Kings, Farmers And Towns

A wide range of artefacts have been recovered from excavations at different sites in early historic cities, so it is clear that craft production flourished in early historic cities.

Fine pottery bowls, and dishes with a glossy finish, known as Northern Black polished ware have been found which were probably used by rich people.

Ornaments, tools, weapons, vessels, made of wide range of materials such as gold, silver, copper, bronze, ivory, glass, shell and terracotta have been found which suggest abundance of raw material available for craft production.

Votive inscription have been found which tells us about people who lived in towns with different occupations.

In different ways we can tell that craft activity of historic cities was different from Harappan cities.

i) In Harappa; material evidence was found, pieces of shell, bits of stone and metals indicate that these materials might have been used for making pots, necklace etc.

In historic cities; Northern black polished ware pottery, bowls and dishes have been found.

ii) There are no textual sources or inscription found as an evidence for craft production in Harappa. In historic cities, many inscriptions have been found suggesting craft activity.

The salient features of Mahajanpadas are as follows:-

i) Early Buddhist and jain Texts mentions sixteen states known as “Mahajanpadas”, such as Vajji, Magadha, Koshala, Panchala, Gandhara, Avanti etc. These five janpadas were important, powerful and prosperous states hence making them “Mahajanpadas”.

ii) Most of the Mahajanpadas were ruled by the king hence had authoritative rule over its territory. However there were some Mahajanpadas where rule was in the hands of people.

iii) Each Mahajanpadas had a capital city, which was often fortified ensuring its security from all the corners.

iv) Maintaining these fortified cities as well as providing for armies and bureaucracies required resources.

v) Rulers were advised to collect taxes and tribute from cultivators, traders and artisans to generate state’s revenue which helped in the development. They also accept donation.

vi) Brahmins began to compile scripture called “Dharmshastra” which included rule and morality of the monarch. It was mentioned that king should be Kshatriya.

Ordinary people rarely left accounts of their thoughts and experiences. However historians have tried to solve this problem in the following ways:-

i) Examining stories contained in Anthologies such as the Jatakas and the Panchtantras. Many of these stories probably originated as popular oral taes that were later committed to writing. For example: one story known as the “Gandatindu Jataka” which indicates that the relationship between a king and his subjects could often be strained.

ii) Buddhist Tradition; Buddhist texts also mentions that there was differentiation amongst people engaged in agriculture. The large landholders called Gahapati as well as the village headman emerged as powerful figures and often exercised control over other cultivators.

iii) Sangam Texts which are the early Tamil texts also mentions different categories of people living in the village.

a) Vellalar- large landowners

b) Uzhavar – ploughman

c) Adimai – slaves

iv) Inscriptions of land grants provide an insight into the relationship between cultivators and the state.

There were other groups like hunters, gatherers, fish folks etc of which didn’t keep detailed account hence not much information is available about them.

We look at the things that are given to the Pandyan Chief and those that are produced in the village of Danguna. We discover that these are two different groups that are settled in different places. By looking at the both the sources we can make out that people offering gift to Pandyan chief is in close connection and proximity with the forest whereas people settled in the Danguna settlement mode of living is different from the people offering gifts to the Pandyan chief. The gift given to Pandya chief included things like ivory, fragrant woods, honey, sandal-wood, peppers, flowers, etc. In addition to many birds and animals were also presented to him as gifts.

We could spot few similarities and difference between the two that are,

Products from plants and animals were similar like flowers, fruits and ivory, etc. There is a huge difference in the product of two communities, as the people who offered gift to Pandyan chief lives in forest and obtain pure forest products whereas those of Danguna are settled in a settlements. Hence Danguna people products are mostly cultivated or produced by using other raw materials.

The specialist who study inscription are called epigraphist. Some of the problems that these epigraphists faced while gathering information and deciphering it are as follows:-

i) The letters on the inscriptions were faintly engraved thus reconstruction of the words became unsure.

ii) Some of the inscriptions were not in proper condition thus few words and pieces were missing thus leaving them uncertain about the meaning of the words used in the inscription and understand its timeframe.

iii) Several inscriptions have been discovered but not all of them were able to be deciphered, translated and published.

iv) Many of the inscriptions are not found in the proper shape and in a complete form thus providing us with only the faction of what is inscribed.

v) Not everything that this inscription has recorded is important enough that we consider politically and economically strong.

The growth of Magadha culminated in the emergence of the Mauryan Empire. Chandragupta Maurya founded the Mauryan Empire in 321 BCE. He was a powerful and prosperous ruler. He extended his control to northwest as Afghanistan and Baluchistan, and his Grandson, Ashoka the great arguably the most famous ruler of early India conquered Kalinga. Such vast and huge empire needed a strong administration. Asoka inscription mentions all the main feature of the administration of Mauryan Empire.

i) There are five major political centres they were Patilaputra, Ujjayini, Tasali, Swarnagiri and Taxila.

ii) Administrative control varied throughout the vast extent of the empire, but it was strongest near the capital and provincial centres which were located around trade routes. Strong networks of roads and communications were established to consolidate the vast empire.

iii) Army Administration was vital for protecting trade as well as vast empire according to Megasthenes there was one committee with six subcommittees for coordinating military activities ; one looked after the navy ; second managed transport and provision ; third was responsible for foot soldiers; fourth subcommittee had the responsibility for horses; fifth for chariot and sixth had the responsibility for elephants.

iv) The state also appointed officers to superintend the rivers, measure the land and inspect the sieves by which the water let out from its main canal to its branches, so that everyone can have an equal supply of it. The same officers also collected the taxes, and superintend the occupations connected to the land that is of wood cutters, carpenters etc.

v) Special officers called “Dhamma Mahamatta” were appointed to spread the message of dhamma throughout the empire. This was the most significant feature of Mauryan Empire and its administration.

The statement of renowned epigraphist D.C Sirkar has highlighted the importance of inscription as single sources of information which as impact on our lives.

Inscription are writing engraved on hard surfaces such as stone, metal or pottery they usually record the achievements activities of those who commissioned there and exploits of kings.

i) Inscriptions have helped construct political history; historians used inscription to reconstruct the political history of major dynasties that ruled the subcontinent. As a result, broad contours of political history were in place by the early decades of the 20^th century. This helps us find out about the boundaries of kingdoms and their expansions.

ii) The names of the kings are mentioned in the inscriptions and titles that were given to them. The best example is of the title that Asoka got, this was revealed to us through inscription itself, alongside the important historic events that shows the culture and activities of Indians at that time like the rituals, celebrations and war.

iii) Inscription in praise of kings; Inscription like “Prayag Prashasti” help the historians to draw factual information about a certain rules i.e.; Samudara Gupta; though it is of little historical value.

iv) Inscription mention about grand, unique events and help in constructing social history for eg: Asokan inscription on Kalinga war interpreted as reflecting the “Anguish of the king “ as well as marking a change in his attitude towards warfare. It informed us about the character and conduct of a king.

v) Inscriptions on land grants; Inscriptions on land grants give us an idea about rural population and also give us an insight into the relationship between cultivators and the state.

vi) These inscriptions also gave us insight about the Administration. It is only through the inscriptions that we know Asoka appointed his son as a viceroy.

vii) Votive Inscription gives an idea on economic life; votive inscription tell us about people who lived in cities and their occupations like weavers, scribers, goldsmiths blacksmiths etc. They tell us that craft producers and merchants were organized in guilds – which regulated production and marketing.

Thus inscription cover all aspects of life, activities and culture of Indians of the ancient times.

In the post Mauryan period, the idea of kingship got associated with divine theory of state. Monarchs were now talking about the divine sanction to rule the people.

The social origin of Shakas – who established kingdom in the north and North West and Satvahanas - who ruled over central and western India was ambiguous. But ones they acquired power, they attempted to claim social status in a variety of ways.

i) Divine Origin- Rulers often indentified themselves with a variety of deities for e.g;

a. A colossal statue of Kushana rules have been found installed at mat near Mathura.

b. A Kushana ruler’s coin depicts king Kamishka on one side and a deity on the other probably suggesting that the king was god like.

c. Kushana rulers adopted the title “Devputra”or ‘son of god’

ii) Eulogies (poems in praise)

a. Rulers also tried to increase their status by patronising poets who composed verses in praise of kings. For eg: Prayag Prashasti composed by Harishana in praise of King Samudara Gupta.

b. In this inscription Samudara Gupta is referred to as “Purusha” or Supreme Being who bestows prosperity on the good and destruction on the bad.

c. He is equal to the god of wealth (Kuber) oceans (Varun) Rain (Indra) and death (Yama).

iii) Literature, coins and inscriptions helped us creating history of those days. Their rule and praise reflect the way of lifestyle and rule they had and the impact on the people.

With the increase in the Agricultural activities new practices were introduced in this field in the early cities that were transforming in the 6^th century BCE were:-

i) Use of Iron- Tipped Ploughshare- Plough became commonplace. A new type of agriculture with the help of plough was introduced in the fertile alluvial river valley of the Ganga and Kaveri to enhance its sowing fertility. The iron tipped ploughshare was used to turn the alluvial soil in the high rainfall areas. It considerably led to an increase in the agriculture productivity and increased the paddy production manifold.

ii) Transplantation – the transplantation method was also introduced in parts of the Ganga valley. The seeds were first broadcasted in water logged field; this ensured a higher ratio of survival of saplings and high yields.

iv) Spade was another tool that changed the system of agriculture for the people who lived in the areas of harsh land used the spade to do the productive work of agriculture.

iii) Irrigation- irrigation was used to increase agricultural productivity through walls, tanks and canals. This artificial form of irrigation brought a turning point in the agriculture field. Collective efforts of communities as well as the individuals helped in the work of organizing the irrigation method. Kings often gave grants for the construction as well as maintenance of wells and tanks. Some historians are of the view that rulers gave grants of land to extend agriculture to new areas and expand agriculture to vast field of lands for more productivity and involvement of people and cultivators.

The agricultural production increased considerably due to increase in the technology and tools. Thus transformed the society both in a economical manner and in society it created a strata like the small and big farmers and the village headmen whose position was hereditary. In such situation the ownership of the land became very important.