carefully, no one had the right to depose them. In actual prac-
tice, however, kings were oft en deposed, sometimes by their
own sons.
Kshatriyas were supposed to devote themselves to the
good of the nation. As warriors, they were expected to serve
their king and to strive to increase the power of their king.
As government offi cials, they were supposed to be honest and
impartial when making decisions. As court offi cials, they
were expected to be above bribery and other inappropriate
infl uences. Brahmans did not have to pay taxes because they
were expected to improve the welfare of the public through
their piety, but the Kshatriyas were expected to pay taxes.
Th eir taxes were lower than those of the lower castes, a cir-
cumstance that inspired resentment among members of lower
castes. Even so, members of the lower castes were expected to
be respectful toward Kshatriyas.
Th e Vaishyas were merchants, moneylenders, and farm-
ers. Th ey were expected to pay extra high taxes because under
Brahmanic law it was their duty to support the Brahmans and
the Kshatriyas. Even so, some Vaishyas managed to become
wealthy. Th e Vaishyas, Kshatriyas, and Brahmans were all al-
lowed to learn the holy writings of the Vedas, and they were
twice-born, meaning that as children they underwent rituals
that resulted in a spiritual birth. Shudras were barred from
reading most religious works and were not allowed to be spir-
itually reborn. Th ey could not participate in public religious
rituals, only private ones.
Craft speople, servants, laborers, wage earners, and mi-
nor government offi cials were Shudras. Some historians be-
lieve that when the Aryan nomads invaded India, they made
the local peoples members of this fourth caste. Th e Shudras
tended to be paid poorly and usually worked for the same
employer from one generation to the next. Th e Shudras
were subdivided into three groups: pure, unexcluded, or ex-
cluded. Th e pure Shudras could hope to read minor religious
works. Th e unexcluded and excluded Shudras were treated
with disdain. Beneath them were outcastes. Outcastes were
expected to do the work that would defi le members of the
four castes, such as hunting, fi shing, butchering live ani-
mals, executing human beings, and carrying the dead. Th ey
were not allowed to walk on roads but had to walk to the
sides of roads. A Brahman could kill an outcaste with little
or no penalty.
Th ere were two kinds of outcastes that were treated bet-
ter. One included people who had detached themselves from
society to live as hermits, forsaking most of the pleasures of
life. Such people could be respected and could even become
considered holy and were oft en treated well. Th e other kind
consisted of foreigners. Foreigners could be treated well,
though their lack of caste meant that they could not be ac-
cepted to meals; Brahmans oft en could not let foreigners into
their homes. Th ere was a feast day on which foreigners and
Indians were allowed to dine together, and sometimes for-
eigners were absorbed into castes, with foreign dignitaries
joining a high caste.Women were protected by laws, but those of lower castes
could be abused by those of higher castes. A woman’s word
could not be taken over that of a man of her caste or higher.
In matters of law, women were not to be subjected to the
same severity of tortures and punishments as men. On the
other hand, if they were wives or daughters of a man sent
to prison, they were sent to prison as well and suff ered as he
suff ered. A woman’s testimony was usually unacceptable in
court proceedings. Women oft en earned their own money,
but those who belonged to the Brahman or Kshatriya castes
were not supposed to work at menial jobs. Sometimes they
had to, and they then usually worked at home weaving cloth,
which they could sell to a factory. Th e workers at the factory
were not allowed to look at the women while the transactions
took place.
Rebellion against Brahmanic laws came in the form of
new, rival religions. One such religion was Buddhism, which
began as just a sect within the Brahmanic tradition. Bud-
dhists rejected the caste system, holding as a tenet of their
faith that any person could attain enlightenment through
good deeds, religious rituals, and prayers. Some parts of India
became primarily Buddhist. In those places even Brahmans
had to have jobs to support themselves, and they took jobs
under the rule of duress that allowed people to work outside
their caste if they had to do so.
Although the rules of ancient Indian social organization
sound very strict, the Brahmanic rules were not followed as
scrupulously as they are now followed by many Hindus. For
instance, in the ancient world marriages between castes were
common, and a stigma was attached to the marriage for two
generations but no more. It was possible to fi nd Brahmans
doing jobs of any of the other castes, and they were some-
times important government offi cials. Clever Shudras could
become rich and infl uential.CHINA
Knowledge of the social organization of China before the Han
Dynasty (202 b.c.e.–220 c.e.) is sketchy at present. Emperor
Qin Shi Huangdi (r. 221–210 b.c.e.) tried to have the records
of previous governments destroyed and even had Confucian
scholars executed so that they could not transmit their knowl-
edge to later generations. He did so because he wanted history
to begin with him. He wanted to eradicate bad infl uences from
the past, and he wanted the system of legalism to replace all
previous systems of government. Legalism advocated laws to
govern every action a person took, even trivial actions.
For a long time the Shang Dynasty (ca. 1500–1045 b.c.e.)
was thought to be a myth, the primary records of existence
being the transcription of histories from the memory of a
90-year-old scholar who survived Qin Shi Huangdi’s purges.
Archaeological discoveries have revealed the existence of the
Shang, including their written language, but most of their
known writings come from bamboo sticks that were used for
magical records. Much about their society must be deduced
from their physical remains.1024 social organization: Asia and the Pacific0895-1194_Soc&Culturev4(s-z).i1024 1024 10/10/07 2:30:48 PM