The Probert Encyclopaedia of People

VAISYA

Vaisya is the third or ordinary class in ancient Hindu society. Described in the Rig-Veda as sprung from the thighs of Purusha, it comprised the free commonalty, the ordinary folk engaged in providing the Aryan community with the necessities of life. To them were entrusted the material interests of agriculture, cattle-raising, handicraft, and trade, apart from those menial occupations which were allotted to the servile Sudras. Their peaceful penetration of the Dravidian population in southern India proceeded for centuries before the Kshattriya class undertook military dominion in that region, and their commercial intercourse with other lands led to much racial admixture.
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