Vital Villages, thriving towns
Iron tools and agriculture
Use of iron begin in subcontinent around 3000 years ago.
Iron tools found in megalithic burials
2,500 years ago growing use of iron tools
Other steps to increase production Irrigation
Included canals Wells tanks and artificial Lakes
Who lived in The Villages?
Three different kinds of people
In Tamil region Landowners were known as Vellalar
Ordinary ploughmen known as uzhavar
Landless labourers including slaves known as kadaisiyar and adimai
In northern part Village headman known as grama bhojaka
Post was hereditary, He was powerful.
Function as Judge sometimes as a policeman
Independent Farmers known as grihapatis
Other men and women such as Dasa karmakara Who did not own land Working on fields owned by others.
Sangam literature earliest Works in Tamil
Composed 2300 years ago
Sangam because supposed to have been composed and compiled in assemblies (known as sangams) Of poets that were held in city of madurai.
Finding out about cities stories Travelers culture and archaeology
Jatakas
Stories composed by Ordinary People written down and preserved by Buddhist monks
Sculptors of scenes depicting people's live in towns and villages
Used to decorate railings pillars and gateways of buildings
In many cities archaeologists found rows of ports or ceramic rings arranged one on top of others known as ring Wells.
Used as toilets drains and garbage dumps
Usually in individual houses
Another way of finding Early cities from accounts of sailors and travelers who visited them.
Coins
Thousands of coins belong to this period
Earliest coins which were in use for about 500 years where punch marked coins.
Generally rectangular, sometimes square or round
Coins were not inscribed But stamped with symbols using dies or punches
Cities with many functions
Mathura
Important settlement 2500 years
Located at Crossroads of two major routes of travel and trade.
North West to the east north to south
Fortification around the city
Extremely fine sculpture was produced
Two thousand years ago Became second capital of kushanas
Religious Center
Buddhist monasteries, jainas shrines
Important center for worship of Krishna
Inscriptions on stones and slabs
Crafts and crafts persons
Fine Pottery known as Northern black polished ware(found in northern part)
Craft persons and Merchants now formed Association known as shrenis
Shrenis is also served as Banks where rich men and women deposited money.
A closer look- Arikamedu
In puducherry
Between 2200 and 1900 years ago.
Arikamedu was a coastal settlement. Where ships unloaded goods and from distant lands.
Warehouse found
Pottery from Mediterranean region such as amphorae and stamped the red glazed Pottery known as Arretine ware(named after city in Italy)
Roman lamps glassware and gems found
Small tanks Probably for dyeing Vats used to dye cloth.
Making of beads from semi-precious stones and glass.
Chapter 10
Traders Kings and pilgrims
South India famous for gold spices especially pepper
Pepper valued in Roman Empire so called Black Gold.
Many Traders carried this to Rome.
New kingdoms along the coasts
Kaveri is the most fertile River Valley
Chiefs and Kings who controlled the river valleys and coasts became rich and Powerful
Sangam poems mentioned the muvendar(Tamil word meaning three Chiefs)
Used for ruling families cholas cheras and pandyas
Became powerful around 2300 years ago.
Each had two centers of power one Inland and one on the coast.
Of these six cities, 2 are very important-
puhar or kaveripattinam(The port of cholas)
And Madurai capital of pandyas.
Chiefs did not collect regular taxes, they demanded and received gifts from the people.
Satavahana
Around 200 years later a Dynasty known as the satavahanas became powerful in Western India.
Important ruler Gautami Putra shri satakarni
About him in inscription composed on behalf of his mother gautami Balashri.
Satavahana rulers known as Lord of dakshinapath(Route leading to South)
The story of silk route
Making silk is a complicated process.
Raw silk extracted from the cocoons of silkworm
Spun into thread And then woven into cloth.
First invented in China around 7,000 years ago.
Remained as a secret for thousands of years.
People from China who went to distant lands on foot horseback carried silk with them.
The path they followed came to be known as the silk route.
It was very expensive.
Some Kings tried to control large portions of the route could to benefit from taxes
In return they provided protection.
Best known rulers kushanas- Controlled silk route (2000 years ago)
Ruled central asia and north west
2 Major centers of power- Peshawar and mathura
Earliest rulers to issue gold coins
Spread of Buddhism
Famous kushana ruler kanishka(Ruled 1900 years ago)
Organized Buddhist council
Ashvaghosa Composed Buddhacharita
(Writting in Sanskrit)
New form of Buddhism known as Mahayana Now developed.
Two distinct features-
1) Earlier Buddhist presence shown in sculpture By certain signs
Example attainment of enlightenment shown by sculptures of people tree
Now Statues of Buddhas were made
Many in mathura Others in taxila
2) Second change Belief in bodhisattvas- Person who had attained enlightenment They could leave in complete isolation and meditation in Peace.
However, instead of doing that they remained in the world to teach and help other people.
The quest of pilgrims
Holy places
Best known Chinese Buddhist pilgrims
Fa xian(600 years ago)
Xuan Zang(1400 yrs ago)
I-Qing(fifty years after xuan Jang)
To visit famous monasteries
They wrote about the monasteries they visited.
Xuan zang
Carried statue of Buddha made of gold and silver and Sandalwood and over 600 manuscripts
Nalanda
Unique Center of Buddhist learning In Bihar
Most famous Buddhist Monastery of the period
Beginning of bhakti
Dieties became Central feature of later Hinduism
Shiva Vishnu and goddesses such as Durga
Idea that that became popular- bhakti as devotion to his or her chosen diety
Anybody High or low caste, man or woman could follow the path of bhakti.
Dieties Placed within special homes- described as temples.
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