[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958) › c13.39 # Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c13.39 Śūdras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c13.39 - **Language:** English ### [c13.39](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c13.39) Inscriptions do not mention the śūdras as a varṇa, but land grants repeatedly refer to the tax-paying peasants and artisans and indicate the process through which aboriginal tracts were annexed to brāhmaṇical society. A few epigraphs speaks of the artisans' guilds. All this helps us to determine the nature of changes in the social and economic conditions of the śūdras. - [Previous: c13.38](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c13.38) - [Next: c13.40](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c13.40) - [Up: c13](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c13) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c13.39](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c13.39) · Pramāṇa