreme poverty.
Caste castaways
In the era of the Early Middle Ages, within the third and fourth varna, there was a division into numerous castes, belonging to which was determined mainly by belonging to a particular occupation. So the castes of blacksmiths, hairdressers, potters, etc. were formed. In the same period the most “unclean castes” appeared, whose representatives received the infamous name of the untouchables. In the literature they are often called chandalas or pariahs.
These were people whose fate from birth to death became the most dirty, difficult and humiliating types of work. They collected and transported the corpses of the homeless, executed the criminals, cleaned the garbage dumps and cesspools, etc. The untouchables were obliged to settle outside the city limits, and existed as if outside of society. Their situation was even worse than that of the slaves, who also made up part of the population of ancient India, but at the same time had some rights enshrined in law.
Century-Tradition
The political and social structure of ancient India has remained unchanged for many centuries, largely due to the isolation of each of its social groups. It is known that the laws underlying the life of society at the turn of the 2nd and 1st millennia BC. e., excluded any possibility of transition from one varna to another.
Even in our time, when India is on a par with the industrialized countries of the world and has become one of the nuclear powers, the traditions of past centuries are still strong in it, and the citizens of the country are divided among themselves by insurmountable caste barriers.