CONTENT 1. Ancient History a. Patterns of Post Harappan Cultures b. Literary Sources c. Political and Geographical Significance d. Evolution of the Market Economy: the city and the guild e. Theories on the rise of the state in the Vedic texts and Buddhist texts f. The Caste Structure g. The Caste Society h. Difference similarities between the two Urbanizations PATTERNS OF POST HARAPPAN CULTURES 1. There are two types of evidence for the study of this period (a) Archeological (b) Literary (c) The Archeological consists of a number of cultural sites. The earliest are pre-harappan sites of Sothi culture, the Saraswati Culture and the Chalcolithic village sites of Baluchistan and Sind. (d) The Harappan Culture extends from Southern Punjab and Sindh with sites at Sotka Koh, Mehi, Bala Kot, to the delta of River Narmada along the coastal region with sites at Bhagatrav, Rangpur, 10x10learning.com Page 1
Lothal. It also extends eastwards to the Upper Ganga Yamuna doab with sites at Rupar, and Alamgirpur. (e) The post-harappan Cultures exist both in the valleys of River Indus and River Ganga (i) Gandhara Grave Culture (ii) Banas Culture in Southern Rajasthan (iii) The Copper Hoard Culture of the Ganga Doab extending south eastwards along the River Ganga 2. (i) In northern Punjab the Gandhara Grave Culture sites most important of which is at Burzahom. They used red ware and grey ware, and show evidence of use of copper and later of iron. They had close contacts with Iran and Central Asia. 3. (ii) Banas Culture in Southern Rajasthan with important sites at Ahar and Gilund. They used white painted black and red pottery and provide evidence of internalization of Harappan forms. They were possibly a bridge between the Harappan and the post-harappan cultures. 4. (iii) The Copper Hoard Culture of the Ganga-Yamuna Doab and Southern Bihar and Bengal. (a) This culture is distinguished by Ochre coloured pottery and has important sites at Noh, Atranjikera, Ambarheri, Hastinapur, Achicchatra, Alamgirpur. (b) The Painted Grey Ware culture follows it from 1100 to 400 BC. This was an agrarian culture familiar with Iron technology and the use of horse. Important sites are Noh, Mathura, Baivat, Achicchatra, Alamgirpur, Hastinapur, Indraprastha, 10x10learning.com Page 2
Panipat, Sonepat, and Kausambi. (iii) This was followed by the Black Polished Ware Culture (500 BC to 200 BC) associated with the rise of towns in the Ganga- Yamuna doab. Thus, the Archeological evidence shows a large variety of post Harappan cultures, none of which can be identified specifically with the Aryans. 5. LITERARY SOURCES: The literary sources comprise of (a) the corpus of Vedic Literature. In comparing these with the nature of Archeological evidence available, it is important to determine the nature of society concerned. In the case of Rg Ved the geographical focus is on the Sapta Sindhu roughly from the River Kabul to the River Saraswati. The society is essentially pre-urban with a copper and possibly iron technology. It involves a range of society from nomadic pastoralism dependent on cattle to an agrarian form with more settled communities. Barley or yava is the staple food, and there is a strong sense of tribal identity, patriarchal family unit. Important deities are Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Soam and Agni. There is a distinct feeling of cultural exclusiveness and a distance from the Dasyus and the Panis. Indicates close linguistic connections with Iran. 6. (b) The Later Vedic literature depicts a recognizable change in material culture. The geographical focus mainly includes the Punjab region and the middle Ganga 10x10learning.com Page 3
Yamuna doab region. There is marginal familiarity with the Indus area, western and eastern India, and the Vindhyachal ranges in Central India. Society is essentially agrarian culminating in the growth of urban centres. There is considerable acquaintance with iron technology. Also there is a frequent mention of rice Vrihi not mentioned in Rg Ved. Tribal identity continues and extends to territorial identity. New deities are incorporated, and Sacrifice becomes the central feature indicating the growth of mathematical knowledge and the role of the Brahaman priests. The caste system that is mentioned only once in the Rg Ved is now a recognized feature of the society. There is also evidence of a much greater assimilation of local cultures that go on to make the various strata of the varna or caste system. There is no regular legal system and cattle-stealing is a common activity. Sanskrit language is the only common feature of continuity between the Early Vedic period and the Later Vedic Period. Otherwise, the society, the economic structure and daily life culture has changed beyond recognition. 7. POLITICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The expansion of the agrarian economy together with the iron technology made possible the growth of towns in the Ganga valley. The process of urbanization involves a special relationship between the town and its surrounding village units that supply it with the surplus foodgrain 10x10learning.com Page 4
needed for activities other than agriculture. How is this food surplus extracted from the villages is the first question. It can be an economic exchange or a tax levied by a political authority or a tribute paid to a military conqueror. The transporting the food surplus to the various towns through a safe and secure system is also needed involved. The site at which towns develop also explains the rationale of economic exchange. Several organizations are needed in the town itself. Trade guilds and the select items that can be traded involve a sophisticated trading network. All these factors need to exist before a central authority can emerge. These factors, therefore, evolved to provide a base for the emergence of the Mauryan Empire. 8. The two new social classes that emerged due to rise of towns were the artisans and the merchants. There also came about spontaneous new ideologies aiming to provide a theoretical basis for the adjustment of the new activities. Vedic literature had no place for commercial activities. Jainism and Buddhism took up the cause of the merchants in a big way. Gautam Buddha specifically advised his followers to save and invest. The two new religions also contrasted with Vedic religion in the near absence of rituals and sacrifices that involved heavy expenditure. For 600 years the geographical reach of the post-harappan 10x10learning.com Page 5
trading network remained confined to the Ganga Yamuna doab from Hastinapur, Bairat and Noh to Kosambi. 9. The post Harappan expansion resulting in the urbanization of the Ganga valley was almost a repetition of the similar process in the Indus valley. The technology however was new and based on iron, widespread domestication of the horse, extensive plough agriculture and a more sophisticated market economy. The technological changes coincided with various other developments. (a) Tribal identity was replaced by territorial identity as Janapada emerged named after the major Harappan cultures and tribes Gandhara, Puru, Panchala, Matsya, Kasi, Kosala, Magadha, Chedi. Lineage, speech and customary law of tribal society became central to political control and land ownership. In the Janapada Kshatriya are the land owning tribes. Cultivated land was initially owned in common by members of the kshatriay lineage. Therefore, lineage rights were carefully recorded as it included land ownership rights. However, the actual tilling of the soil was done by dasa or bhritakas (hired servants) There was a noticeable increase in the categories of agrarian wage labourers, hired labourers and the dasa or slaves. The dasa mainly performed domestic chores. One text mentions the price of a slave at 100 pieces while a pair of oxen was 24 pieces on money. 10x10learning.com Page 6
10. The kshtriyas were politically organized in many of the janapada. Separate identity of the Doab and Middle Ganga Valley is evident at every point. Kinship ties are further emphasized by the use of the term jati meaning assigned by birth. The use of the term jati increases as the term jana decreases. In early Buddhist literature jati meant a caste reference to a kinship group ranked in the list of specialized occupations or service relationships. This indicates an increasing stratification of the society. The bipolarity of the pure and the pollutant remained an important characteristic. Eventually purity came to be more closely associated with the performance of rituals than with social status. Jati gradually became a gauge of a more precise assessment of the socio-economic status of a group. 11. In the post- Harappan expansion the major agrarian structure change was the emergence of large estates owned by individual kshatriya families. Transfer of land was with in the same social group that had earlier owned it jointly. The criterion wealth for the Early Vedic period was cattle. Now wealth came to be associated more with ownership of land and money and less with cattle. The resulting intensification of agriculture provided the economic base for the growth of towns in the Ganga doab. The towns 10x10learning.com Page 7
became the commercial centres and concentrated wealth in the form of surplus money, gold and precious stones. The first towns to emerge as capitals of the janapad were Kausambi, Kasi, Ayodhya, Bairat, Ujjain, Rajgriha. They were the habitat of shreshtin, the setthi-gahapati and the gahapati 12. In sum, the Archeological evidence does not suggest any large scale invasion or migration from elsewhere. Those who had peopled the Harappan cities were the very people who expanded and moved gradually towards the Ganga doab. The post-harappan cultures that spread through the janapad in to the north and central India continued to evolve for 600 years between the geographical limit along the River Ganga doab and set the stage for the emergence of the first centralized power in the form of the Mauryan Empire. 13. EVOLUTION OF THE MARKET ECONOMY The evolution of market and trade as effected by three innovations (a) the use of Brahmi script resulting in the issuing of promissory notes, letters of credit and pledges (b) introduction of money of punch marcked coins perhaps issued by the guilds. This resulted in the emergence of a new profession of trading in money. This was the appearance of the banker deriving his wealth from usury. The profession was disapproved by Brahaman but approved by Buddhists.(c) the rapid rise of Jainism that 10x10learning.com Page 8
prohibited agriculture and placed restrictions on the ownership of land. As such majority of the Jain were involved in the trading profession only. 14. The CITY: The city s social stratification had the Shreshthin or the merchant banker as the most powerful class. The institutional base for the shreshthin was the shreni or the guild. This explains why most of the religious sects competed for patronage of the Shreshthin. Yet in the Brahamanic literature the trader is not included among the superior social groups and his varna ranking is in the vaishya varna which is the third out of the four varna. For the brahaman power was connected with ownership of land. Though not forbidden to the Shreshthin, land was not the primary base of his wealth. This clearly distinguished the rural elite (Kshtriya) of the Later Vedic Period from the urban elite (shreshthin) that evolved with the emergence of the towns. The recognition of sreni dharma as legitimate under the law by the 1 st century BC is also indicative of the power of their status. Ultimately it took the jati status. 15. GUILDS emerged as an essential institution in the towns. They were the centre of a profession. Guilds employed the (i) karamakars (artisans) (ii) antevasikas (apprentices) (iii) dasabhritakas ( slaves and hired labourers). All the three together with the cultivator are included in the ranking of the Shudra. The fourth varna had a wide range of 10x10learning.com Page 9
stratification from the clean to the polluting depending on the work performed by each strata. The lowest are the Chandala and Doms who maintain the cremation grounds. Even the Buddhists despise the Chandala jati. Originally they belonged to the primitive tribes such a Nishad and Bhil whose speech was alien and whose manners were strange. They were never fully integrated in to the village settlement. 16. THEORIES ON THE RISE OF THE STATE IN THE VEDA AND THE BUDDHIST TEXTS (a) The Vedic theory envisages an anarchic society with matsyanyaya. (b) Buddhists emphasis perfection in society in the prestate period. Both the theories indicate an increasing sense of alienation when it became necessary to enforce harmony through the organization of a superior power or the State. They also reflect the acceptance of authority based on power and not necessarily kinship alone. 17. By the 5 th century BC competition for control of territory had begun between the larger Janapadas of Kasi, Kosala and Magadha. Magadha finally emerged as the most powerful perhaps because it controlled the iron ore deposits in the Chota Nagpur plateau region. Janapada combining to become territorial states is another justification for the emergence of government as the necessity for taxation and its collection had emerged. 10x10learning.com Page 10
18. Economic re-distribution was at two levels (a) at the state level (b) the merchant banker level.(a) At the state level the revenue collected through taxes, fines, and tributes was re-distributed through salaries, awards, grants, and public works. This re-distribution was not equal as prestige economy consumed a larger share of the revenue. (b) at the sreni level substantial sums were retained for investment in future. The Guilds show a more diffused political authority as there is a total absence of citadels in these towns. Guild finance liberated the gahapati from overriding political control by the Kshatriyas. 19. THE CASTE STRUCTURE The polluting dichotomy was well established during the Later Vedic period demarcated the Brahaman from the Shudra. The Arya dasa dichotomy based on ethnic, linguistic and cultural differences in the Rg Ved is replaced by an Arya Sudra dichotomy in which the ethnic differences are minimal and the main criteria are (a) the use of Sanskrit (b) Observance of the varna rules. The prolific increase in the new jati during the period indicates the rise of new professions as well as incorporation of new tribes and guilds in to the caste society. The emergent complexity reflected in the codification of varna and jati laws in the Brahamanic dharmashastra. The purpose of these jati laws is to differentiate between the various social groups identified 10x10learning.com Page 11
with jana, jati and varna. Such a demarcation leads to the resolution of social tensions. 20. The implication in the Dharmashastra is the Brahaman s claim to be the creator, recorder, and the arbitrator of such laws. Codification aimed not at uniformity but at the recognition of the diversity. Buddhist social code stressed broad ethnic principles of general application to a variety of social groups. 21. The integration of jati was easier at the theoretical level. The Dharmashastra codification does not mean a static society. They are a theory of caste, and not a total description of reality. In practice there was the tendency to separate the ritual status (varna) from the actual status (jati). The social role was not entirely dependent on either of the two. However, the flexibility between the two kept the traditional views placated and the new entrants appeased. Yet the demarcation is not a simplistic one. These codes were socio-legal documents setting out the theory of social and legal organization. In Vedic literature Brahaman not only controls religious rituals but is also associated with political power. All Brahaman did not have equal economic or social status. For example the Kuru- Panchala Brahamans refer to those from Magadha as the so called brahamans. Similarly the Maga Brahman had a very low status till they became priests to some kings in 10x10learning.com Page 12
north India. Also, the Abhira Brahman are associated with abhira described as mleccha people and Boya Brahman with Boya listed as Shudra tribe. 22. Buddhists jataka texts mention poor brahmans, and those cultivating their own land, and also those following the carpentry and other professions. They are also depicted as competing with the Buddhist monks for patronage of the setthi- gahapati. Brahamans came in to their own in the post Gupta period when with the decline of Buddhism they became recipients of increasing grants of land for building of temple-towns. This provided them with a self sufficient economic base through the earnings from the temple and they became indispensable in the legitimization of political power. 23. The fact that the available fertile land had already been brought under cultivation is indicated by Kautilya s suggestion that the systemic cultivation of wasteland could be one method of expanding revenue. Later in the post- Gupta period the method of land grants was also adopted with the same objective. In the post Gupta period new settlements created through grant of unused lands became the nuclei of Sanskrit tradition as these grants were generally made for construction of temple towns. These lands were granted as agrahara and brahmadeya and 10x10learning.com Page 13
were in perpetuity donated on copper plates duly stamped with the royal seals. 24. The brahmanic tradition that was taken to the Deccan and the South through these land grants was also continuously modified by local cultures in areas it was so expanded, but the degree of modification depended upon the circumstances under which the new settlement grew. For social history the implication of this was the basic process of the transition from a non-caste group under the non- Sanskrit tradition to a recognized caste or jati generally based on their skills and occupations. 25. THE CASTE SOCIETY The division of society in to four varna or groups has a reference in the Purusasukta hymn. The logic implicit in this particular myth suggests rearrangement of society into a carefully worked out pattern. The word varna is used in the Rg Ved only to differentiate between two groups, the arya and the dasyu. The Later Vedic literature refers to chatvaro varnah and reflects the introduction as the caste system. The expansion of the four categories would become necessary as the society grows more complex and endogamous groups were incorporated. They needed to be arranged in to a social pattern. The jati structure may well reflect the pre-aryan aspect of the caste structure. Since religion is to be practices by the people in order to be 10x10learning.com Page 14
effective, the inter relation between religious cults and movements with social groups is very close. 26. The essentials of a caste society are:- (a) marriage and lineage functioning through exogamous and endogamous kinship relations of the jati (b) integration of division of labour in to a hierarchical system which eventually takes the form of service relationships (c) the idea of purity and pollution in ritual practices (d) association of castes with particular geographical locations. 27. All these factors could have been present in the Harappan culture where the social stratification can at least be surmised or discerned. Ascribing caste status did not depend merely on the occupation of a group. In some cases an entire tribe is ascribed a particular caste. Those speaking an unfamiliar language are particularly given a low rank and described as mleccha. In the case of Chandala there is a reference to a Chandala- bhasha. Some of these tribes remained consistently of low status over many centuries. Some like the Kirata and the Puhinda acquired political power and thereby were given higher status. The religious aspects of the Later Vedic literature includes a large number of non-aryan practices not 10x10learning.com Page 15
mentioned in the Early Vedic literature, both at the level of rituals and of the deities. 28. In sum, the surplus produce and the specialization of crafts resulted in the establishment of trade links and improvements in communication between villages and emerging towns. The surplus was generated by the iron using village settlements whose prosperity had increased due to easier access to iron ore regions and more land for cultivation. These produces large surplus of food grain and those who controlled this surplus grew in importance and wealth. This became a stable base for growth of towns, where new professions and Guilds developed to facilitate trade. Introduction of the brahmi script and use of punch marked coinage facilitated the growth of trade along the settlements on the banks of River Ganga. This second urbanization of the post Harappan period in the Ganga doab can be compared to the first one in Harappan. The Harappan culture was materially richer than the post- Harappan culture that emerged. In the first there is a wide divide between the size of one site measuring 450 acres and the rest measuring only 30 acres each. This was an imbalance indicating concentration of all growth in one centre only. In the post-harappan cultural spread the growth is more even and town sites are dispersed as capitals of the various Janapada namely Kausambi, 10x10learning.com Page 16
Ayodhya, Kasi, Rajgriha, Bairat, Hastinapur, Avanti, Mathura. 29. The pattern of settlement in Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Kalibangan suggests an elite in residence on the citadel mound and a large separate residential area to the east of the citadel for lesser status groups. The single room or double room quarters indicate a third level of social stratification. The question, who was in authority and how was it maintained? remains unanswered. Yet it can be conjectured that a small group preserving itself through strict endogamous marriage and stressing ritual purity, organizing its authority through a hierarchy of service relationships could have helf power. The acceptance of the Great Bath at Mohenjodaro as being indicative of an ablution ritual perhaps supports this conjecture. Chalcolithic sites invariably indicates a division of labour which gets intensified with increase in trading activity. Thus the pre-requisites of a caste structure were available in the Harappan culture as well. 30. Differences and similarities between the two Urbanizations: (a) Different geographical location and a wider geographical reach in the second urbanization (b) An agro urban society 10x10learning.com Page 17
(c) Technology in Harappan culture is essentially based on chalcolithic system with absence of iron. In the second the technology is based on use of iron. A socket iron axe replaces the earlier hafted copper axe. Iron tipped plough and iron hoe are other improvements in agricultural equipment. (d) Plough and cultivation was known to the Harappan cultures as a ploughed furrowed field has been excavated at Kalibangan belonging to the pre- Harappan period. But the iron tipped wooden plough needed to cultivate the thicker loamy soil of the Ganga doab was not available earlier. Iron hoe made a difference in the cultivation of rice that was only in middle Ganga valley. (e) Widespread domestication of the horse facilitates speedier transportation and a more sophisticated market economy develops due to trade. (f) Sanskrit language is the only common link between the Early Vedic Period and the Later Vedic period. Otherwise the former mentions only barley or yava, while the latter includes vrihi or rice. The words Vrihi for rice and lavigala for plough are both of 10x10learning.com Page 18
Munda origin. Both appear only in the Later Vedic texts. 10x10learning.com Page 19