Kings, Farmers and

Towns
Chapter - 2
Developments – after the end of Harappan civilization

- Rig Veda was composed

- Agricultural settlements emerged in north India, Deccan Plateau &
parts of Karnataka
- Evidences of pastoral populations found in Deccan & further south
- New modes of disposal of the dead emerged in central & south India
(megaliths)
- Emergence of early states, empires and kingdoms
- New towns emerged
 Megaliths
- The culture which originated in South India after the Stone age
- Megalith literally means big stone
- In this age, the dead were buried away from the habitation areas
- These graves were encircled by big pieces of stone
- In South India, this kind of elaborate burial began with iron age
- It contain not only the skeleton of the dead, but also pottery and iron
objects
 Sources

- Inscriptions
- Texts
- Coins
- Visual material
 Princep and Piyadassi
- James Princep, an officer of the East India Company
- He deciphered two scripts – Brahmi & Kharosthi
- He discovered that most of these inscriptions referred to a king called
Piyadassi – meaning “pleasant to behold”
- When this was compared with Buddhist texts, it was found that
Piyadassi was Asoka
- Many European and Indian scholars began to use inscriptions and
texts composed in various languages to reconstruct the lineage of
major dynasties that had ruled the subcontinent
 The Earliest States
• Major developments in 6th century BCE
- The rise of early states – mahajanapadas
- Rise of cities and towns – second urbanisation
- The growing use of iron – it led to the clearing of forests and
the growth of agriculture, it also increased the importance of warrior
classes
- The development of coinage – metallic coins facilitated growth
of trade
- Growth of several systems of thought – Buddhism & Jainism
 Main features of
Mahajanapadas
• Most of the mahajanapadas were ruled by kings
• Some of them were oligarchies (Republic). They were known as Ganas
or Sanghas. In oligarchic states, power was shared by a number of
men. They were often collectively called rajas. Both Mahavira &
Buddha belonged to such ganas.
• Each Mahajanapada had a capital city, which was fortified
• Maintained standing armies and bureaucracies
 Dharmasutras

• Composed by brahmanas
• Sanskrit texts
• They formulated rules and norms for all social sections including kings
• It was expected that all the rulers should be Kshatriyas
• It advised the rulers to collet taxes and tribute
• Raids on neighbouring states were recognised as a legitimate means
of acquiring wealth
 The Kingdom of Magadha
• Most powerful mahajanapada
• It comprised the districts of Patna and Gaya (Bihar)
• Reasons for the rise of Magadha:
- Fertile region, highly productive, enabled peasants to produce
considerable surplus
- Nearness to iron mines enabled them to make effective tools & weapons
- Elephants available in the forest. Magadha was the first state to use
elephants on a large scale in wars
- Ganga and its tributaries provided cheap and convenient means of
communication
- Strategic position of capitals (Rajgir & Pataliputra) it gave protection from
external aggressions
-Ambitious rulers – Bimbisara, Ajatasattu & Mahapadma Nanda
 Expansion of Magadha

• Bimbisara – first important ruler

• He was murdered and succeeded by his son Ajatasatru
• He made Magadha a super power
• His successors were weak & insufficient
• They were overthrown by the Nandas, under
Mahapadma Nanda
• Nanda dynasty finally overthrown by Chandragupta
Maurya
 Capitals of Magadha
• In the beginning Rajagaha (Rajgir) was the capital
• Rajagaha means “house of the king”
• It was a fortified settlement, located among the hills
• In the 4th century BCE, capital was shifted to Pataliputra (Patna)
 An Early Empire: The Mauryas
• Founded by Chandragupta Maurya in the beginning of 4th Cen BCE
• Sources of history of the Maurya’s
• Literary sources :
contemporary works – account of Megasthenese (Indica)
- Kautilya’s Artha shastra
- Buddhist, Jaina & Puranic literature
- Mudra Rakshasa by Vishaka Dutta
• Archaeological sources : sculptures, coins & inscriptions. Inscriptions
of Asoka are most valuable sources
 Asoka and his inscriptions
• First ruler who inscribed messages to his subjects and officials on
stone rocks, pillars and caves
• He used the inscriptions to propagate his principle of Dhamma
• It provide information about his career, policies and the extent of his
empire
• Most of Ashokan inscriptions were written in the Prakrit language
(mostly in Brahmi script; some in northwest written in Kharosthi)
• But, inscriptions in the north west of the subcontinent were in
Aramaic & Greek
Asoka and his policy of Dhamma

• The most important event of his reign was the Kalinga war and his
subsequent conversion into Buddhism
• He conquered Kalinga in 261 BCE
• After Kalinga war he abandoned the policy of conquest and adopted
measures of peace (bherighosha was replaced by dhammagosha)
• The only king in history to renounce conquests after winning the war
 Dhamma
• The word Dhamma is the Prakrit form of the Sanskrit word dharma
• Asoka’s dhamma was not a religious faith or practice, it was a way of life based on
Buddhist principles
• Principles:
- respect and obedience to parents, teachers & elders
- generosity towards Brahmanas, ascetics & the poor and
miserable
- treating slaves and servants kindly
- respect for religions and traditions of others
- Abstinence from killing or injuring of living things
- maintenance of truthfulness, morality and purity
• Special officers, dhammamahamatras were appointed to spread the message of
dhamma
 Mauryan Administration
• The Mauryan empire was excessively large and extensive
• It was not possible to establish a uniform system of administration in
such a diverse empire
• Hence different parts of the empire were ruled differently
• 5 major political centres – Pataliputra (capital) & provincial centres –
Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali & Suvarnagiri
• Capital was under the direct control of the emperor
• Mauryan administration was centralised
• King was supreme authority, assisted by a council of ministers called
mantriparishad
 Military Administration
• Mauryan military system had 6 wings – army, cavalry, elephants, chariots, navy and the
transport
• According to Greek sources, the Mauryan rulers had a standing army of 6,00000 foot-
soldiers, 30,000 cavalry & 9,000 elephants. Some historians consider this account to be
exaggerated
• Megasthenes mentions a committee with 6 subcommittees for coordinating military activity
1. Navy
2. Transport & provisions
3. Foot-soldiers
4. Horses
5. Chariots
6. Elephants
• Second subcommittee had a wide range of activities. It consisted of arranging bullock carts to
carry equipment, procuring food for soldiers and fodder for animals and recruiting servants
and artisans to look after the soldiers
 The Importance of Mauryan Empire
• The historians of 19th and early 20th century were overwhelmed to know the
existence of an empire in early India
• The inscriptions and stone sculptures associated with the Maurya's were
considered as examples of the spectacular art typical of early empires
• Many of these historians found that the message on Ashokan inscriptions
was quite different, it suggested that Asoka was more powerful, industrious
and humble than later rulers who adopted grand title
• Nationalist leaders regarded him as an inspiring figure
Some historians do not agree to this
- According to them Mauryan existed only for a short period, about 150 years
- Empire did not cover the entire subcontinent
- No uniform control
 Post Mauryan Period

• North-west: Greeks, Shakas, Parthians & Kushanas

• Gangetic Plain: Sungas & Kanvas
• Orissa (Kalinga): Chedi
• Deccan: Satavahans
 Chiefs & Kings of the South

• Muvendar : three chiefs

: rulers of Chola, Chera & Pandya chiefdoms
• Source of Information: Sangam texts, Ashokan inscriptions & Greek
records
 Divine Kings
• Colossal statues of Kushanas (c. 1st century BCE – 1st century CE) have
been found installed in a shrine at Mat near Mathura
• Kings claimed high status by :
- identifying themselves with a variety of deities
- installing colossal statues
- adopting high-sounding tiles like devaputra
- performing huge sacrifices
- composing prashastis
The inscription is in middle Brahmi script:
Mahārāja Rājadhirāja Devaputra Kāṇiṣka
"The Great King, King of Kings, Son of God, Kanishka"
"King of Kings,
Kanishka the Kushan".
 The Gupta Empire (4th century)
Source of Information:
- literature, coins, accounts of Chinese travellers (Fa-Hien &
Itsing) & inscriptions including prashastis
Samantas :
- feudatory rulers
- maintained themselves through local resources including
control over land
- they offered homage and provide military support to rulers
- sometimes powerful samantas rose to the position of kings by
subordinating weak rulers
• Prashasti –
a special kind of inscription composed in praise of kings and
patrons by poets
• Prayaga Prashasti –
known as Allahabad Pillar Inscription
composed in Sanskrit by Harishena
 A Changing Countryside

• Popular Perceptions of Kings

• Inscriptions provide information regarding rulers only, it never discussed about the
lives of ordinary people and their feelings about their rulers

• Ordinary people rarely left accounts of their life

• Historians try to solve this issue by examining oral tales which were later committed
to writing

• Important anthologies:
 Jatakas- written in Pali around the middle of first millennium CE

 Panchatantra- written in Sanskrit, probably by Vishnu Sharma

 Gandatindu Jataka
• describes the plight of the subjects of a wicked king
• king went in disguise to find out what his subjects thought about him
• each one of them cursed him for their miseries
• complaining that they were attacked by robbers at night and by tax collectors during the
day.
• To escape from this situation, people abandoned their village and went to live in the forest
• this story indicates – strained relationship between the king and his
subjects
- king demanded high taxes
- peasants found such demands oppressive
• Strategies taken by people to meet growing demand for taxes
• Increase production
• Escaping into forest
 Strategies for Increasing Production

• Shift to plough agriculture

Plough agriculture increased production. But the problem is ,in

semi-arid areas and hilly areas people followed hoe agriculture as it
suits to their terrain

• Introduction of transplantation

• Use of irrigation through wells, tanks & canals

 The Sudarshana lake in Gujarat

• The Sudarshana lake was an artificial reservoir.

• It was built by a local governor during the rule of the Mauryas

• According to Junagarh Inscription/Girnar rock inscription, a terrible

storm broke the embankments and Rudradaman, who was then ruling
in the area, claimed to repaired it using his own resources

• Junagadh rock inscription/ Girnar rock inscription

 Differences in Rural Society
Buddhist Literary Works Sangam Works
(Early Tamil Literature)
• Landless labourers
• Large landowners (Vellalar)
• Small Peasants Gahapati
• ploughmen (uzhavar)
• Large land owners
• slaves (adimai)
Large land holders & village headman
-position was hereditary
-emerged as powerful figures
-exercised control over other
cultivators.
These differentiations were based on access to - land, labour & technology
Thus control over land become an important issue.
 The Importance of Boundaries

• Manusmriti – Written in Sanskrit

- Compiled between c.2nd century BCE and c.2nd century CE
• advises the king:
- in the world controversies constantly arise due to the ignorance of
boundaries
- he should …have … concealed boundary markers buried – stones,
bones, cow’s hair, chaff, ashes, potsherds, dried cow dung, bricks,
coal, pebbles and sand.
- He should also have other similar substances that would not decay
in the soil buried as hidden markers at the intersection of boundaries
 Gahapati

• was the owner, master or head of a household

• exercised control over the women, children, slaves and workers who
shared a common residence

• He was also the owner of the resources – land, animals and other
things – that belonged to the household.
 Land Grants

• Many were recorded in inscriptions.

- some were on stone
- most were on copper plates
• It’s a record of the transaction to those who received the land.
• Land grants generally given to religious institutions or to Brahmanas.
• Most inscriptions were in Sanskrit. In some cases, part of the inscription was in
Sanskrit and the rest was in a local language -Tamil or Telugu.
• The inscription also gives us an idea about rural populations –
-Brahmanas and peasants, as well as others who were expected
to provide a range of produce to the king or his representatives.
-According to the inscription, they would have to obey the new
lord of the village, and perhaps pay him all these dues.
• Land Grants – Started by Satavahana rulers in Deccan and this was
continued by the Guptas
• Satavahanas granted tax free villages to – Brahmins
Buddhist Monks
• Guptas gave land grants to – Brahmanas
Shrines
Viharas
Monasteries
• Land grants provide details regarding the relationship between
cultivators and the state.
 Agrahara

• land granted to a Brahmana

• They were exempted from paying land revenue and other dues to the
king

• But brahmins given the right to collect these dues from the local
people.
 Prabhavati Gupta
• daughter of Chandragupta II
• She was married into the ruling family of the Vakatakas (Deccan)
• the inscription indicates that Prabhavati had access to land, which she
then granted to a brahmin
• This may have been because she was a queen
• her situation was therefore exceptional
• According to Sanskrit legal texts, women were not supposed to have
independent access to resources such as land
 Prabhavati Gupta and the village of Danguna

• Prabhavati Gupta, commands the gramakutumbinas(householders

living in the village),Brahmanas and others in the village of Danguna

• donated this village with to the Acharya Chanalasvamin, You should

obey all (his) commands

• Some exceptions were given

 Harshacharita
• is a biography of Harshavardhana, the ruler of Kanauj

• Composed in Sanskrit

• by his court poet, Banabhatta

• Give details of life in a settlement on the outskirts of a forest in the

Vindhyas

• Different occupations followed by the people were given, (other than

farming due to tough terrain)
 Impact of Land Grants

• land grants were part of a strategy adopted by rulers to extend

agriculture to new areas

• land grants were indicative of weakening political power: as kings

were losing control over their samantas, they tried to win allies by
making grants of land

• Rulers tried to project themselves as supermen because they were

losing control, they wanted to present at least a façade of power.
 New Cities
• This was a period of second urbanization
• Many urban centres emerged
• Many of these were capitals of mahajanapadas
• Towns were located along routes of communication
• Pataliputra - riverine routes
• Ujjayini - land routes
• Puhar - near the coast, from where sea routes began
 Artefacts recovered

• Northern Black Polished Ware

• Ornaments
• Tools
Made of – gold, silver, copper, bronze, ivory, glass, shell and
• Weapons terracotta.

• Vessels
• Figurines
• Votive inscriptions
• Coins
 Northern Black Polished Ware

• Fine pottery bowls and dishes

• With a glossy finish

• Probably used by rich people,

 Votive Inscriptions
• Votive inscriptions record gifts made to religious institutions
• These mention the name of the donor, and sometimes specify his/her
occupation as well.
• They tell us about people who lived in towns: washing folk, weavers,
scribes, carpenters, potters, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, officials, religious
teachers, merchants and kings.
• Sometimes, guilds or shrenis are mentioned as well.
 Guilds/Shrenis
• Guilds are organisations of craft producers and merchants
• Functions: procured raw materials, regulated production, and marketed the
finished product.
• They dissolved the disputes of its members.
• Issued coins
• Made donations to educational institutions
 Pataliputra
• Began as a village known as Pataligrama
• Maghadan rulers shift their capital from Rajagaha to this settlement and
renamed it
• Capital of Mauryan Empire
• Later declined
• Chinese pilgrim Xuan Zang visited the city in the seventh century CE, he
found it in ruins, and with a very small population.
 Trade
• It was carried through land routes, river routes, and sea routes

• Extensions: Overland trade was extended into Central Asia & beyond

• Overseas trade extended across the Arabian Sea to East and North Africa
and West Asia and through Bay of Bengal extended to Southeast Asia and
China.

• Goods traded: salt, grain, cloth, metal ores and finished products, stone,
timber, medicinal plants, Spices and textiles
 The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

• Periplus – Greek word – Sailing

around
• Erythraean – Greek name for Red Sea
• Composed by an anonymous Greek
sailor
• Describes the trade relations
 Rulers & Traders
• Rulers attempted to control these routes

• They were responsible to keep these trade routes secure from robbers
and dacoits

• They collected tax from merchants & traders for providing them
protection
 Traders
• Travallers of these routes : Peddlers, Merchants & Seafarers
• Peddlers: travelled on foot
• Merchants: travelled with caravans of bullock carts and pack-animals
• Seafarers: travels by sea
• Successful merchants designated - masattuvan in Tamil
- setthis and satthavahas in Prakrit,
 Coins
• Punch-marked coins made of silver and copper were amongst the earliest
to be minted and used
• Most of these were issued by kings
• Some of these were issued by merchants, bankers and town’s people
• The first coins to bear the names and images of rulers were issued by the
Indo-Greeks
• The first gold coins were issued by the Kushanas. These were virtually
identical in weight with those issued by contemporary Roman emperors
and the Parthian rulers of Iran
• Coins were also issued by tribal republics -Yaudheyas of Punjab and
Haryana
Punch – marked coins Numismatics

• The earliest coins of India • Numismatics is the study of coins

do not have any • Include - visual elements such as

inscriptions scripts and images, metallurgical
• They bear only symbols analysis and the contexts in which

on them they have been found.

 Gold Coins - importance
• The wide spread use of gold coins indicates the enormous value of the
transactions and exchange
• Hoards of Roman coins have been found from archaeological sites in
South India
• It is obvious that networks of trade were not confined within political
boundaries: South India was not part of the Roman Empire, but there
were close connections through trade
• The most spectacular gold coins were issued by the Gupta rulers, which
are remarkable for their purity.
 Decrease in gold coins - reasons
Does this indicate that there was some kind of an economic crisis? Historians are divided on this issue

• With the collapse of the Western • new towns and networks of trade started
Roman Empire long-distance emerging.

trade declined, and this affected • though fewer coins of this period have

the prosperity of the states, been found, coins continued to be

communities and regions that mentioned in inscriptions and texts.

had trade contact with the • there are fewer finds because coins were

Romans. in circulation rather than being hoarded

 Inscription
• Inscriptions are writings engraved on hard surfaces such as stone, metal
or pottery.
• They usually record the achievements, activities or ideas of those who
commissioned them and include the exploits of kings, or donations
made by women and men to religious institutions.
• Inscriptions are virtually permanent records, some of which carry dates
• The earliest inscriptions were in Prakrit
• Pali, Tamil and Sanskrit, which too were used to write inscriptions and
texts.
Scripts
1. Brahmi
• Most scripts used to write modern Indian languages are derived from
Brahmi
• The script used in most Ashokan inscriptions
• Used in Central India, East India & North India
• Treated as the mother of all the future scripts
2. Kharosthi
• Used in North-Western part of India(beyond the Indus river valley)
Deciphering Brahmi
• European scholars tried to decipher the script with the help of Indian
pandits
• They worked backwards from contemporary Bengali and Devanagari
manuscripts, comparing their letters with older specimens.
• Scholars who studied early inscriptions sometimes assumed these
were in Sanskrit
• James Prinsep was able to decipher Ashokan Brahmi in 1838.
Deciphering Kharosthi
• The script used in inscriptions in the northwest
• The deciphering of the script was aided by the discovery of bilingual
coins of the Indo-Greeks kings
• These coins had Greek alphabets on the one side and Kharosthi
alphabets on the other
• It is by comparing these letters one by one that Kharosthi script was
deciphered by James Princep
• Princep also identified that language used in Kharosthi script was
Prakrit
Task of Epigraphists while reading
Inscriptions
• Decipher the script used in inscriptions
• Compare the similar inscriptions to arrive at valuable conclusion
• Assessment of the claims made in inscriptions, as it could be factually
inaccurate
• To facilitate the reading of inscriptions by adding words in brackets in
such a way that the original intended meaning doesn’t change, but
the scholars are benefited
Question that have remained
unanswered
• The impact that made by kings on inscriptions had on the general
populace
1. Would the passer by stop and read the inscriptions found on the
routes?
2. Were these people literate enough to read them?
3. Would the people living in the periphery of the empire be familiar
with the court language ? (Prakrit followed in Pataliputra)
4. Were these orders of the king followed throughout the empire by
the people without being unopposed?
 Case study of an Ashokan Inscription
• The Ashokan inscription which depict the remorse of Ashoka after the
conquering of Kalinga (source 11) reflects his anguish after seeing the horrors of
war. This is a turning point in his life as he abandons the act of physically
conquering people but goes on to conquer them spiritually through his Dhamma
• But this inscription is not found in Kalinga, which aroused a number of
unanswered questions
1. Why was this anguish felt by Ashoka not found in the region which actually
beared the burnt of it?
2. Why Ashoka did not address the war ravaged people of Kalinga?
Answers
3. Painful for the region
4. Inscription might not been survived
5. Might have been removed later on intentionally
Limitation of Inscriptional Evidences
• Technical issues- Letters are faintly graved
• Damaged or missing letters
• Lack of clarity- Epigraphists can’t always be sure of the exact meaning
of the words
• Undeciphered inscriptions
• Inscriptions that not survived the ravages of time
• Non-relevance of inscriptions- everything significant was not
necessarily recorded
• Personalised views were projected
Chapter Completed