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 फ्री study हे तू आज ही TELIGRAM APPS download करे (Google play फ्री study हे तू आज ही TELIGRAM install करे (google play store ) LOGIN करे & OPEN करे SEARCH OPTIONS मे “MEENA" type करे फिर एक link show करे गा जजसे टच करे फिर join पर click करके ग्रप ू मे जड ु सकते है ग्रप ू मे उपलब्ध सामग्री निम्ि प्रकार है News PAPER /EMPLOYMENT NEWS/Current affairs /Bbc news/Hindu vocabulary /All book competition /Upsc ssc notes/All ncert/ignou/vardman uni/bed/engineering/Medical /computer science almost 10,000 books available in group िये TELIGRAM INSTALL करिे के ललए यहााँ जललक करें ▶️ TELIGRAM यदि पहले से TELIGRAM है तो निचे िीली लाईि टच करे ओर ग्रप ू मे जड ु े STUDY ALL IN ONE NEWSPAPERS MOVIE & NOVEL EMEMPLOYMENT NEWS  फ्री study हे तू आज ही TELIGRAM APPS download करे (Google play फ्री study हे तू आज ही TELIGRAM install करे (google play store ) LOGIN करे & OPEN करे SEARCH OPTIONS मे “MEENA" type करे फिर एक link show करे गा जजसे टच करे फिर join पर click करके ग्रप ू मे जड ु सकते है ग्रप ू मे उपलब्ध सामग्री निम्ि प्रकार है News PAPER /EMPLOYMENT NEWS/Current affairs /Bbc news/Hindu vocabulary /All book competition /Upsc ssc notes/All ncert/ignou/vardman uni/bed/engineering/Medical /computer science almost 10,000 books available in group िये TELIGRAM INSTALL करिे के ललए यहााँ जललक करें ▶️ TELIGRAM यदि पहले से TELIGRAM है तो निचे िीली लाईि टच करे ओर ग्रप ू मे जड ु े STUDY ALL IN ONE NEWSPAPERS MOVIE & NOVEL EMEMPLOYMENT NEWS  PUBLISHED BY : KALINJAR PUBLICATIONS Address : Sonu Tower, A-17, Room No. 101 Dr. Mukherjee Nagar. Delhi-9 Phone : 011 45151781, 011 45041881, Mobile No.- 08800734161 E-mail : [email protected] Website : WWW.KALINJAR.ORG D u e c a r e h a s b e e n t a k e n t o e n s u r e t h a t th e i n f o r m a t i o n p r o v i d e d i n t h i s b o o k is correct. However, the publishers bear no responsibility for any damage resulting from any inadvertent omission or inaccuracy in the book. 2014, KALINJAR TECHNOLOGIES PVT. LTD Edition : 2015 Price : ` 100/- ISBN: 9789382732785 Our Online Distributors Our Regional Offline Distributors s www.flipkart.com s Bhumi Marketing, Lucknow s www.amazon.in s Jaiswal Book Shop, Allahabad s www.paytm.com s Alka News Agency, Patna s www.infibeam.com s Vikas Book Agency, Hyderabad s UBSPD, Delhi s Saivenkatramanna, Hyderabad s Universal, Chandigarh Note: 1. All right reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publishers. 2. Any disputes arising due to any issues/issue related to the publication of this book shall be subject to the jurisdiction of Delhi Courts only. 3. All trade marks are properties of their respective owners. FOR ONLINE COACHING Visit our Websites IAS Exam— www.iasexamportal.com SSC Exam— www.sscportal.in IBPS Exam— www.bankpoclerk.com WWW.24X7COACHING.COM  Contents 1. The Harappan Culture: Bronze Age Civilization.............................................. 1 2. The Later Vedic Phase...................................................................................... 10 3. Territorial States and the First Magadhan Empire.......................................... 19 4. The Delhi Sultanate......................................................................................... 28 5. Architecture..................................................................................................... 35 6. Mughal Empire................................................................................................ 41 7. Social and Cultural Awakening in the first Half of the 19th Century............. 52 8. The Revolt of 1857........................................................................................... 60 9. Growth of New India-Religious and social reform after 1858......................... 69 10. Nationalist Movement...................................................................................... 84 11. Multiple Choice Questions............................................................................... 95 The Harappan Culture: Bronze Age Civilization 1 1 THE HARAPPAN CULTURE: BRONZE AGE CIVILIZATION THE INDUS or the Harappan culture is Harappan culture is noticeable in its mature older than the chalcolithic cultures which and flourishing stage at all these six places. have been treated earlier, but it is far more It is also found in its mature phase in the developed than these cultures. It arose in the coastal cities of Sutkagendor and Surkotada, north-western part of the Indian each one of which is marked by a citadel. The subcontinent. It is called Harappan because later Harappan phase is found in Rangpur and this civilization was discovered first in 1921 Rojdi in the Kathiawar peninsula in Gujarat. at the modern site of Harappa situated in the In addition to these, Dholavira lying in the province of West Punjab in Pakistan. It Kutch area of Gujarat shows Harappan extended from Jammu in the north to the fortification and all the three phases of the Naramada estuary in the south, and from the Harappan culture. These phases also appear Makran coast of Balcuchistan in the west to in Rakhigarhi which is situated on the Meerut in the north-east. The area formed a Ghaggar in Haryana and is much bigger than triangle and accounted for about 1,299,600 Dholavira. square kilometers. Town Planning and Structures Nearly 1500 Harappan sites are known The Harappan culture was so far in the subcontinent. Of these, the two distinguished by its system of town planning. most important cities were Harappa in Punjab Harappa and Mohenjo-daro each had its own and Mohenjodaro (literally the mound of the citadel in each city lay a lower town dead) in Sindh, both forming parts of containing brick houses, which were Pakistan. Situated at a distance of 483 inhabited by the common people. The kilometres they were linked together by the remarkable thing about the arrangement of Indus. A third city lay at Chanhu daro about the houses in the cities is that they followed 130 km south of Mohenjodaro in Sindh, and the grid system. According to it, roads cut a fourth at Lothal in Gujarat at the head of across one another alomost at right angles, the Gulf of Cambay. A fifth city lay at and the city was divided into so many blocks. Kalibangan, which means black bangles, in This is true of almost all Indus settlements. northern Rajasthan. A sixth called Banawali The most important public place of is situated in Hissar district in Haryana. It Mohenjo-daro seems to be the Great Bath, saw two cultural phases, pre-Harappan and comprising the tank which is situated in the Harappan, similar to that of Kalibangan. The citadel mound. It is an example of beautiful  2 Gist of NCERT (History) brickwork. It measures 11.88 × 7.01 metres were covered with bricks and sometimes and 2.43 metres deep. Flights of steps at ei- with stone slabs. The street drains were ther end lead to the surface. There are side equipped with manholes. Perhaps no other rooms for changing clothes. The floor of the Bronze Age civilization gave so much Batch was made of burnt bricks. It is sug- attention to health and cleanliness as the gested that the Great Bath served ritual bath- Harappan did. ing, which has been so vital to any religious Agriculture ceremony in India. The Indus people produced wheat, In Mohenjodaro the largest building is barley, rai, peas, etc. They produced two a granary, which is 45.71 metres long and types of wheat and barley. A good quantity 15.23 metres wide. But in the citadel of of barley has been discovered at Banawali. Harappa we find as many as six granaries. In addition to this they produced sesamum We come across a series of brick platforms and mustard. As 1800 B.C., the people of which formed the basis for two rows of six Lothal used rice whose remains have been granaries. Each granary measured 15.23 × 6.03 found. Foodgrains were stored in huge metres and lay within a few metres of the granaries in both Mohenjo-daro and Harappa river bank. The combined floor space of the and possibly in Kalibangan. Probably, cereals twelve units would be about 838 square were received as taxes from peasants and metres. Approximately it had the same area stored in granaries for the payment of wages as the Great Granary at Mohenjo-daro. as well as for use during emergencies. This Harappa also shows two-roomed barracks, can be said on the analogy of Mesopotamian which possibly accommodated laboures. cities where wages were paid in barley. The At Kalibangan also we notice in the indus people were the earliest people to southen part brick platforms, which may have produce cotton. Because cotton was first been used for granaries. Thus, it would peoduced in this are Greeks called it sindon, appear that granaries constituted an which is derived from Sindh. important part of the Harappan cities. Domestication of Animals The use of burnt bricks in the Hrappan cities is remarkable, because in the Although the Harappans practised contemporary buildings of Egypt mainly agriculture, animals were kept on a large dried bricks were used. We find the use of scale. Ox, buffaloes, goats, sheep and pigs baked bricks in contemporary Mesopotamia, were domesticated. The humped bulls were but they were used to a much larger extent favoured by the Harappans. From the very in the Harappan cities. The drainage system beginning dogs were regarded as pets. Cats of Mohenjo-daro was very impressive. In were also domesticated, and signs of the feet almost all cities every big or small house had of both dogs and cats have been noticed. its own courtyard and bathroom. In They also kept asses and camels, which were Kalibangan many houses had their wells. obviously used as beasts of burden. Evidence Water flowed from the house to the streets of the horse comes from a superficial level of which had drains. Sometimes these drains Mohenjo-daro and from a doubtful terracotta figuring from Lothal. The remains of the horse The Harappan Culture: Bronze Age Civilization 3 are reported from Sutkotada, situated in west from south India. The Harappans were also Gujarat, and belong to around B.C. but it is experts in bead-making. The potter’s wheel doubtful. In any case the Harappan culture was in full use, and the Harappans produced was not horse-centred. Neither the bones of their own characteristic pottery, which was horse nor its representations appear in early made glossly and shinning. and mature Harappan culture. Elephants were Trade well known to the Harappans, who were also Trade was important in the life os the acquainted with the rhinoceros. Indus people. The Harappans carried on con- Technology and Carafts siderable trade in stone, metal, shell, etc, The Harappan culture belongs to the within the Indus culture zone. However, their Bronze Age. The people of Harappa used cities did not possess the necessary raw ma- many tools and implements of stone, but they terial for the commodities they produced. were well acquainted with the manufacture They did not use metal money. Most prob- and use of bronze. Ordinarily bronze was ably they carried on all exchanges through made by the smiths by mixing tin with copper barter. In return for finished goods and pos- mines of Rajasthan, although it could also be sibly foodgrains, they procured metals from brought from Baluchistan. Tin was possibly the neighbouring area sby boats and bullock- brought with difficulty from Afghanistan. carts. They practised navigation of the coast The bronze tools and weapons recovered of the Arabian Sea. They knew the use of from the Harappan sites; contain a smaller wheel, and carts with solid wheels were in percentage of tin. However, the kit of bronze use in Harappa. The Harappa had commecial goods left by the Harappans is cosiderable, links with one area of Rajasthan, and also which suggests that the bronzesmiths with Afghanistan and Iran. They had set up constituted an important group of artisans a trading colony in northern Afghanistan which evidently facilitated trade with Cen- in the Harappan society. They produced not tral Asia. Their cities also carried commerce only images and utensils but also various tools with those in the land of the Tigris and the and weapons such as axes, saws, knives and Euphrates. Many Harappan seals have been spears. Several other important crafts discovered in Mesopotania, and it seems that flourished in the Harappan towns. A piece of the Harappans imitated some consmetics used woven cotton has been recovered from by the urban people of Mesopotamia. Mohenjo-daro, and textile) impressions found The Mesopotamia records from about on several objects. Spindle whorls were used 2350 B.C. onwards refer to trade relations for spinning. Weavers wove cloth of wool and with Meluha, which was the ancient name cotton. Huge brick structures suggest that given to the Indus region. The Mesopotamian brick-laying was an important craft. They texts speaks of two intermediate trading sta- also attest the existence of a class of masons. tions called Dilmun and Makan, which lay The Harappans also practised boat-making. between Mesopotamia and Meluha. Dilmun The goldsmiths made jewellery of silver, gold can probably be identified with Bahrain on and precious stones; the first two may have the Persian Gulf. been obtained from Afghanistan and the last  4 Gist of NCERT (History) Political Organization Harappan writing on stone seals and other We have no clear idea about the political objects. Unlike the Egyptians and organization of the Harappans. But if we take Mesopotamians, the Harappans did not write into account the cultural homegeneity of the long inscriptions. Most inscriptions were Indus civilization it can be said that this recorded on seals, and contain only a few cultural homogeneity would not have been words. Altogether we have about 250 to 400 possible to achieve without a central pictographs, and in the form of a picture each authority. letter stands for some sound, idea or object. If the Harappan cultural zone is the Harappan script is not alphabetical but considered identical with the political zone, mainly pictographic. the subcontinent did not witness such a large Weights and Measures political unit until the rise of the Maurya Numerous articles used for weights empire; the remarkable stability of this unit have been found. They show that in weighing is demonstrated by its continuity for nearly mostly 16 or its multiples were used; for 600 years. instance, 16, 64, 160, 320 and 640. Religions Practices Interestingly the tradition of 16 has continued In Harappa numerous terracotta figures in India till modern times and till recently 16 of women have been found. Probably the annas made one rupee. The harappans also image represents the goddess of earth. The knew the art of measurement. We have come Harappans, looked upon the earth as a across sticks inscribed with measure marks; fertility goddess and worshipped her. one of these is made of bronze. The Male Deity in the Indus Valley Harappan Pottery The male deity is represented on a seal. The Harappans were great experts in the This god has three horned heads. He is use of the potter’s wheel. We come across represented in the sitting postrure of a yogi, numerous pots painted in various designs. placing one foot on the other. This god is Harappan pots were generally decorated with surrounded by an elephant, a tiger, a the designs of trees and circles. The images rhinoceros, and has a buffalo below his of men also appear on some pottery throne. At his feet appear two deer. The fragments. depicted god is identified as Pushupati Seals: The greatest artistic creations of Mahadeva. the Harappan culture are the seals. About The Harappan Script 2000 seals have been found, and of these a great majority carry short in-scriptions with The Harappan invented the art of pictures of the one-horned bull, the buffalo, writing like the people of ancient the tiger, the rhinocreros, the goat and the Mesopotamia. Although the earliest specimen elephant. of Harappan script was noticed in 1853 and Images: The Harappan artisans made the complete script discovered by 1923, it has beautiful images of metal. A woman dancer not been deciphered so far. made of bronze is the best specimen. Except There are nearly 4,000 specimens of for a necklac she is naked. We get a few pieces The Harappan Culture: Bronze Age Civilization 5 of Harappan stone sculptures. One steatite sudden subsidence or uplift of the land which statue wears an ornamented robe over the caused floods. Earthquakes caused changes left shoulder under the right arm, and its in the course of the Indus which led to the short locks at the back of the head are kept inundation of fee hinterland of Mohenjo- tidy by a woven fillet. daro. And still others point out that the Origin, Maturity and End Harappan culture was destroyed by the Aryans, but there is very little evidence for The mature Harappan culture, broadly this. speaking, existed between 2550 B.C. and 1900 B.C. Throughout the period of its existence The consequences of the disintegration it seems to have retained the same kind of of the largest Bronze Age cultural entity are tools, weapons and houses. The whole style still to be clarified. We do not know whether of life appears to be uniform. We notice the the urban eclipse led to the migration of same town-planning, the same seals, the same merchants and craftsmen, and the terracotta works, and the same long chet dissemination of the elements of Harappan blades. But the view stressing changelessness technology and way of life in the countryside. cannot be pushed too far. We do notice Something is known about the post-urban changelessness cannot be pushed too far. We situation in Sindh, Punjab and Haryana. We do notice changes in the pottery of Mohenjo- find agricultural settlements inside the Indus daro over a period of time. By the region, but their connection with the nieneteenth century B.C., the two important preceding culture is not clear. We need clear cities of the Harappan culture, Harappa and and adequate information. Mohenjo-daro, disappeared but the Harappan ADVENT OF THE ARYANS AND culture at other sites faded out gradually and THE AGE OF THE RIG VEDA continued in its degenerate phase in the Original Home and Identity outlying fringes in Gujarat, Rajasthan, It Difficult to say that all the earliest Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh. Aryans belonged to one race, but their culture While the ancient cutlures of was more or less of the same type. They were Mesopotamia continued to exist even after distinguished by their common language. 1900 B.C., the urban Harappan culture They spoke the indo-European languages, disappeared at Bout that thime. Various which are current in changed forms all over causes have been suggested. It is held that Europe, Iran and the greater part of the the amount of rainfall in the Indus region Indian subcontinent Originally the Aryans slightly increased around 3000 B.C. and then seem to have lives somewhere in the steppes decreased in the earlier part of the second stretching from southern Russia to Central millennium B.C. This may have adversely Asia. Their earlist life seems to have been affected agriculture and stockbreeding. Some mainly postoral, agriculture being a describe the decline to the decreasing fertility secondary occupation. Although the Aryans on account of the increasing salinity of the used several animals, the horse played the soil caused by the expansion of the most significant role in their life. Its swiftness neighbouring desert. Others attribute it to a enabled them and some allied people to make  6 Gist of NCERT (History) successful inroads on West. Asia from about called naditama or the best of the rivers in 2000 B.C. onwards. the Rig Veda. The whole region in which the On their way to India to Aryans first Aryans first settled in Indian subcontinent is appeared in Central Asia and Iran, where the called the Land of the Seven Rivers. Indo-Iranians lived for a long time. We know Tribal Conflicts about the Aryans in India from the Rig Veda. We hear of many defeats inflicted by The term Arya occurs 36 times in this text, Indra on the enemies of the Aryans. In the and generally indicates a cultural community. Rig Veda Indra is called Purandara which The Rig Veda is the earliest text of the Indo- means that he was the breaker of forts. The European languages. It is a collection of Aryans succeeded everywhere because they prayers offered to Agni, Indra, Mitra, Verun possessed chariots driven by horses, and and others gods by various families of poets intorduced them for the first time into West or sages. It consists of ten mandalas or books, Asia and India. The Aryan soldiers were of which Books II to VII form its earlies probably equiped also with coats of mail portions. Books I and X seem to have been (vaiman) and better arms. the latest additions. According to tradition, the Aryans were The Rig Veda has many things in divided into five tribed panchajana but there common with the Avesta, which is the holdest might have been other tribes also. The text in the Iranian language. The two texts Bharatas and the Tritsu were the ruling Aryan use the same names for several gods and even clans, and they were supported by priest for social classes. But the earliest specimen Vasisththa. The country Bharatavarsha was of the Indo-European language is found in eventually named after the tribe Bharata, an inscription of about 2200 B.C. from Iraq which apperas first in the Rig Veda. The Later such specimens occur in Hittite Bharata ruling clan was opposed by a host of inscriptions in Anatolia (Turkey) from the ten chiefs, five of whom were heads of Aryan nineteenth to the seventeenth centuries B.C. tribes and the remaining five of non-Aryan Aryan names appeal in Kassijte inscriptions people. The battle that was fought between of about about 1600 B.C. from Iraq and in the Bharatas on the one hand, and the host Mitanni inscriptions of the fourteenth century of ten chiefs on the other is known as the B.C. from the Aryans appeared in India. The Battle of Ten Kings. This battle was fought earliest Aryans lived in the geographical area on the river Parushni, identical with the river covered by eastern Afghanistan, North-West Ravi and it gave victory to Sudas and estab- Frontier Province, Punjab and fringes of lished the supremacy of the Bharatas. Of the western Uttar Pradesh. Some rivers of defeated tribes, the most Important was that Afghanistan such as the river Kubha, and the of the Purus. Subequently the Bharatas joined river Indus and its five branches, are hands with the Purus and formed a new rul- mentioned in the Rig Veda. The Sindhu, ing tribe called the Kurus. The Kurus com- identical with the Indus, is the river par bined with the Panchalas, and they together excellence of the Aryans, and it is repeatedly established their rule in the upper Gangetic mentioned. Another river, the Saraswati, is basin where they played an important part in later Vedic times. The Harappan Culture: Bronze Age Civilization 7 Material Life Several tribal or the clan-based The Rig Vedic people possessed better assemblies such as the sabha, samiti, vidatha, knowledge of agriculture. Ploughshare is gana are mentioned in the Rig Veda. They mentioned in the earliest part of the Rig Veda exercised deliberative, military and religious though some consider it an interpolation. functions. Even women attended the sabha Possibly this ploughshare was made of wood. and vidatha in Rig Vedic times. But the two They were acquainted with sowing, harvest- most important assemblies were the sabha ing and threshing, and knew about the dif- and the samiti. These two were so important ferent seasons. that the chiefs or the kings showed eagerness In spite of all this there are so many ref- to win their-support. erences to the cow and the bull in the Rig In the day-to-day administration, the Veda that the Rig Vedic Aryans can be called king was assisted by a few functionaries. The predominantly a pastoral people. Most of most important functionary seems to have their wars were fought for the sake of cows. been the purohita. The two priests who The terms for war in the Rig Veda is gavishthi played a major part in the time of Rig Veda or search for cows. The cow seems to have are Vasishtha and Vishvamitra. Vishvamitra been the most important form, of wealth. The composed the gayatri mantra to widen the Rig Veda, mentions such artisans as the car- Aryan world. The next important function- penter, the chariot-maker, the weaver, the ary seems to be the senani, who used spears, leather worker, the potter, etc. axes, swords, etc. We do not come across any This indicates that they practised all officer concerned with the collection of taxes. these crafts. The term aryas used for copper Probably the chiefs received from the people or bronze show that metal-working was voluntary offerings called bnali. Presents and known. But we have no clear evidence of the spoils of war were perhaps distributed in existence of regular trade. The Aryans or the some Vedic assemblies. The Rig Veda does Vedic people were acquainted more with land not mention any officer for administering routes because the word samudra mentioned justice. Spies were employed to keep an eye in the Rig Veda mainly denotes a collection on such unsocial activities. of water. We may, therefore, this of a pre- The officer who enjoyed authority over iron phase of the PGW which coincided with a large land or pasture ground is called the Rig Vedic phase. Vrajapati. He led heads of the families called Tribal Polity kulapas, or the heads of the fighting hordes The administrative machinery of the called gramanis, to battle. In the beginning, Aryans in the Rig period worked with the the gramani was just the head of a small tribal tribal chief in the centre, because of his suc- fighting unit. But when the unit settled, the cessful leadership in war. He was called rajan. gramani became the head of the village, and It seems that in the Rig Vedic period the king’s in course of time he became identical with post had become hereditary. We have traces the Vrajapati. The king did not maintain any of election of the king by the tribal assembly regular or standing army, but in times of war called the samiti. The king was called the he mustered a militia whose military protector of his tribe. functions were performed by different tribal  8 Gist of NCERT (History) groups called vrata, gana, grama, sardlia. By assemblies. They could offer sacrifices along and large it was a tribal system of with their husbands. We have an instance of government in which the military element five women who composed hymns although was strong. the later texts mention 20 such women. Tribe and Family We also notice the practice of levirate Kinship was the basis of social structure, and widow remarriage in the Rig Veda. There and a man was identified by the clan to which are no examples of child-marriage, and the he belonged. People gave their primary loy- marriageable age in the Rig Veda seems to alty to the tribe, which was called jana. The have been 16 to 17 term jana occurs at about 275 places in the Social Divisions Rig Veda, and the term janapada or territory The Rig Veda mentions arya varna and is not used even once. The people were at- dasa varna. The tribal chiefs and the priests tached to the tribe, since the territory or the acquired a larger share of the booty, and they kingdom, was not yet established. naturally grew at the cost of their kinsmen, Another important term which stands which created social inequalities in the tribe. for the tribe in the Rig Veda is vis; it is Gradually the tribal society was divided into mentioned 170 times in that text. Probably three groups - warriors, priests and the the vis was divided into grama or smaller people - on the same pattern as in Iran. The tribal units meant for fighting. When the fourth division called the schudras appeared gramas clashed with one another it caused towards the end of the Rig Vedic period, samgrama. The most numerous varna of because it is mentioned for the first time in varishya arose out of the vis or the mass of the tenth Book of the Rig Veda, which is the the tribal people. latest addition. The term for family (kula) is mentioned In the age of the Rig Veda differentiation rarely in the Rig Veda. It comprised not only based on occupations had started. Bat this mother, father, sons, slaves, etc., but many division was not very sharp. We hear of a more people also. It seems that family in early family in which a member says: “I am a poet, Vedic phase was indicated by the term griha, my father is a physician, and my mother is a which frequently occurs in this text. In the grinder. Earning livelihood through different earliest Indo-European languages one word means we live together...” We hear of gifts is used for nephew, grandson, cousin, etc. It of cattle, chariots, horses, slaves, tec. Unequal seems that several generations of the family distribution of the sopils of war created social lived under the same roof. Because it was a inequalities, and this helped the rise of princes patriarchal society, the birth of a son was and priests at the cost of the common tribal desired again and again, and especially people. But since economy was mainly people prayed to the gods for brave sons to pastoral and not food-producing, the scope fight the wars. In the Rig Veda no desire is for collecting regular tributes from the people expressed for daughters, though the desire was very limited. We do not find gifts of land for children and cattle is a recurrent theme and even those of cereals are rare. We find in the hymns. Women could attend domestic slaves but not the wage-earners. The Harappan Culture: Bronze Age Civilization 9 Tribal elements in society were stronger and to be the god of plants and intoxi-cating drink social divisions based on collection of taxes is named after him. The maruts personify the or accumulation of landed property were storm. absent. The society was still tribal and largely This we have a large number of gods., egalitarian. who represent the different forces of nature Rig Vedic Gods in one form or another, but are also assigned The most important divinity in the Rig human activities.We also find some female Veda is Indra, who is called Purandara or divinites such as Aditi, and Ushas who breaker of forts. Indra played the role of a represented the appearance of the dawn. But varlord, leading the Aryan solidies to victory they were not prominent in the time of the against the demons. Two hundred and fifty Rig Veda; in the set-up of the period the male hymns are devoted to him. He is considered gods were far more imp[ortant than the to be the rain god and thought to be female. responsbile for causing rainfall. The dominant mode of worshipping the The second position is held by Agni (fire dos was through the recitation of prayers and god) to whom 200 hymns are devoted. Fire offering of sacrifices. Prayers played an played a significant part in the life of primitive important part in Rig Vedic times. Both people because of its use in burning forests, collective and individual prayers were made. cooking, etc. Originally every tribe or clan was the votary of a special god. It seems that prayers were The cult of fire occupied a central place not only in India but also in Iran, It Vedic offered to gods in chorus by the members of a whole tribe. This also happened in the case times Agni acted as a king of intermediary between the gods on the one hand, and the of sacrifices. Agni and Indra were invited to people on the other. The third important partake of sacrifices made by the whole tribe (jana). Offerings of vevetables, barely, etc. position is occupied by Varuna who personified water. Varuna was supposed to were made to gods. But in Rig Vedic times the process was not accompanied by any ritual uphold the natural order, and whatever happened in the world was thought to be the or sacrificial formulae. They asked mainly for praja (children), pashu (cattle), food, wealth, reflection of his desires. Soma was considered health, etc.  10 2 Gist of NCERT (History) THE LATER VEDIC PHASE EXPANSION IN THE life of the people in the first half of the first LATER VEDIC PERIOD (C. 1000-500 B.C.) millennium B.C. in western Uttar Pradesh THE HISTORY of the later Vedic period and adjoining areas of Punjab, Haryana and is based mainly on the Vedic texts which were Rajasthan. compiled after the age of the Rig Veda. The The texts show that the Aryans collections of the Vedic hymns or mantras expanded from Punjab over the whole of were known as the Samhitas. For purposes western Uttar Pradesh covered by the of recitation, the prayers of the Rig Veda were Ganga-Yamuna doab. The Bharatas and set to tune, and this modified collection was Purus, the two major tribes, combined and known as the Sama Veda Samhita. In addition thus formed the Rum people. In the beginning to the Sama Veda. in post-Rig Vedic times two they lived between the Sarasvati and the other collections were: composed. These were Drishadvati just on the fringe of the doab. - the Yajur Veda Samhita and the Atharva Soon the Kurus occupied Delhi and the upper Veda Samhita. The Yajur Veda contains not portion of the doab, the area called only hymns but also rituasls which have to Kurukshetra or the land of the Kurus. accompany their recitation. The Atharva Veda Gradually they coalesced with a people called contains charms and spells to ward off evils the Panchalas, who occupied the middle and diseases. The Vedic Samhitas were portion of the doab. The authority of the followed by the composition of a series of Kuru-Panchala people spread over Delhi, and texts known as the Brahmanas. These are full the upper and middle portion of the doab. of ritualistic formulae and explain the social The authority of the Kuru-Panchala people and religious meaning of rituals. spread over Delhi, and the upper and middle All these later Vedic texts were complied parts of the doab. They set up their capital at in the upper Gangetic basin in circa 1000-500 Hastinapur situated in the district of Meerut. B.C. These are called Painted Grey Ware The history of the Kuru tribe is important (PGW) sites because they were inhabited by for the battle of Bharata, which is the main people who used earthern bowls and dishes theme of the great epic called the made of painted grey pottery. They also used Mahabharata. This war is supposed to have iron weapons. With the combined evidence been fought around 950 B.C. between, the from the later Vedic texts and PGW iron- Kauravas and the Pandavas, although both phase archaeology we can fom an idea of the of them belonged to the Kuru clan. As a result The Later Vedic Phase 11 practically the whole of the kuru clan was in Punjab and western Uttar Pradesh. For the wiped out. first time the Vedic people came to be Towards the end of the later Vedic acquainted with rice in the doab. It is called period, around 600 B.C. the Vedic people vrihi in the Vedic texts, and its remains spread from the board further east of Koshala recovered from Hastinapur belong to the in eastern Uttar Pradesh and videha in north eighth century B.C. The use of rice is Bihar. Although Koshala is associated with recommended in Vedic rituals, but that of the story of Rama, it is not mentioned in Vedic wheat only rarely. literature. Agriculture and various crafts enabled The UGW-Iron Phase the later Vedic people to lead a settled life. Culture and Later Vedic Economy Excavations and explorations give us some Around 1000 B.C. iron appears in idea about settlements in later Vedic times. Dharwar district in Karnataka. Excavations Widespread Painted Grey Ware sites are show that iron weapons such as arrow-heads found not only in western Uttar Pradesh and and spear-heads came to be commonly used Delhi, which was the Kuru-Panchala area but in western Uttar Pradesh from about 800 B.C. also in the adjoining paras of Punjab and onwards. With iron weapons the Vedic people Haryana, which was the Madras area and in may have defeated the few adversaries that those of Rajasthan, which was the Matsya may have faced them in the upper portion of area. Also we can court nearly 700 sites, the doab. Towards the end of the Vedic mostly belonging to the upper Gangetic basin. period kjowledge of iron spread in eastern Althoug the term nagara is used in later Uttar Pradesh and Videha. The earliest iron Vedic texts we can trace only the faint implements discovered in this area belong to beginnings of towns towards the end of the the seventh Century B.C., and the metal itself later Vedic period. Hastinapur and is called shyama or krishna ayas in the later Kaushambi near Allahabad) can be regarded Vedic texts. as primitive towns belonging to the end of Although very few agricultural tools the Vedic period. They may be called made of iron have been found, undoubtedly protourban sites. agriculture was the chief means of livelibood Political Organization of the later Vedic people. The Shatapatha In later Vedic times Rig Vedic popular Brahmana speaks at length about the assemblies lost importance, and royal power ploughing rituals. According to ancient increased at their cost The vidatha completely legends, janaka, the king of Videha and father disappeared. The sabha and samiti continued of Sita, lent his hand to the plought. In later to hold the ground, but their character times ploughing came to be prohibited, for changed. They came to be dominated by the members of the upper vernas. chiefs and rich nobles. Women were no longer The Vedic people continued to produce permitted to sit on the sabha, and it was now barly, but during this period rice and wheat dominated by nobles and brahmanas. became their chief crops. In subsequent times The formation of bigger kingdoms made wheat became the staple food of the people the chief or the king more powerful. Tribal  12 Gist of NCERT (History) authority tended to become territorial. the administration was possibly carried on Princes or chiefs ruled over tribes, but the the village assemblies, which may have been dominant tribes gave their names to controlled by the chiefs of the dominant territories, which might be inhabited by clans. tribes other than their own. In the beginning Social Organization each area was named after the tribe which The later Vedic society came to be settled there first. At first Panchala was the divided into four vernas called the name of a people, and then it became the brahmans, rajanyas or kahatriyas, vaishyas name of a region. The term rashtra, which and shudras. The growing cult of sacrificed indicates territory, first appears in this enormously added to the power of the period. brahmanas. Traces of the election of the chief or the The vaishyas constituted the common king appear In later Vedic texts. Other people, and they were assigned to do the qualities was elected raja. He received producing functions such as agriculture, voluntary presents called bali from his cattle-breeding, etc. Some of them also ordinary kinsmen or the common people worked as artisans. Towerds the end of the called the vis. But the chief tried to perpetuate Vedic period they began to engage in trade. the right to receive presents and enjoy other The vaishyas appear to be the only tribute- privileges pertaining to his office by making ayers in later Vedic times, and the brahmanas it hereditary in his family; the post generally and kahatriyas are represented as living on went to the eledest son. However, this the tributes collected from the vaishyas. This succession was not always smooth. was done with, the help of the priests who The kings influence was strengthened also fattened at the cost of people or the by rituals. He performed the rajasuya vaishyas. All the three higher varnas shared sancrifice, which was supposed to confer su- one common feature: they were entitled to preme power on him. He performed the upanayana or investiture with the sacred ashvamedha, which meant unquestioned con- thread according to the Vedic mantras. The trol over an are in which the royal horse ran fourth varna was deprived of the sacred uninterrupted. He also performed the thread ceremony and the recitation of the vajapeya or the chariot race, in which the gayatri mantra and with this began the royal chariot was made to win the race imposition of disabilities on the shudra. against his kinsmen. All these rituals im- pressed the people with the increasing power Generally the later Vedic texts draw a and prestige of the king. line of demarcation between the three higher orders on the one hand, and the shudras on During this period collection of taxes the other. There were, nevertheless several and tributes seems to have become common. public rituals connected with the coronation They were probably deposited with an officer of the king in which the shudras participated, called sangrihitri. In the discharge of his presumably as survivors of the original Aryan duties the king was assisted by the priest, people. Certain sections of artisans such as the commander, the chief queen and a few- rathakara or chariotmaker enjoyed a high other high functionaries. At the lower level, The Later Vedic Phase 13 status, and were entitled to the sacred thread creator, came to occupy the supreme position ceremony. Therefore, even in later Vedic times in the later Vedic pantheon. Some of the other varna distinctions had not advanced very far. minor gods of the Rig Vedic period also came In the family we notice the increasing to the forefront. Rudra, the god of animals, power of the father, who could even became important in later Vedic times, and disinherit his son. In princely families the Vishnu came to be conceived as the preserver right of primogeniture was getting stronger. and protector of the people. In addition, some Male ancestors came to be worshipped. objects began to be worshipped as symbols Women were generally given a lower of vidinity; signs of idolatry appear in later position. Althoug some women theologians Vedic times. Pushan, who was supposed to tookpart in philosophic discussion and some look after cattle, came to be regarded as the queens participated in coronation rituals, god of the shudras. ordinarily women were thought to be People worshiped gods for the same inferior and subordinate to men. material reasons in this period as they did in The institution of gotra appeared in later earlier times. However, the mode of worship Vedic times. Literally it means the cow-pen changed considerably. Prayers continued to or the place where cattle belonging to the be recited. Sacrifices became far more whole clan are kept, but in course of time it important, and they assumed both public and signified descent from a common ancestor. domestic character. People began to practise gotra exogamy. No Sacrifices involved the killing of animals marriage could take place between persons on a large scale and, especially the belonging to the same gotra or having the desctruction of cattle wealth. The guest was same lineage. known as goghna or one who was fed on Ashramas or four stages of life were not cattle. Sacrifices were accompanied by well established in Vedic times. In the post- formulae which had to be carefully Vedic texts we hear of four ashramas-that of pronounced by the sacrificer. The sacrificer Brahmachari or student, grihastha or was known as the yajamana, the performer, householder, vanaprastha or hermit and of yajna, and much of his success depended sannyasin or ascetic who completely on the magical power of words uttered renounced the worldly life. Only the first correctly in the sacrifices. three are mentioned in the later Vedic texts; In addition to cows, which were usually the last or the fourth stage had not been well given as sacrificial gifts, gold, cloth and horses established in later Vedic times though ascetic were also given. Sometimes the priests life was not unknown. Even in post-Vedic claimed poetions of territory as dakshina, times only the stage of the housholder was The Shatapatha brahmana states that in the commonly practised by all the varnas. ashvamedha, north, south, east and west all Good, Rituals said Philosophy should be given to the priest. The two outstanding Rig Vedic gods, Towards the end of the Veclie period Indra and Agni, lost thieir former began a strong reaction against priestly Importance. On the other hand, Prajapati the domination, against cults and rituals,  14 Gist of NCERT (History) especially in the land of the Panchalas and attached to birth in the varna system. The Videha where, around 600 B.C., the kshatriya reaction against the domination of Upanishads were compiled. These the priestly class called brahmanas, who philosophical texts criticized the rituals and claimed various privileges, was one of the laid stress on the value of right belief and causes of the origin of new religions. knowledge. They emphasised that the Vardhamana Mahavira, who founded knowledge of the self or atman should be Jainism, and Gautama Budha, who founded acquired and the relation of atman with Buddhism belonged to the kshatriya clan, and Brahma should be properly understood. both disputed the authority of the JAINISM AND BUDDHISM brahmanas. NUMEROUS religious, sects arose in the But the real cause of the rise of these middle Gangetic plains in the second half of new religions lay in the spread of a new the sixth century B.C. Of these sects Jainism agricultural economy in north-eastern India. and Buddhism were the most important, and In the middle Gangeic plains, large-scale they emerged as the most potent religious habitations began in about 600 B.C., when reform movements. iron came to be used in this area. The use of iron tools made possible clearance, Causes of Origin agriculture and large settlements. The In post-Vedic times society was clearly agricultural economy based on the iron divided into four varnas: brahmanas, ploughshare required the use of bullocks, and kshtriyas, vaishyas and shudras. Each varna it could not flourish without animal was assigned well-defined functions, husbandry. But the Vedic practice of killing although it was emphasised that varna was cattle indiscriminately in sacrifices stood in based on birth. The brahmanas, who were the way of the progress of new agriculture. given the functions of priests and and But if the new agrarian economy had to be teachers, claimed the highest status in society. stable, this killing had to be stopped. The kshatriyas ranked second in the varna The period saw the rise of a large heiracrchy. The vaishyas were engagerd in number of cities in north-eastern India. We agriculture, cattle-rearing and trade. may refer, for example, to Kaushambi near They appear as principal taxpayers. The Allahabad, Kusinagar (in Deoria district of shudras were meant for servint the three Uttar Pradesh). higher varnas, and along with women were Banaras, Vaishali (in the newly created barred from taking to Vedic studies. district of the same name in north Bihar), Naturally the varna-divided society Chirand (in Saran district) and Rajgir seems to have generated tensions. We have (situated at a distance of about 100 km south- no means to find out the reactions of the east of Patna). Besides others these cities had vaishyas and the shudras. But the kshatriyas, many artisans and traders, who began to use who functioned as rulers, reacted strongly coins for the first time. The earliest coins against the ritualistic domination of the belong to the fifth century B.C., and they are brahmanas, and seem to have led a kind of called punch-marked coins. They circulated protest movement against the importance The Later Vedic Phase 15 for the first time in eastern Uttar Pradesh and became an ascetic. In the thirteenth year, Bihar. The use of coins naturally facilitated when he had reached the age of 42, he trade and commerce, which added to the attained kaivalya. importance of the vaishyas. In the Through kaivalyahe conquered misery brahmanical society the vaishyas ranked and happiness. Because of this conquest he is third, the first two being brahmanas and known as Mahavira or the great hero or jina, kshatriyas. Naturally they looked for some i.e. the conqueror, and his followers are religion which would improve their position. known as Jainas. He propagated his religion Vardhmana Mahavira and Jainism for 30 years, and his mission took him to According to the Jainas, the origin of Koshala, Magadha, Mithila, Champa, etc. He Jainism goes back to very ancient times. They passed away at the age of 72 in 468 B.C. at a believe in twenty-four tirthankaras or great place called Pavapuri near modern Rajgir. teachers or leaders of their religion. The first According to another tradition, he was born tirthankara is believed to be Rishabhadev in 599 B.C. and passed away in 527 B.C. who was born in Ayodhya. He is said to have Doctrines of Jainism laid the foundations for orderly human Jainism taught five doctrines: (i) do not society. The last, twenty-fourth, tirthankara, commit violence, (ii) do not speak a lie, (ii) was Vardhamana Mahavira who was a do not steal, (iv) do not acquire property, and contem-porary of Gautama Buddha. The (v) observe continence (brahmacharya. It is twenty-third tirthankara was Parshvanath said that only the fifth doctrine was added who was born in Varanasi. He gave up royal by Mahavira: the other four were taken over life and became an ascetic. Many teachings by him from previous teachers. Jainism of Jainism are attributed to him. According attached the utmost importance to ahmsa or to Jaina tradition, he lived two hundred years non-injury to living beings in later times, before Mahavira. Mahavir is said to be the Jainism was divided into two sects: twenty-fourth. shvetambaras or those who put on white According to one tradition, dress, and digmbaras or those who keep Vardhamana Mahavira was born is 540 B.C. them-selves naked. in a village called Kundagrama near Vaishali, Jainism mainly aims at the attainment which is identical with Basarh in the district of freedom from worldly bonds. No ritual is of Vaishali, in north Bihar. His father required for acquiring such liberation. It can Siddhartha was the head of a famous be obtained through right knowledge, right kshatriya clan called Jnatrika and the ruler faith and right action. These three are of his own area. Mahavira’s mother was considered to be the Three Jewels or triratna named Trishala, sister of the Lichchhavi chief of Jainism. Chetaka, whose daughter was wedded to Jainnism prohibited the practice of war Bimbisara. and even agriculture for its followers because In the biginning, Mahavira led the life both involve the killing of living beings. of a householder, but in the search for truth Eventually the Jainas mainly confined he abandoned the world at the age of 30 and themselves to trade and mercantile activities.  16 Gist of NCERT (History) Spread of Jaiaism Jaina monastic establishments called basadis In order to spread the teachings of sprang up in Karnataka and were granted Jainism, Mahavira organized an order of his land by the king for their support. followers which admitted both men and Jainism spread to Kalinga in Orissa in women. According to a late tradition, the the fourth century B.C., and in the first cenury spread of Jainism in Karnataka is attributed B.C. it enjoyed the patronage of the Kalinga to Chandragupta Maurya (322-298 B.C.). The king Kharavela who had defeated the princes emperor became a Jaina, gave up his throne of Andhra and Magadha. and spent the last years of his life in Karnataka Contribution of Jainism as a Jaina ascetic. The second cause of the Jainism made the first serious attempt spread of Jainism in south India is said to be to mitigate the evils of the varna order and the great famine that took place in Magadha the ritualistic Vedic religion. The early Jainas 200 years after the death of Mahavira. The discarded Sanskrit language mainly faminie lasted for twelve years, and in order patronized by the brahmanas. They adopted to protect themselves many a Jaina went to Prakrit language of the common people to the south under the leadership of preach their doctrines. Their religious Bhadrabahu, but the rest of them stayed back literature was written in Ardhamagadhi, and in Magadha under the leadership of texts were finally compiled in the sixth Sthalabahu. century A.D. in Gujarat at a place called The emigrant Jainas spread Jainism in Valabhi, a great centre of Education. The south India. At the end of the famine they adoption of Prakrit by the Jainas heed the came back to Magadha, where they growth of this language and its literature. developed differences with the local Jainas. Many regional languages developed out of Those who came back from the south claimed Pakrit languages, particularly Shauraseni, out that even during the famine they had strictly of which grew of Marathi language. They observed the religious rules; on the other contributed to the growth of Kananads, in hand, they alleged, the Jaina ascetics living which they wrote extensively. in Magadha had violated those rules and had Gautam Budhda and Buddhism become lax. In order to sort out these differences and to compile the main teachings Gautama Buddha or Siddhartha was a of Jainism a council was convened in contrmporary of Mahavira. According to Pataliputra, modern Patna, but the southern tradition he was born in 563 B.C. in a Shakya Jainas boycotted the council and refused to kshatriya family in Lumbini in Nepal near accept its decisions. From now onwards, the Kapilvastu, which is a identified with southerns began to be called digambaras, and Piprahwa in Basti district and close to the the Magadhans shvetambaras. However, foothills of Nepal. Gautama’s father seems epigraphic evidence for the spread of Jainism to have been the elected ruler of Kapilvastu, in karnataka is not earlier than the third and headed the republican clan of the century A.D. In subsequent centuries, Shakyas. His mother was a princess from the especially after the fifth century, numerous Koshala dynasty. Thus, like Mahavira, Gautama also belonged to a noble family.At The Later Vedic Phase 17 the age of 29, like Mahavira again, he left be taken as a kind of reovlution in the history home. He kept on wandering for about seven of Indian religions. It particularly won trie years and then attained knowledge at the age support of the lower orders as it attacked of 35 at Bodh Gaya under a pipel tree. From the varna system. People were taken into the this time onwards he began to be called the Buddhist order without any consideration of Buddha or the enlightened, Gautam Buddha caste. Women also were admitted to the delivered his first sermons at Sarnath in sangha and thus brought on par with men. Banaras, passed away at the age of 80 in 483 In comparison with Brahmanism, Buddhism B.C. at a place called Kusinagar, identical with was liberal and democratic. the village called Kasia in the district of Deoria The use of Pali, the language of the in eastern Uttar Pradesh. peopel, also contributed to the spread of Doctrines of Buddhism Buddhism. It facilitated the spread of Gautama Buddha recommended an Buddhist doctrines among the common eight-fold path (ashtangika marga) for the people. Gautama Buddha also organized the elimination of human misery. This path is sangha or the religious order, whose doors attributed to him in a text of about the third were kept open to every body, irrespective century B.C. It comprised right observation, of caste and sex. The only condition required right determination, right speech, right of the the monks was that they would action, right livelibood, right execise, right faithfully observe the rules and regulations memory and right meditation. If a person of the sangha. Once they were enrolled as follows this eight fold path he would not members of the Buddhist Church they had depend on the machinations of the priests, to take the vow of continence, poverty and and will be able to reach his destination. faith. So there are three main elements in Gautama taught than a person should avoide Buddhism: Buddha, sangha and dhamma. the excess of both luxury and a austerity. He The monarchies of Magadha, Koshala and prescribed the middle path. Kaushambi and several republican states and their people adopted this religion. The Buddha also laid down a code of conduct for his followers on the same lines Two hundred years after the death of as was done by the Jaina teachers. The main the Buddha, the famous Maurya king Ashoka items in these social conduct are: (i) do not embraced Buddhism. This was an epoch- cover the propert of others, (ii) do not com- making event. Through his agents Ashoka mit violence, (iii) do not use intoxicants, (iv) spred Buddhism into Central Asia, West Asia do not speak a lie, and (v) do not indulge in and Sri Lanka, and thus transformed it into corrupt practices. These techining are com- a world religion. Even today Sri Lanka, mon to the social conduct ordinend by al- Burma (Myanmar), Tibet and parts of China most all religons. and Japan, profess Buddhism Although. Special Features of Importance and Influence of Buddhism Buddhism and the Causes of Its Spread Despite its ultimate disppearance as an Buddhism does not recognize the organized religion, Buddhism left its abiding existence of god and soul (atman). This can mark on the history of India. The Buddhist  18 Gist of NCERT (History) showed a keen awareness of the problems Buddha, the second deals with the rules to that faced the people of north-east India in be observed by members of thesangha, and the the sixxth century B.C. the third presents the philosophical exposition Undoubtedly the objective of the of the dhamma. In the first three centuries of Buddhist teaching was to secure the salvation the Charistian era, by mixing Pali with San- of the individual or nirvana. skrit the Buddhists created a new language Buddhism made an important impact on which is called Hybrid Sanskrit. The literary society by keeping its doors open to women activities of the Buddhist monks continued and shudras. Since both women and shudras even in the Middle Ages, and some famous were placed in the same category by Apabhrams writing in east India were Brahmanism, they were neither given scred composed by them. The Buddhist thread nor allowed to read the Vedas. Their monasteries developed as great centres of conversion to Buddhism freed them from such learning, and can be called-residential marks of inferiority. universities. Mention may be made of With its emphasis on non-violence and Nalanda and Vikramashila in Bihar, and the sanctity of animal life, Buddhism boosted Valabhi in Gujrat. the cattle wealth of the country. The earliest Buddhism left its mark on the art of Buddhist text Suttanipata declares the cattle ancient India. The first human statues to be givers of food, beauty and happiness worshipped in India were probably those of (annada, Vannada, sukhada), and thus pleads the Buddha. From the first century A.D. for their protection. This teaching came onwards the panel images of Gautama significantly at a time when the non-Aryans Buddha began to be made. The Greek and slaughtered animals for food, and the Aryans the Indian sculptors worked together to in tghe name of religion. create a new kind of art on the north-west Buddhism created and developed a new frontier of India, which is known as the awareness in the field of intellect and culture. Gandhara art. For the residence of the monks They enormously enriched Pali by their rooms were hewn out of the rocks, and thus writings. The early Pali literature can be began the cave archtecture in the Barabar hills divided into three categories. The first in Gaya and in western India acround Nasik. contains the sayings and teachings of the Buddhist art flourished in the Krishna delta in the south and in Mathura in the north. The Later Vedic Phase 3 19 TERRITORIAL STATES AND THE FIRST MAGADHAN EMPIRE The Mahajanapadas eastern Uttar Pradesh and had its capital at In the age of the Buddha we find 16 Shravasti, which is identical with Sahet-Mahet large states called Mahajanapadas, They were on the borders of Gonda and Bahraich mostly situated north of the Vindhyas and districts in Uttar Pradesh. But we see the extended from the north-west frontier to beginnings of a mud fort. Koshala contained Bihar. Of these Magadha, Koshala, Vatsa and an important city called Ayodhya, which is Avanti seem to have been considerably associated with the story in the Ramayana. powerful. Beginning from the east we hear Koshala also included the tribal republican of the kingdom of Anga which covered the territory of the Shaky as of Kapilvastu. The modern districts of Monghyr and Bhagalpur. capital of Kapilavastu has been identified It had its capital at Champa, Eventually the with Piprahwa in Basti district. Lumbini, kingdom, of Anga was swallowed by its which lies at a distance of 15 km from powerful neighbour Magadha. Piprahwa in Nepal served as another capital Magadha embraced the former districts of the Shakyas. In an Ashokan inscription it of patna, Gaya and parts of Shahbad, and is called the birthplace of Gautama Buddha grew to be the leading state of the time. and it was here that he was brought up. North of the Ganga in the division of Tirhut In the neighbourhood of Koshala lay the was the state of the Vajjis which included republican clan of the Mallas, One of the capi- eight clans. But the most powerful were the tals of the Mallas lay at Kushinara where Lichchhavis with their capital at Vaishali Gautama Buddha passed away. Kushinara is which is identical with the village of Basarh identical with Kasia in Deoria district. Fur- in the district of Vaishali. The Purnas push ther west lay the kingdom of the Vatsas, the antiquity of Vaishali to a much earlier along the bank of the Yamuna, with its capi- period, but archaeologically Basarh was not tal at Kaushambi near Allahabad. The Vatsas settled until the sixth century B.C. were a Kuru clan who had shifted from Further west we find the kingdom of Hastinapur and settled down at Kaushambi. Kashi with its capital at Varanasi. In the Kaushambi was chosen because of its loca- beginning Kashi appears to be the most tion near, the confluence of the Ganga and powerful of the states, but eventually it had the Yamuna. We also hear of the older states to submit to the power of Koshala. of the Kurus and the Panchalas which were situated in western Uttar Pradesh, but they Koshala embraced the area occupied by no longer enjoyed the political importance  20 Gist of NCERT (History) which they had attained in the later Veidc 544 B.C. to 492 B.C. He was succeeded by period. his son Ajatashatru (492-460 B.C.). Ajatashatru In central Malwa and the adjoining parts killed his father and seized the throne for of Madhya Pradesh lay the state of the himself. Throughout his reign he pursued an Avantis. It was divided into two parts. The aggressive policy of expansion. This northern part had its capital at Uggain, and provoked against him a combination of Kashi the southern part at Mahishamati. and Koshala. There began a prolonged Rise and Growth of the Magadha Empire conflict between Magadha and Koshala. Ultimately Ajatashatru got the best of the Magadha came into prominence under war, and the Koshalan king was compelled the leadership of Bimbisara, who belonged to purchase peace by giving his daughter in to the Haryanka dynasty. He was a marriage to Ajatashatru and leaving him in contemporary of the Buddha. He started the sole possession of Kashi. policy of conquest and aggression which ended with the Kalinga war of Ashoka. Although his mother was a Lichchhavi Bimbisara acquired Anga and placed it under princess, this did not prevent him from the viceroyaity of his son Ajatashatru at making war against Vaishli. He created Champa. He also strengthened his position dissensions in the ranks of the Lichchhavis by marriage alliances. He took three wives. and finally destroyed their independence by His first wife was the daughter of the king invading their territory and by defeating of Koshala and the sister of Parsenajit. His them in battle. It took him full 16 years to second wife Chellana was a Lichchhavi destroy Vaishali. Eventually he succeeded in princess from Vaishali who gave birth to doing so because of a war engine which was Ajatashatru and his third wife was the used to throw stones like catapults. He also daughter of the chief of the Madra clan of possessed a chariot to which a mace was Punjab. attahced, and it facilitated mass killings. The Magadhan empire was thus enlarged with the Magadha’s most serious rival was addition of Kashi and Vaishali. Avanti with its capital at Ujjain. Its king Chanda Pradyota Mahasena fought Ajatashatru faced a stronger rival in the Bimbisara, but ultimately the two thought it ruler of Avanti. Avanti had defeated the wise to become friends. Later when Pradyota Vatsas of Kaushambi and now threatened an was attacked by jaundice, at the Avanti king’s invasion of Magadha. To meet this danger request Bimbisara sent the royal physician Ajatashatru began the fortification of Rajgir. Jivaka to Ujjain. The remins of the walls can be still seen. However, trie invasion did not materialize The earliest capital of Magadha was at in his lifetime. Rajgir, which was called Girivraja at that time. If was surrounded by five hills, the openings Ajatashatru was succeeded by Udayin in which were closed by stone-walls on all (460-444 B.C.) His reign is important because sides. This made Rajgir impregnable. he built the fort upon the confluence of the According to the Buddhist chronicles, Ganga and Son at Patna. This was done Bimbisara ruled for 52 years. roughly from because Patna lay in the centre of the Territorial States and the First Magadhan Empire 21 Magadhan kingdom, which now extended speaks of the existence of a kshatriya clan from the Himalayas in the north to the hills called Mauryas living in the region of of Chotanagpur in the south. Gorakhpur adjoining the Nepalese terai. In Udayin was succeeded by the dynasty all likelihood, Chandragupta was a member of Shishunagas, who temporarily shifted the of this clan. He took advantage of the capital to Vaishali. Their greatest achievement growing weakness and unpopularity of the was the destruction of the power of Avanti Nandas in the last days of their rule. With with its capital at Ujjain. This brought to an the help of Chanakya, who is known as end the 100 year old rivalry between Kautilya, he overthrew the Nandas and Magadha and Avanti. From now onwards established the rule of the Maurya dynasty. Avanti became a part of the Magadhan empire The machinations of Chanakya against and continued to be so till the end of the Chandragupta’s enemies are described in Maurya rule. detail in the Mudrarakshasa, a drama written The Shishunagas were succeeded by the by Vishakhadatta in the ninth century. Several Nandas, who proved to be the most powerful plays have been based on it in modern times. rulers of Magadha. So great was their power Justin, a Greek writer, says that that Alexander, who invaded Punjab at that Chandragupta overran the whole of India time, did not dare to move towards the east. with an army of 600,000. But Chandragupta The nandas added to the Magadhan power liberated north-western India from the by conquering Kalinga from where they thraldom of Selucus, Chandragupta thus built brought an image of the Jina as a victory up a vast empire which included not only trophy. All this took place in the reign of Bihar and good portions of Orissa and Bengal Mahapadma Nanda. He claimed to be ekarat, but also western and northwestern India, and the sole sovereign who destroyed all the the Deccan. Leaving Kerala, Tamil nadu and other ruling princes. It seems that he acquired parts of north-easrtern India the Mauryas not only Kalinga but also Koshala which had ruled over the whole of the subcontinent. In probably rebelled against him. the north-west they held sway over certain The later Nandas turned out to be weak areas which were not included even in the and unpopular. Their rule in Magadha was British empire. supplanted by that of the Maurya dynasty Imperial Organization under which the Magadhan empire reached The Mauryas organized a very elaborate the apex of glory. system of administration. We know about it THE AGE OF THE MAURYAS from the account of Megasthenes and the Chandragupta Maurya Arthashastra of Kautilya. Megasthenes was a Greek ambassador sent by Seleucus to the THE MAURYA dynasty was founded by court of Chandragupta Maurya. He lived in Chandragupta Maurya, who seems to have the Maurya capital of Pataliputra and wrote belonged to some ordinary family. According an account not only of the administration of to the brahmanical tradition he was born of the city of Pataliputra but also of the Maurya Mura, a shudra woman in the court of the empire as a whole. The account of Nandas. But an earlier Buddhist tradition  22 Gist of NCERT (History) Megasthenes have been published in the form Ashoka (273-232 B.C.) of a book called Indika, which throws Chandragupta Maurya was succeeded valuable light on the administration, society by Bindusara, whose reign is important for and economy of Maurya times. The account continued links with the Greek princes. His of Megasthenes can be supplemented by the son, Ashoka, is the greatest of the Maurya Arthashastra of Kautilya. Arthashastra gives rulers. According to Buddhist tradition he authentic information about the Maurya was so cruel in his early life that he killed his administration and economy. On the basis of 99 brothers to get the throne. But since the these two sources we can draw a picture of statement is based on a legend, it may well the administrative system of Chandra-gupta be wrong. His biography, prepared by Maurya. If we believe in a statement of the Buddhist writerters, is so full of finction that Arthashastra, the king had set a high ideal it cannot be taken seriously. the happiness of his subjects lay his happiness Ashokan Inscriptions and in their troubles lay his troubles. The history of Ashoka is reconstructed According to Megasthenes the king was on the basis of his inscriptions. These assisted by a council. incriptions, numbering 39, are classified into The empire was divided into a number Major Rock Edicts, Minor Rock Edicts, of provinces, and each province was placed Separate Rock Edicts, Major Pillar Edicts and under a prince who was a scion of the royal Minor Pillar Edicts. The name of Ashoka dynasty. The provinces were divided into occurs only in copies of Minor Rock Edict still smaller units, and arrangements were found at three places in Karnataka and at one made for both rural and urban administration. in Madhya Pradesh. Excavations The administration Pataliputra, which was the capital of the Mauryas, was All the other inscriptions mention only devanamptya piyadasi, dear to gods, and carried on by six committees, each committee leave out the word Ashoka. The Ashokan consisting of five members. These committees were entrusted with sanitation, care of inscriptions are found in India, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Altogether they foreigners, registration of birth and death, regulation of weights and measures and appear at 47 places, and their total versions number 182. They were generally placed on similar other functions. ancient highways. Composed in Prakrit, they The most striking feature of Chandra- were writtne in Brahmi script in the greater gupta’s administration is the maintenance of part of the subcontinent. But in its north- a Huge army. According to the account of a western part they appeared in Aramaic Roman writer called Poiny, Chandragupta language and Kharoshthi script, and in the maintained 600,000 foot-soldiers, 30,000 cav- alry and 9000 elephants the Mauryas also Afghanistan they were written in both maintained a navy. The administration of the Aramaic and Greek scripts and languages. He armed forces, according to Megasthenes, was is the first Indian king to speak directly to carried on by a board of 30 officers divided the people through his inscriptions which into six committees, consisting of five mem- carry royal orders. The inscriptions throw bers. light on the career of Ashoka, his external Territorial States and the First Magadhan Empire 23 and domestic polices, and the extent of his appointed a class of officers known as the empire. rajukas, who were vested with the authority Impact of the Kalinga War of not only rewarding people but also The ideology of Buddhism guided punishing them, wherever necessary. Ashoka’s state policy at home and abroad. Internal Policy and Buddhism After his accession to the throne, Ashoka Ashoka was converted to Buddhism as fought only one major war called the Kalinga a result of the Kalinga war. According to War. According to him, 100,000 people were tradition hs became a monk, made huge gifts killed in this war, several lakhs perished, and to the Buddhists and undertook pilgrimages 150,000 were taken prisoners. At any rate it to the Buddhist shrines. The fact of his visiting seems that the king war moved by the the Buddhist shrines is also suggested by the massacre in this war. So he abandoned the dhamma yatras mentioned in his inscriptions. policyof physical occupation in favour of According to tradition the Buddhist council policy of cultural conquest. In other words, (Sangiti) was held by Ashoka and missionaries bherighosha was replaced with dhamma- were sent not only to south India but also to ghosha. We quote below the worlds of Sri Lanka, Burma and other countries to Ashoka from his Thirteenth Major Rock covert the people there. Brahmi inscriptions Edict: of the second and first centuries B.C. have Ashoka no longer treated foreign been found Sri Lanka. dominions as legitimate areas for military Ashoka set a very high ideal for himself, conquest. He tried to conquer them and this was the ideal of paternal kingship. ideologically. He took steps for the welfare He repeatedly asked his officials to tell the of men and animals in foreigh lands, which subjects that the king looked upon them as was a new thing considering the condition his children. As agents of the king, the official of those days. He sent ambassadors of peace were also asked to take care of the people. to the Greek kingdoms in West Asia and Ashoka appointed Dhammama-hamatras for Greece. He sent mission-aries for the propagating dharma among various social propagation of Buddhism to Sri Lanka and groups including women. He also appointed Central Asia. As an enlightened ruler Ashoka rajukas for the administration of justice in his tiled to enlarge his area of political influence empire. through propaganda. He disapporved of rituals, especially It would be wrong to think that the those observed by women. He forbade Kalinga war made Ashoka an extreme killing certain birds and animals, and pacifist. On the other hand he adopted a completely prohibited the slaughter of practical policy of consolidating his empire. animals in the capital. He interdicted gay He retained Kalinga after its conquest and social functions in which people indulged in incorporated it into his empire. There is also revelries. nothing to show that he disbanded the huge Ashoka’s Place in History army maintained from the time of It is said that the pacific policy of Chandragupta Maurya. Within the empire he Ashoka rained the Maury a empire, but this  24 Gist of NCERT (History) is not true. On the country Ashoka has a independent in their respective areas after number of achievements to his credit. He was the retrirement of the king in 232 B.C. certainly a great missionary ruler in the Similarly, the policy could not convert his history of the ancient world. He worked neighbours, who swooped on the north- with great zeal and devotion to his mission western frontier of his empire within 30 years and achieved a lot, both at home and abroad. of Ashoka’s exit from power in 232 B.C. Ashoka brought about the political THE RISE AND GROWTH OF unification of the country. He bound it further THE GUPTA EMPIRE by one dharma, one language and practically Background one script called Brahmi which was used in AFTER THE break-up of the Maurya most of his inscriptions. In unifying the empire, the Satavahanas and the Kushans country he respected such scripts as Brashmi, emerged as two large political powers. The Kharoshthi, Aramaci and Greek. Evidently Satavahanas acted as a stablizing factor in the he also accommodated such languages as Deccan and south to which they gave political Greek, Prakrit and Sanskrit and various unity and economic prosperity on the religious sects. Ashoka follwed a tolerant strength of their trade with the Roman religious policy. He did not try to foist his empire. The Kushans performed the same role buddhist faith on his subjects. On the other in the north. Both these empires came to an hand he made gifts to non-Buddhist and even end in the middle of the third, century A.D. anti-Buddhist sects. Ashoka was fired with zeal for missionary activities. He deputed On the ruins of the Kushan empire arose officials in the far-flung parts of the empire. a new empire, whiclvestablished its sway This helped the cause of ad-ministration and over a good part of the former dominious of also promoted cultural contacts between the both the Kushans and Satavahanas. This was developed Gangetic basin and the backward the empire of the Guptas, who may have been distant provinces. The material culture, of vaishya origin. Although the Gupta empire typical of the heart of the empire, spread to was not as large as the Maurya empire, it kept Kalinga and the lower Deccan and norther north India politically united for more than Bengal. Above all ashoka is important in a century from A.D. 335 to 455. The original history for his policy of peace, non- kingdom of the Guptas comprised Uttar aggression and cultural conquest. He had no Pradesh and Bihar at the end of the third model in early Indian history for pursuing century A.D. Uttar Pradesh seems to have such a policy; nor did such an example exist been a more important province for the in any country except Egypt where Akhnaton Guptas than Bihar, because early Gupta coins had pursued a pacific policy in the fourteenth and inscriptions have been mainly found in century B.C. But it is obvious that Ashoka that state. If we leave out some feudatories was not aware for his Egyptian predecessor. and private individuals, whose inscriptions have been mostly found in Madhya Pradesh, However, Ashoka’s policy did not make Uttar Pradesh will stand out as the most any lasting impression on his viceroys and important area in respect of the finds of the vassals, who declared themselves Gupta antiquitiews. Hence Uttar Pradesh Territorial States and the First Magadhan Empire 25 seems to have been the place from where the end around A.D. 230 and then a good part of Guptas operated and fanned out in different central India fell under the rule of the directions. Probably with their centre of Murundas, who were possibly the kinsmen power at Prayag they spread in the of the Kushans. The Murundas continued to neighbouring regions. rule till A.D. 250. Twenty-five years later, in The Guptas were possibly the about A.D. 275, they dynasty of the Gupta feudatories of the Kushans in Uttar Pradesh came to power. and seems to have succeeded them without Chandragupta I (A.D. 319-334) any wide time-lag. At many places in Uttar The first important king of the Gupta Pradesh and Bihar the Kushan antiquities are dynasty was Chandragupta I. He married a immediately followed by the Gupta Lichchhavi princess most probably from Ne- antiquities. It is likely that the Guptas learnt pal, which strengthened his position. The the use of saddle, reins, but-toned-coats, Guptas were possibly vaishyas, and hence trousers and boots from the Kushans. All marriage in a kshtriya family gave them pres- these gave them mobility and made them tige. Chandragupta I seems to have been a excellent horsemen. In the Kushan scheme of ruler of considerable importance because he things, horse-chariots and elephants had started the Gupta era in A.D. 319-20, which ceased to be important. Horsemen played the marked the date of his accession. Later many mai