History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c41.s4.1

v3.c41.s4.1

From the most ancient times, the outcasts or untouchables were divided into many classes and they always lived outside of towns and villages. Those usually mentioned in inscriptions are Meda and Chāṇḍāla, the scavenger and the executioner, who were the lowest among them. But Al-Beruni gives other names. He describes the outcasts as follows: "After the Śudra follow the people called Antyaja who render various kinds of services and who are not reckoned among any caste. There are eight classes of them, who freely intermarry with each other, except the fuller, the shoe-maker and the weaver. These eight guilds are fuller, shoe-maker, juggler, basket and shield maker, sailor, fisherman, hunter of wild animals and birds and weaver. These gilds live near the villages and towns of the four castes and outside them."