Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c8.216

c8.216

Again, the distribution of the Āryan languages over the greater part of India presupposes mass migration of their speakers. In spite of the occurrence of many words of proto-Munda and ‘Dravidian’ stock in Sanskrit from Vedic times onwards the pre-Āryans living in north India were so swamped by the newcomers that they could not retain their language. As will be shown later, in northern India the śūdras, along with the vaiśyas, accounted for the overwhelming majority of the population, but there is nothing to show that they spoke non-Āryan language. On the other hand, in the later Vedic period the śūdras understood the Āryan speech, as is clear from the formula of address used for them on the occasions of the sacrifice.³ In this connection a tradition from the *Mahābhārata* is significant: “Sarasvatī, consisting of the Veda, was formerly designed by Brahmā for all the four varṇas; but the śūdras having through cupidity fallen into ‘ignorance’, a condition of darkness, lost the right to the Veda.’¹ Weber understands this passage to mean that in ancient times the śūdras spoke the language of the Āryans.² It is possible that some of the autochthonous tribes abandoned their speech in favour of Āryan dialects, as in modern times several tribal peoples in Bihar have given up their languages and adopted Āryan dialects such as Kurmālī and Sadānā, but their number must have been small as compared to that of the people whose language they adopted. Even in modern times, when the Āryan-speaking people enjoy much better facilities for spreading their language and culture, they have not been able to oust the non-Āryan languages which, in some cases, have shown capacity for vigorous growth.