KINGS, FARMERS AND TOWNS
EARLY STATES AND ECONOMIES 600 BCE-600 CE)
Introduction
There were several changes in economic and political life between
600BCE and 600 CE.The most important was the
-Emergence of early states, -Janpada
and Mahajanapada
-Empires- Magadha
-Kingdoms- Maurya, Satatvahana,
Kushana, Gupta Etc
There were other changes as well like –
-Growth in agricultural production
-Emergence of new towns etc.
Historians tried to understand these changes by using a variety of
sources-Inscriptions, texts coins etc.This is a complex process and sources do
not tell the entire story.
Some developments during the long span of 1500
years following the end of Harappan Civilization
There were several developments that took place
in India during the long span of 1,500 years following the end of Harappan
civilization. They are:
·
Rig-Veda was composed along the Indus and its tributaries
·
Agricultural settlements emerged in many parts
of the subcontinent.
·
Emergence of new mode of disposal of the dead
like Megaliths in central and south India.
·
Emergence of new towns and kingdoms.
The Sixth century BCE was a turning point in early Indian history: Why?-
v
The sixth century BCE is often regarded as a major turning point in early Indian history.
v This
era is known for some crucial developments. They are:
·
Increased use of iron
·
Development of
coinage
·
Emergence of early states and cities
·
Rise of new religions, namely, Jainism and Buddhism
Features of Mahajanapadas
·
The sixth century BC is known for the rise of the sixteen Mahajanapadas as Kuru. panchal, Magadha, vajji, kamboj Gandhara, etc.
·
Most mahajanapadas were ruled by kings. But some were known as sanghas or Ganas were oligarchies, where power is shared by a number of men.
·
Each had its own capital often fortified.
·
Some states maintained permanent standing armies
recruited from the peasantry and regular bureaucracies.
·
Dharma sutras laid down norms for kings and
other people.
·
Functions of the rulers were to collect taxes
and tribute from people.
Factors responsible
for the rise of Magadha
·
Between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE,
Magadha became the most powerful Mahajanapada
®
Powerful and ambitious rulers like Bimbisara, Ajatasattu and Mahapadmananda.
®
Availability of iron enabled the Magadhans to make tools and weapons.
®
Availability of elephants in forests constituted an important part of the army.
®
Fertile soil provided agricultural productivity
®
Ganga and its tributaries provided means of cheap and convenient communication.
®
Location of Pataliputra facilitated routes of communication along Ganges.
®
Rajgriha, the old capital of Magadha was located amongst hills.
The Mauryan Empire
·
The rise of Magadha culminated in the emergence
of the Mauryan Empire.
·
Chandragupta Maurya (c.321BCE) was the founder
of the empire who extended control up to Afghanistan and Baluchistan.
· After that his son Bindusara ruled this area.
His grandson, Ashoka, the most famous ruler
conquered Kalinga
Variety of Sources
to reconstruct the history of the Mauryan Empire
Historians have used variety of
sources to reconstruct the history of the Mauryan Empire. They are:
·
Archaeological finds especially sculpture,
Asoka’s inscriptions-
Maski in Karnataka;
Brahmagiri in Karnataka;
Gujarra in Madhya Pradesh;
Nettur in Andhra Pradesh.
·
Literary sources like -
·
Indica account of Megasthanese,
·
Arthashastra of Kautilya, and
·
Buddhist, Jaina and Puranic literature.
Asoka’s Dhamma
·
Asoka was the first ruler who inscribed his
messages to his people on stone (rocks and pillars)
·
He used the inscriptions to proclaim his
principles of Dhamma.This included,
·
Respect to elders
·
Genorosity towards Brahmanas and others sects
·
Kindness to slaves and servants.
·
Religious tolerance towards other religions
Features of Mauryan Administration as
mentioned in the Asokan Inscriptions
v
The mauryan king was the centre of the great
administrative system .He enjoyed absolute power. The vast empire was divided
into number of provinces. The mauryans had a strong standing army
1.
Five Major Political Centres
·
There were five major political centres to administer the vast empire.
·
Pataliputra,-Capital
·
Taxila,- on trade routes
·
Ujjaini,- on trade routes
·
Tosali - odisha
·
Suvarnagiri-Gold mines of Karnataka
·
These centres were situated on important
long-distance trade routes.
Communication along both land and riverine routes was vital for the existence of empire.
Communication along both land and riverine routes was vital for the existence of empire.
2.
Role of the sub committees
·
Megasthanese mentioned a committee with six sub
committees was organized for coordinating military activity. They looked after
- The navy,
- Transport -Arranging bullock cart,procuring food for soilders, and fodder for animals.
- Infantry-foot soilders
- Cavalry,
- Chariots and
- Elephants.
·
The second committee was to arrange bullock
carts to carry equipments procure food for soldiers and fodder for animals and
recruit servants and artisans to look after the soldiers
3.
Measures of Asoka to hold his empire
·
Asoka tried to hold his empire together by
propagating dhamma.
·
He appointed Special officers called Dhamma mahamattas to spread the message of dhamma.
Officers were appointed to different works.
Officers were appointed to different works.
New Notions of Kingship (Post-Mauryan
period)
·
By second century BCE, new chiefdoms and
kingdoms emerged in several parts of the subcontinent.
·
Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas in Tamilakam were
known from Sangam texts.
·
Several states including Satavahanas and Shakas
took advantage from long distance trade.
In North region-
·
Kushans (C First century BCE to first century
CE) ruled over a vast kingdom extending from central Asia to North West India.
·
Their history has been reconstructed from
inscriptions, coins, and sculptures .The notions of kingship they wanted to convey are well reflected in their
coins and sculpture.
·
Huge Statues of Kushan rulers have been found in
U.P and Afghanistan. This indicates that the Kushans considered themselves
godlike. They claimed divine status and adopted the title devaputra,or ‘son of
god’.
·
History of the Guptas (4th century
CE) has been reconstructed from literatures, coins and inscriptions including prashastis (For e.g.The Prayaga
Prashasti(Allahabad Pillar Inscription) composed by Harishena,the court poet of Samudragupta.)
·
What did subjects think about their rulers?
Historians have tried to understand this by examining stories contained in
Jatakas(written in Pali) and Panchatantra.
·
The jataka story indicates the strained
relationship between kings and subjects. Kings demanded high taxes and peasants
opposed to this.
Strategies for
increasing agricultural production
·
Use of iron tipped ploughshare
·
Introduction of transplantation of paddy
·
Irrigation through wells, tanks and canals
· Hoe agriculture in semi-arid parts of Punjab, Rajastan and hilly tracks in North-Eastern and Central parts.
· Hoe agriculture in semi-arid parts of Punjab, Rajastan and hilly tracks in North-Eastern and Central parts.
- Land grants-A type of strategy adopted by rulers to extend the agriculture.
Differences in rural society
·
With the increase in production, differences
arose among people engaged in agriculture.
·
Buddhist tradition refers to landless
agricultural labourers, small peasants and large landlords.
·
Landlords and heads of village were more
powerful and had control over farmers
·
Sangam texts mention large landowners or
vellalar, ploughman or uzhavar and slaves or
adimai.
·
Thus, differences in rural society were based on
control over land,labour and technologies.
Land grants and new rural elites
·
Land grants by kings were recorded in inscriptions.
·
Most of the records are generally about grants
to religious institutions or to Brahmanas.
·
Prabhavati Gupta, daughter of Chandragupta II,
was married into the family of vakatakas in
Deccan.
·
According to Sanskrit legal texts, women were
not supposed to have access to land.
·
But Inscription indicates that Prabhavati had
access to land.
·
The inscription gives us an idea about rural
people-Brahmanas, peasants and others.
·
There were regional variations in the sizes of
land donated.
·
Land grants were made to extend agriculture to
new areas or to win allies by making grants of land.
·
Land grants provide an insight into the
relationship between peasants and the state.
·
However, groups such as pastoralists, fisher
folk, hunter gatherers, sedentary artisans and shifting cultivators did not
keep detailed records of their lives and transactions.
Towns and Trade
·
From c. sixth century BCE, urban centres emerged
in different parts of the subcontinent.
·
Majority
of the towns such as Pataliputra, Ujjaini, Puhar, Mathura etc.were located
along riverine or land routes.
·
Votive Inscriptions (Which record gifts made to religious institutions)give us an idea about town people
·
In the towns different types of people used to
live such as washingfolk,weavers, scribes,
carpenters,potters,goldsmiths,blacksmiths,officials,religious
teachers,merchants and kings.
·
Artisans and traders organized themselves in
guilds or shrenis.Guilds procured raw materials, regulated production and
marketed the finished product.
·
Trade was not confined within the subcontinent
but extended to East and North Africa and West Asia and to Southeast Asia and
China.
·
India used to export spices, fine pearls, ivory,
silk cloth, medicinal plants etc.
Coins and Kings (Numismatics of the 6th century
BCE onwards)
·
Exchangers were facilitated by the introduction
of coinage.
·
Punch marked coins made of silver and copper
were amongst the earliest to be minted and used.
·
Coins were issued by kings, merchants, bankers
and town people.
·
The first coins bearing the names and images of
rulers were issued by the Indo-Greeks.
·
The first gold coins were issued in first
century CE by the Kushans.
·
Hoards of Roman coins have been found in south
India. This indicates that there was a close connection between south India and
Roman Empire.
·
Coins were also issued by tribal republics .For
e.g. Yaudheyas of Punjab and Haryana (first century CE) issued thousands of
copper coins.
·
The Guptas also issued gold coins. These were
remarkable for their purity. These coins facilitated long distance
transactions.
·
From c.sixth century onwards finds of gold coins
are fewer. Historians divided on this issue. Some suggest that there was an
economic crisis following the collapse of Western Roman Empire. Decline of long
distance trade affected the prosperity of states, communities and regions.
·
Others argue that new towns and networks of
trade began to emerge around this time though finds of coins are fewer.
Decipherment of Inscriptions
·
James Princep, an officer in the mint of the
English East India Company was able to decipher Asokan Brahmi in 1838.
·
The coins of indo –Greek kings contain the names
of kings written in Greek and Kharoshti scripts.
·
The European scholars compared the letters in
both scripts. For e.g. the symbol for “a” could be found in both scripts for
writing names such as Appollodotus
Historical
evidence from inscriptions-Interpretation of inscriptions by historians
·
It is found that the name Asoka is not mentioned
in inscriptions.
·
Instead, the king is referred to as devanampiya
(“beloved of the gods”) and piyadassi (“pleasant to behold”).
·
There were a few inscriptions which also
referred to the king as Asoka. These inscriptions are also containing such titles.
·
By examining the content, style, language and
paleography, of these inscriptions, epigraphists(Who Study the Inscriptions) have come to the conclusion
that they were issued by the same ruler.
Limitations of
Inscriptional Evidence
Inscriptions
have some limitations:
·
Letters may be very faintly engraved
·
Inscriptions may be damaged or letter missing
·
It is not sure about the exact meaning of the
words.
· Inscriptions may not have lasted the ravages of time. Thus, what is available at present is simply a fraction of what was written.
· Inscriptions may not have lasted the ravages of time. Thus, what is available at present is simply a fraction of what was written.
·
Inscriptions may not provide a complete idea
about political and economic history
·
Inscriptions are written from the point of the
view of the person who commissioned them.
·
So, the routine agricultural practices may not be recorded in the inscriptions.
