Chapter 2 – Kings, Farmers and Towns | CBSE History Notes

HISTORY | CLASS XII | NCERT

Book: Themes in Indian History – Part I | Chapter 2

Kings, Farmers and Towns

Early States and Economies (c. 600 BCE – 600 CE)

⭐ Topper Level 💬 Easy Language 📌 Point-Wise 🏺 Mind Maps Included

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1. Learning Objectives

After reading these notes, you will be able to:

Explain how James Prinsep deciphered Brahmi and Kharosthi scripts and identified Piyadassi as Asoka.

Describe the sixteen mahajanapadas, the rise of Magadha, and the Mauryan Empire under Asoka.

Understand new notions of kingship — Kushana divine kingship, Gupta prashastis, and samantas.

Know about agricultural changes, land grants, rural society, and the lives of ordinary people.

Explain the growth of towns, trade, coinage, and the limitations of inscriptional evidence.

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2. Introduction

The period from c. 600 BCE to 600 CE — spanning roughly 1,200 years — was one of the most dynamic and transformative eras in Indian history. It witnessed the rise of the first cities and states, the emergence of powerful empires like the Mauryas and the Guptas, and fundamental changes in agriculture, trade and society. The Rigveda was composed in this general period, and new religious movements like Buddhism and Jainism emerged. Historians reconstruct this period through a wide range of sources — inscriptions carved on rocks and pillars, coins, texts, and archaeological finds. Each source has its own limitations, and historians must carefully assess what is true, what is exaggerated, and what is missing. The chapter title itself — Kings, Farmers and Towns — reflects the three major threads of this history: political power, the agrarian economy, and urbanisation. Understanding how these three interacted with each other gives us a fascinating picture of early Indian society and economy.

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3. Prinsep and Piyadassi

James Prinsep — an officer in the mint of the East India Company — deciphered Brahmi and Kharosthi scripts in the 1830s. These were used in the earliest inscriptions and coins.
He found that most inscriptions mentioned a king called Piyadassi (meaning “pleasant to behold”). Some inscriptions also called the king Asoka — one of the most famous rulers in Buddhist texts.
This opened the study of early Indian political history using inscriptions and texts in a variety of languages — Prakrit, Pali, Tamil, Sanskrit.
Scholars reconstructed lineages of major dynasties; by early 20th century, broad contours of political history were established.
Later, scholars shifted focus to links between political change and economic/social developments.

📌 What are Inscriptions?

Writings engraved on hard surfaces — stone, metal or pottery. They record achievements, activities, or ideas of those who commissioned them (kings’ exploits, donations by men and women). Some carry dates; others are dated by palaeography (style of writing). Epigraphy = the study of inscriptions.

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4. The Earliest States

📌 The Sixteen Mahajanapadas

The 6th century BCE is regarded as a major turning point — era of early states, cities, iron use, coinage, and growth of Buddhism and Jainism.
Early Buddhist and Jaina texts mention 16 states called Mahajanapadas. Most important ones: Vajji, Magadha, Koshala, Kuru, Panchala, Gandhara, Avanti.
Most were ruled by kings; some were ganas or sanghas — oligarchies where power was shared by many men collectively called rajas. Both Mahavira and the Buddha belonged to such ganas.
Each mahajanapada had a fortified capital city. Maintaining armies and bureaucracies required resources — collected through taxes, tribute, and raids.
Brahmanas began composing Dharmasutras — texts that laid down norms for rulers (ideally Kshatriyas) to collect taxes from cultivators, traders, artisans.

👑 Magadha — First Among the Sixteen

Between 6th and 4th centuries BCE, Magadha (present-day Bihar) became the most powerful mahajanapada.
Why Magadha was powerful (Historians’ view): Productive agriculture; iron mines in Jharkhand; elephants in forests; Ganga and tributaries for cheap transport.
Buddhist/Jaina writers’ view: Due to the policies of ambitious kings — Bimbisara, Ajatasattu, Mahapadma Nanda.
Initial capital: Rajagaha (Rajgir) — fortified, located among hills. Meaning: “house of the king.”
Capital shifted to Pataliputra (Patna) in 4th century BCE — commanding Ganga routes.

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5. An Early Empire

The growth of Magadha culminated in the Mauryan Empire. Chandragupta Maurya founded it around 321 BCE, extending control to Afghanistan and Baluchistan. His grandson Asoka (c. 272/268–231 BCE) — arguably the most famous ruler of early India — conquered Kalinga (coastal Odisha).

📚 Sources for Mauryan History

📖 Literary & Textual Sources

Account of Megasthenes (Greek ambassador to Chandragupta’s court) — survives in fragments
Arthashastra — composed by Kautilya/Chanakya (minister of Chandragupta); details of administration and military
Buddhist, Jaina and Puranic literature; Sanskrit literary works

🪨 Asokan Inscriptions

Most valuable source. Asoka was the first ruler to inscribe messages on natural rocks and polished pillars
Proclaimed dhamma — respect for elders, generosity to Brahmanas and renunciants, kind treatment of slaves and servants, respect for all religions
Language: Prakrit (most); Aramaic and Greek (northwest). Scripts: Brahmi (most), Kharosthi (NW), Aramaic/Greek (Afghanistan)

🏛️ Administering the Empire

Five major political centres: capital Pataliputra + provincial centres Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali, Suvarnagiri.
Administrative control was NOT uniform throughout — empire was too diverse (hilly Afghanistan to coast of Orissa).
Control was strongest near capital and provincial centres. Taxila and Ujjayini were on important trade routes; Suvarnagiri (“golden mountain”) near Karnataka gold mines.
Army had 6 subcommittees (per Megasthenes): navy, transport/provisions, foot-soldiers, horses, chariots, elephants.
Special officers called dhamma mahamatta appointed to spread the message of dhamma.
Empire lasted about 150 years — did not encompass the entire subcontinent. By 2nd century BCE, new chiefdoms and kingdoms emerged.

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6. New Notions of Kingship

🌴 Chiefs and Kings in the South

New kingdoms emerged in the Deccan and south — chiefdoms of Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas in Tamilakam (ancient Tamil country — parts of present Andhra Pradesh, Kerala + Tamil Nadu) — proved stable and prosperous.
Many chiefs and kings, including the Satavahanas (c. 2nd century BCE–2nd century CE, western and central India) and Shakas (Central Asian origin, NW India) derived revenues from long-distance trade.
Early Tamil Sangam texts contain poems describing chiefs, resources they acquired and distributed.

🛕 Divine Kings — The Kushanas

Kushanas (c. 1st century BCE–1st century CE) ruled a vast kingdom from Central Asia to NW India. Identified themselves with deities.
Colossal statues of Kushana rulers found in a shrine at Mat near Mathura (UP) and in Afghanistan → historians suggest they considered themselves godlike.
Many Kushana rulers adopted the title devaputra (“son of god”) — possibly inspired by Chinese rulers who called themselves “sons of heaven.”

🏅 Gupta Empire — Prashastis and Samantas

By 4th century CE, larger states emerged including the Gupta Empire. Depended on samantas — men who maintained themselves through local resources (including land control), offered homage and military support.
Powerful samantas could become kings; weak rulers could be reduced to subordination.
Gupta history reconstructed from literature, coins and inscriptions including prashastis (compositions in praise of kings by poets).
Famous example: Prayaga Prashasti (Allahabad Pillar Inscription) — composed by Harishena, court poet of Samudragupta (c. 4th century CE).

🗺️ Mind Map — Sources used by Historians for this Period

Historical Sources

🪨 InscriptionsAsokan edicts; copper plates;
prashastis; votive inscriptions

🪙 CoinsPunch-marked; Indo-Greek;
Kushana; Gupta gold coins

📖 TextsArthashastra; Jatakas;
Sangam texts; Dharmasutras

🏺 ArchaeologySculpture; pottery (NBPW);
tools; figurines

✈️ Foreign AccountsMegasthenes; Periplus of
the Erythraean Sea

📜 Land GrantsCopper plates; grants to
Brahmanas/temples

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7. A Changing Countryside

👑 Popular Perceptions of Kings

Ordinary people rarely left accounts. Historians use stories from Jatakas (written in Pali, c. middle of 1st millennium CE) and the Panchatantra — probably originated as popular oral tales.
The Gandatindu Jataka: describes a wicked king’s subjects — cultivators, herders, elderly, village boys. All cursed him, saying they were “attacked by robbers at night and tax collectors during the day.” To escape, people abandoned their village and went to live in the forest.
This shows the king-subject relationship was often strained — kings demanding high taxes was oppressive for peasants.

🌱 Strategies for Increasing Production

Shift to plough agriculture from c. 6th century BCE — iron-tipped ploughshare used in alluvial river valleys (Ganga, Kaveri).
Transplantation of paddy in Ganga valley — dramatically increased production but was back-breaking work. Seeds broadcast first, then saplings transplanted in waterlogged fields.
Irrigation through wells, tanks and canals. Kings often recorded irrigation activities in inscriptions — e.g., Sudarshana lake (Gujarat) built in Mauryan times, repaired by Shaka ruler Rudradaman (2nd century CE) and again by a Gupta ruler.

🏘️ Differences in Rural Society

Growth in production was uneven. Clear social differentiation emerged among agricultural communities:
→ Buddhist texts: Landless agricultural labourers, small peasants, large landholders
→ Pali texts: Gahapati = owner/master of household — controlled land, animals, workers, women
→ Tamil Sangam texts: Vellalar (large landowners), Uzhavar (ploughmen), Adimai (slaves)
Village headman (often hereditary position) emerged as a powerful figure, exercising control over other cultivators.

📜 Land Grants and New Rural Elites

From early centuries CE, land grants were made — recorded in inscriptions (mostly copper plates). Usually grants to religious institutions or Brahmanas.
Famous example: Prabhavati Gupta (daughter of Chandragupta II, c. 375–415 CE; married into the Vakataka dynasty) made a land grant — remarkable because Sanskrit legal texts said women should not have independent access to land.
Grants known as agrahara = land granted to Brahmana, usually exempt from paying land revenue, often given the right to collect dues from local people.
Debate among historians: Were land grants a strategy to extend agriculture to new areas? Or did they show weakening royal power (kings losing control over samantas)?

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8. Towns and Trade

🌆 New Cities

Urban centres emerged from c. 6th century BCE — many were capitals of mahajanapadas.
Towns were located along routes of communication:
→ Riverine routes: Pataliputra
→ Land routes: Ujjayini
→ Coastal: Puhar (sea routes began here)
→ Commercial + cultural + political hub: Mathura
Archaeological finds from cities: Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) — fine glossy pottery probably used by the rich; ornaments, tools, weapons, vessels of gold, silver, copper, bronze, ivory, glass, shell, terracotta.
Votive inscriptions from 2nd century BCE mention urban occupations: washing folk, weavers, scribes, carpenters, potters, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, officials, religious teachers, merchants, kings.
Guilds (shrenis) — organisations of craft producers and merchants — procured raw materials, regulated production, marketed finished products.

🌍 Trade in the Subcontinent and Beyond

From 6th century BCE, routes extended: overland into Central Asia and overseas — Arabian Sea to East Africa, North Africa, West Asia; Bay of Bengal to SE Asia and China.
Traders: peddlers on foot, merchants with bullock cart caravans, seafarers.
Successful merchants called: masattuvan (Tamil), setthis and satthavahas (Prakrit).
Goods traded: salt, grain, cloth, metal ores, stone, timber, medicinal plants. Pepper was in high demand in the Roman Empire.
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (anonymous Greek sailor, c. 1st century CE) — lists imports and exports through Malabar coast ports. (“Periplus” = Greek for “sailing around”; “Erythraean” = Greek name for Red Sea).

🪙 Coins and Kings

💰 Types of Coins

Punch-marked coins (silver and copper, c. 6th century BCE) — earliest; symbols punched on metal; associated with Mauryas, merchants, bankers
Indo-Greek coins (c. 2nd century BCE) — first to bear names and images of rulers
Kushana coins — largest hoards of gold coins (c. 1st century CE); identical weight to Roman and Parthian coins
Gupta gold coins — most spectacular; remarkable purity; facilitated long-distance transactions
Yaudheya coins (Punjab and Haryana, c. 1st century CE) — tribal republics also issued coins

📉 Decline of Coins after 6th century CE

From c. 6th century CE onwards, gold coin finds taper off
Debate: Did collapse of Western Roman Empire cause a decline in long-distance trade?
Others argue: New towns and trade networks were emerging; coins still mentioned in inscriptions/texts — fewer finds because coins were in circulation rather than being hoarded
Numismatics = the study of coins (visual elements, metallurgical analysis, contexts)

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9. Back to Basics — How Are Inscriptions Deciphered?

📝 Deciphering Brahmi

Most modern Indian scripts are derived from Brahmi — the script used in most Asokan inscriptions.
From late 18th century, European scholars with Indian pandits worked backwards from contemporary Bengali and Devanagari manuscripts, comparing letters with older specimens.
James Prinsep deciphered Asokan Brahmi in 1838 after decades of investigations by several epigraphists.

📝 How Kharosthi was Read

Kharosthi was the script used in inscriptions in the northwest (present-day Pakistan/Afghanistan).
Key: Indo-Greek coins contained names of kings written in both Greek and Kharosthi. European scholars who could read Greek compared the letters and identified the Kharosthi equivalents.
Prinsep identified the language of Kharosthi inscriptions as Prakrit → longer inscriptions could be read.

📌 How Epigraphists Work — An Example

Asoka’s name does not appear in his inscriptions — only titles devanampiya (“beloved of the gods”) and piyadassi (“pleasant to behold”). His name appears in other inscriptions with the same titles. Epigraphists compared content, style, language and palaeography across inscriptions → concluded they were issued by the same ruler = Asoka.

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10. The Limitations of Inscriptional Evidence

Technical limitations: Letters faintly engraved; inscriptions damaged; letters missing; reconstructions are uncertain.
Meaning problems: Exact meaning of words can be unclear — some words are specific to a time or place.
Incomplete survival: Several thousand inscriptions discovered, but many more must have existed and been destroyed. What we have is only a fraction of what was inscribed.
What is not recorded: Routine agricultural practices and daily life find no mention in inscriptions — they focus on grand, unique events.
One-sided perspective: Inscriptions project the viewpoint of the person who commissioned them — must be cross-checked with other sources.
Historians’ focus has changed over time: 19th/early 20th century = histories of kings; mid-20th century onwards = economic change, social groups; recently = marginalised groups.

📌 An Important Example — Kalinga Inscription

Asoka’s Kalinga inscription records his anguish after the war: “1,50,000 men were deported, 1,00,000 killed, and many more died.” Yet this inscription was NOT found in Kalinga itself — only in other parts of his empire. What does this absence mean? Historians must constantly assess whether statements in inscriptions are true, plausible, or exaggerations.

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Summary — Quick Revision

James Prinsep deciphered Brahmi (1838) and Kharosthi scripts → identified Piyadassi as Asoka. This transformed early Indian political history.

16 Mahajanapadas from 6th century BCE. Most important: Vajji, Magadha, Koshala, Kuru, Panchala, Gandhara, Avanti. Some were ganas/sanghas (oligarchies).

Magadha became most powerful: productive agriculture, iron mines (Jharkhand), elephants, Ganga routes. Capital: Rajagaha → shifted to Pataliputra (4th century BCE).

Mauryan Empire: Chandragupta Maurya (321 BCE). Asoka: 5 provincial centres, dhamma, dhamma mahamatta. Empire lasted ~150 years; control was not uniform.

Kushanas: devaputra title; colossal statues at Mat/Mathura. Guptas: samantas system; prashastis praised kings. Prayaga Prashasti by Harishena for Samudragupta.

Rural changes: iron ploughshare, paddy transplantation, irrigation. Social differentiation: gahapati (landowner), village headman, landless labourers, vellalar, uzhavar, adimai.

Land grants from early CE. Prabhavati Gupta‘s grant of Danguna village is a key example. Agrahara = land granted to Brahmana, exempt from taxes.

Cities along routes of communication. NBPW pottery found. Guilds (shrenis) regulated craft production and trade. Periplus of the Erythraean Sea records sea trade.

Coins: punch-marked (6th century BCE) → Indo-Greek (names + images) → Kushana gold → Gupta gold. Coins taper off from 6th century CE — debate on economic crisis.

Inscriptions have limitations: damaged, incomplete, one-sided perspective, do not record everyday life. Epigraphy alone cannot give a full picture of history.

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Important Terms to Remember

Epigraphy: The study of inscriptions — writings engraved on hard surfaces like stone, metal or pottery.
Piyadassi: Title meaning “pleasant to behold” used in inscriptions by Asoka. Deciphered by James Prinsep in the 1830s.
Mahajanapada: One of the 16 major states/kingdoms that emerged in the 6th century BCE. Janapada = land where a jana (people/clan/tribe) settles.
Gana/Sangha: A form of oligarchic government where power was shared by many men (collectively called rajas), not a single king.
Oligarchy: A form of government where power is exercised by a group of men rather than one ruler.
Dhamma: The principles propagated by Asoka — respect for elders, kindness to servants and slaves, generosity, respect for all religions. Proclaimed through inscriptions.
Dhamma Mahamatta: Special officers appointed by Asoka to spread the message of dhamma throughout the empire.
Devaputra: Title meaning “son of god” adopted by Kushana rulers.
Samanta: A man who maintained himself through local resources (including control over land) and offered homage and military support to rulers.
Prashasti: A composition in praise of a king, written by court poets. Example: Prayaga Prashasti by Harishena (in praise of Samudragupta).
Gahapati: Owner, master or head of a household in Pali texts — controlled land, animals, women, children and workers. Also used as a status marker for wealthy merchants.
Transplantation: A paddy cultivation method — seeds broadcast first, saplings grown, then transplanted in waterlogged fields → higher yields.
Agrahara: Land granted to a Brahmana, usually exempted from paying land revenue to the king, often given the right to collect dues from local people.
Shreni (Guild): An organisation of craft producers and merchants that procured raw materials, regulated production, and marketed finished products.
Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW): Fine pottery with a glossy finish found in Early Historic cities, probably used by rich people.
Votive Inscriptions: Inscriptions that record gifts made to religious institutions — mention donor’s name and often their occupation.
Numismatics: The study of coins — including visual elements (scripts, images), metallurgical analysis, and contexts in which they were found.
Palaeography: The study of ancient writing/scripts — used to date inscriptions based on styles of writing.

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Important Timeline — At a Glance

Date	Event
c. 600–500 BCE	Paddy transplantation; urbanisation in Ganga valley; Mahajanapadas; punch-marked coins
c. 500–400 BCE	Rulers of Magadha consolidate power (Bimbisara, Ajatasattu)
c. 321 BCE	Accession of Chandragupta Maurya — founding of Mauryan Empire
c. 272/268–231 BCE	Reign of Asoka; Kalinga conquest; dhamma inscriptions
c. 185 BCE	End of the Mauryan Empire
c. 200–100 BCE	Indo-Greek rule (NW); Cholas, Cheras, Pandyas (south); Satavahanas (Deccan)
c. 100 BCE–200 CE	Shaka rulers (NW); Roman trade; gold coinage begins
c. 78 CE?	Accession of Kanishka (Kushana ruler)
c. 320 CE	Beginning of Gupta rule
c. 335–375 CE	Samudragupta (Prayaga Prashasti composed by Harishena)
c. 375–415 CE	Chandragupta II; Prabhavati Gupta’s land grant (Vakatakas in Deccan)
c. 606–647 CE	Harshavardhana, king of Kanauj; Xuan Zang visits India
1838	James Prinsep deciphers Asokan Brahmi