Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c9.138

c9.138

The Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa explains certain rites as establishing the control of the kṣatra (ruling chiefs) over the viś (tribal community).³ These rites probably suggest the process by which the cultivating kinsmen were compelled to convert their occasional gifts and tributes made over to their chiefs into regular taxes. The śūdra is left out, presumably because the king's control over him is taken for granted and because he is not considered capable of offering any strong resistance. Another passage, which speaks of the brahma and the kṣatra being established among the viś⁴ but leaves out the śūdra, conveys a similar idea.