Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c12.409

c12.409

The descriptions of the Kali age, which are in the form of complaints and prophetic assertions made by the brāhmaṇas,⁴ cannot be brushed aside as figments of imagination. They depict the pitiable plight of the brāhmaṇas on account of the activities of the Greeks, Śakas and Kuṣāṇas. It is likely that their invasions caused an upheaval among the śūdras, who were seething with discontent. Naturally they turned against the brāhmaṇas, who were the authors of discriminatory provisions against them. How long and in which part of the country this social convulsion prevailed is difficult to determine for lack of data. But it seems that the intense hostility of the brāhmaṇas towards the heretical ‘śūdra’ kings was on account of the latters’ fraternization with the śūdras. The servile position of the śūdras as slaves and hired labourers may have been undermined by the policy of the foreign rulers such as the Śakas and Kuṣāṇas, who were not committed to the ideology of varṇa-divided society.