Describe the economic and social conditions of the people living in rural areas from c. 600 bce to 600 ce
Answers
In the empires of India from 600 BCE to 600 CE, monarchs managed and further improved social customs that had been in the country for a long period. This was the time when the Aryans had established the caste system. Thus, the society of India during this time was comprised of four main castes known as Brahmin (priests), Kshatriya (warriors and kings), Vaishyas (peasants and merchants), Shudras (serfs). In Hinduism, this division gets widened; as it was believed that from the head of God Purusha emerged the Brahmins, from his arms emerged the Kshatriyas, the Vaishyas emerged from his thighs and the Shudras emerged from his feet. This philosophy worsened the condition of the fourth Varna (Shudra) people; as they had no rights over property, they could not perform any ritual and could not learn the Vedas etc. The birth was the basis of the division of society.