📁Learning Objective
- Prinsep and Piyadassi
- The Earliest States:
- An Early Empire
- New Notions of Kingship
- A Changing Countryside
- Towns and Trade
- Back to Basics How Are Inscriptions Deciphered?
- The Limitations of Inscriptional Evidence
Prinsep and Piyadassi
- In the 1830s James Prinsep, an officer in the mint of the East India Company, deciphered Brahmi and Kharosthi, two scripts used in the earliest inscriptions and coins.
- He found that most of these mentioned a king referred to as Piyadassi – meaning “pleasant to behold”. There were a few inscriptions which also referred to the king as Asoka, one of the most famous rulers known from Buddhist texts.
The Earliest States:
The sixteen mahajanapadas:
- The sixth century BCE is an era associated with early states, cities, the growing use of iron, the development of coinage, etc. Early Buddhist and Jaina texts mention, amongst other things, sixteen states known as mahajanapadas.
- Although the lists vary, some names such as Vajji, Magadha, Koshala, Kuru, Panchala, Gandhara and Avanti occur frequently.
- From c. sixth century BCE onwards, Brahmanas began composing Sanskrit texts known as the Dharmasutras. These laid down norms for rulers (as well as for other social categories), who were ideally expected to be Kshatriyas.
- Some states acquired standing armies and maintained regular bureaucracies. Others continued to depend on militia, recruited, more often than not, from the peasantry.
First amongst the sixteen: Magadha:
- Between the sixth and the fourth centuries BCE, Magadha (in present-day Bihar) became the most powerful mahajanapada. It was a region where agriculture was especially productive.
- Besides, it was also rich in natural resources and animals like elephant, which ws an important part of the army, could be procured from the forest spreads of the region.
- Ganga and its tributaries provided a means of cheap and convenient communication. Magadha attributed its power to the policies of individuals: ruthlessly ambitious kings of whom Bimbisara, Ajatasattu and Mahapadma Nanda are the best known, and their ministers, who helped implement their policies.
- Rajagaha (the Prakrit name for presentday Rajgir in Bihar) was the capital of Magadha initially. In the fourth century BCE, the capital was shifted to Pataliputra, present-day Patna.
An Early Empire
- Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around 321 BCE. Expanded control to Afghanistan and Baluchistan. Grandson Asoka conquered Kalinga (present-day coastal Orissa).
Finding out about the Mauryas
- Archaeological finds, especially sculptures. Contemporary works, including an account by Megasthenes, a Greek ambassador. The Arthashastra, possibly composed by Kautilya or Chanakya.
- Mentioned in later Buddhist, Jaina, and Puranic literature. Asoka’s inscriptions on rocks and pillars are valuable sources.
- Asoka inscribed messages on stone surfaces to proclaim his understanding of dhamma. Dhamma included respect for elders, generosity, kindness to slaves, and respect for different religions.
Administering the empire
- Five major political centers: Pataliputra, Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali, and Suvarnagiri. Administrative control likely strongest near the capital and provincial centers. Chosen centers strategically based on trade routes and resources.
- Most Asokan inscriptions in Prakrit language. Brahmi script used for most Prakrit inscriptions. Aramaic and Greek scripts used in the northwest and Afghanistan.
- Diverse regions within the empire made uniform administrative control unlikely. Administrative control likely strongest in areas around the capital and provincial centers. Megasthenes mentions committees coordinating military activity for protection and provision.
- Communication crucial along land and riverine routes. Asoka propagated dhamma to hold the empire together. Special officers (dhamma mahamatta) appointed to spread the message.
How important was the empire?
- The empire lasted about 150 years. Did not cover the entire subcontinent, and control was not uniform. Emergence of new chiefdoms and kingdoms by the second century BCE.
- Nineteenth and early twentieth-century historians considered the Mauryan Empire a major landmark. Asoka was regarded as an inspiring figure, especially by nationalist leaders in the twentieth century.
New Notions of Kingship
Chiefs and kings in the south
- By the second century BCE, new chiefdoms and kingdoms emerged in several parts of the subcontinent.
- This development was mainly seen in the Deccan and further south, including the chiefdoms of the Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas in Tamilakam (the name of the ancient Tamil country, which included parts of present-day Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, in addition to Tamil Nadu), proved to be stable and prosperous.
- Many chiefs and kings, including the Satavahanas who ruled over parts of western and central India (c. second century BCE-second century CE) and the Shakas, a people of Central Asian origin who established kingdoms in the north-western and western parts of the subcontinent, derived revenues from long-distance trade.
Divine kings
- One means of claiming high status was to identify with a variety of deities.
- The Kushanas (c. first century BCEfirst century CE), who ruled over a vast kingdom extending from Central Asia to northwest India followed this strategy. They adopted the title devaputra, or “son of god”, installed colossal statues in shrines.
- By the fourth century there is evidence of larger states, including the Gupta Empire. These states dpended on samantas, men who maintained themselves through local resources including control over land.
- The Prayaga Prashasti (also known as the Allahabad Pillar Inscription) composed in Sanskrit by Harishena, the court poet of Samudragupta, arguably the most powerful of the Gupta rulers (c. fourth century CE).
A Changing Countryside
Popular perceptions of kings
- Anthologies such as the Jatakas and the Panchatantra gave a glimpse of subject-king relation.
- For instance, one story known as the Gandatindu Jataka describes the plight of the subjects of a wicked king.
- Kings frequently tried to fill their coffers by demanding high taxes, and peasants particularly found such demands oppressive.
Strategies for increasing production
- Certain strategies aimed at increasing production to meet growing demand for taxes also were adopted.
- For example, the shift to plough agriculture, which spread in fertile alluvial river valleys such as those of the Ganga and the Kaveri from c. sixth century BCE. Also production of paddy was dramatically increased by the introduction of transplantation.
Differences in rural society
- Another strategy adopted to increase agricultural production was the use of irrigation, through wells and tanks, and less commonly, canals.
- The benefits of increased production led to a growing differentiation amongst people engaged in agriculture as it was not equally distributed.
- The stories of Buddhist tradition refers to the term ‘gahapati’ which was often used in Pali texts to designate the second and third categories.
Land grants and new rural elites
- Tamil literature mentions large landowners or vellalar, ploughmen or uzhavar and slaves or adimai. With rising differences questions of control over land must have become crucial, as these were often discussed in legal texts.
- During early centuries of common era, grants of land were made and many of which were recorded in inscriptions. For instance, according to Sanskrit legal texts, women were not supposed to have independent access to resources such as land. Land grants provide some insight into the relationship between cultivators and the state.
Towns and Trade
New cities
- Major towns were located along routes of communication. Some such as Pataliputra were on riverine routes.
- Some were near the coast, from where sea routes began. Many cities like Mathura were bustling centres of commercial, cultural and political activities.
Urban populations: Elites and craftspersons
- A wide range of artefacts have been recovered from the excavations in these areas.
- These include fine pottery bowls and dishes, with a glossy finish, known as Northern Black Polished Ware, probably used by rich people, and ornaments, tools, weapons, vessels, figurines, made of a wide range of materials – gold, silver, copper, bronze, ivory, glass, shell and terracotta.
- By the second century BCE, we find short votive inscriptions in a number of cities. Sometimes, guilds or shrenis, organisations of craft producers and merchants, are mentioned as well.
Trade in the subcontinent and beyond
- From the sixth century BCE, land and river routes criss-crossed the subcontinent and extended in various directions. Rulers often attempted to control the routes, possibly by offering protection for a price.
- Those who traversed these routes included peddlers who probably travelled on foot and merchants who travelled with caravans of bullock carts and pack-animals.
- Spices, especially pepper, were in high demand in the Roman Empire, as were textiles and medicinal plants, and these were all transported across the Arabian Sea to the Mediterranean.
Coins and kings
- Exchanges were facilitated by the introduction of coinage. Punch-marked coins made of silver and copper (c. sixth century BCE onwards) were amongst the earliest to be minted and used.
- Attempts were made to identify the symbols on punch-marked coins with specific ruling dynasties. The first coins to bear the names and images of rulers were issued by the Indo-Greeks, who established control over the north-western part of the subcontinent c. second century BCE.
- The first gold coins were issued c. first century CE by the Kushanas. The widespread use of gold coins indicates the enormous value of the transactions that were taking place. Some of the most spectacular gold coins were issued by the Gupta rulers.
- From c. sixth century CE onwards, finds of gold coins taper off. Coins were also issued by tribal republics such as that of the Yaudheyas of Punjab and Haryana (c. first century CE).
Back to Basics How Are Inscriptions Deciphered?
Deciphering Brahmi
- Most scripts used to write modern Indian languages are derived from Brahmi, the script used in most Asokan inscriptions.
- It was only after decades of painstaking investigations by several epigraphists that James Prinsep was able to decipher Asokan Brahmi in 1838.
How Kharosthi was read
- Kharosthi is the script used in inscriptions in the northwest. The coins of Indo-Greek kings, who ruled over the area (c. second-first centuries BCE), contain the names of kings written in Greek and Kharosthi scripts.
- European scholars who could read the former compared the letters. With Prinsep identifying the language of the Kharosthi inscriptions as Prakrit, it became possible to read longer inscriptions as well.
Historical evidence from inscriptions
- Epigraphists and historians after examining all these inscriptions, and finding that they match in terms of content, style, language and palaeography, come to a conclusion.
- Historians have to constantly assess statements made in inscriptions to judge whether they are true, plausible or exaggerations.
The Limitations of Inscriptional Evidence
- However, it is probably evident that there are limits to what epigraphy can reveal. Sometimes, there are technical limitations, or inscriptions may be damaged or letters missing.
- Besides, it is not always easy to be sure about the exact meaning of the words used in inscriptions.
- Although several thousand inscriptions have been discovered, not all have been deciphered, published and translated.
- Thus epigraphy alone does not provide a full understanding of political and economic history. Also, historians often question both old and new evidence.
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