Question

The most important event in the social life of early medieval India was ­­________.
A. Assimilation of foreigners into the Hindu society as Rajputs.
B. Rigidity of the caste system
C. Birth, occupation or profession and place of residence as new determinants of caste
D. All of the above

Answer 1

Hint: Early medieval India refers to the period from 700 to 1200 AD in Indian history. The social life during this saw continuation of the legacy of Gupta’s with a renewed spread of Vedic-Puranic ideas. Brahmin’s came to be seen as major agents for political legitimation by local rulers.

Complete answer: Early medieval India saw the emergence of various regional kingdoms all over the subcontinent. It lacked a pan Indian empire like that of Gupta’s but the dominant Brahmanical motifs from it continued being used. It is important to note how the ancient literature had a bearing on the inscriptions and prashastis of the specified period.
Temples emerged as integrative agencies aimed at bringing all sections of society together. Tribal groups and other frontier communities were taken under the fold of Brahmanism through assimilating their local deities into Brahmin mythology. This was associated with the idea of divine legitimization provided to rulers by the Brahmins. It was especially important, as many rulers were not from the Kshatriya (warrior) group. Brahmins often conducted rituals as yajna (sacrifice, worship) to ensure this.
Early medieval India, therefore, saw considerable fluidity in the Varna system with possibilities for social mobilization and legitimization for local rulers. Rajputs are one such example who ruled over the north-western parts. These were foreign to Indian society and initially worked as mercenaries. With the help of Brahmins, they derived their lineage from three deities’ essentially solar (Suryavanshi), lunar (Chandravanshi) and fire (Agnivanshi).
Hence, option (A) is correct.

Note: Early medieval India saw a proliferation of castes and jatis’. This brought a hierarchy among shudra too, with some castes even considered being out of varna system. Caste, therefore, became another tool to make tribals and foreign elements part of the traditional 4 varnas of the Brahmanical society.