 Paleolithic sites – ( Bhimbetka, Hunasagi valley,

Athirampakkam). Neolithic sites (Mehrgarh,

Burzahom, Koldihwa, Mahgara, chirad, Daojali
Hading, Brahmagiri, Paiyampalli). Bronze Age –
(lothal). Iron Age – (hallur, Adichanallur).

 Ashoka was the first ruler to give up war after

victory. He was the first to built hospitals for
animals. He was the first to lay roads. Ashoka
chakra of 24 spokes was taken from the Sarnath
Pillar of Ashoka. Charles Allen wrote a book of
Ashoka titled “ The Search for the India’s lost
Emperor”.
 The term history has been derived from the Greek
word ‘ istoria’ meaning learning by enquiry.
 The periods for which records in writing is available
but not yet deciphered is called Proto history.
 Dogs were first to be domesticated.
 Anthropologist have unearthened the footprints of
humans in a country called Tanzania.
 Australopithecus – (4 million to 2 million yrs), proto
human evolved in eastern africa, MIX of human
and ape traits. Homo habilis – (2.3 to 1.4 million
yrs), presence of big toe to hold tightly and less
protruding face. Tool maker. Homo erectus ( approx
1.8 million yrs), java man not fully human, brain
smaller than ours. Walked in straight position, had
knowledge of fire. Neanderthal – (130,000 to
40,000 yrs), not fully human. Different from
Africans. Their tools were crude. Hunting skills
were also poor. There are evidences of burying the
dead. Evidences are seen at Neanderthan at
Germany. Homo Sapiens – wise man, 300,00 yrs
ago, modern human being moved out of Africa and
 settled in Europe and Asia. Cromagnons - the
present man (50,000 yrs ago in eastern africa and
40,000 yrs ago in west asia and in south eastern
europe), the modern man , beginning of human
life, used not only implements made of stone but
also of bone. Their weapons included harpoons and
spear-throwers.
 People and their habitat :
 australopithecus  east africa
 homohabilis  south africa
 homoerectus  africa and asia
 neanderthal  eurasia
 Cro-magnons  france
 peking  china
 Homo sapiens  africa
 heidelbergs  london

Note ; cromagnons learned to live in caves.

Lascaus caves in France is the evidence for cave
living of cromagnons. They habitude to bury the
dead.
 The best stone for making weapons was chikki –
mukki (flint).
 Weapon was made first, then fire out of stones and
the next one was wheel.
 During pre-historic period humans lived in caves
and depicted their daily events in drawings. Pre-
historic rock art of Tamil Nadu : keelvalai –
villupuram, Usilampatti – Madurai, Kumuthipathi –
Coimbatore, Mavadaippu – Coimbatore, Porivarai
cave – karikaiyur Nilgris.
 Domistication in cronology wise : dog, hen, goat
and cow.
 Mesopotamia civilization (3500-2000 BC), IVC
(3300 – 1900 BC), Egyptian civilization (3100 –
1100 BC), Chinese civilization (1700 – 1122 BC).
 The ruins of Harappa were first described by the
british EIC soldier and explorer Charles Masson.
 In 1856 , engineers- railway line from lahore to
karachi. In 1920, archaelogist began to excavate
cities of harappa and Mohenjodaro. In 1924, DG of
ASI, Sir John Marshall, found common features
between Harappa and Mohenjodaro.
 ASI was started in 1861 with Alexander
Cunningham as surveyor. Its headquarter is located
at New Delhi.
 Time span od IVC :
. geographical range – south asia
. period – bronze age
. area – 13 lakh sq. km
. cities – 6 big cities
 Mehergarh (neolithic site) = the precursor of indus
civilization. of balochistan in pakistan. evidence of
farming and herding.
 The roads were wide with rounded corners.
 Houses were built on both sides of the street. The
houses were either one or two storeys.
 Most of the houses had many rooms, a courtyard
and a well, each house had toilets and bathrooms.
 The houses were built using baked bricks and
mortar. Sun-dried bricks were also used. Most of
the bricks of uniform size. Roofs were flat.
 no conclusive evidence of the presence of palaces
or places of worship.

Drainage system :
  Many of the cities had covered drains. The drains
were covered with slabs ore bricks.
 Each drain had a gentle slope so that water could
flow.
 Holes were provided at regular intervals to clear
the drains.
 House drains passed below many lanes before
finally emptying into the main drains.
 Every house had its own soak pit, which collected
all the sediments and allowed only the water to
flow into the street drain.
The Great Bath Mohenjodaro :
 The bath was lined with bricks , coated with pluster
and made water tight using layers of natural
bitumen.
 Rectangular tank in courtyard, made using natural
bitumen.
 Steps on north and south , and rooms on three
sides.

The great granary :

 The remains of wheat, barley, millets, seasame and
pulses have been found.
 A granary with walls made of mud bricks, which are
still in a good condition, has been discovered in
Rakhigarhi, a village in Haryana, belonging to
Mature Harappan Phase.

The Assembly Hall :

 At Mohenjodaro
  Multi pillared – 20 pillars in 4 rows to support the
roof

Trade and Transport :

 Used sticks with marks to measure length.
 They used carts with spokeless solid wheels.
 Indus seals have been found as far as
Mesopotamia (sumer) which is modern day Iraq,
Kuwait and parts of Syria.
 King Naram-Sin of Akkadian Empire (Sumerian)
bought jewellery from the land of Melukha ( a
region of the Indus Valley).sss
 Cylindrical seals found in Persian Gulf and
Mesopotamia.
 A naval dockyard has been discovered in Lothal in
Gujarat.

Dockyard at Lothal :
 Lothal is situated on the banks of Sabarmati river
in Gujarat.

Leaders in Mohenjo-Daro
 seated man with a headband on the forehead and
a smaller ornament on the right upper arm.
 Hair carefully combed, and beard finely trimmed.
 Two holes beneath the ears suggest that the head
ornament might have been attached till the ear.
 The left shoulder is covered with shawl decorated
with designs of flowers and rings.
Technology :
  Ivory found in Lothal is 1704 mm (the smallest
division ever recorded on a scale of other
contemporary civilisations).
 The word ‘civilisation’ comes from the ancient Latin
word civis, which means ‘city’.

The dancing girl statue was found at Mohenjodaro. John

Marshall time.

KVT complex ( korkai-vanji-thondi) spread over

Afganistan and Pakistan has many places, names of
those were mentioned in sangam literature. Korkai,
vanji, tondi, matrai, urai and kudalgarh are the names
of places in Pakistan. Gurkay and Pumpuhar in
Afganistan are related to the cities and ports mentioned
in the sangam age. The names of the rivers Kawri and
Poruns in Afganistan and the rivers Kaweri Wala and
Phornai in Pakistan also occur in the Sangam Literature.

 Cotton fabrics were in common use.

 Yarn was spun.
 Wool was also used.
 They displayed their status with garments and
precious jewellery.
 They had an advanced civic sense.
 Ornaments were popular among both man and
woman.
 The ornaments were made of gold, silver, ivory,
shell, copper, terracotta and precious stones.
 Horse and iron were unknown to the people of
Indus.
  Copper was the first metal discovered and used by
humans.
 Indus people used the red quartz stone called
carnelian to design jewellery.
 Historians believe that there existed a central
authority that controlled planning of towns and
overseas trade, maintainance of drainage and
peace in the city.
 The main occupation of the IVC people is not
known. However, agriculture, handicrafts, pottery
making, jewellery making, weaving, carpentry and
trading were practiced.
 There were merchants, traders and artisans.
 Rearing of cattle was another occupation.
 People of those times know how to use the potter’s
wheel.
 They reared domesticated animals.

The earliest form of writing was developed by

Sumerians.
End of civilization : repeated floods, ecological changes,
invasions, natural calamity, climatic changes,
deforestation, an epidemic.
The civilisation extends from : makran coast of
Baluchistan in the west, Ghaggar-Hakra river valley in
the east, Afgahanistan in the north east, Maharashtra in
the south.
The Great Pyramid of Giza built by king Khufu in 2500
BC, built with lime stone.
Mesopotamia (Sumerian period) Ur Ziggurat built by
king Ur Nammu in Honour of the Moon God Sin.
Abu Simbel site of two temples built by Egyptian king
Ramises II.

Ancient Cities of
Tamilagam (Tamil)

 Poompuhar – is one of the oldest towns in ancient

Tamilagam. Place where well known characters like
Silapathikaram, Kovalan and Kannagi lived. It was a
coastal town in the bay of benagal. Located near
where the river Cauvery drains into the sea.
 Poompuhar was also known by names such as
Puhar and Kaveripoompattinam. It seved as the
port of the early Chola kingdom. Tamil epics –
Silappathikaram and Manimegalai, have references
to this port.
 The lead female character of Silappathikaram is
Kannagi. Her father is Maanaigan. Sea traders are
known by the name Maanaigan. The male
character Kovalan’s father is Maasathuvan.
Massathuvan means a big trader. Poompuhar was
a place where big traders and sea traders had
settled down.

vadamalai gold
Western ghats sandal
Southern sea pearls
Eastern sea corals
Eelam Food items
Madurai :
 One of the oldest cities of India. Pandhyas, the
Cholas and later the Kalabras ruled Madurai in ancient
period.
 Madurai had Naalangadi and Allangadi.
 Nalangadi – day market, Allangadi –
evening market.
 Madurai is known as Thoonga Nagaram (
the city that never sleeps). It was a safe
place where women purchased things
from Allangadi without any fear.
 King Solomon of ancient Israel imported
pearls from Uvari near the Pandya port,
Korkkai.
 A mint of Roman coins was present at
Madurai. The coins of other countries
were also minted at Madurai, which is a
proof for the glory of madurai.
 Fame of Madurai – account of
Megasthanese.
 Chanakya , minister of Chandragupta
makes a mention of Madurai in his book,
Arthasastra.

Kanchi :
 Several schools were established in
great numbers for the first time in
Kancheepuram.
 Jains studies in Jainapalli and Buddhists
studied in Viharas.
 Huien Tsang visited Kanchi ‘Kadigai’ to
pursue his further studies.
 Poet ‘Kalidas’ says, “Kanchi is the best of
the towns”.
 Tamil poet saint Thirunavukarasar
praises Kanchi as “Kalviyil Karaillatha
Kanchi”.
 Kanchi is the oldest town in Thondai
Nadu. Scholars like Dharmabalar,
Jothibalar, Sumathi and Bodhi Dharmar
were born in Kanchi.
 Kanchi is also known as temples city.
 Kailashnathar temple, was built by later
Pallava king Rajasimha at Kanchi.
 During the pallava period, a large
number of caves were built.
 The buddhist monk Manimegalai spent
her last part of life at Kanchi.
 Hundreds of lakes were created for
storing water around the town of Kanchi.
Lakes were connected with the canals.
  Kanchi came to be known as the district
of lakes.

Poompuhar was a port, Madurai was a

trading town, and Kanchi was an educational
centre.

Chola Nadu Sorudaithu (rice in

abundance)
Pandya Nadu Muthudaithu (pearls
in abundance)
Chera Nadu Vezhamudaithu
(elephants in
abundance)
Thondai Nadu Saandrorudaithu
(scholars in
abundance)

Chera nadu – malayalam speaking regions

and some Tamil districts
Chola nadu – present day Thanjavur,
tiruvarur, Nagai, Trichy and Pudukkottai
districts.
Pandya nadu – erstwhile Madurai,
Ramanathapuram, Sivagangai, Thuthukkudi
and Tirunelvelli.
Thondai nadu – present day Kancheepuram,
dharmapuri, tiruvallur, tiruvannamalai,
vellore and northern parts of villupuram
districts.

The Keezhadi excavation site is related to

the city of Madurai.

Chapter - Vedic culture in

north India and megalithic
culture in South India
 Megalithic or iron age culture in Tamil Nadu.
 Vedic age (1500 to 600 BC) – gets its name from four
‘Vedas’.
 Aryans were pastoral groups of people came from central
Asia in several waves through Khyber Pass of Hindu Kush
Mountains.
 Early vedic period – (taxila and harappa), later vedic
period – (indraprastha and Ayodhya). Kurukshetra lies
between the early and later vedic sites.
 Period – iron age, nature of civilization is rural.
Aryans and their home in India :
 Aryans of the rig vedic period were semi-nomadic. They
were pastoral people with cattle as their main souce of
wealth.
  In the Rig Vedic times, the Aryan homeland was the
Punjab, which was at that time called Sapta Sindhu, the
land of seven rivers.
 Around 1000 BC, they moved eastwards and settled in
Indo-Gangetic plain.
 Use of iron axes and ploughs became widespread.

Sources :
 Into two categories –
 Shrutis – comprise four vedas, the brahmanas, the
aranyakas and the upanishads. Comprised sacred, eternal,
and unquestionable truth. ‘shruti’ means listening ones
that were transmitted orally through generations.
 Smritis – text containing teaching on religion such as
ithihasas, puranas, tantras and agamas. They are not
eternal. They are constantly revised. ‘Smriti’ means
definite and written literature.
 ‘Satyameva jayate’ – truth alone triumphs is taken from
Mundaka Upanishad.

Polity and society :

 Polity was kinship – based. Kula (clan) was the basic unit of
the polity. It was under a head called Kulapati. Several
families joined together to form a grama (village). Grama
was headed by Gramani. A group of villages was called Vis
(clan) and was headed by Vishayapati. Rajan was the head
of the Jana (tribe) and he was addressed as Janasyagopa
(gurardian of the people). There were several tribal
kingdoms (Rashtras) during Rig Vedic period (Bharatas,
Matsyas, Puras).

Kula < grama < vis < jana < rashtra

King :
 Protect his tribe.
  His powers limited by tribal assemblies namely vidhata,
sabha, samiti and gana.
 Out of these vidhata, (the tribal assembly) was the oldest.
 Sabha – council of elders. Samiti – assembly of
people.
 Gramini was the leader of the village.
 In later vedic period , king performed various rituals to
have the hold of power when they moved towards the
ganga-yamuna doab regions .
 Many Janas or Tribes were amalgamated from Janapadas
or Rashtras in later vedic period. The importance of
samithi and sabha diminished and the vidhata completely
disappeared.
 New states emerged. Bali was a voluntary contribution of
the people to the king.
 In later vedic period, bali was treated as a tax and
collected regularly.
 The Kuru and Panchala kingdoms emerged and large cities
like Ayodhya, Indraprastha and Mathura also emerged
during the period.
 Bali – a tax consisting of 1/6 of the
agriculture produce or cattle for a
person.

Social organisation :
 Patriarchal
 Within the early vedic period there were 3
divisions (treyi) : the general public was called vis, the
warrior class was called kshatriyas and the priestly class
was named brahmanas.
 At later stage, when aryans had to
accommodate non-Aryans skilled
 workers in their social arrangement, a 4
fold varna system was developed – the
brahmanas, the kshatriyas, the land
owing vysyas and the skilled workers
sudras.

Status of women :
 Some freedom.
 Wife could perform rituals with her husband in their house.
 Child marriage and sati were unknown.
 No bar on remarriage of widows.
 Women were denied right to inherit property from their
parents.
 Played role in public affairs.
 In later vedic period , role of women degraded. Polygamy
became common. Widow remarriage was not encouraged.

Economic life :
 Pastoralism + agriculture
 Ochre coloured pottery (OCP) was attributed to this period.
 Horse, cow, goat, sheep, oxen, and dogs were
domesticated.
 The staple crop was yava (barley).
 No mention of wheat or cotton in the rig-veda.
 Two crops a year were raised

 In the later vedic period, aryan tamed elephants apart

from other animals.
 Pottery of this period was painted Grey ware culture.
 Crops of wheat, rice and barley were cultivated.
 Barter system was prevalent
  They used Nishka, Satmana(gold coins) and Krishnala
(silver coins) for business transactions.
 Metals known to Rig Vedic People : Gold (Hiranya), Iron
(Shyama), Copper/Bronze (Ayas).

Religion :
 Worshipped mostly earthly and celestial gods like prithvi
(earth), agni (fire), vayu (wind), varuna (rain), indra
(thunder).
 Also less female deities like aditi (goddess of eternity) and
Usha ( appearance of dawn).
 Religion was Yajna centred
 Mode was prayer recitation of vedic hymns
 People prayed for the welfare of Praja (children) pasu
(cattle) and dhana (wealth)
 There were no temples, idol worship not yet come into
existence.
 Lateron priesthood became a profession and a hereditary
one.
 New gods perhaps adopted from non-aryans. Indra and
Agni lost their importance. Prajapathi (the creator) Vishnu
(the Protector) and Rudra (the destroyer) became
prominent.
 Sacrifices and rituals became more elaborate.

Education :
 Gurukula system of education
 Orally
 The subjects of the study included the four vedas,
ithihasas, puranas, grammer, logic, ethics, astrology,
maths and military science.
 Only Dvijas could be Shishyas. No women could have
formal education.
 Age based Ashramas – brahmacharya (student life),
grihastha (married life), vanaprastha (going to the forest
 to meditate), sanyasa (leading a life of an ascetic so as to
attain Swarga).

Contemporary culture in south india and

tamil nadu :
 The early vedic culture in northern India coincided with
chalcolithic cultures that prevailed in other parts of the
sub-continent.
 Chalcolithic culture of India was contemporary to the
mature phase of Harappan culture
 The later vedic culture in north india and the iron age in
south india belong to the same period.
 Towards the end of iron age, people stepped into what is
known as Megalithic culture.
 Megalithic period in ancient tamilakam synchronised with
the pre sangam period.
 The black and red ware pottery became the characteristic
of the megalithic period.

Megalithic/iron age in TamilNadu :

 Some of the megalithic sites in Tamil Nadu – Adichanllur _
thoothukudi dist. Bronze objects representing domestic
animals. Few gold ornaments, urns, iron implements.
 Keezhadi _ brick buildings, out drainage system. Roman
artefacts found.
 Periplus mentions the steel imported to Rome from
Peninsular India was subjected to duty in the port of
Alexandria.
 Porunthal – dindigul dist. Grave goods, glass beads,
pottery with tamil brahmi scripts. The discovery of iron
sickle, pike, and tips of ploughs provide evidence that they
practice of rice cultivation in tamil nadu. A pot of rice from
Porunthal site proves that rice was people’s staple food.
  Paiyampalli – vellore dist. Iron artefacts, megalithic black
and red ware pottery found. Evidence of iron smelting has
come to light at Paiyampalli.
 Kodumanal – erode dist. More than 300 pottery
inscriptions in Tamil – Brahmi have been discovered.
Spindles, whorls (used for making thread from cotton),
pieces of cloth, etc found.
A Menhir found at burial site is assigned to the Megalithic
period.

The dead body was placed in a big pot along with burial goods.
Dolmens are megalithic tombs made of two or more upright
stones with a single stone lying across the burial site.
Megalithic dolmens have been found in Veeraraghavapuram
village, Kanchipuram dist, Kummalamaruthupatti, Dindigul dist,
and in Narasingampatti, Madurai dist.

Menhir – long stone in Breton language. They are monolithic

pillars planted vertically into the ground in memory of the dead.
Menhir at Singaripalayam in Tirupur dist. And at vembur in
Theni dist points to the existence of an ancient settlement
along the banks of river Uppar. Menhirs are found at
Narasingampatti in Madurai dist, Kumarikalpalayam and
kodumanal in Erode dist.

Hero stones – found at Maanur village near Palani, Dindigul dist,

Vellalankottai, Tuticorin dist, and Pulimankombai, Dindigul dist.
Vedic age is evidenced by less number of texts and not enough
amount of material evidences.

keeezhadi Ivory dice

porunthal Tip of plough, pot filled with
rice
kodumanal spindles
adichanallur Gold ornaments, tamil brahmi
script

Great thinkers and new faith

 The 6th century BC is regarded as an important period in
the history of ancient india. Historians will durant has
rightly called it the “shower of stars”.
 Sources : Angas – Jain texts, Tripitakas and Jatakas –
Buddhist texts.

Jainism :
 Ground itself in 24 tirthankaras. They are the one who
revealed religious truth at different times.
 First tirthankara was Rishabha and last one was Mahavira.
 Original name of Mahavira was Vardhamana, place of birth
was Kundhagrama near Vaishali, Bihar. Parents –
Siddartha, Trishala. Place of death – Pavapuri, Bihar.
 The word Jain derives from the sanskrit word Jina, which
means conquering self and the external world.

Mahavira (the great hero) :

 Vardhamana meaning ‘prosperous’ was a kshatriya prince.
 At the age of 30, renounced his princely status. Undertook
intense meditation.
 After 12 and half years of rigorous penance, he attained
omniscience or supreme knowledge, known as Kevala.
 Omniscience – it is the ability to know everything or be
infinetely wise.
 Thereafter, he became ‘Jina’ meaning ‘one who conquered
worldly pleasure and attachment’.
 Jainism denies God as the creator of Universe.
 Basic philosophy of Jainism Is Ahimsa or ‘non-violence’.
 Ultimate aim of Jainism is attaining moksha or ending the
cycle of birth – death – rebirth.
 Jains reject the belief in last judgement, where God, a
supreme being, decides who goes to heaven or hell.
 Jainism advocated that the goodness or quality of one’s
life is determined by one’s karma.
 Mahavira exhorted the three – fold path for the attainment
of moksha for the liberation from Karma. They are – right
faith, right knowledge and right action.
 Jain code of conduct – mahavira asked his followers to live
a virtous life. He preached 5 major principles to follow ;
they are – i) ahimsa – not to injure any living beings ii)
satya – to speak truth iii) asteya – not to steal
iv)aparigraha – not to own property v) brahmacharya –
celibacy.
 Gautam swami, a chief disciple of Mahavira, compiled the
teachings of mahavira, called Agama Sidhanta.
 Jainism split into two sects : I. Digambaras II. Svetambaras
 Digambaras : orthodox and conservative followers, monks
donot wear any clothing and live naked. Forbidden to have
any kind of possessions. Believe that women cannot
achieve nirvana or liberation directly.
 Svetambaras : they are considered progressive. Monks
wear robes. They are permitted to have Rajoharana
(broom with wollen threads), begging bowl and book.
Women are equallu capable of achieving liberation as
men.
 Reasons for the spread of Jainism : i) use of people’s
language. Ii) intelligible teachings iii) support from rulers
and traders iv) perseverance of Jain monks
 Influence of Jainism (Samanam) in Tamil Nadu : in ancient
tamil literature jainism is referred to as samanam. In
Arittapatti, a small village 25 km from Madurai, on one
side of Kalinjamalai hill there are Jain Caves called
Pandavar Padukkai. Pandavar Padukkai is the bed of Jain
saints. There is a reference of Arovar Palli, place of living
for Jain monks, in Manimegalai. According to
Silapathikaram, when Kovalan and Kannagi were on their
way to Madurai, Gownthiyadigal a female Jain monk
 blessed the couple and accompanied them. Puhar,
Uraiyur, Madurai, Vanchi(karuvur), Kanchi all had Jain
monasteries. Jina Kanchi – Thiruparthikundram, a village in
Kanchipuram, has two ancient Jain temples. This village
was once called Jina Kanchi.

Buddhism :
 Gautam buddha belonged to the Sakya clan.
 At the age of 29, siddhartha saw four sorrowful sights. Old
man, sick man, man’s corpse and an ascetic.
 Original name – siddhartha, place of birth – Lumbini
Garden, Nepal, Parents – Suddhodana, Maya Devi. Place of
Death – Kushi Nagar, UP
 At the age of 29 left his palace and become a hermit.
Sacrificed six years of his life towards penance.
 On 49th day he finally attained enlightenment. He was also
known as Sakya Muni or Sage of Sakya Clan.
 Buddha delivered his first sermon at Deer Park in Sarnath,
near Banaras. This was called “Dharma Chakra
Pravartana” or turning of the wheel of Law.
 Buddha’s four noble truths : life is full of sorrow and
misery, desire is the cause of misery, sorrows and
sufferings can be removed by giving up one’s desire, the
desire can be overcome by following the right path (noble
eight-fold path).
 Eight fold paths : right view, right thought, right speech,
right action, right livelihood, right effort, right knowledge,
right meditation.
 Buddha’s teachings were called dhamma. He accepted the
Theory of Karma – meaning that the quality of man’s life
depends on his deed.
 Buddha neither accepted nor denied the existence of God,
but believed in the laws of universe.
 Nirvana is the ultimate aim of life.
 Buddha advocated ahimsa or non –violence.
 He rejected the caste system.
 The wheel of life – represents the Buddhist view of the
world.
  Buddha laid foundation for a missionary organization
called ‘Sanga’. The members were called bhikshus. They
led a life of austerity.
 Chaitya – a buddhist shrine or a meditation hall. Viharas –
monasteries/living quarters for monks. Stupas – remains of
buddha’s body.
 Buddhist sects :
Hinayana Mahayana
 Did not worship idols or  Image worship
image of buddha
 Practised austerity  Observed elaborate
rituals
 Salvation is goal  Believed salvation as
its objective
 Used prakrit language  Used Sanskrit language
 Also known as  Central Asia, tibet,
Theravada. Spread to Sri China and Japan where
Lanka, Myanmar and south middle path was accepted
east Asian countries

 Frescoes (paintings) – Frescoes on the ceilings and walls of

the Ajanta caves in Aurangabad, Maharashtra – depict the
Jataka Tales.

Jainism and Buddhism similarities and dissimilarities :

Similarities Dissimilarities
 Both Mahavira and Buddha Jainism
came from royal families Buddhism
 Denied the authority of vedas
 Taught the language of Followed Followed middle
common people. extreme path path
 Accepted disciples from all Remained only Spread across
castes and both the genders in India many parts of
 Opposed the blood sacrifices the world
 Believed in the doctrine of It does not It emphasises
Karma believe in the on ANATMA (no
 Emphasized on right conduct existence of eternal soul)
and right knowledge instead God, but and ANITYA
 of performing religious believes soul in (impernance).
ceremonials and rituals as every living
the means to achieve being.
salvation.

 Buddhist Councils : first – Rajagriha, Second – Vaishali,

Third – Pataliputra, Fourth – Kashmir.
Influence of Buddhism in TamilNadu :
 Buddhism spread to Tamil Nadu much later than Jainism.
 Manimekalai, one of the epics of post-sangam age is a
Buddhist literature.
 There is an elaborate description about Kanchipuram in
classical epic Manimegalai.
 Kanchipuram was a famous Buddhist centre, from where
Dinnaga, the famous Buddhist logician, and Dharmapala, a
great scholar of Nalanda university hailed.
 Hieun Tsang visited Kanchipuram in the seventh century
noticed the presence of 100 feet stupa built by Ashoka
there.

The woodpecker and the Lion ( A Jataka

story )

Elsewhere in the 6th century BC –

Confucianism in china and Zoroastrinism in
Persia.

FROM CHIEFDOMS TO
EMPIRES
  Role of iron in changing society
 There were two forms of govt in north India during 6 th c
BC. I) Gana – Sanghas – non monarchical states. Ii)
kingdoms – monarchies
 The term ‘gana’ means ‘people of equal status’. ‘Sangha’
means ‘assembly’.
 The gana –sanghas covered a small geographical area
ruled by and elite group. The gana sanghas practiced
egalitarian traditions.
 A ‘kingdom’ means a territory ruled by a king or queen.
 Janapadas were the earliest gathering places of men.
Later, Janapadas became republics or smaller kingdoms.
 Later Janapadas turned into Mahajanapadas
 16 Mahajanapadas dotted the Indo-Gangetic plain in the
6th century BC.
 The sixteen Mahajanapadas were – (kuru, panchala, anga,
Magadha, vajji, malla, kasi, kosala, avanti, chedi, vatsa,
machcha, surasena, assaka, gandhara and kamboja).
 There were four major Mahajanapadas , they were : i)
Magadha in Bihar ii) Avanti in Ujjain iii)Kosala in eastern
U.P. and iv) vatsa in Kausambi, Allahabad
 Among the four Mahajanapadas, Magadha emerged as an
empire.

Caues for the rise of Magadha :

 It was located on the lower part of the Gangetic plain. The
plain was fertile which ensured the rich agriculture yeild.
 The thick forests supplied timber for construction of
buildings and elephants for army.
 Abundance of natural resources especially iron enabled
them to equip themselves with weapons made of iron.
 Growing trade
 The outcome was urbanization and emergence of
Magadha as an empire.
Four dynasties ruled over Magadha empire : the Harayanka
dynasty, the Shishunaga dynasty, the Nanda dynasty and the
Maurya dynasty.

 Haryanka dynasty – rise to political supremacy began with

Bimbisara of Haryanka dynasty. Used matrimonial alliance
with Lichchhavis, Madra and Kosala. His son Ajatasatru, a
contemporary of Buddha, convened the first Buddhist
Council at Rajagriha. Udayin, the successor of Ajatasatru,
laid the foundation of the new capital at Pataliputra.

 Shishunaga dynasty – Kalasoka, a king of shishunaga

dynasty, shifted the capital from Rajagriha to Pataliputra.
He convened the second Buddhist Council at Vaishali.

 Nanda dynasty – they were the first empire builders of

India. The first Nanda ruler was Mahapadma. He was
succeeded by his eight sons. They were, known as
Navanandas (nine Nandas). Dhana Nanda, the last Nanda
ruler, was overthrown by Chandragupta Maurya.

Nalanda was a large Buddhist monastery in ancient

kingdom of Magadha. It became the most renowed seat of
learning during the reign of Guptas. The word Nalanda is a
Sanskrit combination of three words Na + alam + daa
meaning “no stopping of the gift of knowledge”.

 Mauryan Empire – sources are punched marked coins,

inscriptions are edicts of Ashoka, Junagath Inscription,
secular literature – Kautilya’s Arthasastra Visakadatta’s
Mudrarakshasa Mamulanar’s poem in Agananuru.
Religious literature – Jain, Buddhist texts and Puranas.
Foreign Notices – Dipavamsa, Mahavamsa and Indica.
Megasthenese – he was the ambassador of the Greek ruler,
Seleucus, in the court of Chandra Gupta. He stayed in India for
14 years. His book Indica in one of the main sources for the
study of Mauryan Empire.

Mauryan Empire – India’s First Empire :

 Capital was Pataliputra
 322 to 187 BC
 Chandragupta, Bindusara, Ashoka
 The empire of Ashoka were – taxila, indraprastha,
mathura, sarnath, pataliputra, girnar, maski, siddhapura,
dhauli, ujjain, sanchi.
 Pataliputra – was the great capital city in the Maurayan
empire , which had 64 gates to the city with 570 watch
towers.

Chandragupta Maurya :
 Estb magadha empire.
 Bhadrabahu, a Jain monk took Chandragupta Maurya to
the Southern India.
 Chandragupta, performed Sallekhana (Jaina rituals in
which a person fasts unto his death) in Sravanbelgola
(karnataka).
Bindusara :
 Real name was Simhasena
 Son of Chandragupta Maurya
 Greeks called Bindusara as Amitragatha meaning ‘slayer
of enemies’.
 During his rule Mauryan Empire spread over large parts of
India.
 He appointed his son Ashoka as a governor of Ujjain.

Ashoka :
 Known as ‘Devanam Piya’ meaning ‘beloved of the Gods’.
  Fought the Kalinga war in 261 BC and won the war.
 The horror of war was described by the king himself in the
Rock Edict XIII.
 “Ashoka shines and shines brightly like a bright star, even
unto this day”- H.G. Wells
 Chandasoka (Ashoka, the wicked) to Dhammasoka
(Ashoka the righteous)
 The meaning of Dhamma is explained in Ashoka’s – Pillar
Edict II
 It contained the noblest ideas of humanism, forming the
essence of all religious.
 He laid stress on – compassion, charity, purity, saintliness,
self control, truthfulness, obedience and respect for
parents, preceptors and elders.
 Ashoka sent his son Mahinda and Sanghamitta to Sri
Lanka to propagate Buddhism. He also sent missionaries
to west asia, egypt, and eastern europe to spread the
message of Dhamma.
 The Dhamma-mahamattas were a new cadre of officials
created by Ashoka.
 Ashoka held the third buddhist council at his capital
Pataliputra.
 The 33 edicts on the pillars as well as boulders and cave
walls made by the Emperor Ashoka.
 Edicts – is an official order or proclamation issued by a
person in authority or a king.
 The scrip of the inscriptions : at Sanchi – Brahmi,
at Kandahar – Greek and Aramaic , at North Western
part – Kharoshthi.
 The Rock Edicts II and XIII of Ashoka refers to the names of
the three dynasties namely Pandyas, Cholas, the
Keralaputras and the Sathyaputras.

Mauryan Administration :
 Centralized administration
 King was supreme
 Council of ministers known as Mantriparishad. Assembly of
ministers included a Purohit, a Senapati, a Maha mantri
and the Yuvaraja.
 King had excellent spy system.
 Revenue systems : land was the most important of
revenue for the state. Ashokan inscription at Lumbini
mentions bali and bagha as taxes collected from people.
The land tax (bhaga) collected was 1/6 of the total
produce.
 Revenue from forests, mines, salt and irrigation provided
additional revenue
 Judicial system : the king was the head of the Judiciary, he
was the highest court of appeal. King appointed many
Judges subordinate to him. The punishment were harsh.
 Military administration : the king was the supreme
commander of the army. A board of 30 members divided
into six committees with five members on each, monitored
– navy, armoury, infantry and cavalry, the war chariots
and the war elephants.
 Municipal administration : board of 30 members divided
into six committees. Each had 5 members to manage the
administration of the city. Town administration was under
Nagarika. He was assisted by Sthanika and Gopa.
 The Junagarh / Girnar Inscription of Rudradaman records
that the construction of a water reservoir known as
Sudarshana Lake was begun during the time of
Chandragupta and completed during Ashoka’s reign.
 Currency : money was not only used for trade ; even the
government paid its officers in cash. The punch marked
silver coins (panas) which carry the symbols of the
peacock, and the hill and crescent copper coins called
Mashakas formed the imperial currency.

 Trade and Urbanization : flourished particulary with greece

(hellenic) Malaya, Ceylon and Burma. The Arthasastra
refers to the regions producing specialized textiles – Kasi
(Benaras), Vanga (Bengal), Kamrupa (Assam) and Madurai
in Tamil Nadu.
 Main exports Main imports
Spices, pearls, diamonds, Horses, gold, glassware,
cotton textiles, ivory works, linen
conch shells

 Mauryan art can be divided into two – Indigenous Art and

Royal Art
 Indigenous art – statues of Yakshas and Yakshis
 Royal art – palaces and public buildings, monolithic pillars,
rock cut architecture and stupas.
 Yakshas were deities connected with water, fertility, trees,
the forest and wilderness. Yakshis were their female
counterpart.

Monolithic pillar – Sarnath :

 The crowning element in this pillar is Dharma Chakra.
 Beginning of Rock cut Architecture Rock – cut caves of
Barabar and Nagarjuna Hills.
 Lomas Rishi Cave – Barabar
 There are several caves to the north of Bodh Gaya
 Three caves at barabar hills is dedicative inscription of
Ashoka, and three in Nagarjuna hills have inscriptions of
Dasharatha Maurya (grand son of Ashoka).

Reasons for the decline of mauryan empire :

 Ashoka’s successors were very weak
 Continuous revolt
 Invasion by Bactrian Greeks
 Last mauryan ruler Brihadratha was killed by his
commander Pushyamitra Sungha who established Sungha
dynasty.

The modern name for kalinga is odisha.

The Great Wall of China was built in 3rd c BC by emperor Qin Shi
Huang on Northern border to protect his empire.
Temple of Zeus at Olympia – an ancient temple in Greece,
dedicated to the god Zeus, constructed during the 5 th c BC, it is
one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

The national flag was designed by Pingali Venkayya from

Andhra pradesh. Our National Flag’s length and breadth
proportion is 3:2 , the Khadi Development and Village Industries
Commission (KD & VIC) has been given the Right to
manufacture the National flag. The first flag hoisted is now an
exhibit at the St. George’s Fort Museum, Chennai.
The first Indian flag was woven at Gudiyatham in vellore district
of Tamil Nadu.
The national emblem was accepted on 26th January 1950,
‘Satyameva Jayate’ has been inscribed at its bottom. The
national emblem consist of two parts – the upper and the lower
parts. The upper part has four lions facing north, south, east
and west. This is on circular pedestal. The lower part has an
elephant (energy), a horse (speed), a bull (hardwork) and a lion
(majestic). The wheel of righteouness is placed between them.

The national anthem ‘jana gana mana’ transcripted in hindi and

was accepted by the constituent assembly on 24th Jan 1950.
Has to be sung at duration of 52 seconds.
On 27th Dec 1911, this national anthem was sung for the first
time during the congress committee held at Kolkata.
National song ‘Vande Mataram’ – on Jan 24, 1950 then
president Dr. Rajendra prasad – said shall be honoured equally
with Jana Gana Mana. The song was a part of Bankim Chandra’s
most famous novel ‘Anand Math’.

National pledge – written by Pydimarri Venkata Subha Rao in

Telugu.
National micro organism – lactto bacillus delbrueckii. Accepted
as our national micro organism in the year 2012. Curd.
The indian currency released by SherShah Sur in 16th c was
‘Rupiya’. The symbol for rupees has been designed by D.
Udhayakumar from tamil nadu in 2010.

National calender : during the reign of emperor Kaniska he

began a new calendar in 78 AD. The year began from the spring
equinox which falls on March 22nd and on leap year on March
21st. our country follows this calendar. The famous astronomer
Meghnad Saha headed the Calendar Reformation Committee on
22nd March 1957 and then accepted.

15th Aug – Independence Day , Mahakavi Bharathiyar’s poem

“Aaduvome Pallu Paduvome” was sung over the AIR ( All India
Radio ) by T.K. Pattammal, a famous singer of Carnatic Music.
On Independence Day – the PM hoist the national flag at Red
Fort
On Republic Day – the President hoist the national flag at
Kartavya path
On Jan 29, the 3rd day of the Republic day, the
celebrations are brought to an end with the “Beating
Retreat” ceremony. Performed by bands of Indian Army,
Navy and Air Force. The President of India is the chief
guest of this day. Rashtrapati Bhavan will be illuminated
at 6pm as a part of the celebration.

In 2007 , the UN declared October 2nd as the ‘International Day

of Non-Violence’.

The colour of ashoka chakra found in our national flag is navy

blue.

The original copies of the Constitution of India (hindi, English)

are preserved in special Helium filled cases in the Library of the
Parliament of India.

Society and culture in ancient

Tamizhagam : the Sangam Age
 ‘sangam’ – association of poets during pandya kings at
Madurai.
 Sources : inscriptions (Hathigumpha inscription of king
karavela of Kalinga, Pugulur inscription, Ashokan Edicts II
and XIII, and inscriptions found at Mangulam, Alagarmalai
and Kilavalavu. Also copper plates – velvikudi and
chinnamanur copper plates. Coins – issued by cheras,
cholas, pandyas, and the chieftans of sangam age as well
as the Roman coins. Megalithic monuments – burials and
hero stones. Excaveted materials from – adichanallur,
arikamedu, kodumanal, puhar, korkai, alagankulam,
uraiyur. Literary sources – tholkappiyam, ettuthogai (eight
anthologies), pathupattu (ten idylls),
pathinankeezhkanakku, pattinapalai and maduraikanji.
 Epics of silapathikaram and manimegalai. Foreign notices
– the periplus of the erythrean sea, pliny’s natural history,
ptolemy’s geography, megathenese’s indica, rajavali,
mahavamsa and dipavamsa.
 Tholkappiyam – work on Tamil grammer
 Age – 3rd BC to 3rd AD
 Iron age, culture – Megalithic, polity – monarchy
 Dynasties – the cheras, the cholas and the pandyas
 George [Link] – said tamil is as old as Latin, no influence of
other languages.

Cheras :
 Muvenders (three great kings) controlled the territories
during the sangam age.
 The tamil word ‘vender’ used to refer to three dynasties –
the cheras, the cholas and the pandyas.
 Ruled over – central and north Travancore, cochin, south
Malabar and Kongu region of Tamil Nadu.
 Pathitrupathu – provide information about chera kings.
 Chera king Senguttuvan went on a military expedition to
North India.
 He brought stones from the Himalayas for making the
image of idol of Kannagi (epic character of
Silappathikaram).
 His younger brother was Ilango Adigal. He was another
author of silappathikaram.
 Another chera king, chera Irumporai, issued coins in his
name.
 Some chera coins bear their emblem of bow and arrow.
 Prominent chera rulers were – Udayan, Imayavaramban,
Netun, Senguttuvan, Irumporai.
Cholas :
 Kingdom extended upto venkatam (Tirupathi)
 The kaveri delta region remained the central part of the
kingdom. This region was later known as Cholamandalam.
 Karikal or Karikalan was the most famous chola king
 He defeated the combined army of the cheras, pandyas
and eleven velir chieftains in Thanjavur region.
 He converted forests into cultivable lands.
 He built Kallani (meaning a dam made of stone) across
river Kaveri to develop agriculture.
 The Pattinapaalai, a poetic work gives elaborate
information of the trading activity during the rule of
Karikalan.
 Prominent chola rulers were ilanchetsenni, Karaikal,
Kocengannan, KilliValavan , Perunarkilli.

Pandyas :
 Ruled the present day southern tamil nadu.
 Patronized several poets and scholars.
 Neduchezhiyan is hailed as the most popular warrior. He
defeated the combined army of chera, chola and five velir
chieftains at Talayalanganam.
 He is praised as the lord of Korkai.
 Pandya country was well known as pearl hunting.
 Pandya kings issued many coins
 Their coins had elephant on one side and fish on the other
side.
 Mudukudimi Peruvazhuthi issued coins to commemorate
his performance of many Vedic rituals.
 Prominent Pandya rulers were Nediyon, Nanmaran,
Mudukudumi, Neduchezhiyan.
the titles assumed by the Muvenders :
cheras cholas pandyas
Adhavan Senni Maran
Kuttuvan Sembiyan Valuthi
Vanavan Killi Sezhiyan
Irumporai Valavan Tennar

Royal Insignia used : Sceptre, drum, and white umbrella

Muvendar Garland port
capital symbols
Cheras Palmyra Muziri/ Vanchi/ Bow and
flower tondi karur arrow
Cholas Fig lower puhar Uraiyur/ Tiger
puhar
pandyas Margosa korkai madurai Two fish
 flower

Minor chieftains – Ay, Velir and Kizhar

 Apart from three great kings, there were several brave
independent minor chieftains. The name ‘Ay’ is derived
from the ancient Tamil word ‘Ayar’ (meaning shepherd).
Among Ay chiefs of Sangam Age, Anthiran, Titiran and
Nannan were the important names.
 The velirs-vellalars – constituted the ruling and land
owning class in the ancient tamilzhagam.
 The famous velirs were the seven patrons. They were Pari,
Kari, Ori, Pegan, Ay, Adiyaman and Nalli.
 Kizhar was the village chief.

Sangam Polity :
 Kingship was heredity. The king was called KO.
 Vendan, Kon, Mannan, Kotravan and Iraivan were the other
titles by which king was addressed.
 The coronation ceremony was known as Arasukattilerudhal
or musisoottuvila.
 The crown prince was known as Komahan, while the young
ones were known as ilango,ilanchezhiyan and ilanjeral.
 Land tax was the main source of revenue and it was called
‘irai’.
 The king and soldiers wore the heroic anklet (veera
kazhal). On the anklet, the name and achievement of the
wearer were blazoned.
 Spies used within country as well as foreign countries.
 A wound in the back was considered a disgrace and there
are instances of kings fasting unto death because they
had suffered such a wound in the battle.
 The king’s court was called Arasavai.
 The rulers had 5 fold duties : encouraging learning,
performing rituals, presenting gifts, protecting people and
punishing criminals.
  The king was assisted by number of officials. They were
divided into Aimperunuzhu (five member committee) and
Enberaayam (eight member group).
 The king army consisted of four divisions – infantry,
cavalry, elephants and chariot force.
 The army was known as ‘Padai’. The chief of the army was
known as Thanaithalaivan.
 The prominent weapons used were – sword , kedayam
(sheild), tomaram (lance), spears, bows and arrows.
 Tomaram is mentioned as a missile to be thrown at the
enemy from a distance.
 The place where the weapons were kept was known as
Paddaikotti.
 The war drum was worshipped as a deity.
 Law and Justice : the king was the final authority for
appeal.
 In the capital town the court of justice was called Avai. In
the villages, Mandram served as the place for dispensing
justice.
 Local administration : the entire kingdom was divided into
Mandalam. Mandalam was divided into Nadus. Kurram was
subdivision of Nadu. The Ur was a village, classified into
perur (big village), sirur ( a small village) and Mudur ( and
old village).
 Pattinam was the name for a coastal town and Puhar was
the general term for harbour town.
 Important towns were – Puhar, Uraiyur, Korkai, Madurai,
Muziri, Vanji or Karur and Kanchi.
 The land form was divided into five thinais (eco-regions) :
Eco Landscap Occupation People Deity
region e
(thinai)
Kurinji Hilly Hunting/ Kuravar/ Murugan
Region gathering kurathiyar
Mullai Forest herding Aayar/ Maayon
Region aaichiyar
Marutham Riverine Agriculture Uzhavan/ Indiran
track uzhathiyar
(plains)
Neithal Coastal Fishing/ Parathavar/ Varunan
region saltmaking nulathiyar
Palai Parched Heroic Maravar/ Kotravai
land deeds Marathiyar

 Land was classified according to its fertility.

 Marutham was called menpulam (fertile land). It produced
paddy and sugarcane.
 The rest of the landscape, excluding Neithal, was called
vanpulam (hard land), and it produced pulses and dry
grains.
 Status of women : there was no restriction for women in
social life. There were learned and wise women. Marriage
was a matter of self-choice. However, Chastity (karpu) was
considered the highest virtue of women. Sons and
daughters had equal shares in their parent’s property.
 Women poets of Sangam Age were – Avvaiyar, Velli
Veethiyar, Kakkaipadiniyar, Aathi Manthiyar, Pon Mudiyar.
 Religious Beliefs and Social Divisions : the primary deity of
the Tamils was Seyon or Murugan.
 Others gods worshipped during Sangam period were
Sivan, Mayon (Vishnu), Indiran, Varunan and Kotravai.
 The Hero stone (natukkal) worship was in practice.
 Buddhism and Jainism also co-existed.
 Veerakkal / Natukkal – the ancient Tamils had a great
respect for the heroes who died in the battle field. The
hero stones were erected to commemorate heroes who
sacrificed their lives in war.
 Caste did not develop in ancient Tamil. Varuna system cam
to the Dravidian south comparatively late.
 The sangam literature refers to – ‘Kalingam’, which were
thinner than the skin of a snake.
 The people were fond of using aromatic perfumes.
Arts :

 Drum, flute, yazh

 Karikalan was the master of seven notes of music
 Singing bards were called panar and viraliyar.
 Dancing was performed by Kanigaiyar.
 Koothu (folk drama) was the most important cultural
practice of the people of sangam age
 They developed the concept of – Muthamizh (Iyal, Isai,
Naatakam).
 Weaving was the most common part time occupation of
the farmers and a regular full time job for many others.
 Harvest festival ( Pongal), Indira vizha was celebrated in
the capital.
 The chief ports had light houses, which were called
Kalangaraillangu sudar.
 Barter system was prevalent.
 Malabar black Pepper – when the Mummy of Ramses II of
the Egypt was uncovered, archaeologists found black
pepper corns stuffed into his nostrils and in his abdomen.
 There were two kinds of markets in the cities like Puhar
and Madurai. They are Nalangadi and Allangadi
 Major ports – Musiri, Tondi, Korkai
 Main exports – salt, pepper, pearls, ivory, silk, spices,
diamonds, saffron, precious stones, muslin, sandal wood.
 Main Imports – Topaz, tin, glass, horses
 Silk supplied to Roman Empire was considered so
important that the Roman emperor Aurelian declared it to
be worth its weight of gold.
 The Roman writer Pliny writes of Muziris in his ‘Natural
History’ as the ‘first emporium’ (shopping complex) of
India.
 A temple of Augustus was built at Muziris, which had a
Roman colony.
  A Papyrus document records the agreement between two
merchants shippers of Alexandria and Muziris.

Kalabras : jainism and buddhism became prominent

during this period. The period of downfall of tamil.
Introduction of sanskrit and pakrit languages had resulted
in the development of a new script called Vattezhuththu.
The Kalabra period is not a dark age, as it is potrayed.

the Gateway of China – Han dynasty (206 BC)

colosseum – 3rd cBC
pattini cult in tamil nadu was introduced by
senguttuvan, a chera king from the 2nd c A.D.
the occupation of the inhabitants of the region called
Kurinji was the hunting and food gathering.
 The language of sangam literature was tamil.
 Kaikala won the battle of Talayalanganam.
 The earliest literature of the sangam literature was
mostly written in the form of poetry.
 The ascending order of administrative divisions in
ancient Tamilagam was : Ur (lowest unit) < Kurram
(a group of villages) < Nadus (districts) <
valanadus (commissionary) < Mandalams
(provinces).
 The chola king karikala won the Battle of Venni,
which took place in 130 C.E.
 Karikala, the chola king in the 2nd century built the
Kallani river across the river Kaveri.
 During the sangam age, there were singing bards
in the royal couts were known as Viraliyar and
Panar.
Thennar pandyas
 Vanavar cheras
Senni cholas
Adiyaman velir
 Literary sources to reconstruct the history of
ancient Tamilzhagam : Tholkappiyam, Ettukotai,
Pathu Pattu.
 The five thinais mentioned in the sangam literature
were : i) kurinji ii) Mullai iii) Marutham iv) Neithal
v) Palai
 The two archaeological sites related to the sangam
period are ; Adichanallur and Arikamedu.
 The seven patrons (Kadaiyelu Vallalgal) are pari,
kari, ori, pegan, ay, adiyaman and nalli.
 The three tamil poetic works of Kalabras period are
; Navalar charithai, Yaperunkalam and
Periapuranam.
 Karikal converted forests into cultivable lands.

The post – Mauryan India :

 Kingdoms that emerged after the break of Mauryan
empire.
 Invasions of Sakas, Scythians, Parthians, Indo-Greeks or
Bactrian and Kushanas from the north west.
 In the south, the Satavahanas became independent after
the death of Ashoka.
 There were Sungas and Kanvas – in the north before the
emergence of Gupta dynasty.
 Chedis (Kalinga) declared their independence.


 Even after cease of the Magadha empire as premier state,

it continued to be a great centre of Buddhist culture.

 Sources : ayodhya insciption of Dana Deva, Persepolis,

Nakshi Rustam Inscriptions, Moga (taxila copper plate),
Junagadah/Girnar inscription, Nasik Eulogy, Inscription of
Darius I, coins of Satavahanas, coins of Kadphises II,
Roman coins.

 Literary sources : puranas, gargi samhita, Harshacharita of

Banabhatta, Mahabhasya of Patanjali, Brihaskatha of
Gunadhya, Madhyamika Sutra of Nagarjuna,
Buddhacharita of Asvagosha, Malavikagnimitra of
Kalidasa.

 Foreign Notice : accounts of Hiuen Tsang

The Sungas and the Kanvas :

 Last Mauryan emperor Brihadratha was assasinated by his

own general Pushyamitra Sunga.
 Pushyamitra sunga made Pataliputra as his capital
 Kingdom extended from Ujjain and Vidisha
 He successfully repulsed the invasion of Bactria king,
Menander.
 He thwarted an attack from the Kalinga king Kharavela
 He also conquered vidarba.
 He was a staunch follower of Vedic religion.
 He performed two Asvamedha yagnas (horse sacrifices).
  During the Sunga period, stone was replaced by wood in
the railings and the gateways of the Buddhist stupas as
seen in Bharhut and Sanchi.
 Pushyamitra was succeeded by his son Agnimitra. This
Agnimitra is said to be the hero of Kalidasa’s
Malavikagnimitra.
 The drama also refers to the victory of Vasumitra,
Agnimitra’s son, over the Greeks on the bank of sindhu
river.
 The sunga dynasty lasted over hundred years. The last
sunga king was Devabhuti. He was killed by his own
minister Vasudeva Kanva. Vasudeva estb the rule of Kanva
dynasty in Magadha.
 Pushyamitra, and his successors revived the vedic religion
practices and promoted Vaishnavism.
 Patanjali, the second grammarian in Sanskrit, was
patronized by Pushyamitra.
 Though pushyamitra persecuted Buddhists, during his
reign the buddhist monuments at Barhut and Sanchi were
renovated.
 The expanded Great Stupa of Sanchi and the railings
belong to the Sunga period.
 King Kharavela of Kalinga was a contemporary of the
Sungas. We get information about Kharavela from the
Hathigumba inscription.
The Kanvas :
 The kanva dy produced 4 kings and their rule lasted only
for 45 years.
 The Kanva rulers were – Vasudeva, Bhumi Mitra, Narayan,
Susarman.
 The last kanva ruler was susarman who was assasinated
by his powerful chief of Andhra named Simuka, who laid
the foundation of the Satavahana dy.

Satavahanas in the south ;

 The kushanas in the north and the satavahanas in the
south flourished for about 300 years and 450 years.
 Simuka was the founder of satvahana dy, who ruled for 23
years. His successor was krishna.
 Stretching from Rajasthan and Andra pradesh.
 From Gujarat to Kalinga
 Satakarni is said to have performed two horse sacrifices
 Gautami putra satakarni was the greatest ruler of the
family.
 In the Nasik eulogy, published by his mother
GautamiBalasri, Gautamiputra Satakarni is described as
the destroyer of Sakas, Yavanas (greeks) and Pahlavas
(Parthians).
 The bogor insciption suggest that south India played an
important role in the process of early state formation in
Southeast Asia.
 The satavahan king Hala was himself a great scholar of
Sanskrit
 The Kantara school of Sanskrit flourished in the Deccan in
2nd c
 Hala is famous as the author of Sattasai (saptasati), 700
stanzas in Prakrit.
 The satavahan rulers were great builders
 The world famous statues ‘Buddha at Bamyan valley’ in
central Afganistan – Gandhara school of Art – during post
Mauryan period.
 They constructed buddhist stupas in Amaravati.
 The later satavahan kings issued lead and bronze coins
depicting ships with two masts

Indo-Greeks, Indo-Parthians, Sakas and

Kushanas :
 The rulers of Indo-Greeks – Demetrius I and Menander
 Demetrius I was the son of Euthydemus. He was the king
of Macedonia. Demetrius issued bilingual square coins
with greek on the obverse and kharosthi on the reverse
 Menander – one of the best known Indo-greek kings.
Milinda Panha, a buddhist text is a discourse between
Bactrian king Milinda and the Buddhist scholar Nagasena.
He is said to have become a Buddhist and promoted
Buddhism.
  Coinage : introduced a die system and produced proper
shaped coins with inscription, symbols and engraved
figures.
 The gandhara school of art is heavily indebted to Greek
influence.
 They were good cave builders.
 The Mahayana buddhists learnt the art of carving out cave
from them and became skilled in rock-cut architecture.

Sakas :
 Nomads
 Against the tribe of Turki nomads
 They were Scythians, ancient Iranians, and known as
Sakas in Sanskrit.
 Their rule was founded by Maos or Mogain in the
Gandhara region and his capital was ‘Sirkap’.
 His name is mentioned in the Mora inscription.
 His coins bear the image of Buddha and Siva.
 Rudradaman was the most important and famous king of
sakas.
 Junagadh/Girnar Inscription was the first inscription in
chaste Sanskrit.
 The sakas appointed kshatrapas or satraps as provincial
governors to administer their territories.

Kushanas :
 Formed a section of the yueh-chi tribes, who inhabited
north western china in the remote past.
 The kushanas over ran Bactria and Parthia and gradually
estb themselves in northern India
 Kushana rulers were Buddhist
 Kanishka was the greatest ruler of all the kushana
emperors.
 He assumed the sovereignty in 78 AD , saka era
 The kushana capital initially was Kabul. Later, it was
shifted to Peshavar or Purushpura
 They issued Gold coins
 Rulers Contributions
Kadphises I First most famous military
and political leader of
Kushans. He over threw the
Indo-greeks and Indo-
parthians ruler. Extended his
power in Kabul, Gandhara
and upto Indus
Kadphises II Maintained friendly relations
with the emperors of china
and
Rome . encouraged foreign
trade. Some of his coins
contained the inscribed
figures of Lord Shiva and
were inscribed in the
Kharosthi language.

 Kanishka conquered and annexed Kashmir

 He waged a successful war against Magadha
 He defeated the chinese general Pan-chiang
 He was an ardent Buddhist
 Adopted Buddhism under the influence of Asvaghosha,a
monk from Pataliputra.
 Made Buddhism state religion, built stupas in Mathura,
Taxila and other parts of kingdom
 Organised the fourth Buddhist council at Kundalavana
near Srinagar. It was only in this council that Buddhism
was split into Hinayanism and Mahayanism.
 His court had scholars like – Asvagosha, Vasumitra and
Nagarjuna
 Ashvagosha, was the celebrated author of the first
Sanskrit play, Buddhacharita.
 The most favorite subject of the Gandhara artists was the
carving of sculptures of Buddha
 The great Asiatic culture mingled with Indian Buddhist
culture during the Kushana’s time.
 Kushana empire – Augustus Caesar, Julius Caesar

St. Thomas converted Gondophemes into christianity.

  Gondophemes was the founder of Indo-Parthian kingdom.
 Susarma was the last ruler of Kanva dy
 Kushana’s later capital was Peshawar and Purushpura
patanjali Second grammarian
Agnimitra Malavikaagnimitra
King kharvela kalinga
demetrius Indo-greek
Gondophemes Indo-Parthians

The Age of Empires : Guptas and Vardhana

 After the decline of Kushanas and Satvahanas,
Chandragupta carved out a kingdom and estb his dynastic
rule for 200 years.
 Harsha of Vardhana dy ruled North India from 606 to 647
A.D.
 Gold, silver and copper coins issued by Gupta rulers
 Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta.
 The Mehrauli Iron pillar Inscription
 Udayagiri cave inscription, Mathura stone inscription and
sanchi stone inscription of chandragupta II.
 Bhitari pillar inscription of Skandagupta
 The Gadhwa stone inscription
 Madubhan copper plate inscription (punjab)
 Sonpat copper plate
 Nalanda inscription on clay seal
 Literary sources : visakhadatta’s devichandraguptam and
mudrarakshasa and bana’s Harshacharita.
 Dramas of Kalidasa
 Accounts of chinese buddhist monk Fahien who visited
India during the reign of Chandragupta II.
 Harsha’s – Ratnavali, Nagananda, Priyadharshika
 Huien Tsang’s Si-Yu-Ki
Foundation of the Gupta dy :
 Sri Gupta is considered to be the founder of the gupta dy.
He is believed to have reigned over parts of present day
Bengal and Bihar.
 He was the first Gupta ruler to be featured on coins.
  He was succeeded by his son Ghatotkacha.

Chandragupta I
 Married Kumaradevi of powerful Lichchhavi family
 The gold coins attributed to Chandragupta bear the image
of Chandragupta, Kumaridevi and the legend
‘Lichchhavayah’.
 Lichchhavi was an old gana-sanga and its territory lay
between the Ganges and the Nepal Terai.

Samudragupta (335 – 380 AD) – the greatest ruler of the

dy. He was the son of chandragupta I
 The prayog prashasti, composed by Samudragupta’s court
poet Harisena was engraved on Allahabad Pillar.
 The Allahabad inscription is the main source of information
for Samudragupta’s reign.
 Prashasti – commendation or ‘in praise of’. Accounts later
were engraved on pillars. Kings listing their achievements
 He laid campaign all over the country even to the south .
 In the southern Pallava kingdom, the king who was
defeated by Samudragupta was Vishnugopa.
 He conquered 9 kingdoms in northern India. He reduced
12 rulers of the south India to the status of feudatories
and forced them to pay tribute.
 He was a devotee of Vishnu
 He reveived vedic practices – performed horse sacrifice
 He issued gold coins and in one of them, he portrayed
playing harp (veenai).
 He loved poetry and music
 He earned the title ‘Kaviraja’.
 Sri Meghavarman, the Buddhist king of Ceylon, was a
contemporary of Samudragupta.

Chandragupta II (380 – 415 AD) –

 Son of samudragupta
 Also known as vikramaditya
 He conquered western Malwa and Gujarat by defeating
Saka rulers.
  The iron pillar near Qutub Minnar is believed to have been
built by Vikramaditya.
 Fahein , a Buddhist scholar from china , visited India
during his reign.
 He is said to have assembled the greatest writers and
artists (Navaratna –nine jewels). Kalidasa is said to be one
among them.
 Navaratna in the court of Vikramaditya –
Navaratnas
Kalidasa Sanskrit poet
Harisena Sanskrit poet
Amarasimha lexicographer
Dhanvantri physician
Kahapanaka astrologer
Sanku architect
Varahamihira astronomer
Varauchi Grammarian and
sankrit scholar
Vittalbhatta magician

 The surnames of chandragupta II were

vikramaditya, Narendrachandra, Simhachandra,
Narendrasimha, Vikrama Devaraja, Devegupta and
Devasri.
 Chandragupta II was succeeded by his son Kumaragupta I,
who built the famous Nalanda University.
 Kumaragupta’s successor Skandagupta had a face a new
threat- the invasion of the Huns.
 The last of the great Guptas was Baladitya, who assumed
the title of ‘Narasimha Gupta I’. he was attracted towards
Buddhism. He was paying tribute to Mihirakula, who was
hotile towards Buddhism so he stopped paying tribute to
him. The last recognised king of Guptas was Vishnugupta.
Gupta polity : the divine theory of kingship (the concept that
king is the representative of God and not to anyone else).
King assisted by council of ministers consisted of – princes, high
officials and feudatories.
High ranking officials were called dandanayakas and maha
dandanayakas.
The gupta empire was divided into provinces known as deshas
or bhuktis, administered by governors, designated as uparikas.
The provinces were divided into districts such as vishyas and
they were controlled by officers known as vishyapatis.
At the village level, there were functionaries such as gramika
and gramadhyaksha.
Seals and inscriptions mentioned military designations as
baladhikrita and mahabaladhikrita (commander of infantry and
cavalry respectively).
The system of espionage included spies known as dutakas.
[Note : during the reign of chandragupta II, the
Buddhist monk Fahien visited India. According to his
account, the people of Magadha were happy and
prosperous, that justice was mildly administered and
there was no penalty. Gaya was desolated.
Kapilavasthu had become a jungle, but at Pataliputra
people were rich and prosperous.]
Society and economy :
 Land and peasants : Nitisara, authored by Kamandaka,
emphasises the importance of the royal treasury and
mentions various source of revenue.
 Land tax was the main revenue
 The conditionof peasants was pathethic, they were
required to pay various taxes.
 They were reduced to the position of serfs.
 EMPIRE OF THE GUPTAS :
Ancient temples Buddhist stupas Cave temple
towns temple
 indraprasth Mathura Gaya nalanda
a, ujjayini, Prayaga kushinagar
valabhi, Kashi
ayodhaya, Bharut
Gaya,

 Classification of Land during Gupta period :

Land classification
kshetra Cultivable land
khila Waste land
aprahata Jungle or forest land
vasti Habitable land
Gapata saraha Pastoral land

Trade and commerce : there were two types of traders,

namely sresti and sarthavaha. Sresti – sresti traders
usually settled at a standard place. While Sarthavaha
traders were caravan traders who carried their goods to
different places.

Nalanda University : flourished under the patronage of the

Gupta Empire in the 5th and 6th C and later under the
patronage of Harsha and Kannauj. Eight Mahapatashalas
and three large libraries were situated in the campus.
Nalanda was ravaged and destroyed by Mamuluks (Turkish
Muslims) under Bhaktiyar Khilji.

Huns : nomadic tribes, who, under great Attila, were

terrorising Rome and Constantinopole. White huns came
to India through central Asia. After defeating Skandagupta,
they spread across central India. Their chief, Toromana,
crowned himself as king. His son, Mihirakula. Finally
Yasodharman, ruler of Malwas in central India defeated
them.

 Lending money at high interests rates was in practice

during Gupta period.
  Guptas developed roadways connecting different parts of
the country. Pataliputra, Ujjain, Benaras, Mathura were
famous trade centres.
 Ports in western (Kalyan, Mangalore, Malabar) and eastern
(Tamralipti in Bengal).
 Samudragupta introduced the gupta monetary system.
Kushans coins provided inspiration. The Gupta coins were
known as Dinara. Guptas issued many gold coins but
comparatively fewer silver and copper coins.
Metallurgy :
 Evidence was the Mehrauli Iron Pillar installed by king
Chandragupta in Delhi. This pillar lasted through out the
year without rusting.
 The metals used by them were : iron, gold, copper, tin,
lead, brass, bronze, bell-metal, mica, manganese,and red
chalk.
Society :
 Four varna system and patriarchal.
 Inscriptions refer to Kubernaga and Dhrubaswamini as the
queens of Chandragupta II.
 Sati was practised during the gupta rule.
 Slavery not institutionalised in India like west, but there
was existence of various categories of slaves.
 Vedic religion – samudragupta and Kumaragupta I
performed Ashvamedha Yagna. Notice the beginning of
image worship and the emergence of two sects –
Vaishnavism and Saivism. Buddhism also split into sects –
Hinayana and Mahayana.
 The Guptas were the first to construct temples.
 Two remarkable examples of Gupta metal sculpture are i)
a copper image of Buddha about 18 feet high at Nalanda
and ii) Sultanganj Buddha seven-and-a-half feet in
height.
 The most important examples of the Guptas paintings are
found on the Fresco of the Ajanta caves and the Bagh cave
in Gwalior.
  Language spoken – Prakrit. Official was Sanskrit. The
guptas saw the development of sanskrit grammer based
on the grammer of Panini and Patanjali who wrote
Ashtadhyayi and Mahabhashya.
 A buddhist scholar from bengal, Chandrogomia, composed
a book on grammer titled Chandravyakaranam. Kalidasa’s
famous dramas were Sakunthala, Malavikagnimitra and
Vikramaoorvashiyam. Other significant works of Kalidasa
were Meghaduta, Raghuvamsa, Kumarasambava and
Ritusamhara.
Mathematics, Astronomy and Medicine :
 Invention of zero and decimal system – legacy of Guptas.
 Aryabhata, Varahamihira and Brahmagupta
 Aryabhatta, in his book ‘Surya Siddhanta’ – explained the
true causes of solar and lunar eclipse. He was the first
astronomer to declare that the earth revolves around its
own axis.
 Dhanvantri was a famous scholar in the field of medicine.
He was a specialist in Ayurveda. Charaka was a medical
scientist. Susruta was the first Indian to explain the
process of surgery.

Vardhana dynasty :
 Pushyabhuti was the founder, ruled from Thaneswar.
 He was military general under Guptas.
 With the accession of Prabakaravardhana, the Pushyabhuti
family became strong and powerful.
 Rajavardhana, the eldest son of Prabhakarvardhana,
ascended the throne after his father’s death.
 Rajavardhana’s sister Rajayashri’s husband, Raja of
Kannauj, was killed by the Gauda ruler Sasanka of Bengal.
Sasanka was imprisoned by Rajayashri. Rajavardhana, in
the process of retrieving his sister was treacherously killed
by Sasanka.
 This resulted his younger brother Harshvardhana
becoming king.
 The capital of Harsha was Kannauj.
  Harshavardhana was the most popular king of the
vardhana dy. He ruled for 41 years.
 He unified most of the northern India
 But his extension to the south was checked by chalukya
king Pulikesin II.
 Harsha met the chinese traveller Huien tsang at Kajagala
near Rajmahal (Jharkand) for the first time.
 Prime minister occupied the most important position.
 Bhaga, Hiranya and Bali were the three kinds of tax
collected during Harsha’s reign.
 Criminal laws were more severe than of the Guptas.
 Harsha built charitable institutions for the stay of the
travellers, and to care for the sick and the poor.
 Harsha was the worshipper of Shiva at the beginning, but
he embraced Buddhism under the influence of his sister
Rajyashri and the buddhist monk Huien Tsang.
 He belonged to Mahayana school of thought.
 He treated buddhist and vedic scholars alike.
 He was the last buddhist sovereign in india.
 He stopped the killing of animals for food.
 Huein Tsang tells us how Harsha, though a great Buddhist,
went to participate in the great Kumbhamela held at
Prayag.
 He was noted for his religious toleration and used to
worship the images of shiva, buddha and sun
simultaneously.
 He summoned two buddhist assemblies, one at Kannauj
and another at Prayag.
 The assembly at Kannauj was attended by 20 kings. A
large numbers of buddhist, Jain and Vedic scholars
attended the assembly.
 A golden statue of Buddha was consecrated in a
monastery and a small statue of buddha (three feet) was
carried in a procession.
 In the Assembly at Prayag, Harsha distributed his wealth
among the buddhists, Vedic scholars and poor people.
 He offered fabulous gifts to the Buddhist monks on all the
four days of the assembly.
Art and Literature :
  Harsha himself was a poet and dramatist, his works are
Ratnavali, Nagananda and Priyadharshika.
 His royal court was adorned by Banabhatta, Mayura,
Hardatta and Jayasena.
 The Nalanda University is said to have had 10,000
students and monks in residence, when Hiuen Tsang
visited the university.

Chandragupta I was the contemporary of Constantine the

Great, the roman emperor.
Harsha’s time coincided with a early days of Tang dy of [Link]

SOUTH INDIA KINGDOMS :

 Southern states that emerged after the fall of the Mauryan
kingdom.
 Ruling dynasties – Pallavas, Chalukyas and Rashtrakutas.
 By 7th c harsha reign in the north – the pallava kings of
kanchipuram.
 Much of central and eastern Deccan were under the
chalukyas of Badami, who were pushed away by the
Rashtrakutas.

The pallavas :
 Kanchipuram as centre
 Kanchipuram was well known to romans and chinese
merchants.
 The central part of the kingdom – Thondaimandalam
(large political region)
 Inscriptions = mandagapattu cave, aihole inscription of
Pulakesin II. Copper plates – kasakudi plates. Literature –
mattavilasa prahasana, avanthi sundarakantha, kalingathu
parani, periya puranam, nandi kalambagam. Foreign
notice – accounts of Huien Tsang.
 Early pallava rulers were feudatories of satavahanas.
 Simha vishnu, son of Simha varman II (around 550 AD),
created strong Pallava kingdom after destroying the
Kalabras.
 His able son was Mahendravarman I.
 He was succeded by his son Narasimhavarman I.
 Other prominent rulers were Narasimhavarman II or
Rajasimha and Nandivarman II.
 The last pallava ruller was Aparajita.
 Mahendravarman contributed to the greatness of the
pallava kingdom. He was a follower of Jainism in the early
part. He embraced Saivism by the saivite saint
Appar(Tirunavukkarasar). He was great patron of art and
architecture. He is known for introducing a new style to
Dravidian architecture, referred to as ‘Mahendra style’.
 He also wrote plays – mattavilasaPrahasana, the delight of
the drunkards in sanskrit, which denigrates Buddhism.
 He was involved in constant battles with chalukya
kingdom of Badami under Pulakesin II.
 Pulakesin seem to have defeated Mahendravarman and
taken over a large part of his territory (vengi) in the north.
 His son Narasimhavarman I avenged the defeat by
capturing vatapi, the capital of chalukyas. He set vatapi on
fire, killing Pulakesin in the process.
 Narasimhavarman I’s army general was Paranjothi.
Popularly known as Siruthondar (one of the 63
Nayanmars), he led the Pallava army during the invasion
of Vatapi. After the victory he had a change of heart and
devoted himself to Lord Shiva.
 Narasimhavarman II – also known as Rajasimha, was a
great military strategist. He exchanged ambassadors with
China. His reign was comparatively free from any political
disturbance. Therefore he could concentrate on temple
building activities. During his reign the famous
Kailasanatha temple at Kanchipuram was built.
Name of the king Titles adopted
Simhavishnu Avanisimha
Mahendravarman I Sankirnajati, Mattavilasa,
Gunabhara, Chitrakarapuli,
Vichitra Chitta
Narasimhavarman I Mamallan, Vatapi Kondan
 Pallava period is known for architectural splendour. The
Shore Temple and various temples carved from granite
monoliths and the Varaha cave at Mamallapuram, are
examples of Pallava architecture. In 1984, Mamallapuram
was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
 Pallava architecture can be classified ad – I) rock cut
temples – Mahendravarman style ii) Monolithic Rathas
and Sculptural Mandapas – Mamallan style. Iii) structural
temples – Rajasimhan style and Nandivarman style.
 Mahendra style – best examples are cave temples at
Mandagapattu, Mahendravadi, Mamandur, Dalavanur,
Tiruchirapalli, Vallam, Tirukazhukkundram and
Siyamangalam.
 Mamalla style – the five rathas (chariots), popularly called
Panchapandavar rathas. Each ratha has been carved out
of a single rock. So they are called monolithic. The popular
mandapams built are Mahishasuramardhini mandapam,
Thirumoorthi mandapam and Varaha mandapam. The
most important among the Mamalla style of architecture is
the open art gallery. Several miniature sculptures sculpted
on the wall of a huge rock. The Great Penance panel is
considered to be the world’s largest open air bas relief.
 Rajasimha style : narasimhavarman II also known as
rajasimha, constructed structural temples using stone
blocks. The best example of the structural temple is
Kailasanatha temple at Kanchipuram. This temple was
built using sandstones. Kailasanatha temple is called
Rajasimheswaram.
 Nandivarman style : the last stage of the pallava
architecture is also represented by structural temples built
by the later pallavas. The best example is Vaikunda
Perumal temple at Kanchipuram.
 Society and culture : the pallavas supported Jainism,
Buddhism and Vedic faith. Great patrons of music, painting
and literature. Some of the pallava kings patronized
Azhwars and Nayanmars. These exponents of Bhakti cult
preached a new form of vaishnavism and saivism. Among
the saivites were Appar and Manikkavasakar. Among the
 vaishnavites were Nammazhvar and Andal. Womens were
encouraged to participate in the religious congregations.
 Education and Literature : Gatika (monastery or centre of
learning) at Kanchi was popular. Vatsyaya who wrote
Nyaya Bhashya was a teacher at Kanchi (Gatika).
 The treatise on Dakshin Chitram (paintings of South India)
was compiled during the reign of Mahendravarman I.
 The great sanskrit scholar, Dandi, adorned in the court of
Narasimhavarman I. Dandi composed Dashakumara
Charita.
 Bharavi, the great Sanskrit scholar, lived in the time of
Simhavishnu. Bharavi wrote Kiratarjuniya, an epic in
verses.
 Thevaram composed by Nayanmars and
Nalayradivyaprabantham composed by Azhwars.
Perundevanar, who was patronized by Nandivaraman II,
translated the Mahabharata into tamil as Bharathavenba.
 Pallava art : the music inscriptions in Kudumianmalai and
Thirumayam temples show Pallavas’ interest in music. The
famous musician Rudracharya lived during
Mahendravarman I. the sculptures of this period depict
many images in dancing postures.

The chalukyas :
 Pulakesin I, a petty chieftain of Pattadakal in the Bijapur
district, took and fortified the hill fort of Vatapi around 543
AD.
 He soon conquered the territory between the Krishna and
Tungabhadra rivers and the western ghats.
 His son Kirtivarman I brought the konkan coast under
chalukya control.
 Pulakesin II emerged as the most powerful ruler of the
dynasty. The persian king Khusru II sent an embassy to the
court of Pulakesin II. He succeded in seizing parts of Gujrat
and Malwa.
 He defied the north Indian ruler Harsha and according to
and agreed understanding Narmada river was fixed as the
boundary between the two.
  624 , Pulakesin II conquered the kingdom of Vengi and
gave it to his brother Vishnuvardhana, the first Eastern
chalukya ruler.
 Vikramaditya I (655 to 680) and Vikramaditya II, the
successor captured Kanchipuram but spared the city.
 Kirtivarman II, the successor of vikramaditya II was
defeated by Dantidurga, the founder of the Rashtrakuta
dy.

Western chalukyas of Kalyani :

 They were the descendents of Badami chalukyas ruled
from kalyani.
 In 973, Tailapa II, a ferdatory of the Rashtrakuta ruling
from Bijapur region defeated Parmara of Malwa. Tailapa
occupied Kalyani and his dy quickly grew into an empire
under Somesvara I.
 Somesvara I moved the capital from Manyakheta to
Kalyani.
 During the rule of Vikramaditya VI in the late 11th c, vast
areas between the Narmada River in the north and Kaveri
river in the south came under the control of Chalukya
control.
Art and architecture : a new style of art known as ‘vesara’ was
developed. Its is a combination of south inida and north iNdia.
 They preferred the art of stone building without mortar.
They used soft sandstone in construction.
 They built a number of cave temples and structural
temples dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma.
 The structural temples of Chalukyas exists at Aihole,
Badami and Pattadakal.
 The important stone temples are – the Vishnu temples at
Badami and Aihole and the Virupaksha or Siva temple at
Pattadakal in Bijapur dist in present day karnataka.
 The vishnu temple at Badami was built by Mangalesa of
the chalukya dy and contains the Aihole inscription of
Vikramaditya II.
 Their cave temples are found at Ajanta, Ellora and Nasik.
  The cave temples at Badami contain fine sculptures of
Vishnu reclining on Sesha Nag; Varaha, the Boar;
Narasimha or the lion-faced man; and Vamana, the dwarf.
The Kasi Vishweshvara temple at Lakkundi, the
Mallikarjuan temple at kuruvatti, the Kalleshwara temple
at Bagali and the Mahadeva temple at Itagi represent well
known example of the architecture of western chalukyas
of kalyani.
 Chalukyas adopted the vakataka style in paintings. The
reception given to the persian embassy by Pulakesin II is
depicted in a painting at Ajanta.
 Pattadakal (UNESCO) is a small village in Bagalkot dist of
Karnataka. It has 10 temples. Out of them, four were built
in northern style (nagara), while the rest six are in the
southern (Dravida) style. Virupaksha Temple and
Sangameshwara temple are in Dravida style and
Papanatha temple is in Nagara style. The virupaksha
temple is built on the model of Kanchi Kailasanatha
temple. Sculptors brough from kanchi were employed in
its construction.
The Rashtrakutas :
 Ruled not only Deccan but also parts of south and the
Ganges plain from 8th to 10th c AD. They were of Kannada
origin and their mother tongue was kannada.
 Dantidurga was the founder of Rashtrakuta dynasty.
 He was an official of high rank under the chalukyas of
Badami.
 Krishna I succeeded Dantidurga.
 He consolidated and extended the Rashtrakuta power
 He was a great patron of art and architecture.
 The kailasanathan temple at Ellora was built by him.
 The greatest king of the Rashtrakuta dy was
Amogavarsha. He built a new capital at Manyakheta and
Broach became the port.
 Amogavarsha (814 -878) – was embrached to Jainism by
Jinasena, a Jain monk.
  Krishna II succeeded his father Amogavarsha, suffered a
defeat in the battle of Vallala (modern Tiruvallam, Vellore
Dist) at the hands of cholas under Parantaka in 916.
 Krishna III was the last able ruler of the Rashtrakutas
dynasty. He defeated the cholas in the battle of Takkolam
and captured Thanjavur.
 Krishna III built krishneshwara temple at Rameshwaram.
 Govinda III was the last ruler to hold the empire. After his
death rashtrakutas power declined.
Literature, Art and Architecture :
 Kannada language became the more prominent.
 Kavirajamarga composed by Amogvarsha was the first
poetic work in kanada language.
 The three gems of the Kannada literature during the
period were Pampa, Sri Ponna and Ranna.
 Adikavi Pampa was famous for his creative works
Adipurana and Vikramarjunavijaya.
 The life of Rishabadeva, the first Jain Tirthankara is
depicted in Adipurana.
 In Vikramarjunavijaya Pampa’s patron, Chalukya Arikesari
is identified with arjun, epic hero of Mahabharatha.
 The rashtrakutas made significant contribution to Indian
Art. The art and architecture of the Rashtrakutas can be
found at Ellora and Elephanta.
 Kailasanatha Temple – Ellora (near Aurangabad,
Maharashtra) :
One of the 30 temples carved out of the hill at Ellora. It
was built during the reign of Krishna I. the temple covers
an area of over 60,000 sq. feet and vimanam rises to a
height of 90 feet. This temple has resemblance to the
shore temple at Mamallapuram. The kailashanatha temple
portrays Dravidian features.
 Elephanta Island : originally known as Sripuri and called
Gharapuri by the local people. The portuguese named it
elephanta, after seeing an image of an elephant. The
Trimurthi (three-faced) siva icon is illustrative of the
sculptural beauty portrayed in the cave temple of
 Elephanta. There are impressive image of dwarapalakas at
the entrance of the temple.

Pattadakal :
 The Jain Narayana temple and the Kasi Vishwesvara
temple were built by Rashtrakutas.
Leshan Giant Buddha (71m tall) – built during Tang dyansty
in china.
Baghdad – the greatest city of Islamic Empire of 8 th to 10th c.

Ancient Indian History (R.S.

Sharma)
Chapter 1 – The Importance of Ancient Indian History
 Aryan elements – vedic and sanskritic culture of the north
and the pre- Aryan with Dravidian and Tamil culture in the
south.
 Sangam literature (300 BC – 600 AD)
 Pre aryan tribals – eastern region – munda or kolarian
languages
 The name Bharatvarsha or land of Bharata was given to
the whole country after the name of an ancient tribe
called the Bharatas, and the people were called
Bharatasantati.
 Supremacy : Ashoka (3rd c), Samudragupta (4th C),
Chalukya king Pulakeshin (7th C) – he defeated
Harshavardana.
 The word Hind is derived from the Sanskrit word Sindhu,
later came to be known as India.
 It came to be called ‘Hind’ in Persian and Arabic
languages.
 In the 3rd C BC, Prakrit served as the ‘lingua franca of the
country’.
 Ashoka’s inscriptions were written in the Prakrit language
and Brahmi script.
 Chakravartin – spread to all the four directions.
Chapter 2 – Modern Historians of Ancient India
 Bengal and Bihar came under the rule of EIC in 1765, they
found it difficult to administer. Hence in 1776, Manusmriti
was translated into english as ‘A Code of Gentoo Laws’.
 Ancient laws and customs culminated until eighteenth
century with the estb of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in
1784 in Calcuta. It was set up by civil servent of EIC, Sir
William Jones (1786-94), who translated the drama known
as the ‘Abhijnana Shakuntalam’ into English in 1789.
 The Bhagvadgita, rendered or represented into English by
Wilkins in 1785.
 The Bombay Asiatic Society was set up in 1804, the Asiatic
society of Great Britain was set up in London in 1823.
 William jones – emphasized orginally European language
was very similar to sanskrit and iranian language.
 The greatest push to Indological studies was given by the
German born scholar F. Max Muller (1823 – 1902).
 Ancient scriptures translated on a massive scale under the
editorship of Max Muller.
 ‘Early history of India’ by – Vincent Arthur Smith, who
prepared the first systematic history of ancient India in
1904.
 Smith’s approach to history was pro-imperialist.
“Autocracy is substantially the only form of govt with
which the historian of India is concerned”. 1/3 rd
portion covers Alexander invasion.
Nationalist Approach and contribution :
 Rajendra Lal Mitra (1822-91) – Published some vedic texts
and wrote a book entitled Indo-Aryans.
 In Maharashtra – Ramakrishna gopal and Vishwanath
Kashinath –to recostruct the social and political history of
the country.
 R.G. bhandarkar – recontruct the political history of the
Deccan of the Satavahanas and the history of Vaishnavism
and other sects.
Also great social reformer , advocated widow marriages
and evils of caste system and child marriage.
 V.K. Rajwade – went village to village in Maharastra in
search of sanskrit manuscripts and source of Maratha
history.
 Pandurang Vaman Kane(1880) – a great sanskritist social
reformer, continued the earlier tradition of scholarship. His
monumental work entitled the ‘History of the
Dharmasastra, published in 5 volumes’
 Devadatta Ramakrishna (1875)– an epigraphist, who
published books on Ashoka and on ancient political
institutions.
 Hemchandra Raychaudhuri (1892) – reconstructed the
history of ancient India from the time of the Bharata
(Mahabharata) war.
He critisized V.A. Smith.
His writing show a streak of militant brahmanism when he
critisizes Ashoka’s policy of peace.
 R.C. Majumdar (1888) – a stronger element of hindu
rivivalism appears in his writtings. He is the writer of
‘History and culture of the Indian People’.
 Most writers on early Indian History did not give much
importance to south iNdia .
 K.A. Nilakanta (1892) – from South India , even did not
give importance to south iNdia. His book ‘A History of
Ancient India’.
His style is terse but his writing is lucid. He emphasized
the cultural supremacy of the brahmanas. Under his
leadership several monographs were produced on the
dynastic history of south India.
 K.p. Jayaswal and A.S. Altekar – played role of the
indigenous ruling dynasties in liberating the country from
the rule of the shakas and kushans.
 K.p. Jayaswal – wrote articles to show that republics
existed in ancient times. ‘Hindu Polity in 1924’.

Shift to Non-Political History :

 A.L. Bashmam (1914) – past should be read out of
curiosity and pleasure. ‘Wonder that was India (1951).
 D.D Kosambi’s (1907) – “An introduction to the Study of
Indian History (1957)”. Later popularized as ‘The
Civilisation of Ancient India in Historical Outline (1965)’.
Derived from writing of Karl Marx.
His was the first survey book to show the stages of social
and economic development in terms of tribal and class
processes.

Chapter 3 –Types of Sources and Historical

Construction
 The decay of C14 takes place at a uniform rate. It is known
that the half-life of c14 is 5568 years.
 The history of climate and vegetation is known through an
examination of plant residues and through pollen analysis.
 Agriculture was practised in Rajasthan and Kashmir
around 7000- 6000 BC.
 Coins moulds made of burnt clay have been discovered in
large numbers. Most of them belong to the Kushan period.
The use of such moulds in the post-gupta period almost
disappeared.
 We get the largest number of coins in the post-mauryan
times. Made of lead, copper, bronze, silver and gold.
 The Guptas issued the largest number of gold coins.
 The study of inscription is called epigraphy, and the study
of the old writing used in inscriptions and other old records
is called palaeography.
 The earliest inscriptions were recorded on stone. But in
the early centuries of the christian era, copper plates
began to be used for this purpose.
 Office of chief epigraphist – Mysore.
 The earliest inscriptions were written in the Prakrit
language in the 3rd C B.C. Sanskrit was adopted as an
epigraphic medium in the 2nd c A.D.
 Most inscriptions bearing on the history of Maurya, post-
Maurya and Gupta times have been published in a series
of collection called ‘Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum’.
 Brahmi script – from left to right but Kharoshthi script –
from right to left.
 In the 14th c two Ashokan pillar inscriptions were found by
Firoz Shah Tughlaq, one in Meerut and another at a place
called Topra in Haryana.
 Ashokan inscription belongs to – royal orders and decisions
regarding social, religious and administrative matters to
officials and people in general.
 Other types of inscription eulogize the attributes and
achievements of kings and conquerors, and never speak
of their defeats or weaknesses to this category belongs
the Allahabad inscription of Samudragupta.
Literally sources :
 Manuscript in india is written in birch bark and palm
leaves. In central Asia it were written in sheep leather and
wooden tablets.
 Rig veda – prayers
Later vedic texts – not only prayers but also rituals, magic
and mythological stories.
Upnishads – philosophical speculations
 Supplements of the vedas comprised – phonetics
(shiksha), ritual (kalpa), grammer (vyakarana), etymology
(nirukta), metrics (chanda) and astronomy (jyotisha).
 They were written in the form of precepts in prose. A
precept was called sutra because of its brevity.
 The most famous example of this writing is the grammer
of Panini around 400 BC.
 The two great epics and the major Puranas seem to have
been finally compiled by 400 AD. Of the epics the
Mahabharata attributed to Vyasa is older in age, it reflects
the affairs from the 10 c BC to 4th c AD. Originally it
consisted of 8800 verses was called Jaya or the collection
dealing with victory. These were raised to 24000 and came
to be known as Bharata. The final compilation brought the
verses to 100,000 which came to be known as the
Mahabharata or the Satasahasri Samhita.
 Similarly, the Ramayana of Valmiki originally consisted of
6000 verses which were raised to 12,000 verses, and
finally to 24,000. This epic appears to be more unified
than the Mahabharata. The Ramayana composition started
 in the 5th c BC. It passed through 5 stages and the last
stage came as many as 12th c AD.
 In post vedic times, big public sacrifices meant for princes
and men of substance belonging to the three higher
varnas are laid down in the Srautasutras (which provide
for royal coronation and ceremonies). Domestic rituals
connected to birth, naming, sacred thread
investiture,marriage, funerals etc., are laid down in the
Grihyasutras.
 Both Grihyasutras and Srautasutras belong to 600 – 300
BC.
 Sulvasutras – prescribes various kinds of measurements
for the construction of sacrificial altars. They mark the
beginning of geometry and mathematics.
 The religious books of Jainas and Buddhists refers to
historical persons and incidents. The earliest Buddhist
texts were written in the Pali language,which was spoken
in Magadha or south Bihar.
 They were finally compiled in the 2nd c BC in Sri Lanka.
 Before he was finally born as Gautama, the Buddha
passed through many more than 550 births.
 Jataka tells stories ranging from 5th to 2nd C BC.
 The Jaina texts were written in Prakrit and were finally
compiled in the 6th c AD, in Valabhi in Gujurat. The jaina
texts repeatedly refers to trade and traders.
 Secular literature , Dharmasutras + Smritis =
Dharamshastras.
 The Dharmasutras were compiled in the 500 -200 BC.
Smritis were codified in the first six centuries of the
Christian era.
 An important law book is the Arthashastra of Kautilya. The
text is divided into fifteen books, of which book II and III
may be regarded as of an earlier.
The earliest portion of the book reflect the state of society
and economy in the age of the Mauryas.
 The works of Kalidasa comprise Kavyas and dramas, the
most famous of which is the Abhijnanashakuntalam.
 The Sangam literature comprises about 30,000 lines of
poetry, which are arranged in eight anthologies called
 Ettuttokai. The poems are collected in groups of hundreds
such as Purananuru (the four hundred of the exterior) and
others. There are two main groups Patinenkil Kannakku
(the eighteen lower collection) and Pattuppattu ( the ten
songs). The former is assumed to be older than the latter.
 The sangam texts are different from the vedic texts
particulary the Rig Vedic texts. They donot constitute
religious literature. They are secular in nature. They are
not primitive songs. It is difficult to use the texts for
historical purpose. Perhaps the proper names, titles,
dynasties, territories , wars etc., mentioned in the poems
are partly real.
Foreign account :
 Alexander invasion is not mentioned in any of the Indian
sources. It is entirely on the Greek sources.
 The Greek writers mentioned Sandrokottas, a
contemporary of Alexander the Great who invaded India in
326 BC. Prince Sandrokottas is identified with
Chandragupta Maurya.
 The Indica of Megasthenes, who came to the court of
Chandragupta Maurya.
 The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea and Ptolemy’s
Geography, both written in greek, provide valuable data
for the study of ancient geography and commerce.
 The Periplus of Erythrean sea is written by anonymous
writer describes the Roman trade in the Red sea, Persian
Gulf and the Indian ocean.
 Pliny’s Naturalis Historia, belongs ot the first c AD. Was
written in latin and tells us about the trade between India
and Italy.
 Chinese travellers : Fa-Hsien (5th c) – during Gupta ruler
chandragupta II. Huein Tsang (7th c) – during
Harshavardhan.
Historical sense :
 Puranas provide dynastic history up to the beginning of
the Gupta rule.
 The puranas speak of four ages – krita, treta, dvapara and
kali.
 The Vikram Samvat began in 57 BC, the Shakta Samvat in
78 AD, and the Gupta era in 319 AD.
 Ashoka ruled for 37 years.
 In the first c BC, Kharavela of Kalinga records a good many
events of his life in the Hathigumpha inscription.
 Harshacharita by Banabhatta in the 7th c AD. It is a semi
biographical work written in ornate style. Full of
exaggerations
 Sandhyakara Nandi’s – Ramacharita (12th c) narrates the
story of the conflict between the Kaivarta peasants and
the pala prince Ramapala.
 Bilhana’s – Vikramanakadevacharita, reaccounts the
achievements of his patron, Vikramaditya VI (1076), the
chalukya king Kalyan.
 Historical works writtten in south India , Mushika Vamsha
written by Atula (11th c) – gives an account of the dynasty
of the Mushikas, which ruled in northern Kerala.
 Rajatarangini or ‘The Stream of King’s written by Kalhana
in the 12th c. It is a string of biographies of the kings of
Kashmir.
Early Pali texts – Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW).
The use of paper was introduced to India in the 13 th c by
Arab merchants.

CHAPTER 4 – THE GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING

 Total area of India subcontinent is 4,202,500 sq.,km.
 The sub continent is divided into 5 countries – India,
Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan.
 The present population of India is 1.44 billion.
 There are 28 states and 8 UTs in India.
 Tamil Nadu gets its major rainfall from the north east
monsoon from mid oct to mid dec.
 North west – Sulaiman mountain ranges – in south of the
Himalayas – could be carried through the khyber, bolan
and gomal passes.
 The Sulaiman ranges are joined southward in Baluchistan
by the kirthar ranges, which could be passed throught the
Bolan pass.
 Through this pass two way traffic between India and
central Asia has been going on from pre-historic times.
 Hindukush – the westward extension of the Himalayan
system, did not form any barrier between the Indus
system and the Oxus system.
 The pamir plateau is a transmitting centre of Buddhism.
 From west to east – annual rainfall gradually increasing
from 25 to 250 cm. The Indus vegetation based on (25 to
37 cm ) of rainfall. The western gangetic vegetation based
on (37 to 60 cm) of rainfall. Middle gangetic vegetation
(60 to 125 cm ) of rainfall. Lower gangetic vegetation and
Brahmaputra vegetation ( 125 to 250 cm ) rainfall.
 Kalinga (orissa) was situated between the Mahanadi on
the north and the Godavari in the south.
 Andhra Pradesh – between Godavari in the north and
krishna river on the south.
 A major part of Tamil Nadu was situated between the
Krishna on the north and the Kaveri on the south.
 The Kaveri valley extended in the south roughly to the
vaigai river, and to the north to the south pennar river.
 The territorial waters of India extend into the sea to a
distance of 12 nautical miles from the base line.
 The eastern ghats , are not very high and have several
openings. Thus communication was easy between [Link]
and andhra pradesh and tamil nadu in ancient times.
 The port cities of Arikamedu (puducherry), Kaveripattinam
and Mahabalipuram were situated on the coromandal
coast.
 In the western part, Maharashtra between the Tapi (or
Daimaganga) on the north and the Bhima on the south.
 Karnataka – the Bhima and upper regions of the krishna on
the north and the Tungabhadra on the south.
 Tungabhadra – provided a natural frontier between the
warring powers lying to its north and south.
 Communication of The adjoining areas of Maharashtra,
Karnataka and Kerela with the coast – difficult to pass.
 In between the Indus and the Gangetic systems in the
north and the Vindhya mountains = lies Aravalli
mountains.
 The south eastern portion of Rajasthan has been a
comparatively fertile area since ancient times, and
because of the existence of the Khetri copper mines in this
region human settlements arose in this area in the
Chalcolithic period.
 Gujarat includes the less rainy region of Kathiawar
peninsula.
 South of the Ganga-Yamuna doab, bounded by chambal
river on the west, son river on the east, vindhya mountain
and the Narmada river on the south .
 Madhya pradesh is divided into two parts – eastern and
western.
Eastern part – covered by the vindhyas, historically
important in Gupta times in 4th and 5th c AD.
Western part – includes Malwa served as an important
hinterland for the Gujurat ports. The shakas and the
satvahanas fought for the possession of this key are in the
1st and 2nd c AD.
 The vindhya mountain range cut the country from west to
east and divide the country into north and south.
 In early times, there were not much in use of burnt bricks
while building house, timber houses and palisades were
constructed. They have been found in Pataliputra, the first
important capital of India.
 The earliest human settlements are naturally found in
India in the hilly areas and in those river valleys which are
situated between the hills.
 The richest copper mines are found in the Chotanagpur
plateau, particularly in the district of Singhbhum. The
copper belt is about 130 km long.
 The earliest people who used copper implements in Bihar
exploited the copper mines of Singbhum and Hazaribagh.
 Rich copper diposits are found in khetri mines in
Rajasthan.
 The country today produces practically no tin ; this was
scarce even in ancient times.
 Bronze = tin + copper
 Major portion of India did not have proper Bronze age.
 In the A.D.s, Burma and Malay peninsula had possessed
plenty of tin.
 Tin for the bihar bronzes of Pala times was possibly
obtained from Gaya, Hazaribagh and Ranchi.
 India has been rich in iron ores, which are found
particularly in south Bihar, eastern Madhya Pradesh and
Karnataka.
 Formation of first empire in Magadha – availability of iron
in the south of the region. The large scale of iron made
Avanti, with its capital at Ujjain, in the 6th and 5th cBC.
 Andhara pradesh possess resources in lead, which
explains the large numbers of lead coins in the kingdom of
the Satvahanas.
 The earliest coins called the punch marked coins, were
made largely of silver, which a metal that is rarely found in
the country. However, silver mines existed int the early
times in the Kharagpur hills in the district of Monghyr.
 Use of white metal in the earliest punch marked coins
found in Bihar.
 Large quantities of gold dust, which were carried by river
streams from the Himalayas, were collected from the
deposits of river channels in the plains. These deposits are
called placers.
 A very early trace of gold has been found at a New Stone
Age site of around 1800 BC. Kolar is considered to be the
earliest capital of the Ganges of south Karnataka.
 Much of the gold used in early times was obtained from
Central Asia and the Roman empire.
 Precious stones formed an important item of trade in
articles which were eagerly sought for by the romans in
the early centuries.
Copper deposits in India Khetri, mayurbhanj,
singbhum, guntur,
Hazaribagh, Palamu, betul,
Balaghat, santal pargana,
Malanjkhand copper belt
(M.P)
Iron-ore deposits Ratnagiri, goa, bellary,
kurnool, chitaldurg, nellore,
 narnaul, chanda, bailadhila,
raughat, adilabad, singbhum
Gold deposits Raichur, kolar

Chapter -5 : the stone age ; the early man

Palaeolithic Period :
 Hunters and gatherers
 Earth is about 4000 million years old
 The evolution of its crust shows four stages. The fourth
stage is the Quaternary, which is divided into Pleistocene
(most recent), Holocene (recent), and former lasted
between 2000000 to 10,000 yrs ago.
 Man is said to have appeared in the early Pleistocene
period, where true ox, true elephant and true horse also
originated.
 Palaeolithic tools, which could be as old as 100,000 BC,
have been found in the chotanagpur plateau.
 Such tools were also found in kurnool dist of Andhra
Pradesh. Animal remains found in Belan Valley in Mirzapur
dist in UP shows that goats, sheep and cattle were
exploited.
 The old stone age or the palaeolithic culture of India
developed in the Pleistocene period of the Ice Age.
 In the pleistocene period ice sheets covered a great
portion of the earth’s surface.
 Palaeolithic age in India is divided into three phases.
 The first phase is early or lower palaeolithic, the second as
middle palaeolithic and the third phase as upper
palaeolithic.
 First phase = approx 5,00,000 BC to 50,000 BC.
 Second phase = 50,000 BC to 40,000 BC
 Third phase = 40,000 BC to 10,000 BC
 Tools belonging to middle and upper is found in Deccan
Plateau.
 The LP or early stone age covers the greater part of the
Ice Age. Characteristics features is the use of hand axes,
cleavers and choppers. The early stone age Sites are
found in valley of river Soan or Sohan in Punjab, now in
 Pakistan. Also in Kashmir and Thar Desert. The LP tools
have also been found in the Belan valley in Mirazapur dist
of UP. In this period climate became less humid.
 The MP are mainly based on flakes. The principal tools are
blades, points, borers and scrapers made of flakes. Here
we notice a crude pebble industry in strata comtamporary
with the third Himalayan glaciation. Artefacts found in
several areas on the Narmada river and south of the
Tungabhadra river.
 The UP was less humid, it coincided with the last phase of
the Ice Age when climate became comparatively warm.
Homo sapiens. Bhimbetka caves. Comparatively large
flakes, blades, burins and scrapers .
 *Palaeolithic sites are apsent in the alluvial plains of the
Indus and the ganges. They are found in hill slopes and
river valleys
The Mesolithic Age :
 Hunters and Herders
 Upper palaeolithic age came to an end with the end of the
ice age around 9000 BC, and the climate became warm
and dry.
 Mesolithic tools found from Birbhanpur (west Bengal) and
Tirunalveli (Tamil Nadu).
 In the 9000 BC, began an intermediate stage in stone age
culture, which is called Mesolithic Age.
 It is a transitional phase between the Palaeolithic and
Neolithic Age.
 Mesolithic people lived on hunting, fishing and food
gathering.
 At a later age they also domesticated animals.
 First three occupation continued the palaeolithic practice
while the last (i.e., domestication) is related with the
neolithic culture.
 Microlith tools
 Sites found – Rajasthan, southern of UP, central and
eastern India and also south of the river Krishna.
 Of them Bagor of Rajasthan is very well excavated.
 Subsisted on hunting and pastoralism.
 Adamgarh in MP and Bagor in Rajasthan provide the
earliest evidence for the domestication of animals
 The cultivation of plants around 7000-6000 BC is
suggested in Rajasthan from a study of the deposits of the
former Salt Lake, Sambhar.
 Mesolithic culture roughly between (9000 – 4000) BC.
Prehistoric Art :
 People from palaeolithic and mesolithic ages practised
painting.
 Bhimbetka – situated in the vindhya range, south of
Bhopal
 Many birds, animals and human beings were painted ,
hunted for the sake of subsistence.
 Perching birds, which live upon grains, are absent in the
earliest group of paintings.
 The north of the vindhyas and the middle part of the
Narmada valley – all the three phases of the Palaeolithic
followed by the Mesolithic and then by Neolithic have
been found in sequence. But in several areas the neolithic
culture suceeded the mesolithic traditions, which
continued right to the beginning of the Iron Age.
Neolithic Age :
 Food producers
 The only neolithic settlement in the Indian subcontinent
attributed to 7000 BC, lies in Mehrgarh which is situated in
Baluchistan.
 In the initial stage before 5000 BC, the people of this place
did not use any pottery.
 The people of this age used tools and implements of
polished stone.
 They used Axes, based on the types of axes used by
neolithic settlers, there we notice three important areas of
neolithic settlements – north-western, north-eastern and
southern.
 The north western group use rectangular axes with curved
cutting edge. The north – eastern group shows polished
stone axes with rectangular butt and has occasional
 shouldered hoes. The southern group used axes with oval
sides and pointed butt.
 The Kashmiri Neolithic culture – distinguished by dwelling
pits, range of ceramics, variety of stone and bone tools
and complete absence of the microliths. An important site
is the Burzahom, 16 km north west of Sri nagar. They
seem to have been acquainted with agriculture. The
people of Gufkral, 41 km south west of Sri nagar practised
both agriculture and domestication of animals. The
neolithic people of kashmir not only used polished tools of
stone but also numerous tools and weapons made of
bone. The other place where bone implements in India is
Chirand, west of Patna and north side of Ganga. Antlers
(horn of deer) found in late neolithic set up in areas with
about 100 cm rainfall. The people of Burzahom used
coarse grey pottery, domestic dogs buried with their
masters.
 Second group of neolithic people lived in south India ,
south of Godavari river , settled on top of granite hills. Fire
baked earthen figures suggest that they kept a large
number of cattle. They possessed cattle, sheep and goat.
They used rubbing stone querns, which shows that they
were acquainted with the art of producing cereals.
 The third area – hills of Assam
 Neolithic sites in Allahabad district are noted for the
cultivation of rice in the sixth millenium BC.
 Important neolithic sites – Maski, Brahmagiri, Hallur,
Kodekal, Sananakallu, T. Narsipur, Piklihal and Takkalakota
in Karnataka, Paiyampalli in Tamil Nadu and Utnur in
Andhra Pradesh.
 The neolithic settlers in Piklihal were cattle herders. Both
ash mounds and habitation sites have been found in
Piklihal.
 Neolithic people lived in a circular or rectangular houses
made of mud and reed.
 They produced ragi and horsegram (kulathi). The neolithic
people of Mehrgarh were more advanced , they produced
wheat, cotton , and lived in mud-brick houses.
 Pottery first appears in this phase.
  Their pottery included black burnished ware, grey ware,
and mat impressed ware.
 Neolithic celts, axes, adzes, chisels etc, found in the orissa
and chotanagpur hill areas.
 Neolithic in india started from around 6th millenium or
6000 BC, important crops are cultivated in this period.
Neolithic cultures :
North west side North east side South India
Burzahom Chirad (Bihar), Nagarjunakonda
(kashmir) Barudi (West (andhra), Utnur,
Chaligai, Sarai Bengal), Kucha Tekkala,
Khola, Gul (orissa), Sarutaru, Kodekal,Terdal,
Mohammad, Marakdola, Daojali Maski, Kupgal,
Mehrgarh (Pak) Hading (Assam) Sanganakallu,
Hallur,Palavoy,
Brahmagiri,
Hemmige, T.
Narshipur
(karnataka),
Paiyampalli

Chapter:6 Chalcolithic Farming Cultures

Chalcolithic settlements
 The end of neolithic cultures saw the use of metals.
 The metal to be used first was copper.
 Chalcolithic means the stone-copper phase.
 The chalcolithic people mostly used stone and copper
objects, but they also occsionally used low grade bronze.
 Sites – south eastern Rajasthan, western part of Madhya
pradesh, western Maharashtra and in southern and
eastern India.
 In south eastern Rajasthan, two sites, one at Ahar and the
other at Gilmund have been excavated.
 In western MP, Malwa, Kayatha and Eran have been
exposed.
 The Malwa ware typical is considered the richest among
the chalcolithic ceramics.
 Several chalcolithic sites – Jorwe, Nevasa, Daimabad,
Chandoli, songaon and Inamgaon in Pune, Prakash and
Nasik.
 They all belong to the Jorwe culture, named after Jorwe,
the site situated on the left bank of the Pravara river, a
tributary of Godavari.
 The Jorwe culture owed much to the Malwa culture but it
also contained elements of the south neolithic culture.
 The Jorwe culture (1400 to 700 BC) covered modern
Maharashtra except parts of Vidarbha and the coastal
region of Konkan. Although the Jorwe culture was rural.
Some of its settlement such as Daimabad and Inamgaon
had almost reached the urban stage.
 All these Maharashtra sites were located in semi-arid
areas mostly on brown black soil which had ber and babul
vegetation.
 Navdatoli situated on the Narmada
 Chirand on the Ganga
 Mahishdal in west bengal, Birbhum in west bengal
 Some more sites are Senuar, Sonpur, Taradih in bihar and
Khairadih and Narhan in UP.
 People used tiny tools and weapons made of stone, stone
axes used.
 Copper objects are found.
 Ahar and Gilund, lies on dry zones of Banas river in
Rajasthan. Unlike other contemporary chalcolithic farming
cultures. Ahar particularly did not use microlithic tools,
stone axes or blades are almost absent here. Its objects
include flat axes, bangles, sheets, all made of copper,
although bronze sheet also occurs.
 Copper was locally available. The people of Ahar practised
smelting and metallurgy from the very beginning. The old
name of Ahar is Tambavati or a place possessing copper.
The Ahar culture is placed between (2100 -1500)BC. And
Gilund is considered a regional centre of the Ahar culture.
In Gilund only fragments of copper appear. Here, we find a
stone blade industry. Flat, rectangular copper axes are
found in Jorwe and Chandoli in Maharashtra, and copper
chisels appear in Chandoli.
 People of chalcolithic use – black and red pottery
 Black and red pottery from Maharashtra, MP and
Rajasthan was painted, but such painted pots were very
few in eastern India.
 They domesticated animals and agriculture was practised.
They kept cows, sheep, goats, pigs, buffaloes, hunted deer
and remains of camel have also been found.
 But generally they were not acquainted with horse.
 People certainly ate beef, but they did not take pork on
any considerable scale.
 Produced wheat and rice
 Also cultivated Bajra
 Produced several pulses – lentil, black gram, green gram,
grass pea. These foodgrains have been found in
Navadatoli.
 The people of Navadatoli also produced ber and linseed.
Cotton was produced in the black cotton soil of the Deccan
 Fish hooks found in bihar , west bengal, also found rice
 Most settlements in the Banas valley in Rajasthan are
small but Ahar and Gilund spread over an area of nearly
four hectares.
 Not acquainted with burnt bricks, which were seldom used
in Gilmund around 1500 BC.
 Occasionally, their houses were made of mud bricks, but
mostly these were constructed with wattle and daub, and
seem to thatched houses. However, the people in Ahar
lived in stone built houses.
 Of the 200 Jorwe sites discovered so far, the largest is
Daimabad in the Godavari valley, fortified with a mud wall
having stone, rubble bastions. Daimabad is famous for the
recovery of a large number of bronze goods.
 Inamgaon – isometric reconstruction of houses,
Maharashtra, large mud houses with ovens and circular pit
houses, have been discovered. Inamgaon was a large
chalcolithic settlement. It shows more than one hundred
houses and numerous burials. This settlement was also
fortified and surrounded by a moat.
 Beads of carnelian, steatite, quartz crystal.
 Knew spinning and weaving, spindle whorls have been
discovered in Malwa.
 Cotton, flax and silk threads made of cotton silk of
semal/silk – maharashtra
 In Maharashtra, people burried their dead in urns under
the floor of their house in the north to south position. They
did not use separate cemetaries.
 Terracotta figures, mother goddess, clay figures used for
worship found in Imangaon.
 Ochre Coloured Pottery (OCP)
 Ganeshwar site several objects found located in sikar
jhunjhunu area of khetri copper belt.
 The Ganeshwar people partly lived on agriculture and
largely on hunting.
 Ganeshwar not proper OCP, they was a pre-Harappan
chalcolithic culture
 Kayatha culture – 2000 to 1880 BC, which is a junior
contemporary of the Harappan culture. It has some pre-
Harappan elements in pottery.
 Malwa culture (1700-1200 BC) found in Navdatoli, Eran
and Nagda is considered to be non-Harappan.
 So is the case of Jorwe culture (1400-700 BC), which
covers the whole of Maharashtra except parts of Vidarbha
and Konkan.
 In the south and east part of the country, chalcolithic
settlements existed independently of the Harappan
culture.
 The chalcolithic settlement of the vindhya region, Bihar
and West Bengal are also not related to the Harappan
culture.
 Chalcolithic cultures in central and western India
disappeared by 1200 BC or so only the jorwe culture
continued until 700 BC.
 They were the first to use painted pottery.
 Chalcolithic cultures prevailed almost all over the country
except alluvial plains and forested areas.
 During chalcolithic phase, most people knew the art of
copper smelting.
 Chalcolithic people were the first to use painted pottery.
  Imperceptible meaning – so slight, or subtle as not to be
perceived or unnoticeable.
 In western Maharashtra and Rajasthan the chalcolithic
people seem to have been colonisers.
 In Maharashtra the dead body was placed in the north
south position, but in south India in the east-west position.
Almost complete extended burial obtained in western
India, but fractional burial prevailed in eastern India.
 The chalcolithic people living in the black and cotton soil
area of central and western India did not practise
cultivation on any intensive or extensive scale neither
plough nor hoe has been found at chalcolithic sites.
 Infant mortility was very high.
 Attributed – Jimmedaar thaharaaya
 People did not know the art of mixing tin with copper and
thus forging the much stronger and useful metal called
bronze.
 The people of the stone copper age did not know the art of
writing, nor did they live in cities as the people of the
Bronze Age did.
 The copper Hoards and the OCP phase
 The largest hoard comes from Gungeria in MP.
 Jodhpura on the border of Haryana and Rajasthan shows
the thickest OCP deposits accounting for 1.1 metre.
 The OCP people were junior contemporaries of the
Harappans.
Chapter 7: The Harappan Culture : Bronze Age Civilization
 Discovered in 1921
 It extended from Jammu in the north to the Narmada
esturary in the south, and from the Makran coast of
Baluchistan in the west to Meerut in the north east.
 The area formed a triagle and accounted for about
1,299,600 sq km.
 Nearly 1500 Harappan sites mostly belong to the late
Harappan, including the Bhagwanpura on the bank of the
Hakra-Ghaggar channel.
 Coastal cities of Sutkagendor and Surkotada, each one of
which is marked by a citadel. The later Harappan phase is
 found in Rangpur and Rojdi in the Kathiawar peninsula in
Gujarat. In addition to these Dholavira lying in the Kutch
area of the Gujarat shows Harappan fortification.
 Rakhigarhi which is situated on the Ghaggar in Haryana
and is much bigger than Dholavira.
 The great bath at Mohenjodaro has a tank of dimension
(11.88 x 7.01 metres) and 2.43 metres deep.
 In mohenjodaro the largest building is the granary, which
is 45.7 metres long and 15.2 metres wide.
 But in the citadel of Harappan we find as many as 6
granaries. Each granary measured 15.23 x 6.09 metres.
 Harappan cities used burnt bricks while Egypt mainly used
dried bricks.
 Harappans were lacking in weapons.
 Pushupati Mahadeva, three horned heads – surrounded by
elephants, rhino, tiger, buffalo. At his feet appear two
deer.
 The rig veda speaks of the non Aryans people who were
phallus worshippers.
 Worshipped trees.
 The Atharva Veda, which is associated with non-Aryan
tradition, contains many charms and spells, and
recommends amulets for warding off diseases and evil
forces.
 The harappan culture is poor in artistic works made of
stone.
 The late harappan cultures are primarily chalcolithic in
which tools of stone and copper are used.
 Gilund – regional centre of Ahar culture.
 Jorwe sites – found in the valleys of the Tapi, Godavari and
Bhima. The largest of the Jorwe settlements was
Daimabad.
 Ragi or finger millet is not known so far to any Harappan
site in north India.
 The Ahar culture is an archaeological culture from the
Chalcolithic period in India. It is also known as the Banas
Culture. It is located in the Ahar River valley in the state of
Rajasthan.
Time period : 3000 to 1500 BC.
 Pottery : black and red ware pottery (BRW) with white
painted designs.
They used copper ores
They had mixed economy of hunting gathering and
cultivation.
They produced bull figurines, mud and mud brick houses
and beads.
 The Jorwe culture was a chalcolithic culture that existed in
the Deccan plateau of India from the mid-second
millennium BCE to 1000 CE.
Found in the Godavari basin, which is central Maharashtra.
The culture is known for its distinctive pottery, tools, and
ornaments made from copper and stone.
Burial practices – in the late Jorwe phase, children were
buried in urns, and adults were burried in complete
inhumation.
The Jorwe culture practiced agriculture
It had well planned settlements with mud and stone
houses.

Chapter 8: Advent of the Aryans and the Age of the Rig

Veda
 We know about aryans from the Rig veda, the term Aryan
appears 36 times in the rig veda.
 The rig veda has many things in common with Avesta,
which is the oldest text in the Iranian language.
 Anatolia (Turkey) – Hittite inscription,
Kassite inscription – Iraq
Mitanni Inscription – Syria
 The Saraswati, is called naditarna or the best of the rivers
in the Rig Veda.
 The whole region in which the aryans first settled in Indian
subcontinent is called the Land of the Seven Rivers.
 According to the rig veda description, the river saraswati
was trasferred to India, from the Avestan river or Helmand
river of Afganistan.
 The Rig veda mentions the defeat of Sambara by a chief
called Divodasa, who belonged to the Bharata clan.
 Before coming of the aryans, the das and dasyus were the
original inhabitant of the country.
 The aryans were soft towards the dasas, but strongly
hostile to the dasyus.
 The dasyus possibly worshipped the phallus and did not
keep cattle for dairy products.
 In the rig veda, Indra is called Purandara which means that
he was the breaker of forts.
 The aryans were divided into five tribes, but there were
other tribes also.
 The Bharatas and the Tritsu were the ruling Aryan clans,
supported by priest Vasishtha. Bharata, appears first in
the rig veda.
 Bharatas VS Ten kings – Battle of Ten kings , founght on
the river parushni, identical with the river Ravi.
 But agriculture was perhaps used mainly to produce
fodder.
 The terms for war in rig veda is gavishthi or search for
cows.
 The term ayas is used for copper and bronze.
 Aryans did not live in cities.
 Bhagwanpura, a late harappan site excavated in Haryana,
PGW pottery. Horse bones found here.
 Tribal chief is called Rajan, tribal assembly called the
samiti, even women attended the sabha and vidatha in
Rig Vedic times.
 The two priests who played a major part in the time of Rig
Veda are Vasishtha and vishvamitra. Vasishtha was
conservative and Vishvamitra was liberal. Vishvamitra
composed the gayatri mantra to widen the Aryan world.
 The people voluntary offerings called Bali to the chief.
 The rig veda does not mention any officer for
administering justice. But were cases of theft and burglary.
 The officer who enjoyed authority over a large land or
pasture ground is called vrajapati. Head of families is
called kulapas, head of fighting hordes is called
gramanis.
 Vrata, gana, grama and sardha – are tribal groups.
 There was no civil system or territorial administration
because people were in a stage of perpetual expansion
migrating from one area to another.
 Total number of members in a tribe may not have
exceeded 100.
 The term jana occurs at about 275 places in the Rig Veda
and the term janapada or territory is not used even once.
 Vis : a tribe, mentioned 170 times in the rig veda
 The term for family (kula) is mentioned rarely in the Rig
Veda.
 Griha means family
 The practice of levirate and widow remarriage in the rig
veda.
 No examples of child marriage , and marriageble age is
between 16 to 17.
 Indra first position, Agni second position, third position by
Varuna, soma is considered to be the god of plants, and an
intoxicating drink is named after him.
 In rig vedic times, process not accompanied by any ritual
or sacrificial formulae.
 Why did people worship gods in the time of the Rig Veda?
Not because of spiritual uplift or for ending the miseries of
existence. They worshiped mainly for praja (children),
pashu(cattle), food, wealth, health, etc.

Chapter 9: The Later Vedic Phase: Transition to the State

and Social Orders.
 1000-500 BC
 The collection of the vedic hymns or mantras were known
as the Samhitas. The rig veda samhita is the oldest vedic
text.
 For the purpose of recitation, the prayers of the Rig Veda
were set to tune, and this modified collection was known
as the Sama Veda Samhita.
 Other two collections were – Yajur Veda Samhita and
the Atharva Veda Samhita. The Yajur Veda contains not
only hymns but also rituals. The Atharva Veda contains
charms and spells to ward off evils and diseases.
 The vedic samhitas were followed by the composition of
a series of texts known as the Brahmanas.
 Painted Grey Ware (PGW), also used iron weapons.
 Kurus occupied upper portion of the doab, panchalas
occupied middle portion of the doab.
 Capital at Hastinapur, in Meerut Dist.
 Hardly knew the use of burnt bricks.
 Iron implements buried with dead bodies.
 Agriculture was the chief means of livelihood of the later
vedic people.
 The Shatapatha Brahmana speaks about the
ploughing rituals.
 Distribution of painted grey ware: Ganganagar(punjab),
Rupar, Alamgirpur, Hastinapur, Ahichchtra, Sravasti,
Kausambi, Jaipur, Mathura.
 Barley was produced but rice and wheat were chief crops.
 Rice is called Vrihi in the vedic texts.
 Familiar with copper from the very beginning.
 Weaving was confined to women, but was pracitsed on a
large scale.
 The later vedic people were acquainted with four types of
pottery- black and red ware, black slipped ware, painted
grey ware and red ware.
 Glass hoardes were also found.
 Vidhata completely disappeared, sabha and samiti
continued to hold the ground, women no longer allowed to
sit on the sabha.
 Voluntary presents called bali, common people called vis.
 He performed rajasuya sacrifice, which was supposed
to confer supreme power on him.
 He also performed the Vajapeya or the chariot race.
 Sangrihitri (the treasurer during the vedic period)-
officer for collection of taxes.
 Later vedic society came to be divided into four varnas-
the brahmanas, rajanyas or kshatriyas, vaishyas and
shudras.
 All the three higher varnas shared one common feature:
entitled to upanayana or investiture with the sacred
thread.
 Aitareya Brahmana, a text of the later vedic period, in
relation to the prince the brahmana is described as a
seeker of livelihood and an acceptor of gifts but removable
at will.
 The institution of gotra appeared in the later vedic times.
 Ashramas or four stages of life were not well established
in vedic times. In post vedic times we hear of four
ashramas – Brahmachari or student, Grihastha or
householder, Vanaprastha or hermit and Sannyasin or
ascetic.
 Only the first three were mentioned in the later vedic
texts; the last or the fourth stage had not been well
established in later vedic times though ascetic life was not
unknown.
 Indra and Agni lost their former importance, Prajapati
creator, came to occupy the supreme position in the later
vedic pantheon.
 Rudra, the god of animals, became important in the later
vedic times, vishnu became as the preserver and
protector of the people.
 Pushan, who was supposed to look after cattle, came to
be regarded as the god of the Shudras.
 Grants of lands not well estb in the later vedic period.
The Shatapatha Brahmana states that in the ashvamedha,
north, south, east and west all should be given to the
priest.

Chapter 10: Jainism and Buddhism

 Jainism – 24 tirthankara, the first tirthankara is believed to
be Rishabhadev who was born in Ayodhya. Last
tirthankara was Vardhaman Mahavira. The 23rd tirthankara
was Parshvanath who was born in Varanasi.
 Vardhaman Mahavira was born in 540 BC, in village called
Kundagrama near Vaishali, belong to kshatriya clan called
Jnatrika, his mother name Trishala. After 12 years of
meditation, at the age of 42 attained kaivalya(Juan).
Through kaivalya he attained misery and happiness. He
passed away at the age of 72 at a place called Pavapuri
near modern Rajgir.
  Jainism taught 5 doctrines: 1) donot commit violence 2)
DO not speak a lie 3) do not steal 4) do not acquire
property 5) observe continence (brahmacharya). It is said
that only the fifth doctrine was added by Mahavira.
 Jainisms divided into two sects; shvetambaras (put white
dress), digambaras (who keep themselves naked).
 They recognized gods but placed them lower than the
jina. It did not condemn the varna system, as Buddhism
did.
 The spread of jainism in karnataka is attributed to
chandragupta maurya.
 Jaina went to the south under the leadership of
Bhadrabahu, but the rest of them stayed back in
Magadha under the leadership of Sthalabahu.
 Southerns called as digambaras, the Magadhans called as
Shvetambaras.
 Jaina monastic estbments called basadis sprang up in
Karnataka.
 Jainism spread to kalinga or orissa in the 4 th c BC.
 Early Jainas discarded sanskrit language and adopted
Prakrit language.
 Their religious literature is written in Ardhamagadhi, and
texts were finally compiled in 6th c AD in Gujurat at a
place called Valabhi(great education centre).
 Shauraseni, is a regional language developed out of
prakrit language, and marathi is developed out of
shauraseni.
 The Jainas composed the earliest important works in
Apabhramsha and prepared its first grammer.
 Initially the jainas were not image worshippers but later
like the buddhists they began to worship mahavira and
also the 23 tirthankaras.
Gautam Buddha and Buddhism:
 Born in 563 BC in a Shakya kshatriya family in Lumbini.
 His mother was a princess from the Koshalan dynasty.
 He passed away at the age of 80 in 483 BC at a place
called Kusinagar.
  He recommended an 8 fold path (ashtangika marga) for
the elimination of human misery.
 Right observation, right determination, right speech, right
action, right livelihood, right exercise, right memory and
right meditation.
 He laid down certain code: do not covet the property of
others, do not commit violence, do not use intoxicants, do
not speak a lie and do not indulge in corrupt practices.
 Buddhism does not recognize the existence of god and
soul(atman).
 There are three main elements in Buddhism: Buddha,
sangha and dhamma.
 By 12th c , buddhism almost vanished, the brahmana ruler
Pushyamitra Shunga is said to have persecuted the
Buddhists.
 The Huna king Mihirakula, who was a whorshipper of
Shiva, killed hundreds of Buddhists.
 The earliest buddhist text Suttanipata declares the cattle
to be givers of food, beauty and happiness (annada,
vannada, sukhada), and thus pleads for their protection.
 The early pali literature can be divided into three
categories- first, contains the sayings and teachings of the
Buddha, the second deals with the rulers to be observed
by members of the sangha, and the third presents the
philosophical exposition of the dhamma.
 Dvija means double born.

Chapter 11: Territorial States and the First Magadhan Empire.

 People owed strong allegiance to the Janapada or the
territory to which they belonged and no to the jana or the
tribe to which they belonged.
 16 large states called Mahajanapadas.
 Mostly situated in the north of the vindhyas.
 Of these, Magadha, Koshala, Vatsa and Avanti were
considerably powerful ones.
 Beginning from east, Anga its capital at Champa, later
swallowed by its powerful neighbour Magadha.
 Further west, kashi with its capital at Varanasi.
 Koshala with its capital at Shravasti U.P. It contained an
important city called Ayodhya, which is associated with
the story in the Ramayana.
 Shakyas of kapilavastu, its capital Piprahwa in basti
district.
 Lumbini, 15 km from piprahwa served as another capital
of the shakyas.
 Further west, lay the kingdom of the vatsas, along the
bank of the yamuna, with its capital at kaushambi near
allahabad. The vatsas were a kuru clan who had shifted
from Hastinapur and settled down at Kaushambi.
 Kaushambi was near the confluence of ganga and
yamuna.
 Magadha came into prominence under the ruler of
Bimbisara, who belonged to the Haryanaka dynasty. His
policy conquest and aggression which ended with the
Kalinga war of Ashoka.
 His son Ajatashatru
 He made marriage alliances, had three wives.
 His first wife from koshala, second wife chellana a
lichchhavi princess from vaishali gave birth to Ajatashatru
and third wife from Madra clan.
 Magadha most serious rival was Avanti with its capital at
Ujjain.
 King chanda pradyota Mahasena fought Bimbisara.
 The earliest capital of Magadha was Rajgir, which was
called Girivraja at that time.
 Ajatashatru killed his father and seized the throne.
 He did war with Koshala, not respect for relationship.
 He also attacked vaishali.
 He was succeded by Udayin.
 Udayin built the fort upon the confluence of the Ganga
and Son of Patna.
 Udayin was succeeded by the dynasty of Shishunagas,
their achievement is destruction of Avanti with its capital
at Ujjain.
 Shishunagas succeeded by the Nandas, Mahapadma
Nanda claimed to be ekarat.
 Nandas were very powerful and rich that Alexander did not
advance against Nandas.
 After their fall, came the Mauryan dynasty under which the
magadan empire reached its apex.
