Untouchables in ancient India

This review was published in The Hindu , Friday review on June 03 , 05

The Book reviewed is Shudra's in ancient India( Prachina Bharatadalli Shudraru ) by R.S. Sharma

This book is based on a rare study by Prof. Ramachandra Sharma about the working class (castes) of ancient India between 1000 BC and 600 AD, identified as shudras by the upper caste.
Translated into Kannada by four Kannada scholars, the book records the life and times of the shudras based on the literary evidences drawn from Buddhist, Jain and Vedic sources.
According to the author, the shudras formed a major chunk of the national populace and performed the duties of water suppliers, dancers, barbers, and beauticians.
The presentation has clarity and is chronologically ordered. The central argument is very difficult to trace, but a close reading reveals that the book tries to construct the increasing oppression and the growth of slavery system in India. It makes a fine distinction between dharma and jaati and the author opines that all efforts made by Jain, Buddhist and Tantric religions for the betterment of shudras, never progressed beyond the religious domain.
What's heartening is that while the work gives a vivid picture of oppression, it also lucidly records the protest and improvement in living conditions after the Mauryan era. The central argument of the book has to be inferred by the reader, having read through the mass of authentic material quoted in the text.
Since the author has a preoccupation with Kautilya's thinking, he finds it difficult to reconcile Kautilya's Arthashastra with other literary sources of the Mauryan period.
This book is valuable mainly for drawing attention to many sources, but the author does not seem to connect the sources to build up a thesis. One of the shortcomings of the book is that it completely neglects the condition of the shudras in South India. Since the issues of the shudras has contemporary relevance and since the book gives a vivid picture of them under various regimes up to the Gupta period in the north, it becomes a major book that helps in an understanding of the socio-cultural history of India.