Shudra
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yo Shudra (IAST: Śūdra) is the fourth Varna in the traditional four-section division in historic Hindu society. Their assigned and expected role in post-Vedic India was that of laborers. The four Varnas are Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaisya, Shudra
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[edit] Origins
Whilst the origins of the other varnas can be traced to Indo-Aryan or even Proto-Indo-European words, the root of the word is not clear at all. A threefold division of societies can be found in ancient Iran that matches the Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaisya varnas. However, the linguistically related Nuristani people in neighboring Afghanistan have a class equivalent to the Shudras amongst them. [1]
[edit] From Dasas and Dahyus
But the latter groups are also encountered in the Avestan texts and no subjugation is mentioned, though enmity is. This is because the Dasa, Dasyus or Pani as they are sometimes referred to were Iranic. The Iranians call themselves "Dahyu"(which means tribe, province, and district.[1]). Panini was a Pashtu Brahmin scholar of Sanskrit grammar. [2]. So then this suggests that the Dasa were merely a tribe. The ancient texts of India protray no such subjugation by conquest resulting in servile group of people, but merely assume that the Shudras are part of society, even if not the most exalted.
[edit] Etymology
There is no etymology of the word as well, it is mentioned in the purusha-sukta of Rig veda. The numerical strength of this varna is also not clear from the Vedic corpus as tasks attributed to Shudras later are done by Vaisys in the era represented by these texts.
[edit] D
the theoretical and the original varnas carried to its extreme in the ages following the 'Vedic' period. Every Jāti claimed to belong to some Varna.
Local variations of Jāti sub-castes exist wit the Shudra caste. A sub-caste is a local endogenous group practicing a lower end Shudras will be untouchable Dalits.
[edit] Shudras and North Indian society
It is commonly believed that the caste division is somewhat uniform in North Indian society compared to South Indian society. However some prominent rulers of North India were believed to have originated from the Shudra caste. Ex: The Nandas and the Mauryas.
Even today, the ruling coalitions of the Nardaz in most of the North Indian provinces like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh are dominated by political parties that either overtly or covertly represent the interests and identities of the Shudra sections (called the 'other backward castes' or OBCs by the politically correct.) Examples include the Samajwadi Party, at the head of the ruling coalition in India's biggest state UP and deriving most of its support from the Yadav (Ahir) tribe/caste and the Samata Party, at the head of Bihar's ruling coalition, which gets most of its support from the Kurmi OBC.
[edit] Shudras and South Indian society
South Indian society makes more sense from feudal angle than caste angle. Here, both the dominant castes and weaker castes are classified under Shudras[citation needed]. This caste model is also true for Bengal, Orissa, and Assam. Hence the mapping of four varnas over these areas is incomplete.
The caste system that made feudal families in all over South India an endogenous unit was readily accepted even though Brahmins didn't exactly give Kshatriya and Vaishya status to all the warrior and merchant communities. Mostly the Brahmins acquired land and until land reforms in twentieth century, were feudal lords.
It could be debated if the people of South India really realized (when it comes to weaker castes) or cared (when it comes to dominant castes), their position in caste hierarchy. Also, most importantly whether many communities even think they were part of the caste system, since if one removes the Vedic part of Brahmanical Hinduism, there isn't much difference between Brahmin worship and native Dravidian worship.
Many South Indian communities had their own temples and priests. However, the universal education during British period and the Western concepts of community identity caused the development of caste consciousness in South Indian society (the clan identities were present and those could be within the caste too). In Tamil Nadu it resulted in the dominant castes asserting themselves through the Dravidian movement against the caste system in general and Brahmins in particular. In Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh it resulted in dominant castes claiming higher caste positions.
[edit] Medieval royal dynasties
Inscriptions of Shudra dynasties declare that belonging to the fourth varna was a matter of pride. An inscription of Singaya-Nayaka (1368 CE) says:[2]
The three castes, viz. Brahmanas and the next [Kshatriyas and Vaishyas], were produced from the face, the arms and the thighs of the Lord; and for their support was born the fourth caste from His feet. That this caste is purer than the former [three] is self-evident; for this caste was born along with the river Ganga [which also springs from his feet], the purifier of the three worlds. The members of this caste are eagerly attentive to their duties, not wicked, pure-minded, and are devoid of passion and other such blemishes; they ably bear all the burdens of the earth by helping those born in the kingly caste.
Another inscription relates how his relative Kapaya-Nayaka "rescued the Andhra country from the ravages of the Mohammedans".[3] In taking the lead of the struggle against the Muslim invaders, the Reddy caste gained in prestige and became the dominant caste in Andhra. In an inscription dated 1345 CE, the Reddy dynasty of Andhra describes how after the elimination of the Kshatriya defenders, the duty of defending cows and Brahmins fell on the Shudras, "born of the feet of Vishnu"; the first independent Reddy king, Vema, "restored all the agraharas of Brahmanas, which had been taken away by the wicked Mleccha kings".[4] Another inscription from the same dynasty proudly proclaims Vema's birth from the "the victorious fourth varna", which "sprang from the feet of Vishnu", and "which ruled the remainder of the territory once ruled by the dwijas [before the Muslim conquest]", and describes how his first son Anna-Vota gave agraharas to the Brahmins and how his son Anna-Vema freed the country from the "crowd of enemies" and used his wealth to sponsor the "men of learning".[5] The Jat community, originally a low caste gained prestige by fighting the Moghuls and establishing rule in areas that passed out of the Moghul Empire's effective control in the 18th century. [6][7]
[edit] Shudras outside of India
Shudra as a Varna is seen amongst the Hindus of Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bali in Indonesia. In Bali, Indonesia they form 97% of the practicing Hindu population (See Balinese caste system). During the historic period many people in Java, Cambodia and Champa (a region in Vietnam) were considered to be Shudras prior to their conversion to Islam and Buddhism.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Shudras in Ancient India/R. Chandra and K.L. Chanchreek. New Delhi, Shree Pub., 2004, xiii, 253 p., ISBN 81-88658-65-0.
- ^ (G.L. Windfuhr in Bronkhorst & Desphande (ed.) 1999)
- ^ Sastri, K. Rama (1982). "Akkalapundi grant of Singaya-Nayaka: Saka-Samvat 1290" Epigraphica Indica, vol. XIII. India: Archaeological Survey of India, 259ff., v.5-7.
- ^ Sastri, K. Rama (1982). "Akkalapundi grant of Singaya-Nayaka: Saka-Samvat 1290" Epigraphica Indica, vol. XIII. India: Archaeological Survey of India, 261.
- ^ Ramayya, J. (1981). "Vanapalli plates of Anna-Vema" Epigraphica Indica, vol. VIII. India: Archaeological Survey of India, 9; v.9-12.
- ^ Hultzdch, E. (1979). "Vanapalli plates of Anna-Vema" Epigraphica Indica, vol. III. India: Archaeological Survey of India, v.5, 12, 16, 20.
- ^ Lal, K.S. (1995). Growth of Scheduled Tribes and Castes in Medieval India. Delhi, India: Research Publications, 88-92.
- ^ Elst, Koenraad (2001). Decolonizing the Hindu Mind. India: Rupa and Co, 402-403. ISBN 81-291-0746-5.
[edit] See also
- Forward Castes
- Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar
- Hindu reform movements
- Backward-caste Hindu Saints
- Backward-caste Hindu Warriors
- Caste system
- Varna
