Themes of Indian History Part 1 Flashcards
Grains found at Harappan sites include
wheat, barley, lentil, chickpea and sesame.
Millets are found from sites in
Gujarat
terracotta models of the plough have been found at sites in
Cholistan and at Banawali (Haryana).
Archaeologists have also found evidence of a
ploughed field at
Kalibangan (Rajasthan),
associated with Early Harappan levels
Traces of canals have been found at
the Harappan site of
Shortughai in Afghanistan but not in Punjab or Sind.
water reservoirs found in may
have been used to store water for agriculture
Dholavira (Gujarat)
grinding equipment as well as vessels
for mixing, blending and cooking. These were made of
stone, metal and terracotta
, Further Excavations at Mohenjodaro, 1937 author
ERNEST MACKAY
the first site urban center to be discovered
was
Harappa.
the first Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), often called the father of Indian archaeology
Alexander Cunningham,
At sites such as the entire settlement was fortified, and
sections within the town were also separated by walls
Dholavira and Lothal (Gujarat),
The Citadel within was not walled off, but was built at a height.
Lothal
Drainage system in Harappa was described by
ERNEST MACKAY
little pots of this material were probably considered
precious because they were difficult to make
faience (a material made of ground sand or silica mixed with colour and a gum and then fired
Hoards are
objects kept carefully by people, often inside
containers such as pots. eg gold
almost exclusively devoted to craft production, including bead-making, shell-cutting, metal-working, seal-making and weight-making
Chanhudaro
Specialised drills have been found at
Chanhudaro, Lothal and more recently at Dholavira.
These were specialised centres for making shell objects – including bangles, ladles and inlay –
Nageshwar and Balakot
established settlements such as Nageshwar and
Balakot in areas where
shell was available
Lothal which was near sources of
carnelian (from Bharuch in Gujarat),
There is evidence in the Khetri area for what archaeologists call the
Ganeshwar -Jodhpura culture, with its distinctive non-Harappan pottery and an unusual wealth of copper objects.
copper for Harappa came from
Oman and Rajasthan
Name given to Oman in Mesopotamia texts
Magan
Mesopotamian texts mention contact with regions named
Dilmun (probably the island of Bahrain), Magan and
Meluhha, possibly the Harappan region
Mesopotamian texts refer to this region as a land of seafarers
Meluhha
weights made up of
chert with no marking
weights in Harappa
lower weights binary and higher weights decimal
way of life in what are called “Late
Harappan” or “successor cultures
Rural way of life
Mohenjodaro and the Indus Civilisation, 1931. author
JOHN MARSHALL,
Harappa 1946”, Ancient India, 1947. author
R.E.M. WHEELER, “
“The Mythical Massacre at Mohenjodaro”, Expediton, 1964 author
G.F. DALES,
Deadman Lane theory by
JOHN MARSHALL
then Director-General of the ASI, tried to correlate this archaeological evidence with that of the Rigveda, the earliest known text in the subcontinent
R.E.M. Wheeler,
then Director-General of the ASI, tried to correlate this archaeological evidence with that of the Rigveda, the earliest known text in the subcontinent
R.E.M. Wheeler,
He used the accounts left by Chinese Buddhist pilgrims who had visited the subcontinentbetween the fourth and seventh centuries CE to locate
early settlements of Harappan civilization
Cunningham
seals were discovered at Harappa by
archaeologists such as
Daya Ram Sahni
found similar seals at Mohenjodaro
Rakhal Das Banerji
in 1924, announced the discovery of a new civilisation in the Indus valley to the world
John Marshall, Dir ector -General of the ASI,
in 1924, announced the discovery of a new civilisation in the Indus valley to the world
John Marshall, Dir ector -General of the ASI,
He was the first professional archaeologist to work in India, and brought his experience of working in Greece and Crete to the field
John Marshall,
recognised that it was necessary to follow the stratigraphy of the mound rather than dig mechanically along uniform horizontallines.
R.E.M. Wheeler,
My Archaeological Mission to India and Pakistan, 1976 author
R.E.M. Wheeler,
Shamans are
men and women who claim magical and healing powers, as well as an ability to communicate with the other world
New modes of disposal of the dead, including the making of elaborate stone structures known as
megaliths, emerged in central and south India from the first millennium BC
an officer in the mint of the East
India Company, deciphered Brahmi and Kharosthi
James Prinsep,
some mahajanpadas were ruled by
Gana or sanghas= Oligarchies
the case of the the rajas probably controlled resources such as land collectively
Vajji sangha,
Brahmanas began composing Sanskrit texts known as the
Dharmasutras
Initially was the capital of Magadha
Rajagaha (the Prakrit name for presentday
Rajgir in Bihar) Later, in the fourth century BCE, the
capital was shifted to Pataliputra, present-day
Patna, commanding routes of communication along
the Ganga
(a Greek ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya
Megasthenes
(a Greek ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya
Megasthenes
There were five major political centres in the
empire –
the capital Pataliputra and the provincial
centres of Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali and Suvarnagiri,
all mentioned in Asokan inscriptions.
was possibly important for tapping the gold mines
of Karnataka
Suvarnagiri (literally, the golden mountain)
These centres were carefully chosen, being situated
on important long-distance trade routes
both Taxila and Ujjayini
excerpt of what kings official did
Megasthenes
mentions a committee with six
subcommittees for coordinating military activity
Megasthenes
The new kingdoms that emerged in the Deccan and
further south, including
the chiefdoms of the Cholas,
Cheras and Pandyas in Tamilakam (the name of the
ancient Tamil country, which included parts of
present-day Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, in addition
to Tamil Nadu)
Satavahanas who ruled over parts of
western and central India
story of The Pandya chief Senguttuvan visits the forest mentioned in
Silappadikaram, an epic written in Tamil
the Kushanas (c. first century BCEfirst century CE), who ruled over a vast kingdom
extending from Central Asia to northwest India
Colossal statues of Kushana rulers have been
found installed in a shrine at
Mat near Mathura (Uttar Pradesh).
adopted the title devaputra, or “son of god”, possibly
inspired by Chinese rulers who called themselves
sons of heave
Many Kushana rulers
samantas in empire of
Gupta
The Prayaga Prashasti (also known as the Allahabad Pillar Inscription) composed in Sanskrit by
Harishena, the court poet of Samudragupta, arguably the most powerful of the Gupta rulers
Sudarshana lake
an artificial reservoir.
mentioned in rock inscription(c. second century CE) in Sanskrit, composed to record the achievements of the Shaka ruler Rudradaman.
built by a local governor during the rule of the Mauryas
describes the plight of the subjects of a wicked king;
these included elderly women and men, cultivators,
herders, village boys and even animals
Gandatindu Jataka
Vellar
Large landowners
Vellalar
Large landowners
adimai
slaves
uzhavar
ploughmen
gahapati
large landowner
gahapati in pali texts refers to
large landowner
A gahapati was the owner, master or head of a household, who exercised control over the women,
children, slaves and workers who shared a common
residence
Life in a small village on the outskirts of a
forest in the Vindhyas is mentioned in this excerpt
The Harshacharita
was the daughter of one of the most important rulers in early Indian history, Chandragupta II
Prabhavati Gupta
Prabhavati Gupta and the village of Danguna story ,mentioned in charter engraved by
Chakradasa
An agrahara was
land granted to a Brahmana, who was usually exempted from paying land revenue and other dues to
the king, and was often given the right to collect these dues from the local people
chinese pilgrim visited Patliputra and found it in ruines
Xuan Zang
Votive inscriptions
record gifts made to religious institutions
Archaeological evidence of a bead-making industry, using precious and semi-precious stones, has been found in
Kodumanal (Tamil Nadu
The Malabar coast (present-day Kerala) trade mentioned in
Here is an excerpt from Periplus of the Erythraean Sea,
composed by an anonymous Greek sailor (c. first century CE):
There are imported at bMalabar coast , in the first place, a great quantity of
coin; topaz … antimony (a mineral used as a colouring substance), coral, crude glass, copper, tin, lead
“Periplus” is a Greek word meaning
ailing around and
“Erythraean” was the Greek
name for the Red Sea
Names for successful merchants
masattuvan in Tamil and setthis and satthavahas in Prakrit
The first coins to bear the names and images of
rulers were issued by
the Indo-Greeks, who established control over the north-western part of the subcontinent c. second century BCE
The first gold coins were issued c. first century CE
by the
Kushanas
hoards of Roman coins have been found from archaeological sites in
south India.
Coins were also issued by tribal republics such
as that of the
Yaudheyas of Punjab and Haryana (copper coins)
Some of the most spectacular gold coins were
issued by the
Gupta rulers
Devanampiya Piyadassi:
Ashoka
Pativedaka in ashokan inscription means
reporter
contains a list of successive generations of teachers and students, many of whom were designated by
metronymics.
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
were identified through metronymics (names derived from that of the mother).
Satavahana rulers
Satavahanas we know that succession to the throne
was generally
patrilineal.
Purusha sukta , describing the sacrifice of
Purusha, the primeval man mentioned in
Rigveda
Shakas who came b from Central Asia, were regarded as
mlechchhas
the best-known Shaka ruler (c. second century CE), rebuilt Sudarshana lake
Rudradaman,
Sanskrit texts and inscriptions mused the term to designate merchants
vanik
Mrichchhakatika written by
Shudraka
hero Charudatta was described as both a Brahmana
and a sarthavaha or merchant in this play
Mrichchhakatika
included handling corpses and dead animals. Those who performed such tasks, designated as
chandalas
wrote that “untouchables” had to sound a clapper in the streets so that people could avoid seeing
them.
Fa Xian
observed that executioners and scavengers were forced to live outside the city.
Xuan Zang (c. seventh century),
a Pali text, where the Bodhisatta (the Buddha in a previous birth) is identified as a chandala
Matanga Jataka ,
is part of a dialogue between a king named Avantiputta and a disciple of the Buddha named Kachchana ;
Buddhist attitudes towards varna.
Majjhima Nikaya
, one of the anthologies of poems of the Tamil Sangam literature describing The poor generous chief
In
Puranaruru
In a myth found in a text known as the Buddhists suggested that originally human beings did not have fully evolved bodily forms, nor was the world of plants fully developed.
Sutta Pitaka
Mahasamatta meaning
king in Sutta Patika
sutas
who generally accompanied Kshatriya warriors
to the battlefield and composed poems celebrating
their victories and other achievements
FROM SHAHJEHAN BEGUM, NAWAB OF BHOPAL (ruled 1868-1901),
Taj- ul Iqbal Tarikh Bhopal (A History of Bhopal), translated by
H.D. Barstow, 1876.
The rulers of Bhopal, Shahjehan Begum and her
successor Sultan Jehan Begum, provided money for
the preservation of the ancient site.
Sanchi Stupa
that dedicated his important volumes
on Sanchi to Sultan Jehan
John Marshall
– literally, a hut with a pointed roof – or in groves where travelling mendicants halted.
kutagarashala
Verses from the Upanishads The nature of the self AND The true sacrifice
Chhandogya Upanishad
fter his death (c. fifth-fourth century BCE) his
teachings were compiled by his disciples at a council of “elders” or senior
monks at Vesali
Tipitaka
included rules and regulations for those who joined the
sangha or monastic order
The Vinaya Pitaka
Buddha’s teachings were included in the
Sutta
Pitaka;
dealt with philosophical matter
Abhidhamma Pitaka
As Buddhism travelled to new regions such as Sri Lanka, other texts such
as the were written
Dipavamsa (literally, the chronicle of the island) and Mahavamsa (the
great chronicle)
describing a
conversation between king Ajatasattu, the ruler of
Magadha, and the Buddha:
Sutta Pitaka;
Makkhali Gosala, BELONGED TO
Ajivikas
Ajivikas
FATALISTS
Lokayatas, usually described as
materialists
the Uttaradhyayana Sutta
Prakrit text relted to jainism Svetamber
the Uttaradhyayana Sutta
Prakrit text relted to jainism Svetamber
describing how a queen named Kamalavati
tried to persuade her husband to renounce the world
the Uttaradhyayana Sutta
Jaina scholars produced a wealth of
literature in a variety of languages –
Prakrit, Sanskrit
and Tamil
is a biography of
a saint or religious leader
Hagiography
( anatta)
soulless
advice given by the Buddha to a wealthy householder
named Sigala… five ways should a master look after his servants
Sutta Patika
nibbana,
literally the extinguishing of the ego and
desire
one of the Buddha’s dearest
disciples, who persuaded him to allow women
into the sangh
Ananda,
The Buddha’s foster mother,
i was the first woman to be
ordained as a bhikkhuni
Mahapajapati Gotam
respected women who had
attained liberation in Budhism
theris,
collection of verses composed by bhikkhunis…Punna, a dasi or slave woman, went to the river each
morning to fetch water for her master’s household
The Therigatha
The importance attached
to conduct and values in Buddhism rather than claims ofsuperiority based on birth, the emphasis placed on
metta (fellow feeling) and karuna (compassion),
metta (fellow feeling) and karuna (compassion),
(Lumbini),
where he was born
(Bodh Gaya)
where he attained enlightenment
(Sarnath)
where he gave his first sermon
Kusinagara
where he attained nibbana
These came to be called the
Elliot marbles after him.)
Amravati stupa
“It seems
to me a suicidal and indefensible policy
to allow the country to be looted of
original works of ancient art
H.H. Cole
Vessantara jataka on
Sanchi Stupa
This is a story about a generous prince who
gave away everything to a
Brahmana
Vessantara jataka
wheel
1st sermon of Buddha
motif suggests that many people who turned to Buddhism enriched it with their own pre-Buddhist and even non-Buddhist beliefs
The shalabhanjika
Interestingly, one of the
earliest modern art historiansn, considered Sanchi to be a centre of tree and serpent worship
, James Fergusso
The Varaha or boar avatar of
Vishnu rescuing the earth goddess, at
Aihole (Karnataka
Vishnu reclining on the serpent
Sheshnag, sculpture from
Deogarh
(Uttar Pradesh),
