Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c9.64

c9.64

It is difficult to define the position of the śūdras in the Vedic period in terms of slavery or serfdom. Although the references found in very late Vedic texts give the impression of their being the labouring masses, generally they do not seem to have been slaves or serfs owned by individuals. Apparently just as the community exercised some sort of general control over land, so also it exercised similar control over the labouring population. And, in this sense, the śūdras may be very roughly compared to the helots of Sparta, with the difference that they were not treated with the same amount of coercion and contempt.