Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s5.99

v2.c4.s5.99

Ratha-kāra, ‘chariot-maker,’ is mentioned in the Atharvaveda¹ as one of those who are to be subject to the king, seeming to stand generally as an example of the industrial population. He is also referred to in the Yajurveda Saṃhitās² and in the Brāhmaṇas:³ in all these passages, as well as probably in the Atharvaveda also, the Rathakāra already forms a caste. The later system⁴ regards the Rathakāra as the offspring of a Māhiṣya (the son of a Kṣatriya husband and a Vaiśya wife) and a Karaṇī (the daughter of a Vaiśya husband and a Śūdra wife), but it is unreasonable to suppose that such an origin is historically accurate. The Rathakāras must rather be deemed to have been a functional caste. Hillebrandt⁵ suggests that the Anu tribe formed the basis of the Rathakāra caste, referring to their worship of the Ṛbhus, who are, of course, the chariot-makers *par excellence*. But there is little ground for this view.