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Class 12th HISTORY
Chapter - 3
Kinship Caste & Class
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1 Critical Edition of Mahabharata
About the Project Key Points
➢ It was a project on Mahabharata led by V.S ➢ Research was carried out for 47 years
Sukthankar ➢ The team selected common elements from
➢ In this project, the Sanskrit Manuscripts of each manuscripts
Mahabharata (written in different scripts) ➢ They also added regional variations in
from all over India was collected and footnote.
compared ➢ The final publication ended in 13,000 Pages
➢ Project was initiated in 1919
Conclusion
➢ There were several common elements in manuscripts
➢ Regional Variations were also present
2 Ancient Families
Popular Terms Basis of Family
Kula – Family • Blood
• Marriage
Janti – Kinfolks/ Relatives • Adoption
Vamsa – Lineage Why it is important to know?
• It gives insight about people’s thinking.
Sources to know
• Mahabharata • Manusmriti • Inscriptions • Tamil texts
3 Idea of Patriliny
What is patriliny? Patriliny in ancient India
▪ It is the tradition of tracing descent ▪ Most ruling dynasties of Ancient India
from the male parent (father) followed patriliny
▪ It was also promoted by texts such as
▪ In patriliny, male member becomes Mahabharata, Manusmriti, Vedas
important
▪ In patriliny, sons could claim resources of
the fathers after his death
Variation in Patrilineal Succession
▪ In case of no sons, brothers succeeded the throne
▪ In some cases, Kinsmen succeeded the throne
▪ In rare cases i.e. Parabhavati Gupta, women held
power.
4 Marriage
Significance of daughter Types of marriages
▪ They had no claims in the resources of ▪ Endogamy - Marrying within a unit
her father i.e. Varna, Gotra, Jati
▪ Marrying them into families outside the ▪ Exogamy – Marrying outside the
kinfolk was considered desirable unit
▪ Girls belonging to high status families ▪ Polygyny – Marrying with more
were must be married to right person at than one girl
right time. ▪ Polyandry – Marrying with more
▪ Marriage of daughter (Kanyadaan) was than one husband
seen as a religious duty of father.
Concept of Ashtavivah Violation of norms
▪ In Manusmriti, eight types of marriages are ▪ These norms were not followed throughout
prescribed. the sub-continent
▪ Out of which, first four are considered ▪ We have the evidence of endogamy (same
legitimate and last four are prohibited. gotra), Exogamy (Another caste)
▪ In some South-Indian communities, marriage
inside the kinfolks was common
5 Dharmashastra and Dharmasutra
What are they? Why were they written?
➢ They are ancient Sanskrit texts which ➢ They were written to bound people into
consist code of conducts or legal principles a code of conduct
for Indians ➢ These norms were meant to be
➢ They were written around 500 BCE -200 CE followed by Brahmanas in particulars
in Sanskrit. and rest of society in general.
➢ Famous legal text, Manusmriti is a part of
Dharmashastras.
6 Concept of Gotra
Derivation Rules of Gotra
➢ Each gotra was derived from the names ➢ People of same gotra can’t marry each
of vedic sages other
➢ People of same gotra are considered to ➢ Girl had to leave the gotra of her father
be the descendant of that Vedic sage. after marriage which was to be followed
by adoption of gotra of her husband.
Metronymics
➢ This is the practice of deriving one’s name
from mother’s name.
➢ This was followed by rulers of Satavahana
dynasty
➢ E.g.- Gotami Putra Shatkarni, Vashithi Putra
Pulamayi
Violation of Gotra Norms
➢ Satavahana rulers married girls of same
gotra
➢ Queens of Satavahana dynasty retained
names derived from their father’s gotra
even after marriage.
7 Social Difference
➢ As per Dharmashastras, Varna Hierarchy
Society was categorized in
four varnas Brahmana
Kshatriya
Vaishya
Shudra
Varna Based Occupations
Barhamana Kshatriya Vaishya Shudra
➢ Study Vedas ➢ Study Vedas ➢ Study Vedas ➢ Serve other three
Varnas
➢ Teach Vedas ➢ Warfare and ➢ Agriculture and
Protection of Pastoralism
➢ Perform People
Sacrifices ➢ Trade
➢ Deliver Justice
➢ Get Sacrifices ➢ Get Sacrifices
Performed ➢ Administration Performed
➢ Give and Receive ➢ Get Sacrifices ➢ Give Gifts
Gifts Performed
➢ Give Gifts
How Brahmanas enforced this?
Method 1 Method 2 Method 3
Claimed the divine Forced the kings to Persuaded people to determine
origin of caste system implement the system the status/occupation by birth
8 Non-Kshatriya Kings
Mauryan Empire Shunga Empire Kanva Empire
• Brahamanical texts describe • They were Brahmin • They were also Brahmin
them as Shudra rulers rulers
• While Buddhist texts claim
them to be Kshatriya
Satvahana Empire
Shaka Empire
• Ruled by Brahmin rulers
• Gotami Putra Shatkarni adopted the title of
• They were mlechchas “Destroyer of the pride of Kshatriya”
(outsiders who came from He also entered into marriage alliance with
Northwest) Shaka ruler Rudradaman
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9 Concept of Jatis
Meaning Origin of Jatis
➢ Jati are the sub-category of Varnas, ➢ Every time when Brahmanas encountered new
whose numbers are not fixed. group of people, which did not fit easily in four
➢ Often, people of a particular Jati shared varna system, they classified them as a particular
a common profession jati
➢ E.g. Nishad, Swarnkaar
The Guilds (Shrenis)
➢ People of same jati often formed guild to
ease their work.
Sources to know about them
• Jatis did not have any documental records
• But we have a stone inscription of Mandsaur
which was installed by silkweavers Mandsaur Inscription
• Installed by Silkweavers
• Located in Mandsaur (Madhya
Pradesh)
• Clears myth about Jatis that all the
people of a Jati shared same
profession.
10 Integration Beyond Varnas
Odd and Uncivilized Evidence of Integration
• As per Sanskritic texts, those who • Marriage of Bhima and Hidimba
were not influenced by • Marriage alliance of Satavahana and
Brahminical ideas were termed as Shaka dynasty
odd or uncivilized.
• E.g. Nishada, Mlechchas, Nomadic
Pastoralists, Forest Dwellers
11 Life of Untouchables
Rules for Chandal as per
Who were untouchables?
Manusmiriti
➢ In the ancient India, activities were ➢ Live outside the village
categorized into Pure and Impure ➢ Use discarded utensils
activities ➢ Wear clothes of dead
➢ Untouchables were those who used to ➢ Wear iron ornaments
do impure activities ➢ Could not walk in village and cities in night
➢ They were also known as Chandal ➢ Dispose the bodies of those who had no relatives
➢ To work as executioner
Pure activities Impure Activities ➢ Had to sound clapper while walking on streets
• Performance of • Handling corpses,
rituals, sacrifices dead animals
A different reality of Chandal
➢ Not always they accepted this life of
deprivation and subordination
➢ We have some evidence in Buddhist texts
(Matanga Jataka) where Chandals had denied
these brutal Brahmanical norms
12 Gendered Access to Property
Manusmriti on Wealth Distribution Means of wealth acquisition as per Manusmriti
➢ Paternal estate wad to be divided equally Men Women
amongst sons with the special share for
eldest son • Inheritance • Gifts received in Marriage
➢ Women could not claim share in paternal • Finding • Gifts received in Bridal
wealth • Purchase Procession
➢ Women were allowed to retain gifts they • Conquest • Gifts from Mother
received on the occasion of marriage as • Investment • Gifts from Brother
Stridhana • Work • Gifts from Father
➢ This Stridhana can be inherited by her • Gifts • Gifts from Husband
children without any claim of her husband
Distribution of Wealth in ancient India (Reality)
➢ Land, cattle, money were controlled by men
➢ Women had access to resources but men
controlled them
➢ This uneven control over resources was the
reason behind social difference in both gender
13 Varna’s Access to Wealth
Brahmanas Kshatriya Vaishya Shudra
➢ They were usually rich ➢ They were ➢ Not so rich ➢ They were mostly
➢ However sometimes, invariably/always ➢ Neither so poor as poor as they were
they have been depicted as wealthy they had sources of deprived of any
described as poor too income sources of income
Brahmana and
Kshatriya
Critique of Varna System
Vaishya
➢ As Per Buddhism
Shudra • Varna System was not natural instead
man made
Wealth Hierarchy • It is also flexible or can be changed by
human effort
• Uneven distribution of resources is
root cause of social difference among
Varnas
14 Resource distribution in Tamilakam
➢ Ancient Tamilakam was ruled by Chiefdoms
➢ They used to give patronage and support to bards and poets who sang their praise
➢ Chiefs who were generous enough to share their resources with poor were respected
15 Social differences as per Buddhism
➢ As per Buddhism, social differences are man made. What was Mahasamatta?
➢ It was a position of leader which
Origin of Social differences means- the great elect
➢ He was elected by ancient people
➢ As per Sutta Pitaka to ensure their justice and well
being
• Initially, all beings lived in an idyllic state of peace, taking from ➢ Mahasamatta was rewarded with
nature only what they needed for each meal. share of rice by people.
• With the time, Human beings became greedy and deceitful
• This led them to the election of Mahasamatta.
• Tradition of Mahasamatta was the beginning of Kingship
16 Analyzing the Texts
Find the Type of Authors and their
Language Content perspectives Target Audience
Date and place of
Main content Composition
17 Text of Mahabharata
Who composed it? Language of Text
• Mahabharata epic has more than
1,00,000 verses
• Earliest version was written in
Sanskrit
Opinion 1 Opinion 2 • The Sanskrit used in Mahabharata
was easier than that of Vedas
• Sage Ved Vyasa • Original story was composed by
wrote the original charioteer bards who
epic accompanied warriors in battles
• This opinion was • Initially they circulated orally
supported by Indian • From 5th century BCE onwards,
Mythology Brahmanas started compiling it.
Content Feature of text
• Largest epic of this world
• Gives a substantial insight about social
life of ancient India
Didactic Narrative • The central story revolves around
conflict among kinfolks
• Contains narrative as well as didactic
• This section contains • This section contains
contents
social message or stories
instructions • E.g. Story of
• E.g. ShrimadBhagvad Gita Lakshyagraha, Bhima
• Many didactic verses of and Hidimba
Mahabharata was added
during 200 CE- 400 CE
18 Excavation of Hastinapur
• In 1951-52, archaeologist B B lal, Key Findings
excavated a village named
Hastinapur in Meerut.
• In second phase, Walls of mud and mud-bricks
were found that dated back to 12th -7th century
• Lal found evidence of five
BCE.
occupational levels
• There was no definite plan of houses
• In third phase (6th-3rd century BCE), Walls of
mud-bricks and burnt-brick were found with
various terracotta structure ring wells
• Sokage Jars and brick drains were found
Conclusion
• The findings were not satisfactory to the
description of Hastinapur as per text of
Mahabharata
• It lacks evidence of huge gateways, palaces, arenas
as mentioned in Mahabharata
19 Why Mahabharata is a dynamic text?
Major Reasons
• Over the centuries, versions of the epic were
written in a variety of languages
• The stories were remoulded through dialogues
between people, communities
• Regional stories were added in the main version
of epic
• Central story was retold in many ways – drama,
poetry, sculptures, paintings, fiction
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