India’s Ancient Past
This book provides a comprehensive and accessible account of the history of
early India. Beginning with a discussion on frameworks of the writing of history
—approaches, sources, and significance—the book sheds light on the origins and
growth of civilizations, empires, and religions. It covers the geographical,
ecological, and linguistic backgrounds, and looks at specific cultures of the
Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Vedic periods, as well as at the Harappan
civilization. The author discusses the rise of Jainism and Buddhism, Magadha
and the beginning of territorial states, and the period of Mauryas, Central Asian
countries, Satvahanas, Guptas, and Harshavardhana. He highlights important
phenomena such as the varna system, urbanization, commerce and trade,
developments in science and philosophy, and cultural legacy. He also examines
the process of transition from Ancient to Medieval India and addresses topical
issues such as the origin of the Aryan culture.
This engaging and lucid text, by one of the best-known scholars of ancient India,
will be indispensable for students and teachers of ancient Indian history.
R.S. Sharma is Emeritus Professor, Department of History, University of Patna.
He is also the Founder Chairman of Indian Council of Historical Research, New
Delhi.
India’s Ancient Past
R.S. Sharma
YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi 110 001
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It
furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and
education by publishing worldwide in
Oxford New York
Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi
Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi
New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto
With offices in
Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece
Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore
South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
in the UK and in certain other countries
Published in India
by Oxford University Press, New Delhi
© Oxford University Press 2005
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
Database right Oxford University Press (maker)
First published 2005
Oxford India Paperbacks 2006
Seventh impression 2009
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as
expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate
reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside
the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department,
Oxford University Press, at the address above
You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer
ePub ISBN-13: 978-0-19-908786-0
ePub ISBN-10: 0-19-908786-5
Typeset by Le Studio Graphique, Gurgaon 122 001
Printed by De-Unique, New Delhi 110 018
Published by Oxford University Press
YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi 110 001
Preface
The present book is based on a good portion of my Ancient India, which was
first published by the National Council of Educational Research and Training in
1977, but the obscurantist elements got it withdrawn from circulation by the
same body in 1978. The book was restored in 1980, and several lacs were
printed for school students. However, when in 2001 the NCERT published it,
some passages were removed without the author’s consent. Finally in 2002 the
NCERT withdrew the book because of extreme conservatism. When the Oxford
University Press approached me for publication, I decided to get the revised
copy of the existing edition published by them. I substantially revised the book
and added four new chapters to it. In doing so I took account of new ideas and
materials available to me.
The book covers Indian history from the beginning to the 7th century AD.
Since it is mainly meant for undergraduates and general readers, I have used
non-English words without diacritics. I have also avoided chapterwise
references, but an up-to-date chapter-wise bibliography has been provided at the
end of the book for the materials I have used. I will feel happy if the book retains
its old popularity.
Patna R.S. Sharma
July 2005 (RAM SHARAN SHARMA)
Acknowledgements
In preparing India’s Ancient Past I have received helps from several quarters.
Sita Ram Roy has prepared the chronology and also suggested some
improvements in the text. The index has been mainly prepared by Anjani Kumar
who has also compiled the bibliography. In addition to these two persons,
Angaraj Choudhary, Arundhati Banerji, Chandraprakash Narayan Singh, K.K.
Mandal, Parvej Akhtar, Prachi Sharma, Rajeshwar Prasad, R.L. Shukla, Sarjun
Prasad, and Surendra Gopal, have helped me in different ways. I thank all of
them. Nitasha Devasar, Aparajita Basu, and Shashank Sinha of the OUP have
helped me in the publication of the book. They deserve my sincere thanks.
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
List of Plates
List of Maps
1. The Significance of Ancient Indian History
Unity in Diversity; The Relevance of the Past to the Present; Chronology
2. Modern Historians of Ancient India
Colonialist Views and their Contribution; Nationalist Approach and its Contribution; Move Towards
Non-Political History; Communal Approach; Chronology
3. Nature of Sources and Historical Construction
Material Remains; Coins; Inscriptions; Literary Sources; Foreign Accounts; Village Study; Natural
Sciences; Historical Sense; Constructing History; Chronology
4. Geographical Setting
Emergence of India; The Role of the Monsoon; The Northern Boundaries; Rivers; Natural Frontiers
and Cultural Contacts; Minerals and Other Resources; Chronology
5. Ecology and Environment
Ecology; Environment and Human Advance; Surroundings and Settlements; The Rain and Human
Effort; Ancient Attitudes Towards the Environment; Chronology
6. The Linguistic Background
Principal Language Groups; Austro-Asiatic; Tibeto-Burman; Dravidian; Indo-Aryan; Ethnic Groups
and Language Families; Chronology
7. Human Evolution: The Old Stone Age
African Ancestors of Human Beings; The Early Man in India; Phases in the Palaeolithic Age; The
Mesolithic Age: Hunters and Herders; Art in the Old Stone Age; Earliest Human Organization;
Chronology
8. The Neolithic Age: First Food Producers and Animal Keepers
Earliest Rural Settlements in Baluchistan; Use of Bone Tools in the Sites of Burzahom and Chirand;
Neolithic Settlements in South India; Farming and Cereals; Progress in and Limitation of the
Neolithic Phase; Chronology
9. Chalcolithic Cultures
Chalcolithic Settlements; Importance of the Chalcolithic Phase; Limitations of Chalcolithic
Cultures; The Copper Hoards and the Ochre-Coloured Pottery Phase; Chronology
10. Harappan Culture: Bronze Age Urbanization in the Indus Valley
Introduction; Town Planning and Structures; Agriculture; Domestication of Animals; Technology
and Crafts; Trade and Commerce; Social Organization; Polity; Religious Practices; The Male Deity
in the Indus Valley; Tree and Animal Worship; The Harappan Script; Weights and Measures;
Harappan Pottery; Seals and Sealings; Images; Terracotta Figurines; Stone Work; End of the Indus
Culture; Maturity; Post-Urban Phase; Percolation of New Peoples; Problem of Origin; Was the
Harappan Culture Vedic?; Problem of Continuity; Chronology; Chronology of Harappan
Archaeology
11. Identity of Aryan Culture
Texts for Traits of Aryan Culture; The Horse, its Domestication and Diffusion; The War Chariot;
Spoked Wheels; Horse Remains in the Subcontinent; Pit-dwelling; Birch; Cremation; The Fire Cult;
Animal Sacrifice; Horse Sacrifice; The Cult of Soma; The Svastika; Language and Inscriptional
Evidence; Dispersal of the Indo-Aryans; Chronology
12. The Age of the Rig Veda
Arrival of the Indo-Aryans; Tribal Conflicts; Cattle Rearing and Agriculture; Tribal Chiefdom; Tribe
and Family; Social Differentiation; Rig Vedic Gods; Chronology
13. The Later Vedic Phase: Transition to State and Social Orders
Expansion in the Later Vedic Period (c.1000–500 BC); Use of Iron; Agriculture; Arts and Crafts;
Settlements; Political Organization; Social Organization; Gods, Rituals, and Philosophy;
Chronology
14. Jainism and Buddhism
The Causes of Origin; Vardhamana Mahavira and Jainism; Doctrines of Jainism; Spread of Jainism;
Contribution of Jainism; Gautama Buddha and Buddhism; Doctrines of Buddhism; Features of
Buddhism and the Causes of its Spread; Causes of the Decline of Buddhism; Significance and
Influence of Buddhism; Chronology
15. Territorial States and the Rise of Magadha
Conditions for the Rise of Large States; The Mahajanapadas; The Rise and Growth of the
Magadhan Empire; Causes of Magadha’s Success; Chronology
16. Iranian and Macedonian Invasions
Iranian Invasion; Results of the Contact; Alexander’s Invasion; Effects of Alexander’s Invasion;
Chronology
17. State Structure and the Varna System in the Age of the Buddha
Second Urbanization; Rural Economy; Administrative System; Army and Taxation; The Republican
Experiment; Social Orders and Legislation; Conclusion; Chronology
18. The Maurya Age
Chandragupta Maurya; Imperial Organization; Ashoka (273–32 BC); Ashokan Inscriptions; Impact
of the Kalinga War; Internal Policy and Buddhism; Ashoka’s Place in History; Chronology
19. The Significance of Maurya Rule
State Control; Economic Regulations; Art and Architecture; Spread of Material Culture and the
State System; Causes of the Fall of the Maurya Empire—Brahmanical Reaction, Financial Crisis,
Oppressive Rule, New Knowledge in the Outlying Areas, Neglect of the North-West Frontier and
the Great Wall of China; Chronology
20. Central Asian Contact and Mutual Impact
I Political Aspects—The Indo-Greeks, The Shakas, The Parthians, The Kushans, The Indo-
Sassanians; II Cultural Consequences—Structures and Pottery, Better Cavalry, Trade and
Agriculture, Polity, New Elements in Indian Society, The Origin of Mahayana Buddhism, Gandhara
and Mathura Schools of Art; Language, Literature, and Learning; Science and Technology;
Chronology
21. The Satavahana Phase
Political History; Aspects of Material Culture; Social Organization; Pattern of Administration;
Religion; Architecture; Language; Chronology
22. The Dawn of History in the Deep South
The Megalithic Background; State Formation and the Development of Civilization; Three Early
Kingdoms; The Purse and the Sword; Rise of Social Classes; Beginnings of Brahmanism; Tamil
Language and Sangam Literature; Social Evolution from Sangam Texts; Chronology
23. Crafts, Commerce, and Urban Growth (200 BC–AD 250)
Crafts and Craftsmen; Types of Merchants; Trade Routes and Centres; Goods in Foreign Trade;
Money Economy; Urban Growth; Chronology
24. Rise and Growth of the Gupta Empire
Background; Chandragupta I (AD 319–34); Samudragupta (AD 335–80); Chandragupta II (AD 380–
412); Fall of the Empire; Chronology
25. Life in the Gupta Age
System of Administration; Trends in Trade and the Agrarian Economy; Social Developments; The
State of Buddhism; The Origin and Growth of Bhagavatism; Art; Literature; Science and
Technology; Chronology
26. Spread of Civilization in Eastern India
Signs of Civilization; Orissa and Eastern and Southern MP; Bengal; Assam; The Formative Phase;
Chronology
27. Harsha and His Times
Harsha’s Kingdom; Administration; Buddhism and Nalanda; Chronology
28. Brahmanization, Rural Expansion, and Peasant Protest in the Peninsula
The New Phase; States of the Deccan and South India; The Kalabhra Revolt; Conflict between the
Pallavas and the Chalukyas; Temples; Demands on the Peasantry; Land Grants and Rural
Expansion; Social Structure and Brahmanization; Chronology
29. Developments in Philosophy
Goals of Life; Samkhya; Yoga; Nyaya; Vaisheshika; Mimamsa; Vedanta; Charvaka and the
Materialistic View of Life; Chronology
30. Cultural Interaction with Asian Countries
India’s Relations with the Outside World; Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China, and Central
Asia; Christianity and West Asian Relations; Indian Culture in Southeast Asia; Cultural Give and
Take; Chronology
31. From Ancient to Medieval
Social Crisis and Agrarian Changes; Rise of Landlords; New Agrarian Economy; Decline of Trade
and Towns; Changes in the Varna System; Rise of Regional Identities; Trends in Literature; The
Divine Hierarchy; The Bhakti Cult; Tantrism; Summary; Chronology
32. Sequence of Social Changes
Introduction; Tribal and Pastoral Phase; Agriculture and the Origin of the Upper Orders; The Varna
System of Production and Government; Social Crisis and the Rise of the Landed Classes; Summary;
Chronology
33. Legacy in Science and Civilization
Religion; The Varna System; Philosophical Systems; Crafts and Technology; Polity; Science and
Mathematics; Medicine; Geography; Art and Literature; Strength and Weakness; Chronology
Chronology of Literary Sources
Bibliography
Index
Plates
Between Pages 210–11
1. Neolithic Bone Tools, Burzahom
2. Copper Hoards, Anthropomorph Figure, Bharat Kala Bhawan, Banaras
3. Mother Goddess, Terracotta, Mohenjo-daro
4. Bull Seal, Mohenjo-daro
5. North Gate, Dholavira
6. Apsara, Ajanta
7. Sanchi, 200 BC–AD 200
8. Vidisha, 200 BC–AD 200
9. Buddha, Mathura, 200 BC–AD 200
10. Punch-marked Coins, Age of Buddha
11. Scene from Mrichchakatika, Mathura, Kushan, Second Century AD
12. Stupa Site III, Nalanda, Gupta Period
13. Gupta Coins
14. Rathas, Mahabalipuram, Gupta Period
15. Nara-Narayana, Deogarh, Gupta Period
Maps
1. Neolithic Cultures
2. Chalcolithic Cultures
3. Spread of Indus Civilization
4. Pastoral Cemetries and Other Related Sites in Central Asia
5. Early Indo-Aryan Sites
6. Distribution of Painted Grey Ware
7. Distribution of Northern Black Polished Ware
8. Deccan and South India
9. India in about AD 150
10. The Gupta Empire at the Close of the Fourth Century
