[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 # Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 (Śūdras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600) Origin and position of śūdras, slaves and untouchables period by period: legal status, occupations, economic role, religion; from Vedic, Pāli, smṛti, Arthaśāstra. - **Language:** English - **Author:** [R. S. Sharma](https://indike.org/pramana/person/sharma-rs) - **Extent:** 3,255 passages, 135,852 words - **Text:** complete digital text - **Source:** archive.org · 1st ed., Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass 1958; scan on archive.org, OCR Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite; chapters and… · In copyright (R. S. Sharma †2011); freely available on archive.org — shown with credit and a link to that… ## Contents - [c1 Front matter](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c1) — 5 parts - [c2 Śūdras in Ancient India](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c2) — 5 parts - [c3 Preface to the Second Edition](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c3) — 5 parts - [c4 Preface to the First Edition](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c4) — 3 parts - [c5 Abbreviations](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c5) — 5 parts - [c6 Roman Equivalents of Nāgarī Letters](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c6) — 3 parts - [c7 Contents](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c7) — 27 parts - [c8 Chapter I: Historiography and Approach](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c8) — 336 parts - [c9 Chapter III: Tribe versus Varṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c9) — 351 parts - [c10 Chapter IV: Servility and Disabilities](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c10) — 564 parts - [c11 Chapter V: State Control and the Servile Order](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c11) — 273 parts - [c12 Chapter VI: Crisis in the Old Order](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c12) — 468 parts - [c13 Chapter VII: Peasanthood and Religious Rights](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c13) — 679 parts - [c14 Chapter VIII: Change and Continuity](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c14) — 37 parts - [c15 Appendix I: Date of the Manu Smṛti with Special Reference to the Tenth Chapter](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c15) — 50 parts - [c16 Appendix II: Proliferation of Servile and Peasant Castes](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c16) — 53 parts - [c17 Bibliography](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c17) — 8 parts - [c18 Index (Sanskrit, Pāli and Prākrit Words)](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c18) — 48 parts - [c19 General Index](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c19) — 61 parts - [c20 Errata](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c20) — 9 parts --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958) · Pramāṇa