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ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOURCES
Unit Structure
1.0Objectives
1.1Introduction
1.2TheArchaeological Sources
1.2.1Importance oftheArchaeological Sources
1.2.2Development ofArchaeology inIndia
1.3Inscriptions (Epigraphic Records)
1.3.1Types ofInscriptions
1.4Numismatics
1.4.1Importance ofCoinsasaSource ofHistory
1.5Monuments Sculptures, Paintings, Pottery andother Antiquities.
1.5.1Monuments
1.5.2Thesculptural Art
1.5.3Paintings
1.5.4Pottery
1.5.5Other Antiquities
1.6Summary
1.7Questions
1.0OBJECTIVES
History Paper III, 'Ancient India' at SYBA level aims at studyi ng
theHistory &Ancient period from theEarliest times to1000 A.D. Forthis
study we need historical sources. The sources of the history of Ancient
India arebroadly classified intotwomain categories viz.
1]Archaeological Sources.
2]Literary Sources
In this lesson, a critical survey of the archaeological sources for the
study of Ancient Indian history has been done. At the end of thislesson,
students will be ableto–
i)Understand theimportance ofInscriptions asasource ofAncient Indian
History.
ii)Descri bethecontribution ofCoins asasource ofhistory.munotes.in
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2iii)Realize thesignificance ofStructural Monuments inunderstanding the
Ancient Culture of India.
iv)Study therole ofArtifacts andother Antiquities discovered in the
excavations.
v)Describe the Socio -Econom iclife with the help ofAncient
Sculptures andPaintings.
1.1INTRODUCTION
The word 'History' comes from theLatin word `Historia' which
means 'finding out'. History is a study of events in the past. It is a record of
the achievements of man. For the recon struction of history of any country
or people, we should know the past events. These events arecalled asthe
'historical facts'. Thehistory ofanypeople isknown to us by the records
left behind by them. These records are known ashistorical sources.
The study of Ancient Indian history is important as it tells us how
inAncient times, thepeople ofIndia developed their culture and
civilization. Thestudy ofhistory isvery much useful for :
a)Ithelps usto know about ourpast.
b)Ithelps ustounderstand ourpresent inabetter way.
c)Ithelps ustolearn some valuable lessons from ourpastmistakes.
d)Italsohelps usto shape our future in a better way.
e)Itmakes usbroad minded and welearn tolive inpeace with
people who have views different from us.
The History ofanyAncient people islargely conditioned bythe
authenticity ofthesource material. Inbroad terms, sources ofAncient Indian
history areclassified into three categories. They are:
1)TheArchaeological Sources,
2)TheLiterary Sources,
3)Accounts ofForeign Travelersmunotes.in
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4Inthislesson, wewill bestudying theArchaeological Sources
forthestudy ofAncient Indian history and their importance.
1.2THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOURCES
Archaeology is the science of antiquities. The archaeological
sources includ ed Inscriptions, Coins, Structural remains, Monuments and
other antiquities like Sculptures, Paintings, Pottery, Ornaments etc.
The archaeological sources are treated as more authentic than the
literary sources because of their contemporarity. These sourc eshave
provided immense information ofmany historical facts about which
nothing was known previously. For example, Prehistoric cultures i.e.
Paleolithic, Neolithic andMegalithic Cultures andProtohistoric like the
Indus valley civilization.
Archaeology ,recently hasbeen developed scientifically and its
evidence isregarded most trustworthy. Inaddition tothescrutiny andclose
examinations ofthemonuments such astemples, statues, ruins of the places
etc. excavation has been adopted as a means to uncover Ancient cultures.
Valuable material concerning both prehistoric and historic civilizations has
been discovered during such as Mohenjodaro, Harappa, Kot -Diji, Lothal,
Kalibangan, Nalanda etc. Some of the sites that have been excavated in
Maharashtra ar e:Jorve, Inamgaon, Diamabad, Paithan, Nevase, Ter,
Brahmapuri, Pauni, Sopara etc.
1.2.1Importance oftheArchaeological Sources:
The history of any ancient people depends on the authentic source
materials. The archaeological sources areusually considered asthe
authentic source materials for the study of ancient history. The
archaeological material ismore authentic because itisbased onactual finds of
thecontemporary periods. Asamatter offact, archaeological material isthe
only source ofhistory forunderstanding thecultures of`Proto -historic'
period. The best example of this kind is the Indus Valley Civilization.
Archaeological sources play avital roleinunderstanding the people and
their culture in the historic period. It serves as a valuable sup plementary
source for a particular period. Many times, the gaps found in the literary
sources are filled by the archaeological sources. Itcorroborates the
historical facts mentioned intheliterary sources and also reveals the
historical facts.
The archa eological sources are treated as more authentic because of
their contemporarity andthey arenottampered with inthecourse of
time. These areundying witnesses ortheevidences ofthehistory andhave
helped toreconstruct thehistory ofAncient India.munotes.in
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51.2.2Development ofArchaeology inIndia:
Recently archaeology, hasbeen developed scientifically inIndia, and
itsevidence isregarded most trustworthy. Itwasduring theBritish Period that
asystematic study ofarchaeology inIndia began. From the 18thCentury
onwards, the officers of British East India Company began to take keen
interest in the Antiquarian wealth of India. In the year, 1784, under the
guidance of Sir William Jones, a Judge of the Supreme Court, the ‘Asiatic
Society of Bengal' was establishe dinCalcutta forthestudy ofhistory, the
antiquities, sciences and literature of Asia. Due to the efforts made by the
European scholars such asSirWilliam Jones, Dr.Buchanan, Hamilton,
James Princep, SirAlexander Cunningham, James Burgess, SirJohn
Marshall, Aural Stein, Mortimer Wheeler, M.S. Vats, and Hargreaves and
the Indian archaeologists such as Rakhaldas Banerjee, S.R. Raoandothers
have contributed alottothedevelopment of Indian archaeology.
TheBritish andIndian archaeologists over thepastcentury andmore
have gathered together an extensive range of architectural, iconographic
and inscriptional materials related to the history of Mauryas, Satavahanas,
Guptas, Chalukyas, Pallavas, Cholas, Pandyas, Palas andSenas and other
dynasties. These archaeological sources offer us a wealth of information on
Political and even more onReligions, Social, Economic and Cultural
history ofIndia.
Letusstudy allarchaeological sources indetail andunderstand their
historical importance.
1.3INSCRIPTIO NS(EPIGRAPHIC RECORDS)
Aninscription means anoldengraved record. Itisalsoknown as
'Epigraph' andtherefore, thestudy ofinscriptions isknown as Epigraphy. In
other words, `Epigraphy is the study of inscriptions and inscriptions
literally means anywriting engraved onsome object'. Epigraphy forms a
branch of archaeology. These are written records on some hard substance.
The objects which were used forengraving inscriptions inIndia
were of various types such as lithic, metallic, earthen and woo denobject,
pottery, bricks, shells, ivory plaques and other objects. The term
inscription alsoincludes initthewriting inrelief such aslegends oncoins
andseals which areusually produced outofmoulds ordies. Even the
records painted onthewalls orwritten ininkoronwooden tables arealso
regarded asinscriptions, although heretheletters arenotactually engraved
butpainted.
Inscriptions are found all over the country. Their number run into
thousands. Many have to come to light. The earlies t records in writing in
India are attributed to the Indus valley people. They certainly knew the art
of writing as is seen from their seals and pottery. However, this script is
still undeciphered. Many scholars and historians are making serious efforts
to decipher the Indus Script. If deciphered successfully, the beginning of
Indian epigraphy will be pushed back by about three thousand years.munotes.in
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6Inscription inSanskrit, Prakrit, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada andother
languages have been discovered. Butmost oftheearliest inscriptions arein
Brahmi andKharosthi Scripts. Brahmi Script iswritten from lefttoright.
Brahmi is the oldest Indian script and dates back between 3rdCentury B.C.
to 7thA.D. It remained the main script of writing in India nearly forone
thousand years. During thereign ofAshoka, wegetaclearevidence of engraved
records, incised on imperishable rock or stone surface in either Brahmi or
Kharoshthi script. During the period between 3rdCentury B.C. and7thCentury
A.D. Brahmi script unde rwent some paleographic changes after every two
hundred years and hence, thescript ofdifferent periods came tobeknown by
different terms suchas—
a)Ashokan Brahmi (e.g. Ashokan rock edicts)
b)Satavahana Brahmi (e.g. Inscriptions oftheSatavahanas)
c)Gupta Brahmi (e.g. Inscription oftheGuptas) etc.
Broadly speaking the inscription can be classified into two main groups:
i)Theinscriptions issued byaruling authority orissued onitsbehalf. For
example, inscription of Ashoka, King Kharavela, Satavahanas,
Chalukyas etc.
ii)Inscriptions issued byprivate individuals orprivate organizations. In
this category, largest number ofinscriptions record thedonations
(endowments) made infavor ofreligious establishments or
installation ofimages for worship.
1.3.1Types ofInscriptions:
Ingeneral, when weanalyze theinscriptions onthebasis oftheir
contents, wecome across many ofitstypes such as:
1]Commercial Inscriptions:
The Commercial type ofinscriptions provides valuable
information to our historical knowledge. T he seals of Indus valley
civilization are the bestexample ofthis type.
2]Magical Inscriptions:
The magical inscriptions are found on the seals of Indus valley.
They were used as amulets and contained some magical formulae onthem.
3]Religious andDidactic inscriptions:
These inscriptions deal with the religious and moral matters. For example,
the inscriptions of Ashoka are the best specimen of thistype. Hisedicts
relate toethical aspects ofBuddhism andcontained his‘Dhamma' or the
Moral Codes.
4]Dedicat iveandDonative Inscriptions:
These inscriptions record thedonations orendowments made tothe
religious establishments. Most of these dedicative inscriptions are engraved
onthewalls ofatemple orreligious establishments andthepilgrim centers
such as inscriptions found in Buddhist Monasteries at Kanheri, Kuda,
Mahad, Sanchi, Vidisha, Nalanda and temples at Bhubaneshwara,munotes.in
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7Kanchipuram, Thanjavur, Aihole etc.giveanaccount ofthe endowments made
by either royal persons or private individuals and organizations.
5]Administrative Inscriptions:
These inscriptions provide usthe information about the
administrative system oftheAncient Indians. Forexample, some oftheedicts
of Ashoka throw light on his provincial administration. From these inscriptions
wec o m et ok n o wt h a td u r i n gt h et i m eo fA s h o k a ,t h e r ew e r e atleast four
provinces ofhisempire andtheir capitals were Taxila, Ujjain, Toshali and
Suvarnagari. Besides, there is a reference to certain officers ofthestate inthese
inscriptions, Antamaham atras andDharmamahamatra. These inscriptions
provide valuable information regarding theMauryan Administration.
6]Eulogistic Inscriptions:
The eulogist compositions are called ‘Prasasti’. Usually, these
inscriptions contain thename andgenealogy oftheissuing ruler, theearly
lifeofaking, hispersonal accomplishment, hispolitical military and
administrative achievements. Some of the examples of thistype are-
i)Eulogy ofGautamiputra Satakarni intheNasik cave Inscription.
ii)Eulogy ofSamudragupta onAllahabad Pillar Inscription.
iii)Eulogy ofSkandagupta onBhitari Stone Inscription.
iv)Eulogy ofking Kharavela inHathigumpha Inscription. etc.
7]Miscellaneous Inscriptions:
Besides the above -mentioned types of the inscriptions, there are a
number of inscriptions mostly found in South India, conveying laws and
legal institutions, crimes and punishment, elections, trade andcommerce
andonmusic anddance. These areofthemiscellaneous type and throw
light on various aspects of the life of ancient people.
Thus, i nscriptions are of various types and they throw light on
various historical facts. They provide the detailed information about
political conditions of their times. They give us the information about the
issuing ruler, his achievements, inter -state relation s, political ideas and
institutions and the administrative set up.
Thestudy ofinscriptions isofimmense value inrelating thesocial
conditions ofthetimes. They provide usinformation about thesocial life
ofthepeople, especially pointing outthecaste system, theJoint family
system, the different clans (Gotras) aswell asinnumerable exiting
communities etc.
A large number of inscriptions throwing light on the economic life
of the people have been discovered in almost all parts of India. Differen t
mercantile professions arerecorded intheinscriptions suchasSethi, Nigama
andVanija. Trade andindustrial guilds were acommon feature of economic
life since very early times. Reference to such organizations functioning
during the ancient period are found in a number ofinscriptions.munotes.in
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8Even for understanding the religious life of the ancient Indian
people. Inscriptions have proved tobetheimportant historical source. They
are called thededicative inscriptions as seen earlier. There are a number
inscriptions throwing light on Jainism.
Inscriptions ingeneral, throw awelcome lightonhistory oflanguages and
paleography. They help usmainly forthestudy ofacultural history. Indian
inscriptions found in many of the South -East Asian countries such as
Thailand, Burma, Java, Sumatra, certainly give evidence of India's cultural
expansion inthese countries.
Moreover, theepigraphical sources aremore authentic because they
are permanent and cannot be tampered with. Thus, it is for these authentic
historical evidences; thestudy ofancient Indian history would remain
incomplete for want ofsufficient information.
1.4NUMISMATICS
Thecoins form another important archaeological source forthestudy
of history. The study of coins of the ancient period gives usvaluable
information. Such evidence iscalled Numismatic evidence.
Numismatics literally means "Collection ofCoins". Itmeans 'thestudy
ofcoins ashistorical objects, asasource ofhistory'. Numismatics form an
important branch of archaeology. It contributes wealth of information to
our understanding of the past. Coins as a source of history, throw light on
various aspects ofhistory. Thousands ofancient Indian coins have been
discovered from which an idea about the contemporary economic
condition ,currency system, development ofmetallurgical art can be
obtained.
Approximately 2500 years ago, thecoins were struck inIndia for
the first time. They were used as a symbol and token of value. With the
useofcoins, theobsolete system ofbarter excha ngewas now replaced by
coin currency. The stage of minting coin was reached only inthe6th
century B.C. These coins have been discovered in large hoards in almost
all parts of India. In ancient Indian literary works, instances of transactions
in terms su ch as 'Vimsatika', 'Trimsatika', 'Sana' and`Karshapana" are
mentioned.
However, the earliest specimens of the coins are found from the 6th
century B.C. They are made of Silver. These coins bear the stamps of one
to five punches. More than one punch was u sed to stamp thecoins. Itis
because ofitsmanufacturing techniques; these coins are called as 'Punch
Marked Coins'. These Punch Marked coins have been found in almost all
parts of India and even in Afghanistan, Pakistan. They are found from
Kabul -Qandah ar region in Afghanistan to Bengal in the east and
Coimbatore in the South. It means that there was a common currency
almost throughout India before theMaurya.munotes.in
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9Theearliest diestruck coins have been assigned tothe4thCentury
B.C. These arefound atTaxilaandonly onesideofacoin wasused.
The other side was plain. Later on, the double die coins were struck by the
rulers since 2ndCentury B.C. These coins are found at Ayodhya, Kaushambi,
Mathura etc.Some ofthese coins bearsome inscription inBrahmi script.
The Indo Greek rulers also issued the coins of their own in India.
They followed the Greek model of the coin initially issued by Alexander,
to commemorate his victories in 4thCentury B.C. The Indo Greeks, the
Shakas andthePahalavas alsofollowed theGreek model andimproved upon
thecoins. TheIndo-Greek coins bearfigures ofthe reigning chief with their
name andlegend. These coins obviously are helpful forunderstanding
history ofIndo-Greek rulers.
In the beginning of Christian era, the Kushan rulers became
predominant in North India and Afghanistan. For the first time, gold
coinage with legends in Greek, Brahmi and Kharosthi scripts was
introduced by the Kushans. Most of the Kushan coins are bilingual, having
Greek inscription on obverse and Kharosthi inscription on thereverse
side.
The Gupta rulers followed theKushan coin pattern. The Gupta
dynasty founded their empire inthefirstquarters ofthe4thCentury
A.D. Almost allGupta rulers issued their own coins. (We aregoing
tostudy about Gupta coins inthelater topic). These coins arevery
useful forthereconstruction oftheir history. They issued Gold, Silver,
Copper and alsoLead coins. Theother dynasties such astheSatavahanas,
the Shaka –Kshatrapas, the Chalukyas of Badami, theGurjara Pratiharas,
theRashtrakutas, theCholas, theCheras etc.alsoissued their own coins.
1.4.1Importance ofCoins asaSource ofHistory:
Coins are an important and authentic source of history asthe
inscriptions. Bythestudy ofdifferent types ofthecoins, symbols,
inscriptions, portraiture etc.found oncoin, wecanamass awealth of
information about historical fact. This data is extremely valuable for the
study of ancient Indian Political history.
Coins reveal the names of unknown kings. For e xample, most of
theIndo-Greek Kings, who ruled inIndia areknown from theircoins. Many
rulers oftheKushan dynasty andSatavahana dynasty arealso known from
their coins only. Coins sometimes give usinformation about thetitles of
thekings.
TheCoin shelp ustofixupthechronology. Thelocation ofthecoins
helps us to determine the extent of the territory of a king. The coins areofa
great value forthestudy ofconstitutional andadministrative history ofscripts
and languages of the ancient people.munotes.in
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10From the social, economic and cultural point of view also coins are
most valuable. They throw light on several aspects of economic history.
Thecoins sometimes give clear picture oftheroyal amusements, hobbies,
furniture, house materials, weapons of war and hunting. The aspects of
cultural lifesuch asdress, ornaments, hairstyle etc.also canbestudied
with thehelp of coins.
Numismatic evidence furnishes valuable material forreligious
history. Thedepiction ofdeity andsymbols oncoins help usindetermining
the association of different cults with different religion. Coins areofa
great help inthestudy ofartandchronology.
Thus, the coins are useful and authentic sources because they
provide detailed information about the Socio -economic cultural, religious
andother aspect ofthelifeofthepeople ofAncient India.
1.5MONUMENTS, SCULPTURES, PAINTINGS,
POTTERY AND OTHER ANTIQUITIES
The structural remains which areseen above thesurface ofthe
earth orunderground arethemonuments andarevisible creations ofthe
people ofancient India.
1.5.1Monuments:
Themonuments such aspalaces, tombs, buildings, temples etc.are
important sources of the history of architectural and artistic development in
Ancient India. The ornamental work on the walls ,p i l l a r s , sculptural remains
onthewalls ofpalaces, temples etc.give usan idea of the artistic skill
of the time. For example, the pillars of Ashoka, rock-cutarchitecture such
asthecaves, stupas, chaityas andthe viharas, Gupta temples, Chalukya,
Pallava and the Rashtrakuta temples pay glowing tribute to the aesthetic
and architectural sense ofthecreators.
Since 18th and 19th centuries, a systematic study and close
examination of the monuments (which are seen above the ground) as
mentioned earlie r, excavation has been adopted as a means to uncover
ancient cultures. Valuable material concerning both, prehistoric and
historic civilizations has been discovered in these excavations.
The source material i.e., the archaeological artefacts, pottery,
weapons and tools of the ancient people etc. is much valuable particularly
for the prehistoric period. In India, a number of sites have been excavated.
These sites asmentioned earlier, have yielded a wealth of historical
material which throw light on various aspects of ancient civilization.
1.5.2TheSculptural Art:
The Sculptural art or Shilpakala was a branch of the arts which
reached excellent heights inAncient India. Thepeople ofIndus valley also
knew the sculptural art as is evident from their stone and bronze
sculptures. Ancient sites of Pataliputra, Mathura etc. have fieldedmunotes.in
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11numerous terracotta figurines. The sculptural art, since the time of Indus
valley to the massive sculptures of later days is the tremendous progress
registered by the Indians. In fact , religious zeal combined with artistic
talents, resulted inthecreation ofbeautiful images (i.e.Sculptures). These
sculptures depict thereligious or philosophical concept ofthetime.
Sculptures arefound ofvarious materials such asbronze, terracot ta,
copper, gold, ivory, wood etc. the Mauryan Sculptures, shunga sculptures,
Andhra -Satavahana sculptures, Gupta sculptures etc.areimportant and
there arevarious schools ofsculptural artsuch as Gandhara School,
Mathura School ofart etc.
In south In dia, highly skilled craftsman and artisans made
extremely beautiful iamges. The small images were for Private worship
and the larger, iamges were installed in the temples. The fines example of
the Indian bronze casting were made under the God Shiva as Nata raja. i.e
lord of the Dance.
Study of the images of various deities such as Buddha, Jain
Tirthankaras, Vedic gods such asVishnu, Shiva, Kartikeya, Goddesses
such asLaxmi, Durga, Uma andother deities throw light onthereligious
history oftheAncient I ndian people.
1.5.3Paintings:
Painting is the art of producing a picture on a flat surface of wood,
Paper, Canvas, Textile, rock etc. in lines and colours. It is a visual art and
forms the art of specialized study of Ancient Indian history andculture.
Theearliest paintings thatarepainted ontherock atBhimbetka in
M.P. andMirzapur andBanda inU.P., givetheglimpses of the performance
of the proto historic artists. Indus valley people alsohaddeveloped theart
ofpainting asseen from thePaintings ontheir Pottery. Excellent Paintings
from Ajanta and Ellora, also add to ourknowledge. Paintings give us
information ofthehairstyle, Dress style, ornaments, jewellery, weapons,
flora and fauna etc. of the Ancient people. Naturally, they arevery useful
sources forthestudy ofAncient people andcultures.
1.5.4Pottery:
During Ancient times, most of the people used earthen utensils in
their day to day life. Pottery types like the bowls, lids, Plates, Jars andUrns
etc.canbefound intheexcavations. Thepotteryofearlier period iscoarse,
butlater onitbecome more andmore sophisticated. During the Mauryan
period, the refined pottery known as Northern Black Pottery (NBP) was
used throughout north India. During the Andhra -Satavahana period,
Indians imported the refined Roman pottery. The discovery of this pottery
on a very large scale in India throws light on the brisk trade relations
between the Indians and the Romans. In the absence of any other evidence
pottery helps to ascertain thechronology ofaparticular culture.munotes.in
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12The beautiful varieties of pottery and paintings and carvings on
them reflect thecontemporary technical andartistic skill. Pottery thusis
regarded asthemain archaeological source forthestudy ofAncient history
and culture.
1.5.5Other Antiquities:
Archaeology studies awide variety ofartefacts ormaterial remains
ofhuman civilization such asthepottery andother antiquities like tools,
seals, weapons, toys, clay articles, beach and precious metals, seals,
ornaments and jewellery etc. T hey speak of the ways ofliving ofthe
people with thehelp ofthese sources wecanreconstruct the history of
these peoples and cultures and therefore areregarded asthemost valuable
sources of history.
Check Your Progress:
1.Critically examine the archaeological sources forthestudy ofAncient
Indian history.
1.6SUMMARY
The sources ofhistory of Ancient India arebroadly classified in
twomain categories
1)Archaeological Sources
2)Literary Sources.
In this lesson, we have studied the types o f archaeological sources
viz. The inscriptions, Numismatics and the monuments and other
antiquities discovered inexcavations. We have also studied the
importance of these sources for the study of Ancient Indian history and
culture.
1.7QUESTIONS
1.Examine therole ofcoins and monuments asthesources of
Ancient Indian history.
2.Write short notes:
a)Inscriptions asthesource ofhistory.
b)Numismatics asthesource ofhistory.
munotes.in
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132
LITERARY SOURCES AND FOREIGN
TRAVELERS ACCOUNTS
Unit Structure
2.0 Objectives
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Classification oftheSources
2.2.1Indian literature
2.3 The Sacred Literature
2.3.1TheVedic Literature
2.3.2TheBuddhist Religious Texts
2.3.3TheJainLiterature
2.4 The Secular Literature
2.5 The Greek and Roman Accounts
2.6 Accounts oftheChinese Travellers
2.7 Tibetan Accounts
2.8 Arab andPersian Accounts
2.9 Summary
2.10 Questions
2.0OBJECTIVES
The literary works of ancient period form an important source for
thestudy ofancient Indian history. The ancient Indian literature isan
indirect but important source of the history of the ancient period. Ancient
Indians have left a rich store house of religious and secular literature in
Sanskrit and Prakrit languages. In this lesson a close examination ofthe
literary sources hasbeen done. Attheendofthislesson, you will be able to
i)Understand types andimportance oftheLiterary Sources.
ii)Study various categories ofthesacred i.e.religious texts.
iii)Describe theimportance ofsecular literature.
Inbroad terms, sources ofancient Indian history areclassified in
two main categories viz. 1) The Archaeological and 2) The Literary
sources. TheLiterary sources aredivided intotwogroups
i.e.Indian Literature andForeign Literature.munotes.in
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14In this lesson a review of the foreign literary sources has been
taken. Among these, the Greek, Roman, Persian, Chinese Tibetan and
Arab writers were prominent who wrote their accounts onIndia.
Therefore, attheendofthislesson, youwillbe
1)Able toknow about these Foreign travellers
2)Able tostudy their Accounts and their importance asasource of
history.
2.1INTRODUCTION
Although, the ancient Indians produced vast and rich literature, they
didnotproduce anyregular historical chronicle. According toR.
C. Majumdar, "One of the greatest defects of Indian culture which
defy rational explanation is the aversion of Indians to writing history. They
applied themselves toallconceivable branches ofliterature andexcelled in
many of them, but they never seriously took to thewriting ofhistory." Al-
beruni wasalsooftheopinion that, "theHindus did not pay much attention
to the historical order of things. They were very careless inrelating the
chronological succession ofthings, and when they were pressed for
information and were of a loss not knowing what tosay,they invariably
took taletelling." Some writers have gone to the extent of maintaining that
'the people of ancient India had no historical sense in them. However, this
view is now being given up and it is accepted e ven by European scholars
like Dr. Keith that "there is certain amount of writing and number of facts
attesting a degree of sense of history. In view of the antiquity and the
developed character of Indian civilization it would indeed be ridiculous to
expect tofindIndia destitute of historical sense.
However, when we analyse and carefully study the available literary
works of the ancient period, we find that the ancient Indians did not lackin
historical sense. Thereligious literature such asthevedic texts,as well as
writing of the Buddhists, Jains and other religious sects is much useful for
thestudy of Ancient Indian History.
Aswehave seen intheprevious chapters, thattheliterary sources
aredivided intotwomain categories viz.
1.Thesacred religious texts and
2.Thesecular literary works.
Thesecular literary works arefurther divided intotwoparts. They are:
a)Thesecular Indian literature thatiswritten byIndians.
b)Theaccounts ortheForeign Travellers.munotes.in
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15We have taken a review of secular Indi an literature in the previous
unit. Inthisunit, wearegoing tostudy theforeign traveller’s accounts and
their importance as the sources of ancient Indian history.
The foreign traveller’s accounts form an interesting source and
have considerable histo rical value in respect of ancient times of India.
Many foreign writers have left their accounts on India. Since ancient
times, there has been close contact between India and her neighbours such
astheGreeks andthePersians inthewest, Chinese intheeastandother
countries inSouth -East Asia. Travellers from these countries have left
records of their personal experiences andtheir observations about India.
There arealsowritings of the foreigners, not travellers which contain
observations onIndian subjects. There areforeigners those who didnot
visit India but still wrote about India. Their writings were based on
hearsay, very few ofsuch records have remained intact. Only afew
fragments and portions quoted by later writers are available. Yet, they a re
valuable as they supplement the evidence of our own literary and other
sources ofhistory.
Among the foreign writers, the Greeks, the Chinese and the Arabs
are prominent. This literature is more valuable as the sources of history
perhaps, more than the Indian literature because these writers had recorded
their observations on factual evidences and they hadhistorical outlook.
2.2CLASSIFICATION OFTHE SOURCES
What so ever the controversy regarding the historical sense of the
ancient Indians, the fact is that the ancient Indians produced varied and
rich literature. This literature is an indirect but important source ofthe
history oftheancient period. These literary sources areclassified mainly in
twogroups i.e.
1) Indian Literature and
2) Foreign Literatur e(Foreigners Accounts)
munotes.in
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162.2.1TheIndian literature:
Indian literature isfurther divided intotwosubcategories i.e.
a)TheSacred Literature (Religious literature)
b)TheSecular Literature (Non -Religious literature)
TheSacred orReligious literature isfurth erdivided inthree parts
i.e.Vedic orBrahmanical texts, Buddhist texts andJaintexts.
2.3THE SACRED LITERATURE
The Sacred or religious literature is not precisely historical in
content. But, if studied carefully, they do give us information of the social,
religious, economic, cultural, intellectual aspects of the life of theancient
Indian people.
The sacred orreligious literature isclassified under three
categories, i.e.Brahmanical orVedic, Buddhist andJain.
2.3.1TheVedic Literature:
Theearliest literature istheVedic literature with allitsbranches.
They areFour Vedas —TheRigveda, TheYajurveda, TheSamaveda and
The Atharvaveda. They are considered as revealed books, written by the
sages (Rishis) under the inspiration from God. Thecontents oftheVedas
were handed down orally from generation togeneration.
Vedic literature is further divided into two categories, viz. Early
andLater Vedic literature.
TheRigveda :
The Early Vedic literature consists primarily of the samhita of the
Rigveda, comprising 1028 hymns in praise of various gods, intended to be
used as a mean of invoking the deities and soliciting their support. The
hymns or (Suktas' are grouped into ten mandalas orbooks. Itthrows light
onthepolitical, social, economic andreligiouslifeoftheVedic Aryans. It
alsogives ushistorical information relating totheprogress of theAryans in
India.
Later Vedic literature includes the samhitas ofthe `Yajurveda',
'Samaveda' and the 'Atharvaveda'.
TheYajurveda:
It contains the form ulas for the religious sacrifices which are
borrowed from theRigveda. Itisdivided intotwoparts viz.Shukla
`Yajurveda' i.e. white and Krishna Yajurveda i.e. black. The Shukla
Yajurveda isconcerned with Samhita andtheKrishna Yajurveda deals with
Sacrifices. Ingeneral, itwasmeant tobeaguide books forpriests performing
sacrifices.munotes.in
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17TheSamaveda:
Samaveda is a collection of melodies. It contains information in
musical forms. It is the earliest work in Indian music.
TheAtharvaveda:
TheAtharvav edadeals withspells, magic, charms andisaprayer book
of the common people meant for application at the humbler domestic
sacrifices. Itisasortofencyclopedia. Itcontains information onvarious
topics. These aretheprimary sources forthehistory oftheearly period
which is known as the Vedic period.
Other Vedic literature comprises the commentaries on the Vedic
hymns. There arethree types ofcommentaries.
1]Brahmanas: The Brahmanas are prose commentaries on the Vedic
verses. They describe detail sofsacrifices, religious rituals andpractices.
2]Aranyakas: TheAranyakas appearing attheendoftheBrahmanas are
forest text to be read by hermits in woods. In fact it is Religious and
Philosophical work composed in forest.
3]Upanishadas: The Upanishad ascontain theVedic Philosophy. Itis
Philosophy of very high level. They are the sacred philosophical texts
containing principles, which are to be taught by the Acharya to his
trusted pupils sitting near him. Itdeals with theuniversal problems like
God,Soul, Death, Brahman and Atman.
Each Veda has the Samhita, the Brahmana, the Aranyakas andthe
Upanishadas asitsfour parts. Thestudy ofthese commentaries helps us
understand the development of the Aryan Culture.
Vedangas and Upavedas:
Vedangas and Upavedas form two supplementary sections of
Vedic literature.
Vedangas –ThesixVedangas are:
1.Shiksha (phonetics) deals with pronunciation
2.Kalpa (ritual)
3.Vyakarna deals with grammar.
4.Nirukta deals with etymology.
5.Chhandas deals with meter.
6.Jyotisha deals with astronomy.
OutofsixVedangas, theShiksha and Kalpa areconsidered to
bevery important. The Vedangas help ustounderstand thetextofthe
Vedas.munotes.in
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18Upavedas:
TheUpavedas aresupplementary Vedic literature. These Upavedas
deal with secular subject slike Ayurveda (medicine), Dhanurveda
(Archery artofwar), Shilpa (architecture) andGandharvaveda (Music).
Smritis orDhamashastras:
Inaddition totheabove literature, anexhaustive literature was
produced onrules, regulations and other aspects of society as well as the
religious rituals and the vratas. These literary works are popularly known
asSmritis orDhamashastras. They were composed by sages after whom
they came to the designated. Some of the prominent smritis are the
Manusmriti, Yagnavalkya Smriti, Gautama Smriti, Narada Smriti,
Brihaspati Smriti and Apastambha Smriti. These smritis provide usvaluable
information about theVarnashrama system, duties of different Varnas,
rights and privileges of the upper castes etc. It was during thelater Vedic
period that marks thebeginning of a sort of rigidity and orthodoxy in the
socio -religious matter. TheSmriti literature throws light onthecontemporary
law.
Epic Literature:
The great epics 'The Ramayana and theMahabharata arerich
sources of valu able material for history. The social and political conditions
ofthe Aryans areclearly described inthese popular works.
TheRamayana wascomposed bysage Valmiki.
TheMahabharata wasthework ofmany composers though it has
been regarded by tradition a s the products of Vyasa's genius only. It is a
massive epic oflakhs ofverses.
The epics form agood source ofinformation about themanners
and customs, religious practices and beliefs, ideals and ideologies ofthe
people in their times.
Puranic Litera ture:
The puranas arethe stories ofancient times. The traditions
preserved inthePuranic literature form themain source ofinformation for
the history of the early period. The puranas contain the genealogies of the
contemporary rulers. They are eightee ni n number. These puranas throw
light on all aspects and phases of Hinduism. The puranas provide us
information about the history of ancient cities which existed intheir times.
2.3.2The Buddhist Religious Texts:
Buddhism came in to existence in India, during the 6thCentury B.C.
Consequently, avariety ofliterature wasproduced bytheBuddhist writers.
Most oftheearly Buddhist literature was written inPrakrit language
viz. Pali. Under Ashoka, Buddhism received anextreme sort of royal
patronage. This gave ab o o s tt ot h er e v i s i o no fo l d Buddhist literature, known
astheTripitaka.munotes.in
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19ThePalicanon isdivided intothree pitakas orparts viz.
1.Vinaya Pitaka: Deals with therules andregulations ofthemonastic life
and the conduct of themonks.
2.Sutta Pitaka: Deals with the principles and the philosophy of
Buddhism. Itincludes the five nikayas, viz. Digha, Majjhima,
Samyutta, Auguttara, andKhuddukanikaya.
3.Abhidhammapitaka: Consist ofseven texts, which arescholarly
works on Buddhist doctrine.
The Kathavatth uwhich isapart oftheAbhidhamma Pitaka
wascomposed byMogaliputta Tissa, agreat BuddhistAcharya, during the
time ofAshoka.
Therigatha is a collection of poems composed by Buddhist nuns
forthepurpose ofPrayers and Buddhavamsa isacollection of
Buddhist legends which depict theprevious incarnations of Buddha.
Besides thisnon-canonical Buddhist literature wasalso produced
of which Netti prakarna, Petakopadesha, Sutta sangha and the
Milindopanha aresome ofthesignificant works. Dhammapada is a
collection onsayings of the Buddha.
The Jataka Stories of Mahayana Buddhism deal with the previous
births of the Buddha. These Jatakas convey Morals. They throw light on
contemporary society; religion, economic activities andpolitical lifeofthe
conte mporary people about 549 Jataka stories have been collected and
published. The Jataka have been assigned tothe2ndor3rdB.C. They give
ussupplementary information which helps us to check up the information
available from the Brahmanical works.
Milinda Panha (queries ofKing Milinda):
The Milinda Panha also is very useful as a sources of history
because it is in the form of questions asked to his teacher, by the Greek
king Menander. This Greek king wasconverted intoBuddhism. Hehad
many questions whichheasked tohisGuru Nagasena. This is a book
in form of questions and answers (by Nagasena). It contains valuable
information about thepolitical, socio -economic andreligious conditions of
the centuries before and after the Christian era.
Some of the Buddhist literary works of this period were written in
theSinhalese language ofSriLanka. Among these Divyavandana,
Dipavamsha, Mahanamsha etc. are the most prominent. They are the
religious texts. Nagarjuna, Ashvaghosha. Vasubandhu were the great
Buddh istscholars and their contributions enriched Buddhism
enormously. Wemay note thatallthetexts invariably dealwith canons,
ruler, regulations, Psalms and other matters on the religion.munotes.in
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20After the emergence of Mahayana cult, Buddhist writers wrote in
Sanskrit also.
Ashvaghosha, who was the contemporary of the Kushans is
regarded as top most Sanskrit writer. He wrote 'Buddha Charita', Sari
Putta –Prakarana and Soundarananda inSanskrit. TheMahayana
canonical works arecalled Vaipulya sutras. The Lalit vistara, the
Pradnya Paramita andSaddharma Pundarika arethefamous vaipulya
sutras. They areimportant works inSanskrit dealing with Buddhism. The
Lalitvistara contains the story of the life ofBuddha. TheVaipulya Sutras
dealwith Buddhist doctrines inninebooks.
TheBuddhist literature isalso fullofmythological andimaginary
descriptions but compared to the Brahmanical literature it is more
authentic, because it was written during the contemporary period andit
underwent comparatively lessalterat ions.
2.3.3Jain Literature:
Jain literature also contains a lot of historical information. Prof.
Jacobi andDr.Banarsi dashave done alotofwork onJain literature.
Compared totheBuddhist literature, thenumber ofJain literary work is
lesser. Itwas writteninArdhamagadhi language, one ofthePrakrit
languages. TheJain religious texts areknown astheTwelve Angas. They
supplement the information of the `Tripitaka', i.e. the Buddhist religious
texts.
Mahavira's teachings were passed on from one generat ion to
another byoral tradition. Two Jain Scholars Sthandila atMathura and
Nagarjuna atvallabhi made efforts toputtheoldJain canon inaform
acceptable toallJains. The second Jain council atVallabhi inthe5th
Century A.D. brought about afinal compilation ofreligious texts.
TheJaincanonical texts areclassified into6 groups:
1)Twelve angas
2)Twelve upangas
3)Tenprakarna
4)Sixcheda sutras
5)Four mula sutras and
6)Four miscellaneous texts.
1)Twelve Angas: explain theJainDoctrines with thehelp oflegend sand
stories andprescribe rules of conduct formonks.
2)The Twelve Upangas: are dogmatic and mythological Upangas are
associated with the Angas texts.
3)The Ten Prakirnas: which are in verse deal with miscellaneous topics
regarding the doctrines of Jainism.
4)The Cheda sutras : give the rules of discipline in monasteries andalso
Prescribe Penalties for breaking them.munotes.in
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215)The Mula sutras : deal with the basic doctrines of Jainism. Mula is
thesupreme penalty of the cancellation ofmonkhoch.
6)The Miscellaneous texts: deal with religion, economics and other
subjects. TheJainmonks studied different subjects andthese aregiven in
miscellaneous literature.
Besides these canonical literary works, theJain Monks Produced rich
Supplementary literature. For instance, they wrote Niryuktis or
Commentaries.
These Jain religious texts contain information about the
contemporary Political, Economic, Social andReligious conditions.
2.4SECULAR LITERATURE (INDIAN)
The literary works other than the religious in nature, form the
category of secular literature. It developed side by side with the religious texts
and Provide Valuable information about ancient India and the Indians. We
get different categories of secular literature such as Biographies, Dramas,
Local Chronicles, Poetry a nd Miscellaneous Literature such as books on
art, architecture, Science, Medicine, Music Mathematics and many other
subjects. Most of these works refer to historical events, socio -economic
and cultural conditions of thetime.
Kautilya Arthashastra:
Kautil ya was the mentor as well as the Prime Minister of
Chandragupta Maurya. Arthashastra is a work on Polity, but at the same
time ithas given usvaluable information about thecontemporary
socioeconomic and cultural life. It is divided into 15 Prakarana, each
dealing with aseparate topic. Theking, hisministry, state administration,
domestic and Foreign Policy oftheState taxation system, laws and
punishment and relations between states etc.have been discussed inthe
Arthashastra. Particularly, it is very important for the study of Political
and economic conditions of the Mauryan period.
Shukra Nitisara andKamandakiya Nitisara :
Shukra Nitisara andKamandakiya Nitisara alsobelong tothistype
of literature. They give on idea of the high standard of Poli tical thought
andOrganisation. These aretheworks dealing with State -Craft, economic
System andSocial Organisation.
Gatha Saptashati :
Isacollection of700 gathas orPoems composed byvarious
poets its compilation is attributed to the Satavahana rule rHala (1st
centuryA.D.) and written in Maharashtri Prakrit and is like a folk literature. It
throws light onthesocio -cultural lifeofcommon people andtherefore; it has
proved to be an important Source material for the study ofsocial history.munotes.in
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22Briha tkatha ofGunadhya:
Alarge body offolk literature also exists inSanskrit, consisting
of fables. Stories with morals which have passed down from one
generation toanother. Therefore, Brihatkatha ofGunadhya is important. This
work however, was originally written in Paishachi, one ofthePrakrit
languages. Itstranslations inSanskrit are (1) Brihatkathashloka
Sangraha byBuddhaswami (2)Brihat Kathamanjiri byKshemendga
and(3)Kathasaritsagar bySomasharma. Ofthese, thekathasaritsagar of
somadeva hasproduced agreat impact. Thestories in this work deal with
allpossibly experiences, situations inhuman life.Ithasinfluenced thefolk
literature in many other languages. There are many other works of these
types in Sanskrit language. The Panchatantram, written by Vishnu
Sharma is another world famous Sanskrit work which is a collection of
fables. In Panchatantram we get stories of animals, reflecting onhuman
nature.
Sanskrit Dramas alsowere written byseveral dramatists.
Bhasa wrote many dramas inSanskrit. HisSvapnavasavadatta isthe
best known play.
Kalidasa wrote dramas such asMalavikagnimitra, Vikramorvashiyans
Abhidnyanashakuntalam.
Vishakhadatta wrote Mudrarakshasa andDevichandragupta.
Shudraka wrote Mrichhakatika based onBhasa's romanti cplay.
Bharata Wrote theNatyashastra which isconsidered tobethemost
authoritative treatise onSanskrit dramaturgy.
Emperor Harshavardhana was agreat scholar himself, hehad also
written three dramas namely Ratanavali, Priyadarshika andNagananda .
Bhavabhuti wrote Mahaviracharitam, Malatimadhavam and
Ultarramcharitam.
Bhattanarayaan wrote Venisanhara.
Ashvaghosha wrote Saundarananda.
All of the above mentioned literary works deal with different
subjects like grammar, science, medicine, etc., al so process to be the
source material which is useful for the study of socio -economic and
cultural life.
TheSangam literature:
Under thepatronage ofthePandyan rulers ofMadura, high
standard Tamil literature known asSangam literature wasproduced. Tamil
tradition mentions about three literary academies i.e. Sangam which metatmunotes.in
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23Madurai, thecapital ofthePandyas. The literature waspresented in the
sangama by the authors and pacts and only after it was passed by a
committee of the scholars, was accepte da sS a n g a m a literature.
There isnoanyliterary work leftforusfrom theFirst Sangama,
allitsworks have perished. Ofthesecond there survives onlytheearly Tamil
grammar Tolkappiyam. The Poets ofthethird sangama wrote the
Ettutogai (eight Anthol ogies). These contain 200poems ascribed to200
authors. Inaddition, there arePattupattu (Ten songs) containing 10longer
Poems ofsimilar style belonging tolater period. The Kurul contains the
didactic Poems composed by Tiruvallavar, aJainPoet. Sanga mliterature is
fullofinformation's anda good source of history of theSouth Indian
society economy, religion and culture.
Besides theSangam literature, early Tamil works ofthetype ofepics
such asSilappadikkaram, Manimekhalai andtheRamayana arealso
important sources of history.
Kavya or Poetic literature : Several important Poets Flourished such as :
Ashvaghosha —wrote Buddhacharita Magha —wrote Shishupalvadha
Bharavi —wrote Kirtarjuniya
Kalidasa —wrote Raghuvamsha andKumarsambhava
Banabh atta—Harshacharita
Dandin —wrote Kavyadarsha andDoshakumaracharitra
Batti —Ravanavadha
Rajashekara wasapoet andalsoadramatist.
Bilhana —wrote Vikramankadevacharita.
Besides the above mentioned works. Several other works dealing
mainly with diff erent subjects contain valuable historical and cultural
information.
Theworks onGrammar:
The works onSanskrit Grammar were written by(Panini
(Ashtadhyayi) and Patanjali (Mahabhashya) Vararuchi also was a
grammarian.
Inthefield ofMedicine: The medi cinal Science, traditionally
known as Ayurveda, was well developed in ancient India. Charaka wrote
Charaka samhita, Vagbhatta wrote Ashtanga sangraha.
Palakapya wrote Hastyayurveda.
Sushruta was the famous surgeon of ancient India who wrote Sushruta samhi ta
which gives usdetailed information ofdiffaspects ofsurgery.
Aryabhatta wrote onalgebra, arithmetic andastronomy.
Varahamihira wrote his valuable works onastronomy such as
Parchasidhanta, Romaka and Paulisa.munotes.in
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24Vatsyayana wrote the Kamasutra onsexology anderotics.
Kamandaka wrote Nitishastra.
Kalhana wrote Rajatarangini during the 12thcentury A.D. It is the most
famous among the local chronicles. It deals with the history of Kashmir
upto the middle of 12thcentury A.D.
Check Your Progress:
1.Discuss theimportance oftheliterary sources forthestudy ofancient Indian
history.
2.5THE GREEK AND ROMAN ACCOUNTS
For a detailed and proper study of ancient Indian history, the Greek
sources arevery important. Itisthefact, thatIndia wasknown to the Greeks
even before the invasion of Alexander the Great. Some of the Greeks, who
have left their accounts on India, are mentioned below:
Skylax: wasthefirst towrite abook onIndia. Hewassent byDarius in
about 515B.C. onavoya geofexploration tofind outthecourse ofriver
Sindhu (Indus). He wanted to astonish his countrymen by the accounts of
hisadventures.
Aristotle, the Greek philosopher -scientists has quoted from thework of
Skylax.
Herodotus:
He was a Greek historian who never visited India, but believed in
recording everything read orheard. Hehasalso lefthisimpressions about
India, which were formed mainly on hearsay. He gives us information
regarding the relations between India and Persia during the 5thCentury
B.C. however, these accounts does not refer to the whole Indian
subcontinent. They are limited to only a part of North Western hilly tract.
Herodotus has recorded about the trees which gave wool, form which the
cloths were made (i.e. cotton). He also gives details of fairy tales. In
general, he refers to the conquest of a small partofIndia byDarius andhas
alsomade some useful observations about thepeoples of north western borders
ofIndia.munotes.in
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25Ktesias:
He was a physician of the 5thCentury B.C. who wrot eh i sa c c o u n t s on
India. Like Herodotus, hehadwritten about therelations between India and
Persia. Hisinformation was based onhearsay, heard from the travellers
who came to India. However, his writing is not a firsthand information and
isfulloffables,hence notmuch ofvalue forthestudy ofancient India.
The historians, who came in the wake of Alexander's invasion,
give more exact information than theearlier writers. Alexander wasalover
of knowledge and he had collected a few scholars around h imwho
accompanied him toIndia.
Ptolemy, Nearchus, Onesicritus and Aristobulus were some ofthe
scholarly campaigners. They have their accounts about India. Adescription
oftheterritory from thePersian Gulf totheriver Sindhu isgiven inthebook
ofNearchus. This work isregarded astrustworthy. Itwasfrom their accounts
thattheEuropeans came toknow about India. Their writing is more exact
than theearlier writers.
The intimate relations between therulers ofIndia, Greece and
Persia were mainta ined byexchange ofambassadors. Theambassadors like
Deimachus of Syria, Dionysuis of Egypt and Megasthenes, who came to
thecourts ofIndian rulers, have lefttheirvaluable records. Unfortunately, the
works ofaccounts ofallthese havebeen lostexcept afewextracts from the
Indica of Megasthenes.
Megasthenes:
Hewrote oneofthemost valuable foreign traveller's records on
India. Megasthenes was anambassador ofthe Greek king Selucus
Nicator tothecourt ofChandragupta Maurya. Helived inthecity of
Pataliputra andwrote hisaccounts onIndia which henamed as'Indica'. The
original copy ofthisbook hasbeen lostincourse oftime. However, the
other Greek writers have quoted the extracts form Indica intheir works,
andthus have been preserved onlyinfragments. Onthebasis ofthese
extracts, thehistory oftheMauryan period has been reconstructed.
Megasthenes hasdescribed the city of Pataliputra. It contains some useful
information about thesocial classes andeconomic activities during the
Mauryan period. It also provides information on our country, its soil, climate
flora and fauna, the Mauryan administrative system etc. the Indica of
Megasthenes though sometimes, it is not free from exaggerations has been
regarded as a good source of inform ation and has a high historical value.
Among the other Greek accounts, aspecial reference may be
made to the classical writers who wrote about India. It has been observed
thatmany ofthem never visited India butwrote about India onthebasis of
informa tion which they gathered through Alexander's soldiers. Among
these writers, Pliny, Arrian, Plutarch, Justin and Curtis areworth
mentioning. Pliny wrote 'Natural History' which gives an account of the
Indian flora, fauna and minerals in the lstA.D. All these writers havemunotes.in
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26mentioned in their accounts about India with special reference topolitical,
social as well aseconomic condition.
Unknown author ofthe 'Periplus ofthe Erythrean Sea’
also gives us much information about India during the 1stA.D. Asamatter
offact, when India developed brisk trade with theRoman Empire during the
early centuries oftheChristian era, some geographers and navigators
visited India and wrote about it. The earliest ofthem isabove mentioned
anonymous author ofthePeriplu s of the Erythrean Sea'. He was a Greek
sailor, settled in Egypt. Hemade avoyage totheIndian coast about 80A.
D.andhasleftarecord ofhiswhole voyage starting from Red Seato the
Indian coast. In fact, it was a manual for others who wanted to go on a
voyage to India. This book gives us detailed information about the chief
ports oftheKonkan i.e.western coast ofIndia such asBharuch, Sopara,
Kalyan andChaul, prominent trade centers such asPaithan, tagar etc. from
the hinterland in Deccan have also been mentioned.
Ptolemy wasaGreek geographer and wrote ageographical account of
India in the 2ndA.D. His writing is based on scientific method. He also
wrote a book entitled as 'Geography'. He has left a detailed account about
the Indian ports an d marts of the contemporary period.
Kosmos Indikopleustes -was another Greek trader who had lived at
Kalyan in thane district of Maharashtra during the 6thCenturyA.D. Inhis
account, hegives usinformation about thecoastal areas, ports, other
commercia lcenters, thetrading business etc.which isavaluable account.
Virgil, Diodorus and Strabo also give us information about India's
geography and trade practices. Strabo gives more details on thephysical
geography of India.
Writings ofPliny, Periplus andPtolemy aremore useful sources
for the study of ancient's Indian history. They provide us detailed
information about India’s geography, maritime trade and merchandise, the
people, their behaviour, flora and fauna, Indian industries, and the
commoditie sofimport andexport etc.
Ingeneral, allthese Greek accounts arevaluable because unlike Indians,
theGreeks hadhistorical perspective andthey hadrecorded whatever they
observed. However, their writings have to be studied carefully. They were
not familiar with the languages and customs of thepeople andabout when
they wrote andtherefore, duetoignorance, their information, observations,
sometimes may bewrong. In the light of new evidence, their information
canbe reviewed again.
Like theGreek sources, wegetsome Roman documents alsothat
gives us some information of ancient Indian history. Trogaus pompeius
wrote a history titles "Historiae Philippicae". This original work is lost but
the extracts from it were taken by another Roman author Justinus inhis
book viz. 'Epitoma Historiarum Philippiearum". Itthrows light onthemunotes.in
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27relationship ofSelucus with India andalsorefers to the invasion of India by
Bactrian Greeks. Pomporius Melas (1stCentury A.D.) wasanother author.
Pliny's work Naturalis Historia gives an account of Political Geography of
India. Quintus Curtius, Rufus (2ndCenturyA.D) were some other Romans
who wrote about India andtheir writings have become a source ofancient
Indian history.
2.6ACCOUNTS OFTHE CHINESE TRAVELLERS
The teachings ofBuddha were spread toforeign lands bythe
efforts ofAshoka. TheChinese accepted Buddhism inlarge numbers and
several Chinese Buddhist devotes visited India on a pilgrimage. Some of
them were great scholars wholived hereandwandered overawide territory.
These scholars carried with them several manuscripts ofreligious
philosophical andscientific works. Obviously, the accounts given by these
scholarly pilgrims are very useful for reconstruction oftheancient Indian
history.
About 60 Chin ese pilgrims have left valuable records of their
travels inIndia. Themost notable from them were as follows: -
Fa-Hien: (309-414A.D):
Fa-Hien visited India during the Gupta period. He has left a
valuable account. He was a Buddhist pilgrim. He stayed m ostly in
Magadhan region. Almost fifteen years he spent in India learning
Buddhism and visiting almost all the holy places associated with the life
and career of Buddha. His account is titled 'Fa -Kou-Ki' in which hethrows
light oncontemporary political e conomic andcultural conditions of the
period. His account is a very reliable source for the study oftheGupta age.
Hiuen Tsang (629-645 A.D.):
Hiuen Tsang visited India during thefirst halfofthe7thCentury
A.D. He was a great Chinese scholar. He ca me during the reign of
Harshavardhana. Like Fa –Hien, Hiuen Tsang also spent more than 16
years in India. He travelled extensively in north and south India and has
left a graphic account about the contemporary political, socioeconomic
andcultural conditi ons. Hehasrecorded hisobservations about Indian
kings, capitals, provinces, Buddhist Monasteries andcenters ofeducation
such asNalanda. Hehasalsodescribed the various people living in
different parts of India. He visited region ofMaharashtra, whichhecalled
`Mo-ho-le-cha' and alsohas described the nature of characteristics of
Maharashtrian people during the 7thCentury A.D. Hehadalso stayed at
Nalanda andgives adetailed information about Nalanda University. He
gives interesting information a bout his royal patron Harshavardhana. His
account mainly helps for the reconstruction of Harshavardhana's history.
Ingeneral, hegives thevaluable information about geography, literature,
administration andreligious lifeofthepeople.
His account titl ed as `Si -Yu-Ki' i.e. 'Records of the Western world'
has proved to be a store house of accurate information about India duringmunotes.in
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28the 7thCenturyA.D. His account is really very useful and a good source of
history of 7thC.India andtheIndian people.
I-tsing(673-95A.D.):
I-tsing wasanother great Chinese pilgrim thatvisited India. Hehas
leftavery interesting account about Indian Buddhism. Hevisited India at
theend ofthe7thCentury A.D. Hehad stayed attheUniversity of
Nalanda and gives a graphic picture of the campus of the Nalanda
University, the grand buildings, the gardens and lakes, the huge library of
Nalanda University, the curious students and the talented and versatile
teachers as well as the administration of the university.
I-tsing doe s not mention names of any ruler in India, but indirect
references to the political social and economic conditions of theIndians of
that time arefound inthis work.
All these three Chinese scholars spent a number of years in India
andlearnt itslanguag e.They were alltheBuddhist monks whose journey to
India was merely a pilgrimage to holy lands. Thus their outlook was
purely religious Fa -Huien and I -tsing does not refer much to secular
matters. Incidentally, we get some information in their accounts. However,
Hiuen Tsang's account is most important and has proved to be the most
valuable of the Chinese accounts on India.
Hwui -liwas afriend ofHiuen Tsang, who wrote abiography of
Hiuen Tsang. Inthisbook some information about India isfound andhence
is the source ofancient Indian history.
2.7TIBETAN ACCOUNTS
TheTibetan accounts onIndia alsoareagood source material for
thestudy ofancient India. Theworks oftheTibetan Lamas Taranath, Dulva
and Tangyur etc. can be used for the study of ancientIndian history.
2.8ARAB AND PERSIAN ACCOUNTS
HeArab travellers, geographers andhistorians came toIndia from
the8thCentury A.D. onwards. From those times some Arab writers wrote
about India. Most prominent among them were Al -Masudi (9thCentury
A.D.)A1Itak riandIbnHaukal (both 10thCentury A.D.) andAl-Beruni (12
Century A.D.)
Al-Masudi hasleftagraphic account about north India during the 9th
Century A.D. He and Al -Itakri as well as Ibn -Haukal all were traders and
wrote their accounts whi ch deal with the country and its inhabitants. They
give us the valuable information about coastal India, ports, trading center
andtheir merchandise.
Al-Beruni the most learned Arab scholar, who visited India, was Al -
Beruni (1030 A.D.). He mastered Sanskr it language and literature. He wasmunotes.in
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29a mathematician and astronomer and wrote his account onIndia titled
'Tahkik -I-Hind'. Itisofutmost historical value because thisgreat scholar
travelled throughout India during the11thC.A.D. andhasrecorded his
observations about ancient Indian religion, philosophy, astronomy, astrology
and various other subjects. Hehasalso described thelifeofcommon
people.
Apart from Al-Beruni, Al-Biladuri, Hasan Nizami, etc.alsogive
ussome information about India during their times.
Firdausi (940 –1020 AD) was the great Persian writer who has
preserved some Indian legends inhisfamous book,
`Shahnama' (Book ofKings) some other Persian works which have
reference toIndian include –
Jamit -ul–Twarikh (collection histories)byRashid Uddin,
Rauzat –us-safabyMirkhond,
Tarikh –i–Yamini byAI-Utbi.
Taj-Ul-Masir byHasan Nizami etc.
An account of India known as "Kisse Sanjan" of Post 10th Century
A.D. was written by the Parsis, who came at Sanjan as refugees. This book
also provides us valuable information about the early Parsis on thewestern
coaster India andtheir settlements.
Although the foreign traveller's accounts are useful for the study of
ancient Indian history, they have some drawbacks also. They must beused
very cautiously while using thesources.
Check Your Progress:
1)Evaluate the accounts ofthe foreign writers inthe study of
socioeconomic history ofancient India.
2.9SUMMARY
The literary sources forearly histo ryofIndia may beclassified on:
1)Indian Literature i.e.sacred andsecular.
2)Accounts oftheForeigners.
In this lesson, we have studied the literary sources, which give us
valuable information about the ancient Indians. The Sacred (religious)
literature issubdivided inthree parts i.e.Vedic orBrahmanical texts,
Buddhist test and Jain texts. All these religions texts contain valuable
material forthestudy religion andculture.munotes.in
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30We have also studied numerous works of a secular nature like
Kautilya Arthas hastra, Gatha Saptashati, other literary works likethose of
Bhasa, Kalidasa and others all these works contain some historical
information andgood dealofmaterial forCultural Study.
During ancient times India had very close commercial and cultural
tiesw i t hf o r e i g nc o u n t r i e s ,p a r t i c u l a r l y of the western world. Consequently,
several foreign writers came to India and wrote their accounts on their
personal observations. Among such writers the Greeks, Chinese, Persians
writers have left their accounts whic hhasproved tobeamajor source to
reconstruct thehistory ofancient India. In this lesson we have taken a brief
review of accounts these foreign travelers.
2.10QUESTIONS
1.Critically examine thesecular literature astheSourc esofhistory.
2.Write short notes on
a)Foreign Traveller's accounts
b)TheVedic literature
c)TheJataka Stories
d)TheJainliterature
e)TheBuddhist literature.
f)Accounts oftheGreeks
h)Accounts oftheChinese pilgrims.
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313
INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION SOCIO -
ECONOMIC AND RELIGIOUS DECLINE
Unit Structure
3.0 Objectives
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Social life
3.2.1Society
3.2.2Ornaments
3.2.3Cosmetics
3.2.4Family System
3.2.5Household articles
3.2.6Domesticated animals
3.2.7Sports andEntertainment
3.2.8Weapons ofwar
3.3 Economic Life
3.3.1Agriculture
3.3.2Industry
3.3.3Trade andCommerce
3.4 Religion and Culture
3.4.1Female deity
3.4.2Male deity
3.4.3Animal Worship
3.4.4Tree Worship
3.4.5FireAltars
3.4.6Disposal ofthedead
3.5 Decline oftheIndus Valley Civilization
3.6 TheLegacy oftheIndus Civilization
3.7 Summary
3.8 Questionsmunotes.in
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323.0OBJECTIVES
This lesson willenable you
1)Tounderstand the Social life oftheIndus valley people.
2)Tounderstand theEconomic life of the Indus valley people.
3)Toimagine about their religious ideas andthedeities they worshipped
by studying the archaeologic al remains excavated from the sites of
Indus valley.
4)Togetsome information about thedestruction oftheIndus Valley
Civilization.
5)Toknow thelegacy oftheIndus Civilization.
3.1INTRODUCTION
Forthestudy ofsocio economic lifeoftheIndus valley peop le,no
written records excepting inscriptions on the seals come down to us. These
inscriptions have not yet been satisfactorily deciphered. Hence the sources
of Indus valley civilization are the archaeological sources in form of ruins
of the cities, househ old articles, seals, toys, statues etc. on the basis of
which we have to imagine about their socio -economic life.
Onthebasis oftheruins thatareexcavated inthesites Indus valley
Civilization, wecanimagine tosome extent about theReligion
i.e.religious ideas oftheIndus Valley People.
Thetime span oftheIndus valley civilization extends ingeneral terms
from 2500 -1500 B.C. covering the beginnings, development and
maturation ofthecivilization manifested inthevillages and urban
concentratio ns.
However, recent radio -carbon method ofdating antiquities have
slightly modified the span which is now placed between 2300 and 1700
B.C. with carry overs going onforanother couple ofcenturies. Itseems that
by1900 B.C. theculture hadalready reacheditsmaturity andthusbegan its
period of decline.
3.2SOCIAL LIFE
Discoveries of cities, buildings of burnt bricks, underground
drainage system, household utensils, pottery, toys, seals, articles of
jewellery andstatuettes clearly show thathighly civilized people lived inthe
Indus valley sindhu valley intheancient times between 3000 B.C. and
2000 B.C.munotes.in
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33Race: -
Theskulls andskeletons which arefound attheexcavations shows
thatIndus valley people belonged tofourracial groups
Proto -Austra loid
Mediterranean
Mongoloid
Alpine.
Thecities hadthecosmopolitan population. However, majority of
people belonged to Mediterranean race to which the Dravidians belonged.
The average height of a man was 5' * 4 1/2" andofwoman 4'*41/2".
3.2.1Society:
Theexcavations atvarious sites show thatthesociety had5social
groups such as -
1.Ruling class thatlived intheupper part(Citadel).
2.Petty traders andprofessionals who lived inlower city.
3.Labourers who lived inoneroom houses near workshops.
4.Farmers wholived invillages surroundings thetowns.
5.Roaming herdsmen who roamed from focus totown with their
animals and common items of trade.
From the study of the seals some information of the style of their dress
canbeobtained. Itseems thattwogarments were worn bypeople made
either of cotton or wool. Ashawl shows that twogarments were worn. A
shawl like cloth worn over the left shoulder andunder theright arm, soas
toleave the right armfreeformed theupper garment. The lower garment
resembled a modern dhoti. The costumes worn by women. However,
women, as it appears from a seal, wore skirts. Their garments were made
of cotton or perhaps of wool.munotes.in
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343.2.2Ornaments:
AGolden Necklace from Lothalmunotes.in
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35Were worn byboth men andwomen ofallclasses.Necklaces billets,
armlets, finger rings andbangles were worn byboth men andwomen. The
girdles, nose studs, ear-rings andanklets were worn bywomen alone. There
was a great variety in the shape and design of these there was a great
variety in the shape and design of these ornaments, andsome ofthem are
ofsingular beauty.
The ornaments were made of gold, silver, ivory, copper and both
precious and semi -precious stones like Tassle, crystals, agate, cornelian etc.
Female statues adorning beautiful hair styles have been found
women wore forshaped headdress. Men wore long hairandcollect itina
ringonthetopof the head. They sustained short beards.
3.2.3Cosmetics :
In the excavations, the toilet jars made of ivory, metals and stone were
discover ed.Women used collyrium intheir eyes apaint ontheir face and
other cosmetics. AVanity casefound atHarappa which aidssuch aspiercers,
ear-scoop, tweezers etcaresuggestive ofthekeen interest of women in
beauty aids. Rounds metal rods are used fo rapplying thecosmetics. They
hadovalshaped mirrors made ofbronze. Also there were found fine design
and well pointed razors made of bronze.
3.2.4Family System:
The Harappans were a deeply family misdeed people. The
compactness oftheir private houses accordswell with theprinciple of
family privacy. The discovery of numerous types of boys such asdolls,
whistles, rattles toycarts, tinygrains vessels, water jugs, animals andbirds
models indicate their deep interest intheir children andobviously in the
family life.munotes.in
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363.2.5Household articles:
The earthen ware vessels of rich variety were made with the
potter's wheel and were glazed vessels ofcopper, bronze, silver and
porcelain were known though very rarely used. Noironandbeen found and
that metal was obviously unknown.
munotes.in
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37Their homes were well furnished. Among thearticles ofdomestic
uses, chairs, beds heads andstools were used todecorate the drawing
room. There were lamps of copper, shell and pottery. Apottery candlestick
found in the ruins indica testhatcandles probably made ofwax orfollow
with wicks ofcotton played their part isilluminating thehouses of
Mohenjodaro.
3.2.6Domesticated animals:
The remains of skeletons prove that the humped bull, the buffalo
sheep, elephant andcamel were domesti cated. Thecarvings ofdogs and
children's toys show thatdogwas also familiar. There aresome doubts
about thehorse.
3.2.7Sports and entertainment:
This discovery ofalarge number ofdice pieces shows the
prevalence of the game. They had several means of i ndoor and outdoor
entertainment. Gambling dance and music were means of their indoor
entertainment. They used stringed musical instruments anddrums. The
outdoor pastime included sports, games andhunting bull fighting wasalso
apartoftheir pass time.
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38
3.2.8Weapons ofwar:
These include axes, spears daggers, andmaces with comparatively
fewer specimens ofbows andarrows. Theabsence ofwords issignificant.
Shields, Helmets oranyother defensive armour areconspicuous bytheir
absence. Theweapons ofwar, alloffensive incharacter areusually made
ofcopper andbronze through afewstone implements have also been
found.
3.3ECONOMIC LIFE
The Indus valley people had developed a multi -dimensional
economy. Theexistence ofthelarge cities with bighouses ,wide roads, and
efficient sanitary system indicate thattheIndus valley cities were inhabited
by a considerably large population engaged in agriculture, trade, commerce
and industry.
The lifeinthecities must have been active andvigorous asis
sugge sted by the wide roads. The roads are big enough for the free
movement oflarge numbers ofthepeople and vehicles. They established
commercial contacts with the distant places, within the country and with
other contemporary river valley civilizations such asMesopotamia and Egypt.
They were industrious, enterprising, commercial, urban andprosperous,
andhad developed adistinct wayoflife.munotes.in
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393.3.1Agriculture:
Being theriver valley civilization Indus people were obviously
theagriculturists. Their agricultur ewasrichthefertile land ofthe sindhu
(Indus) valley, the figures of the bull, on their seals, agricultural
implements andother domesticated animals, indicate thatagriculture wasthe
main occupation. Wheat, barley, rice, cotton andpalm date were gro wn in
abundance. Peas and sesamums were also cultivated inHarappa.
Probably paddy was also raised asis evident from the rice husks and
spikelet found embedded in clay and pottery at Lothal and Rangpur. A
wide range of wild animals were hunted for food. T hey consumed fish,
mutton, beef, pork and poultry.
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403.3.2Industry:
Perhaps the Indus people were the first people in the ancient world
tolearn andpractice theartofspinning cotton anddyeing cloth. The
common vocations were that of a potter, weaver, and carpenter mason and
ofmetal work. Themetals known were copper, bronze, lead,silver andgold.
The pottery of the Harappan people was generally made on wheel.
Themajority ofpottery isplain, butasubstantial partistreated with red slip
and black pa inted decoration. The technical knowledge in the preparation
of the fine pottery and burnt brick was of a high standard.
The cotton andwoolen dresses reveal the advanced stage of weaving.
The services ofcarpenter were essential foralarge agricultural
and trading community. In the same way, the imposing constructions
reveal thehigh skill of the masons.
munotes.in
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41Jewellery making wasanother important vocation during theperiod as is
evident from various types of jewellery and ornaments. Ivory making
(articles made from ivory) alsomust beanother business.
b)Metal Utensils, Weapons andImplements andCultObjects:
There were other metal workers busy in making tools and implements
such asknives, spearhead, arrowheads, small saws etc.
Which were made ofcopperandbronze, aswell asvarious types of
vessels? These were made by simple casting, chiseling and hammering.
Making of terracotta objects must have been an important
profession as is evident from ample terracotta human and animal figurines,
toy carts with solid wheels and cubical dice and a few sculptures.
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423.3.3Trade and Commerce:
The archaeological discoveries suggest that the people had
developed trade andcommerce both i.e.internal andexternal. Trade and
commerce greatly supplemented their economy. Itcontributes totheir
economic wellbeing. The existence of wide and long roads, broad streets
and the use of wheel points to the existence of brisk internal trade.
The seals were most probably used inconnection with trade.
Indeed there is abundant evidence that the people traded not only with
other parts of India but also with many countries of Asia.
They brought limestone tocover their drains from Rohri andSukkar;
gypsum touseasmortar from Kirthat hills, finegreen Amazon stone from
Nilgris, goldfrom gold mines ofnorthern Karnataka; copper fromRajasthan,
amethyst from Maharashtra andcarnelian from Saurashtra.
The Indus valley people had developed extensive foreign trade.
They brought silver from Afghanistan or Iran, lapis lazuli from badaksh an;
turquoise from Iran and jade from central Asia. There is much evidence
about their trade links with thecities ofMesopotamia.
Different types of weights and measures were used by the
merchants. Alarge number ofweights belonging toauniform system have
been found atMohenjo -Daro andHarappa aswell asinChanhudaro and
other smaller towns. The unit was ratio 16. The find ofabroken scale
engraved onashell atMohenjo Daro shows adecimal scale ofinches
rising toafootwhich was, however, 13.2 inches long.munotes.in
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43Check Your Progress:
1.Write anessay ontheSocio -economic life oftheIndus Valley
People.
3.4RELIGION AND CULTURE
Seals with Bull Horned GodTree Goddess
munotes.in
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44Religion hasalways played adominant partinancient India. Very
little isknown about thereligion ofIndus valley people because ofthe
absence ofwritten evidence. Lotofseals have been found over which, the
inscriptions can be seen. But the script is not yet satisfactorily deciphered.
However, from the figures we can imagine about their religious life.
There arenotraces oftemples oranyother structure ofreligious
nature. For the study of religion, we have mainly to rely upon seals,
images andfigures.
3.4.1Worship ofmother goddess orfemale deity:
Anumber ofterracotta female figures found atnumerous places are
described torepresent theEarth goddess, thePrithvi ortheMother Goddess.
Some of the figures are smoke stained. It is possible that the oil lamp or
incense was burnt before them. From this, it can be believed that the cult
of the divine mother was widely practiced. It could be probable that they
worshipped this goddess for fertility and prosperity. This cult must be very
popular as is evident from large number figurines.
Theportray ofastanding seminude figure isthemost conspicuous. It
has an elaborate, head dress and a girdle and necklace. Another, seal from
Harappa shows a nude female figure, turned upside down and a plant rising
from her womb. On the obver se side are the figures ofaman and a
woman. This probably symbolizes human sacrifice tothegoddess of
earth.
3.4.2Male deity:
The study of the seals and symbols, figures and images give a
picture thatthelater Shiva worship followed it,indirect consequen ces.The
Shiva idea is the most dominant here.
3.4.3Animal Worship:
Pashupati Shiva: Among the male Gods the most prominent figure isofa
deity having three heads, sitting cross legged onathrone with penis standing
upright andissurrounded byanimals. Heiswearing bangles in his hands. On
the basis of the three heads, the sitting posture andtheassociation ofanimals,
thedeity hasbeen identified with Shiva intheform of Mahayogi and
Pashupati.
munotes.in
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45Phallus (lingam) worship:
Shiva worship was however, no t merely iconic, but also phallic as
would appear from thepresence ofalarge number ofconical and
cylindrical stones. Itprobably waslingam worship.
Another male figure with all the details as above has got two horns
and bunch of flowers or leaves ris ing between the horns. This probably is a
personification of Shiva as the principal of creation or purusha.
3.4.4Animal andTree worship:
The tree worship was common among the Indus valley people as
depicted on their seals. Some sealing from Harappa shows tre esenclosed
byawall orarailing. Itcould bethesymbol oftreeworship. TheIndus
valley people also worshipped animals, birds, snakes, trees andfire. Itis
evident from their seals, sealing andbyterracotta andstone figurines.
3.4.5Fire Altars (Fire Ritual):
AtKalibangan, have been found series ofbrick ofbrick platforms,
raised to a considerable height and crowned with 'fire altars', a well,
bathing places andbrick lined pitscontaining ashes oranimal bones. Some
scholars are of opinion that, "this complex must represent a civic ritual
center where animal sacrifice, ritual ablution and some sortoffirealtar
featured." Outside thelower town atKalibangan several fire altars were
discovered in a small brick walled courtyard which could be indicativ eo f
domestic fireritual or worship.
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46
3.4.6Disposal ofthe dead:
Asregards thedisposal ofthedead, there seems tohave been three
methods:
1)Complete burials,
2)Fractional burials,
3)Postcremation burials.
Thecomplete burial means theburial of the whole body,withsome
articles and other Offerings.
Fractional burial means the burial of the bones collected after
exposing thebody towild beasts orbirds. Five such burials have been
found.munotes.in
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48The post cremation burial shows the ashes and the bones collected
after burning, buried inurnssimilar tothose used infirstandsecond types of
burials.
Allthese methods ofdisposal ofthedead were inpractice during theVedic
age also.
3.5THE LEGACY OFTHE INDUS CIVILIZATION
TheIndus valley people lefttheir imprint onthelifeoflater India in
many ways. The idea of Mother Goddess, Shiva and lingam worship, the
sanctity of the papal tree, perhaps the Yogic ideas, animal and plant
worship, which isregarded asscared, theritual roleofbathing, weights and
measures andtheconcept ofurban lifewere, the elements of this legacy.
The cities disappeared, the villages decayed and the external signs of
culture submerged but Indus culture survived andenriched thecomplex
fabric ofIndian civilization for ages tocome.
Check Your Progress:
1.Discuss thereligious lifeoftheIndus Valley People.
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493.4SUMMARY
In this lesson, we have studied the socio -economic life of the Indus
valley people. The ruins that are discovered from the sites of Indus valle y
include numerous articles of daily use such as pottery andutensils ofstone;
Shell, terracotta etc., chairs, stools, toys, weapons andseals etc.help usto
understand thelifeoftheIndus valley people.
Byacareful examination ofthese ruins, weareable tounderstand
the social and economic life of the Indus valley people. We can make a
clear idea about various aspects of social and economic lifewith thehelp
of the Photographs added inthislesson.
Inthislesson wealsohave studied twoimportan taspects thatare:
a)Religion oftheIndus Valley People.
b)Decline of theIndus Valley People.
On the basis of the archaeological findings, we can imagine to
some extent about the religion, religious ideas and the deities the people of
Indus valley worshipp ed. These People worshipped the mother Goddess,
Shiva, Animals, Tree and also had developed worship ofFire. Their religion
seems tobesimilar tothat oftheVedic People. Their methods ofthe
disposal ofthedead too were similar.
There arevarious opinions about thedecline ofthisCivilization.
Some scholars hold theview thatthese cities were destroyed byFloods. The
civilization certainly continued toexist even after thedestruction ofthe
cities andthepeople oftheoldsites must have shifted toother Places.
Recent excavations at several Sites notably at Kalibangan, Rampur,
Lothal, Dholvira etc. have proved a close affinity between Indus Valley
and the Vedic Civilizations.
3.5QUESTIONS
1.Comment ontheEconomic lifeof the Indus Valley People.
2.WriteShort Notes on:
a)Religion oftheIndus Valley People.
b)Decline oftheIndus Valley Civilization.
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504
INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION TOWN
PLANNING, ARCHITECTURE, SCRIPT
Unit Structure
4.0Objectives
4.1Introduction
4.2ArtoftheIndus Valley People
4.2.1Terracotta
4.2.2Stone Sculptures
4.2.3Bronze Sculptures
4.2.4Pottery
4.2.5Seal engravings andtheIndus Script
4.3Town Planning andArchitecture
4.3.1TheCities
4.3.2TheStreets
4.3.3Water Supply
4.3.4Drainage System
4.3.5Street lights
4.4Buildings
4.4.1Private Buildings
4.4.2Public Buildings
4.5Discovery oftheCivilization
4.6Decli ne of theCivilization
4.7Extent oftheCivilization
4.7.1AMap showing theexcavated Sites ofIndus Valley
4.7.2AMap showing theextent ofIndus valley Civilization onculture.
4.8TheArchitects oftheIndus Civilization
4.9Summary
4.10Questions
4.0OBJECTIVES
1.Tostudy ofdifferent artforms inSculptures Pottery, Bead making of
the People of Indus Civilization.
2.Togetaknowledge about thetown Planning andarchitectural Skill
of the Indus Valley people.
3.Tointroduce thestudents thediscovery ofoneoftheoldest cultures inthe
world.munotes.in
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514.Toexplain theextent of theIndus Valley Civilization andthefirstof
the Sites.
5.Toshow these sites onamap.
4.1INTRODUCTION
The excavations carried onsince 1921 have brought tolight the
ruins oftwoancient cities ofIndus Valley. Mohe njo-Daro inSind and
Harappa in the Punjab. Many more recent excavations have shown that
this civilization had spread over a vast area from Harappa to Lothal in
Gujarat.
Themost significant characteristic oftheIndus Valley Civilization is
the tremendou s progress made by these people in the field of art,
architecture and town planning. The art of this period is depicted through human
and animal figures, seals andornaments.
The Indus valley civilization was distinguished for its high level of
town plann ing and municipal organization. This town planning
architecture canbestudied form thevarious sites ofMohenjo -Daro,
Harappa, Chanhu -Daro, Lothal etc. Many of these sites now are in
Pakistan.
The earliest period of human civilization is known as the S tone
Age as man then used stone as his weapon and tool. This age is again
divided intotheOldStone Age andthenew Stone Age, onthebasis of the
crude andimproved implements.
Some of the basic arts of life such as kindling of fire, building of
houses and boats, agriculture, construction of vehicle, etc. were discovered
during the new stone age, i.e. (Neolithic Age) with the help of these
discoveries man settled in a fertile river valley and since then the
civilizations began to develop fast. Evidence o fa n early butfully
developed civilization wasprovided bytheIndus Valley civilization.
4.2ART OFTHE INDUS VALLEY PEOPLE
Themost significant feature ofthiscivilization isthetremendous
progress made bythose people inthe field ofart,architecture andtown
planning. Theartofthese people ismanifested in the creation of earthen
ware, sculpture i.e. terracotta, stone and bronze sculptures, seal engravings
(the art of the script engraving) bead making etc.
4.2.1Terracotta:
The sculptures of this civili zation are to be found of terracotta,
stone andbronze. Theterracotta female figurines aremore innumber, are
carefully done. Their appearance isprimitive. They arehandmade and made
of pinching up or pressing down the clay. The Eyes are also made of tw o
separate pellets and mouth by a small strip. They arefinished withelaborate
head-dress andornaments. Many figurines wear adistinctive head dress ofamunotes.in
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52fanlikeshape held byafillet round theforehead. The figures arenude
except forashort girdle round thewaist.
There are also more male figurines. These are to be found more at
Harappa than at any other sites where they are extremely rare. Mostly they
areshown entirely innude andthedress isrepresented isascanty loincloth.
Afewfigurines alsowear ashort beard thetechnique employed isthesame as
thatused in female figures.
Terracotta animal figurines arefound inlarge numbers. Inthem there isa
greater naturalistic modeling. Besides bull, avariety ofanimal such as
elephants, buffa lo,pig,rhinoceros, goat, monkey arefound. They arevery
helpful inreconstructing theclimatic conditions ofthe
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FIGURINES TOYS AND OTHER OBJECTS
Region during thattime. Short horned bull, humped bull, appears
verybeautiful. There is a very natur alistic representation of a monkey in
terracotta from Harappa.
Besides these there are many terracotta toys. Toys of animals
mounted on wheels. At Mohenjo -Daro a toy chariot with the head of
horned ramandthebody and tail of abirdhasbeen found.munotes.in
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4.2.2Stone sculptures:
Many stone sculptures also are found in the excavations at the sites
of Indus valley. There are two beautiful stone statuettes and a limestone
statue from Mohenjo -Daro.
Thebest preserved sculpture from Mohenjo -Daro isastatue piece
representing a head and a bust of a male figure. It shows that an elaborate
shawl like garment having repetitive trefoil design, worn over theleft
shoulder andunder theright arm, soastoleave theright arm free, which
formed the upper garment. The eyes a re long and halfclosed. Thefigure
wears ashort beard indicated byvertical incisions. The hair is parted in the
middle and brushed back. A plain fillet a surrounds thehead andistiedat
theback. Thenose ofthesculpture isdamaged. Themouth show thicklips
andtheearsareoftheshape of double shells. The fore held is extremely
low. Many scholars suggest thattheeyes arehalfclosed inyogi ormystical
contemplation (indicating attitude of meditation andtherefore, could beofa
priest.
4.2.3Bronze sculptures:
From Mohenjo -Daro, wegetabronze statue, of'dancing young
girl'. The workmanship of this statue is rough. It is cast in the round and
except for the feet, is excellent preservation. The statue is just four and half
inches high. The legs are b entwith the left slightly forward. Theright hand is
onthehip,theleftarmcovered almost entirely withbangles, hangs loosely.
Thehairistucked attheback inaheavy plait thatrests against theright
shoulder. There isanaturalness andgrace inthemodeling andalertness inmunotes.in
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55themovement. The useofbronze orstone for artistic creation seems to
have been extremely limited. Terracotta in contrast, has been found in
great number indicating their universal popularity either as toys or cult
objects.
4.2.4Pottery:
The potters craft during the Indus valley civilizations was fairy
well-developed and the potters were quite a visible artisanal group. The
potter’s wheel was used and production was on a large scale. Thepottery
issowell established andvaried. Itshows great appreciation ofthefabric
andtextures aswell aspainting ofgeometric forms and figures of live
objects. Although, most of the pottery is wheel -turned, there are
specimens ofhandmade pottery.
Most ofthepottery ispinkish incolor. Butasubstantial partof itis
treated with redslipandsometimes black painted decoration. Thepottery
wasboth i.e.plain andsimple aswell asdecorated very rarely the figures of
animals, birds or fish appear on the pots. Kitchen utensils were mostly
madeupofpottery sometimes itwaspainted.
4.2.5Sealengravings andtheIndus script:
Besides the above mentioned craftsmanship, the Indus valley
people practiced numerous other artsandcrafts. Seatcutting occupied aplace
of important.
More than five hund redseals have been discovered atdifferent
sites. These are made of terracotta and small in size. Some contain fine
representations ofanimal figures -both mythical andreal engraved on
them. These are mostly square in shape the side measuring from 2 to 3
inches and were worn on the arm or neck by stringing card through
perforation. Some of the seals probably belonged tothetraders. Allofthem
contain ashort record inscribed inasortofpictorial writing which still
remains undeciphered. However, they aresaid to be the alphabets of the
Indus script. Nearly 3500 specimens of the Indus script have been
discovered from various sites of Indus valley. Several scholars such asSir
John Marshall, Father Heras, Dr.Mahadevan andDr.S.R. Rao etc.have
attempte dthereading oftheIndus valley script.
Nearly three thousand inscriptions have been found sofar,which
contain more than 400 signs. A large number of signs indicate that the
script cannot beanalphabet, itisprobably syllabic. This pictorial Writing
stillremains undeciphered.munotes.in
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Bead makers craft also was oneoftheimportant crafts ofIndus
valley people. Beads atvarious sites have been found inabundance. The
beads are varied in form and material. Beads of gold, silver, copper
faience, steatite ,semi-precious stones, shell andpottery have been found at
various sites. AtChanhudaro andLothal, bead —makers shop have been
discovered.
Textile manufacturing was another important craft as is evident
from Mohenjo -Daro, which hasyielded apiece ofwoven cloth. Spindle
whorls were used forspinning thecloth ofwool andcotton andwere
woven.
Brick manufacturing andmasonry appear tohave been important
craft. Kiln burnt bricks were used for buildings in places which were
ravaged byfloods andsunbaked bricks in other places.
Boat buildings must beincluded intheartandcraft. There are
models of boat in pottery.munotes.in
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4.3TOWN PLANNING AND ARCHITECTURE
The excavated ruins atMohenjo -Daro, Harappa, Chanhudaro,
Kalibangan, Lothal, Banawali and Dholav iraprovide usvaluable
information about the town planning of the Indus valley civilization other
sites include Rangpur, Rajodi, Surkotada, Sutkagendor etc. The best sites
which give us information about the town planning are Mohenjodaro and
Harappa, both situated now in Pakistan.munotes.in
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58The basic layout of the larger settlements such as at Mohenjodaro,
Harappa andKalibangan include twomajor sections ofthecity. One, the
smaller section is generally located on a high podium of m ud-brick, often
called the 'citadel or the upper town'. The second larger section, generally
located onaslightly lower ground, iscalled the
`township' orthelower town.
The upper town or the citadel part of the city contains large
buildings, includin gthose apparently forpublic utility, such asthe
`granary' andpillared hall'. 'Great Bath'. Thelower town contains large and
small houses for the common men, both rich and poor.
Theimportant features ofthetown planning andbuildings ofIndus
valley civilization are as follows:
munotes.in
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59Thecities were well planned. Usually thecitywasdivided by
Four major roads. Theconstruction ofideal roads istheunique feature ofthis
civilization.
4.3.2TheStreets:
The main street divided the city into large blocks of square or
rectangle. The streets had the width of '9 to 34'. Some of the streets ran
straight fornearly halfamile. These crossed each other exactly inninety
degree. Thestreets ranstraight intersecting atright angles.
4.3.3Water supply:
Indus civilizati onwas watered byriver Indus andhertributaries.
There also existed private and public water supply arrangements. Most of
the private houses at Mohenjodaro had wells. Each land hada public well.
Thewells occur at other sites also.
4.3.4Drainage system:
The drainage system was a unique feature of these cities. All
houses were connected by the drainage. The drainage system consisted of
horizontal andvertical street drains andofsoak pitsetc.Below themain
streets and lanes ran a main drain 11/2 to 2 feet deep. It was covered with
the brick or stone. Periodical cleaning and inspection were provided.
Individual house drains, each with itsown sump pitopened into
street drains, which turn opened into large brick culverts. The main drain
wascarried totheriver. Theunderground drainage system shows hygiene and
civic sense ofthepeople oftheIndus valley. Perhaps noother contemporary
civilization gave much attention to health and sanitation like these people.
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604.3.5Street lights andDustbins:
The careful town planning, adequate water supply and efficient
drainage system indicate the existence of a well -organized civic institution like
the modern municipalities. The existence of the lamp posts on thestreets
indicates that street lights were provided bytheauthorities at regular
intervals. There were public dustbins used for disposal ofwaste material.
4.4BUILDINGS
The buildings attheIndus valley cities were mainly oftwotypes:
i)Private dwellings
ii)Public buildings
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4.4.1Private Buildings:
The dwelling houses stood on both sides of the streets. At Harappa
and Mohenjodaro houses were built of kiln -burnt bricks, whereas at
Kalibangan andLothal, residential houses were made ofsun-dried bricks.
An average house had, besides kitchen and bath, four to six living r ooms.
Considerable variation is seen in the size of houses which range from
single room tenements to houses with upwards ofadozen rooms.
Generally, these aresingle storey houses sometimes double storeyed. Most
ofthehouses hadwells with them andadrainage system carried thewaste
water tothemain underground drainage ofthestreet.
The large houses were meant for the rich and had much. The plan
of the house was same a rectangular courtyard surrounded. It was usually
paved with bricks laid flat. Ever y house had a kitchen, bath, well and
drains. However, at Kalibangan bathrooms are rarely seen. Sufficient gap
waskept between twohouses forlight andfresh air.Theentrance ofthe
houses faces thesmaller streets andnotthemain road.munotes.in
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634.4.2Publi cBuildings:
Most ofthelarge buildings have been discovered inthecitadel or
upper towns orintheir vicinity. Among thepublic buildings some
important ones areasfollows:
TheGreat bath:
These areofthelarge buildings thathave been sofardiscove red,
the great bath in the citadel at Mohenjodaro is the most striking. The great
bath is 180 feet long and 108 feet wide. Its outer walls are about 8 feet
thick and have four entrances. It consists of a large open quadrangle in the
center with galleries a nd rooms on all sides. Inthecenter ofthe
quadrangle isalarge swimming enclosure, 34feetby23feetandabout
8feet deep. Ithasaflight of steps at either end and is fed by a well
situated in one of the adjoining rooms. The water is discharged by a huge
drain with a corbelled roof more than six feet in height. The Great Bath is
aspecimen ofbeautiful work.
TheGranary:
To the immediate south –west of the Great Bath, was the granary.
It consisted of a podium over which stood 27 blocks of kiln -burnt bricks,
arranged in three rows. Each row had nine blocks. Between the blocks
was a passage, about 1 meter in width, the sizeofthis granary was 55 x
37m.
Pillared hall:
Another building of great importance at Mohenjodaro was a
pillared hall, 80feetsquare. Ithas20rectangular bricks piers arranged in
four rows offiveeach which divided thehallfrom easttowest into five
corridors. The exact nature and the purpose of this building isnotknown.
Itcould betheassembly hall.
TheGreat granary:
Among the public buildings the great granary discovered at
Harappa isworth mentioning. Itconsisted ofaseries ofbrick platforms on
which stood rows of six granaries. The raised platforms were to protect
granary from floods. It measured 169' in length an d 135' in width. There
were fourteen small rooms which were probably meant fortheresidence of
staff.
AtKalibangan alsohave been found brick platforms; which mayhave
been used for granaries.
AtChanhudaro, baked brick houses and drainages have been
excavated.
AtLothal, remains ofadockyard were excavated; which was
connected with the Gulf of Cambay byachannel.
Atsutkagen -Dor, 48kmfrom Arabian SeaontheMakran coast, consisted of
aformidable citadel and alower fortified settlement hasbeen excavated
which mayhave been asea–portfortrading. Thecoastal settlement served as
ports andparticipated inregular maritime trade with west Asia.munotes.in
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64Town planning and building structures in most of these places appears
to be uniform. Burnt bricks, mud mor tar, and gypsum were used for
construction. Crude brick was generally used for foundations, asalso
forthepacking ofterraces andother exposed parts. Walls were made of
burnt brick laid in mud or in mud and gypsum mortar combined. The
floors were made ofbricks.
At Lothal a bead -making factory was unearthed. There was also a
copper –smith's work place.
At Kalibangan a room containing four to five alters has been
discovered, suggestive ofsome form offireworship orsacrifice.
Thus we conclude that whenw er e f e rt ot h eI n d u sv a l l e yc i v i l i z a t i o n , we
mean that cities had emerged as the focal points of economic, social and
religious tradition. Thepeople ofIndus were great builders.
K.M. Panikkar observes ontheir achievements "Avery high stage of
civilization had been reached by the people of the Indus valley as
evidenced bytheexcellence ofthematerials used intheconstruction of
houses, thecommodious nature ofresidences, theplanning ofthecities and
great hydropathical establishments".
Check YourProgress:
1.Describe theProminent features oftheIndus valley Civilization.
2.Review theachievements ofthePeople ofIndus Valley inthefield of
Town planning andArchitecture.
4.5DISCOVERY OFTHE CIVILIZATION
The Indus valley civiliz ation was one ofthe four ancient
Civilizations of the world. It flourished 4500 to 5000 years ago in the river
valleys ofthenorth -western part ofIndian subcontinent. Some ofthese
valleys arenow inPakistan while others areinwestern India.
Till the beginning of the 20thcentury there was no certainty about
the exact antiquity of Indian history and civilization. Some scholars
believed that theVedic culture was theoldest Indian culture. Due to
absence ofauthentic evidence, thedate ofthisculture out at Harappa
in Punjab and Mohenjodaro in Sind reveal that a great civilizationmunotes.in
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65flourished in India about 3000 B.C., before coming ofAryans. This is
known astheIndus Valley civilization. Thisdiscovery put an end to the
uncertainty about the Indian cu lture that began with the coming of Aryans.
It was revealed from the fact that, artifacts and the structural remains (in
the excavations) from these sites belong to a very old period. This
discovery of the Indus valley civilization hadbrought arevolution inthe
artandscience ofhistoriography inIndia.
As a matter of fact, the archaeological discoveries made by
Dayaram Sahni atHarappa inPunjab inyear 1921 andSirRakhaldas
Banerjee atMohenjodaro (Mound oftheDead) inSind in1922 proved that
about 5000 years agothere wasagreat civilization inthesindhu valley. Till
thennothing wasknown about thisearliest culture inIndia.
The Indus valley civilization is also known as Harappa culture as
archaeologists callitfrom modern name ofthesiteHarappa. (One ofits
two great cities).
In1921 -22,Rakhaldas Banerjee oftheArchaeological survey of
India was working on a mound at Mohenjodaro, Six miles from the rail
road station at Dokri in Larkana District of Sind. He had excavated a
trench in the ` Stupa' area of the kushana era (1st_2ndCentury A.D.) when
hecame across a'Seal ofSoapstone' bearing a figure of 'one horned
quadruped'. At the same time, similar seals hadbeen found atHarappa in
theMontgomery District ofthePunjab. These finds openedanew and
revolutionary chapter intheprehistory ofIndia.
In1924, scholars andhistorians were roused bytheannouncement
ofSirJohn Marshall that hisIndian associates particularly Rakhaldas
Banerjee, discovered in1922 -23atMohenjodaro (in Lark ana district of
Sind, Now in Pakistan), the remains ofacivilization, oneoftheoldest of
theworld Civilizations. Afew hundred miles towards the north of
Mohenjodaro four or five superimposed cities were excavated at Harappa
in Montgomery district ofPunjab, now inPakistan.
The scholars were attracted towards this new archaeological site.
Since thattime, forover halfacentury, theIndian, Pakistani andthewestern
archaeologists have uncovered some 200 sites affiliated with this
civilization named theHarappa orIndus valley civilization.
Archaeological sources form theonly source forthestudy ofthis
Indus valley civilization. These sources i.e.thearchaeological evidence have
been excavated from many ofthesites. Initially R.D.Banerjee andD.R.
Sahni had discovered this civilization in 1921 -22.Butlater on systematic
excavations were carried atthe sites by sir John Marshal, E. Mackay and K.
M. Dikshit (all archaeologists) which resulted intounveiling ofavery richand
antiquarian cultur e.Thediscovery ofthe Indus Valley civilization completely
shattered the sequence of Indian History. Itwasproved thatthisculture wasthe
oldest culture ofIndia. Itwas further confirmed that it was as old as the
ancient Egyptian and theMesopotamian cultures of theMiddle East.munotes.in
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66Unfortunately wehave nowritten records about theIndus Valley
civilization comparable tothose wepossess inrespect oftheothers. Anumber
ofseals have been discovered with afewletters engraved oneach, butthese
stillremain undeciphered. Many scholars andhistorians aremaking great
efforts todecipher theIndus script, buttilltoday, theefforts ofdeciphering
theIndus script have notunanimously accepted. We are therefore totally
ignorant of the political history o f the Indus valley andarenotinaposition
toform anadequate idea ofitsculture and civilization. Our knowledge of
this civilization is entirely derived from acareful examination ofthe
objects unearthed atMohenjodaro, Harappa andother sites oftheIndus
valley civilization.
4.6DECLINE OFTHE CIVILIZATION
There seems tobea consensus among scholars thatbyabout the
beginning of the second millennium B.C. the urban phase oftheIndus
civilization came toanend, thoughsigns ofitsdecay arenoticeable even
earlier when cities like Harappa, Mohenjo -Daro and Kalibangan began to
experience decline inurban planning andstructural activity tended to
become slum. The Great bath andgranary atMohenjo -Daro fellinto
disuse .According tothearchaeologists, the city shrank to a small
settlement of 3 hectors from the original 85 hectors.
Decline isalso evident atHarappa, Kalibangan, andChanhudaro
andatmost oftheSettlements.
This decline of the Indus of the Indus Vall ey civilization is a
problem forthehistorians. Thecauses thatbrought about itsdecline have
remained unexplained. However we can state that this great civilization
covering an extensive area must not have declined justbyasingle cause. A
number ofcausesmust have contributed foritsdecline.
Asseen earlier, thedisappearance ofsystematic urban planning
and building activity was thevisible sign ofitsdecline, which was
accompanied by almost sudden vanishing of the Indus Scripts, weights
and measu res, bronze tools and the red ware pottery with black designs.
The population ofIndus valley urban centers either perished or
moved away to other areas. The traits of post Indus civilization are found
at many places in Pakistan, Central and Western India ,i nP u n j a b , Rajasthan,
Haryana, Jammu, Kashmir, Delhi and Western Uttar Pradesh during
communities in different parts of India.
The progressive degeneration and final collapse of this civilization has
been attributed toseveral factors.
Some scholars su ggest that large scale flooding was responsible forthe
endIndus Valley civilization. Itisgenerally heldthatthose calamitous alterations in
thecourse oftheIndus andRavi rivers ledtothedesiccation of the larger urban
areas which ceased to produc e food for the urban centers. This made themunotes.in
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67major cities weak under thepressure ofpopulation which wasforced to
migrate asseen earlier.
Excavations reveal thatMohenjo -Daro itself wasflooded more than
once. Chanhudaro was also twice destroyed bymass iveinundations. The
floods perhaps derived from violent geomorphological changes inthelower
Indus region. This must have ledtotheeconomic decline oftheIndus
settlements.
The archaeological evidence shows that by the middle of the
second millennium B.C. there was an increase in arid conditions in the
Indus cultural zone which dried uptheriver Ghaggar —Hakra inoneofits
core regions with disastrous consequences for rural and urban
economies.
Some scholars areoftheview thattheAryan invaders destroyed
the Indus cities. According to a dominant view, the major blow was given
by a group of'Barbarians' who began to migrate intoIndia alittle before
themiddle ofthesecond millennium B.C. Thearchaeological remains such
as thick layer of burnin g( i nB a l u c h i s t a n ) , half dozen groups of human
skeletons belonging to the later phase of occupation at Mohenjo -Daro may
also indicate that the city was invaded. At many places there is evidence of
the superimposition of barbarian life.
Whether these barba rians were from the Aryan stock? Is a question
before the scholars? But no final statement can be given inthis regard is
thefact.
Thus numerous causes, both natural andhuman were responsible
fortheendof the Indus civilization.
4.7EXTENT OFTHE INDUS VALLEY
CIVILIZATION
This civilization isknown asIndus valley civilization because the
earliest discovered sites were situated intheIndus valley. Butsubsequent
explorations and excavations have revealed that it had spread over in major
parts of India. The important sites of this civilization are:
1)Mohenjo Daro inSind (Now inPakistan)
2)Harappa inPunjab (Now inPakistan)
3)Chanhudaro andKot-DijiinSind (Now inPakistan)
4)Rupar inDist. Ambala inPunjab (India)
5)Hastinapur inMeerut Dist. OfU.P.
6)Alamgirpu rinU.P.
7)Kalibangan inRajasthan
8)Banawali inHissar Dist. ofHaryana
9)Lothal, Rangpur, Somnath, Amra andLakhabwal in`Gujarat.
10)Sutkagen -Dor on the sea board of South
Baluchistan (Afghanistan)munotes.in
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68Recent excavations have indicated theextension ofthisculture
even up to Maharashtra. The excavations at Diamabad in Maharashtra
have proved that it was one of the centers of valley civilization.
4.7.1Some oftheexcavated sites ofIndus Valley Civilization:
More than 60sites inthislarge areahave been locate dsofar.munotes.in
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694.7.2Extent oftheIndus Valley i.e.Harappa Culture:
This civilization belongs tothechalcolithic i.e.copper -bronze age
of history. No trace ofironhas been found.
From the above mentioned sites of Indus valley civilization we can
conclude thatthiscivilization hadcovered avery vastregion thatincludes
parts of modern Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. So far nearly one
thousand sites of this culture have been discovered in the Indian Sub -
continent. These sites are spread over the Sindh, Baluchistan, Punjab,
Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and asite inMaharashtra.
They areextended from Rupar atthefoot of simlahills in the Narmada
up to Diamabad in Maharashtra. These various sites represent early mature
and late phases of this civilization. From a careful study of these sites we
can study the different Stages ofthisculture.
Mohenjo -Daro:
The two prominent cities of the Indus valley civilization were
Harappa andMohenjo Daro. Mohenjo Daro i.e.'Mound ofthedead' is
the local name to a high mound situated in the plains of Larkana dist. The
surrounding region issofertile andiscalled even today Nakhlistan or
'Garden of Sind'. Here a city was built some five thousand years ago. This
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70citywassuccessively destroyed andrebuilt no less than seven times, the
inundation of the river Indus being perhaps the chief agency of
destruction, but sometimes, the city remained in ruins for a considerable
period before a new city rose upon them. Thus after the foundation of the
city, many cen turies passed before itwasfinally abandoned.
Harappa:
Harappa was another important city. These two towns were
connecting also by land and their town planning was similar. Stuart
Piggott isoftheopinion thatthetowns ofMohenjo Daro andHarappa
were the two capitals of the Indus Valley civilization. But in absence of
more reliable evidence it will not be proper to accept the view.
4.8THE ARCHITECTS OFTHE INDUS
CIVILIZATION
Thearchitects ofthiscivilization were mostly oftheMediterranean
race towhich theDravidians belonged. The only definite andreliable
materials available are the human skeletal remains and the skulls which have
been discovered intheruins ofthecities oftheIndus civilization. From an
examination of the skulls it has been fo und that the Indus people were the
heterogeneous people and comprised Proto -Australoid, Mediterranean, Alpinoid
andMongoloid racial groups. Incertain cities, however, oneortheother
racial type was more predominant than theothers. For example, the
Mohenjo Daro people were mainly Mediterranean type.
Most of the anthropologists and scholars prefer to name the
Dravidians astheauthors oftheIndus civilization. However according to
many other scholars the credit of this civilization was ascribed togroups
such astheDravidians, Brahuis, Sumerian, Panis, Asuras, Daras, Nagar,
Aryans etc. However, majority of scholars accept theview thatarchitects
ofthiscivilization were theDravidians.
There are some scholars who try to show that the Aryans were the
architects oftheIndus valley civilization andlink thecivilization tothe
Vedic culture. According to them, the Aryans had entered India while the
Indus civilization was at its peak and they also contributed to the
advancement of the civilization. Dr. A.D. Pusalkar opines that theIndus
valley civilization represented thesynthesis oftheAryan andNon Aryan
cultures.
Infact, theauthorship oftheIndus civilization cannot beascribed
toanyparticular raceandtheexcavations have proved thata vario us social
groups were existing there and the credit should be
given toallofthem.munotes.in
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71Check Your Progress:
1.Write anessay onthediscovery and extend ofthe Indus Valley
Civilization.
4.9 SUMMARY
Inthislesson, wehave studied about theArtandArchitecture ofthe
Indus Valley People. We have discussed about thesculptural art i.e.
Terra cottas, Stone and Bronze sculpture, art of Pottery making, art of
writing as depicted on the seals, etc. All their arts andcrafts indicate high
skill as well as advanced knowledge of several Sciences acquired bythese
People.
Wehave studied thearchitectural Skills thatwere developed bythe
Indus Valley People, discovered through the excavations. The excavations
ofvarioussites including Mohenjo Daro, Harappa, Kalibangan, Dholavira,
etc. show that these were built according to well-thought outplans. Roads,
streets, houses, underground drainage system found atMohenjo Daro etc.are
indicative ofahighly advanced stage ofCivilization.
TheBigHall, theGreat Granary andtheGreat Bath aresome ofthe
outstanding monuments ofthese cities.
The excavations carried onsince 1921 have brought tolight the
ruins of two ancient cities of the Indus Valley: Mohenjo Daro in S indand
Harappa in the Punjab (now both in Pakistan). More recent excavations
have shown that this Civilization had spread over a vast area from
Harappa to Lothal in Gujarat.
In this lesson, there are maps showing the excavated sites and the
extent oftheIndus valley Civilization. From these maps thestudents will be
able to get clear idea about the geographical locations of the sites of ancient
Civilization in the valley of River Indus and her tributaries andalsoasfarasup
totheLothal andRangpur inGulf ofCambay. Bystudying thislesson,
students willbeable toknow about thediscovery andextent ofthisearly
Civilization popularly known astheIndus valley Civilization orHarappa
Civilization.munotes.in
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724.10 QUESTIONS
1.Write anessay ontheArtandArchitecture oftheIndus Valley People.
2.Write Short notes on:
a)TheSeals ofIndus Valley
b)Town Planning ofIndus Valley.
c)Important Sites ofIndus Valley Civilization.
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735
VEDIC AGE
POLITY, ECONOMY AND SOCIO -
RELIGIOUS LIFE
UnitS t r u c t u r e
5.0 Objectives
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Advent oftheAryans inIndia (The Original Home theAryans)
5.3 TheSources oftheVedic Age-TheVedic Literature
5.4 Early Aryan Settlements andExpansion
5.5 Vedic Polity
5.5.1 Tribal Organization
5.5.2 Kingship
5.5.3 Sabha andSamiti
5.5.4 Other Officials
5.6 Economic Life
5.6.1 Agriculture
5.6.2 Domestication ofanimals
5.6.3 Industries
5.6.4 Trade andCommerce
5.7 Social Life
5.7.1 Family
5.7.2 Marriage
5.7.3 Position ofwomen
5.7.4 Varnashrama Dharma System
a) TheFour Varnas
5.8 Religion
5.8.1 TheCelestial Gods
5.8.2 TheAerial Gods
5.8.3 TheTerrestrial Gods
5.9 TheRituals andScarifies
5.10 Deities
5.11 Sacrifice andRituals
5.12 Philosophy
5.13 Education andLiterature
5.13.1Education
5.13.2Vedic Literature
5.14 Summary
5.15 Questions
5.0OBJECTIVES
Inthislesson wewillbestudying theVedic Age thatfollowed the
Indus valley civilization. This is the period, about which we get the literarymunotes.in
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74sources for the study of history. The Vedic literature is the earliest records of
the Aryans.
After studying thislesson youwillbe:
1)Able toknow about theVedic Aryans, their origin andexpansion
oftheir Settlements.
2)Able tounderstand their Polity orPolitical life.
In this lesson, we are going to study the socio structure of the
Vedic Aryans. The Aryans evolved thesocial institutions such asfamily,
marriage, Varnashrama system etc. during the early Vedic period.
However, during the later Vedic period it was quite changed. Along with
thischanged social structure, weare going tostudy some other aspects of
social lifesuch astheir food, drinks, dress andornaments, their sports and
pastimes etc.
The aspects economic lifesuch asagriculture, occupations, their
industries, trade and commerce etc. also will be discussed in this chapter.
TheObjectives ofthislesson areasfollows -
1)Tounderstand thereligion andphilosophy oftheVedic Aryans.
2)Tostudy thesystem ofeduca tion
3)Toknow about theVedic Literature.
5.1INTRODUCTION
TheVedic ageisanimportant period inthehistory ofIndia. The
Vedic culture was evolved bytheVedic Aryas orAryans. The classical
civilization of India developed from the early Vedic civilizati on. The
Vedic age can be studied on the available literary sources i.e. the Vedic
literature.
According toRomila Thapar, "The Indus valley civilization declined
thesecond millennium B.C. andhadalmost completely degenerated when
(by1500 B.C.) theAryansentered theNorth West ofIndia through thepasses in
the Hindukush Mountains"
The Aryans in India evolved a distinct culture commonly known as
the Aryan culture. It spans over a period from around 1500 BC to around
700 BC and is divided into two viz. the early and the later Vedic period.
The social organization existing during the early Vedic period began to
change during the later period. Also many changes occurred inthe
economy from early Vedic tolater Vedic period.
The religion of the Vedic Aryan s was plain and simple. As a
matter offact, theAryan civilization developed amidst nature, therefore
nature hadinfluenced allaspects oftheir lifeincluding their religion. The
Aryans had deep reverence towards theforces ofnature ashuman life was
mainlydepended on them.munotes.in
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755.2ADVENT OF THE ARYANS ININDIA (THE
ORIGINAL HOME OF THE ARYANS)
The word Arya means `noble', 'respected', 'high born', 'elderly',
‘cultured' etc. The north India was referred as Aryavarta i.e. the country
where theAryans live. Wh o were these Vedic Aryans? From where did
they come to India? What was their original home? These questions have
notsatisfactorily been answered.
Different scholars have putforward divergent theories regarding the
original home of the Aryans. On the bas is of striking similarity between
the Latin, Zend Avesta and Sanskrit, there is unanimity of opinion about
the common origin of these languages. It is believed that this language
was spoken bythemain Aryan tribe. Intheearly part of the second
millenniu mB.C. these tribes began tomigrate from their original homes
and spread in Europe in Greece, eastern Turkey, the Caucasus and finally
in to the sapta Sindhu region. Wherever they went they opened new
cultural vistas and transformed the life ofthelands they settled in.
The Aryans were adventurous, hadknowledge oftheuseofthe
horses andcould useiron. They brought anew language intoIndia i.e.
Sanskrit, which was themother ofIndo European languages. This
migration must have spread over decades orcenturies. The dispersal of the
Aryans in India was not a single event. It took place in several stages
covering several centuries and involving many tribes.
There aresome scholars who donotaccept thistheory ofAryan
migration from central Asia. Vari ous scholars give different theories about
their original home. Some ofthem areasfollows:
According toB.G.Tilak, theAryans came from thearctic region in
around 10,000 BC and gradually migrated to India around 4000
B.C.
Pargiter believed thatthey camefrom Tibet.
A.C. Das and some other scholars advocate that they were the
original residents ofSapta Sindhu.
Some scholars like Ganganath Jha are of the opinion that the
original home oftheAryans wasBrahmarshidesha.
D.S. Trivedi placed it as Multan w as their homeland; while L.D.
Kalla held that Kashmir and the Himalayan regions may have been
their home land.
According to Mc -Donall the original home of the Aryans was
south east Europe.
However thegenerally accepted theory about theoriginal home of
theAryans asmentioned above isthattheAryans originally lived incentral
Asia. Great German scholar Max Muller alsosupports thisview. Heopines,munotes.in
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76"During thecourse oftime different Aryan tribes migrated todifferent parts
such asEurope, Asia Minor andPersia.
This view is supported by the discovery of an inscription at Bog
hazKoi, dated 1400 B.C.; which throws light on the age of the Rig -Veda.
A treaty of the Hittite king of C.1380 B.C. mentions the rig Vedic gods
such as`Indra', 'Mitra', Varuna' .This tablet alsomentions some term which
are in pure Sanskrit. On the basis of this it has been proposed that, the rig
Vedic civilization was in considerably advanced stage around 1400 B.C.
thus theVedic Aryans came toIndia probably viaIran, through Hindukush
Mountains about 1500 B.C.
They moved intribes. They spoke Sanskrit language. TheVedic
age spans almost a millennium of Indian history (1500 -600B.C.). It was a
period which witnessed crucial changes in north India. These
developments are evide ntin a number ofsphere -social –economic,
political and religious.
5.3THE SOURCES OF THE VEDIC AGE -THE
VEDIC LITERATURE
To study the history of the early Vedic age, only the literary sources are
available. TheEarly Vedic literature (which pertains totheperiod 1500 -
1000 B.C.), consists primarily of the samhita of the Rig -Veda, comprising
1028 hymns (suktas) in praise of various gods, intended to be used as a
means of invoking the deities and soliciting their support. These hymns
aregrouped intotenWandlas' orbooks.
Thelater Vedic literature belongs toaperiod C.1000 -600B.C.to
which belong the remaining Vedas and their branches viz. the Yajurveda,
the Atharvaveda, the Samaveda and the Brahmanas (are the
explanatory prose manuals) the Aranyaka s (forest books) and the
Upanishadas (arecommentaries appended totheAryankas).3
TheVedic literature hasbeen traditionally held sacred because it
isbelieved tohave divine source. TheVedas, according topopular Indian
perception are eternal (Nitya). The various sages (Rishis) who were their
authors no more than received from god. TheVedas aretransmitted orally
from generation togeneration.
5.4EARLY ARYAN SETTLEMENTS AND
EXPANSION
Theearly Aryans knew Sapta -sindhu andtheneighboring region. The
geographical area eventually occupied bytheRig-Vedic tribes isclearly
indicated bythemention ofcertain rivers. Themost important among these
are:
TheKubha (Kabul), theSuvastu (Swat), theKrumu (Kurram) andthe
Gomati (Gumal), the Sindhu (Indus), th e Sushoma(Sohan), the Vitasta
(Jhelam), theAsikini (Chenab), theMurud Vridha (Maruwardwan), themunotes.in
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77Purushini (Ravi), theVipasa (Bias), theShatadru (Sutlaj), the Saraswati, the
Drishadwati (the Rakshi or Chitang) the Jumna, the Ganga and the
Sharayu.
Theabove mentioned rivers (in the Vedic literature) show that the
Aryans possessed aconsiderable portion ofthecountry stretching from
eastern Afghanistan to the upper valley of the Ganga. The major part of
this area came to be known as Sapta –Sindhu –theLand ofthe Seven
Rivers.
Initially Aryans occupied the Punjab and the Delhi region while
settling inIndia, theAryans hadtoconfront ononesidewithin dense forests
and the local inhabitants on the other. Among these non -Aryans, the
Dasas are freque ntly mentioned in the Vedic literature that had developed
an advanced civilization. They lived in fortified towns orPuras. There are
references intheRig-Veda toconstant conflict between theAryans andthe
Dasas. Inthese conflicts, thenon-Aryans (i.e.Dasas) were defeated andthe
Aryans extended their settlements towards theeast.
Panis were another prominent non-Aryan people who harassed the
Aryans bycattle theft. Though, Aryans defeated &forced them tovacate
their settlements, could not wipe out their culture which had deep roots in
thissoil. Consequently agradual fusion ofboth these i.e.Aryan andnon-
Aryan cultures began andoutofthissynthesis, theIndian culture emerged.
Besides their wars against the non -Aryans, inter-tribal wars also were
fought bytheAryans such asthebattle oftenkings fought between king
sudasa ofthebharata tribe and theconfederation oftentribes ledby
Vishvamitra. Thechief Aryan tribes thatarementioned intheRig-Veda
were thePurus, theYadus, theTurvasa s,theAnus, theDrahus, the
Bharatas andtheSrinjayas.
The later Vedic period seems to have witnessed the expansion of
theAryans asisevident from Punjab tonearly thewhole ofpresent day
western Uttar -Pradesh covered by Ganga -Jamuna Doab. The Bhara tasas
andPurus, thetwoimportant tribes, came together andformed thekuru
people. From thefringes ofthedoab, they moved toits upper portion called
Kurukshetra or the land of the Kurus. Later they coalesced with the
panchalas. Together with the kuru s, they occupied Delhi and the upper and
middle ports of Ganga –Jamuna divide and established their capital at
Hastinapur (Meerut District in Uttar Pradesh.)
Towards the end of the later Vedic period, Vedic people moved
further east to koshala in eastern U.P., Videha in north Bihar, and
Magadha insouth Bihar. Their territorial expansion wasaccompanied by
important changes intheeconomy, including ashift from apredominantly
pastoral toapredominantly agrarian economy, accompanied bychanges in
thesociopolitical organization aswell.
In course of time, they assimilated with some of the factors of the
non-Aryan culture. This gave anew impetus tothedevelopments of
political, social andreligious institutions.munotes.in
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785.5VEDIC POLITY
5.5.1Tribal Organisation:
TheAryans favored a monarchical form of Government. This had
emerged through the evolution ofthePatriarchal groups oftribal
Organizations. The Chief of the tribe was the Patriarch. Due to the
growing need forProtection ofthemost capable patriarch waselected as the
Chief who gradually assumed kingship. At the beginning, kingship was
elective but later on it became hereditary. In the Rig -Veda several tribes
have been mentioned. There are references to tribal conflicts. The political
organization was trib al in the beginning which gradually evolved to
territorial state.
Grama: During the Rigvedic period, a group of related families was
called grama, meaning village. Grama or village was the lowest
administrative unit
Kulapa: Was the chief of family and Gra mani was the village chief. The
next higher units ofadministration were known asVisha,
Jana andRashtra. However, theexact nature ofthegroups such asJana
andVisha arenotyetclear.
During thelater Vedic period, weseethechanges thatoccurred
inthepolitical conditions. Itwas during this period, thatthenature of
thepolitical organization gradually changed from tribal totheterritorial state.
Thetendency ofexpanding theterritories increased which ledtogradual
emergence ofterritorial states. During this period, the Aryans expanded their
colonies in the Central and the Eastern partofNorth India which isreferred
toas'Madhya Desha'. Inthis land new kingdoms were established such as
Kashi, Kosala, Videha and Magadha which continued to prosper till the
beginning ofthehistorical period. There were several kingdoms bigand
small.
`Rajya', Samrajya, Shoujya. Vairajya’, `Svarajya' etc.were some
ofthetypes ranging from small kingdoms to great empires.
Kingship:
During theearly Vedic period, theAryans favored amonarchical
form of government. The chief of the tribe was the patriarch. Due to the
growing need for protection in the tribal organizations, the most capable
patriarch was elected asthechief ofthetribe, who gradually assume d
kingship. Atthebeginning, kingship waselective but later on, itbecame
hereditary. King wascalled 'Raja' butwasnotanabsolute monarch.
During thelater Vedic period, theincreasing sizeofthekingdom
strengthened than theearlier period. Thetheoryofthe'divine character of
kingship' emerged during theperiod.
Theexpansion ofterritories wasnotonly defended butmagnified.
There arereferences that thekings assumed various titles suchasmunotes.in
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79Ekrat, Samrat, Sarvabhouman, Maharajadhiraja.
Samrat was a full sovereign, sarvabhauma or Ekrat was the
emperor who aspired to be the king of the whole universe. The term
Maharajadhiraja denotes that he is the great ruler, having rule over other
kings.
Republics or Ganas also existed side by side. But mona rchical
form ofgovernment was accepted widely.
5.5.3Sabha andSamiti (popular Assemblies):
For the administrative purpose, king was assisted by some popular
assemblies. During the early Vedic period, provision was made for the
tribal councils.
These councils were known asSabha andSamiti.
The Sabha: was abody ofthetribal elders. Itwas anassembly ofthe
distinguished great persons.
TheSamiti: wasapopular assembly, arepresentative body ofthewhole
tribe.
Sabhasad wasthemember oftheSabha wasgreatlyrespected. Gramani, the
representative ofgrama wasalsoincluded intheassembly.
TheSabha andSamiti exerted high influence ontheking. Even his
accession tothethrone wastobeapproved bythem. These bodies worked as
powerful checks on the powerofthe king & protected theinterests of
people.
During thelater Vedic period thepopular control over the king
was still exercised by Sabha and Samiti. They are referred to in the later
Vedic literature with more respect. They are described as the twin
daughters ofprajapati (i.e.thecreator). This reference issuggestive of the
increasing importance ofthese twoassemblies.
5.5.4Other officials.
During early Vedic period, king was assisted by purohit and senani.
Purohit was alearned man who guided theking and people inall
matters ofreligion, social customs, law, morality etc.
Senani wastheleader of the army.
During thelater Vedic period, thebody ofadministrative officials
of the state was also expanded in addition to purohit and senani of the
early Vedic period, there were -munotes.in
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80Sangrahitri
Bhagadhuka
Suta
Ksatri
Akshavapa
Palagala
Gramani
Sachivathetreasurer
thetaxcollector
herald orcharioteers
chamberlain
superintendent ofgambling
courier
Thechief ofthevillage.
Aminister orhead ofadepartment is
alsomentioned inlater Vedic literature.
Thus there existed a regular system of administration. The king was
now assisted by a council of above mentioned ministers who were
designated as Ratnins. The Ratnins played a very significant role a t the
time of king’s coronation. Later on the council of Ratnins gave place to
the council ofministers.
Administration ofJustice wasoneofthemost important duties
of king. But usually, the disputes were settled in the village through the
arbitrator (Madhyamasi) crimes oftheft, robbery, murders etc. were
condemned and punished with heavy fines such asvairadeya and
shatadaya. Failure to repay debts often resulted in slavery.
During thelater Vedic period, theadministration ofjustice was
more elabo rate. Ofcourse, small cases ofvillage decided bytheVillage
council. A Village judge was appointed for this, designated as
Gramyavadin. Arbitration was the usual method in all civil cases. Thelocal
assembly usually entrusted thework ofjudicial admini stration tosmall
body ofitsmembers. Adhyakshas orpresidents of the boards of justice
were appointed by the king and the final authority in the administration of
justice was king (with his Sabha) himself.
Village administration enjoyed the autonomous status.
Administration ofjustice, election, education, police arrangements at
village level were allmanaged bythevillage councils.
With expansion oftheterritories, thebeginning ofasystem of
provincial administration isfound during this period.
Check Your Progress:
1.Write anessay onthe Political lifeof the Vedic Aryans.munotes.in
Page 81
815.6ECONOMIC LIFE
The Rigvedic Aryans were mostly scattered in villages. The village
wasthebase ofearly Vedic economy. TheAryan village wasagroup of
famil ies. The family affairs were managed by kulapati. The Gramani was
the head of the village, who looked after the affairs of thevillage both civil
andmilitary.
TheAryans cleared forests, cultivated lands andbuilt houses ofmud
and bamboo. Agriculture an d cattle rearing were the chief occupations of
theearly Vedic Aryans. There aremany references toagriculture andthe
pastoral pattern oflife.
5.6.1Agriculture:
Fields were ploughed with the help of oxen. The art of tilling was
considered to be very importa nt. Cultivated fields were known as‘Urvara'
or(kshetra these cultivable lands were irrigated bymeans ofcanals.
The use of manure was also known. Wheat, barley, rice, cotton and
oilseeds were themain agricultural products. Thegrain wasgrown on the s oil
and when ripe, they were cut with sickle, tied in bundles andthreshed on
thefloor ofthegranary. Different stages oftheharvest such as reaping of the
crop, bundling, thrashing and winnowing etc. arealldescribed in the
Rigveda.
5.6.2Domestication ofanimals:
The cattle breeding or domestication of animals was another
important occupation of the Vedic Aryans. Among the domestic animals,
mention may bemade ofthecattle, horse, dog, sheep, goat etc.Cows were
held in much esteem and milk, formed an imp ortant part of the dietary in
the Vedic household. Cattle were daily led to the pasture bytheGopa
(Cowherd). The importance ofcow made itamedium ofeconomic
transition.
Other useful animals were thedraught —ox,thehorse, thedog,the
goat, thesheepandtheassallwere domesticated byVedic Aryans.
During the later Vedic period, agriculture continued to be the main
occupation, and was considerably developed. Implements of agricultural
operations were greatly improved. The introduction of manures and
improved techniques of agriculture increased the rate and varieties of
agricultural products. There are references of the ploughs drawn by six, eight,
twelve and even twenty —four oxen. Usually, people belonging to a single
family worked together and a griculture was a common enterprise.
Rice, wheat and barley were the chief crops. Cotton, several minor
crops and oil seeds were grown Vegetable, fruits etc. were in abundance.
During the later Vedic period, cattle continued to be the chief
source ofwealthandwere held inmuch esteem andwere most useful andmunotes.in
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82were called a goddess. Bulls also were regarded as sacred animals, buffalo, goat
andsheep were other domesticated animals.
ThelaterVedic period marks thebeginning oflanded aristocracy. The
grow ingeconomic prosperity andtheincrease inman power areother
important features ofthe later Vedic period.
5.6.3Industries:
The Rigvedic Aryans followed a mixed pastoral and agricultural
economy. Being anagricultural community, Aryans haddeveloped allthe
crafts, necessary for the profession. Many craftsmen are mentioned in the
Rigveda. They are the carpenter, the potter, the weaver, the tanner, metal
workers, chariot makers etc.their services were essential foragriculture.
There were the village industr ieswhich produced commodities of
agricultural anddomestic use.Thevillage wasthusself-dependent.
Metals like gold, silver, copper and bronze was known to them. The
metal workers designed all types of weapons, implements and household
utensils. `A-yas'which inlater Sanskrit meant iron isfound in Rigveda.
However, this A'yas may have been copper, bronze or iron.
Among thecottage industries, spinning, weaving, sewing, making of
mats from grass or reeds etc. were chiefly done bywomen.
During the la ter Vedic period, there was considerable progress in
economic life. Agriculture provided work for several artisans. The number
ofoccupations wasfairly large during thisperiod. Thevillage was a self -
sufficient unit and developed a corporate life. The so ciety was properly
organized andtherefore, maintained ahigh standard ofefficiency. The
production of wealth increased, which added to their prosperity. On the
whole, the Aryans in later Vedic period were both industrious and
prosperous.
5.6.4Trade andComme rce:
The Rigvedic hymns clearly indicate that trade and commerce was
known to the people of early Vedic age. Commerce was largely in the
hands of the people known as VW, who were probably non -Aryans.
Generally barter system was followed. Cow was a measure of wealth as
well as the medium of exchange. Nishka' a gold coin of later time is
mentioned in the Rigveda as a sort of currency. It was used as ornament
also.
Whether anymaritime trade wascarried onduring theearly Vedic
period isamatter ofcontrov ersy. Barter wasstillinpractice particularly in
villages. Cow was used as a unit of measurement of value. Nana' was a
weight unit. Trade was carried by both lands as well as sea route. The later
Vedic period also saw the onward march of internal andexternal trade.
Rich trading centers likeKashi, Mathura, Ayodhya emerged ontheriverine
routes andformed therural lifeintourban.munotes.in
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83The chief means of transport by land were chariots (Ratha) and the
wagons (anas). The rathas were drawn by horses while th eanas byoxen.
During the later Vedic period, people belonging to different
professions began toorganize themselves into different groups. The
‘Guilds' were known as `Shrenr of artisan craftsmen and merchants are
mentioned.
Thus in the later Vedic peri od, the Aryans began to live an
organized andsettled social andeconomic life.Asthesociety expanded, the
economic activities increased. A remarkable progress was seen inthefield
ofagriculture, trade industry andoccupations. Theprosperity ledtotherich
and varied tests oflife, which was reflected inthedress, jewellery,
amusements andpastime etc.
Check Your Progress:
1.Write anessay ontheSocial lifeoftheVedic Aryans with special
reference to the Varnashrama Dharma.
5.7SOC IALLIFE
Before coming toIndia theAryans were pastoral. After coming to
the land of Sapta Sindhu' (i.e. valley of seven rivers) they took to
agriculture. This resulted into the beginning of a settled life. Now they
gradually developed their social institutions. Thefamily wasregarded asthe
primary social andpolitical unit.
5.7.1Family:
The foundations ofthesocial lifeoftheVedic Aryans was the
`kulasorfamily. Itwasajoint family inwhich thepartriarch ortheeldest male
member was the chief. He was referred to as `Grihapati'. He enjoyed
absolute control over his children and exercised full powers over all the
members of the family.
The family discipline was strict. Sometimes he had to inflict harsh
punishment towrong doing members. Normally, theVedic family wasquitted
large, several members ofthefamily along with their children lived under a
common roof. They performed their common duties andworshipped in
common their family deity. Every house hadafireplace
i.e.'Agnishala', asitting roomandother rooms. Thepatriarch andhiswife
performed all religious sacrifices.munotes.in
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84The Vedic family was quite large and nearly three tofour
generations living together init.Thefamily shouldered theresponsibility
of looking after the widows and weak per sons of the family. This set up of
the joint family proved to be very useful for their agricultural occupation.
5.7.2Marriage:
Marriage came to be an important social institution. Marriage was
an important `samskara'. The boys and girls had considerable freedo min
choosing their spaces. During theearly Vedic period, child marriage didnot
exist.
Monogamy was the general rule, however, polygamy certainly
prevailed andpolyandry andintermarriages arealsoreferred to.There arealso
references of remarriage of widows.
Marriage was regarded as a samskara and the beginning of
Grihasthashrama. It was supposed to be the most creative stage of life.
Marriage was supposed to be essential because it enabled a person to
continue thefamily line.
There were healthy re strictions on the institution of marriage.
Marriage between father anddaughter, brother andsister, andmother andson
were forbidden. Cases ofgiving dowry byfathers ofdisabled girls and high
bride price offered by ugly looking men have been referred tointheVedic
literature. During theEarly Vedic period, thecustom ofsatiwas unknown.
During the later Vedic period also the institution of marriage continued to
play thesame role. But certain rigid conditions were laiddown for
marriages.
The Smrit is i.e. the later Vedic literature had recognized the
following eight forms ofmarriages. The rituals ofvivaha were generally
followed bymajority ofpeople. Butincertain circumstances, they could not
be followed strictly. Caste marriage had become an i mportant tradition
and still inter caste marriages didtake place.
These intercaste marriages were approved intwotypes: -
a)Anuloma Vivaha inwhich thegroom belong tothehigher caste and
thebride tolower caste and,
b)Pratiloma Vivaha inwhich thebride belonged tohigher caste and
thegroom lower caste.
Legalized marriages indifferent castes were classified ineight forms
which were known as'Ashtavivaha Prakara’. They were: -munotes.in
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85i)Brahma Vivaha
ii)Prajapatya Vivaha
iii)Daiva Vivaha
iv)Arsha Vivaha
v)Asura Vivaha
vi)Paishacha Vivaha
vii)Rakshasa Vivaha
viii)Gandharva Vivaha
Allthese eight forms were recognized butthefirstfour ofthem i.e.
Brahma Vivaha, Daiva Vivaha, Arsha Vivaha andPrajapatya Vivaha were
regarded as ideal. The rest were recognized under unavoidable
circumst ances.
5.7.3Position ofwomen:
Women enjoyed equal status to men during early Vedic period. A
married woman waswell respected inthehousehold ofherhusband. She
participated inthesacrificial offerings athome. Girls were educated like boys
as is evident f rom the examples of scholarly women like Apala, Ghosala,
Lopamudra, Sikta etc. whose compositions were included in the Vedic
texts. Married women had the right over their bridal gifts or parinaya.
Women could move freely andwere notsecluded from thedaily
activities. Sheattended feasts andfestivals.
Widows could either remarry orwas permitted toco-habit with
herbrother in law until thebirth ofason.This system wasknown as
`Niyoga'.
During the later Vedic period, the status of women began to
deteriorate. Their activities came to be restricted to the household. She
wasrespected asequal with herhusband intheperformance ofsocial and
religious activities, but outside liberties came to an end. Shewasexpected
tobeobedient andsubservient toherhusband.
Theother factor inlowering thestatus ofwomen's wasPolygamy. The
freedom, given togirlstomarry atamatured ageandtheir choice in selecting
their life partners was withdrawn. Introduction of the evil custom i.e. sati
and the general tendency against widow remarriage andNiyoga made their
lifestill miserable. This resulted into increasing preference togetmale
children. Instances oflearned women likeGargi arefound inthelater Vedic
literature butwasanexception ingeneral, therestrictions were imposed on
female education andtheir participation insocial, political andreligious
activities. Child marriages came invogue. During thisperiod, shewas
confined tothehousehold duties only. Women losttheir high social status, as
theyenjoyed during theearly Vedic period, never togetitagain, tillthe
beginning ofmodern age.
5.7.4 Varnashrama Dharma System:munotes.in
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86a)TheFour Varnas:
During the early Vedic period, the four -fold Varna system was
virtually absent. The`varna' actually denoted colourorcomplexion. Itwas
initially used todistinguish thefair skinned Aryans from thedark
complexioned non Aryans. The society was divided into four strata, based
on the occupation and profession of an individual and not on birth. Inthe
Rig-Veda, wedonotfindanycaste consciousness. There are only fourteen
references to Brahmins, nine to Kshatriyas, and one to the Shudras. The
first reference to the Varna system occurs inthepurushasukta hymn ofthe
tenth mandala oftherigveda. Here, thesociety is compared to a giant
organism, the Viratpurusha' and the four Varnas the Brahmanas, the
Kshatriya, the Vaishya and the shudra toitsorgans thehead, arms, trunk
andthefeetrespectively.
There wasnorigidity inthecaste system during theearly Vedic
period. Any person was free to choose his own profession inter marrying and
interdining wascommon. There were major divisions ofsociety:
i)Brahmins -thepriests
ii)Kshatriyas -theAristocrats orwarriors,
iii)Vaishya orcommon people.
These Varnas had come int o existence on the basis of the principle
ofdivisions oflabor.
Allthese Varnas were known asDvija ortwice born. TheVarna or
caste of a person was determined on the basis of his own profession. Later,
another class was added that was the class of DasusorDasas which
consisted ofpersons with dark skin, andwere mainly non-Aryans. Therefore,
itwasregarded asaninferior class.
During the later Vedic period, the Varna system, which was flexible
earlier, became rigid. The four Varnas i.e. classes of the society, were now
taken inthesense ofcastes. This period witnessed gradual hardening of
thecaste system anddeterioration oftheposition of the Vaishya and
Shudras in relation to the Brahmanas and Kshatriyas.
The Shudras, who were the conquered n on-Aryans, were kept
under thestate ofsubjugation. They remained excluded from the'&0'status
oftheAryans. The Smritis ofthelater vedic period emphasized on the
rigidity of the caste system due to which the evil principles of
untouchability crept i n to this system. Consequently the two upper castes
i.e. Brahmins and Kshatriyas enjoyed a much higher social status than the
Vaishya andShudras. They enjoyed several privileges such asexemption
from taxes andfavorite treatment before law.Thefunctions orduties ofthe
each Varna were:
1)The Brahmanas: was the teacher, priest of the sacrifice and receiver
ofgifts.munotes.in
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872)The Kshatriya -he was the protector of all within the state. He
collected taxes, he had to perform duties of education, offering gifts,
rulingand protecting the country.
3)The Vaishya: The Vaishya did agriculture, remained engaged in
commerce anddidallother allied works toraise wealth. These three
Varnas were the Dvija, the twice born, meaning educated and
disciplined.
4)The Shudra: This class failed inacquiring education and didthe
work ofserving thethree upper classes. Heworked aswasher man,
painter orblacksmith etc.against theservice charges.
b)TheFour Ashrams:
Theinstitution ofAshrams isaunique contribution oftheAryan
societ y.Thesuccess oftheVarna system isbased onindividuals whoare
duty conscious. This institution was introduced during the later Vedic
period, to regulate thelifeof an individual.
Theaimofthelifewasdescribed asPurushartha' i.e.afourfold
principles. Every person wastoperform thefourPurushartha ornoble aims
inhis life. They were -
i)Dharma meaning righteous wayofliving andpiety.
ii)Artha meaning acquiring wealth byhonest means.
iii)Kama means thedesire forenjoyment. Itmeans enjoying wordly
pleasures and promoting arts.
iv)Moksha means thespiritual freedom, theself-realization, andthe
salvation of soul.
Toachieve these noble aims during thelifetime, lifewasdivided
into thefour Ashramas oftwenty five years. Ashrama, literally means,
"Mak inganeffort" theimplication wasthatatevery stage oneshould do
one's besttohave the best ofthe life.
Thefour Ashrams were:
1)Brahmacharyashrama :
This was the first stage of human life which began with the
performance oftheUpanayana ceremony. Itwasregarded asspiritual birth, as
distinguished from thephysical which hehadfrom hisparents. He was now a
dvija. With it began his educational career. A person was expected to
observe celibacy anddevote himself tostudy. During this stage, he live d
with his teacher till the completion of education. This stage continued up
totheage of 20 to 25 years.
2)Grihasthashrama :
The Gristhashrama of a person began with his marriage. This was
the most important stage of life. He was expected to fulfill his social
obligations to gods, parents and to his children. He was supposed to perform
three Purushartha of Dharma, Artha and Kama. Every person had to repay
the three debts tomunotes.in
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88a)Gods,
b)Rishis and
c)Ancestors.
He could repay or release himself from the debt to god sb y
performing yajna (sacrifice), topitaras (ancestors) byraising offspring's andto
theRishis byobserving continence onparvan days.
In this stage material well -being was given due importance. He was
to earn money through righteous means, to get ch ildren to continue the line of
family and observe piety. An individual was expected to lead the life of
pious households.
3)Vanaprasthashrama:
When man crossed theagelimit of50,after thechildren needed no
further parental care andattention andhadsettleddown, he was expected to
prepare himself forretirement from thewordly lifebygiving up sexual
pursuits andliving inforests. Atthisstage ofprogressive retirement, he
lived a simple life and subsisted on corn, fruit andvegetable.
4)Sanyasashrama :
The stage commenced at the age of seventy five. A sanyasi lived a
detached social life. He was expected to retire completely from worldly
life and lead the life of a seclude. His mission was to impart high spiritual
education to all. He was expected to o bserve complete austerity to get
salvation.
This system of Ashrams emphasized the social obligations of the
individual. During the course of all four stages, there was scope for
individual development coupled with social service. Thus the individual as
wellas social interests were harmonized.
In the view of K.V.R. Aiyangar, " Indian society was kept from
disintegration bythesublime conception ofthescheme ofvarna and
Ashrama, which gave its women and men a clear vision of spiritual
winning post and s howed them how to order their lives and mould their
actions inorder thatthey may, inthefullness oftime, oreven inthislife
itself, triumphantly reach it."
5.7.5Dress andornaments :
During the early Vedic period, people used two garments. The
lower garment was known asVasa and the upper Adhivasa. An
undergarment known asNivi was also introduced during thelater Vedic
period. The garments were made of wool, cotton and silk and were also
dyed. Head -dress, the turban was used by both men and women. Both
plaited their hair.
Men wore beards Shaving wasalsoprevalent among men. Both men
andwomen were fond ofornaments. Theornaments ofcommon use weremunotes.in
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89the pravarta (ear -rings) and the Nistika and Rukma were theneck
ornaments, rings andjewels, armlets andanklets.
5.7.6Food and Drinks:
Various dietary preparations of rice, barley, milk and ghee are
mentioned in Vedic literature. Meat, fruits and vegetables also were the
chief eatables oftheearly Vedic Aryans. Inthelater Vedic period, beans and
sesame wer e introduced. The common intoxicant drink was sura. Its use
was often condemned as leading to the quarrel. Another intoxicating drink
wassoma. Soma wasajuice ofplant which was consumed even at the time
of sacrifices, whereas sura was liquor probably prepared from grains.
5.7.7Sports andpastimes:
The amusements oftheVedic people included thechariot race,
gambling, hunting music and dancing. Dice was a favorite pastime. There
are frequent references to musical instruments such as Vina, Dundubhi,
flute, lu te etc. both men and women could participate in dancing during
theearly Vedic period. Festive gatherings wasasortofentertainment, and
were commonly attended bymenandwomen.
5.8RELIGION
The Aryans worshipped nature gods representing the forces of
nature are mentioned in the Rigvedic hymns. The total number of gods was
33andthey lived in three spheres. These were
1.TheTerrestrial Gods,
2.TheAerial Gods,
3.TheCelestial Gods.
TheRigveda mentions prayers toGods such astheSun, theMoon,
theSky, the D awn, Thunder andAir.
5.8.1TheCelestial Gods:
The Celestial Gods oftheAryans
were theDyaus, Varuna, Mitra,
Surya, Savitri, Pushan, Vishnu,
Aditi, Usha and Ashwins
etc.Dyaus Varuna
Vishnu
Rudra and MarutSolardeitiesWas theGod ofvast blue sky, the
shining Godofheaven?
The sky god was regarded as god oftruth and upholder ofphysical and
moral valuessymbolized in Rita. Hewas the regulator of thewholeuniverse. He controlled activities ofother Gods.
Iscredited tohave covered thewhole
universe in3 strides. During later periodhe occupied the prime positionofVaruna. Hewas thesymbol ofswift
movement.
Were Gods ofstorm andwinds?
Surya was the chief solar deityproviding light, life, wealth and
energy. Heactivated themunotes.in
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90Mitra Aditi Usha
Ashwins Pushanpeople. The solar God was worshipped in
various forms such asSurya, Mitra, Savitri,
Ashwins, Pushan and Aditi.
wasGodoflight
Female deity relieving manfrom bondage.
The dawn, female deity corresponding with
beautiful earlymorning.
Were the physicians ofGod and
Was thecharioteer Surya andprotecting deityofroads.
5.8.2TheAerial Gods:
Among theatmospheric Gods Indra isthemost prominent deity.
Nearly one fourth of the hymns of Rigveda are devoted for the praise of
thisdeity. Hewas regarded astheprotector oftheGods andtherefore
occupied the prominent position among the Vedic deities.
Rudra —was the deity associated with thunder and storm and
regarded asfierce, mighty andauspicious
Marut andVayu —were other Gods ofstorm andwind. Parjanya —was
the God of rain.
5.8.3TheTerrestrial Gods:
These were Gods onearth also. They were Agni, Soma, and
Saraswati Etc.
Agni:
Was regarded as the chief deity among the terre strial Gods. He
was next toIndra. Hewas treated asamessenger who conveyed the
ablutions to heavenly Gods which were offered by the people atthe time of
sacrifices.
Soma:
Is another deity who inspired literary qualities and protected plants
andforest s.Soma isalso identified with Moon who isassociated with
vegetation.
Saraswati:
At first was regarded as the river Goddess, but later on as Goddess
of learning.
Among other deities on the earth mention may be made of
Prajapati, Vishwakarma, Dhatri, Vidhatri, Shraddha andManju.munotes.in
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915.9THE RITUALS AND SACRIFICES
The Aryans needed the favors from these Gods. They pleased these
deities by reciting the prayers. Prayers played an important role during the
early Vedic period. Prayers were offered individually andcollectively.
Theritual ofsacrifice isanother important feature ofVedic religion.
During the early Vedic period it was simple and could be performed by
anyone without the mediation of priests. A number of domestic and public
sacrifices are mentioned in the Rigveda. In a simple sacrifice, every Aryan
couple offered milk, grain, ghee, flesh andsoma totheir Gods. Through
Agni, forwhich they used tolight sacrificial fireforthesacrifice (Yajna).
Chanting of mantras, animals sacrifice, drinking of soma rasawere parts of
therituals.
During the later Vedic period great changes took place in the
religious life of the people. Religion developed into two different aspects one-
towards sacrificial ceremonies and rituals and other towards philosophical
thoughts.
5.10DEITIES
The later Vedic Aryans continued to worship earlier deities and
also added some more to the list. Old deities like Varuna and Indra were
now replaced by Rudra, Vishnu and Prajapati. Rudra (Shiva, Mahadeva or
Pashupati )became amore popular God. Theworship and adoration of the
trinity Gods namely Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva with their consorts
Saraswati, Lakshmi andParvati became acommon feature. The religion
continued tothepolytheistic, butthemonotheistic tendencies were becoming
marked with thepassage of time.
Appearance of semi deities such as the Apsaras, Gandharvas and
Kinnaras andtheadoption ofanimal worship areanother change of this
period. Earlier deity Rudra was now accepted as Mahadeva. The
acceptance ofRudra asMaha deva andtheintroduction ofanimal andsnake
worship were probably theimpact ofthe Indus Valley civilizations.
Sorcery, witchcraft and superstitions were new elements entered into the
Aryan religion. Atharvaveda contains prayers, verses related with the se
subjects. Mantras or magic charms giving victory in war and relief from
diseases are mentioned inthe Atharvaveda.
5.11SACRIFICES AND RITUALS
To win favours or boons of the Gods in order to live a happy,
healthy, long and wealthy life, the Rigvedic Aryan s worshipped the Gods
by performing prescribed sacrifices under the guidance of learned priests. They
offered milk, honey, grains, ghee, flesh andsoma totheGods andsung
collectively thehymns ofRigveda inwhich thepower and nature of
different gods i spraised.munotes.in
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92The ritual of sacrifice is an important characteristic of the Vedic
religion. During the early Vedic period it was simple and therefore could
be performed by anyone without the mediation of the priests. Number of
domestic andpublic sacrifices ismentioned intheRigveda. In a simple
sacrifice, every Aryan couple offered milk honey, grains, ghee, etc. to their
Gods through Agni i.e. fire, for which they used to light sacrificial firefor
the sacrifice.
During the later Vedic period the institut ion of sacrifice became
very predominant andseveral rituals andceremonies were introduced at the
time of their performance. Members of the later Vedic society who
performed sacrifices needed theguidance ofseveral competent priests. The
elaboration ofthese rituals resulted intotheindispensability ofthepriests for
performing sacrifices. Themultiplied number ofsacrifices and elaboration of
their rituals made their performance complicated andexpensive. Certain
sacrifices lasted forseveral years andrequired several priests. Consequently
thereligion during this period became very costly and monopoly of
wealthy priests began.
To guide the life of the people during the later Vedic or Hindu
society onthepath ofmorality, thespiritual thinkers laiddown nearly 40
rites i.e.samskara performed bythem incourse oftheir lifeunder the
guidance of priests.
Some ofthemost important sanskararas aregiven below.
1.Garbhadhana
2.Pumsamvana
3.Simantannayana
4.Jatakarma
5.Namakarana
6.Anna -Prashana.
7.Chudakarma
8.Upana yana
9.Vidyarambha
10.Vivaha
11.Antesti etc.
Forperforming therites andrituals. Apriest was necessary. The
complicated method of performing rituals increased the importance of
priestly class. These priests were known as purohit. In course of time
priests beca me guardians and protectors as also the guides of the religion
of common people. In addition to rituals several festivals were observed.
5.12PHILOSOPHY
During the early Vedic period, the Aryans worshipped different
Gods. However, they regarded those Gods asmanifestations ofoneGod
who hascreated theUniverse. Inthetenth Mandala oftheRigveda themunotes.in
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93multiplicity ofGods hasbeen questioned andtheultimate unity ofthe
universe isassorted byoneGod. Thus initially polytheism prevailed but
gradually monot heistic tendencies developed.
TheVedic Aryans were infavours ofenjoying theworld. Butatthe
same time man was advised to lead a virtuous life leading him after his
death to heaven. Ideal moral life according to Rigvedic Aryans was that of
offering pr ayers performing rites and living with virtue. During thelater
Vedic period, Hinduism achieved allitscharacteristics. Prayer, worship of
God andsacrifices were thechief religious duties. Truth or reality was the
goal of life. Everyone was bound by a c ommon search for truth. Purity of
life and conduct were stressed. Fourfold Purushartha i.e.Dharma, Artha,
Karma andMoksha were regarded as the guiding principles of life. The Vedas
were authority on religious ideals but experienced through learning and
reflection wastheir real basis.
The theory of relief and doctrine of Karma was also developed. To
escape thecycle oflifeanddeath, man must realize thenature of`Brahman'.
Sacrifice and rituals were the means of improving of conduct of an individual
and conscious approach to religion. Every Aryan had3primary duties to
beperformed:
1.Adhyayana (learning)
2.Yajna (sacrifice)
3.Dana (charity)
ABrahman had3more duties toperform. They were
1)Adhyapana (teaching)
2)Yajna (supervising sacrifices)
3)Pratigraha (receipt ofgifts)
The Upanishads are main philosophical works. They provided
material to all different schools of philosophy developed during the later
Vedic period. They evolved the theories of creation of universe and
doctrines ofKarma and soul. The doctrine ofMoksha leading tothe
state ofrebirthlessness and deathlessness inanother important
development ofthisperiod. The important thoughts evolved during this
period are Nyaya Vaisheshi, Sankhya, Yoga, Mimamsa and Vedanta.
They discuss the philosophi cal problems raised inthe Upanishads and
Sutras.
5.13EDUCATION AND LITERATURE
5.13.1 Education:
The Vedic Aryans had given great attention to learning and
education. Education was obligatory to each and eve ry person. In early
Vedic period, education was characterized by simplicity. The home ofthe
sagei.e.Rishi wasthecenter oflearning, which functioned as a Vedic school.
It was known as Guru Kula. In fact, the house of the teacher was the first
school k nown to the man. The studentship commenced with theUpanayana
ceremony. IntheGurukulas, hymns composed by the Rishis were orallymunotes.in
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94transmitted as the art of writing was not developed. Emphasis was laid on
enunciation (purity of speech) andpronunciation proficiency inthese was
regarded amark of high culture. The Guru Kula system was characterized
by strict discipline by the pupils and performance of their duties (Dharma).
Some of the duties of the students or pupils were collecting fuel for the
sacrificia lfire, learning theVedas, looking after thecattle ofGuru,
practicing austerities and control of senses etc. A pupil could stay in the
Guru Kula for twelve years or more. Education was regarded as a
continuous process. The student had to serve the teach er and obey him.
Due toconstant touch with theteacher thestudents could build their
characters and were properly disciplined. Truth speaking, observance of
piety, devotion to gods, teachers and parents and charity wassupposed to
betheessential virtue sforstudents. Besides recitation of the Vedas, there
were discussions among eminent touring scholars and learned students,
which enlarged the scope of education. Vedic literature, grammar, logic,
astronomy, astrology, ethics and archery were the main sub jects taught
andstudied.
The teacher did not charge any fee but those who could pay offered
'Guru Dakshina totheir teacher, attheendoftheir education.
The subjects taught were "The Veda Samhita, Itihasa andPurana
described as the fifth Veda, Vyaka rna, Rasi or science of numbers, Nidhi,
explained as mineralogy. Tarka shastra or science of Logic, Bhuta -vidya
i.e. biology, Shastra Vidya (Military science) Nakshatra vidya, i.e.
astronomy and Ayurveda, i.e. medicine. The aim of education was to achieve
success both in secular and spiritual life. Thus itwas started to be
Shraddha (faith), Medha (retention of knowledge acquired), Praja
(Progeny), Dhana (wealth) Ayuh (longevity), andAmritatva (immortality).
The higher knowledge in philosophy and religion was imported to
aselected few. The education began with thestudy ofVedas and
Upanishadas. Methods of teaching were both interesting and convincing.
Several passages in the Upanishadas indicate a high standard of learning,
direct method of instruction, close relations between the teacher and his
students and a wide range of subjects taught. The student got a through
moral and intellectual training by hisconstant association with hisGuru.
The highest position in society was occupied by the intellectual
aristocracy. TheBrahmins were highly respected fortheir intellectual work.
However, theKshatriyas also were enjoying thelearning oftheVedas.
Kshatriya kings like Janaka were famous for their learning and were
respected byallincluding theBrahmanas .Women education was not
neglected theoretically at least. Wife was still given a high position ina
family. There arealsoreferences towomen teachers, who possessed the
highest spiritual knowledge. Some women like Gargi and Maitreyi
were learned and co uld challenge Yajnavalkya, the greatest philosopher of
theage.munotes.in
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95There were many centers of Vedic learning, which evolved different
schools ofthoughts. Vedic scholars exchanged their views byoccasional
assemblies under thepatronage ofgenerous and enlightened kings.
Debates were commonly held to discuss difficult problems of philosophy
and religion. The teacher was the chief figure in the system of learning;
teachers led an ideal life and maintained a high moral character.
Instruction was oral and there fore the students were at the mercy of the
teachers. Student had to learn by service and observation.
TheStudent's lifewasnoteasy, hehadtodoallsorts ofmanual
labour asmentioned earlier. Theteacher taught thestudents formany years
andwhen hewassatisfied about theattainments ofthestudents gave him
last sermon and usually known asSnatakopadesha (advice tothe
graduate). Inthis sermon asnataka (agraduate) was told thebasic
principles oftheindividual’s behavior in society. He was aske dt o speak
thetruth, toliveaccording toDharma, toregard parents, elders and
teachers asgods topractice charity, toobserve nonviolence andsuch other
principles with constitute `Samanya Dharma'.
5.13.1 Vedic literature:
Thecontribution oftheVedi cAryans tothegrowth ofliterature is
most important. The size and quality of their literary works proclaim the
greatness ofthepeople. Thefactthattheliterary works were learnt and taught
by oral method speaks about their devotion to literature learning and
teaching. The Vedic literature is already mentioned in unit no.2 of our
book. They are as follows.
The Vedas:
1.TheRigveda
2.TheYajurveda
3.TheSamaveda
4.TheAtharva veda
The commentaries ontheVedas: -
There arethree types ofcommentaries: -
1)Brahm anas
2)Aranyakas
3)Upanishadas
Vedangas:
The Vedangas were composed tosystematic study oftheVedic
literature. They are regarded as the limbs of Vedas. They are six in
number andareas follows:munotes.in
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961Shiksha –TheScience ofPhonetics
2Kalpa –Rites andrituals
3Vyakarna –Grammar
4Nirukta –Etymology
5Chhandas –Meters
6Jyotisha –Astronomy
OutoftheSixVedangas, theShiksha andKalpa areconsidered to
bevery important. They help ustounderstand thetextoftheVedas.
Upavedas orsupplemen tary Vedas Consist ofsome more Sciences like
-
1 Ayurveda – Medicine,
2 Dhanurveda – Archery,
3) Shilpa – Architecture etc.
Sutra literature: -isdivided into3groups: -
a)Shrouta (Ritual)
b)Grihya (Domestic ceremonies)
c)Dharma (law). They discuss all so cial problems several scholars like
Manu, Vishnu, Yajnavalkya and Narada have written elaborate
commentaries onthis.These works from thebasis ofHindu law.
Thus Vedic literature isvery wide inscope andquite deep ininsight
andanalysis.
Smriti Literature:
The Smritis were the treatises written by different Rishis. The
Smritis deal with religion, rituals, Philosophy, andCodes tobeobserved
by the different castes. The Smritis were known after the author such as
Manusmriti, Yajnavalkya Smriti, Narad a Smriti and Vishnu Smriti.
Puranas:
The Puranas were the old narratives of the bards to which
Brahmanical Priests had made additions from time to time. They received
their present form during the Gupta Period. Puranas are eighteen innumber
andequal numberofUpapuranas. Ingeneral, thePuranas deal with the
evolution oftheUniverse, genealogies ofgods andsages and traditional
history ofroyal families.
The Epics:
The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are two great epics. The
authorship of these two epics is ascribed to Valmiki and Vyas. The theme
ofRamayan istheconflict between Rama andRavana. Itcontains thehistory of
thelkshvaku dynasty towhich Rama belonged and deals with Aryan
Penetration into South India.munotes.in
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97The Mahabharata gives an account of t he dynastic quarrel of the
Kauravas and Pandavas and its culmination into a war. It also gives usan
idea ofthemutual rivalries oftheAryantribes. Itcontains theGita, a
divine advice oflordKrishna toArjuna.
Check Your Progress:
1.Write anessay onthereligious lifeoftheVedic Aryans.
5.14SUMM ARY
ThePeople oftheVedic India called themselves Aryas asdistinct
from others who didnotaccept theVedic Civilization, whom they called
Anaryas or Dasyus. In this lesson, we have studi ed various theories about
theoriginal home oftheVedic Aryans, early Aryan Settlements and
expansion, theirPolitical lifei.e.theirPolitical ideas andinstitutions.
Families formed the grama (village) and a number of gramas
formed the Vish and Jana. Gramani was the head of the Village, Vishapati
and Janapati were incharge oftheother divisions. The State was
governed by Rajan (king) who was usually elected during the early and
became hereditary during the later Vedic period. The king was guided by
two assemblies, the Subha and the Samiti and assisted in his duties bythe
Purohita andtheSenoni.
In this lesson, we have studied various aspects of the socio -
economic lifeof the vedicAryans.
The Family was the basic unit of Society. Marriage was the basis
of Family. It was considered as a sacred bond. Marriage was regarded as a
Sanskara and the beginning of Grihasthashrama. Legalized marriages in
different castes were classified ineight forms, were known as 'Ashtavivaha
prakara'. Status of women was very high. Women enjoyed several
privileges and were highly respected. Some of them were educated and
proficient in fine arts.
The Vedic Aryans evolved theVarnashrama Dharma System.
The Four Varnas were the four classes during early Vedic period; during
thelaterperiod, thevamas were associated with thebirthof an individual and
since then it became the caste system. The Four castes were: Brahmans,
Kshatriyas, Vaishyas andShudras.munotes.in
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98The aim of life was described as Purushartha, aF o u r -fold principle,
consisting of Dharma (Justice), Artha (Material Prosperity Kama
(Satisfaction ofemotional interests) andMoksha (Salvation).
Ahundred yearspan oflifewasdivided intofourequal Ashramas or
stages, each being devoted for specific functions. They were
Brahmacharyashrama foreducation andtraining theGrihasthashrama –
the most important, the Vanaprasthashrama the period of retirement and
thesanyasa, an ashrama ofcomplete renunciation.
TheEconomic lifeoftheVedic People during early andlater Vedic
period also is studied in this lesson. Our study throws light on the
Agriculture, andrelated professions. Industries andTrade andcommerce
of the vedicAryans. During the early Vedic period, the Aryans depended
upon cattle -rearing andagriculture trade waslimited andbarter wasinvogue.
However, during thelater Vedic period, thelandunder cultivation expanded
and implements were greatly improved. Irrigation was considerably
improved. Theprofessional orgainisation
i.e.shrenis (guilds) came intoexistence. Trade andcommerce flourished.
They become more industrious and prosperous. The society was properly
organized and therefore maintained a high standard of efficiency.
In this lesson, we have studied the religion and Philosophy of the
Vedic Aryans. Their educational system and the literature that they
produced.
The Aryans worshipped nature gods representing theforces of
nature. Prayer andsacrifice were themain religious activities.
The Vedic Aryans had given great attention to learning and
educa tion. Thehome ofthesage i.e.Rishi wasthecenter oflearning, which
functioned asaVedic school. Itcame tobeknown asGurukul system of
education. Here, the education was imported through oral tradition. It is
through this oral tradition that the li tereature that was produced bythem
was survived and was passed onfrom onegeneration to the other
generation. The Vedic literature include the Four Vedas, Brahmanas,
Aranyakas, Upanishadas, Vedangas, Upavedas, Sutra literature, Smriti
literature, Puranas andtheEpics.
5.15QUESTIONS
1.Explain theSocio -Economic lifeoftheVedicAryans.
2.Write a detailed note on the education and learning during the Vedic
age.
3.Write short notes on:
a)Original home oftheVedic Aryans
b)Sabha andSamiti.
c)Position of the women durin gtheVedic Age
d)Varnashrama Dharmamunotes.in
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99e)Economic lifeoftheVedic Aryans
f)Marriage asanimportant Samskara.
3.Write short notes on:
a)Vedic Deities
b)Rites and rituals
c)Samskaras
d)Gurukula System of education
e)Vedic literature.
munotes.in
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1006
INDIA AFTER 6TH CENTURY B.C. AGE
OFJANAPADAS PERSIAN &
GREEK INVASIONS
Unit Structure
6.0Objectives
6.1Introduction
6.2Causes fortheRise andGrowth
6.3Administration oftheMahajanapadas
6.4Contribution
6.5Persian Invasion
6.6Macedonian Invasion
6.7Alexander theGreat
6.8Alexander's Conquests
6.921yearoldAlexander invades India
6.10Impact ofGreek invasion onIndia
6.11Summary
6.12Questions
6.0OBJECTIVES
a)Tolearn thecauses fortheriseandgrowth of Janapadas.
b)Todiscuss thecontribution -Political, Economic andSocial onIndia.
c)ToStudy theconquests offoreigners.
d)Toevaluate theimpact offoreign invasions on Indian Soil.
6.1INTRODUCTION
The Vedic Age (1500 B.C. -600 B.C.) was a period of raging
political instability. It is witnessed that around 600 B.C., North India was
dotted with a number of republics and kingdoms with towns as centers of
power. Monarchy as well as republican governments was gaining
importance. Of the two Systems, definitely monarchy was gaining more
grounds andkings were now hereditary andevenattributed lot of divine
powers, which were repeatedly asserted through rituals andsacrifices such
asrajsuya andashwamedha sacrifices. The riseof small kingdoms and
republics was witnessed especially in the Gangetic plains of Bihar. These
small sta tes later paved the way for large empires andcame tobe called as
Mahajanapadas.
Inthe6thcentury B.C. while Magadha wasmaking asuccessful
bid for establishing political supremacy, the North West was seeing amunotes.in
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101foreign invasion, which wasnothing elsebutachain ofattacks which was
soon to be followed along the same areas in the years tocome. Among the
many who invaded thefirst worth -mentioning people were thePersians.
Macedonians, Sakas, Kushanas, Scynthias, Huns and Turks followed them
in centur ies to come. The Turks who came along this frontier wrought
chaos and executed gruesome actsinIndia. Though oneoften hears ofthe
good influence oftheir ruleintheclassrooms their serious effects arefaced in
daily life.
6.2CAUSES FOR THE RISE AND GROW TH
The earlier Aryan societies in India were tribal in context. Tribal
chiefs, whose position was not hereditary, ruled these. The key factor of
selection of the chief was the number of cattle (cows in particular) a
person owned. Clans often fought with each other over the control of herds
of cattle. In the course of time as the population of the tribes grew, their
needs and desires also began to rise. The one–time small settlements grew
into large settlements. It became difficult tomanage large tracts ofland.
Soon these societies sawtherise of a ruling class, which belonged tothe
Kshatriya (warrior class) caste.
Thestrength oftheearly Aryan tribes wasderived front theJana
(people) and not the Janapada (land). During the latter part of the Later
Vedic Age (1000 B.C. -600 B.C.), a number of changes took place. The
Kshatriya (warrior class) caste and the Brahmin caste (priestly class) took
control ofthesociety intheir hands. TheKshatriyas and Brahmins together
began to exploit the people belongi ng to the subordinate castes.
The period saw theexpansion ofagriculture asnew areas were
brought under cultivation. The Aryan society shifted from tribal to a
territorial one. Agriculture became themain occupation ofthepeople. Asa
result they startedsettling infixed places. The farmers suffered if there
were wars between petty chieftains. It was in their interest that they
preferred having larger kingdoms with anableruler where they could
have stability and security.
The growth inagricultural produce resulted inlarger number of
arts and crafts and consequently flourishing of trade activities. This gave
rise to the merchant class, which needed security from thefts andother
crimes whenever itpassed from onejanapada totheother. Thetraders felt
theneed forastrong ruler who would notonly protect them but also help
them in their material progress.
The period also witnessed an unprecedented religious and spiritual
conflicts and the rise of heterodox sects -most powerful of which were
JainismandBuddhism.
All these factors combined to give rise to the so -called 'Second
Urbanization ofIndian history (Indus Valley Civilization being thefirst
urbanization).munotes.in
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1026.3ADMINISTRATION OF THE MAHAJANAPADAS
In 6th century BC, ancient India had a numb er of kingdoms which
emerged during the Vedic age. This period saw socio -economic
development along with religious and political developments across the
Indo-Gangetic plain. These permanent settlements led the evolution from
Janapadas to Mahajanpadas. By s ixth century BC, the centre of major
political activity shifted from western part of gangetic plain to the eastern
part, comprising the presentday Bihar and eastern UP. Major reason for
this shift was, the fertile lands of this area with better rainfall an d rivers,
their closeness to iron production centres also played a key role. In fact, it
was the increased use of iron tools and weapons that enabled small states
to become kingdoms, known as Mahajanapadas.
Majority of these states were monarchical but so me were also
republics, known as “ganasangha”. Ganasangha had oligarchic system for
governance where administration was headed by an elected king who had
a large council for his aid. This was close to be called a democracy but
common man had no say in admi nistration.
6.3.1Sixteen Mahajanapdas:
Angutara Nikaya, a Buddhist scripture mentions 16 great
kingdoms or Mahajanapadas at the beginning of the 6thcentury BCE in
India. They emerged during the Vedic Age. The history of the emergence
of Mahajanapadas ca n be linked to the development of eastern Uttar
Pradesh and western Bihar during the 6th to 4th century BCE where
agriculture flourished due to the availability of fertile lands and iron
production increased due to availability of iron ore in large quantit ies. This
resulted in the expansion of the territories of the Janapadas (due to the use
of iron weapons) and later addressed as 16 highly developed regions or the
Mahajanapadas.
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103Name of the
MahajanapadaCapital Location
Anga ChampaIncluded the modern districts
of Monghyr and Bhagalpur
in Bihar.
MagadhaEarlier Rajgriha, later
PatliputraCovered the modern districts
of Patna, Gaya, and parts of
Shahabad.
MallaCapitals at Kusinara
and PawaCovered the modern districts
of Deoria, Basti, Gorakhpur
andSiddarthnagar in eastern
UP.
Vajji VaishaliSituated north of the river
Ganga in Bihar.
Kosala SravastiCovered modern day
districts of Faziabad, Gonda,
Bahraich of eastern Uttar
Pradesh.
Kashi VaranasiLocated in the region around
Varanasi (modern Bana ras).
Chedi ShuktimatiCovered present day
Bundelkhand region.
Kuru IndraprasthaCovered modern Haryana
and Delhi.
Vatsa KaushambiCovered modern districts
Allahabad, Mirzapur.
PanchalaAhichhatra (Uttara
Panchala) and
Kampilya
(DakshinaPanchala)Cover ed the area of present
western UP up to the east of
river Yamuna up to Kosala
janapada.
Matsya ViratanagaraCovered the areas of Alwar,
Bhartpur and Jaipur in
Rajasthan.
Sursena MathuraCovered the area around
Mathura.
AvantiUjjaini and
MahishmatiCovered the western India
(modern Malawa).
Ashmaka PotanaSituated in the southern part
of the India between the
rivers Narmada and
Godavari.munotes.in
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104KambojaCapital at Rajapura in
modern -day KashmirCovered the area of
Hindukush (modern Hazara
districts of Pakista n)
Gandhara TaxilaCovered the western part of
Pakistan and eastern
Afghanistan.
1.Anga: This mahajanapada finds mention in the Atharva Veda and the
‘Mahabharata’.During the reign of Bimbisara, it was taken over by
Magadha empire. It is located in presen t day Bihar and west Bengal.
2.Magadha: It also finds reference in the Atharva Veda which tells
hthat Magadha was semi -brahmanical place. It was situated in present
day Bihar close to Anga, separated by river Champa. Later, Magadha
became a center of Jainism . Along with that, the first Budhist Council
was held in Rajagriha.
3.Kasi: It was loacted around Varanasi which was the capital as well. It
is believed that this city got its name from rivers Varuna and Asi as
mentioned in the Matsya Purana.
4.Vatsa or Vamsa: This mahajanapada followed the monarchical form
of governance. This kingdom was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas.
And its capital was located at Kausambi. This was an important city
for economic activities. There was a prosperous trade and business
scena rio in 6th century BC. After the rise of Buddha, the ruler
Udayana made Buddhism a state religion. Vatsa was located around
the present day Allahabad.
5.Kosala: It was located in modern Awadh region of Uttar pradesh. Its
capital was Ayodhya.
6.Saurasena: Its c apital was Mathura. This place was a centre of
Krishana worship at time of Megasthenes. Also there was a dominant
follwership of Budhha here.
7.Panchala: Its capital was Ahichchatra and Kampilaya for its noerthern
and southern regions respectively.It was loc ated in present day western
Uttar Pradesh. And it shifted from monarchy to being a republic later.
8.Kuru: Their capital was Indraprastha in present day meerut and
Haryana. The region around Kurukshetra was supposedly the site for
kuru Mahajanapada. It shift ed to a republiuc form of governance later.
9.Matsya: It was located to south of the Kurus and west of the
Panchalas. Its capital was at Viratanagar, which lays around present
day Jaipur.
10.Chedi : This was mentioned in the Rigveda, Its capital was Sothivati.
It lay around the present day Bundelkhand region.
11.Avanti: Avanti was important in terms of rise of Buddhism. Its capital
was located at Ujjaini or Mahismati. It was located around present day
Malwa and Madhya Pradesh.munotes.in
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10512.Gandhara: Their capital was at Taxila. Gandhara are mentioned in the
Atharva Veda as people who were highly trained in art of war. It was
important for international commercial activities.
13.Kamboja: Kamboja had its capital named as Pooncha. It is located in
present day Kashmir and Hindukush. Various literary sources menton
that Kamboja was a republic.
14.Ashmaka or Assaka: The capital of this mahajanapada was located at
Pratisthan or Paithan. Ashmaka was located t the bank of Godavari.
15.Vajji: Its capital was Vaishali. It was an important Mahajanap adas.
The major races residig here were Licchavis, Vedehans, Jnatrikas and
Vajjis.
16.Malla: It was one of the sixteen mahajanapadas. It finds mention in
‘Mahabharata’ and Buddhist and Jain texts. They were a republic
(Samgha). Their capital was Kusinara loc ated around present day
Deoria and Uttar Pradesh.
In the course of time, smaller or weak kingdoms, and the republics
were eliminated by the stronger rulers. Vajji and Malla were Gana -
Sanghas. The Gana -Sanghas had a government by assembly and within
the as sembly they had oligarchy. In the 6thcentury only 4 powerful
kingdoms remained:
1.Magadha (Important rulers: Bimbisara, Ajatashatru)
2.Avanti (Important ruler: Pradyota)
3.Kosala (Important ruler: Prasenjit)
4.Vatsa (Important ruler: Udayana)
Among them Magadha , Vatsa, Avanti and Kosala were the most
prominent ones. Out of these four, Magadha emerged as the most
powerful kingdom. The causes of Magadha’s success were as following:
1.Availability of rich iron deposits which were used in making weapons
2.Its loc ation at the rich and fertile Gangetic plain
3.Use of elephants in military warfare against its neighbours
4.Surrounded by natural boundaries like think forest, rivers etc
5.Availability of abundance natural resources
6.3.2Monarchical and Republican M ahajanapadas:
The basic administrative system headed by tribal chieftains was
transformed by a number of regional republics or hereditary monarchies
that devised ways to appropriate revenue and to conscript labor for
expanding the areas of settlement and a griculture farther east and south,
beyond the Narmada River. First, there existed monarchical types, where
the king or chieftain was the head of the territory. In this type, the Vedic
ceremonies and Brahman as were given much importance. The kings
performe d vedic sacrifices in these regions. For instance, Kosala belonged
to the category of monarchical mahajanapada. Prasenajit, the king of
Kosala was known to have performed several sacrifices. The second typemunotes.in
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106among mahajanapadas was republican or oligarchic which differed from
the monarchical states. In this second category, the king was selected from
the group of people called rajas. There is reference to assemblies called
sabha where the members used to have discussions regarding a particular
matter, then t he item was put to vote.
Republican Mahajanapadas MonarchicalMahajanpadas
1. The chief office was not
hereditary and was known
asGanapati or Ganaraja.1. All the powers were vested with the
King and his family.
2. The Ganas were located in or
near the Himalayan foothills in
eastern India.2. Majority of the kingdoms occupied
the fertile alluvial tracts of the Ganga
valley.
3. Representative form of
government. The council
discussed and debated the issues
in a hall, called Santhagara.
Salakas (pieces o f wood) were
used for voting and Salaka -
Gahapaka (collector of votes)
ensured honesty and impartiality.3. Political power was concentrated in
the king who was assisted by
ministers, advisory councils such as
Parishad and Sabha. However, with
the emergence of the concept of the
divinity of king and more emphasis on
priestly rituals, the centrality of the
popular assemblies was reduced.
4. The Gana -Sanghas had only
two strata -the Kshatriya
Rajakula (ruling families) and the
DasaKarmakara (slaves and
labou rers).4. The focus was mainly on caste
loyalties and loyalty towards the king.
5. GanaSanghas were more
tolerant than the kingdoms. It is
because of this tolerance –
Mahavira (Jainism, belonged to
Vajji confederacy) and Buddha(
Buddhism, belonged to Shak ya
clan) were able to propagate their
philosophy in a more unrestricted
way in Gana -Sanghas as
compared to Kingdoms.5. The Brahmanical political, social
and religious theory was more deeply
entrenched in the kingdoms.
Changes in Agriculture: Agriculture prospered in most of the
Mahajanapadas as they were located in fertile areas. Two major changes
came in agriculture. One was the increasing use of the iron plough.
Secondly, people began transplanting paddy which led to increased
production.
Around 3000 years ago, there were some new ways of choosing
‘rajas’. Some men became ‘rajas’ by performing big sacrifices. One of
such rituals was ‘ASHVAMEDHA’ (horse sacrifice). The ‘raja’ was an
important figure.munotes.in
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107Taxes: Money was required by new rajas for building f orts and armies.
They started collecting regular taxes from the people. The tax could be
paid either in cash or in kind.
The ‘rajas’ needed resources to build forts and to maintain armies.
Officials were supposed to collect taxes from people. Taxes were i n the
form of crops, labour, animals and their produce, etc.
There were changes in agriculture too. The use of Iron Ploughshares
increased, thus enhancing grain production. People started transplanting
paddy. This also increased production.
Magadha became the most important ‘mahajanapada’ in about 200
years. Transport, water supplies, fertility, forests, elephants, mines, etc.
made Magadha important.
Ashvamedha’: (horse sacrifice) This was ritual in which a horse was let
loose to wander freely and it was guarded by the ‘rajas’ men. If the horse
entered other kingdoms, there would be a duel between the two kings.
Complex rituals started emerging during this period like Rajasuya,
Vajpeya etc.
Standing Armies:
These armies were very different from the ones m entioned earlier.
Soldiers in the new army were paid regular salaries and maintained by the
king throughout the year. We also find elephants being used on a large
scale. If we remember that elephants are difficult to capture, tame and
train, it becomes evi dent that now armies have become far more elaborate
and well organized than before. And maintaining such large armies would
have required far more resources than what was needed for the simple
armies of the janapadas. A well -equipped army, led by ambitious rulers,
meant that the ruler of Magadha could soon overcome most other rulers,
and expand control over neighbouring areas. In some cases, the rulers tries
to acquire control over routes of communication, both overland and along
rivers. In other cases, the y tried to acquire control over land, especially
over fertile agricultural land, as this was an important means of acquiring
more resources.
6.3.3Conclusion:
The formation of the state can be traced to Early Vedic Period
where the chiefdoms gradually gav e way to formation of kingdom as a
result of battle for pasture land. The battles fought used a range from fight
among tribes or a group of tribes fighting against other group tribes. The
early kingdom called as Janapadas gradually gave way to Mahajanapads
characterized by stone walled forts, large number of servants, huge armies.
There were different ways in which the raja or chief was different from the
common people called janas. Gradually the position of the raja became
hereditary. He had a large army w hich required huge expenses to maintain
it. These were met through taxes on crops, taxes on craft and goods.munotes.in
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1086.4CONTRIBUTION
6.4.1A)Political:
The position of the king became important during this time. He not
only became the protector of people but also the upholder of the sacred
Law or Dharma. In the Republics, the people elected the ruler. However, in
the kingdoms, the Brahmins (priests) sanctified the rule of the king (who
was a Kshatriya) and promoted him not as an ordinary human, but God.
The Br ahmins endowed the king with God-likepowers byperforming
certain religious ceremonies. The king was surrounded byagroup of
ministers who helped himintheaffairs of the state. The king maintained an
army and was responsible for collecting taxes.
6.4.2.B)Economic:
With theriseofkingdoms andrepublics, more andmore villages and
towns emerged. The economy of the state depended on the taxes collected
from thepeople. Towns like Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh), Bhrigukachchha
(Gujarat), Champa, Kaushambi, Pataliputra, Pratisthana (Deccan),
Rajagriha (Bihar), Shravasti, Tamralipti (Ganga Delta), Ujjayini (Malwa)
and Vaishali prospered during thistime. Towns became thefocal points of
crafts. They played thepivotal roleascapitals oftheearly kingdoms and
republics. Trade and commerce also helped in the rise of towns and barter
system wascommon. River Ganga became animportant trade route.
6.4.1. c)Social:
The society was strictly divided on caste lines: the Kshatriyas
(warriors) were rulers, the Brahmins (priests) maintained education and
religious activities, theVaishyas (traders) carried outtrade, while the
Shudras were manual workers and farm workers. Fifth castes, namely the
class of untouchables also grew, This group was looked down upon, as it
performed menial jobs. The people of the upper caste established their
right over theothers anddidnotallow them togrow. Thus the people of the
upper caste, the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas, usurped thepower inthe
Kingdoms anddidnotallow thepeople ofthelower caste tohave their say
intheaffairs of the state.
Check Your Progress:
1.Write anote ontheMahajanapadas.munotes.in
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1096.4PERSIAN INVASION
Formore than three thousand years Persia wasamelting potofcivilizations
and demograp hic changes between Asia and Europe. Under Cyrus the
Great, it became the nucleus of the world's first empire. Persia hasbeen
recognized byitspeople asIran (land oftheAryans) or"noble people",
although itwasreferred toasPersia (Pars orFars) bytheEuropeans, largely
because ofthewritings ofGreek historians.
Cyrus founded the Persian Empire 550 B.C. and it dominated the
adjoining areas until the time of Alexander the Great conquered the
kingdom and established the Persian Empire.
Amongst the foreigners, the Persians were the first to invade India.
They came inthe6thCentury B.C, atthistime north India wasscattered into
various bigandsmall kingdoms worth mentioning among them being Taxila,
Gandhara, Abhiras.
Cyrus, one of history's gre at leaders, conquered Babylonia and
Antholia and ruled Persia from 558 B.C. to 530 B.C. He also seems tohave
ledanexpedition tothenorthwest frontier inIndia. There isamention made
by the historian Herodotus about Cyrus the upper regions of Asia
conquering every nation. Pliny informs that Cyrus destroyed the city of
Kapisi while Arrian tells that he conquered territories as far as Kabul.
However his expeditions are based on vague statements made bythe
historians, Cyrus seems tohave tried tocapture the political power of India
but was probably defeated in his endeavors.
Cambyses, (530B.C. -520B.C.) who was the son ofCyrus
succeeded, diverted hisattention towards Egypt andGreece andhadnotime
tolaunch anexpedition towards India. This actually slackened thehold of
Persia in the northwest frontiers inIndia.
Darius I who ruled Persia from 520 B.C. to 486 B.C. reimposed
political stability inBabylon andushered inaperiod ofgreat economic
prosperity. Darius pushed the Persian borders far as I ndus River, had the
river Indus surveyed by his Greek commander Skylax and constructed a
canal connecting theNileRiver andtheRedSea.Between 520and486B.C, the
efficient andinnovative Iranian leader undertook an Indian campaign and he
conquered Pun jab in the year 518.B.C. Hisgreatest achievements were in
road building —which significantly improved communication among the
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110provinces. S. Chattopadhyaya writes thatDarius built afortress in Kapisa
and the Susa.
Darius I was succeeded by Xerxes. A thin g to be noted here is that
Xerxes employed Indian army against the Greeks. Xerxes's successors
were weak andincapable. Trade alsowasgreatly reduced during this period.
Other well-known Persian Kings were Ardashir, Shapur,
Yazdegerd, Firuz, Khosrau. The last of the Sassanid kings was Yazdegerd
III,during whose reign (632-41)theArabs invaded Persia and replaced
Zoroastrianism (Persian religion at the time and still practiced bysome
Persians inIranandaround theglobe) with Islam.
Darius IIIwastheruler during whose time Alexander fought with
thePersians anddefeated Darius III in 330 B.C.
Theeffects ofPersian invasions :
The Persian control over the north western part of India had
several effects in political, economic andcultural life ofIndia.
a)The direct impact oftheinvasions was feltonly ontheborders of
India but itspolitical ideas and court etiquettes flowed intothe
interior of the country.
b)Large number of Persian nobles were employed in the courts of the
Indian kings.
c)ThePersian coinage system influenced Indian coins.
d)Kharoshti script widely used in North western India was derived from
Aramaic used inPersia. TheAshokan inscriptions areintheKharoshti.
e)Theroyal road oftheMauryas from western frontier toPataliputra was
influenced by its prototype in Persia between Sardis and susa.
f)Monuments andpalaces during theMauryan period hadresemblance
tothePersian art.
The greatest impact of the invasion of the Persians over North
Western India according tohistorians isthatitledtothetrade relationship
between India andPersia anditalsoencouraged other foreigners tolaunch
invasion overIndia. AsPersians hadestablished their authority over India and
India hadbecome apartoftheir empire, people were freetotravel inany
partofIndia orPersia. TheIndian traders started trading with thePersians
onalarge scale Itencouraged theGreeks andtheBactrians tolaunch
invasions over Indian Territory.
6.5MACEDONIAN INVASION
The Origin oftheTerm 'Hellenistic':
Theterm'Hellenistic' wasfirstused inthe19thcentury todescribe the
era and civilization, which materialized from the conquests of Alexander
the Great (330 B.C. to 7 B.C.). During this period Greek culture spreadmunotes.in
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111from the Mediterranean eastwards to the Indu s River Valley and westwards
to the Atlantic. Hellenistic civilization represented the synthesis of Greek and
Near Eastern civilizations. The 'founder' ofHellenistic world was
Alexander the Great.
6.6ALEXANDER THE GREAT (CA. 356-323B.C.)
Little information isavailable about Alexander's childhood except
forhisclose attachment tohismother andthatAristotle played therole
of his instructor between 343 and 341 B.C. His father's name was Phillip
and his mother's name was Olympus. He was born in Pella. Alexander
rose to throne under doubtful conditions. Philip the founder of the
Macedonian empire had left Alexander's mother and married another man
shortly before hisdeath. ItistoldthatPhilip wasmurdered byoneofhis
kinsmen. Butwhatever hisroleinhisfather's death, Alexander either killed
orexpelled hisrivals togethisthrone.
Alexander wasthiskind ofperson; arestless soul, never satisfied with
what hehad, always longing formore. Hehad immense thirst for
knowledge, amazed at the great sight of the world. His face showed zeal
andstrength. Hewasimpulsive buthadafervent willtowin. Hewanted to
expand his horizons and enjoy his life to the fullest. He was a very
difficult person, a combination of light and shadows, impulsiven essand
calm, self-centeredness andanintense need tobeloved, accusable vices and
unbelievable virtues.
During thehistoric span of32years, heconquered Persia, brought about
arevolution inGreece, extended hispower andinfluence uptotheIndus valley
and consequently was responsible in spreading western culture intheeast.
Alexander's conquest wasamajor partofwestern history but his entry into
India for a short while brought dramatic changes here.
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1126.7ALEXANDER'S CONQUESTS
In the fourth cen tury B.C. it is at last possible to give a more or
less connected account of a short period in the history of India, or at leastof
theIndus valley, thisweowe totheclassical records ofAlexander's Indian
campaign.
All Greece was taught to fear and re spect Alexander. He had
imbibed theidea that Herculean blood wasflowing through hisveins and
therefore he was fit to conquer the world. Thus having brought his own
house into order, he resumed his father's waragainst Persia. In 334 B.C.,
Alexander led34,000 troops across the Hellespont into Asia Minor. By
333 he had conquered Syria. Three years later' he defeated Darius III of
Persia (at Gaugamela) andoccupied thePersian capital ofPersepolis.
6.821YEAR OLD ALEXANDER INVADES INDIA
Having defeate d the Persian ruler, he crossed the Hindukush
Mountains and strengthened his position in Kabul. He captured the fortress
ofMassaga andAornos. Alexander moved through thedense jungles of
Ohind. Then having crossed theIndus river hesecured thehelp of A mbi,
king of Taxila and marched to Jhelum. The greatest of Alexander's battles in
India was against Porus, one of the most powerful Indian leaders, at the river
Hydaspes in July326B.C.E.
Alexander's army crossed theheavily defended river indramatic
fashion during a violent thunderstorm to meet Porus' forces. The Pauravan
king with anarmy of30,000 soldiers, horses andelephants provided fierce
resistance. But the Indians were defeated in a fierce battle, even though they
fought with elephants, which theMacedonians had never before seen.
Alexander captured Porus and, liketheother local rulers he had defeated,
allowed him to continue to govern his territory. When Alexander asked
thePauravan king tobow thelatter answered "Act likeaking' impresse d
with King Peru’s efforts hegave him back hiskingdom. Alexander even
subdued anindependent province andgranted ittoPorus asag i f t .
Alexander hadmoved further. Hewished tocapture theGanges
valley, butwasstopped byhistroops. In325B.C. histroops threatened to
mutiny. They demanded that Alexander allowed them to return to
Macedonia. So with a heavy heart, Alexander retraced his steps to Jhelum
andbrought hisarmy back toBabylon in324 B.C. Apparently, hehad
planned toorganize anew army, which would notforce himtodepend on
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113thequestionable loyalty ofhisMacedonian troops. Onhisway back to
Babylon, hehad toundergo terrible sufferings inthedeserts of
Baluchistan. Hewasseverally wounded while storming oneof the citadels of
at r ibeofMalavas. Alexander died of a fever in 323 B.C., not long after
his return to Babylon and much before he wasable to puthis new plans
intoaction.
6.9IMPACT OFGREEK INVASION ONINDIA
Alexander issupposed tohave invaded thePunjab in326B.C.
Every schoolboy is taught and is expected to know, that he invaded India's
Northwest.
But with regard to the effects of his invasion opinions vary from
those who feltthatthere wasnosignificant impact tothose who opine that
India wascompletely Hellenized. Nowhere didSirWilliam Jones, (1746 -
1794), who came to India as a judge of the Supreme Court at Calcutta and
pioneered Sanskrit studies, find anymention ofGreeks. British historian
Vincent A.Smith, conservatively appraised theimpact ofAlexan der's
invasion as follows:
"The Greek influence never penetrated deeply intheIndus valley
civilization. Ontheother hand, theWest learned something from India in
consequence of the communications opened up by Alexander's adventure.
Our knowledge of th e facts is so scanty and fragmentary that it is difficult
to make any positive assertions with confidence... The notions of Indian
philosophy and religion, which filtered into the Roman Empire, flowed
through channels opened byAlexander.
According to Ind ian historian Dr. R. C. Majumdar, Alexander's
military achievement can hardly be called a great military success, as the
only military achievement to his credit were the conquest of petty tribes
munotes.in
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114and States byinstallments. He never approached even within a
measurable distance of what may be called the citadel of Indian military
strength, and the exertions he had to make against Poros, theruler ofasmall
district between theJhelum andtheChenab, do not certainly favor the
hypothesis that he would have fo und it an easy task to subdue the mighty
Nanda empire."
H.GRawlinson, refers totheinvasion, "hadnoimmediate effect, and
passed off like countless other invasions, leaving the country almost
undisturbed."
However there hasbeen very little impact oftheinvasion thefact
thatthere have been several indirect influences cannot beignored.
They may be listed asfollows:
a)Communication between India and Greece increased after
Alexander's campaign. Trade received an impetus. Alexander
followed the Persi an route to India and he further extended it to the
west. Searoutes alsowere opened. Greek andOman settlements were
seen inboth thewestern andtheeastern coast. Greek colonies were
established in Afghanistan, Bactria and Northwest frontiers. There
wasafloating population asaresult ofthetrade routes and trade.
b)Indian philosophy, religion, astronomy, mathematics was influenced bythe
Greek invasion. There wasGreek influence onIndian astrology and
themethod ofpreparing horoscopes. Indians borro wed the concept of
the twelve signs of the Zodiac from the Greeks.
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115
Route ofAlexander's invasion onIndia
c)Another positive influence can be seen in the field of art and
literature. Greek sculpture influenced Indian sculpture, giving rise
to the Gandhar a School of art. The Kushana ruler Kanishka adopted
Mahayanism and invited Bactrian artists to make the images of
Buddha. This gave rise to a fine blending of Indian andGreek image
sculpture.
d)TheIndians adopted theGreek idea ofminting well-formed coins of
particular shapes. Although theGreeks didnotintroduce coins here,
their coins were designed as works of art. The Sakas, Parthians and
others later copied them.munotes.in
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116e)Inthepolitical field itsimpact wasfeltintheemergence ofpowerful
monarchies like Magadha. Centralized Greek system was absorbed
and the smaller and weaker kingdoms were merged into the larger
ones. Alexander's General Seleucus took control ofmany ofthe
provinces ofMacedonian empire. Healso sentan ambassador called
Megasthanese to reside in the court of Mauryas atPataliputra. The
ambassador wrote adetailed account ofIndia, which wasuseful forthe
later Classical writers.
Check Your Progress:
1.Give abrief sketch ofPersian invasion on India.
6.10SUMMARY
Thesixth century B.C.isdescribed asoneofthemost remarkable
landmark inthehistory ofIndia. Itwitnessed amental effervescence not
only is India but also in Greece, Persia and other countries. The age saw
the emergence of two masterminds –namely Gautama Buddha and
Mahavira. A number of large and small kingdoms and Republics emerged
inthenorthern parts ofIndia. Thus the6"century B.C. witnessed political
cultural, religious changes which were to have far-reaching effects.
Thus, itistruethatAlexander's expeditions didnothave adirect
impact onIndia butthefactcannot bedenied thattheinvasion broke down
the walls of the east and the west and opened up different lines of
communication andbrought about synthesis inartandarchitecture .
Additional Readings:
H.C.Raychaudhari, Political History ofAncient India, Calcutta,
1953.
W.W.Tam, theGreeks in Bactria and India, Cambridge, 1951.
R.C.Majumdar, anAdvanced History ofIndia, London, 1950.
Ramesh Chander Dutt, History of Ancient andmodem India.
B.Keith, Buddhist Philosophy inIndia andCeylon, Oxford, 1923.
L.Basham, History andDoctrines of the Ajivikas, London. 1951.
N.Lunia, Life and Culture in Ancient India internet.munotes.in
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1176.11QUESTIONS
1.Write anote ontheMahajanapadas.
2.Review theachievements Alexander. Discuss theimpact ofAlexander's
invasion on India.
3.Write a brief note of Administration of the Mahajanpadas.
4.Write short notes onthefollowing
a)Rise of Magadha.
b)Political history of Mahajanapadas.
c)Effects ofPersian invas ion.
d)Alexander's Conquests.
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1187
JAINISM &BUDDHISM: TEACHING AND
IMPACT
Unit Structure
7.0Objectives
7.1Introduction
7.2Founder ofJainism
7.3JainPhilosophy
7.4Principles ofJainism
7.5Teachings ofMahavira
7.6Development ofmajor sects
7.7JainLiterature
7.8Importance ofSymbols inJainism
7.9Spread ofJainism
7.10LifeStory ofBuddha
7.11TheProphecy ofBuddha
7.12Gautama becomes TheBuddha
7.13Philosophy ofBuddhism
7.14Teachings ofBuddha
7.15Buddhist Texts
7.16Spread ofBuddhism
7.17Causes forthedecline inthelandofitsownbirth
7.18Summary
7.19Questio ns
7.0OBJECTIVES
Ourobjective is
a)Tounderstand thepolitical conditions ofthe6thC.B.C.
b)Tolearn theinfluence ofJainism
c)Tostudy the impact ofJainliterature.
d)Tounderstand thenewreligious influence.
e)Tolearn theteachings andprinciples ofBuddhis m.
f) Toevaluate theimpact ofthisreligion.
g)Tounderstand thecauses ofitsdecline.munotes.in
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1197.1INTRODUCTION
Jainism is essentially one of the oldest living religions of India. Itis
original, quite different and detached from other systems ofIndian
philosophy.
Inancient times Jainism was labeled invarious ways. They
were Saman tradition, theNirgantha faith orJina. Factually Jinameans a
conqueror. A person who has conquered desire, hatred, anger, greed and
pride by one's own personal efforts becomes a Jina. Heneed not
necessarily beasupernatural being oranembodiment of the all -powerful
God but having conquered worldly passions, he may be viewed as God in
Jainism. One more thing to be noted is that every human being has the
potential to become a Jina.
Since Jainism believes that any common man is capable of
achieving the goal to be a Jina, the very concept of God being the creator,
protector andthedestroyer oftheuniverse isnotaccepted inJainism.
Parallel to this idea, it does not believe in the rei ncarnation of God, as a
human being to destroy evil on the earth is also not recognized.
Agreat religion thatoriginated inIndia inabout 6thcentury
B.C. isBuddhism. Ironically though Buddhism flourished overseas;
inthe land of its birth it was till recently nonexistent. It received a lease of
lifeafter independence, when Dr.B.R. Ambedkar decided toembrace
Buddhism. A significant section of the scheduled castes followed Dr.
Ambedkar and they today constitute an overwhelming portion of the
adherents of Buddhism in India today. But they do not form partofthetwo
traditional sects ofBuddhism viz., (Mahanayana and Hinayana) and are
generally termed as Neo -Buddhists (Nava -Baudha). The history of
Buddhism in India starts with that of its founder Gauta maBuddha who
lived inthe6thcentury B.C.
7.2FOUNDER OFJAINISM
The founder of Jainism was Mahavira. According to tradition Jain
religion wasfounded inhoary antiquity andwasdeveloped bya series of
24 teachers called as tirtankaras. About 2600 years agoMahavira widely
called Vardhaman (599 to 527 BC), the twenty fourth and the last
Tirthankara of this period recharged the Jain philosophy previously
advocated by his predecessor Parshva (950 to 850 BC) inIndia.
Mahavira was born to Siddhartha, a wea lthy merchant in a suburb
of Vaishali called Kundagrama. Trishala his mother was a Kshatriya lady
related totheruling families ofVaishali andMagadha.
Very little isknown about his early life. He married a
princess Yashoda and hadadaughter byname Priyadarshana.munotes.in
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120Being born inawealthy family, hewas taken bymany worldly
pleasures, comforts, and services at his command. But a sudden change
came about inhimafter thedeath ofhisparents whoended their lives by
voluntary starvation. According toWill Durant, hisparents looked upon
rebirth asacurse. Tofreethemselves from thechain ofrebirth they fasted
unto death. Vardhamana wasthirty years old then. This incident probably
was a turning point in his life and he lefthisfamily androyal household,
gave uphis worldly possessions, and became amonk insearch ofa
solution togetridofpain, sorrow, andsuffering from life.
Vardhamana wandered fornext twelve years inconcentrated
silence andmeditation toconquer hisdesires, feelings, andattachments. He
found lifeininanimate things also. Therefore hecautiously avoided harming
other living beings including animals, birds, insects, andplants. Healsowent
without food forlong periods oftime. He made deliberate attempts to
remain compos ed and peaceful against all intolerable hardships. It is said
that during this period, his spiritual powers fully developed and he realized
perfect perception, perfect knowledge, perfect power, and total bliss. This
realization is known as kevalyajnan or t he perfect enlightenment. He was
now a kevalin or an omniscient, a Jina or a conqueror and Mahavira or a
great hero. The ultimate objective of his teaching is how one can attain
total freedom from the cycle of birth, life, pain, misery, and death, and
achieve the permanent blissful state of one's self This is also known as
liberation, nirvana, absolute freedom or Moksha. He spent the next thirty years
ofhislifeinpreaching hisnew doctrine and establishing a religious
community. He roamed as a naked asce ticandtravelled in several parts of
eastern India.
In recapitulating, the Jainas believe that Mahavira was not the
founder of a new religious system. Jainism existed before Lord Mahavira,
andhisteachings were based onthose ofhispredecessors. Thus Mahavira
wasmore ofareformer andpropagator ofanexisting religious order than
the founder of a new faith. He followed the well -established creed of his
predecessor Tirthankara. However, he did reorganize thephilosophical
tenets andcodes ofconduct tocorrespond tohistime.
At the age of 72, in the year 527 B. C, Lord Mahavira attained
nirvana (death) at Pava in south Bihar and his purified soul left his body
and achieved complete liberation. He became a Siddha, a pure consciousness,
a liberated sou l, living forever in a state of complete bliss. On the night of
his nirvana, people celebrated the Festival of Lights (Dipavali) in his
honor. This is the last day of the Hindu and Jaincalendar year.
7.3JAIN PHILOSOPHY
First andforemost Jainism presumes thattheuniverse iswithout a
beginning or an end, being endless and eternal. There exist six
fundamental bodies in the universe, which are eternal but constantly
undergo innumerable changes. But nothing is lost or destroyed w hile
changes take place. Everything is recycled into another form. The Sixmunotes.in
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121Universal Substances orbodies areasfollows:
Soul orConsciousness Jiva Living body
Matter PudgalNonlivingbody
Medium ofmotion DharmaNonlivingbody
Medium of rest AdharmaNonlivingbody
Space AkasaNonlivingbody
Time Kaal orSamayNonlivingbody
Thewheel oftime incessantly revolves likeapendulum. Mahavira
believed that man is the architect of his own destiny. He further explained
thatevery living being (soul) duetoitsignorance isinbondage ofkarmic
tiny parts known askarma. Karma iscontinuously mounts up by our
actions of body, mind and speech. Under the influence of karma, the soul
is habituated to hunt for pleasure inmaterialistic things andpossessions.
This itself becomes the deep -rooted cause of fierce thoughts, actions,
anger, hatred, greed, andsuch other vices. Theresult isfurther amassing of
karma.
It is possible to get rid of karma and attain freedom from bonds by
following thethreefold path ofright belief (samyak -darshan), right
knowledge (samyak -jnan), and right conduct (samyak -charitra). Proper
knowledge of the six universal substances (six Dravya) and the nine
fundamental truths (nine Tattva) is called right knowledge and true faith in
that knowledge is called right belief. The right conduct includes
nonviolence, self-purification, kindness, self-punishment, strictness, and
meditation. The result of the three fold path will bethatsouls will be
released from transmigration andfinally reachtheheavenly abode (siddha
sila).
7.4PRINCIPLES OFJAINISM
There arenine tattvas, which form themost important subject ofJain
philosophy.
Without theproper knowledge ofthese tattvas, aperson cannot
progress spiritually. Mahavira rejected theautho rityoftheVedas and
sacrificial rites and the existence of God. The universe functions through
theinteraction oftheliving souls.munotes.in
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122TheNine Principles (Tattvas) are:
Jiva Soul orliving being (Consciousness)
AjivaNon-living substances
Asrava Cause of the invasion of karma
Bandha Bondage ofkarma
Punya Virtue orrighteousness
Papa Sin
Samvara Stoppage oftheinflux of karmaNirjaraExhaustion oftheaccumulated karma
Moksha Complete liberation from karma
7.5TEACHINGS OFMAHAVIRA
The supr eme ideal of the Jain religion is nonviolence (Ahimsa),
equal kindness, andreverence forallforms oflifeinspeech, thought, and
action. "Ahimsa Parmo Dharm" (Non -violence is the supreme religion).
Ahimsa isaprinciple thatJains teach andpractice notonlytowards living
things butalsotowards allnature. Jaintexts pronounce -Donotharm, exploit,
oppress, enslave, insult, torment, torture, orkillanyliving being. Ahimsa
refers notonly tonoticeable physical actsofviolence buttoviolence inthe
hearts andminds ofhuman beings. Ina constructive sense ahimsa means
universal friendliness (maitri), universal forgiveness (kshama) anduniversal
fearlessness (abhaya).
Mahavira added thevow ofBrahmacharya. Healso layemphasis
on discarding all ext ernal things including garments if freedom from
bonding wastobeattained. Itlaydown fivegreat vows. They areasfollows:Nonviolence(Ahimsa)Not tocause harm to any living beings
Truthfulness (Satya) Tospeak truthNon-stealing (Asteya)Notstealingother's belongings.
Chastity (Brahmacharya)Nottoindulge insensual pleasureNon-possession/Non -
attachment (Aparigraha)Detachment from people, and
material things or limiting one's
possessions
These vows cannot befully followed without theacceptance ofa
philosophy ofnon-absolutism (Anekantvad) andthetheory ofrelativity
(Syadvad). Monks and nuns follow these vows strictly and wholly, while the
common people follow thevows according totheir lifestyles.munotes.in
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123Sallekhana: (The Holy Death)
Jainismisunique inallowing thevery spiritually advanced person to
gradually terminate hislifebycertain practices (principally fasting) under
specified circumstances andunder thesupervision ofAcharya. Thepoint
istomeet death inastate ofcomplete awareness with all of one's faculties
functioning properly. Jainism does notadvocate suicide (assisted suicide)
mercy killing, orremoval oflife-supporting devices.
Thus, the principles of Jainism if properly understood in their right
perspective andfaithfully adhered to,will bring contentment andinner
happiness and joyinthepresent life. This will elevate thesoul in
future reincarnations to a higher spiritual level, ultimately achieving
Perfect Enlightenment, reaching its final destination of Etern alBliss,
ending allcycles ofbirth and death.
7.6DEVELOPMENT OFMAJOR SECTS
Mahavira categorized hissupporters, into four-fold ranks. They
were monks (Sadhu), nuns (Sadhvi), laymen (Shravak), andlaywomen
(Shravika). This order is known as Jain Sangh. B roadly speaking, a senior
and learned Shramana (sadhu and sadhvi) lead the Jain Sangha. Their duty
was to impart religious instruction to followers. Laypersons or followers
(shravak andShravika) were known asupasakas andwere supposed to
takecareoftheirlivelihood intherighteous manner.
As time passed Jainisrn became complex and eventually two major sects
were established. They were theDigambaras andtheShwetambaras. Inthe
Digambar sectmonks wear noclothes, while theSwetambar monks wear
white clothes. They are relatively more liberal and progressive. The
fundamental views ofboth sects areidentical onethics andphilosophy.
Each major sect has many sub-sects. They include idol and
non-idol worshipping sects. Later generations almost placed Lord
Mahavira and other Tirthankars on the throne of Hindu deities. The
Digainbaras believed that women couldn't achieve salvation while the
Shwetambaras held just a contradictory view.
Jainism advocates sixessential rites tobeexecuted byitsfollowers:
Sixessential rites ofDigambar Institution
Devapuja Prayer to God
Gurupasti Devotion andservice toascetics
Swadhyay Studying of Scriptures
Sayam Self-restraint
Tap Penance
Dana Charitymunotes.in
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124Sixvital rites of Swetambar Institution:
Samayik (Meditati on)To remain calm and undisturbed for48minutes.
Praying ofTirthankars Topray and appreciate thequalities
ofthe twenty fourTirthankars.
Vandana Torespect Ascetics
Pratikraman Torepent and confess past bad
thoughts anddeeds.
KayotsargNon-attachments tothebody
Pratyakhan or
PachchhakhanReligious vows renouncing certainacti-vities forsome time todiscipline
one’s self
7.7JAIN LITERATURE
Lord Mahavira's sermons were orally compiled into several texts
(scriptures) byhisdisciples. These scriptures areknown asJainagama or
agama Sutras.
The agama Sutras teach respect for all forms of life, strict codes of
vegetarianism, asceticism, nonviolence, and opposition to war. The
scriptures were notrecorded inanytype butwere learnt byheart b y ascetics
and orally passed on to future generations of ascetics.
Inthecourse oftime, many oftheAgama Sutras were forgotten,
some were custom -made, andadditional Sutras were written. About one
thousand years after Lord Mahavira's nirvana (death) th e remembered
Agwn Sutras were written on leafy papers known as tadpatris. It is also an
accepted fact that the original doctrine taught by Mahavira contained in
fourteen oldtexts styled aspurvas. Towards theendofthefourth century a
famine broke outinSouth Bihar. This resulted inanimportant sectunder the
leadership ofBadrabahu leaving theplace tomigrate toMysore. Those
whoremained behind held a council to breathe life into the knowledge of
Jain texts. Asaresult, acompilation ofthetwelve angas wascomplete.
Thus there were 12 angas, 12 upangas, 10 painnas, 7 chayya suttas, 4
mulla suttas, 1 nandi sutta and 1 anogadara. All these came toberegarded
astheimportant tenets ofJainreligion.
Swetambars accepted the Sutras as a valid version of Lord
Mahavira's teachings. But Digambars didnotaccept them asauthentic.
Digambars follow twomain texts called Shatkhand Agam andKasay Pahud
and four Anuyogs, which consist of about twenty texts put in writing by
Acharyas (teachers) from about 100 to800AD.
In the south the Jains preached in vernaculars. A Jain monk
Tiruvallavar wrote a treaties in tamil called Tirukkaral. Tiruttakata Devar, amunotes.in
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125Jainpoet, named Jivika chintamani, composed another great epic.Similarly,
Jains also contributed toKannada andTelugu literature andenriched the
languages of south India.
7.8IMPORTANCE OFSYMBOLS INJAINISM
The Jain symbol consists of a digit of the Moon, three dots, the
Swastika or Om, the palm of a hand with the wheel (Chakra) inset, andan
outline figurewhich includes all symbols.
The Swastika signifies the cycles of births and deaths due to
karma, in any of the four forms; heaven, human, tiryanch (animals, birds,
andplants), andhelloftheworldly (non-liberated) souls. Ittellsthatone
should followthe right path andbefreefrom suffering.
The meaning of the Palm of the hand is assurance namely `do not
be afraid', It indicates persons suffering due to karmic bondage need not
be saddened andthere areways to come out of it.
The Wheel of Dharma (Chakra) symbolizes the religion advocated bythe 24
Tirthankaras.
Theoutline figure stands fortheJainexplanation oftheshape ofthe
universe, similar to a person standing with feet apart and arms resting on
both hips.
By and large symbol signifies that the living beings of the three
worlds suffer from theunhappiness ofTrans migratory life. They can
follow the path of religion shown by the Tirthankaras. Thus they can bring
about goodness forthemselves andobtain perfection.
7.9SPREAD OFJAINISM
Jainism took roots inMagadha andspread totheGangetic plains,
Malwa, Andhra, Gujarat, Tamil territories as a result of the royal
patronage. The Mauryas, theSatavahanas, theShakas, theChalukyas, the
Kadambas, theGujars, were some oftheimportant dynasties thatextended
their generous patronage to Jainism. Abhaykumar, son of king Bimbisara
ofMaurya dynasty was thefollower ofMahavira. King Kharavela of
Kalinga patronized Jainism. Bhadrabahu, one of the heads ofJainchurch
migrated toMysore andwasresponsible fortheestablishment ofJainism
there. Nevertheless itmust beadmitted thatJainism didnotattract themasses
asitshould have andcenters were established at various places for its
spread.munotes.in
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126Check Your Progress:
1.Give asaccount ofthelifeandteachings ofVardhamana Mahavira.
7.10LIFE STORY OFBUDDHA
On the full moon day of May, in the year 623 B.C., a noble prince
destined to be the greatest religious teacher of the world and thefounder of
Buddhism was born intheLumbini Park atKapilavasthu, ontheIndian
borders ofpresent Nepal. His father was King Suddhodatia of the
aristocratic Sakya clan and his mother was Queen Maha Maya. His original
name was Siddarth (meaning one who has accomplished). The beloved
queen died seven days after hisbirth. Heryounger sister, Maha Prajapati
Gotami, who wasmarried to the King, adopted the child and therefore he
was called Gautama.
There is an interesting legend about Gautama turning from a happy
golucky prince toasage andauniversal teacher. Anastrologer seems to
have foretold his father, the king, that young Gautama would either grow
up to be a powerful king, or would give upthethrone andluxury and
renounce theworld thedayhehappened toface anyofthesorrows oflife.
Keen asKing Shudhodhana was to see Gautama to be a successful ruler,
he built an exclusive palace for his dear son from where he could set his
eyes onnone oftheworld's miseries. Even when Gautama went outfor
stroll orride, allunpleasant things werekept faraway soastostop
Gautama's mind from being troubled. He was married at the age of sixteen
to Yasodhara. Some days after marriage a son was born tothem who was
named Rahul.
7.11THE PROPHECY OFBUDDHA
But the prophesy of Gautama becoming a unive rsal teacher was
predestined. Hewasalways inquisitive toknow what laybeyond the tall
fence of his palace. At the age of 29, Gautama managed to slip out
unnoticed from the palace. Riding through the streets ofthecityhesawfor
thefirsttime inhislife,alame person, asickperson, adead body and an
ascetic.
The impact of the dark side of life made him restless. He set
thinking forhours upon thecause ofsufferings andsorrow. Consequently,
Gautama began overlooking thebusiness oftheState, whichhisfather had
assigned to him.munotes.in
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127Married life also could not keep him bound to worldly affairs. He
became aware ofthehollowness ofallworldly pleasures. Gautama decided to
forsake allluxuries and family lifeand hesneaked outof his palace
accompan ied by his servant Chandaka. After moving outofthecity,
Gautama cutoffhishair, removed hisroyal ornaments andjewels, hisrich
garments andsandals andgave them toChandaka andasked himtoreturn
tothepalace with thenews ofhis(Gautama's) departure.
7.12GAUTAMA BECOMES THE BUDDHA
Thus Gautama set out on his search for the cause of sufferings
(Klesha). In ancient India, great importance was attached to rites,
ceremonies, penances and sacrifices. It was popularly believed that no
Deliverance could be gained unless one leads a life of strict asceticism.
Accordingly, forsixlong years theascetic Gautama made asuper -human
struggle topractice allforms oftheseverest austerity. He took to fasting.
But fasting and logic practices bore no fruit and his knowledge of truth
remained as distant as before. His delicate body was reduced to almost a
skeleton. The more he tormented his body the farther his goal receded from
him. Realizing that this was nottheway toarrive atthetruth, hegave up
theauste rities. Horrified at their Master's escapist policy, the five disciples
who had accompanied him left him. But unafraid, Gautama continued his
huntforthecause of sufferings.
Realizing that the path of asceticism was not leading him to his
goal, he decid ed to quietly sit under a fig tree (Mahabodhi tree) at Gaya in
Bihar. Hedecided notgetupunless hefound answers tohisquestions. His
enlightenment issaid tohave come suddenly. While meditating he
suddenly saw the light. He discovered the true realit yof all happenings
and it was all exceedingly simple for him -viz. all pain is caused -by
desire, and therefore peace comes when one ceases to crave for anything.
Freedom from all desires was said to release a person from the cycle of re -
birth and lead to his salvation (Nirvana). Thus he came to be known as the
Buddha, which means theEnlightened one.
Having seen thelight, Gautama started preaching topeople andfor
this he travelled from place to place. The Buddha traveled to Saranath, in
Northern Ind ia where he began to offer his teachings based on his
experience, to a small group at a place called Deer park. Heissaidtohave
delivered hisfirst sermon (Isipatana) setting inmotion, thewheel oflaw
(Dharma -chakra orDhammachakra inPali).
Later, h e spent the remaining 45 years of his life in preaching his
new doctrine mainly in Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh. He travelled bare-foot,
clean -headed, with nothing more onhisselfthan hissaffron robe, walking
stick and begging bowl. As his teachings impressed people his followers
grew. Among his early converts were Sariputta, Mogallana andAnanda. He
even received thepatronage ofrichtraders likeAnathapindika (i.e.feeder of
poor) andpowerful kings oftheagelikeAjatashatru ofMagadha. Hedied at
theageof80intheyear483BC.His death is known asMahaparinirvana.munotes.in
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128
Sarnath This place isalso known asIsipatana or"Deer Park"
Situated 5Kms north ofVaranasi, here theBuddha issaid to
have preached hisfirst sermon.
7.13PHILOSOPHY OFBUDDHISM
ThisPhilosophy ofBuddhism isbased onthree guiding principles.
They are
TheBuddha
TheDhamma
TheSangha
Buddha was silent about the existence or non -existence of God. He
did-not deny the existence of God. A disciple once asked Buddha whether
God exists. He refused to reply. When pressed, he said that if you are
suffering, from a stomach ache would you concentrate on relieving the
pain or studying the prescription of the physician. "Itisnotmybusiness or
yours tofind outwhether there isGod. Our business is to remove the
sufferings of the world". Buddhism provided Dhamma orthe"Impersonal
law" inplace of God.
Dhamma is the teachings of Buddha Dharma meaning or the
teachings oftheawakened one.These teachings canbestbefollowed through
an organization which Buddha himself devised namely the Sangha orthe
monastery.
Buddhism didnotbelieve intherealexistence oftheworld either. Themunotes.in
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129ignorant people feel that it exists. For example waves are not different
from the sea yet a common man differentiates them. Just the same way
there are no individuals and are not different from the world. For the
unenlightened, different individuals appear to exist. It isonly the
spiritually advanced ones who cangrasp the truth.
Similarly nirvana cannot bedescribed inlimited words. Nirvana'
literally means "blowing out" or "extinction". According to Buddhism, this
is the ultimate goal of life and can be described in various words. It is a
cessation of all sorrows, which can be achieved by removing desir eb y
following the Eight Fold Path. It is only when a man lives agood life,does
good, thinks good, without expecting anyreward he will free himself from
the bondage of self and his soul will escape into a state of nirvana. A.L.
Basham writes, ' In nirva na all idea of an individual personality or ego
ceases to exist, and there is nothing tobe reborn.
7.14TEACHINGS OFBUDDHA
7.14 a)Four Noble Truths:
The primary teachings ofBuddha may besummed upinwhat
theBuddhists callthe'Four Noble Truths' or‘Char AryaSattya’ -
1) There issuffering andmisery inlife.
2) Thecause ofthissuffering andmisery isdesire.
3) Suffering andmisery canberemoved byremoving desire.
4) Desire canberemoved byfollowing theEight Fold Path.
7.14. b)Eight Fold Parth :
1.Right viewisthetrueunderstanding ofthefournoble truths.
2.Right aspiration isthetrue desire tofree oneself from attachment,
ignorance, andhatefulness.
These twoarereferred toasprajna, orwisdom.
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1303.Right speech involves refraining from lying, gossiping, o r hurtful talk.
4.Right action involves abstaining from hurtful behaviors, such as
killing, stealing, and careless sex.
5.Right livelihood means making your living insuch away astoavoid
dishonesty andhurting others, including animals.
Theabove three pathsarereferred to assheela, ormorality.
6.Right effort Bad qualities should be abandoned and prevented from
arising. Good qualities should becarried outandraised.
7.Right mindfulness is the focusing one's body, mind, thoughts, and
awareness in such a way as to overcome passion, hatred, and
ignorance.
8.Right concentration ismeditating insuch away astoprogressively
realize a true understanding of imperfection and impermanence.
Thelastthree areknown asSamadhi, ormeditation.
Split into Two Sects -Mahayana (Greater Vehicle) andHinayana
(Lesser Vehicle)
During the time of Kanishka, the religion had vertically split up
into two schools. They were the Mahayana (Greater Vehicle) school orthe
northern school ofBuddhism andtheHinayana (Lesser Vehicle )school stuck
tothe original character of Buddhism.
Hinayana wassimple andregarded thesalvation ofanindividual
as its goal and prescribed good deeds as the only way to salvation.
Mahayana advocated elaborate rituals and ceremonies and relied more on
the devotion and worship of Buddha. Nagarjuna, contemporary ofKanishka
wasagreat exponent oftheMahayana.
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1317.15BUDDHIST TEXTS
Buddhist Scriptures canbedivided intoPaliandSanskrit Literature
PaliLiterature:
Theearly Buddhist canon istradit ionally referred toasthe"Three
Baskets" (tripitaka; Pall: lipitaka). The Hinayana sect of Buddhism
dominated thePali literature.
Tri Pitaka: It is supposed to be the earliest recorded Buddhist
literature, which was written in the1st Century B.C.
TheTRI-PITAKA orThree Baskets of law iscomposed of3books:
1.Vinaya Pitaka: "Rules ofConduct": This isabook ofdiscipline and
mainly deals with rules of the order.
2.Sutta Pitaka: It is a collection of sermons and discourses of Gautama
Buddha and the inci dents in his life. It is the most important Pitaka.
The Sutra (Pali : Sutta) part of the Pali canon is divided into five
"groupings" (nikaya): (1) the long (digha) discourses. (2) the medium
length (majjhima) discourses; (3) the grouped (samyutta) discour ses, (4) the
enumerated (anguttara) discourses, which arearranged according tothe
enumerations oftheir topics; and(5) the minor (khuddaka) discourses. It
includes stories of the Buddha's former births (Jataka), which report how
he gradually perfected thehigh qualities of a Buddha.
3.Abhidhamma: This third basket includes Meta physical principles and
is known as Buddhist meta physicals. It is an analytical and logical
explanation ofthefirsttwopitakas. Itcontains analysis andexposition of
Buddhist doctrine. TheAbhidharma (Pali: abhidhamma) section includes
seven essays, which organize the doctrines of particular classes of
Buddha's discourses. Everything in the world —people, animals, plants,
inanimate objects —consists ofimpermanent groupings ofdharmas. Thus
nothing possesses anunderlying souloressence. The collections of dharmas
are changing in every moment, and so all of reality is viewed as a vast
interconnected network of change andinterlinking causes andconditions.
Sanskrit Literature :
TheMahayana preferred Sanskrit literature. Much oftheoriginal
Sanskrit literature has been lost. Some was translated into other languages
likeChinese andarenow being retranslated intoSanskrit.
1.Maha vastu: Mahavastu is the most famous work in Sanskri twhich
has been restored from its Chinese translation. It consists ofvoluminous
collection of legendary stories.
2. Lalitavistara : Lalitavistara is one of the holiest of the Sanskritmunotes.in
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132literature. It belongs to the first century. It contains the miracles, which the
superstitious people have ascribed toBuddha.
7.16SPREAD OFBUDDHISM
During the third century B.C. the spread of Buddhism was
promoted byAshoka (270-232). Hebegan topreach Buddha's teachings
through theedicts inscribed onstone pillars placed throughout his
kingdom.
Hisadvocacy ofBuddhism was one oftheprimary reasons for
thespread ofthetradition into Southeast Asia. Hesent missionaries all
over the Indian sub -continent, and to Sri Lanka, Burma, and other
neighboring areas. HissonMahindra, who traveled to Sri Lanka along with
four other monks, led one of the most successful ofthemissions he
sponsored.
Although the growth of Buddhism began to gradually decline it
sawtheflowering again during Harsha's time around the7thcentury
A.D.Heextended many favours tothereligion. During hisreign thefifth
religious council was held at Prayaga (Allahabad).
Themonks who controlled themonastic universities liketheoneat
Nalanda kept its tradition alive. These universities were highly respected
as seats of learning and attracted students from abroad. FaHien, Huien
Tsiang andI-Tsing who came from China were said tohave studied at
Nalanda and other centres of Buddhist learning. But from the 5th century
onwards, Buddhism declined as the religion of themasses.
China was the first country in the region to record contact with
Buddhism. Theearliest Buddhists inChina were probably from Central Asia,
and forcenturies Buddhism was widely perceived asareligion of
foreigners. In later cent uries, Chinese Buddhism developed its own
identity, andfrom China Buddhism waspassed ontoKorea andJapan.
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1337.17CAUSES FOR THE DECLINE INTHE LAND OF
ITS OWN BIRTH
There arevarious causes astowhy Buddhism declined inIndia
a)Buddhist sanghas became centersofcorruption. Buddhist monks and
nuns got involved in petty quarrels and obviously did not inspire the
confidence ofthepeople.
b)Under the Guptas, Hinduism saw its revival. Moreover Mahayana
brought Buddhism nearer toHinduism andthisresulted inBuddhism
getting absorbed in Hinduism.
c)Muslim invasions gave severe blow to Buddhism. Decline of
intellectual activity andthedevelopment oftantrik ormagic form of
Buddhism also was responsible foritsdecline.
Check Your Progress:
1.Give abrief Sketchof Gautama Buddha's lifeandteachings.
7.18SUMMARY
Thus, People from all walks of life, rich and poor, kings and
commoners, men and women, princes and priests, touchable and
untouchable embraced it. Jainism was opposed to caste system. Themost
significant contribution ofJainism inthesocial field wastheestablishment
of social equality among the four classes namely Brahman, Kshatriya,
Vaishya, and Shudra. Another important thing to be noted is that women
were attracted to Jainism. Mah avira proclaimed that in the matters of
spiritual progress, both men and women are on an equal footing. Therefore
many women followed Mahavira's path and renounced the world in search
of ultimate truth andhappiness.
Inthisdayandage,there areabout sixtoeight million Jains thatlive
and host exclusively in India. About 100,000 Jains live in North America
and other countries.munotes.in
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134Inthemid-20th Century, Dr.B.R.Ambedkar, who wasoneofthe
architects of India's Constitution, gave Buddhism a fresh life by embracing
it. A large number of people who were denied equal rights intheHindu
caste hierarchy also embraced Buddhism. Today an overwhelming
proportion of Buddhists in India are these recent converts who term
themselves asNava -Baudha orNeo-Buddhists. A comparatively recent
event of significance was the 6th religious council held at Rangoon in 1954
which came 1300 years after the 5th council held at, Prayaga in 643 C.E.
in the reign of Harsha Vardhana. The Rangoon council was also the first
one to be held outside India.
Buddhism isbecoming increasingly popular inWestern countries, and
a number of prominent Buddhist teachers have established successful
centers in Europe and North America .
Thus inBuddhism, India gave birth toamajor worldwide religion.
Buddhism was theworld's first missionary religion andwon itssuccess
through missionary activity. Theancient Buddhist monks who carried the
Master's message ofpeace, love anduniversa lbrotherhood were pioneers in
such amission inHuman history.
And whatever its defects, it has unquestionably done much to
benefit the human race by introducing and bringing about a higher
standard ofconduct inlife.Oneisinclined tobow before theBuddha, notin
honor toadeity butingratitude toafiner craftsman intheartofliving.
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1357.19QUESTIONS
1.Trace thedevelopment ofJainism. Bring outthecontribution ofJainism
to Indian culture.
2.Narrate the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha. Show the cause of
thedecline ofBuddhism inthecountry ofitsbirth.
3.Short Notes:
a)Teachings ofGautama Buddha.
b)Causes forthedecline ofBuddhism.
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