Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c8.128

c8.128

Of thirty-six occurrences of the word *ārya* in the *Ṛg Veda* nine make clear mention of hostility among the Āryans themselves.⁷ At one place the Āryan enemies are lumped together with the Dasyus, and at five places with the Dāsas, which again suggests that the Dāsas were on better terms with a section of the Āryans than were the Dasyus. They were considered natural allies of the Āryans in their inter-tribal conflicts, which gradually undermined the tribal basis of their society, and helped the process of fusion between the Āryans and Dāsas. Five of these references occur in the earlier portions of the *Ṛg Veda*, which shows that the internal conflict was a fairly old process.