Society in Chandellas Dynasty
The Chandella inscription throw very little light on the social structure of the kingdom and only a few passing reference are found, mostly in the Copper Plates and inscriptions of the ministerial families. Even the contemporary Sanskrit drama, Prabodha-Candrodaya is not of much use for a study of the social conditions, though it is of the value for our section on Religion. However, with the help of the scanty materials available, we shall try to outline the essential features of Chandella society.
Brahmana:
In our period, the supremacy of the Brahmanas and the great honour and privileges enjoyed by them are clearly evident. In the inscriptions the Brahmanas are mentioned with their Sakha, Gotra and Pravaras. Th Semra Plates of Paramardi record grants made to no lesstha 309 Brahmanas, all o whom ae mentionedwith their Gotras Prvaras and Sakhas. The constant emphasis on the Gotra and Sakha shows that the orthodox Brahmanical system was fully in force.
That the Brahmanas devoted themselves to religious studies is known from the inscriptions, one of which states that a Brahmana done ‘’ was ever ready to expound the Vedas, the Vedangas, Itihasa, the Puranas and Mimamansa , and was devoted to Sat-karma’’. Other inscriptions and the Prabodha-Candrodaya also praise the Brahmanas for their knowledge and education. But it cannot be said that they devoted themselves only activities of the Brahmans, and, as we have already noticed, they often acted as Senapatis, Dharmadhikarins, and Rautas in the Chandella kingdom. The Bagheri stone inscription of Paramardi gives the genealogy of a Brahmin family, who served as officers of the Chandella kings for five generations.
The Chandella inscriptions often mention the Brahmanas as Pandita, Thakura, Bhatta etc, which from the contexts, were no doubt titles, and not surnames as suggested by Vaidya, though they certainly became surnames in more recent times. The donees, who were always Brahmanas, usually came from Agraharas often called Bhattagraharas or Bhattagramas, terms applied to the villeges granted to Brahmanas by the kings or others.
Ksatriya:
Only two specific mentions of the Ksatriya caste are found in the Chandella records. The Ajaygadh Stone inscription of Paramardi’s time records the building of cautra by one Rauta Sihada, son of Rauta Santana of the Ksatriya caste . Another inscription refers to a Rauta who was also a Ksatriya. This apparent rarity of Ksatriyas is satisfactorily explained by Mr.Seth’s suggestion that the Ksatriyas had lost the custom of maintaining caste divisions, and thus the practice of mentioning their caste was not popular during this period. The Kula or family became the most important factor in their lives and this resulted in the extinction of the previous practice of mentioning the caste. According to Mr.Seth, the rise of the new dynasties in Northern India in the middle ages, chiefly contributed to the importance of the Kula or family.
This contention is strongly supported by the Chandella epigraphic records, which put great stress on the Vamsa or Kula of the people mentioned in the inscriptions. Kings, ministers and others mostly mention their respective families, but not their caste. All who enjoyed high position in society, except the Brahmanas, wanted their families to be known, and always enthusiastically enumerated the good qualities deeds of their stock. An inscription of a Grahapati family (i.e.Suryavamsa) gives us some idea of the ideals of a good and respectable family. This states that one Atiyasowala of the Grahapati family supported the families of friends and dependents, excavated thanks full of water and built temples, and thus became honoured and famous. His son Mahata secured the three objects of life (i.e. religion, wealth and pleasure) in a blameless manner. Mahata’s successors, Jayadeva and Sekkalla, were famous for their good deeds. Sekkalla’s son Kokkala was endowed with good qualities, and always bestowed food, clothes, horses, couches, seats, umbrellas, shoes, grains and dwelling places on worthy recipients. He was also engaged in other works of piety and built a wonderful town with high archways and gates of great value. A Rewa grant of Trailokyavarman gives a similar genealogy of family of Maharanaka Kumarapala of the Kaurava Vamsa, who were probably Ksatriyas.
Chandella epigraphic records indicate that by the beginning of the 11th century, the Kayasthas had become one of the main castes in this part of India, and the Rewa Stone Inscription of K.C. 800 gives a mythical account of the origin of the Kayastha caste. The prominence gained by the Kayasthas as a caste is evident from an inscription which runs as follows-‘’There were thirty six towns, purified by the fact that men of the writer caste dwelt in them (Karana-karma-nisasputa)and more (than other towns) endowed with great comfort. Among them the most excellent, thought of as the abode of gods, was Takkarika, an object of envy….. (and) in this (town) which by crowds (of students) was made to resound with the chants of the Vedas, there were born in the Vastavya family those Kayasthas whose fame was filled (and rendered) white like swans all the worlds, illuminging the quarters.” This inscription shows that the Kayasthas, like the Ksatriyas, were even more proud of their families than of their caste; and in a grant of Paramardi, the writer calls himself a member of the Vastavya Vamsa without mentioning his caste. The were apparently regarded as a class of intellectualas, who, besides having knowledge of the ancient books, knew the art of civil administration.
Vaisya and Sudra:
No mention of the terms Vaisya and Sudra is found in the inscriptions, which indicates that the people of the low castes were known by their profession rather than by their class. This is supported by the Dahi Plate of Viravarman, which records that before making a land grant Viravarman assembled all the local Brahmanas, Kayasthas, Harkaras, cow-herds, goat-herds, orchard-keepers and all other classes, high and low. Other Copper Plates also mention the people by their profession, viz, dutas, vaidyas, medas, chandalas etc.
Though there is no direct evidence of the nature of the caste system at that period, yet it is had become very rigid and any suggestion of its abolition or comment on its nature was regarded as reprehensible if not sinful, especially by the Brahmanas. A veiled attempt to justify the caste system is found in the Prabodha-Candrodaya, where Mahamoha (i.e. great illusion) questions the justice of class distinctions between human beings who are formed with bodies posscessing the same organs. This shows that according to Krishna Misra, only people suffering from illusion could raise such questions, and to show the baseness of Mahamoha’s ideals, the latter is presented as disputing the moral of the principle that the wife should belong only to the husband. Krisna Misra was a staunch Vaisnavite and it is only natural to find him denouncing one who is not a worshipper of Visnu and one who opposes the caste system. This passage shows, however, that even at this late period, equalitarian criticism of the caste system was not completely unheard of.
Practically nothing is known of the position of women in chandelle society. Queens have been mentioned in a few inscriptions, but only one is recorded to have done something for the people. The Lay of Alha and the Prithviraj-Raso often mention the women, especially of the royal household, who sometimes had great influence on the affairs of the country. It is, however, impossible to make any generalization out of these traditional accounts.
Apparently marriage was strictly confined to people of the same caste, as is shown by a Khajuraho inscription, which states that Harsa Chandella married a suitable lady of equal caste, who sprang from the Chahamana family. The practice of the Sati rite is recorded in many inscriptions.
A general picture of the society is depicted in an inscription which states that Harsa’s fame had spread, “in the halls of prices, where sages dwell, where good people meet in the village, in the assemblages of the lowly, among the rows of shops of merchants, where streets cross, where wanderers talks together on the road, and in the huts of the dwellers of the forest.” This classification of society based on profession, educatin and environment, is perhaps not far from Indian society as it is today.
