The Social Organisation in North-East India in Buddha's Time c17.39

c17.39

Although more settled than these wandering occupations, the rural professions of herdsmen, huntsmen, fishermen do not seem in ancient times to have come under the organisation of caste, as, on account of their work, they inclined more towards a solitary life. Only when we see them in great number in the town or united into a village community can we suppose the existence of organisations similar, for example, to those of the artisans. In a sea-port town (paṭṭanagāma. IV. 137) the son of an elder among the fishermen after the death of his father steps into his shoes. He becomes blind, however, later, and takes to the service