[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) › c15.34 # Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c15.34 Śūdras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c15.34 - **Language:** English ### [c15.34](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c15.34) The establishment of a military unit called \*gulma\* for two to five villages in backward areas appears as a device in Manu.⁵ Its head can be identified as \*gulmika\* or \*gumika\* mentioned in a Pallava Prākṛt inscription of the middle of the fourth century A.D.⁶ But \*gaulmika\* clearly appears in inscriptions of Bihar and Bengal in the fifth century,⁷ and repeatedly in the list of royal officers mentioned in later Chamba, Pāla and Sena grants.⁸ - [Previous: c15.33](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c15.33) - [Next: c15.35](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c15.35) - [Up: c15](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c15) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c15.34](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c15.34) · Pramāṇa