Shudra, fourth and lowest of the traditional varnas, or social classes, of India, traditionally artisans and labourers. The term does not appear in the earliest Vedic literature. Unlike the members of the three dvija (“twice-born”) varnas—Brahmans (priests and teachers), Kshatriya (nobles and warriors), and Vaishya (merchants)—Shudras are not permitted to perform the upanayana, the initiatory rite into the study of the Vedas (earliest sacred literature of India).
Deriving from the belief that certain behaviour patterns and occupations are polluting, the Shudra varna includes a wide spectrum of endogamous status groups considered either ritually “clean” or “unclean.” At the clean end of the scale are dominant, landowning groups, while the other end of the scale includes washers, tanners, shoemakers, sweepers, and scavengers. As evidence of group mobility in the caste system, some observers have pointed out that many castes claiming Kshatriya and Vaishya status gradually emerged from the Shudra class.