Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c12.458

c12.458

The advent of foreign peoples in this period served to loosen the shackles of the varṇa system. The number of the Greeks Śakas and Parthians may not have been great, but numerous finds of the Kuṣāṇas, such as coins, terracottas and sculptures scattered over the whole of Northern India, suggest that they came in considerable numbers. This naturally caused displacement of existing populations and led to the foundation of new settlements, thereby promoting mobility during the first century of the Christian era. Since the caste system basically rests on a static way of life, these ethnic upheavals may have undermined the privileges of the higher varṇas and thus favourably affected the position of the śūdras.