History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c19.179

v2.c19.179

*Antyaja.* This word is applied to all lowest castes like the cāṇḍāla in Manu IV. 61, Viṣṇu Dh. S. 36.7, Yāj. I. 273, Bṛhad-yama (quoted in Mit. on Yāj. III. 260). In Manu VIII. 279 the word is used in the sense of 'śūdra'. Various enumerations of the subdivisions of antyajas are found in the smṛtis. Atri 199 enumerates¹⁷⁰ seven *antyajas* viz. rajaka (washerman), carmakāra (worker in hides), naṭa (dancer caste, represented in the Deccan by *Kolhāṭis*), buruḍa (worker in bamboos), kaivarta (fisherman), meda, bhilla. This verse is quoted as Āpastamba's by the Mit. on Yāj. III. 265, while Aparārka p. 1123 ascribes it to Atri. The Mit. on Yāj. III. 260 distinguishes between two groups of antyajas, viz. the one quoted above which it says is not so low as another group of seven, which are called *antyāvasāyins*,¹⁷¹ viz. cāṇḍāla, śvapaca (eater of dog flesh), kṣatṛ, sūta, vaidehika, māgadha and āyogava. In the Mahābhārata (Śānti 101. 19) reference is made to antyaja soldiers and Nīlakaṇṭha explains that they were the kaivartas and bhillas of the border regions. According to the Sarasvatī-vilāsa (p. 74) Pitāmaha speaks of the seven castes of rajaka and others as *prakṛtis*.¹⁷² Is it possible that the Prākṛta languages were originally so called because they were spoken by these castes called prakṛtis? In the Sangamner plate of Bhillama II dated śake 922 (E. I. vol. II. p. 220) a village is granted with eighteen *prakṛtis* (meaning probably the eighteen guilds of washermen and others). The Vīramitrodaya (vyavahāra p. 12) explains that śreṇis mean the eighteen low castes such as the rajaka. This shows that these low castes had risen in social status in the medieval ages by their organization and wealth. The Veda-Vyāsa smṛti (I. 12-13) enumerates twelve castes by name as *antyajas* and adds that all those who eat cow's flesh are also *antyajas*.¹⁷³