Early India: Sources, First Farmers, Harappan Cities, Mauryas and Guptas (Class VI History)

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Sources and dates

Historians use manuscripts, books written by hand, usually on palm leaf or on the prepared bark of the birch (bhurja) tree; inscriptions, writings on hard surfaces such as stone or metal; and archaeology, the study of remains such as buildings, tools, pots, coins and bones. The name India comes from the Indus, called Sindhu in Sanskrit, while Bharata was the name of a group of people mentioned in the Rigveda. BCE (Before Common Era) dates count backwards, so 500 BCE is earlier than 300 BCE, and CE (Common Era) dates count forwards.

Hunter-gatherers and the first farmers

Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh has rock shelters with paintings, Hunsgi in Karnataka was a factory site where limestone tools were made, and ash in the Kurnool caves shows the use of fire. The Palaeolithic lasted from about 2 million to about 12,000 years ago; the Mesolithic, from about 12,000 to 10,000 years ago, is known for microliths, tiny stone tools fixed on handles; and the Neolithic began about 10,000 years ago. As the climate warmed and grasslands spread, people began to domesticate plants and animals. At Mehrgarh, near the Bolan Pass in present-day Pakistan, people grew wheat and barley and reared sheep and goats; Burzahom in Kashmir had pit-houses, and Koldihwa in Uttar Pradesh gives early evidence of rice.

The Harappan cities

About 4700 years ago cities such as Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Kalibangan, Lothal and Dholavira grew up. Most had a smaller, higher citadel to the west and a larger lower town to the east, houses of baked bricks laid in an interlocking pattern, and covered drains. Mohenjodaro had the Great Bath, made watertight with a layer of natural tar; Kalibangan and Lothal had fire altars; and Harappa, Mohenjodaro and Lothal had storehouses. Lothal in Gujarat was a centre for making objects of stone, shell and metal, and Dholavira in the Rann of Kutch was divided into three parts and had large Harappan letters carved out of white stone. About 3900 years ago people began to leave the cities; drying rivers, deforestation and floods have been suggested, but no single reason explains every city.

Vedas, megaliths and the first kingdoms

The Rigveda, composed about 3500 years ago, has 1028 hymns (suktas) praising gods such as Agni, Indra and Soma; it was recited and heard, and written down much later. From about 3000 years ago people in the Deccan, south India, the north-east and Kashmir buried their dead under big stones called megaliths. About 2500 years ago some janapadas grew into fortified mahajanapadas whose rajas kept armies and collected taxes; bhaga, the tax on crops, was usually one-sixth of the produce. Magadha, with fertile land along the Ganga and the Son, elephant forests and iron ore, became the most powerful in about 200 years under rulers such as Bimbisara, Ajatasattu and Mahapadma Nanda. The Vajji, with its capital at Vaishali, was a gana or sangha ruled by an assembly of many rajas.

New questions and ideas

Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, born about 2500 years ago in the Sakya gana, attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, gave his first sermon at Sarnath and died at Kusinara. He taught in Prakrit, the language of ordinary people, that suffering comes from tanha (craving), and urged kindness to all living beings. Vardhamana Mahavira, a Lichchhavi prince and the 24th tirthankara of the Jainas, taught strict ahimsa; Jaina teachings were written down at Valabhi in Gujarat about 1500 years ago. The Upanishads record dialogues on atman, the individual soul, and brahman, the universal soul, and mention the learned woman thinker Gargi. Buddhist monks followed the rules of the Vinaya Pitaka, and brahmins described four ashramas: brahmacharya, grihastha, vanaprastha and samnyasa.

The first empire and distant lands

Chandragupta Maurya founded the Mauryan empire more than 2300 years ago with the help of Chanakya (Kautilya), whose ideas are in the Arthashastra; Megasthenes, a Greek ambassador at his court, described Pataliputra. His grandson Ashoka, horrified by the killing in the Kalinga war, gave up conquest and spread dhamma through inscriptions, mostly in Prakrit in the Brahmi script, through officials called dhamma mahamattas and through messengers to Syria, Egypt, Greece and Sri Lanka; his lion capital at Sarnath is India's national emblem. Roman pottery at Arikamedu near Puducherry and Chinese silk carried along the Silk Route show trade with distant lands. Mahayana Buddhism developed around the time of Kanishka and spread to Central Asia, China, Korea and Japan, and the Chinese pilgrim Xuan Zang studied at Nalanda.

New empires, culture and science

Harishena's prashasti on the Ashokan pillar at Allahabad praises Samudragupta, and Harshavardhana is known from Banabhatta's Harshacharita; the Chalukya king Pulakeshin II stopped Harsha at the Narmada. The iron pillar at Mehrauli in Delhi, made about 1500 years ago, is 7.2 m high, weighs over 3 tonnes and has not rusted. The stupa at Sanchi, the monolithic temples of Mahabalipuram and the Ajanta paintings show the art of the period. Aryabhata's Aryabhatiyam states that the earth rotates on its axis and explains eclipses, and the Tamil epics Silappadikaram and Manimekalai were composed about 1800 and 1400 years ago.

Key facts

Manuscripts were written on palm leaf or birch bark (bhurja); inscriptions on stone or metal; archaeology studies material remains such as tools, pots, coins and bones.
Palaeolithic: about 2 million to 12,000 years ago; Mesolithic: 12,000 to 10,000 years ago (microliths); Neolithic: from about 10,000 years ago (farming, herding, polished tools).
Mehrgarh (near the Bolan Pass): wheat, barley, sheep and goats; Burzahom (Kashmir): pit-houses; Koldihwa (Uttar Pradesh): rice; Hunsgi (Karnataka): limestone tool factory site.
Harappan features: citadel and lower town, baked bricks, covered drains; Great Bath at Mohenjodaro; fire altars at Kalibangan and Lothal; Dholavira divided into three parts.
Rigveda: about 3500 years ago, 1028 hymns, praises Agni, Indra and Soma; megalith burials began about 3000 years ago.
Magadha: Bimbisara, Ajatasattu, Mahapadma Nanda; capital Rajagriha, later Pataliputra; the Vajji (Vaishali) was a gana or sangha ruled by an assembly; bhaga was one-sixth of the crop.
Buddha: enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, first sermon at Sarnath, died at Kusinara; Mahavira was the 24th tirthankara; Jaina teachings were written down at Valabhi.
Ashoka after the Kalinga war: dhamma, dhamma mahamattas, inscriptions mostly in Prakrit in the Brahmi script; the Sarnath lion capital is India's national emblem.
Iron pillar at Mehrauli: about 1500 years old, 7.2 m high, over 3 tonnes, rust-free; Aryabhata's Aryabhatiyam explained eclipses and the earth's rotation.
In class: build a class timeline in 'years ago' and BCE/CE, and let students examine pictures of coins and seals to ask what each source can and cannot tell us.

Quick revision

Sources: manuscripts, inscriptions, archaeology; Mehrgarh early farming (wheat, barley); Harappan cities about 4700 years ago, decline about 3900; Rigveda 1028 hymns; mahajanapadas about 2500 years ago, Magadha strongest; Buddha (Bodh Gaya, Sarnath), Mahavira 24th tirthankara; Ashoka's dhamma after Kalinga; Harishena's prashasti of Samudragupta; Aryabhata; Mehrauli iron pillar.

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