Post on 18-Oct-2020
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MAIN MATERIAL: SILVER PERIOD: C.600-300 B.C.E
MUSEUM: ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA, NAGARJUNAKONDA
INTRODUCTION:
The Harappan town disappeared in 1900 B.C. and following that till 1500
B.C., no towns were established in India.
ACTIVITY NO: 1
Name some of the factors responsible for the collapse of the Harappan
civilization! ______________________________________________________________
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However from 1200 B.C. we notice settlements in the doab (Doab is the
land lying between two converging or confluent rivers) and the
neighbouring areas. Two types of settlements were noticed, first in the lower
doab in 1000 B.C.-600 B.C., where a hierarchy of settlements were noticed
which is the most important indicator of urbanization. Large settlements
may enjoy some advantages over the smaller ones, but without crafts, coins,
trade and agricultural surplus, even a large settlement cannot grow into a
town.
SECOND URBANIZATION:
Towns arose in 5th century B.C. in mid-Gangetic basin, which were
considered as the beginning of the second urbanization in India. Many
Sanskrit and Pali texts mentioned about towns such as Kausambi, Varanasi,
Vaisali, Rajgir, Shravasti, Kapilavastu, Champa, Pataliputra, Ayodhya, and
Shringverpur.
The houses were mostly made-up of mud brick or wood which naturally
disintegrated in the moist climate of mid-Gangetic basin and this is the
reason that the structures build during this time period are generally
unimpressive, though together with the other material remains, they indicate
a great increase in population in comparison to earlier settlements. Many
towns were seats of government and eventually they became markets and
came to be inhabited by artisans and merchants.
The city of Champa is called Vaniyagama in a Prakrit text and means a
settlement of merchants. Some places where settlements of artisans such as
Saddalaputra, (Vaisali) had 500 potter shops. We also find a number of both
artisans and merchants guilds. We hear, both artisans and merchants lived
in fixed localities in towns, we hear of Vessas or merchant streets in
Varanasi and of the street of ivory workers. Thus specialisation in crafts
developed on the strength of guild system. Generally, crafts were hereditary
and this localisation made it more craft specific.
ACTIVITY NO: 2
Mark all towns in the map provided, which are
written in italic font in the above para.
All the important cities of the period were situated on the river banks and
trade routes and connected with one another. Shravasti was linked with both
Kausambi and Varanasi, where the latter was considered to be a great centre
of trade in the age of Gautama Buddha. Likewise, the route from Shravasti
was connected to Kapilavastu and Kushinara, which was further linked to
Vaishali. Trade was facilitated by the use of money.
DID YOU KNOW?
The coin or metal money bearing the stamp of an
authority was invented in the 7th century B.C. in Lydia
(Asia Minor).
However, in India we find the references of the terms nishka and satamana,
as the name of the coins in the Vedic texts, but they seem to have been
prestige objects made up of metal. It appears that, during Vedic times,
exchange was carried through barter system and gift system served as a
mode of exchange in pre-Buddhist times. Sometimes cattle served the
purpose of currency.
Coins made up of metal appeared first in the age of Gautama Buddha. They
were made of Silver, though a few copper coins also existed. These coins
are also called Punch-Marked coins as they were being punched with
certain marks, In Maurya and later times, cast coins and dye-struck coins of
different metals were used. The Pali texts indicate plentiful use of money
and show that coins were used to pay wages and buy goods. The use of
money had become so universal that even the price of dead mice were
estimated.
EFFECTS OF URABANIZATION:
Urbanization strengthened the state, increased trade and promoted reading
and writing. Writing led to the compilation of not only of laws and rituals
but also facilitated book keeping, which was essential to trade, tax
collections and the maintenance of a large professional army. During this
time period, especially in the mid gangetic basin, we witnessed the
beginning of crafts, commerce and urbanization because of strong rural
base. Non-Agriculturalists living in towns had to be fed by agriculturalist
living in villages in return, artisans and traders living in towns made tools,
cloth and other products for the rural folk. We hear of a village trader
depositing 500 ploughs with a town merchant. This evidently shows that a
substantial amount or number of iron tools were used by peasants which
they bought in cash or kind.
The Pali text mentions about 3 types of villages, the first category included
the typical village, inhabited by various castes and communities and these
Barter System: A buffalo is exchanged for a banana
villages seem to have been the largest in number and each village was
headed by a village headman called Bhojaka. The second type of villages
were sub-urban in nature, which include crafts villages, for instance, a
carpenter’s village or chariot makers village. Obviously such villages served
as markets for other villages and linked the towns with the country-side. The
third category consisted of border villages situated at the outer limits of the
countryside which merged with the surrounding forests. People living in
these villages were principally hunters who largely lived on food gathering.
The village land were divided into cultivable plots which were allotted to
each family. Fields were fenced and irrigation channels dug collectively by
the peasant families under the supervision of village headman. The peasants
had to pay one-sixth of their produce as tax. Taxes were collected directly
by royal agents and there was no intermediary. Rich peasants were called as
Gahapatis, who were of almost the same status as the section of Vaishyas.
Rice was a staple cereal produced in Eastern U.P and Bihar. The use of the
term “Shali” for transportation is found in the Pali/Prakrit/Sanskrit text. It
appears that, paddy seeds were sown and grown exclusively in watery areas,
subsequently however the paddy seedlings were removed from their original
fields and planted elsewhere in good scale. This method revolutionized rice
production. In addition, peasants also produced barley, millets, cotton and
sugarcane.
ACTIVITY NO: 3 Identify these crops!
Agriculture made great strides with the use of iron plough-share and with the
immense fertility of the alluvial soil. Thus the surplus gain formed the basis of
the very existing of those who are not directly engaged in agricultural production.
Technology remained central for all these progress in the rural and urban
economy. Iron played a crucial role in opening the rain-fed, forested, hard soil
areas of the mid-Gangetic basin and made it available for the cultivation of
different crops. For the first time, an advanced food producing economy was
spread along the alluvial soil of this area and led to the beginning of urban
economy. In long term, all these progress created conditions in which large
territorial states could be farmed and sustained.
REFERENCES:
museumsofindia.gov.in, thefrogblog.org, march-against-monsanto.com, en.wikipedia.org, balespress.com, yousearch.co,
photobucket.com, mapsofindia.com, imgsoup.com.