Varna System, Social Orders and Legislation in the Age of the Buddha

At a Glance

• Law-books Dharmasutras
• Law based on Varna
• Chief officers Mahamatras
• Tax Bali, one-sixth
• Assemblies Replaced by brahmana parishad
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Ancient History: Religious Movements, Mahajanapadas and Foreign Invasions

Where Does It Fit?

This is the eleventh topic of the category on religious movements. The previous topic covered Magadha’s rise, and this one covers society and the state. The next topic covers the Iranian invasion. Previous topic: Rise and Growth of the Magadhan Empire.

How Did the Varna Order Shape Law?

In short: law became a matter of varna, with higher purity expected and punishments graded by status.

The Indian legal and judicial system originated in this period. Formerly people were governed by tribal law, which recognised no class distinction, but the tribal community was now clearly divided into brahmanas, kshatriyas, vaishyas and shudras. The Dharmasutras therefore set out the duties of each of the four varnas, and civil and criminal law came to be based on varna. The higher the varna, the purer it was, and the higher the moral conduct expected of it. All forms of disabilities were imposed on the shudras: they were deprived of religious and legal rights, the upanayana could not be conferred on them, crimes committed by them against brahmanas and others were severely punished, while crimes against shudras were lightly treated. The lawgivers spread the fiction that shudras were born from the feet of the creator, so higher varnas shunned the shudra’s company, avoided food touched by him and refused marriage relations. A shudra could not hold high posts and was asked to serve the twice-born as slave, artisan and agricultural labourer.

Jainism and Buddhism did not materially change the shudra’s position, though he could be admitted to their orders. The Buddha is said to have visited assemblies of brahmanas, kshatriyas and gahapatis but assemblies of shudras are not mentioned. The Pali texts mention ten despicable crafts and castes, including the chandalas, called hina, while kshatriyas and brahmanas are uttama. The Buddhists recognised varna but not on the basis of birth, and gave the kshatriya the highest place. The punishments in the Dharmashastras were administered by royal agents and included scourging, beheading and tearing out the tongue, often following a tooth-for-a-tooth idea of revenge. The law-books also took account of the customs of non-Vedic tribes, who were absorbed into the brahmanical order, sometimes with fictitious social origins and their own customs. The varna rules of the earlier period are in Later Vedic Social Organisation – Varna, Family and Women.

How Was the State Governed?

Only Koshala and Magadha became powerful, mature states ruled by hereditary kshatriya monarchs. The Jatakas tell of oppressive kings expelled by the people, but expulsion was as rare as election. The king, primarily a warlord, held the highest official status and special protection, yielding only to religious leaders like the Buddha. Higher officials were mahamatras, performing the functions of minister (mantrin), commander (senanayaka), judge, chief accountant and head of the royal harem; ayuktas may have done similar work. Ministers such as Varsakara of Magadha and Dirghacharayana of Koshala were influential. Officers and ministers were largely recruited from brahmanas and did not generally belong to the king’s clan, which undermined the kin-based polity of Vedic times. Influential brahmanas and setthis were paid by grant of the revenue of a cluster of villages, without administrative authority and without the clan’s consent.

Rural administration was with the village headmen. Initially leaders of tribal regiments, called gramini, they became village headmen as life became sedentary, known as gramabhojaka, gramini or gramika. Eighty-six thousand gramikas are said to have been summoned by Bimbisara, a conventional number that nonetheless shows their importance. They assessed and collected taxes and maintained law and order.

How Were the Army, Taxes and Assemblies Changed?

The Jatakas say that peasants sometimes left a king’s country to escape taxes. Popular assemblies disappeared as tribes disintegrated into varnas, and caste laws and customs took their place. Large assemblies were impossible in large states with poor communication, and the old tribal assembly could not accommodate the many non-Vedic tribes. As an analytical point, state, tax, army and varna law reinforced one another: regular taxes on peasants paid for the army, and the varna order exempted the two upper varnas from taxes. The economy behind this is in Second Urbanisation and Rural Economy in the Age of the Buddha, and the later formalisation is in Mauryan Administration (Arthashastra and Megasthenes’ Indica).

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Law and society Origin of legal system
• Administration Structures that Mauryas inherited
• Tax Bali

What Came Next?

The next topic describes the Iranian invasion of north-west India and its results. Next topic: Iranian Invasion of North-West India and its Results.

Key People and Terms

• Dharmasutra Law-book
• Mahamatra High official
• Gramini Village leader
• Bali Tax or tribute
• Parishad Brahmana council
• Hina Despised

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions ask about society and state in the Buddha’s age. These points add depth.

• Law Graded by varna
• Shudras Disabilities
• State Army and taxes