This brings me to Ravana's people: the rakshasas. As far as I could understand, Rakshasa were different from the ultimate nemesises (is that the correct spelling?) - the asuras, the daityas and the danavas Rakshas were actually the cousins of the Yakshas (ruled by God Kuber) and the Gandharvas (the musicians of the gods). Their original king was Nirriti Dev. In Swasthani, Nirriti dev and his army of rakshasas actually fought on the side of the gods in the battle against Tarakasura. What I don't know is when the rakshasas fell from that status to the status of demons. We really need a learned Hindu scholar here - someone show has been wellversed in the Vedas and the Puranas. I think the rakshasas were not so completely demonic during the Vedic era but when the Puranas were written the Rakshasas became almost synonymous with the demons.