Chapter: 9 Vital villages, thriving towns

Megalithihc burial sites had large collections of iron tools and weapons
Villages:
-Tamil region: large landowners - Vellalars;
Ordinary ploughmen- uzhavar;
landless labourers including slaves - Kadaisiyar n adimai
Northern region Villages:
-Grama Bhojaka-Village headman (hereditary post)
largest landowner often
hired slaves to work on his land
King used him to collect taxes from village
functioned as a judge n policeman sometimes
Grihgapatis: other independent famers, smaller landowners
Dasas/karmakaras: Men n women who didnt own land and worked in fields to earn a
living
Jatakas: Stories composed by ordinary people; written down n preserved by buddhi
st monks
Sangam Literature:
Called sangam bcz was composed n compiled by assemblies of poets held in city of
madurai
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Many cities that developed from about 2500yrs ago were capitals of Mahajanapadas
.
-Ring wells found in many such cities
punch marked coins used during this period
Mathura:
imp city as it was located at the cross roads of 2 major routes of travel
-from NW to east and from North to South
-Became a capital for kushanas around 2000yrs ago
-Religious centre with monastries, Jaina shrines and krishna worship.
Northern Black Polished Ware:
Extremely fine pottery; found in Northern part of subcontinent; Black in color w
ith fine sheen
Shrenis:
Associations formed by merchants n craft persons
Shrenis of craft persons:
-provided training, procured raw material n distributed finished product
Shrenis of merchants:
-organised trade
Shrenis served as banks also
Arikamedu:
A coastal settlement between 2200 n 1900 yrs ago
Pottery, Arretine ware, roman lamps, glassware n gems
Chapter: 10 Traders, Kings and pilgrims
South India: known for pepper n spices
-roman coins found in south India
-pepper was known as black gold in Rome
Muvendar: Mentioned in sangam poems
-tamil word meaning used for heads of 3 ruling families i.e.
-Cholas
-Cheras
-Pandyas
-Became powerful in south india around 2300 yrs ago
-Each chief had an inland and coastal centre of power
-2 important out of 6 were:
-Kaveripattinam: port of Cholas
-Madurai: Capital of Pandyas

-chiefs didnt collect taxes instead demanded regular gifts from ppl
-Went on military expeditions n collected tributes n distributed them amongst th
eir followers including their own family members n poet soldiers etc.
Satvahanas:
200 yrs later they became powerful in western india
-gautamiputra Shri Satakarni
Satavahan rulers werre known as Lords of Dakshinapatha
Silk Route:
: Techniques of making silk was first invented in China 7000yrs ago
:ppl from china went to distant lands on foot, on camels n horseback and the rou
te they followed came to be known as Silk Route
-Chinese rulers sent gifts of silk to Iran n West Asia and from there the knowle
dge of silk spread further west.
-Rulers tried to control the route for tributes n gifts from traders and they pr
otected them instead from robbers
-Kushanas controlled silk route
ruled over central asia n NW India
Peshawar n Mathura their major centres of Power
Taxila also came under their kingdom
-Kushanas issued gold coins and were amongst the earliest rulers in the subconti
nent to do so
Spread of Buddhism:
Kanishka - an imp Kushana ruler
-organised a buddhist council
-Ashvaghosha -Poet who composed biography of Buddha i.e. budhhacharita lived in
his ocurt.
-Ashvaghosha n other poets now began writing in Sanskrit
- Mahayana Buddhism developed now
:features
-Earlier in sculptures buddha was shown thru signs like by peepal tree but no
w his statues were made in mathura n taxila.
-Bodhisattvas - those who attained enlightenment cud live in complete isolation
but now they lived in the wrld teaching other ppl
- worship of boddhisattvas spread to central asia ,china n later to korea n jap
an
- Buddhism also spread to western n southern India
Buddhism also spread SE to Srilanka, Myanmar, Thailand n Indonesia. Theravada Bu
ddhism was more popular here.
Caves were hollowed in the hills for the monks to live in.
Caves were located near passes thru Western Ghats where traders coming from the
ports n going to the cities of the Deccan halted
Pilgrims:
Chinese buddhist pilgrim - Fa-Xian
1600 yrs ago
Xuan Zang 1400yrs ago
I-Qing - 50yrs after Xuan
Zang
-Spent time at Nalanda studying Buddhism
Beginning of Bhakti:
-Worship of certain deities gained in importance
-Deities worshipped thru bhakti
-Anyone rich or poor cud follow path of Bhakti
-Idea of bhakti is presetn in Bhagwad geeta
-Bhakti followers emphasised devotion n individual worship of a god or goddess r
ather then performance of rituals
-devotee who worships with a pure heart, deity will appear in the form in which
he or she desires .so deity cud be thought of anything like tree, lion or human
figure etc
-image worship