The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c7.s7.31

v1.c7.s7.31

During the administration of the Sātavāhanas, and even earlier, the people of the Deccan seem to have been familiar with the fourfold division of society into Brāhmans, Kshatriyas, Vaiśyas, and Śūdras. The Brāhmans formed the priestly class; the Kshatriyas were the fighting men; the Vaiśyas pursued the avocations of trade and agriculture; and the Śūdras were the menial labourers whose business it was to serve their betters. Every family observing the *Aryan dharma* fell under one or other of these four heads. Outside the *Aryan* pale were the indigenous tribes who were indifferent to *Aryan* ways of life and thought. Most of the people apparently came to be known according to their professions, such as the *halika* (cultivator), the *sethi* (merchant), the *gadhika* (druggist), the *vadhaki* (carpenter), the *kolika* (weaver), the *tilapisaka* (oil-presser), the *kamara* (iron-worker), &c. The advent of the Buddhists and the inroads of the Śaka-Pahlavas appear to have very considerably shaken the social structure. Buddhist monks and nuns began to receive the pious attention of the poorer lay men and women, cultivators of the soil, as well as of the Śakas, Yavanas, and Pahlavas,¹ who as the result of political conflicts had entered the Deccan and the adjoining provinces at a very early period. These foreigners had their communities in all the chief towns of the Deccan and North-western India. Some of the Yavanas embraced Buddhism, while a number of Śakas accepted both Buddhism and Brāhmanism. They used Prākrit in their inscriptions and even adopted Āryan personal and family names.² To cite a typical example, Nahapāna's daughter bore the name Dakṣamitrā and his son-in-law's name was Uṣabhadāta (Sanskrit Ṛṣabhadatta). The latter's charities to the Brāhmaṇas and the Buddhists and the gifts of the Yavanas for the benefit of the Buddhist monks show how the foreigners were gradually adopting the faith and customs of their new homes and becoming absorbed in the indigenous society.³ Intermarriages between them and the caste people appear to have taken place frequently. In this context Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi's attempt to 'stop the contamination of the four castes' becomes quite significant. Yet caste rules were not strictly observed inasmuch as Brāhmans often became kings. Sātavāhanas themselves belonged to the priestly class and yet held sovereign authority over the Deccan. Kṣatriyas, also, sometimes appear to have taken to the mercantile profession of the Vaiśya caste.⁴