Themes In Indian History I Chapter 2 Kings, Farmers And Towns

Unlike Harappan civilization archaeologist were able to gather different varieties of artefacts, they are as follows:

(i) Evidence of  bowls and dishes of very fine type of pottery with a glossy finish were found. These pottery is known as the Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW). These fine earthern pottery was probably used by rich people in towns.

(iii) In early cities ornaments, tools, weapons, vessels, figurines, made of a wide range of materials such as gold, silver, copper, bronze, glass, shell and terracotta were also found. Moreover here we find the usage of iron in abundance.

Differences:

(i) Most importantly, evidence of material artefatcs is abundant, and we find that unlike Harappan civilization material used to make crafts are varied. And there is fine production of pottery with glossy finish which we do not find in Harappan civilization.

(ii) There are artefacts and crafts made in iron, the metal which was not know during bronze age Harappan civilization.

The main features of the Mahajanapadas are as follow:
1. Mahajanapadas were forms of early states and were mostly ruled by kings. However there were oligarchy also known as Gana and Sanghas, where group of people shared power and were collectively known as Rajas.

2. Mahajanapadas had its own capital and it was fortified. It was where the king lived.

3. Mahajanapadas developed gradually a standing armies and bureaucracy.

4. There was the system of taxation, taxes were collected fromt the masses.

5. There developed a notion where king was supposed to come from Kshatriya, with its roles and duties.

When we look into the sources of the past ordinary people has rarely left any account of their life's experience or thoughts. Hence it becomes very difficult for the scholars to construct their life, however scholars have tried various methods to understand ordinary people by:

1. Examining stories contained in anthologies such as the Jatakas and the Panchatantra. Although stories this tales tends to tell us lots about the ordinary people.

2.  Different types of foodgrains and animal bones have been found during excavation. It gives us information about dietary practices of people.

3.  Remains of houses and pots inform us about their daily and household life.

4. There is a mention of different types of crafts and craftsmen on certain inscriptions. It is a very good source of knowing economic life of people.

5. Some inscriptions and scriptures inform us about king-subject relations, different types of taxes and miseries or happiness of people.

6.  Changing agricultural tools and equipments throw some light on changing life of ordinary people.

Some of the problems faced by epigraphist are

1. Technical problems-  a. Letters are very faintly engraved, and thus reconstructions are uncertain.

b. Inscriptions are damaged or letters missing.

c. It is not always easy to be sure about the exact meaning of the words used in inscriptions.

d. Not all have been deciphered, published and translated. 

2. No overall picture- N everything that we may consider politically or economically significant was necessarily recorded in inscriptions. And the content of inscriptions almost invariably projects the perspective of the person(s) who commissioned them.

Although there are some truth in what D.C. Sircar has said that there is no aspect of life, culture and activities of the Indians that is not reflected in inscriptions. Because generally, inscriptions were commissioned by those whose achievements / activities / ideas were recorded in them. Inscriptions are virtually permanent records. Some inscriptions carry dates. Others are dated on the basis of paleography or styles of writing, with a fair amount of precision.

(a) Description of gifts made to religious institutions and description given by inscriptions: Votive inscriptions give us descriptions about gifts made to religious institutions . These mention the name of the donor, and sometimes specify his/her occupation as well.

(b) Information about people of the Mauryan Age and inscriptions: They tell us about people who lived in towns: washing folk, weavers, scribes, carpenters, potters, smiths, including goldsmiths and blacksmiths, officials, religious teachers, merchants, and kings. Sometimes, organisations of craft producers, guilds or srenis, are mentioned in inscriptions and texts. These probably procured raw materials, regulated production, and marketed the finished produce.

(c) Information about trade and inscriptions: Around the same time, there is evidence for long-distance trade. Historians combine evidence from a variety of sources to reconstruct and understand this process.

But inscription does have its own drawbacks that we need to discuss for example

1. There are technical issues like letters are very faintly engraved, inscriptions may be damaged or letters missing, it is not always easy to be sure about the exact meaning of the words used in inscriptions, some of which may be specific to a particular place or time. many of them yet to be deciphered etc.

2. And one of the most imporant problem is that not everything that we may consider politically or economically significant was necessarily recorded in inscriptions. For instance, routine agricultural practices and the joys and sorrows of daily existence find no mention in inscriptions, which focus, more often than not, on grand, unique events. Besides, the content of inscriptions almost invariably projects the perspective of the person who commissioned them.

Hence there are some truth in what D C Sircar has said but we still need other evidences to reconstruct the past. 

During the Early historic era we see that the Brahmanas producing different texts. And there is close proximity between Brahmanas and the ksatriyas. Through there knowledges the brahmans began to prescribe roles to the diffrent section of the society. And we see that the main role of Ksatriya was to rule over the people and it was ksatriya who had the right to rule, collect taxes, raid etc. But After the decline of the Mauryan empire we see many groups from central asia, such as Shakas and Kushanas forming empire and whose social background were not clear. And we see that the throne was open to anyone who had the power to grap it.

For example in the kingdoms of Tamilakam (the name of the ancient Tamil country, which included parts of present-day Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, in addition to Tamil Nadu) Cheras, Cholas, Pandyas, were ruled by chiefs or kings. And the positiond of chief were not hereditary like the Mauryas.

We also see that many rulers who came from central asia like Shakas , satavahanas had vey obscure social backgrounds. However one of the most important idea that emerged during the Kushanas (c. first century BCE first century CE), who ruled over a vast kingdom extending from Central Asia to northwest India. They began to portray themselves as divine, there are evidence of kushana rulers statue inside temple.

During this time we also see that the position of king or ruler were not secure, for example we see that the Gupta Empire forged a huge empire depended on huge samantas, men who maintained themselves through local resources including control over land. They offered homage and provided military support to rulers. Powerful samantas could become kings: conversely, weak rulers might find themselves being reduced to positions of subordination.

Thus we see that after Mauryas there was a huge change in the idea of kingship.

The demand for taxes by the kings had considerably increased during the period 600 BCE to 600 A.D. To fulfil this demand for more taxes, the farmers started finding all new means to increase the production of their crops. Consequently many changes took place in the means and methods of agriculture:

(i) Prevalence of Ploughs: One method that helped increasing the production was the popularity of plough. The use of a plough had started in the 6th century BCE in the valleys of Ganga and kaveri. The plough with an iron tip was used in areas which had an ample rainfall. It was used in fertile land. It resulted in increasing the production of paddy. No doubt the farmers had to work a lot to achieve this target.

(ii) Use of Spade: Though plough helped in increasing the production yet its use was limited to only some areas. In Punjab and Rajasthan, which has less rainfall, the plough was used in the early period of the 20th century. Those farmers who lived in the north-east and mid-mountainous regions, used spade to dig fields. The spade was quite useful in such areas.

(iii) Irrigation: Another method to increase the production was irrigation. For this purpose, the wells, the tanks and the canals were used. These were developed by the people individually. At some places, the farmers also joined hands and worked collectively to develop these means of irrigation. However the kings and other dominating elite people developed wells, ponds and canals individually for irrigation of land.

Impact of new Methods of Agriculture: The production in the fields increased considerably because of these modern techniques but many differences also emerged among the people because of these new methods. In Buddhist stories, we find a mention of labourers, small farmers and big zamindars. It shows diverse social classes and the postition of different people in the society. In Pali language, the word for small farmers and zamindars was ‘Grihapati’. The big zamindars and village cheifs were considered very powerful and strong. They often had a control over small farmers. The post of village chief was often hereditary. 

The texts of Tamil Sangam also mention different classes of people in the villages. For example, there were Vellalars or big landlords, Halwaha or Ulwar and Das Animai. It is possible that these diverse positions were because of differences in the ownership of land, labour and new technology. In such a situation, the ownership of land became quite important.

Self study.

Some hints are given below for students.

Students should collect newspapers. These newspapers should be of national importance such as Times of India, The Hindustan, The Statesman or Nav Bharat Times. The Hindu, Amar Ujala and so on.

Students should very carefully cut and paste statements made by the Prime Minister, the President, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha or some Cabinet Minister of Central level. These cuttings should be pasted in a scrap book of history. Statements regarding welfare, economic policies etc. may be written separately. We come across with some contrasts in these statements with the Asoka’s inscriptions. Asoka's inscriptions have been mentioned in your text book.

Self study.

Janapada means the land where a jana (a people, clan or tribe) sets its foot or settles. It is a word used in both Prakrit and Sanskrit.

In the 6th century BC, very big states were established in north India. They were called Mahajanapadas. They were sixteen in number.

Important Mahajanapadas: (i) Megadha (ii) Koshala (iii) Kuru (iv) Avanti (v) Panchala (vi) Vajji (vii) Gandhara.

Magadha emerged as the most important Mahajanapada. Its most important rulerswere Bimbisara, Ajatasattu and Asoka.

Rajagaha (present-day Rajgir) was the early capital city of Magadha. It was a fortified settlement. It was located among the hills. In the 4th century BCE Pataliputra, present-day Patna became Magadha's capital.

Chandragupta Maurya was the founder of Mauryan dynasty. He founded it in 321 BCE. He extended his control as far northwest as Afghanistan and Baluchistan.

Asoka was the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya. He was the most famous ruler of Mauryan empire. He annexed the state of Kalinga in Mauryan empire.

Prakrit was the language used on most of the inscriptions of Asoka. These were written in Brahmi script.

“Periplus” is a Greek word and it means sailing around the world.

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There were important trade routes both land and water, land and river routes criss-crossed the subcontinent and extended in various directions.
1. overland into Central Asia and beyond.
2. overseas, from ports that dotted the coastline – extending across the Arabian Sea to East and North Africa and West Asia, and through the Bay of Bengal to Southeast Asia and China.

The Harshacharita is a biography of Harshavardhana, the ruler of Kanauj in north India. It was composed in Sanskrit by his court poet, Banabhatta (C. 7^th century CE).

(i) Vajji, (ii) Magadha, (iii) Kuru, (iv) Panchala, (v) Gandhara and (vi) Avanti.

Mahajanapadas were the big states that came into being during early historic period of India. They were ruled by kings, and had a fortified capital city and some of them had army to wage war and raid.

 It refers to a form of government where power is exercised by a group of men.

Power was shared by a number of men, often collectively called rajas in an Oligarchy, they probably controlled resources such as land collectively and took decision of for their land.

 

They are:

(i)The Mauryan empire continued for just 150
years. In the annals of history, it cannot be considered a big period.

(ii) It could not spread to all the regions and areas of the sub-continent.

(iii) The control of administration was not uniform within the borders of the state.

 Chief are a poweful man whose position may or may not be hereditary. Some of his functions include leadership in warfare, performing special rituals and arbitrating the disputes.

Tamilakam means the area of Deccan and further sough in the sub-continent. It included parts of present day Andhra Pradesh and Kerala with Tamil Nadu. Chiefdoms of the Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas emerged in Tamilakam. These chiefdoms proved to be very prosperous and stable. They were Smaller in size and were ruled by chief or kings.

Sangam texts are collected works of different people in tamil language over a long span of time. Sangam literature deals with emotional and material topics such as love, war, governance, trade and bereavements.

Pataliputra was the capital of Mauryan empire. Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali and Suvarnagiri were four provincial centres.

The two kingdoms are

(i) Satavahanas who ruled over parts of western and central India.

(ii) Shakas, the people of central Asian origin who established kingdoms in north-wetem and western parts of the sub-continent.

Dhamma is a Prakrit form for sankskrit word Dharma. Dhamma was not a particular religious faith or practice, or an arbitrary formulated royal policy. 
Asoka the Mauryan Emperor understood it as respect towards elders, generosity towards Brahmanas and those who renounced worldly life, treating slaves and servants kindly, and respect for religions and traditions other than one’s own.

Thus it was related to generalized norms of social behavior and activities which he ( Asoka) considered to be virtuous.

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'Rajukas' were the provincial officials during the Mauryan administration. These officials were engaged in clerical and accounting works. Rajukas who were in rural administration wielded more power and freedom in administration. He had the power to even give capital punishment.

Bherigosha means war drums. After the war of Kalinga dismayed Asoka declared that now instead of Bherigosha he would favour in future Dhammagosha ( drum of dhamma).

 Shramana is a Sanskrit word derived from the verbal root gram to exert, effort, labor or to carry out austerity. Shramana thus means, 'one who strives' in Sanskrit or or it is he who exerts himself and performs religious austerities.

Dhammagosha means beat of Dhamma. Ashoka after the Kalinga war dismayed with bloodshed and killing wanted to change from Dherigosha ( beat of war ) to Dhamma gosha( beat of dhamma). He wanted to rule people with dhamma instead of atrocities, tyranny.

Pana: It was a silver coin equal to three-fourth of tola. All the important functionaries in Mauryan period were paid in it. They received as much as 48 thousand panas .

Samaharta is someone who collects the revenue for the state from different sources and makes sure that there is no discrepancies. He also had the duty to look for the ways to increase the revenue of the state.

He was the chief custodian of the state treasury and store house during the Mauryan period.

The name of the ancient Tamil country, which included parts of present-day Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, in addition to Tamil Nadu.

Some of the characteristics of the emerging cities were.


(i) Many cities were the capital of Mahajanapadas.

(ii) Generally all the cities were established on the major roads.

(iii) Many cities like Mathura were the centres of trade, cultural and political activities.

When we look at the location of the major cities we find that they are located mainly in the routes of communication, because they were first and foremost the main trade centre and secondly they were the centre for administration of the empire.

some of the cities are:

(i) Cities like Pataliputra were situated on the riverine routes.

(ii) Cities like Ujjayini were situated along the land routes.

(iii) Cities like Puhar, were near the coast, where sea routes began.

Northern Black Polished ware as the name suggest is name of wares that were found in Northern India. The wares are polished black and is very lustrous. And it is assumed that it was used by the rich people of that time.

The votive inscriptions are those inscription that records gifts made to religious institution.

An organisation of producers, manufacturers and traders was called a guild or shreni. They bought the raw material and after prepared the goods and after that marketed the finished products.

Periplus is a Greek word. It means sailing around or sea voyage. Periplus of the Erythraean Sea throws light on sea trade of early India.

Punch marked coins were introduced were by kings and most probably by merchants and bankers. There are also some chances that they were produced by some townspeople. These coins were produced during 6th century BCE and they were made out of silver, copper and later in gold.
With the introduction of coin the trade became much more easier.

Indo-Greek rulers were the first ruler to issue coins that bear the names and images of rulers. 

It was the Kushanas that minted the first gold coins around first century CE, and were identical in weight with those issued by contemporary Roman emperors and the Parthian rulers of Iran. And later we find the Guptas producing gold coins. Their ealiest issues are remarkable for their purity.
It is assumed that production of gold coin could only mean that the value of trasaction were enormous.

However after 6th century CE we find very less evidence of the gold coins. 

The Nandas were ruling over Magadha when Chandragupta Maurya became the king by overthrowing them.

Kautilya or Chanakya is traditionally believed to be the minister of Chandragupta Maurya and it is believed that part of Arthashastra was composed by him.

Chandragupta’s empire extended from Afghanistan in the west to Assam in the east and upto Mysore in the south.

Asoka invaded Kalinga (modern Orissa) in 255 B.C. and won the battle. But this war changed him. With death and misery everywhere, there was an aversion for war hence in one of his inscription he says ' while one is conquering an unconquered (country) slaughter, death and deportation of people (take place)'

Hence in the very same inscription he mentions his dedication of not waging war and to repent for it by devoting ' to an intense study of Dhamma, to the love of Dhamma, and to instructing (the people) in Dhamma'

 Inscriptions engraved on the rocks and pillars are called Edicts, those which are on rocks are called rock edicts and those on pillar are know as Pillar edicts.

 Megasthenes was a Greek ambassador in the court of Chandragupta. He wrote a book named ‘Indica’. He provides us important information about the Indian society of that time.

Mega in megalith means large whereas lith means stones. It was a culture where large structure were built from stones.

The rulers made arrangements for irrigation because

1. To increase the agriculture production

2.  Agriculture was the main source of state income. Hence to increase the states revenue.

The two methods are:

(i) The plough was used in the alluvial soil in Ganga and Kavery valley to increase production.

(ii) There was another method to increase production — irrigation through wells and tanks.

Author of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea was an anonymous Greek sailor. He prepared a list of varied type of goods to show foreign trade through sea route. It could be possible that he wanted his reader to know where to get the mentioned products. Because by the text we can see that the author basically wants his reader to be familiar with the products of that particular place he is describing. It is not just the product produced in that place but the author introduces to us what other brings to that place.
Hence by that we can atleast assume that he had prepared the list so that his reader if looks for these material will looked at the described place.

Prior to Mauryan Empire Pataliputra was not a city as we do not find it being mentioned among cities in any of the early Buddhist text. Rather we find a place named Pataligram. Pataliputra's recorded history began with Ajatshatru, the second of the Magadhan kings, who established a small fort in 490 BCE at Pataligram where the Ganga and Sone Rivers met in order to better fight his enemies, the Licchavis.
In later half of 5th century BCE we find that Magadha rulers shifting their capital from Rajagaha to there. But even then it was not a big city but they renamed it as Pataliputra. However when Mauryan overthrew Nanda dynasty at the fourth century BCE and become the capital of Mauryan empire, Pataliputra became one of the major cities. Which described fondly by Megasthenes in his work Indika. But with the decline of the Mauryan empire we also see gradual decline of the city too.

The kings of the Vedic times performed the following two Yajnas or sacrifices:

(i) RajsuyaYajna

(ii) Ashwamedha Yajna.

The ways are:

(i) The land grants give us a glimpse of relationship between the state and the farmers.

(ii) Certain land grants for example gives us details of things and products to be given or not to be given to someone. By this we can deduce what people produced, their subsistence etc.

Following are main limitations of inscriptional evidence to reconstruct the past:

1. Technical limitation- letters are very faintly engraved, and thus reconstructions are uncertain. Also, inscriptions may be damaged or letters missing. Besides, it is not always easy to be sure about the exact meaning of the words used in inscriptions, some of which may be specific to a particular place or time

2. Some inscription's script still remains undeciphered to date. Hence we still have half of the picture.

3. Not everything that we may consider politically or economically significant was necessarily recorded in inscriptions. For instance, routine agricultural practices and the joys and sorrows of daily existence find no mention in inscription.

4. The content of inscriptions almost invariably projects the perspective of the person(s) who commissioned them. As such, they need to be juxtaposed with other perspectives so as to arrive at a better understanding of the past.

The Indo-Greek Kingdom or Graeco-Indian Kingdom was a Hellenistic kingdom ( Hellenistic kingdom are those kingdom that rose between the death of Alexandeer the Great and the rise of Roman Empire).

They rule  covered various parts of the northwest regions of the Indian subcontinent, they are modern day Afghanistan, Pakistan and North Western India. And there were around 30 kings ruling that part of the subcontinent.

Sangam literature is a literature produced during sangam period in ancient southern India known as Tamilakam from c. 300 BCE to 300 CE.


(i) Sangam literature was written over a period of three to four centuries.

(ii). All poems were compiled in book form known as Sangam literature.

(ii) This collection contains 2381 poems composed by 473 poets, some 102 of whom remain anonymous.

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 The most famous Kushana ruler was Kanishka.

(ii) Kanishka was known for his patronage to Buddhism.

(iii) Kanishka was also a patron of art, Sanskrit, literature and science.

(iii) His conquests and patronage of Buddhism played an important role in the development of the silk route and the transmission of mahayana buddhism from Gandhara across the Karakoram range to China.

I think rulers would have made arrangement for irrigation for the following reasons:

(i) To increase agricultural production.

(ii) Land revenue was the most important source of state income. Only good crops and enough agricultural production enables the farmers to pay land revenue in time.

(iii) In ancient times agriculture was main occupation and the farmers were most important working class of the society. And the whole economy of the kingdom depended on agriculture.

The Gupta kings enjoyed a large number of powers. Those powers covered political, administrative, military and judicial fields.

(i) Very often they were their own commanders-in-chief.

(ii) Samudragupta, Chandragupta-II and Skanda Gupta personally led their armies in the wars.

(iii) The Gupta kings appointed all the governors and important military and civil officers.

(iv) The governors and their officers had to work under the control and guidance of the king.

(v) All land in the country was the property of the king who could give away the same to any body be pleased.

(a) The first invasion of the Huns over India took place in 458 A.D. during the rule of Kumargupta.

(b) The prince Skanda Gupta gave a crushing defeat to the Huns after making ceaseless efforts for four years.

(c) Again, the Huns invaded after ten years but they had to accept defeat again.

(d) But there was no other forceful ruler after Skanda Gupta who could check them.

(e) Therefore, the Huns held the Northwestern part of India under their sway by the beginning of the 6th century.

(f) They created a terror even in the Gupta Empire by restoring to robberies, inciniarism (ignition of fire) and slaughtering.

(g) They set many monasteries, temples and historical texts to fire.

The following were the impacts of the invasion of the Huns over India during 5th century:

1. End of the Gupta Empire: The successors of Samudragupta were so weak, the entire empire were dashed to the ground by the Huns.

2. End of political unity: India’s political solidarity came to an end on account of the rise of petty states.

3. Destruction of historical sources: The Huns burnt  important books on history and the splendid buildings to ashes.

4. Mixing with the Indian Society: Many Huns got settled into India itself after the invasion. They got merged into Indian society by marrying the Indian women. So many castes and sub-castes emerged after that.

After the war of Kalinga, Asoka left the policy of war and gave his heart and soul in spreading and propagating Buddhism. He himself obeyed those rules which he propagated.
He engraved rules of this religion on inscriptions, large stones, caves etc. These rules were engraved in the language of daily use so that common masses could be able to understand them.
He also built many stupas and Viharas which became centres of Buddhism. He also gave economic help to Buddhist monasteries. He also made journey to Buddhist pilgrims. He sent his son Mahendra and daughter Sanghamitra to Sri Lanka to propagate Buddhism. 
Asoka also tried to hold his empire together by propagating dhamma, the principles of which were simple and virtually universally applicable. This, according to him, would ensure the well-being of people in this world and the next. Special officers, known as the dhamma mahamatta, were appointed to spread the message of dhamma.

At following places inscriptions of Asoka have been found:

(i) Siddapur: This place is situated in Chittal Durga district of Mysore state.

(ii) Brahmagiri: This place is also in Mysore state.

(iii) Maski: This place is situated near Hyderabed.

(iv) Sahasram: This place is situated in Shahabad (Bihar).

The inscriptions of Asoka are very important in the history of India because:

(i) Most of the inscriptions of Asoka are in the border areas. With their help, we can easily determine the borders of the state during the reign of Asoka.

(ii) The inscriptions of Asoka tell a lot about his own religion and high moral character.

(iii) These inscriptions tell us that Asoka had a cordial and friendly relations with Egypt, Syria, Burma (Myanmar) and Sri Lanka.

(iv) These inscriptions tell us what method did Asoka adopt to preach Buddhism.

(v) These inscriptions throw a light on the welfare works done by Asoka. In fact, he wanted the welfare of the common people.

(vi) The inscriptions of Asoka are beautiful specimens of Mauryan art. They were written with a fair amount of precision.

In fact, all the inscriptions of Asoka were writings engraved on hard surfaces like stone, metal or pottery. They recorded his ideas, activities and achievements. They serve as a record of his times.

Asoka used following three methods in bringing unity in the country:

(i) Wars: First of all he adopted the policy of wars in bringing political unity in the country. He established political unity of country by winning over the Kalinga state.

(ii) Religion: Asoka himself was the follower of Buddhism. But the religion, he propagated among the masses, had no concepts of any particular religion. Its moral rules were applicable on followers of all the other religions as well. Asoka’s religion was Humanism with which unity came into being among masses of India.

(iii) Public Welfare: After Kalinga war, Asoka himself became Buddhist monk and devoted his life for public welfare works. He visited pilgrims, engraved inscriptions, opened schools and planted trees. All these things propagated unity in the country.

Asoka framed some moral precepts for the moral upliftment and ethical emancipation of the people of his times. The accumulation of these maxims is called as Dhamma. The basic principles of the Dhamma of Asoka were as under:

(i) The main principle of Asoka was to respect the elders. According to him, all the pupils must respect their teachers (Gurus). All should respect the Saints, Brahmans and elderly people.

(ii) According to the Dhamma of Asoka, all the elderly persons should respect members of the family, relatives, servants, the poor and the slaves.

(iii) Everyone has to face the ordeal in his next birth for all his evil deeds. So all should perform pious deeds.

(iv) Non-violence was the cardinal principle of Asoka’s Dhamma. According to it, no one should hurt anyone with words, deeds and thoughts.

(v) All should analyse their actions from time to time.

(vi) Envy, anger, pride and untruth are all evils. All the people should remain away from them.

Asoka is not only a great king of India but also of the whole world. It is because of the following reasons:

(i) After the war of Kalinga, Asoka adopted service of mankind as one of the main principles of his life. He engaged himself in spreading the religious and ethical gospel of Mahatma Buddha. No other great ruler of the world made such a sacrifice for the common people.

(ii) Asoka considered his subjects as his children. He did a lot for the widows and the orphans.

(iii) Asoka spread Buddhism in all the corners of the world. He is called The Great because he took up a small religion and turned it into a global one. The world came to know about Buddhism only because of the inscriptions of Asoka.

(iv) Asoka was a tolerant ruler. He respected all the religions.

(v) Asoka was the first who got opened hospitals even for the animals.

The limitations are:

(i) Sometimes the words engraved are very faint hence it is very hard to decipher them.

(ii) Sometimes the inscriptions are damaged. Many words are lost due to their damaged hence we are not able to get the proper meaning.

(iii) It is not easy to find out the real meaning of the inscription. Sometimes the things stated are in relevance to a particular situation or time.

(iv) Thousands of inscriptions have been found. But not all of them can be translated or can be understood.

(v) There might have been many more inscriptions that were damaged or that needs to be discovered. 

(vi) There is another basic problem. What is important today both politically and economically may not have been mentioned in the inscriptions. For example, the inscriptions do not refer to agriculture and the joys or sorrows of daily life. They describe only special and grand occasions.

(vii) The inscriptions reflect the views of those who commissioned them. So we must critically analyse all the inscriptions to find out the ultimate truth.

in the early historic era in the indian history, archaeologist and the historian have many sources to reconstruct the past. Here are some of the sources used to reconstruct the Gupta period.

Archaeological evidences- It is one of the important sources that are used to reconstruct the Gupta period. For example, it was the period of construction, new ways of making pottery emerged, the famous northern black polished ware was one of the artefacts that were produced during this time. The period also saw the rise of inscription, kings, rulers,donors etc inscribed their words on rocks, pillars, metal objects. As this material last long, has provided imense help in reconstructing the Gupta period.  We also see that it was the era when production of punch marked coins were in vogue. Many rulers inscribed on it their names and messages. Thus helping us in reconstructing the history of Guptas.

Written sources- Early historic era was also the time when we see text of secular as well as religious content being produced. And Guptas were mentioned very much in the Prashasties, a text were they are admired. Although they were mostly in the form of poetry and were commisioned by them, Even then this text are very important sources. We also find them mentioned in other texts Like in Jatakas, in travellogue etc. 

Thus these are the sources that used to reconstruct the Gu[ya rule.

There are reasons why Mauryan Empire is considered landmark in the Indian history

(I) Huge Empire- Mauryan empire was huge , it stretched till Afghanistan and Balochistan in northwest to Bengal in east, and to central and southern India.

(ii) Taxation: The Maurya period constitutes a landmark in the system of taxation in ancient India. Kautilya mentions many taxes to be collected from peasants, artisans and traders.

(iii) Coins: It seems that the punch-marked silver coins, which carry the symbols of the peacock, and the hill and crescent, formed the imperial currency of the Mauryans.

(iv) Art and Architecture: The Mauryas made a remarkable contribution to art and architecture. They introduced stone masonary on a wide scale. Megasthenes states that the Maurya palace at Patliputra was as splended as that in the capital of Iran.

(v) Huge Buildings: Fragments of stone pillars and stupas indicating the existence of a 80 pillars hall has been discovered at Kumrahar on the outskirts of modern Patna.

(vi) Polish Work: The polished pillars were set up throughout the country which shows that technical knowledge involved in their polishing and transport had spread far and wide.

(vii) Organised Administrative machinery and army: On the one hand Mauryan created for the first time a well-organised state machinery which appeared in army, the heart of the empire. On the other hand conquests opened the doors for trading and missionary activities.

After the Mauryan Empire the Sakas, the Kushanas and the Satavahanas etc. established their kingdoms in succession. During this period remarkable progress made in the crafts of weaving silk and cloth making.

(i) Mathura was a great centre of cloth making. Ivory crafts was at its zenith. The Indian craftsmen were well versed with the art of glass melting and manufacturing glass articles.

(ii) The head cutting crafts and sculpture making were highly developed. Perfumes and several other articles of luxury were also made in abundance. Making arms and jewellery were also popular.

(iii) The chief centres of art were Gandhara, Sarnath, Amravati and Mathura

(iv) Sculpture, architecture and construction of caves were at the zenith.

(v) We also see during this period the production of gold coins, which can only meant that there was huge trade involved with enorous value.

(vi) we also see that during the Kushanas how the silk routes become important aspect for the trade, the route which is well known for its trade.

Between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, Magadha (in present-day Bihar) became the most powerful Mahajanapada. Modern historians explain this in a variety of ways.

(i) It was a region where agriculture was especially productive. 

(ii) Besides, iron mines (in present-day Jharkhand), were accessible and provided resources for tools and weapons.

(iii) Elephants, an important component of the army, were found in forest in the region.

(iv) Moreover, the Ganga and its tributaries provided a means of cheap and convenient communication.

(v) Early Buddhist and Jaina writers who wrote about Magadha attributed its power to the policies of a number of ruthlessly ambitious kings of whom Bimbisara, Ajatasattu and Mahapadma Nanda are the best known.

The kings claimed high status in ancient times by the following ways:—

1. Divine King- There were many rulers whose social origin were obscure, thus to raise their social status many like Kushanas began to portray themselves as divine. For example there is a statue of Kanishka in a temple and it is also displayed in te coins they produced. They also adopteped grandiose title like ' Devaputra' or sons of god.

2. The rulers also tried to claimed higher status by deriving their revenuesfrom long distance trades. They just did not depend on agriculture but made ample use of the booming long distance trade to higher their status.

4. Some rulers like Guptas encircled themselves with the powerful samantas, the more powerful samantas were under the more higher status for the ruler. But samantas were also a kingmaker.

5. Other ways of claiming higher status were commisioning poet and other to write Prashastis about them, thus immortalising themselves through the words of poet.

James Princep was an officer in the mint of the British East India Company during the 1830s.

It was his discovery that gave a new direction in studying the early History India because
1. He deciphered Brahmi and Kharosthi scripts, the scripts in which Ashoka's inscription are written. Thus making available large chunks of evidences.

2. It was his disovery of Piyamdasi being Ashoka that opened up the huge Mauryan empire and discovery of Ashoka the great.

3. Through his disocovery historians began to to shift their focus to the context of political history, investigating whether there were connections between political changes and economic and social developments. 

We know about Gupta rulers from variety of sources and the nature of their rule. As we that the period from 4th century BCE onwards there are large evidence of writings. Huge production of crafts, wares, settlements in the gangetic region, trade both internal and external. And most importnatly we see many travellers making visit in Indian Subcontinents and leaving behind their memoir and travelogue. We also see compilaton of oral traditions into written form, for example the jataka tales and sangam literature in the south.
Thus to reconstruct the history of Gupta's the sources are

1. Archaeological- As mentined above it was the time when the region surrounding gangetic plains gained its prominence. Hence archaeological evidences like buildings are found in abundance to reconstruct how they lived. Moreover it was also the era of huge craft production, thus we also find the evidences of pottery, ornaments, implements made of iron etc.
There are also archaeological evidence of inscription on rocks, pillar, on metal objects. The reason for which varies, some are grants, exemptions from duties, declaration etc. this kind of evidences has lot of values in reconstructing the for example about the economy, society of the period.

Literature- Literary evidences also provides a lots of help in reconstructing the history of Gupta period. Because as we can see it was a period when many traveller travelled to the indian subcontinent. For example chinese Buddhist traveller Fa Hsien makes a lo of mention of gupta empire. Morover it was also the time when Jataka tales came into being, here too we find the mention of society of this period. And on top of it , there are Prashastis, work composed in praise of the ruler. Although it is a work of poetry but in some places it does help in reconstructing the history of the guptas.

Importance of the existence of the communication along both land and riverine routes during the Mauryan Empire:

1. The Mauryan empire was a very vast empire. It was extended from modern Afghanistan to remote area of the south or Karnataka, in west from Gujarat to Bihar-Bengal in the east. For political control, military mobilisation, people's movement both types of the communication land as well as river routes were very useful.

2. Communication along both land and riverline routes was vital for internal as well as external trade and commerce. Communication was useful for agricultural progress and mutual exchange of ideas, knowledge etc. for the Mauryan empire.

Founder of Mauryan Dynasty: Chandragupta Maurya was the founder of Mauryan dynasty in India. As soon as Alexander returned from India the very news of his sudden death was enough for causing the reign of lawlessness and disorder. Chandragupta Maurya, who was in search of such an occasion proceeded ahead and joined with the people who were rising their voices against Alexander. He succeeded in causing the Greeks to flee from India in 332 B.C and later defeated the ruler of Magadha and established Mayryan Empire.

Importance of the establishment of the Mauryan Rule: The establishment of Mauryan dynasty in India has a great significant in the Indian history. It will be clear from the following facts:

1. End of the rule of Alexander th Great- Chandragupta Maurya was able to seize control from the Alexander, the power to rule the parts where his rule existed.

2.Able to create huge Empire- The petty states whichever remained busy in leg-pulling one another and quarrelling among themselves got eliminated along with the establishment of Mauryan dynasty in Indian subcontinent. Chandragupta had threaded all these petty states under one empire

3. Law and order: Peace and order were restored by the Mauryan dynasty got itself established in India subcontinent. The people started considering themselves as safe. The development of art and trade was revived.

 After his father’s death, Asoka became the ruler of mauryan empire in 269 B.C. In some buddhist text it is said that during four years before his rule he put 99 of his brothers to sword. However Dr. V.A. Smith and Dr. R. P. Tripathi do not agree. Asoka’s stone pillars reveal that he was compassionate towards his brothers.

The Kalinga War: Besides Kalinga (Orissa), Asoka had inherited a vast empire from his ancestors. Hence in 261 B.C., he invaded Kalinga with a huge army. After a dreadful bloodshed he conquered Kalinga. Nearly one hundred thousand people got wounded or died of the fury of pestilence and near about one and half lakh of people got imprisoned.

The Kalinga proved a turning point in the career of Asoka and produced results of far reaching consequences.There were several effects of Kalinga war. The sight of horrifying bloodshed during this war shook Asoka’s heart. He developed an acute hatred war. In order to repent he changed the very ways of his life. The Kalinga war had the following impact on Asoka:

1. The path of Dhamma: After Kalinga war Asoka wanted to stop Dherigosha and change it to Dhammagosha.

2. Accepting Buddhism: The Kalinga war opened his eyes and he accepted Buddhism. And worked towards propagating it.

3. Focus on the welfare of people: After the war Ashoka began to focus more on the welfare of people. And pleaded poeple to lead virtous life, thus he appointed official called Dhamma Mahamatta to spread his word.

4. Downfall of the empire: After Asoka we see that the Mauryan empire decline rapidly. some scholars believe that it was due to Asoka's negligence in the army and was not able to control the far flung region. however we are not sure about it because there are instances wher he has made clear that culprit will be punished. However we find that the Mauryan Empire decline after Asoka.

 After the Kalinga war Asoka himself adopted Buddhism in 265 B.C. He busied himself in preaching Buddhism and spreadin it by:

1. Personal Life: Though he was an emperor yet he led a life that of a mendicant. He deserted flesh-eating, hunting etc. which were against Buddhism. The subjects got inspired to follow the king's ideals.

2. Use of Inscriptions: He got rules of Buddhism inscribed on pillars, inscriptions etc. and got them fixed at such places where people could see it and learn from it.

3. Buildings: He got build nearly 84,000 viharas and 48,000 pillars erected in chief cities. Asoka got constructed several stupas and idols etc.

4. Dramas or Plays: He composed many religious dramas which show that practising Buddhism leads to the attainment to heaven. Hence it gave incentive to the people to adopt this religion.

5. A Buddhist Council: Asoka organised a great sabha in 252 B.C. to set aside the differences amongst Buddhism. This attracted the people towards Buddhism.

6. Took Pilgrimages: Asoka himself visited the places of piligrimage such as Sarnath, Kapilvastu and Kushinagar.

7. Appointment of Mahamatyas: Asoka appointed the Mahamatyas who were on the watch whether the people abided by the Buddhistic rules or not.

8. Use of language of the commons: In order to bring home the Buddhistic teachings to the common people, Asoka got the inscriptions and the Buddhistic literature translated into Pali.

9. Dispatching Religious Missionaries: He managed to send religious missionaries to Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Kandhar, China, Syria, Egypt etc. He sent his son Mahendra and daughter Sanghamitra to Ceylon along with the Bodhi tree to preach Buddhism. Thus Buddhism gained ground in the foreign countries.

10. Some other activites: Asoka devoted the entire administrative machinery for Buddhistic preaching. He put a ban on public festivities and started the celebration of Buddhism festivities in their state. He banned dance, music and drinking. He got the hunting department closed down. He also got the butcher houses closed down and became a staunch adherent of non-violence.

1. As an administrator: The administrative control clearly reflects the greatness of the ruler. But the yardstick does not show exact figure sometimes. Very often the crooked and cruel ruler too improve their administration on the basis of causing terrorism. Hence, the ruler's behaviour with their subjects has also to be considered along with his administrative control. Asoka’s powers were successful in both these spheres. He considered his subjects like his sons and daughters.

2. As an introducer of welfare states: The higher officials of the kingdom were called the Mahamattas. The officials junior to the Mahamatras were called the Rajuks. Similarly, there were other officials during that time known as the ‘Pursh’, ‘Yukta’ and ‘Prativedak’ - who rendered assistance to the king in royal affairs. The ‘Prativedaks’ were a sort of detectives. Hence, the king used to appoint them himself. In order to view the condition of his subjects, the king used to go around his kingdom. The administration of the central departments was run from the capital city of Patliputra under the king's supervision.

3. Good control over Provincial Administration: The four governors belonging to the royal family looked after the administration of the four far-off provinces. Taxila, Tosali and Ujjain were the capitals of these provinces. He gave instructions to provincial administrators or governors to pay proper and timely attention and assistance to all people of their areas. Inscription No. 6. sheds light on the fact that Asoka used to receive information about the royal activities taking place around him round the clock whether he was in his harem or was at his dining table.

4. As a Great Preacher of Buddhism: The shape that Asoka gave to Buddhism was known as Dhamma or Dharma. It neither stresses good conduct nor only piety of religious conduct. The Dhamma lays emphasis on the routine affairs of daily behaviour. He got many inscriptions on the stone pillars the study of which proved helpful in improving this life and the life after death. They reflect both the religious feelings and good worldly conduct. For example:

• Do not torture others.

• Always speak the truth.

• Elders should be obeyed.

• Youngers should be loved.

• Live and let live others.

• Be kindful to all.

Asoka’s Dhamma bears written records about civic rights and duties e.g. man should not spend beyond his income, one must be charitable to the poor. One should not follow the worthless customs during marriages or celebrations. But it is very strange that the Dhamma of Asoka no where bears any description about God or the soul.

Tips: -

M. Imp.

During the Mauryan period significant progress was made in the fields of craft, architecture, sculpture, stone polishing, engineering and jewellery making, etc.

1. Craft and Architecture: The grand palaces built by the Mauryan emperors struck foreign travellers with amazement. As most of these structures were built of wood so none of their fine specimen have survived to this day. But we knowabout it through th ewords left behind by the travellers. The Chinese traveller Fa hsein says that Asoka’s palace was so beautiful that it could have been built only by gods and not by human beings.

Besides the royal palaces, the Mauryan emperors built several thousand stupas throughout the empire. These stupas were built with brick or stones and were domeshaped whose diameter decreased as the building rose higher. Of these stupas those of Sanchi and Bharhut are notable for the their grandeur.

2. Sculpture: The greatest stride was made by the art of chiseling stone columns, the beautiful icons and caves. Asokan pillars are the best specimen of Mauryan art. Their pillars are 50-60 feet high weighing about 50 tons. It is amazing how such huge pillars were carved from a single rock. In spite of their huge size these pillars has a capitol head carved with the unique figures of birds and animals. The four headed iron capitol at Sarnath, which has been adopted as the official seal or national emblem of India, is the living example of Mauryan art. Another unique feature of Mauryan sculpture is the rock cut cave which was a herculean feet accomplished by Mauryan craftsmen.

3. The art of polishing: The art of polishing hard-rock was so advanced during the Mauryan period that even today we are far behind in this field. The cave walls near Gaya are so well polished that they shine like a mirror. The Asokan pillar in Firozshah Kotla at Delhi was mistaken by an English Bishop Heber, as made of metals. It was all because of its mirror like shine.

4. Engineering Skill and Technology: Huge rocks were cut, preserved and chiselled into pillars which were as high as 50 feet and as heavy as 50 tons. These huge rocks were cut probably from the Chunar Hills and from here they were carried to distant destinations. It was a marvellous feat to transport such huge rocks to such distances. It can be easily imagined from the fact that in 1356 A.D., king Firoz Tughlak desired to carry on Asokan pillar from Topara in Ambala to Delhi. It is said that he employed 8,400 men to carry it on a huge carriage fitted with 42 wheels. Thus there were 200 men to pull each wheel on an average. It proves the advanced skill of the Mauryan engineers.

5. Jewellery: The art of jewellery was also advanced. Some ornaments of Asokan period (250 B.C.) have been found during the excavation at Taxila. They testify the skill of the Mauryan craftsmen and goldsmiths.

The Mauryan empire declined on account of the following reasons:

(i) Incapable Inheritors: After Asoka, the reign went in the hands of rulers like Dasrath, Samprati and Brahdrath. All these rulers were incompetent.

(ii) Vast Empire: The Mauryan empire had witnessed a phenomenal expansion during the reign of Asoka. However those who inherited his legacy proved to be very weak rulers. They failed to rule it properly.

(iii) Lack of Law of Succession: There was no specific law of succession in the Mauryan dynasty. So as and when a ruler died, the princes started fighting against each other to get the way to throne. The Mauryan power became very weak due to such civil wars.

(iv) Internal Incohesion: After the death of Asoka, there was an internal rebellion in the empire. Many provincial governors had declared themselves as independent. Consequently the Mauryan empire started crumbling.

(v) Lack of Money: Money is very important in the governance of a state. But Asoka spent generously in preaching and spreading Buddhism. He also spent a lot on public welfare activities. As a result, there was no money in the royal treasury. It loosened the grip on the administration. The subsequent rulers failed to nip the rebellion because of lack of money in the treasury. 

(vi) Atrocities by the officials: In the remote and distant villages of the Mauryan empire, the administration was not good. The government official committed a lot of atrocities on the common people. Their atrocities increased so much that in many areas, the people revolted against these officials.

(vii) Lack of Military Power: After the Kalinga war, Asoka made up his mind not to wage any war in future. He renounced war. So he did not give much attention to strengthen his army. As a result, the Mauryan power was on a decline.

(viii) Foreign Aggressions: Finding the Mauryan empire as weak and crumbling, the foreign invaders started attacking the border areas of the empire. They gave a strong jolt to the Mauryan power. In this way, Mauryan empire declined .

Mauryan Empire was not a small kingdom, it was huge.  From Afghanistan to bengal, central India to south India we have seen inscription of the Mauryan Empire. With such a vast empire, it is certain that there were huge resources with people from all walk of life. Thus we see that during the Mauryan empire there was huge development of material culture and with the vastness of teh empire it made it possible for it to spread.

If we look ar the development of material culture
1. Mauryan empire when it took over Magadha, it was not only the landmass that they got, but forest and iron reserve. Thus we see production of implements made out of iron, which are much more stronger and durable.
2. we also see the rise of making new kind of pottery, popularly known as northern black polished ware. Which is considered to be used by the rich. There are also items made of glass, gold, silver etc. That were highly elaboate in design and craft.
3. The building style and te palaces of Mauryan empire is praised by many, for example Megasthenes who was in Chandragupta Mauryas court describes how majestic the palaces were.
4. we also see building of stupas, viharas, etc.
5. And the period is also known for carving from the rocks and producing marvelluous structures.

As discussed, the empire was not a small empire it was huge hence, we see that such material culture spread because
1. Ample resorces were put into developing the communication and routes of transportation of the empire. Thus eventually it helped in the spread of mateerial culture of the empire
2. Secondly there was huge development in the trade, this eventuallu facilated the spread of material culture.
3. Thirdly, with such strong empire with relatively boost in the economy, there was patronage for arts and crafts, thus helping in the spread of material culture.

Impact of the Central Asian contacts on Indian political system.

(i) The Shakas and the Kushanas strengthened the idea of the divine origin of kingship.

(ii) The Kushana kings were called sons of god. This title was adopted by the Kushanas from the Chinese, who called their king the son of heaven.

(iII) The Kushanas also introduced the satrap system of government. The empire was divided into numerous satrapaties, and each satrapaty was placed under the rule of a satrap.

(Iv) Some curious practices such as hereditary dual rule, two kings ruling in the same kingdom at one and the same time, were introduced.

 Impact of the Central Asian contacts on Indian society.

(i) With their coming many sub caste emrged in the indian society.

(ii) Since most of them came as conquerors they were absorbed in Indian society as a warrior class, that is, as the Kshatriyas. Their placement in the Brahmanical society was explained in a curious way.

 Imapct of the Central Asian contacts on India’s science.

(i) In Post-Maurya times Indian astronomy and astrology profited from contact with the Greeks.We notice many Greek terms about the movement of planets in Sanskrit texts.

(ii) Indian astrology came to be influenced by Greek ideas, and from the Greek term horoscope was derived the term horosastra used for astrology in Sanskrit.

(Iii) Impact of the Central Asian contacts on India's technology.

In the field of technology also the Indian seems to have benefitted from contact with the central Asians.

(ii) Kanishka is represented as wearing trousers and Gang boots.

(iii) Possibly the practice of making leather shoes began in India during this period.

(iv) Similarly gold coins in India were struck by the Kushanas in imitation of Roman gold coins.

Inscription helps alot when writing the history of the Gupta period because with the help of it we can trace from it earliest period to its last period. Here are some of the example:

(a) Dr. Fleet rendered great service by publishing in 1888 the third volume of Corpus inscription of the early Gupta kings and their successors.The first 16 inscriptions in the above mentioned corpus refer to the early Guptas.Their dates range from 360 A.D. to 466 A.D.The date line of the early Gupta dynasty is taken to end with Skandagupta.

(b) The Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta gives us a detailed account of the conquests of his.

(c) The Eran Stone No. 2 inscription of Samudragupta’s period contains a record of the power and achievements of Samudragupta.

(d) The Udayagiri cave inscription, the Mathura stone inscription, the Sanchi stone inscription and the Gadhwa Stone Inscription of the time of Chandragupta II give us a lot of information regarding the attitude of the state towards religion.

Thus we can see from the above example that the inscription touches almost all the aspects of the Gupta rule. From its economy, society to political. Thus making it easier to reconstruct many aspects of theri rule from first Gupta ruler to the last one.

Allahabad Prashasti or prayaga Prashasti is an inscription found at Allahabad. It is written in sanskrit.

As the name suggest it is a Prashasti, written in praise of the ruler Samudragupta, a ruler of Gupta dynasty by his court poet Harishena. Like any other Prashasti it's significance is debatable. For example some historian tries to find factual datas from it but we need to keep in mind that those who composed and read them often treasured them as works of poetry rather than as accounts that were literally true. Although there can be some truth in it but caution is needed when handling such texts.

For example in this prashasti the poet Harishena mentions the victories of Samudragupta. The inscription is a panegyric praising Samudragupta and lists the political and military achievements of his reign including his expeditions to the south. It is not just the victories that mentioned here but name of the places that were conquered by him and who paid tribute to him.
Through the use of the inscription historian are able to reconstruct the ruler named Samudragupta.

(a) The Central Government: The constituents of Central Government were the king, the council of ministers and high officials. The king possessed the supreme authority. He was the fountain-head of all civil and military administration. There was council of ministers to aid and advice the king. Each minister was entrusted with a special official like Superintendents or Adhyakshas, Amatyas, Rajukas and Pradeshikas to help the king and the ministers in discharging their duties. Their conduct was watched by a co-incharge of special officials called ‘Dharma Mahamatyas’, who themselves were men of proven honesty and noble character.

(b) Provincial Administration: The whole Mauryan Empire was divided into four provinces, for the purpose of efficient administration.

(i) The Central Province had its capital at Pataliputra and administered by the king himself.

(ii) The North-Western Province had its capital at Taxila.

(iii) The Western Province had its capital at Ujjain.

(iv) The Southern Province had its capital at Swarnagiri.

All these provinces were administered by governors who were usually of the royal family. The conduct of these governors and other officials was strictly watched by specially appointed spies who reported even the smallest happening in the empire to the king. The provinces were further divided into districts who were administered by the “sthaniks”.

The next units of administration were similar to modern tehsils, which were groups of four to ten villages and were administered by ‘Gopas’. The village head was called the ‘Gramika’.

(c) Municipal Administration: There was a special administrative set up for cities like Pataliputra. There was a council of thirty members to look after the administration, which was divided into six boards. Each board consisted of five members to perform its functions which were as given:

(i) The First Board looked after the development of crafts and industries and fixed the wages of the workers and artisans and helped them in time of need.

(ii) The Second Board was incharge of the foreigners and looked after their comforts. It also provided them whatever they needed and kept a strict vigil on their activities.

(iii) The Third Board kept a record of births and deaths for the purpose of efficient administration and proper taxation.

(iv) The Fourth Board was entrusted with the task of regulating trade. It also checked weights and measures used by traders and punished the offenders.

(v) The Fifth Board kept supervision on the quality of the manufactured goods.

(vi) The Sixth Board was responsibile for collecting taxes on the sale of goods.

(d) Income and Expenditure: Land revenue was the major source of income which varied from 1/4 to 1/6 of the total produce depending on its fertility. The other sources of income were taxes on mines, income from forests; toll-tax, ferry duties and fines etc. This income was used on expenditure in connection with the king and his court, salaries to the armies and officials, construction of roads and hospitals, charity, irrigation projects etc. In this way, heads of income and expenditure were well regulated.

(e) Judicial System: The Mauryan kings gave  special interest to the administration of justice and they themselves looked to it. The judicial system was so efficient that offences like thefts ; were very rare. In this connection Megasthenes writes that average daily theft in Pataliputra with a population of about 6,00,000 did not exceed eight pounds.

The following was the technical progress made in the Mauryan period:

(a) The view of Havell was that there were two distinct phases in the sculptured art of Mauryan period. The first phase was distinguished by great nobility of design cultured form of expression and the finest technical accomplishment.

(b) The so-called Persian bell-shaped capitol of Asoka pillars was symbolic motif which was universal in Indian art.

(c) The capitol represented a flower and not a bell. It was the blue lotus of the sky, the flower of Vishnu. The pillar had the same significance of word-dominior as the state umbrella which was a part of the paraphernalia of Indian royalty.

(d) According to the same writer (Havell), the second phase of Mauryan art was shown in profuse sculpture of the stupas of Bharhut and Sanchi which recorded current events and legends connected with the life of Buddha as lord in the Jatakas.

(e) It was less pure in style. It was expressive of the craftmen’s own racial character in combining many non-Aryan elements with the Aryan ideas which dominated it.

(f) The view of Sir John Marshall was that two different classes of artists releated with sculpture were to be found in the Mauryan period.

(g) The Sarnath capitol, on the other hand though by no means a master piece, is the products of the most developed art of which the world was cognizant in the third century B.C. The handwork of one who lad generations of artistic effort and experience behind him.

Aspects of material culture during the Satvahanas period:

(a) The material culture of the Deccan under the Satvahanas was a fusion of local elements and modern ingredients.

(b) The megalith builders of the Deccan were fairly acquainted with the use of iron and agriculture.

(c) We find some hoes made of iron, the number of such tools increased substantially in the first two or three centuries of the Christian era.

(d) Only hoes were fully and properly socketed.

(e) Besides socketed hoes, sickles, spades, ploughshares, axes, adzes, razors, etc. belong to the Satvahana layers.

(f) At a site in Karimnagar district even a blacksmith's shop has been discovered.

(g) The Satvahanas may have exploited the iron ores of Karimnagar and Warangal for in these districts indications of iron workings as early as the megalithic phase have been found.

(h) Evidence of ancient gold workings has been found in the Kolar fields in the pre-Christian centuries and later. The Satvahanas may have used gold as bullion, for they did not issue gold coins as the Kushanas did.

(i) They issued mostly coins of lead, which is found in the Deccan.

(j) Though contacts with the north the people of the Deccan learnt the use of coins, burnt bricks, ring-wells, etc. These components of material life had become quite important in the Deccan a couple of centuries later.

(k) In Peddabankur (200 B.C.-A.D. 200) in Karimnagar district we find regular use of fire baked bricks, and use to flat, perforated roof tiles.

(l) All this must have contributed to the uniqueness of constructions. What is further remarkable is the fact that as many as 22 brick wells belonging to the second century A.D. have been discovered at that site.

I. The growth and development of crafts and commerce:

(i) The flourishing trade, crafts and growing use of money was an incentive to the growth of the new towns. Vaishali, Patliputra, Benaras, Kausambi, Sravasti, Hastinapur, Mathura, Indraprastha etc. were some of the prosperous towns of north India during the Kushana period. These towns find mention in the old Chinese texts or records of Chinese pligrims. The town sites of Sonpur, Buxur, Ghazipur in Bihar also flourished during the Kushana age.

(ii) Excavations have unearthed several Kushana towns in Meerut and Muzaffarnagar districts. Ludhiana, Ropar and Jallandhar in the Punjab were among the flourishing towns. Ujjain was an important town of the Saka kingdom because it was the nodal points of two trade routes-one from Mathura and the other from Kausambi.

(iii) During the reign of the Satavahana rulers also several towns flourished. Among them were Paithan, Broach, Sopara, Amravati, Nagaijunakonda, Arikamedu and Kaveripattanam which were highly prosperous centres of trade.

II. Causes of the growth of crafts, trade and urban settlements: There were several causes for the growth and prosperity of several towns in the Post-Mauryan period i.e., from 200 B.C. to 200 A.D.

(i) In that period under the Satvahanas, the Kushanas, the Indo-Parthians and the Saka rulers India's trade with Rome and Central Asia was at its zenith.

(ii) Several towns flourished in the Punjab and western Uttar Pradesh. All these places were situated in the heart of their respective empires.

(iii) Particularly, the Kushana kings ensured the security of the trade routes which was one of the causes for the prosperity of these towns. But in the third century A.D. with the decline of these kingdoms the glory and prosperity of these towns also declined.

In the early hostoric era we know that main source of income for the common people were agriculture. They depended highly on it and the ruler depended highly on it. But it was also a time when trade emerged. During the Gupta period we see that

(a).  Lot of progress were made in agriculture, industry, trade, business and banking.

(b) From the inscriptions of the Gupta period dealing with land, it is clear that it was not easy to secure any fallow, uncultivated or un-settled land for charitable purposes.

(C)  Works of public utility were constructed at many places. The Sudarsana reservoir was constructed by daming the flow of river down the hills near Girnar in Saurashtra to improve the agriculture.

(c) It appears that there were separate guilds or srenis or nigamas for industry, trade and banking.There are references of guilds to shresthis or bankers, kulikas or artisans, sarthavahas or traders. Banking was an important function of the guilds. The latter accepted donations which were permanent and irrevocable. Out of this money, the guilds made payment to be beneficiaries named by the donors.

(d) The Gupta rulers issued currency of different designs, types and denominations. Coins were also of different metals viz; gold, silver and copper.

(e) In the Gandhara inscription, there is a reference to the amenities of a city such as wells, tanks, temples with halls, storage of drinking water, parks, lakes, causeways, etc.

With overall peace and security during the period, trade, agriculture etc bloomed. Thus we find that economic condition were good.

Tips: -

V. Imp.

Tips: -

M. Imp.

New Technologies in Agriculture:

(i) Agriculture in the subcontinent has a long and  diverse history, evident in the archaeological record. From the sixth century BCE, we can trace certain developments that had a long-term significance in some parts of the subcontinent. One was the growing spread of plough agriculture in fertile alluvial river valleys such as those of the Ganga and the Kaveri.

(ii) The iron-tipped ploughshare in particular led to a growth in productivity as it allowed the farmer to turn the soil very effectively.

(iii) Use of spade on the hilly terrain drastically improved the production of the crops.

(iv) In some parts of the Ganga Valley, production of paddy was dramatically increased by the introduction of transplantation, although this meant backbreaking work for the producer. This ensures the survival of many more plants, and higher yields.

(v) During the first millennium CE plough agriculture spread to other parts of the subcontinent as well. It is, however, important to remember that plough agriculture was no uniformly or automatically beneficial. It was not suited to hilly terrains, and was most effective in alluvial soils.

(vi) Another strategy adopted to increase agricultural production was the use of irrigation, using wells and tanks, and less commonly, canals. Construction was organised by communities as well as by individuals. The latter, usually powerful men including kings often recorded such activities in inscriptions.

A. The importance of Malabar Coast: The Malabar coast (present day Kerala) was a center of foreign trade in first century CE during Christ. Various goods were exchanged between Indian industrialists/traders and foreigners visitors/ traders.
B. The traders of the foreign country send large ships to market towns of south India to import great quantity and bulk of pepper and malabathrum. The Indian traders use to import coin, topaz, antimony, coral, crude glass, copper, tin, land. On the other hand, the Indian traders exported pepper, fine pearls, silk clothes and transparent stones of all types, diamonds and sapphires as well as tortoise shell.
C. The working of bead making Industry: Archaeological evidence of a bead making industry, using precious and semi-precious stones, has been found in Kodumanal (Tamil Nadu). It is likely that local traders brought the stones mentioned in the Periplus from sites such as these to the coastal ports.
D. Land and river routes were used by foreign traders, Indian traders, and some industrialists. Local sellers and travelers also used these routes.

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.

1. Lumbini, 2. Sanchi, 3. Karle, 4. Nagarjunakonda, 5. Amaravati.

Factual information from prashatis about the Gupta rulers:

(i)Histories of the Gupta rulers have been reconstructed from literature , coins and inscriptions , including prashastis , composed in praise of kings by poets.

(ii)While historians often attempt to draw factual information from such compositions , those who composed and read them treasured them as works of poetry rather than as accounts. 

Sources to reconstruct the history of the Mauryan Empire are:

(i)Archaeological finds, especially sculpture.

(ii)The account of Megasthenes, a Greek ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya, which survives in fragments.

(iii)The Arthashastra, parts of which were probably composed by Kautilya or Chanakya, traditionally believed to be the minister of Chandragupta.

(iv)Buddhist , Jaina and Puranic literature , as well as Sanskrit literary works. The inscriptions of Asoka on rocks and pillars.

The features of the administration system of the Mauryan Empire:

 (i) There were five major political centres in the empire-the capital Pataliputra and provincial centres of Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali and Suvarnagiri.

 (ii) The administrative control was strongest in areas around the capital and the provincial centres.

Mahabharata is a good source to study the kinfolk's values in the ancient times:

(i) Often people belonging to the same family share food and other resources, and live, work and perform rituals together.

(ii) While familial ties are often regarded as “natural” and based on blood, they are defined in many different ways.

(iii) Some societies regard cousins as being blood relations, whereas others do not.

(iv) Under patriliny, sons could claim the resources (including the throne in the case of kings) of their fathers when the latter died.

(v) This system, called exogamy was practiced which meant that the lives of young girls and women belonging to families that claimed high status were often carefully regulated to ensure that they were married at the “right” time and to the “right” person. This gave rise to the belief that kanyadana or the gift of a daughter in marriage was an important religious duty of the father.

The rise of Magadha as a powerful Mahajanapada:

(i) Magadha was a region where agriculture was especially productive.

(ii) Besides, iron mines were accessible and provided resources for tools and weapons.

(iii) Elephants, an important component of the army, were found in forests in the region.

(iv) Also, the Ganga and its tributaries provided a means of cheap and convenient communication.

(v) Magadha attributed its power to the policies of individuals: ruthlessly ambitious kings of whom Bimbisara, Ajatasattu and Mahapadma Nanda are the best known, and their ministers, who helped implement their policies.

Sources to construct the history of Mauryan Empire:

(i) Archaeological finds especially sculptures.

(ii) Accounts of Megasthenes, a Greek ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya.

(iii) Arthashastra composed by Kautilya, traditionally believed to be the minister of Chandragupta.

(iv) Buddhist, Jaina, Puranic literature as well as Sanskrit literary works.

(v) Inscriptions of Asoka on rocks and pillars.

System of Land Grants:

i. Grants made to religious institutions

iii. Grants called agrahara grants were made to Brahmanas

iii. Samantas were also given land. Prabhavati Gupta – example of agrahara grant made by a woman is an exception

iv. Land grants were a strategy to extend agriculture and Brahmanical practices in new regions

System of trade:

i. Introduction of punch marked coins encouraged trade

ii. Inland and overland trade existed. Inland trade connected various parts of the subcontinent.

iii. Various river routes in the sub-continent were used for trade

iv. Overland and maritime trade existed with C. Asia, North Africa, West Asia etc

                                                         OR
Sources:

i. Punch marked coins

ii. Archaeological finds like palace wall at Patliputra

iii. Account of Megasthenes.

iv. Kautilya’s Arthashastra and Asokan inscriptions – pillar inscriptions and rock edicts

Administration:

i. There were five major political centres- the capital Pataliputra and provincial centres of Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali and Suvarnagiri.

ii. Administrative control was strongest in areas around the capital and the provincial centres.

iii. Provincial centres were carefully chosen: Taxila and Ujjayini were situated on important long distance trade routes

iv. Suvarnagiri was important for tapping gold mines of Karnataka. Communication along both land and riverine routes was essential for the existence of the empire.

(15.1)Prahasti is a composition in praise of kings in particular, and patrons in general, by poets.
(15.2) Samudragupta is compared to gods as:
(i) He was without an antagonist on earth.
(ii) He was adorned by Hundreds for multitude of overflowing good qualities.
(iii) He being the cause of the prosperity of the good and destruction of the bad.
(iv) He was resplendent and embodied kindness to mankind.
(15.3) The two sources used to reconstruct the history of Gupta rulers are (i) literature (ii) coins

Sources to reconstruct the history of the Mauryas
(i) Archaeological finds, especially sculpture.
(ii) Contemporary works, such as the account of Megasthenes.
(iii) Arthashastra, probably composed by Kautilya or Chanakya.
(iv) The Mauryas are mentioned in later Buddhist and Jaina.
(v) Puranic literature, as well as in Sanskrit literary works.
(vi) The inscriptions of Asoka on rocks and pillars.
(vii) Stupas
(viii) Coins
(ix) Ashokavadana
(ANY FOUR)

(i) The Mahabharata is a story about kinship describing a feud over land and power between the Kauravas and the Pandavas.

(ii) Pandavas became victorious due to their virtues.

(iii) Kinsmen claimed the throne, and, in very exceptional circumstances, women such as Prabhavati Gupta exercised power.

(iv) Under patriliny, sons could claim the authority of their fathers .

(v) Men acquired wealth through means led by the Manusmriti like inheritance, work, etc.

(vi) Women acquired wealth through Stridhan( by father, brother, husband).

(vii) While sons were important for the continuity of the patriliny, daughters had no claims to the resources of the household.

(viii) Various systems followed for the marriage were endogamy, exogamy, polygamy and polyandry.

(ix) Members of the same gotra could not marry.

(x) One of the most challenging episode in the Mahabharata is Draupadi’s marriage with the Pandavas an instance of Polyandry

(xi) Bhima marrying Hidimba –an example of exogamy.

(xii) Dharamshastras and Dharamasutras recognized as many as eight forms of marriages.

(xiii) Kanyadana or the gift of a daughter in marriage was an important religious duty of the father.

(xiv) Yudhishthira losing his wife in the game of dice is an example of women being treated as a part of property, putting up a big question on the status of women.

(xv) Family shaped the attitude and thinking of the people and geared them towards patriarchy.
(ANY EIGHT)