Beyond the four varnas

Some groups lived outside the Sanskritic social order, and were often looked down upon: forest-dwellers (like the nishadas), nomadic pastoralists, and people who spoke non-Sanskritic languages, labelled mlechchhas.

Yet ideas and beliefs were also shared. In the Mahabharata, the Pandava Bhima marries Hidimba, a 'rakshasa' woman. Historians suggest that 'rakshasa' may simply describe people whose practices differed from those laid down in the Brahmanical texts.

The Brahmanical idea of purity and pollution created a group of 'untouchables'. Activities like handling corpses and dead animals were seen as 'polluting', and those who did them were placed at the very bottom.

The Manusmriti laid down that the chandalas had to live outside the village, use discarded utensils, wear clothes of the dead and iron ornaments, and perform cremations. The Chinese pilgrims Fa Xian (fifth century) and Xuan Zang (seventh century) both saw such practices: Fa Xian wrote that 'untouchables' had to sound a clapper in the streets, so that people could avoid seeing them.

But the chandalas sometimes resisted. In the Matanga Jataka, the Bodhisattva is born as a chandala, and he resists the humiliation he faces, and teaches a lesson to those who insult him. Outsiders were both included and pushed down.