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VOL. 12, ISSUE 1 (2026)
Marginalized and Marginalization in ancient India
Authors
Raghvendra Singh
Abstract
This paper shifts from colonial and nationalist narratives to a
Marxist-Subaltern framework in analysing institutionalization of marginality in
ancient India. The shift from pastoralism to a sedentary agrarian economy
required immutable social hierarchies, it argues, which were codified by
Brahmanical normative texts such as the Manusmṛti. Thus, Varṇasaṃkara becomes a
legal fiction the exploration of which reveals how it was groups like Caṇḍāla
and Mleccha who were removed in order to preserve ritual purity and, by
extension, economic sway. further revisits the Transition from Slavery (dāsa)
to State’s indebted requirement of a forced labor for surplus extraction (Viṣṭi).
Using Brahmanical patriarchy as a vantage point, this work demonstrates that
the control over female sexuality and property was crucial for maintaining
caste endogamy. Finally, recognising that this Heterodox movement presented an
ideological charge against the arrangements of the time, the paper finds that
these changes mostly worked within economic boundaries. In the end, marginality
becomes more a cultural socio-economic construct whose purpose is to maintain
elite hegemony and the predatory nature of early Indian state.
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Pages:398-402
How to cite this article:
Raghvendra Singh "Marginalized and Marginalization in ancient India". International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Research, Vol 12, Issue 1, 2026, Pages 398-402
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