A new social category that emerged during this period was placed below the shudras in the social hierarchy and considered untouchables.

The Janas who migrated eastwards began to settle down in various regions. The loyalty of the people shifted from jana (tribe or clan) to Janapada (territory). Janapada literally meant the place where the tribe sets its foot upon.

A spirit of scepticism began to pervade questioning every custom and orthodoxy in the belief system in the society leading to rise of new ideas and faiths.

1. A Buddhist temple was built in Nagapattinam at the request of a Chinese ruler during the reign of Palla va king Narasimhavarman II (CE 695-722).
2. In CE 1006,during the reign of Rajaraja I, Srivijay King Mara-vijayottunggavarman built a Buddhist temple in Nagapattinam.

Carvakas developed the concept of scepticism and believed in the pursuit of knowledge through experience. They questioned the authority of Vedas.

The Buddhist texts were compiled in Pali. The Pali canons are called as the Tripitakas(Three Baskets). They are Vinaya Pitaka, Sutta Pitaka and Abhidhamma Pitaka.

Gana- sanghas or oligarchies, which were centred on clans. The richer landowners were called grihapatis. These landowners employed labourers called dasas or karmakaras. The smaller landowners were known as kassakas or krishakas. The society was stratified on the basis of varna. It emerged as a marker of status. Cultivators and artisans were identified as the shudras.

The mahajanapadas represented the emergence of territorial kingdoms that ruled over people (jana).

Jainisrn spread to Tamil Nadu from about the third century CE.
1. Jaina rock shelters are found in large numbers around Madurai and other places.
2. The Jaina temples is at Tiruparuthikunram near Kanchipuram with beautiful ceiling paintings.

Gosala, Gautama Buddha, Mahavira, Ajita Kesakambalin.

1. Political and administrative centres such as Rajgriha, Shravasti, Kaushambi and Champa
2. Centres of trade and commerce such as Ujjain and Taxila
3. Holy centres such as Vaishali.

Improvement in iron technology had widespread implications for the rest of the economy. Better tools like axes made more extensive clearing of forests possible for agriculture; better ploughs could improve agricultural processes; better nails and tools improved woodwork and carpentry.

1. Buddhism faced divisions from time to time. Division into various splinter groups like 'Hinayana', 'Mahayana', 'Vajrayana', 'Tantrayana' and 'Sahajayana' led Buddhism to lose its originality.
2. Pali and Prakrit were the spoken languages of people of north India and it was through these languages the message of Buddhism was spread. But ever since the times of Fourth Buddhist Council held during the reign of Kanishka, Sanskrit had come to be adopted.
3. Buddhism there upon became unintelligible to common people.

1. State formation and the rigidity of the Vedic religion constrained the liberty of thought and action. A revolt against religious practice of following dogmas found its articulation in heterodox sects.
2. The emergence of territorial identities accelerated the process of socio political and economic changes. The elite class, disillusioned with the system in place, began to move in protest towards the heterodox religions blossoming in Magadha or middle Ganges plains.
3. As the Vedic religion was not fully organised, its reach did not permeate into the society and hence people did not find it difficult to follow the newly emerging religious sects.
4. With urbanisation and expansion of trade, new classes of merchants and bankers such as sethis sought higher social status appropriate to their economic status.
5. The grievance of Kshatriyas was that they were denied a staged life of ashramas, a privilege permitted only to Brahmins in the Vedic texts.