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The social changes in the early medieval India were mainly the product of certain economic developments, such as land grants and large scale transfers of land revenues and land to both secular and religious elements, decline of trade and commerce, loss of mobility of artisans, peasants and traders, unequal distribution of land and power etc.
The rise of Indian Feudalism
From the post-Maurya period, and especially from Gupta times, India's political and administrative developments tended to feudalise the state apparatus. This has been called Indian Feudalism.
Proliferation of Castes
Increasing pride of birth, characteristic of feudal society, and the accompanying self-sufficient village economy, which prevented both spatial and occupational mobility, gave rise to thousands of castes in India during the early medieval Period.
Degradation of Marriage & Women
The women's position is far degraded from that in early eras. Marital institution became rigid. The Smritichandrika and Smrityarthasara gave several rules. Read Here
Development in Science and Literature
During early medieval period, there was a considerable development in the science and literature. However, the quality of the content in them was not of a high order. It was basically of general imitative and reproductive character. Read about it here
Development of local cultures
- The foundation of various kingdoms and fiefdoms whose people were generally confined to them only led the development of localized culture, making India a diverse geographical area.
- The Hunas and other foreign elements were absorbed into the Indian society and cleared the ground for the rise of larger defined units such as Rajputana. Similarly, Bengal, which was earlier divided into two parts viz. Gauda and Vanga, later the whole region was named after Vanga.
- The inhabitants of the different nations differed in customs, clothing and language. For example, the Kavalayamala (8th century) notes the existence of 18 major nationalists and describes the anthropological character of 16 peoples.
Development of Vernacular Languages
- Though the Sanskrit continued to be used by the ruling class at the higher administrative levels, this language later become complex, verbose and ornate. The Apabhramsha started to differentiate into proto-Hindi, Proto-Bengali, Proto-Rajasthani proto-Gujarati, Proto-Marathi, Proto-Assamese, Proto-Ordya, Proto-Maithili languages.
- From the 6th century onwards, the linguistic variation became very fast because of lack of inter-regional communication and mobility. In the tribal areas, the Brahmanas imposed various forms of Sanskrit on the existing Aryan and Pre-Aryan dialects. The consequential interaction gave rise to regional languages. The migrating Brahmanas also enriched the regional languages. This resulted in the development of regional scripts and regional grammar.
Development of Regional Art & Culture
- In the field of art and architecture, this period ushered in a new age marked by regional styles in sculpture and construction of temples, which became particularly prominent in south India from the eighth century onwards.
- The post-gupta iconography prominently displays a divine hierarchy, which reflects the pyramidal rank in society.
- The Vishnu, Shiva and Durga became the supreme deities, lording over many other divinities of unequal sizes. The Mahayajnas and danas (donations) were gradually replaced by a system known as Puja. Puja was interlinked to the doctrine of Bhakti, which became a distinct feature of medieval religion. Both puja and Bhakti became integral ingredients of tantricism, which arose due to the acculturation of the tribal people through large-scale religious land-grants.
Contribution of Al-Beruni
- Al-beruni, who visited India with the Turkish invader Mahmud Ghazni and his army, has given a vivid account of India society during those times.
- He visited India frequently and stayed in different parts of the country. Assisted by learned scholars of India, he translated from Sanskrit a few Indian works on astronomy, especially the Paulisasiddhanta, Brihatsamhita and Laghujatakam of Varahmihira.
- Probably he was the first to introduce the treasure of the Sanskrit literature to the Islamic world. His Tahkik-i-Hind (Reality of Hindustan) is the most important work in which he gives a good graphic description of India, as he had seen. While narrating the social conditions of India Alberuni observes that the Hindu society was based on caste system. He describes the institution of marriage, the position of women, the Hindu fasts and festivals. He observed that Hindus have numerous books about all the branches of science. He provides us long lists of famous books of Indians astronomy, medicine, alchemy, etc.
