Caste in India: The Facts and the System c7.s4.18

c7.s4.18

Whatever idea we may form of the state of things during the Vedic period, it is incontestable that the hymns distinguish three main categories among the Āryan population—priests, chiefs, and people. We find priests, under various titles, incessantly occupied with sacrificial acts and the composition of the songs that accompany them ; we follow the chiefs in combat and assemblies ; while the people are always spoken of in a plural which generally shows the ‘ clans ’ of which it is composed gathered round the chiefs in warfare.