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"3-0 08 HALDIVES 0 150eM. OJ v0 00Cpl. 0200"00600800 $0eM. 0 kllOttr"ES..1__-'-1 __--'1 __---"'-_-"'1 l'CII.0 Fig.4.2 Annual RainfallZ01J-es 31 ~. - IANCIENTINDIA........ .. ........................................................... .. ........................... .. ............ .. IntheIndo-Gangeticplainsthe annualrainfallvariesfromregionto region.Thenorthernportionofthe Indusregionandthewholeofthe Ganga plain receivesrainfall between 100-200cmsperannum,Whilethe north -eastern part of India fallsin the range of 200-400 cm. or even more. In moderntimestheregionsof Haryana and Rajasthan induding parts of Sind and Gujarat receive less rainfall. But the evidence show that in ancient times it receivedhigherrainfallandthe Harappan civilization flourished in this region. In amajor part of India, the south-west monsoon brings rain which is most importantfortheKharifcrops. Similarly,theraincausedbythe westerndisturbancesinthewinter gives rise to the second crop of the year calledtheRabi during winter season. Riceiscultivatedin theplainsof the GangaandBrahmaputraandinthe eastern coast upto Tamil Nadu. Wheat andbarleyarethemainRabicrops grownin the westernand most other parts of India. The third season is winter when the mercury comesdownto50Cor even less. But it should be considered warm ascomparedtothenorthernregions beyond the Himalayas. Thus,India isacountry with vast variety of rich vegetation and congenial regular weather chain. It is most suited forhumanhabitat.Conditionsfor population saturation resulting in mass human migrationsaremoreprobable here than in any other part of the world like central Asia or Europe. 32 The Geography of India as described inAncientIndianLiterature Thevastsubcontinentof Indiawas knownin thepast asBharatavarsha, the land of the Bharatas, bounded on the north by the Himalayas and by the oceaninthesouth.It formedthe southernpartof Jambu-dvipa.The name'India'wasfirstappliedbythe AchaemenidPersianstotheregion wateredbytheSindhu.TheSapta-Sindhu,referringtotheregionof the sevenriversof theSaraswati(orfive streams of the Saraswati together with the Ganges and the Jamuna), was the term used for India in the Zend Avesta, the sacred book of Parasis. The Greeks, callingtheriverSindhu'Indos', subsequently borrowed the term from thePersians.IntheMehreYasht and Yasna of the Persians we actually find thewordHinduinplaceofHafta-Hendu, indicating the extension of the name tothe land beyond the territory of theIndus.Herodotus,thefamous Greek historians, used the term 'Indos' to the kshatrapy ofthe Persian Empire, butgraduallyitwasextendedtothe wholecountrybothbyGreekand Roman writers. Since the introduction of Buddhism into China in the first century A.D.the ChineseusedthetermTien-Chuor ChuantuforIndia.ButafterHiuen-Tsang theterm Yin -Tucametobein voguethere.HinduinPersian,Indos in Greek,Hodduin Hebrew,Indusin Latin and Tien-chu in Chinese are all corruptformsofSindhu.Thus descendantsofBharatacametobe known as Indians or Hindus. "Hindu", I . ~ ............................................................THEGEOGRAPHICALBACKGROUNDOFINDIANHISTORY.. says I-tsing, "is the name used only by the northern tribes,and the people of India themselves do not know it". The first defmite mention of Bharata as aregion is to be found in Panini who lived about sixth century B.C. It is only one out of 22 janapadas specified from Kamboja toMagadha,allin Northern India. Buddhist literature subsequently speaksofsevenBharataregions (Sapta-Bharatas) corresponding to the ancient Sapta-Sindhu. Arya-desa and Brahmarashtra wereothernamesof India mentioned by I-tsing.Aryavarta wasalsoanother ancientnamegiven at the time ofPatanjali (150 B.C.) to the northern part ofIndia lying between the Himalayas and the Pariyatraka or the western part of theVindhyas.Onthe west it was bounded by the Adarsavali orAravalliandontheeastbythe Kalakavana or the Rajmahal Hills. The Puranas define the term Bharatavarsha as"thecountry that liesnorthof the ocean (i.e.the Indian Ocean) and south of thesnowymountains(Himalayas), markedbythesevenmainchainsof mountains,viz.Mahendra,Malaya, Sahya, Suktimat, RL.1{sha(mountains of Gondwana),Vindhya,andPariyatra (western Vindhyas up to the Aravallis); wheredwellthedescendantsof theBharatas,withtheKiratasliving toitseast,theYavanas(Ioniansor Greeks)toitswest,anditsown population consisting of the Brahmans, Kshatriyas,Vaisyas,andSudras(i.e. the Hindus)". But the name Bharatavarsha is not amere geographical expression like the term India. It has historical signillcance, indicating the country of the Bharatas ofRigVeda.It engagedtheirdeepest sentimentsofloveandserviceas expressedintheirliterature.Oneof thecommonestprayersforaHindu requires him to recall and worship the imageof hismother country asthe land of seven sacred rivers, the Ganga, Yamuna,Godavari,Saraswati, Narmada,Sindhu,andKaveri,which betweenthemcoveritsentirearea. Anotherprayercallsitsimageasthe landof sevensacredcities,Ayodhya, Mathura,Maya(modernHardwar), Kasi,Kanchi(Conjeeveram),Avantika (Ujjain),Dvaravati(Dwarka), representingimportantregionsof India.Thespiritoftheseprayersis furthersustainedbythepeculiar Hinduinstitutionofpilgrimage.It expectsaHindu to visit in his lifethe holyplacesassociatedwithhisfaith. Each of the principal Hindu faithslike Vaishnava,Saiva,orSakta and other sects have their own list of holy places, andthesearespreadthroughoutthe lengthandbreadthof Indiaandnot confinedtoasingleprovince.The different sectsareat oneinenjoining upontheirrespectivevotaries,a pilgrimage to the different and distant partsof India and thereby fostering in them alivesenseof what constitutes their common mother country.In the samespirit,Sankaraestablishedhis fourMathas(religiousschools)at the four extreme points of the country viz. Jyotirmatha in the north (near Badri-Kedar on the Himalayas), Saradamatha atDwarkainthewest,Goverdhana matha at Puri in the east, and Sringeri 33 . ~ ,ANCIENTINDIA... . .. ... . .... .. ... . ............................. . . . . ... ..... . .... ......... .......... .. .. ... .. . . . ........... ... . . . matha in Mysore. Sectarianism is thus an aid to nationalism in Hindu culture. Insomeof thesacredtextslikethe Bhagavata Purana,orManusmriti are foundpassagesof patrioticfervour describing Bharatavarsha as the land fashionedbytheGodsthemselves (devani rmitasthanam)whoeven wish to be born in it as heaven on earth, forthespiritualstimulusofits environment,andabovethese as the culminating utterance - "Mother and Mother-Countryaregreaterthan Heaven!"(Janani janmabhumischa svargadapigariyasl) . Alltheseprayersandpassages showthataHinduhaselevated patriotisminto areligion. In the words of adistinguishedBritishcritic,"the HinduregardsIndianotonlyasa political unit,naturally thesubject of onesovereignty- whoeverholds thatsovereignty,whetherBritish, Mohamedan,orHindu- butasthe outward embodiment, as the temple -nay,even as the Goddessmother - of hisspiritual culture ...Hemade India the symbol of his culture; he filled it with this soul. In his consciousness, it was his greater self". Butbesidesreligion,thepolitical experiences of the ancient Hindus also aidedthem in theirconceptionof the mother country. The unity of a country is easily grasped when it iscontrolled byasinglepoliticalauthority.The ancientHinduswerefamiliarwith the ideal and institution of paramount sovereigntyfromveryearlytimes.It isindicatedbysuchsignificant VedicwordsasEkarat,Samrat, 34 Rajad hi raja,orSarvabhauma,and such Vedic ceremonies as the Rajasuya, Vajapeya, or Ashvamedha, which were prescribed forperformancebyaking who by his digvijaya or conquest made himself the king of kings.Some of the Vedicworksandlatertextslikethe MahabharataorthePuranaseven containlistsofsuchgreatkingsor emperors. Apart from these prehistoric emperors,therehavebeenseveral such emperors in historical times, such asChandraguptaMaurya,Ashoka, Samudragupta, Harsha, Mihira Bhoja, andinlatertimes,Akbarand Aurangzeb.Someevenperformed thehorse-sacrificeindeclarationof theirparamountsovereignty,such asPushyamitra,Samudragupta, KumaraguptaI,Adityasenaand PulkeshinI.Thustheinstitution. of paramount sovereignty has had along history in India. Influencesof Geographyon IndianHistory Inmanyrespectsgeographical features influence man's activities and his interactions with nature and other groups of men. The natural barriers of hills,mountainsand rivers,etc.,give him an idea of a geographical unite and belonging.Hedevelopshisliving habitsand mode of thinking as per his surroundings. We have seen that Indian subcontinent is a vast country with well defined natural barriers in the form of Himalayasinthenorthandcoastal boundariesonthethreeremaining sides.Thisgivestheinhabitantsa ...........................................................THEGEOGRAPHICALBACKGROUNDOFINDIANHISTORY,;i. feeling of oneness. They regard this as their motherland.Itsvastnesscan be measuredwhencomparedtoEurope andfinding it almost equalexcept for theformerSovietUnion.Europehas several nations with their own history, tradition,language,etc.Onthe . contrary,althoughtherealwayshad beenmanystatesinIndiabuttheir socialandculturalsetuphadbeen broadly the same throughout. Sanskrit wasthemostrespectedlanguage besides the local languages. States were administered and governed on the basis of law-bookscalledDharmasastras. Placesof worshipandpilgrimageare distributedthroughoutthecountry. These cultural bonds gave the Indians asense of unity and nationality. At the same time there are distinct regionalvariations.Thereareseveral regions which have adistinct sense of regional spirit and cultural traits. Larger kingdoms and empires rose from these unitsandweakened,induecourse, giving way to another unit to come up. Some historians have defined it as forces of centralisationanddecentralisation acting and reacting with each other. In other words,forcesof integration and disintegration were always at work. But it will be more appropriate tosay that the Indian system of polity recognised thechakravarticonceptof conquest, whereeverykingshouldaspirefor ruling the whole country. Thus empires fell and new ones arose from it, but the traditioncontinued.Eventhe early conquerorsfromthenorth-west likeIndo-Greeks,Saka-Pallavas, Kushanas, etc., established kingdoms and empiresbut never failedtoshow theireagernesstoadopt Indian ideas of polity and willingnessto assimilate themselves in the main stream ofIndian society. Even in earlier periods these regions maintained their individuality despite their political ups and downs. 'The old kingdoms of Kosala, Magadha, Gauda, Vanga,Avanti,Lat and Saurashtra in thenorth,andKalinga,Andhra, Maharashtra, Kamataka, Chera, Chola and Pandya in the south, among others, seem to possess eternal lives.Empires rose and fell,they vied with each other very frequently, but these states under differentnamesandurtdervarious rulingdynasties,continuedtheir individual existence almost throughout the course of history. Indiahasalongcoastlineonits three sides. The people living here were experts in maritime activities. They had trade relations with other countries on both sides.Nodynasty other than the Cholas in the south has even attempted toconquer lands beyond the sea.But it was not alasting attempt. Onthecontrarywefindthat Indianshad spread in many parts of theknownworld,butintheSouth EastAsiatheydevelopedalasting culturalinfluenceincountrieslike Vietnam,Indonesia,Cambodia,etc. Thesewereindividualeffortsby tradersandprincesandnotbyany State.Adistinctcontrastfromthe European colonist must be noted here. Indiansneverattemptedgenocideor 35 ~ '.ANCIENTINDIA....................................................... ........ ............... ................................. cruelsuppression;theyestablished largekingdomsandbecamepartof that land. They gave their religion and philosophytothembutassimilated their religion and philosophy as well. Thusitcanbesaid inconclusion that the geographical features of India not only shaped its history and culture but also the mind and thoughts of the people. Exercises 1.Explainthemeaningof thefollowing: Aryavrata,Panchanadadesa,RabiandKhan!crops. 2.Definethephysicalfeaturesof India. 3.Definetheclimateof India. 4.Discussthegeographyof Indiaasdefinedintheancientliterature. 5.Howdothesegeographicalfeaturesinfluencehistory? Prepareamapof Indiaandshowimportantriversonit. 36 K:O". )\I.'l.... i.; rt f ( -Uit AJ1t.l- l\ r,\Rr\i..',\:c.y.t,:fO''"TOK.'". "- lif)'Wittl c I F. . (k1'.1 ' rnr'"RA..,1..,;l;....'Ill.ltt-.t'l{}11H::"1C.... \{[.\\(1ff,n'I".,{.,T:f1'A ';.!'.::0, :,;,r,: t. lH!C ',t--:-"'Cf:'f ALiaLt HifO;....:;s..I"q...,l,'"p" FI J",",-I'1\ \\J iUr-.}f rHt,,. "'l:.'1ol1'(.) {... 'n'lr .....y :'Ii- ".it'ih.';1\r-}iCl.\H\,'r ,F."l'"lfl'\ is,).\l.,\' l"\,v.r.... ,....,_'"i>';l\i,J..It\[nl"'( ' , HI,hr,Ljl('"J,\"T.)r..8,\i 1f ..}l',,'ft.'\.fJRU}h.i_.".f.. _ ,--1.. _RJ'I-} .. [ j ' tl;}tI"'"r,JRr,;1'i. f".t:"f'Li...lHE1RI.,t,;'i,-'.ttn:cL ..11t,.... rO:-.,J-.li'"',!ffPAfe'l,.\').... i]:.. ....1-'\ W,>TCP,'l N()1'';OM1!itU1\\CVi-'\:-.vil', ,,,.. ,I LPII.\.' '_ ,,' '"\)ft'BIrTH \\A1'[:',11.'.:"':L'f h,1\':"0fHf.()r \ ff'.U '"[HI;,I,tto RP.Yt':!(j\- 1e.1". '....'n,f(';;t51'l'S-"....',,'0,,- TlP-.n 1\.:.... 'Yt{I}-H,l"JU!O-flF").;-.,; t\:--"-r'O'flAX'-'V'"'[.1':r... tu{i,\.l".c .... -:. '.-'\Jl'U: u !, .,(."lt..-'\.yt..;.\) ....". \"'l.l.'.t.rl!'.\::O , LJ' !(rthe' .t,elat1Qn on"i'tto ('J .ftn'a:tti ne-r . old "And ,C...... U:f..1{,.tt :"Ifd' 'til' 12. ',,,,!,Al fiIhR 1'e'"lJ:'S'ory, ' weIn'aI" we ' . now f'tiu t ,to''he.4.r! )f,(fo,;"'tr ....1:lf THJ\T Al"-,It:\!-. UJN('PU;;:l:'Pl)ftiL"rf,IHIlE-fiI...,;nW-t'S l." UH:nioor_it\ ..\.t_h. f('iHI\\lIJ\}:D THE t"'f:C;, c':_ ;:.,Th'l (".. rt>iH Ttn::..'tL W(RE tp'. iK 0 190 .., N 0 200 () ;; Firstdinosaursrn 00 W :s Firstmammals ~ '" 225 ... z .., Firstconiferoustrees s: 0: "' 280 0. 00 :> 300 0 '" "' ... Firstreptiles z 0 III '" .., 345 () z Firstinsects.., z Firstamphibians 0 ;> First bony fish400 "' c 410 zu < Firstlandplants 0 Ii! :> First fishwith jaws N -' ;; 0 440 zW :s First vertebrates :s () :;: First armoured fish p:;0 c 500 500 '" 0 z Firstknowninvertebrates:s '" Firstshells III ~ () 600 600 Firstlivingthings Algae Bacteria 700 Table 2Evolution ofLife on the Earth 41 l\ ANCIENTI NDIA............. .. .......................... . ..... .......... .. .. . ......... . . .. .. .. . .... ....... . ....... ............ .. .... 1 therock-forminghistorywouldhave alreadypassed,duringwhichsome 51km.thick sedimentary rocks were laiddownintheoceanandlaters raised up. During the 500 million year covered by the filmanother 34 km.of rocksweremade.Whenther eel opens,weseeshells,j ellyfish,crab-likecreatures,andsealilies.Phase byphaseweseefishes,then amphibiansandreptiles,andfmally mammals .Inthelast3seconds humanbeingsappearandthe civilizedman appears just in the last tenth of asecond. EarlyHumans It isnowwellestablishedthatthe earliest human fossilsfoundin Africa datesbacktoabout4.2m.y.These specimensshowthattheearliest human beingswereshorter inheight and had asmaller brain. The humans evolved over aperiod of these 42lakhs yearsandthepresentformreached about 50,000 years ago.The fossilsof variousperiodsand stagesof human developmenthavebeenfoundfrom manypartsof theworldlikeAfrica, China,Java,Sumatraandsouthern Europe.Unfortunately,duetothe climatic conditions, except the solitary fmd of ahominid fossil from Hathnaura in the Narmada Valley, no early human fossilshavebeenfoundinIndia. According to the experts the estimated cranial capacity of this fossil is equal to ' thatofhomoerectus.However,some scholars feelthat it may belong to the lastphaseofhomoerectus,oran 'archaic'homo sapien. , r .. ...... .. 42 EarliestPalaeolithicTools Thebeginningof theuseof toolsby thehumanshavebeenaunique phenomenon and may be said to have laid the foundation of science of use of toolsandmachinesfortheaidof humans in their various endeavour. The regular use of tools, beginning 2.6 m.y. agoin east Africa is wellattested and accompaniesmanyearlierandlater hominidfossils.Incaseof Indonesia several hominid remains have recently been datedbetween1.8and1.6 m.y. InChinatheearlystonetoolsare associatedwithhumanfossilsdated between1.7 and 1.9 m.y. In India, unfortunately, no human fossils have been found associated with Stone Agetoolsbut wedohavesome idea of the antiquity of toolsfromthe geologicaldatings.The variousstrata of the Sivalik hills containing stone tools havebeendatedbetween2m.y.and 1,2 m.y. Another scientific date for the earlystonetoolscamefromthe archaeologicalsiteofBoriinPune districtofMaharashtra.Whichis 1.38m.yold.Whenweassessthe evidence for early human settlement in India we fmd that it is later than that in theAfricanregion,but contemporary to the rest of the Asian countries. Palaeolithic Cultures The Palaeolithic Age in India is divided intothreephases,basedontool technology. These phases are: (i)Lower Palaeolithic Handaxe and cleaver industries (ti)Middle Palaeolithic Tools made on flakes ...... . ......... .. .... . . ........................................................... .............THESTONEAGECULTUREp (iii)Upper Palaeolithic Tools made on flakesand blades Lower Palaeolithic Culture The main tool types in this phase were hand axesandcleavers,alongwith chopper-choppingtools.Theywere made both on coresas wellas flakes. Lower Palaeolithicsitesareof several O " . ~ ~ ,' \ ~ ---..'I.' ,',', "'"\.;1. ~1 J-,'~ !\ :' ,.. .",;.\;' ,I,A,.L:(m,)",,'"Y Of lHK). H V."'GfVtN fU!l.ICtOt:S SASl'JON, ,t\,-.)llnn: l\JHl;MtlI.\1/1.1:,I ;},",'\l'U;,,t.lY\'tfJ."-[1Ol)lt 0Vnt*lJr\tPl {, :'(ON l -n-1,\.11!'i-01"l"il'lt t",AI-lT n}O"'fh}\NClI-Nr WOn.U) WFB'F ll.mAnUN':lOl-." -\.1 DlJl