1.

Read the following excerpt carefully and answer the questions that follow. The System of Varnas This is Al-Birani’s account of the system of varnas: The highest castes are the Brahmana, of whom the books of the Hindus tell us that they were created from the head of Brahma. And as the Brahman is only another name for the force called nature, and the head is the highest part of the … body, the Brahmana are the choice part of the whole genus. Therefore the Hindus consider them as the very best of mankind. The next caste are the Kshatriya, who were created, as they say, from the shoulders and hands of Brahman. Their degree is not much below that of the Brahmana. After them follow the Vaishya, who were created from the thigh of Brahman. The Shudra, who were created from his feet… Between the latter two classes there is no very great distance. Much, however, as these classes differ from each other, they live together in the same towns and villages, mixed together in the same houses and lodgings. 1. Al-Biruni accounts suffer from some limitations. Explain. 2. How was the system not quite rigid in real life? 3. Explain Al-Biruni’s account of the system of vamas.

Answer»

1.(a) Sanskrit was an unfamiliar language. 

(b) Difference in religious beliefs and practices. 

2.(a) The system was not quite rigid in real life. 

(b) The Vaishyas and Shudras mixed together in the same house and lodgings, and were engaged in economic activities. 

3.(a) Al – Biruni’s description of the caste system was influenced by his study of Sanskrit text. 

(b) The highest castes were the Brahmins as they were created from the head of the Brahma. 

(c) The Kshatriyas were next in hierarchy created from the shoulders and hands of Brahma. The Vaishyas and Shudras were created from the thigh and feet of the Brahma respectively.



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