● After the end of Harappan Civilisation, during a long
span of 1500 years, there were several developments in different parts of the sub-continent.
● This was also the period during which the Rigveda
was composed by people living along the Indus and
its tributaries.
Prinsep and Piyadassi
● James Prinsep, an officer in the mint of the East India Company, deciphered Brahmi and Kharosthi. These scripts were used in the earliest inscription and coins.
● Most of these mentioned a king referred to as piyadassi–meaning ‘pleasant to behold’. There were a few inscriptions which also referred to the king as Asoka.
● European and Indian scholars used inscriptions and texts composed in a variety of languages to reconstruct the lineages of major dynasties that had ruled the sub-continent.
The Earliest States.
The Sixteen Mahajanapadas
● The 6th century BCE is often regarded as a major turning point in early Indian history.
● Early Buddhist and Jaina texts mention, sixteen states known as Mahajanapadas.
● Janapada means the land where a jana (a people, a clan or tribe) sets its foot or settles. It is a word used in both Prakrit and Sanskrit.
● Most Mahajanapadas were ruled by kings, which some known as ganas or sanghas, were oligarchies, where power was shared by a number of men collectively called rajas.
● Each Mahajanapada had a capital city, which was often fortified.
● From c. 6th century BCE onwards Brahmanas began composing Sanskrit texts known as the Dharmasutras.
First Amongst The Sixteen : Magadha.
● Between the 6th and the 4th centuries BCE,
Magadha (in present day Bihar) became the most powerful Mahajanapada.
● Magadha was a region where agriculture was especially productive. Iron mines (in present-day Jharkhand) were accessible and provided resources for tools and weapons.
● Initially, Rajagaha was the capital of Magadha which later shifted to Pataliputra (presently Patna) in 4th century BCE.
An Early Empire
● Chandragupta Maurya founded the Mauryan
empire in c 321 BCE.
Finding Out about the Mauryas
● Historians have used a variety of sources to reconstruct the history of the Mauryan Empire. These include archaeological finds, especially sculpture.
● Kautilya or Chanakya has mentioned about the Mauryan Empire in the Arthashastra.
● Buddhist, Jaina and puranic literature as well as inscription of Asoka, gives information about the empire.
● Inscriptions also mention about the Mauryan empire.
These are writings engraved on hard surfaces such as stone, metal and pottery. These are the permanent records, some of which carry dates.
Administering the Empire
● There were five major political centres in the empire i.e. the capital Pataliputra the provincial centres of Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali and Suvarnagiri.
● The administrative control was strongest in areas around the capital and the provincial centres.
● Communication along both land and riverine routes was vital for the existence of the empire.
● Army was an important means for ensuring the protection. Megasthenes mentions a committee with six subcommittees for coordinating military activities.
Importance of Empire
● In nineteenth century, the history of early India including that of Mauryan empire was discovered.
● Asoka came to be regarded as inspiring figure by nationalist leaders. He was more humble than later rulers who adopted grandiose (magnificent) titles.
New Notions of Kingship
Chiefs and Kings in the South
● A chief was a powerful man whose position may or may not be hereditary.
He receives gifts from his sub-ordinates (unlike Kings who usually collect taxes) and often distributes these amongst his supporters.
● The new kingdoms that emerged in the Deccan and further South, included the chiefdoms of the Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas in Tamilakam (the name of the ancient Tamil country.
Divine Kings
● Kings often tried to identify themselves with a variety of deities in order to claim high status. This strategy was used by the Kushanas (c. 1st century BCE 1st century CE), who ruled over a vast kingdom extending from Central Asia to North-West India.
● Colossal statues of Kushana rulers have been found installed in a shrine at Mat near Mathura (Uttar Pradesh).
● By the 4th century evidence of larger states, including the Gupta Empire, have been found. Many of these depended on samantas, men who maintained themselves through local resources including control over land.
A Changing Countryside.
Popular Perceptions of Kings
● Historian have examined stories contained in
anthologies such as the Jatakas and the Panchatantra.
● The Jatakas were written in Pali around the middle
of the first millennium CE.
● One story known as the Gandatindu Jataka describes the condition of the subjects of a wicked king. These included elderly women and men, cultivators, herders, village boys and even animals.
Strategies for Increasing Production
● From 6th century BCE, ploughing agriculture became
prevalent. It was used in fertile alluvial river valleys such
as those of Ganga and Kaveri.
● The iron ploughshare led to a growth in agricultural
productivity, but its use was restricted to certain parts
of the sub-continent only.
Differences in Rural Society
● With an increase in production, there was a growing
difference amongst people engaged in agriculture like
landless agricultural labourers, small peasants and
large landholders.
● The term gahapati was often used in Pali texts to
designate the second and third categories.
● Early Tamil literature (the Sangam texts) also mentions
different categories of people living in the villages i.e.
large landowners or vellalar, ploughmen or uzhavar
and slaves or adimai.
Land Grants and New Rural Elites
● Grants of land were started from the early centuries of
the Common Era, many of which were recorded in
inscriptions.
● The records that have survived are generally about grants to religious institutions or to Brahmanas.
● The inscription also gives us an idea about rural
populations. These included Brahmanas and peasants
as well as others who expected to provide a range of
produce to the king or his representatives.
Towns and Trade
New Cities
● The urban centres emerged in several parts of the
sub-continent from c. 6th century BCE.
● All major towns were located along routes of communication, e.g., Pataliputra was on riverine routes.
● Others, such as Ujjayini, were along land routes and
yet others, such as Puhar, were near the coast, from
where sea routes began.
Urban Populations : Elites and Craftspersons
● The artefacts recovered from excavation includes fine
pottery bowls and dishes, with a glossy finish, known
as Northern Black Polished Ware, probably used by
rich people.
● The artefacts also include ornaments, tools, weapons,
vessels, figurines, made of a wide range of
materials-gold, silver, copper, bronze, ivory, glass,
shell and terracotta.
● Organisations of craft producers and merchants were known as guilds or shrenis. These guilds probably procured raw materials, regulated production and marketed the finished product.
Trade in the Sub-continent and Beyond
● From the 6th century BCE, land and river routes
crossed the sub-continent and extended in various
directions both overland and overseas.
● Those who travelled these routes included peddlers who probably travelled on foot and merchants who travelled with caravans of bullock carts.
● There were also seafarers, whose ventures were
risky, but highly profitable. Successful merchants
were designated as masattuvan in Tamil and
setthis and satthavahas in Prakrit.
Coins and Kings
● Punch-marked coins made of silver and copper
(c. 6th century BCE onwards) were amongst the
earliest to be minted and used.
● Numismatists have studied these and other coins
to reconstruct possible commercial networks.
● The first gold coins were issued in 1st century CE
by the Kushanas. These were virtually identical in
weight with those issued by contemporary Roman
emperors and the Parthian rulers of Iran.
● Coins were also issued by tribal republics. Some of
the most spectacular gold coins were issued by
the Guptarulers.
Deciphering Inscriptions.
Deciphering Brahmi
● Most scripts used to write modern Indian languages are derived from Brahmi script.
● From the late 18th century, European scholars with
the help of Indian pandits could study several
Manuscripts in Bengali and Devanagari and
compared their letters with older letters.
● Scholars who studied early inscriptions sometimes assumed that these were in Sanskrit,
although the earliest inscriptions were, in fact, in
Prakrit.
● It was only after decades of careful investigations
by several epigraphists that James Prinsep was
able to decipher Asokan Brahmi in 1838.
Deciphering Kharosthi
● The Kharosthi script used in inscriptions in the
North-West. Here, coins of Indo-Greek Kings
are found who ruled over the area ( . c 2nd-1st
centuries BCE).
● These coins contain the names of kings written in
Greek and Kharosthi scripts, later Prakrit was
identified on these coins.
Historical Evidence from Inscriptions
● According to the inscriptions, Devanampiya, often
translated as ‘beloved of the gods’ and piyadassi as
‘pleasant to behold’ were the titles adopted by the
Asoka.
● After examining all these inscriptions and finding
that they match in terms of content, style,
language and palaeography, epigraphists have
concluded that they were issued by the same
ruler.
The Limitations of Inscriptional Evidence
● Sometimes, there are technical limitations of inscriptional evidence such as sometimes letters are
very faintly engraved, and thus reconstructions are
uncertain.
● Besides, it is not always easy to be sure about the
exact meaning of the words used in inscriptions.
● Although, several thousand inscriptions have been
discovered but not all have been deciphered,
published and translated.
