________________ 234 Homage to Vaisali seems quite clear from the above lists of degraded Ksatriyas las well as Manu's list of the degraded Brabmanas (X, 21) and Vaisyas (X, 23) and of the Varnasankaras (castes arising from an admixture of more than one Varna) that the scheme is arbitrary. Its chief object was to make a suitable place in the 'Indian' society based on the conventional and theoretical division into four social grades for all foreign, tribal (Aryan or non-Aryan) and professional groups associated with the social life of ancient India. The position in the scheme was no doubt dependent on rank demanded by the importance, culture and activities of the groups themselves. It is therefore natural that the groups whose activities resemble the conventional profession of the Ksatriya Varna, should be given a place near about the Ksatriyas in the scale. And such a tribe the Licchavis no doubt were. It is well known that the lodian society was originally divided into two social grades based on complexion-the whites and the blacks. The word 'complexion' was next applied to the four theoretical grades of the society, probably because the military and agriculturist classes lost partially the original Aryan complexion owing to admixture with the dark aboriginals. The real meaning of the word jati' it birth. Later it indicated a tribal group whose membership is necessarily dependent on birth. Numerous non-Aryan tribes become gradually Aryanised more or less, although they still retained their tribal customs regarding connubium and commensality. They were naturally indicated by the word "jati' which thus became gradually popular in the sense of any social group crystallized into a caste.
