CHAPTER 1

What, Where, How and When?

What is History?
 History is the study of change over time, and it covers all aspects of human society.
 Political, social, economic, scientific, technological, medical, cultural, intellectual, religious and
military developments are all part of history.

Why Study History?

 History is not just about the past. It is about the present. The society we live in has been
fashioned by those who came before us.
 The joys and sorrows of their daily lives, their attempt to grapple with the problems of their
time, their discoveries and inventions, slowly transformed human societies.
 By reading history we can understand how the modern world has emerged over long centuries
of development
 There are several things we can find out — what people ate, the kinds of clothes they wore, the
houses in which they lived, in the past.

Where people lived in past?

 People have lived along the banks of rivers for several hundred thousand years.
 They were mainly the people who gathered their food (gatherers). They also hunted animals.
 Archaeologists have found some of the things hunter-gatherers made and used. It is likely that
people made and used tools of stone, wood and bone, of which stone tools have survived best.
Some sites are below:

 The Sulaiman and Kirthar hills to the northwest are some of the areas where women and men
first began to grow crops such as wheat and barley about 8000 years ago.
 These were some of the other areas where agriculture developed. The places where rice was
first grown are to the north of the Vindhyas.
 About 4700 years ago, some of the earliest cities flourished on the banks of Indus River.
  Later, about 2500 years ago, cities developed on the banks of the Ganga and its tributaries, and
along the sea coasts.
 Sometimes men marched in armies, conquering others' lands. Besides, merchants travelled with
caravans or ships, carrying valuable goods from place to place.
 And religious teachers walked from village to village, town to town, stopping to offer instruction
and advice on the way.
 Finally, some people perhaps travelled driven by a spirit of adventure, wanting to discover new
and exciting places. All these led to the sharing of ideas between people.

How we got our county’s name?

 The word India comes from the Indus, called Sindhu in Sanskrit.
 The Iranians and the Greeks who came through the northwest about 2500 years ago and were
familiar with the Indus, called it the Hindos or the Indos, and the land to the east of the river
was called India.
 The name Bharata was used for a group of people who lived in the north¬west, and who are
mentioned in the Rigveda, the earliest composition in Sanskrit (dated to about 3500 years ago).
Later it was used for the country.

How to know about our past?

 There are several ways of finding out about the past.
 Manuscripts:
o They are the books that were written long ago.
o These were usually written on palm leaf, or on the specially prepared bark of a tree known as
the birch, which grows in the Himalayas.
o These books dealt with all kinds of subjects: religious beliefs and practices, the lives of kings,
medicine and science. Besides, there were epics, poems, plays.
o Many of these were written in Sanskrit, others were in Prakrit (languages used by ordinary
people) and Tamil.

 Inscriptions:
o These are writings on relatively hard surfaces such as stone or metal. Sometimes, kings got
their orders inscribed so that people could see, read and obey them.
o There are other kinds of inscriptions as well, where men and women (including kings and
queens) recorded what they did.
o For example, kings often kept records of victories in battle
The above inscription dates to about 2250 years ago, and was found in Kandahar, present-day
Afghanistan. It was inscribed on the orders of a ruler named Ashoka

 Archaeologists: They study past human activity by excavating, dating and interpreting objects
and sites of historical interest. They implement excavation projects, informally known as digs,
preserve archaelogical remains and collect data that informs their understanding of the past.
 Historians: They are the scholars who study the past, often use the word source to refer to the
information found from manuscripts, inscriptions and archaeology.

CHAPTER 2
On the trail of the earliest people
Rock paintings
 Many of the caves in which these early people lived have paintings on the walls. Some of the
best examples are from Madhya Pradesh and southern Uttar Pradesh.
 These paintings show wild animals, drawn with great accuracy and skill

Names and dates

 Archaeologists have given lengthy names for the time that we are studying.
 Palaeolithic:
o Archaeologists call the earliest period the Palaeolithic.
o The name points to the importance of finds of stone tools.
o The Palaeolithic period extends from 2 million years ago to about 12,000 years ago. This long
stretch of time is divided into the Lower, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic.
o This long span of time covers 99% of human history
 Mesolithic:
o The period when we find environmental changes, beginning about 12,000 years ago till about
10,000 years ago is called the Mesolithic (middle stone).
o Stone tools found during this period are generally tiny, and are called microliths.
 The next stage, from about 10,000 years ago, is known as the Neolithic
Changing environment
 Around 12,000 years ago, there were major changes in the climate of the world, with a shift to
relatively warm conditions.
 In many areas, this led to the development of grasslands. This in turn led to an increase in the
number of deer, antelope, goat, sheep and cattle, i.e. animals that survived on grass.
 Those who hunted these animals now followed them, learning about their food habits and their
breeding seasons.
 It is likely that this helped people to start thinking about herding and rearing these animals
themselves. Fishing also became important.

The beginning of farming and herding

 This was also a time when several grain bearing grasses, including wheat, barley and rice grew
naturally in different parts of the subcontinent
 This may have led people to think about growing plants on their own. In this way people became
farmers.
 People could also attract and then tame animals by leaving food for them near their shelters.
The first animal to be tamed was the wild ancestor of the dog.
 Often, people protected these animals from attacks by other wild animals. This is how they
became herders

CHAPTER 3
From Gathering to Growing Food
A new way of life
 When people began growing plants, it meant that they had to stay in the same place for a long
time.
 As grain had to be stored for both food and seed, people had to think of ways of storing it. In
many areas, they began making large clay pots, or wove baskets, or dug pits into the ground.
First farmers and herders
 Archaeologists have found evidence of early farmers and herders. These are found all over the
subcontinent.
 Some of the most important ones are in the north-west, in present-day Kashmir, and in east
and south India

Settled life
 Archaeologists have found traces of huts or houses at some sites. For instance, in Burzahom (in
present-day Kashmir) people built pit-houses, which were dug into the ground, with steps
leading into them. These may have provided shelter in cold weather.
 Archaeologists have also found cooking hearths both inside and outside the huts, which
suggests that, depending on the weather, people could cook food either indoors or outdoors.

Mehrgarh
 Mehrgarh was probably one of the places where people learnt to grow barley and wheat, and
rear sheep and goats for the first time in this area.
 It is one of the earliest villages that we know about. At this site many animal bones were found.
Bones of wild animals such as the deer and pig, and also bones of sheep and goat were found.
  Other finds at Mehrgarh include remains of square or rectangular houses. Each house had four
or more compartments, some of which may have been used for storage.

CHAPTER 4
In the earliest cities
Harappa Cities
 These cities developed about 4700 years ago.
 These cities were found in the Punjab and Sind in Pakistan, and in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana
and the Punjab in India.
 Archaeologists have found a set of unique objects in almost all these cities: red pottery painted
with designs in black, stone weights, seals, special beads, copper tools, and paralleled sided long
stone blades.

Features of Harappan cities

 Many of these cities were divided into two or more parts. Usually, the part to the west was
smaller but higher. Archaeologists describe this as the citadel.
 Generally, the part to the east was larger but lower. This is called the lower town. Very often
walls of baked brick were built around each part.
 The bricks were so well baked that they have lasted for thousands of years. The bricks were laid
in an interlocking pattern and that made the walls strong.
 In some cities, special buildings were constructed on the citadel. For example, in Mohenjodaro,
a very special tank, which archaeologists call the Great Bath, was built in this area. Perhaps
important people took a dip in this tank on special occasions.
 Other cities, such as Kalibangan and Lothal had fire altars, where sacrifices may have been
performed. And some cities like Mohenjodaro, Harappa, and Lothal had elaborate store houses.
 Generally, houses were either one or two storeys high, with rooms built around a courtyard.
Most houses had a separate bathing area, and some had wells to supply water.
 Many of these cities had covered drains.

Life in the city

 A Harappan city was a very busy place. There were people who planned the construction of
special buildings in the city. These were probably the rulers
 There were scribes, people who knew how to write, who helped prepare the seals.
  There were men and women, crafts persons, making all kinds of things — either in their own
homes, or in special workshops.
 Many terracotta toys have been found and children must have played with these.

Crafts
 Most of the things that have been found by archaeologists are made of stone, shell and metal,
including copper, bronze, gold and silver.
 Copper and bronze were used to make tools, weapons, ornaments and vessels.
 Gold and silver were used to make ornaments and vessels.
 Perhaps the most striking finds are those of beads, weights, and blades.
 The Harappans also made seals out of stone.
 Archaeologists have also found spindle whorls, made of terracotta and faience. These were
used to spin thread.

A stone statue of an important man found from Mohenjodaro shows him wearing an
embroidered garment

Raw materials
 Raw materials are substances that are either found naturally (such as wood, or ores of metals)
or produced by farmers or herders.
  The Harappans probably got copper from present-day Rajasthan, and even from Oman
 Tin, which was mixed with copper to produce bronze, may have been brought from present-day
Afghanistan and Iran. Gold could have come all the way from present-day Karnataka, and
precious stones from present-day Gujarat, Iran and Afghanistan.

Food
 While many people lived in the cities, others living in the countryside grew crops and reared
animals.
 We know from remains of plants that the Harappans grew wheat, barley, pulses, peas, rice,
sesame, linseed and mustard.
 New tool, the plough, was used to dig the earth for turning the soil and planting seeds.
 Water was stored and supplied to the fields when the plants were growing.
 The Harappans reared cattle, sheep, goat and buffalo.
Some facts:
 The city of Dholavira was located on Khadir Beyt in the Rann of Kutch, where there was fresh
water and fertile soil.
 Dholavira was divided into three parts, and each part was surrounded with massive stone walls,
with entrances through gateways.
 The city of Lothal stood beside a tributary of the Sabarmati, in Gujarat, close to the Gulf of
Khambat. There was a dockyard at Lothal.

The mystery of the end

 Around 3900 years ago we find the beginning of a major change. People stopped living in many
of the cities.
 Some scholars suggest that the rivers dried up. Others suggest that there was deforestation.
 In some areas there were floods. But none of these reasons can explain the end of all the cities
 It appears as if the rulers lost control. In any case, the effects of the change are quite clear.
 Sites in Sind and west Punjab (present-day Pakistan) were abandoned, while many people
moved into newer, smaller settlements to the east and the south.

CHAPTER 5
What Books and Burial Tell Us
One of the oldest books in the world
 There are four of them — the Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda.
 The oldest Veda is the Rigveda, composed about 3500 years ago.
 The Rigveda includes more than a thousand hymns, called sukta or “well-said”.
 These hymns are in praise of various gods and goddesses.
 Three gods are especially important: Agni, the god of fire; Indra, a warrior god; and Soma, a
plant from which a special drink was prepared.
 These hymns were composed by sages (rishis).
 Most of the hymns were composed, taught and learnt by men. A few were composed by
women.
  Some of the hymns in the Rigveda are in the form of dialogues. This is part of one such hymn, a
dialogue between a sage named Vishvamitra, and two rivers, (Beas and Sutlej) that were
worshipped as goddesses.

Sanskrit and other languages

 Indo-European languages:
o Sanskrit is part of a family of languages known as Indo-European.
o Some Indian languages such as Assamese, Gujarati, Hindi, Kashmiri and Sindhi; Asian
languages such as Persian and many European languages such as English, French, German,
Greek, Italian and Spanish belong to this family.
o They are called a family because they originally had words in common.
 Other families
o Other languages used in the subcontinent belong to different families.
o For instance, those used in the north-east belong to the Tibeto-Burman family; Tamil, Telugu,
Kannada and Malayalam belong to the Dravidian family;
o The languages spoken in Jharkhand and parts of central India belong to the Austro-Asiatic
family.

Important facts about Vedic Society

 Vedas suggest that in vedic society horses and cows were valued animals
 Rivers, especially the Indus and its other tributaries, and the Sarasvati, are also named in the
hymns.
 The Ganga and Yamuna are named only once.
 There are many prayers in the Rigveda for cattle, children (especially sons), and horses.
 Horses were yoked to chariots that were used in battles, which were fought to capture cattle.
 Battles were also fought for land, which was important for pasture, and for growing hardy crops
that ripened quickly, such as barley.
 Some battles were fought for water, and to capture people.
 Some of the wealth that was obtained was kept by the leaders, some was given to the priests
and the rest was distributed amongst the people.
 Some wealth was used for the performance of yajnas or sacrifices in which offerings were made
into the fire. These were meant for gods and goddesses.
 Offerings could include ghee, grain, and in some cases, animals.
 Most men took part in these wars.
 There was no regular army, but there were assemblies where people met and discussed matters
of war and peace.
  They also chose leaders, who were often brave and skilful warriors.

Words to describe people

 In Rig Veda There are two groups who are described in terms of their work — the priests,
sometimes called brahmins, who performed various rituals, and the rajas.
 Rajas did not have capital cities, palaces or armies, nor did they collect taxes.
 Generally, sons did not automatically succeed fathers as rajas.
 Two words were used to describe the people or the community as a whole. One was the word
jana, which we still use in Hindi and other languages. The other was vish. The word vaishya
comes from vish.
 Example- Bharata jana or vish, the Yadu jana or vish.
 The people who composed the hymns described themselves as Aryas and called their opponents
Dasas or Dasyus. These were people who did not perform sacrifices, and probably spoke
different languages.
 Later, the term dasa (and the feminine dasi) came to mean slave.
 Slaves were women and men who were often captured in war.
 They were treated as the property of their owners, who could make them do whatever work
they wanted.
A special burial at Inamgaon
 Inamgaon is a site on the river Ghod, a tributary of the Bhima. It was occupied between 3600
and 2700 years ago. Here, adults were generally buried in the ground, laid out straight, with the
head towards the north.
 Sometimes burials were within the houses. Vessels that probably contained food and water
were placed with the dead.

CHAPTER 6
Kingdoms, King and Early Republics
How some men became rulers?
 The rajas veidc period were probably chosen by the jana, the people.
 But, around 3000 years ago, we find some changes taking place in the ways in which rajas were
chosen. Some men now became recognised as rajas by performing very big sacrifices. The
ashvamedha or horse sacrifice was one such ritual
 The raja was a central figure in these rituals.
 He often had a special seat, a throne or a tiger skin.
 His charioteer, who was his companion in the battle field and witnessed his exploits, chanted
tales of his glory.
 His relatives, especially his wives and sons, had to perform a variety of minor rituals. The other
rajas were simply spectators who had to sit and watch the performance of the sacrifice.
 Priests performed the rituals including the sprinkling of sacred water on the king.
 The ordinary people, the vish or vaishya, also brought gifts.
 However, some people, such as those who were regarded as shudras by the priests, were
excluded from many rituals
Varnas
 In later vedic period The priests divided people into four groups, called varnas. According to
them, each varna had a different set of functions.
1. The first varna was that of the brahmin. Brahmins were expected to study (and teach) the
Vedas, perform sacrifices and receive gifts.
2. In the second place were the rulers, also known as kshatriyas. They were expected to fight
battles and protect people.
3. Third were the vish or the vaishyas. They were expected to be farmers, herders, and traders.
4. Last were the shudras, who had to serve the other three groups and could not perform any
rituals.

Janapadas
 The rajas who performed these big sacrifices were now recognised as being rajas of janapadas
rather than janas.
 The word janapada literally means the land where the jana set its foot, and settled down.
 Archaeologists have excavated a number of settlements in these janapadas, such as Purana Qila
in Delhi, Hastinapura near Meerut, and Atranjikhera, near Etah (the last two are in Uttar
Pradesh).
 Pottery:
o People made earthen pots.
o Some of these were grey in colour, others were red.
o One special type of pottery found at these sites is known as Painted Grey Ware. As is obvious
from the name, these grey pots had painted designs, usually simple lines and geometric
patterns

Mahajanapadas
 About 2500 years ago, some janapadas became more important than others, and were known
as mahoyanapadas.
 Most mahajanapadas had a capital city, many of these were fortified.
 The new rajas now began maintaining armies.
 Soldiers were paid regular salaries and maintained by the king throughout the year.
 Some payments were probably made using punch marked coins

Magadh
 Magadha became the most important mahajanapada in about two hundred years.
 Reasons
o Many rivers such as the Ganga and Son flowed through Magadha. This was important for (a)
transport, (b) water supplies (c) making the land fertile.
o Parts of Magadha were forested. Elephants, which lived in the forest, could be captured and
trained for the army.
o Forests also provided wood for building houses, carts and chariots.
o There were iron ore mines in the region that could be tapped to make strong tools and
weapons.
 Rulers
o Magadha had two very powerful rulers, Bimbisara and Ajatasattu, who used all possible
means to conquer other janapadas.
o Mahapadma Nanda was another important ruler.
 o
He extended his control up to the north-west part of the subcontinent
 Capital
o Rajagriha (present-day Rajgir) in Bihar was the capital of Magadha for several years.
o Later the capital was shifted to Pataliputra (present-day Patna)

Vajji
 Vajji with its capital at Vaishali (Bihar), was under a different form of government, known as
gana or sangha.
 In a gana or a sangha there were not one, but many rulers.
 Sometimes, even when thousands of men ruled together, each one was known as a raja.
 These rajas performed rituals together. They also met in assemblies, and decided what had to
be done and how, through discussion and debate.
 For example, if they were attacked by an enemy, they met to discuss what should be done to
meet the threat.
 However, women, dasas and kammakaras could not participate in these assemblies.
 Rajas of powerful kingdoms tried to conquer the sanghas.

Taxes
 As the rulers of the mahajanapadas were building huge forts and maintaining big armies, they
needed more resources. And they needed officials to collect these.
 So, instead of depending on occasional gifts brought by people, as in the case of the raja of the
janapadas, they started collecting regular taxes.
 Some taxes were
o Taxes on crops were the most important
o There were taxes on crafts persons
o There were also taxes on goods that were bought and sold, through trade
o There were taxes on Herders
o There were taxes on hunters and gatherers

Changes in agriculture
 There were two major changes in agriculture around this time.
1. Growing use of iron ploughshares: This meant that heavy, clayey soil could be turned over
better than with a wooden ploughshare, so that more grain could be produced.
2. People began transplanting paddy: This meant that instead of scattering seed on the ground,
from which plants would sprout, saplings were grown and then planted in the fields. This led
to increased production, as many more plants survived
 Generally, slave men and women, (dasas and dasis) and landless agricultural labourers
(kammakaras) had to do this work
 CHAPTER 7
New Questions and Ideas
Buddha
 Siddhartha, also known as Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, was born about 2500 years ago. .
 The Buddha belonged to a small gana known as the Sakya gana, and was a kshatriya.
 When he was a young man, he left the comforts of his home in search of knowledge.
 He wandered for several years, meeting and holding discussions with other thinkers.
 He finally decided to find his own path to realisation, and meditated for days on end under a
peepal tree at Bodh Gaya in Bihar, where he attained enlightenment.
 After that, he was known as the Buddha or the Wise One.
 He then went to Sarnath, near Varanasi, where he taught for the first time.
 He spent the rest of his life travelling on foot, going from place to place, teaching people, till he
passed away at Kusinara.

Teachings of Buddha
 The Buddha taught that life is full of suffering and unhappiness.
 This is caused because we have cravings and desires (which often cannot be fulfilled).
 Sometimes, even if we get what we want, we are not satisfied, and want even more (or want
other things).
 The Buddha described this as thirst or tanha.
 He taught that this constant craving could be removed by following moderation in everything.
 He also taught people to be kind, and to respect the lives of others, including animals.
 He believed that the results of our actions (called karma), whether good or bad, affect us both in
this life and the next.
 The Buddha taught in the language of the ordinary people, Prakrit, so that everybody could
understand his message.

Stupa at Sarnath
Buddhist Sangh
 The rules made for the Buddhist sangha were written down in a book called the Vinaya Pitaka.
 From this we know that there were separate branches for men and women.
o All men could join the sangha
o Men and women who joined the sangha led simple lives.
 o They meditated for most of the time, and went to cities and villages to beg for food during
fixed hours. That is why they were known as bhikkhus.
 Those who joined the sangha included brahmins, kshatriyas, merchants, labourers, barbers,
courtesans and slaves.

Monasteries
 Many supporters of the monks and nuns, and they themselves, felt the need for permanent
shelters and so monasteries were built. These were known as viharas.
 The earliest viharas were made of wood, and then of brick. Some were even in caves that were
dug out in hills, especially in western India.

The spread of Buddhism- Mahayan Buddhism

 The most famous Kushana ruler was Kanishka, who ruled around 1900 years ago. He organised a
Buddhist council, where scholars met and discussed important matters.
 Ashvaghosha, a poet who composed a biography of the Buddha, the Buddhacharita, lived in his
court. Ashvaghosha and other Buddhist scholars now began writing in Sanskrit.
 A new form of Buddhism, known as Mahayana Buddhism, now developed. This had two distinct
features.
1. Earlier, the Buddha's presence was shown in sculpture by using certain signs. For instance, his
attainment of enlightenment was shown by sculptures of the peepal tree.
2. The second change was a belief in Bodhisattvas. These were supposed to be persons who had
attained enlightenment. Once they attained enlightenment, they could live in complete
isolation and meditate in peace.
 The worship of Bodhisattvas became very popular, and spread throughout Central Asia, China,
and later to Korea and Japan.
 Buddhism also spread south eastwards, to Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, and other parts of
Southeast Asia including Indonesia. The older form of Buddhism, known as Theravada Buddhism
was more popular in these areas

Buddhist pilgrims
 As traders journeyed to distant lands in caravans and ships, pilgrims often travelled with them.
 The best-known of these are the Chinese Buddhist pilgrims, Fa Xian, who came to the
subcontinent about 1600 years ago, Xuan Zang (who came around 1400 years ago) and I-Qing,
who came about 50 years after Xuan Zang. They came to visit places associated with the life of
the Buddha as well as famous monasteries.
 Each of these pilgrims left an account of his journey. They wrote of the dangers they
encountered on their travels, which often took years, of the countries and the monasteries that
they visited, and the books they carried back with them

Six Schools of Indian Philosophy

 Over centuries, India's intellectual exploration of truth has come to be represented by six
systems of philosophy.
 These are known as Vaishesika, Nyaya, Samkhya, Yoga, Purva Mimansa and Vedanta or
Uttara Mimansa.
 These six systems of philosophy are said to have been founded by sages Konada, Gotama,
Kapila, Patanjali, Jaimini and Vyasa, respectively.
Upanishads
 Many thinkers felt that there was something permanent in the universe that would last even
after death.
 They described this as the atman or the individual soul and the brahman or the universal soul.
They believed that ultimately, both the atman and the brahman were one.
 Many of their ideas were recorded in the Upanishads. These were part of the later Vedic texts.
Upanishad literally means 'approaching and sitting near' and the texts contain conversations
between teachers and students.
 Most Upanishadic thinkers were men, especially brahmins and rajas.
 Occasionally, there is mention of women thinkers, such as Gargi, who was famous for her
learning, and participated in debates held in royal courts. Poor people rarely took part in these
discussions.
 One famous exception was Satyakama Jabala, who was named after his mother, the slave
woman Jabali.
 He had a deep desire to learn about reality, was accepted as a student by a brahmin teacher
named Gautama, and became one of the best-known thinkers of the time.
 Many of the ideas of the Upanishads were later developed by the famous thinker
Shankaracharya.

Jainism
 The last and 24th tirthankara of the Jainas, Vardhamana Mahavira, also spread his message
around this time, i.e. 2500 years ago.
 He was a kshatriya prince of the Lichchhavis, a group that was part of the Vajji sangha
 At the age of thirty, he left home and went to live in a forest. For twelve years he led a hard and
lonely life, at the end of which he attained enlightenment.

Teachings of Jainism
 Mahavira taught a simple doctrine: men and women who wished to know the truth must leave
their homes.
 They must follow very strictly the rules of ahimsa, which means not hurting or killing living
beings.
 Ordinary people could understand the teachings of Mahavira and his followers, because they
used Prakrit.
 There were several forms of Prakrit, used in different parts of the country, and named after the
regions in which they were used.
 Followers of Mahavira, who were known as Jainas, had to lead very simple lives, begging for
food.
 They had to be absolutely honest, and were especially asked not to steal. Also, they had to
observe celibacy. And men had to give up everything, including their clothes.

Popularity of Jainism
 Jainism was supported mainly by traders. Farmers, who had to kill insects to protect their crops,
found it more difficult to follow the rules.
 Over hundreds of years, Jainism spread to different parts of north India, and to Gujarat, Tamil
Nadu and Karnataka.
 The teachings of Mahavira and his followers were transmitted orally for several centuries.
  They were written down in the form in which they are presently available at a place called
Valabhi, in Gujarat, about 1500 years ago.
Some Facts:
 Ashramas: Four ashramas were recognised:
1. brahmacharya,
2. grihastha,
3. vanaprastha and
4. samnyasa.
 Brahmacharya: Brahmin, kshatriya and vaishya men were expected to lead simple lives and
study the Vedas during the early years of their life
 Grihastha: They had to marry and live as householders.
 Vanaprastha: They had to live in the forest and meditate.
 Samnyasins: They had to give up everything and become samnyasins.
 The system of ashramas allowed men to spend some part of their lives in meditation.
 Generally, women were not allowed to study the Vedas, and they had to follow the ashramas
chosen by their husbands.

CHAPTER 8
Ashoka, the emperor who gave up war
Kingdom of Ashoka
 Ashoka was one of the greatest rulers known to history and on his instructions inscriptions were
inscribed on pillars, as well as on rock surfaces.
 The empire that Ashoka ruled was founded by his grandfather, Chandragupta Maurya, more
than 2300 years ago. Chandragupta was supported by a wise man named Chanakya or Kautilya.
 Many of Chanakya's ideas were written down in a book called the Arthashastra.
 There were several cities in the empire. These included the capital Pataliputra, Taxila, and
Ujjain.
 Taxila was a gateway to the northwest, including Central Asia, while Ujjain lay on the route from
north to south India. Merchants, officials and crafts persons probably lived in these cities.
 In other areas there were villages of farmers and herders. In some areas such as central India,
there were forests where people gathered forest produce and hunted animals for food.
Ruling vast kingdom
 The area around Pataliputra was under the direct control of the emperor. This meant that
officials were appointed to collect taxes from farmers, herders, crafts persons and traders, who
lived in villages and towns in the area.
 Officials also punished those who disobeyed the ruler's orders. Many of these officials were
given salaries.
 Messengers went to and fro, and spies kept a watch on the officials. And of course the emperor
supervised them all, with the help of members of the royal family, and senior ministers.
 There were other areas or provinces. Each of these was ruled from a provincial capital such as
Taxila or Ujjain.
 Although there was some amount of control from Pataliputra, and royal princes were often sent
as governors, local customs and rules were probably followed.
 Besides, there were vast areas between these centres. Here the Mauryas tried to control roads
and rivers, which were important for transport, and to collect whatever resources were
available as tax and tribute.
 There were also the forested regions. People living in these areas were more or less
independent, but may have been expected to provide elephants, timber, honey and wax to
Mauryan officials.

Megasthenes
 Megasthenes was an ambassador who was sent to the court of Chandragupta by the Greek ruler
of West Asia named Seleucus Nicator.
 Megasthenes wrote an account about what he saw in Ashokan Empire.

Ashoka's war in Kalinga

 Kalinga is the ancient name of coastal Orissa.
 Ashoka fought a war to conquer Kalinga.
 However, he was so horrified when he saw the violence and bloodshed that he decided not to
fight any more wars.
 He is the only king in the history of the world who gave up conquest after winning a war.

Ashoka's dhamma
 Ashoka's dhamma did not involve worship of a god, or performance of a sacrifice.
 He felt that just as a father tries to teach his children, he had a duty to instruct his subjects. He
was also inspired by the teachings of the Buddha
 There were a number of problems that troubled him. People in the empire followed different
religions, and this sometimes led to conflict. Animals were sacrificed.
 Ashoka felt it was his duty to solve these problems. So, he appointed officials, known as the
dhamma mahamatta who went from place to place teaching people about dhamma.
 Besides, Ashoka got his messages inscribed on rocks and pillars, instructing his officials to read
his message to those who could not read it themselves
 CHAPTER 9
Vital villages and thriving towns
Life in the villages
 Southern part of the country
o There were at least three different kinds of people living in most villages in the southern and
northern parts of the subcontinent.
o In the Tamil region, large landowners were known as vellalar, ordinary ploughmen were
known as uzhavar, and landless labourers, including slaves, were known as kadaisiyar and
adimai.
 Northern part of the country- Gram Bhojaka
o In the northern part of the country, the village headman was known as the grama bhojaka.
o Usually, men from the same family held the position for generations.
o In other words, the post was hereditary. The grama bhojaka was often the largest landowner.
o Generally, he had slaves and hired workers to cultivate the land.
o Besides, as he was powerful, the king often used him to collect taxes from the village.
o He also functioned as a judge, and sometimes as a policeman.
o Apart from the gramabhojaka, there were other independent farmers, known as grihapatis,
most of whom were smaller landowners.

Coins
 Archaeologists have found several thousands of coins belonging to this period. The earliest coins
which were in use for about 500 years were punch marked coins.
 Punch-marked coins were generally rectangular or sometimes square or round in shape, either
cut out of metal sheets or made out of flattened metal globules (a small spherical body).
 The coins were not inscribed, but were stamped with symbols using dies or punches. Hence,
they are called punch-marked coins.

Crafts and crafts persons

 We also have archaeological evidence for crafts. These include extremely fine pottery, known as
the Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW).
 It developed beginning around 700 BCE, in the late Vedic period, and peaked from c. 500–300
BCE, coinciding with the emergence of 16 great states or Mahajanapada in Northern India, and
the subsequent rise of the Mauryan Empire.

Guilds of Ancient India

 Shreni, in the context of Ancient India, was an association of traders, merchants, and artisans.
Generally, a separate shreni existed for a particular group of persons engaged in the same
vocation or activity.
 Typically, these groups were egalitarian. They worked in the interest of the people in it.
 However, there were positions within a Shreni, made to ensure its smooth functioning.

Trade and traders

 South India was famous for gold, spices, especially pepper, and precious stones.
  Pepper was particularly valued in the Roman Empire, so much so that it was known as black
gold. So, traders carried many of these goods to Rome in ships, across the sea, and by land in
caravans.
 There must have been quite a lot of trade as many Roman gold coins have been found in south
India
 Traders explored several sea routes. Some of these followed the coasts.
 There were others across the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, where sailors took advantage
of the monsoon winds to cross the seas more quickly.

CHAPTER 10
Traders, Kings and pilgrims
New kingdoms along the coasts
 The southern half of the subcontinent is marked by a long coastline, and with hills, plateaus, and
river valleys. Amongst the river valleys, that of the Kaveri is the most fertile.
 Chiefs and kings who controlled the river valleys and the coasts became rich and powerful.
 Sangam poems mention the muvendar. This is a Tamil word meaning three chiefs, used for the
heads of three ruling families, the Cholas, Cheras, and Pandyas, who became powerful in south
India around 2300 years ago.
 Each of the three chiefs had two centres of power: one inland, and one on the coast.
 Of these six cities, two were very important: Puhar or Kaveripattinam, the port of the Cholas,
and Madurai, the capital of the Pandyas.
 Around 200 years later a dynasty known as the Satavahanas became powerful in western India.
 The most important ruler of the Satavahanas was Gautamiputra Shri Satakarni. We know about
him from an inscription composed on behalf of his mother, Gautami Balashri.
 He and other Satavahana rulers were known as lords of the dakshinapatha, literally the route
leading to the south, which was also used as a name for the entire southern region.

Silk Route
 The Silk Road or Silk Route was an ancient network of trade routes that were central to cultural
interaction through regions of the Asian continent connecting the West and East from China to
the Mediterranean Sea.
 The Silk Road routes stretched from China through India, Asia Minor, up throughout
Mesopotamia, to Egypt, the African continent, Greece, Rome, and Britain.
 Some kings tried to control large portions of the route. This was because they could benefit
from taxes, tributes and gifts that were brought by traders travelling along the route.
 In return, they often protected the traders who passed through their kingdoms from attacks by
robbers

The beginning of Bhakti

 This was also the time when the worship of certain deities, which became a central feature of
later Hinduism, gained in importance. These deities included Shiva, Vishnu, and goddesses such
as Durga.
 These deities were worshipped through Bhakti, an idea that became very popular at this time.
Bhakti is generally understood as a person's devotion to his or her chosen deity. Anybody,
whether rich or poor, belonging to the so-called `high' or 'low' castes, man or woman, could
follow the path of Bhakti.
  The idea of Bhakti is present in the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred book of the Hindus, which is
included in the Mahabharata.
 Those who followed the system of Bhakti emphasised devotion and individual worship of a god
or goddess, rather than the performance of elaborate sacrifices.
 Once this idea gained acceptance, artists made beautiful images of these deities.
 Bhakti inspired some of the best expressions in art-sculpture, poetry and architecture.

CHAPTER 11
New Empires and Kingdoms
Prashastis
 We know about Samudragupta from a long inscription, inscribed on the Ashokan pillar at
Allahabad. It was composed as a Kavya by Harishena, who was a poet and a minister at the
court of Samudragupta.
 This inscription is of a special kind known as a prashasti, a Sanskrit word, meaning 'in praise of’.

Samudragupta Prashastis
 Harishena describes four different kinds of rulers, and tells us about Samudragupta's policies
towards them.
1. The rulers of Aryavarta, the area shaded in green on the map. Here there were nine rulers
who were uprooted, and their kingdoms were made a part of Samudragupta's empire.
2. The rulers of Dakshinapatha. Here there were twelve rulers, some of whose capitals are
marked with red dots on the map. They surrendered to Samudragupta after being defeated
and he then allowed them to rule again.
3. The inner circle of neighbouring states, including Assam, coastal Bengal, Nepal, and a number
of gana sanghas in the north- west, marked in purple on the map. They brought tribute,
followed his orders, and attended his court.
4. The rulers of the outlying areas, marked in blue on the map, perhaps the descendants of the
Kushanas and Shakas, and the ruler of Sri Lanka, who submitted to him and offered daughters
in marriage.

Genealogies
 Most prashastis also mention the ancestors of the ruler. This one mentions Samudragupta's
great grandfather, grandfather, father and mother.
  His mother, Kumara devi, belonged to the Lichchhavi gana, while his father, Chandragupta, was
the first ruler of the Gupta dynasty to adopt the grand title of maharaj-adhiraja, a title that
Samudragupta also used.

Vikram Samvat
 The era beginning in the 58 BCE is traditionally associated with Gupta king.
 Chandragupta II, who had founded it as a mark of victory over the Shakas and assumed the title
Vikramaditya.

Harshavardhana and the Harshacharita

 While we can learn about the Gupta rulers from their inscriptions and coins, we can find out
about some kings from biographies.
 Harshavardhana, who ruled nearly 1400 years ago, was one such ruler.
 His court poet, Banabhatta, wrote his biography, the Harshacharita, in Sanskrit.
 This gives us the genealogy of Harsha, and ends with his becoming king. Xuan Zang, also spent a
lot of time at Harsha's court and left a detailed account of what he saw.
 Although he was successful in the east, and conquered Magadha and probably Bengal also, he
was not as successful elsewhere.
 He tried to cross the Narmada to march into the Deccan, but was stopped by a ruler belonging
to the Chalukya dynasty, Pulakeshin II.

The Pallavas, Chalukyas and Pulakeshin's prashasti

 The Pallavas and Chalukyas were the most important ruling dynasties in south India during this
period.
 The kingdom of the Pallavas spread from the region around their capital, Kanchipuram, to the
Kaveri delta, while that of the Chalukyas was centred around the Raichur Doab, between the
rivers Krishna and Tungabhadra.
 Aihole, the capital of the Chalukyas, was an important trading centre It developed as a religious
centre, with a number of temples.
 The Pallavas and Chalukyas frequently raided one another's lands, especially attacking the
capital cities, which were prosperous towns.
 The best-known Chalukya ruler was Pulakeshin II. We know about him from a prashasti,
composed by his court poet Ravikirti.
 This tells us about his ancestors, who are traced back through four generations from father to
son. Pulakeshin evidently got the kingdom from his uncle.

Administration
 As in the case of earlier kings, land revenue remained important for these rulers, and the village
remained the basic unit of administration.
 Kings adopted a number of steps to win the support of men who were powerful, either
economically, or socially, or because of their political and military strength.
 For instance:
1. Some important administrative posts were now hereditary.
2. Sometimes, one person held many offices
3. Besides, important men probably had a say in local administration. These included the nagara-
shreshthi or chief banker or merchant of the city, the sarthavaha or leader of the merchant
 caravans, the prathama kulika or the chief craftsman, and the head of the kayasthas or
scribes.

Army
 Like earlier rulers, some of these kings maintained a well-organised army, with elephants,
chariots, cavalry and foot soldiers.
 Besides, there were military leaders who provided the king with troops whenever he needed
them. They were not paid regular salaries. Instead, some of them received grants of land.
 They collected revenue from the land and used this to maintain soldiers and horses, and provide
equipment for warfare. These men were known as samantas.
 Whenever the ruler was weak, samantas tried to become independent.

Assemblies in the southern kingdoms

 The inscriptions of the Pallavas mention a number of local assemblies. These included the
Sabha, which was an assembly of brahmin land owners.
 This assembly functioned through sub- committees, which looked after irrigation, agricultural
operations, making roads, local temples, etc.
 The Ur was a village assembly found in areas where the land owners were not brahmins. And
the nagaram was an organisation of merchants.

Ordinary people in the kingdoms

 We can catch an occasional glimpse of the lives of ordinary people from plays, and other
accounts.
 Kalidasa is known for his plays depicting life in the king's court.
 An interesting feature about these plays is that the king and most brahmins are shown as
speaking Sanskrit, while women and men other than the king and brahmins use Prakrit.
 His most famous play Abhijnana Shakuntalam, is the story of the love between a king named
Dushyanta and a young woman named Shakuntala.

CHAPTER - 12
Buildings, Paintings and Books
The iron pillar
 The iron pillar at Mehrauli, Delhi, is a remarkable example of the skill of Indian crafts persons.
 It is made of iron, 7.2. m high, and weighs over 3 tonnes. It was made about 1500 years ago.
Stupa
 The word stupa means a mound. While there are several kinds of stupas, round and tall, big and
small, these have certain common features.
 There is a small box placed at the centre or heart of the stupa. This may contain bodily remains
(such as teeth, bone or ashes) of the Buddha or his followers, or things they used, as well as
precious stones, and coins.
 This box, known as a relic casket, was covered with earth. Later, a layer of mud brick or baked
brick was added on top. And then, the dome like structure was sometimes covered with carved
stone slabs.
  Often, a path, known as the pradakshina patha, was laid around the stupa. This was surrounded
with railings. Entrance to the path was through gateways.
 Devotees walked around the stupa, in a clockwise direction, as a mark of devotion. Both railings
and gateways were often decorated with sculpture.
 Other buildings were hollowed out of rock to make artificial caves. Some of these were very
elaborately decorated with sculptures and painted walls.

Temples
 Some of the earliest Hindu temples were also built at this time. Deities such as Vishnu, Shiva,
and Durga were worshipped in these shrines.
 The most important part of the temple was the room known as the garbhagriha, where the
image of the chief deity was placed.
 It was here that priests performed religious rituals, and devotees offered worship to the deity.
 Often, as at Bhitargaon, a tower, known as the shikhara, was built on top of the garbhagriha, to
mark this out as a sacred place. Building shikharas required careful planning. Most temples also
had a space known as the mandapa. It was a hall where people could assemble.
How were stupas and temples built?
 There were several stages in building a stupa or a temple. Usually, kings or queens decided to
build these as it was an expensive affair.
 Kings and queens probably spent money from their treasury to pay the crafts persons who
worked to build these splendid structures.
 Besides, when devotees came to visit the temple or the stupa, they often brought gifts, which
were used to decorate the buildings.
 Among the others who paid for decorations were merchants, farmers, garland makers,
perfumers, smiths, and hundreds of men and women who are known only by their names which
were inscribed on pillars, railings and walls.

Painting
 Ajanta is a place where several caves were hollowed out of the hills over centuries.
 Most of these were monasteries for Buddhist monks, and some of them were decorated with
paintings.
 The colours, which are vivid even after 1500 years, were made of plants and minerals.

Books
 Some of the best-known epics were written during this period.
 Epics:
o Epics are grand, long compositions about heroic men and women, and include stories about
gods.
o A famous Tamil epic, the Silappadikaram, was composed by a poet named llango, around
1800 years ago.
o Another Tamil epic, the Manimekalai was composed by Sattanar around 1400 years ago.
 Other writers, such as Kalidasa, wrote in Sanskrit.

Recording and preserving old stories

 A number of Hindu religious stories that were in circulation earlier were written down around
the same time.
 Purans
o Purana literally mean old.
o The Puranas contain stories about gods and goddesses, such as Vishnu, Shiva, Durga or
Parvati.
 o They also contain details on how they were to be worshipped. Besides, there are accounts
about the creation of the world, and about kings.
o The Puranas were written in simple Sanskrit verse, and were meant to be heard by everybody
including women and shudras, who were not allowed to study the Vedas.
o They were probably recited in temples by priests, and people came to listen to them.
 Two Sanskrit epics, the Mahabharata and Ramayana had been popular for a very long time.
 Both the Puranas and the Mahabharata are supposed to have been compiled by Vyasa.
 Valmiki is recognised as the author of the Sanskrit Ramayana.

Stories told by ordinary people

 Ordinary people also told stories, composed poems and songs, sang, danced, and performed
plays.
 Some of these are preserved in collections of stories such as the Jatakas and the Panchatantra,
which were written down around this time.
 Stories from the Jatakas were often shown on the railings of stupas and in paintings in places
such as Ajanta.

Books on science
 This was also the time when Aryabhata, a mathematician and astronomer, wrote a book in
Sanskrit known as the Aryabhatiyam. He developed a scientific explanation for eclipses as well.
He also found a way of calculating the circumference of a circle, which is nearly as accurate as
the formula we use today.
 Varahamihira, Brahmagupta and Bhaskaracharya were some other mathematicians and
astronomers who made several discoveries.