Ch-1 Bricks, Beads and Bones (Book 1)

The Indus Valley Civilisation

What are the Sources to Understand Harappan Civilisation?
The Harappan seal is possibly the most distinctive artefact of the Indus Valley
civilisation. It contains plant & animal motifs and signs from a script that remains
undeciphered.

The Archeological Evidence left by the people of the civilisation, such as Pots,
ornaments, tools, seals, etc., add up to the sources.

Early Harappan & Mature Harappan

 Early and later, Harappan is associated with distinctive pottery, evidence of
agriculture and, pastoralism and craft.

 The early Harappan culture settlements were small, and there were no large
buildings. However, the mature Harappan settlements and buildings were large.

Subsistence Strategies
The Harappans ate a wide range of plant products. Archaeo-botanists have also
been able to reconstruct the dietary practices from the finds of charred grains, seeds
and bones.

Food grains found at the Harappan sites were wheat, barley, lentil, rice (rare),
chickpea and sesame. Millets are found at sites in Gujarat. The Harappans also ate
a wide range of animal products. The charred bones of animals were also found at
the Harappan site (Cattle, sheep, goat, buffalo & pig). These are studied by Archaeo-
zoologists who are specialists in ancient animal remains. Bones of wild species such
as boar, deer and gharial are also found.

It is still not elucidated whether Harappans hunted them or obtained meat from other
hunting communities.

Prevalence of Agriculture in Harappan Civilisation

 Representation of seals and terracotta sculpture indicates that the bull was known &
oxen were used for Ploughing.

 Terracotta models of the plough have been found at sites in Cholistan & Banawali
(Haryana).
 Evidence of a ploughed field at sites of Kalibangan (Rajasthan) is found. This field
had two sets of furrows at right angles to each other, suggesting that two crops were
grown together.

 Tools for Harvesting were also used by the Harappans. They used stone blades set
in wooden handles and other tools made of copper.
 Traces of canals, water reservoirs and wells have been found at the Harappan sites,
indicating that agriculture was practised. Irrigation was essential as many of the
Harappan sites were located in semi-arid lands.

Mohenjo-Daro
Divisions in the City
The settlement was divided into two sections: the Citadel and the Lower Town. The
Citadel was higher but smaller, and the former was lower but larger.

Citadel
The citadel was at its height because the buildings were built on a mud-brick
platform. It was also walled, physically separated from the lower town.

Evidence of structures are found that were probably used for special public
purposes:

Warehouse: It was a massive structure in which the lower brick portion remained,
and the upper portion of wood decayed a long time ago.

The Great Bath: A large rectangular tank in a courtyard surrounded by a corridor on

all four sides. There were two flights of steps on the north and south leading into the
tank, which was made watertight by setting bricks on the edge and using a mortar of
gypsum.

There were rooms on three sides, in one of which was a large well. Water from the
tank flowed into a huge drain. The total number of wells in Mohenjo-Daro was about
700.

Eight bathrooms were there on a lane to the north. On each side of a corridor, there
 were four bathrooms, with drains from each bathroom connecting to a drain that ran
along the corridor. Scholars suggested that it was meant for some kind of special
ritual bath.

Lower Town
 The lower town was also walled; several buildings were built on a platform that
served as the foundations.

 The settlement was first planned, and then it was built accordingly.

 Bricks were used whether sun-dried or baked, and bricks were of a standardised
ratio.

Drainage system
 Laying out drains was one of the most distinctive features, it was carefully planned.

 The roads of the lower town were laid out along an approximate grid pattern,
intersecting at right angles.

 The streets and drains were laid out first, and then houses were built along with
them.

Domestic Architecture
 The lower town has residential buildings; many were centred on a courtyard with
rooms on all sides.

 The courtyard was the centre of all the activities, such as cooking & weaving.

 Privacy was the major concern as there were no windows at the ground level. The
main entrance does not give a direct view of the inside.

 Every House has its bathroom paved with bricks with the drains connected through
the walls to the street drains.

 The remains of the Staircase have also been found, which proves multi-storey
architecture was there. Many houses had wells, often in a room that could be
reached from the outside and perhaps used by passers-by.

Social & Economic Differences

Burials
 At the Harappan sites, the dead were generally laid in pits, there were differences in
the way the burial pit was made. The hollowed-out spaces were lined with bricks.

 Graves also contain pottery and ornaments, which indicates the belief that the
afterlife was there. Jewellery has been found in burials of both men and women.

 A burial containing ornament consisting of three shell rings, a jasper (a kind of semi-
precious stone) bead and hundreds of microbeads was found near the skull of a
male at the Harappan cemetery.
 In some instances, the dead were buried with copper mirrors. But on the whole, it
appears that the Harappans did not believe in burying precious things with the dead.

 Another strategy to identify social differences is to study artefacts, which

archaeologists broadly classify as utilitarian and luxurious.

 This includes Objects of daily use made of stones or clay-like querns, pottery,
needles, etc.

 Archaeologists assume objects were luxuries if they are rare or made from costly,
non-local materials or with complicated technologies.

 Thus, little pots of faience (a material made of ground sand or silica mixed with
colour and gum and then fired) were probably considered precious because they
were difficult to make.

Craft Production in Indus Valley

 Mohenjo-Daro was exclusively devoted to craft production, like bead-making, shell-
cutting, metalworking, and weight-making.

 A variety of raw materials were used to make crafts, such as stones like Carnelian-
red stone, Jasper- yellow stone, crystal, quartz, etc. Metals like copper, bronze and
gold and shell & clay were used.

 Numerous shapes of crafts were there, e.g. disk-shaped, cylindrical, spherical,

barrel-shaped, and segmented. Some were decorated by incising or painting, and
some had designs etched onto them.

 Some stones were decorated with gold caps.

 There were techniques used for making different beads according to the material,
like moulding, chipping, grinding, polishing and drilling.

 Chanudaro, Lothal, Dholavira, Nageshwar and Balakot are some of the crafts
centres.

How did Archaeologists Identify Centres of Craft Production?

 Archaeologists look for raw materials such as stone nodules, whole shells, copper
ore, etc. They also look for the tools used for making crafts.

 Archaeologists look for unfinished objects, rejects and waste material. Waste is one
of the best indicators of craftwork.

 These traces suggest that apart from small specialised centres, craft production was
also undertaken in large cities such as Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa.

Strategies for Procuring Raw Material within the

Sub-Continent
Transportation
 Terracotta toy models of bullock carts suggest that this was one important means of
transporting goods and people across land routes.

 Depiction of ships and boats on seals suggests that riverine routes along the Indus
and its tributaries, as well as coastal routes, were also probably used for transporting
goods and people.

Strategies
 Materials for craft production were procured by Harappans in different ways.
Settlements were established where raw material was available. (Nageshwar &
Balakot- shell, Shortughai lapis lazuli, a blue stone, Lothal- carnelian, Steatite and
Metal- Rajasthan & Gujarat.)

Another strategy for procuring raw materials may have been to send expeditions to
areas such as the Khetri region of Rajasthan (for copper) and south India (for gold).
These expeditions established communication with local communities.

Occasional finds of Harappan artefacts, such as steatite microbeads in these areas,

are indications of such contact. There is evidence in the Khetri area of what
archaeologists call the Ganeshwar Jodhpur Culture.

What is Ganeshwar-Jodhpura Culture?

Archaeologists found a new culture in the Khetri area here, they found distinctive
Non- Harappan pottery & a usual wealth of copper objects. It is possible that
inhabitants of this region supplied copper to the Harappans.

Procuring Metals from Distant Lands

 Copper was probably brought from Oman on the South Asian trip to the Arabian
Peninsula. According to the chemical traces, Omani copper and Harappan copper
have traces of nickel.

 A distinctive type of vessel, a large Harappan jar coated with a thick layer of black
clay, has been found at Omani sites. It is possible that the Harappans exchanged the
contents of these vessels for Omani copper.

 Mesopotamian texts datable to the third millennium BCE refer to copper coming from
a region called Magan (Oman).

 Mesopotamian texts mention contact with regions named Dilmun (Bahrain), Magan
and Meluhha, possibly the Harappan region. The products imported from Meluhha
carnelian, lapis lazuli, copper, gold, and varieties of wood.

 A Mesopotamian myth says of Meluhha: “May your bird be the haja-bird, may its call
be heard in the royal palace.” Some archaeologists think the haja-bird was the
peacock.

 Depictions of ships and boats on the Harappan seals were also there.

Harappan Seals
 They were used to facilitate long-distance communication. The bags of goods were
tied with the wet clay and left an impression on it.

 If the bag reached with the sealing intact, it meant it had not been tampered with.
The sealing also conveys the identity of the sender.
 It usually has a line of writing and animal motifs. Scholars suggested that the motifs
conveyed a meaning to those who could not read.

Harappan Script
 Most inscriptions are short, the longest containing about 26 signs. Although the script
remains undeciphered to date, it was evidently not alphabetical but syllable as it has
just too many signs – somewhere between 375 and 400.

 The script was written from right to left, as some seals show a wider spacing on the
right and cramping on the left.

 A variety of objects has been found on which writing was there, like seals, copper
tools, rims of jars, copper and terracotta tablets, Jewellery, bone rods and an ancient
sign board.

 They have been writing on perishable goods like cloth, animal skin etc.

Harappan Weights
 Exchanges were regulated by a precise system of weights, usually made of a stone
called chert and generally cubical, with no markings.

 The lower denominations of weights were binary (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc., up to
12,800), while the higher denominations followed the decimal system.

 The smaller weights were generally used for weighing Jewellery and beads, and
bigger weights were used for food grains. Metal scale pans have also been found.

Ruling Authority In Indus Valley Civilisation

 The extraordinary uniformity of Harappan artefacts is evident in pottery, seals,
weights and bricks.

 Bricks were not produced at any single centre and were of a uniform ratio throughout
the region, from Jammu to Gujarat.

 The settlements were strategically set up in specific locations for various reasons.
Labour was also mobilised for making bricks and for the construction of massive
walls and platforms.

 These activities were mostly organised by the king.

Centre of Power
 A large building found at Mohenjo-Daro was labelled as a palace by archaeologists,
but no spectacular finds were associated with it.

 A stone statue was labelled and continues to be known as the “priest-king”. This is
because archaeologists were familiar with the Mesopotamian history and its “priest-
kings”.

 Some archaeologists said that Harappan society had no rulers & democracy was
there. Many thought that there were no single rulers but many.

The End of the Civilisation

There is evidence that by c. 1800 BCE, most of the Mature Harappan sites in regions
such as Cholistan had been abandoned. There was an expansion of population into
new settlements in Gujarat, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh.

Distinctive artefacts of the civilisation – weights, seals, special beads. Writing, long-
distance trade, and craft specialisation also disappeared after 1800 BCE.

House construction techniques deteriorated, and large public structures were no

longer produced.

Overall, the disappearance of artefacts and settlements indicates a rural way of life
in what is called Vedic Culture or Vedic Civilisation.

Climatic change, deforestation, excessive floods, the shifting and/or drying up of

rivers, and overuse of the landscape were also the major factors.

What is the Evidence that Proves the Significance of an Invasion in

Civilization?
At a depth of 4 ft 2 in, part of an adult's skull, thoracic bones, and upper arm were
discovered, all in very fragile condition. The body was lying diagonally across the
lane on its back. A few fragments of a tiny skull were fifteen inches to the west. The
name of the lane comes from these ruins.
In 1925, sixteen skeletons with the ornaments they were wearing when they died
were discovered in the same area of Mohenjo-Daro. The director-general of ASI,
R.E.M Wheeler, attempted to link this archaeological evidence to the Rigveda, the
earliest known text in the subcontinent.

There is no evidence of extensive burning, no bodies of warriors clad in armour and

surrounded by war weapons, and no destruction level covering the city's most recent
period.

The citadel, the city's only fortified area, yielded no proof of the final defence.

Discovering the Harappan Civilisation

Cunningham’s Confusion
Cunningham was the first director-general of ASI. He began archaeological
excavations in the mid-nineteenth century, and archaeologists preferred to use the
written word (texts and inscriptions) as a guide to investigations.

He used the accounts left by Chinese Buddhist pilgrims who had visited the
subcontinent between the fourth and seventh centuries CE to locate early
settlements.

Harappan artefacts were found fairly often during the nineteenth century, and some
of these reached Cunningham, he did not realise how old these were.

A Harappan seal was given to Cunningham by an Englishman. He noted the object

but unsuccessfully tried to place it within the time frame with which he was familiar. It
is not surprising that he missed the significance of Harappa.

John Marshall’s Ignorance

 John Marshall marked the major change in Indian archaeology. He was the first
professional archaeologist to work in India and brought his experience of working in
Greece. He was interested in spectacular finds and patterns of everyday life. He
tended to excavate along with regular units, measured uniformly throughout the
mound, ignoring the stratigraphy of the sites.

All the artefacts recovered from the same units were grouped together even if they
were found at different stratigraphic layers.

As a result, valuable information about the Harappan civilisation was irretrievably

lost.

R.E.M Wheeler’s Problems

 He took over as the Director-General of ASI in 1944 also rectified many problems.

 He said it is important to follow stratigraphy for the mound rather than dig it
mechanically.

 He was also an Ex-army Brigadier.

 Due to the partition, the major sites are now in Pakistani territory. This spurred Indian
archaeologists to try and locate sites in India.

Daya Ram Sahni

 He discovered the seals at the Harappa in the early decades of the twentieth
century.

Rakhal Das Banerji

 Rakhal Das Banerji found similar seals at Mohenjo-Daro, leading to the conjecture
that these sites were part of a single archaeological culture.

 Based on these findings, in 1924, John Marshall, Director-General of the ASI,

announced the discovery of a new civilisation in the Indus Valley to the world.

How does Material Allow the Archaeologist to Reconstruct Harappan Life

Better?
Recovering artefacts is just the beginning of the archaeological enterprise.

1. Classification: One simple principle of classification is in terms of material, such

as stone, clay, metal, bone, ivory, etc.

2. Functions of artefacts: It is to classify whether the artefact is a tool or, an

ornament, or both or maybe something for ritual use.

3. An understanding of the function of an artefact is often shaped by its resemblance

with present-day things- beads, stones, blades, etc.

4. Identification: They also try to identify the functions of an artefact by investigating

the context in which it was found: House, Drain, grave or in a kiln. Recourse to
indirect evidence is also done.
 Problems to Archaeological Interpretation to
Reconstruct Religious Practices
 Early archaeologists thought that certain objects which seemed unusual or unfamiliar
may have had a religious significance.

 These included terracotta figurines of women, heavily jewelled, some with elaborate
headdresses. These were regarded as mother goddesses.

 Attempts have also been made to reconstruct religious beliefs and practices by
examining seals, some of which seem to depict ritual scenes.

 In some seals, a figure shown seated cross-legged in a “yogic” posture, sometimes

surrounded by animals, has been regarded as a depiction of “proto-Shiva”, that is, an
early form of one of the major deities of Hinduism. Besides, conical stone objects
have been classified as lingas.

 Many reconstructions of the Harappan religion are made on the assumption that later
traditions provide parallels with earlier ones.

 This is because archaeologists often move from the known to the unknown, that is,
from the present to the past.
 Ch-2 Kings, Farmers and Towns (Book 1)

Early States and Economies

During the period between 1900 BCE & 600 BCE, the Rigveda was composed of
people living along the Indus and its tributaries.

During this time, Agricultural settlements emerged in many parts of the sub-
continent, including North India, the Deccan plateau and parts of Karnataka.

Evidence of pastoral population in the Deccan was also there. During this period new
modes of disposal of the dead, including the making of elaborate stone structures
known as megaliths, emerged in central and south India.

The dead were also buried with a rich range of iron tools and weapons.

What are the Sources to Understand Early Indian History?

Historians attempt to understand early Indian history by drawing on a range of
sources – inscriptions, texts, coins and visual material.

These include fine pottery, Bowls and dishes with glossy finish known as Northern
Black polished ware, probably used by rich people. Ornaments, tools, weapons, and
vessels made of a wide range of materials- Gold, silver, copper, glass, shell,
terracotta.

James Princep & Piyadassi

In the 1830s James Princep, an officer in the mint of the East India Company,
deciphered the two scripts used in the earliest inscriptions & coins named Brahmi
and Kharosthi.

It was found that the king was referred to as Piyadassi - meaning “pleasant to
behold”. There were a few inscriptions that also referred to the king as Asoka, one of
the most famous rulers known from Buddhist texts.

This gave a new direction to early Indian political history as European and Indian
scholars used inscriptions and texts composed in a variety of languages to
reconstruct the lineages of major dynasties.

Why 6th century often regarded as a major turning point in early Indian
History?
This era is regarded as the major turning point because of various aspects:
 It is an era associated with early states and cities.

 The prevalence of iron was also there.

 It is an era associated with the development of coinage.

 This era also witnessed the growth of diverse systems of thought including
Buddhism & religion. It is also associated with the emergence of Sixteen
Mahajanapadas.

Features of Sixteen Mahajanapadas

Most of the Mahajanapadas were ruled by kings, some were oligarchies known as
ganas or sanghas, where power was shared by several men, often collectively called
rajas.

Each Mahajanapada had a capital city which was often fortified. A well-maintained
standing army & regular bureaucracies for administration were there.

Dharmasutras, written by Brahmans laid down norms for rulers. Rulers were ideally
expected to be Kshatriyas.

Rulers were advised to collect taxes and tribute from cultivators, traders and
artisans. The legitimate means of acquiring wealth was to raid neighbouring states.

Magadha
Magadha was a particularly productive agricultural region. Magadha's capital was
Rajagaha. It was a fortified settlement amid the hills. The capital was later moved to
Pataliputra, which is now Patna, in the fourth century BCE.

In Magadha, iron mines were accessible and provided resources for tools and
weapons. Elephants were discovered in the region's forests, and they proved to be
an important component of the army.
The Ganga and its tributaries provided a low-cost, convenient mode of
communication. Magadha's powers were attributed to individual policies by Buddhist
and Jaina writers who wrote about it.

The ambitious kings, including Bimbisara, Ajatasattu, and Mahapadama Nanda, as

well as ministers helped them carry out their policies.

What are the Sources to Understand the Mauryan Empire?

There are a variety of sources to understand the empire of the Mauryas, the
historians have also used a variety of sources to reconstruct the history of the
Mauryan empire.

These include archaeological finds, sculptures, buildings, monasteries etc.

Contemporary works, the account of Megasthenes called INDICA, which survives in
fragments.

Another source in Arthashastra, parts of which were probably composed by Kautilya

or Chanakya (Minister of Chandragupta).

The Mauryans are also mentioned in later Buddhist, Jaina, Puranic & Sanskrit
Literature. The inscriptions of Asoka (c. 272/268-231 BCE) on rocks and pillars are
often regarded as among the most valuable sources.

Ashoka
Asoka was the first ruler who inscribed his messages to his subjects and officials on
stone surfaces – natural rocks as well as polished pillars. He was the most famous
ruler of early India, he also conquered Kalinga.
 He used the inscriptions to proclaim what he understood to be dhamma.

What was Dhamma?

Ashoka’s dhamma includes respect towards elders, generosity towards Brahmanas
and those who renounced worldly life, treating slaves and servants kindly, and
respect for religions and traditions other than one’s own.

The Administration of the Mauryan Empire

There were Five major Political centres in the empire:

 Patliputra (The Capital)

 The provincial centres of Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali, and Suvarnagiri are all mentioned in
Ashokan Inscription.

The administrative control was strongest in the areas around the capital and
provincial centres. These centres were carefully chosen as both Taxila & Ujjayini
were situated on important long-distance trade routes.

Communication along both trade and riverine routes was vital for the existence of the
empire. Journey to the provinces could have taken and arranged for provisions as
well as protection for those who were on the move by the army.

According to the accounts of Megasthenes, a committee with six sub-committees for

coordinating military activities was made.

One committee looked after the navy, the second managed the transportation, the
third was for the foot soldiers, the fourth for horses and fifth for the chariots and the
sixth for the elephants.
Ashoka tried to hold his empire together by propagating Dhamma. Special officers
known as the Dhamma Mahatma were appointed to spread the message of
Dhamma.

Why is the Emergence of the Mauryan Empire Regarded as a Major Landmark

in Early Indian History?
The emergence of the Mauryan Empire was regarded as a major landmark, as the
Mauryan Empire ruled India for about 150 years, its control extended as far as
Afghanistan & Baluchistan and in the south up to the Andhra region.

Nineteenth and early twentieth-century Indian historians found the emergence of the
Mauryan Empire in early India both challenging and exciting.

Some of the archaeological finds associated with the Mauryas, including stone
sculpture, were considered to be examples of the spectacular art typical of empires.
Many historians found the inscription suggesting that Ashoka was more powerful,
Industrious and humble than later rulers.

The nationalist leader in the twentieth century regarded Ashoka as an inspiring

Figure.

New Notions of Kingship

The new kingdoms that emerged in the Deccan and further south, proved to be
stable and prosperous including the chiefdoms of the Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas
in Tamilakam.

Many chiefs and kings, including the Satavahanas who ruled over parts of western
and central India and the Shakas, a people of Central Asian origin who established
kingdoms in the north-western and western parts of the subcontinent claimed social
status in a variety of ways such as religious rituals & marriage alliance.

Divine Kings
The Kushanas ruled over a vast kingdom extending from Central Asia to northwest
India. Colossal statues of the Kushana ruler have been found installed in a shrine at
a mat near Mathura.

Some historians felt that Kushanas kings considered themselves ‘Godlike’. They also
adopted the title Devputra or ‘son of god’.

Rulers of the Gupta empire were dependent upon samantas, men who maintained
land and army and they offered homage and provided military support to rulers.

Gupta also encouraged poets to compose poems to praise them. In the Allahabad
pillar (Prayaga Prashasti) inscription Samudragupta was compared with god.

A Changing Countryside
Popular Perception of Kings
Historians have tried to reconstruct life in the countryside with the help of Jatakas
and the Panchatantra. One story known as Gandatindu jataka describes the plight of
the subjects of a wicked king.

The story indicates, the relationship between a king and his subjects, especially the
rural population, could often be strained. The kings frequently tried to fill their coffers
by demanding high taxes, and peasants particularly found such demands
oppressive.

Strategies for Increasing Agricultural Production

The shift to plough agriculture was one of the strategies to increase production. This
spread in the Ganga and the Kaveri Region. The Iron tipped ploughshare was used
to turn the alluvial soil in areas that had high rainfall.

The production of paddy was dramatically increased by the introduction of

transplantation in the Ganga Valley.

The agriculture practised in the semi-arid areas such as Rajasthan & Punjab and in
the hilly tracts was hoe agriculture. The use of Irrigation through wells, tanks and
canals were also there.

Differences in Rural Society

The growing differentiation amongst people engaged in agriculture was based on
differential access to land, labour and some of the new technologies.

People were divided into three groups in the Countryside in Northern India -
Landless agricultural labourers, small peasants & large landholders. The term
Gahapati was used to designate the second and the third categories.

It is mentioned in the early Sangama texts, different categories of people engaged in

agriculture were based on differential access to land and some of the new
 technologies. In south India, people were divided into three groups- Large
landowners (Vellars), Ploughmen (Uzhavar) and slaves (Adimai).

Land Grants & New Rural Elites

 Land grants were made to religious institutions, Brahmanas, samantas & landless
peasants. According to the Sanskrit legal texts, women were not supposed to have
independent access to resources such as land.
 The inscriptions indicate that Prabhavati, daughter of Chandragupta II, had access to
land. This was exceptional because she was a queen.
 Regional variations in the size of land donated were there, ranging from small plots
of land to vast stretches of uncultivated land to the recipients.
 These grants were a part of a strategy adopted by ruling lineages to extend
agriculture to new areas. Many historians suggest that kings were losing control over
their samantas; they tried to win allies by donating lands.

Town and Trade

New Cities
Many urban centres emerged in several parts of the subcontinent from the sixth
century BCE. Many of these were the capital of the Mahajanapadas.

Major towns were located along the routes of trade and communication. Many cities
were located on the riverine routes, somewhere along the land routes, others were
near the coast.

Cities like Mathura were the centres of cultural, commercial & political activities.

Urban Population
Kings and ruling elites lived in fortified cities; people who lived in the town were
merchants, blacksmiths, potters etc.

Inscriptions mentioning guilds or shrines, organisations of craft producers and

merchants, are mentioned as well. These guilds probably procured raw materials,
regulated production, and marketed the finished product.

Trade-In The Subcontinent & Beyond

During the sixth century, land and riverine routes were extended in various directions
which connected all the parts of India. Rulers often attempted to control these routes,
possibly by offering protection for a price. These routes were used by peddlers,
merchants.

The sea routes connected across the Arabian Sea to Central Asia, North Africa and
West Asia and beyond. South Asia and China were connected through the Bay of
Bengal.

A wide range of goods was carried from one place to another like salt, grain, cloth,
metal ores, finished products, stone timber, medicinal plants etc.
 Coins & Kings
The introduction of coinage facilitated the Culture of exchange of commodities. The
punched marked coins made of silver & copper were amongst the earliest which
were used by many dynasties.

The Indo-Greeks who established control over the northwestern parts of the sub-
continent issued the first coins with the images and names of the rulers.

The Kushanas introduced the first gold coins. Coins were identical in weight to those
issued by Roman emperors.

Yaudheyas, the tribal republic of Punjab and Haryana also issued the copper coins.

The most spectacular gold coins were issued by the Gupta ruler, the earliest coins
were remarkable by their purity. The Western Roman Empire collapsed causing the
decline in long-distance trade, and this affected the prosperity of the states,
communities and regions that had benefited from it.

The new towns and networks of trade started emerging around this time. Some
historians suggest that people have recycled the coins for other purposes.

The Scripts Used in Inscriptions

How the Brahmi & Kharosthi were Deciphered?
Brahmi & Kharosthi were the two scripts used in the early inscriptions and coins. An
officer of East India Company, James Princep deciphered these scripts. He gave a
new direction to investigations into Indian political history.

He deciphered Ashokan Brahmi in 1838 with the help of contemporary Bengali &
Devnagri manuscripts. Scholars who studied early inscriptions sometimes assumed
these were in Sanskrit, although the earliest inscriptions were in Prakrit.

 Kharosthi is the script used in the inscriptions and coins in the northwestern parts of
India by Indo-Greek kings.
 The kings had their names on the coins written in Greek & Kharosthi. European
scholars who could read the former compared the letters. The symbol for “a” could
be found in both scripts for writing names such as Apollodotus.

Princep identified the language of Kharosthi inscriptions as Prakrit and it was

possible to read longer inscriptions. According to James Princep, the Brahmi script is
an older form of Devnagri. He matched the inscription in terms of content, style,
language and palaeography.

It was also discovered that Ashoka is the name of the ruler and devanampia and
piyadassi are titles used for Ashoka in many inscriptions.

Limitations of the Inscriptional Evidence

There are technical limitations as in many inscriptions letters are very faintly
engraved. Some inscriptions are damaged and in some inscriptions, letters were
missing, and reconstruction was uncertain.
It is not always easy to be sure about the exact meaning of the words used in
inscriptions, some of which may be specific to a particular place or time. This has to
be carefully done to make sure the intended meaning of the author is not changed.

Several thousand inscriptions have been discovered, but not all have been
deciphered, published and translated.

Many inscriptions existed, which did not survive the ravages of time, which means
what we are today is a fraction of that.
 Ch-3 Kinship, Caste and Classes (Book 1)

Early Historic Period

Social Behaviour
 Historians often use textual traditions to understand social history; many texts lay
down norms of social behaviour.

 Many of the sources comment on a wide range of social situations and practices.

 Mahabharata is one of the major texts that allow piecing together attitudes and
practices that shaped social histories.

 It is one of the richest texts of the sub-continent & was composed over 1000 years.

 The central story is about two sets of warring cousins. The text also contains
sections laying down norms of behaviour for various social groups.

The Critical Edition of Mahabharata

A team of scholars initiated the task of preparing a critical edition of Mahabharata
under the leadership of a noted Indian Sanskritist, V.S. Sukthankar.

Initially, they collected the Sanskrit manuscript of the text, written in a variety of
languages from different parts of the country.

The team compared the verses from each manuscript and selected the verses that
appeared common and published in several volumes, running into over 13,000
pages. It took 47 years to complete.

There were several common elements in the Sanskrit versions of the story, evident
in manuscripts found all over the subcontinent from Kashmir to Kerala & Tamil Nadu
in the South.

Also evident were enormous regional variations in how the text had been transmitted
over the centuries. These variations were documented in footnotes and appendices
to the main text.

Rules and Varied Practices

Kinship
Families are usually part of a larger network of people defined as relatives or Kinfolk.
Not all families are identical; they vary in terms of the number of members, their
relationship with one another as well as the kinds of activity they share.

People from the same family share food and other resources and live, work and
perform rituals together.

Family ties are based on blood and are also natural. Some societies regard cousins
as being blood relations, whereas others do not.
 Historians can easily retrieve information about elite families, but it is difficult for
ordinary people.

Rules about Patriliny

The Mahabharata is a patrilineal narrative.

They were relatives who belonged to a single governing family, the Kurus, who ruled
one of the janapadas.

Patriliny means tracing father to son, grandson, etc. Matriliny is when descent is
traced back to the mother.

When a father dies, his sons may inherit the resources/thrones. This system is used
by many ruling dynasties, albeit there are variations.

Prabhavati Gupta wielded power in extraordinary circumstances, whilst Ordinary

households were concerned about Patriliny.

Rules of Marriage
 There were two systems of marriage: Endogamy & Exogamy.

 Marriage within the kin is called Endogamy & outside the kin is called Exogamy.

 Exogamy meant that the lives of young girls and women belonging to families that
claimed high status were often carefully regulated to ensure that they were married
at the “right” time and to the “right” person.

 This gave rise to the belief that kanyadana, or the gift of a daughter in marriage, was
an important religious duty of the father.

Types of Marriages
Three types of marriages are there:

 Monogamy: A practice in which a man has one wife.

 Polygamy: A practice in which a man has several wives.

 Polyandry: A practice in which a woman has several husbands.

Dharmasutras and Manusmiriti are the Sanskrit texts in which norms of marriage
were compiled. The texts recognised as many as eight forms of marriage. The first
four were considered as ‘good’ and were arranged by the parents, while the
remaining four were condemned.

The last four were practised by those who did not accept Brahmanical norms.
 The Gotra Rules
 The Gotra rules were laid by Brahmans to classify people in terms of Gotras.

 Each Gotra was named after a Vedic Seer; people belonging to the same Gotras
were regarded as descendants.

 Women were supposed to give up their father’s Gotra and that of their Husband in
marriage.

 Members of the same Gotra could not be married.

 Some of the Satavahana rulers were Polygynous. The queen who married the
Satavahana ruler indicates that many of them had their father’s Gotra even after
marriage.

 Some of these queens belonged to the same Gotras. This was opposite to the ideal
of exogamy recommended in Brahmanical texts.

It exemplified an alternative practice, that of endogamy or marriage within the kin

group, which was (and is) prevalent amongst several communities in south India.
Satavahanas also had marriage relations with Shakhas, who were considered
outcasts.
 Importance of Mothers
The Satavahana rulers were identified by their Matronymics; their names were
derived from that of the Mother.
The succession to the throne was generally patrilineal.

Social Differences: Within & Beyond the Framework

of Caste
The “Right” Occupation
 The Dharmasutras and Dharmashastras also contained rules about the ideal
“occupations” of the four categories or varnas.
 Brahmans were supposed to study Vedas, perform sacrifices and get sacrifices
performed.
 Kshatriyas were to engage in warfare, protect people and administer justice, study
the Vedas, perform sacrifices performed, and make gifts.
 The Vaishyas were to engage in agriculture, pastoralism & trade.
 Shudras were assigned only one occupation.

The Brahmanas evolved many strategies for enforcing the right occupation
norms:

1. One was to assert that the varna order was of divine origin.
2. Second, they advised kings to ensure that these norms were followed within their
kingdoms.
3. Third, they attempted to persuade people that their status was determined by birth.
4. They also reinforced these norms through stories told in Mahabharata and other
texts.

Non- Kshatriya King

 According to the Shastras, only Kshatriya could be kings. However, several ruling
lineages have a different origin. The social background of Mauryas, who ruled over a
large empire, was of low origin, as Brahmanical texts describe.

The immediate successors of Mauryas, the Sungas and Kanvas were Brahmans.
The Political powers were effectively open to anyone who could muster support and
resources and were rarely dependent on birth as a Kshatriyas.

The Rulers Shakas who came from Central Asia were regarded as Mlechchhas
(Barbarians) or outsiders by the Brahmans.

One of the earliest inscriptions in Sanskrit describes how Rudradaman, the best-
known Shaka ruler (c. second century CE), rebuilt Sudarshana Lake. This suggests
that powerful mlechchhas were familiar with Sanskritic traditions.

It is also interesting that the best-known ruler of the Satavahana dynasty, Gotami-
puta Shri-Satakani, claimed to be both a unique Brahmana (aka banana) and a
destroyer of the pride of Kshatriyas.

Jatis & Social Mobility

In Brahmanical theory, jati, like varna, was based on birth. The number of varnas
was fixed at four; there was no restriction on the number of jatis.

Brahmanical authorities encountered new groups like shades or wanted to assign a

name to occupational categories such as the goldsmith or suvarnakar, which did not
easily fit into the fourfold varna system, they classified them:

 Jatis, which shared a common occupation or profession, were organised into the
same shrines or guilds.
 An interesting stone inscription found in Madhya Pradesh records the history of a
guild of silk weavers who originally lived in Gujrat and migrated to Madhya Pradesh,
known as Dashpura.
 The inscription provides a fascinating glimpse of complex social processes and
provides insights into the nature of guilds or shrines.
 Although membership was based on a shared craft specialisation, some members
adopted other occupations.
 The members shared more than a common profession; they collectively decided to
invest their wealth, earned through their craft, to construct a splendid temple in
honour of the sun god.

Beyond the Four Varnas

Integration of Varna practices
In the sub-continent, the social practices of tribal people were not influenced by
Brahmanical ideas. They were often described as odd, uncivilised or even animal-
like, people such as forest dwellers.

Those who could not be easily accommodated within the framework of settled
agriculturists and those who spoke non-Sanskrit languages were labelled as
Mlechchhas and looked down upon.
 There was a sharing of ideas and beliefs between people of higher varna & forest
dwellers. The nature of relations is evident in some stories in the Mahabharata.

For example, Eklavya, a forester who never goes to battle, wanted to learn archery
from Dronacharya.

Bhima, one of the five Pandavs, married Hidimba, a rakshasi by birth and gave birth
to a child.

Subordination and Conflict

As the Brahmanas considered some people outside the system, they also developed
a sharper social divide by classifying certain social categories as “untouchable”
Those who considered themselves pure (Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas) avoided
taking food from those they designated as “untouchable”

Some of the activities of untouchables were regarded as particularly “polluting”.

These included handling corpses and dead animals. Those who performed such
tasks, designated as Chandalas, were placed at the very bottom of the hierarchy.

The Manusmriti laid down the ‘duties’ of Chandalas, they were:

 They had to live outside the village

 They have to use discarded Utensils
 They had to wear clothes of the dead
 They had to wear ornaments made up of iron.
 They could not walk about in villages at night.
 They had to dispose of the bodies of those who had no relatives and serve as
executioners.
 Chinese Buddhist monk Fa Xian wrote that “Untouchables” had a sound of clappers
in the streets so that people could avoid seeing them.
 Xuan Chang, another Chinese pilgrim, observed that executioners and scavengers
were forced to live outside the city.

Social Implications of Access to Resources and

Status
Gendered Access to Property
According to the Manusmriti, the paternal estate was to be divided equally amongst
sons after the death of the parents, with a special share for the eldest.

Women could not claim a share of these resources. They were allowed to retain the
gifts they received on the occasion of their marriage as stridhana. This could be
inherited by their children without the husband having any claim on it.

The Manusmriti warned women against hoarding family property, or even their own
valuables, without the husband’s permission.

Wealthy women, such as Vakataka’s Queen Prabhavati Gupta, had property,

including land. The epigraphic and textual evidence suggests that upper-class
women had access to resources.

The social differences between men and women were sharpened because of the
differences in access to resources.

Varna and Access to the Property

According to the Brahmanical texts, another criterion (apart from gender) for
regulating access to wealth was varna.
A variety of occupations were listed for men of the first three varnas. The only
“occupation” prescribed for Shudras was servitude.

If these provisions were implemented, the wealthiest men would have been the
Brahmanas and the Kshatriyas. The poorest would have been the Shudras.

The Buddhist texts recognised that there were differences in society but did not
regard these as natural or inflexible. They also rejected the idea of claims to status
based on birth.

An Alternative Social Scenario: Sharing the Wealth

Men who were generous in ancient Tamilakam were revered, whereas those who
were miserly or simply accumulated wealth for themselves were despised.

Around 2000 years ago, there were several chiefdoms in Tamilakam.

Bards and poets who sang their praises were courted by the chiefs, who paid for
their services. While there were differences between rich and poor, those who
controlled resources were expected to share them, as evidenced by poems included
in the Tamil Sangam anthologies, these poems often shed light on social and
economic relationships.

Social Differences in Society: Social Contract

Additionally, Buddhism came up with a new way of looking at social injustice and the
institutions needed to deal with social unrest.

It's suggested in the Sutta Pitaka that people used to live in an idyllic state of peace,
consuming only what they needed for each meal from what they could find in nature.

This state deteriorated over time as people became more greedy, vindictive, and
deceitful.
 As a result, a leader who can be wrathful when the time is right was chosen.

This suggests that the institution of kingship was founded on free will, with taxes
serving as a means of compensating the king for his services.
The recognition of human agency in the creation and institution-building of economic
and social relations is also revealed by this development.

Historians and the Mahabharata

Language
 The version of Mahabharata is in Sanskrit. (although there were several languages
like Pali, Prakrit etc)
 The Sanskrit used in Mahabharata was far simpler than that of Vedas or of the
inscriptions.

Content
Historians classify the content under two broad categories- Narrative & Didactic. The
Section that contains stories is designated as narrative.

The Sections that contain prescriptions about social norms are designated as
Didactic. The didactic section includes some stories & the narrative often contains
some social messages.

Authors
The original story was probably composed by charioteer-bards known as sutas, who
generally accompanied Kshatriya warriors to the battlefield and composed poems
celebrating their victories and other achievements.

These compositions circulated orally.

From the fifth century BCE, Brahmanas took over the story and began to commit it to
writing. This was the time when chiefdoms such as those of the Kurus and
Panchalas, around whom the story of the epic revolves, were gradually becoming
kingdoms.

Another phase in the composition of the text between c. 200 BCE and 200 CE.

This was the period when the worship of Vishnu was growing in importance, and
Krishna, one of the important figures of the epic, was coming to be identified with
Vishnu.

Draupadi’s Marriage with the Pandavas

Present-day historians suggest polyandry amongst ruling elites at some point of time
in the Indian subcontinent.

The polyandry gradually fell into disfavour amongst the Brahmanas who reworked
and developed the texts for centuries.
The practice of polyandry seemed unusual or even undesirable from the
Brahmanical point of view. It was prevalent in the Himalayan Region.

Other historians suggest that there may have been a shortage of women during
times of warfare and this led to polyandry. It was attributed to a situation of crisis.

Some early sources suggest that polyandry was not the only or even the most
prevalent form of marriage.

Mahabharata as a Dynamic Text

The growth of the Mahabharata did not stop with the Sanskrit version. Over the
centuries, versions of the epic were written in a variety of languages through an
ongoing process of dialogue between peoples, communities, and those who wrote
the texts.

Several stories that originated in specific regions or circulated amongst certain

people found their way into the epic.

The central story of the epic was often retold in different ways and episodes were
depicted in sculpture and painting.

They also provided themes for a wide range of performing arts – plays, dance and
other kinds of narrations.
 Ch-4 Thinkers, Believers and Buildings (Book 1)

Cultural Developments
What are the Sources to Reconstruct Cultural Development?
To reconstruct the cultural developments there are various sources:

 Buddhists, Jaina & Brahmanical Text written in various languages.

 Large and Impressive Material remains Including monuments & Inscriptions.

Why is the 1st millennium BCE often Regarded as a Turning Point in World
History?
 This period saw the emergence of thinkers such as Zarathustrian Iran, Kong Zi in
China, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle in Greece, and Mahavira and Gautama Buddha,
in India.

 They tried to understand the mysteries of existence and the relationship between
human beings and the cosmic order.

 New kingdoms and cities were also developing and social and economic life was
changing in a variety of ways in the Ganga Valley.

The Sacrificial Tradition

 The early Vedic tradition was one of the pre-existing traditions of thought, religious
belief and practice, known from the Rigveda.

 The Rigveda consists of hymns in praise of a variety of deities (Agni, Indra and
Soma.)
 These hymns were chanted when sacrifices were performed, where people prayed
for cattle, sons, good health, long life, etc.

 Sacrifices were performed collectively, some of these were performed by the head of
the family for the well-being of the domestic unit.

 Sacrifices like Rajasuya & Ashvamedha were performed by chiefs and kings who
depended on Brahmana priests to conduct the ritual.

New Questions
 The people were curious about the meaning of life, the possibility of life after death,
and re-birth.

 These were hotly debated. Thinkers were concerned with understanding and
expressing the nature of the ultimate reality.

Debates & Discussion

There were 64 different sects/schools of thought to choose from. Teachers from
various schools of thought engaged in lively debates and discussions.

Teachers such as Buddha and Mahavira travelled from place to place, attempting to
persuade one another as well as lay people of the validity of their philosophy or
worldview.

Debates were held in kutagarashalas (pointed-roof huts) and in groves where

travelling mendicants rested.

If a philosopher was successful in persuading one of his opponents, his followers

became his disciples as well. As a result, support for a specific sect may fluctuate
over time. The Vedas' authority was questioned by Mahavira and the Buddha.
Individuals are also liberated from the pains and sorrows of earthly living, according
to them.

Who were the Fatalists & Materialists?

Fatalists, also known as Ajivikas, are those who think that everything happens for a
reason.

Makkhail Gosala, a Fatalists teacher, claims that the wise and the fool cannot be
distinguished because both will take their course and bring an end to pain.

Materialists, often known as lokayatas, believe that nothing is predetermined.

Ajita Kesakambalin, a materialist teacher, claims that a human being is made up of

four elements. When he dies, the earthy part of him returns to the earth, the fluid part
to water, the heat part to fire, the windy part to air, and the senses part to calm in
space.

Gift-giving is a fool's creed, an empty fiction. Both the clever and the foolish are cut
off and perish. They don't come back after they've died.
 Philosophy of Jainism
 The most important idea in Jainism is that the entire world is animated: even stones,
rocks and water have life.

 Non-injury to living beings, especially to humans, animals, plants and insects, is

central to Jaina philosophy.

 In fact, the principle of ahimsa, emphasised within Jainism, has left its mark on
Indian thinking as a whole.

 According to Jaina teachings, the cycle of birth and rebirth is shaped through karma.

 Asceticism and penance are required to free oneself from the cycle of karma. This
can be achieved only by renouncing the world.

Rules for Jain Monks

 Jaina monks and nuns took five vows:
 To abstain from killing, stealing and lying.
 To observe celibacy.
 To abstain from possessing property.

Jain literature & Spread of Jainism

The teachings of Mahavira were recorded by his Disciples in the form of stories that
could appeal to ordinary people.

A wealth of literature was produced by the Jaina Scholars in the Variety of languages
such as Prakrit, Sanskrit & Tamil.
Manuscripts of these texts were carefully preserved in the libraries attached to
temples.

Jainism got spread in many parts of India, including Maharashtra, Karnataka &
Tamil Nadu.

The Devotees of the Jaina Tirthankaras made many stone sculptures, which has
been recovered from several sites throughout the subcontinent.

E.g: Gopalchal rock-cut Jain Mountain is situated in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.

Spread of Buddhism
Buddhism grew rapidly during the lifetime of the Buddha even after his death, he was
one of the most influential teachers.

Buddha’s message Metta (fellow feeling) and Karuna (compassion) spread across
the subcontinent and beyond through Central Asia to China, Korea Japan, and Sri
Lanka, across the seas to Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia.

The teachings of Buddha have been re-constructed by carefully editing, translating &
analysing the Buddhist text.

Historians have also tried to reconstruct details of his life from hagiographies or
biography of a saint.
Many of these were written down at least a century after the death of Buddha.

Life of Buddha
Siddhanta was a Sakya chief's son. He grew up in a palace, protected from the
harsh facts of life. Persuading his charioteer to carry him into town His first
experience outside was awful.

He was distressed to see an old man, a sick man, and a corpse. He realised then
that the human body would deteriorate and die.

He also met a homeless man who had found peace with age, disease, and death.
Siddhartha chose the same path.

He soon left the palace in search of his own truth. Siddhartha studied several paths,
including bodily mortification, which nearly killed him. He renounced drastic
measures and meditated for days, finally achieving enlightenment.

So he became known as the Buddha, or Enlightened One. He spent the rest of his
life teaching dhamma, or ethical living.

What were the Teachings of Buddha?

The main source from which the Buddha's teachings were rebuilt was the Sutta
Pitaka. The world is fleeting (anicca) and always changing; it is also soulless (anatta)
because it contains nothing permanent or eternal.
 Suffering (dukkha) is an inextricable part of life in the fleeting universe. Humans can
rise above their problems by treading a middle road between extreme penance and
self-indulgence.

In its earlier iterations, the existence of god was irrelevant.

The Buddha saw the social world as a human creation rather than a divine creation.
He encouraged monarchs and gahapatis to be compassionate and ethical.

Individual agency and righteous action, according to the Buddha, are the only ways
to break the cycle of rebirth and achieve self-realisation.

Followers of Buddha
“Be lamps unto yourselves as all of you must work out your own liberation.”

 The body of the disciples of the Buddha or an organisation of monks was called the
sangha. The monks too became the teachers of dhamma.

 They lived a simple life by possessing only the essential requisites for survival, such
as a bowl to receive food once a day from the laity.

 They were known as bhikkhus.

 Only men were allowed into the sangha, but later women also came to be admitted.
This was made possible through the mediation of Ananda, one of the Buddha’s
dearest disciples, who persuaded him to allow women into the sangha.

 The Buddha’s foster mother, Mahapajapati Gotami was the first woman to be
ordained as a bhikkhuni. Many women who entered the sangha became teachers of
dhamma.

 The followers came from many social groups. They included kings, wealthy men and
gahapatis, and also humbler folk: workers, slaves and craftspeople.

 All were regarded as equal within the sangha, having shed their earlier social
identities on becoming bhikkhus and bhikkhunis.

 The internal functioning of the sangha was based on the traditions where decisions
were taken through voting.

Rules for Monks and Nuns

There are some of the rules laid down in the Vinay Pitaka:

 When a new blanket has been made by a bhikkhu, it has to be kept for six years.

 The permission of other bhikkhus was required to use the blanket before six years.

 In this case, if a Bikkhu accepts more meals from a house, he is to share them
among other bhikkhus.
 Any bhikkhu who is leaving and lodging which belongs to sangha must inform other
bhikkhus.

Chaityas
The sites with special trees or unique rocks or sites of awe-inspiring natural beauty
were regarded as sacred.

The sites with small shrines attached were sometimes described as Chaityas.

Chaityas were also mentioned in the Buddhist literature, it describes the name as
having been derived from the word Chita (Funeral pyre).

Stupas
Where were Stupas Built?
Stupas were built in the places associated with Buddha’s life:
 Lumbini (The place of birth)
 Bodh Gaya (Attained enlightenment)
 Sarnath (He gave his first sermon)
 Kusinagara (Death)

Each of these places was regarded as sacred, by the second century BCE, several
stupas had been built including Bharut, Sanchi & Sarnath.

Why were Stupas Built?

Stupa construction may have been a pre-Buddhist tradition, but it became connected
with Buddhism.

Stupas were constructed to house the Buddha's relics, such as his body remains or
things used by him.
Asoka delivered pieces of the Buddha's relics to every important town and
commanded stupas to be built over them, according to the Buddhist scripture
Ashokavadana.

How were the Stupas Built?

The inscription on the pillars contained a record of donations made for the
construction and decoration of the stupas.

Donations were also donated by kings, such as the Satavahanas; others were made
by guilds, such as the ivory workers' guild, which funded part of one of Sanchi's
gateways.

Hundreds of donations were made by women and men who included their names, as
well as their jobs and the names of their families, and sometimes included the name
of the place from where they came.

These monuments were also built with the help of bhikkhus and bhikkhunis.

The Structure of The Stupa

The inscription on the pillars contained a record of donations made for the
construction and decoration of the stupas.

Donations were also donated by kings, such as the Satavahanas; others were made
by guilds, such as the ivory workers' guild, which funded part of one of Sanchi's
gateways.

Hundreds of donations were made by women and men who included their names, as
well as their jobs and the names of their family, and sometimes included the name of
the place from where they came.

These monuments were also built with the help of bhikkhus and bhikkhunis.

The Fate of Amaravati Stupa

The remnants of the stupa at Amaravati were discovered in 1796 by a local king who
wished to build a temple. He decided to make use of the stone and reasoned that
there might be wealth buried in what appeared to be a hill.

Colin Mackenzie, a British officer, paid a visit to the site afterwards. He discovered
several sculptures and created comprehensive drawings of them that were never
published.

Walter Elliot, the commissioner of Guntur (Andhra Pradesh), came to Amaravati in

1854 and gathered many sculptural panels, which he took to Madras. (They were
dubbed the Elliot marbles after him.)
He also discovered the remnants of the western gateway and concluded that the
edifice at Amaravati was one of the largest and most magnificent Buddhist stupas
ever erected.

Some of the slabs from Amaravati had begun to be transported to other locations by
the 1850s:

Some even went to London, to the Asiatic Society of Bengal in Calcutta, the India
Office in Madras, and the Asiatic Society of Bengal in Calcutta.

These sculptures were commonly found in the gardens of British authorities. Every
new authority in the area continued to remove sculptures from the site, claiming that
previous officials had done so as well.

View of H.H. Cole

“It appears to be a suicidal and indefensible policy to tolerate the looting of original
works of ancient art,” he stated.

He thought that museums should have plaster-cast replicas of sculptures, but that
the originals should be left where they were discovered.

Cole was unable to persuade the authorities in the case of Amaravati, but his
request for in situ preservation was accepted in the case of Sanchi.

Why Sanchi Survive and Amaravati did not?

Amaravati was discovered before researchers realised the significance of the
discovery and realised how important it was to leave things where they were
discovered rather than remove them.
Three of Sanchi's four gateways were still intact when it was discovered in 1818, the
fourth was lying on the location where it had fallen, and the mound was in fair
condition.

It was suggested that the gateway be moved to either Paris or London; nevertheless,
a multitude of factors contributed to Sanchi's preservation.

The mahachaitya at Amaravati has been reduced to a little mound, devoid of its
original splendour.

Sculpture
The sculptures were removed from stupas and transported to Europe. This
happened partly because those who saw them considered them to be beautiful and
valuable, and wanted to keep them for themselves

Stories in Stone
With thatched homes and trees, the artwork appears to reflect a rural landscape. It
was identified as a scene from the Vessantara Jataka by art historians who
researched the sculpture at Sanchi closely.
 This is the story of a benevolent prince who left everything to a Brahmana and
moved into the jungle with his wife and children.

Symbol of Worship
According to hagiographies, the Buddha attained enlightenment while meditating
under a tree. Rather than showing the Buddha in his actual form, many early
sculptors decided to depict him using symbols.

The empty seat represented the Buddha's concentration.

The stupa was designed to depict the Mahaparinibbana (Death). Another sign that
was frequently utilised was the wheel. This was a reference to the Buddha's very first
sermon, which he gave in Sarnath.

Popular Traditions
 Sanchi's sculptures may not have been directly inspired by Buddhist concepts.
Beautiful women swinging from the gateway's edge while clinging to a tree are
among them.

 They realised it could be a representation of what is known in Sanskrit as a

shalabhanjika after looking at various literary traditions.

 This was a woman, according to legend, whose touch caused trees to bloom and
give fruit.

 Sanchi has some of the most beautiful animal images. Elephants, horses, monkeys,
and cattle are among these creatures.

 While the Jatakas feature various animal stories presented at Sanchi, many of these
creatures were most likely carved to create vibrant scenarios to attract people.

 Elephants have long been associated with power and wisdom.

 Another theme depicts a woman surrounded by lotuses and elephants who appear
to be performing an abhisheka or consecration on her by sprinkling water on her.

While some historians believe the figure to be Maya, the Buddha's mother, others
believe she is Gajalakshmi, the goddess of good fortune who is associated with
elephants.

Division of Buddhism into Mahayana & Hinayana

 There is evidence of changes in Buddhist ideas and practices.

 Early Buddhist teachings had given great importance to self-effort in achieving

Nibbana.

 Besides, the Buddha was regarded as a human being who attained enlightenment
through his own efforts.
 Gradually, the idea of a saviour emerged. It was believed that he was the one who
could ensure salvation.

Those who adopted these beliefs were described as Mahayana or “the greater
vehicle”.

Simultaneously, the concept of the Bodhisatta(Buddha in the previous birth) also

developed.

Bodhisattvas were perceived as deeply compassionate beings who accumulated

merit through their efforts but used this not to attain Nibbana and thereby abandon
the world, but to help others.

The worship of images of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas became an important part of
this tradition.

The Growth of Puranic Hinduism

 Vaishnavism is a branch of Hinduism in which Vishnu is revered as the supreme
deity.

 Shaivism is a religion in which Shiva is revered as the supreme god.

 The link between the devotee and the god was imagined as one of love and
devotion, or bhakti, in such worship.

 Many cults arose within Vaishnavism, centred on the deity's different avatars or
incarnations. Within the custom, ten avatars were recognised.

 Avatars were believed to be several shapes that the god took in order to preserve
the world from evil powers.

 Different avatars were probably popular in different sections of the country. One
strategy to create a more united religious tradition was to recognise each of these
local deities as a version of Vishnu.

 The linga, for example, was used to represent Shiva, though he was also depicted in
human form on occasion.

 Through symbols such as headdresses, ornaments, and ayudhas - weapons or

fortunate objects the deities hold in their hands – such images portrayed a complex
set of concepts about the deities and their characteristics, as well as how they are
seated.

 Historians must be aware of the stories behind these sculptures in order to

comprehend their meanings, many of which are included in the Puranas, which were
composed by Brahmanas.

 Puranas held a wealth of information, including stories about gods and goddesses,
that had been written and circulated for generations.
They were usually written in plain Sanskrit verse and intended to be read aloud to
everyone, including women and Shudras who did not have access to Vedic
education.

Building Temples
A small square room called the garbhagriha served as the earliest temple, and it had
only one door through which a worshipper could enter and offer offerings to an
image there.

Built on top of the central shrine, the Shikara is an impressive structure. Decoration
of temple walls with sculptures was quite common.

Temples evolved over time, adding gathering halls, massive walls and entrances,
and elaborate water supply systems.

It was not uncommon for early temples to contain caves dug out of enormous
boulders. Fake caverns have been constructed for a long time.

Some of the earliest were constructed in the third century BCE by order of Asoka for
Ajivika renunciants.

In the ninth century, the Kailashnatha Temple was completed by carving out a
complete temple as part of this rite (the name of Shiva).

Sculptures from India Confuse European

Researchers
In the nineteenth century, when European scholars first saw sculptures of gods and
goddesses, they had no idea what they were looking at.

Their jaws dropped as they stared in horror at what they perceived as monstrous
beings with multiple arms and heads, or hybrids of human and animal form.

Ancient Greek sculpture was used to help these early researchers make sense of
the strange images.

For the most part, they viewed early Indian sculpture as inferior to that of Greek
masters. Studies of Buddha and Bodhisattva images found in Europe that were
clearly based on Greek models thrilled scholars.

The majority of these artefacts were found in the northwest, in places like Taxila and
Peshawar, where second-century BCE Indo-Greek monarchs established kingdoms.

Early Indian art experts revered these images because they looked so much like
Greek sculptures they'd seen before.
In other words, these researchers took the same approach we all do when trying to
make sense of the mysterious: they developed yardsticks based on the well-known
to help them understand the strange.
 Ch-5 Through the Eyes of the Travellers (Book 2)

Introduction
Many people travelled from place to place in search of safety from natural disasters
in the early centuries as traders, merchants, soldiers, priests, pilgrims, or driven by a
sense of adventure.

People also discovered a new world, both in terms of the landscape or physical
environment and in terms of the customs, languages, beliefs, and practices of the
people.

Many of them tried to adapt and meticulously recorded their efforts in their truly
outstanding accounts.

There have been a number of accounts left by foreign visitors to India. Many people
travelled from place to place in search of safety from natural disasters in the early
centuries as traders, merchants, soldiers, priests, pilgrims, or driven by a sense of
adventure.

People also discovered a new world, both in terms of the landscape or physical
environment and in terms of the customs, languages, beliefs, and practices of the
people.

Many of them tried to adapt and meticulously recorded their efforts in their truly
outstanding accounts.

There have been a number of accounts left by foreign visitors to India.

Many people travelled from place to place in search of safety from natural disasters
in the early centuries as traders, merchants, soldiers, priests, pilgrims, or driven by a
sense of adventure.

People also discovered a new world, both in terms of the landscape or physical
environment and in terms of the customs, languages, beliefs, and practices of the
people.

Many of them tried to adapt and meticulously recorded their efforts in their truly
outstanding accounts.
There have been a number of accounts left by foreign visitors to India.

Al- Biruni & the Kitab- Ul- Hind

In 973, Al-Biruni was born in Khwarizm (Uzbekistan).

It was an important centre of learning, and Al-Biruni received the best education
available at the time.
 He was well versed in Syriac, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew and Sanskrit. In 1017, when
sultan Mahmud of Gazni invaded Khwarizm, he took several scholars & poets as
hostages with him, Al-Biruni was one of them.

Al-Biruni came to India when Punjab became a part of the Ghaznavid empire. He
spent years in the company of Brahmana learning Sanskrit & studying Religious and
philosophical texts. He was designated as Vidya Sagar by Brahmanas.

Kitab-Ul-Hind
 Language: Arabic
 It is divided into 80 Chapters on subjects such as religion, Philosophy, Festivals,
astronomy, Alchemy, weights & measures etc.

The distinctive structure was adopted in each chapter beginning with a description
following up with a description. Based on Sanskrit traditions and concluding that with
a comparison with other cultures.

What were the Barriers that Obstructed Al-Biruni in Understanding India?

There were several barriers that obstructed Al-Biruni:

 First, The barrier among these was the language. According to him, Sanskrit was
so different from Arabic and Persian that ideas and concepts could not be easily
translated from one language into another.

 Second, The difference in religious beliefs and practices proved to be an ultimate

barrier to him.

 Third, the self-absorption and consequent insularity of the local population, according
to him, was another barrier.
 He depended exclusively on the works of Brahmanas often citing passages from the
Vedas, the Puranas, the Bhagavad Gita, the works of Patanjali, the Manusmriti, etc.,
to provide an understanding of Indian society.

Al-Biruni’s Description of the Caste System

Al-Biruni tried to explain that social division was not unique in India.

He explained the “Varna” system, Brahmana is the highest which was created from
the head of Brahman.

The next follows Kshatriyas who were created from the shoulders and hands of
Brahman, then came Vaishya who were created from the thighs. The Shudras were
at last, who were created from the feet of a Brahman.

He also noted that in ancient Persia four social categories were recognised: those of
knights and princes; monks, fire-priests and lawyers; physicians, astronomers and
other scientists; and finally, peasants and artisans.

Al-Biruni pointed out that within Islam all men were considered equal, differing only in
their observance of piety.

Al-Biruni disapproved of the notion of pollution. He remarked that everything which

falls into a state of impurity strives and succeeds in regaining its original condition of
purity. His description of the caste system was deeply influenced by his study of
Normative Sanskrit texts which laid down the rules governing the system.

Ibn-Battuta
 Ibn- Battuta was a Moroccan traveller, he was born in Tangier into the most
respected and reputed family. According to Ibn- Battuta experience comes from
travelling, and it is a more important source of knowledge than books.

Before he set off for India in 1332-33, he had made pilgrimage trips to Mecca and
had already travelled extensively in Syria, Iraq, Persia, Yemen, Oman and a few
trading ports on the coast of East Africa.

He had heard about Muhammad bin Tughlaq. When he reached Sind, he purchased
horses, camels and slaves. He wanted to offer them as gifts to Sultan Muhammad
bin Tughlaq.

The sultan was impressed by his scholarship and appointed him the Qazi or Judge
of Delhi.
He was also thrown into prison by a sultan. Once the misunderstanding got cleared
he was restored to imperial services and was asked to proceed towards China.

He proceeded towards the Malabar coast from central India and went to the
Maldives. He took a ship to Sumatra and then another ship to the Chinese port town
Zaytun (Quanzhou).

He travelled extensively as far as Beijing and went back home in 1347.

Rihla
 Language: Arabic
 His account is often compared with that of Marco Polo who visited China from his
home base in Venice in the late thirteen century.

Why was travelling insecure in the Mediaeval period according to Ibn-Battuta?

Ibn-Battuta was attacked by bands of robbers several times. He preferred travelling
in caravans along with companions but this did not deter highway robbers.

He was on his way from ‘Multan to Delhi’ his caravan was attacked and looted
several times, his fellow travellers also lost their lives.

Ibn-Battuta felt homesick & at many places he was not welcomed by the people.

The Excitement of the Un-familiar

The Coconut
 Coconut Trees look like date Palms.
 It resembles a man’s head. Inside it looks like a brain.
 Its Fibre looks like Human hair which is used for making rope which is used for
pulling ships.

The Paan
 Betel plants look like grape plants.
 The betel has no fruit and is grown only for the sake of its leaves.
 People chew betel leaves with areca nuts and lime.
Indian Cities
Ibn Battuta found cities in the subcontinent full of exciting opportunities. They were
densely populated and prosperous, except for the occasional disruptions caused by
wars and invasions.

Most cities had crowded streets and bright and colourful markets that were stacked
with a wide variety of goods. Ibn-Battuta described Delhi and Daulatabad as vast
cities, with a great population.

The bazaars were the hub of economic transactions as well as the hub of social and
cultural activities. Most bazaars had a mosque and a temple, also there were places
for public performances by dancers, musicians & singers.

Ibn Battuta explains that towns derived a significant portion of their wealth through
the appropriation of surplus from villages because of the fertility of the soil, which
allowed farmers to cultivate two crops a year.

The subcontinent was well integrated with inter-Asian networks of trade and
commerce, with Indian manufactures being in great demand in both West Asia and
Southeast Asia, fetching huge profits for artisans and merchants.

Indian textiles, particularly cotton cloth, fine muslins, silks, brocade and satin, were in
great demand.

A Unique System of Communication

Almost all trade routes were well supplied with inns and guest houses. Ibn Battuta
was also amazed by the efficiency of the postal system (by Horse & human runners)
which allowed merchants to not only send information and remit credit across long
distances but also to dispatch goods required at short notice.

Slaves
Slaves were openly traded and exchanged as gifts in the markets, just like any other
commodity.

Because of the significant differences among slaves, some female slaves in the
Sultan's service were experts in music and dance, and Ibn Battuta enjoyed their
performance at the Sultan's sister's wedding.

The Sultan also employed female slaves to keep an eye on his nobles. Slaves who
were male were used to transport Palanquins or Dola.

Slave prices, especially for female slaves, were extremely low because they were
used for domestic labour.

Francois Bernier
A Frenchman, was a doctor, political philosopher and historian. He came to the
Mughal Empire in search of opportunities.
He was in India for twelve years, from 1656 to 1668.

He was closely associated with the Mughal court, as a physician to Prince Dara
Shukoh, the eldest son of Emperor Shah Jahan, and later as an intellectual and
scientist, with Danishmand Khan, an Armenian noble at the Mughal court.

He travelled in several parts of the country and wrote his account comparing with the
situation in Europe.

Bernier dedicated his major writings to the king of France, Louis XIV. Many of his
other works were written in the form of letters to influential officials & ministers. He
also described what he saw in India in comparison to Europe, the assessment was
not very accurate.

Bernier & the Disintegrate East

Crown Ownership of Land
One of the fundamental differences between Mughal India and Europe was the lack
of private property on land which was harmful to both the state and its people.

He thought that in the Mughal Empire, the emperor owned all the land and
distributed it among his nobles, and nobles to peasants.

Owing to crown ownership of land, argued Bernier, landholders could not pass on
their land to their children. So they were averse to any long-term investment in the
sustenance and expansion of production.
Bernier saw the Mughal Empire – its king was the king of “beggars and barbarians”;
its cities and towns were ruined and contaminated with “ill air”; and its fields, were
“overspread with bushes” and full of “pestilential marishes”.

This was because of the crown ownership of land.

Complex Social Reality

Bernier's description points to a more complex social reality. Artisans had no
incentive to improve the quality of their manufactures since profits were appropriated
by the state.

The vast quantities of the world’s precious metals flowed into India, as manufactures
were exported in exchange for gold and silver.

He also noticed the existence of a prosperous merchant community, engaged in the

long-distance exchange.

Mughal Cities
In the seventh century, 15% of the population lived in towns, this proportion was
higher than that of Western Europe.

Mughal cities were described as “Camp towns”. These cities came into existence &
grow when the imperial court moved in and declined rapidly when it moved out.

Different types of towns were there: Trading towns, manufacturing towns, port towns
etc.
Strong communities or Kin ties of merchants were there into their own caste-cum-
communities bodies.

These groups were called Mahajans; their chief was called nagarsheth or Seth.

Urban groups included physicians(Hakim or vaid), teachers(Pundit or Mulla),

lawyers(wakil), painters, architects etc. Some of the people were dependent on
imperial patronage; they made their living by serving other patrons.

Sati & Women labourers

The treatment of women was identified by European travellers as a critical marker of
difference between Western and Eastern societies.

As a detailed description, Bernier chose the practice of sati. He observed that while
some women welcomed death with joy, others were forced to die.

Both agricultural and non-agricultural production relied heavily on women's labour.

Women from merchant families were involved in commercial activities, and
mercantile disputes were sometimes taken to court.

Travellers who wrote detailed accounts regarding Indian social Customs &
religious practices.
 Jesuit Roberto Nobili- He translated Indian texts into European languages.
 Duarte Barbosa: He wrote a detailed account of trade & society in South India.
 Jean-Baptiste Tavernier: he was particularly fascinated with the trading conditions
in India & compared India to Iran and the Ottoman Empire
 Italian Dr Manucci: He wrote a detailed account regarding Indian social customs
and religious practices and settled in India.

How did Francois Bernier’s descriptions Influence western theorists From the
Eighteen century?
Bernier's Travels in the Mughal Empire is known for its meticulous observations,
critical insights, and introspection. His account includes discussions attempting to put
the Mughal dynasty's history into some sort of universal context.

He was always comparing Mughal India to modern Europe.

From the eighteenth century onwards, Bernier's descriptions influenced Western

theorists.

For example, the French philosopher Montesquieu used this account to develop the
concept of oriental despotism, in which Asian rulers exercised absolute authority
over their subjects, who were kept in slavery and poverty.

Karl Marx developed this idea into the concept of the Asiatic mode of production in
the nineteenth century. He claimed that before colonialism, a surplus in India (and
other Asian countries) was appropriated by the state.

As a result, a society made up of a large number of autonomous and (internally)

egalitarian village communities arose.
This portrayal of rural society, however, was far from accurate. Rural society was, in
fact, marked by significant social and economic differentiation during the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries.
 Ch-6 Bhakti Sufi Traditions (Book 2)

Introduction
What are the Sources to Understand Bhakti and Sufi Traditions?
Writers and sages throughout this era utilised a variety of written sources, including
compositions attributed to poets and saints. Most of these were in local dialects.

Often, these compositions were set to music and compiled by devotees or disciples
after the musician or composer had died.

Hagiographies (biographies of saints) written by the faithful. Although these could not
be considered literal truths, they provide an impression of how these devotees
thought about the realities of how these paths broke women and men.

India is a Mosaic of Religious Beliefs and Practices

Integration of Various Cults

There were two processes at work to integrate different cults;

 One was the process of disseminating Brahmanical ideas. This is exemplified by the
composition, compilation and preservation of Puranic texts in simple Sanskrit verse,
explicitly meant to be accessible to women and Shudras.

 There was a second process at work that of the Brahmana accepting & reworking
the beliefs and practices of Shudras.

 In fact, many beliefs and practices were shaped through a continuous dialogue
between “great” Sanskritic Puranic traditions and “little” traditions throughout the
land.

One of the most striking examples of this is in Puri, Orrisa, where Jagannatha, Lord
of the World, a form of Vishnu, was identified as the main deity.

Goddess cults are also showing signs of integration. Goddess worship was evidently
widespread, often in the form of a stone-coloured with red and yellow mud.

Local deities were frequently incorporated into the Puranic framework by giving them
the identity of a wife of the main male deities – Lakshmi, the wife of Vishnu, Parvati,
the wife of Shiva, and Saraswati, the wife of Brahma, in some cases.

Differences & Conflicts Between Cults and Traditions of Hinduism

 Tantric Practices
 Puranic Traditions
 Vedic Traditions

Tantric practitioners frequently disregard the authority of the Vedas. Devotees often
project their chosen deity, Vishnu or Shiva, as the supreme being.

Agni, Indra, and Soma are the main deities in Vedic mythology.
 Tantric practices were common in many parts of the subcontinent; they were open to
both men and women, and practitioners often ignored caste and class distinctions
within the ritual context.

Such forms of worship frequently included the singing and chanting of devotional
compositions. The Vaishnava and Shaiva sections were particularly affected. Other
practices were frequently condemned by those who valued the Vedic tradition. They
followed sacrifices or chanted mantras with precision.

This tradition included Alvars and Nayanars.

Only men, Brahmans, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas were allowed to participate in Vedic
practices. They followed Vedic traditions, which included chanting long Vedic hymns
and performing elaborate sacrifices.

Early Tradition of Bhakti in Tamil Nadu

The Bhakti tradition is often classified into two broad categories: Saguna & Nirguna.

 The Saguna bhakti tradition focuses on the worship of specific deities such as
Shiva, Vishnu & his avatars (In-carnations) and forms of the goddess or Devi, in
anthropomorphic forms.

 Nirguna bhakti on the other hand was the worship of an abstract (Non-living
objects) form of god.

Some of the earliest bhakti movements (c. sixth century) were led by the Alvars
(literally, those who are “immersed” in devotion to Vishnu) and Nayanars (literally,
leaders who were devotees of Shiva).

They travelled from place to place singing hymns in Tamil in praise of their gods.
During their travels the Alvars and Nayanars identified certain shrines as abodes of
their chosen deities. Very often large temples were later built at these sacred places.
These developed as centres of pilgrimage.

Attitude Towards Caste

 Alvars & Naynars initiated a movement against the caste system & Dominance of
Brahmanas.

 Many Bhakts joined from different social backgrounds like cultivators and even those
who were considered untouchables.

 They claimed that their compositions were as important as Vedas. The composition
of Alvars, the Nalayira-Divyaprabandham was described as Tamil Veda.

 Tevram was the composition of Nayanars.

Women Devotees
 This was the most striking feature of these traditions, which is the presence of
women. The compositions of Andal, The women Alvar were widely sung and to be
sung till date. Andal saw herself as a beloved of Vishnu, in her versus she was
expressed for her deity.

 Karaikkal Ammaiyar, a devotee of Shiva adopted a path of extreme asceticism in

order to attain her goal. Her compositions were preserved with the Nayanar
Traditions.

Alvars & Nayanars

Relation with the State
Cholas, Pallavas & pandyas ruled South India. Buddhism & Jainism had been
prevalent in this region for several centuries.

Alvars and Nayanars opposed Buddhism and Jainism through their hymns. This
hostility was due to competition between religious traditions for royal patronage.
Chola rulers supported Brahmanical and bhakti traditions, making land grants and
constructing temples for Vishnu and Shiva.

The most magnificent Shiva temples like Chidambaram, Thanjavur and

Gangaikondacholapuram, were constructed under the patronage of Chola rulers.

In this period some of the most spectacular representations of Shiva in bronze

sculpture were produced.

Rulers Tried to Win the Support of Alvars & Nayanars

The Chola kings often attempted to claim divine support and proclaim their own
power and status by building splendid temples that were adorned with stone and
metal sculpture to recreate the vision of these popular saints who sang in the
language of the people.

These Kings also introduced the singing of Tamil Shaiva Hymns In the temple under
the royal Patronage, taking the initiative to organise them into a text (Tevaram).

Prantaka I, the Chola ruler had consecrated metal images of Bhakti Saints- Appar,
Sambandar & Sundarar in a Shiva temple. These were carried in processions during
the festival of these saints.

The Virashaiva Tradition in Karnataka

This tradition was led by a Brahman named Basavana; a minister in the court of a
Kalachuri ruler.

The followers of Basavana were known as Virashaivas (Heroes of Shiva) or

Lingayats(Wearers of Linga). They worship Shiva in his manifestation as a Linga,
and men usually wear a small linga in a silver case on a loop strung over the left
shoulder.

Those who were revered included the Jangama (wandering monks).

Lingayats do not practice Cremation instead they bury their dead, as they believe the
devotee will be united with Shiva after death.

The also challenged the idea of Caste and pollution attributed to certain groups by
Brahmanas. The theory of rebirth was also questioned by Lingayats. This won them,
followers, amongst those who were neglected by the Brahmans.

The practice of post-puberty marriages and re-marriage of widows were encouraged.

The understanding of Virashaivas traditions is derived from Vachanas, composed in
Kannada.

Religious Ferment in North-India

In north India deities such as Vishnu and Shiva were worshipped in temples, often
built with the support of rulers. Historians have not found evidence of anything
resembling the compositions of the Alvars and Nayanars.

Several Rajput states emerged in North India. In most of these states, Brahmans
were the dominant actors & were performing a range of secular and ritual functions.

Little attempts have been made to change the Brahmanical position, like Naths,
Jogis & Siddhas.

Many of them came from artisanal groups, including weavers, who had long-distance
trade in Central Asia and West Asia.

Many of the new religious leaders questioned the authority of the Vedas & expressed
themselves.
The religious leaders were not in the support to win the support of the rulers. The
arrival of Turks and the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate undermined the power
of many states and Brahmans who were associated with these kingdoms.

New Strands in Fabric: Islamic Traditions

Arab merchants, for instance, frequented ports along the western coast in the first
millennium CE. From the seventh century, with the advent of Islam, these regions
became part of what is often termed the Islamic world.

In 711 an Arab general named Muhammad Qasim conquered Sind, which became
part of the Caliph’s domain.

Turks & Afghans established the Delhi sultanate. This continued the establishment of
the Mughal Empire in the sixteenth century.

Muslim rulers were to be guided by the ulama. These were the theologians who were
well versed in Islamic laws.

Rulers rule according to the sharia. It is the law governing the Muslim community
based on the Quran and the hadiths.

The Popular Practice of Islam

Islam permeated far and wide, through the subcontinent among different, amongst
different social strata- peasants, warriors, artisans, warriors, merchants etc.

All those who adopted Islam accepted, the five pillars of faith. There is one God,
Allah, and Prophet Muhammad is his messenger (shahada).
 Offering prayers five times a day (namaz/salat)
 Giving alms (zakat)
 Fasting during the month of Ramzan (sawm)
 Performing the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj).

The Khojahs, a branch of the Ismailis (a Shi‘a sect), composed devotional poems
in Punjabi, Multani, Sindhi, Kachchi, Hindi and Gujarati, sung in special ragas during
daily prayer meetings.

Arab Muslim traders who settled along the Malabar coast (Kerala) adopted the local
language, Malayalam.

They also adopted local customs such as matriliny and matrilocal residence.

Some of the architectural features of mosques are universal – such as their

orientation towards Mecca, evident in the placement of the mihrab (prayer niche) and
the minbar (pulpit).
However, there are several features that show variations – such as roofs and
building materials.

Different Names of the Muslim Community

Historians pointed out that the terms Musalman or Muslim were virtually never used
in India up to 14th Century; instead, they were occasionally identified in terms of the
region from which they came.

Turkish rulers were designated as Turushka. Tajika were people from Tajikistan and
Parashika were people from Persia.

The terms used for other peoples were applied to the new migrants. For instance,
the Turks and Afghans were referred to as Shakas and Yavanas.

Mlechchha was a more general term for these migrant communities, indicating that
they did not observe the norms of caste society and spoke languages that were not
derived from Sanskrit.

The Growth of Sufism

In the early centuries of Islam, a group of religious-minded people called Sufis turned
to asceticism and mysticism in protest against the growing materialism of the
Caliphate.

They were critical of the dogmatic definitions and scholastic methods of interpreting
the Qur’an and sunna by Ulemas.

They emphasised seeking salvation through intense devotion and love for God by
following the commands of Ph. Muhammad.
 Khanqahs & Silsilas
The Sufi began to organise around the hospice or khanqah (Persian) controlled by a
teaching master known as a sheikh. He enrolled disciples (murids) and appointed a
successor (khalifa).

He established rules for spiritual conduct and interaction between inmates as well as
between laypersons and the master.

Silsila means a chain, signifying a continuous link between master and disciple,
stretching as an unbroken spiritual genealogy from Allah > Ph Muhammad > Sufis >
Devotees.

It was through this channel that spiritual power and blessings were transmitted to
devotees.
Ziyarat: when the sheikh died, he was buried in a tomb shrine called Dargha. This
became the centre of devotion for his followers.

This encouraged the practice of pilgrimage or ziyarat to his grave, particularly on his
death anniversary or urs (or marriage, signifying the union of his soul with God). This
was because people believed that in death saints were united with God

Be-sharia & Ba-sharia Sufi

Sufis, who left the khanqah and took to mendicancy and observed celibacy. They
ignored rituals and observed extreme forms of asceticism called Be- Shariya.

They were known as Qalandars, Madaris, Malang, Haidari,

Sufis who live in Kansas by following normal sharia practices are called Ba- Sharia
 The Chishtis Tradition
The khanqah was the centre of social life. It comprised several small rooms and a
big hall ( jama’at khana) where the inmates and visitors lived and prayed.

The inmates included family members of the Sheikh, his attendants and disciples.
The Sheikh lived in a small room on the roof of the hall where he met visitors in the
morning and evening.

A veranda surrounded the courtyard, and a boundary wall ran around the complex.

There was an open kitchen (langar), run on futuh (unasked-for charity).

From morning till late night people from all walks of life – soldiers, slaves, singers,
merchants, poets, travellers, rich and poor, Hindu jogis (yogi) and qalandars – came
seeking discipleship, and amulets for healing.

The attempts to assimilate local traditions were the practices that were adopted
including Bowing before the sheikh, offering water to visitors, shaving the heads of
initiates etc.

Several spiritual successors were appointed by Sheikh Nizamuddin and deputed to

set up hospices in various parts of the subcontinent. As a result, the teachings,
practices and organisation of the Chishtis as well as the fame of the Shaikh spread
rapidly.

Ziyarat
Pilgrimage, called ziyarat, to tombs of Sufi saints is prevalent all over the
Muslim world. This practice is an occasion for seeking the Sufi's spiritual
grace (Barakat).

The people of various creeds, classes and social backgrounds have expressed their
devotion to the dargahs of the five great Chishti saints.

Amongst these, the most revered shrine is that of Khwaja Muinuddin, popularly
known as “Gharib Nawaz”

The earliest textual references to Khwaja Muinuddin’s dargah date to the fourteenth
century. It was evidently popular because of the austerity and piety of its Shaikh, the
greatness of its spiritual successors, and the patronage of royal visitors.

Muhammad bin tughlaq was the first Sultan to visit the shrine, but the earliest
construction to house the tomb was founded in the late fifteenth century by Sultan
Ghiyasuddin Khalji of Malwa.

Since the shrine was located on the trade route linking Delhi and Gujarat, it attracted
a lot of travellers. He went there fourteen times, sometimes two or three times a
year, to seek blessings for new conquests, fulfilment of vows, and the birth of sons.
 Qawwali
The use of music and dance including mystical chants performed by specially trained
musicians or qawwals to evoke divine ecstasy.

The Sufis remember God either by reciting the zikr (the Divine Names) or evoking
His Presence through sama or performance of mystical music called Qawali.

Amir Khusrau the great poet, musician and disciple of Sheikh Nizamuddin Aulia,
gave a unique form to the chistisama by introducing the qaul, a hymn sung at the
opening or closing of qawwali.

This was followed by Sufi poetry in Persian, Hindavi or Urdu, and sometimes using
words from all of these languages.

Qawwals (those who sing these songs) at the shrine of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya
always start their recital with the qaul. Today qawwali is performed in shrines all over
the subcontinent.

Languages & Communication

In Delhi, those associated with the Chishti silsila conversed in Hindavi, the language
of the people. Other Sufis such as Baba Farid composed verses in the local
languages.

Baba Farid composed verses in the local language, which were incorporated in the
Guru Granth Sahib
Others composed long poems or masnavis to express ideas of divine love using
human love as an allegory.

For example, the prem-akhyan (love story) Padmavat composed by Malik

Muhammad Jayasi revolved around the romance of Padmini and Ratansen, the king
of Chittor

In and around Bijapur, Karnataka a different genre of poetry was composed. These
were short poems in Dakhani (Urdu) attributed to Chishti Sufis who lived in the
region during the seventeenth & Eighteen centuries.

These were sung by women while performing household chores. Other compositions
were in the form of lurinama or lullabies and shadinama or wedding songs.

The Sufi of this region was inspired by pre-existing Bhakti Tradition of the Kannada
vanchas of the lingayats and the Marathi abhangs of the saints of Pandharpur.

Sufi and Their Relations with the State

The Sufi accepted the Unsolicited grants and donations from the political elites. The
Sultans in turn set up charitable trusts (auqaf) as endowments for hospices and
granted tax-free land (inam).
 They accepted donations in cash and kind. They preferred to use these fully on
immediate requirements such as food, clothes, living quarters etc. This enhanced
the moral authority of sheikhs, which attracted people from all walks of life.

Their piety and scholarship and people’s belief in the miraculous power made Sufi
popular among the masses.

Kings did not simply need to demonstrate their association with Sufis; they also
required legitimation from them. When the Turks set up the Delhi Sultanate, they
resisted the insistence of the ulama on imposing shari‘a as state

The Sultans then sought out the Sufis – who derived their authority directly from God
– and did not depend on jurists to interpret the shari‘a.

It was believed that the auliya could intercede with God in order to improve the
material and spiritual conditions of ordinary human beings.

This explains why kings often wanted their tombs to be in the vicinity of Sufi shrines
and hospices.

The instances of conflicts between Sultans & Sufis were there. To assert their
authority, both expected that certain rituals be performed such as prostration and
kissing of the feet. Occasionally the Sufi shaikh was addressed with high-sounding
titles. Like Sultan-Ul-masheikh.

Teachings of Kabir
Who was ‘Kabir’ ? What were his teachings?
He was born as a Hindu but was raised by a poor Muslim family, belonging to the
community of weavers or Julahas.

He was initiated into Bhakti by a guru, Ramananda. Kabir was one of the most
outstanding examples of a poet-saint who emerged in North India.

Verses ascribed to Kabir have been compiled in three distinct but overlapping
traditions.

 The Kabir Bijak is preserved by the Kabirpanth (the path or sect of Kabir) in Varanasi
and elsewhere in Uttar Pradesh.
 The Kabir Granthavali is associated with the Dadupanth in Rajasthan, many of his
compositions are found in the Adi Granth Sahib.

Kabir’s poems have survived in several languages and dialects; and some are
composed in the special language of nirguna poets, the sant bhasha.

Ulatbansi, are written in a form in which everyday meanings are inverted. Kabir's
mystical experiences are many to describe the ultimate reality. These include Islam:
he described the ultimate reality as Allah, Kudha, Pir and Hazrat.
 The terms from Vedantic tradition were also used by Kabir, like alakh (the unseen),
nirakar (formless), Brahman, Atman, etc. Other terms with mystical connotations
such as shabda (sound) or shunya (emptiness) were drawn from yogic traditions.

Scholars have tried to analyse the language, style and content to establish which
verses could be Kabir’s

However, the verses attributed to Kabir use the words guru and satguru but do not
mention the name of any specific preceptor.

Historians have pointed out that it is very difficult to establish that Ramananda and
Kabir were contemporaries, without assigning improbably long lives to either or both.

Life & Teachings of Baba Guru Nanak

Baba Guru Nanak was born in a Hindu merchant family in a village called Nankana
Sahib near river Ravi. (now in Pakistan).

 He trained to be an accountant and studied Persian.

 He was married at a young age but he spent most of his time among Sufi and bhakti
and travelled widely.
 His messages were spelt out in the hymns and teachings.
 He advocated a form of nirguna bhakti and firmly repudiated the external practices of
the religions he saw around him.
 He rejected sacrifices, ritual baths, image worship, austerities and the scriptures of
both Hindus and Muslims.

For Baba Guru Nanak; The Absolute or “rab” had no gender or form. He proposed a
simple way to connect to the Divine by remembering and repeating the Divine Name,
 expressing his ideas through hymns called “Shabad” in Punjabi, the language of the
region.

Baba Guru Nanak would sing these compositions in various ragas while his
attendant Mardana played the rabab.

He organised his followers into a community and set up some rules for
congregational worship (Sangat) involving Corrective recitation.

He appointed one of his disciples, Angad, to succeed him as the Guru, and this
practice was followed for nearly 200 years.

He did not wish to establish a new religion, but after his death, his followers
consolidated their own practices and distinguished themselves from both Hindus and
Muslims.

The fifth Guru Arjan compiled Baba Guru Nanak’s hymns along with those of his
four successors and other religious poets like Baba Farid, Ravidas (Raidas)and
Kabir in the Adi Granth Sahib.

These hymns were called Gurbani and were composed in various languages. The
tenth guru, Guru Gobind Singh, included the compositions of the ninth guru, Guru
Tegh Bahadur, and this scripture was called the Guru Granth Sahib.

Guru Gobind Singh also laid the foundation of the Khalsa Panth (army of the pure)
and defined its five symbols:

 Uncut hair
 A dagger
 A pair of shorts
 A comb
 A steel bangle.

Under him, the community got consolidated as a socio-religious and military force.

Mirabai: The devotee Princess

Mirabai is the best-known woman poet within the Bhakti tradition. Biographies have
been reconstructed primarily from the bhajans attributed to her, which were
transmitted orally for centuries.

Mirabai was the Rajput princess of Marwar, who was married against her wishes to a
prince of Mewar in Rajasthan.

She defied her husband and did not submit to the traditional role of wife and mother,
instead of recognising Krishna, the avatar of Vishnu, as her lover.

Her in-laws tried to poison her, but she escaped from the palace to live as a
wandering singer composing songs that are characterised by intense expressions of
emotion.
 According to some traditions, her preceptor was Raidas, a leatherworker. This would
indicate her defiance of the norms of caste society.

After rejecting the comforts of her husband’s palace, she is supposed to have
donned the white robes of a widow or the saffron robe of the renounce.

Mirabai did not attract a sect or group of followers, she has been recognised as a
source of inspiration for centuries. Her songs continue to be sung by women and
men, especially those who are poor and considered “low caste” in Gujarat and
Rajasthan.

Varieties of sources to reconstruct the history of Sufi tradition

 A wide range of texts was produced in and around Sufi Khanqahs.
 These included manuals dealing with Sufi thought & practices.
 Malfuzat or conversation of Sufi saints, they were compiled over several centuries.
 Maktubat or written collection of letters by Sufi masters addressed to their disciples.
 Tazkiras or biographical accounts of saints.
 Ch-7 An Imperial Capital: Vijayanagara (Book 2)

Introduction
The rebellion against the Tughluq led to the establishment of the Vijayanagara
Empire. The militarization of politics in the peninsular region played a major role in
shaping the history of the empire.

Many significant developments like urbanisation and monetized economy caused the
political and military Conflict among the major kingdoms of the peninsular area.

The Development of the Empire

The Vijayanagara empire was established by the two brothers Harihara & Buka Rai
in 1336. The empire included the territories from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala
and Tamil Nadu. The kingdom lasted for about 230 years, in this period, many
dynasties ruled the kingdom of Vijayanagar.

Dynasties
 Sangama Dynasty (1336-1485)
 Saluva Dynasty (1485-1505)
 Taluva Dynasty (1505-1565)

The Discovery of Hampi

What is the Relevance of Hampi in the History of the Vijayanagara Empire?
Hampi is an ancient village in Karnataka, situated on the south bank of river
Tungabhadra.
The Vijayanagara Empire is well known for its temple architecture where the ruins of
the numerous temple complexes were found.
 The Virupaksha temple is one of the archaeological structures situated in Hampi,
which was built in the reign of Devaraya-II, a prominent Sangama Ruler.

What was the Role of the East India Company?

The East India Company published the first authentic Geographical map of South
India.

Colonel Colin Mackenzie was the first one to bring to light the rich architectural
heritage of the Vijayanagar Ruins at Hampi.

All the local histories, inscriptions, religious practices & cultures were recorded. The
initial information was based on the memory of the priest of the Virupaksha Temple
and the shrine of Pampa Devi.

Subsequently, from 1856, photographers began to record the monuments which

enabled scholars to study them.

As early as 1836 epigraphists began collecting several dozen inscriptions found at

this and other temples at Hampi.

The accounts of the foreign travellers like Nicolo Conti & Abdul Razzaq and other
literature written in various languages like Telugu, Kannada, Tamil & Sanskrit.

Krishna Deva Raya

The ruler Krishna deva Raya belonged to the Tuluva Dynasty. His rule was
characterised by consolidation & expansion.

 He was a very powerful ruler; he defeated the Bahmani kings & the kings of Orissa.

 He also annexed the Raichur Doab, the land between Tungabhadra & the Krishna
River.

 Krishna Deva Raya is credited with building some fine temples & adding impressive
Gopuram to many temples in south India.

 He also founded a Suburban Township near Vijayanagar called Nagalapuram after

his mother.

The Vijayanagara Competed with Contemporary Rulers

On their Northern Frontier, the kingdom competed with many rulers; the Sultans of
Deccan & the Gajapati rulers of Orissa.

Some of the areas that were incorporated within the empire had witnessed the
development of powerful states such as those of the Cholas in Tamil Nadu and the
Hoysalas in Karnataka.
 Kings and Traders
This medieval period relied on effective cavalry, which had brought in horses from
Arabia and Central Asia.

The local traders, called kuthirai chettis, supplied horses to the Vijayanagara kings.
In 1498, the Portuguese arrived and quickly established commerce and military
bases. Their superior military technology, particularly their employment of muskets,
allowed them to rise to prominence.

Spices, fabrics, and precious stones are also sold in Vijayanagar marketplaces. For
cities like these, trade was seen as a prestige symbol.

The Aftermath of Krishna Deva Raya’s Death

After the death of Krishna Deva Raya, the Vijayanagara was weakened, and his
successor was plagued by the Nayaks or military commanders.

After 1542, Aravidu seized control of the capital and ruled until the end of the 17th
century. In 1565, Rama Raya, Vijayanagara's chief minister, led his army into the
Battle of Rakshasi-Tangadi (also known as Talikota), when his forces were beaten
by the united armies of Bijapur and Talikota.

Golconda and Ahmadnagar are two of the most important cities in the state of
Gujarat.

Bijapur, Golconda, and Ahmednagar's victorious forces banded together and sacked
Vijayanagar.

In a few years, the city was completely depopulated.

The Vijayanagara Empire's Amara Nayaka system was a significant political
development. Many aspects of this system are considered to have been taken from
the Delhi Sultanate's Iqta system.

In the Vijayanagara empire, military chiefs wielded power, controlling forts and
commanding armies. They went from place to place, accompanied by peasants who
were looking for fertile land to dwell.

The Raya entrusted the Amara-nayakas with the administration of their respective
areas. Taxes and other fees were collected from peasants and artisans.

A portion of the money was kept for personal use and to keep a specified number of
horses and elephants in the stable.

The money was utilised to keep the temples in good repair. The Amara-nayakas paid
yearly tribute to the king and came to the royal court with presents to show their
devotion.

They were occasionally transferred from one location to another by kings to establish
their authority over them.

Many of these Nayakas created their own kingdoms during the seventeenth century.

The central imperial structure's downfall was expedited by this.

Architectural Wisdom of Vijayanagara

What were the Exciting Features of the Water Resources that the Vijayanagara
Empire had?
The Natural basin formed by the river Tungabhadra was the most exciting feature of
the Vijayanagara.

The surrounding landscape is characterised by stunning granite hills that form a

girdle around the city. Several streams flow down to the river from these rocky
outcrops.

Reservoirs & tanks of various sizes were built along these streams to store water
and conduct it to the city. The foreign traveller ‘Domingo Paes’ also praised the
ingenuity of the Krishna Deva Raya, considering the Kamalapuram tank.

Water from these fields was used for irrigation and was also conducted through
channels to ‘Royal Centre’. The ‘Hiriya Canal’ is one of the most prominent
waterworks.
Fortifications
The empire had amazing and impressive fortifications in the different parts; the
empire was enclosed by the great fortress walls. There were seven lines of forts.
These encircled not only the city of Vijayanagara but also its agricultural land and
forests.

The ambassador of the ruler of Persia, Abdur Razzaq was highly impressed by the
fortifications. He mentioned seven lines of the fort, which encircles the major areas
as well as the agricultural hinterland and forests.

The outermost wall linked the hills surrounding the city. The massive masonry
construction was slightly tapered.

No mortar or cementing agent was employed anywhere in the construction.

The stone blocks were wedge-shaped, which held them in place, and the inner
portion of the walls was of earth packed with rubble. Abdul Razzaq noted that
between the first, second & third walls agricultural tracts and garden fields were built.

Domingo Paes observed that “from the first circuit enter the city there is a great
distance, in which are fields in which they sow rice and have many gardens and
much water, in which water comes from two lakes.”

Why were Agricultural Tracts Incorporated within the Fortified Areas?

The objective of medieval sieges was to starve the defenders into submission. These
sieges could last for several months and sometimes even years.

The rulers prepared themselves for such situations by building large granaries within
fortified areas.
The rulers of Vijayanagara adopted a more expensive and elaborate strategy of
protecting the agricultural belt itself.

The second line of fortification went around the inner core of the urban complex &
the third surrounded the royal centre. Each set of the major buildings was
surrounded by its own high walls.

Roads in Vijayanagar
The roads in the empire were planned before being laid. The fort was entered
through well-guarded gates, which linked the city to the major roads.

The roads have been identified by tracing paths through gateways, as well as by
finds of pavements. Roads generally wound around through the valleys, avoiding
rocky terrain.

Some of the most important roads extended from temple gateways and were lined
by bazaars.

The Urban core

The urban core was the elite residential zone of the Vijayanagara capital. The
evidence of ‘fine Chinese porcelain’ in some areas, including in the north-eastern
corner of the urban core suggests that these areas may have been occupied by rich
traders.

Tombs and mosques found here have distinctive functions; their architecture
resembles that of Mandapas found in the temples of Hampi.

The entire area was dotted with numerous shrines and small temples, pointing
towards the prevalence of various Cults, perhaps supported by different
communities. The wells, rainwater tanks as well as temple tanks may have served as
sources of water to the ordinary town dwellers.

The Royal Centre

Features of the Royal Centre
The royal centre was located in the southwestern parts of the settlement. It includes
30 temples.

About 30 building complexes have been identified as places. These are relatively
large structures that do not seem to have been associated with ritual functions.

The difference between the structures and temples is that temples were constructed
of masonry, while the secular buildings were made of perishable materials.

The most distinctive structure was the “Kings Place” which is the largest of the
enclosures but has not yielded definitive evidence of being a royal residence.
 It has an audience hall, the “Mahanavmi Dibba”; the entire complex was surrounded
by high double walls with a street running in between them. The Audience hall has a
high platform with slots for wooden pillars at close and regular intervals. It has a
staircase running up to the second floor.

The Mahanavmi Dibba was a platform rising from the base of about 11000 sq. ft to a
height of 40ft.it supported a wooden structure. The base was covered with relief
carvings.

What were the Rituals Performed at Mahanavmi Dibba?

The following rituals were performed:

 Worship of the Image

 Worship of the state horse
 The sacrifice of buffaloes & other animals.
 Dancing, wrestling matches etc.
 Durga pooja, Navaratri or Mahanavami were also celebrated.

The Vijayanagara kings displayed their prestige, power and suzerainty on this
occasion.

The Lotus Mahal

It is the most beautiful structure named by British travellers in the nineteenth century.
It is a two-storeyed pavilion made on a slightly uplifted platform. The ground floor of
the structure is not enclosed by walls on any side.

The upper floor is a closed pavilion with many rectangular windows.

The ceilings of the structure are engraved with the resembling structures of the
Hindu Temples.

The Elephant Stable

The Elephant Stables is another important structure, it has Eleven rooms & beautiful
structures over them. This was used for keeping Special elephants for the King's
Family.

Hazara Rama Temple

The Hazara Rama Temple was meant to be used by the King and his family. The
inner walls had a sculpture with scenes of Ramayana.

Many of these structures were destroyed when this city got sacked.

The Sacred Centre

The hills surrounding the Sacred Centre sheltered the monkey kingdom of Bali &
Sugriva as mentioned in Ramayana.

The Pampadevi, (local mother goddess), did penance in these hills in order to marry
Virupaksha, the guardian deity of the kingdom, also recognised as a form of Shiva.
These hills were associated with several sacred traditions such as Pallavas,
Hoysalas, Chalukyas.

Maintaining The Temples

Role of the Rulers
The Rulers encouraged temple building as they were comparing themselves with the
divine. Temples were also the centres of learning and rulers often granted land and
other resources for maintenance.

The point of view of the rulers, constructing, repairing and maintaining temples were
important means of winning support and recognition for their power, wealth and
piety.

The kings of Vijayanagara claimed to rule on the behalf of lord Virupaksha

All royal orders were signed “Shri Virupaksha”, usually in the Kannada script. Rulers
also indicated their close links with the gods by using the title “Hindu Suratrana”.

This was a Sanskritisation of the Arabic term Sultan, meaning king, so it literally
meant Hindu Sultan.

Gopurams & Mandapas

The Raya gopurams or royal gateways often dwarfed the towers on the central
shrines and signalled the presence of the temple from a great distance.

They were usually meant as a reminder of the power of the kings.

Other distinctive features include mandapas or pavilions and long, pillared corridors
that often ran around the shrines within the temple complex.

Virupaksha Temple
The temple was built in the 10th century. The hall in front of the main shrine was built
by Krishna Deva Raya.

He is also credited with the construction of Eastern Gopuram, which made the centre
small. The halls in the temple were used for a variety of purposes.

Some were spaces in which the images of gods were placed to witness special
programmes of music, dance, drama, etc.

Others were used to celebrate the marriages of deities, and yet others were meant
for the deities to swing in.

The Vitthala Temple

Principal Deity: Vitthala (A form of Vishnu)

The introduction of the worship of the deity in Karnataka is another indication of the
ways in which the rulers of Vijayanagara drew on different traditions to create an
imperial culture.

As in the case of other temples, this temple too has several halls and a unique shrine
designed as a chariot.

How the Bazaars were Plotted and Placed?

The planning and plotting were done using different techniques like Mapping. The
first step was to divide the entire area into a set of 25 squares, each designated by a
letter of the alphabet.
Then, each of the small squares was subdivided into a set of even smaller squares.
This was not all: each of these smaller squares was further subdivided into yet
smaller units.
 Ch-8 Peasants, Zamindars and the State (Book 2)
What are the Sources to Understand the Agrarian Society and the Mughal
Empire?
The chronicles and the documents from the Mughal Court are major sources for
Agrarian History.

Ain-i-Akbari is one of the important chronicles from the Mughal Court. This was
authored by Abu’l Fazal.

This text recorded the arrangements made by the state to ensure cultivation,
revenue collection by the agencies and the state.

This was done to regulate the relationship between the state and the zamindars.

Detailed revenue records from Gujarat, Rajasthan & Maharashtra from the 17th &
18th centuries were of great help.

The extensive records of the East India Company provide us with useful descriptions
of agrarian relations in eastern India.

These resources record instances & conflicts between peasants, zamindars & the
state.

Different Terms used to Describe Peasants

 Riya or Muzarian ( Indo Persian sources)

 The term Kissan or Asami were also used.

 Khuda- kashta: They were the residents of the village in which they held their land.

 Pasi-kashta: They were the non-resident cultivators, belonging to some other village.
When revenue was in a distant village, more peasants moved to other villages.

 Sometimes they were forced by economic distress after a famine.

Property & Land

The average peasant of north India possesses more than a pair of bullocks and two
ploughs; most possessed even less.

In Gujarat, peasants were rich as they possessed about 6 acres of land. In Bengal, 5
acres were the upper limit of an average peasant farm.
 Irrigation
Factors responsible for the constant expansion of agriculture:

 Land Abundance
 Labour
 Mobility of peasants

Rice, wheat, and millets were the most often farmed crops because the major goal of
agriculture is to feed people.

Monsoons have always been the backbone of the economy, and they continue to be
so today. Some crops required more water than others, necessitating the use of an
irrigation system. During Shah Jahan's reign, new canals were built and existing
ones were renovated, such as Shahnahar in Punjab.

Technology
Through agriculture labour was intensive; peasants did not use technologies that
often harnessed cattle energy

 A wooden plough was used which was light and easily assembled with an iron tip.

 A drill, pulled by a pair of giant oxen, was used to plant seeds, but broadcasting of
seed was the most prevalent method.

 Hoeing and weeding were done simultaneously using a narrow iron blade with a
small wooden handle.

Crops
 The agriculture was organised into two major seasonal cycles: The Kharif and Rabi.
 Most of the regions produced a minimum of two crops a year. Rainfall or irrigation
assured a continuous supply of water.

 The Mughal province of Agra produced 39 varieties of crops and Delhi produced 43
over the two seasons. Bengal produced 50 varieties of rice alone.

 The Mughal state encouraged the cultivation of cash crops like cotton, oilseeds and
sugarcane to increase revenue.

 During the 17th century, several new crops were introduced like Maize via Africa &
Spain. It was listed as one of the major crops of western India.

 Vegetables like tomatoes, potatoes and chillies were introduced from the New World
at this time, as were fruits like the pineapple and the papaya.

The Village Community

Caste and the Rural Milieu
There were certain caste groups that were assigned menial tasks and thus related to
poverty. These comprised a larger section of the village population.

The resources were constrained by their position in the caste hierarchy.

In Muslim community menials like halalkhoran, those who cut meat were housed
outside the boundaries of the village

Similarly, the mallahzadas (sons of boatmen) in Bihar were comparable to slaves.

The correlation between caste, poverty and social status at the lower strata of
society were not so marked at intermediate levels. In Marwar, Rajputs are mentioned
as peasants, sharing the same space with Jats, who were accorded a lower status in
the caste hierarchy.

The Gauravas who cultivated land in Uttar Pradesh sought Rajput status in the
seventeenth century. Castes such as the Ahirs, Gujars and Malis rose in the
hierarchy because of the profitability of cattle rearing and horticulture.

In the eastern regions, intermediate pastoral and fishing castes like the Sadgops and
Kaivartas acquired the status of peasants.

Powers and Functioning of Panchayats and Headman

As it represents diverse castes and communities, the local panchayats in the
assembly of elders is an Oligarchy.

The Mandal or Muqaddam is in charge of it. The zamindar had to ratify the choice of
the headman, which was made by consensus of the village elders.

Its main task is to create a village account with the assistance of an accountant
(patwari).
 Individual donations to a single financial pool provided the panchayat with funds.
This cash was utilised to cover the expenditures of entertaining revenue officials who
came to the village on a regular basis.

The most crucial task was to guarantee that caste boundaries were respected. All of
the marriages took place in the Mandal's presence.

There were also severe penalties for misconduct, such as an exile from the
community.

The petitions were presented to panchayats in western India, protesting about

exorbitant levies imposed on the ‘superior' caste.

Village panchayats were seen as a unique appeals court that would ensure justice.

Jati Panchayat
 Each sub-caste of jati in the village has its own Jati Panchayat.

 These hold considerable power in rural society.

 In Rajasthan jati panchayats arbitrated civil disputes between members of different

castes.

 They mediated in contested claims on land, decided whether marriages were

performed according to the norms laid down by a particular caste group, and
determined who had ritual precedence in village functions.

 Except in matters of criminal justice, the state respected the decisions of Jati
panchayats.

Life of Village Artisans

 25% of the total households were artisans.

 Cultivators and their families would also participate in craft production – such as
dyeing, textile printing, baking and firing of pottery, making and repairing agricultural
implements.

 There were people in the village like potters, blacksmiths, carpenters etc that
provided specialised services in return they were compensated by the villagers by
giving them the share of their harvest or an allotment of land.

 Zamindars in Bengal remunerated blacksmiths, carpenters, even goldsmiths for their

work by paying them “a small daily allowance and diet money”.

 This later came to be described as the Jajmani system, though the term was not in
vogue in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Why were Villages called “Little Republics”?

In the nineteenth century, some British authorities viewed the village as a "small
republic" made up of brotherly partners who pooled their resources and labour. This,
however, was hardly an indication of rural equality.

Individual ownership of assets existed, as did profound disparities based on caste

and gender. A small handful of powerful persons ruled the community, exploited the
weaker portions, and possessed the capacity to administer justice.

Women in Agrarian Society under Mughals

Women and men were required to work in the fields in equal numbers during the
Mughal period. Men tilled and ploughed, while women were responsible for sowing,
threshing, and winnowing, among other tasks.

Menstruating women were not permitted on the farm, nor were they permitted to
touch the plough or the potter's wheel, nor were they permitted to access the betel
groves.

Among the numerous components of production that required female labour were
spinning yarn, sifting and kneading clay for pottery, and needlework. They were seen
as a valuable resource since they were the child-bearers in a labour-dependent
society. There was a high mortality rate among women owing to malnutrition.

In the peasant and artisan communities, this resulted in the formation of new social
traditions.

Bride price was paid to the bride's family instead of dowry in many rural cultures.
Women who had been divorced or widowed were both allowed to remarry.

As a result, male members of the family and community held women under rigorous
control.

If they suspected women of cheating, they could subject them to harsh punishments.
Wives protested their husbands' adultery by submitting petitions to the village
panchayat.

Women had the right to inherit property as well. Women in Bengal Muslim inherited
zamindari, which they could sell or mortgage.
Forest Society and Tribes
An average of 40 per cent of the Mughal empire was covered with forests. Forest
dwellers were termed jangli in contemporary texts. Being jangli, however, did not
mean an absence of “civilisation”.

Rather, the term described those whose livelihood came from the gathering of forest
produce, hunting and shifting agriculture.

Activities were season-specific, spring was reserved for collecting forest produce,
summer for fishing, the monsoon months for cultivation, and autumn and winter for
hunting.

This presumed and perpetuated mobility, which was a distinctive feature of tribes
inhabiting these forests.

The forest was a place for rebels and troublemakers. Babur says that jungles
provided a good defence “behind which the people of the pargana become stubborn,
rebellious and pay no taxes”.
Pargana was an administrative subdivision of a Mughal province.

Elephants were required for the Army, they were captured from the forest and sold.
In the Mughal political ideology, the hunt symbolised the overwhelming concern of
the state to ensure justice to all its subjects, rich and poor.

Rulers went for the regular hunting expedition which enabled the emperor to travel
across the extensive territories of his empire.

The spread of commercial agriculture was an important external factor that impinged
on the lives of those who lived in the forest. Forest products were in great demand
like honey, beeswax, gum lac.
Social factors too wrought changes in the lives of forest dwellers. Like the “big men”
of the village community, tribes also had their chieftains. Many tribal chiefs had
become zamindars, some even became kings.

They recruited people from their lineage groups or demanded that their fraternity
provide military service. Tribes in the Sind region had armies comprising 6,000
cavalries and 7,000 infantry

In Assam, the Ahom kings had their paiks, people who were obliged to render
military service in exchange for land. The capture of wild elephants was declared a
royal monopoly by the Ahom kings.

Role of Zamindari in Rural Society

Zamindars were landed proprietors who also enjoyed certain social and economic
privileges by virtue of their superior status in rural society. Caste was one factor that
accounted for the elevated status of zamindars; another factor was that they
performed certain services (khidmat) for the state.

They held extensive personal lands termed milkiyat, meaning property.

Milkiyat lands were cultivated for the private use of zamindars, often with the help of
hired or servile labour. The zamindars could sell, bequeath or mortgage these lands
at will.

Zamindar could often collect revenue on behalf of the state. They also had control
over the military resources. Most zamindars had fortresses (qilachas) as well as an
armed contingent comprising units of cavalry, artillery and infantry.
 According to Abul Fazal, his account indicates that many of the zamindars were from
the upper caste, brahmana or Rajput.

The dispossession of weaker people by a powerful military chieftain was quite often
a way of expanding a zamindari. It is, however, unlikely that the state would have
allowed such a show of aggression by a zamindar unless he had been confirmed by
an imperial order (sand).

Zamindars spearheaded the colonisation of agricultural land and helped in settling

cultivators by providing them with the means of cultivation, including cash loans.

The buying and selling of zamindars accelerated the process of monetisation in the
countryside. In addition, zamindars sold the produce from their milkiyat lands.

There is evidence to show that zamindars often established markets (haats) to which
peasants also came to sell their produce.

Although there can be little doubt that zamindars were an exploitative class, their
relationship with the peasantry had an element of reciprocity, paternalism and
patronage.

There are two aspects that reinforce this view;

 First, the bhakti saints, who eloquently condemned caste-based and other forms of
oppression, did not portray the zamindars (or, interestingly, the moneylender) as
exploiters or oppressors of the peasantry.

 Second, in a large number of agrarian uprisings which erupted in north India in the
seventeenth century, zamindars often received the support of the peasantry in their
struggle against the state.
 Land Revenue System
Land revenue was the economic mainstay of the Mughal Empire.

This was vital for the state to create an administrative system to ensure agricultural
production and to fix and collect revenue from across the empire.

This system included the office (Daftar) of the diwan who was responsible for
supervising the fiscal system of the empire. Thus revenue officials and record
keepers penetrated the agricultural domain and became a decisive agent in shaping
agrarian relations.

The land revenues system consisted of two stages:

 Assessment
 Actual collection

The Jama was the amount assessed, as opposed to Hasil, the amount collected.

Akbar decreed that while he should strive to make cultivators pay in cash, the option
of payment in kind was also to be kept open. While fixing revenue, the attempt of the
state was to maximise its claims.

Both cultivated and non-cultivated land were measured in each province. The Ain
compiled the aggregates of such lands during Akbar’s rule.

In 1665, Aurangzeb expressly instructed his revenue officials to prepare annual

records of the number of cultivators in each village.

The Flow of Silver Coin

The Mughal Empire was among the large territorial empires in Asia among the Ming
(China), Safavid (Iran) and Ottoman (Turkey).

The political stability achieved by all these empires helped create vibrant networks of
overland trade from China to the Mediterranean Sea.

Voyages of discovery and the opening up of the New World resulted in a massive
expansion of Asia’s trade with Europe.

An expanding trade brought huge amounts of silver bullion into Asia to pay for goods
procured from India, and a large part of that bullion gravitated towards India. This
was good for India as it did not have natural resources of silver.

As a result, the period between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries was also
marked by remarkable stability in the availability of metal currency, particularly the
silver rupee in India.
 This facilitated an unprecedented expansion of minting and circulation of silver coins.
Italian traveller Giovanni Careri, who passed through India c. 1690, provides a
graphic account about the way silver travelled across the globe to reach India.

It also gives us an idea of the phenomenal amounts of cash and commodity

transactions in seventeenth-century India

The Ain-i Akbari of Abu’l Fazl Allami

The culmination of the large historical administrative project of classification
undertaken by Abu’l Fazl at the order of Emperor Akbar.

 It was completed in 1598, after having gone through five revisions.

 The Ain was part of a larger project of history writing commissioned by Akbar. This
history, known as the Akbar Nama, comprised three books.
 The first two provided a historical narrative.
 The Ain-i Akbari, the third book, was organised as a compendium of imperial
regulations and a gazetteer of the empire.
 The Ain gives detailed accounts of the organisation of the court, administration and
army, the sources of revenue and the physical layout of the provinces of Akbar’s
empire and the literary, cultural and religious traditions of the people.
 A description of the various departments of Akbar’s government and elaborate
descriptions of the various provinces (subas) of the empire were there.
 The Ain gives us intricate quantitative information of those provinces.

The Ain is Made up of Five Books.

 Manzilabadi (Imperial households)
 Sipah-abadi (military and civil administration)
 Mulk-abadi ( Fiscal policies)

The third section has detailed statistical information, which includes the geographic,
topographic and economic profile of all subas and their administrative and fiscal
divisions (sarkars, Parganas and mahals), total measured area, and assessed
revenue (jama ).

After setting out details at the suba level, the Ain goes on to give a detailed picture of
the sarkars below the suba.

This it does in the form of tables, which have eight columns giving the following
information:

 parganat/mahal
 qila (forts)
 arazi and zamin-i paimuda (measured area)
 naqdi, revenue assessed in cash
 suyurghal, grants of revenue in charity
 zamindars
 columns 7 and 8 contain details of the castes of these zamindars, and their troops
including their horsemen (sawar), foot-soldiers (piyada) and elephants (fil ).
 The mulk-abadi gives a fascinating, detailed and highly complex view of agrarian
society in northern India.

The fourth and fifth books (daftars) deal with the religious, literary and cultural
traditions of the people of India and also contain a collection of Akbar’s
“auspicious sayings”.

Limitation on Ain-i-Akbari
The document was altered five times by the author, demonstrating Abu'l Fazl's
caution and desire for authenticity.

Oral testimonies were verified and cross-checked before being included in the
chronicle as "facts.".

Because of this, all numerical data was transcribed as words in the quantitative
sections.

In-depth historians of the Ain point out that it has some flaws. Numerous totalling
mistakes have been found.

aides to Abu al-Fazl blame simple transcription or arithmetic errors. These are
usually insignificant errors that have no effect on the quantitative accuracy of the
manuals as a whole. The Ain also has the drawback of having distorted quantitative
data.

The methods used to collect data weren't uniform across provinces. Unlike many
other subas where detailed information on zamindar caste composition has been
compiled, Bengal and Orissa do not have this information.
There are some important characteristics, such as prices and wages, that are not as
thoroughly documented in the subas' fiscal data, despite its exceptional depth.

Price and wage data in the Ain are comprehensive, but they are based on locations
in or near Agra, the imperial capital, and thus are only of limited use to the rest of the
kingdom.
 Ch-9 Colonialism and the Countryside (Book 3)

Bengals And The Zamindars

Introduction
Bengal was the first state to experience colonial rule. The earliest attempts were
made here to reorder rural society and establish a new regime of land rights and a
new revenue system.

Auction in Burdwan
There was a fixed revenue system in Bengal; the zamindars had to pay a fixed
amount. Those who failed, their states were to be auctioned to recover the revenue.

Hence, in 1797 an auction was organised in Burdwan, many people participated in

the auction and the states were to be sold to the highest bidders. It was also seen
that the auction was controlled indirectly by the zamindars.

The bidders or purchasers turned out to be servants and agents of the raja who had
bought the lands on behalf of their master.

Problem of Unpaid Revenue

The rural economy in Bengal was adversely affected by recurrent famines and
declining agricultural output. The revenue rates were permanently fixed in Bengal.

It was felt that by investing in the agricultural sector, the trade and revenue
resources of the state would improve. It was also hoped that the process would lead
to the emergence of a class of yeomen farmers and rich landowners who would have
the capital and enterprise to improve agriculture.

The Permanent Settlement was made with the Rajas and Taluqdars of Bengal. The
zamindar was not a landowner in the village, but a revenue Collector of the state.
Zamindars had several (sometimes as many as 400) villages under them.

The zamindar was to collect the revenue and pay a fixed amount to the company
and retain the difference as his income. Failing which, the Zamindars estate was to
be auctioned.

Why did Zamindars default on Payments?

A fixed revenue demand would give zamindars a sense of security and, assured of
returns on their investment, encourage them to improve their estates.

The following reasons caused to be the failure:

 First, the demands were very high, the company argued that the burden on
zamindars would gradually decline as agricultural production expanded and prices
rose.

 Second, high demands were imposed when the prices of the production were very
low. This caused the failure of the ryots to pay the rent to zamindars.
 Third, the revenue was invariable and according to the sunset law, if the amount did
not come in by sunset, the property was liable to be auctioned.

 Fourth, limitations were there on the powers of zamindars to collect rent from the
ryot.

The rent collection was a major problem because of the ‘Bad Harvest’. It was difficult
for Ryots to pay the rent, and many of them deliberately delayed the payment.

It was also a fact that rich ryots and village headmen – jotedars and manuals were
happy to see the zamindar in trouble. The zamindar could therefore not easily assert
his power over them.

The zamindars’ troops were disbanded, customs duties abolished, and their
“cutcheries” (courts) brought under the supervision of a Collector appointed by the
Company. Zamindars lost their power to organise local justice and the local police.

The Rise of the Jotedars

In Francis Buchanan’s survey of the Dinajpur district in North Bengal, we have a
vivid description of this class of rich peasants known as jotedars.

The local trade was controlled by the Jotedars. They posed a great influence over
the poor cultivators of the region as they lent money to them.

A large part of their land was cultivated through sharecroppers (adhiyars or

bargadars) who brought their ploughs, laboured in the field and handed over half the
produce to the jotedars after the harvest.

They were located in the village and fiercely resisted the efforts of the zamindars to
increase the payment. The Jotedars also deliberately delayed the payment to
zamindars. They were also among the purchasers in the auction.
In some places, they were called hawaladars, elsewhere, they were known as
gantidars or mandals. Their rise inevitably weakened Zamindari’s authority.

The Zamindars Resist

The authority of the zamindars in the rural areas was sustained despite high demand
and the auction of their states.

They devised many strategies to survive, like fictitious sales; it required a series of
manoeuvres.

The raja transferred the property to the name of his mother since the Company had
decreed that the property of women would not be taken over. The auctions were to
be manipulated by the agents of the zamindars.

The zamindar’s men bought the property, outbidding other purchasers.

Subsequently, they refused to pay up the purchase money, so that the estate had to
be resold.

This process continues until the state & other bidder gets exhausted. At last, it was
bought at a very low price. The zamindars never paid the full amount also the
company never recovered their unpaid balances.

The zamindars were so dominant that the outsiders could not take the possessions;
their agents were attacked by the lathyals of the former zamindars. Sometimes, even
the ryots resisted the entry of outsiders.

The Fifth Report

The administration of the East India Company came under the survey, and a series
of reports were published.

The fifth report in the series was a detailed document of the administration of EIC in
India. It ran into 1002 pages – 800 of them were the appendices, reports of
collectors, statistical tables, revenue reports and the administration of Madras and
Bengal.

The EIC was under the umbrella of corruption, many political groups argued that the
conquest of Bengal was only benefiting the “EIC” not Britain as a whole.

The Company’s misrule, maladministration and corruption were hotly debated. The
British parliament passed a series of acts to control and regulate the rule of ECI in
India.

A committee was made to produce regular reports by looking into the affairs of the
company. The 5th report was one such report produced by selected committees.

The Hoe And The Plough

What was the Buchanan description of Rajmahal Hills?
 Buchanan’s Description of Rajmahal Hills was:

 The hills appeared Impenetrable.

 Zone where very few travellers ventured.
 An area that signifies danger.
 People were hostile

Buchanan’s journal was written as a diary of places he visited, people he

encountered, and practices he saw.

The Paharias
The people who lived in the hills were known as Paharias, according to revenue
records from the late 18th century. They lived in the Raj Mahal Hills and relied on
forest food and shifting cultivation to survive.

For consumption, a variety of pulses and millets were grown, and the ground was
lightly scratched with hoes. The cleared land was cultivated for a few years, then left
fallow to recover its fertility, and the farmers moved to a new area.

They gathered mahua (a flower) for food, silk cocoons and resin for sale, and wood
for charcoal production from the forest.

They slept in huts amid tamarind groves and ate in the shade of mango trees. They
considered the entire region to be their land, and they resisted outsider intrusion.

The Paharias' unity was maintained by the chief, who also resolved internal tribal
disputes and led battles. During times of scarcity, the plains were raided on a regular
basis, according to records.

Paharias frequently paid zamindars tribute in exchange for peace, and traders paid
them to use passages that passed through their lands.
 The Interference of the British
As the new reforms in the agricultural sector, the British planned to extend the
settled agriculture. The forests were associated with wildness and saw the forest
people as primitive and difficult to govern.

A conflict between hill folks and settled cultivators began. The hill folks began to raid
settled villages with increasing regularity carrying away food grains, and cattle. The
colonial officers found it difficult to control and subdue the Paharias.

In the 1770s a new brutal policy of extermination was introduced, for killing the
Paharias.

The Policy of Pacification

In the 1780s, the Policy of Pacification was proposed by Augustus Cleveland.
(Collector of Baghalpur)

 Paharia chiefs were given an annual allowance.

 They were made responsible for the proper conduct of their men.

 They were expected to maintain order in their localities and discipline their people.

 Many Paharia chiefs refused the allowances. Those who accepted, most often lost
authority within the community.

The Santhals
They were agriculturalists who lived in Bihar's Rajmahal Hills. Around the 1780s, the
Santhals began to arrive in Bengal. They were hired by Zamindars to reclaim land
and expand cultivation, and they were invited to settle in the Jungle Mahals by British
officials.

To subdue Paharias and convert them into settled agriculturists, the British turned to
Santhals. They were the ideal settlers, cutting down trees and ploughing the land
with zeal.

The Santhals were given land and persuaded to relocate to Rajmahal's foothills.
Damin-i-Koh, a large area of land set aside for Santhals, was established in 1832.
(Present-day Jharkhand). Plains and Pahariyas were separated from the area.

Revenue flowed into the Company's coffers at a faster rate as cultivation grew.

Santhal Revolt (1855-56)

In India's Bengal Presidency, the rebellion began as a reaction to the despotic British
revenue system, usury practices, and the zamindari system.

They soon discovered that the land they had worked so hard to cultivate was slipping
away from them. The company was taxing their land heavily, and money lenders
were charging them exorbitant interest rates.
The zamindars were consolidating their hold on the Damin region. Santhals decided
it was time to rebel against zamindars, money lenders, and colonial states in 1850.
They required their ideal world, in which they would reign supreme.

Pargana was formed after the revolt led by Sidhu Manjhi, which carved out 5,500
square miles from the districts of Bhagalpur and Birbhum.

The Accounts of Buchanan

Francis Buchanan was a Scottish physician who worked for the East India Company
and made significant contributions as a geographer, botanist, and zoologist while in
India.

Buchanan searched for natural resources that he could control and exploit, surveyed
landscapes and revenue sources, organised voyages of discovery, and dispatched
geologists, geographers, botanists, and medical men to gather data; he marched
everywhere with a large army of people draughtsmen, surveyors, and palanquin
bearers at EIC's expense.

Buchanan, for example, was unquestionably an exceptional observer. He was

obsessed with observing the stones and rocks, as well as the various strata and
layers of soil.

There were signs of iron ore, mica, granite, or saltpetre. He paid close attention to
local salt-making and iron ore-mining practices.

Buchanan's vision and priorities differed from those of the locals: his assessment of
what was required was shaped by the Company's commercial concerns as well as
modern concerns.

He was always critical of forest dwellers' lifestyles and believed that forests needed
to be converted into agricultural lands.

A Revolt In The Countryside

The Bombay Deccan
Account Books are Burnt
A movement began on May 12, 1875, in Supa, a large village in the Poona (now
Pune) district. It was a market town with a lot of shopkeepers and moneylenders.

Many ryots from the surrounding countryside gathered and attacked shopkeepers,
demanding their bahi khatas (account books) and debt bonds. Their 'Bahi khata' was
set ablaze, as were their shops and the homes of the 'sahukars.'

The uprising did not stop in ‘Poona' (modern-day Pune) but also spread to
Ahmednagar. It spread even more over the next two months, covering 6,500 square
kilometres.

At every location, the revolt followed the same pattern. The sahukars were so afraid
of the Peasants' attacks that they fled their villages.
Village police stations were established to intimidate rebellious peasants and bring
the situation under control. 951 people were arrested as a result of the strict
command, but it took several months to bring the countryside under control.

Ryotwari System
Outside of Bengal, the Permanent Settlement was rarely extended. Despite an
increase in agricultural prices and the zamindars of Bengal's income, the colonial
state was unable to claim a surplus share of this increased income.

To increase land revenue, the colonial government implemented a new revenue

system, annexed many territories, and made temporary revenue settlements.
Cultivators who failed to pay were likely to become rentiers, and their surplus income
was unlikely to be invested productively in land improvement.

In the Bombay Deccan, a ‘Ryotwari settlement' was implemented, in which revenue

was paid directly to the ryots. The average income from various types of soil was
calculated, the ryot's revenue-paying capacity was assessed, and a percentage of it
was set aside as the state's share.

Every 30 years, the lands were resurveyed, and the revenue rates were raised. As a
result, the revenue demand was no longer stable.

David Ricardo, a well-known Englishman and economist at the time, stated that "a
landowner should have a claim only to the "average rent" that prevailed at the time."
The landowner had a surplus that the state needed to tax when the land yielded
more than this "average rent."

Revenue Demand and Peasant Debt

The first revenue settlement was the Bombay Deccan. The amount of money
demanded was so high that many peasants abandoned their villages and moved to
new areas.

The problem was particularly acute in areas with poor soil and fluctuating rainfall.
This resulted in a harvest failure as well as a revenue payment failure. The revenue
collectors were eager to demonstrate their efficiency and please their superiors.

The problem worsened after 1832 when agricultural product prices plummeted and
did not recover for over a decade and a half. Famine struck the countryside at the
same time (1832-34), killing one-third of the cattle and half of the human population.

The Ryots needed money to survive, so they took out loans from money lenders.
They found it difficult to repay the money, resulting in unpaid loans and an increase
in the riot's reliance on money lenders.

By the mid-1940s, the economy had stabilised, and the Colonial administration had
realised that the earlier settlements had been harsh and that the revenue demanded
was exorbitant.

Cultivators increased their acreage, moved into new areas, and converted pasture
land into cultivated fields.

Cultivators were now expanding their land holdings, expanding into new areas, and
converting pastureland to cultivated fields. The cultivators were once again reliant on
moneylenders for additional funds, as they required more ploughs, cattle, and seeds.

Cotton Boom
America was the great cotton supplier to Britain before the 1860s, as three-fourths of
the raw cotton came from America. The British cotton manufacturers were worried
about this dependence, which caused the formation of the ‘Cotton Supply
Association’ in 1857.

In 1859 the Manchester Cotton Company was formed. Their objective was “to
encourage cotton production in every part of the world suited for its growth. India
was seen as a country that could supply cotton to Lancashire if the American supply
dried up.

In 1861 the American Civil War broke out and a wave of panic spread through cotton
circles in Britain. The raw cotton imports from America fell to less than three per cent
of the normal. Amid the civil war, cotton production in India was increased.

This turned the Sahukars who turned the extended credit to those moneylenders
who promised to secure cotton production.

The ryots in the Deccan villages suddenly found access to seemingly limitless credit.
They were being given Rs 100 as advance for every acre they planted with cotton.
The production in Bombay Deccan expanded while the American crisis continued.

Credit dries up
 The Civil war ended in 1865, America revived its cotton production, also the cotton
production in India declined. The export merchants and sahukars in Maharashtra
were no longer keen on extending long-term credit.

They decided to close down their operations, restrict their advances to peasants, and
demand repayment of outstanding debts. While credit dried up, the revenue demand
increased.

The ryots were again in trouble as the cotton fields started to disappear, the
moneylenders now refused loans, as they no longer had confidence in the ryots’
capacity to pay.

The Experience of Injustice

The ryots were enraged by moneylenders' refusal to extend loans. The
moneylenders were breaking the countryside's customary norms.

The relationship between the moneylender and the ryot was governed by several
customary norms. The interest charged could not be more than the principal. This
was a general rule.

According to the Deccan Riots Commission's investigation, the moneylender

charged over Rs 2,000 in interest on a Rs 100 loan. The ryots filed a complaint
against the unfairness of such exactions and the violation of custom.

In petitions that the Deccan Riots Commission collected, ryots described how this
process worked and how moneylenders used a variety of other means to short-
change the ryot:

 They refused to give receipts when loans were repaid.

 Entered fictitious figures in bonds.
 Acquired the peasants’ harvest at low prices.
 Ultimately took over peasants’ property.

The new oppressive system was symbolised by deeds and bonds. Such acts were
uncommon in the past.

Peasants were forced to sign documents and make thumb impressions on them
without knowing what they were signing. They were completely unaware of the
clauses inserted by moneylenders in the bonds.

Peasants had no choice because they needed loans to survive, and moneylenders
refused to give loans without legal guarantees.

The Deccan Riot Commission

The Bombay government established a commission of inquiry to look into the causes
of the riots.

In 1878, the commission presented the British Parliament with the "Deccan Riot
Report."
The commission took down statements from ryots, sahukars, and eyewitnesses
compiled statistical data on revenue rates, prices, and interest rates in various
regions, and compiled district collectors' reports.
 Ch-10 Rebels and the Raj (Book 3)

First War Of Independence

The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major, although ultimately unsuccessful,
rebellion in India in 1857–58 against the control of the British East India Company,
which acted as the British Crown's sovereign power.

The uprising began on May 10, 1857, with a mutiny of Company army sepoys in the
garrison town of Meerut. It eventually burst into further mutinies and civilian
rebellions, primarily in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, though there were
also incidents of insurrection in the north and east.

The uprising constituted a significant danger to British dominance in the region, and
it was only put down on June 20, 1858, when the rebels were defeated in Gwalior.

The British gave amnesty to those rebels who were not implicated in murder on
November 1, 1858, however, they did not proclaim the war officially finished until
July 8, 1859.

The Sepoy Mutiny, also known as the Indian Mutiny, is also known as the Great
Rebellion, the Revolt of 1857, the Indian Insurgency, and the First War of
Independence.

A Pattern of the Rebellion

The sequence of events in every cantonment followed a similar pattern. As the news
of these mutinies travelled from one town to another, the sepoys took up their arms.

The Beginning
The sepoys began their action with a signal: in many places, it was the firing of the
evening gun or the sounding of the bugle. They first seized the storeroom in which
arms were kept and also plundered the treasury.

Afterwards, the government buildings – the jail, treasury, telegraph office, record
room, and bungalows were attacked & all the official records were burnt. Everything
and everybody connected with the white man became a target.

Proclamations in Hindi, Urdu and Persian were put up in the cities calling upon the
population, both Hindus and Muslims, to unite, rise and exterminate the firangis.

The targets of attack widened after the amalgamation of ordinary people.

Major Towns: Lucknow, Kanpur and Bareilly.

Peasants not only saw them as oppressors but also as allies of the British. In most
places, their houses were looted and destroyed. The mutiny in the sepoy ranks
quickly became a rebellion. There was general defiance of all kinds of authority and
hierarchy.
Britishers had no answers against this rebellion in the initial months, they just saved
their lives and of their families.

Lines of Communication
The reason between the planning and similarity of the revolt in different places is that
there was communication between the sepoy lines of various cantonments.

After the 7th Awadh Irregular Cavalry had refused to accept the new cartridges in
early May, they wrote to the 48th Native Infantry that “they had acted for the faith and
awaited the 48th’s orders”.

Sepoys or their emissaries moved from one station to another. People were thus
planning and talking about the rebellion.

They were to take decisions collectively; the matters were settled by the Panchayat
composed of native officers drawn from each regiment. The panchayats were a
nightly occurrence in the Kanpur sepoy lines.

The sepoys lived in lines and shared a common lifestyle and that many of them
came from the same caste, it is not difficult to imagine them sitting together to decide
their own future. The sepoys were the makers of their own rebellion.

Leaders and Followers

Fighting the British necessitated strong leadership and organisation. For these, the
insurgents occasionally turned to persons who had previously served as
commanders prior to the British invasion. The sepoys raced to Delhi, pleading with
Bahadur Shah Zafar, the Mughal emperor, to accept their leadership of the
insurrection.

It took a long time for leadership to be accepted. The first reaction of Bahadur Shah
was one of terror and rejection.
Only after certain sepoys defied court protocol and entered the Mughal court within
the Red Fort did the old emperor, knowing he had few options, agree to be the
nominal head of the uprising.

Nana Sahib, the successor to Peshwa Baji Rao II, was forced to join the mutiny as
its leader by the sepoys and the people of Kanpur.

In Jhansi, Rani Laxmi Bai was forced to lead the insurrection due to popular
pressure. Kunwar Singh, a local zamindar in Bihar, had a similar experience.

In Awadh, where the annexation of the state and the relocation of the popular Nawab
Wajid Ali Shah were still fresh in the minds of the people, the people of Lucknow
celebrated the end of British control by proclaiming Birjis Qadr, the Nawab's young
son, as their leader.

Peasants, zamindars, and tribals were also urged to revolt by local leaders. Shah
Mal mobilised the peasants of Uttar Pradesh's pargana Baraut, and Gonoo, a tribal
cultivator from Chotanagpur's Singhbhum, became a rebel leader of the region's Kol
tribals.

Rumours and Prophecies

Rumours & Prophecies played an important part in the rebellion. As the sepoys who
moved to Delhi with the issue they have with the bullets said that these bullets would
corrupt their caste and religion.

They were referring to the cartridges of the Enfield rifles which had just been given to
them. The British tried to explain to the sepoys that this was not the case but the
rumour that the new cartridges were greased with the fat of cows and pigs spread
like wildfire across the sepoy lines of North India.

Captain Wright, a commandant of the Rifle Instruction Depot, reported that in the
third week of January 1857 a “low-caste” khalasi who worked in the magazine in
Dum Dum had asked a Brahmin sepoy for a drink of water from his lota.

The sepoy had refused saying that the “lower castes” touch would defile the lota.
The khalasi had reportedly retorted, “You will soon lose your caste, as ere long you
will have to bite cartridges covered with the fat of cows and pigs.”

There was also a rumour that the British government was attempting to eradicate
Hindu and Muslim castes and religions.

Rumours circulated that the British had put cow and pig bone dust into the flour sold
in the market. Sepoys and simple people in towns and cantonments refused to touch
the atta.

Fears and suspicions abounded that the British were attempting to convert Indians to
Christianity. Men were compelled to act as a result of their worries.
The prophecy that British control would end on the anniversary of the Battle of
Plassey, on June 23, 1857, bolstered the response to the call to action.

Chapatis were also provided in several communities throughout North India;

however, the purpose of the distribution of chapatis is still unclear.

What Made the People Believe in Rumours?

When examined from the perspective of the British policies adopted from the late
1820s, the rumours in 1857 begin to make sense.

The British established policies aimed at "reforming" Indian society by bringing

Western education, ideals, and institutions under the leadership of Governor-General
Lord William Bentinck. They established English-medium schools, colleges, and
universities, teaching Western sciences and the liberal arts, with the help of many
parts of Indian society.

The British passed rules allowing Hindu widows to remarry and abolishing practices
such as sati (1829).

The first kingdom to be annexed was Awadh, followed by Satara and Jhansi.

These states were also annexed as a result of mismanagement, and they imposed
their own administrative policies.

Awadh
In 1851 Governor-General Lord Dalhousie described the kingdom of Awadh as “a
cherry that will drop into our mouth one day”.
Five years later, in 1856, the kingdom was formally annexed to the British Empire.
The conquest happened in stages.

The Subsidiary Alliance( By Lord Wellesley) had been imposed on Awadh in 1801
due to which the Nawab had to disband his military force, allow the British to position
their troops within the kingdom, and act in accordance with the advice of the British
Resident who was now to be attached to the court.

The Nawab became increasingly dependent on the British to maintain law and order
within the kingdom. He could no longer assert control over the rebellious chiefs and
taluqdars.

Britishers also considered Awadh important because the soil there was good for
producing Indigo and cotton and the region was also located in the principal market
of upper India.

All the major areas of India had been conquered: the Maratha lands, the Doab, the
Carnatic, the Punjab and Bengal. The takeover of Awadh in 1856 was expected to
complete a process of territorial annexation that had begun with the conquest of
Bengal almost a century earlier.

Exile to Calcutta
Lord Dalhousie’s annexations created disaffection in all the areas and principalities
that were annexed.

Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was dethroned and exiled to Calcutta from Awadh on the plea
that the region was being mis governed.

The British government also wrongly assumed that Wajid Ali Shah was an unpopular
ruler. On the contrary, he was widely loved, and when he left his beloved Lucknow,
there were many who followed him all the way to Kanpur singing songs of lament.

There was no street or market and house which did not wail out the cry of agony in
the separation of Jan-i-Alam.”.

The removal of the Nawab led to the dissolution of the court and its culture. Thus a
whole range of people – musicians, dancers, poets, artisans, cooks, retainers, and
administrative officials lost their livelihood.

Firangi Raj and the End of the World

The revolution in Awadh became a symbol of people's resistance to an alien order.
Not only the Nawab was displaced by the annexation. It also expropriated the
region's taluqdars. The countryside of Awadh was littered with the estates and forts
of taluqdars, who had ruled over land and authority in the area for many centuries.

Before the arrival of the British, taluqdars kept armed retainers, erected forts, and
had some autonomy as long as they accepted the Nawab's suzerainty and paid their
taluks' revenue.
The British were unwilling to accept the taluqdars' dominance. The taluqdars were
disarmed and their forts were razed shortly after the conquest.

The taluqdars' position and authority were weakened by British land revenue
policies.

The first British tax settlement, known as the Summary Settlement of 1856, was
predicated on the premise that the taluqdars were interlopers who had established
their grip over land via force and deception.

The taluqdars were removed from the Summary Settlement wherever possible. In
pre-British times, taluqdars controlled 67% of Awadh's total number of villages; by
the Summary Settlement, that number had dropped to 38%.

The taluqdars of southern Awadh were the hardest hit, with some losing more than
half of their previously controlled villages.

The British land revenue agents thought that by removing taluqdars, they would be
able to settle land disputes with the true owners of the land and therefore eliminate
peasant exploitation, but this did not work out.

The state's funding streams have increased.

The taluqdars were oppressors in pre-British times, but many of them also appeared
to be kind father figures: they exacted various dues from the peasantry but were
often considerate in times of need.

The peasant was immediately subjected to over-assessment of taxation and

inflexible collection procedures under the British.

There was no longer any promise that the state's income demand would be
decreased or collection postponed in times of hardship or crop failure, or that the
peasant would receive the loan and help that the taluqdar had previously supplied.

The combat was conducted by taluqdars and their peasants in areas like Awadh,
where resistance was fierce and long-lasting in 1857.

Many of these taluqdars were loyal to the Nawab of Awadh, and they fought
alongside Begum Hazrat Mahal (the Nawab's wife) at Lucknow, and some even
stayed with her in defeat.

A considerable number of sepoys were recruited from Awadh villages, where they
had complained for decades about low pay and the difficulty of leaving.
Relationship with the Sepoys
White officers made it a point to keep amicable connections with the sepoys in the
1820s. They wrestled with them, fenced with them, and went out hawking with them
as part of their leisure activities.

Many of them spoke Hindustani fluently and were familiar with the country's customs
and culture. These officers served as both disciplinarians and father figures.

This began to shift in the 1840s. The officers developed a sense of superiority and
began treating the sepoys as though they were their ethnic inferiors, disregarding
their feelings.

As a result of increased abuse and physical violence, the gap between sepoys and
officers widened. Suspicion took the place of trust.

The Bengal Army recruited the vast bulk of its sepoys from the villages of Awadh and
eastern Uttar Pradesh. Many were Brahmins or members of the "higher" castes.

Awadh was also called the “nursery of the Bengal Army’’.

What The Rebels Wanted

The Vision of Unity
The rebel proclamations in 1857 repeatedly appealed to all sections of the
population, irrespective of their caste and creed.

The rebellion was seen as a war in which both Hindus and Muslims had equally to
lose or gain.
The ishtahars harked back to the pre-British Hindu-Muslim past and glorified the
coexistence of different communities under the Mughal Empire.

The Britishers also tried to incite the Hindu population against the Muslims (Bareilly
Uttar Pradesh, December 1857), but this attempt also failed.

Against the Symbol of Oppression

The proclamations completely rejected everything associated with British rule. They
condemned the British for the annexations they had carried out and the treaties they
had broken.

The people were enraged by the fact that the British land revenue settlements had
dispossessed landholders, both big and small, and foreign commerce had driven
artisans and weavers to ruin.

Every aspect of British rule was attacked, and the firangi was accused of destroying
a way of life that was familiar and cherished. The rebels wanted to restore that world.

The widespread fear that the British were bent on destroying the caste and religions
of Hindus and Muslims and converting them to Christianity – a fear that led people to
believe many of the rumours that circulated at the time.

People were urged to come together and fight to save their livelihood, their faith,
their honour, their identity.

The search for alternative power

Once British rule collapsed, the rebels started to establish some kind of structure of
authority and administration.

This was, of course, short-lived, but the attempts show that the rebel leadership
wanted to restore the pre-British world of the eighteenth century.

The leaders went back to the culture of the court. Appointments were made to
various posts, arrangements were made for the collection of land revenue and the
payment of troops, and orders were issued to stop loot and plunder.

Side-by-side plans were made to fight battles against the British. Chains of
command were laid down in the army.

The administrative structures established by the rebels were primarily aimed at

meeting the demands of war.
 Repression
The British Council established a series of regulations before sending troops to
retake North India.

Not only was the entirety of North India placed under martial rule by the Acts passed
in May and June of 1857, but military commanders and even ordinary Britons were
given the right to try and punish Indians suspected of rebellion.

Ordinary legal and trial procedures were suspended, and it was announced that
there would be only one punishment for rebellion: execution.

As a result, the British launched a two-pronged assault. One force advanced from
Calcutta into North India, while the other advanced from Punjab, which was mostly
calm, to retake Delhi.

British attempts to reclaim Delhi began in earnest in early June 1857, but the city
was not taken until late September. On both sides, there was a lot of fighting and a
lot of losses. The fact that rebels from all over North India had gone to Delhi to
defend the city was one explanation for this.

The British used massive amounts of military might. They didn't just use this
instrument, though. The British attempted to break up the unity by pledging to return
the estates to the wealthy landowners in significant sections of modern-day Uttar
Pradesh, where huge landholders and peasants had offered concerted resistance.

Rebellious landowners were evicted, while loyalists were rewarded. Many

landowners died in battles with the British or fled to Nepal, where many died of
disease or famine.
 Ch-11 Mahatma Gandhi and the National Movement

Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi

Gandhi returned to India from South Africa in January 1915 after a two-decade
absence. He worked as a lawyer in South Africa and was also a prominent member
of the Indian community there.

The Indian National Congress had diverse branches in many major cities and towns
in 1915 when Gandhi observed the British colony become increasingly politically
active. In 1905-1907, the Swadeshi movement aided in instilling a sense of
nationalism.

Many powerful figures arose from the movement, including Maharashtra's Bal
Gangadhar Tilak, Bengal's Bipin Chandra Pal, and Punjab's Lala Lajpat Rai. These
were the figures who called for armed resistance to colonial control.

Mahatma Gandhi developed the nonviolent protest techniques known as satyagraha

in South Africa, where he also advocated religious unity and awakened upper-caste
Indians to their discriminating treatment of lower castes and women.

The Moderates
Moderate is an ideological category that designates a rejection of radical or extreme
views. They preferred a more gradual and persuasive approach. Gandhi Ji was a
political mentor among the moderates along with Gopal Krishna Gokhale &
Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

Banaras Hindu University

Gandhiji travelled around British India for a year, seeking to know the land and its
people. In February 1916, he made his first significant public appearance at the
founding of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU).

The disparity between the Indian elites and the labouring poor was a key source of
concern for Mahatma Gandhi.

The BHU's launch was cause for joy since it marked the beginning of a nationalist
institution supported by Indian money and initiative. Gandhi claimed that Indian
nationalism was a product of the upper crust, a product of lawyers, doctors, and
landowners. Gandhiji was given an opportunity to put his teachings into reality a few
months later.

He was contacted by a farmer from Champaran in Bihar, who told him about the
terrible treatment of peasants by British indigo planters at the annual Congress in
Lucknow in December 1916.
 The Making & Unmaking Of Non-Cooperation
Mahatma Gandhi was a famous nationalist leader who began his fight for peasant
security of tenure and the freedom to produce the crop of their choosing in the
Champaran. In 1917, Gandhi Ji began the “Champaran Satyagraha.”

Gandhiji also employed satyagraha and went on a hunger strike in 1918 to protest
the ongoing disagreement between the cotton mill employees and the owners in
Ahmedabad. He demanded that mill workers be given improved working conditions.

The “Kheda Satyagraha” in 1918 was the second satyagraha campaign after the
Champaran satyagraha, requesting the state for tax remission after their harvest
failed. Gandhi's activities in Champaran, Ahmedabad, and Kheda established him as
a nationalist who cared deeply about the underprivileged.
 The Rowlatt Act
During World War I, the British government imposed press censorship and permitted
indefinite detention without charge or trial. Sir Sidney Rowlatt's committee
recommended that the harsh regulations be kept in place.

The "Rowlatt Act" campaign was called off by Gandhi Ji in response. Stores and
schools across North and West India closed as a result of the bandh call, bringing
life to a grinding halt.

In the Punjab, where many men had fought for the British during World War II and
expected to be recognised for their service, the protests were particularly vehement.
The Rowlatt Act, on the other hand, was passed.

In the course of his journey to Punjab, Gandhi Ji was arrested.

When British troops opened fire on a nationalist rally in Amritsar in April 1919, the
mood became increasingly tense, culminating in the Jallianwala Bagh bloodbath,
which killed 400 people.

The Rowlatt Satyagraha elevated Gandhiji to the status of a national leader. In the
wake of his victory, Gandhiji vowed to wage a "non-cooperation" campaign against
the British rulers.

They were told they couldn't pay taxes or go to school, colleges, or the courts if they
wanted colonialism to end.

Non-cooperation, according to Gandhi Ji, could get India to Swaraj in one year if
done effectively.
A few years earlier, Turkish ruler Kemal Attaturk had re-established the Caliphate
with the help of Mahatma Gandhi and the Khilafat Movement.

Knitting is a Popular Movement

What was the Khilafat Movement?
The Khilafat Movement (1919-1920) was a movement of Indian Muslims, led by
Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, that demanded the following:

The Turkish Sultan or Khalifa must retain control over the Muslim sacred places in
the erstwhile Ottoman empire; the jazirat-ul-Arab (Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Palestine) must
remain under Muslim sovereignty; and the Khalifa must be left with sufficient territory
to enable him to defend the Islamic faith.

The Congress supported the movement, and Mahatma Gandhi sought to conjoin it to
the Non-cooperation Movement.

The All India Khilafat Committee was set up in 1919; Mahatma Gandhi was the
first president of this committee.

What were the consequences?

In February 1922, a group of peasants attacked and torched a police station in the
hamlet of Chauri Chaura in the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh and
Uttaranchal).

During the Non-Cooperation Movement, thousands of Indians were put in jail.

Gandhi Ji himself was arrested in March 1922 and charged with sedition.
The judge who presided over his trial, Justice C.N. Broomfield, sentenced Gandhiji
to 6 years imprisonment.

A People's leader
By 1922, Hundreds of thousands of peasants, workers and artisans participated in
the movement with the professionals and intellectuals. Indian nationalism was now
transformed as per the visions of Mahatma Gandhi.

People appreciated the fact that Gandhi dressed like them, lived like them, and
spoke their language. Unlike other leaders, he did not stand apart from the common
folk but empathised and even identified with them.

He spent part of each day working on the charkha (spinning wheel) and encouraged
other nationalists to do likewise. The act of spinning allowed Gandhiji to break the
boundaries that prevailed within the traditional caste system, between mental labour
and manual labour.

Many rumours were spread about Mahatma Gandhi and his miraculous powers. In
some places, it was said that he had been sent by the King to redress the grievances
of the farmers and that he had the power to overrule all local officials.

He was known variously as “Gandhi Baba”, “Gandhi Maharaj”, or simply as

“Mahatma” Gandhiji appeared to the Indian peasants as a saviour who would rescue
them from high taxes and oppressive officials and restore dignity and autonomy to
their lives.

Gandhi's appeal among the poor, and peasants, in particular, was enhanced by his
ascetic lifestyle and by his shrewd use of dhoti and the charkha.

Congress Expansion
In several places in India, Congress formed branches. Throughout the princely
territories, many "Praja Mandals" were formed to advocate the nationalist cause.
Gandhi Ji also spoke in nationalist or mother tongue languages, refusing to speak in
the rulers' languages.

The Congress established provincial committees based on linguistic regions.

Some very successful business people and manufacturers are among Congress's
supporters. The benefits enjoyed by their British competition would end in a free
India, Indian entrepreneurs quickly realised.

Some of these business leaders, such as G.D. Birla, were outspoken supporters of
the national cause, while others remained silent.

Thus, both poor peasants and wealthy industrialists were among Gandhi's
supporters, while the reasons for peasants' support differed from, and in some cases
were antagonistic to, those of the industrialists.

His followers played a large role in the development of what we can call "Gandhian
nationalism." Between 1917 and 1922, Gandhiji was surrounded by a group of
exceptionally talented Indians.

Mahadev Desai, Vallabh Bhai Patel, J.B. Kripalani, Subhas Chandra Bose, Abul
Kalam Azad, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sarojini Naidu, Govind Ballabh Pant, and C.
Rajagopalachari were among those who participated.

Gandhiji's close associates came from a variety of religious backgrounds and

geographies. They also motivated a large number of other Indians to join and work
for the Congress.

In February 1924, Mahatma Gandhi was freed from prison and decided to focus his
efforts on promoting home-spun fabric (khadi) and ending untouchability.

He believed that for Indians to be deserving of freedom, societal problems such as

child marriage and untouchability had to be eradicated.

He placed a strong focus on the unity between Hindus and Muslims. India had to be
self-sufficient in economic terms. As a result, Gandhi emphasised the importance of
wearing Khadi rather than mill-made fabrics.

The Salt Satyagraha

As in 1928, Gandhi did not participate in the campaign against the ‘Simon
Commission’, sent from England to enquire about the conditions of the Colony. He
instead did a Satyagraha at Bardoli.

In December 1929, the annual session of the congress was held in Lahore. The
meeting was significant for two things: the election of Jawahar Lal Nehru as
President. & the proclamation of commitment to “Purna Swaraj”.

Independence Day
Earlier, “Independence Day” was observed on 26 January 1930, with the national
flag being hoisted in different venues and patriotic songs being sung.

Gandhi Ji himself issued precise instructions as to how the day should be observed.
He suggested that the time of the meeting be advertised traditionally by the beating
of drums.

The celebrations would begin with the hoisting of the national flag. The rest of the
day would be spent “in doing some constructive work, whether it is spinning, or
service of ‘untouchables’.

Participants would take a pledge affirming that it was “the inalienable right of the
Indian people, as of any other people, to have freedom and to enjoy the fruits of their
toil” and that “if any government deprives a people of these rights and oppresses
them, the people have a further right to alter it or abolish it”.

Dandi March
 In March 1930, Mahatma Gandhi announced that he would lead a march to break
one of the most widely disliked laws in British India, which gave the state a monopoly
in the manufacture and sale of salt.

Salt was indispensable, yet people were forbidden from making salt even for
domestic use. Instead, they were compelled to buy it from shops at a high price.
Advance notice of the march was given to the Viceroy, Lord Irwin, but he failed to
grasp the significance of the action.

On 12 March 1930, Gandhiji began walking from his ashram at Sabarmati towards
the ocean. He reached his destination three weeks later, making a fistful of salt as
he did and thereby making himself a criminal in the eyes of the law.

Several other parallel salt marches were being conducted in other parts of the
country. Across large parts of India, peasants breached the colonial forest laws that
kept them and their cattle out of the woods in which they had once roamed freely.

In some towns, factory workers went on strike while lawyers boycotted British courts,
and students refused to attend government-run educational institutions. Gandhiji’s
call encouraged Indians of all classes to manifest their discontent with colonial rule.

The rulers responded by detaining the dissenters. In the wake of the Salt March,
nearly 60,000 Indians were arrested, among them, of course, Gandhiji himself.

Gandhiji said Hindus, Muslims, Parsis and Sikhs will have to unite, and you must
make amends for the wrongs which you did to the untouchables. It was observed
that thousands of volunteers were flocking to the nationalist cause. Among them
were many officials, who had resigned from their posts with the colonial government.

These massive developments made the British rulers anxious; Gandhi Ji was being
saluted by the Britishers as a “Saint” and “Statesman” who was using “Christian acts
as a weapon against men with Christian beliefs”.

What were the reasons behind the success of the Salt March?
The salt march was notable for three reasons:

 First, the march was widely covered by the European and American press.

 Second, it was the first nationalist activity in which women participated in large
numbers. Gandhiji had been persuaded by socialist activist Kamaladevi
Chattopadhyay not to limit the protests to males only. Kamaladevi was one of
several ladies who drew the wrath of the law by breaching the salt or liquor
regulations.

 Third, it was the Salt March that forced upon the British the realisation that their Raj
would not last forever and that they would have to devolve some power to the
Indians.
 Round Table Conference
A series of round table conferences were held in London, The first meeting was held
in November 1930, but without the pre-eminent political leader in India, thus
rendering it an exercise in futility.

Gandhiji was released from jail in January 1931 and had several long meetings with
the Viceroy. Those meetings culminated in the ‘Gandhi-Irwin Pact’. It was just a
mere truce between the two.

At the second Round Table conference held in late 1931, Gandhi Ji represented
the Congress.

He claimed that the Congress represented all of India, which came under challenge
from three parties: from the Muslim League, which claimed to stand for the interests
of the Muslim minority; from the Princes, who claimed that the Congress had no
stake in their territories; and from the brilliant lawyer and thinker B.R. Ambedkar, who
argued that Gandhiji and the Congress did not represent the lowest castes.

The conference proved to be inconclusive, which made Gandhi Ji resume the Civil
disobedience movement.

In 1935, the “Government of India Act” promised some form of representative

government. Congress also won the elections held based on a restricted franchise.
Now, eight out of 11 provinces had a Congress “Prime Minister” working under the
supervision of a British Governor.

Second World War

In September 1939, only two years after the Congress ministers gained power, the
Second World War broke out.

In exchange for the British promise to offer India independence when the war
finished, Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru promised Congress' support for the
war effort. As a result, this proposal was rejected.

The Congress ministries resigned in protest in October 1939.

Congress organised a series of individual satyagrahas in 1940 and 1941 to put

pressure on the rulers to promise independence after the war.

In March 1940, the Muslim League passed a resolution pledging itself to the
establishment of a separate nation known as "Pakistan."

The political situation became more complicated: it was no longer a fight between
Indians and the British; instead, it was a fight between the Congress, the Muslim
League, and the British.

An all-party government in the United Kingdom was sympathetic to Indian

aspirations. Winston Churchill, the Conservative Prime Minister, was a fervent
imperialist who maintained that he was not appointed King's First Minister to
supervise the fall of the British Empire.

Sir Stafford Cripps, one of Churchill's ministers, was deployed to India in the spring
of 1942 to try to strike a deal with Gandhi Ji and the Congress. If the British required
aid, the Congress insisted on an Indian being appointed to the Viceroy's executive
council as a defence member.

Quit India
The Quit India campaign began in August 1942, following the failure of the Cripps
Mission. Gandhi Ji was promptly imprisoned, and younger revolutionaries organised
strikes and acts of sabotage around the country.

Socialist members of the Congress, such as Jayaprakash Narayan, were particularly

active in the underground movement. In areas like Satara and Medinipur,
independent governments were founded.

The British retaliated vehemently; “Quit India” became a genuine public campaign
involving thousands of ordinary Indians. It re-energized young individuals who had
dropped out of college to serve time in prison.

Md. Ali Jinnah and his Muslim League colleagues worked hard to consolidate their
position. The League began to acquire traction in Punjab and Sind during these
years.

In June 1944, Gandhiji was released from prison. A series of meetings between
Jinnah and Gandhi Ji helped to heal the schisms and bring the congress and the
league closer together.
In 1945, a Labour government in Britain came to power and promised to give India
independence. Meanwhile, Viceroy Lord Wavell called a series of meetings between
the Congress and the League back in India.

New elections for provincial legislatures were held in 1946. The Congress won the
“General” category, while the League achieved a landslide victory in seats reserved
for Muslims.

A Cabinet Mission failed to persuade Congress and the League to agree on a federal
system that would keep India unified while providing provinces with considerable
autonomy in the summer of 1946.

When the talks broke down, Jinnah called for a "Direct Action Day" to emphasise the
League's demand for Pakistan. On the designated day, August 16, 1946, bloody riots
erupted in Calcutta. First to rural Bengal, then to Bihar, and last to the United
Provinces and Punjab, the violence spread across the country.

The main victims were Muslims, as well as Hindus in some areas.

In February 1947, Lord Mountbatten succeeded Wavell as Viceroy. Mountbatten

called a final round of talks, but when these failed to yield solutions, he declared that
British India would be freed but divided.

The date for the formal transfer of power has been scheduled for August 15th.

The Last Heroic Days

On August 15, 1947, Mahatma Gandhi was not present at the festivities in the
capital. He was in Calcutta, but he didn't go to any functions or raise any flags.
Gandhi Ji observed the day by fasting for 24 hours.

With a society divided by Hindus and Muslims, the freedom he had fought for so long
had come at an unbeatable price.

DG Tendulkar, Gandhi Ji's biographer, wrote. Gandhi Ji visited hospitals and refugee
camps, offering comfort to the bereaved.``

“I urged the Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims to forget the past and not dwell on their
sufferings, but to extend the right hand of fellowship to one another and to resolve to
live in peace,” he said. Following his efforts to bring peace to Bengal, Gandhiji
relocated to Delhi, from whence he wanted to travel to Punjab's riot-torn areas.

On January 20, 1948, Gandhiji was the target of an assassination attempt. On the
30th of January, Gandhi Ji was assassinated by a young man named ‘Nathuram
Godse,' the publisher of an orthodox Hindu publication who had condemned Gandhiji
as a “Muslim appeaser.”

His passing sparked an outpouring of mourning around the country.

 Knowing Gandhi
Gandhi's political career and the history of the nationalist struggle can be pieced
together using several sources.

Mahatma Gandhi's writings and speeches, as well as those of his contemporaries,

including both supporters and opponents, are crucial sources. There were two kinds
of writing: public and private.

In his journal, Harijan, Mahatma Gandhi often published letters from the public. A
Bunch of Old Letters, a collection of letters written to Nehru throughout the national
movement, was collected and published by Nehru.

Framing a Picture
Autobiographies, on the other hand, provide us with a detailed account of the past.

They are generally written from recollection and are retroactive accounts. They
reveal what the author remembered, what he or she considered essential or desired
to recall, or how a person wished for others to view his or her life.

Through Police Eyes

Government records are another important source, as the colonial rulers kept a tight
eye on people they deemed to be critical of the government. At the time, the letters
and reports produced by police officers and other officials were kept secret, but they
can now be found in archives.

The Home Department has been producing fortnightly reports since the early
twentieth century.

These reports were based on local police data, but they frequently expressed what
higher officials saw or wanted to think. They liked to reassure themselves that while
they were aware of the possibilities of dissent and insurrection, their fears were
unfounded.

The Home Department refused to recognise that Mahatma Gandhi's efforts had
elicited any enthusiastic response from the populace, according to the Fortnightly
Reports for the period of the Salt March.

The march was viewed as a performance, an act, a desperate attempt to mobilise

people who were hesitant to rise against the British and were content with their lives
under the Raj.

From Newspapers
One more important source is contemporary newspapers, published in English as
well as in different Indian languages, which tracked Mahatma Gandhi’s movements,
reported on his activities, and also represented what ordinary Indians thought of him.

Newspaper accounts, however, should not be seen as unprejudiced. They were

published by people who had their own political opinions and world views.
These ideas shaped what was published and the way events were reported. The
accounts that were published in a London newspaper would be different from the
report in an Indian nationalist paper.
 Ch-12 Framing of the Constitution (Book 3)

An Introduction
The Constituent Assembly produced the constitution, which was signed on January
26, 1950.

Between December 1946 and December 1949, India's Constitution was drafted. The
assembly met for 11 sessions over 165 days.

India became independent on August 15, 1947, yet it was also split. In addition,
there were major protests by workers and labourers in many sections of the country.
The degree of Hindu-Muslim solidarity displayed by this mass movement was one of
its most striking elements.

The Congress and the Muslim League, India's two most powerful political parties,
had repeatedly failed to reach an agreement that would bring religious and social
harmony to the country.

The August 1946 'Great Calcutta Killings' kicked off a year of near-constant rioting in
northern and eastern India.

When India's partition was announced, the violence culminated in the killings that
preceded the population transfer.

On the one hand, there was a fear of unexpected death or the squeezing of
opportunities, and on the other hand, there was a forcible breaking away from their
age-old roots among Hindus and Muslims on both sides.

Millions of refugees fled to East and West Pakistan, while Hindus and Sikhs fled to
West Bengal and Punjab's eastern part.

Another important issue was the integration of princely states, which controlled
around one-third of the subcontinent's land area. These states were autonomous,
and following the partition, some of them desired to maintain their independence.

The Making of The Constituent Assembly

The members were chosen based on the provincial election of 1946. It comprised
the members of the provinces of British India & also the members from the princely
states. There were 300 members in the assembly.

The Muslim League boycotted the early sittings of the meetings. Hence, 82 per cent
of the members of the assembly were members of the Congress party.

The Congress was itself a broad front; these members held a wide range of views.
Some were atheists and secularists; others (in the words of an Anglo-Indian
member, Frank Anthony) were “technically members of the Congress but spiritually
members of the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha”.
Some were socialists in their economic philosophy, others defenders of the rights of
landlords.

Congress also nominated independent members of different castes and religious

groups and tried to ensure the representation of women.

The discussions within the Constituent Assembly were also influenced by the
opinions expressed by the public.

As the deliberations continued, the arguments were reported in newspapers, and the
proposals were publicly debated. Criticisms and counter-criticism in the press, in
turn, shaped the nature of the consensus that was ultimately reached on specific
issues.

To create a sense of collective participation, the public was also asked for
submissions.

The All India Varnashrama Swarajya Sangh (based in Calcutta) asked that the
Constitution “be based on the principles laid down in ancient Hindu works”.

The ban on abattoirs was particularly recommended. Low-caste groups demanded

an end to “ill-treatment by upper-caste people” and “reservation of separate seats
based on their population, in legislatures, government departments, and local
bodies, etc.

Also, the linguistic minorities asked for “freedom of speech and the “redistribution of
provinces on a linguistic basis.

Religious minorities demanded more protection. Organisations as diverse as the

'Vizianagaram District Teachers' Guild and the Central Jewish Board of Bombay
demanded "appropriate representation on all public bodies, including legislatures
and other bodies."
Some of the dominant voices of the assembly
The Constituent Assembly had 300 members in total. Six of them had highly
important responsibilities to play. The Congress party included Jawaharlal Nehru,
Vallabh Bhai Patel, and Rajendra Prasad.

Nehru was the one who proposed a "horizontal tricolour of saffron, white, and dark
green in equal proportions" with a navy blue wheel in the centre, as well as the
critical "Objectives Resolution."

V. B. Patel, on the other hand, mostly worked behind the scenes, assisting in the
preparation of numerous reports and striving to reconcile opposing opinions.

As President of the Assembly, Rajendra Prasad's job was to steer the debate in a
good direction while ensuring that all members had a chance to speak.

A key member of the Assembly was B.R. Ambedkar, a lawyer and economist.

During the British government, Ambedkar was a political opponent of the Congress,
but after Independence, on Mahatma Gandhi's recommendation, he was asked to
join the Union Cabinet as a law minister.

He was the Chairman of the Committee on Constitutional Drafting. K.M. Munshi of

Gujarat and Alladi Krishnaswamy Aiyar of Madras accompanied him and made
substantial contributions to the Constitution's formation.

Two civil servants were instrumental in assisting these six individuals. India's
Constitutional Advisor, B. N. Rau, wrote a series of background papers based on a
comprehensive assessment of other countries' political systems.

The other was Chief Draughtsman, S. N Mukherjee.

Although the process required eleven large volumes, it was both time-consuming
and fascinating.

The Constituent Assembly's members were articulate in expressing their frequently

radically opposing ideas.

In their presentations, they discuss a variety of contrasting viewpoints on India,

including what language Indians should use, what political and economic systems
the country should adopt, and what moral standards its citizens should maintain or
relinquish.

The Vision of the Constitution

Jawahar Lal Nehru presented “The Objective Resolution” to the constituent
assembly on December 13, 1946.

It was a historic resolution that described the Constitution of Independent India's

defining ideas and established the framework within which the constitution-making
process would take place.

It declared India an "Independent Sovereign Republic," promising justice, equality,

and freedom to its population, as well as "sufficient safeguards" for minorities,
backward and tribal territories, and Depressed and Other Backward Classes.

In returning to the past and referring to the American and French Revolutions, Nehru
was locating the history of constitution-making in India within a longer history of
struggle for liberty and freedom.

The momentous nature of the Indian project was emphasised by linking it to

revolutionary moments in the past. Nehru was not suggesting that those events were
to provide any blueprint for the present or that the ideas of those revolutions could be
mechanically borrowed and applied in India.

He did not define the specific form of democracy and suggested that this had to be
decided through deliberations.

He stressed that the ideals and provisions of the constitution introduced in India
could not be just derived from elsewhere “We are not going just to copy”, he said.

It was necessary to learn from the people of the West, from their achievements and
failures, but the Western nations, too, had to learn from experiments elsewhere,
they, too, had to change their own notions of democracy.

The objective of the Indian Constitution would be to fuse the liberal ideas of
democracy with the socialist idea of economic justice and re-adapt and re-work all
these ideas within the Indian context.
The Will of The People
Somnath Lahiri, a Communist in the Constituent Assembly, sensed the shadow of
British imperialism over their work. As a result, he exhorted the group's members, as
well as Indians in general, to break free of imperial authority.

The British were still in India during the Assembly's deliberations in the winter of
1946-47. Even though Jawaharlal Nehru was in charge of an interim government, it
could only work with the Viceroy and the British government in London as guidance.

According to Lahiri, the Constituent Assembly was crafted by the British and was
"working the British designs as the British should like it to be worked out.

Nationalist leaders, Nehru conceded, desired a different form of Constituent

Assembly than the one he had proposed.

Furthermore, it was true that the British Government had played a role in the
Assembly's creation by attaching restrictions to its operation.

The desires of people who had taken part in the independence movement were
supposed to be expressed through the Constituent Assembly.

Since the nineteenth century, democratic, equitable, and just societies in India have
been closely identified with these values.

It was out of a desire for social fairness that nineteenth-century social reformers
fought against child marriage and urged that widows be permitted to remarry. Swami
Vivekananda pushed for Hinduism's reform because he wanted it to be a more
equitable religion.

Workers and peasants in Maharashtra, such as Jyotiba Phule, demanded economic

and social justice by drawing attention to the plight of depressed castes.
It was inevitable that the national movement against a tyrannical and illegitimate
regime would be one for democracy and justice, for people's rights and equality. Due
to an increase in demand for representation, the British government was obliged to
make a number of constitutional changes.

Indian participation in provincial administrations gradually expanded as a result of a

number of Acts (1909, 1919, and 1935).

In 1919, the executive was made partially accountable to the provincial legislature;
by 1935, this was nearly totally the case. In 1937, following elections mandated by
the 1935 Act, Congress took control of eight of the country's 11 provinces.

Indians did not personally discuss or develop any of the earlier constitutional
experiments, which were in reaction to the growing demand for a representative
government.

The colonial authority put them in place. Even though the electorate that chose
provincial organisations had grown over time, the adult franchise remained a
privilege only available to 10 to 15 per cent of the adult population in 1935.

In the context of colonial authority, the legislatures elected under the 1935 Act were
accountable to the British-appointed Governor.

On December 13, 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru attempted to sketch forth a vision of an

independent, sovereign India through the formulation of the Indian Constitution.

Defining Rights
The constituent assembly's main concern was defining what it meant to be right.

Nehru had evoked the "will of the people" in his inaugural speech, declaring that the
framers of the Constitution had to fulfil "the desires that lurk in the hearts of the
masses."

This wasn't a simple task. In the run-up to independence, various groups expressed
their desire in a variety of ways and made a variety of demands. Before an
agreement could be reached, these would have to be contested and contradictory
perspectives resolved.

What were the problems with the separate electorates?

B. Pocker Bahadur of Madras made a convincing case for the continuation of distinct
electorates on August 27, 1947.

Minorities exist in all countries, he continued, and they can't be wished away or
"erased out of existence."

It was necessary to establish a political framework in which minorities could live in

peace with others, and community differences could be minimised. Separate
electorates are the only way to ensure that Muslims have a genuine say in the
country's government.

Bahadur believed that non-Muslims could not fully comprehend the requirements of
Muslims and that a legitimate representative of Muslims could not be chosen by
those who did not belong to that community.

Most nationalists were outraged and disappointed by this demand for separate
electorates. Separate electorates were viewed by most nationalists as a deliberate
effort by the British to divide the people.

In the opinion of Govind Ballabh Pant, it was harmful to the nation as well as to
minorities.

He agreed with Bahadur that the level of trust that a democracy instils in different
groups of people can be used to measure its success.

As long as we're living in a free state where everyone is treated with respect, the
majority community has an obligation to understand and sympathise with minorities'
problems and aspirations. This includes "not only his material wants, but also his
spiritual sense of self-respect".

Separate electorates, on the other hand, were opposed by Pant. Isolating minorities
and making them vulnerable was a suicidal demand that would deny them a
meaningful role in government.

However, citizens will be granted certain freedoms under the Constitution if they
agree to serve the state.

Cultural rights can be guaranteed to communities that are recognised as cultural

entities. However, to avoid splintered loyalties, all citizens of the State were required
to act as equals within the State.

"Not all Muslims backed the call for separate electorates. Begum Aizaas Rasul
argues that segregated electorates are destructive because they separate minorities
from the majority.

By 1949, the vast majority of Muslim members of the Constituent Assembly had
concluded that separate electorates were harmful to the interests of minorities. When
it came to ensuring they had a strong political voice, Muslims took an active role in
the democratic process.

More Than A Resolution

N.G. Ranga, a socialist and former leader of the peasant movement, argued that the
term "minorities" should be construed economically.

He saw the poor and oppressed as the true minorities in society. He praised the
Constitution for the newfound legal protections it provided, but he also emphasised
the limitations of those protections.
According to him, it made no difference to the poor people in the villages if they knew
they now had the fundamental right to live and full employment or if they could hold
their meetings, conferences, associations, and other forms of civil liberties.

To whom the Assembly was supposed to represent?

The people who make up the bulk of our population. The majority of the people in the
assembly, on the other hand, were not a part of the masses. The members of the
assembly were the trustees and advocates of the people.

How were the rights of the Depressed Castes to be defined by the

Constitution?
During the national movement, Ambedkar called for separate electorates for the
Depressed Castes, which Mahatma Gandhi opposed, claiming that doing so would
permanently separate them from the rest of society.

Some Depressed Castes members emphasised that protection and safeguards

alone could not solve the “Untouchables” problem.

Caste society's social norms and moral values caused their disabilities. Society used
their labour but kept them at a social distance, refusing to mix, dine, or let them into
temples.

“We have suffered, but we are ready to stop,” said Madras resident J. Nagappa. Our
responsibilities are clear. We can assert ourselves.” Nagappa noted that the
Depressed Castes were not a minority, constituting 20-25% of the total population.

This was not due to their numerical insignificance. They had no access to education
or power. This is the job. He too, abandoned separate electorates after the Partition
violence.

The Constituent Assembly finally recommended abolishing untouchability, opening

Hindu temples to all castes, and reserving legislative seats and government jobs for
the lowest castes.

Many recognised that this could not solve all issues: social discrimination had to be
eradicated through social change. But the democratic public praised the measures.

The Powers Of The State

The rights of the Central Government and the States were hotly debated in the
Constituent Assembly. Jawaharlal Nehru argued for a strong Centre. The provision
of a weak central authority incapable of ensuring peace, coordinating vital matters of
common concern, and effectively speaking for the entire country in international
forums would be detrimental to the country's interests.

The Union, State, and Concurrent lists of subjects. The first list was reserved for the
Centre, while the second was for the States. Third list: Centre and state
responsibility shared.
Some items were placed under Union control exclusively, while others were placed
on the Concurrent list, contrary to province wishes. The Union ruled minerals and
key industries, too. Article 356 also empowered the Centre to take over a state
administration on the Governor's recommendation.

The Constitution required a complex fiscal federalism system. In some cases (like
customs duties and company taxes), the Centre kept all the revenue; in others (like
income tax and excise duties), it split it with the states; and in still others (like estate
duties), it gave it all to the states.

Taxes levied by the states included land and property taxes, sales taxes, and the
highly profitable tax on bottled liquor.

Redistribution Of Power
K. Santhanam from Madras eloquently defended state rights. He believed that
redistributing power would strengthen both the states and the Centre.

“It's almost an obsession to strengthen the Centre by giving it more powers.” This
was a mistake, Santhanam said. The Centre could not function properly if it was
overburdened. The Centre could be strengthened by transferring some of its
functions to the states.

Santhanam felt the proposed power-sharing would cripple the states.

Fiscal provisions would impoverish provinces as most taxes, except land revenue,
would be centralised.

The argument for more provincial power drew a strong reaction in the Assembly.
Since the Constituent Assembly's inception, the need for a strong centre has been
emphasised.
“A strong and united Centre (hear, hear) much stronger than the Centre we created
under the Government of India Act of 1935,” Ambedkar declared. Reminding the
members of the nation's riots and violence, many members stated that the Centre's
powers needed to be greatly strengthened to stop the communal frenzy.

In response to provincial demands for power, Gopalaswami Ayyangar declared that

“the Centre should be strengthened”.

Balakrishna Sharma, from the United Provinces, argued that only a strong central
government could plan for the country's future, mobilise economic resources,
establish a proper administration, and defend it against foreign aggression.

Before Partition, Congress agreed to give the provinces considerable autonomy.

This was done to reassure the Muslim League that the Centre would not interfere in
their provinces.

After Partition, most nationalists changed their minds because they felt the political
pressures for decentralisation had gone.

The colonial government imposed a unitary system. The era's violence pushed
centralisation, seen as necessary to avoid chaos and plan for the country's economic
development.

The Constitution thus favoured the rights of the Union of India over those of its
states.

The Language Of The Nation

The Congress had accepted Hindustani as the national language by the 1930s.
Mahatma Gandhi believed that everyone should speak in plain English. Hindustani, a
composite language enriched by the interaction of diverse cultures, was widely
spoken in India.

As it had evolved over time, it was understood by people from all over the world. This
multicultural language, Mahatma Gandhi believed, could unite Hindus and Muslims,
as well as people from the north and south.

Hindustani as a language has been changing since the late nineteenth century. As
communal strife grew, Hindi and Urdu grew apart. On one hand, there was a push to
Sanskritized Hindi, removing all Persian and Arabic words.

Conversely, Urdu was becoming more Persian. As a result, language became linked
to religious identity politics. But Mahatma Gandhi believed in Hindustani's composite
character.

A Plea for Hindi

R. V. Dhulekar, a Congressman from the United Provinces, argued forcefully for the
use of Hindi as the language of the constitution-making process.
 On 12 September 1947, almost three years later, Dhulekar's speech on national
language sparked another huge storm.

The Constituent Assembly's Language Committee had already reported and

proposed a compromise solution to end the debate over Hindi as the national
language.

 Hindi in Devanagari script would be the official language, but the transition would be
gradual. For the first fifteen years, English would be the official language. Each
province would be able to use one of the regional languages for official purposes.

 The Language Committee of the Constituent Assembly hoped to soothe ruffled

emotions by referring to Hindi as the official rather than the national language.

 Dhulekar disliked such a reconciliatory attitude. He wanted Hindi to be a National

Language, not an Official Language. He mocked those who said, in the name of
Mahatma Gandhi, that Hindustani rather than Hindi should be the national language.

The Fear of Domination

Shrimati G. Durgabai from Madras expressed her concerns about the discussion a
day after Dhulekar spoke: Mr President, the question of national language for India
has recently become a highly contentious issue.

Non-Hindi speakers have been made to believe that this fight is a fight to prevent the
natural influence of other powerful Indian languages on the nation's composite
culture.

He told the House that opposition to Hindi in the south was fierce: “The opponents
feel perhaps rightly that this Hindi propaganda cuts at the very root of provincial
languages...”
But she, like many others, had heeded Mahatma Gandhi's call and spread Hindi
propaganda in the south, overcoming opposition, opening schools and teaching
Hindi.

T. A. Ramalingam Chettiar of Madras emphasised that anything done had to be

done with caution; pushing Hindi too hard would harm its cause.