Tinai Concept
Tinai Concept
Structure
4.0 Objectives
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Sources
4.3 The Tinai Concept
4.4 Agrarian System in Tamilakam
4.5 Economic, Political and Social organization in Tamilakam
4.5.1 Decline of the Tinai System
4.6 Spread of Agrarian Settlements in Deccan
4.7 Social Life in Deccan
4.8 Summary
4.9 Key Words
4.10 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises
4.11 Suggested Readings
4.0 OBJECTIVES
The main aim of this Unit is to discuss agrarian settlements and agrarian relations
in the peninsular part of the sub-continent from 200 BCE to 300 CE. After reading
the Unit, you will learn about:
different forms of subsistence in peninsular India;
tinai system;
social conditions that were prevalent in such societies; and
the organization of labour in such societies.
4.1 INTRODUCTION
The establishment of settled agriculture was a landmark in the history of the
world. Cultivation began in those settlements which had close proximity to water
sources, thereby marking the end of nomadic lifestyle. However, even when
agriculture was the dominant mode of subsistence, hunting-gathering, fishing
etc. did not completely decline.This Unit deals with agricultural expansion in
peninsular India (Deccan and the South). It focusses on the time period between
200 BCE and 300 CE.
62 * Ms. Joeeta Pal. PhD Scholar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
valleys. In the third phase, non-cultivating groups became part of the agrarian Agrarian Settlements and
Agrarian Societies :
sectors as brahmanas and Buddhist monasteries became the largest recipients of Peninsular India
arable land. They had better knowledge of seasons and aids for methods of
cultivation.
4.2 SOURCES
The main source for Tamilakam is Sangam literature. The other sources include
archaeological finds gathered from megalithic burials, epigraphic evidence from
Tamil Brahmi inscriptions, numismatic evidence in the form of pre-Roman and
Roman coin-hoards and accounts by Graeco-Roman navigators and geographers.
We shall first look at the literary sources.
Sangam literature can be dated at its earliest to the first two centuries CE. However,
the compilation of these works and their classification into eight Tamil anthologies
or Ettutokai dates to a much later time period, that is, around the 12th century.
The poets were men and women drawn from all classes in society and they were
richly rewarded for their compositions.The composition of the texts took place
during the three Sangams. The word Sangam refers to a confluence or
academy.The three Sangams were patronized by Pandyan rulers and were called
the Talai Sangam, Idai Sangam and Kadai Sangam respectively meaning the
beginning, middle and end Sangams. The compositions of the first two Sangams
are lost. All the texts that make up the Ettutogai come from the kadai or end
Sangam.
To use a single corpus of texts for such a long period is hazardous as it may lead
to creating a generalized portrayal of five to six hundred years. Additionally, the
Sangam texts have internal chronologies. Some scholars argue that Sangam
literature contains survivals of the earlier tribal organization. Two different socio-
political time-periods may be adduced from the texts; the first referring to a
‘tribal’ stage as seen in the mullai (pasture and wood lands) and kurinji (hilly
regions) and the second stage of incipient urbanization as seen in the marutam
(agricultural tracts) and neytal (zones near the sea) regions. This shall be further
explained in the Unit.
The Graeco-Roman texts include Plinys’ Natural History, The Periplus Maris
Erythraei and Ptolemy’s Geography. From Natural History and Periplus we get
detailed lists of imports and exports. The exports included aromatics, pepper,
ginger, cardamom, cloves and other spices, wild fauna, animal skins, ivory; timber
like teak and sandalwood; cotton fabrics, precious stones, pearls and gems. Hence,
they give us an idea of the goods produced in the tinai tracts.
An additional source that is difficult to use is in the form of oral tradition. Several
folk songs describe parts of agricultural processes. However, the difficulty lies
in attributing the songs to a particular time. These are, nonetheless, informative.
Kurinji
Kurinji was inhabited by the hunting tribes such as vedar, parayar, vettuvar,
katampar and kuravar groups. The kuravar women were known for predicting
the future and for their medical knowledge. The tribes followed a matriarchal
system.
Kurinji was the prime tract for hunting but agriculture was also practised. Though
historians argue that the plough was in use and hence shifting cultivation was
not the only preferred mode. We now know that the inhabitants of kurinji
were cultivating on the hill slopes. They grew beans, sesame, rye, sweet
potatoes, groundnuts, tubers, sugarcane, peas and a special variety of rice called
chamai. They also collected forest produce such as wood, honey and bamboo,
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rice etc. The cultivation and extraction of honey was performed by both men and Agrarian Settlements and
Agrarian Societies :
women. Peninsular India
The deity of Kurinji was Murugan or Seyon, meaning the ‘red one’ or the ‘beautiful
one’. He was the god of war. Later he was incorporated into the Hindu pantheon
as Kartikeya, the son of Shiva. Kurinji is named after a particular shrub that
grows on the hill side and blooms once in twelve years.
Mullai
Mullai was occupied by cowherds. They kept cattle as well as sheep and goat.
They practised animal husbandry, but it alone was not enough for sustenance.
Hence, they also practised shifting cultivation and grew various staples and pulses
and rye. Cattle rearing and dairy farming were the two most important activities
performed in this tract. Women played a major role in these activities.
Despite being a pastoral zone it was a highly forested tract. The mullai areas
formed part of a transitory eco-zone because they lay at the fringes of settled
agricultural tracts and could be merged with them.The presiding deity of the
mullai was mayon or the ‘dark one’, who is associated with Gopala or Krishna.
The mullai is named after a tree that is symbolic of pasture land.
This particular tract was associated with political formations. One theory traces
the origin of the institution of kingship to this tract.This argument becomes
stronger when we consider that the Tamil word for king, ‘kon’ means a herdsman
and that for queen, ‘aachchi’ means shepherdess.
Palai
The Maravars and the Kallars inhabited the palai. Since they occupied arid
tracts which were not sustainable or profitable, they also had to resort to robbing.
The maravars were petty chieftains. In heroic literature they are portrayed as
being preoccupied with cattle raids. However, some scholars argue that such
practices were undertaken in all tinai tracts. Loot and plunder was not as much
related to economic sustenance as with existing power relations.
Neytal
The inhabitants of the neytal tracts were involved with fishing, pearl farming
and salt making. While the paratavar gradually exclusively became involved
in pearl fishing and trade, the umanar came to specialize in the production of
salt.
The neytal cannot be thought of as only those areas near the sea but refers to a
variety of water bodies like backwaters, estuaries, lakes, rivers and lagoons. The
gathering of conch shells and their fashioning into bangles and other articles was
also an important activity performed in neytal. Paddy was also cultivated here.
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India : 200 BCE to 300 CE They also extracted fish oil in the neytal regions. The characteristic flower of
neytal was water lily found in waterlogged or marshland areas and the presiding
deity was Varuna, the rain god.
The Marudam
The marudam appears to have been the region where agriculture was the main
mode of subsistence. Here the ulavar and toluvar practised plough
agriculture.There are instances of individuals specialising in one activity. Hence,
the ulavar were ploughmen, the vinaivalar cultivated hard agricultural tracts
and the toluvar were tillers who were engaged in the cultivation of paddy and
sugarcane.
The marudam areas also attracted individuals from other tinai tracts. The
productivity of this tract also ensured the presence of a variety of artisans as well
as entertainers such as bards, astrologers and musicians. Artisans such as
carpenters (taccar), smiths (kollar) and traders (vanikar) lived in this tract. The
kurinji and marudam tracts were brought into networks of commercial exchange
by the marudam rulers.
The marudam was characterised by a red flower of the same name which grows
in wet lands and the presiding deity was vendan.Women were crucial to all
agricultural activities. Like the mullai, patriarchy developed at a later time. Later
the king came to be known as vendan, in keeping with the name of the presiding
deity.
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Agrarian Settlements and
4.4 AGRARIAN SYSTEM IN TAMILAKAM Agrarian Societies :
Peninsular India
Historically, the earliest kings emerged from the marudam. The earliest towns
arose in marudam and neytal. Thus, these two tinais were associated with the
royal families of the Cheras in the Periyar Valley, the Cholas in the Kaveri Valley
and the Pandyas in the Vaigai and Tamraparni valleys. The marudam had towns
of political and commercial importance while the neytal had towns of commercial
importance only. The important towns were Uraiyur and Kaveripattinam (Puhar)
under the Cholas, Madurai and Korkai under the Pandyas and Vanji (Karuvur)
and Musiri of the Cheras. The towns along the coast were called pattinams. The
mullai and kurinji regions were associated with ‘tribal’ stage and the marudam
and neytal regions were associated with incipient urbanization.
The menpulam or richer fields were located in the marudam. These fields were
used for the cultivation of staple food, rice and sugarcane. In contrast to the
menpulam were vanpulam or larger fields in other tinais that were used for the
cultivation of pulses, millets, sesame, horse-gram, roots, vegetables, fruits and
other crops depending on what could grow in that particular tinai.
Plough agriculture was practised. The bullocks were harnessed using a cross-bar
at their necks. The plough was called the meli or nanjil. It was iron tipped. Iron-
tipped plough was necessary for deep ploughing as was needed by crops like
sugarcane and rice. The use of plough is attested to in literature and inscriptions.
There is a reference to a dealer in ploughshare in a cave inscription in Tamilakam.
Spades, hoes and sickles were used for various operations. Furnaces and iron
slag have been recovered from excavations at many sites. Buffaloes were yoked
to the plough and animals were used at several stages of agricultural process,
such as threshing and pounding. Both tank irrigation and irrigation from minor
dams were available through sluices and harnessed streams. Remains of an ancient
reservoir were discovered near Kaveripattinam in Tamilakam. Since rainfall was
insufficient, irrigation was considered important.
Land was collectively owned. Debts were referred to as katam or katan. Avanam
or ankati was the main place where exchange took place. The term kurietirppai
was used to refer to a loan of goods which were to be paid back in exchange at a
later time. Profit does not appear to have been a motivation for selling, but rather
exchange was. This extended to producers and sellers of crafts as well.
Uzhavar (ploughmen) and Vellalar (masters of soil) were the cultivators of land.
One of the sources for labour for agriculture was the groups of ploughmen. Atiyor
probably means slaves and vinaivalar means workers earning ‘wages’. Details
about ‘wage’ rates and other conditions of labour are not known. Family labour
was not sufficient for production as it could not lead to surplus. However, in
spite of this limitation, agrarian settlements could sustain different groups of
functionaries like blacksmiths, carpenters, bards, dancers, magicians, priests,
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India : 200 BCE to 300 CE monks etc.Thus, Sangam compositions tell us about the various activities that
made up the agricultural process.
Political forms were not uniform across tinais. Thus, Sangam literature reveals
the tribal character of mullai and kurinj tinais and the urbanism of the marudam
and neytal tinais. The tinais together constituted a nadu. In contrast to nadu/natu
was the katu or forest area.There were also different types of settlements like
brahmadeyas and devadanas etc.
Land revenue was the main source of income for the chiefs. The Tamil literature
mentions irai and tirai as two types of contribution received by the chieftains.
While irai was a regular contribution, tirai was a tribute. Not much information
exists about the rate and mode of collection of revenue. The rulers are often
advised to be moderate in the collection of revenue indicating that coercion and
excesses were practised by authorities. How were resources redistributed amongst
those who required them? Gift was perhaps the most common mode of circulation
of resources. Each producer gave a part of his product to others for services
rendered. Gift of a meal or a piece of cloth was a simple form of redistribution.
Fighting heroes were provided with feasts both before and after plunder and
raid. Many a times gifts included fine imported wine, silk clothes and even gold
ornaments. Brahmanas and warrior heroes were beneficiaries of land donations
and cattle by way of remuneration of their services. The acts of redistribution
through gifts were made by three groups of persons with wealth and power,
namely, the crowned kings (vendar), the minor chieftains (velir) and the well-to-
do agricultural householders (vellalar) of the agrarian settlements. The recepients
of land also received the right to collect income from land.
In order to redistribute the resources efficiently, it was required that all the
resources were collected at a centre, such as the residence of chiefs. The pooling
of resources often led to plunder and pillage of agrarian tracts. Grain and cattle
were looted, fields of enemies were burnt, peasant settlements were set on fire
and rich gardens were converted to waste lands by marauders. The marva fighters
of hill tracts and pasture tracts were employed for plundering. The booty raided
was redistributed among marava fighters and brahmana priests by way of
prestations and remuneration for rituals. Many poems of the Sangam anthologies
speak of excesses committed against poor farmers. Even though pillage led to
terror and exploitation of the peasants, war was celebrated as a noble heroic act.
It was even institutionalised. The memorial stones erected in the memory of
dead warriors were made into cult objects or objects of worship. The pana singers
sang in praise of the war-like qualities of the chieftain and his fighters. On the
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one hand, booty capture was necessitated by the scarcity of resources, on the Agrarian Settlements and
Agrarian Societies :
other hand plunder and pillage led to destruction of resources. This paradox was Peninsular India
a central feature of the mechanism of redistribution at the level of chieftains.
Barter system was prevalent and there are references to honey and roots being
exchanged for fish oil and toddy, and sugarcane and rice flakes being exchanged
for venison and arrack. Fish could be exchanged for paddy.
Craft activities were also undertaken. Local rulers are likely to have encouraged
exchange since it improved their socio-political standing.
Exchange may be noted at different levels. For example, there was exchange at
the level of maritime trade. Similarly, there was also exchange at a much basic
level. People were not dependent on long distance trade for their basic needs.
Long distance trade was largely related to luxury goods. The nature of circulation
of luxury goods in the interiors was also different in that it occurred through
networks of kinship, patronage and clientele. The kurinci, mullai and marutam
tracts did not engage in luxury overseas trade, but rather in local subsistence
trade.
The absence of guilds meant that exchange was in the hands of families. Luxury
goods and exotic goods were the main imports. Duties called ulguporul were
levelled on goods coming to the ports. The inland towns were mainly consumption
centres, though some like Kacci, Uraiyur and Madurai dealt with textile weaving.
In terms of archaeological evidence, punch-marked coins in coastal town and
Roman coins and objects have been found at Arikamedu.
The vast use of iron weapons and implements in burials meant that a full-time
iron smelting industry developed to meet the substantial requirement for iron. It
may have become a hereditary specialization. Similar assumptions may be made
in the case of the manufacture of pottery, since pots were easily broken and
demand for them was likely to have been large.
Society in early Tamilakam was essentially tribal in character with its kinship
organizations, totem worship and tribal cults and practices. Some changes could
be seen in the predominantly agricultural regions. Old kinship ties were breaking
away and the introduction of Brahmanical varna system led to increasing
complexity. Social stratification or inequality between different social groups
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India : 200 BCE to 300 CE appeared and there was broad distinction between’high’ and ‘low’. The brahmanas
are referred to as a distinct social group enjoying higher status. Although there is
evidence of Vedic sacrifice in Sangam texts, the practice does not appear to have
gained prominence. The presence of brahmanas did not mean that they could not
freely intermix since there are references to brahmanas eating with people
belonging to other groups. Similarly, groups associated with polluting activities
are identified as living separately. With the practice of land grants in the seventh
century, the vellalas became a landed group at par with brahmanas. The kuyavan
or potters, the kollan or blacksmith and the vannan or washerman on the other
hand occupied the lowest rungs in the caste system.
The landed vellalar and the velala peasants constituted the basic producing groups
in agrarian settlements. Craft specialization was only rudimentary and subsidiary
to agricultural production. Mention may be made of blacksmiths (Kdlao) and
carpenters. The extended family was their unit of production. Weaving was another
profession. Religious worship and cult practices of village folk followed old
tribal rituals which necessitated the presence of ritual groups, such as Velan,
Venttuvan etc. They looked after supernatural elements and their management.
However, society was not ‘priest-dominated’.
There was considerable surplus which led to the prosperity of trading groups.
They were known after the commodity in which they traded. Thus we hear of
umanan (salt merchant), Koglavanikan (corn merchant), aruvaivanikan (textile
merchant), ponvanikan (gold merchant) etc. Towards the end of our period these
traders became part of the varna order which had infiltrated into the south.
Tokappiyam, the earliest available work on Tamil grammar, portrays the Tamil
society as consisting of four varna divisions. According to this text the traders
belonged to the vaishya group.The chieftains of the marudam agricultural tracts
started claiming descent from Suryavamsa (Solar line) or Chandravamsa (Lunar
line) as the kshatriyas of north India did. Thus, we find that the society in agrarian
Marudam region of ancient Tamilakam was an amalgamation of old tribal
practices and Brahmanical ideals and ideology.
Each village had a common meeting place for its inhabitants which was generally
under a large tree. The villagers would meet there and also indulge in sports and
community activities. It was through such small gatherings that more complex
political formations were to emerge in later times.
Buddhism and Jainism spread in urban areas, along with increase in trade. Jainism
spread more in inland towns while Buddhism spread more in towns along the
coast. These religions were mainly followed by merchants, craftsmen and royal
families.
We have already seen the tasks performed by women in each of the tinais.
Additionally, women sold a variety of products including toddy, curds and other
milk products, meat, etc.
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4.5.1 Decline of the Tinai System Agrarian Settlements and
Agrarian Societies :
Peninsular India
The fifth to seventh centuries witnessed a change in the manner of agricultural
production that was associated with the strengthening of caste system. Agrarian
society now had to subsist within the overarching framework of caste and
patriarchy. Concepts such as those of purity and pollution were deployed against
women of all castes to varying extents and to certain groups that would go on to
be identified as untouchables. This is particularly seen in the later Sangam texts,
since there are no compositions by women, unlike earlier times. The nature of
qualities attributed to women also changes in these writings and focuses more
on their being polluting and the need to control them.
However, the tinai system did not continue after the end of the time period owing
to several reasons. Firstly, the decline in overseas trade resulted in a decline in
urban growth. This may have been prompted by the lack of institutional control
in rice-producing regions. A crisis of sorts occurred when the chiefs attempted a
more lasting occupation of rice-producing areas. It delegitimized the vendars
leading to lack of institutional control.
With the rise of feudalism, however, small pastoralists lost their importance.
Some chose to stay out of the caste system and were later relegated to the lowest
rungs of caste system, while some continued as agriculturalists.
Certain new elements could be seen emerging in Deccan in this period. The
grants of land and even entire villages to religious beneficiaries such as Buddhist
monks and brahmanas became a common practice from now on. Along with
land, certain economic privileges in the form of right to collect revenue from the
village and right over mines was transferred to the donee. Land grants included
fiscal and administrative rights of the peasants. These grants freed the village
from obligatory payments to administrative functionaries and soldiers who visited
the villages. What started as temporary measure became permanent now. The
beneficiaries emerged as powerful landlords and thus new forms of land system
and economy emerged. Brahmanas and Buddhist monks who were recipients of
land had to employ labour to till their land as they themselves were not cultivators.
Thus, the actual tillers of the soil were separated from the land and its produce.
The collective rights over forests, pastures, ponds and reservoirs came to an end.
The peasants cultivating the land were now answerable to the new owners. These
new features became more accentuated as centuries went by and led to a new
socio-economic formulation called feudalism by scholars.
Check Your Progress Exercise 2
1) What were the main features of land grants in the Satavahana period?
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India : 200 BCE to 300 CE 2) Write five lines about the tools and implements and irrigational facilities in
the agrarian settlements in Deccan.
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4.8 SUMMARY
The basis of tinai concept is the relationship between geographic conditions and
means of earning a livelihood. Each tinai had contacts with the other, thereby
forming a network of symbiotic exchange. They were overlapping formations
and had no clear boundaries. The symbiotic relationship between the tinais was
not always peaceful and pillage was a common feature. Around the same time,
the Satavahanas were flourishing in Deccan and started the system of land grants.
The practice of landgrants increased with time and led to important changes in
the countryside.
Tamilakam: the region between the hills of Venkatam and the tips of
Kanyakumari.
Slash and burn cultivation: system of agriculture where existing plants are
destroyed by burning so that new seeds can be sown.
Muvendar: the three principal ruling groups, namely, Chola, Chera and Pandya.
74 a) ×, b) , c) , d) , e) ×, f)
2) See Section 4.3 Agrarian Settlements and
Agrarian Societies :
3) See Section 4.4 Peninsular India
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