Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c10.205

c10.205

As producing masses the śūdras correspond to the slaves and helots in contemporary Greek city states. Theoretically just as the Greek citizens could claim the service of their unfree men, so also the Indian dvijas (twice-born) and āryas could claim the labour power of the śūdras. But in several respects the economic position of the śūdra was different. Neither the śūdra agricultural labourers nor the śūdra artisans, especially the latter, were so completely at the mercy of their employers as the slaves of Greece and Rome. In contrast to the slave in Greece,¹ the śūdra held property, not sufficient enough to be taxable, but subject to some other liabilities. Thus the law imposed on him the obligation to maintain his master of a higher varṇa by drawing upon his savings, if the latter fell on evil days.² It was further laid down that the vaiśya and the śūdra should overcome their misfortunes by means of their property.³ The use of the phrase dāsa-bhoga shows that even the slave held property,⁴ though to hold it may have required the consent of his master. Perhaps on account of these differences the varṇa system, which mainly rested on the śūdra class as its chief source of labour power, proved to be a more effective organization of production than slavery. Though fuctioning in an evidently larger area and population than those of Greece, it never felt the necessity of making the śūdras work under the same conditions as the slaves and helots.