Social Conditions In India Before Advent Of Islam

There was a total collapse of the social order. The Hindu society consisted many castes and sub-castes through theoretically it recognized only the four main classes, the Brahmin, the Khatri, the Vesh and the Sudar. The Brahmins were regarded as the highest caste and the custodians of all spritual knowledge. It was under guidance of the Brahmins that people could attain salvation.

Khatris were one of the privileged castes. The lower castes were kept in a state of degradation. Al-Biruni informs us that when a Vesh or a Sudar was proved to have recited the Vedas, his tongue was cut off as a punishment.

In other words, the Sudar were like beasts of burden in Hindu society. There were no intermarriages between various casts, & as for Sudars, even their touch was considered unclean.