SOME IMPORTANT TERMS

1. Adimai: slaves
2. Arthashastra: a great ancient work dealing with art of governance, and economics composed
by Kautilya/(Chankya), the chief minister during the reign of Chandragupta Maurya
3. Agrahara: a land granted to a brahmana, generally exempted from land revenue and other
dues to the king. The brahmana was often given the right to collect these dues from the local
people for their land.
4. Dakshinapatha: route to the South
5. Epigraphy: the study of inscriptions
6. Erythraean: the Greek name for Red Sea
7. Gana-sanghas: a type of government where leaders were elected during ancient period
8. Gahapati: the owner, master or head of a household
9. Harsha-charita: a biography of Harshavardhana (the ruler of Kanauj in North India) composed
by a court poet Banabhatta around 7th century C.E.
10. Janapada: the land where a jana (a people, clan or tribe) sets its foot or settles. It is
generally used in both Prakrit and Sanskrit.
11. Kharosthi: a type of script written from right to left
12. Masattuvan: a Tamil word used for successful merchants
13. Manusmriti: one of the best known legal texts of early India written in Sanskrit and compiled
around 2nd century C.E.
14. Murals: wall paintings at Ajanta
15. Numismatics: a study of coins, including visual elements such as scripts and images,
metallurgical analysis and the contexts in which they have been found
16. Oligarchy: a form of government, where power is exercised by a group of men
17. Pataliputra: the capital of the Magadha kingdom, presently known as Patna, the capital of
the state of Bihar
18. Pali: a form of Prakrit, language used in early Buddhist works
19. Pativedaka: during the Mauryan age, a reporter was designated as Pativedaka.
20. Palaeography: style of writing
21. Periplus: a Greek word meaning 'sailing around'
22. Punch Marked Coins: a type of ancient coins, where designs were punched or stamped on
the metal surface
23. Raja-graha: a Prakrit word literally meaning the house of the king
24. Sangam Texts: early Tamil literature
25. Tamilakam: ancient Tamil country, which included parts of present day Andhra Pradesh and
Kerala, in addition to Tamil Nadu
26. Ujjayini: modern day Ujjain, a city of Madhya Pradesh
27. Votive Inscriptions: the inscriptions on rocks but generally on copper plates. These record
gifts made to religious institutions.
28. Paleography: the art of analysing and reading handwriting

II. NCERT TEXTBOOK EXERCISES (Pages 51-52)

Answer in 100-150 Words

Q. 1. Discuss the evidence of craft production in Early Historic cities. In what ways is this
different from evidence from Harappan cities!

Ans. Evidence of craft production is collaborated from wide range of artefacts. Example: fine
pottery known as Northern Black Polished Ware, probably used by rich people. Others are
ornaments, tools, weapons, vessels, figurines made from wide range of materials gold, silver,
copper, bronze, ivory, glass, shell and terracotta.

Votive inscriptions tell us about people who lived in towns: carpenters, potters, goldsmiths,
blacksmiths. Many craftspersons were organised into guilds or shrenis. These guilds probably
procured raw materials, regulated production and marketed finished products. Probably a wide
range of iron tools was used to meet the needs of urban centres.
Coins were used for trade of goods and crafts.
While evidence of craft production, in early historic cities, is based on remains, inscriptions and
trade linkages, those in the Harappan cities are based on remains of raw materials such as
stone nodules, whole shells, copper ore, tools, unfinished objects, rejects and waste material at
places of production.
Moreover, traces suggest in Harappan cities there were specialised centres of craft production,
eg. Chanhudaro was almost exclusively devoted to bead making, shell cutting, metal working.
seal making and weight making. Nageshwar and Balakot were specialised centres for making
shell objects like bangles, ladles and inlay.Specialised drills have been found at Chanhudaro,
Lothal and Dholavira.
The Harappan cities, unlike the early historic cities, suggest apart from small specialised centres
of production, craft production was also undertaken in large cities such as Mohenjodaro
and Harappa

Q. 2. Describe the salient features of mahajanapadas.

Ans. The sixth century BCE was marked by 16 states known as mahajanapadas. Amongst the
most important ones were Magadha, Koshala, Kuru, Panchala, Gandhara and Avanti,Salient
Features

1. Most mahajanapadas were ruled by kings and occupied the Ganga Yamuna doab region.
Each mahajanapada had a capital city, which was often fortified, e.g. Magadha had its capital at
Rajgir, which was fortified.
2. The Dharmasutras, compiled by Brahmanas, laid down norms for governance by rulers.
Ideally rulers of these janapadas were expected to be Kshatriyas
3. Maintaining fortified cities, armies and bureaucracy required resources. The Dharmasutras
advised rulers to collect taxes and tributes from cultivators, artisans and traders. In some cases
resources were even procured from pastoralists and forest people.
4. Expansion of the mahajanapada at the expense of its neighbour was a common feature, e.g.
Magadha. Moreover, raids on neighbouring states for acquiring wealth were recognised as
legitimate.
5. The economies of the mahajanapadas were marked by intensive and extensive pursuit of
agriculture, individual holding of land, increased craft production and urbanisation. They were
reflective of economic differentiation, as was evident from terms like 'gahapati, the owner,
master or head of a household, vellalar, landowners; uzhavar, ploughmen and adimal, slaves,
'dasa'. These rankings were evident even in the social sphere.

6. Gradually, some mahajanapadas acquired standing armies, and maintained regular

bureaucracies. Others continued to depend on militia recruited, from peasantry.

Q. 3. How do historians reconstruct the lives of ordinary people?

Ans. Inscriptions were generally proclamations of the king to his subjects and officials or
to praise the achievements and attributes of the kings and conquerors. They never speak of
their defects and weaknesses. Ordinary people rarely left accounts of their thoughts and
experiences.
Thus historians have tried to re-construct the lives of ordinary people by examining stories
contained in anthologies such as the Jatakas and Panchatantra. These stories originated as
popular oral tales and were later committed to writing.
The Jatakas were written in Pali around the middle of the first millennium C.E. Example: Story
known as the Gandatindu Jataka described the plight of the subjects under a wicked king, and
how the constant fear of robbers, tax collectors, led people to abandon their village and live in
the forests.
The story thus reflected how the relationship between the subjects and the king could be often
strained. The oppressive high taxes were levied. Escaping to forest was used as an alternative.
Still other stories reflected on, how the people adopted other methods of increasing production
and area under civilisation to meet the growing pressure of taxes.

Q. 4. Compare and contrast the list of things given to the Pandyan chief (Source 3) with those
produced in the village of Danguna (Source 8). Do you notice any similarities or differences?
Ans. The Pandyan chief was presented with everything which was available in the forest as
mark of respect and homage.
As regards the Danguna village, the Acharya (teacher) was given not only right to avail what
was produced in this village but also to the hidden treasures, deposits and mines. The things
that he got in the forest and in the village of Danguna were quite different. It was due to the
availability of the things in those different places.

Q. 5. List some of the problems faced by epigraphists.

(CBSE 2009, 2014)

Ans. Epigraphy is the study of inscriptions. The job of an epigraphist is to study and find out the
history of the time on the basis of epigraphs. The problems faced by epigraphists are: 1.
Technical limitations, eg. letters may be very faintly engraved and thus reconstructions
are uncertain.
2. Inscriptions may be damaged or letters missing.
3. It is not easy for the epigraphist to be sure about the exact meaning of the words in the
inscriptions because of specific words to a particular place or time.
4. Though several thousand inscriptions have been discovered, not all have been deciphered,
published and translated.
5. Many inscriptions have not survived ravages of time and therefore what is available is
probably only a fraction of what was inscribed. They are therefore bound to be substantial gaps
in reconstruction.
6. The fundamental problem is also that not everything that we today consider politically and
economically significant, was necessarily recorded in inscriptions, eg. routine agricultural
practices, joys and sorrows of ordinary people. They convey royal orders, decisions regarding
social, religious and administrative matters to officials and people in general, e.g. Asokan
inscriptions.
7. Inscriptions praise the achievements and attributes of kings and conquerors, and never speak
of their defects, and weaknesses, eg. Allahabad Inscription of Samudragupta.
8. Epigraphists have to constantly assess statements, add words to make meaning of
sentences clear.
9. Epigraphists have to constantly match terms of content, style, language and palaeography
before dating and concluding that they were done by a particular ruler.
Thus by themselves inscriptions are not sufficient source, epigraphists have to tally with other
perspectives to arrive at a better understanding of the past.
Self Revision
To what extent the epigraphists face limitations of inscriptional evidence? List a few.
(CBSE 2009, 2014)
Give two limitations of inscriptional evidence to reconstruct the past. (CBSE 2008)
Write a Short Essay (About 500 Words) on the following:

Q. 6. Discuss the main features of Mauryan administration. Which of these elements are evident
in the Asokan inscriptions that you have studied?
Ans. Note. For main features of Mauryan administration refer to M.11. on Mauryan
administration. Among the elements of Mauryan administrations, evident in the Asokan
inscriptions are:

1. There were five major political centres in the empire the capital Pataliputra, and the
provincial centres of Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali (Odisha) and Suvarnagiri (Karnataka).
Virtually the same message was engraved everywhere. It seems that vast empire had
a uniform administrative system. 2. Among the officers at the district, discussed in Asoka's
inscription, is the rajuka, responsible for surveying and assessing land and administering justice.
The IV Pillar Edict of Asoka is entirely addressed to the rajukas. They are advised on their
behaviour towards the people and rules regarding reward and punishment.
3. Among the other officials, mentioned in Asokan inscriptions, are those connected with the
administration of the city, and those who worked among frontier peoples. In addition to these
were officials referred to as dhamma mahamattas. One of their functions was to record gifts and
donations made to religious establishments, in addition to spreading the message of dhamma.
Inscriptions also mention an important official pativedakas. The epigraphists have translated the
term as reporter. His main function was to report to the king about the affairs of the people
anywhere and at all times.

Q. 7. This is a statement made by one of the best-known epigraphists of the twentieth century,
D.C. Sircar: "There is no aspect of life, culture and activities of the Indians that is not reflected in
inscriptions." Discuss.

Ans. Inscriptions are writings, virtually permanent records, engraved on hard surfaces such as
stone, metal or pottery. Main inscriptions in India are Asokan edicts, engraved on rocks and
pillars. They are mostly in the nature of royal proclamations and commandments, mostly
echoing Asoka's own words. They give us an idea of the extent of his empire. These locations
are important pointers to the long distance trade, economic activities and cultural relations.

Most of the Asokan inscriptions were written in Brahmi and some in Kharosthi. Some
inscriptions were even bi-lingual. The changing scripts of inscriptions themselves reveal the
spread, popularity and use of various languages and scripts throughout India, eg. Brahmi and
Kharosthi in Asokan inscriptions. Prakrit was the common people; and was replaced by Sanskrit
around 3rd and 4th century B.C.E. Sanskrit later became the language of sacred texts
throughout India.
Inscriptions provide important clues regarding
-extent of empires,
-wealth of the king,
-the period of his reign,
-location of his kingdom, and
relationship of the king with his subjects, eg. inscriptions relating to Kushan.

Prashastis-official records are eulogies giving details of the tales of the king's bravery,
achievements, and serve as foremost document of his reign, e.g. Prayaga.
Those who got land grants, usually appear on copper plates, and even temples. They define the
boundaries of land, their price, mode of its measurement, punishments in case of violations, etc.
Votive or donative inscriptions describe the donations made by private persons to temples and
Brahmana, e.g. Prabhavati Gupta and the village of Danguna pointing to differential access to
land.
Votive inscriptions recording donations by private persons in the form of gold, cows, money
sometimes specify name of the donor and his/her occupation. They tell us about the people who
lived in towns, washing folk, weavers, scribes, carpenters, potters, goldsmiths, blacksmiths,
officials, religious teachers, merchants and kings. Sometimes guilds or shrenis, organisations of
craftspersons are mentioned as well. These tell us about the growth of urban centres, urban
demands, economic well-being and trade.
Inscriptions also record strategies adopted by kings to increase agricultural production and
thereby revenue, eg. the Girnar inscription.
Inscriptions make note about the appointment of dhamma mahamattas whose main function
was spreading the message of dhamma.
Inscriptions as stated by D.C. Sircar reflect life, culture and activities of the Indians but it would
be incorrect to ignore the problems posed by inscriptions such as brevity of the texts. bulk of the
number, undecipherable official nomenclature.

Q. 8. Discuss the notions of kingship that developed in the post-Mauryan period.

Ans. In the post-Mauryan period, a special sanctity came to be attached to king's position. He
was endowed with divinity. Asoka was merely called dear to the gods devanampiya but the
Kushana kings were called 'sons of god' possibly inspired by Chinese rulers who called
themselves sons of heaven. The notion of kingship they wished to project was evidenced in
their coins and sculpture,

Historians feel, different statues at different places indicate that the Kushanas considered
themselves godlike. The coins of same of the tribal republican states reveal that they came to
be beaded by their gods, in whose names the coins were issued.

Beth, Gautamiputra Satakarni and Rudradaman were in their prashasti endowed with qualities
beyond common human capacity to acquire. The inscriptions show that the Satavahana rulers
were compared to gods.

The Guptas discarded the modest title of rajan and adopted the high sounding style brought into
vogue by the Kushanas, eg, maharajadhiraja and its several variants. Besides, the Guptas
added other adjectives, claiming for themselves super human qualities which raised them
almost to the level of gods. In fact in the Allahabad pillar, inscription Samudragupta is referred to
as a god dwelling on earth

The reasons for kings claiming divine status in the post-Maurya period were among small
monarchies and chieftainships the Satavahanas and Kushanas were the only two large
kingdoms, which made them enter into feudatory relations with smaller kings. They did not
exercise effective direct control over such a large part of the country as the Mauryas did.

Existence of autonomous towns emerged after Mauryas. Trader's guild of these cities issued
their own coins. With the establishment of Satavahana and Kushana kingdoms, these towns lost
their autonomous character, but their civic life did not lose its importance. The rulers had to
reckon with merchant corporations in the towns of the Deccan, and with the guilds of artisans in
the Kushana territory.
Moreover, most of the kings, eg. Kushanas were conquerors, the foreigners. Adoption of
Sanskritic high sounding titles and divine rights helped these rulers secure social status,
assimilate in Indian society, and legitimise royal authority.

Q. 9. To what extent were agricultural practices transformed in the period under consideration?
(CBSE 2010, 2011)

Ans. The period 6th century B.C.E to 6th century CE. was marked by the tremendous expansion
of economy in the agriculture sector.

(i) Among the factors which transformed agricultural practices was the increasing use of irun
implements. The iron tipped ploughshare was used to turn alluvial soil in areas which had high
rainfall, eg the mid Gangetic plain.

(ii) The use of iran ploughshare was restricted to only certain parts of the sub-continent. Areas
which were semi arid, such as parts of Punjab and Rajasthan and hilly tracts in the north
eastern and central parts of the subcontinent, did not adopt it. They practised hoe (a hand tool)
agriculture, which was much better suited to the terrain.

(iii) Introduction of system of paddy transplantation led to intensive cultivation of rice and
consequently increased yields, eg in the Gangetic plain
(iv) Increased knowledge about techniques of agriculture
(v) Another strategy adopted was use of irrigation, through wells, tanks and a few canals.
Communities, as well as individuals, organised the construction of irrigation works.
(vi) Yet another strategy was increase of revenue by settling new lands. The Arthashastra lays
great stress on increasing the revenue potential by settling new lands. Peasants migrations from
over populated areas were to be encouraged. One of the Asokan edicts speaks of the
deportation of prisoners after the Kalinga war. These may have been used for establishing new
settlements but this seems to be the only instance of its kind.
(vii) In some parts of Ganga valley, production of paddy was highly increased by the introduction
of transplantation.
(viii) Other way was by granting virgin lands to religious people, e.g. Brahmanas.
Terms like 'gahapati' used to designate large landowners and small peasants and 'dasa' for
agricultural labourers reveal benefits were very uneven. Early Tamil literature also mentions
different categories based on access to land, e.g. large landowners or 'vellar' ploughmen or
'uzhavar' and slaves or 'adimai'.

Self Revision
Mention any two features of the administration system of the Mauryan Empire. (CBSE
2014)
Explain the four sources to reconstruct the history of Mauryas. Examine the system of
Mauryan administration. (CBSE 2016)
Explain the main features of the Mauryan administration.(CBSE 2017)
State any three features of mahajanapadas. How did Magadha become the most powerful
mahajanapada? (CBSE 2016)