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SOCIAL LIFE
95 has been mentioned by Atri as an antyaj a caste.: Baruda as a scheduled caste can now be found in Orissa.'
(xvi-xvii) Saka-Yavana--The non-Aryan tribes of the Sakas and the Yavanas are shown as ruling outside the Āryan regions.s They wore quaint dresses and spoke different languages.
An analysis of the various customs and habits of these despised castes in the NC. reveals to us certain outstanding features of this tribal population as a whole. Firstly, they were non-Aryans or Mecchas (Dravidians or non-Dravidians whosoever they might have been)s as against the Āryan people who ruled over the territory. Secondly, they usually resided in forests or hills or at such other quarters outside the village and were thus segregated by the Aryan society. Thirdly, as noted before, in case of the Pulindas, the habit of beafeating may be regarded as a general habit of all the non-Aryan population, and as Ambedkar has remarked: “It is decisive on this point that it is beaf-eating which is the root of untouchability and which also divides the impure and the untouchables."6 Lastly, they maintained different religious beliefs, worshipped different deities like the Jakkhas and believed in various occult powers and practices.
The society revealed from the NC. is thus a mixed assortment of this Aryan and non-Aryan population. The Aryans formed the civilized section of society and ruled over the territory, and their subjects were governed by the order of the four Varnas (caturvarņa), while the Mecchas or the non-Aryans resided at the outer quarters and were least affected by the civilized ways of the Aryans. In the following pages an account shall be given of the various social institutions of the
1. Atrismrti, 199. 2. Kane, op. cit., p. 70. 3. NC. 4, p. 124. 4. Ibid. 5. According to the Racial Theory of Rice, the untouchables were the
non-Dravidian aboriginals.-Hindu Customs and Their Origins, pp. 113-15 6. Ambedkar, op. cit., p. 142.
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