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Chandala (Sanskrit: चण्डाल) is a Sanskrit word for someone who deals with the disposal of corpses, and is a Hindu lower caste,^[1] traditionally considered to be untouchable.^[2]^[3]

History

Varṇa was a hierarchical social order in ancient India, based primarily on the Dharmashastras. However, since the Vedic corpus constitute the earliest literary source, it came to be seen as the origin of caste society. In this view of caste, varṇas were created on a particular occasion and have remained virtually unchanged. Historically this order of society, notions of purity and pollution were central, and activities were delineated in this context. Varṇa divides the society into four groups ordered in a hierarchy; beyond these, outside the system, lies a fifth group known as the untouchables, of which the Chandala became a constituent part.^[4]

The first mention of the fourfold varṇa division is found in the later Rigveda. Vedic literature also mentions some groups, such as Ayogava, Chandala, Nishada, and Paulkasa, which were outside the four-varṇa classification. They were referred to as belonging to the "panchama varṇa" or panchamas, meaning fifth. The Yajur-Veda mentions their degradation from the varṇa classes, mentioning the Chandala group in particular, who were said to be the untouchable class of people born of the union between a Shudra male and a Brahmin female.^[2]

There are frequent references to the forest-dwellers in the post-Rigvedic literature; the Chandalas were one of these primitive people, who belonged to the fringes of the society.

In many parts of India, Chandal is used as a pejorative or an insult among Hindus, even though castes known as such are not practically present outside Bengal (Namasudras).^[1]^[5]

Reference by travelers to India

During his travel across India in the 4th-5th centuries CE, Chinese traveler Faxian mentioned Chandalas while talking about the people of India:

Throughout the whole country the people do not kill any living creature, nor drink intoxicating liquor, nor eat onions or garlic. The only exception is that of the Chandalas. That is the name for those who are (held to be) wicked men, and live apart from others. ... In that country they do not keep pigs and fowls, and do not sell live cattle; in the markets there are no butchers' shops and no dealers in intoxicating drink. In buying and selling commodities they use cowries. Only the Chandalas are fishermen and hunters, and sell flesh meat.^[6]^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b Viswanath, Rupa (2014). The Pariah Problem: Caste, Religion, and the Social in Modern India. Columbia University Press. p. 268. ISBN 978-0-23116-306-4. Panchama means "of the fifth," and therefore outside the fourfold classical system of caste, or varna. Avarna, similarly means those outside the varna system. Chandala is a term referring to "unclean" castes and is used as a vlur in many parts of India.
^ ^a ^b Chandrashekhar Bhat (1984). Ethnicity and Mobility. Concept publishing. pp. 2–3.
^ S. M. Michael (1999). Untouchable: Dalits in Modern India. Lynne Rienner Publishers. pp. 3–4. ISBN 9781555876975.
^ Thapar, Romila (2004). Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300. University of California Press. pp. 63, 511. ISBN 978-0-52024-225-8.
^ Biswas, A. K. (2000). The Namasudras of Bengal: profile of a persecuted people. Blumoon Books. p. viii. ISBN 9788187190431. Though he is physically almost practically unknown, save and except in Bengal, calling someone a Chandal is the ultimate insult and humiliation of a Hindu anywhere under the sun.
^ Faxian (1886). "On To Mathura Or Muttra. Condition And Customs Of Central India; Of The Monks, Viharas, And Monasteries.". A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms. Translated by Legge, James.
^ Bodhipaksa (2016). Vegetarianism. Windhorse. ISBN 978-19093-14-740.