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.