600-300 BCE:

SOURCES:
Literary- Buddhist texts such as Pitakas, Jatakas, Dipavamsa, Mahavamsa; Brahmanical texts
such as Puranas, Grihyasutras and Dharmasutras; Jaina texts such as Bhagavati sutra and
Parishishtaparvan and Greek and Latin sources.
Archaeological- North India material culture- NBPW
Inscriptions, puch marked coins and others.

POLITY:
State polities and Societies emerged in the 6th/5th century bce in a belt stretching from
Gandhara in north-west to Anga in eastern India, also extending into Malwa region. Similar
processes were underway in parts of trans-vindhyan India as well. Cities and states became
visible in South India a few centuries later.
Buddhist and Jaina texts list 16 powerful states (solasa-mahajanapada) that flourished in the
early 6th century BCE. Apart from these, there must have been smaller states, chiefdoms, and
tribal principalities. Two kinds of states are included in the list of mahajanapadas—monarchies
(rajyas) and non-monarchical states known as ganas- sanghas. The most powerful states in the 6th
century BCE were Magadha, Kosala, Vatsa, and Avanti. The relations among the states fluctuated
over time and included warfare, truce, and military alliances. Marriage alliances too were an
important aspect of inter-state relations, but often became irrelevant when it came to realizing political
ambitions. Gana-sanghas were oligarchies, where power was exercised by a group of people.

Land and Agrarian Expansion:

Literary testimony and evidence from early NBPW sites reflect an expansion in the number and size
of village settlements and a process of population growth in the Ganga valley during c. 600–300 BCE.
The importance of agriculture in the Ganga valley is reflected in the many agricultural similes used in
Buddhist texts. Iron technology was one of several agents of historical change in the 1st millennium
BCE. Iron was certainly being used in agriculture in the Ganga valley by this time. Compared to the
preceding PGW phase, there is a marked increase in the number and range of iron artefacts at NBPW
levels. The size of landholdings varied. Small farmers must have used household labour to till their
modest plots of land. On the other hand, there were owners of large landed estates. There are
references to Brahmana gamas in Magadha and Kosala, where Brahmanas were the dominant
landowners. Some of these villages may have originally been brahmadeyas (land gifted by kings to
Brahmanas).
The emergence of the idea of private property in land is evident from references to the gift and sale
of land. For example, Anathapindika, a wealthy gahapati of Shravasti, bought Jetavana from prince
Jeta Kumara in order to gift it to the sangha. Land gifted to the sangha was generally orchard land or
wooded land. References in the Digha and Majjhima Nikayas to Bimbisara and Pasenadi giving land
to Brahmanas and the sangha indicate that kings had control over some tracts of land. Wastelands,
forests, and mines probably also fell within their purview. Buddhist texts refer to dasas, dasis,
kammakaras, and porisas working in households and on land. The compound word dasa-kammakara
is also sometimes used for labourers. The Ashtadhyayi refers to vetan (wage) and vaitanika (wage
earner). People also practised animal rearing, especially cattle rearing. But land had clearly emerged
as the most important basis and form of wealth. The emergence of urban centres suggests increasing
yields and agricultural surplus. Rice cultivation continued to be an important aspect of agriculture in
the Ganga valley.
(Supplement with material given in Maurya Empire)

The Emergence of City Life:

In 6th century BCE north India, urban settlements with a distinct urban morphology and
architecture were clearly emerging in the midst of teeming villages and surrounding forests. Cities had
different kinds of functions and identities, as centres of political control, craft production, or trade;
some combined all these. The foundations of this urbanization—the second phase in the north—
were laid in the earlier centuries, with the establishment of a firm agricultural base that ensured
sustained food surpluses. Settlements grew in population, number, and size. Increasing craft
specialization, trade, and the beginning of the use of money led to higher degress of social
complexity. Political leadership lent an important element of central direction and control. The Pali
canon refers to different kinds of urban settlements. Pura meant a town or city, often associated with
fortifications. Nagara was a fortress or town. Nigama refered to a market town, midway between a
gama and nagara in terms of size and social complexity, and was frequently associated with
commercial activities. Rajadhani was a capital city. Nagaraka was a small town, mahanagara a big
city. Champa, Rajagriha, Shravasti, Saketa, Kaushambi, and Varanasi were mahanagaras.
As far as South India is concerned, the site of Kodumanal, which has yielded graffiti and Tamil–
Brahmi writing on potsherds, is especially important. On the basis of a reassessment of the evidence,
K. Rajan (personal communication) has suggested that the beginning of the early historical phase in
Tamil Nadu should be placed in at least c. 400 BCE. According to Chakrabarti, the evidence emerging
from Kodumanal indicates that the beginning of urbanization in Tamil Nadu goes back to c. 500 BCE.

Urban Occupations, Crafts, Guilds, and Money:

Early Buddhist texts mention a wide range of occupations (sippa, kamma), both rural and urban).
Apart from farmers, cattle rearers, and traders, those employed in the service industry included
washermen, barbers, tailors, painters, and cooks. The king employed many different kinds of
specialists, including soldiers (yodhajivas) of various kinds—foot soldiers, archers, members of the
cavalry, elephant corps, and chariot wing. Others in the king’s service (rajaporisas) included ministers
(mahamachchas), governors (ratthikas), estate managers (pettanikas), the royal chamberlain (thapati),
elephant trainers (hattirohas), policemen (raja-bhatas), jailors (bandhanagarikas), slaves (dasas and
dasis), and wage-workers (kammakaras).
Urban occupations included those of the physician (vejja, bhisakka), surgeon (sallakata), and scribe
(lekha). Accounting (ganana) and money changing were other urban professions. Types of
entertainers include the actor (nata), dancer (nataka), magician (sokajjayika), acrobat (langhika),
drummer (kumbhathunika), and woman fortune-teller (ikkhanika). Some of them performed in fairs
known as samajas, apart from other occasions. There are also references to the accomplished
courtesan (ganika) and the ordinary prostitute (vesi). Terms such as shreni, nigama, puga, vrata, and
sangha are used in ancient Indian texts to refer to various kinds of corporate organizations, including
guilds.
An important aspect of urbanism was the emergence of coinage. Pali texts contain the fi rst defi nite
references to coins, e.g., kahapana, nikkha, kamsa, pada, masaka, and kakanika. The literary evidence
is corroborated by archaeological evidence of punchmarked coins from many sites, most of them
made of silver. The beginning of money did not mean the end of barter, but it did mark a qualitative
change in economic transactions, with long-term implications for trade. It also ushered in usury
(money-lending).

THE NEW SOCIAL ELITES: THE GAHAPATI AND SETTHI:

The social vocabulary of early Pali texts reflects the economic and social changes that took place in
north India in c. 600–300 BCE. The term grihapati occurs in Vedic literature in the sense of the head
of a household. Uma Chakravarti points out that apart from being the head of a household, the
gahapati was also a wealthy property-owner and producer of wealth, associated especially with land
and agriculture. Society is often described as consisting of three strata—Khattiya, Brahmana, and
gahapati—associated with three different domains. There are references to Brahmana gahapatis living
in Brahmana villages. The gahapati’s political importance is suggested in his inclusion among the
seven treasures of the chakkavatti or ideal ruler of the world. The setthi (this is the Pali form of
Sanskrit sreshthin) of the Pali canon was a highlevel businessman, associated with trade and money-
lending. There are many references to extremely wealthy setthis living in style in cities such as
Rajagriha and Varanasi. The setthi of the Buddhist texts was a prominent and influential member of
the urban community with access to and connections with kings.

Trade and Traders:

In Buddhist texts, people on the move include the Buddha and his disciples, renunciants belonging to
other orders, teachers, students, professionals, kings, soldiers, and traders. All these different kinds of
people must have travelled along broadly similar routes and the accounts of their journeys give an
idea of the routes of travel, communication, and trade. Archaeological evidence also helps identify
trade routes and interactions. The two major trans-regional routes of the time were known as the
Uttarapatha and Dakshinapatha. The Uttarapatha was the major trans-regional trade route of
northern India. It stretched from the north-west, across the Indo-Gangetic plains, up to the port of
Tamralipti on the Bay of Bengal. he Uttarapatha was a land-cum-river route. Buddhist texts refer to
the riverine movement of traders and goods along the Ganga. The distribution of PGW and NBPW
sites along this river and its tributaries—especially the Yamuna, Ghaghara, and Sarayu— suggests
that rivers formed major communication routes. The Dakshinapatha—the great southern trade route—
is mentioned in the Arthashastra, but was operational from the early historical period. It stretched
from Pataliputra in Magadha to Pratishthana on the Godavari, and was also connected to ports on the
western coast. Although there are several references to trans-Vindhyan regions in Buddhist texts. The
Vindhyas provided iron, copper, and various types of stone to settlements in the Ganga valley, and
these raw materials must have moved along the northern sector of the Dakshinapatha. Trade and
interaction along this route increased in subsequent centuries.
Buddhist texts talk of caravans with 1,000 carts moving from one janapada to another, passing
through deserted areas. There is mention of caravans paying tolls and taxes to the king’s men.
Customs officials (kammikas) levied taxes on merchandise and could confi scate the goods of tax
evaders. The internal trade routes joined the external routes, which linked the subcontinent with
other areas. Overland routes connecting Taxila with north Afghanistan and Iran were important for
obtaining raw materials such as silver, gold, lapis lazuli, and jade. There may have been a long-
distance trade in fi ne wood between India and Mesopotamia. The central Asia route had been
important from neolithic times onwards. The route via the Bolan pass and through north Afghanistan
was also important. Cities such as Taxila and Charsada were major commercial centres. Sea travel and
trade are mentioned in the Pali canon. The Anguttara Nikaya refers to sea merchants who had a bird
aboard their ship to sight land. There is mention of the maritime route to West Asia. The Jatakas
contain many accounts of sea voyages. Commodities such as sandalwood and pearls were probably
exported from sites along the eastern and western coasts to West Asia and the Mediterranean.
Maritime trade with Southeast Asia also began in the early historical period. The expansion of trade
led to the emergence of traders as an important urban group. It was no doubt because of their
economic affluence that Buddhist texts describe vanijja (trade) as one of the high occupations.

Class, Kinship, Varna, and Caste:

From the 6th century BCE, there is evidence of the emergence of socio-economic classes in north
India. Buddhist texts refer to disparities in wealth and status. There are references to very poor
(dalidda) people. Despite the emergence of socio-economic classes, kinship ties continued to be
extremely important, and were eventually incorporated into the framework of caste. Kula denotes an
extended patrilineal family. The four-fold order of varnas (hereditary classes) was central to the
social discourse of the Brahmanical tradition. The varnas were ideally supposed to be endogamous,
i.e., marriage was supposed to take place within the group. The fact that brahmanical texts discuss and
grade inter-varna marriages suggests that such marriages did take place and that varnas were not
strictly endogamous. In ideal circumstances, people of the four varnas must follow the vocations
prescribed for them: The ideal activities of the Brahmana are studying and teaching the Veda,
performing sacrifices for himself and others, and giving and receiving gifts. Those of the Kshatriya
are studying, performing sacrifices for himself, bestowing gifts, and more especially, protecting
people. The Vaishya shares the first three activities, but his ideal occupations are agriculture, cattle
rearing, trade, and money-lending. The Shudra was supposed to obtain his livelihood by serving the
higher varnas.
Buddhist and Jaina texts also mention the varna order, but for them, the powerful religious sanction
associated with it in the Brahmanical tradition was lacking. Further, both these traditions placed the
Kshatriya above the Brahmana in the varna hierarchy. Gotra (clan affiliation) was an important basis
of Brahmana identity. In Buddhist texts, the Buddha invariably addresses Brahmanas by their gotra.
We can also note the use of the gotra name by non-Brahmanas.
Varna was not irrelevant as a basis of social identity, but was now competing with another social
institution—jati (caste). The Dharmasutras explain the origins of jatis through the ingenious but fi
ctitious theory of the mixture of varnas (varna-samkara). According to this, jatis were the outcome of
various kinds of inter-varna marriages. The terms varna, jati, and kula are sometimes used
interchangably in ancient texts, while in other places they have a more specifi c meaning. The varna
order was still an important reference point, and the terms Brahmana and Kshatriya had significance.
However, while many people in the Pali canon are identified as Brahmanas and Kshatriyas, few are
identified as Vaishyas or Shudras. Those who would theoretically have belonged to these two
categories are generally described with reference to their specific occupation, which was in turn tied
up with kula and jati. This suggests that varna was more a theoretical construct tied to the upper
categories and that a person’s identity in the society of the time was based more on occupation, kula
(lineage), and jati (caste).

GENDER:
The emergence of private property in land had important implications for the structure and function
of the family. The inheritance of property became an important issue. Inheritance was patrilineal. In
general, male heirs, especially sons, took precedence over all others. Generally, the claims of the
daughter came after those of the wife. Later Dharmashastras often excluded the wife from inheriting
her husband’s property or set preconditions of chastity before she could claim such a right. There was,
however, a category of property—the stri-dhana—over which the smritikaras conceded that a
woman did have rights. Stri-dhana means ‘women’s property’, but referred specifi cally to certain
special kinds of moveable property given to a woman on various occasions during her lifetime. These
included presents (jewellery, clothes, household articles, etc.) given by her parents at the time of
marriage and by her relatives (father, brothers, etc.) on other occasions. While the Dharmashastra
texts disagreed about the extent to which stri-dhana was to be considered the permanent property of a
woman, they generally agreed that it was to be passed on from mother to daughter. Given the
increasingly patriarchal nature of the household, it is not surprising that the preference for sons over
daughters continued.

The Renunciatory Tradition:

This age of urban affluence, of communities marked by distinctions of class and caste, was also an
age of renunciants who advocated giving up attachment to all material things and social relationships.
The renunciants were referred to by various terms including paribbajaka (Sanskrit—parivrajaka,
‘wanderer’), samana (Sanskrit—shramana, ‘one who strives’, i.e., to realize the truth), and bhikkhu
(Sanskrit—bhikshu, ‘one who lives by begging alms’). These were people who had left their homes
and lived as wanderers, dependent on food and alms offered by sympathetic or generous
householders.
The Ajivika sect seems to have been quite old, as there are allusions to prececessors of Makkhali
Gosala, its most important leader. A central Ajivika idea was that of niyati (fate), the principle that
ultimately determined and controlled everything. Human effort was of no consequence in this strictly
deterministic doctrine. Karma and transmigration existed, but human effort played no role in it. The
Ajivika sect did not practice discrimination on the basis of caste or class, and its ascetics and laity
came from various sections of society.
BUDDHISM AND BUDDHA’S TEACHINGS:
The Buddha addressed his teaching to the monastic order as well as the laity. The core of his doctrine
is expressed in the Ariya-sachchani (Four Noble Truths): there is suffering (dukkha); it has a cause
(samudaya); it can be removed (nirodha); and the way to achieve this is following the Atthanga-
magga (Eight-fold Path). This path consists of a number of interconnected activities related to
knowledge, conduct, and meditative practices. It consists of right view, intention, speech, action,
livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration. Meditation is very important in Buddhism and is
the key to achieving mental calm and insight. The path taught by the Buddha is often referred to as the
Middle Path—one between extreme indulgence and extreme asceticism.

 The world is transient (anicca) and constantly changing. It is also soulless as there is
nothing permanent or eternal in it.
 Within this transient world, sorrow (dukkha) is intrinsic to human existence.
 By following the path of moderation between severe penance and self-indulgence,
human beings can use above these worldly pleasures.
 He advised kings and gahapatis to be humane and ethical. Buddha regarded the social
world as the creation of humans rather than of divine origin.
 He emphasised individual agency and righteous action as the means to escape from the
cycle of rebirth and attain self-realisation and nibbana (literally means the
extinguishing of ego and desire).
This ends the cycle of suffering for those who renounced the world.
 The words to his followers were “Be lamps into yourselves as all of you must work out
your own liberation.”

JAINISM TEACHINGS:

 The entire world is animated – even stones, rocks and water have life.
 They believe in non-injury to living beings, especially to humans, animals, plants and
insects.
 The cycle of birth and rebirth is shaped through karma.
 Asceticism and penance are required to free oneself from the cycle of karma.
 For Jainism monastic existence is a necessary condition of salvation.
 Jaina monks and nuns take five vows : to abstain from killing, stealing and lying; to
observe celibacy, and to abstain from possessing property.