India's Ancient Past By RS Sharma PDF

 India’s Ancient Past This book provides a comprehensive and accessible account of the history of early India. Beginning with a discussion on frameworks of the writing of history —approaches, sources, and significance—the book sheds light on the origins and growth of civil...

 India’s Ancient Past This book provides a comprehensive and accessible account of the history of early India. Beginning with a discussion on frameworks of the writing of history —approaches, sources, and significance—the book sheds light on the origins and growth of civilizations, empires, and religions. It covers the geographical, ecological, and linguistic backgrounds, and looks at specific cultures of the Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Vedic periods, as well as at the Harappan civilization. The author discusses the rise of Jainism and Buddhism, Magadha and the beginning of territorial states, and the period of Mauryas, Central Asian countries, Satvahanas, Guptas, and Harshavardhana. He highlights important phenomena such as the varna system, urbanization, commerce and trade, developments in science and philosophy, and cultural legacy. He also examines the process of transition from Ancient to Medieval India and addresses topical issues such as the origin of the Aryan culture. This engaging and lucid text, by one of the best-known scholars of ancient India, will be indispensable for students and teachers of ancient Indian history. R.S. Sharma is Emeritus Professor, Department of History, University of Patna. He is also the Founder Chairman of Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi. India’s Ancient Past R.S. Sharma  YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi 110 001 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in India by Oxford University Press, New Delhi © Oxford University Press 2005 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2005 Oxford India Paperbacks 2006 Seventh impression 2009 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer ePub ISBN-13: 978-0-19-908786-0 ePub ISBN-10: 0-19-908786-5  Typeset by Le Studio Graphique, Gurgaon 122 001 Printed by De-Unique, New Delhi 110 018 Published by Oxford University Press YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi 110 001  Preface The present book is based on a good portion of my Ancient India, which was first published by the National Council of Educational Research and Training in 1977, but the obscurantist elements got it withdrawn from circulation by the same body in 1978. The book was restored in 1980, and several lacs were printed for school students. However, when in 2001 the NCERT published it, some passages were removed without the author’s consent. Finally in 2002 the NCERT withdrew the book because of extreme conservatism. When the Oxford University Press approached me for publication, I decided to get the revised copy of the existing edition published by them. I substantially revised the book and added four new chapters to it. In doing so I took account of new ideas and materials available to me. The book covers Indian history from the beginning to the 7th century AD. Since it is mainly meant for undergraduates and general readers, I have used non-English words without diacritics. I have also avoided chapterwise references, but an up-to-date chapter-wise bibliography has been provided at the end of the book for the materials I have used. I will feel happy if the book retains its old popularity. Patna R.S. Sharma July 2005 (RAM SHARAN SHARMA)  Acknowledgements In preparing India’s Ancient Past I have received helps from several quarters. Sita Ram Roy has prepared the chronology and also suggested some improvements in the text. The index has been mainly prepared by Anjani Kumar who has also compiled the bibliography. In addition to these two persons, Angaraj Choudhary, Arundhati Banerji, Chandraprakash Narayan Singh, K.K. Mandal, Parvej Akhtar, Prachi Sharma, Rajeshwar Prasad, R.L. Shukla, Sarjun Prasad, and Surendra Gopal, have helped me in different ways. I thank all of them. Nitasha Devasar, Aparajita Basu, and Shashank Sinha of the OUP have helped me in the publication of the book. They deserve my sincere thanks.  Contents Preface Acknowledgements List of Plates List of Maps 1. The Significance of Ancient Indian History Unity in Diversity; The Relevance of the Past to the Present; Chronology 2. Modern Historians of Ancient India Colonialist Views and their Contribution; Nationalist Approach and its Contribution; Move Towards Non-Political History; Communal Approach; Chronology 3. Nature of Sources and Historical Construction Material Remains; Coins; Inscriptions; Literary Sources; Foreign Accounts; Village Study; Natural Sciences; Historical Sense; Constructing History; Chronology 4. Geographical Setting Emergence of India; The Role of the Monsoon; The Northern Boundaries; Rivers; Natural Frontiers and Cultural Contacts; Minerals and Other Resources; Chronology 5. Ecology and Environment Ecology; Environment and Human Advance; Surroundings and Settlements; The Rain and Human Effort; Ancient Attitudes Towards the Environment; Chronology 6. The Linguistic Background Principal Language Groups; Austro-Asiatic; Tibeto-Burman; Dravidian; Indo-Aryan; Ethnic Groups and Language Families; Chronology 7. Human Evolution: The Old Stone Age African Ancestors of Human Beings; The Early Man in India; Phases in the Palaeolithic Age; The Mesolithic Age: Hunters and Herders; Art in the Old Stone Age; Earliest Human Organization; Chronology 8. The Neolithic Age: First Food Producers and Animal Keepers Earliest Rural Settlements in Baluchistan; Use of Bone Tools in the Sites of Burzahom and Chirand;  Neolithic Settlements in South India; Farming and Cereals; Progress in and Limitation of the Neolithic Phase; Chronology 9. Chalcolithic Cultures Chalcolithic Settlements; Importance of the Chalcolithic Phase; Limitations of Chalcolithic Cultures; The Copper Hoards and the Ochre-Coloured Pottery Phase; Chronology 10. Harappan Culture: Bronze Age Urbanization in the Indus Valley Introduction; Town Planning and Structures; Agriculture; Domestication of Animals; Technology and Crafts; Trade and Commerce; Social Organization; Polity; Religious Practices; The Male Deity in the Indus Valley; Tree and Animal Worship; The Harappan Script; Weights and Measures; Harappan Pottery; Seals and Sealings; Images; Terracotta Figurines; Stone Work; End of the Indus Culture; Maturity; Post-Urban Phase; Percolation of New Peoples; Problem of Origin; Was the Harappan Culture Vedic?; Problem of Continuity; Chronology; Chronology of Harappan Archaeology 11. Identity of Aryan Culture Texts for Traits of Aryan Culture; The Horse, its Domestication and Diffusion; The War Chariot; Spoked Wheels; Horse Remains in the Subcontinent; Pit-dwelling; Birch; Cremation; The Fire Cult; Animal Sacrifice; Horse Sacrifice; The Cult of Soma; The Svastika; Language and Inscriptional Evidence; Dispersal of the Indo-Aryans; Chronology 12. The Age of the Rig Veda Arrival of the Indo-Aryans; Tribal Conflicts; Cattle Rearing and Agriculture; Tribal Chiefdom; Tribe and Family; Social Differentiation; Rig Vedic Gods; Chronology 13. The Later Vedic Phase: Transition to State and Social Orders Expansion in the Later Vedic Period (c.1000–500 BC); Use of Iron; Agriculture; Arts and Crafts; Settlements; Political Organization; Social Organization; Gods, Rituals, and Philosophy; Chronology 14. Jainism and Buddhism The Causes of Origin; Vardhamana Mahavira and Jainism; Doctrines of Jainism; Spread of Jainism; Contribution of Jainism; Gautama Buddha and Buddhism; Doctrines of Buddhism; Features of Buddhism and the Causes of its Spread; Causes of the Decline of Buddhism; Significance and Influence of Buddhism; Chronology 15. Territorial States and the Rise of Magadha Conditions for the Rise of Large States; The Mahajanapadas; The Rise and Growth of the Magadhan Empire; Causes of Magadha’s Success; Chronology 16. Iranian and Macedonian Invasions Iranian Invasion; Results of the Contact; Alexander’s Invasion; Effects of Alexander’s Invasion; Chronology 17. State Structure and the Varna System in the Age of the Buddha Second Urbanization; Rural Economy; Administrative System; Army and Taxation; The Republican  Experiment; Social Orders and Legislation; Conclusion; Chronology 18. The Maurya Age Chandragupta Maurya; Imperial Organization; Ashoka (273–32 BC); Ashokan Inscriptions; Impact of the Kalinga War; Internal Policy and Buddhism; Ashoka’s Place in History; Chronology 19. The Significance of Maurya Rule State Control; Economic Regulations; Art and Architecture; Spread of Material Culture and the State System; Causes of the Fall of the Maurya Empire—Brahmanical Reaction, Financial Crisis, Oppressive Rule, New Knowledge in the Outlying Areas, Neglect of the North-West Frontier and the Great Wall of China; Chronology 20. Central Asian Contact and Mutual Impact I Political Aspects—The Indo-Greeks, The Shakas, The Parthians, The Kushans, The Indo- Sassanians; II Cultural Consequences—Structures and Pottery, Better Cavalry, Trade and Agriculture, Polity, New Elements in Indian Society, The Origin of Mahayana Buddhism, Gandhara and Mathura Schools of Art; Language, Literature, and Learning; Science and Technology; Chronology 21. The Satavahana Phase Political History; Aspects of Material Culture; Social Organization; Pattern of Administration; Religion; Architecture; Language; Chronology 22. The Dawn of History in the Deep South The Megalithic Background; State Formation and the Development of Civilization; Three Early Kingdoms; The Purse and the Sword; Rise of Social Classes; Beginnings of Brahmanism; Tamil Language and Sangam Literature; Social Evolution from Sangam Texts; Chronology 23. Crafts, Commerce, and Urban Growth (200 BC–AD 250) Crafts and Craftsmen; Types of Merchants; Trade Routes and Centres; Goods in Foreign Trade; Money Economy; Urban Growth; Chronology 24. Rise and Growth of the Gupta Empire Background; Chandragupta I (AD 319–34); Samudragupta (AD 335–80); Chandragupta II (AD 380– 412); Fall of the Empire; Chronology 25. Life in the Gupta Age System of Administration; Trends in Trade and the Agrarian Economy; Social Developments; The State of Buddhism; The Origin and Growth of Bhagavatism; Art; Literature; Science and Technology; Chronology 26. Spread of Civilization in Eastern India Signs of Civilization; Orissa and Eastern and Southern MP; Bengal; Assam; The Formative Phase; Chronology 27. Harsha and His Times  Harsha’s Kingdom; Administration; Buddhism and Nalanda; Chronology 28. Brahmanization, Rural Expansion, and Peasant Protest in the Peninsula The New Phase; States of the Deccan and South India; The Kalabhra Revolt; Conflict between the Pallavas and the Chalukyas; Temples; Demands on the Peasantry; Land Grants and Rural Expansion; Social Structure and Brahmanization; Chronology 29. Developments in Philosophy Goals of Life; Samkhya; Yoga; Nyaya; Vaisheshika; Mimamsa; Vedanta; Charvaka and the Materialistic View of Life; Chronology 30. Cultural Interaction with Asian Countries India’s Relations with the Outside World; Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China, and Central Asia; Christianity and West Asian Relations; Indian Culture in Southeast Asia; Cultural Give and Take; Chronology 31. From Ancient to Medieval Social Crisis and Agrarian Changes; Rise of Landlords; New Agrarian Economy; Decline of Trade and Towns; Changes in the Varna System; Rise of Regional Identities; Trends in Literature; The Divine Hierarchy; The Bhakti Cult; Tantrism; Summary; Chronology 32. Sequence of Social Changes Introduction; Tribal and Pastoral Phase; Agriculture and the Origin of the Upper Orders; The Varna System of Production and Government; Social Crisis and the Rise of the Landed Classes; Summary; Chronology 33. Legacy in Science and Civilization Religion; The Varna System; Philosophical Systems; Crafts and Technology; Polity; Science and Mathematics; Medicine; Geography; Art and Literature; Strength and Weakness; Chronology Chronology of Literary Sources Bibliography Index  Plates Between Pages 210–11 1. Neolithic Bone Tools, Burzahom 2. Copper Hoards, Anthropomorph Figure, Bharat Kala Bhawan, Banaras 3. Mother Goddess, Terracotta, Mohenjo-daro 4. Bull Seal, Mohenjo-daro 5. North Gate, Dholavira 6. Apsara, Ajanta 7. Sanchi, 200 BC–AD 200 8. Vidisha, 200 BC–AD 200 9. Buddha, Mathura, 200 BC–AD 200 10. Punch-marked Coins, Age of Buddha 11. Scene from Mrichchakatika, Mathura, Kushan, Second Century AD 12. Stupa Site III, Nalanda, Gupta Period 13. Gupta Coins 14. Rathas, Mahabalipuram, Gupta Period 15. Nara-Narayana, Deogarh, Gupta Period  Maps 1. Neolithic Cultures 2. Chalcolithic Cultures 3. Spread of Indus Civilization 4. Pastoral Cemetries and Other Related Sites in Central Asia 5. Early Indo-Aryan Sites 6. Distribution of Painted Grey Ware 7. Distribution of Northern Black Polished Ware 8. Deccan and South India 9. India in about AD 150 10. The Gupta Empire at the Close of the Fourth Century  1 The Significance of Ancient Indian History The study of ancient Indian history is important for several reasons. It tells us how, when, and where people developed the earliest cultures in India, how they began undertaking agriculture and stock raising which made life secure and settled. It shows how the ancient Indians discovered and utilized natural resources, and how they created the means for their livelihood. We get an idea of how the ancient inhabitants made arrangements for food, shelter, and transport, and learn how they took to farming, spinning, weaving, metalworking, and the like, how they cleared forests, founded villages, cities, and eventually large kingdoms. People are not considered civilized unless they know how to write. The different forms of writing prevalent in India today are all derived from the ancient scripts. This is also true of the languages that we speak today. The languages we use have roots in ancient times, and have developed through the ages. Unity in Diversity Ancient Indian history is interesting because many races and tribes intermingled in early India. The pre-Aryans, the Indo-Aryans, the Greeks, the Scythians, the Hunas, the Turks, and others made India their home. Each ethnic group contributed its mite to the evolution of the Indian social system, art and architecture, language and literature. All these peoples and their cultural traits commingled so inextricably that currently they can be clearly identified in their original form. A remarkable feature of ancient Indian culture has been the commingling of cultural elements from the north and south, and from the east and west. The Aryan elements are equated with the Vedic and Puranic culture of the north and the pre-Aryan with the Dravidian and Tamil culture of the south. However, many Munda, Dravidian and other non-Sanskritic terms occur in the Vedic texts ascribed to 1500–500 BC. They indicate ideas, institutions, products, and settlements associated with peninsular and non-Vedic India. Similarly, many Pali and Sanskrit terms, signifying ideas and institutions, developed in the Gangetic plains, appear in the earliest Tamil texts called the Sangam literature which is roughly used for the period 300 BC–AD 600. The eastern region inhabited by the pre-Aryan tribals made its own contribution. The people of this area spoke the Munda or Kolarian languages. Several terms that signify the use of cotton, navigation, digging stick, etc., in the Indo-Aryan languages have been traced to the Munda languages by linguists. Although there are many Munda pockets in Chhotanagpur plateau, the remnants of Munda culture in the Indo-Aryan culture are fairly strong. Many Dravidian terms too are to be found in the Indo-Aryan languages. It is held that changes in the phonetics and vocabulary of the Vedic language can be explained as much on the basis of the Dravidian influence as that of the Munda. India has since ancient times been a land of several religions. Ancient India saw the birth of Brahmanism or Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism, but all these cultures and religions intermingled and interacted. Thus, though Indians speak different languages, practise different religions, and observe different social customs, they follow certain common styles of life. Our country shows a deep underlying unity despite great diversity. The ancients strove for unity. The Indian subcontinent was geographically well defined and its geographical unity was supplemented by cultural integration. Though there existed many states, languages, cultures, and communities, gradually people developed territorial identity. The states or territorial units, called janapadas, were named after different tribes. However, the country as a whole came to be named Aryavarta after the dominant cultural community called the Aryans. Aryavarta denoted northern and central India and extended from the eastern to the western sea coasts. The other name by which India was better known was Bharatavarsha or the land of the Bharatas. Bharata, in the sense of tribe or family, figures in the Rig Veda and Mahabharata, but the name Bharatavarsha occurs in the Mahabharata and post-Gupta Sanskrit texts. This name was applied to one of the nine divisions of the earth, and in the post- Gupta period it denoted India. The term Bharati or an inhabitant of India occurs in post-Gupta texts. Iranian inscriptions are important for the origin of the term Hindu. The term Hindu occurs in the inscriptions of fifth–sixth centuries BC. It is derived from the Sanskrit term Sindhu. Linguistically s becomes h in Iranian. The Iranian inscriptions first mention Hindu as a district on the Indus. Therefore, in the earliest stage, the term Hindu means a territorial unit. It neither indicates a religion nor a community. Our ancient poets, philosophers, and writers viewed the country as an integral unit. They spoke of the land stretching from the Himalayas to the sea as the proper domain of a single, universal monarch. The kings who tried to establish their authority from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin and from the valley of the Brahmputra in the east to the land beyond the Indus in the west were universally praised. They were called Chakravartis. This form of political unity was attained at least twice in ancient times. In the third century BC Ashoka extended his empire over the whole of India barring the extreme south. His inscriptions are scattered across a major part of the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent, and even in Afghanistan. Again, in the fourth century AD, Samudragupta carried his victorious arms from the Ganga to the borders of the Tamil land. In the seventh century, the Chalukya king, Pulakeshin defeated Harshavardhana who was called the lord of the whole of north India. Despite the lack of political unity, political formations all over India assumed more or less a single form. The idea that India constituted one single geographical unit persisted in the minds of the conquerors and cultural leaders. The unity of India was also recognized by foreigners. They first came into contact with the people living on the Sindhu or the Indus, and so they named the entire country after this river. The word Hind or Hindu is derived from the Sanskrit term Sindhu, and on the same basis, the country became known as ‘India’ which is very close to the Greek term for it. India came to be called ‘Hind’ in the Persian and Arabic languages. In post-Kushan times, the Iranian rulers conquered the Sindh area and named it Hindustan. We find continuing efforts to establish linguistic and cultural unity in India. In the third century BC Prakrit served as the lingua franca across the major part of India. Ashoka’s inscriptions were inscribed in the Prakrit language mainly in Brahmi script. Later, Sanskrit acquired the same position and served as the state language in the remotest parts of India. This process was conspicuous during the Gupta period in the fourth century. Although India witnessed the rise of numerous small states during the post-Gupta period, the official documents were written in Sanskrit.  Another notable fact is that the ancient epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, were studied with the same zeal and devotion in the land of the Tamils as in the intellectual circles of Banaras and Taxila. Originally composed in Sanskrit, various versions of these epics were produced in different local languages. However, whatever the form in which Indian cultural values and ideas were expressed, the substance remained largely the same throughout India. Indian history is especially worthy of our attention because of a peculiar type of social system which developed in India. In north India, the varna/caste system developed which eventually spread throughout the country, and influenced even the Christians and the Muslims. Even converts to Christianity and Islam continued to follow some of their old caste practices of Hinduism. The Relevance of the Past to the Present The study of India’s past assumes special significance in the context of the problems we currently face. Some people clamour for the restoration of ancient culture and civilization, and a substantial number are sentimentally swayed by what they consider to be the past glories of India. This is different from a concern for the preservation of ancient heritage in art and architecture. What they really want to bring back is the old pattern of society and culture. This demands a clear and correct understanding of the past. There is no doubt that Indians of old made remarkable progress in a variety of fields, but these advances alone cannot enable us to compete with the achievements of modern science and technology. We cannot ignore the fact that ancient Indian society was marked by gross social injustice. The lower orders, particularly the shudras and untouchables, were encumbered with disabilities which are shocking to the modern mind. Similarly, law and custom discriminate against women in favour of men. The restoration of the old way of life will naturally revive and strengthen all these inequities. The success of the ancients in surmounting the difficulties presented by nature and human factors can build our hope and confidence in the future but any attempt to bring back the past will mean a perpetuation of the social inequity that afflicted India. All this makes it essential for us to understand what the past means. We have many survivals of ancient, medieval, and later times persisting in the present. The old norms, values, social customs, and ritualistic practices are so deeply ingrained in the minds of the people that they cannot easily themselves get rid of them. Unfortunately, these survivals inhibit the development of the individual and the country, and were deliberately fostered in colonial times. India cannot develop rapidly unless such vestiges of the past are eradicated from its society. The caste system and sectarianism hinder the democratic integration and development of India. Caste barriers and prejudices do not allow even educated individuals to appreciate the dignity of manual labour and hamper our unification for a common cause. Though women have been enfranchised, their age-old social subordination prevents them from playing their due role in society, and this is true too of the lower orders of society. Studying the ancient past helps us to deeply examine the roots of these prejudices and discover the causes that sustain the caste system, subordinate women, and promote narrow religious sectarianism. The study of ancient Indian history is, therefore, relevant not only to those who want to understand the true nature of the past but also to those who seek to understand the nature of the obstacles that hamper India’s progress as a nation. Chronology 1500–500 BC Dravidian and non-Sanskritic terms found in Vedic texts. 300 BC–AD 600 Sangam literature. 3 C BC Prakrit as the lingua franca. AD 4 C onwards Sanskrit as the state language.  2 Modern Historians of Ancient India Colonialist Views and their Contribution Although educated Indians retained their traditional history in the form of handwritten epics, Puranas, and semi-biographical works, modern research in the history of ancient India began only in the second half of the eighteenth century to serve the needs of the British colonial administration. When Bengal and Bihar fell under the rule of the East India Company in 1765, they found it difficult to administer the Hindu law of inheritance. Therefore, in 1776, the Manu Smriti, (the law-book of Manu), which was considered authoritative, was translated into English as A Code of Gentoo Laws. Pandits were associated with British judges to administer Hindu civil law and maulvis to administer that of Muslims. The initial efforts to understand ancient laws and customs, which continued largely until the eighteenth century, culminated in the establishment in Calcutta in 1784 of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. It was set up by a civil servant of the East India Company, Sir William Jones (1746–94). He was the first to suggest that Sanskrit, Latin, and Greek belonged to the same family of languages. He also translated the play known as the Abhijnanashakuntalam into English in 1789; the Bhagvadgita, the most popular Hindu religious text was translated into English by Wilkins in 1785. The Bombay Asiatic Society was set up in 1804, and the Asiatic Society of Great Britain was set up in London in 1823. William Jones emphasized that originally the European languages were very similar to Sanskrit and the Iranian language. This enthused European countries such as Germany, France, and Russia, to foster Indological studies. During the first half of the nineteenth century, chairs in Sanskrit were established in the UK and several other European countries.  The greatest impetus to Indological studies was given by the Germanborn scholar F. Max Mueller (1823–1902), who was largely based in England. The Revolt of 1857 caused Britain to realize that it badly needed a deeper knowledge of the manners and social systems of an alien people over whom it ruled. Similarly, the Christian missionaries sought to uncover the vulnerabilities in the Hindu religion to win converts and strengthen the British empire. To meet these needs, ancient scriptures were translated on a massive scale under the editorship of Max Mueller. Altogether fifty volumes, some in several parts, were published under the Sacred Books of the East series. Although a few Chinese and Iranian texts were included, ancient Indian texts were predominant. In the introductions to these volumes and the books based on them, Max Mueller and other Western scholars made certain generalizations about the nature of ancient Indian history and society. They stated that the ancient Indians lacked a sense of history, especially of the element of time and chronology. They added that Indians were accustomed to despotic rule, and also natives were so engrossed in the problems of spiritualism or of the next world that they felt no concern about the problems of this world. The Western scholars stressed that Indians had experienced neither a sense of nationhood nor any form of self- government. Many of these generalizations were made in the Early History of India by Vincent Arthur Smith (1843–1920), who wrote in 1904 the first systematic history of ancient India. His book, which was based on an in-depth study of the available sources gave primacy to political history. It served as a textbook for nearly fifty years and is still used by scholars. Smith’s approach to history was pro-imperialist. As a loyal member of the Indian Civil Service, he emphasized the role of foreigners in ancient India. Alexander’s invasion accounted for almost one-third of his book. India was presented as a land of despotism which had not experienced political unity until the establishment of British rule. He observes: ‘Autocracy is substantially the only form of government with which the historian of India is concerned’. In sum, British interpretations of Indian history served to denigrate the Indian character and achievements, and justify colonial rule. A few of these observations appeared to have some validity. Thus, in comparison to the Chinese, Indians did not show any strong sense of chronology although in the earlier stage, important events were dated with reference to the death of Gautama Buddha. However, generalizations made by colonialist historians were by and large either false or grossly exaggerated, but served as good propaganda material for the perpetuation of the despotic British rule. Their emphasis on the Indian tradition of one-man rule could justify the system which vested all powers in the hands of the viceroy. Similarly, if Indians were obsessed with the problems of the next world, the British colonial masters had no option but to look after their life in this world. Without any experience of self-rule in the past, how could the natives manage their affairs in the present? At the heart of all such generalizations lay the need to demonstrate that Indians were incapable of governing themselves. Nationalist Approach and its Contribution All this naturally came as a great challenge to Indian scholars, particularly to those who had received Western education. They were upset by the colonialist distortions of their past history and at the same time distressed by the contrast between the decaying feudal society of India and the progressive capitalist society of Britain. A band of scholars took upon themselves not only the mission to reform Indian society, but also to reconstruct ancient Indian history in such a way as to make a case for social reforms and, more importantly, for self- government. In doing so, most historians were guided by the nationalist ideas of Hindu revivalism, but there was no dearth of scholars who adopted a rationalist and objective approach. To the second category belongs Rajendra Lal Mitra (1822–91), who published some Vedic texts and wrote a book entitled Indo- Aryans. A great lover of ancient heritage, he took a rational view of ancient society and produced a forceful tract to show that in ancient times people ate beef. Others sought to prove that in spite of its peculiarities, the caste system was not basically different from the class system based on division of labour found in Europe’s pre-industrial and ancient societies. In Maharashtra, Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar (1837–1925) and Vishwanath Kashinath Rajwade (1869–1926) emerged as two great dedicated scholars who pieced together varied sources to reconstruct the social and political history of India. R.G. Bhandarkar reconstructed the political history of the Satavahanas of the Deccan and the history of Vaishnavism and other sects. A great social reformer, through his researches he advocated widow remarriage and castigated the evils of the caste system and child marriage. With his unadulterated passion for research, V.K. Rajwade journeyed from village to village in Maharashtra in search of Sanskrit manuscripts and sources of Maratha history; the sources were eventually published in twenty-two volumes. He did not write much, but the history of the institution of marriage that he wrote in Marathi in 1926 will continue to be a classic because of its solid base in Vedic and other texts, and also because of the author’s insight into the stages in the evolution of marriage in India. Pandurang Vaman Kane (1880–1972), a great Sanskritist wedded to social reform, continued the earlier tradition of scholarship. His monumental work entitled the History of the Dharmasastra, published in five volumes in the twentieth century, is an encyclopaedia of ancient social laws and customs. That enables us to study the social processes in ancient India. The Indian scholars diligently studied polity and political history to demonstrate that India did have a political history and that the Indians possessed expertise in administration. Here due credit should be given to Devdatta Ramakrishna Bhandarkar (1875–1950), an epigraphist, who published books on Ashoka and on ancient Indian political institutions. More valuable work was done by Hemachandra Raychaudhuri (1892–1957), who reconstructed the history of ancient India from the time of the Bharata (Mahabharata) war, that is, tenth century BC to the end of the Gupta empire. As a teacher of European history, he adopted some of the methods and comparative insights in writing this book. Although he did not discuss the problem of periodization, his history of ancient India stopped with the sixth century AD. Though he recognized the contribution of V.A. Smith to the reconstruction of early Indian history, yet Raychaudhuri criticized the British scholar at many points. His writings are marked by impeccable scholarship but show a streak of militant Brahmanism when he criticizes Ashoka’s policy of peace. A stronger element of Hindu revivalism appears in the writings of R.C. Majumdar (1888–1980), who was a prolific writer and the general editor of the multi-volume publication History and Culture of the Indian People. Most writers on early Indian history did not give adequate attention to south India. Even K.A. Nilakanta Sastri (1892–1975), the great historian from south India, followed the same approach in his A History of Ancient India, but this was more than rectified in his A History of South India. His style is terse but his writing lucid. In the presentation of facts he is as dependable as Raychaudhuri. However, his general observations on the nature of polity and society in south India are questioned by several scholars. Nilakanta Sastri emphasized the cultural supremacy of the brahmanas and also highlighted the harmony that prevailed in early Indian society. Under his leadership several research monographs were produced on the dynastic history of south India. Until 1960, political history attracted the largest number of Indian scholars, who also glorified the histories of their respective regions on dynastic lines. Those who wrote history at a pan-India level were inspired by the ideas of nationalism. In contrast to the book of V.A. Smith, who devoted almost a third of the total space to Alexander’s invasion, Indian scholars gave this subject much less importance. On the other hand, they stressed the importance of the dialogue of Porus with Alexander and Chandragupta Maurya’s liberation of north-western India from Seleucus. Some scholars, such as K.P. Jayaswal (1881–1937) and A.S. Altekar (1898–1959), overplayed the role of the indigenous ruling dynasties in liberating India from the rule of the Shakas and Kushans, little realizing that Central Asians and others became an intrinsic part of India’s life and did not exploit Indian resources for their original homeland. However, the greatest merit of K.P. Jayaswal lay in exploding the myth of Indian despotism. As early as 1910–12, he wrote several articles to show that republics existed in ancient times and enjoyed a measure of self-government. His findings finally appeared in Hindu Polity in 1924. Although Jayaswal is charged with projecting modern nationalist ideas into ancient institutions, and the nature of the republican government presented by him is attacked by many writers including U.N. Ghoshal (1886–1969), his basic thesis regarding the practice of the republican experiment is widely accepted, and his pioneer work Hindu Polity, now in its sixth edition, is considered a classic. Move Towards Non-Political History British historian, A.L. Basham (1914–86), a Sanskritist by training, questioned the wisdom of looking at ancient India from the modern point of view. His earlier writings show his deep interest in the materialist philosophy of some heterodox sects. Later he believed that the past should be read out of curiosity and pleasure. His book, The Wonder That Was India (1951), is a sympathetic survey of the various facets of ancient Indian culture and civilization free from the prejudices that plague the writings of V.A. Smith and many other British writers. Basham’s book marks a great shift from political to non-political history. The same shift is evident in D.D. Kosambi’s (1907–66) book, An Introduction to the Study of Indian History (1957), later popularized in The Civilisation of Ancient India in Historical Outline (1965). Kosambi blazed a new trail in Indian history. His treatment follows a materialist interpretation of history, which is derived from the writings of Karl Marx. He presents the history of ancient Indian society, economy, and culture as an integral part of the development of the forces and relations of production. His was the first survey volume to show the stages of social and economic development in terms of tribal and class processes. He was criticized by many scholars, including Basham, but his book continues to be widely read. Over the past forty years there has been a sea change in the methods and orientation of those who work on ancient India. They lay greater stress on social, economic, and cultural processes, and try to relate them to political developments. They take account of the stratification of the texts and compare their conventional nature with archaeological and anthropological evidence. All this bodes well for the future of historical studies. Western writers no longer insist that all cultural elements came to India from outside. Some of them, however, hold that religious ideas, rituals, caste, kinship, and tradition are the central forces in Indian history. They also underscore various divisive features which made for stagnation, and are more concerned about the problem of stability and continuity. They seem to be fascinated by old, exotic elements and want to preserve them forever. Such an approach implies that Indian society has not changed and cannot be changed; that stagnation is an integral part of the Indian character. Thus, the chauvinists and sophisticated colonialists use the study of India’s past to prevent its progress. A few Indian writers magnify the role of religion, and believe that everything good and great originated in their country. Communal Approach Since 1980 some Indian writers and their Western counterparts have adopted an aggressive and irrational approach to the study of ancient India. They identify it with Hinduism. Under British rule, colonialist historians deliberately denigrated India’s achievements and attributed important elements of Indian culture to external influence. Indian historians underlined India’s contribution to world culture. Hence, in the interpretation of history, there was a continuing struggle between colonialism and nationalism. Now the situation has undergone a change. The struggle now is between communalism and irrationalism, on the one hand, and rationalism and professionalism, on the other. Though most writers are rational and professional, some have become communal and irrational. The latter overplay myths and legends, arguing for the existence of Rama’s Ayodhya without historical evidence. They censure all critical studies of the brahmanical social structure and even support the caste system by ignoring the social inequity stressed by Manu.  Those who once attributed the Painted Grey Ware to the Vedic people and looked for it outside India now declare the Indo-Aryans to be indigenous Indians. They argue that the Muslims and Christians who came from outside are foreigners. Such generalizations need to be dispassionately examined on the basis of a rational reading of the sources. In the context of religion, neither Hindu nor Hindu dharma is known to any ancient Sanskrit text nor to any other ancient source. The communal writers go on harping on Hindu and Hindutva. Under the circumstances, historians wedded to objective and scientific criteria have to be alert and adhere to reason and long established historical standards. Chronology (AD) Second half of the Modern research in the history of ancient India. eighteenth century 1765 Bihar and Bengal came under the rule of the East India Company. 1776 Manusmriti tr. as Code of Gentoo Laws. 1784 Asiatic Society of Bengal founded in Calcutta. 1785 Bhagvadgita tr. into English. 1804 Bombay Asiatic Society founded. 1823 Asiatic Society of Great Britain set up in London. First half of the 19 C Chairs in Sanskrit established in England and several other European countries. 1904 Early History of India by V.A. Smith. 1924 Hindu Polity by K.P. Jayaswal. 1926 The History of the Institution of Marriage (in Marathi) by V.K. Rajwade. 1951 The Wonder That Was India by A.L. Basham. 1957 An Introduction to the Study of Indian History by D.D. Kosambi. 1965 The Civilization of Ancient India in Historical Outline by D.D. Kosambi. 1837–1925 R.G. Bhandarkar. 1869–1926 V.K. Rajawade. 1875–1950 D.R. Bhandarkar. 1880–1972 P.V. Kane. 1881–1937 K.P. Jayaswal. 1886–1969 U.N. Ghoshal. 1888–1980 R.C. Majumdar. 1892–1957 H.C. Raychaudhuri. 1892–1975 K.A. Nilakanta Sastri. 1898–1959 A.S. Altekar. 1907–66 D.D. Kosambi. 1914–86 A.L. Basham.  3 Nature of Sources and Historical Construction Material Remains The methods of archaeology help us to recover the material remains of the past, relating to ancient, medieval, and modern periods of our history. In India and many other countries, archaeology is used to study prehistory and ancient history. Prehistory is concerned with the period for which there are no written sources, and history is basically based on written material. Prehistoric sites differ from historical sites in several respects. Generally they are not in the form of prominent habitation remains, but principally of fossils of humans, plants, and animals. They are found on the hill slopes of plateaus and mountains, and on the banks of nearby rivers with terraces, and comprise sundry fauna and flora. More importantly, numerous stone tools from the Stone Age have been found at these sites. The remains of tools, plants, animals, and humans from the pre-ice age indicate the climatic conditions that prevailed at the time. Although writing was known in India by the middle of the third millennium BC in the Indus culture, it has not so far been deciphered. Thus, though the Harappans knew how to write, their culture is placed in the proto-historic phase. The same is the case with the Chalcolithic or copper–Stone Age cultures which had no writing. Decipherable writing was known in India only in the third century BC with the Ashokan inscriptions providing solid evidence for historical reconstruction from that time. However, despite the critical use of Vedic and post-Vedic literary sources for history in pre-Ashokan times, archaeology remains a very important source for historians. The ancient Indians left innumerable material remains. The stone temples in south India and the brick monasteries in eastern India still stand to remind us of the great building activities of the past. However, the major part of these remains lies buried in mounds scattered all over India. (A mound is an elevated portion of land covering the remains of old habitations.) It may be of different types: single-culture, major-culture, and multi-culture. Single-culture mounds represent only one culture throughout. Some mounds represent only the Painted Grey Ware (PGW) culture, others Satavahana culture, and yet others that of the Kushans. In major-culture mounds, one culture is dominant and the others are of secondary importance. Multi-culture mounds represent several important cultures in succession which occasionally overlap with one another. As is the case with the Ramayana and Mahabharata, an excavated mound can be used to understand successive layers of the material and other aspects of a culture. A mound can be excavated vertically or horizontally. Vertical excavation means lengthwise digging to uncover the period-wise sequence of cultures; it is generally confined to a part of the site. Horizontal excavation entails digging the mound as a whole or a major part of it. The method may enable the excavator to obtain a complete idea of the site culture in a particular period. As most sites have been dug vertically, they provide a good chronological sequence of material culture. Horizontal diggings, being very expensive, are very few in number, with the result that the excavations do not give us a full or even adequate picture of material life in many phases of ancient Indian history. Even in those mounds which have been excavated, the ancient remains have been preserved in varying proportions. In the dry arid climate of western UP, Rajasthan, and north-western India, antiquities are found in a better state of preservation, but in the moist and humid climate of the mid-Gangetic plains and in the deltaic regions even iron implements suffered corrosion and mud structures become difficult to detect. Only the burnt brick structures or stone structures of the Gangetic plains are well preserved. Excavations have brought to light the villages that people established around 6000 BC in Baluchistan. They also tell us about the material culture which was developed in the Gangetic plains in the second millennium BC. They show the layout of the settlements in which people lived, the types of pottery they used, the form of house in which they dwelt, the kind of cereals they ate, and the type of tools and implements they used. Some people in south India buried in graves, along with the dead, their tools, weapons, pottery, and other belongings, and these were encircled by large pieces of stone. These structures are called megaliths, although some megaliths do not fall in this category. By digging them we learn of the life people lived in the Deccan from the Iron Age onwards. The science that enables us to systematically dig the successive layers of old mounds, and to form an idea of the material life of the people is called archaeology. Their dates are fixed by various methods. Of them, radiocarbon dating is the most important. Radiocarbon or Carbon 14 (C14) is a radioactive carbon (isotope) which is present in all living objects. It decays, like all radioactive substances, at a uniform rate. When an object is living, the process of decay of C14 is neutralized by absorption of C14 through air and food. However, when an object ceases to be alive, its C14 content continues to decay at a uniform rate but ceases to absorb C14 from air and food. By measuring the loss of C14 content in an ancient object, its age can be determined. This is because, as stated earlier, the decay of C14 takes place at a uniform rate. It is known that the half-life of C14 is 5568 years. The halflife of a radioactive material is defined as the period during which half the radioactive content in an object disappears. Thus, the C14 content in an object that ceased to live 5568 years ago would be half of what it was when it was living, and in an object which ceased to live 11,136 years ago, its C14 content would be one-fourth of that it had been when it was living. But no antiquity older than 70,000 years can be dated by this method. The history of climate and vegetation is known through an examination of plant residues, and especially through pollen analysis. On this basis it is suggested that agriculture was practised in Rajasthan and Kashmir around 7000– 6000 BC. The nature and components of metal artefacts are analysed scientifically, and consequently the mines from which the metals were obtained are located and the stages in the development of metal technology identified. An examination of animal bones shows whether the animals were domesticated, and also indicates the uses to which they were put. I may add that archaeology provides a kind of soil archive which contains various material remains. However, for a total study of prehistory extending roughly up to 3000 BC or so, it is necessary to get an idea of the history of the soil, rocks, etc. This is provided by geological studies. Similarly, the world of plants and animals keeps on changing though at a slow pace. Their history is provided by biological studies. Human history cannot be understood without an idea of the continuing interaction between soils, plants, and animals, on the one hand, and humans, on the other. Geological and biological advances enable us to understand not only prehistory but also history. Taken together with archaeological remains, geological and biological studies act as important sources for the study of over 98 per cent of the total time scale of history starting with the origin of the earth. Coins Although a large number of coins and inscriptions have been found on the surface, many of them have been unearthed by digging. The study of coins is called numismatics. Ancient Indian currency was not issued in the form of paper, as is the case nowadays, but as metal coins. Ancient coins were made of metal— copper, silver, gold, and lead. Coin moulds made of burnt clay have been discovered in large numbers. Most of them relate to the Kushan period, that is, the first three Christian centuries. The use of such moulds in the post-Gupta period virtually disappeared. As there was nothing like the modern banking system in ancient times, people stored money in earthenware and also in brass vessels, and maintained them as precious hoards on which they could fall back in time of need. Many of these hoards, containing not only Indian coins but also those minted abroad, such as in the Roman empire, have been discovered in different parts of India. They are preserved mostly in museums in Kolkata, Patna, Lucknow, Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai, and Chennai. There are many Indian coins in the museums of Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. As Britain ruled over India for a long time, British officials succeeded in transferring many of the Indian coins to private and public collections in Britain. Coins of the major dynasties have been catalogued and published. We have catalogues of the coins in the Indian Museum at Kolkata, of Indian coins in the British Museum in London, and so on. None the less, there are a large number of coins that have yet to be catalogued and published. Our earliest coins contain a few symbols, but the later coins depict the figures of kings, and divinities, and also mention their names and dates. The areas where they are found indicate the region of their circulation. This has enabled us to reconstruct the history of several ruling dynasties, especially of the Indo-Greeks who came to India from north Afghanistan and ruled here in the second and first centuries BC. As coins were used for various purposes such as donations, a mode of payment, and a medium of exchange, they throw considerable light on economic history. Some coins were issued by guilds of merchants and goldsmiths with the permission of the rulers. This shows that crafts and commerce had become important. Coins helped transactions on a large scale and contributed to trade. The largest number of Indian coins date to the post-Maurya period. These were made of lead, potin, copper, bronze, silver, and gold. The Guptas issued the largest number of gold coins. All this indicates that trade and commerce flourished, especially in post-Maurya and a good part of the Gupta period. However, only a few coins belonging to the post-Gupta period have been found, which indicates a decline of trade and commerce in that period. Coins also portray kings and gods, and contain religious symbols and legends, all of which throw light on the art and religion of the time. Cowries were also used as coins, though their purchasing power was low. They appear in substantial numbers in post-Gupta times, but may have been used earlier. Inscriptions Far more important than coins are inscriptions. Their study is called epigraphy, and the study of the old writing used in inscriptions and other old records is called palaeography. Inscriptions were carved on seals, stone pillars, rocks, copperplates, temple walls, wooden tablets, and bricks or images. In India as a whole, the earliest inscriptions were recorded on stone. However, in the early centuries of the Christian era, copperplate began to be used for this purpose. Even then the practice of engraving inscriptions on stone continued on a large scale in south India. We have also in that region a large number of inscriptions recorded on the walls of temples to serve as permanent records. Like coins, inscriptions are preserved in various museums of the country, but the largest number may be found in the office of the chief epigraphist at Mysore. The earliest inscriptions were written in Prakrit in the third century BC. Sanskrit was adopted as an epigraphic medium in the second century AD and its use became widespread in the fourth and fifth centuries, but even then Prakrit continued to be used. Inscriptions began to be composed in regional languages in the ninth and tenth centuries. Most inscriptions bearing on the history of the Maurya, post-Maurya, and Gupta periods have been published in a series of collections called Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, but not many inscriptions of the post-Gupta period figure in such systematic compilations. In the case of south India, topographical lists of inscriptions have been published. Still, over 50,000 inscriptions, mostly of south India, await publication. The Harappan inscriptions, which await decipherment, seem to have been written in a pictographic script in which ideas and objects were expressed in the form of pictures. Most Ashokan inscriptions were engraved in the Brahmi script, which was written from left to right, but some were also incised in the Kharoshthi script which was written from right to left. However, the Brahmi script prevailed virtually all over India except for the north-western part. Greek and Aramaic scripts were employed in writing Ashokan inscriptions in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but Brahmi continues to be the main script till the end of Gupta times. An epigraphist can decipher most Indian inscriptions up to about the seventh century if he has mastered Brahmi and its variations, but subsequently we notice strong regional variations in this script. Inscriptions found on the seals of Harappa belonging to about 2500 BC are considered symbolic by some scholars. For Indian history, the earliest deciphered inscriptions are Iranian. They belong to the sixth–fifth centuries BC and are found in Iran. They appear in Old-Indo-Iranian and also in Semitic languages in the cuneiform script. They speak of the Iranian conquest of the Hindu or Sindhu area. Of course, in India the earliest deciphered are Ashokan inscriptions. They are generally written in Brahmi script and Prakrit language in the third century BC. They throw light on Maurya history and Ashoka’s achievements. In the fourteenth century AD two Ashokan pillar inscriptions were found by Firoz Shah Tughlaq, one in Meerut and another at a place called Topra in Haryana. He brought them to Delhi and asked the pandits of his empire to decipher the inscriptions, but they failed to do so. The same difficulty was faced by the British when in the last quarter of the eighteenth century they discovered Ashokan inscriptions. These epigraphs were first deciphered in 1837 by James Prinsep, a civil servant in the employ of the East India Company in Bengal. We have various types of inscriptions. Some convey royal orders and decisions regarding social, religious, and administrative matters to officials and the people in general. Ashokan inscriptions belong to this category. Others are votive records of the followers of Buddhism, Jainism, Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and the like. They appear on pillars, tablets, temples, or images as marks of devotion. Yet other types eulogize the attributes and achievements of kings and conquerors, and ignore their defeats or weaknesses. To this category belongs the Allahabad Pillar inscription of Samudragupta. Finally, we have many donative records which refer especially to gifts of money, cattle, land, etc., mainly for religious purposes, made not only by kings and princes but also by artisans and merchants. Inscriptions recording land grants, made mainly by chiefs and princes, are very important for the study of the land system and administration in ancient India. These were mostly engraved on copperplates. They record grants of lands, revenues, and villages made to monks, priests, temples, monasteries, vassals, and officials. They were written in all languages, including Prakrit, Sanskrit, Tamil, and Telugu. Literary Sources Although the ancient Indians knew how to write as early as 2500 BC, our most ancient manuscripts are not older than the AD fourth century and are found in Central Asia. In India, they were written on birch bark and palm leaves, but in Central Asia, where the Prakrit language had spread from India, manuscripts were also written on sheep leather and wooden tablets. These writings are called inscriptions, but they are as good as manuscripts. When printing was not known, manuscripts were very highly valued. Although old Sanskrit manuscripts are found all over India, they mostly relate to south India, Kashmir, and Nepal. Currently, inscriptions are largely preserved in museums, and manuscripts in libraries. Most ancient books contain religious themes. Hindu religious literature includes the Vedas, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the Puranas, and the like. They throw considerable light on the social and cultural conditions of ancient times, but it is difficult to use them in the context of time and place. The Rig Veda may be assigned to c. 1500–1000 BC, though such collections as the Atharva Veda, Yajur Veda, the Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and the Upanishads date roughly to 1000–500 BC. Almost every Vedic text contains interpolations, which generally appear at the beginning or the end and seldom in the middle. The Rig Veda mainly comprises prayers, whereas the later Vedic texts comprise prayers as well as rituals, magic, and mythological stories. However, the Upanishads contain philosophical speculations. In order to understand the Vedic texts it was necessary to study the Vedangas or the limbs of the Veda. These supplements of the Veda comprised phonetics (shiksha), ritual (kalpa), grammar (vyakarana), etymology (nirukta), metrics (chhanda), and astronomy (jyotisha), and much literature grew around each of these subjects. They were written in the form of precepts in prose. A precept was called a sutra because of its brevity. The most famous example of this writing is the grammar of Panini written around 450 BC. While illustrating the rules of grammar, Panini casts invaluable light on the society, economy, and culture of his times. The two epics and the major Puranas seem to have been finally compiled by c. AD 400. Of the epics, the Mahabharata attributed to Vyasa is older and possibly reflects the state of affairs from the tenth century BC to AD fourth century. Originally, it consisted of 8800 verses and was called Jaya or a collection dealing with victory. These were increased to 24,000 and came to be known as Bharata because it contains the stories of the descendants of one of the earliest Vedic tribes called Bharata. The final compilation increased the verses to 100,000 which came to be known as the Mahabharata or the Shatasahasri Samhita. It contains narrative, descriptive, and didactic material. The main narrative which relates to the Kaurava–Pandava conflict may relate to the later Vedic period, the descriptive portion might be of the post-Vedic period, and the didactic portion generally relates to the post-Maurya and Gupta periods. Similarly, the Ramayana of Valmiki originally consisted of 6000 verses which were raised to 12,000, and eventually to 24,000. Although this epic appears to be more unified than the Mahabharata, it too has its didactic parts which were subsequently added. The Ramayana composition started in the fifth century BC. After that, it passed through as many as five stages, and the fifth stage seems to have been as late as the twelfth century AD. As a whole, the text seems to have been composed later than the Mahabharata. In the post-Vedic period we have a large corpus of ritual literature. Grand public sacrifices to be made by princes and men of substance belonging to the three higher varnas are set out in the Shrautasutras, which provide for several ostentatious royal coronation ceremonies. Similarly, domestic rituals connected with birth, naming, sacred thread investiture, marriage, funerals, etc. are prescribed in the Grihyasutras. Both the Shrautasutras and the Grihyasutras relate to c. 600–300 BC. Mention may also be made of the Sulvasutras, which prescribe various kinds of measurements for the construction of sacrificial altars. They mark the beginnings of the study of geometry and mathematics. The religious books of the Jainas and the Buddhists refer to historical persons and incidents. The earliest Buddhist texts were written in Pali, which was spoken in Magadha or south Bihar, and was basically a form of Prakrit. They were finally compiled in the first century BC in Sri Lanka, but the canonical portions reflect the state of affairs in India in the age of the Buddha. They tell us not only about the life of the Buddha but also about some of his royal contemporaries who ruled over Magadha, north Bihar, and eastern UP. The most important and interesting portion of the non-canonical literature is provided by the stories of the previous births of Gautama Buddha. It was believed that before he was actually born as Gautama, the Buddha passed through over 550 births, in many cases in the form of animals. Each birth story is called a Jataka, which is a folk tale. The Jatakas throw invaluable light on the social and economic conditions of the period between the fifth and second century BC. They also make incidental references to political events in the age of the Buddha. The Jaina texts were written in Prakrit and were eventually compiled in AD sixth century in Valabhi in Gujarat. They, however, contain many passages that help us to reconstruct the political history of eastern UP and Bihar in the age of Mahavira. The Jaina texts refer repeatedly to trade and traders. We also have a large body of secular literature. To this class belong the law- books, called the Dharmasutras and Smritis, which, together with their commentaries, are called Dharmashastras. The Dharmasutras were compiled in 500–200 BC and the principal Smritis were codified in the first six centuries of the Christian era. They prescribe the duties to be performed by the different varnas as well as by kings and their officials. They set out the rules for marriage together with the laws according to which property is to be held, sold, and inherited. They also prescribe punishments for persons guilty of theft, assault, murder, adultery, and the like. An important law-book is the Arthashastra of Kautilya. The text is divided into fifteen books, of which Books II and III may be regarded as being of an earlier date, and seem to have been the work of different hands. This text was put in its final form in the beginning of the Christian era, but its earliest portions reflect the state of society and economy in the age of the Mauryas. It provides rich material for the study of ancient Indian polity and economy. Of the non-religious texts, the grammatical works are very important for historical construction. They begin with the Astadhyayi of Panini. Panini lived in the north-western part of the subcontinent. He is not mentioned in the Pali texts which principally represent Bihar and UP. Panini is dated to around 450 BC by V.S. Agrawala, who has written about Panini’s India in both Hindi and English. In his view, no other text provides as much information about the janapadas or territorial states of pre-Mauryan times as Panini’s does. Patanjali’s commentary on Panini, dated 150 BC, supplies valuable information about post-Maurya times. We also have the works of Bhasa, Sudraka, Kalidasa, and Banabhatta. Apart from their literary value, they mirror the conditions of the times to which the writers belonged. The works of Kalidasa comprise kavyas and dramas, the most famous of which is Abhijnanashakuntalam. Besides being great creative compositions, they provide us with glimpses of the social and cultural life of the Guptas. In addition to Sanskrit sources, we have some of the earliest Tamil texts in the corpus of Sangam literature. This literature was produced over a period of three to four centuries by poets who assembled in colleges patronized by chiefs and kings. Such colleges were called Sangam, and the literature produced in these assemblies was known as Sangam literature. The compilation of the corpus is attributed to the first four Christian centuries, although they were really completed by the sixth century. The Sangam literature comprises about 30,000 lines of poetry arranged in eight anthologies called Ettuttokai. The poems are collected in groups of hundreds such as Purananuru (The Four Hundred of the Exterior). There are two main goups Patinenkil Kannakku (The Eighteen Lower Collections) and Pattuppattu (The Ten Songs). The former is generally assumed to be older than the latter, and hence is considered to be of great historical importance. The Sangam texts have several layers, but at present these cannot be established on the basis of style and content, but, as shown later, they can be detected on the basis of stages in social evolution. The Sangam texts are different from the Vedic texts, particularly the Rig Veda. They do not constitute religious literature. The short and long poems were composed by numerous poets in praise of various heroes and heroines and are thus secular in nature. They are not primitive songs, but literature of high quality. Many poems mention a warrior or a chief or a king by name and describe in detail his military exploits. The gifts made by him to bards and warriors are celebrated. These poems may have been recited in the courts. They are compared with the heroic poetry of the Homeric age, for they represent a heroic age of warriors and battles. It is difficult to use these texts for historical purposes. Perhaps the proper names, titles, dynasties, territories, wars, and the like mentioned in the poems are partly real. Some of the Chera kings mentioned in the Sangam texts also appear as donors in inscriptions of the first and second centuries. The Sangam texts refer to many settlements, including Kaveripattanam whose flourishing existence has now been archaeologically corroborated. They also speak of the Yavanas coming in their own vessels, purchasing pepper with gold, and supplying wine and women slaves to the natives. This trade is known not only from Latin and Greek writings but also from the archaeological record. The Sangam literature is a major source of our information for the social, economic, and political life of the people living in deltaic Tamil Nadu in the early Christian centuries. What it says about trade and commerce is confirmed by foreign accounts and archaeological finds. Foreign Accounts Indigenous literature can be supplemented by foreign accounts. To India came Greek, Roman, and Chinese visitors, either as travellers or religious converts, and they left behind accounts of the things that they saw. It is remarkable that Alexander’s invasion finds no mention in Indian sources, and it is entirely on the basis of the Greek sources that we have to reconstruct the history of his Indian exploits. The Greek writers mention Sandrokottas, a contemporary of Alexander the Great, who invaded India in 326 BC. Prince Sandrokottas is identified with Chandragupta Maurya, whose date of accession is fixed at 322 BC. This identification has served as the sheet anchor in ancient Indian chronology. The Indika of Megasthenes, who came to the court of Chandragupta Maurya, has been preserved only in fragments quoted by subsequent classical writers. These fragments, when read together, furnish valuable information not only about the system of Maurya administration but also about social classes and economic activities in the Maurya period. The Indika is not free from credulity and exaggerations, which is true of many other ancient accounts. Greek and Roman accounts of the first and second centuries mention many Indian ports and enumerate items of trade between India and the Roman empire. The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea and Ptolemy’s Geography, both written in Greek, provide valuable data for the study of ancient geography and commerce. The date ascribed to the first ranges between AD 80 and 115, whereas the second is attributed to about AD 150. The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, which was written by an anonymous author, describes the Roman trade in the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and the Indian Ocean. Pliny’s Naturalis Historia, which relates to the first century, was written in Latin, and tells us about trade between India and Italy. The last Graeco-Roman scholar who wrote on India was called Kosmos Indikopleustes. He hailed from Alexandria, a centre of Hellenistic culture in Egypt. Around 550 he wrote the Christian Topography which mentions Christians in India and Sri Lanka and also refers to horse trade. Of the Chinese travellers, mention may be made of Fa-hsien and Hsuan Tsang. Both of them were Buddhists, and came to this country to visit the Buddhist shrines and to study Buddhism. The first came in the beginning of the fifth century and the second in the second quarter of the seventh century. Fa- hsien describes the social, religious, and economic conditions in India in the age of the Guptas, and Hsuan Tsang presents a similar account of India in the age of Harsha. Village Study Relics of communal sharing in feasts, festivals, and pujas throw light on the egalitarian character of ancient tribal society. Loyalty to the clan and caste persists to this day. Survivals of rituals give us an idea of ancient sects and also of the institutions of marriage and family. High caste people do not milk the cow and never take to the plough. Their contempt for manual labour promotes untouchability. Strong traces of inequality are not confined to castes alone but also colour the relationship between man and woman. Till the 1930s even the sati system prevailed in rural parts of Bihar. Thus social inequalities, which prevail despite universal suffrage, indicate the nature of ancient Indian society. Rural rituals and caste prejudices illustrate many of the Dharmashastra rules governing our ancient polity and society. Natural Sciences The use of the findings of social sciences started about thirty years ago for the historical construction of ancient India. Recently the use of natural sciences has begun. Evidence from chemistry, geology, and biology has become relevant to the study of ancient India. Historical Sense Ancient Indians are charged with a lack of sense of history. It is evident that they did not write history in the manner it is done today, nor did they write it in the way the Greeks did. We have a sort of history in the Puranas, which are eighteen in number (eighteen was a conventional term). Though encyclopaedic in content, the Puranas provide dynastic history up to the beginning of Gupta rule. They mention the places where the events took place and sometimes discuss their causes and effects. Statements about events are made in the future tense, although they were recorded much after the events had occurred. The authors of the Puranas were not unaware of the idea of change, which is the essence of history. The Puranas speak of four ages called krita, treta, dvapara, and kali. Each succeeding age is depicted as worse than the preceding one, and as one age slides into the other, moral values and social institutions degenerate. The importance of time and place, vital elements in history, is indicated. It is said that dharma becomes adharma and vice versa in accordance with changes in time and place. Several eras, according to which events were recorded, were started in ancient India. Vikrama Samvat began in 57–8 BC, Shaka Samvat in AD 78, and the Gupta era in AD 319. Inscriptions record events in the context of time and place. During the third century BC Ashokan inscriptions demonstrate considerable historical sense. Ashoka ruled for thirty-seven years. His inscriptions record events that happened from the eighth to the twenty-seventh regnal year. To date, events relating to only nine regnal years figure in the inscriptions that have been discovered. Future discoveries may throw light on events relating to the remaining years of his reign. Similarly, in the first century BC Kharavela of Kalinga records a large number of events in his life year by year in the Hathigumpha inscription. Indians display a considerable historical sense in biographical writings, a good example of which is the composition of the Harshacharita by Banabhatta in the seventh century. It is a semi-biographical work written in an ornate style which became the despair of later imitators. It describes the early career of Harshavardhana. Although highly exaggerated, it gives an excellent idea of court life under Harsha and the social and religious life in his age. Later, several other charitas or biographies were written. Sandhyakara Nandi’s Ramacharita (twelfth century) narrates the story of the conflict between the Kaivarta peasants and the Pala prince Ramapala, resulting in the latter’s victory. Bilhana’s Vikramankadevacharita recounts the achievements of his patron, Vikramaditya VI (1076–1127), the Chalukya king of Kalyan. Even the biographies (charita) of some merchants of Gujarat were written in AD twelfth–thirteenth centuries. Similar historical works may have been written in south India, but thus far only one such account has been discovered. This is called Mushika Vamsha and was written by Atula in the eleventh century. It is an account of the dynasty of the Mushikas which ruled in northern Kerala. However, the best example of the earliest historical writing is provided by the Rajatarangini or The Stream of Kings written by Kalhana in the twelfth century. It is a string of biographies of the kings of Kashmir, and can be considered to be the first work to possess several characteristics of historical writing as it is understood today. Constructing History So far numerous sites, prehistoric, proto-historic, and historical, have been excavated and explored, but the results do not find a place in the mainstream of ancient Indian history. The stages of social evolution in India cannot be properly comprehended without taking into account the results of prehistoric and proto- historic archaeology, not to speak of historical archaeology. Although nearly 200 sites relating to the ancient historical period have been excavated, yet their relevance to the study of the social, economic, and cultural trends in ancient times has not been adequately discussed in survey studies. This needs to be done both in the context of the rural and urban aspects of ancient India. So far the significance of largely Buddhist and some brahmanical sites has been highlighted, but religious history needs to be seen in relation to social and economic developments. Ancient history has so far been constructed principally on the basis of literary sources, foreign and indigenous. Coins and inscriptions play some part, but the texts receive greater weightage. Now new methods must be adopted. Historical knowledge keeps growing. We have to be more critical about the dates and contents of the texts. This may be done if we examine the texts in the context of archaeological evidence. Initially, archaeologists were inspired by written texts, and several sites mentioned in the brahmanical and Buddhist texts were excavated. This immensely enriched historical information, though the digging results did not always confirm the contents of the texts. Though full-length reports of many excavated sites are yet to be published, it is advisable to examine the texts in the context of archaeological findings. For the study of the age of the Rig Veda we have to take into account of the Gandhara grave culture in which the horse was used and the dead were cremated in the second millennium BC. We have to establish a co-relation between the later Vedic age, on the one hand, and the Painted Grey Ware and other types of archaeological finds, on the other. Similarly, early Pali texts have to be related to the Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) archaeology. Besides, the information derived from the Sangam texts needs to be co-related with that inferred from inscriptions and early Megalithic archaeology in peninsular India. Archaeological evidence should be considered far more important than the long family trees found in the Puranas. The Puranic tradition could be used to date Rama of Ayodhya to around 2000 BC, but diggings and extensive explorations in Ayodhya do not show any settlement around that date. Similarly, although Krishna plays an important role in the Mahabharata, the earliest inscriptions and sculptural pieces from Mathura between 200 BC and AD 300 do not attest to his presence. Given such difficulties, the ideas of an epic age based on the Ramayana and the Mahabharata must be discarded, although in the past it formed a chapter in most survey volumes on ancient India. Of course, several stages of social evolution in both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata can be detected. This is so because the epics do not belong to a single phase of social evolution; we may recall that they have undergone several editions. Further, on the basis of literary traditions and epigraphic material, Vardhamana Mahavira and Gautama Buddha are generally dated to the sixth century BC, but the cities they visited are archaeologically not older than 400 BC and therefore the tradition-based dates of these great personalities need to be reconsidered. On chronological and rational grounds, archaeology, inscriptions, and coins are more important than texts. However, the grammatical works of Panini and Patanjali have almost fixed dates, and they are comparatively free from myths and legends and are therefore as important as coins, inscriptions, and the results of excavations. Many inscriptions have to date been dismissed on the ground that they are of little historical value. ‘Historical value’ is taken to mean information necessary to reconstruct political history. However, a royal inscription contains exaggerations. The term hundreds of thousands seems to be a cliché in Ashokan inscriptions. It is applied to people and animals, and raises doubts about the number of the people killed in the Kalinga war and those brought to Pataliputra. There are exaggerations too in the inscriptions of Samudragupta and King Chandra. Despite these exaggerations, in comparison to Puranic traditions, inscriptions are certainly more reliable. Thus, though the Puranas are used to push back the origin of the Satavahanas, the inscriptions place it in the first century BC. Inscriptions may indicate the regnal period of a king, his conquest, and its extent, but they also reveal trends in the development of polity, society, economy, and religion. This study, therefore, does not use inscriptions merely for political or religious history. Epigraphic land grants are valued not for the family trees and lists of conquest, but more importantly for the rise of new states and changes in the social and agrarian structure, particularly in post-Gupta times. Similarly, coins need to be used not only for the reconstruction of the history of the Indo-Greeks, Shakas, Satavahanas, and Kushans, but also for the history of trade and urban life. In sum, a careful collection of the material derived from texts, coins, inscriptions, archaeology, etc., is essential for historical reconstruction. We have seen that this raises the problem of the relative importance of the sources. Thus, coins, inscriptions, and archaeology are considered more important than mythologies found in the epics and Puranas. Mythologies may support dominant norms, validate social mores, and justify the privileges and disabilities of people organized in castes and other social groups, but the events described in them cannot be taken to be true. Past practices can also be explained with the help of some ancient survivals in our own times. Familiarity with village life and the insights derived from the study of primitive people are valuable assets in the construction of ancient history. A sound historical reconstruction cannot ignore developments in other ancient societies. A comparative view may remove the obsession with the idea of the ‘rare’ or ‘unique’ in ancient India and may bring out those trends that ancient India shares with the past societies of the other countries. We may also use the results of human genetic research to learn about Indian connection with peoples in other parts of the world. A scientific study of heredity and generationwise inherited traits indicate ethnic mixture, dispersal of population, and dissemination of culture. Chronology (BC) 3M Writing enters the Indus culture. 1500–1000 Rig Veda. 1000–500 Yajur Veda, Atharva Veda, the Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and the Upanishads. 600–300 Shrautasutras and Grihyasutras. 6C Mahavira and the Buddha as per literature. 500–200 Dharmasutras. 450 Grammar of Panini. 5C Mahavira and the Buddha in the context of archaeology. 326 Alexander’s invasion. 322 Accession of Chandragupta Maurya. 3C Decipherable writing in India. 57–8 Vikrama Samvat. 1C Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela of Kalinga. 1C The earliest Pali Buddhist texts compiled in Sri Lanka. (AD) 1C The Arthashastra of Kautilya finally compiled. 78 Start of Shaka Samvat. 80–115 The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea. 150 Ptolemy’s Geography. 319 Start of the Gupta era. 400 Mahabharata, Ramayana, and major Puranas finally compiled. 4C Earliest Indian manuscript found in Central Asia. 5C Fa-hsien comes to India. 6C The Prakrit Jaina texts finally compiled in Valabhi. 7C Hsuan Tsang’s visit. Harshacharita by Banabhatta. 11 C Mushika Vamsha by Atula. 11–12 C Vikramankadevacharita by Bilhana. 12 C Ramacharita by Sandhyakara Nandi. Rajatarangini by Kalhana. 1837 Ashokan inscriptions first deciphered by James Prinsep.  4 Geographical Setting Emergence of India The Indian subcontinent emerged as a separate geographical unit some 40 million years ago. Originally peninsular India, together with Antarctica, Africa, Arabia, and South America, is considered to have been a part of the southern super-continent called Gondwanaland. Earlier, Gondwanaland, together with the northern super-continent Laurisia, comprising North America, Greenland, Europe, and most of Asia north of the Himalayas, formed a single land mass called Pangaea. Then Gondwanaland and Laurisia became separate units. Due to tectonic movements different parts began to break away from Gondwanaland, giving rise to separate geographical units including peninsular India. This process began around 225 million years ago, and 40 million years ago India became a separate unit. India moved north to join the Eurasian continent sometime between 58 and 37 million years ago. In comparison to earlier dates, India’s Himalayan boundary is very young. The uplift of the Himalayas took place in four phases. The last and the final uplift took place in the Pleistocene epoch, that is, in c. 2 million–12000 BC. The Himalayas played an important part in forming the Indo-Gangetic plains through its rivers which brought down alluvial deposits in the Pleistocene epoch. The Indian subcontinent is as large in area as Europe without Russia, with a total area of 4,202,500 sq. km. The subcontinent is divided into five countries: India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and Pakistan. India has nearly 1000,000,000 people. It comprises twenty-eight states and seven union territories, including the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Some of its states are larger than many European countries. The Role of the Monsoon The Indian subcontinent is a well-defined geographical unit and is largely situated in the tropical zone. The monsoon has played an important role in India’s history. The south-west monsoon lasts between June and October and brings rain in varying degrees to major parts of the country. In ancient times, irrigation was not an important factor and rains played a crucial role in agriculture. What is known today as the kharif crop in north India depended primarily in ancient times on the south-west monsoon. In winter, the western disturbances bring rains to northern India where wheat, barley, and the like constitute the main crop. A part of the peninsular India, particularly the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, gets its major rainfall from the north-east monsoon from mid-October to mid-December. Once the direction of the monsoon was discovered some time around AD first century, traders sailed with the south-west monsoon from western Asia and the Mediterranean area, and came to India and Southeast Asia. They returned westward with the arrival of the north-east monsoon. The discovery of the monsoon enabled India to carry on trade and establish cultural contacts with western Asia and the Mediterranean area as well as with Southeast Asia. The Northern Boundaries India is bounded by the Himalayas on the north and seas on the other three sides. The Himalayas protect the country against the cold arctic winds blowing from Siberia through Central Asia. This keeps the climate of northern India fairly warm throughout the year. As the cold is not very severe in the plains, people do not need heavy clothing and can live in the open for longer periods. Secondly, the Himalayas are sufficiently high to shield India against invasions from the north. This was specially true in pre-industrial times when communications were very difficult. However, on the north-west, the Sulaiman mountain ranges, which are a southward continuation of the Himalayas, could be crossed through the Khyber, Bolan, and Gomal passes. The Sulaiman ranges are joined southward in Baluchistan by the Kiarthar ranges which could be crossed through the Bolan pass. Through these passes, two-way traffic between India and Central Asia has continued from prehistoric times onwards. Various peoples from Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asia came to India as invaders and immigrants, and vice versa. Even the Hindu Kush, the westward extension of the Himalayan system, did not form an insuperable barrier between the Indus and the Oxus systems. The passes facilitated trade and cultural contacts between India, on the one hand, and Central Asia and West Asia, on the other. Nestled in the Himalayas are the valleys of Kashmir and Nepal. Surrounded on all sides by high mountains, the valley of Kashmir developed its own way of life, but could be reached through several passes. Its winter compelled some of its people to go to the plains and its summer attracted the shepherds from the plains. Economic and cultural interaction between the plains and the valley was continuing. The Pamir plateau did not prevent it from becoming a transmission centre of Buddhism to the adjacent areas of Central Asia. The valley of Nepal, smaller in size, is accessible to the people of the Gangetic plains through a number of passes. Like Kashmir, it too became a centre for the cultivation of Sanskrit; both these valleys became repositories of the largest number of Sanskrit manuscripts. The foothills of the Himalayas lent themselves to easier clearance than the jungles on the alluvial soil of the plains. It was easy to cross rivers in these areas because of their narrower width, and hence the earliest routes skirted along the foothills of the Himalayas from the west to the east and vice versa. It was therefore natural that the earliest agricultural settlements were founded in the foothills and uplands, and trade routes followed the terai route. Rivers The heart of historical India is formed by its important rivers which are swollen by the tropical monsoon rains. These consist of the plains of the Indus system, the Indo-Gangetic divide, the Gangetic basin, and the Brahmaputra basin. Proceeding from west to east we find the annual rainfall gradually increasing from 25 cm to over 250 cm. The Indus vegetation based on 25 to 37 cm rainfall and possibly the western Gangetic vegetation based on 37 to 60 cm rainfall could be cleared with stone and copper implements and made fit for cultivation, but this was not possible in the case of the mid-Gangetic vegetation based on 60 to 125 cm rainfall, and certainly not in the case of the lower Gangetic and Brahmaputra vegetation based on 125 to 250 cm rainfall. The thickly forested areas, which also had hard soil, could be cleared only with the aid of iron implements which became available at a much later stage. Therefore, the natural resources of the less rainy western area were utilized first, and large-scale human settlements generally spread from west to east. Once brought under cultivation, the Indus–Gangetic plains produced rich crops and supported successive cultures. The Indus and the western Gangetic plains principally produced wheat and barley, while the middle and lower Gangetic plains largely produced rice, which also became the staple diet in Gujarat and south of the Vindhyas. The Harappan culture originated and flourished in the Indus Valley; the Vedic culture originated in the North-West Frontier Province and the Punjab, and flourished in the western Gangetic basin; the post-Vedic culture, mainly based on the use of iron, throve in the mid- Gangetic basin. The lower Gangetic valley and north Bengal really came into focus in the age of the Guptas; and finally, the Brahmaputra valley covering Assam gained importance in early medieval times. Powerful rulers fought for the possession of these plains and valleys, and the Ganga–Yamuna doab in particular proved to be the most coveted and contested area. The rivers served as arteries of commerce and communications. In ancient times it was difficult to build roads, and so men and material were moved by boat. The river routes, therefore, well-served military and commercial transport. Evidently the stone pillars built by Ashoka were transported to different parts of the country by boat. The importance of rivers for communications continued till the days of the East India Company. Besides, the rivers inundated the neighbouring areas and made them fertile; they also supplied water to the canals cut from them. However, they caused heavy floods which periodically inundated and destroyed towns and villages in the northern plains, and therefore many ancient buildings were totally washed away and destroyed. Nevertheless, important towns and capitals, such as Hastinapur, Prayag, Varanasi, and Pataliputra were situated on the banks of the rivers. In modern times, urban sites are located at railway and road junctions or in industrial or mining zones, but in pre-industrial times towns were mostly situated on river banks and junctions. Above all, it was the rivers that demarcated political and cultural boundaries, which were also formed by mountains. Thus, in the eastern part of the Indian peninsula, the area known as Kalinga, covering the coastal belt of Orissa, was situated between the Mahanadi to the north and the Godavari to the south. Similarly, Andhra Pradesh largely lay between the Godavari to the north and the Krishna to the south. The deltaic plains formed by these two rivers at their mouths shot into prominence by the beginning of the Christian era when they became studded with towns and ports under the Satavahanas and their successors. Finally, a major part of Tamil Nadu was situated between the Krishna to the north and the Kaveri to the south. The Kaveri valley extended in the south roughly to the Vaigai river, and in the north to the south Pennar river. It formed a distinct geographical zone and became the seat of the Chola power a little before the beginning of the Christian era. This area was different from north Tamil Nadu, which consisted of uplands and came into prominence under the Pallavas in the fourth–sixth centuries. The eastern part of the peninsula is bounded by the Coromandel coast. Although the coastline is flanked by the Eastern Ghats or steps, the ghats are not very high and have several openings caused by the eastward flow of the rivers into the Bay of Bengal. Thus communication between the eastern coast, on the one hand, and other parts of Andhra and Tamil Nadu, on the other, was not difficult in ancient times. The port cities of Arikamedu (modern name), Mahabalipuram, and Kaveripattanam were situated on the Coromandel coast. The western part of the peninsula does not have such distinct regional units. We can, however, locate Maharashtra between the Tapi (or Damanganga) to the north and the Bhima to the south. The area covered by Karnataka seems to have been situated between the Bhima and the upper regions of the Krishna to the north and the Tungabhadra to the south. For a long time, the Tungabhadra provided a natural frontier between the warring powers to its north and south. Just as the Chalukyas of Badami and the Rashtrakutas found it difficult to extend their sway to the south of the Tungabhadra, so also the Pallavas and Cholas found it difficult to extend their authority to its north. The coastal area in the extreme south-west of the peninsula was covered by the modern state of Kerala. The sea coast along the western part of the peninsula is called the Malabar coast. Although the coast came to have several ports and small kingdoms, communications between the coast and the adjoining areas of Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Kerala were rendered difficult by the Western Ghats with difficult passes to cross. In between the Indus and the Gangetic systems to the north and the Vindhya mountains to the south lies a vast stretch of land which is divided into two units by the Aravalli mountains. The area west of the Aravallis is covered by the Thar desert, although a part of Rajasthan also lies in this region. The vast expanse of the desert made human settlements impossible in ancient times. However, a few fertile oases scattered in the desert were settled, and from early times it has been possible to cross the desert on camels. The south-eastern portion of Rajasthan has been a comparatively fertile area since ancient times, and because of the existence of the Khetri copper mines in this region, it came to be settled in the Chalcolithic period. Rajasthan shades off into the fertile plains of Gujarat, which are irrigated by the waters of the Narmada, Tapi, Mahi, and Sabarmati. Situated at the end of the north-western portion of the Deccan plateau, Gujarat includes the less rainy Kathiawar peninsula. The coastal area of this state is fairly indented, and therefore suitable for the establishment of several harbours. Therefore, since ancient times, Gujarat has been famous for its coastal and foreign trade, and its people have proved to be enterprising traders. South of the Ganga–Yamuna doab, and bounded by the Chambal river to the west, the Son river on the east, and the Vindhya mountains and the Narmada river to the south, lies the state of Madhya Pradesh. Its northern part consists of fertile plains. At present, MP is the largest state in the country, and can be broadly divided into two parts, eastern and western. The eastern part, mostly covered by the Vindhyas, became historically important in Gupta times in the fourth and fifth centuries. However, western MP includes Malwa, which has been the scene of historical activities from the sixth century BC onwards. Malwa served as an impor