Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c10.460

c10.460

It is not so difficult to explain the inclusion of the niṣādas in the Buddhist list of despised castes. This agrees with their low position in the Dharmasūtras. They were a pre-āryan tribal people, who are described as short-limbed, of the complexion of charred wood, with blood-red eyes,¹ high cheekbones, low-topped nose, and copper-coloured hair.² The tradition of their curious origin from the body of Veṇa,³ the king who proved tyrannical to the priestly class, may indicate the resistance they offered to the process of brāhmaṇization Even when adopted into brāhmaṇical society, the niṣādas continued mainly as hunters,⁴ who lived in their own villages.⁵ Possibly some of the niṣādas found their way into the priestly class. The niṣāda gotra reported by the gaṇapāṭha of Pāṇini,⁶ though not mentioned in any of the standard gotra lists, would not be possible unless some brāhmaṇas had been adopted from aboriginal priests or had served the aborigines as priests.⁷ All the same, it is clear that during this period the niṣādas definitely fell from the status which they enjoyed in later Vedic society.