Introduction

• Indian social organisation during the 8th–13th century was vibrant and responsive to changes in economy, polity, and ideas.

• The social ethos of the period was shaped by new land rights and power bases.

• The early historic period saw the expansion of urbanism, with cities based on trade and commercial enterprise.

• The decline of trade and other factors led to a socio-economic crisis and political fragmentation.

• This crisis caused urban civilization to decline into a subsistence economy focused on agriculture in the post-Gupta period.

• The period experienced agrarian expansion across various regions and the spread of state societies through local state formation.

• Peasantization of tribes occurred, with tribes being incorporated into the ‘varna jati’ framework.

• The dominant sustenance form among tribal communities was pastoralism, with a subtle shift towards sedentarisation.

• Sedentarisation of pastoralists continued throughout the medieval period, driven by the commercialization of agriculture and increased cultivation.

• Tribes assimilated into rural socio-categories were referred to as zamindars, peasants, chiefs, etc.

• The process of tribal assimilation is evident in the jat tribe, which moved northward, abandoned pastoralism, and took up sedentary agriculture.

• Yuan Chwang refers to them as cattle herders, while Alberuni (c. 1030 CE) records them as cattle-owners and low Sudra people.

• Scholars like Irfan Habib argue that their migration from Sindh to Multan occurred around the 11th century.

• Tribal societies assimilated into agricultural society often subsumed their tribal identity within the existing caste system.

• The social position of these assimilated tribals was often fragile, with status in the varna categories based on the profession they pursued.

• Agricultural communities joined the peasant caste, while hunting-gathering tribals formed the lowest ranks, outside the four-fold varna system.

• Irfan Habib believes these tribes became part of the rural menial proletariat.

Sources for Reconstituting Rural Society

• Wide-ranging source material exists for reconstructing social organizations from the 8th to 13th centuries, including literary and epigraphic notices.

• Literary sources like Dharmashastras (commentaries and other works) provide insights into the ups and downs of the social system.

• Works from kavyas (poetry), drama, technical and scientific works, as well as treatises also contribute to understanding social structures.

• Architecture offers significant insights into post-Gupta developments in society.

• Important literary works include:

  • Kalhana’s Rajatarangini

  • Prabhanda Chintamani of Merutunga

  • Naishadhiyacharita of Shriharsha

  • Adipurana of Jinasena

  • Dohas of Siddhas

  • Soddhala’s Udaya-sundri-katha

  • Medhatithi’s and Vigymeshwar’s commentaries on the Manusmriti and Yajnavalkyasmriti respectively

  • Manasollasa, Mayamata, and Aparajitapriccha.

• Historians distinguish between Brahmanic and non-Brahmanic villages during this period.

• Within Brahmanic villages, further distinctions are made between agrahara (Brahmana settlements) and devadana (temple-oriented settlements).

• Brahmanas in rural society imposed a bureaucratic and priestly elite, contributing to Sanskritization of local cultures.

• Varna-jati system and its ideology of differences and hierarchies were central to the structure.

• However, it is challenging to order rural society strictly into the idealized categories from Dharamshastra texts.

• Villages consisted of various groups, from Brahmanas to Samantas (officials), peasant castes, and servile groups.

• The transformation of tribes into castes or peasants gained rapid pace during this period.

• The medieval period saw the rise of peasant castes like the jats and ruling lineages like the Rajputs.

• The Varna system provided an overall normative model for incorporation, but the categorization of jati allowed for regional variations.

• These changes were linked to the transformation of agrarian regions and state societies.