NCERT Solutions for Class 12 History Themes in Indian History I Chapter 2: Kings, Farmers and Towns: Early States and Economies

Chapter at a glance

Exercises – Answer in 100–150 words

Answer

Evidence of craft production in Early Historic cities (c. 6th century BCE onwards): 1. Archaeological finds – Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW), a fine glossy pottery; ornaments, tools, weapons, vessels and figurines made of gold, silver, copper, bronze, ivory, glass, shell and terracotta. 2. Inscriptions – short votive inscriptions on stone slabs and statues found in religious places record gifts by washing folk, weavers, scribes, carpenters, potters, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, merchants, officials and religious teachers. 3. Guilds (shrenis) – craftsmen and merchants organised themselves into guilds which procured raw materials, regulated production and marketed products; guilds also used their income to make gifts to religious institutions. 4. Iron tools and urban centres show a range of specialised crafts.

Differences from Harappan evidence

Early Historic cities give evidence of crafts through finds (NBPW pottery, ornaments, tools, figurines in many materials) and especially through votive inscriptions naming weavers, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, potters etc., and guilds (shrenis). Unlike Harappan evidence, which is only archaeological with an undeciphered script, here inscriptions and texts tell us who the craftspeople were and how they were organised, and iron was widely used.

Answer

The sixth century BCE is seen as a major turning point. Early Buddhist and Jaina texts mention sixteen states known as mahajanapadas — e.g. Vajji, Magadha, Koshala, Kuru, Panchala, Gandhara and Avanti.

Salient features: 1. Forms of government – most mahajanapadas were ruled by kings (rajas), but some, known as ganas or sanghas, were oligarchies where power was shared by a number of men, often collectively called rajas (e.g. the Vajji sangha; Mahavira and the Buddha belonged to ganas). In some ganas, land and resources were controlled collectively by the rajas. 2. Capital cities – each mahajanapada had a capital city, which was often fortified. Maintaining forts and armies required resources. 3. Bureaucracy and army – rulers began to maintain standing armies and regular bureaucracies. 4. Revenue – rulers collected taxes and tribute from cultivators, traders and artisans. Gifts were also collected from pastoralists and forest people. 5. Raids – raids on neighbouring states were a legitimate way of getting wealth. 6. Dharmasutras – from c. 6th century BCE, Brahmanas began composing Sanskrit texts called Dharmasutras laying down norms for rulers (ideally Kshatriyas) and other social categories. 7. Over two centuries, Magadha became the most powerful mahajanapada.

There were sixteen mahajanapadas (e.g. Magadha, Koshala, Vajji, Kuru, Panchala, Gandhara, Avanti). Most were monarchies, but some were oligarchic ganas/sanghas; each had a fortified capital, a standing army and bureaucracy; rulers collected taxes and tribute from cultivators, traders and artisans, raided neighbours, and were guided by norms in the Dharmasutras. Magadha became the most powerful.

Answer

Ordinary people rarely left accounts of their own lives, so historians use a variety of sources:

1. Archaeological evidence – remains of houses, pottery, tools, ornaments, grains, bones and household objects excavated from settlements tell us about food, dwellings, crafts and daily life.
2. Inscriptions – votive inscriptions record gifts by ordinary people (weavers, washer folk, potters, smiths); land grant inscriptions mention villagers and cultivators; Asokan inscriptions refer to the treatment of slaves and servants, and to farmers.
3. Texts – the Jatakas and Panchatantra contain stories about ordinary people and their problems (e.g. people fleeing to the forest to escape the king’s tax demands); Sangam literature describes the lives of uzhavar (ploughmen) and adimai (slaves); the Arthashastra and Dharmasutras mention taxes and social categories.
4. Coins – show the extent of trade and exchange.
5. Sculpture and paintings – depict everyday scenes of villages and towns.
6. Ethnography and continuities – practices still found in villages help in interpretation.
7. Historians also look at the gaps and biases in sources, as most texts were written from the perspective of kings and elites.

Historians use archaeological remains (houses, pots, tools, grains, bones), votive and land-grant inscriptions that name ordinary donors and villagers, stories in the Jatakas and Panchatantra and Sangam poems describing peasants and slaves, coins and sculpture — reading them carefully for the biases of elite authors.

Answer

Source 3 (Silappadikaram) – gifts brought to the Pandyan chief Senguttuvan by the people of a forest area: ivory, fragrant wood, fans made of hair of deer, honey, sandalwood, red ochre, antimony, turmeric, cardamom, pepper, etc.; and animals and birds — elephants, horses, parrots, monkeys, peacocks, deer, mongooses, etc.; also fruits like mango, bananas and coconuts.

Source 8 (land grant of Prabhavati Gupta) – the village of Danguna was granted with: grass, animal hides, charcoal, fermenting liquors, salt, minerals, khadira trees (catechu), flowers, milk, and the right to forced labour; the villagers had to give to the donee all the taxes and dues, including money and grain.

Similarities: 1. Both lists include natural forest and agricultural produce — flowers, forest products and minerals. 2. Both show that rulers/donees received resources from the people (tribute or taxes).

Differences: 1. The Pandyan list consists mostly of forest produce and exotic animals brought voluntarily (as gifts/tribute) by forest people with songs and dancing, expressing a relationship of reciprocity; it reflects a forest economy. 2. The Danguna list consists of products of a settled agricultural village (salt, charcoal, liquor, milk, hides) and the right to taxes and forced labour, reflecting a formal, compulsory revenue system and the transfer of rights by the state. 3. The Pandyan gifts were given directly to the chief; Danguna’s produce was transferred to a Brahmana donee by a royal grant.

The Pandyan chief received forest produce (ivory, sandalwood, honey, spices) and animals and birds as gifts from forest people, while Danguna’s grant transferred village resources (grass, hides, charcoal, liquor, salt, minerals, flowers, milk) along with taxes and forced labour. Both show resources flowing to rulers, but the first reflects voluntary tribute from a forest economy and the second a formal tax system in a settled agricultural village.

Answer

1. Physical damage – letters are sometimes very faintly engraved, so reconstructions are uncertain; inscriptions may be damaged or letters missing.
2. Meaning of words – it is not always easy to be sure about the exact meaning of words used in inscriptions, some of which may be specific to a particular place or time.
3. Decipherment – scripts and languages change over time; deciphering requires great expertise. Some scripts (e.g. Harappan) remain undeciphered.
4. Limited numbers – not all inscriptions have been deciphered, published or translated; many have not survived.
5. Perspective/bias – inscriptions project the perspective of the person who commissioned them (usually kings and elites). They tell us what rulers wanted to say, not what ordinary people thought; routine agricultural practices and joys and sorrows of daily life are not recorded.
6. Political and economic history – inscriptions may not represent the whole picture; their claims (e.g. prashastis) may be exaggerated.
7. Dating – it can be difficult to date some inscriptions.

Epigraphists face faint or damaged letters, uncertainty about the meaning of words, difficulties of decipherment, many inscriptions not deciphered, published or surviving, the bias of inscriptions that reflect the views of their elite patrons and omit ordinary life, possible exaggeration, and problems of dating.

Exercises – Short essay (about 500 words)

Answer

Sources: Megasthenes’ Indica (fragments), Kautilya’s Arthashastra, later Buddhist, Jaina and Puranic texts, and Asokan inscriptions on rocks and pillars.

Main features of Mauryan administration: 1. Five major political centres – the capital Pataliputra and the provincial centres of Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali and Suvarnagiri, all mentioned in Asokan inscriptions. 2. Control varied across regions – it was strongest around the capital and the provincial centres; it is unlikely that administration was uniform, given the vast diversity (from Afghanistan to Andhra and Karnataka). 3. Communication – along both land and riverine routes, vital for the empire’s existence; journeys from the centre to the provinces could take weeks or months, which meant arranging provisions and protection. 4. Army – Megasthenes mentions a committee with six subcommittees for coordinating military activity: one for the navy, one for transport and provisions, one for foot soldiers, one for horses, one for chariots and one for elephants. The second subcommittee arranged bullock carts, food for soldiers and fodder for animals, and recruited servants and artisans. 5. Officials – officials responsible for land measurement, irrigation, roads, revenue collection, and justice; spies. 6. Taxation – the Arthashastra describes detailed systems of taxation and economic regulation. 7. Dhamma – Asoka tried to hold his empire together by propagating dhamma, principles of conduct which were simple and universally applicable: respect towards elders, generosity towards Brahmanas and those who renounced worldly life, treating slaves and servants kindly, and respect for religions and traditions other than one’s own. Special officers called dhamma mahamatta were appointed to spread the message of dhamma.

Elements evident in Asokan inscriptions: 1. The provincial centres — Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali, Suvarnagiri — are mentioned. 2. The appointment of dhamma mahamattas (Rock Edict V) and their duties. 3. Asoka’s concern for the welfare of subjects — “all men are my children”; arrangements for medical treatment of humans and animals, planting trees, digging wells and rest houses along roads. 4. Reports from officials — Asoka says that reporters (pativedakas) should report to him on the affairs of the people at all times. 5. His remorse after the Kalinga war (Rock Edict XIII) and the shift from conquest by war to conquest by dhamma. 6. Communication through inscriptions in Prakrit in different scripts (Brahmi, Kharosthi, Aramaic, Greek) across the empire shows an organised network. 7. Inscriptions do not mention the army committees described by Megasthenes, showing the need to combine sources.

Mauryan administration had five political centres (Pataliputra, Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali, Suvarnagiri), control that varied across regions, land and river communications, an army run by a committee with six subcommittees (Megasthenes), officials for revenue, roads and irrigation, and Asoka’s dhamma spread by dhamma mahamattas. Asokan inscriptions show the provincial centres, dhamma mahamattas, reporters, welfare measures (medical care, wells, trees) and the turn to dhamma after Kalinga.

Answer

In support of the statement — inscriptions are a rich source on many aspects of life: 1. Political history – names, titles, genealogies, conquests and achievements of rulers (e.g. Asokan edicts; Samudragupta’s Prayaga prashasti; Gautami Balashri’s inscription at Nasik on Gotami-puta Siri-Satakani). 2. Administration – officials (dhamma mahamattas), provinces, taxes, revenue rights (e.g. Prabhavati Gupta’s land grant listing dues of the village Danguna). 3. Economy – land grants show agrarian expansion, irrigation (Sudarshana lake repaired by Rudradaman, Junagadh inscription), crafts and guilds (votive inscriptions naming weavers, goldsmiths, merchants), trade and coins. 4. Society – caste, kinship, marriage (Satavahana rulers identified through metronymics), position of women (Prabhavati Gupta’s grant shows women could control land). 5. Religion – gifts to Buddhist, Jaina and Brahmanical institutions; Asoka’s dhamma and religious tolerance; sculpture and temples. 6. Language, script and literature – evolution of Brahmi, Kharosthi, Sanskrit and Prakrit; prashastis are literary compositions. 7. Ideas and values – Asoka’s ideals of non-violence, welfare and tolerance.

Limitations (why the statement is exaggerated): 1. Technical problems – faint, damaged or missing letters; uncertain meanings of words. 2. Not all inscriptions have been deciphered, published or translated; many have not survived. 3. Bias – inscriptions reflect the perspective of those who commissioned them (rulers, elites, donors); ordinary people’s views, everyday agricultural practices, joys and sorrows are not usually recorded. 4. Exaggeration – prashastis may exaggerate rulers’ achievements. 5. Inscriptions are often silent on economic matters such as prices or the lives of women and the poor.

Conclusion: Inscriptions throw light on a remarkable range of aspects of Indian life, but they are not complete; historians need to use them with other sources (texts, archaeology, coins) and read them critically.

Inscriptions do reflect a wide range of aspects — political history, administration, land grants and agrarian economy, crafts and guilds, society and kinship, religion, language and values. But the statement is exaggerated: many inscriptions are damaged, undeciphered or lost, they reflect the views of their elite patrons, may exaggerate, and are silent on ordinary people’s daily lives, so they must be combined with other sources.

Answer

After the Mauryas (from c. 2nd century BCE), new kingdoms emerged in the Deccan and further south (Cholas, Cheras, Pandyas, Satavahanas) and in the north-west and north (Shakas, Kushanas, later Guptas). New notions of kingship developed:

1. Chiefs and chiefdoms in the south – Tamil chiefs like the Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas were powerful and prosperous. A chief was a powerful man whose position may or may not be hereditary; he derived support from his kinfolk; his functions included performing special rituals, leadership in warfare and arbitrating disputes. He received gifts from subordinates and distributed them to followers. Sangam poems describe their generosity.
2. Divine kingship – many rulers tried to raise their status by identifying with a variety of deities. The Kushanas (c. 1st century BCE – 1st century CE) claimed this most clearly — through colossal statues of Kushana rulers installed in a shrine at Mat near Mathura and in Afghanistan, and by adopting the title devaputra (“son of god”), possibly inspired by Chinese rulers who called themselves sons of heaven.
3. Coins – Kushana coins depicted the king on one side and a deity on the other, linking royal power with the divine.
4. Gupta rulers (4th century CE) – many large states depended on samantas (men who maintained themselves through local resources, including land, and offered homage and military support to rulers).
5. Prashastis – rulers were glorified in compositions in Sanskrit by poets, e.g. Harishena’s Prayaga Prashasti for Samudragupta, describing him as a heroic warrior, generous, learned and equal to the gods (comparable to Kubera, Varuna, Indra and Yama), and “the Purusha (supreme being)”. Such prashastis are not literally true but show how rulers wanted to be seen.
6. Kshatriya status and Brahmanical legitimacy – rulers claimed Kshatriya status and patronised Brahmanas (land grants, performing sacrifices) to gain legitimacy, though many were not Kshatriyas by birth (e.g. Satavahanas claimed to be Brahmanas, Shakas were outsiders).
7. Land grants – kings made land grants to Brahmanas and religious institutions to extend agriculture and gain support; this may indicate that kings were trying to win allies in rural areas, or that their power was declining.

After the Mauryas, kingship took new forms: southern chiefs (Cholas, Cheras, Pandyas) based on kinship, warfare and gift-giving; divine kingship, especially among the Kushanas, who installed colossal statues and took the title devaputra; coins linking kings and deities; Gupta rulers relying on samantas and glorified in prashastis like Samudragupta’s Prayaga prashasti; claims to Kshatriya status; and land grants to win support.

Answer

Between c. 600 BCE and 600 CE, rising demand for taxes by rulers led to strategies for increasing agricultural production.

Transformations: 1. Iron ploughshare – the use of iron-tipped ploughs spread, which turned the alluvial soil of the Ganga and Kaveri valleys more effectively and increased production, especially in areas with high rainfall. 2. Transplantation of paddy – in parts of the Ganga valley, production of paddy was increased dramatically by the introduction of transplantation, though it required back-breaking work. 3. Irrigation – through wells, tanks and canals; communities as well as individuals organised the construction of irrigation works. Powerful men, including kings, often recorded such activities in inscriptions (e.g. the Sudarshana lake in Gujarat built in Mauryan times and repaired by the Shaka ruler Rudradaman). 4. Hoe agriculture – in semi-arid regions (Punjab and Rajasthan) and in the north-east and central hilly areas, farmers continued to use the hoe (iron ploughshare not adopted till the 20th century in some areas). 5. Land grants – from the early centuries CE, land grants (agraharas) to Brahmanas and religious institutions extended agriculture to new areas and spread new techniques.

Social consequences — growing differentiation: 1. Benefits of new technology were unevenly shared. There was growing differentiation among people engaged in agriculture — landless agricultural labourers, small peasants and large landholders. 2. Buddhist texts mention gahapatis (large landowners, also village headmen), dasa-kammakaras (landless labourers) and small peasants. 3. In Tamil literature, large landowners were called vellalar, ploughmen uzhavar, and slaves adimai. 4. Ownership of land became the basis of social power, and large landowners and village headmen became powerful. 5. Peasants often had to bear the burden of increased taxes (e.g. Jatakas describe people fleeing to the forest because of the king’s demands).

Extent: The transformation was significant in fertile river valleys but uneven across regions — hoe agriculture and pastoralism continued in many areas.

Agriculture was significantly transformed in river valleys through the iron ploughshare, transplantation of paddy, irrigation by wells, tanks and canals, and land grants that extended cultivation; but hoe agriculture continued in semi-arid and hilly regions. The changes created growing differentiation — large landowners (gahapatis, vellalar), small peasants, ploughmen and landless labourers or slaves (uzhavar, adimai) — and heavier taxes on peasants.

Exercises – Map work and Projects

Answer

Map 1 shows the mahajanapadas (c. 6th century BCE) and Map 2 the Mauryan Empire with the distribution of Asokan inscriptions. Almost all the mahajanapadas lay within the Mauryan Empire:

So the mahajanapadas of the Ganga valley, Avanti, Gandhara and Kamboja were all part of the empire, and Asokan inscriptions are found in many of these areas.

Most mahajanapadas — Magadha, Koshala, Kashi, Vajji, Malla, Kuru, Panchala, Shurasena, Matsya, Vatsa, Chedi, Avanti, Gandhara and Kamboja — were included in the Mauryan Empire, and Asokan inscriptions are found in these areas (e.g. Sarnath, Lumbini, Rampurva, Kalsi, Bairat, Sanchi, Kaushambi, Shahbazgarhi, Mansehra, Kandahar).

Answer

Guidance for the project: 1. Collect statements about public works (roads, bridges, metro, dams, hospitals, schools, housing schemes) for one month and organise them in a scrapbook. 2. Note for each: the project; resources required (budget, land, materials, labour); how resources are mobilised (taxes, loans, public–private partnership, central/state funds); objectives (development, employment, welfare); who issued the statement (minister, official, PIB) and how (press release, press conference, advertisement, social media). 3. Compare with inscriptions:

4. Conclusion: governments, like ancient rulers, use public communication to project an image of welfare and legitimacy; both sources need critical reading.

Collect and analyse official statements on public works (resources, mobilisation, objectives, who communicates and how) and compare them with inscriptions like Asoka’s edicts and Rudradaman’s Junagadh inscription: both publicise welfare and seek legitimacy from the ruler’s viewpoint, but modern statements are detailed, instantly communicated and open to democratic criticism.

Answer

Guidance and sample observations: 1. Modern notes (e.g. ₹10, ₹50, ₹100, ₹200, ₹500): obverse — portrait of Mahatma Gandhi, denomination in numerals and words, “Reserve Bank of India”, Governor’s signature and promise clause, Ashoka Pillar emblem, security thread, watermark; reverse — a heritage motif (e.g. Konark Sun Temple on ₹10, Hampi chariot on ₹50, Rani ki Vav on ₹100, Sanchi Stupa on ₹200, Red Fort on ₹500), Swachh Bharat logo, denomination in 15 languages in the language panel, year of printing. 2. Modern coins (₹1, ₹2, ₹5, ₹10, ₹20): obverse — Lion Capital of Ashoka with “Satyamev Jayate”, “Bharat/India”; reverse — denomination, rupee symbol, year; varied shapes (round, 12-sided ₹20) and metals (stainless steel, bimetallic ₹10 and ₹20). 3. Common features: national emblem, denomination, languages (Hindi, English), security features; differences in size, colour and motifs.

Comparison with ancient coins

Describe the obverse and reverse of five modern notes/coins (Gandhi portrait, Ashoka emblem, heritage motifs, denomination in many languages, different sizes, shapes and metals) and compare with ancient punch-marked silver and copper coins and die-struck Kushana and Gupta gold coins: ancient coins carried symbols, kings and deities, were issued by kings, merchants and guilds and used for trade, taxes and royal propaganda, whereas modern currency is issued only by the state.

Topic checklist

• ☒ Sources: inscriptions and coins; problems of epigraphy (Q 5, 7, 12)
• ☒ Mahajanapadas and the Mauryan Empire (Q 2, 6, 10)
• ☒ Post-Mauryan kingship (Q 8)
• ☒ Agriculture, crafts and ordinary people (Q 1, 3, 4, 9)
• ☒ Project on official communication (Q 11)

Total questions answered: 12 of 12