>The standard works on the ancient Indian history (whether called history or
>pre-history) usually discuss: a) Indus valley civilisation, roughly
>3000-2000 BC, b) arrival of aryans over centuries in Indo-Gangetic plains
>and their migrations towards peninsular India (Rig veda, the earliest
>exstant Sanskrit document, 1500-1200 BC), Aryans being pastoral nomads, c)
>Buddha, and spread and decline of Buddhism in India (beginning in Fifth
>century BC , d) Discovery of iron, transition
>to agriculture from pastoral life, emergence of states and empires,
>particularly rise of Magadh, Mauryan Empire (Third Century BC) etc.,
>transition to feudalism This should clarify what I meant by "ancient times".
>(Indian history is thus broadly divided into the following epoches: Ancient,
>Feudal and Modern. Modern period is further subdivided into colonial and
>post-colonial periods.)
I gather the Indus Valley civilisation comprised a couple or more of (possibly linked) city states, so they would not be tribal societies as I understand it. They probably arose directly from tribal societies though, but their customs and social structure would have had to adapt to the changed material circumstances. (The beginning of civilisation usually co-incides with the first crack of the slave-drivers whip and the emergence of class [caste] division.) Anyhow, it is clear that I was mistaken to assume you meant tribal society when you referred to ancient societies.
>The caste system is said have emerged over centuries during the Vedic
>period, beginning roughly in 1500 BC.
So it would have emerged after civilisation (class society) emerged out of tribal society.
> I mean by caste well known division of
>Indian society into four categories: Priests (brahmins), Warriors
>(kshatriyas), Traders and farmers (vaisyas) outside and sudras, the lowest
>sub-caste. In this sense, the caste was a endogamous unit, with prohibition
>on marriages outside the caste. On the other hand, gotras or clans (or
>septs) were exogamous units prohibiting marriages within gotras. Both, the
>clan and the caste existed in the period called the ancient period.
That's educational for me. However I would speculate that caste was a new development, re-inforced by the newly created economic system, while clans were a remnant of the earlier tribal social system. Though obviously the clans in the new period would have been forced to accept a modified and reduced social function.
By the way, I'm curious about these "aryans", were they some kind of marauding nomads like the Mongols, or the Vikings, who conquered then settled an area? And what was so special about them that they get a historical period named after them?
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas