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Kings, Farmers And Towns
Life in a small village
The Harshacharita is a biography of Harshavardhana, the ruler of Kannauj, composed in Sanskrit by his court poet, Banabhatta (c. seventh century CE). This is an excerpt from the text, an extremely rare representation of life in a settlement on the outskirts of a forest in the Vindhyas:
The outskirts being for the most part forest, many parcels of rice-land, threshing ground and arable land were being apportioned by small farmers... it was mainly spade culture... owing to the difficulty of ploughing the sparsely scattered fields covered with grass, with their few clear spaces, their black soil stiff as black iron...
There were people moving along with bundles of bark ... countless sacks of plucked flowers, ... loads of flax and hemp bundles, quantities of honey, peacocks' tail feathers, wreaths of wax, logs, and grass. Village wives hastened en route for neighbouring villages, all intent on thoughts of sale and bearing on their heads baskets filled with various gathered forest fruits.
A. Banabhatta.
B. The outskirts being for the most part forest, many parcels of rice-land, threshing ground and arable land were being apportioned by small farmers ... it was mainly spade culture... owing to the difficulty of ploughing the sparsely scattered fields covered with grass, with their few clear spaces, their black soil stiff as black iron.
C. There were people moving along with bundles of bark ... countless sacks of plucked flowers... loads of flax and hemp bundles, quantities of honey, peacocks, tail feathers, wreaths of wax logs, and grass. Two activities of farmers of that time were (i) Farming and (ii) animal rearing. These activities are also practiced in modern times.
D. Village women hastened en route for neighbouring village, all intent on thoughts of sale and bearing on their heads baskets filled with various gathered forest fruits.
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This is a statement made by one of the best-known epigraphists of the twentieth century, D.C. Sircar: “There is no aspect of life, culture and activities of the Indians that is not reflected in inscriptions”. Discuss.
Discuss the notions of kingship that developed in the post-Mauryan period.
To what extent were agricultural practices transformed in the period under consideration?
Compare Maps 1 and 2, and list the Mahajanapadas that may have been included in the Mauryan Empire. Are any Asokan inscriptions found in these areas?
Collect newspapers for one month. Cut and paste all the statements made by government officials about public works. Note what the reports say about the resources required for such projects, how the resources are mobilised and the objective of the project. Who issues these statements, and how and why are they communicated? Compare and contrast these with the evidence from inscriptions discussed in this chapter. What are the similarities and differences that you notice.
Collect five different kinds of currency notes and coins in circulation today. For each one of these, describe what you see on the observe and the reverse (the front and the back). Prepare a report on the common features as well as the differences in terms of pictures, scripts and languages, size, shape and any other element that you find significant. Compare these with the coins shown in this chapter, discussing the materials used, the techniques of minting, the visual symbols and their significance and the possible functions that coins may have had.
What is meant by Janapada?
What were the Mahajanapadas? Name a few important Mahajanapadas.
Which Mahajanapada emerged as the strongest one? Name any three of its important rulers.
What was the early capital of Magadha? Tell its one feature. In the 4th century BCE, which city was made the capital of Magadha?
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