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The essence of this chapter for last-minute revision: definitions, key facts, dates and tables. The full notes, with the whole explanation, are available separately.
1 The chapter in one line each
Kings, Farmers and Towns: c. 600 BCE to 600 CE
1 · Prinsep and Piyadassi1830s decipherment of Brahmi and Kharosthi opened up early Indian history
2 · The sixteen mahajanapadasKingdoms and ganas, and Magadha’s rise
3 · The Mauryan empireAsoka, dhamma, and five political centres
4 · New kingshipChiefs, divine kings, samantas and prashastis
5 · A changing countrysidePlough, transplantation, irrigation, land grants
6 · Towns and tradeGuilds, ports, the Periplus and coins
7 · Reading inscriptionsHow Brahmi and Kharosthi were cracked
8 · Limits of epigraphyWhat inscriptions leave out
2 The sixteen mahajanapadas: capitals at a glance
| Mahajanapada | Capital | Mahajanapada | Capital |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gandhara | Taxila | Vatsa | Kaushambi |
| Kuru | Indraprastha | Kashi | Varanasi |
| Panchala | Ahichchhatra | Koshala | Shravasti |
| Shurasena | Mathura | Malla | Kusinagara |
| Avanti | Ujjayini | Vajji | Vaishali |
| Chedi | (not shown on Map 1) | Magadha | Rajagaha, later Pataliputra |
| Also in the list of sixteen: Matsya, Kamboja, Ashmaka, Anga (capital Champa), Vanga | |||
Kingdoms vs. ganas / sanghas
| Kingdoms | Ganas or sanghas |
|---|---|
| Ruled by a single king, ideally a Kshatriya | Oligarchies: power shared by many men, called rajas collectively |
| Some had standing armies and regular bureaucracies | Mahavira and the Buddha both belonged to such ganas |
| Others depended on militia from the peasantry | In the Vajji sangha, rajas probably controlled land collectively |
3 The Mauryan empire in numbers
c. 321 BCEaccession of Chandragupta Maurya
5major political centres of the empire
c. 150 yrstotal span of the Mauryan empire
- Five centres: the capital Pataliputra, and the provincial centres Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali and Suvarnagiri
- Six subcommittees (Megasthenes): navy, transport and provisions, foot-soldiers, cavalry, chariots, elephants
- Greek figures for the Mauryan army (considered exaggerated by some historians): 600,000 foot-soldiers, 30,000 cavalry, 9,000 elephants
- Asoka’s reign: c. 272/268-231 BCE; conquered Kalinga after 8 years of rule
- Kalinga war casualties (Asoka’s own inscription): 1,50,000 deported, 1,00,000 killed, many more died
4 Definitions, exactly as they must be written
All definitions in one place
EpigraphyThe study of inscriptions, writings engraved on hard surfaces such as stone, metal or pottery
JanapadaThe land where a jana, a people, clan or tribe, sets its foot or settles; a mahajanapada is a great janapada
OligarchyA form of government where power is exercised by a group of men; the Roman Republic, despite its name, was an oligarchy
DhammaAsoka’s code of conduct: respect for elders, generosity to Brahmanas and renouncers, kindness to slaves and servants, and respect for other faiths
ChiefA powerful man, position not necessarily hereditary, who receives gifts from subordinates and redistributes them; unlike a king, generally no standing army
PrashastiA Sanskrit composition in praise of a king or patron, written by a court poet; treasured as poetry, not treated as literal fact
GahapatiOwner or head of a household, controlling its women, children, slaves, workers and resources; also a status marker for the urban elite
AgraharaLand granted to a Brahmana, usually free of land revenue, often with the right to collect dues from local people
Votive inscriptionAn inscription recording a gift made to a religious institution
Shreni / guildAn organisation of craft producers and merchants that procured raw material, regulated production and marketed goods
NumismaticsThe study of coins, including their scripts, images, metallurgy and find-contexts
5 The chapter timeline
| Timeline 1 · political and economic developments | |
|---|---|
| c. 600-500 BCE | Paddy transplantation; urbanisation in the Ganga valley; mahajanapadas; punch-marked coins |
| c. 500-400 BCE | Rulers of Magadha consolidate power |
| c. 327-325 BCE | Invasion of Alexander of Macedon |
| c. 321 BCE | Accession of Chandragupta Maurya |
| c. 272/268-231 BCE | Reign of Asoka |
| c. 185 BCE | End of the Mauryan empire |
| c. 200-100 BCE | Indo-Greek rule in the northwest; Cholas, Cheras, Pandyas in the south; Satavahanas in the Deccan |
| c. 100 BCE-200 CE | Shaka rulers in the northwest; Roman trade; gold coinage |
| c. 78 CE? | Accession of Kanishka (date uncertain) |
| c. 100-200 CE | Earliest inscriptional evidence of land grants, by Satavahana and Shaka rulers |
| c. 320 CE | Beginning of Gupta rule |
| c. 335-375 CE | Samudragupta |
| c. 375-415 CE | Chandragupta II; Vakatakas in the Deccan |
| c. 500-600 CE | Rise of the Chalukyas in Karnataka and the Pallavas in Tamil Nadu |
| c. 606-647 CE | Harshavardhana king of Kanauj; Xuan Zang comes in search of Buddhist texts |
| c. 712 CE | Arabs conquer Sind |
| Timeline 2 · major advances in epigraphy | |
|---|---|
| 1784 | Founding of the Asiatic Society (Bengal) |
| 1810s | Colin Mackenzie collects over 8,000 inscriptions |
| 1838 | Decipherment of Asokan Brahmi by James Prinsep |
| 1877 | Alexander Cunningham publishes a set of Asokan inscriptions |
| 1886 | First issue of Epigraphia Carnatica |
| 1888 | First issue of Epigraphia Indica |
| 1965-66 | D.C. Sircar publishes Indian Epigraphy and Indian Epigraphical Glossary |
6 People and sources to name in an answer
| Name / source | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| James Prinsep | Officer in the East India Company mint; deciphered Brahmi and Kharosthi in the 1830s (Asokan Brahmi in 1838) |
| Megasthenes | Greek ambassador at Chandragupta Maurya’s court; his account survives only in fragments |
| Kautilya / Chanakya | Traditionally Chandragupta Maurya’s minister; associated with the Arthashastra |
| Bimbisara, Ajatasattu, Mahapadma Nanda | Ambitious kings early writers credit with Magadha’s rise |
| Harishena | Court poet of Samudragupta; composed the Prayaga Prashasti (Allahabad Pillar Inscription) |
| Rudradaman | Shaka ruler who repaired the Sudarshana lake without taxing his subjects |
| Prabhavati Gupta | Daughter of Chandragupta II, married into the Vakatakas; granted the village of Danguna |
| Senguttuvan | Pandya chief in the Silappadikaram, brought forest and hill gifts |
| Banabhatta | Court poet of Harshavardhana; wrote the Harshacharita |
| D.C. Sircar | Twentieth-century epigraphist; wrote that inscriptions reflect every aspect of Indian life |
| Alexander Cunningham, Colin Mackenzie | Early collectors and publishers of Indian inscriptions |
| Rajagaha, Pataliputra | Magadha’s first and later capitals; Pataliputra began as the village Pataligrama |
| Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali, Suvarnagiri | The four Mauryan provincial centres besides the capital |
7 Strategies for increasing production, in one table
| Strategy | What it involved | Spread / limits |
|---|---|---|
| Plough agriculture | Iron-tipped ploughshare turning alluvial soil, from c. 6th century BCE | Ganga, Kaveri valleys; not adopted in semi-arid Punjab/Rajasthan till the 20th century; hoe agriculture used in hilly tracts instead |
| Transplantation | Seeds broadcast first, saplings later moved to waterlogged fields | Dramatically raised paddy yields in the Ganga valley; back-breaking labour |
| Irrigation | Wells, tanks, and less commonly canals | Organised by communities and powerful individuals, including kings, recorded in inscriptions |
8 Coins and dynasties, in one table
| Coinage | Issued by | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Punch-marked coins (silver, copper) | Kings, and possibly merchants, bankers, townspeople | From c. 6th century BCE; symbols punched onto the metal |
| First coins with ruler’s name and image | Indo-Greeks | c. 2nd century BCE, controlling the northwest |
| First gold coins, largest hoards | Kushanas | c. 1st century CE; weight matched Roman and Parthian coins |
| Thousands of copper coins | Yaudheyas (tribal republic, Punjab-Haryana) | c. 1st century CE |
| Spectacular, very pure gold coins | Guptas | From c. 320 CE |
Quick Revision: read this the night before the exam
- Prinsep deciphered Brahmi and Kharosthi in the 1830s (Asokan Brahmi in 1838), identifying Piyadassi as Asoka
- Sixteen mahajanapadas by the 6th century BCE; kingdoms and ganas/sanghas (oligarchies)
- Modern historians credit Magadha’s rise to geography; early writers credit ambitious kings
- The Mauryan empire had 5 political centres, no uniform administration, and lasted c. 150 years
- Asoka held the empire together with dhamma and dhamma mahamattas
- Chiefs receive and redistribute gifts; kings collect taxes (Silappadikaram vs. land grants)
- Kushanas claimed divinity through statues and the title devaputra; Guptas through prashastis
- Three strategies raised farm output: plough agriculture, transplantation, irrigation, but unevenly
- Land grants are read either as extending agriculture or as a sign of weakening royal power
- Towns held guilds and named occupations; Roman coin hoards in south India prove trade crossed political borders
- Inscriptions are powerful but partial: technical limits, and they record the commissioner’s viewpoint, not everyday life
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