CRUX OF

NCERT INDIAN HISTORY

CRUX OF

INDIAN HISTORY

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CONTENTS 1.

The Harappan Culture: Bronze Age Civilization ................................................. 1

2.

Advent of the Aryans and the Age of the Rig Veda ............................................ 9

3.

The Later Vedic Phase ............................................................................................ 14

4.

Jainism and Buddhism ........................................................................................... 24

5.

Territorial States And The First Magadhan Empire .......................................... 34

6.

The Age of the Mauryas ......................................................................................... 39

7.

The Rise and Growth of The Gupta Empire ....................................................... 47

8.

The Delhi Sultanate ................................................................................................ 52

9.

Architecture of Delhi Sultanate ............................................................................ 58

10.

Century Religious Movements in 15th and 16th .............................................. 61

11.

Literature .................................................................................................................. 65

12.

Mughal Empire ....................................................................................................... 67

13.

Social and Cultural Awakening in the First Half of the 19th Century .......... 83

14.

The Revolt of 1857 .................................................................................................. 89

15.

Growth Of New India : Religious And Social Reform After 1858 .................. 93

16.

Nationalist Movement .......................................................................................... 107 Multiple Choice Question ................................................................................... 112

1 THE HARAPPAN CULTURE: BRONZE AGE CIVILIZATION Harappan civilization is one of the most ancient civilizations of the world. It was believed to be a hub of art and culture and architecture. The discoveries made at these architectural sights give us great insight into the lives and lifestyles of our ancestors. Let us learn about this very important part of our history. Harappa is known to be a 4700 years old city in the subcontinent which was discovered around the time 1920. Soon after the discovery of cities like Lothal, Dholavira, Mohenjodaro, and Kalibangan have also been discovered and were come to be known as the Harappan cities or also the advent of Harappan Civilization. These cities were discovered around the river Indus, henceforth proving the existence of the Indus Valley Civilization.

ARCHITECTURE The Harappan city was divided into two or more parts of which the part to the west was smaller, however higher, known to be as a citadel. Also, the part to the east was comparatively larger but lower and the archaeologists called it ‘the lower town’. The citadel comprised granaries, religious buildings, public buildings, and assembly halls while the lower town was divided into rectangular sections cut by wide roads at right angles to each other. Harappan objects were made of stone, Shell, and metal. Copper and bronze were used to make tools, weapons, ornaments, and vessels. Gold and silver were used to make ornaments and vessels. Harappans also made stone seals. They made pots with beautiful black designs. Bricks were so well made that they

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had seemed to have lasted for thousands of years and were laid in an interlocking pattern which made the walls strong. About a hundred and fifty years ago, many of these bricks were taken away by engineers. People built one or two-story houses on either side of the roads with rooms built around a courtyard. The Harappan city had a well-planned drainage system where every house had a drain connected to the street drains which further were connected to the bigger drains. The drains were also covered with the stone slabs that were laid in straight lines along with inspection holes for the cleanup purpose.

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Kalibangan and Lothal used for performing sacrifices. Lothal also has revealed a huge dockyard for the loading and unloading of goods.

TOWN PLANNING AND STRUCTURE The town-planning of Harappan culture is one of its most impressive aspects, as though it was the handiwork of a genius of an architect. Immaculate was the arrangement of the city. In every aspect like roads, houses, drainage, bath, granary, the Harappan people have left an imprint of originality and brilliance. Given below is an account of their townplanning.

FARMING

Settlement Pattern

Some of the farming methods and rearing as followed by the Harappan farmers and herders are –

Town-planning was the prime specialty of the Harappan culture. Each town was divided into two main parts. On higher ground was built the fort that housed the ruling class and the priestly class. From the foot of the fort area was spread the human settlements of other classes. People of many communities lived there. The town was encircled by a high wall made of burnt bricks. The intention was probably to ward off invaders. The town planning of Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa and Kalibangan was styled as per this pattern.

Harappans grew wheat, barley, pulses, peas, rice, sesame, linseed, and mustard. They also developed some new tools known as plough and was used to dig earth for planting the seeds and turning the soil. A method of irrigation was used due to less rainfall. The Harappan reared cattle sheep, goat, and buffalo. Water and pastures were present around many sites. People collected fruits, fish and hunted wild animals. Mohenjodaro, Harappa, and Lothal also had huge storehouses used for storing grains and hence were called granaries. Big fire altars are found at

Houses The Harappan people used burnt bricks for constructing their house. The bricks had a general proportion of 4:2:1. These burnt bricks were used in building the towns of Harappa,

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The Harappan Culture: Bronze Age Civilization

Mohenjo-Daro, Rupar and Mehergarh etc. Of course exceptions are found in certain cases. For examples, bricks dried in the sun were used in building houses at Kalibangan. Normally, each house had a drawing room, bed-room and kitchen. Each had a spacious verandah, a bath room and a well nearby. The wastewater was drained out of the house into the main drain of the town. It speaks of their sense of health and hygiene. There are instances of doublestoried buildings with stair­cases made of burnt bricks. Each house was protected by high compound walls, probably, keep off wild animals. All these are enough to show how praiseworthy their house-building plans were.

Roads Roads were very wide in Harappan townships, crisscrossing the town from east to west and north to south. Each crossing was vertical, with provision of light-post on the crossing. The houses were built on either side of the roads. The drains were connected to the main drain that stretched to the farthest extent of the town. Commenting on the Harappan roads, E.J.H. Mackay appreciated the fact that the straight wide roads with vertical crossings acted as ventilators for the town and kept the town free of pollution thereby.

main

attraction of

In an adjacent room was a big well, meant to supply water to the bath-pool. Separate sets of drains were connected to the bath for in-let and out-let of water. A ring of rooms, both big and small, as well as corridors were around the bath. On three sides of the bath were galleries for spectators. This has led historians to believe that the Great Bath was for the exclusive use of the ruling and priestly classes for extraordinary occasions like coronation and different rituals.

General Conference Hall or VIP Quarters Adjacent to the Great Bath of Mohenjo-Daro was discovered a sprawling house, 230 feet long and 78 feet wide, and with a 33 feet verandah attached to it. The house was propped up by wooden pillars. Historians differ as to the purpose for which the house was built. While some of them term it as the general conference hall, others describe it as the residential quarters of high officials.

Great Granary

The Great Bath The

Harappan culture was the Great Bath, situated in the Fort-area. The Great Bath at Mohenjo-Daro comes as an interesting object of discovery of 12 metres in length, 7 metres in breadth and 3 meters deep, the bath was located in a hall 55 metres long and 33 metres wide. The sides and floor were rock- hard. A stairway led to the bath.

the

Prominent among the Harappan

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buildings was the large granary. It was located in the fort-area. Many stone floors formed it together. Each stone-floor was 16 metres long and 6 metres wide. To the south of the floor were rows of circular floors meant for harvesting. No doubt, the granary was immensely useful in times of flood, storms and droughts.

Hearth Discovery of many hearths at Kalibangan is very significant. Seven ovens in a row on a brick-laden floor are found there. Various opinions have been expressed by historians about these. May be, these were used for general auspicious occasions. It is also possible that it was the community-kitchen for the residents of the town. Yet its exact purpose still remains a mystery.

Drainage The drainage system was the principal attraction of the Indus civilization. The people put a lot of emphasis on hygiene. They took particular steps to drain out the waste water and refuges out of the town. Big drains were dug on either side of the roads and burnt- bricks were used in making these drains. The drains were covered, not exposed. These drains passed through the town to the outskirts where they terminated in a big well. The small drains of each house were connected to the big drain across the front of the house. Thus the waste-water and refuges of each

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house were drained out finally to the big well outside the town. The system helped to prevent foul smell and pollution. Seldom is seen such modem method of drainage in any other ancient civilization. In deed the town-planning of Harappan culture was highly modem and dignified. Big wide roads and lighting system speak of their healthy civic life. The house-building, the Great Bath, granary and drainage speak of the developed mode of living of the people of Harappa.

Agriculture The types of crops that the Indus Civilization had was wheat, barley, peas, lentils, linseed, and mustard. Experts say that they might have grown cotton in the summer. They did not grow rice because it didn't grow well where they lived, but they did find white rice and fed it to their animals. The silt that the river brought in when it flooded was the reason why they can grow this many crops. The nutrients that the plants needed was replenished every year when the annual floods came in.

Domestication of Animals Animals played a big roll in the Indus Civilization. They domesticated animals such as dogs, cats, shorthorned buffaloes, possibly pigs, camels, cow, chicken, sheep, goats, horses,donkeys (which they later used for transportation),and elephants. The elephants had a bit more of a vague description so they might have been

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The Harappan Culture: Bronze Age Civilization

more used for their ivory. They mainly ate cows but they ate most sea foods such as fish and shell fish.

TECHNOLOGY AND CARAFTS The Harappan culture belongs to the Bronze Age. The people of Harappa used many tools and implements of stone, but they were well-acquainted with the manufacture and use of bronze. However, bronze tools are not prolific in Harappa. For making bronze, copper was obtained from the Khetri copper mines at Rajasthan and from Baluchistan, and tin from Afghanistan. The bronze-smiths produced not only images and utensils but also various tools and weap­ons such as axes, saws, knives and spears. A piece of woven cotton has been recovered from Mohenjo-daro, and textile impressions have been found on several objects. Spindle whorls and needles have also been discovered. Weavers wove cloth of wool and cotton. Boat­making was practised. seal­ making and terracotta manu­facture were also important crafts. The goldsmiths made jewellery of silver, gold, copper, bronze and precious stones. Silver and gold may have been obtained from Afghanistan and precious stones from South India. The Harappans were expert bead-makers. The potter's wheel was in full use. The Harappans were not on the whole extravagant in their art. The inner walls of their houses were coated with mud plaster without paintings. The outer walls facing the streets were apparently of plain brick.

Architecture was austerely utilitarian. Their most notable artistic achievement was perhaps in their seal engravings, especially those of animals, e.g., the great urns bull with its many dewlaps, the rhinoceros with knobbly armoured hide, the tiger roaring fiercely, etc. The red sandstone torso of a man is particularly impressive for its realism. The bust of another male figure, in steatite, seems to show an attempt at portraiture. How­ever, the most striking of the figurines is perhaps the bronze 'dancing girl, found in Mohenjo-daro. Naked but for a necklace and a series of bangles almost covering one arm, her hair dressed in a complicated coiffure, she stands in a provocative posture, with one arm on her hip and one lanky leg half-bent. The Harappans made brilliantly naturalistic models of animals, specially charming being the tiny monkeys and squirrels used as pinheads and beads. For their children, they made cattle-toys with movable heads, model monkeys which would slide down a string, little toycarts, and whistles shaped like birds, all of terracotta. They also made rough terra cotta statuettes of women, usually naked or nearly naked, but with elaborate headdresses; these are probably icons of the Mother Goddess.

TRADE Apart from the subsistence of agriculture and hunting, the people of Indus Valley civilization made a

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living for themselves by trading different goods. Trading of different goods helped the Indus Civilization expanded its culture, coming into regular contacts with faraway lands. The areas along the coastline and many rivers provided the Indus Valley people with consistent territories of water. The Harappa people were not confined to the boundaries of their own places. Foreign trades and sea ports were found in Harappa Civilization. Guesswork and the theories continue about the imported goods that are traded from such territories and the circumstances and environment implicated with trade routes of long distance. However, the reliance of Harappa people on such trade practice is quite apparent through the research done in this perspective it. A complex yet elaborate system of weights that involve stone cubes of small size was perhaps used as the standard norms in weighing system of Harappa Civilization. With these facts to fore, it is obvious to draw a conclusion that by 2,500 BC Harappa civilization was a distinctive civilization that was spread over a great piece of land.

RELIGIONS PRACTICES The religion of the Indus people had some interesting aspects. There is an absence of any temple among the remains of the Indus Valley. Some scholars like to believe that the large buildings found at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were in fact temples. Dr. Basham rejected this view saying

Crux of Indian History

that that no idol has been found within these buildings.

Worship The importance of the worship of the Mother Goddess (Sakti) is proved by the discovery of numerous terracota figurines. The worship of Siva is suggested by the discovery of figure of a deity with three faces, with horned head dress, seating crosslegged in a Yogic posture, surrounded by animals like buffalo, rhinoceros, deer, tiger, etc. Two more figures representing Siva have been unearthed also. In these figures Siva seats in a Yogic posture and plants or flowers emerge from his head. The worship of Siva and Mother Goddess were widely prevalent. Animal worship is shown by seals and terracotta figurines. Worship of tree, fire, water and probably sun seems to have been in prominent among the Indus people. The discovery of a few seals bearing Swastika symbol and Wheel symbol also indicates Sun worship. Swastika is the symbol of the Sun.

Sacrifices The discovery of a sacrificial pit of Lothal supports to the view that the Indus people performed animal sacrifices. We are not sure on this point and need further proof.

Funeral Customs The Indus people had three funeral customs. They first complete burial of the dead body. Next, they either buried the bones of the dead

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The Harappan Culture: Bronze Age Civilization

body after wild beasts ate it, or buried the ashes and bones after burning the dead body.

Weights and Measures Harappans used weights and measures for commercial as well as building purposes. Numerous articles used as weights have been discovered. The weights proceeded in a series, first doubling from 1, 2, 4, 8 to 64 and then in decimal multiples of 16. Several sticks inscribed with measure marks have been discovered. Harappans were inventors of linear system of measurement with a unit equal to one angula of the Arthasastra.

HARAPPAN POTTERY The Harappan pottery is bright or dark red and uniformly sturdy and well baked. It consists chiefly of wheel made wares both plain and painted. The plain pottery is more common than the painted ware. The plain ware is usually of red clay with or without a fine red slip. The painted pottery is of red and black colours. Several methods were used by people for the decoration of pottery. Geometrical patterns, circles, squares and triangles and figures of animals, birds, snakes or fish are frequent motifs found in Harappan pottery. Another favourite motive was tree pattern. Plants, trees and pipal leaves are found on pottery. A hunting scene showing two antelopes with the hunter is noticed on a pot shreds from the cemetery H.A jar found at Lothal depicts a scene in which two birds are

seen perched on a tree each holding a fish in its beak. Below it is an animal with a short thick tail which can be a fox according to S R Rao. He also refers to the presence of few fish on the ground. Harappan people used different types of pottery such as glazed, polychrome, incised, perforated and knobbed. The glazed Harappan pottery is the earliest example of its kind in the ancient world. Polychrome pottery is rare and mainly comprised small vases decorated with geometric patterns mostly in red, black and green and less frequently in white and yellow. Incised ware is rare and the incised decoration was confined to the bases of the pans. Perforated pottery has a large hole at the bottom and small holes all over the wall and was probably used for straining liquor. Knobbed pottery was ornamented on the outside with knobs. The Harappan pottery includes goblets, dishes, basins, flasks, narrow necked vases, cylindrical bottles, tumblers, corn measures, spouted vases and a special type of dish on a stand which was a offering stand or incense burner.

Decline of Harappan Culture Definite reason that led to the decline of the Indus Valley Civilization is not known, as no reliable resource of that period is available at present. Every conclusion regarding the decline is based upon speculations of historians. Though the reason of the decline is not known, but through

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Crux of Indian History

excavations it is clear that fall of the Harappan Civilization occurred between 1800 BC to 1700 BC. It is commonly believed that the Aryans were the next settlers. They were skilled fighters, so their attack might have led to the destruction of the Harappan Civilization. Even the epics of the Aryans mentioned about their victory over the great cities. The human remains found during excavation of Indus valley point towards some violent cause of their death. Now many historians, who do not believe this theory, say that the Aryans might not be involved in any such attack. Owing to this conflict, the theory of a huge climatic change or natural disaster gained credibility. It has been found out that around 2000 BC some major climatic changes started occurring in the Indus Valley. These changes had led to floods in the plains and cities. Historians have found evidence to prove this theory as well. Most of the cities in the Harappan Civilization have been found in a condition as if these had been first abandoned and then rebuilt. Cities, for instance, were initially built with great care but reconstruction of the same was done with broken bricks and no attention was paid to the proper sewage system during reconstruction. Proper sewage system was one of the major characteristics of the Indus Valley Civilization. Then, there was a fall in the

average rainfall in the cities leading to the formation of desert-like condition. This led to the decline in agriculture on which most of the trade was dependent. Owing to this, people of the Indus Valley started shifting to some other location leading to the decline in the entire civilization. As per some scholars, the reason of the decline is the change in the course of River Ghaggar-Harka that had led to an increase in aridity of the place. Around 2000 BC, there was found an increase in arid conditions. The location where the Indus valley civilisation once flourished is a desert today. Many theories have been formulated and provided, but all the theories met with one or another form of criticism. Archeological evidences do prove that there was no sudden collapse of the Indus Valley Civilization but it declined over a period of time and got mingled with other civilizations of that period.

2 ADVENT OF THE ARYANS AND THE AGE OF THE RIG VEDA The Original Home of Aryans Aryan is in fact a linguistic term indicating a speech group of IndoEuropean origin, and is not an ethnic term. However this inaccuracy has become so current in historical studies of early India that it would sound unduly obscure to refer to the Aryans as 'the Aryan speaking peoples'. In Sanskrit, however, the word 'Aryan' means 'a noble man'. Aryans were the most illustrious race in history. They were tall, fair complexioned, good-looking and cultured people. Groups of Aryans are said to have settled in different countries and developed some of the most remarkable civilizations of the world. People belonging to the various parts of the world claim themselves to the proud descendents of the Aryans. In fact Adolf Hitler used the German pride of being the descendant

of the Aryans as his tool to spread racial hatred against the so-called non-Aryans, during the World War II. Original Home of the Aryans : It is generally believed that they were not the original inhabitants of India. Many theories have been put forward in favor and against the argument. Some historians say that the original home of Aryans was Central Asia. Others are of the opinion that their original home was in southern Russia (near the Caspian sea) or in the south-east Europe (in Austria and Hungary). German scholar MaxMuller thought that the original home of the Aryans was somewhere near the Caspian Sea. From there they had migrated to the European countries. Two groups of Aryans are said to have come to Persia and India. The Aryans who had migrated to India are known as the 'Indo-Aryans'. They were the

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first people who entered India through the north-western passes. The common descent of the Aryans is also indicated by the fact that Sanskrit, the language of the Indo-Aryans, is closely related to many languages of Europe and some languages of Western Asia. From this it can be concluded that in olden times the ancestors of these people who spoke similar languages must have once lived as neighbors. Bhagwan S. Gidwani in his book 'The Return of the Aryans' contends that Aryans were the original inhabitants of India and from here they migrated to other places in the world. He argues that if Aryans did migrate from other places to India then why is there no reference to those places in their books, such as Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads, etc. According to Bal Gangadhar Tilak Aryans originally inhabited Siberia but due to the falling temperature had to leave Siberia for greener pastures. It is generally believed that the Aryans came to India in groups that settled in the areas of North-Western Province in Pakistan and the Punjab which they had then named SaptSindhu or the 'land of seven rivers', namely, the Indus, the Sutlej, the Ravi, the Beas, the Chenab, the Jhelum and the Saraswati. Later, they called this area Brahmavarta or 'the land of Brahma'. The Aryans were found to have been occupying the whole of the present region of Punjab from about 1500 B.C. The first group of Aryans fought against the Dravidians and other inhabitants

Crux of Indian History

whom they defeated and are supposed to have been pushed down towards south of India. The Aryans were also victim of infighting and inter-tribal wars. There is an interesting reference to the inter-tribal conflicts in RigVeda. The most famous being the Battle of the Ten Kings. Sudas, we are told, was the king of the Bharat tribe settled in western Punjab, and Vishwamitra was his chief priest, who had conducted successful campaigns for the king. But Sudas wished to dismiss Vishwamitra and appoint another chief priest in his place, Vasishtha, since the latter was supposed to have greater priestly knowledge. This infuriated Vishwamitra, who formed a confederacy of ten tribes and attacked Sudas, but Sudas was victorious. Cattle-stealing and land disputes were probably a frequent cause of inter-tribal wars. Wars were not confined to intertribal fighting alone. The Aryans had still to contend with the indigenous people of northern India, who were of non-Aryan origin. The enemies were described by Aryans as Panis and Dasas. The Panis were troublesome, as they were cattle-thieves and cattle were the main wealth of the Aryans. The fight with the Dasas were more prolonged as they were well settled in the land. The Dasas were defeated is clear from the fact that the word Dasa later came to be mean a slave. The Dasas were held to be inferior because of their darker skin and flat features quite unlike theirs.

Advent of the Aryans and the Age of the Rig Veda

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The Aryans pushed their way along the river Ganga and Yamuna from Sapt Sindhu and by and by occupied the whole of Northern India from the Himalayas to the Vindhayas. The area was called as Aryavartha or 'the land of the Aryans'. The period between 100 B.C. and 600 B.C. during which the Aryans settled in the Gangetic valley, was known as the later Vedic age. During this period the Aryans occupied vast areas in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Bengal and other parts of North India. The events relating to Ramayana and Mahabharata took place during the later part of the Vedic period.

the pupil helped the Guru's family in gathering wood or tending animals. There was no distinction of high or low caste in a Gurukul all lived like brothers and shared the same food.

The life of a man in the Aryan society was divided into four stages of 25 years each, assuming that a man lived for 100 years. The first part of his life span, that is from birth till the age of 25 years was supposed to be the period of Brahmacharya (celibacy). During this period he was supposed to be busy in studies. The Vedic Aryans did not know the art of writing. However, they possessed a literature handed down in a particular school by word of mouth. Therefore, the Aryans sent their sons to the house of the teacher where they lived as members of his family. The word gurukula means the family of the teacher. The young people lived with the Guru till he learnt enough to lead a decent life. The Gurukula was situated in a secluded area far away from the cities. The Guru was also a religious teacher under whom a pupil lived in complete obedience. Beside learning,

Education was free but students from well-to-do families payed Gurudakshina, a sought of voluntary contribution after the completion of their studies. At the Gurukulas, the teacher imparted knowledge not only of religion, but also in arts of warfare, statecraft, medicine and astrology. Sometimes the Gurukulas were very large institutions and the name of the Guru attracted many students.

Material Life •

The Rig Vedic Aryans owe their success to the knowledge of ho rses, chario ts and bronze arms.

•

They traded copper from Khetri region in Rajasthan.

•

Fo r so wi ng, harvesti ng and threshing, the Aryans used a wooden ploughshare.

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The most important possession for the Aryans was the cow.

•

As the Aryans were pastoralists, most wars were fought for the control of cow pens. These wars were called Gavisthi or search for cows in the rig Veda.

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Land was not seen as a part of private property.

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Metals used were copper, iron and bronze.

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INDIAN HISTORY About the Book The book in your hand “CRUX of NCERT” has been brought into being to present before the students of Civil Services and State Service Commissions (Main Examinations) such sorts of materials in a compact form in which they could find the description of the facts of the particular subjects. All the books are based on NCERT syllabi and wri en in a very easy and expressive way so that students could grab the facts easily. JBC Press has ventured in the field of publishing to make available such kind of books which students were eagerly looking for last several years. These books have been prepared by well experienced and highly qualified professionals and civil servants of the particular subjects.

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