The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c14.s2: Social Conditions
The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c14.s2
- Language
- English
Contents
- v2.c14.s2.t1 The Caste System — 5 parts
- v2.c14.s2.t2 Women — 1 part
Social Conditions
The Caste System
v2.c14.s2.t1.1
THE caste system did not undergo any marked transformation in the Yādava period. Castes were determined by birth. The Vīraśaiva and Mahānubhāva movements did indeed in theory raise their voices against the rigidity of the caste system, but actually they accepted it in practice. The system, however, was rigid only as far as the absolute prohibition of intercaste marriages was concerned. It did not prevent people from following a profession other than the one hereditary in their caste. We find many generals recruited from the Brāhman and Vaishya castes; Jahlaṇa and Kholeśvara, who were Brāhmans, and Malliseṭṭi who was a Vaisya, are only some typical examples in this connexion.
v2.c14.s2.t1.2
The Brāhmans of Mahārāṣṭra were strictly vegetarian. They would never take food from non-Brāhmans and avoided as far as possible having any communication with the untouchables. Their professions were usually the same as those followed by members of their caste in the Rāṣṭrakūṭa period.
v2.c14.s2.t1.3
The Kshatriyas and Vaishyas were brought down to the level of the Shudras during our period. It was at this time that untouchability took on its present form and character. The untouchable classes were the same groups of persons as those so considered in the preceding period.
v2.c14.s2.t1.4
Contemporary records often give the surnames of the recipients of grants, and we find that some of these are still in use. Thus the surnames Paṭṭavardhana and Ghaḷisāsa can be traced back to the thirteenth century.¹ Migrations of Brāhmans from one province to another took place from time to time. Thus the beneficiary of the Kalas Budruk plates was an emigrant from a village in the Madhyadeśa (Uttar Pradesh). He settled in the Nāsik District and eventually became a minister of state. One of those benefited by the Chikkabagewadi grant is called Vārāṇasīya; possibly he was an immigrant from Banaras. Children of these immigrants probably married with the children of local Brāhmans. There was as yet in this period no strong prejudice against interprovincial marriages.
v2.c14.s2.t1.5
¹ *IA*, vii, 306.
Women
v2.c14.s2.t2.1
As far as the position of women is concerned, early marriages of girls at the age of 10 or 11 became customary in this period. This practice was a death-blow to female education. The custom of *suttee* had begun to prevail in royal families; at the death of Rāmachandra several of his queens immolated themselves as *suttees*. The custom, however, was not popular outside Kshatriya circles, for certain writers of the age such as Vijñāneśvara argued that it was not permissible, at any rate, for Brāhman widows, since it was after all in effect a kind of suicide. A widow's right to inheritance of property had become a firmly established custom in the Deccan during our period. Widows usually put off all ornaments, but they did not as yet shave their heads. The purdah system had not yet come into existence.