Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c7.8

c7.8

Later Vedic literature and Painted Grey Ware archaeology 46 Śūdras as serving class 48 Śūdras as ‘serfs’ and ‘slaves’ 52 Dignity of manual work 53 Śūdra *ratnins* in the royal coronation 54 Śūdras in the *rājasūya* rituals 56 Śūdra soldiers in the *aśvamedha* sacrifice 59 King’s desire for the support of all the four varṇas 61 Exclusion of the śūdra from some coronation rituals 62 An *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa* passage regarding the śūdras 64 Marital relations between the higher varṇas and śūdras/slaves 68 Beginning of the assimilation of non-Aryan tribes 71 The śūdra and *upanayana* 73 The śūdra and Vedic sacrifice 78 Śūdra’s participation in some religious rites 79 Gods worshipped by the śūdras 81 Greater evidence against the śūdra’s participation in the Vedic sacrifice 83 Contradiction in the position of the śūdras 87 Material culture and constraints on class formation 88