History of Ancient India Upto 1000 A.D. PDF

History of Ancient India Upto 1000 A.D DHIS101 Edited by Dr. Manu Sharma Dr. Santosh Kumar HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Edited By: Dr Manu Sharma and Dr Santosh Kumar  Printed by LAXMI PUBLICATIONS (P) LTD. 113, Golden House, Da...

History of Ancient India Upto 1000 A.D DHIS101 Edited by Dr. Manu Sharma Dr. Santosh Kumar HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Edited By: Dr Manu Sharma and Dr Santosh Kumar  Printed by LAXMI PUBLICATIONS (P) LTD. 113, Golden House, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110002 for Lovely Professional University Phagwara  SYLLABUS History of Ancient India Objectives: To provide an understanding to Ancient Indian Civilization such as Indus and Vedic. To understand the historical developments and changes in the Indian religion and society during Ancient times. To understand the political developments, imperialism and monarchial polity of ancient India. To help the students to prepare for various competitive exams. Sr. No. Topics 1. Evidences of Ancient Indian History: Literature, archaeology, Epigraphy, Numismatics, foreign travellers account. Physical Features: Physical features of India and their influence on the Indian history 2. The Pre-Historic Cultures: Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic. 3. Indus Valley Civilization: Extent, Chronology, Origin, Society, Religion and Causes of decline. 4. The Vedic Age: Original homelands, The Aryans, Political, Social, Religious and Economic Life, Difference and similarities between Indus Civilization and Vedic culture. 5. The Later-Vedic Age: Political, Social, Religious and Economic Life. 6. The Mauryas: ChandraGupta, Bindusara, Ashoka (Ashoka dhamm: its nature and propagation), Successors of Ashoka 7. The Golden period: Guptas and their successors( to c.750 A.D.):Changes in political organization of empire, Economy and Society, Literature and Sciences, Arts. Samuragupta 'The Indian Napoleon': Extent of the empire, battles and Administration, Disintegration of the Gupta Empire. 8. Religious movements: Jainism and Buddhism, Vardhamana Mahavira’s and Gautama Buddha’s contribution. Causes of decline of Jainism, Factors for the spread of Buddhism, Stupa architecture, Buddhist customs and manners. 9. Bhagvatism, Shaivism and Brahmanism: Main Characteristics, important leaders, extent in India. 10. State Formation and Urbanization: Urbanization, Society, political history, Mahajanapadas, Monarchies and Republics, Administration in Monarchies, Maps:- Important Historical places of Indus Valley Civilization, Ashoka’s Empire, Empire of Samundragupta, Extent of Gupta’s Empire  CONTENT Unit 1: Sources of Ancient Indian History 1 Manu Sharma, Lovely Professional University Amandeep Singh, Lovely Professional University Unit 2: Pre-Historic Age (Stone Age) 17 Manu Sharma, Lovely Professional University Amandeep Singh, Lovely Professional University Unit 3: Indus Calley Civilization (3250-1750 BC) 28 Santosh Kumar, Lovely Professional University Amandeep Singh, Lovely Professional University Unit 4: The Vedic Age 49 Santosh Kumar, Lovely Professional University Amandeep Singh, Lovely Professional University Unit 5: Later-Vedic Period 65 Manu Sharma, Lovely Professional University Amandeep Singh, Lovely Professional University Unit 6: Maurya Period: Chandragupta, Bindusar, Ashoka 79 Manu Sharma, Lovely Professional University Vijay Kumar, Lovely Professional University Unit 7: Ashoka: Social, Economic and Religious Reforms 115 Santosh Kumar, Lovely Professional University Vijay Kumar, Lovely Professional University Unit 8: Gupta’s Empire 125 Manu Sharma, Lovely Professional University Vijay Kumar, Lovely Professional University Unit 9: India in Gupta’s Age 153 Santosh Kumar, Lovely Professional University Vijay Kumar, Lovely Professional University Unit 10: Religious Movements 173 Manu Sharma, Lovely Professional University Vijay Kumar, Lovely Professional University Unit 11: Jainism and Buddhism 179 Santosh Kumar, Lovely Professional University Manu Sharma, Lovely Professional University Unit 12: Bhagvatism, Shaivism and Brahmanism 208 Manu Sharma, Lovely Professional University Unit 13: State Formation and Urbanization 228 Santosh Kumar, Lovely Professional University Unit 14: Maps 259 Manu Sharma, Lovely Professional University Ripudaman Singh, Lovely Professional University  Amandeep Singh, Lovely Professional University Manu Sharma, Lovely Professional University Unit-1: Sources of Ancient Indian History Notes Unit-1: Sources of Ancient Indian History CONTENTS Objectives Introduction 1.1 Sources of Ancient Indian History 1.2 Geographical Environment 1.3 Geographical Effects on Indian History 1.4 Ancient Ethno-Linguistic Groups 1.5 Summary 1.6 Keywords 1.7 Review Questions 1.8 Further Readings Objectives After study of this unit, the students will be able to: To know about sources of ancient Indian history, To understand geographical setting of Indian history. Introduction History of each nation is a heritage for its future generations to come. Glorious works done by the predecessors inspire next generations. After analyzing their mistakes, decide their course of actions and effort of regaining the glorious past is done. Any society can’t save its cultural heritage by staying away from its past. Hence, every society is connected with its past and plans for the future on the basis of its past. This is the reason, each nation attaches prime importance to the study of its history. When we study the importance of Indian history, then many characteristics of that time come across, which we don’t get from any other nation’s ancient culture. Firstly, India is the only country which made humans cultured and civilized first. The time, when other people of civilized and developed nations were living in forests living life of animals, India had already developed high class culture. Secondly, India is the only country, whose cultural lifeline has been flowing since very ancient periods. In all other countries, where developed any specific culture, have been lost in times and their existence ended. Today, they are only a subject of history. Famous poet of Urdu Iqbal said, “Greek, Egypt, Rome all got extinct, but there is something that our existence does not end.” It means that all cultures of LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 1 Book 1.indb 1 29/07/13 10:03 PM  History of Ancient India Notes Greece, Rome and Egypt got extinct and replaced by new culture, which has got nothing to do with old culture. But India is the only country in the world, which is living up with its old tradition and culture with its great values being intact. Iqbal says that there is something fundamental l in having this continuity of Indian culture. Student of history must study these superior values and elements else, we can’t study India as India, and this can only be done by studying ancient Indian history. Thirdly, this is the quality of Indian culture only that has to power to give secular and spiritual satisfaction both, i.e. it has the ability to have all round human development. Due to this only India was called ‘golden bird’ and had the honor of being called ‘World Guru’. Fourthly, Indian culture has the power to establish peace as this has seen the entire world as a family and has inspired Indians to put in efforts for the development of its peace and prosperity. Thus, people here done great job of making other people excel in their lives. Self Assessment Fill in the Blanks: 1. Only country of the world, which made humans cultured and civilized first is............... 2. Greece, Rome, Egypt all got extinct, but there is something special that our existence is intact................ said this. 3................ is called Father of History. With above characteristics in context of our great ancient history, we can analyze the importance of ancient Indian history. In the absence of such study, student of India can’t ever know that he is part of such great cultural heritage. Student shall feel proud towards glorious Indian culture and tradition. British have deformed Indian history and presented in such manner that Indian students feel inferior and their courage recede. Glorious Indian past can inspire Indian students to do great work and ambition of rekindling ancient glory of Indian history can be achieved. 1.1 Sources of Ancient Indian History India is an ancient country. As per many Indian scholars, Indian culture is the oldest in the world. Indians pondered over all aspects of life and being expert in writing, they composed literature on poetry, philosophy, art, science and other topics. As per foreign scholars too, Indian culture is older than china, Egypt, Mesopotamia etc. Despite having such great scholars in greatly civilized ancient country, India does not have a written chronology of history, this looks surprising. Some foreign historians have gone to the extent and said that Indian historian lacked historical sense. Reaching to conclusion that there was no historical creation in ancient Indian time, would be wrong. Actually, there were no such important historical development in that period that could be recorded. Actually this can be considered as truth that Indians were neutral to history and politics and they used to study these subjects under other social disciplines only. As per Dr. R.C. Majumdar, “One of the greatest defects of Indian culture is the aversion of Indians to write history. They applied themselves to all conceivable branches of literature and excelled in many of them, but never seriously took to writing history.” Alberuni says, Hindus don’t pay much attention to the historical order of things. As regards knowing Indian resources, sources to history prior to 6th century BC are limited, but post that period we have enough sources. Researches till now have dug out sufficient ancient Indian history resources. Even then, it is not possible to have chronological description of ancient Indian history, as other nations. Main reason being absence of great historians like Herodotus of Greece (father of history), Livy of Rome or Alberuni of Turkey. Reasons of Neutralism of Indians towards History—Lack of chronological order in Indian history can’t be justified to see it as lack of historical sense. There can be many reasons for such ignorance to historical chronology as mentioned below— 2 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY Book 1.indb 2 29/07/13 10:03 PM  Unit-1: Sources of Ancient Indian History (1) Historical Writers were Brahmans—Composer of entire Indian literature were Brahmans, who Notes had little interest in politics. Their interest was more in poetry, arts, philosophy and science. This section of society was majorly involved in spiritual meditation and establishment of moral values. They had little interest in physical life. Instead of describing activities of kings and emperors, they mentioned different disciplines required for guidance of the society of their ages. This is why, their attention could not go to chronological listing of events. (2) Historians gave importance to concepts rather than events—Study of ancient material tells us that scholars that time were inclined towards propounding different concepts. They paid less attention to the events happening in the society. They were of the view that forces behind such events need to be analyzed. Events are not important. Hence, due to negligence of events, chronology got neglected. (3) Huge point of view of Scholars—Accepting that ancient Indians were totally ignorant about history is not true, as we have huge material available in form of ancient literature. Actually, ancient Indians had huge perspective about history and they considered it as part of knowledge. They saw history as part of religion, morality, politics, economics and literature. Hence, they never felt the need to write chronological history. (4) Negligence towards writing History—Even then, we can’t deny that they were ignorant towards writing history. Though no other species of the world did such history writing, the way it is done in modern times, still the tendency of accepting history as a separate branch is more among foreigners than Indians. 1.1.1 Search of Ancient Indian History This is known to all that history is totally dependent on resources for study. This is the reason that foreign and Indian historians have tried to unite broken chain of ancient Indian history with great effort and dedication. Work of finding Indian history resources was started by British Scholars. They interpreted it as per their interest. It resulted in many misconceptions about Indian history. Later on, when Indian historians took job in their hands, then many of those were clarified and Indian history its deserved place. Discovery of ancient Indian history started in the second half of 18th century. Maxmuller translated Vedas in English, which established superiority of Indian civilization over entire western world. After this English scholars translated Bhagwadgeeta, Hitopdesh and Shakuntala etc in English. In 18th century, ‘Asiatic society of Bengal’ started research in Asia. With this Indian historians too got inspired to know about Indian history. In 1862, department of law was established in Indian Archaeology. Lord Curzon showed interest and discovery and protection of old monuments got encouragement. This work is continuing with foreign and Indian scholars. In 1922 under John Marshall leadership, Harappa culture was discovered. This work is progressing. Different excavation work at various sites in India is helping to piece together scattered culture. Thus, there is no big issue in knowing ancient Indian historical knowledge. Only problem is the chronology. In fact, there is no dearth of its resources of study. These sources as a result of regular researches are being more capable of interpreting history. Archaeological Survey of India was established in 1862 in India. Lord Curzon showed interest and discovery and protection of old monuments got encouragement. 1.1.2 Main Sources of Ancient Indian History Before studying ancient Indian history, it is required that we study those main resources which help us know about history itself, they can be divided in three parts as below— LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 3 Book 1.indb 3 29/07/13 10:03 PM  History of Ancient India Notes 1. Archaeological Sources. 2. Literary Sources. 3. Accounts of Foreign Travellers I. Archaeological Sources In ancient Indian history, archaeological material has helped a lot. In fact, it has helped in writing scientific historical writing. Archaeology itself has become independent discipline. Where historical material is silent or unclear, there is comes in as handy. In ambiguous situations, archaeological material only helps and fills up blank areas of history. Had archaeological materials did not help; we would not have been able to know about prehistoric Indian period. Archaeological materials can be divided in four parts in context of Indian history— 1. Excavation material 2. Epigraphs or Inscriptions 3. Monuments 4. Coins (1) Excavation Material—Different sites have been excavated in India and remains and wreckages of towns, buildings, temples and various forts have been found. These provide ample information about ancient Indian history. Many blurred pages of our history have become clear, dates have been defined and many scattered pieces of information can be joined together. In Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa excavation, we have found remains of town, buildings, human body, animal skeletons, images of deities, utensils, tools, roads and bathing pools etc. These throw light on civilization of 5000 years ago. With the excavation of Takshshila, ambiguity on chronology of Kushan Vansh has been sorted. Many Buddha idols have found from Sanchi (near Bhopal), which are evidence to the rise and fall of Jain and Buddha faith. Similarly, remains found in Sarnath give ample information on Bauddha religion. Self Assessment Multiple Choice Questions: 4. Archaeological Survey of India was established in............... (a) 1860 (b) 1862 (c) 1740 (d) 1885 5. Idols of............... have been found from Sanchi (near Bhopal) in excavation. (a) Mahavir (b) Buddha (c) Parshvanath (d) Anand 6. Greek traveller Megasthanize came to whose Court? (a) Chandragupta Maurya (b) Bimbisar (c) Udayin (d) Ajatshatru 7. Magic, Occult, Mantra have been mentioned in............... (a) Rigveda (b) Samveda (c) Yajurveda (d) Atharvaveda Thus, major part of unwritten ancient Indian history is based on these excavation material only and is has been scripted like this only. (2) Epigraphs—These play vital role reconstruction of ancient Indian history. It helps in joining pieces of history. On the basis of these epigraphs, scholars have tried to refine information found from other sources. These are most reliable as their authenticity can’t be doubted, as they are imprint of metals and stones. These inscriptions are imprint on stone bars, pillars, copper scripts, idols, caverns and walls of buildings. There have been use of many languages. Actually, these inscriptions have used that language which is relating to people of that area. These various inscriptions found from various parts of the country 4 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY Book 1.indb 4 29/07/13 10:03 PM  Unit-1: Sources of Ancient Indian History have been written in various languages like Brahmi, Sanskrit, Pali, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam etc. Script Notes of these inscriptions is majorly Brahmi (which is the mother of Devnagri and other north Indian script). Besides, many inscriptions have been found in Kharoshthi script, which is written from right to left and was prevalent in north-west part of contemporary India. Sources of Ancient Indian History 1. Archaelogical Material 2. Literary Material 3. Accounts of Foreign Travellers 1. 2. 3. 4. (1) (2) Excavated Epigraphs Monuments Coins Religious Secular Material Literature Literature (A) (B) (C) Vedic Literature Buddhist Literature Jain Literature (1) Vedas-Rigveda, Samaveda, (1) Jataka (1) Kalpa Sutra Yajurveda, Atharvaveda (2) Tripitaka–Suttpitk, (2) Achrang formula Abhidhamma Corf, (2) Brahmin (3) Bhadrabahu character Vinay Slammed (Aitareya Satapatha etc.) (4) Prishishtvrttan (3) Aranyak (3) Milindpanhon (5) Proceeds book (4) Upanishads (5) Formula (Aeon, Guha Religion etc.) (6) Vedanga (A) (B) (C) (Education, Aeon, Ninrukt grammar etc.) Literary Historical Life (7) Ramayana, Mahabharata Book Book Character (A) (B) (C) (D) Errani Travellers Greek Travellers Chinese Travellers Muslim Travellers (1) Sky Lochs (1) Herodots (1) Fa-Hien (1) Suleiman (2) Megasthenes (2) Huensang (2) Almsudi (3) Ariane (3) I-Tsing (3) Abujaid (4) Talmi (4) Lamatara (4) Alberuni (Tibetan) Different inscriptions as found in various parts of India can be divided in four parts as; Guhalekh, Shilalekh, Stambhalekh and Tamrapatra lekh. Maximum inscriptions are in the form of donation paper, as monuments of important events and certificates of kings etc. we get to know about contemporary social, religious, political, economical and cultural condition of India. First place in inscriptions is of Asoka. His inscriptions are not only in plenty, but full of variety. In fact, they present a live picture of his autobiography and situations of his time. These are scattered LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 5 Book 1.indb 5 29/07/13 10:03 PM  History of Ancient India Notes all across his kingdom and are inscripted mainly as king’s decree or declaration and show Bauddha faith’s principles and ideals of Asoka’s life. They are mainly written in Brahmi and Kharoshthi script. Inscriptions of post Asoka period are both of government and nongovernmental nature. In state inscriptions, state poets have admired kings and emperors. One such script of Samudragupt is there in Allahabad fort, knowledge on Gupt period depends on this resource. At one side, certificate of Vikram Sen of Sen Vansh in Bengal and Gwalior certificate of Bhoja are major source of Pratihar rulers. The same of Chalukya king Pulkeshin II is also an important historical heritage. Number of nongovernmental scripts are more. Majorly, these are imprint on deity’s idols or on walls of temple. At one hand, they tell us about religious life and art and on the other hand about literature and language of that period. There are many inscriptions found overseas which throw light on our history, like in Java, Sumatra, China, Japan, Tibet and Sri Lanka. Thus, they not only tell us about emperor’s dynasty, regime and the extent of their empire, but also about situation of country and time. In the absence of such material, our pages of ancient Indian history would have remained empty. (3) Monuments—The way inscriptions tell us about political aspect of history, similarly monuments tell us about cultural and religious aspects of history. Buildings, images, art work, stupa, Math, Vihar, Chaitya, temple and painting etc are included in it. For academic objective, we can divide them in to Indian and foreign monuments. Among Indian monuments Takshshila, Mathura, Kaushambi, Sarnath, Patliputra, Rajgriha, Jhansi, Nalanda etc are main. The monuments found from excavation at Takshshila, we have been able to sort out issue of chronology for Kushan dynasty. Similarly, Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro excavation has told us about 5000 years old civilization. Sarnath excavation had brought to light carving work, which is incomparable to any work. Besides, painting of Ajanta caves, stone temple in Devgarh district of Jhansi, brick temple of Bhitargao (Kanpur) and copper idol of Buddha found form Nalanda which is not monument, is an introduction of great sculpture. Monuments found overseas throw light on its foreign relations. These being in the form of temples or idols, give information of Indian religion and culture’s propagation. Indian art can be proud of art work of java and Kamboj. There are many temples and monuments in java. Malay, Lanka, Bali etc also have many such monuments. These are sufficient to prove that Indians went there to promote their culture and religion. They were impressed by Indian concepts and thus Indians established cultural empire there. Hindus settled there also in large numbers. (4) Coins—In ancient Indian history, contribution of coins, currency and seals is immense. Different types of currency have been found from different parts of country. Period of 206–300BC is mainly dependent on currencies. In their absence, this period would have remained dark. Initially, these currencies only had images of deities and did not carry king’s picture or dates. In the north-west part of India, when Greeks rulers of Bactria started ruling, then due to their contact, Indian kings also started the practice of printing their name and dates on them. Shaka, Pallava and Kushan kings followed Greek rulers. Contemporary currencies throw light on Shaka kings and Malavas and Yudhey republic. Picture of gods and goddesses give religious information of that time. Pictures imprint of coins issued for special occasions have details of that event. Extent of the empire also is known by the coins and currencies. The way coins of Samudragupt period has imprint of Ashwamedha Parakram, which indicates that he did Ashwamedha yagna. Knowledge of number of rulers for any particular dynasty is also known by coins. We have found enough roman currencies in India, which indicates that India had trade relations with them sometime. Maximum currencies are made up with gold, silver and copper or by mixing two metals. With gold or mixture of copper in gold can give us idea of economic condition of that time. Total gold or little bit of copper in gold, tells about economic prosperity, whereas more mixing of copper tells us about economic weakness of that time. 6 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY Book 1.indb 6 29/07/13 10:03 PM  Unit-1: Sources of Ancient Indian History Copper currencies of three Panchal rulers of BC, Rudraghosh, Ashwamitra and yogsen have been Notes found. 110 copper coins in Azamgarh of Uttar Pradesh and 277 coins of Ikshvaku Vansh of Nagarjuna Kond have been found in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. There is a coin amongst such coins of Vashishthiputra Chantmool, in which a horse is standing in a up (that stone or pillar which is made in memory of somebody’s sacrifice) shape. This proves that this king must have done Ashwamedha yagna. Self Assessment Writes True/False in the following statements: 8. From the excavation of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, 5000 years old civilization has been discovered. 9. Samveda is the oldest Granth. 10. Suttapitak has collection of principles of Mahatma Buddha, which is based on five Nikayas (collection). 11. Mahabhashya of Patanjali gives information on preliminary times of Shunga Vansh. 12. Alberuni came to India with Mohammed Ghori. II. Literary Sources We include those in literary sources which are there in the form of Granth. We can divide this in to two categories— (1) Religious Literature (2) Secular Literature (1) Religious Literature—India is a religious country and hence ancient Indian history too has religious form. Quality is that it not only analyzes religious principles, but also tells about political, social, economical conditions. Thus, this is a heritage of our history. Entire religious literature can be further divided in to three parts— (a) Vedic Literature, (b) Bauddha Literature, (c) Jain Literature (a) Vedic Literature—This is world’s oldest literature. Veda have maximum importance in it. There are four Vedas-Rigved, Yajurveda, Samveda, and Atharvaveda. Though Veda is counted in religious literature, yet its historical importance is no less. Rigved and Atharvaveda have more importance. Rigved is oldest and gives information about Aryan life and throw light on social, political and economic condition. Atharvaveda is a live presentation of cultural development of Aryans. After Veda, comes Brahman Granth, which describe Vedic mantras in detail. Not only this, they also mention contemporary social, economical and political life. Among Brahman Granth, Gopath, Shatpath, Aitreya and Panchshil are important. Aaranyak and Upanishad are last part of Brahman Granth which ponders over philosophical questions. These throw light on religious and culture life of early Hindus. After them, comes Sutras, which are divided in to three parts-Kalpa, Grihya and Dharma. Classical classification and detailed mention of vedic yagna is the subject matter of Kalpa Sutra. Rituals and yagna related with married life is mentioned in Grihya Sutra. It also tells about the social life of that time. Dharma Sutra has mention of political, social and constitutional provisions. Apart from sutra literatures, six Vedanga- Shiksha, Kalpa, Nirukta, Vyakaran, Jyotish also are very important. In period of Mahakavya period (epic period), important literature was created, out of which Ramayana and Mahabharata are important. There is dispute on their actual date, as they are not clear. These throw detailed light on social, political and religious life of Aryans. Ramayana has mention of Kaushal of Awadh and Videh of Vihar, whereas Mahabharata has mention of war between Kaurava and Pandava and their allies coming from different parts of the country. Apart from epics, Puran and Memories are also part of vedic literature and these too give ample historical information. There are total eighteen Puran, like Vishnu Puran, Matsya Puran, and Vayu Puran etc. Puran has description of some dynasties, which are LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 7 Book 1.indb 7 29/07/13 10:03 PM  History of Ancient India Notes not found anywhere. Historical material is available in Vishnu Puran for Maurya Vansh and Matsya Puran about Andhra Vansh of south. Smrities are integral part of Aryan literature. Circulated in names of different sages, these too are vital historically. Manu, Narad and Brihaspati Smriti are major of them. (b) Bauddha Literature– Just like Aryan literature, Bauddha literature too is important. Jataka present live picture of pre life of Mahatma Buddha filled with exaggerating events. Though they have used some imaginations also, yet they are best source of knowing about social condition of pre Buddha. Religious Granth of Buddhism are known as Tripitak, which has details of Baudh principles. Each pitak has separate analysis of different subjects. Suttapitak has collection of Buddha’s principles which is based on five Nikayas (collection). Abhidhamma Pitak discussed about Vedantic principles. Vinay pitak describes about organization and discipline of Bauddha Math. There is more literature in Buddhism in Pali and Sanskrit language. There is discussion of Greek King Milind and Bauddha Bhikshu Nagsen in Milind Panho in Pali language. Besides, in Deepvansh and Mahavansh, there is historical mention related with Lanka, but is also throws light on Indian history. Many facts related to Chandragupta Maurya have been found from these Bauddha Granth. Bauddha literature is also found in Sanskrit language which is related with Heenyan and Mahayaan faith. Mahavastu, Lalitvistar, Buddha Charitra, Manjushree Moolkalpa etc are part of Sanskrit literature. (c) Jain Literature—It also plays vital role in Indian history. It is more important since it has some information which are not even available in Vedic or Bauddha literature. Kalpasutra, Aacharangasutra and Bhadrabahu are important Granth among those written in 5th & 6th century. Their quality is that they are presented in such manner that historians don’t have problems collecting facts. Aacharangasutra has details of behavioural rules for Jain Bhikshus. Parishishtaparvan was composed by Acharya Hemchandra. Description of kings and Jain emperors is found in this Granth since the time of Mahavir Swami. Grandson of Asoka Samprati (Chandragupta II) was Jain, whose detail is found in this Granth and others. Bhadrabahu Charitra has characterization of emperor Samprati’s guru Bhadrabahu. Twelve Angas are important in Jain Aagam Granth. (2) Secular Literature—In Indian history, place of secular or a religious literature is also important. We can divide this in to three parts: (a) Literary Granth (b) Historical Granth (c) Auto Biography (a) Literary Granth—Ancient Indian literature is reservoir of Granths important form historical point of view. Mahabhashya of Patanjali gives information about initial time of Shunga Vansh. Details of Maurya Vansh is received from Panini’s Ashtadhyayi. Similarly, Bilhan’s Vikramank Devcharit in the glory of Chalukya emperor Vikramank Dev briefs us about major events of that time. Political state of affairs of Shunga period is known by Kalidas’s Malvikagnimitra. Knowledge about last stage of Nand Vansh and beginning period of Maurya Vansh is received by Mudrarakshas of Vishakhdatt. In 7th century, with help of Dandi’s Dashkumarcharitam, we get to know about decline of Bauddha religion. In this context only, Prabandha Kosh of Rajeshwar, Kirtikaumudi of Someshwar and Sukrit Sankirtan of Ari Singh are vital. (b) Historical Granth—Arthashastra of Kautilya is the most reliable historical Grantha. It contains political scenario, administration and social, political and religious life of Maurya time, by Chanakya prime minister of Chandragupta Maurya. Second important Granth is Rajtarangini of kashmiri scholar Kalhan. It throws ample light on middle of 12th century history of Kashmir. Harsh Charitra by Banbhatt is important, as it throws light on 7th century history. Details of south Indian states is found in Tamil and Prakrit language material. Vakpati of Prakrit language, has briefed in his book Gaudvaho, life history of Kannauj king Yashovarman. (c) Jeevan Charitra—Harsh time India in Harsh Charitra of Banbhatt, details of Pal Vansh in Sandhyakar Nandi’s Ram Charit, Ballal Charitra of Anand Bhatt has details Sen Vansh, Prithviraj Vijay of Jayanad and Prithviraj Raso of Chandbardai is important. Similarly, in Vikramankdevcharit describes about Chalukya Vansh. Navsahsankcharitra has details of Parmar Vansh. 8 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY Book 1.indb 8 29/07/13 10:03 PM  Unit-1: Sources of Ancient Indian History III Accounts of Foreign Travellers Notes Outside visitor’s detail of India too are important from historical perspective. We can’t expect exaggeration from them for admiring India. They are mostly neutral, but due to not having knowledge of Indian society and its language, at places they have gone imaginary. Nutshell, they are important to Indian history. Out of them we get briefs of- (a) Irani (b) Greek (c) Chinese and (d) Muslim travellers, who present Indian condition of that time. (a) Irani Travellers—When Indian prosperity became matter of discussion in western nations, then in the beginning of 6th century BC, Iran king sent his messenger Skylacs to India, he came to India and studied its geographical condition. His description is quite interesting. Even emperor of Iran, Derium too has written about India. These articles throw light on India-Iran relations. War tactics and farming details too is present in his articles. Head medical counselor of Iran, Tecius too has mentioned about India, but is not much reliable. (b) Greek Travellers—Description of travellers who came with Alexander are more reliable. One was commander Niarcus, another was Aristobolus who wrote his journey details in old age, but now his details are not available. After the demise of Alexander, his commander Cellucas took control of his eastern empire. He sent his ambassadors in Maurya king’s courts. He did a treaty with Chandragupta Maurya after being defeated by him and Megasthaneze was sent to his court. He stayed in India for long time and in his book Indica, threw light on administration and social life of India though this book is not available now. But writers after him took several contexts from his book like Arian, Appian, Strabo; Justin etc., importance of historical Granth of Arian is more. Ptolemy about geography and Plini has mentioned about animals and plants of India. (c) Chinese Travellers—Ashoka sent many propagators to central Asia for promoting Bauddha faith, but from where in china promotion of Bauddha faith and Indian culture happened, Chinese started seeing India with respect as a country of religion. To satisfy religious needs and understand Bauddha faith, many visitors came from china and stayed here for long. Though their details are mostly religious, yet they throw some light on social, political situation. Most important of Chinese visitors were Fahian, Huensang and Itsing. Fahien has details of Chandragupta II. He confines himself to religious aspect only. Still his script has historical value. Huensang came to India during Harshavardhan rule. Apart from religious details, he also mentioned social, political, economical situation. Itsing came to India in 7th century and studied for long in Nalanda and Vikramshila university. He too mentioned religious and social conditions of that time. Another writer Huilee is famous who wrote autobiography of Huensang. This too throws light on Indian history. Among Tibetan writers, Lamatara is famous. His Granth Kangyur and Tangyur has description on India. (d) Muslim Travellers—In the middle of 9th century one Arabic traveller Suleiman came to India, his description gives information on pal and Pratihar Vansh. Second, Al-Masudi stayed in India in the middle of 10th century and has mentioned about Rashtrakut rulers. Abu-Jaid has written about trade between India and eastern countries. Amongst writers who wrote about India, Alberuni has the highest place who came with Mahmud Ghazanvi. When Ghazanvi was busy plundering the nation, Alberuni was busy in studying Sanskrit. After studying Sanskrit he studied various subjects and got knowledge about our culture and civilization. After this study only, he wrote Tehkeek-e-hind. This is an important historical material of India. Though it has less political details, yet it is important from geographical perspective. Aforesaid details prove that though Indian scholars did not take history as separate discipline, yet they did not ignore it. Sources in access of modern historians give ample knowledge to them and while arranging it in order, does not become a problem for them. LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 9 Book 1.indb 9 29/07/13 10:03 PM  History of Ancient India Notes Amongst Tibetan scholars, Lamatara is famous. His Granth Kangyur and Tangyur give information about India. 1.2 Geographical Environment Humans, Society and Environment—geographical material of any country like climate, minerals, rivers, mountain ranges and different types of land mass are geographical study material of that country. Whereas philosophical and scientific description about political, social, economic, religious and spiritual aspects of people living in that country is there in its history. From this perspective, both subjects seem to be different, that don’t have an relation, but it is not true. In fact, on any country’s history, effect of its geography is great. There is strong relation between man and environment. Environmental effect on human’s body size, mental development and work. This effect is so micro, that human attention does not go towards it, but many times, humans can make nature conducive with the help of his will power. Even then, creation of geographical condition is out of human power. Thus, people living in any particular areas are affected by its geographical surroundings and foundation of its political, social, economical and spiritual development is influenced by its geography. Philosophical and scientific description of different human aspects is the subject matter of history. Hence, before analyzing history of any country, it is important to know about its geography. Before studying Indian history, we study its geographic conditions, which gave India such special place in the world. Express your views on ignorance of Indian Scholars shown towards history. 1.2.1 Nomenclature Since very old times, it is being called Bharatvarsha. It is said that on the name of king Bharat, son of Dushyant, the name Bharat came to be used for India. When foreign invaders came to India, then they crossed Indus(sindhu) river and on its name, they started calling it sindhustan, Hindustan or Hindusthan on the name of sindhu river. Actually, in Persian pronunciation of ‘S’ is ‘H’, hence invaders called people living near sindhu rivers as Hindu and Hindusthan. This word Hindusthan too became popular and still today it is known by this name too. Greeks called it Indica or India, as they called sindhu river as Indus later on, many other species of Europe too adopted the name India. But this name India is confined to educated class only and in villages, still people call it Hindustan or Bharat. Name Bharat got recognition in the independent India’s constitution and now this is the name in vogue, in common. Boundary, Location, Area and Population India is an important country in the middle of the world, which is separate from south Asia by mountain series and from sea in three directions. It is of triangular shape. India is situated between 68° and 97° east longitude and 8° and 37° latitude. Tropic of cancer passes it from its middle. Due to being in thermodynamic zone, its climate is both cold and hot. Whereas, south India is hot due to being in hot zone. Its area is approximate 32.68 Lac square kilometer. It has 7th place in world as per geographical size and is equal to size of Europe minus Russia. Its length from north to south is 3200 kilometer and breadth is 3000 kilometer from east to west. 10 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY Book 1.indb 10 29/07/13 10:03 PM  Unit-1: Sources of Ancient Indian History Ancient India, which included areas of modern Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma etc, was known as sub Notes continent. Himalayan ranges are there at north border of this ancient India, which separates it from other west Asian nations. Khyber and Bolan Pass are among many passes which are situated in these ranges. These passes are special as these were used by Indians to promote their culture and civilization and these only were used by foreign invaders to attach India. Eastern mountain ranges of Himalaya have separated India from nations like china, Malaya etc. India is surrounded by sea from three sides. From population point of view, India is world’s most populous country after china. Its population is now 121 crore as per 2011 census. 1.2.2 Physical Division of India India is a complete unit from geographical perspective. It has different climate, minerals and land mass available. At one place, we have highest mountain Peaks and huge plateau land on the other. At one side we see huge fertile land made by soil brought from rivers and on the other hand large deserts. All these areas have affected lives of Indians. Following is the effect of such physical diversity along with physical division of India. We can divided physical India in four parts— (a) Himalayan Ranges (b) Huge North Plains (c) South Plateau (d) South Plains. (A) Himalayan Ranges—In the north of India, there are Himalayas, whose different ranges are spread from east to west. From Assam to Kashmir, these ranges are 1500 miles long and 150-200 feet wide. Himalaya separates Tibet from India. It has many high peaks, of which Mount Everest or Gauri Shankar peak is the highest in the world with around a height of more than 29,000 feet. There are many passes in the western part of Himalaya, which have affected India very much like; Khyber, Bolan, Kurram etc. Hindukush mountains are its western boundary. Other branches of west are Safed Koh, Suleiman, and Kirthar etc. There are states of Afghanistan and Baluchistan towards its west, which were part of ancient Indian empire. After the division of 1947, these ranges have become part of Pakistan. In east, its ranges separate us from Burma. 1.2.3 Effect of the Himalaya (1) Foreign Species Attack from West—In the north-west high ranges of Himalaya, there exist many passes like Khyber, Bolan, Kurram, Gomal, Tochi etc, from where many invaders like Yavan, Hoon, Shaka, Turk, Mughal etc invaded India. At times, these forces got defeated and at times they disturbed India’s peace. These species left their influence on Indian culture. Thus, India has always been cautious towards its north-west border and whenever, central government was weaker, invaders damaged Northern India peace by attacking. (2) Security of India—It has always worked as guard to its northern border for India. Eastern and western ranges of Himalayas are low, but Himalaya is unbreakable towards its north. To go towards china and Tibet, its passes are very narrow and always filled with snow. Hence, till modern times northern border of India is safe. In 1962 Chinese invasion, it has made us cautious to take care of northern border as well. Regions like Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim etc in the lap of Himalaya are flourishing as ever before and are influenced by Indian civilization. (3) Protection from Cold Waves—Himalaya not only has proved to be a border guard, rather has stopped all cold winds from entering India, else we would be having a very cold climate. (4) Contribution in Indian Prosperity—Not even this, Himalayas stop wind carrying water and thus makes us have rain in our plains. Many rivers emanating from its high peaks make our lands fertile. These rivers not only irrigate our land, but soil brought by them makes our land more fertile. That’s why this region is known for its prosperity. LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 11 Book 1.indb 11 29/07/13 10:03 PM  History of Ancient India Notes (5) Separate Indian Culture—Himalaya has made India separate and individual from rest of Asia, which resulted India in having a specific Indian culture different from the rest. Even today, India is famous for its incomparable culture is famous in entire world. (6) Increased Development in Spiritual—Peaceful and secluded valleys of Himalayas has always inspired Indians to meditate and ponder over serious questions like life and death. Hermits of India have meditated in its caverns for spiritual topics and found way to happiness. Indian culture based on Indian spirituality is incomparable and better than any other culture of the world. India is indebted to Himalayas for such great culture. (7) Contact from Western World—If the passes in its north-western parts gave invaders opportunity to attack India, on the other hand it gave Indians chance to have contacts with central and west Asian countries. Maximum promotion of Indian culture happened through this path only and even today, regions at its western passes are indebted to Indian culture. Not even this, Indian trade relations also developed with western regions with these passes. (B) Huge North Plains—This huge plains spread between south of Himalaya till middle of Vindhyachal is almost 2000 miles long from Arabic sea to bay of Bengal and 150-200 miles wide. This region is mainly area of Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra and its subsidiary rivers. (1) Indus Plains—To the west of Ganga plains is plains of Indus river. Both these area is separated by an area which is made up of mixing of two areas-Aravali at south and shivalik at north. Delhi is situated between these two plains. Kurukshetra, Thaneshwar, Panipat, etc ancient towns are famous from old times only situated in the Indus plains. There are huge plains spread up to Khyber pass in its west and due to no natural hindrances, invaders have attacked captured these area and invaded Delhi. (2) Ganges Plains—Ganga plains are situated right in the south of Himalaya. This is middle part of north India. This is also called Aryavarta, as Arya kings laid foundation of strong empire here and Arya culture developed here. Subsidiary of Ganga and Yamuna have made this area very fertile. Hence, this is one of the most populous area of India. People here are prosperous. (3) Plains of Brahmaputra—To the east of plains of Ganges, there is plains of Brahmaputra. Brahmaputra is actually mountainous river. Hence, valley of Brahmaputra is different from that of Ganga and Indus. This area is not very fertile and most part is rocky. Rains are more and hence, it is less prosperous. 1.2.4 Effect of Indo-Gangetic Plains This huge plains had far reaching impact on Indian history. We can express like below:– (1) Fertile Land—This huge north plains is made up of soil brought by many big rivers and its tributaries. In fact, there is a web of rivers in this area. Due to fertile land of this region, agriculture is main occupation of people here. It is considered as the most prosperous region. (2) Centre of Indian Civilization—It has been the centre of Indian culture and civilization. Many civilizations were born at the bank of these rivers and their impression not only influenced India, but the whole world. Delhi, Varanasi, Lucknow, Mathura, Patna etc towns are famous for their specialties. Universities like Takshshila, Sarnath, Nalanda etc too were established here. (3) Attraction of Foreign Invaders—Due to its prosperity only, it became famous by golden bird name. Its prosperity forced many foreigners to attack India. Hence, people of this place have been forced to have a struggleful life always. (4) Establishment of many Empires—Actually Indian history is the result of upheavals in northern India, as its political events have impacted entire Indian history. This region saw the establishment of many powerful kingdoms. Some of them are Maurya, Gupt, Khilji and Mughal empire etc. Capital of these empire’s were in these plains only. 12 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY Book 1.indb 12 29/07/13 10:03 PM  Unit-1: Sources of Ancient Indian History (5) Birth place of Revered Personalities— This region has the credit of giving birth to many great Notes personalities. Many great personalities like Buddha, Ram, Krishna, Nanak, Paramhans were born in this region only. This country became immortal by their births. (C) Plateau of South—To the south of huge northern plains is Vindhyachal mountain. Triangular Area ranging from ranges of this Vindhyachal and satpura to kanyakumari in south is called south plateau. Vindhyachal mountain divided northern plains and south plateau in two parts. This plateau is slant from west to east. Major rivers of this area are Narmada, Tapti, Godavari, Krishna, Mahanadi and Kaveri etc. Due to being Vindhyachal in between, robust relation between north and south could not be established. It had benefits and losses both. At one side, foreign invaders could not cross Vindhyachal and remained confined to Aryavarta area. Hence, south was protected from those invaders, but there could not be relations between north and south and it took time to have uniformity being established among north and south. 1.2.5 Effect of Deccan Plateau (1) Separation from North—Due to Vindhyachal in middle, influence of north could not reach south. Due to being different condition and issues, both areas developed different cultures. Specific culture of north took time to reach south. Even Muslim invaders took time to reach south. Hence, south largely remained untouched with effect of Muslim civilization. Language and art of south is different from north and they are able to maintain their exclusivity still now. (2) Independent and War Loving Castes—South people are accustomed to hard life and spirituality as they have to put in hard work for their subsistence. This is the reason people here are war loving and don’t get afraid in trouble. Their independence sentiment kept intact due to being free of north contact and whenever anyone from north tried to attack, they fought and maintained their independence. Though, Aurangzeb was successful, but he had to pay for this. (3) Guerrilla Warfare—This region is rocky and surrounded by mountains and forests and it is tough to have war in open ground. Hence, warriors here adopted Guerrilla warfare. This proved very useful for them. Huge north Indian armies were afraid of this warfare. Marathas excelled in this art and were able to terrorize Mughal with this. Their love for war and independence helped In the establishment of a large Maratha empire. (4) Establishment of Powerful Regimes—There have been many powerful regimes established in south. Sometimes it was kalinga, chola, Chalukya, Pallava and sometimes it was vijayanagar empire. At one point of time, Bahmani rule was considered to be most powerful of the south empires. Marathas not only confined to south, but also attacked north many times and established huge empire. (5) Quality work of Art—South was more peaceful than north. Invaders who attacked north could not come to south and hence, southern states progressed a lot in art and literature field. Even today we find many such examples of art, architecture and literature. (d) Plains of South—There are long and narrow plains along coastal lines in the east and west of southern plateau, separated by ranges of eastern and western Ghats from plateau of south. These plains are fertile and equi-climate and hence densely populated. Due to sea, people here are brave and hard worker. Effect of Deccan Plains (1) Fertile Land—These lands are fertile and being close to sea, they have humid climate. Rain is also sufficient. Due to being coastal area, options of occupations are plenty. Hence this a populous area and people here are prosperous. (2) Efficient Sailors—Due to living near to sea, people here expert in sailing and thus they established trade relations with many countries via water route. Since ancient time only, India has been having trade with eastern and western nations. LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 13 Book 1.indb 13 29/07/13 10:03 PM  History of Ancient India Notes (3) Spread of Indian Culture—Indians not only did trade with other nations, rather promoted Indian culture among them also. Many countries of east like; javas, Sumatra, Malaya, china have influence of Indian culture even now. (4) Protection from Foreign Invaders—In this coastal line, threat of foreign invaders was almost negligible before the arrival of western forces. Hence development of Indian culture kept growing here. 1.3 Geographical Effects on Indian History Effect of physical conditions on our history, would have come to the knowledge of our readers from details in past pages. The more we go into detail of Indian history, its effect would be even more clear. For readers comfort, following are some major effects of geography on our history:- (1) Effects of Division in many Regions—India has been divided into many geographical units due to being a huge landmass. These geographical regions are different from each other. These physically different regions have helped in the political and social diversity of our country. Different areas had different political leadership and India seems to be divided politically. But Indian boundaries are increasing and each political unit has tried to augment our cultural development. Hence, there were no opposite effects of these different units on life neither in India nor in the hearts of its citizens even if they belonged to different areas. Indian unity has always been intact and Indian culture has grown in entire geographical area. (2) Cultural Unity—For a huge nation like India which is divided into many physical units, having cultural unity is its special quality. Public here is spiritual. Our quality is to have religious liberty to all, belief in some Sanatan principles and making human a real human, away from animal tendencies. This quality is found across India. Naturally India is a unified landmass. Its cultural unity has always affected its history. (3) Special Effects of Natural Boundaries—Each natural unit of India has affected its region and Indian history. For example, desert of Rajasthan separates plains of Ganga and Indus. Due to this desert; foreign invaders could not go to other plains and proceeded to north always , thus importance of Delhi always remains. Punjab, due to its geographical location has always worked as its guard and sentry. Southern parts were untouched by invaders. Marathas due to their geographical strength, made special mark for them in the history. (4) Spiritual Development—Due to basic needs of life being fulfilled easily, Indians could try to develop spiritually. They considered material world inferior and tried to attain Guru. Many people tried to grow spiritually living in the valley of Himalayas. This spiritual point of view influenced Indian history very much. Indian polity was based on spiritual values and hence proved to be welfare oriented. (5) Protest of Imperialism—Indians have been against imperialism apart from being spiritual. Indian emperors have been content with Indian boundaries. Though, many Indians established colonies in different parts of the world, yet they never thought of having empires abroad. They wanted to win heart and brain and not body. Hence, Indians had cultural win and established cultural empire and India became famous with Jagat Guru. (6) Special Development in Physical Space—At one place, where geographical condition favoured spiritual development, it gave ample opportunities in the area of physical gains on the other. India had such huge growth in agriculture, art, industrial production and scientific discoveries that people became prosperous and India was known as Bird of gold. Many invaders attacked India due to this factor. (7) Separate from Rest of the World—Due to opposition against imperialism and content of Indian emperors with Indian boundaries, India remained secluded from the rest of the world. Natural boundaries of us forced Indians to remain within our boundary and hence India remained ignorant about changes of rest of the world. It had many adverse effects. It remained secluded of outside development and when invaders attacked, it found itself weaker and inferior that time. 14 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY Book 1.indb 14 29/07/13 10:03 PM  Unit-1: Sources of Ancient Indian History 1.4 Ancient Ethno-Linguistic Groups Notes On the basis of caste and language, India can be divided into four castes– (1) North India (2) Southern Plateau (3) Far South and (4) Other areas. Their brief are as below— (1) North India—Middle part between Himalaya and Vindhyachal is called North India; this was known as Aryavarta in ancient times. At one side, it has Indus and its tributaries to its west and Ganga and its tributaries on its east, on the other. At one side, it has Kashmir, Punjab, Sindh and northwest frontier province and Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal on its east, on the other. Assam making eastern boundary and desert of Rajasthan are part of this region only. Post 1947, Sindh and northwest frontier have separated from India and new sovereign states have been formed by the division of Punjab and Bengal. North India, famous as Aryavarta was land of Aryas. Still today, we can still see influence of high class Aryas in this region. Tough in ancient times, Dravida only had authority here, but growth of Aryans ended their influence. After Aryas, many invaders attacked north India and settled here. Shaka, Hoon, Yavan, Kushan etc came here and merged within local culture. In contrast, Muslim invaders affected our culture badly and converted big population to Islam, which developed a new civilization. Even today, physical appearance of Aryans in Punjab, Kashmir and Rajasthan is identical. Tall, fair skin, dense and black hairs, black eye, thin sharp nose and long head is symbolic of Aryan antecedents. The more we go towards east, the less we find Aryan features. We find mixed species in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Bengal, Assam and Orissa has mixture of Dravida and Mongol community. Though, here too high castes have some resemblances with normal aryas. North India uses Arya languages out of which major are Hindi, Guajarati, Bengali, Assamese, Punjabi and Kashmiri. These are related with Sanskrit and some are hugely dependent on it. Hindi is spoken by huge north Indian region which has many dialects like; Braj, Awadhi, Marwari, Bhojpuri etc. another form of Hindi is Urdu. Urdu was developed by Muslims, Kayasthas and Kashmiri. (2) Southern Plateau—River Krishna and its tributary Tungabhadra divides south India in two parts. Entire region to the south of north India, which is spread in between Krishna and Tungabhadra, is called southern plateau. In ancient times, it was Dravidian area, but due to Arya movement to lower of Aryavarta, it was captured by Aryas. Here also people are mixed and languages here like Guajarati, Marathi, Oriya etc belong to Arya family. To its northwestern part, we see mixture of Arya and Sethians. Though high castes are majorly Aryan dynasty only. (3) Far South—Far south situated to the south of Krishna river, even today is a region of Dravida influence. This region has four major languages; Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam which are of Dravida family. Though all these are advanced languages, yet Tamil is famous for its literary excellence. In ancient times, there were powerful regimes like Chola, Vashnaya and Kerala. Though language and culture here is totally Dravida, yet we can see influence of Aryan culture on its language and culture. Their languages are affected by Sanskrit also. People here are majorly Dravidian with short height and dark skin. They have flat nose, curly and dense hairs and long head. Even then number of Arya family people is large here. (4) Other Areas—Apart from these, there are some other forest and mountain dwellers, who have different languages from rest of the nation. These are middle height, dark skin people and majorly live in forest and mountain region of west Bengal, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Of them, Kol, Bheel, Santhal etc are major. Apart from them, in the lowlands of Himalaya, which has majorly Garhwal, Bhutan, Sikkim and Assam areas, people from specific castes live. They are pale colored, small eyes and flat faces. Their languages too are different from the rest of the country. LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 15 Book 1.indb 15 29/07/13 10:03 PM  History of Ancient India Notes 1.5 Summary India is the only ancient country, which first made humans cultured and civilized. Poet Md. Iqbal too said that, ‘Greece, Rome, Egypt all faded, but there is something special about us that our existence is intact.’ India is an ancient country. As per many scholars, Indian civilization is the oldest. Indians pondered over all aspect of life, being expert in writing skills, they composed many literature in the area of poetry, philosophy, art and science. As per foreign scholars also, Indian civilization is older than china, Mesopotamia and Egyptian civilization. Idols of Buddha have been found at Sanchi (near Bhopal) in excavation. 1.6 Keywords Historical Sense: Sense or care of history. Monuments: Structure which gives memory of some old time or individual. 1.7 Review Questions 1. Describe main characteristics of ancient India. 2. Describe main source of knowing ancient Indian History. 3. Mention major regions of India. 4. What was the effect of its geographical condition on Indian History? Answers: Self Assessment 1. India 2. Md. Iqbal 3. Herodotus 4. (b) 5. (b) 6. (a) 7. (d) 8. True 9. False 10. True 11. True 12. False 1.8 Further Readings 1. Ancient Indian History – Shailendra Sengar, Atlantic Publishers and Distributors. 2. Ancient Indian History – Om Prakash, Om Prakash Books. 3. Ancient Indian History A New Perspective – Kittu Reddy, Gyan Books. 4. Ancient Indian History – Dr. Bipin Bihari Sinha, Gyanda Prakashan. 5. Social and Economic History of Ancient India – Om Prakash, New and Publishers. 16 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY Book 1.indb 16 29/07/13 10:03 PM  Amandeep Singh, Lovely Professional University Manu Sharma, Lovely Professional University Unit-2: Pre-Historic Age (Stone Age) Notes Unit-2: Pre-Historic Age (Stone Age) CONTENTS Objectives Introduction 2.1 Paleolithic or Old Stone Age 2.2 Neolithic or New Stone Age 2.3 Chalcolithic Cultures 2.4 Summary 2.5 Keywords 2.6 Review Questions 2.7 Further Readings Objectives After study of this unit, the students will be able to: To understand Paleolithic Civilization, To be able to describe characteristics of Neolithic Age, To understand Chalcolithic Cultures. Introduction Origin and development of humans and its civilization is very interesting story. It can’t be said with confidence that what the actual origin date of humans. As per scholars, many mountains like Himalayas were formed millions of years ago. After so many snow ages passed by, human started living on earth around 5 Lac years ago. He started fulfilling his needs by wandering like animals, but as compared to other animals, his brain was more sharp and active. Some historians believe that human originate in India only. Their origin point was south India, but after snow age, it moved towards Punjab. Evidences are found in north-west Punjab and mountains of shivalik. There have been so many imaginations about primitive humans. Indians believe that during ancient times, there was Satyug. It was a period when everybody lived happily. They were religious and followed idols. Some philosophers gave it the name of Natural State. When humans used to live independently, then there were no difficulties. But some historians don’t agree to this. They are of the view that humans have developed chronologically and he has inched towards civilization. LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 17 Book 1.indb 17 29/07/13 10:03 PM  History of Ancient India Notes Primitive humans lived life like animals and after thousands of years; they started living a civilized life. There is no question of knowing about it more reliable resources; hence this information is based on other resources. This long period of pre civilization is known as Pre Historic Age. Pre historic age has been divided into many parts by historians, as during that period human life was not the same. Different periods have been named on the product by which those weapons and cores were made and used by them. During this entire period, humans used weapons and cores made up of stones; hence this period was called Stone Age. Gradually, humans started using weapons and cores made up of copper and iron; hence that period was called Metal Age. Behavior of humans also was not same during entire Stone Age. Hence, it is further divided in to two parts- (a) Paleolithic or Old Stone Age (b) Neolithic or new Stone Age. Please find its detail mention ahead: 2.1 Paleolithic or Old Stone Age Paleolithic age was the time when humans behaved like animals and was barbaric and uncivilized. His behaviour depended on two basis factors of hunger and security. He used to spend his major time in finding food and protecting himself from wild animals. He was violent and used to eat animals after killing them. As per historians, this period would have started around 10 Lac years ago and would have ended around 10,000 BC. We can further divide this long Old Stone Age in to three parts, which is based on the structure of weapons and cores of that period:— (1) Early Old Stone Age (2) Middle Old stone Age (3) Later Old Stone Age 1. Early Old Stone Age—Probably, this time major part used to be covered under snow. Humans were totally dependent on nature. He normally behaved like animals. But to having active mind, he made some stone cores. These helped him in killing animals and saving himself from wild animals. Main feature of these period cores is that, they were made by rubbing and filing and were handmade and was used by removing one layer of a stone. Shape of these cores found at different places is like choppers, which would have been used for cutting. Evidences of early old stone ages have been found in Punjab. Besides, we also find them near Narmada and Godavari river banks and in Sone river valley. 2. Middle Old Stone Age—During this period, there seems to be improvement in Cores. These Flake cores were made by removing one layer of a big stone and by sculpting them. Such cores are found in different parts of India. These remains have been mainly found in Sone river valley. They are also found to the right side of Tungabhadra river valley. 3. Later Old Stone Age—In the last phase of Old Stone Age, humans climbed one more step of development. This can be known from the shape of Cores of this period. Now climate too changed and it was less humid. In this period, humans used sharp edged weapons. Remains of such weapons have been found in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, hilly regions of Chhotanagpur and Karnataka. Characteristics of Paleolithic Age—Historians have reached many conclusions on the basis of studies of weapons and cores of this period, which throw light on its characteristics, which are as below: (1) Tools—Human of this age was uncivilized and behaved like animals. He didn’t have knowledge of animal husbandry nor of agriculture. His main food was flesh of small animals. To kill such small animals and protect him from wild animals, he had made some tools and weapons. All such tools 18 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY Book 1.indb 18 29/07/13 10:03 PM  Unit-2: Pre-Historic Age (Stone Age) and weapons were made up of hard stone called, Quartzite which was Notes easily available on paths here and there. These tools were of two types- Core and Flake. For making Core, two parts of a stone were rubbed or broken to remove one layer of it in such a way, that rest of the stone can be used as a useful tool or core. Flake cores were little refined because, a layer was removed from one big stone and then by rubbing and sculpting it, it was made sharp edged and used as tool. Their weapons had axe, blade, spear, arrow point and tools of cutting and peeling. All these were bad shaped. It appears that humans used animal bones also to make some tools. This is also possible that branches of trees were used, as he used to live on and under the trees. Quartzite Ancient Tools and Weapons (2) Centre of Civilization—In India, centre of Paleolithic age civilization were available at many places. Archaeologists have found these centres. On the basis of tools being used by them, it can be said that their centres were mostly concentrated at –Madurai, Trichnapalli, Dharwad, Gujarat, Riva, Thanjavur, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Due to no remains being found in eastern and northern India, we can say that those humans did not live in those regions. Another possibility can be that those remains might have been washed away by rivers or